Imperfection
Disclaimer: A sequel I had planned for Imperfect. A day late and a dollar short, but you know. LOL. Many other ideas came out of nowhere, so I had them to deal with. Anyway, this is an AU story that focuses around RoTF. Read and review.
"Traveling through the world produces a marvelous clarity in the judgment of men. We are all of us confined and enclosed within ourselves, and see no farther than the end of our nose. This great world is a mirror where we must see ourselves in order to know ourselves. There are so many different tempers, so many different points of view, judgments, opinions, laws and customs to teach us to judge wisely on our own, and to teach our judgment to recognize its imperfection and natural weakness."
-Michel de Montaigne
"It is extreme evil to depart from the company of the living before you die."
-Seneca
By: VampireQueenAkasha
"Is the future of our race not worth a single human life?"
-Megatron, RoTF
Struggle
Jetfire proved to be a better listener than she had originally believed.
The two spent most of their time in the desert, walking and talking; always on the move to avoid running into any kind of trouble, be it Decepticon or human. Jetfire took the longest time to ponder everything Terra explained regarding her situation.
"It's selfish, Jetfire," she said, quietly, "I don't fear death, but I don't desire it soon either."
Jetfire frowned down at her before he cast his gaze to the blinding sun that was starting to set. "How long do you have?" he asked.
"A few weeks. Maybe less."
Jetfire was silent for a moment before he chuckled quietly. "And you gave up the shard -the chance to live - to revive me?"
"It was important that we revive you to learn the answers to all of this going on," Terra argued, "Much more important than my own survival. You knew things and where to find what we needed to stop the Fallen."
Jetfire took a deep inhale, hanging his great shoulders with a rusted sound. "Terra, I'm old," he replied, turning so that he looked down at her, "I have done terrible things in my life, seen destruction and caused the deaths of many, innocent and deserving. I don't deserve another megacycle of life."
Terra chuckled softly, but it carried a sense of bitterness with it. "That's something we have in common."
"No. You're still very young," Jetfire argued, "And you're the product of a strange, yet fascinating result of the Allspark! You've been Sam Witwicky's guide for several years now. That boy is chosen for greatness and he needs someone to continue to guide him!"
"Jetfire, without the Allspark, I could-"
Jetfire shook his head. "You won't, trust me."
Terra wasn't so sure what Jetfire meant by that, but she felt death knocking on her door and she had no idea how to stop it from breaking in.
"It's getting dark," Jetfire told her, interrupting her thoughts, "You don't want to be in the desert after dark."
Terra nodded in agreement and followed Jetfire to a jagged incline where she made her way inside a gaping cave mouth. Jetfire couldn't fit inside because of his massive wingspan and great shoulders, but he could sit beside it. The sun slowly set over the horizon, casting the desert into darkness. Jetfire's eyes proved to be the only source of light for several yards. Terra didn't really mind the darkness; her goggles could perform night vision scans easily.
"It's quiet..." Terra pondered.
Jetfire nodded his head gravely. "It's the calm before the storm."
Terra reached into her jacket and removed the music box. She studied it impassively before popping it open. It proved to be a soothing melody for both human and Decepticon. Jetfire made a soft, rattling sound.
"A little music would be nice for a change..." he said, quietly.
O
The following morning, Jetfire and Terra made their way through the skies toward the location of the Matrix. Terra observed the ground below from within Jetfire's cockpit, uncertain of how close they were to the earth. It didn't feel very safe to her.
"Jetfire, you're flying too low," she told him, "Is this safe?"
"Not at all!" the Decepticon said, with a laugh, "But the way I see it, we're already running into danger to begin with!"
Terra managed a small returning laugh at that as well. Then, something streaked passed them at such high speeds, it caused Terra to peer ahead with shock on her face. "That was Starscream!" she shouted, "He's on the move!"
Then, Starscream's Cybertonian command filled the air through Jetfire's communication line; he was obviously hacking into the lines to see what was going on. Jetfire growled in frustration and gunned his thrusters.
"Damn! He's broadcasting to the Decepticon troops!" he growled.
Terra winced slightly, gripping the seats. "He's commanding Rampage."
Jetfire sounded surprised. "You can understand Cybertronian?"
"Hardly. Ironhide was teaching me a little," Terra told him.
Another Cybertronian command filtered through the line again. Terra frowned thoughtfully and licked her lips. "That one was a little harder," she said, "Starscream either told Rampage to spring the trap or to shut his yap."
"We know which one it is, don't we?" Jetfire said. "Hang on! I'm moving in low to drop you off at the site!"
Terra winced against the jarring sensation of riding inside the old jet. "You're insane!" she spat.
"I know!" Jetfire hollered.
As they arrived over the horizon, the sounds of gunfire and chaos seemed to grow louder and louder. Terra's eyes widened in shock behind her goggles as she saw literally hundreds of Decepticon troops digging their way through a small village near the Great Pyramids. The humans of NEST and Autobots were attempting to keep them at bay for the longest time. Her goggles picked up a trace of Sam hiding among rubble, close to being obliterated by a Decepticon Mixing Truck.
"It's Mixmaster!" Jetfire hissed, "That bloody sneaky devil!"
Terra grimaced against her seat. "I suppose this is my stop?" she asked.
"You're right! Ejecting!" Jetfire declared.
Suddenly, his cockpit door opened and Terra was ejected out of the jet. It was all a swirling mass of chaos as Jetfire transformed in midair, grabbed her before she could plummet to her doom and tucked and rolled onto the ground.
"Stick the landing... STICK THE LANDING!" he urged himself.
Terra slid across the sand as he stumbled and crashed. He righted himself and charged the smaller vehicle, cutting Mixmaster cleanly in half. Terra scrambled out of the way to avoid a decapitated Mixmaster as his body fell beside her. She quickly rushed up to Sam and Mikaela and the looked stunned to see her.
"Terra!" they exclaimed at the same time.
She smiled and held up her hand rather sheepishly. "Hello. What did I miss?" she asked.
Sam held up a rolled up sock containing what appeared to be a powder substance. "We're going to revive Optimus with this!" he told her. He gestured over the stone wall toward the fallen body of Optimus ahead. "He's right there. I need to get this to him!"
Terra looked confused. "I...see." she said, "What's in it?"
"The Matrix!" Mikalea shouted over the roar of battle.
Terra still looked hopelessly confused. "I pictured...more."
An explosion nearly rocked them from their hiding spot and rubble rained down. Terra looked up and noticed that Jetfire was lying on his side, groaning in pain. He was clutching his chest and bits of spark fluid gushed from between his fingers.
"Jetfire!" she shouted.
He grimaced in agony and waved her off. "Go! JUST GO!" he ordered.
Terra watched him worriedly for a few moments more before she looked at the others. "What can I do?" she asked.
Sam looked up at the sound of jets roaring overhead. Then, he looked at her. "RUN!" he shouted.
The trio ran as fast as they could through the carpet bombing of the Decepticons by the US jets passing by, dropping bombs. The smell of burning sand choked their throats and stung their eyes. Behind the cloud of fire and smoke, Megatron stepped out, snarling with fury and gushing Energon fron various parts of his body due to extensive damages. Terra looked over her shoulder and her eyes widened in horror.
"DIE!" Megatron shouted, aiming his weapon at Sam.
It was then that things moved too fast for them to react. Terra had moved. Then, the sound of Megatron's cannon erupted and Terra's body went flying through the air.
O
A medical team rushed to Terra's fallen, half burned body while Lennox and the others arrived behind them. Terra's goggles were removed from her lifeless face and her eyes were closed. Mikaela and Sam rushed to her side.
"Terra!" Mikaela cried, "Oh God, don't you die on us!"
At the sound of the shriek, Ironhide rushed up and his optics widened in horror. "Terra!"
Two medical officers bent down and opened up Terra's jacket, exposing her bare, terribly burned skin. One of them opened up a medical kid that contained electrodes and pressed them to Terra's chest. After a brief moment of letting them charge, the switch was hit. Terra's body convulsed in a pure muscle reflex, and when it was over, there was not a hint of life. The officer looked at Lennox weakly and shook his head.
"No pulse." he said.
Ironhide gritted his mouth plates together. "Do it again!" he commanded.
"Again!" Lennox ordered the two men.
There was a beat of silence as they performed the same treatment, but received no results. They stared down into Terra's half-open, motionless eyes. Ironhide bent down as close as he could and glared at the officers like a madman.
"AGAIN!" he shouted.
Once more, they attempted to revive Terra in the same way, but her body failed to move and there was no pulse. Ironhide snarled and stared down at the lifeless woman. His optics shimmered with pain and rage at the horrible situation.
"Primus damn you, woman!" he bellowed frantically, "Don't you die! Don't you dare go away!" He glared at the tearful humans watching. "She's not dead! Don't you see that! Her heart is strong, dammit! She's taken worse than this! NOW ZAP HER AGAIN!"
Several times, Terra was zapped by the electrodes. Then, after a brief moment, something changed. There was a small twitch in her fingers and the monitor suddenly beeped with the sign of a pulse. Everyone reacted in shock, but most particularly Ironhide. Then, there was another twitch in Terra's head and her lips parted in a soft moan. Her eyes fluttered and she looked up weakly at the stunned, yet ecstatic humans.
"What...are you staring at?" she croaked, with a weak smile.
The medical officers looked back at Lennox. "We need to get her out of here," she heard one of them say.
Lennox nodded. "Do it."
Terra watched weakly from her position as the two medical officers proceeded to lift her up from the ground. Behind Sam, the Matrix contained within the small sock began to materialize and take the shape of a tear-shaped dagger.
The last thing she remembered seeing was Ironhide's worried, yet tender look staring down at her.
Truth
The first thing she remembered was waking up inside the emergency room. But she didn't expect to see an endless sea of ocean from the window.
Terra slowly sat up with a small groan, feeling a sharp twinge of pain in her chest. She looked down and noticed that she was bandaged around her arm, chest and neck. Looking around, Terra spotted her goggles lying on a side table and she fitted them to her face before stepping out of bed. There didn't appear to be anyone else in the emergency room and she slowly stepped out into the halls, spotting several United States soldiers on the move.
"Terra!" Alexis' voice halted her and she paused, turning.
"Alexis, what happened?" Terra asked.
Alexis smiled brightly. "We've won!" she said, "The Fallen's dead!"
Terra looked surprised. "What?"
"Yes, we're heading home," Alexis said. She paused and studied her up and down. "But you need to get some rest. You had us worried."
Terra shook her head. "I'm fine. I've been shot, stabbed and bruised worse than this," she told the woman, "Where is Ironhide?"
Alexis looked a little troubled, but nonetheless gestured down the hall. "I last saw him sleeping in the cargo bay below deck," she said, "He specifically asked everyone to keep their distance from him for a while."
Terra chuckled dryly and started forward. "Then he'll have himself a visitor."
She made her way through the ship, holding her bandaged chest with one hand as she made her way into the silence of the cargo hold. She looked around briefly through the ammunitions crates and weapons before spotting the black truck parked a few feet away. She smiled weakly and approached him.
"Ironhide?" she said.
His door opened and his voice came out low. "Get in. We need to talk." he ordered.
Terra arched a brow, but weakly made her way inside his cab with a bit of effort given her wounds. Once she shut the door, his hologram appeared beside her and he leaned forward, pinning her to the door of his real body.
"Don't ever do that to me again," he growled.
Terra raised her brows, non intimidated. "Is that a threat?" she asked, though a light smile touched her lips.
"It could be," Ironhide said, his blue optics intense with restrained pain and anger, "I could have lost you! You would have never been harmed if you hadn't been so stubborn!"
Terra scowled. "It seems that you easily forgot your pious act, Ironhide," she snapped, "I don't appreciate secrets!"
"I would have told you!"
"Really?" Terra said, leaning closer so that their faces almost touched, "When would you have told me? It isn't the fact that you had another. That wasn't the problem. The problem was the deceit. I can take everything else, but deceit is something that I will not be a victim of again."
Ironhide snorted. "As if you have never lied before!"
Terra's anger seemed to drain completely and she chuckled with bitterness. "I have been a liar only once in my life," she told him, her voice dropping low.
Ironhide softened. "What are you talking about?"
Terra sighed before she looked up at him. "My first mission to Moscow Russia," she said, "I never wanted to speak of it again to anyone, but I think that it's time that I had. It haunts me every waking second."
Ironhide's metallic brows moved together in a human expression of a frown. "What happened that day Terra?"