R + R please!
*Disclaimer: I don't own transformers*
~ o ~
We didn't race on our way back, but made good time anyway. After making sure that Astraea was taken care of, I collected some sponges and rags in a bucket, turned the hose on, and proceeded to soak Prowl with it. The water was freezing to the touch, and I apologised prior to spraying him with it, knowing ahead of time that this wash probably wasn't going to be all that pleasant. Prowl shuddered when I hit him with the cold water, but aside from that voiced no complaint, and grew still once I began to scrub his hood with the squeegee. I continued to wash him for the next half hour, until I heard a car approaching behind me and turned.
It was Abby's blue SUV. A few moments later, it came to a halt beside me, with a rather exasperated-looking Abby at the wheel.
"You left your purse in the hallway of my apartment," she said after she rolled down the window. My spark sank, though I thanked her and opened the back seat to grab my purse. I'd been hoping that she would have called ahead of time to inform me that she was coming over. It was unlike her to just show up out of the blue, since she typically avoided coming over at all costs. I hadn't had a chance to come up with a cover story yet for the Chevy twins. Discreetly I returned to the window and tried to block her view from where they were parked, but she only put a cigarette in her mouth and bent her head forward to hold it to the lighter. Her eyes passed over me. Then she did a double take on something past me.
"Where the hell did those cars come from?"
I blinked, and swallowed, completely at a loss for words. I turned and looked at the Chevy twins, honestly unsure if I should spill my guts to her, or just play it off as something else. I knew Abby was trustworthy when it came to keeping personal secrets, and yet, if she were to find out, it would also put her in danger, which was what primarily kept my mouth shut.
When I didn't say anything, Abby narrowed her eyes and opened her door. She went to walk around me but I grabbed her arm. "Wait, Abby, there's something I need to tell you." I glanced at Prowl, who was silent and still, before turning back to face Abby who was giving me an odd look. "I—" I said, and then couldn't finish my sentence. "It's just—" I said again. I closed my eyes. "Remember that stalker cop I was telling you about?" I waited until she nodded, before I continued. "Well, the truth is, he's not so much a cop as he is . . . well . . . a giant alien robot." I grimaced, and her eyes flared in anger.
"Are you even hearing yourself right now?" Her words were a disbelieving hiss. "Are you seriously trying to tell me that you're being hunted by a robot?"
"It's the truth," I said, but she ripped her arm out of my grip.
"Bullshit," Abby said. "This entire time you've been lying to me—"
"Abby," I said to her.
"And what about that officer you introduced me to? Don't tell me he's actually been feeding this ridiculous delusion—"
"This is not a delusion," I interrupted sharply. "Believe it or not, I'm telling you the truth. Barry Cade is a fake name. His real designation is Barricade. And, yes, he's actually a giant alien robot. Same goes for that officer I introduced you to. You want to speak to him? He's right over there." I pointed to where Prowl was parked a little ways behind us.
"Are you being fucking serious right now, Jane?" She said. "Listen to yourself right now. That's a fucking car. And don't say anything, let me guess: the Chevy cars are actually robots in disguise too."
"They really are," I said, but she was already walking towards them.
"They're just cars, Jane," she said. She approached Mudflap and kicked his tire hard. "See? Would I be able to do that if he was actually an alien robot?" She kicked him again for good measure, while I looked on in shock.
I opened my mouth, but, feeling a strange sensation wash over me, closed it. I looked over my shoulder at the SUV that was parked right behind me, and my inside tingled with such a strong urge to bolt that I actually took a step away from it. What am I doing? It's just an SUV that Abby's had since I bought Astraea. Still, I couldn't rid myself of the feeling that I was being watched, and when Abby went to walk by me I grabbed her arm again to stop her.
"What the hell?" Abby tugged her arm. "Let me go, Jane. I'm leaving."
I ignored her complaints and instead examined the SUV more closely. It didn't look like there was anything wrong with it. It even had Abby's pink-coloured skull air freshener hanging off the rear-view mirror.
I took a single step forward, and the entire thing exploded into a tangled mess of moving parts. Abby screamed and the Decepticon shot towards us like a bullet out of a gun. Before I could so much as blink, however, Prowl had transformed up and tackled the Decepticon head on. I heard Skids and Mudflap transforming behind us, and dragged Abby back with me towards them. As soon as Abby realized where we were headed, she screamed again and tried to break away from me.
"Abby, stop!" I shook her as she stared up at them with wide eyes. "Look. Look at me," I said, waiting until she did before I continued. "They aren't going to hurt you and neither is the black and white bot, okay? Your SUV was a Decepticon. Everything I told you up until now was more or less the truth, just a different version of it. I'll explain everything to you later, I promise. But right now we need to get somewhere safe, okay?"
"Oh my God! Giant robots are real?" She looked from me to them. "We need to run!"
Just then the silver Audi R8 from yesterday came speeding down my laneway, along with Barricade. My eyes widened and I yanked Abby nearly off her feet as I ran over to the pasture fence and called for Astraea who was standing on the other side. Her head rose high; she galloped across the pasture to me, rearing slightly at the noise and sights, her legs striking out in front. When she came back down I turned and ran my hand across her flared nostrils soothingly, before hoisting myself onto her back. "Get on," I said to Abby, who appeared white and shaken.
"But—"
"There's no time! Just, please trust me!"
For once she complied, stepping off the fence to land neatly on Astraea's back. She wrapped her arms around my waist, and, once I felt she was situated, I grabbed a hold of Astraea's dark mane. "Hold on tight," I said to Abby, as I squeezed Astraea's sides. Immediately the mare went high and then sprung into a fast-moving gallop. Using my knees, I steered her toward the other end of the pasture.
"After the femme, Sideways!" I heard someone shout a little ways behind us. I turned my head in time to see the silver bot transform and speed after us. Instantly I urged Astraea into high gear. Her ears flicked back and she responded with a burst of speed. Faster and faster she went until once again the landscape became a blur, and only the sight of the upcoming white fence was there to guide me. I prayed that she would be able to clear the fence.
With a mighty leap we were airborne. I felt Abby lean as I leaned, and then the front legs hit the ground with a dull thud and we were off again. Astraea set off like a black rocket towards the forest. I did a shoulder check to see how far away Sideways was, alarmed to find that he was nearly upon us. I urged Astraea onward, knowing that if we could just reach the forest he would be forced to transform and we might actually stand a chance of getting away. I heard him transform behind us. Just a little farther—
Suddenly a shot struck the ground next to Astraea and we were blown off. I hit the ground with a dull thud. Abby landed somewhere next to me. I raised my head and looked at her, relived to find that she was already moving. But then my eyes turned to the motionless black body laying a few feet away, and I froze.
Astraea was dead, I knew. Her neck had broken when she'd been cast forward onto it from the eruption. Still, as I half-laid there staring at her, taking in the way her silky mane was splayed out around her, my spark refused to accept it.
My horse, Astraea, was dead.
My wrist throbbed painfully as I pushed myself shakily to my feet, but I could not bring myself to care. My clothes were covered in grass stains. Strands of golden hair had blown onto my face. I pushed them numbly away, unable to even register the pain or what was happening around me. I knelt beside Astraea's belly and ran my hands along her black body for one last time. She was still warm, and I crawled to her head and touched her ears, soft as velvet. I put my hands over her unseeing eye and closed her eyelid.
I could distantly hear Abby calling to me, desperately trying to warn me about something, and turned just in time to feel a metal hand pluck me from the ground. Feral red optics smirked at me. Abby screamed at me. I just stared up at him blankly, feeling an emotional numbness flow through me.
Then suddenly a blast hit Sideways in the arm and I was falling. As the ground rushed up to meet me, I felt a tendril of a feeling. I transformed up before my body hit the ground, and, without giving myself a chance to stabilize, lashed out with my hand at the Decepticon. I caught him right in the throat and pulled as hard as I could at the tubing there, listening as he screamed. Before I could grab more, however, I felt my damaged wrist being grabbed. Pain shot up my arm, but instead of bowing to it like I had yesterday I lashed out with my other hand and struck him in the center of his right optic.
He snarled and winced, stepping back, his optic sparking. Heat blossomed in my chest, and, without waiting for him to recover; I ran over and plucked Abby from the ground, dashing towards the woods with her in my hands. My intent was to get her to safety and then return to face him, but before I'd taken even two steps in the direction I was headed a shot rang out, piercing the ground beside me. I stopped and covered Abby, before slowly turning back around.
"Running off so soon?" Sideways sneered. Energon leaked down his throat, but his blaster pointed right at me. "Come with me now or I'll shoot your little friend there."
"Yeah because you totally wouldn't shoot her anyways if I agreed, right?" I snarled, my mind once again going to Astraea. Blackness started to close in around the corners of my vision, but I shook it off. I needed to stay strong if I was going to get both Abby and me out of this alive.
Just then another blast hit Sideways in the back and I turned to see Prowl with his gun out as he battled with Barricade in the middle of the pasture. The twins were battling it out with the green bot—Abby's former SUV—a little ways away from him, spewing various profanities at the Decepticon as they took turns shooting at him.
Suddenly Sideways turned and shot at Prowl, barely missing his wing tip as he ducked and rolled. I could hear Barricade shout something in Cybertronian and next thing I knew both of them were targeting Prowl. I froze. My head screamed at me to run while they were distracted, but my spark screamed at me to help.
"Jane! We need to go!"
But I couldn't move. I watched as the green bot also took a shot at Prowl from where he was duelling the twins and hit him square in the side. Prowl stumbled, but kept fighting, despite the fact that energon now leaked from his wound. Abby was yelling at me to run, but my legs felt like rubber.
I didn't stand a chance against any of them, I knew. If anything I'd probably just end up getting in the way. Still, I knew I had to do something to try and help.
"I can't leave," I gasped. I placed Abby down near the edge of the forest so she could hide. "I have to help him!"
"Are you crazy?" Abby yelled.
I didn't answer. I only stood back up and ran towards where the fighting was taking place. Prowl was still holding his own against the Decepticons, but barely. I could see that his wound was weakening him. Without stopping to reconsider my plan, I rushed Sideways from behind and leaped onto his back.
Immediately he snarled and tried to dislodge me, but I had years of practice on my side from having done the same thing to my sister and hung on like a monkey. I put him in a chokehold, not sure if it would have any effect on him or not, and then hung on for dear life as he spun and tore at me with his hands. When the chokehold seemed to have no effect on him, I took to beating him in the back of the head with my fist as hard as I could as he spun around, screeching. Finally, he managed to grab a hold of me and pulled me over his head onto my back, knocking the air out of me. He aimed a blaster at my head, but just as he took the shot, Prowl lashed out with his hand, causing the Decepticon to misfire at the ground beside me.
Surprisingly Barricade also growled and snarled something in Cybertronian at Sideways, whose blaster moved from me to Prowl. I quickly scrambled to my feet to tackle Prowl out of the way of the shot, feeling the ground explode mere inches from where he'd been standing. I landed on Prowl's back—thankfully not on his wings—and immediately went to get up, but the barrel of gun pointed at the back of my head stopped me dead in my tracks.
"What's wrong, femme? Lost your nerve already?" Sideways said with a snarl as he held the throat injury I'd given him. It was then I realized that the gun wasn't pointed at me but rather at Prowl, who must've already realized this fact for himself because he remained on his hands and knees.
Barricade growled, and grabbed my arm to pull me up. "Enough. The femme is coming with us. Megatron will decide what to do with her." He pushed me roughly over to Sideways, who, with a little smirk, grabbed me tightly by my damaged wrist, causing me to cry out in pain.
Prowl jolted, but before he could attempt anything Barricade smashed his foot onto his back, pushing him into the dirt, keeping his cannon aimed at his head. Blue energon seeped onto the grass from his wound, and it took everything in me not to try and break free from the hand that was holding me. Tears of frustration and fear filled my optics as it hit me then just how utterly useless I really was. Instead of helping him, all I'd managed to do was get him shot and us captured.
Not to mention that Astraea was dead.
The darkness returned to the corners of my vision as I looked over at the body laying a few feet away in the grass. It occurred to me then that I wouldn't even have the chance to bury her if I was taken by the Decepticons. The coyotes would be the ones to drag her body away, and tear her limb from limb. Everything started to shut down around me, the noises, colours, until I realized I was swaying on my feet and that Sideways had pulled me closer to keep me from toppling over. Even Barricade was giving me a strangely contemplative look.
Suddenly shots began to ring out upon the Decepticons. I looked over in time to see Ironhide firing at them from the tree line, ducking and rolling whenever they happened to fire back. My spark swelled, and I glanced over at the highway thrilled to see that even more Autobots were speeding towards us.
Barricade took a blast to the chest, and as soon as he did Prowl rolled onto his back and fired his own shot up at him using his acid gun. He fired at Sideways too, and the grip on my wrist disappeared as the silver bot's hand changed into a blaster again to fire back. Without thinking, I rammed into Sideways before he could take the shot, nearly getting blasted myself.
A flash of silver caught the corner of my vision, and before I knew it, Sideways was being attacked by an agile bot with wheels for feet. I watched with wide optics as he maneuvered tightly around the Decepticon before lashing out with his swords at his back. An accompanying yellow flash also caught my attention as another mech with pristine armour coolly went after Barricade, pounding him in the face with his fists. Together they attacked with such ruthless precision that I actually took a step away from them, before dashing back in to wrap my arms around Prowl, who at this point was stumbling to get out of the way as well.
"Jane!" I lifted my head then to find Ratchet running towards us.
He lifted Prowl's other arm over his shoulder, helping cradle his weight, and together we half-carried-half-pulled him out of the line of fire. As soon as we were far enough out of the battle, Ratchet set Prowl down on the grass and quickly set to work on his still-leaking wound. The dimness of Prowl's optics scared me almost as much as the gaping hole in his side, and I gripped his hand tightly.
"Prowl? Prowl, look at me," I said desperately. He didn't seem to hear me, and I moved one of my hands to his cheek. "Look at me, Prowl!" Pinpricks of tears began to cloud my vision as I heard Ratchet curse in Cybertronian. "Dammit, Prowl, look at me!"
Finally, slowly, his dull optics turned to face me, and I could have laughed the relief was so strong. Ignoring the sounds of the battle raging on around us, I rubbed my thumb over his cheek in what I hoped what a soothing manner, and continued to talk to him, my breath hitching at the way his optics seemed to be growing dimmer by the minute. I prayed that he would be okay.