Twenty-Five
Ari's Logic
1900 hours
November 20, 2009
New York City, Long Island, NY
Cars honked irritably at the pedestrians in the busy streets of Manhattan as the two Air Force pilots, one subordinate to her more sensible superior, finished their dinner. It had been a long drive to the city, and it felt like it had taken more hours than the actual length. Jolt, who had volunteered to go because he was curious about New York, had been a good sport, putting up with Ari's constant chatter and crummy navigation while Alexis focused on the road and getting to the right exits. Once they had gotten to New York City itself, they ended up parting ways briefly so Jolt could explore while the women ate dinner… actually while Alexis ate dinner. Ari had scarfed hers down.
Alexis grudgingly excused Ari for her rudeness. It was Mexican after all, and it was Ari and not Alexis who would be feeling it later.
"Well, the run was pretty good," Ari remarked as she and Alexis walked down the sidewalk in the bustling city. She was still finishing off a bread roll from the café they'd grabbed dinner from. "Didn't have to chew us all out at the end though…" her voice trailed off at Alexis's eye roll.
"It was necessary. Especially Starscream. Jay is in charge and I'm not budging," Alexis said as she shoved her hands into her jacket pockets.
"I can't wait for this to be over. Perkins is such a wimp. After this is over, I'm going to get a place in Boston… that's not at my mom's!" Ari said, throwing in the last part quickly. "I'm not going to a pull a Simmons and do the dorky thing by living with Mom…"
"I bet she would love it," Alexis said.
"Yeah, she would." Ari frowned thoughtfully, and then asked, "Do you know why Stanton chose another empty building on the edge of Long Island for the battleground?"
Alexis frowned as she thought back to when Kina told Stanton about it. "The building is the Montauk Air Force Station, and it was rumored that the government used to do all sorts of secret experiments there, including time travel," Alexis said, starting to see reason in the decision. "Maybe the superiors were hoping that Megatron would become suspicious and curious of the facility enough to go investigate, and we'll ambush them then."
Ari snorted. "Am I the only one seeing a pattern here? First Area 51, now this. Stanton seems to have this thing for top-secret places. Help me locate the nearest top-secret, off-limits hotspot and I can go and be ready for the next offensive ahead of everyone else," she said, kicking a red soda can a few feet down the sidewalk. Alexis glanced around for Jolt, and found him snaking along the New York traffic to their right. He seemed to be enjoying himself, despite having heard Ironhide rant about how much he disliked it.
"I can't think of any right now, sorry," Alexis said, smiling ruefully. "I'll let you know when I do though, okay?"
Ari made a face as Jolt started a dangerous game of Chicken with two daring taxis and one briefly empty lane. "Where the heck is the pharmacy? Why did Tyler's doctor have to pick the most obscure one in the entire city?" she finally asked, reminding Alexis of their real task in the city. It definitely wasn't to socialize.
"Down this way," Alexis said, hoping that Jolt would at least notice that the two women were deviating from their aimless path. "We turn left up here, and the pharmacy should be at the other end of that side street," she said, pulling out and unfolding their hand-drawn map and examining it further.
"Maybe we can lose Jolt, and have fun trying to relocate him," Ari suggested as they turned the corner, Alexis pausing in her tracks long enough for Jolt to locate them before they slipped out of sight.
"Wait, fun for him or for us? Because I don't want to do the mean American thing and ditch him like that," Alexis said when Jolt flicked his headlights to let her know that he saw them turning the corner.
"No fun Alexis, you're no fun at all. I guess having kids makes you more entertaining, like all the adults I knew growing up," Ari said, nodding her head to some invisible or inaudible beat.
"The adults were like that with you because you probably required an extra amount of energy to handle," Alexis said as she took in their surroundings. This street evidently wasn't as important as the others, it seemed unusually quiet and empty. Buildings increased the darkness of the fading sun with massive shadows. There were a few amount of civilian vehicles parked on either side of the street. Alexis could see that the perpendicular street on the other side was just as busy as the one they'd left.
The pharmacy was like any CVS, and it was mostly empty save for two cashiers, one pharmacist, and two or three customers milling around in the shelves. Ari walked straight to the back to collect Tyler's medicine while Alexis paused by the newspaper stands, reminding her of how disconnected she'd been with the outside world. The front page was a story about the federal response to Egypt and Jordan, which had not been satisfactory enough for some critics watching the current administration. She picked up the newspaper and turned it to the next page, seeing a story about rumors for another alien conspiracy rising from the ashes of Mission City. She wondered if the public ever realized that the government planted some of these rumors themselves, just to keep spectators guessing while the real business was conducted in semi-guarded pathways. Was the government counting on the fact that citizens were too busy anyway in their every-day lives to read between the lines?
"Whatcha reading?" Ari asked, coming up at Alexis's side as she folded down the top of a white paper bag. "Anything good?" she persisted as the pair of them got behind a female police officer at the cashier line.
"Just stuff on the American response to Egypt and Jordan, along with more Mission City stuff," Alexis said, offering her friend the paper, which she refused.
"Are you serious?" Ari asked. She closed her eyes in frustration and said, "Okay, guys, there is only so much you can pound out of the Mission City fiasco. It's been two years so you can kindly drop it now. What's the latest theory?"
Alexis frowned while reading the paper. "Something about organic aliens who are disguised as humans and use remote-controlled bright green gelatin slugs to get into people's heads and control them. Caused a riot in downtown Austin, Texas as well as Las Vegas," she said, her eyebrows going up in confusion as she read the text aloud.
Ari scowled. "I can't believe it took them that long to use the story I submitted last year," she grumbled, pulling the corner of the paper down so she could read it.
"You wrote this?"
"No, just gave them the basic idea with the disguised-as-humans and remote-control slugs. Can you tell that I'd stayed up late the night before watching Men In Black and an old episode of Animorphs?" Ari said as the female officer finally walked away, giving the two of them access to the counter.
"When are you ever going to learn to stop watching movies late at night?" Alexis asked as Ari placed the prescription bag on the counter. While Ari fished in her pocket for spare change, Alexis re-read the story. Now that she knew Ari was behind it, she could see Ari's fingerprints all over it.
"I'll stop when my life stops depending on it," Ari retorted. "The thing is, I had a creative writing workshop the next day, so I got my nightmare out on paper. That's what came out of it. Then I got a mass email asking for any more alien theories to submit to tabloids. Being the wonderful lazy idiot you love, I sent that in." She slapped the money for the prescriptions down on the counter as though to emphasize her point.
"You're right, you are the wonderful lazy idiot that I love," Alexis said, winking at her friend playfully as the cashier began picking through the mass of pennies, nickels, and dimes that Ari had put down.
"Emphasis on 'lazy' and 'idiot'," the cashier muttered as he counted the mass of coins out. He placed the money into the register before pushing the prescription bag forward. "Cash in the coins once in a while, will you?" he asked, not so discreetly gesturing to the jar in front that was labeled 'Tips Appreciated'.
"'Kay, I'll do that when I go out to eat again," Ari assured him as she took the bag off the counter. "Now let's go see if Jolt's wormed his way out of traffic yet."
The two of them stepped out into the street, and Ari suddenly recoiled as she spotted a police cruiser parked on the other side. Alexis would have dismissed it if it hadn't been for two things. One, she spotted Richard, Lisa's 'brother', standing there talking with the dark-haired officer from the pharmacy, and two, the cruiser's white numbers, which seemed to glow in slowly-approaching darkness, was 643.
Crap.
"Hey Ari, you remember Captain Psycho?" Alexis said tugging on her friend's sleeve to get her moving.
Ari stared at the cruiser and her eyes widened when she saw the cruiser. "Shit, I suppose it was too much to hope that he got crunched into itty bitty little bits in that little incident in Rome… the Autobots almost became the next fossilized thing in the Colosseum earlier this year because of him."
"Why the hell would Captain Psycho be in Rome?" Alexis asked, furrowing her brow in confusion.
"Because he's psycho?" Ari suggested, and Alexis didn't comment on her friend's wonderful deduction skills. Ari ran a hand through her hair and said, "You know, I still can't believe I thought he was cute. I don't even want to know what he thought of me." She fell quiet again, but for a few seconds. Then she said, "You know, this reminds me of a movie where the bad guy keeps coming back even after the sixty times the main character has tried to kill him."
"I think that's becoming a generic plot line. Sorry, I won't be able to help you on that. Come on, let's go before he notices us," Alexis said, turning to begin walking back down the sidewalk to the main street. Leaving Ari on her own for a few seconds.
"Hey pal! Are you some kind of cockroach? Because you keep coming back when I want you gone!" Ari shouted across the street, startling the two humans standing near the cruiser. "Or is it going to be one of those things where I have to drag you back to the Black Lagoon with your tail between your legs?"
"Ari!" Alexis yelled, turning abruptly on her heel.
The police officer stepped back in time as the cruiser began unfolding, discouraging Ari's request. "Okay, I've said the stupid thing for the day," Ari said as she turned and began running for Alexis just as Barricade, whom Alexis hadn't seen in two years, lunged for Ari as she darted to Alexis's side. His scarlet eyes were blazing in fury. Both women rounded the corner and winced at the earth-shattering crash behind the corner. "Is it just me or has he lost his touch?" Ari asked curiously as she and Alexis began running down the clogged sidewalk.
"I thought you said you were done with your stupid comment for the day."
"Right."
The wail of sirens and flashing lights reminded Alexis of the advantage the Decepticon hunter had over them. "Methinks that reconciliation between the Decepticons and Autobots is going to be harder than last time," Ari remarked as they rounded another corner, leaving shouts and curses in their wake as they plowed through the crowd.
"You can give them the 'acting like two-year olds' spiel. It worked last time, didn't it?" Alexis asked as the police cruiser suddenly appeared before them. Barricade must have found and taken a short cut, because he was now in front of them instead of behind.
"I was stupid and ignorant then," Ari said, dodging the cruiser as the corner of Barricade's fender caught Alexis's hip, pitching her backward into the ground. "Still stupid though, I'll hand myself that," she added as she kicked the front tire like a petty spoiled kid. Barricade retreated as though to get a better shot at them, and Ari rushed to Alexis and pulled her friend up and out of the way as Barricade lunged again. "What the hell is his problem?"
"You."
"No Alexis, seriously. We're running for our lives here. Be serious."
Alexis shrugged. "No idea then. Maybe trying to attract attention from one of his comrades?"
"That's why their god gave them communication links. To avoid the messy practice of running squishy organics over to get each other's attention," Ari said as she and Alexis retreated back around the corner. It was harder to move now, with pedestrians panicking and running in the street to escape Barricade. Drivers knocked into each other in vain attempts to avoid hitting people. It was a mass of regular chaos.
"Yeah, well, links or no links, I think Starscream noticed and is going to show up soon," Alexis said, spotting and pulling her friend down a somewhat deserted alleyway. "I hope Jolt is okay, Barricade must have spotted him and headed him off by threatening open confrontation."
"I just still can't believe I used to flirt with him, gross," Ari muttered as she and Alexis walked rapidly down the alley. They could both see the other end, opening up to another bustling street that seemed yet untouched by Barricade's rampage. The sun was still sinking below the horizon, and Alexis knew it would be way past dark if and when they got back to Suffolk County. She was also getting a nasty sense of déjà vu, remembering how she'd been cornered in Washington DC in a very similar fashion. This time though, she could see there were two ways in and out of the alley, so whichever Barricade chose to enter to harass them they could always take the opposite one.
"I wonder what's keeping him," Alexis said, attempting some of Ari's style of humor as she delicately touched her hip, where there was going to be a nasty bruise by morning.
"Maybe he's in a slugfest with Screamer… great, now I want to leave and go see," Ari grumbled as she and Alexis pressed backs together to keep an eye on both entrances. "I kind of wish I met these guys a whole lot sooner, my life's been a lot more entertaining since I met them."
"I think mine's been too exciting," Alexis murmured, tensing when she saw the shadows of pedestrians on her side. Okay, now you're overreacting…
"Captain?"
She looked up to see Jolt's hologram standing there on the sidewalk, looking somewhat nervous. "Jolt! You're all right! Did you get away from Barricade?" she asked, breaking form and limping over to him. Ari let out a squeak and followed her. "Where is he?" Alexis asked, cautiously poking her head out and looking around.
"Slugging it out with Starscream in Times Square. Thundercracker was sent to locate you while Ironhide is on his way," Jolt said, gesturing in the direction of the square.
"Cool, let's go check it out! Money on Screamer!" Ari said, walking to Jolt's alt mode. "I'm surprised Thundercracker was sent to find us, I figured he'd send Skywarp or something," she said as Alexis slipped into the car after her.
"Um, Starscream and Skywarp are in a bit of a tiff over something right now, having Skywarp around would be adding fuel to the fire," Jolt said as they headed closer to the fight epicenter
"I see," Alexis said as the engine revved and Jolt hesitated, unwilling to get close to a fight epicenter. "Jolt, just drop us off close to Times Square. Starscream needs to see that I'm still in one piece," she said, leaning forward in her seat.
"NEST is going to be there soon anyway," Jolt agreed. "Especially with the amount of damage those two are kicking up."
Alexis was afraid to see what had happened. When they got there, the streets were still clogged with cars, some intact, others not. Alexis found Starscream almost immediately after clambering out of Jolt; the riled Seeker was gazing down in a condescending manner at the Decepticon hunter as Barricade continued shaking metal and other large scraps off his self. Most of the large electronics that graced Times Square were snowy now, the Transformers' signatures interfering with the hundreds of other signals. People, for the most part, were either still cowering or hiding somewhere in the wreckage, but there were others who were brave enough to come out and watch and see if Barricade would make the next move against the silver Seeker, who was still hanging out of reach. Alexis could hear Ari getting out of Jolt behind her albeit cautiously. Alexis hoped that Ari had at least learned that not all Decepticons were complacent and would leave her alone, even when she needled them. Then Alexis hoped the lesson would live past the customary twenty-four hour life span that lessons had with Ari.
An approaching engine caused Starscream to suddenly tense up, but he relaxed marginally when it turned out to be Thundercracker. His companion however earned a snarl from the Seeker leader. "Barricade, long time no see," Skywarp drawled as he landed near Thundercracker on what Alexis guessed to be a helicopter pad.
"Not long enough, if you ask me," Barricade snapped back, throwing a detached car hood at Skywarp. The Seeker lazily batted it away as one would bat away a flimsy paper airplane. The hunter scanned the three Seekers, and Alexis got the distinct impression that she was missing something here… perhaps an old vendetta? She also sensed the exclusion as Starscream began speaking again in their language, keeping the screeches toned down to something of a tolerable level. Finally he fell silent as Barricade considered whatever it was he just said.
Only Ari could break the tension that was invisible up to that point. "I've got money on the cop one now," she said, drawing not only Alexis's attention but the Decepticons also. She looked at Alexis and said, "If a Decepticon had the brains to pick a disguise that humans would generally trust, he has a decent chance of outsmarting Screamer. Screamer relies too much on aerial assaults and staying out of reach of his opponents." She stopped and thought for a few moments before saying, "If a Decepticon had brains, he'd figure out how to use that against Screamer."
"What's this 'if' business?" Starscream screeched from where he was perched, and Alexis once again saw Ari's life shorten a bit more.
Ari stared thoughtfully at some point past Starscream's shoulder. " 'If' as in, if Decepticons had brains, which they don't because brains are organic, and would turn to mush in their heads. Then they'd short-circuit and go kaput." She stopped, and then turned and gripped Alexis's shoulder. "I know how we're going to defeat the bad guy. We'll make those jello brains you can get from a store, and then use them as projectiles! Then the bad guy will get all pissed because he's got mushy stuff in his cranium, and it'll distract him so we can bring him down!"
"Ari, if you hadn't used the word 'cranium', 'organic', and 'projectile', I would've doubted that you'd gone to school," Alexis said bluntly, raising an eyebrow at her friend's use of terminology.
"I cut classes in high school sometimes," Ari countered.
Not something to be proud of. "Starscream, you're attracting attention. Do you want this to blow farther out of proportion? You'll lose any footing you have with the Autobots!" Alexis shouted, unsure of even where he stood with them right now.
Barricade said something in their language, and then transformed back into the cruiser. Taking care to come a little too close for Ari's comfort when he passed her, he shot off into the gathering darkness of New York City. There was silence before Ari said, "Wonder what his problem was."
"He will not be aiding us this time in the fight against Megatron," Starscream said, dropping ungracefully onto the already-wrecked pavement of the road. "Coward," he added in an undertone as he looked down at the two humans. At this point, Jolt had transformed and was now tensed, waiting for some nasty trick of Starscream's. But the Seeker did nothing except transform back into his jet form. "Hurry up," he snapped after a moment of silence.
"Take care, and keep the trip PG-13 okay? Don't want to give the helpers back at base a heart attack just 'cause you two were occupied," Ari said, winking at Alexis's suddenly pink face.
"Oh, shut up!" Alexis hissed as she accepted a slight boost from Jolt onto Starscream's wing. Jolt transformed as Alexis walked over to the cockpit on the jet's body. Alexis wasn't sure if it was a trick of the fading light or not, but there seemed to be a series of patterns engraved on Starscream's wings. She decided not to ask, but got into the cockpit. As the glass hatch came down, she watched as Jolt transformed, and Ari got in after flipping the bird to something Skywarp had said. There was a moment of awkward silence for Alexis as Starscream easily took to the darkening skies, Thundercracker and Skywarp behind him, flanking his sides. Finally she asked, "So Jolt said you and Skywarp were in a tiff about something. What is it?"
He was silent for a moment. "Remember what I told you about Scalpel? That he was Megatron's spy?" he asked quietly.
Yes she remembered that all right. Ari had nearly caught them both but wrote it off as a caffeine buzz and went back to sleep. "You said he was being watched," she said, pulling back a shred of their conversation.
"Yes, well, Skywarp lost sight of him. Scalpel had been prowling around the Autobots when he abruptly vanished from Skywarp's sensors. It doesn't help that he'd been talking to Aliskevicz at the same time," he said. "I made the error of mentioning that to Barricade. He bowed out, saying he didn't want to get caught in another power play of mine. He was busy anyway, keeping a little stash of American fugitives hidden for his use. Apparently he's still got an undercover agent prisoner and it gave him the cooperation of the agent's teammates. Enough so that the female Peyton was willing to play wife to Thundercracker's disguise to throw off anyone suspicious."
"Oh," Alexis murmured to herself. Stanton's suspicions were correct once again. "Ever consider that Barricade might squeal?" she asked.
"He does, and I win, he'll be paying for his treachery," Starscream snapped, effectively ending that discussion thread. Alexis thought of the unknown variable of Starscream's victory, but didn't say anything.
"The only reason you're backing Stanton up on this is because it works out for you if Megatron dies again," Alexis said quietly, drawing her jacket closer to her self. "And if she loses, you can deny involvement." She looked down at her feet, hating that she didn't know where she factored in Starscream's planning, if at all. "If we lose, we'll all die. Except probably NEST, and you and your Seekers."
"That's why I want you to stay back. So that I know you'll at least survive the first wave of his vengeance, and it'll give me time to return and take you to safety. I already have a location figured out," he replied, sounding smug.
"Where?" Alexis asked.
"Not telling. So you can deny any knowledge if Barricade or another Decepticon captures you," he said calmly.
"Okay, why are you doing this?" she asked as she felt him beginning to descend. The other two Seekers she noticed had disappeared at some point during the flight. But Starscream didn't honor her with an answer right away; instead he moved slowly into the brightly lit hangar and came to a complete stop before opening the hatch. Alexis looked up and was surprised to see his hologram standing there, offering his hand. She let him help her out of the cockpit, and she was about to kneel then sit down to get off the jet altogether when he pulled her back up to his height. "Why are you doing this?" she repeated after they stared at each other for a few more moments.
"You may have changed in the last two years, but I can still see that unsure female who was thrown into a partnership with a Decepticon who was bent on making her life hell the entire way through. But surprisingly, you stuck it out and survived," Starscream said in a calm voice. "I like your spirit," he said slowly, dropping his head so that his face was level with hers. Reflexively Alexis felt her muscles tense slightly, and then mentally kicked herself and forced herself to look him in the eye. She was a seasoned pilot, not a sixteen year old.
He carefully tilted her chin up and leaned forward, his eyes locked on hers. He lowered his head slowly, and Alexis bit her lip, hearing her heart and wondering what held her back from simply letting go and accepting him back. Slowly, she finally lowered her guard and released all her suspicions and concerns, anything that held her back. She felt his hand wrap gently around the top of her back and she closed her eyes…
A flash of light interrupted her mentality, and next thing she knew, Starscream was gone and there was feminine screeching. Face reddening, she turned in time to see Ari's dark ponytail flash out of sight around the corner as Skywarp's hologram tackled Starscream. The two got into a tussle before completely disappearing from sight. Alexis suddenly realized their plan, and quickly got off of Starscream's wing as his engines suddenly powered out and he managed to turn around and take off to the starry skies. She ran out into the darkened tarmac and looked up in time to see Starscream collide with another being, Skywarp from the hyena-like sounds coming from the fight.
Face burning slightly because she let Ari get a photo out of this, she resolved to see about settling vengeance against her friend and subordinate. She wasn't upset with Ari or anything, it was somewhat her fault for forgetting that they were in a public place and Ari had been planning to meet up with her anyway. She did hear recently however that Ari wasn't on good terms with the twins Skids and Mudflap…
"See you tomorrow… I guess," she whispered softly into the night sky, before turning on her heel and retreating back into the safety of the base and her own world.