Title: Transformers III The Day That Never Comes
Genre: Action/Drama/Romance
Rating: T for mild language, some strong violence, some crude and sexual humor.
Summary: With a chaotic end approaching, choices must be made that may end one war and will start a new one. Problem is, how will Earth be able to accept their possible fate?
~Chapter Twenty-Three~
Pushing All The Wrong Buttons
The interrogation room that was being used was large enough for the Autobots to stand up in. In truth, it was one for both humans and Decepticons. It was located right next to the Brigg, if not conjoined with it. There was a part of the room that was just for interrogating enemy Cybertronians. That part had rather large chains and wires for hooking up the one being questioned, allowing the machines to lock the Cybertronian in bipedal form and without weapons. The chains were made out of adamantine steel so it would be a little hard for one to break them.
Unfortunately, it had been Ironhide who had tested them out and he hated them as it was. He had tried breaking out of them, using all of the strength he had but they were pretty thick and strong. He even tried activating his weapons, even though it was suppose to be the test, itself. But no so much luck.
It was only when he started threatening everyone that if they didn't get the chains off of him, he would make their lives the living pits.
Everyone believed him and quickly took the chains off.
The human side of the interrogation room was a little bit smaller, obvious. There were about six large hard plastic/glass rooms lined up. Inside each of the rooms, there were bolted down steel tables and chairs with links so that one could be hand cuffed to the chairs. And that was one of those rooms where they were interrogating Freddricks.
However, the interrogation wasn't going so well. Simmons and Will were the ones who tried to interrogate Freddricks, but all the Department agent did was smile smugly as he looked past them at Cole as she stood fuming outside the interrogation room.
The only reason why she was fuming was because Simmons wouldn't let her in to help interrogate her former fellow Agent. It was probably a good thing because all she wanted to do was beat him to hell until he started singing like a canary. She wanted nothing more than just get her hands on him and everyone knew that. That was why Simmons was the one who told her she wasn't going in. And to make things worse, Keller backed him up.
Optimus Prime, Starscream, Jetfire, Skywarp, Ironhide, Hound and Wheeljack were the Cybertronians who standing back and watching the interrogation. It had been an uneasy debate about letting the two Decepticons watch and listen to what was being said. Most of the Autobots who had been in the IT room had tried protesting when Starscream asked Optimus if he could watch. They didn't like the idea at all. They were sure that he was up to something. But Optimus figured out why the Seeker wanted to watch and listen. He could see the mild curiosity in the Decepticon's eyes and knew that he just wanted to see this so called dangerous Department agent. So he allowed it.
As for the interrogation, it just was not going the way that Simmons and Lennox both wanted.
"Hey! Stop looking away from me and answer the questions that we're asking!" Simmons finally snapped when he noticed, once again, that Freddricks wasn't even looking at him. He even slapped his hand against the desk between them to get his attention. "Where are the Department facilities located?"
Impatiently rolling his eyes, Freddricks finally looked over at him and shook his head. He didn't look intimidated whatsoever. "You're not very good at this, are you?" He smirked at the irritated look that Simmons shot at him. "You actually kind of suck. The threats you've been giving me, I honestly don't care about. You can try and lock me up in a federal prison for the rest of my life, but what makes you think I'll end up staying there? And it's obvious that you don't have a clue about my background before the Department because you haven't tried threatening my family, which you would be wasting your time because I don't have one. I don't need a bunch of weak saps being used against met." He then looked past Simmons again at Cole, smirking coldly. "And I won't talk to you. So quit wasting your damn time, pencil neck."
Simmons growled, glaring hard at him. He knew this wasn't going well at all. If anything, it wasn't Freddricks that was intimidated or even getting flustered. It was him, the former Sector Seven agent, who had spent his entire life figuring out a system on interrogation and blackmail.
Will frowned darkly at the Department agent before heaving a sigh and grabbing Simmons' shoulder, pulling him away from the desk. "Simmons, we better rethink this. He's not talking to us. It's not going to work." He whispered to the frustrated agent.
"Well, what do you think we should do then, Captain Obvious?" Simmons growled at him.
Frowning back at him, Will shook his head before tearing his eyes away from him and looking at Cole, who raised an eyebrow at him. He heard Simmons already starting to protest but he waved him off and motioned for the former Department to come in. He ignored the smug look in the woman's eyes before she went to the door, with Keller following behind. Her smug smile was gone, giving him a dark look but she didn't say no to him following her inside.
Cole entered the room with Keller in the tow, her face hardening when she looked right at Freddricks, who was smirking at her. She glared at him but didn't say anything just yet. She just dipped her head down a little, giving him a bitter look before looking at Will. "Well?" She merely asked.
Will, once again, waved Simmons off when he tried to protest. He gave him a look of warning as he kept at it. "Like it or not, Simmons, your way isn't working. He's a Department agent so he probably has had training on interrogations." He looked back at Cole with a heavy sigh. "So why don't we let a former Department agent interrogate the Department agent?" He then motioned towards Freddricks with a sweep of his hand. "He's all yours, Cole. Just don't get violent. You do, you're out of here." He warned her.
Smirking at him, Cole quirked an eyebrow at him before her face turned stone cold again as she looked back at Freddricks, who did not lose his own smirk. She took a deep breath before walking over to the desk and folding her arms. "Hello, Freddricks." She said very coldly.
Freddricks snorted as he lift his head in a very sarcastic way and smirked right at her. "Hello, Colette Keller." He sneered when her eyes flashed. "Oh, I forgot. You hate that name, don't you?" He asked with dark amusement.
Narrowing her eyes at him, Cole shook her head before shifting her weight and easing a slow breath out. She wasn't going to let him get to her. She couldn't right now. "Let's get to the point, Richard Freddricks." She smirked coldly when the smug smile on the Department agent's face was gone, looking surprised. "What, you think you weren't the only one who snuck around in Hollander's personal files, looking at the others' names? Looks like you're not that smart, Richie." She allowed her smirk to grow when Freddricks growled at her. "Answer the damn questions and I won't call you by your little pet name that was used against you in high school, all right? Which facility is being used to experiment on the old Sector Seven projects that was created by the alien cube before it was taken and destroyed?"
There was a brief pause as Freddricks began his own glare at her before he snorted and shook his head. "What, you're not worried about those alien robots that Hollander's studying?" He asked sarcastically.
Again, Cole narrowed her eyes at him in a dead panned way. She wasn't let him get to her. She kept telling herself that, anyway. "No." She said in a dead way before flicking a finger over her shoulder to where the two Decepticons were watching the interrogation. "They sure do. You might recognize those ones by their red eyes. They're the ones called the Decepticons, the so called enemies of the blue eyed ones. You remember that big smoky black one that we caught with Big Red when we were after the kid, Rex Rory? Well, she happens to be here too. And I doubt that she'll be very happy to even see you. She wasn't happy to see me." She remarked.
Freddricks didn't retaliate but give her a dead look. He had that look that Cole recognized in his eyes. The whole calculating look that he got when he was trying to come up with an idea of how to get to her.
"Don't play games with me, Freddricks." Cole warned him dangerously. "And don't play games with the aliens. The two red eyed ones do not have a problem with hurting you to making you talk. I doubt the blue eyed ones will allow it, but if I might just talk them into it. And we all know how my negotiating skills are. I don't only bash people's faces in when they annoy the hell out of me and you know it. So start talking." She emphasized the last three words in warning.
Again there was a pause before Freddricks' eyes flashed with amusement and Cole realized he might have just figured out an idea of how to get under her skin. She gave him a warning look but he ignored it.
"It must be really eating you, isn't it?"
Narrowing her eyes again, Cole tilted her head to the side, letting her red waves spill down and over her folded arms. "What?" She nearly snapped out.
His smirk curling into a cruel smile, Freddricks shook his head as he looked her right into the eyes. He might as well get it over with. "It must be really getting to you to just be standing there, glaring at me, having to ask questions about the little alien robots for the benefit of the aliens when you could be asking me about your pretty boyfriend." He sneered.
Eyes flashing dangerously, Cole gritted her teeth before dropping her arms to her sides. She didn't want to go there. "One, Sean wasn't my boyfriend. So quit assuming that he was. He was my partner, just like the partner you had before you shot him for annoying you. Two, we're not going there. So..." She was saying.
"Oh, I think we are going to go there, Cole." Freddricks interrupted with a sneer. He ignored the dangerous look she gave him, shaking his head. "Why haven't you asked me where he is, yet?"
Her eyes flashing again, Cole frowned. She could almost detect something in his tone. There was something he was trying to say without really saying it. "Sean is dead, you asshole. You shot him and killed him in New York when you were chasing us." She said darkly, yet there was uncertainly in her tone.
Behind her, Will, Simmons and Keller glanced at each other, all showing the surprise in their eyes. They were starting to get the idea of where this was going. But it couldn't be helped that they wanted to know what Freddricks was talking about.
"Did I really shoot him and kill him, Cole?" Freddricks sneered, his grin growing bigger when he saw the alarm starting to grow in his former fellow Department Agent's eyes. He slowly nodded. "I did shoot him. In the shoulder, you dumb bitch. He's very much alive. Very hurt, but he's still breathing." He told her.
Cole's breath caught in her chest as her eyes grew wider as she let the information settling in. She felt as if she'd had all of the air sucked right out of her. Her mind flashing with Sean's image within. She couldn't believe this. It had to be a trick. "You're lying." She shot out, breathless.
Freddricks shook his head sneering at her. "I wish I was, bitch. Unfortunately, at the last second, when you ran off to save your selfish ass, Hollander called us and told us to take him alive. I wasn't happy about it, but I did extract my somewhat vengeance on him for annoying the shit out of me. I shot him in the shoulder and then we took him in."
"Where is he?" Cole immediately demanded, stepping forward and slapping her hands onto the desk so she could lean in towards him. "Where is Sean?"
"Cole," Keller started to say behind him.
Shooting him a look, Cole shook her head. "Shut up, Keller. I'll handle this." She warned before giving Freddricks a dark look. "Where did you take him, Freddricks? How bad is he hurt?" She demanded.
Freddricks sneered again but shook his head as he slowly leaned forward to meet her glare. "He's where you'll never reach him in time, bitch. Not before Hollander uses him in his upcoming experiment." He told her in a very dark way.
Her breath caught again as her eyes snapped wide open before Cole lashed out and grabbed him by the collar of his jacket, yanking him forward, even though it was a little tough with his hands cuffed to the chair. He winced a little at the discomfort but kept the smirk on his face. "What the hell are you talking about? What experiment?" She demanded.
"Cole! Back off! He's goading you!" Will immediately stated as he hurried forward to get her to release the prisoner. He placed a hand onto her shoulder to calm her down but she wrenched free, still glaring at her former fellow agent. "Cole!"
"Shut up!" Cole shot over her shoulder at him but did not look away from Freddricks. "What experiment are you talking about?" She snapped at him.
Merely shrugging as best as he could, Freddricks looked as if it wasn't even a big deal. "Oh, you know. The usual stuff that Hollander likes to pull. Cutting bodies open and stuffing alien technology in them just to see if he could create cyborgs and see how the human body could even take it." He then squinted his eyes a little, rather thoughtfully. "Now that I think about it, I think he started on Sean...say...yesterday. He's probably dead, however. None of the other human/alien experiments ever really lasted very long. All well. Good riddance, I say."
Giving an outraged growl, Cole yanked harder on his collar, making him yelp in pain as his hands were jerked against the cuffs. She felt Will now wrapping an arm around her waist, trying to pull her back but she refused to let go. "Where is he, Freddricks? Where is Sean? Tell me!" She yelled into the Department agent's face.
"Cole! Let go!" Keller called as he hurried over to help Will pull her away.
Cole ignored them as she got right up into Freddricks' face, which was twisted in pain from his wrists. She refused to allow them to pull her free, even as they both grabbed at her hands and try to pull them off of the agent's clothes. "Tell me where Sean is, you son of a bitch? Where is Sean?" She screamed.
Will finally grabbed at her wrists and squeezed tightly so that her grip would loosen. He was only too glad when she was forced to let go. He took that opportunity to wrench her away from the desk and start dragging her across the room. He had to hold tight to her when she began thrashing against him to get away from him.
Freddricks, however, made matters worse as he sank back into the chair, relieving himself of the pain in his wrists. He just laughed harshly at her. "Not your boyfriend, huh?" He called over her out raged screams at Will. "You two were sure going at it before we broke it up in New York! I know because I'm the one who had the sniper rifle! Would have been an interesting show to see pretty boy take your clothes off! I always wanted to see what you looked like in the nude! Just a slut that you are!" He called.
Screaming in rage, Cole began fighting with Will to break loose. She was thrashing and trying hard to jerk away from him. She even elbowed him in the gut, knocking the air out of his lungs. That impact did make him let her go so he could wrap his arms around his stomach. He swore breathlessly when she lunged back across the room to get at Freddricks and even tried to scamper after her, even without air in his lungs.
However that was unnecessary when Keller quickly caught Cole around the shoulders and started to push her towards the door. It was his turn to start fighting with her to get her out of the room.
"Cole! Stop! Now!" The SecDef had to yell over her angry yells as he tried to keep a good grip on her.
"Get off of me! I'm going to kill him!" Cole yelled as she tried to push back against her father. She glared furiously at Freddricks, who had the nerve to just laugh harshly at her. "I'm going to kill you, Richard! I'm going to make you suffer as you die!"
Just then a large hand wrapped around her, taking her away from Keller and lifting her up and out of the interrogation room.
It was much relief to Keller as Optimus took Cole from him. He just breathed heavily, even while listening to Cole screaming threats to Freddricks. He knew there was going to be a back lash later for not letting her harm the Department agent any more than she already tried to. He knew that she was going to be extremely difficult later on.
But for now...
His face hardening, Keller turned slowly and looked at the laughing Freddricks, even while Will and Simmons shared his glare at the man who thought it was funny torturing Cole like that. They were not amused whatsoever with what he just pulled.
"I don't think you understand the situation you just put yourself into, Agent Richard Freddricks." Keller said in a very low voice, interrupting the agent's laugh.
"Hoo, really?" Freddricks sneered as he looked at the SecDef. "What are you going to do to me now, huh? Put me back in the Brigg and then ship me off to prison? Huh? Yeah right! It isn't going to work! nothing you will say or do will work, Keller!" He laughed harshly again.
Keller slowly shook his head before he stuffed his hands into his jacket pocket and lift his head. He had only one thought in his mind. He didn't like it and he knew that the Autobots weren't going to like it. But so far, Simmons' interrogation techniques hadn't worked. Cole's hadn't worked. All it did was piss her off and even hurt her deep within. He knew it was killing her to know that her partner, Sean was still alive and probably was being cut to pieces by some sick mad man who was threatening not only Cybertronian lives but human lives. He knew that there was information that Freddricks was withholding and they could not afford letting him even go to prison without that information.
So it was time to do something very drastic.
Giving Freddricks a dry stare, Keller shook his head before looking at Will and Simmons, motioning them out of the room. They frowned at him but slowly did what they were told. He followed after them but made sure to leave the door open so that Freddricks could hear what he was about to say next.
His aged blue eyes went straight to Starscream, lifting his head a little as he met those burning red eyes. "Starscream, may I ask how Decepticons interrogate their prisoners?" He asked.
Everyone in the room froze. Freddricks included. He no longer was laughing but looking at Keller's back with wide eyes. No one could believe what he was asking.
Starscream, however, slowly smirked as he looked down at the human before his burning eyes flicked over to the human within the interrogation room. He knew what the old human was asking him to do. It wasn't hard to figure out. "Painfully." He merely stated coldly, yet amused.
Keller gave a jerking nod. "Then he's all yours." He said very coolly before turning swiftly and started towards the door. He, however, paused when he heard the Autobots starting to murmur to each other. He looked up to see that Cole had stopped screaming in rage when she had heard what he had said. But he shook his head and looked up at Optimus, who looked quite taken aback by what he had just done.
"John, you cannot be serious..." Optimus was saying.
"Unfortunately, Optimus, I am very serious." Keller immediately stated, looking up at him before heaving a sigh. "I don't want to resort to this. But our ways are not working. And as it is, we're not finding much of a choice. We have a good man who is probably being used in some inhumane experiment by a mad man. And we have those babies of yours to find before they are killed. The only choice I'm going to make," He merely glanced at the smirking Starscream, who was eyeing the now terrified looking Freddricks. He knew that the Decepticon would have loved getting his claws dirty just to find some valuable information. Especially if it was about Sparklings in danger. "I'm making the choice of granting the Decepticons permission to taking over the interrogation. What I don't see happen doesn't happen. And if you don't want to see what they do to Agent Freddricks, then I suggest that we all leave the room then. Just until they're finished." He stated.
There was a very unsettling silence before Ironhide groaned before grabbing Hound's and Wheeljack's shoulders, who both looked alarmed about what was happening. Now, Wheeljack wasn't Prowl, but he did look like he was about to pull the same situation as the Autobot Second In Command usually did and glitch out. "Come on. I know, Hound, Wheeljack. I can't believe we're actually going to let the Cons do what they want to a human either. But I think at this point," He even gave a pointed look towards Optimus, who was looking pretty uneasy about this. "Keller's gotta point, Optimus. The human ain't talking to them. And I doubt that he'll talk to us. So I say, and I can't even believe I'm even saying this, let the Cons get 'em talking." He said now pulling the two alarmed Autobots out of the room.
Sighing heavily, Optimus dipped his head into a nod before looking over at Starscream, who met his gaze. "Starscream..." He was beginning to say.
"Oh, don't you worry, Prime." Starscream said with a slight sneer as he slowly took a step towards the interrogation room. "I won't kill him. I won't even touch him." He told him before jerking his head around and dropping heavily to one knee with a booming thud as he jerked his head right over the interrogation room, causing Freddricks to yelp in surprise and fear. "START TALKING NOW!" He snarled down at him.
"AGHHHH! What the hell?" Freddricks yelped before looking fearfully over at Keller. "Are...are you fu-fucking serious? You're actually letting one of the aliens try and intimidate me? It isn't going to work!"
Keller shook his head as he paused in the door way of the Interrogation room. "Unfortunately, you're not giving me a choice, Agent. So, yes. I am granting Starscream permission to do what is necessary to get you talking about where the Sparklings are being kept and Former Agent Sean. Like I said, if I didn't see it, it didn't happen. And this won't even go on the record." He said before waving a hand at Starscream to continue as he walked right out.
Freddricks looked fearfully up at the snarling Decepticon above him before cringing in his chair. "Yo-you won't hurt me! You're a..." He was saying with terror.
Smirking down at him in such an evil way, Starscream shook his head before holding up one of his claws and allowing one finger to start sparking up with electricity. "I'm not a fragging Autobot, human pest. I'm a Decepticon. And we will use pain to get you talking about the information. So if you don't want to feel extreme pain, I suggest you start saying something." He warned with dark amusement before starting to reach forward with a sparking claw.
Freddricks stared up at him in disbelief and fear, wondering if they were serious about this. He couldn't believe this at all. He couldn't believe that the Secretary of Defense of the United States of America was actually going to let an alien robot torture him for information. He didn't believe it for a few seconds. That is until that sparking claw came ever so closer that the hair on his face began to stand up and tingle in warning. He cringed away from it, eyes tightly closed and awaiting for the pain to come. "ALL RIGHT! I'LL FUCKING TALK!" He managed to yelp out, still waiting for the jolt of electricity to pass into him.
But after a few seconds when nothing happened, Freddricks opened one eye and saw that coy smirk on the Seeker's face as he pulled back his claw away from his face.
Nonetheless, at his outburst, everything seemed to have stopped within the room. Optimus had stopped from carrying Cole out of the room and turned back so that they both could look at him, while even Simmons and Will turned around and looked back at them. Jetfire was snickering from his dark corner, shaking his head. And even Keller popped his head back into the room, proving that he had just been waiting outside the room all along. All of them had been sure that once they had left the room or had been leaving the room, they would have heard that outburst of pain of what Starscream had been planning to do.
But it was the smug look on the Seeker's face that revealed it to all but the terrified out of his mind Freddricks. He didn't even seem to notice the look that Starscream wore. It only made everyone else realize that had only been trying to scare the human agent into talking. He hadn't planned on harming Freddricks at all.
"Th-the facil-facility that we're using is Lebanon, Kansas." Freddricks stammered, quivering in his chair as he gazed fearfully up at the giant robot before him. "The very he-heart of the United States."
Everyone looked at him in surprise but relieved that he finally cracked and gave them the information that they needed to save lives. Sean's and the Sparklings.
Optimus frowned as he took in the information before looking over at Starscream, who met his gaze. They both seemed to have shared a quick word with each other before the Seeker was nodding and glaring back down at the prisoner. "And that's where the Sparklings and the human designation, Sean is being kept?" He demanded. He barely caught sight of Cole's head jerking up and looking at him in surprise.
Shakily, Freddricks nodded as he stared up at the clearly very dangerous alien robot. He knew what the consequences were for revealing such valuable information like this. But it really couldn't be helped. This alien robot called Starscream was extremely intimidating. "Ye-yes. That is one of our main scientific research facilities and second base of operations. The bitch..." He was saying before flinching when both Cole and Starscream growled at him. They only glanced at one another when they heard each other doing it at the same time. "Cole! I meant Cole! Cole doesn't kn-know about it because she was-wasn't trusted by Hollander!"
"What? What do you mean I wasn't trusted by Hollander?" Cole demanded narrowing her eyes at him. "I was one of the best field agents! So why wouldn't he have trusted me?"
Freddricks shot her a look, clearly not afraid of her at all. He wasn't going to answer to her. He knew she was dangerous and vicious but right at the moment, she wasn't even able to march over and beat him bloody because she was being held by the large blue and red Autobot Commander.
However, a deep vicious growl much closer to him made Freddricks' head jerked and he cringed under the glare that the rusted Silver robot was giving him. It was actually quite surprising to everyone to see that Starscream was actually growling at a human for not answer another human. "Answer her question." He growled, surprising everyone even more. Skywarp was actually gaping at him, his optics at the widest setting and his mouth hanging open.
Gulping nervously, Freddricks nodded before looking at Cole, who was eyeing the Decepticon with surprise and suspicion. "You...you weren't trusted because you're the SecDef's daughter, Cole Keller. Whether you like him or hate him or not. Hollander didn't trust you with a lot of the Department secrets because of your relations with him. There are so many secrets that you don't even know." He stated nervously glancing up at the vicious Decepticon nearest to him.
Cole glared at him for a moment for even mentioning her name but then shook her head. She was not amused by his answer but it was an answer at least. She didn't like the idea of not knowing most of the secrets in the Department. "And so you do know them?" She asked coldly.
Freddricks shook his head. "No. No one knows all of the secrets. I just know more than you. I also know that soon enough, your big robot buddies aren't going to be happy with the news that'll be coming to them very soon." He remarked, gaining only the slightest smirk.
There was a moment's pause as the words settled in before Cole's eyes flashed as it hit her about what he was talking about. "The new weapons? They're finished?" She asked, not sounding happy.
Everyone frowned at her, curious about her meaning. They were all wondering what these new weapons were that she was talking about. And it was obvious that these weapons were going to be used against them. There was no one else that they could probably be used against.
"Weapon?" Jetfire was the one to ask.
Merely glancing at him, Cole shook her head before folding her arms and resting them right on Optimus' hand, seeing that he wasn't going to be putting her down any time soon. She knew that it was because he was trying to avoid her going berserker rage on Freddricks again. "They're powerful EMP based weapons that destroys anything electronic. The electric magnetic pulse will not just overload systems and such. It makes computers literately fry and burn, can even completely knock out the power lines, destroying the transformers and such. They're even mixed with scattershot sabot rounds, allowing the bullets to rip into some of the toughest metal. It will probably do more than knock you guys out. It'll probably literately rip into you guys and destroy you beyond all repair." She sighed heavily and looked away with a bitter look. "I know because I watched one of the tests once."
Starscream was the first and loudest to start growling as he glared down at her.
Glancing back at him, Cole shook her head. She was frowning, a little irritated that he was taking it out on her, in a way. "Believe me, it wasn't my idea. And even so, I didn't know what they were. If I would have realized what they were, I would have said something about it. So don't you get huffy with me, tincan with wings." She warned him.
Again, Starscream growled while the others looked on with wide eyes. The Autobots were sure that the Decepticon would at least try and smash her by now. But surprisingly, he made no such move.
"What the fuck are Sparklings, anyway?" Freddricks asked irritated at the very term that even Cole was using. He didn't understand, nor wasn't sure if he cared. But it was curiosity that was driving him to ask. He only ended up flinching a little when the vicious growl from Starscream was now being directed to him.
However, Cole surprised all by sharing Starscream's dark look at the Department agent as she folded her arms and shifted her weight impatiently. "They're robot babies, you moron. Hollander has been experimenting on these guys' babies." She growled at him.
Freddricks stared at her for a long moment as if she had suddenly grown two more heads before he made a disgusted sound. He looked highly disgusted by what she said. And only for a brief moment did everyone think that he was sharing Cole's very thoughts. Until he opened his mouth. "Are you kidding me? These things are breeding?" He groaned in disgust.
A lot of dark looks were thrown at him by Cybertronians and humans, alike. While, Starscream, however, snarled, making Freddricks flinch away from him again. They weren't pleased that he was saying it like it was some kind of manufactured disease to destroy the planet. Cole scoffed while rolling her eyes at Freddricks. "Yeah. So what? It's not like you care about kids as it is." She snapped at him.
Freddricks rolled his own eyes. "Hell, you got that right. I hate kids. They're so annoying, demanding and messy. I wouldn't be caught dead having kids of my own. They're nothing but trouble. Still, if these creatures are breeding and having offspring, looks like we got our work cut out for us. Hollander's gonna have to work harder to destroying..." He was saying.
Again, Starscream snarled, making Freddricks flinch and cower in his chair while he slammed his fist into the ground, causing the floor to shake violently. "Fragging finish that and not even Prime will be able to save you from me!" He growled into the human's face. "And we are Cybertronians! Not things or creatures! Get it through your fragging head and show some respect, you little insect!"
"Starscream." Optimus quickly spoke up, firmly yet not in reprimand. He understood why the Seeker was acting the way he was. It was all thanks to Dawn to even be able to understand what Sparklings or children even meant to someone like Starscream. He would have never guessed in a million years that the Decepticon Seeker did have a soft spot deep down within his Spark for such youth. Cybertronian or human. It didn't seem to matter to Starscream. It was enough to respect him for it. "Agent Freddricks," Optimus spoke sternly as he looked down at the human agent. "I would tread very carefully with what you say. I'm afraid if you continue on with aggravating Starscream, I won't be able to stop him in time. But I must caution you. You should at least appreciate what opportunities you have now. But you don't. You don't understand what chances you have now when you could lose them forever when it does come to be the time you will care." He shook his head, frowning. "As it is, the Sparklings are not really of our own. They are of the All Spark, the Cube that Sector Seven had studied for many years. And we will be finding the Sparklings and taking them back so that no more harm will befall upon them. What Miss Cole has told us, it is a travesty to what is being down to them. I'm afraid we cannot allow those acts to go against..." He was saying.
"Dude!" Freddricks interrupted loudly, making a disgusted but annoyed face up at Optimus. "Do you always talk like that, alien? You sound like some medieval freak from Romeo and Juliet! Like the Americans say about immigrants who don't fucking speak English while on OUR land, speak English and talk like a normal person! Not that you are even a person." He added a little quieter.
Optimus, the Autobots, the humans and even the Decepticons gave Freddricks quite the dark look for his remark. They sure didn't appreciate the racial jab he had shot at Optimus. But nonetheless, Keller seemed to be fed up with it. He waved a hand at Will towards the Department Agent. "Enough. We have some of the information we need for now. Commanding Major Lennox, put him back in the Brigg cell." He ordered.
Will nodded and saluted him sharply before he did what he was told.
Once Freddricks was taken out of the interrogation room, Optimus finally set Cole down on the ground, yet very carefully. He was very relieved when she didn't attempt to follow after Will to get at Freddricks.
However, Keller was not. He looked torn between being very stern with her behavior or being soft about her feelings. "Cole, we will find your companion. We will do everything to locate him, rescue him and save him for you. I know it must be very hard for you but you cannot do that again. That was completely unnecessary..." He was saying.
Giving him a dry look, Cole shook her head as she turned away from him. "Don't tell me what to do, Keller. You're not my father anymore. You have to earn that right again. Not that you can ever." She said coldly before she started to walk away. But she stopped again when she thought of something and turned back. "That was really risky what you did back there. Allowing the Decepticon to scare the hell out of Freddricks like that. You knew that he would do that, didn't you?" She required to know.
Starscream only glowered at her, a deep growl deep within his vocal processor. "I would have done more than scare the lubricants out of him." He growled, mostly to himself.
Keller, however, smiled tightly and shook his head as he and everyone ignored the Decepticon Seeker. "Actually I didn't know that Starscream's only intent was to scare Freddricks into talking." His words surprised all, the Decepticon Seekers, especially. "I actually was being very serious about letting Starscream interrogate Freddricks." He admitted again.
Her mouth slightly open, Cole stared hard at him. She didn't understand him. She knew what would have happened if Keller would have actually let one of the robots harm a human and the higher ups would have found out about it. "Why? You could have lost your job if anyone finds out." She stated.
Again, Keller shook his head, smiling tightly. "It is amazing what a father would do for his daughter when one hurts them. I was and am willing to taking the risk of allowing Starscream to do what it was necessary to get Freddricks to talk about the location of the Sparklings and your boyfriend." He told her.
Giving him a look of disgust, Cole shook her head as she dropped her arms to her side. "He isn't my boyfriend." She said coolly. "He might care about me as a lover would, but I don't share the same feelings as he does, did. I don't love him. I like him as a partner or a friend. But he is not my lover."
And with that, she started to storm out. But again, she paused to look back up at Starscream, who was watching her in return. She bit her lip for a second, something that even Keller recognized as her thinking very hard about something before she shrugged. "Thank you...for asking about Sean, though. I know you couldn't give a rat's ass about him but about the babies. But still, thank you." She said surprising everyone; most the Autobots, humans and Skywarp.
And even more surprising, Starscream gave her a jerking nod of acceptance for her gratitude.
With that said and done, Cole turned and walked out.
There was a slight pause as everyone watched her leave before all eyes went to Starscream. It took him a moment to realize that everyone was looking at him. He looked back before frowning and giving them a dark 'What-are-you-looking-at?' look. But instead of verbally asking it, he turned his burning gaze onto Optimus, who was rather thoughtful about what just happened. "So when do we, as you always annoyingly put it, roll out to retrieve the Sparklings?" He growled.
Optimus made a face at him for his remark about his traditional quote before shaking his head and sighing. "Unfortunately, not soon enough. We have only an idea of where the facility is located. But we are not certain that Agent Freddricks is telling the truth. We need to survey the area first just to be sure that is where the Sparklings and former Agent Sean is being kept." He turned away to leave, himself. "I will have Hound, Wheeljack and the human ITs do an observation sweep with Teletraan over Lebanon, Kansas first before we begin the preparations for a rescue mission." He stated.
Huffing, Starscream wasn't happy about that but he knew it was a smart decision on the Prime's part. It was better to look before leaping into whatever disaster that might have been waiting. So he would keep his patience as much as possible for now.
"Hey, Screamer." Jetfire called over to his fellow Seeker, earning quite the dark look for the stupid nickname that Skywarp, himself had come up with back on Cybertron. The purple Seeker, cringed a little when Starscream gave him an acid like look, knowing that it was his fault that Jetfire was calling him that.
"What do you want, Jetfire? And quit calling me that!" Starscream snarled.
Jetfire only chuckled before shrugging off Starscream's irritation pointed at him. "So, why'd you really help out that femme by asking about her friend? Knowing you, you don't do anything that benefits yourself. But I really don't see how it's gonna benefit you by asking about a human. So why'd you help her?" He asked with sly amusement.
There was a pause before Starscream snarled and stormed towards the door. "I didn't help her out! I don't fragging care about humans, you old mech! Besides, Optimus Prime asked me to ask about the human! Now, shut up!" He snapped in his own defense before he was out the door with Skywarp scurrying after him.
Jetfire just chuckled as he reached up and stroked his metal faceguard with a very interested but thoughtful look. "Interesting. I think things just got very interesting around here." He remarked to himself before leaving.
Simmons, however, was left forgotten in the room, still weirded out by everything that had just happened. The only thing he could do was shake his head and mutter along the lines of "stupid robots and humans and their friggen hormones..."