Chapter 26
What...why is there a girl...Ash snapped out of it with a little shake and glared right back, "My dad lives here. What are you doing here?"
The stranger blinked, then raked her eyes up and down Ash's tall, lean body. She blinked again, "You're Ashlynn?"
"It's Ash, and yes, I am." Ash shifted forward to push her out of the way when a second voice called out from the living room.
"Alice, sweetie? Who is it?"
Ash's eyes widened. 'Alice' glanced over her shoulder to yell back, but Ash interrupted her, shoving her back and out of her way.
Alice glared at her and smacked her arm off, "You're freaking rude!"
Ash ignored her, stepping inside. Her pale eyes scanned the house-old wooden walls, the broken sofa, the old TV that was on a leaning stand she remembered putting together with her dad as a child.
...The tall, beautiful dark haired woman standing in the middle of the room that was all class in her slacks and heels and ruffled blouse. Dangle earrings, rings on perfect, pale fingers. Flawless make up.
Everything Ash and her mother wasn't.
Ash hid her hands behind her back, suddenly self conscious of the callouses and little scars on them. Her fingers curled into fists when the woman raised a delicate eyebrow, "May I ask who you are?"
Alice went over to stand by her mother, a little freaking clone of her, and crossed her arms, "You can't just barge into this house like that."
"Um, excuse me, but I grew up in this house!" Ash snapped, "I can barge in if I damn want to! Last time I checked, you didn't, so why the hell are you here!"
The woman's eyes widened slightly. Her daughter scowled.
Ash tensed, feeling the tiniest bit of relief when the ground trembled ever so slightly beneath them, alerting her that Sundance had landed.
"You must be Ash," The woman said softly, eyes softening. She smiled sweetly and took a step closer, "I'm Claire, this is my daughter Alice."
Ash didn't say anything. She just watched, waiting for them to explain themselves.
Claire took another step, "I've heard so much about you from Zachary, he adores you."
Zachary? She just... Ash narrowed her eyes, brain pulling at a thousand different questions. Who was she? Where did she come from? Why the hell were they here? What did they have to do with her father? And why the hell was this fancy-ass woman calling her dad by his full, real name?
"I was wondering when I'd get to meet you," Claire kept going, "your mother, too. Raelyn sounds like quite the character-"
"Shut up."
Again, Claire blinked, "Pardon?"
Ash's voice was dangerously low, a growl, "Get out."
Claire tilted her head and moved closer. Alice looked back and forth between them and followed her mom like she was ready to jump forward and defend her if Ash decided to attack.
It was then Ash's dad walked in, skinny and blonde, with a big stupid grin on his face that she had known her entire life. He said, "I can't hardly hear myself think in there, girls! What's going...on..." He stopped halfway to the pair when his deep brown eyes landed on Ash.
He just stared at her for a long time, mouth opening and closing like a stupid fish. Ash crossed her arms over her chest, still keeping her scarred hands hidden, "Hi, daddy. It's been a while."
The shock left his face, replaced by a rare soft smile. He started forward, walking quickly to reach her. Half of Ash wanted to run. To just go outside, find Sundance, and get the hell out. The other half, the stubborn part she'd gotten from her mother, told her to stand her ground.
When Rex reached her, he threw his long skinny arms around her. He squeezed her tight, surprisingly strong for someone that was thinner than she was. After a moment, she raised her arms and hugged him back, pressing her face into his chest and closing her eyes.
"Hi, baby!" He said, completely thrilled to see her, "How's my girl?"
"Worried sick," Ash snapped. She lifted her face to glare at him but didn't let go, "Where the hell have you been?"
"Home," He said, looking down at her. He picked at a pin-straight strand of blonde hair. He abruptly put his hands on her shoulders and pushed her back to look over her, "Damn, you're getting tall! I thought I told you to stop growing!"
She brushed one of his hands off, "So you've just been sitting around here?"
"Yeah, I quit my job last week. I've been trying to fix things up around the house."
"Why the hell haven't you called?" Ash started, "You've got everyone at home thinking that you fell off the face of the planet!"
He raised a hand and pushed it through his messy blonde hair, a big stupid grin filling his face, "Well, I uh, dropped it in the toilet."
"You..." Ash stopped and blinked when it registered what he just said. She put her hands on her hips, "You dropped your phone in the toilet?"
"Yeah."
"Oh dear God..." Ash huffed, then poked him in the chest, "get a new one. If I have to come down here again I'm gonna come swingin'."
He laughed, "God I missed you."
Ash poked him again, raising an eyebrow, "I missed you, too, but don't pull this stunt again." She paused when she spotted Claire sneaking up behind her dad, most likely to stick her pretty little nose in their conversation, and asked, "Who the hell are these people?"
Rex tensed, his dumb grin fading a bit. His brown eyes seemed to turn darker, and Ash knew.
Before he could explain, she took a step back, "So you're just going to replace us."
"No, Ash-"
"I would never dream of replacing your mother," Claire spoke up, butting in. Ash snapped a glare packed with warning at her, but turned back to her father.
Rex sent the woman a sharp look as well but, to Ash's surprise, didn't say anything to her. Instead, he looked back at Ash, "It's not what it looks like."
"I don't know," Ash crossed her arms again, "usually if something smells like shit, it is shit."
"Could you please stop acting like you run this place!" Alice finally snapped, "I don't care if you're his daughter, you can't just come stomping through here like some boss and talk to him like that!"
"Could you please shut up!" Ash exploded, turning on the girl, "Look here, princess, you don't know crap about who my dad is, or who I am! So just shut up and butt out before I get pissed off and put you in a trash can and roll you down the damn hill!"
Claire's mouth opened in a perfect 'O'. She squared up, "Don't you DARE-"
"And you!" Ash turned on her next, "if my mom ever caught you calling her by her real name, she'd punch you in the throat! Only one person is allowed to call her that!"
"Ash," Rex tried. Ash cut him off, still railing on the woman, "I don't give a flying goat's ass who you are, don't stick your perfectly straight nose in my family's business! Trust me, woman, you don't belong here!"
"Why I never!" Claire puffed up, "Zachary, you-"
"His name is REX!" Ash shouted.
The house fell painfully silent for a few minutes. Claire stood there with wide eyes and a wide open mouth. Alice was right beside her, wearing the same expression. Ash's dad was pushing a hand through his hair again, eyes lowered.
After another moment of quiet, Rex cleared his throat and said, tone serious, "Claire, I think it's time for you to leave."
Without saying a word, the woman yanked her eighty dollar purse off the couch and strolled out with her head held high. Alice followed her example like a loyal dog. The second the door was shut behind them, Ash tilted her head at her dad and motioned towards the door, "What the hell, dad?"
"She's just a friend," Rex started, "I have no interest in her-"
"Then why the hell are you two on a first name basis?"
He sighed, "She's convinced that we have a," he paused to make quotations marks with his fingers, "'connection'. I don't know what the hell she's talking about."
"Really, now?"
He turned away from her to flop over on the couch, "Don't give me that, Ash. You know that I'm still in love with your mom, I couldn't love anyone as much as I love my Rae-Rae."
"So you're just friends?"
"Yes."
She raised an eyebrow, "Are you sure?"
He cut her a look. Ash rolled her eyes, "Well you better find a phone and check in with everyone. Believe it or not, moms been worried. So has Mimi and the others."
He smiled, "She has, huh?" His smile faded and he sat up when he took in the rest of her words. "Gears...How is she?"
She bit her lip, "Not good, daddy. Uncle P says she's getting a little worse every day."
He pressed a hand to his face it drug it down tiredly, "Damn it all..."
"I'm going."
He bounced back up to his feet and ran over, hugging her again. He grinned at her, "I love you, baby."
"I love you, too. And for God's sake, get another phone and take care of yourself." Ash waited for him to let her go so she could leave, but he held on. She blinked slowly, "Um, Dad..."
"I missed you so much," He started, "I wish we were closer so I could see you more."
"Me too."
He slowly lowered his arms. Ash poked him in the chest again, although a little more gently, "Call me as soon as you get a new phone."
"I promise," He said with another grin as he walked with her outside. He looked around, blinking, "Where's your ride?"
Ash tilted her head, pulling her hair behind her ear so she could hear better. She grinned wide at him when she heard the soft rustle of Sundance's feathers. She stepped out into the yard, "Right here."
He gave her a crazy look before nearly falling on his ass with a yelp when all fourty-one foot of Sundance's red body dropped to the ground. Sundance blew smoke out of her nostrils like some bad ass beast right out of a Tolkien novel, and grinned down at him, showing off every black tooth.
"HOLY SHIT-HELL-CRAP!" Rex shouted.
Ash laughed. Sundance smiled.
Rex popped back up to his feet and was reaching for Ash to yank her inside when Sundance greeted, "Long time no see, uncle Rex."
He froze, eyes wide, "S...Sundance?"
Sundance lowered her head and carefully touched her warm nose to Rex's chest, staring at him with huge, glowing red eyes.
"You...What the fuck have they been feeding you? You're HUGE!"
Sundance laughed, "Mom says it's something I get from Megatron and Optimus," she said, "my wings are bigger than Jetfire's now."
He wiped a hand down his face before leaning closer and squinting at her face, "Damn, girl, I believe it...I bet Flash is big too, now."
"In his second frame, and my youngest brother is just now running," Sundance added, "have you met him?"
"Just once. Backlash, right?"
Her grin turned into a soft smile, "That's his name."
He smiled back, "I really need to just come visit you guys. It's been too freakin' long since we got together."
"Mom and mimi thinks so, too." Sundance raised her head again, turning to Ash, "Dad wants us home soon. Are you ready?"
"Yep," Ash walked towards her and hauled her ass up when Sundance laid down. She sat down on her back, tensing when the straps slipped around her waist and anchored her down. She watched as Sundance turned back to Rex and pressed her face into his chest again.
Sundance said softly, "I miss you, uncle Rex."
"I miss you, too, girl," He wrapped an arm around her, squeezed, then stepped back. He gave her a sharp look, "you take care of my baby, okay?"
"I swear it," Sundance said softly. She lifted her head and turned away. Ash glanced back at her father one more time before turning forward, bracing herself as the dragon rolled forward and shoved off into the air.
Sorry for a late update. I was out of town for like a week.
Anyway, getting to the chapter. We finally see Rex again, although we still have NO idea of what happened between him and Shark. You guys don't, anyway. Also, later in the chapter, we finally learn the name of Demona's youngest son-Backlash. I'm hoping that we'll be seeing him in this story, as well as Shark eventually.
I was kind of disappointed with this chapter. It doesn't seem right, but I've been jacking with it for two days and it's beginning to give me a big headache.
I'm going to try to update my series of one shots 'Reflections' and my newest project, 'Hellhounds' later today.
Much love.
Sundance, her family, Claire, Alice, and the story belongs to me. Transformers does not.