O_o;;
ShinigamisPet: So...FaeFae, where ya been?
Faecat: Um...nowhere?
SP: Uh huh, and that's why there's a mob waiting for you, right?
FC: Mob? Um...*hides*
SP: *Points to poorly hidden Faecat* She's all yours folks, have at her!
FC: Traitor!!
Okay, for the lot of you who've wondered just where the Faecat had wondered off to for so long, here's the scoop:
1: Dance Magic. It was awesome and wonderful but it ate up a whole week of my life with costume preparations and practice.
2: I don't learn from my own mistakes. I'm allergic to beef, yet I eat it anyway...and I got horribly sick for about another week (if you don't count the residuals) and could hardly drag my sorry, drunk feeling aft out of bed, let alone do anything cognate.
3: School. Need I say more? Okay, well I'm welding so...things are hot, they burn, they blow up, they make me giggle like a psychopath and consume whole sections of my life. Fair?
4: My daughter turned 1 year old this month. I cried and spend much time running around.
5: I'm lazy. Nuff said.
^_^; Alright, I know, those aren't really GREAT excuses, but they're the ones I'm running with. I promise chapter 53 is ready to go, I'll probably load it in 2 days to give time for people to read this one. After that, well, I have all week for spring break and I intend to do some quality lockdown time in my office to get several chapters out. You up for this my Betas? ^_~
(and for anyone wondering who ShinigamisPet is, that's my drawing persona. Faecat writes, Shinigami's Pet draws. It's what we do.)
THANK YOU TO ALL MY READERS FOR YOUR PATIENCE; TO BOTH MY BETAS: FORD B. AND EOWYN77; TO ALL MY INSPERATIONS: LITAHATCHEE, KARATEGAL, HEARTS OF ETERNITY AND LADY TECUMA!!!
Journal entry; one day to go
Time is always the enemy when you're rushing it. I know this, have always known this. During my days back at the lab, there were always far more accidents when there was a time crunch than when we were at leisure...okay, most of the time anyway. I miss that job.
The good thing about no time is that you don't have time to think. With too much time you get to thinking too much. When you're stuck in the middle, when time is running out but you're not at the end yet, you think, but you think in a panic...
I made it perfectly clear to Sunny that if Sideswipe's release was dependent on me surrendering myself, then that's what I intended do...he never once argued with me, but I got the distinct sensation he was completely ignoring me.
It was difficult to know what he was thinking. I mean, here we were headed to the Decepticon base with, as far as I knew, no plan to speak of. Not only was it me, but the Allspark shard too! He stubbornly refused to tell me what he was going to do.
I just had the feeling this wasn't going to end well.
~Aurian Fae
Aurian stood once more in the parking lot her mind had apparently created as a tool for her to use to reach out to the 'bots. Or, at least that is how she was coming to think of it.
This time she had tried to get here, wanted to get here, and had spent several hours of seeking out this elusive zone in her mind. Now that she had arrived, she had a task set to accomplish.
"Starscream!" She sought out the familiar F-22 Raptor and stormed up to it as if she might very well destroy it. 'I wonder what that would do to him physically?' The thought was intriguing but she had other things to do right now. "Starscream, answer me!" She waited a few minutes for an answer, but received nothing. "Damn it, why won't you talk to me?" He had spoken to her last time, what was so different now? She had done nothing special, as a matter of fact he hadn't even known he was contacting her because... 'Because he was using my link with Sideswipe,' she remembered. "Okay, so how do I talk to you now?" Again, she remembered her previous success with the small laptop.
Running back to her 'apartment', she was surprised to find everything exactly how she had left it during her last visit. Right down to the TV playing a familiar movie.
She paused to watch for a minute, only to decide that it was the Transformers movie that she was familiar with and not worth her attention at the moment. Not that she wouldn't love to sit and watch the movie again, but she had more important things to do.
Ruby sat on the coffee table where she had left it the last time she had been brave enough to venture into the familiar yet alien parking lot during her 'coma'. It was still on and there were little message windows blocking the entire screen.
"What is all that?" She clicked on a few of the windows, trying to decipher the script within, but still it seemed her computer was unable to translate whatever information it was being presented with and left her with nothing but jumbled shapes and icons. 'Later,' she promised herself, 'I can try to translate all this later.'
Clicking through the windows she wondered how she would find the mech she wanted to reach and, as if to answer, a simple search bar took priority over the continually multiplying windows stating; 'please submit desired designation'.
'Starscream.'
'Seeking recipient. Contact located. Connecting...'
'Who the Pit is this, and why are you contacting me?'
Aurian stared at the little window, noting the little type at the top of this particular box declared the sender as 'Starscream', unlike most of the other windows that had no clear identifications on them.
"This...is so cool." For a moment she wondered just who else she could contact this way, then remembered the whole reason she had been trying to get here. 'You have to give me more time.'
'More time?' There was a long pause before more text appeared, 'State your designation.'
'I don't have a designation.' Aurian considered the impact of her words a moment too late, then decided she might as well continue. 'The weather has held me back, but I'm almost there.'
'How are you contacting me, human?'
'Please, just give me more time.'
'Our arrangements were not open for discussion, human. By my count you have less than three of your Earth hours left.'
'I can't get there in three hours! The roads are bad, there's just no way.'
'Then our deal is void.'
Aurian's heart jumped into her throat at the words. With shaky hands he tapped out another plea. 'No! We'll be there soon, I promise!'
'We?'
"Damn it!" she scolded herself, "Quit giving him information!" Taking a moment to collect herself she decided she needed to take another approach to this. 'Do you want me to come, or just go back? Because if it's not going to make a difference either way, I'd rather remove myself from the equation.'
'Really?' She could almost feel the sarcasm. 'And if I just choose to make my life easier by removing another Autobot from existence?'
'He's bluffing. He's bluffing...' she coached herself before typing further. 'If you kill him, you will lose the only example of Cybertronian-Alien bonding. A very poor decision for a scientist to make if you ask me.'
'I didn't ask you!' Again there was a pause before further response came. 'I didn't realize you were willing to bargain with lives, human. You're more open-minded than your Autobot allies, perhaps you have something of a Decepticon within your core? How about this; since I am in such a generous mood today and you have amused me, I will not destroy the Autobot, for now, and in return you will submit willingly to research on this bond you have developed with him.'
Willingly? Aurian's guts cramped painfully at the thought of it. Research meant Scalpel and Scalpel meant pain.
'Accept or decline, human. I'm all too willing to remove one more annoyance in my life, and I can only assume his twin will be easy enough to take out while he's in the throes of sparkshock...seeings as he is escorting you to me.'
'Bluff...' Aurian reminded herself again. Starscream didn't know Sunstreaker was the one bringing her along. He was assuming. What did it matter that he was right? He didn't know that and as long as she didn't reveal it then he wouldn't know for sure until they arrived. If she convinced Sunstreaker to stay behind while she went on to meet with the Decepticon, he would never know, and maybe they could get Sideswipe out of there before the Decepticons could do anything about it. 'I accept.'
Sunstreaker could feel the woman shifting around on his passenger-side seat. She had finally fallen into recharge sometime early in the morning and had endured fitful rest all throughout the day. Apparently the woman's dreams were not pleasant ones, if the sensations trickling through their now-open bond were anything to go by.
Though their conversations had been rather short and lacking in anything 'in depth', Sunstreaker had decided a few things about this woman. One: she was stubborn. Two: she was annoying. And three: she would do anything for the ones she cared about.
She had known very well that it was unlikely Starscream would release Sideswipe even if she turned herself over to him with the Allspark shard in hand, let alone that she had not had the shard when she began this ill-fated trip, but she had been unable to accept that if she did nothing at all, Sideswipe could have been offlined.
He was forced to reconsider his actions. Sunstreaker had taken the Allspark shard with every intention of using it to obtain his brother's freedom...but wasn't that just as foolish as Aurian running off alone to trade herself for the same? Why had he even considered it as an option? He knew better than that, and besides, negotiations had never been one of his stronger points.
So, now he had both the things the current Decepticon leader was demanding, and was headed to the destination described to Aurian where he would meet with her. What was he going to do? He couldn't take the human into battle and risk that she may be captured or destroyed, but at the same time, she had insisted that she wouldn't allow him to leave her behind.
They were drawing close to their destination and he knew he had to make a decision soon. Did he take the human with him and hope that her presence would draw out the Decepticons, and possibly Sideswipe along with them, and risk that she may become harmed, or did he rely solely on the Allspark shard as he had originally planned? Or, did he completely forgo hoping that the Decepticons would even feign a trade at all and just blow a hole in the base and get his brother out that way?
He was already facing treason for taking the Allspark shard, so what more punishments could he face taking the human with him as an extra bargaining chip? Other than the chance that she might be caught in the crossfires and hurt...or killed. If anything happened to her he was pretty sure that Sideswipe would not be happy, to say the least.
Settling on what he thought would be his best course of action, and with great care to not wake the human, Sunstreaker slid from the road they had been traveling on and headed into the pine timberland he had been driving through almost since they had crossed the state line.
It was now slightly past midday and the sun was beginning to warm the Earth, melting some of the snow, as Aurian had called it, that had fallen the previous day. "Fraggin' cold-as-Pit place," he grumbled softly to himself, "As if once hadn't been enough..."
Weaving through the trees until he found a place suited to his needs, far from the Decepticon base and the havoc he was about to cause there, Sunstreaker found a rock formation that he decided would do well enough. It had plenty of nooks and crannies in it that would provide cover and still allow the sun to warm the surface. Slowly he began transforming, taking care to move his parts in accordance to the sleeping human within until she rested in his hand and he could stand free from his alt mode, not an easy feat by any means.
Making sure the blanket she had wrapped around her covered as much as it could, Sunstreaker gently placed the woman on the rock formation, "You'll be safe here..." he whispered, "You'd only get in my way," he added shortly.
After a moment more of pondering he dropped the Allspark shard next to her and left without a second glance.
Sideswipe glared at the mech facing him. They had been playing games with him for the past few days; teasing him, leading him on, testing his limits. They hinted that they had located Aurian, that they would have her in their custody soon. Told him that if he gave them information that they wouldn't kill her.
Their little field medic also had his time with Sideswipe. Though most of his 'examinations' were designed to ensure the blocks against his weapons were still in place, the twisted little mech did take some pleasure in causing unnecessary discomfort.
Throughout all their efforts; all their threats, and torture, and mind games, he had done alright but he was quickly drawing to a point of breaking.
He had maintained his calm knowing that Sunstreaker would reach Aurian and keep her safe, yet even now Starscream stood smug before him promising that the human would be his newest experiment within the orn. Worse yet was that he could feel Aurian and Sunstreaker drawing closer. 'What are they doing?' He tried once more to reach out through the numbed bond to his twin and the human but whatever that hacker had done to him was strong and blocked anything he could send out.
It was disturbing to feel the dulled sensations of the others through the bond; it was nothing like when Sunstreaker had been too far and he couldn't sense him, nor was it like when he dampened the connection with either of them. This was more like his perception of them had been dulled and the functions that allowed him to reach out to them, to communicate, were paralyzed.
"Tell me, Autobot; does your twin share this weakness toward the fleshling, or is it only you who has allowed such a misfortune to befall your spark?" Starscream's eyes flashed with amusement. He had rather enjoyed tormenting his prisoner on a mental battlefield.
Information gathered from the few times either of the front-liner twins had been captured stated that they were notoriously impossible to break with physical torture, despite how much enjoyment their 'interrogators' might have gotten from the experience, so the most effective approach was mental torture.
Normally, there was very little that the two cared about aside from each other that would provide sufficient ammunition against them; however, this connection with the human femme had proven quite beneficial to the Decepticon leader.
"Or, maybe he sees it for what it is and is on his way to rid himself of such a useless burden," he teased further. "The fleshling seems all too willing to turn its self over to me."
Sideswipe had to struggle with himself to remain still, to not lash out at the enemy mere feet from him. Not that he could do anything strapped down to the table as he was. After the hacker had done his job, they had not bothered to move him from this spot, and he could only imagine they had no intentions of doing so any time soon.
"I have to admit, I am more than a trifle interested in that little meat-bag." Starscream paced slightly as he 'mused' over what he knew of the human, and considered what he would do with it. "Our first encounter with it had been rather alarming.
"Did you know that little organic part they call a 'brain' could hold so much information? Nowhere near the efficiency of a Cybertronian processor, but still." He paused in his pacing, fixing the defiant Autobot with another knowing glare, "Well, at least so much useful information at any rate. I will enjoy extracting the secrets of the Autobots from it.
"Scalpel believes that we can obtain the information by a simple procedure he has been refining since our last meeting with that particular fleshling. Very similar to a hack, if you wish to think of it on our terms. Simply removing the organ and feeding electricity into it and allowing the energy to carry out the information into a device that one of our more creative inventors has concocted to receive and translate various different energies. Quite interesting actually, though previous experiments have failed miserably."
Starscream was not disappointed with the stillness of his prisoner. In truth he was rather pleased with the ridged state of the mech; he was fighting himself, trying to ignore the bait that he was laying out for him. How much further could he push the stubborn warrior before he finally snapped? With a grin he approached the mech, making sure to stay where he could see if the Autobot slipped his restraints. "Perhaps this one will live longer."
Sideswipe could not keep in the snarl that rose at the mere thought of Starscream or Scalpel laying one digit on Aurian. He had seen the results of their experiments on the human once before and he was willing to sacrifice himself to be sure it didn't happen again. No one deserved that kind of treatment.
"Oh, you don't like that idea?" Starscream laughed mockingly, "Well, I promise we'll hold off on it as long as we can. After all, we do have a rather unique situation to examine fully first." He leaned in close to the restrained mech, allowing their optics to meet as he offered the last little bit of tinder to the fire that was Sideswipe's blazing rage, "The fleshling did say it would submit willingly."
Unable to contain himself any further, Sideswipe pulled at his restraints, noting the slight give in them. "If you touch her I will rip your spark out myself you half-bit glitch!"
Laughing at the sight of the warrior's loss of control, Starscream turned to leave the room. "He's all yours, Doctor. Don't offline him yet." He instructed as his medical officer slipped into the room past him.
"I vill be careful," Scalpel promised as he ascended the table their prisoner and half-experiment lay upon. "Cores are much easier to examine if zey are still intact."
~Time.~
'Time?'
~It will soon be time.~
'For what?'
~Time.~
'It will soon be time...for time?'
~Yes.~
'That makes no sense.'
~It will.~
'When?`
~Soon.~
'...I don't know who you are, but you're sure confusing.'
~I am you.~
'No, I'm pretty sure I'm me...'
~You are me.~
'Uh...what?'
~We are all and we are none.~
'Yeah, that clears it up.'
~We are needed.~
'What?'
A loud explosion rocked Aurian from the deep sleep she had receded into after her conversation with Starscream, several subsequent concussions assuring her that she needed to be awake, and now.
Looking around in confusion she only saw trees and rocks, immediately realizing what was missing. "Sunstreaker!" She scrambled to her feet, struggling with the blanket wrapped around her that insisted on catching her feet, causing her to fall from her place among the rocks. "Sunstreaker!" she cried out again, ripping away the blanket, desperate to find that familiar form.
No matter the direction she looked, she couldn't see the mech; however, the continued sounds of explosions drew her to where she suspected he must be. "I'm going to kill him!" she promised angrily as she began storming off in that general direction.
~We are needed.~
Aurian stopped. That 'voice' wasn't really a voice, nor was it a 'voice' like she associated with her connection to Sideswipe and Sunstreaker. It was something entirely different. Like it was just there, not really a thought or a voice of any kind, more like an impression on her mind. It had been in her dream while she was sleeping, she remembered that much. What had it wanted?
Looking for some kind of source to the 'impression', Aurian wondered just what she might be seeking. "Hello?"
More explosions drew her attention back to her previous goal. "Sunstreaker?" she reached out over their link, not bothering to hold back the worry she felt or the aggravation for having been left behind while he charged into a Decepticon base alone. "What are you doing?"
'Not now, femme!'
"Not...where do you get..."
~We are needed.~
"...off?" Aurian's argument died with the repeat of the 'impression'. "What is that?"
'I'm kind of busy right now, so unless you have something important to say...'
Something shining in the snow drew Aurian's attention, all thoughts of argument fleeing her head as the 'impression' grew in her conscious mind.
~We are needed.~
Journal entry continued;
I was so...numb...I just didn't care. No, not caring would imply that there was a feeling and at that moment there was nothing. Nothing at all. Just a guiding sensation. I had somewhere to be.
~Aurian Fae
Thank You's:
~To authors who have inspired me to write and to those who have allowed me the use of their ideas: ~DO NOT USE ANOTHER AUTHORS IDEAS AS YOUR OWN. ASK PERMISSION!~
Litahatchee: For your fic 'Night Fire' and for the use of the ideas referring to 'Carrying' and 'Carrying Holds' and for the definition of 'Sparkshock' used in this fic. Also I give her partial credit for the creation of 'Insularity'. She helped me develop the idea and I can never thank her enough for her input!
Lady Tecuma: Sparks and Plasma; a wonderful fic! And for the term 'Sparkshock'.
Hearts of Eternity: What Time We Have Left. A VERY moving and well written fic.
Karategal: Her fic Youngling is just everything you could ever want involving baby Bumblebee. Also for her permission to use upcoming ideas. ^_~ I'll note when they appear.
~To my Beta Readers, your efforts help make my work so much better. I appreciate your time and effort greatly! A simple 'thank you' really isn't enough but it's all I can do from here! ^_^;
FORD B. and Eowyn77 from Botosphere
'Insularity' is my idea, with help from Litahatchee.
