Chapter 20

"Jennifer?!" Eric shouted before he could stop himself. She didn't seem all that shocked that a masked man that she had never met knew her name. "What…what are you doing here?"

Where's Evangeline? He wanted to ask, but he stopped himself before revealing himself more than he already did.

"Don't worry, I'm on your side Brother."

His heart stuttered. "You…. you know who I am?"

Jennifer stopped just in front of him, not really paying attention to the Rescue Bots. Her blue eyes pierced Eric to the metaphorical wall. "I was a Templar for years. I knew about you and your accomplice. 'Sister' was her name, right? I remember you two. I also know your real name."

His eyes went wide.

His heart stopped.

Jennifer chuckled softly, touching his nose in a cutesy way. She pushed past him, placing her arms behind her back as she walked forward. "Don't worry, though. I won't tell anyone. Besides, the only people who'll know are those who will find their way down here in about, oh, two hundred years or so. You'll be long gone by that point."

That seemed to restart his heart and jumpstart his brain. "No. I'm not allowing you to risk your life."

She whirled on him. "You have your niece to look after. She's with Mrs. Rubio by the way, so don't worry about her being alone."

The mention of his niece drew the air out of his lungs again. He closed his eyes in thought before turning his head.

How could he have forgotten her when considering his decision? Would he have remembered after he did it?

Of course, it would've been too late, as the process is obviously irreversible.

Oh, how could he have been so selfish?!

"I…" His voice didn't seem to want to work.

Thankfully Chief Burns spoke up for him. "I don't think I can allow you to do this, whatever you're going to do."

"Look, Chief Burns, with all do respect, I have no one else. No family, no one that would miss me." She looked down, tears glittering in her eyes. "I've killed so many people, innocent and unaware of the war that rages in the shadows. Besides yours anyway," she said directing the statement to the Autobots. "This is how I plan on making amends."

"Jen…." He moved forward. "Don't do this, there's got to be another way."

"There isn't." She declared. "Everyone here in this has a life, has a family that would miss them. Even you. I don't. They were all killed years ago. The Templars are no doubt still hunting me, to bring me to trial for betraying them. You're welcome by the way."

Everything suddenly clicked. Eric remembered when Maya received news about movement of a high-ranking Templar right before their mother was killed. It was so secret that even the deep-cover Assassins didn't even know about it yet. The only way she could've gotten that information….

Jennifer nodded at his shocked expression.

"You…..." His voice once again died in his throat.

"I gave Templar secrets to your sister, before fleeing the Order. I had hoped you two would've smart enough to dismantle the Templar Order in North America." She gave a short laugh, looking around at the Autobots. "Looks like you did that, and found more than you bargained for."

"Jenn-"

"Go. I'll be okay." She offered a big smile, but it was dulled at the tears that fell from her closed eyes.

"No."

Another tremor passed through the room, this one even more violent than before.

Time is running out, Cordelia stated. She turned towards Jennifer. Do you truly want to take this burden upon yourself?

Eric couldn't help the sadness and terror that stabbed him as Jennifer answered with a positive. He made to step forward, but Cordelia lifted her arm up. Eric felt as though he was sinking through quick sand. When he heard the shouts of the Rescuers, he glanced over and found it happening to them too.

"JENNIFER!" Eric shouted as he tried to move through the sludge. Tears fell from his eyes as he and the others were pushed backward, into a room that seemed to be akin to a broom closet.

Nothing that would give them a way out, other than the stone door that slammed shut.

"JENNIFERRRR NOOOOO!" Eric pounded on the door with all his strength.

It didn't budge.

"We've got to get this door open! NOW!"

That spurred the Rescue Bots forward. They started to pound on the walls, but it didn't move. The stone didn't even crack.

The rumbling continued and suddenly, sludge started to fill the room.

It looked disgusting, like thick mud. It crawled upward, filling the room quickly. In no time, it was up to Eric's ankles. The others were scrambling into their bots, but Eric couldn't bring himself to move. He had to get out of the room.

He had to stop Jennifer from making a mistake. He had…...

He had to tell her how he felt.

Eric felt that there was something inside him that he had been ignoring. There were feelings that he had pushed down, that he had ignored until suddenly it made sense. He wanted to get out of the closet, to hold Jennifer close and to tell how interesting she was, how funny she was….how he wanted to get to know her and live a life with her.

A sob escaped his lips. Broken…. empty…...

Just like he was.

He fought the giant metal hand that grabbed him gently around the waist as the sludge reached his chest, almost to his neck. There was silence as he was placed in Heatwave's compartment, then a scream.

A scream of pain, a scream of fear…...

The sludge almost completely filled the room. Eric feared that the Rescue Bots wouldn't be able to breath.

The scream continued…...

It pierced the room, pierced Eric deeply into his soul.

Then there was silence.

The sludge…

Stopped.

It had almost covered the Autobots. Thankfully it had stopped. There was a beep.

Systems stabilizing, an automated voice that sounded so like Jennifer's spoke. Initiating system reboot. Standby.

As the sludge started to dissipate, leaving only the stuff clinging to the Autobots. Eric scrambled out, landing in a crouch and launching himself out of the room as soon as the door slid open.

He stopped, his heart stopping as well.

There wasn't anything in the room besides a raised pedestal.

On the other end of the room, a figure stepped out of the shadows but it wasn't Jennifer. Cordelia Everts lowered her hood, revealing jet black hair that fell over her shoulder and down to her waist. The woman smiled, her steel grey eyes shining with a light that was often squashed in the Assassins. She took a deep breath, giving him a brief nod before fading away, Thanos-snap style.

"What just happened?" Kade's voice was distant.

"She's been freed." Eric answered a moment after silence. His voice was close to breaking, so he took a moment to clear his throat. "She's no longer tied to the laboratory like…"

Tears fell, despite him struggling to keep it together. He closed his eyes, falling to his knees. He clenched his teeth, but it didn't stop the scream that escaped his throat.

This scream was filled with pain as well. But a different type.

It was the pain of a broken heart made vocal.