Hello everyone, and Welcome to the first chapter of Suffocating Bonds, Tender Tethers! I Do Not Own Any of the SMALL FRY Characters or Plots! This is something the Author ( TheSarcasticKnight ) is allowing me to do, by her permission!
Before we begin, I want to personally Thank the amazing Author of Small Fry, @TheSarcasticKnight, for allowing me to create this!
Disclaimer: I do not own the Transformers characters OR the creations of TheSarcasticKnight!
Chapter One:
- Current year, 2015. Day after the William's the Mechs departure -
Silence, that's all there was.
The deafening silence seemed to choke Aj as she stared blankly over at the scorched, and smoking, front porch of her sister's house. Tears lined alongside her eyelashes at the mere thought of Aubrey's tearful blue irises as she disappeared into the portal that would sweep her elder sister into a completely new universe; the very same portal that had taken her niece, nephews, brother-in-law, and Mechs in. Away from her, leaving her all alone by herself. They were gone and she was here in this world, damaged mentally and physically - her right kneecap blaring loudly in protest whenever her leg twitched involuntarily.
Emotions ranging from sorrow, rage, and loneliness encompassed her entire body. She couldn't juggle between either choices at the moment as a screeching car horn rang through the air, jarring her ears from the piercing noise. 'Wha- No? No, they're still here? I thought..'
Her attempt at shooting the chemically filled shed in hopes to get rid of the men, and their boss, had apparently failed. "N-No, no, no.."
The words felt sluggish and heavy on her tongue as she tried to her body off the crumbled dent that marred the shed itself. Her limbs were trembling and extremely weak as she struggled to gather her strength, hoping that she still held some form of it so she could get out of the immediate area. But the sudden dose of dizziness that settled over her vision left her feeling sick at the stomach, and reeling from the wave of bile that trudged its way up her esophagus.
"Shit! David, you grab the Boss and get him to the car!" The familiar raspy voice made Aj's teeth gnash together. "I'll get the broad!"
'N-No, I am not going. I won't go.' Her steely self resolve was ignored as the sneering face of the man who kneecapped her right leg, Bobbie, leered down at her slouched position.
"Well, well, I am honestly surprised that your still awake, Small Fry." His taunting tone left a ball of dread in Aj's guts. "Oh well, I'll just take care of that later."
"G- Get away," Her voice cracked and crumbled under the heavy weight of her tongue.
Bobbie swept back his blonde greasy hair and snickered at her attempt to scare him away. "Now darlin', I'm afraid that you have little choice in the matter, this time around." His arms drooped and slipped under her sore body, his grin widening at her snarl of warning. "C'mon Small Fry, let's get ready to go home."
Panic grew within Aj's chest.
She couldn't leave this place. What if the portal ever emerged again and allowed her to go through it this time? She'd be able to see the kids, her sister, and the mechs again. The promise she had given her sister would be upheld, but for just that hope to see them again, she would prolong it. There wasn't anything she would not do to see them, all of them again. To hold the kids in her arms and to see Aubrey with them was a joy in of itself, including the Mechs too.
Family.
They were her family and she didn't fight desperately to leave the fighting pits, to just be thrown back in them again. Not when she had a family that was most likely mourning her missing presence - just the idea of them hurting all because of her not being there left a hole in the middle of her chest cavity.
Growing firm in her newfound determination, she prepared herself for the next upcoming events she would be doing. The jolting shock in her right kneecap sent out another flare of intense pain; gritting her teeth Aj sent a mental prayer to any deity that would be listening with a spare ear as she untensed her muscles. She was terrified this would go wrong and that all her hard work in this cruel world, would just fall away as if it were mere dust, slipping through her fingers yet again.
Yet unbeknownst to Aj, the people and mechs that she missed with her entire being, were witnessing everything she was doing. The same ones she had wept for and fought for were laying witness to the frantic desperation she was dealing with, their hearts and sparks growing heavier as the lurking men seemed to crowd in around her and the blonde man holding her within his firm grasp.
'Sorry, I'm sorry...' Aj's thoughts echoed hauntingly through the ghostly viewers minds, as her heart constricted tightly. 'I am so sorry..'
If only she could've seen their expressions and heard their voices as they spoke loudly to her, pleading her to not endanger herself, to try and protect herself, to just hang on for them.
But sadly that was not what destiny wanted for the fierce protector.
May 2, 2035:
- Before Aj Arrives. Location, Nevada N.E.S.T. Base -
David Bradshaw was a Defender.
It was something his wife hadn't known, though she had always called him that out of endearment; her and their two daughters' constant defender. After her death he had picked up the mantel and carried on with the duty that being one brought, one who sought to protect the universes and maintain constant vigilance and order. Though he would always regret leaving behind his two little girls, both Aubrey and Aimee Jane didn't deserve his sudden absence in such a way, and he knew that. (That was why he'd manage to check up on the two, every once in a while. To ensure their continued safety and happiness, while he was gone and out of the picture- to protect them.)
He had pledged that to himself after catching a simple glimpse of his youngest daughter's life, his Ace.
The hurt and sorrow that warred inside of her had left a scar on his heart, and it buried in deep enough to make his lungs rattle with fear whenever his eyes wouldn't catch sight of her once he checked in on her.
He knew of her fighting habits.
That same protective instinct that sung within his veins had nestled deep inside of hers' and taken root. He saw it everytime the school would call about his youngest getting in a violent fistfight, when a boy or young lady spoke ill of her elder sister. He even understood; Aubrey was the exact copy of her beloved mother. A sweet and kind soul that offered solace wherever she went. It was why he was strongly protective of his eldest daughter, yet he didn't have to worry about her fighting though, not like his Ace did.
But after his last few check ups, he was riddled with self hatred and regret for his fierce daughter. He didn't think he could ever wipe his mind or purge his heart of the bloody brawls she rushed into when she was forced into that disgusting fighting ring. He felt his stomach curl and heave every time a bone cracked under the pressure of a fist connecting with her face or abdominal area - it sickened him to watch her cry out at night when the pain in and on her body was too much to handle.
She was alone during those nights.
'Oh, Ace, I am sorry... So sorry.' That single sentence followed him after every secret visit he shared with her as she grew more fierce and stoic while living in New York. 'I've failed both of my daughters, I have failed as a Father for his two children. Your mother would curse me for this.'
He knew it was torturing himself, but after seeing his eldest daughter weep when her husband left her all alone while working, and his youngest daughter throwing her life away in fighting rings...
He felt that he deserved those words.
But those emotions had dimmed on the day his youngest came home to watch his eldest daughter's children's, while she and her husband battled back against a threatening criminal terrorist gang. He had watched as his Ace slowly blossomed into the bright, loving, and carefree girl, she had been before his wife's death and his abandonment. He watched with tear filled eyes as his daughter connected with his grandchildren and then to the mini-toy Transformers, both Autobots and Decepticons. (Though you could imagine his surprise when the world he tried to leave his daughters out of, came crashing in.)
Aimee glowed with joy around Peter, Tyler, Taylor, and the Mechs. She warmed around dear Old Rosie and laughed with 'Prince Charming' Joshua Thompson.
That was his old Ace.
He had felt his worries fall away when his daughters both reconnected and planned to leave this universe for the next - which he hesitated at. But on the day it had occured, he was left with a broken heart alongside his daughters and the rest as Aimee Jane was forced to stay behind, again. And once more pulled into a situation with damnable men like Eugene and Vincent Morgan.
From then on her future dissipated into a world full of agonizing pain, constant anger, and shadowed nights that left her once bright light, fading. The torture he had felt emotionally would be like this for Aimee every single day of her life, for the next Twenty years before the portal ever emerged again. And by then, she would be broken and guarded around other's - not the bright, shimmering, light that many viewed her as.
He had no way to change destiny, sadly. But he could have the ones she loved be there, in spirit.
At least that way his eldest and grandchildren would have a handle on what Aimee had been through while stuck in this universe; her hurts could be understood and properly taken care of once she arrived later in this present day of 2035. So with a flare up of his energy, boosted by the abilities of being the only active defender, he adjusted his helmet protector before teleporting to the current location of Aimee Jane's sister, niece, nephews, and Mechs with those intentions in his mind. In a way he was trying to appease the massive guilt that continually plagued his heart and soul.
Zwip!
Pausing before the dually shared medbay on the Nevada base, he peered through the slits of his helmet at the sliding doors. "I mean you no harm, Taylor Williams. I simply wish to speak with your mother and the Prime."
"Who are you? How do you get into this base dressed as a... modified Knight?" The young blonde edged say from him warily with her hands secured tightly around the Xscreen that was beeping constantly, the text reading 'Smokescreen' buzzing. "How do you know my mother?"
David eased his posture into one of peace, hoping to not appear menacing to his granddaughter. "I will explain everything once we're within a more secluded area, I swear it."
Taylor's wide blue irises narrowed slightly. "How do you even know my name?"
'There's that fire, Aimee's left an imprint.' He quietly mused. "I must speak with your family and the Prime's inner circle, the same that share bonds with you and your siblings. It is very important that I speak with them."
"Taylor? Taylor, youngling will you answer Smokescreen's comm. link! The annoyed voice of the CMO, Ratchet, bounced out into the hallway. "The fragging glitch is interfering with my- oh, Slaggit! Just answer!"
Taylor jumped before stumbling to accept the Autobot's call. "Uh, Smokescreen? Yes, I'm actually, um, why don't you comm. Optimus..." She kept her wide eyes on David's frozen form as he waited patiently for her call to end. "Someone's here, requesting the presences of the Mechs bonded with us and my mother?"
There was a squawk on the other line. Before a blurred, hasty, sentence was blurted out...
Then nothing.
Taylor sighed after the call ended.
"Um, please follow me.." She hesitated for a brief moment, shaking her head for some reason unknown, before continuing calmly. "Ratchet is with Optimus now. The others will be here soon, while the Twins, Jazz, and Bumblebee will listen in."
Her statement only gained a nod from David as he followed her into the medbay; his fist clenching and unclenching in anticipation to see his eldest daughter, and the coming conversation they'd all be having about Aimee's current situation in their old universe.
"Alright," He spoke softly. "...Thank you..."
His granddaughter remained silent as the sliding doors opened and closed behind them both. David let his eyes trail after her as she led him across the tiled floor to the Cybertronian sized beds that lined the middle of the room, next to them were large cabinets and trays that held medical equipment for the Cybertronian mechs and few femmes within the base. He broke his gaze from wandering around, back to his curious granddaughter - her assessing eyes sneakily roaming overhis covered form.
"Who, I respectfully ask, are you?"
The sudden question had David jerking to his immediate left. Whoever had spoke had a masculine voice that was deep, the echoing baritone vibrating his chest. (It's owner belonged to a twenty/thirty foot tall robotic alien, that stood strong and proud just before him.)
He appeared to look regal in his blue, red flamed, painted metallic form. His neon blue optics leveled calmly down on David as their locked gazes from top to bottom. "I have heard that you wish to speak with the younglings carrier and my men about something? Yet, I do not know who stands before me now?"
David relaxed his shoulders to contain his shock and bewilderment. "I am no enemy to you or yours, Optimus Prime." He lifted his right hand up to show that his weapon remained secured to his belt. "I only ask to wait for further introductions once Aubrey Williams nèe Bradshaw arrives. It's important that she comes."
A rough huff filled the medbay.
"You're glitching if you think my mother's coming anywhere near an unknown individual?" The smoothness of the reply was quick, coming from a tall young man with light brown hair and a piercing blue eyes. He crossed the room as quick as he could to Taylor with a white, red, and green colored Cybertronian - his fins flashing brightly in curiosity.
"That armor? It's been equiped well and it's radiating-" The husky mech's inquisitive marks were silenced by a flying wrench to his helm. "Ow! Ratchet?!"
"Quiet, you slagging glitch-helm." The raspy drawl was fiercely hissed.
David could only sigh at his predicament. "I am here because of an urgent matter that involves all of us, It's also why I must speak with Aubrey."
He was met with four intense stares, three of them mech and one human. But all were male - though their gazes were equally strong. The urge to groan aloud at this point was strong, before a series of heavy footsteps entered through the medbay's sliding doors; an all too familiar feminine voice speaking rapidly to another young man with dark hair and glasses. He knew Aubrey's voice anywhere, but to actually be within the same room as her was an unexplainable moment.
"Thank you, Prowl, Bluestreak." Her sweet tone was filled with sincerity as the formal ex-enforcer and current sniper set both her and the male down. "I know this was so sudden, and Will wasn't too sure about this. But I know he's reassured with the both of you here."
The black and white Autobot nodded respectfully. "No thanks are in order, Aubrey. I was doing my duty as Peter's guardian, and as a friend."
Aubrey smiled gently up at him. "I know that, but still I am thankful."
David couldn't fight the tension building within his muscles as his eldest daughter grew closer with the two Cybertronians and her son. He grappled for control when they escorted the blonde woman to the still towering form of Optimus Prime, setting her near his right hand as he carefully lifted her up, away from him and his unknown disguise (though the gesture still stung.)
"Seeing as Mrs. Lennox has arrived, may we know our unexpected guests' name?" Optimus pinned his optics to his, which brought everyone else's eyes to him as well.
David sucked in a deep breath, then took the risk of showing his face. At first his viewers only watched in mild surprise and weariness as he removed the helmet that kept his features hidden from them, but once Aubrey got a good look at his face she released a sob like gasp. "Dad?!"
"Yes, I am David Bradshaw." He carefully placed his helmet on his left hip and met his daughter's broken stare, her tearing eyes breaking his heart. "I'm the father to Aubrey and Aimee Jane Bradshaw." He shoved down on the need to envelope Aubrey into his arms. "And I am here to offer all of you the chance to see my youngest as her life without you begins..."
His cryptic words frozen everyone, even the Mechs that were listening in from different countries or states.
"I can only brief you as to why I'm here," His jaw tightened reflexively. "There is not enough time for deeper explanations, as Aimee will arrive later within the day.. Though she won't be the Aj that you recognized twenty years ago in Alabama, she will be broken and filled with trauma."
No one spoke.
Not a single sigh escaped their opened lips or past their denta.
Aj was coming? She was broken and traumatic, why? How?
Those questions plagued all of their minds and processors; hearts and sparks grew heavy, yet elated at seeing the sarcastic loving brunette again. After so long of not being around her, they were all going to actually see her today, later yes, but some time within this day.
Aubrey shattered the stifling silence.
"What do you mean she'll be broken and traumatic? What happened to her while we were gone. Tell me what's happened!" Her hands trembled and shook as she clung desperately to Optimus' servo, eyes filling with thick tears. "She, she was leaving! Those men couldn't have found her so soon!"
David gave her a sad, regretful, look. "The day you left was extremely hard on her. It impacted her hard, but she was going to leave like she promised."
A soft sob erupted from Aubrey as her tears fell over in streams. "No, no, please no."
He forced himself to go on.
"The next day, Vincent Morgan came to the house." David felt his throat close ashe grew choked up. "Aimee met the men directly and was told that she'd be going with them. She tried to resist but was injured by a bat on her right kneecap, breaking it into 4 pieces. After the result of her knee injury, she stole Morgan's gun and shot the neighbors shed multiple times, knowing there were chemicals inside. But even that attempt did not stop Morgan's men from grabbing her, though Vincent fell unconscious during the explosion... She was under his thumb for ten years before escaping and throwing herself into the world of the underground to hide from him."
The room was heavy with various emotions. All confused and marred with heartbreak at hearing how Aj had lived without them by her side, as she had been by theirs in times of need. (The thought left many of them sick and immensely worried for her, for what she'd be like once arriving.)
David swept a hand across his face, scraping his brows. "I came here to offer a solution, though it will be painful to witness." He searched their eyes one by one. "But it'll allow you all the chance to see exactly why she will act the way she will."
The consuming silence was immediately overpowered by many voices all speaking at once to get a point across or opinion said - David didn't catch many, but his ears pinned in on Aubrey's pleading words. His lungs caved as his eyes saw the utter pain in her usually happy blue irises, but he knew that she felt she deserved it, as he did. Because of their choices in the past they both had left home for an unknown future and without Aimee beside them to watch, it was hard to cope with.
It still was.
"You'll be able to visually see her and hear her, but she cannot hear or see you." The words were like tar after saying them aloud, he didn't like seeing the crushed expressions on his daughter or granddaughter's faces. "I know that what you'll see will be something you wish to heal or take away from her, but you can't. Fate won't allow it. You can watch and learn why she's become who she is, to offer comfort and safety once she arrives- this is why I came. I know the agonizing pain you'll feel, because I have been there. But at least with this you will understand."
His gruff tone died after he finished speaking. 'With this I can do something useful for my daughters.'
Aubrey spoke up. "What about Jazz, Bumblebee, or the twins? Will they be able to..." Her tears dripped down onto Optimus' servos more now. "Will they be able to see as we will?
He nodded grimly. "It's as if you were on a spiritual journey, Aubs." He winced at the choice of words. "Seeing, but not seen. Hearing, but not heard. I can only pull your subconscious into her memories, sadly that's all I can do. But you'll understand why, and already be prepared."
Aubrey cleared the tears from her face, sniffling heavily. "O-Of course... For how long?"
"You'll awake one or two hours before she gets here," He glanced over all of them. His sympathy deep and true as he saw the realization settling over his grandchildrens features, and their still frozen guardians. "I am sorry for not being there, Aubrey. And I'm sorry for the separation that you all had to undergo from Aimee, I truly am."
Optimus brought Aubrey's slightly shaking form to the tiled floor of the medbay; the neon blue of his optics almost a full white as the shock settled in. "Thank you," He began. "Thank you for giving us this chance to view into Aj's memories, for giving us the opportunity to help guide her into safety and comfort as you've said."
"No, don't thank me." David forcibly swallowed the growing guilt and sadness. "A Father should be there for his kids, no matter what. I failed at that, so now I'm simply trying to make amends in anyway I can."
Optimus nodded.
"Well?" An almost anxious looking Ratchet broke their silent connection with his rough bark. The rattling of his armor echoed quietly throughout the medbay as he shifted from ped to ped. "Are we going to begin this fragging process or not? I must see what condition she'll be in, sometime soon?"
David bit his tongue and briskly nodded. "All of you remain in your positions, don't move anything..."
'Go back and bear with her, so when she comes- you'll never leave her alone, ever again.' His inner monologue was kept to himself as he gestured outwards with his hands. A shifting in his armor piqued his watchers interest as an octagon shape metallic symbol slithered across his back, over his right shoulder and to the palm of his right hand.
"As a Defender, I can let anyone see what goes on between universes...Now, the process won't effect you at all physically, it'll only bring your 'spiritual forms' to her memories." A warm aqua blue glow shimmered from the inscripted symbol as he held it in front of him, before them. "Just remember to watch, listen, and learn. She'll need you after this..."
Aubrey's eyes glistened as they landed in his. Her mouth opening to form silent words, though he could understand them, ("I love you.")
David allowed a true smile to stretch across his lips as he repeated those same exact words to his daughter, feeling his chest loosen after seeing her body began to dissipate within the warm blue light. 'Be there for here, as we should have been..' His spine sagged as he stood there, remaining stiff as the energy of pulsed in size, becoming almost blinding to the eyes within the medbay before enveloping them all.
Seconds passed before he moved.
'Hang in there, Ace.' His vision blurred as his emotions got the best of him as the light faded to the normal white bulbs above him. 'Please.'
Whelp! This was the first chapter of the story, it'll be done by later today really. Then my third chapter will go deeper in each Mech and Family members thoughts and feelings!
I wanted to really thank @TheSarcasticKnight for allowing me to do this! I hope the first chapter was good/okay. I'm working up ideas for the next... Hopefully it's good! Thank you again, this means a lot to me.. I hope you enjoy reading it!