The River and the Highway
Author's Notes: This picks up almost instantly after "Kentucky Rain" The first chapter is more detailing the state of mind that Angel is in after what happened, and is setting up for the rest of the story.
Legal stuff: I dont own the TF's, this is purely for entertainment only.
The River and the HighwayHave you ever been in love? Now I don't mean the kind of love that you find in every day life, though that is wonderful too. No what I'm talking about here is the kind of love that runs so deep in your soul that it hurts. The kind of love where you can't spend more than 30 seconds with out thinking about the person that you're in love with.The kind where you are almost certain that your loved one can see right into your very soul, and that he or she knows you inside and out, that's the kind of love I'm talking about. That's the kind of love that only comes along once in a life time, if ever.
Now what would you do if you were feeling that kind of love for someone, and you knew that there was no way in heaven, earth, or even hell, that you would ever be able to be with this person. Now I know that there are a great many people out there who believe that they have experienced this feeling. The man they love is African American. The woman they love is from a poorer family. Someone is in the army and can't marry right now. I'm sure everyone in those instances feels that they can't ever have the person they want. However that's not really the case you see. It can work out if you are willing to try hard enough. No I mean what if you were in love with a man that wasn't any thing at all like you, not even your own species.
What if you were in love with a man that wasn't even human? A robot, silicon based organism that was from a world very far away in both space and time. A being that was created in a laboratory or a factory, not by their parents, some one who was twenty times your size and a thousand million times your own age. What would you do if you fell in love with a Tranformer? What would you do if you had fallen in love with Optimus Prime?
That's my situation, you see?
Nearly a month ago I found him half dead on the side of the road. I carried his spark back to my hotel room. In order to survive he became a part of me, shared my mind body and soul. And in the end I was more willing to have my self crushed to death by his mortal enemy than to let him die for good.
I woke up in Portland general and realized that I was in love. It hurt worse than what Megatron had done to me. Bodies heal given enough time, spirits and hearts take a great deal more to mend. I knew that I could never ever ask him to come be with me, there's way. Unlike the other examples we REALLY are too different. So I left, to spare him the pain of trying to come to grips with it. To try and find a way to help my self.
I had been at my father's family home for nearly a week, I was still covered in bruises but my arm was out of the sling and I was able to get around better. I woke up that rainy Sunday morning and went into the pantry to find something I could make breakfast out of. Guess what? I didn't even have a box of corn flakes to my name. I was the only person that ever stayed here any more and so there wasn't in the way of supplies. I sighed, not really wanting to go to the IGA but needing too.
I was pulling my outfit on when the phone rang again. It was Alyssa on the other end. It was the seventh call in as many days; she was doing her level best trying to get my attention. I ignored it once again but she kept right on.
"Angel?" She paused, "Look I know your there, please pick up the phone? I'm so worried about you. You should still be in the hospital. Please pick this thing up. I promise I won't talk about him this time, I promise!"
The last three times she had called she had told me that Optimus was worried and wondered why I had taken off. Asking me if I would please just call him, those messages got deleted almost as soon as I got them.
"ANGEL!" She was starting to get huffy on the other end, "Why are you being so stubborn? Pick up the phone please?"
She waited for a few more second and I heard it click telling me that she had finally given up again for right now any how. I got the rest of the way dressed, put on my sunglasses to hide my shiner and headed down to the IGA.
Everyone in town had been great. I had been elevated to the status of a local legend for getting rid of the things that had been attacking the town. The fact that I had saved some one else's life by doing that had only made the people around me that much more proud. My folks had seen me when I had gotten back to KY.
My mom's worst fears had been confirmed, her baby girl had gotten her self nearly killed by helping a man. She'd been on the verge of hysterics and it had taking three days of begging to get her to let me come back to the farm alone. My dad on the other hand had been down right amazed and very proud that I had done some thing so selfless. I didn't think I'd done any thing special, I had chosen to help some one. Anyone who had been raised to care about other people and love life would have been willing to do the same thing. Still they were proud of me but realized that I needed time to work out the problems that this had caused. Emotionally and physically.
So Dad had given me the keys to his mom's house and had told me to take the time I needed to get better. To say I was grateful was an understatement. I was ecstatic, being alone was what I wanted and he had understood that.
So I was up there in Beattyville looking for peace of mind, and time to let my self get better. I wasn't expecting any thing to happen, but on that morning the moment I walked in, I was nearly assaulted by one of the local gossips who also happened to be the checking lady for the IGA. Jean Tary, took one look at me and pounced.
"MISS ANGEL!!" I braced my self.
"Hey Jean," I answered, "What's on your mind?"
"There was someone here lookin' fer ya this morning."
"Oh?" I blinked, betting it was Alyssa having snuck back into town. "What'd she want?"
"Oh it wasn't a she hunny, it was a guy, looked about thirty five, blond, blue eyes Texas accent."
I blinked, none of the guys I knew here or in Lexington fit that particular description.
"Did he tell you his name Jean?"
She nodded, "Yeah but I dun remember it." She stopped and thought for a second.
"I think he said his name was Ryan."
Now that really got to me, I didn't know any blonds and I didn't know any Ryan's.
She kept on going, "He seemed really hot to trot to find you too honey, almost frantic" She grinned, "If you have a guy like that looking for you sweetie I'd start looking back. He was pretty cute."
That more than any thing else she could have said hit me like a brick. I took a deep breath, the last thing I needed here and now was one of the townies thinking that they needed to salve my broken heart by fixing me up with someone. I convinced my self that was what she was up to and so moved off to finish the rest of my shopping.
"Well Jean, if you see him again you know where to send him if he wants me that bad."
"Okay hun. Please don't be mad at me. He seemed like he really wanted to see you."
I shook my head at her and went off to find what I needed up at the house. Ten minutes later I was checked out and heading back to my truck. That's when I looked up and saw the guy standing there at the end of that parking lot. He had dark blond hair, very broad shoulders, and from what I could see he looked like a very handsome person. I couldn't get a good look at him from where he was standing but I got the distinct impression that he was staring at me. I dropped the last of my things in the bed and pulled the cover closed and then went around to the cab. That's when I found it, a fire and ice rose there slipped between the windshield and one of the wipers. I took one look at it and pulled the flower loose. I snapped around to and scanned the parking lot, there was no one there... even the man that had been down at the far end of the parking lot was gone.
I stood there and gapped at it for a few moments and then noticed that there was some paper wrapped around the bottom of the stem. I pulled it loose and read what was written there.
"I love you. Don't be scared and don't worry."
"Watcha got there Miss Angel?"
I jumped three feet straight up and whirled to find yet another town looking over my shoulder. Perry Little, one of the elderly men.
"It's a note sir." I held it out to him.
"Sissy," the local word for young unmarried girls, "I think yer pulling this old man's leg, that's just a buncha scribbling."
I blinked and looked back down, indeed it was a bunch of symbols, some of them vaguely kanji looking, scrawled on the paper.
"But...."
He patted my shoulder, "Go home hunny, I think you need some more rest."
I looked after him and stared at the note, it still made sense to me, I could still read it. But it was still the symbols. I paled a bit and crammed the thing into my pocket.
Some thing odd was going on here and I wanted to find out what. Not to far away the man from before was watching me. A huge grin on his lips.
"She'll guess eventually," He told some one over what resembled a cell phone. "Then I will explain it to her. Yeah I know, but this is the only way she'll accept it. See ya soon."
