Chapter Five
...
A frigid breeze caught the collar of Attinger's wool peacoat. Which was fine, essentially, he would've pulled it up around his neck anyway. Stuffing his leather-gloved hands deep into his pockets, he stepped off the Huey and marched on the freezing, alien spacecraft towards the figure standing next to a monstrous cannon.
Twenty armed "guards" were about a yard behind him, with floating camera bots and armed sentries. It was an army against one man and a chopper, Attinger realized, a freaking army against one solitary human. Shaking his head, the cold wind had stiffened his beard. His breath made his glasses fog until he stopped, his asset meeting him halfway.
Lockdown was his name. Of what Attinger knew of the being, he held no alliance with the Decepticons or Autobots-whoever had the deepest pockets, essentially. He was a mercenary of the stars, straightening out the galaxies for God only knew what in return. Lockdown cleaned up messes, and Earth was a big one.
He looked more human than most of the other bots, Attinger noted. His facial features greatly resembled a human skull. He was about 13 feet tall, with broad shoulders. Attinger would've guessed he was a trim guy; he was perfectly shaped and armored. He couldn't imagine the types of weapons the bot carried in all those hidden compartments-he knew Lockdown's face could separate and turn itself into a highly dangerous sniper. He was suddenly very glad for their...contract.
"I thought you told me you would have him in Mexico City." was the greeting. No hello, no nods, no anything but business. Attinger rolled his eyes and huffed.
"We did. But, the girl interfered."
He made growling noise and snorted. "So much for human intelligence," he muttered. "Be aware, Mr. Attinger of Earth, that contracts, like humans, expire..." he looked towards the chopper. "...whether by accident or by purpose." Attinger tried to retain a stone-face, but found his brows rising at the insinuated threat.
"I'm aware of the contract's stipulations,"
Lockdown gave him a disgusted half smile, "Very good then. One Prime and one Shield, for the one seed. Nothing more, nothing less."
Attinger nodded his understanding. "If we find Optimus, the girl won't be far behind."
Lockdown gave a dissatisfied exhale. "And have you located either?"
"Not yet," he began.
Lockdown gave him and overly disgusted look. "You humans are like children," he snorted, "always needing supervision..."
"...but we have a tip on the girl."
The mercenary raised an optic ridge, as if pleased by the sudden blossom of intelligence. "Good. Find her, and you will find Prime. He's not going to let anything happen to her, or the Shield."
"We're working on it."
Lockdown turned, then glanced slightly over his shoulder. "I don't feel assured."
Attinger was silent. Lockdown made the trek back into the ship, and rallied his armies inside.
...
Mira seated herself on an old barrel, Merrick at her feet tracing his finger in the dirt. Mira listened to the murmuring of the two men, bargaining over the truck and talking about its condition. She kept her focus on the sky mostly, watching the stars begin to form in the dusky night air, which had cooled significantly. It was almost eight, and she was exhausted. Taking a piece of loose curl, she wrapped it around her finger relentlessly until the door the barn opened.
The man known as Cullen stopped in the doorway, propping the door open with one incredibly thick arm. He looked at Mira, a small smile forming on his lips, then to the child. He blinked once, nodded to her, and stuffed his hands into his pockets before making his way down the driveway. Mira watched him leave until she could no longer see his form in the forming darkness. Slipping off the barrel, she felt an oddly warm sensation on her skin, and looked down to the emblem hiding beneath the cotton dress. It was insanely warm, and she wrinkled her brow. Strange.
Walking back into the barn, Merrick followed lazily behind her. The poor boy's eyes were beginning to droop and Mira approached the bench, where Cade was leaning up against the edge, arms crossed over his chest. He was staring at the truck with a curious look on his face, or maybe it was disappointment. "Cade?" she asked quietly. He jerked back to reality and turned around to face her.
"Yeah?" he asked, suddenly aware of her presence.
She smiled at him. "I'm sorry to be rude, but I think I'd better get little man on home," she rubbed the boy's shoulder as he leaned against her leg, "it's getting late."
He nodded. "It sure is," he squatted down to face Merrick at eye level and gave the boy a goofy grin. "I'll see ya later, buddy. Keep your Ma awake on the road, alright?"
Merrick yawned and nodded, looking up to Mira. She smiled at him and turned to the workbench, beginning to pack what was left of dinner. After everything was replaced into the basket, Cade handed her the camera, and she nodded.
"I'll go get my purse-" Cade stopped her with a shake of his head.
"Nah. You made Tessa and I dinner, which was great," he smiled at her, "that's payment enough."
She shook her head. "No, no, it's not. I need to give you something."
He chuckled. "No, really, it's fine-"
"-I'd feel horrible-"
He held up his hands in surrender, "Okay, okay, I'll tell you what. Promise me you won't get mad when I tell you this and that'll be payment enough," She looked at him curiously and grabbed the basket, tucking a stray curl behind her ear.
"I..."
He scratched behind his neck, "I lied. I told you I keep phone numbers of clients, and that's a lie. I kept your number because I was going to call you and ask you to dinner, which I normally don't do." He shrugged, her mouth twitching to drop open, which she didn't allow. "But, seeing as you wear a ring, I shouldn't be saying anything at all, now should I?"
"Oh." was all she managed for a moment. Merrick was pulling at her dress now, asking with a lazy mumble to go home, and she backed up towards the door. Her heart was pounding in her chest and panic was tracing a path of dread in her veins. As handsome as he as and as attracted to him she felt, she couldn't possibly...could she? Will had only been gone a year..."Cade, I-"
"-let's just call it square," he approached Merrick and grabbed the boy under the arms and swung him up and rested him on his hip. "and you need to get this here boy home and in bed. It's late." He nodded towards the door and opened it, holding it for her with his bootheel. Mira, astounded at him, walked out and towards the truck, her mind ablur with emotion, confusion, and...fear?
Once at the truck, Cade kindly buckled Merrick into the seat and set the basket next to the boy. He opened up the truck door for Mira and draped his arms through the open window, leaning against the door. Mira, still confused by him, got into the truck and asked the question racing through her mind, which ended up a botched and horrifying mess of confused words. "Tessa, her mother...?"
A look hit his eyes she was all too familiar with. "...died when Tessa was born. It's been me and Tess since the hospital."
She looked away and grabbed the wheel. "Cade, I'm so sorry." she whispered. "I..."
He gave her a weak smile, "Don't worry about it. What about this?" He lifted his left ring finger and wiggled it. "I'm sorry to have-"
"-my husband died in Mexico a year ago." she blurted. His eyes met hers and she felt her own widen. A fierce blush painted onto her cheeks and she quickly stepped up into the truck.
"He...what...? Really?"
She nodded. "Yes. But that's not important," she grabbed the door and thumped it closed. "It really isn't. I need to go now, Cade. Thank you again for fixing my camera. Maybe we'll bump into each other." She started the truck with a roar, threw it into reverse, and barreled out of the driveway, kicking up stones as she went.
She left him there, in the dust.
...
After Mira tucked Merrick into his bed, the boy barely able to function, she changed out of her dress and into one of Will's oversized t-shirts. Then, crawling into bed, she clicked off the bedside lamp and stared into the darkness of the room, unable to sleep.
What had happened? Will had only been gone a year...was that a long time? It didn't feel like it as she lived in this house, looked at his pictures, smelled his clothes. It didn't feel like a year when she looked into her son's eyes or watched the painted sky from her porch. It felt only like it was yesterday her William had left her, and Robert Epps too for that matter. They might as well have died with Ratchet yesterday, the wounds felt so fresh.
But...a year? Was grief really a timed ordeal, or did one grieve until their heart was healed? Would she be shaming her union to Will if she started dating again-was she capable of dating again, or ever for that matter?
And what of Merrick? She wondered if the boy was ready for a new man to walk into their lives and take on the role Will had left behind. How would he feel, getting a new father? Could she drag him through that? Would he ever be able to accept a new man and call him "Father', or was that a pipedream?
"God," she whimpered, "What is happening? You're in control up there, You get it. How am I supposed to feel? How long do I have to grieve-or do I have to stop grieving?" she rolled over onto her back and stared at the ceiling.
Ecclesiastes 3:4, from Scripture, came to mind. "A time to weep, and a time do laugh, a time mourn and a time to dance..." There was allotted time for each activity, she decided. But, when was one to know when their time was finished? Was it a feeling, or a realization? Would she just wake up one morning ready for a new love?
She wondered if Cade felt the same way.
Mira let the thoughts roll around in brain a few minutes...then they drifted off to the stranger from the evening. Who was this Cullen, exactly? He'd just shown up out of nowhere, wanting his truck back. A peculiar man, to be sure, one that would need further investigation before passing judgement. Though Mira had never laid eyes on him, she felt in her soul she knew that man as if she'd grown up with him her entire life. She felt drawn to him...and those eyes. Oh, those eyes! They were so oddly familiar.
Both Cade Yeager and the stranger, Cullen, were on her mind as she fell asleep.
...
Cade used the garage creeper to roll himself up underneath the truck.
Lifting his hands above his head, he set to work putting the pieces back together he had torn apart. This Cullen character would be back tomorrow afternoon to get the truck and take it out of here, and he wasn't about to send something out the door that he had...destroyed. So, he set to work, tightening bolts and replacing screws, nuts, and washers.
That woman, he told himself. Man, she was something. Why he was attracted to her was a complete mystery, because she was nothing like Emily. She was outgoing, robust. A supreme smartness radiated from her eyes, and she was powerful. Actually, those eyes shook him to the core, something only Emily had done in his lifetime. Not even Tessa could do that to him. Hhe shook the thought from his mind and focused on...
...what was that?
It was a strange engraving; a symbol, almost. It looked oddly like Japanese or Chinese, but it...wasn't. Furrowing his brow, Cade rolled out from under the truck in search for a trouble light of some kind. Clutching one, he rolled back under and inspected it some more. It wasn't engraved into the metal...it was part of the metal. He ran his thumb across it. Strange.
He continued his work, fixing here and there, updating a few welds and grinds there. Then, he opened up the hood and decided to get a charge on that battery, if the poor girl would even turn over. So, grabbing some jumper cables and looping them over his shoulder, he managed to find a tractor battery and haul it into the barn.
Bringing it up onto the lift, he set it down, the weight shaking the steel. He managed to hook up the cables to the truck battery and then he readied himself to attach them to the tractor. Cade clipped the cables onto the live battery, and instantly the truck went berserk.
Sparks flew at him from every angle, and Cade lifted an arm to block them. The truck began the shake and bounce, as if he'd just awakened Frankenstein's car. The lights began to flash and smoke poured out from the exhaust and the engine, and a radio cackled and coughed to life. Cade, by this time, was gripping the railing of the lift, gaping at the creation before him. His mouth went dry and every nerve constricted within him. No wonder Cullen wanted his truck back!
Then, there was a flickering of static, before a voice attempted to arise from the radio. It cut out, and Cade swung himself down from the lift and through the window of the cab. He slammed his palm against the radio and it stabilized, the voice now clear in its transmission:
"Calling all Autobots, calling all Autobots..."
"No way," he breathed, scrambling from the truck. He scrambled so fast, in fact, his foot caught on a wire running from the truck and he landed smack on his chest, his chin colliding with the floor. Pain spiked through his body, but she shoved himself up and hurried to face the truck, now entirely stationary. It had gone quiet, not moving, or speaking for that matter. Cade's breathing had picked up and his heart hammered wildly like an unleashed beast behind his ribs. He swallowed thickly and wiped the streaming sweat from his brow with his filthy wrist.
He had just found a Transformer.
...
"Mom!"
It was a cry louder than she could deal with at what, she glanced at the clock, six in the morning? Groaning, she reached for her glasses and sat up, swinging her legs over the beside and hurrying from her room as the cries continued.
"Mom! Mom! MOM!" they got louder and louder as she pounded down the hall and slammed open Merrick's door with a palm and a shove. Standing in the doorway, her eyes widened as she saw the destruction in her son's room.
Clothes, blankets, toys, books-all everywhere on her son's floor. The table of Lego's in the corner was overturned, and the bin of toys was emptied and shoved away from its place. Merrick was under the bed, frantically pulling things out from under it and chucking them behind him. Frustrated, Mira stormed in and bent down to stare at him.
"Merrick Elijah Lennox, what on Earth have you done!?" she squeaked, "Look at this room!"
He whimpered. "My semi," he cried, "it's gone!"
Oh no. The beloved semi truck from Will. Her heart dropped to her feet. Merrick took it everywhere with him and refused to be without it...it was the last gift to him from Will before he was killed. Mira's throat parched and she got down on her knees, placing her hands on the boy's now trembling shoulders. Tears poured down his little face as he began to whimper again.
"We'll find it," she declared softly, "let's keep looking."
Only after spending all morning and searching the entire house did Mira give up. She collapsed on the couch, Merrick next to her, still a sniffling, bawling little mess of human boy. She wrapped her arms around him and pulled him close to her. "Do you remember where you had it last, hon?"
He sniffled again, and took a moment to think. "...last night. At the junk man's house."
She paused, and her heart stopped for a brief moment. "You mean at Cade's house?"
He nodded. "Mhm."
Mira closed her eyes as agony trailed a groove through her heart. She really had to go see that man again? That was far too much crow for one woman to eat! Sighing, she nodded and scratched her head. "You're sure?"
"Yeah! I left it next to the big truck."
Great. Just perfect.
Rising, Merrick did likewise and she slapped his bottom encouragingly. "Fine. Get dressed, we'll go over there." She stretched her arms over her head and made her way towards her bedroom, Merrick already gone in a dash of boyhood anxiety. Closing the door with a click she groaned and leaned against the door.
Great. Just...great.
...
The Rolls Royce squealed to a screeching halt outside the CIA.
Attinger might has well have flown from the backseat of the car, passed the suicide doors his cheuffer was late in opening, and into the building...his building. Grabbing the railing almost brutally he tromped up the stairs like a madman to meet a woman in a white, pressed suit. She handed him an Ipad and stated simply.
"We have a lock on a high-profiling target," she struggled in heels to keep up with him, "last sighted in Paris, Texas two days ago. No driver or paperwork." Attinger pushed open the heavy doors to his retro office and stopped, glancing over her shoulder at her. She stopped and stood straight, awaiting orders.
"Who spotted the target? Which surveillance room?"
The answer was almost robotic, "The Green room," she replied; usuing the code name for the radar room. Nodding, Attinger shooed her away, then rapidly approached the desk. Pounding the intercom button, he ordered the room "dark" and told his secretary to forward all calls.
Then, he took control of his world.
...
"Dad," Tessa moaned as she stepped through the barn doors, carrying a bowl of cereal and a glass of orange juice, "you forgot...what are you doing?" her thoughts were interrupted as she spotted her father feverishly working over that truck.
"Tessa!" the man jumped down from the lift and bolted towards her, "you're never gunna believe it!" his eyes were dialated from lack of sleep and excitement, and he looked deranged-and run over. Tessa began to worry and set the cereal and orange juice on the workbench beside them. Cade gripped her shoulders and smiled wildly at her.
"Dad," she asked calmly, "are you ok?" her voice was genuinely concerned. "You're scaring me."
He let go of her and began pacing, grabbing at his short cropped hair with itchy fingers. Then, he paused to look at the truck, took a few steps forward and thrust his index finger at it. He looked at Tessa and approached her again, still pointing. "Tessa...it's not a truck."
Her eyes widened. "Dad."
"It's, not!" he declared. The barn door behind Tessa slapped closed. In stepped Lucas, his business partner and oldest college buddy. A surfer bum by trade, the guy had trekked halfway across the country to come and work for him as an assistant...something Cade still had a hard time believing. He had swimming trunks on, a mismatching t-shirt and hoodie, and flip-flops-hardly prepared for a hard day's work, as usual. "Lucas! Thank God!" Cade practically jumped the man and grabbed his hoodie, pulling him towards the truck.
"Whoa dude, chillax." Lucas stopped and put his hands up. "Nice to see you too."
Cade frowned at him. "Be serious!" he declared. Running towards the truck, he scrambled up the lift as Tessa and Lucas approached slowly. Grabbing the cables, he positioned them in each hand and began his former thought, "I've been up all night, workin' on this thing..."
"We know!" Tessa challenged.
Cade pointed one of the cables at her. "Tessa!" he barked, her quieting. He panted now, exhausted and starving for words, "I found some strange symbols on the undercarriage of this guy here and guess what? They aren't Chinese or Japanese-I checked." He gestured towards the truck. "And I hook it up to these cables and look what happens."
"Dad, I really think you need to lie down..." Tessa began. Lucas followed suit.
He sighed, "Dude, seriously..."
"No, no I won't lie down!" he shouted, "Watch, watch!" Striking the cables to the active battery, Cade hurried down the lift to stand with Lucas and Tessa, beholding the truck now shaking violently and bobbing around, as it had last night. Sparks continued to fly as more smoke billowed from the beastly machine. Tessa, obviously petrified, clutched onto his arm, trying to take horrified steps back. Lucas just stood in awe and beheld the scene. The radio cracked to life and sent off the same message as it had last night, the Autobots rally, and Cade nodding, pointing.
"It's..." Tessa began, horrified.
"It's a..." Lucas couldn't finish the thought.
Cade smiled wildly in sheer awe. "...it's a Transformer."
"Oh my gosh!" Tessa bolted out of the barn with a squeak, Lucas soon following. Cade, torn between staying with the truck and going after his daughter, decided the truck wasn't apparently going anywhere soon. He bolted out of the barn, but before he did, he heard an oddly familiar voice coming from the radio, laughing.
"No, silly. That is Romeo and Juliet; an infamous love story written by the great, late Shakespeare," the giggle erupted as the message continued. "...it's a beautiful love story, Optimus..." Cade froze, one hand on the door of the barn as he put two and two together. That woman was Miriam Lennox, the very woman he had in his barn last night.
And that was Optimus Prime she'd been explaining Romeo and Juliet too...an Autobot!
"Tessa!" Cade was about to tear out of the barn, when suddenly there was a solitary click that caught his full attention. Followed, was a mess of chaos he could not begin to describe.
The truck literally lifted-lifted!-from its stationary place and broke apart into a mess of pieces, almost like a Rubix cube. It began to shift and turn violently, whirring and clashing into place like a brass band gone haywire. Two legs began to form, and then two arms, followed by the entire engine block falling into place roughly in the middle of the entire being. Then, a face appeared as plates shifted into place and fell into lock, followed by two gleaming eyes. Cade, falling against the door, gripped it with white knuckles as the roughly 40 foot being struggled to stand, stumbling forward but expertly correcting itself. His right arm instantly shifted into a huge gun, and he declared forcefully, but woundedly:
"I'll kill you, humans!"
Cade's throat constricted. Two bodies slammed into him from behind, Cade stumbling forward into the barn. The being-obviously a Transformer-continued to struggle, obviously disoriented and heavily wounded. He swung his gun around wildly, yet unwilling to shoot off rounds. Tessa screamed and Lucas hollared something, but Cade whirled around and put up his hands to them. "Shh, shh!" he hissed. "He's not going to hurt us...he'd have done it already."
"Dad," Tessa squeaked. Cade hushed her with a forceful look before turning around. Arms in the air, he slowly approached the robot, who watched him wickedly like wounded hawk. The robot clutched a hand to his chest, where a glowing orb rested preciously. He was almost entirely doubled over, as if shot to the abdomen-or something worse.
"Hey," Cade declared to him, "it's okay. We're...we're not going to harm you," he said softly. There was a rapid set of footsteps behind him, as Lucas bolted past him, towards the storage room, screaming and cursing and yelling.
"We're gunna die! It's going to KILL US! We're going to DIE!" The robot frowned, lowered his gaze to the now frantic Lucas, and gave a somewhat disgusted look to the human. Bringing his once hand now gun hand around, he gently pushed it in Lucas' direction, when a loud crack hit the air. Lucas' body hit the floor with a heavily ungraceful thud and he was instantly silenced unmoving. Tessa fell against the workbench, dazed.
"Whoa, whoa," Cade took a few panicked steps forward, hands still up in a cautious, friendly surrender. "It's ok. You're hurt, badly...and obviously by human beings." The being gave his attention back to Cade and lowered his guns. "I'm not going to hurt you, I swear it. I'm here to help you."
Realizing he was not in danger, the being transformed his hand back into a hand and the gun vanished. Cade was relieved, somewhat. Putting his hands down, he asked the next question. "Are you...?"
Standing full height after realizing the barn could contain him, he put a hand to an-oozing?-head wound and stumbled forward. Tessa screamed as the earth shook beneath their feet at his intensely massive weight. Then, he gave a look to Cade and nodded.
"I am in your debt," he began, "Forgive my forwardness. Where is Miriam Lennox?" The resonation of his command struck Cade to his core. It almost knocked him to his knees, the leadership and honor in his voice, even in his state. He instantly recognized the voice as belonging to Cullen, from last night. How...?
"Uh," he began, Tessa coming up beside him. She looked at the robot and then to her father, confusion replacing fear for almost a brief moment.
"He's asking for the girl from last night?" she asked again. Cade nodded.
"Well," Cade began, "she, ah...she doesn't...she doesn't live here?" it came out as more of a question than a statement. He changed the subject. "Who..." he stepped forward, "who are you?"
The being looked to Tessa, then his surroundings, and then focused on Cade. He gave him an intense stare before he replied. "I..." he winced and pulled back as obvious pain overtook him, now standing to a full, towering height, "...am Optimus Prime."
