Chapter Eight
...
Mira was not unfamiliar with squaring off with the barrel of a gun.
Actually, it reminded her of her NEST days, a time when she actually felt fulfilled. Why wouldn't she? She had Will, her friends, a job-serving her country. Life was good in NEST, and sometimes she relived her glory days through daydreams. Days of friendship and strength. Of...completeness. She remembered her missions with Will and Robert, how they would stand side-by-side, willing to take on the world if necessary. She remembered Ironhide and Ratchet at their peak, through war and science unifying a world and teaching...
She remembered this gun.
The man at the end of it she remembered too, though she didn't know his name. He was the man the night Ratchet had been killed just a few days previous, who headed the operation and saw to her friend's death. He was the man, also, who had killed her Will; so mercilessly. Heat flared up her body and solidified on her face, and her heart began to hammer. The Shield had stayed continually warm, and she hoped Optimus had gotten some kind of plan in order...this man could not be allowed to find him, she knew that much. Anger began to twitch through her body.
"Search the place!" he shouted at the men.
Then there was still on the air, the gun staring at her blankly. There was no room between her, the gun, and the door behind her. So, she stood, quietly, still. The breeze picked up at played at the end of the man's trenchcoat. He stood there, smirking at her for a few moments, letting his statement resonate through her mind. There suddenly was sharp scream and scuffling, and Mira shifted her eyes to find Cade and Tessa being roughly hauled out of the house by men in what appeared to be SWAT uniforms. Both were tossed down the stairs, Tessa tripping over a potted plant and Cade reaching out to catch her.
Merrick was tossed up against the barn by a man, kicking and screaming and crying. The barrel of a huge M16 pressing into his shoulders. He froze, but began to whimper. Mira's instinct's let loose and she dashed to the right, towards him, reaching out and screaming.
"No! Merrick! Let him go!" she hollared, the man swung his arm around and grabbed her forearm with a free hand, the gun still pointed at her head. She lurched to a stop too suddenly, so suddenly that she fell to the ground before the man roughly stood her up. Pain shot up her arm as he pulled her arm behind her back and threw her-threw her!-into the barn door, her face colliding with the rough wood. He dug the barrel into her skull, Merrick now crying and screaming at her. "Please," she sputtered against the wood, "don't hurt him..."
He was quiet a moment, then responded, "Cooperate," the man snarled, "and I'll see about it." He released her and nodded to the man holding Merrick. He released the barrel from his shoulders and Mira flung herself at him. He attached onto her, both of them a trembling heap of shared bloodline. She squeezed him tightly, leaning against the barn, until an arm grabbed her forearm and a soldier drug Merrick away from her.
"No!"
Merrick sobbed now, screaming highly, "Mom! Momma!"
"It's okay!" she promised, the man hauling her away from the barn and over to the grass in front of the house, where Cade and Tessa were contained each with their own soldier. The man whipped her, Mira tripping over something and hitting the ground hard. Her chin collided with the grass and she saw stars a moment. Pushing herself up, she shifted the center of her weight and hit the ground on her shoulders, kicking her feet around to slam into the legs of a nearby guard. He hit the ground, Mira sprining up and grabbing a wagon and shoving it towards another. It cracked against his ribs and he fell.
The butt end of a M16 came her way and she hit the ground. Instantly, six guns cocked and pointed her direction, two on Merrick, one each touching the temple of Cade and Tessa. Tessa whined and gasped, and Cade growled. Merrick sobbed now, shaking and sniffling profusely. Mira lay panting in the middle of a circle of guns, the man in the trenchcoat approaching and grabbing her by her mess of curls. He pulled her up, less than gracefully.
He was quiet, then spoke after a moment. He seemed to be listening, and Mira looked to his ear. He had a comm in, apparently receiving orders from someone. So there was someone behind the man in the trenchcoat. "Did you not listen?" he asked darkly. Staring her in the face, he released her and whipped her body the tree firmly planted into the yard. She hit it with a solid thunk, the back of her head cracking into the rough bark. She stood there, dazed, as the man pointed the gun at Merrick.
"Put the kid on the ground," he ordered. Instantly two soldiers crushed her son into the earth, Merrick squirming and crying and sobbing. He thrashed violently. Mira flung herself at him, hitting the ground and clawing at the earth to reach her baby. The man whirled around and fired a shot right next to her head, where a tuft of grass sprayed across her face and pebbles pricked her skin. Tessa screamed and Mira tucked her arms into her body, rolling away from the intrusion as soon as the gun had tired. She stopped as a soldier kicked his foot out and send her rolling across the lawn again. Now, she as at the feet of the man in the trenchcoat.
"Enough!" he barked, "Ms. Lennox," he slammed the grip of the gun between her shoulders, and she yelped. Cade screamed something, Tessa screamed just...shrilly, and Cade's body began to thrash violently. Merrick was watching, frozen, as his mother moaned.
"My name..." she struggled, "...is Mira," she groaned.
He chuckled. "I know who you are. Do you know who I am?" he challenged, squatting. He grabbed her shoulder and roughly rolled her onto her back, where aching pain shot through her shoulders and into the rest of her body. She grimaced and stared at him. Smirking, he removed his sunglasses and placed them on top of his head. She stared, then nodded.
"You killed my husband," she whispered, looking away. He smiled and nodded slowly.
"That's right," he stroked his finger along his special edition Baretta's barrel and clucked his tongue, "Your husband was uncooperative. I don't like uncooperative," he turned serious now and gave her a look of sheer stone, "...and I kill what I don't like, Mira."
Everyone turned quiet.
"Who are you?" she asked, disgusted.
He smiled. "James Savoy," he shrugged. "I don't think we've formally met."
Mira snarled at him and spit in his face quickly. His smile vanished and he wiped the spittle from his face, pointing the gun at her. He swore and gave her a look that made her think he was on the brink of loosing his mind. "Don't start with me, Lennox!" he hollared, "I'll kill you now like I killed your man!"
"No!" Cade exclaimed. Merrick burst out bawling again.
There was a muffled order, probably from his earpiece. Snarling, he lowered the weapon. "I guess not quite yet,"
Mira's stomach did a flip.
He continued, "I got a call from a young woman," he gave his attention to Tessa, who turned a dangerous pale. Everyone looked at her, and Cade's mouth dropped open. There was a look of disappointment that arose in his eyes and she looked away from him, sniffling and still trembling. Mira's eyelids fluttered closed when he chuckled. "You like that, huh? Yeah, I got a call from a young lady saying that her Daddy bought a truck that 'stood up'," he laughed now. "Ridiculous, right? Trucks just don't stand up," He stood now, and looked at the men pinning Merrick into the ground. He jerked his head towards the tree and instantly they picked up her son and began hauling him. Mira turned over onto her stomach and pushed herself up, watching them pin his back against the tree.
Then, there was a sound of feet tearing up gravel. A bang hit the air and everyone looked in the direction of the barn. A shaggy, blond haired man stumbled out of the barn and a troop of armed guards followed after him. Seizing the man by the hood of his sweater, the roughly began approaching Savoy when he put out a hand and rolled his eyes.
"Lucas," Tessa breathed. Mira could only wonder.
"Who is this fool?" The black man shoved the blondie-Lucas-into the circle. Lucas, apparently, got down on his knees, hands raised above his head, looking at everyone strangely. He reminded Mira of a coke-head, or maybe it was marijuana, the way his eyes were dilated and the way he was sweating feverishly. He looked at Cade and furrowed his brow.
"Dude," he asked calmly, "what's..."
Savoy released her roughly into the bare of two other soldiers, who looped their arms through hers. She began to kick and grunt and flail, but they held strong. Savoy shook his head and covered his face with his hands as Lucas went on and on, blabbering about nothing. Frustrated, Savoy leveled the gun at the blonde man and gave him a disgusted look.
"I don't have time for this," he muttered. He pulled the trigger and there was a scream from Tessa as Lucas' body crumpled to the ground in a bloody pile. Savoy took a hand and wiped at his arms, and when he pulled his hands away they were stained red. Tessa screamed and buckled, dropping to her knees. Her guards released her as she turned towards the bushes and vomited. Cade, stunned, hit the ground on his knees, looking at the now dead Lucas. Merrick whimpered and Mira gave her attention to the boy, heart at her feet and sorrow erupting from her soul. Sweat had long soaked her body now, and dirt smeared her face, as it did Merrick's. She began to tremble with fury.
Savoy grabbed her by the hair again, hauling her up. She fought his hands, trying to claw at his arm, which was protected by the coat. He chuckled and pulled her head back, then pressed the cool barrel into her temple. Bringing his head down, his lips tickled the top of her ear as he whispered his next statement, "I could always kill your baby boy," he looked over at Merrick with a devious smile, "and then there'd be a little family reunion is paradise, wouldn't there?"
"Merrick, no!" she pleaded. Two guns leveled at his head.
Her heart seized and then she closed her eyes. "What do you want?"
"The truck, Lennox. We know it's Optimus Prime. "
Mira interjected quickly. "I don't know-"
"-don't lie to me!" he shot a round towards the tree, where it sank into the bark just above Merrick's head. The boy silenced, and stood with wide eyes staring at his mother. Mira's knees buckled, which only made him pull her hair harder. The soldiers didn't even flinch. Blood was racing through her ears now. Her boy pleaded at her, gave her a stare which sent bullets crashing into her body.
"Everyone here knows your an Autobot sympathizer," he grabbed the Shield at her neck and fingered it, "how couldn't we? Now," he cocked the Baretta a dug the barrel deeper into her curls, "I won't ask again. Where is he." It more of an order than it was a question. A fluttering object appeared from behind the tree-it was small, about the size of a toy poodle, and looked like a dragonfly with green eyes. It was severely Cybertronian in trait, but she hadn't seen anything like it. One of the eyes focused itself, spinning and then it clicked softly. She realized it was a camera when she spotted a blinking red light.
...
"Don't kill her!" Attinger screamed into the comm. He touched the headset around his ears and then tapped a button on the keyboard with the end of a pencil. Letting his feet drop from the desk, he focused one of the lenses in on the woman, who stood there with such a scowling face of stone it was uncanny. He admired her for her bravery and ability to remain calm, even in the face of her boy being surrounded with weapons.
That was it. She wasn't afraid to die. But, her son...did she fear for his life?
Attinger smiled and steepled his fingers under his nose and chuckled. "Kill the boy."
...
Savoy smiled as the softness of the comm swirled around in his ears.
He'd been itching to kill something lately.
Clucking his tongue again, she shifted her gaze from the Spotter-Bot and then to her son, who was white-faced, sweaty, and smeared with dirt. The two behind him were frozen in waiting, watching to see what would happen. The only noise from them was a sniffle from the daughter and a squeak, with a little roughing from the dad as he tried to escape. He inhaled her scent...which was strangely like that indian coconut and nectar his sister used to smell like. He let it swirl around his senses before complying with the order. The barrel of the Baretta leveled at her boy, and he felt her weight drop as her knees buckled. He kept her by the hair and pulled her back up. The gun glinted against the sun and he smiled wickedly at the boy.
"Maybe you don't value your life, Mom," he whispered into her ear, "but maybe you value his." he gently began to squeeze the trigger and she screamed, reaching out for her son.
"No, no!" she dropped to her knees. She began to tremble vehemently now, tears streaking the dirt down her face. Merrick sobbed now, his wails ringing on the air. He could barely speak as he choked out broken sobs.
"M-Mo-Momma!" he wailed, "Momma!"
She whirled around on her knees, digging her fingers into the dirt as she stared up at him. "Please," she begged now, "please, no!" The agony in her voice and on her face made him briefly reconsider. No. No one had reconsidered for Angela when she was killed in Chicago. No one had consoled him. He approached the boy roughly and slammed the tip of the barrel against his forehead. "NO!" Mira screeched, lunging for him. He kicked a foot out and struck her in the jaw, knocking her backwards.
"Let him go!" Cade challenged angrily, "he's a kid!"
Savoy stared at the boy now, deep into the eyes, and saw anger residing in the boys soul. He'd stopped screaming now, only panting and gasping for air. He had a scowl on his face, but there was fear. Lots of fear. He challenged the boy, "You want to die, boy? Like your Dad? Huh?"
"Merrick," Mira turned serious now, her voice dangerously warning, "don't listen to him!" Savoy whipped a look at her and grabbed the boys chin, yanking him from the grip of his soldiers. He lifted up the child and turned to face her now, gun pressed against his temple. The child's body began to shake again, and his eyes were wide as he stared at his mother.
"Where is he, Lennox!" Savoy spat at her, leaning into her face, his finger just a tickle away from splattering the kid's brains on her, "Optimus Prime! Where is he!?"
"Please!" she begged, "Let him-"
"Where is PRIME?!
...
The barn, now eerily quiet, had been abandoned as soon as the man he'd rendered unconscious awoke.
Optimus had sheltered himself in the cellar beneath the barn's foundation-it was a hole, essentially dug into the earth for storage of grown goods like potatoes, carrots, and other plants which grew beneath the soil. It was cool, and smelled of earth-of peace, innocence. Light shown through the planks he'd situated above himself only barely, giving him pinpricks of dust and light. Optimus, as he rested in the soil, wondered briefly if this was what a grave was like-damp, cool, and quiet. He thought for a minute he must've died, because it was so quiet. And still.
Then he heard the gunshot.
Anger had exploded within him at the savages which would turn even against their own kind in search for him. How much blood had to be spilled? A sickening cold had situated over him as he listened and sounded off the names in his head as they spoke, making sure Mira-or Merrick-were still alive. Cade and Tessa had lived, as had Mira and Merrick. The man who'd been killed was Lucas, he recognized, and he closed his optics. He did not know the man, but felt sorrow for his friends and family. He'd vowed to grieve the innocent, and sat in silence.
Then there was a scuffle. Optimus used the Matrix to create a comm to Mira's emblem, then activated a visual link to behold the situation. It was difficult amidst the rough movement of her body to watch, but he managed, until she stilled. His sparkbeat picked up a bit when he beheld the boy, pinned against a tree, with two weapons he identified as familiar M16's nuzzled into either side of his skull. All he could hear was Mira screaming and sobbing for them to release him, her breathing so shallow and struggled she was gasping as if drowning in water. Panic had all but seized her now, and she wasn't thinking clearly.
He had to make a decision. Would he chance the man named James Savoy not killing Merrick and Mira? He couldn't even begin to chance it. He was in no real condition to fight these soldiers, who knew where to hit him and how to bring him down. It was an advanced plot, a trap to bring him out of hiding; Optimus knew Savoy knew he was here. Optimus also knew the man was playing Mira's motherly emotions to get his way, and Mira would not sacrifice her son. At least he hoped she wouldn't. Not for him. Not this way.
He checked his systems. He was barely retaining the strength to drive, much less fight. Activating his reserves, they came online and flashed a warning signal to him. He ignored it and readied his Path Blaster, then his Energon swords. His best attack would be to the eastern side of the barn, which headed around the house and towards the field. The house would give him some cover from their weapons, enough cover to change into his alternation mode and make a getaway, leading at least the choppers and the soldiers away from Mira and Merrick.
With a burst of energy and hope, he rose up from his grave, and blasted a hole into the eastern wall.
As he erupted from the barn, he left what remained of his shambles from Mexico in the grave.
...
Lockdown rolled to a stop beside the grain silo, scanning the area for any sign of threats. Really, what could humans possibly do to threaten him anyway? Activation his transformation cogs, he shed the form of the human Lamborghini and returned to his rightful Cybertronian bi-pedal.
He watched briefly as human sparklings-children, they called them-were surrounding a gravel field, some in red and others in yellow uniforms. A gate separated them from their parents, who sat on metal bars watching them stand there, one human in red holding an aluminum stick, standing awkwardly as a boy in yellow hurled a small, white object at him. The boy in red swung the stick, and sent the object flying through the air with a crack. The others scrambled, with some type of leather pockets in their hands, while the boy previously holding the stick dashed and slammed his foot on top a white box sticking up out of the gravel. An adult in white and black yelled 'safe!" as if the boy had been running from danger and the bystanders all began applauding. Lockdown ran a quick search on the situation and found the humans deemed the activity, which was an Earth sport, "baseball".
He rolled his optics and slammed a hand into the silo, crumpling the aluminum beneath his fingers. He gave a disgusted growl and pulled himself up the silo until one of the boys spotted him, yelled, and pointed. The others looked, and instantly they scattered and began screaming. A few whipped out their cell phones as if to report him, but he sent an EMP pulse out to their devices, shattering their hopes of interference.
Focusing his attention southwest, he traced the GPS signals of Attinger's men to the location where they'd received intell. He targeted the barn, where a strange signal interference interrupted his trace. It was undeniably weak and dwindling, and he realized it the Prime's energy signature. Chuckling , he activated the changing of his faceplates and began to position the sniper, locking on the barn. He was stopped, however, when he noted a stronger signature coming a bit towards the human residing place, and he hacked one of Attinger's Spotter-Bots and focused his attention on the signature.
It was coming from the human female, Mira. He spotted the Shield around her neck, gleaming beautifully-holding there so much more power than she could possibly imagine. He was taken aback that she broadcasted the device so blatantly in front of spectators. Humans.
Then, the energy signature from the barn switched over and surged. It instantly skyrocketed into a higher reading, Lockdown assuming it was reserve system power. So, Prime was on the edge that far, was he? That was fine-made for an easier takedown. Lockdown thought it unfitting a Prime would subject himself to defeat at such a state, but decided he didn't care.
Prime had nothing to prove anymore.
