Chapter Eleven
...
James was never one to admit failure.
Actually, he'd been pretty successful in his career. He loved what he did, and he did it with a vengeance that would've put Hilter's holocaust to shame. He'd paid his dues, crawled up from the miry lower-ranks and put himself in a position of power for the ones he worked for. He worked a task and worked it hard...shirking was not even a word he could spell. He did his job, signed his name on it. He took his job so seriously, in fact, you could say his very life hung in the balance of the success.
So, essentially, he might've been dead as Attinger was screaming fury at him and damning him to hell for losing the girl, the Prime, and the Shield. Really this was a triple failure, because James did not do package deals. Everything was its own job, its own target. All three of those things were individual missions, and he'd failed every last one. Every. Freakin'. Last. One.
Only when Attinger took off his suit jacket and whipped it-literally whipped the material-into the dirt before his feet did James slide his glasses down his nose and look up over the rims, giving his best "you-really-did-just-do-that, you-must-be-upset" look. Attinger glared bullets at him and he slid the glasses up onto his head, rubbing his jawline carefully.
"...I should kill you for this," Attinger growled.
James shrugged. "Go ahead. I have no plans tomorrow."
Attinger's brows rose. "Do you have any idea where they are going?" He picked up the jacket and they walked over to his Audi, Attinger a storming mess and James just strolling casually, thinking, buying time. He shook his head and clucked his tongue. "...of course you don't."
"Where's she gunna go?" James challenged quietly, "she has no life. Neither does the guy. We've got everything on them. They can't hide anywhere."
This threw Attinger into a rageful fit. He instantly whirled around and grabbed an unsuspecting James by the collar of his jacket, pulled a Glock from the back of his pants, and shoved it under James' chin. He would've widened his eyes if he were a lesser man, perhaps even began to beg for mercy, but he wasn't a lesser man. He just stared at Attinger expectantly as the man growled almost demonically at him, "She's NEST, Savoy! Freakin' NEST. She knows how to hide...her mentor is a freakin' TRANSFORMER for God sakes!" Savoy looked at his trigger finger, which was just twitching to flick the trigger, but remained restrained, "Lennox knows how to hide. She's been doing it for years, and she'll continue to do it. She'll run circles around us if we don't keep up with her," he roughly pulled the Glock away and shoved James away from him, "so keep up with her."
James nodded, straightened his collar, and approached one of the field SUV's, the one which had apparently survived the run-down against Lennox's GTO. He stopped when he felt Attinger stare holes into the back of his head and glanced over his shoulder at the man. For a brief moment they were silent, until Attinger tossed the Glock into the Audi and threw himself inside, slamming the door a bit roughly before spinning out and heading back, he suspected, to the airport. Pulling his cuff to his mouth, he whispered into the piece and ordered the men to search the GTO, if there was anything left.
...
The highway continued to roll beneath them at a pretty good pace, but at much cost. Mira noted the overly shaky cab of the semi; and not only was it shaking, it was falling apart. The dash was missing lights and foggy from trapped moisture, the headliner was practically shredded beyond hope, the floor had holes beginning to fall through from rust and the windows were cloudy. Sun had sucked the once vibrant leather dry on the dash, leaving it cracked and pitiful, and the seats were tattered, faded, and...loose.
Cade and Tessa were awaiting her reply, she realized. What would she say to them? Could she really lie to these people, these bystander's who had witnessed the darkest secrets of her past? Freedom was their right; and trust was a freedom they so deserved, even if it was a stretch. Exhaling, she rubbed the bridge of her nose and then bent to kiss Merrick's cheek, him sleeping soundly despite the action. She guessed it was Ratchet's inoculation. Touching the steering wheel, she wrapped her hand around it tightly and closed her eyes. "Do we dare, my friend?" She asked quietly.
"There is no other way," he said strongly, "to tell what is to be said besides in a way of truth." There was a soft click and the windshield converted to the See-All screen, Optimus bringing up files and photos and logs dated years in the past. Memories began to flash to life in Mira's head. Her chest suddenly began to burn with pain as those memories flooded her being, reminding her of times of unity and peace between humans and Autobots. Tears swelled in her eyes when she saw Ratchet's face, Ironhide's entries, and Jazz's transmissions. She had to look away.
She saw herself in many of these photos and entries. Mira had never realized to stop and examine how much time she spent with Optimus and his team, and now she noticed it was exorbitant. She was practically in every photo Optimus had taken and logged, in almost every briefing roster and log entry. Mira had never meant to consume Prime's very life; she wondered instantly if he'd ever tired of her presence. She had certainly never tired of his. A pang of guilt robbed her of sanity a moment, before Cade and Tessa's stare caught her attention fully.
"Years ago," Optimus began quietly, "my people and I arrived on this planet in search of an artifact lost to my kind in a Great War, which ravaged our planet. I dispelled it into the stars for safekeeping, and your planet housed it for many, many years," he brought up a photograph of the Allspark, now lost to the universe at the hand of Megatron. "Upon our arrival we were in search of a Samuel Witwicky, whom would become a trusted ally and friend."
Cade and Tessa followed the photograph with their eyes before Tessa interjected, "So where is Sam now?"
"Sam, last we knew," Mira decided to jut in on this conversation, "joined the WPP-or the witness protection program. He disavowed any involvement with the Autobots." She looked away. "We have no idea where, or who, Sam is."
Cade nodded. "Okay. Where do you come in?" He pointed at her and then the screen, "'cause you must've been mixed in with all of this, right? The Autobots weren't looking for you...right?"
Mira nodded and Optimus continued, "That is correct," he showed a picture of Mira, the day she had met him and his team in Mission City. "Mira was a civilian who offered her services unto our human allies during our search for the Allspark. She provided medical care and housing for Sam and another human friend, Mikaela. After her original invovlement-"
"-there was no turning back," Mira chuckled.
Optimus, if it was even possible, let out a small chuckle as well. "Yes. Mira became a trusted ally unto myself, and my team. We became dependent on her when Sam resumed his civilian life as a son, and student. She took on the responsibility of explaining to us human culture, and customs. Through Mira's education, we became familiar with human tradition, ritual, and their practices." Cade and Tessa shared a look for a moment, and then Tessa interjected.
"So...the government just let you stay with them?" she sounded disbelieving, "You were a civilian, right? How did that happen?"
Mira nodded her understanding, "After the battle in Mission City with Megatron and the Decepticons, the government allied itself with Optimus and his Autobots, in an organization we deemed NEST Ops. Anyone previously involved with the Autobots was grandfathered in, or requested. We had the choice to refuse, and with that refusal, forfeit any associations with the Autobots and their war," she looked to the screen, "...which I, and my late husband, William, refused to give up. We became soldiers of NEST. My husband would become a Major. I became a Commander, only because of this," she pulled the Shield out from behind her shirt, "...the Shield."
"Shield?" Cade wrinkled his brow, "What is that?"
Optimus picked up, "the Shield of the Matrix of Leadership is a part of the device given to the Prime's by Primus, our Creator," he continued, "It is a piece able to be detached from the Matrix, given to only a trusted soldier of the carrier of the Matrix-myself," he said quietly, "I became Mira's guardian shortly after the Mission City war, and a bond grew between us."
Mira smiled. She looked to Cade, who did not look at all pleased about the arrangement. She wondered why when he asked the next question. "Guardian?"
"A guardian," Optimus explained, "is precisely what the name suggests. Our sparks are designed to protect a life besides our own," the RPM's dropped as he downshifted a gear and began to slow slightly, "it is much like the idea of a husband protecting a wife, or a father a child. Each of my people are designed with this desire. While Autobots strive to nurture life and protect it, this guardianship a deeper manifestation of that duty."
"So it's special," Tessa finished, piecing the information together. "Sort of like blood."
Mira nodded. "Yes. Guardianship can be awarded only to one individual person in an Autobot's lifetime," she smiled, "and the spark chooses the person, much like a heart would choose someone to love."
There was a quite a moment as Cade sat back in the seat, crossed his arms over his chest, and rubbed his jawline, "Alright, sure. But how does the spark know for sure you're the person? Can't it choose between others?"
Optimus disengaged the See-All screen. "No," he answered, "a spark can choose one being, and one being only. It codes itself to that person in a way that is unique to the individual," Mira nodded in agreement and extended her hands to Cade and Tessa.
"Like a fingerprint. It's unique to one person, right? So," she shrugged a shoulder, "my fingerprint is coded to Optimus' spark. It knows who I am by my blood, touch, voice, everything."
Tessa's eyes widened. "And that's how you got the Shield?"
Mira nodded. "Yes."
"I entrusted the Shield to Mira after she coded herself to me for my guardianship," he said, "and since the Shield is part of the Matrix-"
"-the Shield knows who you are," Cade sat up and looked at the device around her neck. He reached out to touch it and rested it in his palm. He gazed upon it as if it were the very essence of life itself, and Mira wondered briefly if he was going to rip it from her neck. There was silence between the members of the cab a moment before he confirmed, "and that's how you were able to command it in the GTO?"
Mira nodded.
"So you're alot like a celebrity, or a VIP," Tessa said lightly, "that's cool."
Mira shook her head. "Don't misunderstand," she said solidly, "I am as much a soldier as the next man. Just because Optimus is my guardian means nothing to my rank."
Optimus corrected her sternly, "That is your understanding, Mira. To others it is not quite," he sighed, "you are much like a Lieutenant to me in the decisions that I make, Mira, whether you would agree or not is your decision. Just as Starscream is to Megatron, you are to me. You are essentially a right hand. I've told you this."
"...and I refuse to believe it, again. As I've said before, Optimus, I am your friend before your soldier. I don't want to make decisions, I want to learn."
"Be that as it may, Mira," he said forcefully, "you are what you are. My spark has chosen you for such a position, and you accepted that position the day you agreed to my Guardianship. Fate has chosen you to lead, and lead you have."
Then there was silence.
It was a long drive in silence, Optimus rolling on through the hours as day drifted into evening. Merrick slept soundly, snoring slightly on her lap until her legs went so numb she couldn't feel them anymore. Everyone was left to their own thoughts until Tessa broke the silence with a soft whimper and a sniffle.
"Lucas. Dad," she touched his arm and looked up to him with wet eyes. "He's..."
Mira looked away as Cade wrapped an arm around Tessa's shoulder and pulled her close, "he's gone, baby."
She whimpered again and rested her head on his shoulder. Mira looked to the rearview, which shifted slightly to focus on her face, and she looked away upon recognizing her own eyes. Resting an elbow on the edge of the window, she laid her head against her hand and watched the miles of road stretched before them. The highway rolled on and on, beneath the tires, threatening her sanity. The mustiness of the cab was overwhelming, almost as overwhelming as her thoughts.
Her life as she knew it was over. Again. Mira had thought upon NEST's disbanding that she and Will could've started a normal life together-a ranch, in Texas, with miles and miles of land in any direction under their names. They could have children-lots of children, and be happy. Be the happy American family girls dreamt of as children. That reality had started, when she had Merrick, but ended the week she walked back through the NEST doors with a newborn baby, sore abdomen, and an overly protective husband. Her perfect dream had ended when she left her toddler with a babysitter to attend the final debriefing of NEST. It had ended when she had to leave her son with her parents in Minneapolis to be hauled of for refocusing in the Mediterranean.
It was happening all over again. The battles, the fighting. As much as she missed those days of spending weeks at base with the Autobots going on missions and learning and teaching, she didn't want death. Disunity. Destruction. She wanted peace between these beings and her kind, the trade of knowledge for knowledge and friendship for friendship. She didn't want the Decepticons, coming in with guns blazing to end the world and send the Earth spinning wildly out of control.
But, she realized, the threat wasn't the Decepticons. It was the very people she wanted to see unite with the Autobots again. A deceived people who believed whatever the government told them to believe, based on the fear and hopelessness the Chicago War had left behind. They believed what the past provided, they believed what the gravestones of their loved ones read. Her people believed what the papers-manipulated by Cemetery Wind-printed. They had lost imagination and hope, and now clawed their way back into survival by shoving away those who could perhaps change the very world with their understanding of technology, science, and survival. They had initiated a war with the Autobots, a war they were very well prepared to fight.
Mira hadn't realized in her thoughts that Optimus had slowed, initiated a turn signal, and pulled off the highway. She perked up as his form bobbed through potholes and along bumps of a gravel parking lot, out in the middle of where she assumed was still Texas desert. He stopped, flashed his lights on a very small, abandoned building, and opened the doors for them gently. Fresh air exploded in the cab, and Tessa scrambled out and Cade dropped to the dirt behind her solidly. He hustled around to cab and stopped Mira from exiting by pulling himself up next to her with the steering wheel. He dipped a hand under Merrick's body, his fingers tickling her thighs innocently, and lifted the boy carefully with a thick arm. He smiled at her and whispered, "I got this."
She smiled at him appreciatively. "Thanks," dropping out of the cab, she flipped the seat forward and removed their supplies. Setting them against the wall of the building, she watched Cade expertly situate Merrick on his hip, the boy slowly awakening into a groggy monster as he wrapped his arms around Cade's neck and nuzzled his face into Cade's shoulder.
Optimus closed his doors with a thump and released the air from his brakes, and then his form split apart into a thousand different directions and sections. They began shifting and turning over themselves in a myriad of technology and science, folding and disappearing with different thunks, clicks, scrapes, and drops. Soon his legs appeared, followed by his engine block dropping into place at his chest, and then two arms stretched towards them and pounded dramatically into the earth, supporting his frame. His faceplates slid into place and he stood before them.
"Much has happened today." He said quietly, looking away from them. He gave his attention back to Mira and nodded to her. Pain struck forth in his optics, and Mira hung her head. She knew exactly what he was talking about; there had been an innocent life snatched at the hand of war and survival again, and they both looked to Cade and Tessa. Optimus dipped his head to them, then shared a look with Mira. "Miriam and I express our deepest condolences for your loss."
Tessa looked away and Cade just stared up at Optimus, a look of strength and almost defiance in his eyes. He held Merrick protectively, instinctively, but said nothing. Optimus looked to the east and then back at them. "I trust Miriam to see to your safety when I am gone to establish a perimeter and make sure we were not followed." he looked to her. "Be safe, be smart. I will keep my line open."
She nodded. "Of course." Approaching him, she placed a gentle hand against the plating of his foot and looked up at him. "Take care of yourself, Optimus. I don't want to have to pick up whatever's left of you on the side of the road. We have much catching up to do before that happens." She smiled. A small, hardly evident smile pulled at his lips, but he refused its presence and turned from them.
'Find rest, and find it swiftly. We have much to do in the coming hours."
Then he transformed and left, rumbling in that disheveled heap of a form. Mira watched him go until his headlights were unnoticeable against the inky blackness now set over the Texas desert. Cold snatched the heat from her skin as she took out her phone and turned on the flashlight, grabbing two of the packs and rounding the building to the service door. Cade grabbed the other bag and followed, Tessa in the middle of their line.
Mira successfully managed to kick the door open and fished for a lightswitch. Upon finding the electricity disconnected, she managed to unscrew the lightswitch cover and find the wires for the electricity. Using the Shield, she connected the wires and instantly the room came to life around them, only to reveal the true abandonment here. Apparently in a hurry when the owner's left, they'd left behind a huge mess of boxes and supplies and junk in their building. Mira shrugged a shoulder and situated the packs by the door. Cade managed to arrange a small bed for Merrick made entirely out of empty boxes and bubble wrap, and laid the boy gently down before approaching them.
"Well," he said, "you heard the guy. Let's get some rest."
Tessa nodded and managed to find a comfortable place along the bar counter of the establishment. Using one of the packs for pillow, she curled herself into a ball and started to snore lightly out of exhaustion. Mira leaned against the wall, watching out the window for Optimus to return, the Glock sitting on the sill beside her. Cade hunkered down in a chair and ran his fingers through his hair, mumbling to himself before letting his head fall against the wall behind him with a solid thunk. Mira watched the window for what seemed like hours when he made the next statement.
"You think he's coming back?"
Mira gave him her attention. "Who do you mean?"
"Optimus," he stated quietly, "you think he'll come back for us?"
She gave him a disgusted look. "That's not even a question. Optimus will return. He always has." she sighed, "He has no reason not to." There was a pause between them a moment before she had to choke back tears at the next thought. It must've come out of her mouth because she felt her breath against the glass and her lips moving. "...they were going to kill my son."
"They would've, and they'll still want to." Came the reply from the corner where Cade resided.
The thought made tears fall from her eyes silently. She closed them and felt her gut twist into hot knots, and she looked over to her little boy. Pain skyrocketed throughout her body and her heart began to hammer as she saw that man with his gun to her little boy's head, his eyes filled with fear. It almost made her sick. If she would've had any food in her stomach, she probably would've vomited.
It was awhile before Cade's breathing became rhythmic and heavy with sleep. She continued to watch the window, watching the night for any trace of Optimus, or her sanity. She half expected her life to come running up from where she'd come and offer her a ticket back to yesterday, when Optimus didn't exist and their lives were all normal again. Back to when Ratchet was still alive. She closed her eyes and sniffled, and Will filled her thoughts. She had to cover her mouth when she saw his face in the darkness of her memories, only to suppress a sob rising in her throat.
She didn't open her eyes.
