Chapter Twelve

...

"Mira."

Her name called out to her in the darkness, pulling her forward from an unconscious state. After being riddled with pictures of Will's face in her dreams, she had no desire to leave the state of which she was in. She was being held, fondled, caressed, and kissed by her love; she was staring into his eyes and loosing herself. Their laughter was ringing off the walls of her subconscious, until her dreamed turned into a horrid nightmare.

Suddenly, she saw Merrick, back on Cade Yeager's farm. His little body was unconsciously laid in the middle of the driveway, a dark pool surrounding his body. There was gunfire coming from the barn, harsh voices screaming out behind her as she ran in slow motion to her baby. Upon inspection of his body, she found him to be swimming in his own blood-his heart no longer beating. Eyes open and staring at her blankly, she screamed and grabbed at his clothing, smothering herself in his blood until she heard her name again.

"Mira..."

She thrashed out an arm. "No!"

The room was barely lit with uprising sunshine on the horizon, but staring into the window above her was a sharp, white light which only could be resolved as headlights. Stretching her arms over her head, she scanned the room to find Cade and Tessa both awake. Tessa looked like she needed coffee direly, and Cade had two-day unshaven stubble starting to show. Shouldering a bag, he drew his hand back when she had lashed out at him.

"What? What's going on?" she whispered, spying Merrick in the corner of the room. It couldn't be more than six in the morning, and she had a pounding headache that would not subside. Her body was aching and her stomach grumbling in hunger. Sliding up from her place against the wall, she reached into the window sill for the Glock, checked the semi and nodded to it from the window. Straightening the end of her shirt, she marched for the other pack left at the door and bent to retrieve her phone. Checking the time, she sighed. It was 5:32.

"Optimus just got back," Cade said quietly.

She nodded. "Figures." Mira stepped over the trash and fallen objects all over the old station and began scanning, "Try to find something to eat in here-like cans of fruit, anything. We have to dump whatever gear we don't need," she sighed, "we can't haul all this stuff." Looking down at her phone, she had two texts messages and six missed calls.

The first text was from Optimus, saying that he was back for them and it was time to hit the road. The second was from Bryce, her brother: "Did what you asked. Crosswinds initiated-you're off the planet. What's going on?" The six calls were from him as well.

She decided to text him later. Stuffing the phone into her pocket, she bent to look through the gym bag. She began unloading everything and going through it, doing a mental inventory of everything they'd need. Tessa came up beside her sheepishly and began to sort as well. Fifteen minutes into her counting ammunition, she felt a tug at her side and looked down. Merrick had awakened as was groggy eyed.

"Momma," he said quietly, "I have to go potty."

Mira sighed. "Okay," she smiled and ruffled his hair. "Give Momma a few minutes, ok? We'll go see if we can find somewhere." She tucked a stray, out-of-control curl behind her ear and pushed up her glasses. The boy nodded and she checked the window, which had darkened. Hopefully Optimus was resting and not pushing himself to exhaustion, as he often did.

Cade walked back through the door, Mira realizing she hadn't noticed he'd left. After her count of ammo for the .50, she began sorting through the Glock and Baretta ammunition when she saw Cade squat to his knees to talk to Merrick quietly. The little boy rubbed his eyes and Cade nodded, picking the boy up with a strong arm. Mira shifted her vision back to the ammo when he approached.

"I'm gunna take this kid and find a bathroom, then I'll go talk with the big guy," he jerked a thumb towards the window. Mira nodded and watched him truck out the door again, minding Merrick's head before the two of them vanished. It was just her and Tessa now, and there was quiet.

Mira didn't know what she say to this girl who almost got them all killed. What do you say to such a person? Anger still colored her blood at the girl who had no respect for any of them and would much rather see to her own needs than anyone else's. She'd jeopardized lives, families, and perhaps the succession of entire planet's future through Optimus Prime, the last Prime of Cybertron. The thoughts crashed through Mira's head like a wave, and she tossed aside a wad of twenty dollar bills she'd been counting. A soft voice came from beside her, one that was confused, ashamed, and perhaps frightened.

"Mira," Tessa began quietly. Mira realized this was the first time the girl had really spoken her name and addressed her alone. Pushing aside her emotion, she felt the scripture of Mark 12:31 wash over her, "Love your neighbor as yourself..."

"Yes?" She replied, equally quiet. She heard a truck door slam outside. Picking up the emergency pack, she began unloading the contents. Tessa wrapped her hand around a flashlight and ran her fingers over it tenderly.

"I," she began, voice turning quaky, "I...I didn't know who those people were," she looked away, her voice shying even more. "I didn't they were gunna come and hurt you and your little boy." She looked back at Mira and Mira was surprised to see heartfelt tears in her eyes. They were apologetic eyes, ones she was familiar with. "I was so scared when Optimus-"

Mira's heart broke for this girl, suddenly. With her mother gone, Mira realized this girl was entirely alone for female guidance. With a threat posing to take her father away, Mira surmised she would've done the same thing, potentially. This girl was petrified of change, because her mother dying had been a change. Their financial situation had changed for the worse. And now, their lives were frankly over.

Mira gave her a soft smile and touched her arm, "It's okay. You reacted out of fear, and that happens sometimes. You had no idea."

At the realization of Mira's forgiveness, she burst out crying. Dropping the flashlight on the counter, she put a hand over her mouth and then wrapped one around her abdomen. "They," she struggled, "they were gunna...they killed...Lucas. They killed Lucas." She said as if she needed to confirm it to herself. Then, suddenly, she began to tremble and turned to Mira, shaking her head through her tears and sniffling wildly, "I didn't think they were gunna hurt your son! I didn't think they'd-I'm sorry!" She was a heap of crying tragedy, and Mira suddenly realized this girl had not meant to harm her, Merrick, or Optimus-or even her father. She had been terrified at the presence of a giant, alien robot who had participated in the destruction of Chicago, and she had reacted on an impulse.

Releasing the items from the emergency kit, she grabbed Tessa's wrists gently yet forcefully and this stopped the girl's crying instantly. Mira stared at her square in the eyes, trying to help the girl compose herself. "Tessa. It's okay. You didn't know. I forgive you," her voice dropped when Tessa's bottom lip began to tremble, "You've realized your mistakes and have remedied them. That's all that I ask."

Tessa nodded. "I'm sorry," her gaze dropped from Mira, "I really am."

Mira nodded and pulled the girl close into a hug, wrapping her arms around her securely. She rubbed the girls back, and for a moment Tessa did nothing but just stand there. Then, after a few moments, she laid her head against Mira's shoulder and sniffled, then wrapped her arms around Mira to finish the hug. When she'd settled and stopped trembling, Mira stepped back cautiously and turned back to the emergency backpacks. "Let's get this finished. Anything we desperately don't need, we'll toss."

It took them roughly ten minutes to decide what they needed. Mira reasoned on a first aid kit, the money, and some dried food. She deliberated a few moments about the ammunition and weapons. It was all too heavy to carry, and they needed only two backpacks to be light. So, she tossed the knife and a few of the grenades, as well as the bang sticks. She tucked a few smoke-bombs in her pockets, and then arranged one of the emergency kits for weapons, the other for the food and necessities.

Overall, they left behind the entire Nike bag.

The door closed next to them, and Mira was half expecting Cade. She'd been tossing around the idea of leaving the Barrett.50 altogether, and wanted his opinion. It was heavy, and hardly appropriate to be lugging around everywhere. So, without checking the door, she began scanning the room for anything they'd need and tossed the question over her shoulder, while Tessa was busy organizing the bags still.

"Cade, what do you-"

"Mira," the voice was not Cade's, but belonged to Optimus. She whirled around too quickly, lost her footing, and fell back against a shelf behind the bar counter. It rattled behind her, startling her almost to death, and rained down paperwork, empty bottles, and silverware. It clattered to the floor and Mira curled her arms into her body to protect them, eyes pinched shut. Only when there was quiet did she open them and find both Optimus and Tessa staring at her strangely.

"Alright then," she brushed herself off and rounded the bar again. Grabbing one of the packs, she checked around again for anything they could've left behind that was important to have, and instinctively reached up to finger the Shield, which had since grown dormant in Optimus' presence. Tessa shouldered the other bag and walked out the door towards the semi, leaving her and Optimus alone. "I think we're ready." Optimus crossed his arms nonchalantly and blinked at her. She noticed his shining eyes were unusually dull today...he was tired. She tipped her head to the side, reached a hand up, and touched his cheek tenderly. "You okay, Prime?"

He looked away. "I'm fine."

"You're lying."

He shot a look to her. "Why must you always see through me?"

She shrugged. "You're a terrible liar," she smiled, "which is a very good thing, trust me." She grabbed the phone from her pocket and checked the time, then looked back at him. His form flickered, obviously the hologram using far too much power than he could spare. "We need to get you looked at..."

"I'm fine," he challenged heavily. "We need to talk about our next move."

Ah, yes. The game plan. Prime was always on top of the plans. She nodded, situated the pack on her shoulder, and then looked out to the truck. They were going to need reinforcements, that was for sure, because whoever Prime was challenged by back there obviously had some weapons not to mess around with. Also, since Cybertornian's didn't tend to travel alone, she assumed he had followers that wouldn't be dormant for long.

That meant rallying the troops, what was left of them. Mira had stayed in contact with Ratchet, that's it. She knew the location of Bumblebee, but had resolved to let him stay where he was without interruption. The fewer Autobots together, the better. It was bad enough her, Will, and Ratchet were even in the same state. She didn't know where the other's were hiding out, or what they had done with themselves...or if those Cemetery Wind guys had gotten a hold of them.

By the look in Prime's eyes, Mira knew he had their locations close at heart.

"Who was that?" she broke the silence between them, "back in Paris. I've never seen him."

Prime nodded, "He is a long-forgotten adversary,"

"Decepticon?"

He shook his head. "No. He is a Neutral," he referred to the team of Cybertronian's unwilling to side during the Great Wars. They remained alone, by themselves. Most Neutral's worked for the other colony planets around the galaxy, mostly as scouts or mercenaries. Some were assassins. Mira had heard little of them in her time with the Autobot's, but had learned some of their history from the annals and from Optimus' stories. "He is known as Lockdown," Optimus looked away from her, "...and he is a Neutral mercenary."

Her stomach dropped slightly, and she swallowed thickly. "What does he want?" The question was legitimate. Lockdown-or perhaps the entity he was working for-obviously wanted something on this planet, hence the reason for his arrival. By the look Optimus gave her, she was petrified to hear the answer. He didn't reply, only stared at her. She closed her eyes and sighed. "...he wants you, doesn't he?"

"I'm afraid so."

She sighed and looked down. "Primus," she said quietly, "...why?"

"I'm not sure," he turned and headed for the door, "but if Lockdown and Cemetery Wind are looking for us, we need to know why."

She nodded firmly. "Agreed."

He asked the next question carefully, holding the door open with a strong arm. "Do you think you can make contact with your brother? It would be best to eliminate any trails."

"Done."

He smiled at her, lightly with exhaustion. "Good girl. Do you know if Bumblebee is still with him?" His voice carried a tone of concern in referencing the scout, whom Mira understood to be somewhat along the lines of Optimus' pupil.

When NEST had recruited Mira, she had undertaken the responsibility of finding her brother a place among the military ranks after his assistance-and injury-in Cairo, Egypt. NEST had compensated his injury by providing him a technician job on-base. Shortly after having been introduced to the Autobots around the time Mira had, Bryce and Bumblebee had developed a relationship, much like Mira and Optimus had. While Bumblebee had orders to protect Sam Witwicky and the Allspark, his loyalties did not lie there. They lied with Bryce, and had ever since.

Once Bryce had been injured in Cairo, Bumblebee had not left his side. Mira assumed it was because Bumblebee felt partly responsible for the injury, but that wasn't accurate. Bryce had been in the wrong place at the wrong time and had paid dearly for it with an injury to his left food, which had left him with a nasty limp. And with that limp came the inability for active duty, and Bryce found himself behind the scenes of the Autobots since.

And, once NEST had disbanded, Ratchet had shared with Bryce the ins-and-outs of Teletraan-1 and Vector Sigma, showing maps and directional navigation charts throughout the entire system. Bryce had rapidly caught on, and had tried his hand at some of the Cybertronian programming, and had succedded wildly. Since that day, Optimus had entrusted Bryce with most of NEST's computer work, leaving her brother with the power, authority, and ability to wipe them all-human or Cybertronian-off the face of the planet.

And he had done so, with himself, the Autobots, and NEST. He'd erased them entirely. Bryce and Bumblebee had retreated out to the mountains of Montana, resting quietly in the woods, no one around and completely off the charts. Bumblebee provided any type of communication Bryce needed, and they made frequent trips into town when necessary for supplies. Bryce was the everyday "mountain man".

So, the question of whether she knew where Bumblebee was seemed rhetorical, but she answered anyway. "Yes, Bumblebee is still with Bryce. They're inseparable."

Prime's holoform nodded, and chuckled. "I suppose you are right. But, everyone said we were inseparable as well, and look what happened." That was a strange statement coming from him; Prime usually didn't bring up his personal past, unless it was just him and her. He rarely offered such information, especially if they weren't talking about personal history.

"Things happen, situations and circumstances change. If it helps, I missed you," she chuckled, stepping out of the building. Optimus closed the door tightly, and stopped when Merrick stared directly at him. Mira stopped as well upon sight of her little boy. She wondered if he remembered anything of yesterday, but the look in his eyes and on his face told her he did remember every detail. Now was probably better than later to introduce the two of them and explain.

"Merrick," she approached the truck where Cade and Tessa were standing by. Merrick sat in the passenger's seat, and looked down at her. She gestured for him to hop down, and once he did, she knelt before him and grabbed his wrists. She smiled at him as he just stared at her, still exhausted. "How're you doing, buddy?"

He squeaked, "What's going on?" It came out as more of a whine and he slumped his shoulders forward, "I want to go home."

She nodded and touched his face, "I know, honey. But, we can't go home. We have to go see some of my friends, ok?"

He was quiet. She sighed and looked down.

"Do you remember when I told you I was in the army?" He nodded rapidly, "Okay. Well, I worked in a very...special part of the army. It was called NEST."

"Like a bird's nest?"

Mira made a face. "Sorta. It was spelled the same way, but it meant something else," she pointed to Optimus' holoform. "That guy over there was my boss. His name is Optimus." Optimus nodded to the boy, who was looking over his shoulder.

"Momma," he said quietly, looking down and slipping his hands into his pockets. Mira dreaded the next question that was sure to come up, "...who where those guys?"

There was silence a few minutes until she mustered up the courage to speak, "Those guys were really, really bad men. They came to hurt me, and Optimus," she smiled at him weakly, "They are mad at me about my job in the army. They didn't like what I did."

He looked away, and then at the semi. Touching it, he then looked back at Mira and his eyes darted between Cade and Tessa, Optimus, and the semi. He scuffed his shoe against the pavement until he leaned forward and whispered into her ear quickly, "what was that?"

She wrinkled her brow. "What was what?"

"That...huge robot yesterday."

The boiling question, obviously rolling around his brain. Once he asked, he looked somewhat relieved and rocked back on his heels a moment. She looked to Optimus and touched the Shield, and he nodded to her a confirming yes. A yes, tell the boy. He was blood, after all, and her blood was basically Optimus' blood. She approached the question carefully. "he...he is my friend," she said quietly, "his name is Optimus."

Merrick shot a look over his shoulder. "He has the same name as him?" He pointed, confused.

Mira lowered his hand, "Yes, I know." she sighed heavily. "Optimus," she nodded to the holoform, "...is that..."

Optimus interjected, "Mira, stop for one moment." He held up his two holographic hands and approached them, kneeling before the boy on one knee. He smiled at Merrick, and touched the boys hand. "Don't be afraid, son."

There was a quiet click from the cab, and the holoform began to dissipate into a fizzle of electric diamonds. Merrick, now panicked, frantically backed and hit the fender of the semi, Mira reaching out for him. His face paled dramatically and his eyes were far too wide to be considered normal. Grabbing his hand, she gently pulled him away from the truck and gestured for Cade and Tessa to step away.

"Merrick," she turned him to face her, "don't be scared. Optimus is my friend. He was Daddy's friend, too. He is very nice and won't hurt you, okay?"

Merrick just stood, motionless.

Mira looked back to the truck, and the transformation cogs initiated. Instantly his form began to change; twisting and turning in on itself like a massive puzzle. Plating and metal shifted forward, backward, and behind, and parts of the semi vanished altogether. His body began to take shape, and Mira watched Merrick for any signs of shock. His mouth had already dropped open from the moment the truck broke apart, and his eyes had widened even more. Now, instead of fear was the fascination of a little boy, and she was pleased to see he seemed somewhat excited. Actually, she saw Will in her son's face, the type of fascination and bewilderment he always got when he witnessed a transformation. Merrick was so much like Will is was uncanny.

Now almost complete, Optimus took a knee before them, and then slammed his hands into the earth as he finished his transformation. Now face-to-face with both Mira and Merrick, Cade and Tessa taking a backseat to this introduction, there was quiet all around. Mira's heart began to pound as she realized her son-her flesh and blood-was meeting with her guardian, her best friend, her partner. Two generations coming together.

Then, Optimus opened a compartment on his left arm, and took his fingers and pulled something from that compartment. It seemed microscopic in his hands, until he extended it to Merrick. Mira's eyes began to pool as she noticed the familiar toy semi, given to Merrick by Will before he died. Tears welled and dripped down her cheeks, and she suppressed a sob as Merrick reached out to grab it.

"This belongs to you," Optimus said gently.

Merrick wrapped his hands around the toy and pulled it close. His face was riddled with excitement, relief, inspiration, and energy as he looked up at Optimus. "It looks just like you."

Optimus nodded, "I believe that was the point when your father gave it to you," he said, glancing over to Mira, "and now you know why."

Merrick just stared up at Optimus, unwilling to say anything for a moment. He then looked down to the toy, and then back up at him. They stared at one another until Merrick finally decided to speak. "You seem bigger now," he gave Optimus a quirky smile, "I've heard about you, at school. Everyone says you're not a good guy."

Optimus, obviously taken aback at this, replied. "Well, I hope to prove them wrong-"

"-but I don't believe them."

Mira's brows rose, and she looked to Optimus. He gave her a look in return, then focused his attention on the boy. Taking a huge hand, he pressed a finger gently into Merrick's chest, and Merrick looked down to the massive hand. Optimus then used the finger to tip the boy's chin up, and narrowed his optics. "And what do you say, son?"

Merrick smiled, "I think you're pretty cool."

Mira suppressed a giggle by clapping her hands over her mouth. Merrick's response obviously humored Optimus as well, because he cracked a satisfied smile to the young boy before him. Mira could only imagine what he was thinking. "You're very much like your mother, Merrick."

Merrick sighed dramatically as Optimus stood to his full height. Rolling his eyes, he gave her a very serious, six-year-old stare. "I know. Everyone says that!"

Mira, deciding to change the subject, looked up to Optimus. "So, what's the next move?" They needed to get on the road to stay ahead of Cemetery Wind, and Mira wanted as far out of Texas as she could get. Shooting a look to Cade and Tessa, she sighed.

"It is best to regain contact with the Autobots and regroup," Optimus began, "if Lockdown is after me, he as a ship."

Mira nodded, "Which means soldiers."

Optimus nodded. "Exactly. We need to get the Autobots reoriented to the situation."

Cade stepped into the conversation next, rubbing his beard. "And what about that Savoy guy?"

Mira shot a look to Optimus before continuing, "There was someone at the other end of that communication link, giving the orders," she surmised, "so Savoy is working for someone."

"But who?" Cade asked the challenging question burning on everyone's mind.

Mira stretched her arms over her head, her shoulders popping. She felt the Glock pull against the waist of her cargo pants, and she pulled it out. It was the Glock she'd plucked from a soldier back at Cade's house, and she pulled back the slide. As she completed the action, an idea hit in square in the side of the head and she popped the magazine out of the gun, assuring it wouldn't fire. Then, she walked towards Cade and tossed him the gun.

"That was a gun from one of the soldiers," she said firmly, "I bet if you tear it apart it'll have some type of manufacturer's number, or something that can clue is in to who that guy is working for."

Cade nodded. "Sure. I just need some tools to get this apart. It'll take an hour, tops."

Optimus nodded. "I will send out an encrypted transmission to the Autobots," he began, "I would say rendezvousing in Montana is our best option." He pointed to Mira, and gestured to the rest of them, "It is a long journey."

Tessa shrugged a shoulder. "Do we have a choice?"