Eyes stared as I dragged myself into the main hangar where William requested for my presences. The orbs found themselves glued to the wrappings. Anger immediately sprung deep inside of me, energy surging to my hands. Only for pain to shoot up the limbs as a result. I reframed from showing the pain and continued up to William.
Said man stood around a table with Robert, Zayden, Jacob, Optimus, and Prowl. All three leaders and their second in command or right-hand men. When he noticed my form making its way to them, he straightened his back and let his arms slid off of the table. "I'm glad you could make it, Azar." Words that would've been taken the wrong way if the look on his face wasn't so sincere.
"Me too. I had to fight Ratchet for me to even leave the Med. Bay, let alone pull my weight." I jumped up into the sky and landed on the catwalk where they gathered. Zayden gave me a look, one a father would give to his daughter. His eyes glancing down to the healing wounds.
It had been a week since I've awoke. In total, a week and three days. From what I've heard, the leaders and their right-hand men have been meeting up, discussing what knowledge they had. So far, next to nothing. All the evidence was wiped away with the bomb.
Optimus chuckled, an expression of understanding on his face. "Ratchet cares… in his own way. And please, do not believe you are not pulling your weight. You do a lot for us, more than you know," he stated and gave me a kind smile. I returned the gesture, hiding the pain the best I could.
Out of the corner of my eyes, I spotted Zayden's jaw tightening at Optimus first sentence. Is-is he jealous? Well… it does make sense in a way. I've given trust to Ratchet to care for me while I've pushed away Zayden. But that was for his safety. Ugh, this isn't the time to think about that.
"We were just discussing some new ideas on why there wasn't anyone at the base," William explained and offered me a seat which I politely declined. Many of the people in this room would think that as a weak choice. I was injured enough, I didn't need that hurting my pride too.
"Well, I can give what I found inside, though it isn't much," I offered and glanced between the six of them. They all nodded their heads in agreement. "First off, I found a…" -a shiver ran down my spine at the reminder- "excuse me... I found a pile of bodies. Not ten or twenty, probably over a hundred or so. They've been there for about a month I'm guessing."
"And the dust that had collected on surfaces was light but still noticeable. They left everything behind. As if they just upped and left without another thought. Samples were left behind, looking like they were in middle of it," I replayed, horrid at the memories flashing behind each blink of my eyes. "And the scents were light and old, playing into the fact they haven't been in over a month."
Everyone part of the group seemed disturbed by the first set of information and barely focused on the rest. Luckily, Jacob snapped out of it first. "A month? That's… that's a long time."
"Yeah, and that also plays into our idea, Jacob," Zayden spoke up and stared at the men next to him.
"Right." He turned to face everyone and stepped forward, catching their attention. "We've been looking through our data, going over passed attacks and took note of something's. We believe their numbers are dwindling, quickly."
A thought came to me, making sense of that theory. "I think that probably right. Yeah, they get rid of a lot of kids…" I trailed off for a moment." Sorry, um. They get rid of a lot of... kids but the pile I found was too large to be keep up with their numbers."
"Do you believe their, ehm, experiments are failing too quickly for them to keep up with?" Prowl offered and seemed a bit upset at his own question, or possible just the thought.
"That could be it! From our data, every time we've attacked, we've been able to succeed more and more even with our growing numbers. Plus, there has been less Super's to deal with," Zayden explained his thoughts out loud, on the verge of being excited.
Okay, maybe the failure of defeating them last time could be made up with this. They finally get to feel what we do: defeat. This time though, it was going to be once and for all. Jasper was going down, finally.
"Are you sure they aren't just trying to make us think that before releasing a massive group of things like Azar?" William questioned and motioned towards me. Zayden, Jacob, and my sight slimmed on the man who didn't choose his words right. He thought calling me a 'thing' in front of the leader of Aztec was smart. Either he didn't see or decided to not acknowledge the trine glaring at him.
"No, they wouldn't let their main base go like that. And their other bases have fallen too. If they wanted a massive attack on us, they don't want to let those bases go that quickly. I believe their numbers are dropping," Zayden grounded out, voice hardened and jaw tense. "Who else thinks that with the evidence provided?"
Robert, Jacob, Optimus, Prowl, and I held up our hands, all in agreement. William sighed before giving in. "Alright, meeting dismissed."
With a pleased sigh, I turned to take flight but a special pair stopped me. "Azar, a word please?" The tone of voice Zayden used worried me. It sounded like I was in trouble for doing nothing. Nonetheless, I listened and followed both him and Jacob to outside of the hangar, from prying ears.
The two stopped and spun around to face me. A grim expression on the second in commands face as his eyes flicked down at my arms. I narrowed my eyes at him, warning him not to try anything, instinctively. "Aye, no doing that," Zayden butted in and gave me look. "I wanted to see how you are… fairing."
A deadpanned expression washed over my features. "I would say fine but that would be lie. I'm guessing Ratchet told you the damage?" Both nodded their heads in agreement. "Then that's your answer. I'm fast at healing but this-" I lift an arm to emphasize my meaning- "is going to take me awhile. I have no feeling my wrists or below, bones are exposed, muscle and tissue damaged beyond repair for a human. But luck thankfully seems to be on our side. Jasper is on the run, not for long though."
Zayden sighed and shook his head. "Azzie, you need to focus on healing not Jasper for one moment. Don't let it consume you." Horrible choice of words.
Anger spiked through me, sending energy through my arms and causing me to hiss. "'Don't let this consume me?!' It already has, Zayden! Have you looked at me lately? I can't even shift back to my other form until these burns are healed enough. I'm stuck like this," I spat and took a step towards him.
Jacob was the only one to react and immediately drew a pistol from its holster from on his belt, barrel pressed against my temple. A sickening smirk graced my lips. "Try it, pretty boy, and the twins will rip you apart."
One moment, the gun was there, the next, it was gone. Zayden moved quickly to knock Jacob's arm up, grab his wrist, and twist until he released it. The man wasn't done, he wrapped a hand around the attacker's throat and forced him as close as possible. "Don't you ever put a gun against my daughter's head, again. Got it, Jacob," he snarled the man's name with anger.
Said man fearfully looked at him and timidly nodded his head. "Good, now go back to your room. I don't want to see you for the rest of the day." Zayden released him with a shove and picked up the gun before unloading the magazine. Jacob made a hastily escape from the seething man unloading his own gun.
"No good bastard, fish brains," Zayden muttered under his voice then returned his attention fully on me. "I apologize for his behavior. I'm starting to question if he deserves his rank anymore. Anyway, where were we… right. I'm not talking in the way you think. By consuming you, I mean your mind. Yes, they physically have but don't let them have your head. You're smart and creative, don't let them steal that from you."
I scoffed and returned to my full height, shoulders back and head held high. The twins could be seen returning to base after their patrol. "I won't. Now if you excuse me, I want to hang with my friends."
"Friends my ass, Azar. I already told I know. What I don't know is how? I'm not judging, I'm just curious." I heaved a sigh and glanced over to the now transforming twins.
"It's a long story."
"I'm free after five, we can have a nice dinner." I snorted and remembered my predicament as well, both sets.
"First off, you must have hit your head really hard, I can't go anywhere, especially looking like this. Second, I have no muscles that I can use in my hands, including fingers."
"No matter for both. I can order some take out from whatever Colville has to offer and head off somewhere in the mountain so we can catch up. And for your hands, I can be them or you can use your tail. You always did say it was your third hand." Damn him, he was right. It would also be nice, a day off from the hounding work of defeating a horrible organization.
My eyes flickered over to the two far in the distance. Even with the space between us, I could feel their gaze on me. A sigh escaped me once more. "Alright, I give. Dinner it is. I'll see you when the sun is setting." He smiled and patted my cheek then watched me take off to the twins.
.
That's what happened to lead me to this moment. Stars littered the sky with its moon by their side, shining brightly down on us, not full though. The area Zayden picked was calm. With the lack of bugs due to the snow, there weren't any bugs to fill the air with noise feeding into a quiet spot.
"So what do you think? Is it to your taste, Azzie?" he teased and lead me to a table covered in snow. I glanced down at my arms and remembered the pain using my powers with them that came from it. "Don't. I got us-" I interrupted him but stomping down my foot.
It was a little bit less stable than my arms but it did the jobs and cleared a fifty foot circle around us. "Azar," his voice held a warning. "You aren't supposed to use your powers, it could worsen your injuries."
"I used my feet, they aren't injured. Plus, I need to release that energy. You know what happens if I don't. At least I don't have to worry about the fire side for a while." I sat down and willed some snow in front of me. The burns blazed with heat, making them uncomfortable in the wrappings that protect them. I gently rested my arms on the snow and purred with delight at the cold feeling.
"Child of mine," he muttered under his breath while walking back to the armored vehicle we took to get here. I flinched at his words, the muscles in my chest tightening up.
If only that was still true… His daughter was dead and in her place was me, the monster that parents tell their kids to fear.
"Now, there wasn't much in this small town so I went with pizza. If I remember correctly, your favorite is Hawaiian, right?" he questioned and brought out two to-go boxes of pizzas. The smells wavered into the air, drawing a content hum from me. They smelled delicious!
I smiled that after so long he remembered my favorite pizza. "Yes, thank you, Zayden." The man stiffened at that, his shoulders dropping but he carried on anyway. He set the two boxes down in front of me.
Zayden cleared his throat after sitting down and opening both boxes. "You know, you can call me Dad. I'm still him, even if you don't believe it. It's my sperm that helped create you." I didn't meet his eyes, not wanting to have this conversation when we are supposed to be relaxing.
Neither us said anything, knowing the topic was very touchy. With great resistance and difficulty, I finally was able to use my tail to hold a slice of pizza up to my mouth. After eating healthy things under Ratchet's watchful eye, having junk food felt like heaven. I couldn't help the groan of delight.
The man across from me also dug in, picking up a slice of his cowboy pizza and taking a bite. His eyes though kept flickering down to my arms ever so often. I sighed. "Would you like to see how it's healing?"
Even with the light darkness around us, I could see the blush covering his cheeks. "Sorry, I didn't mean to stare… It's just from what I saw the moment afterwards, they were bad. Do you think you can heal from that extent of damage?" he questioned, cautious.
I swallowed the food in my mouth. "I believe so. If I can grow back limbs, healing burns can't be that bad. I hope so. But I have a random question." An idea came to mind. It's a slim chance but it's worth a shot.
"Go ahead."
"At the base, there's a woman whose son is missing. She believes its Jasper's doing. I said I would look into it and I have but there's next to nothing to be found. Do you know of a kid named Jackie Hogan?" My search has come up empty handed, I needed help from outside sources.
His face paled slight and he froze, mouth open for the next bit of pizza. "I-yes, I do." The way he said seemed so grim, I'm guessing Jasper already got to him. "He's not doing so good. My people are doing everything they can to help him but… to be honest, he's dying. Whatever they gave him is killing him and so far, there's been no result of helping him through it."
My own mood dropped as well. Of course this happens. The moment I learned of some good news, bad news always seemed to follow. Gods, I felt sorrow for both the kid and his parents. "Oh, okay. I'll let her know. Um, when I tell her, she might go to you and ask to see him."
"I know. If she wants to, I won't deny her her son." I felt like that was a jab at me and narrowed my eyes at him. It was dark enough that he couldn't see it, or choose to ignore it.
We finished our food and enjoyed each other's silence, for the moment. "I-I know we didn't finish our war, but do you think you could still visit just for a couple of days?" he questioned, sounding he was in a position of vulnerability.
A sigh escaped me and I hung my head low. "Zayden… I can't just up and leave. I have responsibilities at the base and Ratchet wouldn't let me leave. I had to sneak away to be able to do this. If he knew, he would send a search him team and himself after me."
"Sounds like a caring father," he mumbled under breath, head turned to the side so I looked at him, our eyes couldn't see each other.
Now, he put me in a predicament. Either I brush that comment off, hurting him even more; or acknowledge him as my father, verbally. "Aye, don't do that. I wasn't in the right head space and needed time to myself. I know you don't understand and never will and I don't blame you but I had a lot of things going on."
Zayden lifted his head to stare into my eyes and gently placed a hand on the top of my wrappings. "You know can always come to me to talk."
"I know that and knew it as well. But I want you to at least get where I'm coming from. My life had been turned upside down for the tenth or so time in my life. I couldn't handle it and I never learned how to properly handle it. Yeah, I'll agree it wasn't smart but oh well. Things weren't going well on your end and I realized it all becuas-"
"No! Stop thinking that way, Azar! It's not your fault. The six and half thousand soldiers that risked their lives to bring you home did that all on their free will. Some were parents and others who were childless still understood and followed me. If you want to blame someone, blame me. But I want you to stop thinking that way, please."
All I could do is sigh and shake my head in disagreement. "Rue's right, I should've never-"
"Don't you fucking finish that sentence." A dangerous look washed over his features, the hand on my arm tightened. "Don't disrespect those people who died for you. Instead of blaming yourself for their deaths, embrace them. They died to get you and many others out of that facility."
"Zayden yo-"
"And I'm your father. By blood too." Anger was sparking inside me due to his action and words.
"For your knowledge, good sir. A father doesn't need to be related by blood, or in fact, the same species as you. Ratchet is an example. I think him as my father. And I don't care how jealous that makes you." His jaw tightened, the expression on his face only grew worse.
"Why him? I'm your father. You grew up with me. I care for you and risked my own hide to get you home. Does that not matter?" I couldn't take it anymore and stood up swift, yanking my arm out of his grasp.
"Then I guess I should go to Rue and start calling her mom too if you want to play it that way! For Ratchet, he's been there when I needed him; made sure I ate; made suure I slept; made sure to see if I was mentally fine."
"So did I! So why him? There seems to no difference between the two of us so why did you choose someone over your own flesh and blood."
"Time. And my attachments for him and the others grew too quickly for me to fight off. I knew you beforehand. And it seems like we always fight, now is a perfect example." When he didn't speak up, I decided to follow his lead. I also put some distance between us.
My anger was eating me up inside. The man could never, ever come close to understanding where I was coming from, never. He didn't go through the things I did. He didn't lose himself to someone he trust. He wasn't horribly changed to a monster and killing machine. He isn't being hunted down by his own mother to be returned to her murderous ways.
Time passed. The moon rose higher in the sky, blocking out a quarter of the stars usually there on a moonless night. None of us spoke up about what I had stated. At least for me, my rage was dwindling but guilt filled its place.
Deep down, I knew he meant well but he wasn't the greatest at showing it. I also understand this war has taken a lot from him, the same for me. That didn't give him a right to act this way, like a child sometimes, I swear.
A deep sigh brought me from my thoughts. "Azar… I'm sorry. I know my jealously gets to me, I just hope you can understand where I'm coming from. I hope to leave this place on a content note, if possible."
I turned to face him with a grim smile. "I do, partially. I hope you can understand my position as well. The attachments that appeared weren't something I sought, I even fought against, but it was too late. I just want you to know that I'm happy where I am. The twins and Ratchet are taking care of me, so there's nothing to worry about."
"Right, the twins. Could you do some explaining about your relationship with them?" I gave him a look of warning before partially diving into that mess.
Of course, I didn't want to tell every detail, especially the private ones. Other things were too difficult to explain, like the science behind the bond. By the end of it, I was tired and ready to go home to the twins. He agreed with me and the two us headed back.
When we parted ways, I didn't except to see the twins waiting at the door of their berth, beckoning. A bright smile made its ways onto my face. I quickly flew over to them, my extra pair of wings helping with that. "Well, isn't this a sight to see this late in the night?" I teased and allowed for Sides to nuzzle his metal nose into my hair.
"We felt you near and wanted to be online when you got back," Sides explained and lead us into their hangar. The purple of my scales washed away and crimson took its place, embarrassment flooding me.
"Thanks, you guys didn't have to do that. I would've just gone to the Med. Bay to sleep." We stopped near their beds, still locked together to make a larger platform to sleep on.
Sunstreaker scoffed and rolled his eyes. His twins gave him a look and smacked him with the back of his hand. "You are always welcomed to come here. This room is ours just as much as it is yours now," Sides offered once more.
"I know, you've told me but I just feel like I'm stepping over an invisible line if I'm in here without you guys." The two sighed and shook their heads.
"Don't worry over that. We both give our permission for you to be in here at anytime. With or without us," Sunstreaker butted in and sat down on the bed.
"I know…" I trailed off, still feeling off about coming here without them. The two understood this and dropped it, thankfully. It was late and I was beyond tired. My injuries required a lot of energy which meant more sleeping.
I hopped onto the bed with the help of my wings, not using my arms and plopped down on my spot. "Yet, you have familiarized yourself with our berth," Sunstreaker teased. The crimson returned. At least the lack of light besides the moon hid it from their optics, hopefully.
"Be quiet, you tin can," I returned fire. The mech raised an eyebrow at the poor insult before lying down. His twin took the other side.
The two of them incased me with their bodies as we let sleep consume all of us.