Neira's thumb hovered over the call button for her great uncle. She hadn't talked to him in over a year, not since he tried to pick a fight with her over the inheritance. Her hands were shaking.
"Hey," Jack said, standing next to her, "you got this."
"Yeah, and if he's a jerk I'll beat him up!" Miko replied, putting her fists up.
She sighed. "Alright..."
Neira then pressed the call button, hearing it ring almost five times before a disgruntled old man's voice met her ears.
"Haven't heard from you in some time, Neira," her uncle almost growled. "What do you want?"
"Um, I was wondering if you still had Gramma Athalynn's pendant?"
"Why?" he asked sharply.
"Uh...I was wondering if we could work something out for me to–"
"Take take take, that's all you do, Neira," he cut in sharply, causing her to faulter in her words. "You took her land and her money, now you want her pendant too? What does that leave me with?"
Well, if he's gonna be an ass, so will I,Neira thought.
"An antique luxury car in mint condition worth half a million?" she snapped. "And you know the house and inheritance combined isn't worth that much, Uncle Elias. What I was trying to say before you so snidely interrupted me was that I'd be willing to give you some of that inheritance for the necklace, is all. I'm sure you'd find some use for it."
He grumbled for a bit on the phone before he sighed.
"How much, kid?" he asked.
"A hundred bucks."
He snorted. "Three hundred. For all the trouble."
"You know that's absurd, Elias," Neira retorted. "One-fifty, maybe?"
"Two. Take it or leave it," he snapped.
Neira sighed. "Fine...how do you want to do this?"
"I'm in town visiting some old colleagues. I can drop it off at your house," he suggested.
Neira nodded. "Sounds good."
He then hung up. Neira sighed loudly.
"Wow, what a jerk," Miko said.
"Yup…" she said as she rifled through her bag for her wallet. "Now we need to work fast. He'll no doubt be stopping by my house soon, and I need to hit a bank to pull the money. Hopefully we can do all this before I get found out by the 'Cons."
Optimus nodded and looked to Arcee, "Are you willing to be her temporary guardian?"
She nodded, "Yes, I am."
"Then it's settled. Ratchet, open up the ground bridge."
As Neira descended the steps, Jack stopped her.
"Here, you can borrow my helmet. Safety first," he said.
She shook her head, "Thanks, but I don't want to take it from you."
"It's no big deal, really," Jack replied.
Neira smiled and took the helmet from him. She held the helmet as she walked over to the ground bridge. She put it on as Arcee transformed. The woman got on before they passed through the gate.
~*~
The beeping sound of a faint signal was heard as Soundwave approached Megatron.
"Ah, another shard on the move. In a similar area as before. Are you sure that it is the same one?"
Soundwave nodded, and Megatron mused.
"Send me the coordinates, I will tend to this personally."
The Decepticon leader then stepped past Soundwave, his heavy footsteps ringing out…
~*~
It took Neira less than fifteen minutes for her to get the money and get back to her place. Her uncle was waiting, the necklace in hand.
"What took you so long?" he snapped.
"Traffic," Neira said as she pulled off the helmet before offering up the envelope of money. "Here, two hundred as promised."
They did the switch off. A rush of relief went over Neira's body as she looked it over. It was interrupted as her uncle snorted at her.
"Y'know, just because you were Athalynn's favorite doesn't mean the rest of the family likes you."
She looked up and stared as he counted the cash, a smug smirk on his face. She knew he was about to start some shit now.
"Don't care," she snapped as she got on the bike, hoping to just leave it there.
"No? Not even your mother liked you."
Neira froze, her body chilling over.
Don't listen to him…he's just trying to get a response from you.
"Don't believe me, Neira? Then why did she abandon you with Athalynn when you were a baby?"
"Elias, shut up if you know what's good for you," Neira snapped.
He only laughed at her, "Defending her? After what she did? Not only did she manage to lose your father to another woman, but she became so addicted to Angel's Tears that she abandoned you before–"
"I said shut up!" Neira screamed now, which startled the old man. "How dare you speak ill of the dead, especially after what my mother and Gramma Athalynn went through!! How dare you try to use my mother's death against me! How dare you use your sister's death, my Grandma and my guardian, as a tool to try and spite me! She'd be so ashamed of you if she saw the way you're treating me, an old man trying to bully a young woman."
She stared at him, raged seething from her. A minute passed as they stared one another down before he shook his head, clicking his tongue at her as he climbed into the car.
"They say blood is thicker than water, Neira," he called after her as he turned the car on. "Too bad you ain't got any blood left."
He then closed the car door and screeched off, kicking up dirt and dust. Her hands were grasping the handles tightly as she tried to calm her anger down.
"Neira," Arcee's voice cut through her thoughts. "Don't listen to him. He's a miserable old man taking his anger out on others."
Neira paused, trying to suppress her tears. "…He's right though. Apart from Gramma no one else in the family liked me."
"Family isn't about bloodline, Neira," Arcee replied, "it's about the people you put your trust in. I may not be related to any of the bots or the kids, but they're still my family. And I get the feeling that you're going to be a part of that too."
Neira smiled weakly, wiping her eyes. "Right…let's go home."
She held on as they neared the bridge. She thought on what Arcee said, looking down.
Family isn't about bloodline...it's about the people you put your trust in.
Neira closed her eyes and shook her head.
You're wrong, Elias...I do have family. This time, I get to choose who my family is.
Her thoughts were interrupted when a blaster shot hit Arcee, sending her and Neira flying. The Autobot caught Neira before she hit the ground. A silver ship above them then transformed, landing in front of them. He was a massive robot, at least thirty feet tall. His silvery exterior was adorned in sharp angles and markings from many battles. Her chest thrummed with fear as she was set on her feet behind Arcee.
"Megatron," she said, equipping her blasters.
"Arcee, a pleasure to see you again," he said in a gravelly voice that made Neira's chest rumble.
Their eyes met, and he snickered at her. "You have something I want. Or rather… something in you."
"Neira, run!" Arcee shouted before firing at the Decepticon leader, "Arcee to base, I need backup! Now!"
Neira didn't hesitate before running, her heart racing. She didn't get far, however. The aching in her chest started again, causing her to trip and fall. She cried out; it was even more painful this time, her chest feeling as though it was going to explode. Arcee heard this, which distracted her long enough for Megatron to land a choice blow. Pained tears filled her eyes as she watched as Arcee was swatted away like she was nothing before Megatron stepped towards her, a sinister grin on his face.
"So my assumption was correct. A human enlaced with Dark Energon. How interesting..."
He then knelt down, watching the human as she struggled to stand up on her own. His size alone was terrifying to her. Neira's fear overtook the pain as she scrambled to her feet just as he snatched her up in his massive hands. The sound of a bridge opening was heard before the Autobots, led by Optimus, ran through and fired. Neira tried to escape, but a tight grip on her body kept her in place. She saw Optimus' eyes widen as he saw Neira in the Decepticon leader's grasp. Megatron only grinned as he transformed, with Neira still in his possession before blasting off. The sudden change in air pressure caused her to pass out…
~*~
"Arcee, it isn't your fault," Jack said, trying to console her.
"I let Megatron take her, Jack…"
"We have to get her back!" Bulkhead said. "Who knows what Megatron will do to her?!"
"We will, Bulkhead," Optimus said calmly, "but rushing in without a plan will only lead to putting her life at risk."
"So what do we do?" Jack asked.
"We find a way to sneak onto their ship?" Miko offered. "We did it with Fowler."
"We would have to determine where their ship is, and who knows how long that will take," Ratchet said softly.
~*~
Neira awoke slowly, her whole body hurting. She gasped and sat up, looking around. She was in a glass container, sitting on a table. Everything around her was massive. Neira slowly stood, looking around. Everything was made of metal and glimmered in the faint light. She put her hands to the glass, feeling it wobble a bit. She then smirked.
"Never put something unstable on the edge of a table."
She backed up before ramming her shoulder into the glass. It wobbled closer to the edge. Neira hit it again, and this time it toppled over. Her stomach lurched as she fell, the glass shattering on the floor. She slowly stood again. Her arm hurt, and she looked to see that the glass cut her arm. Blood oozed down her arm and stained her shirt. She grimaced as she ripped the rest of the sleeve off and wrapped the wound. She heard footsteps and ran into hiding near the door.
"Honestly, Breakdown, I do not understand why this human is so important," she heard the red robot's voice say. "While yes, she does have Dark Energon in her and Lord Megatron has a keen ability of controlling anyone or anything enfused with it, I can't see much use from a human."
She took this chance to dart out just as the door closed, running as fast as she could. She looked around, trying to find a way out. However, the place was like a maze, with everything looking the same. It left her dizzy and confused. Or maybe it was just how high up they were. Neira kept running, though she heard a car chasing after her. The red car then zoomed past before screeching to a halt in front of her. Neira skidded to a stop before trying to go the other way, but a large blue car was behind her.
"That was clever, girl," the red car said as he and his ally behind her transformed. "But not clever enough."
She was snatched up. She struggled against his grasp, which made the blue robot snicker.
"Rebellious little thing, ain't she?"
"Shut up!" She retorted without thinking.
"And mouthy," the red robot replied.
"Did Lord Megatron put you in charge of her, Knockout?" the blue one asked.
"Yes, he wants me to run some basic tests on her," the one named Knockout replied. "See how she handles extra enfusions, strength testing, interrogation, the usual."
Neira struggled more, hitting his hand. Knockout shook her a bit, leaving her nauseous.
"Oh, stop your struggling," he snapped.
She leaned over as everything spun around her. The two robots took her back to the room she was in, which from this angle she could tell was a laboratory. Knockout then placed her in a container.
"Sadly, none of my equipment is suited for human testing. I may have to construct some of my own."
This was something that Neira found to be relieving. At least for a while, she wouldn't have to endure whatever the Decepticons were going to put her through. Hopefully the Autobots would come to her rescue before then.
