'Looks fearfully at chapter 20' How... how did I write all of that in just eleven days?! Oh well, not really gonna complain, it feels good to crank out an almost 5,000 word chapter in under two weeks again. This chapter here was a lot of fun for me to write, and I hope you all enjoy!
"No."
"Aria."
"I said, no, I'm am not dealing with this." She snapped, hands carding through her white and grey hair as they continued this back and forth.
Optimus wanted to press again, but realised this wasn't the time.
They would keep this back and forth going right into the next night at this rate, and this issue needed to be dealt with, so he instead regarded Bumblebee's back seats again.
Laying across the leather were two humans, an adult female and a young infant, their bodies mostly covered by a blanket Bumblebee had apparently picked up on the way to meet up with them to give them some extra warmth after the two had both slipped unconscious after their eventful night.
The adult wasn't so much the issue, it was the child that had caused Aria to throw up the red flag and vehemently refuse to deal with the situation, though she gave no strong reason as to why.
Which was a bit of an issue because, out of the current head count, she was really the only one who could help.
Ratchet was still tending to Mrs Madsen and the sparkling, the only living sparkling taking precedence over a single human infant. Ironhide was in a foul mood, and Jazz, they really didn't want the mech getting attached to the child and leading it to being drawn into their war, enough of that had already happened in the last day and a half, he was certainly not ready for any more death on his conscience, especially with the human news reports coming in every few minutes from Las Vegas.
Bumblebee stood next to him, tentatively glancing between him, Aria, and his stowaways.
He regarded Aria's holoform for a few more moments, his gaze catching on the streak of red running down the left side of her neck, even her holoforms ear showed it had been shot, though with how he hair had been styled, he couldn't see how the damage was represented in this form. Leaving only what was slowly turning the high white collar of her padded coat a maroon red, visible.
Either she hadn't noticed, or simply didn't care, either way, her current demeanor was somewhere between hostile, and exhausted.
The amount she was rubbing her left eye was enough to tell that.
But this was a time sensitive situation, by the next night, they would of crossed into the next state.
"Mrs Orichiono, please." He implored her.
She replied with a long groan, pressed the pads of her fingers under the sunglasses she wore and rubbed at her eyes before hissing at him. "Fine. Just, shut up."
A withering glare was shot to his scout as she stepped up to his back seats door.
The door swung open a little too fast, the metal of the door banging against the front driver side doors platting.
The sound was sharp, and jolted the woman inside awake.
"Ha!" The woman exclaimed, her hold still on the child as she spun to face the origin of the sound.
Bright blue eyes widened in sheer terror as she took in the holoform standing before her.
Optimus felt himself tense, ready to take action.
Aria stood ramrod straight before the open door, scowl as fierce as a storm making up her expression.
Whatever the woman tried to say died on her tongue as she scrambled out of his scout front first, rolling onto the ground between him and Aria.
She still clutched the boy to her chest, who merely whimpered in his sleep against her chest.
And then the woman was kneeling, pressing her head to the ground as she shook violently as she tried to get out whatever she was trying to say.
Clearly that was not what Aria wanted, snapping two fingers together, the woman froze stiff, a ragged breath passing her lips before falling deathly silent as she pressed herself even further to the ground, the blanket still hanging off her lower back and the back seat.
There was a beat of silence before Aria spoke, her tone unflinching and sharp. "Louise Garner."
"Please don't kill me!" The woman erupted upwards, her tear tracked face smearing mascara with dirt and soot.
The woman froze again a moment later, eyes going wide and breath becoming ragged.
He hadn't even taken a step forwards to try and soothe the woman before Aria had reached down, grabbed the woman, apparently named Louise Garner, by the shoulder and hauled her to her feet.
Louise flinched, and then gasped as the padded white coat Aria wore was draped over her shoulders in place of the blanket, and the arms it had previously been around, grabbed the front of her two piece suit and began resetting the collar.
"Louise Garner. You are one of our top employees from our former hotel the Cosmopolitan. Impeccable attendance record, highly regarded by staff and frequent guests alike, a trusted employee who has kept mine, my sister, and our friends secret so well for so long. That is you, correct?" The woman nodded slowly though otherwise remained frozen in place. "Why in the name of Satan himself, do you think I would I kill you then?" She purred before she gave one last pull to straighten the front of the women's waist coat. "Your uniform? You were in a dangerous situation and performed to the best of your abilities, we're not going to kill you over something you couldn't avoid. Perhaps you believe that leaving your post to help Bumblebee here, Mr Barnes, and this boy get out safely? The building was coming down around you, we aren't going to fault you for that. We're not monsters."
He watched as the woman seemed to lose some of the tension, only for it to snap back as she was pulled into a tight hug, and something was whispered into her ear, something his holoform was not able to catch.
Aria pulled away after a few moments and took a long breath. "The child will be in your care until a relative is either located, or a suitable adoptive family. Understood?"
"Yes Miss Orichiono."
"Good, now, go get yourself something to eat." She reached into her pocket and passed her the same card she'd given him to get the coffee that nor sat in a group on his scouts hood.
The woman made herself scarce, heading straight for the Seven Eleven.
Something seemed to dawn on Aria only then however, as she proceeded to call after the woman. "And get us a couple of Sirloins!" The shout seemed to reach Mrs Garner as she turned her head to nod before continuing her speed walk towards the brightly lit building.
Only once she was out of earshot, Aria turned to the cups of coffee, pulled the plastic lid off one, and took a test sip, only to pull it back away and put the lid back on.
Her expression was sour, but made no comment as she set the coffee cup down and sighed, running a hand through her hair again before changing focus to the pale grey sleeveless top she'd been wearing under the coat.
Or more accurately, the blood now pooling against it.
A look of annoyance crossed her features before the holoform simply flickered out of existence.
Optimus glanced to Bumblebee then, the scout looking just as confused by the situation as he felt.
He turned his attention back to the coffee she'd requested he get, picking one up, he noted it was still warm…
Surely it couldn't hurt to try?
Lifting the cup to his own lips he took a taster sip.
And spat the contents directly onto the tarmac of the parking lot.
Vile, absolutely vile.
He saw Bumblebee reaching to grab one of the others, the scouts own curiosity getting the better of him.
Acting on pure reflex he managed to snag the young mechs arm just before he could grab one. "Don't."
Bumblebee took the hint and nodded, though still proceeded to pick them all up and tilt his enquirement on what to do about them.
Thinking for a moment he decided to pick up the cup he knew he'd had made set without any alterations, that was the one for Mikaela, perhaps it was a human thing to enjoy something that tasted of burning. How had they even managed to pull that off to begin with?
He nodded himself, giving Bumblebee the silent go ahead to go and check on Mikaela, it was no secret the scout had been worried sick for his charge, and had been barely holding back on just rushing to check on her.
Her own sire was still out cold on his passenger seat after all, apparently Mr Barnes was well, just taking his time coming back around to the land of the living.
And suddenly, Optimus found himself standing alone.
He found his gaze turning to his trailer, the container that currently hid the Harpies bipedal form from the outside world.
He doubted they were in a talking mood.
But it wouldn't hurt to get a better look at the damage they had sustained…
His doubts that this was a good idea where already creeping to the forefront of his processor thick and fast by the time he reached the small human side door that was handley part of the left side, behind his own driver side door.
He doubted they would become any more hostile than they already were if he told them he just wished to check on them.
Ratchet remained preoccupied with the sparkling after all.
Taking a moment to steady his holoform, he reached up and knocked on the metal door, the sound rung out across the car-park and despite being a hardened war veteran, he flinched for a moment at the sound of groaning metal that came from within not a moment after.
A low non-verbal sound from inside was what he took as a cue they were at least somewhat still online.
Turning the handle he opened the door, taking a moment to take in the pitch black within the trailer.
Every instinct inside was telling him not to go in.
But he could feel their gaze on him now, daring him to turn away, to back out.
Even if he couldn't see them, he could feel the challenge in their gaze.
He was not a mech who backed down from such a challenge.
There was a step up into the trailer that he ascended with ease.
He pulled the door closed behind him, and it was only as the last sliver of light was cut off that Aria spoke. "Can we help… you?" Her voice was strained, more so than even before, the weight of her exhaustion was heavy and their entire frame seemed to be sluggish in its motions.
Turning to the sound of her voice he caught the silhouette of their helm twisting ever so slightly to the side as it rose off the uneven floor.
And that was when he spotted the muted glow of died energon that was spattered across the side of her helm that had been turned to regard him from their previous position curled away from him.
A glance further down the trailer revealed a similar muted glow against the metal of the trailer, but the actually injury was hidden by the black mass that was their form.
Taking a moment to find himself he replied. "I thought I'd check on you. All things considered, I thought you'd appreciate us showing some degree of concern regarding your well being."
The burst of hot air that blasted over him nearly knocked him down as they huffed and shifted, before hissing and shifting back the other way with a mutter of something he couldn't catch but sounded much like an apology.
"We're doing just fine." Aria replied after a few more moments of pause.
He wasn't making any progress addressing Aria. "Wren? How are you holding up?"
No response.
"She's sleeping." Aria stated, there was an irritation in their tone, unimpressed with his attempt to get around her.
Before he could reply, a low vibration came from their frame and their helm dropped to the floor of the trailer just in front of him.
In the darkness, he could see a faint glow illuminating what was visible of their faceplates, it seemed to flicker every few seconds as their helm tilted to the right before finally coming to rest at an admittedly very uncomfortable looking angle considering how the rest of their frame seemed to be laying.
Another burst of air, slower this time, whatever systems they did have inside them seemed to be slowing down as well.
They were clearly on the cusp of recharge at this point.
Taking a gamble, he shuffled against the side of the trailer, and eased himself down to the ground against it.
His actual form was not meters away, he could provide them company while they rested.
It was likely their only escape at present from the injuries they'd suffered.
He'd spent millenia in war… he knew what a blessing it was to recharge after receiving a wound that, while not fatal, was still maddening to deal with.
But now it wasn't he who was injured, but the twins, even before the Golden age of Cybertron had begun falling apart he'd found himself enjoying the platonic company of others while he rested.
Hopefully the twins would allow him at least to try and offer the crystal branch this way, so to speak.
Besides the minute rustle of the metal feathers, and the slow rise and fall of their overall frame, they seemed unaffected by his continued presence.
Likely because they seemed to of both fully slipped into recharge by this point, the faint glow coming from their hidden optics all but gone.
All that was left was the mute glow of their stained energon, the pale violet it leaked barely lighting the metal around what injuries he could see.
Besides the obvious two, now that he could take the time to look, there were numerous other cuts on their frame, mostly small gashes, running together most of them.
From the fight at the base of the dam most likely.
Voices began whispering behind his audios in the silence that surrounded him.
He should of tried to do something… he'd just stood there, watching the Harpies fight off the other Avian mech.
As much as Kia had held a strong stance afterward, there was no escaping the notion she too had suffered some damage.
They had the twins though, the femmes worst hit by the fighting…
And by the negligence of a select few humans.
He wouldn't say it out loud, but to discover the origin of such a gruesome injury, as the one that had practically crippled the twins, to be that of the humans who to him otherwise, despite some failings, seemed capable of a great many things, had left him with a sense that perhaps…
Perhaps humanity was not safe to make full contact with.
Now that he sat there, in the darkness, his processor was becoming active, churning up scenarios were this could all go horribly wrong.
The Harpies warnings had been clear enough.
They were the aliens on this world.
They were the ones who did not understand how it worked.
They were the few at the disadvantage against the many. A many that was seven billion strong against his four and a sparkling.
And their newfound allies were begrudging in their allegiance at best.
It was not a good scenario.
That was without considering what had become of the Allspark, the ancient relic of their home, now lying dormant within the frame of a femme whose intentions were as opaque as her visor.
As he found himself slipping into his musings, he didn't even realise he was beginning to slip into recharge as well.
So many eons fretting over the war and his soldiers had left him with such a trait that, even with his processor working at full speed, it could just as quickly fall into recharge.
Before he even knew it, he was balancing precariously on the edge, it took only a few moments more to fall completely over said edge.
He hadn't even realised how exhausted he'd been himself.
Even as he slipped away, his holoform remained, slumping over further against the wall.
Unbeknownst to him, the glow of optics flickered back online some time later.
Their pitch black visor split at its central point and slipped away, bathing the holoform in a blue green hue as the Harpies regarded the holoform.
The door to the side of the truck creaked open, and the visor snapped back into place just in time for a few packets of sirloin steak were tossed inside.
Louise followed after, the white jacket still on her as she shuffled slowly into the dark and began opening the first of the packets. Though with Aria's holoform deactivated, the generated blood had vanished, hiding any trace of it's previous dirtied state.
The Harpies sluggishly shuffled forwards, and opened their mouth wide enough for the small bio-lights within to signal what Louise had to do.
For a few short minute, steak after steak was swallowed whole, the tiny meal barely doing anything in the long run, but it settled their tanks for the time.
Aria whispered a small thanks after the woman after she'd picked up the now empty packets.
Louise turned to face the giant mechanical beings, she took a breath, and performed the Triage Salute, two claps against the left shoulder with the right hand, and a slight bow of the head. "No my lady. Thank you. You saved my life. Feeding you in a time of need is what I am here to do for you."
In the darkness, it was impossible to see the smirk that had formed on their features. "A good start… but I have an funny feeling you will do more than just feed us from this day forwards… Though Wren is not currently awake, I believe she will have no complaint of what I am to do right now."
Louise seemed to catch what the white themed twin was implying, her blue eyes widening and her body going ramrod. "My lady?"
"Consider yourself promoted. From this day forward you will go by…" A small knowing smile formed on her features then as the regarded the woman, brunette hair cut short, thin athletic figure, and the slightest twang of a British National who'd lived in Las Vegas for five years. "Lena Oxton."
The newly renamed woman bowed and performed the salute again her terror slipping away as she accepted the new position given to her.
She could not afford to be timid now.
She had to become brave.
One had to be when they stood as one of the Harpies Elites.
Afterall, within the day, her old life will be completely erased.
Those who know of her will be told she had perished in the collapse of the Cosmopolitan, the victim of a suspect heinous terrorist attack, another face on the memorial walls that would likely crop up if they hadn't already.
It was similar for all Elites, though they so far had just been declared missing people, presumed dead, and the searches for their bodies called of as a result of lack of evidence to point authorities in any good direction.
One couldn't have the baggage of their old lives when serving the Harpies.
It got in the way.
And if there was one thing that the Harpies were truly brutally efficient over, it was eliminating what got in their way.
Which made her somewhat lucky in the matter she had little of a life to speak of, especially after the Harpies had personally 'removed' her husband from the equation a year ago so that she no longer had to waste money on makeup to cover his...
There was a small clatter on the ground as the Harpies shifted, Lena understood what had just been created for her, they'd be solid projections for now, but they'd work just as well.
Shuffling forwards she picked up the two hand guns, feeling their weight in her hands to get a good feel of them.
Only when she placed them in the holsters the white twin generated around her hips did Aria speak again. "Remember, there are those in this world who will want you dead to clear the path to us. You will receive full weapons training from Ana and Amelie, and hand to hand combat from Winston, but until then, you will have your wits, instincts, and our orders to keep yourself alive, follow them like a fool would a holy scripture, and you'll be just fine."
Lena nodded and performed the salute again, only now however, did she add the new part of the salute that only Elites were permitted to, though it was optional, she felt it right. "For the might of the Triage!"
She did not need to see that Aria was smiling to know she was.
After a few minutes, their helm slumped down again and they finally slipped into recharge in the knowledge they had at least one loyal ally to guard them.
It was as the Sun hung high in the midday sky that they moved out from the parking lot.
Lena Oxton had moved to Prime's cab with the young boy, who's name was Leroy, whilst Mikaela, who'd finally woken up, had been dragged by both her father and Bumblebee's holoform to his alt mode, and now rode with her guardian.
For a few hours, Lena contented herself with keeping Leroy entertained and getting him to eat and drink a few things, the boy seemed to be handling the trauma from the night before well enough, but it was obvious he was more than a little out of it after everything.
Optimus almost spoke a few times, but struggled to think of something to say.
It wasn't difficult to spot the loaded holsters now half hidden under the white high collar jacket she still wore.
She also seemed… different… her timid stature was all but gone.
Erased even.
A very disconcerting prospect.
He continued to lead the procession of his small group.
The highway was filled with traffic now, cars cutting between his unit as they were slowly spread further apart by the laws of the road, as a Semi he was not permitted in the fastest lane like the rest of his unit, so he did his best to remain in the slowest lane for their convenience.
Every gaze Mrs Garner took at his dashboards clock however made him worry, twitch slightly, and when they were behind another semi, even move into the second lane to overtake the slower moving vehicle.
Finally after he overtook a vehicle designated for luxury camping, he broke the silence. "Mrs Gar-"
"Oxton. It's Lena Oxton."
Leroy looked up from where he was playing with her fingers.
His holoforms attention jerked away from the road for a moment before he remembered himself and set his focus ahead, it certainly wouldn't do to cause a scene by crashing.
"I… I don't understand."
"Louise Garner was announced as deceased. Crushed in the collapse of the Cosmopolitan. My name is Lena Oxton now."
"Ah… I see."
"No. No you don't." She didn't elaborate further, and went back to making strange noises at Leroy, which seemed to get a laugh out of the boy as she pressed her finger quickly against his nose.
Were all humans this cryptic?
Or did he just have foul luck?
He sent said enquiry to Ratchet, the medic replied soon after that he did indeed seem to have foul luck.
He decided against commenting back, and focused on the road ahead, he had a general idea of where they were heading, the city Monterrey, at least, that had been where Aria told him to go, apparently Kia had contacts in Mexico that would get them across the border and all the way to the city, but beyond that, they had to travel alone again to the coast, only when they were in Monterrey would the location of the boat would be revealed, to decreases chances of ambush apparently.
Aria had been quite certain that they'd run into trouble.
'Word spreads fast no matter how tight a grip you have on their throats.'
He chose to not question too deeply the implication there.
The human term of walking on thin ice felt very apt considering their current situation.
It was as the sun was starting to head for the distant horizon, bathing the sky in a menagerie of warm colours that he felt the trailer he was hitched to shift, and a low warble came from inside, with the traffic on the highway thinning, he was able to easily pick up the noise.
He felt Lena stiffen for a moment before glancing to his holoform and announcing. "They're hungry. We need to stop at the next gas station."
Taking that as more of an order than a recommendation, he opted to turn off at the next junction that advertised a place for he and his crew to rest up for the night, hopefully with the intention of re-aligning to function on the same time frame as the human populace.
Sure enough, the was an area designated for his kind of alt mode put apart from where the rest of his unit came to a stop.
Almost immediately he caught a flash of white and grey making a beeline for the gas station out of his rear view mirror.
Lena evidently noticed her departing boss as well, considering how quickly she pressed the now sleeping Leroy into his unexpectant arms and near vaulted out of his passenger side to chase after the white themed twin the moment his door was open wide enough for her.
He felt his holoforms teeth grit against one another as he held the young boy, the edges of his clothing were charred in places, cut in others, and clearly nowhere near clean…
The next town they passed he was going to request they get the boy at least a few changes of clothes.
And possibly somehow a shower.
Fishlake National Forest Utah
The throbbing in his head was a horrid feeling to return to conscious with.
Cracking his eyes open proved ineffective, the darkness around him near absolute sans the odd slightly darker mass shifting around him with the sounds of others also seemingly stirring.
Jamerson shook his head again, trying to get rid of the pain in his head, noting that he was strewn across a hard mat, and his legs were stuck under someone else, pinning him with their larger bulk.
Almost as if sensing that those around him and himself were awake or at least coming too, the doors to the outside world were flung open, blinding them with the light of the outside world.
Two men, heavily built, peered at them, their expressions neutral and rifles on their back.
They didn't say anything, just stepped back out of the way, taking the doors with them.
He heard someone whimper behind him, probably that teen, Glen.
A few began to shift, but no one was in a hurry to move.
Something not lost on the two.
They stepped out of sight, and were promptly replaced with the frightfully familiar visage of Ira, the size of her head's adornments prevented her from pushing her head into the structure they were in, but having the psycho peering at them, a feral smirk on her features, was enough to chill his blood.
Ira's voice was just as he remembered it, heavily accented, Irish, and teetering on that edge that put those who heard it on just as much of an edge. "Oooh~ Jamerson~ Yah little cocky bitch. Get yah sorry ass ou' here."
He felt the weight on his legs shift, he glanced long enough to spy Glen pinning himself to the back and trying to be as small as possible.
He didn't blame him.
"Don' ma'e me fuckin' wait~" The warning was blatant.
Pushing himself up on his legs he found himself with limited head room, forcing him to stoop his head forwards a bit before shuffling out.
Only when he reached the end did he realise he'd been in a semi trucks trailer, and the ramp leading down to where Ira was now standing at full height, Kia was standing just to her side, made his gut twist with just the scowl on her lips alone.
But at this point, he either did as was told, and probably die quickly, or try and run. Something told him the death that he would get for that would be anything but swift.
The talons tearing into the dry Earth was enough of a reason to opt for the quick death.
He didn't feel like having his head slowly crushed.
Their expressions remained neutral for only a moment, before Kia turned her gaze to Ira. "We should kill him now. He hurt Aria."
Ira hummed low in agreement, but shook her helm. "Can', as much as ah wanna gut him and knit his intestines inta ah hat, Aria made it clear he's hers to deal with." She smirked as she turned her attention back on him. "Honestly, ah just hope she lets me watch whateva she decides tah do with yah, she always finds tha most creative ways tah put someone out of tha picture~"
It was only as he stared up at her more did he notice that Ira was injured herself.
Trickles of a violet hued liquid seemed to pool and dribble sluggishly down from cuts all over her upper and lower body, the armour she wore was warped in places, and there seemed to be no end to the feathers that slowly fluttered the ground around where she stood, the tiny bristles warped, likely no longer good for producing lift.
Kia was in a better condition, but that on a scale comparing her with Ira wasn't saying all that much.
Kia humming herself drew his attention back to the present. "True… he'll try to escape…"
"Unless we have him put unda again."
It was at this point he noticed that they were missing a certain Monochrome… Harpy. "Where's the twins?"
The two's conversation stalled as they turned their attention back to him.
Ira huffed before answering. "Living the high life. Which means~ You're not gonna have them stepping in our way~"
Not a moment later, in a movement so fast he barely had time to lurch his head back, a woefully sharp blade, coated with a fading blue splatter, was pressed against his throat, not breaking skin, but had he not moved, it certainly would of taken his head clean off.
He heard a round of gasps come from inside the trailer, the others watching, terrified and frozen in place.
Not wanting the attention of the Harpies put on them they all kept to the shadows of the dimly lit trailer.
He couldn't blame him, his heart was racing in his chest, the blood pounding in ears difficult to hear over.
As soon as it had come, the blade was tucked back into the extended wing that had swung at him, he'd nearly been blown over with the motion he realised, maybe that had been what had saved him.
Kia watched on, her expression seemingly indifferent to the actions of her companion.
A chitter from next to one of her talons drew his attention down, slowly, now well aware how easily these Harpies could take his life if he got something wrong.
Hera…
The mechanical Harpy eagle was looking at him, curiosity evident in her gaze as she turned her attention up to the Harpies and chittered again.
Kia spared the eagle a gaze, before nodding, giving the smaller entity the permission she'd been seeking.
Hera jumped forwards then, before shifting into a slow walk, her tail feathers brushing the ground as her wings spread out a bit for balance.
He held his breath as she came to stand before him, rising up to her full height, towering over him.
The motion again was too quick.
Her beak banged straight into his ribs, he swore he heard something crack, before the force sent him sprawling to the ground.
Hera reared high, wings flaring out and flapping as she screeched at him.
Groaning at the pain now coming from his chest, he looked up at her, waiting for the next blow.
It didn't come, Hera just huffed, ruffled her feathers, turned, and walked back over the Kia.
The smirks on the Harpies features were of the cat catching the canary kind.
Only emphasised when Ira spoke. "Tha' was fah shootin' her momma's ear yah cunt."
He held his tongue, no way in hell was he gonna apologise for that.
They all deserved far worse, and he knew he'd try and do worse if he had a fucking gun on him, but considering his hand, having been now bandaged, he was in no way able to shoot.
To top that off, he probably had the odd broken rib now.
Just great.
"Winston, take him back to the truck, bring out Glen this time."
Glen? Why would they want to do with that kid?
The hulking man stepped over to him and seemingly without issue, hoisted him up and off the ground by a swing of his shoulder, he guessed the man was Winston.
He was less than ceremoniously dropped back into the trailer as two other men seemed to drag Glen out of the dark, the teen rambling nonsense and seemingly close to fainting from sheer terror.
He watched on as Glen was deposited directly in front of Ira.
Ira shifted, there was a flash of light and then…
A woman appeared before the teen.
She looked just as banged up as Ira, burn marks covered her in places where cuts and bruises didn't, her attire torn in places, and hair wild and singed in places.
Was this a…
"Glen Whitmann?"
The poor kid couldn't of gone more ramrod straight if he tried.
He couldn't see the projection of Ira from his place, how long had they been able to do this?
Make those projections that looked so human?
Glen seemed to whimper and nod at her.
"You know who ah am don'cha? Come on. Say mah name, get it righ', an ah'll let yah live."
Poor kid was shaking like a leaf.
He saw a flash of metal in the light of the setting sun behind them, a shiv knife.
"IRA! Y-you're Ira Halloran!"
The knife disappeared and she patted him a few times on the cheek with her other hand. "Good boy. You'll be comin' with me when we split."
Split?
Ira pushed Glen out of the way and stalked forwards, the aviator sunglasses she wore focused on them in the trailer.
"Tha rest ah yah have tah joy of being either sent to tha twins, or with Kia. But for now, you all get tah stick together. We still have some things tah do here in tha States."
He watched as the men from before grabbed Glen under the arms and dragged the frozen stiff teen back to the trailer, and pushing him back inside.
The doors were slammed back shut not a moment later, the vision of the human Ira flickering out of existence being the last thing he saw.
The silence that followed was deafening, only broken by laboured breathing and muttered questions he didn't bother to try and hear.
They were fucked, they were all so royally fucked.
And that was when music began to play.
Jasper Nevada.
The police station was quiet, the only receptionist was busy writing something down in her note book.
In the Sheriff's office, Maria Rodriguez looked at her two deputies over her interlocked fingers, elbows resting pensively on the desk as Prowl finished giving his verbal report, the one that was strictly off the record.
Lord knew no one would believe what he said outside this little sound proof room.
And if they did, well, there was only so much she could do to keep him safe.
Of course Rodriguez knew exactly what Prowl was, she was the only person other than Annie that the Amnesiac alien robot trusted with his true identity. What little of it he knew at least.
Such thoughts were ones she'd pondered over many a slow day, but right now, right now there was certainly a more pressing matter to address.
"You're absolutely certain that whatever, or whoever it was, that just destroyed the Cosmopolitan Hotel, came from wherever you did?"
The news had been wall to wall coverage of the attack, the death toll just kept on going up and up.
Of course it would… so many people had reportedly been crushed in the stampede alone.
Many likely were killed by the initial attacks, overs as the buildings main tower collapsed… and lord knew a few had reportedly been hit by falling glass and other debris.
Prowl nodded, expression riddled with seemingly a hundred and one different emotions.
Not good, poor kid had too much on his mind.
"Prowl. You may be one of them, but that does not mean you are anything like them. You and Annie are some of the best Deputies I've ever had. Don't you ever forget that."
They both nodded.
Rodriguez ran a hand through her hair, the odd strand was starting to grey, she was what now? Fifty five? She should call up some of her old friends to check, she never bothered to remember anymore.
Breaking the hold her fingers had on each other she lent back into her chair. "So.. we have a few ways of moving forwards. Prowl, it's really up to you though. We either put our noses to the ground and start looking for clues, whilst maintaining our jobs here… or… I let you two have a few months 'vacation' to widen your range."
Prowl and Annie looked to each other for a moment before Prowl spoke. "It's only one lead, and likely impossible to track, I say we keep our eyes out for other possible clues, see if they're making a pattern, and then go from there."
Rodriguez nodded at this. "Very well, dismissed."
The two nodded before stepping back out of the office, leaving their Sheriff to sigh and sink further into her chair.
Her attention drifted to the picture frame sitting on her desk, facing her.
It was of her and her three best friends, the absolute nutters.
A ghost of a smile formed on her features as the door to her office slid shut.
With no one to see, she stretched, groaning as she felt those oh so delicious pops roll down her back.
She felt stiff, she always felt stiff these days.
Cracking her eyes back open, she glanced back to the picture, Selena and Narissa, the sisters, each hanging off one of her shoulders, Narissa's wild short cut hair covering her upper face, but her toothy grin was more than enough, Selena had flinched at the flash the camera had released, squinting her eyes shut with a grimace.
Her eyes, and that of their other friend, Sophia, were suffering the unfortunate curse of red-eye.
There was other pictures of them all together… true… but it just felt right to have this one be the one on her desk.
They had all been having such fun, the sisters had just slid back off the stage, they'd been hired to perform at the bar, along with a friend of theirs, Molly, hence why they'd all been there, Sophia had already bested two blokes in a drinking game, and she'd just gotten done punching one of the sour losers square in the face.
Perfect time for a picture.
Of course a full on brawl had broken out not three seconds later, you could even see one of the assholes in the background charging at them, but still, perfect time.
She honestly couldn't remember who won the fight, probably them.
They rarely got to see each other any more, Sophia was off in Russia teaching English to teenagers, Selena and Narissa were… oh who knew what those two were up to, probably having a blast somewhere or other with Molly.
And here she was, sitting at her desk, keeping a watchful over the Amnesiac Second in Command of the Autobots.
The phone on her desk rang, the caller id bringing a smile to her face as she answered, listening to the voice coming over the line, a small knowing smirk bloomed on her features.
"I know, I saw the news. Be careful out there."
Buckle up everyone, things are gonna start getting interesting 'rubs hands together in glee'.
Oh and for anyone interested, I recently finished some original character designs for some characters I plan to introduce further into the story, you can find them on me deviantart account 'Moonlightdeer739', i absolutely adore all four of them and I've been working on that piece since mid December so I'd really appreciate anyone interested checking them out, eventually I'll post their designs here in the story too, but by that point I may of done a few more things of them.
Welp until next time, see yah!
Moon
