The moment she hears helicopters, Sarah knows it's too late. Barely do she and Ratchet look at each other or their hiding place is blasted apart.
"Ah! Aah" Ratchet groans in pain as he falls forward. " No!" He pleads and then starts crawling on all fours to get away from the deck of theboat on which he finds himself. Barely has he moved, or Sarah, still hidden in the scraps of metal, sees a helicopter approaching and shoot a rocket at Ratchet. The autobot has no time to even defend himself from the impact, the blast sends him sprawling on his left side.
" Ratchet!" Sarah screams. He crawls forward again, pulling himself forward until he can roll over to the lower deck of the ship. He has not even put his feet down or another missile is shot and Ratchet dissapears in a flurry of the large explosion, metal from his body as well as wood flying everywhere. He groans in pain again and looks at Sarah." Go! Hurry!" Sarah screams and then Ratchet lets himself fall from the leftside of the ship and into the water.
Sarah follows, running as fast as she can and jumping into the water. She sinks into the water below and then a large hand grips her, and Ratchet pushes himself to the surface. He walks, nearly limps onto shore and then quickly transforms.
Sarah sits in the frontseat, as Ratchet leaves, wheels jeering onto the dirty road, ready to leave the bay behind. " He's on the run, he's on the run!" Sarah can hear the radios of their pursuers behind her and looks out of Ratchet's window. " Sarah, get in." Ratchet says and pulls a sharp left so that she falls into her seat, windows closing.
It's not long before the green medical truck is followed by black jeeps, a soldier on one of them pointing a large machine gun and shooting at the fleeing transformer. The autobots veers sharply on the road, rockets and missiles exploding one by one beside to him, in a row, always narrowingly missing him.
Just as they are about to reach the bridge, another rocket hits Ratchet's behind and he transforms, throwing Sarah into the air, as he starts running as fast as he can. She huffs and then falls forward, grabbing his chestplates as Ratchet keeps running. The bullets from the machine-gun still follow them as Sarah holds on to her lover's chestplates as best as she can, gritting her teeth as Ratchet moves faster and faster.
He turns right, trying to evade the bullets and then turns forward, dropping himself as he jumps away on all fours. " Urgh" Sarah groans, holding on to Ratchet as best as she can, fingers, feet and arms and legs straining with the strenght to hold on. Ratchet can barely put himself upright when a missile hits his rightleg and explodes, blowing it right off. "Aah, aah." The impact sends Sarah to the ground.
"No!" She wails and then starts falling. Ratchet turns, facing his attackers, weight resting on his arms and hands. Sarah is able to grab his arm and breaks her fall slightly as she drops to the ground. Tears start to fill her eyes as she sees her love trying to salvage himself. Her beautiful lover, shot apart like something that needs exterminating. Ratchet tries to stand up, skipping on one leg. " Please!" He says, pained. " Hold your fire!" He still skips on one leg, watching as black jeeps surround him. He cannot keep his weight up for long because soon he falls back onto his hands, rolling around. " Don't fire." He says, as he turns forward, facing the men surrounding them.
" Can you not see I've been wounded?" Sarah lies a few meters away, still on the ground, blood dripping from her head and arms, scratches and wounds all over her body from the explosions. Ratchet groans in pain again, holding his chest plate with his right hand and then moving his left forward in a pleading motion. " Medical officer Ratchet. I am a friend!" He says and then puts his let arm down to support his weight. He puts himself up again supporting now his weight on his remaining knee as he holds his hands and arms out in a placating gesture. " I am an autobot!" He pleads.
" Then why were you running." A man with short grey hair says, holding a gun. Sarah, silently crawling over to Ratchet stops. She knows that voice. " Ratchet." She whispers. " Ratchet!" She tries to say. She knows the man is bad news. But Ratchet cannot hear her, she is still to far from him.
Ratchet heaves, weight still on his knee as he still holds out his arms. " Optimus send out this distress message." He says; holding his hand up to block the lights of the helicopters flying over him and then pushes a button on his chest.
"Calling all autobots. We are under targeted attack. Seize all contacts with humans."
Ratchet looks down and then again at the soldiers surrounding him. " We are all hiding. All autobots are being hunted. We are all in danger." Sarah is still crawling forward when the soldier with grey hair answers. She knows his voice. " I lost a sister in Chicago. You won't get any sympathy of me." Then it flashes across Sarah's mind. " Savoy." She spits, as she finally reaches Ratchet. She brings herself forward and brings her arm around his remaining leg. He says nothing but she feels in the shuddering of his leg that he knows she is with him and is glad for it.
But she does not go unnoticed. " Seize contact with humans, huh?" A soldier chortles. " What's this then?" The soldier walks forward and grips Sarah by her arm, dragging her away from Ratchet. " Let me go!" she screams, struggling, voice nearly dissapearing as she screams again and again.
" Sarah!" Ratchet says and reaches for her. Yet it's too late. A shot resounds and then a large rocket comes flying, hitting Ratchet right in the chest? It mazkres him fly and stumble backwards. Ratchet backs up, pushing himself backward with his remaining leg, left arm up and weapons out. Still pushing himself backwards until his back rests on a metal container, he responds angrily." What's wrong with you humans?!" He tries to stand up and shoots as best as he can at the soldiers firing at him, but they are strong, perhaps too strong.
"...!" A long ugly wail sounds form the brown-haired woman's throat, still fighting the soldiers holding her, as she sees Ratchet fall. Her face is wet with tears and she struggles, mouth trembling, trying to reach Rathchet in vain.
Another rocket and Ratchet groans in pain and is blasted away, falling on his left side and then forward, on his belly, still firing. " Ah!" he groans, as he tries to get up. " No! Please!" Ratchet begs, but the soldiers don't care, shooting at him, deaf to his pleas.
Ratchet is now down on his back, pushing himself away, groaning in pain and still trying to fire. " Get off!" Sarah screams and bites the soldier holding her in his hand hard. He screams and lets her go as she runs to Ratchet.
" Ratchet! Ratchet!" As soon as Sarah is near him she stops next to him and sits next to him. " Oh, my love." She whispers as he still groans and moans in pain. " Ah!" Ratcher moans, as he looks at her. " She comes closer to him and softly kisses his cheek. " Sarah. Ah." Ratchet moans. " Shh. It's okay. I will not leave you. " She says.
But it's not the end of their pain. The brown-haired woman hears the familiar sound of metal whirring and then a large silver, steel-coloured robot approaches. The soldiers surrounding them still hold their guns pointed at them but have stopped shooting.
Sarah turns around to look at the transformer, dread filling her stomach. " He's mine now." The robot says as he steps towards Ratchet. Ratchet lays on his side, still, and then turns towards the robot. " Lockdown." The medical aoutobot says with disdain, trying to push the woman by his side behind him.
" Autobots, decepticons, like little children. Always fighting." The steel robot says as he arms his gun." Making a mess out of the universe and then I have to clean it up." Sarah gritts her teeth and tries to put herself in front of Ratchet, but he holds her back.
" There is only one way to survive. Tell me where he is hiding. Where..is Optimus Prime." Lockdown says, nose curling with each words he says.
" Never!" Ratchet sighs, face falling to the left, plates loosening and falling from his face. He makes an ultimate last attempt at trying to get away. His hand holds on to Sarah, squuezing her and then Lockdown puts his foot down on Ratchet's abdomen and points his gun at his heart. "No!" Sarah says as she realizes what he is planning. " No!" But Ratchet's grip is strong and she cannot get loose. His face turns to her and in his eyes she sees the love for her burning bright. And she realises she reflects thta same smile, because a small smile is on his face. She tries to smile for his sake, but it's more like a grimace, dirty face, hair hanging in it and wet of tears as she tries to smile a second time. Ratchet smiles at her and one of his fingers carresses her neck.
Lockdown sneers at the autubot below him and then the gun-like extractor pushes itself into the green transformer's chest, pulling out the spark. His arms come forward, trying to stop Lockdown but it's too late.
With a last moan from Ratchet, Lockdown pulls out the spark of his body and the green autobot's body relaxes. " Never is here." Lockdown says and then puts the spark away, leaving the brown-haired woman alone as he walks away.
Sarah let's out a pained wail and then starts crying as she caresses his arm. She can feel her heart breaking and is pretty sure she feels her soul tear in two.
"Ratchet." She heaves.
" Do what you want with the woman." Lockdown says, transforms and then leaves.
Sarah is still crying silently, hand before her mouth when Savoy approaches. " Look at this bitch." He says. ' Sleeping with the enemy." -" Traitor!" He screams. He moves quickly, to quickly for someone as untrained as Sarah.
Before she knows it his fist swings towards her face and she feels her head being thrown back, hair flying. Barely time to breath, the fist comes again and for a momen her heart shutters and then fist comes to her other cheek and she hears the bone fracture and break. She coughs, pain in her mouth as her face quickly starts growing blue.
Sarah's vision is swimming but then she focuses on Savoy. He now sits on his knees in front of her, large knife moving left and right before her eyes. She watches the knife, it's movement hypnotising her in a trance.
She remembers for a moment. Everything. When she left Chloe and Ironhide behind, her and Ratchet's grief over mutual friends they would not see for a long time.
She thinks of them walking in woody and rocky areas, Ratchet behind her whenever needed. She remembers the winters with the first snow fall, when they found a cave to remain in and they were safe because it was too high up to be found. She remembers his stunned face when she hit him in the face with snow, the wet murky substance dripping from his face and her laughter at it.
She remerbes a lonely beach at night, kisses in the dark and sleeping with the sun on her face. Even though they'd been on the run for years, she wouldn't trade their years together or their relationship for anything. And it is solace that she knows he knew, from the moment she said it all those years ago, for the first time, when hunger in her belly made her ache and the cold made her teeth shatter and Ratchet's body was cold and slow and they had to hide together, warming each other , prospects without hope for there was no food, no water, only themselves and each other to keep them strong.
There were easier times of course, when they had everything in abundance andt hey could relaxe for they weren't followed. But she remembers the hard times as well, when she could keep going because he was her strength and she was his when he felt like everything was lost.
" I love you. I love you." Her heat beats with that mantra and it feels like he is still whispering it in her ear.
Then she is rudely awoken from her dream-like state by a slap to the face. " Stay awake, you bitch. You know, miss Davis died right away with,.. What was his name- Ironhide? Lockdown pierced her body and his spark, all in one." He smirks. Sarah's twocoloured eyes widen and then she screams, tears flooding her eyes,realizing her friends have not survived.
" Oh hush;" Savoy says, shushing her, with a grin. Sarah grits her teeh, barely able to speak. She fingers a piece of Ratchet's armor that lies nearby and when the man comes closer, she hefts her hand quickly and pierces Savoy's leg again and again,until the piece is stuck through his upperleg and can't be pulled out.
Savoy screams in rage at her at her but she looks at him. " Asshole." She says. Savoy hisses and then grabs hold of the knife in his hand and then with an angry cry, plunges it into her heart with so much forceand rage it's tip is stuck in the earth below.
A breath leaves Sarah, air whistling though her mouth and then she falls slightly backward, back resting on Ratchet's arm.
Her heart beats slowly now, slower and slower until she barely hears it. The agent is now limping away, trying to get the piece out of his leg while Sarah, still in the crook of Ratchet's arm, looks at the stars.
" Stars in your eyes.. Stars in your heart." She whispers painfully, wheezing, remembering a poem Ratchet once read to her.
A last breath, two and then no more.
Sarah's lifeless head falls back softly, eyes closed - cheeks swollen and blue - light from the helicopters flying overhead illuminating her still face.
In our constellations we were infinite.