Chapter 8

I do not own anything from Transformers.

Thank you all so much for reading and reviewing.

Sorry in advance for any spelling or grammar errors, I am too tired to edit.

Last flashback before the story moves on.

Gabby had no idea what city, town, or state she was in. All she knew was she had been taken on a plane, and flown somewhere. Her head was still covered, and she was handcuffed. She had been able to free herself of the handcuffs because her wrists were bigger than her hands, but she was quickly subdued. So, finally she was put into zip ties.

She knew she was on a private jet, and could hear Lockwood speaking into his cellphone that they had gotten her, and were on their way. Nothing else was given away after that.

She could hear quiet whispers around her as she was escorted into a building, and then heard noises of what seemed like a lab of some sort.

Then she was freed and taken to a room with a bed and other comforts down some stairs. The hood was removed, and there she sat.

This was almost like Thunderwing all over again as she looked around the room.

A woman who did not say a word to her brought her in some food, and despite her misgivings Gabby downed the water.

She pushed back her blonde hair and knew this time she was not weak from pregnancy, so she scanned the room to find any means of escape.

The vent looked promising, but she wasn't sure she would fit through it. Otherwise, no windows and the door was latched from the outside. It was a heavy steel door.

Gabby was also in shock about her government could turn against her and the rest of NEST including the Autobots. The beings that had saved this planet multiple times from imminent annihilation from the Decepticons and other enemies. It shocked and sickened her to the core.

She thought of Optimus, and could only pray that he was still alive. If she knew him as well as she did, he would travel the ends of the Earth to find her. If he were smart, then right now he would send out signals to Orianna to NOT return to Earth. Her life was just as much in danger as the rest of them.

He would do that, she knew him to well.

Gabby grieved her friends and colleagues, and now her parents would know she was missing once more. Another blow to her family.

She could feel her emotions take on something else, and now she could feel the changes of attitude with what was happening. She was a victim so many times now, and this was it. She would not be a victim anymore.

She stared straight ahead for a long time before; two armed guards came and got her. This time she would cooperate until she could formalize a plan of escape.

Optimus did not know where she was, so it was up to her to get out of this.

She looked around, as she was zip tied again, and taken down a hallway and into an elevator.

Then what she saw next as she was taken into a laboratory would sicken her to the bone.

A production line of what looked like human bodies were placed on gurneys around the room. She could see they were robots that were made to look like humans.

It looked like they were coming along nicely, so what did they need her for?

There were about ten of them around the room as scientists worked at them along with other people in lab coats.

So, this was where they wanted to create their next Orianna…

It was obvious to Gabby now they were not as successful as they hoped, and that was why they wanted her so badly, and wanted to destroy the Autobots.

The only thing that she could think of to compare these experiments to was the Terminator. It was like Skynet had finally come to pass.

In the far corner, she spotted something else that made her eyes widen in fear. Other people in lab coats were testing the head of Megatron. His eyes were lit artificially as she walked by, and she had to turn away from it.

She was then escorted to a room, and made to sit down her hands still bound by the zip tie.

After a little while, Dr. Lockwood walked in and smiled at her. Gabby could feel nothing but disgust at the man.

"Trying to create the Terminator, huh?" Gabby asked with sarcasm and a smirk.

Lockwood shrugged as he sat down across from her. "That is old school, but in a way yes. However, we are still looking for our ultimate weapon, and you are key to it," he answered.

"How is that? You do realize you are committing treason by keeping me against my free will right? Did you ever hear of the Constitution?" Gabby asked.

"Oh no, Gabrielle. I have full permission from the government for this, and many blessings from around the world including Russia, surprisingly," he answered.

"As far as you are concerned, you gave up your rights as soon as you made a baby with an extraterrestrial being," he continued smirking at her now.

Gabby raised an eyebrow and said, "So, that is how you justify my capture? I gave up my human rights because I had sex with an alien? I didn't know that was in the bill of rights, Richard," Gabby shot back.

Lockwood sat back but still eyed her. "No matter now, Gabrielle Ryan. You are here to help us create the weapon we need for more threats coming. Since, your daughter is off the grid, and no contact from her, we need you to give us another," he explained. "You are the only one who can do it."

"I think I found something in your genetic make up to help with that," he said as he wrote some notes.

"Oh really? So, are you going to bring Optimus in and force us to do it?" She asked with venom in her voice.

Lockwood chuckled. "Hell no. I am going to harvest your eggs, and try to mix them with what's left of Megatron's energon," he answered waiting for her reaction.

Gabby swallowed over and over again. This was man was completely and certifiably insane. There was no way she was going to let him harvest her eggs.

"You will not put your hands on me," she said threateningly.

The guards that were standing behind Lockwood readied for her reaction.

Then she noticed something about the guards that she hadn't noticed before. Their eyes were yellow! Then she remembered their gates were jerky with their movements. These men were not human! So, it was Skynet after all….

She wondered now how many of them were out there, and was living among the human population. She wondered how long this experiment had been going on.

She knew now that these cyborgs would never defeat an incoming terrestrial enemy, no, they still needed something more powerful. They thought they had that in Orianna, but she took off before she could be tested.

Thank God for that, Gabby thought. The irony was she had been wishing for so many months that Orianna would come home, and now she wished she would stay away.

"Take her to the medical bay, I will be there shortly," Lockwood said not looking at Gabby's reaction.

Gabby was so in shock at what was going to happen, that she did not fight the cyborg soldiers who escorted her out of the room and into a medical bay.

Gabby sat in her room that night recovering, and sobbed, as she felt so violated from what they just did to her.

Yet, she knew she had to get her act together if she were to live. She would find a way out, and she would find it fast.

She would no longer accept that she was the damsel in distress, she would now take control of her own destiny, and get out of this place and expose it to the world.

She found it ironic that Lockwood said she was free to go anytime, but she would immediately be assassinated. She knew too much.

She would bide her time.

….

Months passed, and Gabby was forced to work along side Dr. Lockwood and his helpers to build more cyborgs, and give her engineering knowledge. The only thing that gave her comfort was the fact that the eggs were failing to meet with the energon from Megatron, and no new weapon was coming to pass.

She would look around shocked that some of her DNA had been used to make the cyborgs along with other people who worked there. Some of these things were a product of her, and she didn't know what to do about it.

No one spoke to her, and acted as if she wasn't alive at all. They would just ignore her and continue about their business, and only speak to her about her knowledge.

She began to pocket little things, such as knives, and anything that was sharp, but then was caught. She was never abused per se, but deprived of food and water.

She realized simple things like knives and guns could still kill the cyborgs, as their brains were organic material, but with a metal skeleton from Cybetronian metal. If you shot one in the chest, it would suffer damage, but still able to be repaired. It was the same chemical makeup that she used to bring Jazz and Ironhide back to life. They had stolen that from her and Ratchet.

It absolutely still shook her to the core that these people had this kind of technology to create these things.

She felt like she was living in another world, and was involved in some kind of prank, or worse yet in the middle of some kind of bad sci-fi movie.

This coming from someone who had a baby with an alien being, she thought ironically.

She was taking in as much information as she could to destroy these things.

She worked around her room, and was finally able to develop a plan for escape. It was a long shot, but she had to try.

Her room was made up of a metal frame bed, and nothing else except a toilet, and a sink with a mirror.

She looked at the mirror, and knew it was only take one stab in the eye. She smiled that they forgot that little detail. They should have never left the mirror in the room.

There were always two of those things that came and got her. She had to distract one and get the other, and kill them both.

Another few days would pass by before she could implement her plan. She found out she was in New York City, and one the 11th floor in downtown Manhattan.

Then she would search the ends of the Earth for Optimus, and still hope that Orianna was still safe in outer space.

Gabby was sat down a little later in Lockwood's office. She could clearly see the agitation on his face. His experiments with her eggs were clearly failing, and Gabby was not surprised. However, she started to sweat a little as she thought her life may now be in danger, because she knew too much.

"Tell me how it was made! You know something else I know you do!" He said pointing a finger at her and began to yell.

"She is not an "it!" as you so put it, and I already told you everything you needed to know. I don't know how Orianna came to be scientifically, I knew you would fail!"

Lockwood hit the desk with his fist in frustration. He paced the room, and said, "We have already built a prototype without your genetics, but it won't even be half as powerful as your offspring."

Gabby scoffed, and knew the room she was never allowed to enter was that.

"What did you expect? For me to just cough and another one would come out of me?" She asked sarcastically.

Suddenly, Gabby's hair was pulled back and her face brought close to Lockwoods.

"We will figure this out. I promise you that," he whispered angrily.

"You will never figure this out. Orianna was something unique, and no matter what you do, and how many of those things you make, you will never, ever be able to imitate her," Gabby said back to him.

Lockwood let go of her hair, and turned away from her.

"Get her out of my face," he said lowly to her guards.

Gabby was being escorted back to her room. She was planning on the attack when four of the other soldiers turn the corner. Gabby thought they looked different from the others, so her suspicions were heightened at that moment. She began to breathe heavily. She just knew they were coming for her, and she began to pray for a way out of this.

Then the four other people began to pull their guns, and the shots rang out, as her guards could not react fast enough. Gabby cringed as the bullets began to fly past her, and hit her guards.

She could only stand there as the four who shot the other ones came up to her. Without another word, they grabbed her, and she began to scream for help. One of them covered her mouth, and whispered, "Shut up if you want to live."

She nodded and the hand left her mouth. Then something else happened. The building began to rock back and forth, and she heard what sounded like a loud boom.

"Time to go," another one said. "Just do as we say."

Her bindings were cut, and a gun placed in her hand. She checked to make sure there were bullets, and began to follow her saviors. She didn't know if she could trust them, but knew she had no other choice.

They opened the emergency exit, and all of them began to run down the stairs as another explosion rocked the building almost causing Gabby to fall down the stairs.

Shots began to ring out above and below them. All of them fired back as best they could, but were still moving.

One of the four people she was with brought out a grenade and threw it down to the flights of stairs below them. Gabby covered her ears as the bomb went off. Shots continued to be fired. After going down about another four flights of stairs, she could see the damage of the grenade below them, and they exited back into the building.

Gabby could see more of the cyborgs trying to get to them as they took another fire exit.

One smaller explosion was set off, and the alarms began to sound.

They made their way down again, and were met with more gunfire, and more of the cyborgs.

Gabby didn't realize how many had actually been made until now.

One of the four disguised soldiers she was with handed her a gas mask and said, "Put this on now."

Gabby did as she was told, and suddenly a gas began to surround them. Gabby could barely see as they continued to make their way down the rest of the stairwell. She knew they still had a few more floors to go.

The one guy kept dropping the tear gas, the shots continued around them. She pointed her gun up into the smoke and shot back like the others.

A few of the cyborgs fell to the ground floor below them with thuds.

One of the four she was with was shot in the hand, but he insisted they go on.

Finally, the reached the bottom floor, and one of the others set off a thermite explosion on the locked door.

Gabby couldn't help but smile as she remembered her chemistry.

They stepped outside, and were surrounded by not only other cyborgs, but human guards as well.

Gabby could feel the defeat begin to course through her body. There was no way they were going to get out of this.

Then one of the disguised guards pointed behind them and a beige SUV with blackened windows came screeching around the corner taking out the guards, human and cyborg.

Another one of her rescuers threw another tear gas.

Gunfire broke out, and the car stopped. Gabby was suddenly grabbed by her shirt, and thrown into the back of the car forcefully. The other three piled on top of her causing her to lose her breath.

"Go!" One of them yelled as the door slammed shut.

The SUV screeched from the alleyway, and began to take off making traffic move out of its way as the driver did not car what or whom he hit.

Gabby and her rescuers began to get organized and sit up in the seat. Gabby had no idea why she decided to go with these people, but it was better than being trapped in that building.

She looked around as the men began to remove their disguises, but did not recognize any of them, nor did any of them speak to her.

Gabby was about to ask who they were, when she looked over to the front passenger seat. She hadn't realized that someone was there.

It was a woman, and Gabby would know the blonde hair and short stature anywhere.

Charlotte Mearing turned around and smiled widely at Gabby.

"Charlotte?" It was all Gabby could say.

"Isn't this shit fun?" She answered laughing.

Gabby had no idea how the driver was able to do it, but they were able to shake off Lockwood's men.

Finally, after driving for a while, they pulled into a train station. Gabby looked around confused.

Why were they here?

Mearing turned and looked around her men. "Go."

The men nodded and exited the SUV leaving them alone.

"I owe you a big thank you," Gabby began.

Charlotte shook her head furiously making Gabby stop.

She threw some clothes into the back, and Gabby realized there was a red wig in a bag as well. Then Gabby pulled out IDs with a fake name on them, a throwaway cell phone, and other things.

There was also a train ticket to Dallas, TX.

Dallas? Why?

"Charlotte…what is this?"

"Your new life, Gabby. Hurry up, you will miss your train," she ordered.

"Dallas? Why Dallas?"

"I have a contact there that can hide you. I just committed the highest treason for doing what I just did, but I am not going to allow this psycho to create another Orianna no matter what blessings he gets," Charlotte said.

Gabby began to change and told Charlotte everything she had seen. Charlotte took in all the information and sat there just listening.

"Gabby, I want to listen to me carefully. The list I gave you is contacts that will help you. You are now officially off the grid. You are going into a life of crime. You are going to lie, cheat, steal, and even kill to survive. Do you understand me? You will be most wanted by the FBI. Those contacts I gave you will want something in return for helping you, that is why I am warning you now."

Gabby looked at Charlotte confused, but just nodded as she tucked her hair as close to her head as she could, and began to place the wig.

Charlotte was still instructing her when Gabby interrupted.

"What about the Autobots? What happened to them?"

Charlotte sighed. "Some are missing, and presumed dead. Lockwood's campaign has been traveling the country trying to locate them using energon detectors."

Gabby's heart sank, and she wanted to cry, but now was not the time.

"Optimus?"

Charlotte turned and helped her fit the wig properly.

"He was last spotted in Pennsylvania. We think he had a reading on you, but never made it. He was attacked there."

Gabby tried to blink back tears, but since they never found him, he could still be alive.

"So, what do I do now?"

"You do as I told you until I get this taken care of. Lockwood still needs you even though his experiments are failing. You will have help in locating Optimus Prime, but remember there never nothing for nothing," she said.

"Until I get this situation turned around…." Charlotte could not finish.

"Why did they do this, Charlotte?"

"Isn't always about one thing, Gabby?"

Gabby scoffed and knew in the end it had nothing to do with the planet's security, it was always greed.

Charlotte's men determined it was safe and Gabby exited the vehicle. She turned and Charlotte waived to her one last time. Gabby nodded, and boarded the train.

For the next year and a half Gabby would learn quickly what it meant to live underground and on the run. The life she once knew was gone forever.

It was not until Barricade showed up at her hotel room, did things begin to turn around again.