AN: Heads up my lovely, lovely readers. Most of you have probably heard about this already, but for those that haven't, the powers that be have created a separate category for '07 movie verse stories, over in the (duh) Movie section. I've decided to comply with this new rule, so before I upload the next chapter, I'll be moving my story there.
Ch. 8 – The Obligatory Car Chase Scene
"Holy freaking mother of god! What was that!!" backseat guy, Kyle, was shouting, awkwardly holding Aine in place. "Someone tell me just what the hell happened back there, 'cause no freaking WAY was that a movie set! I think that thing tried to kill us!"
"Would you just shut up already Kyle, you're upsetting her!" Clarisse snapped. "Oh forget it, give her to me, you're freaking her out even worse."
Mike had pretty much dumped the strange girl onto Kyle's lap, but now they eased her over so that she was sitting with her butt between Clarisse's knees and her feet up in Kyle's lap. Not the most comfortable position, but the older girl wasn't about to complain and Kyle knew better than to try.
The young teenager's breathing was short and choppy, and when Clarisse held her close and tucked her head under her chin, she could feel her forehead against her throat, flesh clammy and cool. At least she wasn't trying to get away or scream anymore, but now she was curled up against Clarisse and hugging herself as she trembled uncontrollably. None of them were med students, but it was clear that the girl was having some kind of episode, and after such an incredibly stressful experience, who could blame her?
Clarisse rubbed her back in soothing circles and rubbed the girls arm. "Shh, shhh, it's okay, we're gonna get you to a doctor and call the police," she assured her, keeping her voice quiet and gentle, like she was trying to rock a baby to sleep. "They'll get your brother back, and we'll get this whole mess straightened out. Danny, she's still having trouble breathing right, put the roof up and get the wind off us."
Danny complied, and the car roof unfolded and straightened over their heads, blocking the wind and snapping into place. Getting the wind off them seemed to help their extra passenger, and while her breathing was still shallow, at least she wasn't hyperventilating anymore, though she wasn't up to talking yet and her lucidity was still questionable. Not to mention she was still trembling violently, and it wasn't because she was cold.
They were slowing down a little, now that they were away from the fight, and Mike, their camera man, twisted around in his seat up front to look back the way they came.
What he saw nearly made him pee his pants.
"It's still following us!"
"WHAT!?"
The five friends all looked back as well, and yes indeed there was a slightly scratched up red car chasing after them like the devil, and catching up fast.
"Oh my god, we're all going to die!"
"Shut UP Kyle! Faster Danny! Faster!"
"No, really? I was thinking of pulling over and having a picnic!" Driver Danny shot back. He slammed on the accelerator and the blue car jerked forward as it jumped in speed. Clarisse held the girl more tightly, Kyle was panicking again, and the other girl, Jaycee, looked back at the red car.
"It's still catching up! Go faster!"
"This is as fast as it goes!" Danny shouted, his voice taking on a higher pitch. "Damn it, where's the highway patrol when you need them?!"
"Get to the city!" Clarisse said. "It won't attack with witnesses I bet, plus we can get the police, AND find this girl a doctor before she gets worse!"
"NO!" Kyle immediately protested. "It'll catch if we do! Get on the highway, we can outrun it!"
"We CAN'T outrun it you dumbass! That's the problem!"
"The city's at least a hundred miles away! We won't make it!"
The red car had closed the distance between then, easily catching up and pulling along-side them.
"Ram it! Ram it!" Jaycee screeched.
"No!" Kyle countered. "That'll just piss it off worse!"
The red cars passenger window rolled down, and a familiar young visage stuck its head out. He cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted over the wind "Pull over! It's ok! We just want Aine back!"
What the hell??
"It's got a kid with it?" Danny exclaimed incredulously. "What're you DOING kid??"
"Would you just pull over already before--"
BANG!
The five friends screamed as the red car bumped against them, jerking the brunette boy forward out the window marginally before he fell back in again.
"Whoa!" Nolan exclaimed as he fell awkwardly back into his seat. Elita swerved and lightly bumped against the blue car again, eliciting another round of screams.
"What are you doing?!" Nolan shrieked.
"I am encouraging the humans to pull their car over immediately," Elita answered calmly, as she gave another bump, joggling Nolan in his seat again.
"Hey Elita, remember how you said you needed a human around to help out with cultural no-no's?"
"Yes."
"Slamming against other peoples cars in a high speed chase is considered a cultural no-no!!"
HONK HONK!
Nolan looked out the front window to see the 18-wheeler they were about to collide into head on.
HONK HONK!
"AAAHHHHH!"
Elita hit the brakes to drop back behind the blue car and swerved neatly into the right lane behind them with seconds to spare before the huge monster truck could roll right over them. The driver gave them the one finger salute as he passed, but Nolan was too busy trying to get his heart started again to care.
"And driving on the left side of the road is another," he added weakly.
Meanwhile, Danny the Driver had had enough, and in an attempt to get away from the alien car for hell, he turned onto the ramp and got onto the highway heading south.
"What are you doing?!" Clarisse exclaimed. "We need to get to the city!"
"We don't know it won't hurt anyone if we do, and we can't let it get near anyplace crowded, or else a lot of people are going to get hurt," Danny told her firmly, his knuckles turning white on the steering wheel.
Elita had been quick to follow them, but now the chase took on a new level of difficulty. No more where they one on one on a long and mostly empty road, but now the highway was peppered with other cars, delivery trucks, and SUVs filled with innocent civilians.
Danny tried to evade Elita, shifting lanes every few seconds and trying to squeeze into every space he could, earning plenty of irate honks and unflattering insults and hand gestures for every over maneuver. Elita, on the other hand, deftly drove around an past the other cars as neatly and quickly as a needle through cloth, occasionally dropping back to make use of an empty space and pass into a lane with a long road and ultimately close the distance even more.
The further they went, the more crowded the highway became, and the more limited Danny and Elita's options were, and the more desperate the former became.
Aine's breathing was becoming increasingly short again, and she was clinging to Clarisse for dear life. Occasionally she'd let out a little sound that resembled a cross between a cry and a gag, as if she couldn't decide if she'd rather scream or vomit so was trying to do both. Clarisse held her close and had been whispering to her in an attempt to calm her down.
"Oh man, don't worry baby, just relax and take deep slow breaths, and just try not to throw up all over us ple-AAASE!"
Clarisse's entreaty turned into a startle scream as Danny, spying an opening, swerved the car sharply across two lanes of traffic and forcing himself between two cars to do it, and disappeared behind a Wal-Mart delivery trunk. The space closed up too quickly for Elita to follow, and Danny and his friends enjoyed a short reprieve and could almost believe they were coming into the clear. But Elita would not be thwarted so easily, and she was quick to pounce on another opening and creating her own, nearly clipping a minivan by mere inches at one point (and who would have thought a soccer mom could be so vulgar?). Within less than five minutes she was bumper to bumper with them, and the highway dance started over again.
At one point the blue and red cars dance became so intricate as they fought to run and chase within the shifting maze of other cars and vans, Nolan actually lost sight of their quarry.
"What the – where'd they go?" he wondered. To the left, the right, ahead, as far as he could see their blue car was completely gone. They hadn't passed any exit ramps recently, they had to still be on the road, so where…
Nolan, suddenly getting a bad feeling, twisted around in his seat to look back – and made eye contact with the equally befuddled Danny. For a few seconds, they just stared at each other, both of them having the exact same thought:
When did THAT happen?
"Scooby-doo, where are you?" Jaycee sang, and promptly burst out in a loud and hysterical cackle. Kyle and Clarisse gave her worried looks, Kyle edging away and Clarisse shielding Aine from the manically laughing girl.
The cartoon cliché was quickly forgotten when Elita hit the brakes and spun her tires to drop to the left of the blue car in less than two seconds, her rearview mirror about even with the nose of the blue car. Danny yelped and hit the accelerator, only to stop when he realized that the cars ahead were too close, for him to pass ahead, as was the one behind them. They were effectively boxed in.
Gently, carefully, with complete control, Elita eased over and tapped against the blue cars side. But rather than a bump like before, now she was pushing the car nose, forcing Danny to go right…
…and down the exit ramp Elita was guiding him towards.
"Oh no way this is going to be good," Mike groaned.
The ramp had let them off in a new city, in a commercial area. With less traffic to hamper their movements, Danny took the opportunity to peel away and tear down the road. But Elita wasn't about to let him go that easily.
She matched his speed and caught up to him within seconds, pulling along his right side this time, and giving the back end of the blue car a good push, forcing the human driver to turn to avoid fish-tailing.
Aine's white-knuckled grip on Clarisse's shirt was relaxing, and her breathing was slowing again as the final shreds of sheer panic finally began to fade away from her mind, leaving it clear again for rational thought.
The car jerked again as Elita forced Danny to make another turn, and Aine looked around herself. The others were scared, it was plain to see, but Aine caught a glimpse of the luxury sports car and broke out in a tired but heartfelt smile.
"Elita…Nolan…" she whispered with a smile. They came for me.
For the first time since she was taken, Aine had the strength and the presence of mind to speak up. "Hey guys, it's ok. That car, she's a friend of mine. She won't hurt you; I think she just wants you to pull over."
Kyle, Mike, and Jaycee gave her incredulous looks. "Did a rock hit your head back there?" Mike questioned. Aine frowned.
"I'm serious! She's my friend, she probably thinks you're trying to kidnap me, and I know you guys are only trying to help and mean well, but really, it's okay, just let me out and it'll all be okay."
"Are completely out of your mind?" Kyle asked seriously. The car bumped again.
"I'm telling the truth!" Aine went on. "I'm not making this up! I'm WITH HER! That's why my brother and I were way out in the middle of nowhere in the first place! That other guy, HE was the bad guy, and SHE'S one of the good guys! You've got to believe me! Just stop the car; I'll prove it to you!"
Clarisse gave her a pitying look.
"Sweetie, I think you're a little confused. That thing's dangerous, and we've gotta call someone before it has a chance to hurt anyone else."
"Why won't you people listen to me??"
Again and again, Elita guided Danny, until she had herded the blue car and crew to the industrial section of the city, to an old construction site that had been abandoned earlier that year due to zoning complications.
Danny turned so sharply he dragged for a few feet on the dirt before his tires regained their traction and shot forward like a blue bullet across the site – and slammed on the brakes.
The car squealed to a stop and all the passengers jerked violently forward against their seat belts, Clarisse's iron grip on Aine being the only thing preventing the smaller girl from slamming bodily into the back of the driver's seat.
"Danny, what the hell are you…"
Clarisse's incredulous protest died as she saw their dilemma: a tall, graffiti covered cement wall ahead, a pile of I-beams to the left, and a high and long hill of gravel to the right.
And from behind, the ominous rumble of an engine.
Jaycee covered her head with her hands and started making a low moaning sound of distress, while everyone else, exchanged helpless, scared looks.
Aine raised her head and peeked over Clarisse's shoulder, to see a sweetly familiar red Maybach and her brother disembarking the vehicle with two backpacks in hand. Aine broke in a wide grin at the prospect of this mess ending and being reunited with her brother.
The other four passengers and driver were far less happy, and as the tell-tale sound of clicking metal trickled into the car, it was accompanied by the clicks of seat belts being released.
"If we split up and make a run for it, we might have a chance," Mike said quietly, his hand ready on the door handle. Aine squirmed in Clarisse's lap.
"It's. Not. Like. That." she tried one more time. "Elita – that's her back there – is a friend of mine, and she's really nice, really polite and lady-like even, and she won't hurt you."
"Sweetie, I think you'd better let us handle this, okay? I don't think you're completely recovered from that episode of yours."
"Excuse me??"
THUMP crunch, THUMP crunch, THUMP crunch.
In only three steps Elita had closed the distance, and even now was leaning down, hand outstretched for the car roof.
Aine didn't normally take pleasure in the fear and suffering of others, but even she could not help a slight sense of victorious vindication at the momentary stunned fear of her captors. Mike was the one to break the spell.
"NOW!"
The five collage students burst out of the car in four directions, Aine being pushed forcefully out and landing on her side. Before she could gather her bearings, Clarisse grabbed her by the upper arm and pulled/dragged her behind running. Aine was not given enough time to properly regain her balance and sink her heels in, forced instead to stumble after Clarisse lest she fall flat on her face and get dragged along anyway.
"Wait! Stop! Let me go already! I already told you, SHE'S NOT DANGEROUS!!"
Her cries, once again, fell on deaf ears.
Nolan stood in front of them, arms spread, a human barrier. "Hey! Knock it off already and give my sister ba-AACK!"
Kyle had run full tilt into Nolan and they both went flying a few feet before landing and sliding back in the dirt and gravel, Nolan underneath.
Nolan spared himself half a second to whimper piteously in pain before forcefully shoving the older boy off him. Kyle was happy to comply, and was clambering to his feet as Elita hurried around and past the entangled pair, sparing Nolan only a glance to make sure he wasn't being attacked or was seriously hurt as she passed.
The opening of the make-shift dead end was so close, and the humans put on an extra burst of speed as gigantic footsteps sounded behind them.
Mere seconds before they could have passed out of the dead end and separated for the dozens of possible escape routes or hiding places not accessible to cars or giants, a shadow passed over their heads and landed heavily in front of them, blocking the entrance effectively with her sheer size.
The humans skidded to a halt and stared up at her, Clarisse hiding Aine behind her. Aine tried to get around, but was continuously held back.
"No, no, it's alright, she's not going to hurt you, really!" Aine insisted, her infamous patience starting to wear out. Honestly, how many times did she have to keep saying that before someone actually listened to her??
"Indeed," Elita agreed, lowering her head and pinning the petrified young adults with a penetrating gaze. The afternoon sun shone brightly behind her, surrounding her help in a halo and dancing on her armor in vibrant displays of shimmering light and color. She was like a wrathful goddess visiting the mortal realm.
She was about as amused as one too.
"This ridiculous chase has gone on long enough," Elita said slowly. "I do not wish you harm. I only want Aine released."
"What?" Jaycee asked intelligently.
But the time for words was over, and Eltia saw no need in trying to reason with these particular humans, since it was already clear that they could not be made to listen.
Elita reached over their heads and deftly plucked Aine with a squeak from behind her self-assigned guardian, metal fingers wrapping around her thighs, waist, and stomach in a firm, safe grip.
The self-assigned guardian was none too pleased.
"NO! I won't let you take her!" she shouted. In a fit of protective rage, she actually leapt up and grabbed Elita's wrist to stop her and wrapped her entire body around the appendage as best she could. "She's just a kid! You can't have her!"
Aine blinked.
Kyle kept his distance, and Jaycee was trembling on the ground, but Danny jumped up and latched onto Elita's wrist as well, right next to Clarisse, and wrapped himself around the metal in a death grip and tried to make himself as heavy as possible, while Mike pulled and tugged at the fingers to try and free Aine.
Aine blinked again. Elita tilted her head curiously. Nolan slapped a hand over his eyes.
Elita watched the three humans attempt to stop her for a few seconds, not giving in but also doing absolutely nothing to stop them. One corner of her mouth even perked up, and she was looking far less annoyed now than she did before.
Aine stared at the humans in amazement. Granted, they were stubborn, panicky, and couldn't be made to listen or believe that Elita could possibly be anything other than a threat, but right here and now they were honestly ready to fight off a giant robot to 'save' her, a complete stranger. It was…touching, really. Their intent, albeit misplaced, was still admirable to her.
Nolan was far less impressed.
"Oh for the love of God in heaven, just how stupid are you people??" Nolan exclaimed, throwing his hands up into the air to show just how exasperated he was.
Elita easily pulled free of Mike, and used her other hand to pry the two humans off her wrist (though to their credit they didn't make it easy – they were as tenacious as barnacles).
Nolan stomped around Danny and Clarisse as they fell gracelessly to the ground, muttering something about "jerks", "kidnappers", and "stupid idiots who were a waste of air and space." Jaycee managed to catch the last comment.
"That was a little uncalled for," she protested weakly. She was ignored.
Elita took a few steps backwards away from the huddled group and turned to go. A thought struck Jaycee, and for a couple of seconds her confusion overrode her fear and common sense.
"W-wait a second, aren't you going to kill us or something so we don't tell anyone else about you?"
Elita half turned and gave her a perplexed look. "Do you wish for me to terminate you?"
"NO!" four voices cried out in unison. Nolan muttered something that sounded suspiciously like 'darn it.'
"Then I see no need," Elita said, kneeling down to gently return Aine to the ground. "What you have seen is far too incredible for most humans to believe without hard evidence that you lack. I have nothing to fear from you."
Aine's toes barely touched the dirt before she was engulfed in a suffocating bear hug, and after a second she wrapped her arms around her brother as well. Elita transformed back into a car and opened her rear door for the children, and honked her horn to tell them they had to get a move on now.
They pair separated and slip into the back seat after Nolan tossed in their backpacks first. Elita's seatbelts flew across their laps and bodies, and as they snapped into place Elita rolled on out. The five friends watched them go wordlessly. It wasn't until Elita had been gone for nearly five minutes before someone spoke up.
"Well, that was pretty anticlimactic."
"Shut up Kyle."
"Nolan, it's ok, I'm fine, they didn't hurt me or anything," Aine assured her brother for the third time. The high school senior just went 'hm,' not relinquishing his one arm hold on his sister in the slightest.
As soon as they were out of sight of the Blue Car Crew, Nolan had wrapped an arm around Aine to pull her close to his side and hadn't let go since, tucking her head under his chin. After such a bad scare, and the extremely stressful morning, Aine didn't blame him for his need to keep her close, and even appreciated the sense of comfort and security the embrace offered. Honestly though, it felt like it was as if Nolan literally feared she'd drop out of the car and disappear if he let go.
Not to mention it was a nice source of physical warmth, seeing as Elita's back door window had been smashed to pieces after that initial attack, leaving the passengers exposed to the wind.
"This is why I told you NOT to come after me," Nolan said at last, still not pulling away. "What if one of that Decepticons shots hit you? What if those people got away from us? You could've been killed or kidnapped and lost forever! Why didn't you listen to me?"
Aine shrank a little in seat, her stomach twisting with guilt.
"You are not in a position to criticize Aine's disobedience," Elita interjected. The Commanders tone was sharp and, while controlled, still carried traces of simmering anger.
Both of the young humans felt their stomachs sink, heavy with the Bad Feeling of Impending Doom (though Nolan felt it worse since he was the one Elita was talking to).
Nolan finally released his old on Aine and pulled away, but didn't look at Elita's dashboard, choosing instead to stare at the floor.
"I…look I…I know I screwed up. I shouldn't have gotten in that Decepticons way like that. I should've reacted faster. Better yet, I shouldn't have left the stuff behind in the first place, so I wouldn't have had to go back for them at all."
"Shouldn't have…Nolan, you were right to leave everything behind, but you should not have come back AT ALL," Elita said sharply. "I ordered you to get out of the battle zone for your own safety. You could have been killed, and for what? A few possessions, easily replace? Do you place so little value on your own life?"
Nolan's head snapped up. "It wasn't just stuff!" he protested, then visibly flinched. "I mean…I thought…"
"You did not think at all, Nolan," Elita interrupted, her voice rising. "Not enough anyway. Had you been one of my soldiers, I-"
Elita cut herself off. When she began again, her voice was calm again, albeit icy cold. "What you did was reckless, dangerous, and short-sighted. I do not care what justification you might believe you have, because I can assure you it is not enough."
"But I-" Nolan tried, and nearly bit his tongue as he stopped himself. Even HE knew when enough was enough.
"I'm, I'm really sorry I screwed up," he said quietly. "But I had good reasons!" he added vehemently. "I'm not stupid!"
"What were those reasons Nolan?" a small voice asked. Nolan whipped his head around to stare at Aine.
The 14 year old was staring intently down at her lap, hands wringing, face hot, voice with a slight tremble as she held back tears.
"W-what could have been so important that, that you'd risk dying to save it?"
Nolan stared at her in shock as she questioned (questioned!!) him. His mouth open and closed a few times, but the truth became trapped in his throat and died before the words could take flight.
"I had reasons Aine," he said instead. "I can't tell you, but if you knew, you'd agree with me. Believe me! Trust me on this, I had good reasons!"
When Aine looked up at him, Nolan had expected to see trust. He had expected to see silent agreement. He had expected to perceive her undying, unwavering faith that he was right, as he always was. He expected her to look at him the same way she always had.
What he saw instead froze his breath in his lungs.
Her eyes didn't hold trust, but doubt. Doubt in his words, disbelief in his convictions, a silent belief that right now he was wrong.
He had never seen her give him those eyes before.
He hated those eyes.
"Don't look at me like that!" he snapped, and Aine flinched back just the slightest at the force of his words.
"What's with you all of a sudden?" Nolan went on, his voice becoming sharper. "I'm your brother, and you're supposed to be on my side here!"
"E-even when you're wrong?"
"YES!"
Elita swerved so sharply the kids slid across the seat, their seatbelts being all that prevented them being thrown to the floor. Deftly passing through traffic, Elita roared through the streets until she abruptly stopped in front of a public library.
Aine's seatbelt snapped off and her door opened.
"Aine, your brother and I need to speak alone now. Wait here for us."
It was not a request.
Aine hesitated a moment before she slowly started to get out.
"What? No!" Nolan protested, and halfway out the door Aine stopped.
A corner of Nolan's brain was pleased that she still listened to him first. The rest was freaking out over the separation.
"Aine, get back in! It's not safe for you to be alone!" he insisted.
"This is a public facility with security," Elita said smoothly. "You will be safe here for now, but Nolan and I need to speak privately. Meanwhile, I need you to ascertain where the chase had taken us, and the best course to take from here to Tranquility."
Aine's eyes flickered from Nolan to the library steps, torn between obedience and filial loyalty. Nolan almost smirked, because he already KNEW what choice Aine would make.
Or at least, he thought he did, before she slid out of the car and politely closed the door behind her.
Nolan felt like she slammed it in his face.
Elita pulled away, and Aine stood on the bottom of the library entrance stairs and watched them go.
This was, quite possibly, the worst car ride of Nolan's entire life.
Scratch that: this was, most DEFINITELY, the worst car ride of Nolan's entire life.
He could remember, as a little kid, breaking rules he was perfectly aware existed, believing he could get away with it, only to be caught red handed as his mother walked in. For the life of him, he couldn't remember the crime itself, but he still remembered how it felt being in that limbo after getting caught and before the verbal lashing or punishment was administrated, just waiting for the other shoe to drop, feeling incredibly small and helpless and guilty the whole time until he was nearly sick in the stomach from it.
That was how he felt now, only his crime was a lot worse than climbing on the kitchen counter or stealing from the cookie jar when he was four.
It was made even worse because Elita had yet to say a single word since they had left Aine at the library. The silence hung heavily over him, and Nolan fought not to squirm, trying to settle the butterflies currently fighting a free for all wrestling match in his stomach.
"Ummm, where are we going?" he ventured.
"Someplace private," was the transformers vague answers.
Oh crap, she's going to kill me and hide the body, Nolan thought, half joking.
Half.
He remained quiet for the rest of the ride.
'Someplace private' turned out to be the fringes of an office parking lot. Elita parked and released Nolan's seatbelt, but kept the doors locked. He knew better than to try to get out, or crawl through the broken window, less he piss Elita off even worse than he already had.
He wasn't going anywhere.
"Elita?"
"I do not profess an expertise in human culture and family dynamics, nor to I wish to intercede in affairs not of my business, but I cannot, and will not, abide as you throw your misplaced anger at Aine."
Nolan cringed, but Elita wasn't done yet.
"What you said to her was hurtful and completely uncalled for, not to mention completely irrational. That she disagrees with you is NOT a betrayal, and though she is your sister and loves you dearly, she is NOT obligated to agree with you at all times. If she did mindlessly agree and follow you always, I would question the sincerity of her love for you."
Nolan sank in his seat, feeling incredibly small and foolish. Intellectually, he knew Elita was right. He shouldn't have said those things to Aine and he knew, in his head, that she was only worried about him, that he scared her and she wanted to know why he did what he did, that she only wanted to understand him. Logically, it only made sense she'd be doubtful of his reasons when he couldn't even share them with her. It was logical, rational, and smart of her to be skepical even…
Ah screw it. He didn't care if it made sense logically, it still hurt that she couldn't just trust him like she usually did.
God, it hurt so bad…
…but he knew it didn't justify him hurting her back.
"I…I didn't mean…I'd never hurt her on purpose. I was just…being stupid, I guess. I'm sorry."
"Say that to her, and I will consider that enough."
Nolan wanted to be miffed about being treated like a little kid, or that Elita was starting to act suspiciously parental, but considering his own recent actions, he didn't exactly have the higher moral ground here.
"More importantly," Elita continued, "I do not believe you truly appreciate the full extent of your actions earlier during my fight with Onslaught. He could have killed you easily, but he also could have captured you and used you as a hostage against me. Or your interference could have drawn his attention back to Aine and the other humans.
"You did not only endanger yourself, Nolan. You endangered me, you endangered the other humans, and you endangered Aine."
Nolan's eyes widened. His throat dried up, and he almost felt like he couldn't breathe.
"I know you did not intend for that. But the fact remains that you were reckless and short sighted. Suppose you had been killed. What would have become of Aine then?"
Nolan's eyes lowered and became fixed on the floor, unseeing. He couldn't answer verbally, but his expression was answer enough.
"I am not your commander, nor your true guardian, and I do not order either you or your sister needlessly. But when I do give you an order, I do it for your best interests and safety. That is why I expect to be obeyed promptly and completely. I cannot protect you otherwise."
"Yes ma'am. I'm sorry."
Those two little sentences slipped out before Nolan could process the thought of them, and he momentarily seemed genuinely surprised by them.
Elita, apparently done chastising Nolan and making him feel two inches tall, softened again for her next question. "Why did you do it Nolan? What was so important you would risk the crossfire's to save it?"
Nolan squirmed slightly, internally distressed at the sudden turn of the conversation. This was the one thing he had hoped Elita wouldn't bring up. "I thought you said you didn't care what the reason was."
"I said there was no reason to risk your life. I still wish to know why you did it."
Nolan shook his head and gave a one shoulder shrug. "It was stupid. I wanted my backpack because it had all the money we had, and Aine and I are gonna need it to get back home if nothing else."
"If you do not wish to tell me the truth, you need not lie to me instead."
Nolan started violently. "What?"
"You are not a complete fool. Even without money, a way could have been found to return you and your sister home. You would not have risked death and leaving Aine alone in the world for something so easy to replace as currency.
"What is the real reason?"
Nolan sank into his seat. "It's not important, not really, and it's stupid."
"You were ready to die to save it. It is important you."
Nolan was silent for a long minute, as he debated in his head, his eyes flickering from his lap, to Elita's dashboard, to his dusty backpack upside down on the floor.
Nolan put one hand on the shoulder of each front seat and leaned forward until his head and shoulders were between them. When he spoke again, his voice was one of utter seriousness and solemnity.
"You've got to promise me something first: you have to promise that you won't tell Aine any of this. Promise me you won't say anything to her."
Elita was taken aback slightly by Nolans plea, but was quick to recover. "I swear to you, Nolan O'Connell, on my honor as an Autobot, that what you say here and now will forever remain between us until you say otherwise.
Nolan let his head fall sideways and rest against the headrest of the driver's seat.
"Good. Okay then."
He fell backwards again and landed heavily against the faux leather. For nearly a full minute, he was completely silent, tapping a finger against his knee, trying to get his thoughts in line and strengthening his resolve so that the words might survive the journey past his heart and up his throat. Elita, befitting an ageless and nearly immortal being, patiently waited for him to be ready.
"Y'know how Aine and I don't talk about our mom? That's cause…um…it's kind of a touchy subject. Actually, I lied. It's not exactly touchy, so much as it's…okay, it's touchy."
"I would very much like to hear about your mother, but if you do not feel comfortable talking about her, you do not have to."
"No, it's alright. Besides, she's kinda the reason I was so stupid today."
He reached down for his backpack, and after a bit of rummaging, pulled out a worn paperback. From the careful way Nolan handled it, Elita could plainly see just how precious this book was to him personally. He held the book in his hands and just started down at the cover, the picture of a dragon hatching out of a rainbow glowing egg and a brown haired boy watching in awe under the title.
"Mom got this for me when I was ten years old, just because she thought I might like it. It's pretty much my most prized possession, I guess. It was my favorite book for an embarrassingly long time anyway." Nolan let out a humorless laugh.
"Where is your mother?" Elita gently asked. Nolan shook his head.
"About five years ago, she…she abandoned us."
"Abandoned?"
"Left. Gave up. Walked out. Gone forever. After that, I was…I don't know what Aine thinks, but I…" Nolan started to choke up, and ran a hand through his hair to buy a couple of seconds until he could compose himself.
"I hated her for a long time after that, you know? I hated her for just giving up on us like that. But when I got a little older, and got more of a taste of what Dad's really like without Mom acting as a buffer, I started understanding better why she did what she did, I guess."
"You do not hold anger toward her anymore?"
"I sure as hell haven't forgiven her for it yet, but I don't hate her for it anymore. I guess I'll always wish she'd stayed, but I can't hate her for leaving anymore."
After all, it wasn't her fault, wasn't it? She wasn't strong enough to endure Richard's treatment of her forever. She couldn't handle the constant dehumanizing Richard subjected her to. Sooner or later she was going to break into a thousand pieces, and there was no one around to put her back together again except for the child too young to understand, the husband too selfish to care, and the boy too foolish to see the damage.
"Is this why you ran onto the battlefield?" Elita asked. "To save your mothers present?"
Nolan hesitated for a moment, and then quickly, before he had a change to change his mind, let the book fall open, revealing the picture and the folded letter.
"After Mom…when she wasn't around anymore, Dad took all her pictures and threw them away when Aine and I weren't home. Or burned them, buried them, or hid them in a gym locker, I don't know. Point is, we don't have any pictures of her anymore." He lifted the photograph of himself, Aine, and their mother happy on the beach, back when she was still so full of warmth and life. "This was the only one I could save."
"Aine takes after her," Elita noted, and Nolan felt brief surprise that she could see the photo well enough to discern that.
"Yeah…her personality's the same too. Aine's just like Mom was when I was a little kid. Mom was really different back then. She was a lot happier, smiled all the time, and acted a little silly sometimes to make us smile too."
"What happened to her? How did she change?"
Nolan shook his head again. "Exactly, I'm not sure what happened. I guess it was a gradual thing. Toward the end – I mean before she left – she was always tired, and she always seemed sad about something." Nolan tilted his head in thought. "Come to think of it, I can't even remember the last time I saw her smile."
"It sounds as if your mother was depressed."
Nolan couldn't help but wince a little as Elita strayed a little too close to the truth of the matter for his liking.
"Guess so. Kinda obvious NOW, but back then, I was just a dumb kid who was more upset that my mom wasn't the 'cool' parent anymore than whether or not she was actually happy."
"You were only a child Nolan. You could not have been expected to understand what she was going through, nor have been able to stop her from leaving. She needed help. It was not your fault that she could not, or did not, seek it out."
Nolan gave a one shoulder shrug and put the picture back, picking up the note in its place.
"Before she went away, she left this letter for me, saying she was sorry and asking me to take care of Aine, that I was all she had left now. It's pretty much her last request, I guess."
He waved a hand over the items on his lap. "Between the book, the photo, and the letter, that's pretty much everything I have to remember her by."
"So this is what you were trying to save?"
"Yeah." He made a self deprecating smile. "Kinda stupid, now that I think about it."
"I do not think she would have wished for you to risk your life for it," Elita admitted. "But there is nothing wrong with wishing to preserve your mother's memory."
Nolan started at Elita's choice of words. "What? What do mean 'preserve her memory?'"
"You have said that you have nothing else to remember her by, correct? That is why you wished to protect what you have left of her. Two of those items are from when she was at her happiest, and when you wish to remember the most."
Nolan relaxed a little in his seat. Oh, so she didn't mean it like that…
"Yeah. Something like that, I guess." Carefully he closed the book with his treasures tucked inside and returned it to the backpack.
"You said your mother has been missing for five years, correct? Has she not tried to contact you or your family at all in that time?"
Nolan gave a hollow smile. "Nope. And she never will. Trust me on this."
"You have no hope of this?"
Nolan almost smirked. "It's not a matter of not having any hope left, so much as always having known better that TO hope at all."
Elita's confusion laced her next words. "But you clearly miss her dearly, yet you hold no desire to know what became of her or to contact her?"
Nolan didn't like where this conversation was going. He'd already told her more than he had intended, and he wanted to stop this talk before he let something else slip. "She left. End of story. Sure I miss her, but I already know I'm never going to see her again. Aine knows it too."
"Do the two of you talk about her often?"
Nolan looked out the window. "That's kinda taboo in our house. We haven't talked about Mom in three or four years now."
"Why not?"
"Just because. Bad memories, y'know?"
"Does Aine know you have the picture and the letter?"
Nolan's hands twitched around the book. Why did she have to keep asking the questions he couldn't answer?
And why did she have to be a living lie detector?!
"No. I tried to tell her a few times, but I couldn't bring myself to. Aine doesn't remember Mom too well, and...I don't know. I guess I don't want Aine to get upset about Mom all over again. Look, I'm sorry, but I really don't want to talk about this anymore, if it's all the same to you."
"I understand. Thank you, Nolan, for sharing this with me. I…appreciate it, I truly do." Elita actually sounded utterly sincere about it, something that Nolan found both surprising, a little disconcerting even, and yet…it felt good to know she cared and appreciated it.
It felt good to have someone else care and appreciate something he gave them.
Nolan promptly squashed that treacherous sensation and shoved it to the back of his mind to hopefully be forgotten quickly.
"Alright, enough of the warm fuzzies!" Nolan declared, clapping his hands together. "How 'bout we get back to the library, grab Aine, and get a move on!"
Elita didn't move.
"And let's go!"
Not moving.
"Ready, set…go!"
Still not moving.
"Okay, now you're starting to worry me. Everything all right?"
"I would like to find a secluded or enclosed area, so that I can repair the damage I incurred during the fight with Onslaught," Elita said as she started her engine. "That will give Aine more time to find the necessary information I asked for, and we will be able to continue on immediately with minimal delay."
Onslaught…
"Who WAS that guy anyway?" Nolan asked. "You two seemed to know each other, and correct me if I'm wrong, but he looked like he was gunning for you specifically, and not just because you're an Autobot, or even an officer. What's up with you two?"
"That…is a long story, one I would rather not repeat," Elita said. "But after what has happened, you both you and your sister deserve an explanation, and I will give it once Aine is back with us."
Nolan leaned forward in his seat, suddenly extremely uneasy about the way Elita hadn't been answering his questions. "If it's that bad, then maybe you should go ahead and tell me now, before Aine hears about it. Then I can decide how much she really needs to know."
"No. She deserves to hear the whole truth from me. She is a strong person; I believe she will be able to handle it."
Nolan grimaced as he leaned back in his seat again. Elita meant well, but she didn't know Aine like he did. Aine put up a strong front, and had a special talent of rolling with the punches, but he had a better idea of how much stress she could handle. Frankly, he was really uneasy about what Elita was going to tell them, and he wanted to protect Aine from it as much as he could.
But Elita wouldn't let him, and he couldn't make her change her mind.
'Frustrating' didn't cover it. But how could he impress on Elita just how delicate Aine really was? She was…she was…like an egg. Strong under certain circumstances and able to endure certain pressures, but too much in the wrong place and she'd crack irrevocably.
Their mother, she had been like that too, taking so much pressure until she finally cracked and broke forever. If it happened to her, then Aine, who carried on her heart and spirit, was just as vulnerable, if not more so because of her youth and naiveté.
Don't worry Mom, Nolan promised in his mind, unconciously gripping the book a little tighter, I won't let that happen to her. I promised, remember? I promised.
"We've got to call someone, guys."
"Like who? Ain't nobody gonna believe us without proof, Clarisse, and thanks to that kid, all our videos are smashed up."
"We can't just IGNORE this!" Clarisse insisted, throwing her hands up in the air. The five friends were still at the construction site, walking around outside the car and trying to come to terms with what had just happened, and what, if anything, they were going to do next.
"Well what ARE we supposed to do, oh Great Wise One?" Kyle snapped irritably. "This is way WAY over our heads. I think we should stay out of it, and let the government handle it."
"The government can't handle it if they DON'T EVEN KNOW IT'S HERE!!"
"Whoa whoa whoa people, enough with the shouting," Danny interceded, hands up and stepping between the pair before they really got going. "Screaming at each other isn't going to solve anything."
"So what ARE we going to do?" Clarisse asked, crossing her arms and just daring Danny to side with Kyle. "That thing's got two kids with it! They're in danger, we can't just pretend we didn't see anything!"
"Actually, that girl did keep saying that the robot was a friend of hers." Jaycee offered meekly from the sidelines. Clarisse waved it off.
"That girl was, what, twelve? Thirteen maybe? I'm sure she *believes* that robot is her friend, but what does that really mean? I bet that things just using them. Maybe it brainwashed them or something, I don't know! What reason do we *really* have that that robot isn't, I don't know, an advance scout for an invading alien robot army?"
"'Invading alien robot army?'" Kyle repeated with a quirked brow. "Don't you think that's a little out there?
Clarisse gave him a deadpan look.
"We just spent the morning crashing a giant robot death match and being chased down the interstate by an alien car. Not a whole lot of room for skepticism anymore."
"Good point."
"MY point is what reasons do we have to believe that it isn't dangerous?"
"It didn't kill us?" Jaycee suggested/reminded them. Clarisse looked blankly at her for a second, and then shook her head.
"It could have spared us for any number of reasons. Maybe it figured we'd keep quiet and didn't want to bother. Or maybe it just didn't want to get its feet dirty stepping on us, I don't know!"
"Our biggest problem," Danny said thoughtfully, "is getting people to believe us. I mean, if we decide to talk about this-"
"What do you mean 'if?'" Clarisse demanded.
"IF we decide to go to someone about this," Danny continued, "we don't have any proof: no other witnesses, no pictures, no video, not even a piece of space metal or alien technology. Unless one of you guys managed to snap a picture when I wasn't looking, they're just gonna say 'hey, that's a great story, wanna try on this pretty white jacket?'"
Clarisse jabbed a finger at Danny to protest, but wilted. "Damn. So that's it then? We just give up?"
"Maybe not."
Four heads turned to look at Mike, who up till now had been fiddling around quietly with his Camcorder as he leaned on the car hood.
"I thought you said the camera was busted?" Danny asked.
"It is," Mike confirmed. "The camera is busted."
He tugged at the little compartment door, and up popped a little black rectangle. He carefully pulled it out, and held it up for inspection.
As far as anyone there could tell, the little tape, the new Holy Grail of alien watchers and conspiracy theorists worldwide, had survived the ordeal completely unscathed.
Mike broke out in a wide grin. "Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you our proof."
AN: As usual, any and all reviews will be loved and cherished, even if it's just to say 'good story', 'you suck!', or 'grapes are sexy.'
Though, admittedly, if someone ever does say my story sucks, I'll probably die a little inside…but it won't break my resolve to keep on writing! *strikes a heroic pose*