Dirty Little Secrets 5
Mother
A Transformers Prime Fanfiction
:Warning: Violence and sexual content
June Darby pulled into the missile silo and stepped out of her car.
"Where's Miko?" she asked Optimus without preamble.
"I'm here," a voice called out from across the silo.
June looked over and blinked in surprise. Instead of fear or pain, the look on the girl's face was one of pure angry defiance. This was odd to say the least for a girl who had just been attacked. But the mystery would have to wait, the woman's training took over and she turned to Ratchet.
"Doctor I will need to use your examination room."
"It is yours Nurse Darby."
Miko spun and stalked into the medbay.
"You tell her Fowler," she shouted over her shoulder.
June glanced curiously at the agent who sighed and rubbed his forehead.
"Mrs. Darby, your file states that you worked with the IJF some years ago."
"Yes?" June asked, not liking the implications.
The man inclined his head towards where the girl had disappeared around the corner and June drew in a sharp breath.
"I see," she said understanding and sudden sadness filling her eyes as she followed Miko.
Fowler caught Optimus looking at him searchingly and let out a tired sigh.
"I'm sorry you had to get caught up in this Optimus. It really is completely unconnected to you bots."
"No Agent Fowler it is not," the Prime rumbled reproachfully. "I will respect your request but Miko, all of the children, are under our protection. If she is in any danger it is our concern. If there is any way we can be of assistance do not hesitate to ask."
The man smiled thankfully up at the Cybertronian and nodded.
"Actually there is something. Can Miko stay on the base?"
"Of course, for how long?"
"For the foreseeable future if that's okay."
"Hey we'd love to have her here," Bulkhead declared as he walked into the main silo. "But I want to know what's going on!"
"That's classified soldier," Fowler stated flatly.
With a roar of fury the warrior slammed his hand down beside the human with such force that the man staggered.
"Don't give me that load of scrap! Miko was attacked! They had a cage and if I hadn't found her soon enough I don't know if I would have been able to at all! I want to know what's going on!"
Without batting an eye the human simply repeated that it was classified. Optimus stepped up and laid a restraining hand on the ex-Wrecker's shoulder before he could press the matter further. The agent excused himself to prepare his reports and moved over to work on the computers.
"Are you seriously going to stand for this?" Bulkhead demanded. "Something has Miko more scared than I've ever seen her! We're talking about the girl who mouthed off to Megatron for Primus's sake!"
"Indeed, and perhaps we can alleviate that fear by granting her sanctuary in our base for now but we must respect the laws of this world. We must also respect that Agent Fowler has far more experience at dealing with the criminals of this world than we do."
The green mech simply turned away and snarled, knowing full well it was useless to argue with that tone of voice. He returned to the training room and proceeded to work through his frustrations in combat practice.
Optimus was thinking on the human's reaction. He was learning to read the agent. If Fowler had been unsure of himself he would have backed down of at least shown nervous in the face of Bulkhead's rage. The fact that he hadn't meant that he was completely certain of his position, and Prime had learned to trust the man's instincts.
O
O
"Open wide," the nurse smiled encouragingly at the girl who sullenly complied.
The woman briskly ran the scope through the paces of a basic exam and got out her stethoscope. Miko had flatly and calmly described the attack; the only emotion she showed was an excited gleaming in her eyes when detailing Bulkhead's rescue. June felt Mother-fury building within her at each word but channeled it into her work. She carefully bandaged torn fingers and slipped the protective gloves over them. After that she gently articulated Miko's joints looking for any soreness. The slim Asian admitted that her shoulders and wrists were sore from the manhandling she had received and the nurse got out an ice pack. She was affixing the pack to the girl's shoulder when Miko suddenly jerked away.
"Just say it and get it over with!" she snarled.
"Say what?" June asked gently.
"That you don't want me to see Jack anymore. That I'm supposed to stay away from you both."
The nurse blinked in surprise and tilted her head to one side.
"Why would I say that?"
"Fowler told you," Miko muttered. "You know what I really am now."
June sat down beside the girl on the medberth and rested a hand on her shoulder.
"Yes Miko, I do know what you are. You are an amazingly courageous, intelligent, loyal girl. The kind of person I am glad to count among Jack's friends. You are always welcome in our home and our lives. I would never tell you to leave."
Miko looked over at the woman in disbelief but all she saw in June's blue eyes was deep understanding and compassion.
"Look, I'm not even going to pretend that I know what you went through, but I have worked with other girls and women in your position before. If you ever feel the need to talk about anything call me anytime of the day or night. I will be there, and believe me, I may look like a sheltered American but I have seen that world. The year before Jack was born I did work with the IJF in southern Asia. There is nothing you could tell or show me that I haven't seen."
The girl let out a rough sob and suddenly grabbed June in a fierce hug. The mother returned the gesture without hesitation and held Miko tightly to her chest.
"Please don't tell Jack."
"This is your secret Miko. I won't tell anyone."
"Not even Doc Ratch?"
"Not even him."
The slim Asian sniffed and rubbed her nose on the tissue June handed her.
"Mrs. Darby? Can I ask a favor?"
"Of course Miko."
"The cartel that I was a part of before; they are on trial for a lot of stuff, and I'm the star witness. That's what Agent Jones was always saying at least. I will need to go testify soon and I'm going to need an interested party to go with me. Agent Jones, he's my handler will be in charge of all the legal stuff but if you would come with me…"
"Absolutely Miko. I would be honored, but may I ask why not your host parents?"
"Oh they're cool and everything, but," the girl stared down at the tissue in her hands in embarrassment, "they don't know about the Autobots or anything. I guess I would just feel better if you were there."
"I'll be there."
O
O
Jackson Darby stepped eagerly out of the confines of the KO Burger and felt his spirits lift as his eyes fell on his waiting motorcycle.
"So partner, how was your shift?" Arcee greeted him.
"Pretty good actually. The manager caught me washing down the walls without being asked and she gave me a free lunch and suggested there might be a raise in my future."
"A raise?"
"More money per hour of work."
"Nice."
"Yup."
The two rode in silence simply enjoying the drive until they reached Jack's subdivision. Arcee narrowed her optics as she rolled into the empty garage.
"Didn't your mom have the early shift today?"
"Yeah she did," Jack replied uneasily.
Over the modified Bluetooth Arcee felt Jack's heart rate increase. She immediately commed Ratchet and let out a relieved exvent when he crankily informed her that June was busy.
"She's at the base Jack. Jack?"
Arcee angled her mirrors back and let out a silent curse. Three large human males were approaching them at a steady pace.
"Can I help you gentlemen?" Jack asked calmly, stepping forward to meet them, not wanting to be trapped in the confines of the garage.
Arcee noted the action with a flicker of pleasure. He was paying attention to his combat lessons.
"Sure you can," one called back. "We're here about the spare bike parts."
"I'm sorry we don't have any spare, ooff!"
Jack let out a grunt as one of the men bumped into him, knocking the much smaller young man back into the garage as the other two stepped forward and pulled the door down; effectively trapping him in. The largest attempted to shove him up against the wall but Jack ducked and darted around to the other side of his motorcycle.
"Don't be like that," the man said with a mock pout. "We're only here to talk."
Quick as lightening one of the others darted around and snatched the Bluetooth from Jack's ear and expertly pulled the cell phone from his pocket. Jack jerked back in surprise, he had barely felt either action and now the men were backing off. They were still blocking the exits, but they were giving him his space. Jack mover forward and rested a comforting hand on Arcee's mesh. The metal was hot from more than the sun and he could feel her trembling battle readiness. The human gave her a reassuring stroke. If at all possible they wanted to avoid blowing her cover.
"I told you we're only here to talk," the lead goon was saying, "not hurt anyone. Now that you are free of any distractions, tell me, where's the little whore?"