Life After a Robot Civil War Chapter 29, a transformers fanfic

So, I can happily point out that it hasn't even been a month since I've updated last! I know, I know, I'm only like 2 days away from it being a month but c'mon you guys can't tell me that's not better than I have been doing! I promised you guys this was about to go in a new direction...and you'll see in the first few lines that I didn't let you down. I don't know that there's a single person out there who expected this twist (frankly, neither did I until I was finishing the last chapter but I'm hoping it'll help reinspire me to not take forever getting chapters out now) but I really, really hope you guys all dig it. This story is as much for you guys as it is for me, so if anyone has any ideas feel free to share them-I'm up for anything. Put 'em in a review or send me a message, but I assure you any idea I get will be greatly appreciated and definitely considered!

On another note, I'd like to mention that half of my excuse in taking so long to post this chapter is because I got sidetracked by a whole new idea for a story. It takes place right after the first movie and originally it was supposed to be a prequel to this story, but it's kind of taken on a life of its own. I have no intention of it being as long as this story, and I hadn't planned on posting it until I was done (so as to avoid the months between updates as has become the norm for this one) but with the way words have been flying out of me I don't think it'll take long to finish. The main plot is how they get together, how they deal with their peers because she's popular and he's the loser, etc etc etc. Anybody interested in it? If you like this one, I think you'll love the other one...in fact, I believe I may like the new one better than this one.

To my favoritest sounding board, Brittany-you have no idea how tempted I was to email you for a second opinion on this chapter. I was like thisclose, seriously. I'm sure you probably could've given me some more amazing ideas that would've made it sooo much better (like you have with the last couple chapters...you're my freakin' hero when it comes to helpin' me out when I get stuck) but I didn't wanna ruin the new twist for you. I definitely wanna know what you think of all this and if you have any more of those amazing ideas...I have no problem begging :)

I am still unabashedly begging for reviews. You guys didn't let me down last time, just like I knew you wouldn't.

Disclaimer: Yeah, still don't own Transformers. Or anything related to the franchise. Nor do I own Harry Potter or GI Joe for that matter as they're briefly mentioned towards the end.

Review? Please? :)

"Where the fuck is she?" Sam screamed inches away from Major Lennox's face.

"Sam, calm down," Christian grabbed his arm but he yanked it away.

"Where the fuck is she?" He repeated menacingly and it was only a matter of time before things got violent.

"We're doing everything we can to find her," Will said calmly to his younger friend.

"If you were doing everything you could, she wouldn't be missing!"

"Sam, we're going to find her," Epps spoke up from his spot against the wall.

"Damn right you will," He growled. "Those mother fuckers have my fiancée. My future wife!"

"We know that Sam," Will didn't know what he'd do if the roles were reversed and couldn't even imagine how the other man was feeling. "We're gonna bring her back to you."

"She'd better come home alive," The circumstances had finally sunk in and behind his livid tone, they could see the flatness of his usually bright eyes. Everyone in that room was watching the life slowly drain from him. "So help me God, if she's not, what I do will put the Decepticons to shame."

TWENTY-THREE HOURS EARLIER

"We're gonna go shopping, 'kay baby?" Mikaela sat on the edge of the bed and reached to play with his hair.

"You're leaving me?" Sam pouted.

"Just for a couple hours."

"No," He ordered childishly pulling her down next to him.

"Sam, you're gonna mess up my clothes," She griped but still curled into his side.

"You can't go," His arm tightened around her side.

"We won't be gone long," An eye peeked open and she tilted her head to languidly kiss him.

"You're leaving me," It came out now as a statement rather than a question.

"Just for the afternoon," She reiterated. "We'll be back in time to get ready to go eat with Christian's aunt and uncle."

"You're not very nice sometimes," Sam rolled to his back when she stood up off the bed. "I just wanna spend some time with my fiancée on our last day of vacation and you're blowing me off."

"Shut up Sam," Mikaela rolled her eyes at his melodramatics. "I'll see you in a little bit and if you're good, I'll make it up to you tonight."

"Yeah, yeah," He was still pouting. "Go on then."

"I love you baby," She kissed him again. "I'll call you in a little while."

"I don't like you very much right now," He muttered but the smile on his face told her he was just playing around.

The boys were content to spend their woman-free afternoon being lazy and lounging around the house until Colton mocked them for acting like losers while the girls were having all the fun. It took them a little while to decide what to do, but then Andy remembered it was spring break and they were in Florida: that meant spring training games all over the state.

Sam found the schedule on his phone and they figured out there was a game between Washington and St. Louis about an hour away in Viera. None of them were avid fans of either team, but Florida and Arizona were the only two places spring training games were played so they decided to go anyway. It was worth driving for an hour just to be able to say they'd been.

The game started at 1:05 and it was just barely after 11 so they had plenty of time to get there. Even with traffic after the game, the latest they should get back to the beach house was 6:30 and that still left them more than enough time to get ready to go out to eat that night.

Leo texted Christian to tell them their plans and let the girls know they'd see them when they got back. Bringing two vehicles suddenly seemed like a genius idea and fortunately the girls had taken the Camaro leaving Tate's SUV.

"She said we better be back on time or I'm sleeping on the couch and I'm cut off for a month," Leo read his girlfriend's reply aloud to the boys.

Colton's quick calculations told them they had 15 minutes until they absolutely had to be on the road if they wanted to make it before the first pitch. With a semi-serious threat that anyone not ready by then would get left behind, they all dispersed to their rooms to change clothes.

By the time Leo had texted, the girls had already begun to do significant damage to their bank accounts. One of them was constantly pulling the others into one store or another. Any store with cute shoes was an automatic stop-Balie had a shoe collection that could rival even the most ardent collector.

"Have you and Sam set a date yet?" Rachel inquired randomly.

"We're thinking October or November," Mikaela answered distracted by the top she'd pulled from the rack and held it against her for Rachel's opinion. "What do you think? We're gonna do it in LA."

"It looks okay," She said not totally convinced. "That red isn't really your color."

"Eh, I think you're right," The aforementioned shirt was put back on the rack.

"Won't that be hard having the wedding in the fall when you're at school on the other side of the country?" Balie joined the conversation.

"That's what I'm afraid of," She admitted. "We could do it towards the end of June or in July, but I'm afraid that's too soon."

"You're either gonna be rushed to get it done or you're going to end up flying nonstop cross country every weekend," Christian pointed out. "You can't plan a wedding over the phone."

"By the way, you're my maid of honor," Mikaela told Christian offhandedly. It wasn't the traditional way to tell somebody that, but nothing in her life over the last two years could be called normal as it was. Plus, Christian had a tendency of being slow sometimes and she wanted to see how long it would take for her best friend to comprehend what she'd so casually said.

"Well, duh," Christian laughed distractedly. Her concentration was solely on the two skirts held in her hands. Balie and Rachel snickered at her lack of attention to the big bomb that had just been dropped on her.

"So we gotta start looking for dresses," Mikaela added.

"Of course," Christian was still clueless.

Mikaela and the other two shared an amused look and went back to looking at clothes. They were curious to see how long before it dawned on Christian and she freaked out.

Christian obliviously went off to the dressing rooms to try on the pants and shirts she'd picked out. All Mikaela could do was shake her head at the other woman's blondeness. She wasn't offended by Christian's unintentional blow off; actually, she'd hoped for it. Nothing was more entertaining than making fun of her friend and her knack for being extremely dense at times.

Mikaela was trying to call Sam when the door to Christian's dressing room flew open and slammed into another door. The sudden loud noise caused them all to jump a foot in the air or more and they looked over to see Christian standing there in just her bra and jeans with pure disbelief written all over her face.

Rachel looked at Balie who smirked at Mikaela. So the words 'maid of honor' had finally registered in Christian's brain after all.

"I'm your what?" Her voice sounded just as shocked as her face looked.

"The maid of honor, dumb ass," She said dryly.

"Me?"

"Yes, Christian, you," Her words were slow and drawn out as if directed towards a three year old.

"Oh my God Mik!" Christian shrieked running and throwing her arms around the other girl's neck not even caring that she was half naked for the dozen or so strangers spread out all over the store to see.

"Took you long enough," Mikaela said teasingly.

"Shut up," Christian pinched her half-heartedly. "Maid of honor?"

"Yes!" Balie cut in exasperatedly.

"Hey, be nice to the stupid one," Rachel quipped.

"Don't be a bitch," Christian snapped playfully. "So what if I'm occasionally slow?"

"Yeah, if occasionally is synonymous with all the freaking time," Rachel said sardonically.

"Okay you two," Mikaela laughed and stepped between them to break up their banter. "That's enough. Chris, put a shirt on before that guy over there gets the shit beat out of him by his girl for staring at some random chick's tits."

"Oh fuck," Christian's face reddened and the door slamming shut was almost as loud as it was flying open.

"That was fucking priceless," Balie gasped through the laughter shaking her entire body.

When she emerged from the dressing room, fully dressed this time, and saw her three friends still laughing at her, all Christian could do was roll her eyes and shoot them dirty looks. It would be a while yet before they ever let her live this one down.

Space Coast Stadium looked much like what any other semiprofessional baseball stadium would look. Not to say it looked decrepit or anything of the like, but it obviously held none of the lavishness or expansiveness the major league parks had. Leo mentioned as they were walking in that even the Houston Astros' Double A team, the Corpus Christi Hooks, had a nicer stadium to which Colton and Tyler, being from East Texas, quickly agreed.

The state of the stadium was of little importance. They'd come to watch a baseball game, not watch the stadium. As long as their seats weren't cracked or broken, that's all that mattered.

All of them agreed on springing for the best seats. The trip to Daytona Beach had been planned since early January so they'd all saved up quite a bit of money, but since they hadn't really gone out and done anything they still had a lot of it left. Why they decided to drive 16 hours to stay in and drink all night instead of just staying at home and doing it was unclear, but they'd made some unforgettable memories regardless. Kind of like the night before when the guys had lost a bet and been sentenced to wearing nothing but the skimpiest bras and ladies' underwear Balie and Christian had gone out and bought specifically for that reason. A vow of secrecy had been sworn on all of them, but picture after picture had been taken and the guys knew it was a matter of time before one of them got leaked.

"Man, why didn't we do shit like this all week?" Tyler propped his feet up on the empty seat in front of him. "No blurry nights, no feeling like shit the whole next day…no thongs…"

"No fucking kidding," Andy agreed. "I love Balie and all, but I'm never ever making another bet with her where losing leads to me in a bra or thong."

A nod of each other man's head assented his agreement, and they quieted as they focused on the game that had just begun in front of them. It was simpler like this; just hanging out with the guys without having to worry about paying enough attention to their girlfriends, or fiancée in Sam's case, to keep them from getting upset about being ignored. Granted the girls were laidback enough that they generally didn't get mad about that, but the lack of estrogen after being surrounded by it all week was a blessing.

The game started off at a decent pace. There weren't a lot of hits on either side as both pitchers were on point, and Sam was enthralled. Pitchers' duels were always the most intense especially with the opportunity of the rare no hitter or even rarer perfect game. Maybe it was just a meaningless spring training game, but for him it was still baseball.

By the fourth inning, St. Louis's pitcher had yet to allow any of the Nationals hitters on base. At some point he'd silenced his phone; Sam wasn't trying to ignore Mikaela's call but rather focus all of his concentration on the game in front of him. He didn't want to miss a second of the potential perfect game.

Little did he know in the coming hours he would be beating himself up for his decision.

"Whoever came up with this idea is a fucking genius," Andy said smugly.

"Yes, we all bow down to your intelligence," Tate said dryly and threw his empty water bottle at the other man.

"Dude, don't make his head any bigger, Tater Cakes," Tyler groaned.

"You sound like a fruit cake when you call me that," Tate looked around to see if anyone had heard. "Careful or some hot girl's gonna think you're gay and she's gonna wanna take you shopping."

Tyler huffed at the insinuation and refused to say anything else. Tate smirked proudly at getting the last word.

Andy and Tate got up after a while to go get a beer. It was Tate's first time buying a beer since he'd turned 21 at the beginning of their trip. So far, it had been Andy who had run out to by beer or liquor when they'd run out, but he'd only had to go once because Christian's family had left it completely stocked of every kind of alcohol they could think of.

"Nice to not be the only one old enough anymore," Andy said when they got in line to buy drinks.

"Drives the guys crazy when you can drink and they can't," Tate laughed. "I'm glad I'm not Sam. He's gonna have to deal with it for two more years."

"Poor kid," They shared a laugh at Sam's expense.

When they got back, the tension among their friends had escalated and looking out towards the field they understood why. One of Washington's players had hit a long ball that looked like it was undoubtedly going over the fence, but St. Louis's outfielder timed his jump just right and snagged the ball from the front row of the outfield seats just as the two men sat back down.

At the speed the game was going, they were definitely going to make it back on time. The 9th inning was just beginning and Washington had yet to make it on base. Sam was on the edge of his seat. With St. Louis being the home team, there were only three outs left in the game as long as the Nationals hitters didn't suddenly wake up and figure out how to hit off the pitcher.

They didn't, and the game was over less than 15 minutes later. There was no overjoyed celebration at the pitcher's mound, hardly any recognition was given to the feat; after all, it was still only a meaningless spring training game. However, to Sam it was just like a regular game. Spring training or not, perfect games were still rare. The hour and a half drive back and forth was worth it to see a good, close game like that.

The boys had been home for 20 minutes when they heard the girls' laughter and excited voices alert them to their return. Christian was telling the other girls about some guy who'd hit on her when she went to the bathroom, but she stopped abruptly when she walked into the living room where they were all sitting watching TV.

"What are you doing here Sam?" She asked confused.

"Where else am I supposed to be?" Sam turned to her not understanding and was the first of the guys to notice there were only three girls standing there. "Wait…where's Mikaela?"

"What do you mean where's Mikaela?" Christian asked giving him a look that said she thought he was stupid. "You just picked her up like an hour ago."

"We weren't even here," He gave her the same look. "How could I pick her up when we were on the way back from the game?"

"She said you texted her and wanted to hang out together before we went to eat."

"No, I haven't talked to her since you all left this morning," He pulled out his phone to show her he hadn't texted his fiancée and was just about to hand it over when it started ringing.

"Sam, when was the last time you saw Mikaela?" Will's voice was panicked on the other line.

"This morning, why?" He locked eyes with Christian and Leo. "What's going on Will?"

"You're not going to like this Sam," A sense of dread settled in the younger man's stomach at the somber tone of voice. "We have reason to believe she's been kidnapped."

"What?"

"There's been Decepticon activity lately."

"What does that have to do with her?"

"We think they have her."

"Lennox, you'd better be fucking kidding me!" Sam was pacing the living room much to the confusion of all but two in the room.

"There was no way to anticipate this," Will said stoically. "We're not sure why they have her."

"They're after me you fucking dumbass!" None of the others in the room had ever seen him so enraged. "Did you not think it was important to tell us there was a threat?"

"We didn't know there was. All the activity was in Florida and there was very little of it and since you're in Philadelphia there was no reason to inform you yet."

"We're in fucking Florida!" Leo could see the wild fire burning in his best friend's eyes and he knew more than anyone else how serious things were about to get. "Where is she Will? Where do they have her?"

"We haven't figured that out yet," Will answered hesitantly.

"I'm on my way. So help me God Will…" The threat went unfinished as Sam ended the call, but everyone who heard it knew it was serious.

"What's going on Sam?" Christian asked fearfully.

"I've gotta get to Jersey," He was still pacing.

"Does that mean…" Leo didn't finish his question.

"Yes, that's exactly what it fucking means," Sam snarled.

"Could somebody explain to the rest of us what the hell is going on?" Balie interrupted.

"Mikaela's been kidnapped. Because of some shit we're involved in and some…" Sam trailed off trying to find the right word. "People are using her to get to me."

"Like the mafia?" Colton couldn't help but laugh and before they knew it Sam had him thrown up against the wall and was in his face.

"This isn't a fucking joke," Sam tightened his hand around his friend's neck unable to control the emotions coursing through him. "My fiancée has been fucking kidnapped!"

"Sam, bro, let go," Leo rushed to pull him off. "Don't do this. We need to get to Jersey. He doesn't know what's going on."

"Okay, obviously some shit has come up," Christian spoke up. "Me, Sam, and Leo have to go. We can't explain it nor do we have time. You guys can just stay here and leave tomorrow as planned or whatever, but dinner with my aunt and uncle is definitely cancelled."

"Just keep us updated please?" Balie pleaded. "At least as much as you can. She's our friend too."

"We will," Christian promised. "I'll call you as soon as there's something I can tell you."

The 17 hour drive from Daytona Beach to New Jersey had been made in almost total silence. Sam hadn't uttered a sound since hanging up on Will. Neither Christian or Leo had much to say; other than discussing directions and Christian's somewhat naïve question to her boyfriend about how bad the situation was, there wasn't anything else to say.

It wasn't until they were barely out of Daytona Beach that Sam had noticed the voicemail on his phone from Mikaela when she'd called him and he'd had his phone on silent while they were at the game.

"Hey baby, I guess you're busy with the boys and didn't hear your phone," Her voice was melodic and happy. "I miss you…how cheesy have we become if it's only been a couple hours and I'm already dying to see you again? Anyway, I just wanted to call and tell you that and I can't wait to see you. I hope you're having fun at the game. I love you baby."

Every couple of minutes he'd replayed the message, until he must've listened to it a thousand times by the time they got to New Jersey. It was the only movement he made: hitting his voicemail button, hanging up the phone when it was over, and then repeating the same two steps. He hadn't cried, hadn't spoken, hadn't even seemed to blink. The same unreadable look had been on his face the entire time.

They'd had no trouble whatsoever entering the base. Their presence had been anticipated; the guards at the gate having been informed some 18 hours before. The first emotion Sam showed was the hurry in which he took getting out of the car and into the hangar where Lennox, Epps, and the Autobots were waiting for the three young adults.

"Sam, I'm glad you three made it safely," Will stood to place a reassuring hand on his shoulder.

"Cut the bullshit, Lennox," Sam spat out. "Is there any new information?"

"The Decepticons do have her Mr. Witwicky," Optimus Prime answered solemnly.

"Like Starscream and Megatron have her?" Leo asked fearfully.

"Kind of," Epps cut in. "You've seen the GI Joe movie right?"

"What the hell kind of question is that?" Sam said outraged. Epps ignored the outburst and continued.

"It's kind of like a cross between the Neo Vipers and the Imperius Curse in Harry Potter," He looked a little sheepish about knowing a specific curse from the children's fantasy series but they all knew he had kids that liked it. "The Decepticons captured a handful of humans and implanted something in their brain. I say it's a mix between the two because they're completely normal most of the time unless the Decepticons are using them but they can't fight back when they're being used. The Decepticons have complete control over their actions."

"So then can't you just follow the Decepticon activity to find them?" Christian asked.

"That's where it gets difficult," Will sighed. "Whatever they're using to control these people is completely undetectable. Not only that, but they can control them from a distance. Whatever Decepticon is the mastermind behind this, he's not in the same location. The only reason we know this is because we managed to capture one of the humans back, but the device on his brain was completely wiped. It fried his brain, but we couldn't get to it before they realized we had him so we have no idea what was on it."

"How do you know these…whatever they are have her?"

"They sent us…uh, a video," It was the first time anyone had ever seen Major Lennox falter.

"Show me," Sam finally spoke again.

"Sam, I don't know…" Will started but was cut off.

"Show me," He repeated with a deadly tone of voice.

A look was shared between Will and Optimus before the leader of the Autobots finally nodded resolutely and he queued up the video feed. It was grainy as it started, but once the picture cleared up Sam's eyes were glued to the figure in the background chained to the wall. He could hear her sobbing and watched helplessly as she pleaded with somebody off screen to let her go. There was nothing he could do as he watched another person enter the frame and start whipping her with what looked like some kind of rope. His blood boiled to the degree he didn't know how his skin didn't melt right off, and he felt as if he was a caged animal waiting to escape.

"Got your attention now, don't we Witwicky?" A second man entered the picture. "How's it feel being on the other side? The Decepticons aren't happy about all the inconvenience you've caused them. How has a mere human managed to thwart their plans not once but twice? Their revenge will be sweet, I assure you."

A hand reached out to pick up the camera from where it was sitting and he walked it over to where the first man was still mercilessly beating Mikaela.

"She's sure a feisty thing," The man holding the camera laughed evilly.

"Sam," Mikaela cried out looking into the camera. "Baby, I'm so sorry. I had no idea…I thought it was you! God, Sam, I love you so much. I wish you knew how much…I wish I'd shown you. No matter what happens Sam, you'll always have my heart. If we ever get the chance, I can't wait walk down that aisle and see you waiting for me. There's nothing I want more than to be your wife, but baby I swear to God I'll always love you…even if you can't save me. Hurry Sam, I need you…I need you to find me baby; we've still got all those dreams we made to make come true."

"Isn't that the sweetest thing you've ever heard, Witwicky?" The camera flipped around so that it was back on the second man. "Y'know, I'm kind of enjoying this so much I'm gonna let you wonder whether she's alive or dead. If you ever manage to find where we are, that ought to be a nice little surprise for you. How will you sleep at night…wondering if your fiancée is still breathing or if we've killed her? Wondering if she's safe, or if she's hurt…how will all these unanswered questions keep you from going insane? Game on, Witwicky. Only I know if you're gonna win or lose…"

That sinister laugh was the last thing they heard as the video faded to black. Everyone's eyes were on Sam who was still staring at the monitor as if it could give him all the answers he needed. There was no warning before he snapped and threw a chair through the monitor, shards of glass and plastic exploding into the air. His eyes were wild with fury as he searched for the man in charge.