Blackout was growing increasingly annoyed as he observed the fleshling currently seated in the co-pilots seat. The femme hadn't said anything for almost an hour now, and it was starting to drive him insane.
He didn't really know why it was, in all honesty. Maybe it was because of the pure guts she had when she had bargained with him. Or maybe it was the same thing that had attracted her to him in the first place, his curiosity.
"Speak, femme," He commanded, causing her head to snap up in alarm. Then, she glared at the console, before crossing her arms and breathing in tightly.
"Fine. Where are you taking me?" She asked, her eyes narrow. Blackout paused for a second before answering.
"To my base," He answered dryly. And she nodded, her eyes turning to the window once again.
"What is your designation, femme?" Blackout growled, sounding more harsh than he had wanted to. She sighed before turning to face the console once again. She tapped her foot on the floor impatiently.
"Hazel Brooks," She replied.
"Sibling of Jason Brooks? The co-pilot of 4500X?" Blackout found himself asking. She flinched slightly, looking down at the chair she was sitting on with disgust.
"Yeah, the guy you shot down," She growled.
"The male who lived," He stated with no emotion, causing her to nod.
"Yeah, the man who lived. Why?" She questioned suddenly.
"Why what, fleshling?"
"Why did you let him live?" She asked, causing Blackout to think silently. A pregnant pause later, he sighed.
"I didn't, femme. The fleshlings did. Everything you need to know is in that file. Now enough with the questions," Blackout growled.
"You're the one who started talking in the first place!" She exclaimed, but Blackout didn't respond. Instead, the pilot seat lifted before abruptly falling again, shrugging.
"You're insufferable," She bit out, before apologizing. The apology took Blackout by surprise, but yet again - he did not respond. Decepticons don't usually apologize or show respect, and Blackout didn't feel like starting today.
'Blackout.' Barricade's familiar baritone voice filled the cockpit. The young femmes head snapped towards the radio, her eyes ablaze with confusion. Blackout quickly told the fleshling to be quiet before answering.
'What, Barricade.' Blackout stated coolly, his voice showing no emotion at all.
'I found the fleshling. He's with the autoscum scout.' Barricade responded, causing Blackout to sigh.
'That's a hindrance,' Blackout muttered boredly. He really wasn't in the mood to speak right now, even if it was to his favorite comrade.
'Exactly. I've decided not to tell Screamer. I won't hear the end of it, the little fragger.' Blackout made a noise in agreement. The female femmes eyes widened as she heard the conversation unfolding.
'Wise idea. And what he doesn't know, won't offline him.' Blackout said calmly.
'Yeah. The autoscum doesn't know I'm here. I'll use that to my advantage. Some scout he is. He's the most unobservant 'bot I know.' Barricade laughed. 'I reckon they sent him just to get rid of his slaggin' aft.'
'True. Barricade, when you return to base, bring some human supplies.' Blackout ordered.
'Human supplies? Like hydrogen and nutrients?' Barricade asked, seemingly confused. Blackout started to nod before remembering that Barricade couldn't see him.
'Yes, Barricade. Hydrogen and nutrients. Femme cloth and related items are needed too.' Blackout could feel himself growing increasingly irritated. Barricade's questioning was testing his patience.
'Got yourself a pet, have you Blackout?'
'Yes. And it'd be wise of you not to mention it to Screamer.' Blackout threatened darkly, knowing that he had blackmail material on Barricade. Not that he would need it, they were extremely close for decepticons. Barricade wouldn't tell Starscream anyway.
'Course not. Can I meet it? The pet, I mean?' Barricade asked, curiosity resonating through his tone. Blackout rolled his optics.
'Yes, whatever. That's all, Barricade. I'll contact you again soon.' Blackout snapped before terminating the link. He focused on the human femme seating in the pilot seat, and was shocked to find her giving the wheel a death glare.
"I. Am. Not. Your. Pet!" She screamed in rage, causing Blackout to jolt. The femme had scared the daylights out of him! Blackout decided to do the mature thing and glare back at her, even if she couldn't see him.
"As far as my comrades know, you are," He responded dryly. She sighed, slamming against the seat with more force than she needed to. He didn't bother letting her know that it didn't hurt him in the slightest. He didn't really want to deal with a pissed off femme the entire way to the base.
They were still three hours away yet. Maybe he would when they were only five minutes away he would take that risk. Until then, he decided that for the safety of his aft, he would leave it be.
That was when he noticed the human femme was leaking from her face.
At first, Blackout was absolutely disgusted, before he used the internet to find out what it meant. Then he felt a tiny bit bad for her, surprising himself at that thought. He sighed, swallowing his pride.
"What troubles you, fleshling?" He asked, regretting the words the second they flowed from his mouth. However, it was already too late to take them back.
/ ~ / ~ / ~ /
I could feel the tears streaming down my face and inwardly cursed in embarrassment. Of course, Blackout would notice and would tease her about it. Possibly laughing about the cowardice of the human race in the process. It was not what she wanted to deal with right now. Especially after the whole pet stunt with the other, weird voice that had spoken through Blackout's radio.
"What troubles you, fleshling?" Blackout asked, causing me to reel back in shock. Ok, so that wasn't what I had been expecting at all. I debated on telling him for a few moments.
Fuck it, who else is there to tell? And it's not good to keep things to myself. I tried to shuffle slightly, but the instant pain in my side caused me to stop moving. It continued to burn, causing more tears to drip down my face.
"I've just found out, that my entire life for the past four months, has been a lie," I cried. Then a sob slipped through my mouth, before another quickly followed. I became a bawling mess. Sobbing my heart out for a good five minutes, I finally stopped, having let it all out.
"What do you mean, femme?" Blackout asked, and I took note of how it only ever called me 'fleshling' or 'femme'. And even then, he only called me 'femme' when he was feeling nice.
"I mean, my brother was dead, Blackout. Everybody told me he was dead! The government claimed that he was dead! But now I find out that he's alive. And has been the entire time. Where is he, Blackout. Why didn't he ever come home? Was I not a good enough reason to do so?" I asked, begging for a comforting answer. Blackout seemed to ponder his next few words.
"Look, femme. You're sibling obviously cared deeply for you. I had a picture of you taped to my window after I had scanned the copter he was in. He took it everywhere with him. I could tell from the stains on it. He would've come home if he had been able to," Blackout responded, his deep voice resonating throughout the entire cockpit. His words shocked me to my very core.
"Are you saying that he's being held somewhere?" I asked, the words sounding just as stupid as they did in my head. Blackout hummed in reply.
"Perhaps."
That was the last thing he said to me. I nodded, mulling his words over before my thoughts stopped abruptly.
A giant alien robot had just comforted me.
I whispered a barely inaudible thank you, and Blackout said something in a different language. One that I had never heard before in my life. I took it as a no problem, even though it was probably something else.
Seconds later, the computer screen clicked on, attracting my attention. I leaned forward to get a better view of what Blackout was showing me. It was a fax letter, addressed to the somebody called 'Simmons'.
Simmons,
We have decided that it is within our best interests to keep Jason Brooks housed with you until further notice. He has seen too much. We wouldn't want him to go blabbing and getting our toys confiscated, would you?
Don't let Jason Brooks go, and for god damn sake, keep your fucking mouth shut!
K.P.H
My words found themselves lodged in my throat as I read the fax. My brother was being held hostage by people that go by 'Simmons' and 'K.P.H'. It was insane. This entire thing was insane.
"Where did you get this?" I whispered. It hadn't been in the military file, I don't think. I hadn't seen any faxes stored in it when I had glanced the file over.
"Barricade hacked it from a computer that belongs to a man who is designated as the 'President of the United States of America', whoever that is," Blackout responded brusquely.
"You hacked the President?" I shrieked loudly, causing Blackout to wince.
"Yes. Hardly a feat, even for Barricade," Blackout stated back.
"You could go to jail!" I screeched, before facepalming myself. Blackout was silent for a moment, before a weird noise filled the cockpit. It sounded like laughter.
"I am from Cybertron. No fleshling jail will ever be able to contain me," Blackout laughed arrogantly, causing me to growl softly.
"Go figure, stupid."
He didn't reply after that.
Sometime later...
"This is your new base?" I cried, awestruck. The thing was huge! And in the absolute middle of nowhere. Nobody would be able to find us here, that's for certain. I didn't know how I felt about that. Part of me was terrified, as this just confirmed the fact that I wasn't going to get rescued anytime soon. The other, however, was glad. Really, really glad.
Nobody would be able to find me here, meaning I could start over. Erase who I was and become the person I wished to be.
The idea was tempting, very tempting. But I would never let down Jason like that. Now that I know he's alive, I owe it to him to find him. To free him from his captors and to bring him home.
I was shaken from my thoughts as I heard the familiar sound of a helicopter beginning to land. The landing gears clicked into place with a heavy thunk. A loud whirring noise filled the cabin. I held my breath as we sauntered towards the ground. After a few moments, we finally touched the ground.
I didn't even hesitate, launching myself out of my seat faster than you could say abracadabra. I hit the ground with a thud.
"Ow," I moaned, sitting up unceremoniously. My head hit the tarmac a lot harder than I had meant it too. Groaning, I rubbed my eyes, trying to clear away the blurriness that now consumed my vision. Pain erupted up my side, causing me to yell out.
"Graceful, fleshling. Real graceful," Blackout murmured, chuckling slightly. Then, the distinct sounds of him transforming started up again, and before I knew it, he was standing in front of me. He shook his shoulders and stretched his arms out, grinning cockily. I froze.
"Oh my gosh! The evil alien helicopter has a sense of humor!" I cried sarcastically, earning me a glare in response. The fuzziness in my head finally cleared, allowing me to see. I went to stand up before my head protested violently in response, ordering me to take it easy. I metal hand snatched me from the floor and lifted me upwards.
"Don't test me, fleshling. You're lucky I am in a good mood, otherwise you'll have regretted that." He growled, causing me to roll my eyes.
"Big softie," I whispered aloud. Unsurprisingly, he heard me, causing him to shake me slightly. I fell over in his hand, landing on my butt. I stared up at him, only to find him grinning wickedly at me. I slapped his finger lightly, before laughing in response. My laughter quickly stopped as my burn flared up again. A cry of pain tore from my throat.
Blackout suddenly went rigid, his eyes dimming slightly.
"Urm, Blackout? You ok there?" I asked, worry beginning to rise in my stomach. Had I done something wrong? As quickly as he had grown distracted, he was back again.
"Oh slag." He cursed. Before I had the chance to ask him what was wrong, I was cut off.
By the terrifying roar of an engine and a loud, piercing police siren.