Alexis was rooted to the spot. Chaos was all around, humans screaming and the sounds of metal clashing against metal as Decepticons and the two Autobots fought.
But there might as well have been a dozen Autobots. The viciousness in their techniques, the Energon that gushed and flowed as they kicked and grabbed hold, kicked out and punched at the invading Decepticons. Guns emerged from the inside of their very hands and shots fired as appendages and other parts were blasted off, more Energon splattering on the already soiled ground.
When the sound of jet engines was heard, the two Autobots transformed. They barked off orders as Sunstreaker drove off with her brother, the twins leading the escaping humans away before more Decepticons forces arrived. Ready to run as well, ground split up around her, blasting Alexis back as she landed next to one of the fallen Decepticons. His eyes still burned even as his head was not attached to his body.
That was when she was grabbed upwards and back. Timothy took off in a run, away from the escaping Autobots and humans, away from the carnage and away from the new arrivals. Alexis' already strained breath caught in her chest. The familiar figures of Starscream, Thundercracker and Skywarp touched down where the Autobots had been, an ostentatious display of power and wreckage just from landing. Earth was broken up and thrown asunder, dust building and scattering as their weapons folded out and took precise aim at the scattering masses below.
"Capture the Autobots, kill whatever gets in the way," Starscream barked.
Terror filled Alexis' heart as she thought about her brother. However, with Timothy's hand clamping down so hard on her wrist that it ached, she could only run alongside and try to keep up as she tried hard not to look back.
The picnic had been wonderful. A glimpse into how great life could be and how fun. Returning exhausted, Alexis was in the shower when the strange emanations began, tremors moving up the bones of her body. Curious, she exited the shower and quickly got dressed. Alexis was just about to get her shoes on when her door was forced open. Timothy bounded inside.
"Come with me, now!" he demanded.
But somewhere between the warning alarm sounding off, the other residents mixing in and panicky, as they too sought to find out what was going on, she was separated from her friend. Moving away from where everyone else was heading, she made her way to the westside exit that was not used as much as the other due to the incline of a hill one must trudge down and up to get to it. But with her tenacity for getting outside and figuring things out, that task seemed insignificant.
Shoes still in her hand, Alexis was just about to put them on when the sounds started. The fear pitched in her body as she ran down the inclined path. She ignored the rocks that stuck out, the twigs that jutted and the discomfort that prickled against her exposed feet.
But now, as Timothy pulled her along, she was more aware of her bare feet than ever. A good fifteen minutes had passed since he first grabbed her. Alexis wanted to beg him to stop. Yet the hammering of her heart kept her mouth tightly shut. And the dreadful sounds behind them kept her feet moving despite the pain and the sharp intrusions underneath the soles and heels of her feet.
Alexis worried about her brother and the others, ruminated on how they were found. Alexis remembered the details of the impenetrable field that Sideswipe had told her about, which should have prevented them from ever being discovered. More worries came, but they were better than the fear; the chest tightening, mouth opening, need to scream and hide fear, that pumped vigorously through her bloodstream, forcing her adrenaline into a frenzy as the metallic taste of copper coated her tongue.
After running longer than she ever had in her life, and then walking briskly even longer than that, it was Timothy finally letting go of her wrist and motioning for her to follow him, that the blackness that had been in the corner of her eyes began to pulse softly, the world pulsing with it. Dusk was upon them, darkness soon to arrive.
"This way," Timothy instructed, motioning with his hands behind a path of bushes and trees. She stepped carefully and followed. Reigning in her breath and trying to gain control, Alexis wobbled forward, eyes shutting momentarily as she leaned heavily against a tree. Just a couple of deep breaths, a moment of reprieve, that was all she needed. The sudden lack of motion was both a relief and an engenderment of discombobulation.
Timothy took hold of her arm and firmly shook his head. She continued. Finding herself led to an opening of what looked to be a cave, Alexis walked cautiously inside.
"The mixture of metals in this cave should make it very hard for them to track us."
Alexis shook her head. She was still having a strange time trying to focus. Her legs were stiff; she was exhausted, and the beginning of a headache was dancing along the tip of her temple. Dropping down and leaning against one of the far walls, she was finally given a chance to take those deep breaths. She stretched her fingers, her other hand still holding onto shoe strings. When she took them off, she always tied her shoes together, never knowing when she would need to grab them.
"You're injured," Timothy hovered from above. Concern. She recognized the concern. The first emotion she heard from him since their rather frantic escape. He had gone into what she now called Vulcan mode when he had first grabbed her outside the base. It was a side to his personality that was distant and almost automated. Sometimes, after observing him during the months that she knew him, with his personality shifting and his emotions coming and going, Alexis wondered if he was a manic depressive. The changes in his personality could be so abrupt and noticeable that the lack of humanity could be quite startling. However, he was a soldier. And Alexis knew they worked on totally different wavelengths. A from of apathy had to be required, perhaps needed to deal with such cerebellum induced terror, especially when one was trained to fight back as well.
Wet coldness and pain rippled against the bottom of her feet. Opening her eyes, Alexis saw the outline of Timothy sitting down before her feet. A cloth was in his hand and an opened flask nearby. The cloth touched her flesh again. Flinching, she instinctively tried to pull back. Tim held firm.
"Stay still," he ordered. Gently, he cleaned her cuts and gashes.
Biting down on the bottom of her lip, she forced herself to remain still. "My brother..." she whispered with horror and unspoken fears.
Timothy cut in, "If those Autobots are as good as they say they are; he will be fine. Just focus on staying alive yourself, and you will see him again."
She nodded her head, making herself believe that. "Did you see them?" Alexis asked, her words both in awe and tainted with terror. "I forgot how... how terrifying they are." Tears escaped down her cheek, her words catching in her throat as it became restricted. The vision of the Decepticon jets was stained beneath her eyelids. The knowledge of them out there and so close was more than she wanted to process and handle.
"Those Seekers?" Timothy whispered, his tone strangely muffled.
"Seekers?" She had heard that word plenty of times before, but did not know that he had. Something prickled along the back of her mind, but she could not concentrate enough to figure out what. "You know that word?"
Alexis felt Timothy shift. Leaning forward, she had the urge to see his face. But it was lost in the inky shadows, the pitch darkness only overshadowed by a small stream of light that came from the entrance of the cave.
"All done," Tim put her feet back on the ground after wrapping thin bandages around them. "It's going to be difficult to move for a while. Still, you should put your shoes on. It would be more painful without them."
Slowly, she did as she was told. Timothy watched her as she did so. Ever since she mentioned the Decepticons, he seemed a little off, his thoughts suddenly far away.
"Stand up," he told her. He helped her up, and she leaned against him. Before she could take her first step, he picked her up, strong arms holding her. "We should stay together, and we will move faster if I carry you."
"Okay... I am not too much for you, I mean, you must be..."
Briskly, he interrupted, "I am fine, Alexis. Try to rest a little. I am going to see If I can find an exit."
She shifted her eyes and saw nothing. The darkness was now so consuming that shadows were unable to exist. "I can't see anything. How can you?"
"I can see," he assured. With the surety of his footing, she believed him. She tried to focus on the nothingness. Tense and uneasy, she decided she would trust Timothy. Alexis was still unnerved that her usually acute ability to see in the dark was obstructed.
Soon enough, they found the exit, the cave small and deftly navigated by Tim. He put her down and sat alongside Alexis. His arm brushed against hers, his hand gently drifting along the top of her own before dropping away.
More and more he was doing things like that. Hugging her without warning, touching her, holding her hand, comforting her or just being there for her. Tears were building, thankfulness so acute that the emotion was overwhelming. She and Tim sat there like that for several minutes.
"I am so glad you are with me, Timothy," she whispered. "You are always watching out for me, thank you."
He turned to her, a curt nod of the head following. He got up and peered down, barely glancing at her. There was a purpose in the way he stood, firm and alert. "Stay here. I am going to do some recon. Try to figure out where the Decepticons are." He handed her a small pouch, and just like that he took off in a run, leaving her staring after.
Getting up on her feet, slow steps taken, she peered out of the cave. But Timothy was nowhere to be seen, just the waning moon high above, the silence of the landscape and the very soft sound of water dripping nearby.
His departure left her angry. Not just because Alexis was frightened and scared, but because she thanked him for being with her and not even thirty seconds later he abandoned her to the desolation of the cave. She sat at the edge of it for some time, words forming of what she would say to him when he returned. Her anger, however, dissipated the more time passed.
She wasn't his responsibility. And Alexis knew she had grown far too dependent on him, the offered safety of the Autobot base and the comfort her brother brought, also making her forget about exactly what was taking place on her planet. She had been on her own before, had survived and made it through, she would again.
Opening the pouch Tim had handed her, she found the flask of water, some first aid stuff and a flashlight. Zipping it back up, she placed the strap over her wrist. Alexis shook the flashlight a couple of times until the darkness was cut through with a burst of bright light.
Taking the path Timothy must have, she slowly tried to find her way to the sound of the dripping water. An even slower task as her ripped feet rebelled with each small step. Locating it did not take long. Finding the dripping water, her flashlight found a small pool below. The area of water was not larger than a couple of sheets of paper, but big enough that she could clean herself off a little and perhaps alleviate the smell of sweat on her body as she tried to cool down. The air was thick, oppressive and offensively hot.
Strategically placing the flashlight on the ground, she sat down. Alexis pulled out an extra cloth from the pouch Timothy had handed her. She washed her face, her arms, her neck, under her arms, along her stomach, and then began to work on her back. Alexis stretched back when she was through. What she really wanted to do was take off her shoes, plunge her feet under the shallow water and forget about the stinging sensations that were her feet. Instead, she settled for cupping her hands and taking more water as she splashed it on her face and then her neck.
"Didn't I tell you to stay where you were?"
Hand swiping out from his sudden appearance, her flashlight went teetering. The light crashed off, and she was left in darkness. Air caught in her lungs. She held it. Timothy had frightened her so much that the scream that should have been required died up in the back of her throat. Before she could ask where he was, she was pulled up onto her feet. She heard him breathing, felt his heart pattering against her own chest.
"Do you want to be captured? Do you want Thundercracker to find you? Or perhaps you crave Starscream's attention again?" His words were brutal, his tone heavy with accusation and extreme dissatisfaction.
Alexis tried to break free. He only pulled her back again, his hands catching her flailing ones and placing them along her sides. He was so strong. Timothy's evident muscles strained against every push and tug, but his body didn't give. She stilled herself and looked up, trying to see his face, but everything was just a pitchy void.
She noticed his trembling hands first. Then the feel of his breath against her cheek. And when one of his fingers trailed down her neck, lingering over the droplets of water that were still on her skin, her entire body went rigid. His hands let go of hers, one brushing down the fleshy part of her hip before traveling down the length of her leg. The other moved behind her back, dragging her so tight against his body that she felt every muscle and line, felt the hardened plane of his stomach and the stretch of his powerful legs.
Pulling a little back, his hands continued to glide along. When one landed on the top curve of her left breast, her eyes widened and her heart jumped, thoughts taking order as she tried to pull away.
"Your heart rages," Timothy whispered. His warm breath tickled her ear. His voice so close that she knew his mouth was even closer. She fought to see him but the darkness was absolute.
His hands finally dropped away. But as soon as they did, her legs buckled. Embarrassed and trying to figure out what was happening, she dropped. Timothy caught Alexis and led her down. She felt him come up behind her. Turning her around, his hand pulled hers along as it placed it above his own heart. Alexis was stunned by the violent palpitations.
Timothy spoke, his voice low and throaty, "I am not this." Taking her fingers, he tapped them against his chest as if that explained everything. "But I will do anything, be anything, if it means keeping you close."
"Timothy, I..."
He cut in, as if the sound of his own name was something to be despised. "However, I do not know if I can protect you from what is out there. I do not know if I can continue this, but I won't stop. I do not know if..."
Maybe it was his uncommon rambling, or because all Alexis felt was her hand upon his heart and the way it pounded rapidly against the flesh of her palm. Or perhaps it was because while he spoke she didn't know what he was trying to say even as there was regret in his tone that disturbed and made her uneasy.
But as Alexis turned more toward him, his words died up; a shaky breath sucked in his mouth when her fingers found his face, then his nose and then the shape of his mouth. Leaning in, following where her fingers had just been, she brought her lips against his own.
Perhaps it was just because she needed to.