Oh the sick twist i'm about to put into this story. Anywho, I shall not keep you in suspense any longer. ONWARD!
Ch. 26
Time 12:25 a.m.
Simmons motioned for his troops to move in as they had finally taken out the last of the patrols that were on duty and had moved in and opened up a specific body drawer within the cold room. "Sir we've secured the subjects remains and are preparing to return to base." "Well done Simmons, proceed without delay; I'd like to get his organs reinserted in his body before decay sets in. The organs are already here at the base so all I'm waiting on is his body."
With that, Simmons looked at two of his troops and motioned them over to get the body. As he kept watch at the door, the two troops set up a body bag and placed the remains within before one of them spoke up. "Remains secure sir; we're ready to return to base." With that, the squad moved back outside of the base and to the extraction zone.
As the team saw the helicopter set down, they began to file inside before moving the body bag into the helicopter and strapping it down. As the chopper lifted off, Simmons looked down at the body bag with a wicked smirk on his face as he suddenly spoke up. "Don't worry sir, you won't be dead for very long. You'll rejoin the living soon enough."
Back at the Autobot base:
Jack shot at another target as he put two shots in the torso of the target and one in its head. He had been doing this for nearly an hour now; as Jack is taking aim at another target the doors of the training room open and a single bot walks through. The bot looks at Jack with a neutral face before speaking up.
"Hey Jack, how you holding up?" Jack turns around to see Bulkhead standing beside the door. "Surviving I guess; how's the next generation of wreckers coming along?" Jack continued firing at the training targets before he heard a few footsteps as Bulkhead spoke up once again. "Jack come on, I might not be too smart but I know that Mike's death has to be having a bad effect on you."
Jack suddenly froze as his blaster lowered and changed back into his hand as Bulkhead spoke up again. "Jack, if anyone understands grieving and loss, it's me and the rest of the team. Heck, even Bumblebee has lost friends in this war." Jack suddenly walked over to a large stack of steel crates and sat down as he spoke up.
"I've been shouldering my days with training and as much stasis as I can take." Bulkhead walked over to a crate beside Jack and sat down before speaking up. "I'm guessing you haven't talked to Arcee much since the ceremony huh?" Jack didn't look at Bulkhead, instead his head fell even lower as his eyes closed.
"Jack, you remember the few times Arcee has talked about Cliffjumper?" Jacks eyes opened as he looked at Bulkhead and nodded. "I've kept an eye on her on request from Optimus each time she talks about him. Each time she's talked about him, she's been able to talk a bit longer, and she doesn't have as much pain in her voice when she talks."
Jack sat up a bit at those words as his eyes locked onto Bulkhead. "You saying that I need to try and talk about Mike so that I don't wind up doing something stupid?" Bulkhead looked at Jack with a neutral face before speaking up. "Like I said Jack, we all understand loss, but keeping it bottled up isn't the way to heal. Wheeljack and I know that all too well; so does Arcee."
Jack suddenly looked down briefly before exhaling as he looked up a bit. "Well… where to start is the real question I guess." Bulkhead leaned back before speaking up in a neutral tone. "Start at the beginning ; what first got you tied up with Mike?" Jack suddenly looked down a bit before speaking up.
"That's not a very happy subject but… I guess it has to come out sooner or later. I was in the fifth grade when I first met Mike. I was biking home from school when I suddenly heard something down one of the back alleys in town. I snuck through the alley way and looked around a corner when I saw Mike being beaten to a pulp by Vince and some of his thuggy friends. I couldn't do anything but watch and at the end Vince put his foot on Mikes head and twisted his foot into it before walking off with his friends laughing."
Jack was looking straight at the floor as Bulkhead listened closely. "I dragged Mike out of the alley and to a bench across the street before going inside and asking if I could borrow a phone to call my mom. I told her what happened and asked her to come and help." Bulkhead watched as Jack closed and opened his eyes slowly before speaking up again.
"When she got there she took Mike straight to my house and stitched him up. When we were done we called his parents and told him what happened…." Jack paused for a moment as Bulkhead suddenly spoke up with a voice of understanding. "So basically, if you hadn't been there... Mike would've probably bled out and died right there..."
Jack suddenly opened his eyes as a small smile appeared on his face. "Heh, yeah... after that, I saw him at school the next day and walked up to talk with him. I asked how he was holding up and he just kind of smiled and said 'heh, aside from a headache and some scars I'll get over it.' We decided to start hanging out with each other and it led to a strong friendship. We were as close to brothers as two kids could get."
Jack smiled brightly as he looked over to Bulkhead. "We kept in touch over the years and eventually we joined ROTC together." Bulkhead smiled before speaking up in a light tone. "Thats a heck of a road to becoming brothers. That said, how are you feeling; any better?" Jack sat there in thought for a moment before he snickered and stood up.
"I'll give credit where it's due Bulk, you know how to help a bot out." Bulkhead smiled before standing and speaking in a jovial tone. "Heh, glad I could help." Jack suddenly looked at the door to the training room before speaking up. "I think I should go Bulk, I think it's about time I talked with Arcee for a while." Bulkhead put a hand on Jack's shoulder before speaking up with a smile on his face. "She's been waiting for you Jack; don't worry, she'll be glad to see you feelin' better." With that, Jack left the training room in search of his partner.
Location: Unknown
Silas looked down from a platform at the body strapped down to an operating table as his medics finished sewing him shut and cauterizing the incisions. "Sir, we've finished reinserting the organs and are ready to proceed." Silas looked down with a smirk before speaking up. "Very good, connect him to the generator and prepare to initiate cardiopulmonary revival."
With that, the medics connected shock cords and pads to the body over the heart and brain before connecting the cords to a large machine. The lead medic looked up to Silas as his hand hovered over a button on one of the consoles. "Do it." With those words, the medic hit the button as the generator began to power up.
The generator suddenly began to generate electricity before a massive charge of power ran through the cords and into the body. The doctor looked at the monitor before a beep suddenly resonated throughout the room. "Sir, we have a pulse; the subject has been revived." With that, Silas smirked again before looking at the body and speaking up. "Welcome back to the living… Sergeant Major."
OOOOOH SCRAP! SILAS DONE WENT AND TURNED INTO DOCTOR FRANKENSTEIN! What does this mean for the rest of the story!? What is in store for Jack and the Autobots!? Why am I asking you awesome readers all of these crazy questions!? Keep an eye out for the next chapter and maybe we'll find the answers there! Until then, TRANSFORM AND ROLL OUT! ;)