Old Friends, New Problems

Chapter 13

#Scrap yard#%Rem's POV%

Rem shares her story with Russel

Rem looked out across the river, and at the bustling city on the other side. The lights. The noise. It all reminded her of newly-restored Kaon. She frowned when her spark suddenly clenched painfully in her chest at the thought of her former home. She would never see it again. When the Council found out about her, and her involvement in the deaths of hundreds of their fellow Autobots, they had banished her from Cybertron and was forced to live on the one planet she hated the most: Earth. Rem fell into a period of depression shortly after that. It was only with the help of Ratchet, Shockwave, and a handful of her other friends, that Rem was able to get back to her old self.

"Hey, Rem!" shouted Russel.

Looking down from her perch on top of the crane, Rem shouted back. "What do you want, Russel?"

"Just wanted to ask if you would walk with me down to the football field." he explained, smiling.

Rem smiled back and jumped down, landing in a crouch in front of the young human, which, in turn, made him jump back slightly in fright. Putting her hands on her hips, she says, "Sure, I have nothing better do. Besides, this grants me the perfect chance to explore the area before 'Bee and the others get back."

"Cool!" he says, and leads the way out of the scrap yard.

Half-way to the field, Rem can no longer ignore the growing curiosity in Russel. The boy's been fidgeting and looking like he's thinking about something real hard. She stops suddenly, and faces Russel, arms crossed.

"OK, Russel, spill it. What's eating you?"

Russel looks shocked for a moment, then adverts his eyes and starts scratching the back of his head, as if he's embarrassed about something. Rem raises a brow at this. "Well?" she asks. "We don't have all day."

"I was just wondering why you hate Strongarm so much. Actually, everybody's wondering."

Rem stiffened, and her breathing hitched for a moment before sighing and looking away, frowning sadly. "I don't hate her, Russel," she says. "I just hate who she reminds me of, that's all."

"Who?" asks Russel.

Rem sighed deeply. "Her sire Wheeljack."

Russel cocked his head in wonder. Then, said, "What's a sire?"

"It's the Cybertronian term for father or dad." she explained, simply.

Russel nods. "OK. Then, why do you hate Strongarm's dad?" he asks. "Was he the one who gave you that scar? Or did he hurt someone you know?"

Rem's hand reaches up, and touches the part of her chest where the scar cuts across her chest. "It was a long time ago, Russel, but yes, he did give me this scar." She then drops her hand, and turns her back to him, and said, "But that's not why I hate him so much. I hate him because he killed my partner!"

"We were out on patrol with two others - Blazor and Barricade - when it happened... Blazor and Barricade went on ahead, to see if it was clear while my partner, Radar, and I, stopped to check in with Command. When that was done, I commed Barricade to see if everything was clear...

"'All clear,' he said. I didn't hear it back then, Russel, but looking back now, I realize now that there was a slight edge in Barricade's voice. Almost as if, he was worried about something.

We were half way to them when, all of a sudden, out of nowhere, a flashing-green object flies over our heads and lands right in front of us - I knew right away that it was a bomb. Just before the bomb goes off, before I can do anything, I'm sent flying a good ways away from the bomb. Then, Radar goes flying backwards and lands besides me. The bomb goes off not a second later.

Radar takes most of the damage, but some of the shrapnel and fire gets lucky, and manages to snag me. Due to my smaller size, my injuries are more severe and my chances of survival are slim to none. Time seems to slow, and my vision starts to turn black, as minutes pass us by. I can hear Radar shouting my name, asking me if I'm alright, but I don't have the strength to answer him, to tell him that I lo-loved him! I felt so helpless and angry. Helpless because I couldn't do anything for Radar. And angry because it was me who said that it was OK for Barricade and Blazor to go on ahead.

Just before my vision completely went black, I can see Radar's face above me. I can see the tears falling from his eyes, and it made my spark hurt to see him so sad. I wanted to reach up and wipe the tears away, but I could no longer feel my arms, and I wanted to tell him that everything was going to be alright, that Shockwave and Knock Out would be here soon. But I could no longer use my voice, all that came out of my mouth was my own energon. All I could do was look at him, and hope that he understood. Then, there was a bright blue light (which I would later find out to be the light from his spark). The next thing I know, my whole body fells like it's on fire, and my vision blacks out completely.

When I wake up, I'm back in Shockwave's lab in what looked like a Regen. Tank. A tank meant to help Cybertronians recover from near-terminal injuries or post surgical operations. About five minutes later, Knock Out walks in and takes me out after seeing that I was awake. He then told me that Radar was dead, that Barricade and Blazor were actually Autobot spies, and that they were working in accordance with an Autobot Wrecker by the name of Wheeljack to help take Radar and I out."

Rem closes her eyes and grasps the charms around her neck tightly, and said, "From that day forth, Russel, I swore that I would hunt down and make Wheeljack, Blazor, and Barricade suffer. But, before I could get the chance, I was put into stasis by Radar's mentor, a shared friend, named Deadlock, and jettisoned into space."

A silence fell over the two for a few moments before Russel broke it with a shocked 'Whoa!'.

All Rem could do was nod in agreement. "Yeah," she said. "Whoa."

Sorry that it takes me so long to update!

Please review, and Happy Holidays!

:)