CHAPTER 16
Megatron chuckled darkly as the groundbridge portal closed. Optimus Prime could run. But he could never run home. Now that the location of the Autobot base was known, the Autobots were no doubt already in the process of abandoning it. No matter…he would reclaim what was rightfully his!
"Shockwave!"
"Yes, Lord Megatron?"
"Reactivate June's slave coding at once!"
"Yes, Master. It is done."
"Excellent…"
Optimus Prime cradled the young human woman in his palm, doing everything he could to console her as she sobbed piteously.
"June…I promise, as long as I live…Megatron will never hurt you again."
"H-he…he tried to sleep with me! EWWW! A-and…they made me….they made me…" June couldn't finish the sentence but there was no need.
Optimus, now standing safely in front of hanger E, out in the Nevada desert…activated his hologram. He pulled June into an embrace, doing his best to comfort her.
"It wasn't your fault. Please, do not blame yourself."
June suddenly stiffened in the Autobot leader's strong arms as she felt the tell-tale signs that the slave coding was being reactivated.
"Optimus! The slave coding, they are–" June's eyes suddenly narrowed and a dark growl escaped her throat. She began to aggressively attack Prime's hologram. Optimus dodged her well executed punches and kicks. He blocked her knife-hand and then managed to sidle up behind her, holding her in a headlock.
"Ratchet!"
The doc-bot was already there beside them before Optimus even began to utter his name. He used his hologram to inject a strong sedative into the now mostly restrained woman's arm. The human slipped into unconsciousness almost immediately, June's eyes rolling up into her head.
"She needs to be restrained until I can figure out how to undo that slave program…" Ratchet growled, still extremely angry that he failed to protect his charge from the Decepticons. If Optimus hadn't allowed himself to be captured and taken aboard the Nemesis…. chances were slim that June Darby would be with them right now.
As carefully as he could, Ratchet picked up June's slim figure and cradled her in his hologram's arms. He walked over to the human sized gurney they brought with them from their previous outpost, and gently slipped the young woman onto the soft padding. He then Velcro-strapped her arms, legs, and torso down. He placed a warm blanket over June's body and stared down at his charge with sorrow in his eyes.
"I'm so sorry I failed you June…" he mumbled softly as he gave her hand a soft pat.
Using human medical supplies on hand, he administered an IV into the crook of her arm and put a mild sedative on a constant drip to keep her tranquil while he prepared to do the unthinkable–delve into her mind via cortical psychic patch…invented by Decepticons and outlawed by Autobots.
Ratchet deactivated his hologram briefly so he could work on making the patch viable for an Autobot's mind to connect with a human's. Unfortunately, he would have to use the damnable port in June's neck to achieve this. He scanned the unconscious woman and saw that at least Knock Out was competent enough to have built the port properly into her fragile human brain. Whether or not the port would create negative issues for his charge in the future, remained to be seen. He would undoubtedly have to monitor June's brainwave activity and overall physical health closely within the next few months. While physically the port was a success…there was no knowing what damage those brutes had already done to her psyche.
That worried him.
Four hours later and the cortical psychic patch was ready. Ratchet had to connect June first. He thanked Primus the female was unconscious for what he was about to do. He offered up a quick prayer and then used his hologram to insert the human sized cable's fine tipped end, directly into her brain via medical port. Once he was sure she was connected, he deactivated his hologram and then proceeded to connect the other end into his own port. The second he twisted the end of the cable, the room he was in and the berth he was laying upon, instantly disappeared.
June wasn't sure where she was but she was a child again.
A ten-year-old June Darby, sat huddled in a corner, softly sobbing with her small hands covering her tear-soaked face. She recognized the entry of another into her own mind and panicked.
No! NO! NOOO! Not again!
Her sobs grew in volume and intensity. Her body began to shake and the child screamed with dread and fear.
Rather than the cold, dominating presence she was used to…she felt the opposite. A warm, light, curious, albeit timid presence made itself known. The little sobbing girl heard soft footfalls approaching her. She pulled her knees against her chest and wrapped her small arms around her legs as if she could protect herself from whomever was approaching.
Maybe this was a Decepticon trick! To lure her into a false sense of security before pouncing on her like Megatron had done not long ago. Maybe that monster had come to finish what he started.
The sobs turned into hyperventilations.
She screamed when two, strong arms grabbed her own gently.
"NO! NO PLEASE! LEAVE ME ALONE! JUST GO AWAY!" The child shrieked and begged.
"June, I'm not going to hurt you! Look at me…"
That voice. It sounded familiar. She knew that voice and it wasn't the mean monster that wanted to hurt her.
Ever so carefully, the little girl lifted her head to stare into beautiful, cerulean, blue eyes. A doctor wearing a white lab coat and stethoscope was kneeling before her. She knew him. She was certain she did, but the child couldn't for the life of her remember him.
"You promise?" the little girl sniffled softly.
"Promise what?" The kind man questioned her.
"That you won't hurt me…"
The man looked so sad, no…crestfallen.
"Of course I promise, June. I'm your friend. I'm here to help you."
The little girl still felt guarded and distrust shone in her brown eyes.
"Who are you?"
The man chuckled softly and shook his head.
"I'm your friend, June. I'm Ratchet. You know me as Dr. Ray."
The little girl cracked a small smile but her eyes were sad.
"Ratchet…that's a funny name. I'm sorry but I don't remember you."
"Let me help you June. We'll remember together…" the man spoke softly as he extended his hand for her to take. The child hesitated but deep down she felt she could trust him. She ever so slowly, slid her small hand into his large adult one.
Suddenly they were whisked away into the past…
June was smiling as she graduated from her school of choice, holding the now framed EMT certificate in hand. It was quite an accomplishment.
There was her son, Jack.
Oh, how she missed her baby boy…
More memories came more frequently than the last.
Her son built his bicycle. That's right…he wanted to be a mechanic when he graduated high school! There was her coworker Roger from Jasper County Hospital. And their ambulance 117. That fateful night a Decepticon tried to kill her, and her ambulance transformed into the Autobot known as Ratchet.
The crash that fateful night that nearly killed the fragile humans…
Her abduction and subsequent abuse at the hands of the Decepticons. The patch forced between herself and Megatron. The secrets she spilled. The slave programming forced her to say and do so many horrible things! A tidal wave of guilt and shame crashed over her. Megatron had tried to rape her in front of Optimus no less…
Now she was no longer seeing things from her perspective but from another's…
Her heart, no, HIS heart–spark–was pulsing wildly as he drove up on the scene of the crash. He activated his hologram and sprinted to the passenger side of the crashed ambulance, practically ripping the door from its hinges.
"June! June, can you hear me?!"
He panicked when he saw his charge covered in multiple injuries, blood seeping from a nasty head wound. He undid her seatbelt and gently firemen carried the young woman away from the damaged emergency vehicle.
His pride for his charge when she stubbornly glared at him as he treated her in the hospital.
His love for her, just before the EMP blast knocked him into stasis as MECH agents descended upon her home.
His fear when he learned that June had been taken by the Decepticons.
His sorrow. His guilt. His regret. His need to protect her flooded his systems.
June was confused. Sure, she remembered now who Ratchet was…the little girl was now back to being the adult young woman that the ornery medic had come to admire and yes…to love.
"Do you remember now?" the man asked softly as she turned around to stare at him.
June choked on a sob and ran into his arms, the duo fiercely, yet gently, embracing one another.
"Ratchet…I'm so sorry…" June whispered brokenly.
She leaned against Ratchet's hologram and basked in his light and his warmth as he continued to hold her against him, lovingly, protectively.
"No. I'm the one that should be sorry. I failed as a guardian. I failed you." Ratchet's voice cracked amidst his own maelstrom of emotion. He gently pulled out of the embrace and used strong, calloused hands to cup her face, ensuring that they were both staring eye-to-eye.
"You did nothing wrong. Do you understand?" Ratchet enunciated each word heatedly.
"Yes…I think so? Then why does it feel like my fault?" June turned her back on him as the guilt and shame resurfaced.
"I promise June…I'm going to save you. I just need more time to figure out how to reverse the slave programming."
RATCHET.
I SHOULD HAVE KNOWN.
June and Ratchet shuddered at the dark, menacing voice that echoed loudly around them.
"Who the hell is that?!"
"Hmm…you don't remember Shockwave?"
"Oh yeah…the cyclops. The one-eyed freak. Oh, do I remember him," June responded flatly.
Thundering pede falls approached the duo like a T-rex stalking its helpless prey.
Soon out of the darkness came a purple armored Decepticon with one red optic, and a massive cannon for a hand.
"Stay behind me," Ratchet moved defensively in front of June, shielding her from the insane Decepticon scientist.
"How the hell is Shockwave HERE?!"
"I have reason to believe it's the slave coding within your mind, fighting now to remain dominant," Ratchet whispered back with growing dread.
There was no way this apparition before them was the REAL Shockwave… the cortical psychic patch could not be hacked from the new Autobot base. Ratchet programmed strong firewalls to prevent such a breach. It would stand to reason that this monstrosity posing as Shockwave was in fact the slave program itself…
JUNE. KILL HIM.
June screamed and clutched her head as though in pain, gritting her teeth and hissing.
"NO!"
DO IT. NOW.
"Don't listen! Fight it June!"
"H-hurts…" the woman grunted as she struggled to fight off the slave programming. It was commanding her within her mind to attack and hurt her friend and mentor. NO. She was stronger than this!
"N-never…" she snarled at the Shockwave double.
YES. DO AS I COMMAND.
June screamed as it felt like her mind was being ripped apart by fiery claws.
Ratchet shouted his own battle cry and tackled the Shockwave look-a-like and began to savagely pound his armored fists into its face.
The slave program snarled at him and started to savagely choke the medic.
"Leave him alone!" June cried as she ran to Ratchet's defense. She tried punching the Shockwave thing herself but she only succeeded in breaking her hand. She screamed in agony as she cradled her hurt hand against her chest.
"You've done it now you stupid, slagging, piece of–" Ratchet was hit by Shockwave's fusion cannon and was instantly vaporized.
June screamed.
Ratchet cursed as he regained awareness.
"Optimus! I need you over here now!"
"Ratchet, what's happening to June?" Prime yelled back worriedly as June began to convulse on the gurney.
"it's the slave programming. It manifested itself in the form of Shockwave, not an accident–It was programmed by design." Ratchet spat a string of Cybertronian curses as he shoved Optimus down on the berth he had recently occupied himself.
"I need you to go in and keep it busy while I create a working counter-program."
Optimus didn't have a chance to reply for he was none too gently forced into the cortical psychic patch with June.
"June! June, where are you?"
Optimus frantically searched for her and was disgusted when he did encounter the Shockwave/slave program within the human's jumbled mind. Like her physical self, mental June was convulsing with uncontrollable seizures as the slave programming fought to take dominance over her mind.
"Get away from her!"
PRIME. YOU CANNOT STOP ME!
"Maybe not…but that doesn't mean I can't try!" Prime narrowed his optics as his battle mask slid into place. He got into a fighting stance and took on the abomination servo to servo. He lasted much longer than his wily medic and hoped to Primus that he'd given Ratchet the time he so desperately needed, as he too, was blasted point-blank range by the Shockwave impersonator, and sent reeling violently out of the psychic patch.
"Oh good, you made it back in one piece," Ratchet commented drily as he once again switched places with Optimus.
"Did you succeed?"
"We shall see." Ratchet muttered as he forced himself back into the patch.
When Ratchet reappeared, June sobbed with relief for he wasn't alone. She had no idea how the medic managed to patch in the rest of the Autobots but they were ALL here now.
"Autobots! ATTACK!" Optimus Prime ordered as he, Bulkhead, Bumblebee, Arcee, and Wheeljack ganged up on the Shockwave clone. It was over in a matter of seconds. Her thanks died on her lips when the other Autobots apart from Ratchet disappeared once the Shockwave clone was destroyed.
"Is it over?" the woman dared to ask.
"Yes," Ratchet breathed as he enveloped June in another hug. "The slave programming has been destroyed. You are free again," he smiled as he pulled back to look at his own smiling charge.
"I know. I can feel it. It's gone!" June embraced him again, tighter than before. "Thank you, Ratchet. You saved me…" June whispered with tears glistening in her eyes. How many times had the medic saved her life now? Three? Four times?
"I'll never let the Decepticons touch you again," Ratchet bristled protectively as he attempted to pry the thankful woman off.
June stepped away with a genuinely happy grin but froze at a realization.
"Oh shit. My son must be worried sick about me! Let's go!"
June awoke with a hiss as blinding light flashed in her eyes. She tried to get up but found she couldn't. With ire mounting she yelled for her savior.
"RATCHET! What the hell did you do to me?"
His hologram appeared beside her, and he shrugged helplessly.
"I had to restrain you. You were violent."
Her stern demeanor softened, and she gave him a worried look.
"Did I…did I hurt anyone?" She nearly whispered in her distress.
"No."
"Oh good…" she sighed with relief and looked as if the weight of the world came off of her shoulders at that moment.
Ratchet proceeded to unstrap her but was caught by surprise when June grabbed his shirt collar and pulled him down, so they were face to face. With a coy grin she kissed him on the cheek.
"What would i do without you?"
Ratchet was stunned and could only stare at her wide-eyed. He snapped out of it a second later and shook his head with a stern look.
"You'd do poorly, I'm sure. But what can I say? You, Miss Darby, are a trouble magnet."
"Where is Jack?"
Ratchet snapped his mouth closed and looked away guiltily, but June wouldn't let him. She gently turned his face, so he was looking at her again.
"Please tell me…where is my son?"
Jack was beginning to lose hope that he would be rescued. Silas kept him confined and only sent a guard to feed him three square meals a day. His stepfather's body had long since been removed from the cell Jack was in.
He decided then and there that he would not cooperate. No matter what the monster decided to do with him…
So, Jack rebelled. He chose not to eat. His captor soon found out when Jack's rather generous trays of food were returned untouched by the goon squad.
Silas decided to pay him another visit.
"If you don't eat, I will force feed you, boy."
"Do your worst," the teen seethed in challenge as he met Silas's glare with his own.
"Have it your way…GUARDS!"
Jack fought the two guards that came in, tooth and nail, but ultimately lost. He hated feeling so weak. Jack did manage to kick a guard in the shin and grinned maliciously when the soldier released him to grip his own leg. He glared hatefully at Silas as the medic returned in the room with a tube…
"The hell are you planning to put that thing?"
"Down your throat." Silas subtly nodded at the medic to proceed.
Jack's struggles picked up in intensity.
"Keep that away from me!"
"Will you cooperate?" Silas questioned as though bored.
"NEVER!" Jack shrieked as he was held down by the two guards. He gagged as the vile tube was forced down his throat and felt like vomiting as he felt the thing snake its way into his stomach. The medic proceeded to dump a slop mixture down the tube. It was a most unpleasant experience, but Jack was determined to remain uncooperative, even as the torture finally ended and he was released.
He curled up on himself on the army cot situated in the corner of the room as he was left alone with Silas.
"You bring this only upon yourself, Jack. Cooperate and you will be treated fairly."
"Go to hell." The boy mumbled tiredly as he kept his back turned.
"Suit yourself, child." Silas growled as he slammed the cell door behind him on his way out.
Jack could only imagine the horrors that the vile man was going to force him to endure. He knew he had to remain strong. For his mom. And for Optimus–his dad.
TO BE CONTINUED!
Author's Note: Thank you for reading and reviewing! I'm leaving it up to the reader's imagination whether this is a June/Ratchet pairing or not. It's up to your discretion lol.