Captain: Alright, vacation #2 done. Had a bunch of fun, caught a lot of fish, got pics of a ton of cool birds, and even spotted like a hundred deer (100% lost count after the second day, at least 11-12 were bucks and the does were eeeeeverywhere. I *may* or may not go play on Mt. Rainier next week, I haven't decided yet. On one hand I love traveling and searching for wildlife and just exploring the Pacific Northwest while I've got the chance and the nice weather, on the other my current job completely relies on schools opening this fall so if they don't...whelp I'mma be up the creek without a paddle. Ya see my dilemma?
Anyway, the more I'm home the more I work on my fanfics, so probs better I don't run off to the mountains and woods every weekend X'D
Enjoy!
Edit: Apologies, I didn't realize fanfic had erased my page breaks. Issue has been resolved!
The universe doesn't like secrets. It conspires to reveal the truth, to lead you to it. ~Lisa Unger
Pulsing pain greeted Darcy as she struggled back to consciousness. Head pounding in tandem with her heart, her fingers fumbled with the seat belt's clasp. Even numb, she somehow managed to work the release and the restrain snapped off, sending her limp body crashing onto the ceiling. Broken glass carved its way into her arms as she fought against the disorientation to right herself.
While darkness hid the metal beast from her sight, she could hear it traipsing around the car. Hydraulics hissed and an engine purred as the thing stayed just out of view, taunting as it circled her like some twisted predator around injured prey.
"Darcy, you still with us?" the smooth voice of Major Lennox gave her frantic mind something to cling to other than fear.
"I'm here," she groaned into the CB's mic, panting as her left shoulder burned with every breath.
"Try to get somewhere he can't reach you, we're almost there." The earth-shaking steps from the monster belayed his order. Almost wasn't close enough. It was going to kill her. It wouldn't take much. Every heartbeat she had was only because it allowed it.
"I can't, it's right outside." There wasn't anything in the way of cover on this road anyway. No, she was safest there in the totaled cruiser and even it was a paper shield.
"It?" Row's voice cut in, the dark undertone more prevalent than before.
She was about to tell him just what was moving around in the dark when a massive chunk of black metal crashed into the ground inches from the driver's door. Fear choked off her voice as it didn't splinter into pieces or fall over as it should have. In the odd gleam of white and red from some light overhead, she could make out the smooth surface of solid metal that faintly resembled a foot.
The bone-chilling chuckle that had come from the Mustang now echoed again. The car jolted, eliciting a scream as her injured shoulder was shoved into the steering wheel, fully forcing the joint out of socket.
"Come here, pet," the voice she finally recognized as the elusive 'Officer Cade' ordered with sickening sadistic glee. Metal shrieked and moaned in protest of some massive force working its way through the undercarriage. Darcy pulled herself to the passenger side, cradling her useless left arm. The car jolted again as some piece of the body gave way and the detective came to the terrifying realization that the thing was tearing the car apart. The cruiser wasn't going to provide cover for much longer.
Desperately looking around, she knew there wasn't much hope. It was wide open along this stretch of road, only a drainage ditch ran alongside. Hardly any better than where she was.
With the thing occupied trying to bust into the car, she decided to go for it. Shoving herself out of the broken window, she took only the time needed to gather her feet before bolting, her heart pounding wildly with every step. She gained only a handful of strides before the cruiser gave one last ear-splitting shriek and the beast gave a snarling roar. Thundering steps shook the ground and threatened to wipe out her shaky balance. Darcy knew she only had seconds. Pouring everything she had into the last few steps, she dove for the ditch. Wind ghosted over her back as she missed getting hit by scant inches.
Another roar she expected, the sadistic laughter she did not, and it turned her veins to ice. Rolling over in the ditch, she finally got a proper look at the thing attacking her and promptly wished she hadn't.
It was a vaguely humanoid shaped robot towering over her, glowing red lights somehow expressing psychotic madness and reflecting off two hands reaching for her, clawed digits eager for destruction.
"Clever one indeed, but running is useless," the thing rumbled and Darcy had just long enough to recognize the brush-guard of the Mustang on the thing's chest before a giant hand descended to grab her.
Moving into the deepest part of the ditch and pressing her body as close to the ground as possible, Darcy managed to keep herself just out of reach. The thing would have to take a handful of dirt if it wanted to grab her now. Not exactly a deterrent, it would only work once.
Screeching tires and dual snarling engines in the nearing distance gave Darcy the courage to stall one last time. Pulling the gun that had been useless against the thing as a car, she aimed for what was hopefully its face. Using the red lights as targets, she squeezed the trigger.
The robot rearing back, shouting indiscernible curses as it clutched its head. It did have a weak point in this form then. Struggling back to her feet, she took off in the direction of the incoming cars. All she needed was a few seconds, thirty yards. With a roar, the ground lurched and Darcy made it only six steps before finding herself surrounded by metal. Four steel digits wrapped harshly around her, binding her body in place and squeezing the breath out of her lungs. The gun fell harmlessly from her grasp.
"Stupid flesh bag," it snarled, hoisting her up into the airand tightening its grip until her ribs threatened to give way. The world spun and her stomach lurched into her throat as the giant turned and bent back down. With its free hand, it grabbed onto what she could dimly recognize as half of her cruiser. Turning, the robot hurled the piece towards the closing vehicles.
Tires squealed as the hunk of car crashed onto the pavement, narrowly missing a blessedly familiar black truck and Charger as they swerved out of the way. Relief clashed with confusion and panic as the two cars exploded upward, pieces coming together in the similar fashion of the Mustang, until two large, robotic machines stood in their place.
"Leave the human alone, Barricade," Row's voice warned from the black and white that had been the Charger. Darcy felt her head spin as reality continuously threatened to slip away. Was Row controlling the thing from the inside?
"Put her down so I can tear you apart!" the black one demanded, giant glowing cannons whining at full charge on its arms. Who was controlling that one then? She could make out Lennox standing next to the thing and that had definitely not been his voice.
"Tempting," the sarcasm was thick even through the mechanical tone the voice carried. "One more step from either of you and I squeeze."
The grip on her body loosened only enough to let her catch her breath before tightening again, forcing her to let it out again in a gasp as the pressure pulled on her dislocated shoulder.
"What do you want?" Row's voice echoed out of the black and white again.
The faux-Mustang shrugged, jostling the detective enough to keep firm the reminder of her precarious position. "Your head in my trophy room."
Darcy could hear the sinister edge to the voice echoing above her head. He meant every word and it was terrifyingly stunning to have all the theories confirmed on just how evil the people she was after were. And she was trapped in the robotic claws of one of them as it cackled again, "But not yet, I have special plans for you."
The beast moved backwards, taking a thunderous step that rattled every bone in her beaten body. The world spun. Darcy forced herself to focus on the Charger and the truck, on her last chance of safety. The black and white hadn't moved an inch, it was steady as a rock. The truck was an entirely different story. Massive cannons whined and pulsed as it constantly shifted its weight from one pillar-like leg to another.
Static and an assortment of technologic tones burst through the air in such quick succession that she quickly lost track of which robot they were coming from. The monster that held her did stop moving and for that she was grateful. With her left arm going numb, it finally gave her the chance to catch what little breath she could in the painful grip.
She couldn't spot Lennox anymore, all she could see was what was illuminated by the headlights still shining from the chests of the robots, and that didn't reveal much but pieces of broken asphalt and metal.
"Ha!" The faux-truck let out a sharp laugh and Darcy suddenly found herself staring straight into the glowing barrels of his twin cannons. "If you think we're just gonna let you leave then you're even dumber than I thought!"
"Go ahead," her captor growled, holding her directly in front of its chest, "Unless you do exactly as I say then this flesh bag's termination is your fault, and that violates dear old Prime's orders, doesn't it?"
"Ironhide," the Charger rumbled after a brief standoff, Row's voice back to a monotone that gave nothing away.
Whatever the command meant, the black behemoth stood his ground for one agonizingly long minute before the cannons dropped and powered down.
"Let the human go, she's of no use to you." Darcy stayed as still as she possibly could as Row gave his order, attempting in some pitiful way to stay out of the focus of the thing holding her. She had never before been so completely and utterly helpless in the face of something so dangerous, and it took focusing on the pain and every detail she could see to stave off the rising panic. Questions rattled off in her head faster than she could consciously think of them, but with every passing second in the beast's grasp, she knew it became less and less likely she would ever learn the answer to one.
"Perhaps not now, but I'll find a use for it." The sadistic glee in Barricade's voice was missed by no one and it zapped every bit of warmth from the detective's blood. "Any idiotic rescue attempts and I'll throw its pieces across the highway."
Darcy didn't have the chance to whimper her fear before the robotic beast whirled around and exploded again. Metal parts and pieces crashed passed her as the hand that had been holding her disappeared, dropping her towards the asphalt below. The release of the pressure on her lungs gave her just long enough to let out a partial scream before she was caught, scant inches from the ground, by hard leather. Panting as the confusing terror only escalated, it took the detective only one painful moment to realize two very important things: she was trapped in the psychotic Mustang as it roared down the road with her only hope of help fast disappearing in the rearview, and no one was driving.
"So what's the plan?" Lennox butted in as they watched Barricade's tail lights disappear down the road, furious at the helplessness they had all felt at being unable to help her. Any move and the 'Con would have crushed her or dropped her. Their hands had been tied quite firmly.
He and Ironhide turned to Prowl, they both understood, but neither liked that he had let the 'Con take the detective. But he wasn't the tactician for nothing. Certainly he had a plan ready.
"Nothing," was his curt reply as he turned his back on the wrecked remains of Darcy's cruiser.
Lennox felt his jaw slacken and found himself at a total loss for words. Ironhide did not. "What the frag do ya mean nothing? We can't just let him get away!"
"That is exactly what we are going to do. Now let us find somewhere more secure before another human gets involved." He dropped back into his alt mode in one smooth move and was driving off before either Autobot or soldier could get another word in. Prowl knew they were angry with him, he could hear it in the excessively loud snarling of the weapons specialist's engine when he finally transformed and caught up; he could see it in the flush on the Major's face, who would no doubt be fully voicing his opinion once the solid metal of Ironhide's door no longer separated them.
"What the frag was that, Prowl? You just let him get away!" Ironhide snarled as they rolled into an abandoned warehouse. Lennox barely cleared the cab before his Guardian burst out in a violent transformation. "I should'a blasted him when I had the chance!"
"Then the detective would be dead and we'd have an entirely different conversation with Prime," Prowl snipped.
"Is that a crack against my aim?" Ironhide rumbled dangerously.
The tactician was unfazed but the unspoken threat. "Whether or not the blast radius would have harmed her is irrelevant. Barricade would have ensured his last act would result in her termination. This was the only course that kept her alive."
"But for how long?" Lennox cut in, pacing back and forth between the two mechs. "You've seen what they've been doing to people, how long until she's the next victim?"
"Barricade will not kill her, not yet." Prowl had made the most logical choice of course, really, it was the only choice, but that did not mean it bothered him any less. No, he was quite irritated that Barricade of all mechs had managed to outmaneuver him and snatch the human under his protection. And a part of him was concerned for the woman's life. Oh he had little doubt that the Decepticon fully intended to terminate her only when Prowl could see, but that did not mean the other 'Cons would be in agreement on waiting. No, Prowl was quite furious the detective had gotten herself into this mess and that his enemy had found a way to so completely neutralize him. Unlike the other two, however, he had just learned to conceal such emotions. Only the stiffness of his doorwings revealed what he might be feeling and neither Ironhide nor Lennox had learned how to read them.
"How are you so sure?" Lennox snapped, a sick feeling settling into his gut. Next to Starscream, the Decepticon scout was the last mech he wanted to see any person's life in the hands of.
"He believes I am her Guardian; if he is going to terminate her, he's going to do it in front of me, once her use as leverage is up," Prowl stated straight-faced.
"Just how long until that happens?" the Major asked, wondering if the 'Cons would really reach that point before they just tired of keeping her alive.
Prowl vented, optics tracking to the dark horizon in the direction the woman and Decepticon had vanished in. "Until the moment we disobey Barricade's order and go after them."
Darcy did not know for how long she sat in silence in the cruiser, half utterly confused on what she had witnessed and half terrified of the answers. The radio was off and the windows had all blacked out some time ago, giving her absolutely no idea of time or location. She'd tried to memorize the turns and the seconds between, but it hadn't taken long for her to lose count, nor did it help that the Mustang strained at eighty miles an hour as much as it did twenty. With no view of the outside world, she couldn't even be sure of how fast the car was going. Every second felt like an hour in the silence. They could have gone three miles or three hundred. Frustration and fear burned her eyes. There was nothing she could do to save herself, nothing she could get out to anyone who could save her. She was a victim and she'd never been so helpless.
Unable to remember the route or forget the pain, she settled with studying the interior, looking for any indication of the robotic beast it could become. She found none and it was that much more frightening. How could she get away from an enemy she couldn't recognize?
Wait. The robotic sigil on the Charger, it had been emblazoned on the steering wheel of both it and the truck. Glancing across to the empty driver's side, only the light of the dash gave any indication of what could be there. Purple stitching of a triangular face, almost fox-like.
It was something, but it also meant she wouldn't know unless she was already in one of these...things.
The silence dragged on and on, grated frayed nerves. There was nothing to focus on but the pain in her shoulder. There was one avenue of helping herself that could be worth attempting, but knowing what these people...things...had already done left little hope that it could be successful. She opened her mouth, unsure of what she was actually going to say but knowing she had to try.
"If you value your pathetic life, meatbag, you'll keep silent," Barricade's disembodied voice interjected before she could utter a sound. She snapped her jaw shut. Following orders was definitely the best way to stay alive in this case. So in silence she sat, willing time to pass but afraid of what she might face on the other end of this drive. Her imagination was left to wander for hours. For the sake of her sanity, she forced it to play out all the different ways her escape or rescue could come.
Whatever road they were on pitched up without warning and continued inclining. Up, up, up it went, until Darcy knew there was only one place she could be being taken, and it made the possibility of rescue or escape on the higher end of impossible. The mountains. What mountain in which range there was no way of knowing and she felt the last shreds of hope shrivel and die. Was it the Cascades or Sierra Nevadas like the map had revealed? Or was it somewhere else entirely? A blank space on the map, void of victims and so easily overlooked?
Barricade….or was it Barricade's robot? Whatever the Mustang was, it kept utterly quiet during the tedious drive. Hours or days could have passed, she had no idea, and when the windows flashed clear again, there was nothing to tell her just how long it had been.
There was no warning to the sudden flash of light and even the dullness of it was enough to temporarily blind her. The seat beneath her pitched sideways, dumping her unceremoniously onto hard, cold ground. Darcy took her time getting up, focusing on the details of her surroundings as much as possible, looking for anything she could use.
Her chances were even bleaker than she'd known. Patchwork metal ran up the length of forty foot walls in a room the size of a football stadium. Blue neon lights ran along those walls, disappearing down multiple corridors that tipped up, down, and every direction. The drive had told her she'd be in the mountains, she just never would have guessed she'd end up in the mountain, smack in the center of a complex, man-made tunnel system.
Little wonder NEST had not been able to find it.
"Tell me, Barricade," a dark voice sneered from the other end of the cavern. Twin red lights shone in stark contrast to the blue tint cast on the room. Eyes, Darcy told herself, they had to be the eyes of the robots. A massive body followed those eyes into the center of the room. This new beast dwarfed the Mustang even as the faux cop car twisted up into its own robotic form. Inverted wings tilted up as the thing sneered at her abductor. "Just why is Soundwave picking up Autoscum chatter about you kidnapping meatsacks?"
Half of that question flew straight over the detective's head and she wasn't about to work through it right now. The snide voice, the overbearing presence, and confidence of this new robot was a personality she recognized. Whoever was controlling this robot was in charge and the fact that it was so huge and had missiles secured to the arms only further confirmed her conclusion that this was one not messed with lightly.
The ex-Mustang gave a half shrug with an ugly smirk. "I snagged it right out from under the tactician's watch."
Darcy jumped back as the leader harshly turned and backhanded the smaller robot. "You fragged glitch! We don't want the Autoscum's attention yet!"
The snarl that quickly twisted his face told Darcy just how much Barricade respected this leadership. Perhaps it was the rush of adrenaline and desire to live talking, but maybe, just maybe, this was a dynamic she could use. Kill the snake by turning the body against the head, right?
"Lucky for your pathetic life," the colossal beast continued, turning to walk down one of the corridors, "I can still salvage this plan. We'll begin Stage Two sooner."
Darcy wasn't sure how a robot could display so many obvious emotions, but she was sure Barricade was barely reining himself in from lunging at the leader. She was sorely disappointed that the self-control lasted long enough for the interruption to swing both their attention elsewhere.
The explosion sent her to the floor and rattled every bone in her body even as the echo of it lasted far longer than the source itself. There was no debris, no flame or smoke or other indication that the sound had a source, except for the new robot that was suddenly in the middle of the room. Purple colored seemingly random pieces of metal on its body, but otherwise it was an almost identical twin to the leader. Neither of the other robots were fazed by the sound, instead they appeared more annoyed by the sudden presence than surprised by it. Where had it come from? The floor was solid, the ceiling whole, and it definitely hadn't come from one of the corridors, but Darcy was far from ready to accept the alternative.
"Got another batch, boss!" it shouted in glee, holding out a handful of something. Whatever it was was blocked from her sight by its height, until it tipped its hand just enough for the lighting to reflect off four pale faces. Human faces. She couldn't look away even as the bile rose in her throat. More people destroyed by monsters, more lives lost in a war no one knew was being fought.
"You idiot, humans can't survive your bridges," Barricade growled.
"He can still use them, can't he?" the newcomer asked, wings dipping down as it turned its hand back and forth.
The leader snarled. "Shockwave needs live test subjects! Now go dump those before they start to stink!"
It gave a snappy salute before the air around it warped. It lasted only a second before the explosive sound shook the walls again and the robot vanished completely. There was no denying it now, no matter how much she wanted to, she had seen for herself both sides of teleportation. Just where did their technology end? At the very least, it appeared that not all of them had the ability, or at least weren't as prone to using it.
"Get rid of it, Barricade," the leader snapped now that the third was gone. "Or it's your aft being handed to the Autobots when they come knocking too soon."
Darcy's terror spiked. This was it; here she was going to die because she couldn't simply hand the case over to someone who was actually qualified to deal with it. For the first time, she cursed her own determination.
"No." Hope dared to spark again. Even if Barricade had something much worse planned for her, at least death would wait a little longer. "She's Prowl's pet."
"All the more reason to be rid of it!"
The Mustang growled, "Starscream…".
"IT. IS. LORD!" the newly named Starscream shouted, pointing his left arm at her. "Give me one reason not to reduce the meatsack to atoms."
"Lord Starscream." Darcy could hear how difficult the title was for the Mustang to force out. If she made it out of this meeting, she was definitely going to find a way to exploit this rift. "You planned to use humans as leverage against the Autobots already, imagine how much more leverage you could gain by using their own charges against them."
If she had not been conscious for the confrontation with Row and his robots earlier, Barricade's proposal would have told her nothing of the personal vendetta he was more interested in. He was smarter and more cunning than she'd given him credit for. His danger level just increased exponentially.
Starscream paused, contemplating the idea, but there was a shadow of suspicion to his gaze that told the detective he wasn't the leader for nothing. He knew his soldiers or at least knew what they were capable of. Darcy forced herself to fight against the pain and the fear to focus on every glance. She'd need everything if she dared hope to try to turn them against each other.
A wicked grin split across the winged robot's face as its eyes turned to her. "That's not a bad idea after all. Take her to Knock Out and get her chipped."
He gave the shorter an amused sideways glance, "And get that optic fixed."
With that, Starscream turned and strut out of the room, his parting words leaving behind a menacing echo, "I've got some hunting to do.".
She didn't have a second to ponder the meaning of any of that before steel was wrapping around her and hoisting her up again. Her shoulder ground against the joint but refused to pop back in, leaving her to grind her teeth and use every ounce of self control to keep from crying out. A whimper escaped anyway, but Barricade ignored her as he took a path only he knew through the maze of corridors.
"The conditions of this place are absolutely horrendous! My finish gets tarnished just being down here!" a voice echoed out of a room the Mustang was approaching.
"It's not that bad, it gets worse when you go out racing," a second, deeper voice cut in, underlined with amusement.
"Not the point, Breakdown! This sorry excuse for a medbay is the worst! Starscream gave it to me on purpose." Barricade was only three steps from the doorway and Darcy braced herself for whatever it was she was going to see on the other side.
"Lord Starscream has better things to do than torment us."
Barricade rounded through the opening that had no true door as far as Darcy could see, cutting off whatever the first voice was going to respond with. "I have better things to do than listen to your whining."
A giant blue robot was the first thing to stand out, complete with off-road tires and a boxy chest, she had to guess it transformed into some sort of 4x4 SUV. The other mechanoid was smaller, close to Barricade's size and all sleek curves and red paint. Sports car maybe?
With a large dosing of luck, Darcy hoped she might somehow escape with the knowledge of all the mad robots' alternative forms. At least it could give her the advantage of knowing which cars to avoid if she made it out of here. That was a big if.
"Barricade, to what do we owe the pleasure?" the red one sneered, flexing impressively sharp talons on one hand and leisurely waving the other arm, which instead of a hand at the end, sported a rather nasty looking drill.
"Replace my optic and chip the fleshbag." He thrust Darcy towards the red mech, who in turn backed half a step and waved at the larger.
"Deal with the organic, Breakdown. Now what did you do to the optic this time? They're not easy to get replacements these days, you know." The detective could only deduce that this was Knock Out and sorely hoped she would never have to personally deal with him. One poke from those claw-like fingers and she would be skewered through.
Barricade's grip on her suddenly slackened until she slipped from his hand and landed hard on the waiting palm of Breakdown. She expected the blunt fingers to snap closed around her, but they only curled up slightly, leaving her to sit under her own power. It was a welcome change even if it did nothing to ease the pain in her body.
"The fleshbag shot it," the Mustang growled as Knock Out grabbed his head and forced it down. The drill disappeared with a hiss and a clang of metal, replaced by another clawed hand. They could do that!? Said hand didn't hesitate and two sharp fingers stabbed into Barricade's injured eye and ripped it out. The faux cop reared back, swearing in languages and tones she'd never heard. Knock Out paid him no mind as he turned the piece in his hand over and over.
"Totally useless," he announced after a moment, tossing it over his shoulder and into a large pile of scrap metal. "You are in luck today, for I do actually have a spare from one of Shockwave's...volunteers."
Digging through a different pile of scraps, he pulled out what had to be another optic of similar size and proceeded to slam it right into Barricade's face. "There! All better."
The swearing continued for another long spell before there was a faint sound of machinery powering up and the eye flared to life. It flashed a brilliant, vibrant blue for several seconds until it faded and was overpowered by red.
Darcy was so distracted by the fact that they'd just completely replaced an eye with all the grace and caution of a caveman that she failed to notice the medic until he was right in front of her.
"Arm, squishy," he commanded. Darcy hesitated, until one of those talons moving towards her prompted obedience.
"So, squishy shoots your optic and gets to live, what am I missing?" Knock out asked as he thrust a fat needle into her forearm and injected...something that glowed for a breath.
"Nothing you need to know," Barricade snarled, snatching her up the second the medic was clear.
"Hmph. Well at least this one doesn't make so much noise. The others can be so annoying." He waved them off, drill reappearing as he turned to whatever he'd been doing before. "Now Breakdown, really, you'd understand the thrill of racing if you'd chosen an alt form…"
His voice muffled as the Mustang left the room and turned down the hall. A now hurting right forearm on top of everything else was too much to let the obedient silence continue. "What was that?"
Rubbing the spot he'd injected her to wipe away the blood, she could feel a hard bump under her skin that pinched every time she felt it.
"Tracker," he grunted, before a twisted smirk stretched his facial plates. "And if you try to cut it out, it will kill you."
Of course, because what was an advanced tracking device if it couldn't kill you too? Darcy internally swore, but then she recalled Knock Out's other comments and frowned.
"Others?" she asked before she could think to stop herself or hesitate.
He didn't answer this time, lowering his hand to drop her to the floor. "One more, Ravage."
Ravage? Now who was Ravage? Just how many of these things were there?! Darcy pulled herself back onto her feet and turned to face this newest threat. A humanoid robot she expected. A mechanical panther she did not. The cat was easily twice the size of a lion and sported a single large red eye, and a wickedly spiked tail.
It just couldn't get worse, could it?
Unfortunately, the answer always seemed to be yes.
Ravage grabbed the back of her shirt with its teeth and pulled her as easily as a cat does a mouse. Dragging her into the room it had been guarding, it released without warning and sauntered back to the doorway, dropping down with its back to the room. The detective wondered if these things actually slept and just how difficult it might be to sneak past a feline guard. That is until, of all things, a Gatling gun popped out of its hips and pointed straight into the room.
"Darcy?" an aged, exhausted, human voice questioned.
She froze, wishing with all her might that the voice did not belong to the man she thought. Not him, she pleaded silently, let him be anywhere but here, anywhere safer.
A leathery hand fell on her uninjured shoulder, turning her around to the familiar face she had desperately searched for. The sob she had fought so hard to hold back broke free the second her eyes landed on him.
"John." it was all she could choke out before she threw her good arm around him. He was alive at least, even if the situation was so much worse than she'd ever imagined. He was alive, and a small part of her was relieved that she wouldn't have to face all of this terror alone. But she was scared all the same. He was thinner and looked to have aged another ten years in the last couple weeks. She could lose him again, permanently. Both their lives in the paws of a robotic cat with an automatic gun on its back.
When he clung tightly to her, pressing her into his chest, she felt the hold on the confusion and fear slipping away. With John, she didn't have to be strong all the time. Relief, terror, exhaustion, stress, all took their toll and crashed over her head. John squeezed her tighter and the last shreds of her composure fell apart.
Captain: WHAT JOHN IS ALIVE?! AIN'T THAT CRAZY?! Hehe yes, yes it is crazy, and maybe a little unexpected, but finally a shred of light for our dear Darcy in all of this. :D
So just what *have* the 'Cons been keeping these people in secret for? Oh we'll find out next time! ;) Please drop a review!