Keller's lips started moving, his face shadowed, then illuminated by the flickering lights. "Gentlemen, they know the Cube is here." They turn off and on before staying lit, a low groan emitting from the walls and ceiling.
It was too urgent to mention the fact that there were a number of women among them. If the enemy knew where the All Spark was, there would be no way to stop them, not without the Autobots.
The older brunette stepped away and flattened a button on a small speaker with his right hand. "Bannachek. What's going on?"
Crackled and fuzzy, a worried voice filtered back through the console. "Well, the NBE One hangar has lost power and the backup generator is just not gonna cut it."
The balding agent admirably held back an outburst, but emotional control wouldn't be enough change their fate. Everyone in the room was listening, realizing the depth of the shit they were in.
Captain Lennox's team had fought a Decepticon before and walked away from it in the end. From what Midge heard from Glen and Maggie, it was much bigger than the slip of a robot that sliced her bikini in twain and the battle was hugely destructive, that they were "lucky it happened in a desert." That, and she couldn't take all the credit. Mikaela had dealt the finishing blow.
"Do you have an arms room?" Lennox asked, putting his hands on the desk and leaning in to meet Bannachek's eyes. Out of all the people she met since she stepped foot in this dam, he was hands-down the most determined to see this through. She respected that about the army man.
He reminded Midge of herself, somewhat. Not that she was buff or manly or militant like him, but they were both problem-solvers, doers, the kind of people that saw a problem and did something about it.
That was what she thought while she trailed the man's steps, racing to the armory as one. Neither of them would take this lying down.
Pop!
Click, click, click, click, click.
Air rushing through a small hole, then a firearm's chamber spinning. Add in the chatter and you've got yourself white noise, echoing sharply in the long hall. It droned on, almost lulling Midge into dozing off. She was tired from the mischief they've gotten up to in the last day or two, but would not allow herself rest until it was over.
"Forty millimeter Sabot rounds on that table!" Simmons stated harshly, indicating the white plastic surface in the middle of the room. On a different table, Midge discerned a few fleetingly forgotten sidearms, probably placed there temporarily while a warrior changed their gear. On its side it had lain, a pistol with a woefully empty magazine grip. She stood with the other civilians, grouped up in on the shadowed edge of the operation, and subtly shifted closer to her target.
The conversation and the metal snapping faded together, becoming an unbearably loud white noise. Midge only knew that in the aftermath, though, when it had stopped, leaving her ears ringing with the sudden quietude. The lights were flickering and even the mess of gritty, war-forged soldiers had the decency to look to the rafters, concerned.
When the twinkling steadied and became solid, Sam rushed into the eye of the storm, striding right up to Simmons while the man slipped rounds as thick as Midge's wrist into the open rifle. "You gotta take me to my car," Sam begged, staring into the man's eyes even as he was ignored. "You have to take me to my car. He's gonna know what to do with the Cube."
With the big lug distracted, she made a show of cracking her back and rolling her shoulders. She made it look natural, stretching out and snagging the pistol nonchalantly. Immediately, she tucked it into the back of her waistband, shrouded only by her thin, ratty tee.
"Your car?" Simmons shook his head, holding in a laugh but letting slip a disbelieving smile. "It's confiscated."
"Then unconfiscate it!" Midge growled, she and Mikaela stepping up next to Sam. Every time she thought the younger girl would run, she impressed her by sticking to Sam like glue.
"We do not know what'll happen if we let it near this thing!" Simmons almost screamed in reply. He was looking mighty fearful, and not only of the imminent threat. "Well, I mean maybe you two know, but I don't know."
"You just want to sit here and wait and see what happens?" Sam shouted, his stance widening.
"I have people's lives at stake here, young man!" At last, the agent had lost his composure, wagging his finger at Sam and hollering at him.
Having seen enough, Lennox bodily grabbed Simmons, wrenching him to the side and forcing the firearm from his grasp. It clattered on the ground while Lennox pinned him by his collar against some kind of military ATV. "Take him to his car!" the brunette seethed, grasping the agent by his bulletproof vest.
Seeing the curly-haired man in distress, another agent drew his rifle on the leading man. Lennox's men struck harder and faster.
The captain pulled out his own pistol, pointing it at the person aiming a rifle in his face. "Drop it." Instantly, his company followed his lead, slamming elbows and rifle butts into the agents nearest to them, holding enough of them at gunpoint to cause an impasse. The black-clad agent seemed to weigh his options, his deep brown irises twitching to and fro, searching for an out.
Midge swiped a loaded magazine off the table, praying it would slide in easily, and jamming it in the grip of the pistol. She'd seen people do it in movies and was surprised when it simply worked. She knew there was no reality in which they took down all the Decepticons without the Autobots' help. In order to reach them and figure out what to do with the Cube, they needed Bumblebee. It wasn't just her crush that was at stake, but the entire world.
Looking down at the weapon, she made sure the switch on its side was flipped to the side that said 'FIRE.' She pulled back the hammer, cocking the gun and making it ready to fire. She pointed it at the closest, the first one to raise his rifle, and the whole room went still. She'd never fired a gun before, but she and her mom watched a lot of cop dramas. She knew just enough to squeak by, and Midge was sure she had them all fooled now based on their wide eyes.
The only people she saw fighting for the right thing were the soldier and his teammates, plucked from the battlefield in Afghanistan and she was throwing in with them. If anyone could get her to Bumblebee, she knew it would be them. Midge was impressed at how quickly the soldiers picked up on the facts of the situation, learning the ins and outs in no time at all.
"Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!" Bannachek raised his hands, astonishment painted on his unsettled visage.
"Drop your weapon, soldier," Simmons demanded, eyebrows rising indignantly with his finger raised. "There's an alien war going on and you're going to shoot me?"
Briefly glancing to his captive, the soldier maintained focus on the weapon in his face. "You know, we didn't ask to be here."
His words spoke for them all, including the Witwicky siblings and their tag-along. When they met the soldiers, she had assumed they were there by choice, but she was proven wrong and a similarity appeared between them. None of them asked to be there.
"If he doesn't shoot you, I will. The venom dripping from every word had to be enough to cover up her gnawing anxiety, the prickling sensation on the back of her neck because she didn't know if her 'bot was in one piece. "Unless you get me to Bumblebee." Her fingers flexed on the grip, trying not to let the clamminess grease her palms.
The curly-haired agent took on a new, more stern facade. "It's a deadly giant robot, not a bumblebee." He rolled his eyes at the woman, settling on the soldier. "I'm ordering you under S-Seven executive jurisdiction."
"S-Seven don't exist," Epps' voice intoned fiercely from over her shoulder. Blue eyes fervently searched the room for any sudden movements. A droplet rolled between her eyebrows, dripping off the apex of her button nose. She dare not move an inch, knowing her bluff would not cover her inexperience forever.
Lennox concurred, turning to look at the curly-haired agent again. "Right. And we don't take orders from people that don't exist." With both of their guns pointed at the same man, Lennox looked toward Midge gratefully and readjusted his grip on the pistol, his short brown hair plastered to his moistened skin.
"I'm gonna count to five," Simmons threatened, forehead wrinkled with the height of his brows. He was practically lain back on the vehicle now.
"Well, I'm gonna count to three." Lennox's right arm moved quickly, changing his target to the agent he had accosted. His face gave nothing away, pressing the pistol further into Simmons' chest. A glistening bead of sweat rolling down his cheek was the only evidence of nerves. "Mm?"
She was in awe of the man's control, both over his mind and his body. Not only was he sharp as a tack, but able to change minute details of his expressions and body language in a nanosecond. He was the last person she'd want a quarrel with.
"Simmons?"
The agent turned to Secretary Keller upon his voice breaking the silence. "Yes, sir?" he said in a small voice.
"I'd do what they say. Losing's really not an option for these guys, and by the fire in her eyes... Well, I think there's a saying about it. Ain't nothing in hell like a woman scorned."
She almost wanted to correct him, but now wasn't the time for a "Hell hath no fury" discussion. Plus, he was the Secretary of Defense, defending her from the government he worked for. She let it go and focused instead on the discussion at hand where the head agent was giving in.
"All right. Okay." Simmons nodded lamely, his gruff demeanor softening instantly. "Hey, you want to lay the fate of the world on the kid's Camaro? That's cool."
Finally, the situation had deflated, the tension blowing out when the ultimatum had been accepted. Flipping the safety to on, she passed the gun over to Lennox, admitting that she wasn't sure how to uncock it. The experience would have to be short-lived, however, as she had an important friend to rescue.
A/N: I hope someone got my 'George W. Bush getting the quote wrong' reference. Also, I'm aware that there are a few things about Midge that I retconned and need to be edited to be more cohesive, as well as just generally going through the editing process for grammar and readability. I'll get around to it (hopefully) soon. Thank you all for reading!