Prodigal Son

chapter 6

Kade yawned as he stumbled through the courtyard, holding a cup of coffee for dear life.
"Ugh.... I need more sleep... Heatwave, where are you-"
Suddenly, a knife whizzed through the air, centimeters from his face. His mug shattered on the ground, as he jumped wildly.
"GAAAAHHH!!!! WHAT THE FU-"
"SORRY KADE!!!"
Kade whipped around, and his jaw dropped.
Blades was carefully holding Dani back, another knife in her hands as she thrashed about.
"W-What are you doing?!"
Blades shot Kade a dry look, snarking, "OH, Y'KNOW, TOTALLY HEALTHY WAYS OF DEALING WITH EMOTIONS."
Kade glanced behind him, and noticed another tall bulletin board set up, this one with a large image of the Moor-Bot.
Embedded in the board- and the wall around it- where several more knives, a sawblade, and various sharp objects.
Dani struggled, her eyes dark as she snarled out, "LET ME GO, BLADES!"
"And let you guillotine Kade?!?! I DON'T THINK SO."
"I wasn't aiming for Kade!!! I'm just... Blowing off some steam!!"
"Yeah, BECAUSE THIS IS TOTALLY HOW NORMAL PEOPLE BLOW OFF STEAM."
Kade shifted from the mangled board, to Dani herself.
A duffel bag with various objects sticking out of it- including what looked suspiciously like a flamethrower duct taped to a chainsaw- lay to the side, which Blades was attempting to steer her away from.
Kade came closer, noticing Dani's irritated eyes, the dried tear tracks on her cheeks.
"Dani... You know this won't bring him back."
Dani froze, then scowled deeper.
"Don't you think I know that?! Don't think I know that no matter what I do to that thing, blow it up, tear it apart, rip out it's circuity with my bare hands, melt it down into a paperweight then shoot it out of a cannon to the moon, It. Won't. Bring. Him. Back. But I don't CARE."
Dani's breath grew ragged, and Blades gently let go, guiding her her to the ground as she dropped to her knees.
"I don't care... I don't care .. I WANT to feel angry, okay?!"
Kade only sighed.
"Being angry feels good. You and I have basically been like that since birth. Especially now, huh? Because if you're angry, you don't feel the pain."
Blades fully let go, but put a gentle hand against her back.
"Dani... You're using rage as a painkiller, aren't you?"
Dani breathed heavily, forcing air through her lungs, before hanging her head low, eyes trained on the ground.
"... It feels better, this way. If I .. if I just focus on ripping that thing to shreds, on how badly I want to reduce it to wires.... I can't focus on how badly I just want my baby brother back. I can't think about how powerless I feel right now, how I need to be doing SOMETHING, but I'm not. I can't. I just don't know what I can do right now. So I get MAD, and I don't think about it. I don't think about it. I don't let it in. If I let it in..."
Kade sat down next to her, a deep sigh escaping him as he takes a hand through his red hair.
"... If you don't let it in, it isn't real. It can't hurt you."
Dani sighed, leaning back as she slumped against Blades's leg.
".... I'm trying so. Hard. To keep it out. I can't fall apart. I need to stay strong."
Blades leaned down, delicately squeezing her shoulder.
"Dani, you're not any less strong if you admit you're hurting."
Dani didn't answer, only shooting Kade a dry look.
"Since when did you become doctor Phil?"
"I didn't. You think I haven't been doing the same thing?"
She scoffed, snarking back, "oh, really? Then tell me, brother of mine, what makes you holier than thou? Isn't it hypocritical to judge me if you're doing the exact same thing?"
Kade sighed and looked away.
"Maybe. But... I... I'm worried, okay? The rescue team is falling apart. Heatwave and I have been cramming on patrol, and.... He... Broke."
Both Dani and Blades looked surprised at that, and Kade stared out at the forest.
"I saw Optimus pull him aside. I don't know what exactly they talked about, but I have my guesses. I found a destroyed tree, and he hasn't let go of Cody's jacket since."
Blades looked stunned, then slowly looked down, reflecting.
"... I guess all of us have been handling things differently. Did you notice that Chase hasn't let Chief out of his sight, since Cody was taken? Even if he's talking to Uncle Woodrow, or Special Agent Fowler, he's never more than a foot behind him. ... Chase has always been a little different with how he does things, but.... I think I understand this one."
Dani nodded, a melancholic smile on her lips.
"He's afraid of loosing anybody else."
Blades nodded, looking towards the firehouse.
"I guess he thinks that if he lets his guard down for just a second.... It'll happen again."
Dani looked over at Kade, her face darkening again.
"Why'd we get stuck with the anger issues? Graham and Cody rarely get angry."
"Who knows. Maybe it's because we're oldest. Heh... Us oldest are hotheads, the youngest don't get aggressive unless they're literally about to die."
Dani barked a laugh at that.
"Yeah.... Graham and Cody have always been the most alike emotionally. They wear their heart on their sleeves."
Kade leaned back, mourning his lost coffee.
"And as for us.... The hardheads. We've got a pretty short fuse."
Dani stood up, then kicked aside the duffle bag, ignoring the throwing knife that clanked out.
"... He's really gone... That's always been how we dealt with these things, huh?"
Kade hadn't realized he was clenching his fist.
He thought about the past.
Thought about every time he'd used anger as a shield, not ready to admit to himself how nervous he actually was.
He thought about every time he'd yelled at everyone within his path, every time he'd pushed people away to go sulk in his own bubble, every time he'd jeopardized a mission because he couldn't see past his own cloud of pride.
He thought about every time he'd berated Cody for a mission gone south, deflecting blame just so he didn't have to acknowledge his own faults, usually followed by the bots comforting the youngest Burns.
Kade unclenched his hand, and stood, smiling bitterly, his jaw almost aching.
"We're real boneheads, huh?"
Dani, having similar thoughts, only nodded.
".... If-.... When, we get him back ... It'll be different."
Kade didn't even need to ask.
No more forcing Cody to play mediator to grown adults. Defusing situations he had no part of, deflecting anger.
No more avoiding the truth.
"Yeah. God.... I promise.... It'll be so different....."
Both siblings met each other's eyes, making a silent vow to be better.
Blades nervously asked,
"So.... Are we good? No more stabbing?"
Dani rolled her eyes, but smiled softly.
"No, Blades, no more stabbing."
"Phew! Not gonna lie, I may need to change my oil."
"Hey, there you are!"
Graham suddenly ran up, nearly out of breath.
"Guys!! You need to see this!"
Kade tensed slightly, as Dani asked,
"What's wrong? Did they find Cody?"
"No. But... You need to see this."
Graham ran back around the corner, and the trio shared a look, before following.
Kade shoved down his nerves, then stopped cold, his jaw dropping as he reached the front of the firehouse.
".... Woah..."
The rescue team stood is disbelief, as it looked like half the town was right outside.
Charlie approached the crowd, calling out,
"Uh.... Is... Everyone alright? Why are you all here?"
"Call it returning a favor."
Captain Shaw was ushered to the front, a Stern, yet confident look on his face.
"Chief Burns. Yer Family has bent over backwards time after time, year after year, emergency after emergency, all for this island. For as long as any of any of us can remember, ye've done everything ya possibly can for us all, out of the kindness of yer hearts. Now, it's our turn."
He motioned, and much to the team's surprise, Huxley Prescott stepped forward.
He held up a tablet, and one of his camera drones.
"I have my cameras hidden at every major access point for the island. If the Moor-Bot comes back, you should be able to tell. And, I've messaged all my journalism friends on the mainland, they've all agreed to spread word about Cody's abduction."
He held out the tablet, which was taken by a stunned Graham.
Next, Carin. She held up her smart phone, winking at Charlie.
"My old Squad buddies are more than happy to do a favor for the legendary Chief Charlie Burns. Every officer in the state of Maine has Cody's description, as well as a detailed description of the Moor-Bot's car mode."
Fowler looked impressed at that, checking his own progress.
Captain Shaw himself nodded, adding,
"I talked with all the usual freighters, all of 'em know you report anythin' strange in the water."
And, perhaps most unexpected, Miss Neederlander walked up, the elderly woman shaking her fist with vigor.
"You listen here, Charlie! I may be a cranky old koot, but I know a crisis when I see one. The second that robot comes near Griffin Rock, it's good as junk!"
Everyone started voicing support, and Mr Sharma timidly called for attention.
"Chief Burns, I need to ask. Is ... Is it true? That Cody is being...."
He trailed off, and Charlie only sighed.
"... Yes. It's true. .... My son is being mind controlled. The Moor-Bot somehow got it's hands on one of Madeline Pinch's hypnotic cell phones, and used it on Cody."
The crowd rumbled at that, but Captain Shaw only held up a hand.
"Chief. Listen. Throughout everythin' this island has gone through, you've kept us all calm, inspired us in our darkest hours. It's our turn to return the favor."
He held up his hand, yelling,
"FOR THE BURNS FAMILY!"
The crowd cheered, voicing agreement and enthusiasm.
Charlie felt himself blush, unable to string together a full sentence.
"I... I don't know what to say."
Woodrow nudged him, smiling as he said in a low tone,
"I'd say you just got a miracle, Charlie."
Graham connected Huxley's tablet to the monitor setup, which Rafael instantly accessed.
From towards the back of the rescue team group, Optimus stepped up to Heatwave, who was stunned as he observed the sudden activity.
Charlie conversing with various people, Team Science debating over the camera angles, Fowler discussing garnered information with Carin and Huxley, and so much more.
Heatwave held up Cody's jacket, then closed his hand tight around the garment.
".... Sir. Do you think we can pull this off?"
Optimus didn't answer right away, coming around to stand in front of him.
He placed his hand on Heatwaves's chest, staring into his optics.
"What does your Spark tell you?"
Heatwave paused, then closed his lids.
He focused on the beat of his spark, the thoughts echoing in his mind.
The bright orange glow of his optics shined fiercely as he said with strong determination,
"Let's do this."