Transformers Prime: Beast Hunters - Ignition

34. Coincidence

"Maiden, are you all right?" His voice was gentle and soft, easing me out of the screens I'd become so fixated on tonight. Since BlackLight and I had stumbled onto the accidents that had killed our parents, and the fact that they were eerily similar, I'd become a bit obsessed. Frightened, really. This couldn't possibly be real. It had to be some freaky coincidence . . . Right?

I'd spent much of my free time trying to find as much information as I could on my parents, and Lauren's. It was strange, to spend your whole life thinking you'd known them, but then having to change your entire line of thought in an attempt to find some buried conspiracy. If it was a conspiracy at all, even. I couldn't stop scanning the screens, trying to find what I'd spent so long on.

"Maiden," he called again, quietly, his large hand coming to rest on my shoulder servo. "You need to recharge. Any information that is on those screens now will still be there in the morning."

He was right I guess, but I still didn't want to look away. It was almost painful to tear my optics from the screen and look at Optimus instead.

"You don't understand," I whispered. "What if my parents didn't die in a freak accident? What if they were murdered? What if they had some grave secret no one else knew about? And they were just . . . Just yanked away like they were nothing. What if someone wanted them dead? What if they did something that they were hunted, and I was spared because they didn't even know I was alive? What if I was supposed to die with them?"

"Maiden, spending your time on the past will not change it. Your curiosity is understandable, but driving yourself mad and depriving yourself of your needs is not a good alternative. Rest."

"But they-."

"Soldier, that is not a suggestion, it is a command."

Nothing in his tone was harsh, though. Optimus was not trying to be cruel, he was looking out for my well-being. And somehow, that meant more to me than anything right now. The world was not a kind place, and yet he still had plenty of kindness left in his spark.

"Yes, Sir," I answered softly. Leaving the screens, I shut them down, and went back to my berth, lying quietly in the darkness, glancing over at Li and where she slept. I wondered if she'd ever known that her parents had been working with the government. That was all I could gather from what I'd found. They had low-ranking 'retail jobs' but had also lived well beyond their means without so much as a trace of credit card debt. They'd had a nice house in the better part of town, a nanny, enrolled their kids in the best school . . .

Everything about their lives spoke of much, much better jobs than typical clothing store and restaurant wages. And yet, there they were. Living their lives like they'd had things handed to them.

And here was Li, nearly two decades after it had all been taken away.

~~~

"What happened?" I asked quietly, my eyes glued to the ground in front of them. I couldn't bear to look them in the eyes right now. Everything I'd known was being shaken. "It wasn't just an accident, was it?" I was human again, shorter than them now. Well, shorter than my father, My mother I was still about two inches above.

"Sweetheart," my mother began, reaching out for me. "I don't understand what you're asking."

"You were murdered, weren't you?" It was bolder this time as I looked up at them, eyes wavering, trying to find some sort of answer in their faces. How had they never before mentioned the possibility that they'd been hunted down?

"Darling, we-."

But she never finished. My meeting with my parents was all too short as BlackLight's alarm went off on the other side of the room, gently stirring me from what recharge I'd managed to get this morning. As I glanced at her, I could tell she hadn't slept well either, her mind abuzz with the same questions as mine. It wasn't surprising. Before, we'd been linked simply by experimentation and a piece of spark.

Now, we were both haunted by the fact that our parents dying may not have been as accidental as we'd thought for years.

So what now? Where did we go from here?

"Wanna go to the beach?" Li asked softly, not even bothering to look up from the floor, her hair still a tangled mess from sleeping.

"Sure, Kiddo." Honestly, right now, anything sounded like a good idea as long as it didn't involve sitting around. Investigating what had happened so many years ago may be good for my curiosity, but it was terrible for my anxiety. I was certain it had to be a trick of my processor, or phantom pains, or something, but as a human I'd had terrible anxiety pains in my chest on a semi-regular basis. Often enough that it was highly uncomfortable, but never quite bad enough that I'd admit to needing a doctor.

At least, not until the year before I'd become an Autobot. That's when I'd first gone to my physician and they'd given me Zoloft. It had worked wonders, except for the nightmares that caused me to wake up crying on more than one occasion.

~~~

We returned to a desert shore today, in an attempt to avoid people. It had worked. Not a soul in sight, which meant I was free to be in my Cybertronian mode, rather than my alternate. I laid down in the sand, feeling the grains slip between my metal harmlessly. It was relaxing, even as an Autobot, to have a few moments of silence. Just the wind, the sand, the lapping of waves against the shore.

It was nice to have some isolation from the war that was attempting to tear us all to shreds.

As a half-predacon, Lauren appreciated it even more. She lazily dug herself into the sand as she laid down, pushing her face into the fine grains, a smile wide across her face. "It's so cozy warm," she murmured, a slither of fire leaving her mouth with the words.

And I supposed it was. This place was far more peaceful than some of the other destinations we'd chosen before. While it lacked culture and human interaction, it was still a calming place to be. It was like we were alone on this planet, left without the devastation that so often ruled our existence.

Of course, it couldn't last too long, now could it?

"Hey there, beauties!" Angel's voice was quick to join us, and I opened my optics just in time to see the faint shimmer as she closed the Gate to the UP behind her. It was imperceptible to most, and barely visible to the rest. "How are you two doing today?" She asked, walking over to sit on my arm like it were a bench. "Quite the destination you've got here, huh?"

Li laughed softly, but closed her eyes again, snuggling against the sand like a lizard, or even a dog in its bed.

Angel had visited WheelJack's base often to help the sisters with their training, and now they were on much better, friendlier, grounds with Angel. It was nice to see that they didn't hate each other the way they used to, even if I had my suspicions that Angel was the reason that Li had become a bit more reckless as of late.

"Oh, come on, now, Jewel. Are you mad at me or something, Sugar?" Angel looked at me with those silver-grey eyes, and I had to laugh a little.

"No, Angel. Just trying to relax and forget the world for a little bit."

Angel shrugged, and plopped down into the sand next to me, hands behind her head, legs crossed. She dropped her voice to a near whisper before speaking. "I heard from the Plane that you're awfully restless as of late, Jewel. Your unconscious mind is setting off waves. Care to inform me of what it is that has you both unsettled?"

I shook my helm gently. "Not now, Ang. I'll tell you later. Right now is for relaxing."

"Damn right you will," Angel answered with a smile. "Don't make me go poking around your mind, Dearest."