Ruby - Transformers: Age of Extinction fanfic

A Funny Sort of Rescue

"I'd rather die alongside my friends than rot in this cell!"

Ruby strained against her bonds.

"I can't let you die," whispered Tom.

"You don't know me!"

The ground rumbled and shook. Tom spread his arms out to balance.

"Was that an earthquake?"

A jolt of energy electrified Ruby's body. The silver bracelet around her wrist glowed white. Her strength was restored.

She snapped the bonds around her wrists and sprinted for the door as the building shook again. Definitely not an earthquake.

Tom threw himself at her, sending them both sprawling on the hard floor. Ruby jumped back up first and made for the door again. He grabbed her ankle and she stumbled.

She looked back at him. Balls of red power sparked and whirled in her hands, as bright and as beautiful as the pendant around her neck; "I don't want to hurt you."

"You won't hurt me," he said.

"Then you know that you should let me go."

Tom's face turned soft as he realised what she meant. He stared at her in awe from where he still lay on his belly, and released his grip.

Ruby ran like hell. She blasted apart every door barring her path, powering through the building to get to the top, to get to where she knew Optimus was. She ran with a desperation, like she was drowning and he was air. Her years of captivity seemed to catch up with her all at once. She needed to get out of here.

She burst through the final set of doors into the factory and stopped short. Horror glued her to the spot. Bits of transformers were strewn all over the place. The smell of burning metal and death seared in her nose.

A torso with one arm attached had been tied down with strange metal pipes. Heads were laid out in a line on a long table in the middle of the room, leading up to a glass cage, in which was a hysterical Brains.

The miniature transformer banged his tiny blue fists against the glass, mouthing something furiously. 

And just past him, was a gigantic, fat replica of Megatron. Ruby stared up at it, her eyes huge and her mouth open. It glinted silver like a pile of knives. The robot had been bound together with blue cabling and there was a gaping hole in its chest. Not a mangled, forced hole, but a carefully carved and sculptured abyss. A hole where a transformer's spark should be. Where their heart should be.

It was sickeningly unnatural. Wrong. Ruby felt faint.

Another boom shook the floor. She sucked in a breath and snapped back to reality.

She raised her hand, concentrating hard to keep it steady, and shot an energy pulse at Brains' prison. It shattered, showering the floor with glass.

"About frigging time!" said Brains, whizzing over to her, "You look terrible."

She stared down at him, still hardly able to believe her eyes with all the horrors of the factory.

"Come on, this way,"

Brains transformed into a toy truck and Ruby jogged after him. They passed empty laboratories, and the noise grew louder.

Ruby gasped at the sight that met them in the lobby. Through the smoke, she saw Optimus and Bumblebee, giants in the otherwise large space, tearing through the glass walls that made up several stories of offices. Optimus' twin samurai swords flashed and whistled through the air. Bee fired his canon blaster, shaking the place so hard Ruby had to grab onto the railing.

"What are you doing?" she cried.

Both transformers stopped and stared at her. A stray bullet shell rattled across the floor.

"Ruby!" Bumblebee retracted his canon and clapped his hands together. His yellow hide was smeared with black debris.

Optimus peered at her, moving his head closer until he filled her vision, his blue eyes fiercer than ever.

"Yes it's me." She put her hands on her hips, suddenly very aware of her ridiculous night gown. She blushed, and pretended she wore her black battle armor to give her confidence.

"What on earth are you doing?" she asked again.

"These people destroyed my friends!" Optimus roared, "They are murders!" He caught sight of the broken shackles dangling from Ruby's wrists, "And they took you from me! How DARE they! They will pay for this! RAWR!"

"STOP! Do you know who you sound like?"

Bumblebee hung his head. Optimus blinked and retracted his swords. He avoided her eyes. That's when she saw his chest. It was warped and twisted, but it looked as if someone had tried to patch it up. Tears pricked her eyes again.

"What happened to you?"

Sirens sounded in the distance.

"No, tell me later. We need to get out of here."

Nobody moved.

"Now!"