Unforeseen: Questions and Revelations

Untitled Part 10

"Casualty count?"

"Six, and rising."

My chest hurt. Eyes ached.

Where was I?

"Any word on what they made off with?"

Why was it so dark?

"None yet, ma'am, but I assure you my team is working on it."

Blackness greeted me in every direction. A strange noise played in the air. It rumbled and turned like the gears of an old forgotten factory. There was a slight tick in the mechanism. Faint yet rhythmic. I could just make it out over the haze.

One... two... three... tick... One... two... three... tick...

Something wasn't quite aligned.

A warm sensation danced across my heart and I flinched.

"She's awake."

Light flickered in and out of view. It was bright. Searing. I tried to shield my eyes.

Something clicked.

"Sorry," a familiar voice said. "I had a lamp on."

"Ratchet?"

His face eased in from the fog. "You've been out for several hours. Feeling any better?"

I sighed. Now I remembered where I was. "Yeah."

The bench let out a dull groan beneath my uncle's weight. "I'm glad you're safe. You had us worried." He brushed hair to the side and eased a pair of glasses onto my nose.

I wasn't sure I was ready for the clarity.

He gave my hand a squeeze.

I tried to focus on breathing normally but each intake came with an unsteady waver. My chest burned. I hadn't felt this way in ages. My hands curled above my heart and willed it to stop.

"What's wrong with her?" someone asked.

"She didn't take her medicine on time," Ratchet replied.

It's not like I'd meant to. My bag had been lost in the mayhem and by the time I'd realized it was gone, I couldn't return to retrieve it. Armed guards had barred the entrance and my badge had been inside. It had taken Ratchet nearly two hours to get here.

"How long until I can speak with her?" That someone asked again.

"She's going to be like this for a while. Energon burns don't recover quickly."

"I beg your pardon?"

"Her medication safeguards her system not only from human ailments, but from Cybertronian ones as well. Energon can be volatile and her body lacks the proper mechanisms to neutralize it."

I had always been good about taking them, no matter how much I whined. I'd always kept my bag close at hand. Always made sure I had everything I needed. Yet somehow it had escaped my mind when I had fled. It was stupid.

We hadn't even been shot at.

The 'con had vanished as quickly as he had appeared. Apart from a few achy muscles, which I felt as I sat up, I had nothing to speak of my encounter. None of it made sense. There was no reason for me to be alive. No explanation for why the Decepticon hadn't fired. Yet he had not and that aspect had troubled me into a stupor.

His aim had been precise.

Warmth once again danced across my breast. It was filled with tender reassurance.