Complicated Vows: This Is War

The Messenger

            Raptor moved to get up and continue firing but Ironhide and Optimus rushed in and restrained his arms, holding them wide, pointing the cannons away from all possible targets.

            Raptor struggled against his captors, nearly loosing his hand from Ironhide’s clutches. That was when Hide realized that he was having a difficult time gripping with his right servo. The metal had tiny flakes of blue peeling from it. It had been hit by the sulfuric acid, but he managed to hold on.

            The medical officer that had used CPR on Danielle to bring her back didn’t understand how she was even still conscious. The pain she should be in should have thrown her into shock at the very least. How she was still fully functional besides a slight limp was beyond all his years of schooling. He could only watch, agape, as she climbed up onto Bumblebee’s servo and then onto his shoulder.

            As the pair approached, not a sound was to be heard. Despite Raptor’s having been restrained, the situation was still incredibly tense. As she stared at Raptor, or rather, the mech that used to be Raptor, the blue bot stared right back into her.

            To him, she spoke slowly. “After everything we’ve been though…” she started, thinking hard about her words before she said them. “…this is how it ends up? I cared for you. I can’t believe that you were my guardian all these years.” She paused and looked down at the ground, gripping the edge of Bee’s shoulder plate tighter as the height sent a wave of vertigo rushing around her head.

            “I trusted you with my life… And this… After you finally get the gift of walking back from the Autobots… This is how you prove yourself thankful? This is how you prove that you were worthy?” Raptor’s optics began to dim at her harsh words, from red to a light purple, going on a dull blue. “I don’t know what’s wrong with you, but I won’t let you hurt my comrades anymore.”

            He looked shocked by her words. “Comrades? You call these frags your comrades? Look at what they’ve done to me! What they’ve done to you! They’ve rewired you to hate me, to want nothing to do with me! Because of them, you’d want to kill me if you had the chance! How-”

            “This is my chance,” Danielle interrupted him, finding her point and wanting to make it before she lost the will and heart to do so. “And after what you’ve done, I won’t pass it up.” she proclaimed, with determination resounding in her voice but fear and pain cracking it at the end.

            Danielle looked up at Bumblebee, angry tears beginning to shimmer in her eyes. He looked sideways at her, careful not to knock her off his shoulder.

            Barely audible to any of the humans down below but very clear to Bee and the other bots, Danielle ground out, “I hate to ask this of you, but I think it may be the only right way for this to end... I would do it, but I physically can’t…” She paused for a steadying breath. “But you… Not only can you, but I think it should be you.” A small tear fell from the corner of her eye and Bee knew exactly what she was asking of him. “I hurt you because of him. Your entire unit was hurt because of him.” She looked up at him and pressed her fingertips into his metal, desperately wishing she could feel the pain. “You deserve the finishing shot.”

            The Autobots stood speechless at her statement, though it inspired a small spark of pride, and trust, in Ironhide.

            Raptor stared in horrified disbelief at his femme. How had he hurt her? He was trying to save her! He realized that Starscream was right. Danielle was gone. That thought circled his processor before consuming it entirely, the only thing he could think of. His Danielle was dead. He raised his facemask and simply stared at that femme on the evil Camaro’s shoulder.