Transformers ( Bayverse ) - I Bleed Into Darkness

22 - Shatter Me

        His strong arms slid Fay off the floor, holding her close to his form. She didn’t bother to fight it. What would the point of that be when she was so broken on the inside? It didn’t matter. Nothing mattered right now. Obviously she was meant to be alone. She was meant to stay away from men in general. Because when she got too close to them, things like THIS happened. She wasn’t prepared for that. She couldn’t keep doing it.

        The world was gray for a moment, she could feel the shadows reaching for her. The slithering darkness that crept around corners and through cracks, taunting her because it would always be so close and she couldn’t possibly outrun it. She needed her medicine soon. It was the only thing that would push the shadows away, even temporarily.

        “Filly . . .”

        She jumped, jerking against his grip, slipping from his arms. She pushed up against the wall as she stood on shaky legs, gripping the necklace in her hand.

        She had to be hallucinating. In no universe or dimension did this sort of thing happen. This wasn’t in any way possible. But he was here. Sitting on her floor, watching her sadly as she forced herself away from him, even though her muscles still ached. They’d be fine by now if she’d bothered to do more than take a few steps here or there, sit up, or turn over in her bed since the night she’d gone running for two miles.

        The night she’d seen Optimus die.

        She’d seen him die.

        And here he was, sitting on her floor like absolutely nothing was out of the ordinary. It was terrifying and wonderful. It gave her hope and felt like a dagger to her spark. He was gone. He’d been gone for days. And she couldn’t imagine how on Cybertron this was in any way possible. It wasn’t . . . That was her only explanation. She’d gone for too long without her medication. The shadows were gripping her mind, playing tricks. He was gone and nothing would change that.

        “Wh-what are you doing here . . . ? Y-you’re not . . .” She attempted to slide across the wall, hoping to get closer to her bed, to the window, but knocked over her bedside lamp in the process, glass shattering on the floor, at the impact, the metal base creating a loud crash. Fay jumped at the noise, at the glass pressing against her skin as she attempted to move again, and she quickly pulled her bare foot away from the danger zone. Her body began to shake entirely.

        Fay took a shuddering breath as Optimus stood, watching him like a spooked animal. She pressed closer to the wall when he attempted to take a step closer, but he soon thought better of it and instead took a step back.

        “I apologize, Filly . . .” He held out his hands in a nonthreatening manner to show her he didn’t have any weapons or any intention of hurting her to begin with. “I know you wanted me to stop exploiting the lax security, and I’m sorry for my lapse in judgement, I’ve just been worried about you . . .”

        She began to shake further, tremors sliding through her body as she took in his appearance, staring at his form. It just wasn’t possible. People didn’t return from the dead. They stayed dead. He was impossibly impossible and her mind couldn’t piece together even a shred of what she was attempting to process.

        “Y-You . . . You’re . . .” Fay stuttered, trying to grasp the words she knew were there, somewhere, but it was hard to get a hold of anything at the moment when she was staring at a dead man, and he was watching her back.

        “Filly?” Optimus reached for her carefully, merely extending his arm just slightly, disapproving of the fear he saw in Fay’s eyes. She shouldn’t be frightened of him. She wasn’t supposed to be frightened of him. Fay had been snarky, quick-witted, brash, hateful, caring, loving, daring, bold and so much more with him . . .