June Darby [Being Human AU] (Transformers: Prime)

Chapter Thirteen | Memories

"Memories warm you up from the inside. But they also tear you apart."

~Haruki Murakami, Kafka on the Shore

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Any aspect of war you are willing to show him.

War. There were many kinds of war that June Darby had experienced in her lifetime. There was, of course, the traditional kind of war, one which ripped fathers, brothers, and sons from their families and either returned them broken or dead. June, a female, was fortunate enough to never firsthand see this; but she feared one day that her son may be forced to. In an ironic twist of fate, they both ended up being a part of such warfare, but not between their own kind - no, between the Autobots and Decepticons, an alien race.

June Darby had known of a different war long before that, however.

"You may kiss the bride," were words that could not come soon enough, her arms wrapping around the neck of the one she loved dearly, sharing a kiss that sealed their fates. Until death did they part, the pair would love one another for many, many years to come.

When she became pregnant with Jack, they were overjoyed, ecstatic. A child to call their own, and hopefully one day the big brother of many more. Though they both worked, it was decided that June would take maternal leave and her husband would eventually quit. Her nursing job earned more than his desk job, thus it made financial sense. Everything was perfect.

Until something changed. It was not overnight, but it became progressively worse. As her baby bump grew, so did his anger, his impatience. The man she loved, a kind and gentle soul, suddenly could not hold his temper. He would become angry at the smallest of things, the most mundane of noises or gestures. He screamed at a clock once for ticking too loudly. In two months, the house became a warzone. June would leave for work, only to come back to find the house trashed, an appliance broken, or her beloved husband in the middle of one of his fits.

She hated going home. There was endless screaming, fighting. Her health dramatically declined, she became at risk for preeclampsia, and her coworkers began to whisper. They were concerned for her, yes, there was no malicious intent behind the rumors which spread, but rumors were rumors all the same. June just desperately wanted her husband back.

At month four of her pregnancy, she become sick. He did nothing to help her. A man that would have dropped everything at the mention of a sore throat now left her to lie in bed. He had since been fired from his job and no longer was employed. Their bank accounts were drained on meaningless things he would destroy in a fit of anger a week later. June ended up making a secret savings account just so she could survive. Her doctor warned her that she could be in the stages of eclampsia. She may need hospitalization.

"June," a voice, gentle and unsure, broke through the haze. "Are you . . . sure you want to show me this?"

Then he hit her. And it was over. She was gone the next day, quitting her job on the spot and escaping. The nurse drove to her parents house, almost two-hundred miles away in Jasper, Nevada. The long trip nearly cost her her life, and that of Jack's. But the woman was not about to give up. She would survive.

"I suppose . . . maybe," she replied, looking around as she was pulled from a direct, first-person view of the memory. Megatronus was standing with her, the two of them shockingly human-sized, standing in the hospital room together where her past self resided. "This is . . . war, though perhaps not the kind you were expecting."

He nodded, looking around, his expression forlorn. "I am sorry about your mate," he finally said. "I remember, from Optimus, speaking to you about him . . . I suppose if I had known -"