Fighting for Life

"Mirage stop it!" I laughed at him as he picked me from my tree and put me on his shoulder. Mirage chuckled at my meager attempt to get from his grip.

"It's no use piccolina, you're mine, I've got you." After that it had suddenly gotten quiet. I heard the subtext there and I wished more than anything for it to be true, for something like that to be possible. I saw him looking at me too. A look in his optics that wasn't there before. He quickly looked away again, and whatever moment that was, had ended.

Suddenly I wasn't on top of Mirages' shoulders but on the ground. Mirage was on the concrete ground next to me. His optics looking toward me were dimming and he was reaching toward me until he went dark. His arm fell the ground with a clang and I broke down and ran toward him ignoring the explosions around me. It was happening all over again and it hurt just a bad as before.

Suddenly I was choking and sputtering as water poured from my mouth. I tried to cover my mouth and was quickly alerted to the fact that my hands were tied above my head. I tugged at them and found that it was pretty much useless. I looked around and the room here was more lit than the other one. It was small, with grey concrete walls. Standing in front of me was Silas and two of his cronies. One of them held a gun and the other looked like he was gripping a very large bowie knife. I slightly shrunk away from them and I saw Silas reveal an evil glint in his eyes.

"OK Ms. Fletcher, here's what's going to happen. I'm going to ask you a question and you're going to answer it. If you don't answer you will be punished, if you lie you will be punished." I glanced towards the men with the weapons as he said this and he smiled. "Yes, smart girl. So do you understand the rules?" I nodded slightly. "Okay. First question, it's rather easy. How did you meet the robots?"

"In Ch-chicago." I gulped slightly as I kept glancing towards the weapons. I can't let them touch me. Don't let them touch you Carolyn I kept saying to myself.

"Good. Now, where do they come from?"

"I don't know exactly." I murmured. I saw Silas look behind him and the man with the knife stepped forward.

"You lie I hurt you Ms. Fletcher." I said as the man pressed the knife against my cheek and cut me. I winced and started whimpering as I realized it was serrated. "Now. Let's try this again. Where do they come from?"

"Some planet! I don't know! All I know is that it was destroyed!" I shrunk away from him afraid that he would think I was lying again. He seemed to sit and contemplated my answer before he spoke again.

"Where are the robots?" He asked. I couldn't tell him that! I cannot. He would send his troops to kill them. Just like Mirage. I tried to find the strength to push them away, but when I tried I felt an electrical shock run through me. There were wires and tubes coming out from my arms and legs. I cried out as I felt my body convulse and shake violently. Silas clicked his tongue at me and I looked up at him. "I wouldn't try that again. We wired some of these-" He pointed at the black boxes at the floor. "to your nervous system. Our good doctor figured out the basics of how you are able to do what you do. Of course other than knowing that your nervous system becomes incredibly erratic, we have no other clue on how you do that. But we will soon enough. Every time you try to use your power the shock will be stronger each time. Now back to the question. Where are they?"

Optimus stood stock still as he looked at Mirage who had finally come out of his stasis and was talking as if nothing had happened.

"Optimus. Did you just say Carolyn is gone? What happened! How long have I been asleep?" he said as he quickly looked in between Optimus and Ratchet.

"Mirage, you were shot up pretty badly when Shelby Fletcher attacked the base. So badly you were almost dead."

"Fletcher… Carolyn's sister? That was her? What happened to Carolyn. Did she hurt her?"

"No Carolyn was fine. She actually helped us stop her sister." Optimus said.

"I had told her to stay in her room too." Mirage chuckled. "I guess it's a good thing she's stubborn. So what happened after that?"

"Well Carolyn recuperated quickly but when she found out the extent of what happened to you she wouldn't leave your side. She didn't want to. She moped around the base for weeks. She came in one day screaming that she had seen your holoform in the hallway."

"She saw my holoform. I remember something when I was unconscious. It was just dark and I was reliving memories. Many of them were with Carolyn. It was like I was watching from outside myself and each time I'd seen her I tried to get to her, every time. I don't know how I could've activated my holoform." Mirage shook his head in confusion. "So where is she? I need to find her." Mirage said as he tried to stand.

Ratchet rushed forward and shoved him back down. Mirage began to fight him back trying to get free of his grip but he could feel he was weak. "You have been out of commission for weeks you are not going anywhere until I say you can."

"Optimus what happened, where is she?!" Mirage shouted. Optimus looked at him and he could see the desperation in Mirages' eyes.

He sighed and stepped forward and put his hands on Mirages' shoulders. "We don't exactly know."