illdriveyoushoot: (Default)
[personal profile] illdriveyoushoot posting in [community profile] red_diode_district
She takes the bus now, more often than not.

She'd sold her old bike, dragged her dad off for a 'new start'; pretty much vanished off the grid for a while. Mikaela had done as much as she'd been allowed to do, to get away and keep from being found.

Keep from being found by her friends, at least.

A part of her - the bitter part - is sometimes upset that they never did. That they never tried, never suspected. But then again, the way she had broken up with Sam, real and so very angry...

That same bitter part, while upset, isn't surprised she'd been so easily forgotten.

And then Chicago had happened, freedom had come with a price for everyone, and...

Well. Being left alone was more understandable, after that.

So now Mikaela takes the bus, to and from her little backwoods, podunk gas station/convenience store/one-car garage quick-e-mart, the best she can get on just a highschool degree in this economy, expunged record or not. She does register and occasional garage work, and she has a good shot at making manager in the spring. Her dad has his own place, finally, moving in with a woman with little patience and no tolerance for his crap.

She's too good for him, and Mikaela is happy for them.

But being on her own leaves her with too much time to think, and despite no lack of offers, hints, and the same old innuendos, she's had no one since Sam. She's lonely, and alone in a world where no one remembers or cares who she is or what she's given up.

In short, it sucks, and playing at 'normal' isn't at all what it's cracked up to be.

Date: 2014-08-29 05:36 am (UTC)
oneshallstand: (Default)
From: [personal profile] oneshallstand
Things haven't been 'normal' for Optimus Prime for thousands of years.

That said, he had gotten familiar with Earth; its people, its places, its way of working. And then their allies were, all at once, gone- the government they had come to trust shutting its doors, the organization they treated as equals dissolving. At first he had stayed in contact with them, as many as they good, but as weeks and months dragged on-

-it became rapidly clear that things were changing. And that once again, it would be necessary to remain in disguise.

So disguise he takes, with Bumblebee and the few other Autobots at his side. They spread out by necessity, only occasionally meeting up again for strategy meetings and the like- but it is becoming too dangerous to do so too often, and for too long. Because against all odds...

Something is hunting them.

Someone is hunting them.

Optimus Prime barely made it out of the last ordeal, but not without injuries. They force him to remain in altmode for now, a dingy old truck with none of the bold red and blue he had worn years ago. He finds a junkyard, a place which would normally cause him unease even knowing that none of these are his people- but now? Now it is hiding among the same, aged, beat-up, dusty old vehicles who will give him the cover he needs for his self-repair to take over.

The Autobot leader lets himself slip towards a healing stasis, conserving power and energy in what he can only hope will be as close to safety as he can get. For now.

we can ff if need be?

Date: 2014-08-29 02:26 pm (UTC)
oneshallstand: (Default)
From: [personal profile] oneshallstand
Morbid is a good word.

Morbid is something that Optimus is getting more and more familiar with, despite his reluctance.

Resting in a scrapyard definitely fits the 'morbid' bill, with him half-buried under a handful to help make it look that he'd been there for some time. Still, as the night watch's flashlight sweeps by, he can't help but mentally wince; his appearance is more dirty than dusty, a sharp contrast to the rusted hulks he's hiding amongst, and for a moment Optimus wonders if he's been outed [he'd been sure to adjust his paint, there's no Autobot symbols visible he can think of, what could he be wearing to make them linger so?]

...and then they simply move on, leaving Optimus alone. He distantly picks up a mutter of 'must've brought it in the other day without telling me' which...works. For now.

word

Date: 2014-08-29 06:16 pm (UTC)
oneshallstand: (i've been afraid)
From: [personal profile] oneshallstand
Optimus drifts in and out of stasis. He cannot afford to be completely blind to the world around him; on the other hand, without Ratchet to assist, his self-repair needs to be prioritized so that it can work. Even so, it won't be complete; some things will linger, but they'll have to remain until he can meet back up with his fellow Autobots. Even then...

He pulls himself half-awake at the sound of someone rummaging about; human, he distantly notes, prepared to drift back unless there's another stimulus. But something gives him pause.

The voice gives him pause, because he knows that voice.

It's too much to risk on so little, and so Optimus settles for simply letting his visual feeds ping on, slowly scanning and searching and...

...he wouldn't call it 'impossible', but the chance that it is who he suspects is so unlikely as to be absurd.

Date: 2014-08-29 06:44 pm (UTC)
oneshallstand: (Default)
From: [personal profile] oneshallstand
On the bright side, all that's staring at her appears to be a slightly-buried semitruck, lights off and dirt staining its faded blues.

On the down side, Optimus Prime has utterly no idea how he can be certain this is who it seems to be. Humans- while not looking all the same- are somewhat harder to tell apart than his fellow Cybertronians. And while his scanners tell him quite a lot...

If this is her, then she has changed. And how much is there that is below the surface? If it is her, if it is one of their old allies who took an absence- who is to say she still holds any thoughts for his and his own?

He settles for simply unlocking his doors, the sound muffled by the cars around him, but still an audible - if dulled - click.

Date: 2014-08-29 07:28 pm (UTC)
oneshallstand: (before i go)
From: [personal profile] oneshallstand
By reaction alone, that is Mikaela Banes. Optimus feels a surge of guilt for the clear panic he instills, and thinks back to the circumstances of her departure; she had seemed so strong, but she had also seemed unable to simply continue further. They could do nothing but let her go, and here, no, it must seem as though he's tracked her down when this is simply pure chance.

He's tempted to just stay quiet, now, and slip back in to stasis. She's dealt with enough; there is no need to burden her with his own troubles.

And then she steps forward.

Optimus watches her soundlessly, uncertain how to react. He's nowhere near the amount of experience someone like Bumblebee has, not with Mikaela, not with any human; he's dealt with their soldiers, and certainly Sam and Mikaela as individuals, but that was some time ago.

The most he can do now without truly breaking cover is let his engine rumble on, the sound a quiet - and hopefully reassuring - almost-purr.

Date: 2014-08-29 10:04 pm (UTC)
oneshallstand: (nobody can save me now)
From: [personal profile] oneshallstand
The engine doesn't so much grow quiet as fade off after a final (and brief) rev of confirmation, then allowed to trail in to silence. Yes, it's him.

If only he were better at reading human emotions, though- she seems to be relieved, were he any guess.

Still a friend, then.

After a few long moments, he lets his driver's side door open. He's in no state to simply drive off [not without causing far more trouble than it's worth], but not knowing if anyone else is nearby- he's uncertain whether it's safe enough to risk talking aloud. Normally he'd simply transform, but these are hardly normal times.

Even by Earth standards.

Within the cab, his radio crackles to life, for the moment only offering a bit of static- but she's smart, isn't she? She'll catch the implications.

Date: 2014-08-30 01:39 am (UTC)
oneshallstand: (that all this time)
From: [personal profile] oneshallstand
As always, his first thought is not for himself. His radio emits a bit more static- and then his voice, calm and concerned.

And...tired.

"Easy, Mikaela. This is a matter of circumstance; I did not know you were here."

A pause.

"But...it is good to see you are well. We had worried, after your leave."

He makes no comment as to the state of his interior; part of the disguise involved altering that, too, in to something somewhat more...dingy. But some of the tears and rips, the fact that the passenger-side seat looks like nothing more than scrap metal- there's no hiding that damage.

Date: 2014-08-30 04:50 am (UTC)
oneshallstand: (i'll let you know)
From: [personal profile] oneshallstand
This was...not the set of reactions he had expected.

From the bitterness(?) covered by the norm, a half-insult(?), and then- well. All that. Optimus' optics would flare in brief surprise, were they visible; as it is, there's a subtle tension within the vehicle. Despite his best attempts to hide it, Mikaela is literally surrounded by his presence; she can't miss the way everything goes absolutely silent and still.

"...I was under the impression that you had wanted no further part in events," he ventures finally. "And, here- wanted to affirm you were...safe."

As opposed to those they had to leave, because the risk for all of them was simply too high. He may yet have to leave, because no doubt his enemies are hunting for him even now, and he cannot endanger another like this.

Especially not Mikaela.

Date: 2014-08-30 05:06 am (UTC)
oneshallstand: (Default)
From: [personal profile] oneshallstand
That is...decidedly. Not a normal set of human reactions.

Optimus can only watch at her, feeling oddly helpless; it's clear now that there's been no small amount of deception and lies, but that...it may not be her own. Her phrasing, her unspoken words...

A few more moments and he searches his systems for an ill-used, but- still somewhat working program. Next to her, in the ruined seat, there's a humming sound- and then an image flickers to life, a hologram of a man with a red shirt and piercing blue eyes. Though they're gentle, now, even with the hologram flickering off and on.

It may be a frivolous use of energy, but it's minor enough that he can justify using it. And even if it wasn't...

"Mikaela," he says, projecting his voice in to the display. Trying to give her something to focus on, something at least remotely familiar if he cannot transform here, "Could you not ask us for help?"

Because if his guess is right- she may have needed it, and they may have failed her.

Date: 2014-08-30 02:16 pm (UTC)
oneshallstand: (i'll let you know)
From: [personal profile] oneshallstand
The holoform doesn't need to look down; it continues looking at Mikaela's face as Optimus' scanners focus on the area. Its expression doesn't change, but the tense feeling in the cab returns; this time, accompanied by suppress anger.

He should not be surprised.

"He is dead," Optimus assures her, his flickering holo-eyes narrowing the only sign of his anger. How dare Soundwave- a similar treatment as Sam had been given, it seems. With then, though, it had only been for a small period of time. With Mikaela...

"I am only sorry you were not able to partake in his fall."

Date: 2014-08-30 10:42 pm (UTC)
oneshallstand: (that all this time)
From: [personal profile] oneshallstand
"Sam was targeted as well." They didn't know it at the time, but as awful as it was...it was terribly good timing. For the Autobots, at least. At their angriest, when whey were willing to let others believe they had abandoned them...

The hologram nods slightly, a new understanding - and respect - dawning in its owner. Soundwave may have fallen, but that meant nothing for the drone that had taken Mikaela. Which meant that she may very well have dealt with it herself.

And organics don't recover from injury as well as a medic-repaired Cybertronian.

"You are brave. Both to take the burden upon yourself, and to deal with its after-"

Flickerstatichiss as something pops. It may be difficult for a semitruck to wince, but somehow it does, as a torn wire decides then to fully break. And while it's not crippling- it is a painful moment.

Date: 2014-08-30 11:10 pm (UTC)
oneshallstand: (i've been afraid)
From: [personal profile] oneshallstand
Injured Big Buddha stubbornly trying to reroute power to the holomatter as a matter of pride before sighing, and then letting it stay off. "I had...planned to rest here for a while," he admits after a few moments, "and to allow my self-repair to do what it could."

That's not really an answer.

"There was a combat," he adds after a few moments more, "and Ratchet is elsewhere. I will have him see to my injuries once we are able to reunite."

It may be something in his tone, but it sounds like it might not be for a while.

Date: 2014-08-31 05:28 am (UTC)
oneshallstand: (i'll let you know)
From: [personal profile] oneshallstand
Sorry, Mikaela, he can't quite get it back up right now. Try again later.

"I am...hesitant...to put you in any danger. Especially with what you have already gone through, Mikaela."

Hesitant? Reluctantly realizing he may have no choice but to accept her offer, if only from a logical standpoint. Emotionally is another story, and these last few years have not been kind to his psyche.

Can he risk endangering one of the few allies they have left?

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