Raider Red

Chapter 5: Keep Your Enemies Closer

Victoria perked up at that.

"You know Cybertronian?"

"Some." Raf told her proudly. "I know a lot of code, but Ratchet is going to teach me a lot more since Jack and Miko don't want to."

"That is really useful." Victoria mused.

MECH could use someone who knew Cybertronian code. He was young enough that they could still shape him into a good soldier.

"Yeah, I can open the groundbridge." Raf told her.

Even better.

Victoria looked over toward Ratchet. The old bot wouldn't be as useful with his rusty and outdated body. It was possible that he could be forced to supply information instead of examination.

And then he would most likely be melted down.

"So how long are you going to stay in Jasper?" Raf questioned.

"Maybe a week." Victoria replied. "Possibly longer. Dad still has some business to attend to here."

"Like what?"

"Well, my mom doesn't like me, but my Dad still wants to get to know Vince. He still wants to clear up the relationship with Mom." Victoria slouched. "My family is a big mess. I try not to think about it."

"I get you." Raf sighed. "My family is huge and full of drama. Sometimes I feel like they don't even notice I'm there until I do something wrong. And no matter how smart I am, it's never enough."

Raf smiled sadly. "It's no better at school either. I've always had Vince to worry about. Jack and Miko don't really hang out with me either, they have their own friends."

Victoria stayed quiet, listening intently as Raf pulled his knees up to his chest and watched as the other humans talked to Arcee and Bulkhead, laughing and messing around.

"If it wasn't for Bee, I'd have been stuck in that same loop of sadness." Raf sniffed. "Him and Ratchet have made my life so much better. I don't know if I could go back to a world without them."

Victoria looked at him stiffly, not sure how to comfort the kid, who was now crying softly into his knees. She'd never really been around emotional people.

Terror doesn't count.

Victoria reached over and wrapped an arm around Raf's shoulders firmly. She opened her mouth to say something, but each comforting sentence that came to mind seemed worthless.

She knew that Raf's world would be wiped away in a week. This his friends would be tortured and killed.

Nothing would ever be okay.

Not until MECH had changed him into their perfect little soldier, just like they had to dozens of other kids his age. Until he had no emotions, just like her.

At least then he wouldn't feel the pain of his old life.

Or would he? That was something Victoria couldn't quite understand, considering she had been raised as a MECH agent since birth. There was no old life for her to miss.

Small arms suddenly wrapped around her and Victoria tensed as Raf buried his head in her shirt and cried for all the pent up sadness his home life had been inflicting on him. Cried for the loneliness in his school life.

He cried with emotions that Victoria never had the chance to use. It was the very person whose mission was to tear his world apart that Raf was taking comfort in.

Victoria hesitantly wrapped both arms around his silent, sobbing form.

Something in her lungs grew hard and heavy, making it just a little harder to breathe. Victoria closed her eyes and focused on maintaining her facade, letting her chin rest on Raf's head.

After a moment, Raf let go and backed up, wiping his face quickly and turning red with embarrassment.

"I- I'm sorry." He whispered. "I don't know what came over me."

Victoria didn't say a word as he scrambled to his feet and ran off. Instead, she waited until the younger child was gone before putting her hand against her chest.

Her heart was beating rapidly, almost fearfully. The weight seemed to grow heavier like a sack of potatoes had somehow fallen into her lungs. Victoria dropped her hand and let out a slow breath.

She probably just caught a small illness at the school or something. It would most likely clear out soon.

Victoria stood up and glanced the direction that Raf had ran off to, her eyes freezing on a pair of bright blue optics watching her calmly.

Optimus tilted his head to the left thoughtfully, watching as Victoria's mask flickered for the smallest second, betraying her surprise and... fear?

Then the human smiled brightly and turned away, leaving Optimus to his thoughts.

He wasn't entirely sure what he had just witnessed, but he knew that something was up. Throughout his millenia of battle and fighting this war, Optimus had seen dozens of inner masks.

Victoria seemed to have one of her own, but hers was the deepest he had ever witnessed. Even on par with Ultra Magnus, who hid behind a rulebook to mask the pain of losing his family.

But Optimus had been able to see through even Magnus's thick walls. He planned to find a way through to Victoria's inner darkness. To help her.

But something told Optimus that she wasn't hiding a secret to protect herself from inner demons.

It was something else. Something, he feared, that could only bring chaos.