Raider Red

Chapter 16: Unchecked Rage

"Yes." Red lifted her chin. "Because then I could escape."

"You can escape even easier here!" Fowler yelled. "You haven't! You're playing mind games on everyone!"

Red stepped closer. "What did you expect?"

"Fowler!" Arcee yelled.

But it was too late.

In such close proximity and the heat of the situation, the agent had been distracted. Red's hand easily pulled the taser from his belt.

The girl jabbed it into him, making the agent cry out and collapse.

The Autobots moved forward, ready to stop Red before she could do anymore more, but Red was prepared. She'd been mapping out the base, planning escape routes, and learning information.

Red hadn't even planned to escape anytime soon, but Fowler's accusation that she hadn't of escaped when she could have made the girl's little excuses to stay fall away.

It was time to return home.

Red ran straight toward Bumblebee's outstretched hand and grabbed it. She kicked upward, vaulting over his palm and landing on the cybertronian's wrist. Red leaped off, plummeting toward the ground 50 feet below her.

Bulkhead reached out to catch her and Red waited until last second to tilt her body, shifting her center of gravity and missing his hand. Red grabbed his thumb, hanging off for just a moment before landing on the ground.

She crouched as she hit the floor, shifting the force of the landing into her thighs. Red then used them to push off as she leaped underneath of the human area.

The door presented itself and before anyone could stop her, Red was outside.

The Autobots had to wait for the hangar door to rise for them and even Arcee, the first to get through, could not get to Fowler's helicopter fast enough to stop Red from climbing inside and lifting off.

Optimus stared at the machine on the horizon and his eyes narrowed.

He had been the one to force her hand. He was the reason she finally decided to escape.

This was his fault.

Fowler, who hadn't entirely been knocked unconscious, came stumbling outside.

"You remember when I found out Red was working for MECH?" Fowler asked.

Optimus looked down at the agent.

"I put a bug on her." Fowler smirked. "I overheard her conversation with Silas, but it wasn't until after she got back that I went over it."

Fowler looked after the helicopter and grinned. "She's leading us right to MECH."

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Red ditched the helicopter after she got a few miles behind her. She didn't want to take the risk that the helicopter had a tracker because then Ratchet could just groundbridge the Autobots to her once she landed.

Red crashed it into a canyon and then made her way to the road. She followed it to a small village and stole a car.

The girl stole three different cars on her way to her destination and left behind a false trail with the first two. Satisfied that she couldn't be followed, Red made her way back to Jasper.

Her feet landed on the welcome mat to Vince Raider's house and Red knew that a MECH unit was already on it's way. They were always watching Vince, even if his mother was dead.

It was the middle of the day, so he was likely at school, and Red stepped inside, her nose assaulted by the smell of rotting pizza and spoiled ranch.

He certainly wasn't keeping the house in order with his mother dead.

Red had time to kill, so she went upstairs to explore. With little caution, Red found herself standing in Vince's room.

To think that if she had been born any later, Vince would have been taken to live with Silas and raised into the future MECH leader. And in his place, Red would have been living as some spoiled teenager in Jasper.

Red glanced at his desk and paused, frowning when a familiar tan file came into view, big red letters on the top.

Classified.

It must be some school project. Vince was too stupid to ever fit into-

Red's breath caught in her throat as she opened the file, pages of data in front of her, along with pictures clipped to various sheets.

Pictures of her.

Red snatched it up, her eyes scanning over the words for a moment before she stopped, dropping the file and taking a step back.

Some of the MECH agents were planning a coup.

Because Silas was dead.

And they were going to replace him with Vince.

Because Silas was dead.

Her father was dead.

Killed by the Decepticons in Project Trojan Horse.

He was dead.

Red stared at the fallen file for a moment before doing something irrational. For the first time in her life, Red completely lost her shit.

Red's fist slammed into the wall and an inhuman scream of fury erupted from her throat. There was barely a pause before her other fist hit the wall, breaking through the drywall.

The chair at Vince's desk went flying through the room and hit the window, flying outside and shattering on the ground. His bed was overturned and each drawer was pulled out of the dresser and hurled at the opposite wall. The door was kicked off of it's hinges and the posters of rockstars and football players were ripped to shreds.

Nothing in the bedroom remained untouched, unharmed by Red's unchecked rage. Nothing except the file.

By the time she was done, Red's fists were bright with blood and her face was warm with anger. She stood in the center of the room, breathing deeply as she stared at the window with the eyes of a madwoman.

Everything was gone.

Silas was gone. MECH was planning to kill her. They were going to quit Project Robot.

Everything she'd accomplished her entire life had just been wiped away.

She was nothing.

There was a creak behind her and Red turned, staring at the figures in the doorway, who didn't dare move at the sight of Red.

When things went terribly wrong, Silas always went on a rampage. But Red had grew up in MECH facilities all over the world and no one had ever seen her lose her temper.

Her coldness was exactly the reason they weren't going to let her take Silas's place.

And looking at her now, all they could feel was terror.

Red didn't even bother equipping her facade as she stepped toward them with a look that could kill you before she did.