Raider Red

Chapter 22: Short Reprieve

Red had been struggling to keep up her facade ever since she read that file in Vince's room, but now that she was alone and free, Red allowed herself to melt into the white hotel blanket and relax. A small smile grew on her face and Red sighed in content.

She could have sat here for ages.

"Room service! Anyone in here?"

Red groaned. "Yes! Go away!"

"Sorry!"

Red stared at the ceiling for a moment before getting up and walking to the window.

She owed Agent Fowler.

Staring out of another window, miles and miles away in Jasper, Red had almost made the worst decision of her life. Perhaps this new life she had found wasn't permanent, but it was a moment of happiness that she cherished.

Something to live for.

Red sat down at the still and closed her eyes. So many things had changed since she'd accepted the mission to infiltrate the Autobots.

Fowler talking to her at Vince's house. "Get away from the ledge and I promise you that you'll find something worth living for if you just keep searching."

Optimus taking her to the mountain. "We must remember that throughout the galaxy, all sentient beings are trying to find the most precious commodity. Something that determines who and what we are... Happiness."

Red supposed she owed them both for showing her something that she had never searched for before.

Herself.

Red opened her eyes and looked skyward. Only one other person out there had ever truly known her. He was gone.

Dead.

"What would you do?" Red whispered, her throat tight.

She had followed her father's example her entire life. Red didn't know how to live a normal life and go on without him. He'd been there for her since the beginning of time.

He'd loved her.

But Leland Bishop was gone now and MECH had tarnished his legacy by replacing with with Vince Raider, the idiot son of her father. They didn't want or deserve her assistance in whatever foolish goals they had now.

A duffel bag sat next to the bed and within it, the beginnings of her new life. Red could disappear from the face of the planet. She could chose to be whoever she wanted from here on out.

But Red didn't know. She hadn't even picked a name yet.

Red smiled sadly. Once, the name Red was reserved for her father. It was the very core of all her fake ids and lies. Now it would become just a memory of the past. Another life she'd left behind.

Nothing would ever sound right again.

Behind the bed, a large mirror rested on the wall and Red looked at herself silently. She looked the same as she always had, minus the cast on her left arm. Same dark red hair that was straight as a board, same calculating eyes that could read a person's soul, and her father's strong chin.

As far as anyone could tell, Red looked the same as she had before meeting the Autobots. But Red wasn't just anyone. She could see how much brighter her eyes were, the dulled sharpness of her gaze, and the small smile lines at the edges of her mouth.

She was completely different and Red couldn't bring herself to believe that it was a bad thing.

It felt as if the weight of the world had been lifted from her shoulders.

She owed them for that.

Red stood up and walked toward the door. She had a decision to make. What was she going to do next? Normal, mundane jobs seemed too unreal for her. Red couldn't imagine herself trying to work at some fast food restaurant and go to school for the purpose of learning, like anyone else her age.

It didn't take long before she arrived at her destination, the one place in the whole world that could wipe away all of Red's troubles. A small, happy smile found it's way onto her face as Red breathed in the smell of paper and leather.

She sat down in one of the isles and closed her eyes.

Red's smile vanished. Every time she'd been to a library, her father had accompanied her. Now she was alone.

Red pulled her knees up to her chest and out her head down. Her back shook softly as Red finally allowed herself to mourn the loss of the one person who truly understood her.

Many people may have known Leland as a cruel, angry man who wanted retribution for how the world had wronged him. Red knew better.

She remembered nights in her younger years when the two of them would get steaks and stab little candles into them. They'd He'd agreed that steak was way better than cake. Then he would sing her happy birthday in front of the whole restaurant.

She remembered leaving training and he would wrap up her wounds, telling her how proud he was, even if she'd lost. Private training sessions with just the two of them that would end in her screaming and laughing as he tickled her on the ground.

The first time she'd killed someone. They'd sat on the edge of a dock in silence, looking over the water.

He'd had a soft spot for gummy worms. He loved that one cartoon about a blonde boy whose sisters were scientists, and they could never remember the name of it. He'd had a habit of waking up every night at exactly 2 in the morning to eat a poptart and check on her.

Red cried harder.

He'd been her everything.