BRAINWASHED || BATTLE CRY (Transformers Prime)

Chapter Thirteen || Befriend You

The nurse blinked, looking unhappy but taking a step back. "She goes back to her room."

"You got it," Miko brushed past her, a bit more agitated than Sierra had seen her. There was tension coiled in her muscles, her eyes bloodshot and even her typical eyeliner look a bit smudged. Upon closer inspection, Sierra realized she was angry.

"What happened? Was it Jack?" She interrogated as soon as the nurse was out of earshot.

"No," the choked response was bewildering, Miko continuing. "Things are falling apart . . . just like before . . ."

"What are you talking about?" Sierra knew what Miko was referring to as "before" - the fall of the Autobots on Earth. But she did not quite understand what events Miko was referencing.

"Jack was kidnapped by the Decepticons, again," there was barely bridled rage in her voice. "Mirage too. Then when I went to talk to June, Vince had an accident; he was cutting the T-cog out when he fell. Busted his head and got energon all over him -"

"Oh my god," Sierra had to stop, the news hitting her like a bus. She had no idea who Vince was cutting a T-cog out of, but that was the least of her worries at the moment. "Is he going to be okay?"

"They're not sure yet. Head wounds bleed a lot, but he got energon in the wound," Miko's hands were shaking. "And we don't know what's happening to Jack. We haven't received any word. Just . . . just like before."

Just like before. Sierra could understand why she was bordering on a panic attack, the pair reaching her hospital bed before too long. Still, Miko was distressed, terrified as various scenarios flashed through her head.

Hearing about Vince's energon poisoning was concerning, but Sierra tried to be optimistic about the doctors quickly working to cleanse his bloodstream. Despite having been around the metal giants for so long, true energon poisonings had not happened yet. Yes, the occasional drop would get on the skin, but a quick wash with water solved that problem. Vince's case was a freak accident.

And Jack . . . she swallowed. Even she could see he had been healing, getting better despite the occasional panic attack or nightmare. To be recaptured . . . he could be tortured again, or killed this time. From what she had heard from Starscream, Megatron held grudges for far longer than a normal living creature. If he had a bone to pick with Jack . . .

They might never see him again.

"So . . . that's what's going on," Miko said awkwardly once they arrived at Sierra's "room." Her whole body, right to her pigtails, were trembling. She looked ready to just break down, holding in her anxiety and overwhelming sadness.

Sierra pat the side of her bed. "Sit for a little bit," she said softly. "If you need to take a second for yourself, go ahead."

Miko took the offer without protest, putting her face in her hands as she sat heavily on the side of the bed, close to the former senior. There was a brief moment of silence before it was broken by her bursting into tears,  her shoulders shaking.

"It's not fair!" She shouted to no one in particular. "It's not fair that the Decepticons get to hurt our friends, and we can't do anything about it! It's not fair that he got to take Ratchet and Jack! To hurt Optimus, take the Star Saber! It's not fair that he got to kill our friends!"

The screaming fit was interrupted by another round of sobs, Sierra just watching her.

For three years, Miko dealt with the frustration in stride. Of course war was not fair, of course sometimes the bad guys won. But in the end, good overcame evil, right? So why was everything falling apart again? What was the point of this battle if they did not eventually triumph over Megatron?