A New Dawn - Transformers Prime (4)

Chapter Twenty-Three

  My phone ringing shook me out of my dream, startling me enough to almost cause me to topple out of my chair. It took me a second to realize what was going on.

  The office. I'm in the office, going over papers and fell asleep.

  I scrubbed my hands over my face, tangling them in my hair as my heart pounded. He'd been looking for something... He...

  Forget him! He's gone, whether he moved or not. You're just stuck in his shadow.

  Frowning, I leaned back in my seat, reminding myself of those words until-

  Shit, my phone!

  I scooped my phone up, and then saw it was the base calling. Letting out a groan, I answered.

  "Yes?" I said, trying not to let my previous anger trickle back in.

  "Amanda, I wish to speak to you about the prisoner being kept at the base," Ultra Magnus said, and I held back a sigh.

  Calling only because you need something from me. Did I expect anything less?

  "Okay?" was my only reply as I silenced the screaming in my head.

  "What did she tell you during your interrogations?"

  I rolled my eyes. "Ultra Magnus, I'm sure there are tapes at the base with a full recording of the times I visited her. Just watch them."

  "I have seen the recordings," Annoyance crept into his tone, which made mine instantly spike. "What I require is not in them."

  "And what is it you require?" It was so hard to keep the mocking out of my tone.

"The reason why the prisoner trusted you enough to reveal information that Tempest would surely kill her for."

  The sigh I'd been holding back let loose now. "I don't know, she just did after I got rid of the powers in her markings."

  "And how were you able to do so?"

  "By mixing the gold powers with my silver ones?"

  "Amanda, you must realize that no Champion of Cleona has ever been able to successfully counter the powers of Valilorna. The goddess of chaos has always had the ability to overpower her opponents, Cleona herself included. So I must ask again, how were you able to neutralize the prisoner's markings?"

  I massaged my temple, letting my eyes close as I thought back to the moment when I reached out to send my powers through Rozatiolda's markings.

  How did I do it?

  "You did not do it alone, darling. Have you forgotten? I was with you the entire time. You received a small taste of my powers and were able to accomplish so much. Imagine what you could do with more."

  My eyes snapped open, my heart pounding. Before I panicked, I remember Ultra Magnus was still on the other end of the line.

  "Look, I don't know why I was able to do it," I admitted. "I just wanted to stop her from feeling afraid of the consequences, and it happened. The details... there aren't any I can give you."

  "Very well," He said and hung up. I blinked, surprised for a moment, and then slammed my phone down.

  They're getting nowhere. This is why they need me. Why can't they see that they need me?

  "Because they are foolish, darling. No one sees true power until it hits them in the face. No one needs it until they are taking their last breath."

  But I can't let it get that far.

  "It does not have to."

  A sharp chill crawled up my spine and I stood abruptly, cutting off the conversation in my head. Primus, I was really losing it now.

~~~

  My week off turned out to be two. Though I'd claimed to leave the situation in the hands of the Autobots, I still secretly tracked everything they were doing at the base. It wasn't like I was spying or anything, since technically they were using my equipment and databases. If anything, I was just combing through my own data.

  Miko, Jack, and Raf had stopped by a few times, just to give us updates. While Finn had pretty much moved in for now, the others were still going back and forth between the base and their homes. They admitted that there wasn't much to do anymore, since the Autobots were 'handling' it, but they continued fighting to stay in the loop. Miko and Jack continued on their training, which made me a bit proud of them for pushing through, even though I wasn't coaching them anymore. Raf spent most of his time helping Ratchet, monitoring almost the entire world at the same time for signs of Tempest and her followers.

  But no one had seen or heard of Tempest in the past two weeks. It was like she dropped off the face of the earth. According to the others, the Autobots were doing rotational patrols, but were turning up empty. It was so quiet to the point that Ultra Magnus had left, taking Smokescreen and Wheeljack with him back to Cybertron. Only Arcee, Bumblebee, and Bulkhead were still on Earth, and I suspected it wasn't just to look for Tempest.

  I knew I could probably find the queen con myself. I had the power to, but I couldn't bring myself to go back to the base. Over the weeks, the darkness within me stayed stagnant, not rising or falling. Sometimes it bubbled up, making me lash out, but other times it stayed quiet, and I wanted it to stay that way. I could minimize the collateral damage if I was lashing out here and not at the base, where I'd endanger the Cybertronians. Part of me felt guilty about not getting involved, but then I'd remind myself that staying away was a better way to protect the others.

  Somehow I couldn't bring myself to tell anyone though. Most times, I couldn't explain what was happening with me. My temper was short, my patience even smaller. The others noticed, I could see it on their faces, but they didn't approach me about it. I realized I'd never really talked to any of them about any of this sort of thing before. Sure, Finn knew the most about the inner workings of my mind, but he didn't know everything. The one being who did was...gone.

  And that was how it stayed. I no longer cared about what was going to happen, what the future held. I didn't bother to worry about it. Whatever happened, happened, and I didn't care.

  That was when the blitz started.