I wrote a solid five chapters today and was going to wait to post the next one because I didn't want to spam you guys, but I'm an impatient person with no self control...
[Amanda]
With my earbuds blasting music, I looked over some final papers in regards to the rebuilding of Jasper in the base, sprawled across the entire couch. Raf was playing a video game, sitting on the floor in front of the tv while Ratchet had a field day working on the specs of my new satellite and Finn filled out some military paperwork on the table next to Raf. Jack and Miko were at their houses, helping their parents make it home again, so the base was pretty quiet. I signed off on the last paper and sighed in relief.
"Done," I announced, yanking out my earbuds. "Finally. I don't think I'll ever be able to sign another paper again."
Raf threw me a grin. "That bad?"
"Worse."
"Well, it's over now," Finn said, a smirk playing on his lips. "Besides, it's not like you have to write pages of stuff." He indicated towards his own stack of papers.
I shrugged. "Hey, you're getting paid for that."
"Are we still going to Fernley today?" Raf asked, his eyes still glued to the tv.
"I don't see why not," I said. "I need furniture and clothes. You guys still in?"
The younger boy nodded. "My mom gave me a list of things to get, and I'm pretty sure Jack and Miko have the same."
I looked over at Finn. "You're coming too, right?"
"Sure thing," he said. "As long as nothing comes up-" He was cut off by his phone ringing, and immediately frowned at the screen. "Speak of the devil." He stood rigidly, almost as though he dreaded answering, and walked away to answer. I watched, frowning slightly myself. Finn never looked so... unnerved when he got work calls. He loved his job, he usually didn't mind getting work. But this time...
I kept watching him as he had his back to us. His entire posture was rigid, and he seemed to be controlling his anger, his empty fist clenched tightly. He stayed like that for the entire phone call, making me wonder who exactly he had been speaking with. I got up and walked towards him, intent on finding out.
"What's wrong?" I asked. Finn spun around, eyes wild for a moment before landing on me and calming. Still, his body was tense and he shoved his phone away hastily.
"Nothing," He shook his head, clearly trying to downplay his slight panic. "I'm just swamped with work. I'll have to take a rain check on Fernley tonight."
I frowned. "What do they want from you now?"
"Just a load more paperwork, mostly about what just happened with the Omega Lock and what's to happen now with Team Prime."
"More than Agent Fowler can handle?"
He clenched his jaw, then forced himself to relax. "The more official accounts, the better. Don't worry, I'll come with you guys next time. Promise." He began to walk away before adding. "Unless the world is ending. Then duty calls."
"If you say so," I tried to make my tone sound chipper, but my frown remained. Finn may have been the expert on reading people's facial expressions, but he wasn't the best at controlling his own. Even if he was, I could sense something was off with him. I chewed my lip, trying to decide on what to do. It was obvious that he really wasn't doing any work for the military at all, so what was he doing?
There's only one way to find out.
Well, then I'd have to pull a Miko.
I sighed and pulled out my phone, opening up my messages with Miko.
A: Going to have to take a rain check on tonight.
M: U too?? R u and Finn having a date that idk about??
A: Noooooooo no no. Something just came up at the office. Srry girl, but next time. U can still take my Jeep tho
M: Fiiiiiiiine we'll have fun without uuuuuu
I closed my messages, signaled my Mustang to the base, and then walked back out to the main area, where Ratchet was still typing away in his lab.
"I'm heading out," I told the medic. "You have the specs for my satellite?"
He nodded, not looking up at me. "Yes, yes, the calibration is underway."
I gave him a look. "And what are you not supposed to touch?"
That earned me an eye roll. "Any of the motion controls."
"Good. If I find out that you sent my satellite into the ocean, I will never let you into any of my systems ever again. And trust me, I can hold a grudge."
"Yes, yes," he repeated, only half listening to me. I shook my head and walked down the stairs of the platform, then headed out of the base to find my Mustang waiting patiently. I popped the trunk first, making sure the 'Just-In-Case' duffel bag full of tools was there before sliding into the front seat. Then I grabbed the tablet I had stashed in the glove compartment, it on and attached it onto the controls dash.
"Activate Cam," I said. "Keyword anemone."
"Request acknowledged," The female robotic voice filled the car. Because I didn't get the chance to feed Cam directly into the car, the tablet was the patch in between. I made a mental note to get working on upgrading my systems. "How may I be of assistance, Miss Beckett?"
"I need you to lock onto Finn Ryen's cell signal and track it. Find the signal from my phone archives."
"Processing," there was a pause before. "Complete. Would you like a map view of the signal?"
"Yes please."
A satellite map of the military base popped up on the tablet, a red blip representing Finn's signal. It was in the barracks garage, so he must have been grabbing his car. I waited until he pulled out of the garage and left the base before I pulled out from behind Hanger E, then left the military base to follow his signal.
"I can't believe I'm pulling a Miko," I sighed, flicking on stealth mode to cut the engine noise and make my car virtually undetectable as my eyes followed the long stretch of desert in front of me.
A girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do.
~~~
About half an hour later, I was still on the road and there was still nothing but sand. Finn's car was far enough ahead of me that we were out of each other's views, so I could actually see him. Cam acted as my eyes as she continually displayed the satellite map on the tablet screen, allowing me to stay on his tail. My imagination ran wild with possibilities on what Finn could have been hiding, but I refused to let myself linger on any one idea. I needed facts, that would be the only thing that could give me an answer.
The drive did make me nostalgic though, for the long drives Optimus and I used to take. I wonder what he was doing now on Cybertron. Truthfully, he was probably giving someone a heroic speech, like he so often did.
He's home, Amanda.
I know, I know, but-
"The signal is slowing down, Miss Beckett," Cam's voice startled me out of my thoughts.
"So we're here," I said, and kept following until Finn's signal turned to the right and stopped. I pulled over and switched everything off. "Thanks Cam."
"Anytime, Miss Beckett," She said before shutting down. I climbed out and popped the trunk open, revealing my Just-In-Case duffel. Opting for a few favorites, I took my pocket staff, multi-grip gloves, a couple of smoke bombs and a dart blaster, as a last resort. Then I began my trek towards the location where Finn's signal had stopped. It took me almost five minutes to get there, along with a hefty amount of cursing the rocky terrain, before I finally spotted someone. I only saw a silhouette, which caused me to duck down until it left. I continued creeping forward, stopping only when I realized there was no more cover. This forced me to lower myself to the ground, and I thanked Primus that the ground was higher here, concealing me from view.
There were rocks digging into my side, but I ignored them as I shifted to a position where I could see the clearing below. A quick scan revealed that there were six people wearing a black sort of uniform, their faces fully covered. I frowned, unable to get a clear reading on any of them because their uniforms, the only thing giving them away was the fact that they all wore the same thing. A thought popped into mind.
Is this some sort of mafia?
But I quickly dismissed that. Finn wouldn't get himself into something like that. He'd been with the military since he was young. There was no opportunity to join a mafia.
I shoved those thoughts out of my mind and refocused. Finn's car was on the outskirts of the clearing, facing the six people in uniform, and he got out slowly, almost as though he dreaded seeing them. My confusion only grew as I saw the tension in his body. If he was so nervous about these people, why was he here? As far as I could tell, no one forced him out here. But then again, what did I know at this point? Just that he drove out and wasn't happy about it.
"I told you last time," Finn finally spoke up, stopping to stand a few meters away from the group. "I don't want any part of this. I thought I made that clear."
One person stepped forward, a female judging by her body shape underneath that uniform. "You can't keep running from us, Finley. You belong with us. This is your family's legacy."
"Family?" Finn barked a bitter laugh. "Those maniacs? Don't remind me why I'm glad I left."
"You never left," The woman said, and I could hear the smugness in her tone. "You were taken away from us."
"And thank God for that."
She stepped forward, which made Finn tense all over again, but he didn't move back. "It's in your blood, Finley. Why do you waste your time on the losing side?"
"Losing side?" He asked incredulously. "You've got to be kidding me. Or don't you remember how my uncle lost? Or how you lost a whole lot after you tried to bring him back? Seems like quite a few losses on your side, and mine seems to be doing just fine."
"How long do you think you can hide behind them? They'll betray you when they have no more use for you, just like we foretold."
Finn turned, clearly fed up. "Give it a rest, Lauriana. I'm not joining you, and that final."
"How about your uncle?" The woman snapped. "Are you just willing to let his legacy go to waste?"
He threw her a cold look, one I'd never seen before, glimpsing the side of Finn that I had clearly never seen before. "My uncle died the moment he left the military. If it's Silas you're referring to, then his legacy can rot the same way I hope he is."
Shock shot through me and I felt the air knock out of my lungs. It was a good thing that I was already lying down, or else I would have definitely fallen over. My head spun, but I blinked my dizziness away to look back on the situation. Finn had gotten back into his car and pulled away, heading farther away from the military base. The uniformed people began chatting amongst each other, the woman leader watching as Finn drove off.
Move it, Beckett. Now's your chance.
Logic screamed at me, causing me to move without even noticing it. Somehow, I was back in my Mustang, sitting behind the wheel. I leaned forward, resting my forehead against the top of the steering wheel.
"Scrap."