Metallic Webs

Chapter Two

Operation: Rescue Mission

Coming to, Cliffjumper found himself staring at the ceiling lights, his head throbbing in massive waves.

What happened again?

He was heading on the Ground Bridge... with Thrash In. They were heading to Indonesia to inspect an unusual strain of radiation that may be extraterrestrial, but then they ran into...

Airachnid.

His optics just about popped out from overly dilating.

"Thrash In...!"

His insides pulled in pain as he tried to pull himself up. He could hear himself moan. His innards weren't the only thing that was causing hurt. And it wasn't Grace this time.

"Cliff...!" his mother just about attacked him with her rushed embrace.

He could feel his mother's arms just about choking him as he heard Ratchet telling Arcee to take it easy. The warning from the medic finally allowed Cliffjumper some space.

"Cliff, what happened?" Grace's voice sounded.

He couldn't see the small human, but Cliffjumper knew she was probably somewhere close near by.

Everyone wanted to know what happened to make him have such an injury. He could ask the same thing, when he was out for such a long time.

"We used the Ground Bridge to bring you out, but you seem to sustain minor damage," explained the veteran medic. "It seems it's from a gun shot... where's Thrash In?"

The air suddenly grew dense as Cliffjumper looked away from everyone else. His frame began to feel more tense as each second passed. How was he going to find the words to tell them? This was going to be more than painful. Once he saw Uncle Breakdown's face, Cliffjumper could see what the heavy ton ex-Con was feeling.

"We... we were on the trail of the radiation leak..." he began. "And then... we found Airachnid."

"No..." Breakdown turned away, barely audible.

He looked up to see stares of dread upon his uncles, though when he faced his mother's, he knew she was grinding her axes.

"And everything's a blur from there..." he finished. "She... she must've followed her. I've heard Airachnid saying something about Cybertron... coming back."

A more pungent atmosphere filled the room. The silence was just as loud, a dropping pin could be heard.

Bumblebee then made a few whistles and clicks.

"Cybertron, alive?" began Bulkhead. "That's just a load of hooey!"

"Cybertron had been snuffed out for eons," began Ratchet. "There's no way it can be brought back."

"This is Airachnid we're talking about," began Arcee, undertone of silent rage beneath her turquoise optics. "She always lies."

As much as it sounded impossible, Cliffjumper hoped that what Airachnid said was true. Did the home of his ancestors really did come back? His people would come back together. And he would finally know the origins of his home. The uncles would tell him stories of their home before the war. How it was prosperous in its riches. Joy and merriment was filled among its citizens. Cliffjumper never did get to see Cybertron in its full glory. But now there was a chance... was this really all true?

Once he was able to get up on his feet and move about, he saw Breakdown standing, though he seemed to be far away. The young mech walked up to where he was standing.

"I'm sure she's alright, Uncle Breakdown," began Cliffjumper. "She can take care of herself, and... she is with her mother."

An uneasy smile came across Breakdown.

"Yeah... I hope so," he uttered. "Sometimes me and Thrash do nothing but argue, she must've got it from me, but the first time I held her when she was born... I knew I had to be a father to her. If her mother wasn't going to be around, I had to. Even though it was hard and I wanted to back down every time I thought I did something wrong... I still loved her at the end of the day."

Cliffjumper placed a hand on Breakdown's shoulder. "We'll find her... I know it. One way or another."

This time, Breakdown's smile turned a little happier, Cliffjumper almost swore he saw a drop of lubricant in the corner of the mighty mech's eye.

"Thank you..." he muttered. "Thanks, Cliff... For being a good friend to her. It's what she needs after all she's been through. I just hope she's safe..."

Their frames went into a form of a comrade embrace. Inside, Cliffjumper could feel Breakdown's worry. After all, he was Thrash In's father, but in the commotion... Cliffjumper was just as worried as well.

What made Thrash In decide to side with Airachnid? After all Airachnid did to her, his only Cybertronian friend which he thought he knew so well still went with her. Airachnid was unfit to be a mother. She did nothing but made her life miserable. How could Thrash In do that to everyone in her life? How could she do this... to him? And leave him behind.

He liked her... He loved her. They knew each other since they were sparklings, grew up together on the same planet, knew the same people. The way her golden optics glowed every time he looked into them. When her purple finish shined as she drove in the night. They danced together at Grace's summer celebration. Did that meant anything to her at all?

For a moment, he thought that his feelings were untrue, since she was the only Cybertronian friend of his, who was a girl. His mother was against them being friends from the start. He was just about to reconsider, even confess to her when the time was right this summer, but now she was gone... His insides felt hollow and dented.

What should he think? What should he do? He didn't have words on what Thrash In just did. He couldn't even place what to feel.

He felt something pounding against his foot and looked down to see Grace was trying to get his attention.

"Earth to Cliff, come in, Cliff...!" she whispered, then more clearly when she got his attention. "It's going to be okay."

Grace was a completely different species than Cliffjumper, though when push came to shove, she knew exactly what to say to him.

"Thanks, meatbag..." he smiled, finding that this was one of the rare moments when she wasn't being annoying and trying to pair him up with Thrash In.

A mild blare from the monitor showed up on the screen and Ratchet immediately started typing.

"I've locked onto Thrash In's signal," the medic bot said. "We still have her locator chip on. Now if we strengthen the signal of the radius..."

A few more clacks of the keyboard, and the image on the screen turned more crisp, indicating the precise coordinates.

"It may not be precise, but at least we know where they're relatively are," said Ratchet.

"I have called Special Agent Hawkins to arrange special transpiration if we are going to leave Earth," said Optimus. "Thrash In is one of us, even though she is Airachnid's daughter. Everyone must have a second chance, regardless of their relations."

Optimus Prime was one of the most regal, insightful bots out of all the uncles, and Cliffjumper was glad that he was on Earth with the rest of the surviving Cybertronians. He gave wonderful advice, not only to him and Thrash In, but also taught Grace, Zane, Izzy, and Asuna. Cliffjumper was grateful to have came across Optimus, when their race was scarce and few.

As Cliffjumper started to walk away, he felt a sharp hand grabbing at his wrist, and he turned around to see his mother stopped him.

"You're not going," she began bluntly. "Let Uncle Breakdown and everyone else take care of it, but stay out of this. You're safer on Earth, Cliff."

"But, mom, she's my friend...!" said Cliffjumper. "She needs me more than anyone else going, I gotta go with."

"You don't know what you're dealing with, Cliffjumper." When Arcee said his full name, she seriously meant business, with serious consequences if he disobeyed what he was told to do. "You haven't dealt with Airachnid like I had."

His brow suddenly scrunched. The story began to sound in his audio sensors. Not this again... he just about had enough.

"You know what, mom? I'm tired of you telling me the same story over and over again," he felt the edge in his voice brewing over. "Airachnid killed this guy, Airachnid killed that guy, it was eons ago. I'm sure it was painful, and I'm sure you were hurt, but honestly, let it go."

"You don't know what I went through, Cliffjumper," there was an edge in Arcee's voice as well. "She took everything from me, she pinned me up on Cybertron, just about killed Uncle Jack, and you expect me to forget about it? Out of anyone who I expect to betray me, I never thought I'd hear something like that coming out from you, my own son...!"

The feud was getting over the boiling point if any side lost any signs of rationality. Cliffjumper loved his mother very much. He respected her for her strength, even put up that she hid the fact that his father was a Decepticon for so many years... Now, he couldn't even recognize was what in front of him.

"If you want to stop the chain of violence, you can start by letting go," began Cliffjumper. "You told me once, you never want anyone, including me, to go through what you had to go through. If you want this to stop, you can start by helping Thrash In. She needs it more than I do."

Turning from his mother, he never felt his insides felt so hollow... yet heavy at the same time.

Note*~

I toast this chapter to Sounddrive, for her survival and struggle of something that recently happened to her, but she has pulled through. *heart* To brighter days.