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Two Quarts Low

Two whole weeks without a crisis, and now look what's happened. Arcee piloted her human-size body into the briefing room and stepped aside so Jack and June could follow her. She glanced around at Ashanti and her whole team, even Jensen with his broken leg, seated at the table. General Sanchez sat at the far end of the room, with a general in a Russian uniform seated to his left. Rosalina, Miko's mother, and her host-parents sat at the near end of the table. Bulkhead, Bumblebee, and Tomoko stood in the corner to Arcee's left.

Arcee walked over to them. "How're you guys holding up?"

"Not very well," Bulk said. "I know Miko's a tough kid and she knows how to take care of herself, but …"

"You can't help worrying anyway." Arcee nodded over at Jack. "I've been there too many times, myself."

"I'm just relieved that Raf is staying hidden," Bee said. "He wasn't abducted, and he's in a position to help rescue the others, but I just hope he can stay out of the actual fighting when it starts. He's too young and inexperienced to do anything except feed us intel."

"I just want him back." Tomoko hugged her Catbug plushie and stared at the floor. "All the others, too, but especially Raf." She raised her optics to meet Arcee's gaze. "Whatever you're going to do to save them, I want in."

"We'll bring you along, I promise. Those web-shooters of yours will be a huge help." Not knowing what else to say, she patted the guys' shoulders, gave Tomoko a hug, walked back to Jack, and held his hand as she took another quick look around the room.

Roz slumped over the conference table, propping herself up on one elbow and dabbing at her eyes with a tissue while sobbing. June had leaned over to put an arm around her shoulders. She glanced up, patted June's hand, and tried to smile.

"Huh," Camille muttered. "How the hell does a robot cry?"

Jensen flicked an irritated glance at her. "They were built to mimic humans and other organic species. That includes things like tears."

Roderick laid his hand over Camille's and leaned over to whisper to her. "Her husband and son were just abducted right in front of her, so would you please keep your mouth under control?"

Footsteps in the hallway caught Arcee's attention and she turned back to the door as Optimus, Elita-1, and Strika's brand new Pretender bodies entered the room.

"Thank you for joining us," Sanchez said. He turned to Jack, Arcee, and June. "You, especially. As you'll see in a moment, you need to be in the loop." He nodded at the other general. "This is General Dmitri Volkov. Since some of his people are going to be on the crew of our new ship, he was here for a look at its construction."

"I heard what happened," Volkov said. "When I learned who was responsible for this attack on Groom Lake … well, I'm afraid he was once one of ours before he went rogue over a decade ago."

"Luckily for us, Raf was showing his armor off to his family," Sanchez said. "He used its stealth system to avoid detection and hitched a ride on the bus when it left. He sent some video and audio recordings, but had to stop when one of the men on the bus said he was going to run a continuous scan for outgoing signals, just in case any of the hostages tried to make a phone call. Raf cut all transmissions, including his GPS tracker. We won't know anything else unless he can get a message out later."

"Using kids to --"

"Damn it, Camille, would you please give it a rest?" Roderick shook his head. "That kid's whole family was taken. He had the armor for protection in case he got caught up in another fight, and now he's putting it to good use. If I were him, I sure as hell wouldn't just stand there and let it happen if there was anything I could do about it."

"Raf doesn't like getting directly involved in a fight," Jack said. "But he has a chance to slip us a little information, and that'll help us track the hostages down and bring them home safe."

"We went over the recordings he sent," Kefira Ben-Ari said. "I recognized the team leader's voice. I ran into him a couple of times, back in my Mossad days, and a few more times after I went freelance."

"We ran a voice print analysis just to be certain," Sanchez said. He picked up a tablet resting on the table and tapped its screen. The large monitor on the wall behind him came to life and displayed a dossier. The man in the photo in the upper-left corner had several scars on his face and a gleam in his eyes that made him look about two quarts low. "Got a one-hundred-percent match. His name is Kazimir Sokolov. He's former Spetsnaz. Became a hired gun thirteen years ago, and now it seems he's joined MECH."

"What?" Jack gaped at him. "I thought they were pretty much out of business ever since Silas was locked up."

"Looks like there's still a few of them left, enough to cause trouble."

"Wait a minute." Camille leaned forward and swept her scowl over everyone. "What the hell is MECH? And who is Silas?"

"MECH is a terrorist organization," Optimus said. "In our past encounters with them, they attempted to acquire Cybertronian technology, though their goal remains unclear."

"Silas is their leader," Jack added and motioned at Ashanti. "Colonel McKenna's team took him into custody in our last run-in with them."

"His real name is Leland Bishop," Sanchez said. "Formerly Colonel Leland Bishop. He was in Special Ops until he got a dishonorable discharge. After that, he either joined MECH or started it, we're not sure which. Getting information out of him has been a real pain in the ass. We don't even know what the group's name stands for. And as Optimus said, we don't know what MECH's endgame is, but they've been determined to get their hands on advanced technology by any means necessary."

"First time we ran into him, he made a little speech about the war brewing between the new world order and the newer one, whatever the hell that means."

"Last time we fought them, they were working with Airachnid and wanted to dissect me." Arcee shook her head and sneered. "I wouldn't be surprised if that's what this is about, at least partly."

Sanchez nodded. "Just before the meeting started, we got a message from Sokolov. He's demanding that we release Silas and hand over Jack and Arcee, or he'll execute the hostages."

"Beginning with my son," Roz whispered.

"We won't let that happen. We can't give in to their demands, either, so we'll have to find a third option."

"If there's anything I can do," Volkov said, "just ask. As I said, this … person … was once on my 'team.' I've got my contacts back home tracking down his family, friends, former coworkers, anyone who's assisted him or owes him a favor, anyone he might seek out for help. We will leave no ground for him to go to."

"Thank you, General."

June stared at both of them. "Would this guy really hurt children?"

"Absolutely," Kefira said. "Like I mentioned a moment ago, I've run into him a few times. He has killed children before."

"I've gone over the dossier we have on him," Volkov added. "The man is evil. Not in a supernatural sense, of course. He's just …"

"Sounds like he's just fucked in the head," Jensen said.

"Completely. If you get a clear shot at him, I suggest you take it."

"Sounds good to me." Arcee turned to Sanchez. "Do we have anything else?"

"During the attack, Rosalina killed two of Sokolov's men, and someone with armor equipped with a stealth system took another down. I'm assuming it was Raf. The man survived, and he's in one of our cells. He's not telling us anything, because he knows there's only so much we can do. There are lines we can't cross. We're trying to come up with something that'll actually work, but Sokolov gave us only twenty-four hours to comply with his demands."

"I have an idea," June said, and everyone turned to stare at her. She shook her head slowly, leaned over, and braced her clenched fists on the table. "This sonofabitch is doing this just so he can get his hands on my son and his girlfriend. You know what? I've fucking had enough of people trying to hurt them. I want in on this."

Sanchez stared at her with a raised eyebrow. Several seconds passed before he said, "What do you have in mind?"

She looked him directly in the eye and said, "Let me question him."

---

"You sure you want to do this?" Ashanti rested a hand on June's shoulder as they walked toward the room that would be used as mission control. June's heart pounded and she took a few slow breaths, but finally nodded.

"Yeah. Like I said, I'm sick of all these bastards trying to hurt my son. If there's any way to put a stop to it once and for all, I want to go all-in on it."

"Okay. We'll need to hurry. We've already spent a few hours coming up with the plan and setting up your cover identity."

"I've been studying the notes Kefira came up with. I'm an assassin who's had cosmetic surgery and changed her name multiple times, and June Darby was just the latest false identity. I decided to retire when my son was born, but now that MECH is threatening him, I'm back in business."

"Exactly. We're only trying this because nothing else has worked on McClory. We'll give you every advantage we can. You'll have an earbud so we can talk to you, and we'll give you contact lenses so you'll have a heads-up display. You'll be wearing your armor, so your strength will be boosted, in case you need to fight him off. If McClory questions it, just tell him the armor will be put in lockdown to immobilize you if you try anything -- much safer for us than putting you in handcuffs. It'll be one more little detail to help convince him that you're dangerous. And Roz will be linked to your armor, so she'll be able to take control if you get in over your head. You've never had any combat training, but she's known how to fight for centuries. If she takes over, just go limp and let her do the fighting."

"I hope it doesn't come to that, but I'm glad to have her backing me up if I can't talk my way out of a fight."

"Do whatever you can to get him to tell us where the hostages were taken. If he won't give up the info, we'll have to stage an escape. We'll direct you to a specific armory on the way out so you can grab a gun and your helmet. The armory will be stocked with standard ammo so you won't be able to harm any Cybertronians. A bunch of Roz's Pretender friends will be disguised as guards and other base personnel, so you can 'take them out' to get to the armory and then off the base. We hoping that, if you break McClory out, you can convince him to take you to where Sokolov's keeping the hostages." They reached the final door and Ashanti paused. "One last time, are you sure about this? You may have to seriously violate your Hippocratic oath to get him to cooperate."

June took another slow, shaky breath. "I think so, yeah."

"This was your idea, so you need to be able to follow it through."

"Yeah, I can do it. Hell, these people want to kill my son, maybe even torture or experiment on him first. I can live with myself if I have to rough them up a little."

"Good, because once you go into that cell, we're pot-committed. If we have to pull you out of there, the op's blown."

"I'll do what I have to do."

Ashanti nodded, opened the door, and waved her inside. She stepped through and found Jensen, Kefira, and Rosalina at a control panel with a half-dozen monitors above it. Kefira glanced up at her and motioned at a young man on the lower-right monitor.

"That's Bodhi McClory. I won't waste time going over his entire service record, but he's been through a lot of shit. Imprisoned, tortured, and so on. He's done a lot of horrible shit to people, too. He won't scare easily." She turned and locked eyes with June. "Part of your cover is that you're insane. Not cackling insane or anything like that, but unbalanced enough to kill someone just for shits and giggles. You'll have to make this guy's skin crawl the instant you enter that cell, and keep him off balance the entire time you're together. We need him to believe you might shoot him in the crotch and then giggle while he bleeds out just because the voices in your head told you to. And if you can't convince him that you're genuine, it's over. If he sniffs you out, we'll never get another shot at this."

June took a few more shaky breaths and nodded. "Let's get started."

---

"I don't know about this," Jack muttered. He and Arcee had walked into the control room just as his mom appeared on one of the monitors, entering McClory's cell. McClory was sprawled on his mattress, unconscious. June stood in the center of the room and stared at him.

Ashanti shrugged. "I've seen seasoned soldiers fold like a bad poker hand under the right kind of pressure, and I've seen civilians who'd never been anywhere near a gun remain completely calm in the middle of a firefight. I guess we'll see."

Arcee put her arm around Jack's shoulders. "Don't worry, if it starts to go south, we'll get her out of there and try to come up with something else. If we're lucky, Raf will have a chance to send us a message."

Kefira motioned at the monitor. "We sedated him before letting your mom in. When he wakes up, it'll be like she just appeared there."

"Should be any moment now," Jensen added.

Kefira spoke into her earpiece mic. "June, can you hear us?"

Without moving her right arm, June clenched her fist and extended her thumb, then relaxed again.

Jack stepped closer to the screen, watched, and tried not to hold his breath.

June approached McClory, crouched over him, and waited. She didn't move even a fraction of an inch as several more minutes passed. Finally, McClory stirred, groaned, opened and closed his eyes a few times, and finally seemed to notice June. He jerked back and let out a startled grunt.

June leaned closer abruptly, sniffed him, and smiled. "You smell different when you're awake."

"Whoa!" Jensen scooted his chair back and shuddered. "That was fucked-up!"

"Yeah. If I had skin, it'd definitely be crawling now." Arcee glanced at Jack. "Looks like your mom's really throwing herself into this."

"What …?" McClory glanced around and back to June. "Who the fuck are you?"

"Well, I used to be June Darby. Until the people here found out who I really am, that is." She shrugged and let out a quick giggle. "They had to take me down with a tranquilizer dart because they didn't want to get anywhere near me. Stuck me in my own armor because they can lock it down and immobilize me if I make them too nervous." She lunged toward him and he flinched. She whispered, "Or, they could if I hadn't persuaded a hacker on the base to disable that function."

"Uh-huh." McClory scooted back against the wall and then leaned against it, trying to appear casual.

"His breathing is a little uneven," Kefira whispered. "You're getting under his skin already."

"How'd you manage that?" McClory narrowed his eyes at her and looked her over slowly.

"Once I slept with him a few times, he was willing to do anything for me." June smirked. "Nice guy, but way too easy to manipulate. I'm sure I can get him to unlock a few doors if I can get in touch with him."

"I'll play the hacker for you," Jensen said. "When it's time, just pretend to contact him on your armor's radio. I'll provide the voice while Kefira and Roz work their magic."

"Okay," June muttered, and Jack's heart nearly leaped into his throat.

"No! Don't talk to us!"

"What?" McClory scowled at her. "Okay, what? Who are you talking to?"

"The voices." June opened her eyes wide and a beatific smile spread slowly across her face. "It's such a shame you can't hear them. They're beautiful. They sing my victims to sleep."

Arcee turned slowly to stare at Jack with her mouth hanging open. "I didn't know she had that in her."

"Neither did I." Jack shivered. "Her coming up with these so quickly is disturbing."

"Damn good recovery, though." Jensen slumped over the console and let out a long sigh.

"Uh-huh," McClory muttered, his own eyes opening wider. He shifted slightly, as if starting to scoot along the wall to get away from her and then forcing himself not to.

"Good job," Kefira said. "You're really making him squirm. Keep it up."

"In fact," June said softly as she glanced at the door, "I bet I could get us both out of here if I can contact him."

"Shh!" McClory pointed at something outside the camera's range. "Brilliant, tell them how you plan to escape!"

"What's he pointing at?" Jack glanced back and forth from Jensen to Kefira.

"The big camera, the one we wanted him to see. We're watching on a pinhole camera."

June jumped up, rushed over to the far corner, hopped up, grabbed something, and ripped it out of the wall. She returned to McClory with the standard security camera in her right hand. She tossed it over her shoulder, plopped onto the mattress beside him, and put her arm around his shoulders.

"There. Problem solved."

McClory tried to push away from her, but the servos in her armor allowed her to hold him in place.

"Good," Kefira said. "One of the best ways to make someone uncomfortable is to invade their personal space."

"Hey, I recognize you," June said. "Spotted you when they dragged your unconscious ass in here from the gate. I heard someone invaded the base and kidnapped a bunch of kids and civilians because they wanted a shot at my son and his girlfriend. Have you ever been raped?"

"Wh -- what?" McClory gaped at her.

"What the fuck, Mom?" Jack recoiled from the screen.

"Hah." Jensen grinned. "She totally stole that from Firefly."

Kefira shrugged. "As long as it scares this bastard, it's good enough for me."

"Sometimes I like to have a little fun with my targets before I finish them off," June said. "There was this one guy. I took a toilet plunger and --"

"I don't need to hear it," McClory snapped. He tried to slip away from her again, and she yanked him right back.

"Tell ya what. You tell me where those kids were taken, and maybe I'll control my … urges."

"Why do -- uh, urges?" He shook his head. "Why do you want to know that?"

"Haven't you been listening?" She knocked on his forehead. "Hello? I said, they came after my son. I have a score to settle with them."

"Forget it. I'm not telling anybody anything."

"Well, in that case …" She suddenly shoved him face down and pinned him to the mattress. "Y'know, if I rip that toilet out of the wall, I bet I can find a pipe the right size to --"

"Get off me!" McClory tried to writhe out from under her, but her armor-enhanced strength kept him from budging.

"Oh, no, sorry, you're one of the idiots who thought coming after my son was a good idea." She yanked his arms around behind him until his elbows met, and he clenched his teeth around a groan. "I'm just getting started with you."

"June, try not to carry it too far." Ashanti smirked. "I can understand why you want to tear him apart, but we have rules we've got to follow."

"She wouldn't take it any farther," Kefira said. "She's not that kind of person. But this is a good way to show him that she can overpower him quite easily."

"Tell me where the hostages were taken," June hissed into McClory's ear.

"Fuck you!"

"Wrong answer." June braced her left hand on his right shoulder and slowly pulled and twisted his arm.

"Uh, June," Kefira said -- then raised an eyebrow when a snapping sound came from the speakers, followed by a grating snarl as McClory clamped his mouth shut to stop himself from screaming. "Never mind."

"Mom, seriously, what the actual fuck?" Jack stared at the screen and shook his head slowly.

Kefira shrugged. "Well, she's pissed off."

"Don't worry," June said, "it's only dislocated, not broken. I'll pop it back in for you if you tell me where the hostages were taken."

"Go … fu--"

June hopped off him for a split second -- then she sat on him, directly on his shoulder, her armor digging into him and her weight crushing his face into the mattress. She crossed her arms over her chest and pouted.

"Fine, have it your way."

His other arm flailed around and tried to push her off. All he managed was to slap his hand against her armor a few times.

"Uh, Mom?" Jack leaned closer to the screen. "You might want to try something else before you suffocate him."

She leaped back to her feet and McClory sucked in a deep, ragged breath.

"Now that I think about it, you didn't do that much during the attack. It's all the others I want." She clamped her hand onto the back of his neck and gradually applied more pressure as she spoke. "Agree to take me to them, and I'll bring you with me when I break out of here."

"What do you want with them?"

"Not very good a this whole 'thinking' thing, are you?" June squeezed a little harder and McClory grimaced and tried to pry her fingers off. "Those assholes came after my son. What the hell do you think I want with them?" She clamped her other hand onto his chin and turned his head to glare directly into his eyes. "I'm gonna kill them all. But if you help me out, I'll let you go. It's the one giving the orders that I'm the most interested in. He's the one I'm going to take my sweet goddamn time killing."

"Interesting," Kefira said. "Telling him that she wants to join them might make him suspicious, but he probably wasn't expecting her to say that. Should keep him a little off-balance while we set up the prison break."

"Alright, alright! Just stop crushing my neck!" When she released him, he slumped forward, took a few rasping breaths, and raised his hand to his injured shoulder. "Fine. Get me out of here and I'll take you our base. That's where the hostages were taken."

"On to phase two, then." Ashanti glanced over at Rosalina. "Tell your friends to get into position. It's showtime."