006

[justpopthehood]

Mikaela stands on a crowded street at the center of a large city. She is surrounded by soldiers, ten or twenty of them, and more continue to arrive, patrolling the area in tanks. The fighter jets flying overhead combined with the shouting on the ground create a deafening discord

Comments

i am an accessory to a lifetime of memories

[threeatonce]

Veronica isn't sure where she is, but it's definitely not Neptune. It's hard to breathe here: the air heavy with dirt and the stench of gasoline. Her face feels wet with sweat and grime, and when she pushes her hair out of her face to get a better look around, she has to hold it back to keep it from flopping forward again and sticking unceremoniously. Usually in dreams like these - the end of the world, late for fourth period, on a date with Josh Hartnett - Veronica is naked, because there's nothing worse than experiencing and apocalypse in nothing but your socks. This time, though, it's not like that, and when she spots Mikaela just before the truck goes ass-over-tea kettle, Veronica halts and stares, flabbergasted, before finding the power to move again

i am an accessory to a lifetime of memories

[justpopthehood]

The blast knocked everyone standing to the ground and Mikaela's face is currently making friends with the crumbling gravel underneath. She lifts her head slowly, blinking furiously against the build up of ash and smoke. The first thing she sees through the thick air is Sam and she reaches instinctively for his hand. The soldiers begin to rise and Mikeala allows herself to be pulled to her feet, joining Sam and the soldiers in a survey of the damage. A cruel twist has Bumblebee taking the greatest hit of them all, an injury that will likely keep him out of commission for the duration of the battle. Mikaela jumps down through a maze of wrecked and leveled concrete and runs to the robot's side.

Her head whips around when she hears her name. She recognizes that voice but she shouldn't be hearing it. "Veronica?"

She glances back at Sam, who assures her with a nod that he'll take care of the Autobot. She backs away slowly and with some degree of uncertainty, then turns and jogs over to Veronica. "Are you okay?"

i am an accessory to a lifetime of memories

[threeatonce]

Veronica is doing her best not to stare. Even with the type of life that she leads, watching a huge yellow robot take a blast isn't exactly on her agenda most days, and while she doesn't react unfavorably to the situation on the whole, the fact that she doesn't have shoes on is making it somewhat hard to do anything other than stop and stare for a minute.

Mikaela brings her out of that stupor a little, and she blinks for a second before seeming to come into herself, back to the quippy girl that most people have learned to see her as. "Me? My feet hurt. No sweat. I do this everyday. What about you?" She tries to make as little of a show as she can about checking the other girl over. Her first aid isn't life saving, but she knows how to stop bleeding, bandage some things, and not throw up in the face of blood.

i am an accessory to a lifetime of memories

[justpopthehood]

She notices Veronica's distinct and unfortunate lack of footwear and winces. The ground is littered with broken glass and the pulverized remnants of half a dozen cars. She has a plan, possibly one that could help Veronica's situation, but the tow truck is roughly thirty feet away and the path is not friendly to the barefoot problem.

"I-" She actually does do this every day. For the past week, at least. She's spent the last few days sleepless and hungry and on the run from the Deceptacons and Sector 7's lackies. The realization restores her motivation. She indicates the tow truck to Veronica and asks, "Do you think you can make it over there?"

i am an accessory to a lifetime of memories

[threeatonce]

"I think I can pull of this Annie Lennox song with little problem, yeah," Veronica says, thinking in dream logic. Obviously this is a dream and if this is a dream then she should be able to escape unscathed, right? Her feet have something to say as she steps on debris and avoids broken glass, following Mikaela with her head turned toward the sky. She doesn't need any help, never has, and she follows the girl in front of her by barely following her at all, walking next to her, shoulders bumping until they reach the truck.

i am an accessory to a lifetime of memories

[justpopthehood]

It doesn't exactly occur to Mikaela that this is a dream. It could be the adrenaline or the urgency of the matter or the fact that this isn't what she would consider surreal anymore. Either way, she charges toward the tow truck with determination.

"Get in!" Mikaela squeezes in under the the driver's seat without much thought as to Veronica's opinion on hot wiring.

i am an accessory to a lifetime of memories

[threeatonce]

Veronica doesn't need telling twice, even if she would rather be in the driver's seat. It's part of being a control freak, and even in a passenger's seat she feels morbidly out of place. She swipes her eyes with the back of her wrist, removing rubble dirt, then clicks the seat belt into place and says, "I hope we don't have to hot wire this baby."

i am an accessory to a lifetime of memories

[justpopthehood]

Mikaela's holding a separate wire in each hand by the time the comment registers. She shoots a glace upwards but doesn't have time to shrug. A minute later she's pulling herself up onto the driver's seat and putting the car into reverse. Instead of backing up into a battlefield, she backs up onto a wide expanse of bright green grass. She turns toward the front and sees the lake through the windshield.

"I think my subconscious is being friendly to your feet."