A Light in the Shadows

Interrogations and Revelations

Warnings for this chapter: Language, ANGST

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indicates flashback
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Lexi had just pulled herself to a sitting position when three soldiers entered the room, stopping just inside the partition.

The soldier in the middle, a young looking officer from what she could tell, stepped forward from the others. "Alexandra Corvin? My name is Major William Lennox, head of the NEST program. Bumblebee here says you're not a threat, but I need to be sure of that before I can allow you to leave."

Lexi fought against her inner smart-ass not to laugh at the soldiers understandable inquiry.

"Major Lennox, I understand your concern for your soldiers, however, I can reassure you that I am not a threat. Even if I were, I'm hardly in a condition to do any harm."

He nodded, taking a seat next to the bed. "Ms. Corvin, I've spoken with both Mr. Witwicky and Bumblebee regarding your conversation prior to the incident preceding your arrival. I have a few questions I need you to answer before I can feel comfortable with," he gestured around the room, "all of this."

She smiled, surpressing a swear at the slight pain involved. "'M ready when you are. Shoot."

The young officer pulled a small notepad from one of his many pockets and flipped through a few pages before settling on a starting point.

"Alright, first question. You stated to Mr. Witwicky that you were involved with Sector Seven. How so?"

Recognizing the start of an interrogation, she decided to just play it straight and give him the facts.

"Involved would be an understatement. My mother was one of the agency's top researchers. She worked for Seven for the majority of her adult life. I was recruited and began my training December Twenty-third 2003, two days after my eighteenth birthday."

Major Lennox's eyes jerked up from his notepad to lock with hers. "Eighteen?" He asked in a flat tone.

She kept her eyes level with his as he stared in disbelief. "Yes sir. My mother insisted it was necessary for the upcoming mission's success."

He looked back to his notebook, watching her out of the corner of his eye. "Kinda young for a government agent. What mission would that be?"

She grimaced at this and hoped Bumblebee wouldn't hate her for it. "The capture and study of NBE-02. Agent Simmons and his team's results were dismal at best. So, I was dispatched to assist him in his objective. As you know, we were eventually successful..."

The young Autobot's optics widened as she revealed her role in his capture, imprisonment, and what had been the equivalent of torture.

That was why she seemed familiar.

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Jade eyes in a face not much older than Sam's stared down at him from her perch on his chest armor.

"Do we have to do this mom?" The girl asked, tossing her long dark hair over her shoulder.

An odd color, he noticed. Blue so dark it looked black. His optics were able to detect the subtle difference, but he doubted any of the humans could have done so without the assistance of a very bright light.

An older female walks over with an armful of wires. "Yes. It's necessary if we want to understand how these machines function."

He notices her scent as she bends down to take the wires from the older female. Pleasant, he muses, different from the fruity, sweet scent he detected around Mikaela.

This is softer, floral. He searches his memory files for the names of the detected flowers, there. Lilies and jasmine.

The girl looks sad as she connects the wires to a small device behind her ear. "I don't know, it seems cruel. He's obviously sentient, and in pain if those sounds earlier were any indication."

'Yes...' He thought, knowing it was useless to attempt communication with the constant cryo-blasts. How the girl was able to withstand the cold was something he wasn't very concerned with at the moment.

The older female sighs dramatically as she types a few lines of code into the computer terminal. "'It' dear, 'it'. Remember, this is a machine, however advanced it may appear, it's a machine." She finishes typing and walks over to another computer, nodding as she reads the information on the screen. "We're good to go. Are you ready?"

The dark-haired girl nods and looks down at him with tears in her eyes. "I'm sorry..." She mouths as she touches the device behind her ear with one hand and places the other over the armor covering his Spark.

Pain...

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"You." The yellow mech whispers, almost inaudibly.

He knew what the resonance was.

How...

She's human. It shouldn't be possible.

He listens quietly throughout the remainder of the questioning.

She glances over her shoulder at him repeatedly.
She appears uncomfortable, as if she can feel him watching her.

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An hour later the Major stood, satisfied with the answers she provided. "All that's left is a quick background check and a meeting with Agent Simmons to verify your story. After that I'll come back to discuss your options. Try to rest until then."

Lexi settled herself back on her pillow, nodding slightly once she was comfortable. "Thank you Major Lennox. That sounds like an excellent idea."

Once the soldiers were beyond earshot, she turns her head to face Bumblebee, tears in her eyes, the same as they were almost three years ago.

"I'm sorry. I should have told you before. I understand if you hate me."

Whatever cutting remark he had planned died in his vocalizer as she brushed his arm with her fingertips. He was speechless as an intense wave of regret and despair slammed full force into his processor.

He shouldn't pity her, but he does. Unwelcome among her own kind for what she believes, reviled by his for what she's done.

"I don't hate you." He says quietly, gently brushing a finger against her cheek. "I just...Why? If you knew I was aware, and you knew it was painful, why?"

She closed her eyes as she tried to find the words. "I had to. That's why I was recruited so young. They needed me."

Bumblebee shook his head, confused. "Needed you for what?"

"For you. All of you. The agency needed to understand the systems that are beyond our technology." Lexi sighed laying her arm over her eyes, partially to block out the ridiculously bright flourescent light, partially so she wouldn't have to look Bumblebee in the optics. "That's where I came in."


A/N: Yep another short chapter. I'm getting there with the kinky robot sex. Probably chapter after next. Sorry to all you horny Xeno fans. I just wouldn't feel right saying "BAM SEX!" without giving a little background...

R&R if you would. I squeed uncontrollably at my first review and I would love to experience that again. Most amazing feeling ever! For a virgin writer like me, reviews are better than bacon! (Damned if I don't love some bacon ;P )