A Soldier's Will (Transformers Prime Fanfiction)

Self-Destruction

Claire had been running, tears falling down her face. She didn't know how long she had been running for; she knew she had to go far away from base. She wanted to be left alone. That's all.

By the time she stopped running, she found herself at the forest's edge. She surprised herself at how far she went, but she understood that it was what she wanted. She chose this after all. She sighed before walking into the forest.

"Stupid fucking medic," she said to herself. "Thinks he knows everything because he's some giant bot. He's stupid enough to not know how to-"

She cut herself off as she quickly looked around. She started to become uneasy, reaching for her gun. However, she realized that she didn't have it on her.

"Scrap..." Claire said to herself, frustrated.

She kept going, hoping to leave the forest soon enough. However, she could hear more strange noises. She knew that it couldn't have been the animals around here. The sounds were too... Metallic. She tried to ignore it, not wanting to get sidetracked. Her mind raced as she tried to leave the forest, her thoughts haunting her.

It's your fault he's dead.

No... Claire shook her head. She couldn't believe that. She had no choice but to leave him. That grenade... It destroyed him. But...

You failed him.

She did everything she could. She tried to save him, she really did, but it was too dangerous to bring him back. She couldn't bring him back home.

You should've taken the grenade instead of him.

Claire knew that Sebastian tried to save her from the grenade, and she was grateful. However, she couldn't help but wonder what would've happened if things were different.

You should've died in his place.

She stopped walking, her body trembling. She hugged herself, tears hitting the ground before she kneeled down. She wished that she could have done something, anything, to save her brother many months ago.

The grief and guilt wreaked her. Even with trying to open up, she still felt like everything was wrong, like she wanted to go back.  She felt so alone without her brother, and it hurt knowing that he couldn't be there for her. It made her chest hurt from where she cried so much, and her breath was shaky. The last thing she did was scream her brother's name before laying on the ground and completely blacking out...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The world was dark, and it was cold. Claire felt like she was floating, but it also felt like she was drowning. Her eyes were open, and she could see the bubbles float up to the surface. So... She really was drowning, huh?

She tried to swim up as she heard familiar voices, but even though she tried to reach up to the bright surface, she would be dragged down. She would hear the same words that had been haunting her.

It's your fault he's dead... You should've taken the grenade instead of him... You should've died in his place... You failed him...

She tried to fight against what had been dragging her down, and she tried to cry out. However, all that came out of her mouth was bubbles. She tried to reach her arm out, scared.

"Please..." She thought, pleading. "Don't leave me like this..."

She tightly closed her eyes, wishing she could cry, but nothing could escape her lips. She quickly opened her eyes when she felt someone take her hand, trying to pull her out of the cold and dark water.