The Holiday Killer ✔️

Ch. 20 We Can't Save Everyone

Inferno and a few other bots have heard Drift is worried about Jamie. They know what happened six years ago and know how terrified Drift is that it'll happen again. They know Crosshairs is worried and that he hides his worry for Drift's sake.
"How often does Drift leave the room?" Inferno asks Ratchet.
"Rarely, but I told Crosshairs not to force Drift to leave. Honestly, I wonder if Crosshairs forces himself to leave."
The two watch Crosshairs go into the room and hug Drift. Even without being there when Jamie dealt with Jadin's attack and severe flare-up, they know how the situation affected both of her guardians. With Ratchet agreeing with his idea but adding not to force Drift to leave, Inferno goes to Jamie's room.

Inferno tries to get Drift to go for a walk with him. He didn't think Ratchet would join the conversation.
"She's stable, Drift," Ratchet tells him, "she'll
be ok."
Crosshairs tells Drift he'll stay with Jamie, hoping to get Drift to leave for a while.
Drift and Inferno walk out of the medbay as Mirage walks in.
"I don't like how worried he gets," Mirage sighs.
"He watched the one he loves die three times," Crosshairs explains, "it was terrible, and I hope we never have to watch her go through a severe flare-up."

Inferno and Drift drive down the street in Inferno's alt mode. Inferno admits he had planned to distract Drift, and Drift could have declined before they left the hangar. Inferno could tell Drift didn't feel like he was forced to come with him and that Drift hadn't slept much.
The drive is silent as Inferno isn't sure what to talk about, and Drift is distracted, worried they'll return to an unpleasant scene, but he wanted to leave for a while.
But did I make a mistake? Drift worries.

Crosshairs sits by the bed, watching Jolt adjust how much oxygen Jamie is getting. There's no set timeframe for when Jamie will wake up, but Jolt tells him that Jamie is showing signs she could wake up in a day or two. He watches Jolt draw blood, still worried the test won't show good news even if less oxygen support is good news.
"He actually left?" Lightning asks, worried
"He didn't run off. Inferno suggested a walk."
Lightning sits by the bed, hoping Drift is doing ok.

As Inferno drives down the street by the Knight twins' parents' house, the two mechs see a man dressed in all black run down the street. They drive a little further down the street to find the Knight's home engulfed in flames. Drift gets out of Inferno's alt mode, knowing Inferno will have to deal with this in his bipedal form. Drift calls the police, who say they'll dispatch EMS. Drift isn't sure if Ratchet will be pissed that he didn't call them, but he fears it's too late. Even if the two humans inside are dead, Drift doesn't want their bodies to be burned. Against Inferno's yelling, Drift runs into the house.

He didn't think he'd find the elderly couple tied up together, and it's more troubling even if it's easier to get the two out of the house.

"Help them!" A femme yells as Drift lays the elders on the ground.
"They're dead, I'm sorry," Drift regrets telling her.
The femme waits until the fire is out, and Inferno activates his holoform, seeing the two dead humans.
"I'll never forgive you!" The femme yells and slaps Inferno before two officers force her away from him.
"I've gotten those same four words back home several times," Inferno admits.
"That's not right," Drift comments, "we did the best we could. Whoever set the fire knew what they were doing, and I found the humans tied up together."

"Come on, I think you need a walk," Drift comments after the two give their statements to the police.
Inferno smiles at how the roles are reversed. The two go for a walk around the block before going back to base.

"What happened, brother?" Heatwave asks, seeing Inferno is upset.
"I don't want to talk about it."
Heatwave watches his brother walk down the hall towards the medbay, hoping Inferno didn't get hurt.

Crosshairs has learned a lot about human facial expressions to know that something is troubling Inferno.
I don't think Drift is only bothered that Jamie hasn't woken up yet. Crosshairs worries.
He has inferno sit by the bed with Drift while he stands by Drift. Inferno isn't ready to tell Prime what happened. He's not looking forward to telling Ethan and Olivia that their brother murdered their parents. Believing Prowl will be informed about the situation doesn't help.

"You tried to help them," Ethan assures Inferno as he hugs his sobbing sister and tears roll down his face, "I just can't believe our brother did that."
Inferno didn't tell anyone how enraged the neighbors were.
"We need to find Justin," Prowl stresses, "I fear he could be a target."

Inferno tries to relax in the lounge room. He didn't think Drift would walk into the room.
"No one else knows everything that happened, and I know it's troubling you," he explains as he sits next to Inferno.
"I'm glad I'm not working with the local fire department like Prowl is working with the police. How many times would I have failed?"
"I know you did great on Cybertron, even with search and rescue. You encouraged Heatwave to follow in your pedsteps, and we can't save everyone. Even Jolt and Ratchet had dealt with loss before this holiday killer showed up."
While Drift is hoping not to keep giving examples, Inferno wonders if Drift has been hiding guilt from all the Cybertronians he's killed as Deadlock, and if Jamie dies, he'll blame himself. 
Maybe Rung will know. Inferno guesses, knowing he might not get answers. Even with a killer out there, I want to know if I'm right. I just hope Drift won't be pissed.
Crosshairs walks in ten minutes later.
"Uh, sorry, I have no news," he admits, seeing both mechs staring at him, hoping for news, "Jamie is still stable. I haven't heard about the blood test results yet," he tells them, sounding confident that Jolt will find good news, "let's go get dinner."
Crosshairs makes sure Drift leaves the room before Inferno stops him.
"I... uh... there's a possible concern about Drift."