"Bee!"
The attack had come as a complete surprise to every Autobot and human in the base. A single, small Decepticon had somehow found his way there and had accidentally been discovered from his hiding spot by Bumblebee. The yellow mech had been caught off guard as the Decepticon launched a devastating attack.
Dawn was the first one to scream, seeing the roughly human sized 'con jump at her friend, thrusting a long blade through his chest plate. The unprepared Autobot wailed and fell backwards, his assailant still attacking him.
Optimus and Ironhide readied their blasters instinctively, only to realize they couldn't shoot the Decepticon without hitting Bumblebee too. Dawn was standing further away with Ratchet, who she had been talking with before the unexpected attack.
The other two Autobots rushed to help the injured mech, but froze before reaching him. The smaller Decepticon had ceased his attacks and was now shaking uncontrollably. It was like a full-blown seizure, only a foaming mouth missing.
Ratchet looked down to his side where Dawn had been standing and where she still was, but now her hand had come up, pointed straight towards the Decepticon, her eyes blazing with rage. He had heard the woman had some inhuman powers, but none of them had seen them before. Only a few of the other humans knew what they were.
Now it seemed, though, that they were going to get a demonstration.
Everyone had by then, noticed that something abnormal was going on and heads were turning between the woman and the Decepticon. Dawn didn't see them looking at her. All she saw was Bumblebee on the floor and the Decepticon that had caused him to hurt.
And now she would hurt him. She would hurt him badly.
Her hand was trembling a little from the use of her powers, she hadn't had a lot of practice using them, but her rage fueled her more than enough. Lifting her arm higher, the helpless 'con rose from the ground with the power of her mind.
The power to control metal.
The Decepticon's screechy sounds filled the large hall as he was slowly compressed, from feet upwards, until she reached his head and popped it right off. She stopped concentrating and let the limp frame fall next to the head, where the red lights from the optics had already gone out.
Dawn fell on one knee. It felt like her head had been hazy with mist that had now cleared. She looked at what she had done and her breath caught in her throat.
Nonononononono! She hadn't just done that in front of everyone. Raising her head, she let her eyes travel across the hall, at the shocked faces of humans and Cybertronians alike.
Oh fuck, she had done it.
All the rage was gone and she could feel the panic starting. She staggered to her feet and rushed to get out.
"Dawn! Dawn!" Someone called out to her, but she couldn't register who, she had to get away. She was almost at the door, when someone appeared behind her.
"Dawn, just wait and let me…"
"Leave me alone!" She shouted and flung her arm at the source of the disturbance, the move resulting in a loud crash.
She stopped, holding the door handle, and looked back. There was Ratchet, lying on the floor, looking surprised as ever. That was more than she could handle at the moment, so she just ran out the door, slamming it shut behind her.
Outside she was immediately struck by heavy rain lashing against her face. Out of everyone's sight, she ran away from the base, into the barren wilderness.
Why did she always do this? She had seen enough times people witnessing her powers and it had almost always ended up in them fearing and hating her. This time it was worse. She really liked the Autobots, but of all the beings on planet Earth, they had the biggest reason to hate and stay away from her. She had even turned her powers against Ratchet and even if not on purpose, it was still a horrible thing to do.
Dawn kept running, trying to get as far as she could, but soon her energy was spent. She couldn't see anything from the rain, it was pouring in her eyes from her messed up hair. She didn't want to stop yet, so she continued running practically blind.
She went on until her feet started to give in and she finally fell down, face first on to the soggy ground. She breathed heavily, not sure if she was crying or not, she couldn't tell from the rain if it was tears or raindrops falling down her face. She thought of staying there, becoming a part of the earth, that way she at least couldn't harm anyone she cared about. The rain seemed to help her in that, her clothes soaking all the weight of the water and pressing her down.
Dawn didn't know how long she was there, before she heard a truck approaching. She knew who it was and didn't want to face him right then. She tried to get up, but fell to her knees, exhausted. She didn't turn to look back when she heard the truck transform.
"Dawn", came the booming, but surprisingly gentle voice of Optimus Prime. "What happened, why did you run away?"
Still on her knees, Dawn kept her eyes on the ground, but huffed in disbelief. "You're asking why? Didn't you see what I did?"
She heard the Autobot leader coming closer and kneeling beside her. Suddenly she couldn't feel the rain anymore. She looked up to see Optimus holding his hand above her.
"I saw you defend Bumblebee when he needed help. There is nothing wrong with that."
Dawn wanted to believe it, but her fears were holding her back. "Optimus, I control metal, you are all made of metal. I am a danger to you. I even flipped out on Ratchet for now reason."
She was finally looking right into the gigantic mechs optics, searching for the words that would convince him to abandon and forget about her. Unfortunately she had forgotten how hard it was to look into those piercing, blue optics and maintain one's resolve, especially in such close vicinity. Now she saw patience and wisdom in that majestic face. She knew she couldn't convince him.
"I'm just so scared I might hurt one of you."
Optimus nodded understandingly. "That is why, my young friend, that kind of skills must be honed. You will learn to control your powers by training. And you can count on our help, whenever you need it."
Dawn took a deep breath, wiping the mix of water and salty tears off of her face. "Is Bumblebee okay?"
"His spark wasn't harmed, all other damage Ratchet can fix."
"Thank goodness", the woman muttered relieved and then let out a small laugh. "I guess I should stay away from Ratchet for a while, or he might just sit on me for knocking him to the ground like that and just leaving."
Optimus smiled at that. "I think you don't need to worry about that, he is, after all, quite fond of you. Instead you should worry about him following you around everywhere now that he has seen what you can do. Curiosity is the strongest feature you humans and him have in common."
"Yeah…" Dawn rubbed the back of her neck, thinking twice about going back. She had seen some of the experiments Ratchet had performed out of curiosity, and it wasn't exactly mind easing. "Well… I guess Sideswipe and Sunstreaker will be happy to know that Ratchet won't have as much time to keep an eye on them."
Optimus shook his head, his voice just noticeably strained. "You make a good point, I'll have to assign someone to follow them around for a while. Ironhide can take that duty at first, maybe he'll scare them to behave for once."
Dawn laughed more freely this time, thinking of the twins and how easily they got bored when there was no action going on, resulting often in nerve-racking, mischievous deeds. "Then I'm definitely going to get sat on when Ironhide hears who's to blame for his new assignment."
"I'm afraid that indeed might be a very likely situation", the large mech admitted half-seriously. Dawn loved it when Optimus was like this. Relaxed for a change, even participating in her joke. It was a rare sight.
"I guess I'm ready to go back now", she sighed, feeling like a weight had been lifted from her shoulders. "Thank you Optimus."
"You're welcome."
Optimus stood up, intending to transform back to a truck, but Dawn stopped him. "You'd better not, I'll only end up getting mud and dirt on the seats."
"Your well-being is more important than that."
"Thanks, but I'm fine. Besides, I can't get any wetter than this."
Optimus accepted her statement and picked her up on his hand instead. Dawn sat down on his palm, keeping her balance by leaning on one of his fingers. It was still raining, so the surface of his hand was slippery, she knew it would be easy to fall if she wasn't careful.
But Optimus was careful with her too, walking as evenly as possible. They weren't too far from the base, at least not by a giant mech's standards. Soon they saw Bumblebee and Ratchet standing next to the hall they had been in earlier.
"Bumblebee!" Dawn yelled and waved at the smaller Autobot. He waved back, smiling happily, but was immediately hurried by Ratchet to get back inside.
"There, are you content now? She's alright. Now get your rear to the medical bay so I can fix you before your parts start to fall out."
Dawn shook her head, smiling. That was Ratchet, all right. Always impatient with his patients. She knew the chief medical officer well enough to know he did have a softer side, but it was most of the time hidden under the practical one.
Ratchet escorted Bumblebee through the large door, but before they vanished inside, Dawn could have sworn she heard Ratchet thinking aloud to himself.
"As soon as I get this done, I can start looking for the supplies for the experiment…"
Dawn turned to look at Optimus.
"Sooo… is it too late to change my mind?"