Title: Benevolent Renegade
Category: Movies ยป Transformers
Author: Catalyst Spark
Language: English, Rating: Rated: M
Genre: Adventure/Humor
Published: 03-30-10, Updated: 03-30-10
Chapters: 1, Words: 13,992
Chapter 1: Chapter 1
Things were not easy, they never were, but on this morning, the start of the rest of her life, the air itself held a heavy feel, the alarm clock that was once resting upon her table was some where's half way across the room, having been thrown in a fit of annoyance at it's shrill beeping, the tall red head sitting at the edge of her bed, hair wild from the night's sleep, crimson red tangles flopping over her face and falling a third of the way down her back, redder than anything natural could be, but she didn't care if others could tell it was dyed, the unnatural tone suited her well enough. Goosebumps covered her long arms, causing the scars marking them to tingle uncomfortable, mentally cursing herself for having forgotten to turn on the heater the night before, she unfolded herself from her seated position, standing to her full height a little too quickly, causing her head to have a rough meeting with the light fixture of her room and exciting an annoyed hiss from her lips and causing her hazel eyes to narrow as she glared at the offensive fixture. It was obvious, she was certainly not a morning person.
Once she had shaken off her annoyance with the light fixture, which she made a mental note to change out for something a little more friendly for her height, she made her way to the bathroom to try to tame the mop that was currently her hair, a battle she would likely not win, but she could at least attempt it. She stopped in front of the mirror once she was inside, sighing a bit seeing her reflection. She knew it and always admitted it, she was nothing above average in anything but her height. Her skin pale with scars here and there from her rough past, her features sharp and, to some, a bit intimidating, a face which rarely wore a smile, a small spiked labret under her lower lip, one of the few appearance altering things she had ever done, eyes deep set, though this was normally unnoticeable behind her glasses. Her body itself was odd, she had an hourglass shape, but it was not near as slender as most women, her bust large enough to get in her way, waist narrowed sharply only to move to wide hips just as suddenly, her frame itself was wide despite her hourglass shape, giving her a slightly dangerous looking build, then came three feet of leg, all of this on a woman who stood six feet and one inch barefoot to begin with. She often tried not to pay mind to it all, it had always bothered her to a degree, that her body shape was so unique, but she pushed it back, appearances were something she preferred not to spend too much time worrying about, as she knew how insane it drove most women and she would be damned if she was about to become obsessive with her looks. She was good enough, not fashion model material, but she didn't look half bad either, if you got beyond the whole fact that she just looked like she could throw someone.
Once her hair and morning routine, though it was more of a get in, do what needs doing, get out type of routine, was done she made her way to grab whatever the hell was still clean to wear, grabbing just a pair of camouflage pants, baggy as hell, and a black muscle shirt, it wasn't the latest fashion, but it was comfortable. Half way through dressing she heard her cell ringing, blaring out whatever classic rock song she had decided to put as her ringtone this month, she all but jumped for the phone on her table, knowing people never called unless it was important, anything not urgent was taken care of in text messages. She opened the flip phone as soon as it was in her hand, tapping the mouthpiece with a fingernail a few times to let the other party know she was there and listening, sure enough, she heard the panicked voice of her friend on the other side.
"Vi! Oh thank goodness you answered, look, I need a ride. . ."
The redhead gave a heavy sigh in response, tapping the mouthpiece once more to prompt her friend to continue.
"OK, so, my boyfriend called and said I need to meet him at the hospital, said it was really important but didn't say what happened, I mean, he called, so that means he's alright, but I'm still worried and my car's busted, think you can give me a ride? Please Vic? I swear I'll make it up to you!"
Victoria merely rolled her eyes, slapping her hand against her forehead, the impact of which the phone likely picked up before she gave the mouthpiece a rapid series of five taps, something her friend would know as a yes.
"Thanks Vi! You're the best, I'll be waiting outside!"
She nodded, though knowing her friend couldn't see it, and snapped the phone shut with an eye roll before dropping the device into her pocket and finishing dressing, making a grab for her hiking boots before jamming them on and heading for the door, grabbing her leather wallet and keys and making her way to her bike, her pride and joy, a 1980 Honda Gold Wing, Interstate edition, painted in deep crimson with a blue phoenix airbrushed front on both sides, a bike she spent two years rebuilding and a month painting, it was her baby, and if so much as a scratch ended up on that custom paint job, heads were going to roll. She wasted no time getting on and starting the beloved bike, a smirk sneaking across her lips as the engine roared to life, a smirk caused by pride that she brought this bike from being a piece of junk used for spare parts to the beautiful beast it was now, but, unless she wanted her friend to give a fuss about how long it took her to get there, she'd just have to wait to admire her work until later. She clicked on the radio, turning it up as Van Halen's 'Humans Being' came over the speakers and tore out of the driveway, heading right to her best, and likely most annoying, friend's house.
It didn't take her long to get there, not the way she drove at least, and sure enough there was her little blond haired friend standing on the patio, hair all done up in something far more complex than Victoria would even dare to attempt, makeup painted onto her features and, as always, her short friend was jumping up and down waving like a woman deranged as soon as she saw the redhead pull up. She didn't even cut the engine before her friend came bounding up to her with a smile way too cheerful for this hour of the morning, this prompted the redhead to just sit up a bit on the bike, cross her arms over her oversized chest and quirk an eyebrow at the blond girl. So maybe Sara wasn't that short, she was about average height for a woman, but to Victoria, she still was about armrest height, it never failed to amuse the redhead just how odd of a pair they were, the bouncy, energetic, talkative ex-cheerleading captain and the amazon of a redhead who had a weapons collection which would make most men cringe and, again the complete opposite of her lively friend who talked all the time, Victoria was unable to speak, having been rendered mute due to a freak accident that damaged her vocal cords.
"Oh don't look at me like that Vi!" Her bouncy friend's voice snapping her from her thoughts "I know that look, and I know you're just doing it to mess with me, now come on, lets get going!" the blond said before jumping onto the back of the bike, Victoria just looked over her shoulder at Sara expectantly, once more raising an eyebrow.
"What?! I didn't scratch your baby, don't worry!"
To this the redhead just sighed, shaking her head and reaching back behind her and over her friend to get to the bike's saddle bag, opening it and pulling out a helmet, lightly shoving it into Sara's lap before closing the saddlebag once more, and sure enough, as if on cue. . .
"What?! You're not wearing one, why do you always make me put on a helmet when you never wear one you hypocrite!?"
The only reaction from the redhead would be a heavy sigh and a face palm.
"Fine, fine, I'll wear it, cause I know you won't budge until I do!" Sara said as she put the helmet on on too careful, likely trying to avoid messing up her hair Victoria mused. "There! You happy?" The blond fussed, to which Vic simply nodded before gunning the engine and taking off, this prompting a screech from her passenger as the smaller blond clinched her arms around Victoria's waist, holding on for dear life by the feel of it, Victoria couldn't help but smirk, giving a soundless chuckle.
"I swear you drive like a fucking madwoman! How you haven't either totaled this thing or got yourself killed is beyond me." Sara shouted over the noise of the wind and the music blaring from the motorcycle's speakers. Victoria just shrugged as she tore down the road towards her destination. They were there within a matter of minutes, half due to the fact it wasn't that far, and half due to the fact that the driver was a speed demon.
As soon as she came to a complete stop in front of the hospital, Sara got off the bike and ripped the helmet off her head, glaring daggers at the redhead, who just smirked, her friend was simply darling when she was upset, and then came the lecture she expected, Sara never did disappoint.
"What the hell is WRONG with you!? You ran like every red light on the way here, I know it's six in the morning but still! There's still some traffic! And you peeling out at the one red light you did stop at! What are you? TRYING to get us both killed?! You're fucking nuts Vi, I swear, one of these days you're going to get yourself killed driving like that! You. . .you. . . . ." Sara just stopped when she saw Vic pull out the little notepad and pen she kept with her for communication, as soon as she finished writing she held it out for Sara to read ~'You're so cute when you're pissed.'~ As soon as she read the message, the blond looked absolutely fuming! "Oh you're hopeless, I swear! Crazy ass redheaded bitch!" To this Victoria just shrugged, signing 'thank you' to her irate friend.
Sara just sighed, shaking her head and handing the helmet back to Vic, who promptly moved to place it back in the saddlebag, when next the blonde spoke, she sounded a bit calmer, that's one thing she had to give her old friend, she did get her temper under control quickly, she had plenty of practice dealing with her daredevil stunts after all "Look Vi, just, be careful alright? You're my best friend, I don't want you getting injured or worse, I'd completely freak if something happened to you, stubborn and mean as you can be sometimes, you're still a great friend, just, promise me you'll go the speed limit, at least until you hit city limits, alright? Cause I know you're going to take your country ride today, like you do every Saturday. Just promise me you'll be careful alright?"
Victoria gave her friend a small half smile, nodding and reaching out to grasp her friend's hand for their old form of farewell, a brief, but firm grasp and upwards tug, which the redhead normally used to tug her friend into a hug, and as to not disappoint, she did just that, giving her shorter friend a quick hug before motioning to the door with a nod.
"Yea, you're right, I need to go check on Jason, I'll see you later alright! Going to get his mom to drive me home. Later Vi!" With that, off her friend went, leaving Vic shaking her head a bit before she began on her way again, heading towards the city limits, not running the red lights this time, well, not running as many of them at least.
She loved these Saturday country drives, they reminded her of home a bit, she wasn't always a city girl, quite the opposite in fact, she grew up in the country, going horse back riding every weekend on the lovely overo paint she raised from a filly, taking to the dirt trails in the woods, just her and her horse, nothing but the woods around them, peace and quiet, plenty of time to think without worrying about being interrupted, sure, the horse she rode now was of the steel variety, but it was still a bit of peace, an escape from this small town of Tranquility, even though it wasn't too loud here, it still grated on her nerves from time to time. She was almost out of the city limits, already getting lost in thought and memories when she heard it.
The heart wrenching sound of screeching tires.
She had barely managed to react, swerving away from the neon yellow hummer that was skidding to a stop, though she hadn't managed to swerve quite enough, the front bumper catching the back tire of her bike with just enough force to cause her to fishtail and lose full control, causing her bike to start going horizontal as she fought to regain control of the machine, but to no avail, she knew it now, this was going to be one wicked case of road rash.
As quickly as it started, it finished, she had failed to get her bike upright before she made contact with the road, her bike was now laying on it's side, frame pinning her foot as she tried to move to lift the bike from her foot and free herself, she paused a mere moment, smelling the undeniable smell of fuel, her eyes narrowing a little at the realization before moving her other, unpinned leg to the side of the seat and pushing the bike up a bit, she hadn't even heard if the door to the other vehicle had opened, but she guessed it had as soon there was someone else at her side, moving to help her lift the bike so she could free her foot. With the other's assistance she was soon free of the motorcycle and being pulled back from the wreck by what she assumed was the other vehicle's driver. It wasn't long at all before they finally spoke up.
"Are you alright?" came the voice, a mature, soothingly calm male voice, she turned to look up at the speaker, half amazed her glasses were still on her face through all of that, she paused a moment when she saw him however.
He was tall, slightly shaggy but neat brown hair, a slim face, small goatee on his chin, and glasses, behind which were the most vibrant blue eyes she had ever seen. He was of a slender but toned build, a button up shirt near matching the color of his vehicle, and simple black slacks, she saw the caduceus embroidered on the one of his shirt sleeves and another, unfamiliar symbol in red on the shirt pocket.
"Are you hurt?" He asked again, shaking her from her observations, she shook her head slightly as he squatted down next to her, looking her over a little, she guessed for injuries, her thick camouflage pants spared her legs from anything major, her right arm was all scraped up and bleeding a little but that was minor compare to what she had experienced before, though it seemed to grab his attention seeing as he moved to lightly grasp her wrist and look over the injury, the man giving a sigh and shaking his head "Let me get that disinfected and bandaged." He said as he moved to stand, helping her to her feet as she heard the motor of her bike die, giving a sigh of relief that nothing sparked with that leaking fuel, the situation, and her temper, would have gotten much worse if it had. She couldn't blame the man though, it was her absent mindedness that caused the accident in the first place. She turned to face him once she was upright once more, much to her surprise, having to look up just slightly to look at him, he was about four inches taller than her she reasoned, and she suddenly felt a tinge of pity for the guy knowing how unfriendly light fixtures tended to be towards heads. The man opened the door to the hummer, the markings on the side of which showed it to be a rescue vehicle, she couldn't help but smirk at the irony of having been hit by a rescue vehicle, but then again, she knew stranger things had happened. ~At least it wasn't an ambulance. ~She mused to herself as the man reached inside and rummaged a bit, soon pulling out a small medical kit, why he thought he needed to tend to such a minor injury was beyond her, but he was being polite so she wasn't going to pull away, not as if she could verbally tell him not to worry about it and any means of trying to convey the message might be taken the wrong way, so she just went with it.
"You really should be more careful, motorcycles are hard to see from around the corner. Dangerous vehicles really, you are lucky you didn't hit your head, considering you were reckless enough to not even wear a helmet." He began as he opened up the med kit to get the items needed to disinfect and dress the, in her opinion, minor wound. Not knowing what else to do, she signed 'Sorry' with her free hand, seeing as he already had the wrist of her injured arm in his grasp and had begun wiping it with the disinfectant, bringing a small hiss from her, that stuff he was using on it stung worse than getting the injury in the first place.
He looked up a moment seeing her signing, tilting his head to the side a moment "Sign language? Suppose you are unable to speak then. Can you hear alright?" she nodded in response, this seemed to make the man feel at least slightly relieved as he returned to treating the minor damage, just another scar for the collection for her, but he sure seemed to be making a big deal out of it. "It's nothing major, should heal in a week at the most. Nothing more than moderate tissue damage, it will likely scar however." She shrugged at the mention of it scarring and simply motioned to the other numerous scars adorning her arm, to which he nodded "Seems that is not a major concern for you then." he simply stated.
She couldn't help but glance over at her bike, still laying on it's side not too far from them, she gave a heavy sigh seeing it, shaking her head dejectedly, so much for her relaxing Saturday ride, she already knew she was going to get an earful from a certain blond friend when she found out about this. Without her realizing, the man had followed her gaze after finishing the wrapping on her forearm. "Don't worry, it can be repaired." she heard him say, this bringing her to snap her gaze right to him, oh if looks could kill, she knew it could be repaired but so much work had gone into that bike, not to mention the paintjob. It seemed he noticed the glare he was getting from her if his next words were anything to judge by "You are lucky you did not suffer greater injury, it can be repaired much easier than you can." she just sighed, her expression softening a bit as she gave a small nod as she moved to pull her cell phone from her pocket, hoping to call up a friend for a ride, only to find, to her dismay, that her cell phone had also suffered from the fall, as in it was broken in half, she sighed, just glaring at the thing for a moment before putting it back in her pocket, shaking her head ~Just my luck, barely wake up and I have to pick up Sara, I get hit by a rescue vehicle, of all damned things, my baby is all scratched up, and now, my phone is beyond dead, could this day get any better?~ she gave her Gold Wing one more look before slowly face palming, until he spoke again, his voice not once losing it's calm tone.
"If you need a ride home, I suppose I could at least offer that, judging by your motorcycle's engine dieing, I doubt it would make the journey."
She looked up to him, giving a half hearted attempt at a smile, if anything to show some sort of gratitude as she nodded to him 'That would be helpful, thank you' she signed to him, hoping she was right in assuming he could understand her by his previous reaction, which he confirmed a moment after. "It would not be any trouble. Where do you live?"
She took out her notepad and pen to write down the address for him, tearing the paper free and handing it to him, which he took with a nod before moving to help her secure her bike before leaving, though even as she did so she could not shake the feeling that they were being watched, she tried to blame it on simple paranoia, but she knew she normally was the farthest thing from paranoid. She just shrugged it off as she finally got in the hummer's passenger seat, having to be reminded to put on her seatbelt by the man who had helped her, before they pulled off.
Another two hours down, another twenty plus to go, sure, the medic had told her she should rest and let her arm heal, and as kind as he seemed, he also seemed a bit too worried about the little scratch, besides, her baby couldn't just stay all scratched up like this! She had her music going, her tools on her workbench, and a six pack of cola in the mini-fridge, and she was ready to get her hands dirty, her hair had already been pulled back into a ponytail to keep it out of her way while she worked. Upon inspection the damage hadn't been as bad as she feared, a small puncture in the gas tank and cosmetic damage was about the extent of it, besides obviously needing new tires, which she had a habit of keeping in supply with how she rode. She had already gotten the gas tank off and onto her workbench at this point, having drained it of remaining fuel and cleaned out the inside so she could work without worrying about a spark igniting the damned thing. Though her work was soon interrupted by a knock on the side of her garage door, she looked up sharply to see, much to her dismay, a uniformed police officer. ~I didn't think he had called the cops to report it! Don't people normally do that at the scene of the accident anyways? Not a few hours afterwards?~ She thought to herself as the officer, without warrant nor invite, began to walk right into the garage, she narrowed her eyes at him as he did so, moving from her workbench, a wrench still in hand, she didn't like this, cops always at least asked if they could enter the property, failure to do so could cost them their badge if they don't provide a warrant, which he had not shown. Her expression hardened at his actions as she looked him over, black, sleeked back hair, standard police uniform, though his badge was odd, it bore what looked like a purple face of some odd design on it. However, what was likely the most startling feature of this man was his eyes, blood red, and she doubted a police officer would come on duty with contacts like that in.
"I hear you had a little accident, I'm here to investigate it." the man said, his voice a bit gravely, and she would have swore she heard a malice undertone. Now was time for her paranoia to kick in, she watched him carefully, moving more into the center of the garage 'You can't come in here without a warrant or invite.' she signed at him, hoping he would understand her, as she knew many were clueless about sign language.
"Where's the one who hit you?" he asked, ignoring her attempt at communication it seemed. Though that question had her feeling even more uneasy about the situation. ~If the medic had called the cops to report the accident, then wouldn't they be able to contact him?~ she thought to herself, something was off with this, massively, she may be a mute, but she wasn't stupid, she was actually rather quick mentally, despite her recklessness on the road. She simply shook her head in reply, trying to indicate that she didn't know.
"Did he give you a way to contact him?"
She once more shook her head in reply, her fist tightening on the wrench she held, her posture lowering somewhat offensively, as if ready to lash out if needed, as the officer still walked towards her, she could have an intimidating presence and she knew it, she would try to use intimidation to get the unwelcome officer, who she was fairly certain was no officer of the law by his blatant ignorance of protocol, to back off, she finally put out one hand in a gesture to stop, as a final means of conveying the message if her expression, pose and obvious defensiveness didn't already get that point across.
Then, he did just what she was anticipating, he lunged at her, faster than most could ever hope to, she barley had time to react to the attack as she swung her wrench right at his face, putting a decent amount of speed and strength behind it, more than enough to incapacitate a person, no matter how big they were, and the hit connected beautifully, right across his temple of all things, causing him to go to the side a bit as she leapt away from him, watching him, she knew he would be out cold after a hit like that from a wrench that size.
Her face almost dropped when she saw him pushing himself back up. ~Oh shit! Impossible!~ she thought before flinging the wrench right at him, not even waiting to see if it connected, though the sound said it did, as she bolted right to the door of her house, getting inside and locking the door before running right to the chest in the living room, she had abandoned the wrench because of the fact she knew right where her weapons collection was, out of sight but easy to get to if needed, Sara called her paranoid for it, but as this situation proved, a little foresight could be a good thing.
She quickly flung the chest open and grabbed right for the sword on the top, a full tang, 350 fold battle ready katana, one she always kept sharpened. Pulling it from it's sheath as she kicked the chest lid closed once more, she turned to face the door, just in case he tried to break through, and considering the fact that he just took a steel wrench to the face and got back up without even a sign of pain, she didn't think that door would stand much of a chance, not like she would if the sword had the same level of effect as that wrench did, but it was worth a shot and she had no place else to run. If she was going to go down, she was going to go down fighting.
Sure enough, soon the door rocked, the screws holding the deadbolt nearly ripped free on just the first attempt, then another loud slam against the door, ripping the knob and lock free, the so-called officer standing in the doorway.
"WHERE IS HE?" the man shouted before lunging right at her, she saw how fast he was from the first attack, she was prepared, at least partly, she slashed right at him, aiming the blade right across his chest as she quickly sidestepped his lunge, it made contact, but he landed on his feet despite it, though there was a noise, sounding almost like a modulated growl, of aggravation as he charged at her once more, aiming to throw a side punch at her, or so it seemed, her eyes widened when he grabbed the katana blade with his bare hand. She had sharpened that blade herself, she knew it was sharp enough to slice through flesh and bone, but yet, he grabbed it bare handed and was holding the blade as if it was nothing, but she didn't have time to question how the hell it was possible now, her life may well be on the line.
She put her weight behind the blade, aiming to try to slide it in his grasp, hoping the friction of his grip didn't render it immobile, so she could try to impale him with it despite him having grabbed it, it seemed something like that wouldn't stop him, but maybe, she reasoned, it would slow him down enough to try and make a break for it. The blade slipped a decent amount, it seemed it just may work, until something she hadn't exactly counted on happened, he used his hand to rip the handle right out of her hand, almost tugging her with it due to her own grip, the pull was followed by his arm coming right at her, in such close proximity and with the speed this man had displayed, she didn't stand a chance of dodging that one.
~Oh fuck me. . . ~ was her only thought as the arm collided with her upper body like a ton of bricks, sending her flying across the living room from the shear force of it, her fall was broken by the equally unpleasant feeling of her back slamming into, and likely denting the hell out of, a wall, knocking the wind out of her and sending her glasses falling from her face to goodness knows where. She was half blind without them and near defenseless due to it, not as if her defense was doing her much good today anyways, she reasoned.
She could see the outline of her attacker moving towards her, she could hear him laughing as he approached, right now she was mentally cursing the fact that she hadn't worn her contacts today, they would have likely not left her blinded in a fight.
"Pathetic, weak insect." she heard him say as he grew nearer, despite her current half blind state, she tried her damnedest to shoot the figure a glare, she was at least going to have the dignity to look him in the eyes, so to speak, even if she was beaten. She was certain of one thing however, after that hit, which she suspected might have cracked a couple of ribs, this man was not normal.
As he grew closer, she tried to get to her feet, only to feel a pain shoot through her chest, causing a soundless growl to come from her ~Yea, that's a cracked rib, this just ain't my day.~ she thought as he came to a stop, standing right in front of her and reaching down, she saw the limb reaching towards her throat through the haze of vision she had when suddenly another outline came into view, slamming right into her attacker, sending the two figures flying across the room before she heard what she guessed was the voice of the one who just, as much as she hated to apply the word, saved her.
"Ratch'! Get the girl outta here, I'll hold 'im off!" came the slightly husky voice before she felt a hand at her upper arm, she tensed at the feeling, half ready to strike out of pure instinct at this point before she heard the voice of the one next to her.
"It's alright, I'm going to get you to safety" came the calm, baritone voice, she recognized it from earlier in the day, it was the medic, at least she thought it was his voice, certainly sounded similar enough. He moved to help her lift herself from the ground, a sharp inhale coming from her as that cracked rib reminded her of it's presence, her free hand shooting to her side to cover the pained area as she tried to shove it from her mind. She had to move, because if the sounds in the room were any indication, things were getting really rough really fast. She felt the one, Ratch, did the other call him, moving to help her support herself and guiding her out of the door and back into the garage, she could make out the outlines of the room well enough and see something neon yellow in the driveway as what she was pretty sure was the medic from earlier, guided her towards the vehicle.
He had soon opened the door and gotten her inside before he climbed in himself and the engine started, she could feel the hummer start pulling out and see the outlines of the surroundings moving before the driver finally spoke, his voice still calm but concerned "Are you injured?" he asked, she responded with a small nod, finally moving to indicate her rib and sign to him 'Cracked I think' she then heard a pensive hmmm before she replaced her hand on said rib.
"I believe you are correct, I will care for it after I get you to safety." he said after a moment as they made their way down the road, every bump causing her to wince slightly, the pain from the rib was annoying her to no end, but she knew it could not be avoided.
There was a silence for a time before she finally signed to him once more 'He asked where you were.'
"He did? Oh dear. I am truly sorry you ended up in the middle of this."
'In the middle of what?' she signed in response, very carefully as to not aggravate her rib any more than it already was.
"I will explain once we reach our destination, just promise not to scream."
She smirked a bit before signing in reply 'To scream I would need working vocal cords.'
The statement got a slight chuckle from the medic, though she couldn't see his facial expression at all, and it annoyed her to no end. Then she remembered her spare glasses, reaching into her pocket she felt the hard metal of the case, pulling them out ~If these are broken, I am going to gut that wanna-be cop.~ was her only thought.
The trip wasn't too long, though every bump made her wish she could growl, out of annoyance if nothing else, soon the hummer came to a stop, she glanced around a bit, luckily her spare glasses were undamaged, and she was very thankful that she used a metal case at that point, she was relieved to discover this and put them on immediately, in the clearing they had come to a stop in there was another vehicle, a black chevy topkick with road armor at the bumpers and smoke stacks behind the cab, she couldn't help but give a smirk, the car fanatic in her was pleased.
"Alright, before I explain, just know that my friend and I will not hurt you, do you understand?"
She looked right to him as his voice snapped her from her car fanatic admiration, she nodded to him. As he moved to start inspecting where her injured rib was, seemingly checking to see if it would need to be reset as he continued.
"The man who attacked you was no police officer. . ." he continued as he gave a small nod after checking her injury, seeming satisfied, she suppose it couldn't be that bad if he hadn't freaked out like he had over the small case of road rash she had ". . .he is an enemy looking for not only myself, but my allies, one of which you saw today. He must have followed you after seeing the accident, why Barricade decided to attack you at your residence I do not know, however, considering that he did, you are now a target."
She flat browed at that, quickly moving to sign 'What the hell kind of name is Barricade? A nickname?'
"This is going to be harder to explain than I thought, none the less." he then motioned to the person in the topkick before the massive truck started driving towards them, stopping not too far in front of the hummer they were seated in, though the redhead's jaw near dropped as she tried to look into the black vehicle's cab, where the driver would be, or at least should be.
'Where's the driver?!' she signed rather surprised, thinking her eyes were betraying her, or that she got hit in the head harder than she thought in that little fight against that Barricade fellow.
The medic simply sighed, bringing a hand up to rub his temples "Slag it Ironhide. . ." she heard him breathe out before he looked at her "Don't be afraid, as I said, my friend and I will not bring you to harm."
'I think you need to start explaining, quickly I would suggest.' she signed to him, having wiped the look of shock off her face, things were getting weird, well, weirder at least, and she intended to get answers, her determination likely showing in her face.
"Just be patient, please, everything will be explained, we're just waiting for someone." he said, trying to calm her she would guess, but that didn't stop her from shooting him quite the glare, she was trying not to get freaked out, after all, he had helped her twice now, but the elusiveness was getting on her nerves, she had just been attacked by someone who seemed superhuman and this guy, nice as he seemed, obviously knew something but wasn't telling her, she had every right to be getting annoyed, at least by her reasoning. Soon the sound of another engine was heard, she looked up just in time to see a peterbilt rig pulling into the clearing, blue with gorgeous flames incorporated into the paint job, she couldn't help but wonder if all of the medic's friends had kick ass customized vehicles. She was near certain of the assumption upon seeing a camaro pulling up behind the truck, vibrant yellow with black racing stripes, she could actually see the camaro's driver, a younger male, likely barely even an adult, she was certain he was younger than she was, who seemed to be, if she had to take a wild guess, dancing in his seat to whatever was on his radio.
"There they are, took them long enough." the medic next to her stated as the camaro pulled right up along side the hummer they were sitting in, the driver hanging out the window a little bit and waving.
"Hey Ratchet, Optimus said you got that girl Barricade attacked with you?"
"That is correct Sam, she is, for the most part, uninjured, she has a fractured rib but it is not too serious."
"Cool, man, she got lucky huh?" the younger man identified as Sam said as he got out of his car, which, much to Victoria's shock, drove off after he got out, she was really starting to suspect that she took a blow to the head somewhere in that fight, she was pulled from her thoughts when the passenger door opened and Sam was standing there, smiling at her, he waved "Hey, Sam Witwicky, nice to meet you! And you are?"
The redhead gave a small half smile, though the thought crossed her mind that this boy seemed about as sunny spirited as Sara, she waved back and went to sign something before the medic, Ratchet she thought he called him, interjected.
"She's a mute Sam, she can still hear you though. I do not think I was able to get your name Miss."
Victoria looked back to the medic, nodding slightly as she signed her name, he nodded back afterwards.
"Victoria then, well, go on and get out. Sam, make she you give us enough space."
Sam nodded "Right, space, ummm. . ." he moved to help her get out of the hummer, though she politely waved off his assistance, she had a cracked rib but she'd be damned if she wasn't going to stand on her own accord "So you're mute huh? You'll probably get along with 'Bee great then!" he said as he motioned her a bit away from the gathering of vehicles ~Ironhide, Ratchet, Barricade, Bee, man what is it with these guys and weird nicknames?~ she thought as she followed him, once they stopped she looked back to where the hummer was, only to see the medic, Ratchet as Sam called him, was no longer in the vehicle, the look of surprise on her face must have been obvious because at that point Sam turned to her, though he had to look up slightly to meet her eye level due to her height, and suddenly had a somewhat serious look on his previously cheer face.
"OK, Victoria right? Look, I know this is probably gonna freak you out, I don't blame you, I was pretty freaked out too at first, but these guys aren't going to hurt you alright? Just, pleasepleasePLEASE don't freak out. OK?"
She just sighed, quirking an eyebrow at the boy, crossing her arms, somewhat painfully due to her rib, over her chest.
"OK, now. . ." The shorter male then looked over to where the, now driverless, vehicles were and made a kind of come on gesture "Go head guys, think she's about as ready as she will be."
The redhead looked to the vehicles expectantly, she was not disappointed. Parts began to move of their own accord, the sounds of gears activating, metal slipping smoothly against metal, and a few what she could only guess were hydraulic hisses soon filled the air, the bodies of these beautiful vehicles seemed to split at invisible seams as they reformed, parts snapping into place as they took on a bipedal shape, almost humanoid from what her currently racing mind was seeing, she could only stand, staring in complete amazement, before logic kicked in ~I knew it, I had to have taken a pretty hard hit to the head during that fight, I'm probably knocked out on my living room floor right now and this is all some weird, extremely detailed dream, that or I got knocked certifiably insane, cause there is no way in hell or anyplace else I'm seeing this!! ~
"Well, you're not running and you haven't passed out yet, I think you're taking it pretty well." came the young man's voice beside her, she looked to him just a moment before looking back to where the vehicles were, only to see massive robotic things with vehicular parts standing where the cars once were. For the first time in her life, she felt short, these things were massive, the tallest had to be at least twenty-five feet tall, she'd guess that was the peterbilt if the flames on his chest, was it a chest? And arms were anything to go off of. She could do nothing but look up in awe at this spectacle. ~What a day.~ she thought to herself as these robot things talked amongst themselves for just a moment before the tallest of them moved forward, leaning down in what seemed an attempt to get closer to eye level.
Part of her was curious now, the other part wanted to make for the hills, but her curiosity got the better of her, she stood there as the largest one spoke up, his voice rather stern but gentle in the same respect, he sounded middle aged she would have guessed, if these things had ages.
"Hello Victoria, I am Optimus Prime, the leader of the Autobots, we are autonomous robotic organisms from the planet Cybertron." the big guy said to her, she could do nothing but, as rude as it may be, stare, not exactly afraid, shocked would likely be a better definition of her reaction, but, these hadn't hurt her so far, so she assumed them not to be hostile. Before she had much more time to think about not only what she saw but also the fact that it was talking to her, he continued "I have been informed that you had the misfortune of meeting Barricade's holoform, he is one of the Decepticons, a very violent and ruthless faction from our home world, you are lucky to have come out of the fight without more serious injuries. Ratchet, our medical officer, has told me the he attacked you after a minor automotive accident."
The redhead finally composed herself enough to nod in response, moving to sign 'He came about two hours after Ratchet, if I have the names right, brought me home after the mishap. Knew something was off when he walked into the garage without a warrant or invite.'
"Whoa, you recover from something this big fast Victoria, ummm, what did she just say Optimus? I don't read sign language." came Sam's voice from at her side, she just looked towards the boy and sighed, fighting the urge to make the sign for idiot to see if he knew that at least.
"She was just telling me what happened Sam" came Optimus's reply, the redhead looked right back at the huge robotic person.
'You said I met this Barricade's holoform, what did you mean by that?' she signed, this was just bringing up all kinds of question, Optimus nodded before starting to explain.
"Holoforms are what we use to be able to interact with humans without exposing ourselves to the public, they are basically physical holographic images, you first met Ratchet when he was using his holoform after the accident, Ironhide returned with him, using their holoforms, to your residence when we picked up Barricade's signal, it seemed they made it there just in time."
Victoria merely nodded at the explanation, moving to push her glasses up on her nose a small bit, giving a heavy sigh. This was going to be a long day, she only hoped they didn't mind the tidal wave of questions that was to come.
It had been at least three hours by now, she had been signing question after question to the one who introduced himself as Optimus, introductions were out of the way, Sam seemed to be getting annoyed at only understanding half of the conversation due to the redhead signing. They had explained the difference between the Autobots and the Decepticons, explained that the two factions were in some kind of massive war that just so happened to end up on this planet due to something called the AllSpark, which Sam had destroyed by shoving into the Decepticon leader's chest, killing him only for him to have been resurrected, then another enemy had shown up, called the Fallen, who had been defeated, and somehow she ended up target to one of the Decepticon hunters, a year after the last full scale battle. She knew now that, even though they were robots, they we also sentient, highly intelligent and had their own distinct personalities. The most endearing one so far being the smallest, yellow camaro robot introduced as Bumblebee, Sam's guardian she was informed, who seemed unable to speak as well and used clips of songs, radio commercials and the like to get his point across, she had to give him points for originality there, it was almost, she dared say, cute, were it not sad that he lacked speech, then again she knew how it felt to have that communication barrier. Luckily, they all seemed to understand her sign language, as Ratchet explained, they were able to access the internet on a whim and look up the information in moments, that little ability of theirs had just saved her a lot of headache, and possibly caused Sam's to turn into a full blown migraine she reckoned.
She had taken a seat on a tree stump after the persistence from Ratchet that she should go easy on her rib, even though it was only fractured and nothing too major, he seemed concerned and he was too polite for her to just brush off, besides, she had been standing for a while now, and though she wouldn't show it, her legs had begun to protest. Her clothes and hands were filthy, but that was no big deal, and Ratchet seemed to be giving her currently lit cigarette a death glare, she was half amazed by just how expressive their faces were, half hoping she wasn't about to get an anti-smoking lecture from a twenty foot robotic medic, after the day she had, she needed a cigarette.
"Do you have any more questions Victoria?" Optimus's voice pulled her from her reflection on the information she had gathered in the last few of hours, she looked up to him, still feeling unbelievably short compared to these guys, a feeling she was in no way use to, she shook her head as she took a final drag from her cigarette and stubbed it out on the bottom of her boot. "Good, now, it may not be safe for you to return to your home tonight, as you no doubt saw, even your attempts to fight off Barricade's holoform were not good enough, despite how brave the attempt was. It is getting dark, I would rather you come with us for the night, we can return to your residence to collect a few of your belongings during the day, since it will be easier to see if you are followed." to this she merely nodded, standing from the stump she was sitting on.
"Cool, you'll get to see the base and met Sideswipe, he's a little full of himself but he's a pretty cool guy once you get past that. And the twins, they might drive you a bit nuts at first, but they're cool too once you get use to them" came Sam's voice from next to Bumblebee, the yellow mech nodding at his charge's words.
The redhead gave a small sigh, looking back to Optimus with a small nod and signing 'So, who am I ridding with?'
Ratchet was the one to speak up from behind the tallest Autobot "I'll take her, if you do not object sir." he said looking towards Optimus, who nodded as he stood back to his full, massive height.
"Alright Ratchet, see you back at the base then." he said as he took a couple steps back and began to revert back to his truck form, the redhead, once more, could not help but stare in wonder at the complexity of it all, how intricately every part moved, how they flawlessly snapped back into place. The others followed suit, changing just as intricately into their vehicle forms, soon the sounds of the transformations were replaced with that of engines. "Lets hurry, I would rather us be there before nightfall." came Optimus's voice from the huge peterbilt, the redhead just nodded and began walking towards the hummer, which she knew now was Ratchet, she didn't quite know rather to refer to the medic as him or it yet, but she'd figure out that detail later.
As soon as she got to the passenger door, it opened for her ~For robots they sure are more polite than most human men.~ she mused before climbing in and closing the door behind her, for a moment there was silence, then a sound similar to the expectant clearing of a throat from the hummer, she sighed ~Seatbelt, right.~ The thought occurred to her before she reached to secure the uncomfortable thing.
"That's better." came Ratchet's voice from the stereo system as he started to move, following the others who had already begun on their way "Are you always so reckless?"
She smirked a bit, signing, 'Only on my good days.' she didn't know how, but obviously, if the grumble she heard was any indication, he saw her response, and his reaction only served to make her smirk even more as they drove off. She was only hoping she would avoid the anti-smoking lecture on the way there, but as her luck had it today, it was a hope that was not fulfilled, for as soon as they were on the road he began on the topic, which she tried to block out, giving a heavy sigh at the mention. She had a feeling this was going to be a long ride.
Either lady luck decided to be merciful or someone upstairs liked her, because after fifteen minutes of riding on old, near abandoned roads, they finally came to a large clearing surrounded by a circle of tall evergreens, in the middle of said clearing was a decent sized network of what looked like re-enforced hangers and warehouses, they pulled to a stop and she saw Sam jump out of Bumblebee's driver side, taking a few steps back as the yellow camaro began to transform once more into the robot hidden within the frame.
"We're here, go on and get out so I can transform." she heard from Ratchet's speakers, giving just a nod she freed herself from the confines of the seatbelt and made her way out of the hummer, stepping back a bit herself, because it seemed they needed a decent amount of elbow room to make the change, which was soon completed, with her staring yet again, that was going to take some getting use to on her part, that much was for certain, she was soon joined by Sam as Ratchet stood in his true form, she looked to the younger, shorter male, about the only one out of this group so far that didn't make the redhead feel short.
"Alright, so, yea, this is the base, they got one of the warehouses set up with beds, normally for me and 'Kaela, that's my girlfriend, to stay when we visit, that's where you'll probably be staying, I can show you if you want."
She simply raised an eyebrow at the boy, a sigh passing her lips ~Great, looks like it's back to the pen and paper communication routine, 'case this kid don't seem to understand a lick of sign language.~ She thought as she gave a small nod.
"Yes Sam, after the day she has had, I am certain some rest would do her well, she can meet the others tomorrow." she heard Ratchet say, next thing she knew Sam had grabbed onto her wrist and was tugging her towards one of the warehouses, as much as she hated being pulled around, she was in no mood to smack him one as she normally would when someone tried to pull her about, she was too tired and exhausted to protest, soon they were inside one of the warehouses, she glanced around a bit, it was huge, small dividers formed something similar to rooms throughout the place, a massive sofa was to the left with a damned decent sized TV, to the right was a large divided area, she moved to peer around the divider only to see a huge bed in the makeshift room, she guessed it was a king by the size of it. There was an area of the corner walled off, she hazarded a guess it was the bathroom, much of the rest of the warehouse was open space. Overall, it was simply massive.
"So, you'll be staying here the night, ummm, have you had anything to eat?" she looked to him as he asked before looking down, mentally cursing herself for forgetting to eat yet again, it was getting to be a rather bad habit of hers as of late, one she intended to correct, she shook her head in response. "Ah, well, if you want I could go with Bee and pick you up something, you need to eat after all, what do you want?" she just shrugged at the question, pulling her notepad and pen from her pocket and jotting something down before holding it out for him to read it ~'I'm not really picky, but Mexican would be nice.'~ he nodded after reading it "Mexican, right, I think there's a place not too far from here." he said reaching into his pocket, she guessed for his wallet, she just held up a hand and pulled hers from her pocket, pulling a twenty free of the leather and holding the cash out to him. "You sure? 'Cause I think I have enough." she just smirked and nodded, this boy's friends had just saved her ass and she'd be damned if she was going to make him pay for food for her as well.
He took the offered bill with a smile "Alright, well, I'll be back in about thirty, just make yourself comfortable, alright?" She nodded in reply before Sam ran off.
A heavy sigh finally escaped her as she made her way to the sofa in the makeshift living room, sitting down carefully so she didn't jolt her rib and, for the first time all day, relaxing, she leaned back on the sofa, bringing her hands up to rest behind her head and try to stretch out as much as she could comfortably with her rib as it was, just staring up at the ceiling of the warehouse a bit, she could tell from the skylight that it was now dark, a few stars shining through the unclean glass above.
~I just can't believe this, barley wake up and have Sara's more than bubbly self to bring to the hospital, just want to go for my nice, quiet, Saturday ride, get hit by a hummer who happens to be a giant alien robot, get attacked by a hologram, or holoform, whatever the hell they call it, that looks like a fuckin' cop, get slammed into a wall before getting pulled out of my house by the hummer's holoform, didn't even get a chance to grab a snack through all of this, find out from a twenty or thirty foot robot that there's aliens on earth and one unexpected happening has landed me in the middle of a multi-thousand year old war. As if that wasn't enough, one of my ribs it cracked, I got the anti-smoking speech from a robot hummer and I STILL barley made progress repairing my baby! This day jus' went to hell in a hand basket and then some, didn't it? Let's see, did I miss anything? Oh yea, my cell phone is also broken in fucking half, just to put the icing on the cake, and I don't even wanna think bout the damage to my living room from the attack!~
He thoughts were soon interrupted however, when she heard the larger warehouse door open, looking in the direction of the sound, and still half ready to jump after the day she had, she saw the black topkick robot, Ironhide if she remembered properly, standing in the doorway.
"You doin' a'right kid? Optimus asked me to come check on you." he said as he took a few steps inside to close the warehouse door behind him. She nodded in response, though she couldn't help but sign 'Don't call me kid please. I'm not that young.' to him.
He gave a small huff at her, crossing his arms over his chest in reaction, this exciting just a small smirk from the redhead.
"Fine, you do seem more mature than Sam at least, guess you're not exactly a kid. What were you thinkin' though? Trying to fight Barricade yourself when he attacked, do you have a death wish or somethin'?"
She gave a sigh, shaking her head before signing her reply 'I didn't know he wasn't human at the time, he was a threat, I was going to defend myself, and I'll be damned if I was about to run from a man invading my home.'
"Are you glitched or somethin'? You could have got yourself killed girl!"
She just shook her head 'If I had got myself killed, at least I'd have gone down with a fight.' she replied.
He narrowed his eyes, or at least equivalent of eyes, at her a moment, just kind of looking over her for a second before finally speaking up again. "Well, least you look like you can handle yourself, least against other humans, guess it's not surprisin' you tried to fight."
'Of course, after all, I didn't get the scars I have from falling off high heels.' she signed with a slight smirk, getting what she supposed was a chuckle from the black mech.
"I guess you got a point. Still, you don't stand a chance against the Decepticons, no matter how tough you are by human standards."
'Well I don't know, a wrench to the face sure seemed to stagger him, or at least it did in his holoform.' she signed slightly jokingly 'But yes, I realize I lack physical strength to overcome him, I didn't know that before however.'
"Jus' try not to take on any more Decepticon holoforms if you can help it. You got guts kid, but that ain't enough to beat 'em" the moment the word kid came out, it earned him a glare from those hazel eyes, which were turning a bit greener from her exhaustion. That was the odd thing about the redhead's eyes, though they were technically classified as hazel, her health seemed to effect their color, if she was ill or tired they took on more of a green hue, when she was excited or feeling better than normal they took on a more bluish tone, it was something she noticed only when her friend Sara had pointed it out to her, saying her eyes turned a scary mix of the two colors when she was really angry, making them almost a dark aqua. Ironhide gave a small huff at the glare but shrugged it off, she guessed he likely made the connection between the sharp look and him referring to her as a kid if his next question was any indication.
"So how old are you anyways?"
'Twenty-three' she signed to him 'I know it's not exactly old, but it is certainly above the age of a child, besides, my mind doesn't exactly match the age too well.'
There was a bit of a hmph from the black mech as the smaller, side door of the warehouse opened, Sam walking in with a bag in his hand, behind him was a woman of about his age who looked like she had stepped right out of a fashion magazine. Her shorts showed a bit too much of her leg than they should in the redhead's opinion, but to each their own, makeup applied perfectly to her face which was framed by perfect brown waves of hair. In short she was beautiful, and the redhead wasn't too jealous to admit it, after all, she knew not everyone could win the genetic lottery like that girl had.
"Hey Ironhide!" Sam called to the somewhat grumpy seeming mech, who nodded to the arrivals in greeting.
"Evenin' Sam, Mikaela." Ironhide responded before Sam turned to the woman following him.
"'Kaela, that's Victoria, the one I told you bout, she can't talk so . . ."
"I know Sam, you told me on the way here."
"Uh, yea, right, I did huh? Anyways." at that the younger male turned towards the redhead once more as he and Mikaela made their way towards the sofa, him handing her the bag of food before both of them had a seat on the sofa. "Change is in the bag." Sam said to her before she signed 'Thank you' to him, the boy just looked at her clueless.
"She said thanks Sam. I know a little sign language, not enough to keep up a conversation, but small, common things." Mikaela explained to her obviously clueless boyfriend.
"Oh, OK, no problem!" the boy said as they heard Ironhide moving about.
"I'm gonna get out of here, see you later kids." the mech stated as he made his way to leave, that annoying word earning him yet another glare from the redhead as he departed.
She turned to her food, digging into the bag to see what might settle her hunger, tacos were always a good choice, but the burritos and nachos were tempting as well, the room didn't stay silent for long though, as it seemed the pair was anxious to talk to the new arrival, which in this unfortunate case, happened to be the slightly anti-social redhead. Mikaela was the first to speak up.
"So, Sam told me what happened, man, you are lucky Ironhide and Ratchet showed up with they did, Barricade isn't someone you want to mess with."
The redhead just nodded, half listening as she was being talked at while trying to eat.
"Yea, I remember when I first ran into him, wasn't his holoform either, dude sure is one scary looking bot." Sam chimed into the conversation, if you really wish to call being talked at conversing. "So umm, yea, you didn't even get hurt too bad, and you tried to take on his holoform from what I heard, man that's nuts, I'd of been out of there as fast as I could run if something like that happened."
Victoria just shrugged, perhaps a little too much as she felt that annoying pain in her ribs from the movement, but she just ignored it as she finished her taco, going for a second in no time. She hadn't eaten all day, she wasn't about to waste time with her food after the day she had.
"So. . ." it was Mikaela again "Sam told me you'll be going to get some of your stuff tomorrow, I know they won't force you to stay here against your will, so they'll probably assign a guardian to you, like how 'Bee watches over Sam, just hope you don't get one of the twins, they can be annoying sometimes, Don't get me wrong, they're great, when they can stop beating up on each other long enough to get something done."
"Yea, having a guardian is pretty sweet, I mean, first, you end up with a new friend, and second you get a hot ride out of the deal, it's a pretty sweet situation." The comment earned him a slap across the chest from his girlfriend, which caused Sam to give a slight oof, "What? You know 'Bee's like my best friend, but he still turns into a kick ass camaro!"
The redhead put down her half eaten taco on the table in front of the sofa and pulled out her notepad, writing something down and pulling the page free before handing it to Sam to read ~'The only ride I'm worried about is the 1980 Honda Gold Wing sitting in my garage that I have to repair yet again.'~ the boy looked at her as soon as he had read the note, and the redhead went right back to her temporally neglected food.
"You work on bikes too!? So does Mikaela! Cool, gonna have to see it one day, once it's all fixed up and everything."
Vic just nodded as she continued eating, Mikaela peering at the note herself "A 1980 Honda Gold Wing? Nice, Interstate?"
Victoria gave a confirming nod, finishing her second taco before pulling out her notepad again and jotting down another message ~'I restored it from a non-working heap used for spare parts, she runs beautifully, custom paint job, a few personal modifications, dark crimson paint job with blue phoenixes airbrushed on either side. It's going to be a pain to redo, but that bike's my baby, I will get her back on the road, the damage wasn't too bad.'~
Once Mikaela read the note she looked up to the redhead with a smile "Cool, if you need any help fixing it, let me know alright?"
Victoria gave a small half smile and a nod, so it seemed this beauty had skills to go with her looks, and the redhead wondered if she might have just made a new best friend, after all, not many women could stand getting their hands full of grease and grim, the few who could were normally pretty cool, at least from what the redhead had seen before. The topic turned from bikes to cars to mechanics and other topics that the girls shared interest in, leaving poor Sam feeling a bit left out she had guessed, but he still tried to keep up with the conversation, she had to give him credit for that. Once they finally headed out, she made straight for that big bed, flopping down on it, forgetting her rib for a moment, which she was quickly reminded of when the sharp sensation jolted through her side, it brought forth an annoyed hiss from her, but that was about it, she was too tired to pay it much more mind. Within a matter of minutes she was asleep, and goodness did she sleep well, cracked rib or not, after the day she had.
Morning came too early, but this time she wasn't woken up by the normal screaming of her alarm clock, instead she was awoken by the lovely sounds of bickering and something hitting the outside wall of the building she was in, and by the sounds of it, whatever hit it was heavy, she hazarded to guess likely metal.
"Yo man, that ain't cool throwin' me into walls and stuff!"
"Well den don't try to trip me and I wouldn't be throwing ya into walls!"
The redhead sat up, rolling her eyes at the noises from outside, her body was rather sore due to the previous days events, but she was use to aching joints, this just happened to ache a little more than normal. She just ran her fingers through her hair to tame the mess before standing. Still in the makeshift room she had fell asleep in, she was pretty certain it wasn't all a dream by now, it was crazy, unbelievable, insane and weird, but it wasn't a dream. She moved from the room, her messy hair only somewhat tamed, she managed to get most of the knots out at least. Putting her glasses on so she could properly see, she moved to look outside and see just what all the damned ruckus was about, sure enough, as soon as she opened the door, her answer was standing there. Two smaller robots looked like they were about to tear into each other. They both seemed shorter than Bumblebee, almost identical to each other aside from their colors, as one was green, the other red, and they did not look happy with each other.
The red one suddenly leapt at the green, she was half waiting to heard the metal on metal collision when she saw another, slightly taller robot step up and catch the two by something on their backs and holding them midair.
"Stop your fighting you two, you're going to scare our guest!" Said the third, his voice sounded somewhat young, not exactly teenager, but certainly not too old either, he had wheels where his feet should be and a metal part hanging from his elbow joints, he was silver in color. He stood there just glaring at the two smaller mechs for a moment before dropping them to the ground, where they landed with a thud.
"Whatever man, I'm outta here." the red one said as he stood up and started to storm off, followed by the green identical robot, at this point the silver Autobot turned to look at the redhead.
"Nice to see you're finally awake." he said as she stepped out from the door fully, nodding slightly.
'I'm guessing those are the twins Sam warned me about.' she signed to him, to which he nodded in response.
"Yes, Mudflap and Skidz sorry about them, they can be a bit aggravating."
The redhead just shrugged at that, not too awfully worried about it, she was told they tended to bicker and fight a lot. She looked up to the silver bot, tilting her head a small bit before signing to him 'And you are?'
"Name's Sideswipe, nice to meet you Victoria." She simply nodded in reply before he continued "Optimus asked me to help you gather a few belongings from your house, just enough for a few days, until a guardian is assigned to you. Since the Decepticons know where you live it's not safe for you to be there without a guardian for right now."
She just sighed, nodding that she understood, at that point Sideswipe took a step back and began to change into his vehicle form, upon seeing it, the redhead jaw dropped. He was a corvette stingray, beautiful silver paint job, streamlined body, an undeniably gorgeous car. ~It's a robot Vic, not a car, get over your car fanatic reactions! But still, DAMN!~ It took her a moment to shake from her gawking, Sideswipe's voice helping her snap back to reality as well.
"Well, are you just going to stare or do you plan on getting in?"
With that the redhead wiped the stupid look off her face and made for the corvette, to her surprise the driver door opened.
"You're riding in the driver's seat, I'd rather not have to activate my holoform for something so simple."
She nodded and made her way into the driver's seat, the door closing as the engine started. 'I can't believe you're a fucking corvette!' she signed to him.
"I picked this alternative mode because of it's speed, it just happened to look good too."
'Sure, and this hair color's natural.' she signed with a sarcastic smirk
This got a chuckle from the autobot before he reminded her, just as Ratchet had, of the uncomfortable restraint device in the vehicle. "Seatbelt." was all he said, prompting an eye roll as she moved to buckle up, as soon as the seatbelt was on, they were off, it seemed Sideswipe was wasting no time as he damn near peeled out of the clearing, making his way to the road exiting the area at quite an impressive speed, this provoked a grin from the speed demon of a redhead, sure, he was no bike, but he was a corvette, still pretty high on her list of awesome vehicles.
The trip home took only half the time she had expected, Sideswipe drove like she did when she was pissed off. As soon as he came to a stop she began to remove the seatbelt signing to him 'I'll only be a moment' before getting out and making to the house, the moment she opened the door and saw the disaster area that was her living room, her eyes narrowed, had she a voice she would have just growled, there were dents in the walls, her TV was smashed, table broken in half, she just stood there a moment, looking like she was about to kill somebody, she almost swung when she felt the hand on her shoulder.
She spun around near ready to strike when she came eye to eye with the one who was behind her, a tall man who looked about her age, he stood almost equal to her height, with spiked blonde hair tipped with white, near chiseled but attractive facial features and eyes as blue as Ratchet's holoform's had been. To put it bluntly, he looked like an attractive jock, his body build fitting the description as well.
"Don't worry, the damage can be fixed later, go ahead and get your things." it was Sideswipe's voice, obviously this was his holoform "You need a hand?"
She shook her head, signing 'I got it' to him before turning to make her way up the stairs and to her room, grabbing a duffel bag from under her bed and starting to pack a few things that were needed, basically, whatever was clean and fit. ~Figures, the one who picks the corvette also has a holoform that most women would go weak at the knees seeing, not that he's my type or anything, hell, I don't even have a type, he's attractive sure, but, eh, too much of a pretty boy. No wonder Sam said he's a little full of himself.~ she mused as she finished packing what she would need for the stay and slung the bag over her shoulder, hissing slightly as that rib made it's presence known once more. As soon as she turned to the door she saw him standing there, shaking his head a moment before moving to try and take the bag for her, to which she just shook her head.
"Don't be stubborn, you have a fractured rib, I can carry it for you."
She shook her head, signing 'A rib is hardly enough to make me ask for help.'
He just shook his head at her "You are a stubborn one, aren't you?"
She smirked 'Wouldn't still be alive if I wasn't.' she signed before he just gave a defeated sigh, shaking his head at her with a smirk on his own lips. With that he stepped aside, letting her pass to make her way down the stairs, his holoform vanishing behind her, she went out the garage exit, closing and locking the garage door on her way before climbing back into the driver's side and shutting the door, placing her bag in the passenger seat.
"Ready?" He asked her, she just nodded "No you're not." came his reply, to which she just raised an eyebrow "The seatbelt." she just gave a heavy sigh, signing to him 'Persistent.' before putting it on, he chuckled at her a second as she crossed her arms over her chest and quirked an eyebrow "OK, now you're ready." he said before pulling off.
Once more, the trip took little time, Sideswipe driving like a man, or bot, possessed, they skidded to a halt near the warehouse she had stayed in the night before, in the center of all the buildings there seemed to be a small gathering of Autobots, she could clearly see Optimus, Ratchet and Ironhide in the group as she grabbed her duffel bag and moved to get out, as she stepped away Sideswipe turned back to his bipedal form, she couldn't help but look as it happened, it was just to interesting, once he stood he brought his arms to cross over his chest.
"Looks like they started the party without us." he said with a slightly jesting tone, the redhead just smirked, moving to deposit her duffel bag just inside the warehouse door before, due to her curiosity, starting to walk towards where the others were gathered, what she was not expecting however, was having Sideswipe more or less scoop her up in his hand "Let me give you a lift." he said before she had even a chance to protest and they made their way towards the group, she had to admit it was faster than walking, but being carried was just embarrassing, once they joined up with the group he carefully set her down, after which she placed her hands on her hips, cocking on hip to the side and shooting him a sidelong glare, though that did not last for long before Optimus grabbed her attention.
"Were you able to get what you needed?" he asked as she turned her attention to the tallest of them, she gave a small nod. "Good, it will only be for a couple of days until we decide who will act as your guardian for the time being."
'Why do you believe I need one? If Barricade was coming after me to find Ratchet then why do you think there would be a second attempt?' she signed out, tilting her head a bit awaiting the answer.
"They have seen you with one of us, and the fact that both Ironhide and Ratchet came to your aid when he attacked you will only serve to strength the Decipticon's belief that you are connected to us. They will hunt you to get to us."
Victoria gave a heavy sigh, lowering her gaze slightly and shaking her head a bit, deep red hair curtaining her face, her longer bangs swaying slightly at the motion, she paused a second before looking up and sweeping her hair back, signing one simple phrase. 'Point of no return.'
