REVAMP TIME!
I know I've said I was going to do this for a while, but I finally am! I started writing this as a very inexperienced author, but as this story progressed I got more experienced through writing more stories, and so I want to clean this fic up a little.
Artemis wasn't much of a people-person. She lived alone in a small apartment where she spent most of her time, listening to music or doing whatever else she wanted. At 18, she graduated from high school, only to immediately cut herself off from any "friendships" she may have formed. Anyone who tried to contact her soon learned it was a futile effort. She was stubborn and independent; and that's how she was going to stay.
The girl sighed. The only downside to being a loner was being bored most of the time. She made up for this by messing around with the mechanics and inner workings of electronics, and taking long walks at night to random places. Dangerous, yes, but she found it had a calming effect on her when she was restless.
She sighed again and looked at her watch. "Hm. 10:30. Time for another walk," she said.
"What I still don't understand, Prime, is why we're staying out here, of all places," Ironhide said, exasperated. The Weapons Specialist gestured to the remote valley they were standing in. It was tucked away from cities and downs, with a few trees scattered across it. Surrounding the entire valley were large hills tall enough to allow the Autobots to stand and not be seen by anyone on the other side.
"I told you, old friend, that our current base is in danger of discovery. Staying anywhere near there would present the risk of our presence being known to the world," Optimus replied patiently.
"Their undying curiosity and impatience greatly intrigues me."
Optimus turned to his medical officer, Ratchet.
"That may be true, but until the threat of discovery is gone, we can't risk returning to our base."
Ratchet looked slightly dejected at this statement. He was hoping to get some more data on these humans by watching them more closely.
"Can't you call Major Lennox and get it all sorted out?" Ironhide asked his leader.
"It is no big problem. The radars that inadvertently picked us up will be deemed broken once they see that we do not show up on them any longer."
Bumblebee mumbled in agreement with Optimus, still unable to have full use of his vocal processors.
"And what about Jazz?"
Optimus sighed and rubbed his optic ridges. His first lieutenant was brutally murdered by Megatron in battle only a few months prior, being torn in two. "Even if the humans get past our hologram projection, he's safely hidden away. They won't find him."
A minute of silence passed between the Autobots. Jazz was a good friend to all of them, especially Ironhide.
"When will we be able to get back? I despise this place. Especially when it rains," the Weapons Specialist mentioned, beginning to be annoyed. The water made his armor rust, and wreaked havoc on his cannons. Although he respected the humans' lives, he was getting fed up with their constant meddling.
"We will stay here for one more night. Ratchet, run a quick scan to make sure there aren't any humans in a ten-mile radius." Optimus replied. "Then we'll all recharge before returning to our home."
"Sure thing, Optimus...hm. That's strange."
"What is it?"
"I'm picking up a single human signal a few hundred feet away, to the northwest."
All three Autobots turned towards the direction Ratchet was pointing.
Artemis often walked through remote places. She loved the peace in nature when there was nothing man-made in sight. This particular time, she walked out farther than she ever had, eventually making her way to a large hill that sloped into a valley. Exhausted, she decided to rest for a little before returning home. But when she took in her surroundings, something didn't add up. A few moments of shock followed, then disbelief.
"They're robots!" she thought. "They're actually big, working, complex robots! But...they cant be! This is impossible! Maybe I'm hallucinating." Her mind spun with possible explanations to what she was seeing. Before her, just a few hundred feet away, were four robots, apparently having a meeting of some was frozen in fear and excitement. That is, until one of them pointed directly at her, and the other three turned to look as well. Then she was just frozen in fear.
"Should I run? Will I even get that far? What am I going to do?" But before she could get her legs to move, they were already on their way. Artemis felt like she was going to pass out, but managed to get a grip on herself as they approached, but was unable to get her legs to work. Instead she built up her courage and stood her ground, preparing to face whatever situation arose, though secretly hoping it wouldn't turn out too horribly.
Optimus slowly made his way up to the hill the human was standing. A girl, by the look of it, young too. He leaned forward until he was face to face with the petrified but determined human. Ironhide, Ratchet, and Bumblebee were right behind him.
Artemis managed to get her voice to work, and was the first to speak.
"You're real."
Optimus squinted his optics slightly at this declaration and replied, "That's an unusual thing to say, even by human terms."
"Well, you're an unusual sight to see, especially by human terms."
This remark elicited a small chuckle from Optimus, while Bumblebee and Ratchet gave each other looks and smiled. Ironhide just crossed his arms. This human was different than the others. Spunky.
"I suppose that's true. My name is Optimus Prime. Behind me are my comrades, Ironhide, Ratchet, and Bumblebee."
All three Autobots nodded when their names were called.
"So...you're not gonna kill me or anything?" Artemis asked, still suspicious even though no hostility was shown.
"No, we're the 'good guys', to put it in human terms," Ratchet replied.
"But...you're robots...how the hell..."
Optimus cut her off. "It will be easier to start from the beginning."
Artemis sat on the ground, hugging her knees to her chest next to Bumblebee. Since he was the smallest, he was the easiest one for her to sit by and not feel so overwhelmed. He didn't seem to mind; in fact, he seemed happy this human chose to sit next to him out of the others. She reminded him of Sam in a way. The yellow mech drooped slightly at the memory of the boy. He missed Sam, but understood his need for a 'normal' life. Meanwhile, Optimus explained everything that had happened, from the start of the war on Cybertron to the battle just a few months prior.
"So...Jazz. He's really..." She started.
A sad look from four directions met her.
"Oh...I'm sorry. He was a good-"
"You don't know who he was! You've never met him. So don't talk about him like you have!" Ironhide yelled suddenly. He had been quiet for most of the hour. Artemis was startled by his sudden outburst, and tried to apologize.
"I...I'm sorry, I just-"
Ironhide abruptly stood up and stormed away without a word.
Artemis put her head in her hands. "We haven't known each other for an hour and he already hates me." Bumblebee squeaked quietly and gently put his hand around her in an effort to comfort her.
"He doesn't hate you. He and Jazz were best friends, and he doesn't want to admit the pain he's feeling from his death. So any time he starts feeling emotional, he masks it with anger. Its just who he is," Ratchet said consolingly. "But I must say he's starting to worry me. He waits too long before entering a recharging cycle and barely gets his daily intake of energon. If he keeps this up I'll have to take drastic measures."
Optimus stood up. "I'll go check on him."
Ironhide sat a few hundred yards away from the others, looking up at the stars. "Why did it have to be Jazz? Why didn't he let me fight Megatron instead? Why did he order us to retreat but stayed behind, even though he knew it was futile?" He shuttered his optics. He wanted to stop feeling and think about it more at the same time.
He sat up when he heard Optimus walking towards him.
"Are you okay, old friend?"
Ironhide sighed, giving up on his "big and tough" façade for the moment. "I don't know, Prime. Its just...harder to cope than I expected."
Optimus put his hand on Ironhide's shoulder. "Its never easy to lose a comrade. Especially when they were as close as you two were."
There was a somber silence between the two mechs. Ironhide finally broke the silence.
"Why do you trust this human girl with so much information? There are very few humans we've met that tolerate our presence on this planet. She could be no different than the rest."
"I understand your concern, Ironhide, but she reacted differently than every other human we've encountered. She readily accepted us when every other was weary. She deserves a chance." Optimus decided not to tell him the other reason he wanted her to stay. Not just yet.
Ironhide, rebuilding his toughness, grumbled in reply, "As long as she stays away from me. I'm starting to really despise these meddling earthlings."
Optimus squeezed his friend's shoulder before turning to go. "They're not so bad, once you know get to know them," he said, leaving.
Ironhide let out a discontented burst of air. "Like I'll let that happen."
"How is he?" Ratchet asked as Optimus made his way back to the others.
Optimus let himself fall to the ground with a thump. "Trying to cope, as always. How's Artemis taking his attitude?"
Ratchet gestured over to Bumblebee. "They're both recharging. Bee took to comforting her quite well. And he finally found someone who isn't annoyed by his radio-talking."
Optimus chuckled. "At least something is going right."
Ratchet smiled in agreement. "Speaking of recharging, you should too, Optimus. Its not good to overwork yourself like you have been. You Autobots will be the death of me, making me worry like I am."
"Thank you for your concern. But you also need to take care of yourself. I can see it in your optics that you have been stressed lately. Get a recharge cycle in yourself."
"I will, but someone should stay up to keep watch."
"Ratchet...that was an order." Optimus replied, a twinkle of a smile playing across his optics.
Ratchet smiled to himself. "Alright Optimus. As long as you promise to recharge too."
Artemis stirred and sat up. "Hm...must be a few hours 'till sunrise still," she mumbled, looking around the grey landscape. Bumblebee was still deep in a recharging cycle next to her, as well as Optimus and Ratchet not too far away. She smiled. Bumblebee was so cute in his complete innocence. She looked up and noticed Ironhide wasn't in sight. Getting up, she went to go look for him to apologize. After a moment she spotted him in the same spot he stormed off to earlier, still staring at the sky. She swallowed her building apprehension and walked up to the mech.
"Um...Ironhide...?"
A moment of silence passed, then Ironhide, without looking down, replied, "What do you want?"
Hugging herself nervously, Artemis said, "Oh...um...I-I'm sorry I offended you earlier. I didn't mean to, I just-"
Ironhide interrupted with a grunt. Artemis hoped this was his way of accepting her apology. She quietly sat down next to him in silence and stared at the stars as well. She took it as a good sign that he didn't move away.
Still staring at the stars, Ironhide asked her, "Do you even know what its like to lose someone so close to you?" He lowered his head, shuttering his optics. "He was a brother to me. The closest bot I've had to family."
Artemis was silent for a few minutes, contemplating the question and hugging her knees. Finally she replied, "I do, actually."
Ironhide turned his head toward her, noticing her striking green eyes looked more lubricated than they were before. Something jogged in his memory processor. This girl looked familiar and he wanted to figure out why. Not being very tactful, he asked bluntly, "Yeah? Who did you know that died?"
Artemis winced at this, but replied, saying meekly, "...my whole family."
Ironhide's optic ridges rose slightly at this statement. "All at once?" he asked before he could stop himself.
"Yes...It was a family reunion...where all my relatives from both my mom and dad's side gathered. It was a huge event. Relatives I didn't even know I had were there. I was tired of playing with all my cousins, so I went inside the small building we rented with the picnic area. And...the next thing I know..." Artemis paused, the pain from the memory bringing more tears to her eyes. Sniffing, she continued, "Lots of loud noises. Almost like the crash of metal on metal. Then…a huge earthquake hit. The entire ground trembled so violently. And…and then…I hear the loudest explosion I've ever heard. I felt the heat of the explosion, and half of the building I was in was destroyed. I ran outside to see what happened...and...the picnic area was gone. In its place was a gigantic crater…and huge marks in the ground. Like slashes. Even the trees for miles around were destroyed. All my family was dead. After seeing that, I went into shock. I don't remember anything after that. Later I was told it was a gas leak that caused the explosion." At this, Artemis was overtaken with grief and started sobbing uncontrollably. Ironhide didn't know what to do at this, seeing a human girl leak so much lubricant from her eyes...what did they call it here...oh, crying. Still not knowing what to say, he stayed silent for a moment, thinking about her story. Something about it sounded familiar as well,but he couldn't quite think of what it was. When Artemis calmed down, he asked, "When...did this all happen?"
Sniffing again, she replied, "Just over a year ago."
And then it hit him. He knew exactly why it sounded so familiar. Why she looked so familiar. It must have shown in his optics, because Artemis asked, "Are you okay?"
"Oh...yeah. I'm fine." He said, looking down. "But you look like you could use some more recharging...or, sleep, as you humans call it."
Smiling at this unexpected concern, and not bothering to wonder why because she was tired, Artemis replied, "I'm not the only one who could use some recharging. They're worried about you, you know." She took a chance and rested her hand on his arm. "They're afraid you're going to end up hurting yourself over his death. I know I didn't know who Jazz was, but I'm sure he wouldn't want you mourning his loss by hurting yourself."
Ironhide leaned back against the hill he was sitting on without a word, musing over the words this human girl spoke. She was wise beyond her years. Probably due to the trauma of losing so much at such a young age. "But of all the humans on this planet," he thought, "It had to be this one." He let out an exhausted puff of air, and relented to the recharge that was trying to take over his system. As he let himself fall into a recharging cycle, Artemis found a comfortable spot next to his shoulder armor, and she too fell asleep.
A few hours later, Ironhide was jolted from his recharge cycle by Optimus.
"Time to get up, old friend. The sun is rising. We're heading back to the base before it gets too light."
Ironhide groggily rubbed his optics with one hand, sitting up with the other. Then he remembered that the girl had fallen asleep next to him. He looked down but didn't see her. Panicking slightly, he stood up to make sure he didn't crush her as he was recharging. Optimus seemed to get what he was worried about, and said, "She went with Bumblebee to go eat. They're meeting us back at the base."
"I-I wasn't worried about her, its just…that…um…" Ironhide sputtered, as Optimus laughed. "Whatever you say, Ironhide. But either way, she seems to have taken a special liking to you."
"…Really? You think so?" Ironhide asked, half annoyed and half pleased.
Optimus laughed again and said, "I thought you didn't want any meddling humans near you."
Ironhide huffed again and transformed into his Topkick mode again, speeding off to the base.
"I wonder if he realizes we were listening in on his conversation," Ratchet mused aloud.
Transforming into his alt mode, Optimus replied, "Whether he knows or not, I think this girl may be good for all of us to have around."
"Think he knows exactly who she is yet?"
"He might, Ratchet, he...but no matter what, he'll have to get over it some day. And I think Artemis might just be the one to help him."