Hi
This is my very first fanfic =) be nice?
Disclaimer: Roses are red violets are blue, I don't own transformers, so please don't sue.
Chapter 1 - Homecoming
Nicole lay deep in thought on the covers of her bed, chucking a tennis ball in the air to calm her nerves. Her head was spinning with worry and sadness and it had been like this for the past few months.
Her dad had come home once after being stationed in Qatar and almost getting killed by some kind of freak attack, and then he left promptly after that to be stationed in an unnamed location.
It had been 3 months with no contact apart from the odd email that could never be replied to because of security issues. She respected that order, but sometimes she wished that there was a way she could talk to him, just for a second.
Her mum had been trying to keep a brave face, but Nicole was old enough to realise that being a mother at home with a teenager and a baby wasn't an easy task, so Nicole tended to look after herself.
She had already gone for her usual early morning run to clear her head, and decided it was time to start the usual routine.
She quickly rummaged through her draws, grabbing a pair of old jeans and a plain grey T-shit that fell nicely on her torso. After slipping on her outfit with a pair of beaten up chucks, she snuck down the stairs, careful not to wake up her mother or her sister. She had always been the morning person, along with her dad.
She picked up the hairbrush that she had thrown on the floor before her run, and went to tidy up the frizzy mess that was to be her brunette curls. The hairbrush was halfway through her hair when the phone rang, releasing a piercing ringing throughout the house.
Nicole lunged for the phone, praying that her sister wouldn't be disturbed.
"Hello?" she whispered harshly into the receiver, prying the brush from her tangled hair.
"See I told you she would pick up," said a man that was evidently holding the phone away from his ear. "Am I hearing a little green eyed girl?" that man chuckled into the phone, now talking to Nicole.
Her face softened and she could feel her lips twitching into a smile at the all too familiar voice on the line.
"Who's asking?" She teased, trying to muffle the excited scream that was threatening to come.
"Why, your favourite adult male in the universe of course!" He said with a smile in his voice.
"Not quite, Epps. I think my dad may beat you in that competition, but I'm sure you can settle for second. And by the way, I'm not that little!" She argued into the phone, almost about to burst into hysterics, she was so happy. Epps has always been her dads second in command. Wherever her dad went, Epps went. Not to mention they were best friends
"Ok, you might be getting a little ancient now, which reminds me, Happy 16th birthday Nic!"
"That was two weeks ago! But thanks Epps. It means a lot. Things haven't been so joyful around here lately." She said with an underlying sadness in her tone.
"Well, do I have the greatest two weeks late birthday present for you! I have a week long holiday!" he yelled excitedly into the phone.
"Cool?" She replied with confusion.
"And so does your dad!" He added on with even more excitement.
"What? H-he's coming home?" She stuttered with her eyes wide with surprise.
"Yeah! And I've decided to come over later today to say hi. Hope you don't mind!" he laughed into the phone.
"Today? He's coming today? How soon? How come he hasn't called?" She asked, frantically.
"Calm down! Yes, today. 20 minutes tops. He doesn't have a phone, and it's illegal to drive while talking on the phone and I'm pretty sure he's already breaking the speed limit trying to get home, so he won't want twice as many fines before he gets to you." He said with a smile evident in his voice.
"Ok. Ok. Ok.." she kept repeating, breathing heavily.
"I have to go now, sweets. See you later!" he smiled again.
"See you Epps." She said, struggling to compose herself and listened to the line click off.
She held the phone tightly, momentarily forgetting that she was grasping it and placed it back on the hook. Attempting to relax, Nicole went back to her routine, setting the dishes on the table and getting her sister's baby food ready. She chucked some waffles in the toaster for herself and placed the cereal in the middle of the table for her mum.
She glanced over at the clock. It had been 3 minutes since the call. She sat at the table with a frustrated expression painted on her face.
The waffles popped from the toaster. She checked the clock again. 5 minutes. She huffed in impatience and sat at the table again, picking at the waffle. A while later, she heard the familiar click of her mother's bedroom door opening and her mother strolled into the kitchen.
"Morning, sunshine," she smiled but quickly saw her daughter's expression. "Something wrong, dear?" and just as she finished her sentence, car could be heard pulling into the driveway.
Nicole sprinted pass her mother, leaving her speechless, and bolted out the front door. Before her father could even fully stand up from a big black Topkick, Nicole crashed into him in a tight hug.
He quickly returned the hug, picking her up off the ground and spinning her around like a doll.
"Dad! I missed you so much! Why do you have to keep leaving?" She mumbled into his shoulder.
"I'm sorry honey. You know I missed you too. Happy 16th birthday?" he chuckled into her ear.
"Yeah, you missed it. Gosh Dad." She teased, not really caring about her age since he was finally here. She didn't let go of him for as long as she could before her mother came out to see what had happened.
Her eyes widened as she caught sight of her husband, smiling towards her. She burst out crying right then and they walked to each other, kissing lovingly before going into a tight hug.
"William Lennox, I swear I am going to destroy the leader of whatever "top secret" mission you're on for keeping you from here." She said into his ear.
"I highly doubt that, Sarah." He chuckled. She stepped back to give him a 'just watch me' look, and then grabbed his hand to bring him inside.
Nicole smiled hugely as she watched her family come together again. But the moment was temporarily ruined by a small wailing coming from inside the house. Nicole groaned and followed her parents into the house to Annabelle's room.
They all watched as Annabelle's cry turned into a smile at the sight of her daddy. She laughed as he picked her up from the cot and held her against his arm, lightly tickling her nose, releasing more giggles from the girl. Nicole looked out the window on to the drive, trying to see the driver of the big black GMC in the driveway.
"Dad, where's the driver of the car that dropped you off? Shouldn't they be going now?" She asked.
"Dropped me off? Not a chance. That's our car now, Nic." He smugly told her.
"No way! They gave you a car, just for a week long holiday?" She questioned with her mouth hanging open.
"I use it quite a bit on the base too," he explained. "And I needed a car to get here."
"Can I drive it? I have my license!" She pleaded.
That caught him off guard a little bit. He looked out at the car with a questionable look on his face then looked back at Nicole.
"Uh...I'll have to think about it Nic. It's a really 'special' car.
"Whatever. By the way, Epps is coming over later." She told them and turned to walk away, leaving her mum and dad with puzzled expressions.
She decided that now was the time to have a look at the new family car. It was a sleek black GMC Topkick. Definitely an awesome car she thought. She opened the passenger door and sat on the seats, admiring the interior. Leather seats with black everything.
"Coolest. Car. Ever." She whispered out loud. The radio suddenly clicked, startling Nicole for a second but then she just stepped out of the car, patting the hood appreciatively and headed back inside. Her mum and dad were both on the couch together, watching TV with Annabelle in their laps. So Nicole joined them all on the couch, leaning on her dad.
"The car is the best. You might want to get the radio checked though. It clicks." She murmured to him.
He stiffened a bit, but then relaxed, leaning his head on to Nicole's head. "Is that so? Stupid car." He mumbled and Nicole just laughed.
"So when did you say Epps was coming?" Sarah asked.
And as if on cue, the doorbell rang, the door opened, and in came Robert Epps, obviously trying to make an entrance.
"Good morning, Lennox family!" He yelled as he casually strolled into the living room where everyone was. "Will! Man, I haven't seen you for a good 2 hours!"
"I know! It's been pretty agonizing." He joked.
Nicole leapt up from the couch and gave him a huge hug.
"And Nic, I haven't talked to you for...half an hour. You look so pretty! Have I ever told you, you should be a model?" He laughed.
"A few times, actually." She laughed as she pulled back from the hug.
"It's good to see you Robert." Sarah smiled as she stood up from the couch.
The family and Epps continued to catch up for another hour or so sharing stories, well, Nicole and her mum sharing stories. It seemed that Will or Robert couldn't talk about their mission, but Nicole didn't mind. She would get it out of him one day.
After a decent amount of time Epps decided he should leave. Everyone waved him off as he stepped out the door and walked down the driveway. Nicole watched as he gave the topkick a playful shove and laughed before walking out of sight.
She turned her head to see both her parents busy entertaining Annabelle so she decided to just head back to her room.
In the corner of her room sat a crummy couch that had a small indent where Nicole usually sat and stared out te window. She was fascinated by the outside world and there was always something new going on. She plopped herself on to the couch and lay on her back quietly, listening to the various hums and whispers she would hear. She was interupted by a quiet bump against the door frame and looked up to see her dad leaning against the fram with a warm smile. He came and sat in the small dip on the other side of the couch that was moulded by him. Nicole was secretly ecstatic that the dip would deepen with her dad sitting there again. It had been pretty cold without him.
"Why do you have to keep leaving? You're meant to be coming home now." She asked to her dad quietly.
"Military stuff. And I am home." He relaxed more into the couch.
"You know what I mean, Dad. I thought you were coming home...to stay." She turned to look at him more with an uncomfortable look on her face.
"Well, now that I have a car and there haven't been many problems on base, I can come home more, if that means anything?" He said to her with a smile.
"You promise?" She said, shifting her body to hold up her pinky finger to her dad like she did when she was small.
"I promise." He grinned holding up his pinky and linking it with Nicole's. Then he put his arm around her neck and messed up her hair.
"Dad!" She laughed "No fair! And since when does the military issue out awesome cars?" She asked, slipping out of his hold.
He avoided the question with a chuckle and stood up to go back downstairs. "Lunch is in a few, ok?" He mentioned as he left the room. "Love you, Nic."
"Love you too, Dad." She said with a content smile.
The rest of the week was what Nicole wished every week was like. The family did lots of things together, obviously trying to make up lost time, and her dad stayed around almost all the time, only leaving for maybe an hour a day to take the car out for a spin.
Nicole woke up per usual at 6am. It had now been a whole week with her dad and Nicole was dreading this day. He would be leaving in a matter of hours, so she decided to try and spend as much time with him as she could. She slipped on her running gear and headed downstairs to grab a drink bottle.
As she had expected, her dad came out of his room equipped with his running gear and smiled when he saw his daughter waiting for him.
"Man, you slept in!" Nicole teased.
"Hey, I'm usually up before you are! Why are you up so early?" He questioned with a grin.
She didn't return his grin though; instead she furrowed her eyebrows and looked at him like the answer was obvious.
"You're leaving today." She whispered, and looked at her feet.
"Not right now! Now, how about that run?" He suggested as he put his hands on her shoulders.
Nicole perked up a bit and Will grabbed his emergency radio before they both headed out the door, starting a slow jog.
"Where are we going today?" She asked as he took the lead.
"Just wait until we get there." He said without hinting anything.
Nicole just rolled her eyes and continued following her dad. They ran in the opposite direction of the city, watching as the asphalt road turned into dirt and the power lines became trees. They had turned off the main road a long time ago and were headed in the direction of some kind of forest.
William stopped running when the road hit a wall of bushes. He took a deep breath and smiled proudly at the sight. Nicole just looked at him with a puzzled look on her face as she stopped puffing.
"You first." Her dad said with a massive smile.
Nicole pushed through the bushes and was greeted by a small field. It had a small creek running through the centre and massive trees lining the edge. A large rock sat just to the right of the centre.
"No. Way." She whispered to herself.
"I used to take you here as a kid. Do you remember?" Her dad asked from behind her.
"Yes! I fell of that tree there," she pointed accusingly at the largest tree in the clearing, "I used to jump off that rock there into the creek, and you would take me here every weekend!" She remembered happily.
"I thought you would like it here again, this place ha-" he was cut off by his radio being hailed.
The radio was only connected to one person so he knew who it was even before he picked up.
"What's going on 'Hide" He said and Nicole watched him with worried eyes.
"We need you to come back to base immediately," Said a deep voice "Signals are being picked up in this area. I am coming to retrieve you as we speak."
"Hold up 'Hide, my daughter is here with me. I'll have to come home first." Said Will clearly into the receiver.
"I will retrieve you both and drop her off back at your home. 1 minute." He stated.
"That's not a good idea!" He yelled as the connection cut off. "Dammit," He mumbled.
"Dad, what's going on? Who's coming?" She asked concerned.
"Nic, I have to go back to the base...Our car is coming to get us" he said hesitantly.
"You mean to tell me that one of your base's cars is coming to get us? How do they know where we are?" She panicked.
"Just trust me." And just as he finished speaking, a car could be heard screeching to a halt outside the bushes. "Time to go, Nic." He said as she followed him back to the road.
The black Topkick was waiting for them both. William quickly jumped into the driver seat and she slipped in the passenger side. She looked around the interior of the car for the previous driver with no luck.
"Uh, Dad? Where's the driver?" She squeaked nervously.
"There isn't one." He said bluntly as he turned the car around. "Can you tell your mother that I'm really sorry I couldn't say goodbye, I love her and that I'll be back soon?" He said as they sped down the road. It would only take them 2 minutes to get home at their current speed and Nicole was clinging to the seat.
"You can't be seriously doing this to me." She whispered as she turned to her dad.
"I just have to find out what's going on at the base and then I'll be home before you know it." He told her.
"Ok." Was all she managed to get out for the rest of the journey home.
"Love you Nic. I'll come home later, I promise, sometime in the next month." He said guiltily, and leaned over to give Nicole a kiss.
"Love you too, Dad, and you are going to explain this whole 'possessed car' thing." She replied trying to lighten the mood as she stepped out of the car.
She turned to give her dad a final wave before he left then she headed down her driveway into the house. She pushed open the door, only to be greeted by a silent house. She strolled into the kitchen to resume her usual morning routine, but as she went to put the bowls on the table she felt herself begin to tear up. She lazily chucked the bowls on to the table and slumped on to one of the kitchen chairs.
Before she could ball her eyes out, the phone rang. She lunged for it, careful not to wake the rest of the house. She took a deep breath before speaking.
"Hello?" She asked meekly before a loud sniffle.
"Nicole? Are you ok?" A panicked voice said. Nicole recognized the voice straight away.
"I'm fine. Dad? You just left, what's going on?" She replied, wiping her eyes.
"Don't worry; it's just there's been a change of plan. I need you to wake your mother and your sister and wait for a man to come and collect you, understand?" He said in a serious voice.
"What? Dad, what happened?" She almost yelled.
"Then I want you to tell him that you are to be taken to Diego Garcia or "the N.E.S.T base", under major Lennox's orders." He instructed her.
"Ok. What if he doesn't believe me?" She wondered, breathing heavily.
"If he doesn't believe you then just tell him that I'll be getting Ironhide on to him." He told her firmly.
"Ironhide? Ok, whatever, love you dad, please be careful." She muttered.
"I will. Love you too Nic, I'll see you soon." He said before the line clicked off.
Nicole stood motionless for a second before her mind registered that the situation was more serious than her dad made it out to be. She sprinted to her mother's room and switched on the lights. Annabelle woke up first in the room opposite her mothers and started crying almost instantly.
"Mum! Wake up, we need to go!" Nicole yelled from the door in the same tone that her dad used with the recruits.
Her Mother shifted in the blankets before sitting up to see her daughter in the doorframe.
"Nicole, it's 6:30am. What could you possibly need at this hour? Where's your father?" She questioned as she stepped out of the bed.
"Dad got called out; he said we're going to be picked up by a guy to leave the house with." Nicole said as she went to pick up Annabelle from the other room. Sarah livened up immediately and pulled on a dressing gown and followed Nicole to the other room.
"We're being evacuated? I'll grab my phone and get changed quickly. You wait in the hall, ok?" Sarah told Nicole calmly.
Nicole stood in the hall gently rocking Annabelle in a bid to calm her down. She quietly cooed the baby when suddenly a loud banging started coming from the door.
"Excuse me. Is there anybody home?" a man yelled from the other side of the door.
Nicole pulled the door open with her free hand and saw a young man in a military uniform standing at her door.
"Ma'am, I'm going to have to ask you to come with us. We need to evacuate the area immediately. Please make your way over to one of the trucks over there." He ordered, pointing to a line of army vehicles where other people were being herded into.
"Um...My family and I are to be taken to Diego Garcia...uh...the N.E.S.T base. Major Lennox's orders." Nicole said timidly.
"I'm sorry ma'am, I cannot do that without direct orders from Major Lennox himself. You must follow me to one of these trucks." He told her.
"Look." She started more confidently, "I am Nicole Lennox, his daughter, and he told me to tell you that if you didn't listen to me then he would get an Ironhide on you..." She had no idea what she meant but something in the soldier clicked making the strong looking man swallow nervously.
"Follow me." It was at that moment that her mother emerged from around the corner with a bag of clothes. She gently took Annabelle from Nicole and they were ushered into a different truck which had evidently just dropped off some soldiers. As they left the house, Nicole could see her dad step out of his black car and fire shots toward a huge figure in the distance. Just as they turned the corner to leave, the Topkick began breaking apart, leaving Nicole with wide eyes and a few questions for her father.