So, what's up guys?
Having a good life? I hope so :D
Anywho,
here's a fanific one-shot for ForShizzleMySizzle, the winner of my OTSH Fan Art contest from last year :)
Features their character, so I hope I do her justice!
I hope you like it,
Enjoy!
Flight Of The Bumblebee
"There's usually a single adult for the teacher and twenty or so kids per class. Or at least, that's how it was when I was in elementary school."
"What is...elementary school?"
"A place younger kids go to for education. They usually go to middle school after that, then high school, then some of them go on to college."
A tumble of golden strands brushed over the window as striking scenes of the countryside passed by in flashes of gentle browns and greens. Rolling hills waved passed like a flag of nature as they stretched vastly into the distance to kiss the endless expanse of the skies. Fluffy puffs of clouds danced along on calm breezes, moving across countless lands and spreading delicate grey shadows on the Earth's magnificent surface. Specks of the sun's rays peeked through the cotton-like substances floating about, turning them a heavenly shade of pearl. A young woman, in her late teens, rolled down the window of the vehicle she was currently sitting in and tucked her shoulder into the door to allow the rough winds to bat at her body.
The warm lashes of the late summer air licked across the girl's cheeks and caused strands of stinging hair to whip at her face. With a smile, her thick lashes narrowed and her brilliant blue gaze zeroed far off into the outskirts of the city they were about to pass through. A laugh bubbled clearly from her pink lips and she rose a hand to hold back the fluttering of her hair.
"Look, a gas station," she pointed out, turning her head towards the dashboard of the dark interior of the Mustang she rode in. "We should stop off there and get Bee a souvenir."
The music drifting from the speakers lowered as various clicks sounded excitedly from the waves. An impressive yellow Camaro, black racing stripes running along the length of its body from hood to bumper, swerved on its wheels and sped up to drive side by side with the black and red Mustang it had been tailing for the past hour or so. The driver of the Mustang, or what most would think as such, smirked and set an elbow on his open window, eyes focusing on the road and not the reckless muscle car.
"No, Fera we're not stopping."
The Camaro visibly sagged at the decision. It fell back the length of a few cars and returned to position behind its peer. The girl, Fera, crossed her arms and twisted around to watch Bee from the rear window. She sent an apologetic shrug its way before sighing dramatically.
"Come on, Solas, you made him sad," Fera insisted. She could see that even Bee's holoform was disappointed.
"We don't have time to stop. We need to get you to Saint Louis and back to Amoret before ten tonight otherwise your mother will have your aft," Solas told her patiently.
"You just like crushing the dreams of little yellow sports cars."
"Of course."
Fera knew her Guardian was being difficult, and that irked her incredibly. Giving a huff, she sat back around and rolled her eyes. Not a second later had she kicked out her leg, landing a good hit to the underside of the dash. The music sputtered to a halt and the engines roared indignantly at her. An accomplished and cocky grin touched her features while she aimed her sights back on the horizon and scaling silver edifices of the city. If he wanted to be annoying, then so would she.
She wasn't expecting him to turn.
Solas abruptly jerked to the left, throwing Fera's body to the side and knocking her head into the frame of the window. A sharp pain bloomed from her head as the dull clunk of her skull met hardened plastic. Immediately she reared away to clutch her head with both her hands. A wince made her cringe into the seat with her hand planted on the throbbing spot of her scalp as it spread from the right side of her head to her temple. She sucked in a quick breath through her closed teeth and rubbed at the spot. Coldly blue eyes trained on the radio, then on the holoform driver, who flickered in and out ever so often in the buffeting winds.
"Ow," Fera growled, irritation heavy in her tone. Solas chuckled and looked at her through the holographic driver taking place in his leather seat. In spite, she threw out her arm, therefore scattering the image of Solas' holodriver to the point where he struggled to get it going again.
She fell back into her old seat with her arms crossed and her head purposefully laying a few inches away from the window. "Not so funny now, is it?" she muttered over the faint waves of the radio.
Buildings sailed past as the Autobot raised his tinted windows after the second failed attempt at recovering his holodriver in time before they passed by the crowds of civilians. It was a quick attempt at hiding the fact that there would be a driver-less car racing by on their streets. Fera silently felt a spike of guilt for messing with the mech's hologram, but that was swiftly squashed by the satisfaction she took in knowing she had gotten revenge on her company.
Bodies of milling humans blurred on by as smears of color against a backdrop of a monotonous cityscape. This area was slightly larger than Amoret, but wasn't really a well-known place such as Saint Louis or Jefferson City. There was a good selection of cafés and cute business places, however what truly attracted tourists to its destination was the modest shopping strip downtown. It was a collection of various shops, delis, craft stores, and the like, with none being overly large or popular amongst the rest of the country. That's what kept them never crowded and an enticing spot to relax to Fera.
It was a nice spot to unwind with, as the old streets were laden in cobblestone and the sidewalk made of wooden frames and concrete. Fera had often came here with her mother when she was younger. She vaguely wondered if that small ice cream shop was still there that her father and her had eaten at before he'd died.
There was a trill at Solas' radio and Fera perked up, her face snapping towards the noise. Her reminiscing sadness melted away as a high-pitched series of screeches, clicks, beeps, and whistles picked up amongst the crackling.
Fera stared at the dash in confusion, which only increased when Solas offered no sign of explanation in the near future. The conversation between whom she assumed to be Solas and another 'Bot filtered through in Cybertronian, their natural language. It aggravated Fera that she couldn't understand what was going on, but she kept quiet in the back and forth talking. What only took about a minute felt as if it had been an hour waiting. Anything could have been said between her supposed Guardian and whoever that may of been on the other side. For all she knew, it could have been a Decepticon.
No, that's not it, she brushed off instantly after that thought. Solas would never...would he?
She had only known him for a good month or so, so understanding his near impossible-to-deal-with personality. To know if he was in cahoots with the enemy was far beyond her. It would explain why he had initially protested against being her protector, or his personality. Then again, Ratchet wasn't all sunshine and rainbows either.
"What was that all about?" Fera asked, propping her head up on her hand, her elbow resting against the windowsill. From the corner of her eye she saw Bumblebee flash by. Looking to him granted her the view of the yellow scout rushing to get ahead of Solas. Once there, he moved over a lane to lead Solas instead of the reverse. A pang of uncertainty pierced Fera's disposition and she sat up a little straighter, wiggling in the seat. The serious weight of which had settled upon the atmosphere pressed down greatly upon Fera's shoulders as she switched between Bee and Sol. There was something she was missing.
"Solas-?"
"Optimus Prime has contacted me to relay message that there has been suspicious activity in the Amoret area," Solas interrupted. "We believe it is Decepticon in origin."
"Decepticons...in Amoret?" Fera croaked, her throat suddenly going dry and her heart dropping into her shoes.
Solas' cabin rumbled lowly, apparently unaware of the change in her voice. His holodriver came back online, hard and firm as a soldier should look. "It is uncertain as to why they have traveled there, however, we believe it was for a purpose befitting of their motives."
Fera wasn't listening. She didn't care about plans or reasons behind why massive robotic aliens would be running around in her hometown. Her mother was safe, back at base. Nonetheless, the woman wasn't the only meaningful person in Fera's life. It was becoming harder to breathe in the stuffy cabin. her mind was racing with vivid, grotesque images of death or torture befalling the one lasting being meaning something to her in that city. The roar of her blood beat at her ears, her heart racing in her chest.
Solas' speed slowed and Fera jerked, her hand slamming against the dash a little harder than she'd meant.
"Fera, is there something wrong?" he questioned her, an edge of confusion in his tone.
She swallowed whatever saliva was on her tongue. There was a stone in her throat that she tried forcing down, but it kept jumping back up, refusing to go down completely. "Juno..." she whispered.
"Fera...?"
"Juno," she fought back a shiver, "she's in danger."
God put flowers on this Earth to be pretty.
She was pretty darn sure He didn't put them here so some poor soul would have to slave away taring out weeds, mercilessly killing pests, brake their back to dig at the soil, and carefully water each frigging plant until it had just about a river's worth of water. And if that wasn't enough, if you weren't careful, those flowers would bake under the rays of the sun, which, was supposed to be giving them life. Too much sun, and they wither. Too little sun, and they wither.
Stupid flowers.
The girl throwing away the days of her summer vacation by sweating streams over these petunias and roses she'd worked so hard to keep alive tenderly patted the soil around the roots of her flowers. In the raging heat of the day, they refused to hold in water and their soil went dry within a few hours. It had been a pain in the butt to constantly have to keep coming back to tend to the pitifully fragile plants, but the outcome of her labor was beginning to take effect. The bushes of crimson roses, or Blood Roses, as they were specifically called, were filling out quite well. Bundles of scarlet beauties were bursting out in a plush expanse of thorn-covered branches, each succulent bud framed by richly green leaves.
Colorful marigolds and a few zinnias followed the carpet of graceful roses, spreading a bed of bright and vivid hues across the garden. Not a spot of brown soil could be seen, as it was completely concealed in the carpet of flowers. If one were to stand a few feet away, it was appear as a painting against the otherwise average beige shade of the house they adorned in front. Swooping baskets hung from the roof overhanging the porch, and another two medium pots remained on either side of the stairs with petunias spilling out over the edges.
The one tending to them, the same girl who had been squatted or kneeling in this exact spot for the past hour or so picking weeds, wore a dirtied navy-blue tank-top and her favorite pair of jeans shorts, rolled at the bottom so the grass stains on the hems wouldn't get larger. Her thick, brunette hair was collected high on her head in a messy bun, with strands falling mischievously from the tie and a couple shorter bits poking around the top. Green marks rubbed off on the tops of her formerly white and grey tennis shoes, though she didn't mind, as they were already years old and full of holes. But she still loved them anyway. Her pale skin shimmered with sweat and was flushed with a faint pink in the beginnings of a sunburn.
Muscles along her bicep strained while she pulled at a particularly difficult weed. Eyebrows screwing in effort, she yanked with all her might and nearly fell backwards when the stubborn pest flew from its rooted spot beside her rose bush. Giving a sigh, she tossed it onto her growing pile of victims and rolled the tightness out of her shoulders. She sat up straighter and winced at the pain in her lower back, where it was becoming sore from all her slouching.
She didn't usually tend to the garden like this, as long as she was now, but when she did, it was because she needed to think. It was always easier to do when there was quiet. And what better quiet could there be but in a garden, where no one, and nothing but the bees and the birds would talk to you? Her nearest neighbor was at least a mile away, and that had been Fera Lennox.
Slumping forward, the girl bit her cheek curiously. It had been a little while since she had thought about the Lennoxs. Fera had been a good friend of hers for the past year or so, after they'd realized they'd lived near one another in the girl's first day at the high school. Fera had been her first and only friend for awhile. They hadn't talked for more than a few weeks, ever since the final exam actually, and the interest was peeking in her mind about the teen's disappearance. There had been rumors that she'd gone off to military school and hadn't been seen since.
Her attention was diverted from all previous thought when she heard the distinct crunch of rubber tires on gravel.
She twisted in her spot and squinted into the distance, looking down the length of her long driveway to spot two splashes of color turning into the trail. Confused and mildly cautious, she rose to her feet and tugged at the fingers of her gloves to get them off. As the cars were nearing her, the caution was slowly turning to excitement. Those beauties on four wheels were indeed outdated models, yes, but they were still some of her absolute favorite Chevrolet and Ford models that had been offered in her time of birth.
The rumbling of the glorious, black, Second Generation Boss 302 Mustang vibrated through her very core, rattling her bones and making her blood run fast with adrenaline. Its fluttering torques, coupled with the intense, demanding aura it brought in its presence commanded a type of respect only its fifth generation of production wrought. The guttural snarl of its 444 horsepower bled danger and pure power. Those crimson side pipes, two that were usually put in the Mustang GT model, flushed the exhaust from the sides of the doors, allowing such an ominous growl.
But it was the 2009 Concept Camaro, with its Rally Yellow paint scheme, two glossy black stripes running down the length of its impressive frame, that really caught her attention. If she remembered right, it was a Jay Leno Camaro, with a rear diffuser, front fascia and hood with additional venting for brakes and engine, Centerforce clutch, and a pressure plate for the six-speed manual transmission. There had been a limit on their production because of their overall value, so it was considered a limited edition concept. It was her dream vehicle.
For the entire time of their entrance she stood in a hypnotic-like trance, following every contour of their shape and catching each ray of the blinding sun as it bounced off their polished paint. The gravel didn't seem to do a thing against it, and she blinked in an attempt to keep her anticipation at bay. What if this was some man, lost and looking for help? He could have been her age, handsome, with a magnificent car that you couldn't even find these days, and...see her like this. She jumped in embarrassment and began to fix at her shirt, throwing her leather gloves aside.
As the door opened, she patted down her hair and took the tie from her bundle of hair, letting the chocolate ringlets tumble over her shoulders. She ran the back of her hand over her forehead, accidentally smearing soil over her skin. She didn't notice, instead focusing on the shape emerging from within the Mustang. Interestingly, not a soul exited the Camaro.
"Juno?"
Said teen snapped to attention at the familiar voice. It was the one friend that she had been thinking about in her time of gardening, surprising her intensely. Of all the people.
Juno couldn't hold back the smile that stretched across her face at seeing the teen. Her legs carried her forward before she'd said a word, starting for Fera with her trowel falling out of her pocket to hit the ground, and her arms opening wide. Despite her filth, Fera accepted the hug and let Juno hold her out at arms length.
She looked the same. Maybe a bit older, her hair slightly longer, faint circles under her eyes, but all in all she was the same person. It was only a mere habit that Juno noticed the smallest things. For instance, Fera had a new scar on the upper right of her temple. It was almost too light to see, still, it was there.
"You made me think you were my Prince Charming," Juno joked lightheartedly. "Where have you been, avoiding me like that?" she stole a glance at the car Fera had rode in, "Did you run off with some boy? Is that who's in the other car?" Her head ducked to the side, trying to see better inside the golden beauty resting idly behind the Mustang. For some reason beyond her, she felt as though it were shaking - jumping on its shocks as if it were almost nervous.
Fera placed her hands on Juno's shoulders, gaining the girl's attention again. "No, nothing like that," she said. Her eyes flicked to the side, towards the Mustang, in a subtle motion that Juno feared she may have imagined. No, she didn't. "Can you ride with me for a little while? We'll go shopping in town, just like you told me you wanted to do back in school."
Juno's eyebrows burrowed into her doe-brown irises and she lifted her hands to take Fera's from her shoulders. "Fera, is everything alright? You're acting weird," she noted in concern. Was there actually someone in the Mustang with her? In the Camaro? Where they holding her hostage? "If someone is telling you to do this, blink twice," Juno hissed as she leaned in.
Fera's features contorted into a thoughtful expression before she quickly shook her head from side to side. "No, I'm not being held against my will," her voice was higher than usually as she assured her friend. That was a sign of stress. "Can we just go?" Juno's lips pursed as she considered her comrade standing before her.
"What is the hurry? You aren't acting like yourself," the teen inquired, stepping around the Mustang leisurely to begin for the Camaro. She could hear Fera's hurried steps trailing behind her. Juno locked her hands in the small of her back and made her way as calmly as she could before stopping within less than a yard from the yellow sports vehicle. It was taking all she had not to squeal at seeing it, or run up to run her fingers down its pristine front.
Fera's hand clutched Juno's shoulder just as she caught sight of herself in the glare of the yellow paint. "Juno, we have to leave," she demanded hastily. "Now."
"Why?" Juno pulled away gently from Fera and turned back to the Camaro, admiring the polished finish. "I wanna meet whoever drives this piece of collector gold." Her hand came out, finally unable to help herself, and she set it upon the hood.
Buzzing heat zipped up her arm in a short burst of energy. Warmth soaked through the lines of her fingers, the shaking of the frame sending tiny jerks into her forearm. She could feel the resounding pulse of the engine purring under her palm. A coursing feeling of animation prickled her skin to send goosebumps all along the surface. If she could describe the absolute awe she found in touching this car, she would say it was...invigorating? Exhilarating? Alive? Yeah, that was a good one. Alive.
"Listen, there isn't time for that. When we get back, I'm sure Bee will have all the time in the world to talk to you about his car. For now, we just have to go," Fera input, causing Juno to jump, as she had drifted in her overzealous thoughts once again.
Releasing a breath that openly displayed her disappointment, Juno removed her hand from the hood and faced her friend, a defeated grin on her face. "We can go to that auto decal shop down in the Loop?"
"We can go anywhere you want," Fera promised, returning the smile. "Let's just get there. Soon."
Juno allowed herself to be ushered back to the Mustang, Fera's hand on the upper part of her back. She knew the girl was being impatient, but why? She'd always remembered Fera as being the quiet, patient student that sat at the back of the room, always by the window. Especially before Juno had come to know Fera, she'd seen the Lennox teen spending her time in class watching the day go by outside the window rather than pay attention to their lesson. Juno had come to begin lending Fera her notes, concerned that she would fall behind with all her distraction. That was how they'd initially became friends.
Through the year of meeting Fera, Juno had come to know her as the quiet, fiery-tempered girl who took crap from no person and stood up for what she believed in. However, she always was compassionate to the highest extent, putting others before herself always. And in certain times, as when she was drawing off in her corner, she was laid back. Where had this change come from? Military school?
"Hey Fera, how is Military school going?" Juno questioned generally as she followed the teen around the front of the Mustang. Fera looked over her shoulder with her eyebrows knitted.
"Military school-?"
She cut off.
An incredible surge of scorching heat and painful, sharp rubble from the Earth exploded. Juno didn't know when she'd hit the ground, or why, but she was there. One moment, she had been standing, then she was on her stomach, face-first in the earth with grass in her eyes and dirt in her bra.
Her ears were ringing loud enough to block any other noise from reaching to her. Blood crashed in waves in her head, making it difficult to think. A blurry fog had covered her sight. Or was that the dirt? Either way, it didn't matter. She was on the ground, flat out, with her burning arms pinned beneath her and her face smashed in Mother Earth's flesh. There was a rock lodged in her nose, which she blew out, finding the motion caused her head to swim viciously.
Disoriented, Juno picked up her aching head and tried blinking whatever debris out of her eyes she could. Something warm and slick was trickling down from her cheek, and without touching it, she knew what it was. That made the situation even worse.
Had the car exploded?
Shit, she spat mentally, shoving herself to her elbows. Where is Fera?
She scoured whatever space around her she could, but had too much running through her head at one time to focus much. She couldn't see past a few feet, making anything else blurry and obscured. Fera was nowhere to be seen, causing Juno's heart to skip a beat. A prayer touched her mind for the girl, asking she be ok, and her name danced on her thick tongue. The heat of the day was boring mercilessly into the back of Juno's neck, making her fevered confusion worse.
What she could see, through all the dirt and mud and charred strands of grass was the Mustang next to her. Something was happening to it. It was...
She squinted her eyes, rolling onto her side as the hood split in half and the doors wrenched apart. Those brown eyes widened as the wheels revolved unnaturally on their axis and squirmed through a storm of clanging, banging, rearranging parts. It was suddenly a rubix cube of metallic parts, all relocating in the matter of a breath.
It was transforming.
A scream bubbled in Juno's throat as a giant foot slammed down beside her. The parts had seemed to find their position, leaving a gargantuan, 30-foot tall robotic thing in place of the Mustang. It looked human, as it had two legs, two arms, a head, and a face of some sort. But it was different. It wasn't from this world. And it was the most terrifying thing she'd seen in her entire life.
What's worse was when it turned its attention on her, revealing two brilliant teal-colored bulbs of light to aim downwards, which she assumed were the eyes. It leaned forward at her, lifting an arm of puzzled car parts to open a hand at her. It was going to grab her.
Juno did let herself yell out at this, flipping onto her back and plowing her hands and heels into the silt to back away from the creature. Those metal features, disturbingly human-like in appearance, turned into a grim expression.
"Come here," he -or what she guessed to be a he- commanded as he went for her again. Juno screeched and fell flat onto her back when her hand got caught in a root.
Then, as if birthed from the chaos itself, Fera appeared running through the fray and crouching at Juno's side. She waved a hand at the large robot and he held back, actually obeying her request to keep his distance.
"Go!" Fera shouted over the sound of cannons firing and blood-churning screams. "Go with Bee, I've got her!"
Fera wrapped her hands around Juno's arm as the robot nodded and leapt away into the heart of the fray. Juno was lost and speechless, but she followed well enough when Fera pulled her to her feet. They ran off, hunched low to the clouds of dust, with their backs to the pandemonium. Fera eventually threw Juno behind a solid object, joining the girl at her side, heaving for fresh air and covered from head to toe in a thin layer of dust.
Juno felt her heart hammering at speeds she knew couldn't be healthy. The dust in her eyes was making it hard to see anything right, while the soil caught in her nose and mouth was making it hard to communicate. Scratches lined her arms and sent tiny holes over her clothing. The bottom of her shirt was singed, as well as the end of her pants, leaving the skin beneath a blackened mess. They didn't hurt, but she was sure as hell they would later.
"Fera!" she choked from the stifling cloud kicked up by the titans. Juno instinctively tucked into herself when the ground jolted in a ferocious blast. The rock they hid behind vibrated and a volley of dirt clods rained down on them. Everything either smelled like ozone or mildewy earth.
She felt biting nails dig into her arms and her head snapped up, locking eyes with her friend. It all felt like a dream. This illusion was incredible, making anything and everything appear surreal. Fera, the grass, the house, the destroyed garden, the fenced-in paddock...it was all covered in a blinding sense of falsity. Fera's eyes glowed through it all, always that same unnatural blue hue they'd always been. If she could be remembered by one thing, it would be those eyes. Where they an illusion too?
"Juno, listen to me-"
Fera was cut off by another blast nearby. She yanked Juno closer and shielded her against the flying rubble. Juno's eyes squeezed tightly shut as she willed this to all be a nightmare. That's what this was - it had to be. This heat wasn't real. The dirt wasn't caked to the sweat of her body. There wasn't blood soaking into her shirt. Giant alien robots weren't apart of reality. Those booming screams, loud enough to burst her eardrums, weren't there. Bombs weren't going off all around her.
Yes, they were.
No matter what, she couldn't get herself to completely believe the possibility that she could simply have passed out in the lawn of heat exposure; or that she was napping in a hot bath with a thunderstorm outside. None of that was real. This...this was real.
Juno managed to move her head from Fera's grip, allowing her view of her home. That was her first place. Her parents had let her have it right on her eighteenth birthday. The cute little two-bedroom house was her pride and joy.
Two enormous bipedal monsters swung into sight, sending sparking punches and kicks at each other hard enough to knock metallic shrapnel from their body. Suddenly one of them separated, the red and black Mustang from earlier, and tackled the newer bot into that very home. A resounding crash hit the air as a plume of wood and roofing shingles flew into a wide arc around them. The sides caved inward under the pressure of the titans collapsed the house and dropped them into a pile of rubble.
Juno's blood went cold from more than just the grief of seeing her first house turn to a bundle of toothpicks right in front of her. Fera's hand on her shoulder brought her out of her thoughts and drew her stunned, slightly out-of-it face from the scene. Her grubby hands grabbed both sides of Juno's face and brought her near, keeping her from seeing the battle raging around them. Juno could see the pure determination in Fera's eyes, and she couldn't help feeling awed at her. There was a terror interlaid there too, though far deeper down, but it was the courage Juno noticed most.
Those blue eyes of hers flickered closed when the rock next to them shook again and her lips rolled inward for her to bite down on. Juno couldn't bring herself to close her own. She was too busy staring at Fera, drinking in the strength the girl spewed from her presence. Her hands came up and grabbed Fera's wrists, making her open her eyelids once more.
A yellow bulk twisted above them out of the corner of Juno's vision and she tensed in preparation to be crushed. But Bee, as she had found his name to be, expertly avoided them by catapulting his opponent over them to collide with the ground behind. He then leapt over them himself and, with a grunt from the enemy, pounced.
"Juno, do you trust me?" Fera murmured over the noise, close enough now that their foreheads were touching. Juno felt her lungs were tightening in her fear, her knees rattling with unwithheld fright. Besides this, she nodded against her comrade.
"When I tell you to run, you do it. You don't look back, you run. And no matter what happens," Fera paused to brush a thumb over Juno's head, holding back a strand of hair to better meet gazes. "I will be right behind you." She provided her nervous friend a smile and a clamp of her hand on Juno's shoulder. A roaring yell picked up to their left and Fera winced, obviously not of her own reason. She knew these robots. How? What secrets had this girl kept?
Fera lowered her hands and looked around them. "Alright, on three...one," she began, breathing heavily. "...two..." she put a hand on Juno's back and the teen coiled her legs in anticipation. Her blood was pumping. Basic survival instincts told her to stay put, to stay still and stay alive. But Fera was telling her to go. That was one stubborn force to try opposing.
"Three!" Fera shouted, shoving Juno forward. "Go, go, go!"
Juno bolted on burning legs to streak through the yard. Dirt still clung to the air as a blanket, the heat of the sun beating down upon those that gathered below as a debilitating wave. Juno still ran on, despite slipping and stumbling on the gravel driveway, and towards the emptiness of the tree line. Her eyes were set on the end of the drive, where two large oak trees framed either side of the trail leading to her house. Beyond it was the road. The road meant freedom.
Her arms swung back and forth hurriedly as she could hear the faint echos of Fera's encouragement wailing at her back. Don't look back. Keep going. Keep running. Don't stop.
She looked back.
What she saw was the ruined remains of a perfectly good home. The grass was but a rumpled mix of dark brown and grey. The house was snapped down the center, bowed like a hammock during the summer. The tree next to her house was pulled from its roots and was in the hands of the red and black robot. He was using it to swing at the one coming at him. Before it was hit with a clubbering blow, Juno managed to see its two strikingly bright, dangerous red eyes. Their glow made her skin crawl.
Fera was waving at Juno, trying to get her to turn away. But she couldn't. She was caught in the moment, frozen in watching that same red and black robot turn towards them. One of his eyes was red, the other blue, whereas before they both had been teal. Bee was tangling with the second enemy, pinning it to the ground with its face smashed in the soil and its right arm held high above.
The red and black robot abruptly leaned in their direction as he plowed the tops of his feet into the ground. He was thrust forward, his long legs stretching with long strides that carried him over the distance separating him and Fera in the means of two seconds. He scooped Fera up in one hand and pressed her to his chest. She in the mean time was wriggling to get free, Juno's name splitting her lips. Juno slowed to a jog and finally stopped altogether.
Fera's savior, or captor, started running for Juno, and the girl jumped. Without thinking she turned on her heel and booked it as fast as she could in her exhausted state to get to the end of the driveway.
"Juno!"
She couldn't tell who it was calling her name. She didn't care. All she knew was the end of that graveled road and the safety it would bring her.
But the sight of the life-saving exit was stolen from her when silver closed around her body, shoving her into a wall of yellow. She released a scream from the very depths of her stomach, letting it spill from her throat in such a high pitch that her throat was spiked with pain. Darkness clattered all around her, surrounding her in a series of booming clangs and bangs. Her body was yanked backwards, instantly ripping the air from her and effectively stopping her scream with a short hiccup. She vaulted forward again, rolled in an uncomfortable ball, as metallic pieces slammed down around her.
Eyes wide, her limbs twisted and her body sucked backwards, then back the other way, making her neck snap back and give her whiplash. Poles clamped mere inches from her skin, locking in a grip she knew could kill her. That was why she let loose her voiceless screech, the length of her back punched into and arch before her feet were sucked hard enough to knock them from the sockets.
Then it all ceased motion, sending her into a wider space that made her brain to do somersaults. Air coursed along her heated frame, clearing her mind in the slightest. She gasped air into her aching lungs, greedily taking it in as if she'd never been granted the heavenly substance. Eyes flitted about, trying to figure out exactly where she was.
It was the cabin of a car, with dark windows that blocked the piercing assault of the sun, onyx-black leather interior, charcoal dash, a shining steering wheel, and shiny doo-dads that hadn't been around since twenty-seventeen. If she weren't ready to vomit from the incredible fit her stomach was going through, she may have appreciated the sight more.
It was the unfamiliar territory that spooked her most. But she couldn't speak until after the set of seat-belts magically zipped over her body, locking in place in the time it took her to blink. They tightened to a firm grip on her body, planting against her chest and across her pelvis to the point of discomfort.
The whole of the cabin bounced up with the view outside, rocking her body violently. It sent her into a stark silence while she held onto the sides of the seat and fought down the bile in her throat. The car she was somehow in veered onto the gravel driveway and soared as a metal flash of color through the two trees. On the roads it went, the wheel before her spinning all in its lonesome. She bit her lip and pressed her head to the headrest, keeping her eyes closed until her heart wasn't about to implode and her brain wasn't swimming as badly.
Opening her eyes to the world granted her the sight of the highway, empty as usual, without a sight of giant, fighting, alien robots anywhere. A part of her expected to see some, but she wasn't complaining. She rounded the side of the seat to see behind her through the rear window, if only to settle her uncertain thoughts. There was nothing back there but a black and red Mustang, Fera Lennox seated on the passenger side.
"Whatever you did..." Juno breathed shakily, her hands jerking as the aftereffects of her rush settled in. "Please, for the love of God, don't ever do it again." She wasn't sure the thing could hear her, or what she herself was really talking about, but the fact that she was riding in a living sportscar put her at less a happy edge as it should have. If not having seen them in the middle of a death match, she would have acting quite differently. Now, all she could do was bring her legs up off the floor, tucking them near in anxiety and wrapping her arms around them.
The stereo crackled to life, grabbing her attention. The knobs turned by themselves without need of help, sifting through thousands of stations. Juno curled further away from the ghost radio, keeping her body against the door and as far away from the dash as possible.
"...Ten-four, roger that...Rather feel pain than nothing at all...It's good to be alive..."
He talked through the radio? Why didn't he speak like the other bot? It took her a good moment to realize he was trying to ask her a question.
"Yeah...yeah, I'm glad its all over..." Juno breathed. This had to be a dream. She was talking to a radio.
"Do you feel better now?... Scars on your wrists... Dear agony..."
"No, I'm fine, it's ok," Juno promised, lightening the grip she had on her legs to sit more comfortably in the seat. "T-thank you...for saving me like that."
"Yer very welcome young ladeh... On the job, off the clock, it's still the same thing... Never let myself go..."
With a smile, Juno snuggled into the seat, realizing that she could trust this being. If Fera did, then they couldn't be evil. It was surprisingly warm, and it didn't take much for her to find a comfortable position tucked into the corner of the door and seat. Pretty soon the music floating from the radio had gotten to her, making her eyelids grow heavy until they closed altogether.
Waking up again had probably been the scariest freaking thing she'd ever had the displeasure of experiencing.
Juno had first felt her body slipping from Bee's seat before a hard, cold, concrete floor met her rear end. She toppled to her side, bumping her elbow and jarring her spine and neck. Juno had blinked a few times to get her bearings back and clear the image of her friend coming to help her to her feet. When did Fera get here? How did she get from that transforming car so fast?
Bee was suddenly standing next to her and Fera, already in bipedal form in a matter of seconds. Juno gasped and fell back against Fera's arms. Her knees felt weak and ready to buckle. The partners headache and nausea had caught up with her once again to take their revenge. From the corner of her eye, she saw the Mustang stand up on his feet.
But it wasn't them who stole her attention. Nope sirree, they were not. It was the dull, thunderous thumps of enormous feet on the stone ground that captured her interest. Fera pulled away some to turn Juno around to face this newcomer. Juno wasn't truly sure if she was ready to, but with Fera's hands sending a supportive squeeze to her arm, and Bee standing at the ready on her other side, it was had not to feel safe.
It was then that she met Optimus Prime.
He'd been the nicest, most noblest being she'd come across in her entire life. From his incredibly deep voice, to the flicker of flames flashing across his paint, there was no more room for terror. There had only been awe. Juno couldn't have looked away if she'd wanted to, for the gigantic robot, taller than even Fera's Mustang friend Solas Kaon, had knelt in front of them. He'd commanded attention. His presence had screamed respect. But there had been a sadness to his eyes too. Those two, incredibly blue eyes, held just a hint of melancholy through the welcome.
Now she was still trying to get over her initial shock. The hangover from the thrill of the fight was wearing off, leaving her exhausted and ready to go home. However, it didn't seem as if that would be happening as of yet.
"What do you mean, I can't go home?" Juno demanded in disbelief as she and Fera sat across from each other in a set of chairs. They had reached a bland room, with not much in it other than each other, Bumblebee, a table, and two chairs.
Fera frowned, though in pity, or regret, Juno couldn't decipher. "It's true," she confirmed in a sternness far beyond her. Juno always knew the girl was the firm type, nonetheless, this was something different...like she had matured somehow. "The Decepticons know where you live, and who you are associated with. If they were to get a hold of you now, the best thing you could wish for was to be dead."
Her straightforward and blunt words struck Juno. She couldn't believe this was happening. To all people, it had to be her. And simply because she knew Fera, she was at risk. This wasn't fair. She wanted to say so, but there was the fact of understanding that held her back. She didn't know any of this was to happen, so it couldn't have been Fera's fault. It hadn't been Fera to lead the Deceptions to Juno's house. But how had they known where she lived? And how did they know Fera?
"You sound like you know this from experience," Juno noted in grim humor. Fera didn't smile.
"Right now, I can confidently tell you that all you think you know is about to change," she said. "The Decepticons are the Devil's advocates, meaning they will do anything and everything to get what they want. Their goal is to take this planet, or things of meaning associated with it, and eradicate all who oppose."
"You're talking about these..." Juno paused and looked to Bee, trying to think. "These Autobots, right? They want to get rid of them?"
"Well, yes and no. You see, the Autobots and Decepticons are an ancient race, with wars that have waged for millions of our years. Bee here is older than the human race itself, yet, he is merely considered a teenager in their eyes," Fera informed, gesturing to the 'Bot. Bee shifted, giving a click from his spot sitting on the floor. His legs were crossed and his back was bent to get him closer to the females of the room. Strangely enough, Juno didn't mind his closeness. In fact, she actually felt at ease around him.
Scratching her arm, Juno stood and hesitantly paced at Bee to get a better look at him. The Autobot clicked and waved cheerfully at her, which made her smile. "They brought their war here for what reason exactly?" Juno inquired, never taking her eyes off of Bumblebee. In experiment, she reached out to touch his knee. When he didn't react, she turned and leaned against him.
Fera reclined in her chair, bringing a foot up to rest on her leg. "At first it had been to find the AllSpark, an ancient relic of theirs that held within it fantastical power which we can only imagine. The second time they tried something, it had been with an evil Prime called The Fallen to steal our sun."
Juno found it hard to picture any Prime but Optimus. He had been warm to her and an almost heroic figure against the backdrop of humanity. He was a dream come true in the eyes of comic book and sci-fi enthusiasts. And he certainly fit the role of Commander in Chief pretty well too. How could there ever be an evil Prime?
"That had been when I was around four," Fera went on. "They came back two years later and destroyed Chicago in plans of taking over the human race as slaves to rebuild their home."
"I guess you guys won, huh?" Juno commented, bending over backwards to see Bee. He was watching her with curious eyes, their color brilliantly bright. He released what she assumed to be a chuckle.
Fera stood as well to approach Juno, her features relaxed, but taunt in stress. Her hand came up to lay on Juno's shoulder, the smallest of grins playing on her face. "It's good to see you again, Juno. I missed having you around," she admitted fondly. "But I hope you see why we can't let you go back to Amoret. At least, not right now."
Juno swallowed back her disheartened emotions and nodded with forced enthusiasm. This was ok. She was going to be ok. As long as she had Fera and the Autobots watching out for her, she would be ok.
Fera left not long following their conversation to go find Solas. That meant Juno was alone with Bumblebee, a twenty-foot tall sentient robot, with big blue eyes and vocal cords so jacked up that he had to communicate through the radio. It wasn't her ideal sense of a good time, but what the hell, right? She was trying new things. New things where good...most of the time.
"Take my hand, hold it tight...I can show you the world...baby girl let me take you for a ride..." Bee got out. Juno shifted from her spot situated on his knee and she studied him with a bite of the cheek. Was it safe to trust him? After all, it had been him who beat the snot out of a Decepticon right before her eyes before snatching her up and kidnaping her. It didn't give him very many brownie points for the 'trustworthy' department.
"Ok," she agreed, bursting into a smile. So what if he could fight, she could too. She simply didn't fight giant aliens on a regular basis. He had feelings and a heart and a brain, so in her eyes, Bee wasn't very different from her. She let him pick her up gently from the ground, his metallic fingers bowing around her while he lifted her skyward. She grabbed hold of one to steady herself while his body pitched forward. He climbed to his feet and rose upward, making sure she wouldn't fall off.
Juno squeaked when he tilted his hand to place her on his shoulder. With her ungraceful moves, Juno pretty much did rolled like a tumbleweed into a nest of wires, plates, and pipes. One hit the center of her back when she landed, making her arch up and hiss in pain. Bee asked as best he could if she was ok, and with a laugh far too choked to be real, Juno waved him off.
"Where should we go first? I want to meet a few of your buddies!" she exclaimed excitedly as they made their way into the hall. Bee gave an amused whistle and swung into the main corridors. Soldiers, doctors, and workers passed by below, some taking the time to wave at Bee in friendly greeting. Juno was amazed at how composed and genuinely unconcerned they were around the large 'Bot. It seemed as though they had been around these beings for years, which, from what Fera had said, they very well could have.
On there way to who-knows-where, Juno kept up steady conversation with Bee. They talked about Bee's comrades and his home planet. They also discussed Juno's friendship with Fera before she had left and the life Juno had lived in her home. It was a wonderful moment of calm through the madness of the day, and Juno couldn't contain the joy it brought her to converse with another being so willing to listen. Bee rarely ever spoke unless she asked a question, meaning she was the one to do most the talking. He didn't appear to mind.
The halls had been full of other Autobots for Juno to meet, including a flamboyant Wheeljack, a peppy Hound, a shy Inferno, and a medic by the name of Ratchet whom Juno was pretty sure hated her guts already. Bee reassured her that it was merely the 'Bot's personality, not hate, but Juno couldn't be sure.
The events of the day collided with Juno at one point while they were having a moment of silence between them. Juno's jaw stretched in a yawn and her limbs sagged. She laid down on Bee's shoulder in a scrunched position, trying to get comfortable. She eventually wound up laying on her arms, watching the world pass by.
They eventually came to a stop by a door. The 'Bot punched in a few keys, unlocking the barrier and sending it to the side. Juno's eyelids were hovering on the verge of closing, so she only got a glimpse of the room beyond. It was fantastic from what she could tell, with Autobots everywhere and humans standing around, conversing with them in a gathering of humans and Autobots alike in collective companionship. It would have been wonderful to join them all, but with her foggy mind, she couldn't stay awake for longer than a few seconds after that. With a sigh, she got out what she could say with her languid lips.
"Hey Bee?" she mumbled as they approached Fera and Solas by the back corner. "I'm really glad I got to meet you..."
And she drifted off into the land of dreams.
Well, there ya go!
I'm sorry it took so long to make, but I've been a little busier lately than I've been in some time :/
Thanks for letting me use your character, and more thanks for entering my contest with your beautiful entry!
I hope everyone continues to read OTSH and give me the wonderful support you've all provided over the past year :)
It all means so much :D
Thank you all!
~Scarlet Nightmare