A young woman with brown hair and green eyes ran down the streets of Jasper, Nevada, carrying a small bundle wrapped in a blue blanket as a storm raged over the desert town.
"MELODY!" A voice yelled over the thunder. The woman looked back in horror to see two red eyes before continuing to run. "YOU CAN'T HIDE FROM ME, MELODY! I KILLED YOUR HUSBAND! I'LL KILL YOU, AND I WILL TAKE WHAT'S MINE!"
"Never." The woman - Melody - glared, then she ducked into an alleyway. A purple blast was fired, scathing Melody's side, and she stumbled, dropping the bundle. Quickly, the injured young woman stood and picked the bundle up, setting it into a cardboard box, kneeling down. "Momma loves you... Dadda loves you... Be strong, my baby girl. Be safe."
"M-mommy?!" A quivering voice asked in fear. Melody smiled sadly before looking up and running out of the alley. Another purple blast was fired. "Mommy?"
"I WILL FIND HER!" The voice screamed, livid. A small figure in a cardboard box, a little girl with black hair and green eyes in an oversized green hoodie and a teal nightgown, curled up under a blue blanket, shivering from the cold. She had no shoes, and she was covered in wet sand and water.
"Mommy?" The three year-old kept whimpering. "Daddy?" The child began crying, but she couldn't be heard over the sound of massive feet storming off before metal shifted in a deafening racket, and thunder continued to rage across the town.
In the morning, all that was left was a battered cardboard box and some tiny footprints in the muddy sand, wandering out into the desert.
/\
A Cybertronian, an Autobot called Bumblebee, drove in his vehicle-mode down a desert highway when he noticed something lying by the side of the road and stopped. There was no signs of oncoming cars or humans, so he transformed into his biped-mode and got down on one knee to examine whatever it was.
"What the-..?" Bumblebee buzzed, tilting his helm to the side. It was a little girl, lying in the sand and sleeping like it was perfectly normal. She was battered and dirty, but uninjured. Before he could consider the consequences, the young Autobot reached over and gently poked her.
"Hmm?" The child hummed softly, curling up on herself slightly, then her blue eyes fluttered open and she sat up, yawning and stretching. She held her blue blanket in her tiny fists, and she looked around in confusion before she looked up, her eyes widening as she found Bumblebee. "Hi."
"Um..." Bumblebee gave an awkward wave. "Hi?"
"You talk funny." The girl giggled, standing and looking up at him with the eyes that could only belong to one who was very young and very innocent. "I like you!"
"... I'm Bumblebee." Bumblebee gestured to himself, not expecting the girl to understand him but still making the attempt. The girl tilted her head to the side, frowning.
"Bubble-... Bee?" It was pronounced wrong, but that was likely due to her youth. The young Autobot's optics widened.
"You can understand me?"
"Uh-huh. Is that bad?"
"I... Where are your parents?"
"I dunno." The little girl looked down sadly. "The mean voice came, and dey got scared. Dey got in the car, but we cwashed into some-ding big. Mommy started runnin', but Daddy didn't come. Mommy put me in a box after a light hurt her, then she ran and dere was another light, and she never came back."
"Um..." Bumblebee tried to figure out what to say next. "Give me a sec." He opened a comm to Autobot Outpost Omega One, not taking his optics off of the girl. "Optimus, we've got a bit of a situation."
:What is it, Bumblebee?: The Autobot medic, Ratchet, asked sternly, and the scout rolled his optics. :Have you come across Decepticon activity?:
"No." Bumblebee replied somewhat impatiently. "It's a bit more complicated. I have to talk to Prime."
:Bumblebee, what have you found?: The leader of the Autobots, Optimus Prime, got on the line. Bumblebee looked down at the child, who waved.
"Um..." Bumblebee began awkwardly. "A little girl."
:WHAT?!: Ratchet asked, and Bumblebee cringed lightly. :Bumblebee, you've been seen by a human?!:
"Ratchet, she was alone in the middle of a desert. I couldn't just drive by." The scout protested, his optics narrowing. "Look, it's getting warm out. An organic this small won't survive for long in this heat. Should I bring the kid back to Base?"
:Bring her here.: Optimus agreed sternly. :We will decide what to do with the child when you arrive.:
"Okay." Bumblebee looked down at the girl. "... Wanna go for a ride?"
"Yay!" The child clapped, looking excited. Bumblebee transformed, and her eyes grew as wide as saucers before she knowingly hopped in the back seat, curling up.
Bumblebee drove back to Autobot Outpost Omega One, finding his fellow Autobots - Arcee, Cliffjumper, Ratchet, Bulkhead, and Optimus - waiting there.
"Where's this kid?" Arcee - the only femme - asked, her optics narrowed. Bumblebee opened a door, only to realize that the child had fallen asleep. The scout then transformed, holding her in his servos.
"Wow." Cliffjumper commented, walking over and looking down at her. "Little tyke looks like she's been through the Pit..."
"What do we do?" Bulkhead asked, looking around at the others. "Fowler's on vacation - again -, and we don't know how to take care of a kid."
"Let's release it into the wild." Ratchet suggested, and the younger Autobots all glared at him. "What?" Bumblebee looked down at the girl, frowning, and he saw that she was smiling in her sleep.
"We can't just leave her somewhere." He stated, his optics narrowing. "She can't survive on her own, and we can't leave her with strangers... We could always try to take care of her until Fowler gets back."
"But..." Ratchet cringed lightly as the younger Autobots seemed to consent. "If it gets caught underfoot, it'll go... Squish."
"Then, for the time being..." Optimus smiled slightly, nodding at the girl. "We will have to watch our step. When the child wakes, we will have her tell us all she needs to survive until Agent Fowler returns."
"We're seriously going to do this?" Arcee asked, showing a bit of uncertainty. "I mean..."
"We do need to learn more about humans, 'Cee." Cliffjumper grinned at his partner, nodding. "Fowler isn't exactly the best example for us. And who knows, maybe she'll grow on you. You've been complaining about being the only femme on Base." Arcee rolled her optics.
"That doesn't mean that I want to play baby-sitter."
"It's fine, 'Cee." Bulkhead waved it off, then he and the others noticed that the child was shifting in Bumblebee's servos. "Looks like our little friend's awake, guys." All of the Autobots instinctually leaned in to get a closer look as te girl yawned and woke up, and she looked up. Her green eyes quickly widened, her expression filling with wonder. Not fear, not hate - wonder.
"Whoa." She spoke, and the Autobots all blinked. She looked up, her eyes wide, and Bumblebee smiled. "Bub… Bubble-bee?"
"Hello!" Bumblebee buzzed, and she smiled back. Optimus walked over, and she looked up at him.
"Hello, little one." Optimus greeted, and she blinked. "My name is Optimus Prime, and I am the leader of the Autobots - one of two warring factions composed of autonomous robotic organisms from the planet Cybertron."
"... Uh…" The girl blinked, tilting her head to the side. Bumblebee laughed, then looked down at the girl.
"We're good alien robots who fight bad alien robots."
"Whoa… Cool!" The little girl exclaimed, grinning. "You're like superheroes!" At that, Arcee rolled her optics.
"No, we're soldiers." She corrected, and the girl looked over at her with a frown. In response, Cliffjumper chuckled and shook his helm.
"Don't ruin the kid's fun, Arcee." He scolded jokingly, then he walked forward and looked at the girl. "Yeah, kid. We're superheroes, and we're here to protect your planet from the red-eyed bad guys." The girl's eyes shone, and Ratchet and Optimus returned to monitoring the computers as the younger Autobots entertained the new arrival.
"What's your name, kid?" Bulkhead asked, raising an optic-brow. The girl blinked, like her name had entirely left her mind.
"My name is…" The girl looked down. "El… Eli… Ela…" She looked up at the Autobots, seeming distressed. She couldn't pronounce her name?
"Maybe we could nickname her, for the time being." Arcee tried, looking down at the girl with a frown. Cliffjumper looked at her with a raised optic-brow.
"Like… Name her, like a pet?"
"Hey, I don't see anyone else coming up with any ideas." Arcee looked at him with a light glare, and he raised his servos in surrender. "It won't be for long, just until Fowler gets back and takes her off our hands."
"Alright." Bulkhead gave a small shrug. "Her real name has an El in it, so whatever our nickname is should have an El in it to make it easier on the kid. Let's get some suggestions out there." All went silent. "... Scrap, we're bad at this."
"You've got that right." Cliffjumper looked down at the little girl. "Hey, you okay with going by human for a little w-?"
"Elita." A voice spoke, and everyone looked back in surprise. Optimus was working at the monitor, and he didn't look back at them as they gazed at him. "... That is the only name I can come up with that is equipped with your specifications."
"Optimus-" Ratchet looked over at his friend with wide optics, but the Prime raised a servo. He looked over at the medic, managing a small smile.
"It is only for a short time." He nodded, assuring him that all was well. Ratchet blinked, then sighed and nodded.
"Very well."
/\/\/\/\
Over the next few days, the Autobots grew accustomed to having the little girl around. For someone so young, she was very bright and knew the basics of how to take care of herself. She used the old abandoned soldier's quarters to clean-up, and she told the Autobots what she needed from Jasper. They used some cash and credit cards that Agent Fowler had left for them in case of an emergency, like toll booths on a highway, and had their holoforms go shopping.
"Ya-hoo!" Cliffjumper's holoform crowed, riding a shopping cart past the aisle 'Elita' and Bumblebee's holoform stood in. The little girl and the scout's holoform blinked, uncertain as to how to respond.
"We don't get out a lot." Arcee's holoform sighed, walking past and going after her reckless partner. 'Elita' blinked, then just laughed.
/\/\/\/\
While at Base, 'Elita' helped instigate a lot mischief, even more than what Cliffjumper caused alone or with my Bumblebee and Bulkhead's help.
"Whipped-cweam, here." The child whispered as Ratchet was in deep recharge, spraying whipped-cream into his servo. "Then, we wake him up with a really loud noise."
"You mean like this?" Bulkhead transformed and blared his horn. Bumblebee snatched 'Elita' away as Ratchet woke up with a start, slamming his servo into his face and getting coated in the white substance.
Cliffjumper, Bulkhead, 'Elita', and Bumblebee burst out laughing (or, in Bumblebee's case, buzzing). The medic noticed and looked ready to blow a fuse.
"CAN'T ANYONE GET A NAP AROUND HERE?!" He demanded, seeming absolutely livid. But though she could irritate Ratchet, the other Autobots often caught him smiling while she messed around or fell asleep in strange places.
/\/\/\/\
Finally, Agent Fowler returned to Autobot Outpost Omega One, and the Autobots came before him with heavy sparks.
"What's this emergency?" Fowler asked, entering. Optimus actually hesitated, then slowly held 'Elita' out. She waved from his servo, smiling innocently.
"Hi!"
"What?" Agent Fowler was stunned. "A little girl?! What in the name of Sam Hill is a little girl doing here?!"
"Can I tell the story?!" 'Elita' asked, bouncing on her heels. "Please?!" Optimus nodded, and she smiled. "My mommy and daddy went missin' a few days ago. There was a really mean voice, lots of loud noises, and some bright lights. I ran into the desert, and Bubble-bee found me. The Autobots are really, really nice! They got me some new clothes, and it's been a lot of fun! We've been waiting for you to come back, Mr. Flower!"
"... That was so fraggin' adorable." Cliffjumper commented quietly, breaking the tense silence as he grinned at the girl. Arcee rolled her optics, but she smiled.
"Softy."
"You mean to tell me..." Fowler gaped at 'Elita'. "The Autobots have been taking care of you for several days?
"Uh-huh!" She replied innocently, beaming. Fowler just looked at all of the Autobots, his eyes wide.
"You six actually kept a young, human kid alive and happy for an extended period of time?"
"Yeah." Cliffjumper grinned proudly. "Quick question: why aren't all humans this friendly?" Fowler stared at him. "... You okay?"
"I'm just trying to process this... Okay, okay. So, let me get this straight. Little girl's parents go missing, Bumblebee finds her in the desert alone, you bring her here, and you actually did a good job of taking care of her?"
"We're not that incompetent." Bulkhead gently let 'Elita' hop onto his servo. "And she told us all she needed. It wasn't that hard."
"Who's your favorite?" Cliffjumper grinned, and 'Elita' frowned. "It's me, right? Good ol' Uncle Cliff?" The little human crossed her arms.
"I can't choose between you! You're all the best!" She frowned, looking over at her fellow human "... Mr. Flower looks sick." The Autobots all looked to see Fowler still shocked and frozen.
"Agent Fowler, are you well?" Optimus asked, concerned. "Perhaps you should sit down."
"I'm fine... The question is: what now?" The man asked, and the Autobots all blinked at that. "The girl needs to go somewhere safe where she can grow up, but I can tell that she's already grown attached to you guys and would eventually find her way back here..."
"We could always..." Bumblebee smiled hopefully at Optimus. "Keep her?" 'Elita' was visibly excited by the concept.
"What did Buzz-'Bot say?" Fowler asked, seeming annoyed. Then, he blinked and looked back at 'Elita'. "Wait, wait… Can you understand him?"
"Uh-huh." 'Elita' nodded, tilting her head to the side and looking at Fowler with big, green eyes. "It's kinda hard, but I'm gettin' used to it... He says that they could keep me. Can I stay?! Please?!"
"Oh no..." Ratchet groaned, shaking his helm. "Here comes the secret weapon." 'Elita' did her best big green eyes.
"Please..?"
"Listen, kiddo." Fowler avoided eye-contact. "These are giant alien robots. I'm sure they have better things to do than raise a kid."
"'Con activity is at an all-time low." Cliffjumper corrected, and Fowler looked at him, frowning. "And going down... You expect us to have better things to do?"
"Wait, you're not saying that you actually want her to stay, are you?" Fowler asked, his eyes widening. Bulkhead, Cliffjumper, and Bumblebee nodded enthusiastically in reply. Arcee crossed her arms and smiled lightly.
"It has been a nice change..."
"I tolerate her." Was all Ratchet said, and everyone blinked. That was pretty good for Ratchet. Optimus looked at the toddler in our midst and smiled lightly.
"I must admit, I have grown accustomed to our new arrival's company. It would be a shame to see her go."
"Even you, Prime?!" Fowler asked, irked. Then, he gestured to the place next to him, his eyes narrowed. "She's not just a puppy that you can decide to adopt! Her, here - now!" Bulkhead hesitantly reached over and set the girl down, and she looked up at Fowler with wide eyes as he got down on one knee and gazed at her, managing a smile. "It's alright, you're safe... Can you tell me your name, kiddo?"
"El…" The girl looked back at the Autobots, then looked back at Fowler with a timid gaze. "Elita." The Autobots blinked, and Fowler raised an eyebrow.
"Elita, eh? That's a new one." He stood and pulled out his phone, turning away and making a call. "General Bryce, it's a long story - but I need a quick database-search on missing persons in Nevada, specifically little girls below the age of five. The name Elita might-... None?" Fowler seemed surprised, then hefrowned again. "What about pre-school records? Any kids not showing up to-..? No little girls missing school today without a validated excuse, eh? Alright, sir. Thanks." Fowler hung up and looked over at the Autobots. "According to the worldwide database, that little girl doesn't exist. I'll an eye out, but… There isn't any law I know of against extraterrestrials raising a human being that doesn't exist." Fowler gave a small smile as he noticed Elita's big green eyes widening, then he looked at the Autobots again. "I will have to lay down some ground rules, though. One: She's not a pet, she's a human - and she'll have to start attending pre-school as soon as possible. I recommend next year."
"Of course." Ratchet nodded, his optics narrowing. "The little thing needs to grow up to be more intelligent than…" His optics slid over to Bulkhead and Cliffjumper, the medic seeming irked. "Certain influences."
"Two, you'll have to provide food and clothes, plus everything a little girl needs, with those credit cards I gave you." Fowler continued, slightly amused by what Ratchet had said. "Three, you'll have to provide her with a means of staying safe. I'll leave that to Ratchet. Four: every week, she'll have to give me a status-update so I can make sure everything's alright... You're all sure that you can do this?"
"'Course." Bulkhead smiled, picking Elita up. "Can't be any harder than fighting in a war for millions of stellar-cycles."
Fowler handed Arcee a folded, his eyes lightly narrowed as he looked up at the young ninja-scout.
"New IDs, birth-certificate - everything she'll need." He assured her, and Arcee nodded. "Her name will be Elita Smith, and next to you Autobots - the reality of her life will be quite possibly the United States' greatest government-secret. Her future will ultimately decide one thing… Is it possible for our species to completely coexist?"
Well... That's a stark difference.
Totally different kid, totally different prologue, and it's going to be a very different story. Y'all ready for this?
I only own my OCs. Please read, review, check out my other stories, etc. Thanks! :)