Coming back from San Francisco was like leaving his life behind. Everything. Not just his military career. Just about everything.
Former Army Ranger Major Will Lennox stepped from the helicopter and looked around. The pilot was just cutting the engines of the helicopter, the rest of the crew was working around him, and not even his two 'bodyguards' were really looking at him. It was like he was some kind of stranger, ready to be handed over with great relief to someone else.
"Hey, man, you okay?"
The voice of Sergeant Robert Epps penetrated his thoughts. Lennox turned and smiled briefly at his friend and former second in command.
"Yeah. You go on ahead. I got limo service."
Epps nodded. He was smiling, but the smile didn't reach his eyes. His hand went up into a salute.
"Leave it, Rob. It's the past."
"Can't a man show his respect?" the tech sergeant asked lightly.
"You had so little of it before," Will teased in return.
"Aw, man, don't say that. You know I respected your skinny little white ass."
"How about you get your own ass out of here and back to base. You got my job now, sergeant."
"And that's different from before how?"
Lennox laughed and watched the other man go. As Epps went, Lennox's smile died down a little. His eyes fell on a black topkick parked just left off the airfield. He had been flown to Frisco from Nellis and returned twelve hours later. Ironhide was still here. It felt reassuring to see him.
Everything had changed.
Now he was a civilian.
Forced early retirement.
It was hot outside, but he was wearing long sleeves. A baseball cap shaded his face, pulled low to keep prying eyes away. Sunglasses hid his eyes. He would have covered up his face if it hadn't looked like he was the Mummy come to life.
Those who had accompanied him hadn't really looked at him, but he had seen the glances. All were in on the big secret of alien life forms located out in the abandoned Airforce hangar base. All knew of Lennox, his unit, some had been with him for a while to get special training.
And they had looked at the tattoos.
Lennox ineffectively pulled on the sleeves, but they didn't get any longer than they already were. And what good did it do now? He was back home, away from the other world outside what he had lived and breathed in the last years. It was scary how safe and good he felt with the Autobots, how reluctant he was to return to 'normality'. Being with the mechs had changed his life and his perspective. He knew Epps and some of the others shared that feeling, though not as strongly.
Will was silent as the truck left the gate and headed toward the road further out into the desert.
Keller had been there. And Banachek. The former head of research of Sector Seven had argued with Keller, had told him that they needed Lennox with the unit. Keller had decided that what had happened posed too much of a risk. If Will was called anywhere on official business, the changes would be visible to everyone.
Lennox gazed at his hands. His wrist showed a single tattoo, but it faded under his gaze, then seemed to slip back into his skin and disappear. A brief look into the rear view mirror showed nothing on his face, but a line of glyphs was running along the left side of his neck. The pulsed gently, like living creatures, wriggling a little. He felt nothing of it. No tickling, no sense at all.
XOXXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX
Ironhide stopped away from the base about two hours later. Lennox got out and looked around the plateau his friend had chosen. The familiar sound of transformation followed and then Ironhide knelt down, looking at him.
"So now it's official," Lennox said softly. "I'm out."
"You're still with us."
He turned his head, smiling dimly at his friend. "Yeah. No choice there."
"Would you leave if you had one?"
"No."
And it was the truth. Plain and simple. He wanted to be here. It made a difference.
"I talked to Banachek about… everything else," Lennox went on, evading the cool gaze. "He said he'll make it happen."
Ironhide made a noise that sounded like a sigh. "Are you sure?"
"Yes. I can't be out there, Ironhide. What happened that day… the accident… I died. That part of me is gone. I can't go to the beach and work on my tan. I can't go and see Sarah for a few hours, play with Annabelle, or ride along to a school play. It's everywhere," he whispered. "Just about everywhere."
He clenched his hands into fists, seeing the runes again. No longer flowing, just sitting there, taunting him. He couldn't hate them, because they were part of himself, and he wasn't hating himself.
Ironhide's hands touched him, a huge finger carefully brushing over his back. Will briefly wondered if he had learned that from Bumblebee. He knew how the smaller mech interacted with Sam, how close they were. Ironhide wasn't really like Bumblebee in that regard. Still, there were moments of closeness, there had been in the past, mostly when they were alone, and Lennox had come to enjoy them.
"I'm dead now," the ex-Army Ranger murmured. "Sarah will get the visit, there'll be the burial with the flag and all. Damn…"
"You didn't argue the idea… much," Ironhide rumbled softly.
"No. 'Cause it's for the best. How do I explain that I'm some friggin' billboard for Cybertronian ads to my ex-wife?" Lennox laughed darkly. "I get the looks from my own men. You know how freaked she'll be?"
He leaned his head back against the cool metal hand, sighing.
"I know it's the right decision. I can't hide this. Sam can. His technopathy is one thing. This here… it's different. I know emotions set off the runes sometimes. I wonder what they say? Probably 'fuck off' in Cybertronian."
Ironhide chuckled. "Something like it."
Will closed his eyes.
"You'll stay?" the weapons specialist finally asked.
Lennox wondered if it was anxiety that he detected in the dark voice. He smiled a little.
"Yeah. I talked to Epps. He said they'll help move my stuff into another area. At least what I have here. Banachek's men are clearing out my official place, get that here as well. I'll room in with you." He grinned a little.
"You already have."
Yeah. He had spent so much time at the base in the past years, he didn't even know what his apartment really looked like. Thank god he didn't have any plants.
"I could always apply for a place with you guys, hm? Think Optimus has a spot open for me?"
"You are part of this team, Will. Like Sam."
He met the blue optics. Ironhide's expression was intense, full of meaning.
"Yeah. I have," the human replied quietly. "Thanks for sticking with me."
"You're my friend, Will. You're a part of my team."
He nodded.
Sometimes Lennox wondered what would have happened if he hadn't been at the Soccent base in Qatar. He might be dead now. Killed by Blackout anyway. Or another Decepticon. Because maybe the battle wouldn't have been won. Maybe the Autobots would have lost. One man could make a difference and maybe all of them, his unit, had been that difference.
Patting the forearm armor of his friend, Lennox reluctantly straightened, pushing away from Ironhide's hand.
"Let's go. I need to get my stuff packed."
The runes seemed to rise to the surface again, his agitation showing. He drew a deep breath, holding it for a second, then let it go slowly. The runes shimmered gently, a rather beautiful whorl of lines. It seemed to float on his fist, then crawl up his forearm. Lennox pulled on the long sleeves again.
Two fingers grabbed his hand, ever so careful, stopping him.
"Don't," Ironhide said roughly.
His hand was drawn away from the sleeve.
"What…?"
"Don't hide."
Lennox felt something inside him flare with anger at the soft tone, at the expression. "Because what? I look like your Allspark? I'm not!" he snapped.
It was an old argument.
"I know that. Covering yourself won't change that either."
Will removed his hand from the gentle grasp, glaring at the runes. He pushed back the sleeve and watched a line of them, lighter than the others, spiral up his arm.
Again there was a touch. Ironhide's index finger followed the path of the runes and they seemed to pulse. Lennox stared and felt a shiver down his spine. For a moment he thought he felt those very glyphs crawl down his back.
Ironhide's optics flared a little, then he withdrew his brief touch.
"What do they say?" Lennox asked, mouth dry.
"Random phrases. Some ancient. I recognize the writing, but not the context."
"Uh-huh. Okay. So I'm not some kind of open book?"
Ironhide chuckled. "No one can read your thoughts because of what's on your skin."
"One good thing then."
"Want to go back now?"
"Hey, you brought me out here."
Ironhide smirked a little. "You needed it."
"Crash course in psychology, Dr. Ironhide?"
The large mech rose, snorting, then transformed. "Knowing you humans for years."
"Right."
Lennox leaned back and let his friend do all the driving. Not that Ironhide easily surrendered control, if at all.
As the base drew nearer, Will felt himself tense. A low rumble permeated the cabin and it seemed to resonate deep inside him. It turned into a reassuring hum when the topkick stopped.
"Well, here we go," Will murmured.
He hesitated another second, then pushed up his sleeves and revealed the now still glyphs. He shoved the sunglasses up his nose, grabbed his bag, and got out.
Ironhide transformed and followed like a bodyguard as they entered the hangar. For the first time Lennox was no longer in charge. For the first time he was here as a civilian.
That's what he was going to be from now on.
Just another change in his life.