Disclaimer: I don't own Transformers, Michael Bay/Hasbro do. I'm not making any money from this.
Mission City
The brunette at Bee's backseats watched the scenery with interest – the sky, the canyon, the river –, smiling at some birds when they flew above them, tracing random patterns. She wondered for a brief second how would it feel like to fly, surely it would give a limitless sense of pure freedom.
Ah, freedom, everyone needed that from time to time. She needed it. And fresh air, it seemed each time she inhaled though her nose she tasted Sam, Mikaela and Bee's own smells. She scrunched her nose in displeasure; she wasn't very fond of Teen Spirit's Essence.
.:: Could you open a window, please? ::.
Her window opened fully, and Seventeen breathed the new scents contentedly while fidgeting with her hands – a nervous habit of hers –, but the damned thing wouldn't budge: the handcuffs only answered to the voice of Thomas Banachek. She wasn't going back to ask him to remove them, though. She'd have to think of something.
At the front, both teenagers seemed to be anxious to get to wherever Bumblebee was going, especially the Sam-boy.
"How's the cube?"
"It's perfect!"
After a while, the young Subject sighed, frustrated, and cleared her throat, gaining the attention of the other two passengers, her voice still raspy and broken.
"When did this war begin? Who's fighting who?"
The young man turned to her quickly and eyed her nervously.
"W-war? Who said a-anything about war?"
Seventeen then deduced that the mind reading she associated to Bee was more akin to a selective-telepathy of sorts – and probably had something to do with her weird new awareness displayed around other Subjects.
Annoyed, she rolled her eyes and then sent a questioning look to Mikaela. So far, she had shown herself to be more competent.
"Err, well… The Autobots are fighting to save Earth from Megatron-"
"-The who?"
.:: We are Autobots: autonomous robotic organisms from the planet Cybertron ::.
"WHAT!?" Seventeen missed the way the other two humans looked at her, and mumbled "…Trust me to miss something as big as an alien invasion…" in despair.
Without warning, the girl began to laugh maniacally, and it was then when the couple really took in her appearance: white, dirty long-sleeved shirt and pants that hardly hid the skeletal body beneath, bare-footed, uncut nails and, above all, a messy tangle of brown hair.
Just who was this crazed girl, and what business did she have at the Hoover Dam?
"Ha, Advanced Research Department, my ass!" She barked between laughs "They were fooling around with another's techn-!"
This time she noticed how both teenagers shared a 'she-creeps-me-out' look when she stopped mid-sentence, but paid no mind to it. She was beginning to feel other presences –besides Bee's – brushing against her mind, and she didn't know what to feel: in one hand, it was kind of cool having some kind of extra-sense that let you mind-speak but, in the other, it was extremely uncomfortable and new and she had literally no idea how this phenomena worked.
"It's Optimus!"
Subject number Seventeen looked out just in time to see the most perfect, synchronized maneuvering, performed by a semi-truck, two heavy vehicles and a sports car, which gave a U-turn and were now following them, along with the soldiers.
Had not Bee said 'we' before?
Before she had time to do or say anything, those presences began to shout amongst themselves, making her close her eyes and groan in pain. Her yellow friend was there, quickly speaking with the new ones but, instead of calming them down, he was added to the confusion to the point she could not take it anymore.
.:: SHUT THE HELL UP! ::.
All shouting died at once in blessed silence before they went on in a soft murmur. She reached out to them timidly, careful just in case they reacted hostile again.
.:: Are you… friends? ::.
.:: Indeed. My designation is Optimus Prime, leader of the Autobots ::.
She took note of the gentleness of that new… Cybertronian, and felt him hesitate before speaking again.
.:: Bumblebee has told us the unfortunate circumstances of your meeting ::.
Another – identified as one of the loudest before – voiced his opinion.
.:: I still don't see why do we fight for the humans. Look what they did to one of their own ::.
.:: We've already had this discussion, Ironhide. Freedom is- ::.
.:: -the right of all sentient beings, I know! ::.
Fearing a violent outcome, she distanced herself a little.
.:: Slow ya' aft, 'ide! Ya' scarin' 'er! ::.
There were some moments of silence before the latest one spoke again.
.:: The name's Jazz, and ya have heard the slagga' Ironhide, we help humans, no harm 'em, so ya have nothin' ta fear! ::.
Contemplating his words, she reclined in her seat, frowning.
.:: You help humans. How? ::.
It was Optimus Prime who answered her question.
.:: Megatron, leader of the Decepticons, wants to use the power of the All Spark to destroy all who stand against him ::.
Before she could think of anything, she was sent a myriad of images: what she assumed to be their planet, Cybertron, before it was consumed by war, Megatron wagging war, the so called All Spark…
Seventeen glanced at the cube that lay so innocently there, besides her, an replica in miniature of the thing she had just been shown. She was positive it was that thing what the Scientist were so concerned about, thus, the main source of the experimentation on her and many others.
.:: Sector Seven… I think they used it... what is it? ::.
.:: We know not how it came to be, young one, but it entails the origin of our race. It's power can create life ::.
'And destroy it' she thought bitterly. While she mulled the new information, another Cybertronian spoke up.
.:: When we reach the city and it's safe, I'll be taking a look at the both of you ::.
Bumblebee rumbled at this remark – presumably in annoyance – causing Mikaela and Sam a little scare, unaware as they were of the conversation taking place.
.:: I'm fine ::.
.:: You won't be getting away this time, youngling. Better get over it before I make you ::.
She didn't say a thing, but some of her discomfort managed to slip from her end of their mental link.
.:: He is Ratchet, our Chief Medical Officer; there is no need to worry about him, you're in good servos ::.
She wasn't fully convinced of Optimus's words.
.:: If ya behave! ::.
After Jazz's poor imitation of Ratchet, the Subject snorted, but her good mood soon vanished when she began to feel a bloodlust not her own. At the front seats, Sam began to fret desperately.
"No, no, no, no!"
Speeding behind them, with siren and lights turned on, a police car, along with a large, green, unidentified military vehicle were making a path in between the others on the road, not caring if they caused a crash or twenty. Seventeen watched the scene, perplexed.
"What?"
"It's the same cop! C'mon, block it, block them!"
As if hearing Sam's plea, the semi slowed down and both the huge, black truck and the 'Search and Rescue' vehicle moved closer to Bumblebee.
At their back, just before their very eyes, the military tank-like vehicle transformed into a freaking, scary, red-eyed robot, and it was provoking multiple crashes as he rolled towards them. And then, there was no red and blue semi-truck, but another giant robot, to which the red-eyed one tracked down, causing their fall out the complex scheme of roads. The cop car was nowhere in sight.
"Oh my god…!"
The three occupants inside of Bumblebee looked around searching the missing fighters, but there were no signs from neither.
.:: Is he okay…? ::.
Ironhide was the one who replied, a bit gruffly.
.:: Optimus knows what he's doing ::.
And so, their strange party continued their way.
The Sun was setting when they reached Mission City. Their unusual party only stopped once to get some things Seventeen didn't see and then went on in their aimless route around the streets. The senseless wait, along with thirst, were killing the brunette. What was she doing in this mess in the first place?
A single jet flying over their heads was all it took for them to cut off an entire avenue circulation and signal their position with green smoke. Not knowing what was expected of her, the Subject glanced around restless, annoyed as always with her cuffed hands.
Without warning, both Bumblebee and the black vehicle – identified as Ironhide – transformed into their bipedal forms, trying to get everyone out of there immediately.
"It's Starscream! Run! Cover up!"
By her side, the Search and Rescue vehicle opened a door and she dove in without a second though. Due to the rush of it all, she ended lying on her stomach occupying both seats, and she felt it – him – going quickly backwards. She was still struggling with the notion of transforming-robot-aliens.
An explosion ran through Seventeen's sensitive ears and she yelped in surprise.
"What…?" She asked, a little dizzied from the noise. Ratchet's voice came out from both his presence and the radio, but her mind did not fully register the words.
.:: It was a Decepticon! ::.
The girl managed to get to a sitting position and looked out, shaking: the whole street was entirely covered in debris and dust. All the people around them seemed to be fine, just some scratches here and there, but they were too affected by the explosion and were looking around somewhat stunned.
Were those… burnt furbies?
Perhaps she had not been freed at all and this was just all her own imagination, boosted by an overdose.
.:: Slag it, femme! Will you pay attention already!? ::.
Finally noticing Ratchet, Seventeen mumbled "…what?"
.:: My comrades need me! ::.
To make his point, he opened the door and shook the seat, and took off as soon as she was outside.
.:: Go take cover! ::.
The brunette was left there, staring dumbly at the Cybertronian speeding towards the end of the street.
A loud boom, followed by panicked screams, and the girl hurried to a near alley. Recalling Sam and Mikaela, she peeked outside the just to search for them, and felt like face palming when she spotted the first. He was sitting there, in the middle of the avenue, when ahead of him some alien droids were starting the mother of all battles.
A knot made itself at home in her stomach when she saw Bumblebee.
No… His legs…!
There was another series of missiles, so she went to the furthest corner, behind some trash containers. What should she do?
The building before her was hit and parts of it fell almost square in her head.
'Okay, staying here: not an option.'
Sneaking through the alleyways, the girl reached what she supposed was the contiguous avenue of the first one, about half the size of the one she was coming.
Countless people were already running away from that zone too, and she knew she should probably do that, but her feet refused to move. Glued to that corner she was leaning to, she witnessed how one of the robots crashed on a nearby shop. The signature was known.
Jazz!
Seventeen ran to him, but felt uselessness when she reached the silver Autobot: there was nothing she could do for him – or anyone for that matter.
"You ok?"
His head snapped at her and her eyes searched for his, but they were behind a visor-like thing.
"Go away tiny, it's no place ta' be just now!"
The cuffed brunette watched him return to combat and did as told, hiding behind a van until the fire stopped.
Just when she was leaving her hiding place, another presence approached at an incredible speed and a commotion took place between the Autobots.
"It's Megatron! Retreat!"
Seeing the dark frame of this 'Megatron', it was plain easy to see why he was so feared by her new alien friends. Unlike their allies, his armor had many pointy edges, and to Seventeen all those plus the size of his body and aggressiveness his mental presence screamed made her mind go blank in terror, but then something in her stirred, a feeling that struggled to surface on top of all the others she may have.
Jazz was still fighting the much bigger robot, alone, even with the odds against him. He was tossed to the ground, and the girl found herself willing him to stand up.
.:: C'mon, run away, what are you waiting for you idiot!? ::.
Both Cybertronians froze instantly, and the Decepticon leader turned his head in her direction, momentarily forgetting the Autoscum under his pede that was now desperately trying to break free.
To her dismay, after kicking Jazz out of sight, the grey, huge Decepticon moved towards her, and she began to back off backwards, very slowly.
Was just her impression, or the thing was just growing bigger and bigger as he came closer?
The metallic being spat a single question.
"Where is the cube!?"
Seventeen's back made contact with a wall, and her legs were nearly giving up supporting her shaking body. Again, his cold voice filled the air.
"The cube! Where. Is. THE CUBE!" A weapon alarmingly similar to a cannon was pointed to her face, and she looked at it wide eyed.
She screamed when he shot just inches away from her head and fell limp to the ground. Then, Megatron grabbed her roughly and she was lifted to the level of his head.
"You reek its energy, worm! Where is it!?" As he spat those words, he squeezed more and more, to the point it was hard to breathe. Watching those red, hateful spots, the subject's mind reverted to her fight or flight mode, all coherent though shut down, and she did the unthinkable.
She bit down the finger closest to her head and felt some sort of twisted satisfaction when the giant holding her howled in pain.
The next thing she knew, she was thrown away somewhere and, after her head collided against something hard, everything went black.
Not too far away from there, Bumblebee was getting more anxious as the minutes passed and there were still no news of his charge's whereabouts. The scout wanted nothing more than to go and search for himself, but that was not possible in his current state, what with his legs just recently attached to him and still not responding. It took every ounce of control he possessed to stay still and wait resigned as Ratchet repaired him while waiting for any report from their comrades, but sitting there and doing nothing was driving him crazy. The only reason he was behaving was for Mikaela's sake.
"You should be able to feel them now."
The yellow bot chirped expectantly and proceeded to awake the receptors, letting out a happy chirrup when, indeed, he was awarded with sensations – painful, but welcome nonetheless – of his lower half.
.:: Finally! ::.
Without waiting for permission, he got up with quick, clumsy movements, but was stopped by the unmistakable painof a wrench colliding against the back of his helmet.
"And where do you think you're going!?" Ratchet's voice held a tone of warning. Bumblebee's damaged door wings lifted up in frustration.
.:: To join the field, what else? ::.
"Oh, no, I'm afraid you're not."The younger yellow mech was pushed back to sitting on the tow truck as the medic went on with his work. "Maybe you don't care if you cannot stand properly, but I won't let you get yourself killed."
He stopped his mumbling as his optics dimmed a little, giving away he was being comm-ed.
"RATCHET!"
The three turned to see a very beaten, frantic Jazz running towards them, Ironhide driving not so far from him. When they reached them, the saboteur unfolded his clawed servos from his chest plates to show the female that had been in Ratchet's insides not so long ago. The girl was covered in dust and her skin was even paler than before.
Mikaela, who stood on her tiptoes, was quick to move aside the mope of brown hair while trying to distinguish what was grime and what was blood. "God, what happened?"
"Megatron", Ironhide answered grimly once transformed in his bipedal form.
Running a quick scan over the girl, Ratchet had to suppress his surprise at the results, stored them for later investigation and gestured to the silver bot to place her beside the other patient.
"Put her down here." Ratchet lifted her head carefully, where the blood was oozing freely, and cleaned the area with a liquid solution. He scanned her over again, making sure not a single anomaly was left behind.
She was bleeding slowly, but it soon would be a problem if not treated properly. If only she could swiftly redirect her fluids like them to minimize the loss…
The medic pondered tearing some of the fabric his newest patient was wearing to pressure that point, but rejected the idea almost instantly. It wouldn't do any good to add infection to her medical problems.
"Ya'll fix her, right?"
The Chief Medical Officer watched form the corner of his optics the worried behavior of their Lieutenant, but said nothing of it. He then turned his attention to the single human who was currently with them.
"I'll need something to stop the leaking with."
The first thing the subject number Seventeen noticed was pain. Her back ached, her legs and her arms ached but, once she noticed the searing fire in the back of her skull, they were reduced to discomfort in comparison.
She groaned.
'Just what have they done this time?'
After blinking several times, the Subject tried to focus on her surroundings, expecting the white coldness that meant being tied to another experimentation table in one of those awfully well-secured rooms, but she stared dumbly at what she found instead: a pair of blue spotlights incased in some sort of blurry silver frame with some buildings and sky as background. And suddenly, something covered the blue lights and it spoke.
"Ya back, tiny!"
Said tiny eep-ed and scrambled to her feet – noticing the freedom of her aching limbs – and fell on her backside in the process, becoming even more frantic when something grabbed her and she was lifted up in the air. The brunette felt a tingling sensation from head to toes that gave her one of the biggest shuddering of her life, and finally focused on what – no, who – was holding her in midair. Had she not dreamed about an alien race of robots that had rescued her from her private hell?
"I specifically told you not to disturb her, and what do you do!?"
She cringed at the loud 'clank' that was heard and added flying wrenches to her ever-growing 'Weird things I've witnessed' list.
"Ouch! Chillax, Ratchet! Ah was only greetin' her back online!"
A chirp by their side made her smile a little, for it was her former companion-in-hell turned savior, Bee, who was very much alive, and the girl she had met inside him, Mikaela– did she just think that? –, and the new environment started to really sink in her mind.
So… it wasn't a dream, was it? Aliens are real, this is all real…
Her incredulity must have shown in her face, because the small – in comparison – silver robot crouched down, smirked at her and said: "All real, tiny! But Ah won't blame ya if ya find me unbelievable charmin' for this world!"
She visibly grimaced, not at all pleased with her lack of mental privacy, and glanced sideways to the one talking, recognized as Jazz, who sported a 'good' collection of dents. Immediately, the recent fight went back to her and Seventeen panicked again.
"Are you ok? That one was huge." She eyed him, taking note of his battered body.
She remembered clearly how that red-eyed, greyish Decepticon had pinned the smaller Autobot to the road only using a foot. But, what happened next? Every time she got closer to what had happened afterwards, nothing came to fill the void, and all she got was a sharper headache in return.
Before she could ask about it, a loud rumble made itself known from de depths of her stomach and, to her surprise and embarrassment, all the Cybertronian stared at her like she had grown a second head. Just why wasn't she on the ground, where she could find some kind of hiding spot?
Ironhide was the first to say something while Bumblebee chuckled discretely.
"Primus… what was that?"
Both humans coughed, one trying to hide her amusement and the other, her shame.
"Ehrm… my stomach?" When Ratchet pointed a weird, blue light to her abdomen, she blinked in confusion.
"J-just saying it's food time, no need to freak out-"
"I know." She shut her mouth at the sharp interruption of the medic. "The world wide web has all the information about the human species functioning…"Ratchet frowned and locked his blue optics with her green eyes, and she found herself unable to look at them. His stare seemed to say 'I know something you won't like'. Maybe it was her subconscious, warning her about her high chances of being experimented on again, or the fact that she had always been wary around doctors in general. Maybe both.
"When was the last time you were feed?"
A bitter laugh made its way out of her unwilling throat. "When I was made to eat, or when I actually made most of a meal?"
Suddenly, she seemed to be far, far away, and muttered "It's not like we can hold anything down at this phase, anyways, although I think they gave me some intravenously stuff… "
To check her point, she rolled up a sleeve and saw multiple punctures were arm met forearm. The medic hummed and seemed to get a bit lost in thought, that is, until he kindly suggested to Jazz to sit his slagging aft so he could assess the extent of his damages.
As soon as she was put down Seventeen too took a seat in the tow truck pondering her new situation, ignoring the fussing of alien patients not behaving to their alien medics. While she now had regained her freedom – however lasting may that be – that did not change the fact that she was slowly dying. She still had so much to do before then though…
"Want some?" She was taken from her musings by Mikaela, who now carried a considerably amount of packed food and drinks in her arms. Because Mikaela received no answer, at first she thought she would be questioned where she had gotten it all, but then again the other girl was busy practically eating everything with her eyes, so she shrugged and sat beside her, placing all the packages in between.
As soon as it was down, the smaller girl wasted no time wolfing all she could scarf down between gulps of water. After some moments, she became aware of her lack of manners, blushed and directed an apologetic glance to Mikaela, who had watched amazed and slightly disgusted how Seventeen inhaled all within her reach.
"Uh… you must be really hungry, hm?" She said, trying to break the uncomfortable situation. Curious green eyes locked on her, and Seventeen nodded. "You have no idea."
After some awkward silence passed – with more arguing as background – she finally broke eye contact, and struggled to find the correct words "Thanks… I can't believe I'm finally out in the open, you know? You really don't appreciate some things until you lose them." At this she lifted her gaze up, to the sky, marveling at the beauty of the Sun's reflection on some windows.
Mikaela looked up, too, before setting her eyes on the filthy subject before speaking. "About that… what was all that back at the dam?" A stolen glance from her fellow female told her she shouldn't have said anything about that at all. Neither girl was aware of the sudden silence between the Autobots, one lost in memories and the other chastising herself for being noisy at inappropriate times.
"We… I…" With a heavy breath, the subject tried to clear her mind. "You know about that cube, yes?" The young mechanic nodded, surprised but eager to get some answers. "Sector Seven, the Advanced Research Department in particular, were pretty interested in something… I think it was that thing, the All Spark. I cannot assure you what was exactly their goal, but I'm proof that they were pretty interested in it at least." She lifted her left sleeve up to her upper arm, showing a '17' that marked her flesh like a burn, but with a somewhat metallic shine.
The wild haired brunette began explaining with a dull, emotionless voice "I'm Subject number Seventeen, as you could guess from when you got that muzzle off me and this… There were many before myself and many others after… They would run an initiation test, you survived, they'd brand you with the number of 'success'…"
She looked around her with a hateful glare. The metallic walls, the crystal panel –the faces that would appear from time to time – the ceiling, the camera… There was nothing in there she did not hate. How could they be so cruel? Were they not the same?
The girl sat in the cot, scowling. Of course they were not the same, her captives were power-hungry hypocrites who would do anything to achieve their wishes. Now she could state a fact: if it was anything like the hell she was on regular basis, she hated how other creatures would be treated for the comfort of people. Chickens that had not even known the Sun? Sturgeons killed to eat their roes? Breeding of rodents for their hide? Was it that different for whatever was done to her without her consent?
Not for the first time, she felt utterly, completely ashamed of her species, and some tears threatened to fall-
Seventeen sighed, not really wishing to revive her time under the care of the scientists, and brought a hand to her brows, smoothing her frown. Anything but talking about her, there had to be something…
"Where is Sam?"
Before she could get her answer, she gasped and clutched the center of her chest in confusion as a burning but cold feeling began to spread all over her heart. It left as quick as it came, but Seventeen was left with a curious emptiness… like something that was previously there suddenly wasn't.
"It seems Megatron was defeated at least." Ironhide's statement came with a sense of quietness from all the Cybertronians around her, in contrast with her despair of unknown origin.
"Gheez, O.P. took his sweet time to comm us!"
"G-guys?" She called out in a whimper, desperate to know what was wrong with her. Why was she crying? Why did she felt so alone all of sudden?
A/N: I've decided to make longer chapters, so here is the result. To all those who may be confused, here is the revised content of what were chapter 2 and 3. Please leave a review to let me know what you think, and thanks for reading! Until next time, guys.
23/11/2014
A/N: For the life of me I can't transcribe Jazz's speech. After much struggling, I'll keep it as it is now, unless told otherwise.
1/12/2014
A/N: Corrected minor mistakes.
29/3/2015