A Lost Love Returned
By: Miko873
Disclaimer: I do NOT own anythin' except my OCs, Deathblast and Echosong
Chapter 2 is up! YAY! I've been distracted by schoolwork and project! So you'll be reading a few more Fanfictions from me... AWESOME! Sooooooooooo... Read on fanfictioners!
Echosong and Optimus walked quietly towards the back rooms of the silo. Optimus was lost in thought and Echosong was walking next to the commander gently. "So, Optimus-" Echosong started, but got cut off by Optimus stooping downwards a ways to hug her.
She relaxed into his embrace with as much grace as she could muster at that point. "Echosong, I..." She stroked his face gently, her stare holding compassion and sadness. "I know, Op. I know."
Optimus almost crushed her in his grip, his spark beating wildly under his protoform. "You were- If we hadn't-," He sighed, setting his great helm on top of her much smaller one. "I almost lost you." She smiled softly as she buried her head into chest for a moment.
"Op, I pulled through just fine, didn't I? I'm still here. No need to freak out." Echosong soothed gently. Optimus pulled his helm from atop hers to look into her optics. he gently stroked her face with his thumb digit. Echosong bit her lip component.
"I still could not imagine what it was like." Optimus stated bluntly. Echosong knit her optc ridges in confusion. What in the pit was he talking about? "What?" She asked, bewildered. If anything, The mech pushed his faceplates closer to hers, forehelms almost touching.
"Being prisoner for millennia. Especially on his ship." The commander spat, showing some emotion that he never let out before and glancing away. He didn't want her to see the vengeance and rage behind his thinly veiled words of anger.
"Optimus..." The small black, gold and silver femme whispered, her gaze imploring him not to go after the aft and rip him to gooey, energon splattered parts. She suddenly realized just how close in proximity she was to the handsome Autobot commander and straightened up with a blush staining her faceplates. "C-Come on. I'm tired and I don't want Ratchet to come wandering the halls, looking for me. He'd be pretty piqued to see that I'm not resting."
Disappointment flared briefly in Optimus' optics before he shoved it away, watching her hips sway as she walked down the dull gray hallway. He loved her, but that moment wasn't the right time to tell her. He didn't know when was, but his patience mirrored the depths of the oceans of the planet Team Prime was currently inhabiting.
He would know when it was the right time. 'Just follow your spark and something wonderful might just happen.' His carrier would always say, ending it with a small giggle. His sire would always follow up with the cheesy line; 'It worked for me.'
Patience. He told himself.
"Deathblast," the pleased voice of Starscream purred to the newcomer. A Knockout sniffed daintily. This was the infamous Deathblast of Kaon? The 'Con who lived off others pain, fed on glory, and walked through pools of his enemies' energon? The Mech who supposedly went insane because a femme beat him? He looked like a stick, an Earthen twig, compared to Megatron and even the drones.
"I have taken the liberty of going through some of Earth's vehicle modes for you to select from." Starscream stated as he led the smaller Decepticon further into the ship. Deathblast looked through ten of the offered pictures before he settled on one. He immediately scanned it and turned into a black 2012 Ford Mustang with a skull and crossbones on the hood. The doors were covered in designs that looked like shattered human bones.
All in all, The lanky Decepticon looked pretty darn intimidating. Especially with that huge cannon on his arm. Deathblast lifted it. "Put that away before You accidentally shoot that thing at my finish." Knockout exclaimed, shielding his finish. There was silence for a few seconds before Deathblast did what he was told.
A grunt was the black mech's voiced reply. The insane mech pulled out his twin blades and started sharpening them, creating a grinding sound that Knockout found displeasing. "Can you not?!" the cherry mech snarled. Deathblast slowly raised his helm and looked at Knockout with such an intense gaze of drunk like hatred that Knockout flinched. "My orders stand."
Knockout shuttered his optics. "Pardon?" The mech lowered his helm again and dug the tip of his blade into the palm of his servo, drawing energon. "I was ordered to bring back a femme by the designation 'Echosong'. My orders stand. I will not return to Lord Megatron until I bring him that femme." With that, He lapped up the energon off his palm.
"Goodbye, Knockout. Thank you for the repairs." He walked out, leaving a stunned and seriously creeped out medic in his wake.
Echosong awoke in a new room to pain in her helm. A groan of agony escaped her lip components. Of course moving was painful. She was just sore. But that wasn't the only thing. She couldn't move her arms. or her legs.
She let out a small whimper. Had she dreamt her liberation? Was it all a sick joke her mind came up with? Tears welled up in her optics. Her processor was cruel.
A growl snapped her out of her self pity. A growl from on top of her. She stiffened. No... she thought to herself. "Sunny. She's awake." A voice mumbled from her side. She immediately relaxed. She really was saved. Sideswipe had his arms wrapped around her, pinning her arms, and Sunny took his usual position sprawled atop her legs. "You two are grown up young mechs. Can't you sleep on your own?" She asked, sighing.
Sideswipe buried his face into her side. "Please momma?" He asked in his most innocent voice. The one Echosong could never say no to when he was a sparkling. She sighed. She loved them as if she carried them herself. She could never say no to them. Except that one time when Sunstreaker tried to put her tactical knife in his mouth when he was young.
"Fine. Just for today." She spoke softly. The twins both smirked. They knew they were going to do it again and they wouldn't leave even if she said no. There was silence for awhile. Then, "Momma?" Echosong opened her optics. "Mmh?" She replied groggily. She was almost asleep again.
"How long were you on his ship?" She looked down to see Sunstreaker peering up at her with a concerned gaze. She thought it was best not to worry him or his brother. "Not long." She lied.
Sunstreaker was about to retort, but a yawn from his brother stopped that. "Come on," Sideswipe said as he stretched. "Let's see what's going on." Sunstreaker sighed and heaved himself up off Echosong's legs.
Walking into the main room was hell. The human children were gathered around the catwalk. "Somethin' I'm missing here?" Echosong asked as she walked into the room.
Ratchet snapped his helm up to look at her. "Bumblebee, Sunstreaker, and Sideswipe are going on patrol in the Himalayas to check if anything else escaped Deathblast's ship. Bulkhead, Jazz and Arcee are scouting for energon in China, and Optimus is out doing Primus knows what! While I'm going to continue my research in private where no one will bother me! " The medic finished his rant with a glare at the twins.
"You're going on patrol with Bumblebee." He deadpanned. They both transformed into twin 2010 Lamborghini venenos, red and gold respectively, And Bumblebee transformed into his Chevy Camaro Vehicle mode.
"Uh, Ratch'," Echosong spoke up, putting a hand out to stop him. He turned to look at her. "What am I going to be doing?" Ratchet gave her a heated glare. "Watch the children. And NO training, transforming, or strenuous exercise whatsoever!"
Echosong gaped. "But Doc-" She whined. "Ep, ep, ep! No arguments!" The medic turned a corner and Echosong turned to the humans and starting awkwardly, "So... I guess I should get to know you, assuming you are allies. Names, ages, favorite color, favorite thing to do, and what you dislike. After you're all done, you can ask me any questions you want, assuming you have any. Go."
The humans on base seemed a little stunned at her forthcoming attitude, but soon regained composure. "Hi! I'm Miko! I'm fifteen years old. My favorite color is pink and I like to listen to slash monkey and play my guitar in my free time! I hate school." The young girl smiled. Echosong nodded approvingly. "You?" She said turning her gaze to the oldest of the humans.
"I'm Jack... Uh, I'm sixteen and my favorite color is... blue, I guess. I like hanging out with my guardian, Arcee. I dislike getting shot at by the decepticons," He glared at Miko, who pretended not to notice. "and... tofu, but my mom doesn't know that." Jack replied somewhat awkwardly. Echosong gave him a soft smile to reassure him that she wasn't going to judge him.
"What about you?" She turned her helm towards Raf. "R-Rafael, but everyone calls me Raf. I'm twelve and a quarter. My favorite color is red. I like playing video games with Bumblebee and I don't like not being listened to." She gave him a look full of understanding.
"Well, Miko, If you ever wanna skip school, I'm the femme to call. I know how to ditch anything. That's why I never made it to the meetings Optimus would have on 'personal safety on the battlefield' or whatever it was. Never needed those anyways-" A scoff made Echosong stop for a moment. She narrowed her optics. "What was that, Ratchet?" She snapped. "You didn't need the meetings? You were the reason we had them! Who was always in the medbay?!" He exclaimed as the primarily black femme lazily waved a servo in reply. "But I was your favorite patient, right Doc?" She smiled. A soft grumble of agitation was her reply.
She turned to Jack next. "Jack, you really need to tell your... Mom, was it? that you don't like what she cooks. And if you don't like getting shot at by 'Cons, why are you still here? You might want to get used to it."
She finally turned her look to Rafael. "Raf, do you want my advice?" She asked the boy, who nodded vigorously. "You need to find a way to get people's attention. A megaphone, or wear something different. Or try to be a little bit louder with your opinion. You seem like a pretty shy kid, but don't worry about criticism. Miko and Jack seem like pretty good friends and probably back you up you in a fight. Plus, I'll always have your backs."
She finished with a smile. "To all of you; Don't take any threat from Hatchet to heart. It's his only way to show he really cares." A wrench hit her in the back of the helm and she jerked forward with a grunt. "Ratchie," She whined playfully, rubbing her helm. "That hurt!"
"Hrmph. It was supposed to. My name is not 'Hatchet' and especially not 'Ratchie'." He retorted as he started to stalk off. She aimed the wrench, but before she could throw it she was interrupted by Ratchet. "If you even think about it, I will not hesitate to confine you to the medbay." He said calmly, not even bothering to turn around. She gently slid the wrench to the medic's pedes.
"That's what I thought." he huffed as he turned into his 'lab' and the doors slid shut. "See," She exclaimed with a huge grin. "He cares! Anyways," the black femme said, turning her attention back to the humans. "Any questions?"
Miko stepped up a little and the femme nodded. "What's your name?" Echosong realized with a start that she forgot to introduce herself. Oops. "My designation is Echosong." Raf raised his hand. "What were you before the war? If you don't mind me asking. I mean, we know Bulkhead worked construction."
The femme softened her gaze at the small human. "I don't mind at all," she grinned. "I was a gladiator." Miko perked up considerably. "You mean like, riding on chariots pulled by horses and battling lions?!" She asked happily.
Echosong searched the internet for horses and lions. "No. Definitely not like that." she said softly, worrying slightly when the human deflated. "It was... Well, the rules were simple, kill or be killed. Usually it was one on one combat, but sometimes we dueled in pairs." She shivered, thinking about what she had to endure during her time in the pits.
"Sounds awesome!" Miko exclaimed excitedly. Echosong glared at the young teen. "It wasn't," She snapped harshly. "You have no idea what those 'Bots had to go through to survive! They had to kill friends and family to survive! We weren't taken care of well! Some even had to drink the energon of their dead opponents just to survive! Those 'Bots were my friends! Femmes were treated worse!" She shivered a little. Echosong looked at the humans. They looked scared.
"I apologize for frightening you. It's just-" She let out a soft sigh. "Echosong was not treated well in the pits. Some memories still plague her." A deep voice interrupted. The black femme whipped her head around. "Optimus-" she gasped. He smiled. "Sorry to have frightened you." He spoke gently. "If you really want to know, I'll tell you."
The humans looked at each other and nodded. "Femmes were usually medics, you know? They had it easier that the actual femme gladiators. Femme's were never really considered warriors until I came along. Most of the medics were appalled at how we were treated. Ratch' over there threw a rod at how I left a battle one time," She smirked in the medics direction. Said medic pretended not to notice.
"I was one of the best. At the very top of the chain. Besides Megatron-" She was interrupted by Miko. "Megatron did that before the war?!" Echosong nodded. "I'm just glad that I never had to fight him. He showed his opponents no mercy. Funny, because he was one of the kindest mechs I knew other than Optimus, here." She spoke lightly smacking his chest with the back of her left servo.
He smiled at her in return. "We usually fought one on one, simple weapons. Unless your handler paid good credits to tip the fight in your favor and mine would never dream of doing that. He was... a fair bot." She lied easily. Optimus put a hand on her shoulder. "My fights were nothing compared to what the mechs did after. Any femme that beat a friend in their gangs was 'punished'. In other words, they would try to beat you."
Optimus' grip on her shoulder tightened. Even Ratchet had stopped his work to listen. Hearing anything about the black femme was rare, especially if it was about her past as a gladiator. "Sometimes, they would succeed. Sometimes they wouldn't. It all depended on how you would go into the fight. If you were like my friend, Nosedive, you would talk your way out. He always was the calm type... If you were like me, you would get beat pretty bad." The femme laughed.
"I would always dive into my fights helm first, regardless of the consequences, which resulted from a lot of visits to doc bot. In the end, Nosedive died and my only friends were Ratchet, Optimus, and Megatron." Echosong faltered for a minute, a dizzy feeling washing over her. She swayed to the side a little, but Optimus caught her.
His blue optics were laced with concern and worry. Ratchet thundered over within the second. "I told you not to overexert yourself so soon!" He exclaimed as he gently put a servo on her helm. The annoyance and sarcasm seeped through her tone as she snapped, "Talking made me overexert myself? I'm doomed." Being led to the medical berth was an easy task.
Sleep soon overtook her.
Lurching up with a muted gasp, Echosong quickly took in her surroundings and was relieved to find herself alone in the medbay. Her green and silver optics returned to their normal size as she swung her legs over the side the berth. She was feeling much better than she had been.
"Echosong," She wasn't as alone as she thought she was. Oops. "Where do you think you're going?" An annoyed medic came from around a corner, a needle full of energon in his servo. "Just going to my room." She replied innocently as she started moving towards the door.
"No you are not! You lost too much energon on Deathblast's ship! You shouldn't even be able to function, much less be walking about!" The medic ranted, injecting the femme with energon. Echosong was a little annoyed. "Doc, I'm fine! I just need to go out on patrol or something! I'm not going to die!" She groused as she went to leave.
"You'll be fine when I say you're fine. Now, sit back down!" Ratchet snapped, just about out of patience. "What if I don't wanna?" came the immediate reply, full of challenge. He hit her with his wrench.
"Slaggit, Doc! That hurt!"
"It wasn't supposed to tickle. Sit down and be still!"
"I would sit still if you weren't so rough!"
"Quit being an overgrown sparkling and suck it up!"
"Go frag yourself, microchip moron!"
"After you, you processor ache!"
"If you were my bonded, I'd poison your energon!"
"If you were my bonded, I'd drink it!"
And so the insults were traded. Egos were bruised, Ratchet's shredded to the point where it was barely even there and Echosong was sporting a few new dents along her frame. She walked out of the medbay to find most of the Autobots and humans looking in her direction, only Jazz, Sideswipe, Sunstreaker, and Optimus were unfazed. "What?" The primarily black femme growled as she went to sulk on some crates.
"Is it normally like this?" Jack asked with an uncertain tone in his voice. Jazz answered him. "Pretty much. 'Song's tha only one able ta talk ta Ratchet like tha' and not get too seriously hurt." Echosong glared at the cheerful mech before going back to her sulking. "It was like this all the time back on Cybertron." Sunstreaker intoned and turned back to the conversation with his brother.
"I won the argument, though!" She called back petulantly and crossed her arms over her chassis. Abruptly, Optimus stopped reading a data pad. "At this point, I do not think it really matters who won." He said, not looking at the femme.
She waved her servo in the universal 'alright-already-just-shut-up-before-I-get-angrier' gesture. Jazz muttered just low enough for the humans to hear. "She's also tha only one who can do tha' tuh Optimus without gettin' reprimanded." They nodded as they looked towards the femme.
She stood, feeling the stares on her back. And walked down the halls. Loud footsteps followed her and she stopped. "Yes, Optimus?" She looked up slightly to stare him in the optics.
The commander sighed. She was at least cooling down. That was good. "Echosong, must you always fight Ratchet when he is merely trying to help?" Was the exasperated question.
Echosong crossed her arms, cocking a hip. "Yes. If he would stop with his quips, I would probably stop fighting him." She snapped angrily. Optimus sighed.
The femme watched the frustrated commander silently with expectation of a lecture. She was frustrated and tired. All Echosong wished to do at that moment was plop down on her berth and recharge.
But she was aware that that would not happen. Drowsiness leaked into her processor, dulling her thoughts. When he had finally finished, she nodded, turned on her heel and walked into her room. She laid down and quickly fell into recharge.
I'll get straight to the point; I'm thinking of deleting this fic. It's not because I don't like it, it's because I think I could have done so much better and I intend to rewrite it sometime, but right now life's getting hectic. Schoolwork, SOL's, Algebra boot camp, family issues... I'm putting this story on temporary hiatus. At least until I figure out how to kill a couple plot bunnies to have it all make sense. I will still be posting different chapters and stories, but I need to learn to develop my writing skills. Sorry...