I'm updating! And sooner than I thought... Well, I'm on a roll for now, lets see how far I can go before I get stuck!
…...
~Crystal's POV
I woke the next morning on the couch where I knew Jack, Miko, and Raf hung out. Confused for a moment because I didn't know where I was, I sat up abruptly and instinctively hissed in pain when my ribs and battered body complained. Everything came rushing back to me and I gained my bearings, standing and stretching carefully, as well as rubbing a knot out of my neck where I'd slept weird. Ratchet scared me a bit, though I did relax when I saw it was him.
"Good morning." he said. "How are you feeling?" he asked. I shrugged.
"About as good as one can feel after what happened to me. My dad has hurt me worse. A few times I haven't even been able to drag myself away." I said, cringing at the memory. Ratchet frowned.
"I find it barbaric that one of your kind would harm another in such a way. It makes no sense, especially since you did nothing wrong." Ratchet said. I shrugged again, stifling a yawn.
"That's what I told myself for years, I finally just gave up and got into racing to clear my thoughts." I said. Ratchet raised an optic ridge.
"I've been told that pastime was illegal... And did you get enough sleep? I could sedate you if you require more rest." Ratchet said to me. I waved my hands in front of me.
"No, no. I'm okay. Not that I don't like you, I just don't like hospitals or anything where I'm under a needle or a knife." I said, shuddering. Ratchet smiled faintly.
"You will not have to worry about that here. I have a compromise." Ratchet said. With the scanner on his arm, he ran it from my head to my feet and back again, the blue beam going red in a few places such as my torso and the cut on my leg. The sensation was odd, like a thin line of static traveling through me, but it wasn't particularly unpleasant so I didn't complain.
"I still am prescribing rest and little activity besides what you absolutely must do. If I am correct, the children keep food in the refrigerator next to the T.V. I'm also ordering you to eat, it appears you haven't had a regular supply of nutrition for a while. Your metabolism is thrown off, and by my scan, your body is using any stored energy it can find to continue on, basically, you were slowly starving before you ended up with us." Ratchet said. I looked with slight shame down at my toes, nodding in agreement. He was right, and I would have to do what he said.
I went to the fridge, looking through it and withdrawing an apple since I was so used to not eating breakfast. I sat down on the couch and munched on my breakfast, glancing around with a surreal feeling. All the years I had thought that Transformers were destined to be limited only to T.V and my head, now were put to scorn since I had met the Autobots. I absently toyed with the symbol hanging around my neck, looking down at the much larger one inscribed on the floor of the base.
I'm never going to leave. I thought to myself.
…...
After Ratchet had given me a brief tour of the base, I was walking back up to the platform where I'd slept when a large green truck nearly pancaked me as I walked for the stairs. Involuntarily I yelped in surprise, grimacing when pain shot through me from the sudden movement harassing my ribs. I looked over, knowing it was Bulkhead, and his young charge jumped from the passenger side before he transformed.
I, on the other hand, was panting trying to get my breath back, and flinching when discomfort jolted me with every breath. Ratchet noticed me and knelt, scanning me.
"Are you okay?" he asked. I nodded.
"Fine, Bulkhead just surprised me is all." I said. Miko was now, predictably, gawking at me. I waved sheepishly and she bombarded me with questions so much I thought my brain would explode.
"Where are you from? What's your name? How did you get here? Why are you hurt? Is that purple car we found in the woods yours? How come you're wearing the bots' symbol?" she babbled. I blinked a few times.
"Uh... Let's see. I'm from a different dimension, though I lived in Indiana. My name is Crystal. I have no idea how I got here. My dad is abusive. The car was mine, and I wear the symbol because I think the Autobots are cool and in my dimension, they only exist as fictional characters." I said. Miko seemed astonished that I remembered all the questions, but she smiled nevertheless.
"Cool. You play an instrument?" Miko asked. I shook my head in a 'so so' gesture.
"I mess around on the guitar, I can't read music though." I said. Miko thought a moment.
"Can you sing?" she asked. I smirked.
"Not right now, broken ribs make it kind of hard to do anything, especially breathe." I said. Ratchet got my attention and pointed up to the platform.
"Yes, and speaking of that, you need to go rest, the tour was draining enough." Ratchet said, an odd level of concern in his voice. I groaned.
"I can't just sleep on a whim. And I don't want to be a couch potato either." I complained. Ratchet scooped me up and put me on the platform anyway. I looked grumpily at him, then sat on the couch. Miko came running up the stairs two at a time, then plopped right next to me.
"That's okay, we can hang up here! This is great! I finally get girl time with someone other than Arcee!" Miko quipped.
"I heard that." Arcee said as she drove in with Jack. I chuckled, though it hurt.
"Hey Jack." I said, surprising him that I knew his name. He looked up at the platform, tilting his head before looking back at Arcee.
"Uh...who's she?" Jack asked. I smiled, getting to my feet and going over to the railing. If Jack was 16 like I thought, I was only a year older, and from my dimension he seemed like a really nice guy...
"I'm Crystal. Haven't you ever seen someone from a different dimension before?" I said. Jack looked around at the bots and Miko.
"Is this some sort of joke?" he asked. Evidently, the bots all knew I was here, but they hadn't bothered to tell the kids.
"Sadly, no. It appears a magnetic fluctuation opened a portal to our dimension from hers. Her vehicle is currently damaged because she crashed, but if she wishes, I can repair it." Ratchet said, looking at me. I nodded.
"Please, whenever you get the time. That car is like a friend to me." I said. Ratchet nodded, looking back at Jack.
"I will explain to you and Rafael when he arrives." Ratchet said. We agreed, and I spent the next half hour getting my butt whipped at some racing game.
…...
About a week later, the pain in my ribs had faded, though was still present, and I suckered Ratchet into letting me do more. Oddly enough, he seemed to have taken to me more than any of the kids...honestly, I had thought he disliked humans... The kids were all there one day, when Miko suddenly grabbed me by the arm and dragged me down the stairs to one end of the main hangar.
"What are you doing?" I said as I kept pace with her.
"You said yourself you're feeling better, I want to hear you play. And sing." Miko said. I sighed. Miko practically thrust her guitar into my hands, and I strummed it few times to get the feel of it. Scanning through what I knew, I started playing a part of Linkin Park's 'What I've Done.' I didn't know the whole song, and when I finished, Miko was looking at me with her jaw dropped. I also noticed with embarrassment I had gotten the bots' attention.
"That was awesome! Now, what do you wanna sing?" she asked, handing me her Ipod. I scrolled through her songs, most of which were bands I didn't even know, understandable since the bands I knew probably didn't exist. I decided to just sing, and I played softly on Miko's guitar just to accompany my voice.
You come to me with scars on your wrist
You tell me this will be the last night feelin' like this
(I just came to say goodbye, didn't want you to
see me cry I'm fine...)
But I know it's a lie
This is the last night you'll spend alone
Look me in the eyes so I know you know
I'm everywhere you want me to be
The last night you'll spend alone
I'll wrap you in my arms and I won't let go
I'm everything you need me to be...
Your parents say everything is your fault
But they don't know you like I know you
They don't know you at all
(I'm so sick of when they say, it's just a
phase you'll be okay, you're fine...)
But I know it's a lie
This is the last night you'll spend alone
Look me in the eye so I know you know
I'm everywhere you need me to be
The last night you'll spend alone
I'll wrap you in my arms and I won't let go
I'm everything you need me to be
The last night away from me...
The night is so long
when everything's wrong
If you give me a hand
I will help you hold on (Tonight)
This is the last night you'll spend alone
Look me in the eyes so I know you know
I'm everywhere you want me to be
This is the last night you'll spend alone
I'll wrap you in my arms and I won't let go
I'm everything you need me to be
I won't let you say goodbye
And there'll be no reason why
The last night away from me
(away from me...)
I trailed off the last note and looked at Miko sheepishly. The bots looked like they liked it, Bee and Bulkhead actually clapped.
"Whoa...you sound awesome!" Miko said. "What song is that?" she asked. "I've never heard it before."
"It's 'The Last Night' by Skillet. A lot of times I'd listen to it when...well...after my dad would have an episode. It reminded me that there's at least someone out there I can always count on, oddly enough...I always thought of the bots when I was having a hard time and it always helped calm me down." I said, turning my gaze to them.
"Well, glad to hear you think that way of us." Arcee said. I smiled and nodded. Ratchet got my attention.
"Crystal, would you want to retrieve your vehicle now?" Ratchet asked. I brightened a bit.
"Of course!" I said. Ratchet opened the ground bridge.
"Bumblebee, go with her," Ratchet said. Bee nodded, following me in robot form as I walked through the ground bridge. When I got through the other side, it felt almost like my bones themselves were vibrating.
"Uhg...I've heard the kids complain about it before... but that's gonna take some getting used to." I said. I scanned the area for my lavender car, and spotted it where I had left it, front end wrapped around a tree. I motioned Bumblebee over, and he helped pull my car away from the tree. I opened the driver's door, steering while Bee carefully pushed my car back to the ground bridge.
On the other side, Jack whistled in admiration.
"Wow, this is your ride?" he said. I smiled over the top of my car and nodded. I parked it out of the way with Bumblebee's help.
"Yep, a 2012 Toyota Supra, custom." I said. "I can take you for a spin when Ratchet gets time to fix it." I said. Jack nodded.
"Gets time? I can actually work on it now." Ratchet said. I thanked him again for his offer, and went back to hang out with the kids.
…...
Wow, got bit by the writer's bug I guess. New chapters might be shorter, but I dunno. Please R&R!