~~~~~TF~~~~~
A few minutes after Lexi had been taken the snow had started falling slowly at first but soon turned for the worst as it fell down so harshly that you could barely see ten feet away. It wasn't a problem for Ratchet as pursued the green sports car as it headed away from the small town. It offered him the perfect cover as he followed along but as the car turned off of the warm roads and onto a dirt path that lead into a forest the situation changed.
"Blast it!" I yelled out as my tires spun. Without the warm pavement, it was hard for me to control myself from sliding into a ocasional ditch or bush off the side of the road. Snarling in anger, I once more lost control and ran off the road this time into a tree. My alt mode didn't have snow tires as the sports car I was following apparently did, as they were making more progress than I was. The tracks were quickly starting to disappear as my back wheels spun, causing snow to be kicked up as I fumed in frustration. "Scrap this!" I yelled as I quickly transformed. The cold bit harshly at my frame as quickly I turned my internal heating system up to accommodate.
The snow fell down around me harshly as I made my way on foot after the car. I was making much more progress than before and having less trouble besides the occasional tree branches I had to push aside or duck underneath as I hurried along. Turning on my internal com I tried to contact base ~Ratchet to Autobots...Autobots respond!~ Static buzzed back at me annoyingly as I yelled to myself "Off all the slagging times I don't want to talk to anybot the one time I actually need to I can't get through!" Using his frustration to his advantage he lashed out as another tree branch got in his way. It easily snapped in half and didn't stand a chance against Ratchets anger.
Sooner than he expected there saw two red tail lights ahead of him and just to add to his confirmations he picked up on the signal for a moment. I slowed my pace as I got closer. I watched as the car slid back on some ice before getting a better grip and slowly made its way to the top of a hill it was trying to climb. Knowing that this was my chance I desperately tried to think of someway to rescue Lexi. I couldn't just grab the car. Her captors might harm her in the process of me trying to rescue her. No, I had to do this without being seen. As I watched the car near the top of the hill an idea came to me. Careful not to be seen I quickly ran through the forest around to the other side of the hill and bent down. Careful not to damage what I suspected might be underneath I gently pushed some of the snow aside to find more ice. Smirking to myself as I knew what I had to do.
Quickly I dug a hole and buried a mini bomb deep enough into the earth so that it hopefully wouldn't cause as much damage. Packing snow overtop of it until it was covered I heard the engine rumbled as the car reached the top of the hill. Backing into the forest I went to the bottom of the hill and brought out my buzz saw. Waiting in antashipashen I watched as the car drove to the edge of the hill and slowly started its descent. Smirking as they drove over the spot, I sent the signal. With a small explosion the cars back wheels where throw up a few feet off of the ground. I heard screams and curses inside the car as it was sent sliding and swerving down the hill. Nearing my position it started slowing down enough that what I did next would be safe enough...I hoped. Giving my blaid a twirl I quickly went to work.
~~~~~Lexi~~~~~
I have to escape! I thought anxiously. My fear was rising the longer we drove. We were nearing whenever my kidnappers were taking me and I still didn't know what they wanted with me. Tears silently slid down my cheeks. Why had my father done this? Even if I didn't mean anything to him any more I was still family. The only way to escape would be to hope that the doors were unlocked take my chances against the snow and trying to find my way back to town somehow. But then what else was there that she could do? If she stayed put these people might sell her to slavers, kill her, or-or she shuttered and didn't want to finish that thought. Whatever it was it couldn't be any good.
It was still hard for her to believe that she had actually been sold by her father. A sobb worked its way up her throat as she tried to hold it back. She needed to get control of herself or they would find out she was awake. Fingering her necklace she tried to think about when she use to be happy growing up with her Mom back when she was small. She had to be brave right now but she was so scared. Closing her eyes she barely fought back the whimper when she felt a peace in her mind. Concentrating on that she was confused by the feeling. It didn't feel like her emotions, more like it was coming from somewhere else in her mind but not quite. She had a hard time describing the feeling but right now though she didn't care. She would take whatever comfort she could, even if it was just her imagination trying to make up some type of escape out of the situation. Her thoughts were interrupted when one of the men gave a loud whistle.
"Thats one steep hill!" Driver guy said.
"Looks more like a small mountain to me. Is there a way around?" The guy in the passenger seat said worriedly.
Driver guy quickly snapped his head towards the passenger guy. "Does it look like theres another road around here Dave?" he said with sarcasm.
"...Well we have to do something! We can't just sit here Tim! You know how the boss is when someone's not on time." Dave said.
"I'm going to go for it!" Tim said. The car lurched forward as we started traveling up the hill. All of a sudden the tires slid and our car started sliding sideways before starting out. Hanging on as tightly as I could to the seats I thought about jumping out right then and there. The car gave a few more slides as the tires spun but finally we made it safely to the top. Carefully I peeked up to see the road in front of us. My face pailed at the steepness of the descent! Treas lined all along the road with deep ditches on either side. If we lost control we would most likely be gonners.
Panic started to overtake her as the car started its downward descent. When the car started sliding as Tim applied the brakes I reached for the door handle and desperately tried to open it.
"Hay! The twerps awake!" Dave shouted in surprise.
I struggled with the handle and when it didn't open I quickly darted to the other door, finding the same result.
"Then go get her and drug her again!" Tim shouted angrily.
As Dave crawled over to the back seats I prepared to somehow defend myself when all of a sudden there was an explosion underneath our car. I screamed and was flung to the floor as David was thrown back into the front of the car. Tim and David yelled out and cursed as the car spun out of control down the hills steep road. There was a loud cracking sound and I heard Dave yelling at Tim to watch out, when suddenly the the sound of metal crashing and glass shattering filled my ears. I was thrown against one of the seats as my head hit something and my side stung in pain as I was jostled against something sharp. It was over less than a few seconds as the car came to a complete stop.
The silence that met my ears afterwards was deafening. "What did we hit?" I mumbled as I tried to get my thoughts in order. Pushing myself off of the floor I hissed in pain. My hand instinctively went to my side and I yelped as I felt something wet. Holding my hand up to my face I was shock to find that there was blood on me. Planging a hand over my wound I got up and looked at what we hit. The front of the car was all smashed up and the glass was broken to pieces. A huge tree laid in the path of the road that we had been traveling on. To my surprise my kidnappers were more or less unharmed. If you could call Dave being turned around backwards in his seat leaning against the dashboard knocked out and Tims head leaning against the steering wheel with his arm draped over his head at an odd angle. Dave let out a moan as he slowly awoke.
"Oh my head" he complained as he touched the back of his head that had hit the dashboard. Slowly looking over to his partner he shook his shoulder "Hey Tim you ok?"
Slowly Tim sat back up and rubbed his head and arm moaning. Quickly I tried once more to open the doors escape but found out that they were still locked. Panicking, I tried to think of something to protect myself. Glancing around the only thing I saw was a dirty cloth on the floor. Puzzled I stared at it a second before I realized what it was. It was what the kidnappers had used to knock me out with! Snatching it up I reached around the front seat and held over where Tims mouth and nose would be. "MHHPFFF!" He struggled, trying to grab my hands off of him. It took less than a few seconds though as he slowly stopped struggling and quickly fell asleep. A gloved hand grabbed my wrist, yanking me from the back seat of the car. Screaming I fought against my kidnapper.
"Hay! What do you think you're doing?!" Dav drug her from the car out into the snow and through me down. I tried to get up out of the snow and start to run but froze when I heard a familiar click.
"Don't move missy." Dave said in a low tone. Slowly I turned around to find Dave with gun pointed at me a few feet away. "Now you're going to be good and not give me any trouble. We are BOTH going to take a quick walk down the road without any problems. Got it?"
"Y-yes!" I stuttered as my heart raced from fear. Keeping an eye on me he grabbed a flashlight out of the glove compartment before we climbed over the tree and trudged our way down the icy/snowy road. As snow fell in our face and around us I raised up a hand to try to see where I was going as we walked along. I soon became extremely cold as the snow that landed on me melted. I was now drenched from head to toe with only a sweater, jeans, and a pair of tenashus on. Rubbed my arms and hands together was almost uselessly. The temperature was unbearable and I feared if we didn't make it soon to wherever we were headed that I would freeze to death before we made it.
The forest was creepy (with the exception of a kidnaper walking behind me with a gun pointed at my back) and extremely quiet. There was no other sound but the crunching underneath our feet and the occasional snow that fell off of a tree. Like in the movies I would say it was to quiet. After awhile I couldn't stand it any longer and daring to take a chance I asked Dave as my teeth chattered. "Wh-where are yo-ou t-taking me?" Blowing into my hands I tried to get warm before I stuck them under my armpits.
"You'll find out soon e-enough. We should be t-there soon." he replied. Sounded like he was faring a little better than I was but he was still cold too.
After a while I asked another question to fill in the silence once more "W-what do yooou want wi-th me? W-why are you do-doing this?"
Dave growled in aggravation as he pushed me forward, almost making me fall. "I don't want a-anything with you. I-Its the boss who does. Now enough questions!"
I decided it would probably be a good idea to shut up. It wasn't long though until I started to get really worried about myself. My fingers were starting to get numb and I was shivering so much that I was stumbling along as I walked. I was going to freeze to death if I didn't get warmer soon! "P-Please can't we go b-back! I-I don't think I c-can w-walk m-much f-further!" I begged.
Snarling Dave grabbed my arm and pushed the gun against my back ruffle! Whimpering in distress I tried to shift away as tears threatened to fall. "I thought I told yo-!" A loud long snapping sound interrupted what he was saying as we both froze.
I didn't even think about the gun pressed against me as I whispered fearfully "Wh-what was that?!" Looking around us the falling snow and darkness made everything seemed ten times scarier. Every shadow looked like a monster as Dave pointed the flashlight around.
When I looked at Dave I couldn't see his covered face but from his stance he also looked nervously and afraid. "P-probably j-just a bear or something. Don't w-worry if it comes near us I-I'll just shoot it. N-now start moving again!" he poked me again in the back with the gun.
A bear! No bear could make that much noise! It almost sounded like a whole tree was ripped in half! I quickly picked up the pace not wanting to find out if Dave was right about the bear or not though. SNAP! They both jumped at another huge noise, this time though it sounded louder and like it was in front of them. "I-I think it-its stalking us" I whispered. She was shaking with fright as they both herd more loud noises coming closer. I shifted around not sure weather to run from the thing that was circling us, risking getting shot, or just let whatever it was come charging in and kill them both!
"Who's out there?!" Dave yelled! CRASH! Whatever it was it was getting closer! BANG! He fired a shot out into the woods trying to scare it. I could only hope as there was a pause from the creature. But that hope quickly left as she heard it moving towards them once again. There was a trimmer under her feet that matched what started to sound like footsteps as the thing approached. Fear started to make her heart race faster as they saw something reach the tree line.
To my shock I looked up and up at the thing that was hidden in the shadows. Only the outline and two glowing blue eyes that looked down at us could be seen as it stood behind the treeline. It was shaped like a human and to my amazement it stood almost as tall as the trees where. I gasped as a giant hand slowly reached out and pushed the branches aside that was in the creachers way. Lexi and Dave were frozen in fear as it stepped out onto the road. It looked almost like a giant robot but like nothing I had ever seen before! It looked to be to advanced for anything that I knew of. It was made out of mettle and was white, black, and red. I barely noticed some type of symbol was on its chest as it stood there glaring down at us with a angered expression on its human like face. I was feeling full blown fear when a wave of complex emotions hit me. Happiness, joy, sadness, and regret hit me before fading in the back of my mind. When the robot let out a low growl we both jumped. Thats when Dave acted.
Dave let out a loud scream as he raised his gun and shoot the creature several times. The bullets seemed to do nothing as they bounced off of the creature as it slowly smirked and let out a deep male chuckle. My eyes widened and my knees shook as it started to move towards us.
"Ahhhhh! Monster!" Dave yelled! He tried shooting it a few more times as we backed up but when he saw that it was useless he stopped. Suddenly he shoved me forward. I cried out and flung my hands forward as I fell face first into the snow as I heard him take off running into the forest, leaving me to my fate.
I couldn't bring myself to look back up at the robot thing as I cowered in the snow. My heart was racing as I laid there, I was terrified! My kidnapper had left me! He left me to die at the hands of this robot monster thing! The ground shook as the creature approached me causing me to let wimpier. I was momentarily distracted by such a soft wispier in the back of my mind that I almost missed it Its ok. Befor I had a chance to wonder about the voice my concentration snapped back to the thing in front of me when I felt the grown stop shaking. I could sense the creatures presences standing right there in front of me, only a few feet away from me! Desperately I tried bury myself further into the snow not caring about how cold I was.
This is it! I thought. Any second now I'm going to be dead! Tears streamed down my face as I waited for the robot thing to do something to me. The creature let out what sounded like an aggravated sigh above me. The ground shook as the creature moved and something poked me in the side causing me to yelp. "Its ok. I wont hurt you." it said quietly.
My head snapped up in shock as I stared at the things knee and foot as it knelt before me. I-it could talk?! I thought in disbelief. A tingling sensation ran over my body and I shivered at the strange feeling. I couldn't bring myself to speak or look up any further at...it? No! He! I realized from the sound of his voice.
"Your frame is starting to drop dangerously below what is safe for humans tempters to be at! If you do not get up out of that snow your system will start to shut down!"
He said anxiously. I didn't make a move as I laid there suffering in the cold though. My hands were starting to feel like they were going numb but I didn't care. I didn't know what to do. What was he planning to do with me? He could easily kill me if he wanted to. I shivered from either fear or the cold. Either way I couldn't tell as my teeth chattered together as I layed there.
He let out another sigh as he laid a giant hand down directly in front of me that was almost big enough to hold a good size car. I stared at it in fear and tried push myself away. His voice was stressed but commanding as he spoke again "Your hurt and freezing and if you lay there any longer you will most likely offline. I don't want to have to force you to get up but I will if I must."
Hurt? Oh right! I got cut during the wreck! The cold had quickly numbed my wound to the point that I no longer felt the pain. I must have taken to long trying to decide on what to do because befor I knew it he made a aggravated gowl. I squeaked in surprise as I was scooped up into his hand and he stood up. To my surprise his hands quickly warmed as I layed there shivering. Instinctually I tried to snuggle closer to the warmth. It wasn't long though before the cold left me and I was once again comfortable. Nervously I push myself up to sit on my knees as I slowly looked up.
To my surprise he was looking at me intently, causing me to flinch. But I couldn't help myself as I stare back at the being before me. He was completely made out of mettle but none that I could identify. As I studied the face before me I noticed his mouth was turned down in a frown and his eyes were some kind of blue lights with pieces of metal and mirrors like things around them. They were extraordinary! They looked like human eyes, yet at the same time where so alien! He held an expression between a scowl and concern as he looked at me and I was surprised to find such emotions from him. As far as I knew it was impossible for robots to have feelings, let alone to be sentient. But the longer I looked at his expression and eyes, the more I came to realize that there was no way that this was just an ordinary 'robot'. After a few moments I started to relax somewhat as my mind started to process beyond the fear I had been feeling for the last hour. He had yet to hurt me and seemed to be more concerned about me than anything. Gathering my courage my voice came out in a whisper "Wh-what are you?"
~~~~~TF~~~~~
When Lexi saw me step out of the trees she all but fainted of fright. I just about activated my weapons systems though when a moment later Lexis signal all but blasted out to my sensors giving off an energon signal. Slowly it faded and I was able to concentrate on how to get Lexi away from that man. He pretty much solved my problem though as he uselessly tried to attack me with his weapon and after finding out ran off into the woods. It angered me though when he through Lexi onto the ground. Letting out an aggravated growl for the mans foolishness I walked toward the small femme. She cowered against the ground at my approach and I couldn't help but feel a stab of pain. She obviously saw me as a monster just as the human mech did. Trying to not seem as intimidating I kneeled down in front of her. As I talked to her she was surprised at my voice and also frightened. When she didn't respond to me though and I had to get her out of the snow and I could only come up with one solution. I was going to have to pick her up in my servo.
I was nervous about touching Lexi and even more so with having to pick her up. Everything on this planet seems to be so fragging delicate! Humans though, as I read online to my displeasure, were even more so than most of the other organic species. Earlier I had scanned her and I was unsettled and felt a bit guilty to find that she had been injured, probably during my 'rescue' attempt. I didn't want to harm her further by accidentally holding her wrong but she was leaving me no choice. That wasn't my only worry though, her frames temperature had been dropping so drastically that if I didn't pick her up she would quickly offline. Pushing my fear away, as gently as I could scooped her up into my servo as she let out a squeak. At first I thought I actually did harm her but then I quickly realized that she done so from fright. It was amusing to say the least.
It was a strange sensation to me as soon as she was in my palm. The softness against my cybertronian mettle servo had me both unsettled and fascinated. Her frame was extremely cold as she laid there shaking. Quickly I increased the temperature in my servos so she wouldn't freeze any further. When she snuggled against my palm, a smile I rarely ever showed slipped onto my face. How could something so fragile survive? I wondered as my smile turned back into a frown. The differences between our species was numerous and yet we also had so much that was similar it was shocking. Her tiny servos almost tickled against mine as she sat up. I held as still as I could not wanting to frighten her any more. Slowly her eyes lifted to mine and she sat there staring at me. In return I examined her as best as I could as she did the same.
The small wound on her side looked like it was slowly starting to stopping to leaking but I couldn't be sure with her coverings over it. My attention was drawn back to her when she let out a frightened whisper "Wh-what are you?"
Oh how I wished that it was some other mech who was here right now! I never had the patience for these things like the others did! Letting out a sigh I tried to patiently answer her question along with many more I'm sure she would have. "I am a autonomous robotic organisms from the planet Cybertron. An Autobot for short..." I replied.
Moving my other servo near her I reached out a digit to try to move the cloth that was covering her cut so that I could examine her better. She must have seen my movement because as soon as she saw my servo coming towards her, her heart rate went up and she tried to back away. Curling my fingers I stopped her before she fell off. She was startled at first as she ran into me but I quickly explained what I was trying to do so that hopefully she would calm down. "Stay still. I know that I must seem tariffing to you but I promises that I won't harm you in anyway. I'm just trying to see how bad your wound is." I tried to reassure her. Her heart rate didn't change much but when I tried again to my pleasure she didn't try to move away again. Carefully I pushed her top up just above the cut but not high enough that anything privet was exposed. Humans where odd to say the least but I had quickly understood why they used cloths when I researched this strange tradition. In fact I found it to be quite inventive of them to use there coverings for warmth, protection from most cuts and diseases, and other reasons I reminded myself.
The cut looked miniscule to me but to a human it was probably somewhat big. Luckily it wasn't leaking that much now as it looked like it had been but if it wasn't properly taken care of it would start leaking like it had ben again. As I examined her she asked another question, this time her voice was not so frightened as I was happy to hear. "Another planet? So you're an alien?"
Using my translating program I quickly tried to find the meaning of the word alien. When I did I couldn't help but let out a snort as I smirked. "Yes that is one way of putting it."
"But why are you here?" She asked as she watched me as I examined her cut closely.
"That is a long story" I sighed. "The gust of it is that we came to your planet when we detected energon." She looked at him confused so he explained. "Enerjon is like blood is to you. We consume it just as you do with your fuel to keep your frame working. Our planet ran out of it long ago due to a war that destroyed our home. Ever since we have been traveling the galaxy searching for energon so that we can survive."
Running a scan over her, she jumped as I did, but I ignored it as I process the data. To my relief the wound wasn't life threatening from what I could tell. But I didn't need my scans to show me that she was in poor health. Now that I examined her closely I noticed that she appeared to be in worse shape than I had originally thought. Even without meeting any other humans I could tell this. Right now though my main concern that she was hurt. I would have to ask her about the other later. "You should be fine as long as you take care of this properly. I suggest putting um uh well whatever it is you humans use to weld your scratches shut." I told her. I didn't know much about human medicines and would have to look that up later.
Nervously she smiled as she straightened out her top clothing. "Thanks." She laughed quietly to herself before speaking up "And we 'weld' our scratches with things called bandages. I know what type to use too. I'm used to taking care of myself..." I found at that. Something about the way she talked about taking care of herself sounded...off. "By the way my name is Lexi."
I smirked as Lexi introduced herself officially. "My designation is Ratchet and theres no need to thank me. I am a medical officer and as such I am expected to help others whenever needed."
A look of confusion crossed her face before she dismissed it. "Well still I would probably be dead or worse after being kidnaped. So realy thank you for saving me Ratchet." She smiled up at me. Bracing herself, she took a deep breath before letting it out "But um I can't help but wonder why did you rescue me anyway?" She asked nervously.
Now I was the one who was nervous but I didn't let it show as I found. "Well earlier I was tracking a signal in your neighborhood when I first uh met you."
Jumping up in my servo she exclaimed "Sorry to burst your bubble, but I know I wouldn't I forget the encounter if we met!"
Pinching the bridge of my nose with my free hand I vented out a sigh. "Thats because my kind disguise ourselves so as not to frighten any human. Each cybertronian can chose an alternate form as long as it is electronic or some type of machine. Our frames are able adjust to the proper size of our chosen form when we transform so that we may blend in without any problems to a size difference that would obviously reveal us if we didn't."
Lexi stood there as she thought over what I was telling her. "Ok so what exactly do you transform into?" She finally said.
Nervously I shifted on my pedds and Lexi almost lost her balance when I did so. Cursing at myself I froze. How did I forget that anything I did would probably be magnified to her? Especially if I was holding her! I needed to be more careful. "Well you see...my for is a ambulance." I said as I looked away before sneaking a peek back at her.
One more she looked like she was thinking this over before her attention snapped. "Wait...That ambulance that almost ran me over?! That was you?!"
I wrenched at her tone and tried to explain myself quickly "Well you see I was in such a rush to find the energy signature that I got momentarily distracted and didn't see you as you were crossing the street. But if you remember correctly I did already apologize."
She scowled at me before letting out a huff of cloudy air into the cold. Sitting down she snuggled her back up to my fingers as she tried to warm herself once more. Thats when I noticed how tired she had become as she waved a hand to try to get me to continue. Bringing my other hand up above her I blocked out any more snow that might fall down onto her. She gave me a grateful look as she slowly blinked. "I'll tell you more about this tomorrow. You've been through enough today and you need to recharge. I'll take you back home an-"
"No!" Lexies eyes were wide awake and she stumbled once more to her feet. Her heart rate spiked and she looked extremely upset. In a strained voice she said "You can't take me back there...my Dad..." looking dowards she sniffed trying to hold back the tears "My dad sold me to those guys. If you take me back there..." throwing her servos over her face she started sobbing.
Her Sire had sold her?! Remembering how he had acted and it all made sense now as he had stood at the door looking unconcerned as he let the men into his home. Ratchets eyes turned red with anger before fading back to blue. How could you sell your only sparkling?! Anger burned throughout his systems. Gaining control of himself he tried to calm down. Lexi had collapsed in his servo and was hugging her knees as she cried. Panicking he didn't know what to do in this kind of situation. He had never been good with trying to comfort others. Nervously he reached out a digit and carefully stroked it down her back to try to comfort her. To his surprise, she grabbed onto one of my other digits that was close by and hung on to me as she cried. A look of pity and sadness crossed his face as he said "Its ok Lexi. You don't have to go back there ever again if you dont want to." No way would he make her go back to someone like that! If he ever saw her Sire again he would make sure that the human felt the fear he had put Lexi though!
~~~~~Lexi~~~~~
After a while I calmed down and only gave an occasional sniff as I let go of Ratchets finger. I was slightly embarrassed that I had bursted out crying and had hung onto him like a child. Staring down at her hand she fiddling with them as she mumbled to myself "Where can I go now? I don't have anywhere else to go.
"I can take you back to base where me and the rest of the Autobots built. You can decide what you want to do from there later on." I looked up slightly shocked that Ratched had heard me and also at the proposal he had offered.
If she did go with him she would be safe for the night. On the other hand he had just insinuated that there would be more Autobots where he would take her. The prospect of meeting more giant mechanical beings brought a hint of fear to her. What else could she do though? Currently not go back to her house? "I guess that would be the best option. If you're sure no one else will mind that is."
"No one will mind." He said seriously, oblivious to her fear. "I'm going to put you down now so that I transform to my vehicle form." He lowered her to the ground so that she could get off. Slowly I slipped back onto the ground, already I missing the warm surface as I was left standing back in the snow. Turning around my eyes made there way up slowly as I looked up at Ratchet in amazement as he stood up completely. Being this close to him made me fully realized just how huge he really was! I couldn't help myself as I took a few steps away from him. I didn't know if I would be able to get used to him without being afraid any time soon but I promised myself that I would try to as quickly as possible. His size was intimidating but his actions and words had been nothing but kind and I didn't want to offend him after everything he had done for me.
Looking on at him in amazement he smirked down at me and my mouth fell open as I watched as pieces of him folded, slid, and rearranged themselves downward until where he had stood was now a white and red ambulance. "Wow! That was amazing!" I breathed out. After a few moments his passenger door opened for me and I grinned. Quickly I hopped inside and sat in the warm passenger seat. The heater turned itself on and instantly started melting away any snow I had on me. Signaling in relief as the hot air hit me, I hadn't realize how could I actually was. Relaxing I closed my eyes as I enjoyed the coldness leaving me. I sighed and sunk into the seat contently. I could feel sleep start calling to me as I sat there. It had ben along time since I had felt safe enough to be able to sleep without watching my back and I was enjoying it. Pushing away the memories that were trying to sufface I started to let myself drift off to sleep.
"Are you warm enough Lexi?" Ratchets voice asked from inside the car. Jumping in surprise, I had forgotten for a second that I was sitting in an alien robot. This is too weird. I thought to myself.
"Yes. Thank you Ratchet. I feel better already." I replied a little too quickly. He grunted in conformation as he started driving forward. I jumped again when I felt the seat belt start to wrap around me carefully and proceeded to bucked itself. Yep definitely going to take some getting use to.As Ratchet drove along I relaxed once more and stared out at the window. Snow was still falling and didn't look like it was going to let up anytime soon. "Hay Ratchet?" I said with a yawn.
I grinned in amusement when I saw the screen on his dashboard light up with each word as he replied "Yes? What is it?"
"Thanks again for everything. Although you seemed scary at first you're actually really nice. I'm sorry for the way I acted before when I first saw you." It was along time befor he said something and I was about to ask if I had said something wrong.
"You just reacted the way you should have when your instincts recognized me as something dangerous. I don't blame you for it...also you're welcome."
Smiling to herself I snuggled so more against the seats as I felt the conform to my body. Slowly I drifted off to sleep to the sound of Ratchets enjoy as we drove along.
~~~~~TF~~~~~
While driving back I noticed as Lexi started to fall into recharge. With all that she had been though she deserved to rest without having to worry about anything after what she had gone though. As she snuggled against me I confirmed the seat to her so that she would not be jostled as I drove along. Surprisingly I found Lexi to be tolerable more so than some of the other bots I've come across. That made it easier for me to not let my attitude I tended to have get out of hand when she had asked me questions. Though when I realized that she would have to ride in my viecaulare form back to the base, the thought of having something so squishy and alive crawling inside of my me had made me cringe at first. It was strange to say the least but not completely unbearable after she had gotten in. Her wet cloths however where annoying. I had turned on my heat coils not only to warm her but to get her dry as quickly as possible for my own benefit. I didn't want melted snow all over my interior. Although I didn't say this out loud and would keep that piece of information to myself though.
I laughed quietly to myself. Everybot knew that I hated going out of my meadbay and that I hated having to interact with anyone these days after what had happened. I bet my energon that he never expected me to go out and bring back a human. The expression on there face was something I was looking forward to.
On the way back I sensed movement ahead as I approached the area that the green sports car 'crashed'. I slowed down and quickly I went off road to hide. There were several guys in black suits searching though the car and where scanning the area with some type of equipment. Who were these people? Where they with the ones who had kidnapped Lexi? I listened in to what they were talking about as I neared.
"Yes...That was the only guy we found at the sight. As soon as he wakes up I'll interrogate him sir...I can assure you we will find out what is going on here." a male human said into a phone. Another human with the same outfit came running out of the forest to him. "I think you should come and see this! We found some kind of strange unidentifiable tracks. And they don't seem that old."
The guy on the phone hung up and turned around "Show me where they are. We need to find out what happened here and report back as soon as possible."
"Yes right away, but you're not going to believe this. These footprints are huge! At first we didn't know what they were because they were so big and widely spaced. I dont know of any living creature that could possible make them." Nervously he shifted his feet and exclaimed.
Raising an eyebrow the male huffed "So, where looking for either bigfoot or godzilla out in the middle of nowhere. Either way, we will find out what happened here and what that was we were picking up earlier. Now I'll set up a perimeter then lets go get some answers so we can get out of this cold!"
"Yes sir!" he replied as the male called over the others humans befor send them to start spreading out. Somewhere headed straight towards Ratchet. So he had to leave now or risk being discovered. Quickly he quietly snuck away avoided the humans as he continued on his way back to base. Something was definitely going on and he had to report this to Optimus as soon as possible.
Thanks both Emzydatffan and PorNgub for the reviews! Its people like you that keep stories going. Hope this chapter turned out ok as I stayed up late several nights this week writing it. Thanks for reading!
