(( I had one heck of a time writing this, dialogue isn't something I'm particularly good at. Oh well, enjoy the next chapter :)
Disclaimer: I don't own the Transformers, although I wish I did...))
-
Arcee leaned heavily against the wall outside the medbay, feeling slightly humbled and a lot more pensive than she had been before the mission in Egypt.
Gazing upon your own dead body (or bodies, in her case) was not the most pleasant thing to experience. The melted remnants of what had been her two other modules had served as a macabre reminder of how fragile life was, even when it was housed in metallic armor. To the average human, the heap of scrap was exactly what it looked like - a heap of scrap. Only a Cybertronian, or someone who had worked with them before, would be able to guess that the charred remains had once been a pair of living, functioning femmes.
"We've been through worse," she said aloud, trying to reassure herself.
True enough, she had been through worse. Before coming to Earth, she had worked as a spy behind enemy lines. She had infiltrated Decepticon outposts more times than she cared to remember, and was adept at evading capture even when the odds were stacked against her.
Going from a tripartite to a single-bodied Cybertronian couldn't be worse than being stranded in a well-fortified Decepticon base, surrounded by mechs who could easily crush her underfoot or blast her apart with a single shot. After all, she had originally been Sparked into a single body, and she had made the transition to tripartite easily enough...
"Your frame wasn't actually all that damaged," Ratchet had told her mere minutes ago, before he had given her the all-clear to return to duty. "It was the shock of having the majority of your Spark destroyed that rendered you offline for so long."
He shook his head in sympathy and continued. "I know what you're thinking, and I'm going to give you the answer now before you get a false sense of hope. Your Spark won't survive being split again."
Arcee smiled bitterly.
At least she was still alive.
She pushed herself away from the wall, carefully balanced on her single wheel, determined to avoid getting trapped in a rut of despair and hopelessness.
Perhaps a cube of energon would help.
---
Various greetings from the handful of off-duty NEST soldiers came her way as she entered the lounge area.
"Good afternoon," she replied. Her usual greeting, spoken by only one vocalizer instead of three, sounded very unusual to her audio receptors.
Arcee normally felt slightly uneasy around the humans, due to their surprised comments and opinions about the fact that "girl robots" existed. However, this time she could feel their optic sensors - "eyes" - watching her with more intensity than usual as she wheeled towards the energon dispenser in the corner.
"Where's the rest of your gang, Arcee?"
She froze.
She had accepted the fact that she had lost her two other modules, but she couldn't bring herself to admit it out loud.
Her optics beseeched the only other Autobot present, pleading for him to intervene.
Unfortunately, the mech relaxing on the floor seemed to be preoccupied. His optics were bright but unfocused, indicating that he was most likely browsing the Internet.
"They are in the repair bay," Arcee stated stiffly, and quickly seated herself next to the blue Autobot so that hopefully, no other inquiries would come her way.
The mech blinked, optics focusing on her as he became aware of her presence. He sat up hastily.
"Sorry, didn't see you there," Jolt apologized, grinning. "Um... anyway. How are you feeling?"
Arcee's vocalizer locked up before the question on her mind could slip out.
Who are you?
Panic snaked around her like a stranging chain.
She couldn't remember who this Autobot was, even though she was certain that they had interacted in the past. He was so familiar that she could almost hear his designation in her head... but apparently, not familiar enough for her to remember.
Wait...
A quick search through her memory banks later, and the panic gave way to dread.
The only other Autobots on base who she could remember were Ratchet, Ironhide, and Optimus Prime. She knew that there were several others, but their names and appearances eluded her. Ghosts of lost memories danced through her mind, lingering just out of reach.
Jolt frowned, leaning so close towards her that his concerned face filled her vision. "Arcee? Everything alright?"
"No," she managed, her voice shaky. "I - I'm sorry. I don't think... I can't... I'm heading back to the medbay. There's something I forgot..."
Arcee was up on her wheel and fleeing the lounge area before the poor bewildered Autobot could reply.
---
"Back so soon, Arcee?"
The femme skidded to an abrupt halt, optic ridges raised in surprise. "How'd you know it was me?"
Ratchet chuckled lightly. "The lack of footsteps means that it's either you or Sideswipe. And seeing as Sideswipe is out on sentry patrol, it had to be you."
Arcee flinched.
"I don't remember."
"That could be expected," the medic said comfortingly, though he didn't look up from cleaning his tools. "Ironhide's in command until Prime's fit for active duty. Ask him for -"
"No."
She could practically hear Ratchet's optic ridges raise skeptically. "No?"
Arcee's engine growled in mild frustration. "I don't remember Sideswipe, or any of the others. Only you, and Ironhide, and Prime. I don't even know how many Autobots are on Earth. The memory banks that I stored their data files on must have -"
"Been located in your destroyed modules." He completed the sentence for her. "They already know about your predicament, Arcee, so you don't need to worry," he finished, with an air of I'm one step ahead of things and I like it that way.
It wasn't hard to figure out who had let them know.
"That makes it easier, I guess," Arcee said after a pause in their conversation.
"You're welcome," Ratchet replied dryly. "I'll compile a memory chip with some of the data that you've lost. I should have it ready by tomorrow morning if Optimus stays in recharge like a good little mech."
Despite her distressed mood, Arcee felt a weak smile creep onto her face. "Little" was one of the last adjectives she'd use to describe the Prime. Maybe it was just perspective...
"Right, then. Thanks." She glanced towards the ominous tarp for a split second before looking away. "I'll get us up-to-date on the patrol roster."
She searched her radar for Ironhide's locating beacon and homed in on it. To her surprise, the old weapons specialist was outside, instead of in the firing range where he usually was at this time of day. Maybe he was terrorizing the local wildlife.
Why did I say "us"...
Arcee blinked as her optics adjusted to the sunlight.
...when there's only one of me now?
It wasn't particularly difficult to find her ex-mentor. Ironhide stuck out sharply, a hulking mass of shining black metal against the blue-green ocean and whitish sand. He was sitting close to the ocean's edge, though he kept his "toes" carefully clear of the water.
"Autobot Arcee reporting for duty, sir," she said, just loudly enough for him to hear over the whispering of the waves.
Ironhide twitched.
Even though he quickly stood up and brushed sand off his frame to hide his reaction, he had been startled, despite the fact that he didn't show it very much.
"Didn't think Ratchet would let you go so soon," he answered, expression unreadable.
Arcee nodded. "Neither did I. However, he released me with a clean bill of health, and told me that you're in charge of things temporarily in case I felt like I was ready for active duty."
"Yeah. Something like that..." Ironhide frowned thoughtfully. "The next patrol shift is yours, then. Take over whenever Sideswipe gets back."
She snapped off a brisk salute. "As you command."
"Aw. Enough with the subordinate act, it makes me feel like I'm even more out of my league. I wasn't built to be the commander of a base," he said, his powerful engine rumbling softly as he sighed, gazing up at the heavens in overexaggerated exasperation. "Prime, get your aft back in gear so I can get back to doing what I do best. It would make both of us much happier, and I'm getting hungry for some destruction."
The gleam of sunlight reflecting off metal flashed in the distance, catching Arcee's attention. She figured that Sideswipe must be on his way back from patrol.
"What were you doing out here, anyway?" she asked quietly, watching as a sleek silver Corvette screamed towards them. "I thought you'd be in the firing range at this time of day. It's some time between dawn and dusk."
If he had caught the good-natured jab, he ignored it entirely.
"I was thinking."
The Corvette began transforming as it neared the two, splitting apart and rearranging itself into a gray Autobot - Sideswipe. His tires screeched wildly as he skidded to an impressive halt.
"Didn't know you could think," Sideswipe commented off-handedly as he nimbly meandered between them, and made a desperate dash for the interior of the base.
Ironhide's expression went from "mild and slightly stoic" to "raging mad." His cannons came to life with a whirring roar, and he stormed after the Corvette with surprising speed for such a massive mech.
Arcee figured that now was an excellent time to begin her patrol.
-
(( A/N: Wow, I've only had the first chapter up for a couple days and I already have 100+ hits and all these fav's and alerts and reviews... *_* Thank you, everyone!
Something interesting I found on the official Transformers movie-character bios:
Ratchet's closest friend is Arcee (though her closest friend is Ironhide, oddly enough)
Lockdown is the worst enemy of Arcee and Ratchet.
Those of you familiar with Transformers Animated may find this amusing. ))
