Thea stared off into space, sitting on a chair in a small, enclosed room. The redness of her dull, blue eyes showed clearly she cried, and shadows under them revealed lack of sleep. The food given to her was laying on the table in front of her, barely touched. She had changed her torn, dirty clothes a while ago when she was put in the room, and now a plain, gray T-shirt and comfy pants were hiding most of the bandages she was covered in. In fact, she had so many bandages, she could be mistaken with a mummy. Thankfully, nothing was broken, and the fabric was covering only a vast amount of bruises, cuts, grazes and scratches. On Thea's right cheek, close to her broken lip, a band-aid hid a quite nasty cut. This'll probably gonna scar.
Suddenly, the door's opened, letting two men into the room. Thea recognized one of them as the soldier that first caught her when she almost collapsed onto the ground. He was a bald black man, dressed in the uniform from earlier, same as his companion, who was foreign to Thea.
The stranger, which was a white man with chestnut hair, sit on the opposite side of the table, while the other one stopped nearby, leaning slightly against the wall. "Thea Adams?" when he earned a hesitant nod from Thea, he reached towards her with an open hand. "Major William Lennox, and this is Chief Master Sergeant, Robert Epps. Nice to meet you."
Thea glanced for a moment towards the black man, who gave her a small nod, before she shook Lennox's hand and replied gingerly, her voice cracking slightly; "Likewise."
Major Lennox frowned slightly at Thea's obvious distress. It was inevitable though, considering what the kid has been through just yesterday.
"I'm sorry for your loss. If it helps in some way, the terrorists that attacked your neighborhood have been captured…" Lennox was caught off guard as the girl suddenly shot up. "Terrorist?! What are you talking about?! There was this giant friggin' robot, fighting those two other robots while turning everything to the ground level!"
The black man, Epps, tensed slightly on his spot while his sitting companion chuckled nervously, trying to hide his uneasiness.
"Listen, Miss, I know it's hard to cope with the death of your parents, I really do, but you were hit pretty hard from that bomb explosion, and…"
"No, you listen!" Thea's sudden burst of cold anger shut the man up effectively. "I don't know what you're trying to accomplish by telling me I was seeing things, but I know what I saw. A giant, black robot broke into my property, destroyed my house along probably half of the neighborhood, with all the stuff that was there, and… …A-and killed my parents." The girl slumped against the chair, looking down at her bandaged hands as the fire inside her body burned out, leaving only an infinite amount of pain and eyes once more welling up with tears.
The men looked at each other, silent messages exchanging between them, and then Lennox let out a heavy sigh. Turns out, the girl wasn't going to be persuaded, no matter what.
"Look." He spoke up solemnly, catching Thea's attention. "We can't convince you what you saw was an illusion, I see that now. But they, the things you saw, they're top secret. Nobody can know about them. Not civilians, at least. Do you get where I'm going here?" Thea furrowed her brows at that, but nodded nevertheless.
"Heh. You've got some fire in you after all, huh, kid." Epps piped in with a smirk, folding his arms. Thea sent him a glare in response.
"Today's my eighteenth birthday, for your information. I'm not a kid anymore."
"So," Lennox drew her focus back to him. "Can I assume you'll keep everything that happened the other day to yourself?"
There was a long, quiet pause, whilst Thea rubbed her chin slightly, seemingly deep in thought. The soldiers shifted nervously, waiting for her response. If she wasn't going to cooperate, they all were in a heap of trouble.
Eventually, the girl spoke up softly. "I wanna see them."
"Huh?" the men exchanged surprised looks.
"Those two other robots. I know you're with them, so you know where they are. I want to see them." Thea gave both of them a stern look that said 'I am not taking NO as an answer.'
"…Well? What are we gonna do, Will?" Epps whispered quietly to his companion. After a moment of silence, Lennox sighed once more, and then stood up abruptly.
"Wait here. I need to make a call." was all he said before he turned his back to Thea and scooted to a far corner of the room, turning on his comm.-link. Soon, a familiar baritone reached his ears.
.:Hello, Major Lennox.:.
"Hey, Optimus."
.:How is the situation over there?:.
"Well, the government managed to cover up pretty much everything. The official version for the public is some terrorist decided to play bomber man, and the girl that's been caught in the crossfire is doing pretty well, I think, nothing broken at least. But… there's a problem."
.:…What is it, major Lennox?:.
"The girl… she wants to see you guys."
There was a moment of silence on the other end of the line before the voice returned.
.:Very well.:.
"Are you sure, Optimus? I don't know what she's going to do when she sees you…"
.:I am sure. If that is what she wants, then so be it.:.
Lennox frowned at that. He knew Optimus was doing this because of the death of Thea's parents, but he wasn't sure if it's a good idea. The girl could do anything once facing the Autobots, from lashing out at them like a mad woman to screaming at the top of her lungs in terror. The man sighed for a third time this day.
"Okay, if you say so. We'll be there in a few hours. I'll let you know when we're close so you can be ready."
.:Understood. I will see you then, major Lennox.:.
Then, the line was cut off. Lennox turned back to Thea, putting a serious look on his face. "Alright, we've got the permission. Are you ready, Miss Adams?"
Thea immediately got up from her spot, determination coming from her in full force.
"Yes, sir."
"Great. Follow me." Lennox ordered, reopening the door and stepping out of the room. Thea hastily followed him, and Epps was the one closing the door after them.
The trio made their way through a labyrinth of corridors, and then out of the building towards awaiting helicopter. The two men went inside the machine, and Thea did the same, seating herself at the right window. The helicopter took off, and soon they were in the air, flying through many states of America. While Thea watched dully passing cities and landscapes, the events from previous day and sleepless night finally started to get to her. The steady sound of helicopter engine also helped in the matter, and soon the girl was breathing softly as her mind was getting a well deserved rest.
It was the feeling of the entire machine shaking when Thea snapped out of the dreamland. The helicopter was landing in the airport of what seemed like a military base. It fitted the situation, actually. 'Cause, duh, where's better place to hide giant robots than in a secret government base?
Epps jumped out of the helicopter first, and then helped Thea out. The girl was a bit stiff from her slumber, and her injuries weren't helping. Once all of them were out, Lennox led the group towards one of the many hangars.
"Okay, here we are."
Thea looked around the place. It was filled with lots and lots of machinery, metal parts and tools. Some were looking really weird, some Thea recognized from her father's work. The memory of her parent sent a painful sting in her heart. There were also stairs leading to a catwalk up high in the hangar, and strange, giant tables, resembling slightly hospital beds.
… Alien beds?
Lennox and Epps went up onto the catwalk, and Thea tentatively followed their lead. A wave of anxiety flew through her body as she settled between the men.
What? She was going to meet a freaky metal giant. She had every right to feel anxious, and she certainly didn't take any chances of her being squashed by it.
"Um… where is it… I-I mean, he?" she asked hesitantly, scanning the empty room warily.
"He's been training up until now. He'll be there in a minute." Lennox gave Thea a reassuring smile when he noticed her tense demeanor. "Don't worry, kid. He's a good guy."
Thea huffed slightly, sending the man an irritated look. "I'm not a kid."
Right then, a honk sounded through the air, and a moment later a large, blue semi with red flames rolled into the hangar. Thea's eyed widened slightly at the sight. She saw this semi before.
"I-Is this…"
Before she could stutter more, the semi suddenly let out a strange noise, and then it broke up into pieces of metal that started to move around like a giant puzzle. Whirls, clicks and clangs resonated in the room as metal scraped against metal. In a split second the moving mass took a form of a huge metal torso, along with two legs, arms, and finally, an oddly humanoid face appeared on top of it all. The creature gazed down at Thea, even if she stood high up in the air. This thing had to be 30 feet tall! Or more!
"You… you're that truck that parked yesterday near my house…" she muttered quietly.
"Yes." The creature answered in a deep, yet soothing baritone.
Thea sensed he wasn't going to cause her any harm, and she let her body to relieve some tension with a low breath. She studied the metal giant carefully, taking in all of his form.
His board shoulders were painted mostly red, with two pieces of windshield on his chest, while his arms and legs were a mix of red and blue paint. His head was painted blue, minus face that was plain, silver metal, and he had some sort of antennas in the places where his ears would be. But what really stood out in his appearance, were his electric blue eyes, staring at Thea with such intensity she'd swear he was able to read deep into her soul. He radiated a strong aura of authority and power, standing tall in his place like a mountain. But it wasn't an intimidating aura. She'd feel no danger would come to her from this magnificent colossus.
"…Who are you?" Thea finally asked, her eyes connected with his.
"My name is Optimus Prime." The giant spoke. "We are autonomous robotic organisms from a planet Cybertron."
"We?" Thea gave him a quizzical look.
"There's more of them than just Optimus and that other robot, but we thought you don't need to meet all of them right now." Lennox piped in. Thea gave him a small nod of understanding and appreciation for an answer. She then returned her attention to the giant robot named Optimus Prime.
"So… you're like, aliens?"
"That is correct."
"Why are you here?"
"We are here to defend your kind from the Decepticon foes, who remain on this planet after the battle of Mission City."
The name stirred some memories in Thea's mind. She was never in the Mission City, yes. But the girl remember reading some papers and watching news about a huge disaster that happened in the city just several weeks ago.
"So, I assume the giant that smashed into my house was a Decepticon…?" Thea murmured softly, sadness and pain filling her eyes at the horrible memory as she glanced to the side. Optimus frowned slightly, seeing the girl's visible suffering. "Yes, it was." He paused for a moment, and then spoke in a much softer tone. "I am deeply sorry for your loss, young one."
This prove of empathy made Thea realize she still didn't introduce herself despite him patiently answering all her, probably rude, questions.
"It's Thea… Thea Adams." She gave him her name absentmindedly. Then, her pained expression softened, and she raised her gaze back up to meet his careful, robotic eyes. "Thank you."
There was a moment of silence while both men and the giant stared at Thea in a well hidden surprise. Optimus was certainly taken aback by her sudden display of gratitude. From what he had learned, living on this planet, humans have the tendency to blame the first possible person for any tragic event in their life before they even consider thinking it through. Yet, here was that young femme, covered in bandages so much her skin was rarely visible, thanking him despite the fact he was involved in her parents' death.
"For what are you thanking me, Miss Adams?"
"For saving my life."
"Are you not… blaming us for the death of your guardians?"
Thea looked to the side in response. "For some time, I actually did. But I had a whole night to think it over, and then some… and I figured it's not right." When her statement was met with even more confused looks, she shifted slightly. "I-I mean… What I'm trying to say is, I know my parents are dead, but… it wasn't your fault they died, it was that robot. And if you didn't stop the Decepticon, or whatever, from shooting us when we were still in the house, I'd probably be dead as well by now. You could've care less and let it kill us all, but you didn't. And so… thank you that I'm still alive."
Optimus looked into those blue eyes of human female standing in front of him. And he spotted something. A spark of determination, of a will to live, strong enough to pull thought any obstacle. This girl was strong.
"…You are very welcome."
A/N: It was a bit hard to write it, but fun nonetheless. Just hope it turned out at least somewhat believable... T-T
But what will happen with Thea, now that she's alone and homeless? We'll see soon enough. ;)