Chasing Rainbows chapter 3

Chapter title:Sleep With One Eye Open

A/N: Hey everyone. I'm glad you're sticking with this fic. I've got a bit more plot for this story during the third film finally. So hopefully it will all work out well. Also I'm going to start replying to reviews at the beginning of each chapter so yeah! Thanks for the support so far guys!

Review replies:

HeartsGuardianSol - Chapter 1: Hey! Sorry I didn't start this sooner. But as you can see. There's more! Yay! Thanks for your encouraging words.

Xarine – thanks a bunch! Sorry for the delay but I hope you enjoy it.

CHASING RAINBOWS…

After getting to know Dino and Bee a bit more, Miya was escorted to the women's barracks and given an empty bunk to sleep on for the night. The other women were talking on the other side of the room so she decided to keep to herself and just get some rest.

It still felt so surreal. The odds of this sort of thing happening were so slim. For once in her life, someone needed her and it happened to be an organisation who had the power to get her out of juvy.

For the first time in half a year, Miya actually got some sleep without being afraid of those lurking around her. Sure she was in an unknown place with a lot of strangers, but from prison it could only go up right?

CHASING RAINBOWS…

The next morning didn't have the best start. Miya was lightly shaken awake. Of course, the shaker was being nice and gentle and was completely unaware of the effect it would have on the ex-convict.

In an act of defence, Miya shot up and yanked her arm out of the unknown grasp. Unfortunately, she forgot that she was sleeping on the bottom of a bunk bed and sitting up in shock resulted in a metal ringing which sounded throughout the room, earning her a few looks from the other women in the room. "Ah shit!" she cursed as her hand flew to her head. That reaction was one that would be a nice little reminder of her time inside, hopefully she could faze that out.

"Oh my God, are you ok? I didn't mean to scare you." Forcing herself to remember that she was free, Miya turned to her left to see a brunette with a hint of concern mixed with barely concealed amusement. She was a beautiful girl, perfect hair and make-up. Sharp features, piercing blue eyes. Not the typical kind of girl you'd expect to find in a place like this.

"Yeah, I'm great." Miya replied sarcastically. It was hard to be nice when it was early in the morning and you'd just smacked your head on a metal bedframe. The girl just raised her eyebrow.
"Well, I'm Mikaela. Lennox sent me in to wake you up."
"Sorry Mikaela. I'm Miya, but I guess you already knew that if Lennox sent you." The girl just nodded "Did he say why he needed me?"
"Does he need a reason?" Mikaela replied with a smile. "He is the Captain after all. Besides, Ratchet is out there with him too so if I'm guessing then it probably has something to do with why you're here in the first place." Miya threw off her covers without any more questions and followed Mikaela's lead. She didn't have a change of clothes with her so she just slept in the ones she arrived in.

On the way to meeting Lennox, the two girls got to know each other a little bit. Turns out that Mikaela worked at N.E.S.T as a mechanic, an important one at that. She kept those beautiful sports cars in top condition. Talk about a dream job.

Soon the two women arrived in front of a large computer set up and standing next to it was Captain Lennox and Richard Hatchet, but most talked about him as Ratchet so Miya thought she might as well stick with that.

The computer station was much like the one in the wreck room but a bit more industrial. It had wires pouring out of every single available port there was, six monitors were scattered around and four computer systems with fans blaring sat underneath it all. All in all it was pretty impressive.

"Morning. I trust you slept well Miya." The captain greeted her.
"Wasn't too bad. Thanks for letting me stay here." Lennox smiled at her reply.
"Well, if you're going to be working for us then it's the least we can do." After the polite morning routine, the soldier turned all business. "Okay, so before we let you anywhere near the project we need your help with, we have a couple days' worth of tasks which will help us get an idea on how you work. Ratchet will be supervising so if you have any questions at all then he is at your disposal. We understand that you are very skilled in this area but the higher ups like to test people. The quicker you finish then the sooner we can move you on to the proper stuff." Once the man had finished his little speech, Miya gave him a quick nod.
"Got it."
"Good. So, any questions before I head off?"
"No. I'm sure I'll pick it up fast enough and like you said, Ratchet is here if I need him." He seemed pleased enough with her answer.
"Okay, well Mikaela and I are gonna head off. Best of luck and I'll check in later if I get a spare minute." The pair began to walk away, leaving the medic and hacker alone by the computers. Time to get to work.

After Miya settled down into the office chair in front of the computer, Ratchet talked her through the first couple of tasks. If she was being honest, it was all rookie stuff, child's play. She could do this in her sleep but as Lennox mentioned, it was necessary so she was just going to have to get it over and done with.

Since the tasks didn't require her full concentration, the girl decided to try and talk to the medic beside her. As she looked over at him, his brow was furrowed as he tapped away at the tablet in his hands. He was leaning on the edge of a table and was grumbling under his breath some very interesting words. Doing her best not to chuckle, she started talking "Everything alright over there Ratchet?" the man looked up at her
"Hmm… What? Oh right, yes. Everything is fine, just a few of my colleagues being immature. So nothing new there." This time the girl did chuckle and once she replied, the pair soon fell into a comfortable talk. She asked how he became a medic. He asked how she became a hacker. Simple questions such as those allowed the pair to get to know each other. Ratchet was a really nice guy, a little on the grumpy side but nothing too bad. Like Aaron Hyde said yesterday, it's probably just a defence to hide that he cares. Especially in his line of work, it's easier to push people away.

It was coming up to half twelve when Mikaela came strolling in. The top part of her jumpsuit was tied around her waist, the dangling sleeves were stained with black grease, as were her hands which she wiped down with a red cloth. "Hey Ratch, how's everything going?"
"Fine." The man replied shortly whilst staring at his tablet with a questioning look.
"I see you're talkative as ever." She said quietly which earned her a chuckle from the young hacker in the room. "I'm actually here for you, Miya. I Thought I would take you down to the cafeteria since I'm starving and you could do with a break." The hacker looked up at the other girl
"Really? Uh, okay. Ratchet, is it okay for me to take a break?" the medic nodded and waved the pair off without even lifting his head. "Well, um, let's, go."

If Miya seemed a little shocked then that's because she was. She wasn't used to people being nice to her and offering to have lunch with her. Especially a girl like Mikaela. Okay so it wasn't exactly fair of her to judge the girl based on what she looked like but she couldn't help it, people did it to her and it's the easiest way to avoid people who were likely to act like bitches. But she would happily admit that she was wrong about Mikaela, eventually. Trust wasn't her strong suit, it would take a while to let some defences down. She still can't believe she trusted Lennox and Pax enough to join this place.

The walk down to the lunch hall wasn't too awkward since Mikaela was a born conversationalist, she asked Miya about what she had to do for her tasks and that was the perfect way to get the girl talking. When a topic of her interest came up in conversation, that's when the hacker really started to come out of her shell. She could talk for hours about the subject, she enjoyed explaining the details and loved the confusion on people's faces when she told them about something to do with computers. It was pretty entertaining.

They reached the cafeteria, and it looked like another replica of every other room in this place. The difference this time was the long, stainless steel, serving buffet along the north wall and the selection of matching tables and chairs scattered around the room. The two girls walked up to the counter, grabbed a flimsy plastic tray each and selected their meals. As they slid their trays down the counter, the pair eyed up the food choices. Miya was pretty surprised at what they served, it was everything from salad, to fish to greasy hamburgers. "You know what. I'm so hungry that I'm not even going to pretend to look at the healthy options. I'm grabbing a burger. What about you?" Mikaela asked as she grabbed a Styrofoam plate with a standard looking burger on it. It may have been standard but damn it did look good.
"I'll follow your lead on this one. I haven't eaten a burger in a long time."

Once they'd both gotten their meals, the continued to the end of the counter where a scary looking women in a hair net sat behind the till. She asked each girl for their name and then sent them on their way.

Mikaela chose a seat off to the side, which Miya was thankful for. Being centre of attention wasn't really her thing. They both sat down and tucked into their meals. The silence didn't last long as Mikaela began another conversation. "Okay, you don't have to answer this if you don't want to. But, why did you hack into the government network? I'm guessing you're not a terrorist and you're not working for someone as a spy. So how come?" Miya sighed at the question. She knew it was going to come up sooner or later, she was just hoping for the latter.
"I needed answers for something. Personal reasons. That's about as much as you're going to get out of me at the moment I'm afraid." She said the reply with a smirk to try and keep the mood friendly and light.

"So how far along with all those tests are you?" Mikaela asked after swallowing a bite of her lunch
"I'm half way through it." Replied Miya as she gulped down her water.
"Seriously? But isn't it like, two days' worth of work?"
"Yeah it is." Miya gave a nervous chuckle and rubbed a hand along the back of her neck out of habit. "I guess its all stuff I've learnt and done before. It doesn't take too long when you really get stuck in."
"You must be as good as they say you are then." Mikaela replied casually. She quickly realised that the hacker wasn't great with praise and got kind of embarrassed so, like all friends would, she teased her a little bit with it.

CHASING RAINBOWS…

After lunch, the two girls went their separate ways. Mikaela returned to her area of work when Miya assured the older girl that she knew the way back to see Ratchet. Which was true. But that didn't mean she was going to head back there straight away.

Shawn had given her the tour yesterday, but she had noticed that plenty of rooms were off limits. That just peaked the girl's curiosity. Looking down at her watch, she had just enough time to go exploring before she had to get back.

Quietly, Miya crept through the steel coloured corridors of the base. Occasionally having to dodge oncoming soldiers. She kept her cover though and continued walking until something peaked her interest.

That didn't take too long. Miya stood before two gigantic double doors. Their height was intimidating and made her feel as if they were about to collapse and squish her at any minute. What emphasised their height was the smaller door crafted into the huge left one. It was standard size and looked more useable then the other two. On the right door were the words 'training room' spray painted in black along with some weird symbol that looked like a crying face. She was sure she had seen that before… but couldn't quite put her finger on it.

Looking around her to make sure she was alone, Miya placed her hand carefully on the smaller door's handle. She felt a small thrill at doing something she wasn't supposed to. It was completely out of character for her but maybe that was a good thing. She'd changed and if she was being honest, she was happy about it. New life, new Miya. She could start over. None of these people knew her. She could be a completely different person. Someone who people would admire and like. Instead of judge and ridicule.

The door creaked slightly as she cracked it open. She didn't dare to open it any further in case there was someone in there. Through her tiny viewing window she noticed that the room was in fact a giant air craft hanger. But what caught her eye were the series of strange burn marks which were seared into the metal surroundings. As well as the gigantic dents that looked as if someone had lobbed a fighter jet at the wall.

All in all the place was a wreck. Miya scrunched her brow together as she thought about what kind of training room this place was. How did it end up looking like a war had taken place in that very room but nowhere else in the entire base? It didn't quite add up.

"What the hell are you doing?!" a deep voice bellowed at her. Successfully pulling the girl from her thoughts. She jumped a good four feet off the ground from sheer shock and turned around to face the shouter.
"Holy shit! Are you trying to give me a heart attack?" she breathed rather heavily whilst her hand clutched at her chest. When she finally looked at the face, she realised that it was none other than the weapons specialist Aaron. Wow just great.

"You're not the one to ask the questions alright. Now tell me what are you doing?" Ironhide had to admit that he was feeling pretty smug for scaring the girl like he did. It was his plan of course but he didn't expect that reaction. He took in her shaking form and the way she tried to steady her now racing heartbeat. Of course he knew he was being hard on her but he was like that to all the new recruits. Besides, she shouldn't have been snooping in the first place.

"I, uh, got lost on the way back to see Ratchet?" it came out as more of a question than a statement. Ironhide wouldn't have believed it anyway. The kid was smart, she would've remembered how to get back easily. And even if she hadn't, he knew that Mikaela had gone with her to lunch. She could've always asked her. Yup, the old war mech wasn't buying it.

"Nice try, kid. How 'bout I escort you back. Make sure you stop snooping where you're not supposed to go." He kept a serious look on his face just to make sure the kid knew she was in the wrong. He then took her by the elbow and led her back to where the CMO would be waiting for the girl to return.

"Okay, okay, I'm going with you so there is no need to man handle me." He wasn't hurting her or anything but she just preferred to be able to walk without feeling like she was on a leash. She gently tugged her arm from his grip and he dropped her arm with a glare. A glare which she threw right back at him.

However, the pair's little silent feud was interrupted. "What is going on here?" Pax asked with a raised eyebrow. Hyde stood up straight as an arrow and gestured to the teenager next to him.
"Found her sticking her nose in where it shouldn't be." She got a slightly disapproving look from the leader before her. The look made her squirm. Rian was the kind of person you didn't want to disappoint. And she had barely known him for a full day.

"Yeah… I'm sorry about that." Miya admitted, rubbing her hand across the back of her neck as she down casted her eyes a little. "Curiosity just got the better of me I guess. I was stuck in the same place for a while, so coming here to an open space with so many places out of reach. I couldn't resist." She said the last bit with a nervous laugh. She was worried that she had blown her chance with these guys now. First impressions weren't going too well.
"I understand. Curiosity gets the better of all of us at one point or another." His baritone voice was smooth, wise and soft. His words caused her to look up. He understood? Definitely what she wasn't expecting. Internally, she smacked herself on the head because she really needed to stop trying to read these people. She always wound up surprised. "Just be sure to avoid making the same mistake again, Miss Scofield."
"Of course, sir. Sorry." Rian Pax gave her a nod and a small smile whilst Hyde gave a casual two fingered salute to his commander who made his leave.

"You got off easy there kid. But it helped that you didn't lie. You really shouldn't try. It's not your strength." He finished the sentence with a teasing smirk. Knowing Miya would take the bait.
"Hey you've only seen me lie once! And that was after almost dying from a heart attack. No thanks to you." She pointed a finger accusingly at the soldier. "Just wait until I'm settled in here. You won't be able to tell the difference if I'm lying or telling the truth." Hyde just chuckled at her reply
"Alright, I'll hold you to that one then."

The weapons specialist finished escorting the hacker back to where she was supposed to be. Ratchet wasn't best pleased at her tardiness but let it slide since it was her first day. Thinking about it, Miya was getting a lot of second chances from these people. It was probably best that she didn't take advantage of that. She'll learn fast how to operate around there and everything will work out.

Well she hoped it would at least.

It had to.

A/N: Phew okay so that is sorted. I am so so sooooooooo sorry for the delay. I had some serious writers block. But my friend fixed it by giving me the idea of Miya running into Ironhide and Optimus so yay! I finally finished this chapter. I really will try not to leave you guys waiting so long for the next update. I shall do my best!

Thanks for reading! Reviews are greatly appreciated. As are favourites and follows. Let me know what you're thinking people! :) enjoy you day! See you next chapter.