Transformers Galaxy Force: Thunder Storm

Disclaimer: I own no characters in this episode, but the Rumble Team was my idea.

Chapter Three

If there's one thing misunderstood about Coby and Lori, it was the relationship between them. They first met in 6th grade, and Coby still had the scars from that encounter. Lori wasn't the dependable, trusting person she was now back then. Her family had recently moved to Coby's town from a large city that was teaming with various gangs. Lori had an older brother who had joined one of those gangs, but he was arrested and placed in prison. Rather than risk the same thing happening to their daughter, Lori's parents moved away. Lori hated leaving her friends behind, and when Coby began talking about how he hated the big city, Lori had gotten quite angry. The resulting fight got them both in trouble, and as punishment, their parents made them spend time together until they became friends. After two weeks, they were able to get along begrudgingly. By the time one month was over, Coby and Lori were almost unseparateable. In spite of the fact that they were two different people, they always seemed to find a way to help or criticize each other: Coby would shake his head at Lori's love for shopping, and Lori would sniff at Coby's love for motor biking and racing.

Eventually, Coby's little brother, Bud, joined the pair in their various activities. It was hard to see one without another of the trio nearby. When Bud was kidnapped by Super Starscream, Lori refused to let Coby look for him without her. Their adventures in rescuing Bud and collecting the Planet Force helped Coby and Lori resolve their differences and become closer than ever. It wasn't long after that that they realized that they loved each other, and promised to explore the galaxy together.

Coby and Lori worked toward their goal by working with Transformers on Planet Seibertron over their summer breaks. Coby obtained official membership in the Cybertron Army – the first and, currently, the only Human to do so – and changed his name to Coby Rumble. After two years, they completed their apprenticeships on Seibertron, and a starship that would take them across the galaxy. But this starship would only hold the two of them, which would make things awkward during their planned 10 year trip. Rather than risk "making a mistake" while on that trip, they wanted to prevent such a "mistake" from ever happening. To do this, they got permission from their parents for a secret, early marriage so that if anything "happened," there wouldn't be any problems. But such incidences where not in Coby's mind, nor Lori's mind. To them, they didn't get married just to hit it off. They were friends on a scale that no one else could understand, and it showed in their mutual respect for each other. Their parents understood this, but to make sure, they made Coby and Lori promise to continue to practice abstinence until they were eighteen.

Unfortunately, they still couldn't get their starship off the ground, puzzling even the greatest Transformer technicians – and providing the opportunity for Lori to find out just how many creative profanities Coby knew. But they refused to take their relationship back a step, and so Lori Simmons Rumble was still Coby's wife, even though keeping their relationship a secret, and keeping their promise to their parents, was difficult at times because of the strength in their relationship. Somehow, they always came out on top of such challenging situations.

Their recent session in the hot spring was the most physical they had ever been with each other. It seemed to relax the stress of their relationship between them. Even Lucy, who had no idea what transpired, noticed a difference in the way they acted after they changed back into their clothes and had lunch. They seemed to be much more comfortable with their strong feelings, and they seemed to be more open with their flirting. While Coby was digging in the fridge for the milk, Lori – who had been using the nearby counter to make sandwiches for the three of them – passed by while carrying the sandwiches to the table and gave him a slight pinch on his rump. He retuned the favor after he found the milk and sat down next to her, causing her to slightly choke on her sandwich in surprise.

After lunch, Lucy left to run a few errands and to take her papers to the research facility. This left Coby and Lori alone, and doing the dishes did little to take their minds off each other. When they finished, they went into the living room to watch T.V. Coby laid himself out on the couch, and was pleasantly surprised when Lori curled up on top of him. There was nothing interesting on the tube, so they shut it off and just laid there, enjoying the others company. Coby wrapped his arms around Lori, and she snuggled up under his chin.

She and Coby were swimming again, only this time, they weren't wearing their swimsuits. But they didn't seem embarrassed or bothered by the fact that they were naked, but amused and excited. She looked at Coby and realized that he didn't look like he usually did; his body was coated in silver metal with blue designs, his chest had a personalized Cybertron emblem that had crossed wrenches behind the robot face, and his eyes were glowing green. Then she realized that her own body was coated in red, white, and gold metal, and she had a Cybertron emblem identical to Coby's on her own chest. Coby smiled at her lovingly and reached out to her. She returned the smile and came to him, curling up and cuddling up to his chest as he put his arms around her. The water around them – was it water? – seemed to glow with the energy of the love they shared. She began to straiten, pressing her body against his, wanting to give him everything she was; to give him a gift she could only give once, and to one person…

The sound of the doorbell ringing woke Lori and startled her, causing her to fall off Coby and the couch to land on the floor on her back with a grunt. Coby, who had also apparently dosed off, started as well. He tried to get up, but forgot that he was on a couch and ended up sprawled on top of Lori instead. They blushed when they got their bearings and realized what had happened. Coby got up and helped Lori up, and then went to answer the door as the doorbell rang again.

Lori glanced at the clock, which said 4:30 pm. She and Coby were probably asleep for 3 hours. She sat down on the couch, closing her eyes and recalling the dream she had just had. She felt her heart beat faster as the dream and the sensations she felt during it came back to her. A small tear of happiness rolled down her cheek as she remembered.

I want to remember that dream, to fix it in my mind forever, she thought. Someday, that dream won't be a dream anymore. Someday, it will happen; it will be real. So long as I live, I won't forget.

Coby must have answered the door, because the next thing she heard was a pair of yells, and then Coby rushed past her, pursued by someone who looked just like he did two years ago holding a video camera. Bud Hanson chased his older brother into the next room, where the too of them disappeared from sight.

"Coby-sama sure hates it when Bud chases him with that video camera of his."

Lori smiled and turned toward the source of the familiar voice. "I don't blame him, Hop. Coby still hasn't really gotten over the time when Bud filmed us kissing back behind my house, and then to top it off, showed it to our parents," she smiled at the three Microns: Hop, Blit, and Bumper. "So, why are you guys here?"

"Professor Franklin was wondering if Bud would be willing to document the research that she's going to conduct on the Artic Prison," Hop responded. "So we came up to tell her that Bud is more than willing and is able to do so. Is she here?"

Lori chuckled, "I'm afraid you just missed her, Hop. But you guys can stay here. Lucy will be ecstatic to see you guys again." Coby ran back into the room, still pursued by Bud. Lori reached out and stopped Coby with her arm, and he plopped down on the couch. Then she grabbed Bud's camera and tore it from his unsuspecting grasp. "If you run around with this camera, you're going to break it on my anger," she warned. Bud muttered an apology and she gave his camera back to him.

Coby let out a sigh of relief. "Save your film for the Prison, Bud. You're probably going to need it, and it will be better used there than trying to catch Lori and me kissing."

"You mean snogging." Bud grinned at his brother.

"Don't even go there, Bud," Lori said. "We saw what you were doing with that girl from your math class." Hop, Blit, and Bumper joined in with Coby and Lori's laughter at Bud's embarrassed expression.

Lucy soon returned, and proved Lori correct when she saw Bud and the Microns. The rest of the afternoon was swept away by the group discussing what would happen tomorrow and catching up with each other. Apparently, Bud had recently found a girlfriend, but was still too scared about how his parents would react to the news. The group shared a few more laughs and stories together, and Coby and Lori ended up getting into poking matches with each other once or twice.

"I wish Mike was here," Lucy said, and a sobering silence filled the room. Ambassador Mike Franklin, Lucy's husband, was currently in the U.S. with their infant son, Danny, who had acquired some sort of infection and was being treated at a hospital. Lucy worried day and night about them, and called as often as she could.

Lori reached across the table and patted Lucy's hand. "Everything will be fine, Professor. Just wait, you'll see."

Lucy smiled at the younger woman, "It's your intuition, isn't it?"

Lori nodded, and Coby smiled. "That's a good thing," he said. "Lori's intuition has yet to be proven wrong." He stood up and stretched. "I think I'm ready to hit the sack. We've got a long day tomorrow." Lori agreed and stood as well. They bade Lucy, Bud, and the Microns good night, and left. Bud started to play chess with Lucy, and the Microns watched, interested to see if Bud would win this time.