The cheesiest ending you will ever read. I'm so sorry... I spend so long writing these that I don't get to practice ending them...
CHAPTER 9: COMPONENT
Barricade met us at an old abandoned airport. He was quite happy to see us. Ravage simply let me off, and then melted into the darkness. I greeted Barricade and on the ride to the Autobot base I filled him in on my time in the hospital. I decided that, if I could help it, I was never going back to one of those places again. Laserbeak and I had chosen the Autobot Base for three reasons. First of all, where else were we supposed to go? I'd had quite enough of camping. Second off, I liked the Autobots and their human friends were about my age, so maybe we'd get along. Thirdly, one could argue that the Autobots would be the best supervision that I could get, so the government wouldn't have anywhere more secure to put us. And I planned to behave anyway, so it wasn't a big deal. Fowler was waiting for us at the base. Barricade grumbled something in Cybertronian, transformed, and set me down. I got a few astonished looks from Fowler and the kids.
"Wait a minute, that didn't make you sick?" I frowned. It was the girl that had spoken. She had black hair like me with pink highlights and pigtails.
"Um, no…"
"Awesome! You must've ridden every roller coaster ever!" I laughed.
"Me? Roller coasters? Nope, never. By the way, where is this?"
"You don't know?" This answer came from the taller boy, the one that had helped interrogate me.
"Uh, no. Man, I haven't been given any respect since Fat Guy over there stole Laserbeak and kinda ruined my life!" Fowler glared at me.
"Government protocol." I wrinkled my nose. I couldn't bring myself to apologize for the various things I'd called him; he'd put me through far worse.
"Whatever." Fowler stared me down. "You're not gonna ship me off to some penitentiary, are you? Did it occur to you that perhaps if you confronted me like a civil person, then maybe I would cooperate? So if you'll let me be, then I'll tell you whatever I'm doing. And you know, I missed a whole two months of Driver's Ed 'cause of all the crap about escaping you all, so what are you going to do about it?" The Autobots and Fowler stared for a moment. I huffed. "Well, while you figure that out, where do I put my stuff?"
"No one said you're staying here." The response came from the red and white robot. I crossed my arms over my chest.
"Tough luck buddy. Where else do you suggest they take me? And if you so much as whisper the word "prison" in any form than let me tell you, we'll be gone faster than a bolt of lightning." Truthfully, I had no idea where else I could go, but I couldn't let them know that. Unfortunately, the blue female robot called my bluff.
"Gone to where? The woods again?" I said nothing for a moment; I was in the midst of a vicious battle with tears. The combination of stress and painful memories was becoming too much for me. Fowler took a step toward me and I instantly assumed a defensive position. Hot liquid dribbled down my face. I hated myself for showing weakness, but there was little I could do. I bared my teeth, molten rage and frustration swimming around in my head. It took me a moment to regain my composure.
"Very funny," I snapped, still focused on Fowler. His eyes were cold and determined, and he radiated the attitude of someone holding a gun.
"Listen, you have nowhere to go and if you want us to leave you alone…" I cut him off with a sharp snarl of fury and agony.
"No! I am not going to listen to you! All you've done is make things worse! You haven't listened to what I have to say, and I know this time won't be any different! You've locked me in a room someplace I don't know, threatened to kill my friend, kept me away from my parents, and accused me of being the bad guy! If it's going to be like that again, then maybe I should've starved to death in the woods; you know why? Because anything is better than what you've put me through!" A harsh silence resounded through the room. My voice cracked with pain. "How can I trust you after you've taken away everything that was ever important to me? I'll have nothing left if you lock me up now. Nothing." Fowler simply looked at me, which only made me angrier. "You broke me. Are you happy now?!" I felt as if my jaws were dripping with all the venom that had seeped into me during my time as a prisoner and fugitive. "And I don't care if you know I'm weak. You'd have figured it out anyway. I'm tired of all this shit about hiding and running and having no say in my life! And you are the one who caused all of it!"
"…you're not weak, Wrim." I twisted around and spotted Cliff standing back by the wall. What the hell…? "You're the strongest person I know." I stared at him for a moment. "Boss said it might be easier on you if I came instead of my brothers. Besides," he added, a sly smile creeping over his face, "I wanted to check up on you. You have quite the reputation these days." Realization crept into my mind. The two blond men that had followed me; they must've been Cliff's older brothers. He'd mentioned them once or twice, but never told me what they did. "It got lonely without you around. Nobody to keep me out of the freezer." I fought a raging battle in my head. Perhaps the government was actually trying to be nice. But it was far more likely that this was an emotional tag to try to get me to surrender. And though I wanted the easy way out so badly that it hurt, I decided that I'd made it this far. Too far to give in. I cast him a suspicious and apologetic look. But the one he shot back at me made my chest surge with pride. The facial expression he answered me with was one I rarely saw. It meant 'you're right.' Go on, you know this, his eyes seemed to whisper. I furrowed my brow. I had come so far… I turned to face Fowler, a dark determination in my eyes. It locked with his. His was cold as ice, mine like fire. Like hope. Hope; how could I have lost hope when I was this far already? Fowler continued to stare at me.
"So tell me," I said savagely, "how you can call me the villain after what you've done. I used to judge by sides, but I don't do that anymore. And my allies are a lot more hospitable than you."
"The fact still stands that they are Decepticons."
"Their cause no longer exists. And you know it. There's a new enemy now. And I think these guys could be a whole lot of help to you if you'd quit being so paranoid." Fowler seemed to be examining me.
"I see…" I cocked my head at him.
"What are you afraid of? Megatron is dead. There's nowhere else for them to go. And it's a hard life out there, avoiding MECH all alone. They'd probably be willing to join up with you. And judging by MECH's arsenal, this might take a while. It isn't as if they'll turn on you once MECH is destroyed. Do you know anyone you've fought beside for an extended period of time that would do that unprovoked?" Suddenly, I had their attention. I wondered why until a new Autobot, one I hadn't seen before, spoke up.
"Wait… Megatron's dead? Since when?" I looked at him, confused.
"Since like months ago. That's why the cause disintegrated."
"How do you know?"
"What do you mean how do I know—he's dead. What else is there to know?"
"How did he die?" I noticed Optimus Prime wasn't saying anything. He knew.
"Um duh, he kind of got into it with a few of MECH's 'pets'. Unfortunately for him, MECH has a few traitorous 'Cons that have been helping them. Kinda how Soundwave ended up their guinea pig." Fowler cut me off.
"Are you saying that Megatron has been dead for months and I didn't know about it?" Optimus spoke up.
"There are… other factors involved, agent Fowler. I will explain at a later time." I interrupted.
"Okay. So we can do this the way everybody's happy, or we can do this the hard way and you'll have to chase us all around the world. Which option would you prefer? I honestly don't think you need any more enemies right now." Fowler was about to say something, but Prime cut him off.
"I believe that the child and her companions will be valuable allies to have in the battles to come. It is best if she were to be allowed to remain free." Fowler stared at Prime for a moment, then nodded.
"The Decepticons are your enemies, not mine I suppose. Do what you're going to." My heart leapt.
"I just have one question for you Mr. Fowler; can I get paid to do this?" My smiling eyes set the mood for the answer.
"We'll see." I nudged Barricade's ankle.
"So, are you gonna be willing to put up with me?" He cocked his head at me.
"Wrim, you're bossy and somewhat insane. Why on earth I would want to be around you, I don't know. But for some reason, it sounds like it might actually get things done." I grinned ear-to ear. Cliff smiled.
"So I guess we're on the same page now, Wu-rimmy."
"Not if you keep saying my name like that. How long did you know about Laserbeak?"
"I didn't; I just knew something was up when my brothers' van showed up and they didn't talk to me."
"Hmph."
"I'm serious."
"Have you always worked for them?"
"Some time now."
"How many yogurts did you steal from the freezer?"
"I left you two."
"Oh real nice."
I could tell that from here on out, things would be crazy and stressful and ridiculous. But I was a real player in the scheme of things now, and I was determined to do what I could. Laserbeak had reassembled himself.
"Wrim, I greatly look forward to spending time with you without being hassled." I beamed.
"Same to you, friend."
