Chapter Nine: Shot in the dark

What could she say? She couldn't stand there like a voiceless blob,she had to say something. But what? Chris expected answers from her-Answers she couldn't currently give. Opening her mouth to speak,Holly was about to tell her friend what she knew when one of the two robots began to advance towards them. Chris instinctively growled as he moved around so that his back would not face either of the giants.

"Its not the matter of what she may be doing with us that you should be concerned about. But rather,what will become of you now that you know about us"

It was the blue giant that spoke,smaller then the other and a little less bulky he was known to Chris as formerly his Tundra. Who,earlier had explained to the boy what had attacked him and that his life enevitably rested on what happened in the few hours that followed the explination. Holly,on the other hand was completely clueless as to this giants relation to Chris and didn't know what to make of him...

'As I had told Christo...'

He paused,knowing how it irritated the boy to have his full name spoken,he decided to keep things simple for now and shorten the humans name...what an annoying trait these humans seemed to have,being so picky about their names.With a snortish sound he continued on,his brilliant red eyes watching Chris more then the girl,he didn't seem too bothered about her.

'Depending on the actions and words spoken tonight, will determine your usefulness and how long you may have to live"

'So..I take it, you guys aren't here to save us'

Holly commented,her tone was flat but she didn't seem to hold any resentment towards any of the giants nor the one who had lied to her earlier.

'What exactly did Starscream tell you?'

Now the second spoke,approaching like the blue one had. Holly instantly reconized him as her Hummer-that and she had seen him the night previous, though now that she saw him clearly he was alot larger then he looked last night.

'I...um...I don't really...I mean I was...honestly...He's...'

'It could have been worse for you,you could have been woken up by worse means and forced to face-'

'Beatdown, she's scared enough as it is'

'Good. The humans need to know their place'

'They'll be useless if they think we're mindless killing machines'

'You still hold your true colours,Hammershot. You may act like one of us. you may sound like one of us. But you are still soft...you are still an A-'

'Since when did you give a damn?'

'The moment YOU told me to get Christopher involved'

There was a pause between the two,apparently tension ran high betweenall the members of this faction. Hammershot,the hummer turned his attention back to Holly, he huffed heavily and continued his conversation with the girl just like Beatdown hadn't distracted him.

'Forget everything Starscream told you'

'Done!'

'Its..."

Holly smiled up at Hammershot,who looked momentarily stunned at how readily the girl was willing to forget what the other had told her...even though she had no reason to believe what she was being told now.

"a lie...'

He muttered to finish his sentence. Chris finally moved foreward enough and grabbed his friend by the arm,pulling her out of reach of both Beatdown and Hammershot.

'Why was I dragged into all this? Am I a hostage? And why aren't we both incorserated,locked away in some cell?'

'All excellent questions and all will be answered in time'

Hammershot was in no mood to deal with the human,he just wanted to see where he and the other Decepticons stood with the human girl. Holly had fallen quiet for a moment when Chris had grabbed her,though she didn't protest this she also didn't seem to want to be removed from the robots.

'Tell me the truth,Hummer...why are we here?'

Slowly she looked up to Hammershot,a strange glint in her eyes. Hammershot frowned,his facial expressions were easier to notice then most of the others, he wasn't surprised that she had called him by the vehicle he transformed into rather then his name-he hadn't formally introduced himself to her after all.

'You,Holly are here because you have something we need to finally end our war with the peace loving pathetic Autobots'

"Autobots? They're the 'good guys?'

'You could call them that. We are called the Decepticons,for future reference. Starscream had probably told her otherwise in an attempt to gain your trust, and you would be wise to not give him your trust lightly'

'He did what you're attempting right now..."

Chris stated more then asked, he knew where this conversation was going to lead and also knew that if he didn't try and talk some sense into his friend,they both may end up dead after all this.But knowing that she probably wouldn't listen to him anyways,Chris had to come up with a plan to save his own hide, if they even survived this.

'Exactly'

Hammershot replied dryly, his attention was removed from the humans as a loud chattering filled the air. Spotting the scorpion,Chris growled,the noise it was emitting was bothering his ears and he didn't like it, not that he cared much for the other two. Taking the oppertunity to talk to Holly in semi-privacy, he pulled her back further-he also didn't want her to go running up to the scorpion either.

'HOlly, i know what your thinking. Grow up! This isn't one of your fantasy stories...No Big Hero is going to whisk you off your feet and save you. This is real...These...Decepticons...will kill you...Kill us!'

'I know that already Chris!'

Holly snapped back, ignoring the dark look Chris gave her in return.

'Then think about it'

'I have'

'Holly...'

'Listen,we're going to die either way-I'd rather die on my terms,knowing its coming over knowing its coming but running around scared because I don't know when'

There was another pause, in some twisted way what Holly said made sense but as always she missed the true point.

'Fine. But remember just because you say that you're one their side,won't keep them from killing you'

'I know'

She pushed away from Chris,no longer meeting his gaze,and revealing that she was probably fighting her consense that told her to listen to him,she also looked like she might burst out crying...or laughing...sometimes it was hard to decipher the difference. Beatdown had over heard the humans conversation and was no longer surprised at their desire to die. Only Chris seemed unwilling to blindly throw his life away for 'Giant killer robots' as the Decepticon have been called in the past. However,now that Chris was involved with all this,Beatdown would have to come up with a better plan to keep the boy out of the war-for he needed this human alive. Unfortunatly,for what reason would have to wait til later to be revealed, for now he would have to bide his time and do what he had been for several years now...

Scorponok finished his conversation with Hammershot and quickly scurried off the way he had come, his metal feet causing a strange echo to ring throughout the room he was exiting. The Hummer was not impressed by what he had been told but decided there was no need to hide it from the humans now...turning back to face the others,he gave a slight growl to catch their attention once more.

'Crusher will be arriving in the morning-Starscream wants you to be at the airport when she arrives'

'Why?'

Growled Beatdown but already suspected the answer-he just didn't know how well this would turn out for them. The Autobots would have a specially keen eye for any suspecious movement now and would be deffinatly on the look out for the Hummer.

'Blackout,Barricade and Starscream will all be there as well. And of us all, the Autobots still have no idea about you.'

Beatdown gave a resentful nod,it was true though-in all this time he'd managed to stay out of the Autobots detection. He looked down to Chris,who glared darkly back at him-still unimpressed by all this.

'Holly...'

Hammershot began but was cut off as the girl spoke over him, she spoke what had been weighing on her mind.

'Why wasn't I just asked?'

'What?'

'Why didn't YOU just ask me if I was willing to join you, before all this craziness and Chris got involved'

'Because, we could not afford the risk of you getting frightened and running off to the Autobots'

'Why would I do that?'

There was a pause as Beatdown and Hammershot glanced at each other with the same puzzled expression,was this girl admiting that she had no intention of going to the Autobots even though she knew that she was with a group of hostile and violent robots.

'I want to help you and I don't care what happens to me'

'You're willing to sacrifice your life for the Decepticons? Even knowing that none of us would do the same for you?'

'Yes'

The look on Holly's face revealed that she was serious, the two Decepticons looked a little amused by the human.

'But...I have one stipulation...'

'Hmmmm...'

'No one is allowed to touch,harm,torture or otherwise kill my friend, Chris'

Chris cocked his head to a funny angle and side glanced at Holly,trying not to show the small shadow of a smirk he had playing on his face. He gave a few shakes of his head and chuckled inwardly at her condition,though he was surprised by it but had nothing to say against it either.

'Deal!'

Beatdown agreed,recieving a strange look from Hammershot which he ignored. This suited his plan for the better anyways and the boy now could have free communication with the other humans that were working under the Decepticons rule.

'Morning is still a long ways off, I'll take Chris home. I'm sure he'd perfer sleeping in a bed after all he's been through tonight'

'You might say that'

Beatdown transformed into his vehicle mode and waited for Chris-turning to Holly Chris growled lightly but had no real force behind it.

'You know, I'll get you for this'

He threatened and climbed into the Tundra,which nearly took off the instant the door shut. Holly grinned widely,apparently amused by something she was thinking about before turning her attention back to her Hummer.

'If its okay with you, tomorrow I want to go back to town and pick up a few things. And leave a note or something for my mym...I mean I'm freezing here in my Pj's.'

Holly jestured to the still damp clothing she as wearing,she hadn't gotten dressed before she had been kidnapped. Suddenly her eyes went wide and she gave a sharp scream.

'What!? What is it!?'

Hammershot looked around for whatever may have gotten the human girl so upset,he expected to see one of his comrades or even an Autobot that had some how managed to sneak it...but saw none of either.

'CHRIS! he...He...'

'Do you want me to tell Beatdown to come back with the boy?'

'NO! Its that...Chris...Saw me in my Pajamas!'

Holly wailed, falling to her knees and barring her face in her hands as her skin went a slight pink colour. Hammershot growled,he had honestly thought that something serious was wrong...he watched the girl in silence...knowing not what was so wrong about the boy seeing her in what she wore...He also didn't know if she was actually crying or just making loud noise for the sake of it...Humans! He'd never understand them...especially this one...