Chapter Ten
Amelia opened her eyes, hesitating to do so. She had a feeling that something had happened, but she couldn't get her sleepy mind to wrap around it. She blinked at the harsh lights of the medbay, realizing where she was.
She turned onto her side, and saw Ratchet, bent over somebody she couldn't really see. Amy turned to her other side, and saw Cliffjumper, awake, and fully repaired, as far as she could see. She resisted the urge to call softly to him, and turned back to Ratchet.
Ratchet turned to the side, reaching for another tool. His face was screwed up in concentration, and he looked pretty grim. He was muttering something quietly, like a mantra.
Amelia said softly, "Ratchet? What's going on?" Her words shocked the medic out of his thoughts, and he whipped around, startling the girl.
When he turned, Amelia found she could see the mech on the medical table: Wheeljack. She felt a lump form in her throat as she remembered what had happened. With amazing agility, she jumped clear from her bed to his. "Wheeljack! Are you alright?" she cried, swallowing the knot in her throat.
Wheeljack chuckled weakly. "I'd ask the same of you," he said.
Amelia hugged him as best as she could, considering her size. "I…I guess I just got angry…" she said, turning her head to Ratchet. Amy let go of Wheeljack, but still stood close.
Ratchet just stood there, dumbfounded. "You-you…" He paused, supposedly to collect his thoughts. "No human could jump that distance; even a glowing one." He shot Amelia a searching look.
"G-glowing? I was glowing?" she asked softly, gaining a faraway look in her eyes.
Wheeljack gave her a confused look. "Yes, you were…don't you remember?" He exchanged looks with Ratchet, who said, "You don't remember any of what happened, Amelia?"
The girl frowned, and said, "No-I don't. I remember a lot of anger, but…nothing else until now." She paused, then flinched sharply. "No, wait…the anger gathered into energy, and… And I launched it at Inferno. Then I…blacked out," she finished, blinking in confusion.
Wheeljack yelped in pain, and Ratchet put a hand on his arm to hold him down. He'd started working on his shoulder. "Your shoulders are bad, Wheeljack. Inferno really did some damage," said Ratchet grimly.
Amelia glared at him, and placed a gentle hand on the inventor's shoulder. Blue tendrils of energy jumped from her fingertips, running over his shoulders, instantly healing them. The girl looked at her hands, amazed. The three watched in awe as some leftover energy dashed down Wheeljack's body, healing all the other minor injuries.
In a matter of minutes, he was completely repaired.
Wheeljack sat up, examining himself. Ratchet did the same, albeit with a more critical optic. "By Primus…I don't believe it," he murmured.
Amelia shrugged happily. "And this time I don't even feel tired," she said brightly. She was pleased by her powers, feeling quite equal to the mechs, and suddenly wanted to try out her powers on Decepticons.
When she voiced this idea, Ratchet's face turned very dark. "Absolutely not. Out of the question." He frowned even deeper, if that was possible, when she said, "You don't want me to get mad, do you?"
Of course, Amy had no intention of hurting him, but the threat still worked: "You'll have to ask Optimus, then, if you won't take my word."
Wheeljack touched her arm, optics warning the girl not to take it too far. She nodded, almost imperceptibly, and was silent. "Hey Wheeljack? Do you mind taking me to Optimus?" she asked in a sweet voice, and giving him her angel eyes.
No human could resist her angel eyes, and even the inventor had a hard time, but he managed. Before he could answer, an alarm went off.
Amelia choked back a scream, and, seeing her fear, Wheeljack cupped his hand protectively around her. The girl cuddled up to him in fear. She grabbed her sister, holding her tightly. Taylor buried her head into her sister's side, crying softly. Amelia stroked her hair, avoiding the little girl's gaze.
"W-what's going on?" she asked, looking around with dangerously glowing blue eyes.
Wheeljack tried to calm her down, but to no avail. "Amy, it's alright. Don't worry." He sat up, lifting Amelia and Taylor to his chest as he did. Ratchet was hurriedly putting away his medical tools, and Cliffjumper, who'd been watching the entire scenario, jumped up, and pulled out one of his signature big guns.
Amy suspiciously eyed his gun, but he winked at her, his earlier feelings gone. She was reassured by that, and began gathering her senses.
She looked around, and the red alarm on the ceiling was flashing angrily, pulsing a loud warning tone. She wanted it to stop, but knew that wouldn't be the best idea. She could see Ratchet angrily working on the doors, but they were locked in the emergency.
Armed with a sudden inspiration, Amelia had Wheeljack put her down, threatening to jump if he didn't. She walked in front of Ratchet, and, gathering the burning adrenaline inside of her, she let loose a wave of energy. It passed harmlessly over the Autobots, but the doors shattered.
She dashed outside, and followed her intuition. The girl ran left, right, avoiding the mechs that ran hither and thither. Her immediate thought was to go to the control room, where Optimus had shown her Teletraan I. She could hear Wheeljack, Ratchet, and Cliffjumper calling for her, but she dejectedly blocked them out, needing all her concentration to gather the energy.
Amelia unleashed another wave when she reached the doors, and they too shattered. Inside, all was quiet. No alarms were going off, and that sounded alarm bells in her head. A dark shadow loomed over her, and she instinctively ran to the right. A giant, gleaming silver-and-black femme stood there. The look on her face was pure evil, even radiating it in her glowing red optics.
Out of nowhere, Optimus Prime jumped her. The two fell to the ground, and Amelia was stunned by the ferocity with which the femme attacked, using everything from her blaster to her head to batter the Autobot leader.
Amelia knew with a terrible certainty this was Marauder. The very femme that had haunted her dreams not so long ago.
The energy she had so carefully gathered started slipping away, and Amy ran away, hiding behind one of the large chairs. She could hear the sounds of the battle raging behind her, and tried to ignore them, building and building her anger, thinking of the exact moment when she'd gotten angry at Inferno.
But it wasn't enough.
Amelia realized the anger she had felt there wasn't being counteracted by fear, like it was now. She peeked out, and saw, to her horror, Marauder had the advantage. She was holding a terrible, shining silver blade to Optimus's throat.
"Let's see how much Energon the great and powerful Optimus Prime has," she hissed gleefully. The blade drew closer, steadily so.
Amelia felt the power building up, felt it consuming every fiber of her being. She allowed it to take over her thoughts, actions, and emotions. Her hair whipped around her, and her hands glowed a brilliant white, just as before.
The girl stepped out, and as the blade pressed into Optimus's throat, and a trickle of some glowing Energon came out, the glow started running up her arms. The glow spread, until Amelia was enveloped in a ball of bright light.
The glowing energy continued outward, and barely visible inside was a small figure, glowing brighter than all the rest. Amelia raised her hands above her head, and formed an orb of the energy. She flung it at Marauder, and the femme was thrown back against the wall.
She glared fiercely at Amelia, and stood up. She kicked Optimus harshly out of the way, and the glow surrounding the girl flashed out in her anger. Marauder fought against the force, and managed to keep her feet on the ground.
Amelia threw discs of energy at her, finally sending her flying back into the wall, knocking her unconscious.
The glow receded, and Amelia fought to not collapse to her knees. She staggered over to Optimus, and scrambled up onto his chest.
She wasn't done yet.
She pressed her fingertips lightly to the wound in his neck, and channeled energy out, finding how sluggishly is came now: she was tired. But Amy refused to give up, and pushed the energy until Optimus was completely healed.
The girl stumbled off, and fell to the ground. She lifted herself up feebly, and reached out with her mind. The tendrils of energy flowed out, seeking Wheeljack.
The inventor heard a weak voice say, "H-help…me…" and then fade. He somehow knew instantly who it was, and where it had come from. Without saying a word, he rushed to the control room.
Amelia weakly lifted her head at the sound of footsteps. She saw a face in her restricted line of vision, and said quietly, "Wheeljack…you…heard me…" She fought to stay conscious, barely awake. He picked her up gently, holding Amy to his chest, right where his spark was.
The tired girl snuggled up to him, and fell asleep.
I'm on a roll! Guess I just needed to get back into the swing of this story! R&R!