Title: Define Human
Rating: T
Disclaimer: not mine, never will be mine. No money is being made. Plain and simple right?
Summery: Vengeful Decepticons turn Optimus Prime into a human thinking he will be easier to kill as a 'flesh ling'. Now Optimus has to adjust to being a human as the threat of a Decepticon attack hangs over his head. Luckily the Autobots and Sam and Mikaela are there to help, but for how long?
Author Note: So, I am totally amazed by the kindness of all you reviewers. You've made my first true 'comeback' story enjoying too write and have rekindled an old spark and I can't thank you all enough. I can't begin to tell you how cool it is to come home and find so many reviews asking for updates in my mailbox. So, I think I've finally made up my mind and will try my hand at a series after this story is complete. With that said, the last chapter will be the epilogue and a taste of things to come. Without further ado then I leave you to your reading. Um, by the way I kind of figured that in 'Cybertronian' the Autobots would speak in sort of Morse Code, with clicks, long whistles and short bursts. I know in the movie it sounded different but in my head I figured they would do this. I know most people have their own renditions of how they would talk but this just seems physically acceptable for them.
Chapter 10: Victim of Circumstance
(Ironhide)
We managed to get the offline Optimus Prime back to the Lennox family farm, via the Captain and the Defense Secretary's combined efforts. The two men who hold unbelievable power within their government and military forces managed to secure one of the massive military cargo planes. Said plan landed outside of the facility Optimus was being held in and with the delicate care of myself and Ratchet we both maneuvered the massive structure of our leader into the belly of the plane. It was a tight fit needless to say but we made it. The Captain and Epps called the metal plane a 'bird' and referred to it upon arrival as the C-130 Hercules, a structure of both impressive and sturdy design. Once loaded onto the massive plane Ratchet began scanning the motionless form of my old friend. I kneeled by his head, gently tapping the side in a comforting way. Sam, Mikaela and Bumblebee were all watching anxiously as Ratchet made some clicking noises at his findings, whirls and whistles projecting his concerns without alarming the children.
That didn't mean it wasn't alarming to Bee and I, Bumblebee stands up and lets loose a loud Cybertronian whistle of his own, demanding to know what the medical officer found. I also put in my gruff demand, grumbling out a few clicks and short whistles. Ratchet gives a loud and long whistle of annoyance before launching into a lengthy explanation, his hands moving erratically, rapidly firing off clicks, whistles and long shrill bursts.
"If you would both shut up I'll tell you! Optimus' condition couldn't be any worse. That human madman tampered with his pump regulator, several hydraulics have been punctured and the main energon line was severed inside his chest structure. Also, my guess is that Optimus' internal cooling system never engaged so even that brief tussle when we arrived has caused several of his circuits overheated, causing them to melt." He snaps and I can tell that the humans on the plane are clueless as to what everything meant and I gently continue to tap soothingly on the helm of my friend.
"Is there anything you can do?" I ask in English and Ratchet allows of look of profound sadness to cross his features before nodding.
"Yes, thank the Primus there is. I need to get his internal systems cooled down. This is simple enough and I can work on him while we're in the air, the other things need to be taken care of on the ground." He says sharply and casts an optic at the captain who nods quickly and races up the steps to he cockpit, shouting at the pilot to 'push this bird' and a brief sputter accompanies an obvious burst of speed. Ratchet nods his thanks and looks over at Bumblebee
"Bee, get over here. I'm going to need a second set of hands." He grumbles and without a moment's hesitation the small Mech is beside the CMO, Sam and Mikaela also follow, offering their help but Ratchet only smiles grimly, a look of concentration overtaking his optics.
"No, the coolant which runs within our bodies is unlike the kind that you put in your earth cars. Much like Energon it will burn and has the effect" he pauses a moment as he accesses the World Wide Web for a comparison " much like Liquid Nitrogen. If touched by you younglings, your fingers would freeze off instantly." He says and Sam instantly backs away, pulling his girlfriend with me.
"You two, come up here." I order and they both walk around, coming to stop before me. I look at them, seriousness lining my voice
"I want you two to tap lightly on this helmet here." I indicate and demonstrate the slight tapping.
"Why?" Mikaela asks softly and I fix the courageous female with stern optics
"So he knows he's not alone." I simply state and move to give Ratchet a hand, knowing that with a coolant system as large as Optimus' he'd need the extra sets of hands.
"Here we go." He mutters and taps one of the plates on the side of Optimus' side armor, cursing in a shrill whistle at the energon spilling forth. I cringe but keep my stand, knowing that if I abandoned my old friend now I wouldn't be able to look him in the optic. Battlefield triage isn't one of my strong points, sure, I'd run out and grab your sorry butt out from the pool of energon you're lying in but after that your injuries have to be taken care of by a professional. I've always been slightly squeamish when it came to that kind of stuff but I can't give into my old nature now, Optimus needs me. I glance over briefly and find Sam and Mikaela tapping lightly, now accompanied by Lennox and Epps, their eyes watching what's going on in fascination. Ratchet's fingers produce tools quickly as he races to repair the damage, cutting and splicing several wires and rerouting them without the housing structure. Then with a small grunt the CMO fires it up and a soft whirling noise fills the bay of the plane. Below me the humans all smile at the sound, not truly understanding the situation but knowing whatever happened was a good thing.
"Now we let the systems do their job and cool the insides off before I go touching everything." Ratchet say grouchily and scans over his patient once more before settling back on his thigh cables.
"He will make it though?" I ask and Ratchet nods, his expression only slightly grim.
"Yes, although he will be sore and hurting for a while but he will make it." He says and I nod, stepping around the small humans to resume my own tapping.
"But if you keep tapping like that you'll screw up his processor unit." Ratchet growls and I snicker slightly at the shocked motions of the humans, who have suddenly stopped and stepped away, giving Ratchet a concerned look.
"Aww, he's just kidding. I was doing this for fifteen human hours when we were trapped in that primus forsaken Decepticon trap under the surface of Cybertron. You remember that don't ya Bee?" At the mention of that little excursion the small yellow bot lets out a shrill whistle and a couple of Cybertronian curses.
"Yeah, and Optimus here had taken the full brunt of the explosion to keep us from being too badly damaged. He off lined for several days after that. Did this, and later he said he knew I was there because of the tapping." I nod down, finding the eyes of the four humans staring up at me, Lennox with amazement.
"What?" I snap, throwing the pesky Captain a glare of my own.
"Aww Hide…. Who ever knew you were such a softie under that armor." He coos and makes little hand movements like he does for his young daughter. I snort and fix the hysterically laughing Epps with a warning glare
"Watch it buddy, I have cannons and I know how to use them. Don't think I won't." I threaten and Epps stops laughing and in all seriousness responds
"And blow a hole the size of New Jersey in this bird? Man, you'd be walkin' home." He laughs and Bee jumps into the fray, blaring
"Now I'm walking in the moonlight
Seeing nothin' but the tail lights
And that's a pair of tail lights I may never see again
And that's about as lonely as the highway's ever been
Back there with my bum out in the wind…."
I turn my glare on the sometimes spastic little yellow autobot and Bumblebee makes a soft squeaking noise, signaling his laughter and pointing. I growl and am about to shoot back a response to the insolent little brat when the plane does it for me. Bumblebee, being unseated and not having his stability clamps locked is rocked back onto his bottom when the plane begins its descent, making a very loud thud and a metallic screech of metal on metal.
"See? Revenge is a sweet thing Bumblebee." I click and whistle at him, watching the sour expression come over my cohort's face. The plane lands in the larger section of the Lennox field and the massive back door opens. I look over at Ratchet who is giving Bumblebee some orders and sends the small bot off, running across the field at a wild clip. Ratchet turns to me and nods and the group of humans move back as Ratch and I lift Optimus up onto our shoulders. Together we move the unresponsive and badly injured Prime to the hay barn where Bumblebee has laid down several tarps and had already started working on getting several pieces of equipment salvaged from the still cloaked the orbiting Ark online. We had just settled Optimus onto the floor of the barn when the humans come in, their exhaustion and worry showing plainly on their faces.
"Is there anything we can do?" I watch as Ratchet thinks for several minutes before shaking his head
"No, this is very delicate of a situation. I would incline that you four should go, eat, wash and rest. I will send Bumblebee to fetch you should anything drastic happen." He says gruffly but the concerned edge makes me cock and optic ridge. With a little bit of discouraged slump to their shoulders Lennox leads the small group back to his small house, where I can see Sarah watching wide eyed from the porch. Since the day her husband arrived home from the war within my cab she's been fearful of her husband being pulled back to that awful place. I have to give the human woman credit, she'd give some of our Femme's a run for their money when it came to protecting her own.
"Ironhide, I'm going to need you to help me here." Ratchet says, pulling me from my thoughts and I turn, finding the CMO all business. I nod and listen to my instructions carefully, knowing no mistake can be made.
Not with Optimus' life.
(Sam)
"Will, what happened?" Sarah Lennox asks quickly, casting a nervous look at the massive dot known as the 'Hercules' now flying back to base. Will only smiles and huggs his wife
"Nothing, Optimus was in a bit of a situation and we had to call in the big bird to get him home." Is all the Captain would say and Sarah nods, her military wife mentality showing through but concern lining her face as she looks over at the old hay barn
"Will he be alright?" she asks slowly and I smile, knowing how attached the woman had become to her resident robots. Will and Bee had told me how while Will and Ironhide were away at the base after the battle in Mission city Optimus and Ratchet would keep their distance, watching over the house and it's occupants, even at night until Will returned.
"We hope so, Ratchet's working on him right now." He assures and Sarah, remembering we're there turns quickly
"You all must be tired. Come on, sit down. I was just making dinner, Sam, your should call your parents, tell them where you are." I stop thinking for several minutes..
"Oh sh.."
"Hey! There's ladies in the room." Epps scolds and I quickly run a nervous hand through my hair.
"Sam?" Mikaela asks, her voice questioning and alarmed
"My… dad's g-going to kill me!" I shout suddenly and Will starts to laugh while Epps shakes his head. Mikaela puts a hand on her hip and levels me with an even stare
"Sam, you're parents are on vacation." She says and I start to breath again, blinking quickly
"Oh yeah." I smile and the group around me collectively groans and Will shakes his head.
"I swear… teenagers these days." He mutters and goes over to the high chair his daughter's sitting in.
"But you'll be a good girl won't you… yeah, you're a daddy's girl." He says and I see Epps roll his eyes, turning to Sarah he grins
"Watch it… she'll be spoiled." He warns lovingly and Sarah responds by throwing a dish towel at her cooing husband
"She already is." Will laughs and I can't help but enjoy the scene in front of me, the big, bad ass Captain Lennox reduced to mush by his wife and a cooing fool by his daughter. The moment is silenced when the loud sound of an alien saw is heard from the barn and the mood grows solemn once more.
"Hopefully he'll be alright." Epps says from his place beside the wall
"Yeah. Wonder what they would do without him." Mikaela asks suddenly and I give my girlfriend a bewildered look.
"hey! I'm not saying he's going to die Sam, jeez, relax." She protests and crosses her arms stubbornly.
"Actually, I talked to Optimus about their culture and he told me that when one Prime, who is the leader, dies the Matrix of leadership is passed onto another. This 'other' is or was picked by the High Council of Ancients and when this person acknowledged that he was the chosen leader of Cybertron the Matrix gave him all the power and knowledge of those before him." Will says and gives us each a look before continuing "and since there isn't a High Council of Ancients any more the Matrix would end up kind of like the Allspark, fought over. Let's just all hope for our sakes as well as Optimus' that he survives this." The silence is almost deafening until I find myself laughing and the gathered groups eyes turn to me, some in outright horror (Mikaela) and others slightly concerned for my mental health (Epps, Lennox).
"Guys, if Optimus knew we were all worrying over him like this he'd probably blow a gasket. He'll be fine." I tell them and Epps places his hands on his hips and cocks his head to the side
"And how do you know that?" I square my shoulders and stare solidly at the other much older man.
"Bumblebee told me he's over several millennia old and for half of that he's been fighting to keep himself and those battling beside him and under his orders alive. I don't think he'd allow himself to die with all his Autobots lost among the stars. He'll bring them together and make sure they're all right and set up in a place where they can live peacefully before he finally lets go. Bumblebee once told me that Optimus is, to him and other warriors, the definition of a leader as well as a friend. He started out as normal as the rest of them and kind of had to evolve into what he is now. He won't give up." I stop and a small smirk comes to my face as a bright yellow flash outside the window catches my attention and I point to the window, drawing the group's attention.
"And judging by the thumbs up Bumblebee's giving he'll be just fine." I smile and Bumblebee is indeed kneeling outside Sarah's kitchen window with two of his thumbs standing right up and his optics glowing brightly. The group let loose a whoop of joy as the small mech heads back to the barn and Mikaela pulls me down, her lips pressed close to mine
"Never give up huh?" she says sweetly and I nod, licking my lips and swallowing
"Damn straight." And she laughs, kisses me and then grabs my hand
"C'mon." and pulls me behind her out of the house and to the barn.
Author Note: Good Gods, seven pages. The song was Nothin' but the Tail Lights by Clint Black. This chapter was fairly boring I know but it was a needed evil. This would have been updated this morning but today is the No Tax holiday in Massachusetts and I decided to go shopping after working my 40 hours. Man… people are CRAZY out there. MAD I tell you! Simply mad. But I absolutely LOVED the sales and am looking foreword to continuing my shopping tomorrow. Please do review, the next chapter will be the last of Define Human but there will be a sequel and several side stories from this main story. Thank you all!