The clearing was just as she remembered it; beautiful and wonderfully secluded. Ironhide and Sideswipe headed for the far corner where Tera had stashed a few jugs of water for herself and a few oil canisters for Sideswipe. Nearly as soon as Ironhide's bed was empty of camping gear and Lennox's rucksack, and Tera's backpack was on the ground, Sideswipe and Ironhide were racing across the field and changing to their natural form. The two human forms stood in place for several minuets and watched the deadly grace of the Autobots as they spared.
. "You don't think they could get hurt doing this, could they?" Tera asked as she watched Sideswipe dodge under Ironhide, and land a blow in the middle of the larger bots back.
"Hurt? Nah." Lennox said, then was quiet for a moment while he actually considered the question, "I don't think so anyways." He winced when Ironhide swung wild and connected with one of Sideswipe's legs. "I hope not, that's one hell of a long walk back to San Diego."
Tera was watching for a full minuet alone before she heard the first, of many to follow, four lettered words as Lennox opened the tents bag. "Something wrong?" even to herself, her voice sounded a little to innocent.
A few more four-letter words were expressed before Lennox answered her, "This tent is older then both of us put together-"
-not likely, she thought.
"-and I am not sure it even is a tent!" He stared at the jumble of silver pipes and cloth on the ground and thought to himself, 'where is a private when you need one?'
Tera smiled, she had been so nervous about being alone with him, about what to say and do, and how to act. Now that they were here, now that they were alone her nerves simply drooped into insignificance and she felt herself relax. "While you are playing with the tent, I am going for firewood."
He nodded but didn't look at her, he was to busy staring at the odd assortment at his feet.
She jogged into the woods surrounding the clearing. On their second trip Tera had made the small fire pit, not really for the need of the fires warmth, but it had provided comforting sounds and smells, and provided light that was more natural. Nothing against the Autobots headlights, but firelight was more soothing. She traveled until she was out of sight of the clearing, she could still hear Ironhide and Sideswipe sparing, so she knew she wasn't to far out. Closing her eyes she remembered some of the spells she had seen the old Queen do last night. Remembering the feel of those weapons in her hands while she had slept, Tera picked one, nothing big for starters, just a throwing knife.
Power tingled on her palms as the small knife was formed, when she looked down, Tera saw a blade the color of starlight in her hand. A laugh escaped her lips and she aimed a tree, then froze. She couldn't hurt the tree. She looked around and frowned, there was nothing here she could use as a target. She closed her eyes again and imagined a dartboard, but larger, she placed it mentally 10 yards in front her. When her eyes opened she smiled to see the board made of power waiting to be used. Taking aim Tera let the blade fly, she frowned when it bounced off the board and landed a few feet away. With a wave of her hand Tera called the knife back to her, took aim and tried again.
After the fifth try the blade struck. This was going to be harder then she had realized. Suddenly she realized she didn't know how long she had been gone. Reabsorbing the power from the blade and target Tera grabbed an armful of wood from the ground and jogged back to the clearing.
The Captain was in some sort of death match with the tent, and Tera couldn't tell who was winning. Both Autobots were watching the fight-from a safe distance Tera noted. Satisfied that no one would notice her absence Tera dropped her armload of wood by the fire pit and jogged back into the woods.
On Each trip she tried a different weapon that she had seen her great grandmother make. She stayed away about fifteen minuets and then ran back with more wood and to make sure that everyone was occupied. She tried the short sword, long sword, spear and staff, and finally the bow and arrows. With every weapon came more confidence, and success. The bow and arrows was no different, as soon as she got the feel for what she was doing with power, she could send the arrows anywhere. Aiming was not a problem, if she was off a little she could correct it with a thought. She lost track of time with the arrows, enjoying them too much. The sound of her name being called had her freezing in place.
"Tera? Tera!" Lennox yelled, his voice was approaching her.
With a gasp her power was reabsorbed, and she dropped to her knees and began gathering wood. She tried to look natural.
"Tera, there you are, didn't you hear me?" Lennox asked as he approached her.
"Hmm? No sorry I guess I was kinda lost in thought." She stood up, her arms full of another load for the fire.
He studied her a moment then began gathering some himself, "I finally, no thanks to the Autobots!" he yelled the last part over his shoulder.
Tera pursed her lips together to hide her smile when they both clearly heard Ironhide and Sideswipe yell back "Your Welcome!" in unison.
Lennox closed his eyes and counted to ten. Stable again he opened them. "Got that tent set up." He smiled. "And we have more then enough wood."
Tera noticed that knowing that didn't stop him from filling his arms all the way. "Better to much then to little." She offered.
He nodded and picked up his last piece. They headed back to the clearing, the sound of dueling Autobots in the air once again. Awkwardness filled the space between Lennox and Tera again. Now that both of them were no distractions, neither of them knew what to expect.
Tera dropped her armful into the large pile of wood and had to agree with the Captain, there was more then enough for the nights fire. The tent that he had set up didn't look exactly like what Tera had expected, but it was…up…sort of. And made of canvas so technically it was a tent, even though Tera had never seen anything like it. Granted her limited knowledge of tents were the ones she had seen at the NEST base.
She covered her mouth with her hand to hide her smile. Lennox gave her a look she couldn't read and dropped his pile into the fire pit. He grumbled something half under his breath while he fished a lighter out of his pocket and leaned to light the twigs on the bottom.
"I am going to get the blanket." Tera managed to say with a straight face. She spent longer then necessary at her backpack, trying to swallow the tickle in her throat.
Lennox took a deep breath and puffed out his cheeks. Standing he stretched muscles that seemed to be screaming in protest. He opened the cooler and surveyed the food he had brought with him; Hotdogs, sandwich makings, a few apples and bananas, and smores material. With a slight shrug he ignored the real food and went for the chocolate, gram crackers and marshmallows. He pulled out the skewer he had bought and settled on the cooler with the food in front of him.
Tera spread the blanket out near the fire and sat daintily on the edge closest to him and the fire. She watched as the Captain expertly skewered two marshmallows and held them over the fire.
He looked up and caught her watching, a slow smile spread on his lips. "Ever had a smore?"
Tera shook her head.
His smile grew, "hold this." He handed her the skewer before she could say no, "keep it just above the flames. I don't like mine burnt to a crisp."
Tera froze the moment he handed her the skewer not sure how to not burn the white puffy things on the other end to burnt blobs.
"Just rotate them every few seconds so they get a nice even golden brown." Lennox sounded like he was enjoying this a little too much.
She watched as he pulled out two gram crackers, broke each in half and laid them on the cooler in front of himself. Then took a chocolate bar and broke it in half and set each half on one of the gram halves. His looked up and caught her eye, without looking he said, "your mellows are on fire."
"My what?" Tera asked, then she jumped back squeaking when she saw the balls of fire where her marshmallows had been.
Lennox laughed, "don't worry we can try again." He took the skewer from her and knocked the flaming mellows into the fire pit, skewered two more and handed them it back to her. "Roasting marshmallows is a time honored tradition of camping." He said looking at the fire.
Tera's was so focused on not burning her marshmallows she barley heard him.
"I used to go camping with my family every summer and my brothers and I would have contests on who could get our marshmallows to catch on fire and burn the longest." He laughed to himself, "but now that I am a mature male." He shot her a look, but she was still staring at the marshmallows she was rotating slowly to evenly cook them. "I prefer them golden brown instead of charcoal."
They were silent for a few moments Tera intent on her marshmallow cooking and Lennox watching her. "Do you not see your family anymore?" She asked him.
He was silent a little to long before simply saying softly "no, not anymore." He reached for the skewer and she handed it too him, not sure what had changed, Tera felt as though he had withdrawn from her a little.
She watched as he pulled a marshmallow of the skewer and pinned it between the other gram half and the chocolate. He did the same with the other and handed it to her.
Tera started to refuse, she hadn't eaten anything yet while on this planet, didn't technically need to.
Lennox gave her a charming smile, "Its tradition, you have to have at least one smore while camping."
She frowned slightly but took the gooey mess from him. He smiled and took a big bite of his own. Tera took a nibble from the corner and had to catch the marshmallow that tried to ooze out the sides. Flavors danced across her taste buds, she closed her eyes and saw fireworks as the miracle of chocolate was made known to her. She devoured the rest of the smore in two bites and eagerly began roasting the next batch of marshmallows.
Night settled over the clearing as Sideswipe and Ironhide headed back to the carbon based life forms in their group. The Autobots were joking with one another, throwing mock blows and laughing, they found Lennox and Tera sitting side by side on the blanket having a friendly argument on the exact amount of chocolate that was required for the perfect smore.
Spending time with the Captain felt as natural as it did to spend time with Sideswipe. As the firelight became their only source of light in the black forest around them Ironhide and Sideswipe told stories about Cybertron and their adventures in space. Sideswipe was sharpening his retractable blades and Ironhide was polishing his cannons, while Tera and Lennox sat and listened to the tales.
As Ironhide finished his third story Tera lay back and stared up at the stars. Lennox had gone to the tent for something and came back with one of the sleeping bags. He unzipped it all the way and threw it over Tera where she lay. She smiled in thanks and continued to star at the stars.
Sideswipe followed her gaze and read her mind, "Captain do you know the stories that go with the constellations?"
Lennox shot a look above them and frowned, "some of them." He settled on the blanket next to Tera and smiled when she threw half the sleeping bag over him. He lay his left arm out and tucked his right one behind his head as a pillow. Tera took the invitation and used his left arm as her pillow. "That group there, see the three in a row?"
Ironhide lay back to get a better view; Sideswipe tilted his head back, and leaned against a tree. "That three?" Ironhide asked pointing.
"Ya, that's called Orion's Belt." Tera was a rapped audience. She absorbed every word that the Captain told them about the stars. She wanted to know these stars. Wanted to consider them her friends in the dark the same was she had on her home world. She listened to his story, and found the smooth rhythm of his voice; the smell of campfire and warmth of the blanket and the Captain himself lulled her to a dreamless sleep.
Lennox couldn't seem to bring up the subject of what Tera was. The part of him that wanted answers didn't go away, it just seemed to drop into insignificance, and he found peace. It had been a few months since he had been able to relax, and simply enjoy the moment; the memories that haunted his heart staying away.
He was halfway though his third set of stars when he realized she was asleep. He turned to look at her, and a smile played at the corners of his lips. Then he turned the other way, the smile faded as he found Ironhide watching him. The giant robot made a kissy face at him and laughed softly.
The Captains smile back was less then sincere. "Should we move her to the tent?" One look at the pitiful excuse for a tent made Lennox wince, if that was his best attempt at tent making, maybe he needed to go back to basic training.
"Its not that cold tonight, between the fire the blanket and body heat, she should sleep comfortably where she is." Sideswipe answered from where he had settled hours ago, leaning against a tree a few paces away.
"And with us standing watch, nothing can get to her." Ironhide said with another smile.
Lennox's returning smile was even less sincere then the first one. He settled his head back down, and noticed the way Tera snuggled closer, she was facing away from him, and he could feel the pressing of her backside against his waist. For a moment he thought about tempting fate and seeing what the Autobots thought about spooning. But he didn't want to push them to far. How had Tera put it? They had brought with them two very large and in charge chaperons. A laugh escaped his lips despite his best efforts to stop it. This weekend had turned out nothing like what he expected. It was so much better.
From where he sat high up in the treetops the small form of Laserbeak could see everything that went on in the clearing below him. He was far enough away that there was not a chance for the Autobots to catch a whiff of his scent, and he was down wind. He had watched throughout the day as the little drama below him unfolded. Had observed the way the alien interacted with the human and the Autobots. It was obvious even to him that there was an attraction between the alien he sought and the human with her.
He was alone on watch, would be until they left the clearing. And if the alien and Autobot stuck to their normal timetable they would leave tomorrow in the afternoon. Then he would report back to Starscream all the events that had transpired this weekend.
Tera glared one more time at Ironhide before she threw the rest of her toiletries into her backpack. She had at least been a little prepared for his wake up call, which was better then Lennox. But having the quite beauty of waking up snuggled next to someone you cared about shattered by a loud blaring horn was not something that one was likely to forget. A timid joy filled her as she remembered the moment before Ironhide had stepped in as alarm clock. The grass had been slightly damp beneath the blanket they lay on, that discomfort was nothing next to the warmth of the man she was laying with. Her head had rested on his chest, her left arm around his waist, his left arm wrapped around her shoulders trapping her in the slightly spicy scent of him; it was the happiest she had ever been upon waking.
Then Ironhide had noticed she was awake and decided it was time for everyone to wake up.
Lennox sat on the cooler his head tilted at an angle and his jaw working in odd directions and making faces as he tried to pop his ears.
Tera dropped her bag and watched as Ironhide and Sideswipe were doing a lethal dance in the center of the clearing, each studding the other looking for weaknesses and openings. As she watched, Sideswipe dropped his left shoulder and spun slightly back, Ironhide took the advantage, expecting the other bot to continue the swing, and was caught by surprise when Sideswipe reversed the spin and charged under the attacking Ironhide. As he swung under Ironhide's leading blow, he caught the bots foot and pulled back, causing Ironhide to go face first into the dirt.
"Nice one Sideswipe!" Tera yelled.
"What!" Lennox yelled back from a few feet away.
She couldn't help it, she laughed then gave Lennox a sympathetic smile. He looked up at her in confusion for a moment before going back to trying to force his ears to pop.
Parting was harder then Tera would have imagined. Everything was packed and tucked into the two respective transports. There had been some debating about weather or not they should pack the tent up, or blow it up. Ironhide and Sideswipe had voted for the later and while Lennox was leaning towards that himself, he didn't want to buy Sam's dad a new one. In the end he managed to force the ancient contraption back into the bag, and throw it in the Sideswipes trunk with the rest of the gear that was heading home to the Witwickys. They had deiced that it would be easier to part ways at the forest clearing then have Lennox drive all the way back to Sam's house and then back to the base. The forest wasn't exactly in the middle, but close enough to make the back and forth redundant. Lennox was grateful that the base was still in San Diego for its temporary location. He wasn't sure where the official location would be, more then likely though it wouldn't be a short drive to check on Tera. Not something he wanted to think about right now, he had a few moments left to ask the questions that had initiated this trip, and for the first time, he wasn't sure he wanted the answers.
` Tera stood next to Sideswipe's sleek corvette form and looked up at Lennox, "I cant thank you enough Captain for joining us. This weekend has been…" she trailed off not sure how to express everything she wanted to.
"Will." He smiled at her, "My friends call me Will. And this weekend was a blast…literally…" he glared at Ironhide for a moment. His hearing still wasn't back to normal, but had returned enough that Tera didn't have to shout anymore to be heard.
She laughed softly at the exchange, "Will, thank you. If you ever get free time, we are here every weekend, you and Ironhide are more then welcome to join us."
He smiled down at her, "I would like that." He watched her face, trying to read her emotions. Gently he cupped her face with his hand, she closed her eyes and leaned into his touch. Slowly as if not entirely certain of what he was doing he leaned down and softly kissed her. It was a closed lips kiss, the kind a junior high school student would give to their girlfriend. But with the Autobots watching Lennox wasn't sure he could ask for more. Leaning back he watched her open her eyes, and the slow smile the replaced the look of shock warmed a part of his heart that had long been frozen over.
He knew he was stalling for a few more seconds with her. "Say bye to Sam for me. And thank his parents for their hospitality."
"Mmhmm," Tera mumbled.
Lennox tilted his head and ran his hand through her hair once before dropping it to his side. "See you soon Tera."
It took her a moment to focus again, "Give my love to the Autobots! And the men, and tell Chromia she looks beautiful, no matter how she looks. And-"
"I will." He laughed and gave her a farewell wave before climbing into the truck for the long drive home.