Hey everyone! Very sorry for the slowness of my latest update. Thing's have been a little…Crazy, for lack of a better term. I went back and made some changes to the hacker scene in the previous chapter, hope it sounds better or at least not as Mary Sueish, shudders at the thought. And I fixed my Sunstreaker typo, there is an inside joke behind that one, guess it just kinda stuck… Well on with the next chapter! Oh and to make up for the update delay I am giving you guys 2 chapters! Yay!
Burnout sat quietly in a large chair in front of Optimus Prime who was also sitting, but in an even larger chair. Ratchet was next to her, a comforting presence. She hated offices, the desk, the pile of data logs in one corner, a stack of reports in another. But it wasn't just the office that she hated but the mechs that were always behind the desk.
"Get in there!" A rough voice directed, followed by an even rougher shove. Burnout fell, sprawled out on the floor.
"Pit spawned slagger." She growled, pulling herself to her feet.
"Tsk, tsk. Such language."
Freezing, the femme turned in the direction of the voice. A massive shape was sitting on his throne in the shadows.
'Megatron…' She thought.
'This is Optimus Prime, leader of the Autobots.' She silently told herself over and over. 'Ratchet is here, he would never let anything happen to me.' But her thoughts did little to reassure her racing spark, and she had to work hard at keeping dark memories from flooding her processor. Memories of unspeakable abuses.
"Are you okay Burnout? You seem upset." The powerful voice of Prime interrupted her from her uncontrollable thoughts.
"I'll be okay." She quickly answered, 'I think.' She then questioned. "Where do you want me to start?"
Optimus answered with his own question, "Where did you learn your exceptional skills with combating hackers? Ratchet says that you have only mentioned working at an energon pub in Iacon."
Burnout predicted this question, it seemed only natural that this would be his first topic of interest. "From a Decepticon named Frenzy, I threatened him with blackmail when I caught him medaling with the wiring of a mech in stasis lock that shouldn't have been. He taught me pretty much everything he knew." She paused wondering how the Autobot leader would react to what she was about to say. Who's to say she wouldn't do the same to them? "I then perfected my skills by constantly hacking into the Decepticon main frame and disrupting their base. I learned how to infiltrate firewalls without leaving a trace of my energy signature. On top of that I memorized the personal style of all of the Decepticon technicians." She smiled proudly to herself. "I know their strengths and weaknesses."
Optimus was impressed, her knowledge would be very useful in future attacks, not that he planned on any happening. If he could have everything go his way, there would be peace, but he had to be prepared.
"That is a very powerful skill that you posses Burnout, it takes a specially modeled processor to be able to store all of that information then use it all at warp speed. I believe you have a gift."
Burnout felt her optics widen, 'my audio's must be malfunctioning.'
"You're looking at me like I just formed a third optic, do you not believe me?"
Burnout nodded her head slowly, unsure of what to say next. "I'm just not used to all of this." She opened her arms out to take in her surroundings. "All of the kind words and friendly faces. I considered a compliment from Barric-" She stopped and shot a glance at Ratchet, she hadn't wanted to say names.
"Go ahead Burnout, anything you feel comfortable telling me is worthy for Optimus to hear."
Burnout sighed and continued, but didn't meet either Autobot's optics. "I considered a compliment from Barricade was if he didn't acknowledge me, that meant I must have done something right, or at least nothing wrong. He didn't have a reason to yell at me or do other things." She finished very quietly.
Both Optimus and Ratchet shuttered to think at what 'other things' the femme was implying.
"How long were you held prisoner with them, Ironhide mentioned that he had met you briefly when the Decepticon base had been over run, but that was a very long time ago." Optimus asked quietly. He wanted answers from the femme, he wanted to start to piece together who she was, but he knew that he had to be careful with her delicate mental state.
Burnout couldn't say how long she was held captive, not only did she simply not know that answer, but the knowledge pained her. She had hoped to be settled down with a spark mate by now, even with a sparkling. "I was very young when they took me, hardly out of my first century, I choose to not think about how long I spent at their mercy. All I know is that was not long compared to the amount of time I spent floating in space waiting for darkness to overcome me."
"I am saddened to think that the largest portion of your life was spent in fear, pain, and loneliness." Prime was also angered, 'Megatron had better be thankful that he is no longer alive, I would show him no mercy facing him in battle again.'
"There were some moments of happiness," She let her hand wander to her chest, her spark still ached from its loss. "Albeit short lived."
Ratchet noticed the movement and understood what she meant. "Your spark, does it still pain you?"
Optimus remained silent while Burnout found the courage to continue, Ratchet had spoken to him before about the fact that Burnout's spark had split. Where the sparkling was now, he couldn't even begin to process.
Burnout couldn't find the strength though, she looked over at Ratchet, shocked.
Ratchet read her question from the look on her faceplate. "I'm the CMO Burnout, I'd be a sorry excuse for a medical officer if I couldn't recognize the signs of a split spark."
The femme was still shocked, she felt violated. "That means you saw everything, my spark case, the scares, my spark." Her voice was hardly above a whisper as she finished the statement.
"Please understand that it is my job to examine places like that, you probably wouldn't be alive right now if I hadn't performed the necessary repairs. The wounds were sapping away at your energy source more then you could guess, even though they were old."
Burnout remained silent, she knew Ratchet was right, she knew the medic was only doing his job, but she still couldn't shake off her feeling of unease, the feeling of broken trust. After leaving the Decepticons she had vowed to herself to never allow anyone into her most personal spaces again, even if it meant welding her chest shut. She had hoped that Ratchet didn't know about her lost sparkling, it was a pain she didn't feel ready to discuss. She stated this bluntly, "I am not going to speak of my lost sparkling, it is a burden that I must carry. What is done is done."
"Would you mind sharing the name of the father?" Optimus spoke up softly, he knew it was a rude question but he was curious.
She wasn't sure if she wanted to answer that question either, but decided she might as well. "Barricade." She spoke the word with no emotion, not even hate. She was numb to it.
Ratchet nodded his head gently, he figured as much.
"Did he ever know?" Optimus continued.
Burnout shook her head slowly, and ever so quietly answered. "Megatron destroyed it before-" she choked on the words, her vocal transmitter freezing up.
"You're okay Burnout." Ratchet patted her hand reassuringly, "You don't have to talk about it anymore."
Burnout looked over at Ratchet, she wanted to talk about her past, she wanted to get it out into the open and lighten her load, but she didn't want to relive it. She feared all of the memories that she had worked so hard to bury, but Ratchet had warned her that if she let everything build up. Keep her pain and emotion bottled up, it may cause her to go into a complete system failure. "I want to talk about it, I'm just not brave enough to call forth and relive all of those horrible memories again." She whispered finally.
"What Ratchet may have been trying to say is, that might be enough for one day, you don't have to tell us everything in one sitting. There will be plenty of time for these discussions in the future."
Burnout knew at that moment why Optimus Prime was such a great leader, why everyone looked up to him and followed him with such dedication. His patience and understanding was limitless.
"What I would like to know, and the main reason for this meeting, is if you would be interested in taking on a shift in the control room. I think your skills would be appreciated." Optimus offered, directing the conversation elsewhere.
Burnout was stunned as she looked up at Optimus Prime, then to Ratchet for his approval. "Your choice. If you think you're going to be okay with it, I think you're ready."
Burnout smiled at Optimus, a feeling of relief washing over her. She hadn't realized that a feeling of uselessness had been clutching her, she hadn't realized that it was that very feeling that made her feel so depressed, especially with the Decepticons. She didn't have a place before, she was the odd man out. Well she had a place with the Decepticons, but it wasn't something she was proud of. That was about to change though, Optimus wanted her to help with the networking of the base, the computers, he wanted her to be apart of the team!
"When do I start?"
--
"Come on Burnout, pick up the pace, your falling behind!" A super advanced Camaro cackled over the communication lines.
"Hah! Falling behind? I was giving you a head start!" The newly rebuilt Burnout challenged, revving her engine and zipping past her friend and fellow racer.
Ratchet had fulfilled his oath and put together a new body for the femme. A spark transfer had been performed, but under one condition.
"I want to keep my original spark case Ratchet."
"Why would you want that, I can construct a whole new one for you, don't you want to leave the past behind?"
"I do, but I don't want to forget who I am. My past is what made me, my scars remind me that it was all real. If I keep my old spark case, then I will always know why the Decepticons are so evil. If I forget, then I may fall into their trap again, I may learn to trust again."
Ratchet wanted to argue that it was important that she learn to trust, but how could he say that after all that she had been through? He should be glad that she had begun to trust him and the other Autobots as much as she had, he couldn't fault her for not wanting to trust others again, especially any Decepticons.
"Alright Burnout, I will transfer your spark case also."
"Just because you've got a new paint job doesn't mean I can't beat you still!" Bumblebee answered, downshifting and straining to catch up to the fast femme.
"You couldn't beat me before!" The femme shot back.
"Care if we join this little frolic through the park?" An unexpected voice asked through the comm link.
Bumblebee saw Burnout falter ahead of him at the sudden intrusion. He was quick to announce who the strange voice was.
"Hey, Sunstreaker! Where did you come from?!" Bee voiced back looking around for the yellow Lamborghini. "Where's your brother?"
"Oh he's coming, we were racing around earlier and he hit a pot hole in the road, bent his axle. He's too afraid to go see Ratchet after the paint bomb incident."
They all slowed then came to a stop as the red Lamborghini started to come into sight.
"Hey beautiful, I don't think we've met." The cocky Sunstreaker sidled up next to Burnout. "When did a femme make a landing?"
Burnout looked over at Bumblebee nervously who immediately stepped up to the plate. "Hey, lay off her Sunny. She's gone through a lot and doesn't need any mechs overheating their motherboards over her right now." He nudged the yellow Lamborghini over so he was out of the femmes personal space.
"Sorry, man. I didn't mean any harm." Sunstreaker put up his hands defensively, any other mech and he would have just pushed right back and replied with some rude remark. But not Bumblebee, the three of them were 'tight,' as humans put it. "But what's your name gorgeous?" He flashed her a dashing smile.
Burnout had to laugh, she knew who this mech was, and his brother, she decided to play along and be a little cocky herself. Lifting her chin, standing tall, she flashing her own breathtaking smile as she strutted up to the presumptuous mech. Bumblebee looked on, flabbergasted.
"Judging by the blinding shade of yellow, and the arrogant personality." She pointed out walking a circle around the transformed Lamborghini. Coming to face his front side she continued, "You must be Sunstreaker."
"Ah, my reputation proceeds me. I am honored. Do tell me, my nameless femme, where have you heard these marvelous things about me?"
Burnout laughed, then stated flatly, all signs of her previous sauciness gone. "My name is Burnout, and I get my information from the one and only Ratchet."
If it were possible for a transformers faceplate to pale, Sunny's did so, to the great amusement of both Bumblebee and Burnout.
"What did I miss, and who's she?" The voice from a red lambo spoke up as he pulled into the group.
"Nothing Sides." Sunstreaker growled causing Bee and the femme to laugh even harder.
Upon seeing Sideswipe's limping form, Burnout quickly sobered. "I see you're having some axle problems." She pointed out, his right leg was jutting out awkwardly from his hip joint.
"Yeah, Hatchet's gonna have my skid plate for this one, I'm still in huge trouble from last week."
"Was that you who painted Ratchet that hideous green color?" Burnout inquired, crossing her arms.
"Sure was, the description was something like guacamole."
Bumblebee made a retching sound and pointed a finger at his mouth, an action picked up by Sam that described anything disgusting.
"Well I was going to offer to try and fix you, but I don't know now." Burnout explained looking the red mech over. He went to protest, but she cut him off. "I mean, what a horrible choice of a color, you two couldn't do any better then that? If I fix you, you have to promise me that you will pick a better color next time, like lime green or something."
The three mechs were stunned silent, looks were exchanged, then Sunny broke the silence as he started to laugh, joined in by Bee, then Sides.
"I like her." Sunny tittered, "we should have you help us plan our next attack on Ironhide."
"Who is she?" Sides asked still at a lose by the unidentified femme.
"Burnout." The femme offered stepping up to the lame mech. "Why don't you sit down and I'll have a look at that leg."
A/N: Yay! Burnout is rebuilt! And now she has met the infamous Sunny and Sides! Okay, I went back like 100 times to make sure I didn't put Sunchaser instead of Sunstreaker… that was such a stupid mistake, I really wanted to dig a hole and die with that one. But oh well, slag happens right? Thanks for the support everyone!