Notes: Revised May/11. Reposted June 30/11
Life Deals Twisting Changes
Chapter 14 – Refugees
Once Katherine was showered and dressed, she climbed into Ironhide and allowed him to move away from the farm. With in being in broad daylight, Katherine had to act like she was the one who was driving. It was already a daily habit and now which she was vastly beginning to get used to the idea of not needing but it also began to annoy her when she had to act the part of driving. It was an emotion she wouldn't dare to voice to anyone. She didn't want Ironhide to think he was getting to her.
They had to travel nearly a day at normal speed to where they were heading. It didn't take as long as Ironhide thought it would. Once they reached the approximated area of where the landing was going to be, Katherine climbed out, wanting to stretch her legs.
"Hey, miss quiet," Ironhide nearly snapped. "Why don't you unload the gear so I may transform?"
Katherine turned to the truck. "Bite me," she snapped. "I was only being quiet so we wouldn't argue and I would like to stretch my legs for a few seconds."
"And what do I look like, a ham roasting over a hot stove?" he mocked.
"Well you are black and you just drove all day in that hot sun," she teased. Her smile quickly vanished when her body was swung around and she was face to face with a displeased hologram. The hologram's arms were holding hers.
"You really don't want to test me right now," he said with a calm coldness in voice.
Katherine slightly shivered at the calmness and seeing the displeased look in his eyes, she was lucky he was one of the good guys. He could kill her, even as a hologram, he could kill her.
"I'm sorry," she breathed. "I didn't mean to offend you. What is so important about me getting whatever is in the back?"
Ironhide lessoned his vice grip on the woman. "Your brother leant us his telescope so we can watch the Transformers more closely and as soon as you can get it out, the sooner I can stretch my gears and you can set it up. I want to place a protected barrier to protect us from the elements. The weather report for this area is calling for a storm and protecting you is top priority."
"Why couldn't you have said that instead of speaking to me in a harsh tone," she whispered. Her eyes widened in shock when the hologram suddenly vanished from sight. She wrapped her arms around herself, suddenly missing the heat the holograms hands holding her arms. It took her a few seconds of trying to put the warmth back in her arms, before opening the back door and pulled out the wrapped telescope and the other gear.
As soon as the gear was out, Ironhide backed away from her before transforming. He then set to work in what he had to do to ensure Katherine's safety while set up the telescope. It took her nearly a half hour to get the telescope set up. By the time she had it set up, she noticed it was getting on dark, but what surprised her more was Ironhide was parked beside her with his hologram leaning against the driver's door. Several pole like lamps surrounded her area so it wasn't so completely dark. Half way up the poles, she saw a blue glow forming out of them.
Once knowing he had the woman's attention, the hologram pulled himself away from the Top Kick. With the holoemitter wrapped on his wrist, he moved away and joined her beside the telescope.
"Is it all set?" he asked.
Katherine nodded. "What's with the blue glow from the lamps?"
"Transformers have a low fielded shield that can protect them from certain weapons. I've expanded my shield to protect you. So when the storm starts, you won't get wet and we'll still be able to see."
Katherine slowly nodded, half understanding his words. She moved away from the hologram to set up her little camp. Before getting to the location, Ironhide stopped at a store so she could pick up some extra supplies. The store just happened to be the last of any civilization before getting to the dessert.
Ironhide looked in the telescope, focusing until he could see the blips moving in space. He could see they were closer than the night before and could make out more of the features. He just prayed and hoped to Primus they were Autobots and not Decepticons.
On the off chance the meteors were Decepticons, he knew he wouldn't have much time to escape. He already fore warned Captain Lennox that if the Transformers were Decepticons, he would to take desperate measures, meaning the telescope would have to be forgotten and in a hurry. Lennox nodded in agreement, knowing the risks. But the risks were worth it as the military needed to know if they were Decepticons or Autobots too. So as a precaution, Ironhide had the light poles rigged to explode, destroying the little campsite, telescope included. The explosion would be a distraction long enough for him and Katherine to get out of there.
"Ironhide?" he heard the woman call his attention. He slightly turned to the woman, letting her know she had his attention.
Katherine tilted her head when she noticed that he was partially looking at her but also looking in the telescope at the same time. She stood from sitting in a camping chair to walk closer to him and placed a hand on his arm. She still found it quite strange to talk to a hologram but it was really Ironhide. He consciousness was spread throughout two beings; the truck and the hologram. While in this mode, he had to put so much concentration into his hologram, he couldn't really move himself. Though with this distance apart, he was still able to remain conscious as the bot in disguise.
Ironhide turned completely away from the telescope to stare at his charge.
"I was wondering," she started. "If those Transformers are Decepticons how are we going to keep ourselves from being seen?"
Ironhide turned completely on his heal and walked back towards his true form. The door soon opened and the hologram stretched inside before pulling away with a small little device in hand. "I'll destroy the campsite and then get the hell out of doge before they see us."
"What about Will's telescope? It's brand new."
"Casualty of war," he answered casually.
"Casualty of war?" she blinked and then cried out. "How can you say that?"
"Your brother knows the risks," he countered. "I had already had warned him of what could happen and he still insisted for us to take it. The US Army needs to know if these new comers are friend or foe just as much as we do."
Ironhide placed the device back in the truck and moved back over to the telescope to peer at the on coming Transformers.
"If they aren't going to land until tomorrow night," Katherine declared as she moved away from him. "Why are you so insistent on knowing their whereabouts? We already know where they are going to land and in my opinion they are Autobots. If they were Decepticons do you think they would land in the middle of nowhere? I'm sure…"
"You talk too much, you know that." He stated, still looking in the scope.
Katherine's eyes blazed in anger at his words. She stomped back over to him about to give him a peace of her mind. When she was close enough, she raised her hand to hit him, but he quickly caught her hand in mid swing. It wasn't until his grip was secured around her wrist before he even bothered to look at her.
"When will you learn," he spoke with calmness. He could feel she was trying to get out of his grip, but he wasn't letting up. "We have known each other for a few months now and you still haven't learned much that I can counter your 'attacks'."
She opened her mouth to tell him off but the way he was gazing at her slightly startled her. He was not giving her his usual glare or the look saying 'he hated being her guardian'. No this time his look seemed quite intense with a different emotion, something she wasn't sure she liked it.
Ironhide stared at her carefully watching her face flush from being angry to complete confusion. He couldn't understand why he allowed the woman to infuriate him the way she always would, but at the same time, he often would egg it on. It was something he often did with Chromia. In the pit of his being he could feel something was happening between him and her.
Ironhide abruptly let her limp hand go. Taking the holoemitter, he shook it off his wrist, forcing the hologram to disappear. He had much thinking to do and he couldn't think being able to stare at the woman from a human standpoint. Before the holoemitter hit the ground, his full consciousness was back in himself. He quickly transformed and took a little walk, but stayed in view.
Katherine shook out her trance as she heard his gears move and transform to the giant robot he truly was. Sometimes she would forget he was actually a robot and not a talking car. "Ironhide?" She question as he walked away.
When he moved away from the campsite, the lamp poles stopped glowing blue. However Ironhide was powering the weather shield to cover her was now gone and she was vulnerable to the oncoming storm, which she could see was coming from the distance.
"I'm not going far," he said. "I'll be in seeing and hearing range. I just would like to take a walk."
Katherine watched flabbergasted as the giant robot walked away. It was the first time he walked away from her. Usually it was her walking away from him, leaving him in the questionable state. Usually though if he wanted something more to say to her, he would follow her. But now he left her and she had no idea what to do.
She barely could make him out with the sun gone and dusk was vastly turning to night. She continued to watch him until her eyes no longer could focus on him. When he was completely gone from view, she decided to see what she would do for sleeping arrangements. She had brought a sleeping bag, but she had no tent. She didn't really want to bring one anyway. She wanted to bring less as possible. She didn't even bring her laptop.
Ironhide watched Katherine the entire time she watched him. But when she turned away from his direction, he was finally able to get think straight. He couldn't understand what he was doing. Just a few days ago he was just beginning to finally get to use to the annoying woman but now things were vastly changing. He was even beginning to no longer think of her as annoying but a beautiful human.
Whatever was going on with him, he knew he couldn't feel this way. He had to be a solider first. But for some reason his spark was not cooperating with him. "Why am I feeling this way?" he said to himself.
For several minutes he pondered on the question but no way was he able to get an answer. Taking a glance over to the camp, he knew he had to get over and watch over his charge. If Optimus were there, the commander would scowl him for neglecting his duties and his duties was to protect the woman no matter how awkward the situation would get. He wondered if Optimus would change his mind if he were to learn Ironhide was building an attraction to the human.
With a deep sign, Ironhide walked over to Katherine's campsite, but instead of transforming back to his alt mode, he remained in his normal stature and sat on the ground, being careful not to make any damages. It was a good thing they were away from the any civilizations or even near the road. The moment he entered the range of the lamp poles, the lamps began to emit the blue glow again.
Katherine looked up from just staring at the night sky to see Ironhide nearly hovering over her. She sat up from lying on her sleeping bag. "Ironhide?" she questioned.
The giant robot glanced down at the woman. "Like you taking strolls on those beasts to just get away, I wanted to have a few moments to myself." It was partially the truth.
"Would it be too much to ask," she said, with a tilt of her head. "If you could put some music on? It's getting very quiet out here and it's bugging me. Living in the city I always dealt with the sounds of cars zipping by or horns honking because someone was getting in their way. Even the odd time of hearing a gun shot. So being out here is beginning to drive me crazy. Besides the on coming storm is quite disturbing."
Ironhide looked up to the sky and could see the storm coming their way. He had a feeling the storm was going to be stronger than originally predicted. He quickly transformed and activated his hologram. He pointed to where his forgotten holoemitter was. Katherine looked to where he pointed. Getting to her feet, she rushed over to the device and taking it back over to the hologram.
"I'm sorry," she apologized. It was for making him leave the campsite. She handed the device to the hologram but for some reason he couldn't move his eyes from her.
Seeing as he wasn't going to put the device on his wrist, she grabbed his wrist and did it instead. She felt her heart beat slightly pick up speed as she did so. Why was she suddenly acting like this? When she looked back up at him, she could still see the intense stare. She wasn't sure if she liked it or not. Finally getting tired of his stare, she went to move away. But before she had the chance to move, she was pulled closer to him, which caused her to gasp from the direct action and contact. She had no idea he had slowly placed his arms around her. The movement made her speechless.
He stared at her for several minutes, not sure what he should do. She was so close to him, she could not only sense her heart rate had jumped but he could also feel it.
"Ironhide?" she finally managed to speak.
Ironhide finally blinked, realizing how close he actually was holding her. His arms went slack and just as quick as he pulled her to him, the arms were now at his side. "Sorry," he whispered. "We need to place the telescope inside."
"Why?" she asked suddenly missing his arms around her. She took a step back, giving them both room to breath.
"There will be no need for the telescope when the storm goes overhead. And it might be safer for you inside too. I have a feeling the storm will be stronger than my barrier."
Katherine nodded and slowly took another step back, making sure he wasn't going to pull her close again. When she was finally just out of reach, she went to turn around. But the sounds of the oncoming storm startled her.
The sky quickly lit up as a deafening crack of thunder followed with it. Katherine jumped in fright, slamming into Ironhide's hologram. The movement took Ironhide completely off guard.
"It's only thunder and lightening," he said in complete shock. "We've had the storms at the farm."
Katherine kept herself quite huddled into the hologram. "I know," she trembled. "But I've never physically been out in a storm. And we're way out in the open. There is nothing to stop the electric current from striking the ground."
"Katherine," Ironhide whispered in her ear. "The sooner we get the equipment inside the sooner you'll be safer. My tires will prevent you from being hurt."
"You still could be hit," she tried to argue.
"The current needs a way in and way out. It can't get out where there is rubber touching the ground. People are most safest in a vehicle when there is nothing to protect them in a storm like this." He gently pried her away from his body. "Now grab your things and I'll get the telescope."
"But…"
"Katherine," he said with more firmness. "Don't make this into an argument. For once will you just listen and do as I ask."
With a nod, she slowly moved away. It didn't take her long to grab her things and start stuffing them in the truck. She didn't care how neatly she did it. She just wanted to get it in. Finally she looked up at the sky and saw the beautiful stars were finally completely covered.
Ironhide just got the telescope and other gear inside the truck when the heavens began to pour down on them. The rain was so heavy the barrier quickly failed.
"Damn it!" Ironhide cursed. He ran over to Katherine as she became immobile when the rain started. He grabbed her hand and yanked her into the truck. When she was secured in the truck, the hologram also climbed in. He shock off the holoemitter and leaned back in the seat.
He could sense the density of the storm visibly shook Katherine. "We're safe now," he said.
She suddenly screamed in fright as several sheets of fork lightening lit the sky followed with an intense sound of thunder. The sound shook the truck. Ironhide knew this was going to be a long night. He soon turned on soft music. The hologram disappeared so he could concentrate on making sure if he was struck by lightening, his circuits wouldn't be fried. Though Katherine was safe, he wasn't about to voice out he might not be.
It was nearing on lunchtime by the time Katherine finally woke. Of course it took until nearly four a.m. before she finally was able to dose off. When the sun began to rise, Ironhide tinted his windows completely black so she could continue sleeping. As he felt her begin to stir, the tint slowly began to fade, revealing the bright sun in the sky. When Katherine was finally awake enough to face the full onslaught of the sun, she climbed out of the truck.
"Morning sleepy head," Ironhide called from over by the telescope. "Of course there isn't much time left for morning."
Katherine blinked before she realizing the hologram Ironhide must have reset up the gear when it came on daylight and was now watching the blips in the sky. She walked over to him ignoring his remark.
"Any luck?" she asked.
"They are only five hours away from reaching Earth's atmosphere," he answered.
Katherine slightly groaned as the need for the bathroom, hit her like a title wave. Ironhide sensing this, pointed over to the other side of the truck.
"You'll find a protective area on the other side where you can do your needs."
Katherine slightly growled but she couldn't argue with him. She ran over to the other side of the truck and did her business before rushing back over to him. Just as she returned, a plate was shoved into her face.
"Eat," he simply instructed.
She stared at the plate of eggs and toast and was dumbfounded. "Where the hell did you…" she suddenly wanted to slap herself for asking the question. "Never mind."
She walked over to the truck and ate her breakfast, sitting just inside the truck.
"Don't get any of that on my seats," Ironhide called from looking in the telescope again.
Katherine stuck her tongue out before getting an idea. She picked up her toast and with a smirk and was about to throw it on the seat, buttered side down.
"You better not," a voice whispered in her ear.
She yelped as Ironhide was now standing beside her, giving her death glares. He was amused of her being a little surprised by his sudden appearance. "I may have most of my consciousness housed in this hologram, but I do have senses and can still speak from my own form."
Katherine got over her shock and grumbled before taking the piece of toast she was about to slap on the seat and took a bite out of it. Satisfied, Ironhide strolled back over to the telescope. Just after nightfall, at the appointed time, Ironhide was able to see the meteors coming into view he quickly packed up the telescope and nearly threw it in the truck. If they were the Decepticons he was going to try his best to save the telescope. He greatly enjoyed looking through it throughout the day, but saving it would be the last resort. Both the hologram and Katherine were now standing at the truck, waiting.
Katherine watched in awe as two meteors passed right over ahead, slamming into the ground three miles from their location. Ironhide deactivated his hologram and began to scan the landing sight. With the two being right against the truck, Ironhide no longer needed his holoemitter. Katherine was nervous as hell, waiting to find out who the robots were.
"Excellent!" Ironhide yelled suddenly. "Katherine, get in!"
Without a second thought, Katherine got in, expecting to be getting the hell out of there. But to her surprise, Ironhide began driving towards the crash sight.
"Ironhide, what the hell are you doing?" she nearly snapped as she tried her best to stay in her seat as they drove over the rough terrain.
"They're Autobots!" he answered excitedly.
"Autobots! That's great," Katherine sighed in relief. They were the good guys. "What about the rest of the equipment?"
"We'll get it afterwards."
It only took Ironhide a few minutes to arrive at the crash sight. He quickly instructed for Katherine to get out as the two Transformers stayed completely still, as if they were still in the pods.
Ironhide then transformed when Katherine was a safe distance away from him.
"This is Ironhide, Weapons Specialist to Optimus Prime."
"Ironhide!"
Katherine heard a voice coming from one of the pods. She jumped back in alarm as the pods transformed fully into robots, being nearly as tall as Ironhide.
"Well it's been a long time," another voice said.
"It sure has," Ironhide smiled. "It's nice to see you Hound. Wheeljack."
"Hey who is the squirt?" the first one asked, crouching down to Katherine.
" Katherine, my charge. Katherine, meet Hound, our illusionist and Wheeljack, our engineer."
"I'm not a squirt," Katherine quivered. "Why do you look like just like regular robots? The others don't look like that?"
"Katherine, our bodies are originally in that form until we scan something and become what we scan and then they will become the vehicle and their armour will automatically change to accommodate the changes. And I have just the two vehicles you can scan into. Before coming here, I took the liberty of scanning two vehicles and saved it in my databanks in the off set chance you were Autobots."
"Download the scans to my system. I can then make a hologram of each where we can scan them into our system," Hound suggested.
Hound and Ironhide shook hands before Katherine watched to see two vehicles appear in a transparent hologram form. When the scans were saved into the databanks for the two new transformers, soon transformed, forming into a navy blue four-door Jeep Wrangler and the other was a black two-door Chevrolet Corvette. Seeing his friends now in Earth vehicles, Ironhide smiled and soon transformed.
"Let's go Katherine. Let's get the equipment and head back home."
Katherine smiled. "Now, that is something I can handle.
The drive back to the camp only took a matter of minutes. Wheeljack and Hound followed silently to the camp. They had no idea where they were going and wanted to make sure they weren't going to get lost. Earth was a very large planet compared to some they have visited in the past, but Earth was nothing like they had ever been on before.
Once Katherine was able to load up the truck, the three Transformers, with Katherine in Ironhide, began their trip back to the farm. They took the best possible speed to get there before dawn. Katherine sat quietly and listened as Ironhide informed the two of what had happened and how he became guardian to her.
"So that's why she's with you," Hound said over the comlink through the radio.
"But I have a question," answered Wheeljack. "What happened in Mission City happened months, so how come Katherine is still with you?"
Katherine snapped to attention. "Hey!" she snapped. "I'm not deaf you know! I'm right here."
Ironhide groaned. "Katherine, zip it! They are asking me the questions, not you. The answer to that question is simple. Her mate was killed by Starscream."
All color drained from Katherine's face as Ironhide then went into the details of her 'mate' and who he actually was. She was slightly upset of him informing his two friends of Charles…Beachcomber.
"Amazing," Hound gasped. "Beachcomber became a human and Skywarp is one too."
"Yes and we have to find that son of a bitch," Ironhide hissed.
"Someone's getting testy…" Hound commented.
"Hound, this is not the time," Wheeljack answered.
Wanting to change the subject, Ironhide began speaking about the holoemitters and how well them worked. Hound was quite impressed that his information on how to make a holoemitter made it to them. Two more would have to be now made, but that was minor. Wheeljack was looking forward to seeing what the human world had to offer. He loved learning new cultures.
It was near midnight when the small group arrived at the farm. Ironhide insisted for Katherine to get her brother, as there were still lights on. Not wanting to go, but went anyway, Katherine did as asked and got her brother. Before long, Captain Lennox was running out of the house with Katherine at his feet.
"Ironhide?"
"Captain, meet Hound and Wheeljack. Hound is our master illusionist and Wheeljack is our engineer."
"Welcome to Earth," Lennox smiled. "I'm Captain William Lennox. I see you already met my sister."
"Thank you," Hound said. "It's great to be here. Ironhide has already informed us in everything that has happened. About the All Spark and about Charles."
"I better radio Prime and let him know that you're here," Ironhide informed. "This is going to a nice reunion. And Katherine don't be surprised if you have to take another trip."
Katherine rolled her eyes and head. "With all this traveling around, it's a wonder I still have a job."
"Just go and see your cat," Ironhide mocked.
Katherine hurriedly left for the house. Lennox smiled as she opened Ironhide's door to remove the equipment. Lennox was delighted Autobots who landed and not Decepticons. And he was thankful his new telescope came back unscathed. His wife was beginning to ask too many questions as to why he would buy a telescope and then suddenly lend it to his sister without asking her first.