Like all fanfiction writers, I do not own Transformers (I do own my OCs though) and make no money off this what-so-ever.
Warning(s): Mild language
Chapter 14
Pacing about her new bedroom, Bethany sighs in irritation. The grown ups had decided that she would be better off living in the Lennox house instead of the heavily guarded safety of the military base. Ironhide had come with them to stand guard, but if The Initiative decided to finish what they started, he would be of very little help. It was a disaster waiting to happen, and there would be innocents caught in the crossfire.
If she could, she would run away from here. As far away as she could possibly get to keep Mrs. Lennox and Annabelle out of her mess. She'd already packed a bag of clothes, food and medicine when the adults hadn't been looking. All she needed was an opening to escape, but with Ironhide's constant vigilance, it was almost impossible.
The morning had started with pouring rain, forcing her to stay inside. No patrols around the Lennox property today - they believed she was just going hiking. Without those patrols, she was vulnerable and she knew it. Being vulnerable made her jumpy, almost dangerously so. She'd nearly drawn her cannon when Annabelle slammed a door while getting ready for preschool.
Today was going to be a horrible day.
"I still can't believe that guy nearly ran us off the road," Ira mutters.
"Tell me about it," I sigh, "we got really close to a wreck that time."
"Too close," Sierra adds.
"What happened?" Shana asks, slightly concerned.
"Some jerk tried to run us off the road on the freeway," Megan grumbles.
"Yikes," Shana murmurs.
"Indeed," I sigh.
"So," Opal begins eagerly, "what's our next move?"
"I've got all the info you need compiled," Shana replies, "but we have a problem. There are too many people in this place to reasonably continue functioning. I've already got twenty guys here as it is, and with Isabelle's team here the numbers have skyrocketed to over thirty. Does anyone know of any safe places we can send them?"
"Tranquility," I reply almost instantly, "I have friends there who can help them out."
"You sure?" Shana asks.
"I'd trust them with my life," I answer.
"So what did Optimus say?" Mikaela asks curiously.
"Not much," Sam sighs, "It'll take a little bit for him to fully decipher what the writing means."
Before she can reply, her cell phone starts blaring out a song. "Crap," Mikaela thinks, "that's Alicia."
She grabs the phone and quickly picks up, "Hello?"
"Hey Mikaela," Alicia's voice replies, "are you somewhere private? It's important."
"Just a moment," she answers tensely as she walks to one of the house's bathrooms and closes the door behind her, "What is it?"
"One of our teams just got evacuated to Chicago and they can't stay," Alicia sighs, "I need to know if you're cool with having them sent your way."
"How many are there?" she asks nervously.
"Fifteen," Alicia answers, "most of them aren't working age, but there's four or five of them that are or can pass as working age."
"Send them over and I'll see what I can do," Mikaela sighs, "Stay safe okay?"
Alicia laughs happily, "Okay."
"Will I see you later?" Mikaela asks almost longingly.
"Maybe once we get Bethany back we'll stop by," the other girl replies, "but no promises."
I hang up the phone and turn to the others who had been silent while I was on the phone. "She said yes," I announce.
Shana and Isabelle both flop back into their folding chairs in relief. "That's great," Isabelle sighs happily.
"Good to know we've got a place to stay," Sierra remarks cheerfully.
"Hey Opal," Ira begins slightly nervous, "I've been thinking about something. Since we're going on a rescue mission, don't you think we should only take our oldest and most vital people with us? The less people to worry about, the better."
"And who can we afford to cut from the team?" Opal asks.
"We've already got a mechanic," Ira replies, "the New York team doesn't. I say we transfer Jori to them along with Steven and Mark."
"Ari's old wounds are still causing her pain," I add, "slowing down both her and her sisters. That's dangerous."
"They're gonna be pissed you know," Isabelle sighs.
"Well tough," Ira barks irritably, "we're going into a place we barely escaped from alive, we need people that aren't gonna get us all killed."
"So how are we gonna tell them they're getting 'cut' from the team?" Shana asks.
"We're just gonna say that for safety reasons we're gonna have them sit this one out," I reply, "the triplets have a sound medical reason for being sidelined, Steven and Mark have a perfectly logical age reason and Jori's gonna be needed on Isabelle's team for a while."
"Jori!" I call from across the warehouse, "We need to talk."
A collective "oooh" follows as Jori walks over to me. "Is something wrong?" she asks nervously.
"No," I reply comfortingly, "I've called you over here to tell you something important. You're getting promoted."
"What?" she murmurs, slightly shocked.
"Isabelle's team doesn't have a mechanic," I continue, "and with recent events, we have decided to place you as their mechanic until we can find a new one. It's a huge job, but I feel that I've taught you well enough to handle it."
"I'll do my best," Jori replies bravely.
"Get some rest," I tell her, "Tomorrow you'll be heading back to Tranquility."
"Okay," she murmurs almost sadly.
"You'll be okay," I whisper, "If you need anything, you can always ask Mikaela for help."