The group sat in silence as they all took note of what they'd been told. After they'd returned to base and had seen the horror-struck looks on Optimus' and Vesper's faces, they'd questioned them, and had been told that Vesper believed the Decepticons had rebuilt the cannon she'd destroyed.
"I don't get it," Arcee growled, clenching her servo and gritting her teeth. She glared at Vesper, who shrunk back. "You said the weapon was destroyed!" Arcee shouted, and the other femme whimpered as Arcee stood and took a few threatening steps forward before she was stopped by Bumblebee and Bulkhead.
"I was certain that it was!" Vesper exclaimed, her tone indicating that she was utterly terrified of the two-wheeler. "The explosive in the cannon's base should have destroyed it beyond salvage or repair!" She turned away and wrapped her arms around her torso, tightly clutching her sides. "I did not know…"
"Didn't know what?!" Arcee growled, still being restrained by her fellow Autobots. Ultra Magnus, Wheeljack, the humans and Ratchet were all standing together, ready to step in if they needed to. Optimus was leaning on the wall, keeping a close eye on the scenario that was unfolding in front of him with narrowed eyes. "That your plan to keep us in the dark about their plan failed?!"
Vesper whipped around, growled as she heard the two-wheeler's insult, and her servos clenched into fists. Even if she was timid, she hated being accused of something that she was not responsible for. "What are you talking about?" she hissed, her optics narrowing as she stepped forward. "I knew nothing about any 'plan' as you so accuse; I am just as surprised as you!" Then she turned away and stormed down the hallway, leaving everyone stunned at the femme's abrupt outburst. Then everyone looked towards Optimus, who had a completely monotone face. It was only Ratchet who saw the utterly furious look deep within the Prime's optics, but the medic was intelligent enough not to speak about it.
Instead, he turned to Arcee, sighed and, keeping his voice low, said, "You need to watch your glossa." He grimaced angrily at the femme, who stiffened as she was released. "We only just got her back, and she will leave again if this is how she's treated." He looked over at Optimus, who was now limping over to the children and inquiring to their health. He was, quite clearly, trying to keep his mind off of Vesper, and Ratchet understood why. "Arcee, Vesper is an ally to us, one that we cannot afford to lose," he said, loud enough for the others to hear. "Former Decepticon or not, she is an Autobot and she is our friend."
He turned on his heel and walked away from the two-wheeler, catching sight of the grateful look that Optimus was sending him, and he nodded to the Prime before resuming the work he'd left behind when he'd headed to New York in Optimus' stead. Optimus himself stood and limped over, then asked politely to speak quietly with Ratchet. The medic obliged, and Optimus said, "I… was speaking with Vesper earlier, and she convinced me to let you attend to my foot."
Ratchet's familiar cheesy grin appeared on his face. "I knew that she'd be able to," he said, pointing to his medical table as he spoke. Optimus sighed as he limped over and sat down on the edge of the table, elevating his pede so that the doctor could check it and poke around, see what the damages were. He soon came to the conclusion that quite a number of struts and fibres were damaged, but repairable, and Ratchet nodded. Forcing Optimus to lay down, Ratchet induced stasis before getting started on the repairs.
Vesper, if she was aware that Optimus had finally taken her advice, couldn't have cared less at the current time. She was sitting on her berth, legs curled up to her chest, arms around them, forehead resting on her knees. She couldn't believe that Arcee had accused her of something like that. The femme had truly been unaware that the cannon could have been rebuilt; her mentor had repeatedly told her that the explosive had been potent enough to mangle the cannon beyond repair. Sure, it could have been possible to salvage parts, but the parts would have been mangled, ruined, not much use to anyone.
A knock on her door startled her, and she looked up as the door opened, revealing Wheeljack standing there. He walked over to her as she smiled sadly, then sat down next to her and sighed. "Look, Vesp, I—"
"Wheeljack, you need not say anything," she said, looking away sadly and resting her chin on her knees. "I am aware that you all do not trust me fully."
"That's not what I was trying to say, Vesp," Wheeljack chuckled, gently punching the femme. She made a complantative noise and rubbed her arm, but gave Wheeljack her audio processer as he said, "Vesp, I know that you hate being reminded of your… former alliance." He looked at her, his bright blue optics full of trust. "But I know, deep in my spark, that you weren't ever really a 'Con. You're too kind."
"You really believe so?" Vesper said, a sliver of hope in her wavering voice.
The Wrecker nodded. "Yeah. I've never seen you actively attempt to hurt someone unless you or the ones you're close to are in danger," he said, grinning. Then he clapped his servo on her shoulder. "So don't sweat it, okay? You're no 'Con, and the others are just going to have to deal." He stood up and stood in front of her, crossing his arms over his chassis and smiling warmly. "So chin up. You're as much of an Autobot as the rest of us." Then he turned on his heel and walked back over to the door. It opened as he looked over his shoulder at the femme, then grinned before walking out, the door closing behind him.
He walked out to the others, and looked over at Optimus, whose foot had been repaired and was currently still in stasis. Then he looked over at the others and gave them all the thumbs up. Ratchet immediately crossed his arms over his chassis.
"You think you managed to convince her to stay?" Bulkhead asked as Ratchet's right eyebrow rose, and Wheeljack nodded.
"Yeah, hopefully," he said, looking back at the hallway, towards Vesper's room. Then he turned back to Arcee. "You're lucky I knew Vesper before the war broke out."
"No offence, Arcee," Miko suddenly said, striding over and putting her hands on her hips as she looked up at the two-wheeler. "But you've been really nasty to Vesper of late."
This caused the two-wheeler to stiffen, then her eyes narrowed. "What do you mean?"
Jack stepped over so that he was standing next to Miko and crossed his arms over his chest. "You haven't been acting the same since we returned from New York, Arcee," he said, his voice sounding very dark. "In fact, it's almost as if you're not yourself."
Bumblebee chirped and beeped, and Raf looked up at his guardian before looking back at the others and frowning. "Bee says that there was a bright flash of light just after Ratchet left to pick Alice up."
The medic whipped around to face the twelve-year-old human boy. "What?!" he exclaimed.
Ultra Magnus frowned. "Come to think of it, I'm sure that there was something of the sort." He shook his head. "But none of us thought anything of it."
"So you didn't tell me?!" Ratchet demanded, striding forward and almost stepping on Miko and Jack, who cried out and hurried out of the way. "The Decepticons are planning something big, and you think that a flash of light is nothing to be concerned about?!" the medic roared, and even Vesper – sitting on her berth and mulling over what Wheeljack had said earlier – heard him. She immediately stood and hurried out, standing at the door of the hallway and remaining in the shadows as she started to observe the situation before her.
"Ratchet, calm down," Bulkhead said, his tone worried as he strode over and clapped his servo on the medic's shoulder.
The doctor threw the former Wrecker's hand off and growled at him, causing Bulkhead's optics to widen as he stumbled backwards, alarmed. But before he could do anything more, Vesper's eyes flashed as she noticed a slight differentiation with Arcee. As an analyst, Vesper possessed considerable skill picking up differences in body language, the way one held oneself, speech patterns, and so forth. And while this Arcee showed no differences in many of those, there was a difference… in her body language. Vesper had noticed that Arcee kept glancing around, almost worried, or perhaps suspicious, but it had not occurred to the scarlet femme that the Arcee standing before her was a fake… until now.
Vesper's eyes widened as Arcee's body language changed yet again; the other femme became relaxed. A bit too relaxed for Vesper's liking, and she stepped out of the shadows, revealing herself to everyone and shocking Arcee.
"Are you really Arcee?" she asked, her cyan optics narrowing as she strode over, stopping about five metres in front of the other femme. "Or are you a Decepticon that has taken on Arcee's form?"
"What are you talking about?" Arcee hissed, but Vesper shook her head.
"You fooled me before, but you cannot fool me anymore," Vesper said, her tone calm as she looked into the other femme's eyes. I know you are not Arcee.
Arcee's eyes narrowed, and for a few minutes the two femmes stared each other down. Then the two-wheeler began to laugh, and Jack stiffened as he realised that the laugh coming from Arcee was in no way hers. He turned on his heel and tried to flee, but 'Arcee' twisted around and grabbed the human boy. He struggled in her grip as her free servo turned into a blaster, but as soon as that blaster touched the side of his face, he stilled.
"Release the human," Vesper growled, although she didn't reveal her own weapons. She didn't want to risk 'Arcee' shooting Jack, and showing her own weapons was not going to help his case any.
"Make me," 'Arcee' hissed, and Vesper shivered, feeling like somebody had just run the very tip of their finger up her backstrut. Suddenly the two-wheeler turned on her heel and ran over to the Ground Bridge control mechanism, typing in some coordinates and putting her hand on the lever. "As soon as I open this," the femme hissed, her eyes narrowing and flashing dangerously, "The Decepticon armada will be upon you!"
Alice, who had been silently observing the situation the entire time, grabbed something out from her nearby bag before she walked over and tapped 'Arcee' on the leg. The fake looked down only to have Alice grin and yell, "Eat this, sucker!" and shoot her with something, hitting her right between the eyes; Ratchet noticed with some amusement that it was a Taser. The fake Arcee cried out and dropped Jack as she was electrocuted and dropped to the ground, convulsing.
"You own a Taser?" Jack gasped as he put his hand on his hip, wincing in pain, as Alice disconnected the cartridge and let it fall to the floor. Then she nodded.
"Yeah. Safety precaution," she said simply, walking back over and returning the cartridge-less device to her bag. "Although now I need to get some more cartridges." She turned back to the others and shrugged.
Ratchet strode over and knelt down in front of Alice, then nodded. "Good work."
Alice looked warily into her guardian's eyes, then nodded. "Thanks." She smiled stiffly, then turned back to the fake Arcee and frowned. "So… what are we gonna do with that?" she said, looking at the others and gesturing in the direction of the fake.
Vesper strode over and knelt down next to it. "We may find some useful information in the processor of this one," she said, tapping the forehead of the disguised 'Con, "About where the real Arcee is." She looked over at Ratchet. "Is that an option?"
The medic frowned, then stroked his chin. "Usually it isn't, but…" He looked over at the unconscious Optimus. "At present time we have no other clues to Arcee's whereabouts."
"So you're going through with it?" Wheeljack asked, and the doctor reluctantly nodded.
"I have no choice, unless Arcee manages to—" The field medic found himself interrupted as the comm line started to go ballistic with an emergency beacon, and everyone just turned to face each other, stunned looks on their faces, before Ultra Magnus strode over and opened the channel.
"This… Arcee… request… back-up… sending… coordinates…," a feminine voice said, although it was broken and barely audible. It did not matter, however; the group had gained contact from their friend, and she was in need – possibly quite desperately – of back-up. Ratchet opted to stay behind with Alice as he typed in Arcee's coordinates and opened a Ground Bridge. Vesper decided to go along with the others, and when they departed – leaving the unconscious Optimus behind with Ratchet and Alice – the medic closed the bridge, and the atmosphere immediately became tense.
"Alice," Ratchet eventually said, clearing his throat as he did so. The human girl looked up at him, her blue eyes sharp and icy. "I… I really am sorry." He looked away. "I… should never have snapped at you."
He didn't see the small, apologetic smile on Alice's face, and he didn't see the tender look in her eyes. "You shouldn't have to apologise," she breathed then, reaching up and touching the doctor's face. His optics flickered over to her, and his spark fluttered within his chassis. "If anything…" She looked away. "I should apologise to you."
Ratchet frowned. "Why?"
Alice sighed as tears welled up into her eyes. "You… you were just trying to protect me… and I hit you and ignored you." Her hand fell to her side, and she clenched her fist as she started to cry. "I'm so, so sorry," she cried, collapsing onto the ground.
Ratchet flinched. He hated it when Alice cried, because he felt like he'd failed her yet again. He knew that, when Optimus had assigned him to be Alice's guardian, Optimus had only meant for Ratchet to keep an eye on the human girl, make sure she was safe from Decepticon threat. The Prime had never meant for Ratchet to be more than a guardian.
He gently reached over and brushed the crying girl with his fingertip. "Alice, please… please stop crying," he breathed, only barely managing to force the words out. "Don't cry… I don't like seeing you sad…"
Alice suddenly pressed herself Ratchet's cheek as she cried, and the medic's spark almost broke at how sad the human girl was. He gently placed his servo around her and closed his optics, listening to her sobs even though they pained him to hear.
"Alice, look up at me," he said after a while, and the human girl obliged, sniffling and looking up at him tearfully. Then he leaned down and softly kissed her for a few seconds before pulling away and using his thumb to gently wipe her tears away. "Stop crying. It's alright." He smiled sadly at her. "I forgive you."
"And I forgive you," Alice breathed as she smiled up at him, tears still glistening in her eyes. Then she awkwardly hugged Ratchet with her single arm before he picked her up and stood.
"Now, don't repeat this to the others, okay? If they ask, just say that we talked and got past our differences," Ratchet advised as he strode over to the monitor near to the medical table and set the human girl down next to it. She nodded, and he grinned at her before turning his attention to Optimus. The Prime was still in stasis, although he soon wasn't going to be. Ratchet hoped that Optimus, once he recovered from the stupor he would be in when he awoke, would be able to use his foot again, because there was little more the medic could actually do for it.
The other bots, however, could have used Optimus' assistance. Currently most of them were hiding behind something, but they were not completely safe. Vehicons were shooting at them, and blasts were going right over their heads. Vesper was supporting Arcee, who was injured and leaking energon everywhere. Bulkhead, Bumblebee and Wheeljack were firing every so often, trying to keep the Vehicons from advancing. The human children were huddled near Vesper and Arcee, with Jack trying to wake the two-wheeler with no success.
Ultra Magnus was a different case. He was in the midst of a large group of Vehicons, smashing his way through them with his EMP hammer – which had been named the Magnus Hammer by Wheeljack – and giving the other Autobots a bit more time to try and rouse Arcee.
"Scrap!" Bulkhead cursed as he looked over at Vesper, who was still supporting the other femme while Jack was trying to wake her. He heard a strangled cry then, and he peered over his friend's head to see Ultra Magnus on the ground, his hammer lying in front of him, and Bulkhead saw Wheeljack run out to give the fallen 'Bot some cover.
"We need an urgent Ground Bridge!" he heard Vesper yell as the femme pressed her fingers to her audio processor, and as a swirling green vortex opened Bulkhead watched Vesper, dragging Arcee, run into it, followed by the children. As Wheeljack killed the remaining Vehicons, Bulkhead and Bumblebee ran out to give the Wrecker some assistance. Bumblebee helped Wheeljack to support Ultra Magnus – who was still conscious, just in a lot of pain – and head towards the bridge, while Bulkhead ran over and picked up the Magnus Hammer. They hurried into the bridge, soon finding themselves at the Autobot base.
Questions were asked by both Ratchet and Alice. They wanted to know what had happened, and when the group who'd been attacked explained that they'd been surprised attacked by the Decepticons, who'd tracked Arcee's comm link to find out her coordinates, they fell into silence as Ratchet got to work. Arcee had to be put in stasis while he worked on her, and when he was done about a half hour later, he checked out Ultra Magnus, although he was far happier to see that Ultra Magnus would make a much swifter recovery. He did advise that the lieutenant take it easy, however, before checking the others for wounds and administering transfusions of energon wherever needed.
Vesper was the only one to decline Ratchet's medical scan, and while he didn't quite agree with her declination, he just let her be as she walked over and knelt down next to Optimus. Then she questioned if he had shown any signs of waking, to which Ratchet disappointed her with a shake of his head.
"I see," she said, her voice soft as she returned to gaze upon Optimus' face, which looked calmer than usually. Then she stood and yawned. "I think I will go and recharge," she said, her voice just loud enough for the others to hear. "I bid you all goodnight," she said, smiling politely before walking away from the rest of Team Prime.
"Goodnight!" Alice said cheerfully. Then she turned to the others and asked the question that had been plaguing her thoughts for the past half an hour. "Is she alright?" The human girl – always quite perceptive when it came to emotions – had noticed that Vesper had been shaking slightly.
Wheeljack shook his head. "No, she's not," he said, looking down the hallway Vesper had disappeared down. "She doesn't like fighting, but she was forced to… and she killed a Vehicon."
"I don't see how that's a problem," Alice scoffed, although she did feel like she was missing something.
Wheeljack shrugged. "Me neither, but… she seemed really upset about it." He shook his head. "In any case, she won't talk to me about it…"
"Then maybe she'll talk to Optimus!" Alice said, forgetting momentarily that the Prime was out cold. She only remembered that small fact when she turned to the medical table and saw him laying on the table, his optics closed and his face serene. "Oh. Right. He's unconscious."
"For now," Ultra Magnus said, drawing attention to himself, "We should leave Vesper be. She's obviously dealing with… something from her past."