Lillian could feel the electricity surging through her, almost as if Wheeljack's own spark was sending wave after wave of adrenaline-inducing bolts into her body. When the two finally managed to part long enough to look at each other, Lillian noticed the look of longing and desperation mixed with lust and even hints of fear in the holoform's optics. The two raced to catch their breaths, and she let her feet touch the ground again before she could speak.
"Wheeljack, I…" She paused, almost seeing the mech's vulnerability in his optics – something that obviously wasn't shown…ever. "I don't want you to get in trouble…I don't want you to get punished because of me. My emotions are so mixed right now, I…" She shut her eyes, images of Red Alert's death flashing through her mind and causing warm tears to roll down her cheeks. "I don't understand why you did all this for me. We're on opposite sides…you killed Red Alert. Even if you tried, the Autobots would probably never accept you." She opened her eyes, her eyelashes sparkling from the lingering tears. "I don't know what to feel – I don't know what to think. My heart is telling me to succumb to you, to give this my all without regrets, but…my mind is warning me of the consequences. My mind says I shouldn't…love you…ever." Her body shook as the words spilled out of her mouth, trembling in the holoform's arms.
Wheeljack took a moment to speak, keeping his gaze locked with hers with difficulty, considering her beautiful steel-grey eyes spoke with so much emotion. It was almost as if he could see her pain, her confusion, her angst through those orbs and there was nothing he could do except speak to her in the softest, warmest way he could.
"Lillian…listen. I don't know myself why I've been doing this, but there's something in my spark that just compels me to. I can't stop it – and honestly, I don't want to. As far as punishment goes…I'm willing to take what they give me. I've been risking my aft every time I sneak out of base and bring you those packages…I'm lucky Decepticons don't give a damn when it comes to their team member's whereabouts." He glanced away for a moment, " I…I understand why you would be hesitant, especially if the Autobots found out where you were and who'd been keeping you here this whole time. I just want you to understand, Lillian…" He looked back at her, his optics displaying the most emotion Lillian had ever seen in a hologram in her lifetime, "…this affection you humans call love must be what has been driving me to act this way, but I don't regret it. I respect your decision, no matter what it may be. I realize that you will need more time to make it, and so I shall give it to you. Whenever you are ready, leave a note for me on the door and I will stop by that night to speak to you."
Looking deep into her eyes, Wheeljack slowly pulled himself away from her and took a few steps back. It was almost as if he was waiting for her to respond, but all she could do was stare at him with the most defenseless look on her face. As his holoform began to fade away, Lillian took a few steps forward, halting when the lights to Wheeljack's vehicle form switched on and caused her to flinch.
After a quick moment, she walked down the steps of the porch and approached him, cautiously. She stood between the two headlights, right in front of the slashed Autobot logo on the hood of the car. "Wheeljack…" She set her hand on the insignia, feeling the engine rev at her touch and vibrate wildly, "Please be careful. I'll let you know as soon as I'm ready." She traced her fingers across the slash before the car quickly backed up and sped off into the woods, causing her hair to whip around and leaving a trail of dust in its wake.
Saber woke up suddenly, her eyes blinking the grogginess off and jumping quickly out of bed, as if she had gotten a sudden caffeine fix. Her mind was racing from the dream she'd just had, and she couldn't wait to express it to Blurr to see what his response would be.
As if on cue, the mech awoke from his recharge and stretched to his full height, towering over Saber's petite form with ease. The girl looked up at him, waving at him before sitting on the edge of the bed, watching as he sat down across from her, looking down.
"Blurr, you'll never believe it. I had the MOST realistic dream…" She paused, giving him a knowing look, "Now I know dreams aren't real, you don't have to tell me that twice, but I just have this gut feeling…" She took a deep breath, "I had a dream that…we found Lillian. Well, not we, per se, but it was as if…I was watching her without actually being there. I saw this house in the middle of nowhere – it was surrounded by trees and it had this cute little porch – and I saw Lillian outside of it. But get this: she was with Wheeljack, of all people! But he wasn't trying to hurt her or anything…they were both just standing there, talking in broad daylight as if they'd been the best of friends for the longest time." She stared at Blurr, "And now that I'm awake, I just have this feeling that I need to talk to him…somehow…I doubt anyone would approve of it but if there was just some way that I could communicate with him and ask if…" She halted, her hopes suddenly shot down, "I can see it all in your look, Blurr…even if I did manage to contact him there's no assurance that he'd tell me where she was, much less that he even knows. It was naïve, I'm sorry."
She took a deep breath and stood from the bed, looking up at him with sleepy eyes, "I don't know why, but that took a bit out of me…I need some breakfast."
"Don't lose hope, Saber…you never know where information might pop up." He picked her up into his hand, exiting the room and walking towards the kitchen.
"I know, but it just felt so real…I wish I could find this place, just to show myself she's not there, but…no. I should stop. It would be a waste of time and resources." Saber thought, shaking her head and holding on closely to one of Blurr's digits.
Rosaline walked around outside, carrying a basket in her hands and stopping by every once in a while to pick up flowers that were growing outside the base. She felt like a girl in the movies, wearing sandals, a sundress, and a sunhat now that the weather was getting warmer. The sun shone down brightly on patches of grass that the trees didn't cover, and that was where most of the wildflowers grew, covering those patches here and there and giving her plenty of pretty flowers to choose from.
She reached a particular point in the backwoods that caused her to wonder, noticing wild-growing vines and drooping trees around it. As she approached, she noticed the vines were covering some sort of gate – obviously abandoned and left for the Earth to claim. She tore some of the vines away and noticed a lock and a keyhole, sparking her curiosity. She clamped one eye shut and tried to focus through the keyhole to see what was beyond, but all she could see was more grass and trees on the other side. She pulled gently on the lock, messing with it for a moment before leaving it be and taking a few steps back. "I don't know…maybe I'll look here some other time." She turned around, walking briskly in the opposite direction and glancing over her shoulder only a couple times before the gate was out of sight. "How strange. Why is there a gate in the middle of the woods? True, nobody knows this part of the country even exists, but still…I wonder what's back there." She murmured, continuing on her pace before continuing to pick flowers, as if nothing had happened.
She entered the base and made a quick stop in the supply room, before continuing to walk towards Jetfire's lab and entering without hesitation. She paused when she didn't find him inside, but quickly continued to walk towards the stairs and climbed them all the way to the lab table. From there, she set down the basket of flowers as well as the vases she'd picked up on her way, and began to put the flowers inside the vases, setting them in different places around the workshop table. "He's going to cringe when he sees how girly I made this place…" She laughed, fixing up the bouquets and humming softly to herself as she did so.
"So…how are we going to explain this birth to the humans?" Iris suddenly piped up, glancing over at her sparkmate. "It's not like typical human birthing…there is no tiny mech that will come out of any of my ports – honestly, I don't want to try to understand how that ritual works – but Ratchet is working now on the sparkling's form."
Jazz hesitated, locking gazes with her and watching her carefully. It was true, the ritual wasn't like what the humans were used to, but he didn't quite know how to explain it. Only Cybertronians could tell that Iris was 'pregnant' – there were certain signs that showed it, but none of the ones humans expected. She didn't gain weight or have a protruding belly, but instead, her optics and even her whole body gradually began to glow brighter and brighter – not to the point where it blinded anyone, but to the point where it was noticeable, even by humans. Also, Iris would be more feisty and irritable, and would be more vulnerable to CPU viruses or bots that could possibly hack into her system; that was why Ratchet and Jetfire had already worked together to set up a sort of 'extra antivirus' programming into her system that would eliminate the threat completely. Also, the sparkling didn't take nine months to grow; despite the fact that Cybertronians could live for a long time and seemed to stay the same age forever, the sparkling would come to be in only a few short months.
"We'll just…I don't know, have Ratchet explain it to them." He said quickly, glancing at her. He paused a moment before a large grin spread on his face and he spoke. "Can't say we didn't get to babymakin', but after this one…you wanna get right back to tryin' again?" He smirked, but only for a second before a wrench hit his face and he fell over, twitching in pain.
"You're lucky I didn't hurt you for this first one! Don't get me wrong, I'll love my sparkling to death, but I belong on the battlefield – and this little one will grow up to be just as strong as their mother." She glared at him, pointing, "And don't you forget it."
"Star…pleeeaaaseee? You know it would be so beneficial for all of us!"
"I don't understand your logic, Alexis Anderson. And I disagree with that last statement."
"But Star…don't be so difficult! Why can't you just do this?"
"Because, Alexis…I don't want to be the one responsible for you thinking you can stand up against a mech that is many times your size and weight."
"Starscream…I want to do this. If anything I want to show that I don't need everyone protecting poor, little Alexis. I just don't want to seem like a total weakling! Plus, if you don't do this for me…" She paused, "We're never playing the puzzle games again."
Starscream froze, his whole body staying still except when he whipped his head to look at her. "You…you wouldn't!"
Alexis smirked, crossing her arms and looking at the mech in front of her. "That's right…I'm going there. This is officially blackmail." She grinned, "If you haven't noticed, Star, in human culture, when a male and female are in a relationship…the female rules."
Starscream's optics widened in sudden realization; his world seemed to come crashing down around him with absurdly fast speed. He stared at her in shock – did that mean he couldn't have his time alone anymore? Did that mean he couldn't spar at night anymore? Did that mean…did that mean Alexis had to dictate everything he did? Did that mean…SHE'D WIN EVERY PUZZLE GAME?! He could feel his surroundings beginning to spin around him as his CPU began to overload with the sudden intake of information.
Seeing this, Alexis suddenly burst out laughing and fell to the floor, holding her stomach. "Oh my god, Star! You should see the look on your face! I was joking…I'm not going to take over and scrutinize everything you do. That's unhealthy. And no…" She paused, looking at him knowingly, "this doesn't mean I'll win every puzzle game we play."
Heaving what could be called a sigh of relief, Starscream stood to his full height and looked at her out of the corner of his eye. "Good one, my sparkmate. I do believe you're the first one to ever make me think I would lose my independence…"
Sunbeam slowly approached Shockwave's quarters, being careful to make sure no one else saw her. She knocked twice, watching as a disgruntled Shockwave appeared sitting on a chair when the door opened. Upon seeing her, however, his expression faded into one of relief and he ushered her to walk inside.
"Sunbeam…what brings you here?" He asked, watching her carefully as she strode inside, running his optic up and down her carefully crafted body. He crossed his arms, waiting for her response.
"Well, I remembered you wanted to talk to me a while back about how I became a Decepticon…" She paused, standing clear in front of him and setting her hands on her hips, "And I figured this was a good time. None of the fragheads are around to interrupt my oh-so-wonderful story."
Nodding, Shockwave merely motioned for her to sit, which she politely refused. He was probably the only one she would be nice to, for now, considering she wanted him on her side. "Approved. Begin."
Sunbeam shut her optics, pacing to and fro carefully in front of the mech.
"I had a family…a very loving one. My mother was a fierce warrior and my father was a prominent scientist, which meant I had strength and genius in my genes. The problem was, when my mother was told she was 'with sparkling'…it turned out to be a plural of the word. There were two of us."
She paused, stopping her stroll and staring directly at him.
"I had a sister, born on the same date and time. We are both equal in every sense of the word, except for the way we look. We look similar, but there are some differences that can be said as far as the color of our bodies, our personalities, and…the faction we chose."
She narrowed her eyes, noticing the look of understanding in Shockwave's optic.
"I have a twin, Shockwave…but she is an Autobot."
Shockwave stood suddenly from his chair, staring at her in surprise. "You mean to tell me there is another, exactly like you, except…an AUTOBOT?"
Sunbeam whipped her body around quickly, approaching her leader with courage and without fear of negative retaliation. "She is NOT exactly like me…that femme has become weak because of them…she had the fiery personality but it can stand nothing against my tactics." She paused, "As far as I know, she's dead…and it's better off that way. If she isn't, and I ever see her again…I'll tear her to pieces."
Shockwave took a moment to notice how close they were, and tried to dismiss it quickly. He stood his ground against the proud femme and took a small step toward her, expecting her to back down. When she didn't, he smirked inwardly and crossed his arms. "Sunbeam…I'd like to see you prove your words. If we ever come across this twin of yours…you shall fight her, and no one else." He tilted his head up, his optic looking down at her, "However…I know that is not the only reason why you came here. What else do you seek from me?"
Sunbeam smirked, reaching a hand up and resting her index finger against his chestplate. "And how right you would be, my leader." She stepped back and turned around, moving one hand in the air as she spoke. "Logic is your mistress, Shockwave, and I'd like to point out to you that Wheeljack has been doing some…clearly illogical things. I entered his room not too long ago out of curiosity and found…human-sized paper on his desk. Ever since then…" She turned her head and looked at him from over her shoulder, "…he's kept his room under a new security lock that makes me wonder what exactly he's trying to hide."
Shockwave nodded; Sunbeam was right – logic did rule any and all of his processes, although he seemed to falter sometimes when this femme came around, a change which he had to be wary of. Those things aside, he calculated the most logical option would be to confront Wheeljack and make him open his chambers to show what he was hiding.
"Where is Wheeljack, speaking of?"
Sunbeam paused at his question, turning her full body around to face him again and parting her lips to speak. Before she could get a word out, however, the sound of the warp gate bringing someone on board filled the room and she smirked, setting one hand on her hip. "Here now, it seems."
"Well…let's see what he's been up to." Shockwave spoke, exiting his room with Sunbeam on his tail. The femme had the biggest, most malicious smirk on her face as the two entered the large room with the warp gate inside, watching as Wheeljack stepped down from the platform.
"Wheeljack…" Shockwave spoke casually, his optic glowing bright red, "…your leader demands to know where you've been."
Wheeljack stared at him in surprise, narrowing his eyes when he noticed Sunbeam at his side, arms crossed. "That fragging femme went and snitched on me…" He thought, taking a few steps towards them. He could feel the animosity radiating from the three of them as he tried to think of a viable excuse. "Ah…slag."
Author's Note:I find myself apologizing each time I put out a chapter due to how long it's taken me to publish it! But once again…I am SO SORRY!! Hopefully this will satisfy you guys until I find another chance to update – now that I'm not working as much I should have more time! Here's to hoping, right? Thanks for waiting, and thanks for staying loyal!