Nameless Lawyer #2: Star! What on earth took you so long to write this chap?! STA-star?
Star: *snores*
Nameless Lawyer #2: *Pokes*
Star: *bats away hand* Mmmmmm sleepy...
Nameless Lawyer #2: *goes and gets Nameless Lawyer #1*
Nameless Lawyer #1 and Nameless Lawyer #2: WAKE UP STAR!
Star: MUAHJU! HIT THE DECK, CON ATTACK!
Nameless Lawyer #1 and Nameless Lawyer #2: Uh oh...wait...
Ironhide: WHAT IN THE NAME OF Primus IS GOING ON HERE?!
Optimus: *disapproving stare*
Nameless Lawyer #1 and Nameless Lawyer #2: We-uh, were-uh just-ah, waking up, uh Star?
Star:...IT'S 04:32! AM!
Nameless Lawyer #1 and Nameless Lawyer #2: yeah-but, disclaimer?
Star: *Growls* FINE! I. Do. Not. Own. CAN I SLEEP NOW?!
Nameless Lawyer #1 and Nameless Lawyer #2: *nods fearfully*
Ironhide: Stupid fleshies...
Optimus: *tuts and walks away like a BAMF*
Star: *Hugs pillow*
Listening to In The End by Linkin Park
"So...this is what you do in your spare time?"
Sam tilted his head back and grinned down at Prime. The boy was suspended, by various ropes around his waist, from the ceiling in the sparklings room, paintbrush in hand and dressed old, paint plastered clothes. Shimmering silver speckled his face, hands, arms and clothes as he scattered stars across the ceiling, the constellation of Orion still running from the scorpion just being completed as the Prime spoke. The Cybertronians' were all in the sparklings' room with the allies, checking out the changes that had taken place within. It seemed the allies had been very busy during their spare time. The walls separating the rooms had all been torn down, bar one which cut halfway across the room to allow a closed off area for sleeping. The wooden floor had been replaced by a soft green carpet and one of the walls had been painted with blackboard paint and was already decorated by the sparklings' works of art. The opposite wall was painted a soft yellow and had a large rainbow stretching across it and the silhouette of a city that looked strikingly similar to Iacon below it. The wall the door was cut out of was also yellow with several large geometric shapes printed on it. Various spotlights were attached to the various coloured ceiling, letting light fill the playroom. The ceiling itself started off as light blue at the door, slowly growing darker as it moved down the room until, directly over the area where the sparklings' were to sleep, it was dark blue and dotted with silver stars. The Cybertronians were helping the allies put a few finishing touches to the room, slowly getting used to their holo-forms. Eventually, they would claim the other flats on the corridor and design them to their own tastes, but that would be later and right now the only thing everyone was focusing on was getting the sparklings comfortable.
Ratchet lifted his head from where he was colouring with Digi, a question for Optimus on his lips, only to break into a grin at the sight that met his eyes. Optimus was sitting on the ground, playing a game of ball with Quickfire, smiling indulgently at the femme's excited shrieks. The tiny sparklings had quickly grown until they were just about waist height and were expected to be the height of an average human within a decade.
Sam dabbed the last dot of silver in place and quickly untangled himself, landing lightly and silently. Practically the moment his feet touched the ground, he was glomped by Quickfire, who twittered excitedly and all but demanded Sam join in the game. The boy disposed of his brushes and glanced over at Optimus, only to roll his eyes in defeat at the Prime's twinkling eyes and grin. A few minutes later, Ironhide looked up from playing 'peek-a-boo' with Annabelle at the sound of something he had not heard in what felt like eons. Flicking his eyes around the room, the look of surprise and happiness he knew was on his face was mirrored on the rest of the Autobots. Optimus was laughing. Properly laughing. The type that was low in his chest and crinkled the corner of his eyes, something the Autobots had very, very rarely heard since the start of the war. Not only that, but he was relaxed, his weight balanced on his arms that were pushed out behind him and legs stretched out comfortably, for once not tense or wary. Scanning the room, Ironhide's eyes fell on the thing that was making his Prime laugh, a rumble of laughter growing in his own chest. Quickfire had somehow obtained Sam's paintbrush and was giving the overpowered boy a make-over. The boy's closed eye-lids were completely silver, random dots, hearts and stars decorated his face and he had silver lips to match. Quickfire was jabbering away to Optimus, asking his opinion and, in a rare moment of mischievousness, Optimus gave the sparkling ideas to try out on the teen. After one particular embarrassing idea, Sam's eyes shot open, somehow looking bluer than usual against the silver.
"Hey, Quickfire? It's not fair how I get all the fun; I think Optimus wants a make-over too!"
Optimus' mouth dropped open at the teen's innocent smile, quickly pulling up a smile when Quickfire suddenly turned her artistic skills to him, his eyes not leaving the teen's now smirking face. Before Ironhide could extract his cell phone and snap a picture without being seen, a shrill beep came from the device on his ear. The Autobot tilted his head to the side as he received an urgent message from Keller; forehead creasing at the plea to make his was to The Hub ASAP. Ironhide blinked when the message ended, judging by the furrowed brows and suddenly serious expressions, the other Cybertronians had also received the message. The Warrior was startled out of his musings when a small hand tapped his cheek. Annabelle gazed into his eyes, her own somehow serious; as if she knew something was wrong. Shaking his head, Ironhide smiled at the child and placed a light kiss to her forehead. He turned to hand her to Will, who had been reading a story to Freeze-flame, only to draw short when Will was checking a message on his phone. Confused and slightly concerned beautiful brown eyes flicked up to meet clear blue.
"Hey guys? I just got a message from Keller-"
"Yes." Optimus rose to his feet, only pausing to press his forehead against Quickfire's helm to sooth the confused femme, "We received the same message."
"How did-"
"Our Comm. devices work slightly similarly to your cellular phones," Ratchet explained to Devlin, "Prime gave Keller our access codes in the case of an emergency."
The Allies glanced at one-another, until Miles stepped forward with Sonic clinging to his hand tightly. "Hey kiddos, how about story time?"
The sparklings all gave cries of agreement, racing towards the far corner that had shelves filled by rows of books, the worried expressions of the adults forgotten in their excitement. The three teens told the best stories, putting on voices and pulling silly faces. Sam made up to most exciting ones, ones about a king whose kingdom was fighting with each other and how the king and his royal court were saving the world!
The holo's and Rangers took full advantage of the sparklings' distraction and quickly slipped out the door. Just before the door shut, Optimus glanced back over his shoulder at Sam. The teen whispered something in Quickfire's audio that caused the femme to race off with a squeal, then straightened up to meet Optimus' gaze. After a few seconds, the human's lips quirked up in a half-smile and he nodded at the Prime, who wordlessly returned the gesture and slipped out the door.
"Morning."
The Rangers and Cybertronians replied to Keller's greeting, filing into the conference room. After they glanced around, they filled the empty chairs that surrounded the long conference table, eyeing the handful of men in suits and shades. When everyone was seated, Keller gestured to one of the men who closed the door and dim off the lights, leaving the room in semi-darkness. The projector quickly kicked into life and threw a picture onto the wall behind Keller. Bumblebee was suddenly a statue, Ratchet and Ironhide growled low in their throats and Optimus' eyes narrowed, his fists tensed and jaw tightened.
"This is Seymour Simmons." Keller began, indicating to the greying man.
"Yeah, we've met." Lennox bit the words out, worried eyes on the unmoving form of Bumblebee. Anger and hate spiked out from the Rangers, the memory of the bot they were beginning to see as a younger brother's cries echoing in their ears. Seeing Barricade's confused eyes, Fig leaned forward and whispered Simmons's part in the creation of Chatter and the imprisonment and torture of Bumblebee. The mech jerked back, a snarl escaping from his lips, much to the agreement of Ironhide. Optimus cleared his throat pointedly.
"What exactly, Mr Secretary, is this about?"
"Mr Simmons here managed to cut a deal. He gave some never-before seen information in exchange from escaping jail time due to the prevention of the course of justice. The information he gave has never before been recorded, never before been explain or brought to light to those outside the need-to-know. The information refers to Sector Seven or rather, a level within Sector Seven."
"Level?" Law broke in, leaning forward with his hands clasped on top of the table, grey eyes sharp.
"Yes. From what I've been able to gather, there are four levels within Sector Seven. Simmons has given us information on the top level, the 'Elites'."
"Elites? Never heard of them."
"You wouldn't have." Keller answered with a wry grin. "The Elites' are the best of the best. The fastest, smartest and strongest of the generation are taken and trained. These guys are invisible, unstoppable, strike teams and assassins. And they specialise in the 'protection of the people of Earth from the-'" Keller suddenly broke off, glancing around the room, hesitantly finishing, "'NBE Threat'."
The tension in the room could have been sliced by a knife. The so called 'NBE's' were suddenly expressionless while fury crackled out from the Rangers.
"Most of the Elites' are scientists. They were fascinated by the 'Cube' or 'Allspark'. And, I'm afraid, they created more children than the ones we have with us today."
Optimus' head snapped up, followed by the rest of the room.
"What do you mean? There are more sparklings? Where?"
Keller shut his eyes, unable to stand the hopeful look on the Prime's face.
"No, you misunderstand. Sector Seven-They...Prime, I'm sorry. They experimented on the children. None, bar the ones that are with us on base, survived."
Keller opened his eyes slowly; afraid of what he would see. The Rangers looked both sick and furious, the mere thought of someone hurting the sparklings sending a white-hot rage through them. Barricade made an odd choking noise, the only noise in the deafening silence. Ironhide and Ratchet were silent in their shock, not even intaking, the thought of the sparklings they thought as their own being hurt, tortured making them so deathly furious that they couldn't even move. Bumblebee thought he was going to purge his tanks; the thought of the sparklings going through what he had over and over again was making the world spin.
The silence slowly shifted, the eyes of the room falling on one being. Optimus kept his head down as he slowly rose out of his chair, his palms flat across the desk as if to ground himself, a terrifying growl building in his chest. Slowly, he brought his head up and Keller flinched back at the pure, undiluted fury in his eyes.
"Your government," The words were spat out, quickly morphing into a snarl, "Gave the order to torture and murder our sparklings, the children of a slowly dying race?"
The room exploded, the occupants' chairs hitting the ground with crashes as they leapt to their feet, all but screaming at the Secretary. The men in black moved as if to shield him, worried for his safety, as the Cybertronians especially looked ready to kill, reverence for life be damned. The screaming continued for a handful of minutes, until...
"Silence"
Optimus did not raise his voice, the word was barely audible, but at once silence fell, the furious cries ceased as if a switch had been flipped. The chairs were lifted up and sat on once more, despite the fact their occupants were trembling with fury. The fury in the Prime's eyes did not dim as he spoke to Keller, his voice flat, devoid of anything.
"Did you know?"
"NO! I swear Prime! I had no idea! Only a select few were in the know and I was not one of them."
Optimus' eyes flicked over the man's face, searching for any hint of a lie. When he found none, a minute amount of tension lifted from his shoulders as he slowly sank into his seat, pushing down the grief at the knowledge that he had been too late to save such young sparks.
'The time will come when they will be mourned,' Optimus promised himself, 'But until then, we must focus on those who can still be saved'.
"What other information do you have on these...Elites." It took everything within the man not to shudder at the disgust that draped the word.
"Elites are taken young-"
"How young?" Keller looked up to meet Lennox's furious eyes.
"Fourteen."
The allies did a double take, blinking at Keller.
"Wait-what?!"
"When you say fourteen-"
"I mean fourteen years old."
"Children." Eyes snapped to Ironhide's completely blank face, though the hand that once clenched on the arm of his seat had slipped under the table and grasped Lennox's, the human squeezing back in a sign of non-verbal comfort. "You were training children. To fight in wars. To kill. Children"
John Keller nodded sadly, the thought of so many young lives being ruined twisting his heart.
"They are trained for five years, finishing their training at nineteen. Then, they fight."
"There's more." Ratchet kept his eyes on the table, his voice just a whisper. "You have more to tell us."
John sighed deeply. Now was the hard part.
"Not all Elites' fought against your kind. There were two boys. They went by the names Lightning and Blaze. Lighting was taken in at seven and completed his training within the year, and Blaze was taken when he was eight, his training finished within two years."
"Wait, stop right there. Seven and eight?!"
John didn't need to look up to see the horror on the faces looking back at him. "Yes"
The Rangers were speechless, Lennox in particular, the thought of little Annie being taken in just over six years to be trained into an assassin making him shudder. Though the Cybertronians stayed quiet, it wasn't hard to see that they too were disgusted at when the humans had done, and Keller could find any way to argue with them.
"When Lightning and Blaze were ten years old, they discovered the truth about the sparklings, when Quickfire was born."
Everyone pretended not to see Optimus snap up straight.
"The two boys managed to convince the man explaining the 'NBTs'' that she was offlined and managed to smuggle her out. They continued to do this for a further six sparklings for a further four years, up until they were just coming fourteen. Then, they smuggled them out of Sector Seven Headquarters to go and stay with Melissa Lancaster."
"You mean to say, that two children found out the truth about our sparklings and risked their own lives to save them?"
Keller could only nod in reply to the shell-shocked Barricade. Ironhide was openly gaping at Keller and Ratchet looked on in disbelief. It wasn't until Prime spoke, did realization come crashing down.
"What happened to them?"
Keller scrubbed a hand over his face.
"Sector Seven found out. Lightning managed to provide a distraction long enough to allow Blaze to escape, but he himself couldn't make it out. The other Elites' tired to...extract the information due to the whereabouts of both Blaze and the Sparklings, but he refused to give it up."
"They tortured him." Bumblebee spoke for the first time, his eyes dark and voice just slightly raspy. He held the Secretary's gaze until the older man nodded.
"Extensively."
"Jesus Christ." Epps' head slowly hit the table. Lennox squeezed Ironhide's hand, shutting his own eyes.
"Poor kid must have been terrified."
"Disgusting"
"Just a child"
"Then what happened?"
"Six months later, he broke out. Escaped Sector-Seven Headquarters with another sparkling and gave it back to its 'parent' who it was tearing up the base. Escaped on a bike and blew up most of Headquarters, though most agreed he died in the explosion and-Barricade, are you alright?"
Turning around slowly, the eyes of the room fell on the suddenly whiter-than-white holo.
"Did he wear a mask?"
"Pardon?"
"Did he wear a mask?!"
Keller blinked at the almost hysterical tone the ex-enforcer used, his violet eyes burning brightly.
"Yes...black and covered in-"
"-bolts of Lightning."
Barricade's head hit the table with a soft thump as the mech laughed, almost hysterically. Optimus, bring the closest one to the mech, placed a hand on his shoulder.
"Barricade?"
"You know they way I explained to you about those human knocking me out? T-taking Frenzy? One of them returning him?"
"Yes..."
"Optimus, he wore a mask with lightning bolts."
Optimus' eyes widened.
"He saved not only the sparklings, but also your son?"
Barricade could only nod, another hysterical bubble rising in his throat. Optimus' eyes suddenly became slits. The child had saved the future of their race, had saved the sparkling Optimus was growing attached to, had saved his nephew. Now, it was personal.
"He survived, didn't he?"
"Yes. He and Blaze are both alive."
"Where are they? What do they look like? Are they safe?"
Keller ignored both the first and last question Ratchet asked, focusing on the second.
"This is what they looked like, aged six."
Keller brought up a photograph of three children, a little girl, whose face was blurred out, a little blonde and a little redhead. The two boys were grinning at the camera, youthful and innocent. But something else drew Optimus' attention. The two in the picture reminded him of something, of someone; he just couldn't put his finger on it...
"Hold up. That doesn't make sense. Sam and Miles found the sparklings and sent them to live with Miles' aunt. If your information is correct, then why would they..."
Bumblebee trailed off, his eyes widening rapidly. Mathew cocked his head to the side, exhaling loudly. "They lied to us."
Optimus shook his head slowly, trying to ignore the flash of hurt that stung through his spark. The tentative trust that the group had with the two teens started to shave and shiver. Ironhide's lips pressed together tightly as fire started to grow in the mech's eyes.
"They lied to us. Why would they lie about such a thing? And why would the sparklings go along with it? Unless..."
Lennox picked up on Ironhide's train of thought, fury starting to smoulder in his own eyes. "You think they threatened them?"
It started off as whispers, but they quickly span out of control, rising up like a wildfire.
"How dare they!"
"They threatened our children!"
"For all we know, they could be working with S-7 as we speak!"
"They could be passing along information!"
"Traitors!"
"They can't stay with us!"
"What should we do? Let them know we know?"
"We left them with the sparklings!"
Keller twisted his hands, his face pale. The Cybertronians and Rangers were getting to their feet, intending to race back to the guiltless teens. If they had been told carefully, explained fully, Keller knew the outcome would have been very different. But these were soldiers; they had to trust their instincts, and they were telling them that children were in danger. Glancing over at Prime, John realised with a jolt that while he hadn't joined in with the shouting, he hadn't done anything to stop the others. His eyes were shut, his forehead creased and his lips were trembling as he mouthed things only himself could understand.
Gesturing sharply, three men in black moved from Keller's side to block the door. Fig blinked at them, drawing up short.
"Hey man, could ya move?"
The man looked back emotionlessly, unmoving. Before the soldier could forcibly move him out of the way, Keller drew the impatient men and mechs' attention.
"Wait! You don't have all the information you need!"
The men at the door ignored his remark, preparing to forcibly move the suits out of the way when-
"Wait."
Eyes flew back to Optimus, whose gaze was suddenly razor sharp on Keller.
"If Sam and Miles were a threat, you would have told us immediately. But you withheld that information, so you believe them to be trustworthy."
Keller nodded hesitantly. "Those two can be trusted, that much I am sure of."
"But," Bumblebee shook his head slowly, trying to grasp what Prime was speaking of. "They work for Sector Seven," The name was said with a light shudder, "Don't they?"
"Yes."
"But then, how can we trust them? You said it yourself, they fight against the 'NBE threat'. Well, all but those two bo-"
The scout cut off, something whispering in the back of his mind. The idea grew louder until it was practically screaming in his ears. He looked to Keller, as if waiting for him to laugh the scout off. Instead, he got a pair of sad eyes looking back at him. Understanding dawned in Ratchet's eyes as he let his forehead drop into his hands, shaking his head. Slowly, what was being suggested sank in.
"No." Will shook his head, something tightening around his neck and clawing up his throat, "It couldn't-"
With a press of a button, the picture on the wall changed. Looking back at them was two seventeen year old boys, almost identical to the two the people in the room had fought with barely two months ago.
"No. It can't be. Not them, not-"
Epps rambling was cut off when Keller pushed another button. He hated what he was going to do, but he had to be cruel to get them to understand.
"Tell me where they are!"
"I will tell you nothing."
The boy chained to the chair screamed as something white-hot was pushed against the sensitive sole of his foot. The stomach-churning smell of burnt flesh filled the boy's sense, causing him to gag on nothing.
"Have you changed your mind yet?"
"Uncle..p-please..."
"Tell me where Blaze is. Tell me where the NBT's are, and you can walk away."
The boy looked up, unmasked, and if there was any doubt still lingering, it was gone when they recognized the scar-the scar that was a white jagged line now, but then was fresh and still bleeding-that tore across his face. The boy's eyes were conflicted; he swallowed and closed his eyes and whispered...
"I will tell you nothing."
"Very well. Fault line, continue."
The video feed cut out, and not a moment too soon. No-one spoke, no-one dared to breathe loudly. Each person was still reeling at what had just been revealed. After a few minutes, the one thing that was whispering in the back of O'Neill's mind broke free.
"Why didn't they tell us?"
Keller could only shrug in reply, equally mystified. "I have no idea. I think it had something to do with Mr Going-to-be-kicked-out-of-office."
After a few more minutes of horrified silence, Optimus practically lurched to his feet and sprinted across the room, weaving through the shell shocked Cybertronians and Rangers and skidded out the door. Only after a few seconds did the rest of the room's brain kick into gear and they followed, almost stampeding out of the room, sprinting to catch up with Optimus' long strides. Ignoring the surprised faces of the other soldiers, they ducked into the bright sunlight and darted across the distance between the Hub and the Autobot hanger, not pausing as they continued to dash through the open doors. The hanger was crossed in seconds and the door of the Rec room was thrown open, only to find Sam, who had been in the process of opening it, standing at the other side.
Sam blinked at Optimus, raising an eyebrow at his pale face, shocked eyes and creased forehead. Behind the teen, the sparklings peered out from behind his legs, Miles lagging in the back with Mikaela.
"Prime? You alright?"
Optimus opened his mouth...and closed it again. Now that he was here, face-to-face with Sam, he could neither think of anything to say nor erase the image of the younger version of the boy screaming in agony that seemed burned onto the back of his eyelids. What was he supposed to say? 'Oh, hey Sam, just found out about you and Miles being Elites! Oh yeah, thanks for saving our sparklings and smuggling them out of S7 HQ, at risk to your own lives, despite the fact that you yourselves were only children at the time! Oh, and I suppose, thanks for allowing yourself to be tortured for six months while protecting the lives of our sparklings, again. One more thing, thanks for risking your own safety to save my nephew!'
Sam looked over Optimus' shoulder at the others, starting slightly when he saw their horrified, remorseful faces. He glanced back at Miles and Mikaela, seeing his own confusion mirrored on their faces.
"Uh, Optimus? You okay? What's wrong?"
Before Optimus had a chance to speak, an alarm screamed in the hanger just behind him. Reacting on instinct, the Cybertronians and the allies launched themselves into the hanger, Mikaela jumping and pulling the sparklings back while Miles slammed the door shut behind him. The holo-forms wavered and disappeared into nothing as their bi-pedal forms stood up, racing over to the computers lining the walls. Optimus was barking out orders and both his men and the allies hurried to carry them out.
"Check the monitor!"
"All clear, Prime!"
"Bumblebee, your station?!"
"It's not me either, Prime!"
"Ironhide?"
"Not me."
"Ratchet?"
"All I'm getting is static!"
"Lennox, check those wires! Miles, twist that 14 degrees to the right!"
"Wires are fine, Prime"
"What now?"
"Sam-"
"On it."
The boy skidded underneath the monitor itself, fingers prying off the plastic cover. He delved into the mass of wire pushing useless ones out of the way. Finally, his eyes locked in on the target and he pulled sharply.
At once, the deafening beeping cut off and causing most, mainly the Cybertronians, to sigh in relief. Rubbing at his forehead, Optimus gave a few more orders to the boy under the monitor, who quickly followed through. The static from Ratchet's station started to clear slowly, the buzzing slowly morphing into undistinguishable voices. Optimus moved towards the microphone flicking on the Cybertronian-to-english translator for the benefit of the humans.
"My designation is Optimus Prime. State your designation, rank, intent, how many members of your squad and situation"
The room waited with baited breath as the buzzing grew louder then dropped off again, the line becoming almost crystal clear.
"Designation: Prowl. Rank: Second in Command. Intent: To rendezvous with First Command. Total number in Squad: Five. Situation: Free-falling through Sol 3's Atmosphere. Help Needed ASAP"
New chap up! Hope I did this justice! :D Now, the Bots and Rangers know about Sam and Miles, but Sam and Miles don't know they know Aaaaand Prowl and his team are free falling right now! Next chap should be fuuuuuun! XD
Major big thanks to everyone after the last chapter, you guys know exactly how to cheer me up, so *hugz*
Dedications! Here you go!
My first reviewer this time was: shadow visor! Hey there! You get 1/3 of this chapter, use it wisely! xD
My RaNDOm Long-term reviewer this time was: Richard'sQueen aka LGFS ! Yo dude! Here is your thank-you for sticking with me this long! xD
And now form me RaNDOm reader! This week's shout out goes to: Matron! Glad you enjoyed the last chap and here's to hoping you'll read on! xD
So...Don't think I have anything else to add? Hmmm, SilentPerson updated To Change The Future a few days ago, so if you haven't checked it out yet, go do it now! And ShiftingWings125 also updated Bits and Pieces, so go check it out! Hmmmm, I think that's it...
Oh yeah! I was thinking of maybe, MAYBE staring a new TF fic? Here's the possible summery
He was a Prime, their leader, the highest of the high. She was a Gamma, scum, the lowest of the low. Their love was forbidden, unlawful, unstoppable. Of course, no tale of love runs smoothly and this is no different, the path filled with twists, turns and terror. Can they fight against the social prejudice and unite the classes, or will the buckle under the pressure and splinter?
Its Prime/Femme!Jazz. Watcha think?