Hey guys! I know I said that I probably wouldn't update, due to the fact that my computer broke on me, but it's almost literally on it's last thread of cord that connects the hard drive to the screen. I've got a little time before it's completely broken so it gives me a chance to pull everything off of my hard drive and back everything up before I send it off. Although I'm probably going to have to replace it... It's been a good putey....
Anyway, I thought I'd be "Evil Author" again and give you a clue to coming chapters. My advice is to go back and check out Chapter 17: Before It's too Late. Cookies to anyone who can tell me what the clue is.
transformeraddict: I worry that I've made it too easy to figure out who the three are =D
FORD B: Thank you for the continuing support and reviews! Hee hee, keep taking those guesses!
--
It was a warm, cozy day a few miles outside of Tranquility. The warm weather was a nice break from the cold days that everyone had suffered through. Everyone was beginning to get back to their outside chores, mowing their lawns, trimming the hedges. However, mostly there were families taking in and enjoying the weather outside. One of those families was the Lennox group. The three were outside, playing in the grassy plains around the house. Little Annie was swinging in an infant swing while Sarah and Will were smiling and speaking sweetly to the child.
"She's getting so big, already," Will shook his head in disbelief.
Sarah giggled, "Yeah, I think we'll be needing to upgrade the infant swing to a children's swing soon enough!"
"I'm just glad that the cold has finally let up. I was thinking that it was going to snow there for a while!" He looked up into the bright blue sky. The sun was at high noon and there wasn't a single cloud in sight.
"I remember it snowing a few times when I was kid," Sarah replied, "I think we might have fun with Annie in a little snow," she smiled.
"Yeah," Will replied looking back to his daughter and making funny faces for her as she gently swung forward a little. This, of course, making the small child laugh and giggle happily.
In the middle of their play time, they suddenly heard the phone ring from inside the house.
"I'll get it," Will said as he made a dash inside the house.
"Hello?" he answered, "... Yeah, this is him... Oh... Okay..." his smile disappeared, "Yes sir... How long?... Yeah, I understand... Thanks," he hung up the phone and sighed.
At about that time, Sarah walked in, holding the little girl in her arms. She set the child down in her stool at the kitchen table and asked, "Who was it?"
"It was the military..." Will replied in a serious tone.
Sarah looked up Will with a surprised glance, "What did they want?"
"They told me that my unit would be re-deployed back to Quatar..." he replied.
"No... No they can't send you back there!" Sarah was automatically furious at the notion, "Don't they remember what happened the last time?! I almost lost you!"
Will "shushed" at Sarah as he hugged her, "I know, I know..."
Sarah's eyes watered as she embraced her husband back, "How long?"
"...Three months... It's going to be another eighteen month tour..." he replied.
Little Annie's eyes also started to water, sensing the feelings from her parents. As she started to whimper, Sarah pulled apart from Will and went to her daughter, picking her back up and holding her tightly, rocking her gently.
Will sighed again, leaning against the nearby doorway. He'd only, just recently, gotten to really know his daughter and had been used to her nightly and daily routine of feedings, diaper changing, and nap times. Of course he was always willing to serve his country. It was his life. He watched as Sarah quelled their daughter's tears.
He didn't want to go...
--
"Is everything all right?"
Cat sat in silence. This was all just too much for her. The Allspark had allowed her a few moments to pull her thoughts together, but there was just nothing in the universe that could make her understand, easily, what she had just heard.
"Why haven't you come forward with this information sooner? It's been nearly a year since the battle! You've had plenty of time to tell one of us!"
"I've already told you. There was no way, until now, to bring this information to your attention. Your sister has been able to contact you through your dreams, but only while close to death," the Allspark replied.
"Wait..." Cat thought aloud, "Wait, no that's not true. I wasn't near death when Five spoke to me when I went to find Doctor Craft."
"True, however you were suffering from severe emotional distress, which caused an imbalance of the power you hold, shifting your soul from this world. It was a large enough shift that Five and the others were enabled to speak with you... As well as try to force you to use the power you hold," it replied.
Cat's eyes widened with shock, "You... You know about that?"
"Of course. I have seen what your own eyes, as well as your mind, has witnessed. I would have come forward to you, myself, at that point, but the shift was too unstable. Only Five was able to contact you," it explained.
Cat lowered her head, "I thought that after she died, she changed back... I thought that her intentions were, once again, pure... But she tried to use me..."
"She believed you were in danger. She was trying to protect you from the humans that had the intentions of either killing you, or using you."
"She did?" Cat looked up once again.
"Yes. Even though you've taken part of her strong-natured spirit, she knew that you wouldn't have killed the two humans."
Cat growled, "I wasn't going to kill them because I thought that we could find out more about Sector Eleven's whereabouts by keeping them alive!"
"Your physical wellbeing was in danger, causing your sister to take action," the Allspark replied, "But for the first time, you were able to control the power. If you hadn't, three humans would have died."
"Yes, but," Cat sighed, "It took everything I had to control myself. I felt the power surge within me. I wanted it to be released.... It was begging me to-"
"It was my power that she was forcing out of you..."
Cat had already thought that this was the case but she looked a bit perplexed, nonetheless, "But I-"
"Five managed to control the both of us. She used your soul's shift change to pull my energy through you. For someone whose soul has passed into death, your sister still has quite a grasp on her Alchemy," the voice sounded a bit impressed.
"I suppose it's something that I should have expected but there's something I need to know..." her voice bordered on anguish, "How?" Cat asked.
"...There is no sure-fire way of doing what you ask..." The Allspark replied, already knowing what it was that Cat was asking.
"Tell me anyway..." Cat demanded, "Tell me how to find my sister!"
--
Pictures and images of happy times. Sam and Mikaela hugging, Cat smiling, the three of them sitting together under the tree of the lookout, quietly watching the sunset. Images of Cat sitting alone on the back porch of the Witwicky residence at night, when she thought that he was in recharge. Her face was filled with sorrow. Her eyes were like glass ornaments as they stared up into the sky, reflecting the light of the moon and the stars. Her lips were thin, and turned down into a slight frown. Her dark brunette hair shimmered in the lighting above her, the bangs shivering back and forth in the cool breeze of the night.
Bumblebee knew, all too well, that Cat was famous for putting up a front for everyone. She managed a smile and a laugh every now and then, and sometimes even looked as though she were truly happy. However, Bumblebee could pick up even the smallest clue that Cat showed guilt, or remorse. He knew that forgetting who she was, and what she represented would be a daunting task. But slowly Cat started to pull out of her depression, and after a while even began forgiving herself for the things that she couldn't control.
Bumblebee's optics came back online completely. He was sitting, in his Camaro form, in Cat's apartment on the garage floor portion of the entrance. He felt something warm nestling close to his left-front tire. Rotten was sleeping comfortably with his back to the Camaro's twenty-inch rims. It was somewhat of an odd experience for him. Rotten had never really gotten this close to Bumblebee before. He was a little less familiar with him due to the fact that he lived in Tranquility with the kids. Bluestreak and the twins were usually Rotten's favorite mechs. Probably because they were the ones who took turns taking care of him when Cat was gone. Though he figured that Rotten had been devastated by the sudden illness of his owner. Bumblebee was intrigued by the bonds between humans and their animal companions. After having watched Mojo interact with Sam and his parents, he searched the internet about dogs. He was even more taken back by the results. Animals could sense distress in humans, and even give their own lives to protect their owners without a second thought. Organics native to this planet were amazing. He'd seen the compassion and bravery of humans, and learned of the same behavior from animals.
Rotten, lazily, got up and stretched, yawning. He turned and looked to the Camaro expectantly.
"I suppose you need to go outside?" the voice of Bumblebee asked, Rotten walking away as if giving his answer.
Bumblebee's hologram appeared, walking over to the front entrance of Cat's apartment to grab the leather leash that hung on a hook by the door. He grabbed the leash and turned, "Let's go, boy!" using the same line that Cat used to call to Rotten's attention. The dog was nowhere in sight.
"Rotten?" Bumblebee asked, walking from the garage entrance and into the dining room, where he had seen the dog totter off to.
Looking underneath the table, Bumblebee wondered where the dog could have gone, but turned when he heard scratching noises. Rotten was scratching at one of the floor-to-ceiling windows. He looked back at the hologram with his large, brown eyes as though to tell him what he wanted, expecting him to understand.
Bumblebee walked over to where Rotten was and bent down, stroking the Rottweiller's back, "What is it?"
He was about to pull the dog away to get him to the front door, when he noticed something. There were hundreds of scratch marks on the window plating. He'd only heard Rotten scratch about two or three times. Obviously this meant that Rotten was expecting something specific. Bumblebee looked around the metal framing of the glass and noticed small scratches in the frame. It looked as though it was scratched with a tool of some kind, to pop the glass out of place. After examining the window, carefully, Bumblebee gave a few hard taps to the frame and watched as the glass gently swung open.
Rotten jumped out of the window and walked along the rocky, red cliffs, disappearing off behind a higher row of rocks, following a small trail. Bumblebee was about to follow, however something on the ground, outside of the windows caught his attention. There was a long piece of string that looked partially uncovered by trail dust. He picked the string up, feeling something a bit heavier on the other end following. Bumblebee held the object up on the other end of the string and saw that it was a small suction cup. His, confused, human eyes turned back towards the glass. On the inside corner of the window, there was a small suction cup imprint. Bumblebee smirked.
Cat had put this window on hinges so that it only opened from the inside. However in the event that the window closed, Cat would put the suction cup on the inside of the window and leave the string hanging outside so that she could pull it back open. Humans never ceased to amaze the mech, especially the humans he knew. Bumblebee placed the string and the suction cup back on the ground and covered it up just as it had been before. He closed the window, knowing full well that his hologram could get in and out without requiring the aid of the set-up Cat had.
"Rotten!" he called as he followed the trail.
--
"Sam?" the boy bolted up into a sitting position at the mention of his name.
The other kids in the class giggled as Sam looked around in a rush, having the feeling of being under attack for a few seconds. He settled down, feeling the pounding in his chest calming as well. Looking up to the teacher, he felt his beating heart fall into the pit of his stomach. The woman stared down at the teen with a worried glance.
"Are you all right? Maybe you should go see the school nurse..." she asked.
"No... No I'm fine... Just tired," he answered, slumping in his seat. He could almost feel the heated glances of the other students on the back of his head.
The teacher leaned down and asked in a whisper, "Are there problems at home? You can always talk to the teachers if-"
"I said I'm fine..." Sam replied before the teacher could go any further. He, then, sighed and asked, "Actually, can I get a hall pass for the bathroom?"
"Sure," the woman replied, signing the slip on the back of Sam's agenda.
Sam got up from his seat, quickly making his way out of the classroom and down the hall to the restroom. He went straight to the sink and turned the cold faucet on, cupping his hands under the falling water and splashing his face. As he finished, he pulled a paper towel from the dispenser and dried his face.
"Sam?" Mikaela's voice asked through a crack in the restroom door.
"Yeah?" he asked.
Mikaela looked around down both ends of the hall and snuck through the door. She walked around the wall to the sinks and stopped as she looked over at her boyfriend. Sam was leaning over one of the sinks, staring at himself in the mirror.
"I... saw you run in here... You all right?" she asked.
"...Yeah..." Sam replied quietly.
Mikaela walked forward, leaning on the wall just a few feet away from her boyfriend, "I've been meaning to talk to you.."
"Yeah? About what?" Sam asked as he grabbed another paper towel.
"It's just that you've been so distant lately. I wasn't sure what to think," she started.
"It's nothing. I'm just going out of my mind worrying about colleges and classes," he replied in a monotonous tone.
"Your mom told me that you haven't been sleeping," Mikaela pointed out.
"I'll get over it," Sam sighed.
Mikaela's intuition told her that Sam was lying big time. She could tell after having dealt with Cat and her inability to explain her feelings. This made her even more determined to get Sam to tell her what was really bothering him.
"I think you want to talk about something, but you're afraid to. Please tell me," she asked in a sweet tone, trying to convince Sam that it was all right to confide in her.
Sam didn't feel comfortable talking about what his problems have been with the dreams. But he turned to her and put his back to the wall behind him, crossing his arms.
"I've been having these weird, vivid dreams lately. And they keep me awake at night after I have them," he explained.
"What sort of dreams?" Mikaela asked.
"Mostly about the stuff that happened just before and during Mission City... Like hanging off the side of the building, but no one comes to help me... Things like that," he finished.
"Why didn't you tell me about this?" Mikaela asked, feeling hurt that he didn't want to talk to her about this sooner.
"I... I didn't want to scare you..." Sam replied.
Mikaela rolled her eyes, "You don't have to protect me, Sam. If you're having problems like this, I want to help!"
"You don't know what kinds of dreams I've been having! I feel like I'm about to die at the end of them, and then I can't sleep!" Sam explained.
"Sooo... Basically, I wouldn't know what you're going through, right? I wasn't at Mission City, or fighting giant alien robots, so I wouldn't know what you're going through, right?" Mikaela was hurt that Sam felt that way.
"No, I didn't say that. It's just that I keep having dreams about being on top of that building, and when Megatron knocks me off, I fall and no one's there... When I wake up I feel like I really just about hit the pavement and I think I'm going to die," he replied quietly.
Mikaela sighed, "How long have you been having these dreams?"
"Just under a month... I've tried calling Cat, but she won't answer her cell phone or call back. Bumblebee wouldn't tell me why he had to dash off back to the Dam, so I don't know what to think..." Sam replied.
"You called Cat, but you wouldn't talk to me?" Mikaela asked, an obvious hint of attitude in her voice.
"She's had dreams that were terrifying before... I didn't mean to leave you out of this, I just didn't want you to -"
"Know what's going on?! You know, because it's not like I didn't have nightmares for a while after all of that, it's not like I gave any effort into helping the Autobots either, right?!" Mikaela turned and left the restroom.
Sam sighed, mentally lamenting himself for thinking that Mikaela wouldn't feel a little out of the loop. However, now more than ever, he felt abandoned. He'd tried calling Cat an abundant of times, but she never answered. Bumblebee had left in a hurry, only making sure that Sam was in an agreement with his parents about transportation. He never, once, tried explaining to him what was going on at the Dam. And now Mikaela was pissed at him for withholding information from her... He wasn't sure why everyone had just suddenly gone silent, but he wished that they would just stop to listen to him.
Grabbing his handbook, Sam left the bathroom and headed back to his class.
--
Bumblebee walked into the med bay, looking around and seeing hardly any of the human medical crew around.
"Hey Bee!" he looked up to see Sideswipe waving at him from across the room. Him and Sunstreaker were standing near the exam table that Cat had been laying on, still unconscious.
Bumblebee walked over to the two, standing on the other side of the table from them, "Any changes?"
"Fever's back, but it isn't as high as it was yesterday," Sideswipe answered with a sigh.
Bumblebee looked down to the sleeping woman, her face was sweaty, and her eyes were clamped shut. It was as though she were fighting something even in her dreams.
"Long way to come just to see her sleep," Sunstreak commented.
"She hasn't visited in a while. I wanted to make sure that she was all right," Bumblebee replied, gently taking one of his metal fingers and nudged her cheek, just to see if he could get a response, "Jazz was certain that she was going to offline days ago when he contacted me," Cat's skin felt as if it were on fire next to the touch of his warm hand, "Where's Ratchet?"
"Doing every research he can possibly think of in Jack's lab," Sunny answered, "The human docs' are in a meeting with some specialists," he looked over at Bumblebee with a sudden look of curiosity, "How was the night in the apartment? Did you take Rotten out or should we do that later?"
Bumblebee smirked, "It was fine. I just took him outside a few minutes ago, so he should be fine for a while," he looked up to the other two mechs and said, "You wouldn't believe what Cat has installed in her apartment. When I went to take Rotten out, he went over to a window in the dining room that-"
"You've found it?!" Sideswipe asked in a raised voice.
"Shut up, Sides!" Sunny growled.
"Was I not supposed to?" Bumblebee asked.
The two looked to the smaller mech from across the table, "We helped Cat install that earlier in the month. It was supposed to be a way out in case Frenzy happened by or the kids needed to get out of the apartment in case of an emergency," Sunny answered.
"Yeah, but it turned into an easy way for Cat to take Rotten out once he started insisting on being taken out that way," Sideswipe smirked, "Easier for us too. Cat's gone a lot so we're usually the ones to take care of him. It's easier to let him out through there than it is to take him all the way out of the base through the garage."
"We haven't told anyone about it because we don't want word getting around the base," Sunny added.
"Why not?" Bumblebee asked.
"Well..." the twins looked to each other and back to Bee, "Cat says that there's always a chance that one of the humans could know too much and find a way to betray the bases' primary codes to cover up and protect all of us."
Bumblebee sighed and shook his head, "Same old Cat..."
Bee continued to rub at Cat's cheek, the three of them growing quiet as they thought to themselves.
"Listen, Bee. It was good to see you, but we've got to get to our shift duties for-"
"Bumble... Bee..." the sudden raspy voice of Cat quickly caught the three's attention.
"No way!" Sideswipe's optics widened.
Bumblebee attempted to open his communications to Ratchet, but found that there was a high magnetic field, which was reacting to his sensors.
"Sunny, go get Ratchet," Bee asked. Sunny nodded and ran off towards Wheeljack's lab.
"Cat?" Bumblebee leaned closer to her, "Can you hear me?"
Cat's head reacted to the warm metal of Bumblebee's touch as she pulled away a little, reaching her left hand out to touch at what it was that was nudging at her. The yellow mech felt a smile tug at his faceplates as he relished in the fact that this could be a sign that her health was returning. Her eye's rolled under the eyelids as they opened just a crack.
"She's waking up!" Sideswipe announced.
Bumblebee was near ecstatic as well. His blond hologram appeared next to the girl, picking her up from under her head and holding her in a near sitting position. Her eyes fluttered open just a hair more before they started looking around, catching sight of Bumblebee's smiling hologram.
Instead of looking up at Bee with a faint smile of some kind, the mech turned from elated into confused when he noticed a remorseful look on her face.
"What's wrong?" Bumblebee asked.
Cat's mouth forced into making a shape for words, failing miserably.
"What?" he asked.
"R..ru...r..r.." she whispered.
"What's she saying?" Sideswipe asked.
"I'm not sure," Bee replied, keeping his attention on her.
"R..ru..r..run!" she managed.
"Run? Run from what?" Sideswipe was confused even more than usual.
"I don't understand either..." Bumblebee answered.
"Where the slag is Sunny and Ratchet?!" Sideswipe tried calling to Sunny through his internal communications but also found a high range of static, "What's going on?"
Bumblebee couldn't understand why Cat was so scared until he realized what might have been happening. He quickly began trying to run a biological scan on the girl, but found that the magnetic field was even higher in intensity around her.
"Sideswipe, get out of here before-!" Bumblebee tried to warn.
A bright blue energy shot from Cat's body, shocking the two mechs in the room, causing Bumblebee's hologram to dissipate, dropping Cat back down to the table. The energy surge quickly reduced to nothing, leaving Sideswipes' and Bumblebees' bodies lying still on the floor of the medical bay.
"Mrrm," Sideswipe's optics activated, leaving him feeling sore in his circuits, "Oh man..." he sat up, using the exam table to steady himself into a standing position, "What a jolt, eh Bee?"
There was no answer.
Sideswipe looked over the table, Cat was laying motionless, her eyes shut once again. He looked over to the other side of the table, "Bee?"
Bumblebee was on the floor, also motionless. His optics were black, and the hum of his internal systems were silent.
"Bee?"
--
Once again, I feel like this makes good enough of a chapter teaser. And I know you're all probably upset that you didn't find out who the other three are in this chapter, but it'll be soon, I promise!