This fic is courtesy of me and Sentinel Prime/StarscreamSkydancer and I only own my OCs.
Disclaimer: Transformers belongs to Hasbro/Michael Bay.
When Saturday arrived, it was time for Bailey's family to leave, so Sentinel and Bailey drove them to the airport before returning to base. Upon arrival, they noticed Akane using her bracer to absorb the AllSpark shards on the ground. Bailey hopped out of the fire truck, allowing Sentinel to transform into his robot mode.
"Hey," protested Bailey, "I thought uniting the shards was my job!"
"Didn't you hear me tell you that you deserve a nice break?" reminded Akane, "you're not the only Keeper of the AllSpark, remember?"
"Who said you could order her around?" demanded Sentinel, "I'd rather have the AllSpark in her possession than yours."
"Before you play the blame game," explained Akane, "I'd like you to know that I've had this bracer for five years. Bailey, on the other hand, has only had hers for almost a month now."
"Oh," grumbled Bailey, "you've got to be kidding me! Does that even count as an excuse?"
"No, Bailey," answered Sentinel, "it does not."
Sentinel turned to Akane.
"The AllSpark belongs to my people," continued Sentinel, "and Bailey knows and respects them; unlike you, with your haughty, arrogant attitude."
"Then maybe you should bring her along when you go shard hunting?" suggested Akane.
"What?!" exclaimed Bailey, "but if I do that—"
"We have a procedure where we bring the shards back to her so Megatron can't get her," explained Sentinel.
"You could simply find places to hide so the Decepticons can't find you," advised Akane, "that is, while you're accompanying the Autobots. I know I help with the searching most of the time, and anyone who can't bring herself to help find the shards without fear of being targeted is a coward."
"Why you—" muttered Bailey.
"Think about it, Bailey," concluded Akane, "if you truly want to get involved, then you should get into the action instead of cowering in the shadows. Now, if you'll excuse me…"
Without saying anything, Akane turned her back on Bailey and Sentinel before marching towards the silver car.
"Anyone who feels the need to put others down is the true coward!" groaned Sentinel, "she stays behind because we tell her to."
Akane hopped into the car, which drove out of the base. Bailey wanted to shout insults at Akane, but couldn't bring herself to do it. She lowered her head, hurt by the Japanese woman's harsh words and stinging voice. After watching the car drive out of sight, Sentinel glanced down at Bailey.
"Bailey?" Sentinel said softly.
Bailey didn't say anything, but she made a glance at Sentinel, sadness in her eyes. The elder Prime activated his human-sized holoform, which gave her a hug.
"The nerve of that," grumbled Sentinel, "that bitch."
"Am I," stuttered Bailey, "really useless to you? I know I haven't actually fought against any Decepticon."
"Now listen to me," assured Sentinel, "not her. You are the most important person to this cause. If we lose you, we lose everything. I can't speak for everyone, but I personally hope you don't ever have to fight a Decepticon, and not because I don't think you could. Given the right knowledge and tools, you could certainly beat them. She is just trying to get under your skin. I think it's part of whatever her secret plan is. She doesn't like that we don't trust her like everyone else does. That's a threat to her. Just….don't pay any mind to her hurtful words. Listen to me, not her."
Bailey gave a soft smile as she returned the embrace and rested her head against his shoulder.
"Thank you, Sentinel," smiled Bailey, "that meant a lot to me."
"Good," nodded Sentinel, "because I meant every word."
Sentinel's holoform gently stroked her hair while Bailey moved her head until she was close enough to his face. After a moment of silence, she leaned in until her lips barely brushed against his. The elder Prime kept still and let her kiss him. It wasn't long before he returned the kiss, bringing one hand to cup her face and supporting her back with the other arm. After a while, they broke off the kiss.
"Hey, Sentinel," asked Bailey, "can we head inside so I could get ready for gaming night?"
"Gaming night?" paused Sentinel.
"It's where Clayton, Olive, Fred and I gather at Clayton's place to play video games," clarified Bailey.
"Ah," nodded Sentinel, "of course."
Bailey released her embrace as Sentinel's holoform dissipated. The elder Prime scooped her up and sauntered towards his living quarters.
"Do you think they would mind if you brought along a friend?" asked Sentinel.
"I'm sure they wouldn't mind Samuel Prior," assured Bailey.
"Good," smiled Sentinel, "because I'd like to meet your friends."
Once they were inside the elder Prime's living quarters, Sentinel set down Bailey, allowing her to get ready to go out.
Meanwhile, Knockout just finished repairing Shockwave's optic.
"There you go," sighed Knockout, "can you see well, now?"
"Yes," nodded Shockwave, "you have a scratch on your back."
"What?!" exclaimed Knockout.
Knockout didn't know that he made a tiny scratch when he wasn't paying attention, and now that Shockwave pointed it out, the Decepticon medic found a mirror to inspect his scratch.
"Oh, no," panicked Knockout, "not the finish! Now I have to go back to buffing again!"
Shockwave stood up from the berth.
"A medic who glitches at a miniscule scratch," sighed Shockwave, "illogical."
Shockwave simply walked out of the medical bay as Knockout began buffing his paint job.
The next day, Lennox, Bailey and Ironhide returned to the base from grocery shopping. While Bailey began putting away the groceries, Lennox noticed Akane conversing with Ratchet prompting him to approach the Japanese woman and the Autobot medic and join the conversation. Once Bailey finished putting away the groceries, she took care of the plastic bags and exited the hangar before returning to Sentinel's living quarters, where he was reading from his data pad.
"Ok," called Bailey, "I'm back!"
Upon cue, Sentinel put down the data pad and pulled out a circular device that is rather tiny for his hand.
"Oh, good," replied Sentinel, "I had Wheeljack help create an audio recording device for our espionage mission."
"Do I have to attach it to some sort of wall?" asked Bailey.
"No," answered Sentinel, "you can carry it."
"Ok," nodded Bailey, "Akane is currently talking to Ratchet and Lennox right now, so I asked Lennox to try and get the location of the hotel for us."
"Good," instructed Sentinel, "go test that thing out and see what she's saying to Ratchet."
Sentinel offered the audio recording device to Bailey, prompting her to pluck it out of his hand. She then sprinted out of the living quarters and into the hangar, where she activated the device once she was close enough to Ratchet and Akane, but she hid in order to avoid being spotted.
"So did you intend to come to Earth?" asked Akane.
"We didn't know about it," answered Ratchet, "all we knew is what can be seen from space."
"I'm starting to suspect that it must be fate that brought you here," mused Akane, "now, if you'll excuse me, I must be going."
Bailey shut off the audio recording device as Akane turned to leave, but…
"Excuse me," interrupted Lennox, "Akane, can I ask you something?"
Akane turned to Lennox.
"Go on," replied Akane.
"I just need your hotel information," requested Lennox, "since you are technically a foreign ambassador, the US will pay for your accommodations, but we need your information for records."
"I see," mused Akane, "in that case…"
As Akane gave the hotel information, Bailey carefully examined the audio recording device. She noted that it was circular in shape. Just then, Akane finished revealing the hotel information.
"I hope you are satisfied," said Akane, "I'll see you later."
"Take care," replied Lennox.
Without saying anything further, Akane left the hangar, prompting Bailey to come out of hiding, which caught Lennox's attention.
"Hey, Bailey," called Lennox, "what's that you got?"
"Oh, this?" explained Bailey, "it's an audio recording device Wheeljack created, and Sentinel sent me to test it out."
"What's it for?" asked Lennox.
"Well, duh," answered Bailey, "it's for recording sound!"
"Oh, ok," nodded Lennox.
"So, did you get the name of the hotel?" asked Bailey.
Lennox relayed the information of Akane's hotel to Bailey.
"Thanks, Lennox," smiled Bailey, "you're a great guy!"
Bailey sprinted out of the hangar and towards Sentinel's living quarters, where she relayed the information from Lennox to the elder Prime.
"…Akane is on her way back to the hotel she's staying at," continued Bailey, "so I'm not sure if we should leave now. I'm worried that she might find out about what we're up to."
"We'll go a different way," assured Sentinel, "so she won't see us."
"Thanks!" smiled Bailey.
Sentinel led Bailey outside after she put on some sneakers and transformed into his alternate mode. She hopped inside and buckled up, prompting the elder Prime to drive out of the base and down the road until they reached the hotel. Luckily, Akane was nowhere to be seen outside.
"Good luck," said Sentinel, "call me if you need me."
Upon cue, Bailey slipped out of Sentinel's alternate mode and stepped into the hotel lobby. Luckily, Akane wasn't in her sight, so she headed further into the hotel, only to be stopped by an attendant.
"Excuse me, miss," interrupted the attendant, "but have you made a reservation here?"
"Actually," lied Bailey, "I was just visiting a friend of mine."
"Oh," replied the attendant, "go on ahead, then."
Bailey continued to wander through the hotel, using directories to locate Akane's hotel room. She had to use an elevator to get to the right floor. After stepping out of the elevator, she crept along the hallway, careful to make as minimal sound as possible to avoid detection. She soon found the door to the room, but she knew she had no way of opening it since she had no card key. Fortunately, she saw the door open, so she hid to avoid being spotted. Just as a crewmember stepped into the hall and walked away, Bailey quickly seized the chance and slipped into the room before the door could close. Once she was inside Akane's hotel room, she leaned her back against the wall, pulled out the audio recording device and activated it, careful to not make a sound. She could see Akane finishing her tea while relaxing in an armchair as her butler massaged her shoulders. After putting the teacup aside, she stood up and stepped towards the dresser, picking up what appears to be a photo frame.
"Saburou," whispered Akane, "what have you been doing this whole time?"
Akane set down the photo frame.
"Is something the matter, Ozaki-sama?" asked the butler.
"I am all right," answered Akane, "I am rather disappointed that Bailey refused my offer. If she had, then maybe I would've taught her everything about Cosmosis so she could take my place in case anything happened to me."
"And Sentinel?" questioned the butler.
"I honestly don't hold a grudge against him," admitted Akane, "although he is rather cranky. Couldn't you have come up with a different plan that didn't involve kidnapping?"
"Forgive me, Ozaki-sama," apologized the butler humbly, "but I don't think simple negotiations would've worked with the American government organizations on our tails at that time. You know your father said we cannot reveal our organization to the public."
"You don't need to remind me, and besides," replied Akane, "the government may know about us, but the citizens don't know yet."
Akane let out a sigh.
"Maybe with the technology we create from the AllSpark," continued Akane, "there would be no suffering, no war, no hatred, and maybe everyone could live in peace with each other…as well as with all of life on this planet. Then after that, we're returning the AllSpark to the Autobots. I can't break that promise; I will not. I have to put a stop to the damage…before this planet becomes uninhabitable."
Satisfied with the information she got, Bailey turned off the audio recording device before she quietly opened the door and snuck out into the hall. She managed to reach the elevator and exit the hotel, where the Rosenbauer Panther was waiting. Once she hopped in, she buckled up and presented the audio recording device to the holoform.
"I got the information we need," reported Bailey.
"All right," instructed Sentinel, "play it back."
Bailey activated the device, which played back the conversation between Akane and her butler.
"I wonder why the government is on their tails?" pondered Sentinel, "also, it seems she's not 'in charge' as we thought. I fear someone may be manipulating her without her knowledge."
"Either that," suggested Bailey, "or maybe she has a vendetta against someone."
"I'm getting a real 'snake in the grass' vibe from this butler guy," replied Sentinel.
"Maybe we can ask her about him?" suggested Bailey.
"How?" objected Sentinel, "she doesn't know we were here."
"We could ask her about her relatives, first," clarified Bailey, "and then about her crewmembers; that is, without referring to our little mission."
"She'd better not be up to no good," replied Sentinel, "speaking of good, there's a gas station around here and I'm thirsty."
"Ok," nodded Bailey.
Sentinel drove away from the hotel and towards a gas station to get his fill of diesel before returning to base.