Ellie rolled onto her stomach, pulling her quilt up over her head with her fully functional prosthesis. Her green eyes remained shut, but her knees dragged themselves up to her chest, her toes curling into the sheets.
Slowly, Ellie's eyes opened and they took in the empty bed and the still cluttered night-table she and Leon had shared. The blankets on Leon's bed were haphazardly thrown over the bed, and her dark purple comforter was half on the floor. Her side of the night-table had three dirty oil rags, four wrenches, a broken spark plug, several loose bits of wire, and a picture of her family.
Ellie stared at Leon's side of the room, frowning, before she slid herself out of bed and crossed to stand beside it.
"Time to get up, Leon." She muttered, roughly grabbing the blankets and flicking them out. Once Ellie had made the bed, something she knew irked her best friend, Ellie turned to the shower. "I call shower first."
Leon didn't answer, simply because she wasn't there.
Ellie showered slowly, taking her time in drying her hair before throwing it into a ponytail and pulling on a pair of sweats and a penguin-printed scrub shirt. Ellie didn't bother with makeup and she barely touched the apple she took for breakfast before throwing it away.
This was normal as of late, and everyone knew it was better to just let the young woman be.
The mocha skinned woman entered her own examination room, and lowered herself into her chair, pulling a clipboard towards her. The top piece of paper was a list of the check-ups she was doing today, along with several appointments she was supposed to have.
Soldiers didn't like the doctor's office almost as much as smaller children didn't, and it was for such reasons that Ellie kept a jar of lollipops on the desk, beside a picture of her and Leon.
Ellie ran a finger along the frame, and then turned to wait for her first patient.
Sunstreaker ducked under a punch from the holographic Decepticon, shoving his wrist blade into the mech's chassis.
His blaster-shot ripped through another mech's head, and Sideswipe hurtled himself towards a pair of Seekers, his own blades out. The Decepticons lay in pieces before fizzling into sparks. Two more Decepticons suddenly found themselves dead on the ground and Mirage flickered into view.
"You are getting more and more restless, Sunstreaker. Perhaps another race around the island will help?" The red mech suggested calmly as the holograms stopped.
Sunstreaker sneered, subspacing his blades. "You're not as restless as we are because your squishy is perfectly fine. Except for that metal attachment."
"Try and imagine, Mirage," Sideswipe joined his brother. "If Ellie hadn't been seen for three months, and you knew in your spark she was alive, but unable to do anything."
The twins shook their helms and exited the room, leaving Mirage with a thoughtful look on his face.
When Ellie strode into the Med-Bay, she was surprised to find Mirage arguing with the grouchy medic.
"-protection!" Mirage was boldly exclaiming, trying to ignore the wrench in Ratchet's servo. "What if no-bot is there to protect her? How will she defend herself?! She won't, and you know that, Ratchet."
"I will not upgrade a cannon into Elina's prosthesis! And that's the end of it!" Ratchet bellowed.
"If you won't do it," Mirage sneered, his optics narrowed into icy slits. "Then I will have Ironhide upgrade a cannon into it. And you won't be able to stop me."
"Who said Ironhide and cannons in the same sentence?" Ironhide's helm appeared in the doorway, his optics curious.
"I did." The cherry red mech turned to the weapons specialist. "I wish to speak with you about installing a cannon into Ellie's prosthesis. Somebot may not be there next time she needs protection."
Ironhide's optics shifted, taking in the entire room. "Why don't you ask Ellie first, before demanding upgrades? Ellie, do you want a cannon?"
Ratchet and Mirage looked startled as their optics found her by the door, and then looks of embarrassment crossed their facial plates.
"Signora, would you-"
"Yes, yes I would." Ellie snapped, crossing her arms over her chest. "I refuse to be helpless in another situation like that, and we all know that its going to happen again. One day, none of you will be around and I'll have to protect myself. I'd had some sort of weapon back in Texas, Leon might still be here."
"I understand that you are upset about Leon's passing, Ellie, but we must accept that she is-" Ratchet began. Ellie's blazing eyes swiveled in his direction and she interrupted him before he could continue.
"Don't say it. Leon isn't dead." She growled. "I want a cannon. I want it as quickly as possible, and I want to know how to use it to kill. Because God help them, the next time I see those mother-fucking Seekers, I will kill them both."
All three bots looked rather startled at Ellie's sudden dark side, but Ironhide nodded, his optics softening.
"I'll start right now, Ellie. Why don't you come with me?" He offered her a servo, and the mocha doctor stepped up icily, ignoring the espionage Autobot and the CMO.
Ironhide was not the weapons specialist for nothing.
Every weapon he made was excellent, hardly any back-lash, small-but-powerful blasts on some, and they were always easily stored in subspace.
Unfortunately, every Cybertronian had a subspace, and Ellie was not Cybertronian.
Ironhide had gotten both Wheeljack and Ratchet involved in the process of making Ellie's cannon; Wheeljack for a portable subspace and Ratchet for the measurements and medical side of the procedure.
Ellie's prosthesis actually had to be completely upgraded, as the portable subspace could not work without some form of constant energy, and the prosthesis, at the moment, was only simple enough to be used as an arm without breaking.
That meant that the entire structure had to be rebuilt and modified to include the artificial spark Wheeljack had managed to create with Optimus' help.
The arm looked as it should, except that instead of a mostly smooth exterior, the bottom was smooth and rounded like an arm should be, and the stop was covered in overlapping armor in scales ranging from a centimeter at her middle knuckle to three-and-a-half inches at the shoulder. On her shoulder was a slightly octagonal case about an inch thick, and two inches across.
This was what held the Fake-Spark, and the armor protected the single glowing cable that allowed her to access the cannon.
It was perhaps Ironhide's best piece of work.
Ellie was not a natural shot.
She did not aim well, and she did not like the thought of shooting a living thing, bot or human. This obviously stemmed from the entire life she had spent learning to save lives.
She was determined though, and Ironhide had to give her that. Besides practice made perfect, and though it was a slow – very slow – process, Ellie was slowly able to inch her way towards hitting center on the Seeker shaped target.
The cannon Ironhide had installed had virtually no backlash, and was the right size to back a devastating blow if aimed at the right spot.
Ellie hadn't started her training for a month after he's started building the gun for her. The actual building of the blaster had taken two weeks, Wheeljack's portion had taken another week, and Ratchet had Ellie in the Med-Bay for over a week and half, because it had taken her body a little longer to adjust than they had all assumed.
"Dammit!" The mocha skinned woman cursed, lowering the smoking cannon to her side as she stared at the target in front of her.
She's hit the blue again, leaving a nicely sized hole before it repaired itself with a flurry of sparks.
"Stance, Ellie." Ironhide called out, showing her how to shoot again. His shot hit dead center and blew the entire target to smithereens before it reappeared.
Ellie tried again.
Ellie missed again.
Ellie nearly cried….again.
"I think I'm done, Ironhide." She murmured, shifting her arm back into its limb-mode. Her shoulders were hunched in disappointment and Ironhide vented heavily, dismissing her for the day.
A replay of the shots Ellie had taken quickly showed Ironhide that she had actually been improving, but not at the rate she wanted to.
Once Ellie got the hang of it, Ironhide would be handing her over to Ratchet. Medics made the worst enemies.
They knew where to strike, the precise amount of Energon you would leak from the spot and how long it would take you to die. They knew everything about a protoform and the armor, all the weak spots, the moment they took a moment to examine a 'bot or 'con.
This made them one of the most valuable warriors in the Autobot ranks. Not only were they able to fight efficiently and effectively, they could heal a bot on the field in the middle of an intense battle.
Primus knew how many times Ratchet had done that for him and Chromia.
Shaking his helm, Ironhide strode for the door and headed to the rec room. The Terror Twins had taken a moody residence in the farthest corner from the door, 'guarding' the high grade. Mirage occasionally joined them.
The Tiny Twins had recently returned from a mission in Washington and had taken over the gaming console. Bumblebee was hanging over the edge of the couch, beeping insistently at the pair, who were rather loud.
Obviously, Optimus hadn't told them that their 'Lion' was dead.
Luckily for him, it wasn't his job.
:Autobots, report to Hanger Two.: -Optimus Prime
A flurry of affirmatives washed over the open comm link and Ironhide turned on his heel-strut, making his way out the door again. Sunstreaker, Sideswipe, Bumblebee and Wheeljack left the Tiny Twins behind, playing their video game.
Hanger Two was nearly filled with all of the battle capable Autobots Diego Garcia had to offer, and several of their human counterparts. Lennox and Epps were both there, but Ellie and Fig were not.
"What's up, boss bot?" Bee whirred, tilting his head.
"We have managed to pick up a Decepticon signal in the human country of Russia. I know not if this is a trap, but we must investigate. I will Ironhide, Chromia, Sunstreaker, Sideswipe, Major Lennox's chosen team, Mirage, and myself. The rest of you will stay to protect the bass." Optimus explained, his voice hurried but smooth with calm, as the Prime usually was. "We will depart in approximately one Earth hour."
Ironhide's processor raced.
The Decepticons had finally been sighted…what exactly did that mean. His optics flashed over to the front-liners, who were calmly examining the sharpness of their blades and the energy levels on their blasters. Mirage was watching them, flickering in and out of view, while he tested his own weapons.
The black mech shook his helm, heading for his spark-mate, who was waiting for him by the door. They walked in silence to their berth room, and silently picked out their choice blasters and cannons for the mission.
The pair had too many to hold in subspace all the time, and had opted to organize them on the walls. It made for interesting reactions when a 'bot came to the door and they were new.
Chromia enjoyed it.
"I almost," She broke the silence as they were heading back to the hanger. "Don't want the Seekers to show up. On the other hand, the twins will feel so much better after they rip them to pieces. And if they do show up, I may feel bad for them."
Ironhide chuckled. "I would like to see them torn to shreds myself, Chromia, though I know that the twins will not let anyone else touch them. Once they're set on a target, you know that there isn't another bot who will take the same 'con. Hope that the Seekers show up, dear spark, if only for the twins' sake."
My friend probably won't make it. His head trauma, coupled with too long of a period without oxygen flow to the brain, have led the doctors to announce that this kind of injury isn't one that is normally survived.
Thank you from praying and for the good thoughts for him.
Mikeysrevenge: Is this soon enough?
Kurohane Ookami: …..sorry. –pats-
Topkicker26: When in doubt you're being told the truth, flip your table and you'll get your point across. And yeah…..Leon's dead…..and Ellie is in denial.
StarSwoop: Yeah, sorry about the confusion. Its not like anyone really needed anymore. I'm glad it's more paced, ordered and reads better. That was my goal.
2211Nighthawk: Thank you for everything. I agree. It is also pretty funny to see how far he's fallen. But you've gotta imagine, going from a pampered prince and scientist to killing bots and waiting on orders from a low class gladiator, who suddenly rose to power.
Madame SparkAttack: Thank you for praying. I'm glad that you caught up, and I'm very pleased that you think it isn't that bad. Ellie is a bit of a badass. And I'll try to keep you anticipated.
Autobot-Fangirl0203: Thank you, unfortunately it doesn't look as though he'll recover. His parents have decided to honor his wishes to donate his organs, and they're keeping him on life support.
Royal dragoness: Haha, four hours isn't ASAP, but is it close enough? I'm glad you love it.
