Hi. How're you doing? Hope you're having fun, and preparing your list of goals for New Year (my #1 is to finish to write this story...).
Seriously, I'm writing five or six chapters ahead, and, I don't know how, it's taking me forever to finish each chapter... It's just... I left so many side-stories and mentions that now I have to, somehow, bring back that, before I notice, I wrote a chapter of fifteen pages. The worst part is that I know how I want to finish this fanfic... I'm almost tasting it... But I never get there! Grr...
Let's keep going.
Warning: English isn't my mother language, so there might be some grammar mistakes in this story.
DISCLAIMER: I do not own Transformers franchise, nor its characters. It is a registered trademark of Hasbro.
TWENTY EIGHT: Hopes Down, Hopes Up
Ratchet opened the ground-bridge for their friends with some serious curiosity about what happened. Their communications were down for a couple minutes without their notice, reason why Elita told Arcee and Bulkhead to warn the others that they were running into a trap. But they haven't receive anything since then. Finally, the scanner picked up Bumblebee's commlink's frequency: the young bot was asking for a ground-bridge, around five minutes ago.
"Please be okay, please be okay, please be okay…" Rafael was silently pleading, as the time passed, but nobody seemed to get across the green vortex. Finally, the bots started to exit the wormhole. They seemed to be fine, so the boy sighed in relief. The last ones in enter the base were Bumblebee and Knock Out who seemed to be in a very bad mood. As soon as the red mech set foot inside of the bunker, he stomped towards Nightglider, ignoring the questions from Elita and the others.
"You told me that she was dead!" The red medic yelled at the flyer, who flinched and raised his hands in a defensive position.
"Wa-wait! W-who are you talking…?" The black mech stammered, scared at the medic's face.
"Sunscorch! Who else, you idiot?!" Knock Out snapped. "You told me that your fragged brother terminated her!" He added, following the flyer as he took several steps back, trying to get away from the Velocitronian.
"As far as I know she's offline! Nobody was ever capable of find her signal since Daybreak's treason at Kaon's walls, two million years ago! You know this as well as I do, K-Out!" Nightglider defended himself.
The Velocitronian grabbed the flyer by the chest-plates, forcing the poor warrior to lower his eyes to his level. Such violent action not only startled the black mech, but, also, made everyone in the base become a little jumpy about what would happen next. Even Bumblebee got ready to use brute force, believing that the former 'Con was about to attack his supposed old friend; and, judging by the face of Nightglider, he was starting to consider that option too.
"How did you find this planet?" Knock Out asked to the flyer with his teeth gritted.
"I felt Daybreak's spark, and I followed the bond! Then I bribed the keeper of the space-bridges to gain access to one…" He admitted a little embarrassed.
Behind the two arguing mechs, the yellow bot facepalmed at the confession. "Note to self: I have to mulct this moron later." He thought. Seriously, who admits to have committed a crime in front of a police officer?
Knock Out snarled, and tightened his grip on the flyer.
"I don't care if you bribed the whole Council to come here! I want to know why you didn't chase after your damn twin sooner!" The Velocitronian practically roared at his friend, who shut his eyes in fear.
"Because I never felt his bond before! I thought he was terminated until a couple solar-cycles ago, when the connection reactivated somehow!" Nightglider answered, terrified. He never knew that Knock Out could be like this… The medic he remembered was kind and couldn't be able to scare a sparkling, not even if his life depended on that. What happened to him during the war?
Suddenly, Ratchet decided that it was time to interfere, and quickly grabbed the Velocitronian mech by the shoulders, while pulling him off the flyer, who vented in relief when he found himself freed from his friend's grasp. However, the older medic noticed that Knock Out was in shock state at the answer, and his body was motioning by reflex. What could've triggered this behavior? Ever since they've been sheltering the former Decepticon medic, he tried his best to fit in, to act like an Autobot… In fact, Ratchet was sure that he was becoming one; and his worries for that human girl, Millie, only strengthened his belief of Knock Out actually mending his ways. But, this? Concerned, seeing that the red mech's pulse was erratic, and his mind was about to suffer a stress collapse, the old Autobot medic asked the team what happened in the battlefield.
Everyone exchanged a quizzical look.
"Well… We're not really sure." Smokescreen finally commented, scratching the back of his helm.
But it was the truth, after all, they didn't hear the last part of Knock Out's and Solar Flare's argument; all thanks to Daybreak's distraction. "Of course… He wasn't there just to protect that femme, but to make sure we didn't listen whatever she told him." Bumblebee finally realized, sighing at his stupidity. So many vorns of training, and he got tricked just that easy.
"…Daybreak's contact among the 'Cons…" Knock Out muttered suddenly.
"What did he say?" Chromia asked, arching an eyebrow.
"My sister… She… was working with your twin… They orchestrated the attack in Kaon's surroundings… They… They never killed her…" He kept stuttering, forgetting where he was, why he was there, who was with him…
Everything around him became blurry at the realization of what truly happened that day: Nightglider fell unconscious due to Energon loss, at the same time that Daybreak and Solar Flare did something to subdue Sunscorch, who was taken prisoner. Later, when the Black Moon was forced to abandon the planet and got taken down by an Autobot team, both Decepticons went into emergency stasis. However, the engine failed, turning off the system, reason why they didn't wake up earlier; but, as soon as they reactivated the power, Solar Flare and Daybreak became conscious once more.
Then, he realized one more thing: if she was truly a prisoner, and if she was yet on stasis, they had to rescue her ASAP! Everyone knew the effects of remain on stasis-mode for too long, and one of them was power failure! True, the other capsules may have failed when the ship crashed, but there was the chance that it wasn't the pod what failed, but the bot inside of it! And considering the time that Sunscorch (in case that their prisoner was truly she) spent inside of her stasis pod, a massive malfunction wasn't too far ahead!
Solar Flare was back at Shockwave's lab, standing in front of a stasis pod. She was glaring at the prisoner's slumbering face, while cocking her head from one side to the other, as if she was trying to decide what to do with it. "Honestly, what did he see in you?" The femme thought, while uncrossing her arms, and placing her hands on her hips.
A tall femme of deep crimson armor, with a golden fore-helm, and whose face and body was covered in scars, was visible through the pod's glass. Her vitals were weak, but stable. How the Autobots didn't see her, Solar Flare would never know. But she was glad they didn't, because now she had something to force her brother into surrender. Smirking, she patted the glass.
"If he really wants to find you, then he will come for you." The champagne colored femme cooed, before blow a kiss to the sleeping face. "Thank you, darling."
"Solar!" Daybreak appeared on the room where she was standing.
The femme turned to look at the cerulean mech. She questioned him with her eyes, noticing that he was now staring at the Wrecker's face. Yes. Ever since she convinced him to betray his brother and his partner, the flyer has felt uncomfortable around this particular stasis pod.
"The scanners picked up the microchips' signals." He finally said, while walking closer to the femme, and trying to look away from his former partner's face.
Solar Flare arched an eyebrow and giggled at his expression of awkwardness.
"It's been a lifetime, yet you manage to keep feeling uneasy whenever she's present. Unbelievable…" She mocked him, while walking out of the room.
"And you?" Daybreak suddenly asked, making her stop on her tracks to turn to look at him. "Traitor or not, he's still your brother, and a former Decepticon. Doesn't it… affects you?"
"Did it affect you to betray your brother for me?" She retorted, placing her hands on her hip, while smirking, before finally walk away.
The cerulean mech couldn't answer. Deep inside, he had to admit that it never felt good to let down his twin as he did. He even had nightmares about that day, for Primus's sake! Nightglider and he were not only brothers, but also best friends; that was the key of their successfulness. They always knew where the other was, and what he was doing; so they trusted blindly on the other, not even using their commlinks during the battles. Though he would never admit it in front of Solar, he had to be honest with himself: he missed his bro's company… However, he liked this femme too much. "Sorry, 'Glider; but my spark knows what it wants." He thought, while walking after his femme.
It was a big surprise for Millie to wake up surrounded by three strangers, though one of them was a nurse. The other two were guys, a middle-age black man and a teenager who was on the phone. The nurse, who introduced herself as June, checked the monitors that were next to her bed, and explained where she was and why she was there. When the woman mentioned the museum, Millie remembered that she was in a school trip, when a big explosion was heard… Then there was a fire, and she got lost in the smoke… But, since she hit her head and fell unconsicous, the little girl couldn't recall much more, only that she felt like she was suffocating, and that her throat was aching badly…
"Hello… Millie, right?" The adult man called her, stepping closer to the bed's brim. "My name is William Fowler. I'm a governmental agent, see?" He showed her his badge. "Can I ask you a few questions?"
The little girl shyly nodded, but didn't say a word. Fowler understood her nervousness, and smiled tenderly.
"I know that you have a friend that's… not from here. Am I right?" He said, trying hard not to startle the girl.
Millie simply shook her head. The agent knew what she was doing: though they haven't seen in so long, she was protecting Knock Out, hiding his existence from the world. He had to admit it; it was impressive for someone so young. The only problem was that, in order to put her under Autobot protection, she had to openly admit that she stablished contact with a Cybertronian in front of him.
Finally, Jack decided to step in.
"Hey, Millie. I'm Jackson Darby, but you can call me Jack." The boy introduced himself, while taking seat at the bed's feet. "I know that Agent Fowler may be… intimidating, but he's trustworthy. Seriously." He said with a bright smile. However, it was evident that the girl was not buying it. Time to change the strategy. "Look, here's the thing: I'm like you. A couple years ago I met a blue motorcycle that turned out to be a giant alien being called Arcee." Her eyes brightened at this confession, thing that made the teenager smile. "She's my best friend, and it's back on Earth, next to the rest of the team… and Knock Out." He explained, and saw her breathing rate increase. "We know he's friends with you. He told us. But, he's a national top secret, meaning that you've to be under Autobot protection. Do you understand what I'm saying?"
"But… He's not an Autobot." Millie commented, finally saying something.
June, Fowler and Jack exchanged a quizzical look, before look back at the girl.
"You know about the 'Cons?" The man asked, arching an eyebrow.
Millie nodded.
"He told me about them." She explained.
"Really? What else he said?" Jack wondered, surprised by this.
"Um… Lots of things." The girl said, shrugging. "We only met a couple times, but he told me everything about the war, his friends, the Decepticons, the Autobots… Oh! And about Cybertron!" She remembered. Then, she averted her eyes, suddenly sad. "Last time we talked, he came to say goodbye, because he was going home…"
Fowler and June couldn't believe their ears. Knock Out shared his intimacy with a human?! When he was yet a Decepticon?! Were they talking about the same guy?! Jack, on the other hand, didn't seem to be as troubled as the adults were about knowing that the red medic befriended a human back on his days as Megatron's soldier; in fact, he was happy to know that this actually happened, because it meant that Bumblebee was right when he chose to give him a second chance.
Millie, on the other hand, was scared of these strangers. She feared that they were lying to her, because she clearly remembered that Knock Out said that he wouldn't come back… She wouldn't believe them without proves… And the teenager noticed it.
"Would you feel better if you talked to him?" He asked, receiving a nod as answer. "Ok. Give me a sec." He said with a smile, while pulling out his cellphone.
Back at the base, Ratchet was working on the decryption, while the others were, either, training or making some rounds. Even Rafael was absent, as the boy chose to spent some time with Bumblebee, who was talking with Nightglider, trying to get as much information about Sunscorch and Daybreak as he could. Things were complicating second by second, and the medic was starting to feel that the situation was getting out of their control.
At least the algorithm they created was working. Now they were capable of read fifty percent of the document… Well, of the part of the document they downloaded. "Hopefully, this would help…" The old medic thought, right when an alarm told him that there was an incoming call. It was Jack.
"Jack? Is something the matter?" He asked.
«Hi, Ratchet. Hey, I'm with Millie. She's finally awake, so, I was wondering… could you put Knock Out on the phone? » The teenager asked.
The girl was awake? That would certainly make the red medic feel better! Only one problem…
Ratchet grunted, remembering the events that took place that afternoon.
"He's recharging…" The Autobot said with a sigh, while massaging his forehead.
«So? Can't you wake him up? » Jack wondered, confused.
"It's not so simple. He met with his sister, and returned to base in a state of shock. I had to administrate him a sedative to prevent him having a collapse." The mech explained. "Apparently, the Decepticons said that they are keeping an Autobot hostage, a Wrecker called Sunscorch. Knock Out fears that, if we don't rescue her soon enough, she will suffer a massive malfunction and power off for good…" Ratchet informed the teenager. "Sedate him was the only way to calm him down."
«Or maybe not. C'mon, Ratch', put him on the phone. I bet that he will feel better after listening Millie's voice. » Jack pressed.
Well, it was true that it could help…
Sighing, making his mind, Ratchet told Jack to hold on, and went to the red mech's quarters. On the way, he met with Bumblebee and Nightglider who were discussing something on the hallway. Whatever it was, it seemed important, as the warrior, when spotting the medic, gestured the flyer to stop his story. Then, he walked up to the older bot, asking if he was trying to wake up the red mech.
"The girl is awake, so…"
"It might not be a good idea, Ratch." Bumblebee said with sad eyes.
"May I ask why?" The medic wondered, arching an eyebrow. As far as he knew, he was the one in charge of making diagnosis on the team members…
"We heard him sleep-talking." The black mech commented, crossing his arms. "He's reviving that day…" He sighed, looking at his friend's quarters' doors. "Trust me. Knock Out is as stressed as he was before you sedated him… Maybe more."
A whole Autobot camp was taken down by the Decepticons. Now the war was closer than ever to the clinic, and an attack to the place was mostly imminent. However, right now, he had to concentrate in the soldier he had in hands. Fortunately, with a good weld in the right spot, he was able to stop the bleeding, and the warrior was now on his way of recovering. It was a success.
Knock Out sighed in content, receiving a friendly pat on the shoulder from Breakdown, who congratulated him for another successful surgery. The medic gave him a friendly, yet brief, smile; he had no true reasons to smile, after all… The war was spreading faster than anyone could've forecasted, and the amount of warriors that he had to repair day by day was growing rapidly. "And there hasn't been any news from her yet…" He thought, remembering that it has been already four solar-cycles since the last time he and Sunscorch talked. Was she okay? What about the twins? Did they make it? Was she on her way back or…? No. He didn't want to think about the other option. It wasn't an option.
Suddenly, another medic entered in the room asking for Breakdown's help. A new wave of injured people entered the clinic, and they were requiring help to move them. The bulky mech, however, looked at his friend before answer.
"Go, I'm fine." Knock Out assured him.
With a nod, the blue mech went out of the consulting room… That's when everything started to go wrong…
"Holy scrap!" Breakdown screamed out in pure horror, nanokliks after exiting the room they were in.
The Velocitronian arched an eyebrow at the yell. There was literary nothing gross enough to scare his friend. What was going on out there? What happened?
Alarmed, the red mech ran out of the room, finding that his friend was frozen in the middle of the narrow hallway, gripping his head with both hands. Instinctively, Knock Out asked what happened, while running closer to the blue bot, who quickly turned around and grabbed him by the shoulders. He didn't want him to get any closer to the new wave of patients? Why? It wasn't as if he haven't seen it all already…
But then is when his eyes recognized one of the injured warriors: Nightglider was being carried to a consulting room by two nurses. The medic started to tremble, while his spark picked up its beat rate, and his vents started to become erratic… It couldn't be him. It couldn't be the young warrior, because it would mean that… "No… No. Please, no." He mentally pleaded, shaking his head. Then, the Velocitronian slapped his friend's hands away, running towards the flyer.
It was him…
Nightglider was being connected to a life-support, while one of the medics readied himself to treat his wounds. Knock Out didn't need to get close to see them: his left wing was practically torn apart, his propellants were burned (plasma shots, no doubt), his knees' junctions were broken, and his right arm was dislocated. He was leaking Energon by each and every injury on his body, especially the ones on his knees.
Completely ignoring the orders of his colleague, Knock Out refused to leave the room, and decided to attend the warrior himself, stating that it was a friend of his. Understanding the red mech's position, the other medic simply nodded, and allowed him to take care of the patient, while he went to another consulting room, where he was being needed.
The Velocitronian never really knew how long he spent on the surgery to put his friend back together; the only thing that he was sure of, was that, by the time he left the consulting room, the sun was setting again…
Breakdown was his only companion besides Nightglider, who was yet unconscious. As the night fell upon Cybertron, the only one who remained awake was Knock Out, who was unable to sleep… He was praying that, anytime now, somebody would enter the clinic with more wounded ones… With her…
Every klik that passed without any news from Sunscorch were complete torture for the poor medic, who, finally, understanding that she would never come back, let go from a sob while sitting on the floor and covering his face with his hands. She was gone. "I told you… I told you, you idiot! I told you to stay away from there!" He thought, while crying in utter despair.
A soft groan made him look towards the stretcher, and woke up Breakdown: Nightglider was coming to.
"Wha-what? K-Out…? Breakdown? Wh-where…?" The warrior stuttered, scanning his surroundings, trying to understand what happened and where he was.
"It's okay. You're back on the clinic." The medic explained, wiping away the tears.
"Your beacon went active. A rescue team found you right on time." The blue mech explained.
"Sun! Sunscorch, she…! Is she here?!" The black bot asked, suddenly remembering something.
Knock Out averted his eyes in pain. No. She wasn't there… And she would never be…
"No…" Nightglider whispered, understanding.
"I'm sorry, 'Glider. But… you were the only one brought here. I don't know where Sunscorch or your brother are…" The red mech apologized.
"Sorry about your twin…" Breakdown added.
"Don't feel bad for him… He did this to me!" The flyer spat in pure hate. "He betrayed us!"
The two Neutral mechs shared a horror look before their friend started to tell them the whole story… of how Daybreak backstabbed his partners to become a Decepticon…
It wasn't new for him to be awakened by being shaken by the shoulders; however, to open his eyes and find three bots standing next to his berth, now that was a new one. Knock Out blinked a couple times, still feeling the drowsiness of the sedative, before sat up and ask what happened.
Jack was wondering if the red mech would pick up anytime soon… "For being a speed junkie, he's sure slow in other aspects…" He thought, while listening the echoes produced by the bots' steps through the phone line. Finally, Ratchet reappeared, saying that Knock Out was awaken and ready to speak with the girl. Smiling, Jack handled his cellphone to Millie, who shyly took it…
"Hello?" She greeted, doubting that her friend actually was on the other end of the line.
«Millie? Is it really you? » It was his voice! It was him!
"Knock Out?" Her eyes glittered in joy, thing that made Jack and Fowler exchange a smile. Indeed, this little girl was friends with the medic.
«Oh! I'm so glad you woke up! »
"Why are you back on Earth? Couldn't you save your planet after all?" She asked, worried and kind of sad for him if that was really the reason of why he returned.
«It's… more complicated than that… Look, Cybertron was healed and everything, but… Well, the Decepticons lost the war, and, since I was one of them… » The medic sighed, trying to think of which would be the best way to explain her his current position. «Millie, I'm a wanted criminal right now. »
"What?! Why?! But, you weren't…!"
«I know you don't understand, but... Do you remember what I told you? That I was with the bad guys? » She hummed in response at the question. Yes. She remembered it, but she never believed it. He was too nice to be a bad person. «Well, when the war was coming to an end, and seeing where things were going… I decided to switch sides, since I didn't have real reasons to drown with the rest of the Decepticon army. However, it doesn't mean that I didn't have to face trial. »
"And you were declared guilty?" The child wondered.
«Um… Well, to be honest, I was going to be convicted for a lifetime; but… one of the Autobots vouched for me. » Millie heard him chuckling, and could almost swear that he turned to look at someone. «His name is Bumblebee. You're gonna like him, you'll see. »
"So… It's okay to go with the Autobots?" She asked, looking at the teenager and the middle-age man in front of her.
«Jack and Fowler are with you, aren't they? » He chuckled. «Don't worry, they're trustworthy. »
"They told me that they want to put me under the Autobots' protection…"
«And I agree with that. » Deep inside, Knock Out knew that the 'Cons were aware of his attachment to a human, due to his visit to the hospital, and his stupid mention of Millie during his battle with Solar Flare. To put her under guard was the most logical option. «Besides, I'm living on their base, so, if you come here, we will be able to see each other again. »
The thought of meeting with her old friend made her smile in happiness. However, there was a question on her mind that didn't let her be… Was he going to stay this time, or would he leave again? Millie asked this to him. She had to ask him this, because, the last time he left, she was left alone… Nobody, ever again, talked to her as an equal. She was, again, treated as if she was stupid… The loneliness was never so strong before.
Knock Out sighed.
«I… I'm sorry, Millie… But given the position I'm in right now, I can't make any promises. I wish I could but… I'm on probation, meaning that, after the timespan of my parole is done, I'll have to go to trial again, and I don't know which the result will be… » He explained.
The sudden wale of an alarm made all the bots jump on their place, at the same time that Rafael started to run the scanners, which showed that five different Decepticon signals were mobilizing at the same time. Ratchet and Bumblebee exchanged a look, before the medic decided to check the coordinates at the screens, revealing five different destinations.
Seeing this, and knowing what it meant, Knock Out apologized with Millie, and hung up the call.
"Must be Shockwave. He must have found whatever he was looking for…" The red mech commented.
"Agree." The older medic said.
"Then… he was looking for five experiments?" The teenager asked, arching an eyebrow.
"Or it could be a diversion." The Velocitronian retorted. "It wouldn't be the first time they use that trick." He added, looking at Bumblebee, who nodded.
"Even if it is, we can't afford to leave it uninvestigated. We'll have to intercept them all." The warrior said, evaluating the situation.
"Indeed."
Everyone turned around when a femme's voice filled the control room, noticing that Elita was walking up to them, frowning slightly. She heard it all, undoubtedly, and was working on a plan of action.
Analyzing the situation, the pink femme called everyone to return to the control room, while making a plan: the 'Cons had many advantages against them, including the Seekers, and the assistance of a traitor. Not to count the probable presence of one of the Constructicons, if the report they had from Cybertron was right. It was too risky to work alone; they would have to go in teams. "No time to lay low, then." She thought, concluding that Chromia, Ironhide and her would have to go engage.
With the plan decided, Ratchet started to enter the coordinates into the ground-bridge, and the teams started to move: Smokescreen and Arcee went to the Chinese mountains; Bulkhead and Wheeljack would go to the Arctic Circle; Chromia and Ironhide got Africa. Now there were a couple problems: they were missing a team, and Knock Out couldn't be left without surveillance. Otherwise, his parole would be history…
"Sounds like we're in this together." Bumblebee commented with a shrug. "What you say? Would you fight some 'Cons with me?" He asked, extending a hand to the red mech.
"I'm not a real soldier, I was trained to be a doctor." Knock Out admitted, while averting his eyes, so he could look at the screens. "However." He looked at Bumblebee's eyes. "The Decepticons crossed the line by putting my own sister against me." He took the warrior's hand. "I'll do the best I can. And that's a promise."
Smiling, the yellow mech gestured Ratchet to open the bridge for them. Once the green vortex was ready, both bots transformed and drove off.
Now, to solve the other problem: Elita didn't have someone to go with, unless Ratchet left with her. But, it would mean to leave the base without a medic available, in case someone got hurt and needed assistance; it wasn't a good option either.
"I'll go." Nightglider commented, walking towards the other two Cybertronians. "I messed up when I arrived to Earth, and I want to compensate."
The femme turned to look at him, placing her hands on her hip.
"Are you sure that you can remain under control, even if we run into your twin?" She wondered, arching an eyebrow.
"I'll try my best, ma'am." He assured, straightening up.
Elita nodded.
"Open the ground-bridge." She ordered, while transforming into her new alt-mode, and driving right into the portal, followed closely by Nightglider.
Like in the old times, the only ones left at base were Ratchet and Rafael to orchestrate everything.
Sorry it is a transition chapter. Next one will have more action in it. I promise.
Please let me a review with your opinions.
Since I won't update until next week: Happy New Year!
Bye!
