The next month was tedious as well.
Rochelle couldn't stand Sentinel in the same room with her. He sat at one end; she sat at the other. He leered at her; she sneered at him. It took almost a week for her to relax enough to play with the sparklings again. Sentinel was creeped enough from having her in the same room with him—he walked on eggshells all around her and just tried to keep silent peace and stay out of her way.
That was just fine—it suited her.
Sentinel ignored, October passed with a flying multitude of events. The sparklings were thrilled when Ramjet brought in their first alternate form. They scanned a small, 80s styled boom box, the kind you would carry around on your shoulder. Thus, when Ramjet made that comment, it made each of the individual sparklings want a ride in their alternate form around the whole base on her shoulder.
Needless to say, Rochelle's shoulders were extremely sore the day after. That, but only Moonlight encountered slight problems with her transformation. Her bum leg refused to lock into place, but with encouragement, the young sparkling didn't let it get to her.
Ramjet. Rochelle wasn't specifically thrilled with him, the dirty, slag-sucking, lying cheat . . . but he was good with the sparklings. He seemed to pop up more often to play rather eagerly with the sparklings. He liked to think he was funny, but . . . he wasn't. There was no other way to put it, but the sparklings were all amused with him, so Rochelle couldn't find a fault in him except that he was an annoying coward that reminded her too much of Starscream.
Since Moonlight had a bum leg and couldn't wrestle with the rest of the rowdy sparklings, Rochelle took the time to teach her rock-paper-scissors, thumb war, red hands, chopsticks, and all the patty cake games she could remember. She opted out of teaching bloody knuckles for the obvious reason . . . Either way, Moonlight fell in love with the games, and they ended up teaching the rest of her siblings as well. Rochelle also taught them Red Rover, Ring Around the Rosie, Duck Duck Goose, and Follow the Leader. The more she introduced, the more the sparklings wanted them. So she kept teaching them.
Rochelle bypassed Hide'n'Seek for lack of hiding places, and she bypassed I Spy for lack of a good variety of stuff to spy. So, she taught instead Leapfrog—which was their favorite next to Red Rover—Red Light Green Light, and any other elementary games she could remember.
Still, Damsel in Distress, as their own original game was dubbed, was always the top favorite. Rochelle suspected it was because they could attack each other as ferociously as they liked, and the violence appealed to their Decepticon side. It worried her a little, but she knew their races absolutely thrived off war anymore.
Not that they didn't like playing with Shockwave. Rochelle still giggled at the reluctance he showed of the Hood Popping he was thrust into.
Sentinel had taken over repairing the broken space bridge pillar. Remembering the formula, Knockout took the unfinished serum that would change Rochelle into a transformer to continue Flatline's research.
And so this left Rochelle in the middle of November riding with Shockwave back to the base. He had decided to let her get a good wash and another fresh meal—she suspected the latter because he was sick of her complaining about her strict pizza and peanut butter diet.
Rochelle watched the last city they had been in recede from sight in the rear-view mirrors. Honestly, she was excited to be getting back to see the sparklings again—they put her in high spirits. A fidgety and bored Rochelle looked over to watch a car passing by, and suddenly, she found the peak of temptation right at her fingertips.
She rode in the passenger seat . . . the driver's seat was empty. Her eyes dropped down to his gear shift before looking at the almost idle steering wheel. Rochelle's eyes touched his speed—fifty. Rather slow for a Decepticon, eh?
Fuck it, she thought to herself and unbuckled. A slightly surprised sound echoed from Shockwave as she clambered over to the driver's seat. "Rochelle? What the frag are you doing?"
She buckled herself back in for his peace of mind. "Driving," she stated. Without any preamble, she pressed down on the gas and grasped the steering wheel.
With a sudden lurch, the Dodge sped forward. Rochelle grinned when Shockwave surrendered control of himself to her, but she didn't contemplate his sudden generosity or trust. Instead, Rochelle was focused on one thing:
Speed.
Rochelle yipped as the speed dial quickly rose, bypassing the sixty then seventy then eighty mark as they sped illegally across the old interstate road, deserted except for few. The endless miles of relatively straight interstate beckoned her to speed, and she did. Rochelle shouted out another catcall as she shifted Shockwave's gears, and for some reason, she was unsurprised that Shockwave played a song, loud and fast and heavy guitar strums and drums assaulting her ears.
I, I'm driving black on black
Just got my license back
I got this feeling in my veins this train is coming off the track
I'll ask polite if the devil needs a ride
Because the angel on my right ain't hanging out with me tonight!
I'm driving past your house
While you were sneaking out
I got the car door opened up so you can jump in on the run
You're mom don't know that you were missing
She'd be pissed if she could see the parts of you that I've been kissing
Screamin'
Rochelle laughed heartily, yelling above the blaring song, "Nickelback! Shoulda known." Her green eyes devoured the straight road that extended until it disappeared beyond the next hill with no cars in front of them. Rochelle slammed her foot firmly to the gas, making Shockwave accelerate as the chorus rocked in.
No! We're never gonna quit!
Ain't nothing wrong with it!
Just acting like were animals!
No! No matter where we go!
Cause everybody knows
We're just a couple animals!
So come on baby get in!
Get in, just get in
Check out the trouble we're in!
"This is so fucking fun!" Rochelle howled, the sheer speed that they were moving sending her giddy with delight. She whooped again, yelling, "Optimus would never let me do something like this!" She slowed for a black semi truck momentarily before bypassing it and its driver. Rochelle's hand tightly gripped Shockwave's gear stick as she shifted from lower gears to higher ones. Shockwave's engines roared as they streaked down the road.
You're beside me on the seat
Got your hand between my knees
And you control how fast we go by just how hard you wanna squeeze
It's hard to steer
When you're breathing in my ear
But I got both hands on the wheel while you got both hands on my gears!
By now, no doubt
That we were headed south
I guess nobody ever taught her not to speak with a full mouth
Cause this was it
Like flicking on a switch it felt so good I almost drove into the ditch!
Rochelle shrieked with delight as they sped down the road, dodging cars here and there. The provocative song of two teenagers fucking and speeding had Rochelle laughing as the chorus kicked in again, and she yipped happily, relishing being in control of such a powerful being that trusted her enough to let her drive him.
The rush of exhilaration took over, and Rochelle steadied the wheel as the loud song rocked out in her ears. By God, she hadn't been a metal head before she met Shockwave, but she sure as hell was turning into one now!
We were parked out by the tracks
We're sitting in the back
And we just started getting busy when she whispered "What was that?"
"The wind I think
Cause no one else knows where we are"
And that was when she started screaming "That's my dad outside the car!"
Oh please, the keys
They're not in the ignition
Must've wound up on the floor while we were switching our positions
I guess they knew that she was missing
As I tried to tell her dad it was her mouth that I was kissing!
Rochelle literally laughed so hard at the song and the kids getting caught at the end that tears almost sparked in her eyes. "We're just a couple animals!" she hooted, getting a real kick out of the song cranked loud. When it ended, it started over immediately, feeding her adrenaline as they raced over the roads that soon came back to civilization again, other vehicles starting to clutter the roads.
Rochelle grinned wickedly, slowing down just enough to dart the Charger in between the cars and trucks. Angry honks followed them, but Rochelle just laughed carelessly, whooping with excitement. Blood rushed hot and fast through her veins, but the sudden form of a Peterbilt truck so familiar caused her heart to sputter and stop, cold dread clenching her chest tight with worry.
Ironically, her mind registered the song chanting:
. . . wind I think
Cause no one else knows where we are
And that was when she started screaming "That's my dad outside the car!"
If she were a cat she would have given Primus all nine of her lives to change Optimus to her father because she honestly believed that he was a thousand times worse than her dad could ever be.
Her hands leapt from the wheel guiltily like she had been caught in an affair against her lover. The Prime honked loudly, gaining speed as he raced after them.
Rochelle heard Shockwave chuckle darkly as the song ended and started again. "Optimus . . . Let's see what you've got!"
Rochelle's hands snapped to grip the seat tightly, adrenaline wearing off as the two heads of opposite sides of the war began to literally race. Rochelle felt some of the blood drain from her face as Shockwave taunted Optimus.
"Is that all you've got?" he mocked the Prime that hesitated to throw his full strength into the race, knowing Rochelle was with his nemesis. The song continued to play, and Shockwave rolled down his windows to let the winds whip at Rochelle's hair. "I know you've got the horsepower in you, Optimus!"
Still, he got little reaction from the Prime that trailed him, both speeding down the roads until they were on the highway again. The second verse started, playing through as Shockwave taunted Optimus again.
"What's the matter, Optimus?" Shockwave drew out the "s" on a hiss, sneering. He laughed again, sinister and amused as he jeered, "Don't want your precious spark mate anymore? I've had a good time with her today, she has talented hands and a delectable grip."
When Shockwave only laughed more, Rochelle felt a revelation punch her in the gut.
Shockwave was being RECKLESS.
Honestly, that scared her more than anything he had done before. A hiccup in the music happened, making the song skip rapidly and repeat the second verse again.
You're beside me on the seat
Got your hand between my knees
And you control how fast we go by just how hard you wanna squeeze
It's hard to steer
When you're breathing in my ear
But I got both hands on the wheel while you got both hands on my gears!
A violent roar from Optimus's engines snarled out, and Rochelle squeaked in worry when he suddenly gained a spurt of speed, front bumper nearly banging against Shockwave's rear bumper. He only laughed harder though, and Rochelle felt all the blood leech from her face.
Now that she was registering the words, she realized just HOW provocative the lyrics were, especially in content with Cybertronians. She felt sickened to know that she had most clearly aroused Shockwave by driving him without restraint.
By now, no doubt
That we were headed south
I guess nobody ever told her not to speak with a full mouth
Cause this was it
Like flicking on a switch it felt so good I almost drove into the ditch!
"Optimus, it wasn't like that!" she cried out, but the raging winds whipped away her words before he could hear them. Her face blanched white, and she said a silent prayer to both God and Primus that neither Optimus or Shockwave would get hurt.
Obviously, her prayers were ignored this time—a flash of yellow slammed into Shockwave's back wheel and sent them into a sickening spin out. Rochelle screamed, the seatbelt jerking tightly against her body, and again, she found herself thankful to a Cybertronian that they made her wear her seatbelt at all times. She was fairly certain the car had flipped once from the sheer speed they moved at before the grating sounds of a transformation sounded out. Metal crashed roughly against metal Shockwave transformed so quickly, and Rochelle gave a breathless squeak when his hand grabbed her from the air.
Rochelle had the time to witness Shockwave's one glowing red eye widen in complete astonishment, and then, the world spun dizzily towards his chest as the sound of metal tearing into metal screeched out horribly. She heard Shockwave give a punctuated cry of pain, and she saw bright blue energon spatter in the bright day.
Oh my God . . .
Sword crashed against sword and shield. The world was moving so quickly that it made Rochelle dizzy and nauseous, so she squeezed her eyes shut as she took a ride faster than any roller coaster. Shockwave's hand would clench instinctively around her every time Optimus's sword slammed against his, but through sheer force of will he didn't allow his hand to crush her. There was more fighting going on—she could hear the sounds of transformations and Sideswipe shouting.
She wondered briefly if her sister was here, but a sudden shift in balance made her squeal in alarm. Half a second later, she was flying.
No, scratch that, she had been tossed, and she yelped when another hand closed around her. The transformation whipped around her so fast she only had time to blink and realize that she was in a jet before a seatbelt snapped around her and he took off.
"Hang on!" Thundercracker shouted, and Rochelle realized why—incoming Autobot to the front.
Powerglide.
Rochelle shrieked when gunfire rang out from both jets as a dogfight temporarily started. Metal bullets pinged off the front and scratched deep grooves against Thundercracker's front, but the seeker didn't waver and filled Powerglide as well. Both jets feinted away at the last moment, making Rochelle's stomach roll at the close call.
They zipped around, keeping the foe in their sights, and Thundercracker dodged the bullets this time, swinging from side to side and shooting back. These things proceeded until, when Powerglide feinted away, Thundercracker did too, darting so quickly towards the ground Rochelle thought she was going to be sick.
He transformed and landed, and Rochelle felt woozy when she was quickly passed to another hand. This time the transformation moved down, and Rochelle found herself flopped in the passenger side seat of a Ford truck. The seatbelt snapped around her, and a squeal of tires peeled out.
The radio clicked on. "Howdy! Been a while since I've seen you. Ready to get our asses out of here?"
Rochelle looked up into the rearview mirror. How did he know—?
Her gut turned to ice. Shockwave, bleeding profusely from his left shoulder, whipped up his right arm with his powerful gun. Rochelle witnessed Sunstreaker getting filled with the deadly bullets, screaming, and falling. He lay on the ground, smoking . . . unmoving.
"Sunstreaker!" She twisted around as much as she could in the seat, banging on the back of the window. An echoing scream sounded out, and Rochelle watched in horror as Sideswipe fell on a knee, face twisted in pained horror.
"Hang on!"
Rochelle looked back to the front just in time to see the truck she was in swerve violently away from one BIG ASS truck. It looked like it could smack Optimus a good one, and Rochelle screamed at the top of her lungs when they narrowly managed to avoid a head on collision.
"Watch where you're going!"
"The fu—He's an Autobot! Of course he's trying to ram me! And keep your mouth shut, Rochelle, you could wake Unicron himself with those screams—"
Rochelle screamed again—and so did the truck she was in—when a torrent of bullets erupted around them. "Who the hell are you? How do you know my name!"
"OH MY—Every fragging Decepticon knows who you are! And how the hell don't you remember me?" The truck yelped and jumped on its suspension when a bullet bit into his bumper, and he swerved horribly off the road and into the forest. "I'm Dozer! Remember?"
"No!" she shouted, jerking and shrieking when the other truck followed them into the forest. "How the hell do you think I know you?"
"You fucking told me not to cuss in front of the sparklings!" he snarled back, roughly navigating in between the trees to run from the Autobot on their tail. "How in pit don't you remember that, bitch!"
Rochelle kicked the dash hard, gritting her teeth as they bounced up and down along the uneven path. "Shut the fuck up! Don't you shove that shit down my throat! And watch where you're going—get back on the road—!"
"I've got an Autobot on my aft!" Dozer bellowed back. "Take it up with him!"
"Fine!" she shouted back. "I will!"
Rochelle, too fed up to even care, rolled down Dozer's window to the Decepticon's surprise, and hollered back at the Autobot, "Stop fucking shooting at us! I'm right here! Optimus Prime's spark mate!" She shook a fist at him. "Get your head on straight you—"
"FUCK!"
Rochelle screamed shrilly again when she suddenly found herself ejected from the seat—"You fucker!"—and it was funny how she despised Dozer doing this when she didn't care when Shockwave did it—and a hand deposited her on the ground.
The Autobot transformed too, and Rochelle's jaw dropped open seeing Ultra Magnus whip out a gun and take aim at Dozer. "HOLY SHIT—"
"Primus, woman, get the fuck OUT alrea—"
Dozer broke off with an agonized cry and Rochelle shrieked again, ducking in the first cover she happened to find—which was behind a tree. Rochelle cowered, hearing the two soldiers dukeing it out with gun and fists. Each blow made Rochelle flinch harder, and she knew Dozer had told her to scram but her legs were a bit too full of jell-o to function at the moment. Instead, she covered her head and crouched against the tree as she heard them fighting tooth and nail for the upper hand.
A heavy crash jarred Rochelle to her senses. She jerked to her feet, suddenly ready to flee, but her mind registered a regal deep voice—devoid of cursing.
That wasn't Dozer.
"Any last words?"
Rochelle bolted from the cover of the tree to see Ultra Magnus's gun leveled at Dozer. Dozer sneered up at him, but Rochelle's legs moved of their own accord—and so did her mouth.
"Wait!" She ran up, Magnus's blue optics latching to her form when she jumped in front of Dozer, spreading her body in front of his head. "Don't! Please!"
A uncertain look plagued the back of the soldier's eyes, but Ultra Magnus kept his gun leveled for the shot. "Rochelle," he stated clearly, "get out of the way."
She shook her head even as she heard Dozer cursing her. "No. I won't let you kill him."
Ultra Magnus tensed up, optics tightening. "Rochelle, please, don't make me ask again. MOVE."
"No." She shook her head again, protecting Dozer from the death-dealing blow. She was vaguely aware of energon pooling around her feet. "You want him you go through me."
Dozer hissed in her ear again, and Rochelle swallowed tightly when Ultra Magnus's gun whirred in preparation for the attack. His eyes raged with conflicting emotions for a long moment, and then he scowled, jerking the gun away. Rochelle let out a breath that caught again when he suddenly leaned down.
"Listen well, Rochelle," he hissed tightly, "I will only say this once. Optimus's orders have changed. Before we were to save you no matter the cost—now, he says to end the war, no matter the cost." When Rochelle blinked stupidly at him, he scowled deeper. "Rochelle, that means YOU! We have permission to terminate you!"
The world began to swim. "W-what?" Her mouth was too dry to do anything but croak, and she stumbled to her knees. Her hands slapped into the ground, and a splash of Dozer's energon stained her leather jacket. She suddenly felt very nauseous and dizzy.
His words sickened her.
"He's putting his duty as a Prime above his own feelings," Ultra Magnus whispered, fearfully looking over his shoulder, as if caught giving precious intel to the enemy. His blue optics pierced her. "He thinks his affiliation to you is compromising his leadership. He's all but cut himself off from you, and if you do something like this—protect a Decepticon—he will view it as a sacrifice he has to make to end the war."
Rochelle felt her mouth sagging open, a look of complete horror overcoming her. She couldn't breathe. Why weren't her lungs working? Panic was seizing her body, and her hands began to twitch.
As if she still didn't get it, Ultra Magnus hissed, "Rochelle, if you try to protect Shockwave, Optimus will terminate you along with him!"
"No!" she cried, the sudden tears welling up in her eyes. "Not Optimus! He wouldn't—"
"He would!" Ultra Magnus cut in sharply. His blue optics cut her open. "Rochelle, he considered you a liability, and now you've got to be careful pulling stunts like this because we Autobots are not supposed to take pity on you anymore!" Rochelle flinched back like she had been impaled through. Ultra Magnus winced away a moment before muttering, "Watch yourself, Rochelle." He stood, looking down with optics filled with misery and determination. "Next time, I will be bound by my duty."
Rochelle trembled as she watched Ultra Magnus pass a glance over his shoulder and disappear into the trees as if in chase. Dozer groaned weakly, accessing his communicator.
"Glaciate?" He coughed, spitting up bits of energon. "Get over here. Take Rochelle." He switched lines. "Shockwave? Just listen . . ."
Rochelle felt her despair heighten. She was a liability. A FUCKING LIABILITY! Fury combated with the nausea and grief, but one thought slashed her mind to shreds—
He cut himself off from her. He was saying he was willing to kill her. He . . . had all but said she was not his spark mate.
Rochelle pitched on her hands and knees, screams choking in between vomiting. Her throat howled at the abuse, and Rochelle was faintly aware of Glaciate coming and taking her away from Dozer. He sped her back to the safety of their base, and Rochelle felt herself going numb. Worse things couldn't happen, but atrocious things made the horrifying day worse.
Dozer didn't live to see the next day.
Author's Note:
Actually, that first scene with Rochelle speeding in a transformer used to be her and Ironhide, but I changed it because I liked this better
Also . . . everything from "BIG ASS truck" to "-which was behind a tree" all that between Rochelle and Dozer? I got distracted and started watching Dick Figures on YouTube so it turned out much more funny than I intended
Song used was "Animals" by Nickelback
Sunstreaker! Nuu!