(THIS IS THE EDITED VERSION)
J: "Sniff" I must now declare this fanfiction complete HUZZAH and AWWWW! I'm honestly happy with how well this fanfiction turned out, at times I thought I wasn't going to keep going. But with 367 reviews, 88 favs, and 94 alerts I just had to keep going :) I hope you all enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.
Final THANKS TO:
Mieschers: You are absolutely correct on your last statement xD Thank you!
Jinxed just in time: "Looks shifty" Yeeeeaaa, you got a point there. I try to keep characters in their personality but I slip up every once in a while ahha. Thank you!
Keacdragon: You're vote has been taken into account and I'm glad you got such a reaction to that last chapter, means I did a good job :) Thank you!
Gelly619: Hope this last chapter is considered awesome as well! Thank you!
LynxbyLynx: Lol, you're the one that made him so ill xD Thank you!
Lightwolfheart: Of course Alice and Beth are going to be in the sequel! I would have to be insane not to! Besides, they're getting a one shot all for themselves. Thank you!
Latina Shewolf: Hope you've regained your health and that you're summer school is going well. As always your reviews were marvelous, too long to comment back about everything but in general I appreciate the detail you put into picking it apart. Your vote for an all together collection of one shots has been taken into account. Thank you!
Dontgotaclue88: Good to know I won't disappoint with either decision xD Thank you!
Supergirlprime: I was wondering where you vanished to, and you are correct in your assumptions, now you just have to wait and see. Thank you!
Standout4Christ: Hmm, you're right about the head trauma, but for the sake of it I'll just say that Tools managed to avoid letting his head touch the ground. Thank you!
Wrath of an Aerow: "Whistles" Hope you've gotten caught up, you have a bit of reading to do. Thank you!
Ironaft30: How come you never sign in to review anymore? Whatever you still review and that's what matters. Thank you!
Mizukikage: I'm sorry this update wasn't immediate, and I'm happy to hear you were a dedicated reader :) Thank you!
Tailsdoll123: Hehe, I try and make her have a smart mouth only for the sake of comedy lol. Thank you!
Wicken25: I kept it up right to the end!Thank you!
J: And thank you to all you other readers that did not review but still added this to your favs or alerts.
Just a heads up, this chapter is not the edited version, I was impatient and decided to give you the raw untouched version lol. ENJOY THE LAST CHAPTER!
Disclaimer: Transformers is owned by Hasbro. Tools belongs to Ironaft30. Roxanne belongs to me.
Epilogue
-Five weeks later-
"This is not going to end well."
"Who came up with this idea again?"
"The crazy girl in the wheelchair did."
Alice, Beth, and Maggie stood out on the tarmac on the sidelines of the race track they'd just made. At the starting line sitting in her wheelchair wearing cut off black shorts and a purple tank top was Roxie. She'd borrowed a soldier's pair of aviator sunglasses to complete her look of racing jockey. The handles of her wheelchair had rope tied around them that were then tied to the back of Skids' rear bumper. There was no one else to race against since Tools was still bed ridden for his ribs and all the Cybertronians besides her driver would never let her have any fun. Tied to the chair with a buckle she'd found Roxie gave a thumbs up to Skids.
"You just remember that you are gonna take da blame if you gets hurt girl." Skids had been surprised when Roxie had approached him and Mudflap for her idea. He didn't understand why until Mudflap had been sent off to distract the triplets, Ironhide and Jolt. If the Hatchet ever found out about this, the three of them were going to be in so much slag. All the same he'd been bored and wasn't about to pass up the opportunity. He revved up his engine and took off at a decent speed.
Maggie covered her eyes as Roxie whooped in glee. Beth and Alice watched the wheelchair to make sure it wasn't about to tip or flip. Ratchet and Jolt would never trust them alone with Roxie if she got hurt with them to witness.
They'd barely gotten started when Skids got a message from Mudflap. 'Uh bro, we gots a problem.'
'What problem?' Distracted by the info Skids gradually began to increase his speed.
'Da kind that put me in the brig and will put you in da med bay for evah!' Further explanation wasn't needed when squealing tires were accompanied a blue blur that came roaring in their direction.
"Oh frag! Sorry girl but you're on your own!" Petrified of what Jolt would do to him Skids shifted his bumper so the rope got cut on the edges. Driving off through the wall of empty boxes used for the race track Skids ran for his life.
Continuing to roll backwards Roxie yelled after Skids, "SPOIL SPORT! SEE IF I EVER ASK YOU TWO FOR FUN AGAIN!" The wheelchair collided none too nicely against what felt like a wall. Looking over her shoulder to see Jolt in his alt mode, Roxie honestly didn't blame Skids for ditching.
"Just what did you think you were doing Roxanne?" To say Jolt was upset would be an understatement.
Pushing the sunglasses up onto her head Roxie mumbled with her arms crossed, "I was doing something fun. Sitting around in med bay is really boring."
Switching to his bi-pedal mode; Jolt picked up Roxie wheelchair and all. Carefully he pulled the rope off of the chair and took the buckle from around her waist. Turning her so she had to look him in the optic he sighed, "The boredom I get. But doing something as stupid as this with a mech who has as little intellect as Skids is something I don't get."
"It's their lack of intellect that made me ask them. Unlike all the other Cybertronians they wouldn't stop me from having a little fun despite my injuries. My first choice was Sideswipe and Sunstreaker but they're too busy scheming and putting together pranks for Tools when he gets released from med bay in two days." Roxie frowned down at her healing leg still in its clunky cast with everyone's signature on it. Being condemned to days upon days of boredom and restricted movement went on her list of things to hate Megatron for.
Thanking Primus that she'd gone with the minor twins Jolt rolled his optics then turned his disapproving gaze on the three female humans that had started tip toeing away to hide. "And what excuse do you three have for not dissuading her from going through with this plan?"
Alice, Beth, and Maggie looked everywhere but at Jolt. Being a good friend Roxie explained for them, "They couldn't say no to a friend in a wheelchair…Or the promise to let them give me a complete makeover." Alice and Maggie giggled at that part of their agreement. Beth enjoyed it just because she wasn't the one being subjected to the makeover.
'I will never understand femmes, human or Cybertronian.' "Either way I'm holding you all responsible. And just for your ludicrous attempt at fun I'm restricting you to the med bay for the rest of today and tomorrow." Jolt was satisfied by the group groan and Roxie's overly dramatic frown.
Alice's frown did a U-turn to expand her smirk into a winning grin with a twitch of evil to her eyes, "On the bright side that means we won't have to hunt you down for your makeover tomorrow. Oh yea, we totally knew you would try and run for it missy. No such luck. Thanks Jolt." Jolt glanced down at Roxie to see her glowering at him with her lower lip out in an additional pout. The desire to tell Alice she was welcome was compelling, but a nagging feeling of disastrous pay back from Roxie held him back. Instead he walked off to the med bay with Roxie still in hand.
"Blast it Tools! How many times do I need to tell you to stay in bed?" The clatter of metal violently hitting a wall caused Jolt to pause and Roxie to grumble about men with serious impatience problems.
Walking into the med bay they found Ratchet sitting at his desk muttering angrily in Cybertronian. On the other side of the room Tools was struggling to get free of the band of metal that held him down, both ends of the metal were welded to the metal bed frame. Roxie lost the unannounced game of 'Don't laugh first.' Jolt put Roxie on the floor so she could roll over to Tools' bed, sniggering she poked him, "What were you doing that earned you the ultimate confinement?"
"I got out of bed…and tried to go to my work room. I really don't think wanting to get something to entertain me deserved this, Ratchet!" Tools struggled a little more against the metal, which only served to agitate his ribs. Roxie didn't miss the twist of pain that briefly flickered across his face. In turn Tools caught the guilt in her eyes before she looked away pretending not to be impressed. Seeing the guilt then and every other time she caught him in pain was getting to be increasingly frustrating. He could guess what her thoughts were when the guilt showed. 'He's hurt because of me.' 'Seven men and two women are dead because they had come to save me.' He understood why she had those kinds of thoughts, but no one blamed her at all. Unintentionally he'd overheard a conversation she'd had with Will and Jolt in the middle of the night discussing this.
-/-
Tools had stopped needing medicine to help him get to sleep but that left him to occasionally wake up from discomfort. That night he woke up and nearly voiced a curse to his aching ribs. Upon hearing other voices, he kept his mouth shut and his eyes closed. The voice he heard wasn't a surprise; Jolt had made it his duty to stay close to Roxie at night for psychological comfort when her nightmares began to escalate to her screaming out loud. "You're still blaming yourself for those casualties?" It was both a question and a statement.
"It's kind of hard not to blame myself for it." Roxie's voice had a tremble to it, she had been crying or was close to crying. Tools cursed his horrible luck of getting injured, he wanted to be next to her trying to soothe her worries and help her get back to a peaceful sleep. With healing ribs and a broken arm he couldn't do anything.
The next voice caught him off guard, "Roxie you're thinking about it the wrong way. In your head you keep thinking that they died because they were there just to save you right?" What was Will doing in the med bay so late at night? Since he couldn't ask for fear of stopping the conversation, Tools kept listening to them.
Roxie must have nodded or given a gesture of confirmation. "Yes, they were there to help you, but that was only a side job. N.E.S.T soldiers are taught and trained solely to aid the Autobots in getting rid of the Decepticons. That scouting team had orders to check the bunker and give us a count for the number of Decepticons inside. They were also instructed to search for you. Those brave men and women died because of their decision to be a part of this team. It's no different than the people that join the regular army. Does this make sense?" Tools had to hand it to Will; he knew how to explain things in a way that made perfect sense.
He heard Roxie sniffle, she must have been crying during Will's explanation. The urge to hold her close to comfort her ate at his patience and fed his frustration. "I get what you're saying but I'm still going to keep thinking about it the other way around. I'll keep your words in mind, I promise." Her voice was lighter, less tense.
"That's all we ask for. We'll leave you alone to try and sleep. Good night Roxanne." Tools was sure that Will's expression must match his own, Jolt using a soft soothing voice was entirely new to hear.
Tools felt Jolt look over at him, playing dead was always hard to do with Cybertronians. He must have pulled it off or Jolt really didn't care. The sensation of being watched faded as Tools heard Jolt's massive form move and leave the room accompanied by Will's footsteps.
-/
Roxie pushed the guilt away to meet Tools' eyes, the sheer amount of sympathy and want held her breath in her lungs for a moment too long. Her air circulating again she asked Ratchet, "If I keep him out of your circuits and in bed will you unweld him?"
"Coming from the young human woman that was just trying to accelerate her wheelchair by tying it to Skids I'm having a hard time trusting your promise." Jolt avoided contact with Roxie's glare and Ratchet looked over his shoulder with a raised optic ridge. He wasn't impressed but didn't make a fuss since he'd just used most of his anger on Tools and she'd been brought back to med bay unharmed.
Seeing no chance to argue or counter Roxie pouted, "Okay, don't trust me then. I'll just go lay in my bed and give you ALL the silent treatment until I'm allowed out of the med bay." To show she was going through with it Roxie mimed zipping her lips and locking them before throwing away the key. She rolled over to her bed, hoisted herself onto it, and effectively cocooned herself in her blankets. It was silent until Tools broke into laughter, it hurt for him to laugh as hard as he was but he couldn't stop and didn't want to stop.
True to her word Roxie didn't say anything to Jolt, Ratchet, or Tools for the entire day (much to Tools' depression.) When evening came around Roxie was in a light sleep after a rather adequate meal from the mess hall where she had to listen to all the torture she was going to endure the next day from Alice, Beth, Maggie and now Mikeala, Sarah, and Annabelle. Will had stopped by their table to announce that they were all coming back to the base to have a party for her, Tools and Jolt.
"Roxanne, you awake?" Jolt's voice roused her from her comfort.
Stretching with a yawn she found Jolt's holoform by her bed instead of his real form. Startled to see the new projection she forgot her vow of silence. "Something wrong? Do you need me to get Ratchet?"
"Why do you think that something is wrong just because I'm using my holoform? Never mind, just come with me." Jolt gently pulled Roxie out of her bed to put her in her wheelchair. Roxie went along with whatever Jolt had planned, ever since she'd woken up she'd catch Jolt sneaking away to work on something and only see him the next day muttering to himself.
Jolt didn't say anything making Roxie more anxious about whatever was going on. Jolt turned her a bit to the left to head towards a large set of doors she'd come to just accept as background. The Autobots were given their own little area that they could use for a lab and only a very few select humans such as Will, Epps, and Tools could get clearance to enter. The doors Jolt was pushing her towards were the doors protecting the lab. A civilian nobody like herself getting to go into the lab was the equivalent to a sucker punch to Galloway's position. According to Chromia, Galloway attempted to get clearance into their lab at least once a month. Tools had even rubbed it in Galloway's face once by making sure to wave with a smile before walking into the lab. Hearing all that and getting to go in now brought her great joy.
The doors closed behind them and Roxie smiled ear to ear, all the time spent around Chromia and Ironhide had enlightened her to the beauty of the weapons built into their armor. Covering each wall on little hooks were numerous cannons, sniper weapons, blades, and grenades. 'Galloway would faint at the sight of all this.' Relishing in that thought Roxie focused on Jolt standing in front of her, Jolt's holoform had deactivated after rolling her towards his real body.
Jolt was just a tad concerned at the sparkle in Roxie's eyes as she'd scanned the walls and the weapons they displayed. When she turned back to him he inwardly laughed at the expectation and thrill shining from her face. 'It's like watching a sparkling jump around in their new frame when they've become a youngling.' "Now that you're completely awake I'd like to give you something."
A show of the Autobot lab and a gift? She had to be dreaming. Jolt reached into a small compartment in his arm and pulled out a small metallic blue ball. As he lowered it closer towards her she saw that there was some kind of black material through the center. The little blue ball was placed in her lap for her to touch and look over. She touched the black material in the middle and was curious to find it was the same black stuff used on headphones. It dawned on her then to pull on the blue parts. Both halves came apart with ease revealing them to be near duplicates of her hearing mufflers. In awe she had to make certain, "Jolt are these…?"
"If you mean to ask if they are my audio dampeners, no they're not. I got a hold of your father's notes, and the blue prints of the additions he made to Megatron's audio dampeners. Using that and the technology designed to make hearing aides, I was able to create a device that almost perfectly replicates the functions of audio dampeners. I've also added a few extra features to your father's original design."
Roxie was entirely speechless and overwhelmed. "Th-thank you Jolt." Jolt wasn't a physically affectionate mech but just this once he activated his holoform so Roxie could hug him while she cried.
Forcing herself to stop was difficult, getting herself to talk without breaking down again was even harder, "Y-you said you added a few extra features? What kind?" The extra features Tools had made to her bike were for her defense, she imagined Jolt thought the same way.
Jolt waited until she put them on, pleased that they fit her, to explain, "There are three features. The first one is a built in comm. device. It will allow you to talk to me at any given time, and for anyone with your channel to be able to get in touch with you. Push the button on your right ear." 'Can you hear me?' Roxie jumped and laughed hearing Jolt's voice in her ears but he didn't move his mouth.
"Okay, that is really cool." That feature alone was enough to make her love her new hearing mufflers all the more.
Jolt's lip plates tilted to the side to show his pride in his handiwork, "Push the center buttons on both sides at the same time." Her reaction to the simple comm. System was entertaining, how she would react to this next feature would likely be highly amusing.
Aware that Jolt hadn't told her exactly what the feature was Roxie kept her eyes on him as she trailed her fingers over the metal to locate the buttons. Finding them she pushed at the same time and nearly screamed at the sensation of her head being encased. She figured out what was going on when a blue tinted material slid over her face. Reaching up she flipped the visor up, "It turns into a helmet? Do you have any idea what Galloway would do to get this kind of tech?"
"Yes, but he still doesn't know you're here. And I honestly don't care. If Galloway ever tries anything, he'll find himself in the same position as Tools but on the ceiling. The material that makes your helmet is the thinnest metal from my armor." Roxie raised an eyebrow. The helmet folding out from her hearing mufflers was enough to get every last scientist to chase after her, the helmet being made of Cybertronian armor had the right to get the entirety of NASA on her ass too. Jolt justified this decision by saying, "The helmet you were using before is no where near suitable to protect your fragile skull. Even with it being as thick as it is." The thick skull quip was brushed off to try and tell what it looked like. Since her hearing mufflers were blue it was only natural that the helmet was blue. Her hands didn't find anything until they got to the top where there were three spikes that started at the top of the visor and gradually fanned out. Roxie looked up at Jolt's head and saw where the spikes design originated from. 'Guess it's his own kind of way of marking me to be connected to him. The design is pretty awesome so I'm not complaining.'
"What kind of damage would be strong enough to break this beastly helmet?" With the visor still up Jolt saw her eyes travel to the wall of weapons.
Planting his hands on his hips Jolt growled, "Nothing that anyone on base would willingly try on you. Not even Skids and Mudflap would be that stupid, no matter what you told them."
"I don't know, they were really into the idea of helping me just a while ago and all I had to do was ask." Jolt glared at her with enough disapproval to make her laugh nervously, "Okay, okay! I'm not going to ask anyone to shoot me in the head. What's the third and final feature? Don't say built in laser cannons because that's just major over kill." Common sense lead Roxie to push the same buttons to retract the helmet. Feeling her hair, she was impressed to find that it wasn't even flattened.
"The last feature is one I borrowed from Starscream's invention. It's not the same one from the collar; I just modeled it after the one he made. It's a tracking component. It's dormant right now, but when we're off base I'll have it activated." Jolt didn't miss the slight twitch of Roxie's hand; the day after she woke up she'd gotten into the habit of touching her neck to lightly trace the bruise. The bruise was now gone, but he would still catch her touching the spot where it was.
A second of silence passed before Roxie gave Jolt a small nod, "You're right, I'd rather have you find me than go without some kind of connection to you. Again…thank you. My father would be impressed and envious with what you've done." Roxie smiled again and Jolt felt more at ease. With her new hearing mufflers she wouldn't need to avoid him or any of the other Cybertronians that considered her precious. They were waterproof and the energy was restored through solar energy. It had been decided that Roxie was safest only with the Autobots. Though she had yet to be asked, Jolt was sure Roxanne would not entirely object to the idea of her living with them on Diego Garcia from here on out. If necessary they would enlist her into N.E.S.T services to keep Galloway from putting up a fuss.
The issue of her warrant for arrest was dropped with the passing of Agents Stone and Steep. Besides the fact that her new family was mostly aliens from another planet Roxanne Rose Evans would be able to live in peace and safety.
-/-
Out in the cold darkness of space a mech of grand proportions due to his surveillance attachments turned his red optics and body to point towards the last stationary location of his leader. "Report, Laserbeak." When Starscream had sent a call for reinforcements Soundwave had acted according to his wishes. Not because he saw Starscream as someone as important, but because he was curious. As the Decepticon intelligence officer he had to know everything that was happening among his faction and among the enemy. He was aware that Megatron had gone to Earth to retrieve pieces needed for repair. There was more behind the excursion and the need for backup was proof enough to make Soundwave act.
As one of the soldiers flew past to crash to Earth Soundwave ejected one of his remaining two minicons to attach to the soldier. Right before impact is minicon detached and landed further away from the battle field. The minicon used its shape of large metallic vulture to infiltrate the base that Megatron had taken shelter in. Laserbeak took a position in a dark corner that overlooked the entirety of the room. He then recorded everything that happened until Starscream flew through the roof, leaving Laserbeak to wait for further instruction.
Laserbeak responded by sending the video he had recorded, he personally saw not much of anything interesting besides the audio he caught of the human soldiers being slaughtered by Demolisher like the organic beasts they truly are.
Soundwave received and processed the report in less than five milliseconds. What he watched seemed rather routine for the pattern they had been following since their arrival to Earth. One significant detail that stood out to Soundwave was paused and zoomed in on. There flattened on the armor of Megatron's shoulder was an organic female. Keeping the zoom in place Soundwave continued the visual report. As he watched his lord talk to the human he began to recognize the voice he addressed her with. It was a voice he himself conveyed with feelings rather than tone. The way Megatron spoke to the Earthling which Megatron acknowledged as Roxanne was the same way he spoke to his minicons. Though Soundwave could not actually feel emotions, he still gave his minicons priority above all others except Megatron. Since their arrival to the planet Earth, Soundwave had lost two of his minicons, Frenzy and Ravage. The destruction of the two minicons left two silent communication lines that he wished were still there.
Thinking of his missing minicons spawned a thought that expanded the more he watched the report. Preparations including research would need to be made; as well, Megatron would also need to be informed. This idea he had come up with was rather unorthodox, but it would fulfill his needs and that's all that mattered to Soundwave.
END.