Me:…..Hey, be warned of bad language and some suggestive content, in this chapter particularly there is some gore description and blood description so be warry of that if you don't like those kinds of things…see you at the end of the chapter!
Ironhide: Really…? That's it? Primus knows how many months its been and that's it?!
*flames rise, the earth quakes, seas storm, lightning strikes*
(`.`) ('.')(*.*) (\.-) (0.o)
Me: AFTER THE CHAPTER!
(\.0)
Ironhide: OK…sheesh
(Bumblebee's POV)
Leo had given us the location to find his contact. A few earth hours have passed since leaving our hideout and according to my calculations we still had quite a bit to go. The game plan running through my processor like clockwork.
"This guy, Robo-Warrior, everything about anything alien, he's supposed to know. One time we revenge-hacked his site and maybe I saw some of your alien drawings or whatever,"
"And you're just telling us this now!" Sam yelled from across the fire, Michaela gripped to his arm and gently took his hand in hers.
"Easy Sam," she hummed, and he visible stepped down from his defensive nature.
"Yeah I should have mentioned it earlier, I'm sorry I was having a freaking panic attack man,"
"Alright, alright, so how do we find him?"
"I remember the location where the IP address pinged off of when we hacked them," Leo replied.
"Great let's get a move on," Sam said.
"Hold up, Wait a minute, wooh wooh," I reacted.
"Bee?"
"Ain't you guys–the human race–supposed to be–cause I'm dreamin' of you tonight,"
"No we don't have time for this," Sam insisted.
"No, Bee is right," Lilly responded.
"We need to be alert and, on our toes, once we step out of this hideout,"
"We need to find someone who can read these glyphs ASAP, we've got to get moving,"
"Rushing into things when we're not at the top of our game is not going to end up well for anyone, especially not us,"
"We'll be like sittin' ducks–"
"They've got a point Sam," Michaela stated.
"But you guys don't have to sleep," he insisted. Lilly shook her head.
"We need our stasis rest still or we risk our sensors being dull due to fatigue," Sam ran his hands through his hair in frustration.
"Fine, then we'll rest but we leave asap," he demanded.
"You got it hombre," one of the twins replied.
Sam and Michaela had fallen asleep in the passenger seat both holding on tightly to each other, Leo took over the back seat, his snoring being one of the many things keeping me awake. The twins followed behind me and Lilly lead the way. So far the drive had been quiet, and at this time of an earth day there were rarely any other vehicles out on the road. The solar star had fallen behind the horizon and left a myriad of colors along the atmosphere. The twinkling of distant stars had begun shining as the sky darkened…it was beautiful. I wish I had the time to take it all in, to just stop and admire this world, so different from my home and still so equally amazing. Their cities glistened just as the ones on Cybertron had so many eons ago. The humans that filled these places with such vibrance and variety, reminded me of the Cybertronians that filled the cities with such happiness and laughter, in the time before the war. At least from what I remember…as centuries have passed it's been harder to recall images of walking through the capital without having someone watching my back struts. Moving through the plaza without a worry and to see other's enjoying another day on Cybertron…how times have drastically changed.
Change comes with unpredictability, and years of dealing with the same cycle of change has molded me to learn to accept the next wave of uncertainty, and adapt to the new reality I found myself in once it had passed. That's how I've survived again and again, after the start of the war, losing friends, being ordered to leave Cybertron, all the humans I've met when I came to Earth…meeting Lilly. And now running from the government that we thought would help us. Yes change has brought about a lot in my life, not entirely good or bad, just done to move things along, it's all change can do for somebot like me. I'm thankful for all the good it's brought me till now, but I live in fear of losing it all with the next wave to come through. Still I hope, I plead, I pray that Primus protects that which I hold close to my spark. Flashing lights ahead caught my gaze, and I looked to the pink and black beauty before me, her blinkers indicating she was pulling off to the side of the road toward this abandoned gas station. The twins and I followed her to the back and into the rotted hole of the service garage with enough space for us to hide.
"Bumblebee to Lilly, you alright there honey Bee?" She moved closer to me and parked.
"Yeah Bee, I'm just getting drowsy, I don't want to be drifting back and forth so I think it's best we rest,"
"How much further do we have?"
"Another four or five hours,"
"Ok, I'll take watch,"
"Thank you, Bee," she nudged me with her tire before her headlights shut off to indicate she was resting.
"Bumblebee to Skids, we're going to rest here for a bit,"
"Aight Bee," the twins silenced their engines and their lights soon dimmed. But the silence did not last for soon enough I felt one of the kids starting to wake up.
"Hmmm…Bee?" Sam mumbled, I activated my alt form radio.
"Yeah? Was up?"
"Why did we stop?"
"My girl, my girl, my girl–needs her beauty rest," through my rearview mirror I saw him nod his head and rub his hand over his face.
"I think I've slept enough," he muttered.
"'Aight–you do you man," both of us remained silent for the next few minutes, he looked out the window into the garage, and I kept my gaze on our surroundings. Only the whisper of wind and sand blowing through the cracks and holes of the garage disturbed this sudden silence. I looked back at him briefly, he was tired but not the kind of tired that could be fixed with a stasis nap…the kind of tired I saw many of my brothers and sister's optics throughout the war. The tired glossed over look in optics that had lost faith or lost someone they cared for. I know because often when seeing my own reflection, I catch that same look within my optics.
"H-Hey Bee," Sam muttered, his lip quivering slightly and I saw the sheen of lubricant in his avoidant optics.
"I-I know you might hate me, but…" he let out a shaky breath his head hanging down.
"I'm s-so sorry Bee…I-It's all my fault," he sobbed, his shoulders shaking, his hands covering his face from my view.
"If-if I only helped, if I said yes…he'd be here," his arms wrapped around himself as his whole body shuddered, he tried covering his mouth to muffle the sobs, but I could still see his eyes; swollen red and filled with lubricant streaming down his face. He was utterly broken, like anybot who would be if they felt guilt's heavy burden pressing down on their shoulder plates. But…he was just a child, far too young to have such feelings, to be suffering this way in a war he was thrown into…all because of me.
"If anyone's sorry it's got to be me," he looked towards my radio.
"I'm sorry buddy – I'm the one that got you into this mess – it's all on me – I never should have – done this to you –without even askin' – I didn't think about how you would feel – I just did it – you're too young – to be a part of something like this – and you – didn't have a choice,"
I felt my chassis shudder slightly.
"What happened with – Starfleet Captain – it wasn't your fault – you're just a kid – and I brought you here – to the big kids table – and that ain't right – I shouldn't have – Made that decision for you," Sam shuddered but he kept silent.
"Don't blame yourself – you're only going to make things worse – for you – and I can't let you – destroy yourself! – for something you had no – control over,"
Bam
We both jolted and saw Leo shifting in the back, his face pressing against my door.
"No…don't let the…killer babe bot get me," he mumbled before continuing on with his slumber, completely ignorant to the tension in the front seat.
"None of you kids–deserved this–life of sorrow–I should never have come – into your life–so unexpectedly – without consideration for you – and your lives – I should have – left you – at peace,"
My chassis shuddered slightly, and I did my best to embrace Sam with the seat.
"I'm sorry – for doing that – to you,"
Tears still streamed down his face, but he stayed silent, his head leaning against my dashboard.
"It-it's not your fault Bee…" he muttered. He brought up his head to look into my rearview mirror, optics red and puffy, his intricately colored irises highlighted by the sheen of his tears.
"None of this…is going to be fixed if we keep blaming each other…"
"It won't…" he let out a shaky breath.
"It won't bring Optimus back," he sobbed, covering his head with his hands.
"We just need to survive…survive Megatron…and the Decepticons…and the government…shit, this turned out to be one hell of a semester, so much for wanting a normal life,"
"Normal is overrated anyways," Sam and I looked to the driver's seat as Michaela sat up to get closer to Sam.
"Sure…this is nowhere near the white picket fence kind of life…but it's a life to live nonetheless, make a new definition of normal to live through," he let himself fall back against the seat; his eyes closing as he brought his hand to the bridge of his nose.
"As much as I would want that to be real…" he murmured.
"I'm pretty sure my chances at anything remotely normal, flew out the window when my sister became a Cybertronian," suddenly he sucked in a breath and his hands flew to his head as his eyes widened and shifted quickly back and forth in panic.
"Oh my God – Alex," he gasped, fresh tears in his eyes as he began to tremble.
"Wh-What are they going to do to her…to the girls?" he breathed, his breath becoming shaky. He grabbed frantically at the door handle, I opened it and he ran from the car into a distant corner, vomiting against the wall.
"He's right…" Michaela breathed, her hand gripping the steering wheel.
"We have no idea what's happened to them…God knows what hell they've gotten into," the subtle sting of the probing tasers made it's way back to my processor, and I winced at the memory. I looked over at Lilly, her lights still off and she was sleeping soundly…and in that very moment I didn't care how selfish it made me sound…I was happy she wasn't stuck back at the base.
(Alex's POV)
Silence…Darkness…the heart aching pain of ever ending despair…this was my world now. My family separated and locked away. My brother made to be a bargaining chip in a pointless attempt to gain a false senses security. My closest friends, my sisters, stripped of their gifts and abused from their weakened states…The…the person I've come to love…gone. It felt like the whole world had caved in around me and I'm left trapped in the rubble of the aftermath. With a limit of air left to breathe, and the debris pinning me to the ground.
I just wanted to hear him…just once.
I felt myself shudder against the cold metal walls of our containment unit. The sleek material could barely be felt through my red leather jacket, but I paid no mind to the numbness that took over me.
Knock knock
I looked up at the door and saw the guard leaning in, his face stern and firm.
"Galloway wants to speak with you," he muttered, and suddenly this coldness melted away, the swiftly numbness vanished and nothing but fire seemed to flow through my veins.
"Send him in," I muttered. I felt two sets of eyes snap back to look at me.
"We won't figure anything out from sitting in here," I said leaning forward, clasping my hands together and bracing my elbows on my knees.
"Besides, there's no use ignoring him," I looked at Meg and Maggie.
"He's got control," I added.
"All the more reason to rip him a new one the minute he walks through that door," Meg growled.
"And what? Never know where our alt modes are or worse let him hurt the others?"
"Anything would be better than talking to that dirtbag," Maggie said.
"But Alex is right," she added, "We might be able to learn something,"
"Like how many colors his face'll turn while I ring his scrawny neck?" Meg muttered, her fingerless leather gloves stretching as she clenched her fists.
"Look," I said both girls silenced, and I felt myself wavering back to that numbed despair once again.
"Both of you keep contact with the Autobots via comm, let them know what's going on, I'll talk to Galloway and see if I can get something out of him,"
"You sure you can do that Alex? We really don't have to talk to him if you're not up for it," Maggie said.
"I can't keep pushing things back because of what's happened," I let my head fall and closed my eyes tightly, my hands clenching together.
"The Autobots need us, Lilly and Sam need us, we can't keep ignoring them because of mourning," I opened my eyes to stare at the fluorescent lights above me. They looked so pale and plain, now that I no longer possessed the enhancement my optics normally gave me.
"We can do that once we get our family back," I added. Turning my gaze to the door
"So let's deal with this first and worry about the world later,"
"You got it commander," Meg replied
"Sounds like a plan," Maggie responded, I looked to them both and managed a small smile.
"Thanks you guys," both girls came to sit beside me, each of us taking the other's hand, clenching them tightly.
"We can do this," Maggie whispered.
"Together," Meg added.
"Never doubt it," I replied. The sound of the door unlocking reverberated through the room.
"Get ready, and keep it simple," I said, standing up and stepping forward. Meg brought her leg onto the bench and propped her hand against it to support her head, her hand hidden by her turning her face away. Maggie brought her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them her head down and her hair hiding the placement of her hand. The door swung open and in stepped Galloway, with two armed guards coming up beside him.
"Glad to hear that you've come to your senses, now that you're back to normal," I saw both girls tense up out of the corner of my eye.
"What do you want with us?" I asked.
"Straight to business, I'm seeing the improvement already,"
"Oh I'll show you some business," Meg threatened, leaning forward slightly.
"Meg, please," she leaned back giving Galloway one last glare.
"Even the temperamental one is learning to behave, oh we should have done this a long time ago," he added, a sickening grin on his face.
"Now down to business, you ladies will have a choice of what kind of life you have outside of here," he gestured to the door.
"You can return to your families, and the US government will do nothing to interfere with your lives,"
"You mean other than constant monitoring till we're six feet under?" I interjected.
"Well, we must ensure that you won't act against an agreement,"
"What kind of agreement?"
"The kind that prevents you from communicating with the Autobots,"
"What?"
"Not that it would be an option once we exile them from our planet, but just to be sure they won't have help should they attempt to return,"
"And what of our vehicles?"
"Those will stay with us,"
"And where would that be?"
"On a secure base to be put under extensive inspection and to never see the light of day," he sounded so lighthearted at the notion of ripping Primus' gift from us.
"You can't do that,"
"That's not your call to make,"
"Yes, it is! We may not, be the cars right now but we're still connected to them," Galloway looked confused.
"Connected?" I nearly wanted to roll my eyes.
"You must have at least read some of Ratchet's reports when you found out about the necklaces,"
"So you can tell where you're vehicles are?" he asked threateningly.
"No, but we would be able to experience whatever it is you do to them,"
"Really now?" Galloway snapped his fingers, and one of his soldiers ran out of the cell. Instant fear struck me.
"What are you doing?"
"Seeing how real this connection is," he sneered, a breath of tenses silence passed, chills ran down my spine at the thought of what would happen
"AAAH!" I whirled around to see Maggie hunched on the floor her hands covering her face, her entire body tense and shaking.
"Maggie!" Meg yelled, jumping up from her seat to go over and sit beside her. I turned back to Galloway.
"What the hell did you do?" I shouted.
"Well now we know that works now, thanks for that,"
"You sadistic Motherfucker!" Meg yelled, jumping up and punching him square in the nose before anyone could do anything, I held her back and the remaining soldier had a gun to her head, but she only glared daggers at the man writhing on the floor.
"You, miscreant bitch!" Galloway shouted from the ground as he tried to get up and hold onto his bleeding nose. Once on his feet, he moved behind his armed guard.
"You're gonna get it you hybrid, mark my words,"
"You lot will never see the light of day so long as I'm around," He growled before storming out, his guards following suit. The door slammed shut behind them.
"Maggie what's wrong?" I pulled away her hair to get a better look at her face, I was horrified to see a deep red liquid staining her fingers and the floor near her.
"M-Maggie?" she looked up at me, her hand clutching the left side of her face, blood dripping from between her fingers
"I-I need something to stop the bleeding," I heard a rip and turned to see Meg ripping a strip out of her black shirt.
"Here," she said, crouching down beside her. I stood up and banged on the door for the guards attention. The sounds of the locking mechanism at work rang through the cell, and the door opened a crack, the guard peered through.
"What happened?"
"Maggie's hurt we need a first aid kit, ASAP,"
"OK give me a sec," he began closing the door.
"Wait!" I held it open just enough.
"Get a hold of Lennox let him know what happened," he nodded before closing the door and locking it tight.
"We've got a first aid kit on the way," I said.
"Good, I got the bleeding under control," Maggie responded, her voice shaking along with the rest of her body. I came and knelt down beside her, placing a hand on her back and rubbing gentle circles to calm her down.
"Do you want me to talk to Ratchet?" she shook her head.
"Not right now," she sniffled, leaning her head against me.
"Ok,"
Knock, Knock
"First aide kit," the guard responded. Meg went to the door, but Lennox ended up walking through the opening, the kit in his hand.
"What did that bastard do?" He growled, Maggie looked up to him, and his face froze in shock. Probably at the sight of the drying blood on her hands.
"He found out we're still connected to our vehicle forms," Maggie responded. He came and knelt in front of her, placing his hand on her shoulder.
"How bad is it?" he asked.
"I can't really tell, I've been too scared to look," he held his hand forward just bellow where she gripped the cloth to her eye.
"Let me see?" he asked, She nodded. He took her hand in his hand gently pulled the wad of fabric away.
I felt a chill run down my spine at the sight of her injury. Trails of blood continued to fall down her chin, coming from the deep gash that cut through her eye socket and onto her cheek.
"Let's get you cleaned up," Lennox said, setting the kit down and reaching into the kit for some wipes. And gently brushing it over her face to clean away the smeared blood. She closed her eye and suddenly shuddered.
"Lennox…" he stopped his motion, her lip trembling only slightly.
"I can't see," she whimpered, Lennox clenched the wipe in his fist so tightly his knuckles went white. His face turned down ward to the ground and I could see him grinding his teeth in fury.
"I promise you," he breathed, "Galloway is gonna pay for this," he growled. He turned to face me.
"Ask the guard to send in one of our medics," I nodded and went to the door, knocking gently. It opened just a crack.
"Yeah?"
"Lennox needs you to send in one of our medics,"
"Give me a sec," I heard the faint scratch of a radio and his muffled words.
"Medic's on the way,"
"Thank you," I responded, and the door closed in front of me.
"Do I need stitches?" Maggie asked.
"Among other things," Meg replied, earning a slight chuckle form the rest of us.
"Thanks for sugar coating it Meg," Maggie responded
"Your welcome," the door opened behind us and a medic walked through.
"You called?" a rugged looking man came in with a medical kit in tow. Meg stood tense as she stared at him, and Lennox caught on.
"He's one of my guys Meg," she looked at him before stepping back and leaning against the wall.
"Thanks Rowles,"
"What do we got?"
"Deep laceration into the orbital plate and zygomatic," Maggie responded.
"At least that's my guess," she added.
"Well, at least to someone I won't be speaking gibberish," he responded coming to kneel down next to Lennox and working on her injury. Lennox stood up and started pacing, his hand rubbing his face before setting over his mouth.
"Talk Lennox, before you blow up," Meg said.
"Your alt-modes aren't on base," he muttered.
"How did you know?"
"I was passing by, when a guy came out and made a call on the radio, short range not satellite," he muttered.
"They're not directly on base but they're not too far from here,"
"What are you thinking Lennox?"
"It's risky, but it'll give us a way to find out where your alt modes are,"
"What are you thinking?"
"Galloway knows now that you can feel anything they try to do to you, so he won't try anything now, which means one of you can go back to your alt modes without him knowing and find out what he's doing,"
"But we'd disappear the minute we take off our necklaces," I added
"Unless we had a body double," Meg added, I looked at her perplexed.
"What?"
"A body double, someone who can pass for one of us,"
"How are we gonna do that? We didn't know what we looked like until now," I said.
"I have someone in mind," Maggie replied we turned to see that she had her eye covered by bandages that wrapped around her head. The medic cleaning up the bloodstained gauze and tools he used.
"Who?" Meg asked.
"I met her a few days ago, and based on height and body mass, we looked rather a like," she responded.
"Maggie you can't tap out now," Meg said.
"I've got a bandage covering most of my face, and as cruel as he is I don't think Galloway would try taking out my other eye just yet,"
"She's right," I agreed, Lennox and the girls faced me.
"I don't like it but she's the only one with that option right now,"
"Do you know where she is?"
"I saw her on base just before we went out to greet the Autobots on the tarmac, so she should still be here, I hope, its Lt. Celeste González,"
"I'll find her," Lennox said
"What if this doesn't work?" I asked.
"We have to try, at least, I'm not going to let some imp of a man push me into a corner, because I couldn't stop him," her body shuddered as she rose onto her feet, clenching her fist with her shoulders back.
"I'm not going to let him ruin the rest of my life," I stared at the determined look on her face, realizing that her mind was set
"Ok, we'll give it a shot," my fingers fiddling with the zipper of my jacket.
"But we need to let the other's know what's going on," she nodded.
"I'll tell Ratchet," she turned away to sit on the bench, her hand reaching up the side of her face.
"I need to talk to Ironhide," Meg said moving onto the other side of the bench leaning over to brace her elbows on her knees, the hair from her ponytail falling over her face just enough to hide it from the rest of us. I turned to Lennox, his eyes filled with worry as he looked at each of us before setting them on me.
"I'll let the rest of the Autobots," I said, placing a hand on his shoulder.
"Go find Lt. González, hopefully she's willing to help us," he nodded, patting my hand with his larger calloused one.
"You girls stay safe," he looked down for a moment.
"I have a promise I need to…" he sucked in a deep breath.
"I-I can't bear to see any of you get hurt again," before I could ask him anything further, he stepped away with the medic and out of the room. Door closing shut behind them.
(Maggie POV)
"This is absolutely ridiculous!"
"Ratchet please–"
"You have no plan and you're already injured, you simply cannot do it,"
"If she comes, we don't have another for sure option to finding out where we are,"
"No we'll find another way, we can…" he paused for a moment, the static coming from his end almost deafening in my ears.
"I-I don't know what we can do," He finally responded.
"But you can't do this, please don't push yourself further than you need to prove a point,"
"What?" I hissed, I don't know why that comment agitated me more than it should have.
"You think I'm doing this to satiate some vendetta, not for the help of the team?"
"Magdalena please,"
"No Ratchet," I paused for a moment, noticing the hostility in my voice.
"If you were in my position would you take the risk?"
"Please don't ask–"
"Would you?" I insisted, silent static came from his line once again and this time I nearly thought he had disconnected from me.
"Yes," he finally answered.
"Ok,"
"I didn't call you to ask for permission Ratchet, I'm telling you to keep you informed as to what the plan was,"
"Why didn't Alexandra notify me then?"
"Damnit Ratchet! Can you please stop," I heard a huff of his breath across the static,
"Part of me will forever be human,"
"I know that," he replied.
"And by that knowledge I'll always seem smaller, more vulnerable, prideful and utterly stupid compared to a Cybertronian," I heard no response from him, but I knew he agreed with what I claimed
"Ratchet, that human component will always be within me, but a part of me is now Cybertronian,"
"The most sophisticated and intelligent species the galaxy has to offer, superior in any and every way especially when compared to a human," I still got no response from him, only static.
"Ratchet, I've trained with the best unit, the Autobots, I've learned since that first day I woke up like this,"
"I know that,"
"Do you Ratchet? Because even though I may look like a Cybertronian I don't think you see it, you act like my human nature has somehow corrupted my Cybertronian circuitry,"
"That's not true–?"
"Really so why are you so doubtful for me now?"
"Magdalena, I don't doubt–"
"We need to get an upper hand on Galloway, and we have a near perfect plan to execute, why can't you be supportive of this?"
"Because I can't risk losing the one thing in this blasted universe that gives me a shred of slagging hope!" he blurted out. I was struck silent, I knew how much he cared for me, I've witnessed his brief moments of sentiment. But the emotion in his voice right this second was something I haven't encountered yet. It sounded so broken and…for lack of a better word distressed.
"Ratchet–"
"Please…Magdalena don't put yourself in harm's way," he uttered…begging is not the word I want to use to describe his tone.
"Not unless you absolutely have to," the stinging in my heart from causing him so much pain was killing me slowly. More than anything I wanted to hold him and comfort his worries away. To everyone he encounters he always appears as standoffish and impassive. The few times he allowed his bravado to fall around me are times I will forever treasure, but this, this is not a way I want to remember him…if things turn for the worst.
"This is a chance we have to take, I'm sorry…there is no other way, not that I can see at least,"
More silence was met on his end of the line.
"Above all else, do everything to ensure your safety, understood?" the firm bravado came up again, his voice was firm and commanding, hiding nearly all the worry he held behind it. He must have adjusted his processor to hinder the emotion he truly felt. I knew it was possible for Cybertronians to do so, but I never intended to enact it myself. I need to feel things deeply to retain the bit of humanity within me that I treasure so deeply. It's the one thing from the transformation that I don't intend to lose, because if it weren't for that I'd be nothing but another piece of machinery.
"Understood," I responded.
"Keep contact with myself or the team at all times,"
"Yes,"
"Do not draw attention to yourself,"
"Ok,"
"If there is any indication that you'd be in danger, remove yourself from the area immediately,"
"I will,"
"And most importantly…"
"Yes?"
"Make it back to me," the blunt suddenness of that statement almost made me think I imagined it entirely.
"Understood?"
"Y-Yes,"
"Good, now run the plan by me again, just so we're both on the same page,"
"OK" I ran the strategy over with him again. Explaining my possible situations and him making some comments to help. His voice was even and steady, like it normally would whenever we discussed battle strategies or plans of attack. Just for now, let it be, I don't' intend to break his heart more than what I already have.
Me: And that's the way, the cookie crumbles
(\.o)
Ironhide: alright get it on with…say you're sorry
Me: yeah….Well I just want to say I'm truly sorry I basically dropped off the universe on you guys, between dealing with family affairs and familial drama in general I wasn't in the mental headspace to write, and while it may be selfish on my part I chose not to notify you, and I apologize for that. I still kept up with writing so there will be more chapters soon to follow and hopefully bring about a more regular posting schedule. Over all I hope you enjoyed this chapter and I look forward to reading your Reviews and PMs later (aka after I finish studying for finals)
Ironhide:…that's not the only reason you've been late…come one out with it
Me: but it's embarrassing!
Ironhide: *wags finger at me* ah ah ah you be a nice squishy and tell the truth, they deserve it
Me: -_- FIIIINE! I started a Tiktok Account! ( laurengonzalez91) and it was my creative outlet while dealing with this drama other than writing. So if you want to show some love and get some in return! just type #AFTfan in the comments on any of my videos and I'll like some of your videos back and follow you!
Ironhide: 'atta girl
Me: Shut it, see you guys in the next chapter! Love you all and I'm so happy to be back! 3