AN: FINALLY! Got it out for you. Sorry it took so long, but I finally was able to get most of my characters set up for the climax. See end AN for the planned outline for the end of the story. As always, let me know what I did right or wrong; I can't get better if you don't tell me where the mistakes are. Tracy
CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT:
If nothing else, Major Andrew Ellison was grateful for the low level of lighting in his room as he tried to find a more comfortable position to go back to sleep. It wasn't easy, being as he was stuck in a cast from his chest to his knees. Sighing as he gave up on the thought of getting comfortable, he began to think. He had heard everything Doc Z and the first Carlisle unit had said about the girl. It wasn't until they had shown him all of the proof that he began to have doubts.
Why had Carlisle done that to his niece of all people? She was an innocent, three year old baby for crying out loud! She had needed him and he had turned his back on her. Which lead him to believe, if he would turn his back on his own family, how reliable would he be to his patients if they were to need him to back them up? He honestly couldn't be sure the man would be there.
Then, the other thing that General Lennox had told him; Arcee was still alive? How was that even possible? Not to mention that it was supposedly the girl who had saved her.
Sighing in exasperation, he resolved to find the answers to at least one of his questions; and there was one way to do it. Inhaling deeply, he held it for a moment and closed his eyes as he tried to center himself. Feeling the familiar fog in his mind, he blew out the air gently, visualizing the fog receding slightly with the movement of his breath. He continued his deep breathing exercises until he could feel the bright spot in his soul that was her. Cautiously, as she had taught him, he opened himself to the light, and nudged.
VVVVVBREAKVVVVV
The Arcee components froze in their actions when they felt the tentative brush of a long dormant bond being opened from the other end. Curious, she opened her end in answer and monitored the feelings that seemed to wash through; surprise, confusion, anger, relief, guilt and hurt were the primary emotions that flooded her. Immediately, she sent back joy, surprise, relief from her end and resumed her careful preparation, still monitoring the bond.
"Arcee, you have the extra spark chamber grounding conduits packed yet?" First Aid asked as he consulted a data pad.
"Hm?
"Oh! Yes, I believe Chromia packed it up with the pump-spark relay lines and the extra solder. It's in crate one-one-four."
"Are you alright?" he quickly asked when he heard her hesitation. "You seemed to be distracted."
"I suppose I am; a bond just re-opened."
"A bond? With who?"
"Andy, he was my best human friend before Egypt. We developed a close friendship bond, almost on the verge of a sibling bond."
"With a human? How is that even possible?"
"Don't know," Elita answered for them as she continued moving extra clamps into one of the crates. "How is it possible for Bumblebee to have a bond with Ellie?"
"Well, she's a descendant of Uriel, an apparent mutual creator of both races . . ." First Aid began before the logic became apparent to him.
"Of course!" he finally exclaimed in excitement. "If we share a mutual ancestor, then we should be able to have mutual bonds, even if they may form differently.
"So, I wonder what other ways we might be compatible?" he mused aloud.
VVVVVBREAKVVVVV
"Optimus Prime, Ratchet," Jukes greeted the two mechs as he carried a holo preserver in front of him.
"Yes Jukes?" the Autobot commander returned, his curiosity obvious.
"Sideways, here," the small mech nodded at the preserver he carried, "wishes to talk with the two of you."
Wordlessly, he handed the spark over to the medic and walked away.
"Yes Sideways? What did you wish to discuss?" the prime asked politely.
"Um, well, I was wondering if I had to be restored."
"Why?" Ratchet asked in surprised confusion. "Don't you want to be?"
"Not really," the hologram answered honestly. "I mean, I actually like not being able to fight. Truth be told, I only joined the Decepticons because I didn't have any other choice. So, if you could see your way to not taking me with you, I would be grateful."
Optimus and Ratchet looked at each other as they silently conferred.
"I believe that it could be arranged," the prime offered slowly.
"Great! I'll tell everyone that I don't think I should have my body back when Lord Megatron doesn't have his. That way, it'll seem like I'm trying to be supportive of his condition.
"Thanks Prime! I really appreciate it.
"Will you put me back on the recharge table?" he directed to the medic. "That's where Jukes was taking me before I asked him to bring me to you."
"Of course," Ratchet answered as he turned toward the work room.
"I will check on Ellie," Optimus informed as he accompanied the pair through the entrance before turning toward the new med bay.
As the Peterbilt walked into the room, he stopped short as the small spidrobots sat around their small human leader and tapped in Morse code on the berth beneath her.
"Yes, I'll miss you all too," she answered Silks' tapped out question. "But we all know this is necessary to get the matrices back to where they belong."
At Webster's tapped out question, she laughed easily. "Don't sell yourself short Webster. You're gonna have a very important role; you hafta make sure the scientists that are doing the initial work don't mess it up too bad."
More tapping had the girl frowning at Spiral as she answered his question, "What does that mean? Of course I'll be there when the matrices are re-integrated. Where else would I be?"
"You will be here," Optimus answered her question before the spidrobots could. "It is simply too dangerous for us to take you along."
"You are, of course, referring to my recent surgery, aren't you?" she asked with an angry sparkle in her eye.
"Predominately, yes.
"There is also the fact you have been hiding from your uncle for years now, and we cannot take the risk of him capturing you if something goes wrong."
"Well, first of all, my uncle thinks he's a real American hero; he will be where the action is, right in the middle of the fight. Given that he's walking now, I can guarantee that no one will be able to just push his wheelchair into a safe room and keep him there. He won't get his hands on me again.
"Secondly, I have to go to the compound; I just had surgery, which means that I need to remain close to my doctors. Since you can't really spare anyone to remain behind to monitor me, AND get the most Cybertronians online in the least amount of time, the most efficient solution is to let me go with them so that IF something happens, they will be able to respond immediately."
"Nice try, but you will remain here," he ordered in a brook-no-arguments tone.
"No I won't. I have to go with you."
"No."
"Yes."
"No. That is final."
"I'm still gonna go. If not with you, then I'll find my own way, and that could be even more dangerous," she threatened as she stubbornly folded her arms over her chest.
"Your arm is still reacting too slowly," he pointed out as he noticed the slight hesitation in the cybernetic limb. "You are not yet well enough to leave the lair. You will remain."
"It's only slow because I'm not used to actually being able to use it yet. So I gotta go in case it's a symptom of something else a lot more serious."
"You have not tried walking yet," he pointed out in exasperation, "there is a very low probability that you will be healed enough to join us, even if I was inclined to take you, which I am most definitely NOT!" he finally informed, forcefully.
"Well then, I guess I should practice then," she answered, just as forcefully as she flung the blankets off her, sending Webster flying in the process.
Optimus deftly caught the small 'bot in midair and gently set him back down on the child's berth.
"You are undamaged?" he asked quickly of the small drone.
"I'm sorry Webster, I didn't hurt you, did I?" Ellie asked at the same time, instantly contrite.
Webster looked from one to the other before he began to animatedly gesture his anger at being flung unceremoniously off the berth. After he tried to act out his certainty he was going to be killed by the drop, he angrily stalked over behind the rest of his comrades and sulked.
"I am sorry Webster, I guess I just got a little mad," the girl tried to apologize.
"Yes, you got angry and nearly damaged your friend," Optimus pointed out. "That is why you must remain here. It could be far too emotional for you to be in such close proximity to your uncle. The success of the mission could be compromised by such careless, emotional actions.
"Weaver, Ironhide is ready for your team," he turned to the spidrobots, "say your final good-byes to Ellie and move out. I will leave you alone for a few moments."
"I'm still not giving up!" Ellie called after him as he left the lab.
"It is usually nonproductive to engage with a youngling on their own emotional level in such matters," Prowl informed as he caught up with his leader in the work room.
"How much did you hear?" the prime asked hesitantly.
"I heard your yes - no, exchange. The probability that it was in regards to her coming with us on the mission is ninety-seven percent, given how Clyde speaks about her tenacity."
Optimus chuckled at the polite phrasing; "You mean he complains about her stubbornness. I must admit, she does keep all of us on our toes, as the humans say, because of it.
"What did you require?" the Peterbilt asked to change the subject.
Prowl graciously allowed the topic to shift.
"I believe it might be wise to include Clyde on the mission."
"He is very young. What is your reasoning?"
"First, his primary loyalty is to Ellie; it is highly probable that she would be able to manipulate him into helping her follow us.
"Second, he is young; he requires the seasoning that this relatively simple mission will gain him.
"Finally, I have begun to form a creators' bond with him. In this stage of the bond, it is critical to maintain a close proximity with him."
"For what purpose?" the semi asked in concern.
"So their sparks' frequencies can align to allow for better communication," First Aid informed as he rushed into the work room.
"Have you seen Ratchet?" he asked in excitement.
"He is searching the Eight Track med-bay for any salvageable supplies," Optimus answered quickly. "Was there something you required?"
"I guess you're going to need to know too," he thought aloud before he turned to address his leader. "Arcee has a bond with Major Ellison. She just admitted to it when he opened it on his end and it distracted her.
"Do you know what this means?" he gushed, not giving anyone a chance to answer before he continued. "It means that we aren't as different from humans as we initially thought. Obviously, we share the same parent race, given that Ellie is the direct descendant of Uriel, who also was the creator of our own creator. Also, there's the fact that she already seems to have a bond of some sort with Bumblebee, then the seemingly forming creators' bond you also seem to be forming with her.
"I mean, think of the possibilities! This could mean that we might be able to utilize alternative energy sources besides Energon. By studying human biology and physiology, it might also open doors to furthering our own race without the need for the Allspark!
"If we are actually descended from the same race, then we need to map both the differences and the similarities between humans and ourselves to find out how to bridge the gap . . ."
"First Aid," Ratchet was finally able to interrupt his rambling as he entered the workroom. His arms were loaded with several boxes from the downed ship's med-bay.
"Oh! Ratchet, I have so much to tell you," the younger medic started.
"I already heard everything you said from the point of Ellie's ancestry. So, what topic caused you start in on this tangent?"
"Prowl was telling Optimus that he needed to bring Clyde on the mission because he was forming a creators' bond with the youngling and I told him why a forming bond needed to be nurtured. Then, I told them about the fact Arcee formed a friendship bond with Major Ellison."
"What?! She and the major have a friendship bond? Since when?"
"I don't know, I didn't ask. She did mention that they were best friends before Egypt."
"We will discuss this at a later date," the chief medical officer directed at his young apprentice. "Optimus, Clyde and Prowl can't be separated for any length of time at the moment until the bond has fully formed; it would be especially harmful for the youngling. As far as Ellie goes; it is my medical opinion that she either has to go on the mission with us, or you and I both have to remain behind with her.
"Since I have more experience dealing with critical injuries, I must go. First Aid simply does not have the experience to handle any problem that may arise with Ellie's unique physiology to leave him to tend to her.
"Now, is there anything else?" he asked with finality.
"Yes!" they heard Ellie exclaim excitedly from the direction of the lab entrance.
"What are you doing out of your berth?" Ratchet demanded when he saw the child standing at the entrance.
"Uh . . . practicing walking?" she tried innocently.
"Mm-hmm, so, practice walking back to your berth.
"Come along now, let me see how the servos align when in motion," he ordered as he handed the boxes off to First Aid and followed the girl out of the room.
"What just happened?" First Aid asked in shock as he looked after his superior, dumbfounded.
"Ratchet was here," Optimus answered simply as he and Prowl left the work room.
AN2: So, to Mr. Runner, as promised, I was able to get Sideways into the storyline. I apologize if that wasn't quite what you meant, but according to his bio, he's kind of a wimp. Figured this would be the best way to keep him true to his character.
AN3: Currently, the plan is as follows – next chapter – catch up with the 'Cons / the spidrobots and scalpels, with Reedman, make their entrance into Uncle Al's compound.
Chapter 50 – Catch up with the Deadeyes / catch up with Uncle Al and his techs / Optimus, Ellie and the cooperative forces assemble.
Chapter 51 – Final climax.
Epilogue – including updated version of Cybertronian to English dictionary.
