I LIVE! Dang, it's been a hot minute since I last uploaded, rip. I know what you guys are thinking. "She probably forgot about it" you say to yourselves, but you'd be wrong! This story is still very much alive and well, its just taking me a little longer to get all worked out than I thought it would. Anyhow, I do hope that you enjoy it! Also, Stay tuned through the end of the chapter as I have kind of a big announcement to make at the end! Thanks for reading so loyally!
Please Note: I do not own Transformers. I do, however, have my own OC's, Reese Shields, Chase Sanders, and Lyric. Electra belongs to my sister.
"Some Things Are Better Left Unsaid"
(This chapter corresponds to the episode "Hard Knocks")
Despite having just lost his ultimate weapon, the star sabre, Optimus went right back to decoding the final coordinates for the other omega keys. He wasn't willing to let any set back keep him from achieving his goal of saving Cybertron.
Reese came up to the Prime and watched him as he unscrambled the Cybertronian code. It was fascinating to watch. She could almost get lost in the monotonous method of decoding the many encrypted entries.
"Hello Reese, is there something you need?" Optimus seemed to notice that Reese was watching him work. He stopped for a brief moment to see if everything was okay. He felt bad that he had been neglecting the girl since they began the search for the Omega Keys, but it was for a good cause. After Cybertron was revitalized, then he could spend more time with her.
"Oh, I guess I just kind of spaced out while watching you work. How you can make sense of that stuff just kind of blows my mind. I know you have been super busy lately, but just being around you makes me feel happy. Would you mind if I worked on my own project nearby? It wouldn't be a distraction would it?"
"Of course, it wouldn't be a problem. Please, feel free to use this workspace over here," Optimus motioned to a workstation that was next to the console where he was decoding.
Reese gathered together a few of her tools and such and set them up on the workstation that Optimus had motioned to. She was glad that he was willing to have her around, despite how busy he was. She placed her jetpack, that had been damaged in her last 'incident' on the table and began tinkering with it. She planned on adding a homing device to it as an upgrade.
The two worked in companionable silence, just enjoying the fact that the other was there. Neither had to say anything, their presences were enough. Every once in a while, Optimus would glance down at the techno-organic femme beside him, smiling slightly at the sight of her so absorbed in her work. He felt proud to see how innovative and resourceful she was.
Reese looked up from her project at the sound of the other autobots coming into the main room of the base. She stopped working on her jetpack for a few minutes to go and say hello.
"Hey guys!" She greeted cheerfully as she walked up to the others.
"Hey Reese, you seem chipper," Bulkhead commented at Reese's cheerful demeaner.
"Huh, I guess I am. You know, I just feel really good today," Reese beamed, realizing how happy she actually was inside. Things seemed to be going well, despite all that had happened the day before.
"Hey, it's always better to look on the bright side of things. Gotta stay positive," Smokescreen agreed with his charge. It put him in a good mood to see her happy. "I keep telling myself that I'm going to be a great warrior someday, just like Optimus."
"Well, if you work hard, and keep at it, I'm sure you will," Bulkhead encouraged the younger bot.
"Oh, I know I will. It's my destiny!" Smokescreen beamed back, clearly more confident in himself than any of the other bots were.
"Oh really? How so?" Arcee looked at Smokescreen skeptically. She often found herself getting annoyed with all of Smokescreen's talk about destiny. To her, one doesn't just achieve perfection because they are destined for it. It requires hard work and perseverance.
"Well, look at it like this, one minute I'm working security detail at Iacon, and the next thing I know I wake up on the other side of the Galaxy under the command of Optimus Prime. What are the chances? I'm telling you, it's destiny!"
"Okay, okay, we get it. You're special and we should be grateful to have you," Arcee rolled her optics and crossed her arms over her chassis. All this destiny talk annoyed her.
"C'mon Arcee, lighten up a little bit. I'm sure that there are great things in store for all of us. We were all created with a plan and a purpose. Don't discount someone else's dreams just because they don't seem to match up with your own," Reese chastised. She had seen the flash of hurt in Smokescreen's optics at Arcee's comment, and it made her upset.
"I'm sure that Smokescreen will do great things, but I don't think it is wise to constantly think that everything is going to turn out perfectly just because it's destiny," Arcee snapped back.
"Guys, look, all I'm saying is that I have come a long way, and this is one opportunity that I don't want to mess up," Smokescreen tried to settle the conversation, seeing as it was getting a little heated. He hadn't meant to start and argument, he just wanted the others to know how he felt.
Arcee looked like she was going to retort but was stopped by Optimus turning away from the computer and moving to face the group.
"Autobots, the next set of coordinates have been decoded. Ratchet, ready the groundbridge," The Prime ordered his team as they prepared to embark on retrieving the next omega key.
Reese knew that it was probably best to get out of their way at this point, so she took a few steps back, giving the autobots room to transform. She couldn't help but worry, even if it was just a little, about whether or not the autobots would be successful in retrieving the key.
The other kids, who had heard Optimus say that the coordinates had been decoded, came running into the main room of the base, as well. They were eager to see which of their guardians would be chosen to embark on the mission.
"Arcee, Bumblebee, you two will leave to retrieve the relic. Bulkhead, Smokescreen, you will wait here in the event that I decode the next set of coordinates before the others return," Optimus ordered, much to Smokescreen's dismay. He had eagerly run forward, ready to be the one to bring back the next key.
Miko also seemed disappointed that her guardian hadn't been chosen to go on the mission. She had secretly planned to sneak out after him, wanting to get a taste of the action. She only looked dejected for a moment, however, as her eyes fell on Reese's nearly repaired jetpack.
"Whoa, you fixed your pack! It looks great!" She exclaimed as she ran over to it excitedly.
"Don't touch it Miko! I haven't had a chance to calibrate the new homing system yet!" Reese called out to the energetic girl, but it was too late, Miko was already pressing and poking buttons.
"Oopsies," the Japanese girl squeaked as the jetpack suddenly came to life and began hovering in front of her.
"Scanning for admin…" the jetpack said in an artificial voice. There were a few beeps followed by, "Admin located."
"slag," Reese breathed as she saw the light on the jetpack turn green. It flew at her at an unstoppable speed, giving her only a split second to activate her Cybertronian form before it slammed into her midsection, sending her flying through the ground bridge.
Sparks flew from the ground bridge as soon as Reese and her jetpack were flung through it, causing it to malfunction and temporarily shut down.
"Scrap!" Ratchet blurted as he frantically tried to get the ground bridge back up and running. Something in the new component that Reese had added to her jetpack must have short-circuited the system when it flew through.
"Ratchet, what is going on?" Optimus turned to Ratchet worriedly.
"I think that the homing beacon on Reese's jetpack somehow caused a power surge in the ground bridge main frame. I will have to reboot the system in order to get it back online."
"How long do you think that will take? Reese could be in serious danger!" Smokescreen ran over to Ratchet as well, concerned about the wellbeing of his charge. For all they knew, there could have been a whole hoard of decepticons waiting on the other end of that portal.
"It will take at least 5 minutes, but I will see if there is anything I can do to speed up the process," Ratchet explained as he began the reboot process. "Let's just hope that Reese will be okay until we can get to her."
Reese found herself being flung through the air at an unimaginable speed, her surroundings blurring as she flew past them. Then, everything came to a sudden, painful, halt as she slammed into a rock wall.
About the time she hit the wall, her jetpack decided it had finally found its owner, and deactivated the thrusters, causing it, and its owner, to fall to the floor in an unceremonious heap.
Reese grunted as she shoved the jetpack off from on top of her. "Stupid piece of scrap," she grumbled, glaring disdainfully at the pack. "I should have known that adding a homing feature would be a bad idea."
"Well, what have we here? I didn't expect to see you on the relic hunting team," a voice said sarcastically from behind Reese. The voice caused Reese's heart to drop to her stomach as she immediately recognized it. She scrambled to her feet and turned around to find Knockout towering above her.
"Scrap," she muttered under her breath.
"What? Are you not happy to see me?" Knockout questioned sarcastically.
"Give me one good reason why I would be happy to see you?" Reese shot back.
"Oh, I can give you three. I'm attractive, witty, and stylish. I know femmes who would pay good money to get a look at this perfection," Knockout said as he flamboyantly motioned to himself.
Reese merely rolled her eyes in response, clearly not impressed by his vanity.
"Look, if you could just go back to the Nemesis or whatever, that would be really great," Reese huffed as she dutifully stalked past the con towards the exposed relic canister nearby. She peered inside the already opened canister, only to find that it was empty.
"Looking for this?" Knockout smirked as he held up the Omega key tauntingly.
"Knockout, give me that!" Reese glared at the con.
"Pfffft, like I'm going to just up and give you this key thingy? yea right!" Knockout scoffed and lunged forward at Reese. She tried to jump out of the way, but he was able to catch her by the ankle and lifted her into the air.
"Put me down right this instant!" She demanded angrily, flailing around in a wild attempt to get Knockout to let her go.
"Soo, mind telling me what this thingamajig is?" Knockout purposefully changed the subject to the jetpack that lay dejectedly on the ground nearby.
"My jetpack. what of it?" Reese huffed as she crossed her arms indignantly over her chest (which was a little difficult to do considering that she was dangling upside down).
"Hah, a jetpack? Sure does looks stupid."
"Your face looks stupid!" Reese shot back, immediately regretting it. She knew better than to make such a comment to a robot who's vanity was his pride and joy.
"You take that back right this second, little missie!" Knockout growled, tightening his grip on Reese's ankle to the point that it was beginning to hurt.
"Make me!" Reese stuck her tongue out at the con, arms still crossed over her chest.
"That's it you little piece of slag, I will teach you to make fun of my face like that!" Knockout held Reese up higher in the air so that she was eye level with the bot. He looked a little distorted thanks to all the energon rushing to her head, which made her smirk. "What are you smirking at?"
"Your face looks even more stupid when its upside down," Reese laughed outright. She knew she probably shouldn't be laughing, but everything is funnier when one is hanging upside down.
"You've got some real guts insulting me to my face like that you halfbreed. I could snap you in half like a toothpick if I wanted to."
"Knockout, we both know that you wouldn't do that for multiple reasons. For one, both you and I know that I'm much more valuable alive, and two, you wouldn't want to get your hands messy."
"I hate that you are right," Knockout scowled and purposefully averted his eyes away from Reese's smug look.
"Put her down, Knockout!" A voice came from behind them.
Reese looked around Knockout to see Bumblebee and Arcee standing in front of an open ground bridge, their blasters trained on the crazy doctor. She waved at them casually, still dangling by her ankle. "Don't mind me guys, I'm just, you now, hanging around."
"Arcee, Bumblebee, just the bots I was hoping to see. I wanted to repay you for the number you did on my paint job back in New York," Knockout sneered as he turned around to look at his opponents.
"Wait, what happened in New York?" Reese queried curiously.
"These two had me get hit by a train, and it ruined my paint. I just wanted to return the favor," Knockout growled angrily.
"Knockout, your fight is with us, not Reese. Let her go. She shouldn't be involved in our battles," Arcee ordered the con threateningly.
"Oh, I can't just let her go, but I do agree that she shouldn't be involved in this fight. Things are going to get a bit messy," Knockout smirked as he pulled out the resonance blaster*. "Now, where can I put you where you will be safe, but won't scamper off?" Knockout switched his focus to Reese. "Oh, I have just the thing," He smirked as he walked over to the relic canister that had formerly housed the Omega Key.
"We said let her go!" Bumblebee whirred angrily and took a step forward, his blaster still trained on Knockout.
"Or what, you'll shoot? I doubt you want to risk accidently hitting your little pet here."
Bumblebee's optics hardened angrily, but he stepped back anyways, unwilling to put Reese in any more danger.
"That's what I thought," Knockout sneered and then looked down at Reese. "You sit tight and be a dear while I take out the trash."
With that, Knockout shoved Reese roughly into the canister and screwed the lid on tightly.
"Let me out of here!" Reese yelled as she banged on the sides of the canister. She didn't like dark and enclosed spaces, and she was getting some severe claustrophobia from being stuck inside the canister.
"Sorry missy, but I doubt Megatron would be able to use you if you were blown to smithereens, now would he?" Knockout's muffled voice came from outside the canister. "Just sit tight and listen to me blast your friends into the next century," he laughed menacingly.
From inside the canister, Reese could hear the sounds of blaster fire, accompanied by the rumbling of vibrations pounding into rock. It was terrifying to be stuck in the dark and completely unable to help her friends. She frantically continued banging on the walls of the canister, trying to crack it open, but it was no use. The canisters were meant to be able to take a beating.
Suddenly, she felt her tiny prison shift as someone picked it up. She was jostled around inside as whoever was carrying the canister began running.
"Don't worry Reese, you will find that the Nemesis isn't so bad once you get used to it," Knockout's voice carried into the canister.
"Arcee! Bumblebee!" Reese yelled and banged on the walls. Had knockout beat them? Were they okay? She didn't have to wait long to find out as she felt something hit the canister and send it flying into the air. She vaguely heard an angry shriek escape Knockout before the canister hit something hard, a rock wall she presumed.
She was thrown around in the dark as the canister fell to the ground and rolled to a stop. Her heart was pounding in her ears and she thought for a moment that she might be sick. "Oh, please don't let me throw up in here," She prayed aloud. The thought of getting sick in a dark and enclosed space was highly unappealing. She laid still, waiting for the nauseous sensation to pass, and listened to the continued blaster fire outside.
After a few tense moments, the blaster fire finally died down. Reese scrambled to her feet and began banging on the lid of the canister, hoping that maybe the whole flying into the wall thing might have loosened it a little. She yelped the canister was picked up again. She huddled in the back part of the container, praying that whoever was holding it was on her side.
Slowly, the lid began to unscrew and was lifted off. Both Arcee and Bee's concerned faces peered into the canister to see if Reese was alright. Reese let out a sigh of relief upon seeing their faces.
Bee set the canister down and let Reese scurry out of it back into the fresh air. "What happened back there? How did you get me away from Knockout?"
"We might have had to shoot the canister out of his servos," Bumblebee explained as he sheepishly rubbed the back of his helm. "Are you okay?"
"Yea, a little shaken up, but okay," Reese gave a tight smile. She didn't want to tell them that she was still feeling nauseous and had a killer headache. As far as injuries went, she was okay, and that was all that mattered. "What took you guys so long in coming anyways?"
"Well, when your jetpack went through the ground bridge vortex, something in the jetpack screwed up the sensors. Ratchet had to recalibrate the ground bridge before he could send us through safely. Sorry about that," Bumblebee explained.
"Oh, speaking of my jetpack, have either of you seen it anywhere?"
"Um… I think I saw it get blasted into the lake during the fight. I tried to make a grab for it, but I was a little preoccupied with fighting Knockout," Arcee said, looking down apologetically at Reese.
"It's okay…" Reese sighed. "Honestly, its probably for the best. That thing has only gotten me into trouble from the beginning."
"I'm sorry Reese," Bee tried to comfort her, but he still clutched his chassis tenderly. It was mangled and leaking energon, as was Arcee's.
"Oh my gosh! You're leaking!" Reese gasped at the state of the Bot's frames.
"Yea, we weren't expecting Knockout to have the resonance blaster with him. We didn't stand a chance. We couldn't even get close to him. He got away with the key," Arcee explained.
"I'm so sorry! If you guys hadn't had to rescue me, you might have been able to get the key."
"No need to apologize. I don't think we would have been able to get the key regardless. We're just glad you're okay," Bumblebee whirred gently. He winced tenderly as he called for a ground bridge back to base. The ground bridge opened and the three went through very disheartened, Reese most of all. Despite Bee's words, she still felt like it was somehow her fault that they couldn't get the key.
Once they arrived on the other side of the ground bridge, Arcee and Bee were rushed into the med bay so that Ratchet could tend to their injuries. Reese figured they would explain what happened and she quietly slipped away to her room to be alone. Maybe if she stayed out of the way she wouldn't be able to mess up their missions anymore.
She quietly closed the door of her room behind her. She wanted to be mad at Miko for getting her into the whole mess, but she couldn't bring herself to be mad at anyone but herself. This was her fault. There was no point in pinning the blame on anyone else.
She sighed heavily and curled up into a ball on her bed. What would Optimus think? Would he be upset with her for causing them to lose the key? He wouldn't say anything outright, but Reese could imagine how disappointed he must be in her.
A knock on the door distracted her from her melancholy thoughts. Should she answer? It might be one of the bots coming to check on her. Goodness, it might even be Optimus there to tell her how disappointed he was in her. No, she wouldn't answer.
Another knock echoed into the room, followed by the door creaking open and the three kids tumbling in, Miko at the forefront. Jack and Raf stood behind her, pushing her forward. She looked extremely uncomfortable, like she wanted to run away.
"What's up?" Reese asked, forcing a smile onto her face. Miko was probably one of the last people she wanted to see right now.
"Miko here has something she wants to say," Jack explained, giving Miko a forceful nudge forward.
"You know guys, Reese looks like she's tired. Maybe talking to her right now isn't the best idea," Miko said as she tried to make a sneaky escape for the door.
"Oh no you don't, you have something to say," Raf stepped in front of her in an attempt to look intimidating, though, due to his small size and geeky appearance, intimidating was the last thing he looked.
"Fine, fine," Miko threw her hands in the air and turned around to face Reese. "Um… I wanted to apologize for messing with your jetpack and getting you stuck in a fight with the decepticons…"
"Aaaaaaand…," Jack urged her to continue.
"And I promise not to mess with any of your inventions without permission anymore…" Miko sighed deeply. Reese could tell it had taken a lot out of the girl to apologize like that.
"Thank you, Miko, I accept your apology," Reese said softly. After Miko had mustered up the courage to apologize, it was only fair for Reese to accept her apology.
"Phew, thanks!" Miko seemed relieved to not have to apologize any further than she already had. "Um… Can I leave now? I'm missing my show with Bulk," she looked pleadingly at Jack and Raf, who sighed and moved out of her way, allowing her to bolt for the door.
"So, want to talk about what's got you down?" Jack asked comfortingly after Miko had left.
"I don't know what you're talking about. I'm fine," Reese lied.
"You're a terrible liar Reese. Seriously, what happened back there that got you this upset?" Raf asked, seeing right through Reese's façade.
"I don't know… I guess I feel like its partially my fault that we lost the Omega Key to Knockout. If I hadn't been there, then maybe Bee and Arcee could have gotten it," Reese finally admitted.
"First of all, it's not your fault that you ended up in that fight. That was a total accident, courtesy of Miko. Second, based on what we heard from Bee and Arcee, I don't think that they would have been able to get close to Knockout anyways. Regardless of if you had been there or not," Jack tried his best to reassure his friend.
"So, you don't think Optimus is disappointed in me for causing them to lose the Key?"
"Are you kidding me? He was beside himself with worry the whole time you were gone. His only concern was making sure that you were safe. The last thing he would be is upset. Besides, it wasn't your fault they lost the key. Honestly, I don't even think Optimus himself could have gotten it, given the circumstances. Nobody was prepared for Knockout to show up with the resonance blaster on him. Don't worry, nobody is upset," Raf smiled encouragingly up at Reese.
"If you say so," Reese sighed. She still wasn't completely convinced, but she needed to put on a cheerful attitude for the boys, after they had gone to such lengths to cheer her up. "Thanks for coming to encourage me."
"Anytime. Hey, why don't we go play a game or something? I brought my collections of racing games from home, if you wanna play," Raf suggested happily.
"Oh you're on!" Reese laughed and followed the boys back into the main room of the base. Maybe a good race or two was just what she needed to get her mind off things for a bit.
They walked in to find Miko stomping her foot and crossing her arms in a huff. Apparently, Optimus had decoded the next set of coordinates and Smokescreen and Bulkhead had been chosen to go retrieve it, which meant that Miko's show was getting interrupted… again. She sighed loudly and slumped down onto the sofa, frowning angrily.
Reese chose to ignore the girl's tantrum and turned to her guardian as he prepared to leave. "Do good Smoke," She smiled and gave a small wave.
"I'm gonna bring back that key! I'm gonna make Optimus proud; it's my destiny."
"I believe in you," Reese encouraged despite the groan that escaped Arcee from behind her. Unlike Reese, Arcee was frustrated by the young bot's enthusiasm and cocky attitude. It grated on her nerves.
Bulkhead and Smokescreen turned to go through the ground bridge, the latter bouncing back and forth from one pede to the other and throwing pretend punches at the air. Arcee rolled her optics and pulled Bulkhead aside, giving him the relic tracker and whispering something to him that Reese couldn't hear. Whatever it was, Reese could tell that it was about Smokescreen, and it probably wasn't the nicest. Had something gone down between the bots when Reese was in her room? Reese supposed that Smokescreen might have stuck his foot in his mouth again, which wouldn't be unlikely. It just frustrated her a little to see Arcee treating Smokescreen like she was. Reese knew she didn't have much room to judge, given the fact that until recently, she too had been judgmental towards Smoke, but things had changed. Reese had seen a new side of him. She just had to wait until Arcee saw that too.
Reese went back to join up with the kids, who had already put in one of the racing games and had gotten it started up. They all huddled around the TV, completely focused on their race. Reese was content to watch until they finished the race, completely unsurprised when Miko threw down the controller and stalked off upon losing.
"Hey Reese, now's your chance," Raf grabbed the discarded controller and held it out to Reese. "Let's see if you're any better at racing than Miko."
"Bring it!" Reese taunted back, plopping down on the sofa beside Raf with the controller in her hands.
Jack, Raf, and Reese raced for several rounds, Reese winning most of them. They thoroughly enjoyed themselves, and it was just what Reese needed to get her mind off the whole Omega Key incident. She was so caught up in the game that Bulkhead and Smokescreen's arrival caught her off guard.
She looked up to see the ground bridge opening and the duo stepping through. Both of them looked pretty upset, though Smokescreen was most of all. He hung his helm sadly as he made his way into the main room.
"What's wrong?" Reese was immediately curious as to what had happened. Neither of them had the key, so the con's must have been waiting there for them, but she wanted to know exactly what happened.
"I lost the key, okay? I had it right there, in my servo, and the next thing I knew, somebody hit me from behind. When I came to, the key was gone. I failed," Smokescreen exclaimed, clearly distraught. He had been so excited to bring back that key, and here he had lost it, and he didn't even know to whom.
"Hey, its okay. They hit you from behind, so you couldn't have seen it coming. It could have happened to anyone," Reese tried to comfort her guardian.
"Reese is right, whoever blindsided you was clearly playing dirty, and there was no way of predicting it. Don't take it too hard Smoke, it could have very well have happened to me. There is just no way of knowing for certain," Bulkhead placed a reassuring servo on Smokescreen's shoulder plating, but neither Bulkhead's nor Reese's words, seemed to have any effect on the young bot.
"It could have happened to anyone, but it happened to me. I let my guard down. I got cocky. I blew it, and now the cons have another omega key in their collection. This is all my fault. Some great warrior I'm turning out to be," Smokescreen verbally berated himself.
"You still don't get it, do you," Arcee reprimanded. She was sick and tired of Smokescreen's attitude. She couldn't explain why, but his ideology about destiny grated on every one of her nerve cables, and she had reached a breaking point with the bot. "A couple of victories aren't going to make you a legend, and not every mission results in success. Not for me, not for Bee, not even for Optimus. Why can't you seem to get that already? We have gained relics, and we have lost some. We have also lost friends. We have even lost our entire world, and we have only one chance to get it back. This isn't about you, or your destiny, its about saving our planet, and that means that everyone here needs to have their eyes on the goal. Get your processor out of the clouds Smokescreen and get back to reality," Arcee spat.
Smokescreen merely hung his helm and looked away. Arcee's words hurt him deeply.
"Arcee, I believe you have made your point," Optimus interjected, seeing the hurt that Arcee's words were doing to Smokescreen. Now was not the time for such harsh reprimands. He was already beating himself up, he didn't need others doing it to him too.
"Optimus, you don't understand. He needs to hear this. He won't get it otherwise," Arcee argued with the Prime, which startled everyone, including Reese.
Reese stepped forward to the edge of the railing and spoke up, tired of Arcee's little rant. "Arcee, I think you should listen to Optimus. Now really isn't the time to be putting anyone down."
"Reese, you stay out of this. You are just a kid, a half breed at that; you don't get this kind of stuff. You haven't seen war the way I have. You haven't seen your entire world stripped away from you. Smokescreen needs to get his head in the game, and you need to keep your opinions to yourself," Arcee was fuming at this point. She couldn't believe that Reese would deign to tell her what to do.
Arcee's words stung Reese deeply. She knew that Arcee had always had a bit of a temper, but she had never imagined that the bot would say such things. She had respected Arcee, and now that respect had been stripped away in one moment. It would have been one thing if Arcee had just told her to stay out of it, but the fact that she brought in Reese's techno-organic nature, and called it such an insulting name, made Reese's energon boil.
"You might actually become a great warrior one day, and I sincerely hope you do, but greatness begins and ends with putting the team first. Not your personal score card," Arcee was venting at Smokescreen again.
"There is nothing I wouldn't do to help you guys!" Smokescreen argued back, trying his best to defend his dignity.
"Then stop trying to play the hero, and start acting like an autobot," Arcee said belligerently.
"You know what, maybe I'm just not good enough to be on this team," Smokescreen snapped. He had been struggling to keep his emotions in check since Arcee had started her rant, but he had finally reached the breaking point. "Maybe I will just leave, and then I won't hold the team back anymore." He turned away angrily and transformed, getting ready to speed out of the base.
"Wait, Smokescreen, I'm coming with you," Reese practically vaulted herself down the stairs and climbed into Smokescreen's vehicle mode. She was livid and couldn't stand to even be in the same room with Arcee anymore. Once she had settled into the seat, Smokescreen burned rubber as he sped out into the desert's night air.
Reese fumed as she sat in the passenger seat of Smokescreen's vehicle mode. Angry tears slid down her face. She felt so hurt, so betrayed. How could Arcee have said such things to her.
Smokescreen was having similar thoughts, only he was voicing his aloud rather than internalizing them like Reese.
"Arcee is the most insensitive femme I have ever met! She is bitter, holds a grudge, is impatient, and has no filter on what she says. I can't believe she would accuse me of not acting like an Autobot. Everything I have done was for the team. Okay, so maybe I was a little cocky, but I was only trying to prove myself, to prove that I could be a valuable asset to the team. She said all those things in front of everyone, in front of Optimus. He must think I'm a huge failure." Smokescreen vented out loud, not really expecting a response from Reese. "And then the way she spoke to you! I can't believe that she would stoop so low as to insult you the way she did. At that point, she was taking out her frustrations on you when you were the last person who should have felt her wrath," he continued, this time actually addressing Reese, who sat quietly shaking with her fists balled in her lap.
"Smokescreen, be honest, do you guys really see me as some half-breed child who just gets in the way?" Reese's voice cracked as the words tumbled out of her mouth.
"Of course not! At least, not anymore. I misunderstood you when we first met. I had a preconceived notion as to what a techno-organic was, but you changed that perception. You have proven yourself to be a valuable member of the team, time and time again. Don't listen to what Arcee said," Smokescreen's tone instantly softened as he spoke to Reese. He could tell she was hurting as much as he was.
"I just can't help but feel that I hold all of you back. I am a liability. I had thought that everybody had gotten past the fact that I was different, but I guess not. I guess some things will never change," Reese's voice lowered to a whisper as her voice cracked in her throat. Fresh angry tears spilled down her cheeks as she drew her knees up to her chest.
"No, I promise you that nobody see's you that way, not even Arcee. She was angry, and in the middle of a rant, and you just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. I seriously doubt that she meant anything that she said to you."
"Well, if that is the case, then you shouldn't believe what she said either. I think its commendable that you want to become a great warrior. Perhaps you were a little bit cocky, yes, but your spark was always in the right place, and that is what is important. If you are going to tell me not to listen to Arcee's words, then I'm going to tell you the exact same thing," Reese declared.
"I suppose you're right. I just can't bring myself to go back right now. I made a fool of myself. I ran out right in front of all of them. If I come back now, they will all just judge me…" Smokescreen admitted.
"You don't have to go right back. Honestly, I'm not ready to go back either. I'm not ready to have to see Arcee again just yet," Reese said as she shifted into a more comfortable position in her seat.
Suddenly blaster fire opened all around them, causing Reese to bolt to attention. She looked in the side view mirror to see Laser Beak tailing closely after them and shooting at them.
Smokescreen immediately began taking evasive maneuvers, dodging the blaster fire from the aerial minicon. He transformed so that he was shielding Reese in one servo and pointing his blaster at Laser Beak with the other. "You picked the wrong day to mess with me, con!" He called out angrily after the minicon.
He was just about to shoot at Laser Beak when a soundblast slammed into him from his flank, sending him and Reese flying. She fell from his hand and landed roughly on the ground, feeling something snap in her side. A rib, she presumed. She suppressed a scream and hissed as she curled herself into a tiny ball, trying to protect the vital organs.
Smokescreen picked himself up off the ground and frantically looked around for Reese. Her safety needed to be his top priority right now. He looked to his left and saw her curled up on the ground, her arms wrapped around her midsection.
"Reese!" He called out as he dove to take a defensive stance in front of her. He looked from his injured charge to his enemy, who happened to be Soundwave, rage burning in his optics. "You don't wanna mess with me today!" He yelled as he aimed and charged his blasters to hit his target. However, just as he released the blaster fire, Soundwave used the resonance blaster to deflect the shots right back at Smokescreen, causing the fire to hit him square in the chassis and sending him stumbling backwards.
Even as he collapsed to the ground, he worried for the safety of his charge. He reached out, trying to cover her with his servos, but Soundwave merely aimed the resonance blaster at her and activated it, sending her tumbling and flying across the rocky desert ground. The frame of her Cybertronian form crumpled and contorted as it was subjected to the intense vibrations from the blaster.
Smokescreen couldn't sit idly by and watch his charge be crushed to death, so with what little strength he had left, he climbed to his feet and began stumbling towards Soundwave.
Soundwave merely shifted the resonance blaster from targeting Reese to targeting Smokescreen, sending wave upon wave of vibration energy coursing right into the autobot. He was immediately knocked unconscious and fell to the ground.
Reese struggled to open her eyes. Every inch of her body screamed, but still she clung to consciousness with everything she was worth. She was vaguely aware that she had been flung into some brush on the side of the road, so she was at least partially hidden. She could see Soundwave scan the area, as if he was looking for her. After a moment he seemed to give up. He opened a ground bridge and started dragging Smokescreen's unconscious frame through it. She tried to call out to him, but no sound would escape her lips. She saw another ground bridge open and the autobots come running through, Optimus at the forefront. He ran after Soundwave but unfortunately was unable to make it to the groundbridge before Smokescreen was pulled through. It closed right in front of Optimus' optics, causing him to drop to his knees and let out an exasperated yell. That was the last thing that Reese saw before unconsciousness took over her.
Optimus held his helm in his servos, shaking it in anger and frustration. How could he let Soundwave get away with Smokescreen? He angrily slammed his fist onto the desert ground, causing dust particles to fly up into the air.
As the dust began to settle, a sickening thought crossed through his processor. Reese had been with Smokescreen when they left the base, but he did not see her get taken with Soundwave. Where was she? Was she okay?
"Did any of you see if Soundwave had Reese with him when he went through the portal?" Optimus abruptly asked the others, who were standing around him as bewildered as he was.
"No, though now that you mention it, she had been with Smokescreen when he drove out of the base. You don't think she could have been trapped inside Smokescreen's interior? He wouldn't have transformed with her still inside, would he?" Bulkhead voiced his thoughts aloud.
"I don't think so. As reckless as Smokescreen can be at times, I think he would have made sure that Reese was safe before transforming. If she wasn't with Soundwave, then she must be around here somewhere," Bumblebee whirred in response, already scanning the area for any sign of their techno-organic friend.
"We need to find her. she could be injured." Optimus ordered as he forced himself to his pedes. As frustrated as he was for not being able to save Smokescreen, he couldn't help but be beside himself with worry for the girl he had grown to love as he would a sparkling of his own.
The team split up to look for Reese, scanning the area carefully. Arcee made her way over to a bunch of rocks and brush nearby to look. She couldn't help but feel like this was her fault. If she hadn't lost her temper and said the things she had, none of this would have happened. She pulled aside the brush and what she saw made her tanks churn. There lay Reese in a puddle of her own energon. Her frame was twisted and mangled from the effects of the resonance blaster.
Arcee reeled back instinctually, fighting the urge to purge right there. Normally, spilled energon didn't bother her. She was a warrior, so why should it, but this was different. Reese was severely injured and the techno-organic's spilled energon was on Arcee's servos. She forced herself to reach down and carefully pick Reese up, being careful to cradle the girl's body in such a way as to prevent further damage.
"Optimus, Guys, I found her!" Arcee called out, her voice cracking a little as she did so. She couldn't even tell if Reese was still alive at this point. If Reese died, she would never be able to forgive herself.
Optimus and the others came running over, all of them audibly gasping as they took in the sight before them. Arcee walked over to Optimus, laying Reese's crumpled form in his servos. She couldn't stand to look at Reese any longer. Her servos dripped with the girl's purplish-blue energon. She stumbled back, looking for something to support herself against. Bumblebee caught her as her pedes collapsed beneath her.
"This is my fault," Arcee cried onto Bumblebee's shoulder plating as he held her comfortingly. "If only I had just listened to Optimus and Reese. If only I had just kept my mouth shut," She sobbed.
Bumblebee gently patted Arcee on the back, trying to comfort her, but he also knew that Reese needed immediate medical attention. He whirred gently but sternly, getting Arcee's attention. "Reese is going to be fine, but we need to get her to Ratchet immediately. Right now is not the time to be blaming yourself. We have all made mistakes and said things that we shouldn't have, but that is in the past now, and we can only move forward."
While Bumblebee attempted to comfort the distraught Arcee, Optimus trembled lightly as he looked down at Reese's condition. Already much energon had leaked onto his servos and was dripping down his arms. "Ratchet, open a groundbridge and prepare med bay immediately," He called over the comm link, moving as quickly as possible while still trying to keep Reese in a comfortable position. He had already failed to save Smokescreen from the decepticons, but he sure as the pits of Kaon wasn't about to lose Reese as well, not if he had any say in the matter.
Soooooooo, what did you think? Leave a comment to let me know!
Aaaaaand, now onto the big announcement. So, I am well aware that my early chapters suck... and I can't ignore it any longer. So, I'm going to be rewriting them. I know I have already rewritten chapter one, but I want to give the chapters after it a remake too.
Now, before you go and say "aww but its just going to be the same thing all over again, how boring!" I want to assure you that it will definitely be worth your time to go and reread them once they have been edited. Yes the basic premise of the plot is going to be the same, but there are going to be some BIG changes, and you will want to reread them so that things in later chapter make sense! Thanks again for your patience! Blessings and Love you all! - Lucy