I online next to Groove. Though next to is an understatement – we're all tangled up in each other, arms and legs and kibble twisted into one being. We're still on my single berth as well, and my chronometer informs me that it's morning in Geneva. Ridiculously early morning, granted, but morning nonetheless.
I hadn't expected to nap the whole night away. Apparently we needed it.
Groove's still deep in recharge. We're so tangled together that I can't get away from him without waking him. Not that I want to wake him, really, but there's a low fuel warning blinking in the corner of my HUD, and I'm stiff and sore from recharging underneath him all night. I need to get up and move.
As gently as I can manage, I turn us. It's not gently enough, of course, and his optics online halfway to look at me.
"Shh, sweetie," I whisper. "Go back to recharge. I'm going to get some energon."
He mumbles something incoherent and turns around. I put the blanket over him before leaving.
The hangar is quiet. Most of the others seem to be in recharge still, though I can hear the low mumbling of conversation behind some of the doors. The rooms are far from soundproof, so we're going to get to know each other really well while we're here, but they're some form of privacy at least.
I walk out into the communal area, aiming for the dispenser hooked up to one of the energon tanks Astrotrain had in his hold. Someone's already there though.
"Morning." Scattershot smiles at me. "You're up early."
"I was in recharge early." I smile back and shrug, shoulder blades dipping behind me. "Means waking up early too. What's your excuse?"
"I'm always up early. Too much energy to burn to stay in recharge for a full night cycle. Our medic always hassled me about it." He puts away one full cube, starts filling another. A fourth, actually, by the looks of the stack of cubes next to the dispenser. "Not that it helped. I'm not wired to recharge for long periods of time." He glances at me. "Streetwise told us you came from here originally."
I'm glad Soundwave screened the hangar. That's not a secret we want coming out. "Yeah. I was human a few vorn ago. Vector Sigma transformed me."
"Bet it feels kind of weird to be back."
That's hitting it on the head. "Way weird," I agree. "I don't feel like a human anymore."
We stand there in companionable silence as he begins filling the fifth cube. Then a sixth. I quirk an optic ridge at him. "Did you gain another Technobot?"
"A Protectobot, actually." He grins. "Streetwise and Nosecone spent so long poring over those human laws that they fell into recharge on the floor. We straightened them out as best we could and left them there. Thought I'd make sure Streets gets fueled as well."
I giggle. "That must have been adorable. Tell me you have image captures."
In response, an unfamiliar comm link shows up on my HUD. When I accept, a series of images begin uploading.
Streetwise is a pile of black and white plating over Nosecone's white and red. It looks like Nosecone succumbed first, and then Streetwise ended up over his back somehow. It's just as adorable as I'd imagined. "Aw, look at them. Cute."
Scattershot moves aside, stacking up his six cube in some kind of insane balancing act. "Right? Anyway, I should get these back." He pauses just before walking away. "Oh, Streets told me the lawyer human was coming by at ten AM local time. Maybe you need to know that."
I do need to know that. That's still a few hours away, though, which should give me time to look over the laws as well. As soon as I've dropped off a cube in our room, anyway. It would be good to be prepared.
By the time the lawyer walks in, everyone's up. Optimus and Ratchet are seated next to each other on one of the low seats – not couches, not here, but the humans have stacked up a bunch of shipping containers in various configurations that work well enough as seating arrangements for now. We're not overly comfortable, but we're not uncomfortable either. Though some mecha, like Skywarp and Bluestreak, seem to prefer sitting directly on the floor.
Astrotrain has slid aside the heavy hangar gate to let the morning sunlight in. It's chilly outside – enough to be noticeable, but not enough to bother us, and definitely not enough to make us keep that door shut. We've been cooped up long enough. And with the door open, it doesn't take us long to spot the approaching delegation of humans.
One of them's Ameryn Clarke. She's front and center, as usual. I'm beginning to get the feeling that this woman is all steel, all solid resolve and strong will, and I'm glad she's on our side. Sort of.
Next to her is another woman, this one in a suit. They're escorted by a quartet of soldiers with rifles on their backs.
On Optimus' unspoken signal, we all relax and try to look unthreatening. Though for some mecha, like Sunstreaker or Ravage, it's a tall order. Even their default relaxed state is somewhat intimidating. I can tell Sunny's on his best behavior, though. And Ravage… looks like a cat. A very big cat. Kudos for picking up that kind of behavior, I can't imagine it comes naturally to him.
Mrs. Clarke stops right inside the doorway. Even with Optimus seated, she has to crane her neck to look him in the optics. "Optimus Prime."
"Mrs. Clarke." He nods cordially. "I trust you're well."
"Well enough." There's a hint of a smile on her face. Ameryn Clarke is the most similar person to Ultra Magnus I have ever encountered. She's stoic in every circumstance. "I trust the accomodations are to your liking. We worked mainly off of Prowl's specifications and some old military files we unearthed."
"That's why the chairs and berths felt so familiar!" Bluestreak exclaims from his seat on the floor. "We had the same types on Diego Garcia! In the cantina!"
"Indeed." That faint smile grows stronger. "The army never discards information. I'm glad some of it was useful." She turns to the side, towards her companion. "May I present the lawyer who will be representing you. This is Rachel Kamperland Lennox."
The woman smiles. She's younger than I thought, with dark hair pulled back into a simple ponytail. And very familiar dimples.
"Lennox?" I wasn't supposed to pull attention to myself just yet, but I have to ask.
"Yes." The smile turns to a grin. "I can tell you remember. I'm directly descended from William Lennox. It's an honor to meet you."
I'm floored. And Streetwise is grinning at me like he knew all along. Which he probably did, the slagger.
"And I have another surprise." Rachel – I have no idea if she'll let us use her first name, but she's a Lennox. It feels like I've found family here – smiles at us and nods towards one of the soldiers. "This is Jack Giecker. His great-something grandmother…" She pauses for effect, and it clearly works, since it has some of us leaning forward in interest. Myself included.
"Her name was Alice Decker," Rachel finishes, almost proudly.
I can tell from Streets' face that he hadn't been aware of this. He looks as I shocked as I felt a few minutes ago. And then his face splits in the widest smile I've seen in a while. "Awesome."
"You're Streetwise, right?" Jack's voice is deep, accent drawling, and he grins up at Streetwise. "I know who you are. I've seen pictures of you."
Pictures?
Oh my God.
"Alice kept the photo album," I realize. I don't notice I said it out loud until the others stare at me.
Oops.
"The photo album we left with them?" I look at Bluestreak, mentally begging for some assistance in keeping the lie going. "Remember?"
"With her and Parker and Isobel," Bluestreak nods. "I remember." He raises a hand to salute the humans. "It's good to meet you. I remember Alice – you have something of her in your face."
"So I'm told." Jack chuckles. "No getting away from these cheekbones. Anyway, this is Dominic Porter. We've both been assigned to you for the duration of your stay."
One of the other guards waves and smiles. "No relation to anyone you guys have met, I'm afraid."
"Two out of three ain't bad," Streetwise jokes. "Nice to meet you, Dominic Porter."
Jack turns to Ameryn Clarke. "We'll take it from here, ma'am."
"Very good. You," she points at Optimus, "will call me if you need me." She walks away, two of the guards following her.
Rachel looks up at us. "Now that the introductions are done…"
"Should we get down to business?" Optimus finishes. "Yes. Yes, I believe we should."
Dear diary,
I've been spending all day going through law texts. It's seriously heavy material. But it's worthwhile.
I think I can argue that both Soundwave and Starscream acted under duress. And that Megatron should be the one held accountable.
I'm a bit more unsure that Optimus carrying will have any impact on the case. The humans haven't stopped putting pregnant women in jail, unfortunately.
Rachel seems to be optimistic, though. She doesn't know the Intergalactic Alliance, but she says she doesn't need to. They've received the charges in print – pages and pages, apparently – so that's what the judges will be working on. The Alliance aliens might not even need to come to Earth.
Of course, just because they don't need to be here doesn't mean they won't. I hope Ameryn Clarke has enough power to make them behave. That woman is intimidating.
It's so weird to have the humans around. Dominic is a neutral presence (I'm not allowed to use his last name either, he says), but Jack and Rachel… They're strangers, but every now and then the light will hit them in a certain way or they'll laugh and there's something hauntingly, achingly familiar about it. Plus they're likable, all three of them, so it's hard to keep my guard up.
But I have to. The near-slip earlier was bad enough. We can't let them find out that I'm really Isobel. It's a good thing most of the Cybertronians call me Cynosura now.
Cynosura is who I have to be.
It's hard to adapt to an Earth's rhythm. Days and nights are shorter than I'm used to. Shorter than I need now – I can stay awake for over 24 hours and then recharge for sixteen, and that doesn't really work here. We've had to change our patterns, but it's hard. It's like we're all in a state of constant jetlag.
Which is why I'm wandering the base in the middle of the night. Groove's out like a light – spark overloads does that to him these days. Probably a side effect of maintaining the bond with First Aid over such a distance.
It's quiet in the hangar. Most of the others are trying to recharge in the night. I would have been too, if my brain hadn't been working overtime.
The communal area isn't quite empty. There's a small form sitting in front of one of the computers. One of the only two small enough to use a human computer without special connectors.
I sit down next to him. "Hi, Frenzy."
"Cynosura." He grins. "Can't sleep?"
"Nope. You either?"
"Too many things to see, too much to catch up on." He types something. "Besides, I spent all day napping in my dock. Can't sleep anymore then."
"I guess."
Spending time with Frenzy and Rumble on the trip here has helped a lot. I'm a lot less nervous around them than I used to be. In fact…
I move away a bit before transforming and calling up my holoform. It's a test of how far I've come, really – if I can be my humanoid self around Frenzy, then I've made a lot of progress.
"So what are you looking at?" I lean against the back of his chair.
He glances back, visor bright. "Whoa. Long time no see." He leans away from me slightly. "Um."
"What's wrong?" I reach out to poke his shoulder, but he flinches away.
Hmm.
Time for a second experiment.
"Frenzy?"
"Yeah?" He sounds apprehensive.
"Come stand up?"
I wait until he's standing in front of me. We're about the same height, but he's a lot broader than me, obviously. And a lot more nervous.
It's not exactly a recognized psychological tool. But sometimes you just have to hug it out. And if I can hug Frenzy without freaking out, I'm definitely cured.
He's tense at first. Cold and stiff and frozen. But when I don't let go, he mellows gradually.
"Um. So what's this for?"
Heh. He sounds so confused. "It's a hug. You saying you didn't need one?"
He laughs. "I can take anything you can deal, fleshie."
"Course you can." He's such a kid. "Now tell me what you're working on?"
"Sure." He lets go, maybe a little reluctantly. "I was just looking up stuff. Movies and things. It's just a way to spend the time." I follow him, leaning against the back of his chair and looking over his shoulder. "See, I've been reading a bit of history and stuff." He snorts. "Did ya know that Disney tried to buy the state of Florida?"
I did not. But it sounds like something they would do.
"And hey, look what I found." He clicks one of the open tabs. "Can ya believe this?"
I stare. "Is that e-bay?"
"Yeah." He chortles. "That didn't die."
"Two hundred year old website," I muse. "Wonder if anyone saw that coming."
"Your time had an impact, apparently. Hot Rod asked Dominic about something earlier, we didn't catch what, but Dominic replied that he'd have to google it. And google isn't even a search engine anymore. There's only one search engine now, and it's called AllSearch."
"Very creative."
He snorts again. "Right? Tell me about it. Anyway, this is what I wanted to show you."
I lean in, try to figure out what he's looking at. It's an auction page, similar to e-bay but not quite the same. "Nihonium?"
"Yeah. We call it ununtrium. The scientists back home are crazy about this stuff." He clicks the picture. "It's rare, and apparently there's lots of stuff we can use it for. Here they have so much of it, random dudes are selling it online. Perceptor woulda loved a sample of this."
"Too bad we can't buy some to bring home for him."
Frenzy spins in the chair. There's a contemplative look on his face as he gazes up at me. "Hey. Jack said great-something Alice left the family with a lot of money. Something about a patent?"
"Yeah, Wheeljack left us all with patentable inventions. I think she made a lot of money off hers."
He grins wickedly. And I realize I'm cured, because if anything was going to creep me out, it's that grin, and I'm fine. "Did you make a lot of money too?"
I shrug. "More than I knew what to do with. Parker put most of it in a fund for me."
"A fund?" His look turns shrewd. "Know what it was called?"
I shake my head. "I couldn't even remember when I was human. The logo was a vine of sorts, I remember that much."
"Hmm. Gimme a sec."
I watch as Frenzy immerses himself in googling. It takes a few minutes before he lands on a web page he seems to like. "Okay, give me your social security number."
I rattle off the number. That, at least, isn't gone.
"Okay. And there's a password, remember that?"
I can't remember ever logging onto the fund web page at all. But Parker knew how I built my passwords… "Try BenjiandHotAliens7(."
He laughs as he punches it in. "You're kidding."
"Nope." I grin. "That's not even the worst one. My e-mail password was FacingFirstAid6969."
That turns his laugh completely evil. "More than I needed to know, fleshie. Though I'm glad you're as gutsy as I thought ya were. Hey, we're in."
I blink. "We're in? It's a two hundred year old account."
"Not that unusual. Their info page stated that they work with big charities and organizations and such. Most of them are long-term. If I had to guess, I'd say Parker changed your account when she realized what you were doing." He points to a corner of the screen. "Hey, there's your balance."
I'm glad I'm holding onto the chair again. My legs are suddenly weak. "That's… an impressive amount of figures."
He grins widely. "Yeah. Congrats, you're loaded. You can buy all the ununtrium Earth has to offer, then fund a space program to build the shuttle that'll transport the stuff to Cybertron."
"Um." I can't wrap my head around it. I know there wasn't that insane amount of money to begin with. Apparently, a couple of centuries' worth of interest makes a difference. "That's crazy."
Frenzy doesn't seem bothered. "World's crazy. Might as well roll with it." He looks up at me. "What're you gonna do?"
"Think about it, for starters." I have no idea. At least I don't have to make a decision now. "Hey, do me a favor and don't tell anyone, okay? I don't want this to get out."
"My lips are sealed." He mimics dragging a zipper over his lips. "Seriously, though? This is way cool."
I kind of have to agree with that.
"Hello, Cynosura." Optimus smiles at me as I dump down beside him.
"Hello, Optimus. How are things?" I'd come up with something more intelligent to say, but my extremely early morning is catching up to me. I'm hoping staying up late will let me sleep longer tomorrow, but it looks like all I'm maybe doing is fragging up my rhythm even further. Still, it's worth a try.
"Better than I had feared." That small smile stays on his face as he looks into the distance, one hand absentmindedly rubbing over his chest.
I nod towards the broad windshield. "Sparklet giving you trouble?"
"He's energetic. Some soreness and exhaustion is normal, Ratchet says." He huffs softly. "There's an extra person dragging energy from my spark, after all. No wonder it's a bit uncomfortable at times."
"Making a new person inside yourself is always a bit uncomfortable, I think," I agree. "That's probably a universal constant."
"Heh. You may be right." He puts his free hand on my shoulder. "How are you doing? I can't imagine being back here is easy."
I lean back, into the touch. Place my hands on the shipping container we're sitting on and rest my weight against it. "Easier than I'd have expected, to be honest. But I guess the hard part's still to come."
Maybe I should tell Optimus about the money. I don't know what I would use them for, after all, and there might be other things needed on Cybertron like the nihonium that Earth has in spades.
Besides, keeping this much money to myself seems wrong to me. It all stems from Wheeljack's invention, anyway.
"Hey, Optimus?"
"Hmm?" His hand is still absently rubbing his chest.
"Back when I left last time… I had a bit of money. Parker set up a fund for me, apparently, one without an expiration date, and now it's grown. A lot." I glance up at him. "A lot a lot."
"Alright," he agrees, nodding for me to continue. He's very patient, Optimus is.
"And I figured… Maybe Cybertron can use the money. Here on Earth, I mean. For buying resources and stuff. There might be stuff we need."
"There most definitely will be." He looks at me, optics kind but penetrating. "Are you sure about this, dearspark? There is a lot of good you can do with that money."
"Exactly." I look up at him. "I'd like to do some good with this money. It's more than I could ever spend on my own, even back when I knew what I'd want to spend it on. I'd feel better if it was shared, to be honest."
"That's very generous." His hand squeezes my shoulder. "We should sit down with Skyfire and Streetwise at one point, talk about what could be needed. They should know."
"Sounds good." I lean against his shoulder, happy when he takes the hint and puts his arm around me. "Hey, Optimus? Thanks."
"For what?"
"For making me one of you. I'm extremely glad you did."
He chuckles softly. "You always were one of us, dearspark. I think of you almost as my own creation, and I know Ratchet does too. You're ours."
"I'm happy to be."
We sit in silence, watching the darkness outside. The base is surprisingly quiet – there aren't a lot of birds, or insects, not like I would have expected. "Earth's changed, huh."
"It has," he confirms. "I talked to Rachel about it earlier. She says that… well. The humans never needed an external threat to kill their planet."
"Didn't think we did." I sigh. "All those alien invasion movies, and we destroyed everything ourselves."
"They've made remarkable scientific progress, though." His tone turns contemplative. "I believe they'll make good trading partners when this is all over."
"I guess." I snuggle a bit closer. "How do you think this will go? All of it?"
It's not a question I've dared ask before. I'm afraid to hear the answer. But here, now, in this peaceful night with its lack of crickets and bats and night-time sounds, and Optimus smiling gently next to me, I think I can bear to hear it even if it's bad news.
"I have hopes," Optimus says lightly. "Faith, even, that things will be alright."
"It's that thingamajig in his chest," a gruff voice says, and Ratchet sits down next to me. "It keeps pulsing happy-excited-hopeful sensations at him. Drives me mad." He looks at me. "Where's your partner?"
"With his brother and the Technobots. Much as I know it's hard to believe, we're not joined at the hips."
"Oh, I know." He snorts. "Just sounds like you are, most of the time."
I poke his side. "Oh, like you are quiet."
"Quieter than you," Optimus tease.
Of course I call him on it. I can't let this stand uncontested. "Bullshit. We're inaudible."
Ratchet smirks. "You wish. Sparkplay's never quiet, sparklet. But you're right." The look he gives his mate is fond, full of affection. "We're louder than you are."
I laugh. Too loudly. This is embarrassing. "Yeah. Well. Moving on."
Ratchet sniggers at me. "Go find your mate. And don't give me that look, we all know the only reason they're not your mates yet is because all this stuff got in the way. Go find him, and I'll take my own mate off to berth." He stands, holding out his hand expectantly. "Optimus."
"Ratchet," Optimus replies, and oh my gods, there's so much affection in the way they look at each other. I'm almost melting here.
"You two are adorable." I do like to tease them a bit. Ratchet always gets all proud when I do, and Optimus gets all flustered. "There's no way we're going to keep the fact that we pair up a secret with the two of you looking at each other like that."
"To be honest, I think Rachel already suspects." Optimus shakes his head, chuckling. "I don't know how Prowl thought we could keep it a secret anyway, with a newly bonded pair on this trip. Bluestreak and Skywarp still can't keep their hands off each other."
"As it should be," Ratchet agrees. "Honestly, I'd be worried about the strength of their bond if they weren't still this caught up in each other." He pauses and smirks. "They're the loudest."
And that's my cue. I get off the container. "No contest. I'm going to berth. Night pops, night dad."
"Wait." Ratchet's grin is close to splitting his face in half. "Which one's pops, and which one's dad?"
I wink. "Wouldn't you like to know."
I ignore his continued questions, just wave over my shoulder. I have a Protectobot to snuggle up next to.
