Chapter 7: The Search Is Over

A.N. Well, folks, here we are. We've reached the final chapter of this adventure. I'd like to acknowledge a review by .5851, who said that a great character to include in this story would have been Windblade, seeing that she would've had a better time finding Hot Shot than the others due to having a jet as an alternate mode. To .5851, your suggestion would have been good to consider when this story was still in its infancy (maybe even before I started writing it), but I'm sorry to disappoint you here, as that is not what I have in mind. However, that doesn't mean your suggestion won't be considered for a future story. I will consider doing a story for this continuity with Windblade as a character, so thanks for the idea. Well, I think I've said enough, so let's get right back into the game, shall we?

Bumblebee couldn't believe his audio receivers.

"He's what?!" he asked.

"Yeah!" replied Blurr.

"How the heck did he get all the way over there?" Bumblebee then asked.

"From what I understand, he hitched a ride on a freight train bound for here." Blurr explained. "And don't worry, he's safe and sound."

Bumblebee felt a wave of happiness wash over him.

"Thanks, Blurr!" he said. "I'll tell the others here at the Academy!"

The two ended their call, and Bumblebee relaid the news to everyone else. Needless to say, everyone was both shocked when they learned where Hot Shot was and very overjoyed to hear he was safe, especially Heatwave.

"Thank you, Primus!" he cried.

"Well, what are we waiting for?" asked Hoist. "Let's go get 'im!"

"Actually, Hoist, I think I will go retrieve Hot Shot alone." Heatwave denied. "After all, I was largely the reason Hot Shot ran away in the first place."

"That's an understatement." Grimlock muttered.

"I agree with Heatwave." said Chase.

"So do I." added Blades.

Everyone else agreed as well.

"Then it's settled." said Heatwave. "First thing tomorrow, I will go to Crown City, retrieve Hot Shot, and bring him home."

Everyone agreed to the plan.

"Say, I wonder how Hot Shot is getting along." said Wedge.

Back in Crown City, Hot Shot was showing off his newfound harmonica skills to the Blurr Team, and some of them were even joining in, with Slipstream playing a bass made from an old washtub, Jetstorm playing a washboard, Fixit playing a penny whistle, Sideswipe blowing into an earthenware jug, Russell playing a 55-gallon plastic barrel like a drum, and Russell's father, Denny Clay, playing a hurdy-gurdy*. Even Strongarm and Drift were having a good time, as they were doing a river dance with Blurr while the others played their instruments.

"Man, Slipstream, we've just met that Hot Shot guy and I'm already starting to like him!" said Jetstorm.

"You said it!" agreed Jetstorm. "He really knows how to have a good time!"

Eventually, they decided that they had played long enough, so they stopped to rest.

"Man, Hot Shot, you totally nailed it on that harmonica." said Russell. "Where'd you learn to play it like that?"

"When I was on that train, I met this guy named Alex." Hot Shot explained. "He taught me how to play it, and we played some songs together. And then he let me keep it."

"Ooh, nice." said Denny.

Hot Shot then sighed.

"What's wrong?" Sideswipe asked.

"Oh, I just still feel guilty over what I did." Hot Shot replied. "I wish I would've chosen to try and talk it out with Heatwave instead of running away."

"Yes, that would have been a more logical thing to do." said Drift.

"But, what's done is done." added Strongarm. "There's nothing that can be done about it now."

"Yeah, you're right." Hot Shot sighed. "I kind of wish Heatwave was here right now so I could talk to him."

Blurr put his hand on Hot Shot's back.

"Chin up, kid." he said. "He probably knows you're safe here with us, and maybe, just maybe, he's probably going to send someone to come and get you and take you home."

Hot Shot knew Blurr was right.

"Thanks, Blurr." he said.

Blurr winked. Later that night, when everyone was in stasis, Hot Shot had a dream.

Dream Sequence

Hot Shot was walking through a dark forest.

"It sure is spooky." he gulped.

Just then, he saw a bright white light.

"What was that?" Hot Shot asked.

Hot Shot approached the light, and soon found a figured that had a very familiar shape.

"Dad?" Hot Shot asked. "Is that you?"

The figure stepped forward, and it was revealed to be not Flame, but Heatwave. Hot Shot couldn't believe his optics.

"Heatwave?!" he asked.

"Hot Shot." Heatwave greeted. "My son."

Hot Shot was confused.

"But I'm not your son." said Hot Shot.

"You are now." replied Heatwave.

Hot Shot couldn't believe what he just heard.

"You mean...?" he asked.

"Yes." replied Heatwave. "Not only are you my personal student, but I've always seen you as a son."

Hot Shot couldn't be happier, and he hugged Heatwave.

"Father..." Hot Shot said as a small droplet of oil came from his eye.

End Dream Sequence

When Hot Shot awoke from stasis, he found Blurr standing next to his (Hot Shot's) portable stasis pod.

"Morning, Hot Shot." Blurr greeted. "Sleep well?"

"Yeah." Hot Shot nodded. "But I had the weirdest dream."

"Is that right?" asked Blurr. "Can we hear about it?"

"Sure." said Hot Shot with a yawn.

With that, the Blurr Team gathered around Hot Shot and he told them about his dream.

"Wow, that must have been amazing." said Jetstorm.

"It was." agreed Hot Shot. "But something about it almost seemed real for some reason."

"A lot of dreams are like that." said Russell. "I've had some pretty weird ones myself."

"All of us had." added Sideswipe.

"Interesting." said Hot Shot.

Meanwhile, back at the Academy, Heatwave decided that it was time for him to venture to Crown City and bring Hot Shot home, so he had everyone else meet him in the Ground Bridge room. The Ground Bridge had been already pre-programmed to teleport whoever went through it to Crown City.

"Alright, I'm going now." he said. "And when I return, Hot Shot will be with me."

"You got it, Heatwave." said Whirl. "Good luck!"

"Thank you, Whirl." Heatwave nodded as he activated the bridge.

Once the bridge had been activated, Heatwave walked through it, then found himself in the city.

"Well, here I am in Crown City." he thought to himself. "Now to find Hot Shot. I know where Bumblebee said he was, I just need to find my way there."

With that, Heatwave transformed into his fire truck mode and drove down practically every street, looking for the junkyard. Unfortunately, he had no such luck, and he pulled into an alley, transformed back into robot mode, and sat down in disappointment.

"How am I supposed to find the junkyard in this mess?" he asked.

Just then, he had an idea.

"I'll ask Bumblebee." he said. "He's familiar with the area."

Heatwave then called Bumblebee on his comm.

"Hey, Bumblebee, quick question." he said. "Where in Crown City is this junkyard you told me about?"

"Nowhere." replied Bumblebee. "It's outside the city. I'll send you the coordinates."

"Oh, okay." said Heatwave. "Thanks."

Soon, Heatwave, thanks to Bumblebee, had the coordinates of the junkyard, and he followed them out of the city, eventually arriving at the junkyard's entrance.

"This must be the place." said Heatwave.

Due to the distance between the junkyard and the city, Heatwave decided it was safe to transform back into robot mode again. Once he was back in robot mode, he trekked into the yard, calling Hot Shot's name as he did. Elsewhere, Hot Shot was playing cards with Jetstorm, Slipstream, and Russell when his audio receivers picked up Heatwave's voice.

"Heatwave!" called Hot Shot.

Drift, who was sparring nearby, heard Hot Shot say Heatwave's name and watched as Heatwave approached the area they were in. The minute his optics caught sight of him, he flew into a rage. He charged at Heatwave and tackled him to the ground.

"Hey!" Heatwave cried. "What gives?!"

"So, thought it would be a good idea to harshly punish someone so much they ran away, huh?" asked Drift.

Heatwave tried to shake Drift off, but Drift fought back, and before anyone knew it, they were wrestling on the ground. Blurr saw this almost immediately and rushed over to them.

"ALRIGHT, THAT'S ENOUGH!" he yelled.

Hearing Blurr's voice made Drift stop what he was doing and got up, as did Heatwave.

"Now then, what's going on here?" Blurr asked in a stern voice. "Drift, what gave you the idea to have a go at Heatwave like that?"

"I am sorry, Blurr." Drift sighed. "I was just angry at Heatwave for what he did to young Hot Shot."

"Listened, I'm not too thrilled about what he did either." said Blurr. "But that was not how we Autobots treat our guests."

Blurr then looked at Heatwave.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine." replied Heatwave. "Now, where's Hot Shot?"

"I'm right here, Dad!" Hot Shot said. "Uh, I mean, Heatwave!"

Heatwave was dumbfounded.

"Did he just call me "Dad"?" Heatwave asked himself.

But Heatwave decided that now wasn't the time to ask about what he had just been referred to as, and decided instead to say what he had been wanting to say to Hot Shot.

"Hot Shot, I am so sorry I was so hard on you." Heatwave sighed. "I was just upset with you over what happened that I wasn't thinking right. I hope you can forgive me."

"Well, do you forgive me?" Hot Shot asked. "Because I'm sorry for disobeying you in the first place. If I didn't, none of this would've happened."

"Yes, I do forgive you, Hot Shot." Heatwave replied.

Hot Shot then hugged Heatwave.

"Then I forgive you." the younger bot smiled.

Heatwave was taken by surprise by this gesture, but smiled and returned it nonetheless.

"So, ready to go home?" he asked.

Hot Shot nodded.

"But can I say goodbye to my new friends first?" he asked.

"Of course." Heatwave nodded with a smile. "Take your time."

"Alright." said Hot Shot.

Hot Shot then turned to the Blurr Team.

"Thank you guys for letting me stay here." he said.

"Oh, it was no trouble at all." said Blurr.

"Yeah, it's alright." added Sideswipe.

Everyone else went about saying goodbye to Hot Shot, and once all farewells were said, Heatwave and Hot Shot started making their way out of the junkyard.

"Hey, Heatwave, when we get back to the Academy, I wanna show you and the others something." said Hot Shot.

"Oh, do you now?" asked Heatwave.

"Yup." said Hot Shot. "And I also have a cool story I wanna share."

"Interesting." said Heatwave.

Soon, the two made it to the junkyard's entrance, then transformed into fire truck and ATV mode respectively, and drove away, out of the junkyard and through the city until they drove through the Ground Bridge portal that brought them into the Academy. When they arrived, they transformed back into robot mode and went into the gym, where they found Whirl, Medix, Hoist, Wedge, Chase, Blades, Boulder, Bumblebee, Grimlock, Optimus, and the Burnses waiting for them. The lounge itself had been decorated for a party, complete with banner that said "Welcome Home, Hot Shot!", balloons, a table of food and beverages for the humans, and barrels of energon for the Cybertronians.

"Welcome home, Hot Shot!" they cried out.

Hot Shot was surprised and happy.

"Thanks!" he grinned.

"Alright, people, let's party!" Kade announced.

Soon, the gym was filled with the sounds of revelry, and at some point during the celebration, Hot Shot took out his harmonica and began playing it. It should go without saying that everyone was both surprised and delighted at this.

"How did he get so good at that thing all of a sudden?" asked Wedge.

"Heck if I know." replied Hoist.

Much later in the afternoon, the party began dying down, and after the Burnses went home, Hot Shot told his friends everything about his time on the train with Alex, including how he came to be in possession of Alex's harmonica, and told them the story Alex had told him.

"And then three days later, he rose again!" he said. "Isn't that amazing?"

"You're right, it is." said an astonished Whirl.

The other Trainees had to agree, then Hot Shot showed them the bible Alex had bought him and told his friends about it.

"That would make a neat addition to our Earth Things Collection." said Wedge.

"Uh, if it's alright with you guys, I'd like to hold onto it." denied Hot Shot. "It's kind of special to me."

"Sure." nodded Wedge. "We understand."

Hot Shot then went into his quarters and put his new bible on a shelf, then put the things he had packed with him back where they were previously.

"It's good to be back." Hot Shot smiled to himself.

Later on, Heatwave and Hot Shot were watching the sunset.

"Hey, Heatwave?" Hot Shot asked.

"Yeah, Hot Shot?" Heatwave responded.

"I'm sorry for running away." Hot Shot said. "It was the wrong thing to do, and I shouldn't have done it."

"Don't be sorry." replied Heatwave. "It was my fault that happened. In fact, I would've done the same."

"But, am I still in punishment?" Hot Shot then asked. "I mean, the reason you went that hard on me was because I did something wrong by disobeying you."

"Actually, Hot Shot, I've decided to rescind your punishment." Heatwave confessed.

"Really?" Hot Shot asked.

"Yes." Heatwave nodded. "Just don't do it again, okay?"

"Got it." winked Hot Shot.

Then, another question came to mind.

"Heatwave, there's something else I want to ask you." said Hot Shot. "If you don't mind, that is."

"Ask away." replied Heatwave. "I'm all audio receivers."

Hot Shot took a deep breath.

"Can I call you..."Dad"?" he then asked. "Because, in a way, you are kind of like the dad I've never gotten to know."

Heatwave thought about this for a bit before delivering his answer.

"Since you put it that way, I guess that would be okay with me." he said with a smile as he put an arm around Hot Shot.

Hot Shot smiled in response and returned Heatwave's gesture.

"You know, I think I should actually consider adopting this kid." Heatwave said to himself. "I mean, he is right, as well as a teacher, I am like a father to him in so many ways. Also, he is kind of like a son to me as well in a way."

But, in the words of Victor Tanzig, "That is a story for another day".

The End

* A hurdy-gurdy is a musical instrument that produces sound by a hand crank-turned, rosined wheel rubbing against the strings. The wheel functions much like a violin bow, and single notes played on the instrument sound similar to those of a violin. Melodies are played on a keyboard that presses tangents, which are small wedges, typically made of wood, against one or more of the strings to change their pitch.