Ok, so this chapter is based off the events of 'Deus Ex Machina' (s1e10), but I'm not so sure the title applies anymore.
Liliy heard Bulkhead roll into the main room. Miko hopped out and Bulkhead transformed. They were discussing something but Liliy didn't pay them much attention until she heard Jack cut in.
"Uh oh. What'd you do?" the boy asked.
Liliy turned in her chair to see Bulkhead go down on one knee, presumably to get closer to Miko's level but Liliy could not see the girl from where she sat.
"Look, Miko," Bulkhead said, "before I became a warrior, I was a laborer. Construction. I can build stuff. I can break stuff. And that's it."
"I love breaking stuff," Miko replied enthusiastically. "I wanna be just like you, Bulk."
Bulkhead vented a sigh. "Why would you wanna be like me when you could be a… a medic, like Ratchet?"
Said medic was standing in front of the main computer console.
"I'm detecting a fresh energon pulse," he said suddenly, drawing the attention of everyone in the room. Miko and Bulkhead looked up at the monitors from the floor, while Liliy left her chair so she could see better. Ratchet continued, "From the nation called Greece. An ancient city. Quite historic, I believe."
"Ancient Greece, huh?" Bulkhead said thoughtfully, an idea popping up in his processor. "Oooh, field trip."
"Really?" Miko squealed.
"Awesome. Can I come too?" asked Liliy.
Everyone stopped and looked at her in astonishment. It had been a few weeks since her outing to Jasper with Bumblebee and any invitations to leave the base again were met by flat refusals. Even if the party was going to walk out via the ground bridge.
"Uh…" Bulkhead glanced at Ratchet who just shrugged. "Sure, why not? Hop in."
Bulkhead folded back up into his vehicle mode while Ratchet moved to open the ground bridge.
"Alright! Let's roll," cried Miko as she jumped into the passenger seat.
The ground bridge spun to life as Liliy rounded Bulkhead's tail. She hesitated at the open driver door.
"Liliy," Ratchet spoke up behind her.
"Hm?" She turned and looked up at him.
"Do you happen to speak any Greek?"
"I know enough to get by. Why do you ask?"
"Just in case you run into any other humans over there, I trust that you will run interference better than Miko will."
"Now that I can do," Liliy said, climbing in behind Bulkhead's steering wheel.
Snapping his door shut, Bulkhead drove through the portal and stopped on the other side to let the girls get out before he stood up. They were on the stage of an old amphitheater. Liliy pulled out her phone and started recording video of the ruins.
"Sweet. So what are we doing in Greecoville?" asked Miko, looking around at stone remains of the once great city.
"I'm scouting energon." Bulkhead retrieved a scanner from his subspace. "Liliy is… uh?"
"Getting ideas for my next painting," Liliy replied as she continued to take video of the ruins.
"What she said. And you're doing research for your history report."
"You punked me, Bulk. Not cool," said Miko.
Bulkhead moved past the girls to the edge of the stage, following the beeping of the scanner. The beeping became quicker.
"Hm, signal's strong." He silenced the scanner. "An excavation site."
Heavy equipment and piles of dirt surrounded a large but shallow hole in the ground where the humans had been digging for more ruins.
"Whoa." Miko, standing beside him, seemed impressed.
"I know construction." He looked over the area again. "According to my scanner, humans hit energon veins. And they don't even know it. Whoa," he said suddenly, spotting a fresco on the other side of the ruins. "That's Cybertronian! Why would ancient Greeks paint an energon harvester?"
"You know what that round thing is?" asked Miko, pulling out her phone. She snapped a picture of the fresco and Liliy made sure to get it in her video as well. "You're smarter than you let on."
"But even dumber than he looks," commented a new voice behind them.
They turned to see a burly, blue mech, about the same size as Bulkhead, only slimmer, standing at the top of the amphitheater seating area.
"Breakdown," growled Bulkhead, recognizing him.
The mech called Breakdown laughed. "Miss me?"
"Like rust in my undercarriage."
"You know this lunk head?" asked Miko as Liliy moved to her side.
"We have a history," replied Bulkhead.
"And you have some pets," observed the Con, reaching for a nearby pillar. "Do they play catch?" He broke the pillar off and threw it at the girls. "Catch!"
They tried to run from the incoming pillar but luckily for them, Bulkhead got in the way and it shattered on his armor.
"Stay down!" the wrecker ordered as the girls dropped off the edge of the stage.
Liliy shielded Miko as Breakdown slammed into Bulkhead, grabbing and lifting him as he leapt off the stage. Bulkhead hit the ground several feet below with the blue mech on top of him. Breakdown used his forward momentum to flip over the wrecker's helm and then lift the bulkier mech over his own helm while still in the air. He launched Bulkhead across the big, open space. The Autobot crashed into the fresco. Breakdown landed on his peds with a satisfied huff.
"Oops. Hope the pretty picture wasn't too important," commented the blue mech before he transformed and drove off.
Bulkhead sat up amid the rubble as the girls ran over to him. "Told you I'm only good at breaking things."
"I always have your back, Bulk," said Miko cheerfully, pulling out her phone. "Got us a picture of the picture." She held up her phone for him to see.
"So did I, Bulkhead. We definitely have you covered," added Liliy, showing him the picture on her phone too.
The wrecker smiled. "Then let's get back to base."
Back at base, Liliy listened while the others discussed their recent find.
"It is indeed an energon harvester," said Optimus after studying the picture. "A powerful tool created by the Ancients to remove raw energon from any source."
"Greek gods knew Autobots?" Raf asked, confused.
"No. The Ancients often used the art of a given era to conceal messages. This fresco was likely a signpost indicating a harvester's location, hidden somewhere on this planet."
"Uh, Optimus, if the harvester removes energon from anything, and you all have energon pumping inside you…" Jack wanted to know.
"In Decepticon hands, the harvester would be a devastating weapon," answered Optimus.
Liliy flinched at the thought.
"See, you were a genius to total that painting," Miko said to Bulkhead.
"Miko's not wrong," commented Arcee. "How can the Cons find the harvester without the fresco?"
"With high speed internet," stated Raf. He turned to his laptop and pulled the search engine. "If you do an image search for 'Greek god' and 'golden orb', this pops up." He showed them the image of a statue holding a gold sphere. "It's in a museum."
"Is that the real deal?" Arcee asked.
Optimus studied the picture for a moment, then ordered, "Contact Agent Fowler."
They tried and all they got was his answering machine.
"I hate talking to machines," grumbled Ratchet.
"I hate to break it to you, Ratchet, but technically, you are a machine too," commented Liliy.
He glared at her. "Fine. I hate talking to mindless machines."
"Without Agent Fowler's direct aid," said Optimus, "we will have to confiscate the harvester on our own."
"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Confiscate? As in steal museum property?" asked Jack.
"That sounds... illegal," added Raf.
"I do not wish to break human law," Optimus replied, "but once the Decepticons learn of the harvester's location, they will not hesitate to obtain it by any means necessary. We must act covertly."
"Pssh. Yeah right. You guys and 'covertly' don't belong in the same sentence," scoffed Liliy. "Especially when a public museum in the middle of a city is involved." She received several glares for her statement. "What? It's true."
"No problem," Miko chimed in, elbowing Liliy. "We're small enough to sneak in and we're not a government secret."
"Miko, I'm not sure that's wise," said Bulkhead.
"But it may be our best option, Bulkhead," Optimus admitted. "The longer we debate, the more time we give the Decepticons."
"I'm in. When do we leave?" asked Liliy.
While the Bots went off to secure the perimeter of the museum, Liliy used the computer to patch her phone into the comm link, which, oddly, Ratchet did not notice she was doing. She joined the children on the lift they prepared by the ground bridge.
{Liliy, Jack, Miko, Rafael, I will have a clear view of you,} Optimus' voice came through the comm link. {Once you secure the harvester, I will contact Ratchet to bridge you back to base.}
"Now since you'll bypass all points of normal entry," Ratchet informed them, after opening the ground bridge. "You won't need to worry about setting off the alarm. But take care to avoid any security guards."
"Roger that," said Liliy.
They headed into the museum via the bridge. Once they were in the museum, they looked around for the harvester. They found it in the front foyer. Optimus flashed his lights as a signal that he could see them. Liliy jumped off the lift.
"I'll keep an eye out for the guards while you guys get the sphere."
"Got it."
They raised the lift and used Miko's phone to cover the security camera. Then they rolled the lift over to the statue to get the orb. Raf climbed onto the statue's hand to roll the orb onto the lift. They all looked up when they heard something crack. Optimus was in his bi-ped mode holding a missile that he just stopped from smashing into the building. A red sportscar Con stuck Prime with his prod and the big Bot stumbled forward and fell on his face. The Con jumped on his back and shocked him again.
"It's Cons," said Raf, worried.
"They got Optimus," added Jack.
"Just get the harvester," Liliy called up to them. "Hurry."
But the children continued to watch the battle outside until the alarm sounded after Bulkhead and the red Con crashed into the building.
"Scrap," muttered Liliy. She pulled out her phone as the kids finally rolled the sphere onto the lift. She dialed the base. "Ratchet, the children have the harvester. They need a ground bridge stat."
{Liliy?! How did you get into the comm link?}
"Not now, Ratchet," the woman snapped. "The alarm is going off so the guards could be here any minute and Optimus and the others are fighting Cons out front. We really need that ground bridge."
{Alright. Fine.}
The ground bridge reopened in the hallway.
"You guys go through without me," she told the children, handing Miko her phone that had fallen off the security camera after the lift moved away from the statue. "I'll stay behind and distract the guards so they don't see the Bots."
They nodded and disappeared through the ground bridge. Liliy took off down the hall after the portal vanished. She rounded a corner and would have ran smack into the security guard if he had not been traveling in slow motion relative to her, for she was moving faster than the human eye could comprehend. She stopped behind him and knocked him out. Catching him as he collapsed, she hefted him over her right shoulder and went looking for the security office in the back of the building.
Liliy was putting the guard on the couch in the office when she felt an all-too-familiar presence draw near. She slammed the door shut and leaned against it just as Soundwave stooped to open the big garage door of the loading bay where the office was located. However, before the mech could enter the building, he intercepted Ratchet's message to Optimus that the harvester had successfully been retrieved. Hearing him retreat, Liliy slid to the floor and clenched her fist to try and stop the trembling. After all this time she was still not ready to face the Con who had stolen her arm.
Liliy started when her phone rang. She was still sitting on the floor in the office. It had been nearly two hours. Thankfully, the guard was still out cold. She pulled her phone out of her pocket.
"Y-yes?" she answered, getting to her feet.
{Liliy? What happened? Where are you?} It was Miko.
"I-I'm still at the museum." Liliy held the phone to her ear with her shoulder and opened the door. "Why?"
{We have been calling you and calling you. What happened?}
"I-" Liliy halted and had to push down the wave of tangled emotions that threatened to overwhelm her again at the memory of Soundwave's presence. She finally answered. "I don't remember. I guess I blacked out or something."
{Remain there, Liliy. I will come and get you,} came Optimus' voice.
"If you don't mind, Optimus," Liliy said as she left the museum. "I'd like to stay in the city for a few days, if that is alright with you. I need some time. You don't have to worry. My stuff is still there so I have to come back eventually."
There was a moment of silence while Optimus considered her request.
{Alright,} he said finally. {You can have three days. Then I will come and get you.}
Liliy smiled. "Thank you, Optimus. Be careful, everyone. See you in three days."
She hung up the call and breathed a sigh of relief. It's not that she didn't like living with the Autobots. She did like it quite a bit. It was just that with what happened that evening at the museum, she needed a break. She needed to see her 'boys' again. They always cheered her up.
Not caring who saw, Liliy dropped her visor over her eyes and activated her emergency ground bridge protocols. She smiled as the vortex whirled to life in front of her and she took her first step toward home.
Next chapter Liliy goes home and you get to meet more of the CRC.