In which Alison plans to talk, wakes someone up, and realizes secret feelings
Thinking and planning was just about all I could do for the next couple days, since Optimus was keeping a pretty close eye on us. I did have to admit, watching the leader of the Autobots get mothered by little Judy Witwicky was amusing, but not very conductive for discussing secrets with just Mikaela and Bee.
I finally got my chance when we were heading back to base on Friday. Optimus had asked Miles to ride with him, so we were free to talk. I told them about my talk with Optimus, and how it got me thinking, and of my decision to tell five people.
"You're still set on not telling Optimus?" Bee asked.
I nodded. "Telling him of the future is too big a risk factor. Same with the rest of High Command. They can make drastic changes too fast, and then any foreknowledge I have will be pretty much useless."
"So who were you thinking of?" Mikaela asked.
"My first picks are Simmons and Asami," I said. "Both are former S7 with family history in it, so they probably have the most knowledge on cybertronians of any human besides me. Plus, Simmons in the movies was undyingly loyal to the 'Bots and Sam, so I know he can be trusted."
"And Asami seems pretty trustworthy herself," Bee said. "Who else?"
"Arcee, partly because she's a guardian, and she's also much older than any of us, so she has more experience to draw from. Plus, it's another 'Bot perspective. Barricade, cause he can give us the 'Con perspective, and he won't sugarcoat anything that he tells us. And Miles, because he's my best friend, and it wouldn't be fair to exclude him."
"Be pretty hard to keep it from him if everyone else knows," Bee commented. "You sure about Barricade?"
"He nearly died to keep Alison safe from Starscream," Mikaela pointed out. "If that doesn't prove he's on our side, nothing will."
I nodded. "I'm not telling them everything, just the movie universe, and only parts and general ideas. But even that could be just what we need."
"I wonder how they'll react to being told you knew them before as fictional characters," Bee said.
"If need be, I'll remind them it's their actions here that convinced me to tell them. After all, here, you're as real as can be." I rubbed my hand over the dashboard, and I saw Mikaela smile a bit.
Arriving at base, Optimus and I had to set immediately to work. Galloway would be coming for the monthly meeting the next day, and it was going to be a doozy explaining the rescue, especially when it had opened an avenue for him that I hadn't thought of. After all, if it was obvious the current director was much too emotional and took many risks to her and others' safety, then of course it would be better to replace her with someone more rational and with more experience. Luckily, Prowl and Jazz were able to help us come up with an explanation to make it seem like everything had been under control.
"Sometimes, a little deception is necessary for the good of all," Prowl had said when Will half questioned him about it. And it was thoughts like that that made me a bit more certain in my decision of who to tell.
In the end, the most Galloway could potentially use against us was the fact we had brought Barricade back to base, but assurances that he had been checked for trackers, as well as the fact he had legitimately nearly died would make that sink in the water. Once that issue was dealt with, he informed us that the president had opened a deal to allow agents of other nations into COTA. At the moment the deal was only with England, Russia and Japan, but it was a start to COTA potentially becoming an international organization. The profiles of the potential candidates were passed on to us for the final decision, and I had to smile inside when I caught the name "Graham, Joseph" on one. Another one that caught my eye was "Klonowski, Daniel" who had an interesting note in his file. The meeting actually ended up being fairly productive. Even so, dealing with Galloway made me grateful for the exertion of Asami's physical training, as I was able to work out the frustrations he built in me.
"You've improved a lot since we met," she commented as we sat, taking a short breather, after I had run the obstacle course she'd set five times.
"I should hope so," I said, after taking a swig from my water bottle. I glanced out to where Epps and Miles were working together on the course. "Miles's improved too."
"He seems even more determined than usual today." Asami leaned back on her hands. "Something to do with Barricade?"
I looked up at her. "How'd you guess?"
She gave a knowing, but non-judgemental, look. "I had to stop by medbay just after Barricade was brought in. Miles wasn't farther than five feet from him if he could help it, and Ratchet almost had to physically put him in Bee's servos to have him leave. It's pretty obvious what Barricade means to him."
"Ah. Yeah, that's pretty obvious." I looked over at him, where he was scaling the rope wall with a monkey's agility. "He's enlisting Monday, you know. He'd drop out of school to go to boot camp now if his mom would let him. Seeing Barricade…. It scared him. Scared all of us, honestly. It's the closest the 'Cons have hit to home, and it was the first time of Miles seeing the War up close. Now that he has…."
"He's going to do his damn best to make sure it doesn't happen again," Asami surmised.
I nodded, and let myself fall into my thoughts for a few minutes. Miles had always had a quiet determination to him, but overall he was very live and let live. Even his dismissal of my feelings for Mikaela came from wanting me to move on to someone who would accept my feelings so I wouldn't be hurt. Now, that determination was pushed to the forefront, and led to scenes like what was before me.
Mikaela had changed a little since the 'Bots too. Before, she played the part of popular girl well, never really letting on that she had much more going on in her head besides what was on the next math and history tests, and dating guys like Trent for the eye candy. Now, she was very open about her mechanical skills, was excited to be learning from Ratchet, and she was with me. She seemed happier than she had been before accepting the offer of getting in Bumblebee with me. It made me wonder if I had changed in the past few months too, and how much. Would the old me recognize who I've become, either from this world or my old one?
"Hey, you there, Alison?" Asami asked, pulling me from my thoughts. "You okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine," I assured her, taking another drink. "Actually… I wanted to ask you something."
"What is it?" She cocked her head at me.
"If I told you a secret, one that absolutely no one except who I say could know about, would you keep it?"
She gave me a momentary puzzled look but nodded. "Of course. You can always confide in me," she said, placing a hand on my shoulder. "Whatever you need, just say it."
"I can't tell you just yet, there's a couple others who need to know too, and I don't want to tell it more than once. Just be ready when I ask to talk to you."
"Alright. Whenever you're ready to tell, I'll be there." Asami smiled at me and I smiled back. Then she stood up. "Okay, let's go ahead and do some sparring. There's still daylight, meaning there's still time for me to run you into the ground."
"Yes, ma'am," I said, jumping up from my seat.
I had a similar conversation with Simmons that night and Mikaela had one with Arcee, then all there was to do was to sit tight and wait until Barricade woke up.
It started raining on Sunday night, and continued through Miles's birthday. It fit the mood, for even though he hit the big one-eight, the only notable thing he did was fill out his enlistment form. His worry for Barricade overruled any real desire to celebrate, and even when Sarah offered to make him a cake, he told her to hold off until after Barricade woke up.
Luckily, the worry didn't last much longer, for news came Tuesday morning in the form of Wheeljack popping his holo into the mess hall at breakfast. His holo had the appearance of a mixed-race man in his mid-fifties, with wild silver-streaked black hair, blue eyes and brown skin. He wore a lab coat over a green and red hawaiian shirt, tan slacks, and work shoes.
"Alison, you need to come to medbay," he said, a note of excitement to his voice.
"Is it Barricade?" Miles asked before I could.
Wheeljack nodded. "He seems to be coming out of stasis, and should be waking shortly. Ratchet wants you there just in case." Miles was headed to the door before Wheeljack even finished speaking, and Mikaela, Bee and I weren't far behind him.
Ratchet, Optimus and Prowl were already in medbay when we got there, and Jazz, Ironhide, and Will were not far behind us coming in. Ratchet looked to us, an energon cube in one servo, and said, "Alison, over here. The rest of you, on the catwalk." He held his servo out to me and lifted me to Barricade's chassis.
The first thing I noticed was his EMF read steady and strong, which was a balm after the nothing it was the week before. Barricade looked much better too, resting on a tilted medical berth. His optic had been replaced, and Ratchet had spent the time he'd been in stasis to clean up his plating, so most of the scratches and dirt that had collected on his plating had been washed and buffed out. He wasn't pristine, but he also didn't look like a wreck either.
Ratchet moved the energon cube closer to me. "We believe he's waking up, but I figured the AllSpark could help speed it along. "
I nodded, rolled up my sleeves and stuck my hands into the energon when he opened the cube. The AllSpark surged with energy, and when I placed my hands on Barricade, she released a series of pulses, as we said "~Wake, brave Protector. Wake and heal and continue your duty.~"
I could feel Barricade start to shift under me, and he opened his optics, the far left one now Autobot blue, rebooting them a few times as Ratchet pulled me away. He looked at us, then at Optimus, Prowl and the other 'Bots, then finally rested his optics on the humans on the catwalk. He rebooted them one last time, then flatly said, "Well, I know this isn't the Well, so I must be in the Pit."
That broke a string of tension we hadn't quite realized was in the room, as most of us let out a small burst of laughter. Miles had tears start streaming down his face, and Prowl didn't try to hide the small smile that crossed his lips.
Barricade sat up a little and looked down at Miles, his optics and body language showing something akin to disbelief. "You got my message." It was a statement, but there was a note of question and softness to it.
Miles nodded, his smile twitching. "I'd have gone by myself if Bee hadn't told me to wait for Alison."
Barricade turned to look at me. "So, you really did come and save me, AliSpark."
"There was no way I could not," I told him, smiling even more at the nickname.
"And you were lucky she did," Ratchet said, and Barricade returned to being defensive. Dude, we were having a moment. "With all the damage Starscream did to you, I'm surprised you didn't deactivate before she even got there."
Barricade gave what could be considered a bark of laughter. "Haven't you been told? I'm too Pit-damned stubborn to die."
"Barricade, can you tell us the specifics of your attack?" Optimus asked, completely turning the mood of the room and the conversation to business.
Barricade looked up at Optimus. "I was just driving when he flew overhead and spotted me. I don't know how he picked up I wasn't a regular cop car, but he did. Pretty much ordered me to follow him to that farm, landed, and demanded to know where I'd been."
"And what did you tell him?" Prowl asked.
"That I'd been laying low and avoiding trouble with the Autobots, especially after he sent out the call for all Decepticons to await his orders. Then he decided to tell me his brilliant plan, to get back in Megatron's good graces, believe it or not."
"Let me guess, Megatron reamed him out for his failure and flight at Mission City?" I asked.
"Yup. He said that Megatron wanted Alison alive, so they were going to capture her. He wasn't entirely clear if it was direct orders for him or just in general, I'm guessing the latter. He demanded I tell him Alison's location."
"And you refused." That was Bee.
"I sure as Pit wasn't going to go back on my Vow! Even a twice-glitched fragger from the Dead End wouldn't do that." Barricade tried to fold his arms, but only managed to cross the uninjured one over his chest, servo balled into a fist. "So, Starscream beat the scrap out of me. The only reason he didn't kill me was because I managed to repress my EM field down enough he thought he had. He bolted and I managed to send my holo out to that farmhouse to message Miles, and you know the rest better than me."
"You can suppress your EMF that much?" Miles asked.
"Barricade's always had excellent control of his field," Prowl said. "I've only ever met one mecha who was better than him at suppressing it."
"Explains why the AllSpark couldn't pick you up," I said.
"Yeah, well," Barricade shrugged, and if I didn't know better, I would say he was embarrassed by the attention. "That's the full of it; Starscream found me, interrogated me, and tried to kill me when I didn't give him the answers he wanted."
"It was a very noble act, Barricade," Optimus said, then looked to his officers as the rest of us watched. Ironhide had a slight frown, but I could see respect in his optics as he gave a nod. On the catwalk, Will gave a similar response. Ratchet gave a quick almost absent-minded nod as he brought up a scanner to calibrate. Wheeljack glanced at Barricade once before meeting Optimus optics and nodding. Ironhide gave a curt nod, while Jazz folded his arms and nodded as he shifted his weight to a more casual stance. Finally Prowl, still smiling, gave a firm nod.
I started smiling as Optimus turned back to Barricade, who'd been watching the proceeding with a suspicious expression.
"Why am I getting a bad feeling about this?" he muttered, shifting on the berth.
"Barricade, you will remain on medical rest for at least a week, or until Ratchet releases you," Optimus said. "After that, you will be free to leave or..." he trailed off with a smile. "You will be allowed to stay here as an honorary Autobot."
Barricade's optic ridges rose, though he tried to not show his surprise in the rest of his body language. He looked down to where I was grinning and said, "You planned this didn't you?"
"You nearly died to protect me," I said. "If that isn't a sign of your allegiance, I don't know what is."
"Please say yes, Barricade," Miles pleaded, turning our focus to him. "It'll be great to have you around all the time, if you can stand us."
It was almost unnoticeable, but I would swear Barricade's gaze softened just the smallest bit, before he glanced back over at Ironhide. "Keep him and his bondmate off my back, and I'll consider it."
"Thank you, Barricade," Optimus said. "I'm sure Ratchet has several more tests he wants to run, so we will leave you be." He corralled all of us out of the medbay, except Mikaela, as Ratchet wanted her to learn the tests he'd be running. The 'Bots went their own way, and I was about to head to HQ to start my work when Miles asked, "Hey, Alison?"
"Yeah?" I turned to him and noticed he was looking extremely nervous, even chewing on his lip a little.
"Can… we talk about something?"
"Of course we can." I slipped an arm around his shoulders and lead him along. "Let's head to my office, it'll be private there."
The walk there was silent, as Miles was obviously turning over what he wanted to say in his head, and I didn't push him. I motioned for him to sit in one of the new chairs in front of the desk as I shut the door, then I sat in the other one, legs crossed. "What's up, Miles? You're all in knots."
Miles chewed his lips a bit more, then sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "It's just… I- I really like Barricade. Like really like him. I- I love him. I think I have for months now. And I- I don't know if you're going to find that disgusting or-"
I reached out and took his hands, cutting him off. "I know, Miles. I figured you were crushing back in December, and then the rest the day of the attack. And I don't find it disgusting at all."
Miles shook his head. "No, I guess you wouldn't. But, what do I do?" He half threw himself back in his chair. "I mean, I've never even liked a human guy before, let alone one of an alien species that turns into cars. And I know he doesn't feel the same."
"How do you know that?" I asked.
"Well, obviously, I'm not a 'Bot or a 'Con. Why would he be attracted to me?" He spotted a pen on my desk, grabbed it, and started flipping it in the air. "I mean, he's got his holo, so the physical attraction on my side has something to focus on, but I'm human. I'm squishy, with all those messy bodily functions and stuff that even gross out the 'Bots sometimes, my lifespan is barely one of their years.…" He trailed off, still flipping the pen.
"Um, Miles," I snatched the pen as he tossed it. "I hate to call you blind, but you are really blind. Did you not see the way Barricade looked at you in medbay? I'd say that's a look of at least caring and fondness, if not love itself. And before he had to bolt, who was the one he'd hang out with late into the night? Which of us was the one he played video games with? And he texted you when he was in danger. Not me. Not Bee. You."
Miles blinked as he considered it, then hope crept into his features. "You- you really think he likes me back?"
"I do," I said.
"Okay." He took a deep breath. "Then what do you think I should do?"
"Well, unless you want to pine and waste precious time together, honesty is the best policy here," I said. "Get into medbay when Arcee's on shift and ask to talk to him privately. Tell him how you feel, and accept what he tells you."
"So just throw my heart on the ground to get trampled now instead of later, got it." He took another deep breath, then looked at me with a small smirk. "Well if you get to call me blind, I get to call you that too."
"What? What do you mean?" What was I blind to?
"Bumblebee's been in love with you for months and you've never noticed a thing," Miles said.
"What!?" I sat up straight, and I knew my face must have contorted into something ridiculous. "No. No, he can't be in love with me. I'm with Mikaela, and he's never made any sign."
"Because you're with Mikaela." That was a statement, made as Miles crossed his own legs. "He obviously doesn't want to cause trouble between you two, but it's only a matter of time before Mikaela notices."
"And what's there to notice?" I asked, folding my arms and recrossing my legs.
"Well, there's the looks he gives you when he thinks you don't see." Miles held up a finger. "I swear, he smiles around or at you way more than anyone else. Then he sees you and Mikaela pulling your sickenly cute couple routine and it turns sad." Another finger. "He's always at your side, whenever he can manage it, and heck, sometimes it seems like he can read your mind for what you want, even when I can't." Another finger. "You also get pretty flirty with him too, with those hugs and kisses and stuff."
"Okay one, I'm going to need proof of those looks. Two, he's my guardian, so of course he's always close to me. And three, I do not flirt with Bee." Why did that drop a stone in my gut like when I gave a lie?
Miles wasn't impressed by my denials either, shooting me a look that just said "Gurl, please!" as he pulled his phone from his pocket. He hit a couple buttons, then turned it to me. "Exhibit A."
I leaned in and saw it was from a couple weeks ago. The five of us were out on the Lookout, Mikaela and Bee sitting on either side of me under the tree, while Miles and Arcee had sat leaning against her altmode. I had my guitar in my lap and was in the middle of playing "Everytime We Touch" by Cascada. Bee was watching me, and he had a soft smile on his face, his eyes sparkling. I choked on air for a second when I actually recognized the look. It matched the one Optimus would give Elita when she was sparring with another bot. The one my parents still gave each other, usually while remembering times earlier in their relationship. The one Mikaela gave me when we cuddled together. A look of love.
The look stayed on Bee's face, up until I turned to Mikaela and nuzzled her before she kissed me. The smile remained, but there was a flicker of sadness in his eyes. Then the video ended, and Miles pulled his phone away.
"As for the flirting thing-" I jumped, jerking back to an upright position as Miles spoke "-that is definitely what you're doing. I mean, we've been best friends since we were five, and the last time your gave me a kiss on the cheek as a thank you for something, we were nine. You're always hugging him, like, proper arms around waist or neck hugs. And when his holo is activated, you lean into his side as much as Mikaela's."
"S-So?" Why did I stutter? Was my face heating up? "You and I established our physical affection years ago, and that last time I kissed your cheek, you wiped it off and yelled 'Cooties!'. I've established a different one for Bee, like I have a different one for Cade and Arcee. Oh, and one more argument you forgot about; I am a lesbian. Meaning girl parts, and Bee doesn't have those."
"Alright, then let's try something." Miles leaned back in his chair. "Imagine Bee was a girl. She/her pronouns, a female holoform, whatever. If you can imagine that and say for certain that your actions would not be considered flirty with her, I'll drop it."
"Alright, I will." I closed my eyes and thought. Bee as a girl. It really wasn't hard to picture, just give his holo longer hair, soften his features slightly, and add boobs and maybe a skirt. The rest was the same, lean muscles, oval face, blue eyes that sparkled with hidden mischief. A higher voice, but the same accent, same tone of laugh. I pictured us as we usually were, hanging with the gang around Tranquility, practice sparring in our training yard. Hanging out in my room before I had to sleep, the early morning runs together before Miles joined us. I pictured all the trading of affection, a new note to each of them now that I knew the truth behind them. And they didn't feel wrong, they felt right, and made me fluttery inside. I focused on one in particular; Valentine's Day, getting ready in my room. Wearing the dress Bee bought me on a date with someone else, and he still encouraged me and gave me a hug. I kissed his cheek in real life, but in the fantasy, I kissed his lips. They were soft, and warm, and my hands trailed from his sides, up his chest, and around his neck. One of his hands stayed on my back, the other went up to my hair, and it felt so right, like he was radiating love. Then I realized I was not imagining a girl Bee, but the real Bee.
My eyes shot open with a gasp. I blinked once, twice, then flicked the pen still in my hand at Miles, hitting him in the face. "I hate you."
"So you figured it out, huh?" Miles smiled, even as he rubbed his cheek and picked the pen off the floor.
"This was supposed to be me helping you with your recently realized feelings, not you giving me some." I sagged in my chair, my hands moving to rest at my hairline, half-covering my eyes. "Okay, so I love Bumblebee. But, I still love Mikaela too. Those feelings didn't just poof away."
"Yeah, I know. But hey, at least you figured it out now, instead of the feelings catching you off guard in the open. I mean, imagine how much of a fiasco it would be if you suddenly made out with Bee in front of Mikaela."
I managed a spluttering cough of a laugh. "Yeah, I can see how badly that could turn out." I sighed and dropped my hand. "So what am I gonna do?"
Miles shrugged. "Hey, I couldn't think up 'Just talk to him and see if it works out,' I have no idea how to handle this situation." He set the pen on the desk and stood up. "But there are smarter brains than me on this base, someone should be able to help you." He walked up and patted my shoulder. "It'll work out."
"It better," I said, reaching up to punch his shoulder. "Or I'm blaming you for any and all relationship problems from now on."
"Fair enough." He looked down at his watch. "I gotta dash, Epps will be looking for me soon. But thanks, Alison."
I smiled up at him. "You're welcome, Miles." Once he left, my smile dropped and I just sat there, stewing over what had just come to light.
Dun dun dun! Love Triangle! So who called it? Everyone? No one? Okay.
So, what do you think of Alison's realization? Her decisions on who to tell? What about Cade waking up and his story? Let me know in the comments!
Oh, and for those who aren't following me, but are interested in more TF fics (and more of Alison and Bumblebee), I posted the first chapter of"Tales of Fantasia: The Prime's Court", part of my Tales of Fantasia Fantasy AU, so go check it out on my profile.
Guest Review Replies
Shade (CH 25): Shade:Yes, Alispark to the rescue, my poor Baricade. Mmm... Yes she should tell the bots, forewarned is forearmed, they may no belive her but she has the AllSpark to suport her claims. Have you think of holoforms for Decepticons? I cant take of my head a holo for Megatron: the actor Stephen Lang (Colonel Quarich of Avatar)
I only have holoforms for three Decepticons atm, though I'm going to try to think of more before AllSpark's sequel comes out (as that will be when their holos make an appearance). And if you had suggested Stephen Lang a year ago, I might have said sure. But someone on Tumblr is using him as a faceclaim for Silas of TFP, and I can't separate that mental image now (a similar reason is why Elita's FC is Angelina Jolie).
I'll see you all next week, same 'Bot Time, same 'Bot Channel!
