In which Alison wakes up, meets new allies, and reunites with old.
The bed was warm. And squishy. And I had a big heavy blanket over my chest, but not my arms. I hated that, I always slept with my shoulders covered. There was also a pinch in my left arm. I started to shift to get rid of the pinch and adjust the blankets, but a warm hand on my shoulder stilled me.
"Lie still, the IV needs to stay in." A man's voice. I didn't recognize it.
I tried to open my eyes but they were heavy with grit. I could feel sleep reaching back out to me, calling me down, but my shoulders were bugging me.
"Shoulder…." I managed to croak out, and it was intelligible enough for someone to throw something over my chest and upper arms. "Thank…" I fell back to sleep.
When I woke again, I was still in that same squishy bed, and I still had the blanket on my shoulders and the pinch in my arm. I lay still as I tried to take in as much of my surroundings as I could. Soft squishy bed, comfortable temperature, the sound of a person turning pages of a book.
I reached back into my mind, searching. The AllSpark reached back, and I hitched a dry sob and I felt Her comforting presence. I tried to draw Her closer to me, but She stayed where She was.
~You are still weak, my Bearer. You need to regain more strength.~
But when can you come back? I didn't want to face the world without Her, not after being forced apart for so long.
~Soon, Alison. Very soon.~ Ghostly fingers caressed my face. ~You are safe now, Alison. You can open your eyes.~ She gave me a gentle push back, and, reluctantly, I let her.
My eyes were still heavy, but I forced them open, reaching with my unpinched arm to rub them. A white plaster ceiling, with a heavy iron chandelier and electric light. My eyes tracked down, and I saw I was in a bedroom. A fancy one, with pink walls, painted flowering trees on either side of a fireplace with a gilded mirror resting on it, dark wood furniture, and a straight back armchair with flower patterned fabric sitting next to the four poster bed. In the chair was a young woman with dark brown hair, blue eyes, and glasses, holding a book whose title said "A History of Arthurian Scholarship". She seemed to be waiting for me to notice her and smiled when I did.
"Good morning," she said, with a British accent. I started to sit up, but she placed a hand on my shoulder, stopping me. "Hold on, slowly now. Don't need you getting sick again."
"A-Again?" I croaked out, and realized my throat was really dry. The woman seemed to understand and so she helped me sit up, propped me against the pillows, and held a glass of water to my lips. I drank most of it before she pulled it away and I tried again. "I threw up?"
She nodded. "When you passed out. Your friend caught you, but then you started choking and my uncle and I had to perform the Heimlich and CPR. You gave us quite a scare, honestly."
Okay, so I only had a million questions, so I started with the obvious ones. "Who are you, and your uncle? And where am I?"
"I'm Viviane Wemberly. My uncle is Sir Edmund Burton. And you're at Folgen, my uncle's estate, in Northumberland, England."
"England." I slumped back a bit, and remembered the pinch in my arm as it twinged. I looked down and saw an IV leading to a bag on a stand. There was an empty bag and an extra full one. The one I was hooked to was over half empty. "How long have I been out?"
"About thirteen hours," Viviane said. "You crashed at around seven, as my uncle and I were about to have dinner. We had my uncle's doctor come check you over, and he said you were suffering from starvation and dehydration. He would have taken you to the hospital for treatment, but your guardian refused to let him."
Cogman. "You can not tell anyone about him!" I immediately said, a little harsher than normal as my throat was still fairly sore. "If you do, I can have you hunted down and locked up and-" Viviane cut me off by laughing.
"No, no, don't worry about that. My uncle and I were more than curious about how you knew cybertronians, but Cogman and N-Sync both explained what was going on. We managed to get in contact with COTA not long after, and they're flying here as fast as possible." She smiled. "You've got some worried and happy people on the flight."
Mikaela. Bee. I reached for my dog tags, only to find they weren't on my neck. I looked down and found myself wearing a pink v-neck t-shirt, but not my tags or my bracelet. "Where are my tags?" I patted my chest, then the bed. "Where are my tags!?"
"Easy, easy!" Viviane reached into a bedside table and pulled them out. I snatched them quick as I could and put them around my neck, feeling much calmer once it was on. I held them in my hand, looking down at the tags, the bee, the wrench, the cube and the symbol. It was my link to them, my link back home. I couldn't take those off. I couldn't.
"The doctor had to take them off when he examined you," Viviane explained. "Your bracelet is in here too, and your clothes have been washed." She waved to a dresser, where I could see them folded up. "We weren't sure if you wanted them back or not though."
I shook my head. "No, no. Burn them, cut them up, throw them away, I don't care. I never want to see them again." I would never be able to wear them again, and I wouldn't wish them on my worst enemy after what had happened in them.
Viviane nodded and reached down to the floor. I was shocked to see her pick up my purse and set it in my lap. "You might be happy to have this back, though."
I almost felt like I couldn't breathe for a moment, before I forced myself to, having recent experience in what lack of it would do. I couldn't. "I thought I lost this."
"Apparently it was collected before you escaped." She stood. "I'm going to let the others know you're awake. Cogman's been terrifying the cook for hours, so I think he'll be glad for you to actually eat the food he's prepared." She patted my shoulder, then left the room, pulling a phone from her pocket.
Once she was gone, I started looking through my bag. I didn't have too much in it, a few scraps of paper and receipts, a pocket notebook, pens, chapstick and lip gloss, and most importantly, my journal and phone. I pulled the latter out first, and found it had 20 missed calls, most from the fifth, and some from- the seventeenth? Was that today? I missed Mikaela's birthday.
I checked, and the most of the calls were from Mikaela, with a couple from Mom and Dad and some from my aunts and uncles. I listened to a few of the messages they left me.
::Alison, please, please answer. We're worried sick about you… ::
::Alison where are you? Please, call us back when you can… ::
::Alison, Momma told us to be on the phone so that they can try to find you before the bad guys hide you… ::
::Alison. I-I'm sorry.:: It was Bumblebee, this one from last night. ::I'm sorry I couldn't protect you. It was my job, and I failed. We're coming to get you, and I'm never letting go.::
::Same here.:: Mikaela. ::We'll see you soon, once Galloway stops being an asshole and lets us on the plane. I don't know how we aren't going to go crazy in the meantime. Maybe you're the lucky one, being unconscious.:: She and Bee shared a very dry and broken chuckle. ::We love you Alison. We'll see you soon.::
I was crying, but I didn't care. They had looked for me. They never gave up hope. My fingers fumbled a little as I put Mikaela's number in, and held the phone to my ear.
::This is Mikaela, I can't come to the phone right now, please leave a message and I'll get back to you soon.:: Beep.
"Mi-Mikaela? Bee?" My voice cracked. "It-it's Alison. I'm okay. I'm okay. I got out, and the Fallen didn't learn anything. I love you both so, so much. I'll see you soon, and I'll explain everything. I promise. I love you." I couldn't get anything else out, so I ended the call. I couldn't.
I looked at the last thing in my purse. My journal. I pulled it out, and it looked completely untouched. No scratches, the lock still intact, it was like no one even tried getting into it. But- but how? Why? How'd I even get it back? Why didn't anyone just take this book? It has the location of the Matrix inside. If this had been given to the Fallen, he wouldn't have needed to dig into my skull for it.
Rage suddenly flooded me, and I tried ripping the book open, just wanting to rip and tear and destroy it. It wouldn't budge, it was too well made for that, so I settled for chucking it at the wall ahead of me. It hit just to the one side of the mirror, and dropped to the floor with a dull thud.
I cradled my face in my hands, sobs racking my body. I didn't even know what I was feeling. Rage, grief, joy, it was all muddled until it wasn't recognizable. All I could feel was the rise of fall of my chest as I sucked in air only to wheeze it back out. My throat was raw. I was cold. I was hot. I couldn't hold it. I couldn't.
I hadn't even heard the door open, and didn't know anyone was with me until I felt a hand on me. I looked up and found a woman with long black hair and large red-brown eyes sitting on the edge of the bed. She had a hand on my arm, rubbing it. "I know. It's hard." N-Sync.
I nodded and just about threw myself into her arms, my sobs continuing. She rubbed my back and cradled my head, mummering soft words I couldn't understand. I couldn't. But the words didn't matter. Her presence, and her comfort did.
Finally, my sobs abated into sniffles, and I sat up and leaned back against my pillows. "I'm sorry," I said, wiping at my eyes. "I don't know what came over me."
"Stress relief," N-Sync said. "You've probably got a couple more of those coming. Just make sure you've got people to take care of you when they do, and you'll be fine."
I nodded. "Thank you."
She smiled and patted my shoulder, then stood (and damn, she was as tall as Optimus's holo). She was wearing a silver hooded jacket over an indigo shirt and jeans. "Cogman's got a huge breakfast for you, if you think you can eat anything."
My stomach chose that moment to rumble, and I barked a laugh. "Yeah, I think I'd like something. Don't know how much I'll be able to keep down though."
"Just eat as much as you can." She went to the door and opened it to let Cogman in. He was wearing a pink unicorn apron and a chef's hat, and pushing a fancy dinner cart, which was stacked full of covered platters. Behind him came Viviane, an old man, Bandit and a boy her age I didn't recognize at first glance, and a young man I also didn't recognize. The old man was in a three piece suit, and wore it like he was born to one (which, if this was the uncle, he probably was). The boy had curly orange hair with a lot of freckles on his face and red-brown eyes, and I realized it had to be Riser. He and Bandit had similar outfits, of a button shirt, black skirt/pants, boots and leather jackets. The main difference was Bandit's jacket was silver and indigo and she had a matching scarf, while Riser had an orange and grey jacket and tie. The man had auburn hair with some brighter orange streaks on either side of his forehead, and blue eyes. He was wearing an black military jacket with patches on the sleeves over a black shirt with a red-orange flame pattern, black jeans with flames on the legs and black boots with orange laces.
"My lady, it is good to see you up," Cogman said, pushing the cart up to the bed.
I smiled at him. "I'm glad to be up, though I'm eager for when I can be about again." I looked at the IV bag still attached to my arm, and Cogman wagged a finger at me.
"No, no, not yet. The doctor said you had to have all the bags he gave to us, as well as water, juice and nutritious food, to make up for all that you lost on the Nemesis. You only have three more after this one." He tapped the bag, then went back to the cart. He set a bed tray over my lap, then set a plate on it. "First course, something easy for the stomach, porridge with honey, fruit, and cream." He lifted the first cover and revealed exactly what he said. He picked up a glass and filled it from a pitcher of orange juice and set it on the tray. "Dig in."
I smiled and picked up my spoon to take a scoop. As I did though, I looked at the people I didn't know. "Maybe you can introduce yourselves as I eat and can explain what all happened while I was asleep?"
"Why certainly, Lady Witwicky," the old man said. " I am Sir Edmund Burton, the twelfth Early of Folgen. You've met my niece and heir, Viviane. And this is Hot Rod, our family's friend and protector for sixty years."
I was glad I hadn't actually eaten anything yet, else I probably would have choked. The young man waved, then shifted his holo and became a black bot with orange flame decals on his arms and legs.
"Where the hell did you come from?" I asked. I certainly would have remembered if Hot Rod was in any of the movies.
"It's a long story," he said, with a fairly heavy French accent. "Suffice to say, I've been around for a while."
"Viviane's great-grandfather had his life saved by Hot Rod when he crash landed in France at the start of World War II," Burton said, sitting in the chair Viviane had vacated, with the woman sitting in one of the others in the room. "It's quite the tale, I remember my father telling me when I was a boy."
As I worked my way through the porridge and fruit, followed by a full English breakfast of sausage, bacon, scrambled eggs, fried bread, and baked beans, Burton and Hot Rod told their story; how Hot Rod right after crashing saved a bunch of French resistance members, jewish refugees and a couple British spies from Nazis, including Captain Jeremiah Wemberly, and the subsequent creation of a top secret special forces group, the Flaming Eagles, who would take missions deep into enemy territory. Burton's father, Charles, had been the lieutenant to Jeremiah, and the two had become like brothers to each other and Hot Rod.
I was finishing the last of the eggs when Burton mentioned the last mission of the Flaming Eagles was to stop the Nazis from using transforming mecha, which I vaguely remembered, though it wasn't until he said "Bill Simmons" I realized it.
"Wait, Bill Simmons?" I asked.
"Yes, that was his name," Hot Rod said. "You know him?"
"No, but I know his son. Bill got captured by Soviets in '54, escaped in '65 but was killed by a Decepticon. Seymour is one of my advisors."
"Advisor?" Viviane asked. "So you really are a Director? You can't be more than sixteen!"
"Seventeen and a half, thank you very much," I said. "Though, admittedly, I was sixteen when I became Bearer of the AllSpark."
"So you truly carry Her?" Hot Rod asked. "I mean, not that I don't believe Cogman and N-Sync, but, you know…"
I smiled. "Yeah, I do. Just give me a minute." I closed my eyes and reached back. Will you come out now? Just for a moment?
The AllSpark chuckled. ~Alright, but only a moment.~ She stepped forward and opened our eyes. Viviane and Hot Rod both jumped and Burton leaned in curiously. "~Hello everyone.~" She turned to N-Sync and the sparklings. "~Thank you, for all you've done for Alison. It is not easy to go against family.~"
N-Sync smiled and bowed, hands resting on her thighs, but head up. "Family is of the spark, my lady, and I love my brother, but my spark is in this room, and flying towards us at several hundred miles per hour."
She smiled. "~Well said.~" She looked to Bandit and Riser, who were a mix of eager and bashful. "~You two were especially brave. I thank you for your courage.~"
The two bowed like their carrier, though I caught a hint of blush on their cheeks at the praise. "We just did what anyone should have," Riser said as he straightened.
"~But you were the ones who did. That is the important part.~" She turned to Hot Rod. "~It is good to meet you again, my son.~"
"My lady." Hot Rod placed on foot back and one arm across his waist before bowing, his other hand open at his side. "I- I apologize for not revealing myself to your allies before now. I am an Autobot and should have joined the others, but I-" He cut off when the AllSpark raised our hand.
"~You have nothing to apologize for, Hot Rod. For one, we did not make it easy to find COTA, and as well, you have a family here. It is not easy to leave them, even for noble causes.~"
"Thank you, my lady." Hot Rod straightened. "I just hope Prime is as understanding."
"~He is. Now, Alison still needs to regain strength, so I will leave you for now.~" She retreated, and I slumped back against my pillows. Okay, now I understand what She meant, when just Her talking through me felt as draining as channeling Her powers for a battle.
"Do you feel alright, my lady?" Cogman asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine," I said. "Just a little tired, and still hungry, somehow."
"Do not worry, there is plenty for you to eat, my lady." He took away the full english plate and replaced it with a bowl of berries and cream, and a salad with three different dressing choices.
"Perhaps when you are done, if you feel up to it, we can give you a tour of the estate," Burton said, pulling out a pocket watch. "We have another hour or so until your friends arrive, and that might be more interesting than just laying in bed."
I smiled as I picked up my spoon. "I'd like that. But please, finish the story about your mission with Sector Seven. I want to know how that ended."
And so they told me, that it had unfortunately been a massacre on the human's side, with only Bill, Charles, and two other Flaming Eagles making it. Jeremiah had died taking out one of the mecha tanks, and Hot Rod got badly injured fighting the Panzer-Giganten. Luckily Bill and Charles, despite both losing a hand and foot respectively, managed to free Jetfire, who destroyed the Nazi creation, and thanked Bill and Charles for their help by teleporting Hot Rod to the Folgen estate, then flying the men to an Allied base. Bill and Charles had agreed to leave Jetfire's involvement out of the official reports, and parted ways, Bill to S7, and Charles back home to the young Edmund. After a year of work, he managed to pull Hot Rod out of his emergency stasis and since then Hot Rod lived with the family. Charles had also invited Jeremiah's widow Suzannah and son William to live on the estate, and they eventually married, making Burton Viviane's step-great-uncle.
I finished my meal by then, but found I needed to use the bathroom and, after giving myself a proper wiff, wanted to take a shower. N-Sync helped me with that, and I was so happy at the prospect of having a proper hot shower that I didn't even blink about modesty as she washed my hair and back. After I got out, she helped me dress in some clothes and slippers borrowed from Viviane. They were the slightest bit big, but I was perfectly fine with that. I also put my bracelet back on, and I felt a lot better from having its comfortable weight back. I did take a look in the mirror as N-Sync brushed out my hair (and Primus that was a luxury I would never take for granted ever again), and honestly, I looked pretty shitty even after that. My face was much thinner than before, though thankfully not gaunt, and I had dark circles heavy under my eyes. Add in the oversized clothes and IV, I probably looked like a cancer patient who just hadn't lost my hair yet, and with the amount tugged out from tangles, I was getting there.
Someone had found a wheelchair somewhere, and I was made to sit in it, a blanket on my lap and Cogman (now sans apron and hat) pushing me as we left the room. However, we really had only just started the tour when Hot Rod stopped short. "They're here," he said, and his holo blinked out.
N-Sync closed her eyes a moment and smiled. "We'll meet you outside." Then she, Bandit and Riser all blinked out as well.
"Come, my lady. Let's get you to Prime and your amanti," Cogman said, and before I even knew it, he picked up my wheelchair by the wheels and started running down the hall. Burton chuckled behind us as I held on for dear life, but the surprise soon gave way to elation. Mikaela and Bee were here. They were here.
Folgen castle had an outer wall around a bailey, and the actual entrance to the building itself was a set of double doors at the top of a set of stairs. Cogman set me down here as a military jeep came through the gate, followed by Bumblebee. He swerved past the jeep and stopped on a dime at the base of the steps. His door opened and Mikaela jumped out, running towards me. I pushed myself out of the chair and stumbled down two steps before she crashed into me. Arms wrapped tight and I pressed my face into her neck, tears starting to stream down my face again.
Mikaela raised a hand to run over my hair. "You're here. You're okay." Whether she was reassuring me or herself, I wasn't sure, but I could feel her own tears starting to drip on my neck.
A metal hand pressed against my side, and I leaned back just enough to see Bee kneeling at the base of the steps, reaching for us. I extended a hand to him, and he scooped Mikaela and I up, lifting us to his face. I pulled away from Mikaela and wrapped my arms around his helm, pressing kisses against the metal of his cheek.
"You're here," I managed to croak out between sobs. "You're really here. I'm home."
"Yes," Bee said, a digit reaching to rub against my back. "Yes, Alison. You're home."
Mikaela wrapped her arm around my shoulder and pressed against my side. Her breath was hitching, like she was trying not to cry. "Home with us." She kissed my cheek, and turned my head to kiss her, then Bee again.
I wasn't sure how long we stayed like that, but eventually I leaned back to look around. To our left, Coppertone and N-Sync were tangled together, Bandit and Riser in their arms between them. To our right, the jeeps were parked and Optimus and Arcee were standing, Will at their pedes.
"Alison," Optimus said when he saw me looking. "I'm so glad you're safe and whole."
I smiled. "Thank Bandit, and N-Sync. Without them I don't think I would have made it."
He looked past me to the couple, then back to me. "We have a lot to talk about."
Understatement of the year. "Yeah, we do."
AN: Yup, she's free, and has reunited with the Bots. To everyone who guessed she crashed at Folgen and met Viviane and Burton, you get a cookie!
Apologies for the late chapter, I caught a nasty bug on Wednesday (and I'd thought the flu passed me by when my sister caught it but I didn't), and only now am I coherent enough to do a proper last check for typos and stuff.
I also have another announcement, I am changing the update schedule to every two weeks, as I only have 2 chapters written ahead of posting right now, and I want to try and get further ahead so I hopefully don't have you hanging for weeks and weeks waiting on a cliffhanger. So, AllSpark's next update will be on March 6.
Holoform FCs
N-Sync - Emma Dumont
Bandit - Mackenzie Foy
Riser - Cameron Boyce (may he rest in peace)
Hot Rod - None, though suggestions are welcome.
Guest Review Replies
Gerard DuGalle (CH 39): Suspiciously similar to the Burton family of TLK.
Ding Ding Ding, your prize is a cookie!
LuciferRedeemed (CH 39): Great chapter! Looking forward to more!
Thank you!
I'll see you all next week, same 'Bot Time, same 'Bot Channel!
