Chapter 33: Changing Paces Part 2
Rad knew despite how strange Alexis acted, he couldn't try and push her anymore to accept things. That would backfire even more. "Uh, you should probably text back Stella. I'm not letting you ruin whatever Rachel has with her."
Hot Shot rolled his eyes. "Long as I don't have to be the one on the date." He huffed. "I've seen enough on As the Kitchen Sinks to know these 'date things' are always full of weird situations and never getting to their destination."
Rad stared at him. "What?" he shook his head. "Then just say a movie or something."
"A something is a thing?" Hot Shot asked.
Rad shrugged. "I don't know what you do on a date. Haven't you been on one?"
"Have you?"
Rad glowered at him. "No, I haven't. Just say a movie, like, make it a long time from now."
"Got it." Hot Shot said, typing the reply. He blinked, wincing at the text back. "Uh, I think this person is mad."
"What did you say?"
"That Rachel would date her in a year."
Rad wanted to smack his forehead. "Say it's a joke and she'll go out like, uh, next weekend or something?"
"Right." Hot Shot dubiously, but sighed in relief. "Nice save, this Stella said alright." He said, and put the phone away. He grimaced. "I do not envy Rachel, if that soap is anything to go by."
"You can't believe everything you see in a tv show." Rad replied.
Hot Shot looked at him, crossing his arms. "Oh, just go to your youngling prison of education!" he smirked, sticking his tongue out. "I get to walk free, and not be bothered by this school stuff."
Rad scowled at him, but smirked when he realized the truth. "You still got to do that list though, so ha!" he shot back, smiling as he brushed past him.
Now it was Hot Shot's turn to scowl, storming out the school, and sat with a huff into the cabin of the orange vehicle. He side-eyed the list of things to do. "Smokescreen, what is a farmer's market and where is it?"
"Frag if I know."
Hot Shot slumped over, groaning. "This is going to be a long day."
Despite how much Create's departure and subsequent sulking had stung (even if she knew she had no right to be upset), Rachel was glad at least the mini-cons were taking things in better stride. Granted, she couldn't exactly understand most of them, but Jolt was pleasantly surprised to find she still could, and so was Rachel.
"I'll admit, this is very weird, but it's just one more thing to add to the list." Jolt said, his tone far too nonchalant.
Rachel hummed, a metallic, screeching sound that made her wince. She hoped they found Change and at least kept it in sight until it could be used again. "So have you, uh, always known about Rad's magic?"
"Yes." Jolt said bluntly. "High Wire isn't good with keeping secrets. Lucky for him the rest of us can be a bit more discreet. I'm surprised he didn't blab to you earlier."
"That is something to think over." Rachel said drolly. She shook her head, cables strange to feel move than skin stretch. She had just gotten used to walking again, but it was taking time to get used to everything else.
Up ahead, Rachel noticed the three mini-cons who made up the Star Saber. One of them, Sonar, she hazarded a guess, waved at her, beeping. Jolt looked up at her. "He wants to know if you'd help them train Hot Shot's dexterity. He's, well, not exactly good with using the Star Saber."
Rachel frowned. "Then how can he-" she stopped, because the answer was obvious now. "Right, magic. How does that feel?"
Jetstorm began beeping, Jolt translating for her. "Really weird. Sword isn't the nicest, but it doesn't let us get hurt. It's really proud though, and doesn't exactly like Starscream."
Runway added, "Though it does stop itself from striking him fatally every time."
Rachel blinked. "I see." She said, but really didn't. "Well, I suppose I could help. I've never held a sword before though, so I may not be good at helping Hot Shot."
"Hot Shot isn't good at using a sword, so if you can do it then it'd be an improvement." Rachel looked sharply at Jolt, but he tensed defensively, then pointed accusingly at Sonar. "He said it first, be mad at him."
Rachel shook her head, and she didn't have to understand the mini-con beeping to know Sonar was laughing at Jolt. "I really don't have anything more to do until I get my body back, so why not. Might as well help Hot Shot at least get some muscle memory."
The group stared at her. "What's-"
"Never mind." Rachel said quickly, because she remembered too late that the mini-cons had no idea what that concept even was. "Just take to me a training course or something and let's get to work."
Hot Shot frowned, glaring between two cans of soup. It made his head hurt. Getting through the farmer's market had been a nightmare, picking up one fruit or vegetable, or some such thing he had no idea what it was. Then there was the fact he almost got in trouble because he hadn't remembered humans paid for things with those flimsy pieces of colorful paper.
Just buying those produce had been a hassle, and now he was stuck in the supermarket getting the rest of the food for Rachel's apartment. Hot Shot glowered, setting both cans into the cart. They were both chicken noodle soup, so he'd just get both. Wasn't as though it made a difference.
Hot Shot went to the frozen section, and grabbed a few meals that Rachel had written down. Her handwriting was scratchy and almost gibberish, so he didn't really get what the specifics of the dinners she wanted and just grabbed whatever looked appealing. It wasn't much, given the images did nothing to register what he thought would be good.
Moving on, Hot Shot grabbed the juice and one final stop to some section that had pasta as one of its items. Hot Shot scowled as he found there were at least four different kinds. Dithering, he eventually just grabbed the one with the large round shells and hurried to the check-out. This was one part of human life he could do without, and he tapped his foot impatiently. The cashier gave him a look, but Hot Shot ignored it as he pulled out the money.
"Sorry, but you need twenty more." They said.
Hot Shot was incredulous, looking over the meager groceries he'd gotten. "Are you serious? Just for this? It's not even a lot!"
"I'm sorry, ma'am," the cashier said, sound strained, "but I'm afraid if you can't pay for it, you'll have to leave."
Hot Shot fumed. "Listen you-!"
"Rachel? Are you alright?"
Hot Shot froze, taking a moment to register that the voice was calling him, well not him but-ah, this was so confusing. He looked behind him, seeing the dark-haired man setting down a basket full of food. "Yes, ah, you?" he hated how confused he sounded.
It just made the man look even more concerned, adjusting his glasses before he pulled a twenty from his pocket. "Here, it's on me."
"At least someone has their head on straight, Mr. Cooper." The cashier said blithely, to which Hot Shot scowled as he packed up the groceries.
Hot Shot dragged the bags with him, intent on getting away as fast as he could, his face burning in anger and humiliation. He loaded the bags into the backseat of Smokescreen's cabin, but stalled as Rachel's name was called again.
Cooper looked out of breath, a black bag over his shoulder. He glanced between Hot Shot and Smokescreen, confusion growing in his eyes. "Is there something wrong?" he asked, and Hot Shot tensed, irritated the man sounded so concerned. "You're usually pretty careful about your budget."
"And how would you know that?" Hot Shot snapped before he could stop himself. Cooper flinched back, but Hot Shot forced himself to calm down, to get out of this. He wasn't Rachel, couldn't act as reasonable as she tried to make them see her as, but he wouldn't get out of here without doing that. "You're right, I'm just having a bad day. Stressed out is all." He softened his voice, sounding low and downtrodden.
It surprised him by how much he meant it.
Cooper relaxed, nodding. "I get it. With classes over for the summer, things can't be easy with suddenly trying to get adjusted to the rapid shift in time."
"Oh, you have no idea." Hot Shot replied. "Things have been...really hectic." That sounded like a word Rachel would have used, right? At any rate, it looked like Cooper bought it, as he only nodded.
"I won't even ask to be repaid, just, try not to burn yourself out, okay?" he asked.
Hot Shot had little else to do but nod, and hurried into the driver seat, letting Smokescreen take him away. He found himself tired, and finding that being human wasn't as easy as he thought. 'I think I'll stick to watching my soap opera, then living through one.'
Rad slipped into the broom closet, taking a deep breath as he dialed the number, hoping it was the right one. In case he couldn't get Change in time, he at least wanted a back-up plan to have Rachel and Hot Shot switch back – even if it meant bringing someone else in on the secret.
"Yes, hello. This is Madam Xanadu's Emporium, how may I help you?" It sounded like that worker, Russell? Rad didn't really care, just relieved it was the right number he'd found on the internet.
"Yeah, I'd like to speak with Ms. Masters." Rad said. "I have a…odd problem I need help with."
"I see." The voice was flat now. Rad wondered if the other person was judging him. "Just hold on a moment, I'll go get her."
Rad found he didn't have to wait long, as he heard the woman's voice on the line soon enough. "Hi, you probably don't remember me but-"
"Oh but I do! You're the little Cardcaptor!" Rad grimaced. He wasn't short, but that wasn't important right now. "Russell said it was an 'odd' problem. So what did you need help with, sweetpea?"
Rad sighed heavily. "Right." He said dryly. "I was wondering if you might have been able to help me reverse a – er – body swap problem? Like, two people I know – who are in on the secret – got their minds switched, and I don't know if I can handle this on my own."
Vanessa went 'hmm' for a long moment. "I'm sorry, but my powers don't affect the mind. I only the shape of things. Mind bending and the like are out of my wheelhouse."
Rad frowned. "Oh." He just muttered.
"But chin up, sweetpea. I'm sure you can do this by yourself. You've faced worse, haven't you?"
Rad blanched, because the worst of his misadventures flashed in his mind. "Er, I guess." He said wearily. Shaking his head, he said, "Thanks for the help anyway. Sorry to bother you."
"Oh, it's no bother at all!" Rad could practically hear the smile in her voice. "Don't be a stranger. Just call little dear me if you got any other magical problems. Mundane problems, well, you're out of luck with that."
Rad found himself smiling, his spirits raised despite the dread he still felt. "Okay, thanks." And he really did feel like he could take on Change.
They just needed to find it first.
Rachel held the Star Saber in her hands. She had to use both, because even as a giant robot, it was surprisingly heavy. Jolt had suggested training outside, where there was a better chance that she wouldn't hurt herself on anything – likely obstacles from the course. She wanted to roll her eyes, but found that was something she couldn't do, so had settled for glowering irritably.
Right now though, she was a bit more grateful. Her swings went wide, but when they did hit boulders lying around, it went through them cleanly enough. Rachel stepped forward, but a noise to the right had her whirling around. The saber just managed to stop itself from cutting into Sideways, who looked unperturbed.
"I could have hit you!" Rachels snapped. "Don't do your ninja stealth thing with someone swinging a sword!"
Sideways tilted his head, glancing at the saber slowly lowered the inches from his neck. "I could have dodged it. It wouldn't have landed."
Rachel huffed. "You know. There's being confident in your abilities, and then there's being arrogant."
"Which I am neither." Sideways replied coolly.
Rachel canted her head, because she couldn't roll her eyes. "Does everything you say have to be so cryptic?"
Sideways didn't reply, instead looking around at the haphazardly cut rocks and cliffs. "You are about as on par with the sporadic way in which Hot Shot sometimes is good with the Star Saber."
Rachel grumbled under her breath. "Okay, did you come here to insult me or help me?"
Sideways was silent a moment too long, before he said, "Help, mostly." He gestured to the wide open forest. "I found a suitable place that I was going to show Hot Shot, but I figured you could benefit from learning to use the Star Saber while you have his body."
Rachel sighed heavily. The dig was strong, and she resisted going along with anything he said because of it. On the other hand… "Fine. Lead on, Ninja Bot."
For the first time since she could remember, the other bot twitched, his eyes flashing for a moment. "Don't call me that."
Rachel smirked. 'At least I know he's got actual emotions under that mask.' She thought. "Right." She shook her head, and saluted at Jolt as she followed Sideways down the mountain.
He led her through the trees, the forest thick and not an animal in sight. It was quiet, and she could see why he'd come here. Rachel leaned the inactive Star Saber against her shoulder, gazing up as the canopy was so clustered it only let in streaks of sunlight. It abruptly led to a clearing, full of rocks and almost serene.
"Okay, this is a good training area." Rachel admitted. She could practically feel the three mini-cons humming in agreement.
On the moon base, everyone watched warily (sans Scavenger, who snorted at their demeanor) as Megatron stomped into the command room. His ever-present scowl was gone, his expression unreadable as he looked at each of them.
"What are you staring at?" he asked, his voice deceptively calm. "Did you forget how to work?" He never raised his voice but the threat had both Cyclonus and Demolishor scurrying off to do something, just to look busy. Megatron glared at the remaining three, but his gaze seemed to narrow in on Skywarp. "I can't have these two out of commission, but you have yet to provide anything useful."
Skywarp frowned. "Wha-ack!" his words caught in his vocalizer, turning to a screech as a servo grabbed his wing, and in a moment he found himself being pressed into the floor, servos denting his wings as a pede dug into his back, right on his warp drive and preventing him from flashing away.
"What are you doing? Have you lost your processor!" Starscream shouted, his servo instinctively reaching for his wing sword. Scavenger grabbed his wrist, stopping him and Starscream glared scathingly at him.
"Don't. If you value Skywarp's life you won't attack when he's right under Megatron's pede." Scavenger muttered.
Starscream glared harder at him, scowling. His hand though went slack, and Scavenger released him. Megatron watched, a faint smiled curving lips, but it was a hard, cold turn.
"Good. I knew I found the chink in your plating." He said, and the purple jet let out a strangled groan as the pede dug in deeper. "The next time one of you disrespects me or does not follow my order, I will punish this fool here for your failure. Do we have an understanding?"
Starscream held himself stiff, wings high. "Yes, sir." He gritted out.
Megatron's gaze slid to Scavenger, who held it longer with hard optics. Megatron dug his pede even more, eliciting another shriek from Skywarp. The old mech's features shifted, just for a moment, before nodding. "I'm glad we have reached an agreement." He said casually, releasing Skywarp as though nothing happened.
The red seeker reached for his cousin, but the darker jet slapped his servo away as he scrambled off the floor. Starscream grimaced when Skywarp went to Scavenger instead. 'He's the one who held out!' he wanted to snap, to shake him ask if he was having a glitch. Starscream kept it back though, and instead levelled his anger towards Megatron for doing it in the first place.
The tense silence was broken by a sharp blaring of the mini-con alert, and Megatron sneered at Skywarp. "You can remain," he said snidely, and the jet tensed up, "gather the rest. We leave for the mini-con immediately."
"I can't believe Sideways is unavailable. And Rachel can't exactly help in her current condition." Red Alert said. He wouldn't be grumbling, except that the signal sent them to the arctic. Finding the mini-con out here would take hours with only him and Optimus. "Maya, has the location stopped yet?"
"No, it keeps going." Maya replied. "But even from the sky spy, it's difficult to see anything in this poor visibility."
"Keep on the look-out." Optimus replied. He turned his head, because in this condition they would be lucky to transform into vehicle mode even once, and perhaps not back at all. Not the ideal condition to fight for the mini-con.
The white landscape of was only worsened by the blizzard, obscuring their vision and icing their plates in areas. It was surprising any mini-con would be able to move so quickly in this weather.
"Wait, the signal stopped," Maya said suddenly, "it's just up ahead and-" the line went dead just as abruptly.
"Maya?" Red Alert repeated. He vented. "We'll need to heat out circuit immediately once we return with the mini-con."
"You are both…so blind." A familiar voice said, distorted by the howl of the wind, but the glow of the blue visor in the blizzard was bright enough to stand out. Not as much as the figure squirming in Decal's grasp.
"What are you doing here?" Red Alert demanded. Decal said nothing, save for tilting his head.
"Release the mini-con." Optimus said.
Decal looked to the thing in his grasp. His grip tightened, and with an audible crack – it broke in two. Both Optimus and Red Alert drew their weapons, but stopped short as Decal tossed the pieces at their pedes.
It wasn't a mini-con, but it was small, alien and solid blue. It's circuitry cracked and sizzled with the ice already freezing it. Glowing on its cone, was a blinking bright orb.
"What is this?" Optimus questioned.
"It's called a Seeker Bug. Their normally used for something else, but it looks like he's trickier than I thought." Decal spat. "He's not playing by the script, he never really was."
Red Alert's optic band darkened, both in confusion and irritation. "What are you talking about? Why are you here?" he repeated.
Decal's visor flared blue but his voice remained even. "You both need to go. You've been tricked. Sideways is a traitor, he always was."
The revelation was dropped on them with the force of a plasma blast. Optimus' optics were wide, finally shaken.
"What? How do we know you're not trying to deceive us?"
Decal's lips curled into a snarl, his cool façade cracking. "Unless you both want a dead comrade, you'll go save Hot Shot before Sideways lures him into a trap."
The information jolted them into action. It was pressing, immediate; even if they couldn't trust the words, the fact of it remained. Rachel was Hot Shot right now, and she had no experience in fending off combatants.
Both Autobots warped back to the base, leaving a lone bot standing in the blizzard. His visor dimmed, and his voice echoed quietly, "You'd better not let her die."
"You know, this is actually kind of relaxing." Rachel said, gently swiping the saber over the grass. It was better than swinging aimlessly, and the blade hummed in what felt like agreement. She wondered if the mini-cons had been too polite in not whacking her on the head for almost lodging them through a tree.
Sideways watched her with that ever unknowing expression. "And do you think you could be ready to use the Star Saber proficiently?"
Rachel sighed, the metallic sound ringing in her ears. "No. I'm not sure me or Hot Shot will be ready." The sound of trees cracking echoed sharply, closer than she expected. Rachel turned, and her eyes widened as in the short distance, the Decepticons had arrived. "What are they doing here?"
"Them?" Sideways asked, his tone calm. "Oh, they're here because I sent a false mini-con signal after luring you here."
"Wh-" Rachel stopped, her eyes widening further. She reflexively turned, just to see if she heard him right. 'He couldn't have just said…' When she looked, a fist slammed into her face. It sent a shock through her, the pain slight compared to the horrifying realization of the words.
Rachel landed on the ground, the impact shaking the forest. "Gack!" She grunted, Sideways twisting her arm and it sent the Star Saber flying. It landed in the ground, catching the attention of the Decepticons. Rachel struggled to look up, the spark in her chest so hot it burned the plating, because along with a sudden head change, Sideways sigil had changed from Autobot, to Decepticon.
"I may have failed to kill you when you were in your human body," Sideways said, still eerily calm, "but Megatron certainly won't pass up the chance to kill you in this body."
Rachel snarled, trying to move, but she was unable to from the angle of the grip on her. "You-you were trying to run me over! You fucking bastard! We trusted you!"
The Decepticons stepped into the clearing, and Rachel's spark seized as the leader's eyes looked over the situation. Behind him, Starscream grabbed the Star Saber, preventing them from coming to her aid.
She was completely alone here.
Rad paused as he walked out of the school. He blinked when he saw Hot Shot and Smokescreen drive up the to the curb. Hot Shot was slumped in the driver seat, a scowl on his face, the mess of blonde hair hanging in wild locks down his back and shoulders than tied in its usual ponytail. Rad sighed softly, and made his way up to the orange vehicle. "What happened?" he asked, getting into the passenger seat. Hot Shot scowled harder.
Smokescreen huffed. "It's been one stressful day. Hot Shot's been making a total aft of himself."
"Smokescreen!" Hot Shot's voice went high, glaring daggers at the steering wheel. "Just get us to the base, I want this card caught now!"
Rad shook his head. He just Hot Shot hadn't messed up Rachel's life too much. "What's the damage I should tell Ray?"
"Nothing serious." Hot Shot muttered. "I just, maybe, kept yelling at the annoying cashier people. And maybe I goofed up with the money, but at least I got an interview for a job for her!"
Rad stared at him, and rubbed his brow. Not even the rhythm of the vehicle driving along the road calmed him. "This is terrific." He drawled. "Ray's going to be so happy with a job, it'll ease the pain of being a pariah with getting dirty looks for her poor behavior."
Hot Shot glowered at him. "You don't have to rub it in. I tried to be human and it's majorly sucking! I'll stick my soaps-ack!" he pounded on his chest, coughing as he remembered to breathe again.
The blond rolled his eyes, and glanced out the window to the mountain coming up. He couldn't wait to see how Rachel was doing. Hopefully better than Hot Shot had been. 'There's not a lot to get up to in a base after all.'
When they got to the base though, no one was milling around. There was faint chattering from the command room, nondescript at first before words formed. They stopped abruptly when the group reached, Optimus, Red Alert and Maya looking at them in unison. It was kinda creepy, and worrying.
"What happened?" Hot Shot asked. "Did the 'Cons get a mini-con while I've been stuck in Rachel's body?"
The reaction was…odd. All three tensed, Maya looking sharply away, Red Alert's fist clenching and Optimus' fin curved down. Rad bit his lip.
"Seriously, is something wrong? Where's Rachel?"
"We…we don't know." Red Alert said quietly. Rad jerked back at that, especially with what the medic said next, bitterness lacing his words. "We were tricked into going after a false mini-con signal, and…and Sideways is a traitor! He lured Rachel from the base, and now he's done something to block their signals."
"Red Alert!" Optimus admonished the blue robot, but he sounded more worried than annoyed.
Rad though felt the world slow, his heart racing as blood pounded in his ears. Sideways was a traitor. The words wouldn't stop ringing through his head, mocking him with each repeat of it, of how all this time he'd been so thoroughly fooled. 'I – I convinced everyone he was okay, that he wasn't a danger –'
And now Rachel was out there with him, stuck in a body she couldn't hope to control to fight in. What was going on? Why weren't they trying harder? What if she was -was-? Rad's vision blurred, everything tilting up as his knees gave out.
"Rad!" It was Rachel's voice, but Rad knew it wasn't really her. As he lost consciousness, he realized it might never be her again. And that terrified him.
Rachel's thoughts were racing, more frantic and terrified with each passing moment. She was dead if she didn't do something and dead if she tried. There had always been something comforting in the fact Megatron had always just missed her, never actually managing to take her out, whether due to her quickness or just luck – now here she was, helpless and trapped in a body not her own, the body of someone Megatron equally loathed.
Rather than look gleeful or triumphant, Megatron looked suspicious, his red eyes looking at Sideways, his gaze narrowing in on the purple symbol. "And I'm just supposed to accept this is not some Autobot trick?" he asked gruffly.
None probably saw it, but Rachel felt it from the weight of the purple mech's leg on her back. He twitched, he was surprised by this as much as Rachel. Unfortunately, he recovered fast. "I couldn't very well blow my cover for something so trivial," Sideways said evenly, "it had to be to have something useful. I found both having the Star Saber brought to you as well as give you the opportunity to kill at least two of your troubles for one to be worth it."
"Two?" Megatron repeated, the other Decepticons oddly silent as they were looking at their leader than the scene in front of them.
Sideways nodded. "Due to a mishap with an energy being, those cards which have been appearing," now the leader's attention was piqued, "the organic human, Rachel, she and Hot Shot had their minds switched. Rachel resides in his body, and Hot Shot resides in hers."
"That is something." Megatron muttered, and looked once more at Rachel, but his words were for Sideways. "And you can give us valuable information on these energy beings?"
"Yes, of course, if you wish that of me." The purple bot said.
Rachel's temper flared, the betrayal stinging even harder. "You-!" she found her head being stamped into the ground, Megatron having slammed his foot on her. Her helmet creaked under the pressure.
His expression never changed, set in a grim, angry line. "You have been nothing but a pain to me, wretched human." Something echoed in his tone, and for a moment Rachel swore she heard another voice overlap with his. "And now I will finally kill you like the insect you are, unworthy wretch."
Rachel flinched, waiting for the impact of the heel. The impact shook the ground, but the pain didn't come, she cautiously peaked up. Her eyes widened when she found that old purple and green bot had knocked Megatron's leg away, the foot causing a small crater. Everyone but Megatron looked surprised, he just glared at him.
"What did you think that would accomplish?" he growled in a low voice.
Scavenger looked unconcerned. "Rather than let your revenge blind you, think about this tactfully. You can use this one to hand over the rest of the mini-cons in exchange. Isn't that worth more to you?"
Megatron's expression seemed to make him think he was fighting with himself, and he pulled back with a scowl. "Very well, I will not kill…this thing – at least right now." He glanced back to the rest of the troops. "Head back to the base, and make sure the Star Saber does not escape."
As the three 'Cons warped out, Sideways grip tightened and Rachel cringed. "You should kill her now," he insisted, "you never know who could come to the rescue."
Megatron snorted. "If you're so clever, then the Autobots will be spinning their wheels to find the insect."
"But-" Sideways retort was cut off as Megatron waved a hand sharply, finally looking annoyed.
"Scavenger, bring the prisoner in, while I take our new comrade back." Megatron said. He placed a heavy hand on Sideways' shoulder, but the purple mech tried to speak, only for them both to warp away.
Rachel grunted as she was released, spark racing as she winced in trying to scramble away. "I'm not going anywhere without a fight?"
Scavenger raised a brow, crossing his arms. "You'd fight me all the back to the Autobot base?"
Rachel stilled. "W-what?"
Hot Shot was stomping mad, an anger he hadn't in so long came even sharper in from the knowledge that Sideways played all them like fools. "That creep's gonna pay if he hurts Rachel, or myself – or-ahh! I can't take this anymore!" he gripped the locks of hair, wanting to scream to Primus for everything to go back to normal.
"Panicking won't solve anything." Optimus said, glancing over as Smokescreen had picked up Rad and was holding him carefully. "Red Alert and Maya are working on finding them – "
"The signal just came back up." Maya interrupted, and everyone gathered to see the scene appear on the sky spy.
Hot Shot flinched when he saw Rachel lying on the ground, and Scavenger standing there. "Frag, the Decepticons are already there, we gotta hurry!"
"Something's not right, this is registering two Autobot signals, but there's only…" Red Alert trailed off. He looked sharply at Optimus. "Did you know?" he asked tightly.
Hot Shot looked between them, frowning. "Know what? We have to save her from him!"
Optimus vented heavily. "If there is indeed two signals, then…I believe there is no point in hiding it any longer. Maya, put in the coordinates to the location."
"Why aren't you being more worried about this, Optimus?" Smokescreen asked.
Instead, it was Red Alert who answered, "Because he knows that right now Rachel isn't in any danger, right, Optimus Prime?"
Hot Shot's stomach twisted, frowning deeply. "Seriously, what is going on? Why isn't Rachel in danger? Scavenger's done nothing but beat me up and insult me!"
"That was part of his cover," Optimus said heavily, "to be a Decepticon loyalist, he needed to act the part. And now, he's decided that his undercover work is done."
The room went silent, the revelation hanging in the air a moment, before Maya said quietly, "The warp gate is ready."
Rachel shook her head, slowly backing away. "That can't be true. You're just trying to trick me, like Sideways did to us all!"
Scavenger's lips pressed into a hard line. "If he did not suggest I was already a spy, I wouldn't be telling you this. Even I'm not foolish enough to go back there now that Sideways has likely already ratted me out." He said gruffly. "Better to cut my losses and take what intel I have to Optimus."
"Don't you mean turn traitor?" Rachel retorted heatedly.
Scavenger outright scowled at her. "I could have kept my cover, and let Megatron kill you." He said coldly, and Rachel flinched despite herself. "You are as much a punk to me as the one who normally possesses that body. Are you going to sit there or are you going to go back to the base so I can report in to Prime?"
The sound of a warp gate activating rang out, and Rachel tensed as several figures appeared. She found herself unwinding before she knew it, leaning down as her own body came running up. "What…?" she trailed off, seeing Optimus and Red Alert step into the clearing. Her eyes found the Autobot leader's.
"Do not fear, Rachel. Scavenger has been my spy in the Decepticon ranks for many a millennia." He said. The purple and green bot sent a clear 'I told you so look', one so petty that Rachel scowled at him.
"You have a lot to explain." Rachel said, but she wasn't sure who it was meant for as she picked Hot Shot up.
"Yes, quite a lot." Red Alert added frostily, with a glare towards Optimus. "Though I suggest we take this back to the base before the Decepticons show up."
"Finally, someone sees reason." Scavenger said, smirking. "No wonder you kept the medic, Orion."
Optimus stiffened, and Red Alert scowled deeply. "I'll warp Scavenger back, Red Alert - " he stopped, seeing as the medic had already gone to Rachel and Hot Shot, grabbing both without a word before warping away. "He is taking this worst than I thought."
Scavenger shrugged. "Still better than your last one."
On the moon base, there was a long stretch of silence, everyone staring at Megatron, who stared hard at the warp gate. The wake of Sideways' outburst as they came back about Scavenger's true allegiance was deafening. The only sound was Skywarp's groaning, where he lied from being smacked into the wall by Megatron when he tried to attack Sideways for bad mouthing Scavenger.
As moments ticked by and Scavenger never arrived, Megatron's lips curled back into a snarl as he rounded on Sideways. "Why didn't you say something sooner?!" he shouted, any previous coolness gone.
Sideways stared back evenly. "You didn't give me enough time to explain."
Megatron pulled back, optics narrowed. His fist clenched, but he did not strike. "Then you had better have some useful information about the Autobots, and that organic boy."
"I do, Lord Megatron." Sideways replied. "Rad told me everything."
"I'm so sorry."
Rad stared at the vast expanse, his eyes unseeing as he could only stay collapsed on his knees. This empty landscape was dark, no light around him. It was suffocating, his heart twisting as he was numb, to the cold of the darkness. He was too numb to even cry, to feel something more than crushing despair. 'He used me, he was a Decepticon, he used me. I liked him so much, and he used me.' The thought kept repeating, weighing even more down on him.
"I'm so sorry."
Around him, out of the darkness came the Sakura Cards. He numbly looked at them, seeing they were the ones he'd caught so far. The lot of them chimed, glowing soft blue, a comforting wave washing over him that had him gasping. He felt their concern, their worry. In the back of his mind, he felt the connection he had to them, to even Create and Change. The former paused in its sulking, faltering, before pulling away. Create stilled completely, anger and worry competing in itself. It finally pulled back, but Rad leaned into the comfort of he cards he still had.
"I was such an idiot. I thought he liked me too." Rad whispered. "I told him everything, he knows everything. How am I supposed to come back from this? This information is in the hands of the Decepticons!"
"You've come back from worse. Don't let one selfish mecha stop you."
Rad gasped, feeling a strange warmth coming from inside of him. He touched his chest, breathing deeply as the feelings of the cards broke even more through his despair. It was still there, but now...the connection he had with them, with what friends he still had came back to him. His fist clenched, eyes squeezed shut. "Yes, I...I can do this." he murmured. It was a weak reassurance, but the best thing he could do was to keep the cards away from the Decepticons. "I...I'll protect you from them."
Rad slowly opened his eyes, and blinked as he found himself staring at a ceiling. He furrowed his brow, but his eyes widened as a face appeared over him. Two, in fact. Both Hot Shot and Rachel looked worried, the expressions for once so much like their own, that is made his heart ache. Then the realization hit him. "You're okay!" he shouted, relief flooding more through him.
The yellow robot sighed, nodding. There wasn't a smile, but it looked close enough. "Yes." The tone was tight, but still relieved. "How are you feeling?"
"Me? What about you? What happened!" Rad tried to sit up, and Rachel-Hot Shot-helped him sit up, holding his back securely. Rad stopped when once he was up, he saw an unpleasantly familiar bot standing in the base. "Rachel, what is Scavenger doing here?" he asked blankly.
Rachel growled lowly. "Turns out he was an Autobot spy, surprise." she said flatly.
Rad blinked slowly, and looked away sharply. "I need some air."
"Right, sounds like a good idea to me." Hot Shot said, and helped Rad up.
The blond felt Scavenger's gaze on him, but the robot didn't say anything - for once. Rad gritted his teeth, trying not to feel bitter. 'Sideways betrayed me-us, and we get Scavenger?' he thought. It made him bite his tongue, hobbling out of the command room. He breathed in the air once outside, staring up at the dark sky. Rad frowned. "How long have I been out for?"
"About five hours. When I looked at the time, it was almost midnight." Hot Shot replied.
Rad smiled, but it was sad. "Funny how I get to be up this late then." he shook his head. For a moment, he was silent, then, "So, Scavenger really is legit?"
"Yeah." Hot Shot said reluctantly. "Optimus vouched for him and everything." he rolled his eyes. "I thought Red Alert was going to blow a gasket he was glaring so hard at Optimus."
Rad sighed. "It does sound like a hard thing to accept." he mumbled. Hot Shot stared at him, but both looked up as they heard a swish of air above them. Rad's eyes widened, seeing a pink card floating through the air. It gently came to Rad, and he stretched out his hand, catching the card. He stared in disbelief, down at the face of the Change card. It pulsed blue, and Rad felt it's uncertainty, but acceptance, and Rad got a flash of himself from the card's view. Rad breathed in deeply, and smiled softly. 'Thank you, Change, for deciding to trust me.'
Hot Shot peered at the card. He stiffened, blinking. "So, this is...odd."
Rad nodded slightly. "Yeah, but, are you really complaining?"
Hot Shot shook his head, long hair flying. "No, no, absolutely not!" his grip tightened on Rad's arm. "Let's get Rachel so we can at least end this day well!"
"If it's midnight, doesn't that mean it's already tomorrow?" Rad questioned, but Hot Shot glowered at him. Rad huffed, but decided to play along.
Really, after this day, everyone could use some good news.
