I woke up to something licking my cheek, and when I opened my eyes, I saw a panther's face in my face. I panicked and pushed it away from me. It let out a yowl of surprise and landed on the floor with a loud crash. I froze and everything came back to me.
"Crap! Are you okay?!" I pushed myself up onto my elbows, looking down at a rather surprised Siege. A message blipped into my vision.
[Siege:Ah, my tail...Yeah, I'm fine. What was that for?_] He stood up and tried to shake himself out, only to realize how tight the benches were pressed together. He shot me a flat look.
"It wasn't on purpose..." I muttered. Siege climbed back onto the bench and laid down, pressing into my stomach. I rubbed his ears as an apology, careful not to catch myself on his plating. Renegade messaged me.
[Rgade:Bit of a rude awakening if you ask me_] I and had to retype my response once or twice out of sheer embarrassment.
[Neal:It's not my fault, he woke me up!_]
[Siege:Don't drag me into this_]
[Neal:Dragged yourself in when you woke me up!_] Siege lifted his head and bunted my chest gently.
[Siege:No need to get hostile_] I rubbed over his ears some more. He leaned against me and set his head on my chest, purring.
[Siege:So, how did you meet Renegade?_]
[Neal:He kidnapped me_]
[Rgade:I did not!_] I could practically feel Renegade reeling back from the comment, his engine revving.
[Neal:Did too!_]
[Rgade:I did not, now stop being a sparkling_]
[Neal:You took me away from my friends and family, held me against my will, and expected me to help you. Sounds like a captive to me_] Siege's ears perked up.
[Siege:You really did kidnap him_]
[Rgade:Thanks Neal, now he thinks I kidnap human sparklings_] I could hear the sarcasm in the message.
[Neal:No problem_] I laid my head back on the bench. I lifted it again when my mom spoke up.
"Renegade," My mom suddenly asked.
"Yes ma'am?"
"Would it be too much trouble to make a pit stop?"
"Of course not." Renegade said.
"Thank you." I smiled at my mom when she glanced in my direction. "My, you two have really become close already." She noted.
"Doesn't help when a metal cat weighing half a ton thinks you make a good pillow," I snarked. Siege winked at me in good humor.
Renegade pulled up to a gas station and my mom and I walked inside, Siege wisely staying inside Renegade. We refreshed ourselves and got a quick lunch, grabbing a few snacks that wouldn't make a mess. We were walking back out and I noticed a black car with purple highlights roll up next to Renegade.
It shifted into a twenty foot Con, who's arm shifted into a gun that immediately whined with energy.
"Traitor scrap!" The Con growled. I grabbed my mom's hand and ran back towards the building.
"Mom back inside!" Siege leapt out of Renegade's open doors and landed on the Con's chest plate, digging into it with his sharp claws. The Con threw Siege off, who rolled to his feet and roared at it. Renegade transformed and stomped over.
The smaller Con cowered at the sight of the forty foot behemoth. It shouted and took a flying leap at him, only for him to grab it by the face and slam it into the ground, cracking the pavement.
'That's gonna leave a dent…' I almost felt bad for the relatively little guy. Renegade took a step back and pulled out his sword, which proceeded to ignite in a blood red flame that matched his eyes. I watched in awe as Renegade pointed it at the Con.
"Tell your coward of a leader if he wants a fight, a fight is what he will get." The Con transformed and sped away without a word. I quickly ran over to Siege and checked on him. He was fine. Renegade extinguished his sword and replaced it on his back, then knelt down. "Are any of you hurt?"
"No, we're fine. Lucky that Con didn't get a shot off."
"I wouldn't have felt such a tiny blow." I shrugged, still not wanting to see my friend hurt.
"Well, yeah, but still. Not the brightest Con around, was he?" Renegade shook his head.
"That was an ineffective strategy." I snorted.
"There was no strategy," I said.
"That was?" I turned to my mom, who was shaking a little. I took her hand. Renegade transformed and we stepped on after checking our stuff.
"A Decepticon." I sat her down on the bench.
"I didn't realize they could move so quickly."
"They aren't your sci-fi run-of-the-mill robots. They can move even faster than that too." She nodded.
"This is more dangerous than I thought," She looked up at me, "Are you sure you want to go through with this?"
"Yes mom, I'm not worried," I patted Siege's shoulder as he curled up on the bench behind me. "Especially with both of them around." Renegade rumbled on as he spoke.
"That was unfortunate. I will not be so unaware again."
"Same here." We settled in for the ride.
««{{¤}}»»
After about two days of travel, (Optimus was right, Arcee was a LOT faster.) and thankfully no more disturbances, we got to the base. Renegade rolled in, and I looked around to see Bots strewn about. Renegade stopped and let us out. My mom stood just behind my shoulder while Siege flanked her, looking around.
[Siege:There are more than I thought_]
[Neal:Same here. Either most were off base, or more have arrived in the few days since I was last here_] I saw Optimus walk out of a hanger. He spotted us and walked over while Renegade transformed. They nodded at each other and Optimus looked down at us. He blinked in surprise and knelt down, giving him a better look.
"Neal, I understood you were bringing your mother. But who is this?"
"This is Siege, a neutral who became friends with my dad a while back."
"I have not heard of truly neutral Minicons on this planet before." Siege's jaw clicked open a little.
"Good to meet you," He said in a variety of voices. Optimus acknowledged him for a second longer before turning to my mother.
"Ma'am, I am honest when I say we were not expecting you."
"I wasn't expecting this either. But I saw when one of those other robots tried to kidnap my son," Optimus pulled back a little and looked at me.
"Is this true?"
"Yeah. Uh, Renegade kind of had to go mythical to get me back, but it's okay! I wasn't hurt," I hurriedly explained. Optimus nodded. He then turned to Siege, who was looking him over with a small amount of awe.
"Neal said you are neutral? May I ask why?" Siege tilted his head to the side, and I heard something shift and click. His mouth opened but stayed still as a garbled voice came out.
"Protect." He jerked his head towards my mom.
"And why did you reveal yourself to these humans?"
"Protected, one." Optimus nodded.
"And you wish to stay with them?" Siege nodded. "I see nothing wrong with that." Optimus stood to his full height, looking at Renegade. "We have a room set up to accommodate both you and Neal. I will notify Ratchet and get another room for his mother." Renegade nodded.
"Thank you Optimus. She was not part of the plan. But, as I'm sure you know, plans change." Optimus nodded. He turned as Ratchet walked into the room.
"Optimus?"
"Will you please set up another human room in Renegade's quarters? We have an unexpected guest." Ratchet looked down and blinked in surprise. It only took him half a second to guess who the new woman standing next to the newest member of their ragtag group was.
"Don't tell me you just brought your mother into this!" He shot a look at me. I returned fire immediately.
"Not like I had a choice! The Cons knew where I lived!" Ratchet sighed.
"...Fair enough. I will have the room ready in about 5 minutes." He walked off, shaking his head. I sighed and dropped my shoulders. My mom looked at me, still nervous.
"I'm not causing any trouble, am I?" I looked at her.
"No mom, Ratchet just has a screw loose."
"Neal, that isn't nice!"
"It's a mutual thing, mom. Besides, he is the one who gave me this thing." I held up my arm, gesturing to the device strapped to my wrist. She didn't look very comforted. Renegade spoke up after a moment of silence.
"Optimus will show us to the room we will be staying in," He knelt down and placed his hand on the ground. I climbed up and helped my mom step up. Renegade lifted us up to his chest, holding us against it as he walked. Siege chose to pad along beside him, looking around. Optimus walked to the far end of the hall and opened a door. He stepped in and I looked around in awe.
There was a digital interface the size of a jumbotron on the wall, and there was a platform acting as Renegade's bed in the corner. Ratchet was kneeling down in the other corner. He set a box on the ground and pressed a button on it. It unfolded and formed identical to a room next to it. Renegade stepped over and set his hand down. We stepped off and Siege rubbed against my leg.
I opened the door to the first room. It was simple and clean. There was a couch with a kitchenette off in one corner. The other corner was walled off in what I assume was the bed/bathroom.
"Neat place."
"I designed it for the bare necessities for you humans."
"This is really cool." Renegade set our stuff down outside of the doors, and I dragged mine into my room. Siege immediately made himself comfortable on the bed. I shot him a look.
"No animals on the bed." He looked at me, tilting his nose up slightly.
[Siege:I am not some unintelligent, feral fleshy. I just look like one_] He grumbled as he dropped his head onto the mattress.
"Siege."
[Siege:No_] I sighed and hung my head back.
"Fine. Just don't rip the sheets please?" He laid on his side and stretched out.
[Siege:Don't blame me if they get snagged on my plating_]
"I will blame you, actually." I folded my arms and shook my head. I turned and unpacked my stuff, putting it in the closet and dresser. I turned to find him still laying there, his front paws crossed. His tail flicked through the air lazily, a short, quiet hum coming from it. "Why does your tail hum?"
[Siege:It does when the plating reaches a certain speed. And when I'm focused on a target_] He added after a second.
"Well, what are you homing in on right now?" His tail curled around his back legs.
[Siege:Nothing. I guess I picked up on animal habits throughout my time on your...internet_] I snorted.
"So you were conditioned then." His back plating raised, and his ears went back a little.
[Siege:Don't think me so simple as to fall for that. I am no mere human_] I turned to him, a wary offense coming across my face.
"What are you saying…?"
[Siege:Humans have changed throughout history. Even as short of a history as you have. It is concerning how quickly you adapt. Such change is unwarranted. You should fight to stay as you are_]
"We adapt to survive. And because of that, we are top of the food chain on this planet. We are still as stubborn and bull headed as ever. Something wants to kill us, we spit at its feet and say, 'try harder'." Siege's eyes widened a little and it looked like he was convulsing. Then I realized he was laughing at me.
[Siege:Humans are strange indeed_]
"Well, there is the majority who are normal."
[Siege:Like you?_] I snorted, then gave a short laugh before dropping any sort of smile.
"No." He pulled his head back a little.
[Siege:You switch emotions faster than I could blow a gasket_]
"That's what happens when you're born insane," I flashed a grin at him, making him knead the bed for half a second. He looked at his paws before stopped, lowering his ears as I chuckled.
[Siege:Shut up_]
[Rgade:If you two are quite finished_] I perked up at the new message.
"Oops, looks like we're needed." Siege hopped off the bed and stepped over to flank me as I walked out of the door. We moved out of our little room and I looked up to see Renegade kneeling there.
"Neal, Ratchet wants to look at your eye. I informed him it was bothering you a little earlier." I rolled my eyes.
"Yes mother." *Smack* "...Should'a seen that one coming." I mumbled as I lifted my head up and looked to my left, my mom lowering her hand back to her side. "You were, uh, not supposed to hear that..." My mom shot me a silent look and turned to Renegade.
"Is Ratchet the green one from earlier?"
"Yes ma'am. He has extensively studied human anatomy." Renegade set his hand on the ground and I stepped up. Siege hopped up, but I turned to him.
"Could you stay with her?" His tail swished through the air, but he hopped down without complaint, already used to staying around her. He gently pushed around her legs as Renegade stood to his full height and walked out.
He stepped into Ratchet's office and set his hand on the desk. I stepped off and he looked to Ratchet, who had his back turned. Before Renegade could even open his mouth, Ratchet absentmindedly spoke.
"I will be with you in a minute." I sat down and crossed my legs, folding my arms.
"And now, we wait." I whispered.
««{{¤}}»»
In all reality, it only took Ratchet 5 minutes to get to us, kicking out the obnoxious bot he had been working on.
"Now, you said your eye was bugging you?"
"Yeah, I wanted to make sure it wasn't going on the fritz or something after you gave me control." He shot me a look and I put my hands up. "Hey, even the best people in their fields make mistakes. Maybe it's just irritating because I know it's there now."
"Alright, lay back." His fingers split into multiple tools, giving me a sense of Deja vu. One sprayed a gentle mist over my right eye, and I felt everything around it go numb. He got to work, checking over the hardware. Once he was done with that, he pulled out a data pad and started looking over it. "Hm...It appears to be working fine. I didn't notice anything that would be out of the ordinary."
"So why did it itch like that?"
"I am not sure." I stood up.
"Well if there's nothing wrong with it, thanks for checking anyways."
"Of course. Now, scram, I've got plenty of others to check on today." I mock saluted him and walked over to Renegade, skipping out of Ratchet's reach as he made a swipe at me. Renegade picked me up and we headed back to our room. Once he set me down I bade him a good night before retiring to my room. I stepped into the bedroom and stopped. Siege was laying on the bed. I sighed through my nose.
"Comfy bed with a metal cat, or floor..."
[Siege:Hey…_]
"Just pointing out the facts." I laid down on the other side and sighed. "Just stay on your side please? I don't need to be crushed."
[Siege:You are cruel_]
"I'm just being honest Siege. You weigh more than twice as much as me and you're made of metal. You would probably flatten me." He pushed himself up into a sitting position. He stood up and squinted at me.
[Siege:You want to test that theory?_]
"Ah, no, I'm good...!" I started to slide out of bed, but his paw planted itself right next to my head, making me freeze when I saw the tips of his claws poking out. He moved so he was standing over me, his purple eyes glowing with mischief as he stared at me. "Siege, please don't. Gah!" He started to lower himself and I put my hands on his chest, pushing back with everything I had. He slowly put his weight on me.
"Okay, you win! Ger-off!" I gave one solid push and rolled him off of me and onto the other side of the bed. I collapsed back in my spot and he curled up next to me, dropping his head on my stomach and making me cough. "Gol-ly, watch wher-MPH!" Siege planted a paw on my face, effectively shutting me up.
[Siege:Shut. Up_] I pushed his paw off and sighed.
"This is going to be a long day..." We both relaxed after that. I went through my device to see if I could hook up with any friends and let them know I'm okay.
I had honestly lost track of the days.