I slowly blinked my eyes open from my light doze and found Siege on his back, paws in the air, tucked up right next to me. I smiled as his tail lazily flicked through the air with a whispering whistle. I slid off the bed as quietly as possible.
I came out of the shower a while later, drying my face off after shaving. Opening my eyes, I saw Siege sitting on the edge of the bed, stretching his neck forward to stare at me. I leaned back a little.
"May I, help you?" I asked, a little put off by his gaze. His nostrils flared.
[Siege:You smell different. What were you doing in there?_]
"I took a shower...?" He tilted his head and hopped off the bed, stepping into the bathroom and sniffing around.
[Siege:You clean yourself in here?_]
"Yeah. Most humans do. Wait, you lived in my house for a long time, how did you never see the bathroom?"
[Siege:I did not wish to blow my cover being spotted moving through the house_] I shrugged.
"I guess that makes sense." He stepped out, looking over his shoulder at the plastic tub.
[Siege:Much too fragile for me_]
"Well, it's a good thing it's not for you then." He hopped on the bed as I threw on a clean shirt.
[Siege:Why do you wear that ridiculous cloth?_]
"It's called modesty, Siege. Maybe you could try it out." His eyes squinted.
[Siege:I am doing no such thing_]
"I have a spare shirt you could try on?"
[Siege:I will not participate in such acts. I am out of here_] He hopped off the bed and slunk out of the room. I rolled my eyes at his drama.
"No...wait...come back..." I mumbled as I held up a spare shirt. I snorted to myself and finished getting changed. I donned my simple black coat and wrapped a grey scarf around my neck, both tails on the left side. The shorter tail resting just above my belt in front while the longer one fell farther down my back.
««{{¤}}»»
I stepped out of my room and looked around.
"Neal," I looked up to see Renegade and saw Siege on his shoulder. I waved at them.
"Hey Renegade."
"How did you sleep?"
"Fairly well. I thought having Siege next to me would be uncomfortable, but I actually slept fine."
[Siege:That is your opinion, I couldn't enter recharge for some time. Something felt off. Still does_]
"Is it because you weren't stuck in your cube form the whole time?" He shook his head.
[Siege:No, but I don't know what it was_] I shrugged.
"Maybe you're just paranoid." He playfully growled at me from his multi-ton perch. My mom stepped out of her room after a few minutes, and Renegade gave us a lift to the mess hall. It was obviously designed for the Bots, but they had made accommodations for us "puny fleshlings," as one Bot had so kindly put it.
"Wouldn't be talking so tough if our places were reversed…" I grumbled under my breath. As we ate, I perked up when I noticed Jessica and Arcee walking over.
"Hey Neal!"
"Hey Jessica," I turned to gesture to my mom, "This is my mom. Mom, this is Jessica. She's kind of in the same boat as I am. And this is Arcee, her guardian." They shook hands, and Arcee leaned forward to hold out a couple of fingers.
"Well it's good to meet you Jessica, Arcee."
"You as well." Jessica and Arcee joined us and they and my mom got acquainted. We all enjoyed a good talk as we ate, and soon we heard an intercom kick on.
"All Bots report to main hanger. I repeat, all Bots report to main hanger." I took one last bite and stood up, tossing the last of my meal in a nearby bin.
"Welp, there goes our break from excitement."
««{{¤}}»»
"Autobots, we have 17 individual Deceptions heading to our location," Optimus Prime stood at the entrance to the hangar, looking over our combined people. My heart froze.
"Did…Did I lead them here?" I paled at the thought. "They only found the base after Soundwave started talking with me!" I whispered under my breath. I felt Siege, who was sitting next to me, bump me with his shoulder.
[Siege:Not the time for the, Neal. Renegade and I will talk about it with you later_] Optimus continued to speak, not giving me a chance to respond.
"We need any available hands on deck. I know some of you are not combatants. But if you have weapons, we just might need you," Optimus looked a little more nervous than he should have in my opinion. Sure, there were 17 of them, but there are almost as many Bots standing in the room. I glanced at Siege.
"Think they'll make you fight?" Siege shook his head.
[Siege:They couldn't force me from your side. I was assigned by your parental figure to protect you, and that is what I will do_] I blinked at him before shrugging.
[Neal:Fair enough_] I responded via message as Optimus continued.
"All human companions will stay here, away from the battle. Only under dire circumstances are you to engage a Decepticon. You will certainly be killed if you do." I grimly stared at the second largest Bot in the room. He was right, We stood no chance against the Cons. I looked over at my mom and saw worry seeping through her façade. I placed a hand on her shoulder.
"Don't worry mom, they won't get far. Besides, dad taught me everything he knows about firearms, remember? I'll help if they need it." She smiled, the worry growing in her features.
"That's what I'm afraid of."
««{{¤}}»»
"Now I know why she was scared!" Siege and I ran around the outskirts of the fight, sniping any stray openings to try and knock some of the Cons off balance to give our allies some help. They had gotten to the base rather quickly, and us few humans had been backed into a corner, only for three Autobots to come in and start wrecking house.
I ducked behind a small warehouse and leveled my rifle. Both eyes stayed open, my robotic eye giving me a secondary reticle for better aim.
*BANG* A bullet blasted through the eye of a Con that was getting too close to where the rest of the humans were holed up, making him shriek in pain. I smirked darkly even as I ducked around the corner, leaving the Con confused as to where he had been attacked from. The next three bullets ripped through the same Con's already weakened knee plate, making him squawk as he nearly went down. He spun around and spotted me, a growl in his throat as he leveled his own weapon at me.
"Pathetic fleshling...!" My eyes widened and I ducked behind the building, diving into a roll as a concussive explosion tore apart the corner of the building where I had just been. I scrambled to my feet, only to have to leap out of the way of another explosion as the Con followed me.
"Dodge this you puny weakling!" I could only sprint for my life as he shot blast after blast, somehow missing me. I ducked around another corner, only to get smacked by an explosion of steel as said structure was blown apart. I landed heavily on the ground and rolled onto my back, gasping at the pain from multiple soon-to-be-bruises and fresh cuts. The Con stomped around the corner and stopped to laugh menacingly.
"All you fleshlings are the same," He dropped to his good knee and leaned over me, a growl in his throat. "Never fighting, always running." He raised a fist and I retorted through my teeth.
"Fight this you-!" I snapped my rifle up, flicking a switch on the side, and unleashed a spray of bullets right in the Con's face.
"AAAAHH! I'LL KILL YOU!" I quickly rolled away as his fist smashed the concrete where I had just been. I moved out of his reach as I replaced my mag, grateful I had grabbed an ammo belt. I dropped and spun on a knee, lighting off three more shots as the Con charged me. Siege leaped onto his back and tore into him with wicked long claws, ripping into the plating, causing the Con to shout in pain and twist around, trying to knock him off.
"Hold 'em Siege!" I ripped into the Con's bad knee with a spray of metal, emptying a full mag into it before it finally gave out, dropping him.
"RAH!" The Con fired wildly, and I yelped as I threw myself behind the nearest object. Siege was thrown off and rolled on the ground before he too ducked behind cover. The Con couldn't see where we were and paused in his rampage. I whipped out while dropping to a knee, taking half a second to aim, speaking loud enough for the Con to hear me.
"Blinded by a human," He spun to look at me, and his remaining optic locked onto my gaze through the scope. "Pathetic." His eye widened and his mouth opened, the start of a shout just barely reaching my ears. The Con shrieked in pain as I blasted out his second eye. He lashed out wildly, and Siege and I retreated to a safe distance. He fired at nothing but air and I knew we had to somehow put him down before it got worse. The walls were doing nothing to slow down his ammunition.
"Renegade! Any moment, a rescue would be appreciated!" I shouted through my com.
"Why can't you do what you're told!"
"I did! I drew the stupid Cons away from the rest of the humans! I've already blinde-sonnova-!" I took a flying leap to my left as the Con's blind fire whirled around in my direction, blasting the floor in a deadly line leading to my current position. I knew I wasn't going to escape the train of bullets heading towards me.
'Why didn't I stay with the others?!' The thought flashed through my mind as I saw the concrete being blown apart like it was styrofoam. I saw Siege off to my right, running full tilt towards me, looking like a bullet himself. He leaped at me and my eyes widened as he seemed to shatter into a million pieces. His shifting front right leg latched onto my right arm and wrapped around it, pulling me in as I was twisted to face away from him.
The explosions were only 20 feet away, then 15, then 10, then 5. Siege's body wrapped around mine, fully encasing me in his metal form before we were knocked away by the gun fire. I coughed as we slammed into a wall and hit the floor. I opened my eyes, but I was completely blind. I groaned and tried to get up, but I couldn't move.
"Siege?! Wha-!" I broke into a coughing fit as my ribs ached in pain. "Ow…"
[Siege:Neal! Are you okay?!_] I felt his body help me to stand, and his metal slowly shifted away from my face. I saw the Con on the ground, unmoving as Renegade pulled his sword out of their back.
"What just ha-gah-!" My ribs flared in pain again, but I couldn't put my hand on my chest, his form was too heavy. I heard metal shifting and Siege's form almost morphed off of my body and back to normal. His nose poked at my lower ribs and I winced, gently pushing him back. "Ow ow ow, don't touch." Renegade knelt in front of me, a hand on the ground for balance.
"Neal, what happened?"
"That's, nh, what I wanna know." Shallow breathing helped to alleviate some of the pain, but I had never bruised a rib before, so this pain was new to me. I carefully climbed onto his massive hand as Siege followed me. Renegade stood to his full height and rested his hand against his chest plate, moving smoothly but swiftly back to where the other humans were holed up.
[Siege:I'll explain later. Right now we need to get you checked out_]
"Fair enough, I'm not complaining."
"And stay out of the fight!" Renegade added sharply.
"Only if the Cons stay outta my way. Heheh-ow." I groaned as my ribs throbbed. Renegade leaned down and set his hand on the ground, allowing us to slide off. He stood up and shot me a final look before heading out quickly. Siege pressed into my leg and allowed me to lean on him with my arm. We entered the room and saw my mom pacing.
"Hey mom." I said, trying to hide a wince as she hurried over.
"Neal! Oh thank goodness! Wait, you're hurt!" She worried over me like a mother would. (Phrased unironically.)
"Nothing but a bruised rib, I'll be fine."
"Are you sure?" I nodded.
"Yes. Just, ngh, just gotta rest for a while." She and Siege helped me sit down on a crate and I let out a tight breath.
"…If you're sure…" I nodded at her.
[Siege:Do you need medical attention?_]
"It hurts, but I'll live." Siege let out a concerned purr and sat next to me, almost posting up at my feet. I scratched at his ears gently, and his eyes closed slightly.
[Siege:I will ask Ratchet to check you out when this all blows over._]
"I won't argue with that."Unbeknownst to me, that would be a horror almost as bad as the last ten minutes.