Hostile Territory
Written by: Okami
Chapter 9- Recovery
~
Wish that I could cry.
Fall upon my knees.
Find a way to lie,
About a home,
I'll never see.
Lyrics: Superman_Five For Fighting
~
Authors Note: I do not own Robots in Disguise. I do however own Alana and Suzuki, therefore they can not be used anywhere other than this fanfic without my permission.
Helpful Hints: ****** - Means a change in scenery, or from Autobots to Decepticons
~~~ - Means a change in point of view but the same scenery
* * - Indicates a comlink conversation
******
"Well? Give me your report Skybyte," Gigatron ordered, sitting majestically on his throne.
"The, uh, Autobot was still functional and we, uh, were unable to destroy him," Skybyte stuttered, keeping his optics pinned on the ground before him. When his master did not begin shouting and screaming at him, the Predacon second-in-command lifted his optics.
Gigatron stared harshly down at Skybyte, as if trying to bore holes in the shark's head. He could not count the number of times his plans had been fouled by either the Autobots interference or his troops own incompetence. Before he could open his mouth component and dish out a respectable punishment, the other three Predacons stumbled into the room, each one baring the result of their previous encounter with the Autobots.
"What happened? I thought I told you to destroy those bullet trains!" Gigatron bellowed, his patience fuse burning dangerously low.
"Yeah, well, Slapper had the brilliant idea of taking a human hostage and pissing off the Autobots," GasSkunk replied, shooting Slapper a glare.
"It seemed like a good idea at the time," Slapper shot back.
"Enough!" their leader roared. In a slightly softer, more curious tone, he continued. "What's so special about this human?" Gigatron waved a hand and the three Predacons watched their earlier battle through an oval-viewing screen.
Skybyte watched with interest as Slapper's tongue lashed out and retrieved a human female. His red optics widened upon realizing that the girl was the same one who had protected the country bumpkin' Autobot the other day.
"What is it Skybyte? You look like you just saw a ghost," DarkScream commented suddenly.
"I've seen that human before. Yes, I'm sure of it. She's the one who was with that country bumpkin Autobot and tried to protect him," Skybyte replied, glancing towards his leader.
Gigatron sat thoughtfully for a while, his hand rubbing his chin. "That human could be of use to us. I'm assigning you the duty of bringing her here, and do not fail me again!"
"I will not fail you, my leader," Skybyte said, thumping his chest-plate with his clawed hand. Oww, that really hurt, he thought, but showed no outward expression of pain.
"He's sure cocky today," GasSkunk whispered to his two teammates. The three Predacons snickered at the remark but whistled innocently when Skybyte glanced harshly in their direction.
******
Koji emerged from the medical room, his face a sickly green, followed closely by Tai. The boy covered his stomach limply with one hand while holding his mouth with the other.
"Koji?" Optimus asked worriedly. "What happened? What's wrong?"
"I'm sorry Optimus, it's my fault," Tai explained, looked away from the boy for a moment. "I thought Koji would be able to help me 'repair' the girl, I never thought the sight of blood would upset him so much."
"It's okay Tai. I'm the one to blame. I had no idea blood would effect me this way. I mean, I've seen so much gruesome stuff on TV I would have thought I'd be used to it," Koji said thoughtfully, chuckling at the last part.
"Are you going to be all right?" Sideburn asked nervously. "Cause if you're gonna hurl…"
"Sideburn!" Prowl hissed, taking a threatening step towards his younger brother.
"Hey, I was just kiddin'! Honest!" Sideburn replied hastily, holding up his hands and backing away from Prowl.
"What's all the commotion about—Holy Catfish!" X-Brawn cried, seeing Koji's still greenish face. "You look greener than a chameleon with indigestion. What happened?"
"I don't like blood," he replied simply, cupping his mouth as his stomach heaved once more.
"Do you need to lie down?" Prowl asked.
Koji nodded limply and followed the police Autobot to the nearest flat surface to be used as a makeshift bed for the time being.
"How's the little lady doin'?" X-Brawn asked, turning his gaze away from the small boy.
Tai looked up into the Autobot's optics, her own purple eyes shinning with success. "She's resting peacefully for now. Her wrist was broken and had to be repaired, as well as receiving a cut on the head and a mild concussion, but other than that she should be back on her feet in a day or two."
"That's great Tai," Optimus commented.
"Uh, Optimus?" Sideburn cut in. "What are we going to do with her once she's healed?"
"We'll send her home of course," the Autobot leader replied a matter-of-factly. "I guess we should contact her parents and let them know she's all right."
X-Brawn shifted his weight uncomfortably. "She doesn't have a home."
The two Autobots stared at him, not sure what to say.
"How do you know that?" Sideburn asked suspiciously, raising what acted as an eyebrow on his faceplate.
"We talked fer a bit before y'all came along and she told me she ran away. Her uncle was cruel an' mistreated her badly, so she left. He blamed her for the Preds attacking the oil plant."
"But she wasn't responsible for that," Optimus remarked. He thought for a moment then added, "What about her parents?"
X-Brawn shrugged his shoulders. "Not sure, she never mentioned 'em."
******
Eyelids slowly flittered open to reveal sleepy ice-purple irises. Alana brushed aside a stray lock of forest green hair as she stared up at an unfamiliar ceiling. When she attempted to move her injured hand, she found a hard substance restraining it and preventing any movement. The teenager stared at the cast with surprise illuminating her face.
"You're finally awake."
Alana started in surprise and snapped her head towards the source of the voice. Her eyes traveled up in order to see the robot's face, and even then it was hard to see because of the angle she was in.
Prowl kneeled down so the human could better see him; he noticed she was beginning to get frightened.
"I didn't mean to startle you," he spoke gently, trying not to scare her more. "I'm Prowl, we met when you protected my brother."
Alana's eyes flickered with recognition. "Where am I?" she asked quietly.
"You're at Autobot Headquarters. You were injured by the Predacons and there was no time to take you to a hospital, so we brought you here."
"Predacons?" she repeated slowly. "You mean that weird thing with the long, disgusting tongue?"
Prowl chuckled. "That's one of them," he agreed. "I just want to thank you again for helping my brother. If it weren't for you he might not be here."
"He's okay? I mean, you were able to take care of him?" she asked earnestly.
"Yup. I'm as good as new," X-Brawn replied from the large doorway.
"Hey! You're better!" Alana exclaimed, crawling forward on the hard surface that served as a temporary bed.
X-Brawn came fully into the room and stood beside his younger brother. "How are ya feelin'?"
"Okay, I guess. I have a monstrous headache, but my wrist feels better," she replied. "Who put the cast on?"
"That would be Tai," Prowl responded. "She also bandaged the cut on your head."
Alana reached up and felt the bandage tape around her head. "Who's Tai?"
X-Brawn was about to explain when Prowl cleared his throat, cutting him off. "We'll explain everything in due time. For right now, why don't you get some rest."
"But—oh, all right," she huffed, folding her arms across her chest. Alana slumped down on her hard bed and pouted as the Autobots left the room.
