Author's Note: I have to write my midterm exams next week, so I haven't the faintest idea when the next chapter of this story will be posted. I apologize for that, but it can't be helped. Please don't hurt me. And if you're wondering about the old injuries mentioned in this chapter, you'll have to read the story ''Burning Skies". But I suggest that you read it with caution.
Disclaimer: Ultra Rodimus, Falcon, and Dr. Winters are my own creations. Everybody else belongs to somebody else.
Past and Future
Chapter 5: Interweaving
Optimus Prime stood near the wall of the Repair Bay, looking at the humanoid man lying on the table. Bandages circled his chest and upper legs, where Ravage's claws had struck. Old scars were faintly visible against his gold skin. Optimus wondered where he'd gotten those scars.
His optics moved to where Wheeljack was inspecting the metal device that had been on Roddy's left hand. It looked like a gold ribbon with rings and caps for the fingers. On the palm was a red stone, on the wrist a yellow, and on the back of the hand a blue stone carved into a beetle. Optimus had seen it discharge a blast powerful enough to send Starscream sprawling down the side of the volcano. It had been removed when Roddy had been brought in, and the engineer was trying to figure out what it was and how it worked.
Wheeljack straightened, eyed the device with confusion, then wandered over to Optimus. "Strange."
"What?" Optimus looked at him.
"That device. It has no power source, and minimal circuitry. I couldn't even begin to guess how it works. The blue stone is the only one of the three with any real circuitry, and what's there looks more like some kind of transmitter."
"Could it be a transmitter?"
Wheeljack shrugged. "If it is, it's one of the simplest ones I've ever seen. Actually, it looks more like a remote activation switch, meant to trigger one specific machine or object and nothing else. If I had to guess what it does, I'd hazard a guess that it activates some kind of transportation system. The coding is completely known to me, but it kinda looks like one of our remote keys for Iacon's lift system."
"What about the other two stones?"
The Lancia shrugged, head panels blinking. "The yellow stone has very minimal circuitry, like a simple projector. The red stone has no circuitry at all. I have no idea where it gets its power. the whole thing looks like some kind of conductor."
"Then the power might come from inside the wearer's body," Optimus suggested.
"If it does, then it's very likely he's the only one who can use it."
"Keep working on it."
"Will do." Wheeljack walked back over to it.
The red and blue Autobot turned his attention back to the unconscious humanoid. Spike and Sparkplug had brought him in after chasing off Ravage, saving Roddy a very severe mauling. Dr. Emily Winters, who's arrived to see to the health of the humans now working with the Autobots, had been examining him for several hours. Noticing movement, Optimus looked down to see the doctor walking toward him.
"Well?" Optimus asked.
"He's definitely not human, but you already knew that."
"How bad was it?"
"Three broken ribs, a couple more cracked, and deep lacerations from Ravage's claws." She ran her hands through her hair. "It's what else I see that bothers me."
Her tone instantly caught his attention. He turned to her. "What did you find?"
"A great deal of scarring. More scars that I can account for."
"He may be a warrior."
"These aren't battle scars. They're too straight, too precise. No weapon left them. They're incision scars, made with surgical precision and with surgical tools. That made me suspicious, so on a hunch I ran x-rays and a CAT scan."
"And what were the results?" Optimus's voice was soft.
Dr. Winters looked slightly sick. "There's a metal plate in his skull, scars on his brain, the bones of his legs are either held together with pins or replaced altogether, there are gaps between the muscles in arms and legs, most of his ribs have bolts in then, and he's missing pieces of several internal organs. Add in all that scarring and the internal trauma, and it adds up to just one thing." She looked up at him, dead serious. "That's not battle damage. That's torture."
Optimus stared at her, temporarily speechless. Then he looked back at Roddy. "He was tortured?"
"Very severely. He's lucky to have survived it. I doubt anyone else would have." She frowned. "And I also found out some other odd things about him."
"Such as?"
"He has practically no body hair, and his blood is blue instead of red. It's not even distantly related to human blood, though it serves the same function. I'm no chemist, but it looks more like mech fluid to me."
A suspicion crystalized in Optimus's mind. He'd been suspicious since their guest had flatly refused to tell anyone anything about himself. Now he thought he had an idea as to why. When Roddy finally woke, they would have to have a talk.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ultra Rodimus groaned as he sat up on the table, feeling a stab of pain as his broken ribs reminded him of their presence. His legs and shoulders ached where Ravage's claws had dug in. He eyed the bandages warily, wondering who had treated his injuries. Whoever it was would have seen that his blood was dark blue, not red; it would have been impossible for them not to notice. The ribbon device was gone. He looked around for it but didn't find it. Instead, he discovered his snakeskin coat draped over a chair, next to a pile of shredded fabric that had been his shirt. Someone had taken his boots off, and what remained of his pants lay next to the ruined shirt.
A female doctor materialized at his side. He blinked at her, not recognizing her at all. She looked him over, checked his pupils and his pulse, made a note on her datapad, and glared at him. He stared at her blankly. They traded looks for a long moment. Then she put the pad down and crossed her arms over her chest.
"I shouldn't be letting you go yet, but with your ribs bandaged you shouldn't have too much trouble, and you appear to be a fast healer," she commented. Then she shot him the evil eye. "However, that does not mean that you can go and get yourself banged up again. Clear?"
"Yes," he replied, nodding. "Unlike some people, I know better." He glanced in the direction of Ratchet, who was cursing a blue streak while repairing Sideswipe.
"Finally, someone with some common sense," the doctor groaned with relief. Then she glared at him again, her glare not as nasty as previously. "But I do want you to take it easy. You have three broken ribs and several more that are badly cracked. If you damage or break any more ribs, I'll nail your hide to my office door. Understood?"
"Understood." Ultra Rodimus looked down at himself. "Uhm, is there something around here for me to wear?"
She chuckled. "Oh, you can stay like that, if you ask me."
He glared at her, but it lacked a great deal of its usual power. She only grinned, looking him up and down and then batting her eyes at him. In the back of his mind he felt Magnus's presence stir.
"I already have a partner," Ultra Rodimus informed her.
"I figured as much when I saw that." She indicated the silver ring on his right hand, its surface engraved with delicate designs and set with three stones, a diamond, a ruby, and a sapphire. "That could only have been given to you by someone who loves you. I don't intend to get between you and him, anyway."
Ultra Rodimus tensed. "Him?"
She grinned at him. "Female intuition." She pointed to a pile of folded fabric on the table. "Spike had to go shopping to find clothes to fit someone your size." She patted his shoulder, then walked away.
He watched her go, then quickly got dressed and pulled on his coat. Finding a mirror, he looked at his reflection and sighed. The clothes chosen for him turned out to be a pair of jeans, not tight but close enough, and a dark blue shirt that fit close enough to show off his physique. Catching sight of the female doctor smirking at him, he shot her a glare and she disappeared with a laugh.
Females, he thought to himself.
((Doesn't look too bad,)) Falcon put in helpfully.
(Never trust a female to choose clothes for a good-looking male,) Ultra Rodimus grumbled back.
Magnus, who'd been listening to his thoughts, looked through his eyes at the mirror and felt compelled to add his two cents' worth. ((I agree with Falcon, lover-mine. You look great.))
(And that's the problem. Now I'm going to have a whole swarm of females after me.)
His mate chuckled. ((Too bad for them. You're already taken, and I don't intend to give you up.))
(Don't you have trainees to torment or something?)
The city commander sent him a broad mental grin, and Ultra Rodimus could easily visualize the smirk he knew his mate was sporting. Then Magnus turned his attention back to whatever he was doing.
The instant Ultra Rodimus stepped out of the room and into the main medical bay, the eyes of every female in the area were fixed on him. He gave them all a sour look, but they weren't deterred in the least. He shot the doctor a 'wither and die' look as he stalked over to the entrance and left the repair bay.
Once outside, he paused and pondered where he should go. He'd just made up his mind to go back to where he'd first appeared and look for a way home when he heard footsteps approaching. He turned to look for the source and found himself scooped off the floor, gently so as not to cause any more damage to his mistreated ribs. Letting out an indignant yowl, he glared up at the bot who'd grabbed him.
Optimus Prime returned his glare with cool optics. The Autobot leader quick-walked to his office, locked the door, and deposited Ultra Rodimus on the desk. Then he sat down behind the desk and eyed the furious humanoid.
"And just what circuit misfired in your tiny little brain to make you do that?" Ultra Rodimus demanded.
The older Autobot suppressed the urge to shudder and cringe back. "You are going to tell me exactly what your purpose here is," he replied calmly.
"I don't have a purpose here!" Ultra Rodimus exploded. "My arrival was a complete accident!"
"Then why do you refuse to tell us who you are and where you come from?"
"Because I can't, you tin-plated idiot!"
"Can't or won't?" Optimus's optics narrowed.
"Can't," Ultra Rodimus repeated. "Can not. Get that through your thick skull!"
"And why not?"
"Because it is too dangerous!"
"Too dangerous for what?"
Ultra Rodimus tightened his jaw and said nothing. His blazing green eyes bored holes through Optimus's blue.
Optimus regarded the person calling himself Roddy and carefully examined everything he'd managed to deduce so far. A stranger who wouldn't tell them his real name, the look in his eyes when he encountered certain Autobots, the look that said he knew them but they were no longer among the living, the strange weapon he possessed, the fact that he carried the Matrix, the implication that it would be far too dangerous for Roddy to reveal anything...
He was no great science whiz, but the pieces were falling into place. The faint suspicion he'd developed became a near-certainty. He had the sinking feeling that he knew what it was Roddy was hiding. And before his conscious mind could stop him, he said it aloud.
"It's too dangerous because if you reveal anything it might change the course of the future," he stated thoughtfully.
To be continued...
That's another one down. And Fenestrae, he couldn't use Falcon on Starscream because the blast would have vaporized Screamer, and that would irrevocally change the future. So he couldn't risk it. Even a scratch to a Decepticon in the past might change the future.