Chapter 6 - "Are you in or out?"

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"What are Optimus and Ratchet up to?"

I stopped mid-step as everyone else also turned to look at me. "I... don't really know." The look in Arcee's eyes made me fidget: she wasn't gonna accept that.

"You were with them before we arrived, was there anything they said that might suggest where they were going?" She pressed.

I wasn't sure whether or not I should tell her; Optimus obviously hadn't told her anything for a reason and I wanted to respect that but man she could look fierce.

"I honestly have no idea where they're going or what exactly they're doing." Technically I wasn't lying. I really didn't know where they were going, only that it most likely had something to do with that Dark Energon stuff. We stared each other down and I tried to convey my honesty and reluctance to her. She must have seen something worth trusting and let it drop.

"Well Chief, so uh, what's on the activities list?" I breathed a sigh of relief at Jack's question, sending him a grateful look for breaking the awkward silence.

Arcee looked between us all, her gaze landing on me for a moment longer before turning away. "I'm going on patrol."

"But Optimus told us to stay."

"When you're in charge you can call the shots. Bee with me."

Said 'bot whined and his shoulders sagged, his doorwings too and it was a surprisingly adorable sight. Arcee sauntered up to Bulkhead and patronisingly patted his chest. "Bulkhead, you're in charge" And with that, they both transformed and sped out of base.

"So, uh... what's on the activities list?"

A high-pitched squealing from a large speaker was his answer.

"How about band practice?" Miko offered enthusiastically as she stood with her guitar hanging from her neck.

I finally took my hands away from my ears as Raf said, "But we're not a band."

"Why so antisocial? Come on Raf, you play anything?"

"Um..." Poor kid was put on the spot but I had to laugh and give him a thumbs up when he tentatively yet hopefully lifted up his laptop and offered "keyboard?"

"Nice thinking, Raf!" He smiled sheepishly at me whilst Miko swiveled to face Jack.

"I... sometimes mess around on the harmonica."

He flinched as Miko got up in his face. Wrong answer apparently.

"Do I look like I do country? Just- cover yourself in fake blood and jump around screaming." I choked on a laugh at that, not sure whether to be amused or disturbed. What kind of band was this? Before I knew it, the black and pink haired girl was upon me.

"What about you, Carmen? Please don't tell me you play a banjo or something."

"I have an acoustic guitar at home? I can only do, like, 3 chords though, and not very well, but uh, I- I like to sing-"

"Vocals it is!" She pointed at me, "And next time, bring your guitar."

"But-" I didn't get to finish my sentence as she left me to direct Bulkhead. Jack and I just looked at each other with similar looks of 'what the hell have we just been forced into?'

"D.I.Y., we're a band. Now you just need to learn the songs. This ones a ballad: My Fist, Your Face."

I had to admit, Miko was a pretty good guitarist and I liked the start of the song. Only issue was that the volume was so loud, I could have sworn our ears were about to bleed. It didn't help that all of a sudden an alarm started to blare over the top of it.

"Woah, woah!"

"Miko!"

"Aw, come on, Bulk, you can't handle a little raw power?" Could she not hear the alarms?!

"Proximity sensor." Uh oh. "Quick, hide!"

We all raced to hide behind Bulkhead's foot and it wasn't until after we'd pressed ourselves against it that I realised that this was probably the worst spot we could have chosen. There wasn't any time to switch though as we heard the tell-tale sound of the elevator opening up.

"Prime!"

"Agent Fowler! Uh, he's not here- nobody's here! Well, except me of course."

Fowler didn't seem to notice Bulkhead's nervous laughter. "Well, where did he go? Wait, don't tell me, he's out pancaking a mini-mall." I focused on my breathing, worried that if I breathed too loud that somehow the agent could hear me. "Now, I don't know what language you 'bots speak on your planet-" I tried to pull the others back as Fowler walked down the staircase - he was gonna see us! - and Bulkhead shuffled his foot over to try and block us from his view. My heart started racing even faster as Miko's cable got caught and her tight grip against the guitar caused it to make noise. I grabbed the guitar around the sides and motioned for Miko to let go of the strings but it was hard because oh shit, oh shit, he's gonna hear it! and all of our panic combined wasn't helping the situation at all.

"Since when are you 'bots electric?"

We all shared a glance. Jack shrugged. I gave a little nod and straightened up before walking out to face the music, the others following with me.

"Hey, how's it going?"

Whilst I hadn't been able to get a good look last time he was here, the man still struck an imposing presence and he was definitely not happy to see us.

"Contact with civilians! Team Prime has really gone off book this time. Wait, don't tell me," he continued sarcastically, "you're running a daycare centre."

Bulkhead was struggling to try and come up with a response and flicked his gaze to us wearily. Thankfully, Jack came to the rescue. "We're... interns."

"Student interns!"

"Earning extra credit in..."

"Auto-shop!" "Robotics!"

I face-palmed. It wasn't believable to begin with but that was just the icing on the cake. I peeked up at Fowler through my fingers and it was hard to gauge what he was feeling at that moment. To his credit though, after staring analytically down at us, his demeanour changed slightly and he was calm yet authoritative as he finished coming down the stairs.

"Okay. Let's move." Wait, what? "I'm taking all four of you into federal custody." Federal custody? Nonononono, I could not have something like that on my record- I didn't even have a record, I was a good kid! I put my hand on Raf's shoulder as the man got closer. "It's for your own protection-"

CLANG!

There was a familiar metal foot barring Fowler's path to us. "We're protecting them." I gazed up at Bulkhead in a mix of shock and thanks. He barely knows us and yet he's willing to defy the government and possibly their conditions for staying on Earth just to keep us safe.

"-well maybe you can explain that to my superiors at the Pentagon."

The Pentagon?! My head shot back down to gape at the agent's retreating back. I stepped forward, "Wait, please-"

"Don't use that phone!" Bulkhead interrupted and moved forward, "It's-" crunch "-...out of order."

Agent Fowler threw the now useless phone down in anger. "This isn't over Bigfoot! Not by a long shot." The kids and I glanced at one another and I nudged Miko a little forcefully when she mocked him.

"What?" She whispered at me and I just raised my eyebrows at her and deepened my frown.

The elevator soon closed once more and I rubbed at my wrist. "Well, that was fun." I chimed sardonically although there was a shakiness to my voice. Would Agent Fowler really go to the Pentagon about us? I mean, just the thought of the freakin' Pentagon.

This could all go really bad really quick.

"Are we... going to jail?" Raf asked quietly. I squeezed his shoulder and turned him around. His fear was clear across his face though I could see he was trying to hide it. Now that just won't do. I took a deep breath.

"No, Raf, we're not gonna go to prison." Hearing someone say it out loud seemed to help him relax a little. A wry smile quirked my lips, "I think... Agent Fowler is probably just worried about us being involved is all. A group of kids hanging out with giant, alien robots... there's a liiiiittle bit of a size difference in case you haven't noticed." He let out a laugh and fiddled with his glasses.

"Besides," Miko added as she bumped her hip into him gently, "we're too young to go to prison. Juvie, yeah, but the Autobots wouldn't let him take us even if he did try."

Raf just nodded and I gave Miko a smile. I guess we kind of were like a band, working together and taking care of each other.

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I was just on my way to the bathroom when another alarm went off. It had only been about 10 minutes since the whole incident with Fowler and I ran back into the main area, worried that he had changed his mind and had come back to take us away.

Bulkhead walked up to the control panel and soon enough the lights and sirens shut off.

"Thank God that's over. What was it this time?"

"An S.O.S. from Agent Fowler." Raf answered me before looking up at Bulkhead. "Did you trace it?"

A seed of worry started to bloom in my chest as the large Autobot tapped away at the console.

"Location scan incomplete. Oh well." My mouth dropped open in bafflement. Did he just say-?

"Oh well? Seriously?!" At least I wasn't the only one who thought Bulkhead was crazy.

"What?" he tried to defend himself, sounding an awful lot like Miko when she does or says something out of line. "Fowler's a jerk!"

I sputtered, "So?! He's still a human being, he could be hurt! I mean, if he's sent an S.O.S. to you, that probably means that it's important- important enough to call for you for backup even though you don't like each other."

"She's right, and whether you like the guy or not, the Decepticons might have him."

"And Agent Fowler knows your location!" Raf gulped as he came to a realisation. "Our location."

"And did we not just witness how fast he backs down from a 'bot? The 'cons will totally make him squeal!"

Bulkhead was starting to appear quite flustered and guilty now, "But we lost the transmission! Fowler could be anywhere."

"Carmen, hand me my laptop, please." I reached over and grabbed the device for Raf and sent him a curious look as he sat down with it. "I might be able to narrow it down. About five years ago, the government started microchipping their agents. Y'know, like owners do with their pets."

The rest of us were just staring at him in stunned silence. Where did this kid learn all this stuff?

"What? I saw it on TV." Ah, well that answers that. "Anyways, if I can hack into the fed's mainframe-" I'm sorry, hack into the fed's mainframe? "-maybe I can pinpoint Fowler's coordinates."

"You know how to hack? But you're, like, 2 years old!"

"12... and a quarter." He replied with a cheeky little grin.

This was just throwing me for a loop. "Is no one else concerned that he thinks he can legitimately hack into the Fed's database? As in, like, he's probably hacked into other mainframes before? No? Just me?"

He looked up at me again. "I don't do anything bad or illegal. Just... explore sometimes."

I just shook my head, "I trust you Raf, don't worry. I knew you were smart but just not to that level, y'know?" Raf just gave me another beaming smile and I couldn't help but give him a strained one of my own. He went to work, fingers flying over the keyboard as lines of code reflected off his glasses.

A good 10 minutes had passed of us pacing back and forth, trying not to distract Raf as he got closer and closer to, hopefully, finding Fowler's location. Shifting where I was leaning against a large crate, I started to walk off.

"Where are you going?" Miko asked and I answered "Bathroom" without looking back. It was a couple of minutes away to get to the nearest bathroom but I figured I could go and come back to join the waiting game with plenty of time to spare.

Oh how wrong I was.

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Turning the corner to the entrance of the hallways to the main room, I called out to the others. "How's it going Raf? How far out are we thinking?" No answer. Odd. Now that I was paying closer attention, I realised I couldn't hear Raf's typing or Bulkhead's heavy, shifting feet. I continued past Ratchet's lab and slowed to a stop as I took in the main area. There was no one there. I blinked and scrunched up my face in confusion as I looked around.

"...Hello?...Guys?"

I hurried up the staircase and checked to see if maybe they were hiding over the other side of the platforms but they weren't there either. Surely they wouldn't have just left without me... I ran my palm over my mouth as I tried to think. Maybe they were playing some sort of prank on me? Yeah, yeah, that had to be it. Or maybe they got sucked into the ground-bridge like some kind of wormhole? No, that's stupid, Carmen. That can't happen, plus the base would look a lot worse for wear if that happened. I didn't get to dwell on my thoughts any longer though as the sound of powerful engines echoed out from the entrance tunnel and then Bumblebee and Arcee were flying in, quickly transforming into their robot modes. I let out a relieved breath.

Arcee spotted me on the platform and moved towards me. "Why didn't you answer our calls?"

"Calls? I only just got back out here about a minute or two ago."

She cursed to herself and then Bee chimed in, whirring away.

"Jack and Raf probably went through with them, Bulkhead just mustn't have seen them."

"Wait, you've heard from them? Where are they?" The two Autobots glanced at each other, seeming to debate with their eyes whether or not they should tell me. I felt annoyance and worry flare up in my chest. "I know they probably went after Fowler. Where are they?"

"... On the Decepticon Warship."

I felt like the wind was knocked out of my body and I grasped the railing tightly. I glanced at the computer screens behind me and noticed one with a model of the Earth with a red Autobot insignia hovering above a part of it. That had to have been Fowler's coordinates. Raf had actually done it.

"I think their coordinates are still in the system." I pointed at the screen and, after a brief look, Arcee started to do something at the control panel for the ground-bridge. Bee beeped down at me and when I looked at him, his expression exuded concern. He lifted one of his fingers out to me and I wrapped one of my hands around it with a smile. "Thanks."

The ground-bridge came to life with a whirl and my eyes were soon locked with Arcee's once more.

"Stay here, alright?" I went to protest but she pointed a stern digit at me. "Don't even try to argue with me. This is going to be dangerous and we don't need another human to worry about." At my defeated look, Bumblebee said something to her and she sighed. "I'm not trying to be harsh but it's true. Besides, we need you here. We're gonna need someone to bridge us back or else we're all fragged." As much as I wanted to go help my friends, I knew she was right and nodded.

"You can count on me. Just try and give me a heads up so you have time to explain how to work this thing." I added with a nervous laugh.

They gave me a nod and, after wishing them luck and telling them to "be safe", they legged it through the portal.

Now, I had to wait and hope that I got the call for pickup sooner rather than later.

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My leg was bouncing up and down. My thumb was rubbing over my wrist in ever-changing patterns - a nervous habit of mine. I still hadn't heard anything from Arcee and the others or Ratchet and Optimus. I'd tried to distract myself earlier by playing on my phone and trying to figure out what was on the other screens but I couldn't stop worrying. Various scenarios ran rampant throughout my head but I tried to shake them off. They were all fine, they had to be. Just deep breaths, Carmen. They'll call soon, just have to give them time.

I managed to stop my limbs from being so jittery and rubbed my hands over my face. The base felt so empty without anyone else there. It felt wrong. Earlier this morning I at least had Ratchet tinkering away close by and I knew he was there but now…

Now Ratchet was off with Optimus probably following after the "Dark Energon" and the others were on the Decepticon's frickin' warship.

/"Arcee to Carmen, we're all good to go."/

I jumped at the voice suddenly coming through the computer but hurriedly pushed down on the talk button. "Oh thank god, I was starting to get worried there. Is... is everyone...?"

"Everyone is fine, Fowler might need a little help when we get back but otherwise we're safe." A sigh of relief left me at her words. Soon enough after having the process explained, I had the ground-bridge up and running and three familiar vehicles cruised through.

I took the stairs two at a time and went to help Fowler out of Bumblebee, Jack coming to take his other side. Miko and Raf stood in front of us and I flicked my eyes over them all. "You guys alright?"

Miko scoffed, "Of course we're fine! We're tough as."

"Good, good, that's great but- what the hell were you guys thinking?!"

The three of them cringed at my yell and when Fowler started to stir, I lowered my voice. "Do you realise how stupid it was to go through with Bulkhead? You guys could have gotten seriously hurt."

"Carmen-"

"Plus, you left me here all alone! I came back and everyone was just... gone. I was worried." We'd made our way over to the lab where Bulkhead was placing a stretcher down on the platform above us. Bumblebee took Fowler from us but I stopped the others from going up the stairs just yet.

I stared at them for a moment before the tension in my body left with a sigh. "I'm just glad you guys are alright." They seemed to relax as well at that but tensed when I raised a finger at them. "Don't go doing it again."

"Okay, mom." Miko teased and I couldn't help rolling my eyes and grinning a little.

"Shut up, Miko."

We'd just gotten to the platform when a familiar voice rang out through the speaker.

/"Optimus to base, we require a ground-bridge."/

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I waited anxiously by the railing as Optimus finished welding a brace onto Ratchet's right arm. They hadn't said much since they'd arrived as their wounds needed to be tended. Seeing them both banged up affected me more than I thought it would; it was just another reminder that these gargantuan beings could still be hurt and feel pain despite being made of metal.

Once finished they walked over to where we were all hovering around Agent Fowler. Jack had managed to find a pillow and blanket for him to try and keep him comfortable but all we could do was wait.

"What happened to you guys anyways?" Miko asked in genuine concern.

"We engaged an army of undead Cybertronian warriors."

I blanched at Ratchet's words. A whole army of things like that mutilated tool of his from that morning except bigger…

"Zombies? You fought zombies and I missed it?!"

Optimus ignored her comment. "Bulkhead. You exercised extremely poor judgement in allowing the humans to accompany you."

Said bot looked down at us and I could see the shame in his glowing eyes. I wanted to say something to try and defend him but he responded first.

"It won't happen again, Optimus. I promise."

"But it wasn't Bulkhead's fault."

"Miko, please-" he tried to shush but I stepped forward with her.

"No, she's right. Bullhead shouldn't get in trouble for this."

"And check it out," Miko continued, whipping open her phone, "recon!"

Recon? Optimus bent down with a deep hum as he analysed what was on the girl's phone. "Ratchet, have a look. It could be of importance to Megatron."

Miko beamed at the fact that she had been helpful but Jack had focused on the last part of what the Autobot leader had said.

"Woah, Megatron's back? That's really bad news, right?"

My lips pursed. I'd almost forgotten about Optimus' revelation that morning when he'd told Ratchet and I how he feared Megatron was behind the "Dark Energon".

"I... don't understand."

Miko turned her phone back around. "Oops!" I caught a glimpse of what looked a lot like one of the black and purple Decepticons I had first seen back at the stormwater drain a few days ago. "That's the 'con who tried to blow Raf away." What?! My eyes widened and I snapped my head over to Raf. "At least, that's what he looked like before Bulkhead rearranged his grill!"

"Is that true?" I asked the young boy and he nodded demurely.

"Miko, Raf was almost killed. This isn't a game, when are you going to get that through your thick skull?!" Jack was fuming at this point and I moved myself forward so that I could push them apart if need be.

"Uh, we were all almost killed, Jack. You, me, Raf, even them!"

"Take it easy guys-"

"Well, if this is an average day with the Autobots then I don't want to be a part of it. Not anymore."

Jack made a good point. Did I really want to be caught up in all of this? What if something happened? Noone outside of anyone here would ever know what happened to me. I'd just be... gone.

We were all so wrapped up in ourselves that we jumped slightly when Optimus called out to us.

"Putting you in harms way was never our intent. However, it is no longer the safety of you four that is at risk but the safety of all human kind. We will respect your decision if you wish to leave."

But if Jack left, I started to think as I glanced at Miko and Raf, ...then who will take care of those two? I was torn.

Before anything else could be said, the ground-bridge burst into action. Confused, I looked over at the controls and saw Ratchet standing there, gesturing to the portal with his good arm. "No point in long goodbyes, here's the door." His eyes darted back and forth between Jack and I. My face slowly dropped. And I came to a decision.

My eyes didn't leave Ratchet's as Jack asked me if I was coming with him.

"...yeah." I answered quietly, dejected. "Yeah, I'm- I'm coming." Their guardians will look out for them. They don't need me.

I saw Jack nod out the corner of my eye but I was mainly focused on the towering, smug form of my "guardian". He doesn't want me here... may as well do him a favour. As I finally turned away to go down the stairs, I felt a tug on my elbow. Raf pulled his hand away and peered up at me through his glasses. Miko stood beside him and stared at me sadly. Her gaze flicked behind me briefly before meeting mine again. "You don't have to go, you know." I smiled. The punk-girl and I hadn't always agreed on things so far but we had still started to become friends.

I placed a hand on both of their shoulders. "You guys stay safe, okay? I'll see you both around." And with a final, rueful grin, I gently bumped their shoulders with my fists and trudged down the staircase. I nodded to the other 'bots. I was going to miss them. Once I caught up to Jack at the ground-bridge, we both walked through, leaving the world of Cybertronians and alien wars behind.