A/N: This one is decently long. 10,000 words or so, so there we go. Kind of getting back on track. I'm on summer vacay so let's hope this writing trend sticks. Thanks for the reviews as per usual! I'll be more active on FF now so if you shoot me a message I'll actually be able to reply haha. I have a new email though, it's on my profile, if you send one to my old one I won't get it fyi. Also this is a two part chapter so be aware of that. K thx, leave me reviews and love (or hate if you feel that's necessary I guess lol).
Chapter Twelve:
Getting Lost
"And if you've never felt your soul being torn apart, you've never loved anyone with all your heart." –Reginaldo Kilas
Falling.
Don't breathe. Don't breathe. Don't breathe.
My body hit the water and the pain stunned me into darkness.
Don't breathe. Don't breathe. Don't breathe.
Sinking.
My eyes fluttered open, but everything was a hazy blur. Water surrounded me and I could feel myself sinking further and further into the depths, but I had no energy to try and swim upwards towards the beams of light that cut through the body of water I had fallen into.
A dark figure entered my line of vision, it swam toward me, and when it got about ten feet away I recognized the face. It was the devil. His dark brown reddish eyes bore into me as his longer hair swam around him. He smiled as he drew closer and I found the energy in me to struggle against the water, but it was to no avail.
He reached out his arm, but inches before he reached me his shape changed. It was no longer the devil that goaded me into killing Boss. It was Cade with worry in his eyes. He was reaching out to me; he was trying to save me.
I pushed my own arm out to grab his hand, and the moment my skin touched his a sharp pain filled my mind and I gasped for air only to find cold water rushing down my windpipe.
Pain and darkness ensued.
The medbay was chaotic, and Wheeljack was sure that the entire base would quickly fall into madness as well once the news began to spread. He could hear Sideswipe arguing with Ironhide in Cybertronian while Aubrey frantically tried to pry more information from Taylor who was just as confused as everyone else. Wheeljack had to block all the background noise out though. One step at a time, and the first step involved getting Ratchet back online. An energy blast had occurred, that much was certain. Every mech and femme on base could feel it, but Ratchet took the brunt of it. It just knocked him into stasis thankfully, but it also managed to glitch his entire holoform program.
"Ratchet?" Wheeljack pressed as the mech's optics began to come back online. The medic was startled, but the engineer pressed his arm into his best friend's chassis to keep him down, "You are alright. Remain calm."
Ratchet groaned and shook his helm, "What the frag happened?"
"We were hoping you could tell us, old friend." Optimus answered for him. Wheeljack stood up and offered his servo to Ratchet who took it without hesitation. The medbay quieted down in order to hear what Ratchet had to say.
"I…I don't know." Ratchet admitted, crestfallen. He turned to stare at the human berth with worry. Wheeljack glanced around the room to see everyone had paused in confusion. Sideswipe had given up on his argument with Ironhide and was now with his brother. They shared looks that meant they had to be conversing in private. Jazz had stopped pacing the back of the room to stare at Ratchet. Aubrey held back a sob, her face buried in her hands, as Lennox and Taylor tried to comfort her.
"Ironhide." Optimus spoke and the mech snapped his attention to the CO, "More are on their way. Keep them from the medbay for now." Ironhide nodded and left while Optimus turned to Jazz, "Get to Blaster in the control room. Start searching for her signal. Now."
Jazz rushed away without a word. Ratchet was the next to speak, he was shaking his helm again, "I can't feel her over the bond."
He wasn't wrong. Seconds after the blast went off, the bond with Aj went quiet again. Wheeljack couldn't feel her emotions; he couldn't feel her at all.
"Ratchet." Sideswipe's voice was low and dangerous. Wheeljack could see how close they were to coming unraveled. Their eyes had grown a shade too dark, and Sunstreaker's armor was slightly starting to rattle against his protoform.
"My youngling." Ratchet spoke in cybertronian.
Sideswipe crossed the room in quick strides and grabbed the medic by his shoulders, "She's fine. She has to be. She's out there and she needs us to find her, Ratchet. Snap out of it."
Ratchet closed his optics and vented in a deep breath. Sunstreaker stormed out of the room and Sideswipe didn't give him a parting glance. The medic opened his optics again and the steel and fire that always seemed to fill him was back.
"I saw something before the blast." Ratchet turned to the computer and activated one of the screens. Wheeljack stepped closer, as did Optimus, while Ratchet hooked himself up to the machinery. He pulled up a picture from his core memory banks and focused in on a glowing red symbol. "These symbols."
Optimus stiffened beside Wheeljack, the engineer noted, as Sideswipe pointed to the screen, "I know those. Aj knows those. Those are the same symbols she had me translate for her back in her own universe."
"What do they mean?" Lennox questioned. He gave his wife one last look of worry while Taylor tried to usher her out of the medbay.
Sideswipe crossed his arms, his entire body was still tense and on edge, "Magnanimity, Birthright, and Conscious." Lennox narrowed his eyes and Sideswipe let out an annoyed grunt, "We don't know the significance of it yet."
Optimus turned away from the screen and rested his servo on the back of his helm in frustration.
"Prime?" Wheeljack questioned. All attention darted to the regal mech.
Ratchet stepped forward, "Optimus, if you know something-"
"There is much I need to share." Optimus replied gravely, "Call a conference. Limit attendance."
Fire could be seen in any direction I turned in. Gunfire and smoke filled the air around me, but I couldn't tell where I was. The ground was scorched and bare. It was a warzone. My eyes followed the closest movement to me. A human shaped figure covered in armor. Was it a smaller Cybertronian? I took a step forward and the figure snapped his head to the side to look at me. It wore a helmet with a glass facemask I couldn't see through. I got the distinct vibe that this was not a Cybertronian. It was human, but he didn't belong here.
The odd human glanced around him, as if looking for something, but his eyes glazed over me as if I wasn't even there. He then opened a metal latch on his thigh to reveal a pocket. He pulled out a very familiar looking talisman and my eyes widened in surprise. It glowed red and he disappeared in a snap. I heard a crackle of electricity behind me and whipped around to see him standing before a metal wall shredded with bullet holes and scorch marks.
I walked closer to watch as the talisman began to vibrate in his hand. It glowed red briefly again before the wall opened revealing a strange metal staff of some sort.
The figure grabbed it and turned around. The staff began to glow in his hand and as it did his shoulders stiffened. He stepped toward me, and this time it was like he was staring right at me. He tilted his head then quickly shook it.
"Aimee?"
"Come on, come on, stay with me."
The figure stepped even closer, "Aimee? Is that you?"
"Come on, please!"
Everything around me disappeared. Pain flooded my system as water came rushing out of my lungs. Someone grabbed my shoulders and turned me just as I began to hack and cough out every drop of liquid I could.
"Oh, thank God." Cade breathed in my ear. I sucked in a breath of air as my throat burned. Exhaustion hit me all of a sudden as Cade turned me back around to look me in the eyes, "Hey, don't black out on me. We aren't in a good spot."
Despite his words my eyes closed and I felt my body grow limp.
I reopened my eyes, but this time Cade wasn't in front of me and the light had grown dimmer. I was inside somewhere. How much time had passed? Slowly, I pushed myself up as another round of coughs left my lips. It made my aching chest hurt even more. All around me was dust and rubble and the walls surrounding me look gutted and broken.
Rushed footsteps made me spin around in fear, but it was just Cade hurrying toward me. He was damp with water, as was I, but he held one finger up to his lips in the universal 'be quiet' sign. I tried to hold back the coughs as best I could but it was difficult.
"Are you alright?" He whispered.
I shook my head, "What the hell is happening?"
Cade sighed, "I-I have no idea what happened or how we got here."
"Where exactly is here?"
He paused before replying, "We're in Austin."
"Austin!?" I cried out loudly in shock. Cade lunged forward and slapped his hand over my mouth. He turned his head around to look out the broken window front of whatever building we were in. A second passed before the sound of an eerie transformation filled the air. It wasn't the kind from my 'bots either. A golden set of legs slid into view. Rather than have normal feet it rolled on two wheels, as its shimmery paint job seemed to glow under the Texas sun. We were goners. Any second now that drone was going to kneel down, see me, and blast me away. Poor Cade was going to end up being collateral damage.
I struggled against Cade's arms in a poor attempt to make some distance between us. Maybe, just maybe, I could be the only one that gets vaporized by some drone's cannon.
Cade wasn't having it though. He equated my movement strictly as fear from the drone and wrapped his arms around me tightly. A few more seconds passed, each one dragging on for eternity, before the drone just continued to roll away. My eyes widened in shock and Cade slowly pulled his hand away.
"Are you ok?"
"It…It was a drone." I mumbled in confusion. Why hadn't it jumped at the chance of killing me? I was blasting a Cybertronian signal that could be seen for miles all around. "I don't get it."
Cade set his hand on my back in comfort, "Austin is a hive." Now he was confused on what I was confused about. He thought I didn't know what was going on. "It's got Protector bots crawling everywhere. Whatever happened to us had us falling out of the sky and into the river, it cuts right through the city." He glanced out the window once more before looking back to me, "I carried you to the closest shelter I could find, but two of them have been circling our area since."
"We should be dead, Cade." I stated simply.
He narrowed his eyes at me and pulled his hand away, "Hey, we aren't going to die. I have too much to go home to and you-"
"No." I interrupted him, "I don't mean that in a negative, defeated way. I mean, I don't understand how the drone didn't see me."
Cade paused in thought, "I'm not following."
A moment of hesitation passed. Did I want to tell him the truth? Not really, but we were both stuck up shit creek with no paddle so I guess I didn't really have another option. I sighed, "This is going to be hard to understand, but I'm not from this universe."
He blinked once, twice, a third time, "What?"
"I'm from a different universe and that's where I originally met the Autobots and some Decepticons. It caused me and…and a few others to soak up their energy. Because of this I give off an energy signal and that energy signal screams Cybertronian. The drones are usually able to pick that up and since their mission in life is 'kill all things Cybertronian'….Do you get what I'm saying?"
Cade didn't reply. He stared at me a second longer before shaking his head, "You were unconscious for too long. I don't think you hit your head, but it couldn't have been healthy. I had to perform CPR to get you back this must be-"
"I'm not delusional!" I snapped back with hands outstretched in frustration. The movements made a sharp pain flash across my chest. I glanced down to see the beginning of dark purple bruises starting to blossom. He had said he did CPR. I lifted my hand to try and feel if any ribs were cracked or broken, but I couldn't tell much.
"I had no choice. You had no pulse." Cade replied quietly.
I looked back up at him, "I know. Thank you for saving me." He nodded and I sucked in a shaky breath, "And now I need to save you. You have to get away from me Cade. The moment they pick up my signal, I'm toast."
"If you aren't crazy, and I'm still counting that as a big 'if'", He glanced out the window, "They didn't pick up on you now, why would that suddenly change?"
"Rather safe than sorry, right?"
"No." Cade said firmly, "I'm not leaving you and you aren't leaving me. We're in this together. We're going to survive this together." He stood up and offered me a hand to help me up as well, "Your friends are looking for us. They'll come and find us."
I bit my lip, "If the drones cant see my energy signature… I don't think the Autobots can either."
Time had passed, maybe an hour if I had to guess, but nothing had changed. We searched the small building we were trapped in, but found nothing of use. There was no food or water or medical supplies or weapons. Cade found a loose pipe in the corner, but I seriously doubted that was going to help us much against a fucking drone.
Luckily, the golden drone hadn't passed as many times as he did prior. A silver one, identical to the gold, passed only once as well and seeing it put a sick feeling in my stomach. Two matching wanna be mechs?
"How much do you know about the drones we've been seeing?"
Cade walked over from across the room and sat down beside me. We both faced the broken glass window front. "Decent amount. They used to play the commercials for all of them on repeat, and the inventor in me appreciated the idea of them. Up until they lost their shit." He paused briefly, "The gold one is called Midas and the other is Silverstreak. They always work together and-"
"They're based off Sideswipe and Sunstreaker, aren't they?"
Cade nodded, "Yeah. That's the yellow and red mech back on base, right?"
I sighed and crossed my arms. It'd be ironic if the twins' drones were the one to squish me into the pavement. I wondered how the twins were right now. I wondered how they all were. If they couldn't read my energy signal did that mean the bond was affected? Either they could feel my emotion over the bond and just couldn't figure out where I was, or worse they couldn't see either.
"It's going to be alright." Cade tried to give me more comfort. I offered him a small smile in return, but my eyes caught sight of a red glow beneath his t-shirt sleeve. He followed my gaze and shot up to his feet with a curse, "Shit, stay back."
"Cade!" I stepped toward him. The ringing came back and electricity filled the air. There was a loud snap and suddenly the scenery around us changed. The building we hid in was gone, and now we stood in the middle of an abandoned Austin road. The buildings were either falling apart or demolished and foliage seemed to grow from the rubble. Cars were overturned or empty hulls of what they once were.
"What the fuck?" Cade grabbed the talisman with his other hand and tried to pry it off.
A thought dawned on me. If this was the same talisman I saw in that death induced dream could it be following a similar function? We still didn't know what the damn thing was, but it had teleported the guy in my fever dream too. It led him to the glowing magic stick thing.
"Cade, I think-"
My words were interrupted as Silverstreak wheeled around a building to face us. He was at the end of the street, a good distance away, but it didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that the drone could get to us in seconds.
"Aj, run." Cade grabbed my arm and we took off. I could hear the drone coming after us, it barreled down the street toward us.
Cade and I slipped down an alley in hopes that it wouldn't be able to follow. We came out the other end of the alley onto the street next door and continued to sprint away. However, Silverstreak apparently wasn't deterred by our plan and basically rushed through the two shorter buildings that made the alley. They exploded behind us in rubble and debris and I let out a cry as chunks of rock flew by us. Cade cursed again and we ducked down another alley, this time between two larger buildings, but before we could rush out the other end a large golden body blocked our path.
We came to a screeching halt and whipped around to see Silverstreak standing at the opposite end. We were trapped. They couldn't fit into the alley, but all they needed to do was pull out some sort of gun and we were toast. Cade was tense behind me and I could see his mind racking for a new plan. I slipped my hand into his and gave it a tight squeeze. He glanced at me and I knew we shared a similar thought.
'At least we're not alone.'
Midas' arm began to shift and metal cubes began to swirl around it until it formed a nasty looking cannon. He aimed it down into the alley and I felt myself grow sick as it began to charge up.
The sound of the weapon firing went off, but instead of being vaporized I watched as Midas was blown out of sight. Hope swelled in my chest. The Autobots were here. They had to be. Instead of seeing one of my mechs step into view though a little girl stood at the end of the alley.
"What the fuck are you waiting for!?" She screamed as she motioned toward herself. Her black braid whipped around, "Run!"
I sprinted forward with Cade's hand still in mine. My eyes widened as a sea foam green femme stepped up behind the little girl, she must have stood a few feet below Flare-Up's height. The femme lifted her cannon again and fired over our head. I heard it make contact with Silverstreak just as we reached the girl.
The femme suddenly transformed, a real transformation, and formed a sea foam hard top jeep. All it's doors popped open and we all clamored in. The femme sped off just as Midas started to rise again. Cade and I were in the backseat as the little girl sat in the passenger's seat. I turned around to see Midas crumble into cubes that quickly formed a golden Lamborghini.
"We can't outrun that." Cade shook his head.
"We don't have to." The girl snapped. Her dark eyes flashed in anger before she ignored us entirely, "Come on, Moonracer! Go!"
"I'm going as fast as I can, Izabella." A female voice echoed from the speakers.
I gripped the sides as Moonracer whipped around another corner onto two wheels. We were on an open stretch of road now and Midas was picking up speed with Silverstreak right behind him. They were inching closer and closer, their engines revving loudly and violently.
"There!" Izabella screamed.
"Hold on!" Moonracer added.
Before Cade or I could even question what was happening Moonracer raced across a bridge. Right as she reached the end the entire thing exploded catching the drones in the flames. It also managed to send Moonracer flying forward through the air. Everyone in the cabin was screaming and it matched Moonracer's own scream over the speakers. Her tires hit the road shaking us all violently. The jeep wobbled as she tried to keep us from flipping and she only barely managed to be successful. She didn't slow down though. She sped forward taking turns that she had memorized.
I turned to Cade who was groaning and clutching his head. Blood dripped between his fingers. I reached for his hand and pulled it away to see the corner of his eyebrow had been busted open. He must have hit it against the window.
"You alright?" I pressed.
"Shit." He twisted his face in annoyance briefly, but then gave me a forced comforting smile, "I'll live. Hell of a fucking day though."
I chuckled in agreement and turned forward to see the little girl staring at us. Her tan skin was covered in a layer of grime and sweat. She wore a tank top and jeans with a scarf and goggles wrapped around her neck. Around her shoulders was a book bag. She couldn't have been older than 12.
"Kid, who are you?"
"That's what I should be asking you." She snapped back, "What the hell are you doing here?" I blinked in surprise and shared a confused look with Cade. She snapped again, "We're in the middle of something important right now and you two dumbasses show up in the middle of downtown? And you catch the attention of a Midas and Silverstreak bot? Stupid!"
I shook my head and mumbled to Cade, "What the fuck is happening?"
He shrugged, "I think we're being cursed out by lil' Jaylo here, but maybe I just hit my head harder than I thought."
The transformer was the next to speak, "Izabella, stop. You're being rude to our guests."
"You're an Autobot aren't you?" I leaned forward in my seat and watched the steering wheel move on its own accord. The familiar symbol sat at the dead center of the wheel.
"Yes, I am." She replied, "My designation is Moonracer."
The little girl spoke, "And I'm Izabella. Izabella with a Z."
"I don't care if it's with a Z, an emoji, or a dollar sign." Cade scoffed, "What the hell is going on and where are your parents?"
"She is with me." Moonracer replied rather forcefully.
"Look", I tried to get things back in our court, "I'm Aj and this is my friend Cade." I ignored the glare 'Izabella with a Z' was still giving me, "I'm also friends with Optimus Prime. I need to get in touch with him can you help me?"
There were a lot of replies she could've given me that I would've expected, but instead she said the one thing I never would've guessed.
"I'm sorry who? I'm not familiar with that designation."
Who the fuck didn't know who Optimus Prime was? Especially a Cybertronian. He was the king/general/hero of the universe. There was an awkward pause where nobody spoke. The silence was interrupted by the crackling of a walkie talkie. Izabella dug one out of her bag and spoke into it, "Repeat. Over."
"We heard an explosion. You two ok? Over."
"Moonracer and I are fine. We just found two idiots picking a fight with Midas and Silverstreak. Over."
"Kid." I snapped in frustration, "I'm really not in the mood for you right now."
"They dead? Over."
"No." She replied, "We're bringing them to base now. Over."
Cade shifted forward, "Base?"
"We're rebels." Izabella stated proudly.
I raised an eyebrow at her, "You're a child."
"I'm 14!"
"Yeah", I scoffed, "Maybe in dog years."
Moonracer came to a sudden, jerking halt and the doors flung open. I turned at the movement, but before I could say or do anything a bag went over my head. I cried out and struggled against whoever was holding me.
"Let me go! Aj!"
I was dragged out of my seat. There was shifting and whoever was doing this pulled closer to my right side. I could hear their breaths and feel their body. Quickly, I threw my elbow back and felt it make contact with some part of their face. There was a cry of pain as their grip loosened and I ripped off the bag.
Taking in my surroundings took no time. There was a guy on the ground clutching his nose, and another was slowly approaching me. Cade was wrestling against his captors, but he had two on him from the start. Guess they thought I'd be the weakest link.
"We're not going to hurt you." The guy said just before rushing me. He lunged for me and I ducked out of the way so I was behind him. Before he could turn around I lifted my braced leg kicked him in the back. He went sprawling a good five feet in front of me and I couldn't help but smirk. This brace would've been helpful back when I was stuck in the ring.
I turned and tried to run over to get the guys off Cade, but I only got a few steps away when the jeep transformed and I was suddenly pinned to the ground by a large hand.
"I would not advise that." Moonracer spoke.
It was only then I noticed the details of this femme. Her features were petite and of course her eyes were a glowing soft, blue. However my eyes were drawn to the blackened hole on the side of her head. She was damaged, and badly. From the looks of it she had been for a while.
"That giant hole the reason why you can't remember Prime?"
Moonracer didn't reply and the guys I had hit came back over and slipped the bag back over my head. There was no fighting my way out of a Cybertronian hand.
The room was filled with holoforms. Granted, nobody wanted to be in a holoform at the moment, but this meeting was on a need to know basis, which meant they had to keep it as private as possible. Even the Autobot's personal level wasn't enough for this. In the beginning, Optimus and Wes Williams had planned a room that wasn't on the initial blueprints for the UHAC design. It was made for secret meetings such as this and no government official would be able to access it. Mostly because the only way one could gain access to the room was by holoform. There were no windows or doors for a human to enter.
Secret Agent Wes was a paranoid guy and he saw fit that the Autobots might one day need a room where they could have meetings privy only to them and no listening device or human. Primus bless him and may he rest in peace.
Jazz leaned against the wall as Optimus, Ratchet, Prowl, and Wheeljack sat at the table. Bumblebee, Bluestreak, and Sideswipe stood around the table. Those who went to the other universe attended this meeting.
He had heard everything Optimus had to say, but wrapping his processors around it was a whole other story. It almost seemed too ridiculous to seem true, but Optimus believed it and Aj was no liar.
"She told you all of this?" Ratchet questioned. His holoform was still malfunctioning. Every minute or so his holoform's hair would go from one color to another. At the moment it was fire truck red. It would be hilarious if it wasn't happening at the same time of all this. Optimus nodded.
"Do we know anything about this symbol?" Prowl spoke. "Any information at all?"
"No." Prime's holoform shook his helm, "I've been looking into it and none of the searches have come up with anything."
"Did you check-" Prowl continued, but Optimus cut him off.
"The Prime's data has nothing on this as well."
So basically they had no answers and now they had more questions. Jazz could feel the frustration well up in him and he felt his holoform shimmer in and out as he lost focus. It was no wonder Sunstreaker couldn't even get his holoform to show. Jazz swallowed the emotions he felt though and tried to calm himself down. Lashing out would help nothing, but Sideswipe apparently didn't share that same sentiment.
"Well, now what?" He snapped.
"Sideswipe." Prowl tried to calm him.
"I don't give two slags about the Defenders or that stupid symbol! We have no answers on it now, which mean it is fragging useless to us. It's a dead end and we need a new solution to finding Aj!" His holoform roared. It was moments like this when anger consumed Sideswipe that he looked most like his brother in Jazz's opinion.
Jazz pushed himself off the wall, "Losin' your cool an' losin' your focus ain't gonna help anyone, mech."
Sideswipe stepped toward him with a glare and motioned toward his holoform, "Does it look like I'm losing focus? I'm here."
"Enough." Ratchet snapped with a head full of green hair. "This doesn't help us either."
Optimus cleared his throat, "The symbol is a dead end for now. Wheeljack her phone?"
"Damaged." Wheeljack shook his head, "I can't triangulate a signal. I don't know what could've happened to it."
"Did Blaster find anything?"
Jazz looked away from Sideswipe, "No, he didn't."
Optimus heaved a sigh and rubbed his face with his hands, "Can we trace the energy from the blast? See what happened?"
"I'm going to try." Ratchet replied and stood. His holoform disappeared and Wheeljack's followed suite. Sideswipe left next without a word, but the others didn't leave until Optimus gave them a quick order or dismissed them.
Now it was only him and the Prime.
"Jazz?"
"How do we know the blast sent her somewhere at all?" He asked darkly. He spoke the words that had been haunting his processors since the moment he could no longer feel Aj over the bond.
Optimus narrowed his eyes briefly before shaking his head, "Have faith, Jazz. Have faith."
My hands were tied behind my back as I sat in what felt like a wooden chair. Wherever they had taken us, it was located inside. I could no longer feel the sun on my skin. There were also more people here. I could faintly here the buzz of conversation hanging in the space around me.
The bag was ripped off and it took a second for my eyes to get adjusted to the artificial light. To my side, in the same condition as me, was Cade. He caught my eye and raised an eyebrow in question. I nodded and his gaze softened slightly.
We both turned to look ahead to see a man standing in front of us as his lackeys stood on my left and Cade's right. The guy had his arms crossed in front of him His hair was salt and peppered and close to his scalp in tight curls. The goatee around his mouth was also gray and black in color.
"Now what do we have here?" He sung.
I ignored him and examined the room we were in. It looked like a giant bunker with tall concrete walls and a matching ceiling and floor. There were flood lamps all around to provide light and tents lined the room. Random people, men, children, and women, went about their day in this weird ass bunker as if me and Cade weren't being questioned by some weirdo.
"I am talking to you two!"
"Who the hell are you?" Cade spat back. As much as the guy in front of us tried I just wasn't getting a threatening vibe from him.
"Me?" He chuckled, "Oh I'm your worst nightmare." I rolled my eyes, but he continued, "I am in charge of this misfit band of rebels and I'm going to ask you again. What do we have here?"
I shook my head, "What answer do you even want from that question?"
"Sir?" The guy next to me spoke and I glanced up to realize it was the guy I had kicked, "The gear she has on is rather dangerous. Should we remove it?"
The weirdo leader nodded once and the guy beside me bent down in front of me. There was no way they could get it off without just ripping my leg off. The only ones who could work it were Ratchet, Wheeljack, and I think Taylor for emergencies. Even Sunstreaker who had the blueprints memorized didn't have the tools to remove it. Regardless, I wasn't happy with him even touching it. So I lifted my free foot and kicked him in the face sending him sprawling back.
"Jerry!" Another guy cried and helped his fallen friend up.
The leader rolled his eyes, "Get out of here." They rushed away and he stepped forward, "My name is Agent Simmons."
Cade shook his head, "What?"
"There's no way you're an agent of anything, dude." I added, "You're wearing track pants and, no offense, you've kinda got crazy eyes."
"Oh, I've got crazy eyes? I have crazy eyes?" He cried, "Maybe I have crazy eyes because two very suspicious people showed up on the exact day I plan to shut down the Austin hive!"
"Shut down the- You can't shut down the hive!" Cade snapped. "The Government has been trying to do that since KSI lost control. Even the Autobots can't get near it."
Simmons shook his head, "Look around, pretty boy. I am more than near it, I am in it."
"Simmons!" A voice roared. Seconds later a man in ragged suit pants and a tank top rushed by us. His shaved head glistened under the flood lights with sweat and he had to push his glasses up his nose once before continuing to yell, "What are you doing? What are you doing?"
"What does it look like I'm doing?"
The two took a few steps away to start bickering to themselves. What the hell kind of shit show were we kidnapped by? Cade leaned over as much as he could, "That's Joshua Joyce."
"Who?"
"Joshua Joyce." He repeated, "He's the guy that created the Protector Bots." My eyes widened as anger began to well up in me. Cade continued on, "I thought he was dead, but I guess he just disappeared? After all this shit it doesn't surprise me."
I stood up with my hands still tied behind my back. These guys were seriously shitty at this kidnapping thing. Cade rose as well and stood close in worry, but I was ready to be on a rampage, "You stupid, slagging idiot!"
Joshua Joyce and Simmons turned to stare at us. Simmons scoffed, "Who tied these two up!? I swear, nothing gets done right around here unless I-"
"You created the Protector Bots!?" I yelled.
His face fell slightly, but he quickly recovered and shook his head, "Welcome to the party. You're just now hearing this? Have you lived under a rock?"
"After what you did, I should-"
Cade took a half step in front of me and turned to face me. He shook his head, "Everyone wants to beat the guy senseless, Aj. That isn't going to help us right now."
"No, but it'd make me feel a hell of a lot better." I replied, "The shit this guy put my mechs through!"
Simmons narrowed his eyes, "Your mechs?"
"That's right, bitch. When my guardian finds out you kidnapped me? Boy, are y'all in for a world of hurt." I lied. It wasn't totally a lie. If Ratchet found out I was being treated like this he'd blow a gasket. Hell there would be a line of Cybertronians ready to fight. However, there was no way they had any way to find me so…
"Guardian." Simmons hummed, "I knew a kid before. He had a guardian. Funnily enough, he was a pain in the ass just like you."
His words sparked familiarity in me. I recognized this weirdo. He was older now, but I knew him. I pushed past Cade, "Agent Simmons of Sector 7. You know Sam Witwicky."
Simmons pushed past Joyce with a wild grin and reached out for me. Cade, arms still tied behind him, glared at Simmons and didn't let him get closer, "Back the hell off. You touch her and it'll be the last thing you do, hear me?"
"Hey, hey, hey." Simmons held up his hand, "I'm not gonna hurt your little girlfriend. I just wanna know who her guardian is."
"As far as you're concerned, my guardian might as well be Optimus fucking Prime." I replied sharply.
Joyce cleared his throat, "Can you get in touch with any of the Autobots?"
"Why?"
Joyce and Simmons shared a look before Simmons pulled a knife out of his pocket. He flipped it open and Cade tensed. Simmons used his free hand to motion for us to turn around. Cade and I shared a quick glance before doing so. Simmons quickly cut our ties.
"We have a plan to get into the KSI headquarters and turn off the Protector Bots here in Austin for good, and if we can be successful here we can do it everywhere." Joyce explained, "If we had some Autobot help this late in the game, well none of us would complain."
I was skeptical to say the least. According to Optimus and all of them it couldn't be done, and yet these two bozos thought they could do what NEST and the others can't.
"Can you do it or not you little miscreant?" Simmons questioned and Cade glared at him again.
I scoffed, "I call my mechs here to fight and they get ambushed by a shit ton of drones? I don't think so. How do I know you idiots even have a plan?"
"Oh we have a plan." Simmons nodded. I waited for him to continue, but he didn't add on. I lifted my hands in question and he let out a barking laugh, "You think I'm about to share our top secret plan with-"
"I get inside my building and I can hack into them and potentially turn them off." Joyce said and Simmons looked betrayed that the man would even say a word to me let alone give me their entire idea.
"They lost control and grew a mind of their own. That was the whole issue." Cade crossed his arms, "You're telling me all it would take is for you to walk in your own building and turn them off? Are you shitting me?"
Joyce shook his head, "I've developed a code in the last year. I'm not sure if it will work, but it's the best option we have."
"How sure are you that this will work?" I asked softly. He didn't sound confident, but he also had a point. I wasn't doing much on base. All I'd do is sit around and hear about the problems the people I cared about were having to deal with. One of those larger problems was the drones. If there was even a slight chance that something could be done about them then I needed to help.
"I'm…I'm pretty sure." Joyce shrugged.
"Then I want to help." I replied. Cade gave me a look, but he didn't say anything outright.
Simmons nodded, "Perfect. Then call your mechanical buddies."
"Can't do that." I shrugged, "I have no way to reach them, I think I lost my phone in the river, and they can't find me like they usually would."
"Then what use are you to us!?" Simmons cried with his arms thrown up for good measure. "We need mechs and femmes, we need the big guns. Not a little girl in a knee brace."
"Listen if we can just get the Autobots here they'll have the upper hand." Joyce explained, "I have a signal up and running that is blocking the Cybertronian signal. It keeps Moonracer hidden for us and it'll keep every other Cybertronian who sets foot in Austin hidden as well."
He was blocking Cybertronian signals. That explained why the drones didn't see me. They still came after us though, which was odd because I thought they didn't hunt humans. Maybe it was different if you were in the middle of their hive though.
"How long will it take you to get in and do what you need to do?" I asked.
"Thirty minutes at the most if everything goes right." Joyce replied.
"I need to talk to my friend. Alone." I said and hooked my arm through Cade's. I began to pull him away and he followed with ease.
Simmons scoffed behind us, "You two are still prisoners!"
We ignored him and continued walking. People gave us glances as we passed, but they also gave us a wide berth as we moved. When we got to a spot that was rather clear of tents and people I stopped. There was a moment where we both just stared at each other in exhaustion.
"How did you know who that guy was?" Cade asked.
"Remember when I told you about the whole I'm from a different universe and that's why I know the Autobots and that from that I have a weird ass energy signature?"
Cade chuckled, "Yeah. Hard to forget that."
"Well in my universe the Autobots were more of a…" I paused, "I don't remember a lot about some of the stuff from my universe anymore, but sometimes things can come and go when it's triggered. I remembered him from my universe."
"You've dealt with that guy before?" Cade asked with pity in his voice.
"Not exactly. I…saw him in a movie about the transformers."
"You what?"
I awkwardly laughed and stupidly made the situation worse, "Saw you in a movie too. I think. I vaguely recognized you."
"I was in a movie?"
"No, you weren't in the movie." I backtracked and mentally cursed myself for being myself. "In my universe you were an actor who played in a movie as the person you are right now."
"What?" Cade shook his head.
I covered my eyes with my hands, "This conversation has gotten away from me."
There was so much going on and I was still worried about how my family was handling all this. I knew how touchy they were with the whole 'me disappearing' thing. The last thing I wanted them to do was make a mistake on my account or get distracted with this and lose focus on an important mission.
"Hey." Cade's voice was soft and he pulled my hands away. His face was drawn in skepticism, but there was a fire and determination in his eyes at the moment despite the nonsense I had just spewed from my mouth. He rubbed the back of his neck, almost nervously, before speaking, "Things are…insane, but we're handling it, ok? And I...I believe you."
"You do?" I pressed in disbelief.
"Listen, weird shit has been happening since I got this thing stuck on my arm." Cade motioned to the talisman. "And, admittedly, I don't know you super well, but you never seemed untrustworthy to me. In fact, you were the first person I really did trust actually." He paused and was obviously thinking of something. My mind traveled back to the day he talked about. I wondered if he was thinking of the same thing. "Now maybe I'd be less inclined to believe you if you told me this yesterday, but today we've teleported twice and we've also been kidnapped by those two." We both looked over in time to see Joyce push Simmons who pushed him back before the two of them started slapping at each other while yelling. I shook my head and Cade let out a sigh of exhaustion. "So yeah. I do believe you." He offered me a small smile, "And as sorry as I am that you got dragged into this bullshit with me… I also can't help but be glad it was you."
What he said was exactly what I needed to hear right now. I stepped forward and wrapped my arms around him in a hug. He hesitated for a slight moment before wrapping his arms around me as well.
"We're going to get through this." He said.
I pulled back and nodded, "I know. And, I think I might have a plan, but you might not be the biggest fan of it because half of it is sort of based on a death induced hallucination I had."
"That plan already sounds better than whatever those dickheads had in mind." Cade shrugged.
Sunstreaker could still feel his armor rattling against his protoform no matter how tight he pulled it against himself. If Sideswipe hadn't caught them as quickly as he had they both would've fallen into gladiator mode the moment that blast went off. Pit, Sunstreaker could still feel himself on the edge of it.
'Breathe, brother.' Sideswipe hummed comfortingly. He tried to send waves of calm, but the waves were weak considering Sideswipe was just as upset at the moment.
Sunstreaker forced himself to transform into his alt mode in hopes that the limitations would restrict his movement and keep him on the right edge of sanity. He couldn't even get his holoform to show up to the meeting earlier. Anytime he tried it fizzled out. Sideswipe had gotten all the information they needed, but like his twin had stated that information was useless at the moment.
'They got a hit on something. Not Aj.' Sideswipe said, but his tone was absentminded. He was distracted. Sunstreaker revved his engine, scaring a passing group of human soldiers, and he asked the wordless question over his bond. 'It is important, Sunny. I think. They found Megatron.'
Sunstreaker's frustration now mingled with confusion, 'What?'
'Megatron and the seekers just pinged on our radar. We're able to track them, but… They're heading to Austin. The hive there.'
'Why?' Sunstreaker growled. Did the Decepticons know something they didn't? Sunstreaker knew Aj was out there. He knew it and he wanted nothing more than to leave base to find her, but he just needed a clue, a hint, anything. Was this what he was waiting for?
::I found another energy blast:: Ratchet's voice crackled over their comm. Sunstreaker froze as he waited for the medic to continue ::Austin.::
With another loud rev of his engine, Sunstreaker peeled out of the garage.
"Why are you here?" I asked curiously.
Moonracer was sitting on the ground with her legs crossed while Izabella sat on her thigh. The plan had been discussed with Joyce, Simmons, and his little team of misfits or whatever they called themselves. While finals measures were being put into place I waited topside with the Autobot and the little girl. Where we had been taken earlier was apparently just a bunker they had built underground after the battle of Chicago for emergencies.
"I found her. I helped her." Izabella answered. "She lost a fight."
" I can see that much." I motioned toward the burned portion of her head. "You don't remember Optimus Prime. What do you remember?"
Moonracer shrugged her shoulders and let a finger rest on Izabella's head, "I remember waking up. I remember Izabella."
"She knew her name." Izabella added, "I told her she was an Autobot."
Izabella pointed to the silver emblem on Moonracer's chest.
"Do you remember Cybertron?" I questioned further.
Moonracer didn't reply immediately. She gave a sad smile, "Sometimes I can remember a home. I could see a skyline from my berth room."
"Well…don't worry. Ratchet can fix that right up, I'm sure. He can fix anything." I tried to reassure her. The garage off to the side began to open and once it did a truck rolled out with Cade at the wheel. Simmons and Joyce walked out beside it.
"Ratchet." Moonracer repeated and I looked back to her. She was smiling for real this time, "I remember a Ratchet. I liked him. He was gentle and kind."
I gave her a sheepish smile and turned away to mumble to myself, "Yeah, I don't think we're talking about the same Ratchet, honey."
Joyce jogged over to me," You start heading out and so will Moonracer. Once you're five minutes out I'm shutting down the signal. The Protector Bots will be on your asses."
Cade half stepped out of the truck and leaned against the door. Simmons glanced at him, "We could use an extra hand. One of you can run with us-"
"No." Cade interrupted him and got back into the truck.
I walked over and jumped into the passenger seat, "We stick together."
Simmons rolled his eyes and mumbled something under his breath before walking away. Joyce nodded at us and followed after him. Moonracer transformed and Izabella got into the jeep. Cade raised an eyebrow and looked at me, "Should she be tagging along?"
"I really don't think so, but I also really didn't want to spend the next ten minutes arguing and being cussed out by her." I shrugged as Cade peeled out of the garage. Our job was to get as far away from the bunker and from the center of the hive, KSI, while attracting as many drones as we could. "Besides, Moonracer is her guardian, official or not. She'll protect her no matter what."
Cade nodded and pressed down on the gas hard. The streets we drove down were empty and Moonracer followed behind us. I glanced at Cade who used his free hand to touch the talisman, "Is it bothering you?"
"No." Cade shook his hand and moved his hand away, "It's fine."
"Tell me as soon as it starts to go off again. We're in this together. I'm going with you next time it geos off no matter what." I said firmly.
Cade glanced over at me and chuckled, "Don't have to tell me twice." The roaring of an engine was heard and I glanced up in the rear view mirror to see three cars following behind Moonracer. Gold, silver, and red. Cade sucked in a deep breath, "Another Midas and Silverstreak."
"Stinger too." I added.
Cade sped up, "Here we go."
Optimus looked over the group of soldiers in the plane with him. Lennox, Epps, and some of their finest men sat strapped in against the sides. The twins, Jazz, Bluestreak, Bumblebee, and Smokescreen sat parked in the middle before him. He knew Ratchet, Ironhide, Wheeljack, and Flare-Up were in a plane just behind them with even more soldiers. This mission was one of volunteers. The government did not sanction it after all. No government official in their right mind would ok the suicide mission to the Austin hive.
The Prime's sight drifted to Tyler. The young mech had one servo over his face with his helmet on the floor between his pedes. The other servo was stretched out and resting on Bluestreak's hood.
He was not of the opinion that Tyler should even be on this mission, but Tyler wouldn't take no for an answer.
"I'm getting a message from Sam back on base!" Lennox yelled into his mike set so Optimus and every other soldier could hear. He paused, listening to the rest of the message before speaking, "Seymour Simmons got in touch with him. He's with Joshua Joyce of KSI and they're in Austin." Optimus tensed as a familiar bond flared to life within his spark. "They said they're taking down the hive! I'm calling for more back-up. With news like that we could get government approval!"
It was a good thing Lennox was on top of what he was doing because Optimus' focus was elsewhere. He was sure he was not the only one either. The bond was full of life again and he could feel Aj accidentally sending her raw emotions over the bond. Dread filled his tanks at what he felt though.
She was in a deserted city filled with drones and Decepticons, but she felt no fear or hesitance or confusion.
Aj was sending sheer determination over the bond, and Optimus could only imagine what she was planning on doing.
Cade turned the wheel, taking the turn sharply, but Midas and Silverstreak were still on our tail. Stinger had chased after Moonracer who took off in another direction. They hadn't attacked yet and it was confusing until four more drones fell in line behind the two of them while more still began to climb atop buildings and follow along. We had bit off more than we could chew and the two of us knew it. Guns began to fire and I flinched, but the sound was drowned out by the sound of a jet flying overhead. I leaned forward in time to see the familiar color scheme of Thundercracker as he fired missiles that took out the drones behind us.
"TC!" I screamed out the window.
Cade whipped another turn as TC turned back around and transformed to fight the drones that had been standing. The familiar sound of a warp opening and soon Skywarp was fighting beside his trine mate.
"Are those Decepticons?!" Cade cried.
The truck turned another corner, leaving the seekers out of sight, but Cade suddenly slammed on the breaks and my seatbelt dug into my already bruised chest as I kept flying forward.
Ahead of us was a wall of drones. Two more Stingers, a yellow one with blue sunglasses that reminded me of Jazz, and in the dead center was a T-Rex shaped drone painted green instead of the silver I had acquainted to Grimlock.
"Fuck." Cade cursed and threw the truck in reverse.
The truck's wheels burned against the asphalt and began to speed backwards, but the dino drone began to race forward with a loud, heart-stopping roar. It caught up to us quickly and used its nose to head butt us off the road. The truck went tumbling as it rolled over and over again. I could hear Cade screaming, but my mind went blank. It was as if everything slowed and my eyes focused on a figure down an alley. The same armored figure who had the talisman in my dream. He reached out for me, but time snapped back into place and the truck rolled twice more before slamming into the corner of a building.
"Aj?!"
I could feel blood dripping down my face, but it was going in the opposite direction. Rather than streak down my cheek to my chin it leaked upwards and pooled at my hairline. Muted sound became sharp and clear and I turned my dizzy head to see Cade hanging upside down from his seat.
"Are you alright?" There was panic in his eyes. He struggled with his belt and finally got free only to fall to the roof of the truck. "I got you, don't worry."
"Cade." I mumbled as he tried to unjam my own seatbelt. He held onto me with one shoulder so when it did come loose I didn't fall, but my eyes were glued to the dinosaur-sized feet marching towards us.
The feet stopped just as another pair of dark gray legs dropped in front of them. There was a roar before the legs lunged forward to the drone. I let out a gasp as gravity hit me and I fell from my loose seatbelt, but Cade kept me from hitting the ground. He ushered me to crawl out the broken window then followed after.
As soon as I was out, I looked over the underside of the truck to see Megatron battling it out with the dinosaur drone. The seeker trine, Starscream included, battled other drones beside him.
Cade grabbed my arm as electricity filled the air. The ringing returned. Megatron turned and his red eyes caught onto mine for a brief second before he was back into the fight.
"Aj!"
I glanced over my shoulder in time to see Sideswipe and Sunstreaker sprinting down the street toward me. Before I could even open my mouth there was a snap of electricity and the world around us changed for the third time that day.
We were standing in a lobby. I stared out the front windows where there was also a large, revolving door. It remained working except the glass window and wall above it were shattered and destroyed leaving a gaping hole that sunlight could pour into. Except now the sun was starting to fade, the sky had the glow of evening.
"Shit, we aren't supposed to be here."
I glanced at Cade first to see his disappointment then followed his gaze to the sign that sat above the front desk. In big red letters sat 'KSI'.
"If the talisman took us here it had to be for a reason. It keeps getting us closer and closer to something. What if that something is this place?" I thought aloud.
"It's leading you to death."
We both spun to see the armored man standing at the foot of a spiral staircase that led to the second floor. Cade held his arm out in front of me, "Who the hell are you?"
"He was the guy in my dream." I mumbled. Cade glanced back at me briefly but refocused his attention.
"If you follow this path you will die!" He stepped forward.
"Is that a threat?" Cade snapped back.
"It's a warning."
I stared at the glass facemask I couldn't see beyond. All that was there were Cade's reflection and mine. I knew that voice. I recognized it, but not well enough to put a name to it.
"Defender." He spoke again, "Take your knight and leave this place."
Guesses rose to the tip of tongue. I knew this, I knew this. However, before I could grasp an answer Optimus Prime leaped through the hole above the glass doors and windows and landed in the middle of the lobby. Relief flooded my system at the sight of that familiar paint job, but the relief was short lived as he stood up and stared at me with a blank gaze. He lifted his arm and I watched as it fell apart into cubes that swirled and transformed into a cannon.
KSI might've made drones that were based off every other mech and femme, but they also made one that looked identical to Optimus.
