A/N: New chapter and it is not well proofread I'll admit hah. I wanted to get this out now since y'all won't be hearing from me in a little while. Gotta study for my test and all. Still I will be back on FF and Tumblr before you know it!
Chapter Twenty-Two:
Team Player
"and like the moon, she had a side of her so dark, that even the stars couldn't shine on it; she had a side of her so cold, that even the sun couldn't burn on it." –Abigail J.
"Alright, so your feet look good. Show me a jab." I watched as Izabella threw her left hand out with tight movements. "Nice, now cross." She threw out her right fist using her hips like I had showed her. "Perfect. What are the rules?"
"Don't stick my thumbs into my fists, punch with my first two knuckles, and always keep my hands up." She recited.
I held up my hand and she eagerly high fived me. It was 4:30 AM, the sun wasn't even set to rise for another hour, and I was outside waiting for Blaster to arrive from the Vegas house to pick up Izabella before I went to PT in 30 minutes. She had asked again about learning to fight and I figured it wouldn't hurt to show her how to punch. It would give her something to do while living with Aubrey.
Blaster pulled up a minute later and I was surprised to see Aubrey step out. I walked toward her carrying the small bag of Izabella's belongings, most of which had been supplied by Aubrey and the base earlier, "Aubs?"
"Morning!" She chirped as happy as ever. Aubrey had always been a morning person but the fact that she could be this chipper before the sun even rose was honestly a crime against nature. Her blonde hair was pulled up into a high ponytail with a few strands surrounding her soft features. "Hey there, Izzy. I love your hair."
Izabella smiled and lifted her hand to touch it again, "Thanks. Aj did it for me."
"You ready to go?" Aubrey asked.
"Yeah." Izabella turned to me and I was surprised that she pulled me into a quick hug.
I barely had time to react before she took her bag, gave me a smile, and jogged over to Blaster. She was talking to Blaster before she even got into the car. Once she was in though Aubrey turned to me with a bright grin, "You just couldn't resist, huh? I always love it when you grow your hair out."
"Sorry", I shrugged, "Uncle Sam says I'm not allowed to be a soldier with long hair."
"Yes, you can, you just have to put in into a bun."
"What? Sorry? I can't hear you."
Aubrey rolled her eyes, but the annoyance was short lived. She was bubbly and happy again as she glanced back at Blaster, "I'm so excited. I can't believe I'm finally an aunt!"
"I was hoping you'd be more 'mom-like'." I argued with a slight tilt of my head, "I was gonna put her in your name, but you already have like what? 12 kids?"
Aubrey raised an eyebrow at me, "Counting you and the Autobots? Yes." She crossed her arms, "She's your responsibility. I'm just doing my duty as a good aunt and babysitting her for you." Aubrey's eyes widened and her hand shot up to the top of her ear, "Do you think she'll want to get her cartilage pierced with me? We both already have our lobes pierced and I think it'll be a fun bonding thing."
My mouth fell open in shock, "Cartilage piercing?! She's 12! Don't pierce her ear!"
"You got yours pierced when you were her age."
"I was a delinquent, Aubrey!"
Aubrey ignored my distress and clapped her hands once, "This is going to be so much fun. For once, you're the boring mom and I'm the cool, fun aunt."
"When have you ever been the boring mom?" I scoffed.
"Aimee, you weren't here to see Peter and the twins go through their little rebellious phase where everything was an argument." Aubrey shook her head, "Do you know how many times I had to hear 'But Aunt Aj would let us do this'?"
I should've felt some semblance of shame for spoiling Aubrey's kids, but nothing came. Instead, a smile grew on my lips as I chuckled, "Wait, really?"
"Really." Aubrey pulled me into a hug that I returned. She released me, "Now you go train while I spoil Izabella. Let me know if Will is too tough on you. I'll kick his ass."
"Ok, Aubs." I chuckled. The image of Aubrey trying to kick anyone's ass was hilarious to me, but I would let her have her 'tough older sister' moment. She waved and hurried back to Blaster who chimed out a 'Good Luck!' at me before high tailing it off base. I watched them drive off as long as I could without making myself late to PT.
Luckily, PT was supposed to start in the hanger next door, and it took me all of 2 minutes in an uncrowded hall to get there. I was the first of the group to get there, but I was 20 minutes early so that wasn't too surprising. The others were sure to come in the next five minutes or so. I did notice though, standing in the area we were supposed to meet, was a slim woman in a t-shirt, shorts, and boots. The woman's outfit looked a lot like mine except she made it look like it was runway ready. Her brown hair was pretty and surrounded her head in a plume of natural curls. As I got closer, she turned to look at me and I gave her a cautious once over. No part of me recognized her sharp features, dark skin, or general look of slight boredom.
Plus, she gave off a dangerous vibe. The kind that put me on edge before a fight.
"You're Aj, aren't you?" She crossed her arms. Her equally dark eyes appraised me.
"Yeah…"
"Figured. It's odd seeing a Cybertronian signal on someone who looks like you."
I blinked in surprise. Cybertronian. She was a holoform. The woman was definitely pretty enough to be one and that explained her 'I could murder you easily' vibe, but her eyes didn't show it. She must have been like Jazz and purposefully changed it. The eyes always were the easiest way to notice them. It's why on some missions where holoforms were used they'd have to dial the other worldly look down.
"I don't recognize you." I said. This wasn't Firestar or Moonracer and those were the only two femmes I had met so far.
She stepped forward to properly greet me, and it was then I realized she was five or six inches taller than I was, "Just got transferred here. Me and Preceptor."
I nodded slowly, "And you are…?"
"Arcee." She didn't offer her hand. "So, can you actually fight or is Sideswipe just being his usual level of braggart?"
"I can fight." I answered confidently.
Arcee smirked, "Good."
Noise filled the hanger as others began to come in. I glanced over my shoulder see Joey and Tyler walking over with a few other recruits. Joey clapped his hands once in greeting and opened his arms, "Arcee! Baby! How've you been!? You still stony faced as ever?"
"Depends." Arcee raised an eyebrow at him, but her lips were quirked up in an amused smirk, "Are you still as annoying as ever?"
"Absolutely." Joey replied before pulling her into a tight hug.
Tyler pulled her into a quick hug as a greeting as well before turning to me with a grin, "So you two met?"
"Obviously." I replied and he signed a quick curse at me in good nature.
Arcee nodded, "I'm here to join."
"The more the merrier."
Tyler took the time to introduce the new recruits to Arcee and they all look surprised to know she was a holoform. They had gotten to meet the whole crew yesterday, but I bet this was their first time interacting with a holoform right in arm's reach. I watched Arcee curiously as she interacted with Hemi who had come in a moment after Tyler and the recruits with the rest of the squad. Arcee was more reserved than some of the other Cybertronians I had met, but it was nice to meet another woman. It always seemed like the Autobots were in short supply of them.
Lennox jogged in with Epps, also in work-out gear, and Tyler winked at me in amusement as he began to stretch. I grinned back at him and tried to swallow the nervous energy I felt pooling in my gut. It was now or nothing.
PT actually turned out not to so God-awful. There were 15 of us in total taking part in the training work-out this morning, and we ran around the entire base a few times in lines of two. Now, I hated running. It was the worst form of all exercises, but I was in shape enough to not look pathetic compared to the rest of the people I ran with. After the run we went into the training hanger to do 2 minutes straight of push-ups and 2 minutes straight of sit-ups only to repeat those activities again.
At the end of my sit-ups, I was covered in sweat and lightly panting but I was alive. Sort of. It also looked like Adam was worse off than I was and that gave the selfish part of me small comfort. Lennox clapped his hands, "Alright, we're breaking off to spar. Usual partners for everyone. Hernandez you're sparring against Beck. Griffin, you're sparring with Dimitri."
The group around me began to move around the training room and I glanced at Arcee who was standing off to the side with her arms crossed and not a drop of sweat on her. I motioned toward her, "Are you gonna spar with me, then?"
Arcee smirked and shook her head making me narrow my eyes in confusion. The sound of Epps laughing made me look over to him.
"Don't worry." He shot me a thumbs up, "We didn't forget about you."
"Someone actually requested to spar with you." Lennox added with a smirk.
"You'll be sparring with me, youngling."
I knew the voice, but as I slowly turned around to face him, I prayed I had mixed it up with someone else's. Ironhide's holoform stood behind me with a grin that said he was looking forward to this way more than he should. If anyone around me was shocked by this they sure as hell didn't show it.
"You know, if you break me on the first day, Ratchet is never going to let me leave his sight again." I grabbed the sparring helmet and gloves that Ironhide handed to me eagerly.
Ironhide nodded once, "Then don't let me break you."
Taylor knew how much Sunstreaker absolutely loathed being stuck in the medbay. Next to Sideswipe, he was the Autobot with the hardest time of staying put. Ratchet said that he was improving greatly, but that great improvement still meant he'd have to call the medbay home for another few weeks. It's why Taylor decided to take her last 4 or 5 lunches here in the medbay rather than with Smokescreen, Bumblebee, or any other on base friend she had made over the years.
"Darken your shading there." Sunstreaker said. His voice rumbled deep in his chest and she could feel it against her back. Taylor was currently sitting upright in his hand, against his chest, while Sunstreaker lounged on his medbay berth. "That's good."
Taylor hummed as her hand moved in practiced strokes, "We can always have Sides bring in your sketching material."
Sunstreaker grumbled, sounding like he somewhat agreed, but followed it up with, "I want to paint."
"That might be tricky in the medbay."
"I know." Sunstreaker paused and she could feel his eyes remain glued to her sketchpad, "This is enough for now."
It was his simple way of saying thanks and Taylor internally beamed that she could help him in any little way. She never got to spend a lot of time with Sunstreaker. The two of them were always busy and there were a decent amount of years where him and his twin were running around rampant in Australia. It was nice to have them back, and though she wished more than anything that he wasn't stuck in Ratchet's medbay, she was happy to have these small moments with him.
He was her art buddy.
That had never changed.
"How is… Do you know how the training program is going?"
Taylor resisted the urge to smirk in worry that the mech would feel her smugness about the question. Training had been going for nearly a week now and it was all her twin could talk about these days, "I hear it's going really well. Tyler only has good things to say about all the recruits, but you know how Tyler is." She glanced over her shoulder to catch Sunstreaker's gaze, "I heard yesterday Aj managed to finally pin Ironhide in sparring. Ironhide grumbled to her and the recruits, but he won't stop talking bragging to every other person on base about how far she's come."
Sunstreaker's lips twitched up in a smile and he chuckled, "That explains why Sideswipe is bitching about Ironhide being a glitch spawn for taking credit."
There was a comfortable beat of silence that Sunstreaker only broke occasionally to make a comment on what she was sketching. Taylor's mind drifted and the consequence was a mistake on page. As she tried to erase what she had done, she glanced back at Sunstreaker one more time.
Taylor cleared her throat, "You know, I'm gonna tell Aj about Smokes and me."
"Congratulations." Sunstreaker replied simply, but Taylor had been around the mech long enough to catch the sincerity in his tone even though it didn't show on his features.
"To be honest, I'm kind of worried about how she'll take it."
"She'll be fine."
"Are you sure?" Taylor set down her sketchbook and turned so she was facing him. Sunstreaker adjusted so she didn't have to crane her neck at all to look at him. "How can you know?"
The yellow mech didn't immediately answer. He took a moment to gather his thoughts, Taylor could almost see the gears turning in the mech's eyes, before he spoke, "She'll be confused at the prospect of it, she'll be sad that she made you feel like you couldn't tell her sooner, and she'll be fragging pissed at Smokescreen." Taylor flinched, but Sunstreaker quickly followed up. "Don't take that last bit personally. Aj would be pissed at whoever you were courting."
"Yeah, that's true." Taylor chuckled, her pencil smudged fingers playing with the tips of her hair.
"She would come around to the idea of it and apologize to you eventually. Aj would be happy for you, Taylor. That I have no doubt of."
As much as Taylor worried about all of this, she knew deep down that what he said was true. Especially that last bit. Her aunt loved her and wanted the best for her. Taylor just needed to express to Aj that this was the best for her. That Smokescreen made her happier than she's ever felt in her life.
"You know her pretty well." Taylor chimed. Sunstreaker shrugged lightly, a signal that he was done with that conversation, but the blonde did not relent. She nodded slowly, trying to find the right words for this so it wasn't shut down the moment she started talking, "You know her well enough, I'd say, to be a perfect partner—"
"Femme." Sunstreaker growled but there was no weight to it.
"I'm just saying!" Taylor spoke quickly now, "There's a connection there! I'm not the only one who sees it and I think the only reason Aj hasn't thought about it is because she hasn't considered, well, you know, but once I tell her about me…" Sunstreaker continued to stare at her in a look that could only be described as discomfort or annoyance. Maybe a mix of both. She continued, "Although, how does it work for you? We never talked about this before and I never bugged Ratchet about you guys", she didn't mention that she never questioned Ratchet about the twins because she knew how they felt about their privacy, "Do you and Sideswipe both date her? At the same time? Or is it just one or the other?"
Taylor chose this moment to stop talking. She knew the best way to get him to answer was to give him time to roll the questions around in his mind. If she just kept blabbing more and more to him he would close up and that wasn't what she wanted right now.
Finally, Sunstreaker spoke, "Both. We've dated the same femme before, and we've also dated different femmes. The assumption is that if we meet our sparkmate—" The yellow mech flinched slightly and Taylor could recognize him talking to his twin briefly over the bond. He shook his head once and continued, "We only have one spark between the two of us and that one spark probably only has one match." He vented air sharply and his next words were firm and with a bite, like he wasn't just conveying this message to Taylor, "But it doesn't matter."
Taylor had a sneaking suspicion that those words were mostly meant for his twin, but she didn't pry into that conversation. Instead, she reached forward and set her hand against his scuffed yellow armor, "Why doesn't it matter, Sunstreaker?"
Sunstreaker's distant gaze snapped back to her and this time his full attention was focused on her and her alone. The look on his face was sad but resolved. He shrugged slightly, "She deserves better, Taylor."
There was a finality to his words. Sunstreaker was done talking on this topic, and Taylor was smart enough to not press it further. It wasn't her place. She gave him a soft smile before turning back around and picking her sketchbook up. She went back to work on it, and Sunstreaker was quick to offer his input.
The room was filled with the soft light of the early morning and though Aubrey had woken quite some time ago she couldn't bring herself to roll out of bed yet. Her husband was lightly snoring beside her and Aubrey traced his rugged features with her eyes trying to soak in every detail that she had memorized a long, long time ago. She was still a little in awe of how handsome Will Lennox was. How just looking at him made her feel safe and warm.
When Wes had died, she had lost a part of herself with him. Aubrey was sure that it left a wound that would never actually heal. That for the rest of her life it would fester and ache something fierce. Being in love with Wes had been a whirlwind. He was her first love, they had been sweethearts, and her life with him had been an adventure. The moment the two of them made eye contact she knew deep in her soul that she loved him, and he always said it was the same for him.
Being in love with Will Lennox was different.
They had been friends first and foremost. In fact, she'd say that Will had been her best friend. The two of them just got along easily around one another. How many nights had her and Wes gone over to Will and Sarah's house for dinner? To get away from the craziness that was base life, and to pretend like they were all just normal adults with normal lives? Then in 2021, Sarah died, and Aubrey worried she'd never see Will recover from that. A year later Wes was gone and suddenly those nights with the four of them seemed so long ago.
The difference with loving Will was that Aubrey wasn't really sure when she fell in love with him. Maybe it was one of the nights she came over to help watch Annabelle because Will was stressed with work and being a single parent. Maybe it was during one of the coffee breaks where she would pull him away from work just to see a smile crack through his stressed demeanor. Maybe it was when she watched him snap at Tyler for doing something stupid out in the field, when Will pulled him aside and scolded him not like a commander but a father.
All Aubrey really knew was how she felt when she thought she had lost Will. When she heard the report that he had been injured in Chicago, it felt like her world was unraveling at the seams. She spent days in the hospital with Annabelle just waiting for him to wake up, and the moment he opened his eyes her heart sang. Aubrey knew that at some point during the seven years of Wes being gone, Will had taken that awful wound and healed it. It was still scarred. That would never leave her. Wes would never leave her.
But Will had soothed the ache.
Aubrey reached forward and let her fingers brush through the scruff that he hadn't shaved since he got home two days ago. It was the second week of training so he'd get to spend five days here while Epps led everything at base and then the two men would switch. Her thumb traced his cheekbone and Will mumbled something under his breath. His hand came up to rest on top of hers. He kept his eyes closed but moved his face so he could press his lips against the palm of her hand.
"Morning." He grumbled.
"Morning." Aubrey chuckled and continued to caress his cheek.
Will groggily opened his brown eyes and blinked a few times, a soft smile brightening his face, "You got your thinking face on. What's going on?"
"Just thinking about how much I love you." Aubrey replied. "How glad I am to have you home."
Will pushed himself up slightly so he was leaning on one elbow, hovering half over her, "What's wrong? You ok?"
Aubrey had tried to keep the slight sadness out of her voice when she spoke to him, but Will had always been very good at knowing exactly when she felt off. Aubrey shifted so she could lift her other hand to his face as well, "I'm fine. I just don't know what I would do without you. I'd be a mess."
"Well it's a good thing you'll never be without me." Will replied simply. "I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but you're stuck with me forever."
"Forever?" Aubrey giggled as he buried his face in the crook of her neck. He nipped at a sensitive spot at the base of her neck and she squirmed under him.
He pulled back again with a grin, "And ever and ever and ever. I got you trapped. Sorry."
"I think I like the sound of that actually."
"Good."
Will leaned forward and pressed his lips to hers. She instinctively wrapped her arms around his neck to try and draw him in even closer, as if he wasn't already pressing her down into their mattress.
"Dad! Dad! Dad! Dad!" The faint voice was growing louder and louder as it approached, and Aubrey laughed against Will's lips as he groaned. He pulled back only a bit just to stare at her and Aubrey's entire body felt like it was filled with sunlight under his loving gaze.
"I love you." He murmured just as softly, and her heart skipped a beat.
"Dad!" Lucas kicked the door opened.
Will spun in bed just in time to catch Lucas as the small boy launched himself into bed to tackle his father. He squealed in delight as Will threw him into the bed and began to play wrestle with him. Aubrey pushed herself off the bed and watched as her boys laughed and got tangled in the sheets. The entire time Lucas wrestled he tried to tell a story about something between laughs.
After freshening up and putting on some clothes for the day she stepped out into the hall. The first doorway to her left was Lucas' room and it was a mess of toys and clothes with his bed unkempt. She quickly stepped into the room to make his bed and tidy up what she could see.
The next bedroom was Annabelle's. The young woman sat in front of her dresser doing her makeup. Her light eyes caught Aubrey's and she beamed, "Oh, mom, come here!"
Aubrey breezed in with a grin as Annabelle asked her to help braid her hair. She knew the 16-year-old girl knew how to do it herself, but she also knew that Annabelle liked the way it felt when someone else ran their hands through her hair to do it. Annabelle talked about meeting up with Eli and Lexi while she did her makeup and Aubrey took the time to carefully French braid her hair into two low braids.
"What time are you meeting with them?" Aubrey asked.
"Blaster said he'd take us to the mall around 1. I was gonna take Izabella with me if she wants to go. Is that ok?"
Aubrey tied off the last of her stepdaughter's hair, "I think that's a very good idea. What do you want for breakfast?"
"Can we have French toast?"
"Coming right up."
Aubrey left the room for Annabelle to finish getting ready. The next room used to be the guest room, but Will and her had converted it to a bedroom fitting for a 12-year-old. The room was neatly made up but no one was currently in it. She had a sneaking suspicion she knew where the newest member of the family would be though.
She went downstairs and rather than heading to the kitchen she went over to Will's home office and gym. Before she even got close she could hear the sound of fists hitting a punching bag.
Izabella had been happy to hear they had a bag she could practice on. Apparently, Aimee had shown her a thing or two and the girl was determined to perfect each move before the next time she saw her. Izabella's short hair was pulled back into a tiny ponytail as she wore yoga pants and a tank top that Aubrey had bought for her.
"Looking good!"
Izabella stopped and glanced over. Sweat dripped down her skin and she uselessly tried to swipe it away with her equally as sweaty arm. Aubrey's eyes glanced down to the girl's fists that were haphazardly wrapped.
"Morning, Aubrey." Izabella greeted with a small smile. The girl was wary of her. Despite the Disney trip and being here for more than a week, she was still distant. Aubrey wondered if this is what Aimee felt like with Peter in the beginning.
Aubrey stepped inside and held out her hand. Izabella understood and offered her own hand in confusion. She took the smaller hand gently and pushed back the loose wrappings to see bruised knuckles. This wasn't the first time she had seen knuckles look like this. Even to this day, even with Aimee's forgiveness and love, she still would sometimes think back to all the times her baby sister had to take care of wounds alone.
"You need to be careful when you're practicing." Aubrey said softly. Izabella did not want instruction or help from Aubrey, that was clear enough, but she couldn't help but want to help. "Can I show you something?"
Izabella nodded after a second.
Aubrey carefully unwrapped the hand she held and then walked Izabella through the proper way to wrap a hand without it being too tight or too loose. She taught the girl how to wrap her hands with enough padding to keep her from hurting herself then watched as Izabella wrapped the second on her own.
"Thanks." She said and her tone was appreciative. "How do you know…?"
"When Aimee first picked up fighting as a hobby it always made me nervous. Learning to wrap her hands, taking care of them afterwards, it always made me feel better."
Izabella nodded once, "Can I ask you something?"
"Of course."
"Why did you leave her?" The question was sharp. It hurt to hear those words, and this was a pain that Aubrey deserved. Aimee may have forgiven her mistake, but there was a part of her that could never fully forgive herself. "Aj said she wasn't mad anymore, that you had to leave her, but… I don't get it. I bet she was a good sister."
Aubrey agreed without hesitation, "Aimee is the greatest sister anyone could ever hope for. I'm very, very lucky to have her in my life."
"Then how could you leave?"
"You know, at the time of it all, I had a lot of really good excuses." Aubrey replied softly. She crossed her arms and pulled her gaze away from Izabella to think. "All my reasons used to make so much sense to me, but hindsight is a funny thing… looking back at it now… I can see how wrong I was." Aubrey offered the girl a sad smile, "I love where we are. I love the lives we have now. All our choices… they led us to where we are. They led to me having my kids, my family, they led to Aimee growing into the strong woman she is, and they led us to meeting the Autobots. So, it's hard for me to say that I wish I could change what happened, but… I did a bad thing, Izabella. I hurt someone I loved and worse I justified it, and I'm going to have to live with that."
Izabella played with the tape on her hands, "Aj forgave you? For all of it?"
Aubrey chuckled, "Yeah, she did. It's why, despite her arguments, she's the better of us. Aimee likes to pretend that I'm the one with a soft heart and that I'm the angel of the two of us, but… the truth is it's her. It's her because Aimee, no matter what, would never hurt someone she cares about. She'd die first."
"She is good." Izabella agreed. There was a pause before she continued, "I'm sorry I've been…cold. I do appreciate everything your family has done for me."
"Silly goose." Aubrey let her fingers brush a damp piece of hair out of her face, "You're our family now too." Izabella's face softened at those words. Aubrey got the feeling that it had been a long time since Izabella had any family beyond Moonracer. "You know… you remind me of Aimee."
Izabella's eyes widened, but it was more in excitement than shock, "Really?"
"Yeah. Tough and hard to win over." Aubrey lightly poked the girl in the chest, "But you got a soft heart. I can see it." She took a step away and clapped her hands, "Now we're having French toast for breakfast so when you're done here go ahead and get cleaned up, ok?"
Izabella nodded and turned back to the bag. Aubrey watched her throw a few punches before she turned and left for the kitchen. Lucas was sitting in the living room watching morning cartoons so Will must have hopped in the shower. She pulled on her apron and went about starting breakfast pausing only to help Lucas pull a juice box out of the box in the fridge for himself.
Will came down while she was making the French toast and wrapped her hands around her waist lightly, "French toast?"
"Your daughter had a craving."
"Smart girl." Will pressed his lips to her neck before moving on to begin making coffee.
While Aubrey cooked, she glanced over at him, "So you never told me how training was going?"
"You've never been interested in training details before?" He joked.
Aubrey rolled her eyes, "Come on, Will. How is she doing?"
Will finished what he was doing, setting up the coffee maker, and then turned to face her. He nodded once, but there was a look of disapproval on his face, "She's doing good. She's the best recruit when it comes to hand-to-hand unsurprisingly. Aj's even gotten better with a gun, thank goodness, and Sideswipe has been continually training her for sword use. I don't have much to compare her to, but she looks like she knows what she's doing. Plus, she's smart as a whip. Picks up on things quick and is good at handling curveballs. She's the hardest working recruit we have."
"But…" Aubrey pressed in worry for her sister.
"Anytime we run through a training exercise, I can tell she isn't used to it, Aubrey." Will sighed. "It's where her inexperience is really seen. Your sister isn't used to being a team player. Don't get me wrong, she gets along well with everyone, hasn't made enemies, but she doesn't know what it means to be part of a squad. To move as a single unit."
Aubrey bit her lip. That should've been expected. Aimee was on her own for so long. She shook her head and the worry evaporated. This was her little sister. If there was anything that Aimee was good at it was adjusting. She gave her husband a smile, "Give her time. She'll figure it out. There's nothing my sister can't do when she puts her mind to it."
He flipped through the pages in front of him a few times before finally finding the budget report he had been looking for. Peter yanked it out of his folder and held it out to the Autobot liaison next to him, "This is what you needed, right?"
Sam looked over it a second before his face morphed into one of relief, "Oh thank God, yes. You're a life saver, Pete."
"Don't mention it." Peter chuckled before watching the frazzled man flip through his mountains of loose papers while also reading over a few datapads. He glanced over at Prowl's holoform who looked equally as surprised. "You alright, Sam?"
"Just a lot of things on my plate. With Galloway officially removed from his position it leaves me kind of in a mess."
Galloway being fired as the US liaison was the kind of news that had everyone on base celebrating. Literally. There had been a small party with Autobots and humans invited. Nobody was sad to see the ass clown go.
Peter leaned back in his seat, "He couldn't have been doing much in his position, what fell on your shoulders?"
"You're right. He was shit at his job." Sam sighed and took a break from his work to look at him and Prowl, "But he was also a giant dick and that made people not want to talk to him. With him gone, suddenly everyone wants to reach out and rubs elbows with the Autobots which is great but trying to balance that workload along with the usual workload has been a pain in the ass. Especially with the surplus of medical supplies Ratchet needs after fixing up Sunstreaker and Moonracer. He's running dangerously low and I want to get that covered first and foremost but now I have to try and schedule something with the President who suddenly wants to hang out with Optimus Prime."
Prowl and Peter shared another similar look at the man's ramblings. Peter cleared his throat and slowly moved his fresh cup of coffee over to the frazzled liaison. Sam hesitated only to thank him before beginning to chug the coffee.
Prowl's holoform clasped his hands together in front of him, he sat on the other side of the table from the two men, "May I suggest looking into a replacement sooner rather than later?"
Sam nodded once, "That's something I actually wanted to talk to you guys about this meeting." He paused as the meeting room's door opened. Wheeljack and Ratchet's holoforms strolled in. Sam started again, "I've been thinking of appointing Simmons as the US liaison to work opposite of me."
Peter's eyes widened and he saw Prowl stiffen in his seat. Wheeljack gasped in surprise and Ratchet grumbled under his breath. He glanced over to see the medic rise from the seat he had just sat down in, "Just send me notes from this meeting."
Ratchet left entirely mumbling to himself and Sam motioned toward him, "That is the response I expected, but I actually did think this through."
"Simmons?" Peter pressed in skepticism. "Simmons?"
"He's a little…odd."
"He's batshit crazy, Sam." Peter replied.
"That is a good phrase for it, yeah." Sam sighed, "But listen, he's good. The guy was shockingly good at his job before we disbanded his merry band of weirdos, and he cares about the Autobots. Sort of. More so than Galloway at least."
Prowl shook his head, "You would trust him in that position?"
"Yeah, I would. He helped in Mission City. He helped in Chicago. He helped against the Hives." Sam spoke firmly this time, and nobody had anything to reply to his words because he was right. Simmons had been there for many of the big Cybertronian battles, and he surprisingly played a vital role in both battles. Granted, he was bizarre and a lot to deal with, but he was an ally. "Plus, he's just weird enough to deal with, that I think people will also avoid reaching out to him. Which means we'll get left alone to do our own thing."
Peter blinked in shock, "Oh my God, I think I agree with you."
"See!" Sam nodded frantically, "It's weird but it makes sense! Like, the idea made me nauseous initially but once you push past that it isn't terrible?"
Wheeljack rubbed the back of his head, "Is he even allowed to be liaison? He doesn't exactly have the clearance he used to have, and he might also be wanted by the US government? I'm not entirely sure of what's happening on that end."
Prowl shook his head, "He isn't wanted per say. We are keeping him on base alongside Cade Yeager for a connection to the artifact, but most of that logic is just because we don't want him out in the public again."
They continued to talk the pros and cons of having Simmons as a liaison and unfortunately there were a lot more pros than cons. Optimus' holoform finally entered the room. He nodded in greeting, "My apologies for being tardy. I was overseeing the current training exercise."
"Which one are they doing?" Wheeljack questioned.
"Alt form avoidance. They're in the obstacle course with Ironhide, Sideswipe, and Bumblebee attempting to take the team out."
"How's my aunt doing?" Peter asked. It was the end of the second week of training, and he had heard good things from Prowl, Tyler, and Sideswipe.
Optimus' lips twitched up into the ghost of a smirk, a real blink and you miss it type, "Last I saw, Ironhide was on her tail and she was shouting expletives at him."
Wheeljack hummed, "He seems to enjoy fake killing her in these training exercises a little too much."
Everyone at the table agreed with that statement and then promptly moved on. Optimus cleared his throat and glanced around the table, "So what have I missed?"
"Well, we are strongly considering appointing Simmons as Galloway's replacement." Peter offered when it looked like no one else was going to break the news to the commanding officer.
Optimus froze, but did not show any shock on his features, he nodded once, "That does explain Ratchet's mood when I ran into him in the hall on my way here."
Sam started his speech up again of the pros and cons they had gone over while Optimus just listened quietly. At the end of it Prime agreed that all points made were valid and that this seemed to be an option that needed to be explored. At least Simmons was more bearable than Galloway. Hell, a rabid bobcat was more bearable than Galloway.
"Ratchet is not going to be happy with this decision." Wheeljack mumbled sheepishly.
Peter made a note of the Simmons decision and added that he make sure not to be around when the news was broken to the CMO. He moved his attention to the next item on the list that needed addressing.
Training was going well. It was exhausting, but Ironhide hadn't actually managed to murder me yet and that had to be worth something. There was only a little over a week left of all this which meant we were moving to the next step.
Missions.
Fake missions, but missions all the same. Apparently, they had a fake city sitting a few miles outside of base that they used for moments like this. It's the same area they used for the training exercise that involved letting the Autobots try to run us over. They called it something fancy like 'evading and avoidance', but that was just the nice way of saying 'Ironhide gets to run over all the squishes aka me'.
Tyler slugged me in the shoulder as we walked and it caught my attention, "Hmm?"
He nodded, "You nervous or something?"
There was some nervous energy running through my veins, but it felt familiar. It reminded me of how I felt right before I started a string of marathon fights. Vaguely nervous, but mostly excited. I smirked, "Hardly."
"Good." Tyler nodded, "Because you're gonna do great. All of you are killing this round of training."
He was right. We all had a good energy about us throughout this thing. I counted my blessings that we got along well enough for that not to be a distraction. We both got to Wheeljack's lab door and Tyler hit the button on his phone to ring the doorbell. Wheeljack greeted us a second later and scooped us up.
"This is so exciting!" Wheeljack set us down on his lab counter, in a clean space, then shook his head, "Wait one moment here. I'll be back."
Wheeljack rushed away and I glanced around his lab. Things were organized haphazardly, and most of the items I saw were beyond recognition. My eyes drifted back to Tyler. Instead of his on base uniform, he wore his mission gear. A navy shirt that had holes and bloodstains, and a pair of black shorts with black leggings underneath them. Around his right and left forearms was a thick band of dark green metal that I knew with the right command would morph out into his protective suit. He also had a matching ring of metal around his neck.
"How come the others don't get suits?"
Tyler glanced over, "What?"
"How come we are the only ones who get suits?"
"You know that I'm the Cybertronian asset on the team, and once you graduate you'll also be a Cybertronian asset right?" Tyler questioned and I nodded. Lennox had called me that a few times here or there and I had just never questioned it. "It's a loophole."
"Loophole for what?"
Tyler sighed, "Well originally Jackie and the Autobots wanted to make these kinda suits for everyone, you know? They wanted the humans who went up against the Decepticons and drones to be as protected as possible. We were their allies so of course they wanted to help us." He paused and glanced over to where Wheeljack had left then looked back. "The government wouldn't let them. If the Autobots were going to do something of that nature they wanted the rights to the equipment. They wanted the weaponry."
"Of course." I rolled my eyes. It was almost cliché of that government to react that way. For crying out loud. "So, what happened?"
Tyler shrugged, "OP had to make a judgement call. He chose not to give the weapons or technology over to us petty humans." It was a good decision. If there was something you could count on a human doing it was fucking shit up. "Still there was no way the Autobots were gonna leave us exposed. Sam Witwicky figured out a loophole. We got classified as more Cybertronian than human and that allowed the Autobots to supply us with tech and gear."
"Oh, wow."
Tyler took a step toward me, "Don't mention any of that to Jackie though. He hates that his arm is being twisted like this. If it were up to him, we'd all be running out there in gear and anytime we end up losing someone…"
"He blames himself." I finished. Wheeljack had that bad habit. Things that he shouldn't take the guilt for he'd shoulder in a snap. I wished I could slap him silly. Talk some sense into him, but there was no convincing the engineer that he was without sin.
"Alright!" Wheeljack chirped as he came back in holding a long box in his hands. He set it down in front of me with a wide grin, "I called Sideswipe to come, but he's a little tied up right now. Go on and open it!"
I glanced at Tyler who shrugged before looking back to the black box. I had a sneaking suspicion what this would be based on the size of it and I was eager to see the swords the twins had talked endlessly about. Tyler and Wheeljack stared at me in anticipation. I gave them a quick grin and popped open the lid only for my smile to drop in absolute shock.
The swords were about the same dimension as the lead pipes I had been using, I assumed they'd be the same weight too, but boy were they not lead pipes. The handles looked like a dark steel of some kind, maybe Cybertronian for all I knew, but the blade itself was most definitely Cybertronian. The blades were a dark metal. If it wasn't for the other worldly purple glow that seemed to radiate from the center I'd call it black. I glanced at Wheeljack who nodded at me encouragingly. Slowly and cautiously, I picked the right-handed blade up. Tyler whistled appreciatively.
I had never seen anything like this.
I picked up the other as well and tested them in my hands. When I turned my wrists though I could see there was a design on the other side of the blade. Near the base of the blade in tiny, gold Cybertronian were two words. One on the left, the other on the right.
"Sideswipe and Sunstreaker." I chuckled.
Wheeljack looked startled, "You can read Cybertronian?"
Tyler looked at me equally as surprised and I shook my head with a quick laugh, "Hardly. I uh—Sideswipe showed me his name once, and he showed me Sunstreaker's too recently. He likes writing things in different languages, and I picked up on this is all."
"Well, you're very right." Wheeljack motioned for me to set the swords down and I did. "It was Sunstreaker's blade that he had me melt down into your blades. The leftover material I incorporated into your suit, the helmet specifically, it only seemed right."
Wheeljack transformed to his alt mode, out of our sight, and then quickly called forth his holoform. He stepped forward with a couple metal pieces very similar to Tyler's but dark gray in color.
"One moment." He mumbled and came in close. I lifted my chin so he could clamp the metal collar around my neck. It was a little heavy, but not something I wouldn't get used to. He then moved to put the armbands on me, showing me the clasps so I could do it myself next time.
Tyler reached forward and tapped it twice, "Hers is different."
"She has more armor on her back, so it had a little more weight to it." Wheeljack stepped back from us and clapped his hands, "Let's see it!"
Tyler turned to face me and lifted his arm, "It reads your body signature. Just set your hand against one of them like so…"
My nephew set his hand against one of his own and I watched the band flashlight blue once around his hand before the metal began to fold out of the bands itself. It took no more than minute for his entire suit to form around him. The last part was his helmet. It came out from his neck band and cupped around his head. Tyler smirked at me before the dark blue glass slid out from the metal and covered his features.
I tilted my head once in a 'what the hell' manner then slapped my left hand on top of the metal of my right band. Just like his, it flashed light blue and the metal began to creep. It felt incredibly odd. The metal was cool against my skin and it flickered across my body so quick I could barely keep track of it. The metal of my helmet came up from the neck and cupped around my own face then the glass slid down with a click. My sight suddenly darkened, like wearing a pair of sunglasses, before lighting up as words decorated my sight. In the top corner were what looked like vitals and if I focused my gaze on anything for too long it would scan the item.
A ring of light circled Tyler's helmet and then his information flashed to the right of my eyesight. I glanced down at my hands letting my gaze trace over the metal that now covered them. This was straight up trippy.
"Here." Wheeljack was back in his main form and holding a reflective surface toward me. I stepped toward it and watched the armored figure copy my movements. It barely registered in my mind that this was me. The metal was dark gray, gunmetal, with black and white accents. My helmet though had traces of the metal from my sword in lines decorating the sides and the glass was gold. "I can change the color scheme if you'd like. We have a little wiggle room, but I thought you'd enjoy this."
"Jackie, it's gorgeous." I laughed. "You're amazing."
Tyler's helmet collapsed away, but his armor remained, "Looking badass, Aj."
"Now you have magnets in the back of your armor to hold weapons, including your swords, and you have a special electromagnet in your hands that will let you call the swords to you if you happen to drop them in battle." Wheeljack pointed to my right forearm, "This panel has all your controls. Only you can activate or deactivate them but using this you can disconnect parts of your suit or override any issues."
I walked over to pick up my swords then placed them over my shoulder. I could feel the magnets grab them and the swords made a slight 'click' as they stuck. I grinned again, "Jackie you have out done yourself."
"I'm glad you approve, Aj."
I lifted my hands with a smirk and motioned toward myself, "Let's see Ironhide try to mess with me now."
Ratchet felt numb. It was a strange reaction to the current events, and even he wouldn't have predicted it. Wheeljack snapped at him then apologized for snapping, but Ratchet wasn't even fazed by it. The Engineer was right. Focus. Focus.
His attention came back to him and he went back to digging around in the surplus pile to try and give Wheeljack the supplies he needed. The faint siren still going off did nothing to make him feel better. It was mission time, but this mission time was different than the others.
This time his youngling was going out.
In his spark, he always knew the was coming. He had essentially agreed to this, but he thought he'd have more time to get used to the idea. Training wasn't even over yet, but Lennox was taking them out on an emergency mission. It was good news that Lennox had such faith in the new recruits, but it chilled Ratchet to his spark.
He knew she was a good fighter; he knew she had improved vastly since the start, and he knew she was protected by the very best armor Wheeljack could make.
Ratchet also knew though that his youngling was brave and loyal to a fault. That at the first sign of a bad turn she would throw herself into danger headfirst to protect those around her.
"She will be ok." Wheeljack said softly in Cybertronian. Ratchet looked up at his old friend, patch job materials in hand, "I will be out there. I will make sure she comes back. Ratchet, you have my word."
He nodded once, "Ensure you bring yourself back as well, Wheeljack."
The mech's fins lit up brightly, his optics filled with amusement. He took the materials Ratchet had dug out for him. Patches to use in the field for combat injuries, "We'll be back before you know it."
Wheeljack hurried out and Ratchet watched him go. The curses of another made him look over at Sunstreaker who looked furious. The medic sighed and walked over, he sat down on one of his stools, "Sunstreaker-"
"I should be out there!" Sunstreaker snapped in Cybertronian. He tugged against the restraint around his wrists. It was only by a miracle that the mech had already been strapped down from an earlier procedure when the sirens went off. Otherwise, Ratchet never would've been able to keep him in the bay. "Ratchet, I'm strong enough. My spark is fine."
Ratchet set his hand on the mech's shoulder and the yellow frontliner stilled. The two shared a look. The medic knew his twins well enough that sometimes he didn't need to voice his opinion. In cases like this, Sunstreaker and Sideswipe only had to look at him to understand every thought the medic had.
Sunstreaker's shoulders wilted and a pained look crossed his features, "I feel helpless. Sideswipe and Aj will be out there and I'll be here."
"They'll come back. They'll be ok." Ratchet said firmly, hoping by saying the words out loud they would convince himself as well. Sunstreaker nodded once but didn't reply. He leaned back against the berth and closed his optics.
Ratchet stayed where he was on the stool but leaned his elbows against the side of the berth with his own optics closed. This was going to be the longest mission of his entire existence.
The hanger was dark. The daytime shift and long ago ended and the soldiers on night shift drifted about in different hangers than this one. Only one man stood in the expansive room staring out into the night at the curled-up form staring up at the sky silently.
Optimus knelt down beside the man, "Lennox…"
"I can't change my decision, Prime." Lennox sighed, his arms crossed tightly over his chest, "What I told her… the decision I made… it's final."
"No one deserves it more than her. The effort she put into it, the dedication she showed—"
"I know." Lennox snapped, turning to look at him. His steeled features broke enough to show pain, "This isn't about her effort or dedication. She is the most dedicated. She is the most skilled, and I know on paper she could be the best of us, but Optimus… she isn't a team player. Aj isn't used to working as part of a group."
Optimus shook his helm, "If we explain this to her, have her work on this… I am positive she can improve."
"I tried that. We had a long conversation about it before the mission. She knows the issue, but it isn't something she can just change. It's who she is, Optimus." Lennox said firmly, "Aj has been on her own for so long, she's so used to being independent, that she can't shift that train of thought." He sighed again, and Optimus glanced at Aj's form who hadn't moved from where she sat on the tarmac. "I can see it in her eyes. I saw it in the mission. I like her, Optimus. I like her a lot, but I can't trust her to follow my lead. A solider on this squad has to trust the others enough to work together, but she has to do it herself. Aj has to put everyone else first and risk herself regardless of mission orders."
Optimus wanted to argue. He wanted to vouch for his friend. The problem was, he could see Lennox's point of view all too well. He knew what it took to lead a squadron and he knew what a person like Aj could do to one. A team had to be cohesive. It would take too long to try and break Aj of her independent streak, and Optimus wondered if that was a change she was truly capable of.
"I feel terrible for doing it, Optimus, but I had no choice."
"I understand, Lennox." Optimus stood to his full height, "If you'll excuse me…"
Lennox gave him a small nod and Optimus walked out onto the dark tarmac. Aj had been out here for hours now just staring at the starry sky. She had various visitors over that timeframe, but nobody had managed to pull her back inside.
"Hey, OP." Aj greeted softly. It was potentially the softest he had ever heard the proud femme's voice. "You've come to pity me too, huh?"
"I am not here to offer pity." Optimus transformed into his alt mode and kicked his passenger side door open, "I am wondering if I can offer you a drink?"
It was silent minus the rumble of Optimus' engine. The nighttime desert blew past us as he drove further away from the base and I couldn't help but marvel at the déjà vu I felt of it all. It seemed like anytime I was in a time of crisis I ended up here. In this cab. Optimus hadn't mentioned the mission yet. He hadn't mentioned the 'me being kicked out of the training program' thing yet either.
The emergency mission had been a seek and destroy. Five drones had attacked a small Nevada town about an hour outside of Las Vegas. It was random and brutal, and it made no sense why a bunch of drones were in that random city, but Lennox had decided all us new recruits were ready for the field. And, he had been right. It had gone well up to the end. Sideswipe, Wheeljack, and Arcee were the Autobots in the field with us and they had their hands tied leaving us with the last drone. Lennox told us to retreat with the civilians, wait for Autobot back-up, but I didn't like the risk. I knew it was a terrible decision to make, to directly disobey, but I couldn't help myself.
I couldn't fucking stop myself.
Optimus slowed as he reached the edge of one of the canyons. His door swung open and I stepped out to notice that his holoform was sitting on the hood of his alt form. I swallowed the lump in my throat and climbed up to sit beside him.
"This is the one you like?" Optimus' holoform handed me an entire bottle of Jack Daniel's. My eyebrows rose in surprise at the gesture, "Tyler told me."
"Tyler is right." I replied and twisted off the top to take a swig. Optimus sat silently staring out ahead at the canyon beyond us. "So?"
"So?"
"Tell me. What's your line for the night?"
Optimus gave me a curious look, "My line?"
"Everyone who has stopped by has given me their line. The thing they thought would make me feel better." I took another sip, letting the burn slide down my throat and the painful thoughts float away. "I think, weirdly Ironhide is winning right now."
Optimus chuckled, "May I ask what he said?"
"He told me that despite the outcome, I can rest knowing that I am now the best combat trained human on base." I laughed.
"Ironhide believes that if you can survive him, you can survive anything. It's his training motto of sorts." Optimus nodded. He motioned toward me, "May I ask what the others said? If I only get one line, I do not want to repeat anything."
I snorted, "Ratchet said he's still proud of me, Sideswipe said I am a warrior wronged, Bluestreak said a lot of… of everything, Bumblebee and Taylor gave me a hug, Tyler said he was sorry, Jazz…" My voice caught in my throat and irritation bubbled up in me. Optimus notice but didn't push, "Jazz said he'd find me a new job."
"And you didn't appreciate that."
"I should be thankful." I shook my head and pulled my knees up to my chest, "He's just trying to help, but sometimes it drives me crazy… he wants to fix everything and right now I don't want anything to be fixed I just want—"
Optimus cleared his throat, "You want to mourn?"
"Something like that."
"Still, you shouldn't stew in your pain."
"Optimus, I failed." I turned to look at him. The moon lit up his pained features. He looked as miserable as I did. That's what made Optimus so good though. He felt what others felt. He emphasized. "And I'm not even upset at Lennox or anything like that because he's right. No amount of training can change the way I think, the way I work."
"Aj—"
I let my hand tighten around the neck of the bottle, "I'm still broken. Everything I went through, I thought it made me stronger, but it just changed me. There is something in me that can't be fixed. No matter what I do."
"Aj." Optimus' hand shot out to lightly grip the back of my neck. He gave it a soft squeeze, "You are nota failure. You are not broken. Destiny has other plans for you, great plans, and though at times of disappointment it may be difficult to see… things will always work out how they should."
I felt myself begin to tear up and he pulled me into a hug. I rested my forehead on his shoulder and tried to focus on his words.
I am not a failure.
I am not broken.
Destiny has other plans.
Destiny has other plans.
