Noises snatched me from the peaceful and calm nap I slipped into after the two left. The tingling was noticeable quieter than usually: the first thing I was aware of once waking up. I opened my eyes groggily and saw sun light barely bleeding through the windows near the top of the hangar. Artificial light was slightly blocked out a large figure standing at one of the tables.
A cloth, more like a blanket, covered me from my shoulders down. That wasn't put there by me, for sure. I scrambled to my feet, eyes scanning over everything around me for danger. My senses slowly waking up from their dormant rest. I grunted in pain from my hip being jarred but continued to search.
The sound of my movement seemed to catch the being's attention and they turned around. Blue, glowing eyes latched onto my own. "Is everything okay?" Ratchet's voice filtered into the air.
Embarrassment burned at my cheeks. I was in no danger and reacted ridiculously to nothing. "Yes, I just forgot where I was," I stated and tried to get him off of my case. What I said wasn't entirely a lie or the whole truth.
How could've I let my guard down with him still here? Did he do something to me? Something internally told me no. Nothing about him or his behavior alerted me was dangerous; unlike me. "How are your injuries?" he questioned with genuine concern.
My defenses came in handy of him trying to get me to be relaxed around me. I opened my mouth to say a rude remark but closed it as regret flooded me. There was no reason to act ill-mannered. He has shown his kindness and poses no threat. "Fine, I guess. I just can't wait to be out of here," I said instead and gently kneaded the sore muscles in my right wing.
Ratchet dipped his head, understandment in his eyes. "I can tell, especially your distaste for humans. Yet, you seem so calm around us Autobots. Why?" he pressured, but not giving off threatening vibes.
Curious at heart, or whatever they have. "Your kind seems to accept me more compared to my own. You show little to no fear for my appearance," I answered with a shrug. "I can smell fear, and when I do, it makes me feel more on edge."
"Humans have a… feeble perspective of things around them. All of the Autobots on base have seen many creatures, your draconic kind isn't any different." A great way to put it, if I do so myself.
"I feel that we may get along for the short time I'm here," I leisurely stated. My stomach grumbled lowly, hopefully only for me hear. I needed to eat something soon, or my energy would deplete too much for me to heal.
His metal brows furrowed together. "'Short time'? I thought you were going to help us destroy Jasper and possibly the Decepticons. It would only make sense. Your enemy has joined forces with ours." He placed the tool in his hand down on the table behind, allowing his full attention to settle on this conversation.
Unfortunately, he was right about it making sense of joining his side. But his side works for the government. If word gets out about me, I'm done for. I may have powers, even I known when they weren't enough.
My stomach growled again, louder this time, blood rushing to my cheeks. Maybe he didn't hear it or will choose to ignore it. "You may have good point but Jasper only wants me. If I stay away from others, I won't get anyone hurt. Simple and easy. With the Decepticons, I don't have any reason to be in the middle of disagreement with them."
"Optimus repeated the few things that you said to me from William." Well then, you would understand why I have to be all by myself. "You're at your weakest when alone. If you worked alongside us, Jasper can be taken down swiftly." I hated when people were right about things but I was too stubborn to let him win.
"I'd rather not talk about this again. Since you heard what I said to William, you should understand why I must work alone." Irritation was being to grow under my scales. People only want me around for my power. If it wasn't them, Jasper or the Decepticons would be knocking at my door, wanting to control me.
All I wanted was simple: to be alone, away from everyone and everything. People always judge, no matter how much you try to deny that fact. If no one is around, then no one can judge me for being me.
He nodded and let go of the conversation. "Alright, you do have your reasons. I will warn you though about William, he's going to be come back today to talk with you." Lovely.
The sun had risen past the tree's, shining brightly down on Earth yet barely giving any heat on this chill morning. Chatter of the busy base could easily be heard inside the Med. Bay.
Fear ate away at me internally at the thought of any of those humans seeing me. Pain struck deep in my heart. After years of being this monster, it still hurt that my own kind is afraid of my appearance. If only they knew the torment I endured to become the creature that parents tell their kids to be scared of.
Lennox has yet made his known appearance even at halfway through the day. Boredom began to overrun the fright the longer I had to sit/stand around doing nothing. If only my wing was up to being used. Wait, that gave me an idea.
I unfurled both wings and cringed in pain from the strain of muscles in both of them. Even grounded, I had to keep up on working with the muscles or they'll weaken. My hip also flared from me putting a little weight on it to help me balance myself. Oh, boy, this was going to be a blast.
The hooks on my wings meant for climbing latched onto the metal horizontal beams supporting the hangar walls. Pain flared immediately in the right wing. I pushed through and leaned back, stretching out all the strained muscles.
Luckily, the CMO isn't in here to use his medical judgment so he couldn't yell at me for doing this. Like how I glided down from the tables. It was only an eight or nine foot drop.
After easing out all of the knots, I took a risk that may aid me in the end. My wing trembled slightly under my weight as I climbed up towards the rafters: my goal of this risk.
My hand slipped, gravity drawing me down to the ground. The wing hooks caught me, pulling all the muscles taunt and causing a cry to escape my lips. "Ouch," I grumbled lowly and decided to stop before I really hurt myself. I glided down to the ground just in time as Ratchet's robotic frame entered the hangar.
To act innocent, I began stretching out the same muscles I just pulled. What caught my eye is he was carrying something in his hands, just out of sight from my spot on the ground. "Afternoon, Midnight. I brought you your lunch." The announcement of food caused my stomach to rumble, loudly I must note.
Ratchet lowered his hand once he reached where I stood. A small plastic plate sat in the middle of hand, a milk carton next to it. On the plate held spaghetti and green peas, something I would actually enjoy. I took it gratefully with a kind smile on my lips and thanked him. He only hummed before returning to the table he was originally working at.
I sat down on the concrete, back against the metal wall, wings splayed out relaxed. The plate rested on my legs as I slowly took bites, savoring the great taste. It maybe military food but to me, it was good after either starving for days on end or eating raw, plain food from stores.
"You need to eat more. Your metabolism is much higher than a human. What I have calculated, you have to consume at least five thousand calories a day. I'll have the kitchen make some small dishes you can eat throughout the day. Healthy dishes. None of that junk food you humans have," Ratchet spoke up as I was halfway through my food.
"I already knew that but when you're hiding from others, it's kind of hard to eat that much," I stated and took another bite of the noodles in front of me.
The same tingling feeling trickled timidly to life. It only seemed to be very noticeable is when Sunstreaker was around and he was nowhere in sight. I rubbed, annoyed, at the spot and glared at the floor. "Everything alright?"
"Yeah." I contemplated telling him what happened to have that happen. "Sunstreaker shocked me when I put his hip thingy back into place. Now a weird buzz sits in the middle of my chest. Can your kind have a weird effect on humans like that?" Or it was just pent up electricity since he is made of metal. If you thought about it, it made sense.
Bewilderment was written all over his face. "He shocked you and now you have a buzzing feeling?" I nodded my head to answer his question. "Hmm, what does this buzzing feeling do?" What kind of question is that?
Unease grew in the pit of my stomach at his question. The feeling was already extremely foreign, yet doesn't hold a dangerous vibe to it. All in all, whatever it was confused and scared me. "Uh, I guess it'll… become more noticeable like a minute ago. Is it dangerous?"
Nothing came from his lips. His silence only caused the dread to grow. "That I don't know for sure. I'll have to look through some research to figure out what is happening. But I may have an idea." Then he turned his head towards the entrance of the Med. Bay. Someone was coming.
I got to my feet after placing the tray on the ground and watched as William entered. Yet, he wasn't alone this time. A familiar young human limped next to him, the brightest smile ever known to man on her lips. Her eyes scanned the room until they found me, the corners of her mouth somehow tilting up more. "Midnight!" her voice scarred out over the hangar.
Anna released her hold on William before rushing over to me, her leg dragging giving the girl trouble. Lennox shook his head in disbelief but did nothing to stop his daughter.
When she reached me, I kneeled down and wrapped my arms tightly around her small body. Her own encased me tightly and she buried her face in the crook of my neck. Drops of water could be felt on the softer scales. "The doctors said you weren't waking up. Sunny and I were worried, really worried for you," she cried. I understood her being concerned but the overgrown toast was as well? As if, I would have to hear it myself.
To sooth her crying, I gently rubbed the heel of my hand along her spine. Her hiccups died a minute later and she released me from her grasp. Instead, she grabbed my face and pressed her forehead against mine. Cute. "Never do that again! Sunny told you come with us and this is what happened. I hope you learned your lesson." Lesson? Protecting her from evil was a lesson?
William decided to speak up after a few moments of his daughter doing her thing. "Annabelle, let the c-Midnight-" I narrowed my eyes dangerously at him for that slip up-" go. I said you could see her not hug or touch her." Still edge I guess. It doesn't matter, the second my wing is healed, I'm out.
Everyone's eyes were trained on me, including the kid. Whoops, did I say that out loud? "You aren't going anywhere. And I'm not on edge, I'm just being cautious on something that isn't human," William tried to make up silly excuses.
My eyes peered over to Ratchet, a knowing look on my features. "I told you so. I help others and still get judge for being me." I changed my gaze to the man a good thirty feet away from us. "Just to let you know, I wasn't born this way."
"You aren't human, that's why I act cautious around you." He flew over my last sentence without another thought.
A chuckled rumbled deep in my chest. "You think I don't know that I'm not human. I helped you without you even knowing or asking. Can't I get a little respect? Is it so hard to respect a monster?" I nearly growled and returned to my full height. Anna slipped her hand in mine, drawing me away from an angered state.
The kid tugged to get my attention. "You aren't a monster. And daddy, don't be rude to her. I wouldn't be here if it was for her," Anna defended me and stood tall, not backing down.
Sparks flickered in William's eyes. "Yes, I know that. I'm constantly reminded but she isn't… normal." Anna continued her strong streak, eyes staring right at her father. It was enough to crack his façade and he sighed, irritation clear. "Fine, alright! Stop looking at me like that." The kid cheered happily next to me and lifted her arms up towards the sky. "Ugh, wait until your mom hears about this. She is going to have a cow."
But Anna disagreed with this statement. "Mama likes the supernatural. She'll adore Midnight. I bet ice cream on that statement!" William's behavior changed completely.
He laughed and shook his head. "As if you need any more sugar, child of mine. But I doubt she'll even meet Midnight since she keeps stating she's leaving." Now he was trying to get the kid to turn on me, sneaky son of a-.
"What?!" Sadness filled her voice and she peered up at me, brows furrowed softly. "You aren't leaving, right? I told you me and Sunny will protect you." Anna wrapped her arms around my mid-section and held on for dear life. I had to stop the grunt from her accidently touching the wound.
"I'm sorry kid, but you know the reason. For the time being, I'll be staying here until my wing is healed and then I'm gone," I stated and placed a hand on her head.
"No, I'm not letting you leave! You're safer here than out there." That was a great counter argument. My resolve slowly melting away the long she glared at me with those big, innocent eyes.
I sighed, crumbling under the sheer weight. "I told you so, Midnight. We can join forces of defeat both Jasper and the Decepticons," Ratchet decided to in put his earlier words.
"Fine! Okay, I'll stay. There you happy, kid? Jeez, you got a monster wrapped around your finger," I mumbled that last part to myself. Anna jumped excitedly on her good leg after releasing my waist from her hold. "That was all an act, wasn't it?"
"Oh yeah. I learned that from Sides." Damn kid.