Happy late Easter! Hope you all had a wonderful weekend. :)
Three days of mostly resting/sleeping when either twin was around, eating, and lounging around with the twins had my wounds mostly healed. The more pressing injuries were the first to close up. While the few bullet grazes and other bullet wounds were being taken cared by my human side of healing.
One thing that has caught my attention was the lack of ability to fall asleep when a twin wasn't near or in contact with me. Ratchet told me it was due to the connection, which doesn't but does make sense at the same time.
When I was first 'connected' with them, I could somewhat fall asleep easily without them. Now, if I want a wink of shut eye, one or, preferably, both have to be close. Which, to me, is complete horse crap.
Do I get a say though? No, it seems like I never do. Oh Fate, why are you a piece of crap when dealing with me?
Today started out well. Ratchet has deemed me well enough to go on the road trip with Will, Anna, and Ironhide. To him, this was also a good test to conduct on seeing how far and long I could go without one of the twins. He assured me everything was going to be fine but the dread in my stomach didn't ease my worry of what bad could happen.
Though that could be a side effect from the knowledge of leaving the twins for three days. Oh gods, that's going to be hard. I've depended on these iron giant for the entire time I've been here. Now, going on a road trip some hours away without either one. The thought made my heart stuttered.
I place a shaky hand above my heart and took a deep breath in. Of course, Sides or Sunstreaker weren't even on base right now. Prowl sent them to patrol for a few hours. I could feel a slight strain on the connection, making me anxious as I waited for them to return.
Sparkling snowflakes drifted down and landed on my overly warm scales. The day had started out cold and continued on like that, bringing out a side effect. I closed my eyes with a heavy sigh and savored the particles melting on my scales. It felt relaxing until the crashing reminder of anxiety swirling in my brain.
The scheduled time to leave continued to inch closer. Robert would had to cover a few things for William until he gets back. With Annabelle returning home, the base was going become more boring than it already is. At least, everyone here wouldn't have to worry about her safety.
How long was the drive/flight going to be? Neither William or Ironhide have told me. Anything over three hours was going to be drag and that was already a stretch.
All I knew from the two was William and his wife live in Lolo, Montana. That was only two states over so it wasn't too bad but nonetheless.
Wait, this gives me an idea. Maybe the information I acquired for William has something, anything about Jackie Hogan. How have I not thought about that before? It's been over a week and the mother is still waiting for anything about her child.
If I could find any information about him, it would give Lily something. More than those stupid cops she's been dealing with. I've personally dealt with police officers before. Let me tell you, they are complete assholes. I did nothing wrong, nothing illegal, and one of them still shot me. She emptied a clip into me and hit an artery. That woman is lucky I didn't die or have permanent damage.
The pinch like twinge in my chest brought me back to reality. It felt like the twins were moving ever further away. My connection continued to strain, making me feel mostly lost.
An urge to find the two surged inside of me. Geez, and they were only a little over ten or so miles away. And it has been less than four hours without them. I usually could go without seeing or talking with them for a whole work day but they were on base. Maybe that's why the connection was going haywire.
William had plan our tip to be only two days. The twins weren't allowed to go due to a former incident that included his house. I had to survive two days without them.
Oh, this was going to be Hell on Earth.
My talons scraped against the metal as I took off. Anna and William were soon to come by the main hangar. Their designated driver was already here with Bumblebee. The two were conversing with each other. I landed by them on the guardrail and sat down on my hunches to watch the humans work.
"Yo, girl-io… Wassup, my homie!" two radio styled voices greeted me. I turned around to face Bumblebee and smiled kindly up at him in a greets. "You ready! I can't hear you!" It sounded like the beginning of SpongeBob's theme song.
I couldn't help the chuckle escaping me and nodded my head. "Yeah, definitely. The base is starting to suffocate me. I need to get out and properly stretch my wings, ya know?"
The mech dipped his head, understanding what I meant. "Yeppers, I do, I do… Stretch those… wings far and wide, baby! Iron-hide… my boy, you gotta… live or let die. Coast your way… home sweet home Alabama." Said bot barked out a laugh and slapped a hand on Bumblebee's shoulder. I stared, confused up at them, unsure what the hidden joke was.
They realized I was just staring at them. Ironhide opened his mouth to speak before shaking his head and mutter never mind under his breath. His gazed moved from towards the entrance of the main hangar. I turned to see where his eyes were staring out and found the two Lennox's strolling into the building. William carried only a small bag while his daughter skipped empty handed next to him.
He motioned for Ironhide and I to come towards him. The two of us complied and stopped closed to him. "Are the four of us ready?" Anna cheered happily and jumped up and down excited to go back home. Ironhide causally dipped his head with me following suit.
"But, I do have a request though," I stated. William gave me the go ahead. "I want to do some research of the information we have gathered about Jasper. Could I have a tablet or something to go over?" The man furrowed his brows but nonetheless, shrugged his shoulders.
"Sure, I see why not. Give me a moment." The captain rushed up the flight of stairs to the raised work space and snatched a tablet off of a empty desk. He came right back and handed it to me. "It has everything on there for you. Now, I'm guessing you're flying since planes are 'flying death machines'." I knew he was poking fun at me but I decided against snarling at him.
I nodded my head to confirm his guess. "Well, we better get on the road then. It's going to be dark by the time we get there so don't lose us."
Ironhide took the silent suggestion to transform. Compared to the twins, his was a little on the clucky side and slow, leaving him in a vulnerable position longer.
Once completed, he opened his driver and passenger front doors to let the humans in. William took the left side while his daughter climbed into the right side. She looked so cute next to the overly large truck
The newly transformed bot rolled out of the hangar once both the humans were seated. I followed suit after waving good bye to Bumblebee. Out of the corner of my eye though, I spotted Lily staring up at hovering form. To reassure the worry clearly evident in her eyes, I held up the tablet in hand and dipped my head. A silent saying that I hope she understood.
Lily nodded back, seeming appreciative and returned to her work. I left on that note and flew after Ironhide. Once we get established on a highway, I'll get to readying.
My chest twisted, reminding me that I still haven't seen either twin since the beginning of their patrol. Though taking home Anna was important, a small side trip to see them wouldn't hurt. Ironhide is driving on a road while I fly. Flying is much faster than driving since you're going in relevantly straight line.
Instead of following them once we passed the base's gate, I reached out towards the connection and let it guide. I felt a familiar movement within it, knowing one of the twins were reacting to my actions.
Again, two days without them. How could I last?
It wasn't long until I saw the bright and colorful paint jobs through the trees. A relax smile gracing my lips at the sight. The twinge fully releasing me once laying eyes on them. I dove between the trees and flashed some exotic colors at them.
Sides and Sunstreaker skidded to a stop on the empty road before transforming. "Azar? What are you doing here?" the red mech questioned, truly confused on why I was here instead at the base.
"Well, we were on our way out towards Montana but I wanted to come by and check up on you," I answered and tucked the tablet under my arm.
A scowl made its way to Sunstreaker's face. "They were making you leave before you could say goodbye to us. Glitches!" The twin was clearly showing his anger within his voice. His brother made the realization too and pouted with his arms crossed.
"Hey," he drew out the word. "They were. They are glitches." I snorted and rolled my eyes, not falling for their tricks.
"Remember what Ratchet said. They don't know about our situation. So they didn't even think about it and give William some slack," I argued and wanted to speed this up before the bot gets too far ahead of me. "But never mind that. I need to get going before Ironhide gets suspicious of where I am."
Sides' pout grew and he awed, sad about the predicament. "But we don't want you to leave." He tried to grab me, may it be a leg or tail. I gave him a stern and stubborn look. "Fine," the mech whined, "at least give us a goodbye kiss before you." I'm sorry, what?!
Was that even possible? They're a little under twice my height which makes everything about them bigger than a human, including lips. Ugh, stupid toaster. "No, but you can get a hug or nothing at all."
Sunstreaker shrugged, not putting up a fight and held out his palm for me to land on. I comply without much hesitation and touched down on his hand. A small shock ran up from the ball of my foot, along my spine, to the center of my chest. Stupid connection. The strain must have caused that.
He seemed to be slightly affected as well from the small shutter that ran through his body. "This trip is going to be hard on all of us. It's a two-hundred and eighty-three mile trip. The furthest you've ever gone without one of us," Sunstreaker stated as if I didn't know. It's sad on how much I've started to depend on them for us comfort and peace of mind.
"If you need us, just have Will call Ratchet and talk with him. He'll make an excuse on why we need to be there. Okay?" Sides commented and rubbed the area between my horns, nearly drawing a purr from me.
A smile graced my lips and I nodded my head. "Alright now, let's hug so you can get on your way." Sunstreaker listened to his brother's words and wrapped his free arm around me. The yellow bot pulled me chest to with him.
"Don't do anything stupid," he muttered, barely loud enough for me to hear. I rolled my eyes and smacked him with my tail. For pay back, he squeezed me extra hard, leaving me wheezing after he handed me over to Sides.
Said bot had a playful smirk on his face and buried his face into the crook of my neck. Surprisingly the metal was warm, definitely warmer than his arms and hands touching my scales. "We'll miss you."
"I know, I know I will too." Leaving them for a short amount of time felt one of the hardest to do. Deep down though, I knew I needed to get going. "But seriously, I need to chase after Ironhide."
Sides groaned, holding me somehow closer to him and mumbled under his breath. "Sides," I warned him, impatiently waiting for him to let me go. He held on for a few extra seconds before setting me down on the ground. The snow felt refreshing on my feet.
I took the open opportunity to take flight hover over their heads. "Be good or else we'll be forced to come get you." I couldn't help but snort at Sunstreaker's words, knowing he had no fire behind them. "I'm serious, Azar. "
"Sure, sure. See ya two in two days. Be good, I swear. I don't need Prowl calling for me to whoop your butts into shape." I didn't stay longer than a second and took off into the open sky.
Clouds still covered the evening sky with sprinkling snow. I held the tablet close to my side to protect it from the onslaught of snow falling. My wings continued to carry me through the cold weather as I scanned for a highway, heading towards Montana.
It didn't take longer than thirty or so minutes to find Ironhide's large vehicle form driving on a highway. I dipped down to his level, uncaring if the other humans saw me. The hidden bot flashed his lights, alerting me he saw me. My wings tilted to take me higher above the trees of Washington.
Once I found Ironhide and the humans, I took out the tablet and unlocked it. It wasn't hard to find what I was looking for and immediately got to reading.
During our trip, Ironhide pulled off at a rest area and let the two out. It's been barely two hours and they already need a bathroom break. For the heck of it, I landed on a wooden railing, still focusing on the packet of information in front of me.
Humans could be heared gasping or muttering under their breath. I paid barely any attention to them. This rest area wasn't busy, but it did have a good number of people using the place.
Being this far away from the twins, I could definitely feel the strain on our connection. It hasn't gotten to the point hurt per say but it was uncomfortable to be more specific.
A small amount of snow sprinkled down from a tree behind me. It landed partly on my head and tablet in my hand. Annoyed at the particles, I controlled all that had fallen to move away.
More gasps could be heard. Whoops. My eyes glanced over to the sounds and saw the humans pulling out their phones. I growled deeply and lowered my head with my teeth bared. A few were smart to return to their vehicles and hide there for safety.
"What is it?" A child by the sounds of it whispered. My eyes locked onto to him. To show him that I wasn't a threat, I slowly blinked and moved my head to show a profile look. His nervous expression fell away and he released his father's leg.
The father wasn't as stupid or trusting and grabbed his son's arm. He took his son away from the scene and back to their vehicle.
By this time, William and Anna came out of the restrooms. When the former saw me, he rushed over with his daughter in tow. There was anger evident on his face with bewilderment. William scooped his arms as if shooing off a bird. I got the memo and flapped my wings for flight.
The humans now below me cheered at the 'brave' man for scaring me off. Him and Anna jumped back into Ironhide's vehicle mode and left the scene quickly. I could tell he wasn't happy with me and my actions, but those humans would've seen me just the same flying in the sky.
Carefully, I continued reading on to find anything about Jackie. There was list of who was being held at two facilities and other things about which subjects/kids they were tested on. Yet, there hasn't been any acknowledgement of him. Which worried me, only in the slightest. My anger about everything surfaced and the energy inside raced around.
Our next stop had us arriving at an old white country styled home with the screened in porch. A newer modeled Chevy truck sat parked in off to the side near a massive oak tree. Ironhide stopped parallel with the front of the house and let his two occupants out.
The door opened to the house and a woman stepped out. Tears dripped down her cheeks before she took down the three stairs towards the two. The three of them embraced each other, making me flinch at the sight. It had me long for the same thing.
I landed quietly behind Ironhide and tucked the tablet under my arm. The secret mech rolled back to reveal me to the group but I swiftly followed him.
"Azar, please come here." At the mention of my name, I stopped. Ironhide continued. I stood there, feeling exposed and stared wide eyed at the three. The woman, I'm guessing the mother, smiled kindly with excitement in her eyes yet she kept it at bay.
"Mama, this is Nighty. Night, this is my mama," Anna introduced and dragged her mother over to me. William followed them and side hugged his wife with a bright smile.
She held out her hand without any hesitation or fear. It surprised me. A human that wasn't afraid and was even excited to see me. "I'm Sarah. It's nice to finally met you."