Evening had just begun to set when Danielle's cell phone rang on her nightstand as it always did at this time on Wednesdays. She no longer wanted to avoid Dr. Tornat now that they had been through enough of her background and made significant healthy progress towards resolving, or at least living with, her PTSD.
Danielle hadn't hidden the alternate forms of therapy she had taken to without the doctor's guidance. They had all laid the groundwork for her self-confidence, and helped her discover some revelations, but Tornat was there to help her polish the finishing touches on her progress. Finally, Dr. Tornat allowed the discussions with Danielle to cover other hurdles. Tonight, they were deep into one such conversation, Dr. Tornat quiet on her end of the call as Danielle explained part of what she was having trouble with.
"And I've been thinking about some of your advice, and I've realised that much of my romantic attachment to him had been wrapped up in the extraordinary circumstances. I know we hadn't known each other very long but I took the risk and put my trust in him. From that point on, his attention has practically been a walking talking dopamine hit. It felt like I'd fallen in love with him, but it was more the idea of him, if that makes sense? He seems to care about me in a way I haven't experienced since my father died." she trailed off.
When the silence on the line indicated that Danielle had nothing more to add, Dr. Tornat responded. "That's not an easy understanding to come to, but is extremely mature of you. Is this something you've ever expressed to him? I assume I don't need to explain to you that this isn't a situation to take lightly or drag out."
"No. Part of me thinks some magical moment that will appear for me to tell him, but another part of me knows that's just my way of pushing this off as long as possible. There's also my fear that, since we've never actually talked about this, I'm totally misreading the situation. Following that route, it would sound more like I'm breaking up a friendship. No matter what, I'm terrified that I will hurt him, or worse, cause a rift in the team. We're still at war, and they can't afford a hit like that. But the war we're in has raged for eons, so I can't exactly wait it out."
"Danielle, remember, you can't control anyone else's emotions, only yours and your reaction to theirs. You have to say your piece however you see best to do so, and let him handle his own fallout. You're correct that there will never be a "right time". The best way to start this conversation may be to just pull him aside and dive into it. There's no way to lean in gently or gracefully segue the topic."
Silent moments passed, only a heavy sigh passed between them from Danielle.
Dr. Tornat prodded gently "Do you think there would be anything to gain by talking to his commander beforehand? Maybe they might have some insight on an approach you can't think of simply because you don't understand his full situation?"
Danielle scoffed "And say what? Excuse me sir, I think your soldier is in love with me. Do you have any advice on how to break up with him without throwing him into total despair? That is NOT a conversation I ever want to have with Optimus Prime."
Thursday's sun was high in the sky, searing the desert below.
The clatter of plastic trays against tables and droning conversation swelled in the corner of the entry hangar still dedicated to food for the humans that worked at the Autobot base. Today, the residents were accompanied by a large swath of visitors here to see another mech practice duel. Traveling down the lunchtime chow line was the full ARC team.
Archer spoke to Cole "I can't believe how quickly that new Bot was able to get the mech upgraded! Two, three days after a fight and already it's better than our first test run? That's INSANE! Is nobody else as excited about this as I am?" he asked, looking side to side at his teammates.
Tommy replied "No, I don't think too many people are as into the mechanics as you are, Archer. It's great that we have a higher heat tolerance and all that, but excited isn't the word I'd use."
Sadiyah spoke up next to Heather "I take interest in the increased efficiency of the synthetic energon. He managed to extract an extra thirty percent energy use just by tweaking the onboard movement AIs. That gives us almost a full hour of flight time. I think that's exciting…" she trailed off.
Cole nudged Archer forward "Hey man, can you be excited after I get my food? We only have so much time before our practice today and you're holding up the line."
After they filled their trays and found a table, Tommy wanted to talk strategy with his unit. "Okay, so we know how different the fight with Optimus was compared to our simulations. Our biggest take away was using the environment to our advantage more. Sand is unstable, day heat factors into our power depletion, and targets beyond the immediate battlefield need to be considered. Today, against their top physical fighter, we need to bring all that together a little better. Arcee, I'm told, is an assassin, so expect advanced speed, precision, and close combat. Cole, you'll have lead from the get-go today. Archer, save your pocket-sand for later in the fight, we don't want to show our aces too early."
"Hey, how about we ask an expert for some inside tips?" Heather asked, getting up from the table and walking to the end of the chow line where Danielle had just collected her own lunch. With her arm slung across Daneille's shoulders, Heather led them both back to the table talking happily.
"Hey guys, so you're fighting Arcee today?" Danielle chuckled light heartedly. "It was nice knowing ya." She plunked her tray on the table and sat next to Tommy across from Sadiyah.
Cole caught her eye with a charming smile and a casual "Hey". Heather eyed him up and down with a soured smirk, not missing the moves he was trying to pull on the new girl. Oblivious to her visual snark, he pressed Danielle for details.
"Alright, so you've gotten to know these bots. Being that I have to carry the team today, what can you tell me about her fighting style? Secret power moves? Sneaky weapons? Tactics she might pull on us?"
Danielle laughed through a mouthful of sandwich, finding it funny that he'd ask her for battle tips. Finding that everyone at the table was looking intently at her, she realized they fully expected an insightful response from her. With a hard swallow, she quickly thought back through the fights she'd watched of Arcee against Bumblebee and Mirage.
"She's close range, like really close. She excels at fast attacks from well inside your reach. But don't underestimate her size. She might be small but if you let her get any momentum at you, she's going to win."
She rolled her eyes with hopelessness at their situation before shoving several chips in her mouth.
Archer laughed good naturedly "Welp, we're dead!"
"That's really all you got, Dannygirl?" Cole asked, an eyebrow raised in defiance of her short lecture.
She took a quick swig of her water, nodding her head yes, and nearly choked on it when one more detail surfaced.
Clearing her throat, she informed them "She has a tell. It's subtle, but she tends to tilt her head slightly when she's locked on to your weakness and is about to exploit it for all it's worth."
Sadiyah rested her forehead on the table and whispered into a ketchup packet "So dead…"
The group ate in silence as they watched the clock tick down. When they eventually cleared their table and returned the trays, Tommy turned to Danielle with a serious expression.
"I know you aren't formally trained, but I want you on my team today. We could use an extra set of eyes that know what to look for against this opponent."
Taken aback, Danielle's eyes went wide as she tried not to blubber out her answer. "What? I… I'm sure you guys will do fine, I would just get in the way. And isn't that like.. Cheating a little?"
He shook his head, confidence and stubbornness rounded out his voice. "There are no rules in war. Join us for this. You can't mess anything up, I promise. We could make good use of your knowledge." He gave her a hearty pat on the arm before walking back towards the ARC hangar. "Let's go, people. Time to sync in."
Heather walked up and slung an arm around Daneille again. "Don't worry, it's just an internship. We won't pay you, and you can't ever put this classified activity on a resumé, but the project requires your undivided attention or else we lose!" She squeezed gently with her arm and winked. "No pressure."
Together, they walked to the hangar where several technicians had readied the mech to be piloted. Having reached the area early, Tommy already had the spare set of controls set up at one of the backup stations for Danielle and a tech prepared to give her a crash course on how to use it.
"Unless one of them goes offline, none of this will do anything if pressed, they're just to give your hands something to hold. Joystick is movement, buttons are weapons, COMs, and HUD control." the tech said, pointing to individual components of the tools on the desk in front of Danielle. "Ready?" he asked, not expecting an answer. He installed the visual and audio headset onto her head.
Immediately, the world went dark for Danielle save for a tiny blinking yellow light in the bottom left of her vision. "Is… Is it supposed to be all black?" She asked, feeling a bead of sweat roll down her spine. The tech didn't answer but a voice crackled to life in her ear.
"Weapons online". Tommy said.
"Support systems active." Heather responded flatly.
"Radar clear, auxiliary weapons online." Archer spoke clearly, his usual jovial spark gone.
"Systems registering nominal, clear for departure." Sadiyah confirmed with a surprising amount of bravado.
Cole was the last on the COM. "Movement parameters nominal. Prepare to launch."
Even with the sound isolating headphones, Danielle could clearly hear the deep rumble, like a ship engine cranking to life, of the mech as it started up. The roar flared momentarily before fading away entirely.
On her screen, the yellow light became a solid green dot before her vision filled to see the hangar from a high perspective. She could see the ARC team sitting at desks along the outer entrance wall to the left, herself on the interior entrance wall on the opposite side of the hangar as the mech. Several techs hurried around before hastily exiting. She even noticed a pair of armed soldiers at each exit. On the left side of the screen, green text listed the pilots by last name, each bullet pointed with a green dot.
A hiss announced the lock release of the mech from its repair stand, two white streamers of gas floating across the screen. Her nervousness began to morph into excitement at her chance to experience the mech in first-person.
Cole's voice came on the call again "Launching." The mech stepped forward then turned left and walked towards the hangar exit and the brightness of outside. "Let's do this!"
"Danielle, you with us up here?" Tommy asked.
Uncertain if she was supposed to use some official response like theirs, she nervously responded "Present?"
She heard some of the team chuckle before Tommy took back the call. "Glad you made it. Your job is to call out if, or when, you see Arcee's giveaway. Interrupt if you have to, just be brief. Otherwise, enjoy the ride. Everyone else, keep your heads up. Cole, we're all yours."
They passed General Reims, exchanging a curt salute, before stepping onto the field in front of Colonel Lennox. Behind him, Arcee's dull pink and gray armor glinted in the sun. She stood eerily still, her optics sizing up the mech with no remark.
Lennox looked back and forth between the two metal creations then threw his hands in the air in exasperation. "Alright, destroy each other, I can't stop this nonsense…" before hustling off the field, shaking his head.
Cheers erupted from the sidelines that were once again crowded with ship-ins from the nearby military base along with the normal crowd of residents and Bots that attended.