Hello everyone.
Let's get started, I am sorry for the delay on the last chapter and this one but you know how these things are. Let's try not to dwell on the past.
AngelicCrossplay has been so amazing as my beta, dealing with my constant chapters can't be easy especially with all my mistakes. So thank you very much.
I would also like to thank Tiger Timberwolf, Sineadhridire and Love Psycho for responding to my question in the last chapter.
Not much else to say, Thank you to all you amazing people who read this story. You are the only reason that I keep going.
Now then, on with the story.
Sam blinked his eyes several times; the glaring light from the setting sun was shining right in them, making it almost impossible to see. Lifting his hand to shield his eyes, he quickly looked around to find a shady place to get away from the rays of light. He spotted a medium sized tree standing not too far away and quickly dove for the cover of its shadow. Once he was underneath it, he settled down on the ground and let out a sigh as the pressure left his eyes. He leaned his head against the trunk of the tree and looked around again.
It didn't take him long to realize that he was at the outlook.
"What the hell? Wasn't I just on Optimus's truck bed?" He asked himself.
Looking around some more he realized that something was off about the outlook, everything seemed to be clearer. The images were sharper and colors were more defined, and the only shadow was the one coming from the tree.
"Where is Bee?" He wondered as he looked for the yellow car that was his best friend.
It wasn't like Bee to let him wander off even to a place that they knew they would be safe, and Sam was starting to get a little worried. The sudden sound of something falling over snapped him out of his thoughts, as it sounded like metal hitting wood. The sound had come from the other side of the tree and Sam slowly made his way over. The shadow seemed to follow him since the light never got in his eyes like it should.
When Sam made it around the tree he was met with one of the strangest things he had ever seen. Sitting against the base of the tree was what looked like a mini version of an Autobot; it was about the same size as him. The hands were made like Optimus's with five fingers; but the feet were not like any of the others- they looked more like human feet. They even had five metal toes on each foot.
The armor on the chest was thick, as all the Cybertronians had to protect their sparks. His head looked like Bumblebee's, except that instead of the speaker that was Bumblebee's mouth, he had metallic lips like Optimus, Ironhide, and Ratchet. Sam could even see the mask that was attached to the top of his head that came down like Bumblebee's. Right now the armor was bright silver, showing that whoever the bot was he hadn't chosen an alt form yet, and the color of his optics gave the reason why.
They were that dark color that showed that he was offline, not in recharge but in the state of either being dead or having never been brought to life at all.
"Who are you? And how did you get here?" Sam asked the lifeless bot.
He moved his hand so that it was almost touching the metal face when a voice from behind him made him stop.
"Welcome youngling."
Sam spun around to see who the deep voice belonged to and he saw not one, but two metallic frames standing not far away from him. They were not as big as the other Autobots but still taller than him, and like the human sized bot behind him; they too were made of shiny silver metal, showing no alt form.
"Who... Who are you?" Sam asked once he found his voice.
The two of them looked at him with kind optics before answering.
"We are the Dynasty of Primes." This time two voices answered but neither one moved their mouths to speak.
"I thought there were six of you?" Sam asked them. "And aren't you supposed to be... bigger?"
A deep chuckle filled the clearing as one answered.
"The other Primes are with your friends. We are showing ourselves like this so we may speak at the same level, and put you at ease."
Slowly Sam nodded his head.
"So where are we anyway? The last thing I remember was being on the bed inside Optimus's alt form." He said to them.
"We are on another plane of existence in between your world and the Matrix." One answered.
"Why does it look like the outlook?" He asked.
"It is designed to be the place where you are most at peace, and this is where you feel the safest." He was told.
Now that he thought of it, he did always feel safe when he came to the outlook. But that might be because Bee could be himself while they were there.
"So who is this guy?" Sam asked looking back at the inactive bot behind him.
"He is you." One replied.
"Or rather, who you will become." The other added.
It took a while for him to get what they said.
"What do you mean he's who I will become?" He asked confused.
The two of them moved a little closer.
"He is who you will be once the transformation is complete." The first answered.
Sam looked back at the human mech his eyes wide.
"I am going to look like this?" He asked amazed and a little worried.
"Does the form not suite you?" One asked.
"The AllSpark can rebuild it if you like; the process is still early for changes to be made." He was told.
"It's not that... It's just... I have a life to live outside of all this." He said waving to the bots around him. "How can I do that if I look like the Terminator?"
The two of them looked at each other for a moment before they addressed him again.
"You wish to be able to look human?" They asked.
Sam nodded his head.
"Well yeah, it would make things a lot easier when I have to deal with other things."
"Very well we can arrange that..." One said after hesitating.
Sam sighed.
"There is a but in there isn't there?" He asked.
One nodded slowly.
"It can be arranged for the parts of you that have not been transformed yet, however... for the parts that have they will remain as they are."
Sam's eyes (if possible) got wider.
"Are you telling me that there are parts of me that have already turned mechanical?" He asked. "I thought only my bones in my right hand up to my elbow have turned into metal!" He almost shouted.
They looked at each other again, this time looking slightly guilty.
"Once the shard of the AllSpark settled in your body the essence that was already inside you broke the shard into particles and they spread through your blood stream. They settled in your heart once they reached it, your spark started to form and it immediately started to change parts of you." One began.
"What kind of changes? How much did it change?" Sam asked, nervous of the answer.
"It began to form the protection for the spark; your spark chamber has already been formed. It also sent the energy in your arm into overdrive." The other finished.
Sam took a moment to sort through what he was told.
"Okay... So let me get this straight." He said. "You're telling me that I have a giant hunk of metal embedded in my chest covering my heart... spark whatever, and my right arm is robotic?" He asked his voice getting higher as he continued.
They nodded.
"Oh great!" He shouted, and threw his arms in the air. "How the hell am I going to explain a freaking robotic arm to people?" He asked, face turning white with nervousness.
The two Primes looked like they wanted to say something but Sam cut them off before they could.
"That was rhetorical, you know. You don't need to answer."
No one said anything else for a while, and Sam was thankful for the silence. He wanted some time to sort through everything. He was able to calm himself down a little, because he figured that there would be plenty of time in the future to freak out later. It wasn't exactly fair of him to freak out on the Primes/
"Okay so what now... I mean obviously you guys brought me to this place for a reason... other then showing me my Cybertronian self." Sam murmured.
"You must choose your defenses." One said.
"As much as we and the AllSpark essence would like for you not to be involved in fighting, we understand that it is inevitable that you will get caught up in situation in which you must fight." The other finished again.
Sam's eyes widened with shock once more, pupils dilating in extreme surprise.
"Wait, are you saying that I get to pick how to defend myself? Like what weapons I get?" He asked, a little excited.
"You must understand." One said firmly. "These are for your protection- they are not to be played with."
"I know." Sam said defensively. "But that doesn't mean that I can't be excited about it, it's not like I am going to be like Ironhide."
The two of them chuckled.
"No Cybertronian has ever been like that bot." One said in amusement.
"We must hurry; our time here is growing short." The other said after a moment, looking stern.
The first nodded his head and his eyes focused on the area in front of Sam, there was a crackling sound and then a 3D hologram of the bot behind Sam popped into life in front of him. There were several scrolling lines that had information written in what Sam figured was Cybertronian, and then next to the image where a few rows of pictures that showed different kinds of weapons and defense items.
"To start; every Cybertronian receives two forms of weapons for attack and defense, but this can be altered later on by upgrades." The second informed him. "The basic set is one for long range attacks and then the second is for short range, hand to hand combat of sorts."
Sam looked at the images displayed in front of him he hoped that what was shown wasn't all there was because he didn't know half of what he was seeing.
"Uh..." Was all that came from his mouth.
There was another chuckle from the Prime. "There are more choices, just scroll through them. " He said.
"Do I just... touch them?" Sam asked, looking at them apprehensively.
A nod from the second prime, and Sam stepped forward to the display. He saw a little arrow pointing to the side and he pointed his finger at it, and was surprised to feel a little resistance pushing against it. Nothing else happened though and Sam stood there confused.
"You must move your hand." He was told.
"Oh right." Sam mumbled, getting a little red from embarrassment.
He slid his finger in the direction the arrow was pointing and the pictures moved with it until a new set was displayed. He saw a few weapons that were familiar to him, he pointed at one and the others moved away details about the weapon began to pop up around the picture written in Cybertronian. Sam looked at the writing for a moment before he addressed the Primes.
"Um... I don't know what any of this stuff says." He said.
There were a few moment of silence and then the picture flickered before the words where displayed again in English. Sam said "thank you" and then began to read the description of the weapon. Half of the words he didn't understand and the rest just weren't interesting. He pushed on a small 'X' in the corner of the picture and it went back to showing all the weapons. He clicked on a few more and shifted the screen two more times before he found something that looked interesting.
It looked like the gun that Bee's hands transformed into when he was fighting; he clicked on it and read some of the information that was depicted for him. From what he could gather, it packed quite a punch when its charged to full power, and Sam felt a smile pull at his lips as he looked at the gun. He lifted his eyes to meet the Prime's.
"Move it over to the display of your body if it is what you want." He was told.
He put his fingers on the picture and dragged it over to the 3D version of his robot self, with all the touch screen and dragging that he was doing, he couldn't help but think of the Tom Cruise movie Minority Report. Once the picture of the gun was touching the other picture, it dissolved into the body. The image flashed a few time before it zoomed in on his hands; some new information was displayed, and the image of the hands began to shift until they resembled the gun that he had picked.
They shifted back into their normal look and the picture zoomed back out to give a full view of the body. Another set of pictures showed up next to the body, and from what he could tell these were more for close combat and defense. He looked through the once that were shown, and some of them looked cool but nothing stood out to him. He shifted the screen and found what looked like a long thick cord; he clicked on it and found that it was an electrical whip. Shaking his head he moved back to the other screen, he looked some more before he came to a section that was comprised of all swords. They varied from design to shape and length, some were long and very thin and others were short and very thick.
"These are energon swords; they can cut through anything, even Cybertronian armor." One of the Primes told him.
He looked at some more of them and found one that looked very familiar- he had only seen it once, but he would never forget the sight of it.
"Optimus has this one," he said out loud.
The second Prime nodded his head.
"All Primes have them; while they can choose to get them removed, they are actually drawn to them. For every Prime there is, there happens to be a blade that is made special for them."
Sam looked on in amazement at the image in front of him; Optimus had been drawn to this weapon. It seemed wrong to take it for himself when it was so important to Optimus. Reluctantly he exited out of that one and went back to looking at the others, and he scrolled down until he something caught his eye. He clicked on the image and was greeted by a sword that was as long as his leg, the blade was thick and straight, unlike others that were curved.
No matter how hard he tried he couldn't take his eyes off of it, and before he knew it the picture was melting into the image of his body. It flashed again and he focused on his right arm. A second later, a few plates of metal shifted just above the wrist area. and then the blade came shooting out while looking very sharp and very deadly.
The images dissolved after that, which snapped him out of his daze and he returned his attention to the Primes. They were both looking at him with some kind of emotion in their optics that he couldn't place.
"Our time is up young one." They said solemnly.
As they finished speaking the world around him began to dissolve into mist, and he rubbed his eyes to try and clear them. When he lowered his hands, he was staring up at a florescent light shining down on him.
Mikaela snapped her head up from where it was resting and almost fell off of the stool she was sitting on. Gasping, she spun her head around wildly, almost twisting it in the process. Her breathing picked up as she looked around with wide eyes. She began to calm down after a moment as she recognized the auto shop that she spent most of her free time in, feeling more safe now that she knew where she was. She had started to spend more time there after everything that had happened, as it used to belong to her father before he got sent to jail. Now it was owned by one of his friends until he got out, which would be anytime within the next month or so. Technically she didn't work there, but she did help fix the cars that came in.
"I guess all that was just a dream." She said to herself.
She had never had a dream that had felt so real before…
"It was no dream." A set of voices spoke up from behind her.
She spun around on her stool and her heart rate sped up exponentially as she saw two robotic figures standing not too far away. Their bodies gleamed, light glinting from where it impacted on their molten silver coloring. They were tall, not unlike the other Autobots but still big enough to where they had to crouch to keep from hitting the roof. How they had gotten in without her noticing she would never know… but she had never seen any other robots that looked like them. While it was true she had never seen any other bot than the ones she knew, she could still tell that these two were different.
"What's going on?" She asked.
"We are the Primes that are here to help you." One said in a calm, knowledgeable tone.
Mikaela decided to stay sitting on the stool, as she didn't know if her legs could hold her up.
"Help? Help with what? How did I get here?" She questioned.
"We brought you here once the AllSpark shard settled in your body." She heard one say.
'Strange,' she thought. 'They are talking but their mouths aren't moving.'
"We are here to help you protect yourself." The other informed her.
"Protect me from what? What danger is there? Are more Decepticons coming?" She asked, desperate to know more.
"We cannot say." They murmured in unison.
She sighed deeply, as a bit of frustration beginning to well up from within. "How can I... how can we protect ourselves from something if you won't tell us what it is?" She demanded.
"We cannot interfere with the events that must take place, but we can help prepare and protect you." One said.
Mikaela rolled her eyes and crossed her arms.
"Fine... what did you have in mind?" She asked firmly.
Primes or not, they were starting to get on her nerves. One of them pointed to the far wall where there was a bunch of stuff staked there, she slowly stood up and moved over to where he was pointing. She began to shift things out of the way and soon the only thing that was left happened to be a big lumpy thing covered in a thick tarp. She looked back at the Primes and saw them both nod their heads. Mikaela grasped the end of the tarp and pulled it away, and inside sitting there was another robotic form- this one was about the same size as her. It was a beautiful silver color like the other two mechs and its optics were black, showing it had no life.
"What..." She began but couldn't finish the question.
"It is you." They said like it was obvious.
"Is it what I will turn into when the AllSpark is done?" She asked quietly.
Another silent nod.
"How much more protection do I need if I become like that?"
"That body alone is not enough to keep you safe." They told her gravely.
She raised an eyebrow at their remark.
"So what? You want to give me some kind of shielding?" She said, crossing her arms.
"I suppose it is like that," one replied.
"Weaponry will help you protect yourself." The other murmured.
She frowned to express her distaste. "I don't like guns." She told them flatly.
"There are many other weapons than guns." She was told.
An image sprang into life in front of her and it showed a 3D version of the machine she would become, stats began to display next to it and she was amazed that they were written in English. Next to the image of her sat a few rows of pictures, and they all contained strange looking weapons. She saw one that looked like a weapon that one of the Autobots had but she could not place it at the moment.
"Slide between the screens for more." She was told.
She reached up and moved her hand across the display; and became surprised that she actually felt resistance against her hand while the screen shifted and brought up another set of weapons. This one had a bunch of sharp objects on it and she even found a set of saws that she knew Ratchet had. As interesting as they were, she didn't think that saws were for her. On the next screen she found a bunch of round shaped object with sharp edges, and some of them had bars going through the middle, and others had spikes sticking out of the edges that added to their fierce look.
"What are these?" She asked.
"They are called 'chakrams,' and they are long range weapons." One told her.
"How does it work?" She asked.
"You would take them from your subspace compartment and throw them, as they do great damage to whatever they hit." He responded.
"But you only get one throw? That's not very good in a fight." She said in a disapproving tone.
A chuckle came from one of them.
"They are specially made to return to the bot who threw it." They told her.
"How does it do that?" She was confused.
"Each Cybertronian has a personal signal, and when one chooses the chakram, it is set to return to that signal. No matter where it goes, it will always return to the source of that signal." One explained.
'Wow, that's pretty cool.' She thought to herself. "How do I pick it?" She asked.
"Move it over to the image of you." She was told.
She pushed on the picture of one, it wasn't too big but then again it wasn't small either. It had a metal cross going through the center and four sharp spikes coming out of the edge. She dragged the picture over to the display of her future robot self and it dissolved into it. The image of herself began to move, lifted its right arm, and opened a compartment on its hip. It pulled a metal bar out no bigger than her hand, and the bar began to quickly shift and unfold. Soon it resembled the weapon that she had just picked.
Mikaela couldn't help but let out a whistle at the motion.
"That's cool…" She spoke her thoughts out loud unintentionally.
"You have one more to choose." One told her interrupting her thoughts.
"What?" She asked.
"You have to pick a short range weapon." They told her.
"Um... okay," she said and looked back in time to see the screen shift to show a bunch of weapons for close combat.
She lazily shifted through them and was not finding anything interesting. She passed hooks, swords and a number of other things in her quest for a short-range weapon. Finally when she was about to give up, she found something that looked cool. She clicked on the image and got a bunch of details about the item, the electro whip.
"This thing looks interesting." She said to them.
"It's a very useful weapon, when making contact with another it delivers a great shock to their systems. If it hits the right area (like the chest), it can send a mech or femme into stasis for a time." She was told.
A smile came to her face as she dragged the picture over to her image, it dissolved into her and the picture zoomed in on her arms. A few plates shifted on the upper part of her arms and the long whip came sliding out, coiling a little around her feet. She could see a couple of jolts of electricity curling around the cords before they retracted back into her arms.
The image dissipated and Mikaela was left standing in front of the two Primes, who stood up as much as they could and looked down at her.
"So now that that's done, what happens now?" She asked the two of them.
"Now it is time for you to return to the others, be sure to look after your other halves." One said wisely, looking down at her with fond yet grave optics.
"You are strongest together." The other added.
"Wait!" She called out before they could say or do anything else. "Will that stuff be underneath my skin or will I look like that all the time?"
They looked her over before answering.
"It has already been taken care of; the boy Samuel has informed us of what you would prefer, and he will explain when you return." They told her as the world began to dissolve.
The light that came down from overhead where dwarfed by the light that was shining in from the setting sun outside. It didn't take long for Will to see that he was inside his barn; and the only thing missing in the otherwise familiar place was the big black truck that should be sitting there.
"What the hell is going on?" He exclaimed.
He looked around for anything that might help him figure out what was going on, and moved over to the wooden ladder that led to a small ledge where things could be stored. He knew that there shouldn't be anything up there since he had never used it for anything, but when he got onto the flat surface he instantly tripped over a heavy object. Looking down at his feet, he saw a silver body lying down on the wood, his feet were lying on top of its midsection and he quickly moved them off.
"Oh god I am sorry... Are you alright?" He asked and didn't get an answer.
"Who are you?" He asked it again.
There was still no answer, and Will didn't know what was going on. He knew that the thing was Cybertronian… What else could it be? But he didn't know why the mech wasn't saying anything… everything was too eerily quiet.
"He is not active yet." A deep voice said from next to him.
Will turned to look at his left and didn't find anyone there, and then he looked over to his right over the edge of the platform, thinking that someone would be standing on the ground. The only thing he saw where two sets of silver metal feet, and he lifted his eyes up to find two sets of glowing optics staring down at him from near the roof of the barn.
"Holy shit!" He shouted and jumped back, which made him slam his head against the barn wall. "Who are you? How did you get in here?" He asked, getting into a defensive stance.
He asked this because there was no way that two bots as big as them could have just walked into the barn- Ironhide had to be in his truck form just to get inside! Not to mention that they seemed to have just popped up out of nowhere… He would have heard them come in.
"We are two of the Primes." One said.
Their heads were still towering over Will's even at his elevated position, making him feel smaller than he already was.
"Okay that's... good to know." He said, glad that a couple of Decepticons hadn't gotten the jump on him. "How did you get in here?"
"That is not important; just know that we are here to help you." They said.
"Help me with what?" Will asked, raising an eyebrow. He was a pretty experienced soldier, and while he appreciated help, he felt somewhat confident- he had survived Decepticon attacks before.
"You must be protected." The closest one to him said.
"From?" He asked them.
"We cannot say." He was told.
'It figures…' He thought to himself.
"I think I got enough protection thanks." He told them, thinking of his giant black lover.
"Stubborn like his bonded." The second said to the first while chuckling slightly.
Will was about to ask what he meant when an image sprang to life in front of him, and it looked just like the mech laying near his feet.
"Chose the weapons to defend yourself." He was told.
'These guys are very direct, no fooling around but just very straight to the point… I guess that's a good thing.'
"What is with the robot guy?" Will asked pointing to the display and the one at his feet.
"He is you." They said flatly.
"Yeah, because that makes perfect sense." He said to himself sarcastically. He thought that it actually did make more sense than what he thought at first, as Ratchet had said that they didn't know the extent to which the AllSpark would change them. He figured that the form at his feet must be the end result. He looked over the list of weapons that were displayed but didn't like any of them.
"If I get to pick what kind of weapons I get, then I want some powerful guns... better yet, make them cannons… like what Ironhide uses."
The two of them looked at each other for a moment before the screen began to change, and it started to display a number of big guns that looked like they could blow up half a house.
"Now that's what I am talking about." He said to himself.
He looked through the images, and used what his gut instincts told him in order to help him choose a weapon. He flipped from screen to screen, shaking his head at the weapons that he saw. They were powerful and amazing but they just did not feel right for him. He went all the way to the end of the list before he saw something that he liked. It was a set of double layered cannons that looked, for lack of a better phrase, "kick ass."
He was sure that they would make Ironhide wish that he had them, he clicked on the image and followed the orders that the Primes gave him and moved it over to the image of his robot self. It dissolved into his body and then the arms began to shift. It started from around the mid-section of his arms; plates began to shift and move, and from the space in between several cylinders began to slide out. Once they were in place, the tops of them opened up and another set of smaller cylinders began to come out.
When it was all over there where two rings wrapped around the mid-section of his arms, one right up against the metal and one set on top of the other. After a minute they retracted back into the arm and the image returned to normal. The screen with weapons came back and he figured that he needed to pick another one. The only problem was that all these weapons were designed for close combat, and Will didn't like using weapons for close combat other than a knife every now and then. When it came to down to it, he liked hand to hand combat.
"Do I have to pick from these things?" He asked.
"You must have a close range weapon."He was told.
"I prefer my fists." He told them stubbornly. "Can't I have another set of cannons instead?"
"That is not how it is normally done." One said rather disapprovingly.
"Well the situation isn't exactly normal is it?" He snapped back with a grin.
The two nodded before the screen shifted again bringing back the display of guns and cannons, this time he shifted through the selections until he found a set of shoulder cannons. He moved the image to his picture and watched as the metal plates on his shoulder shifted, the two new guns popping up from inside. They were set so that they could turn in any direction, whether it was behind or in front of him.
"They operate on a proximity trigger." He was told.
"When you have them out and someone who does not register as a friend to you approaches, they will automatically lock on to the target and fire until it is either dead or outside of the proximity range." The other finished.
"That will work." He said as the images dissolved.
Once the image disappeared, the barn began to do the same until he was left floating in darkness.
All the Autobots were on edge, they had thought that the forming of the sparks would only take a day or two at the most but it was going on almost four days. They had brought them in on Monday and it was almost mid-day on Friday, and they were all becoming very anxious. They were seated in a waiting area not far from the room that their charges were in. Ratchet had said that unless something happened, then no one should go inside, as he didn't want any interference to mess up what was going on. He didn't know what effect the radiation from their bodies would have, so all of them kept their sensors focused on the room. If anything happened then they would instantly know.
"How are you all doing?" Nurse Rhonda asked them.
She had been checking in on them constantly throughout the days they had been there, being the only person to do so. All the other staff kept their distance from the group since the third day when the head of the hospital came back to yell at them for taking longer then what should have been needed. Optimus had told the others to go wait while he talked with him, as he didn't want anyone to get hurt and with all of them being worried, it was possible that one wrong word from the man would set someone off.
Optimus's holoform smiled kindly at the young woman, making her smile back. "We are all doing fine." He told her.
He heard a grunt come from Ironhide's holoform as he continued his pacing that he had started a few hours ago.
"Don't mind him." Ratchet said from behind a medical magazine. "He is just grumpy."
"I am not grumpy." Ironhide threw back. "They should have woken up by now."
From the far corner Bumblebee nodded his head, the headphones he had on moving with him. He had come back into the hospital a few days ago after returning with Sam's iPod and had been playing it ever since.
"'Hide is right Optimus." Jazz added as he sat down next to Ratchet.
Optimus sighed and ran his hand down his facial plates. He was getting awfully tired... It had been a while since he had recharged and he was starting to feel it catch up to him. Rhonda sat down in the empty seat next to him and set down the chart she had been carrying on the table.
"I know that it is none of my business, but why don't you let our doctors help your friends?" She asked with a small smile.
It was Ratchet's turn to grunt.
"It is because the doctors here can't help them." He commented without lowering the magazine.
"Ratchet..." Optimus warned.
He didn't get a reply from the medic and he sighed again before addressing Rhonda.
"Their condition is... special. The doctors here are not trained to handle it." He said trying to be nice.
She slowly nodded, and the skin between her eyes was wrinkled with worry.
"I saw that two of them were kids, and they looked like they couldn't be much older than seventeen or eighteen. The boy reminded me of my brother… I know that I would be really upset if something happened to him." She said to Optimus.
"Your brother is lucky to have a sister like you." Optimus said to her.
She smiled and said her thanks to the charismatic man. Unable to curb her curiosity, Rhonda asked, "so are you guys like in the military?"
"Somethin' like that." Jazz told her helpfully.
"I was for a little while; they help me through my nursing school," she murmured. "I only got out a few years ago."
"Why are you only a nurse? Why not become a doctor?" Ratchet asked, finally putting down the magazine and showing the slightest hint of interest.
"Well my family needed money to help pay bills so I had to start working to help. I had planned on being a nurse for a while and then start real medical school because I was planning on becoming a doctor before I turned thirty, but it doesn't look like that will happen." She told them somewhat sadly.
"Doesn't your government pay you for the time you served with them?" Optimus asked.
"Oh they paid a little; but like with most things with the government, they promised more than they delivered." She explained with a hint of distaste.
"I am sorry to hear that." Optimus said, and gave her a sympathizing look. "Maybe we can do something to help."
"Optimus..." Ratchet said sternly.
Optimus glared at him for a moment before he turned his attention back to Rhonda, and she smiled shyly at him.
"It's okay. You don't need to go out of your way for me." She replied quietly before standing up. "I should get back to work."
She walked off and entered another room while Optimus glared at Ratchet.
"What!?" He grumbled.
Optimus just sighed again as Ratchet picked up another magazine. Suddenly Bumblebee shot out of his seat and stared down the hallway, which made everyone go on alert instantly.
"What is it Bumblebee?" Optimus asked.
While the others had their scanners on the room they took turns scanning the rest of the area for signs of trouble, right now it was Bumblebee's turn.
"We may have a problem sir." He stated.
Before anyone could say anything, the elevator doors opened and several black suited men stepped out. One of them was approached by a nurse and they talked for a brief moment before she pointed down the hall towards them. The men started walking down the hallway in a tight formation, stopping only a few feet away. The men in front stepped to the side to let the man they were surrounding walk freely.
John Keller walked the rest of the way to them alone, that is until a shorter man came around from behind the small group of black suits. Keller stopped in front of them with his arms down by his side and an annoyed look on his face, and the look only deepened as the shorter man stopped beside him.
"Gentlemen." He said.
"Mr. Keller." Optimus replied.
"I take it you are Optimus then?" He asked.
Optimus nodded his head, and before Keller could say anything else the short guy started to speak.
"Good, then you can explain just what in God's name you are doing here."
Keller sighed and closed his eyes in exasperation… clearly not happy to have the other man's presence there. "Optimus Prime, this is Mr. Galloway, the liaison from the President." Keller informed them and jabbing his head in the direction of the other man.
"Your reputation precedes you." Optimus said to Galloway.
"I am sure it does." He said with a dirty look at Bumblebee and Jazz's holoforms. "Care to answer my question or does it not compute with you?"
Optimus was not sure why it happened, as he hadn't told his holoform projector to do it… but his left eye on his holoform twitched at the not so hidden comment that they were just machines. He made sure to keep his voice calm because he had been told by Bumblebee and Jazz that this man was not a friend of theirs and most likely never would be.
"We have explained our situation quite clearly to Secretary Keller, and he has agreed to allow us use of this hospital's facilities for a short amount of time." Optimus told him.
"Yes but you have not informed me or the President." Galloway said with a look at Keller that suggested irritation.
"He knows to trust my judgment with matters that concern them." Keller replied to Galloway stiffly. "The only reason we are here right now is because you would not let it go and I was asked to keep an eye on you to make sure you do not jeopardize our friendship with them."
"I am not interested in friendship with things like them." Galloway said snootily. "I am here to find out what it is you are up to, and don't think I haven't noticed that your little kid friends aren't here. Are they the reason that you are in this place?"
"Yes they are, for reason that we cannot share with anyone else." Ratchet said firmly.
Galloway glared at the medic and Ratchet met his glare with his own which quickly had the small man looking away. Hardly anyone could stand up to the glare of doom…
"Since our government is going through the trouble of hiding you, you must tell us what it is that you are doing here." He demanded.
"I know what they are doing here, so the government does know what they are doing. You are just upset that you don't know." Keller said patronizingly.
It got him another glare from Galloway, to which he ignored. He was about to say something else when they were interrupted by another angry voice.
"What is going on here?" The head of the hospital came rushing over. "I warned you that if you where to interrupt the flow of my hospital then I would throw you all out." He hissed at Optimus.
"Doctor please calm down, they are not responsible for this." Keller told the man, trying to pacify him.
The man glared at Keller for a moment before turning back to Optimus.
"I don't care about anything that you are involved with, I want you all out of my hospital by tonight or I will have you removed by force." He yelled before he stormed off.
Another sigh came from Optimus, unhappy that things were just not working out the way he had first thought (and hoped) they would.
"Galloway I think that it is time that we left Optimus and the rest of them. They have enough to deal with without you adding to their problems." Keller tried to get the other man to leave with him, but Galloway was stubborn as a mule.
"I am not going anywhere until I get..." Galloway trailed off as Ratchet shot off to the room that Sam, Mikaela and Will where in.
Ironhide was right behind him followed by Jazz and then Bumblebee. Optimus followed after his men as one by one they disappeared into the room. He stopped at the door when three bodies were pushed back out, the door slid shut and there was the sound of it locking before Optimus helped Jazz, Bumblebee and Ironhide to their feet.
Optimus knew that the reason that they had taken off was because they had all picked up on the elevated heart rate of the three inside, and he figured that Ratchet was the reason that the three bots had been forced back out. Of course the little lock on the door couldn't keep them out if they wanted to get in, but no one wanted to face Ratchet's wrath.
In the back ground they could all hear the voice of Galloway demanding to know what was going on while Keller stood there with his hand over his face and a frown growing on his lips.
Well there you have it; you must hate me for always ending them like this.
I hope that everyone liked this chapter I had fun writing it. The next one should be out soon.
Review please, let's keep the number climbing.
Until next time.