As ever, I'm really grateful for all of the wonderful reviews! It is due entirely to them that I've had the initiative to write a chapter a day so far, and I'm actually shocked with myself that I've managed it. Hope you're all enjoying, and as always I'm a sucker for feedback. Tell me what you think! Also, I fail at replying to comments. *Bad author! Bad!* Yeah... Anyway, I'm horribly lazy, and there's no other honest answer for it, so my apologies if you've reviewed and I didn't answer. Know that they are greatly appreciated, each and every one, and I offer you this chapter as an appeasement.
Silence reigned for almost a full minute after the black mech more or less vanished from sight in about a second. Bulkhead watched in alarm as he fled, red optics wide and sightless in his blind terror, and decided almost immediately to deal with Fowler before trying to track down Switchshade and talk to him.
"So… uh… Optimus isn't here, and-" the government agent held up a hand to stop him, looking mildly disturbed at the reaction the dark mech had had to being touched. "What's really going on here, and don't try to lie to me. Whoever that is, he ain't one of you, and he's been through something that made him more than twitchy being touched by people he doesn't trust. Giant sentient robot or not, I know the signs. Talk."
Bulkhead visibly pulled himself together. "I can't tell you much right now. I'll let Optimus explain when he returns, but for now know that Switchshade isn't an active threat, and we'll be working on the 'trust' thing."
Fowler crossed his arms, scowling, and was clearly about to argue the point when Bulkhead shifted his weight on his pedes a bit, and Miko, still holding her guitar where it was plugged into the amplifier, stumbled. The motion of the cord extending from the wall to the back of Bulkhead's pede drew the human agent's attention, and he blinked in mild surprise, uncrossing his arms and leaning forward on the railing to see better. "Since when are you 'Bots electric?" he asked suspiciously, distracted from the topic of the other mech for the time.
Bulkhead cycled his optics, glancing down and failing miserably to conceal his nervousness that the humans would be discovered. Jack glanced at Miko, who offered him a sheepish half-grin, before the eldest human sighed, and took a step out from behind Bulkhead, into clear view of Fowler. "Hey! How you doin'?" he asked easily, waving lightly.
Fowler's scowl deepened, and he narrowed his eyes, slamming a hand into the railing in frustration. "Contact with civilians! 'Team Prime' has really gone off-book this time! Wait, don't tell me, you're running a daycare center."
Jack began to spin a story about the three of them being interns, but the agent was unimpressed. However, as he descended the stairs to reach the ground level where the humans stood, demanding that they come with him, to be taken into government custody for their protection, Bulkhead's pede came slamming down between the children and Fowler, for the first time looking rather upset himself. "We're protecting them."
Fowler glared up at the large green 'Bot unhappily, but appeared unwilling to fight on the matter, snarling, "Is that so?" but retreating back a few paces. Instead of leaving it at that, however, he picked up a phone that was placed to the side of the stairs, and continued, "Well then maybe you can explain that to my superiors at the Pentagon!" Bulkhead instantly reached past him and crushed the phone's base, glancing at the human agent with false concern and muttering, "Don't use that phone, it's… *crunch* out of order…"
That finally seemed enough to set Fowler off for good, and his tone reached new levels of frustration as he nearly yelled, "This isn't over, Bigfoot! Not by a long shot!" He began to stalk up the stairs back towards the exit, and departed with a final glare over his shoulder.
Bulkhead watched him go, and sighed heavily. He scratched at the back of his helm, watching the humans as they put away the instruments and then gathered near the base's computer system. A few kliks passed in silence, and then Bulkhead glanced down the hall that Switchshade had sprinted down, debating whether he should follow the smaller mech now or give him a bit more time to calm himself.
He had only taken a couple of steps when alarms began to sound once more, and he quickly swiveled to see an alert on the computer. "It's an SOS. From Fowler!" he exclaimed in surprise, all thoughts of Switchshade gone. "Uh… um…" he tried to figure out the computer screen, managing to shut down the alarm, and then he turned away towards the hallway again in relief. "Did you trace it?" Raf asked, stopping him again, and he glanced back towards the screen. "Location scan was incomplete. Oh well." Jack's eyes widened, and he stepped forward. "Oh well?" he demanded. Bulkhead frowned, lifting his servos for emphasis. "Fowler's a jerk!"
Miko smirked, but Jack was determined. "Like the guy or not, the Decepticons might have him!" The discussion continued, Bulkhead reluctantly agreed to try to find him when Raf pointed out that he knew their location, but it took some time for Raf to find a way to hack the government's mainframe and locate Fowler's tracking chip to determine his location.
As soon as they had the coordinates, Bulkhead immediately activated the groundbridge, already moving through as he muttered, "Uh…Jack! You're in charge!" and then turning to bolt into the 'bridge. The humans watched him go, the groundbridge shutting down, and Jack shrugged a bit. "Guess we three have the run of the place." He glanced around, Raf meeting his eyes, but Miko was nowhere to be seen. "Miko? Miko!" The girl was gone. "Oh scrap, she probably stowed away with Bulkhead." Jack groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose in irritation.
"Uh… Jack? It's… It's not just us here, remember?" Raf pointed out, moving closer to the older boy as he pointed to the hallway. Jack turned to see what Raf was pointing at and went pale when his dark blue eyes met the glowing red optics of their resident Decepticon. Both humans froze. "What do we do?" Raf asked Jack, beginning to tremble with fear, as he realized that they were entirely at the questionable mercy of a Decepticon.
Switchshade remained in his cell for several earth minutes, forcing himself to calm, and trying to convince himself that weeping like an errant sparkling would do no one any good. He managed to regain his composure, swiping away the lubricant that had leaked from his optics, and baring his fangs at his own weakness and foolish behavior. Rising to sit more comfortably, he sat staring at the wall once more, wondering when the Lord Prime would return, if Bulkhead would see to his punishment himself or if he would wait for the others to return to join in. He wondered if he would be offlined, or if they would stick to wounds that Ratchet might later be capable of fixing if the Lord Prime permitted.
When a second alarm went off, his optics widened, and he rose to his pedes once more, making his was over to the cell door, and leaning against it once again as he attempted to see out, only to nearly fall on his face when it swung open easily. He had forgotten, in his panic, that he didn't have the access codes to unlock or to re-lock the door. Then, Switchshade heard the groundbridge activating, and trembled in anticipation of the pain to come, but then, he heard Bulkhead leaving. As in, leaving the base. Leaving the base, with only three humans in it. Three humans, and him. That can't be right...
Curiosity warred with fear, and curiosity ended up winning. The dark mech slowly made his way down the short hallway, hearing the sounds of Bulkhead's running pedes fade out and then the groundbridge shutting down. What could possibly have been so dire that he did not first ensure I was secured before leaving?
He reached the end of the hallway, and peered out cautiously into the main room, but the only Cybertronian in the base was himself. What.
Switchshade moved a step closer, looking around more carefully, but clearly Lord Prime and Ratchet were still on their mission; Arcee, Cliffjumper and Bumblebee were still 'patrolling', and now Bulkhead had taken off to do Primus-knows-what, leaving Switchshade alone at the base with the three humans. Two humans, he noted with some degree of surprise. Miko was nowhere to be seen.
His attention was drawn to the two male humans who remained, and he narrowed his optics in concern when he took a closer look at them. They both appeared unwell. Both were pale, and the smaller one with the clever eyes was shaking. Perhaps they were ill? Humans contracted illnesses quite easily, he recalled. Tilting his helm as he stared at them, they stared right back, and the little one's trembling grew worse. Scrap. Let not the humans fall ill or come to harm on my watch, this will only place me in even worse standing with Lord Prime. Scrap. Scrap. Frag. What do I do?