39 is done so 34 is here! Hope you're all having a lovely time! And I doubly hope you all enjoy this latest chapter!
The familiar sound of a heart rate monitor was what woke Annie from that empty void.
And with that waking, came a dull haze of pain and stiffness as her eyes cracked slowly open.
The room was dark, lit only by the myriad of monitors that surrounded her.
They were mostly green, but one pair of lights were bright pools of gold, ones she recognised instantly.
Those pools of melted gold blinked, and the sound of motion reached her, followed swiftly by arms wrapping around her blanket covered form in a light, but desperate hug.
She tried to reach up and hug him back, but the haze in her body also seemed to haze her motions… she couldn't even really move her head without putting more effort than really necessary into it.
"Annie… oh god… Annie… you're awake… you're awake…" Her husband, her sweet goofy alien husband rasped out the last word as if her waking was a gift from god himself.
Her mouth felt like it was full of cotton, and her head was too busy spinning to even make her want to reply, she just put all her effort into finally getting her hand to move, followed by her arm, getting them to move up to cup his jaw.
Her hand met a pad of gauze, held in place by a hatching of medical tape… god he must look like shit when there were more lights on, but she couldn't for a life of herself give a flying toss about that.
She just wanted him to keep holding her.
He seemed to want just the same, he kept hugging her even when he managed to get his own legs up on the medical cot, and laid down on his side, one hand draped over her middle, laced with the other one still laying flat just above the blanket, wrapped in just as many bandages as the one she'd used to hold his cheek, she was fairly certain from the dull pain there was an IV in that arm somewhere…
Something had happened, and Prowl had likely feared she was going to die…
He always feared her mortality over his own… and this time… it looked like they'd gotten pretty close to proving him right…
Like he wasn't a worry wart enough after the riots that gave her the bullet wound on her side…
But to be fair… if it wasn't for the chemicals, they'd likely pumped into her… she'd likely feel a fuck ton worse than how she felt after that one bullet wound.
The door opening some distance away drew her gaze, and she felt him tense, his hold tightening, she liked this side of him secretly, she didn't get to see this almost animalistic protectiveness often, but when she did, she revelled in it.
Such a powerful thing as her Prowl, who, as far as she was concerned, could have had any woman once his gaze drifted from the human that had found him… but his gaze had never drifted, just stayed on her, and only her…
Normally the protectiveness was triggered by an external hostile threat, but as the nurse, one she knew personally, June Darby, stepped in, she couldn't help but worry if Prowl was in reach of anything specifically sharp.
"Prowl, off the bed, don't make me get my spray bottle." June didn't even look up from the clipboard she was going over. "Now that Annie is awake, I need to speak with her, and I can't do that with you crowding her."
She finally looked up, her grey eyes betrayed her, she was bone deep tired, she was likely pulling the nightshift again.
Jasper's operating room was hardly a well-staffed place at the best of times, meaning June often had to do these post op checks as well.
No matter how much it went against procedure.
Prowl and June had a glaring match for all of three seconds before her husband conceded defeat and slid back off, and made his way back to the chair he'd been sitting in next to her bed.
She wanted to chuckle, but her body did not feel up for it, she knew full well the moment June was gone, he was gonna be right back up on the bed like some over sized house cat.
June apparently knew the same, bless the woman for not turning on the lights, but even in the darkness Annie could see that June was not going to take any funny business from Prowl, she had a thirteen year old at home, she was fooled by nothing.
Annie knew that for a fact, she still remembered the day June had gone into labour, and called her and Prowl of all people first, not the ambulance, but her and Prowl, apparently she wasn't keen on the guy who drove the towns ambulance, and that was enough for her to decide that her and Prowl were the better option.
Apparently her reasoning whilst in that wonderful thing called labour, she'd decided that Prowl had seen Annie down low enough times to be able to see one doing it's other job.
She had greatly over-estimated the range of things that Prowl could handle, the moment Jack crowned, he was out cold on the floor, it was only a miracle he crashed so hard that the projection system didn't get the message to deactivate it.
So, with an unconscious husband to worry about later, Annie had helped June bring Jack into the world, and it was a story they taunted Prowl with whenever such a thing came up.
The whole time, June had said nothing but some of the most obscene words Annie had ever heard come from anyone's mouth, primarily directed Prowl being more delicate than an old lady!
Considering some of the older women they both knew though, that really didn't have much of a bite.
Not last Christmas, Moly, Narisa and Selena (reluctantly for the later) ended up dancing on the dining table to deck the halls… and at some point Narisa straight up backflipped off like some spry teen Olympic athlete, landing perfectly upright without so much of a wobble, just as the crazy woman was known to do.
Goodness though she didn't get to see Sophia as much, what with her teaching job in Siberia, she'd heard horror stories of what that woman would do once a few bottles had been shared…
"Alright Annie… I know this is a stupid question, but how do you feel?"
June's words brought her back to the present. She tried to speak, but all that came out was a rasp, fuck her throat was drier than the Sahara.
June seemed to note her inability. "Okay, thought as much, okay, yes or no, do you remember what happened?"
She shook her head no, the last thing she remembered, she was baking a pie, next thing she knew, she was waking up here.
Prowl's hand snaked back to hers, and gave it a light squeeze.
June let that be. "Your home exploded, the force and heat of which has caused burns ranging from one to third degree, but only in a few places, across the parts of your body that weren't covered in clothes, so… there wasn't much undamaged skin for us to graft elsewhere… Annie… I'm sorry… sixty four percent of your body was burned… and the amount of operations we'd need, and the time between to let your skin heal… you're going to be here for quite a while… miraculously you still have most of your hair though… if that can even be counted as a positive."
She could see this was starting to get to June, without a doubt she'd worked and worried herself as sick as Prowl had all things considered.
So, with a herculean effort, she reached her other bandaged hand up.
June clasped it gently, like anymore would cause her to shatter. "You're pumped full of morphine, so you might not remember this… so I'll come back after my 24 off, okay?"
Annie nodded as best as she could.
June returned the nod, turned, and left.
Sure enough, Prowl was hugging her again.
And only now did he speak again. "Our home didn't explode… we were attacked… by one of my kind…"
Never had her stomach dropped so fast in her life.
And she still remembered how fast it had dropped, when her first day on the job led her to coming face to face with a giant mechanical alien.
Her grip tensed on his hand as much as the bandages allowed.
"Maria managed to scare it off by shooting it in the eye… but it knew me Annie… and it mentioned someone else… a 'Prime'… I'm on the Prime's side… the 'third in command of the Autobot forces'… Annie… I… that thing knew me personally… and he tried to kill us both… I… I can't risk him finding you and killing you… so… so I'm going to Monaco… I'm going to find that truck with the same red face as me… and I'm… I'm going to find out who I am… and when you're better… when you're better… no sooner… Maria's gonna make sure you're all better first… I want you to follow me to Monaco… so I can pick you up, hold you, and never let you go again… Never again."
Her heart cried out at his words, and she was fairly certain she was crying, no, he couldn't… he couldn't do that alone… he'd get lost the moment he realised they drove on the other side of the road… and he was hopeless at directions… she was his navigator… always had been… always would… on the road, and in life…
But… at the same time… the one that did this… they'd given them a clue Prowl couldn't wait on… couldn't sit on until she recovered…
She'd see him again… when he was with his kind… and hopefully, with a better understanding of who he was.
She wanted that, more than anything, but she also feared it…
She'd always wondered if she'd taken Prowl from someone, his near complete amnesia outside of what he assumed was his name was… something she had, in a way, taken advantage of, and taken him from the life he had, and placed him firmly in hers.
She knew he loved her, the ring on the table next to her, and the two she felt on his ring finger were testament enough to that… but… she was only mortal… him… not so much… and the rest of his kind?
There was bound to be one who'd loved him… Prowl was too good not to love.
When he went back to his own kind, they'd tell him about his other, or the other would be there, and they'd reunite, Prowl would probably get his memory back just from being around him… and he'd toss their ring away…
But even with that fear… she still nodded, she still managed to croak out an 'I love you', and still watched the despair in his gaze as he rose, and walked slowly away, looking back over his shoulder when he pushed open the door and said those same words back, but he didn't stop there. "- it will only ever be you Annie… when I find them… and when I pick you up, I'm gonna show you off to all of them… the greatest human ever crafted by this planet, my wife."
She did cry a little then, and nodded, watching him disappear.
A few minutes later, she heard a familiar engine come to life, and slowly drive away.
She didn't get to stay in her melancholy long, within fifteen minutes, Bella had crashed through the door with a stupidly large bouquet of flowers, an equally massive get well soon card, a pile of boxes of chocolates somehow balanced on her head, and god only knows what in the back pack that looked ready to explode on her back from the .
"ANNIE! HOLY FUCK YOU'RE ACTUALLY ALIVE!?"
If she had the energy, she would of laughed, not just a small one, but one that shook her whole body, all she could do was shake, you could always rely on Bella to say something like… well… that, while looking like a one woman get well soon stand.
She could also hear June yelling at Bella, something about 'immediate family only', but even by the tone of the nurses voice, Annie knew June had already resigned herself to letting Bella see her, nothing could stop that hurricane of a thirty year old, no matter what you tried, she was Maria's kid after all.
She'd be alright, she'd recover, and she was gonna get the first fucking flight she could to Monaco to hunt down her husband, as well as call him, every day, international call rates be damned.
Lord knows he's gonna call her the first time he goes the wrong way down a damn street.
If it wouldn't completely wipe out the police force of Jasper for the foreseeable future, she'd beg Maria to go with him…
Or maybe Bella… No… Bella was a darling yes, but she wouldn't want to explain to her mother why her daughter took the next flight to Monaco before even Prowl did… or how she ended up in Oslo Norway instead, Bella wasn't good with Airports.
Somehow the girl had ended up in the Arctic when she'd had a flight booked for Brazil once. It boggled the mind to this day.
Barcelona
Mikaela sighed, reaching around to rub at the crick in her neck.
The computer in front of her continued to show the latest accounts that were running through the car dealership.
Interesting thing about car dealerships, they sold a lot more cars in a day than what one would think, and this one, despite being for high end sports cars and luxury cruisers, was no exception.
Which made some of the numbers on the screen just… blow her mind.
Not six months ago, she'd been getting by as a part time waitress, slowly trying to save enough to pay her fathers bail money, feeding herself, clothing herself, going to school and such.
And now, boom, the Harpies came into her life, her Dad's bail was paid, and now she was over seeing accounts with some of the largest purchases she'd ever seen anyone make, ever, it boggled her mind the first few days.
It still did over a month in, which was why the private workshop she had in the back was such a blessing.
Kia had been firm, whenever she wanted to take a break from staring at numbers, she could go have fun in there, she was still working as far as Kia was concerned.
And that's what she felt like doing right now, give her neck a break and all that.
So, getting up, she waved to her colleagues, all really nice people, but she swore at least half of them were secretly packing heat.
Winston certainly didn't hide his when he visited to check in on her and escort her back to the house Kia had bought for her and her dad to live in whenever Bumblebee was off patrolling the city and the surrounding area.
Stepping into the back, she shrugged off her jacket, and went to her locker, the suit was too nice to ruin in her workshop, so she always made sure to change before she even stepped foot into the workshop in those comfy shoes Kia had practically apparated out of thin air the first and only time she'd complained about those heels she'd first had hurting her ankles.
At this point she wouldn't even be joking referring to Kia as something of a sugar momma, the Harpy got her anything she even slightly inferred she'd like getting.
She was the same for Bumblebee and Ratchet, some of the stuff that she'd gotten for Ratchets med-bay was… staggering.
Getting changed into her workshop clothes done, she stepped inside.
"[Zzzt}Hello my honey! Hello my baby!" Came to her almost instantly, and she had to laugh, there was Bumblebee, sitting pretty right next to her project piece.
One of Kia's SUV's was having transmission trouble, instead of sending it to the workshop her dad was working at though, Kia had sent it to her to work on to de-stress.
"Heya Bee, not too bored back here with tall white and silent over there?"
His holoform popped into existence, and a moment later he was hiding behind her, almost cartoonish in the amount of fear the big strong Autobot was showing, causing her to laugh again. "Oh Bee, c'mon, he doesn't even have his engine block in him! He can't hurt you!"
The radio replied. "Corpse! … Yah'll [zzzt] found a body! Oh lord have mercy upon us all!"
And again she was laughing, he pulled this stunt every day at least once without fail. "Alright Bee, c'mon, I need to actually work on this guys transmission today, you can give him a wax if you want?"
He actually looked offended, she rolled her eyes. "Okay, I'll give you a wax when I'm done, happy?"
Bumblebee's actual body actually jumped up and down on his suspension at that.
God he was such a clown.
And he kept her life interesting.
Which was far more than she could ever even want to say about Trent.
She glanced at where she'd left her phone, she didn't actually tell anyone… but Trent was still doing all he could to drag her name through the dirt in California, and well… she wasn't really getting any support from her old friends… they all saw her leave with Winston and never come back…
She'd barely even thought about California, at least until the first time she'd checked in on her social media.
To say she'd wanted to cry was an understatement…
Bumblebee apparently caught her gaze, and his holoform, with the cute wild cut blonde hair with its two black streaks bouncing with the motion as he turned to look at the phone too.
Just in time for it to buzz with another alert.
She walked over to pick it up, bracing for what she was going to see.
It was from the group chat she had with her 'old friends' she'd never left, if she left now, they'd know she'd seen everything they'd written about her.
'God where the fuck even is that whore anyway?'
'You think she'd even come back for college next year? If she does, I say we fucking drag her.'
'I'm game, god I fucking hate that bitch, I've been fucking Trent for like three weeks, he's good, I've said this before, what wrinkly ass is paying her enough to make her like skip town? And how much cause damn I need to buy a new phone.'
'Yeah like, what is up with that, she was like, the ugly one, and some bastard is paying to fuck her? Dude, A+ material right here.'
'Preach sister, preach.'
The phone was snatched from her grasp, causing her to gasp and spin.
Just in time for Bumblebee to read enough of the messages to scowl, his thumb pushing the up button to go back through the group chat.
"Bee… Hey Bee… stop… It's okay…"
He shook his head, not looking away from the phone, but then, she spotted it, the little smirk, the little twinkle in his gaze, he was planning something.
"[ZZzzt] Work with [zzt] me."
It took her a moment but she nodded.
He pressed a few buttons, and suddenly he was pulling her into a side hug, the camera held up and he was pressing a kiss to the side of her face, just long enough for the camera to do its job.
She'd smiled in preparation, and when Bumblebee turned the screen to her, she had to admit it looked like a good couple… shot.
Realisation dawned on her, and she couldn't help but smirk. "Do it Bee, make them cry."
He smirked right back, and typed a message alongside the picture, before showing it.
Her smirk grew wider. "Send it."
He nodded and did just that.
The picture took a few moments, but the wi-fi was good enough for it to go through quick enough, followed swiftly by the message.
'This wrinkly ass Bee got himself the sweetest honey.'
And in the background, thanks to the angle, one could easily see Bumblebee's alt mode, in all it's European sportscar glory.
It took half a minute for the replies to come through.
'You bitch.'
'Fuck you got a hot suga daddy?!'
She smirked and gestured to the phone, he handed it back before she spoke. "Call Kia, I want her in on this."
Kia, was not a woman to waste time, and within five minutes, she'd joined them, looking like she'd just stepped off a fashion runway, massive wide brimmed black hat topped with a red rose, cream and rouge red tube top dress that did nothing to hide her bountiful assets, the slit on each side just as high up her thighs as ever, and a semi-transparent veil hanging off each arm and draped over her rear.
Her smirk was as if she was the devil himself and had just won the key to heaven. "What's this I hear about making petty ex-friends squirm?"
Bumblebee showed her the chat, and the picture, and Mikaela actually shuddered and the smug smirk on Kia's expression.
"Darling, I'm having Winston bring you something to really make them green with envy, once you're changed, we're going to my Vila, and from there, we're gonna make them cry. Am understood chica?"
She was already nodding, right alongside Bumblebee.
She nodded, and flickered out of existence again.
Mikaela glanced to Bumblebee, and his previous actions finally caught up, and she couldn't help the blush that was always forming. "So… Bee… about the uh… you know… for the picture?"
He looked to her in return, and she swore he was blushing as he reached back to rub the back of his neck.
Yup, he was bashful about it to.
"[Zzzt] Was that okay? [Zzzt]"
She thought it over for a moment before nodding. "Yeah, it's okay.
Okay he was really red now. "[Zzzt] Can I… [zzt] do it for real?"
Her heart skipped a beat and suddenly all the air in her lungs was pulled out. "Y-yeah… yeah… you can."
He smiled, cupped her jaw, and leant down the little bit needed to press their lips together.
To say there were sparks was a bit of an understatement, his holoform seemed to buzz as their heads tilted in opposite directions, making the originally chaste kiss something a bit more… passionate.
Bumblebee seemed to leave it as just a liplock, but Mikaela had secretly been wondering and hoping for this for some time, and she was not going to let him just step back out now in the name of politeness.
They all knew exactly what Maggie and Jazz were doing every night, she'd actually befriended Glen via him wanting to vent to a human around his age about the fact Ira's apartment hadn't been built with soundproofing, at all. Ira had the benefit of actually sleeping in the bunker/basement, he didn't.
If Jazz and Maggie got to have fun, she was going to make sure her and Bee got to do much the same, if that was what he wanted…
She broke the kiss before she actually went any further, and took in his half lidded gaze. "Bee… Bee… Bee!"
His eyes snapped open, and he nodded furiously a few times, causing her to let off a breathless chuckle.
"God… I've done this before but it's so awkward… but… before we go any further… what do you want us to be?"
Bumblebee blinked at her a few times, staring at her before his gaze went to the side, evidently thinking the whole thing over, before his arms were moving and he was pulling her against him in a hug, his holoform wasn't warm, and though it did have a pulse, it was still just a projection…
Again, she figured, it hardly stopped Maggie.
The radio once more came to life to answer her. "[Zzzt] I want you happy… [zzt] my sunshine! Don't take my sunshine away! [zzt] If you'll let me ma'am."
She nodded against that chiselled chest, hidden under yellow shirt and black unzipped leather jacket. "You make me happy Bee, Like… genuinely happy… It ain't love yet… but it's getting there."
She felt his chest puff up, be it from the breath she heard him just take, or from just pure pride, she chuckled and lightly whacked his left peck. "Bee, you've been hanging out with Kia too much, you're acting like a rooster."
She could almost hear the scandalised Spanish she'd hear from the Bateleur if that ever reached her… whatever they had for ears.
And there went her curiosity again, she couldn't help it, the mechanic in her was fascinated by the Harpies, she hadn't actually seen any of their forms since they were on the Gilded Falcon, but she still remembered them all vividly, the fluidity of the motions, how they seemed to move like a river current, or soft breeze, never too fast, and one motion always leading to another until the energy dissipated…
A hand cupping her jaw brought her back, and she looked up into Bumblebee's adoring electric blue eyes.
They both leant in and their lips met again, the thoughts melting away as she focused on the now, focused on him.
Her arms went around his neck, and his rear met the front of his actual form.
No turning back now, just forward.
And she was very much looking forward to that.
Somewhere under the Atlantic
Frenzy flickered his optics online, hissing under his water filled vents as he glanced around, still submerged, still tucked within one of the less moved nooks on Barricades frame…
A peek up through the cracks in the armour revealed he was still carrying that Avian mech.
Brilliant, they might as well be standing in the same spot.
He was exhausted, his spark stressed as it kept trying to reach for the rest of his family.
They were still so far away… he knew they were there, slowly getting closer, faster than before, they must of gotten a ship, but his every attempt to get more, learn more, find out all the details he so desperately needed, the more he was let down, communication range was still a long way away, calculations suggested at least five human months, insignificant after so many eons of nothing from his sire, and some bits and pieces from his siblings… but now that he knew they were coming, to find him, his patience was gone, and he was desperate.
Frenzy slumped back down into his curled-up state, surrounded by the freezing cold water he was now used to as, the same with the darkness, but he was used to that long before the ocean, he'd hidden himself away within Barricade for some long now…
He'd done little else since that damn Harpy got a hold of him on that damn plane.
He… had hadn't recovered from that…
But he'd not really recovered from much in his life… had he?
And certainly not alone.
He needed his brothers and sister, he needed his sire… he needed…
His spark gave a pained twang, instinctively reaching for the shattered bond still attached to his spark.
He needed his carrier.
But she wasn't coming back.
He was scared, almost completely alone, on the bottom of an ocean on an alien world, with his temporary guardian hauling an unknown mech to another continent to try and re-connect with their missing 'boss'.
Before he even realised he'd done it, he'd let off a whimpering keen, that same sound he'd made whenever he was scared, the same that Rumble would make… whenever they needed their carrier.
It was high pitched, almost shrill, and it had always gotten her attention, always pulled her away from her work to pick them up, hold them close, and whisper sweet promises to help calm their taxed systems.
Hard to believe the first time they met her, they'd hated her...
Underground Express Highway 7-09 from Upper Kaon to Lower Praxus
The transport rocketed down it's tracks, maglev engines humming as the aerodynamic shape shot onwards.
Within, were three Cybertronians, one alert, their cerulean blue optics trained on the blurred tunnel walls, the lights of the tunnel, spread thin, creating pockets of shadow and light, illuminating the Praxian build every over moment, before it was bathed in almost darkness again.
Held within their primary set of arms were the other two forms, much smaller, and laying across the larger forms legs, curled up and around themselves, they'd been resting against each other only at the beginning, but now were completely entangled.
The secondary set of arms, floating next to the collection of forms, were kept busy with a data-pad, writing up another report on the current state of their project, a project that often left their optic twitching.
One digit, the end curved and narrowing into a long and wickedly sharp tip, carefully ran over the dented-in helm of one of the younglings in their lap, faded pale purple and blue was it's paintjob.
The faded purple was a stark contrast to the larger, who's myriad of purples, each pristine and glossy in a way few could maintain, aided to tell apart the different pieces of armour plating.
The door wings of the Praxian twitched, their small ministrations had finally won them the rousing of one of the two, the purple and blue one to be specific, they were not as badly injured as the black and red one.
Which did not say much, both had been barely clinging to life when they had been found by the one currently holding them.
Medical help had been swiftly acquired of course, but they had had to be quick, whisking them away to this transport the moment they were deemed stable enough for such a trip as the one they had been almost late to set off on.
All because they had found these two, by mere happenstance really, laying beaten, energon splattering the walls and ground around them, each clinging to the other in what they likely believed would have been their final moments.
They had not allowed that.
They let out a long, exhausted sigh, stroking the tiny helm again, they wouldn't leave those two to offline, no, more accurately, they couldn't.
Apparently, the noise was enough to rouse the waking one further.
Red optics flickered online, jerking and darting even in their half-dazed state, desperately trying to make sense of what was around them.
Cereulean optics watched with simminging interest, a optic-ridge raised a bit higher to hide behind the plating that came down between their optics.
The far smaller bot reached out almost blindly, patting around the curved armour they were perched upon.
Finally the tiny helm tilted to the side, following the leg down to the floor,where the large pedes, the metal flaring around a wide tire at the back of each, twitched, specifically the three claws on each pede that idly grasped at the floor of the transport
The mech took another moment staring downwards, before gaining the courage to look up.
Red met cerulean.
There was a moment of heavy silence.
Broken when the little one hissed.
It was a pitiful sound, no energy behind it, no bite, unsurprising, the little thing was still recovering from a significant surgery, not that said mech knew that.
Finally they spoke. "Careful little one, do not pull the welds."
The much smaller mech didn't bother to hiss, but snarled instead, displaying the little fangs hidden away.
They were half tempted to smirk, show off their own much larger fangs.
They only had the four that cropped out their otherwise flat dental plates.
But that hadn't stopped them from using them whenever they damn well felt like it.
Now was not one of those times though.
"S-slag off!" The little pale purple and blue mech bit back.
They shuttered their optics a few times slowly, just taking in the little mechling, the black and red one was already rousing from their twins aggravation.
They sighed. "Little one, that is no way to address the one who picked you up out of your own energon, paid for your treatment, and is now transporting you out of Kaon. My designation is Shrike, what is yours?"
They already knew of course, but it was good to be polite.
The mechling snarled for a moment, shifted, and immediately regretted it as he pulled one of the welds, just as Shrike had warned them not to.
Shrike felt her doorwings sag a bit. "See, aggression will get you nowhere in this situation, please be still, you're no where recovered but I could hardly risk leaving you in Kaon to recover alone."
He winced, dentas gritted from the pain, but still managed to get ot a one word question. "Why?"
Shrike's helm tilted to the side. "Why? Why did I help you? Because I could, I had the time, the means, and more than enough shanix. Why did I take you both with me? Simple, I wish to be certain you will never find yourselves bleeding out in the gutter again, and I cannot be sure of that if I left you behind." She listed off.
The little mechling stared at her, and then scowled. "There's another reason."
Smart youngling.
"Yes, there is, I wish to… introduce you to someone."
Probably not the best wording, the little mechlings optics went wide with terror.
They'd heard that before, and it had hurt them.
She let her engine kick up into a higher gear, letting off a soothing rumble she knew normally worked on those in distress. "I mean it in no negative way… they… under my watch is a mech, a dock, he was given to me to be 'used' like some calculator, but there is no life in him… it is quite obvious his original dockings are no longer online… I want to see if you can… coax some life back in him… only if you want to that is? If you say no, I can find you a different job…"
His brother was waking up fully now with all the talking. "F…."
"Easy little one, your condition is worse than your brother, please hold still."
Rumble did just that, he hadn't the strength in him to do anything but lay there.
He was still listening though, and expressing his pain addled interest.
This femme, Shrike, was obviously wealthy, with a bleeding spark, they could use that to get away later.
Couldn't be to hard to rob her blind too.
Frenzy felt his spark twist at the notion, it still wasn't as hardened as he wanted it to be, had to have it to survive Kaon…
He looked up again. "Where are we going?"
"Praxus, and after I've had your repairs checked over, onwards to Iacon, I can't risk being late… my…. Employers detest me being late to work… and I don't want to leave my assistant alone too long… he has not the will to defend himself…"
Sounded to him like the mech was a weakling.
"We'll do it." He stated he was much more alert now.
A smile pulled on the femmes features, revealing two hooked fangs on the left side of her faceplates. "Wonderful… but I need to lay some ground rules... for everyone's… safety."
That didn't sound welcoming, they were going to Iacon right?
The fact they were actually going to Iacon the Capital hadn't fully dawned on him yet.
"Rule One, outside of private quarters, you will not address me, you will not look me in the optic, and you will not physically interact with me, with my assistant you can show more affection if you so desire, I encourage that in fact, only what you are comfortable with though."
He nodded, Rumble was alert enough to understand so he was nodding for both of them.
"Rule Two, I… work…" Shrike spat the word out like it was acid. "Directly... with the Senators, if one is approaching, or in our presence, you will speak only if addressed, and when you speak, be brief, do not curse, politeness will keep you online."
Concerning, but he nodded.
"Rule Three… no matter what, when I introduce you to my friends and assistant, you will be respectful, we've all been through a… lot."
Again he nodded. "That it?"
"If I ask you to do something, it is more than likely within your best interest, and if you have the urge to misbehave, come to me, I'll help you figure out a way to get that out of your system without you getting in trouble."
Again he'd nodded, he didn't like this femme, Shrike, she was upper crust, upper upper crust, he could tell just by how she spoke, how she held herself, it sickened him in a way.
And that digit still running down his helm every few moments was getting slagging annoying.
He slipped back into recharge a few breems later, Rumble slipping back under with him.
He missed her…
Frenzy felt himself curl up tighter, if he focused hard enough, he could still feel the ghost of her touch, that digit running over his helm…
He keened again.
He didn't have anything of her to hold onto… Ravage was the one who'd taken that one trinket she liked with them, for safekeeping.
It was a stupid trinket, something Sire had made for her as a courting gift, a little puzzle of interlocked metal pieces that seemed to be impossible to seperate.
His Carrier had used it to keep her secondary limbs busy when she didn't have a set task for them, kept them from getting up to mischief…
Because mischief wasn't allowed in the towers of Iacon, when it was caught that is…
He let himself chuckle as more happy memories came to light…
Carrier always found a way for them to prank the Senators and not get caught.
He let his processor focus on those happier memories, he needed to have some happiness, just for a bit…
He was getting tired again, dredging up memories from so long ago tended to do that.
He slipped into recharge with a rarely seen smile.
The next he'd wake, he'd be a little happier.
He was always a little happier when he got to see his carrier in recharge fluxes…
Barricade and the mech they'd found would never know about the little smile, it wouldn't be there for long.
The good memories were all tainted now, and soon enough, that taint stole the smile away once more, and he remained curled up, hidden from all view.
Just as it always was these long vorns.
Welp, that's another chapter done and dusted! 'looks at chapter 40 and cracks knuckles' no idea when I'll next update, but hopefully relatively soon, so until then, toodles!
Moon
