I only own my OC's!


Under Pressure

that night, firehouse, Charlie's pov

We finally finish setting up the twins' room in the bunker at midnight. Their room is bigger than the one upstairs, and I know they're going to love it. Heatwave tucked them into his bed a few hours ago, and they're sound asleep. He said he'd show them in the morning.


morning, normal pov

I wake up and turn at a sound to find Heatwave—my new Dad-to-be—working at his desk. Nellie's sitting beside me, making her smaller pink teddy bear dance to whatever song she's thinking of. "Dad?"

He jolts before turning to me. "Mariposa. You scared me." He sighs as we jump off his bed. "Come on. Let's go."

"We don't need someone to help us get dressed."

"I'm not." He kneels to us. "I'm taking you to your new room."

"Oh…" Nellie and I share a grin before running after him.


"Wow." I look around. The walls are lavender, and the carpet is light pink. It's twice as big as our room was upstairs, and we've got tons of books. The closet and dresser are filled with modern clothes, more than likely from that prime, because I'm not sure Charlie can afford all this. At home, we were lucky to get schoolbooks and what we have with us in clothes—and most of those are too small.

"So? Do you like it?"

We nod. Nellie turns to Blades. "So, you two are together?"

"Yeah…"

I turn to Blades. "So, what do we call y'all, if ya don' mind?"

Heatwave kneels to us. "Blades and I are both carriers. We're not sure we're ready to start a family yet, but we have agreed that since your guardianship was assigned to me in the first place, that I would get the Carrier bond."

I give him a confused look. "So…"

"Just call me Carrier here, and Blades Sire."

"Gotcha." I sigh softly. "What about—"

"Outside, you still have to refer to Charlie or one of the Burns as your family."

I sigh softly. Nellie and I had been talking about which Burns we'd want as a parent. "Dani. We lost our Mom, and we don' have a mother figure here. A girl needs that."

"Understood." He motions to the closet. "I'll let you two get dressed. We'll have your energon out here, and Chief Burns said he'd send Cody down with your breakfast."

I look up at him. "We can't leave here anymore?"

He—Carrier—kneels to me. "No, Little One. You can still leave." He smiles slightly. "I just want to start your training as soon as you're done."

I blush slightly. "Oh."

Nellie nods. "Okay."

"But you two still have Monitor Duty with Cody upstairs before we can start."

"I know." We run into our room and change into matching green floral print short sleeved dresses, white half-aprons with lace hems, white stockings, and red button shoes. We braid each other's hair, then tie on green floral print bonnets and slip them back.


command center, normal pov

Cody, Nellie, and I are in the command center while Papa's on patrol. He and Chase are driving down the street after an out-of-control robo-landscaper, which mows down an elephant topiary. "You will be compensated for any damages, citizen."


Papa's voice comes over the comms. "Attention, rescue team. Robo-landscaper out of control! Could use a hand here."

Cody sighs. "It might be a while, dad."

I turn to Cody as Nellie and I stand. "We have to go. 'Wave wants us to roll with him."


GARAGE

Graham is standing on Boulder's treads, leaning inside. "That's just too bizarre. They're alive, but we're supposed to ride inside of them?"

Kade groans. "Don't be a wimp Graham, they're just vehicles."

Heatwave sighs. "Hey, I can hear you, you know."

"WAIT!"

"WAIT FOR US!"

Kade leans out the window. "You're not coming."

Heatwave opens the passenger door. "Yes, they are."

We grin as we clamber into the fire engine and sit down. The seatbelts slide around us. "Thanks, Carrier!"

Dani groans. "Hurry up, Blades, we have to go." Blades takes off from the roof, still moving slow.


TOWN

"No sign of the suspect. What now, sir?" The landscaper suddenly appears behind him. "I advise you to hold on, sir." He flips over it, and grabs the landscaper. "You have the right to remain silent, anything you say can be used against you." He throws the landscaper into the dumpster. "And you will not be compensated for any damages!"

Dani looks down from the roof. "We missed it, didn't we?"

Papa looks up to her before turning to Graham, Nellie, and I. "What kept you all?"

"Our rides wouldn't let us drive. They're slowing us down."

Heatwave transforms. "Fast enough for you?"

"Let me out. I'm gonna hurl." Papa crosses his arms at him. Heatwave transforms and opens the passenger door. Kade tumbles out, followed by Heatwave tossing his hat out. The hat lands crooked. "Never again." He fixes his hat.

"Look, I know we're all adjusting to being a team, learning about each other, but it'll go a lot smoothly if we'll work together."

"I signed up to rescue people." Kade points back to Heatwave with a thumb. "…not make nice with machines." He storms off.


Command center, Cody's pov

"These humans don't even realize they're on a team."

"Don't worry Heatwave, I'll talk to him."


Kitchen, normal pov

Nellie and I run alongside Kade, on either side. "What do you have against 'Wave, Kade? He's not that bad!"

"He's a machine, Emily. Get your facts straight." Kade pulls a bag of popcorn out of the cabinet.

Cody walks in and leans against the fridge. "Hey, Kade, can I pop that for you?" Cody takes the popcorn and presses a button, causing it to pop. "You know, it's pretty amazing you get to be partners with an alien.

Kade takes the popped bag. "Oh, yeah, amazing, I have to ask my ride to roll down my own window." He starts for the stairs.

"But you and Heatwave have ton things in common. He—"

Kade starts up the stairs to his room. "It's not a "he", Cody, it's a truck."

I sigh as I turn to Cody. "Not goin' well, huh?"

"Nope." He turns to me. "Want to help?"

I shrug. "Why not? Nell?"

"I'm in." She smiles. Now that we're getting used to them, we're starting to go our own ways.


outside, with Dani

Cody, Nellie, and I look up to where Dani is climbing her rock wall. "And back home, Blades had wheels. He never flew until he got to Earth."

"That's why he is so bad at it."

Cody shrugs. "Plus, he kinda hates heights."

"Blades is my partner, he better learn to love them." She reaches up and rings the bell.

Cody frowns.

I cross my arms. "Dani, this isn't how you go about give and take, ya know? Ya gotta give a little."


garage, with Graham

Cody sits on top of a machine, handing tools to Graham while I watch. "Boulder is crazy about Earth. He wants to silk up everything he can."

Graham sits up from under a machine. "And I'd love to learn about his planet's tech." He takes a wrench and lies back down.

"See, you're the perfect team, you can teach each other—"

Graham stops working and props himself up. "Cody, Boulder is an alien from a highly-advanced society. How am I gonna teach him anything?"

I scoff. "These people are hopeless."

"You're telling me."

I turn to Cody. "We're goin' down to the bunker, Cody."

He follows us down the pole. "Why did Dad move you two down here anyway?"

"Because, we're part of them. Heatwave's our Guardian, not your Dad."

Nellie sighs. "We just have to use one of them for cover, so we chose Dani."

"Really?"

"Why not?"
I sigh heavily. "Mom died, Dad became an abusive drunk. We need a mother figure, Cody. Every girl does."


command center, bunker

Nellie and I ditch Cody when we realize the bots are in their command center. Once at the door, we see Carrier pacing in front of the screen, and the others standing back to give him space. "This isn't working, Optimus. Our partners don't want anything to do with us."

Chase holds out a hand. "Actually, Chief and I get along quite well."

Carrier growls. "How are supposed to complete your mission to help humans, if they won't let us?"

"I'm certain you will find the way, Heatwave. Remember, learning to communicate with humans is also part of your mission."

"My partner communicates loud and clear." Blades—Sire—touches one of his audios. "Especially loud."

Boulder raises one arm. "Well, Cody's been trying to help us fit in."

"Then take guidance from Cody. I have found that the young of this species are the most valuable allies."

"Make friends? With all due respect, Optimus, that's all you have to say?"

"Not entirely. Rescue Bots, good luck!" With that, the comm switches off. Carrier's left with his mouth hanging open. He sighs and crosses his arms before looking down to Nellie and I.

I shrug to Nellie before looking up to Carrier. "Carrier, it's—"

The door opens with a clang. "Guys— Wow, I didn't know the bunker had a secret room!"

Sire looks down to him. "How did it go, Cody?"

He sighs. "New plan. Kade, Dani and Graham don't know you like I do, right?" Sire kneels to Cody. "So, you all just need to bond."

"What does "bonding" entail?"

Nellie and I share a look. I smirk. "Definitely not what it does for you."


bunker

Cody drags the three down the elevator. "This is the amazing thing we had to see? The bunker? We've been here thousand times."

"Not in years!" Dani turns to her stuffed elephant. "Oh, I used to love to play on here." She hugs it before turning to Kade. "Remember, you get lost in the tunnels, Kade?"

Graham walks over to a game. "Wonder if I could beat my old score."

Cody backs up to the bots, Nellie, and I. "You're on."

They all start arguing. "First—"

"I don't wanna go—"

"We could go by height—"

"I let me go—"

They finally push Sire out. "Hi!"

The three turn to us in varying degrees of shock and frustration. "Really?"

"Don't freak. I invited them, too." The others step out, with me on Carrier's shoulder. "I thought it would be cool if we all hang out together. You know, just the ten of us."

Kade storms away. "Come on, Kade. What're you afraid of?"

Boulder jumps in. "Is this an Earth game? May I try?"

Graham nods. "Sure. You pull this to start."

He breaks off the plunger. "Oh, fun! Now what?"

Blades looks at some kind of cue card. "Lovely weather we're having today, isn't it?"

Dani is sitting beside him, still hugging her stuffed elephant. "Perfect for flying!"

He leans down, almost wilting. "Or not." He glances back to the card. "Oh, do you have any hobbies?"

"Flying."

Kade and Carrier are sitting on either side of a corner, in the same position. It's almost laughable. Kade glances to him, then stands and walks off. "I think, we're done here."

Chase steps over to Cody, Sire, Nellie, and I. "That went quite well."

The alarms go off. The three older kids run over to the screen. Kade presses a button, followed by Papa's voice. "We have a situation on main in park. Sewers are overflowing."

"So call a plumber."

"With lava." At that moment, one of the manhole covers blows, and lava explodes through the hole. At the sight, two cars collide. "This can get ugly pretty fast. I need the whole team out here."

Nellie and I turn to run to Carrier and Sire. "Stay here, you two. It's going to be too dangerous."

We look at our feet before running to Cody.

"Cody, get on the command center comm-link. Your siblings will need some help working with their partners."


town, charlie's pov

Chase and I are directing traffic around the lava when Haley drives past us and into the growing pool. "Chase, help her."

Chase reaches down and allows her to climb into his hand. "Next time, citizen, please follow the rules of the road. It's not just a good idea, it's the law."


with Dani, from the command center

"Can you be a little more—Ow!—gentle with that?"

"Soon as you learn how to fly."

"Dani, be nice, remember?"

"Blades, buddy, I know, this is hard for you, but you can do it. So do it already!"

Cody, Nellie, and I cringe. "That's not what I meant."

I roll my eyes. "Duh."

Nellie sighs softly. "Sire's got some work to do with Dani, but they'll get there."

I sigh heavily. "I hope." We turn to the screen following Boulder and Graham.

Boulder pushes one last concrete barrier up to the lava, then transforms before turning to Graham. "Do you think this is enough to hold the lava?"

"You're right. It must seem such a primitive solution to you."

"Graham, Boulder's not dissing you, he's trying to help.

But you gotta tell him what you're thinking, first."

I smile. "They seem to be doin' good, other than that."

Cody nods. "Yeah." We turn to the screen watching Kade and Heatwave. "Why do you call him Carrier?"

"Because he is one, and he asked us to. He's got the first parent bond, making him like a human's mom. That's why we need Dani."

Carrier pulls up and transforms, then prepares to start spraying a fire, only for Kade to start with his old truck. "I've got this covered. You can move on, partner." Carrier turns and walks away.

"Kade, you have to work together!"

"No time for chit-chat, Cody." Kade takes off his comm link and flicks it away. Under the truck, another manhole cover blows, flipping the truck and knocking Kade out.

"Kade! Kade! Are you okay? Kade!"

The lava shorts out the comm. Carrier suddenly shows up and starts spraying the approaching lava. "You're welcome, partner."


command center

Papa's face comes on the monitor. "Cody, we've cleared up the most of the downtown, but the lava won't quit. If we can't block the leak soon, I'll need you to send out island-wide evacuation order."

"You got it, Dad, but let me call someone first." He ends the comm and contacts Doc Greene. "Doc Greene, you there?" Doc appears upside-down, causing Cody to smack the screen.

"Do not adjust your monitor. I'm upside down over here, too. I'm testing my theory that I can solve equations faster when all my blood is collected in my head."

"Doc, is there a volcano on the island we don't know about?"

"No, but there is one we do know about. Mount Magma, built for the world's fair of 1939. That's when we invented deep fried cotton candy, you see, the sugar felt in the hot oil."

"Doc, how could a fake volcano spill real lava into the sewers?"

"Well, the volcano is fake, but the lava isn't. When Mount Magma was moved here, the engineers sunk the pipe deep into the Earth's core. Pent up pressure in the core could push lava back up the pipe. But the top of the volcano is sealed, so the lava would come out wherever it could. Like the sewers. The pressure would keep forcing lava out until it covered our whole island. That would take about 4.7 hours." He pulls out a timer. "Oh, saved a full second of my calculation time! Hanging upside down really does work!"

"Doc, this is for real."

He flips himself right-side up, then turns back to us. "Then you have to get rid of the lava pressure immediately." He climbs off his contraption and grabs a soda bottle before shaking it. "Think of a volcano as a giant fizzy bottle. To get rid of the pressure, you open it a little at a time." He starts to slowly open the bottle. "A small controlled eruption should take care of your lava problem, but don't open the lid fast or…" The soda explodes out of the bottle.


town, with Charlie

Blades lowers a concrete barricade as Chase directs him. Carrier and Boulder each place another around the sewer grate. "All right, team. Just got off the comm with Cody. He says we can stop this lava, but we have to erupt a volcano to do it."

Sire turns to Papa after he transforms. "And that's the safest option?"

"It's the only option. I won't lie. Things might get hairy. If the volcano goes up too fast, we could get caught in the lava." He walks over to the bots. "I'll understand if you don't wanna be a part of this mission. It's dangerous. Griffin Rock isn't your home."

Carrier turns to him. "If you go, we go."

Graham steps forward. "You'd risk your lives for us?"

Boulder looks down to them. "That's what being partners means."

Chase continues. "Wherever there is an emergency there are Rescue Bots. Ready to serve, save and protect."

Sire finishes. "We didn't have the chance to save our home, we won't let you lose yours."

Papa smiles up at them. "Glad to have you on board." He turns to his family. "But for this plan to succeed, we'll all have to put aside our differences and work together as real partners. Understood?" Everyone but Kade nods. Kade steps forward and smiles, then nods as well.


Mount Magma, normal pov, from the command center

"You're almost there, guys. Boulder, I'm sending you with schematic of how the volcano works."

Graham studies the schematics. "Yes, I see."

"Graham, you have to tell Boulder what you're thinking."

"Oh, right. Sorry." He turns back to the diagram. "Okay, from this diagram, it looks like the volcano's ON-switch should be inside the mountain nearby." They stop, and Graham climbs out. "But I don't know where exactly."

Boulder lifts his shovel. "That's where I can help." He slams it down, sending out seismic waves. Graham flinches from it. "Found it."

"Whoa, you have seismic imaging?"

"Of course."

Cody, Nellie, and I turn to the screen with Papa on it.

"Head back to town, please. It's about to get hot around here."

"Oh, no."

"We've planned this picnic—"

Chase steps up behind him. "Okay, right away."

"Yes, sir."


with Heatwave and kade, command center

The two firemen are almost bored to tears. "What's going on, Cody? When do we get to see some action?"

We glance at the screens. "Blades is moving into place now." We turn back to the screen with Blades.

Nellie and I lean toward the mic. "Be careful, Sire."

Dani lowers the wench hook. "Blades, we're attaching you to the switch of volcano's lowest setting." Graham hooks it to the switch. "When you fly up, the volcano will turn on and blast out the lava. Get clear as quickly as you can."

Dani quickly replies. "Blades and I have it from here. Shoo you two." They pull up on the switch. "We did it."

"Now, let's just get out of here."

The ash cloud covers Sire and Dani. I can't see!"

"Blades, go higher! We have to get out of this."

"Which way is higher?"

I wrench the microphone from Cody's hand. "Just relax, Sire. It's okay."

"You always were afraid of heights, Em."

Cody pulls it back. "Dani, talk nicely."

Dani sighs. "I know, I know." She turns her attention to my new Sire. "Blades, I'm not going let anything happen to you, I know you can't see, but I can read your instruments clear as day." An explosion comes from the volcano, causing Sire to panic. "I'll guide you. You're right side up. Just take us as high as you can, it's okay if you go slow.

"Here goes nothing." He flies up and out of the ash.

"You did it, Blades!"

Nellie and I lean on Cody's chair. "Oh, thank God."

"I did it, Dani, I did it!" His rotor suddenly jolts. "Um, excuse me. I think my rotor just hiccupped."

"It must be the ash. We better take you down." The two land on a nearby cliff.

Cody, Nellie, and I turn to check on Kade and Heatwave.

The two start hosing down the lava as Papa comes over their comms. "How does it look, Kade?"

"This lava isn't going anywhere."

"Good. Chase and I closed all the mountain roads just in case. Sounds like crisis averted, team."

Cody, Nellie, and I share a happy look. "Way to go everyone. We'll be waiting for you in the bunker."


field, third pov

Dani looks through her binoculars and gasps when she notices the lava is flowing back into the volcano. "That's weird. The lava is disappearing."

"Wasn't that what we wanted?"

"Not like this." She turns to her comm. "Uh, you, guys. The lava over in my side is draining in some sort of hole in the rock."

Graham groans. "Oh, that's not a hole, it's a tunnel."

Boulder looks down at Graham, a worried expression on his face. "A tunnel. Like the ones that all lead to the firehouse bunker?"

Heatwave looks down to him. "Wait a minute. The lava is flowing towards the bunker?"

Kade continues. "But that's where Cody is."

"And Mari." Heatwave quickly activates his comm. "Cody! Cody, can you hear us?" He lowers his hand. "Must be offline and underground by now."

Kade turns to yell at Graham. "Why didn't you warn us Cody might be in danger?"

"I-I didn't know! There's no tunnel on the schematic!"

It's more than obvious Kade is more angry with himself than he is with Graham. "We're supposed to be heroes and we can't do anything!"

Heatwave transforms. "We can do plenty if you stop complaining and get in!" He turns his attention to Graham as Kade climbs in. "Graham, are there any other tunnels near which intersect that with the lava?"

"I don't know. None of these diagrams are up to date." He turns to his partner. "Boulder, can you map the tunnels below us?" As Boulder does, Graham taps his comm. "Dani, we're gonna need water. Maybe we can cool this lava and slow it down.

"I'll see what I can do."

"Got it."

Graham turns to Boulder. Okay, here is the lava, if you take the tunnel below you might have the time to stop the flow before it reaches Cody. But you have to make it to this crossing before the lava does."

"We will."


with dani

"I see water tower. But there is no way we can get there on foot." Blades suddenly takes off. "Whoa! Uh, Blades! Oh, no, we can't fly in this ash it might freeze your rotors."

"And it might not. If it means helping Cody it's worth to few hiccups. Excuse me in advance?"

Dani winks. "Anytime, partner."


with Kade

Graham comes over the comm. "The intersection should be straight ahead."

"No, no, no!" They stop at a wall of rocks blocking the tunnel. Kade jumps out and starts moving rocks. "We'll never get through!"

"Get in!" Heatwave slams through the pile of rocks.

"How did you know that would work?"

"I didn't." He stops and lets Kade out.

"Like Graham said, if we can cool down the lava we can stop it from reaching Cody."

"Not if it's just keeping coming."

They start spraying the lava.


with dani

Dani and Blades fly over to the lava with the top of the water tower. "Anybody ordered a drink?"

"What? No, we're taking this to the lava. Oh, I get it. Earth humor."


with kade

"The lava is moving too fast."

They back into the roof of the cavern. "Good place as any to hold our ground."

Suddenly the water stops. "What happened?"

"We've exhausted my water reserves." He looks down to Kade as he retracts the hose. "Go, save yourself!"

Kade turns, then turns back and lays a hand on Heatwave's leg. "Fat chance."


outside

Graham looks up to Blades. "OK, Blades. Drop the water, now!" The water tower explodes on impact.


inside

The lava is about to melt Kade's boots. He raises his boot nervously, and cringes, as the water reaches them in the nick of time. "Yes, the team up top came through!" He looks up to Heatwave. "You know, this doesn't mean we're best friends or anything.

"I was thinking the exact same thing."


bunker, normal pov

Cody, Nellie, and I look up when Kade and Carrier pull through the door to the tunnel. "Hey, how did you guys get in here?"

Kade runs over to us and hugs Cody. "Don't you ever scare us like that again!" He then walks away.

Carrier transforms and looks after Kade before turning to Cody, Nellie, and I. "Yeah, what he said."

"What did I do?"

Nellie runs after him. "What did Cody do?"

I shrug and run after Carrier. "Carrier!" He kneels to me. "What happened out there?"

He kneels and runs a finger over our heads. "It doesn't matter, as long as you're safe."

Nellie and I cross our arms. "That doesn't answer our question."

"The lava was flowing toward the bunker. You could have been hurt, but you weren't."

"Because you're a fire-bot."

"He ran out of water." The two of us glare at Kade. "Well, he did."

Carrier sighs. "I did. Blades saved the day." He sighs. "Now, get ready for bed. You have school tomorrow."


the next day, morning

Nellie and I walk over to Dani while we're waiting for breakfast. "Dani? Can I…ask you something?"

She sets down the coffee pot and turns to us. "What's wrong?"

"It's about what Opt—"

"Blades explained."

Nellie sighs. "Oh…"

I sigh softly. "Will-you-be-our-pretend-mom-for-our-cover?"

She takes a moment to figure out my speed talk before answering. "Of course." She smiles. "Anything for you girls."

We hug her before running for the door. We need to get moving or Carrier can't take us to school. "Thanks, Momma!" We run to the elevator, leaving her confused.

She raises an eyebrow. "Momma?"


the next day, afternoon

Cody runs into the living room, dragging us. We're wearing our everyday dresses, having changed right after school. "You guys! You got to come check this out!" We all take the elevator to the bunker. Cody, Nellie, and I have to push Kade off it once we stop. We turn him toward the wall, where the bots, Papa, Cody, Nellie, and I had painted the rescue bots logo. "What do you think? I mean, this is their home now, too. Right?"

Kade slaps an arm around Cody with a smile on his face. "Sure looks that way."

Nellie and I squeal and hug Dani, causing her to hug us back.

"I guess she said you could call her your mother?"

I nod up to Sire before hugging Carrier's leg. "I know we're gonna like it here."

Nellie hugs Carrier's other leg. "You said it."

Papa lays a hand on our shoulders as Carrier and Sire smile down at us. "We'll make sure of it."

Carrier sighs. "Now, I've finally gotten Optimus to have his medic train you."

I look up at him, excited. "Train us?"

Nellie looks up at him too, but she's confused. "In what?"

He kneels to us. "You'll need medical training if you want to reach your full potential as a healer. He's willing to start teaching you now, but you have to come with me."

"We don't have to live with him or anything, right?"

"Of course not, Little Ones. You're staying right here with us."

We smile up at him. "Thanks, Carrier."

Kade scoffs. "Okay, what's with all this Carrier nonsense?"

"They're techno-organic, and I'm their Guardian. I want to raise them as my daughters, and I am a carrier."

"Okay?"

"I'm raising them, Kade. End of story."

"Just don't let them take over."

Nellie and I share a look before hanging off Carrier's legs. I smile. "We'll take him over—"

Nellie giggles. "If we want to!"

"He's our Carrier!"

Kade rolls his eyes before walking off.