Quick Notes: The chapter you've all been waiting for. That's all I'm going to say about that.
Alexis and Scavenger were working hard. They had been training for the past five hours, with the occasional stop for some energon. Alexis was quite impressed how strong Scavenger was. She tried her best though there was really nothing to show for it except a bit of heavy breathing on her part. If she were human still, she was sure sweat would have been dripping down her forehead. That was one thing she was going to like about being an Autobot. She wouldn't have the problem of body odor.
For the first hour, Scavenger showed her how to do a few kick moves. Some of the moves she had already known from watching TV and watching the Autobots when they would train with each other. So those were no brainer. The second was a little tougher as Scavenger tried to get her to knock him down. The only way she knew how to knock a man down was by kicking him in the groin, but that definitely did not apply anymore.
All too soon, time was no longer an issue. They lost track of time as Alexis was trying to knock her friend to the floor, with no luck. She knew it was possible as she watched him fall several times before in training and on the battlefield.
"Come on," he said. "You can do it. At least get me to one knee."
"I'm trying but you're so big compared to me."
"Size doesn't matter. Look how many times I have been knocked down from a bot who is smaller than me."
"Yeah I know. But this is getting too frustrating."
Unknown to her but Alexis but they were not alone. Scavenger had watched three of the Autobots walk in almost an hour ago. And since then, he was more determined to get Alexis to knock him down. Scavenger also noticed that she was losing energy and could use a rest.
"Come on, one more time. Think of me as Megatron.
Without saying a word, she tried to think of him as Megatron. An image popped in her mind of him standing in front of her. With the thought in mind, she struck out with her fist.
Scavenger easily saw this and dodged. After a couple swings and totally missing from Scavenger dodging, she thought back to when Kiaudica had taken over her body. Kiaudica had seen what Megatron was going to do and quickly dodged and then did something that he didn't expect.
Alexis slightly smiled, which Scavenger noticed. As she swung again at, knowing he was going to dodge, she quickly swung her leg, kicking him in the back of the leg. The move surprised him as her fist connected with the side of his face and he went to the floor. A clang was heard throughout the whole room.
"Well done," Scavenger said as he stood back up. The two hits were not hard but getting him to the floor was the goal.
Alexis at first stood there like a deer caught in the headlights but then realized that Scavenger was smiling at her. She stood back to her full height as she heard clapping behind her. She snapped her head to find Jetfire, Hotshot and Sideswipe behind her.
"When did you guys come in?" she asked with strain in her voice.
"About an hour ago," Jetfire said. "That was a good move. It's always good to have a counter attack ready."
"Lesson done for the day," Scavenger said. "You should get some rest. I believe you're starting to overheat."
Alexis turned her head to the green Transformer and nodded then took a step towards the door. Suddenly she felt dizzy and wasn't sure if that was normal and felt her body starting to loose its balance as she started to fall. Somewhere in the room, a voice was heard to catch her, but she couldn't register who said it. Expecting her body to hit the floor, she braced herself. But it didn't come. She weakly looked up to find herself in the arms of Scavenger.
"I should have ended the training sooner," she heard him say.
"I didn't say anything when I should have. Just let me rest here for a while."
Scavenger nodded and gently sat her on the floor but stayed close to her side until she could move again. Once she was able to move, he stood and took her hand. Jetfire walked over and took her other hand and both helped her to her feet.
"Thanks," she said. "I have the strength to move now."
"Ok. Tomorrow we'll train some more. You just take it easy for the rest of the day. Let Hotshot give you some target practice later on."
"Is that a suggestion?" she inquired, smiling. She wanted to joke around.
"Since I'm your trainer that answer is no. That's an order," he stated sternly but then smiled.
"Yes sir," she saluted mockingly, trying to stop herself from laughing.
Scavenger noted her humor. "You being here is going to make the base be more livelier."
Jetfire looked at Scavenger. "Well someone has to keep everyone on their toes."
"You can say that again," Alexis said. "If anyone needs me I'll be in my quarters, resting." She slowly, at first, began to walk but by the time she got to the door, she was walking at a normal pace. She wanted to make sure she wasn't going to fall again.
When she reached her quarters, she laid on the bed. She knew that the guys would treat her differently then they would treat a regular member of the Autobots and it was probably due to the fact that they knew her as a human.
Once she was relaxed, she was able to feel her body heating up. The electric currents were new to her but it wasn't much different then when a human body would sweat. Guess this was the Transformers way of sweating.
She wasn't resting long before someone wanted to see her. She knew it wouldn't have been the boys since they left early in the morning. She sat up and welcomed her guest.
"How are you feeling?" Starscream asked as he walked into the room.
"Warm," she answered. "Is there anything to cool the circuits down?"
"Energon. This is when energon can become addictive. A long time ago, Decepticons were once hungry for more Energon but after the Mini-Cons arrived, there was no longer such hunger for it. Their hunger was for strength and power." He walked over and filled a cup of Energon and handed it to her.
When it was gone, she started to feel cooler. "How can one become addicted?"
"By consuming Energon until all circuits are completely cool. After nightfall I'll start you on the sword. Right now. Whatever you do, don't have anymore Energon. I'll leave you alone to rest." Starscream turned to leave.
"Why did you come here?"
"To see how you were doing. I figured you'd be overheating and wanted to get cooled. Plus also to tell you that Thrust was around earlier and he demanded that we hand you over to Megatron to protect Earth. But I don't buy it."
"Does Optimus know about it?" Though she felt scared, she did not show it. Like she had said, she needed to be strong.
"He overheard it over the comlink. We also found the spot where the sample will be placed for you. Just need to get Red Alert to place some lighting there."
Alexis nodded and watched her friend leave.
-
After Starscream exited Alexis's room, he walked outside to get some fresh air. Just as the sun hit his body, he saw Scavenger near the edge of the cliff.
"I'm surprised to see you out here," Starscream said, bringing up conversation.
"I came to think. Training Alexis will be hard. She will have to be treated much different than any other Transformer."
"With her getting use to her body and no longer being human is tough."
"Yes but she has potential. I shouldn't have trained her as long as I did. Her circuits are overheating. Though she did get me to the ground."
"How did she manage that?"
"I dodged her punch but she turned and kicked me in the back of the leg."
"It surprised you enough that you couldn't dodge the next punch," Starscream finished.
"Exactly. It was a good move. She'll be a valued member of the team."
"Maybe try and train her for an hour then let her take a break, then again for another hour."
"That is what Optimus suggested. He also told me that you had a run in with Thrust. Do they think we'd be that foolish to give Alexis to them."
"And I'll be damned if they get a hold of her."
"I agree. She has a long way to go and I'm afraid that she will be too weak to fight when Megatron decides to attack. Anyway I should get some rest. Enjoy what's left of daylight."
-
After Alexis was rested she went and found Hotshot and wanted her first target lesson. She had the feeling it was going to be more fun then training with Scavenger. To start off Hotshot wanted to see how well she could hit with the target still. She was able to hit quite well. She hit the bull's-eye every time.
"Wow," he breathed. "Where did you learn to shoot like that?"
"I just finished archery in phys. Ed. class," she giggled. "I've been doing archery for the past three years."
"That's using a bow and arrow?"
"Yes. Last year, just before you arrived, I entered an archery contest and won first place."
"Well if Cyclonus or any of the other Decepticons are standing still. You will have no problem and getting them out of the way."
"Thanks."
"Now for some harder targets." He turned to a button that would make the target move around.
This time it was hard to get any hits. In fact she only managed a few hits. Hotshot knew it was going to take a bit to master but he had the patience. Even more patience than he had with Sideswipe. Of course with the younger bot, he was annoyed that he had to keep an eye on him. Alexis on the other hand was something he wouldn't mind training.
After about an hour of mostly missing, Hotshot decided to call it quits. "Let's stop here. You've done well for the first day."
"Thanks," she mused. "I've had some fun too. I'm getting frustrated that I'm not hitting well."
"Don't worry," he said placing a hand on her shoulder. "It takes time to get it. I know I'm wondering when Megatron will attack again especially with Thrust showing up."
"Me too. This silent streak by him is very unnerving. I think his dispute with me has got him on the ropes."
"Hopefully for not too long. The longer we don't here from him that worse it's going to be when we do fight him."
"I don't even want to think about that," Alexis said. "Can I ask you a question?"
"Sure." Hotshot took the gun Alexis was using and placed in its spot against the wall.
"Are you guys going easy on me because just yesterday I was human?"
"Yes and no," he sighed. "We usually do go easy on first timers but we are being more gentle with you. And it's not because you were a human. We know what your body can take but you don't and you are just getting used to the body. So going gentle is essential. We want you to get a feel for everything."
"Yeah. I am still getting use to this body."
"And with your knowledge in fighting will help. You've watched a lot of martial arts and action movies. Plus the fact that you are good at some sports will also help."
"But some of the defense moves I was taught will no longer apply to me."
"What type of moves is that?"
"Poking someone between the eyes to help get away from your attacker, or kicking him in the groin. Other than those two moves, pretty much almost everything I've learned can still be done. There might be a few others but I can't think of any right now."
"I've heard about kicking in the groin and I must say that must hurt."
"Brings the guy to his knees in a hurry and sometimes can render him immobile if one hits him hard enough," Alexis smiled. "Anyway I should get going. This will be the first time watching the sunset from an optic point of view."
"Ok. I'm going to help Red Alert put the final touches on the space ship."
Alexis left the room and made her way to the mountaintop. Being on the mountain was going to be strange. She'll be able to see things on the mountain that she couldn't see before.
As she exited the base, she took a quivering breath. It was different than what she expected. Before she could take in the whole scenery, she noticed Starscream was already waiting for the sunset.
She smiled and walked up to him.
Starscream noticed her approach but didn't give any indication that he knew she was there until she was beside him. "I hear you got Scavenger down."
"Yeah after five hours, I got him down. And it was hard."
"Scavenger is going to be more easy on you for now on, until you get use to your body."
Alexis looked over the horizon and a gasp escaped her lips. All the years she had seen the sunset, she had never seen one quite like the one she was looking at. The golden colors of the sun, mixed with the sky and pink of the clouds were amazing. She was able to see more than she ever could.
"I never realized how much more of the sunset, you guys could see," she breathed.
"You should see the sun from space."
"I could imagine. And I will be able to now. It will be strange being able to go into space without needing a space suit or helmet."
Starscream suddenly held out his hand. "Come. I want to show you something."
Alexis looked at him as her hand slowly covered his. He squeezed her hand and then jumped into the air. Alexis gasped and held on tight to his hand. She turned off her optics as she felt the wind around her body.
Starscream maneuvered his body to be above hers and then grasped her other hand. "Turn on your optics and take a look. Trust me. You will not fall. I won't let you."
Alexis did as he asked, trusting Starscream. When her optics came on line, she gasped. They were flying towards the sunset at slow speed. It was more beautiful in the air watching the sunset then on the ground. She looked to her to the sides and saw her hands were securely in his. She opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out. She was speechless.
When her speech finally returned, she spoke. "Why did you...bring me up here?"
"I wanted you to see this before you became a seeker like myself." Starscream started to pull Alexis's arms in, cuddling her arms to her body. She tensed as she felt him doing this. His head bent down where her audio receptors were and whispered. "Trust me."
She forcefully allowed herself to relax. Deciding to forget that Starscream's arms were close to her body, she looked out for a vast valley, still heading towards the horizon. But there was a huge mountain coming into view. It was a higher mountain than the Autobot base.
Starscream suddenly stopped in mid air, standing straight up. They were about hundred feet above the mountain.
"Why..."
"Turn around," he said gently. "You'll see in a minute."
"But..."
"My arms are around you. You will not fall." Starscream sounded a little amused by Alexis's fear.
Slowly Alexis turned in Starscream's arms until she was staring at him face to face.
"Good," he said. With one arm tightly around her, he took his other and rubbed his fingers over her cheek, caressing it. "I've been waiting for the this moment for awhile."
"What moment is that?" her voice trembled. She noticed how close she was to his body and was getting nervous. Other than hugging her friends on the occasion, this was the first time ever being this close to someone.
With his fingers still brushing her soft metal skin, his head leaned in closer. Alexis's optics widened as she realized what he was doing.
When his lips were a breath away... "This," he whispered with dimmed optics and then kissed her.
At first she didn't respond back but within moments, her optics dimmed and she kissed him. Although it was the first kiss ever in her life, she wanted to kiss him. Her arms wrapped around his waist as he let go of her and placed his other hand on the other cheek.
All to soon, Starscream backed away. Alexis seemed a little disappointed but didn't show it. His fingers were still against her cheeks but she didn't dare to let go. She didn't notice that Starscream maneuvered them to be on the ground.
She looked at him and went to say something but was speechless again.
Starscream softly chuckled. "Since the day I found out you were becoming one of us, I couldn't wait to kiss you," he began. "And now I can. As well as tell you how I feel."
Alexis finally found her voice. "You've wanted to kiss me?" This was like a dream come true. She always dreamed of having her first kiss during sunset.
"I've had these strong feelings for awhile now. When it occurred to me about these feelings, it was right after you were injured in the pyramid. But now that I think about it, I've felt like this towards you before then. Basically when Thrust tried to manipulate me into rejoining the Decepticons."
"What-" she tried out but was hushed by his finger on her lips.
"Let me finish." He traced his finger from her lips down to her chin and then up over her head and landed back on her cheek. "What I'm trying to say is that..." For a second the words got stuck in his throat. He was never good at expressing his feelings. "I fell in love with you. I fell in love with a human and now I can express it."
Though Alexis figured he loved her, it still made her gasp. She, instinctively, took a step back and realized they were on the ground. With a mind of their own, her hands slowly released him and her fingers traced up his arms to hold his cheeks.
Starscream felt his spark jump as her fingers touched him. Her fingers were delicate to the touch and much to his surprise, were softer than he expected. He quickly had the overwhelming urge to kiss her again. He tried to hold back, but couldn't and leaned in again, optics dimming.
Alexis saw this and with optics dimmed, met him half way. This time when they kissed, it was more than soft and had longing and love to it, their hands never leaving the face. The whole world was forgotten and time seemed to stand still for them in that moment.
After a few minutes, Alexis pulled away a little breathless. She looked into Starscream's optics, as she was aware of her feelings for him.
"I..." she stuttered. "I'm in...love with you too."
Starscream smiled. He let go of her cheeks and placed his arms around her. He pulled her to him in a hug, forcing her arms around his neck. His head leaned in the crock of her neck. "I honestly didn't think you felt the same," he whispered.
"I'm the same way," she whispered. Pink tears trickled down her face in happiness. Suddenly reality came crashing down. "We should get back before we are noticed by Megatron. Besides you said you would start showing me how to use a sword and sunset is over."
"That and you also need to scan for an Earthly vehicle." He pulled away and looked lovingly at her. "Let's head back before we are missed too long." With his arms still tightly around her, he lifted off the ground and headed at top speed to the base.
Before reaching the base, Starscream saw an airport with a small two-man jet fueling up for take off. He quickly took a scan of the jet, storing it in his databanks and kept on towards the base.
When they landed, no one was waiting for their arrival. Starscream let go of Alexis and she walked a few steps before turning. "Good, no one is waiting."
"We're you expecting someone to?" he asked.
"Optimus already suspects how you feel about me and I really don't want to see the others right now."
Starscream nodded. "Well let's start sword training."
Over in the shadow, two bots stood.
"I knew she was with him," one said.
"Sir. They were gone for awhile."
"Red Alert. It's safe to say that I can't say anything to them." Optimus turned to his friend. "I knew the end result would happen. Especially when I heard that he was going to help train her with the sword and that she was going copy his design but decided to have her own design."
"Anything you would like me to say to the others?" Red Alert asked.
"Tell them not to get on their case about it. They'll come to us in their own time. I will have a talk with both of them."
"I heard from the boys a little while ago. They are helping Alexis's mother pack and tomorrow has asked for your help in moving the furniture to here."
Optimus nodded. "Did you go below the base?"
"Yes and the lake is huge. First thing in the morning I'll set up the lights down there. A couple of them are ready to be placed up."
-
After getting inside, Starscream led Alexis towards his quarters. He wanted to download the scanned image into his computer for Alexis. When they entered she turned to him.
"Why are we here? I thought we would start training."
"We are but first..." He walked over to the computer and downloaded the scan. A picture of a jet appeared on the screen. "Download this into your CPU and it will do the rest."
Alexis walked up beside Starscream and saw the picture. "How did you know?"
"Optimus said that you felt it would be better to be a different type of jet. Keep in mind of the extras that you want."
"How do I download?"
"Just look at the image and CPU will do its job."
Alexis looked at the image and she instantly felt something inside her move. She guessed it was her computer chips. The image was quickly sketched into her mind and she felt herself starting to change.
Two wings quickly appeared, with a cockpit over her chest. As quickly as the wings appeared, the wings folded in half so they didn't stick out as far as Starscream's. She wanted them to be able to bend so they weren't in the way. But unlike Starscream, she had no canons on her shoulders. When it was complete, she looked like Starscream except for there was no canons.
"Impressive," he said.
"I'm glad I didn't copy your design. It would have been annoying with those canons on the back."
"Oh but I have a little secret to them," he smiled. "I can lay them against my back." Just as said, the canons quickly were against his back.
"Cheat," she giggled.
"Let's start training," he smiled, avoiding her comment. Starscream moved away from the computer and headed out of his quarters.
Alexis had to quickly catch up. She had no idea where he was heading until he reached the secret door, which led down. When they were in the main part of the cavern, Starscream removed his wing sword to start.
Before Starscream could say, Alexis concentrated in allowing her wing to move sideways and the handle of her sword to slide out. When she grabbed the handle, the wing stretched out into a sword.
Starscream nodded his approval. "First things first. Holding the sword. Every sword has a unique way to hold it. For instance the Star Saber. It can be held with one hand or both. While our swords is only held with one. It's when striking that it can be used with both hands. Using both hands will make the sword slice all that much harder."
"Like this," she said.
"Almost but you need to tighten your grip or your opponent will be able to snap the sword out of your hand."
"Is that why yours always ended up being sliced in two?"
"Don't remind me of that," he half growled with a smile. "But yes. I held the sword too tight. But if I didn't I may not be here right now."
Alexis tightened her grip.
"Good. Now I'm going to see if you have a good grip."
"How?"
She never got her answer. With the flick of the wrist, Starscream slammed his sword against hers. Her sword clanged to the ground.
"See," he said. He bent down; picking her sword up and handing it back to her. "You must have a steal grip. Now with the gripping out of the way, which is rule two. We'll practice in fencing. I won't go strong. But in time I will."
Alexis nodded a little shaky at how fast her sword fell to the ground.
"Lets begin. First off." Starscream placed his sword back as his wing and walked over to a long piece of metal. He broke two pieces off and gave one to Alexis. "We'll use these like swords so neither one us is injured. I don't need a lecture from Scavenger or Red Alert about you."
"That's a good idea." Alexis placed her sword back and readied her self with the metal beam.
"Now I'm going to advance you with the sword. You must block, with your sword, at my advances. Then you'll do the same to me. I would like to see what you know from watching previous battles."
Starscream quickly came up to Alexis and started swing his sword in which she easily countered each attack. An echo was heard every time the two pieces of metal clanged together. After awhile the roles were reversed. She advanced on him and he dodged very attack.
For a few hours the small duel went on. When Starscream noticed that she was getting tired, he called it quits. He was quite surprised at how well she did. He didn't think she could do that well after watching battles. The more he got to know of her, the more he was in love with her and now she knew how he felt.
Final Chapter Notes: Told you it was the chapter you've all been waiting for. I couldn't wait for the time I was able to write this chapter. From here on out, there will some action.