Well, looks like I've decided update schedule will be Tuesdays and Fridays lol. Enjoy the action for today's chapter!
Disclaimer: Hasbro owns Transformers and its characters. I only own Paige and Swiftblade.
Paige grunted as she felt herself fall from the other side of the ground bridge and tackle a body to the dirt. A muffled cry of surprise escaped the teen beneath her as she took a few brief seconds to regain her equilibrium after going through the ground bridge for the first time. It was like the first time she had ever gone on a rollercoaster. Her stomach had felt like it twisted itself into a knot at all the sudden drops and loops, but she managed to force down her discomfort as she focused on the dire situation at hand.
Feeling wriggling beneath her, Paige sat up enough to straddle Miko's waist and clamp her hand over the girl's mouth to muffle her protests. She glared down at her friend, making her pause as she saw the dangerous gleam in the brunette's forest-green eyes.
"What the hell were you thinking?!" She hissed angrily, keeping her voice low in case they brought unwanted attention to themselves from wherever they had ended up. Neither of the girls had taken notice of their surroundings. "Miko, this is seriously dangerous and we should not be here!"
Miko reached up to pry the hand away from her mouth, meeting her friend's hard glare with a frustrated scowl. "I didn't ask you to follow me," she hissed back, taking note of Paige's lowered voice and making sure to do the same. "I want to see some action!"
Paige opened her mouth to argue but the ground shaking beneath them cut her off, followed by the sound of a blaster whirring to life. Both girls scrambled up to look at what it was and gasped. Standing just on the other side of the rock they had landed next to was a Decepticon, aiming its blaster arm directly at them.
"Oh, unwise," Miko muttered.
"Miko-!"
"Paige! Get down!"
Paige's survival instincts kicked into gear as she grabbed Miko's wrist and bolted away. The ground shook beneath their feet as the blast hit the dirt where they had previously been standing, and then there were several thundering footsteps rushing past them. The brunette leaped behind a second boulder and pulled Miko behind her. Not letting go of her wrist, she peered around the edge of the boulder and saw both Bulkhead and Swiftblade fighting the Decepticon.
They could only stand there and watch as the bots punched and kicked each other. Bulkhead had transformed his hand into what looked like a wrecking ball and punched the Con, sending it staggering backwards as it fought to keep its balance. A glint of silver caught their eyes and they gasped as Swiftblade drove what looked like a katana straight through the Con's chest, causing sparks and some sort of blue fluid to spray from the wound.
"Whoa," Miko breathed out.
Paige couldn't look away even if she wanted to. The scene was like what she'd expect from a human battle. She recalled Optimus calling their lifeblood Energon, which must mean that it is whatever the blue fluid pouring out of the Decepticon's chest wound. The red visor flickered before dimming and shutting off completely. The body was then shoved to the ground as the blade was yanked from its back by Swiftblade's hand. It was a much more grounding experience than she had ever thought she'd witness, watching the light of life literally drain from the Decepticon right before her eyes. It twisted her heart into a ball and squeezed her gut.
This must be what it's like for a soldier on his first mission on the frontlines. The thought made her hands become clammy and shake. She forced the lump forming in her throat to go down as she swallowed it. She heard voices around her, but they sounded like she was hearing them from underwater. They were warped, distorted, and she couldn't make out the words. She was briefly aware of the wrist she had a hold of being pulled from her loose grasp, her eyes unfocused as she stared at the lifeless body of the Decepticon.
A large black hand came into her line of sight and she was carefully scooped into its grasp. The light was shielded from her view as she felt the world around her move and bounce for a few seconds before all went still again. Light entered her field of vision and then she was suddenly aware of something rubbing against her back. It stroked her back in a slow continuous motion, soothing her mind enough to focus back on her surroundings. She heard voices again, and they slowly sounded less and less like she was under water. It was Bulkhead. He was speaking to someone about a 'situation'.
She focused on the feeling of her back being rubbed and she blinked her eyes back into focus. The first thing she noticed was that she was sitting on a Cybertronian's palm, hunched over with her hands supporting her upper body to keep her from completely doing a faceplant into the hand. She saw something moving out of the corner of her eye and she turned her head slightly to get a better view. It was a large thumb of the hand holding her rubbing a soothing motion up and down her back. The next thing she noticed was that her heart was pounding in her ears and her breathing was labored, although probably less so than it had been she would guess. She closed her eyes and took a few moments to focus on steadying her breathing and heart rate. With a few slow breaths, she was able to regain control of her emotions.
And then she noticed a vibration in the metal beneath her fingertips. It was like a deep rumble, originating from something behind her. She turned her head to look up, forest-green eyes meeting cyan. It was Swiftblade. He was holding her silently, rubbing her back soothingly to help calm her down. And… Is he purring? Can Cybertronians purr? That's exactly what it seemed like he was doing. The low rumbling vibration was originating from somewhere within his chest plate and was vibrating all through his frame to his hand where she was sitting. Even the metal of his hand felt comfortably warm to the touch. It was… nice.
"Feel better?" Swiftblade asked quietly, his voice low and gentle to avoid drawing attention to them. His eyes never left hers, fixing her with a steady gaze full of concern and… guilt? Why?
She swallowed the lump in her throat and gave a minute nod, leaning back to sit more comfortably on his hand while also leaning into his soothing thumb strokes. "Y-yes… I am now. Thank you." His cyan eyes brightened a bit and he gave a small nod back.
"Paige!" She turned her head to see Miko standing atop Bulkhead's palm, and it was then that she realized they were leaning up against a large boulder for cover. "Dude, what happened? Are you okay?" She was whisper-shouting to be heard across the distance between the two bots' hands.
The brunette frowned slightly but forced herself to swallow the words she so desperately wanted to scream at her friend. Now was not the time or place - definitely not the place. "I'm fine," she insisted, face hardening into a serious expression. She met her guardian's gaze once more. "Do you have a plan yet?"
"Bulkhead talked to Arcee and we're waiting for backup to arrive before we continue. Once the ground bridge opens, you're both going back to base."
Paige nodded her acknowledgement, ignoring the disappointed whine from her friend. "Alright. How long do you think it'll take them to get here?"
He opened his mouth to respond, but the sound of a ground bridge opening nearby caught their attention. Bulkhead sighed in relief, "They're here."
What they weren't expecting was for Jack and Raf to jump out of the ground bridge instead of the backup they had called for. The vortex closed behind them, leaving them all stranded once more.
"Why don't those guys hang with their own bots? This is our one-on-one time!" Miko complained as she crossed her arms, making Bulkhead groan.
Paige held her hands flat together - palm to palm - in front of her nose and closed her eyes as if she were praying. In actuality, she was taking a deep breath in through her nose to calm her flaring annoyance. "Paige, bite your tongue," she muttered under her breath. "This is not the time or place for a shouting match… You can do that later. Back at base." She felt another rumble in the metal beneath her that suspiciously made her think Swiftblade had heard her and was amused.
A shout and the sound of multiple blasters powering up caught their attention and they peered around the boulder. A rather large, ominous, and pointy spaceship was hovering in the canyon. Spikes jutted out from the hull at every angle possible and made it more nightmare-inducing to look at. On a flat surface stood several Decepticons pointing their blasters down at the boys, who stood out in the open for all to see.
"Scrap," Bulkhead and Miko both cursed.
Paige was momentarily too distracted by the huge hulking spaceship in front of her. "Oh my God, that's an actual spaceship…" She nearly wheezed, only to squeak when she was jostled by Swiftblade transforming his free hand into a blaster of his own.
His expression was serious as he aimed his blaster at the Decepticons on top of the ship, which had already begun firing. "Bulkhead, go get Jack and Raf to safety! I'll cover you!" He then opened fire, allowing Bulkhead to transform around Miko and speed off towards the bots. His blasts pelted the area the Decepticons stood on with blue shots. None of his shots landed, but it had done the trick in creating enough of a distraction to cause some of the Cons to duck for cover. The few that were brave enough fired back, peppering their hiding place with red blasts of their own.
Swiftblade ducked back behind the boulder and held Paige close to his chest, his hand cupped around her protectively. She wisely stayed crouched in his grasp, holding onto his thumb for stability in case his movements got too jerky for her to stay balanced. "Urgh!" He grunted and held his arm over his head as a spray of rocks pelted over them from a rather close blast, keeping most of the rocks from touching his human charge. "What's taking Arcee and Bumblebee so long?!"
"If the boys are here-" Paige ducked and covered her head with her arms as dirt and pebbles sprayed over her. Thankfully none were large enough to harm her. "Then that probably means they had to take the long way back to base!" She had to shout over the sound of blaster fire in order to feel like she was at least heard.
"Everybody out!" Bulkhead shouted suddenly and they looked up to see that the SUV had arrived and was ushering the teens out.
"That's your cue to stay here." Swiftblade knelt down and carefully deposited Paige on the ground beside the boys before quickly transforming and peeling off after Bulkhead as they sped off towards the spaceship. Thankfully, the blaster fire also followed the bots and left the boulder alone at last.
"Paige!" The brunette found herself suddenly wrapped in a small set of arms. "You're okay!" She hugged the younger boy back without hesitation.
"Yes, Raf," she assured him with a smile. "I'm fine."
"Good, because now I can say this-" Jack took a deep breath before scowling down at them, more specifically at her. "What were you thinking?!"
Paige met his hard glare with one of her own before closing her eyes and burying her face in Raf's hair - who hadn't let go of her. "I wasn't," she admitted begrudgingly, frowning at herself. She felt the small arms around her tighten. "I saw Miko running for the ground bridge and I was running after her before I even knew what was happening…" She opened her eyes and glanced around them before scowling. "And she's a magnet attracted to danger because she's not here again!" She hissed out in a fit of anger, springing to her feet and startling both boys.
"Oh, not again…" Jack pinched the bridge of his nose.
"She must still be with Bulkhead," Raf realized, moving to peer around the boulder. Jack and Paige crowded around him, peeking at the scene unfolding before them.
Somehow during their conversation, the bots had managed to get onto the ship and were finishing up the last of their fight. Once they had, they turned to check on the teens, only to seemingly panic when they noticed one was missing. The teens saw Bulkhead look down at his chest and then lo and behold, out popped a Miko from his chest compartment. Swiftblade was pinching his face where his nose would've been if he had one. Miko was placed on the ground at their feet and then suddenly Bulkhead was tackled by a Con. Swiftblade turned and stood protectively in front of their stowaway human, brandishing his sword while more Cons appeared.
"Think they forgot about us?" Raf asked as he looked at Jack and Paige, who simply shrugged in response.
The ground shook beneath their feet with giant footsteps and shadows fell over them. They whipped around and gasped upon seeing two Decepticons towering over them, reaching for them with clawed hands. Paige didn't even have time to reach for her pistols before she was grabbed by one of them. The grip was firm but thankfully not crushingly tight. Yet it was tight enough that she couldn't get her arms to squeeze between the gap to reach her pistols.
"The humans reported to be seen allied with the Autobots," the Con holding her noted, staring down at her with its red visor. She scowled back at it, but it seemed unfazed by her attitude. "Let's bring them to the Nemesis." She caught a glimpse of Jack and Raf being held in the hands of the other Con as they turned and headed towards the ship.
All was silent besides the thudding footsteps of the Decepticons as they walked. The teens didn't try to speak, simply focusing on not panicking as they were taken to their possible doom. The Cons walked onto a platform directly underneath the ship and it began lifting like an open-air elevator through several yellow rings. Paige had to shut her eyes to keep from looking at the ground as they quickly ascended. Wind rushed through her hair and she felt weightless for all of three seconds before she felt them start walking again. She opened her eyes and blinked in the dim lighting of the Nemesis. The interior of the ship was just as dark and ominous as the outside. The walls were a deep violet and the halls all looked the same no matter where they turned.
"Let's bring them to the brig," her Con captor spoke once more. "Commander Starscream is keeping the other human there."
Paige frowned at his words. I hope Agent Fowler is alright.
As soon as they stepped into an intersection, the sound of two engines echoed through the hallway. Paige barely had time to catch a glimpse of a familiar yellow muscle car before it slammed into the legs of both Decepticons. The teens were sent into the air and the feeling of weightlessness settled into the brunette's stomach. Then gravity pulled her down and she felt herself tumble through the air. She closed her eyes and waited with bated breath until she felt herself get caught in a sturdy hand. She gasped and opened her eyes to see worried cyan eyes spinning in concern at her.
-Are you okay, Paige?- Bumblebee warbled worriedly.
She relaxed into his hand with a sigh of relief and patted his finger gratefully. "Y-yes," she breathed out, gulping down the slight queasiness she was starting to feel. She felt him twitch, as if he were surprised she was able to understand him. "Nice catch. Y-You can put me down now…" He silently obliged and set her back on her feet. She vaguely heard Raf and Bumblebee greet each other as she brushed herself off.
"Appreciate you clearing the front door for us, but storming the Decepticon warship was not on the activities list," Arcee told them.
Oh, great. Not only is it a spaceship, it's a warship. Just great. Paige rubbed her face tiredly.
"Tell me about it," Jack sighed.
"Come on. We need to find the others."
Paige was running on autopilot at this point. She followed them as they took off running down the hall towards the next intersection of corridors. Bumblebee held back to protect the teens while Arcee stuck her blaster around the corner. "Friendly!" She called.
"Hello!" Bulkhead's voice had Paige snapping back into focus. She saw him holding Miko as he and Swiftblade stepped around the corner.
"Brought the humans, huh?"
"You try getting them to stay behind!"
Paige caught Swiftblade's gaze and she saw a concerned frown tug at his lips. Her shoulders sagged slightly, wondering if that meant she looked like hell. She felt like hell so it wouldn't surprise her if she looked the part. She shook her head slightly at him. Now was not the time to worry about her.
"We need to find Fowler and get these kids out of here."
"Uh… He's in the brig," both Raf and Jack announced, having also heard the Cons mention it.
The bots exchanged a glance before nodding. "Alright, let's go then." Miko was set on the floor and they were running down the corridor again.
The next events were a blur for Paige. They ended up running into more Decepticons and the Autobots had to engage them in order to protect the teens. An explosion caused their ears to start ringing and disoriented them. Blaster fire whizzed over their heads and bots were moving all around them and shaking the ground beneath them with their thundering footsteps. At one point a head rolled past them, a body fell, and then Bulkhead almost fell on them. Then it was suddenly quiet and Paige was aware of being huddled against Jack along with Miko and Raf.
"Let's keep moving," Arcee told them, and they were off down the corridor again.
Eventually they came upon a door that the bots stopped at. They knocked on the door until it opened and they shot the first Con that stood there. The Autobots filed in and the sound of fighting was brief. Arcee gave the all clear and the teens ran in, looking at the aftermath.
"Wait in here," Arcee told the teens.
-Are you serious?- Bumblebee asked.
"We can't just leave them in here," Swiftblade agreed with a frown.
"They're slowing us down and they're easy targets," she argued. "They'll be alright in here as long as they stay put." She then walked out of the room with the other bots reluctantly following behind her.
Once they left and the door had closed, Miko turned to her human teammates. "That… was intense!"
"Was?" Raf asked incredulously, voicing Paige's exact thought.
"It's your fault that we're stuck in this intensity," Jack snapped, starting to lose his temper for the first time since they had met him. "What were you thinking, Miko?"
"Did I ask you to follow me?"
Oh, here we go… Paige pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed heavily, tuning out the growing argument. She turned and walked further into the room, scanning the area as she went. It looked like some sort of computer or communications room, if all the red screens with alien symbols had anything to say about it. She paused at the top of what looked like stairs and sat down with her legs dangling off the edge. She hunched forward slightly and placed her face in her hands, closing her eyes and taking a few moments to just breathe.
Her first witness of an Autobot-Decepticon fight was nothing compared to everything she had witnessed thus far. Decepticon bodies were dropping to the ground left and right and she had witnessed Swiftblade kill one in front of her with his blade. She had seen its Energon - its blood - leak from the wound on its chest and she had watched the literal light fade from its visor - its eyes. It was a gruesome, bloody reality that a literal war was being fought around them and they were caught in the middle of it. She was not prepared for it. All the training she had gone through from the moment she could walk had prepared her for situations to defend herself and those she loved, sure. But nothing like this. She was way out of her league.
"Stop it! Both of you!"
Raf's shout caused her to flinch. She heard footsteps approaching and suddenly the air was knocked from her lungs and she wheezed for a second. Small arms wrapped around her middle and she looked down to see Raf burying his face into her shoulder. She frowned in concern and moved her arm so that he was nestled into her side more comfortably. She hugged him close as he trembled against her and she rested her cheek atop his head. She closed her eyes and rubbed his back soothingly.
She heard two sets of footsteps quickly approach and she lifted a hand to wave at them to stop, satisfied when they did stop just behind them. She and Raf needed a moment, and she wouldn't let those two ruin it. She breathed in through her nose as she rubbed circles on his back in slow, soothing motions. She opened her mouth and let the first thing she could think of tumble out.
"Long walks in the dark
Through woods grown behind the park
I asked God who I'm s'posed to be
The stars smiled down at me
God answered in silent reverie
I said a prayer and fell asleep."
The tremors in Raf's body slowly ceased as she sang softly. She ran her fingers through his hair while continuing to hug him, not caring about the silent awe of the two teens behind her.
"I had a dream
That I could fly from the highest tree
I had a dream."
She hummed the melody quietly and then lightly gestured with a hand for the other two to join them. She heard them shuffle closer and then she felt arms wrap around both of them from each side. She smiled softly as she felt the boy in her arms nuzzle into her side and she fell quiet. She allowed them to listen to the eerie silence for a moment before opening her mouth again.
"This is where we all say something cheesy to cheer each other up," she joked, smiling wide when she both heard and felt the giggles from the teens holding her. They all pulled out of each other's arms and Paige smiled softly at Raf. "Raf, seriously, everything's going to be okay. Our guardians will be back as soon as they rescue Agent Grouchy Pants and then we're all gonna be back at base listening to a lecture from Optimus about how we're never. Doing this. Again." Her tone started off gentle, to joking that got a few more giggles out of them, to serious as she sent a glare in Miko's direction. The girl actually looked sheepish as she kicked her legs in the air, getting Paige to relax again.
"Thanks, Paige. That helped, a lot." Raf smiled at her and she smiled back, rubbing his back.
"Anything for you, bud."
"Hey, Raf…" Jack spoke up hesitantly. "What do you make of that?" He pointed towards the screen on the wall in front of them.
Raf frowned slightly as he glanced at the screen and then stood up. He slowly hopped down the large steps with the others right behind him. They went over and stood next to one of the Decepticon bodies and looked up at the screen again. "It's important," he said after a moment. "Real important."
Paige squinted at the symbols, lines, and shapes. "Is that a… math equation?"
"I believe so. We gotta get this to Optimus."
"How do you know it's not just a recipe for space nachos?" Miko asked, and Paige placed a hand on her hip.
"I highly doubt the bots eat anything even related to 'space nachos'." She rolled her eyes half-heartedly, receiving a half-hearted glare in return.
"I know math when I see one, and that is one serious equation," Raf told them.
"Can you…download it?" Jack asked hesitantly.
Raf thought for a moment before setting his backpack down and unzipping it. "I got a flashdrive." He stepped forward and looked around at the terminal. "But I don't see anywhere to plug it in. This tech is way alien."
The sound of slow thudding footsteps caught Paige's attention and she was on instant alert, throwing out her hand to signal them to be quiet. They turned and froze upon seeing a Decepticon walking towards the center of the room, and Paige wanted to kick Arcee for her logic. We'd be safe as long as we stayed put, huh? This is the second time a Decepticon has appeared when we 'stayed put'!
The Decepticon stopped when it noticed the bodies on the floor, beginning to look around at the damage. The teens bolted for the wall underneath a table and Paige reached it right after Miko. She turned around and gasped quietly when she saw Raf had run back out into the open to retrieve his backpack. "Raf, no!" The boy's movement caught the Con's attention and it pulled out its blaster and aimed it at the boy, making him shout in fright. "Raf!"
Before she could leap into action, she saw Jack rush forward and tackle the boy out of the way of the blaster fire. The smoke created the illusion of them disappearing, making the Con cease firing and allowing the boys to hide behind one of the bodies.
"Miko, take a picture!" Jack called.
"Great idea!" Miko hopped up in excitement as Paige chewed her lip worriedly. She ran out of cover towards the Con. "Hey, you!" She snapped a picture of the Con and it paused to look at her, as if stunned by whatever had happened.
"Not of that! Of that!" Jack pointed at the screen.
"Ohh." She turned and aimed her camera at the equation on the screen. The unfortunate part was that she now had the Con's attention, and it aimed its blaster at her.
Oh, no you don't! Paige growled and whipped out her pistols from their holsters. She flicked the safety off and fired a couple times at its head, making sparks fly as the bullets simply ricochet off its armor. "Hey, ugly! Over here!"
"Paige!"
She ignored Jack's call and started running in the opposite direction of them. "Take the picture and run for the door while I distract it!" She called over her shoulder. She heard another shout but it was drowned out by the thundering footsteps of the Decepticon as it turned to keep her in its line of sight. She slid to a halt, turned, and aimed at its face again. Taking a deep breath, she began firing bullet after bullet at its face.
A few bullets ricochet off its face in a spray of small sparks but a few hit the mark. The red visor cracked, splintering across its vision before shattering as another bullet hit its mark. The Con yelled in pain as it stumbled back, clutching at its face with its free hand. It aimed with its blaster and fired wildly in her direction, causing her to cease firing and dive out of the way. Somersaulting, she rolled to her feet and darted to the side, away from its intended aim. She scowled as she saw it nearly step back onto Miko as the teens ran from behind it, and she opened fire on its face again. One pistol ran out of bullets first and she quickly holstered it before holding her remaining weapon with both hands. Now more steady, she leveled her sights on a spot between its fingers. She took a deep breath and fired the last three bullets in rapid succession.
Each bullet landed where she intended. With what sounded like a gurgled cry, blue liquid splashed from between its fingers. The Con lurched backward and promptly fell to the ground. She panted lightly, eyeing the downed Decepticon cautiously. Now unobscured, she could see the full extent of damage she had done. Its visor was completely gone, just a gaping indent of where it normally would have been glowing. Its lifeblood was splattered around the area and trickled to the floor in a steady stream, coating it in its odd color.
It was dead. She had killed it.
She felt the hand holding her pistol tremble and she quickly stuck it in its holster. She gulped down the thick lump in her throat and felt the heavy pit of dread drop into her stomach. Both hands were trembling now and she took a step back. Something grabbed her hand and she turned her head so fast she almost gave herself whiplash. Wide, frightened green eyes stared into worried blue eyes. Jack wordlessly pulled her towards the door where the other two were waiting and she let him. She was back on autopilot now as she stared at her hand being held by Jack's firm one, her feet moving to keep up with his pace as he led the group out of the room and back down the corridor.
Engines revved in front of them and four vehicles skid to a halt around them. Paige registered Arcee's voice yelling at them but didn't hear the words. Her eyes found the inviting open door of the Corvette and she stumbled over to it. Jack had let go of her wrist by now so she was able to easily slide into the passenger seat. The door slammed closed and she felt the seat belt secure around her as the vehicle peeled off. She sank into the seat and covered her face with her arms, already feeling her breathing become uneven. She barely registered the seat belt tighten around her and the leather of her seat began to grow warm. It did little to help her.
She didn't know how long it took to get back to base. It felt like a long time and not at the same time. It was silent for a great while, and then suddenly it wasn't. The tight hold of the seat belt left her body and she could hear voices all around her. It sounded like she was underwater again. Am I having a panic attack? Is that what happened earlier too? She didn't know. She just knew the world around her felt like a haze.
Something began rubbing her back again. She leaned into the touch. It had helped her the first time. And then she felt that rumble again. It was all around her. She wanted to keep hiding in her arms, but she also wanted to feel that vibration with her fingers. She buried her face into one arm and reached out to touch the surface that seemed to be rumbling the loudest and vibrating with more intensity. It made her fingertips tingle and the comfortable warmth she felt spread through her body and pushed at the haze that had taken control of her mind. She focused on her senses. She could feel that vibration all around her, and the constant slow rhythm of something rubbing her back. She could feel the warm metal around her.
Oh, I'm being held again, she realized.
Her labored breathing began to calm along with her heart, and she could hear voices around her become more clear. She recognized Miko's voice, then Ratchet's, and then Optimus'. They were talking about undead?
She lowered her arm from her face and blinked several times to adjust to the lighting of the base. It was a stark contrast to not only the warship, but also the darkness she had created by hiding her face for so long. Her eyes met a familiar cyan above her and she blinked, focusing on the concerned gaze of her guardian. They stared at each other for some time, simply listening to the conversation happening nearby as Swiftblade continued to rub her back with his thumb and send warm vibrations to her through his hand. It grounded her, keeping her mind from thinking about anything else. She was simply laying there in his hand, with her hand on his chest plate as he had pulled her close while her mind was lost in the haze.
"Check it out! Recon!" Miko's voice sounded proud.
Optimus hummed thoughtfully. "Ratchet, have a look. It could be of importance to Megatron."
"Whoa, Megatron's back? That's really bad news, right?" Jack was nervous.
"I…don't understand." Ratchet sounded confused.
"Oops! That's the Con that tried to blow Raf away. Or at least that's what it looked like before Paige blew its brains out!"
Silence followed Miko's words and she felt Swiftblade stiffen slightly beneath her. She felt all eyes in the room burn into her. Swiftblade's frown deepened and she closed her eyes, not wanting to see his expression.
There was a heavy sigh before Jack lost his temper. "Miko. Raf was almost killed. This isn't a game! When are you gonna get that through your thick skull?!"
"Uh, we were all almost killed. You, me, Raf, Paige, even them!"
"Well, if this was just an average day with the Autobots, then I don't want to be a part of it. Not anymore." Wait… what?
"Jack, putting you in harm's way was never our intent. However, it is no longer the safety of you four that is at risk, but the safety of all humankind," Optimus said gravely, causing Paige to frown in contemplation. "We will respect your decision if you wish to leave."
The sound of the ground bridge opening immediately had Paige blinking her eyes open and pushing herself into a sitting position to see what was going on. "No point in long goodbyes, here's the door." Ratchet was standing at the controls. Well, someone lacks tact.
"Come on, Raf." Paige looked down to see Jack looking at Raf, as if expecting the boy to come with him.
Raf took a moment to look at his guardian, who sagged in sadness at the thought of his friend leaving, before turning back to the teen. "I'll be okay, Jack. See you at school."
"Sure thing." Jack turned and walked towards the stairs, but paused and looked over at Swiftblade where he could see Paige peeking over his fingers at him. "What about you, Paige?"
She was silent, taking a moment to survey the room. Her eyes landed on Agent Fowler in the gurney before landing on Raf and Miko. Miko was holding her arms, looking concerned for her friend. She turned back to Jack and gave a small smile. "Sorry, Jack. Someone's gotta look out for the town's resident wild child."
"Hey!" Miko squawked indignantly.
"Pff… Right." Jack nodded and continued down the stairs.
Paige turned back to her guardian and leaned against his chest, where she could feel the rumbling vibrations continue. She set her forehead against the metal and closed her eyes, allowing herself to relax as the vibrations reverberated through her body. It was nearly like one of those massage chairs they have at the mall. She smiled softly at the thought and the feeling of his thumb rubbing along her back.
"I think that it is best that you three go home for now. It has been a long day," Optimus announced, speaking to the teens.
"Home sounds wonderful right now," Paige mumbled without looking up. There was a slightly deeper rumble in Swiftblade's chest as if he agreed with her words, and she was carefully pulled away from him. She frowned a bit but allowed him to set her on the ground where he transformed and waited with the passenger door open.
"Paige!" The brunette turned and was instantly wrapped in Miko's arms. She hugged back, resting her chin on her shoulder.
"I'm sorry," Miko whispered for only her friend to hear. "I didn't mean for any of that to happen…"
Paige sighed and closed her eyes, rubbing the girl's back. "You're gonna give me a real heart attack one of these days," she teased lightly, pulling away to smile softly at her friend.
Miko returned the smile and let the teen go. "See you tomorrow."
"See ya." Paige turned and slid into Swiftblade's seat without another word. Once she was secured inside, he and the others drove out of base and back towards town. She closed her eyes and relaxed against the seat, feeling it recline slightly and that familiar warmth and rumble vibrated her seat. The seat belt tightened around her.
"Paige," Swiftblade spoke softly, and she hummed in response. "How are you feeling?"
A frown pulled at her lips and she rubbed her face tiredly. "I… I'm better than I was," she admitted after a moment. She opened her eyes and glanced at the steering wheel. "Thank you for that. And for earlier too." A hum of acknowledgement vibrated the interior and she snuggled against the seat. "What was that anyway?"
"What?"
"I… Well… I guess the only way I could describe it is a purr, like how cats can purr. I didn't know you could do that."
"...Yes," he agreed after a moment. "We do… purr as you call it."
She smiled softly and closed her eyes. "I like it. It's nice."
The only response she got was her seat's vibrations to increase a bit, making her giggle.
And there ya have it! Miko has been officially introduced to the Autobot-Decepticon war and Paige has witnessed her first...two deaths. And paid for it in the form of some panic attacks. I do not want any criticism about how I wrote those attacks. I myself have not had any to know how they work, nor have I seen someone else have one, so I just kinda wrote what I thought would happen.
Song mentioned:
- Dream by Priscilla Ahn
Her songs are actually very soothing to listen to! I may end up using more of her songs in future chapters lol.
Thank you for reading and let me know your thoughts in a review!