I am guilty of neglect!
THUD!
THUD!
THUDTHUDTHUDTHUD!
I groaned and pushed my tired, achy body up from its position on the backseat. Lazily I pushed the 'down' button for the automatic window. A fidgety Sam, still hiding underneath his so unnoticeably BRIGHT YELLOW hat and hood was staring at me from the outside.
"What do you want?" I asked.
"You gotta come inside. We found Leo's 'Robo-Warrior'."
And with that, the freshman ran back into what looked like a butcher store to me. My head dropped as I put the window back up. I couldn't do this anymore. I didn't want to do it anymore. This isn't my war, so why am I here? Oh yeah. Some nut job with a gun decided to play Call of Duty in my college. I sat up in the seat and buried my face in my hands. Im so over due for some good karma.
"Aren't you going in?"
"AAAHHH!" The sudden deep voice caused me to jump and cling to the front passenger seat like a frightened cat.
"Remove your nails, woman! That hurts!" Yelled the grumpy old-man voice over the radio.
I detached myself. "Sorry."
"Now, answer my question. Are you going in there?"
It may have been the rude way he was speaking to me, it may have been the fact that I just found out aliens exist. Just possibly it was the stress of nearly being squashed, shot, killed and scared practically half to death over the past few days. Maybe it was the lack of sleep, food and proper toiletries and no shower but something in that one moment caused me to snap. I started screaming, kicking and punching the seats like a spoiled diva. Tears started running down my face as I kicked the back of the driver's seat. Ironhide was yelling at me over the radio, but I wasn't hearing him.
"I want to go home!" I shouted. "Take me home right now! Dorothy doesn't like Oz anymore! Where the fuck are my ruby shoes?"
Another punch to the back sear. Another grunt from the Autobot receiving my wrath.
"I can't deal with this crap anymore!"
I probably spent another five minutes kicking, screaming, crying and just over all beating the tar out of Ironhide's insides before I crashed back onto the rear seat. Pathetically, I continued to lightly smack the seat rim as I cried. There was a strange hum inside the cabin as I watched the hologram of 'Cayden' appear in the driver's spot.
"Tani." He started. "If you get your snot all over my back seat, I'll kill you."
I glared at him.
"Now are you going to sit in here all day or are you going to get off your ass and help us?"
"You're not very good at pep-talks, are you?"
The hologram snorted and got out of the vehicle. My door opened and he stared at me expectantly. I wiped my nose on my arm and began to scoot my way across the seat until my legs drooped over the edge. I sat there for a moment before I flung myself at Ironhide's other self and hugged him. He gave me an awkward pat on the back with one hand before dragging me out into the light and placing me on the sidewalk.
I sniffled and looked up at him. "I want a pop-tart."
He rolled his eyes and pushed me into the shop.
Simmons had provided us all with much needed food and showers before we were back on the road again. Wheelie had given us the location to one of the oldest Cybertronians on earth and we were headed there. To the Smithsonian. I'd always wanted to visit, but not under these conditions. Ironhide's holo-self sat in the diver's seat pretending he was, well, driving. I sat shotgun. The tension in the air was thick. No doubt due to my childish break down a few hours ago.
"Ironhide, Im sorry." My head hung in shame. "I shouldn't have taken out my frustration on your…. innards." I wasn't really sure what part of his body the seats were considered.
"Understandable. You have been thrown into a situations not considered normal on your planet."
I smiled a little. I stretched over the center console and gave him a small peck on the cheek before returning to my spot. He was quiet the rest of the ride.
Very, very short. Hopefully I'll get more done.
