chapter twelve
The rain had slacked off to a drizzle by now, leaving an odd sort of mist that obscured most of the buildings from human eyes. But Optimus wasn't human, and he wasn't dependent on mere sight alone to detect the presence of his human allies. He watched as Anna's team went about their morning rituals, from showers to switching guards. It was all so very familiar to him, a reminder of a time way back when on Cybertron, before the Decepticons became so much of a threat. He could remember changing guard duties with other Autobots long before he was ever a leader, before there was even a war. Like the humans, the Transformers kept something that resembled militaries in times of peace.
They never expected the threat to come as a civil war.
"Optimus!" The Autobot leader turned his head, a smile already lighting his features as he saw Sing racing towards him. The Asian soldier skid to a halt just beside him, breathing heavily. Optimus picked him up and set him on his shoulder. Sing flashed him a grin as he struggled to catch his breath. "Sorry. Ran – all the way – across base."
"Why?" Optimus asked, amusement plain in his voice.
Sing's grin grew wider. "Because Ratchet is on a rampage, and I didn't want to get caught in the crossfire." he said. "Apparently the Twins decided to spring some sort of trap on him. I didn't quite see what happened, but O'Connell said the Hatchet was slagged off and we were to avoid him at all cost. He also told me that I haven't seen him, so I think he and Jones were involved in this one." He shook his head. "I think the Twins are corrupting them."
"The Twins have that affect on people." Optimus said with a sigh. "Just means Ratchet will be in such a good mood when Wheeljack gets here."
"When will that be?"
"About noon. I was wondering if your team would like to come with us?"
Sing brightened considerably. "Sure! It beats sticking around here doing drills. I know this stuff like the back of my hand." He hesitated. "That is, assuming we can get permission from Bale. Lucky for us, Ember got called away." He made a face, and Optimus chuckled. "If she was here, we would never get to go. Ember's got it out for us."
"And I thought Jones was the paranoid one." Optimus teased lightly. To be honest, he thought Jones would be more of a match for Red Alert than he was for Sideswipe. Prime wasn't going to mention it, and certainly not around Red Alert. The security officer had absolutely no love of organics or anything relating to them, and he certainly wouldn't appreciate the comparison.
Which lead to Prime's real reason why he wanted Anna's team to come with them (aside from wanting Sing's company) – to judge the others reactions to them. There was an idea, half-thought and not discussed with anyone else, but there nonetheless. He knew Sam and Bumblebee had considered it once, but nothing had ever come from it. Optimus knew what he wanted – he was fairly certain the others would want it to – now he just had to make sure it wouldn't interfere with the other Autobots.
Sing rolled his eyes, not completely oblivious to his friend's dilemma. "Jones is just a little spastic. We're all pretty sure a lot of it is an act. Somehow he got tagged in basic as being the paranoid one, so now he has to play the part. It just means O'Connell gets to tease him relentlessly about it." He hesitated. "All right, what's wrong?"
Optimus focused on the man on his shoulder. "What makes you assume something is wrong?" he asked, skirting the question.
Sing gave him a look. "I can tell when something's bothering my friends." he said dryly. "Come on – it's not like I'm gonna go running around telling everyone what's eating you."
It took Optimus a moment to look up the phrase 'eating you'. Humans had such strange sayings. "I'll tell you later." he promised, his optics focusing on Stringer who was running up to them. She wasn't nearly as out of breath as Sing had been when she came to a graceful halt.
"Ratchet says Wheeljack is on his way here!" she said, her eyes wide. "Lennox went with Ironhide to tell Bale we're on our way out. The others are on their way here."
Optimus nodded. He set Sing on the ground and transformed, allowing the soldier to climb up into his cab. It didn't take long for the others to assemble around him. An odd combination – semi truck, two Lamborghinis, a silver Pontiac, rescue Hummer, black Topkick, and the humans they had taken in. He hailed Bumblebee over the radio, this time letting Sing listen in to the conversation. "Bumblebee, Wheeljack is arriving sooner than we thought. Will you be there?"
There was a moment's hesitation. "Of course. I'll meet you out there."
/----/
They stood in the middle of the desert, watching the skies. It didn't take long, Lennox thought dryly. After all, from her position standing on Ironhide's shoulder, she could clearly see the four asteroids currently streaking across the sky. She reached out and touched Ironhide's head, drawing his attention to her. "How can you tell they're ours?" she hissed.
Ironhide chuckled darkly. "You don't."
"They're ours." Ratchet assured them. "I can see Wheeljack."
Stringer frowned. "How can you tell? They all look alike."
Jazz laughed. "He's the one who's listing slightly to the left." he said, pointing out the pod of interest. Stringer nodded. She motioned to Ratchet, who automatically picked her up and let her sit in his hand. Optimus smiled to himself. Sing was already in his now-customary perch on Prime's shoulder, and O'Connell, Jones, and the Twins were grouped together and steering clear of Ratchet. Jazz and Epps were staying close to Ironhide and Lennox. Bumblebee was grouped with them. It was odd, seeing him without Sam. Optimus had grown used to having the Witwicky family around.
The pods hit the ground with an earth-shaking impact. Wheeljack's pod narrowly missed Ironhide and Lennox. Ironhide had automatically grabbed Lennox from her precarious perch and cradled her against his chest plates to protect her from the debris. Jazz had done something similar with Epps, and Bumblebee simply laughed.
Ironhide straightened. "Pit-slagging glitch!" he swore. "Why can't you watch where you're landing, Wheeljack?!"
The pod unfolded, revealing the large protoform that was slightly smaller than Optimus. Ratchet walked over to him, placing Stringer on his shoulder as he projected a series of holograms all too fast for the humans to see clearly. Suddenly the protoform changed, assuming the shape of a Lancia Stratos Turbo. He turned his focus to Ironhide as Ratchet moved to the other protoforms.
"Sorry about that, 'Hide." Wheeljack said sheepishly. Ironhide simply shook his head, continuing to mutter about incompetent scientists under his breath. The other three joined them, two of them at least as tall as Wheeljack himself and one significantly shorter. The smaller Autobot looked from Ironhide to the human soldier in Ironhide's hand, and his optics seemed to widen in surprise.
"Is there a particular reason 'Hide's carrying around a human?" he asked dryly.
Sunstreaker shook his head. "Look around, Cliffjumper." he said pointedly. "We're on Earth. It's got humans." Sideswipe took a step forward, but a glare from Optimus stopped them both.
"Cliffjumper, Hound, Bluestreak, Wheeljack." He made the relevant introductions. "These are our human allies."
Lennox took over, standing up straight in Ironhide's hand. "I'm Lennox." she said. "That's Epps with Jazz, Sing with Optimus, Stringer with Ratchet, O'Connell with Sunstreaker –" she broke off, hesitated, and then continued in a mocking tone, "and Jones is hiding behind Sideswipe hoping I won't notice."
"Hey!" Jones stuck his head out from behind Sides and glared up at Lennox. "How do you do that? You didn't even look!"
"You've been on my team how long?" Lennox said dryly.
Epps interrupted. "Guys? Bale is calling us back. Some sort of unplanned meeting going on."
Optimus nodded. Placing their prospective humans on the ground, the Autobots resumed their alt modes and loaded back up. Climbing inside Ironhide, Lennox noticed that Bluestreak had chosen a Nissan 280ZX, Cliffjumper a Porsche 924 Turbo, and Hound a Mitsubishi J59 jeep. "The world is being invaded by alien car buffs." she murmured. Ironhide laughed.
"What? Did you think we'd go for normal, everyday SUVs?" he shot back.
"Ironhide, Anna has orders to meet with Secretary Keller in DC." Optimus said over the radio. Lennox frowned.
"What about you guys?" she asked.
"I'm taking you." Ironhide said immediately.
"I expected as much. We'll be fine, Anna – all of us. You have my word."
Lennox nodded. Still, as Ironhide adjusted his course and left the other Autobots behind, she couldn't help the sick feeling in the pit of her stomach. Because no matter Prime's reassurances, something had just gone horribly wrong.