chapter eighteen
"What is it?" Optimus demanded, walking over to stand behind Ratchet. Immediately all the Autobots were on alert, watching Prime and Ratchet with a mix of curiosity and dread. Stringer, who had been standing by Epps helping him pack, immediately came to stand beside Ratchet. She could feel the medic's distress and confusion through the sparkbond. She placed her hand on his leg (about as high as she could reach), trying to get his attention. Automatically, Ratchet reached down and placed his hand against her back in acknowledgement.
"I – I'm not sure." Ratchet admitted. "Look at these readouts. Tell me what you see."
Optimus did so. Then he had to reset his optics to make sure he had seen things clearly. "Are you sure?"
"I ran the scans twice." Ratchet confirmed grimly.
Hound and Bluestreak exchanged worried looks. Cliffjumper just watched everything with a grim sort of amusement. Bumblebee's gaze switched from Optimus to Lennox, who was watching him intently. He could see the anger starting to build in her eyes the longer Prime and Ratchet stayed silent. Bumblebee didn't have to be bonded to the woman to know what was coming. After all, the only thing that could disturb both the Hatchet and Prime to that extent was an issue with the spark bonds, and that affected her soldiers. Mentally, he started counting down.
"Optimus." Lennox said, perhaps a bit too calmly. "What's going on?"
Optimus heard her, but he didn't respond. There were too many thoughts racing through his processor, puzzle pieces clicking into place now that this small piece of information had been uncovered. "We have to go now." he said, and to his own surprise his voice sounded calm and in control. "There's no more time. Bumblebee, find the Witwickys, then follow my signal. Stay hidden as much as you can." Bumblebee nodded, transformed, and shot off, not needing any more encouragement. Optimus turned to Ironhide, but he didn't get a word out before Lennox exploded.
"Prime! What's happening to our soldiers?"
For a brief moment, everything froze. Optimus stared at Lennox. Fire burned in her eyes, and already he could see what Ratchet's scans had predicted. Lennox had always had light-colored eyes, but now they had a different quality to them. Almost electronic.
"I'll explain later." he assured her. "Trust me when I say – it's nothing life-threatening." Lennox glared at him a moment longer before finally nodding assent. Prime returned his focus to Ironhide. "Take her and get Will. Then follow my signal." Ironhide nodded. Optimus turned to the others. "Jazz, Epps – get Robert. Sunstreaker, Sideswipe, O'Connell, Jones – your goal is to retrieve Maggie and Glenn. Hound, locate Mirage and have him set up a safe zone. He should already be on-planet. Cliffjumper, Bluestreak, stay with us."
"Us?" Cliffjumper could not resist.
Optimus didn't take the bait. "Myself and Sing." He looked around the hangar. "Roll out!" With that everyone transformed into their respective alt modes. Lennox and Ironhide were the first to leave, followed quickly by Jazz and Epps, then the Twins, and followed in the rear by Optimus and the others.
Lennox twisted around in her seat, watching as her team followed them. Ironhide grunted as they slammed through the gates, but the time for subtlety had passed long ago. Now was the time for action. "I hope Prime tells us what's going on soon." she muttered, turning back around and settling down in the seat. "Life-threatening or not, the mystery is going to drive me nuts!"
Ironhide laughed, however briefly. He had started running his own medical scans on Lennox as soon as Ratchet had sounded alarmed. While he didn't know exactly what was happening, he knew something was changing. "I'm sure he will." he assured her. "By the way, did you tell Will about this?"
"Which part? Us bonding or our pledging allegiance to Optimus?"
"I'll take that as a no."
/-----/
Bumblebee skid to a halt in front of the hospital, his spark racing in fear as he realized just how late it was. What was Sam doing here at this time of the night? Was Mikaela all right? Was James? He tried to scan through the building in a struggle to find his family, but to no avail. He settled on blaring the horn as loud as he could. Several people close by jumped and cursed, but Bumblebee really could have cared less at that point. Where were they?!
"Bee!"
Sam opened the passenger door and helped Mikaela inside. Instantly Bumblebee could tell something was wrong. Her face was pained, and Sam looked oddly grim. Bumblebee opened the driver's door and flipped the seat forward so James could get in. As soon as Sam was safely in the driver's seat where he belonged, Bumblebee peeled out of the parking lot. He didn't slow down or speak until they were a few miles away. "What's wrong?" he demanded.
"It's nothing, Bee." Mikaela was quick to assure him. "Just false labor pains. I'll be fine." Bumblebee couldn't exactly frown in alt mode, but he did turn most of his medical scanners on her. They weren't as sophisticated as Ratchet's were, but they would be sufficient to alert him to any changes in her status. James leaned forward between the seats.
"What's going on?" he asked, sounding perfectly calm despite the situation. "Dad had to have run all the way to the hospital, but he wouldn't tell us what was going on. Just said we had to leave."
"I wanted to wait until Bumblebee found us before I explained." Sam said. Turning his focus to the car (and letting Bee drive) he added, "Galloway was at the house, along with a couple of soldiers I didn't recognize. They aren't part of Lennox's team."
"Galloway?" Bee hissed. "What did he want?"
Sam hesitated. "Rachel." he admitted, referring to his unborn daughter. "He wanted Rachel."
James's eyes narrowed dangerously. "No freaking way." he snapped. "He's not getting my baby sister. I'll let Starscream have her before Galloway even touches her." There was darkness in his voice, and Bee felt a surge of satisfaction. James may not have said much around the other Autobots, but he was fiercely loyal to Bumblebee and his family. Mikaela's eyes were wide with shock.
"Why?"
Once again, Sam hesitated. "He thinks she's the AllSpark."
Bumblebee faltered, but just for a moment. He ran a different type of scan on Mikaela. "Sam – it could very well be true." he said quietly.
James blinked. "Hey. Doesn't that mean your race isn't gonna die?" Bumblebee uttered confirmation, and James grinned. "Cool. That means that Galloway really can't have her."
"How do you know?" Mikaela whispered.
"The AllSpark created us." Bumblebee explained. "We can all sense it, to some degree or another. Optimus would be able to tell you for certain. It could be residual – after all, Sam and James carry some of the AllSpark's essence."
Mikaela took a deep breath. "Now I guess we go meet the others." she murmured, but there was no malice or frustration in her voice. "Man, and I thought we were done with the alien war thing!"
/----/
Robert Epps, Mike's father, was getting along in years. He had been given an honorable, medical discharge when a land mine in the Middle East blew his left leg off at the knee. It was about that time that Will retired as well. To Epps's surprise, his father was waiting for them outside of his apartment. Despite the advancements of prosthesis, Robert still walked with a limp. He smiled as Jazz slowed to a stop just in front of him and opened the passenger door. "Hey, Jazz-man. 'Sup?"
Jazz chuckled. "Not much." he greeted. "Or at least, not yet. You need to come with us." Robert shrugged and climbed inside. Epps grinned at him.
"Man, I did not expect you to be waiting on us." he teased. Robert grinned back. Jazz was struck by just how much Epps resembled his father, especially when they smiled.
As the bantering continued, though, Jazz noticed something that hadn't been there before. Something not quite right. Mike Epps's dark brown eyes were changing. Streaked with blue.
Kind of like optics.
/-----/
It was time, Starscream knew.
The humans had turned against their Autobot allies. He had known it would happen. If anything, he had tried to warn Prime about it. Stubborn Autobot hadn't listened, and now look where he was. On the run, with the small handful of humans that had remained loyal despite everything.
In all honesty, Starscream hadn't anticipated on the humans he had used as bait to become so important to the Autobots. If anything, he figured they would have gone their separate ways and never heard from each other again. That was usually the way things worked, right?
It no longer mattered. He had the forces he needed to blow the Autobots and their human allies away for good. This time, there would be no mistakes, like what had transpired with Megatron and that insect boy. This time it would be done properly.
No mistakes.
/---/
AN: Whew! Another chapter down and out. Hey, you guys have been saying the chapters are short – just to let you know, this particular chapter is over 1500 words long. If this is still short, just give me a general word count to aim for, and I'll do my best to reach it next chapter. Thank you so much for the reviews! You guys rock!