THANK YOU to all who reviewed and added this to their alerts list. Cyber Sundae to My 1st reviewer StephanieZorander. That just makes my day. Oh and on a side note sorry about grammar errors. I don't have much time to type so it doesn't get edited well. If anyone wants to Beta it, say the word. Now, on to chapter two. Oh and I still don't own anything but my oc even though I wish it different.
Seven Years Earlier-----
Optimus was driving down a deserted street in the undestroyed part of Mission City. It had been almost a year since the incident and they were still fixing it up. Unfortunately his thoughts had distracted him and he had come to a complete stop. Optimus came back to his senses when he felt a human hand gently gliding along his flame work. I wonder why this woman is out so late and alone he thought. It was midnight and quite dark out seeing as there were no stars out and the moon was covered by the clouds. He activated his holoform to ask her what she was doing out here alone when he heard quiet footsteps in the silence.
A man was walking toward the woman. He was drunk and armed with a gun and army knife. Quiet as a mouse he snuck up to her from behind. He grabbed her on the shoulder which startled her. She let out a loud scream and he covered her mouth with his hand.
"Now shush little lady. There's no need for screaming. All I want is a good time and you so perty."
She was so scared. She had thought that she was just going to take a shortcut home from work but then this truck distracted her and now look? She was scared to death and about to… she didn't want to think about it.
Optimus scanned the human male. He could tell he was intoxicated. Anyone could smell the alcohol from far away. But his scans showed he was way over the legal limit. They also showed he was armed. The man was moving away with the woman and Prime knew he had to do something. He activated his holoform and walked over to the two. His holoform looked like a human male in his late twenties early thirties with jet black hair, electric blue eyes, a white tee shirt that showed his nicely formed muscles, and a pair of blue jeans.
The man felt a hand on his shoulder and turned to see Optimus's holoform. He already had the woman scared enough to not fight back seeing as he had already hurt her. When Optimus saw the huge gash on her cheek he got angry. She had done nothing to deserve that. He pulled the man back away from her.
"Hey man what da ya think you're doin. We just havin' som' fun here. Now back off."
"I don't think so."
"Well then I'll make you leave." Even as intoxicated as the man was he managed to pull out the gun and shoot Optimus in the leg before he had time to react. Optimus ignored it and punched the man dead center in the face which knocked him out cold. He walked over to the woman who was staring at him with wide, frightened eyes.
"Are you all right?" he asked her calmly.
"Ah… yeah, I guess. How did you…?" she was still frightened and Optimus could sense this.
"Let's worry about that later. You're injured and we need to have it tended to. Could you tell me your name?"
"Oh yes. My name is Annalina, Annalina Deacon. Thank you for helping me."
"Of course Annalina. Why don't we get you to a friend of mine? He's a medic and can fix you up."
"Sure. But what about your leg…?" She looked quizzically down at his leg.
He had forgotten all about that. The man had 'shot' him in the leg. Optimus couldn't actually feel it but he had to keep up the appearance of being human.
"Oh, its fine. And you can call me Tim." his deep, baritone voice louder than usual in the silence of the night as he help Annalina into his cab.
They started driving toward the base in silence. Optimus turned on a classical station since that was what usually put humans to sleep and he could tell she needed some. However, this was not the case. She was not sleeping but looking silently out the window. She broke the silence with a question.
"Why?"
"Excuse me? I don't understand."
"Oh nothing. I'm just trying to figure some things out in my life. That's all." She spoke in a slightly depressed tone.
Optimus decided not to push her for details. He could tell just by looking at her that she was deep in thought and didn't want to disturb her. He had to, though; just minutes later for they were getting close to base and he wanted to warn her about a few things. Then he would have to tell his men.
"Annalina, we're getting close to my base where my friend is. It may seem a little weird because the ceilings are so tall but that's just because we have some large equipment coming through at times and we always have to be prepared."
"Okay I guess." She seemed a little unsure of his reasons but decided not to push her luck on this one.
Now Optimus had to tell his team to be prepared.
-Optimus to Autobots-
-Optimus is something wrong? - Ratchet asked. Various, similar phrases came from the rest of them.
-No nothing is wrong. I'm headed back to base but I've got a guest coming with me and she doesn't know about us. Oh and Ratchet she will need medical attention. She was attacked by a drunk but he has been taken care of. - Optimus told his team.
Ratchet spoke for all of them when he said-We'll be ready Prime.-
The com link was severed and Optimus returned his attention to Annalina. She had bought his excuses but just barely. They would have to be careful around her he could tell, she wasn't one to take excuses. But then they would cross certain bridges when they got to them.
"How are you feeling, Annalina?" he questioned her. She hadn't said much at all and he was worried about that gash getting infected.
"Oh yeah, fine," She replied loftily, "The bleeding stopped awhile back, Tim."
She had a beautiful voice. And now that he looked at her she was fairly attractive. Her eyes were such an interesting color. A striking green instead of the expected blue. But they had a way to them as it they could see straight through you. They arrived at base moments later and he helped her out. Ratchet and Ironhide were out there, each waiting in their holoform. Ratchet looked like a human male in his early forties, the same electric blue eyes and toned muscles they all had, and he was dressed in khaki pants, white shirt, and blue vest. Ironhide looked in his late thirties with an army haircut, khaki cargo pants, and a white muscle tee. Annalina walked up to them slowly not leaving 'Tim's' side.
"Annalina, these are my friends. Rick," he pointed to Ironhide,"And..,"
"Hugo."Ratchet spoke up.
"Nice to meet you both. Hugo must be the medic and Rick; you look like you deal with weapons regularly. Weapon's specialist perhaps." She spoke unafraid. "You'd be right on both accounts. Well done. How did you figure that out?"Ironhide asked her.
"I don't know. I have a knack for reading people."
Ratchet got one look at her face and knew it had to be looked at now. "Why don't you come with me and we'll look at that gash of yours. It looks pretty nasty."
She answered him as she followed behind, "It doesn't hurt all that much anymore."
They walked into the med bay and spent the next half hour cleaning it and closing it up so it wouldn't scar. Optimus and Ironhide had left the two and walked to the rec room to discuss her while they worked.
"Optimus should one of us take her home? It's almost 3 am and I can tell she hasn't had any sleep."
"I don't think so. We'll let her stay her for at least tonight. As you already pointed out it very late and we all need some recharge. I'll go check on her." He walked toward the med bay still using his holoform.
He entered just as Ratchet was finishing up her stitches. She was fine now seeing as it was not infected and with Ratchet's care never would be.
"Annalina," Optimus spoke as he entered the room "It is very late so we're going to have you stay the night at base. If that's okay with you?"
"Yes that's fine with me. I'm quite tired as of right now and don't feel like going home."
"I'll show you to your room then."
They started walking down the halls and she fell asleep on her feet. Optimus picked her up and carried her to one of the guest rooms on base for the humans. As he laid her down he noted how peaceful she looked as she slept. He walked out of the room and deactivated his holoform and went to the rec room where the others waited for him.