Sorry this chapter is so long . I never write my things in chapters, so when I go through it like this and take chunks out to become them, they get long and don't really work as sections. Fail on my part ;D
And I'd love a review or two guys, even if its telling me my characters and writing suck so bad you never want to see another word of it :P
"Hey Alex!" Alex twitched slightly as he looked to one side where he caught sight of Jak skid to a halt next to him and open his door, "Get in. Tract will be fine, he'll finish Burnout off in a minute. We need to get you to the others and get out of this dump. Reaper's spotted Spectre and has gone after him," he explained quickly.
Alex glanced over his shoulder briefly at Traction before throwing himself into Jak's open door, clambering into the seat at the door shut sealing him in to air-conditioned safety.
"What about the mess?" Alex gasped as Jak shot forward, speeding away from the two brawling robots and the mass of cars piled up around them, "The people?"
"They'll all be treated for mild carbon monoxide poisoning and other dangerous gases that cause hallucinogenic effects, which were released when the hotels exploded," he said casually, "Hey, sit in your seat properly," he added as Alex turned around in the drivers seat to watch Traction out the rear window.
"Huh, sorry," Alex sat down quickly, "People buy that stuff?"
"I'm sure you would if it meant forgetting you ever saw us?" Jak swung off the main highway onto a minor road.
"Probably yeah, actually. I'm not hallucinating though, am I?" he frowned.
"You're in a car, which is driving itself. You'd have to be a in a coma to pull that off. But from what I've heard, you could probably drink yourself into one, so if you want, you could pretend you're in one?" Jak suggested.
"I'd rather not," Alex muttered, "Alien robots over possible coma death, I think."
"Good choice," the Mustang praised him, casually causing the volume of his music to crank up slowly, "Glad to hear you've changed your tune slightly since you met Drag."
"Oh yeah, I think this kind of stuff opens your eyes a fair bit," Alex sighed loudly, looking out the window blankly as they sped past houses.
Jak made a quiet humming noise in agreement, once again turning down another road, "Not long now," he commented.
Alex nodded absently in response, running a hand through his hair as he watched the houses speeding past begin to thin out, the area becoming more open as it blended out into the desert. He rubbed his eyes, twisting around in his seat to look behind him in hope of seeing Traction, Crossfire or Pulse, indicating they were ok. But he couldn't see anyone, and even when he looked up, the sky was still devoid of Reaper. But at least everywhere else looked clear of Decepticons. He supposed that was something good at least.
"They're not here," Jak offered, "Tract's made a mess and has got a little caught up, while Crossfire and Pulse are trapped by wreckage and can't move in front of all the humans. Reaper's just as silent as always, not even relaying any information. Supposing he's giving Spectre a good ass kicking."
"A little caught up?" Alex frowned.
"Yeah, nothing he can't get out of. Some over zealous humans, namely police, are trying to catch him," Jak replied casually.
Alex stared at the dash, mainly because he didn't know where else to look, "Traction's been caught?"
"He'll get free," Jak sounded entirely convinced.
"He just wrecked a street."
"We have the government on our side."
"Only NEST."
"We are giant robots, as you like to point out," Jak still didn't sound fazed.
"We are rather stubborn humans. Jak, has he been caught before?" Alex ran a hand through his hair.
"No, but he's Tract. He's hot damned awesome," he added.
"But that's not federal immunity!" Alex shook his head, "I want to talk to Crossfire."
"We have a human concerned about our safety? Makes a change," Jak snorted, "You can talk to him once we reach Drag and the noob."
"Newbie. Not noob. Wrong context," Alex rolled his eyes.
"No, I mean noob. Apparently he's not exactly as… Experienced as us. Drag's been whining at me about it, complaining we're stuck with a rookie."
"Well he did crash into the middle of Vegas," Alex muttered.
"We were hoping his navigation systems shorted out, but apparently not. He's just a failsome navigator."
"Really failsome," Alex emphasised, "I want to know Traction's ok."
"Ok, ok, in a minute," Jak sighed loudly and dramatically, "I know you love him but you can spend five minutes away from him."
Alex grunted in irritation and slapped the dash in front of him, "Be quiet, robot car."
Jak snorted loudly in amusement again before dissolving into quiet laughter. Alex just rolled his eyes and folded his arms, shuffling himself in the driver's chair as he now turned his attention looking back in front of them.
He was just about to ask Jak if they were there yet, when he caught sight of Drag and a blindly bright yellow car parked nearly on a pull out by the side of the road.
As Jak pulled off the road and made his way up to them, Alex couldn't help but wonder if it was healthy to keep biting back sarcastic comments regarding what subtly was. What was with these robots?
"Get out Al, go say hi to the new kid," Jak swung his door open.
"Do I have to? Isn't that wasting time?" Alex frowned.
"Alex, just do it, just let him know that you're not a human or Decepticon who's going to tear him apart. You're Fusion boy, let him eye you up," Jak waved his door around.
Alex rolled his eyes, "You're too… something. You know that? It's not normal. At least Traction is friendly with a hint of profession. You, you're just…"
"Laid back? Cool, smooth?" Jak bounced around a little, "Curse, I know."
Alex rolled his eyes yet again and sighed, slipping from the Mustang into the heat. He glanced around, briefly taking in a few sparse, rather rugged looking houses dotted around the desert landscape, but otherwise they appeared to be alone. He then turned his attention to Drag and the new… guy. Drag briefly flashed his blinkers in greeting, Alex supposing that was the friendliest he could do.
Now up close, Alex could see that the yellow car was a Jeep Wrangler, the kind that had virtually no roof and very little protection apart from a few doors, making it look a little naked. However, the paintwork looked pretty much brand spanking new, much like all the other Autobots (despite all the fighting they apparently got into, which made no sense to Alex), so didn't look exactly suited for off road activities. Alex wandered closer as he eyed the Jeep up, though jumped slightly when it suddenly buckled in the middle and began to change form.
From what Alex had gathered, those apart from Jak, seemed to prefer talking out loud when in their natural state. He supposed Jak was different because he couldn't actually return to his humanoid form, hence why he was so out spoken. He was just making up for his loss.
Alex was forced to take a little step back as the Jeep in front of him eventually completed its transformation, it having been a little more untidy than the others, a few times parts flinging out or getting stuck.
"Wow… So this is a human…?" the Jeep was a little taller than Drag normally was, around sixteen feet was Alex's guess, but it still crouched down to get a look at Alex, its blue-green eyes peering at him with pure curiosity. It once again seemed to be male, though its voice sounded younger, more like an older teen, than the others. Alex had no idea what ages the others were, but he supposed thousands of years was most likely a young age, since they appeared to be relatively immune to time.
He took another defensive step back as the Jeep reached out a hand, uncurling a finger to try and prod him.
"Ah ah," Jak cut in quickly, "No touchy the human. They're fragile, remember."
"Opps, sorry," the finger close to Alex's face dropped quickly and the robot gave an apologetic and slightly sheepish smile, "Wouldn't want to accidentally take his head off."
"No," Alex muttered faintly, wondering if he was safe being so close to the new guy, "We wouldn't."
The Jeep cocked its head on one side, "I'm Freeway. It's an honour to meet you."
"Honour?" Alex blinked but quickly just ignored it, "I'm Alex. I suppose you know why I'm with you guys?"
"Of course," he nodded, "It's fascinating. To think that a life form such as yourself could carry Fusion in your blood. Your tiny little blood vessel," Freeway tried to touch Alex again.
"Hey you," Jak revved his engine, "Obey orders. No. Touchy. Not against his will, at least. I'm sure he'll ride in you sometime eventually."
"Sorry," Freeway hung his head in shame.
Alex hesitated slightly, "It's ok," he shrugged, faltering slightly before reaching out and cautiously touching the Autobot's hand, "I'm pretty tough."
"Oh sure, you tell that to Pulse. You humans fall off chairs and break necks," Jak flashed his lights in amusement, "Didn't you once -?"
"Don't start," Alex grunted, absently rubbing his shoulder, "Don't even mention it."
"Ok, ok, I'm quiet," Jak sighed loudly and dramatically.
Freeway was glancing between Jak and Alex in interest, obviously intrigued by their exchange, though he still held his hand out in case Alex might touch him again.
"Ok, right, is this meeting is over?" Alex glanced at Jak again, "We can go see if Traction's ok?"
"He's still caught up," Jak admitted, "But I swear Al, he'll be fine. He's cool."
Alex rolled his eyes, turning his attention to the silent Aston Martin, "Hey Drag, you want to take me to where Traction is?"
There was a fairly long pause, filled only with silence, until Drag finally opened his driver's door.
"Thank you," Alex started towards him, only to suddenly have to jump back as Jak swerved in front of him, his open door replacing Drags.
"Ok, ok, I'll take you to him, you manipulative human," Jak flashed his lights to show he was rolling his eyes, "Just get in. If we get yelled at because we went back, it's your entire fault, understand? Man, I'm not having my ass handed to me by Crossfire if he doesn't like us doing this.
"You'll be thanking me when we save Tractions ass from being handed to him by the cops," Alex smiled mockingly at Jak as he slid into the drivers seat, letting him shut the door.
"Oh, someone's getting cocky now, ain't they, Earth boy?" Jak gave a quiet laugh, "But I admit, I like it. A little banter is good now and then."
"Who said it's mere banter?" Alex couldn't help but smiled, slapping Jak's dash as he pulled his seatbelt on.
"I hope it is, because I would own your butt big time if it came to a fight, y'know?" he pulled away from Drag, heading back for the road as Freeway began to fold back in on himself. As they set off down the road, heading exactly back the way they came, Freeway and Drag slipped into perfect formation behind them. Drag drove with silent precision, however Freeway occasionally juddered slightly, occasionally veering towards the other side of the road.
Alex watched this in Jak's rear-view mirror, amused to see the apparently rather graceful Autobots seemed to have a klutz on their hands.
"I know what you're thinking. I'm good at reading humans," Jak spoke up lazily, "We're just like you, we have all sorts of personalities. You've got Drag, stuck up and snooty. Me, cool and kooky. Traction, focused yet relaxed. And then this kid. Freeway, fresh as green grass. We were all like him once. Even me. Though I managed to trip over my own feet in style. He'll settle in once he's been talked to by Crossfire and he gets to know how we, and Earth, works. Learning on the job, see?"
"So long as he doesn't crash first," Alex glanced over his shoulder, watching as Drag suddenly had to slam on his brakes and swerve to one side, Freeway having stalled slightly and juddered to a halt right in front of him.
"Oh, Draggy's gonna be pissed now," Jak sounded distinctly amused.
"I'd rather not watch," Alex turned his attention back to the Strip once again drawing nearer and began to scan the area. He'd been hoping he wouldn't be able to see anything, it looking like nothing had happened apart from an alien crashing into some of the hotels, however just south of the Strip, there was a large area, full of blue and red flashing lights, as well as a few large black vans.
"These NEST guys," Alex leant forward in his seat slightly, "How much authority do they have?"
"A very large amount, I think," Jak sounded a little unsure.
"Do they influence the cops and special ops teams?" Alex frowned.
There was a pause of silence, which, coming from Jak, was enough of an answer, "Well…"
"They don't, do they?" Alex slumped back in the chair.
"NEST can hardly tell everyone that if they saw an Autobot just to pretend it's nothing. Not everyone knows about us remember, some people are left in the dark."
"Jak… I know it might come to nothing, but right now, Traction's just been trapped by armed men," Alex muttered, "I know we're small in comparison, but the right weapons might severely damage him."
Jak hesitated again, "He's good with guns though."
"He won't use them against humans. You wouldn't. Drag wouldn't. I bet Freeway wouldn't either. I may not have known you long, but you guys are predictable. Traction's only option is to not put up a fight, but we humans might still panic and use force against him," Alex shook his head.
Jak sighed quietly, for the first time since Alex had met it, falling silent, not knowing what to say.
They continued to edge closer to the blinding lights, there now a great volume of people gathered around, many of who were using both digital and video cameras to try and catch a better shot of the action unfolding behind the barrier consisting of many vehicles.
Alex winced internally; unable to believe this was happening. He wanted to blame it on himself, for ever forcing the Autobots to look after him, but he couldn't help but remember that they came to Vegas for Freeway. But then again, maybe the Decepticon, Burnout, that had attacked them, may have been going for him rather than the new Autobot, therefore making it his fault. But they wouldn't have been in Vegas had Freeway not fallen here.
There were just too many sides to this coin, and so Alex let the internal debate drop for now, deciding that he'd work out if he was to blame afterTraction was free and they were on their way.
"Man, you're right, this ain't pretty. I've seen way worse, but still. It's not fair," Jak muttered as he came to a halt, Freeway and Drag eventually stopping beside him.
Alex nodded absently and unbuckled his seatbelt, opening the door, "I'm going to get a closer look, see if I can get near him."
"Ok. Just be careful and on your guard," Jak sounded a little reluctant to let him go.
"I'll be fine," he reassured him, slipping out of the Mustang after a quick glance around. Shutting the door behind him, he then shoved his hands in his pockets and casually sauntered towards the mass of people swarming towards the police and where Traction must be hidden.
Alex was rather glad he was fairly tall, his height allowing him to see over the majority of people, and he was occasionally able to catch a glimpse of a large crumpled pile of mechanical parts, the occasional orange car part here and there. Apparently that was once Burnout. Now he was strewn all over the place. Traction obviously was very thorough when it came to destroying the Autobot's enemies.
Alex was beginning to have to elbow his way through the large crowd, ignoring people yelling and cursing at him for pushing through, occasionally ducking slightly to squeeze through small gaps as he made his way to the police barrier. There were a few vans and cars acting as a barricade, while some policemen were warding off over enthusiastic public members who were trying to push through them.
Alex avoided the police as best he could, skirting around the cars and peering through a gap between two black vans.
He could just about make out Traction now, his large form crumpled on the ground. It looked like somehow the police and special ops team had managed to pin him to the ground, using thick heavy metal ropes. He was surrounded by a good number of men with dangerous looking guns, however the Autobot was showing no sign of putting up a fight, currently just laying still. Alex could see him blinking every now and then as he looked around him a little anxiously, obviously disliking giving up so easily, but the desire not to hurt humans overriding his fear.
Alex wanted to jump up and down, wave at him, or do something that would alert Traction to his presence, but he didn't know what he could do without also letting the police know he was there. If he pushed through the ranks and ran up to Traction, he might be able to try and negotiate, but he'd more than likely just get himself shot and killed. He mused quietly to himself, occasionally scratching his neck or running a hand through his hair as he thought, until he eventually decided he'd better just go for it. Traction had already proved he was ready to sacrifice himself for Alex, both with Burnout and now this.
He was just about to dart between the two van's he'd been looking at when he suddenly felt someone behind him grab him by the collar and yank him forcefully back. Alex turned, fists up, ready for a cop to question him and for Alex to give him a rude response, however he froze, hands dropping to his sides when he saw who it was.
Bill was staring at him, eyes both questioning and suspicious.
"What… What the hell are you doing here?" Alex asked eventually, glancing over his shoulder ever so quickly to check on things behind him.
"Making sure you're not getting yourself into trouble. Which it looked like you were just about to do," Bill folded her arms, "What's going on here? Why are you in Las Vegas? Why all the police and the explosion on the Strip?"
"I… I don't know. I was just passing through and thought I'd take a closer look," he shrugged, trying to look casual.
"Passing through? As part of an convoy with an armed helicopter?" Bill raised her eyebrows.
Alex stared at her again. How had she known about Reaper and the others? She'd only seen him with Traction and Jak.
"Well Alex?" she prompted.
"I… It doesn't matter. You go home, I'll be fine," he said quickly.
"Alexander Sheppard. I just drove after you for almost eleven hours. I'm not being got rid of that easily without an explanation. Friends are supposed to care, so that's what I'm doing, even if you're not. Explain yourself," she demanded, scowling.
There was a suddenly loud bang behind them followed by a pained grunt that Alex instant recognised as Traction, the sound of metal scraping against asphalt desperately starting up.
Alex looked behind him again and shook his head, "I'll explain later Bill. Do me a favour and stay here. Or make yourself useful; create a diversion. I have to get to what the police are guarding."
"Create a diversion?" she repeated incredulously, "Are you insane? I'm not having the cops after me!"
"I'll do it on my own then," he turned away from her and darted between the two vans supposed to be blocking public access to where Traction was pinned to the highway.
"Alex…!" Bill yelled after him, hesitating for a moment before hurrying after him.
Alex didn't seem to notice her behind him and just strode into the open, wincing as a large number of weapons suddenly turned on him. His stride faltered and his gaze worked its way over all the muzzles pointed at him before falling on Traction. The Autobot's eyes had widened in surprise at the sight of him, but Alex couldn't tell if the surprise was because he was bothering to try and help, or because he was surprised that Jak had been stupid enough to let Alex come back.
"Alex!" Bill caught up with him and grabbed his arm, making to pull him away, however she stopped when she saw Traction in a heap on the ground behind the wall of men, "Oh my God, what is that thing? Is it alive?"
Alex just shot her a little irritated glance, about to defend Traction, however his attention was caught by a man dressed all in black, with a rather large weapon, approaching him. A special ops sergeant by the looks of his badge on his uniform.
"Sir, if you would be kind enough to leave this area," he prompted as he came to a halt in front of Bill and Alex, looking less than impressed, "While not the most protected, I'm sure you can understand that this breach in our national security is something we'd like to keep away from prying eyes. Also, this thing may be dangerous. It's already tried to kill some of my men."
Alex had been contemplating going easy on the guy, but something just rubbed him up the wrong way, "Well excuse me," he stepped closer to the man, ignoring his gun, "But I think you had better know that he, yes, he is a he, is no threat what so ever. Before you go shooting things and taking them down, how about you check with our government and our president? I'm sure they might have a thing or two to say about you taking him down in the middle of a street. He was trying to protect us, not harm us. That orange scrap metal you see all over the place? That thing was trying to kill us. He was stopping it from doing that. Let him go and he'll leave peacefully, easy as that. You can talk to your superiors and tell them to look into the organisation of NEST. Your questions will be silenced then."
The sergeant stared at Alex then scowled, "And who are you to tell me what to do, civilian? Who are you to say you know what this thing is? Are you in league with it? Will we need to take you down too?"
"I don't think I need to answer any of your questions. Let him go," Alex glared at him.
"Alex," Traction rumbled quietly in warning, causing all the men around him to quickly turn their guns back on him.
"It knows your name…" Bill muttered quietly in awe, shaking her head in disbelief.
Alex ignored her again, waving a hand at Traction dismissively, causing him to roll his eyes in exasperation. All around them, the police and other armed men had began to dissipate the crowd that had gathered, increasing the security ten fold now that Alex had got in through their previously poor defences. They tried to get rid of Bill but she was having none of it, snapping at anyone who tried to move her.
"We can't just let it go," the man was talking again, having done his best to ignore the brief exchange between Alex and Traction.
"Well you have to," Alex replied firmly.
"Or what, sir?" he shifted his gun surreptitiously.
"Or I'll just have to break him out myself," Alex narrowed his eyes at the slight threat the gun's movement had carried.
"We can't let you do that, sir."
"Just watch me," Alex suddenly shouldered his way past the armed sergeant, causing Bill to curse and take a step back, half expecting the man to just shoot Alex in the back.
"Sir!" he snapped, following Alex as he made his way towards Traction, raising his gun slightly, "I advise you get away from here before we use deadly force."
"That would look really good on the news wouldn't it?" Alex glared at him over his shoulder.
"This is not about our image, this is about our security! This thing is dangerous!" the man snapped.
"So dangerous that you're all still alive?" Alex shot back as he just pushed his way through the men with guns barring his way from Traction, suddenly seemingly oblivious to the apprehension and fear he'd had previously.
"It may be biding its time!" the man continued to follow him, but he slowed down slightly to keep his distance from Traction.
"He is not a threat!" Alex snapped, going straight over to Traction's head, which was resting on the ground beside his pinned arms. It was a little bit unnerving, standing next to Traction's face when his head came up to Alex's knee and his face was about as long as his whole leg, but compared to guns, it was nothing. He knew Traction wouldn't hurt him. He crouched down beside him, ignoring the look the Autobot was giving him.
"Alex, you shouldn't be doing this," Traction tried to push himself up to look at him better but was unable to pull against his constraints.
"I do. Think we're going to leave you here? Anyway, I think Crossfire and Pulse are still busy, so we're not leaving without them either. Might as well get you while we're at it," Alex muttered quietly to him, watching the men with guns eyeing them both up while trying to ignore Bill staring at him.
"Jak should have known better than to let you put yourself at risk for me," Traction shook his head.
"Traction, listen to me. You're putting your life on the line for me, so I'm only returning the favour. I don't know if it's just a human thing, but live with it. I just shouldered past a load of guys with loaded weapons for you, be honoured," Alex smiled slightly.
"Fine," he sighed, "Did you have a plan at all?"
Alex's smile faltered, "Well… You see… That's where I run into a little bit of a problem…" he admitted.
Traction rolled his eyes and sighed dramatically, "Well done."
Alex just shrugged sheepishly, giving him an apologetic smile.
The sergeant in the black uniform was approaching him again, so Alex stood up, folding his arms tightly across his chest.
"Sir, this is the last time I'm asking you to step away from the robot," he warned.
"Or what, you'll shoot me?" Alex raised his eyebrows, "Messy."
"I would ask you not to provoke me, sir," he scowled, "Fingers can slip, accidents can happen."
"And I would ask you not to threaten him," Traction addressed the man for the first time, once again trying to push himself up, "Because while I won't harm you, I will stop you from harming him."
The man faltered slightly, thrown by Traction talking directly at him, "Well… I… If that's a threat…"
"That's not a threat, you moron," Alex snapped, "He just told you he's not going to hurt you."
"And how can I be sure that it's not lying?" the man scowled.
"Because he wouldn't dare hurt a person! If he wanted you dead, you'd be dead. Simple as that," Alex shrugged.
By now there were pretty much no members of the public left watching, the police having run them away, so when Alex looked around a little, he could just about make out Jak, Drag and Freeway to one side, having looked like they'd edged ever so closer.
"I'm getting tired of your fancy ass attitude, sir, so walk away now while you can, before you're arrested and sent to jail," the man raised his gun, "Either that, or I will shoot you in your pretty face."
"Mistake," Traction growled quietly, and the next thing any of them knew was there was a suddenly sound of something cutting through metal and Traction was up on his feet, Drag suddenly at his side in his humanoid form. The blades that slide out over his hands were out, looking rather sharp, Alex noted, and were pointed right at the man threatening Alex with the gun, in a warning.
Bill, who was standing a little way off, had to cover her mouth to suppress a little shriek. She didn't scream. Not even when there seemed to be two huge robots standing dangerously close to Alex.