~Star Light, Star Bright~

Chapter Nine: Franchise?

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Time has been transformed, and we have changed; it has advanced and set us in motion; it has unveiled its face, inspiring us with bewilderment and exhilaration.

-Khalil Gibran

o-O-o

There was only one thing Cody loved more than Transformers.

And that was the night sky, space itself, and the stars and planets that made up its continuous and broad length. It was a haunting space of infinite blackness that had fascinated him from the moment he had laid eyes upon it.

In all the dreams Cody had dreamed, the night sky was there. It didn't matter if it was above, below, or all around. It was there. Always there.

It was because of this that Cody didn't react to his newest dream, only opting to twirl around in the star dust that engulfed him. Around him galaxies crashed and merged together, fiery beauty merging to create new life, and stars twinkled and died. Comets soared, and asteroids ground and rumbled together.

You know, normal space stuff.

Cody hummed and batted at the dust playfully. When the dust seemed to pass straight through him though, the small boy paused and blinked curiously. This was new. In all his previous dreams he had been able to touch everything.

Hello little one.

The sudden booming voice made Cody whirl around in the air, starlight catching on his hair. He looked around inquiringly, before replying.

"Hello..?"

I am here little one. Do not fear me.

"Oh, I'm not afraid… I guess I was just more surprised than anything," mused Cody, who was still looking around as if he find the voice if he looked long enough. "I'm usually the only person in my dreams."

Is that so?

"Yeah! But…" When Cody's voice trailed off and the kid's eyes turned downcast, the voice spoke again, tone soft and understanding.

But what, little one? Tell me your woes.

"Woes? Well, I guess that it makes me feel sort of lonely. Weird, huh? It's just dreams." Cody fiddled with his fingers for a moment, and then looked back up. "Right?" He didn't give the voice a chance to answer, curling on himself.

"…why are my dreams so lonely?"

They are not. Only the ones you remember make you feel lonely.

"The ones I remember? What do you mean?"

Everyone dreams. However, not everyone remembers them. For you, you remember the lonely ones, as you relate and believe them more. Just as you feel connected to the stars, you feel connected to these certain dreams.

Cody snorted and crossed his arms with a pout. "That sucks! I want to remember the happy ones! Actually, I want to remember all of them!" This seemed to be exactly what the voice wanted to hear. It gave a pleased rumble, and Cody beamed at the sound.

Very well little one. Let's begin.

"Mmmm~"

Macy looked down at the soft sound, smiling in relief when Cody merely snuggled deeper into her jacket. She pulled him closer, one hand resting upon his head while the other wrapped around his waist and held firm.

And then she looked up and gave a slightly guilty looking Ironhide a nasty glare.

"If you wake up Cody, I will get up and LEAVE you to figure out that website all on your own!" She hissed, ignoring Ironhide's low growl.

"As if, femme!" His cannons rolled angrily, and Optimus quickly laid a hand on the weapon specialist's shoulder.

"Ironhide, stand down. Your mocking of her earlier words warranted such a reaction. Or do I need to go over what I spoke of with you earlier?"

Ironhide seemed to hesitate for a moment, then nodded his head stiffly, denta's gritting together. If Macy hadn't been so nervous and angry at that moment, she would have been amazed that the bots could show so much emotion. Michael Bay hadn't done them near enough justice. Optimus, however, was clearly unimpressed with Ironhide's capability to express emotion. Keeping his hand on Ironhide's shoulder, he turned back to Macy.

"While Ironhide's comment… was distasteful-"

Both Macy and Ratchet snorted at that, and Optimus quickly finished his sentence before either one could snap out a sharp comment. Though, they were right to snort at him. Ironhide's words of 'Don't even try to fault the kid for your crimes, human!' were rather rude.

"-he is right. How could such a young child be at fault here?"

Optimus gazed at the sleeping child while he slept, and stopped himself from smiling softly; while the boy was partially hidden underneath the protective arm of his so-called babysitter, it was easy to see he was small, much smaller than most humans his age should be. His smallness and weakness called out every basic instinct in his spark to protect the human child. And if he felt the sparkling protocols so strongly, Optimus could only imagine how Ironhide was feeling.

The warrior mech had guardian codes, unlike the rest of the team, and had been a caretaker long before Optimus had even been sparked. Every wire of his being was probably calling out to take the boy away from Macy, who he viewed as a threat.

It would certainly explain why Ironhide's optics had paled to almost white and how his systems were running on high alert.

Optimus refocused his own optics on Macy, who was now shifting uncomfortably. "Well?" He prompted.

"We come from an alternate universe where you guys are a multi-million dollar franchise and Cody wished upon a star and now we're here?"

The entire sentence came out in an awkward rush, and Macy's voice had raised with pitch with each word, until the it ended in a high squeak. She swallowed hard, and tried to get her nerves under control, while she waited for their reactions to her words.

They did not disappoint.

Optimus visibly frowned, optics confused, while Ratchet snorted yet again and rubbed his helm. Bumblebee gave a bewildered warble, and stared at his humans wondering if they had heard the same thing he had. Ironhide shook his head, angry disbelief visible in his optics, and twitched almost violently. Apparently he was resisting the urge to shoot his cannons. The humans on the other hand were much more vocal. Epp's "Whaaa?" of confusion would have been amusing if not for the situation, along with Will's rather blank stare. Mikeala's puzzled whisper of "Franchise?" to Sam was replied with "Upon a star? Is she nuts…?"

"I heard that!" Macy snapped, rubbing her own temples as fear swiftly turned back into irritation. "Look, I know you don't believe me, but it is true. I have been a babysitter for young Cody here for a little over three years. He has been obsessed with you guys ever since I made the mistake of bringing the Original show of you guys-" She earned multiple weird stares at that part. "-and believed you bots were real. When I told him you weren't, he later that night, when I sent him to bed, tried wishing upon a star to make you real."

Here Macy groaned and fiddled with her already messing curls.

"Apparently whatever brought us here couldn't bring you to us, so decided to do the next best thing and bring us to you instead. All I remember that night was putting away supper only to become woozy. I then fainted after stumbling into the living room. When I awoke next, it was to the sound of a TV reporting on the Mission City battle with Cody in some second-rate hotel room with nothing but the clothes on our backs and each other." She gave the bots and humans before her a rather tired look. "So yeah, the Transfomers are a multi-million dollar franchise owned by Hasbro in a different dimension, or reality, whatever it happens to be, that both I and Cody are from."

She gave them all a crooked smile.

"Questions?"

o-O-o

End—Chapter Nine: Franchise?

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Author's Notes:

Hello, I am terribly sorry for the long wait! It has only been... oh god, eight months? Life, and a broken laptop unfortunately have kept me busy, a long with one other thing: a job! The plans with the Navy fell flat, because of my PTSD. Apparently since you leave the military with it they don't want you going in with it. :c But because of that, I had to find a job, and I have managed to do so, my very first! :D

And now that I have it along with a decent laptop, my muse finally returned to me and smacked me over the head last night. Hopefully this means the next chapter will be coming a lot faster! c:

Till next time, read and review.