Chapter Nine
As Ratchet kept the girl under observation, Jazz and Ironhide discussed things with Prowl. Jazz was leaning against Prowl's leg; Ironhide sitting on the other side of the narrow room across from them. Ironhide thumped his fist on the ground in frustration. "So Megatron deliberately kidnapped the girl?" he demanded.
"It seems that way." Prowl said evenly. "We didn't get much from Barricade, but what we did indicated that the girl was important in some way to Megatron."
Jazz made a sound of disbelief. "In some way? Prowl, Barricade said that she was the key to controlling the AllSpark. I don't think that's as vague as some way."
"Smart-aft."
He smirked. "I try."
Ironhide rolled his optics. "Still, Optimus has got to be as confused by all of this as we are." he commented. "I mean, how can a human control a piece of Cybertronian technology? It's not possible. The size of the AllSpark alone would prevent her from making the necessary contact to connect to it."
"Not to mention she doesn't have any of the necessary wires and such to make that connection." Prowl pointed out. "So either Megatron knows something about the AllSpark that we don't, or there's more to that girl than we know."
Jazz shook his head. "I don't get it though. No matter what we learn about her, she's still human. She simply cannot connect with the AllSpark. It's impossible."
A shrill, ear-piercing scream interrupted the conversation. In a flash all three warriors were on their feet and racing for the small area of their makeshift base that Ratchet had claimed as his. Ironhide was the first into the room, cannons drawn and ready for whatever it was in there.
There was a light impact on his shins, and as he glanced down he realized what the source of the scream was. Cursing quietly, he put his cannons away. His sudden appearance probably hadn't helped calm the little human now hiding behind his legs. Although he had to admit, it was a comical sight. "All right, Ratchet, what did you do to the girl?" he teased.
"I don't know." the medic growled, trying to find a way to get a scan on the girl without actually approaching her. "She was starting to wake up, so I came over to get a scan and see if she was fully recovered. She saw me and freaked."
"Oh, come on, Ratch." Jazz teased, his optics bright with the chance to harass the medic. "We all know you ugly, but I didn't know you'd even scare a human."
"Do you want me to wield your aft to the ceiling?"
"You're name is Ratchet?" They all looked down at the girl now starting to peek out from behind Ironhide's leg. She was a bit reluctant to leave the safety of the weapons specialist, but at least she was out in the open now. Ratchet quickly got his scan before the girl could decide to hide again. He nodded.
"That is my designation." he confirmed. She breathed a sigh of relief.
"That means I'm not at the Decepticon base any more." she muttered to herself. Looking up, she flashed an embarrassed smile at the medic. "Sorry about that. For a moment there, I thought you were Soundwave."
"Understandable." Ratchet said with a nod. "Considering you were unconscious the entire trip here, I should have realized you would be a bit disoriented when you woke up. That was my mistake." He finished reading over his scans and sighed. "There seems to be no permanent damage from Soundwave's handling of you. You're lucky, human. Not many escape Soundwave's wrath like that."
"My designation is Rae, not human." the teenager pointed out dryly. "And I'm lucky Starscream and Barricade found me when they did. Megatron is going to kill them when he realizes what they did."
"Don't go getting too attached, Rae." Jazz warned. "They are Decepticons, after all. We still don't know what they were doing."
"They were protecting me." Rae shot back. "And that slag about 'they're Decepticons, they must be evil' is just plain wrong. You should know that." The mechs all exchanged looks.
"Just how long were you with the Decepticons, anyway?" Ironhide asked, a feeling of sympathy starting to come over him. He could barely handle the Decepticons during battle, and that was when he got to blast them all to pit. He couldn't imagine having to stay with them and not be able to defend himself. The girl may have developed a few relationships just to keep herself sane.
"Not long." Rae said. "A week, tops. But I've known Starscream all my life."
Well, there shot that idea.
"Is the human female awake?" Optimus walked towards them, his optics fixed on the teenager still clinging to Ironhide's leg. "Now that's an odd sight. Ironhide, I think you've made a friend." The weapons specialist made a snorting noise, but didn't bother correcting his leader. There was something odd about the way the girl was acting, and it wasn't the fact that she was defending Starscream. She really just wasn't acting like a human adolescent. In fact, she was acting more –
More like a youngling.
"Optimus, she seems to be in perfect health." Ratchet reported. Optimus gave him a look.
"Seems to be?"
"She's defending the Decepticons."
Rae rolled her eyes. "Not all of them. Just Starscream and Barricade. They were nice to me." Prime knelt down so he was on her level. Rae backed away until she was pressed against Ironhide's leg. There was a small amount of fear in her eyes, but even more defiance. Prime wasn't intimidating her at all.
Good. He really hadn't wanted to scare her.
"Rae." he said quietly. "We have never known Starscream or Barricade to show any kind of mercy. They have been our bitter enemies since the war began. Do you understand why we find this strange?"
Rae studied him for a moment. Finally, she bowed her head in a display of resignation. "I have a story to tell, I see. But I would like for it to wait. I'm tired and hungry."
Prime nodded slowly. "What do you eat?"
"That depends. Mostly I hunt." She shrugged. "Sometimes I'll go looking through Dumpsters, but I haven't done that in ages."
Prime studied her for a moment, then straightened up and looked Prowl in the eye. "Has Bumblebee made contact with our human ally?"
"Yes, Optimus."
"Tell him when he comes in, he needs to bring some food with him." Prowl nodded and headed off to find Bumblebee. Prime turned to Ironhide. "Show her where she can rest." he said quietly. Ironhide nodded.
"Come on, youngling." he said, picking her up and cradling her to his chest. "Let's get some recharge, huh?"
Rae nodded, leaning against him and closing her eyes. "Sure."
/---/
AN: Oh, I feel the need to tell you that while this story is supposed to be humorous, my version of humor is sarcasm. Be on the lookout for it. (grins)
