The deadliest thing after Decepticons
Having been raised by humans, Peaches still followed that news even though she was now an Autobot. She sat with shock as she read the latest articles about the recent tornado outbreaks in the Midwestern United States. She couldn't take it anymore; she broke down in tears.
"Peaches, what's wrong?" Sideways asked as he walked into the room with Abby and Crystal in his arms and wondering what all of this was about.
"It's-well, some of my human cousins live there" Peaches replied as she explained about what had happened recently. "To be specific, my human relatives there are my cousins Ethan, Janet, Seth and Alex, and my Aunt Betty and Uncle Greg. I don't know if they're missing or dead. Those tornadoes are the worst in U.S. history and they were near that area! It's hard to explain!"
"Earth's natural disasters are really something as far as destructive power." The ex-con said, a bit shocked but not fully grasping the seriousness of the situation. "Is Alex a boy or a girl?"
"A boy, but that doesn't matter!" Peaches replied. "I've got to see if I can reach them!"
The Pretender ran out of the room in panic and quickly took out her cell phone. She then went outside and tried to get a signal. She then dialed Ethan's cell number; she got his voicemail. At least that was better than nothing. Peaches left a message saying "Hey, its cousin Peaches. Just checking to be sure you guys are okay after all that you've been through. Give me a call back and please tell me what's going on please. Bye."
She had tried to remain calm while sending that message but had barely been able to keep her voice steady. By the time she finished sending the message and ended the call, she was in tears again. Peaches sat there on the beach, not caring how much sand would get in her shorts that she was wearing right now in her human mode or whether said sand got into her gears when she transformed to robot mode, and was silently crying, though mostly she was just confused. What was going to happen now? Would anybody be found? If any of her relatives there were gone…Peaches stopped before she could finish the rest of the thought.
"Peaches, Optimus would like you to-"
It was Elita One who had started to say this but abruptly stopped when she saw the scene. The only Autobot Pretender sadly sitting there, looking as sad as she had been when Crystal had gotten kidnapped by the Decepticons a few weeks before.
"I'll do it later and I don't want to talk about why I'm like this." Peaches snapped, through the continuous sobbing she was now doing. "I don't want to talk to Optimus Prime either!"
"Paige Kathleen Smith…" Elita started to say.
"Don't call me by my full human name!" the Pretender shouted, trying to cover up her sadness with anger. "Only my parents were allowed to do that and maybe my aunts and uncles and grandparents!"
The female Autobot who was Optimus Prime's sparkmate sat down next to the "human" girl and asked "What has been going on? If it was Sideways or Barricade-"
"It's not them!" Peaches yelled, as she threw a handful of sand into the water. She wanted to run off.
"Well, what is it?" Elita asked again, this time a bit more gently as she picked up Peaches and put her on her lap as though the latter were a young child.
"That stupid tornado outbreak that happened recently in the U.S. this week" the Pretender explained, as she finally took a deep breath and tried to calm herself down. She then explained about her relatives missing and just as she was about to say that she assumed they were dead, her cell phone rang.
"You might want to answer that." the other femme said.
Peaches answered the phone. "Hello?"
"Peach, it's me." A voice said.
"Ethan! You're alive!" Peaches screamed happily, then stopped. "What about everyone else at home?"
She then listened as Ethan told her that Aunt Betty and Uncle Greg were unharmed after being rescued from some rubble, Janet and Alex had also made it but Seth had not made it out alive. "He was crushed when a car landed on top of him. By the time we got to him, we knew he was a lost cause. Mom checked his pulse and everything."
Peaches shed more tears. "I'll see if I can get time off to come down for the funeral." She said downtrodden after hearing this news. "I'm glad the rest of you guys are all right. Keep me posted please. Love you more than anything else. Bye."
After the phone had been hung up by Peaches, Elita asked "Do you want to tell me the good news or the bad news first?"
"The bad news because I just can't stand how confusing this all is. The aftermath is just as horrible as the actual tornadoes were in some aspects." The Pretender replied.
Optimus Prime came up. "Peaches where were you-"he then stopped. He couldn't be angry at Peaches when he saw her crying and Elita giving her a hug. He then calmly asked "Will one of you please tell me what is going on?"
When she was done saying everything, Peaches was still in tears and telling Optimus the whole story. "Seth was only 13, not even in high school yet." The Pretender said sadly. "He always wanted to be a counselor after what happened to my human parents and having had to deal with that."
The Pretender couldn't say anything else as she didn't know how else to explain what was going on or what she was feeling. She was still crying and secretly wishing that it would be like a Disney movie where everything would turn out okay in the end, even though that was probably not going to happen.
"Peaches, you are excused from your duties for the rest of the day." The Autobot leader said kindly. "Remember that we are here if you wish to talk to us."
"I don't even know what else to say since they're still getting details about who else is definitely alive or dead." Peaches said sadly. "I just wish-I just wish that no one else who's missing relatives will have to hear what I did.".
Peaches transformed into her robot mode and went to use the wash racks. She wasn't expecting what would happen later…
Sideways had looked up information about historic tornado outbreaks and was now looking at Peaches, as she sat and looked at a picture of her aunt, uncle and cousins again.
"I've got to admit, Earth's natural disasters are the deadliest thing after Megatron or any other Decepticon, current or former." He said. "I'm sorry about what happened. I just wish I could do more."
"So do I!" Peaches declared. "I want to go and help with the relief after this whole thing. It won't make me feel 100% better but at least I'll feel a little bit better knowing that someone is getting aid after having lost everything."
Sideways then said "Peaches, Optimus and Elita want to talk to you ASAP."
The Pretender said nothing as she walked out of the room and went to Optimus Prime's office. He was sitting there with Elita, Major Lennox, and Master Sergent Epps.
"Peaches, we are sending some humans from here to help with the relief effort and a few Autobots will be in vehicle mode to transport supplies." Major Lennox explained. "We'd like you to come even though it's not likely that you'll be able to get some time to chat with your human relatives."
"Are you sure? You're not joking?" the confused Pretender asked.
"No, we are certainly not joking." Optimus Prime said. "I know that you are dealing with a lot right now but we will not push you over your limits."
"I've lived as a human most of my life Optimus; I wouldn't feel good if I wasn't doing something for them, even if they are complete strangers." Peaches said. "I can't say no."
"Are you sure you will be all right?" Elita wanted to know. "This is no easy task and you'll only be there for about a week."
"I'll be fine; Sideways can take care of Abby and Crystal and has Ashley to help him if he needs it." The orange and red femme replied. "I'll try my best to keep my cool."
"We'll keep an eye on her." Master Sergent Epps said.
"Very well; you will leave tomorrow at 5:00 a.m. with everyone else who volunteered to go." Optimus stated.
I can get up that early, Peaches thought. She was still upset about Seth but wanted to prove that she could forget her own emotional trauma and help someone else with theirs. In a sense, the Pretender felt lucky; she had not been in the area and hadn't lost nearly as much as others had but she would give it all she got. This one's for you Seth, the femme said to herself, you didn't feel any pain; I know you're in a better place.
Peaches went to her room and got ready for bed. She was glowing a bit and felt so determined. Ratchet had explained that this was the feeling Cybertronians got that was called "Burning Justice" a sense of wanting to make things right and doing whatever was necessary to do it. She couldn't bring her cousin back but she could help those who were survivors of the tornadoes. She would help find anyone else who was missing, give out food to other volunteers, donate blood-well not the last one since her "blood" wasn't real; it was just energon and other fluids that turned that color when she was human.
Peaches finally fell asleep, not peacefully but in a state of determination and wanting to do something. She would do anything for someone else, even if it meant getting up at 5:00 in the morning and not sleeping until 8:00 like she usually did…she settled down and snuggled closer to Sideways, who was unconsciously giving her comfort after all she had been through today.