Nightbird
Author's Note: I'm really surprised that people like this story. I'm happy that you all are enjoying it! Most of this story is really hard for me to write (which is why it took a while...) but it's all worthwhile just to see you all enjoy reading. :D I was going to add a chapter on Emma and Barricade getting to know one another but decided to do a timeskip. It was better that way and didn't muck up what I have planned. Enough of my rambling, on with the next chapter!
Disclaimer: Last time I'm writing this, Transformers belongs to Hasbro and whatever. Nightbird is my OC.
(Thoughts)
=Speaking Cybertronian=
:comlink:
It's been at least two days since Emma joined up with the Decepticons and so far she was enjoying herself. Most of the Vehicons even started to like her after a while and often talked to her about anything that they found interesting. Emma quickly found out that the Vehicons are really curious Decepticons, as she's often asked about what human culture is like and anything else that's interesting to them. Of course she told them about certain things humans did but she didn't know much besides what she learned about in school, which was okay with them. They were happy to learn different things from her and she was happy that she found some new friends in them. True at the beginning most didn't like her but quickly warmed up to her once they heard about her backstory. They couldn't believe how much she had to go through thanks to her so-called mother. She was like them in a way, not appreciated or praised enough and sometimes abused by the other Decepticons on board. The Vehicons vowed that even after Emma got enhanced they would protect her any way they can, even giving up their very lives for her.
The Mustang Barricade grew a bit close to the little human femme in the past few days, to him she was like a friend he never had (Not that he'll admit that of course) and he could tell that Emma felt the same way. After thinking about it the Mech decided to become her Guardian which surprised Starscream and Blackout. They teased him on it and he only shrugged it off, saying that the only reason he's her guardian is because even after the Enhancement she'll still need protection and nothing more. (But in reality he did that just so he could protect his new friend.) Emma was happy to know that Barricade was her protector. To her he was like a Guardian Angel that saved her from a lifetime of misery, she'd tell that to him but is too shy to say anything.
Speaking of Enhancement today is the day for Emma to get enhanced by Shockwave. The girl was a bit nervous; okay she was scared as hell, and hid in part of Barricade's chest armor. Emma never liked getting surgery and was even scared of getting her tonsils out when she was little. Barricade was at the entrance to Shockwave's lab and was trying to coax her out of his armor.
"Emma there's nothing to be afraid of, come on out."
She peeked out from his armor and rapidly shook her head then hid again. The Mech vented and almost jumped when Megatron arrived and spoke to him.
"What's the matter Barricade? Why is the femme not undergoing the procedure?" he asked.
The Mustang could've sweat-dropped at that moment as he stammered a bit, trying to explain why Emma was acting this way. "Uhh... I-I'm trying to coax her to go inside but she's scared for some reason..."
Megatron glanced down and saw the human girl peek out at him with fear in her eyes, but that fear wasn't directed at him. Curious, he leaned down and spoke in a soft yet raspy voice. "Emma is there any reason why you show fear? As far as I could tell you were excited for the procedure to be done."
Emma glanced at the door to the Lab, then back at Megatron. "U-um... I'm... I'm scared..."
"Why are you scared?" Megatron asked.
"Uh, well... T-this Enhancement is like surgery right? I-I don't like surgery... I had to go under the knife just to-to remove my tonsils when I was little..." Emma hugged part of Barricade's armor and shook a little, trying not to cry. "I'm... I'm scared of going under the knife..."
Megatron was a bit perplexed at this, he's never heard of such a strange fear before. Looking at Barricade he saw the Mech carefully rubbing her cheek, trying to calm her down. He smirked and decided to use reverse psychology on her. "Well Emma, if you're going to help us with the Autobots then you need to get enhanced. Otherwise we can just return you to your creator and find a better replacement..."
"NO!" Emma jumped in Barricade's servo and pleaded fearfully at the Decepticon leader. "I don't want to return to that woman! She'll just yell and scream at me again! Please don't make me go back! Don't make me go!"
Barricade saw the look on his charge's face, it was full of fear of going back to her creator and that made him angry to see her so distressed. He held her close to his chest and glared at Megatron, realizing what he was trying to do. Megatron saw the Mech glaring at him but ignored it as he spoke. "If you don't want to go back home then I'd suggest you proceed with the Enhancement. We wouldn't want a potential warrior like yourself to be sent home and be abused by that pathetic excuse of a mother now... would we?" He grinned when Emma shook her head wildly and wiped the tears from her eyes. Megatron knew that this human was perfect in accomplishing his goal and no way will he allow anything to stand in the way. Emma wiped her eyes of the tears and sighed a bit, she was scared of the surgery yes but was even more scared of them taking her back home. If she wanted to have a better life then she has to do it, no matter how terrified she was of going under the knife.
"I-I'll do it! But please don't send me back there!"
"Good Femme. I'll be looking forward to seeing your new look afterwards."
The Dark Lord turned and walked away, satisfied to have coaxed her into doing the procedure. Barricade watched his leader walk away with a frown on his faceplates, he didn't like that scare tactic he used on Emma and if he was just another Decepticon he would've throttled him. Looking down in his servo he saw the girl taking deep breaths to calm herself. "You alright Emma?"
She nodded and looked up at him, a small smile on her face. "Yeah... I'm alright. I honestly got scared when he said that-that he was going to find another person to take my place..."
Barricade snorted at that. "Don't worry, he only said that just to scare ya. He wasn't really going to replace you."
"Really? Still... that was mean." She hugged one of his digits and pouted a little, a bit peeved that she fell for that scare tactic. Barricade however didn't know if his leader was serious about replacing her that time but decided to not mention it. Looking at the entrance to the lab he knocked on it and the door slid open.
"Ready girlie?"
"Y-yeah, I'm ready..."
The Mech walked inside and Emma took a chance to look around. Everywhere you looked there was all kinds of machines, tools and who knows what else surrounding the Lab. Everything was neatly organized and nothing was cluttered or out of place. Her eyes then landed on Shockwave standing near a table and next to him was Knockout, the latter smiling when he saw the two enter.
"Hello darling! Ready for your procedure?" The Medic cheerfully asked.
Emma nodded and didn't say anything, which got the Medic wondering what was wrong. The Mustang rubbed her back to calm her down. "She's just nervous is all, turns out she isn't too keen on 'going under the knife' as she puts it."
"Aww, well don't worry little spark. We'll make sure that nothing bad happens while you're under." said Knockout.
"O-okay" she said in a small voice.
Shockwave turned around and pressed a button on the table, raising it a bit to reveal a bed that Emma could lay on. After that some cabling along with other surgical tools appeared from a smaller door on the table. He turned his helm and spoke in his cold monotone voice. "I have calculated that the surgery will be 100% successful with no harmful repercussions. Not only that the results will be beneficial to your health." Typing something up on his computer he looked at the Mech holding the human girl. "Place her on the table Barricade."
Barricade lowered his servo near the table, watching as Emma jumped off of it and walked towards the bed, laying down on it. Suddenly two straps appeared and wrapped themselves around her, preventing her from moving. The girl started to panic until Knockout explained what was happening. "Relax dear, those are just to make sure you stay still while in stasis. It's a safety precaution."
That info did relax her a little, but she was still scared yet at the same time excited. She didn't know what was going to happen once she woke up but she couldn't wait to see her new body. Emma looked up at her Guardian who had a worried look on his face and smiled at her.
"I'm a little scared, but I'll be okay Barricade."
Barricade had a small smile on his faceplates, his charge was scared out of her wits but put on a brave face to let him know that she'll be alright. He was planning on staying to watch but Shockwave walked up to him.
"It would be better if you waited outside until the enhancement is over. You'll just be in the way here."
The Mustang frowned at that but seeing little Emma's face and the happy yet scared look on it made him want to stay, just to make sure she survived the Enhancement is all. Knockout patted him on the shoulder and smiled at him. "Relax Cade', Emma is in good servos. Besides she's a brave little femme and doesn't need her Guardian looming over her every minute."
"...Alright...I'll hold you both to that."
Barricade looked at Emma who was still smiling at him and waving with her hand since her arm was wrapped up at the moment. He gave her a quick smile then turned and left the lab, the door closing behind him. After he left Knockout chuckled and shook his helm, pressing a button for a long clear tube to appear and fix itself on Emma's face. It looked like some sort of advanced breathing mask.
"He doesn't show it but he's worried about you, he's getting to be quite the softy there."
The girl giggled at that. "I don't think so, he's just shy about showing his feelings is all."
"Yeah he's shy all right, hehe. Now Emma this breathing apparatus is going to be filled with a special gas that'll make you sleep so you won't feel any pain. You understand?"
Emma nodded and watched as the Medic typed up something on a nearby computer, then she suddenly smelled something sweet. It was the gas filling up the breathing tube and it strangely smelled like a mixture of strawberries and sweet tarts. Her eyelids got heavy as she breathed in the gas, it was making her very sleepy. For a minute she didn't notice Knockout speaking to her.
"Emma? Can you count backwards from 100 for me?"
She nodded again and started counting backwards, her body feeling heavier as she felt even sleepier than usual. She was on the number 95 when she slowly succumbed to sleep, her final thought of her guardian and best friend.
(Mr. Cade...)
Seeing that she was in a deep sleep Knockout turned off the gas but left the clear breathing tube on. Shockwave had his special tools ready and turned to Knockout, who was checking the girl's vitals to make sure they were steady.
"Let us begin."
...
~3 hours later~
Barricade getting worried was an understatement, he didn't show it but he was downright scared and nervous for his young charge. He would've stayed by the Lab door for longer but Starscream needed him to go on patrol and search for any Autobots in a certain area of the city. He didn't want to leave Emma behind and made Frenzy stay behind to wait for Emma's surgery to be over. Soon as he arrived back to base he transformed, sent in his daily report to Starscream then quickly walked over to Shockwave's laboratory.
(Can't believe I'm getting worried... She'll be fine... That girl has proven herself to be able to handle certain situations... But the look on her face when she got scared, over surgery no less... Primus she looked like a helpless Sparkling... Dammit! I can't believe I'm feeling like this!)
Barricade didn't realize that since he decided to become Emma's Guardian his Guardian Protocols activated and they wanted him to make sure that she was alright. Arriving at the entrance to the Lab he saw Frenzy sitting there along with his brother Rumble, both Mini-bots looked up and waved at him.
"Hey Bari Bari! What up?" asked Frenzy.
"Is Emma's procedure over yet?" he asked.
"Ummm..." Frenzy looked back at the locked door and shook his helm. "I don't think so, haven't heard nuttin' in a while..."
"We've just been sittin' here playing with our new phone." said Rumble. "Don't know how long the squishy's surgery will take."
The Mech vented a little and glanced at the door, he didn't show it on his face but he was starting to get really worried. He didn't know how long the Procedure would take but he prayed to Primus that little Emma would come out of it with no problems. And this Mech hardly ever prays to anything, since he's not that religious. Frenzy and Rumble glanced at the Mech and spoke on their private Coms.
:I've never seen Barricade act like this... Is he worried about the Squishy?: Rumble
:Yeah, he's worried. Strange how he cares so much for Emma.: Frenzy
:Maybe his Guardian Protocols activated or something? If they did then maybe that's why he's acting so distressed: Rumble
:Nah, he ain't distressed Rumble. Just worried. Everything will be fine.: Frenzy
:Okay then...: Rumble
The two Mini-bots weren't at all worried about the human, they knew that she'll be fine once it was over. They took turns playing on their new phone (Soundwave got tired of them fighting over it so he made them share it) while Barricade stood outside the lab door waiting patiently for it to open. 30 minutes later it did and everyone saw Knockout exit carrying a strange glass-like sphere with something inside of it. Barricade got in front of him and saw that the glass sphere was opaque, he couldn't see inside of it which caused him to panic a little.
"What happened?! Where's Emma?!"
Knockout frowned and made a shushing sound, whispering harshly at him. "Quiet will you?! Emma is still in stasis and I don't want her to wake up."
Staring at the glass sphere the Mustang realized that the human was inside of it. Frenzy and Rumble climbed on the Mech and sat on his shoulders to see what the Medic was holding. "The squishy's in there?" whispered Rumble.
Knockout nodded and quickly walked towards his Med Bay, with everyone following him. When they arrived they saw him sit the sphere down and connect it with some computers that were designed to regulate a Cybertronian's sparkbeat and vitals. When he was done the glass Sphere glowed a little but it was still opaque, no one can see inside of it yet. Barricade was going to ask if Emma was alright but Knockout provided the answer.
"Don't worry Barricade, little Emma is fine. The Enhancement was a success."
Letting out a breath he didn't know he was holding the Mech was relieved to hear that she was going to be okay. "That's good... But how come I can't see her? And why is she in that thing?"
"Her body is healing and is a bit swollen from the surgery, so this glass sphere is like a healing chamber for her. She'll be deep in stasis for about two weeks while she heals up. That's why it looks cloudy."
"I see... Did Shockwave delete those bad memories of hers?"
"Affirmative."
Everyone turned to see Shockwave enter the Med Bay with a Data Tablet in one of his servos. He walked up to the glass sphere and checked the vitals of the sleeping human inside, satisfied he turned to the others and spoke up. "I used a version of the Cordial Psychic Patch to delete those unfit memories of hers. How that will affect her personality upon awakening is still to be determined."
Barricade nodded and stared at the glass sphere. He wondered if Emma would be herself or be a different person once she woke up. Either way he'll have to wait until she's healed to find out the results. Frenzy and Rumble climbed down from his shoulders and stood next to the glass bubble-looking sphere, gently poking the hard surface.
"So she's recharging in there?" asked Frenzy.
Knockout nodded and went to another part of the Med Bay to get something, when he returned he had an I.V Fluid Drop that had a light red and blue color. Rumble tilted his helm as he watched the Medic hook it up to the sphere.
"What the frag is that?" he asked.
"Special Energon that Shockwave created. It'll help in healing Emma's body, not only that it'll slowly mix with her blood so that she'll be able to consume Energon if she so wishes."
"Ohhh... I can share my Energon Cookies with her then!" said Rumble.
"Ooh! I can give her some of my High-Grade too!" said Frenzy.
"She'll be having Low-grade only and that's it." Barricade snorted a bit when he heard Frenzy whine about it. In Cybertronian years Emma is still a minor so no way in the Pits is she drinking that, not on his watch. The Mech gently rubbed the glass that kept his charge inside, he wanted to see what she looked like. Knockout saw the look on his face and patted his shoulder, making him glance up at the other Mech. "In the past few days I can tell that she's grown on you. Don't worry Barricade, as I said before Emma will be alright. A bit sore once she awakens but alright nonetheless."
"...Okay." The Mustang gazed at the sphere for a little while longer before leaving and heading back to his room, with the two mini-bots following. Now that he knew that Emma was going to be okay he was a bit excited to see her new form. Shockwave was on his Data Tablet and was testing the unconscious girl's brainwaves, his single optic glowing a little brighter once he got the results back.
"Interesting... It appears that Emma Bowman's brainwaves have doubled in the past 5 minutes..."
Knockout chuckled and looked at the Scientist. "Well of course they would be, her mind is freed from those tormenting memories and is now free to grow and expand. Why she'll be even smarter and possibly more in control of herself." He suddenly frowned a little as he looked towards the sphere, venting a little. "At least I hope so... that glitch of hers is amazing but..."
Shockwave looked up from his tablet to stare at Knockout. "But what?"
"I noticed that she causes physical harm to herself whenever she gets upset. Emma told me herself that she does that. I hope that this Enhancement corrects that glitch of hers..."
"That could explain why she had human bite marks on the outer layer of her epidermal skin. I believe that once she awakes her glitch will be under control."
Knockout nodded slightly and sat in his chair next to one of the computers. "I hope to Primus that it does Shockwave... I'll be monitoring her readings for a while just to make sure everything goes alright."
"Acknowledged, call me if any changes occur."
With that Shockwave left the Med Bay and headed back to his lab. Meanwhile Barricade decided to head to the Rec Room for some Energon, not wanting to go to his room anymore. Once arriving he saw some of the Vehicons there enjoying their break before heading back to work. Getting his fuel he sat down at an empty table and slowly drank it, getting lost in his own thoughts. Soundwave and his minicons plus Mechanimals arrived shortly afterwards and sat next to him but he paid them no mind. His processor was on his charge and even though he was relieved that the Enhancement was a success he was a little pissed off, mainly at her creator. He couldn't imagine all the years she suffered while under her care, and when he met her a few days ago she looked like life has given up on her and left her to endure the verbal torture of something she probably thought she deserved. It was enough to make him want to kill that so called "Creator" of hers. He let out a small growl that caught the attention of Soundwave, who turned his helm and stared at him. He heard it since he was sitting close to the young Mech and wondered what could be upsetting him, he tried looking into his mind but for some reason it was erratic, he couldn't read anything from it. After a few minutes the Mustang saw him staring at him and frowned.
"What?"
Soundwave tilted his helm, asking a silent question. Barricade seemed to understand what he was trying to say and shook his helm.
"It's nothing, just a lot on my Processor is all…"
Soundwave just stared at him for a moment then activated a sound recording, with him sounding like Starscream for a bit.
"Are you sure it's nothing and not something you can't be bothered with later?"
Barricade groaned a bit at the voice of the Seeker, out of all voice recordings he couldn't have picked a better one? "...Just thinking about Emma is all. It pisses me off that her dammed Creator treated her like scrap throughout her life. If I could I'd just go over there and kill her right now."
Ravage and Laserbeak were eating some meat-flavored Energon and heard Barricade talk about the human's creator. At first they didn't like the human femme, (since she beat them up in the most embarrassing way possible) but after hearing about what she went though they did feel a bit bad for her. Ravage leered at Frenzy and asked a question. "Hey Dummy, what happened to the squishy?"
Frenzy glared at the Jaguar and yelled at him. "I ain't no dummy! And Emma's fine, Enhancement a success. Plus she's also in some weird glass bubble lookin' thing."
"Oh. So when she gonna wake up?" the Jaguar asked.
Frenzy shrugged and drunk his Energon. "Don't know, probably in a few weeks. I can't see what she looks like since that bubble is all cloudy."
"Well once she wakes up I wanna rematch!" screeched Laserbeak. "She'll regret calling me a pet!"
Frenzy and Rumble snickered at that and had to dodge a swipe to the helm by both Mechanimals, who were still upset over how the human girl defeated them the last time. Barricade wasn't paying them no mind and just stared into his cup of Energon. Even though he couldn't read his mind at the moment, Soundwave knew how the young Mech felt. If anything were to happen to his Mini-cons and Mechanimals he'd be devastated. He put a servo on his back and let a small smile grace his usually emotionless face, making Barricade smile a little at him.
"At least I know how you feel now... With those cassettes of yours worrying you half the time." he whispered.
Soundwave nodded and got up to get more Energon, leaving the scout alone with his thoughts.
...
On an Island off the Pacific Ocean was Diego Garcia, home to NEST Base and is where the Autobots live on. Everyone on the island was having a day off since no Decepticon activity was reported. Some of the more hardened solders didn't like the lack of activity so they kept up their training just in case. Some of the solders and humans were in the Rec Room enjoying themselves and relaxing, taking the oppotunity to unwind after so many battles against the Decepticons. One Autobot named Sideswipe was watching the news when an Amber Alert suddenly popped up. Curious he turned up the volume and listened in to what the male reporter was saying.
"We follow up our story with Breaking News, so far it's been a month since these three people have disappeared under unusual circumstances. Police have yet to find out where they could be at and their family and friends are begging for your help. And now, we add a forth to the list of missing persons. This one only a teenager, here is her picture."
The news then showed a picture of a young african-american girl with blue eyes, light grey bangs and dark brown hair. But something was strange about the girl in the picture Sideswipe noticed. He didn't have time to wonder what as the News Reporter spoke again.
"Her name is Emma Bowman and is only 17 years old. She also has Autism and is known by her mother for running away at times and is always found by the local police and returned. She ran away three days ago for reasons unknown and this time she didn't return. Her mother is pleading for help in finding her missing daughter."
The news then cut away to show an older woman in her late 40's with her hair pulled back and braided, leaving her bangs free to cover most of her face. She was crying and in distress over her missing daughter.
"Please someone help me find my baby girl! Thanks to her mental disability she always wanders off and often runs away at times. I'm so scared that something has happened to her! Emma if you're watching this please come back home! Mama is worried and scared about you!"
It then cut back to the News reporter with the missing people pictured on the side of the screen along with a phone number to call. "So far Police haven't had any leads on any of the missing persons and think that the recent disappearance of Emma could be related to the other three pictured here. Police are advsing everyone to watch their surroundings and be on the lookout for anything suspicious. If you find out anything on these recent events please call the number on your screen, we need your help to find these people and return them home to their families. Remember, you can remain anonymous. I'm Mark Harrision and this is Eyewitness News at 7. Back to you Trisha."
The news then went on to talk about the upcoming weather and other events, some of the solders who were watching the news felt sorry for the mother. Some of them have family members with mental disablities so they can relate to how she feels. Sideswipe did a quick search on Autism and other Mental Disorders and he saw how similar they are to someone of his kind having a Processor Glitch. For example his friend Prowl with his Logic Glitch and Red Alert with his Paranoia Glitch. Even though they have these glitches they are still respected by other Cybertronians, hell if someone met them for the first time they wouldn't know that they have a Processor Glitch. Sideswipe felt bad for the human girl and hoped their local police would find her and the others soon. He heard one solder talking to his friends about it and listened in.
"Damn, that's the forth one this month. I feel bad for that girl..."
"Me too man, I hope they find the bastard that kidnapped them all." said another solder.
"This really hits home for me..." said one other solder. "I have a cousin back in New Jersey with a Mental Disorder and he would sometimes wander off if he sees anything related to video games. He doesn't watch out for his surroundings and he once got lost because my dumb ass brother didn't watch him. I pray to God they find that girl..."
"She's known for running away? I wonder why that is?" a solder asked.
"People with Mental Disorders don't think like we do, who knows what's going on in their heads? Hell some of them have the mind of a 5 year old or act brain dead, or are just born retarded. Sad really."
Sideswipe kept listening to their conversation and felt like he had to say something. "You know Gary, that's not entirely true. Some Cybertronians are born with Glitches and they don't act like sparklings."
The solder, named Gary looked up at him. "You mean your kind have people that are retards too?"
"Yes, but we don't call them 'retards'. It's called a Processor Glitch and those who have them don't have the mindset of a 5 year old."
Gary stared at him and folded his arms. "Alright, who do you know that are born mentally disabled?"
Sideswipe grinned and pointed to the far corner of the room, the small group turned to look and saw the Tactical Officer Prowl speaking with Junior Medic Red Alert. "Prowl has this Logic Glitch where if he's told something that doesn't make sense or isn't logical his processor will go in a loop and crash, causing him to go into Stasis and fall to the floor. He'll have a helm ache afterwards. Red Alert for some reason has a Paranoia Glitch and if you tell him something and twist it in a way that is believeable he'll freak out over it. Example, if you tell him that Snowballs are baby Snowmen he'll freak out and try to save them."
The solders chuckled at that part while some shook their heads, trying to hold in their laughter. Gary snorted and looked back up at Sideswipe, who had a grin on his faceplates. "Is that why you and your brother always end up in the Brig?"
Sideswipe rubbed the back of his helm and nodded. "Yeah, we take advantage of their Glitches and use it to pull pranks on them." He stared back at the TV as a commercial was playing and frowned a little, a thoughtful look on his face. "You gotta wonder though, out of all the pictures they showed of the missing people only that Emma girl's was sad looking. Plus she keeps running away from home. I hope nothing bad is going on..."
"What makes you say that?" a solder asked.
"Back on Cybertron anyone that is born with a Processor Glitch gets treated the same as if they never had one. They get treated with respect, hell most get special treatment depending on the Glitch." He went quiet for a while before speaking again, in a low dangerous voice tis time. "Any Mech or Femme found abusing or mistreating a bot with a Glitch are the lowest of the low."
Gary sat up straighter and spoke up to the Mech. "So what would you do if you found out that the girl was being abused? Would you kill the mother?"
Sideswipe didn't say anything for a few minutes, making some of the men wonder what he was thinking. The red Mech then looked down at them with an unreadable expression. "Well, if the mother wasn't a human then I'd run them through with my swords. No one should mistreat someone just because of a Glitch they have." The small group of solders stared at the Lamborghini, a bit shocked to hear that coming from him. True some humans have abused the Mentaly disabled and have gone to jail for it but to kill them? They looked at each other then back at Sideswipe, who was now paying attention to the Maury Show that just came on. "Hey Sides? You'd seriously kill someone if they abused a Mentally Challenged person?" asked a solder.
"If they were Cybertronian then yes, but if it's a human then I can't. Optimus says we can't harm humans no matter what happens." He glanced back down at them and smiled. "But he didn't say anything about getting local humans to beat them up for us."
"That I agree with." the solder who said that was named Kenny and was the one who spoke about his disabled cousin eariler. "Shit if I find out that someone was abusing a Disabled person I'd beat their ass, that shit ain't right."
Most of the solders in the little group agreed and left it at that as they watched TV with Sideswipe. Little did they know Optimus was listening in on their conversation and overheard the newscast from eariler. He vented a little, saddened that a young girl such as that one was kidnapped along with the others. He whispered a prayer to those that were missing and hoped they all be found soon.
"May Primus keep them safe..."
...
~Two Weeks Later~
"That's it darling, take it easy."
The Medic Knockout was currently helping Emma get familiar with her new body she woke up in. Two hours ago the human girl woke up from Stasis and the glass-like bubble she was kept in opened up, alerting the Medic to her awakening. He commed Barricade to come to the Med Bay so he could see what she looked like. When Barricade walked in and saw her he was shocked at how different she looked.
"Emma?"
Emma had dark purple armor covering her torso all the way up to her chest with some light to dark pink blade-like extensions on the waist. Her belly button was showing and there were some light pink decorations covering the armor on her chest. Her head was mostly covered in a ninja-like armor that stretched down to part of her shoulders and her collarbone, ending with a light pink diamond in the middle of her chest with a red bio-light in the middle. On the sides of her head was two round audio devices that acted like a Cybertronian's Audio Receptors, her face was untouched and a part of her face can be covered with a retractable battle mask. Her eyes were a bright yellow color instead of the usual soft baby blue she was born with. They were enhanced to be better at seeing things more clearly and she can make them glow in the dark to provide extra light or dim them. Part of her forearms was also covered in metal-like armor but it looked like it was a part robotic, only the front of her hands were still flesh and they ended with long black claws. Almost her entire legs have been reformatted to also look robotic, from where part of her thigh ended where it was still flesh there was bright red bio-lights that covered her upper thigh and her lower leg. She had light pink leg spikes that started at her knees and curved upwards, they wrapped around part of her lower legs which was jet black and ending in heel-like boots. Most of her hair had to be shaven off so the rest of it was pulled into a long ponytail. Due to the after-effects of using Energon in her body part of her hair turned red while the rest stayed a light greyish brown. Only her face, parts of her shoulders and chest, her upper arms, belly-button, and upper thighs were exposed, still made of skin. Both sides of her arms had the Decepticon logo branded on it, like a tattoo. Barricade vented sharply when he laid his optics on her, she was truly a sight to behold.
"Wow…"
Emma turned to look at the new Mech that entered the room, she had to focus her newly enhanced eyes to look at him. She took in every detail as she scanned him, from his peds to his arms that ended in claw-like hands-no servos her brain corrected, to his helm. Her new techno-organic brain was able to process things 70 times faster than normal, unusual for a human but not Emma. She was fully Techno-Organic. As she stared at him the Mustang wondered if she still remembered him.
"Emma? Do you recognize me?"
Hearing his voice caused a small smile to appear on her face as she turned to fully face him. "Mr. Cade…"
Letting out a breath he didn't know he held in, he smiled and leaned down to look at her closely taking in all of her new features. He didn't even mind her calling him by his human name in the presence of the Medic, who was watching with a smirk on his face. "Oh Primus, look at you… You're beautiful. How do you feel?"
Emma chuckled lightly at the complement and looked down at herself, frowning a little bit. She could see that parts of her body was still swollen in some areas and felt little pain. "I'm… alright. Just a little sore…"
"Just take it easy okay?" Barricade lifted up a clawed digit and gently touched her face, chuckling when she giggled from the contact and lightly gripped it with her own clawed hands. For two whole weeks Barricade visited the Med Bay and sat next to the glass-like stasis pod, watching out for any movement from inside. Sometimes he would talk to it knowing that the human girl was still in stasis, but when asked why he did that from Starscream, he simply said that he somehow knew it would help with her recovery. The Medic confirmed this and pointed out that her brainwaves would double each time someone spoke to her. The femme reached out a hand, wanting to touch her Guardian's face. The young Mech let Emma touch his faceplate with her clawed hand, it felt warm to the touch and even though it was made of metal, felt like hardened silk under her fingers. Knockout was watching the exchange quietly, he was glad that the Enhancement was a success and was happy that little Emma's healing process went well. He already commed Shockwave that she was awake and the Scientist was on his way to see the results of the experiment. The Medic watched the exchanged between them for a few minutes before he spoke. "Emma? Do you remember anything before you woke up?"
The girl looked at him and scrunched up her face a little, all she could remember was meeting Barricade and the Decepticons and being promised a new life. Everything else was a blank, like it had been erased. "I... remember meeting you all... But... Not much else. How come I can't remember what happened beforehand?"
"When I brought you here you requested to have your memories erased." said Barricade. "You didn't want to remember anything about your past life because it was too painful for you."
"I see... That explains why there seems to be gaps in my memory." Emma slowly sat down on a human sized bed that was next to the stasis pod and rubbed her arm, lightly wincing from the contact. "Ugh... I'm still sore..."
Knockout chuckled and handed her a small glass of Energon that was green in color. "Drink this, it'll heal your body faster. It's Medical-grade Energon."
The femme took the glass and slowly drank it, making a disgusted face afterwards. "This tastes like slag."
Hearing that got both Mechs laughing, the way she said it made it sound like she's been one of their own for eons. Emma didn't get why they were laughing but shrugged it off thinking it was nothing. "How long was I in... Stasis?"
Knockout calmed down from his laughter before he answered. "Around two weeks, it was necessary for your body to heal itself properly. It's still healing up now which is why you are still swollen."
She nodded and turned her head when the Med Bay doors opened, seeing Shockwave enter and walk towards them. She remembered this particular Mech, he was the one that preformed the Enhancement surgery on her. Shockwave saw Emma sitting on the bed and took out a Medical Scanner and preformed a scan on her. When he was done and got the results his single optic brightened up a little.
"Remarkable... Emma's body is healing itself at a rapid rate and is accepting the Energon in her system. Her brainwaves have also increased since the deletion of her memories."
Barricade looked at him and stood up from his crouched position. "So everything's good? Emma won't have any future problems?"
"Nope! I keep telling you that she'll be fine Cade'. Honestly you worry too much." snickered Knockout.
"Shut it Medic..." Barricade grumbled.
Emma was listening to the Mechs talk and had a frown on her face, for some reason she didn't like the name they kept referring her to. In fact she hated it, it reminded her of something that she hated but with her memories erased she didn't know what nor cared about it. Thinking for a moment she thought about a better name for herself, one that suited her perfectly. She was snapped out of her thoughts when her Guardian called her.
"Something wrong Emma?"
She let out a light growl, surprising the Mechs in the room. She stared at them for a bit then at her hands, flexing the sharp metallic claws on them. After a few moments of silence she answered them in a low voice.
"I don't like that name... From now on call me Nightbird."
The Mechs in the room glanced at each other, only Barricade smiled and folded his arms across his chest. "Nightbird... Yeah, I like that name."
"I'll admit it does suit you little one." said Knockout. He had a smirk on his faceplates when the girl glared at him, albeit in a playful way. Shockwave stared at her before nodding, also agreeing on the new name change.
"Since you will be starting a new life here, a name change is logical. You wish to go by that name?"
The femme nodded, glad to have chosen a perfect name for herself. "Yes. Nightbird is my name..." She quickly flexed her claws again, somehow making them longer and stood up, shredding her bed into pieces. Once she was done the bedding was all over the place and she cracked her knuckles, satified with the amount of strength she possessed. Knockout whistled, impressed with her display of power and Barricade grinned, showing his somewhat sharp denta. Shockwave only stared at her but was recording everything into his Data Pad to study later on. The girl then turned around to look at them, her yellow eyes glowing with power and she had a light smirk on her face as she flexed her claws.
"...and that'll be the last thing those Autobots hear... before I slaughter them..."