Title: Shade of Life ~ Reaching You ~: Chapter 2
Genre: Romance, Drama, Humor, and Action.
Pairings: Optimus x Adelia (Main), _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ x _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ (Main. Will be revealed later on as the story progress.), Barricade x Melanie (Supportive), Sideswipe x Annalisa (Supportive)
Summary: Reaching You is the second part of the Shades of Life trilogy. Sequel to Meeting You, prequel to Holding You, and acts as a main focus of the three. The story involves around Adelia Campbell and her two best friends, Melanie Lee and Annalisa Snow. Their lives were changed forever the night five meteors fell from the sky, and then six giant alien robots showed up on Adelia's neighbor backyard. Somehow, three years later, they found her, claimed she's the All Spark, and told her she's the most important thing for their planet's, and Earth's, survival. She just had to stay away, and alive, from the Decepticons. Easy thing to do, right?
Warnings:
1) This story will be tied in with Dark of the Moon. So SPOILERS ALERT!
2) I'm LugiaTsuyu. I was from Thailand. So English is not my first language. That's why you will probably find a lot of grammar mistakes and not so smooth writing (such as repeated words and so on). And any comments, criticisms, corrections, and suggestions are greatly appreciated.
3) I am writing this as I go, so yeah. LOL
4) Also, you will probably find a lot of OOCness because I've never watch the Transformers cartoon before, just the three films, so I will apologize about that in advance. So please bear with me and I hope you will like my story. (Even though I am turning an action-packed franchise into romantic drama one.)
Disclaimers: I do not own Transformers, just my original characters, as it belongs to Hasbro, Marvel, and Paramount.
Credit to: I have to give these authors credits. As they were the ones who inspired me to write this story. First to orphan mia, for her incredible 'Strange Creature/. Then to Elexies, for her awesome 'Gateway of the Mind' story. And last but not least, to Ray of Starlight, for her amazing 'The Ties that Bind' series. I really thank you all for giving me the courage to finally written down my imaginations for others to see.
~o~
~o~
Chapter 2:
Autobots x Arm Wrestling Contest II
~o~
"I really am sorry."
"I told you, Que. It's not your fault." Adelia, sitting cross-legged in Optimus's massive hand, said for—what seemed like—a hundredth time.
But the blue Autobot still had that shameful expression on his metal face while he looked at her bandaged right arm.
When Bumblebee was explained about the contest, they had decided who would go against whom first by using the old-fashion, human way; drawing-lots.
The first two names drawn up were Adelia and Ironhide.
Ironhide smugly warned the girl that he wouldn't hold back just because she's the All Spark, to which Adelia gladly said that she didn't want him to go easy on her anyway.
Then she had solved the height differences problem by joyfully asking Optimus to lift her into his large palm, so she could lay stomach-flatted on it, reached her equipped arm out, placed her elbow on the table's white surface, and gave the weapon specialist a challenging look.
True to Ironhide's words, and Dino's thought, trusting Que's invention was not a smart choice to make. In less than five seconds, the black 'bot would have thrown her thirty-feet across the hangar if not for the firm and gentle grip Optimus had on her body.
The Autobot Commander worriedly asked if she's all right. She was about to reply that she was fine and dandy when she smelled, felt, and saw something burning. Her arm.
She panicked a little, compared to Bumblebee and Que anyway, and immediately pried the device off of her.
Ratchet was next to her instantly. He scanned her arm, assured that it was not a bad burn, and called for one of the soldiers to bring him some human medicine and bandage.
The medic 'bot was a very quick with his work. It made her wonder how he could wrap the tiny gauze—for him—around her arm so perfectly and tenderly in under three minutes.
She then used this chance and requested to remain on Optimus's palm a little while longer as she wanted to watch the rest of the Autobots arm wrestle. To her delight, the Autobot leader nodded his great head and held her closer to his broad chest.
But to her displeasure, Que forfeited his match against Ratchet, his reason being that he failed as an inventor and therefore had no right to compete after such a reprehensible event, and started apologizing to her until now.
"I'm fine." Adelia said, stroking the white bandage. "It won't even leave any scar. And I've always wanted one."
Finally, thank God, the inventor nodded and slouched away to observe Dino, who had beaten Ratchet in the last round, competing with Ironhide.
"Are you certain you're all right?" Optimus repeated the question for the second time in a low voice, as he intended not to disturb his friends.
Adelia took her eyes off a very entertaining battle —as the warrior 'bot and the weapon specialist cheated in their own ways; Dino digging his bladed elbow onto the table and Ironhide pointing his free but-cannon-readied arm at the red Autobot—and tilted her head back to smile at the Autobot leader. "Of course. I sprained my ankle once and it hurt way more than this."
Optimus closed his eyes. He disagreed with Que. The old Autobot was not a failure. It was he who was at fault. He could have prevented such incident from happening if he only forbid Adelia from participating. And he well knew how dangerous Cybertronian's power could be compared to human's. "It is my deepest apologies. You have not been here more than five earth hours and I have already gotten you injured."
To his astonishment, Adelia slapped her knee. "That's it! We need a limit. A rule." She turned to his comrades and raised her voice. "If I don't ask for it, none of you is allow to apologize to me more than once a day."
While he was a few inches away from his second victory, Ironhide declared, "Don't worry, kid. I never apologize." But whether he knew it or not, his face stated otherwise.
Adelia could tell that the black Autobot felt just as bad as Que for going a little too far on her. So she tried to ease it, without his awareness, by giving him a teasing grin. "Well then, you just earned five extra points from me, Hide."
He scoffed and, in that exact moment, slammed the red 'bot's hand onto the table. Dino let out a curse in Italian, then stepped away so Bumblebee could take after his position.
"And you, Optimus," Adelia smiled and spun her posterior around to look at him face-to-face, "are not allow to apologize to me more than once a week."
Optimus creased his metallic brows."I do not understand. Why are you not willing to accept apologies from us when we are clearly to be blamed?"
Adelia's eyes shone with so much indulgent, so much sincerity. "First of all, you all apologize too much. Second, you're not Ironhide; who almost had me flatted against the ceiling. But Ironhide is not Que; who invented that device. And, this is the most important part, the three of you are not me; who wanted—insisted—to use that machine despite the warning."
Unable to control herself, she reached out and touched his massive jaw softly. "It's me who should say sorry to all of you for being so stubborn and caused all this trouble."
"You have not done anything wrong, Dee."
Her lips curved into a sneaky smile. "Then we have nothing to apologize to each other, right?"
Optimus almost laughed, would have done so, if he remembered how.
"Prime, it's your turn!" Ironhide yelled from behind Adelia, oblivious to the sweetness in the air around the girl and his leader. He had Sideswipe's arm twisted on the table and couldn't wait to proclaim himself an ultimate winner after he had beaten the metal out of Prime in this upcoming round.
Adelia jerked her hand away from where it rested on Optimus's cheek. With her face slightly redden, she gestured her head toward the weapon specialist."Go and break Ironhide's record, Optimus."
He nodded his great head and lowered his hand to the ground so Adelia could jump off. He waited until she ran up the stairs to stand on one of the hangar's indoor bridges—giving him a cheerful wave of her arm, then he elegantly approached the table where Ironhide awaited with his arms crossed.
"When was the last time you and I compete, Prime?" The weapon specialist bent his back and put his elbow on the table first.
Optimus followed. "Approximately six million earth years ago." Before the war began. And when he was named Orion Pax.
"Then let's relive those memories." Ironhide smirked, didn't clarified out loud that he'd gained victory against Prime when they had last battled.
The two Autobots grabbed each other's hands, and applied all collectable strength into their metallic arms.
Adelia was completely awed, as three minutes had passed, but neither of them seemed to have the upper hand. Both their arms were still at exactly ninety-degree angle from the table's surface.
By the time it reached the sixth minute, most of NEST soldiers had sweat running down their faces. And if she's honest, so did she. Part of it might be about the bet, but not entirely. It was how magnificent and captivating and strong these two beings before them were.
"I think you might have to say goodbye to your laptop soon, girl." Lennox commented when—at last—the weapon specialist got a few inches over the Autobot leader.
"We will see who has the last laugh, Mr. Lennox." Adelia replied, noticing the way Optimus's optics lit up.
As she predicted, in the next second, Optimus abruptly knocked Ironhide's arm down. The table gave, broken into pieces—and Que's devastated cry echoed throughout the warehouse. The black Autobot ended up laying on his back on the hangar's concrete floor, with Optimus kneeling next to him.
Those who had the ability to foresee the future hollered in joy. Those who didn't, their wallets about to become thinner, booed goodheartedly.
Adelia hurried from where she was and sprinted down the steps toward Optimus. He was still crouching on one knee beside the weapon specialist, who managed to get back up on his own feet, when he offered her his opened palm. She didn't hesitate and hopped on it right the way, knowing she would be more than comfortable there.
"I knew you would win! I knew it!" She hugged his one of his large fingers tightly, didn't care one bit how cold or rigid it was.
"I appreciate your confidence in me, Dee. However, this victory was not obtained by my own strength alone. Such as it was, Ironhide became distracted by Colonel Lennox's remark and exhibited an opening for me to act upon."
Every eyes of the soldiers who had lost the bet were fired at their commander. Lennox pretended to whistle and avoided making any eye contact with his acquaintances by staring up at the hanger's ceiling.
Adelia laughed. She was right, Optimus was too modest. "Well, as long as I get to keep my laptop and got a few extra bucks in return, I don't really mind."
She poked her head out to look at the soldiers standing a few feet below. "Sooooooo," she dragged the word, before crooking her fingers twice at them, a huge grin on her lips. "Pay up, guys."
The toughest of the toughest men—who had risked their lives multiple times fighting the Decepticons—groaned like little kids who just got their toys taken away by their parents.
And Adelia learned—very evil of her, she knew— that she enjoyed it very much.
~o~
~o~
Bam! Bam! Bam!
Several deafening knocks on the apartment's wooden door disrupted two individuals who were sound asleep in the room. A man in his early twenties was taking a nap with his arms around a nineteen year-old dark-haired girl, who was having a slight fever and resting on the soft couch.
"Let me guess, your friend, Annalisa." His rough voice was thick with sleep. He remained still despite the constant, and louder, door pounding from the outside.
Normally Melanie would have got up immediately and opened the door. But she was not normal today. A rarely-occurred fever had gotten the best of her, and she lay enervated next to her boyfriend, Cade.
She tried her best to ignore the beating pulse in her head, but with her best friend knocking the door nonstop, and knowing that Annalisa wouldn't give up until she'd talked to her, the only way she could go back to sleep was to listen to whatever troubled the blonde this time.
Decided, Melanie attempted to unclasp Cade's arms from her waist, then giggled when he suddenly sat up with her still in his embrace. Few seconds later he let go of her and she slowly stood up, yawned and stretched a little, before walking toward the door a few meters away.
Oh-oh, was the first word that popped in her mind when she saw Annalisa's face.
"Took you long enough to open the door." The blonde spat unintentionally.
Melanie smiled at her friend kindly and signed her reply. "Sorry. I'm a little sick, so I was sleeping."
Anger in Annalisa's eyes instantly turned to concern. "You okay?"
"Yes. What about you? I thought you have to work today." Melanie tilted her head a little. "Is everything okay?"
The frustration was back. "No! Adelia tricked me! And she turned her cell off on me, too! Argh!"
She strode inside without any invitation from Melanie, stopped when she saw a brown haired man sitting on the couch staring—glaring—at her. Annalisa didn't back down and scowled back. "I thought you were dead. If I had known you'll be here, I wouldn't have come."
"Then feel free to leave." Cade countered.
He never like this friend of Melanie's. She had hated him from the moment they met, and it's vice versa. She looked for every chance to bite—not literally—and bicker at him. Cade thought it's best to avoid her, as it meant no bothersome arguments to be exchanged, but it's damn close to impossible when the three of them, the brunette included, always hung around one another.
Adelia, on the other hand, he could deal with. He liked her a little more than he liked their neighbor's dog, the girl talked like there's no tomorrow and it tended to be quite annoying at times, but she was...nice to him enough. Unlike the blonde, Adelia never displayed any aversion or mistrust toward him, even though he just mysteriously, suspiciously appeared in Melanie's life. All she said to him when they were first introduced to each other was, 'I don't care where you came from or who you were, as long as who you are now makes Mel happy. But remember this, if you hurt her, Anna and I will never forgive you. We will hunt you down and bury you in the hottest volcano we could find.' The last part might have been a joke, but Cade had felt an inexplicable tension in the back of his nape.
Annalisa pointed her chin at him, marched to the open-kitchen, which was connecting to the living room, and seated herself on the dining chair.
Relieved that her boyfriend and best friend would not be arguing like they usually did, Melanie walked back and lowered herself next to Cade, who immediately wound his arm around her in a passionate gesture.
Annalisa eyed them with an obvious disapproval, even if she didn't comment on it.
"What happened to Dee?" Melanie asked, not entirely worried about said—signed—girl. Adelia was a lot tougher than most would think. If she chose to turn off her mobile phone, it meant she wanted some privacy, some time away from their overprotective friend.
"What happened? She lied to me! She promised, promised that she wouldn't go and meet those revolting, disgusting aliens without me!" Anna took a deep breath to try to calm herself when she got a scolding look from Melanie. She also noticed a glimpse of fury on Cade's face, but didn't really care about it.
"So Dee finally got to see him again. I'm glad." If she hadn't been sick, Melanie wouldn't have signed that to Annalisa.
The blonde sprung up from the chair, knocking it to the floor, and shouted. "How can you say that? Those stupid aliens were the reason you and Dee-" She broke off as she saw the look on Melanie's face.
Melanie's gaze was very stern, even if a soft smile decorated her lips. She was the only one who was able to cool down Annalisa's fiery temper. She was certain Adelia could do the same. But the brunette claimed that it's better for the blonde's health expressing her emotions than keeping it all inside and became one of those depressed emo girls. So she rarely stopped or warned Anna from letting it out on her, and the blonde had gotten so used to it that she threw her tantrums at Adelia the most.
"Anna, since you seem to have forgotten, I'll tell you again. No matter how close the three of us are, we still have no right to decide or control each other's life." Her eyes were sympathetic when she continued to sign, "Wasn't it you who said 'I won't let anyone tell me which path to walk, and I'll choose my own future'?"
Annalisa choked back a little because Melanie had used her own words against her, to remind her of an innocent, ambitious little girl she'd once been.
But she could not accept it, and she was no longer that girl. "Still, I can't leave Adelia with them. I just...can't."
As the throbs in her temple increased by the minute, Melanie knew she needed to go back to rest before it got any worse tomorrow. With an apology in her mind, she signed, "You had someone installed a GPS signal on Dee's phone, didn't you?"
Realization hit Annalisa's brain so hard she almost slap her hands on the kitchen's counter. "Right! I have to go now. I'll call tonight and visit you tomorrow, Mel. Feel better, okay?"
Just like that, and the blonde was gone like a passing storm.
After the sound of Annalisa's footsteps faded away, Cade had to say, "You shouldn't remind her about the GPS. Adelia is going to be mad at you."
Melanie smiled. "You know Dee, Cade. She can't stay mad at anyone more than a couple minutes"
Precisely the reason why he felt pity for the brunette. Both her friends used that trait, unintentionally in the blonde's case, and purposely in Melanie's case, to take advantage of the girl from time to time.
"Besides, Anna needs to learn a lesson. I don't think Dee would let it go this time." She sighed. "Too bad I won't be there to see it."
In that moment, it dawned on Cade who the scariest of the trio was. It's none other than this euphemistic girl sitting next to him.
~o~
~o~
Later that evening, Adelia sat on the hangar's interior overpass, her legs dangling at the edge of it, with a cheese sandwich in her hands and Optimus in the range of her sight—he was discussing some kind of mission with Ratchet. And she made a mental note to ask him about it later, just to talk to him.
She was chitchatting with Sideswipe about awesome martial art moves when the base's alarm system triggered.
Every soldiers immediately went full-forced, prepared for an enemy attack. The Autobots did pretty much the same, but they formed a circle with their backs turned on her. Protecting her, the AllSpark, was their first priority.
"We have visual! The intruder is..." A soldier in charge of the security monitor, Lieutenant Galvin, trailed off. Then confusion sank in. "A girl..."
"Oh, boy." Adelia murmured. She had a strange feeling that it might be...
"It's Annalisa Snow!" The same soldier exclaimed. He sounded almost exactly the same as Leo, Sam's roommate.
Anna's got another fan, Adelia thought, amused.
But when she realized where she was, and what situation she's in, she frowned a bit. How did Anna find her?
"What should we do, sir?" One of the soldiers asked Lennox.
"Tell our men at the gate to chase her away. But do not hurt her." The NEST Commander said. "Tell her the department has moved to another location."
"That won't work, Mr. Lennox. Anna has a world-class stubbornness. And she knows I'm here." Adelia had no idea how the blonde knew. But she's going to find out.
Now every eyes focused on her—again.
"You know her?" Lennox pointed to the screen, which showed a live video of Annalisa arguing with the guards at the base's entrance.
"Yes."
"How did she find this place?" There was a little accusation in his tone, but Adelia overlooked it.
She shrugged. "I want to know that, too. I didn't even know where I was being taken to until I got here, remember? And I didn't touch my phone since."
Colonel Lennox ran a hand through his military-cut hair. "Sorry, girl. A lot has happened in one day. And we can't have outsiders knowing about us."
She smiled. "Don't worry about it, Mr. Lennox. I get it."
"So what are we going to do about her?" Sideswipe motioned his head toward the direction of the gate outside.
"Sir, we have a problem! She's threatening to call the reporters on us!" Mr. Galvin informed in a nervous voice.
"Shit." Lennox cursed. Reporters were the last thing they needed to deal with. He—and he was certain the others, too—would rather be warring with the Decepticons and get their asses fired at then face those starving vultures. Oh, he knew that not all of them are bad. But they were vicious and unmerciful in their questions and their stories most of the time.
"Can you let her in? I'll talk to her." Adelia now stood next to the NEST Commander on the ground. Her face as serious as he'd never seen in the past eight hours she'd spent here.
When Lennox nodded his head, Lieutenant Galvin passed his order to the guards outside through the transmitter straight away.
Adelia then turned her head toward the Autobot leader. "I think I'm gonna need your help, Optimus"
He crouched down until his face leveled with hers. "Anything, Dee"
"When Anna gets here..." She heard footsteps coming, stomping, closer. "Hold me up, please."
Optimus grabbed her gently into his hands and slowly stood up. Facing the wide-opened warehouse gate, they waited for the arrival of her friend.
"ADELIA!" A shout came before the girl herself. She didn't pause when she stalked in and glanced at the soldiers surrounding the area. And her face didn't change at all, not for a second, when she saw giant robots ten times her size staring at her. Anna ignored everyone else, even the enormous creature who had detained her friend his in massive hands. Her attention, and fury, directed completely on the brunette.
"Hey, Anna." Adelia greeted, waving a hand at the blonde.
"Don't 'Hey, Anna' me, Dee!" She pulled at her hair. "How could you?"
"You know the answer." Adelia sighed. She had had enough with explaining her reason to Anna. "Well, first let me introdu—"
"Don't bother. You are going back with me." The blonde stepped closer to Optimus, but had to stop when she noticed that her friend had a couple feet over her in the robot's hands.
Adelia was trying to calm her temper, which had struck without a warning when Anna interrupted her rudely just now. On the outside, Adelia was easy-going, rarely-get-mad, too-talkative, and giving-off-a-weird-impression kind of girl. That's who she was, yes, no pretence about that. But she also had this temper. A temper that whenever it was up, she always regretted it afterward. It usually last for a few minutes, but few minutes could be resulted in brainless action on her part, and harm others—emotionally or physically.
So she made sure she was back to her normal self again before she spoke. "I'm not going back with you, Anna. I'm going to stay here."
Oh, the look in Anna's eyes. Eyes that sparked with so much grief it pierced Adelia's heart. "You chose them over me? Over Mel? Over the three of us?"
Adelia tried to hide her own hurt by covering it with a joke. "Oh, come on. You make it sound like I'm a boyfriend who are breaking up with you. Two of you, too. I know I'm charming, but not that charming"
To all of the audience's surprise, the blonde's lips curved into a half-frown, half-smile "You have always been the most selfish bitch between the three of us."
Adelia smiled, not offended at all. She knew Anna spoke the truth. She was probably the most selfish person in the world. And a bitch, too. "But you love me anyway."
Annalisa snorted. "A permanent lapse of judgment."
"Now that we are both calm, I need to ask you something" Adelia eyed Colonel Lennox, then looked over her shoulder at Optimus, before she settled her gaze on her best friend. "How did you find out about this base's location?"
When Annalisa just cleared her throat and stared straight into her eyes, Adelia face went plain shock. "You didn't..." Adelia dug a hand in her jean's pocket and took a little blue cell phone out. "You didn't!"
"What?"
"Now, you don't 'What?' me. You always look at people eye-to-eye, dead-on, when you are about to lie." Courtesy from her acting career, Adelia mused.
This time, the blonde looked away. Her gaze landed on a strangely familiar silver robot. She just couldn't put it together where she had seen him. If she had seen him at all. 'Cause she's pretty sure she would have remembered seeing a twenty-feet robot somewhere. Well, whatever.
"Anna," Adelia's voice was firm. "Tell me you didn't. Please tell me you didn't."
Still avoiding the brunette's eyes, the blonde answered. "I did."
Adelia couldn't believe her ears. Her temper was about to strike again for the second time that day—she hated being forced the most, but invasion of privacy came pretty close to it—when a sudden unbearable pain consumed her whole body. It was as if her bones were being melt, her organs being twisted. She felt herself falling, and falling...
"Dee!"
Optimus's terrified voice was the last thing she heard, and then...her world went black.
~o~
~o~
Author's Note: Hi! I'm back with Chapter 3! I'm so, so sorry for the long wait! I had to re-write the arm wrestling part a couple of times, and it took me almost two weeks to finally get it right! (But I'm sure my grammars and vocabularies haven't improved much. I'm sorry about that. Please bear with me, I promise I'll try the best I can to make it easier for all of you to read my story)
So, how's this chapter? Like it? Hate it? So-so? Please review and correct any mistakes I made (both in English and about Transformers histories?.) I really appreciate all of your comments. I hope I will not disappoint you in the future with both the plot and my writing.
Until I see you all the next chapter!