Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers: just my OC's & the plot.

HUNTERS MOON

Chapter 10: Rescue Me

NEST Base, 8:23pm:

Things had quietened down since the rescue party left.

As he sat alone with his thoughts, Sam stared down into his coffee; watching the black liquid swirl around the cup while the steam softly wafted up into the air. Nearby, Darren was too deep into his work to pay much attention to anything else, while Mikaela watched her boyfriend with a growing sense of concern. Finally, her concern got the better of her, and she sat herself down next to Sam, stirring him from his almost-meditative state as she nudged closer to him.

"Sorry," he sheepishly sighed, "Guess I'm kinda worried"

"Aside from the obvious: what else?" Mikaela asked as she rested a hand on his shoulder.

"Prime, Morri, Ashley; hell everyone. And not least Galloway: I'm so hoping I'm wrong about him"

"I hope you are too" she sighed quietly

"Considering what an ass he is, I wouldn't be surprised" Chelsea threw in as she entered the room and sat down at the desk next to her cousin, being mindful not to sit too close to him (she learnt a long time ago not to disturb him when he was engrossed in his work): "Besides, NEST's already a black-op's outfit so this whole shadiness thing's kinda part-and-part of the whole deal, right?"

"If the President didn't know we existed, we could take care of it ourselves: but since having aliens on the planet is a matter of national security at its extreme; accountability is the first thing that comes to everyone's minds when trying to deal with it" Darren replied as he remained focused on his laptop.

"So? If someone was looking to muscle in on something like NEST, they'd have to jump through some pretty big hoops to even get a look-in, right?" Chelsea speculated.

"It's not that straight-forward; black-op's like NEST are strictly need-to-know by the top brass: and with a non-human factor square in the middle, it only highlight's the risk-factors for them and everyone concerned, that much greater. So when the possibility of an outside party being involved is brought into the equation: the resulting shit that goes down tells you a lot about what's going on, and where you stand in all of it" Darren explained.

"That's pretty deep; where'd you learn that?" Chelsea blinked in surprise

"An old geezer by the name of Ishikawa: he's one of the Section 9 guys I told you about?" Darren replied with a small smirk

"Oh yeah, from the other universe"

"Being buddies with robot space aliens is one thing," Roxy interrupted as she, Max, Allie, Rosy and Jeanie walked in, "But I still don't buy that whole bullshit about you being sucked into another universe"

"Read my report when you get the chance: even Steven King couldn't come up with half of what we went through," Darren stated in a matter-of-factly tone, tearing his eye's away from his laptop to look up at his cousins; "And what are you doing here anyway? I'm kinda in the middle of something"

The girls glanced at one another, before Max spoke first: "We've been talking, and we decided we're gonna help you guys"

Sam and Mikaela were a little taken aback; while Darren's face betrayed his reluctance: the look of stubborn defiance in his cousin's eyes told him it would be pointless to argue the matter; so he tried a different line of approaching this: "...Considering what you've been through today: give me one good reason why I should seriously consider letting you in on this"

Max didn't want to risk making a pigs-ear of her cousin's reasonable mood by giving him the long version, and so got right to the point: "Okay, putting the whole 'you're-my-family-and-I-won't-let-you-risk-you're-lives' thing aside; the way we see it, you're gonna need help if you wanna take on whoever's behind all this"

"If, anyone's behind it" Sam corrected, "For all we know-"

"Ah cram it Witwicky!" Roxy cut him off, "This whole thing stinks of a conspiracy, and you know it. We nearly died up in those mountains today: so don't tell us we ain't got no reason to help catch whoever's behind this"

"Look, you said it yourself Sam," Jeanie interjected, "Too many things have happened to just chock it all up to coincidence"

"So whatever you need doing, just ask, and we'll get it done" Roxy added

"You didn't answer my question..." Darren pointed out with a serious look of reluctance. Knowing he was right, Max looked him square in the eye, and explained: "...Okay, two main reasons. One, what would be a more productive use of our time? Being wrapped in cotton wool and told to stay out of it? Or trying to help, by being of some use for once? And secondly, (personally) because we owe Morri..." Darren blinked in surprise: "Now, I'm not one to stick my neck out for others unless it's for a good reason. But today, back up on that mountain: she showed real balls, and took the lead when none of us knew what to do. She laid her life on the line to go get help; and now she's lying in a coma, and could have brain damage, for the rest of her life. All cuz one fuckin' evil douche decided he wanted to go on safari in bots-wana. And worse, the dude who's supposed to be lookin' out for this outfit: said we shoulda been declared MIA and left for dead, that Prime and the other bots shouldn't risked their lives to come an' save us. We could've died today; you don't think we ain't gonna take that statement personally?" Max fumed.

"As pissed as we are over this, this isn't about us" Jeanie corrected, "Or trying to score brownie points with you. I believe Sam is right: someone is responsible for all this bullshit that's happened today, and by extension, putting Morri in her current condition. You're not gonna sit there, and tell us doing this by the book is gonna get better results? Because whoever did this clearly didn't do things by the book"

"Hell, the book got thrown outta the window" Rosy stated as she folded her arms

"So what do you say? You gonna let us help?" Chelsea asked

A long moment of uneasy silence passed as Darren studied his cousins with an unreadable expression. He knew they'd already made up their minds on this: and in all probability, if he said no, they would just try to find a way to help/interfere with any investigation that took place. While he couldn't deny, having them put their brains to good use would make for a much more productive use of their time (if anything, to keep them out from getting under everyone's feet): but at the same time, they didn't have an understanding of how the American military complex worked, let alone what went into the finer details of how classified data was handled.

But when he thought about Morri...he couldn't help but wonder...

At the same time, elsewhere on the base:

As the day's events came back to haunt her with a sense of guilt, Lizzy still couldn't make up her mind whether to go and visit Morri: as she stood outside the entrance to the human medical wing, contemplating whether or not she should. On the one hand, she'd finally come to realize that she'd been wrong, and wanted to bury the hatchet with an apology; but at the same time, when she thought about how much of a jerk she'd been, she couldn't help but wonder if she had any right to visit her in her current condition? And considering she was still in a coma, with her family by her side; something like this didn't seem the right thing to bring up under these circumstances.

And then she thought about Max, and how her near-death experience with the Tranquility Stalker, had brought out the more serious, and tender side in her family...

All the while, she didn't want any part of it.

She rubbed her face, as another wave of guilt lowered her already-sombre mood; she was so lost in her anxiety, that she didn't hear Firefly approach her from behind.

"Hey Liz-

"WHA!?-" Lizzy nearly jumped out of her skin; a little taken by surprise, Firefly jumped back too: "Whoa! Sorry! Didn't mean to scare you!" she was quick to apologize.

"Uh-, no, it's fine. I was just-, thinking, was all" Lizzy breathed a sigh of relief as she regained her composure: "Hey, Ratchet fixed you" she noticed the weld-patch on the femme's side.

"Yeah, just a lil' crack in my T-cog. Said that if I'd tried to transform I coulda ripped my frame in two" she thought aloud anxiously, as she rubbed the patch out of habit.

A short awkward silence passed between them before Firefly spoke up again: "So? What're you doing here? You didn't get hurt or anything did you?"

"No, I- ...I was just wondering, whether or not: now would be a good time to go talk to Morri?" Lizzy replied frankly

"Really?" Firefly sheepishly winced as she rubbed the back of her neck, "Cuz, I was kinda thinking the same thing"

"You were?" Lizzy blinked in surprise

"Well? After what happened today, and the fact Morri was right about my T-cog being cracked an' all (along with everything else): I figured I'd try to apologize for being an aft-head. Ratchet said if she hadn't stopped me from transforming: they'd be arranging my funeral 'round about now"

A little taken aback by her frank honesty, Lizzy sighed and decided to hell with it: "...Guess I'm not the only one who owes her"

"Huh?" Firefly blinked in surprise

"Well? I've been thinking: about what I said to her earlier? And, I kinda wanna take it back"

"Because you feel sorry too?"

"Because I had no right to assume, I knew what I was doing" Lizzy reluctantly admitted, "...Look, I've never been in any situation where I didn't have a back-up plan: I always know what to do, and how to play a situation to my advantage; part-and-part of being a good prankster is not just about how elaborate or big the prank is, it's also about how not to get caught... But this-, what happened today? I realized this is way bigger than me, bigger than what I know; and for the first time in forever, I honestly didn't know what to do, and that..." she hesitated, "...That scared me..."

Noticing the slight glimmer of fear in her eyes, Firefly decided to come clean too: "...Look, I'm gonna be honest with you; I ain't been doing well in the training exercise, not because I don't like taking orders; but because-...I don't know if I'm really worth it?"

"Huh? What'd you mean?" Lizzy raised an eyebrow.

"...I don't know my mom, I was still a sparkling when she offlined, so I didn't really get to know her very well. But from what my sisters have told me, she was one of the best Autobots around. One of the best warriors in the ranks, Pit, I've seen old data-disks of her in action, and she really was something on the battlefield. ...Over the years we spent bouncing around from out-post to out-post, we learnt a lot about fighting, and I tried to learn every move and style there was; but if I had to be really honest? At the back of my mind, I couldn't help but wonder if I'd ever measure up to her? That I-...would I make her proud?"

"Fly..."

"I guess it's one of the reason's I tend to mouth off more than I should. I know I'm little, and young for an Autobot. And yeah, I know that makes me easy pickings for the cons; knowing you're vulnerable like that? You gotta be tough whether you like it or not: and you have to be strong, if not for yourself then for your family. Bluebird, Veebee and Tangostar are the only family I've ever had, And I know mom wouldn't want me going soft on them: she'd want me to stand by them, stand up for them, no matter what. And if that means coming off as an aft? Then I guess, that's just the way it is? ...I want to tell them, but there never seems to be a right time for it, and every time I do try: I realize I've been like this for long, that they wouldn't believe me anyway..."

"...At least you have a good reason for being an aft (being a soldier in a big-ass war an' all). Me? I'm just-...a jerk" Lizzy reluctantly admitted, before swallowing hard: "...Being in a large family means you have to share everything, and I guess? I never really liked the idea of having to give up the things I liked for a bunch of older sisters who treated me like a jerk. But now that I think about it; I guess it kinda turned into one big circle of jerkiness: when I was little, Roxy treated me like her personal slave, so I'd be a brat to get back at her, then she'd treat me like dirt some more, and then-...It just-, never seemed to stop: like, because someone's mean to you, that means it's okay for you to be mean back at them, but no matter how many times you get them back for being a jerk to you, you can't help but try to be the bigger jerk to get the better of them...I guess that whole thing about 'revenge isn't the answer' really does have something to it after all"

"Yeah I guess?" Firefly nodded, "But what do we now? I mean, would talking about it with them, really help?"

Lizzy paused a moment, before replying: "...I don't know, but even if I did, I wouldn't know where to start?"

"...Me neither..." Firefly sulked

From where they'd been eavesdropping at the other end of the corridor, Bluebird, Tangostar and Veebee glanced at one another in a mix of anxious worry and guilt; deciding to let the two friends have some time together; the three sisters discreetly crept away. While down the opposite end of the corridor: Jetfire stroked his metallic beard in thought, as he contemplated what he'd just overheard.

Meanwhile:

The darkness seemed to stretch on forever

The only source of light came the millions of red cybertronian glyphs, whizzing through the air in long horizontal and vertical columns: some, converging at points where they criss-crossed: and seemed to carry on into the darkness as they passed him by.

"Where the hell am I now?" Ashley thought aloud as he looked down at his original, naked human form (which for some surreal reason he couldn't fathom, didn't seem to faze him).

"Somewhere between life and death..." a female voice answered him. Turning around, Ashley was a little taken aback to see an old woman standing before him; she was clothed in long white flowing dress, that seemed to have cybertronian glyphs embossed into the silken fabric, and had a small pendent hanging around her neck. A pendant that, seemed to resemble to Cube; while a long length of white silvery hair cascaded down her back, pleated and woven in places: making her look otherworldly in some regard. "...Though, I doubt death would be the last thing on your mind" she thought aloud.

"Who're you?" Ashley raised a skeptical eyebrow

"An observer, of sort's" she shrugged, "But here, a guide"

"To guide me out of here?"

"You already know the way back" She replied in a more serious tone, "The question: is what you will have become"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Ashley frowned

The old woman raised her hand, and in an instant: two cybertronian glyphs formed in front of them, one was red, and loosely translated as 'all life'. But the second was green, and didn't seem to be a proper cybertronian glyph at all: in fact, it was no form of written word he'd even seen before, human, cybertronian, or otherwise.

"What you have endured thus far: has been but the first step in a journey, unlike any other. The transformation you are currently undergoing, will bestow unto you, a power that none could have ever imagined. But, there is an inherent fault in this process, one that, if left unchecked, could prove dangerous..." she explained, as the green glyph hovered in her hand, "...One must not forget: a bargain was struck, and it has to be honored as such; to this end, I am here to correct that fault, and to see that no further interference shall be made"

"What're you talking about-

Ashley didn't have time ask as the green glyph turned into a vapor-like energy, and shot itself into his chest, passing through his skin like a spectral entity. In an instant, a sudden powerful burst of energy seemed to radiate all throughout his body, making him exhale a short sharp breath of shock. Before the red glyph passed into him too: and all at once, all the glyphs around him started to swirl and converge on him, forming a radiant red aura around his form.

Suspended in raw energy, all Ashley could do was try to catch his breath as he struggled to remain upright: but as another burst of energy forced him onto his knees; he began to feel something different, something much more powerful course through his whole body. And as he looked down, he gasped when he saw his human form, began to morph into something...

Looking up at the old woman in desperation, she simply smiled, and told him: "Remember, regardless of what they call you. Destroyer, saviour, monster: all that matters is what you choose. No one can take that away from you"

And before he had the chance to say anything else, Ashley felt something pulling towards a bright white light; and as he felt more and more of his consciousness flair to life, he realized he was going home...

In the med-bay, John woke up from his light nap, and glanced at his watch. Realizing how much time had passed, he rubbed his tired eyes as he got up from the chair, and decided to go and get some coffee; knowing there was a vending machine in the waiting room, he felt confident enough to leave Ashley for five minutes, and be right back again. Stretching out his stiff limbs as he walked over to the door, he suddenly remembered Morri: 'better swing by and see how she's doing' he thought offhand: "Just going to check on Morri, okay? I'll be back soon" he told Ashley; though his son was still unconscious, it was purely out of habit, and perhaps? He might have heard him?

After John gently closed the door, Ashley was completely alone in the room.

Not two minutes passed by, before the hemogon in Ashley's veins began to glow brighter and brighter: until his entire hybrid form was completely bright red. And then, the light almost seemed to take on a life of its own, as a bright liquid-like aura began to envelope him in a tight form-fitting cocoon...

...And since the doors had seals around the frame, and had no windows: no one in the med-bay had noticed the strange phenomenon...

Meanwhile, at the Hoover dam:

: Two miles and closing, we'll be right on top of them within one minute: Novastar relayed over the open comm

: Understood : Majestrix replied, before turning her attention to the assembled Autobots: "You all understand you're roles, so let's try to keep this swift and quick: in and out with as little fuss as possible"

: That might be easier said than done...: Novastar interjected, the concern laced in her voice instantly told her mother something up, "Clarify" Majestrix replied.

: The news media is reporting that a bomb has been discovered on the underside of the Hoover dam bypass, and that local law enforcement have closed off the bypass for over five miles in either direction:

Majestrix and Ironhide both glanced at one another in confusion: "Patch it through to the landing ramp" Majestrix ordered; sure enough, a large computer terminal at the far end of the room switched on, and relayed a news feed of the Hoover dam bypass with no traffic on it, police cordons blocking the highway at either end, and a couple of military helicopters circling overhead.

"They knew we were coming?" Ironhide frowned

"That must have been when Ratbat relayed his message" Ravage interjected

"Doesn't matter: it just means we make our move now; take us down..." Majestrix ordered.

Everyone held on as the invisible ship banked right and swooped down, lining up with the dam's power station: and being careful to give the bypass a wide birth. Once they were within range: the assembled mystery army could be seen as they moved into position amid the dam's power-station, and aimed their weapons up at the Black Solstus.

"Looks like it's going to be one of those battles," Majestrix frowned sourly, before getting back on track: "Alright, teams two, three and four: once you hit the ground, lay down suppression fire and keep them pinned to the spot; teams five and six, concentrate on keeping those cannons busy and away from the main entrance. As soon as you've cleared a path, I'm going in for Prime"

No sooner had everyone agreed and acknowledged; the first sounds of gunfire could be heard echoing up from the power-station. "That's our cue: Lower the ramp!" the Prima barked.

Within seconds, the landing ramp lowered down, and the first Autobot teams were abseiling down to the ground, laying down cover-fire as the other teams followed close behind. With the well-trained eye of a tactician, Majestrix carefully watched as the battle played out below. The mystery army was putting up a good fight, and with their numbers outgunning the Autobots two to one, it was hard going; but tactics were the advantage here, for while the enemy was locked in behind their giant cannons and covered in their foxholes, the Autobots had more freedom of movement as they dodged and weaved the cannon-fire, inching closer to the entrance of the underground complex.

But just when it seemed the time was right for Majestrix to make her move: two large hanger doors at the sides of the entrance slid open, and a familiar howl echoed out...

"FRAG!" Majestrix cursed as the remaining Insecticons flew out and made a bee-line for the Autobots.

"Guess it was a good thing you bought us along for back-up?" Grimlock grinned as he stepped up behind her.

"Just get down there and keep them busy!" she growled in ire, as she grabbed the Dinobot leader by the scruff of his neck-plates, and threw his out of the ship. The other Dinobots recklessly followed suit, jumping off the ramp after their leader. After transforming in mid-air, Grimlock maneuvered himself to face downwards with his maw wide open, crashing down onto the back of one bugs like a free-falling freight train, and subsequently slamming into the ground with a thunderous BOOOOM!

Inside the complex, the evacuation had all but been completed, and only Prime was left to be moved: but as the birth began to roll backwards, a deep boom reverberated all around; rattling the walls and making everyone stop in their tracks.

As silence filled the hanger, everyone listened as the muffled sounds of a fire-fight could be heard some way off. Recognizing the familiar boom of Ironhide's wrist-cannons, Prime took that as his cue to make his move: and so taking advantage of the human's distraction, he concentrated all his strength into breaking the restraints holding him to the birth. Pain shot through his body as the stasis-collar sent wave after wave of stasis-energy; but he merely grit his dental plates and powered on through, until the sound of buckling metal told him he was almost there.

More stasis energy began raining down as the humans aimed and fired their weapons at him: but just as one of the giant stasis-cannon's swung into position to take a shot, Prime's right arm broke free, and knocked the cannon's barrel out of the way, just as a huge ball of stasis-energy was fired; blasting a large crater into the concrete floor.

Moving as quickly as his injuries would allow him, Prime pulled off the stasis-collar, throwing it at the humans: and being able to sit upright, was able to break the other restraints off. Activating his wrist-gun, he concentrated on shooting the larger weapons; the stasis-gun's energy hurt, but not as much as the cannon's pay-load would, if they got off another shot. Four well-aimed rounds took the cannons out of commission, as well as several larger bazooka-like guns.

With the humans now in a state of disarray, Prime crashed his way towards the sound of the battle: leaving the hanger, and running through to the next chamber at the other end of the tunnel. The battle was within range now, right on the other side of the next vault-like door: but as he was about to blast his way out, the Decepticons he'd seen earlier had stepped in to block his path. Their optics glowing yellow, their expressions dead and cold: clearly they had been brainwashed, and were under some kind of mind-control as they assumed fighting stances without any show of emotion or character.

Out the corner of his optic, Prime spotted Silas watching him from the safety of an overhead walkway. "What did you do to them?!" Optimus barked angrily.

Silas didn't reply, and before Prime could do or say anything else, the cons moved in to attack. It was four against one, but Prime had no trouble dealing with them; but the way they moved told him just how badly they'd been brainwashed. Their strikes were precise and relaxed, without anger or fervor to add fuel to their usual aggressive streak; they moved as sparkless automatons with dead optics: nothing but metal marionettes on strings, dancing to their master's commands.

And as the humans tried go on the offense again, Optimus made up his mind to try and capture Silas. Grabbing the cons and throwing at the humans to clear a path, Prime dashed for the walkway as Silas calmly walked along to the end of the platform, and through a set of large vaulted doors...

Time slowed as Prime jumped, and reached out to grab the human before the doors closed, but just as he came within a hair's breadth of his target, Silas turned to face him, and simply stated: "We will meet again"

The doors slammed shut, and Optimus crashed face first into the wall: he quickly got back up on his feet, and blasted at the doors off their hinges, only to find Silas was gone. "NO!" he cursed as he slammed the wall in frustration. A split second later, the door at the other end of the chamber exploded off its hinges, and Majestrix burst in; making a bee-line for Prime while Ironhide, Elita, Ultra Magnas and Jazz followed close behind, laying down some cover fire and driving the humans back the way they'd came.

"We have Prime!" Majestrix barked as she grabbed her brother under the arms and lifted him off his feet.

"NO! WAIT!-

But before he could break free, Skywarp teleported in and teleported everyone out: the Autobots fell back, and the humans too disappeared into the shadows.

"Where the hell did they all go-

BROOOOOOMMM!

Fire and smoke engulfed the whole complex as the explosion tore the exterior to pieces; some of the Autobots and NEST soldiers nearer the blast radius were thrown into the river, only to pop up again and drift with the currant, while the rest of the rescue teams went downstream to retrieve their friends. The Dinobots too got a surprise when the Insecticons exploded from the inside out: consumed in fireballs that tore their frames apart, the resounding explosions threw the Dinobots off (or at the least got a mouthful of fire). One Insecticon that had been hovering close to the Black Solstus exploded right under the left-side thruster: while the engines powerful down-draft diverted much of the blast away, the shock-wave caused the ship to list dangerously to one side, nearly bumping into the side of the gorge. But Blackshot, who'd been stationed on the bridge, managed to successfully regain control and level the ship out; and just in time, as the other Autobots were teleported back on board.

Watching from the landing ramp: Optimus, Majestrix, Ironhide and Lennox watched as the complex burned, lighting up the base of the Hoover dam in a bright orange glow. But as the Autobots trained their scanners on where the enemy had been positioned, they saw there were no bodies: no remains, not even any spent shell-casings.

"What the hell just happened?" Epps shook his head in disbelief.

"...I don't know..." Optimus frowned, "But I intend to find out"

A little while latter:

"Hey, did you hear? They got Prime and are on their way back" Glen announced

"Thank god" Sam sighed with relief, "ETA?"

"In the next hour, which means: back to your stations and get everything prepped" Prowl ordered; "Copy" Miles waved off as he jogged out of the room and made his way to the base entrance: "Except you Sam" Prowl stopped him, "I want you here for when Prime returns; He'll want to hear you're theory"

"What theory?" Bishop asked as he strode into the command center and straightened his cap, "Sorry I'm late: heavy head winds slowed the flight up" he added. But everyone just looked at him in surprise, somewhat taken aback by his unannounced return"...What's wrong? What have I missed?" he asked concernedly.

"Man, you ain't gonna believe what's been goin' down here" Glen sighed

Over in the human medical wing, Deathshot remained at his post, still keeping a vigil over his charge; when the news that Prime's rescue had been a success, Tom and Danny were called back on duty to help prep the med-bay, while John was called to help assist with the debriefings: leaving the Autobot sniper to be the only one to watch over Morri and Ashley.

After some idle internet surfing, Deathshot got up to stretch his stiffened joints, when he spotted a rather anxious looking Velocity peering around the corner of the corridor. Realizing he'd spotted her, she sheepishly stepped out from her hiding place.

"How long have you been standing there?" he asked

"A little while?" she replied, "I didn't know if you were still raw"

Sighing tiredly, Deathshot rubbed his weary optics, and turned to stand before her. "I'm-, sort of okay now; but, we still don't know if she'll okay"

Velocity dropped her gaze with a rueful look of despair, "...It's that bad?"

"We don't know: the surgeon said she was lucky to have survived her injury"

"But if I'd gotten there five seconds earlier-"

"-It might not have made any difference" Deathshot interjected, to which Velocity blinked in surprise: "The medics couldn't determine how long the hematoma had been there. For all we know, she could have sustained it during her escape, and was completely unaware it; thankfully you found her, and got her to the medical wing just in time" Deathshot assured her as he lay a hand on her shoulder-plate, "And for that, I am very grateful"

About to cry as her lower lip-plate quivered, Velocity reached up and threw her arms around his neck, "...It's still no excuse!" she sobbed, "I should've been there for her sooner!"

A little taken aback, Deathshot brought his arms up, and gently returned the hug, with a reassuring pat on the back: This was a whole other side of Velocity he'd never seen before; had he really been wrong about her? Had her spark really changed this much? "Hey, it's okay, there's nothing to forgive" he replied.

"There-, there isn't?" she loosed her grip, and looked up into his optic, "...Listen, I know I said I'd give you a second chance before: but in truth, I was only doing it out of respect for Morri (because that's the kind of person she is); but the more I watched you two become good friends, and the more I saw how she bought out the better side of you. Well? I had to admit, I've been wrong, about you..."

A slight moment of uneasy silence passed between them, before Velocity admitted: "...Look, what happened between us, before: that was then; I knew things had changed when we woke up from stasis, but I didn't appreciate just how deeply those changes ran. Prime, the war, even Majestrix isn't who she used to be: and for a long time I couldn't tell if that was a good thing or a bad thing. And who I was back then? ...I don't think that's me now; and I didn't want to admit it, in case I wrong, and what I was feeling was just misplaced optimism"

Deathshot gently took her hand, and smiled: "It's not wrong to dare, to dream of better things; it took me a long time to realize that too, and that, I didn't have to be what the war made me believe I was...Back then, no one knew when death would come for them, and we all tried to get our kicks in where we could: and in doing so, we let ourselves become the people we didn't want to be. And to stave off any pain, we shut everyone out: because that's the only way we knew how to avoid grieving them, if and when they fell in battle"

Velocity let him go, but let him hold her hand as an unreadable look overcame her optics, "...I know I don't have any right ask: but I'm going to anyway since I don't have anything to lose...Do you think, maybe we could try again one day? No secrets, no deceit, just-...the two of us, as we are..."

He was a little taken aback, but Deathshot smiled: "I think that'd be okay"

Velocity's expression lightened up as she nodded, but at the back of mind she decided not to push it, and so changed the subject: "...Listen, you've been here for hours, why don't you go and get some energon? I can keep an optic on things here"

"You're sure?"

"Yeah I'll be fine, just get some rest okay? I'll comm you if there's any developments" Velocity smiled.

Deathshot leaned in and placed a small kiss on her cheek plate, taking her quite by surprise. "Thank you" he smiled as he left the medical wing; "...You're welcome..." Velocity smiled sheepishly as she sat down next to the entrance of the recovery room.

Once Deathshot's footfalls could no longer be heard, Velocity's expression turned from shy schoolgirl to sly vixen as she leaned down, and gazed at the unconscious Morri with an unsettling smile...

"This is just too easy..." she smirked under her breath.

A rather anti-climactic rescue and battle? Yeah pretty much :/ but that's not what this chapter was meant to be about; it's not all about awesome fight scenes and cool Autobot sci-fi swagger; you have to take time for the important character-evolutions, and I'd say Lizzy and Firefly have grown up a little bit :) hopefully, we can expect better things from them in the near future...

But Velocity? It ain't peaches and cream as far as she's concerned :( and it's only goes downhill for here.

So, this wraps up all the action for this story, as we start winding down with the more intellectual aspects of the story; tying up loose ends, and setting the scene for the next installment.

Hope you've enjoyed it so far, and please remember to R&R before clicking off :D

Much love darlings!