ATE: YES! I finally managed to update before this upcoming Thrusday, which will be when I'll be going skiing for the next week! I'd like to thank Crystalmaiden62, Azura Soul Reaver, SeekerLuna, Sailor Shinzo, Autobot-Bre, DarkButterfly128, Bumblebeecamaro38, XLizardXQueenX, and Diamond White for reviewing the last chapter, and of course to anyone else still following this story. This chapter took a bit of time planning what I wanted to happen, but luckily I know how I want the next chapter to flow anyways, so I'll probably work on it while I'm on vacation.
Declaimer: I don't own Transformers or Transformers Armada. I only own my OCs Valerie and Astera.
Chapter 17: Remorse
After having comforted Jetfire over the loss of Optimus I offered to stay with him that night in hopes that it would help. He accepted and had deactivated his holoform before picking me up in his hand. Even during the walk to his quarters I knew he was still sad and doing his best to keep himself together. I had a feeling that he would press that one switch to make his quarters soundproof for privacy's sake. I found out that I was right about him pressing that switch as soon as we entered his quarters before taking me over to the nightstand that had the human sized bed I have used whenever I stayed with him.
Jetfire placed me on top of it, went over to his berth to lay down on his back and deactivated his optics before his holoform materialized in front of me. I could still see the sadness in his gold eyes and I gently took a hold of his large hands before leading him over to the bed. Before I knew it I found myself sitting down on the bed with Jetfire laying on his side and his head resting in my lap while he cried quietly. I started running my fingers through his reddish brown hair and I saw that he relaxed slightly from it. I now understood why Jetfire didn't like seeing me sad or upset-because it hurt to see a loved one in such a state. It hurt me to see him like this, but this was his time to mourn and he had every right to do so.
"Don't be afraid to let it all out, Jetfire." I told him quietly, feeling my own tears start to fall from my eyes. "It'll make you feel better."
And he did. I didn't mind the fact that my clothes got soaked from his tears or if he clung to me like a small child needing comfort from their mother. Because that was what he needed, comfort. I continued to cry with him as I was reminded of my first mission with the Autobots and how Optimus put himself in harms way to allow me to run away from Megatron. Then there was the memory of what happened to Smokescreen before he became Hoist and how sad Optimus had been. Transformers may live for a long time, but they weren't invincible. This was the painful truth of life.
No one is invincible.
Everyone is capable of dying.
Autobots were capable of dying.
Decepticons were capable of dying.
Humans and animals are capable of dying.
Jetfire is capable of dying.
I'm capable of dying.
Eventually Jetfire stopped crying and I looked down to find him staring blankly at nothing specific, just staring into space. This confused me since I had never seen him with that expression before, but then he took on a thoughtful look.
"I'll have to take over." He said, his voice quiet.
"What do you mean?" I asked.
"I'm Vice Commander of the Autobots. With Optimus gone it's my responsibility to take his place. But it won't have to be that way for long if our new Commander finally decides to step up to the plate."
I was confused by this.
"New Commander?"
"You were there when it happened. Before I left with Optimus to stop the Decepticons he was offering the Matrix to Hot Shot. Didn't you see that?"
I let this run through my head. Yes, I remember the gold object that Optimus wanted Hot Shot to hold onto, but refused to do so. It was also the same object that Sparkplug had me hold onto while he dragged me to the command center by the arm. There was something important about the Matrix that the older transformers knew about, but the younger ones (Hot Shot and Sideswipe) didn't. My eyes widened when I realized what it meant!
"Optimus chose Hot Shot to be the new Commander! He knew something like this was going to happen and made him his successor!"
Jetfire nodded.
"It's what Optimus would've wanted. But Hot Shot doesn't really know that was what he was doing. All he knew was that Optimus wanted him to protect it. So until Hot Shot understands what he needs to do, I'll be in charge."
I smiled a small smile as I moved some strands of hair out of his face.
"Hopefully we won't have a repeat of what happened last time you took charge."
At this a small yet sad smile appeared on Jetfire's face as he understood what I was talking about.
"Don't worry. I learned my lesson last time. You and Optimus made sure of that." Jetfire grabbed my free hand before holding it close to his chest where I could faintly feel his spark pulsing, similar to how a person would feel a beating heart. "I'm glad you're here this time."
I was confused. What did he mean by that?
"I don't understand."
"When my mother was offlined I didn't have anyone to comfort me like this. No one to hold me or tell me everything's gonna be alright. To think…I was so close to losing you if Optimus hadn't sacrificed himself to protect this planet and everyone on it."
"You didn't lose me, Jetfire. I'm safe, the Earth's safe, and everyone living on it is safe. Never forget that."
"Not even planning on it." Jetfire sighed before shutting his eyes. "I'm so tired, Skydancer. Stay with me?"
I smiled down at him.
"Always."
It was then that I did something I rarely did. I sang. And I sang for Jetfire. I sang the words I remembered from when he sang the Cybertronian Lullaby to me, and I could feel him start to relax and his breathing start to slow down. During that time he never let go of my hand even when his hold slacken slightly. By the time I was finished singing Jetfire was relaxed and was starting to fall asleep.
"Thank you…Mom…" Jetfire said tiredly.
My eyes widened and I held my breath when Jetfire said that. He was so tired that he thought I was Astera. My gaze soften as I gazed down at him with a soft smile.
"You're welcome…my little Jetfire." I said quietly. It was weird having to pretend that I was Astera, but I was glad that I knew that she called him her 'little Jetfire'. I just hope that he thought I was his mother long enough for him to fall asleep. And hopefully Astera would understand why I was pretending to be her.
But in the end it worked since Jetfire was asleep with such a peaceful look on his holoform's face. I waited a few minutes before deciding to move him into a more comfortable position. It took awhile since not only was he bigger than me, but also heavier, but eventually I managed to get him to rest his head on the pillow. I faced him as I laid down on the mattress beside him and I was thankful for the change of position since my legs were sore from having to sit in the same position while comforting Jetfire, but it was worth it to see his face look so serene as he slept. I wrapped my arms around him before placing the side of my face against his chest. I was…happy that I was able to do this for him, to comfort him when he really needed it. I wasn't alive to comfort him 70,000 years ago, but I was now and I was fully capable of doing so. My sparkmate. I just hoped he had peaceful dreams instead of the nightmares that war and death brought.
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When I woke up the next day I wasn't surprised when I didn't see Alexis, Rad, Carlos, Billy, and Fred around since I knew they went home to sleep in their own beds. It felt strange that I was the only human on base since my friends had always been around whenever I came here. I couldn't exactly say that I felt special, but I couldn't say that I didn't either.
Luckily Alexis, Rad, Carlos, Billy, and Fred arrived at the base eventually and they were all sad (Fred was crying loudly). I stood with them as I gazed at the platform that displayed the gold object that I had come to know as the Matrix. To think that I had held such an important relic without realizing its true nature yesterday when Sparkplug handed it to me. But then that just gave rise to more questions. Why did Sparkplug hand the Matrix to me when he could've just held onto it and gone to give it to Scavenger himself? Was it because I was the only person with him when Jetfire left the launching dock?
I shook my head. That couldn't be it. He could've given it to Jetfire to hold onto, but he didn't, he chose me. But why? There wasn't anything special about me that would warrant me to do so. And there was the fact that he dragged me to the command center while I held the Matrix. I shouldn't have been allowed to touch it at all. It was an object that belong to the transformers, and the transformers should be the only ones to touch it, not humans. Looking back on the memory I felt like I defiled it just because I held it, tainted it. I didn't feel right about it now. It felt like blasphemy.
"I-is there anyway - we can fix Optimus?" Fred asked while still crying.
I turned around to look at Red Alert, who stood with Hoist, Blurr, Scavenger, Hot Shot, and Sideswipe. He looked down at us through his red visor.
"I'm sorry. It can't be done." Red Alert explained, his tone making us realize how much Optimus' death affected us. "Optimus' body released its spark when it blocked the Hydra Cannon's blast. And without it, there's no way we can bring him back. I wish there was some way we could, but we're just gonna have to pull ourselves together and carry on without him."
"Yeah, but how?" Carlos asked.
"Optimus…" Rad said, lowering his gaze to the floor. "He knew that he would never survive the blast from the Hydra Cannon. I know he sacrificed himself for us and everyone else on planet Earth, but I know I'm not the only one who feels lost without him."
There was no doubt that everyone else felt the same way as well. Things didn't feel the same now that Optimus was gone and I realize just how much of an impact he made in my life. I remembered when I had talked to him in his office, recalling how kind and patient he had been while we talked about the incident between me and Jetfire. I didn't notice it before, but I found myself aware of how much I viewed him as a sort of father figure.
True to his word Jetfire took command of the Autobots since he was Vice Commander. But with it came the big responsibility of maintaining order among everyone else. It didn't help that it caused him some stress from all the work he had to do. When I asked him if there was anything I could do to help Jetfire just shook his head at me, telling me that there was nothing I could do and that he was grateful that I was willing to help out. I know it's the thought that counts, but I couldn't help but feel useless. I wanted to help, I really did, but I wasn't able to. I just felt horrible just seeing him work so hard without giving himself a break and he wouldn't even let me help. He was pushing himself, I knew that much. Was this his way to cope with Optimus' death? To distract himself by doing so much work?
As I had already stated, Jetfire had been working really hard without taking any breaks, not even stopping to rest or drink energon. I was fully aware of how it was affecting him. I could tell that he was exhausted and it showed from how his gold optics would dim slightly and brighten (just like they did when he was trying to work while taking care of me at the same time during my recover), and how his movements would sometimes be sluggish. Sometimes when he moved to just bend his arms or legs (or any type of movement) I would hear this screeching sound that hurt my ears to the point that even trying to cover my ears with my hands wouldn't block out the horrible sounding noise. He would winch whenever this happened and I knew that it was causing him so much pain despite how hard he tried to hide it from me. I couldn't understand why he would do this to himself!
I tried begging him to stop, to get some rest or drink some energon, but being the stubborn mech that he was he refused to listen to me, saying that his duties were important at the moment. So was his life, I told him. He merely sighed before continuing his work. Why wouldn't he listen to me? He knew that I promised Astera I would take care of him (along with promising Silverbolt as well), but how was I supposed to do that if he wouldn't even listen to me? I felt…powerless knowing that I couldn't do anything to help or stop Jetfire from overworking himself. I tried so hard to make him realize this and I did everything I could think of to get him to look away from his work for even three seconds. But in the end I felt that it was all my fault, that I didn't try hard enough. Didn't he realize how much it was hurting me to watch him do this to himself? There was nothing I could do except just be there for him, but even my presence had little to no effect.
It had been like this for the last few days, Jetfire working nonstop without any rest or energon. I knew how important energon was to the transformers, how it wasn't only their source of food (the best thing to compare it to being a car needing gasoline to continue working; without it the car wouldn't work), but it served as their lifeblood and fuel. And my sparkmate wasn't drinking any at all. He was starving himself just to get his work done.
One day I was with Jetfire in his office while he continued working when it happened. The abuse he put himself through finally caught up with his body and he just suddenly collapsed, falling out of the chair he was sitting in and ending up sprawled on the floor. I cried out in shock and had climbed down the ladder before running over to him. Jetfire's optics were deactivated and my eyes widened when I heard (and slightly felt) how slowly his spark was humming and pulsing. I started getting desperate and tried calling his name over and over, but he never responded. Even trying to contact that him through our connection wasn't working and I couldn't get inside his mind at all to figure out what was happening. I ended up crying since nothing I did was working and it was then that I remembered the portable comlink that Red Alert made me and managed to contact him. By the time I reached him I was just a mess of tears and I told him what happened to Jetfire. Red Alert was shocked from what I told him, but then he had to calm me down by telling me that he was on his way.
I had gone over to Jetfire's hand and wrapped my arms around his thumb, but I started crying again when I noticed that his hand wasn't as warm as it usually was and had slowly started to get colder. My heart started to ache slightly in pain and I clung desperately to his hand.
"How could you do this to yourself?" I asked quietly. "You should've listen to me, Jetfire! I told you to stop, to get some rest, and drink energon, but you didn't listen." I was upset that I started pounding my fist on the palm of his hand. "You stupid, stupid, stupid mech! Why do you always have to be so stubborn?"
I didn't notice the huge door hiss open, but it was when I was gently pulled away from Jetfire's hand that I realized that not only was Red Alert here, but also Scavenger who happened to be the one that pulled me away from Jetfire. Red Alert managed to pull Jetfire from the floor and started dragging him out of his office. I turned to look at Scavenger and was greeted to the serious look on his face, but his optics seemed to soften a bit when he saw my face. I must've looked like a mess to get him to do that, but I was surprised when he started walking out of Jetfire's office and following Red Alert who wasn't so far away from where we were. I was still surprised that Scavenger was following the medic that was dragging my sparkmate as quickly as he could to the med bay and I turned around to face him again in my confusion.
"I can understand how you feel." Scavenger whispered so only I could hear.
My eyes widened at this. Did…Scavenger know…about me and Jetfire being sparkmates?
"What?" I asked quietly.
"You're worried about Jetfire. But the amount of concern you have for him, it's more than just friendship, isn't it?"
How many more surprises was I going to get today? My face must've said everything since Scavenger gave a small smile.
"Don't worry. I won't tell anyone."
I lowered my gaze as I felt my face heat up. So he knew about my relationship with Jetfire, but he said he wouldn't tell anyone. I was relieved by this.
"Thank you, Scavenger."
Scavenger continued to follow Red Alert until we got to the med bay. We entered just in time to see Red Alert place Jetfire's body on top of one of the many berths in the room before running off. He came back with a bunch of wires and I realized that they must've been something similar to IV lines since I saw the huge yet thick needles on the ends. I shuddered at the thought of being punctured by one of them, but then I remembered that Jetfire was afraid of needles as well. I feel sorry for him since he was going to be the one waking up to all those needles in him. Red Alert started putting the huge needles into various locations on Jetfire's body, ranging from his arms and legs to his shoulders and chest. As soon as he finished putting the last one in I could hear a beeping sound similar to a heart monitor, but is was slow with pauses between each beep.
I was just horrified at the sight and I placed a hand over my mouth as fresh tears started to well up in my eyes. Despite the aching pain in my heart I didn't think about clutching a hand over it since I didn't want to give away the fact that I was Jetfire's sparkmate. I didn't want anymore people to know about it. Looking at the wires I could see these glowing neon pink fluids being pumped gradually into the areas Jetfire was injected at a steady rate, furthering my theory of them being similar to IVs. Maybe it was used the same way for transformers. Luckily I learned from Red Alert that that those wires were actually providing the shuttle mech with energon to help prove the lack of energon in his system.
"Is…Jetfire going to be okay?" I asked, still very worried about him.
"He will be now that we have him hooked up." Red Alert told me. "Would you mind telling me what happened?"
And I told Red Alert what had happened and all the things I had noticed. How Jetfire overworked himself without resting, how he hadn't had any energon at all, and the screeching noise he made whenever he moved. I told him how this had been going on for the last few days.
"It's a good thing you contacted me when you did. If you hadn't Jetfire would've ended up offlining or in stasis lock, which is a state similar to what you humans consider a coma." My heart skipped a beat when he said that. Jetfire would have died or fell into a coma. "As you had told me, he hadn't gotten any recharge or drank energon in the last few days while working. The screeching sound you heard whenever Jetfire moved around was because of the low level of energon in his system. It's similar to how a door can be difficult to open with rust coating the hinges."
"This is my fault. I should've tried harder to get him to stop, but-"
"This isn't your fault at all, Valerie." Scavenger said, causing me to turn to look at him. "You did your best to try and stop him, but we all know how stubborn Jetfire can be at times."
"To be honest I'm not surprised that he ended up like this." Red Alert stated. "With the fact that he's Vice Commander it's his duty to take over in our Commander's absence. But now that Optimus is gone the duties of Commander all fall on his shoulders. Hopefully when Jetfire wakes up he'll realize the consequences of his actions upon seeing all the needles that I have hooked up to him."
Despite the fact that Red Alert was only joking with the last part, I still felt horrible that Jetfire would wake up to all those needles. I would be scared too if I had to wake up like that.
"Can I stay with him?" I asked.
Red Alert nodded before taking me from Scavenger (who left as soon as he did so) and brought me over to the berth Jetfire was on. As soon as I was placed on top of it I went over to stand next to Jetfire's head. Time pass as I stayed in the same spot the whole time and Red Alert had even left for a bit to get himself some rest and relaxation in the rec room. I was too worried about Jetfire to really do anything besides be at his side. Eventually I saw his optics activate slowly and it took a while for Jetfire to register that he was in the med bay, followed by realizing I was with him and that he had a bunch of needles hooked up to his body (which he freaked out over and he would've probably pulled them out if it wasn't for me stopping him). I didn't hide the fact that I had been so worried about him and to both of our surprise I scolded him for having worried me and not taking care of himself. I told him how scared I had been when he collapsed and how my heart had actually ached painfully from what had happened to him, as if in response to Jetfire's condition. I wanted him to know that I didn't want him overworking himself after what happened today. I just hope that he'll keep his word.
Jetfire had gotten better by the time the week came to an end mainly because I would remind him to get some rest and drink some energon (which he did while I wasn't around since he wouldn't let me see his face). Despite all of this he never complained once since he knew that I was only looking after him, that it was for his own good. It was when the week came to an end that Jetfire left the base since he wanted to see if there was anything left of the Decepticons' base on the moon. I didn't bother asking to go with him since I knew he would say no. I wanted to see what space looked like, but for some reason I felt that I would've agreed with Jetfire to stay at the base. He didn't want me to get hurt if something were to happen while he was out there. I didn't know what to do now except wait.
That was why I was sitting outside the base looking up at the clear blue sky. I felt tears start to form in my eyes as I recalled everything that happened a week ago. Nobody was aware that the Earth had been so close to being destroyed by the Hydra Cannon. None of them knew that Optimus had sacrificed himself so that we could live, but it had to be this way. They couldn't know about the transformers. I couldn't help but wonder if things would've been different if Optimus had life, if he had managed to survive the blast from the Hydra Cannon. I shook my head. That was just wishful thinking. I noticed something out of the corner of my eye and I turned to find Rad and Alexis riding their bikes to the base. I wasn't surprised to see the nostalgic expressions on their faces, knowing that everyone was still sad about losing Optimus. Even the Autobots were still sad, and despite pretending that it was just business I knew that it was affecting everyone.
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Hot Shot was with the other Autobots as they all worked on building the spaceship. He tried to best to distract himself from thinking about what happened last week, but when he wasn't paying attention his processor would always drift back to seeing Optimus disintegrating into space dust.
'Focus!' He told himself. 'Focus on working on the ship!'
Suddenly he heard the loud banging sound of something dropping to the floor. Hot Shot glanced over his shoulder to see that the object had been dropped by Hoist before going back to working on the part of the ship he was building. He knew that everyone else was looking at the white mech anyways.
"Oh, man!" Hoist groaned.
"Try and be more careful, Hoist!" Red Alert told him.
"I'm trying, Red Alert, but how can I when somebody keeps messing with my tools all the time!" He said irritably before turning to Red Alert. "So back off, will ya?"
"Well I think maybe you've cross-wired your circuits again."
"And just how would you know? You don't know the first thing about installing a matrix circuit."
Red Alert groaned quietly at this.
"Sideswipe, take over for me here." Scavenger said.
"Uh, yessir!" Sideswipe replied.
"Good idea." Blurr said as he stood up. "Those two could use a break anyway."
Hot Shot gritted his teeth at this. He couldn't distract himself by working with all this fighting around, and it only reminded him of the fact that the Decepticons had a spaceship while the Autobots didn't have on at all! What was the point of building the spaceship in the first place?! Hot Shot threw the tool that he held in his servo to the flow in frustration.
"Huh?" Blurr and Sideswipe said as everyone turned around to face him.
Hot Shot growled irritably.
"Why are we wasting our time building the spaceship?" Hot Shot asked, clenching his servos tightly into fists. "The Decepticons are gone. They're a thousand light years away now, guys. C'mon!"
"Yeah! He's right!" Hoist said.
'Of course I'm right!' Hot Shot thought before kicking the ship in his anger before starting to walk towards the door. "Forget this! I'm outta here!"
"Bro, wait!" He heard Sideswipe call to him, but Hot Shot never stopped walking.
'It's time to take matters into my own servos!' Hot Shot thought.
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I was with Alexis, Rad, Carlos, Billy, and Fred when we heard the sound of large footsteps coming down the hallway from around the corner.
"Jetfire! Hey, where ya hidin', Jetfire?"
That was Hot Shot's voice! I looked around the corner with Rad to see that the yellow mech was walking down the hallway in our direction.
"Hey, Hot Shot…" Rad said.
At this Hot Shot saw both Rad and I looking around the corner and stopped walking.
"Have ya seen Jetfire?" Hot Shot asked.
"Oh, uh, Jetfire said he was going to check out the Decepticons' moon base again."
"Man!" Hot Shot yelled and I jumped in surprise when he slammed his left elbow into the wall next to him, which resulted in it being dented from the impact.
"Whoa!"
Hot Shot then walked off down the hallway he had been coming from. It was obvious that he was angry, that much I could tell. Alexis, Carlos, Billy, and Fred looked around the corner as well to see Hot Shot walking of as well.
"Something is really bothering him." Alexis said, sounding concerned.
It was then that we decided to follow Hot Shot and I soon realized that he was making his way to the launching dock. We entered just in time to see him slam his fist into the wall he stood next to.
"Why did you do it, Optimus?!" Hot Shot asked. He seemed to realize something since the tone of his voice changed. "Oh man... I yelled at him. I never had the right to question Optimus' leadership. Never! He was our commander."
We watched the whole thing from where we stood and I couldn't help but feel sorry for Hot Shot. I can still remember when he yelled at Optimus and now the yellow mech was feeling horrible for doing so now that he was gone.
"Wow, poor guy." Carlos said.
"Yeah, I just hope he'll be all right." Rad agreed. "Huh?" Suddenly we heard the familiar sound of the warp gate being activated. "It's Jetfire!"
I felt my heart skip a beat when I heard what Rad said and felt slightly anxious. Hot Shot turned his head to look in time to see the warp gate open to show Jetfire flying in and landing on the floor.
"Transform!" Jetfire yelled before changing into his bipedal mode and stand in place.
"Jetfire…" Hot Shot said as he approached the shuttle mech.
"Huh?" He turned his head to look at Hot Shot.
"C'mon, let's go. I want you to take me into space right now."
"Wha…?" Jetfire asked, his voice slightly high pitched and sounding very much confused as he just stared at the yellow mech. I could even feel his confusion through our connection.
"We're going after those Decepticons. I'm gonna make them pay for what they did. Because I'm gonna get revenge for Optimus."
I was surprised at how determined Hot Shot sounded. Apparently Jetfire didn't like the way he was acting since I saw him narrow his optics.
"You need to calm down!"
Jetfire's voice was stern and I knew he meant every word. After having to deal with constantly keeping everyone in line for the past week (along with all the work he had to do) I wouldn't blame him for being annoyed or irritated at Hot Shot. And he wasn't going deal with the way he was acting either. We ran over to stand behind Hot Shot.
"You gotta let me do it." Hot Shot turned around to see us standing behind him. "I've got to!"
"What are you saying?" Alexis asked.
"Hot Shot!" Rad said.
"There's nothing left of the moon base." Jetfire said calmly as he turned to look at the wall on the opposite end. Hot Shot turned to look at him. "My guess is that the Decepticons headed towards Cybertron hours ago."
Hot Shot growled quietly at this.
"Planet Cybertron?" Alexis asked.
Cybertron. I remember hearing about it from Jetfire before, but he didn't really tell me that much about it. All I knew was that he and the rest of the transformers were from there, that it was their home. Jetfire turned his head to look at Hot Shot.
"I understand why you wanna go after them, Hot Shot. But without a proper ship, there's no way we can catch them."
"I've heard enough." Hot Shot said, turning around so that his back was facing us.
"Hu-" Jetfire turned his whole body to face Hot Shot completely. "What's that supposed to me-?"
"You heard what I said." The yellow mech interrupted before turning to look at Jetfire. "Listen, I know it's your job as deputy commander of the Autobots to make the decisions around here. But... but you can't do it."
"You're wrong." Jetfire growled, sounding irritated now. "Right now we have to focus on the spaceship, NOT REVENGE."
"He's right, brother." We all turned to find Sideswipe, along with the other Autobots standing inside the launching dock. "We're gonna need the ship finished if we're gonna catch them." Sideswipe said calmly.
"Hey! Quiet!" Hot Shot snapped.
"Hhh, bro?" Sideswipe took a step back at this.
"Hot Shot!" Blurr shouted.
"You too! Back off!"
I didn't miss the stern look on Scavenger's face as he glared at Hot Shot before he started approaching him.
"Huh?" Hot Shot took a step back. "What do you want?"
Scavenger remained quiet, but suddenly he grab a hold of Hot Shot's arm before flinging him to the floor where he slams on his back. When he recovered the yellow mech siat up.
"Hey, what do ya think you're doing?"
"Come with me." Scavenger ordered before grabbing Hot Shot's arm and started dragging him along the floor. I could tell that it hurt Hot Shot since he hissed in pain.
"What's going on?" Carlos asked.
"He's done for." Fred said.
"Hey, let me go, you big lug!" Hot Shot yelled as Scavenger continued dragging him towards the launching area.
"Quiet." Scavenger told him.
"Where we going, anyway?"
"Be quiet!"
Suddenly Jolt (Hot Shot's Mini-Con partner) started bleeping before stepping forward.
"I said, let go of me! Aah!" He continued yelling.
Jolt transformed into a helicopter and started flying after Hot Shot and Scavenger just as they left through the warp gate that appeared in front of them.
"I don't like the look of this." Rad said.
'Neither do I.' I thought, feeling worried for Hot Shot.
I left the launching dock with Alexis, Rad, Carlos, Billy, and Fred and we started running down the hallway as we made our way to the command center so that we could see what was happening.
"Rad, the team is falling apart." Alexis stated, sounding worried.
"And I wish Optimus was still around." Billy added.
"Me too." Fred agreed.
"C'mon! The Autobots will work it out, you guys!" Rad told us.
We eventually made it to the command center and Alexis started typing at the human sized monitor as she tried to get the footage from the coordinates that Hot Shot and Scavenger went to.
"Oh…" She said before the monitor showed what looked to be an unfinished highway with a red dot flashing near the gap between the two roads. "Got 'em!"
"Where?" Rad asked?
"On a highway. But it's been abandoned for years."
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Hot Shot stared up at Scavenger from where he sat on the ground, but he barely managed to dodge when the older mech suddenly started to attack him. Seeing where Scavenger's fist had smashed the road the yellow mech was surprised as he realized that could've been him if he hadn't moved when he did.
"Hey, chill out!" Hot Shot yelled.
Hot Shot's blue optics widened in shock when Scavenger started charging at him. Before he knew it Hot Shot found himself on the ground after being punched in the face and he winched slightly in pain.
"Get up and fight me." Scavenger demanded.
"What's up, Scavenger?" Hot Shot asked. "We're friends."
Hot Shot watched as Scavenger's optics narrowed at him in a glare. The yellow mech recalled the human saying 'if looks could kill'. If there were true, then he'd probably be in the Pit by now.
"We are not. You are no friend of mine. Now get up." Scavenger clasped his servo together before slamming them down on Hot Shot in an attempt to hurt him. Luckily the yellow mech got out of the way, but now he found himself barely dodging Scavenger's fists as he tried to punch him. "What's the matter? I thought you were angry! Well let's see you prove it to me."
"Hey! Take it easy, would ya?"
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My eyes were wide as I watched Hot Shot and Scavenger fighting each other on the monitor, although it was more like Hot Shot was just dodging Scavenger's attacks.
"Holy, Scavenger's really laying into him." Carlos said.
"Isn't there something we can do?" Alexis asked.
I looked over my shoulder to see the other Autobots towering over us from behind as they watched the fight on the monitor. Just by looking at them I could see that they all had the same expression on their faces (or in their optics). Jetfire's gold optics were narrow, his arms crossed while his blaster was mounted on his right arm and not once did I feel any concern from him. How could he be so blasé about this whole situation?
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
"Why are you doing this?" Hot Shot shouted as he continued dodging Scavenger's punches. "We're on the same side! Ease up!"
"You want me to ease up, well let's see how tough you really are then!" Scavenger yelled. Hot Shot gasped quietly, but he barely managed to catch Scavenger's fist when it was about to hit him in the face. He did all he could to hold the older mech's fist in place, which has always been difficult for him to do even when he was in training. "What do you think Optimus would do? Now show me!"
"I know... he wouldn't be pushed around by you! He would fight!" Scavenger growled quietly at this. "All right, I'll show you what I can do, Scavenger!"
"Here, try this!" Scavenger said before send Hot Shot flying into the side guard of the road. "You brought this on yourself!"
Hot Shot looked up in time to see Scavenger charging at him and he barely got out of the way before his fist smashed into the rocky wall.
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
Alexis gasped as she watched what was happening and covered her eyes.
"Stop it!" She cried.
"Oh no! It looks like Scavenger's gonna squish Hot Shot!" Carlos exclaimed.
"No! We have to put a stop to this!"
"We can't." Jetfire stated. "This is Hot Shot's last chance to prove himself to all of us."
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
Hot Shot was taken by surprise when Scavenger suddenly picked him up, but it was short-lived since he flung him to the ground. He was surprised when he saw Jolt standing next to him and he sat up just in time to see that Scavenger was about to fire his built-in blaster at him, causing his blue optics widened in shock.
"No! You wouldn't!" Hot Shot yelled fearfully before turning to his Mini-Con partner. "Quick, Jolt!"
Jolt changed into a blaster and Hot Shot snatched it before firing it at the shot that came out of Scavenger's blaster, resulting in the two attacks to cancel each other out upon impact.
"You won't be so lucky next time." Scavenger said, glaring down at Hot Shot. This caused the yellow mech to feel confused.
"What's wrong? What have I done?"
"You don't have a clue, do you? Think about it a second! I don't have time for this!"
"Oh yeah?"
Hot Shot got up and started charging at Scavenger before getting a hold of the older mech's waist.
"If you don't know your place in the Autobots by now, I can't help you!" Scavenger yelled.
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
From what I could see on the monitor Hot Shot and Scavenger were trying to shove each other, but with no luck since neither of them would budge.
"This is definitely not the time for friends to be fighting amongst each other." Alexis stated before turning around to look at Jetfire. "Please, Jetfire, make them stop!"
I turned around to look up at him as well. I didn't like the look that I saw in his optics as he gazed down at us and it just made me feel anxious.
"No." Jetfire said sternly. His voice suddenly became quieter and calmer. "Not yet."
"Why not?!"
I didn't like this side of Jetfire. The last time I saw him like this was when I found him in the rec room the day after he learned about my secret admirer. At the time I hadn't felt anything in response to the way he looked at me, but now that I saw him this way again I just made me feel uneasy. It was short-lived when I started feeling a little frustrated and I turned around to look away from him. I clenched my hands tightly to the point that I could feel my nails digging into the palm of hands and gritted my teeth. Why weren't the Autobots doing anything?
'Do something, Jetfire!' I yelled. 'Do something to make them stop fighting!'
Jetfire didn't say anything, but then I felt his presence in my mind as he tried to hold me in comfort. But instead of accepting the embrace like I've always have, I mentally pushed him away from me and out of his hold. I could feel the hurt Jetfire felt from my rejection, but I wasn't going to let that guilt me at the moment.
{In war tough decisions have to be made. This is the duty any leader has to face in life.} Jetfire told me, settling back into the persona of a stern leader.
'This has nothing to do with war! Friends aren't supposed to be fighting each other.' I squeezed my eyes shut. 'I hate life sometimes. Why can't things just be simple instead of being so complicated? People are always fighting each other because no one ever wants to talk things out.'
{If life were so simple then we wouldn't have any conflicts at all. No disagreements or problems. Life would be dull and uninteresting.}
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
Hot Shot and Scavenger were still locked in their shoving war as they tried to push the other down. The yellow mech was having some difficulty with the exchange and the older mech managed to push him back slightly, but he wasn't going to give up. He was too stubborn to do so.
"Do you have any idea why I left the Decepticons and came over to the Autobots?" Scavenger suddenly asked.
"Better money?" Hot Shot answered sarcastically, managing to push Scavenger back a bit.
"I joined because of you!"
Scavenger tried to push Hot Shot back, but he leg go before that could even happen. He took a step back with his optics wide in shock.
"Liar!" Hot Shot yelled. "I don't believe you, Scavenger!"
It couldn't be true! It was just a lie so Scavenger could catch him off guard. But Hot Shot wasn't going to fall for it! Instead he threw his fist at Scavenger, but the older mech simply caught it easily with just one servo.
"Remember what Sideways did to you. He deceived you and sent you into that trap on the moon."
Hot Shot couldn't help but be reminded of what happened. How he still had the Star Saber when he and Sideways (who he had thought was an Autobot) were on the moon, only to lose the weapon to the Decepticons when he betrayed him.
"I was crazy to go off on my own. But I had to." Hot Shot told him.
"Yes, that complete lack of fear has served you well, Hot Shot." Scavenger told him before suddenly punching the yellow mech to the ground.
"Hey, what are you talking about?" Hot Shot looked up at him when he managed to recover, feeling confused by what Scavenger said.
Scavenger approached Hot Shot before standing over him.
"There was no way you could have known that Sideways was still working with the Decepticons, yet you still went into battle. I admired that. Even though Optimus disagreed with your strategy, he would have done the same... if he was in your position." Scavenger explained. He then glared down at him. "Yet you had the nerve to question him when he took Starscream on our side, even though he had no other choice at the time. You were way out of line."
"So what?" Hot Shot asked, not understanding what Scavenger's point was.
"He was our leader."
Hot Shot now realized what Scavenger was saying. It all made sense now. He hung his head.
"Yeah, I understand. I should never had said that." Hot Shot then stood up. "But I tried to tell him from the start that Starscream would double-cross us, Scavenger! And he did, didn't he?"
"Yes he did. But Optimus Prime made a decision and he stuck to it!" Suddenly Scavenger punched Hot Shot in the face before punching him in the stomach as well. "There's no future for any of us if we get caught in a dirty fight just for revenge!"
By the time Scavenger stopped punching him Hot Shot was holding his stomach. He could still feel the pain from being punched and it just hurt. And it wasn't just the physical pain, but all the overwhelming emotions that he felt. He was mad at the Decepticons, mad at the Autobots, even mad at the humans that lived on the planet he stood upon. He was mad at everyone. But most of all he was mad at himself. It was too much for him!
"What do I do?" He asked, shaking slightly. He was so confused, so angry, so sad. "I can't control these feelings inside of me."
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
I felt tears start to form in my eyes from what I just witnessed. I could understand how Hot Shot felt. To blame yourself for everything even when it wasn't your fault. This all reminded me of my first mission and how I kept blaming myself for what happened to Optimus just because he was protecting me from getting killed. And despite Jetfire constantly telling me it wasn't my fault I still thought it was.
"This is terrible." Rad said. "Hot Shot is blaming himself for everything."
"Even what happened to Optimus?" Carlos asked.
"That's the reason why Hot Shot's been so upset lately." Alexis said, holding the back of her hand up to her eyes sad she tried not to cry. "He thinks that he's let everybody down." She then turned to look at Jetfire again. "Jetfire, you gotta end this now."
"Scavenger knows what he's doing." Jetfire said calmly.
"I just wish he would go easy on my bro." Sideswipe said, breaking the silence that had fallen over us.
'Why won't you stop them, Jetfire?! You're the Vice Commander! Can't you see that this is only going to make things worst?' I asked.
{I don't expect you to understand our reasons, but you need to realize that this is for Hot Shot's own good.} Jetfire told me.
'How is this for his own good? Explain it so that I can understand!'
{As you can see Hot Shot's anger has blinded him, making him want revenge against the Decepticons. The kid hasn't exactly had the best experiences when it's come to the betrayal of those he thought he could trust. Wheeljack is testimony to that since Hot Shot was his instructor and he thought that he abandoned him, causing him to join the Decepticons. You already know about Sideways and Starscream.}
'So that's mainly why he so angry. Not only because he was angry at Optimus for trusting Starscream, but for trusting him himself. Can't you stop them now that Hot Shot realizes his mistake?'
{No. He may realize his mistake and the fact that he blames himself, but the problem is that he thinks he's the only one that's suffering from the loss of Optimus. We need to make him realize that this has affected us just as much as it has for him.}
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
Hot Shot didn't have time to worry about his emotions since Scavenger punched him. Fear seized him when he saw that he had fallen off the edge of the unfinished road, but he managed to grabbed the edge with his right servo, leaving him to dangle helplessly. As if luck was on his side Hot Shot felt tiny servos grabbing a hold of his back and he instantly knew that it was Jolt as the Mini-Con managed to get him back on the road, where he was left hovering above the asphalt.
"You don't understand any of this! My mission is to get even with the Decepticons!"
"Listen, it's a mistake to take matters into your own hands. You understand?" Scavenger asked, glaring at him before pointing a finger at him. "You'll become an outcast!"
Hot Shot growled quietly. He didn't have to deal with this! He didn't need his friends to help him take down the Decepticons! He could do it on his own with or without their aid!
"Transform!" He yelled, transforming into his alt mode before driving/flying across the huge gap to the other side of the incomplete road.
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
"Whoa, Hot Shot has taken off!" Carlos exclaimed.
"Hey, look!" Alexis suddenly said after turning around.
We all turned around and my eyes widened in surprise. The Autobots were gone! I hadn't even felt Jetfire leave the room at all, but then I realized that he must've blocked his end of the connection from me. Again.
"Where'd everybody go?" Rad asked.
'…Jetfire!' I thought. If what I saw on the monitor of Hot Shot getting away from Scavenger was any indication, then the other Autobots were going to try and stop him.
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
Hot Shot was glad to finally get away from Scavenger, but now it was just…quiet. It had never been this quiet whenever he drove down the roads besides the sound of his engine. It almost made him feel at peace, but with it came the thoughts that assaulted his processor. The thoughts he wanted to forget so much.
"Optimus, I wish you were here." Hot Shot said quietly. "You'd know what to do. I don't even know where I'm going. Ah!" Suddenly he felt something ram into the left side of his alt mode and he was shocked when he found who it was! "Blurr! What are you doing here?"
Indeed it was Blurr who was driving next to him, but he was too close to him.
"You're the one who started this fight and I'm gonna end it!" Blurr yelled as he kept ramming into the yellow mech.
"Go away. Leave me alone!" Suddenly Hot Shot heard what sounded like a car horn honking and he spotted a normal truck driving towards them. This was his chance to get away! "Go, Jolt! Go!"
With Jolt's help Hot Shot managed drive ahead of Blurr before driving along the side of the truck. This ensured that Blurr wouldn't be able to follow him.
"Hot Shot! Come back!"
Hot Shot ignored Blurr's voice as he drove down a ramp.
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
I ran down the hallway with the others as we rushed to the launching dock and by the time we got inside Sideswipe had already gone through the warp gate, making Jetfire, Red Alert, and Hoist the only Autobots left on base.
"What's going on?!" Rad asked, causing the three Autobots to turn to us as we ran inside the room.
"Hot Shot just needs a little time to think things through." Alexis stated. "Why can't you guys just give him a break. Please?"
"Sorry, it has to be done this way now." Red Alert said calmly.
"But it's just not right!"
Red Alert hummed as he nodded his head.
"You'll just have to trust us."
I find it a little hard to trust the Autobots at the moment. How could this be the only way to resolve this issue? There had to be another options, a compromise of some sort. Even if leaders had to make tough decisions there were always other options.
'I'm begging you, Jetfire! Please stop this! If you guys keep this up it'll only cause him to push all of you away!'
{No. It may seem like he needs time alone, but what he's really doing is running away. And we all know that running away never solves anything.} I heardJetfire sighed and I suddenly felt that he was melancholy. {I went through something similar 70,000 years ago after my mother was offlined. I had been so angry that I had actually wanted revenge against the Decepticons and I used that anger in all my other encounters with them during those years of fighting. Her funeral was held the day after she was offlined and I ended up going through depression. I knew there were friends around me that were willing to help, but instead of running I tried to drink my problems away with high grade energon, which is similar to what you humans call alcohol.}
I glanced at Jetfire to see that the expression in his optics never changed from the stern look they had, but I knew that he was physically hiding how he really felt. I was the only one who knew what he was really feeling.
'There's more to it than that.' I stated.
{There is, but now isn't the time for that.} I felt slightly disappointed that he wouldn't tell me. He knew what I was feeling since I felt him reassure me. {I'll tell you once this mess is over with.}
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
Despite how tired he felt Hot Shot never stopped. But he was surprised when he saw Sideswipe up ahead in his alt mode as he blocked the road.
"Sorry, bro, but I gotta do something about your bad attitude. Here goes nothing. Transform!"
As soon as he saw Sideswipe transform into his bipedal mode Hot Shot was forced to slam on the brakes.
"Sideswipe!" He yelled.
But then the most unexpected thing happened. Sideswipe aimed his blaster at him!
"I'll shoot if I have to." Sideswipe told him.
"Don't be ridiculous! We're on the same side!"
"You keep saying that you want revenge for what the Decepticons did to Optimus Prime. But as usual, you've gone off on your own without even considering how the rest of us feel about it."
This only made Hot Shot angry. He didn't have time for this!
"I don't need permission from you to do anything!"
Hot Shot started driving at Sideswipe, not caring if he ran over his friend and brother.
"But bro!" Sideswipe protested.
"Outta my way!" He was taken by surprise when the Mini-Cons suddenly appeared and stood in front of Sideswipe as they blocked his way, forcing him to stop. "What is this! What do you guys want?"
The Mini-Cons started bleeping in response. Hot Shot saw there was no way around this now.
"Transform!" Hot Shot transformed into his bipedal mode. "Please. Leave." The Mini-Cons started to approach him and upon seeing this Hot Shot started backing away from them. "Stay back!" As the Mini-Cons continued to approach him Hot Shot suddenly saw the image of Optimus appear before him. He wasn't sure if he was seeing things or not, but he was too anxious to think about it. "Gotta help me, Optimus."
"Don't give up on your friends, Hot Shot." Optimus told him, his voice strangely comforting to the yellow mech. "They're all you've got."
The Mini-Cons stopped in front of him and he took a few steps back, only for Jolt to detach from his back.
"Jolt! Hey, get back here!" Hot Shot yelled, watching as his Mini-Con partner joined the other Mini-Cons that stood in front of him. "Jolt, how could you?"
"Hot Shot... You must trust the Mini-Cons the way I did."
"Huh?"
Hot Shot was suddenly reminded of the time when Megatron had ordered the Mini-Cons that he had to fire at Optimus, the very same Mini-Cons that ended up coming over to their side when they saw that he wanted to help them.
"Ha, ha, ha! You're too soft to fight if the Mini-Cons are in the way." Megatron had said
"Yes, it's coming back to me."
"The reason we got into this battle with the Decepticons isn't to destroy them, our goal has always been to see our friends the Mini-Cons live a free life."
'That's right.' Hot Shot thought. 'That's what this is all about. Of course.'
"I can't believe the way I've been acting, you guys." Hot Shot said, spreading his arms out before getting on his knees. "I didn't realize it, but I've been fighting with you all like you're my enemies. I'm so sorry. I've been going about this whole thing wrong. I need your help, guys. All of you. I can't do this on my own."
The Mini-Cons stared at Hot Shot, but now he realized why the other Autobots were giving him a hard time. They were trying to make him understand that he was out of line, that he needed to see what his anger had blinded him from seeing.
"Hot Shot!"
Hot Shot turned to where he heard the familiar voice come from and he was slightly surprised to see not only the kids, but all the other Autobots as well. And they were all looking at him too.
"You are my friends." He said before standing up. "I don't wanna fight with you. Any of you." Hot Shot turned to face the Autobots and the kids as they approached him. "I understand now. I guess I didn't realize how big an influence Optimus had on me. This has been a really big adjustment for me, but if you'll let me, I'd like to join the Autobots again... As, well, part of the team. I'm ready now. Let's free the Mini-Cons like Optimus wanted us to, okay?"
"Finally you understand." Blurr said, no hint of hostility in his voice.
"This has been tough on all of us, Hot Shot." Jetfire told him.
"Huh?" Hot Shot was surprised by this.
"I think this has been the toughest time the Autobots have ever gone through."
"Guys, you know what, this whole thing brought us closer. I know I sure feel better." Hoist said.
"Well, at least we're still on the same wavelength again." Red Alert commented.
Hot Shot sighed as he stared at everyone.
"So, are we all in agreement about carrying out this mission?" Jetfire asked. "It's not gonna be easy."
"Yeah, we are." Hot Shot answered, turned to look at Sideswipe. "Right?"
"Right!" All the Autobots said as they nodded.
"Listen, if it's all right with you guys, I'd like to forget about today, okay? Y'know, I just wasn't thinking straight, that's all." Hot Shot felt a servo being placed on his shoulder and he looked up to find Jetfire standing in front of him. "Hmm?"
"Forget it. We're all starting with a clean slate."
Jetfire pulled his hand away, only for Hot Shot to suddenly see an image of Optimus replace the shuttle mech.
"In times of crisis, you can accomplish a lot more with your friends by your side, then if you decide to go it alone, Hot Shot." Optimus told him.
At this Hot Shot saluted.
"I won't forget that, Optimus-sir." Hot Shot promised.
"Sir?" Jetfire asked in confusion before laughing quietly. "Hey, the name's Jetfire."
Hot Shot realized that Jetfire was standing in front of him instead of Optimus and he suddenly felt silly for his mistake.
"Wow, either I'm overheating or I just heard Optimus speak to me directly from the other side."
"Hey, that doesn't surprise me. In fact, I bet Optimus would've chosen you to become the next commander of the Autobots."
"Hahahaha…" Hot Shot noticed the kids laughing.
"Me, as the new Autobot Commander?" Hot Shot asked, completely surprised.
"I know it's what Optimus…would've wanted."
"Really?" Hot Shot couldn't believe this! Optimus would've wanted him to be the new Commander of the Autobots? This was just…unbelievable!
"Let's hear it for Hot Shot!" Rad exclaimed.
"Hot Shot! Hot Shot! Hot Shot! All right! Who's the man? You're the man!"
He wasn't sure if he should've felt grateful or embarrassed that the kids were cheering for him. Sure he enjoyed the attention when he was trying to impress him with his moves, but this was a completely different situation.
"Thanks... I guess." He said, sounding unsure.
"Hot Shot!"
"Huh?" Hot Shot turned around and was surprised when he saw Scavenger standing behind him.
"I believe we have some unfinished business."
Everyone stared at Scavenger, but suddenly the older mech let out a battle cry as he started charging at Hot Shot.
"No! No, don't do it!" Alexis cried.
"No! Scavenger, ya gotta leave him alone! It's over!" Rad cried as well.
"Errrrraaaauggghhhh!" Despite the fact that Scavenger was charging at him Hot Shot mentally smirked, not at all afraid of what would happen to him. He didn't even flinch when Scavenger's fist suddenly stopped right in front of his fact at the last minute and all was quiet…before the older mech grinned. "Heh. You didn't even flinch."
At this Hot Shot merely smirked.
"Of course not!" He stated.
"Yeah, you've got what it takes." Scavenger pulled his fist away from Hot Shot before letting it hang at his side.
"Aww, all right!" Rad said excitedly.
"Boy, I'm sure glad they're not fighting anymore." Billy said.
"Me too. That was more loco." Carlos agreed.
"And we're all friends again." Alexis said.
"Are we?" Fred asked, a devious smile appearing on his face. "Hyah!"
Fred lightly punched Billy in the cheek, causing the boy to scowl.
"Hey, what are you doing?" Billy asked.
"That was just my blood sugar acting up!" Fred started running away as Billy just as he started chasing after the fat boy. "I'm sorry, Billy!"
At this everyone started laughing.
"Let me help you run off your blood sugar then!" Billy yelled. "Get back here!"
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
Later that day everyone was back at the base and were all gathered in the command center. I stood with Alexis, Rad, Carlos, Billy, and Fred while the Mini-Cons stood to our right and the rest of the Autobots stood behind us, leaving only Hot Shot and Jetfire to stand in front of us. I could see Sparkplug standing with the Mini-Cons as he held onto the Matrix.
"Attention Autobots!" Jetfire announced. "I hereby grant Hot Shot the Matrix of the Commander."
While he had said this Sparkplug had walked up to Jetfire while carrying the Matrix. By the time the shuttle mech had finished his announcement Jetfire bent down so he could to take the Matrix from Sparkplug before turning to face Hot Shot and holding the object out to him. The yellow mech turned to face Jetfire.
"Ohhh... Wait a minute!" Hot Shot said.
"Hot Shot's got a case of nerves!" Hoist teased.
"Just relax, bro!" Sideswipe said casually.
"Excuse me?" Red Alert asked as he gave Sideswipe a look.
"Uh, that's right. Sorry about that, Commander." Sideswipe nervously saluted.
"Would you all just lighten up, please?" Hot Shot asked as he looked at everyone. Jetfire also looked over his shoulder at us as well.
"Why? What's wrong?" Rad asked.
"Oh, no." Alexis said quietly, looking worried.
"You're not…backing down, are you?" I asked.
"Listen, this whole new Commander thing sounds too formal to me. My name's still Hot Shot." The yellow mech told us sincerely. "I'll be the leader till we get back to Cybertron and that's it, okay?"
"Right!" Red Alert agreed.
"Heh! You're a class act." Jetfire said lightheartedly. I could see the amusement in his gold optics and feel it through our connection.
"Oh, and let's keep the Matrix of the Commander in a safe place for now. I don't think I'm quite ready to tackle that one just now, okay?" Hot Shot held his hand near his chest with his thumb pointing to where I assumed his spark was. "Instead, let's keep Optimus close to our sparks. All right?"
"All right!" We all agreed.
I think that was what everyone needed to hear. Even if Optimus was gone we would all never forget everything he's done for us and because of that his memory would continue to live on in our hearts. We're finally a team again and we were ready.
"Okay, we're gonna follow the Decepticons back to planet Cybertron and liberate the last of the Mini-Cons. So let's all get back to work."
"Yeah! Let's do it! Right on!" Hoist said.
"Too bad Optimus isn't here, 'cause I know he'd love to be a part of this mission. Our teamwork would make him really proud." Red Alert said with a grin on his face.
"And with a leader like Hot Shot to guide us, I guarantee we'll be going all the way." Scavenger said, smiling. "We can't be beat."
"We're all in this together now, so let's complete this mission in honor of Optimus Prime." Blurr said.
"All right." Hot Shot said, before suddenly getting energetic and shouting excitedly. "Yo, Autobots! Saddle up! We're heading back to planet Cybertron!"
And with that we all set to work as a team. Billy and Fred went along with the Mini-Cons to help Scavenger, Hoist, and Sideswipe move rocks, Carlos was with Red Alert and Blurr working on the ship, and Rad and Hot Shot were inside the spaceship. As for me? I was sitting with Alexis on a table as we looked over some blueprints and plans with Jetfire. I couldn't help but smile. We didn't have to worry about since she knew that we were sparkmates and we were both glad that she would keep our secret.
It was a good think that our morale went up when Hot Shot took command. I knew that from this point on the missions would be dangerous, but that didn't stop us from helping each other. Hot Shot was already doing his best as the new Commander of the Autobots and he wanted everything to be perfect before the Autobots went back to their home. To Cybertron.
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
That night after everyone had managed to get a good amount of work done on the spaceship I ended up spending time with Jetfire gazing up at the sky outside the base. But instead of being right outside the base we had gone a little ways away from in so that we could be alone. The sky was so beautiful with all the stars I could see shining.
"What's space like?" I suddenly found myself asking.
"Well, for starters it's a lot different than what you're seeing right now." Jetfire answered.
I giggled.
"I figured that much." I turned to look up at him from where I sat beside him. "How have you been feeling? You're getting enough rest and drinking your energon, right?"
"I'm feeling completely and fine of course I've been drinking my energon! After what happened a few days I'm not planning on waking up in the med bay with all those needles injected into me again. That was the worse experience yet. I never thought that taking Optimus' place and doing his duties would be so stressful. I like being Vice Commander instead. So much less stressful for me."
"That's good. You had me so worried when you suddenly collapsed like that without warning." I sighed before leaning against his leg. "You promised you'd tell me the rest of what would happen. When you were going through your depression after Astera was offlined."
"Oh, that." Jetfire sighed before he picked me up in his hand and held me close to his chest right over his spark chamber so that I was warm. "You already know that I started drinking high grade energon in my depression. I can somewhat remember what happened while I was over-energized, or drunk, but I remember seeing you. Back then you hadn't been born yet so you didn't even have a name, so I ended up calling you Skydancer when I found you dancing in the sky in my dreams that night. You actually stopped me from trying to drink my sixth cube of high grade. Ever since that night I've never even bothered drinking more than one cube of high grade. I had the worst meltdown, or hangover, in my life, but then again it was the only one I've ever had since that had been the first time I've ever tried high grade."
"So that's where you got the name Skydancer from. I never thought it would have a deeper meaning than what I originally thought." I glanced up at the sky. "Do you think…I'll ever be able to dance among the skies?"
"To be honest? I don't really know. Maybe someday you might be able to. You never know, Skydancer. For now you'll have to stick with dancing on the earth." Suddenly Jetfire went quiet and I felt that he suddenly got an idea. He lifted me up and turned me around so that I was facing him as his gold optics gazed down at me. "Maybe you can."
This suddenly made me confused.
"What do you mean by that, Jetfire." I asked.
"I think I might've figured out a way to help you dance in the sky." Jetfire told me.
Before I could ask what he meant Jetfire suddenly took off into the sky. I was about to close my eyes, but then I remembered that I had regretted not having them open during the ascent last time and kept them open this time. Eventually Jetfire came to a stop and placed his free hand underneath the on he was holding me in before opening it. I ended up sitting in the palm on his open hand before the one he had previously held me in was placed next to the one I was in, making it so that he was cupping his hands together.
"Jetfire. Why are we up here?"
"You said you wanted to dance among the skies, right? What better way than to actually take you up here so you can dance. You don't need to me scared. You know I'll always catch you if you fall, remember?"
I was hesitant to stand up, but when I felt the comfort and reassurance that Jetfire was sending me I knew that I had to do it. I slowly stood up while being careful not to fall down. I wasn't exactly wearing my ballet slippers, but I could make due with doing the arm movements without standing on my toes. I took a deep breath before I started dancing slowly, moving my arms as I would if I were practicing my ballet. I still couldn't believe that I was really up here in the sky dancing like I was in Jetfire's hands. By the time I was done dancing I carefully went over to one of his thumbs before wrapping my arms around it in a hug.
"Thank you, Jetfire. This means so much to me and you didn't even have to do this for me at all."
"I know how much you liked it when I took you flying the first time, Skydancer. This is the least I can do for you since I love you so much."
I felt tears well up in my eyes from what he said and from feeling his love through the connection as well. I smiled, knowing that what he said was true.
"I wish there was something I could do for you." I said, feeling a stray tear start to fall.
"Just you being with me is enough for me. Anything else would be considered a bonus."
"A bonus, huh?" I glanced up at his face to see him gazing down at me. "How does staying with you tonight sound as a bonus?"
At this Jetfire chuckled.
"I was hoping you'd say that. I can recharge better tonight without having to stress over the additional duties I'd had to deal with this past week."
To make a long story short Jetfire ended up flying us back to base and I ended up sleeping in his quarters with his holoform laying beside me on the human sized bed. It felt so peaceful now that the stressful days were over with for now.
ATE: That's it for chapter 17 It's unbelieveable that there's probably 12 to 13 chapters left until the Armada section of TDATS is completed! To think that I started this story in February of this year too. I find it funny how I managed to use this story's title in this chapter. Anyways, please remember to review! ;D