~Morgan's POV
I rolled over on my bunk in the night when something woke me. I was hard-wired to be a light sleeper, my training demanded it, so I propped myself up and looked around, blinking the sleep out of my eyes. A familiar pair of camo cargo pants was brought into my focus and I looked up at Ironhide's holoform.
"Hey…what's up?" I said, sitting up and stifling a yawn. I was wearing a midriff tank top and yoga pants since I'd actually bothered to change into something resembling pajamas. Ironhide laid me back down.
"Don't get up, it's really late." Ironhide said quietly even though we were the only two in my quarters. I did yawn this time, but managed to stay awake enough to talk.
"I'm sorry I woke you…I just wanted to see you." Ironhide said. I smiled, settling onto my bunk.
"Well then, I suppose I can't just kick you back out into the hangar." I said, sliding over to one side of my double sized bunk and patting the empty space. Ironhide hesitated, then sat on the edge of my bunk. I rolled my eyes, tired, and took his arm, pulling him down and making him lie facing me.
"Is this better?" I asked with a smile. Ironhide's holoform cracked a rare grin as well and he pulled me close to him, my lean body pressed against his muscular build. He brushed a bit of my hair out of my face and kissed me lightly.
"Much." Ironhide said. "Go back to sleep, I'll be here until you do." Ironhide added. I relaxed in his embrace, closing my eyes and resting my head against his chest as I drifted off to sleep.
…..
When I woke again, it was morning and Ironhide was gone, though when I sat up and looked over at my nightstand, I was surprised to see a necklace lying there with a card next to it with my name printed neatly across the front of the envelope. Sitting up and stretching, I picked up the necklace, examining it.
It was a beautiful carved metal cross, the borders curving elegantly and various levels of designs were etched into it. A twisted bit of thin wire connected it to a weighty chain with a sturdy clasp as well. It was big enough that I slipped it over my head where it clicked against my dog tags. I admired it for another moment before I picked up the card. Opening it, I read the small, neat print on the inside.
Morgan,
Good morning, I hope you rested well. I thought you might like this.
-I
I smiled, getting to my feet and laying the card back on my nightstand. I changed quickly into a dark T-shirt and camo pants, laced up my combat boots, and headed out to the main hangar. There, I nearly got bowled over by Havii, who was jogging towards the med bay for the Autobots. He apologized, and I stopped him.
"Geez, where are you going in such a hurry?" I said. Havii was obviously excited about something and he replied quickly.
"Optimus and Ratchet just returned from the moon, evidently they brought back Sentinel Prime and some sort of advanced technology. Something's not right with Sentinel though, Ratchet said I can go help." Havii said, going to leave, but I saw his gaze was drawn to the cross hanging from my neck.
"Where did you get that?" Havii asked, admiring it.
"I bought it a while ago; I just haven't worn it until now." I lied quickly. Havii looked at it a few more seconds before seeming to snap out of it.
"It is very beautiful, it was a good buy. I have to go, see you later!" Havii said, turning and jogging in the direction he'd been going. I smiled, shaking my head, and went to find Ironhide. I looked in all the places he normally was, his bay that he recharged in, the weapons area, the main hangar, but I couldn't find him. I grabbed my comm set from my quarters and put it on as I kept looking.
"Hey Blitz, Collins, do you copy?" I said. Blitz answered first.
"Ja, Morgan, vhat do jou need?" Blitz said.
"I can't find Ironhide anywhere, does Mirage know where he went?" I asked.
"I'll ask." There was a short pause and Mirage's voice filled my commlink.
"E'es on recon. E'el be back in a little while." Mirage answered before I thanked him and disconnected my link.
….
I made sure I found Ironhide as soon as he came back, and I also made sure that no one else was close when I walked up to him in his alt mode. He rolled forward a few feet, engine a low rumble that I somewhat embarrassedly associated with his heartbeat when he was using his holoform.
"Turn on your holoform and follow me." I said. Ironhide complied, and I made my way back to my quarters. Ironhide walked in and I shut the door behind me (thank god the bunk rooms are soundproof.)
"Yes?" he said lazily and with a small smirk.
"You really didn't have to get anything for me…" I said, gesturing to the cross around my neck. "Speaking of which, where did you even get this? I haven't seen anything like it before." I said. "
"I made it." he answered simply. I gaped at him.
"You!? How?" I asked, looking down at it. Ironhide's holoform shrugged.
"I did it in this form, I borrowed some stuff from 'Jack to do it…The metal came from me actually, hope that doesn't turn you off of it." Ironhide said.
"What do you mean?" Again he shrugged.
"Little bits of metal and armor chip and bend sometimes, it's normal for us. I thought you might like something to remind you of me when I'm not around."
"It's lovely, thank you." I said, hugging him. He seemed surprised, though returned the gesture.
…
The day had been interesting, though mostly uneventful. The Director had returned at dark, the pillars that were recovered with Sentinel Prime were locked in top secret cases in a vault on the base, and Havii had been with Ratchet most of the day. I'd heard from him that Sentinel was alive, but in a sort of sleep mode since his energon reserve was nearly depleted. I was cleaning my gun alongside Collins when all of us were startled by a loud voice over the intercom system.
"Bee! Is Bee in there?!" A familiar voice said before it was cut off.
"Sam?" I questioned, looking at Collins. Bee whirred from where he'd been assisting a small team and transformed on the move, tearing out of the base.
"Guess that's a yes." Collins said. I put my gun back together and slung it over my shoulder, getting to my feet and going to find Ironhide. He was in vehicle mode, in recharge, parked next to Ratchet, and so I didn't bother him.
I heard Sam complaining and Bumblebee's familiar engine, and turning, I saw Bee leading Sam, his girlfriend and Lennox into the base. Sam greeted me, though kept following Lennox. Ratchet pulled himself out of recharge as they went by, transforming and going to leave.
"Yo, Ratchet, what's going on?" I asked. The medic looked down at me.
"We were planning on reviving Sentinel using Optimus' matrix of leadership, apparently we have an audience with Sam as well." Ratchet said, looking over at Ironhide, who was apparently still in recharge.
"If you can manage to wake him up it would be appreciated." Ratchet said with a somewhat sly grin.
"Will do, I'll be there in a little while, maybe you can fill me in on what's up with Sam." I said. Ratchet left, and I turned back to Ironhide still in his alt mode.
"Ironhide…Ironhide?" I said. He gave no sign he heard me, and I called his name a bit more forcefully, slapping the fender of his alt mode.
"Ironhide!" This time I did get a response, Ironhide seemed like he was startled, he transformed quickly and I saw he half-equipped his cannons before seeing it was only me.
"Oh Primus, I'm so sorry Morgan." Ironhide said, kneeling down.
"You're fine. Ratchet said to wake you up, they're reviving Sentinel now, he asked me to bring you along."
"I'm still sorry, times in the war kind of hard-wired me to pull cannons first, ask questions later." Ironhide said.
"Understandable, but let's go." I said. Ironhide scooped me up in his hand and lifted me from the ground, heading to the Cybertronian med bay where I saw quite a crowd was gathering. Ratchet pressed a button that sat up the table where Sentinel was lying, and Optimus was standing at the far end of the room, facing his old commander.
"Let us begin." Optimus said, walking towards Sentinel as the armor over his chest shifted and slid aside to reveal the matrix of leadership he kept within him. He balanced it as he stood in front of the former leader of the Autobots.
"Sentinel, old friend, we bid you return." Optimus said, pressing the matrix to Sentinel's chest. A bright light flashed and Sentinel's body jolted and shuddered. From my perch on Ironhide's hand I saw Sentinel's optics power on, though he overreacted even more violently than Ironhide had when I'd woken him.
He pulled an enormous sword off his back and tackled Optimus, pinning him to the floor and pressing the tip of his blade to Optimus' helm. All of us tensed, some soldiers pulling out their guns, though I heard Lennox call loudly over my comm for us to hold our fire. Optimus managed to calm Sentinel down.
"There is no need to fear." Optimus said. Ironhide set me down, going and standing near Ratchet and Bee.
"We are here." Ratchet said.
Optimus went on to explain to Sentinel what he'd missed, and then we all learned from Sentinel what exactly the pillars were for, and we all were taken aback. It was a teleportation technology, very advanced, and there was a danger that the Decepticons may know about it. I also later found out that a workmate of Sam's had been assassinated that day, that's why he showed up in such a hurry. I also learned that the guards at the main gate didn't know Sam and they overreacted a bit.
All in all, it was a big night, with much learned and new allies gained. I hoped our good luck would last.
….
Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Reviews and PM's are GREATLY appreciated. I'm curious to find out how you think this is going to end. Can anyone guess? This probably only has 2 more chapters to go, so yes, sadly, Black Ops is coming to a close. Aurrawings out! ^~^