The night went well for the most part. We went out for an inexpensive dinner and we talked and laughed. The kid was a well-rounded kid. I had to give him credit for making me laugh so hard I spit soda on the waiter. Our waiter lost some kind of bet that night too from what I could overhear but I never got to hear what kind of a bet it was.
We took Tyler home and after the door closed I asked Bee, "What did you think?"
"I approve," he said as he drove down the road.
"So I can go out to the dance then?"
"Yes but you owe me one birthday," I grinned and ruffled her hair. Alisha slapped away my hand.
Our morning routine, I realized on Saturday, never really changed. The only thing that changed was I had to go to the doctor about my once broken rib because after so long it should have stopped hurting. I kissed Alisha's forehead and ordered Crosshairs to keep an eye on her while Bee took me into the city.
I didn't have to wait long for my doctor, mainly because he was stationed on a military training base and almost nobody gets hurt while training. He took X-rays of my rib and felt around a bit.
"It healed correctly," he admitted as he looked at the X-rays and stroked his beard thoughtfully. "You probably just bruised it at some point."
"For the past six months?" I raised an eyebrow.
"Hey, it could happen. Just wait it out and be extremely…um…careful…" The doctor paused and thought about it. I merely laughed. Me? Careful? It was like some sort of sick joke.
The doctor gave me some over-the-counter pain medicine and sent me home. The drive seemed noisier than usual. The "snowbirds" must have snuck in while I wasn't looking. A few out of state license plates later I concluded that they were back and that driving would be more of a hassle than it was before.
As traffic thinned out the farther away from the city we got I noticed a plume of smoke clouds rising steadily into the air. It got closer and closer and the closer we got I realized the possibility of my home burning. I held my breath.
The gorgeous house I lived in with Alisha for a year burned like a fire in a fireplace. It was all too contained for this to be an accident and for it to have burned so quickly.
Before Bee stopped I lunged out and started looking for Crosshairs and Alisha. They were nowhere to be found. "Bee, look in the garage for Crosshairs. I'll look inside for Alisha!" After he nodded and walked to the garage I ran inside the burning building keeping my head low and smothering myself in my shirt. "Alisha!" A supportive beam came down in front of the door and nearly crushed me. That blew my plan for going out through the front door. I slowly made my way through the burning building, yelling out for Alisha. The last room I came to was my room. I couldn't find her anywhere. My chest ached and I couldn't breathe. By now I was on my hands and knees and I gagged on the smoke. The house made an ominous creak. It was about to collapse.
I stood and tried to open the window. It only opened a crack. I fell through the floor and landed on my back in the living room. I couldn't breathe. I couldn't stand. I had no energy or strength. The adrenaline that filled me only minutes before faded away. I closed my eyes and allowed myself one last thought. Is this how I am to die?
"Remember this name…"
I recognized the voice! It was one of the Thirteen. The darkness cleared away to show me only eleven clay statues. What was becoming of them?
"Remember this name…"
I strained to hear the voice. "What name?"
"Remember the name of the Primes…"
I still couldn't hear the name. "What name?" I asked again.
She continued to speak as if I hadn't asked her a question. "You need to know this name in your time of need. Now wake up."
I opened my eyes and sucked in a sharp breath. Something was in my throat. Air was being sucked out and forced back in. My chest raised and lowered slowly. As I became more aware of my surroundings I realized I was in a hospital room.
A doctor stood over me and tried speaking but his voice sounded very far away. All I kept hearing was the woman's voice in my dream. It was a dream I've had many times before. I tried to force the name in my head but every time it was lost in a sea of confusion. The doctor took out the tube that breathed for me, it made me gag, and I sucked in a sharp breath. After he left Alisha came running into the room dropping peas from the cafeteria behind her.
"Oh thank god!" She set the tray down and hugged me tightly. "You idiot!" She pushed me away. I nearly toppled out of the bed. "Why the hell would you run into a burning building?"
"I thought you were in there!" I tried yelling but my mouth felt dry.
"You're a bigger idiot than I thought! Crosshairs took me to the mall so I could get a few things with some friends." She rubbed her temples as if she had a headache. "I was so worried! Bee was so worried! Optimus…"
"He's back?" I interrupted her then proceeded to rip the IVs out of my arm.
"Where do you think you're going?" Alisha pushed me onto the bed.
"I need to see him."
"No! You need to stay here. You've been unconscious for days you can't go out yet."
I had never seen Alisha so worried. Her eyes glistened with the coming of tears and her face was red with anger but it morphed into worry. I pulled her to me and hugged her tightly. She let out her tears. Tears of worry and of sadness and of anger. She was right about one thing, I was an idiot for thinking Crosshairs wasn't around to protect her. However, I wasn't that much of an idiot for running into a burning building. Mom did it for dad so it would only be natural that I did it for Alisha.
"Instincts are dormant until something awakens it," Trion's voice and face flashed into my mind. Was this instinct?
We finally pulled away from the hug. "I didn't go to the dance," she said when I asked about it. "You were in the hospital and I couldn't leave you. You wouldn't leave me if I were here."
"I would if I could kill the idiot that hurt you."
Alisha rolled her eyes. "Tyler came here and we kind of had a date here. He brought me Chinese food from this restaurant downtown and he told me of his family. His grandma died recently from some disease." As she spoke I realized that her once dreaded hair actually had natural curls to it like grandma. Her skin tanned if she was in the sun for a long while. "What is it?"
I blinked away the thoughts. "You just look…so much like mom." I reached out and softly stroked her hair. It curled around my finger and refused to straighten even if I pulled it.
"I miss her," she whispered.
"I miss her too."
Soon nurses came in and lectured me about going into burning buildings. I promised never to do it again but Alisha and I knew it was an empty promise. When Alisha fell asleep I took the metal cane of IV bags and walked outside. All of the autobots were waiting outside in their full forms. Bee jerked me from the ground and made worried noises.
"I'm fine, Bee." I laughed but nobody else seemed to be laughing with me. In fact the only other one looking at me was Bee. "I'm sorry for worrying you, guys. I just thought…." There was a long awkward pause. How could I explain that I had no choice? I thought Alisha was inside. I was stupid enough to allow myself to think Crosshairs would ever let anything happen to her.
"There's no need to explain yourself," Prime finally said. "We understand."
"Nobody acts like they understand."
"Oh I understand," Crosshairs pointed his finger at me, knocking me down as he poked me. "I understand you thought I would actually leave Alisha after you told me not to!"
"I was acting on emotion," I tried to explain but he wouldn't hear it.
"We've known each other for a year and-"
"Enough!" Prime pushed back Crosshairs.
Hound put a hand on his shoulder and muttered something to him that I couldn't hear.
Prime continued, "As soon as you are better we have to leave."
"Why?"
"That fire wasn't an accident."
"Why would anyone want to burn down our home, Prime?" When I said 'our' I could clearly see Crosshairs and Hound didn't think of it as their home. It felt like a knife stabbed my back and it was digging deeper in my soul.
"I don't know," he sounded disappointed.
"Is it possible Galvatron did this?" Hound finally chimed in.
Prime nodded.
"Where has that S.O.B been hiding anyway?" Bee asked, his body language was exasperated.
"I'm still not sure. I'll explain everything later. Right now Elsa should get rest."
Bee lowered his palm but I didn't get off. "Prime, I keep having dreams and I think they're about the original Thirteen. They keep telling me a name but I don't know what it is. Do you think Trion had dreams like mine?"
"I do not know, Elsa."
"They may mean nothing," Hound said. "Just go get some sleep."
I looked at Crosshairs who had his back turned to me. I opened my mouth to apologize again but decided better not to and walked inside.