Redline

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Part 5

Bumblebee, Sideswipe, and Ironhide had escorted Mikaela out onto the airstrip. The midday sun beat down ruthlessly, and she found herself thinking longingly of air-conditioning—she hoped that Optimus would have the Peterbilt's interior nice and cool for her when he was ready. He had just a few things to wrap up before he'd be able to leave base with her, though—Mikaela and the other Autobots hung around just outside the hangar while waiting for him to inform Military officials as to where he was going with Mikaela and why.

Bee was standing next to her, his shadow towering over her, providing a little relief from the scorching sun. Just as she had guessed, Bee would be busy spending the entire time she was gone with Captain Lennox and his Military crew. Ratchet and Ironhide volunteered to debrief Bumblebee on current Decepticon events in Optimus's stead.

Mikaela had thought that there shouldn't have been much to fill the young Autobot in on, as the last time he'd been on base was just last week—however, she had caught enough of the conversation to deduce that NEST had received a new lead on a brand new Decepticon hideout and plans for a raid were already in preparation. Just the thought of the 'bots going into battle again so soon made her stomach feel full of knots—was it just her imagination, or was it becoming more and more frequent that Sam's garage was left empty for days at a time as Bumblebee joined the Autobots to take out stray Decepticons all over the world?

"You're not going to be busy for long are you, Bee?" she asked, squinting up at him against the brightness of the sun.

"Dunno," he said, shrugging. "Lots to talk about…"

"Ah," said Mikaela sadly, noticing that the Camaro looked a little bit put-out at the idea of preparing to go into battle again so soon. "But you'll be okay without us there, right?" she tried her best to flash him her most uplifting smile, squeezing part of his ankle affectionately.

"Don't worry 'bout me." Bumblebee kneeled down to her level, fixing her with the kind of look he usually reserved for Sam—almost like a sad puppy pining for his owner to scratch his head. "Go have some fun, kay?"

"Yeah," said Sideswipe from behind as he patted Bee hard on the shoulder—the resounding crash made Mikaela jump. "Us Autobots can take care of ourselves… And we've never met a 'Con that was a match for our little Bumblebee!"

Mikaela tried to laugh, but she still felt uneasy. "I'll try, Bee."

"You nervous?" Bee asked.

"No way!"

But apparently she hadn't been that convincing.

"I don't believe it," gasped Ironhide mockingly. "Our little squishy is scared of the big boss!"

Mikaela scoffed. "So not. In your dreams, Ironhide… I can take on Optimus Prime, anytime…"

"Oh yeah? I'll tell him you said that…"

"You wouldn't!"

"Relax," he winked. "I'm just teasin'. And Prime's a good guy. He won't bite… that is, unless you happen to come across a stray decepticon while you're out… then you'd better start running for cover."

The 'bot was chuckling evilly to himself at the joke, but Mikaela didn't find it that funny.

"That's not likely to happen, is it?" she asked, her voice pitched a little higher than she'd meant it to be, worried that the Autobot leader could somehow act as a magnet to any possible decepticons within NEST's vicinity before she remembered that the Autobots had ways around that. She still couldn't wrap her head around how they could detect decepticons so easily and yet keep themselves hidden, however—some kind of cloaking signal, she guessed.

"Of course not, Mickey. 'Hide's just pullin' your leg," Bee reassured her.

"Yeah," supplied Sideswipe. "Prime wouldn't take you out anywhere he didn't know was safe. The 'Cons got all sorts of little hidey-holes all over the place but we know our own backyard. And they're not too smart… nowhere near as smart as Prime."

"Okay, good," she sighed, looking thankfully at Sideswipe and Bumblebee before she turned and gave the weapons specialist a disapproving look, slapping him playfully across the knee. "You had me going there for a 'sec, Ironhide. But are you sure you guys are going to be okay on base without us? I mean… has Optimus even left the base without you guys before? Or—"

"You worry too much, squishy," Ironhide laughed.

"Yeah, Prime has his own way of calling us if he needs us. We'll be fine."

She knew that Sideswipe meant the radio-esque private comm-link that the robots shared to communicate with each other over long distances. And she was sure that her and Optimus weren't likely to travel far enough away from base for them to be out of range—no, she was not worried about keeping in contact.

Not exactly.

Her fears stemmed from the guilt she felt from stealing the Autobot leader away from base in the midst of what was apparently such an important time—maybe it would have been better to request someone else to accompany her, after all—

But before she could change her mind or voice her thoughts aloud, she was cut short by the sight of Optimus rolling forward out of the shade of the hangar. He was already in vehicle form, and through the distortion of heat waves radiating from the superheated asphalt, the red-and-blue custom flames across his front appeared to flicker like real, live ones. The Peterbilt's huge size and the blinding reflection of all of the shiny, chrome accents drew every eye on the tarmac as he approached—Mikaela wondered dimly if maybe the truck wasn't visible even from the goddamned moon with shine like that.

It took her a couple of seconds to realize just how intensely she'd been staring, but there was just something so magnificent and regal about the great big Peterbilt—much like how Optimus's presence in bot-form made her feel so fragile and small. And like the other 'bots on base, Mikaela had not spent enough time around Optimus to have a real chance to study his appearance beyond just admiring the overall effect (which was pretty damned nice, she admitted)—meaning that she had not had the opportunity to admire his truck-form much either, but now that she did have that opportunity…

She had to say…

Optimus Prime had to be one of the most gorgeous vehicles she'd ever laid eyes on. The custom paint job was a mix of her two favorite colors and looked freshly washed and waxed; every inch of chrome was polished and gleaming; his Michelin tires were velvety black with treads so thick they had to be brand-new; and his enormous smokestacks towered over her head. His rather large chrome front bumper was so low to the asphalt that Mikaela had to wonder exactly how the huge truck managed to skirt his way around obstacles he found in his path—but then again, he was an Autobot.

She could hear his engine idling through the truck's pristine front grill. It was a low rumble, more like a quiet growl than anything else, and it made her think back to that '65 cherry red Camaro she'd loved so much as a child—that big-block engine being the only thing she could remember sounding so good. But there was just so much more power in Optimus's idle, so much life, so much… expression—just like in the 'bot's true form, the Peterbilt's 'breath' was not just a steady cyclic vibration, but was something that varied much in pitch and speed with oscillations that cycled the internal rhythms of his spark.

The truck was—simply put—alive.

And she was going to spend an entire afternoon out with this, with him, with nothing for company but him—Optimus Prime. It was finally starting to sink in. She felt her heart beat faster inside of her chest—she was really going to drive him…

And that thought was so enticing, Mikaela grinned in spite of herself as Optimus stopped directly in front of her. The long nose of the Peterbilt dipped a little with the hiss of his air brakes engaging and the deep vibrations inside of her chest halted as he killed the engine.

For one split second, a flash of remorse passed through Mikaela. Here she was, on the very first Saturday in a long time that she had been apart from Sam for, feeling this excited about going out alone with Sam's best friend's commander.

But he was kind of fucking hot, and it was turning her on, if she was honest. And—he'd wanted her to drive…

She pushed the thought aside. Optimus had said outright that he had wanted to be the one to take her out because he respected Sam—it had been out of respect, and yet here she was, practically drooling over him.

It wasn't right.

It's not like that, she told herself. It's different. I just think the truck is hot. That's it… right? It is a sweet ride. But he's not a truck, he's an Autobot… the Autobot's leader… Sam's friend… what the hell, self…

No. She was just excited to be going for a drive, and that was all there was to it.

And besides—if there was anyone on this planet that would be more respectful and professional about the situation than Optimus Prime, then she'd be very hard pressed to find them.

"Are you ready, Mikaela?" asked Optimus, his voice oozing from underneath the Peterbilt's hood.

Mikaela swallowed and then flashed a teasing smile at the windscreen, trying to make herself seem less nervous than she felt. "I think so... ready as I'll ever be to drive a big semi, anyways."

The driver's side door swung open of its own accord, an invitation for Mikaela to climb up into the cab. She walked around to the side of the truck and, before she could change her mind, reached out and grabbed the shiny handrail.

"See you when you get back," Sideswipe said from behind her.

"Yeah, see you squishy. Make sure you keep Prime in line…"

Optimus chuckled at this, and the first thing Mikaela noticed as she straightened her skirt and sat down on the cushy, air-ride seat was that she didn't just hear him laugh—the entire vehicle had moved with it a near imperceptible amount. He'd rocked a bit on his own, too—almost like someone readjusting themselves into a more comfortable position. Was he not used to having a human passenger inside of his cab?

"Will do," said Mikaela, answering Ironhide as she groped around for the seatbelt. "And try not to have too much fun without me, okay, Bee? You guys stay outta trouble while we're gone," she teased.

She felt Optimus nudge her hand with the seatbelt and she pulled it over her shoulder before turning in her seat to glance around at the 'bots. Bee looked as innocent and cheerful as ever, but there was an almost knowing smile on Ironhide's face.

"We will if you do…" he winked.

"Bye, Mickey!"

And then, before Mikaela had a chance to really think about the connotations of what Ironhide had just said (having suddenly remembered that Autobots could read human pheromones, and that hers were probably telling all of them a mix of things she'd really prefer none of them to know, like that it had been what genuinely felt like an achingly long time since she'd last had sex, and that she was currently finding the Autobot leader's vehicle form more… entrancing… than ever), Optimus had closed the driver's door and the cab was suddenly plunged into total silence.

We will if you do…

She just hoped that the Autobot leader had way too many important things currently on his mind to notice the heady mix of pheromones that the human woman currently seated inside of his cab was emitting…