167
No One's POV
After the call confirming the Witwicky girl's location, Attinger felt determined he'd get rid of the world's threats once and for all. Desirée's life meant nothing to the man; she harbored alien power inside that human body, she was just as horrible, just as tainted, as the Autobots and Decepticons. Human casualties happen all the time, though. Attinger could just say that he tried to rescue the poor human girl from the grips of the Cybertronians, but she was shot down.
It seemed rational. The people would believe it. An unfortunate circumstance for Desirée's foster family, but certainly one they could overcome. She was never their biological child.
As for the humans who have been captured so far, the only ones being Marli and Celia, they've been held in protective custody for the time being. Attinger was thinking, maybe, they could be tried for treason. "Humans harboring alien fugitives", is what it would be called.
He was still waiting on approval from both governments to be able to step foot into Mexican territory; Attinger knew if he sent Cemetery Wind agents down there without any kind of approval, he'd hear an earful of it from the higher ups.
He wasn't in the mood, nor did he have the time or patience, to deal with the higher ups. All he wanted was the world, his world, cleansed of the Cybertronian menace.
Desirée POV
"I'm feeling a bit overheated," I sighed, waving a hand in front of my face. It was a really warm day and I decided to wear one of my favorite long sleeved shirts.
"Maybe you should change shirts," Emilia suggested.
I shook my head. "I'll have plenty of water." I wasn't comfortable showing off my scars. I found them embarrassing. Emilia and Rosalyn would immediately ask questions, which would mean telling them the truth! Whether they knew of the Autobots or not, if they were informed that we were fugitives of the US because we were in relationships with alien robots, they'd freak out and kick us to the curb.
"Your cheeks are very red," Rosalyn said. "You should really change shirts, Desirée."
Looking at Blossom and Abby, they nodded as well. Abby seemed somewhat hesitant. Only she and Optimus knew of my discomfort in showing my arms.
"Fine." We had been in the dining area, just relaxing. Sitting up and stretching, I tried to think of a split-second, little white lie to tell them.
Putting on a short sleeve shirt, I shuffled back into the dining area. The sleeves of the shirt hardly covered the scar on my forearm; from where I'd been shot by Cemetery Wind. The smaller scars littered my arms, noticeable and ugly. I put my arms close to my sides, hoping no one would notice.
"What happened to your arms?!" Emilia looked at my arms in horror. Her eyes were big and round, her face pale. I felt everyone's eyes go straight to my arms. Rosalyn looked horrified, Abby looked uncomfortable, and Blossom frowned slightly.
"It was nothing," I said, trying to sound casual. "Really!"
"Your arms are covered in scars," Rosalyn said shakily.
"It was from my time in the military," I lied. Half-lied, actually. Some of the scars I did obtain from my time in NEST, others...no. "I had some accidents, it's no big deal."
"Is that why you had to leave?" Rosalyn asked, looking at me with tear-filled eyes. I nodded.
"That's a big scar," Emilia murmured, her gaze fixated on my forearm.
"She's not comfortable talking about this," Abby said. "Just drop the subject, OK?"
Rosalyn and Emilia looked at Abby briefly before looking at each other. They murmured their apologies to me before trying to focus on something else.
I sat on the edge of my bed, watching as Saoirse and Eden slept. They were happy, sociable. Rosalína and Saoirse were close friends, Eden and Violet were, too. Rory tended to play with the girls when he felt like it. Sometimes he would play with Alec, but he only had fun when the Holoforms visited. Optimus was his favorite.
Optimus enjoyed interacting with Rory. The little boy needed a male figure in his life; whether it was from a holographic projection of a man, or an actual man. But, one thing I noticed was Rosalyn's feelings for Ratchet grow. He still seemed oblivious.
I could tell sensing the poor woman's affections just wasn't doing it for Ratchet. He was just downright unaware.
"I honestly think Ratchet is in love with medicine," I told Bee, "that's why he hasn't noticed Rosalyn."
"I wouldn't be surprised," Bee snorted. "He was like this on Cybertron, too."
"That's unfortunate." I shook my head. "It's unacceptable, too."
"He notices her a little more," Bee assured.
"Sort of." I glanced at Optimus; he was talking to Sideswipe, Saoirse and Eden sitting next to him. I gave a small smile. "I think he'll notice eventually."
"I doubt it," Bee said. "Medicine is something he's great at. Courting? I don't think so."
"Let's give the poor guy a chance," I said, smirking. "I say he's got it in him."
Bee shrugged. We both looked at Ratchet's Holoform skeptically. He wasn't going to notice Rosalyn in a romantic sense, if at all.
Biting my bottom lip, I looked at Bee.
"Hey," I said, "can I ask you something?" Bee looked at me carefully, his baby blue eyes studying me. "It's more of advice, actually."
"Go ahead," Bee said.
I sighed. I wondered if it was bad to ask Bee instead of Optimus. If I went to Optimus afterward, certainly he'd understand I needed someone else's opinion on it first, right? Of course he would! I just needed someone else to tell me their point of view before I was given Optimus's.
Quietly, I told Bee about the strange man I encountered in Alexandre's store.
QUICKY A/N:
SORRY I UPDATED SO LATE, I WAS WAS DOING SOME LAST MINUTE CHRISTMAS SHOPPING. ENJOY THIS CH.!
I OWN NOTHING IN THE TRANSFORMERS MOVIEVERSE NOR DO I OWN THE FOUR OC'S. I ONLY OWN MY CHARACTERS AND MY FILLERS.
HAPPY HOLIDAYS.
THANK YOU, ONE AND ALL.
READ, REVIEW, ENJOY!
YOURS TRULY,
~SMITHY