"Hello" Optimus greeted the woman politely.
"Hi," No 'nice to meet you'. Just a 'hi'.
"I am Optimus Prime."
"I know," the woman's face betrayed nothing but a slight caution toward everyone in the room. She continued, "Shall I start at the beginning or cut to the chase?"
Even with the mask covering the lower half of his face the tall bot seemed to be smiling slightly, "How about we cut to the chase first and then go to the beginning?" he questioned.
She nodded as Ratchet sat down in one on the chairs. Optimus grabbed one as well, while Shay settled herself cross-legged. Once all were settled except Prowl, who remained silent by the wall, the woman began.
"I was told to bring these here. That's the basics." A chin lifted, "I am supposed to keep them safe and return them to the Autobots."
Now the tactician spoke, cool optics regarding Shay, "And who told you to do that?"
Lips turned into a thin line as she frowned, blue eyes dulling, "I don't know his name."
"Perhaps we should go to the beginning now." Interred the Prime. Sitting relaxed in his chair he gave off the image of vast patience.
Shay was silent for a few second as she chewed her lip before starting, "Uh, well, it was Wednesday...it's Tuesday now?" A look around the room for affirmation, "It was Wednesday and it was raining pretty hard so I thought it was thunder at first but then I realized it was shouting and the ground kept shaking just a little." Her words came out a bit rushed as if she wasn't quite sure how to explain things.
"Wait," Prowl held up a servo to pause her story, "Can you give us a context? Where you were, why you were there and such."
Blue eyes blinked, "Hmm, right, sorry. Um, I was on my way back from getting bread and some stuff in town when the storm rolled in. My house is maybe three miles away and I was on my bike so I wasn't that far, but I got soaked pretty quick and it was kinda chilly..." The door of the medbay slipped open and silently Jazz and Ironhide came in, joining Prowl and listening.
Shay's eyes were no longer focused on them, but on her memories, "I was pretty close, only another fifteen minutes to ride when I heard the shouting. At first I thought it was just the thunder but then there were quivers going through the ground, and I really wasn't sure what was going on."
The frown deepened, fingers locked together in pale lines. It seemed she'd partially forgotten who her audience was because the tension left her stature, leaving only hard thoughtfulness and something sadder.
"The sky was really dark and I couldn't see anything, so I got off my bike and headed towards Marnie's fields because that's were it sounded like everything was coming from. Anyways the land's a bit lower there, half of it's kinda shaped like a bowl."
"You went to go check out who was shouting, in the middle of a rainstorm?" Queried Ratchet with disbelief.
She blinked and then glared, "You expect me to have just ignored that? The ground was shaking. I needed to know what was going on." The medic gave a grumble, something along the lines of 'humans...' while Optimus signaled for her to continue.
Expression still mulish, she did, " The fields there dip down into a lower patch of land. So I went over and by then it had stopped, the shouting and ground shaking, not the rain. But I got there and..." She trailed off for a few seconds, a dead look on her face, "There were a lot of...they looked like you. Not exactly like you, but Cybertronian ya know? But they were all covered in mud and pretty busted up."
"What was their colorin'?" Jazz chimed in for the first time, accent rolling through his easy drawl.
A deep breath, "Green, most of them. A funny greenish yellow and purple, though I could be wrong. There was a lot of mud. None of them were really moving. The other two were brighter colors."
This statement garnered the attention of everyone very quickly as a sudden tension went through their frames, "Describe these two." Ordered Prowl, doorwings hitched slightly higher.
"Well, one was red and black, but mainly red an' he had a lot of mud all over him...he wasn't moving." The last part was said much more quietly, barely above a whisper. "The other one was yellow or kinda gold colored with some black. But he's the one that told me to bring these here." A gesture toward the spark container.
A dead silence throughout the room until finally the Prime spoke, "The exact words, if you could recall."
Shay stared blankly into space for a moment, completely still and then, "I went down a bit and got closer. The yellow one was still moving so I went over and asked if he needed help, because what else could I do?...And he didn't say anything, just ignored me. I suppose he might not have heard me 'cause he looked pretty out of it. Anyways I told him he looked like shit and he said to shove off. Can't really be mad at him about it though..." Another pause as she gathered her thoughts, "Then he said 'You have to take this to the Autobots. Don't let the Cons catch you.' and I said 'take what?' because I had no clue what he was talking about but then he pulled that container thing out of nowhere and put it by his chest. It sorta opened up a bit and those two lights went in...And then...he wasn't moving after that." Her voice cracked just a little, face frozen into a mask with grief barely showing through.
Ratchet sat with wide optics, frozen in place while over by the wall Jazz slid down to sit on the floor. Ironhide looked like he was thinking hard. A stunned and surprised expression settled on the remaining bots. Prowl's doorwings were splayed wide, optics flickering as he thought through possibilities.
The medic stood very suddenly, causing Shay to jump a little. He moved until he was right in front of her and crouched just a bit so they were optic to eye. The young woman became tense once more and eyed him with a sudden suspicion.
"Are you saying," He started low, voice deadly soft, "that those sparks," a look towards the spinning orbs, "came out of Sunstreaker's chest?" A pause as he realized she didn't know who Sunstreaker was, "The yellow bot."
"Um..." A blink of surprise, "Yes. What does that mean?"
Optimus turned to his medic with a very serious look, "Ratchet, did you check the spark's frequencies when they were brought in?" Behind him Red Alert looked ready to declare this all a trick but shut his mouth with slumped shoulders when the white and red bot glared at him.
"Yes."
"And did they match the Twins frequencies?" There was no mistaking the seriousness in the Prime's tone.
Ratchet said nothing for a moment, "No. I thought it would be best to wait and see what she had to say first."
Optimus looked at the medic in the optics and saw that he hadn't wanted to check because he was afraid of being wrong. He was scared that it wouldn't be the Twins. He nodded to show he understood and Ratchet sighed, pulling out his spark scanner and attaching it to the holo-screen at his wrist. A square of light popped up with two charts showing jagged lines. With a slight hesitation he pulled up another two, the recorded spark signature's of the Twins. There was a collective stillness throughout the medbay and everyone waited to see what the verdict was.
Finally Ratchet looked up and spoke as calmly as he could, "They...match. These are Sunstreaker's and Sideswipe's sparks." A slight tremor went through his voice as he suddenly sat down on his chair again.
"Those two are too stubborn to die." He gave a low laugh of relief as Jazz whooped and jumped up. Optimus raised his face to the ceiling with a sigh of 'thank Primus' while Ironhide gave a rough chuckle. A resounding cheer came from all of them but mixed in was a protest from Red Alert.
"Wait! How do we know it's really them?! What if the Decepticons somehow got their hands on some other sparks and messed with their frequencies? We could be putting Decepticon sparks in the Twin's bodies!" The security director scowled at the woman who was sitting on the table confused. She looked back at him blankly.
Ironhide joined in, "He's gotta point. We sure it's them?"
"Yes, it's them." Ratchet huffed, "There is absolutely no way to fake a signature. The frequencies are not only highly complex but unique to every spark. And those frequencies can change slightly, so even if they tried to change a spark's frequency it would alter in unpredictable ways. This is them." The last part seemed to be almost involuntary, said to himself as if he couldn't believe it. And why wouldn't he have a hard time? They all thought the Twins had been dead for about a week now. To suddenly know they were okay...The medic gave another broken laugh as he checked the charts again. They were alive.
"Hey!" The human yelled to get their attention and then immediately tensed when they all looked at her, "I'm confused. What exactly are you talking about?"
A sigh from the medic, "Do you know what they are?" he gestured at the sparks.
Shay scratched her bandaged hand, brows drawn together, "They're alive. You called them sparks." She moved her undamaged hand to rest on the jar. Interestingly, the orbs glowed brighter and gravitated toward her side, spinning and twirling about. But that was common enough, they were probably just reacting to the close contact.
The gray chevron dipped down in a nod, "The sparks are a cybertronian's life-force. Since they're twins..." His lecture was interrupted.
"They're brothers? Figures." the human muttered.
Ratchet scowled, growling, "As I was saying, since they're spark twins, Sunstreaker could have put Sideswipe's spark in his chest, as his brother's body was heavily damaged. But if he was just as beat up, and he was, he may have decided to put both their sparks in a spark container for safe keeping. At least until their bodies were repaired enough to house them."
Prowl frowned, "That would have been the best plan to keep them alive."
"Huh, they actually did something smart for once." Ironhide chuckled.
"You forget that they are intelligent on a regular basis, especially when pranks are involved." replied the tactician, "They just seem to forget it with everything else."
"Wait, let me get this straight," Shay stood up and looked straight at Ratchet with an intent look that would have rivaled that of a wolf on a hunt, "Those two I saw, the red and yellow ones, aren't dead? They're just...here?" she pointed at the container, hope trying to break through the reserve on her face.
The CMO nodded, "Yes, yes. Of course, we'll have to do scans to make sure the right sparks get in the right body." Shay grinned hugely for a moment with a happy look before her expression returned to it's normal guarded self, albeit a slightly less tense version. She relaxed marginally, placing her hands in her back pockets.
"Yeah, betcha Sunn'd be real ticked if he woke up in his brother's body." Jazz snickered with obvious delight.
"Excuse me, Shay?" Prowl queried as he moved from the wall to get closer, "What happened after Sunstreaker gave you the spark container?" Serious optics regarded the human up and down once more before moving on to the sparks, gathering data and filing it away the whole time.
The human female shrugged, "One of the other ones started moving and when he got up I saw the Decepticon symbol. So I hightailed it out of there and took these guys to my house."
Prowl pinched the bridge of his olfactory sensor while Red squacked, "What! You mean if we'd been there a few minutes earlier we could have got them?! We wouldn't have thought the Twins were dead?!"
"Heeey now, we don' know how long after sheh left it was when weh got there." Broke in Ironhide, shifting to get more comfortable against the wall.
"Actually we have an approximate guess," Returned the tactician, voice dry. "If she saw one of them getting up and we got there just as Scavenger was waking Mixmaster, then the likelihood of arriving only a few minutes late is very high."
"Well, slag..." Spoke Jazz, "Think o' all the trouble saved if we'd jus' gotten there quicker."
Optimus turned to Shay and took note of the damaged and tired appearance, "Have you been trying to get here all week?" His calming baritone quieted the voices of the others.
A shrug, "Pretty much. I was alright till I hit Boise. Stupid cons." she growled, pale blue eyes narrowing in annoyance.
"I'm surprised you ran into the cassettes and got away with only bruises and cracked ribs." Called Ratchet as he pulled out more equipment.
The brown haired human snorted through her nose, "Oh, the ribs weren't from the cons. Those were some dumb-ass humans. Don't need to worry 'bout them though. They won't bother me again. And I got lucky. The cons never actually got a hold of me. They just chased me around."
Prowl looked down at the human and frowned as the medic pushed him out of the way, "We need to get their sparks back into their bodies. First Aid!" His assistant jumped to attention, all but forgotten until now, "Go bring them in here. We have to go over them and make sure everything is stable." The Protectobot nodded and started toward the door.
Optimus broke into Ratchet's order, "Everyone. Keep this quiet until they are up and moving. We don't want to get hopes up too soon. Ratchet, we'll require a status update at the officer's meeting." He stood.
They started filing out the door, although Red Alert gave the woman a suspicious look before he left. Prowl nodded almost to himself and slipped out, ready to get back to work. Jazz was all set to leave too when he caught a glance from their leader. The red and blue bot gave a nod towards Shay. As everyone but Ratchet left, the saboteur moved over to the table and sat on it, ignoring the look he got from the woman.
With a lazy smile he leaned back and started talking to the human like they were friends, "We got human-sized guest rooms if ya wantta get some sleep. Don't think the Hatchet will lettcha leave the Ark 'til he's sure yur all healed up." Servos were placed behind his head, creating the illusion that he was relaxing.
Silence and a frown answered him, but after a few seconds she spoke firmly, "I'm staying with them until they get back in their bodies. I don't care how long it takes." The TIC nodded but she continued, "I would also like some information."
At this the corner of his mouth turned up, but behind the visor optics narrowed, "Oh? Like what?" Jazz questioned amiably.
Shay shrugged, "You called the yellow one Sunstreaker, and the red one Sideswipe? Is that correct?"
"Ah," the spy relaxed, she only wanted to know about the Twins. That made sense, "Yep, that's right. Sideswipes red and a nice enough mech. Cheerful at times and down right diabolical at most." The human snorted, "Sunstreaker's a bit of an aft. He kinda avoids people and doesn't act too friendly a lot. Doesn't like humans much either. But he keeps an optic out fer everybody in battle. Both o' them do, and their real good fighters. Kinda violent."
He couldn't get much of a read from this one. The tension in her posture and curled fingers showed she still wasn't comfortable around them, yet she was forcing herself to have a conversation with him to find out what she wanted. The only emotions he could glean from her face was irritation and wariness, as pale eyes flicked from him to around the room in a continuous circle. She really didn't trust them that much. Now the question was, why was she here? He'd already gotten filled in on how she'd come here, being brought by Mirage and Windcharger. The woman could have easily given the sparks to them and left, seeing as she obviously wasn't happy being here. So why hadn't she?
This was a puzzle, something Jazz took as a challenge. Besides a slight narrowing of her eyes when the spy had called the yellow twin an aft (and others tended to use much ruder words instead), he couldn't figure out what she was thinking and the news that they were violent didn't seem to surprise her. 'What's going on in that little head of yours?' He wondered. Whatever the case, she held herself closed off and defensive.
"Hmm. And your name?" She inquired politely.
"I," He stated with a flair, jumping up to do a spin and a bow, "am the Jazzman. You can call meh Jazz." A crooked grin accompanied this and he straightened to see the barest corner of her mouth turn up although she eyed him shrewdly.
Ratchet pushed past Jazz to move some tools, "Enough of that! Outta my medbay."
Jazz held out a servo to the woman, ready to help her down. However all he got in return was a crocodile look as she stared frostily at him and glanced once again at the container. Fingers clenched into fists and for several seconds she didn't move.
Finally she turned to study Ratchet, who was preparing two examination tables for the Twin's bodies. He didn't seem to notice. Watching the medic's movements with a predatory gaze she spoke up.
"Ratchet, I believe is your name?" Her voice flat, although there seemed to be something icy beneath.
"Yes! What?!" He was haphazardly arranging the needed equipment.
A moment of silence as she stared with a stony face, "I'm quite sure you're not going to hurt them. If however, I'm wrong, and those two get hurt because they're here...I will find a way to make sure someone gets very badly damaged, possibly losing a limb. I will not be pleasant." This was stated in a calm manner, as if one were commenting on the weather. The ambulance stopped what he was doing and looked over at her with surprise. She looked back blankly, not joking in the least. Once eye contact was established and threat delivered she turned back to Jazz. He immediately scooped her up and rushed out of the medbay as Ratchet let loose a torrent of swear words and profanities, all the while yelling about someone's intelligence and trust issues. They got through the door and it closed just as there was a clang, a tool being thrown towards them. The loud shouting and threats could still be heard through the doors.
Jazz let out a sigh of relief, "Darlin', I think yer suicidal." She didn't answer as they headed towards the guest quarters.