A/N- "And in a surprising move that surprised absolutely no one, A.J. takes several months to post a new chapter!"
Yeah it's been one hell of a year...sorry about that.
Welp! Time to dive back into my comfort tactic!
Disclaimer: Transformers is owned by Hasbro. I only own my OCs.
Ellie didn't know what to expect when going through the ground bridge portal, but it was definitely an experience unlike any other. One second, they were in the confines of the base's rock walls, and then the next second, in a flash of light, they were someplace completely different.
The most noticeable thing was the feeling it gave her once they fell through the other side, making her stagger on her feet.
"Whoa," she muttered as she struggled to regain her equilibrium on earthen ground. She gingerly rubbed her stomach. "Anyone else feel like their insides are full of bees?"
"Weird way of putting it, but yeah," Jack said, blinking multiple times to refocus his vision.
"My bones are vibrating. Is that normal?" Raf asked with a shudder.
"Ratchet did say the ground bridge works for humans," Jack reminded.
"Yeah, but he didn't say how well," Ellie said while she and the boys shook off the strange sensation.
Yep. Nothing messes with the body more than that pesky bending of the fabric of space-time, right?
Once Ellie was feeling normal again, she lifted her head up to get better bearings on where they were. Then she did a double take in surprise.
"Holy Moses," she said breathlessly.
Not far from where they stood, hovering several feet above them in the middle of a canyon, was a vessel unlike anything she's ever seen; massive and completely made of a dark metal alloy, with long, narrow spikes protruding from all perceivable angles.
"Well, if that doesn't just scream 'evil alien warship,'" Jack said, staring up at it.
"It's very…pointy," Raf remarked.
"Like floating public art," Ellie said with a disgusted face, making the younger boy chuckle.
Jack did a brief sweep of the area. "So, where do we start looking for Miko?"
No sooner than he asked that, an unfamiliar voice called out harshly, "You there!"
The children flinched before looking back up. On top of the ship—where Ellie assumed was the main deck—now stood several Decepticon troops, all of similar appearance to the ones she's encountered before. All red visors were trained down onto them, cannons charged up and ready.
Ellie barely had time to mutter an, "Uh oh," before the troops, without even waiting for a response, started shooting at them. Bright red plasma fire rained down, explosions filling their ears and making the dirt fly up in sparks all around them as they scrambled to avoid getting hit. Ellie didn't know whether the 'Cons weren't used to firing at small targets like humans at a long range, or were just poor shots in general; their blasts were hitting everything but the kids. However, in the back of her head, she knew that one of them was bound to get a lucky shot in.
And she turned out to be half right; a blast hit way too close to Raf, enough to knock him to the ground with a cry. In a panic, Jack and Ellie hurried over to him to help, while still trying to dodge the oncoming blasts. Just as they reached him, the sound of a powerful engine roared over the many explosions around them, and Ellie looked up in time to see Bulkhead's vehicle form approaching fast. He skidded to a halt right in front of them, obscuring them from the 'Cons' view. His door swung open.
"Get in! Now!" Bulkhead's voice yelled from his radio.
No need to tell them twice. Without thinking, Ellie wrapped her arms around Raf's waist, hauled him up from the ground, and practically threw him into the SUV interior. She and Jack piled in right after him into the front seats. Bulkhead's tires were already screeching before he even slammed the doors shut, speeding out of there in an instant.
"Sorry," Ellie told Raf when the momentum of Bulkhead violently swerving out of firing range knocked her against him in their shared seat.
"'s okay," he said, but it came out strained from being sandwiched between her and the side door.
"Thanks for the save, Bulkhead," Jack said.
"W-What are you guys doing here?!" Bulkhead stammered incredulously.
"We were worried about Miko," Jack replied.
"We assumed she followed you," Ellie said.
"Have you seen her?" Raf asked.
Suddenly, a voice spoke up from behind them, making them jump, "What's she look like?"
They looked back to see the girl in question, who had popped up into view from the back seat, beaming at them.
"You alright?" Ellie asked her.
"Oh yeah! You know it!" Miko answered, her grin widening. She looked about ready to tell them all about what she and Bulkhead have been up to, but then Bulkhead came to an abrupt stop behind a large boulder—far enough away from the ship and provided sufficient cover.
"Everyone out," Bulkhead ordered after opening the doors, allowing them to climb out quickly. The next time he spoke, there was a clear sign of desperation in his tone, "And this time, please stay here!"
Bulkhead drove off, heading straight for the ship, the Decepticons now concentrating their fire on him. Ellie and the others peeked out from behind the boulder, watching him go.
"Well, at least we're all safe now," Raf said.
"Yeah," said Jack. "You glad you tagged along now, Miko? Now that you got a taste of some of the action?"
His accusatory questions went unanswered. He, Ellie, and Raf looked behind them, only to find Miko nowhere in sight.
"She did get out of Bulkhead with us, right?" Raf asked, confused.
"Now that you mention it…I don't think she did," Ellie said, not remembering seeing Miko join her and the boys beforehand. Everything was happening too fast for her to notice.
"Wait, so she's still with…" Raf's voice trailed off, but there was no need to finish. They all knew.
Jack palm-slapped his forehead, utterly exasperated. "Seriously, what is up with that girl?!"
Ellie, while still miffed at not noticing that Miko was missing (again), a small part of her was almost impressed. For someone who could be very loud, Miko sure knew how to sneak her way around. How does she do that?
"Guys, look!" Raf exclaimed, looking out from behind the boulder. Ellie and Jack joined him to see what was going on, and their eyes widened. While they'd been talking, Bulkhead had managed to make his way onto the top of the warship, and was currently duking it out with the Decepticons. Ellie watched as Bulkhead body-slammed himself into one of the troops, effectively flattening him. Ooh, that looked like it hurt.
Once Bulkhead was finished taking out all the 'Cons present, he turned and looked down at them. He immediately noticed his human companion missing among them.
"Where's Miko?!" he called down.
Before they could answer him, something made him stiffen in surprise, his gaze tugged further downward—at his chassis, specifically. His chest opened up, and out of that compartment, a very ill-looking Miko pulled herself up. Ellie was flabbergasted; despite looking like she had major motion-sickness, Miko seemed unhurt from being thrown around inside Bulkhead while he fought against the 'Cons so violently.
Then, just as Bulkhead had set Miko down, there came another round of plasma fire; another troop of Decepticons had burst outside and wasted no time in attacking. Then Bulkhead disappeared from Ellie and the boys' view, seeming to have charged into battle once more. From then on, any signs of him or Miko were only through the sounds of metal clashing together or blaster fire, but even that slowly faded away after some time.
"I think they went inside the ship," Jack said, once the sounds of the fight had completely died down.
"You think they forgot about us?" Raf asked.
"Don't know."
Ellie looked at the many scorching burn marks all around their hiding place, feeling growing dismay over how much this day just seemed to go from bad to worse—and she wasn't even counting the spider-bot incident, or the fact that they got caught by Agent Fowler. Hardly a minute through the ground bridge, and they were already spotted and shot at by Decepticons—from a giant, levitating warship, no less.
"Maybe this was too ambitious for a first outing together," she said, mostly to herself.
"Well, it can't get any worse than it is now," Jack said, right before it got worse.
A huge shadow suddenly fell over the three children from behind. They only had enough time to spin around in surprise before they found themselves plucked off the ground, and into the clutches of two Decepticon troopers, one holding Jack and the other having Raf and Ellie in each claw.
"The human youths that were seen with the Autobots," the drone holding Raf and Ellie said, observing them once, before addressing his partner, "Let's get them inside. The others will deal with the Autobot scum soon enough."
Ellie—who had struggled under the 'Con's grip at first but then stopped when he only tightened his claws around her in warning—looked over at Jack, her expression a fair mix of irritation and weariness. "You had to say the 'w' word."
"I know, I regretted it the second it left my mouth," he lamented.
"Silence, insects!" the 'Con holding Jack ordered sharply, making them flinch before they both shot him an affronted look, like, What did you just call us?!
The Decepticons brought them to a circular, lit platform connected directly under the hull of the ship. One of the troops must've sent some kind of signal through a communications patch, because the platform activated and started ascending like a lift, and within moments, their view of the bright, warm canyon was replaced with a dark, cold, metal interior consisting of seemingly endless, looming hallways.
We really are in the belly of the beast, aren't we? Ellie thought, swallowing hard when the Decepticons started carrying them down the dim corridor, deeper into the ship, with her having no way of navigating her way out of this maze-like place, back into the sun…
She took a deep breath and let it out slowly, trying to extinguish that thought. Bulkhead was still around here, she remembered. There was still hope of escaping.
"We must bring them to the brig," one of the troops said. "Commander Starscream is keeping the other human there."
Ellie lifted her head up sharply at the Deception's words. She had no idea who this "Commander Starscream" was, but there was no doubt in her mind that the other human that they were talking about was Agent Fowler. She glanced over at Raf and Jack, who shared the same look of recognition, but they didn't dare speak up in front of the troops to show how much they knew.
What Ellie was truly anxious about, though, was what were they going to do to them once they were brought to the brig?
Luckily, she didn't have to worry about that for long. Familiar engine sounds came up fast from right behind them, and before either of the Decepticons could react, they were knocked over by the force of a blue and yellow blur, sending the three children flying in the air momentarily. Ellie felt like her insides were doing flips—not really much of a difference from how she felt when going through the ground bridge—as she tumbled toward the ground. But before she knew it, she was caught in another metal hand, only this one held her with much more care. Shaking herself from the brief disorientation, she looked up and found that it was Bumblebee, holding her in one hand, and Raf in the other. Not far from him, Arcee had Jack safely in her own hands. They gently put them down to the ground.
"Bumblebee!" Raf exclaimed once he was on his feet, happy to see his Autobot friend.
Ellie exhaled a relieved laugh. "Nice catch…again," she said, subtly referring to the first time she encountered Bumblebee, when the circumstances were quite similar.
Bumblebee released a fluttering buzz that sounded suspiciously like a laugh.
After checking up and down the hallway to ensure there were no more Decepticon drones nearby, Arcee knelt down toward the kids. "While we appreciate you guys clearing the door for us, storming the Decepticon ship was not on the activities list," she told them in a slight scolding tone.
"Tell me about it," Jack agreed vehemently, throwing his arms up.
"Yeah, sorry, we didn't plan on ending up here," Raf said, readjusting his glasses somewhat nervously under Arcee's reprimanding expression.
"It just sort of happened," Ellie said.
Arcee just shook her head, but her face had softened to make way for a miniscule smile, revealing how she wasn't as angry so much as she was relieved to see that they were alright. Which, Ellie had to admit, she was a little surprised by.
Then the blue Autobot straightened, her smile fading away, as she looked to Bumblebee. "We have to find Bulkhead, Miko, and Fowler." She flicked her gaze back down to them. "Stay close to us, kids. And do exactly what we say, when we say them."
When they all nodded to show that they understood, they took off, Arcee taking the lead and Bumblebee the rear, with the three children between them as they hurried down the corridor. The kids had to pick up the pace even more in order to stay aligned with the two Autobots. Ellie, in particular, bit her bottom lip between her teeth as she felt a growing ache in her residual limb area the longer they ran. She gulped down a groan through her dry throat and pressed forward.
Just suck it up for a little while longer. We'll be back at base soon. Hopefully.
After some time, Arcee ran ahead to where the hallway ended in an intersection. She snuck along the side of the wall, one of her hands switched into a blaster gun. She was still for a moment, and then sprang around the corner, gun ready to fire. There was a split second before her determined glare melted into surprise as she exclaimed, "Friendly!"
"Hello!" came a rough but familiar voice that Ellie was grateful to hear. Bulkhead came into their view, returning his blaster into a hand, with Miko safely in his other.
"Brought the humans, huh?" Arcee asked drily, a hand on her hip.
"You try getting them to stay behind!" Bulkhead retorted, gesturing to the girl in his hand.
The others approached Arcee and Bulkhead when they saw that it was safe, coming to a stop. Ellie took advantage of the small break from moving around to rest her hands on hips and put most of her weight on her left leg. She sighed with relief.
"You okay there?" Jack asked her.
"Yeah, just a little tired," she answered dismissively, straightening up so that her body language didn't betray how uncomfortable she was.
Jack's face scrunched up into a frown, looking like he wanted to say something else, but Arcee's next statement brought his attention back to his Autobot companion, as well as the situation at hand, "We need to find Fowler and get these kids out of here."
"Uh—" Jack cleared his throat, turning all of the Autobots' gazes down to them. He, Ellie, and Raf shared a look before grinning up at them.
"He's in the brig," they said in unison.
Arcee's bright blue eyes widened before regaining her hard composure. "Okay then. Let's go. You kids remember to stay close."
Bulkhead carefully put Miko down to the ground with the other kids before they set off again. They moved a little slower than earlier, which was some respite on Ellie's part, however small it was. She was trying to think of various things to keep her distracted, until Miko accidently bumped into her. After fighting back a grimace, she looked over at Miko, who seemed to be swaying a little on her feet while she walked, holding her stomach.
"Uh oh," Ellie said, concerned. "Still feeling sick?"
"A bit," Miko replied through a groan.
"Gee, I wonder why," Jack muttered sarcastically.
Ellie threw a pointed look over Miko's shoulder at him, shaking her head. Not now. Then an idea struck her. "Oh! Uh—here." She opened her bag, dug around inside, and pulled out a canteen of water. "Stay hydrated, it'll help you feel better."
At first, Ellie thought Miko would refuse on account of feeling too nauseous to drink anything, but to her surprise, the girl's eyes lit right up. "Ooh, thanks!" She snatched the bottle and gulped it down.
Ellie smiled, somewhat pleased (if not a tiny bit alarmed) that Miko's lack of self-preservation applied to receiving offered beverages without question.
For some time, they didn't come across anymore Decepticons, making her start to think that they would find Agent Fowler and they'd be out of there in no time, without any more trouble at all.
She was wrong. She was so very wrong.
Just when she felt that they were getting close to where the mentioned brig was, they came to an abrupt halt as three Decepticon troops stormed in on them and, without pause, opened fire onto the Autobots, who immediately fired back, and all hell broke loose.
Whenever Ellie looked back on the event, it felt like one of those experiences where it was almost entirely a hazy blur to her. There was nothing but the sound of gunfire and explosions and grinding metallic screeches all blended together into one deafening noise drumming in her ears. Debris, smoke, plasma blasts, and metal (living and nonliving alike) flashed in and out of her vision while she tried to keep her head down. The Autobots were doing their best to protect the kids from the worst of the firefight, but even a little danger that bled through to them was still considered danger. She ducked when a bolt of plasma flew a little too low as the 'Cons shot at them, then spun around to find some cover—only to instead face three more Decepticons flanking them from behind, having Bulkhead stay put before them to cover fire while Bumblebee and Arcee engaged in hand-to-hand combat against the troops on either side.
She vaguely registered a hand clutch hers in a tight grip and yank her back when Bulkhead was knocked backwards toward them. It was Jack, trying to pull her out of harm's way. He was holding Raf's arm with his other hand, but when they ran for Miko, Ellie automatically reached for Raf so that Jack could grab Miko. Together, the four of them tried heading toward the wall, but the burned and battered body of a Decepticon collapsed in a quaking heap right in front of them, making them skid to a stop before frantically changing direction. It seemed like everywhere they tried to run to, though, something would very nearly crash down on them, whether it be one of the Autobots swiftly blocking oncoming blows before charging into battle again, or another metallic, violet-colored body falling dead—or even just body parts; a Decepticon's lone head rolled right by her at one point.
By the time the last of the Decepticon troops went down by a well-placed shot from Arcee, all four of the kids were huddled together underneath Bulkhead's crouching, looming form. Ellie dared to peek up when the all-consuming sounds died down. The dust was settling and all enemy troops lay dead among them. She suddenly became aware of a trembling form attached firmly to her, and she looked down. Raf was clinging to her arm, completely shaken from the experience of being caught in the middle of battle.
Before she could say anything reassuring to him, Arcee's voice cut through, "Come on."
Ellie looked up at the female Autobot, who was already moving past them with an air like this was just what she did on a daily basis—perhaps it was; she was a soldier, after all. "Let's keep it moving."
With some difficulty, Raf uncurled himself, his grip on Ellie's arm loosening but not entirely releasing her. Meanwhile, Jack, who had a fixed hold of her other hand, swiftly pulled her up onto her feet. She turned her gaze to the older boy, who did nothing but give her a curt nod, his face equal parts grim and resolute. Without a word, they took off with the Autobots, leaving the carnage behind.
Ellie had lost track of how much further they went, still reeling from the previous fight. Even the pain from her residual limb had faded from the forefront of her mind into more of an inconvenient numbness while she hurried along, Jack having not let go of her hand. Eventually, Arcee slowed to a stop, staring thoughtfully at what looked like a large door. She signaled the kids to stop, telling them in a low voice to stay where they were and not to move until she said so. Then she banged on the door a few times and waited a moment. The second the door automatically split open, she started shooting into the new room. She, Bumblebee, and Bulkhead rushed in, continuing to fire at enemies that the kids couldn't see while they waited in anticipation outside. They held their breaths until the shooting died down several seconds later, and Arcee called out to them, "Clear."
They ran into the room and rejoined the Autobots. Ellie looked around curiously, taking in the new area that they had commandeered. It was huge and just as darkly lit as everywhere else on the ship, with several large, futuristic-looking computer monitors and consoles—almost like the ones back at the Autobot base, only sleeker and clearly in better condition. All in all, it looked to be some sort of control room.
Arcee approached the kids, briefly eyeing the smoking carcass of a Decepticon drone she'd shot down as though to check that he was truly dead, and told them, "Alright, you kids wait here while we go get Fowler."
All four of the humans merely shared a look of apprehension at the idea of being left alone when there seemed to be danger lurking everywhere they went on this vessel. Bumblebee and Bulkhead clearly shared the same sentiments, as shown when they started to protest, only to quickly be cut off by Arcee.
"They're slowing us down and they're easy targets," she pointed out. "They'll be fine in here—so long as they stay put." She fixed her gaze on the kids and put particular emphasis on that last part, ensuring they got the message.
Bumblebee and Bulkhead gave the kids one last, worried glance, before they reluctantly followed Arcee back out into the hallway, the door sealing shut behind them.
"That…was intense!" Miko broke heavy silence in an awed whisper, hands on her hips.
"Was?" Raf squeaked incredulously.
"Yeah, very," Ellie muttered softly as she tried to regulate her breathing pattern to calm her heartrate now that the danger had passed—relatively speaking.
But then Jack whirled around to face Miko in anger. "It's your fault that we're stuck in this intensity!" he seethed, pointing an accusing finger at her. "What were you thinking, Miko?"
Ellie blinked, mostly taken aback by seeing Jack so furious for the first time.
Miko, on the other hand, only returned the glare, not one to back down. "Um, did I ask you to follow me?"
"You wanted us to be a band, didn't you?! Doesn't that usually mean playing together?!"
"Well, maybe I decided to go solo!"
"Um, guys?" Ellie said tentatively, noticing how their voices were rising into a full-on shouting match, but she went ignored by the two teens now glowering daggers at one another.
"Well, maybe I have some regard for your safety!" Jack said through gritted teeth.
"Guys, now's not the time to—" Ellie tried once more to mollify the situation, but was promptly cut off when Miko shot back at him harshly.
"Oh, I'm sorry, is your name Optimus?"
Ellie flinched at the sound of the Autobot leader's name, the next words that flew out of Miko's mouth going unheard by her, as a horrible wave of realization struck her where she stood. She hadn't thought about Optimus when she had decided to just take off into imminent danger, or what would happen afterwards when he'd find out—if she and the others got back alive, that is. As if she needed any more reasons to make him rethink looking after her.
Oh, God, what have I done? What's he going to do when he—
"Stop it! Both of you!"
A distressed cry tore right through her panicked thoughts, shaking her back into reality. She looked down in shock at Raf, who had his hands clenched against the sides of his head and his eyes shut tight, unable to take the fighting anymore, before the boy in question shoved past the equally stunned Jack and Miko. He ran until he crouched down by the edge of the platform deck and stayed there, body tense and shaking.
It was rather pitiful sight.
All of her preceding worries forgotten, Ellie hurried over and carefully sat herself down close beside him. He didn't notice her presence yet, keeping his face buried in the folds of his arms.
"Uh…" She extended her hand, then stopped halfway, suddenly unsure. It's been a long time since she had taken on the role of comforting a…companion. And she didn't want to mess it up with Raf. What if he didn't want that right now? What if he told her to go away?
Just do it, you idiot. Your discomfort doesn't matter right now. His does.
Right. Without any more prompting, she placed her hand on his shivering shoulder, whispering his name softly. He slowly lifted his head up and looked at her, his eyes shining, which further tugged at her heartstrings. She gave him a small, reassuring smile, beginning to rub slow circles on his shoulder, hoping that her gestures were all that was needed to convey to him that it was okay, and that she was there for him. Hopefully, she'd be better off doing so than trying to express it verbally.
He stared at her for a few more seconds. Then, before she even knew what was coming, the wind was knocked out of her. She would've fallen backwards had it not been for the bespectacled boy keeping a tight hold around her middle. There was a still moment between them, until Ellie, whose arms had been hanging in midair by the surprise hug, slowly relaxed and lowered her arms to rest around him. Then Raf sniffed and squeezed his arms even tighter without the barest hint of shame, and she felt a warm sensation rise from her chest and spread all over—so strong that she had to shut her eyes for a few seconds. In that moment, she completely forgot that they were sitting in a giant alien spaceship of doom, and all that went through her head other than, Ow, my kidneys, was, Sweet lord, this kid.
If she wasn't already taken by him, she definitely was now.
Who was she kidding? The little genius had won her over pretty much the day she met him. She just realized that she never bothered to fight it. What a wild week it's been.
"It…it's okay, Raf. We're going to be okay," she whispered to him when she got her voice back, her hand gently running through his unruly hair.
"Ellie's right, Raf."
Ellie glimpsed up at the sound of Jack's voice, finding the older boy now sitting on one side of her, while Miko sat on her other side, both of them seeming to have called a ceasefire from their argument for the sake of helping to comfort the youngest of the group.
"We're gonna be fine," Miko reassured him, her voice softer than Ellie's ever heard it before.
"Our 'Bots will come back for us."
"Yeah, they're gonna take us home any minute now."
Raf slowly lifted his head up, glancing at them. "How do you know?" he mumbled fretfully. "Ellie's 'Bot isn't even here."
Ellie felt another stab of guilt at the reminder, but she quickly covered it up with a sad smile, choosing not to acknowledge the pitying looks Jack and Miko were giving her. She moved her hands to Raf's shoulders and pulled away a little to fully look him in the eyes.
"No, he's not, but it's okay." No, it wasn't, but you don't exactly say that to a distraught child. "We've still got Arcee, Bulkhead, and Bumblebee, and they're enough." Hopefully. "And…" she paused, trying to think of other words of comfort, "…and I may not be able to understand Bumblebee like you can, Raf, but I know he doesn't seem the type to let you down, no matter what. Am I right?"
Raf actually perked up at that. He wiped his eyes with his shirt sleeve and managed a feeble nod.
Guess I said the right thing after all.
His fears had been placated, if only slightly—they weren't out of the woods quite yet, after all. So, to help keep him distracted, Jack looked around the room for a moment before spotting one of the main, online computer monitors high up.
"Hey, Raf. What do you make of that?" he asked, pointing at it.
Ellie waited until Raf unwrapped his arms from around her first before letting him move away. He jumped down onto the lower level of the floor to approach the wide screen, the others following suit. He pushed his glasses up his nose, squinting up at it.
"It's important—real important."
Ellie's eyes narrowed, carefully examining the screen as well; strangely meticulous sections of unreadable markings that had to be notes, some pertaining to certain parts of graphically designed images and shapes that would occasionally shift on their own.
"Whoa," she whispered. She, almost unknowingly, spoke her musings aloud, "It kind of looks like a blueprint. And those symbols and texts look like their own iteration of trigonometric equations—maybe even cryptography…but for what?"
"You're saying weird words again," Miko told her.
"But she's on to something. It's definitely a string of schematics, like a quadradic formula, but for something way more complicated than anything on Earth," Raf said, observing it more carefully. Then his expression turned definite. "We've gotta get this to Optimus and the others. They'll know how to read this."
"How do you know it isn't just a recipe for space nachos?" Miko snarked.
Ellie quirked an eyebrow, a corner of her lips tugging upwards. That was...an interesting hypothesis.
"I know math when I see it," Raf insisted, "and that is one serious equation."
"Can you, uh…download it?" Jack asked him, uncertain.
Raf contemplated for a moment, then removed his backpack from his shoulders to take out a small device. "I've got a flash drive, but…" he searched around the consoles, "…I don't see anywhere to plug it in. This tech is way alien."
"Yeah, I doubt they had humans in mind to accommodate when they first designed the place," Ellie said.
Miko made a Psh! sound. "Inconsiderate jerks."
Ellie had to bite her bottom lip to keep from laughing. Good thing she did; before anything else was said between the children, there was movement from the other side of the room that immediately caught their attention—in the worst possible way. All four of them tensed up in fear.
A lone Decepticon drone, walking along the platform not far from where they were standing. It must've entered the room while they were busy studying the monitor. The drone hadn't noticed them yet, but he did stop in his tracks, head tilted slightly as he saw one of the many smoking bodies of the other Decepticon troopers lying around. That was more than enough cue for them to run and hide as quickly and quietly as possible, heading right for the underside of a nearby terminal, out of the 'Con's line of sight. Ellie put a hand against the cold metal of the wall, taking a couple of deep breaths, then glanced at the two other kids next to—wait, two?!
She whirled around, and the sight before her caused all the air to leave her lungs: Raf going back out in the open, getting his backpack.
"Raf, no!" she managed in a strangled whisper.
Just as Raf had swung his bag over his shoulders, the 'Con turned and spotted him. Then, to their horror, the 'Con's arm quickly changed into a blaster cannon and aimed it at Raf, stepping closer, while Raf backed away in terror. Every nerve in Ellie's body was screaming with panic. No, no, NO!
But then Jack sprinted away from the wall beside her just as the drone started to open fire, charging toward Raf at an impressive speed—though it felt like every nanosecond while Raf was in danger seemed to stretch on for an eternity. Two strides away, Jack dove, tackling Raf out of the way of an oncoming plasma blast. Ellie exhaled a shallow breath in relief, only for her heartbeat to skyrocket again when the Decepticon slowly started to approach them. Quickly taking cover behind one of the nearby Decepticon bodies with Raf, Jack called out, "Miko, quick! Take a picture!"
"Great idea!" Miko pulled out her phone excitedly. Just when Ellie thought Miko was going to head toward the screen with the equation, the older girl surprised her by instead going straight toward the Decepticon.
"Miko, what're you—"
"Hey, you!" Miko yelled up at him without an ounce of fear, making him look down at her, before swiftly snapping a photo of him.
Ellie stared, astounded. "Oh, wow."
"No! Not of that—of that!" Jack pointed to the screen with the equation.
"The space nachos!" Ellie shouted, and Miko's eyes widened in understanding.
"Ohhh." She turned back for the screen, but Ellie was too preoccupied with the Decepticon now advancing toward her, raising his blaster gun.
Seeing him leering over Miko like a monster out of a nightmare, it was as if something had snapped together inside Ellie. Her face turned into a hard glare, her panic and fear from earlier morphing into protective determination. Oh no, not this time.
She had no idea what she was going to do, but she knew that she had to do something to keep that 'Con from attacking her friends again—at least distract him long enough for Miko to get the equation on her phone and make their escape. In a split second, she bolted from the wall, charging towards the Decepticon.
"Hey—hey! Back off!" she yelled harshly. Without thinking, she reached into her bag, grabbed the first solid thing her fingers touched, and chucked it at the 'Con as hard as she could.
Splat!
It got deathly quiet. The 'Con wasn't hurt in the slightest, but he was noticeably surprised, taking a step back when his metallic face was suddenly smeared with the splattered remains of an—apparently rotten—apple. The Decepticon slowly wiped the mushed fruit off his visor, staring down at it dripping from his clawed fingers, then moved his bright red gaze back down to Ellie, who looked just as shocked as he was by her own actions.
The stunned silence between them was broken by Jack across the way. "Seriously?" His voice cracked, like he didn't know whether to laugh or scream or cry or all three at once.
The 'Con charged up his gun again, and Ellie blanched.
Welp. You got his attention, alright.
"Guys, go! Get out of here!" she yelled to the others. With a newfound, adrenaline-induced jolt of energy coursing through her veins, she took off in an erratic zigzag pattern to avoid the oncoming plasma shots from the trooper. She faintly heard the others shouting for her, but she blocked it out to stay focused on not getting hit. Her initial instinct was get as far away from him as possible, but her more cohesive thoughts pumped the brakes on that notion quickly; wait, where else is a safe place from enemy fire if there's no cover?
She skidded on the metal floor, ran a wide arc in the direction she came, and dashed right for the Decepticon, who stopped shooting, clearly not expecting the human to come at him head on. Once he got over it, he prepared to fire at her again, but she was already too close where he would risk shooting himself in the foot. She weaved in between his legs, moving in and out of his viewpoint underneath him. The Decepticon growled lowly as he stepped gracelessly around in an attempt to find her. Ellie narrowly avoided getting squished, the tremors of his foot stomping way too close to her causing her to stumble. She reflexively reached out and grabbed for the nearest thing to keep her upright.
Which, unfortunately, happened to be the Decepticon's foot.
She screamed as she was suddenly yanked off the ground. She frantically gripped onto the metal plating to keep from going completely airborne. The Decepticon saw that she was latched onto his leg, and with a startled grunt, started to thrash his leg in order to fling her off, but Ellie clung on tight.
Interesting. It turned out Decepticons really did see humans as insects: ready to squash them on sight, but once they start coming after you, you lose some of your bravery when you're not fast enough to evade them.
Ellie shut her eyes and groaned, beginning to feel sick from being lashed around, her strength waning. Finally, she couldn't hold on anymore; her grip slipped when he gave another desperate kick, sending her flying. Even in her disoriented state, she had just enough sense to curl into a tuck-and-roll position before she hit the floor, the momentum knocking her several feet. She struggled to her feet and ran as fast as she could, hearing plasma shots again from behind her. Winded and dizzy, she almost tripped over her own feet, but a hand quickly grabbed her and pulled her back up before she could fall to the floor again. Gasping for breath, she looked up and saw Jack, dragging her toward the door where Raf and Miko were waiting anxiously for them.
Jack looked over his shoulder at her with an expression that was nothing short of panicked disbelief. "Why—what did—what were you—" he sputtered, unable to form a complete sentence.
"Are you okay?" Raf asked worriedly.
"That was awesome!" Miko hollered once Ellie and Jack rejoined them, shooting Ellie a thumbs-up and a grin.
Okay. Mixed reactions all around. She'd dwell on it later when they weren't about to die.
The door opened automatically, and with a frenzied cry of, "Go, go, go!" from Jack, the four of them hurried out of the room and back into the hallway, the Decepticon's foreboding footsteps not far behind them.
Thankfully, they didn't have to run for very long. A loud horn sounded from ahead of them, and with it, Bulkhead in vehicle form careening straight toward them. In no time, he transformed, leaped right over them, and tackled the Decepticon several feet back before slamming him into the ground hard. From the same direction he came from, Arcee and Bumblebee approached fast, screeching to a halt in front of the kids.
While Jack mounted on Arcee—who growled irritably, "I told you to stay put!"—Ellie, Miko, and Raf quickly jumped into Bumblebee, Ellie climbing into the back seat to let the others sit up front—and also so that she could have room to finally catch her breath. In her haste, she didn't notice another presence in the back with her until she felt them brush up against her side. She jerked away, but her shriek died in her throat when she realized that it was actually Agent Fowler, and he was looking worse for wear than when she last saw him; clothes ruffled and torn in some places, assorted scrapes and bruises littered in various parts of his exposed skin, and…
Ellie gulped. Were those burn marks on his sides?
The most noticeable thing, however, was the dazed, loopy expression he held, eyes extremely unfocused. He leaned forward between the two front seats and slurred, "I like pie…can we stop for pie?"
"You found Fowler! Rock on!" Miko whooped, making rock star signs with her hands.
Then Fowler slumped back, his head lolling onto Ellie's shoulder. "I 'ave a sweet tooth th' size of Montana."
Ellie winced. "Oh, man, what did they do to you?"
"Waffle."
"Okay. You can just—yeah, just rest for now. There you go."
She gently pushed him off her and made him rest against the door on his side of the back seat, where he promptly passed out.
They zoomed down the halls, navigating back to where they had entered. The whole time, Raf, Bumblebee, and Miko chatted among themselves up front (though Miko was doing most of the talking). Ellie, meanwhile, didn't relax a single muscle until they finally made their way out of the Decepticon vessel. Once they were driving on solid, outside ground again, she slouched in her seat, her head falling back against the headrest behind her as a feeling of utter exhaustion washed over, leaving her near breathless and shaky.
Miko was right: this entire misadventure was intense—so intense it made her first interaction between the Autobots and Decepticons look completely tame in comparison.
She closed her eyes, recalling to mind one of her old breathing exercises: In through the nose quietly for four seconds, hold it for seven, out through the mouth audibly for eight, then repeat. After three more repetitions, her heartbeat had slowed down to the point where it wasn't pounding in her ears anymore.
Well, that was dumb, she thought.
She gently squeezed her right thigh, her left leg beginning to tap up and down repeatedly. While she was considerably calmer than before, she still felt a shard of uneasiness as she listened to Arcee and Bumblebee speaking over the radio to Optimus, requesting a ground bridge. Evidently, Optimus and Ratchet had returned to base sometime earlier, killing any hopes she had of getting back while they were still out on their reconnaissance mission. She could only imagine what that was like, coming back only to find her and everyone else gone without even a note explaining where they were—especially after what happened earlier that morning.
She opened her eyes and turned her weary gaze to the view of the canyon walls speeding by through her window, the menacing warship getting further and further away behind them.
She may have been out of danger, but she wasn't entirely out of trouble just yet.
A/N- Originally, this chapter was going to end up being over twice as long with the scenes after the storming of the warship (yes, including when Ellie and Optimus finally get a chance to talk), but I decided to break it off into two separate chapters once it started to get too long.
I also had a lot more dialogue written between the kids here in the rough draft, but were cut in the editing process to use for later on. I just love working off these characters. Which is my favorite canon human character, you ask? How dare you. I love all the kids equally. Jack, Raf, and…*squints at smudged ink on my hand*…I know it's Miko; I was just wondering how a turkey was drawn on my hand without my knowledge. We respect all Chaotic Queens in this house.
Thank you for reading! And especially thank you to all who have faved, followed, and reviewed! :)