WHAAAAT? Two chapters in one week? What is this?
I have been sick for the past week, and have had nothing better to do than work on my writing, so here you guys are! Enjoy!
Please note: I do not own Transformers. I do, however, have my own OC's which I have inserted into the story. My OC's include Reese Shields and Chase Sanders. Electra belongs to my sister.
Friend or Foe
This chapter cooresponds to the episode "Nemesis Prime"
A few days passed and Reese found herself wandering around the base in aimless boredom. The team had been going on missions here and there, but Reese didn't know a whole lot about what they were up to.
She wandered into the main room only to find Ratchet, Optimus, and Agent Fowler. Ratchet was minding his own business, working at his computer (as expected), and Optimus and Fowler seemed to be having a serious conversation.
Reese vaguely thought she heard Fowler mention her name, but she couldn't be certain. Were they talking about her? Was this about how she had gone in that abandoned outpost a few weeks back without asking permission? Was Optimus snitching on her!? Well, now her curiosity was piqued. She needed to know what they were talking about.
As casually as possible, she made her way over to the two, pretending to be looking for something, but Fowler saw right through her.
"Reese, you really should learn to be less conspicuous. I know you're eavesdropping."
"Well dang, was it that obvious?" Reese hung her head a little. She had thought she was being so stealthy.
"Yes, it was."
"Hmmm, well I will have to keep that in mind for next time."
"There had better not be a next time."
"If I get better at being sneaky, you wouldn't even know if there was a next time," Reese smirked.
"Reese?" Optimus cut in with a warning tone.
"Okay, okay, I'm just kidding. I was just curious because I thought I heard my name. That's all."
"I was merely briefing Fowler on the incident at the outpost, considering it was military property that we didn't have permission to be on."
"So you were tattling on me!"
Optimus raised an eyebrow at Reese, surprised that she would be so bold as to accuse him of such a thing to his face.
"Sorry… probably should've kept that last comment to myself…" Reese shifted awkwardly under Optimus' gaze, immediately regretting her choice of words.
"Optimus merely informed me that you had discovered the old scientific research facility that used to be an extension of this base. You aren't in trouble, since nobody told you that it was off limits, and the reason nobody was supposed to go over there was because it was structurally unsound. That was why it had been abandoned years ago. I just wish you would have told me that you found it sooner."
"Oh… sorry. I do know what you mean about it being structurally unsound, though. A huge portion of the ceiling in the main room collapsed, I'm guessing during Unicron's reawakening."
"This is why nobody was supposed to go in there. It's too much of a hazard."
"Well, I did find an old box of rejected projects in one of the storage bays… I was wondering if maybe I could go back to get them. Some of them looked really cool."
"Well… if they had been left behind when the facility was abandoned, then I don't suppose it would hurt if you took them, but I would definitely recommend getting in and out as quickly as possible. The less time you spend inside that place, the better."
"Thanks Agent Fowler!" Reese practically bounced with excitement. She and Bee would need to make an excursion out to the facility at some point to grab the storage crate.
"Oh, there was one thing I specifically wanted to talk to you about, Reese."
"Oh?"
"My supervisor wants to meet with you, seeing how you are living here at the base with the autobots. He has asked me to bring you by the military base at Area 51 tomorrow evening."
"Hold up, Area 51? You're bringing me into Area 51?! Why the heck would someone from Area 51 want to meet with me? And, beyond that, why now, of all times? Why not when I first moved here?"
"Government agents are busy people, and this just happened to be the first free moment he has to talk with you. It's not as big or crazy as you seem to be making it out to be."
"Um… does he know I'm part Cybertronian?" Reese shifted uncomfortably.
"He does. That is part of the reason he wants to meet you."
"I don't know how I feel about this… I mean, top tier government officials wouldn't be interested in me unless they saw me as a threat or something like that, right? Especially a top tier government official at Area 51."
"Reese, relax, this isn't some kind of interrogation or anything. He just wants to meet you and get to know you a little bit. That's all. And if it makes you feel any better, I will be by your side the whole time," Fowler assured, but it didn't do much to settle Reese's nerves.
"Alright…" Reese sighed, though it sounded a little strained. "How long do you think the meeting will take?"
"I don't project it taking more than an hour or so. Like I said, he just wants to get to know you a little bit. There isn't anything you have to do; just be ready for me to pick you up at six p.m. tomorrow evening. Oh, and you should probably dress in business attire."
"Yes sir," Reese nodded, folding her arms behind her back. She suddenly felt very tense, and a little frightened. This was the last thing she had expected to hear from Fowler.
"Alright, well, now that that is all taken care of, I really should be going. Remember, be ready by six p.m." Fowler looked at his watch and stepped into the elevator, saluting as the doors closed.
Once Fowler was gone, Reese let out a long, shaky sigh. Maybe she should have just minded her own business after all.
"Don't worry, Reese, I'm sure that there is nothing for you to be concerned about," Optimus tried to ease Reese's nerves, but there wasn't much that anyone could say that would really help her calm down. She was likely going to be a nervous wreck until the meeting was over and done with.
As Reese had predicted, the next day dragged by slowly, and all she could think about was her upcoming meeting that evening. What if they deemed her a threat to national security? What would they do? What if they decided they wanted to run scientific experiments on her?
Reese trembled at that last thought. It hit too close to home, bringing back memories of her experiences with MECH.
"No, stop it. Agent Fowler wouldn't let that happen," She had to verbally tell herself, though it still didn't do much to stop the fears from nibbling away at the back of her mind.
Finally, 6 p.m. rolled around, and Reese found herself nervously pacing back and forth in front of the elevator.
"Reese, you gotta relax. You're gonna be fine," Bumblebee whirred for probably the fifth time that evening.
"How can I relax? I'm about to go meet with some military general at Area 51, and I don't even know what to expect! Rumor has it that Area 51 is where they experiment on aliens!"
"Agent Fowler said it was only an introductory meeting, right? He will probably just ask how you are, what it's like living at the base, and other stuff along those lines."
"You don't know that for certain. What if he thinks I should be detained for scientific research or something?"
"You've been watching to many alien movies with Miko. Seriously, if they know that we exist, and they haven't run experiments on us, then why would they do that to you?" Bumblebee rolled his optics.
"I don't know… I guess I'm just trying to prepare myself for the worst."
"You're so dramatic."
"I am not! I'm just trying to be realistic!"
"Jumping to the conclusion that they are going to experiment on you is not being realistic. That's called being paranoid."
"Same difference."
"Oh my gosh, what am I going to do with you?"
Reese looked like she was about to come back with some kind of sassy retort, but then the elevator door opened, and Agent Fowler stepped out.
"Oh, you're here…" Reese's face immediately fell into a very disappointed look.
"Wow, that was about the most unenthusiastic welcome I think I have ever gotten."
"She's afraid that your supervisor is going to detain her for some kind of scientific experiments," Bumblebee offered.
"BUMBLEBEE! Why would you tell him!?" Reese turned bright red, covering her face with her hands.
"You seem to forget that not everybody can understand Bumblebee." Fowler chuckled, "But I can probably assume what he said. Let me guess, it has something to do with alien research and experiments, doesn't it? You're really something else, you know that?"
"just kill me now…" Reese muttered from behind her hands.
"Relax, It's just a meeting, that's all. They aren't going to do any crazy experiments on you. Even if they wanted to, which they won't, I wouldn't let them anyways," Fowler assured.
"Let's just go and get this over with," Reese dutifully marched towards the elevator, the tips of her ears still bright red with embarrassment.
"Uh, we are actually going to take my car, not the chopper. Its parked just outside the base."
"Oh, well why didn't you say so before?" Reese threw her hands up, the red flush returning to her face full force.
"Well, for one, I didn't think you were going to be so antsy," Fowler snickered.
Reese merely sighed, folding her arms across her chest and stalking down the steps towards the exit of the base.
"Oh, and you might want to wipe that frown off your face before we go in to see General Bryce. It probably wouldn't reflect well on you if you went in scowling."
"You just don't know when to quit, do you," Reese huffed, forcing herself to take calming breaths.
"Only when I know I can get a reaction out of it," Fowler teased, ruffling Reese's hair. "Seriously though, don't worry. The meeting will be over before you know it."
Fowler had been right, as had Bumblebee. The meeting had been nothing to worry about. Reese and Fowler came into the meeting room with General Bryce, and all they did was talk.
The General asked a little bit about life at the base and if Reese enjoyed being there. He asked a few questions about her techno-organic nature, but only so he could understand it better, much to Reese's relief. Then he thanked her for coming and told her to let him know if she needed anything or if any problems arose. And with that, the meeting was over. Agent Fowler escorted Reese back to his car, and they started making their way back to base.
"See, that wasn't so bad, now was it?"
"No, I guess not…" Reese admitted.
"I told you there was nothing to worry about," Fowler smirked smugly as he pulled out onto the main highway.
"Yea, yea… I'm just glad it's over."
"You know he will want you to check in from time to time, right? Having a civilian living at the base isn't exactly, well, according to protocol, so He's going to want to keep tabs on you."
"Lucky me," Reese deadpanned.
"It's not as bad as it sounds. I mean, it could be worse. You could be in my shoes, where I have to report to him after every mission I do."
"I suppose…" Reese sighed, leaning her head against the window. She was mentally and emotionally exhausted, so she didn't have the energy to banter back and forth with Agent Fowler.
"How about some nice jazz music? Would that help make the ride back more relaxing?" Fowler seemed to notice that Reese was starting to disassociate.
"Hmmm? Oh, that's fine," Reese waved her hand dismissively, continuing to lean her head against the window.
Fowler put a jazz CD into the car stereo and turned it to a low volume, humming along to it quietly as he drove.
Everything was going well, that was, until a huge semi pulled up behind Fowler's sedan and decided to start tailgating them. This was when Reese got to see Agent Fowler's road rage firsthand.
"What's this guy's problem?" Fowler grumbled as he sped up a little to put some distance between him and the semi. Unfortunately, the semi merely matched pace with Fowler, riding up on his tail again.
Fowler rolled down his window and gave the driver of the semi some not so nice hand gestures. "Hey! What's the big idea? I'm going above the speed limit. Just go around!" He honked his horn a couple times for added measure.
By this point, Reese was very alert, fidgeting slightly in the passenger seat. She was getting some major déjà vu. This was just like the night that MECH followed her and Bulkhead to her house… Just like the night she was captured and tortured…
"Fowler, maybe don't antagonize this guy? I have a really bad feeling about this. I'm gonna call base and see if I can get Ratchet to send us a bridge."
"Please, I'm a highly decorated special agent. If I can't deal with some whack job on the streets, then what good am I?"
"I get the feeling that this isn't just some run of the mill tailgater. Can you tell who is driving?"
"No, I can't see the driver because his headlights are too bright," Fowler cursed.
This only continued to increase Reese's anxiety. More and more, things echoed the events of that fateful night.
"Wait, I think I see something. There is some kind of insignia on the grill of the truck. Can you make out what it is?"
Reese turned around in her seat and squinted into the headlights. What she saw made her heart jump into her throat. There was an autobot insignia on the grill of the truck. And now that she thought about it, the truck looked an awful lot like Optimus' vehicle form.
Then, before she could prepare for it, the semitruck slammed into the back of the sedan, causing Fowler to fight to keep from losing control of the car.
"What the heck?!" Reese screamed as she was thrown forward slightly, holding onto the back of the seat for support.
"What is it, Reese?" Fowler sounded tense.
"There is an autobot insignia on the front of the truck!"
"Are you saying that Optimus is trying to run us off the road?!"
"I don't want to say it, but it sure does seem that way," Reese replied tensely.
"You've gotta be kidding me!" Fowler slammed on the gas, the engine of his little sedan fighting to keep ahead of their pursuer.
"I don't care how good of a driver you are, if that really is Optimus, which I'm inclined to doubt, then no special agent training is gonna help us now. We're gonna need some outside help." Reese flipped back around and sat down properly in the passenger seat, checking her seatbelt to make sure it was securely fastened, before pulling out her phone and dialing the number for the base.
"Ratchet, Optimus, Is anyone there?"
"Optimus isn't here right now, is something wrong?"
Fowler grabbed the phone out of Reese's hand and yelled into it.
"If Prime's not there, then I'm going to take that as confirmation that he's currently trying to run us off the road!" He swerved slightly as he tried to drive and rant at the same time.
"Give that back! You focus on driving; let me handle the talking," Reese snatched her phone back.
"That's absurd! You know that Optimus wouldn't do anything like that!" Ratchet sounded annoyed by the accusation.
"I don't want to believe that it's him either, Ratchet, but whoever this is that's trying to knock us off the road, they have the same alt mode as Optimus, and there is an autobot insignia on the grill. We are gonna need some help. We can't shake them."
"Alright, the team is on their way. I'm locking onto your coordinates now. Just hang tight for a few minutes."
"I don't know if we have a few minutes," Reese half screamed as Agent Fowler took a sharp turn. Unfortunately, this detour took them right onto a very long bridge. One that just so happened to span a deep gorge.
"You just had to steer us onto a bridge, didn't you!" Reese snapped.
"Oh, I'm sorry, I was just trying to get a deranged Optimus off our tail! If you think you could do a better job, why don't you drive?" Fowler snapped back.
As if matters couldn't get any worse, 'Optimus' pulled up alongside them and began nudging them closer to the guardrail of the bridge.
"Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap!" Reese yelled repeatedly as 'Optimus' bumped the side of the car, denting the passenger door inwards a little bit.
This bump was just strong enough to send Fowler's car spinning out of control. It careened into the guardrail and Reese and Fowler found themselves half dangling off the bridge.
"Reverse! REVERSE!" Reese shrieked in terror.
"I can't! The back wheels aren't making full contact with the pavement; I can't get enough traction!"
"What if I climbed into the back seat?"
"You're welcome to try. I don't think we have any other options at this point."
"Welp, let's hope this works," Reese muttered as she unbuckled and climbed into the backseat, trying to shift some of the car's weight back onto the rear wheels. Unfortunately, her weight didn't seem to be enough to really make a difference.
She stared through the back windshield in horror as 'Optimus' nudged the back of their car again, sending them even further off the bridge than before.
"What is taking those bots so long?" Fowler cursed again.
As if to answer his question, the welcoming blueish-green glow of a ground bridge illuminated their periphery.
This seemed to spook 'Optimus', who proceeded to push them the rest of the way off the bridge and then quickly retreat from the scene of the crime.
Reese and Fowler screamed in unison as the car slid into freefall. Reese braced herself for the impact that she knew would be coming, but then the car suddenly jerked to a halt. She looked up to see Bumblebee, half hanging off the bridge, holding onto the bumper of the car.
"Hang in there, Reese. We're gonna get you guys out of there!" He whirred reassuringly.
Reese nodded, but something in her gut told her that they weren't out of the woods just yet. She saw Bumblebee's optics widen as the bumper came loose, sending the car back into freefall.
Inside, Reese, being that she wasn't exactly buckled into the backseat, was thrown against the roof of the car as it careened towards the bottom of the gorge. She squeezed her eyes shut, figuring that this was probably going to be the end.
The next thing she knew, the car came to a sudden halt, this time sending her flying into the floorboard. If she hadn't had cybernetically enhanced limbs, she probably would have broken something.
"Are we dead?" She groaned from the floorboard.
"I don't think so…" Fowler replied, sounding just as dazed.
Reese opened her eyes and looked up to see Bulkhead peering in through the window. He must have jumped down after them and caught them as they were falling.
Then she heard a loud noise come from the driver's side of the car.
"Are you okay?"
"Mmmmfmfmfmmm"
"What?"
"MMMMMFFMFMMMMM"
"Fowler?" Reese sat up and looked towards the driver's seat to see Fowler's face buried in the airbag, which had just deployed. Probably would have been more useful if it had deployed a few seconds earlier.
"Are you hurt?" Bulkhead asked.
"Uh, I don't think so," Reese climbed out of the floorboard and sat down in the backseat, trying to reorient herself. She looked herself over, surprised to find that she was relatively intact. She was probably going to be pretty sore and stiff in the morning, but that was preferrable to being dead.
"What about you Agent Fowler? Are you good?" Reese leaned forward so she could see Fowler better.
"No injuries that I'm aware of. I think we got off lucky," Fowler sighed as he shoved the airbag out of his face.
"Phew, that's a relief," Bulkhead sighed, gently setting the car down so that Reese and Fowler could get out.
"I'm going to carry you back up to the bridge, okay?" Bulkhead asked.
"That's fine," Reese agreed. She didn't exactly relish the idea of climbing back up by herself.
"What about my car?" Fowler looked dejectedly at his poor little sedan. It had definitely taken a beating.
"Leave it. I can't carry you two and it at the same time."
"She was such a good little car," Fowler sighed before climbing into Bulkhead's servo.
"I'm sorry Agent Fowler…" Reese sympathized. This was exactly how she had felt when she found out her jeep had been totaled when it crashed into Starscream.
Bulkhead carried the two back up to the top of the bridge, setting them down in front of the ground bridge.
"Hey Bulk, where are Bee and Arcee?" Reese looked around, noting that the two were nowhere to be seen.
"Arcee chased after Optimus when he retreated. I guess Bumblebee when to go find her."
It wasn't very long before Bumblebee appeared at the other end of the bridge, carrying an unconscious Arcee in his arms.
"Bee, what happened?" Bulkhead rushed forward, followed by Reese and Agent Fowler.
"I don't know. I found her like this over by a gas station not far from here. We need to get her back to base, quickly," Bumblebee whirred anxiously, glancing down at the unconscious femme in his arms.
"Alright, well let's hurry, no need to waste time standing around," Fowler urged, already turning back to the portal.
Once back at base, Arcee was immediately placed into the recovery chamber. Once she was set up and the repair processes were started, Ratchet turned back to address the others.
"She will be alright. The injuries look a lot worse than they are. Reese, Agent Fowler, how are you two feeling?"
"I'm alright. I was buckled in and the airbag cushioned me a little bit. I'm more concerned about Reese. She ended up getting flung all over the backseat." Fowler explained.
"Don't worry about me. I'm a little bruised and shaken up, but otherwise I feel fine. I have these cybernetic enhancements to thank for that. I suppose they do have their uses."
"You were fortunate indeed, and for that, I am very glad," Ratchet agreed.
"Hhnnggg," The sound of groaning came from the medical chamber as Arcee came to. Ratchet turned to assist her, helping her out of the chamber and easing her down onto a medical berth.
"Arcee, you're awake! How are you feeling?" Jack ran over to his guardian, looking up into her face imploringly.
"Fine, other than being blindsided by Optimus. I'm not going to be able to get that image out of my head for a while," She said, holding her helm tenderly.
"Don't tell me you're buying into this ridiculous idea too! You know that Optimus would never do something like that!" Ratchet sounded frustrated.
"I would have agreed with you, Ratchet, if I hadn't seen him with my own optics," Arcee stared at the floor.
"It has to be a coincidence. Maybe it was just someone who's truck happened to have the same build and colour scheme as Optimus," Ratchet rationalized.
"But the truck had an autobot insignia on the front. How do you explain that?" Reese pointed out.
"I don't know, but all of this is so absurd. A quick check on the scanners will show that Optimus was never even near where the incident occurred. As a matter of fact, he is coming to the base now." Ratchet said as he pulled up Optimus' signal on the computer.
As Optimus pulled into the base, all the autobots, save for Ratchet, went into high alert. Reese grew tense as well, unsure of what to expect. Optimus picked up on his crew's tension almost immediately.
"Is something wrong?" He asked quizzically.
"We were just wondering where you had been. We haven't been able to get in contact with you." Bulkhead said warily.
"I was out of communications range," Optimus answered as he reached into the storage compartment on his back. The autobots jumped backwards and activated their weapons at the sudden movement on Optimus' part. Even Agent Fowler took a step back and stepped in front of the children. "I was in a subterranean energon deposit," Optimus finished as he pulled a piece of energon out of the storage compartment.
Seeing the energon crystal in Optimus' servo seemed to put everyone at ease, and they disengaged their weapons, falling back into a more relaxed stance.
"Sorry Optimus," Arcee sighed, taking a step forward. Optimus looked down at her with a mixture of confusion and concern lacing his facial plating.
"Don't blame them, Prime. Reese and I were attacked by a big rig earlier this evening. One that looked a heck of a lot like you. It even attacked Arcee. We had more than enough reason to be wary," Agent Fowler stepped forward, explaining the team's concerning behavior.
"I'm sorry to hear this. Is everyone okay?" Optimus asked, genuinely concerned.
"We are, especially now that we know it wasn't really you. I didn't want to believe it was you, really, I didn't, but the resemblance was so uncanny," Reese fidgeted a little, feeling a bit guilty for jumping to conclusions, even if they were well founded.
"I understand, and I am glad that everyone is alright. Hopefully, there will be no further incidents, but we should still keep a close surveillance on our surroundings and report anything suspicious for the time being." Optimus vented, genuinely hoping that this was merely a one and done incident.
Early the next morning, Agent Fowler, who had stayed overnight at the base, got a call from General Bryce. The others couldn't hear what the general was saying, but from Fowler's reactions, it didn't sound good.
"That's not possible! I'm sure as there are 50 stars on my star-spangled shorts that it isn't him! Why? Because, I'm standing right next to him. I'm telling you Optimus isn't your guy!" Fowler yelled into his phone before rudely hanging up on General Bryce. He then turned to Optimus; a grim expression spread across his face.
"General Bryce just called to inform me that "Optimus Prime" is attacking the Alden Military Base. I tried to explain that it's not you, but he wouldn't listen. This time, it wasn't the truck that attacked, but the bot himself. It looks like we have a major enemy, and he has decided to make his appearance that of you, Optimus."
"We must go and end this once and for all. Autobots, prepare to roll out!" Optimus ordered, signaling for Ratchet to fire up the ground bridge.
Once the ground bridge was locked onto the Alden Military Base, Optimus and his team went through, leaving everyone feeling very distressed on the other side.
Fowler took this time to call General Bryce back, hoping to clear up the confusion. He was still on the phone when the team came back through, looking very upset. They must not have been successful on their end.
"What do you mean you won't believe me without solid evidence? Isn't my word evidence enough? I'm telling you, you've got the wrong bot… Yes, the autobots were at your base, but only in response to the initial attack… General Bryce, that seems highly unfair… Very well, but understand that I will not stop until this is figured out." Fowler hung up again, turning towards the autobots.
"I'm sorry Optimus; I couldn't convince General Bryce that you are innocent. He has issued a military order for all personnel to attack any autobots on sight."
"But Optimus was framed! I can't believe this!" Reese threw her hands in the air in frustration.
"Though unfortunate, the military order changes nothing. This imposter clearly poses a grave threat to humanity and must be destroyed," Optimus vented.
"A 30-foot-tall transforming imposter," Fowler added.
"I can't believe they actually did it. Those butchers, MECH, managed to crack the code," Ratchet shuddered. "They must have learned everything they needed to know about Cybertronian biology when they dissected Breakdown."
"And, we have recently learned that they have obtained Starscream's t-cog, meaning that they have a means for creating a fully transforming Cybertronian," Optimus added.
"Whoa, whoa, hold up! When did we learn that they got a hold of Starscream's t-cog?" Reese's eyes widened. This was news to her.
"You remember that encrypted message we got a few days ago? It was from Starscream. He traded us information about Airachnid's plan to use an insecticon to lead an attack. It was then that we learned that MECH stole his t-cog (1)." Bulkhead explained.
"Who's Airachnid?" Reese looked even more bewildered.
"Oh yea… you weren't here when she first arrived on Earth," Jack shuddered. "She's a decepticon that is half spider half robot, and she's Arcee's arch enemy. It's a bit of a long story, and its probably best if you didn't ask Arcee about it."
"Indeed, she's a techno-organic, much like yourself, but her other half is that of a spider, instead of that of a human. Because of her half spider nature, she has control over the insecticons, who typically operate under a hive mind." Ratchet continued.
"So, she can control those giant beetle things? You know, like the one that attacked Jack and me on Cybertron?"
"It would seem so," Ratchet vented.
"Okay, okay, enough about insect robots. Can we please get back to the fact that MECH now has a fully functioning robot that just so happens to look exactly like Prime?" Fowler interrupted, shifting gears back to the original conversation.
"I got it! We should call him Nemesis Prime! You know, cuz he's Optimus Prime's nemesis!" Miko exclaimed excitedly.
Jack, Raf, Reese, and Fowler all rolled their eyes.
"Our first plan of action should probably be locating MECH's base." Ratchet continued, ignoring Miko's terrible name suggestion.
"Okay, but where do we begin? I mean, their base could be anywhere!" Fowler said, slamming his fist into the guard rail of the platform he was standing on.
"Not necessarily, they may have learned much about Cybertronian biology, but they haven't absorbed Cybertronian technology." Optimus explained.
"Without access to a groundbridge, "Nemesis Prime" would have to rely solely on its vehicle form for transportation. Meaning it would need to be within feasible driving distance of the Alden Military Base," Ratchet continued.
"Hey, you called him Nemesis Prime! See, I told you it was a good name," Miko smiled with smug satisfaction.
"Alright then, if we know they are close by, then let's get out there and smash MECH's little science project!" Fowler slammed his fist into his other palm.
"Agent Fowler, I do not think it advisable to put yourself in harm's way of MECH's robot again," Optimus cautioned.
"Well I don't think it's advisable for you bots to be out there running around while the military is out gunning for you!" Fowler retorted.
"We will maintain vehicular cover until absolutely necessary," Optimus assured, still standing by his initial advice for Fowler to stay put.
"Fine, but I don't like this one bit. If something goes wrong, you best believe that I will be the first one there to fix it." Fowler glared, folding his arms over his chest. His mind was made up, and nothing Optimus could say would change it.
"Very well, Autobots, roll out," Optimus vented, transforming into his vehicle mode and driving out of the base, followed by the rest of Team Prime, except for Ratchet.
With all four of the Autobots out scouting everything in a 50-mile radius of Alden Military Base, it was only a matter of time before one of them found the location.
"Guys, I think I found something," Bumblebee whirred over the group comm link.
"Bumblebee, proceed with utmost caution. Reconnaissance only. We will rendezvous at your coordinates," Optimus ordered.
"I don't like the idea of Bumblebee going in there alone… Not after what MECH did to him last time," Reese folded her arms, glaring at Bumblebee's signal on Ratchet's screen.
"I don't either, but the rest of team Prime should be there shortly," Ratchet vented. "Although, if I can isolate and access the remote link that Silas is employing, I should be able to pinpoint his exact position."
"Remote link?" Raf asked, scratching his head.
"You didn't think MECH had the ability to build a completely autonomous robot, did you?" Ratchet scoffed.
"I was hoping that Silas would be operating Nemesis Prime from the inside, because one punch from Bulkhead and, BOOYA!" Miko swung her fist and then dramatically reenacted Silas dying, much to everyone's chagrin.
"Aha!" Ratchet exclaimed as beeping sounded from his computer. "The frequency has been isolated.
"Then reopen that bridge," Fowler demanded, pointing towards the groundbridge.
"Agent Fowler, did you not hear Optimus advise against your involvement?" Ratchet chided. "It's for your own safety."
"Look Doc, I don't plan on fighting any bots. There is a human behind that machine, and if you had not already noticed, I am a highly trained, government grade, human. Now, open that ground bridge."
"Yea! Plus, Silas tried to run him and Reese off the road. It's personal," Miko backed up Fowler's argument, not that he really needed her to.
"I don't know," Ratchet hesitated.
"He won't be going alone. I may not like MECH. In fact, they may scare me to death, but I won't sit around and do nothing. Not when I could be out there helping," Reese spoke up, taking a stand beside Agent Fowler.
"Absolutely not! Optimus would kill me if you got involved. Besides, Agent Fowler has had much more training than you have. I can't allow you to put yourself in danger like that," Ratchet fumed.
"She has seen her fair share of battles, and I wouldn't mind the backup," Fowler admitted, taking Reese's side, much to her surprise. "Besides, she has enhanced strength and speed, courtesy of her cybernetic implants."
Ratchet glared at the two, who glared right back at him. It was obvious that he wasn't going to win this argument. "Fine, just don't go anywhere near Silas' robot, and don't get yourselves killed." Ratchet threw his servos in the air in defeat. "I'm never going to hear the end of this…"
"Alright then, Reese, you take this. I would rather you have it on you, just in case," Fowler handed Reese the holster which held his handgun.
"I don't know, Fowler. I have never used a gun before… Maybe you should hang onto it." Reese pushed the gun away.
"No, if you are coming with me, then you need to carry this on you. No ifs, ands, or buts, about it."
"Fine…" Reese took the gun holster hesitantly, attaching it to her belt. "But I don't plan on using it."
"I sincerely hope you don't have to," Fowler nodded, his eyes dead serious.
The two walked down to the groundbridge and Ratchet fired it up.
"I will be opening the bridge as close to Silas' coordinates as I can, but it will be up to you to find him once you get through."
"Understood," Fowler nodded, as he and Reese stepped through the portal.
On the other side of the bridge, Fowler didn't look so good. He held his stomach tenderly, and put a hand over his mouth, like he was about to be sick.
"You good?" Reese eyed him warily.
"Yea, just not quite used to how intense groundbridging is," Fowler nodded, breathing deeply to settle the motion sickness.
"Just be glad it wasn't a space bridge. Those are waaaay worse," Reese chuckled lightly, though the sound of crashing metal quickly caught both her and Fowler's attention.
They could see Optimus and his clone duking it out not too far from their current position.
Quickly, they ducked aside so that they were out of view of the bots. They were going to need the element of surprise in order to get the upper hand on Silas. Fowler got a call from Ratchet on his cellphone, giving him the exact location of the building the frequency was coming from.
Reese and Fowler stealthily made their way to a building nearby, as directed by Ratchet. They climbed up on the outside of the building via one of the structural ladders and snuck up behind one of the guards. Fowler sucker punched the guy while he was distracted by the fight between Optimus and the clone.
Quietly they made their way inside, being careful to keep close to the wall and out of the sight of prying eyes.
Inside the room, they could see that Silas was sitting in some kind of control panel. He was completely alone, save for the two MECH soldiers that guarded the ladder that led down from the platform where Reese and Fowler were hiding.
"You get the one on the left; I'll take the one on the right," Fowler instructed.
Reese nodded and began climbing down the ladder. Once she was about two-thirds of the way down, she jumped off, landing on top of the soldier to her left.
Fowler, who was just above her on the ladder, followed suit, landing hard on the soldier to the right.
With both MECH soldiers taken care of, all who was left was Silas.
"You wait back here, in the shadows. I will take care of Silas," Fowler ordered before slipping out of the shadows.
"Nobody will be able to fight the newly rebooted MECH," Silas sneered as he prepared the clone to smite Optimus.
"Think again, Si," Fowler shouted triumphantly as he walked up behind Silas. "Get ready to have the plug pulled on your little video game!"
Silas swiveled around in his chair and jumped to his feet, meeting Fowler head on. He deftly dodged Fowler's attack, elbowing the special agent in the back and sending him to the ground.
"What are you? Ex-military?" Fowler asked, scrambling back to his feet.
"Special tactics. You?" Silas fell into a fighting stance.
"Army Rangers," Fowler said, landing a couple punches on Silas, but none strong enough to stop him.
"Retired, clearly," Silas sneered.
"I may be out of shape, but I don't need to bust you up," Fowler swung his fist again, only to get punched in the nose and then kicked in the stomach.
"Oh no!" Reese gasped as she watched Fowler land hard on his back, and two MECH soldiers come up behind him and grab him by the arms. She pulled the gun out of its holster and pointed it at Silas, but before she could do anything, she felt something hard collide with her side.
She dropped the gun as she doubled over in pain. She coughed, tasting the metallic taste of her own techno-organic energon. What had happened?
She looked up to see another MECH soldier holding a metal pipe. He must have hit her from behind. He grabbed her arm and roughly dragged her over to where the other soldiers were holding Fowler.
"Well, well, we meet again. You know Reese, I could kill you right now, just as an act of revenge for what you did to me the last time we met, but I want to make you suffer first." Silas chuckled with cruel malice. "I must say, you are a lot more resilient than your dad was, but I can't say you inherited his wisdom."
Reese's eyes widened as she listened to Silas. "How do you know about my dad?" Her voice was hoarse as her mouth suddenly went dry.
"Awww, did he never tell you? How sad. You never even knew his big secret. Well, I suppose it is my duty to tell you. You see, your father was not the nice man that you thought he was. He actually used to work for me." Silas sneered, finding some sick satisfaction in the horror that spread over Reese's face.
"That's a lie! My dad would have never worked for someone like you!" Reese spat.
"Shut up, I'm not done," Silas slapped Reese hard, causing blueish purple energon to drip from the corner of her mouth. "Your old man was actually one of my best fighters, and was a valuable member of this team, only, he harbored one very deep secret. He was half Cybertronian. Of course, I didn't know this at first, but I quickly put two and two together when I saw how well versed he was with alien tech. He knew an awful lot about energon, among other things."
"No, no, shut up, no," Reese choked, her fear and anger threating to strangle her.
"Oh yes, indeed. He provided us with a lot of valuable intel about Cybertronians. He just didn't like the idea of sacrificing himself for the cause of scientific research. I'm not sure how he got wind that we were going to use him for our experiments, but somehow, he did, and he tried to flee the area.
My men tracked him down one night, and attempted to apprehend him, but the roads were icy, and he lost control of his car, sending him and his lovely wife off a ravine and too their untimely deaths."
"YOU'RE LYING! YOU HAVE TO BE! SHUT UP!" Reese screamed now, struggling against the soldiers who were holding her in place.
"I didn't know he had a daughter, though. I only found that out recently. Jim was good at keeping secrets, but it doesn't matter anymore. The experiments will work just as well on you as they would have on your father."
"NO! YOU KILLED THEM! YOU KILLED MY PARENTS!" Reese's eyes glowed a bright blue as her skin began to morph into metal. Shiny silver metal covered her body from head to toe, making her look like a human sized Cybertronian!
With the strength that came from this form, she ripped her arms out of the grasp of the MECH soldiers, knocking them out and then running right at Silas. She punched him hard in the face.
Silas reeled back, holding his nose tenderly. "Fascinating."
"SHUT THE FRAG UP!" Reese hauled off and punched him again before grabbing him by the neck and pinning him against the wall. "YOU TOOK MY FAMILY FROM ME! YOU KILLED THEM! I DIED INSIDE THAT DAY! I SHOULD KILL YOU FOR EVERYTHING YOU'VE DONE!" She screamed in Silas' face, tightening her grip on his neck until his face began turning red. "Give me one good reason not to snap your neck, right here, right now."
Silas choked as he struggled to speak, clawing frantically at Reese's hand, which held him pinned securely in place.
Reese tightened her grip again, cutting off even more of Silas' airflow. "I will make you pay for what you did. For killing my parents, and for ruining my life." She whispered hoarsely, her eyes still glowing that eerie blue colour.
Suddenly, a noise from behind her caught her attention. She turned to see Bumblebee standing in the doorway of the building, watching her with fear and pain in his optics. Agent Fowler stood by his side, looking equally as distraught.
"Bumblebee?" her voice cracked, the glow in her eyes dissipating ever so slightly.
"Reese, is that you? What are you doing?"
"He killed my family. This is his fault!" Reese let out a strangled cry, the glow sparking in her eyes once more.
"Reese, we don't kill people, remember? You don't kill people. Don't do this," Bumblebee whirred softly.
"I… I can't. He took everything from me." Reese struggled against the tumult of emotions that raged inside her.
"Let him go, Reese," Bumblebee locked eyes with Reese, refusing to look away.
"I can't."
"yes, you can. You are hurting, but that doesn't mean you should hurt others."
"He killed them… he killed my parents," Reese sobbed, blue tinted tears streaming from her glowing blue optics, though the glow was much duller now than it had been previously.
"I know, and what he did was unforgivable, but killing him isn't going to bring them back. Don't do something you would regret. Killing him isn't going to make you feel better."
Reese seemed to think on these words for a moment, before finally releasing her grip on Silas, allowing him to drop to the floor.
He lay there choking and gasping for air, struggling to even remain conscious.
Reese found herself walking towards Bumblebee, as if she was on autopilot. She got about halfway across the room when she stumbled to her knees, the metal that covered her morphing back into her soft skin. She fell forward, but Bumblebee caught her just before she could fully hit the ground.
"I got you," He whirred softly, lifting her in his servos. He rushed back to the entrance of the room, cradling Reese gently in his arms.
No sooner had he made it back to the entrance, that the roof of the building collapsed, sending debris, followed by the frame of Nemesis Prime, crashing on top of Silas, and his control panel.
Optimus peered through the hole in the ceiling, his optics widening as he caught glimpse of Reese and Fowler.
"Fowler? Reese? I didn't know you were here. Bumblebee, get them back to base as quickly as possible." Optimus ordered.
"Yes sir," Bumblebee whirred, quickly carrying Reese back towards an open groundbridge.
"You go ahead back to base Optimus. You don't want to be here when the military arrives. I will stay behind to handle them for you." Fowler gave an affirming nod to Optimus, who gratefully retreated back to base with the others.
Ratchet watched as the team came back through the portal, his optics growing concerned as Optimus came through, holding his side, followed by Bumblebee, who carried a listless Reese.
"What happened?" He went into medic mode, rushing over to Optimus first.
"Just a mesh wound," Optimus grunted, shifting his servo away to show the deep gash in his side, a parting gift from the late Nemesis Prime.
"That's more than just a mesh wound. It goes pretty deep." Ratchet inspected the wound closely. "Though, it should be a quick repair."
"Ratchet… I think you should take a look at Reese, too." Bumblebee whirred softly.
"What's wrong with her?" Ratchet turned to look at Reese, who coughed hard, energon spilling onto her arm as she covered her mouth. "Primus Sake! What happened?"
"I'm not sure, but she wasn't herself when I found her. She appeared to be completely Cybertronian."
"What do you mean?" Ratchet looked from Reese to Bumblebee, nothing but seriousness in his optics.
"I mean, she was completely made of metal, and her eyes were glowing blue. I found her on the verge of strangling Silas to death. I was able to talk her out of it, but when she walked away from him, she collapsed, and reverted back into human form."
"Put her on the medical berth. I am going to quickly solder Optimus' wounds shut, then I will take a look at her." Ratchet instructed.
Bumblebee carried Reese over to the medical berth, laying her down on it gently.
She coughed again, bluish purple energon splattering onto the metal berth, as well as Bumblebee's servos. "I'm sorry," She whispered hoarsely.
"Shhh, don't apologize. Just relax," Bumblebee comforted, activating his holoform and using a tissue to wipe the excess energon off Reese's face."
"I almost killed him… I was going to do it…" blue tears streamed from Reese's eyes once more. "I would have killed him, and then hated myself for the rest of my life."
"Dang, who knew you had it in you to almost kill Silas?" Miko said, running over to where Reese lay. Jack and Raf stood some distance away, knowing better than to intrude on such a moment.
"Get Miko away from Reese," Ratchet said gruffly as he finished soldering Optimus' wound shut.
"Aww, I just want to know what happened," Miko pouted, glaring a little at Bumblebee, who gently pushed her back from the medical berth.
"We all want to know what happened exactly, but we will find that out when Reese is ready to tell us. Now stay out of my med bay until all the patients are taken care of," Ratchet shooed Miko away from the med bay entrance, and walked over to Reese, who was curled up in the fetal position.
He activated his holoform, motioning for Bumblebee's holoform to take a step back. Bumblebee did as he was told, watching nervously from the sidelines.
"Reese, I know you're hurting, but I need you to talk to me. What happened?" Ratchet said softly, in a tone that Reese had rarely heard him use. It was gentle but pleading.
"He killed them. He killed my family," Reese whimpered, coughing again, sending fresh techno-organic energon splattering onto the medical berth.
"Who killed them?"
"Silas…"
Ratchet seemed to think carefully about what to say next. This was a touchy subject for Reese, to say the least, but he needed more information. "What happened next?"
"What does it matter what happened next? He killed my family! He took everything from me!" Reese sat up, glaring at Ratchet, her eyes glowing blue as they had when she first transformed.
"Reese, he's just trying to learn what happened so he can help you." Bumblebee whirred sadly. He hated seeing Reese like this.
"I… I don't really know what happened next, at least, not clearly. I know I broke free from the guards, and I was choking Silas… I was going to kill him… I… I…" Reese broke down in sobs, covering her face with her hands.
"Breathe, its okay. You were angry, and you had every right to be. What matters is that you were strong enough to do the right thing." Ratchet soothed softly.
"No, I'm not strong. I'm not." Reese wept bitterly.
"Yes, you are. Now, Bumblebee said you looked Cybertronian. Do you remember that happening?"
"No… I just remember getting very angry. I was so angry. Then, I felt cold all over, and I felt a surge of strength go through me, and I broke free from the soldiers who were holding me back. It was like they weren't even there anymore."
"You don't remember anything else about transforming?"
"No… I didn't even know I had…" Reese hung her head shamefully. "I didn't even know that was possible."
"Well, it seems that you have some kind of internal injury, but I can't tell clearly where it is when you are in this form. I need you to try transforming again."
"I don't know how," Reese balled her fists in her lap.
"Try thinking back to when you transformed the first time. Focus on that need for strength."
"I can't. All I can think about is how close I came to killing Silas. How close I came to doing something that I would never be able to forgive myself for."
"Okay, try this. Instead of focusing on the negative emotions tied to Silas, think about your love for your parents. Think about the strength that they would want you to show right now," Bumblebee said through is voice modulator, rubbing soothing circles on Reese's back.
"I… I can't. I can't do it." Reese sobbed, choking a little as her body tried to expel more energon from her lungs.
"Yes, you can. You are strong, even if you don't feel like it right now."
"Reese, I can't help you unless you can transform. I need you to at least try."
"Maybe I should just die. I don't deserve to live after what I almost did."
"That's a lie and you know it. I won't sit here and listen to you verbally berate yourself. You were caught up in your anger, but despite that, you still made the right decision. You walked away." Bumblebee grabbed Reese's chin and forced her to look him in the eyes. "You are strong, and you are kind, and you deserve to live a long and happy life. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. Now, channel all these emotions into transforming, okay?"
Reese broke eye contact with Bumblebee, but nodded, nonetheless. She closed her eyes and focused on trying to transform. She felt that same coldness wash over her, as it had right before she attacked Silas, only this time, it wasn't fueled by rage, and she actually found the coldness quite refreshing.
"WHOA!" Miko gasped, peering over the railing of the platform that overlooked the med bay.
"Get the kids out of here. I don't need them distracting my patient, or making her feel uncomfortable," Ratchet snapped, giving Miko a particularly hard glare.
Bulkhead activated his holoform in response and quickly ushered the kids away from the railing, shooing them towards the rec room.
"You did good, Reese. Just sit still while I scan for internal injuries." Ratchet's voice shifted back to its gentle tone as he ran his scanner over Reese's body a few times. "Were you attacked while you were there?"
"Yea… One of the soldiers snuck up behind me and hit me in the side with a metal pipe."
"That would explain your injury, then. It looks like when you got hit, it dented in your respiratory chamber, causing tiny fissures in it. That's probably why you're coughing up energon."
"So it punctured a lung?"
"Not exactly. You don't really have lungs anymore. Well, not in a human sense, anyways. Your body has completely rewritten itself to the point that all your organs have been transformed from the inside out. You have respiratory chambers where your lungs would be, but they mostly just filter the air you breathe, rather than absorbing oxygen. You don't necessarily need oxygen anymore to survive."
"Wait, what?"
"You're not as human as you think you are. You may function like a human, on some levels, but internally, you are very much Cybertronian."
"I don't know how I feel about that…"
"Well, there isn't much you can do about it now, other than just accept it. For now, I'm going to try and mend the damage to your respiratory chamber, but its going to take surgery. You just lay there, and I will get everything ready for stasis."
"No, I don't want to be put under. I don't know if I can maintain this form if I'm unconscious. Can you do it without stasis?"
"I suppose I could, but I can't promise it will be painless."
"It's fine, I don't care. If you can do it without stasis, that's all I want."
"Alright, if that's what you want. I will go ahead and get everything ready.
The surgery went well, especially seeing how it wasn't the most invasive. It only took a few minutes and then it was done, much to Reese's relief.
After everything was done, Ratchet left her to rest, but Bumblebee stayed behind to keep an eye on her, and make sure that she was recovering okay.
"You did good, Reese. I'm proud of you," Bumblebee's holoform brushed Reese's bangs out of her face, now that she was back in her human form.
"Thanks for helping me out back there, with Silas. I don't know that I would have made the right decision if you hadn't stepped in."
"Any time. That's what big brothers are for, right?"
"Right," Reese smiled ever so slightly, resting her eyes and just appreciating Bumblebee's company.
"Well, you don't need to worry about Silas anymore. I don't think anyone could have survived having the ceiling, and a giant robot, land on top of them."
"You know… despite Silas dying in the end, I don't really feel much resolution for everything. I mean, you would think, after finding out who your parents' murderer was, after all these years, that I would finally feel some closure, but I don't. I feel even more sad now than I did before."
"It might just take time for you to heal. Those wounds have been closed for a long time, and this just reopened them all. It makes sense that you would feel that way."
"I don't think I'm ready to deal with that loss again. I have spent years trying to get over it and move on, but somehow, it just keeps resurfacing."
"Well, you don't have to deal with it alone. This time, you have all of us to stand by your side and give you strength."
"Thank you…"
"You're very welcome. Now, try and get some rest. Tomorrow will be a new day, and we will take things one day at a time."
(1) This is reference to the episode "Crossfire". I didn't know how to incorporate that episode into the fic, seeing as it's almost entirely from the decepticons' perspective, but yea, I wanted to at least make a nod to it.
Thank you so much for reading! I hope you enjoyed it. I know this chapter was a little dark... but I have been going through a lot with my physical health lately, and haven't been in the best mental place. Reese's mental health is often a direct representation of my own, so yea... I may have made her suffer a little more than I had originally intended, but oh well. I hope you enjoyed the chapter nonetheless. Please review and let me know what you thought.
Thank you again, and God Bless - Lucy