Hey guys! I hope your Thanksgiving was great! I know I'm still full.... ugh... Anywho, here's the next update to the Soul Recon series! Don't forget to check back to my profile now and then, I update that in between updating stories, and to check the original Project Seven story now and then for a look at the overhaul that I'm doing to it. I finished the third chapter and I'm working on the fourth. I've started adding "REVISED" to the top of the chapters but I didn't add that onto the first and second, so that's how you know that I've finished with the chappies. And if you haven't done so yet, make sure to check out the Halloween special. I've had quite a few hits on that so far, yay!
GrimlockX4 - Thank you very much!
AccessBlade - Sounds like an excellent story! :D
FORD B - And as always, here's the next addition!
Disclaimer: I don't own Transformers, I own Cat, Rotten and any other non copyrighted-by-a-giant-corp-that-could-sue-my-ass....yeah
---
Cat was lying down, watching the sunset with her arms propping her head up. It was late in January on one of the coldest nights that Nevada had weathered in a while. The wind was chilly by the side of Lake Meade, and it was getting late. Cat sat up and yawned. She smiled as she remembered the talk she had with the guys after the whole Christmas incident.
--
Flashback
"I'm not going to pretend that I didn't disobey you, Optimus. But I'm also not going to pretend that I'm terribly satisfied that I'm being kept here," Cat griped as she crossed her arms. She was sitting across from Optimus, Wheeljack, Prowl and Ratchet.
"Exactly what do you propose, then?" Prowl asked.
Cat sighed and thought for a moment, looking down at the table top that she was sitting on. She thought quietly for a moment before returning her gaze to her four friends.
"I want this whole overprotective thing to stop. You keep telling me that I'm part of your group here. Well, why don't I get the same freedom as everyone else?" Cat asked.
"We've been over this, Cat. You may be under the watch of the group known as S-" Optimus started.
"So? Each and every one of you might be under the watch of the Decepticons. So what's the difference between me going out and facing some humans who are after me, and you guys going out alone and facing the chance of running into Barricade?" Cat asked, "Shouldn't all of you be under lock and key to keep you "safe"?"
The four Autobots thought quietly to themselves as well. Cat had made a very interesting point.
"So the next time Ironhide goes to visit Lennox, are you going to chastise him for being careless by being alone?" Cat glared at the four of them. It was obvious that she wasn't happy.
"I understand what you're telling us, Cat," Optimus grouched.
"Then stop treating me as if I'm an invalid. I'll continue my training with you guys, like we started out with. But I get to be alone when I want to be, and I get to do things without worrying about having the military coming to find me!" Cat continued her glare.
"So what if-" Ratchet began, but Cat already knew what he was going to ask and decided to cut him short.
"Look," she put her hand up in front of her to stop his question, "What happens, happens. If Sector eleven wants me, then they can come and try to catch me themselves. I don't need a security detail to protect me from them. I'm not a little kid anymore, I'm all grown up and stronger than I was. I can take care of a few humans, but if I come into contact with a Decepticon, you'll be the first ones to know," she pointed to her right arm's panel where the secret panel hid the alert button.
The four Autobots looked to each other and nodded their heads slowly. They all looked back to the woman.
"All right," Optimus agreed, "We'll do it your way."
"However," Ratchet spoke, "It will be the same as any other Autobot here. If I find that you're out of condition to be involved in anything besides being bedridden to my medical bay, you'll be confined from venturing outside."
Cat smirked, "Like that'll happen... Deal."
End Flashback
--
"Better get back to the Dam before I get a call..." she walked over to her bike and unlocked the secondary seat, taking the helmet from it's hook and setting it down on the main seat while she locked the secondary back into place. That's when she heard it.
"HELP!" A child's voice could be heard. There were splashing sounds, as well as the sounds of a child coughing up water, "HELP!" the small voice screamed in a high pitched urgency.
Cat turned towards the voice and ran as fast as she could. She quickly came upon a scene of several children, probably no older than eight or nine, standing by the lakeside. They looked like a small pack of scared rabbits as they huddled together and watched out towards the lake, where Cat looked out to see a little girl struggling to stay above the ice cold water. She was out at least thirty feet or so, where the water was too high for her to even keep her feet touching the bottom. Cat started to run towards the group as she saw the child's eyes widen, being taken under the water's surface. She stopped at the water's edge and threw off her rider's jacket and steel toed shoes as she jumped in. The water was painfully cold, but she swam out to where her left eye was telling her that the fading bio-signal was. Her time was already beginning to run out as she ducked under the water.
Even though her left eye could see where the signal was coming from, it malfunctioned in the freeze, causing Cat to only be pointed in the right direction. The water was murky and as Cat dove deeper, it became even colder. She could feel thin slips of ice brush against her face as she paddled down further. The breath that Cat was holding began to falter, and her lungs began to burn with the need for a deep inhale of air. She was about to turn back to the surface to catch another breath, when she saw a hand. She dove just a few extra feet down and saw the unconscious form of a blond headed girl. Cat reached under the girl and pulled her tightly against her chest as she kicked her way back up to the surface. She splashed above the water, taking a breath, making her lungs fill with air again.
She quickly swam to the edge of the lake and laid the child out. The other children gathered around the small girl while Cat coughed to catch her own breath. She looked over to see no movement coming from the child at all, the others looking to Cat for help.
"Aw geez..." Cat pushed the other children out of the way as she looked over the pale little girl.
The woman put her ear to the girl's chest. Her sensitive hearing could hear the swishes of water in the child's lungs. She sat back up and placed her hands over the little girl's belly and gave a hard shove.
The girl's eyes shot open as her head quickly went to the side, water being vomited up. Cat sighed in relief as the children cried and hugged each other, including the little girl. Cat stood up and shivered as a harsh, cold wind hit her; water dripping down her locks of blackened hair. She looked down to the children, who were smiling up at her, rambles of 'thank you's' made Cat scoff.
"Where's your parents?" Cat growled, sitting to put her shoes on.
The oldest boy stepped forward and pointed across the lake, "We're all on the camp grounds on the other side of the lake."
"Camping? In January?" Cat raised an eyebrow.
"I don't think mommy and daddy were expecting it to be this cold. They said it was supposed to be warmer than where we're from," the boy shrugged.
"Why aren't you over there, then?" she asked.
"We were riding our bikes around the lake. We told her to stay at camp because she was too small, but she rode her bike out and dropped her doll into the water. Next thing I know, we see her splashing around in the lake," he explained.
Cat looked to the little girl, who was also shivering. She stood up and grabbed her rider's jacket, putting it around the small child and picking her up into her arms.
"Mommy's gonna be mad..." the little girl's blue eyes welled up with tears.
Cat shook her head, "Not my problem, kid... Come on, I'll take you back..."
--
Cat was back on the road, but even her jacket was soaked, so the brazen winds were hitting Cat worse than when she rode without a jacket to Sam's house on Christmas Eve. Arriving to the Dam's garage, Cat could barely park the bike as she shivered violently. She didn't even bother locking the helmet to the bike, she just dropped it and walked quickly up the floors to her apartment. She grabbed her keys out of her pocket and dropped them.
"Dammit..." Cat mumbled as she bent over to grab the keys.
"Hello, Catherine," Cat jumped at Wheeljack's voice.
"Oh, h-hey J-Jack..." Cat replied with a greeting.
The scientist was merely walking by, but stopped, noticing that Cat was having a hard time getting the key into her apartment door.
"Something the matter with the lock on your door?" he asked.
"N-n-no... No problem..." her hands shook.
Wheeljack, then, seemed to noticed a small trail of water droplets from around Cat, as well as the fact that her pants and hair were soaked, "Catherine, do you realize that you're completely covered in liquids?" he asked.
"Yeah, I know... I was f-forced to go for a little s-swim while I was out," Cat was still trying to work the lock.
Wheeljack cocked his cranial unit at the girl, "The weather, right now, is not the best weather for a human to 'go for a swim' as you said. Humans who do that could end up with a serious virus of-"
The door finally opened, "I don't get sick, Jack," Cat muttered as she stepped into her apartment and shut the door.
Before Wheeljack stepped away, he heard a sneeze through the apartment door.
The Autobot scientist was about to knock on the garage door to see if everything was all right when he received an internal communications.
-Wheeljack, please report to the meeting room. Optimus is calling an emergency meeting- it was Prowl.
-I'm on my way, Prowl- The scientist nodded, completely forgetting about his little run-in with Cat, and heading towards the meeting room.
--
Cat closed the door behind her, but as she did, she felt a strange sensation in her nasal cavity. Her eyes began to water, somewhat, and her head shot forward with a sudden "explosion".
She sneezed.
"Oh great..." she threw off her jacket and straight into the bathroom, passing Rotten, who was dazed from just waking up from an upsidedown snooze on the couch.
Cat shut the bathroom door behind her and headed straight for the shower. She pulled the knob all the way over on the hot setting and practically threw herself into the shower, letting the shower head pour scorching hot water on her covered body. She was still wearing clothing as she settled into a sitting position on the shower room floor. She pulled her legs up to her chest and put locked her arms around her legs.
"I can't get sick... I can't get sick... I can't get sick..." Cat repeated to herself.
Rotten sat outside the door of the bathroom, whimpering and scratching lightly to get Cat's attention, but to no avail.
--
"Is everyone here?" Optimus asked.
"Yes sir. Every Autobot in the facility is present," Prowl replied.
"Good. My friends, I'm afraid that we have a problem. Prowl has intercepted an interstellar transmission from a group of Decepticons," the leader explained, "Prowl, will you please playback the recording?"
The security mech nodded and stepped up to the table in which everyone had been seated at, "I'm afraid that much of the recording is still scrambled, but I was able to decode the most important portions of the message."
-Starscream - this is -- Come in Star--
-This is Starscream, go ahead-
-This is -- Starscream... I and a few others have -- your transmission. Is what you - true? Has Megatron fallen?-
-I'm afraid so. I am still -- to gather Decepticons who wish to aid in - revenge-
- Is this ----- Autobots?-
- There are humans who are going to pay fo- they've -- to the Allspark. As well as Mega--
-Wha- frag is a -uman?-
- Pitiful excuses for existing creatures. The- as low as- turbo rat!-
-So we -et to destroy an entire planet along -- the Autobots?-
-Yes --... We take out every single -ne of them...-
The message stopped and Prowl explained, "That's as much of the message as I could retrieve."
"How long until any Decepticons are within Earth's atmosphere?" Optimus asked.
"As of now, I haven't been able to completely analyze all of the calculations. However, I believe we're looking in terms of several months before any Decepticon is even within several light years of this galaxy," Prowl answered.
"I suppose that gives us some time to prepare..." Ironhide sighed.
"I doubt that we'll ever really be prepared for an attack on Earth, Ironhide, "Optimus replied, "There are humans on every mass of land, and there are only ten of us. We're going to need to coordinate with with American government to ensure that they understand the situation. But even then, they're not exactly going to have the means to protect every human in this country."
"Couldn't we, at least, evacuate the local cities to the Dam?" Bluestreak asked.
"There isn't enough room. Besides, I would think that the Decepticons would want to strike here, and Tranquility first. Bringing humans here would probably be the cause of their deaths," Ratchet replied.
"Are there any signs of any other Autobots that may have received Optimus' transmission?" Wheeljack asked.
"No... I haven't even picked up a single trace of any other Autobot. I'm afraid the closest Cybertronian is a Decepticon," Prowl replied.
There was a slight pause in the meeting.
"Wait," Sideswipe spoke up, "Doesn't Cat have some sort of ability to perform that Alchemy that you guys have talked about? She could build us more weapons and artillary!"
"Cat has not been able to use Alchemy since her fusion with five, Sideswipe," Ratchet replied, "It was a miracle that she could even walk afterwards."
"Besides," Jazz added, "I don't think Cat really has any interest to go back to learning any o' that stuff. She's pretty much decided to steer clear o' anything that had to do with her upbringing."
"But if we tell her that it's to protect everyone against the Decepticons, wouldn't she-" Sunstreaker began.
"No one is going to force her into doing anything," Optimus interrupted, "If Cat had carried on the abilities that her sister had, then we would be having a different conversation. But we've evaluated her battling abilities to be less than what we had hoped they would be. If the Decepticons attack, we'll need to put Cat under the protection of Bumblebee, along with Mikaela and the Witwicky family."
Ironhide smirked, "Good luck with that."
"Good luck with what?" Wheeljack asked.
"That kid's gonna fight about it. She's gonna insist on fighting with us," the gray and black mech laughed.
"Well we're just going to need to try and interest her otherwise," Optimus sighed, "That's all for now, men. Thank you for attending the meeting."
As everyone left the meeting room, Wheeljack caught up with the CMO.
"Ratchet, I wonder if I might have a word with you?" the scientist asked.
"Of course, Jack. What can I do for you?" Ratchet was grouchy, but Wheeljack felt as if it was purely because of the news that had just been announced.
"I ran into Catherine on her way in from her trip outside just before the meeting, and she told me something that didn't seem to coinside with other humans," he explained as they walked through the med bay and into Ratchet's office.
The medic replied simply, "Well, Cat isn't a normal human, persay. Her body works on a different level than most."
"Ah, I see... Then perhaps what she said makes more sense than I had realized," Jack thought aloud.
"What, exactly, did she say?" Ratchet asked.
"Well, when I saw her, she was covered in water. What I analyzed to be nothing more than retension pond, or lake water. She said that she was "forced to take a swim" while she was out, and it looked as though she had ridden her motorcycle back in such a condition," this seemed to gain Ratchet's full attention, "When I advised her that humans could contract a virus doing such things, she informed me that she cannot become ill."
A frown appeard on the medic's face, "How did she appear to you, besides being soaked?"
"She was having difficulty keeping a grasp on her keys due to a rather bad shake in her hands. I assumed that she-" Wheeljack was cut off by the medic suddenly storming out of the med bay, "Ratchet?"
"Come with me, Jack!" Ratchet yelled behind him.
-Optimus, this is Ratchet-
-I'm here, Ratchet. What can I do for you?-
-We have a new problem-
-(grumble) Can it wait? I'm just about to get in touch with our contacts with the American government-
-No, it can't wait. I need you to meet me at Cat's apartment as quickly as possible-
-...What's the matter, Ratchet?-
-I'll explain when I can get a better look at the situation-
-I'll be there in just a moment-
"Is it true what she said, Ratchet? Can Catherine really not become ill?" Wheeljack asked as he caught up with the medic.
"We don't know. When Cat was created, she was supposed to have, what the humans call, an evolving immune system. But before Mission City she obtained a virus and the effects were irreversable. Her sister Five, however, had a better immune system and was unaffected by any viruses. I haven't a clue as to whether or not Cat's immune system can handle even the most harmless viruses," Ratchet explained, "There's just no way to know."
As they rounded the corner on Cat's floor, the two noticed that Optimus was already standing in front of the apartment, his arms crossed in waiting.
"What's this about, Ratchet?" the leader asked.
"Wheeljack has just informed me that Cat was swimming outside, possibly in a lake or pond, and was acting out of character for her. The temperatures outdoors are far below the recommended levels for a human to be swimming, so I needed you to help me confirm that she may be in danger of an illness," Ratchet informed his superior.
Optimus nodded, "All right. Let's look into this then."
Wheeljack turned and knocked on the garage door to Cat's apartment, and they all waited.
--
"It's nothing!" Cat yelled, sitting down on the couch, facing her friends as she dripped with the warm water from the shower. She was wearing her evening robe and had a towel hanging from around her neck.
"If it's nothing, then why don't you just tell us what happened?" Optimus asked.
Cat sighed, "I just fell in the water," girl growled.
Optimus looked to the medical officer and asked, "Well, Ratchet? What do your sensors tell you?"
"She looks all right, for now. Though she has some minor burns on her forearm," Ratchet raised an eye ridge.
"Yeah... I was upset and I turned the knob on the shower too hot and when I went to feel the water I was burned a little. They'll heal in a few hours anyway, so I didn't bother coming to you," she replied.
"...You turned on the hot water in fear of contracting a virus, didn't you?" Ratchet asked.
"Hey," Cat looked to them, a softened look on her face, "You're not the only ones to remember what happened that day... I worry, sometimes, about whether or not it could happen to me again..."
The medical officer vented a sigh and said, "I'm impressed that you seemed to have taken care of the burns by applying an ointment, so I won't drag you to the medical bay... All right. You don't show any signs of illness. If anything happens be sure to-" Ratchet started.
"Let you know. Got it," Cat rolled her eyes.
The three Autobots left the apartment, leaving Cat to pull a blanket over herself on the couch and turn the television on. She wrapped herself in the comfort of the thick fleece, Rotten jumping up to snuggle with her as he continued a soft whimper. Cat smiled and reached around the dog, scratching his back.
"Don't let them scare you, boy... By tomorrow, this whole thing will blow over," it wasn't so much that she was trying to comfort her friend, so much as it was that she was trying to comfort herself, "I got over it in one night on Christmas, so this should be a breeze."
She sneezed.
"Shit..."
---
"Do we have her on a schedule for tomorrow?" Ratchet asked.
"I believe she is scheduled for perimeter checks with Jazz in the morning," Optimus replied.
"Good. I'll inform him of the situation," the medic decided.
"Let's hope that there is no situation," Optimus sighed.
"I'm a medic, Optimus. I don't work off of hope, I work off of experience," Ratchet said as he turned a different direction and headed towards the med bay.
--
It was already early in the morning. The air around the Dam was warmer than it had been recently, which was perfect weather for perimeter checks.
Jazz had gotten up from recharge and was in the lounge, waiting to meet with Cat as they normally did. Checking the time, it looked as though it was well past the time that she should have been there. However, it wasn't the first time that Cat would have ever been late, so he gave her the benefit of the doubt and continued to wait.
"Hey Jazz," Bluestreak walked in, "Aren't you late for perimeter check? Prowl's not going to be happy if he knows you haven't left yet."
"Mornin' Blue. Just waitin' for Cat to get here. She can be late every now and then, so I thought I'd give 'er a few minutes to catch up," Jazz replied.
"How late is she?" Blue asked.
"Not long. This is usually about the time she gets here still half asleep," the lieutenant smirked, "She doesn't always wake up to her alarm clock," It was a well known fact that even a sonic boom would have trouble waking Cat from a deep slumber.
Just as Jazz spoke, the familiar form of Rotten jetted through the doors of the lounge, skidding to a stop just in front of the two mechs.
"How'd you get out, boy?" Bluestreak wondered.
Jazz bent down to the panicked Rottweiler and ran a clawed hand down the animal's back as Rotten looked up to the mech, whimpering and crying loudly.
"Somethin' ain't right. How'd he get out?" Jazz thought aloud, "He's never escaped from Cat's apartment before..."
Rotten continued to cry as if he were being beaten, causing even more concern for the two.
Bluestreak bent down to the dog as well, "I usually take care of him when Cat's not here, and I've never heard him do this before."
Rotten, then, took off towards the doors again, looking back towards the two Autobots with an expectant look.
"C'mon Blue! I think he's tryin' to tell us somethin'!" Jazz and Bluestreak took off, following Rotten through the hallways to Cat's apartment, where the garage door was open.
The two continued to follow Rotten into the apartment, looking around for signs of Cat. Rotten headed back towards the rear of the apartment, disappearing out of sight.
"You don't think she left, and forgot to close the door do you?" Bluestreak asked.
"No way. Cat doesn't forget to lock her place up, especially just leavin' a door open with Rotten around," Jazz shook his head, continuing to search around the living and kitchen area of the apartment.
"Cat?" Jazz yelled, "You here?"
After confirming that she wasn't in the front of the apartment, Jazz and Bluestreak's hologram's appeared to scour the back bedroom and bathroom areas. Bluestreak started with the closest rooms while Jazz headed straight back to Cat's main bedroom. The lieutenant knocked on the door, knowing how the girl felt about having people just bumrush into her private quarters. When he received no answer, he gently opened the door, peeking in and looking around.
"Cat?" Jazz asked.
A quiet moan directed the human version of Jazz to the other side of the king-sized bed. He noticed that the comforter and sheets seemed to have been ripped from the bed and were hanging on the other side. He made a quick dash over and saw all of the sheets balled up on the floor near a small heating register on the floor.
"Hey girl, what ya doin' on the floor?" he walked over the knelt down, pulling the sheets from the large mass. He peeled back the final sheet and was instantly shocked by what was in front of him.
Cat's face was pale. She was huddled on the floor in a fetal position, shivering violently. Her eyes were closed, and her skin felt freezing cold to the touch as he reached up to her face and felt her cheek.
"Blue! She's in here!" Jazz yelled as he gathered his human friend into his hologram arms and laid her out on the bed, "Cat, can ya hear me?" he asked gently tapping the sides of her face to get a response, "Come on, wake up!" There was no response besides the intense shivering. He picked up her left arm and examined it, seeing that the burns that Ratchet had reported to him about had turned from minor burns to infected burns.
Bluestreak walked into the doorway and stopped at the scene in front of him, "What happened?"
"We have to get 'er to Ratchet, now!" Jazz replied, wrapping the girl in the comforter and picking her back up, heading out of the room and down the hallway to the living area where his bipedal form was waiting.
--
Chapter Teaser!
"Ratchet, you guys need to take a look at this," Peterson directed them towards a small monitor which he had been watching the latest news on.
"We're here at the side of a camp grounds in the cold weather of Nevada's Lake Meade, where yesterday some, unknown, woman gave a small child another chance at life," A field reporter smiled a large, toothy grin as she explained.
The screen flipped over to a little girl, probably no older than six. She was smiling and holding her mother's hand. "I fell in the water and, um... I almost drowned."
"Did you see the woman who saved you?"
"Yeah... She had brown hair and a yellow eye."
"Did.. Did you say a yellow eye?"
"Yeah, and one of her arms was metal," The girl held up one of her arms and touched it with the opposite hand, pointing to it.
The field reporter seemed confused, as if she didn't really believe what the child was saying , "Did it look like a costume, maybe?"
"No," the child shook her head.
The image flipped over to that of a young boy , "She must have heard my sister screaming because she came out of nowhere and jumped into the water. When she came out my sister wasn't moving or breathing so she did something and brought her back... I thought I lost my little sister..."
"And you're sure you saw her?"
"Yeah... I wasn't sure if it was a dream or something but... She saved her, so that's all that matters."
The image flipped to the parents of the two children.
"My boy, here, said that she zipped my daughter up in a jacket and dropped them off just outside of the camp grounds. I wish I could have met her, I mean, she did something that she didn't have to do... We almost lost a valuable member of the family and we would have never known until it was too late..." The father was nearly in tears.
"What would you say if you could meet this strange woman?" The anchor asked the mother.
"I'd say.... Thank you so much..." She said, her voice trembling and tears falling.
Peterson looked back to Optimus and Ratchet, "Something seem familiar about this to you?"
The two Autobots turned to the unconscious girl on the table. The nurses and medical assistants were throwing heated blankets over her, and propping her head up on a pillow. She was still shivering and was now even coughing.
"Ratchet..." Optimus started.
"I'll do everything within my powers to keep her from dying. You have my word..." The medic said firmly.