Author's Notes: Here come our heroes after a job well done! But oh boy, the military do like to spoil the vibes, don't they? Our Rescue Bots have to sidestep the questions from around the world without saying anything wrong! Good luck guys! But I mean… At least the fire in the Nuclear Power Station is out, and nothing else bad is still in that smoldering building they may have missed…
As always, drop a comment to share what you think, and of course enjoy!
Part 6
Stick to the Script!
Wedge
Heatwave and his team burst out of the powerplant's front entrance, having secured the building, put out the last of the fire and making a true heroes exit.
Over the celebratory roar of the mob, Hoist sent out a team wide ping as the only possible way of meaningful communication. /Is it ok that I'm this nervous? I really don't want to faint in front of everyone./ He admitted with a whimper. The addition was assuring to Wedge in a selfish sort of way. At least he wasn't the only one anxious.
/You guys just need to learn how to work a big crowd!/ Hotshot emphasized his point, thankfully after all his load of kids were out of his seats. He punched his ignition before Heatwave or Chief Burns could stop him. The flashy maneuver sent his backside into a showboating spin before he transformed back into bot mode. He placated his new shocked and amazed fans with a playful wave. He also pretended not to notice the death glares aimed his way thanks to the stunt. They were coming from all his professors, the Chief, and the line of military personnel.
/You're right. We really just can't touch your level of smooth, lover boy./ Wedge teased.
Hotshot's whole chassis tensed. He had probably hoped they had forgotten the whole 'crush' thing. Nope. Wedge never intended to let him forget. The mileage he intended to get out of this juicy piece of info would be endlessly amusing, he just knew it.
/Recruits./ The amount of vitriol Heatwave was able to transmit over Commlink alone and without making optic contact was legitimately impressive. /Release the rest of the children to the Burns, transform, then assemble quietly behind us. We will be Bridging back to base./
It felt like rust had taken up residence in Wedge's Spark Chamber. And he was just starting to get a contact high from the excitement of the crowd. But he didn't protest their orders. He limped to the Professors, who had long ago mastered the art of standing still as stone. In fact, if all the world hadn't just witnessed them run out of the smoking building, they could have argued the Nuclear Power Station had commissioned for four new robot sculptures to decorate their front lawn.
Whirl twitched with excess anxiety by his side, much like the others did. They all broke the tension they stewed in by trying in vain to brush the ash and debris from themselves. "Are we in trouble?" Whirl whispered to Heatwave's back when she appeared unable to hold back her worry any longer.
"No." He promised, still not moving an inch, not even to look at her. "You all preformed admirably. But it's best if we get out as fast as possible."
"We'll celebrate back at the Academy." Blades promised, one half of his mouth plates edging up in a smile. "After hunting down Cons, and now stopping a nuclear meltdown, I think we have earned it."
That was enough to satisfy Whirl, Hotshot, and Hoist. Her smile returned, while Hoist's shoulders slumped in relief. Hotshot even allowed himself to lean a bit more casually in their stiff line. Wedge risked a weary glance to Medix. The young medic wore a pursed expression, unchanged by their professor's reassurance. The rush of a successful mission had worn off, and he had grown used to the cheers of the crowd. Wedge was starting to feel what he assumed his professors had been suppressing the whole time. Fear.
Massive Cybertronians as they were, they were nine Bots surrounded by literally thousands, maybe millions of humans. Every involuntary optic twitch was being recorded, interpreted as either friendly, or hostile. And that was just the currently cheering citizens who may elect to turn on them for little to no good reason.
Wedge was now hyper focused on the military trucks that had arrived in droves while they were inside saving lives and stomping out the fire. Each was armed with machine guns and flanked with highly trained personnel. There were two tanks with the US flag painted on the sides parked in the mud poised just behind them. His optics shuttered, zooming in on the rooftops. Celebrating and curious humans galore. But there were some that were stoic, just barely out of sight. Those humans were watching Wedge and each one of his friends and Professors through the eye of a gun scope.
For the first time since he had arrived on Earth, Wedge felt the stinging reality for what it was. He was an alien on a hostile world.
'Don't move.' He ordered himself. Of course, his chassis wanted to protest the moment that thought crossed his processor. The pistons in his healing ped wanted to stretch out. His heel struts ached and demanded to start walking to get the oils pumping. Now he was just as urgent as his professors. Why hadn't they Bridged away yet?
/What exactly are we waiting for?/ Medix commd over their shared line. Wedge didn't risk moving his helm, so he only twitched his optics to look at his teammate. A similar horror was spread across his features. He had deduced the same thing Wedge had. Pits, Medix probably figured it out sooner then Wedge did. So, this was why Professor Heatwave didn't want them to be a part of all this when the secret first came out? Their mentors knew exactly how dangerous this could get going in. Figuring this all out, Wedge felt like he was late to the party. A really terrible party, where they shoot you in the faceplates with blaster fire instead of confetti.
/We are waiting for military instruction./ Chase informed him promptly. /As it was agreed in our briefing. We cannot activate our technology in city centers without authorization. A small inconvenience, but a necessary one to remain agreeable./
Wedge's whole chassis tensed when Hotshot scoffed out loud. And then he spoke out loud too. "It's our tech! Why does the fuzz get a vote when we use it?" He laughed, still boisterous and blissfully oblivious to what was going on.
"Hotshot, shut up." Wedge hissed before Heatwave could say the same thing in a more professional, teacherly way.
Hotshot startled at the insult. Then he fixed Wedge with a glare. "What crawled up your tail pipe and died?"
Wedge didn't dare say this openly, or to anyone but Hotshot. He didn't want to scare Hoist and Whirl. /Hotshot. The closest building, floor 30 on the left. When you look, don't make it obvious./
Hotshot doing anything inconspicuous was basically impossible. Still scowling, he looked directly where Wedge had directed. Wedge watched in real time as realization hit his friend. It took longer than he wanted it to, but it did register when Hotshot spotted the military sniper, and recognized them for what they were, and who they were aiming for. The one he was focused on was aimed at Hotshot's own Spark Chamber.
Almost on instinct, Hotshot crossed his servos over his Spark Chamber in a snap second attempt at self-preservation. Then he dropped them back to his sides stiffly after determining that looked far to suspicious.
"What's wrong?" Hoist asked. Innocent, as Hotshot had been moments before.
"Nothing." Wedge said just as Hotshot did. Wedge caught Hotshot making the same paranoid mistakes he did. He scanned the buildings for the other snipers. And he found them. One gunman for each bot. Each armed with large, specialized weaponry no doubt created to pack a punch against their kind. The guns were maybe even Cybertronian in nature. Would a shot be fatal on impact, or would it just hurt like the Pits? Wedge didn't want to test the military's patience and find out.
/It will be ok./ Boulder commd to them gently. Great. So their panic was clear enough to see. /You're all about to go. We'll be right behind you./
Wedge had never been so relieved. But then the truth of what their gentle, engineering/gardening teacher said caught up to him. Their professors weren't coming with them? They were sending the Recruits through first to assure their safety. He wanted them all to go!
A small form trudged towards their stiff lineup. Wedge hoped it was the Chief. He could help them escape. But the Chief didn't wear a black suit. This was military. He was terrified all over again. Where were the Burns? Who was this?
"Agent White. Good to see you again." Heatwave greeted the military woman with cold professionalism.
Agent White stopped a few paces away. Her dismal expression was in direct contradiction to the surrounding crowd's enthusiasm. "Likewise. Good work averting an incident." She said, her voice similarly devoid of actual warmth.
Heatwave gave her an assuring nod. "No need for thanks. It's our job. We await permission to return to base."
The woman didn't instantly respond with the go ahead, or a nod, or anything that would allow them to make a hasty retreat to the Academy. Wedge knew humans couldn't really pick up on Cybertronian electrical fields or emotional auras. But that didn't stop him from trying it now. He was beaming his thoughts as hard as he could at her regardless, silently pleading with her to let them go.
"Actually, You and your team are required to remain here for preapproved questions to the public." She said, much to Wedge's internal horror. Agent White didn't seem thrilled with the idea either. "The higher ups have deemed this an occasion for such an event, as the public see you in such a positive light, currently."
And of course, that was subject to change, just going by how she phrased that sentence. But their professors didn't protest. Heatwave only nodded along. "We would be honored. Allow us to send our younger recruits back to base for maintenance. My more experienced team will handle the questions." Outside he was cool as always, but inside, Wedge could tell Heatwave was trying everything he could to get them out of the environment.
The Agent's frown only deepened. "My orders are to retain all nine of you here. Sorry about the inconvenience."
Heatwave hesitated before having to play along. "None at all." With slow, almost mechanical movements, he faced Wedge and the others behind him. "Alright Recruits. Remain in formation…" and he started after Agent White.
Wedge wasn't sure what sudden Spark failure felt like, but he was pretty sure it was happening to him now. The last thing he wanted was to stand even closer to the greedy cameras. Paint on a fake smile as he died inside, praying to Primus and Pits, maybe even any human Gods if they were up for listening. All the while his professors would maneuver through a minefield of questions. Could they go back to hunting down crazed Decepticons? He missed that.
He was a little jealous of Whirl's genuine ignorance of the danger they were all in. She was giddy as they basically trudged to their doom. She and Hoist were the only ones with a pep in their step. "We finally get to talk to everyone! How great is this?!" She squealed in pure delight. She had clasped her hand in Hotshot's and swung them together merrily back and forth. Hotshot didn't pull away, but he didn't acknowledge her excitement either. Undeterred, she carried on. "Now we can straighten this whole 'alien invasion' thing out and set everyone's minds at ease!"
Wedge wasn't surprised at all when the comm came through from Heatwave. /Those asking questions will have a list of preapproved topics. I doubt we'll get into anything to world shaking… But just in case, We're going to leave the questions to me, Boulder, Blades, and Chase, right Recruits?/
Wedge was perfectly fine with that. Even if he hadn't noticed the snipers or tanks or mortal danger, he wouldn't want to talk in front of the whole planet anyway. Not to mention, he hadn't done much more then glance at said 'preapproved' government questions they had been sent a few days back. Hotshot was right. It looked boring. That was up to the Professors.
Whirl let out a long drawn-out hum over the commlink. /But, what if they call on one of us, could we talk then?/
/I guess it would be rude not to./ Boulder offered with a shrug.
Whirl brightened again before her commlink fell silent. glancing back, Wedge saw her optics were twitchy and focused. He knew she was in her own mind, probably practicing a grand speech in front of her imaginary crowd.
He had to douse the sudden spark of rage that threatened to overtake him as he stopped behind his professors along the sidewalk. How dare someone aim any type of weapon at his friends, let alone Whirl. A being so incapable of harming anything even to save her own self it was alarming. This was the same Whirl who, while in vehicle mode, accidently hit a deer. It wasn't even her fault. The animal jumped right in front of her. But she still rushed it to the Griffin Rock Vet instead of going to the Island wide scavenger hunt she and Hotshot planned months in advance. Then she cried every day for a week until it was well enough to be released. And she still has a picture of him (Mr. Antlers) in a decorated frame in her room at the Academy. Some military nobodies wanted to hurt that beautiful Spark of a bot.
But Wedge had to stuff down all that rage.
Agent White had directed them to stand right behind the Burns family. It was good to see familiar faces. Wedge was worried the Burns's had been gagged and thrown into a military truck by now. Instead, Chief Burns was already talking to the press by the time they had walked up. Cool and confident as always.
But the rabid press went ballistic as the bots approached, voices raising in a frenzy and cameras flashing. Only a select few had been allowed through the concrete barriers by the armed military personnel standing by. That privilege was always subject to change, so beyond their excitement, the media behaved themselves.
The crowd behind the barriers, however, was held to no such standard. They carried on their raving. Screaming out questions or cheers Wedge couldn't differentiate any one thing. There were just so. Many. People. It was hard for Wedge to wrap his mind around. But here he was, standing in all his terrified glory for the world to see.
And as he predicted, his roll in this play was to plaster on a small, unassuming smile from his place behind Heatwave and just boil inside. Fear, anxiety, and rage. It all churned in his tanks. He focused all his energy into smiling, then not purging onto the sidewalk. The half processed Energon he had for breakfast would not look great splashed across the front pages.
So far, the Chief was still talking. Good. The longer the humans handled this the better. He distracted himself by finding other familiar faces in the nearby sea of people. On the inside of the fence, being looked over by EMT's and probably awaiting a large transport to a hospital was the school children they had saved. The ambulances were having a difficult time getting through the crowd to say the least. But in the meantime, the kids where all watching the interview just as intently as their teachers. They didn't cheer like maniacs or scream questions. They waited and listened, as if the contents of this interview would be on their final grade.
Wedge spotted Alexis, the girl sporting a similar leg cast as his own. Interestingly enough, going by her worried young face, she appeared to harbor his same concerns regarding their safety. But unlike Wedge, she didn't have a need to hide it. She eyed the military gunmen, her nose wrinkled as if she still tasted ash from the powerplant in her mouth. Perhaps she and her classmates had done the math and figured out the stakes for this whole charade too.
But there was no more time to linger on those stakes. Because Chief was almost done talking. "We've been working with the Bots for years, and their courage never ceases to amaze me." The Chief told the closest newsman with the microphone jammed in his face. "It truly has been an honor working with them, no matter where they come from. I think the whole world got to witness that here today."
By the looks of his shifting body language, the Chief was going to step aside. Probably so Heatwave could take over. It was a good, inspiring sentence to end on. But then Kade jumped in to step on his dad's words. THAT wasn't good.
"Sure, the big lugs take some getting used to. Not the prettiest view to get used to either. But as the head of my own Fire and Rescue, Kade Burns, for those who don't know, I know these big guys have what it takes. And I think they have more than earned their salt to stick around on the old spinning rock we all call home. Plus, we've had to deal with them for more than a decade and they've never stepped on anyone during that whole time." Then he gave the cameras an assuring thumbs up.
Heatwave didn't have to glare at Kade during the inevitable silence coming from the reporters. The Chief and Kade's siblings were taking care of that for him. His sister Danie used her stunned brother Graham as cover from the cameras so she could mouth the word 'WHY' to Kade.
"Thank you, Police Chief Charlie Burns." Heatwave said to finally bring an end to the painful silence. He eyed Kade's still smug smiling face. "…And Fire Chief Kade Burns. Likewise, it's been an honor working alongside your team, and learning the ways of Earth from you as well. We only regret our unveiling to humanity had to be so wrought with confusion. But if there is one thing I have learned while living on Earth, it's humanity is endlessly skilled at adapting to any challenge. That's true even if that challenge is taking a confident leap into the unknown. And we are happy to help with that step. Anything you want to know; we welcome any question."
Eloquent, leaderly, and the perfect thing to distract from whatever Kade had been trying to pull.
Wedge settled into his frozen stance. He assumed they would be here for a while. Agent White and a few others in suits and sunglasses were just out of camera frame nodding to each individual reporter who stood in line to speak next. Some questions came from off sight all together. Those were read out from a tablet by a stone-faced woman wearing mirror reflective sunglasses between the in present questions. There was some sort of order they had determined beforehand, and Wedge didn't bother trying to figure it out. All he knew was the questions were super easy. Like, ridiculously so.
There was nothing horrific like what he had dealt with while he struggled with the hydrant back when the Powerplant was still on fire. That had delt with accusations of invasions, country wide espionage, and made Wedge worry he would cause a planetary crisis.
This was nothing even close to that. They asked things like, 'Who where they?' Heatwave introduced them all by their names for them. 'What where they?' Cybertronians, from the planet Cybertron. Boulder found a polite pause during the explanation to add the exact star system. Blades's chipper attitude was the best to explain the Rescue Bots and their mission to protect, no matter the planet. None of the questions delt with the Decepticons, thank Primus. They also didn't bring up the hack across the world satellites, DOUBLY THANK PRIMUS. Heatwave had been right. These were all for sure military approved questions.
Really, If Wedge were a human, he would feel like the questions were rather condescending. Or just down right insulting to his intelligence. It was obvious what was allowed to be asked of the aliens was sanitized and well scripted. Thankfully, his professors weren't dull in their answers. And the crowd didn't seem to care either way, condescending or not. Getting any information about the massive metal creatures was a clear fascination for most.
While he was half listening, Wedge figured it out. The woman reading from the tablet was scanning through the questions of unapproved news stations that weren't given access to be on sight and general questions from the public. He deciphered this by zooming his sights in on her mirror reflective sunglasses and reading the backwards text. Because he was curious. Of course, the military woman determined which of these questions was appropriate to read out loud.
Reading those backwards words made him regret his curiosity.
10 NEWS: How long do they plan on staying on Earth? When are they leaving?
User Sandra19: They've seen inside that Powerplant. Our NUCLEAR POWER! Does no one else see a problem with this?
BBC NEWS: If they've lied about their presence here for this long, why can we trust them now?
User BobbyVirtuous : WHAT THE HELL WE HAVE A MILITARY FOR?! F****** SHOOT THEM!
FOX NEWS: Are these entities on the United States side, or not? Remember that message? The one where they hacked into our communication satellites, with no trouble at all? Are we just going to pretend that major breach of worldwide security didn't happen? But sure, let's ignore that in favor of being good 'space neighbors', I guess. But in that message these entities said they were also affiliated with China. If they are here on Earth, utilizing United States land and resources, they shouldn't be affiliated with anyone else but us.
User Tilli22: Does that little orange one behind the bigger ones have a cast on its leg?
Tokyo Broadcasting System: Please ask how the third robot to the left of the (red leader) got hurt, if that is the case. Was it in the Powerplant rescue?
Wedge stopped reading the scrolling text the moment he registered more than one question focused on him personally. He was already holding on by a thread. True, the ones about him weren't horrific, like those that came before them, but it was just a matter of time before they twisted that way. He didn't want to keep reading and see an angry human suggest they take out the weak looking one with the cast first. But his personal paranoia aside, it appeared they still had a lot of work to do winning over the human race.
It was the tablet woman's turn to read off her question, so he had to stop ignoring her. He just needed not to read the words reflected in her glasses. But a longer than normal pause had Wedge worried all over again. She was giving her screen a very off look, eyebrow arched high over her shades. She had managed to keep a straight face through all the vitriol. What could she had read to confound her now? Wedge almost didn't want to know.
"From the… Huxpress, in Maine." She finally read out loud. "'Has my thorough investigative skills helped the Rescue Bots adjust to human society?'"
Even over the noise and camera clicks, Wedge heard Chief and Heatwave's combined sigh. Wedge was just impressed Huxley Prescott had managed to get his question into the que. And who knows how many times he had spammed the same message into the system to get it to the forefront. Or more then likely, he got Doc Green to lend a hand. But she read it anyway. Not like there were many positive ones to pick from. Unless they wanted to talk about Wedge breaking his ped. Wedge certainly didn't want to.
"All the residence of Griffin Rock helped us adapt to the ways of Earth." Heatwave said and took care to keep the annoyance off his faceplates. With a more sincere glance aimed at the Chief and the rest of the Burns, he carried on. "Something our people don't have on our world, is what you all consider family. Our human team have taken great strides to share that piece of human culture with us. It's something we have embraced, fully."
Danie placed a hand over her heart, obviously touched. Even Kade smiled, playing it off with an eye roll. It was Spark warming enough to get a few audible 'aw's' from the crowd. Good. Wedge hoped that was touching enough to sway the rest of humanity to their side. Even those on the woman's tablet. He didn't have the barings to check.
A few more questions. That's all they had to survive, and then they were home free. He was sure it would be something open ended to do with the future of humans and Cybertronians. Heatwave was good with that type of thing. Maybe he'd even bring up Optimus. That would be a safe bet… Optimus was the king of human and Cybertronian friendship speeches. Maybe not though… If he brought up Optimus, he would have to explain who he was, and how he died, and he wasn't sure if they had time to explain the legacy of the Primes or Unicron the planet destroyer in the last few questions. Another time maybe.
"This is from WRAL News." The tablet woman stated. "It's directed to, Wedge."
The whole Earth felt like it suddenly tilted on its axis.
That would have been a merciful way out of this sudden nightmare. If the Earth turned over and Wedge just fell right off into gentle embrace of space. But it didn't, and he was stuck here on the ground, with a billion eyes boring into his plating, gears, and wires, plucking at his Spark like a badly tuned fiddle.
"Hu?" He wasn't even sure the noise his voice box had managed to make made any sense. All he knew for sure was the tablet lady was staring right at him. Her mirror glasses gave him a glorious view of how terrified he looked. And it wasn't just her. Every news person had shifted their cameras and microphones from Heatwave, where they belonged, and locked them onto him as if he was their new center of gravity. He preferred the sniper from before. Was that human still there, poised on the nearby roof ready to blow a hole through his chest? Could they shoot him now? Please?
Apparently, his nonsense noise was enough of an acknowledging answer because the tablet lady looked back down at her scrolling list to read aloud. "They ask, 'What is the apparatus you have securing your one leg? None of the others on your team have it and it appears to impede your movement.'" She rose her brow, much as she did after every question she asked on behalf of her invisible interviewers. But she wasn't asking Heatwave, and for the love of Primus, he needed to say something this silence was getting painful.
"Um," And already he knew he looked and sounded like an idiot! Great. Well, unless he planned on tripping and breaking his other ped in front of every human on Earth, it wasn't like this disaster could get much worse. "It's a cast… I- I broke it. My ped, I mean, my leg. We call it… a ped. I broke it in two places, during a previous mission. Not here at the power plant. It just, made things a little more complicated. As I'm sure, everyone saw. But, no big deal. It's all just part of the job."
Scrap! He shouldn't have mentioned the power plant. The other news station on the tablet wondered if he had broken his ped during the power plant rescue, hence why he answered their question too. But she hadn't asked that. The military may figure out he was reading the questions from the reflection in her glasses. How much trouble could he get in for that?
For now, he appeared to have escaped accountability because his answer appeared to appease everyone, and they were calling on one of the in-person news crew. He felt the weight of every gaze lift from him. Aside from the familiar stairs of his teachers. He caught Heatwave give him a stiff nod. Good. He hadn't messed everything up.
"I have a follow up to that previous question." Stated the next questioner. The microphone found Wedge once more. The pressure of Earth's oceans came back to settle snuggly on his shoulders. "You are robots, but you can get hurt? Do you have a bone structure?"
Wedge blinked. "Y-Yeah. Sort of, well…"
Medix leaned in, coming to Wedge's rescue. "If I could. Our biology is not akin to your own. But structurally, our framework could be considered similar. The injury in question was a dual fracture of his upper left pedal hydraulic and another less significant fracture in the heel strut brought on by blunt force trauma. It needs to remain immobile in order for his self-repair protocols to mend the fractures." He settled back in line, hesitated, then leaned forward again to add. "I'm the medic in training, by the way." Before he settled in again.
Interested murmurs floated over the news crew after Medix's explanation. Wedge didn't have time to give his teammate a thankful glance before the next follow up question followed the follow up. "When you broke your, ped, was it? Did it hurt? Does your kind feel pain as we would understand it?"
Ok, what about his dumb broken ped was so interesting? He tried to answer more coherently, after fighting past a sheepish grin. "Yeah, it hurt pretty bad when it broke. So, we definitely feel pain. I don't know if it's similar to how humans feel pain though… sorry."
He finally had the foresight to click the commlink channel open during the next pause. /Professors. WHY are they focusing on me and how can I make them stop!?/
Boulder's assumption came first. /It could be you're relatable with the cast./
/How does that make me relatable?/ Wedge asked, truly having no idea.
/You're injury makes you appear vulnerable./ Chase pointed out. /Vulnerability is less threatening./
/And you're a recruit./ Blades added. /So he looks helpless, and he's adorably short./
/It's more than that./ Heatwave huffed over Blades's contribution. /They're trying to see themselves in us so they can understand us. Boulder is right. Humans break bones and wear casts too. We both feel pain. They're fascinated by that similarity. It makes us less alien./
/How does any of this hypothetical discussion make us less Cybertronian?/ Medix wondered.
/It doesn't./ Whirl said, grinning. /But it helps make connections that bring us all closer together./ She nudged Wedge in his side. /Just roll with it!/
Easy for her to say. The world wasn't looking at her. But this was Whirl. She probably could handle the questions a million times better without having to fake anything. She was just naturally gifted when it came to making stuff up on the fly.
A small hand rose behind the news crews, and Wedge forgot everything else as the news casters bickered for the next one in line. It was Alexis. She had something to say. And more then likely it was more insightful than the preapproved cluster so far.
Well, he was rolling with it. "How about you in the back." Wedge said, just before the military woman could decide. He was sure that got him in trouble with them, but hey, if they were going to utilize his team to save cities, make them stick to their stupid scripts, and still point guns at them secretly, Wedge decided he could pick one of his own questioners.
All focus shifted where Wedge pointed at once. It was the first time one of the Bots picked someone from the crowd. When a city worth of attention landed on Alexis, she didn't shrivel, as Wedge had. Her hand came down after being called on. "Would it be ok, if I signed your cast, Wedge?" She asked, hesitated a moment before clarifying, "It's a human thing."
A hush fell over the once chaotic crowd, all eyes shifting back to him. He didn't hear his professors berating him over the Commlink, so he hadn't crossed a line so far.
He smiled, and for the first time since they started this little meet and greet, it was genuine. "Absolutely. Only if I can sign yours too."
Alexis's teacher walked with her, helping her hobble along. They had to leave her crutches in the powerplant for the sake of needed space. Wedge broke away from his place in line to kneel before the girl, ignoring the glares from the military personnel. His professors were smiling and even if they weren't, Wedge would probably take a que from Hotshot and ignore them too. This felt like the right thing to do.
Alexis produced a black sharpie from her little purse she managed to hold on to through the tragedy. Wedge held still as stone, much like their surrounding audience, as she uncorked the pen. She picked the outer brace of his cast to sign her name, dotting the 'I' with a small heart. She then quickly jotted a short message. 'Get well soon, Wedge, the best rescuer in the universe."
When she finished, Alexis smiled bright at him and held out the sharpie. He accepted the small writing utensil, very careful not to squeeze his two fingers and squash it. Then in as small as he could manage, which turned out to take up the whole front of her cast, he wrote his name in both English and Cybertronian letters. She seemed happy despite it taking up most of the square footage of her cast. He knew he didn't have enough room to make a message so he didn't even attempt it. In place of a Spark felt note, he handed the sharpie back to her and gave her a confident grin. "I'm glad I got to meet you Alexis, even under more than stressful circumstances."
He was still pretty low to the ground, but it actually startled him when she threw her arms around his neck. "Thank you for saving me Wedge. You and your friends are heroes, no matter what other rude humans may say going forward. They don't talk for the rest of us." She assured as she hugged him.
After a moment of uncertainty, he reached up to gently pat her on the back. "Thanks. We'll remember that."
She broke off their hug, allowing her teacher to support her again. It had been such a small gesture, but there was a noticeable shift in the crowd. And it was for the better. Tensions eased. He even may have heard a few 'aww's dispersed amongst the people. He certainly heard it from Whirl behind him.
He retreated into formation as Alexis and her teacher limped back to their group. Maybe it was Alexis's assurance, but he didn't pay anymore attention to the scrolling words on that tablet.
/Great work!/ Heatwave praised. /I couldn't have planned that any better./
/Sometimes spontaneity is better then anything one can script./ Chase mused, rather poetically.
Hotshot crossed his servos smugly. /Yeah. Have them try shooting us after that sappy display of human and bot friendship./
Hoist's fake smiling dropped off at once and he swung his helm over to look confounded at Hotshot. /I'm sorry, WHAT? Who wants to shoot us?/
The rumble of the powerplant thankfully distracted from Hotshot's loose lip plates. But that was about all that was good about it. Heatwave, along with everyone else in a multiblock radius turned to eye the charred building.
"But, we foamed the supports." Blades complained between them.
"Clearly not enough," Kade snorted right back under his breath. "Hope you weren't conservative with the foam this time around. It's kind of important for the roof not to collapse on this building in particular. I don't want to leave this rescue glowing green."
Heatwave turned back to the murmuring news crews. "No need to worry. Burned buildings sometimes settle, but just to make sure, we'll be double checking now."
Whirl gasped with giddy glee. Surprising no one, the commlink opened. /Does this mean me and Hotshot can take over questions?!/
Heatwave was noticeably trying to maintain his facial composure despite that mental image. "Recruits. Retrieve the foam guns and do a final scan of the interior while we remain here to finish up."
Whirl deflated with disappointment, but didn't protest the orders. She trudged in defeat to grab a foam gun from Boulder. On top of keeping Whirl and Hotshot's combined shenanigans from the spotlight, Wedge was sure this was the opportunity Heatwave was waiting for to get them away from danger. The military couldn't stop them from doing their jobs after all, and the snipers couldn't aim at them with a whole building in the way. He worried for his professors still out in the open. But Hotshot was right. The people would be horrified if the bots were hurt for no reason, right?
To further cement that point, he gave the crowd a friendly wave which earned him many cheers in return.
"You won't be the fan favorite for long." Hotshot said through a smirk as they all made their way back into the building with their foam guns. "I'll start rescuing puppies on my off time. They'll have a fan club up in my honor by the end of the week."
"Oh, you're on." Wedge agreed.
"If we could refrain from flirting for the rest of the mission, please." Medix grumbled while pushing past both of them. "The faster we keep the building from crumbling the faster we can escape back to the Academy without dealing with military backlash."
"There is absolutely no flirting coming from me!" Hotshot insisted.
"I suggest we pair off to expedite the task of finding the weak supports." Medix said while ignoring Hotshot.
"Great idea!" Whirl almost sang. "And this way, whoever Hotshot picks to pair off with is most likely the one he has a crush on!"
The speed Hotshot jumped far away from their whole group was impressive, even for him. "I have a better idea! We all just go on our own to cover even more ground faster! That way we keep the building from falling, we get to leave for the Academy before the military strings us up, and no one makes any assumptions about my relationship status!" And before any of them could respond he was bolting down one of the many hallways.
"Not a bad idea?" Hoist offered to the empty place Hotshot once occupied. "Professor Heatwave will probably appreciate not having to distract the press for longer than he needs… Whirl, why are you wearing your detective shades?"
Wedge glanced over, optic ridge raised. He instantly started to snicker. Whirl in fact, had retrieved her comically large sunglasses from subspace and put them on to accompany her suddenly very serous expression. Her gaze was focused down the hall Hotshot had escaped. "Oh, imma find out who you have a crush on, Hotshot." She whispered to herself. She shouldered her foam gun and walked off, already far gone in her detective persona.
"Where did she even get those spectacles? They are too big for a human to wear?" Medix huffed a vent.
"It was the prize for a late night trucker radio station trivia game." Hoist explained. He elaborated when he noted the truly perplexed faceplates of his teammates. He offered them both a shrug. "I only know because she commd me for the final question. I was her phone a friend option. She had the choice between the novelty sunglasses large enough to fit in the grill of a standard semi, a cash prize of 500 dollars, or a year's supply of Monster Energy. We can see which one she chose."
"Out of morbid curiosity," Wedge snickered. "What was the question she commd you for?"
"In the State of Texas, it is illegal to put what on your neighbors' cows?" Hoist said. "The answer was Graffiti."
"Primus help me." Medix vented. "If a law has been established that means it had to happen enough times to elicit a need."
"Oh man, I love this planet." Wedge hummed and got walking down towards the reactor core. "I'll take the main room to check on the system functions for Professor Boulder. Comm me if anyone needs anything, or if Detective Trucker Whirl figures out who Hotshot's true love is."
"Watch out for any graffitied cows!" Hoist called after him.
Wedge laughed out loud when he heard Medix's defeated groan. Then the dripping of the waterlogged ceilings and the creaking of the building drowned out anything else his teammates may have been saying.
He squeezed through the hallway full of rubble, scanning the ceiling, walls, and supports as he went. Nothing seemed loose. Good, less work for them.
But then he arrived at the blast doors of the reactor core. Wedge stopped in his tracks, taking in the totally rendered to shreds doors. Not an hour before he had just seen these still on their tracks. True, Medix had utilized the jaws of life to pry open the large metal doors to grant them access to the kids inside… But they hadn't destroyed them. Maybe his professors had needed to when racing in after them. He wouldn't know why, but it was the only conclusion he could come to.
From within the smoke-filled space the sound of something massive splashed into the water of the pools that lined the floor of the room before him. Thanks to the smoke, visibility was low. Wedge hurried in regardless. The ceiling must have been caving in and he needed to reinforce it. That was what he thought, until the unmistakable grumbling of Cybertronian speech froze him in his tracks. Then he saw the shadow of a large bot rise out of the water.