The robot looked down at her and she definitely didn't think about running. She turned her chair so she could stare back at it. So the cars were the robots. It made sense. She wondered how they drove themselves.
It was also impossible to process. Did that mean the car heard her entire lonely ass rant.
"Follow me," the robot said in a low tone before turning and stalking towards the hangar.
She stared at him dumbly. Follow him? She just saw a car turn into a metal being and he expected to her to follow?
She was in complete shock but when the alternative of continuing her life and not knowing what would happen and being bored and lonely hit her, she changed her tune.
She was going to figure out what the fuck was the deal with all the robots, dammit. She wanted to fucking know.
So she followed the car turned robot as fast as she could, wheeling and huffing her way across the asphalt.
She got into the entrance of the hangar and was amazed.
There were so many of them. Standing and staring directly at her.
"Whoa," she said quietly. She logically understood all the cars were robots but to see them in person was bizarre. She recognized the semi truck and the ambulance though it took her a second to place the black truck and the two ice cream trucks.
"So there's no ice cream," she said faintly to herself. A red robot snorted, flashing her what looked like a smile.
"We are Autobots from the planet Cybertron," the semi truck one said.
"I have no idea what that means," she said, slowly rolling herself into the hangar.
"Means we're aliens," the red one said.
She stared at him for a second.
"So not robots?" she questioned faintly.
"Not robots," the blue one said.
"Well shit," she said smartly, leaning back in her chair a bit.
"Are you guys why I had to sign an NDA?" she asked, surprisingly herself with that being her first question.
"Yes," the semi truck said slowly.
"Why have you been hiding if I would have found out anyway?" she asked, peering up at the semi truck. He seemed to have leader energy to her.
"We were instructed to keep it from you for as long as possible," he said gravely.
"That's fucking stupid," she said with a snort. The red one burst into wild laughter while the semi truck shifted uncomfortably.
"We did not agree with it," the ambulance said.
"Do you have names?" she asked. Calling them by their cars was going to get old.
"My name is Optimus Prime," the semi truck said, standing tall and nearly posing. Boy he was a regal one.
"I'm known as Ratchet," the ambulance said.
"This is Mudflap and Skids," the ambulance, Ratchet, said pointing to the ice cream trucks.
"This is Ironhide and Jolt," Optimus said, taking over for Ratchet and pointing at the black truck and the blue car respectively.
"Neat. I'm going to probably forget that so you'll have to remind me of your names. My name is Katie," she said, feeling far more casual than she probably should. She was dealing with giant alien robots, no Autobots, after all.
"Well Katie, do you have any questions for us?" Optimus asked, peering down at her with bright blue eyes.
She had like a million but couldn't word a single one. So she shrugged. That seemed to break up the little group and they dispersed leaving her with just Optimus and the blue one.
"Unfortunately I must head to a meeting. Jolt will keep you company," he said before fucking shrinking into a goddamn semi truck. It was wild to see.
"Whoa," she said quietly. Then she turned to look at Jolt.
"Were you the blue van?" she asked, not bothering to filter herself.
"I was," he said with a dip of his head.
"Why were you like buzzing with energy?" she asked.
He tilted his head at her before kneeling to get closer to her.
"I wasn't aware I was buzzing," he said quietly.
"Huh," she said, leaning back in her chair.
"How did you know our language?" he asked with intensity.
"What do you mean?" she asked, not sure what he was referring to.
He responded by chirping. It was the happy and nice one. She shrugged.
"Just came to me," she said lightly. She wasn't ready to tip all of her cards yet.
"Right," Jolt said, clearly unsure.
"So what do you guys do other than drive around all day?" she asked, peering up at him.
"We train and get ready for Decepticon attacks," he said flashing her what looked like a smile.
"What's a Decepticon?" she asked, rolling her chair back and forth a bit.
"The bad guys," he said bluntly.
She wasn't going to think too hard about that and just nodded.
Bad guys made it sound like there was more to it than cool cars that could change into big metal beings and she wasn't all about the politics of all that mess.
"What does training look like?" she asked quietly.
"Come on, we can go watch Ironhide," he said, gesturing at her to follow him. They were stopped right outside the hangar doors by the suit and an angry looking military guy.
"Lennox! This would have happened eventually." The suit was yelling.
"She's a civilian! She shouldn't be on a fucking military base. We kept her from military things for a reason. You didn't even know what she knew. She was in a car wreck. She didn't need the NDA!" This Lennox person was pissed. He glanced at her and some of the anger dissolved from his face, a mask slipping into place.
"Problem?" Jolt said from above her.
"None," the suit said aggressively, staring Lennox down.
"Guess I need the NDA now, huh?" she said lightly before rolling past them. She wanted to stick it to them just a little bit. She was so sick of being out of the loop, especially when the loop seemed to be something super cool. Like cars that turned into tall metal people.
Jolt chuckled as he stepped up next to her. She got him to laugh! It felt good. She smirked to herself while she rolled across the asphalt. Jolt was going much slower this time to keep pace with her, which she appreciated.
They ended up at what looked like some kind of weapons range. The black truck, Ironhide, was aiming at a massive concrete target. And then he blew it up. It was an amazing sight to see. A big cloud of smoke and debris flew off the target.
So the cars were hiding firepower. Neat.
She wondered vaguely if that's what had hit her car but considering she was still alive and not in pieces, she kind of doubted it.
"So you guys blow shit up?" she asked, watching at Ironhide decimated another target. Jolt snorted, settling down onto the ground next to her.
"In a way. We blow up Decepticon's mostly," he said quietly. They watched as a red sports car zoomed across the target range before transforming into his person self.
"Who's that?" she asked, remembering he had been there briefly but realizing he snuck away before she got his name.
"That's Swideswipe. He's a bit of a trickster so I'd watch out with him," he said vaguely. She turned to peer up at him.
"So are you the boring sane one?" He laughed, long and loud.
"Fuck no!" he said with a chuckle, leaning back.
"I'm just the sanest one for you to get stuck with that didn't have other jobs to take care of. Ironhide is probably the most boring one of us all. All he cares about is his guns," he said, pointing at the bot once again blowing shit up.
"So is Ratchet your medic?" she asked, making a deduction.
"Yes he is. Don't piss him off," Jolt said with a shudder.
"What about the two little ones?" she asked, looking around and not seeing them.
"Skids and Mudflap are young. Younger than me even. They've taken to Earth culture a little too well. We try to keep them from missions if we can help it," he said with a sigh.
"And the motorcycles?" He startled, apparently not expecting her to figure that out.
"That would be Arcee, Elita One, and Chromia," he said with a laugh, hands moving roughly in gestures she couldn't understand.
"I didn't see them at the meeting," she said with a small pout.
"They were busy. They're on a recon mission right now," he said.
She wracked her brain, knowing she was forgetting something.
"Is there a yellow one?" she asked, watching as Sideswipe got clotheslined by Ironhide for trying to stand in front of his big gun.
"That's Bumblebee. He's not around that often. He is the guardian for a human off base," Jolt said with a bored tone.
"Is guarding humans boring?" she asked, hoping she wasn't bothering him but also incredibly curious.
"Nah. His human is just kind of boring. Isn't willing to have any fun," Jolt said with a shrug.
"What does fun look like for you guys?" she asked, peeking up at his face. He was looking down at her. His face was so damn massive. They were all big but being so close to one was an entirely different thing.
"Driving really fast," he said with a soft sigh.
Damn. She would kill to drive fast. She missed it so much.
"I miss driving," she said softly.
"So you said," he said, flashing her a mischievous smirk. She startled. She had forgotten that she had told him about being lonely when he was in car form.
"You know. I could take you on a drive," he said with a playful note in his voice.
"I wouldn't even know how to get into a car at this point," she said with a shrug.
"Just watch," he said suddenly before standing up.
Then he was folding himself around her. She didn't scream but it was a near thing. Her heart was racing in her chest and her face felt numb from how pale it must have been.
And then she was sitting in a car. Her wheelchair was snuggly held in place by the framework. It was like she was always meant to be there.
"Holy shit," she said quietly, immediately reaching for the steering wheel.
"Holy shit indeed. Hang on," came through the radio in Jolt's voice and then they were speeding away, racing down the tarmac. Not being in control of the car made her heart pound but she was going. She was in the driver's seat and they were going fast.
A wild yell ripped from her throat when he slid, turning at speed by locking his tires. He wound the windows down and the wind ripped at her hair, racing along her skin and adding to the freedom zipping down her back.
She felt like a human again. Like a real person and not just a lump that was shifted from place to place. It was a heady feeling.
They drove around for a few minutes before the semi truck, Optimus, came barreling up towards them.
"Uh oh," Jolt said quietly.
"Uh oh? What do you mean uh oh? Jolt?" she asked, voice climbing higher and higher.
"I'm gonna get yelled at," he said sheepishly.
"For what?" she asked wildly, eyes roving over the car.
"Jolt!" Optimus called, frame under her ringing with the force of it.
"Hey Optimus! Long time no see! Want to go for a drive? Weather is-"
"Jolt what do you think you are doing? You didn't have permission to take her on a joyride."
Jolt slowed, keeping pace with the massive truck by his side.
"I had her permission," Jolt said smugly.
"That is not what Sideswipe said," Optimus replied sternly.
"I'm ok with it, honest. I was having fun Mr. Optimus sir," she yelled out the window, hoping that would help. Optimus rumbled in reply.
Jolt just straight up burst into laughter.
"Mr. Optimus! Holy shit we're keeping you. That's fucking hilarious! Bee is gonna die when he hears it," Jolt crowed wildly.
"To the hangar, now." Optimus said in response, the last word ringing through her bones.