Disclaimer: I don't own Transformers or any of its characters. I only own my OCs.
"I'm telling you Ratchet! It's her!" Sideswipe ran his hands through his holoform's hair for the umpteenth time.
"I don't know for sure." Ratchet argued back, "I've stitched her wounds and I scanned her, I'm not getting the same signature."
"I don't care what you're getting! It's her! How do you explain the name on her back?"
"I believe it's what humans call a 'birthmark.'"
"In Cybertronian?!"
A groan stopped the mechs in their tracks. Sideswipe was quick to run to where CJ was lying on a hospital bed in Ratchet's med bay.
If it hadn't been for the insistence of Sideswipe, CJ would be in the human med bay. Where she should've been. CJ slowly raised a hand to her aching head. When she cracked her eyes open, she groaned again at the brightness of the lights. When her eyes had finally adjusted, CJ shut them again when she saw the large green Autobot standing in front of her bed.
"Fuck. It wasn't a dream." she grumbled through her headache.
"Afraid not." a voice to her right made her turn her head.
Sideswipe was standing next to the bed watching her. CJ couldn't decide whether to groan again or cry. She went to sit up, and grasped at the ache in her head. She cradled her head in her arms for a moment while she tried to breathe through the pain of sitting up.
"Are you hurting?" a voice different from Sideswipe spoke up, "My scans show various lacerations to both arms and your face."
CJ thought for a moment, before remembering what had happened. She looked at her arms that were freshly dressed and bandaged. Experimentally wiggling her fingers, she felt the pull of stitches. She reached up to feel the side of her face as well, but noted only butterfly bandages. No stitches.
"That thing. That was in my ambulance. It-it attacked me. And Mark! Where's Mark?"
"Your companion is safe." CJ finally looked to the voice and made eye contact with the green Autobot standing in front of her, "Chief Medical Officer Ratchet at your service."
"Where am I?" CJ looked around the room, noticing the large beds and equipment.
"You're at our base. After you went into recharge, we brought you back here," Sideswipe informed.
CJ paused over Sideswipe's use of the word 'recharge', but decided she didn't want to know.
"And where is 'our base'?" CJ asked.
"What you humans refer to as California." Ratchet replied.
CJ took a deep breath. They had brought her from New Jersey all the way to California?
"I was out that long?" CJ asked, "Where's Mark?"
"He's still in New Jersey," a new voice to CJ's left announced.
CJ rapidly turned, wincing as her vision made a lazy turn increasing the pounding in her head. CJ laid eyes on a man she had never met before. He was on the taller side, but not as tall as Sideswipe. Sideswipe was easily above six feet. He had a buzz cut and wore a military uniform.
"Hi." CJ warily watched the new human, painfully aware of the uniform.
"My name is Major Will Lennox. It's nice to finally meet you Charlotte. I was there with the Autobots in New Jersey, but Sam insisted that we stayed behind and just let you meet the Autobots. I assure you Mark is safe. We had him take your rig back to your operations station and we sent someone along to explain things to your supervisors."
"I'm sure you won't be telling them the truth."
"What do you think?"
CJ didn't respond.
"I'm here to answer all the questions you may have. And to ask you some of my own. But first, Optimus would like to meet with you."
"Optimus?"
"You'll see."
CJ hesitated before nodding once. She slowly moved to get out of the hospital bed, arms aching. As she went to stand, she noted that she was still in her Paramedic uniform. It was dirty and torn from her tumble out of the ambulance. Once standing, CJ closed her eyes to let the headache dull before she brushed what dirt she could off of her shirt. CJ tensed when she realized Sideswipe was following them. Major Lennox led her to another room down the hall from Ratchet's med bay. Upon entering, CJ's eyes widened when she saw the large red and blue Autobot standing in the room before her. Major Lennox led her to a set of stairs that brought them closer to eye level with the Autobot. It didn't escape CJ's attention that the only people who were in the room were the Autobot, Major Lennox, Sideswipe, Sideswipe's twin, and herself.
"Charlotte Jamison," the deep voice rumbled, startling CJ from her thoughts, "I am Optimus Prime, leader of the Autobots. We met briefly in New Jersey. I understand you've also acquainted with Sideswipe and Sunstreaker."
Ah. CJ thought, So Lamborghini does have a name.
"We have brought you here to answer your questions and to give you a safe haven. I cannot answer why the Decepticons went after you other than your relation to Sam, but let me be the first to apologize."
"Decepticons?" CJ found herself asking before she could think.
"We are the Autobots. We come from the planet Cybertron. Our enemy is known as the Decepticons."
"So what? You brought your war here?"
"Unwillingly I assure you."
CJ let out a laugh of disbelief, "Really now? So, wait. Mission City? That wasn't a terrorist attack was it?"
"Unfortunately not."
"What are you guys? As in, what are Autobots? Why have I been seeing you in my dreams?"
"We are apart of a race known as Cybertronians. As for your dreams, could you tell us more?"
CJ swallowed hard. The dreams she had were normally in bits and pieces. Most of the time, she didn't remember the entirety of the dream upon waking. Usually she woke up in a cold sweat as the dreams weren't particularly kind. Except for a few. The ones with the Autobot they called Sideswipe.
"I uh, I've been dreaming about you guys for years. For longer than I can remember actually. I don't ever remember much. What I usually dream is of a battle. On this massive planet that's dying. Everyone's fighting and then suddenly, a ship takes off. And I follow it. I-I get into a ship of my own and hear someone yelling at me. I can't ever make out what they're saying. I follow the ship to Earth, and then the ship crashes. And I wake up."
The pained inhale made CJ turn. Sideswipe had turned pale, eyes intently watching her.
"That, uh, that's not a dream. Is it?" CJ was almost afraid of the answer.
Optimus and Sideswipe made eye contact. It was almost as if the glow in Sideswipe's eyes and Optimus' optics had dimmed. Optimus' nod was faint.
"No. It's not a dream." Optimus began, "That was the day we fought our last battle on Cybertron. The day we lost one of our on a pursuit against Megatron."
"Can-can you tell me more?"
"We all noticed that the ship was leaving," Sunstreaker was the next to chime in, "But Stormride was the closest and most agile Autobot we had there. She didn't wait for the order, she knew as well as the rest of us that Megatron had taken the AllSpark."
"AllSpark?" CJ's eyebrows furrowed in confusion.
"Our most sacred artifact. It has the power to bring life to new Cybertronians. And more than we've yet to discover." Optimus was who answered her.
"Stormride went after him. He landed on Earth, and when she followed, we lost communication with her. We hadn't been able to find her." Sunstreaker continued.
"From what you have been able to recall, if Stormride is who you are dreaming of, her ship must have crashed."
CJ mulled over the new information. She wasn't sure if she was relieved or more distressed knowing that the Autobots were real. She had always assumed she had a wild imagination. Her parents had told her as much.
"And," Sideswipe hesitated before he continued, "And we think there's something else."
"Which is?" CJ turned to face him, uneasy with the tone of his voice.
"We don't know how, and we can't explain it. But we think you're connected to Stormride somehow." Optimus finished.
"Connected? What's that supposed to mean?"
"When Ratchet scanned you for further injuries, he picked up the markings on your back."
CJ put a hand on her left shoulder blade, "What? The birthmark? I've had that since I was a baby. It's just a bunch of splotches."
"It's Cybertronian," Sideswipe's voice was steadier, more sure, "And it's Stormride's designation."