I don't own Transformers and never claimed to, so don't sue me! I'm just giving a tribute to it's greatness.
Onward to The Unchained Adventures of Fireteam Phoenix.
Chapter Six: Fiery Phoenixes
Ratchet glanced nervously over at the young humans discussing the situation. The whole situation didn't have a right move, especially since Autumn got an Email from Morshower which read as follows: We at current don't have any easy way to undo the effects. Wheeljack doesn't have a clue where to start. You and your team will return to base ASAP. Lieutenant, listen to this warning: You are walking on a fine line right now after that car wreck. Anything stupid that you do could easily come back to bite you in the ass.
Autumn didn't know Ratchet hacked her Email to read it. He was protective of her; she was his charge ever since she was sixteen. Every now and then he still saw a glimpse of the innocent teen which he'd known only six short years ago. Autumn, Hunter and Sam had experienced so much more than most their age.
That thought just circled him back to the current… debacle. Never in his life, in which that he'd travelled to many planets, survived a war, and gained and lost so much, had he been miniaturized. It wasn't fun.
"The device we're looking for is at Area 51." Simmons said, snapping Ratchet out of his thoughts. Autumn frowned.
"Great." Her tone absolutely dripped with sarcasm. "That's just great."
"Why do you say that?" Sam asked.
"You're serious?" Autumn deadpanned.
"Yes." He nodded.
"You think security is tight at Diego Garcia?" Simmons interjected, beating Autumn to the punch. "Area 51 is nothing like that. Fireteam Phoenix couldn't break in there even if the autobots where the proper sizes."
"Who said anything about breaking in?" Autumn said with a sparkle of mischief in her eyes. When Simmons' confused gaze landed on her, she turned and met his gaze. "We're going to take a page from your book. The Do-whatever-I-want-and-get-away-with-it one."
"You can't be serious!" Sam exclaimed.
An hour later, he found just how serious Autumn was. Hunter called Lennox to get the tiny Optimus and Prowl there so they could do this quickly and all at once, before they left. Sam got to go with her to argue with the guy at the gate.
"This is the point of no return, Sam." Autumn said before they approached the gate. "You can back out now, but not later."
"Someone's gonna have to bail your aft out of trouble. That someone might as well be me." He said with conviction.
"Thanks, Sam." She nodded, before they walked up to the gate.
"State your business, soldier." The man grunted, looking Autumn dressed in fatigues up and down.
"Lieutenant Autumn Copperhead, Fireteam Phoenix leader." She identified herself. "We believe you have a piece of tech that will help us reverse effects of a weapons that we came in a close encounter with."
"Who's your buddy? He ain't the other human member of your team, is he?" The man asked, glancing at a file on his computer.
"I'm Sam Witwicky, the Autobot's Ambassador and Fireteam Phoenix's… liaison- if you will." He forced a smile.
"Proceed," The guard said. Autumn grabbed Sam's wrist and yanked him past a few hangars. It didn't occur to either of them that that went way to easily or that the guard called Morshower, and the high ups of Autobot command after.
"Walk around like you belong, ok?" Autumn whispered. He nodded. This was a little different than sneaking around a closed museum.
They found the hangar labeled D-9, which allegedly was where the tech was. There was nobody around and Sam hoped it would stay this way. Autumn texted Hunter in the Fireteam Phoenix group-chat: /Ok to go/
Sam looked around and found the crate with the piece of tech they needed. "Found it." He whispered.
/ We're coming with Lennox and company. / Hunter responded.
/ Are you sure this is going to work? / Ironhide asked.
/ No, but we don't have many other options. /
/ Autumn, Morshower sent you a warning email and literally said not to do anything stupid. I think with qualifies as stupid. / Hunter texted bluntly.
/ And your point? Sam and I are already in the Hangar and Lennox is already here. /
/ Never mind. /
Lennox, Hunter, Simmons and Mikeala burst into the hangar with Optimus and Prowl. Lennox stormed up to Autumn, fury written plain on his face.
"Lieutenant." Will's voice hid none of his anger. "Do you know how much shit you just got yourself in?"
"No one else was going to do anything!" Autumn retorted.
"You could get yourself court-martialed off the base." He softened his tone.
"I know."
"And your team could be liquidated. You would get everyone into loads of trouble."
"I'm more than willing to deal with the consequences." Autumn focused her gaze on the floor. "And I'm sorry."
What Lennox said next took her by surprise. "You did good, kid."
"What?" Autumn stuttered.
"We wanted to give you and your team a test to see what you would do if you had a similar situation." Prowl said, letting a half smile touch his faceplates.
"And you passed with flying colors." Prime chuckled.
Autumn stood wide-eyed. "Wait, really?"
"Yes." Lennox nodded. "I was against making it sound like we didn't have any other options though. Wheeljack knew all along how to do it."
"The email from Morshower?"
"Was from him, yeah." Lennox nodded.
Autumn turned her gaze to Sam. "Did you know about this."
"No," he shook his head. "I didn't."
Hunter gave him a skeptical glance.
"Promise." Sam said earnestly.
"Should I ask whose idea that was?"
"It actually wasn't Morshower. It was Optimus's and Prowl's." Lennox said.
"Of course." Ironhide grumbled.
"Naw." Autumn gave him an incredulous look.
"Hey, why don't we do what we came here for!" Chromia quipped.
"Not sure if I want 'em little or big." Hunter whispered in Autumn ear.
"Hunt, I think they can hear you." She raised both eyebrows when Ratchet shot Hunter a glare.
After a few minutes of setting up the machine, and arguing (Mostly Autumn and Hunter, because what siblings don't argue?) the affects of the weapon that the now convicted and in-jail Akar created were reversed.
"Oh, thank goodness." Autumn said quietly once everything happened without issue.
"Hey Autumn," Mikeala smiled. "There's someone outside to see you."
"Aw, crap, is it Morshower?" She rolled her eyes.
"Nope, someone better." Hunter smirked. "Go on." He gave his sister a nudge.
Autumn walked out the door. Her jaw dropped when she saw who was standing there. Brendon was standing a few yards in front of his F-18. His wingman was standing right by the jet, checking the landing gear.
"What?" Autumn gasped. It hadn't occurred to her that everyone was watching or that Brendon's wingman stopped doing his post-flight checks.
"I escorted the Chinook that Major Lennox, Prowl and Prime were on." He explained. "Lots of surprises today for you, wouldn't you say?"
"Yeah." She nodded wordlessly.
By the hangar door, the rest of Fireteam Phoenix, Sam and Mikeala were gathered and -trying- to be as noiseless as possible. The two were very shy.
"Come on!" Hunter exclaimed quietly so the two couldn't hear. "Kiss already!"
It was a big surprise when Autumn suddenly asked. "So, are you gonna kiss me or not?"
Bumblebee, with his impeccable timing, played a song as Brendon pulled Autumn into a passionate kiss.
"I could stay lost in this moment forever,
Where a moment spent with you is a moment I treasure.
Don't wanna close my eyes
I don't wanna fall asleep
'Cause I'd miss you baby, and I don't wanna miss a thing.
'Cause even when I dream of you, the sweetest dream would never do
I'd still miss you baby, And I don't wanna miss a thing."
Autumn and Brendon stopped and looked at each other. He looked deep into her amber-brown eyes with his pale green ones and they kissed again.
"No freaken way." Hunter muttered. Ratchet stared wordlessly at his charge. Arcee shook her head and put a hand on her sparkmate's arm.
"You can't scare Brendon away, ok?"
"I wasn't going to." Ratchet responded, sounding almost annoyed that she'd think that.
"Wasn't what I felt." Arcee commented, before her optics widened as Ratchet pulled her close and, obviously feeling inspired by Autumn and Brendon, kissed her. When they pulled apart, Arcee smiled.
"I liked that."
Hunter looked over at Ratchet and Arcee, then at Autumn.
"You feel jealous, don't you?" Ironhide guffawed.
"What? No!" Hunter argued.
"You're jealous that you don't have your femme here." Ironhide jibed.
"Ok, fine maybe I am a little." Hunter admitted begrudgingly.
Chromia looped her arm with Ironhide's with a smirk. "I want to try, mech."
Hunter thinks Ironhide went along and kissed her. Spiting Hunter was just an added bonus. Since he couldn't kiss Caroline, he did the next best thing: Call her up on his phone. She didn't answer, and texted him that she was busy at her mom's place.
It really wasn't his day, Hunter realized. Or his week.
Oh well. When he got back to base, he was going to have to set up a date night for him and his wife. Oh, and maybe ask Mrs. Lennox if she could make something so Caroline didn't have to cook.
Back at Diego Garcia, Autumn and Brendon sat in the truck-bed of a Humvee side by side out under the stars and the moon talking about everything under the moon. Autumn's heart raced, she lost her train of thought, and she knew her feelings where like an open book for whoever cared to read.
"Aren't the stars beautiful?" Autumn breathed.
"Yeah," He nodded. "But not nearly as beautiful as you."
Autumn smiled. "Thank you," Her tone took on a teasing note. "What a gentleman."
Brendon and Autumn laughed together. They were both absolutely glowing with happiness in each other's company.
Ratchet watched from afar with Arcee. He didn't like Brendon much. The way Autumn's last boyfriend treated her by turning around and making out with her friend when she was away, he wasn't so ready to trust Brendon.
"I'm sure he won't be like the last one." Arcee murmured.
"He better not." Ratchet growled, calling to mind how he comforted Autumn after the break-up, and how upset she was. He never wanted Autumn to go through that again.
"I know you want to keep her safe." His sparkmate murmured, sending him a bit of warmth through the bond. "But the best way to do that may be to let her make her own mistakes, and let her get stronger from those."
"You're right." He vented deeply.
"Can I get that in writing?" Arcee teased, resting her head on his shoulder.
"No slagging way." He pressed his forehead to hers.
The next day, Sam sat at his desk, eating a breakfast burrito, reading a text from Hunter.
/ We were so close. /
/ What do you mean? /
/ So close to being stateside for a while. / Hunter's response read. Sam could feel the disappointment radiating from the text.
/ Sooo… what do you think about Brendon? / Sam said.
/ What, like if Autumn and Brendon are a thing? /
/ Maybe? Idk, ask the femmes and the ladies. They'll figure it out. Heck, they probably already are giving Autumn one big interrogation. But you saw the way they kissed. /
/ Is he the one for her? / Sam asked.
/ Too early to tell, Sam. / Hunter responded.
/ I knew the moment I kissed Mikeala for the first time she was the one. /
/ On Bumblebee's hood! Like he wasn't alive or anything! / Hunter fired back.
/ How- how do you know? /
/ Ironhide and Ratchet told me. Prime didn't spill. / Hunter's response was mirthful, and Sam could hear his friend laughing through the phone.
That conversation that Hunter and Sam had wasn't only one concerning the current state of Autumn's love life. The femmes were drilling Autumn for more info on the other side of the base. There are a lot of things similar between humans and autobots; the ladies and femmes getting the scoop was one of them.
"He better not be a loser." Elita hissed.
"If he is, I'll change that!" Chromia snapped.
"Isn't he in the Navy?" Arcee asked.
"Is he cute?" Flareup questioned.
"I don't think Autumn would fall for him if he wasn't cute." Lancer said.
"That was a lot." Autumn snarked. "Elita, Chromia, he isn't a loser, he flies F-18s which isn't for the faint of heart. Arcee, he his in the Navy. Flareup, Lancer is right."
"Oooh, I wonder what the ring is going to look like!" Flareup cooed.
"Hey, hey, hey, I think that's jumping the gun a little."
"We're coming to the wedding, aren't we?" Elita asked.
"We're still jumping the gun here girls."
"You're a slagging open book Autumn, and so is he!" Lancer squealed. "You guys are one hundred and ten percent in love! You're the only girl with his affection!"
I love the way the femmes get all excited about Autumn and Brendon's kiss. Out of all my human OC's, Autumn is definitely my favorite (No touchy). she's so badaft but she's also a big softy when it comes to her team.
This chapter was a bit on the shorter side, but I was just wrapping up this part of The Unchained Adventures before I time jump next chapter.