As promised, the falling out of Revenge of the Fallen. We get to spend some more time in Ratchet's POV for this one.
I don't own Transformers, or any brands referenced in this.
Chapter Eleven: Whispers of the Past
(Ratchet's POV)
The silence that had fallen over the USS Stennis's cargo bay was a welcome one. After our rush to defeat the Fallen, which Alex described as 'moving at twice the speed of life', any chance to slow down and think felt like a luxury which would be gone in less than a moment. I knew this wasn't the case, but the feeling of running from simply everything lingered in the back of my processors. That, and my newfound dislike of sand. It got anywhere and everywhere, but was next to impossible to get rid of.
The cargo bay was still and quiet. Bee was in his vehicle mode, talking to Mikeala through movie quotes. Toward the back of the room, Sideswipe and Sunstreaker where quietly conversing in Cybertronian. Skids and Mudflap seemed quiet for once. Ironhide was talking with Lennox. Chromia stood by Ironhide's side, while Elita was simply mother-henning the slag out of Optimus. While I wanted to repair him and do a full diagnostic on his systems, I had a feeling that repairs and diagnostics could wait until we returned to Diego Garcia since Elita wasn't going to allow Optimus lift a servo, let alone damage himself further. I wished Optimus didn't insist on always being so slagging self-sacrificing, and even though this wasn't the first time I'd have to repair him after insisting on toughing it out, I knew it wouldn't be the last. Between Optimus, Ironhide, and both sets of twins, they never made my job easy; although the twins made my life harder for a different reason: the endless pranks they played on me that did nothing but frustrate me and waste my time. In the center of the room, Alex was curled up and sound asleep on a chair in a position that looked unnatural and uncomfortable. She was lying on her back, feet resting on the back of the chair and the back of her head against the edge of the table. Sam, asleep as well, sat in the chair next to her, head resting on his arms. Leo was picking at a bowl of Macaroni and Cheese in front of him, not seeming very impressed. Arcee sat down beside me, and I gently took her servo in mine.
"They look peaceful." Arcee said, glancing Sam and Alex.
I nodded. "For now."
Arcee reached for a gash on the side of my face. It looked worse than it really was. Arachnid managed to cut through the thin armor and nick a minor energon line. "This looks painful."
"If you think that's bad, then you should see what Arachnid looks like. If she wants to have eight legs again, then she might need half of them replaced." I said offhandedly.
"You're unsettled; I feel it in your spark." Arcee responded gently.
"I'm fine." I lied, or at least tried to.
"Don't lie to me!" Arcee responded sharply, proving her uncanny ability to detect when I'm lying.
"I'm worried that this isn't over." I told the truth, there was no point in lying now. "The Fallen is offline and defeated, but what will happen next is so uncertain. I don't like it. The decepticons already had personal vendettas with the kids. Now they know where the live, courtesy of Wheelie, but add in the fact that they brought Optimus back from the offline? Megatron won't let that go; he's motivated by revenge, a slagged thing to be motivated by." I couldn't help the snarl that bled into my vocal tones.
"If any 'con tries anything, I'll turn them into fragments." She promised darkly. I didn't miss the way the minor twins risked a glance in our direction and Skids muttered something about being glad he wasn't a 'con while Mudflap made a remark about how Arcee and I might as well be cons.
I nodded in response. She smiled and rested her helm against my shoulder, and I wrapped an arm protectively around her shoulders.
"Maybe talk to Optimus later, but there's no point in worrying right now, not when we're in the middle of one of Earth's oceans, Sparky." She smiled, using the nickname she gave me after we bonded.
"Now isn't that the cutest thing?" A voice laughed. Arcee and I both glanced up to see Epps walking in and traversing the room, laughing. "Ratch', you better be careful, word might get out that you're a softy, and both sets of twins might not be afraid of you anymore."
I rolled my optics with mild annoyance, choosing to mostly ignore the jibe rather than disturb the relative peace. Epps caught his foot on one of the legs of Alex's chair. While he stumbled (Served him right, I thought) and continued on like nothing happened, the chair slid for a few inches and Alex fell out of the chair.
"Ow!" Came the indignant squawk. Alex was clearly not happy to be rudely woken up. She gave Epps a sour glare.
"Sorry kid." Epps apologized to the irritated teen.
She stood up, still glaring at him. "I don't think you're sorry."
Epps simply threw his head back and laughed. Alex rolled her eyes, before glancing at Leo's mac'n'cheese.
"Where'd you get that?" She blinked.
"I'll show you." Leo said.
Sam woke up. "I'll come, I'm hungry too."
"What are you guys doing?" Mikeala asked.
"Getting food." Sam replied. All four of them left the room. Even though I wasn't too keen on having them out of sight, they'd be fine.
Chromia and Elita called Arcee away. I saw Optimus leaving and figured it'd be easier to tell him my concerns without an audience; By Audience I mean both the minor twins and the corvette twins who are gifted in saying just the wrong things at the worst times to make a conversation stop abruptly after losing processing power from the sheer stupidity that had just been dreamt up by two to four complete menaces to civilized society.
"Optimus," I greeted as I followed him onto the USS Stennis's flight deck.
"Ratchet," He nodded. "You seem like you've got something on your processors."
"The safety of the kids," I responded. "The decepticons know where they live."
"They could stay at Diego Garcia." Ironhide said from behind us.
I gave him a glare. So much for not having an audience.
"Alex still has to go to school." I pointed out. Ironhide laughed at me, as if I'd just suggested the most absurd thing he'd ever heard.
"Remind me, how long have you been away from Diego Garcia for?" Ironhide snickered, before growing serious. "It's completely independent from the outside world. They have houses, a school there for all of the NEST operatives' children, supplies shipped in almost weekly, a commissary, and ferries go back and forth from the US regularly. It even can produce its own electricity, Optimus wanted Diego Garcia almost completely independent from the outside world, since there would be less interference that way. The Witwickys wouldn't be able to go back to Tranquility anyway, especially since what happened proved that the kids being stateside is simply too hard to back up in time to do any good. It'll be easier to protect them, since the decepticons, especially Megatron, seem to have blood-feuds with them."
"Ironhide raises a valid point." Optimus nodded. "I will raise our concerns to the parents when I get the chance. We can have them relocated within the week."
"The Lennoxes were able to relocate in a matter of days." Ironhide added. Unhelpfully.
"It would be safer for them to stay at Diego Garcia, and it would be better for me to be on Diego Garcia in case of any emergencies." I conceded.
"It must be done willingly, however." Optimus stated. "By law, Sam is an adult, but Alex isn't. She would be bound by her parents' decision."
Which complicates this, of course. Nothing can be simple, can it?
"The kids' mother wasn't very appreciative of Bee and I." Frowning, I glanced at Optimus. "She wasn't very grateful that her flowers can't seem to stay unharmed."
"Or that you caused a power outage." Ironhide sniggered. I resisted the urge to shove him off the flight deck and into the ocean- it was tempting. I got the distinct feeling Arcee was rather amused by my irritation and desire to push Ironhide in the ocean through our bond.
"I will talk to the Witwickys," Optimus wisely redirected the situation before Ironhide could go for a little swim, courtesy of my annoyance. I nodded, glancing at both my long-time friends.
"I think right now would be a good time." Ironhide pointed out. "The flight deck is empty, and I could even call Will up here to help convince them."
A few minutes went by before the Witwickys found their way to the flight deck, while Will and Bee had been able to get up relatively quickly. The Witwickys, with a fighting Sam and Alex in tow, were finally able to get to the flight deck. Alex and Sam were physically pushing and shoving each other back and forth, arguing about only Primus knows what this time.
"What's going on?" Ron asked, and he didn't seem very happy. "We can't just be left be for five minutes."
"It's of my concerns and that of the kids' guardians that your family's safety has been compromised." Optimus informed.
"I'm not a kid!" Sam growled under his breath.
"You act like one." Alex responded.
"So do you."
"Yeah, and?"
"Enough, you two." Ron interrupted them.
"The decepticons know where you live." Ironhide said. "It would be dangerous to stay."
"And just where would we move to?" Ron asked irritably.
"Diego Garcia." I responded. "It has everything you'd need to return to a semi-normal life, even a school Alex could attend."
"We could have you settled in within the week." Major Lennox added helpfully. "The high school doesn't start for another couple weeks."
"School?!" Alex seemed horrified, eyes wide with horror as if we just suggested putting her in Navy SEAL training. "I just helped save the world and I'm supposed to go to school?"
"That's exactly what you'll do." Judy told her.
Alex simply gapped with shock, before glancing up at me with 'puppy dog eyes' as Bumblebee had dubbed them.
"I can't help you." I tilted my helm at her, finding this amusing. She seemed very disappointed.
"What about my college?" Sam asked.
"Most likely, you'll end up working for NEST." Lennox suggested.
"I want to go to college." Sam said. "After, fine, I'll be an Autobot Ambassador, or whatever Bee called it earlier, but I want to be normal."
"What's normal? Never heard of it." Alex rolled her eyes.
"You're not helping!" Sam glared at her with a huff. "You can go to school, but you don't want to!"
"Would you?"
"Yes!" He responded. "I do. Can't Bee just stay with me?"
"I thought you didn't want him to be your guardian anymore. You said it was done." Was Alex's snarky reply.
"How did you hear that?" He asked. "I was in the garage and you were outside."
"You don't exactly know how to whisper." She pointed out.
"I'm sure we could work something out for Sam to return to college," Optimus tried to ease the tension.
The parents exchanged glances. "This is a lot. We'll talk about it alone." Ron said, before walking away and motioning for Judy to go with him.
Once they left, Sam turned on Alex with an angry glare. "Why are you trying to stop me?!"
"I wasn't trying to stop you!" She argued.
"Why are you trying to keep me from going to college?" Sam demanded.
"How am I keeping you from college? That's a bit above my paygrade." She responded, rolling her blue eyes, irritation emanating from her.
"I just want to be normal." He snapped. "I have to do this."
"You said you wouldn't walk away again." Alex's response seemed to have a sad note to it. Sam winced as if she'd hit her, but in a way, she had.
"Come on, Bee." Sam said, walking away. After, everyone went separate ways, leaving Alex and I alone on the flight deck. And in stark contrast to her normally bubbly personality, she seemed downcast.
"Alex," I knelt down, carefully picking her up, and bringing her optic-level to me. "Is there something wrong?"
"No," She mumbled, but her lie wasn't convincing. I cocked an optic-ridge at her as I turned to the sea and it's grander. Alex turned her gaze from me to the wide ocean in front of us as I stood at the prow of the aircraft carrier.
She sighed, realizing that I wasn't buying her make-believe, and told the truth. "We go through all that, and Sam still wants to leave."
I didn't respond right away, trying to find something to say.
"It's not fair." She mumbled. "He doesn't know how it felt to watch Megatron try to kill him, he's just… just… being stupid!"
"It will work out, you'll see."
"I hope so."
Arcee joined us on the flight deck.
"Amazing, isn't it?" She looked out at the expansive ocean, and I could feel a sense of awe wash over her.
The sun was just starting to rise, its light just peeking over the waves, painting the world in amber and crimson light. The sky was various hues of pink, fading to blue, the clouds seemed to only offer contrast to the pink sky. This is how we stayed, watching in silent wonder until the sun cleared the horizon and the activity on the flight deck resumed.
Later that day, the aircraft carrier finally docked. I, for one, was happy to be on solid unmoving ground. I wasn't the only one happy to be back on dry land. Alex had bolted off the ship like it was on fire, followed by none other than both sets of twins.
I went straight to the med-bay so I could repair mainly Optimus and Ironhide.
Ironhide's repairs were simple. A few replaced parts, and he was on his way. Once he sat still and stop squirming long enough for me to work, that was. He's nearly as bad as the chevy twins, who've managed to raise fidgeting to an art form after coming to Earth.
Optimus was a bit different, considering simply everything that had happened to him. He was getting every diagnostic and scan in the books, and I was going to make sure of that. Optimus sat rather quietly, and I had a feeling the only reason he was being so quiet was the way I saw Elita yell at him to get his sorry aft to med-bay so I could repair him; After, she yelled at me that if something happened to him because I missed something, I'll be cleaning duty for the rest of my life-cycle. There was a reason Elita was a commander, and her ability to threaten anyone into submission was one of them.
"The Witwickys have agreed to move, although Sam's decision to continue college hasn't changed." Optimus said, breaking the silence.
"Will you keep Bumblebee stateside, then?"
"Yes, but Elita, Ironhide, Lennox and I are going to set up a contingency plan should the decepticons try to attack Sam again. I figured both you and Bumblebee would want to be involved in the decisions made as well."
"I would."
"How has mentoring Alex been going?" Optimus asked and it took me by slight surprise.
"She has been enjoying it. She's far more curious than most humans I've encountered. Unlike her school studies, she actually likes learning about us." I responded, wondering why Optimus asked me about that.
"Morshower, Lennox and I discussed the unique position of your charge, Ratchet. Her knowledge of Cybertronian biology puts her in an unusual place, one that Morshower is reluctant to allow to 'be a loose cannon' as he put it. We came up with the idea. She will remain your apprentice, but once she finishes high school, she will become employed by NEST as it's Mechanical Specialist. Like Sam, she will have ambassador duties, but unlike Sam, it will not be her main priority. Sam will be hired as our Ambassador and Representative in human politics. This is all contingent upon their agreement, of course." Optimus replied. "I have spoken with Sam, and he wants to take the position once he finishes college."
"I did not know this." I said as I welded Optimus's shoulder plating.
"I wasn't going to inform you until we were sure it would be offered to them."
"I'm sure Alex will accept," I responded. "As for Sam, considering the conversation on the flight deck, I'm surprised he would bear it in mind."
"I was surprised as well, though he informed me that Alex had been part of the reason behind his decision." Optimus responded. "They had a few talks afterward, and Sam said that Alex got it through his thick skull that this was where he belonged."
"I am not surprised. She can be very strong-willed at times." I replied.
"Sounds like you've been rubbing off on her, old friend." Optimus replied with mirth.
"I figured," I rolled my optics as I continued his repairs.
Doing one final medical scan, I confirmed that I hadn't missed anything (amazing what a threat of cleaning duty will make you do) even though I knew for a fact I hadn't.
"You're good to go Optimus." I told him, then taking the chance to remind him of the reason I had to repair him in the first place. "How about you don't find yourself at the wrong end of Megatron's blade for a while?"
"I was only trying to protect Sam and Alex." Optimus said dutifully.
"You offlined, Optimus." I responded. "We had no fragging idea what to do next! Bumblebee and I were left to protect our charges with only the reject twins as back-up, and that's not the extent of it; I have no idea what the others did, we couldn't contact them. It was a mess."
"Fraggit!" I snarled, feeling backed into a corner, itching to throw something. "I never want anything like that to happen again. If you ever offline on us again, I will drag your sorry aft from the matrix just so I can kick your aft for myself!" I vented the remainder of my frustration, forcing myself to calm down.
After a good moment to mentally walk away from my renowned temper, I said. "It's good to have you back, Optimus."
"It's good to be back." Optimus nodded in response.
After our return to Diego Garcia, some other autobots had contacted Optimus about making planet-fall within the month, the Witwickys already had gotten their house on Diego Garcia and were at it right now, we'd made a plan for the next time the decepticons might try to attack Sam, but when and how Sam would return to college was still up in air and Alex wasn't excited about starting school, I still couldn't help feeling as if there was 'a second shoe ready to drop' to borrow an Earth saying. And there was. It was way worse than I thought it would be. Frag it all, we've only been back for 12 hours!
The first clue that there was trouble was the way Lennox had gotten a phone call and had to go inside his office to not be interrupted. His stress indicators rose every time Optimus, Ironhide or I checked as we stood and waited.
"There's no way that's good." Epps mumbled.
"Something is wrong." Ironhide growled.
"I have a bad feeling about this." I said quietly. Arcee, Chromia and Elita joined as we waited.
Lennox walked out of his office, a stormy expression on his face. "We really pissed off the Pentagon this time. Some of them don't know how to respond to the Fallen's transmission, a few of them want to talk Sam and Alex about what happened, and a few are making noise about shutting down NEST. Some of the higher-ups in the Pentagon are going to be here in a few hours on a C-4. Galloway is behind it; he's pissed I threw him off the plane. Morshower is coming to mediate any problems, though that's not bad. To make matters worse, the public is in an outrage because of the lies they've been told."
"They what?!" Ironhide roared.
"Shut NEST down?" Epps demanded incredulously.
"Why?!"
"The better question is why would they willingly want to talk to Alex when she's just going to tell them off." Elita said, deadpan.
"We will prepare for their arrival." Optimus said calmly, before giving orders to us. I was to go get Alex, Bumblebee would get Sam, and the others would get the base clean, and Lennox and Optimus would make a battle plan for dealing with the base's coming visitors. We all rushed off to complete what Optimus wanted.
If only I had stop to think harder about what was going on, I might've realized that the journey had only just begun.