Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

SparkStarter peered down at the shiny orb resting on the tip of her longest feather. She had been observing this world for a while, protecting it, nurturing it. This world was special to her, even though it was not the Alpha Universe. It held many brilliant beings, and many wonderous choices for her to select to be a Chosen.
But one being in particular had caught her optic. A young human female, just 18 solar sweeps old, had befriended the young Autobot scout of this world. She had risked her life to help him, and in turn he had helped her heal. The two shared a deep bond, and the young girl would be safe with Bumblebee.
“SparkStarter, have you chosen one?” LifeFlow asked, stepping through a swirling portal.
“Yes, old friend, I believe I have.”

Charlie had known helping Bumblebee would have consequences, but she hadn’t expected them to be this severe.
Perhaps it shouldn’t have come as so much of a shock, after all, she did help an alien robot escape from the government, one that was still largely viewed as a threat. She knew that Agent Burns was on Bumblebee’s side, but the rest of Sector 7 was not it seemed.
She could always feel eyes watching her, even if she couldn’t find the source. It was making her and everyone around her sleep deprived and paranoid. Memo tried to help her stay optimistic, but she could see how it was wearing him down. The bags under his eyes and tired voice were a dead give away. Seeing them suffer because of her choices was killing her inside. But she didn’t regret helping Bee. If given the choice to do it all over again, even knowing what would happen, she would without hesitation.
‘But maybe… I would have gone with him that time.’ She thought to herself.

She stepped outside, pausing for a moment to stretch her stiff muscles. A strawberry Pop-Tart was clenched between her teeth, held firmly in place while she willed her body to cooperate. A warm beam of sunlight washed over her, making her brown hair glitter gold. She sighed contently, allowing herself to relax slightly. Strangely enough, she didn’t feel like she was being watched at the moment.
‘Odd… what’s different about today?’

“What do you mean nothings working?” General Whalen demanded. The smaller soldier shifted uncomfortably, holding a blank cellphone.
“S-sir, I don’t know why, but every piece of technology that we bring close to the girl now just starts malfunctioning! The body tracker, the StingRay tracker, everything!” He said, holding the broken phone up.
The General rubbed his eyes, exhaling loudly. Of course. Why couldn’t anything ever work when they needed it to?
“Okay-just-fine! Replace your gear and try to monitor her from a distance. Do not let her disappear. And keep an eye out for that alien.” He commanded.
“Yes sir!” He said, before hurrying away.

Charlie swept a hand across the rough bark of the huge tree, a small smile gracing her lips. The forests around her home town were beautiful. Their thick canopy provided shelter from rain and prying eyes. Beams of light fought their way through the leaves to splash onto the forest’s earthy floor. The area was quiet, save for the buzz of an insect or a bird’s melodic song.

A small bumblebee lazily flittered by, paying no attention to the human only a breath away. Charlie’s smile turned slightly sad as she remembered her time here with Bumblebee. Hopefully, he wasn’t hurting as much as she was. Taking a deep breath of earth-scented air, she stood to leave, when something appeared in her peripheral vision.
Something in the sky had twinkled, only for a second, but it had been there. Turning around, Charlie lifted a hand above her eyes, trying to see what it was. It soon became clear that whatever it was…
…It was heading right for her, fast!

Charlie yelped and darted to the right, covering her head and rolling out of the way. A few seconds later, the object smashed into the ground, sending up a spray of dirt. Pebbles, twigs and earth showered down on Charlie for a moment, before everything stopped. No sound could be heard, as the forest inhabitants had fled the area.

Slowly, she pushed herself up onto her elbows. Quickly, she made sure that she wasn’t about to be liquefied by a Decepticon. When no giant alien robot appeared to kill her, she assumed it was at least somewhat safe to get up. Brushing off the debris that had landed on her, she quietly crept up to the still smoking crater. The closer she got, she realised that the smoke, although hot, wasn’t hurting her. It curled and wrapped its way around her arms, floating gently upwards. Soon, the crater and its smoke had cooled, revealing what had almost been the cause of her early demise.

It was an amulet. A huge one. It looked like it would hang loose on Charlie’s torso. Smooth, dark silver chains wove downwards, stopping at the most eye-catching part of the space jewelry. A bright gold dragon was curled around something Charlie could not see. The dragon itself was beautiful, upon closer inspection, she could see obsidian black stripes along its back and on its face. Its eyes were closed and surrounded by a shade only slightly lighter that black, so similar that if the sun wasn’t hitting the spot just right, she would have missed it. It had four insect-like wings, made of small silver metal wires and what had to be the thinnest cuts of opal. Something blue glittered inside the dragon’s protective grasp.

‘Touch it.’ A voice in her head whispered suddenly.

Charlie glanced up again, making sure she wasn’t about to get creamed by another falling necklace. When no danger presented itself, she slowly reached closer.
After all, what’s the worst that could happen?

Chapter Text

Kchzzz zzack!

Charlie recoiled as a surge of electricity shot through her. Lines of white light cocooned her arms as she screamed, stumbling backwards. The light swirled around her body, enveloping her in its vice-like grip. White hot pain was all Charlie could feel as she felt her vision fade, the life being crushed out of her. The last thing she saw was something small and blue slowly rise into the air.

‘Charlie, you are in danger. Get up!’

Life returned to Charlie’s body quickly, feeling like a breath of air to deprived lungs. She jerked, curling in on herself. Her head was swimming, and a feeling of nausea was rapidly building in the pit of her stomach. As slowly as possible, she forced her eyelids to open, allowing her to see. It was night now, and she was surrounded by fireflies. With much effort, she willed herself to sit up. The world blurred for a moment, before settling down. Her stomach flipped, and something began forcing its way up Charlie’s throat. She shook violently as she coughed and vomited, large lumps splattered down onto the grass as her stomach acid burned her insides. Just as she thought that it was over, she felt something shift inside her gut, like a long, warm snake. She coughed again, and it fell out, coiling at her feet.

Charlie stumbled forward, landing in the warm mess in front of her. She sobbed, tears running down the length of her nose-

She froze. With the pain and sickness gone, her mind finally realised that something was horribly wrong. Slowly, she raised a hand to her face. A soft blue light illuminated black claws coated in a red liquid and what could only be a human intestine draped over them. She screamed and back peddled away, trying to run away from what was once her hand. A new weight on her back unbalanced her and she fell backwards, tumbling down a steep hill. Trees and roots hit and scratched her as she fell. She landed in a cold river, the water rushing over her as she lay there.

In the crisp moonlight, she could see her reflection clearly. She gleamed like polished metal, the silver light making her glow a soft yellow. Bright, blue eyes that held a honeycomb within them were surrounded by black metal scales that formed into a blunt snout, two blue nostrils glowing softly near its end. Blood dripped from her mouth, and bits of dark red and purple organs were caught on her teeth. Half gasping, half crying, Charlie plunged her head into the rushing water, desperately trying to wash away the gore that clung to her features. Once she was sure no red was left, she raised her head again, looking around the forest. Now that her eyes were free of tears, she could see her surroundings clearly, almost as if she had the world's best pair of night vision goggles on, and with this ability, she could see that she was no longer alone.

Her rapid breaths hitched when she saw a group of people slowly advancing towards her. She could see large guns in their hands, and higher up, on a ridge, she spotted an armored truck. Fear seized her, and she scrambled to her feet. As she gripped the slick river stones, she realised that she had webbed paws. An idea struck her, and she made a mad dash for the middle of the river, where the water would be at its deepest point. She heard shouting and gunfire as she surged forward, making her way towards the deep water. Bullets hit her, but she didn’t feel them. All she could feel was a strong sense of fear and determination. Finally, her feet no longer touched the bottom, and Charlie disappeared under the water.

Jack Burns had seen a lot of things in his life. This was one of the sadder and more alarming.

When the tracking devices had started working again, his squad was tasked with finding Charlie Watson once again. He had planned on making a distraction so the girl could escape, but his plans had been thrown out the window when he saw what had become of the girl.

He hadn’t believed it at first, but the tracking devices kept saying that the creature in front of him was indeed Charlie. Once he had gotten the chance to look at where it had been, he started to believe it. Charlie’s clothes were torn apart, laying buried beneath a puddle of her own blood and organs. One of his squad mates had thrown up at the sight of it. He didn’t blame them.

Then, when she realised what had become of her, she had made a strange, screechy, sobbing noise. It sounded entirely alien, and entirely depressing. Somehow, she saw them in the darkness, and his team had fired, making tiny holes in her metal armor. He could see luminesce pink liquid drip out of bullet holes as she disappeared beneath the water, the cool liquid destroying the tracking device.

Jack stared at where she had disappeared, contemplating his options. He could do nothing, and let Charlie be captured…

Or he could try and find Bumblebee.