Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It’s calm, but that’s pretty normal for the shithole I’ve decided to rest at… the so called ‘Entertainment Capitol of the World’, Jasper Nevada. Which is complete garbage, place is so damn boring. However, that’s exactly why I chose to come here, helps me to do my work unbothered and unnoticed, like my newest expedition in checking out a new energy signal I picked up on my random drives around the area.

CLINK

Which leads me to what I’m right now; mining these strange glowing blue crystals that I had found in this crater.

CLINK

“Almost there.” I mutter, I found this stuff in a large crater surrounded by trees, I was kinda surprised no one just stumbled upon this stuff, not like it’s hidden.

CLINK

With that last strike, the 3ft crystal I was chipping away at falls apart into tiny shards while I smile, “Just as planned.”

I pack away my hammer and flat-head chisel before I sling my backpack over my shoulders. I then kneel down to the chest on my right, it’s a steel chest with an added reinforced layer to handle damage, painted with a rubber coating to be shock proof, and just for kicks, I had textured it to make it look more industrial or professional. I couldn’t help but smile at it as I unlatch it and open it up, causing two small open box-like surfaces fold out from the chest, completely empty.

I take a small breath and mutter, “Time to pack it up.” Then do just that, putting the small shards of this crystal into the small boxes as carefully as I can, because with how much energy these things give off, they’d blow up if I get too rough.

Just as I was reaching for the big shard, I suddenly feel a wave hit my brain, causing me to hiss and hold my head. You know when you’re at the beach and a strong wave hits your face? It’s exactly like that… except it happened in my head, which is something I’m used to, but not to this extent… or intensity, which is unusual. I don’t know where I got it from, or why I have it, all I know is what it does and how to use it.

I shake my head, “What the…? How old is this thing?”

For context, I’ve found that whenever I sense something with this power, I can vaguely guess how old it is. You see, these ‘waves’ are really waves, but they come from living things, specifically, things with a brain, I’m sure you know where I’m going with this. Anyways, these brainwaves change depending on many factors, but the important thing for this situation is that the more intense the brainwave, the more memories the thing has, ie. how old it is. And this thing… is very old.

But, before I could reorient myself from the sudden wave, I hear a voice in the distance say proudly, “I just found a whole lot of energon!” which got me hunkering down to stay hidden.

I reach for the big shard and gently pick it up, trying to push aside the new brainwave that’s clouding my thoughts, “I can’t think.” I mutter.

but as I’m putting it into my chest, a shadow falls over me, causing me to look up, and seeing the largest ship I think I’ve ever seen in my life, “What the fuck…”

I focus on it on instinct, and feel a slight buzzing interrupting me, like a sort of shield, “Is it the metal?” I mutter.

But before I could think anymore, I sense a new wave, coming from something up on the ridge before I hear the sound of gears turning, metal shifting and grinding, before I hear the voice say, “Decepticons.” A slight hint of worry in his tone, his brainwaves giving off the emotions of worry, fear, and… duty?

And not a moment later, I hear a very loud sound emitted from the ship, before an explosion happens right where the figure was, and I sense the rushing brainwave of pain coming from them before they crash into some nearby crystals, causing more pain for them. I quickly put the shard away, close the chest, and latch it shut before backing away to a higher viewpoint.

“I need to see what’s going on, and getting closer ain’t smart idea.” I mutter again, doing just that as I keep checking the crater and the ship.

As I climb over the second ledge of the crater, I hear much larger and much louder gears turning, causing me to look back to the ship and see several large identical robots falling out of the ship, not getting damaged at all when they land. They were in all purple, had wheels on their shoulders and sides of their legs, glass over their chest, and a silver head with only one thin red visor… and they each held brainwaves.

“What is going on?” I say to myself, my thoughts completely overwritten by these things’ minds.

I hear the voice, now in the crater, say, “Arcee, about that back-up.” Looking over, I see a somewhat bulky robot with red colouring, folded exhaust pipes in his back, tires in his thighs, metal-grey wristbands over his wrists, and two pristine silver horns on his head.

Hiding behind a small protrusion of crystals, I watch as the bot changes his stance slightly before he says, “Fair warning boys, I’ll put a few dings in ya.” Before transforming into a CAR!

My eyes go wide as I watch him drive towards the edge, up the crater wall and into the air, “Whoa…”

He then transforms back into bot mode and falls towards them, throwing a fist into the face of one of the other bots, “What is going on?” I shake my head, “No, get out of the crater, then focus on the walking, talking, living robots.”

I feel pain fly at me every second as the robots fight each other, “This is nuts, this is nuts.” I keep muttering while I climb out of crater.

It’s not long that I reach the top, the second to last ledge had a ramp to the top, which I took with haste, running up the ramp and tucking myself behind a tree away from the fight. Before I could turn around to see how the fight was doing, I felt a brainwave of sharp pain a moment before the horned bot cried out from it. I look back to see him shoved away from one of these purple robots, kicked by another, then finally, given an uppercut by yet another one of these things, a rush of pain emitted after each hit.

That last one had chipped off one of the bot’s horns and sent him flying back into the crater, bouncing off the ground and onto his feet a few feet away. He radiated pain, fear, and exhaustion, he was outnumbered and outgunned, he was going to die here if I don’t do something.

I growl quietly, “But what?” I pull out my handgun and cock it, “No, it won’t work… it’s too small.”

“You want the horns?” I look back and see the red bot glaring at his offenders, still standing tall, a feeling of determination skyrocketing as his hands transform into tri-blasters on each arm, holding them in front of himself as he adds dangerously, “You got ‘em.” And starts firing, immediately killing one as a bolt lands a hit.

But then the others follow suit in red’s attack, forming guns and opening fire. But instead of the red bot going down right away, he starts twisting, turning and jumping around the bolts, evading them as he continues fire of his own. Just when I think he has this, a few of the bolts strike the crystals, causing them to glow brighter and brighter, until eventually.

KABOOM!!!

A large blue fire erupts from the crater consuming everything in it, a wave of pure force releases like a shockwave, sending me on my ass. I quickly get up to look at the crater, only to see everything in blue flames.

“No…” I manage to gasp out, I see no one there, just the destroyed crater, the blue flames, and… “Huh?”

I look closer as I focus my senses into the crater, and I feel it, pain, lots and lots of pain, I also sense irritation, frustration, and fear. Unfortunately, I can’t tell who it’s coming from, and before I could try to figure it out, I see two of those purple robots dragging out the red one by one hand, who looks to be unconscious, and obviously heavily damaged.

I bite my lip, “I have to do something, but what?!” I look around for anything to use, get their attention, hurt them, something, then I spot my chest at my feet, and I grin, “Got it.” I mutter.

I quickly kneel down and unlatch the chest, glancing at the robots who seem to be talking to each other, but still here, “Good.” I open the chest and grab the biggest small shards I have and stand up, looking at them.

I take a deep breath and reel back my right hand holding the shard and point my handgun at the closest robot, the one dragging red, “Come on, you got one shot, get their attention.” I mutter.

Then, when I know I got it, I fire my gun right into the thin red visor and yell, “HEY, OVER HERE!!!” before throwing the blue shard right at them.

My shot and shout got their attention, the one I fired at more so because I could tell his visor cracked. Then, just as the shard got close enough, I aimed and fired, hitting straight on and causing it to explode. The explosion was nearly atomic in comparison to the crater explosion, but it certainly got the job done. The robot I had aimed for cried out in pain, which I sensed quite well, as he dropped the red bot and covered his face, stumbling back from the surprise.

I didn’t stop though, I quickly grabbed another one and threw it at the other purple robot, said bot finally acted and aimed his gun at me, but the shard was already where I wanted it to be. Hitting said shard with another shot made it blow like the last one, making that one stumbling back and cover his face. I could already tell that the shards were more like flashbangs to them, not nearly bog enough to hurt, but enough to temporarily blind and surprise them. I had to act fast, and red was not getting up, still too hurt to move.

So I leaned down and grabbed a handful of shards as I focused my mind towards the red bot, which also meant I got a clearer idea on how hurt he was, but I couldn’t think about that right now. I looked up and saw the one I blasted earlier moving towards me, so I threw the few shards right at him, he immediately covered his face in preparation, but this one was obviously going to be worse.

Upon firing the biggest of the bunch, the group all popped together, making a bigger explosion and actually hurting this thing, I could tell by the wave of new pain it experienced, and by the louder cry he gave. The noise got the other purple bot to look over and move after me, and even stir red a bit, but he still wasn’t moving.

“Damnit!” I mutter as I grab another handful of shards before pushing my mind into his, giving me control.

I tossed the shards towards them as I forced him to stand, which caused him to curse in completely different, thank God for my telepathy though, “Scrap! What is-?” another cry of pain in his mind as I kept pushing him, while I fired into the shards, blasting one of the other bots to their knees and their partner to the ground.

“Sorry Red, you need to run, so I’m doing it for you.” I project as I force his body to run, pain shooting through his system as I continue to keep these bad bots’ attention.

The red bot continued cursing though, “Fragging-! Scrapyards, who- NGH! Are you?! Rust!” yeah, definitely in pain.

I sensed one of the bad bots about to make a gun, so I closed my chest and ran away, just as a red bolt slammed into the tree I was hiding behind, blasting it to splinters, “I need to get rid of these things, now!” I shout to myself.

I stop the red bot just as I know he’s passed other treeline, as I quickly latch my chest closed, I turn it over and slide a hidden compartment open, but then I quickly changed directions to avoid another blaster shot, then I pressed a button within the compartment, starting a countdown.

“Answer me, who are you?!” The red bot shouted as I quickly looked over at the two bots still chasing me.

I then replied, “The one who saved your ass!” before quickly stopping, spinning around a few times, and flung the chest at the robots before ducking down and covering my head.

A second later, there’s a big explosion behind me, a spike of immense pain being emitted from my pursuers, before suddenly vanishing… dead.

I quickly look back and see the two bots on the ground, most of their upper torsos missing, including the entirety of their heads, I sigh in relief, “Oh thank god, their dead.”

The red bot asks, “Really, you got them?” if his brainwaves didn’t give away his surprise, his mental tone sure did.

I smile as I try to catch my breath, nodding, “Yeah, I got them.” I hear the increase in rockets above me, and I quickly notice that the giant ship above us quickly leaving.

The red bot comments, “I must’ve scared them off.” I could feel the sarcasm in his mind, “I’d pat myself on the back, but I can’t move.”

I jolt, “Oh, right.” I release my control over him and watch from a tree as he slowly walks out, holding his left side as he leans against a tree on his right.

He looks around trying to find something, my guess it being me when he shouts, “Hey, come on out, I wanna thank you!”

I quickly reply, “No thanks,” he jolts and looks around, “I still don’t know what’s going on, or what you are. But you don’t have to thank me, I can tell you would do the same if we were reversed.”

I could sense him ready to argue, but I suddenly hear a rift of sorts, accompanied by engine noise, not long after, I could sense them too. I tensed and looked back, quickly noticing the white and orange ambulance fly out of the portal and transforming into their bot mode. Then another vehicle drove out, some large green SUV, which quickly turned into a much bulkier bot in comparison to the other two and made a cannon out of its right hand. Yet another vehicle came out, a blue motorcycle that quickly became its bot mode, then another car flew out, yellow this time, and turned into a bot mode that used the doors it had as a car into small wings. And finally, the last one came speeding through as some red and blue Peterbilt semi-truck, then it transformed into its bot mode as it landed, before quickly standing up and aiming a two barrel cannon forward, showing how it was taller than everyone else.

I swallowed nervously, they all emanated brainwaves with tons of experience, some more than others, the white and orange bot along with the tallest armed bot seemed to have the most. They all also emanated waves of worry, tense wariness, anger, and in the blue bot’s case, fear. While the horribly injured red bot emanated waves of pure relief, while also trying to hide his pain by standing tall.

Said bot raised a hand, “Hey guys, took you long enough.”

The newcomers all spun around to face him, lowering their weapons and their guard as they saw him, the smallest (the blue bot) immediately shouted, “Cliff!” and ran towards him, fear and anguish rising exponentially.

They all dropped their weapons as similar emotions rose in all of them, but the smallest’s was enough to start tearing up, almost feeling her sadness as my own, “God, they were really worried.” I thought to myself as I tried to wipe my own tears away.

The red bot, now known as Cliff, chuckled as he says, “Yeah, it’s me. What took you guys so long, almost thought I had to pull out my secret weapon.”

I deadpanned, even though I sensed his sarcasm, it was easy to see through, and by the face on everyone’s faces, they all saw right through it too, but the blue bot replied, “Sorry Cliff, we were all scattered across the globe, some had to drive back to base and ground bridge the others there before getting here. How are you feeling?”

A sudden rush of annoyance hit me as the yellow and orange one walked over to them, “How do you think?! Horribly, just look at him, stupid pile of bolts is lucky to be active in this state.” He says as he starts scanning Cliff with something, “We need to get him back to base, now. Bulkhead, help Cliffjumper through the groundbridge.”

The large green mech nodded as he walked over, “Got it.”

The orange and white mech held Cliffjumper up by one arm, while Bulkhead held him up by the other, making the red bot groan tense in pain, the green bot saying, “I gotcha, don’t worry.”

Cliffjumper says “No wait, there’s another person here…” his strength beginning to fade a little.

The mech bot shook his head, “No way, you’re not fighting in this state, and besides, there’s no one here.”

Cliffjumper shook his head, “No, not Cons… a human, I think.” He says, panting.

Everyone goes wide eyed, except the tall bot, “What?!”

The red bot nodded, “He’s here, he handled the last two cons by himself, I heard it, killed them both. He got me out of the way somehow, forced my body to move… on its own, and I heard him, in my head.”

The blue bot walked into view of Cliffjumper, “Cliff, that can’t be possible, you’re probably just delirious from the energon loss and pain.”

The yellow one steps up and speaks, but his voice… sounds all wrong, just beeps and buzzes, :“Yeah, you’re in really bad shape, you need to rest.”:

Cliffjumper shakes his head again as Bulkhead and the medic bot start walking him to the portal, which I guess is the groundbridge, “No, I know what I heard, it was real, he helped me.” He stopped the two carrying him by digging his feet into the ground before shouting, “Please, talk to them, like you did me, they’ll help, trust me!”

I bite my lip as I watch the blue bot try to calm him down, but I could feel a rise of worry in Cliffjumper’s mind, but I wasn’t going to do anything, then the medic said, “Cliffjumper, there’s no stinking humans here, and even if there were, it’s impossible for one to have entered your mind and controlled you, let alone kill two Cons. They’re far too small and weak to pulls it off, and their technology is inferior in almost every way!”

My eye twitches before sending the medic, “Ow.”

Said medic tensed and looked around, “What was that?!”

Bulkhead asked, “What was what?”

I then cut off from the medic and send out to the big green bot, “This is what.”

The robot freaked out so bad, he screamed, letting go of Cliffjumper and looking around, guns out and ready to fire, “Who’s there?!”

Cliffjumper chuckled, with a wince, before answering, “That’s him, so he’s still here.”

The yellow bot asks incredulously, :“The human?”:

The blue bot scoffs, “Now’s not the time for pranks, we need to go.”

Bulkhead replied, “I’m not joking, I heard something!”

As the blue bot was about to reply back I though-spoke to the yellow bot, “Tell you friend to calm down,” this caused him to jump and look around frantically, catching everyone’s attention, “I’m not here to hurt anyone.”

The tallest looked at the bot, “Bumblebee, did you her them?”

The yellow bot, now known as Bumblebee, nodded, :“Yeah, Yeah I heard him.”:

The tallest hummed, then ordered, “Autobots, head back to base, I will speak with this figure… alone.” A sense of wariness, yet calm curiosity emanating from him.

The blue bot asked, “Optimus, you can’t be serious?”

Optimus nodded, “I am, go, Cliffjumper needs medical attention.”

There was clear hesitation in everyone, except Cliffjumper, before following his orders and leaving through the groundbridge, Bumblebee looking back one last time before walking through, then the rift closed.

There a second of silence from both of us, I even held my breath, even though I’m aware he means no harm, some have been known to hide their true emotions well enough where I cannot sense the ones they are truly feeling.

But soon enough, the bot announces, “I am Optimus Prime, leader of the Autobots, and I would like a word with you, if you don’t mind.”

Chapter Text

I take a deep breath and message back, “How can I trust you?”

He looks down in thought, then answers, “You cannot, you have no reason to.”

I sigh, “Great.” “Are you as good as Cliffjumper, I could tell that he’s friendly, his mind doesn’t lie, but your mind has more experience, more age to it, it could.”

A sense of interest rises, “You can tell how old I am just by feeling my mind, have you read through it?”

I narrow my eyes, “No, you emanate brainwaves, the more complex they are, the older the brain, I can’t pin it down exactly, but I can get the general idea. Like the fact that you are probably the oldest living thing I have ever encountered in my life… no offence.”

Sight humor rises, barely noticeable as he replies, “None taken, you would be correct, I am very old… is that truly why you don’t trust me?”

I narrow my eyes, his curiosity grew slightly, “Yes, you are far older than anything or anyone I have ever encountered, and I have met far younger that could get past my 6^th sense.”

I see him nod, “Understood, then I propose an idea to sway your concerns, if you are willing to listen?”

I huff, “What is your idea?”

He answers, “A human game, I believe, I’ve heard a quite a few times from our liaison, called it ’20 Questions.’

I blink, “Wait what?” “So your bright idea to get me to trust you, is to ask a bunch of questions back and forth and hope I come around?” I ask sceptically.

Optimus nods, “Correct, and I do believe that’s what you’ve been trying to do yourself, have you not? We’ll just be focusing the questions down to 20. Well, 17 for you and 17 for me, if we are keeping score of the questions we have already asked? … 16.”

I look down in thought, but I didn’t need to think on it vey hard, it was pretty obvious, “What are you?”

He replies simply, “We are autonomous robotic organisms from the planet Cybertron. But you may call me and my team, Autobots.”

I nod, “Autobots, huh?”

Then Optimus asks, “How long have you been at this sight?”

 I answer, “Since before Cliffjumper showed up, was able to collect a few samples before all hell broke loose.”

I see him nod with a hum, “I see.”

I then ask, “I heard Cliffjumper say something about finding energon, what is it?”

The leader replies, “Energon is a highly volatile substance when in its purest form, you may have some of them, this crater must’ve had a large supply of it if there was this much damage.”

I then ask, “Energon, does it look like this?” I then sent him a mental image of the large blue crystal I had in my chest before it went off, “Thank you Burn File Protocol.”

Optimus nods, “Yes, that is indeed energon, extremely dangerous. And that’s two questions, you are now down to 14 questions.”

I scowl, but then say, “Ask your question.” Somewhat bitterly.

Optimus asks, “How did you find this energon?”

I shrug, “Stumbled upon it, was testing out a new scanner I had built was driving around, until it picked up something around here, turned out to be energetic space rocks.”

I felt amusement rise up I the leader’s mind, “Ask you question, young man.”

I sigh, “Why is this energon so important to you? It was obvious that Cliffjumper was ecstatic about finding so much.”

Optimus answers, “Energon is a fuel source for more than just our technology, it also fuels our ammunitions, our weaponry, and most importantly… our lives, without it, we die.”

My eyes widen in surprise, “Die?! So they can’t recycle their blood like we can, they have to seek it out and mine it? And I am throwing away an entire chest worth of this stuff to kill two robots.”

The leader then asks, “How did you kill the Decepticons?”

I arc an eyebrow, “The who?”

Optimus clarifies, “The robots who tried to take Cliffjumper.”

“Oh.” I mutter quietly, “I used the samples I had to make flashbangs, keep their attention on me, then when they got close enough, I activated a safety measure I had in the chest to burn them up, then threw it at them. It eventually exploded and killed them both.”

Optimus nods in approval, “That was quite the plan, you are lucky it worked out so well.”

I nod, “I know, don’t plan to do anything that stupid without proper protection.” I look over to their broken corpses, “Who are these guys anyway?”

Optimus replies, “The Decepticons wished to have sole control over Cyberton’s supply of energon for themselves, and rule over our home with an iron fist. Now they are here, planning to do the same again, and rule this planet with humanity on their knees.”

I look down, “Glad I killed these bastards then, good riddance assholes.”

“How did you get your powers?” I take a deep breath when I hear the Autobot ask.

I shake my head, “Don’t know, I was born with it, doctors say it’s not genetic, so I didn’t get my powers from them, they said my brain had mutated somehow in my Broca’s area and Temporal Lobe. That’s how I got my powers, that’s all I know.”

Optimus nods with a hum, “I believe you.” And I know he does, his mind has yet to differentiate with his physical mannerisms, he’s still truthful.

I then ask, “How do you transform from vehicle mode to bot mode and vice versa, not to mention the ability to make weapons out of your hands?”

I sense him smile under his face mask as he answers, “It is thanks to a biomechanical organ us cypertronians have inside us, it allows us to shift and reconfigure our bodies to certain forms, allowing us to make our weapons,” he demonstrates by making his gun in his right hand, and a longsword out of his left hand, before shifting them back, “and transform into a vehicle mode we scanned from a vehicular device he decided to use for ourselves.”

I nod, “Makes sense, you couldn’t just make these vehicle modes from your minds, you needed something to base it off of, like a blueprint. That’s pretty cool.” I found myself smiling in excitement at the inner workings of these things, fascinating.

A slight rise of pride emits from the Autobot leader, “Thank you, do you reside somewhere close by, or were you just passing through the area?”

I snicker, “I feel like I should be asking the sentient alien robot that question, but yes, I do live near here. The city of Jasper actually, so I’m not that far away.”

I feel slight relief emanate off him, “I’m getting his trust, that’s good.” That put me off a bit, but I guess it’s a rational thought, given the situation he finds himself in.

I then ask, “Well, is your base close by? Cliffjumper drove here from the road nearby, I sensed it.”

Optimus nods, “Yes, our base is around the area, though I cannot say anymore than that?”

I nod in response, “That’s fair, wasn’t expecting you too.”

Optimus then asks, “What can you exactly do with your powers?”

I hum, hesitating in telling him, “Should I? I know he’s not a threat, but should I really tell him my powers, Neural Hijack is no joke, should I tell him?” Optimus makes no move to urge me on, or look for me, he just shifts his gaze to the crater and stares, waiting.

I sigh, “I won’t tell you everything, but I’ll tell you as much as I’m comfortable with, that okay?”

He nods, “Very, go ahead.” A sense of more relief coming off him, no sense of disappointment anywhere.

I take a deep breath and massage, “My power is… very powerful, I am capable of sensing the brainwaves from others, it’s what I meant when I said I sensed him, this allows me to sense the general emotion someone or something feels. It can also allow me to sense the next action a figure is going to take, sensing the cascading effect within their minds that formulates actions. Lastly, I can also sense their general morality of the figure through this method, I can’t exactly turn this off, it’s a passive ability that I can always listen to. A side benefit from this is that I can also tell how much time has passed for that figure, their brainwaves are denser the more experience the mind holds, probably a result of the collective memories mixing with each brainwave.”

I add, “I can also send out a unique brainwave that allows me to link with another mind more closely, this is how I’m talking to you now.”

Optimus hums in interest, “Intriguing, ask your 13^th question.”

I huff, “He’s really keeping track.” I look down in thought, then blink at a question I should’ve asked first, “What is everyone’s names?”

Amusement radiates off Optimus easily, “I’m sure you know the names of a few of them, but I will go over them again to be safe. The one you met here at the crater, the one you saved, his name is Cliffjumper, who takes the vehicular form of a red Dodge Challenger. He’s partner to one Arcee, who is our smallest Autobot who takes the vehicle form of a blue motorcycle. Then there’s our medic, Ratchet, he takes on the appearance of a white and orange ambulance. Our biggest member would be the wrecker of our team, he goes by Bulkhead, taking the form of a military-class, green SUV. Last but not least, is our scout, Bumblebee, he takes the form of a black and yellow Camaro muscle car.”

I couldn’t help but ask for clarification, “And you turn into a Peterbilt Semi-truck, right?”

He nods, amusement radiating off him even more, “Correct, so you were watching us from the start.”

I quietly chuckled as I sent it through to him, “Maybe.”

More amusement as he asked, “How old are you?”

I sigh, a slight smile still on my face as I answered, “19 years old, turning 20 in about a month or so.”

Optimus adds, “You’re quite young to be out here on your own.”

I hum, “I know, but I have my reasons. How would I tell the different between Autoboots and Decepticons? Besides the color and the fact they have a giant flying spaceship.”

The Autobot leader nods, “A fair question, the easiest way to distinguish us, is by our insignia’s, for Autobots, we have a block-like design of a face, no facial expression. While the Decepticons have a more sharp-like design, showing aggression.”

I hum in understanding, having looked through his mind as he explained… I got a pretty good picture in my head, “Alright, your turn, shoot.”

Optimus asks, “How come your out here alone? I would expect you to have some guardian watching over you, like your family.”

I sigh through my nose, “It’s complicated, let’s just say that I have a target on my back from very powerful people, so I moved here to get them off my tail, while also preparing for an inevitable encounter. One that I am eager to end myself.”

I could tell Optimus didn’t like that response, especially when he commented, “Revenge should not be sought after, it helps no one.”

I nod, “Agreed, but that’s not the only reason why I’m doing this, they’re very dangerous people, and I can’t trust the police to handle them. I’m the only one that stands a chance, as crazy and dumb as that sounds, which I am aware of. I just don’t want anyone else to get hurt.”

The Autobot was pretty surprised by my response, “You don’t solely seek revenge?” he asked for clarification.

I shook my head, “Relying on my anger alone to take these bastards down would only make it more difficult, I have to be smart and patient. Running in full tilt and half-cocked will get me and others killed, I can’t have that...” “Not again.”

Optimus nods, “I praise your wisdom in being smart and not seeking vengeance, but I must say that going after a group of individuals by yourself will not end well.”

I scowl slightly, before asking, “Can you not tell the others on your team about my powers? At least, not to the extent I told you.”

Optimus asks with a slight tilt of his head, “How come?”

I think for a second, then say, “The last time a group of people learned the full extent of my powers, well… they’re the people who are chasing me, people I have to deal with one time or another.”

A sense of understanding and sympathy washes over me as Optimus nods, “I will tell them only as much as you’re willing to let me share, it is entirely up to you. But I recommend you tell on other person on my team, in case I’m not around. I suggest Cliffjumper, you did show him a lot of your abilities, he may have many questions in need of answering.”

I sigh, “Fair enough, but I’ll think about it.”

He nods in understanding, “That is enough. Would you be against following me back to our base for your protection?” I tense, “The Decepticons now know of you, and they’ve seen you aid us in crisis, that makes you our ally in their eyes, an obstacle to be removed.”

I bite my lip and ask, “And what exactly would you be doing to protect me?”

He answers, “Merely to keep you under watch, if you were to be left alone, and the Decepticons find you, you would be in grave danger. I cannot allow that; thus we will need to keep tabs on your status and location.”

I look back at the two dead Decepticons I trashed, “I barely got rid of them, and if these were just foot soldiers, what would a high ranking officer of these things be like?” I sigh in defeat, “I guess… I wouldn’t be opposed to being protected, makes me that much safer from other problems as well, so there’s that.”

Then an idea hits me, “But if I’m going to be under guard by one of your team, I request for Cliffjumper, I trust him the most… and I want to check on his condition, he looked pretty bad. If… that’s alright with you?”

Optimus emits slight sympathy and nods, “Of course, I will bring you to base so you may check on Cliffjumper, and when he is better, he will escort you back to your home.”

I smile, “That’s alright with me.”

Optimus nods, “Good, would you like me to drive you back to base, or would you like to take our groundbridge?”

I shift uneasily, “I’d like to drive first, know where to go.” Then I snicker, “Would that count as two questions?”

Optimus smiles as he replies, “I think two is fair.”

I nod, “I’d like to drive, so I now where I’m going if I’m ever coming by on my own.”

The Autobot nods, “That is also fair, very well.”

Optimus then asks, “Are you alright with revealing yourself?”

I take a deep breath and step around the tree I was hiding behind and walk out into the open, Optimus turning to look at me, and I sense his relief when he does, I couldn’t help but chuckle at it, “Can you remove your mask?”

He does just that, showing his smile for the first time as he kneels down in front f me, “What’s you name young one?”

I cross my arms with a smirk, “Name’s David Crookir, pleasure to meet you Optimus Prime.”

He nods, “Likewise Mr. Crookir, let me drive you to our base.”

I wave him off, “No need, I have my own SUV just over there.” I point behind me, “Parked on the side of the road, I follow you to your base.”

The Autobot nods, “Very well, lead the way.” I nod and do just that, walking through the small forest to reach my car, Optimus following along behind me.

“This is going to be one hell of an adventure, isn’t it?”

Chapter Text

Driving behind Optimus, I can’t help but think back to everything I’ve already learned, “Aliens, I’ve made contact with aliens, I saved an alien, I’ve touched minds with aliens, I’ve killed aliens, and now I’m following the leader of a good group of aliens straight to their headquarters so they can protect me from the bad aliens… what is my life?”

I prepare to turn as the road veers off to the left, but then Optimus keep driving straight, right off the road and towards a large rock formation ahead, “Oh boy.” I can sense it was intentional, so I keep following him off the road.

Eventually, when we get close to the formation, the wall parts and reveals a large tunnel entrance inside, “Oh…” I chuckle at the sight, “A base in disguise, nice.”

Optimus hums back, “It was handed down to us from the government when they learned of us, it was a former-”

I interrupt him, “Former missile silo, yeah I thought so.” We enter the tunnel drive slowly through it.

I sense Optimus’ curiosity, so I add, “I may have hacked into a satellite from time to time, helped scout out the area without leaving the safety of my home, stumbled upon the formation that had a large landing pad on top of it. Not hard to spot.”

The Autobot replied simply with, “Understood.”

We finally reach the main lobby of the base, but it’s completely barren, just a large three screen console to the left, a large four lever switch to the right of it, a large upper platform to the left of it, an elevator set up at the platform, another tunnel the other side of the room. Optimus then transforms and keeps moving, walking ahead.

I look around and spot a small barren spot to the right of the large switch, so I roll down my window and call out, “Hey, I’m going to park there to stay out of the way.” Pointing to the wall just behind the switch, and Optimus nods.

I turn my car over as I roll up my window, and when I get it where I want it, I set it to park, and shut off the car. I take a deep breath as I unbuckle myself and open the door to my car, quickly stepping out and closing the door. I walk out towards the open room, glancing back at my SUV, smiling at the vibrant metallic lightning blue coat it has. It was a custom car I had design using bits and pieces from other SUVs, since none worked for me, so I built my own. It had three rows of seat, bulky from with extra layers on the plating, the inner walls having reinforced steel mixed with lead, to help it take gunfire and radiation, the windows and windshield being made of bullet resistant plexiglass. The wheels were currently set up for all-terrain environments, with a spare set of winter tires, and to top it all off, the top of the SUV had two red roof racks going front to back.

Looking away from my car, I see Optimus has left the main lobby, but I could still sense him close by, next to two others, one of them emanating irritation and frustration, the other feeling pain and amusement, “Guess Optimus is checking on Cliffjumper’s condition with Ratchet.”

I then spot a ladder to my right, just past the large switch, “Higher ground might be a good idea.” I say as I walk to the ladder and start climbing it.

Once I do, I see the large screens much clearer, and all I see is a bunch of lines and squiggle on the screen, “The hell?” sensing Ratchet’s sudden spike in shock, I shouted, “Hey Ratchet, could you teach me this?” I ask as I pointed at the screen.

I sense Ratchet’s scowl so easily, I think he was portraying it more than just on his face, “No.” he replied.

I looked over, seeing Ratchet, Optimus, and Cliffjumper all looking at me, “Why not, I’m a fast learner. I bet I could figure it out, I might be able to speak it if you show me how.”

Ratchet blows raspberries with a roll of his eyes, which he doesn’t try to hide at all, “Puh-lease.”

Cliffjumper chuckled as Optimus walks over, “Come on Doc bot, what’s the harm, it’ll help him get used to the place.”

Ratchet retorts, “Because there’s no point, he shouldn’t even be here, why is he here?!” his voice raising in volume as he turns to Optimus.

Said bot answers as he starts working with the large three screened computer, sized for these Autobots specifically, “Because the Decepticons have seen him help us, Cliffjumper specifically, meaning he is now a target from here on out, so we must keep him safe.” Ratchet grumbles nonsense.

I start walking around Optimus and approach Cliffjumper, “How are you doing Red?”

He chuckles, “Just dandy, I guess I should say thanks, now that I can see you in person now. So, thanks for the save!”

I smirk, “No problem, Red.” I then lean against the railing as I watch him, still laying on some giant metal slab, “What is that? Doesn’t look like a very comfortable bed.”

Ratchet huffs to my left, still looking over Cliffjumper’s vitals, “Your definition of comfortable is different from ours, and it is called a berth.”

“Ah, good to know.” I reply.

I then suddenly hear engine noise coming from the entrance tunnel Optimus and I took as brainwaves crash into me, making me groan and hold my head while everyone else looked over, Cliffjumper noticed me and asked, “You good?”

I sigh and rub my forehead, “Yeah, just… give me a second.” Then walk over to the railing near the stairs to watch the entrance tunnel.

I also notice the brainwaves the incoming figures, one emanating annoyance, while the other two were feeling worry and slight guilt, but I could tell it was in the thought that they were in trouble, making me chuckle, “Uh oh, I think they’re trouble for doing something wrong.”

Ratchet scoffs, “And what makes you think tha-?”

Just then the three missing members of the Autobots drive him, quickly transforming out of their vehicular forms and walking in, the smallest, that I now know as Arcee spoke first, “Cons jumped me.”

I give Ratchet a smug look, in which he just looked away and scoffed.

Cliffjumper sat up quickly and asked worriedly, “You too?” before wincing and holding his side, “Ow.”

Ratchet shoved back down, “Frag it Cliffjumper, lay down, you just survived an energon mine explosion at ground zero. You shouldn’t be alive, let alone moving right now!”

Optimus then asks, “Arcee, what happened?” then turned to the computer.

She opened her mouth to answer, but her optics quickly landed on me, said optics widening, What the- what is a human doing here?!” she shouts, pointing at me, a sense of shock and anger radiating off her.

I smile and lean forward a bit more, “That’s a pleasant way of saying, ‘Hi my name’s Arcee, what’s yours?’ it’s David, by the way.” Cliffjumper and Bumblebee both laugh.

Bulkhead then enters the conversation and asks, “Seriously, where did you come from, how did you get here?”

Bumblebee adds, :“Why is he here?”:

I glance at Optimus, “Cause he brought me, said it would be safer for me.”

Arcee crosses her arms and glares, “Why?” a sense of wary aggression coming off her.

I sigh, “I was the one at the Energon Crater, saved Cliffjumper, was talking to everyone in their heads, you all made a big scene about it.”

Bulkhead then points at me, “That was you?!”

I smirk and link with his mind, everyone who was looking at me gasping in surprise when I do, probably reacting to the sight of amber lightning in my eyes, same color as my eyes, “Oh yeah, that was me.” Causing Bulkhead tense and back away, dropping his finger.

Bumblebee steps forward looking at my eyes, :“How is he doing that?”:

Arcee narrows her eyes, “Yeah, how are you doing that?”

I unlink with the big wrecker and answer, “Optimus knows, and when I have the space and time, so will Cliffjumper.”

Arcee’s glare doesn’t go away, “Well, what is it?”

I shake my head, “That’s need to know, all you do need to now is that I have psychic abilities, that’s all.”

Arcee scowl, a slight growl leaving her, “Not good enough.”

I shrug, “Well, too bad. Bad things happen when I tell too many people, so unless you can prove yourself, you’re in the dark. Deal with it.”

Arcee opens her mouth to retort, but Optimus interrupts, “Arcee, he has a right to his secrets, we should be grateful he’s willing to tell anyone. Now, your report?”

The blue bot glares at me a second longer before turning to Optimus, “I was driving through Jasper when two Decepticon twins drove up behind me, knowing I was in trouble, I quickly turned off the road to some human rest spot. Unfortunately, I got caught and had to get out of there, they gave chase for quite awhile before Bumblebee showed. I couldn’t fight them where I was, so I drove off the road and to an underpass to deal with them there, Bumblebee joined in, and we fought them together.”

She shakes her head and crosses her arms, “And the cons would’ve been scrap metal if I wasn’t distracted by the human.”

Optimus perks up, looking to the side, indicating he was looking at them, “Human?”

Bumblebee buzzes his own reply, :“Actually there were two of them, both boys.”: holding up two fingers.

Optimus looks back at the screens, “Two boys.”

I smirk, “You Cybertronians are really good at staying incognito.” I say sarcastically.

Arcee glares at me, “Watch it.” I hold my hands up in surrender, she then looks down in thought, “I guess a second one caught us in action. I don’t know, was a little busy at the time!” glancing at Bumblebee.

I hum, “How’d the first one find you?”

She scoffs, “He hitched a ride at the most inconvenient time, had to drive him out of there before the cons killed us both.”

I glance at Optimus, “That’s not good, aiding or not, if what you said about the Decepticons is true, they’ll go after anyone that’s with you guys.”

The leader nods in agreement, “Agreed, if the Decepticons are targeting us, anyone perceived as our ally is at grave risk.”

Cliffjumper groans as he props himself up with his arms, still laying back for the most part, “Well, what’s the plan boss, we already got one human here, might as well get two more, right?”

Ratchet scoffs, “Puh-lease, they didn’t even do anything except being in the way. Why would the Decepticons go after them?”

I shrug, “They went after me, and I helped Cliffjumper, saved his life by taking away two of their soldiers. They’re not going to see this incident with Arcee and Bumblebee as a coincidence, they’ll go after them, you have to protect them.”

“David is correct.” Optimus turns around as he announces, “We must ensure the safety of all humans, and if that includes watching over them in person, then it is an action we must take.”

Ratchet scoffs and looks away, same with Arcee, then Bulkhead asks, “Alright, well, if we’re going to be picking them up, how are we going to do that? We don’t even know where they are!”

I smile, “I think I can help with that.” I then run over to the other side of Optimus and sit down at one of the human-sized computers, “What do they look like?”

Ratchet then interjects, “Ep, Ep, Ep, Ep! What do you think you’re doing?!”

I’m signing into the computer as I say offhandedly, “Hacking, what else?”

Shock is emitted from everyone as Cliffjumper asks, “Wait, you know how to hack?”

I shrug, “Eh, not much, but enough to get the job done on most things, like this. So, what do they look like?”

Arcee sighs and shakes her head, “Well, the one that climbed on me was skinny and tall, had a grey shirt with white sleeves, wore blue… jeans I think they’re called, and had black hair.”

I nod, typing it into the algorithm, “Alright, what about skin tone?”

Arcee answers, “White, I think.” I glance at her with an arced eyebrow, “What?! Like I said, I was a little busy not getting shot!” I look back to the screen and type it in.

I then ask, “And the other one?”

Arcee shrugs, “No clue, wasn’t paying attention.”

Then Bumblebee jumps in, :“Oh, he had these weird things on his face and around his eyes, he has white skin, had an orange shirt with white sleeves, and I think he had his hair up?”:

I sensed Bulkhead about to say something, but I interrupted, “Weird things? What weird things?” I asked, typing in what he already gave.

A sense of shock came from almost everyone, making me jump and look back, seeing everyone staring at me, wide eyed, “Uh, what?” I ask.

Cliffjumper chuckles, “Guys, of course he can understand Bee, he can read minds, remember?”

Bumblebee shakes his head to get out of his stupor, before walking up to me and asking, :“Wait, you can understand me?”:

I slowly shrug, “Yes? To be fair, I have heard weirder and understand it just fine. Anyways, can we get back to the weird things on the kids face, and what color was his hair?”

Bumblebee blinks, :“Oh, right!”: he things begins to mime out what he was talking about, :“He wore these weird red rectangles over his eyes, it had two rods coming out that hooked over his ears, don’t know what they were.”:

I nod, “Oh, those are glasses, helps people see when their eyes are… I guess, malformed, their eyes can’t focus on things at certain distances like the average person, making it hard to see sometimes. And his hair?”

Bumblebee answers, “Brown, with a little bit of red. Though, that might’ve been the sun at the time.”

“Brown it is.” after typing up the last of the info, sent out a search, and after a few seconds, got hits, “Bingo!” and sent them to the larger screens, “Jackson Darby and Rafael Esquivel, ages 16 and 12, respectively.”

Cliffjumper praises, “Nice!”

Optimus nods, “Well done.”

I smirk, “Thank you.” I look at their information, “From what their info says, they both live in Jasper Nevada, so we don’t have to worry about them leaving anytime soon. Jackson’s got a job at the KO Fast Food restaurant, Rafael is jobless -no surprise-, both live at home with their parents. Ahah! Both go to school at Jasper Secondary, the only Highschool in the city.”

Arcee huffs, “Not bad.” She says begrudgingly.

I chuckle, “Again, thanks.” I look over the info, “How long ago did you see them?”

Bumblebee replies, :“Not long, maybe half an hour from now. Why?”:

I hum, “They’re probably already home, so our best bet is to wait until tomorrow and pick them up from school. From what I can tell, neither are picked up from school by their parents, one takes the bus while the other bikes home. So you should be safe to get them then.”

Optimus then asks, “When does this school end for the day, and do they have it tomorrow?”

I nod, “Yeah, school’s in tomorrow, and it ends at 3 in the afternoon, so pick them up then and you should be safe.” I smirk as I spin around to face them, “Just do try to stay in disguise this time.”

Arcee growls, “Why you-”

Optimus looks at her, “Enough, he makes a valid point. We are robots in disguise, don’t transform in public, and don’t speak unless you are sure no one else is present.”

They all nod, “Yes Optimus.”

The leader nods and looks back to me, “Thank you for your help.”

I give him a salute, “Anytime boss.” Getting an amused huff from Cliffjumper, “One more thing though.” Optimus nods, “Since Cliffjumper seems to be out of commission for a day or so, can I sleep here?” a sense of and disagreement comes from Ratchet, “I can sleep in my car and-”

“Absolutely not!” Ratchet shouts, getting everyone’s attention, “You are too small, we have no human materials for you, they were all removed when we took this silo, and if you go underfoot, you’ll go squish!”

I deadpan, “I can sleep over there you know.” I reply, pointing at a couch at the area next to Optimus, not at ground level, “And if that’s not good enough for you, I can sleep in my minivan that’s literally right behind this structure.” Stomping the floor, “And said minivan is a vibrant lightning blue, you can’t miss it.”

Bulkhead walks over and immediately spots it, “Oh wow, that’s… really obvious.” I gesture to me, my face saying, ‘see?’

Ratchet scowls, but doesn’t say anything, so I look back to Optimus, “That alright with you?”

The Autobot nods, “Very well, you may reside here for while Cliffjumper recovers.”

I smile, “Great, now I’m going to give Red some company.” Optimus nods and gets back to work while I run across the platform to the railings near Cliffjumper.

Getting there, I see Arcee watching him with her arms crossed, “You’re lucky to be alive partner.”

Cliffjumper waves her off, “Eh, I’m fine, give me until morning and I’ll be going around like nothing happened. Then I’ll get to really toss around those cons.”  He states proudly, clenching a fist, “Because you know what I always say!”

Arcee smiles fondly, “You mess with Cliffjumper, and you get the horns.”

I was about to make a retort about the state of his horns, until I noticed that the one that was sheared off was back on, a weld line going around it, “Guess Ratchet put it back on.”

I smile, “Hey.”

Arcee and Cliffjumper both look at me, the former gaining a slight scowl while the latter smiled even brighter, “My hero, not heading out?”

I lean on the railing, “Nah, waiting on you to get all better before I head out of here, Optimus gave the all-clear for you and me to be partnered up, for my safety. Don’t know how many times that’ll be reversed.”

He laughs, “Oh don’t you worry, after I’m all better, I’m going to be saving your butt more than you saving mine.”

I laugh, “Oh, I don’t know about that.”

Arcee rolls her eyes ad groans, “Alright, I’m turning in, you two have fun chit-chatting.” And walks off down the hallway to the right.

I hum, “I don’t think she likes me vey much.”

Cliffjumper waves it off, “Probably nothing, she’s rough around the edges, but she means well.” He gets a little more serious as he asks, “You said that you were going to tell me you’re secrets about your powers?”

I smile and nod, “Yeah, so buckle in. Optimus knows the general idea, but you’re going to get the specific run down.”

He motions towards himself with his fingers, “Give it to me.”

I smirk and push a link to Cliffjumper, my eyes lighting up with my power, “Again, this is going to be a lot, but I’ll try to help you understand.”

Chapter Text

It’s the next day, Arcee and Bumblebee have already left to pick up Rafael and Jackson from their high school. While I sat by Cliffjumper and keeping him busy, who is still bedridden… berthridden? He’s healed somewhat since yesterday, but he still needs some time to get back to full strength, and after I had explained everything about what I could do, he had a lot of questions that he had to hold on to for since it was late, so he held onto them for today, which he didn’t waste on using. I finally got to his last question.

“So, you can really have full control over someone?” he asks in his mind, just so no one hears.

I nod, “Yep, and it doesn’t have to be forcing them to move, I can make them see things, smell things, taste things, and as you can tell, hear things.”

He chuckles, “That’s so cool, I’m kinda jealous.”

I sigh, “It’s not as exciting as you think, makes living normal pretty difficult, especially when it’s second nature and I sometimes forget some people can’t do what I can do. It’s how I exposed myself to some undesirable people, caused a lot of problems then.”

He shrugs, “I’m sorry to hear that, but it’s in the past now, nothing to do but move forward, right?”

I nod with a smirk, “Agreed, look back too much or too long, and you’ll miss what’s ahead of you.”

Cliffjumper nods, “Good one, you’re a lot smarter than what I first thought.”

I huff in amusement, “A lot of people come to that conclusion. I may or not brag about being to Smartest man alive from time to time.” I say as I scratch the back of my head.

He arcs an eyebrow as he smirks, “Oh really? Because you can use your power on yourself?”

I cough into my fist, “Yeah, it’s what I meant when I said I learn fast.”

Cliffjumper huffs in slight bewilderment, “Man, I can’t believe I’m going to have you as my partner along with Arcee.”

I smile, “Same here, never thought I’d meet real aliens. I mean, I knew it was unlikely to for intelligent alien life, similar to humans, to exist out there, but I knew they had to be out there, rare but out there. Guess I should’ve looked more ‘down to earth.’”

Cliffjumper snickered, “Wow, that was bad.”

I crossed my arms, “You laughed, good enough for me.”

Bulkhead then walks over and asks, “Hey, how are you doing Cliff?”

Said bot waves him off with a scoff, “Will everyone stop worrying about me, I’m fine!”

Ratchet shouted from the main lobby, “You blew up, you weren’t fine!”

Cliffjumper rolls his eyes with a groan while Bulkhead and I chuckle, then I say, “Oh calm down, you’re fine. Just wait another day or so and you’ll be up and blasting cons like no tomorrow.”

Bulkhead nods with a smile, “Yeah, you’re hard to snuff Cliff, just give it some more time.”

Cliffjumper slowly sits up, “I’ve been sitting on this scrap forsaken berth for a whole day, I just want to get moving again!”

I frown and narrow my eyes, “Well, Ratchet told you to rest for two days, so you’re going to do just that. Or you could always ignore him and make yourself worse and wait even longer to kick con butt.”

The red bot groans and hangs his head, “Fine, I’ll rest.”

I smile ad stand up, “Good. Bulkhead, watch him, just to be safe.”

Said bot smirks, “Sure thing David.” Getting a scoff from Cliffjumper.

I then run off, hopping down from the berth and performing a safety roll, then start walking towards the stairs to the upper floor. I start looking around for everyone, and spot Optimus in the groundbridge.

Reaching the top, I walk to Ratchet and ask, “Hey, what’s Optimus doing in there?”

The medic grunts, “Performing maintenance on the Groundbridge. What else?” sounding annoyed.

I deadpan, “Delightful as always.” He grunts.

I roll my eyes and check my phone for the time, “3:17, they should be here soon.” I look up at Ratchet as I put my phone away, “Ratchet,”

He groans and hangs his head back, “What, what is it?” he asks frustrated, now looking at me.

I sigh, “Are Bumblebee and Arcee close? They should be here soon.” I cock an eyebrow when he keeps staring.

He rolls his eyes, “They’re on their way here, I’ll tell you when they get-” as soon as he looks at the screen, his optics widen his surprise, “They’re here.”

I grin smugly, “Good to know.”

“Shut up.” He mutters, making me grin more.

Two brainwaves wash over my mind as I hear the sound of engine noise, and with a little but o focus, I sense to three softer brainwaves accompanying them, making me groan, “There’s a third one.”

Optimus looks back at my comment just as Bumblebee slowly emerges from the entrance tunnel, with Rafael in his passenger seat. Arcee close behind with Jackson and some random girl with pigtails and faded pink dyed hair, a pink t-shirt under some blue coverall that ended at her thighs, she also had purple and navy blue stockings on, and wore black boots with pink laces.

It wasn’t hard to sense their wonder and fascination of the Autobots, especially when their all commenting, “Coooool…” “Wow” “Whoa…”

Bulkhead then walked up, abandoning his post of watching Cliffjumper, to see the humans for himself… if the rise of curiosity I was getting from him was any indication. Eventually, Rafael got out of Bumblebee while Jackson and the girl got off Arcee, who then quickly transformed into bot mode afterward.

Ratchet steps up and asks, “I thought there two.” A sense of confusion leaving him.

Arcee deadpans as she says, “Haven’t you heard?” she eyes the kids, “Humans multiply.” And walks away to check on Cliffjumper, a sense of worry still on her mind.

I smile and nod back towards where medical berth, “He’s in there, been getting pretty restless already.”

She scoffs with a small smile and walks over to him, “How you doin’ Cliff?”

I look back to the kids as Rafael looks at the girl, holding out his hand, “I’m Raf.”

The girl then practically ignores him as she says, “I’m Miko.” And runs towards Bulkhead, who is immediately uncomfortable, “Who are you?”

The wrecker answers slowly with a nod of his head, “Bulkhead.”

Miko gasps, bending her knees in excitement, “Are you a car? I bet you’re a truck, a monster truck! Do you like heavy metal, how much do you weigh, ever use a wrecking ball and a punching bag?”

I couldn’t stop the chuckle from leaving my throat, which got everyone’s attention, especially the kids, “Easy there Rockstar, you’re not the only one in the room!”

Miko then asks, “And who are you?”

I smirk, “Name’s David Crookir, pleasure to meet you. Now please stand with the others, someone needs to explain your new situation. They can answer your questions later.”

Miko groans in disappointment, but does what I ask, “Fine.”

Rafael then asks, “So… if you guys are robots, then who made you?”

Ratchet scoffs, “Puh-lease.”

I give the medic a look, “It’s a valid question when they don’t know what you are.” I sense Optimus moving toward them, so I look over, “All yours chief.”

The kids all turn around to see Optimus Prime reaching them, standing only a few feet away from them, he then says, “We are autonomous robotic organisms, from the planet Cybertron, also known as Autobots.”

Jackson steps up and asks, “Why are you here?”

Optimus answers, “To protect your planet, from the Decepticons.”

Arcee chips in from the medical wing, “The jokers who tried to bump us off last night!”

Jackson looks back at Optimus, “Okay, why are they here?”

Optimus steps forward to then kneel down closer to their level, “A fair question Jackson-”

The boy holds up his hands, “Uh, just Jack is fine.”

The leader nods, “Jack, a fair question, in part, they are here because our world is uninhabitable, ravaged by centuries of civil war.”

Rafael then asks, “Why were you fighting a war?”

Optimus glances at expectantly, and I nod in response, “To have sole control over a unique resource known as Energon.”

The kids looked at me, Jack asking, “Energon, what’s that?”

I answer, “A fuel source, it powers and gives life to all Cypertronians, it acts as their blood. Except, the difference is that they have to keep finding it, since they’re bodies consume it and never natural replenish it. Without energon, they die.”

Optimus nods, “He is correct, energon is the fuel and lifeblood of all Autobots and Decepticons alike.” He then starts to stare off into space as he continues, “The combat was fierce, and endured for centuries. In the beginning, I fought alongside one whom I’d consider a brother.” His voice then got heavy as I felt sadness and guilt in his mind, “But in war, ideals can be corrupted, and it was thus… that Megatron lost his way.”

Miko sighs boredly, getting Optimus’ attention back to the present while the girls asks, “Is there going to be a pop quiz?” twirling some of her hair.

The two other boys gave her a look, frustration and insulted bewilderment coming from them both while I gave her the stick eye, “Brat.”

Jack then looks back at Optimus as he asks, “So, what does Megatron, or any of this, have to do with us?”

I answer simply, “Aside from Miko, you were spotted with the Autobots.” They all looked at me, “The Decepticons, from what I’ve heard, don’t take kindly to Autobot allies, no matter what they may be. So whether you like it or not, you’re now targets and need to be protected.”

Jack then gestures to Miko, “And what about her?”

I look at Arcee, “Saw something she shouldn’t have and now we have to make sure she doesn’t spill anything.” Arcee glances at me, before groaning and looking away again, making Cliffjumper chuckle.

I look back towards the others as Optimus stands up and walks around the kids, “David is correct, since you now know of our existence, I fear that of last night, the Decepticons know of yours.”

Jack nods as he says, “Got it, if we spot any strange vehicle, call 911. Can we go now?”

I sense Miko’s shock just before she retorts, “Are you insane? I’m living a dream here in Botswana, and I am not gonna allow you or anyone else to shatter it.”

I then add, “Rockstar’s got a point Jack, at least in the not leaving part.”

Optimus supports me, “It is best that you four remain under our watch, at least until we can determine our enemies’ intentions.”

I sense a rush of disagreement from Ratchet as he turns around and says under hushed tones, “Optimus, with al due respect, the human children are in as much danger here as anywhere.”

Jack protests, “Children?” Miko splaying her hands out like, ‘Really dude?’

I answer, “16 is still a youth age for us Jack, teenagers are still kids... legally.”

Ratchet continues, “They have no protective shell. If they get underfoot, they will go… squish.” Stepping slightly forward to prove his point, the kids flinching back.

Optimus puts his hands on his hips as he replies simply, “Then, for the time being Ratchet, we must watch where we step.” Gesturing to the base.

Suddenly, the three large computer screen starts flashing green as an alarm sounds. I’d freak out if it weren’t for the fact that none of the bots were, some even seemed slightly annoyed, Cliffjumper and Bulkhead especially.

Ratchet walks up to the computer as Jack asks panickily, “What’s that?”

I reply, “Nothing serious, I don’t think.”

Bumblebee glancing back at the kids as he says, :“It’s just our Proximity Sensor, for the top of the base.”:

I look at him, “Proximity from up top, what set it off?”

Ratchet pulls up a camera feed on screen, revealing a helicopter powering down with someone walking away, “It’s Agent Fowler.”

I blink, “Wait, Agent? Is that your liaison from the military?”

Optimus nods, “Correct, Agent Fowler is our designated liaison to the outside world. As he tends to visit only where there are… issues, it may be best that you do not meet him at this time.” The kids run off underneath the stairs, then Optimus looks at me, “Hide.”

I conveniently, I immediately sense him within the elevator, so I link up with him and alter his vision and hearing without his knowledge, “Already done.”

The elevator lands at the lowest floor it can, the one I’m at, and beeps before opening the doors, everyone except Optimus tenses when they see Agent Fowler. And when I look back, he looks up… and doesn’t notice me.

I pump a fist, “I love this power sometimes.”

Agent Fowler then walks out and immediately starts talking, sounding really annoyed, “Seven wrecks, 34 fender benders,” everyone sighs in relief before walking away while Optimus wlaks up the man, “a 3 hour traffic jam!”

He glances at Arcee and Bumblebee as he leans towards the railing, “And a particular note, Numerous reports of a speeding motorcycle of unknown make, and black and yellow custom muscle car.”

I groan as I put a finger over my mouth, “This guy’s asshole.” But Agent Fowler doesn’t notice me, making Cliffjumper struggling to hold in his laughter.

Agent Fowler then asks Optimus, “So, got anything you need to get off your tin chest, Prime!”

The Autobot leader leans forward slightly, “We have the situation under control Agent Fowler.”

The man replies, “They’re back, aren’t they?”

Optimus answers, “If you are referring to the Decepticons, I have doubts that they ever left. Your planet is much too valuable.”

Agent Fowler then says menacingly, “Then it’s time to wake up the Pentagon.”

I mutter sarcastically, “That’ll go well.”

Optimus glances at me before refocusing on Agent Fowler, “Hear me Agent Fowler, we are your best, possibly you only chance against the Decepticons threat.” And I sense a rising dread filling Optimus.

I frown, “He’s really worried about involving humans in this.”

But Agent Fowler doesn’t seem to care, replying with a, “Says you.” retort.

Bulkhead then calls out, “Hey Fleshie!” getting the man’s attention, “Did anyone get splattered on that freeway? Team Prime knows when to use force.” He comments, ripping out some device off a surface, much to Ratchet’s horror and frsuteration, then Bulkhead squeezes the life out of it, “And how much to use.” Causing the clamp head to pop off.

Ratchet approaches him and shouts, “Bulkhead, I needed that!”

Optimus commands, “Enough!” as I sigh with shake of my head.

Optimus looks back at the man and says, “Military involvement will only result in even more catastrophe. Perhaps you can condone widespread human casualties Agent Fowler. I, however, cannot.”

Agent Fowler retorts, “Then do us both a favor, and handle this Prime, under the radar.” And starts walking away, and when he enters the elevator and presses a button, he glances back at the Prime and threatens, “Or I will.” The doors closing soon after.

I sigh I relief and unlink with the man, “Oh, that was close.”

Optimus nods, “Indeed, I wouldn’t recommend trying that again, just to be safe.”

I nod, “Got it, kinda wanted to show off, sorry.”

Before Optimus could comment on that, Bulkhead walks up next to his leader and says, “Pretty big bearings, for a human.”

Optimus replies, “Agent Fowler is concerned for his world Bulkhead, as he should be.”

I take a deep breath, “Well, I’m going to take a break and check on Cliffjumper again.”

Optimus nods, “Very well, go ahead.”

I nod with a smile and run down the stairs, “Hey Red, what you two talking about?”

He laughs, “Oh just reminiscing the mission that brought us here.” He glances at Arcee, “Right Cee?”

She smiles a little, “Yeah, one hell of a story.”

I climb up onto the berth, then climb up Cliffjumper, “Really, what happened, if you don’t mind me asking?”

Cliffjumper laughs, “Not at all, in fact, we were just getting to the part where we met up. It went like this…”

Chapter Text

“Then Arcee twisted around Shockwave’s bolt and blasted him right in the visor!” Cliffjumper says with a punch of a fist.

I grin and look back at her, “Nice shot.”

She rolls her eyes, “I’ve made harder ones.”

Cliffjumper laughs, “Come on Cee, it was still and amazing shot!”

The woman bot opens her mouth to retort, but a beeping sound coming from the large console sounds, getting everyone’s attention. I hop off the berth and run up the stairs to get a better look on the screens, from there, I see a purple signature with a bar of said purple going up and down on the right.

I arc an eyebrow and ask, “What is that?”

Ratchet mutters, “Blasted earth tech.” then turns to the other bots, “An energon signal of reverse magnitude just popped up on the map.”

Confusion and surprise washes over me from everyone in the room, Optimus stepping up and asking, “How is that possible?”

The medic shakes his head, “It isn’t, another bug, the system’s chock full of them.”

I then say, “Even so, it may be good to investigate, it may not be a bug after all.”

Ratchet scoffs, “As much as I hate to agree with him, it would be better to investigate and find out what would’ve caused such on odd bug like this.”

Optimus nods, “Agreed. Ratchet, ready the groundbridge.” And donned his battle mask.

Miko then shouts, “Hey!” getting everyone’s attention, “What can we do?”

The leader replies, “Remain with Ratchet and Cliffjumper.”

Cliffjumper shouts, “Finally, some new company!”

Miko sags, “Aw.”

Ratchet lightly slaps his side, “Ugh.” Before turning on the groundbridge, the tunnel to the right slowly lighting up, before the end of said tunnel turns into the glowing green vortex I saw yesterday.

Optimus steps forward and commands “Autobots, Roll Out.” Before transforming and driving through the vortex, Bulkhead, Arcee, and Bumblebee following after him.

I feel the surprise and shock from the kids left of Ratchet as I smile, “Whoa.”

Jack then says, “W-what just happened?”

Ratchet answers matter-of-factly, “I transported them to the designated coordinates via the groundbridge.”

Raf asks, “What’s a groundbridge?”

Ratchet scoffs and shakes his head, but before he could answer, I did, “Think of it like a wormhole, a puncture of space and time between here to anywhere on Earth.”

I feel surprise from Ratchet and amusement from Cliffjumper as the latter asks, “How’d you know it goes anywhere on Earth?”

I shrug as I look back at him, “Easy, it’s called a groundbridge for a reason, I doubt it means where it operates, so it had to be it’s transport range.”

Ratchet huffs before looking away to the screens, “Well, you’d be right. Since we don’t currently posses the means, or the energon required for intergalactic travel.”

Jack states, “You’re stuck here, on earth.”

The medic becomes slightly frustrated as he adds, “With the likes of you, yes.” He then looks to the groundbridge tunnel, “But I constructed the groundbridge to enable travel from here to anywhere on your planet.” A sense of pride emanating off him.

Raf leans forward, amazement clearly evident in his tone, “Whoa, does it work for humans?”

I shrug as I look back at the vortex, “It should, it’s just a space-time tunnel, not a shredder.”

Ratchet replies as well, “Naturally.”

Miko then asks, “You mean I could just shoot on over to my parents in Tokyo?”

I sense him getting an idea, a mischievous energy leaving him, “Within moments, in fact-”

However, I interrupt him, “Watch it Ratchet.” He groans and turns away, getting a laugh from Cliffjumper.

I walk off the platform and run to Cliffjumper again, making him smile as he teases, “Aw, just can’t stay away, can you?”

I huff and roll my eyes, “Whatever Red, not like I have anything better to do.”

Cliffjumper shrugs as I start climbing the medical berth, “Fair point. What do you want to talk about now?”

I pull myself to the top and shrug, “No clue, just wanted to sit with you, better than Mr. Grumpy Medic.”

Ratchet shouts, “Heard that!” getting us to both laugh.

Cliffjumper stretches, wincing at the pop in his left shoulder, “Not wrong, I am the life of the party.”

As Cliffjumper and I chatted, Jack, Raf, and Miko explored the main lobby of the Autobot base, it wasn’t long before one of the was getting on Ratchet’s nerves. I sensed a boost in curiosity from Miko and glanced over, seeing her walking towards some small device mounted on to the wall.

She asked, “What is this anyway?” moving her hand towards it.

Without looking, Ratchet replied, “Broken, don’t touch.” Miko glanced at him, then started reaching for it again, “Don’t touch that either.”

Jack asks, “Is there anything we can touch?” Ratchet glancing back at him.

Cliffjumper whispers, “No.” making me chuckle on his shoulder.

As the medic goes to reply, his computer beeps with an error message popping up, making the bot look at it in confusion, which gets Raf’s attention, “How come you guys are using human computers?”

Ratchet replies, frustrated, “It certainly isn’t by choice, it was handed down by the previous tenants when we inherited this former missile silo. I make modifications as I see fit-” but gets interrupted by every screen crashing and popping up error messages, making him groan.

I then shout out, “You may need to make some more modifications Ratchet!” getting a snicker from Cliffjumper.

Ratchet glares at us, “Quiet you.”

Raf then says, “I think I can fix that.”

Scepticism leaves Ratchet in waves as he turns back to the youngest human, who I sense has started typing away at something, and says, “Really, you know this is complex technology, don’t you? I mean, it isn’t a child’s toy.” Chuckling in amusement afterward.

Raf then says, “Now try.”

Confusion radiates off Ratchet as he turns to the screens, which quickly correcting the message as an all clear, and leave, restoring the screens back to normal. Shock and awe leave Ratchet as he looks back at Raf, who smiles sheepishly as he rubs the back of his head (at least, that’s what his brainwaves tell me).

I then say, “People usually say thank you when someone helps them.” Ratchet only grumbles and looks away, irritation evident in his mind.

Miko groans, “What’s his problem?”

Amusement in Cliffjumper surfaces as he says, “Don’t mind him, he wouldn’t know gratitude if it patted him on the back.” Causing a spike of annoyance in Ratchet as he continues monitoring the screens.

Jack looks to the red bot as he says, “And you are?”

Cliffjumper smirks, a large wave of pride leaving him, “Name’s Cliffjumper, Arcee’s battle partner and this human’s guardian.” Pointing to me.

I huff with a roll of my eyes as I retort, “Didn’t I save your life, without me, you’d be dead.”

He waves it off, “Whatever.”

A sense of excitement radiates off Miko as she asks, “What happened?”

Cliffjumper opens his mouth to reply, but sensing his mischievous intention, I answer, “Got outnumbered and beaten to the ground, blew up from energon, then I killed tow cons.”

Cliffjumper groans along with Miko, both emanating disappointment and annoyance as the bot says, “Oh come one, you don’t know how to tell a story do you?”

I shrug with a smile, “That’s what happened.”

Cliffjumper groans, “Yeah sure, let a professional tell the story.” He then looks up to Raf, “Hey kid, want to hear a story?”

The boy looks up from his computer, “Huh? Oh, uh, sure.” He closes his laptop and climbs down the ladder, once he reaches the floor, he runs over and stands with the other kids.

Cliffjumper then starts his story, “So it all starts around yesterday’s late evening, I’m driving around as a red Dodge Challenger, going through my usual patrol route in the desert, talking to Arcee about this time I had to deal with some city cops. You see, the poor humans didn’t like where I had parked-”

I interrupted, “He was illegally parked, I hear.”

Cliffjumper continues, unbothered, “Clamping on ‘The Boot’, this stupid metal clamp that’s pretty annoying to deal with. Anyways, I tell her I waited for those cops to leave, then kicked off the scrappy thing and hit those cops hard, scaring them to the rust age itself!” he laughs, “Oh, that was awesome, anyways, after Arcee told me off – barely – about attacking humans and not staying low profile, I stumbled across an energon signal, a strong one.”

He smiles, “So I tell her such, to which she asks, ‘Need back-up?’” he chuckles, “So I reply with a ‘Do I ever need back-up?’”

“You did.” I add.

He shushes me, “Stop spoiling the story.” Getting an amused huff from Jack and a chuckle from Raf, Cliffjumper looks back to the kids as he continues, “So I follow the signal and reach this massive crater filled with these massive energon crystals, I mean, we’re talking crystals at least a good half my size taller than me.”

Miko wows in astonishment, completely focused on the story, to which Cliffjumper laughs, “Yeah, wow indeed. Anyway, as I am admiring the amount of energon I found, this large shadow casts over the area, me included. So I transform out of my vehicle mode and look up, seeing this large ship out of every Autobot’s nightmare, The Decepticon Warship.”  Naming the ship ominously.

And I could sense it worked by the way, Raf stepped slightly closer to Jack, the two emanating slight worry, but before Cliffjumper could continue his story, Optimus commed in, “Ratchet, bridge us back!”

Said medic standing at attention, readying groundbridge as Optimus adds, “Use the arrival coordinates, now!” Ratchet pulls the switch, activating the groundbridge.

The kids run up the steps to upper floor while I lean forward, “That doesn’t good.” I say softly,

Cliffjumper nods, “Yeah, wonder what happened.”

Soon after, we see the bots drive through the vortex back to base, all transforming and moving out of the way quickly, with Optimus soon joining them, sounds of hissing hydraulics coming from his systems. What struck out the most though, was the slight sense of horror in each of their minds, like they’d seen a ghost.

I frown, “That can’t be good. Stay here.” I jump off Cliffjumper, then the berth, before running up the steps, watching each of them closely.

Ratchet comments, “Cutting a bit close, what’d you find?”

I step forward, “Yeah, you all seem mortified.”

They all glance at each other, wandering who should go I first I guess, but then Miko pushes me aside and points to the groundbridge as she asks, “What was that explosion, was there a fight, can I come with next time!?”

Arcee growls as she steps out, fury leaving her with barely any restrain as she gestures to the other bots, “Look-”

But I interrupt, “Slow it down Rockstar, they came back from a stressful mission, let them rest a bit before asking them so many questions. How about you kids explore the base, while I learn what happened.” I smile, “Who knows if you find some secret passage in the base, this was an old military facility.”

She gasps, “You’re right! Come on guys, time to explore!” she exclaims, grabbing Jack and Raf’s hands and running away.

A sense of relief leaves Bumblebee and Bulkhead, while gratitude leaves Optimus, so I look back and nod, “No problem, now what out there, it must’ve been pretty bad if you were running from an explosion.”

Bulkhead huffs, “That’s not what we’re worried about.”

Cliffjumper stands up from his berth and lightly limps forward, leaning against the wall, “Than what is?”

Ratchet glares at Cliffjumper, about to reprimand him, but I stop him, “Not now Ratchet.”

Optimus replies, “We don’t know.”

Ratchet looks to the leader, “You don’t know, what do you mean you don’t know?”

Bumblebee answers, :“We were in an energon mine, which had normal cons patrolling it, but then, when we got to the center-”:

“There was a different con.” Arcee continues, “He was cut down, butchered, crawling without his legs. It looked like a result of one of those con experiments during the war.” Then she falters, falling too her knees.

“Arcee!” Cliffjumper calls out.

Bumblebee stepping forward, ‘“Arcee, are you okay?”:

She holds up a hand, “I’m fine, just… dizzy.”

I sense a wave of confusion a little ways away, and when I look over, I see the kids standing next to the ladder, “Guess they were too invested to leave.”

Miko asks herself, “Robots who get dizzy?”

Raf adds an observation, “Robots with emotions.”

Jack adds, unnerved, “Robots… who can die.”

Arcee sits on a small crate as Ratchet scans her over, and I couldn’t stop myself form asking, “What’s you got Ratchet?”

“Give me a moment.” He answers as he moves his scanner across the woman’s frame, it the bleeps red near her knee, he scans it over to more times before finding something, “Hm, what is this?” leaning forward.

I lean over the rail and get a look, seeing a splotch of purple liquid on Arcee’s left hand, some weird purple mist leaving it, “Can’t be anything good.”

Arcee shakes and holds her head as she says, “Don’t know, the con was covered in it, leaking it.”

Ratchet reaches over with a scalpel to get a sample as I said, “Would that mean it’s a form of energon?”

The medic comments, “Possibly.” He inspects the liquid on the tool, “It could be the cause of the signal we picked up.” He glances at Arcee, “Go take a decontamination bath, now.”

Arcee sways as Bumblebee helps her up and walks her to the large capsule bath the medical bay, Ratchet following, Jack then says, “O-Optimus, I hate to bug but,” he holds his phone, “No bars.”

The Autobot replies, “A security precaution, the silo walls isolate all radiowaves.”

Jack huffs, “Well, if I don’t call my mom like, now. I pretty sure the cops will be out looking for me.”

Optimus lean closer, slight wariness increasing in his mind, “Have you broken a law?”

Jack answers, “Uh, curfew. It’s after 10pm.”

Raf adds, “I better get home too, or I’ll be grounded for a year.”

I lean against the railing, “The downsides of living with your parents.”

Optimus nods in understanding, “Earth customs, I hadn’t considered.” He stands up straight, “But the issue of your safety remains.”

He then turns to Bulkhead as he calls the bot over, the green bot walking up, Optimus then states, “Accompany Miko home.”

Miko quickly gets excited, “Awesome! My host parents will freak!”

I reply, “No they won’t.”

Optimus adds, “And maintain covert surveillance, in vehicle form.”

They both look at the kids as Bulkhead reiterates, “Curbside duty, got it.” Making Miko groan in disappointment.

Optimus then looks to Bumblebee, “Bumblebee, you will watch over Raf.” The team scout glancing back to Raf, and I sense them both smile.

Optimus the calls out, “Ratchet.”

Who only raises a hand and says, “Busy.” Just as Arcee leaves the capsule.

So Optimus changes the blue bot, “Arcee, you will accompany Jack.” Everyone looks at the boy, who looks momentarily mortified, before calming down and scratching the back of his head, trying to play it off.

The woman sways, her tone obviously fake as she says, “Still dizzy.”

But Ratchet gives a thumbs up, “You’re fine, says your physician.” She huffs and walks away.

As the bots transform, Miko then asks, “Hey, what about him?” pointing to me.

I shrug, “I live home alone, and Cliffjumper can’t watch over me yet, since he’s still recovering. So I’m staying here until he fully recovers.”

Miko exclaims, “What, no fair!”

I shrug, “So is life, now get out of here before you’re host parents start calling the cops for you.”

She groans and climbs into Bulkhead, they then all drive out, leaving the base through the tunnel, I then yawn unexpectedly, “Guess I should get some sleep, it is pretty late.”

Optimus nods, “Very well, do what you need, we will remain quiet for you.”

I smile and walk down the steps, “Thanks boss, goodnight.”

Cliffjumper smiles, “See you tomorrow, I guess.”

Chapter Text

I’m leaning against my car as I wait for Cliffjumper to be finished his check up, it’s now been two days since I first found him, and he’s been eager to get out of base.

“Hurry up doc!” the red mech shouts.

Ratchet retorts, “If you stop moving, I would be done already.”

Cliffjumper groans, “I’ve been stuck in here for over a day now, can I please get out of here for an hour at least!”

Ratchet replies, “Not until I finish your check up, who knows how much damage as yet to heal.”

Cliffjumper hangs his head back, “Fine.”

I smile, “I can wait Red, we’re not in a hurry.” The bot huffs in annoyance.

Ratchet then starts recording what he got, “You’re fit to leave base, but no strenuous activity. You still have yet to fully recover.”

Cliffjumper jumps off the berth, Yeah, yeah, I got it. Come on David, let’s get out of here!” he shouts, transforming into his bot mode and rolling up next to me, “Well?”

I chuckle as I roll my eyes, “Slow your roll Autobot.” And step into my car, sitting down in the driver’s seat and closing the door.

I start the engine as I message him, “Let’s go.” And drive off.

A wave of relief and excitement radiates off him as he roars his engine and follows me out of base, “Finally!”

I laugh and glance at my rear-view mirror, watching Cliffjumper driving behind me, his form jumping a bit as he tries to drive faster, “Come on, faster!”

I roll my eyes and look ahead as I see the walls of the base’s entrance open up, “Calm down Red.”

We leave the base into the large open air, the sun still rising ahead of us. I roll down my window and breath in the fresh air, enjoying the open air after a day and a half without it.

Cliffjumper then asks, “What exactly do you need to get?”

I reply simply, “Just some blueprints and equipment I left at home, since I’m going to be at the base more than at home, than I should bring that stuff there. Besides, I may learn a thing or two while at the base I may want to test out.”

Cliffjumper chuckles, “You’re such a nerd.”

I shake my head, “I know, I am the smartest man alive, remember?” I spot the Jasper city sign pass by.

I could sense amusement in Cliffjumper, making me chuckle, he then says, “I was thinking, with how your world works, you would need to afford that house you live in right?”

“Yeah.” I answer.

He continues, “How do you afford it then, you live home alone, do you have a job or something?”

I hum, “Something like that. I’m what I call a ‘Contract manufacturer,’ people pay me to build things for them, sometimes I build things on the side for either myself, or because other people may want it. Keeps me more than afloat with how much business I get out of it.”

I sense my guardian is impressed, his mental tone easily showing it, “Wow, you’ve got to be a big deal in the workshop then.”

I nod, “Yep.”

We finally start passing by some buildings of the city as Cliffjumper asks, “So, what kind of people pay you?”

I stop at a red light as I reply, “Its usually big companies asking for special parts that are hard to find, and since I make them pretty cheap, a lot of people call me up to make them. There’s also the occasional garage builder who can’t find or build a specific part, people who build some stuff themselves in their own homes.”

The light turns green, so I drive forward as I add, “I also do get the very rare case of the Government themselves asking for my assistance. They’re first request was to make a propulsion system for some satellite. Though, that one was a request by only one person, without the approval of his superiors, so I gave them an anonymous tip about the assignment I was given.”

Cliffjumper hisses, “Wow, you really outed the guy?”

I glare as I turn on my right turn signal, stopping at the red light, “I didn’t know then, but the guy was bad news. The government rewarded me by staying in contact, calling me up whenever they’d liked something built for them, paying me quite a lot for each job.”

I turn at the opening I have, Cliffjumper following after me as he says, “Wow, really? That’s awesome, what was your latest job for them?”

I shrug, “They wanted me to build something for some generator, allowing it to run off the radiation of nuclear material alone. I did my best, but I could only make it a backup generator for power plants, it still needed to be connected to a nuclear power system to feed off of. Still got paid for it, and they thanked me for the effort, that was around… a little over 2 months ago.”

I spot my house to the left, and with no cars around, I turn on my left turn signal and drive into my driveway, “We’re here.” Parking my car and shutting it down, Cliffjumper rolls up next to me.

I open my door and ask, “You okay with holding some of my less bulky stuff?”

He chuckles, “I can lift Bulkhead, I can carry some of your stuff.” I roll my eyes as I walk to my garage door.

I then say, “Alright, but I warn you, I don’t just mean paper.” And open the door, revealing my workshop.

Cliffjumper whistles, “Fancy work den.”

The workshop had a worktable at each wall, each of them having cabinets built into them. There were several blueprints pinned to the walls of the garage, some were of guns, special gears, circuit boards, an engine, and even a jetpack. A large metal box sat in the far left corner of the garage, powered off and dormant, if had four large glass bars going up on each side of the device, it stood on 3 thick metal legs, keeping it upright. There were several guns piled up in the far right corner, all abandoned, a jetpack laid dormant on the desk to the left, a chemical workstation sat on top of the worktable ahead of them, while an open set of screens sat on the worktable to the right, containing radars, energy readings, and satellite images… still running.

“Oh crap!” I cursed, running over to the detector station and turning off the system, “Forgot I had that running.”

Cliffjumper laughs, “How’d you forget that?”

I deadpan and look back at him, “I saw aliens, is that a good enough answer?”

Cliffjumper takes a second to think, then says “Yeah alright.”

I roll my eyes and start packing up the devices on the table, folding in the two side screen over the main, unlatching the keyboard to push to the sides of lower half of the device, which holds levers and gauges, before folding the split keyboard over it and latching it closed sealing it from interaction. Then, I collapse the antennae dish and fold it of the back of the device, making it look like a shiny chrome bulb on the back of the device. Finally, I collapse the entire device closed, looking like a metal suitcase.

Cliffjumper comments, “Look at you, all fancy.” Making me chuckle.

I walk over to him and say, “Open your passenger door?”

“Sure thing.” He replies, swinging open his right passenger door.

I then put the suitcase on the seat and step away, “I need to grab a few more things, so keep your doors open.”

I walk back into the garage as I sense him doing just that, hearing the clicks of his doors opening. I then reach for the small pile of guns and pick them up, there were a few that resembled an assault rifle, and two more that resembled pistols. I then turn around and walk back to Cliffjumper, carrying each firearm within my arms, I could sense his apprehension with what I was carrying.

He then asks, “Uh, David, what’s with the guns?”

I look away as I reply, “Well, remember when I said I have people after me?”

He answers, “Yeah?”

I start putting the guns inside, leaning them against the passenger seat, “Well, I haven’t just been hiding and stalling. I’ve been getting myself ready, close the door.” I walk away as he closes the passenger door.

The Autobot asks, “Getting ready for what, a showdown?”

I shrug as I reply, “You could say that.” I kneel down to the cabinet of the right desk and open it, revealing a chest similar to the one I brought to the Energon Crater, “I’m just being realistic, preparing for when they find me…” I pull out the chest, looking at it with a determined glare, “Or I them.” I add darkly.

A sense of worry and wariness emanates off Cliffjumper, snapping me from my thoughts. I shake my head and take a deep breath, refocusing on the present and turning around to Cliffjumper.

I give him an apologetic look and say, “Sorry, they’re… still a bit of a sore spot, but I’m working on it.”

Cliffjumper hums, “Alright, you seemed pretty upset, hurt that much huh?”

I walk over to him as I nod, “Yeah, I do my best to not let my anger get the better of me, I need to fight smart, not hard.” I put the chest into the back seat as I add, “But I do slip from time to time.”

I sense Cliffjumper smile as he says, “Good to know you’re at least trying to control yourself. Not pushing yourself away from others, or from feeling, it doesn’t help anyone if you do that.”

I nod as I walk back to the left worktable, “I know, it’s why I wasn’t completely opposed to approaching new people, alien or not.” I open up the cabinet there and see another chest.

I take it and bring it to Cliffjumper as he says, “How many of those things do you have?”

I scoff as I approach his left side, “This is the only other one.” and put it on the backseat next to the other chest.

I walk away to the worktable again and pick up the black and orange toolbox, I then walk back and put it on the driver’s seat as I say, “You can close your doors now, just keep your trunk open.” I hear the clicks of his doors closing as I kneel down to the cabinet.

I open it and see the two milk jugs worth of a special fuel. I couldn’t stop the grin from showing on my face as I took them out and walked towards my guardian, my grin still showing.

Cliffjumper asks, “What’s in there?”

I pass him as I say, “A Crookir special, homemade rocket fuel.” Putting the jugs into his trunk.

I walk back towards the garage and take my jetpack, and upon sensing Cliffjumper’s confusion, I add, “It’s for this thing, my Neural Jetpack. Can only be activated by brainwaves I emit from my mutations.”

I walk out as Cliffjumper chuckles, “By the All spark David, you really are smart, does it work?”

I smirk as I put the pack in his junk, closing the door closed as I answer, “Oh yeah, works like a charm!” pride evident in my voice.

He laughs, “Amazing, Ratchet would love to learn how you built it, we Autobots need that kinda of equipment.”

I chuckle as I walk back into my garage, “Maybe, but I would need to learn how your technology works, then I might be able to make them even better.”

Cliffjumper’s excitement rises, “Better, you think you could do that?”

I nod as I start packing up my chemistry set, “Maybe, but that depends on the intricacies of your technology’s operations. Nevertheless, I’ll see what I can do with what I learn about it.”

The red bot laughs, “Oh yeah, look out cons, for this Cliffjumper’s goin’ airborne!”

I shake my head as I pick up the bag full of Chemistry equipment, “He’s such a manchild.”

I walk over to my car and open the passenger side door, “Slow your roll Red, who knows if I can even pull it off, making a jetpack for me is a hell of a lot easier than making one for you.” I say as I put the bag down under the dashboard.

Cliffjumper asks, “Why, you made one, why can’t you make more?”

I sigh, “Because you’re a lot bigger than me Red.” I say before closing the door, “I have to make a much bigger version of it just for someone like Arcee, like… 5 times bigger. Which is probably an understatement, and don’t even think about the amount of fuel you’ll need to lift you guys off the ground.”

I walk over to the back doors and open them, “Then there’s the whole ‘Transforming’ issue.”

Cliffjumper asks, “What do you mean?”

I start folding the seats down as I reply, “I have no idea how to make them transform with you and limiting you two either bot or vehicle mode when out in the field is severely limiting, especially when in a fight. It’s just not practical to have a Jetpack for you guys unless it can transform with you.”

I step inside to fold down the other seats farther in as Cliffjumper sighs in disappointment, “Well, that’s one way to let a bot down.”

I take a deep breath as I reply, “I’m not saying it’s impossible, I’m just saying that with my current knowledge of technology (both yours and mine), the resources I have at hand, your unique abilities, the amount of fuel required to make these work… it would take a long time to make for even one of you, and have it work as intended.”

I step out of my car as I add, “But, as soon as I make a working Jetpack, you’ll be the first to try it out, deal?”

He perks up as he replies, “Yeah, deal!”

I smile as I walk back to the garage, “Great, now that were done with packing you up, time to pack up the heavy stuff.”

I feel a sense of worry emanate from my guardian as he asks, “Uh, you sure you got this?”

I roll my eyes, “Yes, I got it Red, don’t worry. It will take a bit though, mind tuning into a radio station for some music?”

I could feel the smirk on him as he says, “Oh, I got just the one.” his radio turns on, quickly surfing through the stations, before landing on one playing some old country song, “There we are! Ah, how I missed you, country music.”

I chuckle and roll my eyes as I start collapsing one of the workstations, “You’re such a manchild, you know that?”

He laughs, “Don’t know what that is, but I’ll take it as a compliment!”

Timeskip

Shoving in the engine box into the very back of my car, I close the back door and sigh in relief as I lean against the back, panting heavily, “That was harder than I thought.”

Cliffjumper chuckles, “Sorry, couldn’t help with all these eyes on me.”

I look at him as I say, “Or with all my stuff in you, transforming would break a lot of it.”

The bot adds, “That too.”

I huff in amusement as I collapse the trolly cart to nearly a third of its size before walking around my SUV and setting it onto my passenger seat, “There, now we can get back to base.”

Cliffjumper huffs, “Great, then you can get all this stuff off me, I’m starting to feel it.”

I nod as I say, “Alright, let’s get a move on then.” Walking around and getting into the driver’s seat.

After turning on the engine, I follow Cliffjumper as we head back to base. Both of us admiring the open environment of the desert, another reason I picked this place as my hiding place.

After passing the city limit of Jasper, I couldn’t keep my thoughts to myself anymore, so I asked, “What do you think that purple stuff on Arcee was?”

Wariness leaves Cliffjumper in intense waves at my question, “No clue, but if it was found near the cones, it can’t be anything good.”

I nod in agreement, “Yeah, think Ratchet found anything on it?”

Cliffjumper chuckles, “There’s no way he hasn’t found anything on the stuff, I bet when we get back, we’ll have our answers.”

I take a deep breath, he had a point, I may have known Ratchet for long, but I could tell the bot was smart, smarter than most, and I trust Cliffjumper. So if he says the medic found something note worthy about that stuff, then I believe it, I just hope it’s nothing bad... or connected to them.

I restrain from tightening my grip on my steering wheel at the thought of them somehow already getting involved with the cons, but it’s a concern to be ready for. One I hope will never come to pass.

Cliffjumper then says, “Hey, base is just up ahead.”

I blink back to focus, seeing the familiar formation ahead, “Alright, let’s head in and unpack my stuff.” Quickly sensing relief flooding Cliffjumper, making me laugh.

Chapter Text

Driving back into base, I sense within the brainwaves of Optimus and Ratchet, that they’re worried about something, and by the sheer volume, it’s really bad.

“Something’s wrong, Optimus and Ratchet are worried, the others are confused.” I tell him.

Cliffjumper asks, “About what?”

We enter the main lobby just as everyone looks back at us, “Let’s find out, stay in vehicle mode.”

I step out of my car and ask, “What happened, why are you two worried?” looking at Optimus and Ratchet.

Jack asks, “Worried? How’d you do that?”

I ignore him, “Optimus.”

The Autobot leader replies, “As I stated earlier, Ratchet and I will be outside of communication’s range for some time investigating a thought of mine. So Arcee will be in charge while we are gone.”

Arcee steps up, “Optimus, Bodyguarding is one thing, babysitting is another.” Jack scoffs, “Besides, Ratchet hasn’t been in the field since the war.”

The medic calls out, “My pistons may be rusty, but my hearing is sharp as ever.”

Optimus replies, “For the moment, it is only reconnaissance.”

Cliffjumper asks, “Then why do you sound on edge boss?”

The leader replies, “Cliffjumper, much has changed in the last twenty four hours, and we all need to adapt.” He looks to the medic, “Ratchet, bridge us out.”

Ratchet does just that, activating the groundbridge and follows alongside Optimus as they walk through the bridge, which shortly powers off.

In the moment of silence, Jack asks, “Okay chief, so… what’s on the activities list?”

I reply, “Helping us unpack all my stuff.”

Miko’s eyes widen, “You’re moving in!? So not fair!”

I roll my eyes, “No, I’m not moving in, just brought my workshop here since I’ll be in here more often.”

Miko blinks, “Oh, boring!”

I sense Arcee’s spike in annoyance and frustration as she rolls her eyes and says, “I’m going on patrol.”

Bulkhead says, “But Optimus told us to stay.”

I nod, “Mhm, you may be in charge, but you still have a standing order.”

Arcee huffs, “When you’re in charge, you can call the shots.” She looks to Bumblebee, “Bee, with me. Cliff, you’re in charge.” She then transforms and drives off, Bumblebee following after her.

I sigh, “And there she goes.”

Cliffjumper chuckles, “That’s Arcee for ya, surprised she didn’t want me with her though.”

I reply, “You’re still recovering Red.”

Before Cliffjumper could make a retort, there’s a sudden screeching in the room, making us all cringe, Miko then says, “How about, band practice.”

Bulkhead looks at her, “What?”

The teenage girls says, “What we could do to pass the time.”

Raf then says, “But, we’re not a band.”

Miko chuckles, “Why so antisocial, come on Raf, you play anything?”

Raf takes a second to think, before holding up his laptop, “Uh, keyboard.”

Miko reiterates, “Laptops and samples, good.” She turns to the other boy, “Jack?”

He hesitates, “I… sometimes mess around on the harmonica.”

This didn’t go well with Miko as she steps up right to his face and says, “Do I look like I do country, just… cover yourself in fake blood and jump around screaming.”

She turns and points to me, “You.”

I sigh, “Not very good at this, haven’t done it in a while, but I do guitar here and there.”

She shrugs, “Don’t have another, follow Jack’s lead then.” She then looks to Bulkhead and Cliffjumper, “You guys, procession and engine noise, we’re looking for big industrial sound. DIY, we’re a band.”

She then says, “You just got to learn the songs, this one’s a ballad, ‘My Fist, Your Face.’” She then starts playing the guitar REALLY LOUDLY, making us all wince at the volume.

Cliffjumper groans, “Oh my, this is horrible!”

I shout, “What!?”

Suddenly, an alarm begins to go off as a green light flashes through the lobby, getting the attention of Bulkhead, "Whoa, whoa, whoa!”

Miko stops and looks up, “Come on, you can’t handle raw power?”

I retort, “It’s not you, it’s the proximity sensor. Fowler’s here, hide!” They all jolt and run behind bulkhead as I and, “Stay like you are Red, I’ll handle it.”

He replies, “Got it.”

I quickly latch onto Fowler as he descends into the room, I then slam a fist on my car’s hood as I alter his senses, just in time when the elevator doors open, “PRIME!” he shouts, looking around the room.

I whisper, “He can still hear you, so only speak when you want him to hear you.” I sense him nod in his head, “Good.”

Bulkhead says, “Agent Fowler, uh he’s not here right now. Nobody’s here, except me of course.” He chuckles nervously.

Cliffjumper says, “Don’t forget about me Bulk.”

Fowler looking to his right, the only one seeing Cliffjumper limping into the room as he leans against the wall, “You’re still out for the count?”

Cliffjumper replies, “Aw, is the cold agent worried about me?”

Fowler scoffs and looks between Bulkhead and the hallucination, “Well, where did he go? Wait, don’t tell me, he’s out pancaking a mini mall. Now, I don’t know what language you bots speak on your planet, but Prime promised he would handle the Decepticons.”

As he’s talking, the kids keep trying to get an eye on the man, which leads to Bulkhead constantly trying to hide them. Which also makes it harder for Miko to keep a hold of  her guitar, which keeps making noise.

The agent, however, keeps talking, “And blowing a crater in the middle of Nebraska is not what the word ‘handle’ means in English. So, you tell Prime-” he then finally notices the tightened cable from Bulkhead’s foot to some subwoofer, which keep making more noise, and says, “Which when are you bots electric?”

Cliffjumper curses, “Scrap.” I groan and shake my head.

The kids look at me as I glare at them, I then motion for them to do something, so they step out into the open for Agent Fowler to see in person, Jack saying, “Hey, how you doing?”

I groan and facepalm, “’Hey, how you doing?’” I mockingly repeat before sighing, “These kids.”

Agent Fowler, as expected, didn’t handle it well, “Contact with civilians.” He says angrily, slamming a hand on the railing, “Team Prime has really gone off book this time. Wait, don’t tell me, you’re running a daycare center.”

Cliffjumper replies, “Yep, you got us.”

Bulkhead hissing quietly, “Cliff, stop it.”

Jack tried to salvage the situation, “Er, we’re…. interns.” He says with a swing of his arm.

Raf adds, “Student interns.”

Jack tries to add, “Earning extra credit in… autoshop-”

“Robotics.” Miko interrupts.

Agent Fowler shakes his head as he walks down the stairs, “Okay, let’s move.” He reaches the floor as he adds, “I’m taking all three of you into custody, it’s for your own protection.”

But Bulkhead was having none of it, stomping a foot between the two, “We’re protecting them.”

Fowler didn’t like that much, “Is that so?” he then walks away to a phone booth, “Well maybe you can explain that to my superiors, at the pentagon.” He says, picking up the phone.

Bulkhead then says, “Don’t use that phone, it’s…” before leaning down and breaking it with a finger, “Out of order.”

I wince, “Oh boy.”

Agent Fowler drops the phone in a huff and says, “This isn’t over bigfoot, not by a long shot.” He then stomps his way to the elevator staying silent.

Cliffjumper remarks, “Aw come on man, lighten up a little.” Agent Fowler only glares at Hallucinations Cliffjumper before closing the elevator and going up.

I disconnect from Agent Fowler and sigh, “Welp… that went well.”

Bulkhead groaning and shaking his head, “Yeah…”

I take a deep breath, “Okay, how about you kids help me with unpacking my stuff up to the upper level there.” I say, pointing to the upper level near the elevator doors.

Miko groans, “What, why do we-?”

“Because you got yourselves caught.” I retort, interrupting her, “If you had just put your guitar away instead of bringing it with you, he wouldn’t have found out. Now help me, all three of you.”

Miko groans and trudges over to her subwoofer, “Fine.”

As she puts her guitar away, Bulkhead asks, “But, why didn’t you just hide them from sight yourself?”

I huff, “Because the car can only put up one hallucination at a time, I couldn’t hide them properly.” I look off to the side, “I panicked, I couldn't hide them in time without alerting to the man that something was up.”

Cliffjumper then says, “Can we hurry up and get these things out of me, I’m starting to cramp!”

Bulkhead winces, “Right, right, sorry.”

Timeskip

With the help of Bulkhead and the three kids, and eventually Cliffjumper, we finally get all my stuff up to the higher level, setting up a workstation a little behind the elevator.

Jack and I, gently put down the generator box and sigh in relief, “Finally.” The boy says, wiping sweat from his forehead.

Miko leans against the railing, “Why do you have so much stuff?”

I shrug, “Had to make money somehow, so I made a business of making things for people. It worked out pretty well if you ask me.”

Raf looks over my chemistry set, “This is all yours?”

I nod, “Yep, everything here is mine.”

Jack glances at the guns, “Including those.” He points to them as he looks back at me.

I nod, “Yeah, they’re a running project of mine, haven’t gotten them to work yet.”

Suddenly, an alarm blares through the base again, but this one was louder, making us wince as Raf stating, “My ears,”

Cliffjumper walks up to the big screens, “It’s an S.O.S, from the agent.” He looks over the keyboard and types a few keys, but the alarm and signal suddenly stop, “Scrap.”

I run over, “What happened?”

Cliffjumper looks over the screen, “Location scan was incomplete, I lost the signal.”

Bulkhead shrugs, “Oh well.”

We all look at him as I say, “Whoa, what?”

Jack repeating, “’Oh well?’ Seriously?”

Bulkhead states, “Fowler’s a jerk.”

Cliffjumper shrugs, “Not wrong.”

I groan and facepalm, “Who cares, what matters is that he’s in trouble!”

Jack adds, “Yeah, the Decepticons may have him for all we know.”

Raf then comments, “And Agent Fowler knows your location.” He stiffens, before adding nervously, “Our location.”

Miko then says, “And did we not just see how fast Fowler backs down from a bot? The cons will totally make him squeal!”

I gesture to the kids with a ‘see?’ look, “We have to do something, and fast.”

Bulkhead points out, “But we lost the transmission!”

Cliffjumper adding, “He could anywhere.”

I then sense Raf getting an idea, and I turn to him, “Raf? You’re good with tech, have any idea how we can find him?”

He nods as he walks to the computers connected to the base, “I think so; about 5 years ago, the military starting microchipping their agents, you know, like owners do with pets.” He states, connecting to the computers and typing away quickly.

We all look at him, which he notices, “What? I saw it on T.V.” he shakes his head, “Anyway, if I can hack into the feds mainframe, maybe I can pinpoint Fowler’s coordinates.”

I smile, “Nice!”

Miko then asks, “You know how to hack? But you’re like… two years old.”

I roll my eyes, “Twelve actually.”

Raf smiles as he adjusts his glasses, “And a quarter.”

I nod, “Alright, keep hacking away, I’m going to contact Arcee and Bumblebee for backup.”

Cliffjumper nods with a smile, “Good idea.” Giving a thumbs up.