Fireflies

Chapter 13- Fears

Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers, as much as I wish it were true. Amy and Kayla are MINE! :)

On with the show!

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That afternoon, Kayla woke to loud metallic bangs and the chatter of many men. She was still curled up on Ratchet's stretcher, but the medic was nowhere in sight.

Kayla unwrapped herself from the thin white blanket and moved to peek around the front seats. What she saw was painful, and terrifying.

Optimus was being loaded onto a long flat bed truck as a large, heavy duty net lay across his lifeless form. Men crawled across his body and around the truck, almost like a hoard of ants. Elita1 was nowhere to be seen, but Ratchet's holoform was next to Major Lennox as they argued back and forth about something.

Kayla swallowed thickly as Ratchet flung his hands up in the air and Lennox bowed his head, shaking it lightly. Soon, all of the men, plus Optimus, were gone.

It took a moment, but Ratchet finally looked to his alt form and sighed, his voice going through his speakers as he answered her unasked question. "They are taking him away, to the human's main military base. We are all being moved."

Kayla's lips pressed into a thin line and she scowled at the door they had just left through. "Something's fishy," She said "Shouldn't burial rights fall to us? Er- I mean, the Autobots?"

Ratchet ignored her slip up, entirely too furious to care at that moment "Technically."

"Then fight em! Take um back!" She growled, clenching his passenger seat head rest in a death grip. Her anger came off her body in waves, so much raw fear and anger that Ratchet narrowed his eyes at her.

"We cannot."

"Why the frag not?!"

"Because... we do not, cannot, harm humans. It would be best if we left this world and it's populace to it's own demise."

"Optimus would not have wanted that. He would have-"

"Wanted us to help the humans? Wanted us to sacrifice ourselves to protect them?" He snarled and his holoform disappeared. Kayla climbed out of his alt mode as he transformed and knelt before her "Yeah, he most likely would ha-"

"No!" Kayla made a show of stomping her foot to interrupt his louder voice. "He wouldn't have wanted your technology to fall into human hands! We can't let them have his body!"

Ratchet vented and shook his head, asking softly "What would you have us do, Kayla? We can't go around killing humans, we'd start a war if we tried to get him back forcefully. We don't need to have enemies of Decepticons and humans to worry about."

At this, Kayla sighed and calmed down as well, scratching her head lightly. "I- I don't know Ratch. I just feel like this is wrong, we need to do something."

Ratchet reached out and rested his finger against Kayla's face comfortingly. He needed a plan, and he hoped Lennox could help him.

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Lennox sighed as he overlooked Optimus' body as the flatbed loaded him onto the large plane. He shook his head in disgust at the turn of events yesterday. The alien race that was helping defend them, are now going to be used to dissect and gain their weapons knowledge. In his own him, he knew the humans weren't ready for this. Not by a long shot.

Epps stood beside him, arms crossed and his jaw set thoughtfully. He was probably thinking the same thing right now, and that's what disturbed him. Hell, most of these soldiers knew better.