Raider Red

Chapter 15: Hypnosis

Red looked around the empty base.

Huh.

Welp.

This was... something.

Red took that moment to decide how the Autobots were doing so terrible in the war. Clearly, they'd lost their minds; leaving murderous people unsupervised and unrestrained in their top secret base was a sure sign of insanity.

Ratchet came back through, not even throwing her a glance as the others followed him inside. He was mid-sentence and explaining the situation as he shut down the current groundbridge and opened a new one.

"I will get the star saber." Optimus told them. "You will retrieve Smokescreen and Jack."

The Autobots nodded and raced through, gone just as quickly as they'd appeared.

Red stood up and walked to the railing, itching to be back in the field again. She'd been rotting away in this base for three days, and while the experience wasn't terrible, it was boring.

She was used to constant training, mental and physical, but now Red was about as active as a normal teenager, which she'd have considered an insult.

It seemed like no time had passed before the Autobots came back.

Smokescreen grinned. "How epic was that? I saw it, but I still don't believe it."

He pretended to do some dramatic spin thing and Red frowned before her eyes caught sight of the giant sword Optimus was holding.

Epic was absolutely the right word to describe it.

"You know what I don't believe?" Arcee asked angrily, stepping up close to Smokescreen. "That after everything you've learned, you still put a human at risk."

Big deal. Red leaned back in her chair and rolled her eyes. Jack consented to it.

"Arcee, it wasn't his fault, I-"

Arcee gave Jack a glare that reminded Red vaguely of June Darby. "Don't you even start with me, we'll talk tomorrow. Send Jack home."

Ratchet hesitated, waiting for an objection. When he received none, the medic turned around silently and activated the groundbridge.

Jack sighed, giving Smokescreen an empathetic look before leaving.

"We've been in need of another Autobot in our ranks." Arcee glared. "Not another child."

"Look, Arcee, I was wrong. I'm sorry." The rookie looked down in shame. "Again. And if you need to kick me off of Team Prime-"

"Disregard for human safety, or anyone's safety, will not be tolerated. Do you understand?" Optimus asked, a stern look on his face.

"Fully, sir."

Optimus took tall, the star saber in hand as he spoke. "We must never lose sight of the fact that upon this planet, we are titans, and such power must be used wisely."

Red tilted her head thoughtfully.

Hm.

▪️◾◼⬛◼◾▪️

Another night gone.

When Optimus came out of the back rooms in the morning, he was surprised to find that Fowler was sleeping in his chair and Red was hanging off of the side of the railing by her legs, doing sit-ups.

Below her was a 50 foot drop.

Optimus walked closer. "Have you slept?"