Lost & Found

Revealed Secrets

Chapter 115: Revealed Secrets
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"I'll KILL YOU! STAY BACK!"

I threw my hands up in surrender. "Dad!"

"No! Don't shoot! Don't shoot!"

"Daddy!" Maximizing, I held my hands out towards him with tears blurring my vision. "L-Look it's me!"

With shaky hands, I pointed the barrel of his gun away from the humans and reached out toward our bond that hasn't been touched in years.

"You-" He growled lowly before coming to his senses, his optics slowly widening in shock. "L-Liza? Is...it really you?"

I nodded, fat tears rolling out of my eyes as he rushed forward and crushed me into his embrace. "Oh sweetspark. Thank Primus!" He dropped to his knees, bringing me along with him as he mumbled prayers in my ear. "You're alive! Thank you, thank you, Primus! Are you alright?"

He pulled away and began checking me over. "Are you hurt? Where's your brother? Where's Bumblebee?"

"Dad...Dad! I'm fine. I-"

"Call 911! RUN!" My gaze snapped over to Lucas running toward the barn doors.

"Lucas, wait!"

"Stop!" With a swing of his arm, Lucas collided with my father's gun and collapsed to the ground, wincing as he gently poked at the bruise that began to form on his forehead. Cade began to inch forward. "A-Ariel? H-He called you Liza, why-"

"Cade," I said in a pleading tone, my hand coming to rest on my father's arm as we slowly shuffled back toward the back of the barn. "I'm sorry! I'm so sorry, but I couldn't tell you anything! W-We'll leave, I promise, but please don't call anyone! Please!"

Tessa let out a soft whimper when Cade pulled out of her grip and slowly began to approach us with his hands in the air. "Hey, calm down. No one is calling anyone, Ari."

The Autobot Leader released a low rumble. "Weapon Systems damaged."

"Maybe I can try to fix you." My father turned towards the human below. " A missile hit your engine, and we took it out of you. You're hurt bad. I'm just trying to help you. You're in my home now. I'm an engineer, my name is Cade Yeager."

"You can trust him, dad," I reassured, patting his arm. "He took care of me."

He took a few moments to make his decision before drawing a hand over his mouth, "Cade, I am in your debt. My name is Optimus Prime."

"She called you dad."

I cringed at my slip-up.

"She's my daughter." My father confirmed, gripping his head as he swayed. "We....we need-"

He collapsed to the ground with a howl, a part of his antennae falling off in the process.

"Daddy!" I shrieked, rushing to help him. "You ok?"

"W-We need to go." He rasped, grabbing my arm. "My Autobots, they're in danger. We need to go now!"

"How far do you think you're gonna get?" He held a hand towards his daughter. "Tessa, come here. He needs our help."

Taking hesitant steps, the blonde teen stood by her father's side, her breath hitching as she craned her head to stare up at us.

"What happened to you?"

"An ambush, a trap set by humans." He said, forcing himself onto his knees before he released a harsh cough. "I escaped and took this form."

"But you're on our side. Why would humans hurt you?" Tessa asked.

His metal creaked as he began pulling himself to his feet. "Hey, careful." I fussed, wrapping an arm around his waist to support him.

"They were not alone." He said, holding his abdomen. "My Autobots can repair me."

Cade bent down and lifted the antennae piece with a grunt. "If you can make it to them."
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"Are you alright?"

"Hm?" I lowered myself to the ground and leaned against my father, hungry for comfort. "Nothin. Just missed you."

He shifted onto the ground with me. "I missed you too, my dear." He pressed a kiss to my head. "Primus knows I worried to the Pit about you and Bee."

The corner of my lips twitched slightly, my eyes following Cade as he worked about in the barn. "Just wish you...sorry." I trailed off, turning away as tears began to burn my eyes.

"No," A gentle hand led my eyes back to his dark blue optics. "Sweetspark-"

"Just wished you...sent a signal or...let me know if you were okay. Anything would've helped."

"I know," He pulled my head into his chest and ran his thick fingers through my hair, a gesture I missed dearly. "And I'm sorry."

I buried my head further into his chest, not caring about the itchy dirt and dust that began to rub off on me. "Don't apologize. I'm just glad I didn't find you in a lab in pieces."

He squeezed me tighter.  "Boomer...is he-"

I sniffled and wiped my face. "I sent him back with the Primes. I couldn't keep risking our lives to break into facilities to steal him Energon. Too many close calls."

"A wise decision you made, Little One."

"I know...I miss him though."

"At least he's safe, Liza."

The loud hammering came to an abrupt end and Cade began to ascend the ladder with a sphere case in hand. "Took quite a hit, you know. The missile just missed your power source."

The big bot glanced down at his parted chestplates. "We call it a Spark. It contains our life force and our memories."

"Yeah, well we call it a soul."

Humans.

"So," Cade began fiddling with the sphere in his hand as he settled on the ladder. "He keeps calling you Liza so I'm assuming Ariel isn't your real name."

I nodded. "Yeah. I'm the girl you guys saw on TV."

"I was wondering why you kept changing the subject whenever we talked about it .And if you don't mind me asking, how did you two...uh" He began to gesture funnily between the two of us, his eyes flicking back and forth. My father squeezed me closer to him as the human began to stutter under his narrowed gaze. "Well, it's obvious you're not human! What exactly are you?"

"You're right. Umm... I'm not human." I shared a look with my dad. "But I...I can't tell you the rest. Sorry."

"No, it's fine." He gave a reassuring wave of his hand as he shifted on the ladder. "I understand. If you two wanna keep your secrets, that's fine. But just know that I'm a human you can trust."

"I trust you, Cade, I just...I've been running from humans and..."

"Hey," He leaned forward and touched my cheek. "It's okay. I understand."

I gave him a teary smile. "Thank you for understanding."
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Happy New Years🎉🎉