Cliffjumper x Reader

The Imposter

"Miko, slow down, I can't understand you when you don't speak with spaces between your words like normal people," you had said as you closed the book you had previously been reading.

After the day you had been through at school that morning, all you had wanted to do was sit against the secret alcove you had found while exploring the Autobot base, crack open your book, and escape reality. But when Miko had brought you crashing from the imaginary universe of your favorite book to the present, gushing about some sort of signal Ratchet had picked up from his scanner, you were less than thrilled with her enthusiasm.

You had also been mildly impressed by how quickly she was able to find the spot that had taken you an hour to discover, but your thoughts had been interrupted.

"But y/n, it's an Autobot signal! Don't you know what that could mean?" She has asked with wide eyes.

"That the Decepticons want to bait us into thinking there's an Autobot out there somewhere so they can attack us when we least expect it?" you had asked flatly.

"Oh, you sound like Arcee!" She had wined, before turning around to go back to the rest of the bots.

An Autobot signal? Showing up on Earth of all places? Of all the Autobots that made it off of Cybertron, not including our Autobots, what are the chances that one could end up here? Next to none.

You couldn't have helped the logical side of your brain as you'd mulled over what Miko had told you. You had just hoped, as you leaned back against the wall to continue reading, that you were wrong about the Autobot signal.

***

You lean over the railing of the balcony with Jack, Miko, and Raf, watching the swirling vortex of the groundbridge as you all wait for the Autobots to come back with Wheeljack. Instead of giving him the coordinates to the base, it was Optimus' idea to give Wheeljack another set of coordinates so he could walk through the groundbridge instead. It seems you aren't the only one who is cautious when it comes to new guests at the base. Suddenly five sets of footsteps reach your ears as the Autobots exit the groundbridge, and immediately your eyes lock onto the new bot.

His chasi is mainly white and gray, with red and green accents on his chest and lower legs. You notice wheels and doors on his back, and a small cylindrical device on his side. Your observations are interrupted however when the groundbridge sparks with purple bolts and shuts down.

Hmm, well that looks...less than ideal.

A groan from Ratchet catches your attention and while Bulkhead introduces Wheeljack to Miko, you go to investigate the source of Ratchet's displeasure.

"Hey Doc, something wrong?" you ask as you walk over to the groundbridge lever.

Ratchet just turns to glance at you, a hint of irritation in his eyes, before frowning and returning back to his work. He mumbles something under his breath as he inspects the lever and you wonder if he's purposefully ignoring you.

"Does it have to do with the purple sparks from the groundbridge?" you ask again.

"You saw it too?" he asks, stopping his work and staring at you for a long moment. "The groundbridge system hasn't been the same since the Scraplet incident; I fear the system..."

Ratchet's cut off by a loud crashing noise and you turn around to see Wheeljack and Bulkhead bump chests enthusiastically.

"Oh joy," Ratchet deadpans before going back to his work.

"Right then," you frown before walking over to the living area of the base.

You quickly locate the backpack you had set down by the tv and take it over to the faded yellow couch. Before sitting down you look for Cliffjumper, hoping that maybe you and him could go out for a drive, when you see that Cliffjumper is talking to Arcee. You watch as he says something that makes Arcee laugh and you quirk an eyebrow. The smirk on Cliffjumper's face makes you smile slightly, and you wish that they were both a little bit closer so you could laugh at Cliffjumper's jokes too. Shaking the thought from your mind, you sit down on the couch and open up a book, hoping it would distract you.