Voices of the Heart

Say What?

We found Bumblebee was waiting for us outside what appeared to be the Conference Room. The three of us entered the room to find that we were not the only ones there.

Optimus, Ironhide, and the others were accompanied by eight other mechs and a femme. Besides the Cybertonians, Lennox and Shane was there along with a dark-skinned soldier and a stern looking... Woman? The four humans were standing on a platform that leveled them close to the Autobots height.

"You two certainly took your time," the woman said to Bee and Dino. She sounded rather impatient. "Well, where is she?"

Dino placed me down on the platform next to Lennox. He gave me a friendly smile while the woman looked me over. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Destinee perched on Crosshairs' shoulders, mouthing frantically, 'Don't call her Ma'am!'

I frowned at her before turning my attention back to the woman as she addressed me.

"So, you're the civilian that's causing all this trouble?" She mused. "Alyssa Parker, right?"

"Um... Y-yes, Director."

Director Mearing raised an eyebrow. "I assume you know who I am then?"

"Yes, Director."

"Good, that makes things a bit easier," Mearing said briskly. "Let's get the rest of the introductions out of the way, shall we? I've got a schedule to keep!"

One of the mechs stepped forward and nodded at me. He was almost as tall as Optimus, and had a certain air of formality around him. He armor color was almost the same as Optimus', but he had far much more blue and grey to it with the slightest bit of red.

"It's a pleasure to finally meet you, Miss Parker," he said in a deep voice. "I am Ultra Magnus, the leader of the Autobots here at N.E.S.T and Second in Command under Optimus Prime."

He certainly sounded like a military lieutenant, and a strict one at that.

"I was made aware that you've met five of the members of my team," Ultra Magnus continued as Smokescreen, Red Alert, Evac, Jolt, and Moonracer entered the room . "And you've met Wheelie and Brains..."

I looked down to see the miniature bots making catcalls at Destinee, who scowled and flipped them off.

"Allow me to introduce the rest of my team: Prowl, my first lieutenant."

A black and white mech stepped forward and nodded politely. I was slightly reminded of Barricade, but the blue optics put me at ease.

"Drift, a former Decepticon who turned to our side."

The black and blue mech whom strongly resembles a Samurai stepped forward and bowed.

"It is an honor, Miss Parker," he said in a thick Japanese accent.

"Bluestreak and Blur, brothers and my best scouts."

Two mechs stepped forward. The first was silvery-grey with light blue streaks, and the second one was light blue with silvery-grey streaks. The light blue one was shorter and slimmer than the grey one.

"Nice-to-meet-you-Miss-Parker," the blue mech said, or I at least thought he did. He was talking so fast that I could hardly understand him.

"He said it's nice to meet you, if you didn't catch that," the grey mech told me. "Blur doesn't like doing anything slow, even talking, but you'll get use to it."

"Bulkhead, Hound, and Wheeljack, ex-Wreckers. Bulkhead and Hound are our weapons specialist. Wheeljack is  our inventor and... Has a talent with explosives."

I noticed the other Autobots share uneasy glances at the last part.

"Ah, Chief, you're making me blush," a white mech with green and red stripes baited as he shamelessly gave me a wink. "Heya, girly."

I saw Bumblebee shoot Wheeljack a warning glance, but the mech just waved him off.

"Relax, Bee. I'm just giving her a friendly hello."

"Sorry about Jackie," one of the bulky green bots said. The only differences between him and the boy next to him was that he was slightly bigger and didn't have a beard... I didn't even know Cybertronians had beards.

"He likes to tease, but he doesn't mean any harm," the mech continued. "I'm Bulkhead, just so you know. Everyone gets me and Hound mixed up, so don't beat yourself up about it if you do."

"And finally, Strongarm. She's a cadet in training and arrived to earth a few months ago."

The femme stepped forward and gave me a small smile. She was slightly bulkier than the other femmes, but still had a slim build to her. She was mostly white with some black and dark blue, and had a bluish tint to her lips.

"Moving on," Mearing said, turning towards me. "Optimus informed me about the situation and filled me in on your relationship with his son."

Her eyes narrowed as she turned her attention to Bumblebee.

"I know you're young, but I didn't peg you as irresponsible," she snapped before turning back to me. "Everyone here has heard about you and know all about the event during the summer. I won't lie, even I'm impressed that you managed to fight off a Decepticon. But that was just child's play. This here, this is a war, and I don't think you should be getting caught up in the middle of it. You're a teenager who's is way over her head."

It took all my willpower not to say something out of line. She was scolding me like I was a child! And even worse, she sounded just like Bumblebee! But what she said next caught me off guard.

"That's why, against my better judgement, I've decided to put you through N.E.S.T training."

"... Say what?"

"You heard me," Mearing said. I might have imagined it, but I could've sworn that I saw a faint smile on her lips. "You got dragged into this war, so we might as well prepare you for it. And don't thank me, thank Ms. Williams and Crosshairs. They're the one that suggested it."

Destinee smiled and winked at me while Crosshairs gave me a thumbs up.

"You're training starts tomorrow, 12:30 sharp. Don't be late."

Mearing checked her watch and huffed angrily. "Great, now I'm running late. I'll be back tomorrow, with Galloway. I know you all hate that bastard, and I don't blame you for it. But he's going to find out eventually and I'd rather not deal with a big tantrum."

She started to leave, but I quickly called out to her.

"Thank you, Director."

She glanced over her shoulder and gave me a curt nod before exiting the room. Shane smiled and clapped my shoulders.

"Well, look at you," he laughed. "First day, and you've already joined the team."

"Welcome to N.E.S.T, Cadet Parker," the dark-skinned soldier said before holding out his hand. "Robert Epps."

I smiled and shook his hand. The rest of the Autobots surrounded us, congratulating me and 'officially' welcoming me. Destinee even hopped off Crosshairs' shoulder and pulled me into a hug.

But over her shoulder, I could see Bumblebee sulking in his corner, refusing to look in my direction.