Finding Sunny

Chapter 21

It has now been well over a month and Nichole was back to normal. She could speak again, she could do normal things again and her stitches had been taken out, but the scar would still remain and seemed even deeper than before. Everything seemed to be going well. Sunstreaker was still on the clingy side, but Nichole had finally taken care of that and he backed off a little, not much, but a little. Diesel started working more with the Autobots and helping with patrols and whatnot. Nichole wasn't fond of it, she had yet to forgive the Autobots and Diesel knew it. He understood why she was mad about it, but he wanted to feel useful and Ratchet did save his life. He did owe them that, whether Nichole like it or not. Today she was with Diesel while Sunstreaker was on patrol. At the moment they were walking into the bay from hanging outside.

Optimus took long strides over to Nichole and Diesel, Lennox and General Morshower at his side. Diesel took note of them coming before Nichole did. When she did, her eyes went dark, her eyes glancing over General Morshower. "Nichole, Diesel, its time we sit down and had a nice chat." Morshower spoke, eyes staying on Nichole. "No." Nichole knew what they wanted to talk about and she was not going to let that happen. They weren't very surprised by her response. Lennox sent a glare to her. Diesel tapped her with is foot. She gave a low grunt before speaking again. "I'm sorry. No, sir." She said sarcastically adding a smirk at the end. "Its not up for debate, Sargent. Its time we got answers about the ambush. You two were the only two to make it out alive." Morshower raised his voice as he spoke to her. He was not going to let her push him around. She stood up straighter at the call of her rank. Her hands instantly went behind her in parade rest. "Yes, Sir." She said through clenched teeth. Lennox raised an eyebrow at her. Then leaned closer to Morshower and whispered, "If I would have known using her rank would get her to listen, I would of done that months ago." "I learned it from her old superiors." They both gave a quiet chuckle, Nichole glaring. "Come Let's chat." Morshower ordered, extending his hand pointing towards the conference room.

Nichole trudged her way after them. Diesel following next to Optimus, the humans leading the way. They take seats in the conference room. For the first time, Nichole sat, her head down, not looking at anything. The two Autobots standing near. "Alright, Sargent. Talk." Morshower ordered. Nichole looked up at Diesel, unsure of what to do for once. She didn't want to talk about the ambush. It was a memory she wanted to forget. She hasn't even talked to Diesel about it. Neither of them wanted too.

"We were on a convoy, bringing supplies to the front. Our superiors wanted Nichole and some other troops at the front as well, they needed help. But we never made it there." Diesel started. Morshower and Lennox were both taking notes. Nichole kept her head down and let Diesel continue. 

"It was around 0700 in the morning when the first airstrike hit. None of us were prepared. There hadn't been an airstrike for about 3 years. I wanted to transform and help, but Nichole was the only one that knew who I was, so it would have been dangerous for me too. More airstrikes started coming from the East. Hitting truck after truck. I took controls from Nichole. My main concern was to keep her safe. She wanted to stay, she wanted to help the others. She may seem cold and distant, but that was her team and she needed to help them too. She was never one to run from a fight. She took back the controls from me and fought me, making me go back. When we did it was getting worse." He stopped and took a breath.

"The Taliban were driving in, guns a blazing. Fire started to spread from trucks that had blown to the woods nearby. Nichole ended up leaving my cab to find others and get them to safety. I kept her covered as much as I could. By this point it didn't matter if anyone saw who I really was. We were getting over run. I lost her at some point. I tried to find her without causing more damage. Bombs were still going off. Humans were being thrown left and right. The time we were separated felt like hours. I tried to save as many as I could, but in the end, my efforts failed. Taliban soldiers were shooting at anything that moved." He stopped and looked down at Nichole. She sat there, arms crossed, looking away from them all.