"Emily? Emily, talk to me." Arcee said as she gently shook Emily with a servo while Cliffjumper made sure that Tailgate, who's still unconscious, was laying down on the floor and on his back before he checks if Emily is okay.
"Is she okay?" Cliffjumper asked in concern as Arcee looked at him and shook her head.
"I don't know. Emily, please talk to me." Arcee said as Cliffjumper looked down at their unconscious friend.
"Come on, kid, snap out of it." Cliffjumper said and both of them vented in relief when Emily started to stir slowly as she opened her eyes slowly.
"Hey, guys,... are we out? In the cold?" Emily asked as she sat up slowly and she could practically see her breath.
"We are. I'll tell you about it later." Arcee said with a small smile.
"Good idea. We better call for a ground bridge before we turn into frozen metal." Cliffjumper said.
"Yeah and do me a favor. Please, cover me from the snow." Emily said while hugging her arms as she started to shiver before letting out a small sneeze.
"Why?" Arcee asked in confusion.
"Because it's cold." Emily said.
"Uh, you do know that you're wearing that coat thingy right?" Cliffjumper said as Emily gave him a deadpanned look.
"Yeah I know. Just do as I say please!" Emily practically pleaded.
"Okay?" Arcee said as she picked her up on her servo and brought her close to her chassis to cover her from the cold the best she could.
"Maybe I should call base before Miss Queen of Frost Land starts to lose her cool. Haha, get it? Lose her cool? Because of the cold?" Cliffjumper joked but stopped when he saw the look Arcee was giving him.
"Right now joining the Allspark seems tempting. At least someone there would laugh at my jokes." Cliffjumper muttered nervously before turning on his commlink.
"Cliffjumper to base, do you read?" Cliffjumper said but only heard static.
"Ah, scrap. This storm is making things harder." Cliffjumper said as Arcee looked at him.
"Keep trying. We have to get out of this place." Arcee told him.
"I know, I know. Just don't lose your cool." Cliffjumper said and made another ice pun which got him looks from both females.
"Not funny, Cliff." Arcee said.
"Yeah, I know that." Cliffjumper said and kept trying to contact the base despite the storm creating interference.
Meanwhile back at the base, everyone was feeling very sad and upset about what happened to Arcee, Emily and Cliffjumper. They had just found a lost comrade just to lose three more.
"I can't believe it… Arcee… Cliffjumper… even Emily… gone..." Smokescreen said sadly as he looked at the ground bridge.
"Not to mention Tailgate." Bulkhead said as he looked down as Bumblebee whirred sadly.
"To think they lay down their lives just to save our sorry tailpipes..." Wheeljack said as he clenched his servos.
"I should've done more. Why couldn't I find a solution? I feel so… useless..." Ratchet said as he hung his head sadly and covered his optics.
"I can't believe Emily is gone. And so is Arcee and Cliffjumper." Miko said sadly as she sat down on the couch with Bolty letting out a sad sound.
"We won't ever see them again." Raf said as he sniffed while trying to dry his tears.
"Arcee thought of me as a friend. And I didn't even say anything." Jack said as he gritted his teeth and shut his eyes. He should have said something!
"I never thought that I would say this but I'm really gonna miss those three. Cliffjumper was wilder than a Texas bull but he was a good soldier. Arcee wasn't very talkative but deep down she was very good. And deep down, she had a good heart too. And Emily, that girl had a bright future. But she gave up on that to save us." Agent Fowler said as he lowered his head. Those three had bright futures ahead of them but now...
Everyone had said something about all of this except Optimus who felt like the words of a Prime wouldn't help the others feel better as he hung his helm sadly. He should have gone and gone back to the others but it's too late now.
Suddenly, a weird static sound was heard through the comm-link as everyone perked up and looked at the screens.
"What's that sound?" Wheeljack asked in confusion. Bumblebee shrugged and shook his head since he didn't know.
"It sounds like… a message… like an incoming transmission." Raf said as he looked at it closely. They started to feel hope in them.
"You think it's…?" Smokescreen asked hopefully.
"It could be. Let's see if I can boost the signal." Ratchet said as he quickly started to boost on the signal to try and see who's contacting the base and hoping that it might be Arcee, Emily and Cliffjumper.
"Come on, come on." Ratchet muttered.
At first the signal was a bit weak but Ratchet was able to boost the signal and heard what it was. He heard a voice, it was faint but recognizable to them all.
"Cliffjumper to base. Does anyone read me? Hey, can someone pick up? I'm freezing here." It was Cliffjumper and he's alive!
"Cliffjumper! You're alive!" Ratchet exclaimed in joy as Miko jumped to her feet when she heard this.
"Cliffjumper is alive! Sweet!" Miko cheered.
"If he's alive, then that means..." Raf said hopefully as he looked at Jack who nodded.
"Arcee is alive too. And so is Emily." Jack said happily.
"Alright! See I told you that girl was tough." Fowler cheered.
"Hahaha. You see that they're alive!" Bulkhead cheered in joy.
Out of the excitement Bulkhead hit Wheeljack, Bumblebee and Smokescreen on the back at the same time as they all laughed happily. Optimus let out a smile, knowing that his friends were okay and alive made him feel better as he let out a small sigh of relief.
"I can't believe you're still alive. How is it possible?" Ratchet said in disbelief yet in joy. He was glad that they were alive.
"Long story. Uh, you think you can send us a ground bridge? I got a couple of ladies here that are losing their cool." Cliffjumper said only for the team at base to hear the sound of metal getting hit by someone, meaning that Cliffjumper got hit by someone.
"Ow! I'm just saying." Cliffjumper told the one who hit him on the helm.
"Well since they're alive, there's no need for the wall." Bulkhead said and accidentally hit a part of the wall made of plaques and the whole thing came down making a huge noise as Ratchet gave him a look.
"Bulkhead, I told you I needed that." Ratchet told him with a look.
"Whoops, my bad. Still a bit excited." Bulkhead said sheepishly with a grin.
After finding out Arcee, Emily and Cliffjumper were still alive, Ratchet had called for a ground bridge and brought them back.
When they returned, they were getting checked up by Ratchet as Tailgate was resting. Ratchet had put some monitors on him to check his vitals and all.
Since Cliffjumper and Arcee had spent a lot of time in a place that was cold, they had to go through a decontamination process.
"And just like that out of nowhere, Wheeljack jumped in from behind and pinned Airachnid down. Wrecker style." Bulkhead told Miko how the fight went.
"Wow, that's totally awesome." Miko said in awe.
"Yeah. Oh hey, kid, I'm sorry you almost got killed because of me." Wheeljack said before apologizing to Emily.
Emily, who was wrapped under a blanket while drinking hot chocolate, got up and walked to where Wheeljack was as she just smiled at him.
"No biggie, uncle Jackie. Anybody can make mistakes." Emily said as she took a sip from her hot chocolate.
"Uh, Ems, why are you using a blanket when you are wearing your coat?" Miko asked in confusion as she looked at Emily.
"Because I'm cold." Emily told her.
"But you stopped being cold like 10 minutes ago. Why are you…? Oh wait. Are you afraid of the cold?" Miko said before realizing why with a grin.
"No, I'm not." Emily denied.
"You sure?" Miko asked as she looked at her.
"Yes, I'm sure." Emily said.
"Hey, Miko. You're in or out? The pawns are getting cold here." Agent Fowler said.
"Yeah, come back. We wanna see how the game ends. As if we didn't know how it ends." Jack said before muttering the last part.
"I heard that. And hear this, Emily here is scared of snow." Miko said with a snicker as she came back.
"I'm not scared of snow." Emily denied it.
"Yes, you are." Miko insisted.
"I'm telling you that I'm not." Emily said with a deadpan look before noticing Agent Fowler motioning for her to distract Miko while she's not looking.
"You really wanna go there?" Emily challenged her.
"You betcha. And I'm not stopping until you admit you're scared of the cold." Miko accepted it.
"Well, since there's no way out of this one. I'm just gonna tell you what I told you earlier. I'm not scared of the cold." Emily told her as she took another sip of her hot chocolate.
"Yes, you are." Miko said.
"No, I'm not." Emily denied it.
"Yes, you are."
"No, I'm not."
"Yes, you are."
"No, I'm not."
"Yes, you are."
"No, I'm not."
While both girls were arguing, Fowler took the opportunity to take down Miko's king and win the game since it was his turn and got a checkmate.
"Yes, you are." Miko continued.
"No, I'm not." Emily said as she finished her hot chocolate.
"Yes, you are."
"No, I'm not."
"Yes, you are."
"No, I'm not."
"Yes, you are."
"No, I'm not."
"No, you're not." Miko then used reverse psychology as she grinned.
"Yes, I am." Emily said before blinking in surprise.
"I got ya." Miko cheered.
"Yes, you did. But you should know, I had you too. With a teensy tiny little trick. If I were you, I would turn around." Emily said with a grin as she snickered.
Miko turns around and sees Fowler waving hello at her but when she looked down, she saw that her king was missing.
"Hey where's my king?" Miko asked in confusion.
"I don't know. Maybe it fell over." Agent Fowler said with feign confusion but Miko knew that she was checked mate.
"Yeah right. As if I'm gonna believe what you say. You took down my king while I was looking the other way around." Miko said with a pout while crossing her arms.
"Well you know what they say. You snooze, you lose." Agent Fowler said as he and Jack high five.
"That's low." Miko said while rolling her eyes.
"Just think of it as an educational lesson." Emily said while shrugging.
"Very funny. Ha ha ha." Miko remarked sarcastically.
While Emily was recovering slowly from the cold, Arcee, who had finished with her decontamination bath, was getting checked by Ratchet while undergoing a defrosting procedure.
"Glad, I don't smell like smoke anymore." Arcee said in relief.
"I still can't believe you guys made it out. How did that happen?" Smokescreen said.
Arcee then looked to where Emily was when Smokescreen asked her how they made it out as she thought back on how they got out of the fire alive.
"To be honest, I'm not sure how. I guess we were lucky." Arcee said with a small shrug.
"And we are lucky to have you back." Ratchet said with a relieved sigh as he used his scanner to see if Arcee is good to go.
"Everything's checked, you're good to go." Ratchet said with a nod.
Arcee soon takes off the cables that were defrosting her as she stood up and stretched a little.
"Thanks." Arcee said just as Cliffjumper came back from his decontamination bath.
"Good news, everyone. No more smell of the smoke." Cliffjumper said but Smokescreen and Bumblebee took a small sniff at Cliffjumper.
"Yeah but you still smell a bit weird." Smokescreen said with a cheeky grin as Bumblebee just nodded in agreement.
"Now that you're done with your decontamination bath. It's time for your defrosting procedure." Ratchet told him sternly.
"I'm okay, Ratchet. I already told you that. Besides I can't now, I have to take care of something." Cliffjumper said.
"You'll take care of that later. The procedure is crucial to avoid any damage to your system." Ratchet told him as he was getting close to whacking him with his trusty wrench.
"My system is fine. I've been through worse." Cliffjumper reassured him.
"It's okay, Ratchet. Let him be, just for now." Optimus intervened and caused Ratchet to sigh but agreed.
"Very well. Emily, time for your defrosting." Ratchet said before calling the blond who was wrapped under the blanket.
"No thanks. I'd rather stay warm under the blanket." Emily said.
"Maybe you ought to listen to what I'm telling you. Today you took a lot of unnecessary risks." Ratchet told her and caused her to puff her cheek a little.
"Okay, okay. I'm coming." Emily said with a playful roll of her eyes.
Emily got up before she took off the blanket and walked to where Ratchet was as he lowered his servo to her and she climbed on.
"Guess Ratchet is a bit on the edge." Arcee said as she watched Ratchet set his servo down on the medical berth and started the procedure while Emily was looking a little annoyed.
"I'm not surprised. Considering that Emily had created a system that would lockdown the base and shut down the bridge without telling anyone." Jack said as they watched the medic checked Emily to make sure that her temperature was on the normal level.
"She did tell me. But she asked me not to tell anyone. She feared that if one of you guys knew, the cons might figure it out. She took a great risk when she activated it." Raf said meekly.
"No kidding. She almost died in that fire. Along with Cliff, Arcee and the new guy." Miko said as she sighed.
"That's not what I meant." Raf said.
"What are you saying?" Jack asked as he and Miko turned to him.
"Well, when Emily and I built that system, we made sure that it could only be used once. In case we lose the base." Raf said.
"So we can't use it anymore?" Jack asked in surprise as the 12 year old nodded.
"Precisely." Raf said.
"Couldn't you just fix the thing?" Miko asked curiously.
"We could. But seeing how we kept that a secret, I don't think it's the right thing to do. If I had told you, none of this would've happened." Raf said as he looked down.
"Don't be so hard on yourself, son. You did what any good soldier would've done. You did what was best for the team." Agent Fowler reassured him before his phone started to ring. He took it out of his pocket to see who it was.
"Great, this is getting better and better. Uncle Sam wants a report on your little Siberian escape." Agent Fowler said to everyone.
"So what are you going to say? That the Autobots accidentally put an ancient Soviet Union factory on fire?" Jack asked in concern.
"This isn't my first rodeo, son. Don't worry, I'll take care of this." Agent Fowler reassured him before answering the call.
"Hello? Mr President sir. Uh huh… Yes, sir… I understand, sir… and I believe I may have a solution for it." Agent Fowler said as he walked a bit away from them as the three kids watched him.
"I feel bad for him. Whenever the bots blow something up, he's the one that puts the fire out." Miko said.
"Let's just hope he can handle this one. And that a certain person will think twice about throwing a grenade without thinking." Jack said before giving Wheeljack a look.
"Hey, I always think things through. Well sometimes I do." Wheeljack said while raising his servos up in defense. He couldn't help it.
"No offense, Jackie. But I know you a lot to know that you never think things through." Bulkhead said.
"Yeah well it helps when we're in a tight spot." Wheeljack said with a smirk as Bulkhead just grinned back.
"It sure does." Bulkhead said before he and Wheeljack fist bumped.
Meanwhile Ratchet was making sure Emily's defrosting process was going okay. Since she was half human, it was a bit hard as he had to do a lot of tests.
"Are you done yet?" Emily asked as she talked her finger on the medical berth.
"Patience. These kinds of things are not to be taken lightly. Since you're half human and half Cybertronian, it takes more time to determine whether you're okay or not. Stay here until I come back. I have to check your early tests." Ratchet told her as Emily sighed.
"Fine." She said as she crossed her arms while she stayed put while waiting for Ratchet to come back.
She was a little annoyed at Ratchet that she didn't even get nervous at seeing that Optimus was right beside her. Optimus felt a bit nervous on the inside since he never saw Emily with this kind of attitude and yet he wanted to see if she was okay.
"Are you feeling okay?" He asked in concern as Emily glanced at him.
"Who, me? I'm fine. Couldn't be better." Emily said.
"I see." Optimus said as they both ended up staying silent while the air around them just got awkward.
"How is your knee? You got hurt pretty bad." Emily decided to ask after a moment of awkward silence.
"I'll be fine. It's very thoughtful of you to worry about others. Sometimes you remind me of my old mentor." Optimus told her as she pursed her lips.
"Yeah no offense, Prime, but I don't feel like my father. Not after what I did." Emily told him as she looked down. Optimus looked at her in concern and decided to ask why.
"May I ask why?" He asked her curiously. She swings her legs a little as she puts her hands on her lap.
"Isn't it obvious? I built a program that would lock down the whole base without telling you or Ratchet about it. I took it upon myself to protect the team and I didn't even consult any of you. It was selfish and irresponsible, I know that. But I was scared that something bad could have happened to any of you. You guys are more than my friends. You guys are my family." Emily explained as her voice grew soft and slightly saddened.
"You say your decisions were selfish. But from what I see, you're the image of Alpha Trion." Optimus comforted her as he rubbed her back with one of his digits as she looked up to him.
"Really?" She asked curiously as he nodded.
"Yes. When he was my mentor before the war, I had learned that he had the knowledge of many secrets." Optimus said as Smokescreen decided to join in after hearing the conversation.
"Optimus is right. Back then when I was assigned to guard him, I asked him what those secrets were once. Here's one that he told me and that only one person knew. Turns out that Alpha Trion had mentioned an ancient member of the High Council called Halogen to convince the council to make Optimus here a Prime." Smokescreen told her as she looked surprised as she tilted her head.
"Really? Did he tell you anything else?" Emily asked curiously.
"Only that there are more secrets in the universe. And only in time I shall discover them." Smokescreen said before he walked off as Optimus turned back to Emily.
"You say that you acted out of pure selfishness. But from a certain point of view, you just wanted to protect those you hold dear. And that's a noble quality." Optimus said with a gentle smile.
Emily went silent at this before starting to smile a little.
"Maybe you're right. Just so you know, I'm sorry I didn't tell you." Emily said as Optimus couldn't help but chuckle softly. He already forgave her for not telling him or any of the team.
"I know you are." He said warmly as the two engaged in a conversation.
While Emily and Optimus were having a conversation, Cliffjumper was checking on his brother as he was sleeping quietly. Ratchet had put some wires on him to check on his brain activity and his heart rate, to see if he was hurt or anything and also to check on his amnesia.
"Hard to believe, huh? After all we've been through today. We were able to bring him back." Arcee said as she stood beside him while looking at Tailgate.
"Yet it feels like we didn't. What if he doesn't remember anything?" Cliffjumper said as he crossed his arms a little.
"Don't say that. Ratchet said that there was a chance for him to get his memory back." Arcee told him
"Yeah but it could take a while. Who knows how long it will take?" Cliffjumper said as he looked away bitterly.
"We will get Tailgate his memory back. No matter how long it takes." Arcee said. The two of them went silent before Cliffjumper spoke up quietly for Arcee to hear.
"Will you?" He asked quietly as Arcee looked at him.
"Will I, what?" She asked curiously.
"You know… tell him." Cliffjumper said and Arcee knew what he meant but she looked away sadly.
"I… I don't know yet…" She muttered quietly as Cliffjumper looked at her fully.
"You don't know yet?" He asked in disbelief.
"Look, I know I should've told him a long time ago. And I get that it bothers you. But now, it's not the right time." Arcee said as she didn't face him yet.
"Really? And here I thought after what happened that the time was right. Guess I was wrong." Cliffjumper said bitterly as he clenched his servos.
"You talk as if I want this. And it's not the case. I want the same thing you want, and that we wanted for so long. But the time isn't right." Arcee told him as she looked at him.
"With you, it's never right. But that's not surprising." Cliffjumper muttered bitterly.
"Cliff, please..." Arcee started but Cliffjumper cut her off.
"No, it's okay. I get it, you don't wanna ruin things and that's fine. Totally, fine. Now that I think about it, this is all on me. My mistake, I got carried away and looked where it brought me." Cliffjumper said as tension started to rise between them that would soon lead to an argument.
"Cliff, I know it's hard-" Arcee said but was cut off again.
"Hard? Try complicated." Cliffjumper scoffed.
"Have you ever thought that it's complicated because you make it look that way?" Arcee questioned him as Cliffjumper clenched his servos.
"Oh so now you're gonna put the blame on me? Well excuse me for wanting us to be… Well, you know what I mean." Cliffjumper said as this led to them arguing.
While Arcee and Cliffjumper were arguing, Fowler was making sure that Team Prime didn't get any incoming trouble after they accidentally set fire to the factory.
"Yes, sir… Of course. I'll make sure our assets carry their next missions carefully with no collateral damage. If such a thing is possible. Of course… Thank you, sir. You too, sir." Agent Fowler said to the phone before hanging up and facing everyone.
"Well, good news, Team. We're in the clear." Fowler said as everyone was relieved at this.
"You mean you were able to fix what happened?" Bulkhead asked him curiously as he nodded.
"You betcha." Fowler said with a nod.
"So, what did you come up with?" Miko asked curiously.
"Something simple. We told Russia that a terrorist cell entered the factory to try and search for nuclear weapons. In their search, they set the place on fire and burned it down to a crisp. In hopes of creating a civil war. But since their goal has failed, there's nothing to worry about. Uncle Sam would appreciate it if you Autobots were a bit more careful. Some more than others." Agent Fowler said and directed the last part at Wheeljack who shrugged.
"I could say I'll try. But I wouldn't wanna give you false hopes." Wheeljack said as Jack leaned against the railing with Bolty currently gnawing a bolt.
"Good thing we made sure this whole thing didn't escalate. With the war going against the Decepticons, the last thing we need is another war." Jack said with a relieved sigh. He can handle being in a war with the bots and cons but he won't be able to handle a war between two countries.
"Now all we have to do is wait for Cliff's bro to wake up." Miko said excitedly as she looked to where Tailgate was.
"You really think he's okay? From what Emily said he seemed a little… intense." Raf said timidly.
"You can't blame him, son. The poor guy lost his memory on active duty. For now, we must hope the rehabilitation might help him get his memory back." Agent Fowler reassured the 12 year old who nodded before Miko spoke up when she caught something that grabbed her attention.
"Speaking of rehab, I know someone that needs some rehab anytime soon. Look." Miko said before pointing to where Cliffjumper and Arcee are as the two continue to argue as Jack, Miko, Raf and Fowler watch them.
"Arcee and Cliffjumper arguing. That's a total classic." Jack said as he crossed his arms.
"Any idea of why they're arguing?" Raf said curiously as Miko just shrugged.
"Dunno. But one thing is for sure, they look like a married couple." Miko said with a grin as Jack gave her a look.
"Are you serious?" He asked her as Miko just shrugged.
"I'm just saying, dude, chill." Miko said.
Meanwhile, while Tailgate was sleeping, both Arcee and Cliffjumper continued to argue.
"We've been through this, over and over, Cliffjumper. We have priorities. Priorities that demand our full concentration." Arcee said.
"You know, you're right about one thing. We've been at this for too long. Long enough for me to realize that things never change. No matter how much I wanted it to change. I see that all this wait was meaningless." Cliffjumper said as he gave her a look while clenching his servos.
"You think it was meaningless to me? Well it's not. You have no idea of how much I want this. But we can't now. And I need you to understand." Arcee said as both of them looked away.
"Yeah. Of course. As usual, mind and duty before feelings." Cliffjumper muttered to himself sadly.
Suddenly they heard a tiny groan as Tailgate's brain activity was spiking up, which meant that something was going on with him as Arcee saw that he was moving his helm slightly
"Ratchet, something is going down with Tailgate. His brain activity is spiking up." Arcee called to him urgently.
"Spiking up? Is it possible?" Emily asked in confusion and worry.
"No idea. What could it be?" Smokescreen asked curiously but Bumblebee told the two that it was still too early to give away any assumptions.
"What's all the ruckus back there?" Wheeljack asked as everyone approached
"Something's off with the new guy. His brain is going crazy." Smokescreen pointed.
"Maybe we ought to go check it." Bulkhead suggested
"Good idea." Wheeljack said.
"Can we come see him with you?" Miko asked curiously.
"No, you guys stay here. And that means you too, Miko." Bulkhead told her and caused Miko to sulk.
"Gah! Is this for real? Totally not cool." Miko whined in complaint when Bulkhead told her to stay put.
Meanwhile, Ratchet was checking Tailgate's recent brain spike as his early test had spikes but not like this new one. This one was a bit stronger for some reason.
"Is he okay, doc?" Wheeljack asked in concern.
"Well, physically speaking he's doing better. However the mental side, it's a whole other thing. Right now, his brain is entering a very high form of stress. Probably caused by the trauma of the hit that erased his memory." Ratchet said as Emily knew what it meant.
"So he's having a nightmare." Emily spoke up from her place on Optimus' shoulder
"Yes. A nightmare, his memory is trying to remember." Ratchet agreed with her before Tailgate's groaning grabbed their attention.
"I think he's waking up." Bulkhead said as he noticed.
"Let's be careful here, guys. Remember that he's still dangerous." Smokescreen as he became on edge.
"Tailgate is not dangerous." Cliffjumper gave Smokescreen a look. He knows Tailgate isn't dangerous.
"I know. I'm just saying that we ought to be a bit more careful. Perhaps we should restrain him." Smokescreen said but Arcee gave him a small glare at the suggestion at the end.
"Restrain him? Are you out of your mind, Smokescreen?" Arcee deadpan with a small glare.
"I know it sounds crazy but we still don't know if we can trust him entirely. Maybe that amnesia he has is due to some possible brainwashing." Smokescreen said but the last part only got him weirded out looks from everyone.
"Brainwashing. You know, modified his brain. It happens a lot in the movie." Smokescreen said as Emily just facepalm.
"You watch too much tv." Emily said in exasperation and made a mental note to make sure that he doesn't watch too many movies.
"Smokescreen, what you're saying is preposterous. Tailgate hasn't been brainwashed or anything like that. None of his tests reveal any kind of modification in his brain." Ratchet told him sternly.
"Well, maybe the cons found a way to hide it." Wheeljack said with a shrug.
"We shall find out soon enough." Optimus told them.
Tailgate started waking up but he was a bit disoriented from the hit when he started opening his eyes. He saw someone in white and orange getting close to him.
"Where... Where am I? What is all of this...?" Tailgate asked as his vision started to clear up.
As soon as his vision was cleared up, he realized that he had some cables attached to him. All of the sudden he started to panic since he didn't know where he was and what was going on. It was a normal reaction for anyone.
"Who are you? Get this off me." Tailgate demanded fearfully as Ratchet made a calming gesture.
"Calm down now. I'm a doctor. I'm here to help you, not hurt you." Ratchet said but Tailgate was giving him a suspicious and scared look.
"It's okay, Tailgate. You're safe." Arcee reassured him as he looked at her.
"Take it easy, horn head. Don't break anything. The doctor hates when they break his stuff." Wheeljack said but Arcee just gave him a look.
"Not a good time for lame jokes, Wheeljack." Arcee told him through gritted dentas.
"Fine, just saying." Wheeljack said with a shrug.
"Now, hold still while I take the equipment off. And don't worry, I'll be gentle." Ratchet said while he ignored both Wheeljack and Arcee and started to take off the medical equipment that was attached to Tailgate as the kids along with Fowler came down to have a closer look at the new guest.
"It's amazing. When you look at him, he looks identical to Cliffjumper." Jack said as he looked between Cliffjumper and Tailgate before Miko walked forward with a curious and excited glint in her eyes.
"Okay, I think I speak for everyone when I say this. How did you get here? What do you turn into? How come you look exactly like Cliffjumper? And why are your eyes green?" Miko started firing question after question and Tailgate just stared at her in confusion.
"Miko!" Jack, Raf and Fowler scolded her at the same time as she looked at them with a raised brow.
"What? I'm just asking. The guy lost his memory. Maybe by asking him some questions. It might jog up his memory or something." Miko said as she crossed her arms.
"That isn't how rehabilitation works, Miko. Recovering lost memories takes time. There, all done. How do you feel?" Ratchet told her before finishing what he was doing as Tailgate stepped down and looked at his servos.
"My head still hurts. Guess I got knocked out pretty good." Tailgate said with a shrug.
"You did. Thanks to you, I'm still alive." Arcee said as she sent him a grateful look.
"You're welcome. Just don't expect this to become some sort of habit. Where are we anyway?" Tailgate said as he crossed his arms before looking around curiously.
"You're in a bunker. In Jasper Nevada. Allow me to present myself. I'm Special Agent William Fowler of the United States Government. I officially welcome you to Team Prime. Here are some more members of our team. Jack." Agent Fowler said as he started to introduce the human allies.
"Hi there." Jack greeted with a nod.
"Rafael."
"Nice to meet you. Call me Raf for short." Raf said with a smile while fixing his glasses.
"And last but not least. Miko." Agent Fowler finished as Miko gave Tailgate her usual grin.
"What's up?" Miko said with a grin.
"More humans? I thought they all looked alike." Tailgate looked at the four curiously as Bulkhead chuckled.
"They're all different." Bulkhead told him with a smile.
"We sure are. Also this is our mascot, Bolty." Miko said as she gestured to the white scraplet in her arms.
Miko was holding Bolty when all of the sudden he jumped off her arms much to their surprise.
"Hey, come back!" Miko exclaimed in disbelief and surprise.
The little white Scraplet was curious about the Autobots' new guest that he ran to get a closer look at him. When he reached him, he jumped onto his leg and climbed all the way to his arm and landed on his servo as Tailgate looked at him curiously..
"Hey there, little guy. You're kind of cute. What are you?" Tailgate asked as he pats his little head with a finger.
"That's a Scraplet. Also known as the fatal metal eater." Smokescreen said as he was still wary of Bolty even after days of being with them.
"Fatal metal eater? Why?" Tailgate asked in confusion.
"Because they eat metal. Especially living metal, like us." Bulkhead explained but Emily was quick to reassure them.
"Don't worry. Bolty is different. Sure he likes eating metal but he would never eat living metal." Emily explained to him as Bolty came down from Tailgate to get to Emily.
"You could say that Bolty is a special case. Like you and me." Emily said as she rubbed the little white scraplet on the helm as Optimus walked to Tailgate.
"Tailgate, I'm pleased to know that you're well. I would like to thank you for saving Arcee's life when in jeopardy. You've shown true courage." Optimus said as Tailgate looked up to him as he rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.
"Thanks... I guess. Sorry if I'm a bit nervous." Tailgate told them as he looked at the team.
"It's okay. We get it, this is all new to you. But don't worry, you'll get used to it." Emily reassured him.
"Now I know you just woke up. But I'm afraid we're gonna have to ask you some questions for security purposes." Ratchet told him as Tailgate looked taken aback.
"Security purposes? Are you saying I'm a threat?" Tailgate asked in confusion.
"Not at all. But we must be sure you're not a Decepticon. We once had one infiltrate our base once. He disguised himself as one of ours to get in."
"And let's just say he got a pretty bad sun tan." Wheeljack said as Bulkhead grinned.
"He sure did." Bulkhead agreed.
"Now, I want you to relax and answer some simple questions. Let's start with the beginning. Do you remember anything? Like, something from before you lost your memory." Ratchet started as Tailgate tried to think of one but he couldn't remember.
"No... I'm afraid not. I remember some stuff but nothing from who or what I was before it happened." Tailgate answered truthfully.
"Well based on my analysis, you've suffered a severe trauma. So it's not surprising that you ended up with this amnesia. Although it's more severe than I thought." Ratchet said as he put it down as Cliffjumper looked at him in confusion.
"What do you mean?" He asked in confusion.
"Well, the point is that it might be a bit difficult for Tailgate to recover his full memory. However, it's a bit early to be thinking that. Tailgate, you said you remember some stuff. Can you tell what you remembered? Fully detailed?" Ratchet explained before turning back to Tailgate after he asked who had a thoughtful look.
"Well, to be honest I'm not sure if they're memories or some sort of dream. But I'll give it a try. The only things I remember so far is... being inside some sort of facility. I remember being... attached to something. I also remember being put to sleep or something. Like I was knocked out. And just about now I've been having visions flashing through my optics. I saw myself, that blue one and that other red. We were... happy and for some reasons... we got along. Now that I think about it. It looked more like a dream than a memory. One thing is sure, it kept flashing through my mind, over and over." Tailgate told them all as he gestured to Arcee and Cliffjumper when he said the red one and blue one.
"Flashing memories can be a current thing when it comes to amnesia. It's some sort of mechanism where your mind is making you see visions. These can be often confused as dreams. Sometimes you think they are. Though in reality, they're memories coming back to you." Ratchet explained just before Tailgate kneeled over and held his helm in pain.
"Gah!" Tailgate exclaimed in pain as Arcee and Cliffjumper were by his side quickly.
"Tailgate?" Arcee asked in concern
"What's going on?" Raf asked in concern.
"I don't know." Jack said as he was worried.
"Stay here, kids. It's not safe." Fowler said but he was also worried.
"Tailgate, what's wrong?" Cliffjumper asked him worriedly.
Tailgate was holding his head as he was seeing memories flashing through his optics again.
"Tailgate, calm down." Ratchet said and he started to calm down when it stopped.
"That's it. Calm down." Ratchet soothed him as Arcee and Cliffjumper helped him sit on a berth as he held his head.
"I'm sorry. It's just that... these visions... They're so confusing that it hurts my head." Tailgate said as his head stopped hurting.
"I understand that. I'm afraid that we wanna have a chance of getting your memory back. We're gonna have to dive into a very distant memory." Ratchet told him grimly at the end as everyone looked at him.
"Which one?" Tailgate asked in confusion.
"The one where you got hurt and lost your memory. I won't lie. It's gonna be painful. And if you feel like not wanting to lean into it. I'll completely understand. As long as you realize that getting into that memory might help you understand your condition." Ratchet told him as he went into thought before looking at them all.
"I understand. And I wanna go through with it. No matter how painful it might be." Tailgate said with a determined fire in his optics that both Arcee and Cliffjumper both recognize.
"Okay, then let's start. Can you remember where you were before you lost your memory?" Ratchet asked but Tailgate shook his head.
"No, I can't." He said while looking at his servos.
"Hmm, maybe if we try to speak of some past memories, it might help you remember better. Who knows, it might even jog up your memory as Miko said early." Ratchet suggested as Miko grinned.
"Thank you, Ratchet. See, I told you my idea was a good one." Miko said before boasting it to Jack.
"Yeah, okay. Don't make a big deal out of it." Jack deadpan while rolling his eyes.
"Jealous." Miko muttered before sticking her tongue out at him.
"In case we have to try out with all possible events." Ratchet suggested before Cliffjumper stepped up to try and help Tailgate remember.
"Let me try. Hey, brother, remember the time when we jumped down off the Decagon? And we fell over into a scrap container?" Cliffjumper said but Tailgate just looked at him blankly and shook his head.
He doesn't remember that.
"Uh, no." He said as he caught Bumblebee trying not to laugh as if he remembers it. Cliffjumper deflated a little but he doesn't plan to give up.
"Okay... What about the time when we raced on the way to Iacon and we were stopped by that cop?" Cliffjumper said but deflated more when he saw that Tailgate doesn't remember that particular event.
He clearly remembered the time when both he and Tailgate were both scolded by Ironhide back then.
"No." He shook his head.
"What about the time we crashed on a wall in a construction zone? After that huge crash, you hit me on the head saying it was my fault." Cliffjumper said but Tailgate rubbed his helm and shook his helm at him. He doesn't remember and what he said doesn't sound so familiar.
"Ah, sorry. Nothing you say is familiar to me. Not even that hit on the head." Tailgate said before letting out a small laugh at the end.
"If trying to reach past memories before trauma won't help, then we'll have to go to the very source of it. Cliffjumper, I'm gonna need you to tell every detail about the day Tailgate lost his memory." Ratchet said before turning to Cliffjumper when he said that.
"Very well. It was a long time ago. By that time, you and Arcee had a mission. But something had happened, Arcee had disappeared off the grid. She was nowhere to be found. Last one that talked with her was you." Cliffjumper explained and got a pained look from Arcee who looked away and a worried and confused one from Tailgate.
"Really?" He asked in shock and worry as he threw the femme a small glance as Cliffjumper nodded sadly.
"Yes. When you lost contact with her, you got worried. And so did I. I still remember when you called, you sounded so nervous. You wanted to request permission to lead a search mission with your team." Cliffjumper explained as Tailgate grew confused. Did he really do it?
"A team?" He asked and got a nod.
"Yes. We were part of the Delta team back then. We were in charge of protecting Iacon." Cliffjumper said but the name at the end seemed to have caught Tailgate's attention. That sounds familiar.
"Wait a minute. Iacon… That name sounds familiar but what was it?" Tailgate said as he tried to think of why the name sounds so familiar and thankfully Optimus provided an explanation.
"Iacon was the Autobot capital city during the war." He said grimly as Tailgate looked shocked.
"Was? What happened to it?" Tailgate asked in shock as Smokescreen answered.
"It was destroyed. The Decepticons attacked it. We gather our forces to repel them. But we lost." Smokescreen explained as he looked down sadly.
"Hey, I think I…" This struck more something in Tailgate as he stood up.
When Tailgate got up too quickly, he started losing his balance while holding his head with his two servos as something was bothering him with how his expression scrunched up.
"You okay?" Bulkhead asked worriedly as Bumblebee whirred for him to be careful.
"What is it, Tailgate?" Arcee asked as Tailgate winced but the pain disappeared a little.
"I think… I just remembered something… but I'm not sure." Tailgate said and yet he sounded distant.
"Stay focused. Listen to the sound of my voice." Ratchet offered slowly.
"His exasperating voice." Miko scoffed with a snicker.
"Miko." Jack warned her while nudging her side.
"What? It's true." Miko told him as Ratchet rolled his optics at her before turning back to Tailgate.
"Focus, Tailgate, and think back." Ratchet advised him and he started to focus while closing his optics.
Suddenly he started seeing memories flashing through his mind but these ones were different. These were more intense and more painful for him to handle as he gripped his helm in pain.
"Gah! Ahhh… ahhh…!" Tailgate exclaimed in pain as he stumbled back but Ratchet steadied him slowly.
"Easy there." Ratchet said as he vented heavily while his optics seemed a little hazy.
"What gives?" Smokescreen asked curiously.
"What happened? Did you see something?" Ratchet asked him as he nodded.
"I did…" Tailgate said.
"What was it?" He asked as Tailgate looked at him.
"It was another memory." He said.
"What did you see in it?" Ratchet asked as Tailgate tried to remember what he saw but he couldn't.
"I don't know. It was flashing too fast for me." Tailgate said.
"Well, try again." Ratchet coaxed but Tailgate shook his head.
"I… I can't..." He said hesitantly. He wanted to but it was too painful.
"You can't?" Jack asked him in concern and confusion.
"Why's that?" Raf asked curiously.
"It's too painful." Tailgate told the 12 year old.
"Too painful? Are you kidding?" Miko asked in disbelief as Ratchet gave her an exaggerated look.
"Miko, for once, can you try to be more respectful?" Ratchet asked her exaggeratedly but Tailgate reassured him that it was okay.
"It's okay… I don't mind. You see, Miko, when I saw all of this, I could feel the pain… It was intense. Way too intense." Tailgate explained to the 15 year old. Emily went into thought before looking at Ratchet.
"What do you think of that, Ratchet?" Emily asked as Ratchet turned to her before turning back to Tailgate.
"Considering that the trauma was very serious, I'd say that Tailgate needs time." Ratchet said as Emily nodded slowly.
"That's probably it." Emily said with a thoughtful look while holding Bolty in her arms.
"Perhaps our guest needs time to rest." Optimus suggested as Ratchet agreed.
"I believe you're right. Tailgate, if you feel like you need to rest, you can go ahead and say it. Your rehabilitation will take time and it's best not to rush things over." Ratchet said but Tailgate looked at him in disbelief.
"No. I can't rest. Not now." Tailgate told them all as Arcee looked at him.
"Tailgate, you have to rest. This will take time. But I promise you that we will help get your full memory back." Arcee told him as Tailgate looked at her.
"I know. But right now, I have to figure this out. I must know why this memory that I just saw is so painful. Whatever the reason is, I'm sure it may shed some light into what happened to me." Tailgate said as he looked at his servos. He was determined to get his memories back.
"Are you sure of what you're saying right now?" Ratchet asked. He was concerned that Tailgate might hurt himself but from being around Tailgate during the war at their home world, he knows that Tailgate is stubborn as an earth animal.
"I'm positive, Doctor." Tailgate nodded in determination.
"Very well. Try to reach in again." Ratchet said.
"And this time, try to be calm. We'll help you out. What do you say, Optimus?" Emily suggested before looking up to him as he glanced at her.
"If you think that whatever you're about to propose is going to help our comrade in need, then you have my full agreement." Optimus said as she smiled up to him before looking at everyone.
"Alright then, everyone, close your eyes and optics." Emily gestured as Wheeljack looked confused.
"Close our optics? What for?" Wheeljack asked in confusion as Bumblebee whirred the same.
"Because we're all about to meditate." Emily said with a raised brow. What's wrong with that?
"Meditate? As in yoga?" Bulkhead asked in confusion.
"No offense, Ems, but you forget the last time we meditated." Miko reminded her as they remembered it clearly.
Everyone starts recalling the time when they did yoga. They started doing all kinds of poses when suddenly Bulkhead had stepped into Ratchet's toolbox by accident. On that day, Bulkhead had to go through with the old 'I needed that' lecture from Ratchet and got a wrench to the helm after.
"Can we please not talk about that?" Bulkhead pleaded as Wheeljack smirked as Miko just snickered.
"With all due respect, Emily. I don't think that your human tricks will help out." Ratchet said. He was reluctant as he wasn't sure if it would work.
"True but it's worth a shot." Emily said.
"She does have a point. We won't know until we try." Jack agreed with her.
"Besides, you could use some yoga. It will help you a lot with your attitude." Miko said before she whispered to the others.
"Not to mention that it might give us a break." Miko whispered as the kids and Fowler snickered quietly.
"Okay, everyone. Let's all close our eyes and optics." Emily told them all after rolling her eyes in amusement.
Everyone started to close their eyes and optics after Emily told them to do so as she continued to speak.
"Let's all focus our energy into positive thinking. For it's the key that will unlock the door that has closed our inner pains. Negative emotions like doubts and fear will only block the pain. If you wanna reach into them, you must give into your fears. You must become one with your pain." Emily told them all and Tailgate was able to focus more.
Emily's words have helped take away all his fears so that way he could remember the painful memory and that's when it all came back much to his joy.
"It works. I remember now." Tailgate said happily as everyone opened their eyes and optics.
"Good. Now tell us what you can see." Emily said as Tailgate nodded and focused more.
"I see a fire caused by… an explosion… I can hear… screams. My team was… surrounded… They ambushed us. I remember seeing… dead bodies, many were getting killed, torn to pieces by the enemy. We were cornered… with no way out… I just stood there, watching how everyone was getting killed… and there was nothing I could do. I remember calling for help… but someone had cut off the communications." Tailgate said as he grew a little sad when he remembered how he just stood and his team was killed.
"Can you remember anything important like how you got hit?" Emily asked as he nodded.
"Yes, I do. I tried fighting them off on my own so I could get away but then… something distracted me… a dark figure. It was walking somewhere… and that's where it hit me… something blew up near me. The explosion made me hit a wall… that's where it all stopped. Now I know why I felt this pain. It's all connected, my memory loss, the death of my comrades, all of it. I still remember feeling guilty of being alive, while others didn't have that same luck. And all I did was stand there and see them die one by one." Tailgate said before opening his optics as Ratchet studied his crestfallen look.
"Are you sure that this is what happened?" He asked as Tailgate nodded as Cliffjumper agreed.
"He's telling the truth. I know that because when he called for help the communication went down. I remember it just like it was yesterday." Cliffjumper said with a heavy sigh. Miko suddenly became curious when she heard Tailgate speak about a dark figure.
"Hey, isn't anyone here curious about that dark figure Tailgate just spoke of?" Miko asked curiously as everyone looked towards her.
"Can't win with you guys. You know that right?" Miko grumbled while crossing her arms but what she said caught Emily's attention.
"No way. Maybe Miko is right." Emily said as she started to try and piece it all together.
"She is?" Jack, Fowler and Raf all looked at her in surprise as she nodded before starting to pace.
"Yeah, something about today has been weird." Emily said as she put a hand against her chin.
"What's that?" Cliffjumper asked curiously.
"Let's think back. The only one who was there at the factory before Arcee or any of us arrived was Airachnid right?" Emily said as Arcee looked at her in confusion. What was Emily going for?
"Yeah? What of it?" Arcee asked curiously as Emily stopped pacing and looked at them all.
"Call me crazy but I think that Airachnid had something to do with it." Emily said and what she said had sparked their interest. Maybe she was onto something that will help.
"The only reason she was there was probably because she wanted to hurt Arcee. She knew that Tailgate and her shared quite a bond. Her objective must've been to try and sever that bond to get to Arcee." Ratchet theorized as he looked thoughtful and Emily nodded.
"Yes. That was her objective. But the real question is how did she know who was there? She couldn't know unless she had something to do with it." Emily said to further the theory more deeper.
"That would seem like a stretch don't you think?" Bulkhead said as he doubted it a little.
"I wish I could agree with you, Bulkhead. But Emily is right. When she captured me, she said that she had watched us this whole time." Arcee said as she retold them what Airachnid said and Tailgate nodded in agreement with her.
"It's true. She said that." Tailgate agreed with Arcee. At least he now remembered what happened to him but not all of his memories are there.
"Well, what do you know? That spider harpy had the means and motives. I'd bet my flag star underwear that she was the dark figure Tailgate spoke of." Agent Fowler said as Miko looked at him like he was crazy.
"Did you say underwear? Ew… that's one imagine I won't be able to take off my head for a long time." Miko said as she shuddered in disgust.
"Make that two." Jack said as he was looking a little green.
"Three." Raf said while he was feeling a little queasy.
"Tailgate, I want you to focus on that memory again. But this time, try to recall who was that dark figure you saw on that day." Emily told him as she turned to Tailgate who nodded.
"Okay." He said before closing his optics.
After he did, he started to focus on the day when he lost his memory at the moment when he saw the mysterious dark figure. At first, it was a bit hard but in a matter of seconds, he was able to see things more clearly and that's when it all makes sense. The dark figure he saw on that day was none other than Airachnid.