"Optimus!" Ratchet turned around. "I've detected an Iacon locator beacon."
Optimus's eyes narrowed and he stepped away from the database. At the sound of Ratchet's words, the other Autobots were beginning to form around him.
"Where is Smokescreen?" Optimus questioned.
"Out training again with Jack." Arcee replied bitterly.
Optimus frowned. "We cannot afford to wait. Autobots, roll out."
Ratchet opened the groundbridge and all of them drove through.
Red tilted her head.
It would be so easy to escape right now.
She remained seated, mentally telling herself that MECH needed to gather information about the Autobots since all they got from her previous assignment was energon.
The reason felt more like an assurance than anything else.
Red scowled and sat down, propping her head up on her hand.
Then a thought came to mind. What if Silas had utilized her intel about the search for relics and he had somehow managed to lure the Autobots out? She didn't even try to escape.
Barely even considered the option.
Ratchet activated the comms. "Optimus, I've detected a second locator beacon."
There was a moment of silence.
"Optimus? Bulkhead? Arcee? Bumblebee? Can anyone hear me?"
Red immediately grew aware of how loud her heartbeat sounded as it pounded around her chest. The girl dismissed it as excitement. Maybe the Autobots were dead and she didn't have to worry about them anymore.
The explanation was even more of a lie.
She really was being brainwashed.
Red looked to the side as Smokescreen sped inside with Jack again, their laughter was cut off as Ratchet tried to contact the Autobots.
"What happened?" Smokescreen asked, walking forward.
"Ratchet found a second beacon!" Red blurted, surprising both herself and the others.
Ratchet nodded slowly. "Yes, and the others won't answer their comms."
"I'll go, then." Smokescreen decided, stepping toward the groundbridge.
"Alone?" Ratchet demanded incredulously.
"You have a better idea?" Smokescreen asked.
Ratchet frowned and turned around. "Fine."
He activated the groundbridge and Red was paying close attention to how he did it. Her attention was drawn away however when she saw Jack walk into the bridge.
It shut behind them.
She stared at the empty space for a moment, her brain taking a moment to comprehend the situation. Then she looked at Ratchet.
"You realize Jack went with him, right?"
"Yes, yes." Ratchet waved her off.
Then he froze.
"WHAT!?"
The medic activated Smokescreen's commm. "Bring Jack back immediately."
Silence.
"No, bring Jack- the Star Saber!? Wait, hold on, if-"
Ratchet stopped talking and activated the groundbridge. He sent Red a glance, wondering if the girl would run off. Then he shrugged and went.
Red looked around the empty base.
Huh.
Welp.
This was... something.
Red took that moment to decide how the Autobots were doing so terrible in the war. Clearly, they'd lost their minds; leaving murderous people unsupervised and unrestrained in their top secret base was a sure sign of insanity.
Ratchet came back through, not even throwing her a glance as the others followed him inside. He was mid-sentence and explaining the situation as he shut down the current groundbridge and opened a new one.
"I will get the star saber." Optimus told them. "You will retrieve Smokescreen and Jack."
The Autobots nodded and raced through, gone just as quickly as they'd appeared.
Red stood up and walked to the railing, itching to be back in the field again. She'd been rotting away in this base for three days, and while the experience wasn't terrible, it was boring.
She was used to constant training, mental and physical, but now Red was about as active as a normal teenager, which she'd have considered an insult.
It seemed like no time had passed before the Autobots came back.
Smokescreen grinned. "How epic was that? I saw it, but I still don't believe it."
He pretended to do some dramatic spin thing and Red frowned before her eyes caught sight of the giant sword Optimus was holding.
Epic was absolutely the right word to describe it.
"You know what I don't believe?" Arcee asked angrily, stepping up close to Smokescreen. "That after everything you've learned, you still put a human at risk."
Big deal. Red leaned back in her chair and rolled her eyes. Jack consented to it.
"Arcee, it wasn't his fault, I-"
Arcee gave Jack a glare that reminded Red vaguely of June Darby. "Don't you even start with me, we'll talk tomorrow. Send Jack home."
Ratchet hesitated, waiting for an objection. When he received none, the medic turned around silently and activated the groundbridge.
Jack sighed, giving Smokescreen an empathetic look before leaving.
"We've been in need of another Autobot in our ranks." Arcee glared. "Not another child."
"Look, Arcee, I was wrong. I'm sorry." The rookie looked down in shame. "Again. And if you need to kick me off of Team Prime-"
"Disregard for human safety, or anyone's safety, will not be tolerated. Do you understand?" Optimus asked, a stern look on his face.
"Fully, sir."
Optimus took tall, the star saber in hand as he spoke. "We must never lose sight of the fact that upon this planet, we are titans, and such power must be used wisely."
Red tilted her head thoughtfully.
Hm.
▪️◾◼⬛◼◾▪️
Another night gone.
When Optimus came out of the back rooms in the morning, he was surprised to find that Fowler was sleeping in his chair and Red was hanging off of the side of the railing by her legs, doing sit-ups.
Below her was a 50 foot drop.
Optimus walked closer. "Have you slept?"
"No sir." Red replied almost robotically, keeping her focus on her task.
So a sleep deprivated teenager was hanging off of a 50 foot drop. How safe.
Optimus frowned. "You realize that if we wanted to do anything harmful to you, we wouldn't wait until you were asleep?"
"Do you speak for everyone else in this base?" Red questioned lightly.
"Yes." Optimus stated. "This is my team."
Red snorted and paused her sit-up to look at him. "This is the U.S. military's base. You have to do whatever they tell you."
"I will do what I came to Earth to do. My alliance with them was simply beneficial to both parties." Optimus told her. "We are not obligated to engage ourselves in human matters."
"Exactly." Red swung herself upward, going over the side of he rails and landing on the ground. "You have no control over what happens to me."
"Not obligated does not mean we won't."
Red frowned at him. "You won't."
The girl laid down on her stomach and began to do push-ups.
Optimus, slightly frustrated, remained by the railing and watched her for a moment.
"If you were given the opportunity to return to MECH, would you do it?" He asked.
"Of course." Red frowned. "I belong there."
"You belong wherever you chose to be."
"If a bird choses to live in the ocean, it will drown."
Optimus narrowed his eyes. "You are not a bird. This is a desert."
Red stopped mid-pushup, her eyes locked on the wall for a long moment before she relaxed and looked at Optimus. "What?"
He glanced at the wall, which was bare. "I said..."
Optimus looked at the Iacon database and sighed. "Come with me."
Red's expression twisted in confusion. "What?"
Optimus gestured to the stairs and then transformed.
Ratchet looked over. "What's going on?"
"I'll be back soon." Optimus assured his medic. "This needs to be taken care of."
Red approached his door and eyed him with narrowed eyes. "Where are we going?"
"Patrol." The Prime replied.
"Bulkhead and Arcee are on patrol."
Optimus opened his door. "Let's go."
Red stared at him for a moment longer before getting over herself and climbing into Optimus's interior.
It seemed like the old days again, when she was his charge and he was her guardian. Except this time, Red was a completely different person.
Not Victoria Raider. Red Bishop.
Red was quiet as Optimus drove out of the base, her mind also drifting back to their days when she was infiltrating them. Something about her sitting here as an enemy instead of a friend just seemed wrong.
She realized silently that she had liked it better when she wasn't being herself.
A yawn threatened to break free from her mouth and Red quickly pushed it back down. She didn't want Optimus to see her weakness.
Now that she wasn't actively trying to keep herself awake, Red's fatigue began to set in and she leaned forward.
"What are we doing?" She asked.
Optimus was silent.
Red scowled. "I know we aren't going on patrol."
Again, Optimus didn't reply and Red's scowl deepened.
It wasn't an uncommon tactic of interrogation for the interrogator to remain silent. He brought her here to ask questions, and now he was trying to unnerve her, hoping that the trained agent would accidentally let something spill.
Or maybe he had noticed her fatigue. Maybe he had been waiting this whole time for her to become sleep deprived so he could ask questions when she was less capable of interpreting the hidden meaning.
It was cunning of him and Red hadn't anticipated such a move. It was foolish of her.
While Red's suspicions grew, Optimus remained calm and drove around silently.
It had only been a few minutes before Red ran out of stimulation. The silence, the monotonous scene, and the lack of movement quickly took hold and Red's eyes drifted down without her permission.
Less than five minutes after their departure, Optimus drove back into the base with a sleeping MECH agent.