You had never been angrier than you were in that second. Decepticons close to Griffin Rock. Bumblebee hanging out with your family. Your muscles rippled under your fur as you stalked into the hangar. "(y/n)!" Jack called out to you as he gave you a wave. You didn't even give him a side glance.
"(y/n)'s pissed," Miko pointed out.
"But at what?" Raf wondered with concern as they leaned over the railings.
"(y/n)-
You growled, cutting Arcee off. Your eyes darted around the room looking for the one damned bot who you demanded an answer from. Optimus walked into the room. You snarled at him.
"Bumblebee, (y/n) was the meteor neutralized?" he asked.
Your roar shook the room as you pounced, you may have been smaller but the anger in your veins gave you a strength that would have slayed an army of Prime's. "Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!" Bulkhead screamed as he pointed his blaster at you.
Arcee was stunned as Bumblebee beeped a warning. Your claws had pinned Optimus to the ground, and they rested near Optimus' throat. "Optimus?" Ratchet questioned. you roared to silence the room.
"(y/n)! Cut this out!" Arcee screamed at you.
"Stand down (y/n)!" Bulkhead yelled as his blasters laid next to your face.
"Do you think you'll be fast enough to kill me after I slice his throat, tubby?" You snarled at Bulkhead. Your attention returned to Optimus, his face was completely calm and for some reason it made your blood boil.
"You allow Autobots to work with my family, 2 cons show up less than 5 clicks away and you allow Bumblebee to run around in the open, I don't care what the cons do to this planet, if a hair on their heads is harmed because of your bastard soldiers I will start hunting Autobots!" and for good measure you let a booming roar off in Optimus' face, so he'd get the message. You stalked off Optimus' chest, your tail flicking aggressively as you stalk away, you could feel the shock on the faces of the three humans and the shock on Arcee's face.
You picked up speed and raced out of the base. "Holy!" Miko gasped, "(y/n) almost ripped your face off."
Optimus stood up and rubbed his throat. "I had been expecting (y/n) to take her anger out on me and it is justified, (y/n) is only trying to protect those they care about," he reasoned in defense.
"Optimus, you could have had your head ripped off!" Bulkhead gasped.
"With all due respect Optimus, that was out of line, and I'm going to have a talk with that cat," Arcee said as she cracked her knuckles and transformed, driving after you.
"Wait! If (y/n) is prepared to rip Optimus' head off, won't she shred Arcee?" Jack asked worriedly.
Bulkhead shook his head, "Nah, Arcee has an immunity, she'll wear the cats bark but won't experience the bite," Bulkhead assured.
"Why's that?" Raf asked.
"Arcee practically raised (y/n), it is Arcee's respect for Optimus that usually keeps the cat in line," Ratchet explained.
"Dammit Cat What was that?!" Arcee yelled at you and before you knew it you were picked up by the scruff and brough face to face with Arcee's angry glare. You growled and refused to answer her, she shook you, "answer me!" she demanded.
"The cons came too close and it's prime's fault," you growled as you wriggled out of Arcee's grip but before you could run off a foot stomped down in front of you, stopping you in your tracks.
"We're not done here," Arcee glowered, "Now sit!" she demanded, and you could tell by the look on her face that she was really, really angry. You sat and stared at the ground, silencing the growl that rose to your throat.
"(y/n), you run off to who knows where and you leave nothing but destruction and death in your path, who do you think covers it up for you? Optimus. Who persuaded the human government to allow you to acclimate into a human family, OPTIMUS and the only reason the humans haven't locked you up is Optimus," she scolded.
"And I didn't ask him to do that!" You snapped at her.
"But I did!" she yelled at you. Arcee sighed, Arcee kneeled down as rubbed your head, yet you refused to look her in the eye. "You're lucky (y/n), I've seen your kind, exploited, abused and turned into the monster everyone fears, and it's because of Optimus you're given as much freedom as possible, enough to choose your own path. Do not bite the hand that feeds you," she warned.
"I'm already a monster," you muttered. Arcee kneeled down to meet your eyes.
"No, you're not. You're angry, misunderstood and under the claws and teeth is a kindhearted soul that cares deeply and is ferociously protective, you kill, yes. But we all have blood on our hands," she soothed.
You stood up and leaped from the ledge she found you on and vanished into the shadows of the night.
Arcee sighed as she returned to base.
"I take it talking to (y/n) went well," Jack deduced as Arcee walked back into base.
"How so?" Arcee questioned.
"You're not ripped to pieces," Miko piped up.
"Shredded," Raf added.
"Or missing any limbs," Jack finished.
Arcee shook her head at them, "she's not all claws and teeth," she said with a small smile.
"Arcee, she almost ripped Optimus' face off," Bulkhead yelled at her as he walked over. "I told you all keeping that beast around was a bad idea, we might as well hand Earth over the Decepticons!"
"And what should we do?!" Arcee yelled at Bulkhead.
"I don't know hand the cat over to the humans!" Bulkhead exasperated as he flung his hands around.
Arcee glared daggers at Bulkhead, "that Cat is my responsibility and (y/n) is going nowhere!" Arcee snapped at Bulkhead.
"I have seen the toughest bots torn to shreds, murdered in cold blood, not in self defence but because it was fun," Bulkead seethed, "and it was done by (y/n)'s kind, you cannot control and instinct to kill," he finished as he walked away.
The room was silent. "Is (y/n) that dangerous?" Jack asked.
Arcee sighed but her worried vanished as she chuckled and gave Jack a small smile. "How can something this big be dangerous?" Arcee asked as she held her hands up to gesture to the size of a small dog.
"What do you mean?" Raf asked.
"(y/n) was defenseless, surrounded by much larger beings and was terrified. Optimus was the only bot who found sympathy for (y/n), not everyone here felt the same and I couldn't let someone so small and helpless be thrown to the wolves because of their fear and so I decided to keep (y/n)," Arcee explained. She smiled as she remembered how you were once small enough to fit in her hand and how you used to cling to her out of fear, fear of everyone around you.
"Am I interrupting something?" Agent Fowler asked as he stepped out from the elevator. "The peninsula in Eastern Russia was abandoned 20 years ago when its volcano erupted, my intel reported mech activity there, earlier today," Agent Fowler informed as he leaned over the railing.
"Mech? Those techy guys?" Miko asked
"Those very ones who know of our existence on your planet and that location is where we picked up Bulkhead earlier on today," Ratchet piped up.
"They must have tracked one of us there?" Bulkhead deduced.
"But what would they want with Breakdown?" Miko asked.
"What's it matters? They can have him," Arcee scoffed.
"Arcee if Mech tracked the team and captured Breakdown should we be letting (y/n) alone?" Jack asked.
"Nah, that cat is too fast and too smart for mech, if they try and capture (y/n), it'll be a blood bath," Arcee assured.
"Arcee how well can (y/n) track?" Optimus asked her.
"I don't know, it'd take a hurricane for (y/n) to lose a scent or not be able to pick up a trail, why?" Arcee asked.
"Ratchets reactivate the previous ground bridge co-ordinates and Arcee, call (y/n) back to base," Optimus ordered.
Jasper Nevada or its surrounding mountains never changed. The breeze was cool, yet the son blazed ferociously. You stared across the highway, a road rarely frequented by cars. It was the perfect place to swallow the guilt and fury that settled in the pit of your stomach. Your com beeped, grabbing your attention.
"Cat how far away from base are you?" Arcee demanded. You scowled; you had 2 options. Option 1 was to ignore Arcee and spend a few months in the wild to avoid her wrath and Option 2 was to answer and deal with whatever problem Arcee was brining to your attention.
"Not that far away, why?" you sighed as you began to leap down the steep and thin ledges that you had used to climb up to now climb down.
"Got a job for you, get back to base, NOW," she emphasized. You definitely knew that she was still a little bit angry from your earlier attack on Optimus. You snarled as your paws hit the ground, the Autobots cause trouble and like always you were there to clean it up.
It didn't take long to get back to base, "What am I shredding?" you asked as you stalked back into base.
"Breakdown Captured. Rescue From Mech." Arcee summarized and you rolled your eyes, you knew Bulkhead wouldn't be happy about Optimus' empathy.
"Let's go," you grumbled as they ground bridge open, and you jogged through first. You glanced around at the empty and abandoned buildings. The others transformed as they exited the ground bridge with their blasters held up.
"Think you can track em?" Ratchet asked.
"I'm not a hunting dog," you snarled at him, Arcee glared at you and your growl was silenced. "But yeah, I can," you muttered as you turned your nose to the ground.
There was a scuff, Two Cybertronians, I'm guessing Bulk and his nemesis," you deduced, and you looked upwards, there were truck tracks where something large had been dragged off, "and from the smell of things Mech brought a party." You took a deep breath and your head snapped up and you pounced in a different direction from the tracks.
"(y/n)?" Arcee questioned.
"Ratchet pull out that scanner thingy, I smell energon, the wind is carrying the smell from that direction," you said gesturing to the where the wind blew in from.
Ratchet pulled out his scanner and it began to beep. "There's an energon signal alright, three clicks, north by northwest," Ratchet confirmed.
"But we shouldn't be getting a reading unless..." Arcee stopped as she realized what was going on.
"His energon has been spilt," you finished. You lifted your nose up as another gust of wind carried the same smell, only it was stronger. "Wait." You stopped. "There's two blood trails," you pointed out.
"Whatever that one is I'm not getting it," Ratchet pointed out.
"You follow that trail I'll follow the other," you suggested.
"If you find something, you tell us straight away," Arcee ordered
Your body moved quickly and close to ground as you followed the smell you were all too familiar with. The smell was eventually mixed with smoke. You sneezed as the small ash particles tickled your sinuses.
You followed the smell to a train track. Your ears twitched as you heard the rumble of an engine you did not recognize; it wasn't any of the Autobots. You shrunk into the shadows as a sickly green car drove by. You waited for it to turn a corner and stalked after it.
In the corner of your eye, you spotted Bulkhead, he too was watching the car. You bounded over to his position. "I don't even want to hear you following me," you hissed at him.
"Yeah, yeah, just get going," he grumbled and with a small growl you were back on the trail. You could tell that you were getting closer as you stepped onto the train tracks. You could smell the rubber and smog of cars and trucks on the ground. You closed your eyes to listen to your surroundings, your ears twitched as muffled voiced reached your ears, you were definitely on the right track. You tapped your collar, Arcee was already mad at you, and you didn't want to fuel said anger.
"Train tracks, volcanoes," you said over the coms. Arcee told you to let them know if you found them, she didn't tell you how much detail you had to relay. You could feel Bulkhead's giant footsteps catching up, you growled, you liked working alone for a reason. Less of a chance of getting caught when solo.
You crouched down low and stifled a growl that rose to your throat. You listened to the whirring machines as they cut into Breakdown. All you had to do was find a way through the door. You growled as Bulkheads booming footsteps became louder. "Need some help?" He asked.
"Just open the damn door," you growled. Bulk's fists turned into clubs and he bashed down the door. You didn't waste a second as you sprinted through the distraction the settling dust provided. You class naturally found the fleshy and weak skin of humanity. Warm blood became cool on your claws, bullets flew through the air, you turns and pounced at the nearest human. The bullets fell off your fur like rain drops.
"Marco!" Bulkhead yelled as he lunged into the fray. Humans screamed as they were crushed under his strength, "your supposed to say polo!"
"Shut up and just crush them," you snarled. You hated talking in a fight. Bullets hit your skin like mosquitoes yet again and you turned biting down on the human and thrashing it about before letting the body go.
Bulkhead broke through another door and strode over to Breakdown. In the mean time you were clawing humans left, right and centre, they were no match for you. You cut out the sound of Bulkhead talking to Breakdown. "Shut it!" You snapped at them.
You huffed as you dashed past Bulkhead and outside. More MECH soldiers awaited outside. You grinned evilly, your roar shook the sky and you lunged forward, confident to break the group in pieces. You owe raised upwards to swipe at one of the small fleshy humans, a clear bang resonated through the air. Fire erupted in your shoulder and you dropped to the ground. You tumbled forward, the fault in your momentum sent you rolling across the floor.
You wondered what hit you. Your hide was tough but it was still flesh, it wasn't metal. You got back up onto your feet, the bullet wound in your shoulder hurt like hell, you looked to your left where Bulkhead stepped on an armed car. Your eyes scanned your surroundings, you needed to find whoever shot you.
You roared in pain as another bullet pierced your side. You fell onto your side but if allowed you to catch a glimpse of the soon to be dead fragger that shot you. You growled darkly as you spotted the shooter. You could hear the clicks as it loaded another bullet. You stumbled to get to you feet, a bang resonated through the night and you shut your eyes.
A bang stopped right in front of you and the bullet bounced off something metal. You looked up to Arcee, she had put herself between you and the shooter, she drew her blasters and destroyed the building the shooter rested on. She turned to face you with her hands on her hips, "this is what happens when you give me information in a three word sentence," she scolded. You huffed as you got to your feet.
Arcee shook her head at you. "MECH is down, you took out quite a lot of them," she chided. You still pulled yourself to your feet, Arcee sighed, "no one is going to think any less of you if you ask for help," she offered as she kneeled. "There was once a time when you were completely reliant on me, you don't remember it but I do and it doesn't make me think any less of you, dummy."
The ground bridge opened, "now are you going to walk yourself home or do you want me to pick you up?" She asked. You hissed at her, "use your words," she scolded. You growled as you looked away from her, you hated admitting you needed help. Your claws made grabbing motions at her, it was like you had been set of fire and moving made it worse. "I didn't hear you," Arcee grinned.
You snarled at her, she chuckled. "Yeah I pushed my luck with that one," she smiled, she gently picked you up, careful of your wounds. "See you're just a giant cat with an attitude problem," she chuckled as she carried you through the ground bridge.
"Whoa what happened to you?" Jack asked as he leaned over the railing,
You glared at Jack.
"Poor little thing got shot, she'll be okay though," Arcee assured.
You growled at her, "I could rip your throat out, along with everyone else, I could flay your bodies and leave them for megaton, I could slaughter the humans-
"Aww your so cute," Arcee cooed as she touched your nose.
"No! I am not cute, you should tremble before me!" You snarled. Arcee gently hugged you.
"Adorable fearsome," she chuckled as she scratched around your chin, you growled as you bit her finger. She gave you a look, you knew what the look meant. Drop her finger or suffer the consequences, you hissed as you let her go. You wiggled and squirmed.
You yelled as you hurt your wounds. "You're just an oversized kitten," Arcee smiled, "now let's take you to Ratchet to get fixed up."
Jack chuckled. "What are you laughing about?!" You snarled at him.
"Nothing of great and mighty predatory fluff ball," he teased.
"Don't sleep tonight," you glowered as Arcee carried you into the infirmary to get the bullets to heal.