CHAPTER 29
Distrust
Some days, Coulton hated his human disguise even more than he hated the Autobots. All these years he had spent hours upon hours of time forging documents, infiltrating the humans (even before the Autobots arrived), creating a signal scrambler to keep his identity a secret, and forcing himself into a liason positon. And what did the Deception pretender have to show for it? He was no steps closer to destroying the Autobots from the inside, his master's army had been reduced to small numbers, and worst of all, his sparkmate, who had fought in Chicago was dead.
And now there was the kid.
He hated to say it, but this Mark Savoy was doing a good job of being a real thorn in his side. He was one of the few reasons the general public was even deciding to try and trust the Autobots again. Now they had a mascot, a cute little kid who they were raising, and whom they were giving a semi-normal, happy life. The world no longer only saw the war machines that fought in and nearly destroyed three major cities, they saw gentle giants who were there for the protection of all life, human or otherwise. And it more than made the Decepticon sick to think about.
Stepping out of the shadows of the parking garage in the worst part of Washington D.C., Coulton listened for the loud hum of engines that signaled his master's arrival. Sure enough, no more than a second later, the large truck that was Galvatron drove out of the darkness and stopped in front of his underling. "I hear the old one with the attitude still lives." Galvatron spoke without even a "hi" "How could they manage such an operation without complications?"
"The medic, First Aid." Coulton replied "It was a minor set-back, Lord Galvatron. But they weren't going to give up the boy anyway, he's their asset. The only reason the humans are even beginning to trust the Autobots again." He tapped the side of his sunglasses before taking them off "We might as well forget about separating them, and instead focus on our other options." He added "He was only a back-up plan, anyway."
He backed up slightly as Galvatron transformed, crouching low so as not to hit the roof. To say the silver, man made Decepticon didn't look pleased would have been an understatement. "You'd be wise to remember who you are talking to, Pretender 9067." Coulton cringed slightly "It's true I do not need the boy for our plans. But I cannot wait endlessly for you to grow a processor and find someway to destroy them from the inside." He snarled "I grow impatient, and tired. And you have done NOTHING."
"Are you forgetting who got you out of Hong Kong to begin with?" Coulton snapped "Or who gave you the Vehicons to begin with!"
"Yet the Autobots are still standing..."
"We were so close, we could have destroyed them..." Coulton shrugged.
"Then why do they still live!?" Galvatron growled, his voice dripping with venom.
"We had a SETBACK. They got rid of Cemetery Wind. Or have you forgotten that was the plan? To let that buffoon Attinger, and his underling Savoy destroy them for us?" Galvatron looked away with a grunt "Need I remind you who messed that up? I was so close and then you just had to jump the gun and screw it all up! You should have figured it out and bought yourself time and had the power trip when I knew you were still online." Galvatron slammed a fist just inches from Coulton's form "Now we have to start from scratch."
Galvatron grunted, his optics narrowing with anger. Coulton knew that Galvatron knew he was right, that he had screwed up. The problem with the Decepticon leader was, however, that he didn't like being the screw-up. "Something must happen. Something that will make the humans fear the Autobots again." Galvatron noted "Whether it be harm to the boy, or a set-up, we need to break them, and the humans trust of them."
"I'll gladly kill the boy and frame them." Coulton said with a sneer.
Galvatron seemed to contemplate this for a long time. And yet, he shook his head slowly, his optics lowering to Coulton. "I want the boy kept unharmed... For now." Galvatron explained "I want you to break him from the Autobots as well. But I want him in one piece." He rubbed his talons together with a malicious smile "I think he may prove to be a valuable asset to us just yet."
"That's really a shame." Coulton pouted mockingly "I was hoping to snuff his bratty aft out."
Galvatron swatted at him slightly, growing tired of his underling's mocking. "Now is there anything else you have to report. Or has our little meeting served no further purpose than to remind me of my failures?" As Galvatron moved a talon forward towards him, Coulton stepped back slowly "Chose your next words wisely, pretender, because if I don't like it... We have many pretenders who can take on your alternate form."
"None that have been working on infiltrating their government since before you were defrosted."
"The one thing that Starscream and The Fallen did right." Galvatron mused, then looked down upon him "Should I take this as you have NOTHING else noteworthy to report?" He asked frustrated.
"I have one, regarding Optimus Prime." Galvatron's optics widened at the mention of the Autobot leader's name "He's coming back, my lord. He's nearing Earth as we speak and is due in one Earth day." Galvatron's fangs grinded at the thought of this "I thought you'd want to know, given I had no idea if you'd want to prepare a "landing party" for him." Another sneer "What?"
"For your sake, you had better hope he has not brought reinforcements."
"You were too busy to contact, you wouldn't pick up until last week!"
Galvatron got his face up quite close to Coulton, a snarl erupting. For a few short moments, the pretender suspected that this was it. He was done for, his master would crush him now and send him to the well to meet his beautiful sparkmate. "Let the Prime land without conflict. I want them to feel safe, and one may just tip them off at this point." Coulton sighed with relief and nodded "Continue to try and destroy the alliance, double time now that Prime is returning. If results have not been met in a satisfactory amount of time... They won't be the only ones who are snuffed out."
As Galvatron transformed down, Coulton could only watch him leave, bewildered. What could he do without hurting the boy yet? What did Galvatron make of him? A genius? He gritted his teeth, and sighed, he had a lot to think about on the long walk back to his office.
...
The base was abuzz with activity with only a day to go before Optimus's arrival. As of yesterday, they had finally heard from Optimus again, more clearly this time, that he would be arriving on-schedule. Even Mark himself felt some excitement at the coming of the Autobot leader, along with some reservations. A part of him still could feel that tinge of fear of how his presence would go over with the Autobot leader. "So am I coming with the greeting party this time?" Mark asked as he approached Crosshairs, Hound, and Drift in the communications center "I don't have school this time!"
Hound and Crosshairs exchanged glances, though it was Drift that spoke up first. "Our young grasshopper has missed both the arrival of Prowl and First Aid in the past. And as this is a time of celebration..." He looked down upon the young human "I most certainly do not think it would be an issue to bring him along to see Sensei's arrival."
"You really want to get into this first thing?" Crosshairs asked.
Hound shrugged his shoulders, and looked at Crosshairs. "Aw, what could it hurt? He doesn't need to be told right away. It's not like he'll see him an immediately think of James Savoy." Mark laughed a little at that "Don't worry, he'll ride with me. And if Prime asks, we'll just introduce him as "Mark"." He noted, causing Crosshairs to roll his optics, but only nod "Just no funny business kid, ye gotta be on yer best behavior."
"Like I'd be anything less when I'm meeting Optimus Prime." Mark laughed "I'd be more worried about Coulton if I were you. Or are we finally leaving that jerk behind for once?" Hound gave Mark a "look" "Of course we aren't. Because we have to deal with creeper Mcdickhead on a regular basis." He muttered under his breath.
Hound crouched low and gave his foster son a pat on the back. As if to signify that he wasn't the least bit happy about bringing the man along either. "Don't worry too much about it kid. You'll be with the Autobots to greet him." Hound explained "He'll be with the government officials, and they don't even get to greet him first, we get to." Mark grinned a bit, feeling a rush of excitement at that.
"Awesome."
"Very." Crosshairs then waved him off "Now Mark, I'd appreciate it if you'd let us work. If we don't keep doing our work then our leader might not even land in the right place." Mark stuck his tongue out at the mech in response "Go on, you little bugger. And ye should get to sleep soon if you want to be up at five in the mornin'." He added.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah." Mark waved him off "I'll be fine."
And with that, Mark was off, leaving the three chuckling mechs behind. Though for Hound, it was a nice surprise to see that Mark had seemed to push at least some of his worries away and get excited. Though he had a feeling that in the morning, he'd either be too tired, or too intimidated to be that excited. "Thank Primus he didn't ask to invite his friend, Kenny." Crosshairs snorted "I think we'll have one excited little guy already."
"Kenny-kun isn't so bad." Drift replied "I met him picking Markus-kun up. He seemed like a very friendly boy."
"I'm sure he's fine." Crosshairs shrugged "But I don't think we have time for fanboys all things considered."
Hound gave a snort, and a nod, he had to admit that he agreed with him there. Glancing over his shoulder, he looked thoughtful. "Slag, I almost forgot, Prowl needed me to check on who's coming and who's not." Hound stated "We have so many already coming that he thinks we need to lower the number. In case anyone tries to make a move to hurt Prime."
"Better get moving. You know he gets impatient."
Hound gave a nod and made his way out into the hallway, though he only had gone a short way before he noticed Coulton. The mech attempted to bite back a grimace at the sight of the man, though he chose to simply avert his gaze. "Hound." Coulton nodded his head curtly in his direction "Exciting day, isn't it?" He asked with "Hmmmm" "Your son sure seems excited."
"I don't know if I've made it clear enough." Hound stopped him short of starting a second sentence "I don't like you, in fact I don't trust you." Coulton seemed to grimace in response to that comment "So I suggest you stop talking to me. Because as of late, to add to it, you're really pressing my buttons." He added coldly "Don't think I forget what you did when I was out."
Coulton gained his composure, and cleared his throat. Clearly he wanted to look tough, but looking up at the larger, more imposing Cybertronian was not helping when said-mech was angry. "And here, I thought you were supposed to be the friendly kind of robot." Hound grunted, continuing on "Good talking, Hound." He added with a smirk.
As Coulton walked off, not for the first time, Hound watched him. It was true, he didn't trust him, not even a little. And one of these days, he had the deepest suspicion that his feelings would be proved to be warranted.
...
A/N: Yep, Coulton's a Decepticon pretender. ;) I had been debating on when I'd reveal this to you guys, but I felt as the story was in need of a little twist, now was a great time. Anyways, check back in next chapter if you're ready for the big return of the one and only Optimus Prime!