"So there's been no sign of any others?" Optimus rumbled. He'd transformed into his new bi-pedal form earlier, and he looked much different than the last time I saw him. A good kind of different, however. "No. We are all that is left." The blue and black Autobot named Drift responded to Optimus, and after a moment scorned Bee. "Bumblebee has held command, but this pint has a total and complete lack of warrior discipline. He is like a child." Bee quickly handed me off to the dark green Autobot Hound, who was less than impressed to have me in his servos.
"Bee!" I couldn't stop him from attacking Drift, and the two engaged in a small fight. I was relieved when it ended, but not since Drift had one of his swords against Bee's neck cables. "Am I the lone sage who sees through this puppy dog eyes act?" Drift smugly smirked, then hissing to Bee. "It's beneath you!" I was about to have a go at Drift, but the bright green Autobot named Crosshairs spoke up before I could. "Yes! I've been waiting for them all to dispatch each other so I could take charge with no trouble at all! Just me, reporting to me."
Optimus made his way over to diffuse the tension before it got any worse. "Autobots!" Drift had let Bee go from his hold, and the yellow Autobot stormed over to Hound. There was a wordless exchange as Hound gave me back to Bee. "Lockdown is hunting us, and humans are helping. We need to know why." There was a moment of silence. None of us knew why the bounty hunter was working alongside humans. "Listen, I don't have an idea of why, but I think I know who," Cade said, holding up the drone he'd stolen during the raid on our house.
We didn't have a projector, but apparently, Drift was equipped with digital imaging inside his Bugatti Grand Sport Vitesse altmode, so he transformed and let Cade work his magic to see if we could watch the footage contained within the drone. During this period of time, Bee had transformed into his 1967 Camaro altmode, and I hung around since I didn't want him to be alone. Crosshairs, believing Bee to be in recharge, strutted over in his bi-pedal form, swishing his cape made of metal behind him.
"I'm not too fond of humans, but I want to know why dear little Bumblebee likes you so much. Mind taking a drive with me?" I was very clear in my opinion, taking a seat on Bee's hood. "Sorry, I'm not up for sale." I snapped, barely giving Crosshairs a single glance. "Kitty has claws." Hound chuckled, cleaning one of his guns a little ways away. We'd been here for a good few hours now, and I was annoyed to have missed out on the sunset because of it. But it was now dark enough for Cade to play the footage from the drone through Drift.
I hopped off Bee's hood, allowing him to transform and join the rest of the Autobots. Our group gathered around the rock wall where Drift was projecting the footage. "This drone I stole recorded footage of an Autobot raid. It's in pieces, but look what happens here-" The Autobot in the footage was red, and looked rather familiar. I was the first to recognise him. "Leadfoot! He was a Wrecker." Hound looked surprised to hear that I knew about Leadfoot, let alone the Wreckers. It got much worse.
The footage was choppy and mixed up, but after the death of Leadfoot, another familiar Autobot came into frame. "Ratchet..." The emergency vehicle altmode of my old ally was attempting to outrun military forces but didn't get too far. Once he was caught, he tried to reason with them. I couldn't watch any longer, looking away from the projection. How could humans be so cruel? They saved our race from the Decepticons, and this is how we repaid them? By hunting them down and murdering them?
"And later this truck comes to haul them off. KSI, Kinetic Solutions. Defence, aerospace, government contracts," Cade took a moment to examine the drone closely. "And they designed this drone." I was taking deep breaths, determined not to cry over what was presumably the death of Ratchet, even if we hadn't seen the shots that ended his spark. Shane decided to add in his ten cents, asking a stupid question. "So these guys just hunt you down and pass you off to this KSI?" I wanted badly to be sarcastic, but that wouldn't improve the tension in the group at all.
"The company is headquartered in Chicago. That could be where they were taken." No. No. I can't go back there, not after the war. I'd already lost my brother, I wasn't going to lose Bee or Optimus too. As I started to panic, Hound pointed out the obvious, flicking his bullet-cigar with two digits. "No way to get inside without a battle." Cade got out of Drift's altmode, still holding the drone. "Well, what if you had some human help?" Why was he doing this?? I couldn't go back to Chicago! Now he was encouraging the idea! "What are you two, partners now?"
Tessa was less than impressed by her father's newfound friendship with the Autobots. "Sweetie, we're targets now too, we need to know why we'll never get our lives back." My heart was pounding against my ribs, and I could see Optimus deliberating. He knew the cost of returning to Chicago. He also knew what would happen if we didn't take action. I just hoped he made the right choice. "Autobots, I have sworn never to kill humans." That he had.
"But when I find out who's behind this," The Prime turned to where the moon was rising, a servo balled into a fist. "He's going to die." Hearing Optimus say something like that was almost obscene to me. He'd been stoic and forgiving for the past few battles and wars with the Decepticons, but now, as humanity became involved, he seemed to be losing more of his patience. And it was scary, seeing such a brave leader lose his nerve because of war.
"We depart for Chicago at dawn. Get some rest, Autobots." Optimus then nodded to me, obviously letting me know that we humans should also get some rest. It was a couple days drive to reach Chicago from Monument Valley, and we needed to be alert. The Autobots dispersed, Optimus leaving the group. He was most likely going to mourn Leadfoot and Ratchet, although there was a slim chance that Ratchet may still be alive since we hadn't seen his death, only the attack.
"Princess, are you okay?" Bee had finally noticed me almost hyperventilating by his pede. "I-I can't-" I tried to speak, but my voice just wasn't cooperating. Bee suddenly transformed into his altmode, engaging his holoform. It was the exact same as the last time I'd seen him. Tall, broad-shouldered, muscly. Dark skin that looked more caramel in sunlight, paired with the unnaturally bright blue eyes and chocolate brown hair with a little white tuft at the front. "Rose, just breathe. Do whatever you humans do to calm down." Bee made it easier by doing hand motions for me to follow.
Once my breathing was normal, Bee let out a loud huff. "Primus, you're a full-time job, aren't you?" I tried not to be, but I guess I was. "Shut up. I just had a mild panic attack, I deserve love, not sarcasm." Bee just nodded to himself, gesturing to his altmode. "Come on, you may as well get some sleep. I'll make sure you don't have any more panic attacks about Chicago." I hesitantly got into his altmode, shooting him a look. How on earth did he know I was panicking about having to go to Chicago?
His holoform just smiled and got into the driver's seat. "Come on Princess, I may have been away for a few years, but I still know you. Now close your eyes and count the shots of high-grade Energon." I couldn't hold back the ugly snort. It was like we'd never been apart. He was still the same if a little irritable. Perhaps being away from the ones he knew best had taken its toll on him. "Goodnight, Bee."
| | |
Bee woke me the next morning, letting me take a short walk to stretch my legs before we got on the road. Optimus was up front with Cade, Tessa and Shane, while Hound was guarding the rear. Bee was right behind Optimus, but our little convoy was making a conscious effort to be less conspicuous while driving through Colorado to the border of Nebraska. It was late when we stopped for the night. The sun had already gone down, and I felt sweaty and gross from the heat.
Using the money I had in a separate emergency account under a different name, I rented a motel room for the night with two double beds. Tessa was sharing with Shane, to Cade's dismay. I was still tossing up between sharing with Cade or going out to sleep on Bee's backseat. "Rose, since you bought the room, you can have the first shower." Tessa was gracious enough to allow me to have the first shower. I didn't waste any time, grabbing one of the motel supplied towels and stripping off my gross clothes in the bathroom. As soon as I got into the shower, I felt most of my stress melt away.
My peaceful moment was interrupted by the sudden presence of someone standing behind me in the shower. "What the-" I covered myself with my hands, whipping around to face whoever thought it was totally fine to shower with me. Rather than getting angry and kicking them out, I paused. It was Bee, in his holoform. He blinked at me innocently with his pretty blue eyes, a gentle smile coming to his lips. "I didn't mean to scare you." The drumming of the water against the shower floor was drowning out our words, making sure no one else could hear them.
"Well, you did. Bee, you don't normally just join someone in the shower. It's creepy." I was acutely aware that I was completely naked, but it didn't seem to bother Bee. In fact, I wasn't allowing my gaze to waver, but I could see in my peripheral vision that he too wasn't wearing anything. Which was the norm when showering, but it was still completely new to me to have someone else in the shower with me. "I just wanted to spend time with you. Plus I get to finally use my holoform for a purpose."
He moved closer to me, and it prompted me to step back to get away from him. As much as I wanted to give in, we couldn't just shower together. Everyone else was right outside the bathroom! "W-What purpose would that be?" He shifted close again, but I had nowhere to go. My back hit the wall of the shower, and the spray of the water was left to pound onto Bee's broad shoulders rather than me. "To explore you, of course. Since I'm human, I can treat you as you are, rather than a delicate piece of glass." My cheeks burned as he leaned down, coming closer to my face.
"And you smell so good right now..." I couldn't do anything as his lips went to my neck. Granted, I'd wanted this for a long time, but now that it was happening, I was terrified. Even in his holoform, I still knew it was Bee. The Transformer, a sentient car that transformed into a walking, talking- beeping, robot. That I'd somehow fallen in love with. Bee's lips were cold against my neck, and it only made me shiver because of the temperature difference. His holoform, which was the same as it had been in Chicago, was still bigger than me, and he easily cornered me against the shower wall.
~*~
Haha. Um, yeah. I'm back to school tomorrow, but I'll try and keep up with the updates!
Let me know if you're enjoying it ❤️