No Episode
[Amanda]
"This is amazing," I grinned, barely able to keep in my excitement.
"I can't believe it!" Miko exclaimed.
Jack let out a laugh. "All this while we were busy with..."
"Yeah," Raf smiled.
We were standing in the Jasper town park, surrounded by newly built homes and newly paved roads. While we'd been preoccupied with the Omega Lock, the construction crews hadn't let up and at this point, Jasper was basically rebuilt. A few houses, businesses, and community buildings needed a couple finishing touches, but overall, it was stunning. The people of Jasper had already begun to move back in, taking the cheques that I'd signed over to purchase new furniture, clothes, food, and everything they needed to get their lives back on track. I was seeing it all right in front of me, but I could scarcely believe it was true.
"The restoration of the entire town should be finished by the end of the week, Miss Beckett," Carol Saunders, the head of the construction crews, reported, handing me a clipboard with the remaining tasks listed on it. "I'm having my teams split between planting and creating greenspaces, finishing the last few things construction wise, and helping the people here move back in. If there's anything else you need done, I can get a team on that too."
I shook my head, still awestruck. "Honestly, Carol, this is all fantastic. I never expected it to be completed so quickly. I'm ecstatic over your teams' results as a whole."
"Just doing our job, miss," She said, though she looked very pleased at my words. "If that's all-"
"Yes, yes, sorry for pulling you away from your work. I'll be in touch soon after I look over these. Thank you again for everything."
"Anytime, Miss Beckett," She nodded at me and then took off in the direction of one of her construction teams. I turned to my friends, smiling at their shocked and happy faces.
"Well?" I prompted.
"This is great!" Miko squealed. "You should see my host parents' house! It looks like nothing even happened, and they already bought all the new furniture and everything and-"
Jack laughed. "Slow down, Miko. You're going to run out of oxygen."
"Hey, I don't blame her," I said. "I still can't believe this."
Raf hugged me. "You did it, A. You rebuilt Jasper."
"I hardly did anything," I shook my head. "It was the construction crews that rebuilt it."
"But you lead them," Jack nudged me. "You deserve some congrats too."
"Yeah, so you'd better take it," Miko finished, making me laugh.
"Okay, okay," I raised my hands in surrender. "Thank you all for your recognition."
The others laughed at that, and for a moment I completely forgot about the lingering sadness that still loomed over us. The Autobots had left only four days ago, and we were still on the mend from that. While the others had already been in contact with their Autobot guardian, I had yet to receive word from Optimus himself. Bumblebee and Arcee both told me that he'd been going nonstop ever since arriving back on Cybertron, but that he wanted them to tell me that he said hello. I was glad that the Prime was doing what he did best, leading Cybertronians to brighter futures, but I did also wish he found a little bit of time to talk to me. Still, I wasn't going to let the others know that.
The sound of a car made us turn to see Finn driving up next to the park where we stood in his Audi.
"There you are!" I said as we walked over to meet him. "Have you seen the town?"
He grinned. "It looks great, A. Good work here."
"See?" Miko piped up. "Now, what do you do when someone congratulates you?"
I shook my head, still smiling. "Thanks."
"Where have you been?" Raf asked.
That made Finn smile. "Working on our little surprise." Realization crossed everyone's faces, and I glanced around, confused.
"I don't know if I like where this is going..." I said as they all exchanged grins.
"Don't worry!" Miko whipped out a cloth headband from her pocket and started walking towards me. "It's a good surprise!"
"And the headband is for?" I walked backwards slowly. "Are you guys abducting me?"
Finn came up behind me, putting his hands out to grab me by the shoulders. "Don't worry, it's just to make the surprise even better."
Miko slipped the headband over my eyes, making everything pitch black, and Finn lead me in the direction of his car as I said, "Everytime you guys say don't worry, I worry a lot more."
Raf laughed as I got pushed into the car. "It'll be fine!"
"That's not any better!" Car doors slammed shut around me and I felt two people on either side of me.
"You're going to love this," Miko said, and I could hear the grin in her tone. "Finn, how do you work your radio?"
"Like any other radio, Miko," Finn replied and the car lurched forward just as music blared from the speakers. While my confusion was at an all time high, I still couldn't help but feel a little excited. What did these guys have in mind?
We drove for a couple of minutes, taking so many turns that I lost track of where we could be as the music played and Miko sang from the front seat. I couldn't help but laugh along with the others as we helped each other forget about that dark cloud still caught over our heads.
The car finally stopped and the others got out, leaving me reaching around blindly.
"Little help, guys?" I called out.
"Oops!" Raf laughed, and I assumed it was him who grabbed my hand and tugged me out of the car. He pushed me forward and I felt the others gather around me.
"Can I take this off now?" I asked, unable to wait any longer.
"Yes!" Miko said closeby, and I reached up to take off the headband. My eyes were blinded by the light at first, but once they adjusted, I gasped at what was in front of me, my hands flying up to cover my gaping mouth.
"No way," My voice shook as hundreds of different emotions lodged in my throat.
The others gave me grins and Jack said, "Welcome home, A."
Beckett Manor was just as I remembered it. There was no rubble, no caved in roofs, no destroyed grounds, and no ruined buildings. My home stood proud, as it once did, the grass yards surrounding it gleaming green, and the fountain running, shooting water high into the sky. The stone paths were solid again, the gates around the manor intact, and flowers bloomed in the front garden. My house and garage were perfect again, as though nothing had happened in the first place.
"Holy scrap guys," I laughed, breaking through my initial shock. "How- when-"
"We noticed no work was really being done on this end of town," Finn said. "So Miko and I looked into it and realized you'd forgotten to follow up with the company you hired to rebuild your manor. We contacted them and set everything up, and bam there we go!"
"Jack and I got all the remaining specs for them," Raf continued. "We figured you'd forget about your own house because you were so busy with everyone else, so we kinda stepped in and finished up the work for you."
I flung my arms out and caught them all in a group hug. "You guys are the best friends I could ever ask for."
"We know!" Miko chirped.
"Go look around!" Jack laughed, pushing me towards the manor. I started up the path, feeling the stones underneath my feet and gazed around in awe. Once I reached the end of the stone driveway, I paused, then headed to the garage.
"There's surprise number two," Jack said as I pulled the garage door up, and was stunned yet again by the sight.
"You guys..." My voice trailed off, tears actually forming in my eyes. Before lay almost a hundred different cars, the lights in the garage shining against their perfect paint jobs. The garage was arranged the same way it had always been, the same way my mother had arranged it all those years ago.
"Aw, A!" Miko bounded forward to give me a hug.
"We tried to recreate it the best we could," Finn said. "I think we might be missing a couple of cars-"
"No," I said, wiping away the tear that had broken free while still in Miko's death hug. "No it's perfect, beyond perfect. I honestly can't believe this."
"Welcome home, A."
~~~
I stared up at the ceiling, making a list of all the things I had to do.
Buy more furniture, I can't sleep on the living room couch forever. Buy new clothes. Rebuild Blair and Cam. Set up the basement media room. Pop by the atheneum, just to check in and all. Go over the list that Carol gave me earlier. Get Ratchet the specs to that new satellite, maybe he can figure out why it won't do what I want.
My thoughts raced, but I forced them to quiet down. The manor was silent, and that new home smell still lingered. It looked exactly like it used to, and I'd be forever grateful to my friends for what they did. I never realized how much I missed these walls until I was back, safe within them.
I couldn't sleep though. Sitting up, I looked around. It was all so familiar, but I missed having Blair always ready to talk with. Weirdly enough, I'd grown so attached to my AI, both of them for that. Luckily, I had their programs saved within my master database, so it would only take uploading them into my house's system to get them back online.
Maybe if I stretched my legs, I'll be able to sleep after.
I stood and walked around a bit, exploring the familiar nooks and crannies of the mansion. I stopped at the front door for a long moment, searching for...
Optimus.
Dismay filled me when I realized the Prime wasn't there. I shook my head. No, he wouldn't be there, not anytime soon.
"You have everything here," I said to myself. "And you're still missing the one who's not here."
I miss you, Optimus. I really do.
Sighing, I headed back to the living room and switched on the fire place as a sudden chill filled me. When Optimus had been parked outside, I'd always felt protected, even when he didn't need to protect me. Now I just felt exposed.
Well, I guess I won't be sleeping anytime soon. Might as well do something productive.
So I grabbed my laptop and started programming the mansion's mainframe. I started with the security, then moved along to uploading all the little details I'd grown so accustomed to having. Hours ticked by, but I didn't even notice them as I was so absorbed in what I was doing. It wasn't until my phone rang did I pause, seeing that I'd killed three hours already, and I picked up my phone without seeing who it was.
"Amanda Beckett speaking," I said, assuming it was someone from BeckIT.
"Hello Amanda."
"Optimus!" I sat right up, joy filling me. "How are things?"
"It has been a tiring few rotations, but I am faring well. I apologize for not being able to reach you earlier."
"Don't be, I know you're busy. I mean, we just got your home world back online, and as resident Prime, you kinda gotta take charge. How's the rebuilding coming along?"
"For the time being, we have been simply taking into account what has to be done. The Autobots have begun to work on their separate tasks, and I am pleased to say that several Cybertronian groups have made contact since our arrival."
"That's great. It's a good thing there are still some out there. It'll make rebuilding easier." I leaned back, sinking into the couch. "You'll never guess what happened today. First of all, all of Jasper is basically built again."
"Congratulations, Amanda." I could hear the pride in his tone.
"Thanks, Optimus. But that's not all. Beckett Manor is rebuilt again too. The others surprised me, turns out they finished and finalized all the plans I'd forgotten about, and it's all done."
"Then we have both returned home."
"Yeah," My voice trailed off. "I miss you though. It's weird not seeing you parked in the driveway, or knowing that you're close by."
"I will always be near, Amanda. Whether I am on Cybertron or on Earth, I will be there for you, no matter the time, no matter the distance."
That made me smile. "I know. I think I just needed to hear it from you."