Transformers Fan Fiction ❯ Cover Me ❯ Strangers in a Strange Land ( Chapter 18 )

Cover Me

By Black Dragon Queen

Author's note: Chapter eighteen, the chapter of many, many notes. Please also note the addition to the Font Index.

PAIRINGS REVEALED THUS FAR:

Wheeljack x Ratchet, Inferno x Red Alert, Past Prowl x Jazz

Font Index:

“Speaking”, `Thinking', “-Radio Transmissions-”, “Cybertronion” “:Surprise:”

~*~

Chapter Eighteen: Strangers in a Strange Land

The sight of eight different assortment of cars flying down the desert road would have been the most amazing sight in the world had everyone not been so wrought with anxiety over the nights events. Sam slouched down in his seat as he studied the unconscious mech that was situated on Optimus back, chewing his lower lip in worry. Ratchet said that he would have to perform emergency surgery the moment they got back to the base and they had to get the `Bot, Sunstreaker, awake and transformed before his systems permanently fried.

“Will he be alright?” Sam muttered to his companion as he watched the group. `Bee was bringing up the rear with Wheeljack and Sam had a perfect panoramic view of everyone.

It took Bumblebee a moment to realize that Sam was speaking to him and the car sighed himself. “I wish I knew,” he replied sadly. “What Ratchet said about him suffering the same effects as Energon on top of his punctured intake line… I just hope he'll be okay.”

Sam nodded as he watched the group travel down the dusty road. The red Lamborghini was driving almost right up against Optimus as he tried to drive as close to his brother as possible. Looking at the two, Sam asked `Bee, “are they the `twins' that everyone is continually mentioning?”

“Yeah,” `Bee confirmed. “They're the one who could always be found in Ratchet's med bay and ninety percent of the time they're there because of their own antics instead of an actual battle!”

“What do you mean?” Sam asked surprised.

“They're actually a couple of hot heads, and I'm not talking about the same thing as Ironhide here,” `Bee chuckled. “They're actually pranksters more than warriors. They feel that it's their job to lift everyone's spirits during the dark days of the war… whether or not anyone wants them too.”

“Really?” Sam asked. “What have they done?”

“Well, they did paint Ironhide a lovely shade of purple once when he was in recharge.”

“What?” Sam screeched and began giggling hysterically.

“They did!” `Bee chuckled. “Took three whole passes to get the color off too since we had no idea what they used on him. It was yet another one of their inane inventions.”

Sam let out a last snicker as he leaned back into his seat and sighed as he watched the oncoming dawn in the distance. “My sleep schedule is now officially thrown completely out of whack.”

“I'm sorry,” `Bee apologized softly.

Sam closed his eyes and tried to get into a somewhat comfortable position. “Not your fault,” he told him.

“Still,” `Bee continued. “I feel sort of responsible.”

“It's been a hectic few weeks,” Sam soothed. “What with Red arriving, then the others landing in the city. Not to mention the … situation at home…” He sighed. “It's just been one thing right after another.”

“Well, try and get some rest. It'll be another twenty minutes till we reach the base.”

“Nah,” Sam muttered as he pulled Will's coat closer around his shoulders. Glancing around, he studied the newest vehicles that had joined the Autobot convoy. The microscope had been a definite surprise and Epps had found it vastly amusing but nothing could surprise Sam after seeing the other two who landed in the car show shift. The one called Wheeljack shifted into a fully tricked out Nisan Skyline GT and the one called Sideswipe turned into a Lamborghini like the one he bought out for his brother. Only he was a Reventón model instead of the Gallardo.

“-Slag! Optimus! Slow down!-” Ratchets voice suddenly came over the radio and Sam was jerked back as `Bee suddenly speed up along with Wheeljack right beside him to catch up with the group. Sam blinked in surprise as they got up right against Optimus' bumper and Sam could now see that Sunny apparently was sliding down off the small shelf. `Bee sped up slightly and Sam was surprised when he pressed the front of his hood just under Optimus' rear bumper so as to be able to “catch” Sunny if he did slid off.

They all came slowly to a halt and `Bee and Wheeljack stayed where they were as Ratchet and Sideswipe transformed and quickly moved to the big rigs side. Each one of them took a side and they tried to maneuver Sunny back onto their leader. “There has got to be a better way,” Ratchet was muttering as they re-strapped him down. “Optimus, we have got to get a flatbed trailer or something for you so we have some way to transport unconscious mechs.”

“What? I can't go around dragging something behind me every time we go out! And what about when I have to transform?” Optimus protested.

Ratchet leaned over and actually whapped the truck's roof. “I'm serious here,” he snarled as he went back to monitoring Sunny.

“Did he just hit Optimus over the head?” Inferno muttered dazedly as he pulled alongside Red Alert.

“What?” Red replied, completely oblivious to the problem as he turned back towards the other fire unit utterly confused while `Bee and `Hide began laughing behind him.

“You'll get used to it,” Ironhide told the new arrivals affectionately as he joined the group of spectators.

“Are you sure those odd waves aren't affecting you?” Perceptor asked inquisitively from the flatbed and Ironhide couldn't help but huff in annoyance at his third passenger.

“Yes, we're sure.”

“Will you guys knock it off!” Ratchet snapped. “We've got other problems.”

Wheeljack backed up and shifted before he made his way to Ratchet's side. “What's the problem?”

“I can't get him to stay on,” Ratchet muttered in frustration. “And I don't want him jostled around too much `cause that could ruptured his line again.”

Red Alert shifted as well and looked down the road as he walked over to the group. “We're nearly at the base. Could we carry him the rest of the way?”

Ratchet nodded as he checked Sunny's vitals again. “That could be the best thing...”

“Do you think we could carry him that distance?” Optimus asked quietly.

“I'll carry him to moon if I have to! We've got to get that fuel line fully sealed and get him into an alt mode before the day is out,” Ratchet growled as he began undoing the very knots he had just finished tying.

Wheeljack and Sideswipe glanced back and forth between the others as things were being discussed around them. “You don't even realize you're doing it, do you?” Wheeljack stated amused.

“Doing what?” Ratchet asked absently as he shifted Sunny into Sides arms and began pulling at the different straps they had used to secure the other twin.

Wheeljack shook his head disbelief. “When you have the time, we have got to talk,” he told the medic. Ratchet paused in his work to glance up at the other mech in confusion before sending a small ping over their private line and smiled at the soft answering sound that bounced back.

“Make goo-goo eyes at your guy later Ratch', I would like to get home sometime before actual daylight!” Ironhide complained. “That and I would like to get Perceptor off my back as quickly as possible, literally off my back!”

“Suck it up!” Optimus barked and Ironhide sighed as he rolled back and out of the way of everyone else with Bumblebee soon pulling around to park beside him.

Will glanced over at Epps suprised while Epps stared back at him with the same expression of complete shock before they both turned and looked over towards the camaro where Sam shrugged, just as baffled. “Uh,” Will finally managed to find his voice. “`Goo-goo eyes'?”

“Huh?” Ironhide's attention was bought back to his two human passengers. “Oh yeah. Wheeljack is Ratchets… oh, what do you call it? Significant other? That the phrase?”

“WHAT?” The three humans cried out surprised and Ironhide just started laughing at their reaction.

“Ironhide! Stop cackling and you, `Bee and Red get to the base and get it ready for us! After we get there I'll have to work on Sunstreaker immediately!”

“What is it?” Red's question was full of trepidation as he turned back to the group.

Ratchet sent a small glance at Sideswipe, grateful that the other four mech still hadn't had the time to learn the Earth's languages. “His vitals are dropping again.”

“WHAT?” the other bilingual `Bots yelped and Sideswipe immediately jumped up and pounced on Ratchet at the tone of the cry.

“What? What is it? Is there something wrong with him?” he demanded.

Ratchet frowned. “We need to get him to the base,” he turned back towards the others. “Fast!”

They transformed mechs all nodded as Ironhide reversed and, once Red shifted back into vehicle mode, quickly headed off towards the direction of the base, Perceptor squawking in the flatbed as he slid around. Sam frowned as he looked back at the others all struggling to support Sunny between them before he finally had to turn back around and brace himself as the Autobots speed up even more as they made their way to the base. As soon as they arrived, Sam and the rangers quickly disembarked and waited as `Bee and Red lifted Perceptor out of the Ironhide's flatbed.

“Why is there a ditch here?” Perceptor asked warily as the other three `Bots easily jumped the small gulch.

“Long story, no time!” Ironhide grumbled as he and `Bee set down the humans and quickly followed Red towards the main hanger. Throwing the doors open wide, they ducked into the structure and began pulling the assorted boxcars and makeshift table out of the way so that Ratchet would have a clear, strait line to his medical corner.

Sam wished there was something he could do to help, and he knew the two older men were feeling the same as they watched the group scramble to get everything ready. Sam only prayed that the few tools that they had “borrowed” for Mikaela were not needed. If they were, then he risked exposing Barricade to the others if he suggested that they go and fetch them and he highly doubted that the others would be willing to listen to what the `Con had to say if Sunny died as a result of the missing tools.

Unable to stay in the room any longer with all these thought whirling around, he quickly ducked out of the building and made his way to the fence to watch the group coming up the road at a slow, steady pace. Though he could clearly see them, he knew that they were still very far away. Sam just hoped that they made it in time.

~*~

Upon arrival at the base Ratchet, Wheeljack and Sideswipe all disappeared into the main hanger to work on the unconscious Sunstreaker and everyone else had been promptly banned from the building as Ratchet slammed the doors shut behind him. There had been a lot of shouting afterwards in Cybertronion and Bumblebee had to explain to Sam and the other humans that Ratchet was arguing with Sides. Ratchet wanted him out of the med bay but apparently Sides absolutely refused to leave his brother.

Sam glanced back at the building with sadly, feeling sorry for the red Lamborghini. He could only imagine what he would feel like if it were one of his parents or anyone else close to him who was in danger of possibly dying. Sam glanced back behind him at the other Autobots all gathered outside the building and realized that it would be the same feeling if any of them were in danger. Even Red Alert had somehow managed to become a good friend, albeit a rather odd friend but still a friend. It was the same feeling he had had when he learned that Jazz had died, when he thought Barricade was going to die. Sam grimaced as he rubbed a palm over his chest, trying to physically sooth the small jab of pain there as he moved back next to `Bee and allowed himself to be lifted back up once again.

`Bee wandered over to where they all milled outside the main hanger and moved next to Ironhide, muttering something softly before falling quiet. Sam frowned as he watched everyone just standing around the courtyard, waiting. It was quiet. Eerily quiet as everyone had become subdued as they waited. Sam was surprised, thinking that after finally reuniting with their friends after so long they would all have been chattering nonstop. He glanced back at the building once more and realized that each and every one of them was worried about the injured mech. Each of these `Bots fought a war together and obviously despite the small squabbles and bickering, they were all extremely close.

Sighing, he leaned back against `Bee's shoulders and tried to get comfortable as he came to the conclusion that it was going to be a while and `Bee shifted his arm so Sam could find a more relaxed position. Soon one of the new arrivals walked over and Sam realized it was the one who mimicked a microscope, the scientist apparently by the name of Perceptor. He smiled and gave a small wave but apparently the `Bot took that as the all clear to walk over and stare at him. Bumblebee instantly straightened as the new fire truck also wandered over, followed closely by Red Alert.

“What is this?” Perceptor asked `Bee curiously, all the while reaching forward to take Sam in order examine him closer.

Bumblebee shifted and held Sam a little further away from the scientist. “A human,” the camaro replied as if it should have been obvious, “but not just any human. This is the very human who killed the one and only Megatron. Treat him with respect and for Primus' sake, no dissecting!”

Perceptor frowned at him. “Well, if you're going to take all the fun out of it…” he muttered.

“This creature is what destroyed Megatron?” Inferno asked incredulously as he peered over Perceptor's shoulder. “How did that happen?”

Bumblebee actually puffed with pride and Optimus shook his head at the youngling's manner. “I'll explain it later when everyone can hear it,” Optimus announced.“I don't want to have to repeat myself.”

Inferno nodded understandingly before glancing at the two rangers still on the ground. “What about them?” As soon as Inferno made just the slightest gesture towards them Ironhide was suddenly there and swooped Will off the ground.

“No dissecting him either!” he bellowed, startling all three red mechs and Will as well.

“What's with him?” Perceptor asked and `Bee shrugged as he ensured that Sam was still far out of reach. “Uh huh. What about him?” he asked pointing down towards Epps.

“What the?” Epps looked around as he sudden realized that he was the only human left on the ground and both Sam and Will were looking down at him pityingly. “Oh hell no!” he yelped as he scrambled out of the circle that the Autobots had inadvertently created around him. “Optimus! Do something!” he shouted as he made a straight line for the big rig. “They're all looking at me like I'm the next best thing to pastrami sandwiches!”

“Exactly what is it you want me to do about it?” Optimus asked innocently as Epps hid himself behind the Autobots foot.

“I don't know! Anything!” Epps shouted hysterically. “Can't you order them to cease and desist?”

“They're just looking at you,” Optimus tried reassuring the ranger. “They're curious.”

“That is not a `curiosity' look!” Epps argued scathingly. “That's a `cool! Let's find out how it works!' look!”

Optimus sent a smirk towards Ironhide and more specifically Will as `Bee, Sam and Red Alert tried desperately not to laugh. “So, what can I do about it?”

Epps jaw just about dropped to the floor. “WHAT?” he bellowed. “What kind of leader are you?”

“Well, I've learned to pick my battles with this group,” Optimus admitted freely, “and I'm sorry to say you're at the short end of the stick here.”

“What?” Epps cried again and the others all lost the battle against their laughter. Epps turned to glare at them and shook his head. “Apparently I was wrong,” Epps finally said to Optimus. “It looks like I do need a guardian. If only to protect me from the rest of the loonies! I'll even take Red at this point!”

“Hey!” Red cried dismayed. “Are you saying I'm not a good enough guardian for you?”

“YOU TOTALED MY JEEP! I trust you as far as I can throw you! Which is further than your friends!”

Sam practically fell over as he laughed and Optimus finally took pity on the poor man. “There will be absolutely no dissecting of any humans, despite whether or not they're annoying you,” he announced and Perceptor actually deflated.

“Well how else are we going to learn about them?” he complained.

“Well, there's this wonderful thing called the World Wide Web. It connects the entire planet and there's all kinds of interesting pointless facts posted there that I'm sure you'll find utterly fascinating!” Ironhide chuckled.

Perceptor glared at him. “There's `background research' and then there's `hands on' research and in all my experience the `hands on' portion is always the most reliable.”

Optimus shook his head as he leaned down and allowed Epps to seek refuge with him as the man climbed up onto his hand. “Perceptor, they already dissect each other for medical purposes,” he told the other `Bot. “I'm sure you'll be able to find some medical site complete with all the gruesome pictures that go with it.”

Ironhide and Bumblebee both made a sour face as they automatically pulled up the web browsers and glanced at all the different images hosted there. “Eww.”

“What?” Sam asked and soon all three humans were sharing the same expression as the Autobots explained. “That's something I wanted to ask you,” Sam suddenly remembered as he turned back to Optimus. “Why is it that when you all arrived, you could all speak English and they can't? Red didn't even know it that well when we met.”

Red tilted his head down bashfully at the reminder of the Swedish fiasco and Inferno glanced at him questioningly. “Don't ask,” he muttered and Ironhide chuckled at the Bot's embarrassment.

“We actually arrived at Earth a few years ago, but we remained in space for a while in order to get an idea of the situation on your planet and what the Decepticons were up too,” Optimus explained to the humans. “It did not take us very long to get a handle on your different patterns of speech.”

“So you guys can speak any language?” Will asked surprised.

“Essentially,” Ironhide grinned.

“This is getting really annoying,” Inferno groused as Red translated.

“Indeed,” Perceptor agreed. “How do we lean this human speak? It's becoming reasonably maddening!”

Ironhide chuckled as he and Red tried to show the other two how to wirelessly log onto the Internet and showed them the different sites they used to lean the languages when Inferno suddenly jerked in surprise. “What is this?” he demanded as he sent a link to the other `Bots. “There's a small film here of Blackout being knocked on his aft by the humans!”

The other three who had been present at Mission City quickly logged on and double-checked the feed when Ironhide began laughing as `Bee explained to the confused humans. “Did you read the comments?” `Hide asked. “Someone's claiming that they're one of the so-called `super robots' and that the battle was simply a test run for their evil plot to take over the world and steal the Earths water supply!”

Bumblebee groaned at the stupidity of some people when the person doing the commenting, who apparently went by the name of “'Con Artist” continued posting rather jeering and scathing remarks in review of the footage. Shaking his head, he watched the response flood the site when his network alarms began blaring abruptly and everyone had to leave the site as a virus warning abruptly flashed across their screens. They all looked at each other in surprise.

“Well, so much for that footage,” Ironhide mused as the “currently unavailable” screen popped up in lieu of the site.

“We should be thankful,” Optimus told him. “He got rid of the evidence for us.”

“Does Keller have a team monitoring the Internet for any leaks about our presence?” Bumblebee asked Sam and the boy shrugged.

“I haven't heard anything, but it wouldn't surprise me if they had that Maggie and Glen working on it,” he replied.

“I doubt that they would use such colorful language,” Optimus muttered as he reviewed other comments left on now deactivated sites that this “Con Artist” had written.

“Well, at least he's on our side,” Ironhide muttered.

“Which … side… is tha…that?” Inferno suddenly stuttered out in broken English. Red Alert turned and gave him a huge smile as Ironhide clamped him on the shoulder with his free hand.

“Knew you could do it buddy!” he laughed. “Now, there is one major issue that you and I have got to discuss.”

“What… is that?” Inferno asked.

Ironhide grinned madly as he placed his free arm around the other mechs shoulders and guided him towards the fence line. “Where should the long distance gun range go?”

“WHAT?” Optimus cried out.

~*~

Sideswipe was hovering next to his brother as both Ratchet and Wheeljack worked on exchanging Sunstreaker's fuel tube for a new one, clutched his brother's hand as he continually monitored his and Sunny's private link. They had managed to get the damaged portions out and Ratchet was just finishing connecting the two pieces while Wheeljack was watching Sunny's vitals for any trauma. Sides just glared at the innocent piece of tube that Ratchet had set aside, instantly condemning the thing for failing his brother.

Wheeljack glanced up at the younger mech before he leaned over towards Ratchet. “How much longer?” he whispered.

“I'm just finishing this last segment,” Ratchet announced and a few moments later he stood back up and set his welder down. “Wheeljack, hand me his front panel.”

Wheeljack passed over the requested piece and they soon finished piecing the broken `Bot back together. “What now?” the engineer asked.

Ratchet sighed as he stood back up and just looked down at the still unconscious mech. “Now comes the hard part,” he admitted. “We have to get him awake and coherent enough to shift into an alt mode. Hopefully the Energon deprivation wasn't longer then I think it was and his comprehension circuits are functioning at full capacity.” He glanced back at Sideswipe, who was watching him with such worry in his optics. “Could you call him on your Star Link?” he asked and both of the other `Bots jerked back in surprise at the question.

Wheeljack whirled around to stare at the younger `Bot in complete disbelief as Sideswipe ducked his head and once more turned to look at his brother's unmoving face. “You know about that?” he asked Ratchet almost shyly.

Ratchet surprised the others when he let out a burst of laughter. “Sides, I work on your cores on what is essentially a daily basis. I knew the minute you two Aligned!”

Sides squirmed again in embarrassment as Wheeljack shook his head. “You never thought to tell us you two had Aligned yourselves?” he reprimanded. “What if Sunny had actually died out there? You've seen what happens to mechs when they're faced with the death of their Star Chosen!”

Ratchet suddenly placed a hand on the engineers shoulder and Wheeljack turned to look at him in confusion. “Leave it. They just followed the course that Primus set out for them,” Ratchet told him quietly. “As will we when the time is right.” Wheeljack stared at him surprised but Ratchet just gave him a small smile. “Do not fault them for wanting to spend what time they might have together. Especially during the war… we've lost so much already…” Ratchet turned away, but the others clearly saw the pained look on his face.

It took a moment for the other two to catch on and Sides gasped horrified as Wheeljack found one of the boxcars and collapsed onto it. “That's why he wasn't with you,” Wheeljack murmured. “Primus… Prowl doesn't know…”

Ratchet nodded sadly before he turned back towards Sides. “Try and see if you can get him up,” he told him and the other two accepted the change of topic as they went back to main problem.

“:Sunny:” he whispered. “:Sunny? Sunny, can you hear me? Sunny, you have to wake up. We need you to transform into the alt mode you scanned earlier. :” There was silence for a while before he finally felt it; a small pulse down his center core line. Sideswipe sighed in relief. “:Sunny, you have to come back online:” he told him.

“:Sides?:” Sunny's voice was a blessed sound.

“:Yeah,:” Sides smiled. “:It's me. You have to get yourself up and shifted. There's something messing around with your system.:”

Sunny said nothing but a small feeling of acknowledgement was sent over the line. Sides nodded to Ratchet and they gently maneuvered the other `Bot off the table. Bringing him in the center of room they all stood back to give the injured mech his space. It was slow, and Sides rushed to his side a few times to help steady him but Sunny was finally able to stand on his own. Sides smiled at him encouragingly as those wonderful blue optics turned towards him apprehensively and Sunny sent a note of surprise at Sides changed look.

“You can do it,” Sides told him while Ratchet watched the other mech critically, searching for any sign that Sunny was having trouble.

After a few agonizing moments with a lot of grinding and creaking, Sunstreaker finally completed his very first transformation and a brand new canary yellow Lamborghini Gallardo stood in Sunny's place. Sides grinned and let out a cheer as Sunny sent out another last feeling of happiness before he slipped back into recharge and Wheeljack jumped as Sides suddenly shifted into his own Reventón form and pulled alongside his brother, just being with him. The older mechs shared a small smile as they turned and exited the building, shutting the doors quietly behind them as they left the two Lamborghinis to rest. Smilingly they went to tell the others the good news.

-To Be Continued

~*~

Author's Note 1: Okay, now I know that many of you wanted me to write the scene between Judy and `Cade and I thought about all the different scenarios that I could do when I realized that no matter how hard I tried, the result wouldn't be the same as the way I imagined it. So I decided to leave it up to everyone's imagination.

Note 2: I also know that the twins were originally both Lamborghini Countach's but I had such a hard time choosing between these two updated models that my beta's said just make one of each, so I did. I mean, really. The Gallardo was sleek and gorgeous and was perfect for Sunny's ego and while the Reventón almost looks identical it was a little bit bulkier. So I almost made them both Gallardo's but on the other hand, they actually drag raced the Reventón against an actual JET, a Tornado jet-fighter, and the Lamborghini was WINNING! So I was like, “That's perfect for the Jet Judo!” … I have no idea what exactly “Jet Judo” is but I'll find out!

Note 3: I'm sure that you all noticed that I did NOT use the terms “Spark Mate” or “Spark Bonded”. Once again, I just had to be original so since those were the terms I found in practically every TF fic I've read I took it upon myself to do something different. Little did I know how slagging HARD it was going to be! It took me 3 months to come up with these terms and the ideas behind them.