BotM ~ Ch 6

Chapter 6

Not long after Ratchet began fixing up the damage Violetwind had endured during her tumble with Knock Out, Optimus Prime's group returned. The three mechs walked in covered with oil stains. Glad to see them back and hungry for more news, the medic and his patient joined the other Bots who gathered around to greet them.

"So, what took you so long?" Arcee asked with a smirk, directed at the two younger mechs.

'We had to help clean up some of the damage Shockwave did to the drilling machinery,' Bumblebee explained, trying to wipe the lubricant off his arm.

"What about the Predacon bone?" Ratchet looked over at them expectantly, hoping that more than one group had succeeded.

Optimus heaved a deep sigh, showing the Predacon bone he possessed. "Unfortunately the Decepticons managed to claim a fragment of the bone."

"Yeah, that rotten Soundwave pulled one of his 'relocation tricks' on the bone; bridging it away before Optimus could catch it," Smokescreen added, kicking at the floor in annoyance.

The Prime surveyed the room, not missing the new addition to their bone collection, or that June had arrived, nor did he miss the fact that Violetwind was injured. "What has occurred during my absence? Was there trouble?"

"You could say that," muttered Wheeljack with a nonchalant shrug.

Ultra Magnus sent the mech a glare for being rude before filling in their leader. "Optimus, Sir, I would like to report the retrieval of a Predacon bone by Arcee and Wheeljack. However, pur mission failed to achieve its directive as did Agent Fowler and Violetwind's."

"Vi? I thought you didn't want to go on missi- Vi! What happened to you?" Smokescreen's optics widened with concern as he caught sight of the femme. Stepping over to her, he glanced over the damage, shocked by its extent.

She tried to smile and reassure him, "I'm fine, really. Just a bit of a run in with the ground."

The femme suddenly received a light slap on the shoulder. Turning her head she was surprised see Wheeljack. The mech grinned down at her, "This gal took a daring leap at Knock Out. She woulda had him too if he hadn't darted off like a frightened retrorat. Even still he was right fuming when he did. Ya shoulda seen the scratches on him!"

She flushed from the unexpected praise, something she felt was undeserved. "I'm sure if it had been anyone else, they would've done better."

"But they weren't there, you were, little spark."

Smokescreen raised an optic ridge at the nickname from Wheeljack but ignored it to ask, "What made you go anyway, Vi?"

"Other than Ratchet, I was the only one here. Everyone else was out on a mission. But it wasn't supposed to have any trouble. I was just driving Agent Fowler and June out to collect the bone."

Looking down at her with gentle optics Optimus nodded. Turning his gaze to the rest of the team he spoke, "We may not have accomplished all that we wished to, Autobots but we have made progress in stopping Megatron's cloning programme and we will stop him from unleashing his beasts. For now, take some rest. Each of you have earned it for your efforts this day."

They started to disembark from the small meeting when Fowler shouted, "Hey you three! Prime and the muscle cars! Out! And get yourselves cleaned up before you traipse any more of that oil on my floors."

"Of course, Agent Fowler," replied Optimus, leading the way out to wash off the substance.

"Awww man," grumbled the rookie as he followed.

Bumblebee beeped playfully, 'A little more work before you get some recharge isn't going it offline you.'

The younger mech rolled his optics his reply lost as they left he hanger.

"Alright, back to the berth with you," ordered Ratchet, pointing in its direction.

Nodding, the purple femme lay back against the metal slab in order for the medic to continue his work. Exhausted from the days events, she soon fell into recharge.

~oOo~

Later that night, while the rest of the Bots were resting or otherwise busy, Ultra Magnus and Optimus stood off to the side.

"I am glad you are here with us, Ultra Magnus. I believe we have a difficult struggle ahead of us. We are already outnumbered and Megatron will only adding more to his ranks with the Predacon clones"

The mech looked to his commanding officer, gruffness in his voice, "I only wish there was more I could do. The Decepticons appear to have collected more than enough Predacon bones to amass an army. We are merely on borrowed time until it comes into fruition."

Optimus let out a deep vent, "That is true, but we must keep vigilant to do what we can until that time. Perhaps even find a way to destroy it, given the chance."

His companion nodded. A moment of silence passed before Ultra Magnus spoke again. "Optimus, what do you say of Smokescreen and Violetwind?"

The taller mech shot him a look of surprise, not sure where he was going by mentioning them. "They are both worthy additions, with strong sparks. I do not believe I understand your reason for questioning..."

He received a grunt in response. "It's just... I question their resolve. They act like younglings just sparked. Do they not realise that we are in a war and have no room for delinquency?"

Curiosity hid behind Optimus' calm optics. "Is there a reason you are bringing this up?"

Ultra Magnus dropped his gaze recalling the recent incident between the pair. "They are proving more troublesome than they ought and appear to have no respect; lying right to my face. They were clearly engaged in nonsensical activity before Smokescreen fell into the energon crates and not 'sparing practice' as they told to me. And Violetwind herself, being one of the planet natives... I am unsure of her role in our war."

Hiding a smile of amusement, the mech replied, "Are you saying there were simply enjoying one another's company? Is such a thing so harmful? They are still young and have both endured more than they should for their age. Allow them to retain some innocence."

Scoffing in reply, Ultra Magnus opened his mouth to speak but closed it again thinking better of it. Although he did not agree with the Prime's calm demeanour towards it, he did not feel it his place to protest. "Perhaps..."

“As for Violetwind, you know she chooses to be here.”

“And are you sure she should be?”

Optimus glanced over at the femme as she slept between Bulkhead and Arcee in vehicle mode. "I do,” He paused looking back over at Ultra Magnus. “Simply keep an optic on our young pair, but do try to not be too harsh on them. They may not posses much experience but I am certain they have great potential."

~oOo~

Violetwind sat on the platform next to the Predacon bones as she tinkered with one of Ratchet's small machines. It was a simply device to test any Synthetic Energon they created. The medic seemed to spend all his time trying to figure it out and the femme was beginning to wonder if it was even possible. It felt like very little progress was being made despite all the time spent on it.

However, for the moment her thoughts were elsewhere. Agent Fowler had ok'ed the email to her parents and allowed it to be sent off. The anticipation of receiving a reply filled her with excitement. She knew Raf would inform her as soon as the message came through but she was restless during the waiting. Thoughts of her failure the previous day invaded her mind, poking at her excitement.

'Doing alright over here?' The voiceless scout walked over to her, startling her from her thoughts.

Looking up from her work the purple femme put on a smile. "Yeah, doing just fine..." Dropping her head she frowned, "Could've done without yesterday's events though. But, I guess that's just life. And, I survived. So that's a good thing."

Bumblebee chirped with amusement. 'Couldn't we all. Wasn't the greatest day for many of us but we all made it and we'll get those Cons yet.'

Putting down her work, Violetwind turned to face him. "Shame we all couldn't have done a little better." She gave a little huff, "Ya know I almost had Knock Out. Twice! I guess I'm just not suited to this." Her gaze wandered over to the bots in the hanger, her door wings sagging. "Sometimes I wonder what I'm doing here..."

On the other side of her mind she could tell Windy felt uncomfortable, still a little guilty about what had happened and for the state of her situation. Yet, her inner companion remained silent.

Violetwind let out a silent apology to her friend, it had not been her intention to upset her other half.

'Hey, don't talk like that,' the mech beeped. 'You're here because you're ment to be here.'

She turned her head back to look at him, her blue optics conveying her uncertainty. "I'm only here because of an accident, Bee. Not because I possess any remarkable skills. Wrong place, wrong time... A terrible coincidence."

Sitting down beside her, the black and yellow mech stared back at her with soft optics. 'Someone once said there are no such thing as coincidences and I think it's no coincidence that you're with us now. You just need to find your place.'

Letting out a sigh, the femme dropped her head. "That's easier said than done."

Bumblebee let his own helm sink as he tried to come up with a way to encourage her. After a few seconds of silence, he happily lifted his gaze to her again, 'I believe there was something said by an old turtle on one of the films Raf watched with me about a panda. Something about pasts and tomorrow's and the now.'

Smiling a little she recalled the scene. "It was, 'Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift. That is why they call it the present.'"

'See, already good at something. She's got a good memory.' His words briefly brought a full smile to her face, before it fell away, so he continued, 'And isn't that what you should be doing too. Seeing each day as a gift. Using each moment to the best of your abilities.'

Glancing at him, Violetwind offered a smile of appreciation. "Thanks, Bee. You're worth keeping around."

'And don't you think otherwise!' he scolded.

"Wouldn't dream of it. You're like family."

'Good, cause family means I can so this,' quickly he wrapped an arm around her neck and with the other he gave her a noogie.

"Hey, stop that!" she protested, trying to protect her helm as well as struggle to get free. "Stop..."

The mech chirped in chuckle like way but kept going. 'If you want it to stop you'll have to escape.'

"No fair," she whined, pulling at the arm around her neck.

"You're not being too hard on her, are you?" came a teasing voice. The pair looked up to see Smokescreen grinning at them. "You should be glad Ultra Magnus is still out on patrol. I don't think he'd approve."

'No he wouldn't, but he's not here right now so...' He continued to gently rub away at the femme's helm.

"Hey, no! Smokescreen, help me!" Violetwind called out, still trying to resist the scout's 'attack.' Although the action did not hurt it her, it was incredibly annoying.

"I donno, I'm sure you can handle it," he grinned at her. "But, maybe I could help a little." Stepping forward the blue mech reached over to grab hold of her wrists. Holding on tightly he pulled them away from where she was trying to stop Bumblebee.

"Hey, that's not helping!" she protested.

He chuckled playfully, "Is too. It's helping Bee."

The mech beeped in agreement.

"No fair, you're both bigger than me!"

A small figure walked up to the trio calling up, "Sorry to interrupt, but Violet your reply has come back."

They all paused to look down at Rafael, Bumblebee slowly letting the femme go, Smokescreen doing the same.

'The one from her parents?'

The boy nodded.

"You're a life saver, Raf. Such great timing," Violetwind smiled as she gave each of the mechs a light hit. "That's for ganging up on me."

The blue mech laughed, "You loved it."

Standing up she turned back to face him, a teasing light in her optics. "You try that again and you'll end up like Knock Out."

"You just try," Smokescreen taunted, a wry grin on his face.

Whirring, the scout raised his hands defensively, 'Whoa now, I'm not gonna mess with that.'

The rookie bumped the mech on the shoulder, "Come on, two against one, I bet we can take her."

Violetwind huffed, "That's not even fair."

Grinning in amusement, Rafael added his own opinion as he readjusted his glasses, "Maybe Arcee should join Violet? It'd be a much fairer fight. Femmes verses mechs."

"Now that's an idea. I like that, Raf. Nice thinking," the femme smiled down at the boy.

"Aww come on, really?" whined Smokescreen.

Nodding she glanced back at Rafael. "Let's leave these two and check out that email."

'Hope it's good news,' the scout waved.

"We'll be here if you need us," the blue mech added.

The human and femme walked off, headed for the human's area where Rafael had left his laptop. Sitting back down at he table, he turned the computer screen so Violetwind could read what the email said.

Dear Victoria, we are happy to hear that your are doing well. We have to admit that we were getting a little worried after not having heard from you for so long. Then when we were contacted by that official government man, we thought the worst until he explained what you were doing. It's exciting to know our baby is doing something she loves and we wish you all the best for your project research. It's also great to know that you're making friends with your colleagues. There's nothing worse than not getting along with the people you work with.

We've made plans to head down to your place next week and pack up your things like you asked. Your father has already arranged some space in the attic for the boxes. As for the larger items be sure to let us know what you want to keep and whether we should throw them away or sell them. We'll figure something out.

We have some news too. Joseph has moved. He now lives on a small island off Maine doing odd jobs. He seems to love it there, apparently there's always something to fix so he's kept busy.

So keep safe, dear. We love you. Mum and Dad.

Rafael broke the silence that followed after she had finished reading. "Do you want to reply now? And who's Joseph? "

The femme nodded, "Yes." She paused, momentarily thoughtful, remembering what Windy had told her about her family. "He's my older brother." Her spark became weighed down, full of longing and thinking about how great her parents sounded. She really wished she could remember them for herself.

I wish I had known people like them. They seem like really genuine people.

They do.

You think Agent Fowler would let us go see them? Like just from afar.

Only way to know is to ask...

~oOo~

Violetwind and Rafael spent some time working on a reply. Soon enough they had come up with an email that would satisfy Agent Fowler and not give away any important information or cause any suspicion.

Once they had finished, she had explained her desire to see her parents to the special agent but he was not responding they way she had hoped.

"There's no way in Uncle Sam's beard that you're going! We already have enough trouble keeping everyone's existence under wraps and now you want to go gallivanting off to visit civilians? No, Violetwind. I forbid it. I don't need any more hassle." The man was adamant looking up at her from the walkway, "So, no. You're not going!"

"But, Fowler, please. I'll take one of the kids, I won't be a car roaming about by itself. Please," she whined, not wanting to give up on the matter.

"I said no, and that's final."

Slagging Fowler.

Stomping a pede she glared down at the man, a low growl in her throat. "No one will even notice me! And I highly doubt the Cons will be there this time. They don't even know my parents have any connection to us!"

"And we're going to keep it that way! You're better off just using the emails to contact them. They'll be a lot safer that way!"

The femme huffed with displeasure but knew when she was beaten. With a low rumble she stormed off into a corner were she transformed into her alternate mode facing the wall.

"Just like taking care of children..." muttered Fowler, waking back into his office.

"Hey, Vi? I'm sure you'll get to go see them someday," Smokescreen grinned tried to offer some hope as he came up behind her.

"Go away," she grumbled, not moving.

He tilted his helm in confusion. "Hey, what's up with-"

"I said leave me alone!" the femme snapped.

Taken off guard, he stood in silence, letting a few seconds tick by. It wasn't like her to be so quick-tempered. Eventually he moved again, taking a step away, figuring that she probably just needed some space. "If that's what you want. But I'll be here if you need me."

"I won't."

Letting out a small sigh, Smokescreen turned around and slowly walked off. His spark felt heavy from the rejection, not understanding why she had been so cold. It hurt to be turned away in such a harsh manner. Now he knew a how she must have felt during their one and only fight when she came after him. It was not pleasant.

~oOo~

Hours passed and it grew late into the night. It saw Optimus Prime briefly return from patrol only to head out again. Ultra Magnus also returned during that time. He remained at the base, however, sending Smokescreen out in his stead. Bulkhead and Arcee also returned to switch places on patrol with Wheeljack and Bumblebee.

During this time everyone left Violetwind alone in the corner to recharge, or so they assumed. In reality, the femme was watching everything, a plan forming in her mind. She was going to get to see her parents and nobody could stop her.

Are you sure about this? questioned Windy with concern.

Very sure.

Ok then. Ratchet's finally in recharge along with Magnus and Arcee leaving only Bulkhead to deal with.

Good. She had been starting to think the medic was going to pull another all nighter and prevent her from pulling off her plans, but now that he was asleep...

Doing her best to keep quiet, she transformed and turned around to see where the remaining mech was. With his back to her, Bulkhead was focused on one of the monitors, likely scanning for Decepticon activity.

Slowly she approached him, making as little noise as possible. Spotting one of Ratchet's wrenches, she picked it up and held it tightly with both hands. Although she felt a little bad for what she was about to do, it needed to happen.

Climbing the platform to give herself some height, she raised the wrench above her head. Violetwind paused for a moment in indecision but it was only that, a moment, and her features hardened. She brought the wrench down against Bulkhead's helm and he fell to the floor with a crash.

The femme held her breath, fearful that the noise might have woken someone. A few tense sparkbeats went by but there was only a few slight stirrings from the humans and Autobots. Having woken no one she allowed herself to relax.

Stepping around the unconscious green mech to get to the ground bridge controls, she dropped the wrench by his head and muttered, "Sorry about that, Bulk."

Quickly she input the coordinates and the ground bridge sprang to life. Giving a final glance around, Violetwind narrowed her optics, "I hope you'll understand. But, I have to do this..."

Transforming she slipped through the vortex letting it close behind her as she disappeared.