Forever Alone: Transformers Prime

Chapter XX

Ratchet was working at a monitor while Optimus went to stand nearby. "Listen, Commander. I just want to say it was an honor watching you work. I uh, think I maybe, had the wrong idea about you." Wheeljack said as he approached them.

"And it would seem that you placed a greater value on community than you otherwise let on." Optimus said as lent his hand out.

"Whoa, let's not jump the gun here."

"Come on, Jackie. If you leave you probably just wind up coming right back again." Bulkhead stated as he pat Jackie on the back.

"All that wasted fuel and energon is in short supply." Arcee said.

"Why don't you stay with us? I could use another buddy." Bumblebee said sadly.

"Then again, we do have limited space." Ratchet stated.

"Not sure if I'm ready to give up my freedom just yet, maybe I could do some exploring. See if this rock suits me."

"No offense to the Jackhammer, but you'll need an earth-based vehicle mode." Bulkhead said.

"I still need to thank the one that saved your rear. I won't be leaving just yet." Jackie replied. "Because of that mysterious fleshy, there are still a few wreckers that remain."

"You would be wise to call her Julie or Ethera. She is a true member of this team, and she will be treated as such. We owe it to her that some of us are still here." Optimus exclaimed.

"No need to thank me, Wheeljack. If there is anyone that you should thank it is Primus. He is the one who woke me up in time to help." Julie said as she looked at Wheeljack from on the couch. "You do not owe me anything. Now if you don't mind, I want to be alone for a while." Julie said as she glided up into the beams, beyond the reach of any of them. "Wait, Julie." Bulkhead cried out. Julie looked down from where she was and sighed. She glided back down, but she hovered in front of all of them, before Optimus laid his hand out for her to land. "I am weak Bulkhead, make it quick. I need to rest and recover, even if it seems I am well." She sighed as her wings hung limply at her shoulders.

"I owe you an apology for everything. I was wrong to say those things and attack you because of my anger."

"We all are sorry. If it wasn't for you, Optimus might have never come back." Arcee said.

"We were wrong to judge you. You tried to act like a Prime, but we refused to listen to reason." Bumblebee buzzed.

"It wasn't all your guy's fault at the time. We were dealing with a lot going on, between me having shown up in such an odd way, then we lost Optimus. I don't blame you guy's for not trusting me a whole lot at first, or if you guys still question me now. I mean, part of me questions myself as it is. I even question the things that my ancestors taught. How could they have been here when the Earth first formed without knowing then that Ares was actually Unicron? If Unicron was actually what formed the planet, I would have thought my ancestors would have known." Julie said. "Makes me wonder if my ancestors really told the truth all those years ago, or if my parent's intentionally kept things from me. I mean, it's not like I ever saw any family other than my parents."

"What ever happened to your parents that you know of?" Optimus asked.

"I just remember being little. We were in our house at the time. I was sitting with Midnight, he had his coils wrapped around me, but I wasn't paying full attention to what my parents were doing until they yelled at Midnight to get me out of there. Before I knew it Midnight was carrying me out of our house, but when I turned around the house blew up like a bomb. It was stormy out when we ran. There was no thunder or lightning, but it was pitch dark, and not because it was night. The wind was howling in every direction. Afterwards I had been running ever since, because there were people hunting me down, until I got caught by MECH."

"How long have you been alive?" Arcee asked.

"What year is it exactly? I have been around since about 1650." Julie said.

"That would make you 360 years old." Bulkhead exclaimed.

"Depending on the time of year. I don't even know what the dates are anymore." Julie said. "Though then again, I was born pretty early in the year. Though that doesn't make me the wisest person. I am anything, but a leader."

"When is your birthday?" Optimus asked. "If you don't mind us knowing."

"I would rather not tell, because that leads to people celebrating. My day is not a day I wish to ever celebrate again." Julie sighed. "Now if you don't mind..." Julie dove straight up into the rafters, out of sight and out of reach of any of them.

"Maybe you should go out and talk with her. She trusts you." Ratchet recommended.

"Maybe a little while later, when she has cooled off." Optimus replied as he looked up into the rafters, seeing no sign of where Julie flew off to.

Hours later Julie found herself bored and a little lonely, her mind had finally cleared up from the memories of her childhood. She hated her birthday, because all it did was remind her of the death of her parents, for it was on her 10th birthday that they had died and were attacked. She slowly glided down from the rafters and saw the others were all gathered around the room. The kids were playing video games in the room, clearly having missed when the kids were picked up and brought to the base. She glided over to where the platform was and stood balanced on the rails. Her wings fluttering behind her, caught the attention of the people in the room.

"Julie, you're okay." Raf cried, throwing the video game controller and running up right toward her. Before she could react, Raf wrapped his arms around her legs in an attempt at hugging her, but Julie froze in place unsure how to react. Her wings in the air above her, froze in place. "Uh..." Julie tried to muster some words, but she was left without words. Once Raf let go he backed up, but Julie hopped onto the platform and slowly returned the hug. She kneeled on her knees as she gave the hug due to how much taller that she was than the boy, "Thank you Raf. You surprised me is all. It has been a long time since I last had a hug from anyone."

"Do you remember the last hug you had received?" Miko asked.

"Do I remember? Of course I do, I could never forget Midnight's amazing hugs." Julie exclaimed with a smile on her face. Tears threatened to fall from her eyes. "Midnight had the best hugs ever. His smooth coils wrapped around me like a strong blanket. Feeling like anything could happen, but no matter what the feeling of safety was so strong...they were truly the best." Julie cried as tears started to fall from her cheeks. She stood up and wiped the tears off her face and sighed.

"You really miss him, don't you?" Raf asked.

"Of course, he was the last thing I had called family. He was...my best friend." Julie replied. Making her suddenly hug Raf again, squeezing him just barely before she sighed and released him. "You have a very big heart, Raf. Never forget that. Your family must be very lucky to have such a sweet and caring man in the home." She sighed and started to walk over to the couch, but before she could react, all 3 of the teenagers appeared around her, giving her a hug. "You're one of us Julie." Jack said. "You deserve to feel cared for."

"Even if you are a bit of a weirdo." Miko replied.

Julie felt tears fill her eyes as she shook her head from side to side before her large wings wrapped around the 3, along with her arms as she returned the hug to the three of them. "Why are you crying Julie?" Raf asked. "We didn't hurt your feelings, did we?"

"No Raf, you did not. I'm merely happy. I haven't felt this way in such a long time, you have no idea how good it feels."

"How what feels?" Arcee asked behind them as the autobots were watching them from behind.

"To feel like I have a family again." Julie replied as she looked up at the autobots around her. "You know what, let's go to the roof. We need some fun." Julie smiled as the idea creeped into her. "Come on you three. You will like this." Julie flew towards the elevator before the others could catch up to her. "You autobots too, if you wanna watch."