Prodigal Son

Chapter 8

Author's Note: hey guys, really sorry about the delay in chapters! Got really sick and was low key kinda dying. Went kinda comatose for like a whole day, so, really sorry about missing the update!!
-

"oh.... Stupid software..."
Agent Fowler grumbled to himself as he leaned over the outdoor monitor setup, squinting to look at all the screens.
"I didn't sign up for this.... Where's all the science people when you need them...."
"Heeeeyyyyyyy, secret agent man!!"
Fowler groaned.
Oh, not this nut again..... Wasn't the ride here bad enough....
"What do you want, Woodrow?"
Curse Charlie, dumping him with his weird brother....
Woodrow sauntered up to the computers, fidgeting with his hands in excitement.
"When Prime gave us the ride here, I didn't really get an answer on those questions! Any chance you could get back to me on that?"
Fowler sighed, long and slow, before rubbing his head.
"No, Cybertronians did not contribute to Stonehenge, the Pyramids of Giza, or crop circles."
"What about -"
"And before you say it, no. What happened in Roswell New Mexico in 1947 was not Cybertronian, or extraterrestrial of any known kind."
Woodrow only mused suspiciously.
"So was Roswell a weather balloon or not?"
Fowler bowed his head, exasperated.
".... Roswell is classified."
"AHA!"
Woodrow's jaw dropped, and Fowler smirked to himself, before trying to focus again on the screens.
"Whatcha doing?"
"Chief Burns let the science squad go do who-knows-what, leaving yours truly to keep surveillance over everything."
Woodrow leaned over the screens, and Fowler sighed.
"You're bored, aren't you?"
".... Very."
Woodrow started pacing around the monitors, explaining,
"To be honest, I was kinda hoping we'd be kicking robot booty by now. I mean, usually rescues here are pretty wild. If I can talk to dolphins, surely we can find my nephew, right?"
Fowler paused abruptly, then shook his head, turning back to the screens.
Nope. Don't even ask.
"Why is Griffin Rock so weird..."
Woodrow chuckled at that, then suddenly grew quiet.
"Hey, Secret Agent Man... Do you think my brother's holding up alright?"
Fowler paused again, then turned around.
"... I mean.... I.... Don't know. How would be holding up, with your son taken like that?"
Woodrow sighed, looking away.
".... Charlie calls me a drifter. We.... Aren't always on great terms. He... Kinda views me as a menace. We've been on better ground the last couple years, but.... It's hard to kick old habits, y'know? I.... I've barely been apart of my family's lives. The fact that Charlie even wanted me here for an emergency like this..."
Woodrow trailed off, not quite knowing how to finish his thought.
Fowler looked at him sympathetically, then sighed, rubbing his neck.
".... That's... Pretty heavy stuff. Just.... Talk to him, I guess. That's really all you can do sometimes."
"I just.... He's grieving. He's devastated over Cody, I just know it. But... I just don't know what to say."
Fowler paused, scrambling to reply.
"I'm really not the emotion guy, but.... Just.... Tell him that, I guess. Tell him... You want to help, but you don't know how. Tell him you won't know how until he lets you, but you really want to try."
Woodrow smiled, nodding greatfully.
"Thanks, secret agent man."
Fowler sighed, but with a smile.
"Please, just... Call me William."
"Thank you, William."
Fowler chuckled, but suddenly, Woodrow squinted, his eyes narrowing at the screens.
"What in the world...."
Fowler turned to see, and his jaw dropped.
"What in the sam hill?!?!"
Both men stared at each other for a second, then booked it towards the firehouse.
-
Everyone waited awkwardly in the firehouse, unsure what Frankie was planning.
Heatwave paced back and forth, his hand dropped to his side.
He held Cody's jacket tightly, a single sleeve dangling out of his grip.
"..... Hey."
Heatwaves's paused, seeing Kade standing there a bit awkwardly.
"... Hey..."
Kade motioned to the jacket, sighing.
"... I promise I wasn't spying or anything, but..... When you went out with Optimus the other night...."
Heatwave froze, then sighed.
"What did you see?"
"Nothing. I just.... Heard a scream. Then in the morning, the aftermath, with the tree."
Heatwave didn't answer, and Kade came closer.
".... You really miss him, don't you?"
"How could I not?"
Heatwaves's grip on the jacket tightened, and he inhaled deeply.
".... I want him back. I really do. I've never been the greatest with dealing with anger. Not really fitting for an Autobot, but I've been like this since I came out of the well."
"Hey, you think I'm not pissed too?"
"Right, right. Sorry, I wasn't trying to imply he's more important to me or anything.'
Kade looked down, his feet shuffling.
"..... But.... I think you might be more important to him."
"What?! Primus, no-"
"No... It's true."
Kade rubbed his neck, looking away.
".... I wasn't the best brother, y'know? I.. made him feel useless. I told him he had no business being on the team. Dani and I both promised we'd be better.... but.. I was... a real jerk... God.... I was such a bonehead...."
He met heatwaves's optics, his face ridden with sincere guilt.
"You didn't fail him, Heatwave. I did."
Heatwave was taken aback at that, sputtering a bit as Kade continued.
"I still remember when you first joined the team... I tried protesting Cody being let on the team. Then.... You kneeled down and said that if he was out, so were you."
Kade rubbed his head, pushing aside his red locks as he faced the floor.
"... And now he's gone. He's gone.... And I might never get to tell him.... I'm sorry..."
".... Y'know... Cody would always try staying positive, in a situation like this."
Kade laughed bitterly. 
"Yeah.... Yeah, he would. He always did..."
Heatwave unclenched his fist, raising up the jacket.
"... If it were any of us, Cody would never give up. Affording the same for him is the least we could do."
"But.... That's something I've never understood, y'know? ..... How? How can he be so positive all the time? Even when things look totally hopeless, he found some reason to look on the bright side. I want to, I really want to. But.... I just... Can't..."
Heatwave was quiet for a moment, then without warning, grabbed Kade in his free hand.
"GAH!! HEATWAVE, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!?!"
Everyone stared as Heatwave marched over to the far wall,  holding him up in front of the Autobot insignia painted on the wall.
"Look at it, Kade. Look long and hard."
"Wha- I've seen that a million times!"
"Look. Closer. This- none of what we have here, would exist without Cody. Yes, you screwed up. We all screwed up, okay?! But I REFUSE to let that failure be the reason we never get him back. Because right now, my spark is telling me, It's. Not. Too. Late."
Kade took a moment to digest his words, then nodded, giving him a bitter smile.
"Thanks, partner. Guess I needed a wakeup call."
Heatwave sighed, then gave his own bitter smile.
"I'm just trying to do what he would do."
Suddenly, Team Science charged Into the firehouse, and Frankie triumphantly called out,
"We know how to get an advantage against the Moor-Bot!!!"
Boulder opened up his cab, and pulled out a series of cases, dispersing one to Chief, Dani, and Kade. Graham, already holding one, only beamed eagerly.
Heatwave set Kade down, who only looked at the case in confusion.
He popped open the lid, and his eyes went wide.
".... Woah...."
Inside was an ornate set of armor, the exact shade of red as heatwaves's metal.
He pulled out a shoulder piece, seeing the rescue bot insignia etched into it.
A quick glance over revealed that Dani and his dad were having similar reactions, as Dani lit up upon seeing a back piece with what looked like wings, and Chief pulled out an arm guard with some sort of attached shields.
As they examined the gear, Frankie only beamed.
"I got the idea, and after running it by Boulder, we all got to work! This is specialized body armour, based on your Bot partners! We calculated durability for maximum protection, and for dealing max damage."
Graham opened up his own piece, pulling out what looked like armoured gauntlets of sorts.
"Frankie's designs were brilliant! We used the data from doc's biometric scans to get a perfect fit. They should fit perfectly, but needed mods shouldn't be too hard."
Heatwave stared as everyone marveled over the new armor, then slowly raised up Cody's jacket, tying it around his neck life a scarf.
Kade noticed, but opted not to say anything.
Instead, he raised the shoulder piece, guesturing towards it before affixing it to his shoulder.
"Guess you were right, heh. Maybe it's not too late."
Heatwave only touched the jacket, nodding solemnly.
"All we can do is have hope."
Just as Kade started attaching the other shoulder piece, Agent Fowler and Uncle Woodrow suddenly charged in, looking frantic.
"YOU ALL SHOULD REALLY SEE THIS!!!!"
-
Everyone crowded around the screens, stunned.
Flooding the input from every angle, new sightings of Cody, from a wide variety of locations.
Charlie rubbed his head, musing,
"I... I just don't understand. We haven't seen or heard of any sightings of Cody since the gas station incident. Now there's dozens of them? It seems.... Off."
Graham nodded in agreement, leaning closer as he added,
"Agreed. They went completely off the grid after that sighting, so to get so many at once..... Just doesn't make any sense."
Dani frowned, realizing another oddity.
"Wait, look! We wrote off the gas station sighting as a fluke, right? Think about it. There, he was kinda inconspicuous. If the cashier hadn't happened to recognize him, he probably would've completely slipped under the radar. But... Look at these new sightings."
Rafael, taking back over for Fowler, pulled up a series of new images.
Dani pointed them out, elaborating,
"Look, he's staring directly at the camera! Talking to employees, in plain view of surveillance, that's new. It's almost like.... He wanted to be seen."
Kade groaned, struggling to make sense of it.
"Why would he want to be seen? After going completely off the grid over the gas station thing, why would he trying to attract attention?"
Heatwave suddenly froze, a hand trailing the jacket around his neck.
".... To send a message. Rafael, pull up a map of everywhere there's been a new sighting."
Rafael nodded, and after pulling up a map of the coordinates, everyone stared, dumbfounded.
"No way...."
Forming a dotted line, snaking through Maine, a clear, obvious path.
Heatwave grimaced, his hunch confirmed.
"Just as I thought. This is a warning, they want us to know they're coming."
Kade looked away, feeling his hand clench into a fist.
"... Only Cody would've cooked up a plan like that..."
Charlie sighed deeply, then squeezed his hands together.
"... Then that means one thing. They're coming, and we're running out of time. We need to coordinate battle strategies NOW."
Dani cracked her knuckles, snarking,
"In other words, we're in the endgame now."
Eyes drifted to Charlie, the Chief growing darkly serious.
"Alright people, we have one job. Get ready to tear that thing apart."