Transformers Short Story

Humans?

Lennox stared. He rubbed at his face, trying to wake himself up; if this was a dream. The clearing of a throat startled him out of his confusion. Standing in front of him was the human version of every single Autobot on the base; a destroyed relic laying in pieces between them on the ground. Ratchet, or who he assumed was Ratchet by the color palette, stepped forward to assess the relic. He was dressed in soft orange scrubs with a white doctor coat overtop, his hair pulled back in a braid which cascaded down to meet his shoulders. Optimus, or a stern-looking man with his paint job, eyed the project with a furrowed brow, muttering something to Ratchet with a surprised look slipping through. Lennox sighed, "Can you fix it Ratchet?" Ratchet focused his attention on the Major, before shrugging with a glance in Optimus's direction, "I believe it is beyond repair at this point...if a lugnut hadn't broken it maybe we wouldn't be stuck in this predicament." A tall, muscled man, clad in green work overalls shifted with a sheepish look, "Sorry Ratchet." Miko was hanging onto his arm with a gleeful look, she was the happiest out of all of them about this situation, "This is so awesome!" Bulkhead sent her a small smile before looking quilty again at Ratchet's pinched face. Jack grimaced, "So...does anyone know how long this will last?" The group fell silent, all turning to Ratchet again. The man sniffed, "Don't look at me, I didn't get a chance to study it before it was broken." Bulkhead adverted his eyes and rubbed at the back of his head, trying and failing to get Miko to calm down her excitement. Ratchet huffed before turning to eye the group and stating promptly, "Is anyone hurt?" The group surveyed each other but remained quiet with a few shakes of their heads. Jack pulled out his phone, eyeing his contact list, "I'll call my mom, she's off today so if she comes in she can check everyone over with Mitsy." He edged away from the group as soon as June's voice could be heard from the receiving end. Lennox glanced over the group, "We're gonna have to tell Rose." Ironhide slung his arm around Lennox's shoulders, almost knocking the sturdy soldier off his feet, "Why don't we show her instead...?" "That's not a very good idea." Mitsy interrupted before watching the group closely, her expression drawn. Ironhide withdrew his arm and smiled at her, "Why not? It's an off day, everything's been quiet so far." Mitsy shrugged with a warning look in Lennox's direction as he attempted to slip away, "Do what you want...I warned you." Ironhide scoffed before marching toward the other hanger, the rest of the Autobot trailing behind him hesitantly; or in the twin's case (Skids and Mudflap) with smirks on their faces. 

Rose wiped the dust off her shirt as she stood back to admire her work, another evening of fixing small Autobot technology, and maybe, just maybe Ratchet would let her help him with harder projects. The room was quiet, only Rose's thoughts interrupting the nice day. No Decepticon activity or M.E.C.H sightings so for the time being Rose was trying to immerse herself in the other side of her family. She gazed at her reflection in the polished metal before setting her tools aside in a more organized manner, humorously trying to ignore people in her peripheral vision. She looked up quickly when she sensed someone close to her body; sending off quiet alarm bells in her head. She was met with a tall, muscled man. His hair was cut into a neat fade that lead to peppered gray hair and bright blue eyes. He had a confident air about his body and approached Rose with a friendly smile, though Rose could tell he had more power in his psyche than he originally showed. He glanced at her finished project before returning to greet her, "Rose right? What you working on?" Rose raised to her full height, a twinge of pride going through her as she stood a few feet above him, "Something for a friend...what can I help you with..." The man's smile widened as more people flooded into the hangar, purposely forgetting to give Rose his name, "These are my teammates." He gestured to the closest ones; a samurai and two pupils, a uniformed dark-haired man, and a doctor wearing a grumpy expression. Rose rose her hand in greeting, setting her last few tools in place, "Are you touring? I apologize but I wasn't aware we were getting visitors today." The man smiled again, "We just left your XO, Lennox. He said we could walk around for a while." Rose nodded mutely, still eyeing up the group surrounding them. One of the pupils leaned toward her project curiously, "What's that?" Rose furrowed her eyebrow, his stance and voice were familiar to her, "Not entirely sure." The student returned to his place with a simple nod, his eyes signing curiously. And speaking of eyes, each member had similar glowing eyes, with a couple of color differences here and there. Rose suddenly dropped her defensive posture with a chuckle, trying to still play along, "New recruits or just visiting?" The man glanced at his superior with a wink, "Recruits." Rose nodded slowly, "Well...we have a tradition for new recruits if you're up for a challenge?" The two pupils straightened excitedly, while Ironhide, Rose guessed, considered her proposal, "What kind of challenge?" Rose allowed a small smile to overtake her face, "Just a friendly competition...anyone can participate." Ironhide eyed the pupils and the rest of the bots who seemed interested (Bumblebee, and Smokescreen) before accepting her terms with a nod, "What are we doing?" Rose fixed her Cammie Blouse by smoothing over the camouflage fabric, "A race...whoever makes it to my office first wins." Ironhide surveyed his group and once they all agreed to the challenge, he turned back to Rose, "That works for me, you interested OP?" Optimus shrugged, "I believe I will watch." Rose mimicked his shrug, "It's alright, I wouldn't want to lose either." A resounding buzz went through the group at her taunt but Optimus merely smiled, stepping forward to join the group competing, "I believe that is my line." Rose chuckled, "Nicely said." Optimus nodded his head in her direction before glancing up at her office; new recruits wouldn't know where it was at this point so they'd botched their disguises already. She settled next to Optimus, glancing back at their audience to address the medic, "Would you be so kind to count us down, Docter? Rachet wrinkled his nose, "Fine...go." Rose pushed off her feet, falling into the lead as she dashed up the hanger stairs on her office platform. She could feel the pounding of feet behind her as the rest of the group pushed for first. Optimus settled next to her side, his jog relaxed and easygoing. He smiled at her before pulling ahead slightly, taunting Rose with his eyes. Rose huffed before catching up to him, lightly slugging him with her shoulder to throw off his postured stance. Optimus caught himself with a look her way, but Bumblebee jostled him and he fell behind Rose again. Rose rounded the corner, quickly followed by Bumblebee, Optimus, the twins, Smokescreen, and Ironhide. The Autobots weren't used to their human forms and were occasionally tripping over themselves or overestimating their strides. Rose smirked before rushing toward her office door, coming to a neat stop before smashing into the wood. The rest of the group wasn't as graceful and Bumblebee smashed Rose into her door with a resounding crack. The air was knocked out of Rose's lungs and she sputtered under Bumblebee as he attempted to stop himself from crushing her. Bumblebee rolled off of her with a worried expression, quickly helping Rose up. Rose clutched at her chest, wheezing slightly. Ironhide swatted at the back of Bumblebee's head, "Nice going hotshot, you almost killed 'em." Rose straightened with a sigh before smiling at the group, "Don't be too hard on him Hide, he didn't do it on purpose." Irohide's expression soured with a snort, "You ruined it." Rose shrugged, "Didn't mean to ruin the fun...how long have you been like this?" Optimus looked her over with a worried expression to which Rose waved him off, "Not long...Ratchet suspected that the artifact we recovered had unusual properties but this..." He gestured to himself and the others, "...beyond what we thought." Rose nodded, leading the group down the stairs so they could reemerge with the others, "Did anyone get hurt?" Ratchet answered Optimus, "Not that I could see...Mitsy and Nurse Darby will check everyone up soon." Rose nodded before letting out a laugh, "Honestly I don't know what to make of all this. How does it feel being human?" Smokescreen rolled his eyes, "Horrible. Humans are sooooooo soft and you guys don't wear armor so I have to be careful of everything!" Rose raised an eyebrow at him but Jetstorm interrupted before she could comment, "It's not that bad Smokescreen! Humans have been like this for a long time so they've adapted...right Rose?" Rose smiled at him, "Yes, we have." Smokescreen cringed, "That came out harsher than I meant, sorry." Rose shook her head, "It's your opinion, don't apologize for it."