Mechanical love

Chapter Eight

Much to her relief, the only dreams that Carolina had were senseless ones involving cake and beach balls; silly things that had no rhyme or reason within her head.

Still, she much preferred dreams like those over the awful nightmares she'd had previously.

It annoyed her that she seemed to dwell on it so often, but she decided that it was probably due to the fact that she worried constantly about the safety of those she held close to her; after all, she'd never been a part of a battle like this one, no matter how insignificant that part might have been.

She was a civilian standing at the edge of a war.

Opening her eyes slowly, Carolina sat up a little to take in the surroundings; the barracks that she'd slept in.

There were rows of bunks lined up in perfectly symmetrical parallels, each with the same white pillow, the same itchy khaki blankets, and the same silver metal frames holding them up.

It was already just past 10:00am.

She stretched languidly before reaching under the bunk for the wooden tray with her name labelled on it. Inside was a small plastic bag with clean underwear and some toiletries for her to use.

She'd made sure she always had these available on base; because she never knew when she would work through the night and need a change of clothes.

She collected her things and headed off in the direction of the change rooms; there were showers and lockers there that she used to keep an N.E.S.T issue mechanic's jumpsuit.

She didn't usually wear it because she had her own; but her usual one was getting a little rank and needed a wash. Grease and oil tended to do that to fabric.

Seeing as how her hair wasn't in need of a wash, she was showered and dressed quicker than usual and she brushed her teeth over the sink in the reflective metal on the basin.

Deciding to just leave her hair down for once, she quickly brushed it and became almost immediately annoyed when she noticed that it had started to curl itself into soft ringlets.

It had always been a source of great annoyance to her; even as a child she'd liked straight hair because it sat much easier.

That's what she got for eating her bread crusts as a kid...

Giving a refreshed sigh, she headed over towards the hangar where she knew the Autobots were; hoping that Optimus would have returned safely by now.

Running a hand through her copper-brown mane of hair, she crossed the tarmac at a fairly hurried pace; her boots thumping on the massive stretch of concrete.

When she reached the entrance to the Autobots' hangar she stopped and looked for a minute before smiling with relief, her hand gripping the edge of the massive doorway.

In the hangar, surrounded by his team, stood Optimus Prime; however, to her surprise, there was another robot standing beside him.

This one was much smaller than the towering leader, and canary yellow in color; with an expressive face and the trademark Autobot blue optics.

Swallowing her nerves at the thought of another giant transforming vehicle entering her life, she started towards the group with a purpose in her step; not letting the butterflies in her stomach get the better of her.

She was happy to admit; she was glad to see Optimus again; the feeling she would get whenever he was gone was unexplainable.

It was almost as if she'd feel...incomplete, for lack of a better word.