Drum Roll, Please

Chapter 21: Inverse Frequencies

"I don't think this is safe," Summer told them after Fowler handed her the helmet Ratchet had recently finished building. "What if it has the same effect of Soundwave's destructive-"

Ratchet scoffed. "You'll need to have some faith in my work," he chided. "It won't stop you from using your powers, but it will stop others from using them. If you're being targeted by unnatural wavelengths, this should pick up the signal and counteract it."

"Like noise-canceling headphones," Miko chimed in.

"Right," Fowler grinned. "It's a simple concept, but if it beats Soundwave's manipulation, it'll be more than enough to do the job."

Ratchet knelt down and tapped the ground next to her. "Of course, we don't know what kind of soundwaves he's using to do this, but the device is sensitive to alien technology types. You have Raf to thank for this element. External frequencies originating from Cybertronian tech will be immediately negated. If we have comms playing over the monitor, you won't be able to hear them either. In fact, you won't be able to hear anything when Cybertronian technology is emitting fabricated soundwaves. Earth hardware is too rudimentary to completely tell the difference, so we've opted to block everything out."

"What if you're walking?" Summer asked. "Wouldn't each sound of a step qualify as a soundwave from a Cybertronian technology?"

He shook his helm. "Emphasis on fabricated. We can at least tell the difference between tech frequencies and natural ones."

Summer looked at the helmet and frowned. "How will we test it?"

Ratchet stood up and approached his monitor. "I've already tested it electronically with Raf's help. Nurse Darby lended a hand on the aspects of human sound processing. We're fairly certain it works. All you need to do now is put it on and we'll see if you can hear anything when I turn the comm speakers on."

Summer nodded. "And there's no chance it'll make me go crazy?"

"Not one," Ratchet assured her. "Even if it fails to recognize unwelcome sounds and neutralize them, the inverse wavelengths won't be dangerous to you... or us, for that matter."

"Well, then," she raised it over her head and slid it over her hair, "I guess it can't hurt to test it out."

Ratchet waited until Sumner was done fiddling with it and adjusting it comfortably. She gave him a thumbs up and he turned to look at Bulkhead.

"Care to do the honors?"

Bulkhead activated his comms and spoke. Usually, they used the comms and the monitor speakers while the bot talking was outside, so at first, the speakers screeched when he opened his intake. Everyone winced, excluding Summer, and then Bulkhead spoke. "Helllloooo?"

Everyone looked at Summer, who shook her head and pointed to the headphones. "Can't hear anything," she told them a little loudly.

"Say some more," Ratchet told Bulkhead.

"I know-" his voice was repeated at a bigger volume on the speakers. "I know a kid named Miko and her hair is pink on the bottom."

Summer watched him and shook her head. "I dunno."

"Good," Ratchet turned the speakers off. "This should work exactly the same if Soundwave tries anything."

"Should," Raf repeated.

Summer smiled as the volume returned back to normal. "It worked perfectly!"

"Yes!" Agent Fowler pumped his fist. "I'll tell General Bryce it was a success. You guys have proven yet again that you are the perfect candidates to watch over Summer."

"And you're sure he'll agree to leave her here?" Arcee crossed her arms and frowned. "I was under the impression they wanted to use her like a brain spear."

Jack facepalmed.

"Whether he thinks she's a weapon or not is unimportant so long as someone is keeping her away from Soundwave's control," Agent Fowler told them. "With the international incident, they'd be more focused on suppressing her danger to appease other countries. The worrisome stuff will come when things calm down. By then, hopefully, Optimus will be awake."

Summer started climbing up the ladder to Ratchet's computer table as the Autobots and Agent Fowler worked out the politics. Ratchet was in the middle of telling Ultra Magnus that Optimus was unusually good at convincing General Bryce of their trustworthiness after a meeting they had a few months back, and a tiny body suddenly became flush with the top of his servo, which was laying against the edge of the desk. He looked down, slightly startled, and found Summer hugging him tightly and giving him a warm smile.

"Thank you so much," she wrapped her arms around the top of his servo. "After everything I did, you guys are still fighting for me. It means a lot."

Ratchet gaped, and his spark sputtered, probably spewing dust into his spark chamber because he was too old and grumpy for this level of cute love and affection. He shook her off and crossed his arms. "Whatever. I was just doing my job."

"Well, you're excellent at your job," Summer told him as she stood back up. "I just want to say thank you. To everyone," she added, looking around the room. "I know I'm... not easy, but nobody gave up on me. You haven't blamed me for anything and you've even helped me afterward. I'm really gratefully."

As she expected, the Autobots sat up a bit, smiling and proud, but a few optics avoided her gaze. The children exchanged glances, and Summer felt a unanimous sense of unease and guilt pass through them.

What she didn't know is that they were on orders to kill her. And they might have gone through with them if things hadn't turned out the way they did.

Still, Summer brushed it off. Surely, they felt guilty because they let her go once, which led to her being captured. Or maybe they just felt bad because she went through so much. Even if they'd been angry at her after she hurt them, like Optimus was, they weren't anymore. It wasn't anything to worry about.

"We're glad to help," Ultra Magnus walked over and held his servo out to her, putting it perpendicular to the table she was standing on. "I believe I speak for everyone when I say that we appreciate your presence and understand the uneasy predicament you've been in."

"Right!" Miko agreed quickly. "We love you, Summer!"

Summer climbed into Ultra Magnus's servo and sat down, giving everyone a tearful smile. Her heart sung with a feeling of belonging. This was unlike anything she'd felt during her years with her guardians. Even if meeting the Autobots meant she had to face Decepticons, Summer was glad she had the chance. Nobody had ever treated her as kindly and with as much forgiveness as this team.

She wiped her eyes as Ultra Magnus brought her back to the medbay. "You should rest now," he told her. "It's been a long day and you still need to heal up. Nurse Darby's orders."

"Thanks," Summer slid off his servo and into the bed they'd replaced her cot with. "What I said out there, Ultra Magnus, I really meant it. Especially for you. You really helped me adjust to living here when I first arrived, and I missed you when I was up with the Decepticons. And ever since I got back, you've been watching over me like a guardian angel."

He sat down on his stood. "It's my job."

Despite his stoic expression and cool tone, Summer could feel the warmth spreading in his chassis and she smiled at him. "Whatever you say, big guy."

Ultra Magnus narrowed his optics at her, knowing full well she was humoring him like she thought he was lying or something. Summer grinned at him, as if she knew something he didn't, and then turned away to grab at her blankets.

She pulled up Raf's notebook and started adding extra notes inside. He couldn't tell who's page it was from his angle, so he picked up his chair and moved closer so he could see over her shoulder. Summer hummed lightly, her voice like a soothing melody, radiating hope and security, and continued drawing out a sketch of Starscream.

Ultra Magnus put his arms on the table and rested his helm on top, watching her draw quietly. He listened to her voice. He wasn't sure if the humming was accompanied by a subtle and harmless use of powers, but it didn't really matter to him. He felt content, happier than he'd felt in ages, and for the next few hours, it felt like nothing could go wrong.