Beeps and Buzzes

🦕 ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ 14

　　　

Before you could say "fugitive", across the globe different governments were already calling for Optimus's head. In failing that, any Autobot would do.

You only just received the instruction to hide from Joshua, seconds after his robotic engineers finished installing a new replacement arm.

Unlike last time where you'd been quite content in having saws cutting into mechanical flesh, in lieu of your clear uncertainty if the reattachment would hurt, you'd been placed in a chemical induced sleep that lasted for five hours.

Bee collected your drowsy self not long after, cradling you in the backseat before venturing off at top speed towards a cargo ship bound for America. Joshua arranged the whole thing - apparently the government still had a huge bias towards Cybertronians.

Nothing would change.

During that long, long voyage towards familiar turf; swaddled in a makeshift blanket seated comfortably within Bees cabin, you piled all remaining funds into multiple different accounts. A couple signed under Cade and Tessa respectively (Shane was plenty rich on his own), figuring what little was left should be enough to sustain you should something happen and everyone was split up... again.

Otherwise, your legally obtained Laptop had been doing movie marathons for those lurking beneath the bowels of the ship. Charging it periodically by your own power, dragged through sappy romance dialogue and painfully long horror movie sequences that failed to thrill those among you who'd faced true terror with little more than good intentions.

Docking at New York, escaping customs by means of fake IDs and phony papers, setting off for greener pastures... which turned out to be less green, filled with dead foliage and an unearthed suspiciously human skeleton right beside a desolate carpark.

To save face you scuffed some dead leaves over it. Before securing a position here, cutting through old iron chains and shepherding your band of Autobots plus companions into this temporary accommodation.

　　　　

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D

ay six since returning to America; there were two goals in sight. Beyond 'remain unseen', obviously.

Cade's objective had always been to get his daughter to a faraway place, so far removed from this whole dilemma that she may as well have been nonexistent. Bonus points for getting rid of Shane, too (both men stopped fighting one another, although they still had plenty of disagreements).

You, meanwhile, had called in favours.

Or, several actually. Unsuccessfully.

Simmons hadn't responded to your email. Ryder's number had been disconnected, apparently. Epps was unable to help beyond suggesting going further East, away from the major military bases and you hadn't attempted checking in on Lennox given you hadn't actually got his number.

Exploring all avenues - including Mikaela who now ran her dad's garage legally - there was only one person left.

Leo.

Remember Leo?

By all accounts, MIA to all family and loved ones. A lone wolf fighting against Government conspiracy. This one guy standing up for his beliefs!

Definitely not the guy who responded only ten minutes after you DM'd him on Tumblr of all places. Definitely not the guy who spent one whole paragraph trying to convince you there was a girlfriend taking up residence in his Cabin isolated out in the Canadian Wilderness.