My New Life as an Autobot ~~ Book 1

15

-- Who is this mystery bounty hunter and why does he want Terry and Tessa? Will Optimus and the other Autobots be able to make it to them in time? Or. . . will they be too late? --

Terry's POV

   We entered the city at sundown and I got us a room in the cheapest hotel I could find. Both Tessa and myself were exhausted from the long day of shoving our way through the crowded sidewalks, so we went straight to sleep; however, our rest was rudely interrupted by the sound of sirens. I instantly went on the alert and told Tessa to get into the bathroom and lock the door behind her. She did as I told her and I slipped over to the window to see if I could see what was going on.

   My spark beat stopped as I saw the missile coming straight for our room.

   I lunged towards the bathroom, knocked the door clean off its hinges, and covered Tessa just as the explosion shook the entire building. My body shielded her from the heat, shrapnel, and the main shock wave. Ignoring the pain of my newest burns and other cuts, I grabbed Tessa and ran for the door, but another missile exploded just feet behind us and sent us both flying.

   Tessa hit the wall by the stairs while I flew completely over the banister and fell to the first floor with a hollow 'thud'. Her screams reached my ears as she shrieked, "Terry!? Terry?!"

   I dragged myself to the bottom of the stairs and called out to her, "Tessa! Come on down here, now!"

   She scrambled down to my side, helped me up, and we both took off out the main doors into a sea of chaos. People were running every which way and I had to hold onto Tessa tightly so I didn't lose her to the tide of bodies. I prayed to Primus that Optimus and the others were somewhere nearby, but when I tried to contact them I got only static. My fear and pain flooded the bond I shared with my dad as I yelled:
~Dad! Tessa and I are getting attacked and we need your help!~

   Optimus's response was instant:
~ We are on our way! Get somewhere sheltered until then and then send me an image of where you are so I can get you out of there.~

   I thanked him and yelled above the crowd to Tessa, "Come on! Follow me!"

   She clutched my arm as I led her into a now empty casino and towards the stairs that led up to the roof. That's when she spoke. . . or more like shrieked, "You're going to the roof?!? We'll be trapped up there!!" Her normally brace demeanor had all but vanished and the fear in her eyes was enough to make my own courage falter. Tessa of course had never been in a situation like this and it made it even worse because she was with me. . . A person she barely knew, or trusted for that matter.

   My scrambled emotions overrode my conscience and I stopped, placed both hands on either side of her face as I faced her, and abruptly kissed her. I felt her tense up at the sudden intimate moment, but was relieved when she slowly melted into it and held onto my leather jacket tightly. Her body shook slightly against mine as we stood there and tuned out the war zone outside for a moment. When I slowly pulled away, I whispered to her, "We will get out of this, Tessa. . . Do you trust me?"

   She nodded slowly, almost looking dazed, but abruptly screamed as another missile came hurtling straight for us. I dragged her to the floor as the weapon flew over us and slammed into the elevator shaft, setting off the fire alarms and the sprinkler system. We then bolted for the stairs and I ushered her out onto the roof, locking the door behind us so no one could follow. My spark sank as I saw that we were indeed trapped up here, but a crazy idea sprang into my head and that was currently our only hope of getting out of this alive, "Come here, Tessa!"

   She didn't look confident, but came over as I transformed and she buckled her seatbelt quickly before asking, "You have a plan to get us out of here?"

   "It's a crazy one, but it will save us if it works," I said as I suddenly gunned my engine and took off towards the edge of the building.

   Tessa screamed as we shot off the side, over the crowded streets below, and as I landed hard on the opposite roof. My tires struggled to gain traction and I slammed hard on the brakes, sighing as I finally came to a stop near the opposite edge. I transformed again and hauled Tessa into my arms bridal style before running into the new building and heading down the stairs towards the back door.

   We burst out into the back alley and I quickly sent an image of our surroundings to Optimus, but we were forced to keep moving because these fragging missiles just kept coming! I was tempted to go see who was firing them and make them stop with force; however, I couldn't find it in my spark to abandon Tessa for even a moment.

   She clung to me like a tick as I carried her towards the outer edge of the city. Her voice sounded so fearful that it sent spears of raw agony through my spark, "I-I can run on my own now, Terry."

   I gently set her down on her feet and took the opportunity to catch a quick breather. Tessa leaned against me slightly and I gently wrapped an arm around her shoulders as I listened for anyone approaching. The missiles had stopped coming and the only sounds that I could hear were the sirens nearer to the central part of the city where the damage had been the greatest. We quickly headed out into the desert and I swiftly transformed, got Tessa safely buckled into the passenger seat, and took off into the night.

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Tessa's POV

That. Was. Terrible.
My entire body kept trembling like a leaf in a breeze long after Terry was driving through the desert like a mad bot. I tried to wrap my head around what happened; however, it was what happened in the first casino we took refuge in that had my head reeling the most. . .

I had just made a very good point to Terry about us being trapped on the roof if we went up there. He had stopped then. Just suddenly halted, spun around to look me in the eye, placed his hands tenderly on either side of my face, and kissed me! His lips had tasted salty from his sweat and they were so soft against my own that I found myself melting into him. My hands had clutched at his leather jacket and I nearly cried at how my body was trembling against him. Terry had then gazed into my soul with his beautiful eyes and almost pleaded with me to trust him as he told me that we would get out all right. . .

Even thinking about the whole thing was enough to make my heart pound wildly and my face heated up too. I occupied myself for the time being by watching the scenery flash by as Terry drove. From the way his engine was revving, I could tell he was going fast and I silently wondered if he was as scared as I was during the whole thing. . . Probably not. He's an Autobot and has probably done this sort of thing hundreds of times. Why would he be afraid?
    The really spooky thing about it all was the missiles that nearly killed us multiple times. . . Who was shooting them and why was he/she/they after us?

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Bounty Hunter's POV

I couldn't believe it when I lost the pair within the heat of the chase. The fact that they avoided my missiles was enough to tell me that the child of the Prime was there, but it made my spark burn with fury when the girl also escaped. I wouldn't find out what was special about the female though until I had her in my servos! My peds smashed the concrete as I stamped them a couple times. A 'ping' from a tracking device alerted me that the Autobots were coming and I decided that I had done enough damage for one night. I swiftly transformed and. . . rolled out.

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