Shadowfire

Chapter 15

"This is it. Deli, good front" Leo said, as he led us inside the meat shop "I'll give you the go, no go" I accompanied the three humans in my holoform, Bee sulkily parking outside. He didn't have a holoform, I didn't know why but I had gotten the sense from the other Autobots, back before everything had turned to slag, that it was rude to ask.
"Take a number, young man" the man behind the counter said to Leo.
"Robo-Warrior. Know him?"
"I never heard of him"
"You never heard of TheRealEffingDeal-dot-com?"
"You must be talking about that amateur-hour blog operation with Game Boy level security"
"Robo-Warrior" Leo breathed" It's him! It's him! That's the guy right there! That's him!" Sam turned and-
"No"
"You've got to be kidding me" Sam groaned, Mikaela behind him making a similar sound.
"All right, meat store's closed! Everybody out!"

"Wait a minute. You know this guy?" Leo asked. I thought the guy looked familiar but it had taken me a while to run the visual through my memory banks. It was the creepy government guy who had arrested Sam and Mikaela and gotten Bee captured.
"We're old friends" Sam said by way of an explanation.
"Old friends? You're the case that shut down Sector Seven, got the kibosh disbanded. No more security clearance, no retirement, no nothing. All 'cause of you and your little criminal girlfriend. Look at her now, so mature"
"You live with your mama?" Kayla asked snidely, spotting the elderly woman disappearing through a doorway.
"No, my mama lives with me. It's a big difference. They've got your face all over the news, alien boy"
"Yeah, I know"
"So, good-bye. You never saw me. I got bagels to smear. Vanish"
"Can you give me five seconds? Look, hold on, I need your help"
"Really? You need my help?" Simmons studied Sam intently for a moment.
"Look, I am loosing my mind. I touched the Cube, and now I keep seeing these alien images in my brain-"
"Meat locker, now! What you're about to see is top secret... Do not tell my mother" we followed him into a cold room and down a flight of stairs hidden through a trapdoor into the room beyond. The tiny space was filled to the brim with artefacts, pieces of paper and filing cabinets.
"Ok cube-brain, any of these look like the symbols you saw?" He asked, showing Sam a file.
"Where did you get these?"
"Before I got fired, I poached S-7's crown jewel, over seventy five years of alien research, which points to one inescapable fact. The Transformers, they've been here a long, long time. How do I know? Archaeologists found these unexplained markings in ancient ruins all over the world. China. Egypt. Greece. Shot in 1932. These the symbols you're seeing in your head?"
"Yeah"
"Same ones over here, right? So, tell me, how did they end up all drawing the same things? Aliens. And I think some of them stayed. Check this out. Project: Black Knife. Robots. In disguise. Hiding here all along. We detected radioactive signatures all across the country. I pleaded. On my knees with S-7 to investigate it, but they said the readings were infinitesimal, that I... was... obsessed! Me. Can you imagine that?" He trailed off before remembering his original point "right. But the trail just goes cold, so we're porked, unless we can talk to a Decepticon. I mean, I'm not on speaking terms with them" he laughed.

"Actually, I am" Mikaela said, holding up the toolbox. I hadn't noticed she had it with her, was she taking to carrying the little Decepticon around like a pet?
"Let me out!"
"This is going to be a little bit sad"
"Open it" Sam ordered. Kayla obliged and tiny little 'Con came tumbling out.
"I will have so many Decepticons on your butt!" He threatened, somewhat feebly.
"Hey, behave!" Mikaela threatened. I took a step back, hiding behind piles of papers and filing cabinets, I didn't know if he could sense who my sire was, and I didn't want to find out.
"What is it, a Decepticon?" Sam asked
"Yeah"
"And you're training him?"
"I'm trying to"
"I spent my whole adult life combing the planet for aliens and you're carrying around one in your purse like a little chihuahua" Simmons murmured, putting his head in his hands.
"Huh? Do you want a throwdown, you pubic 'fro-head?" The little 'Con challenged. I laughed, I liked the little thing.