Shadowfire

Chapter 13

"Space. Time. Gravity" the professor said, taking a bite of an apple and letting it fall to the ground.
"We are going on a journey together, right now, today, all you eager, nubile young minds on the very cusp of adulthood" I rolled my eyes, sounded like this professor was full of himself. I had done all the education I needed in my advanced course with the military- lessons on strategy, tactics, how to best position my forces and use them to my advantage- none of this nonsense.
"And I shall be your consort, your guide, your chaperone, into the heart of darkness. Welcome to Astronomy 101" I groaned, why was I stuck here again? Oh that's right, to watch over Sam. I glanced at him, he was flicking idly through his textbook.
"For what do we know about the stars?" The professor continued "Virgo, the virgin. Orion, the great hunter" Sam seemed to be twitching now, turning the pages rapidly. "These are no mere twinkling diamonds for lovely maidens to wish upon. No, they are diamond, filled with a throbbing, savage and hemped-up energy. Behold the work of Albert Einstein, a professor once, like moi"
"What are you doing? Put your hand down" Leo hissed at Sam.
"Young man, there are no questions
until I've reached the climax of my lecture" the professor said, noticing Sam's raised hand.
"I've just finished your book. There's only one problem. Einstein was wrong" Sam declared, standing and rushing towards the front of the room. I tried to grab him, to prevent whatever he was about to do but he evaded my grasp.
"Energy doesn't go mass times velocity light squared in this dimension" Sam jumped onto the raised platform where the professor stood and pulled a chalkboard into position "What about the other 17 while we're impossible to give 17?" Sam muttered, brain moving faster than he could speak. I stood, heading down the aisle towards him "A clear example... Come on guys, I can't be the only one in class-"
"Young man" the professor said, interrupting Sam's rambling as I reached the platform "I will not be punked in front of the dean. No, this is my universe here. Do you understand? I am the Alpha and the Omega. Get out of my class"
"Yes, sir" Sam muttered, seeming to snap out of his trance.
"Any one else care to have some sort of mental breakdown?" The professor asked as I grabbed hold of Sam and led him gently out of the room.

"What happened back there?" I asked him.
"Don't know, I just saw all these lights and symbols flashing in front of me and then these words just started coming out" he trailed off "I'm going crazy aren't I?"
"No you're not, your brain's just malfunctioning because the Cube has overloaded it"
"Gee that's so much better" he said, throwing himself down onto a staircase "I wanna talk to Mikaela"
"I'll call her" I said, pulling out my phone and dialling.

"Hey Leah, what's up?" She answered.
"Sam just had some sort of mental break in class, totally spazzed out. He wants to talk to you" I explained, handing the phone over.
"Hello, Mikaela? I just read a 936 page astronomy book in 32.6 seconds and had a melt down in the middle of my class. The Cube sliver, do you have it?" He paused, presumably she was answering his question "okay do not touch it, ok don't touch it" a second later he sighed and pulled the phone from his ear "she wants to talk to you"
"Yeah?" I asked, taking the phone.
"Tell me you're taking care of Sam. No Decepticons creeping around?"
"Yeah no everything's good, besides his deteriorating mental state"
"Wait hold on" she said suddenly.
"What? Kayla what's going on?" I asked, heading sounds of a struggle on the other end of the line. Distantly I heard voices.

"What are you doing here, you little freak?
"Ow, that's my eye, you crazy bitch!"
"You gotta talk now?"
"I... I seek knowledge of the Cube. The Fallen demands me. Easy Warrior Goddess, I'm just a little salvage scrap drone"
"Then I'm your worst nightmare"
"Ow, ow, ow, ow! Hey, hey!"

"What the hell was that?" I demanded "Mikaela is there a Decepticon there?"
"I'll tell you later, just not on open phone line, okay? I'm gonna get on a plane right now. I'll be there later this afternoon. Just tell Sam to be careful" she hung up and I turned to Sam, stunned.
"I think she just kicked a Decepticon's ass"

_____________________

We went back to Sam's room to await Mikaela, I was standing guard outside when Leo arrived with a pizza.
"M'amor, can I interest you in a Mayteam Zookeeper's Special? Extra large supertees with every known animal as a topping. Basic lengths. Only 18 inches of meat. Unless you're a vegetarian. It's cool. I am too" I rolled my eyes and opened the door, going inside to escape Sam's amorous roommate. I stopped dead upon seeing what was inside. Sam had covered the walls with Cybertronian writing. He looked up when we entered.
"Hey. Have you had a song stuck in your head? It's like the worst song ever, but you can't help whistle it or sing it. It's like, repeats itself, repeats itself, repeats itself, repeats itself, repeats itself, repeats itself... Kitten calendar, kitten calendar, kitten calendar, kitten calendar" Sam said, flicking a pile of calendars to the floor.
"Dude. What the F?" Leo said, for once I had to agree with him.
"I know you're freaking out. Don't freak out, don't freak out. Easy fix. Puzzle, code, in my head. Now it's on the walls. Everything is good. This is the part that..." he trailed off "Okay, what were you saying?
"Sam. Your brain is literally falling apart. I'm taking you to Ratchet right now" I grabbed hold of him, steering him outside and towards my waiting alt form, Leo trailing us like a lost dog. We encountered Kayla on the way, carrying a toolbox, she took in the sight of Sam- shaking, eyes blinking rapidly as his mouth formed nonsense words- and decided that not saying anything was the best option. I got the two of them into my chassis, slamming a door in Leo's face and tore out of the college campus.

_____________________

"Alright now seems like an appropriate time to ask" I said as we headed towards the NEST base "Kayla, what exactly is in that toolbox?" She started and refused to meet either my or Sam's gaze.
"A Decepticon"
"What?!" I swerved in shock. Sam wasn't much calmer.
"You just carry one around in your purse like a little handbag dog?"
"He came after the shard, I'm considering training him"
"What the frag Kayla?!" I demanded, Sam was rubbing his forehead in exasperation "what am I meant to do about this?" I sighed, emitting static over the radio, and pulled over "alright just dump it here, there's no way I'm taking that into NEST, we can come pick it up later"

_____________________

"I don't care Sam I'm not letting you go back to college when I'm just going to have to drive you back here when you have a breakdown, it's better for you to just remain here"
"You can't keep me here, it's kidnapping that's what this is"
"Sam" I groaned, Primus that boy was an idiot sometimes.
"No Shadowfire he's right, we cannot keep him here against his will" Optimus intervened
"No, actually we can" I argued
"Enough, you will escort him back to his campus"
"Why me?! What about his guardian?" Bee nodded furiously, making protesting noises "exactly! Bee wants to go"
"You are the only one who can pass for human unquestioned"
"I'm sticking with Sam" Mikaela said, eyes glinting in a way that assured me she was too stubborn to be swayed.
"Fine" I snapped "but Bee's coming too"