No More DayDreaming [DISCONTINUED]

Apnea

"Aubrey?" BumbleBee called outside her room. Aubrey sat up slowly, rubbing her eyes and smoothing down her hair.

"Yeah..?" She called back, stretching her arms.

"Aren't you supposed to be going to school by now..?" He whirred nervously. Aubrey's eyes shot open, and her head whipped around to look at her clock. It was 8:20!! School had started an hour and five minutes ago!

"Scrap..!" Aubrey moaned, bolting from her covers and grabbing a random outfit, hoping it looked decent enough for school. She ran to the bathroom, took the quickest shower ever, and hopped out to put on her clothes. She was no super hero like The Flash, but she had to had set some sort of record.

Aubrey bolted out of the bathroom, throwing her pajamas in her dirty clothes pile. She quickly packed away her homework and pencils and slung her back pack over her shoulder. Grabbing her dark red beanie and adjusting it just right just as she walked out of the room, she smiled at Bee, who had been kind enough to wait.

"Thanks Bee- you think you could put the metal to the petal a bit?" Aubrey grinned nervously. Before Bee could even reply Ratchet's monitor started to beep in alert. Bee and Aubrey turned to look at the medic, who was now frantically typing. The whole team gathered around, even Aubrey was standing on the platform closest to the monitors.

"What's goin' on, Ratch? I was sleepin' in after a late night patrol..." Bulk whined. Ratchet flashed him a look to be quiet as Optimus walked into the main room, looking to his friend for his report.

"There is a small signal coming up from the middle of nowhere. It could be a small pocket of energon, but if my theory is correct, the decepticons have a large mining operation there and their cloaking devises are straining to hide the signal." Ratchet explained.

"Maybe they were hoping it was small enough that we'd just look over it." Aubrey shrugged. When everyone looked to her, she felt her face go hot. But not a second later Arcee cut through the silence.

"Is there any chance that..." She started, looking at the ground. Everyone was quiet. They all knew what she meant. Aubrey frowned, but a spark of hope had risen in her chest. What if Cliff was alive?

"I don't know. But if we move now, before we lose the signal for good, we might be able to sneak in and find out." Ratchet finally replied.

"Can I go?" Aubrey asked without even thinking. If there was any chance, even just a sliver, that CliffJumper was ok she wanted to be there to help. Everyone exchanged glances with each other, as if they found it hard to answer. Finally, Optimus spoke.

"Aubrey, as much I would like to let you join us, this is a dangerous mission in which there is too great a risk of you getting in harm's way." Optimus frowned. Aubrey slumped a little in disappointment, but nodded in understanding.

"Sorry Aubrey, but I believe you're going to have to skip school today." Ratchet nodded as he began to power up the groundbridge. Aubrey nodded, watching as the team dispersed to prep for the mission. She eyed Optimus and Arcee, who were having a hushed conversation, Arcee looking determined as ever. Aubrey walked over to the couch- which BumbleBee had been kind enough to find in an alley and bring back to the base for the kids. Terry was sleeping peacefully, and Aubrey plopped down next to him, petting his head gently. Terry wagged the tip of his tail, opening his eyes a little, shifting to move closer to Aubrey.

"Aubrey," Arcee said lowly, making her look up from her dog with a jolt.

"Yeah?" She blinked.

"Your coming on the mission." Arcee said, her face serious.