Meeting (Chapter 1)

Drive

Bumblebee

She was pacing around her horse, chewing her nails.

Her horse, Nightmare, I think it was, was out for hours.

Her wings came back about an hour after Optimus made the order for her to stay inside unless someone was with her.

She was sitting down at the gurney now, while Ratchet was checking her casts.

Her horse moved the slightest bit, and she jumped up and ran to him.

"Easy, boy. Im right here. Shh... Its okay..." She whispered, petting his nose. The horse nuzzled into her and fell asleep.

She sighed and kissed his head. She went back to Ratchet, her body shaking.

I looked at the burn. It was Mech's symbol. Those tech-hungry humans that stole my T-Cog. A T-Cog is the part that allows us to transform.

I can't understand why Mech would want anything to do with her. Unless she's part machine, or they were given a job to catch her.

Ratchet was done checking her, but she was walking around restlessly. She was itching to go out, I could tell. I was itching to go out, too.

"Come on." I say, helping her up.

She beams. She looks at Ratchet and he says: "You'll be safe with him. Go ahead."

She smiles wider. I transform, and she looks at me with the same look I gave her when I first saw her. Full of confusion.

She shrinks her wings and her hair shortens and goes brown.

I open the passenger door, and she looks at me with confusion. She climbs in awkwardly.

"Never been in a sports car before, or any car." She says, reaching for her seatbelt. "Uh... Where do I put this?"

"The slot under the red button opposite your seatbelt."

She finds it and clicks it in.

"Thanks. I was dying to get out of there." She says as we drive out.

She stares at the rolling pavement and dust like it's the last thing she'll ever see.

"Me, too." I say as she opens the window and puts her hand out.

She listens for something. "Stop."

I brake, and she jolted.

"Did you hear that? It stopped when you braked." She said, still listening.

"You must have heard my engine. You hear it when I drive." I say, continuing.

She hits her palm against her head. "Im such an idiot."

We both laugh. She stares at the sky with sad eyes.

"You miss it?"

She laughs. "You have no idea how much flying means to me." She tears herself away, like she doesn't want to be reminded of something.

A fighter jet goes by, which is normal around here, and she unclicks her seatbelt and slips to the floor. She puts her hands over her head and goes deathly silent.

"Its okay. It's not Starscream." I say, which encourages her to get back in her seat and buckle up.

She still flinches a little as it passes overhead. She puts her legs up and curls into a ball.

Her breathing is shaky, and unstable. She is not okay.

"Do you want to head back?" I ask as her breathing gets worse and she looks worse and worse by the second.

She nods. "Im starting to think being inside at this time is better." She curls up tighter.

I turn around and drive back to base. Tears start going down her face, but she tries to hide them.

"Hey, it's alright." I try and comfort her.

"No, it isn't! I find out I can't fly for more than a month, I'm trapped inside the whole time, and now Nightshade is hurt! And I wasn't there to protect him!" She stops crying and turns away.

The rest of the drive is silent.

"Im sorry for snapping at you. I just... I just don't know who I am anymore..." She says with glassy eyes.

"Its alright." I say as we pull into the base. But I can tell from her voice that it isn't.

She smiles a little, and then wipes off the remaining evidence of her crying.

She goes back to her horse and starts petting him. The horse lifts it's wing, whimpering.

She pets him and whispers something, but I dont know what it is.

Listening back to when she snapped at me, it sounds like she has a lot on her plate.

I just hope she can get through it.