The Hunted

Chapter 10

I couldn't stifle my laugh as I watched Aura chase her brother around. It was as if the twi had forgotten the war...everything...and become the quarreling brother-sister couple she never got the chance to know.
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Later, we were in a large building that we were 'borrowing without rent', planning.
Well...Cade was planning and telling us the basics.
Tessa and her boyfriend Shane were going to steal essentials, as Cade's account had been blocked by the government. You know, being a fugitive after all. So they were left with no money.
Using a stolen KSI drone he had recircuited, Cade was able to snap a picture of one of the KSI businessmen's cards.
With Bee's help, Cade was able to make three cards. One for him, one for Shane, and one for me.
As Cade was explaining this, he happened to glance over and see Shane and Tessa cuddling.
"Hey, there is no smooching in front of me, okay?" he said.
"You're so square, who even says 'smooching'?" Tessa complained.
"No respect," Cade muttered to Optimus,"which is impossible sometimes."
"Yeah?" Optimus replied, crossing his arms,"I went through that with Bumblebee."
"What, when he was a rookie?" I asked, covering my snort with a servo.
Bumblebee looked at me with hurt optics. I waved slightly and mouthed,"Sorry."
Blue Moon was sitting in a corner this whole time, looking distant.
I walked over to her and tapped her shoulder-plate, starting a psychic communication.
'You feeling okay?' I asked telepathically.
'I am so glad you didn't want me to tell you for real,' Blue Moon replied.
'Why?'
'I think I might be nauseous,' was her only reply before covering her mouth.
Suddenly she transformed and her holoform darted for the bathroom.
I followed as well, in my holoform.
Blue Moon hunkered over the toilet as I locked the door and heaved.
I knelt next to her and whispered encouraging things into her ear.
Once she was done, and only dry heaving, Blue Moon started to calm down.
I heard somebody knocking on the door urgently.
"Blue Moon? Blue Moon, are you alright?" Drift shouted through the door.
I opened the door a crack and peeked out to see Drift's holoform staring concernedly back.
"Is she alright?" he asked.
I nodded,"She will be fine shortly, Drift. Do not worry."
Drift nodded, but I could sense his worry.
I shut the door and locked it again, returning to my friend.
I rubbed her back as she finished heaving and leaned her against a wall.
I grabbed a wet cloth and wiped her mouth and face.
"Well..."she panted,"that can mean only one thing."
I smiled a little,"You are definitely pregnant."
Blue Moon grinned and gently touched her stomach.
"When will you tell Drift?" I asked.
Blue Moon frowned, but it was immediately broken by a smile.
"I'll tell him now."
I helped her up and once I was sure she wasn't going to throw up again, we walked out of the bathroom nonchalantly.
As soon as Blue Moon went back into bi-ped mode, she took Drift into a seperate room, to tell him about his sparkling no doubt.
A few moments later, there was a joyful shout from Drift and laughter.
Drift burst out of the room with a smiling Blue Moon at his side.
"Drift, what...?" Optimus asked.
Drift struggled to compose himself, but couldn't help it.
"I'm going to be a father!" he shouted, which made me immediately hush him.
In the moment of silence that followed, everyone stared at the two bots in dumbfoundedness.
"Y-you're pregnant?" Aura managed to stammer to Blue Moon.
The femme nodded happily and Aura hugged her tight.
"Why didn't you tell us before?" the femme leader asked.
"I wasn't sure," Blue Moon replied,"But now I am."
Everyone was happy for the couple. Cade even congratulated them.
Shane used the distraction to kiss Tessa.
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That night, Optimus woke me.
"Optimus, what is it?" I asked groggily.
"I need to speak with you," he replied, tugging on my servo.
"Sure," I said, getting up and letting him pull me into the abandoned alley behind the building.
"What's going on?" I asked once there.
Optimus took my servo in both of his and began caressing it.
"Orchid," he began,"Are...are you sure about going with Cade and Bumblebee tomorrow?"
I nodded,"100% sure. Why?"
Optimus sighed and let go of my servo to rub his face-plates.
"I worry too much about you," he mumbled,"I love you so much. I couldn't bear the mere thought of losing you."
I set my servo gently on the side of his helm and made him look at me.
"Optimus," I whispered,"do you think I feel any different? I always fear for you every time you pass out of my sight. I feel empty when you're not around me."
I came closer and bumped my nose against his, feeling his breath on my face-plates,"But isn't that the strongest kind of love one can have?"
Optimus touched my servo that was on his helm and closed his optics.
"I will never regret meeting you," he whispered,"You have changed my world forever."
I smiled a little and bit my lip, feeling my face-plates heat up.
Optimus gave me a quick kiss on the lips.
"Good night, angel," he said,"I'll be there for you tomorrow."
I smiled a little wider,"Good night...love."
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The next morning, Cade took me and Shane in Bumblebee in to scan Bee's vehicle mode.
I was in my human form, and my non-robotic leg was cramping uncomfortably in the small backseat.
"You couldn'tve chosen a slightly bigger disguise?" I asked the scout.
Bee rumbled in apology, but couldn't say anything as we pulled up to the gate.
"You know in times like this the udea is to act cool not look cool so, why don't you lose the glasses?" Cade told Shane.
Shane pulled off his sunglasses. Even from the backseat I could tell he was nervous.
Cade refused to help the poor guy.
"About a month ago," the man began,"I heard noises in my house. Was that you?"
"What? No way," Shane denied.
"Don't lie to me, kid," Cade scolded,"You see that guy with the gun over there?"
"There's so many guys with guns," Shane panted.
"Well I can just go tell 'em that we're breaking in and it's your idea because I don't care, I've already lived long enough," Cade explained.
"You have a really bad habit of having these conversations at the wrong time, man," Shane said, now sweating.
"Are you gonna come clean or are you gonna make a mess?" Cade asked then tried to open the car door,"Excuse me, sir!"
"Itwasmeitwasmeitwasme," Shane babbled.
Cade sighed angrily through his nose,"I am literally gonna kill you."
A guard leaned into the open window by Shane,"Taking 'er in for scanning?"
Shane pulled out his card,"Uh-huh"
The man scanned it and gave the card back,"Alright, you're good to go."
Once we were inside the building, we drove into a hanger with a pink robot.
"That is a bada** robot," Shane said.
"Kinda looks like you, Bee," Cade remarked.
Bee parked and we all got out.
"They're trying to make their own versions," Cade said.
"Well at least they're picking cooler cars than this," Shane said, forgetting who he was in.
Bumblebee hit the man in the nose with his horn and then pressed the steering wheel against his throat.
"You talk to me like that?" the Autobot challenged as the human choked.
"Now get out."
Shane literally fell out the seat, coughing.
A woman on a huuuggge screen said,"Introducing Stinger. Inspired by Bumblebee, but better in every way."
That triggered Bee. He did circles on the polished floor, his tires making marks.
"Bee, calm down!" I cried.
"Bee, stop goin' psyhco!" Cade joined in.
I heard a woman speaking Japanese and used my metal powers to stop Bumblebee in his tracks just as a group of men came in with a Japanese woman.
Bee revved his engine in annoyance, catching the attention of the man whom the woman had been talking to.
"Hey you, you three!" he addressed us,"Grease monkeys."
I felt my irritation flare up when he said that.
"What is going on here?" the man asked,"We're not scanning collector's items. What is it that we make here? We make poetry. We're poets."
Cade nodded,"Very sorry, sir. It won't happen again."
"It certainly won't," the man said,"You work for me you get one shot. One shot...that's it. Now, get this pathetic thing out of here...and you too."
After the man left, Cade took me to the laboratory after telling Shane to watch Bumblebee.
We put on white lab coats and I slipped on a pair of glasses.
As we walked through the sea of men and women in white, I saw something that made my spsrk almost stop.
Larkspur! In a little cage with a muzzle around his mouth with barely any room to move his wings.
The tiny cyber-dragon saw me and tried to cry out for me through his muzzle.
I clenched my hands into such tight fists my nails cut into my palms. I was so distracted by the sight of my pet, I didn't realize that Cade had moved away from me until he suddenly grabbed my arm.
"Hey, we need to go this way," he said gently.
I followed Cade until we stopped in front of a glass room.
The sight inside was even worse than the one with Larkspur. There were at least five people in there...melting Ratchet's helm.
I raised a hand to my mouth. I just knew I was going to be sick.
Cade turned on the drone's camera,"I'm in. Do you see my camera? They're melting Ratchet."
"Metal," said a woman suddenly beside Cade, making me jump,"just metal. That's what I always thought of them."
"Well they're living things," Cade explained,"with souls like ours."
The woman looked at Cade strangely.
"I remember...I once spoke with one," Cade laughed slightly.
"And you're working with Transformium?" the woman asked.
"Yeah. Yeah, that's-that's what I do. I am."
"I'm out there digging for it, there's just not much left to find," the woman explained, opening a box to show a small pile of metal flakes,"So that's how badly you boys need more, huh? Resorting to melting nasty old Decepticons down."
"No," I said softly,"That's an Autobot there...the ones who fought for us."