To Be A Hero

Part 11

"You took Cody out on a rescue?" Charlie Burns asked. He, Dani, and Cody were situated in Cody's room with Cody in bed, Dani by the window, and Charlie looking disapproving by the door. Blades fidgeted nervously outside as he made sure to stay just out of sight of the irate chief. When the chief was in his 'Parenting' mode, even the bots could be brought into the fold.

Cody covered his mouth with hand before sneaking a yawn. Drowsiness weighed heavily on him after the day's activities. Though he'd been feeling much better earlier thanks to the energon (he'd even been able to walk) all the excitement had taken a lot out of him. When Blades had landed on the helicopter pad atop the station, Dani had had to carry Cody back to his room when his legs couldn't hold him up. Now, he relaxed tiredly against his headboard with his blankets drawn up to his waist to fight the cold.

"It was fine, perfectly safe. Especially compared to what Kade was doing." Dani defended as she crossed her arms over her chest. The aged father quirked his eyebrow at the by now familiar 'blame shifting'. Dani blushed. "Seriously, Dad. Cody was in Blades's cockpit the entire time, right behind me. Kade was hanging onto a ladder over a hundred-foot drop with no anchoring for Heatwave. If you're going to be laying blame today, he's the one who should be getting it." Charlie pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. It seemed he would be telling off two of his fully grown children today.

"I'll see to Kade. What I'm dealing with right now is you two." The chief's mustache shuffled as he frowned.

"But Dad, I'm fine! And I was in Blades's cockpit the whole time." Cody objected. He swallowed down another yawn and did his best to appear fine. He didn't want Dani to get in trouble because of him. She had only been doing her job and Cody was the one who had wanted to go so badly.

"And you're also grounded." The chief ground out before shaking his head and relaxing. "I know the situation was difficult and that we didn't really talk about it, but in the case of an emergency, Blades can function alone with you giving directions over the communicators from here. So, if this sort of thing happens again, I want Cody at home at all times. Think, Dani. If something untoward happened during a rescue, he'd be helpless."

"I-I... yes sir." Dani murmured as her face paled a little. Her little brother looked just fine now, it was hard to remember how weak he really was. He hadn't even been able to get himself back to his room for goodness sakes! If something had happened during the rescue, and they'd needed to make an emergency landing, Cody would have been a sitting duck, unable to even get himself to safety.

"But Dad!" Cody cried out in indignation. He wasn't that weak! And surely, inside a cab or cockpit he was perfectly safe. Granted, he hadn't been able to walk afterwards, but it wasn't like he had been in any danger inside Blades's cockpit. What could have possibly happened to him while he was in the cockpit of one of the strongest beings currently residing on Earth? Blades was totally strong enough to keep him safe!

"No 'but's, Cody. Your health is important and even if you weren't... sick right now, you are grounded." Charlie reminded his youngest child. Cody frowned but didn't say anything as he looked down at his hands. Everything that had happened recently... he still didn't really know what to make of it.

In truth, going along with Dani on her rescue was as much a chance to see a rescue as to just get away from everything. He still wasn't okay with what had happened. He wasn't... angry with anyone anymore, but that didn't make him feel okay about it all. He still felt the heavy feeling of hurt weighing down his insides. Being told he was eating alien baby food and being unable to even walk around on his own anymore felt like solid blows against him; wicked claws scraping along the linings of his heart... or whatever functioned as his heart now. A few days ago, Cody's life had been good. He'd had his life just right with the support of his family, his friendship with the bots and Frankie, and had been slowly growing and learning the ways of a first responder. Now, it felt as though Cody's whole world was in shambles. Everything that he had been sure of before seemed to have been saturated in shadow and doubt. Not that he doubted his family, the bots, or Frankie, but it felt as though his life had shattered into a million little shards of glass or twisted into something unrecognizable. Could he even become a first responder anymore? All his life he'd wanted to work in helping and rescuing people.

Could weird human-turned-machine people get jobs or help people? Would he ever be able to hold a job or go to school again? The questions built up inside is brain and hummed around in Cody's head like the buzzing of a bumblebee. Cody heard his father heave a sigh before he felt his bed dip down beside him. Two big, calloused hands closed around his own in a gesture of comfort.

Cody looked up.

"It's going to get better, Cody. Things won't stay like this forever. You'll get better and we'll eventually trust you to go out in the field again without getting yourself into trouble. One day, you'll be able to do all the things you used to do again. It's just going to take time." Charlie murmured soothingly as his loving eyes met Cody's saddened ones. The father's heart ached and the pain his youngest portrayed.

"Things will go back to normal?" Cody asked in disbelief. How could things ever go back to normal now? He was a living piece of metal for Pete's sake! Charlie's trepidatious smile turned into a sorrowful one at the hopelessness in his son's tone. Not for the first time, he missed his wife.

"As much as we can make it be." The father promised his son. They would make it through this. They had to.