2. Charge (A TFP Fanfiction)

Chapter 1

I felt my heart begin beating rapidly in my chest, and tried to will it to stop. I didn't understand, and didn't want to understand right now. I wanted to focus on the bigger problems, but my feelings wouldn't leave me. I should have been thinking about poor Optimus and whatever was happening to him, but instead I found myself having these strange.. feelings for my guardian.

It's not that I didn't know what they were anymore. It had taken me a while, but I had figured it out, at least I thought I had. I had a... crush(?) on Ratchet. Okay, so maybe I didn't fully comprehend what these feelings were. But the point was, I wasn't supposed to feel that way. Right? He was an alien, and I'm a human. I'm alien to him, even if he did care for me a little bit. I knew Ratchet couldn't feel the same, not like this. I knew all of this.

So why was my face still hot?

I wasn't really listening as Ratchet explained the story of how Orion Pax became a Prime. I had heard the story before, Ratchet had told me himself on one of those nights that I would stay with him while he recovered. He had actually told me a lot of things...

What are you thinking?!

I resisted shaking my head vigorously, seeing as that would probably look very strange while we were going through a grim moment here. I tried my best to turn my thoughts back to the matter at hand. I was still sitting my Ratchet's shoulder plate, though I had lost all confidence in leaning on him now.

"Being a Decepticon is a choice, Agent Fowler," Ratchet told the confused man. "One that I have a hard time believing Optimus would make at any point of his life."

I nodded, trying to join in. "I agree. Optimus isn't like that, and never was, right?" Ratchet nodded in my direction, and I tried to keep my heart bottled up.

"So if he's riding with the Cons," Bulkhead started.

"It's because Megatron is working some kind of voodoo," Arcee finished with a growl.

"Orion Pax may not currently be an Autobot up here," he said, pointing to his helm, and nearly knocking me over in the process, "but I must believe that he will never stop being one.. in here." He brought his servo to his spark, looking away from the others. I could tell in his optics he was having a hard time with this, in pain for his friend. "We must locate him to know for certain."

"Hold up," Agent Fowler sighed, exasperated. "I've got a chip lodged in my behind that lets Uncle Sam know when I stop for donuts."

I tried not to turn up my face in disgust and pity. You do? He can't be serious.

Then again, he did work for the government.

"Are you telling me you can't just track Prime?" the agent continued.

"Optimus' signal has not reappeared since he embarked for earth's core," Ratchet explained, pointing to the monitor. "But we must get to work finding him if we have any hope of initiating his contingency plan."

"Contingency plan?" Arcee asked, cocking her hip.

"What contingency plan?" I asked. This was something I didn't know.

"Is that even a word?" Miko asked skeptically, earning a glare from most of us.

"The key card," Jack realized, stepping forward and holding the "key card" up. "So, what's it do?"

"It grants access to Vector Sigma," Ratchet answered.

"The repository of the wisdom of the Primes!" I gasped, remembering Ratchet mention it once.

A lot of eyes and optics turned to me in that moment, and I could tell they were all wondering how I knew that. I blushed in embarrassment and huddled back, shoulders up. I mumbled something about Ratchet letting me know about it under my breath and avoided eye or optic contact. Ratchet shuffled from underneath where I was sitting as their gazes all turned to him in surprise. Was it that hard to believe he would tell his charge such things...?