3. Family (A TFP Fanfiction)

Chapter 8

My throat felt dry as I closed my mouth and swallowed. It felt as if my entire body had locked up as I sat solid still next to my guardian's helm. Ratchet looked as if he had gone stiff as well, his derma thinned and his optics wide. Both of us stared hard at the Agent, who sighed again and tightened his tie slightly, a nervous habit of his. His head turned and he glanced away for a moment, breaking our stare and making us blink back into movement.

"It's what she claims," he continued, still avoiding our gaze, "and after a thorough search, it's been confirmed that she is indeed your grandmother." He did finally look up at this. "Your mother's mother."

I gulped again and tried to regain some moisture back into my mouth, my lips twitching a little. My eyes wanted to well up with tears, but I didn't really understand why. Or why my chest felt like something big was squeezing it from the inside out. I bit my lip and ran my hand through my hair, unsure of what to really say, and afraid that if I did say something, I would start to cry.

Ratchet saw my stress and came to my rescue, asking the questions for me. "And she's been demanding to see Taylor?" he said, his voice a little grim.

The man nodded. "She won't back down until she does. From what she has told us," he added quickly.

The medic scowled a little. "Why does she seem to have interest now? From what my charge has told me, none of her family much cared to take her." His optics swiveled over to me, asking for confirmation. I took a shaky breath and nodded, hugging myself as I watched and listened.

"That she wasn't very clear on," he told us a little darkly. "But we have hardly any reason to believe that she wants to actually harm Taylor," he explained. "She only has a few speeding tickets and paperwork for a car accident that was brought to court."

Ratchet raised an optic ridge. "A normal civilian?"

The Agent nodded. "A normal civilian, out in the country, married once, though her husband is deceased. From all indication, she is just an overly anxious grandma," he shrugged.

I relaxed a little, though my guardian scoffed and straightened himself. "Again, I don't see why she is interested now. She didn't care when her own daughter died, and wouldn't take her grandchild into a secure home!" he said angrily, his voice raised.

"I agree," Agent Fowler said with a nod of his head, before his dark eyes fell on me. "But I wanted to see what Taylor thought of this, and if she wanted to take action to it, if any."

Ratchet turned his helm to look at me as well, his expression slightly curious. My body immediately tensed up again, but I wasn't really sure what to say for the next few moments. I glanced away, staring at my lap and trying to think it over. The only family I had ever known when I was young was my mother. I had never met any other family except for her older brother, once when I was six. There wasn't much I remembered, but I did know that he had been angry. My new family was now the Autobots, and I felt secure and loved with them.

Yet... I didn't. The only one I wasn't at least a little terrified of was my guardian. And how many times had I gotten in the way of their mission? How many times had they come to rescue me from my problems? How much had my guardian and the others sacrificed for a single human, while they were trying to protect them all? My hand slid up my arm, my fingers tickling the spot where my spark chamber was kept. Ratchet had given a piece of his own spark to me. Ultra Magnus had rescued me from the Decepticons. The Autobots had risked their lives changing plans to find me and take me back.

They were my family, but what had I done for them? The other humans had done some things.. I had only been a nuisance. I had only gotten in the way.