A New World

Chapter XXX

"Where the hell have you been?" The first thing to hit my audials as I pulled in behind my mate. I transformed and crossed my arms, approaching the male on the catwalk while my tail twitched in annoyance. "You know you're not allowed to leave base without clearance!" Galloway reprimanded, making a small growl of annoyance filter through my vocals.

"We aren't your stupid pets. We are sentient and therefore have our own wants, needs and desires. I needed some air." I snapped, the balding man gripping the railing before glaring over at Lennox who seemed agitated.

"(F/n)... We just... listen to protocol alright?" Will sighed and my servos fell slack at my sides. I begrudgingly agreed, being dismissed shortly after as I followed Optimus to head back to our room.

I really hated all these new rules, they were stressing me out. We could hardly move around base without being scolded for something stupid. But, it didn't matter. When I met with the President maybe I'd bring these concerns up.

I stepped into our room, venting and letting my posture fall as I moved forward before flopping faceplate first onto the comfy berth. I heard a soft chuckle, Optimus approaching to sit on the edge while I stayed where I was. "How was the mission?" I mumbled, hearing it come out muffled.

"We were unable to capture any decepticons but it did reveal new intel. They seem to be searching for something again, I am unsure as to what however. It also would appear as though they are confiding in humans. We were unable to assess what foul play was in motion from the evidence, a team of analysts going through what was recoverable so that we might have a better understanding as to what is going on." He explained and I tilted my helm to stare at him. Damnit...

I nodded, venting as I shimmied over until I was hugging his waist and had my helm in his lap. Optimus vented and started petting my helm, rubbing around my audials where tension seemed to build up. I moaned softly, optics fluttering closed as I melted against my mate. He was way too good to me.

"It's been a bit since I've heard from Sam... normally he'd call every other day." I suddenly realized, rolling over to look up at Optimus who was just gazing down at me softly. I found myself blushing slightly under his gaze, unable to get rid of the fluttering feeling I always got from him. It had been how long and he still made me feel like I'd just fallen in love with him. "I think I should call him..." I grumbled, slowly sitting up. Optimus nodded, kissing my helm before grabbing a datapad from his desk to read so he wasn't eavesdropping. Sometimes he'd step out, but I always told him it made no difference. Even when he was around I'd openly talk about him.

I sat on the edge of the berth, watching Optimus get comfy before he started reading. I shuffled through my log before finding my brother's number and dialing it. It rung for a bit before finally there was a click. "Hello..." He answered almost unsurely and I arched an optic ridge.

"Hey Sam... it's me." I replied, confused. Did he not check the caller ID?

"Oh! Hey, sorry. I'm headed to a study group so I just scrambled to answer my phone." Sam chuckled nervously and I nodded. "Sorry I've not been calling you, I'm struggling and using every hour I can to study and stuff. I envy you for the lack of homework you have to do."

I chuckled and rolled my optics, blowing out a breath. "Trust me, it's not all peaches n cream here either. I got yelled at for taking some time for myself outside base." I grunted, hearing what was akin to a scoff from Sam.

"That would be because none of us knew where you went and thought the worst." Optimus interjected and I pursed my dermas at him. What happened to staying out of this hm?

"Oh, do you have me on speaker...?" Sam mumbled and I snorted.

"No. Optimus is just right here." I chirped, hearing him hum.

"Alright well, I hate to cut this short but I've arrived at the library so I gotta go. Love you talk soon!" He chirruped before hanging up and I vented, flopping back.

And so it seems to begin, the point in time where we grow apart.

———

"Alright so this is how you use an opponent's weakness against them!" Lennox shouted while I stood in the center of the training room in my wolf form. Why I agreed to this I would never know. Oh wait- I didn't.

Two soldiers rushed me and I pretended to start attacking them, quickly losing sight of the one as the other kept me occupied with shots aimed at my faceplate. Thankfully they were just blanks so they didn't really hurt but still, a bullet to the optic could be bad.

I yelped as I felt something hot and sticky against my tanks, Lennox calling for a pause. I glanced to try and see what happened only to realize the other soldier had gotten under me and fired a paintball gun to mark where he'd shot. Which was in a pretty good spot to get. I sat down and listened to Lennox break down the exercise before releasing the teams to practice on dummy's for aim for the moment.

By the end of the session, I was covered in paint from all the exercises. The teams seemed to be high in morale, high five-ing each other while I was dismissed to go clean up.

I didn't mind the work I did, finding it interesting to work with the teams to help them out. We all had a place here and mine was being a teacher and a soldier.

I bumped my snout against the medbay doors, opening them as I trotted in. "Alright I'm here willingly." I huffed, jumping up onto the medberth by me. It just so happened that today I was also scheduled for a checkup with my favorite doctor.

I watched Ratchet turn to me, setting tools down before glancing at his datapad. "Wow. For once I didn't need someone to come drag you in." The mech grunted and I smiled sheepishly, sitting up as he came over to help clean me up first. "There has got to be something else they can use than this slag." Ratchet huffed, using rag after rag on me until I was spotless.

"It's a good indicator of where your shots land... I don't know what else they could use." I blinked at him, cooperating as he went through his checkup procedure.

"Then maybe I gotta make something for you all to put on to make cleanup easier."

I shook my helm in amusement, laying on my side as Ratchet scanned me before humming. I glanced at him in confusion, a conflicted look crossing his features as he moved to a monitor. "What's wrong?" I whined, shuffling to lay on my tanks facing him. My audials drooped when he didn't respond, enraptured in his scans.

I watched him worriedly, the mech grabbing a syringe to take an energon sample. "Your levels are off..." He mumbled and I huffed. I didn't know what any of that meant.

I was prohibited from leaving until he got all his tests done, only making anxiety bubble in me.

"By the AllSpark..." Ratchet breathed, about an hour later while I was lazing on the berth. I picked my helm up and stared at him, watching him grab his datapad before sliding it in front of me. "You're sparked." He revealed and I immediately sat up.

This was not good. Not at all.