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Post by Firefly on Mar 8, 2010 19:33:32 GMT -5
Part 2
Firefly was torn out of her memories by Bumblebee’s voice a distance away. “Firefly! Are you out here?”
“Huh…” She was so lost in her thoughts, she forgot all about the present. “Oh. Yeah! I’m over here!”
Bumblebee came into view soon after. He was mostly recovered from his injuries, but was moving a little stiffly. “Hey small fry! Optimus says everyone has to come inside.”
“Why?” Firefly asked, not completely focused on the present conversation.
“There’s another protoform coming in and he wants everyone inside in case something happens,” Bumblebee explained, not noticing her daydream-like state.
“Uhhh….okay…” Firefly said, letting her mind wander. It could be HIM. Maybe. Just maybe. Maybe Justice did come after her. Maybe they were wrong.
Bumblebee snapped his fingers in front of her face. “Hey! Firefly! Come ON!” He transformed and started heading for base.
“Oh yeah. Coming.” Firefly transformed also and followed him.
As they entered, Optimus sealed the door behind them. “I knew she’d listen to you,” he said to ‘Bee.
Mudflap and Skids saw Firefly and quickly walked the other way, but she saw them. “Hey guys…sorry about earlier…”
There was a beat of silence, and then Mudflap said, “Ahhh, it’s nothin! Forget about it!”
Firefly smiled. “Thanks.”
“No problem midg-I mean Firefly!” Skids said, trying not to make her angry again. To that, she laughed. Then they bopped away, off to go entertain themselves.
Bumblebee transformed and rubbed his shoulder. “Teletraan said the protoform should be here in about five minutes.”
Behind them, the doors started to close, to keep out any radiation, if there was any. They shut with a loud “CLANG!” that caused Firefly to jump. She was lost in her thoughts and was suddenly brought out of them.
“Come on, let’s go to the control room,” ‘Bee said after a brief moment of silence.
“Okay…” Firefly answered, still a bit spacey.
Bumblebee gave her a strange look, but they started walking. The Autobots crowded around Teletraan 1’s screen, watching the protoform enter the atmosphere.
"The protoform will land in a few minutes, but it seems to be going quite slow. There's no identification on it,” Optimus said after a long silent moment. Firefly secretly hoped that it was Justice, but the more sane part of her told her it couldn’t be, that he was gone, that there was proof. They had identified him.
“Have the Decepticons picked up on it yet?” Ratchet asked.
Optimus answered, “No way to tell.”
Skyfire thumped his way inside a bit later, giving Firefly a strange look. There was something off about her.
“The-the protoform appears to have cut its navigational system. It is just dropping,” Optimus said.
Skyfire questioned, “Why would it do that?”
Ratchet shrugged. “Maybe it’s damaged.”
Firefly suddenly looked very worried, more worried than she would have been if it were someone she didn’t know. Maybe it was not HIM, but it could be someone she knows. What if they were hurt? She stood up on her tiptoes to see the screen.
“When it lands, I’m sending a team out to recover it,” Optimus stated.
Firefly wished she could say that she wanted to go and have some reason other than “It’s someone I know.” But she just stood there silently, showing plainly that she really wanted to go.
Skyfire noticed. “Perhaps Firefly should go. She is the youngest, and since the protoform is coming from Cybertron, it could be close to her age. She may be able to gain its trust.”
Optimus shrugged. “Possible. Firefly, you will go with Skyfire, Ironhide, and myself. Everyone else, stay here." He turned to Ratchet. “After we leave, seal the doors again. Be ready to re-open them at my signal." The four go outside, and the doors slammed shut behind them. Optimus said, “Firefly, fly overhead and scout. Make sure it’s not an ambush.”
“Yes sir,” she said, shooting up. She scouted ahead, but no more than a few astrometers. The others transformed and traveled that way.
“Anybody messes with that little Autobot, they’re gonna find out she’s cute AND psycho,” Ironhide joked, chuckling. Skyfire chuckled also, and they heard Firefly’s giggling from somewhere up in the sky.
Firefly turned on her infrared vision and saw the crater. Not long after, Optimus asked, “How’s it look up there, little one?”
“Just ground and a big hole,” she replied.
Skyfire asked, “Is the protoform intact?”
Firefly looked closer, worrying again. “I-I think so…”
Ironhide and Optimus exchanged a glance. “Don’t do anything until we get there…meaning, nothing stupid,” Ironhide warned.
“I won’t,” she said, going to short, basic answers as she hoped it was HIM and hoped it wasn’t hurt. She circled the crater until the others arrived, then she landed on Skyfire’s shoulder.
The protoform was still together, glowing hot. It was in a very deep crater, and it was very obvious that it had skidded, with the deep scrape along the ground behind it.
“Do we just wait for it to open, Prime?” Ironhide asked.
“I am not sure,” he replied. “Skyfire, try scanning it.”
Skyfire scanned it. “My readings show that it's about to open up. A few more astroseconds..."
Finally, the protoform split open, and a young autobot stumbled out. His armor was melted and singed, and his optics were almost dark. He suddenly fell to the ground and looked up at them, his eyes resting on Firefly.
Firefly gasped, automatically recognizing it as Justice. It WAS him!!! “Oh my gosh!” Like a flash of light, she flew from Skyfire’s shoulder to his side and wrapped her arms around him. “Justice! Oh my gosh! What happened???”
They were both on their knees, and Justice was leaning against her. “Firefly…I’m so glad you’re alive.”
“What is this?” Ironhide asked rhetorically.
“I think she knows him…” Skyfire said.
Ironhide gave him a look. “No, really?” he said sarcastically.
“Quiet,” Optimus commanded.
“I thought you were dead and I’d never see you again!” Firefly said to Justice, hugging him tightly.
He hugged her back. “I promised I’d follow you here.” Then his eyes went dark and he was totally unconscious.
Firefly let out an ear-splitting scream, “JUSTICE!!!”
Optimus took half a step forward, but then she grabbed Justice and took off before anyone could say a word.
Optimus sent a transmission, “Ratchet, Firefly is on her way with the protoform. DO NOT let her in until we get there!"
“Prime, what’s going on?” Ratchet sent back.
"The protoform went into stasis, and Firefly grabbed him and took off. We cannot risk letting them in without finding out more!" he replied. Then he, Skyfire, and Ironhide took off for the base.
Firefly landed not long after, and started pounding on the door. “Let me in! Come on!” Nothing happened for a few seconds. “LET ME IN!!!”
Bumblebee spoke from the other side of the door. “Firefly, settle down. We’ll let you in in a minute.”
“WHY NOT NOW???” She punched the door. “LET ME IN DANG IT!!!” She was doing her best not to cuss, since Optimus had made it very clear it was not allowed.
‘Bee stepped back. “Firefly! We know nothing about that creature!"
“WELL I DO!” she screamed as loud as possible. “HE CAN’T F*CKING DIE ON ME NOW!!!”
He sent a transmission to Optimus. “You guys better hurry! She's gonna tear the place down with her bare hands!"
“LET ME IN NOW!!! I LOVE HIM!!!” She pounded on the door again. “LET ME IN!!!”
“You LOVE him?” ‘Bee questioned. He thought back to the events of her first night at the base, when she screamed about the one she loved that got blew up. “Who’s him?”
"YES YES YES HE'S JUSTICE, THE LOVE OF MY LIFE FROM CYBERTRON, AND NOW HE'S IN STATIS!” Firefly yelled. “LET ME IN!!!”
Bumblebee stepped back and got a gun ready, just in case she totally lost it, right when Optimus, Skyfire, and Ironhide pulled up. Firefly instantly turned on them. “GET THAT DOOR OPEN NOW!!!"
Ironhide made a grab for her, but missed. “Lil bit, cool your circuits!”
"GET IT OPEN NOW NOW NOW NOW NOW!!! HE CAN'T DIE! HE JUST CAN'T! I LOST HIM ONCE! NOT AGAIN!!!" She hovered up to Optimus and placed her palm on his forehead. She transmitted her memory of the battle at Cybertron.
It reminded him of his own experience, when he thought Elita was dead. He looked at her for a moment and realized he knew exactly what she felt. “RATCHET, GET THIS DOOR OPEN! GET TO MEDICAL BAY AND PREPARE FOR MAJOR REPAIRS!" To that, the door opened, and ‘Bee jumped away.
Firefly shot inside before the doors were even completely open, almost mowing down Bumblebee and the twins. She was just flying, not even bothering to walk. Justice was so still, and it made her want to get there faster. He couldn’t die on her now. There was just no way! “Come on, Justice. Don’t die please…I love you…” She had never said these words to him before. She wondered if he heard her. She jetted over to medical bay, and Ratchet was waiting with all his equipment out. She laid Justice on the table and drifted down so that she was standing. “Ratchet, you can fix him right? You have to!”
“I’ll do what I can,” he replied.
“No, no! You have to fix him! I can’t lose him again! I’ll die!” In her anxiousness, she was waving her arms and unknowingly floating.
Ratchet said, “I can't work with you hovering…literally. Go wait in the hall."
“NO! I CAN'T LEAVE HIM! PLEASE DON'T MAKE ME!!!” Firefly screamed. “I CAN'T! I CAN'T! I CAN'T!”
"Somebody get her out of her! She's going to lose it!" Ratchet shouted.
Firefly couldn’t control herself any longer. She HAD to be with Justice. “YOU HAVEN'T SEEN ME REALLY LOSE IT!"
Skyfire ran in and scooped her up with both hands, pinning her arms to her sides so she couldn’t bring out her guns. She was instantly enraged. “NO NO NO LET ME GO!!!” She turned and tried to bite him, but she couldn’t reach that far.
“Firefly, knock it off, or I'll have to knock you OUT!” Skyfire threatened. Firefly immediately stopped struggling, preferring to stay awake for this, but she did grumble about it. He carried her out into the hall, and then shut the door. “Now sit down and be quiet. I have to help Ratchet." She leaned back against the wall, looking up at the ceiling.
Bumblebee walked up and sat down beside her. She started babbling, more to herself than to ‘Bee, but he was listening. “I-I can't lose him again. I'll die. I never even got to tell him how...." Firefly trailed off.
Bumblebee broke the silence. “He’s the one, isn’t he?”
She nodded. “I never got to tell him how much I love him.” She looked down at her hands. “That's why he has to wake up…so I can tell him.”
‘Bee looked at Firefly, and then took one of her hands and squeezed. She looked back at him. “Thanks,” she said. They sat like that for awhile, completely silent. They could hear Skyfire and Ratchet muttering through the door.
“He’ll be fine,” Bumblebee said reassuringly. “Ratchet and Skyfire are the best.”
“I hope so…” Firefly said, unsure. To pass the time, he played random songs, whatever he found first. Firefly started to get lost in her thoughts as time went on.
Then, from inside the repair rooms, “He's losing power!” It was Skyfire.
Then Ratchet said, “I’m working as fast as I can!”
“Well it’s not fast enough! We’re losing him!”
Firefly jolted to attention, yanked away from her thoughts, which were about just what she was experiencing. Her losing him. It couldn’t happen. It never could. Not ever. Never ever ev-
“d**n IT!” Ratchet screamed. Ratchet never cussed. Bumblebee then came to attention, hoping Firefly wouldn’t freak.
“He’s gone.” State the obvious, Skyfire, Ratchet thought. “He’s gone!”
Firefly gasped. “No.”
Ratchet started, “We might be able to--"
Suddenly, the door shatters away from its hinges, revealing Firefly as the destroyer. Ratchet and Skyfire ducked just in time to not be hit by the million or so pieces flying in all directions. “Bumblebee! Get her out of here!” Ratchet shouted.
“Justice! Justice! No! No! No!” She flew up to him and touched his face. “Justice! Listen to me! Listen to my voice! You can't leave me here!"
“Somebody get Optimus and Ironhide,” Skyfire said.
As ‘Bee sent a transmission to Prime, Ratchet tried to help with calming her down. “Firefly…he’s gone.”
It didn’t work. “NO HE'S NOT! HE'S NOT GONE! JUSTICE! JUSTICE COME BACK! DON'T LEAVE ME HERE!" She pounded on his chest, still screaming.
Ratchet tried to grab her. “Get away! WE might be able to revive him if you just--"
“NO I'M NOT LEAVING HIM!!!" Firefly screamed gibberish, then kept going with actual words, “JUSTICE!!! JUSTICE!!! WAKE UP!!!" Skyfire grabbed for her, but she shot up to the ceiling so he couldn’t, then came back down.
Suddenly, she turned on Ratchet and Skyfire. “YOU DID THIS! IF YOU HAD WORKED HARDER, FASTER, BETTER, HE'D BE FINE! HE'D BE JUST FINE! IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT!" She screamed random nonsense again.
When Optimus and Ironhide arrived, Ironhide commented, “Looks like the little one finally lost it."
“SHUT UP IRONHIDE!” Firefly screamed at the top of her lungs, figuratively speaking. She zoomed toward him suddenly, and he ducked just in time.
“No time for sarcasm. Just catch her!” Optimus shouted.
She responded, “NO I'M NOT LEAVING!!!”
“Hey! Hey! You gotta let the guys do their work!” Ironhide said.
“Firefly! Come down right now!” Optimus commanded.
"IT'S ALL THEIR FAULT!” Firefly screamed. “"IT'S ALL THEIR FAULT!!!!!” Suddenly, she dive-bombed Optimus and Ironhide.
“Lightning bug from hell…” Ironhide commented.
On the way past, Optimus grabbed her leg. “Now COME ON!”
Ironhide held her arms to her sides. “You heard him. Let’s go.”
“NONONO!!!” Firefly struggled to get free, her anger doubled because she could not use her weapons to escape.
They dragged her outside, and she was still twisting and turning. ‘Bee shut the secondary blast door, since she had wrecked the main one. Ratchet and Skyfire went back to work, trying to revive Justice.
Ironhide was trying to hold on to her, while she was trying to fly away. “Stop--ouch--hey! Will you knock it off?!”
Then, suddenly, she just collapsed and fell to the ground, with Ironhide still holding on, just in case it’s a trick. She gave up on fighting, because she wasn’t going to get away anyway.
“Firefly?” Optimus asked. “Are you still with us?”
She whimpered. “He's gone. Justice is gone. He's gone forever. He tried to save me and he's gone. It's my fault. I killed him."
“No, Megatron killed him,” Ironhide said. “No you, little one.”
“No, it’s all my fault,” she kept going. “This never would have happened if I never existed.”
“Firefly, you can’t blame yourself,” Optimus said, obviously worried. “Ironhide, you can let go of her now. I don’t think she will hurt us.”
“Why not? Who else is there to blame?” Firefly asked rhetorically. “It’s all my fault. It never would’ve happened if we never met, if we were just two classmates, or if I just never existed at all…”
Optimus tipped her chin up so she was looking at him. “You stop that right now,” he commanded. “I know what it’s like to lose someone you love. You seem to forget about Elita. I thought she was dead for years.”
“But you got her back in the end,” she said. “She wasn’t dead. You got her back.”
“Yes I did. We are very lucky,” Optimus said. “While you were screaming, Ratchet said they might be able to revive Justice.”
Ironhide backed up a bit, and said to Bumblebee, “I think Prime’s got this.” Bumblebee nodded. “Maybe. Might be. No one’s ever sure, it seems,” Firefly said to Optimus. “But at least a chance is better than nothing…I guess.”
“So, you see, with a little luck, you will get Justice back,” Optimus said. Remembering what she had said when talking to ‘Bee earlier he said, “And you will be able to tell him how much you love him.”
“If I were lucky, stuff like this wouldn’t happen…” she said, not noticing the last part.
“Luck has nothing to do with that. This war has been raging for millennia. Everyone is affected by it,” he said. “That is what we're fighting for. To make sure the generations that come after us will not have to experience such horrible things." There was a short pause. “Do you think Justice would want you to give up? After all he did to save you?"
“No…” Firefly looked down again, still lying on the ground like she had when she fallen.
"He wanted to make sure that you found us so we would know what had happened. He made sure you were safe. What does that tell you?"
“That…he must love me.”
Optimus nodded. "Yes. That means that even if he dies now, he knows that you love him. And he loves you.” He paused for a moment, to let it sink in. “Now, are you in control of yourself, or must I have Skyfire shut you down?"
“I’m in control,” Firefly said.
“Good.” He stepped back, and she sat up. “Bumblebee will stay with you. Ironhide and I have work to do.” He turned to walk back into the base, and Firefly followed him. When they got back to the room, he said, “I will be back to check on you.”
‘Bee was already sitting there, and she sat beside him. He didn’t say anything. He was just there. All around them were scattered pieces from the door, the only proof that she had lost it. Everything else was just as it usually was.
Firefly picked up a piece of door and fiddled with it, just so her hands had something to do. There was a groan inside the room. She crushed the piece of door to powder and jumped up.
“Firefly…” ‘Bee said warningly. He picked up a few pieces of door also, and he started juggling them.
Firefly made a face. I can keep control, if I put my mind to it, she thought. She sighed. “I won’t barge in this time.” She laughed a little, but it was very obvious that it was fake. Trying to make situation lighter, fail.
“Yeah that would be bad,” Bumblebee said, still juggling the door chunks. He added another piece.
She smiled at him. “You’re a real goofball, juggling like that.”
“Yeah, I know,” he said, not looking away from juggling. “I can teach you sometime if you want.”
Firefly picked up a few more door pieces and tried juggling them, but they ended up back on the floor pretty quickly. “Yeah…it’ll take a lot of work.” She giggled again, not as fake as before. “How many can you do?” she asked, watching him. “Not sure.”
Firefly smiled as an idea entered her head. “Let’s see how far you can go…” She added a sixth piece to his juggling.
“Hey! What’re you doing?” Bumblebee asked.
“Seeing how many you can juggle!” She giggled, and added another…and another…
He started getting freaked out. “You’re gonna make me drop them!”
“Well…the point is to see how many you can juggle so…” she said. “maybe that is the point in the end.” She giggled and added another.
“If I drop these, they’ll land all over us!” ‘Bee said, juggling really fast. Firefly added a bigger, heavier piece. “Seriously, stop!” he said, raising his voice.
“So?” She imitated the song “It’s Raining Men.” “It’s raining door chunks!” She giggled.
“Knock it o--” The pieces all fell then, looking like giant, grey, hard raindrops. Firefly sang her little made-up song again. Bumblebee gave her a look. “Nice. Thank you. Glad you’re feeling better.” She giggled again. He chucked a couple pieces at her. She threw some back. “Ouch!”
The door hissed open, and they both froze and looked up at the figure in the doorway. It was Ratchet.
“How is he?” Firefly asked, anxiously.
“He’s alive. We were able to revive him,” Ratchet said.
Firefly’s eyes lit up, literally. ‘Bee held her arm, to hold her down. “Wait until he’s finished,” he said, sounding somewhat like an older brother to a little human…kid, was it? Sounds like a goat, Firefly thought.
“We brought him back, but he’s still badly damaged,” Ratchet said. “We are still working. I can’t guarantee that he’ll make it.”
In the back of her mind, Firefly felt a wave of sadness rush forward, but she tried to not let it show. “Ummm…alright. Can I see him?”
Ratchet nodded. “Just for a minute.”
“Thank you.” Then she rushed in, trying to contain herself, but she was obviously excited.
Justice was lying on the table, completely still. His eyes were dark. Firefly went up and kneeled next to him. “J-Justice? Can you hear me?”
His hand twitched a bit, and he makes some sort of little sound.
“Justice, it’s Firefly. You’re on Earth. I’m right here. They’re going to fix you up and you’ll be just fine. You hang in there, okay?”
Justice tilted his head a little bit in her direction. “Love…” “Love! Yes! I love you!” Firefly shouted happily.
“We have to continue working,” Skyfire said.
Bumblebee, who was standing in the doorway, said then, “Come on, Firefly. Let’s let ‘em work.”
Firefly sighed. “Okay...I promise I'll be back Justice.” She smiled at him one last time before turning to head out the door.
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Post by Firefly on May 22, 2010 15:16:37 GMT -5
Here's a teaser that I decided to put up before I forget I never put this part up:
PART 3
After they were out the door and it had swung shut behind them, ‘Bee looked at Firefly. “You look tired. Maybe you should go recharge.”
Just as he was saying that, her power meter beeped. “I guess that means I agree.” Firefly walked off to the recharging chambers.
It wasn’t long before Ratchet finished and brought Justice to recharge, but then Justice saw that Firefly was recharging. “I’d really like to wait for her first, if I can,” he said to Ratchet, pointing to the station she was in.
Ratchet sighed. “I guess you can wait.” So Justice stood up against the wall, and silently waited for Firefly to finish.
A little time passed, and then she woke up after recharging and tried to get out. Firefly realized Justice was standing right there waiting for her. She tumbled out of the recharging station and was about to tackle-hug him when Ratchet suddenly grabbed her leg as she flew past. He had turned all the way around just to keep a hold of her.
Justice laughed, and it didn’t take him long to figure out it hurt to laugh. He cringed slightly. Firefly thought to herself that this seemed a lot like when a human had broken ribs.
“Settle down! I just got him fixed! He doesn’t need you knocking him over!” Ratchet said, looking exasperated.
Justice’s voice brought Firefly’s attention back to him. “Hey, thanks for saving me.”
“I kinda had to after you saved ME,” Firefly reasoned.
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