Birth of an Angel

It wasn’t until I had woken up that I realized the glasses were no longer on my belt.

The pouch had been torn open, probably by one of Guardian’s fangs, and the hole was large enough for the glasses to slip through.

I could only hope that the Autobots found them…

The helicopter started its descent with a jolt, and I looked outside to see we had landed on the Hoover Dam.

I didn’t really care why they had taken us there, to be honest.

I was more concerned about Guardian and Bumblebee; we hadn’t seen or heard about them since we were all captured, and I didn’t want to think about all of the things Sector Seven could be doing to them.

A hand on my shoulder pulled me fully into the present, and I looked up at Sam’s worried face.

“Time to get off, Keke.”

Pulling off the cumbersome headset, I slid out of the helicopter without bothering to reply.

I was fairly certain that if I opened my mouth, I would either start crying or start punching people in the face.

Seeing Simmons walk up, I was fully prepared to do the latter again.

“Hey, kids. Look, I think we got off to a bad start-.”

My glare could have probably made the Devil himself piss in his pants, since Simmons hesitated in putting a hand on my shoulder like he had Sam.

“You want anything? A Ho-Ho? A mocha latte?”

“Where’s my car?” Sam demanded.

“Where’s my cat?” I growled.

“Kids, listen to me very carefully. People could die here. We need to know everything you know, and we need to know it right now.”

My glare turned on this new agent, but my voice was calmer than even I expected.

“Fine. But first, we’ll be taking his car, my friend, our parents-maybe you should be writing this down.”

“And Mikaela’s juvie record? That’s gotta be gone. Like, forever.” Sam added.

“And I wouldn’t mind a couple boxes of Oreos. Getting kidnapped by a non-existent government group makes me hungry.”

The other agent, whose nametag read Banachek, seemed to consider our proposal.

“Come with me. We'll talk about your car, and your friend.”

Happy that we were getting somewhere, I smirked at Simmons, making sure to ‘accidentally’ stomp on his foot as I brushed past.

“The girl’s an extortionist.” He muttered, clutching the injured foot.

Yeah, I get that a lot.

We were soon joined by a group of soldiers before Simmons led us towards the main entrance.

“All right, you've all had direct contact with the NBEs…”

“NBEs?” One of the soldiers wondered.

“Non-Biological Extraterrestrials. Try to keep up with the acronyms.”

Once inside the damp structure, I was given my boxes of Oreos.

The service in Sector Seven could be pretty nice after all…

Ripping open one of them with ease while cradling the other underneath my arm, I looked towards the soldier on my left.

He reminded me of someone, someone I trusted, though I couldn’t consciously remember who…

“You want some?”

I couldn’t help smiling a little at his surprised, confused expression as I shook the box.

“It’s not like I’m gonna eat all of them. Come on, help yourself.”

With an amused tilt to his mouth, he picked out two Oreos from the far left row.

“Dude, are those Oreos?”

Another soldier eagerly butted in to swipe a few for himself, laughing even as his friend elbowed him in the ribs.

I liked them, though I didn’t know why at first; I tend to have issues with trusting other human beings (Guardian was practically a part of me, and I loved Bumblebee from the start, and I didn’t have any trouble trusting the other Autobots).

“I’m William Lennox-.”

The first soldier was shoved away playfully, and his friend shook my hand.

“And I’m Robert Epps, miss…?”

I couldn’t help smiling, though I still felt a touch of frost in my chest.

“Keke. Keke Witwicky.”

“Nice to meet you, Keke.” Lennox stated, pulling Epps away before he could swipe more Oreos.

“What are you in here for?” Epps wondered, gesturing to the damp hallways surrounding us.

“My brother’s car turned out to be an alien robot, and another alien robot made herself my personal bodyguard.”

I shrugged at their surprised expressions, smile widening.

“Who knew?”

“And here I thought all the giant robots wanted to kill us.” Epps said after a moment, putting an arm around my shoulders and pulling me into his side, between him and Lennox.

“Hope that staying next to you means we get a giant robot bodyguard, too.”

Before I could say anything in reply (though I was fairly sure that Guardian would do just that), we had reached a massive metal door.

It seemed to be taller than Optimus, and that unnerved me for a reason I couldn’t quite name.

“What you're about to see is totally classified…” Simmons warned just as they opened, and my heart stopped.

It was Megatron.

Something inside of me screamed to run, like prey once it spots the predator, and adrenaline hit my blood like lava.

“Dear God... what is this?” The Secretary of Defense, Keller, voiced first.

“We think that when he made his approach over the North Pole our gravitation field screwed up his telemetry and crashed into the ice, probably a few thousand years ago. We shipped him here to this facility in 1934.” Banachek explained as we got closer to the frozen statue that was the Decepticon warlord.

“We call him NBE-1.” Simmons added.

I snorted, covering it up with a yawn when he glared towards me.

Epps was snickering though, so I don’t know if my innocent act worked…

“I don't mean to correct you on all that you think you know, but that's Megatron. He's the leader of the Decepticons.” Sam informed.

“He's been in cryo-stasis since 1935. Your great-great-grandfather made one of the greatest discoveries in the history of mankind.”

Personally, Banachek, I’m not very happy about that…

“Fact is, you're looking at the source of the modern age. The microchip, lasers, cars, space flight: all reverse-engineered by studying him. NBE-1...”

I bristled as Simmons got into Sam’s face.

“That's what we call it!”

Have you ever just wanted to hit someone?

Wanted nothing more than to wrap your hands around their throat and squeeze?

I hadn’t felt like that until Simmons used the word ‘it’.

Bumblebee and Guardian are not its.

“And you didn't think that the United States Military might need to know that you're keeping a hostile alien robot frozen in the basement?” Keller snapped.

“Until these events we had no credible threats to national security.” Banachek replied.

“Well, you got one now!”

“So why Earth?” Lennox asked.

“The AllSpark.”

All eyes turned on me.

“AllSpark? What is that?” Keller wondered.

“It’s a cube that has the power to create life out of machines. Megatron…”

I glared pointedly at Simmons.

“That what they call him, wants to use the AllSpark to transform Earth’s technology, bring about the Apocalypse, and take over the universe.”

“Are you sure?” Banachek stated after a moment.

“Would I have said anything if I wasn’t?” I replied sharply, eyes narrowing in suspicion.

“…You know where it is.”

“…Follow me.” The agent ordered, moving towards another door.

“You’re about to see our crown jewel…”

Down another hallway we went, Sam looking back every now and then to make sure I was still in-between Lennox and Epps.

We had gone through one box of Oreos (after sharing with the rest of the unit), and had just started the other when we stepped into the room.

It was pretty small, about the size of me bedroom, with a window acting as the main wall.

Beyond that, in a room even bigger than Megatron’s hanger, was a cube that would have made Optimus Prime look like a child in comparison.

“The First Seven came upon the Cube. We knew it was extraterrestrial because the symbols on its surface matched those on NBE-1. The Dam was built around it in 1935 to mask its signal. Four walls of concrete, as thick as four football fields, enable the Cube to avoid being detected by any humans, or any aliens from outside…”

Watching humans scramble around the Cube like ants, I shared a look with Sam.

How the hell were we going to get that away from Megatron?

“You said that the Dam hides the Cube’s energy…” Maggie voiced, curious.

“What kind exactly?”

“Glad you asked.” Simmons replied, leading the group back out of the little viewing room.

We were led down a level to a metal-walled room with a heavy steel door.

“Quickly. They need to lock us in.” Banachek warned.

Yeah, that’s comforting…

“What's that? Freddy Krueger been up in here or something?” Epps voiced, bringing my attention to the scarred sections of wall.

“Oh, no, man. Freddy Krueger have four blades, man. That's only three. That's Wolverine! Right? That's Wolverine!”

…

Oh, Glen…

“Alright, does anyone have a piece of technology? A camera, a phone?” Simmons demanded.

“I’ve got a phone.” Glen offered, sufficiently chastised after his attempt at a joke.

“Ooh. Nokias are real nasty. You've gotta respect the Japanese. They know the way of the samurai…” Simmons replied, taking the cell phone and putting it inside a glass box in the center of the room.

“But Nokia aren’t…”

Grumbling, I crossed my arms and slipped the bug-eye goggles on.

Why should I waste my breath on him?

“We’re able to funnel the Cube’s radiation into this box.” Banachek explained as a strange needle-like appendage lowered from the top and zapped the phone with what looked like purple-blue electricity.

Something inside of my chest squeezed as the phone transformed.

I think I was the only one who could understand the little creature’s shouts as he tried to bash his way out.

“ What’s going on? Let me out! I don’t like it in here! I want my Creator! Let me out-Let me out-Let me out! ”

My heart went out to him, though no one else seemed to feel the same.

“Hey there, little one.” I cooed, and the small robot immediately stopped firing at the glass that was his prison.

“ Cr-Creator? ”

I didn’t have the heart to say that he didn’t have one, not really, and only nodded.

“That’s right. If you calm down, I can take you out, okay?”

“ Yes, yes! Please, just get me out! ”

Simmons practically had a panic attack when I yanked the little door open.

“What are you doing?! Are you-?!”

I reached in and cupped my hand around the now-purring robot, who immediately latched onto my palm.

“See? No need to get all worked up.” I soothed, cradling the once-cell phone against my chest.

“Keke…”

Looking up from the robot (whom I had already decided to name ‘Sparky’), I took in everyone’s stunned expressions.

“…What?”

“You never told me you could speak a freaky alien language!” Sam replied, freaking out.

“…Have you been doing drugs?” I retorted, frowning.

“I was speaking English, Sam. You know, the language commonly used in the United States?”

“That wasn’t English! That was Robo-Speak!”

I would have denied it again, but everyone else seemed to agree with him…

That was when the entire Dam shook, the lights flickering ominously.

“Gentlemen, they know the Cube is here.”

Well, fuck.

“The power in the NBE-1 hanger is out. The back-up generators aren’t going to cut it.“ Banachek informed.

Lennox was already moving, shouting orders while leading the group out of the room.

Sparky climbed up to my shoulder, practically shaking against my neck as I ran after the others towards the arms’ room.

Chaos had exploded all over the walls by then, with soldiers grabbing and loading weapons everywhere I turned.

Sam took a hold of my arms, looking into my eyes worriedly.

“What’s going on, Keke?”

“…I don’t know, Sam.”

He must have seen in my eyes what I was feeling, confused and frightened and worried and angry, because he pulled me into a hug.

No one had hugged me since I was small, having nightmares of bright flashes and screaming metal…

But we had work to do.

“Sam.”

I pulled back, gathering whatever courage I had left as I looked him in the eye.

“It’s time to get our friends back.”

Determined, I stalked towards Simmons, ignoring the heavy gun he was loading.

“I want my friends back.”

“Your ‘friends’ confiscated.”

“Un-confiscate them.” I snarled, feeling Sparky bristle against my neck.

“I don’t know what’ll happen if I let them near the Cube!”

“So you just wanna sit on your ass and wait for Megatron to thaw?!”

“Look, I have people’s lives at stake here-!”

I was just as surprised as Simmons when Lennox grabbed him by the shirt, shoving him against a Jeep’s hood.

“Take her to her friends!”

Suddenly, everyone was pointing guns at someone else, Lennox’s men aiming at Sector Seven agents so he wasn’t shot in the back.

“Drop your weapon, solider. There's an alien war going on and you're gonna shoot me?”

“You know, we didn't ask to be here.” Lennox retorted sharply, his gun never wavering.

“I'm ordering you under S-Seven executive jurisdiction-.”

“S-Seven don’t exist!” Epps shot back.

“Right, and we don't take orders from people that don't exist.” Lennox agreed.

“I'm gonna count to five, okay…” Simmons started, growing nervous.

“Well, I'm gonna count to three.”

There was a tense silence before Keller spoke up.

“Simmons?”

“Yes, sir?”

“I'd do what he says. Losing's really not an option for these guys.”

The agent hesitated, but gave in.

“All right, okay! Hey, you want to lay the fate of the world on the girl's housecat? That's cool.”

Clearly unhappy, Simmons led us down another large hallway.

I wasn’t paying much attention as my connection to Guardian, which had slowly begun to thaw, pulsed with new awareness.

Reaching across, I could almost feel her…

Pain.

I was blindsided by it, and faltered as an ear-splitting roar echoed down the hall.

Guardian.

Fueled by terror and worry, I launched myself down the hallway, running faster than I ever had before.

Sparky chattered uneasily into my ear, too fast for my distracted brain to follow, as Sam and Mikaela shouted for me to slow down.

Slowing down was the last thing on my mind.

Our connection led me to another set of tall, heavy doors, though these opened up as I approached.

In my rage, I would have blasted them open if I had needed to.

The sight inside only made my temper boil over.

The closest was Bumblebee, strapped down to a massive metal slab, with machinery shocking him and humans trying to freeze him as he screeched.

My heart would have broken if it wasn’t already shattered.

A few yards further off was Guardian, thrashing against her restraints and curling up to protect herself from the painful gas and probing machinery.

Sam had caught up by then, and his surprised shout snapped me back to reality.

“Stop! You gotta stop! Stop! Stop! Let him go! Let him go!”

I ran towards Guardian instead, shoving technicians out of my way until I reached her head.

“ F-Femmeling? ”

“It’s me, G.” I soothed, eyes burning with tears.

“I told you it was going to be okay, didn’t I?”

“ I never doubted you. ” Guardian assured, managing to stand stiffly.

Spotting the Sector Seven agents, she immediately bristled, crouching over me and baring her fangs.

Bumblebee had reacted much the same way, activating his battle-mask and forming his right hand into a cannon.

“Guardian, don’t!” I shouted, jumping up to cover her muzzle.

“They’re my friends, G! Friends! They’re not going to hurt us!”

Slowly relaxing, Guardian relaxed onto her stomach, allowing me to soothe her agitated plates and murmur into her ear.

“Listen to me, the Cube is here, and the Decepticons are coming...No, no, don't worry about them, they're ok, right, they're not gonna hurt you…” Sam rambled, trying to soothe Bumblebee.

“Just back up a little bit, he's friendly, he's fine…” He warned, seeing both aliens react towards the soldier’s firearms.

“Ok, come on, put the guns down, they're not gonna hurt you. Come with me, we're gonna take you to the All Spark.”

Bumblebee and Guardian shared a look before the Autobot scout powered down his cannon and flipped up his battle-mask.

“ Get on, femmeling. ”

Obliging, I climbed up onto Guardian’s back just as she stood up, pressed against the back of her neck so I could peer over the cat-like head.

“Your alien robot bodyguard?” Epps teased warily as we headed back towards the Cube.

“How’d you guess?”

Smiling, I pat Guardian’s ear.

“G, this is Robert Epps and William Lennox. They helped me save you.”

They tried to protest as Guardian looked them over, her bright optics looking both surprised and pleased.

“I…thank you…both…for watching…my ward.” She said slowly, the words rather awkward for her feline mouth.

“I am…in…your debt.”

With a purr, she nudged both of them gently.

“Um…No problem?” Lennox replied, not expecting her to talk.

Bumblebee hadn’t, couldn’t, and he was far more humanoid.

“Guess you guys got that giant robot bodyguard after all.” I noted, amused.

Engine rumbling in laughter, Guardian lifted her head as Bumblebee motioned us forward, into the hanger.

Plates shifting in excitement, the cat-bot leapt over the startled soldiers with ease, trotting up to the Cube as Sparky hid in my hair.

“ Relax, sparkling. ” Guardian cooed, reassuring him.

“ The Cube brought you to being, as it did for me. ”

Looking up at this mountain of alien glyphs and metal, I couldn’t help being overwhelmed.

Bumblebee stepped past us, lifting his hands up until his fingers grazed the surface…

With a pulse of blue energy, the AllSpark began to fold in on itself like a complex Rubik’s Cube.

Some residual energy shocked the scout’s hands as the Cube settled into a much more travel-ready size, and the stunned silence finally eased.

“It is…time…to go.” Guardian warned.

“She’s right. We’re screwed with Megatron in the next hanger.” Lennox agreed.

“Mission City is twenty-two miles away. We’ll take the Cube and hide it there.”

Guardian nodded, crouching down to let me off so she could transform.

Over the whirring and clanking, the rest of the chaos was drowned out until she was a convertible once more.

Swinging into the passenger seat, I cradled Sparky to my chest as the seatbelt clicked into place, tightening around me in a hug.

The feeling that this wasn’t going to go well didn’t fade.