Vanguard

When we got to Chicago we found an abandoned church to hide out in. It was massive and had a garage door, so it was the perfect hideout for three full sized bots.

There was some left over furniture and boxes of clothes, blankets and canned foods that must’ve been donated to the church for something.

That was a lucky break. We still needed supplies, but at least now it wasn’t severe.

A not so lucky break was the fact that my body decided now was as good a time as any to surge in the fusion process, so I was in a lot of pain, and by a lot of pain, I mean I had been laying on of the couches, writhing in agony with only a few moments of lucidity throughout the day. According to Bee and Ravage, the organs in my chest were the ones currently undergoing the change. Of course I already knew that because of the searing pain. It was like having molted metal poured onto your organs.

Bee had transformed down. Currently in his holo, he was hovering, attempting to wipe away the sweat which was pouring off of me. Jazzy was sitting beside my head. Optimus and Hound were concerned, but also focused on their strategy for getting into KSI.

Cade had determined that Shane and Tessa were in charge of stealing food and the essentials. If I had not been in a state of living hell. I would have gone with. No need to steal food, when you’ve stolen a credit card. By the time the plan was made though, the pain was starting to subside. Not enough for me to do anything other than lay there, but enough for me to think clearly.

“Bee,” I croaked out.

He kneeled beside me. “Take them,” I told him. “And Rav, go with.”

Ravage stood up immediately, and transformed into Suzuki Hayabusa. Her holoform appeared on top.

Bee went to protest.

I looked to Ravage for help.

“She’s stabling out. Her pain is subsiding. She will be fine until we return,” she said.

Bee was not convinced.

She rolled her eyes.

“You’re hovering is not helping. Let’s go. We can find her some medication to help deal with the pain,” she said.

Bee was still reluctant. “Get out of here,” I told him, attempting to smile. It came out as a grimace. I still felt like I was dying, but it was a different death now, a slow methodical one.

They left and were shortly followed by Cade and Optimus who needed to get a couple of ids to get us into KSI.

“How you doin, Lil Lady?” Hound asked.

I rolled my head over to look at him. “Like I swallowed a grenade.”

He chuckled. “When I was with the Wreckers in the early days of the war…”

Once Hound got started there was no stopping his war stories. He was still going, when the others finally returned hours later. By that point, I was sitting up. No longer was I feeling the pain of the fusion, just the after effects. I was sore as all hell, but it wasn’t anything that I couldn’t deal with. I was gross, but functioning.

Optimus and Cade returned first. Optimus seemed relieved to see me somewhat back to normal. Cade was for sure.

“What the hell’s going on with you?” he asked me.

“Some fucking bull shit,” I replied, not bothering to elaborate. “Don’t die,” I advised.

Bee, Shane and Tessa were next, dumping the contents of their haul on the table. I got up and pursued through it.

I lifted a t shirt. “Next time heart attack or not, I’m going. You two suck.”

“Yeah,” Cade agreed. “Protein powder, candles and mouthwash. Glad we got that.”

“Hey, I like to be fresh, when I’m making out with your daughter.”

I laughed, which was not the best thing to do considering the chest pain. Cade took the mouthwash and hurled it across the room. “Yeah that’s not happening ever.”

“Ever?”

Bee popped his trunk. Just as he did so, Ravage showed back up.

“Where the hell did you go?” I asked her.

She placed a bottle of pills in my hand. “You stole me morphine?” I asked.

She nodded.

“Sweet!”

“Whoa. Isn’t that dangerous?” Cade asked.

I snorted. “I couldn’t overdose if I tried. I know. I tried.”

As soon as anything threatened the balance of my organic half the Cybertronian half immediately kicked in to correct it and protect me. I read the dosage instructions and then stashed them for later use. Aleve would do for now. Which luckily was in the bags the Ravage was pulling from Bee’s trunk.

“When the hell did you get that?” Shane asked.

“While you two were blundering through the store like idiots, I took the most effective path to gather and purchase the proper supplies,” she sneered.

“With what?”

She lifted a credit card.

Both Tessa and Shane groaned in frustration, while I popped my Aleve and started on a baby wipe bath.

I dug through my bag of stuff and changed. When I returned, Tessa and Shane were now cuddling on the couch, while Optimus and Cade were giving us one last run down of the plan.

“Chicago KSI headquarters is like a fortress. I’m gonna find a way into their top secret military wing. Find something to blackmail this company and the government. We’re gonna get our freedom back. A couple times a day these guys are moving in vehicle shipments to KSI for something called scanning. Major security all over, so our best shot at getting in is a back classified research entrance. I’m gonna drive in with Bee tomorrow morning. Crosshairs, you’re going to drop Brent off at the front gate.”

I nodded. ”Id?” I asked.

Cade slid it over to me. “Bee says you got this.”

The woman on the id looking nothing like me, but that was okay. I could work with it.

As it turned out a key factor of my being technoorganic is that my body would change to develop. Like evolution, but instead of a beak or extended canines over hundreds of years of breeding, it usually took about two months for my body to dreaded some new part or piece in reaction to whatever my needs were. I hadn't noticed it early on, because everything was okay, but when we had to run and we started living on the road my body change to accommodate the lifestyle more.

Tessa and Shane weren’t paying attention instead focused on each other. The pair shared a kiss and Cade cleared his throat. “Excuse me. There’s no smooching in front of me.”

“You’re so square. Who even says smooching?”

Optimus crossed his arms over his chassis.

Cade shook his head. “I tell you, no respect. It’s just impossible sometimes.”

“Yeah, I went through that with Bumblebee.”

“Not surprising,” I chimed.

“No wonder you too get along so well,” Ravage chimed.

“You’ve developed quite the sense of humor since I saw you last. I like it.”

“Just wait until you have to go through it with Jazzy,” Optimus said.

“I’ve got time,” I told him.