Chapter Text
After a few good smacks that the old Autobot gave his troublesome duo, they gather in what is the kitchen of the house. Apparently, it could be long explanations and deep down, Ratchet hoped his little ones weren't lying to him.
-”Then we found the cells. They were all but empty, but only that little fawn remained.”
Bumblebee takes some energon and hot oil, once Optimus spreads the titanium cups in front of the young yellow autobot. Right now, it's 02:30 in the morning. It's not something that pleases Ratchet, but he understands that the report Arcee sent to both him and Optimus only explains the technical things observed... and the damage done by the ex-Lieutenant's group.
-”Really, Bumblebee. One of these days, you and your friends could get severely hurt. I fully understand that you want to help others, but if you're going to keep doing these risky things, you should go back to being a lieutenant”- Ratchet gives his opinion while sipping some hot oil.
-”I understand, Ratchet. I know I shouldn't act all heroic when I no longer belong to the Cybertron forces.... I just…”- Bumblebee sighs heavily, staring into his mug. He contemplates his old adventures, but he loves his new lifestyle, that much he can't deny, and he's not looking to replace it anytime soon under any circumstances.
-”I know... You don't have to explain, Bumblebee.” Ratchet smiles at him, somewhat wearily, then looks at Optimus and Healwheel. -”After all, Optimus is the same in that aspect, if I do say myself.”
At the other end, Healwheel was cleaning Optimus' helmet a bit, who could barely stay awake. Apparently, the previous Autobot leader had a pretty heavy day to be this tired, even if he has had some rest. This causes both Ratchet and Bumblebee to let out a faint chuckle as they watch the blue and red Autobot nod a little more.
-”Daddy... Daddy, you should go to sleep”- Healwheel moves Optimus gently, so as not to disturb the older one, in case he should suddenly become frightened. Luckily, it's not something that happens often to the old autobot.
-”I'm sorry, dear... I'm not asleep, I...”- he gives a slight yawn. -”I swear... oh, I'm sorry.”
Bumblebee and Ratchet try not to laugh any harder, as they find the other duo's little interaction adorable. If the two had to compare, Healwheel and Optimus are, to say something, good at sleeping in their own style, but become very diligent when time warrants it when faced with their tasks. But it's adorable to see them when they're tired or low on energy.
-”Optimus, you should go to sleep if you can't stand up”- Ratchet was about to get up, but Optimus lifted one of his hands, stopping him.
-”Easy, Ratchet... Once the kids explain why he was out so late, which would be a good idea for them to start explaining”- Optimus looks at both Bumblebee and Healwheel.
Bumblebee let a little vent from his air chest, and started to sum up his adventure by saying that, by chance, he saw a very suspicious guy. The suspicion grew because they weren't smarter... and offered the fawn to Grimlock. When Grimlock refused, he just happened to tell his group, which Bumblebee - with his sense of honor - would not let happen under any circumstances. Quietly, they followed this mysterious group of people, until they were led to the abandoned industrial area. They entered the area, finding many cages for the anibots.
Both Ratchet, Optimus and Healwheel listened to what Bumblebee had to say, impressed, but worried about how dangerous their group made it. Bumblebee kept telling how he had seen along with Strongarm and Fixit completely empty cages, but that they had recently been vacated, most likely with anibots already pre-sold. It was Grimlock and Sideswipe who found the fawn, but as they were pulling it out, the evil guards - who Bumblebee can't explain what they were or exactly what they looked like - noticed the group. After that, the chase of the ships through the abandoned industrial area began. As they did not lose the traffickers and guards, they decided to confront them with “Liberte”; which caused a direct confrontation with the group of villains, but this generated an internal curiosity in the yellow autobot: How is it that they were so weak? It wasn't your typical con, nor were they or showed signs of being a Decepticon and even less were they related to the Autobots. What were those things?
Anyway, by the time the fight was over, in less than 10 minutes, they had defeated a large portion of those guys. Which surprised Bumblebee, considering he and his team were out of shape. This also worried Optimus, who had been getting reports of strange guys who have been making illegal sales of either substances or, just what Bee is talking about, trafficking in endangered species.
-”I understand now. Several reports have said something similar. Still, Bumblebee... What you and your friends did was very dangerous. I understand and trust your ability to be a leader now, but you know that was risky. You don't know how or what you could have done to them”- the autobot leader added.
-”You don't have to say it, Optimus.... We knew what we were getting into, but... I know it was risky”- Bumblebee took his cup and gave it a little squeeze.
-”But I'm glad you still have your sense of justice intact... before you arrive and initiate a rescue operation, you should call for the next one, okay?”- Optimus puts his hand on the young autobot's shoulder.
-”Yes... Thank you, Optimus”- Bumblebee smiles happily at him, and to some extent, also calmed by the older man's response.
Now, the three adult autobots turn their gaze to the little mint-colored bot. Healwheel knows it's her turn to speak, but she wasn't sure whether to tell everything 100%... or omit some details of what she did today, which can be considered equally as dangerous or what Bumblebee's group was doing.
Healwheel begins her narration. While she was in class, her human teacher and the bot that supported them were talking about the ancient writings of the Terrans. The Terrans in her class seemed to be somewhat confused by their teacher's explanation, but Healwheel was struck by this. It was impressive to her that the Terrans believed in forces beyond what they could access, something that even the Transformers themselves could not explain without a logical reason: ‘Gods’, supernatural beings passed down from generation to generation. The concept of ‘Magic’ was something fantastic and illogical to Healwheel, yet it held her attention in a way she could not deny. She wanted to know more of what the previous Terrans believed, their culture and mysteries; what lay deep within the ancient civilization. Would this affect a Transformer as well?
Healwheel needed to know, and so, she made the sneaky entrance from the watchful eyes of the guards, to the archives area of the school and discovered that there would be an expedition to the area near the great Andes mountain, an ancient formation and set of mountains that makes the shape of a natural column of rocks and other minerals, where a lot of frozen waterfalls in the form of small balls of different patterns. Sneaking around, he made his way to the land bridge area and started his little sightseeing trip. Basically, she just admitted to sneaking out of class and school to go exploring in a dangerous area all by herself. To Ratchet's pain and nervousness, he listens as calmly as he can, but his spark is tighter than iron ropes because of what he's hearing: His little girl, who doesn't have a good defensive armament and could have had an accident as such, listens to this story with the most stoic face possible, but it costs him a lot, and this itself doesn't go unnoticed by either Bumblebee or Optimus.
Optimus decides to approach Ratchet and takes his hand, intertwining their servos and rests the old doctor on his chest, nodding for him to listen quietly. The old doctor lets out a little air from his vents and a faint wheeze from his engine, in turn, Bumblebee just listens to his little sister tell her story, but equally concerned about the risks Healwheel tends to take when one is not on her or being watched. Optimus is in the same position as the other two bots, obviously not wanting his young and crazy -in a way- little daughter and treasure to get hurt or have anything happen to her and none of them can get to her, being too far away, always in case of emergency. Healwheel can see her family's concern and can only smile at them, as she bows her head in a sorrowful manner.
-”I'm sorry, I really couldn't hold it in... I really needed to go to the expedition area.”
-”But you know it was very dangerous, what if something happened to you and we couldn't find you”- Ratchet replied, completely nervous about the situation.
-”Dad, you know I'm always careful–”
-”IT'S NOT ENOUGH TO BE CAREFUL!”- Ratchet raises his voice, to the shock of his family.
-”Ratchet...”- Optimus hugs him and comes over, giving him a kiss on the left cheek of the old bot, who obviously looked very nervous about the situation.
Healwheel flinches over this. If there's one thing she hates it's making her dad Ratchet go into panic mode or being over stressed about her because of her well being, or anything related to her health. She understands that she is not strong like many, but she also wants to show what she is capable of, which frustrates her in not being able to do many things, either alone or with someone who wants to be her friend in the future. Bumblebee decides to break the ice a bit, taking some energon from his titanium cup.
-”I understand your concern, Ratchet... but Heelie is fine here, isn't she?”- the young autobot smiles warmly, trying to lower the old doctor's nervousness.
-”... Haa... I guess so... “- Ratchet averts his gaze, implying that if anything happens to his little pebble, he would never forgive himself. Not him or whoever did anything to him; and the whole family group knows it. Healwheel stands up and hugs her old dad tightly, as she had no desire to cause him any real discomfort, to which the old doctor agrees and hugs her too, sighing and stroking her head. -”I would never forgive myself if something were to happen to you, Heelie... I understand that you want to prove to yourself that you can do everything and more, but you must think of your health in the same way.”
-”I know, Dad...I'm so sorry, I really am”- Healwheel got a little sad.
-”But... go on telling, what you did once you arrived.”
Healwheel nods and coughs a little, to continue with the story. Once he arrived at the area where the excavation would be.
- Cave Y-67, Andes Mountain Zone. -
(BGM: Days in the Sun - Kevin Penkin)
Healwheel arrives at the zone from a terrestrial bridge, observing that he arrived at the zone Y-67, 570 kilometers away from Chilix, observing that the turn of the expedition group had already finished. In a moment he turns to see how the bright solo is falling into the void, giving the beginning to the night in the southern sector of the planet. As that faint and already low reddish bathes in the distance the city where he has grown and lived for much of its activity as the bot that was born, admiring the small beauty of what nature offers, as well as the huge city that imposes itself before it. Healwheel feels small next to all this, since, in itself, she is smaller than her age peers; but her desire to know, to understand the world in which she is constantly growing wins over her small size. Something like this will not stop her from doing anything.
-”Well, I've arrived, let's see what we can find!”- said the young cyan bot.
She takes some materials as exploration equipment left behind by the research team to go in search of oddities she wishes to add to her crazy antique collection. Summoning up her courage, she grabs the ropes and paintbrushes from a table, entering the excavation area. Healwheel reaches the area of the small chasm, throwing the rope down and tying it tightly, she begins to descend into the excavation area slowly so as not to generate any lacerations or bumps on her figure that might draw someone's attention, the descent is slow and safe for her managing to reach the area safely.
-”It's easily a 40-meter descent into the cave... now–”- The young fembot looks around with her backpack ready, lighting the other helmet with special flashlights, recharged with direct sunlight. She walks around the sector, seeing small shingles like ancient potsherds of even smaller size. It is definitely an excavation with Terran settlement and presence, ancestors of today's living among the Transformers. Healwheel sets about exploring and collecting some of the potsherd-like tablets in the best possible condition.
-”Look at this... it's an almost lost language of the Terrans... I wonder, what language is it?”
The young fembot walks a little distracted, until she finds something fascinating. She knows and understands that with the collision of the two planets, many things changed places, as they were mixed with objects from both planets and generated new components, such as figures or objects without registration. She kneels down in front of the object and takes it carefully, observing it. It is a gem of two different colors: Blue and Purple, dancing between the two inside what looks like a crystal sphere. He has never seen anything like this before: it looks like those lava lamps that Miko, a terran friend of her parents and brother, has told her about from time to time, since she likes these kinds of things that seem a bit psychedelic. Though not much is to be expected from an honorary Wrecker, Healwheel likes how they take life, but wouldn't see herself as a member of the Wreckers for many eons to come. She takes the sphere and puts it in her backpack, continuing to search for other assorted objects, making the hours pass without her noticing two things: The passing of the hour, where it was getting very late... The fact that someone was watching her from the darkness.
-”And that would be all...”- Healwheel held the strange sphere in her hands. To the surprise of the group of autobots, they had never seen anything like it before. Nor did there seem to be any information about the sphere.
Ratchet sighs -“It really is a dangerous thing, Healwheel. I've never seen anything like it before, and we don't know exactly what it is”
Optimus, for his part, taps the sphere, curious about what he sees. Really, this is something really new. He doesn't know if what's inside is a strange mixture of Energon. It looks like it, but at the same time it looks like an even more particular substance, because of how it doesn't mix at all, inside what seems to be a much more resistant crystal than what they already know.
-”If I throw it on the ground, will it break?”
-”Optimus, please, we don't know if he has any contaminants. We'd better take him somewhere where he can be tested.”
-”Not a bad idea, Ratchet”.
Before they could do anything or put the sphere away, Healwheel takes it from them. -”But this orb is mine, I found it!”
-”We know, dear”- Ratchet approaches. -”But it must be studied”
-”No! It's mine!”- The young autobot pouts. -”I know they won't give it back to me when they take it to that place!”
It looked like father and daughter were about to argue, until Bumblebee stepped in between them, telling Ratchet to let Healwheel interact with her little treasure, which calmed things down a bit. Ratchet eventually complies with the sibiling's request, knowing that Healwheel risked her life for that mysterious little orb for a reason or not. Optimus obviously tries to relax his conjux, giving them affection and many kisses, to the small but not negationist position of the old robot, who already, seeing the time it is, sends the whole group to rest, not wanting to hear a single complaint in the morning that they are all tired, only for Optimus to tell him that today was a weekend day. This caused the old autobot's circuits to get confused and he saw his arm transmitter, only to let out an “oh” in surprise. Sleeping in late today - much to the relief of Bumblebee and Healwheel.
As the family group talks some more about their day and some other small things, Healwheel doesn't notice that the sphere also reacts to the warmth of their home, as if it's searching for something... or just reacting to the warmth of the family moment. As if... it has a life of its own, somehow.
The sphere may, though the group doesn't know it, bring some future problems… or solutions.
End Chapter 3