The Parting Glass

Cade Causes Trouble

"Hey, Dawn!" Hound called me from outside my private shelter made from melted down cars that were buried under the ground. Grimlock was nowhere to be seen. Great... -_-

"Moving!" I replied running outside. Shouting from Cade and the new Scaredy-Cat reached my ears. I had enhanced limbs and an optic, but no cybertronian hearing. "What is it now?!"

"Spit out the cruiser!" Cade ordered Grimlock. I pinched the bridge of my nose as the Dinobot leader tried to puppy-dog the slightly older man. Scaredy-Cat was shouting about not signing up to play babysitter for alien fugitives.

"SHUT THE F**k UP!" I screeched. Silence filled the scrapyard as all eyes and optics were now on me. "Now that I have everyone's attention. Grim, spit out the damn car. Cade, where have you been. And new kid, stay in your little office and play your Dungeons and Dragons! I am the one in charge, per Ratchet and Ironhide's orders. They are my second in commands."

     Ratchet and Ironhide nodded approvingly at me, while everyone I mentioned did as told. After a little while, Cade and Hound went to call Tess, while I did a patrol of the junkyard's boarders. There I ran into a little girl and directed her in the direction of Cade's trailer. He could deal with the child. When it neared late afternoon, I stole away to the training grounds to work on my technique with Sentinel's old sword I took as a kind of memento/trophy from when I thought the mech was nice, and because of his defeat. As I was doing a pivoting maneuver, my left leg gave out. That was the thirty-third try. A cloud of dust billowed up around me when I landed in the dirt. Hot tears burned my eyes. I really messed things up with Optimus. If he were still here, I could have worked with my left leg as it was still pretty weak. But instead, me being the kind of person to not lie about my feelings so easily, I broke his spark. Primus I really f**ked up. Letting my weapon lay next to me, I buried my face in my hands and sobbed violently. Why did I do what I did? Two pair of exceedingly warm arms wrapped around me, snapping me from my pity party moment.

"It ain't your fault, kid." Ironhide's gruff voice said to my left.

"Dawn, he'll come back and forgive you. Optimus isn't one to hold a grudge." Ratchet added to his sparkmate's statement.

"But, I practically drove him away. I'm the reason he left with the seed." I wailed.

"Is she having another pity tantrum?" Crosshairs complained from his lounge.

"Can it paratrooper." Ironhide growled. He had become a kind of Uncle to me, when I first met the Bots. Ratchet was the Father figure after my dad died from cardiac arrest. Funnily enough, the two mechs were bonded sparkmates.

"Don't listen to Crosshairs. I'll get him with a wrench later." Ratchet combed his holoform's fingers through my messy, and choppy brown hair. Damn you Lockdown for fucking up my hair and internal functions. It still grew, but it was no longer soft, and in direct light it had a blue sheen to it. "You're due for a hair cut again."

"I know." I sniffled using a clean part of my shirt to wipe my eyes.

"Cade lost another stranded." Ironhide stated releasing me from the hug. Ratchet followed suit and helped me stand. But this was trying to get into your things. He has one too."

In my uncle's hand was an ancient looking disk about the size of my servo.

"What is it?" I asked, hiccupping a bit.

"An ancient talisman carried by the Knights of the Round Table." Ratchet replied. A snort escaped me.

"King Arthur and the Knights, didn't exist. I've studied that legend inside and out." I crossed my arms after taking the talisman. It suddenly came to life and crawled up my arm and placed itself where the metal met flesh on my left arm. "By the Allspark."

"I told you." Ratchet smirked.

"Still doesn't prove anything." I countered picking up my double sword. The talisman, came back to life and latched onto the weapon.

     I began to panic and tried to get the two apart. The talisman proved too strong and configured the sword into a much larger great sword. At a loss for words, I stared at the weapon in my servos. Since I wasn't using my weapon, the entire thing folded into the talisman. Including Sentinel's old sword. Before I could say anything, an explosion shook the ground. Going on high alert, my family members deactivated their holoforms and transformed while I ran to get my bag that contained all my belongings. Grimlock was kneeling when I came out of my subterranean dwelling. Lithely, I hopped onto his back and held onto a pair of spikes on his neck that looked like handle bars. The Dinobot leader rose to his feet with a roar and thundered out of the junkyard. Decepticons were shooting at Cade and the other Autobots. I let go with one of my servos and transformed it into my Ionic Fusion cannon and fired at Galvatron.

"Dawn!" Cade shouted when Grimlock fell and I went flying. I closed my eyes and optic to brace for impact with the ground, but it never came. Opening them I saw a strange looking cybertronian.

"Are you alright, M'lady?" it asked in a British accent.

"I'm fine." I rolled out of his arms and flicked my other servo. The talisman formed the sword as I charged back into battle. Before I could get near a Decepticon, I was pulled back and drug into an ancient looking plane. "No, I have to help my team!"

"Dawn Avalon Summers!" Ironhide and Ratchet's holoforms each latched onto an arm and held me back as the plane took off.

"Ironhide, Ratchet. The others need me to lead them." I whined. Ratchet smacked me in the back of the head with a small wrench.

"Quit acting like a sparkling. We are going to be helping. Just we need to talk to someone first." Ratchet scowled as Ironhide snickered at my injured look while I rubbed the sore spot on my head.

"Who?" I asked looking at my father figure.

"Some rich guy." Cade stated from near Bee.

"Shut up Cade. You've done nothing but cause trouble today." I glared at the older man.