Transformers Prime: Merely a Whisper

Chapter Six

Danielle clutched the small, wilting bouquet in her left hand nervously, her right squeezing her mother's. She hated hospitals. She despised them in general, all the doctors walking around, faces half-concealed in masks, the vey idea of surgery made her stomach churn, and the very thought of needles made her shiver. Her parents never understood why, and neither did she. They thought it might have been brought on by something of the past.

Something she couldn't remember.

The mother and daughter approached the visitors desk, and Ana cleared her throat when they went unnoticed by the nurse sitting there.

"We're here to see Mark Collins," the younger woman told the nurse, looking at her expectantly. The woman nodded, but there was a sadness in her eyes, like she knew something they didn't.

"Room 237, just to your left," directed the older woman, and smiled down at the black-haired girl practically glued to her mother's side.

"Those are beautiful flowers, sweetheart. I'm sure he'll love them," she smiled reassuringly, yet there was a forced manner to it, as the woman was aware of what condition the boy was in.

"Thanks," was the hoarse reply, and the young girl, with a sudden boost of confidence fuelled by her anxiousness to check on her only friend, gripped her adopted mother's hand and lead her to room 237.

A petal dropped from one of the flowers as they reached the door.

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4 years later......

Her footsteps echoed behind her throughout the empty corridor, and the teenager kept the obvious message concealed in Drake's words fresh and clear in her mind.

Don't get caught.

She wondered why. It was so obvious that they had been accepted into the little club of gigantic robot monsters, but it made no sense that they hated the very thought of the crew of half-humans that they retrieved and welcomed. Danielle was never able to fully understand humans, despite being one herself, but these bots were a whole new puzzle for her to attempt to comprehend.

The sound of peds nearing caused her to leap for cover, pressing herself up against the wall, concealed by a piece of metal that protruded ever so slightly. She took her fellow human's words to heart. If that's what was even inside her chest.

The black haired girl reminded herself that she need answers.

When the two Decepticon troops had passed her hiding place, she departed, heading in the opposite direction, with no intended destination.

Soon, Danielle reached a pair of overly-large doors. They loomed high above her, and were obviously important. Her eyes darted for the control mechanism, her curiosity great enough to drive her to open the doors and reveal what was on the other side. As she took another step, however, she realized they were automatic. The pair of doors slid open with a whoosh, and opened to quite an interesting sight.

Two faceplates jerked in her direction, optics blazing with fading fury, replaced with confusion, to match her own. The human girl recovered the quickest, however.

Megatron had a servo wrapped around Starscream's neck, and the seeker, who had been struggling against the Warlord's grip, was frozen in a strange position, his optics wide with embarassment. The Decepticon leader was still glaring, but his gaze was now fixated on her. Suddenly, he realized his mistake, and hastily softened.

"Danielle," he released his second in command, who immediately scrambled far away, and dusted himself off, muttering words she was glad she could not make out. The large silver mech's red optics flickered, "why is Stormrunner not with you? Did he abandon you?"