Fic: First Storm, First Kill
Title: First Storm, First Kill
Author: Merisel
Characters: Wheelie, Mikaela, Soundwave, Sideswipe
Warning: Character Death
Author's Note: This is a plot bunny that's been gnawing at my ankles for awhile.
This was, for the most part, one of the easiest missions he'd been given. Most humans that had passed Wheelie by on the streets didn't give him a second look. They ignorantly accepted what they saw - a remote-controlled miniature truck. He was only bothered once since landing on Earth, when a young male child stopped to pick him up. A hissing sound, accompanied by the sudden protrusion of a sharp spike, and the boy dropped him and ran away, sobbing in pain. Wheelie silently gloated; that will teach him to keep his grubby hands to himself.
Witwicky's home, not far from here, was the logical place to begin his hunt. Wheelie sped off, travelling as fast as he could safely manage without attracting more attention.
A battle was raging on when he reached the right house. Were other Decepticons sent to find remnants of the All Spark? Wheelie wondered, uneasy. That would greatly diminish the honor he thought he'd been granted.
He heard shouting coming from behind the house. Wheelie transformed, climbing a tree so he could see what was happening. Two humans were cowering behind a fountain. Both were male, one older than the other. The younger one must be Sam Witwicky, the one who slew Lord Megatron, and destroyed the All Spark in the process.
Wheelie glared at the culprit, Sam. Did the stupid boy even realize that he'd doomed Cybertron to a slow death? Whatever Cube fragments that might have survived would not be enough to save Cybertron, according to Shockwave, but just one should be enough to resurrect Lord Megatron.
Small cannonfire erupted then, aimed at the Witwickys. There were Decepticons here, but so small! Most of them were even smaller than him, and oddly formed. It had to have been a shard from the All Spark that brought these ones to life. After the Autobots abandoned Cybertron, nearly all of the salvage drones were killed. The Decepticons considered them to be useless nuisances. Wheelie would have suffered that same fate himself, were it not for the intervention of his savior. It was ironic that Soundwave, one of the largest Decepticons ever created, refused to judge others by their size. He'd deemed Wheelie useful, and no one dared oppose him.
From that moment on, Wheelie was completely devoted to Soundwave.
Sam Witwicky screamed a name, 'Bumblebee', interrupting Wheelie's musings. A scant two seconds later a yellow car crashed through the fence and transformed into an Autobot. So the boy had a protector. This will make finding and retrieving the All Spark fragment difficult. Bumblebee drew his cannon and systematically terminated the newly-sparked Decepticons.
Wheelie felt a pang over their deaths. None of them stood a chance against their much-larger foe. A quick scan showed that neither of the two Witwickys was carrying the Cube fragment on their person.
The slaughter was finally over. Wheelie jumped out of the tree and went back to his hiding spot in the bush. He chortled as he heard an angry-sounding Sam Witwicky order Bumblebee into the garage. Such ingratitude for being saved. How long will the Autobots tolerate it?
Emergency vehicles pulled up in front of the house then, and the two elder Witwickys rushed about in a panic, yelling about a fire. It was all extremely amusing to Wheelie. Another new arrival caught his attention, then. A younger female human, dressed in a black material so tight it molded her body like a second skin. She went directly to the back of the house.
Wheelie changed back into a toy truck and retreated to a safer distance. All he could do now was wait for the excitement to die down. That was fine with him; he could be patient when the situation called for it. Sooner or later Witwicky will reveal the Shard's exact location.
Two cycles later Sam Witwicky and the young female, now wearing a short white dress, walked to the front of the house to talk. Then they leaned toward each other and began rubbing their mouths together. Disgusting, thought a revolted Wheelie. Human mating rituals were so base and primitive, their only purpose being physical gratification. It wasn't over fast enough to suit him.
The female took the black clothing out of her bag and put it back on, while Witwicky got into a car with his parents and left. The boy had either taken the Cube fragment with him, or given it to her. Wheelie hoped for the latter: Following her would be much easier than tryng to follow Sam Witwicky on whatever trip he was taking,
He rolled forward a few feet and scanned that bag. Yes! The shard was in there, among a clutter of personal items. He quickly sent a triumphant message to Soundwave. //Female has sliver from Cube.//
//Soundwave acknowledges. Pursue her. Retrieve it.//
These new orders went a thrill through Wheelie. Instead of someone else, Soundwave trusted him to take the Cube shard back from their enemies. And Wheelie was not going to fail him.
Witwicky's mate rode off at a faster pace than he was capable of matching. But there was an easy solution to that problem. Wheelie began scanning all the vehicles on the street, and soon found one that had a 'advanced' computerized system that he could hack into and gain control over.
And that began his nightmarish odyssey on the planet Earth.
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Approximately three days later -- most of that time was spent in a cramped metal box and rudely bounced around -- Wheelie was huddled in a miserable ball on a U.S. aircraft carrier, wondering if he would ever see Cybertron again. This was his first time offworld, and he missed his home.
Those four humans should have died at the hands of Jetfire! When they forced him to reveal the locations of the Seekers, he'd conveniently neglected to mention that their allegience was to The Fallen. It'd been a shock to learn that Jetfire had joined the Autobot faction.
Luckily for Wheelie, the humans didn't notice his attempt to betray them. By then there were three Autobots with then, so he made a show of wanting to defect, too. He even went so far as to hump the female's leg; he'd seen a dog perform this lewd act on a broom, which, perversely enough, seemed to amuse it's owner. It had the same affect on Mikaela. She even called him 'cute'. Cute?! Insulted, he'd been tempted to carve her leg into a new shape, but managed to restrain himself.
"Wheelie!" he heard Her calling him. Now what? Hadn't he suffered enough indignities during his captivity? And how was he ever going to explain his abject failure to Soundwave? Was Soundwave still orbiting the planet, or did he leave with Megatron, abandoning Wheelie? He hadn't had a chance to try to contact him to find out.
The Autobots weren't as stupid as they looked, and didn't completely trust him. They took turns in monitoring him at all times. Everywhere he went, he'd see one of them nearby. It was because of Mikaela that the Autubot's medic deigned to replace his optic -- Wheelie refused to beg for their help. And he certainly didn't feel any gratitude toward her, since she was the one who'd destroyed it in the first place.
Grumbling, he unfolded himself and rolled out into the bright sunlight. "You called, Warrior Goddess?" Wheelie said, his tone and manner the epitome of subservience. Flattery, along with a good amount of groveling, worked well with most humans, and Mikaela was no exception.
"Hey there," she said in way of a greeting. "We'll be taking a plane the rest of the way back to the mainland. You're not afraid to fly, are you?"
Now she asks me! Wheelie was still irate over the plane ride he'd been forced on; his cramped prison had been constantly bashed into by other passengers' luggage. He furtively looked around; the smallish blue Aubobot, whatever his name is, was watching them. "Not at all, Warrior Goddess. You're going home?"
"Yeah, after Sam gets settled in again."
From the smile on her face, she was clearly looking forward to the goodbye she had planned for her boyfriend. Ugh! "Is there anything you need?" he asked, ingratiatingly.
Mikaela shook her head. "No. I just wanted to give you a heads up."
Wheelie merely nodded; he couldn't quite bring himself to thank her as she seemed to expect. She shrugged and walked away, and he scurried off to find a dark corner to sulk in.
There was nothing else he could do now but wait, and hope for a chance to escape his captors.
******************************************
His chance came sooner than expected.
After Mikaela and Sam parted company - and Wheelie had made himself scarce during that -- he was again ordered into a box. It was quite a bit larger than the last one he'd been crammed in, and made of nylon instead of metal. He'd been warned by the fierce-looking black Autobot to stay absolutely quiet and not give Mikaela any trouble during the plane ride, or he'd suffer the consequences. Wheelie fervently swore to behave himself.
Now, one week later, he was crouched in a corner of that grimy repair shop. Mikaela often stayed behind when the other humans went home. The only sound at the moment were disgusting slurps from her pet dog as it drank. Slobber Puss was a much more deserving name for it than Bones.
He wasn't chained up anymore, but Mikaela had set her dog to watching him. Why did it have to be so well-trained? He couldn't get anywhere near the front or back doors, or Mikaele herself, without Slobber Puss growling. To make matters worse, that silver Autobot, Sideswipe, had been assigned as her guardian, and was parked right outside.
Mikaela was sitting at her computer, the radio turned off. From what Wheelie had overheard, she and Sam Witwicky had a scheduled webcam dates due to begin in about eight minutes. What joy, he thought sarcastically, and looked longingly at the doors again. If that dog would just fall asleep without her noticing... But that still left the problem of the Autobot. Sideswipe was one of the Autobots' best trackers, Wheelie'd learned, and there was no way he'd be able to outrun him.
The prospect of living like this for even a year was intolerable!
A rumbling sound, coming from outside, lifted Wheelie out of his apathy. Was that-- Could it be--
"Hear that?" asked Mikaela, talking more to her dog than Wheelie. "Guess the storm's moving in now. They said it was gonna be a bad one." She looked at the wall clock. "Hope the power doesn't go out."
Oh, yes, please go out! Wheelie silently urged, and was rewarded a minute later with a loud crack of thunder. The lights flickered. Slobber Puss whined nervously.
"It's ok, Bones," Mikaela got up to pet him. "Wanna stay to the basement?"
Do you really think that beast understands you? Wheelie scoffed, then blinked in surprise when Bones barked once. He peered at the dog, somewhat curious, but not really interested in speculating on it's questionable intelligence. Uh-oh... He stiffened when Mikaela turned toward him.
"You first, Wheelie. I've got a nice closet fixed up for you."
"But...I'm claustrophobic!" Wheelie started to back away from her when a cunning plan came to him. "Warrior Goddess," he began, abasing himself, "May I go to the roof? I've never seen a freakin' big storm before."
Mikaela shook her head. "No way! You'd get fried!"
Huh? Is she actually worried about me? That was confusing; Wheelie wasn't sure what to think about that. "I won't be in any danger," he stoutly declared. "We Cybertronians aren't lightning rods."
The shop's roof was being pelted with hail now. She frowned, still doubtful. "I don't know.."
"I'll come back in when the storm's passed. I promise!" Wheelie beseeched her. With any luck, the electrical discharge from the lightning will mask his attempt to contact Soundwave.
"Alright," Mikaela relented, and went over to the front door and opened it for him.
"Thank you, Warior Goddess!" He couldn't get out that door fast enough. Behind him he heard her tell that paranoid Autobot what was going on. Wheelie ignored their conversation as he scaled the wall, heedless of the gouges he left in the metal. The door closed as Mikaela went back inside, and Wheelie heard Sideswipe transform. Expecting me to run off, probably. He crouched on the other side of the roof, out of the Autobot's direct line of sight, and waited.
It wasn't long before the storm was right overhead. Lightning lit up the night sky every few seconds, accompanied by cracks of thunder and a fierce deluge of rain. Sideswipe took cover in the garage, but he no doubt still had his sensors fixed on Wheelie.
Wheelie sent a desperate plea. //Help!//
An aswer wasn't long in coming.
//Soundwave acknowledges. An explanation for your delinquency is required.//
That was as stern as Wheelie had ever heard him. //It wasn't my fault! Mikaela - the female - lured me into a deathtrap! She tortured me, burned out one of my optics, threw me into a little metal box and put chains on me! And there's Autobots everywhere! They're got big cannons, and--//
//Enough.//
Wheelie immediately shut up, and listened for any sign that the Autubot picked up on his transmission. So far there was none. From what he could tell, Soundwave was no longer orbiting Earth, but was farther away. By Jupiter, maybe.
//Falure is not excusable, but...// Soundwave paused briefly. //Redemption is possible.//
//It is?// Wheelie couldn't believe his good fortune. //Tell me how! I'll do anything!//
//Kill the female.//
Of all the orders Wheelie was expecting, this was not one of them. //Kill Mikaela?// he repeated. //Why? Sam's the one who deserves to die.//
//Samuel Witwicky may still possess valuable knowledge. The female does not. However, her death will demoralize the Autobots,// was Soundwave's cold logic. //You will obey.//
The last sentence was not a question. Wheelie hesitated. He'd never killed anyone before. Mikaela was seriously annoying, but he didn't hate her that much. So she torched his optic. He's been through alot worse. But that was before Soundwave. //I'll obey.//
//Join me by Saturn's moon when it is finished.//
And with that their connection was abruptly broken. Wheelie blinked, then noticed that the power had indeed gone out in this part of the city. All the nearby buildings were dark. All except Mikaela's shop. The Autobot was shining a light in through a window so she could see well enough to pack up her laptop computer. She slung her bag over her shoulder, then let Bones out of the basement.
You can do this... It'll be easy, Wheelie coached himself. The storm was moving off now, but he still had to knock loudly on the front door. Stupid thunder. He knocked again, and the door opened.
"So, how'd you like your first storm, Wheelie?"
"It was loud," he complained peevishly.
"Yeah, they usually are," Mikaela chuckles. "Anyway, I'm going home now. You know the drill."
"Your 'date' didn't happen, Warrior Goddess?" asked Wheelie, stalling.
"Only for a couple minutes." She sighed. "We'll try again tomorrow night."
No, you won't... he thought. Mikaela was obviously distracted and frustrated. Now if she would just to turn her back to him, just for a second. Gotta make it painless. ...as painless as possible, at least. *Got the box ready?"
"Right over here." Mikaela started toward the small dog carrier she used to transport Wheelie.
Now. He struck fast, clawing at her boots. Sharp-tipped fingers easily sliced through the leather to sever her Achilles tendons. Mikaela let out a yelp of pain as she fell to the floor. As he'd calculated, her head smacked against the side of a car engine.
"MIKAELA!" Sideswipe roared before crashing through the wall.
Dodging the Autobot's feet as he rushed to the motionless Mikaela, Wheelie scrambled through the hole in the wall. He didn't feel any satisfaction in what he'd done. Just a vague sense of regret. Wheelie looked back. Bones was standing next to Mikaela, whining piteously. There was a small pool of blood spreading out from Mikaela's head. Sideswipe knelt over her, doing his best to staunch the wound, but he was no medic. Ratchet was on the other side of the country, and it would take a few minutes for human medics to arrive.
"Sorry..." Wheelie apologized to her before slipping away into the night.