A/N: Okay, before anything--I am sincerely sorry for not only the lateness of this chapter, but the shortness as well. There wasn't much action to be held in this one, and the story telling that Hot Rod is going to be narrating is going to be a chapter all on its own. I know you all don't like cliffhangers (who does?), but both my editor and I agree that the story telling in one chapter will be a lot better and less confusing then placing it in a chapter that is placed in the present. In order to get part of this chapter, you of course would have to have read the previous (Chapter 9) one. Soooooooo.....it has been a while, so I would suggest going back a chapter and refresh your mind on what has happened thus far ^^;.
With that said, on to the Disclaimer and the story.
Chapter 10
Disclaimer: Transformers belongs to Hasbro and Takara. The only characters I own in this are Amanda, Vivi, John, Ungle Gai (UG), and Nurse Baxtor.
Enjoy.
Wishing was something that Amanda did not believe in; she was always the "get-up-and-do-it-yourself" type, no matter the situation. Praying was another thing that Amanda never believed in doing; she would always tell her parents or friends that it was a waste of valuable time towards a being that didn't exist. At the moment, though, you could be calling her a contradictory.
As soon as the tired girl had heard what Roddy had to say, she immediately wished that she had never banged up her arms; that her parents were here to give her strength; that she wasn't alone in this room for the night. As soon as she heard when he wanted this to be done, she immediately started to pray to anybody- or anything- that she had the strength, the courage, and the patience to put up with such a task, not to mention the surgeons.
Her eyes placed all her fears and worries out in a way that anyone could plainly see them as the thoughts of her mind began to boil it from the inside out. All were questions of hypocrisy towards the surgeons and doctors that might be protruding these plans. What if they didn't know what they were doing and something went wrong? What if they placed something in there that could cause her to die soon after? Or more importantly, what if they decline? Who would do it then? Uncle Gai couldn't possibly do it; he wasn't knowledgeable in the aspects and science of the human body. Vivian, well, that was a definite N.O. She may be smart and bright, but she couldn't draw a straight line to save her life, let alone work on cosmetic tools.
A heavy sigh escaped her dried lips, her head still resting on the pillow as it cooled her perspiring neck from stress and, as of right now, worry. Her mind was racing at a hundred miles a second to come up with someone as a second possible choice, in case the surgeons in this white jail wouldn't accept the proposal. Yet, no matter how hard she tried to think of someone, the same person kept appearing in her tired memories of replacing a part of a human- or perhaps maybe an entire body, with a mechanical equivalent to it.
She stayed quiet for a protracted amount of time. Her eyes were scanning the ceiling, the walls, and the window. She was actually looking just about anywhere to get her mind off of the person that she knew she had to contact. She pressured herself to lift her arms and place her hands over her eyes- physical rehab lessons had their rewards. All she wanted to do now was cry from everything around her. These were the times that she, as unbelievable as it might seem to some people, wished to just wake up and be in her parents' arms and comfort voices so that this all became just a horrible, God-forsaken dream. No matter how hard she tried though, she couldn't stop the tears from coming.
Tiny sobs and sniffles escaped her throat when she found she couldn't hold them back. Her hands were still over her eyes, now getting soaked by her flowing tears. She just wanted to shut down, for at least an hour; to just black out to calm and recollect herself. She took a deep breath of air, just now starting to hear the crackling sounds of a voice breaking through the sound barriers of her room. From all her crying and stress, she almost forgot that she had an alien-in-disguise-car that could talk just outside. Amanda took a deep breath and sighed deeply once more, limply wiping her cheeks and sniffing again. Much to her chagrin, she found her voice sounding like nails in a bell case when she answered him.
"Yes, I-I'm here, Roddy. I'm sorry… Truly I am." She took a moment to sob again, placing the backs of her hands against her eyes to hold the tears back. Once her tears started, there was no stopping them. Nothing could bring her back until her moment was completely over. She breathed in slowly and cleared her throat, the tears slowing as her emotional overload started to cool off. She breathed in one last time as she tries to get her thoughts straightened out before she spoke. Once she figured out what she was going to say, and keep what she wanted to herself, she started up again, this time with more confidence.
"Honestly, I feel that the surgeons won't take up the project, seeing as how as risky it is. Plus I don't trust them for a second with my life's on the line. With those facts in mind, I've come up with a possibly replacement. As preposterous as it seems for something even remotely humorous to come from my own mouth…my choice would have to be Johnathan."
A wince appeared on her teary-eyed features, her tender mind wondering if she shouldn't have said that, since she knew that Roddy had heard her arguments with the boy in question a few weeks ago. She waited for a response, her teeth taking a nibble at her bottom lip in anxiety. After what seemed to be hours, the familiar static returned and was followed by a familiar voice.
"Alright," his voice sighed, "But how do you know we can trust him? I know that he sounded apologetic the other day, but how does he feel now?" If Hot Rod had anything amazing going for him besides being from another planet, it was that he was good at almost completely bashing the hopes of emotionally unstable teenaged girls.
"I don't know, Roddy," she replied tiredly, honestly not knowing what to think anymore.
"Perhaps you should call him in the morning to have that answered. We need this surgery to be done by coming of this weekend—"
"What!? You said nothing about deadlines, Hot Rod!" Amanda's voice shrilled from held back tears, but it only made her voice sound even angrier than she had intended.
A sigh as tired as she felt was heard from Hot Rod's end, shutting up any argument that Amanda had held ready to shoot from her mouth. She stared expectantly at the black object on her bed, ready to hear any excuse that he had for himself on this sudden dead line that he shot to her. She wasn't, however, prepared to hear the one he pulled out.
"We need you to rebuild the All Spark for myself and my people to return and rebuild our home planet. That is the cause of the urgency."
For the first time in a long time, Amanda Cambia was speechless and thoughtless. She didn't know what this 'All Spark' was, nor did she have a clue what Hot Rod was talking about. Before she could ask him on what he meant, memories of her parent's death appeared before her eyes.
The news castor on the television late at night. The fighting robots from another planet fighting in Baltimore. Half of what he had said started to make sense. She was beginning to understand now. She was beginning to see why he was here; why he could talk. Whatever this All Spark was, it was important to both him, and whoever the dark edged robot was she saw on television.
A solemn look overtook her features as she came up to speed on what Roddy was implying. But how would she know how to rebuild a relic that she had never looked at? Let alone an artifact that was from an alien race from a different planet from probably millions of light years away!She wanted so badly to ask her talking car just how the heck he planned to have her rebuild something like that, but something more important and at the moment came to mind: Just why did he want her surgery completed so soon?
"Hot Rod, why are you pushing the urgency of this surgery? Surely I could learn more about this 'All Spark' to get a better clue on what you're talking about—"
"Your parents saved notes on the material and language, as well as codes on the All Spark."
At the mention of her parents coming from the last person- or rather thing- she wasn't expecting, a hot flash of anger ran through her body. He had known about her parents even before meeting her?!
"Hot Rod! What the hell!? You knew my parents and didn't even bother or care to mention this to me earlier!? Why were you even near them?! I know they loved anything technological, but they wouldn't have opened up so easily, especially to technology not from Earth!"
Taking a deep breath to calm her anger, she ran through her mind to ask the right questions, rather than completely loose it and ask things she already knew the answers to.
She had honestly already known why he didn't tell her about knowing her parents, and it was because it would only upset her. Her response was proof enough of that. She also knew he didn't tell her because she had her own trust issues with him from when they first met. Of course, she couldn't blame him for not telling her. At the least, it would have been nice to know that they made her car into a robot.
"Okay, Hot Rod. How did you meet my parents…?"
Amanda looked down at the black communicator next to her lap, not expecting to hear anything from his end. To be honest, she was sure she would be surprised by whatever he said. Just knowing the fact that her parents befriended an alien race that would lead to their doom was shocking enough. Her trail of thoughts broke when she finally heard her car's- if she could him that- metallic voice flow in the room.
"I really didn't want to tell you this until later, but considering the situation we're in at the moment, I suppose I have no choice….plus, knowing you- you probably won't take another step until I do," he chuckled at the end, knowing her reactions by now. Amanda produced her own smile at his mood-lightener, but didn't speak.
"Well, it all started three years ago, in the northern part of Europe…"
A/N: Next chapter will be the story of how Hot Rod met the Cambias before the war landed on Earth, his promise to David Cambia (Amanda's father), and the secrets that the Cambias have held from their daughter, and the entire human race.
Thank you for your patience and I will get the next chapter up when I can.
Love you, my readers :]
-Mytho