TF: Revolution – Knightingale Flies Again – Chapter 5

Chapter Five:

Audentes Fortuna Iuvat

Knightingale stared up at the ceiling. Once again, it was nighttime. Everyone except those on the security night shift were in bed, and walking down the hallways. Knightingale looked at the clock. It was midnight. She rose from her bed and headed for the bathroom. She took a washcloth she had, and, with the help of stacked books on the other side of the room, she stepped on top of them, and covered the camera as quickly as she could with the towel. Next, she quickly took some latex gloves and tapped the security panel with the passcode to open the door. It beeped, then opened. It creaked as she peered out, looking for guards. When she saw no one, she gently closed the door behind her, and crept into the shadows, avoiding the other cameras. She was heading to the lab. She had to know. She had to know what they were doing in there. She had suspected some of her old Cybertronian weaponry, and even possibly her old body were still in there. She needed that weaponry if she was going to break out of here. Human weapons weren’t going to be enough.

She inched her way down the various hallways, her back to the wall, in order to avoid any guards spotting her until she found the lab. The lab was also locked with a secure passcode. Luckily, she had seen one of the doctors punch in the code. As intelligent as they were, they weren’t very good at hiding the passcode. Knightingale was easily able to spot it earlier. The door opened. The lab was vast, vaster than the training room. There were huge machines of all different shapes and sizes, along with stacks of papers, various basic tools, and computers. As she bent down to her knees and crawled around, she spot some familiar pieces of technology sitting on a table. She picked up the pace and sprinted over to it. Her eyebrows furrowed when she got there. She recognized her weapons: Her cloaking device she had gotten from Kaon, her energy shield, and even her dual swords. However, they seemed to be much bigger than she remembered. “Am I…Shorter than I used to be?” She pondered. She jumped when she heard a door open. A guard had emerged from the bathroom on the other side of the room. Knightingale quickly swiped her cloaking device as she started her way back out.

She suddenly gasped when she rounded the corner, her life nearly flashing before her eyes. There, on a very large, operating table, she could see…well…herself. Her heart started racing, registering the horrifying thought of seeing her own, original body. I cannot tell you how graphic it all was. Even as a robot, the sight was still quite grotesque, especially in Knightingale’s eyes. I will tell you, that it was in pieces now. The glow of the diamond light on her forehead was dead, so were the formerly blue optics, and rather than gleaming silver, it was very dull gray, signifying that the cybertronian spark that used to inhabit that body, was “deceased.” Knightingale managed to tear her eyes away from it. If she had stared at it any longer, she might have screamed, and she didn’t want to get caught. She then ran, still cautiously avoiding guards and cameras, until finally, she made it back to her room. She removed the washcloth, crawled into bed, and went back to sleep.

She had only nightmares that night.

*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*

The alarm went off. Taylor nearly jumped out of her skin as her eyes flew open. She turned her head to see the clock read, “5:30,” and she promptly hopped out of bed. She grabbed the red, polo shirt and jeans, and headed into the bathroom to take a shower. Nearly twenty years had passed. So much had happened in the life of the Last Cybertronian, and it was all because of the Witwicky family. Daniel had decided to let Taylor board in his house while she looked for a job. When she finally got one, which was another job as a waitress, she was able to safely save money again. Eventually, when she turned twenty Earth-years old, she was finally able to go to college and get a degree as a History Teacher. She returned twenty-five, and got a job teaching a fourth grade class. That was when her life began to blossom. Years of persevering had paid off, and she couldn’t have done it without this special pair of humans.

“Jacob Witwicky! Get down here, right now and eat your breakfast! You’re gonna be late for school!” Taylor called. Taylor put a sandwich, a bag of chips, and an apple in a medium-sized green lunchbox. It was about six in the morning. Taylor was getting ready to leave to teach at the South Reagan Elementary, and she was still in her pajamas. As Taylor pulled some of her History books off the shelves to put in a big, canvas, grocery bag, she heard a sound of heavy (and somewhat miscalculated) footsteps coming from the stairs. A sixteen year old-boy, who had brown, unkept hair, and brown eyes, about 5’5 feet tall, wobbled into the kitchen, and onto the stool. “Good morning, ya little sleepy head” Taylor greeted, with a slight, teasing tone. “Please don’t call me that, Taylor” the boy groaned as he rubbed his eyes. “Alright then, Spike” Taylor replied. She pushed the cereal bowl she had prepared for him. “I’m taking a shower. You should hurry up and eat, then head in there yourself” Taylor ordered. “Yes, ma’am” Spike snapped. Taylor smiled and shook her head. “Ah, to be a normal teenager with normal teenage problems” she thought. A face appeared in her mind. A face as bright as the sunlight, with a spark as shining as a star, who was a teenager as well. A teenager in war. “Bee…” She thought to herself, “He would have loved this. Not a Decepticon in sight, not a care in the world. A chance to be his age. Or at least, what his age was.”

*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*

Taylor pulled slowly into the school, and up to where the front door was. “Remember, your father’s coming home early tonight, so be here immediately for me to pick you up if you want to get your homework done beforehand” Taylor ordered. Spike rolled his eyes as he opened the door. “Yes, mom” he said sarcastically. Taylor wanted to say “I love you,” but she decided not too. Instead, she smiled and shook her head as Spike slammed the door shut. Taylor started the car, and drove onto the road, going slightly under the speed limit.

“Um…hi!”

Knightingale lifted her eyes from her manuscript to look at the bot before lowering them and continuing to read. The boy-bot scratched the back of his head. “Hi?” he asked. “Hello” said Knightingale, not looking up. The yellow bot jumped. “She spoke to me!” he thought, “now what?” “Your name is…Knightingle, right?” he asked. “Yes. That’s my name.”

“Whatcha reading?”

“The Planetary Exploration in the year 5000.”

“Sounds fascinating!”

“It is.”

“Hey, do you want to play steel-dodge with us?” Knightingale shut off the manuscript and placed it in her leg panel. “Why?” she asked, “Isn’t rule number one, ‘ignore the femmebots?” “Not if you join in on your own accord.” Knightingale thought for a moment. She smiled a little. “Okay, I think I can take you on” she said, with a smirk on her face, “Wait. I don’t know your name.” “Oh, sorry. My name is Bumblebee. It’s nice to meet you, Knightingale.”

*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*

“-And that’s how the Egyptians mummified their dead” said Taylor as she wrote on the chalkboard. Just then, the school bell went off. Her students took their History books and put them in their backpacks as they scrambled to leave the room. “Okay everybody, don’t forget to read chapters one through three in ‘The Egyptian Culture.’ Have a good rest of your day, children!” The children flooded out the door to the classroom. Taylor took an eraser and began cleaning off the whiteboard as the clattering sounds of voices and other noises echoed from the hallway. “Ms. McCarthy?” Asked a small voice. Taylor lifted her head from her books. She smiled. It was a little boy. “Jason. Hi! Is something wrong?” She asked, gently. Jason was one of Taylor’s students. She had been his teacher for the past two years. Jason slowly walked forward and handed her a small bouquet of flowers from behind his back. “Oh, Jason!” Taylor gasped as she took them. There were seven flowers: Three were bright, yellow daffodils, two were soft pink, carnations, and two were magenta-colored roses. “They’re absolutely beautiful!” Taylor exclaimed, “Thank you!” “I…um…my aunt helped me pick them out. She’s a florist. I…I wanted to give you a goodbye gift” Jason stammered, nervously. Taylor frowned. “That’s right. Your last day of class” she stated. She had almost forgotten that Jason was moving that weekend, and was transferring to a new school.

“Come here” she gestured with open arms.

Jason slowly went into her arms as she embraced him. “Thank you so much, Jason. I’m so honored you’ve enjoyed my class! I’m going to miss you” she cooed.

Jason smiled. “I’m going to miss you too. Maybe I can ask Momma if she can give you our new home address so she can send you pictures!”

Taylor chuckled. “Okay. I’d love to see pictures of your new house!”

Taylor broke ahold and said, firmly, “Now, your mom’s gonna be here soon. You’d better head outside before she gets worried.” Jason nodded, and started out of the room, waving as he went. “Bye!” Taylor waved back and sighed. “I’m so honored to have children who love me and my class so much. Heh, that means I’m doing something right.” Taylor looked up to check the clock. “Four o’clock. I’d better go pick up Jacob” she mumbled to herself. She finished putting her books away, swung the bag over her shoulder, and started out of the school.

*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*

Taylor drove up to the high school as she waited for Spike to come out of the building. She put on the parking brakes as she slumped in her seat to check her phone as it rang. She pressed a button and held the phone to her ear. “Yes? You still coming home early…? Alright…Yes. I’m making a extra special dinner tonight….Yes Jacob’s been fine. It took a little effort to get him out of bed this morning, but, I managed…Alright. I’ll see you tonight…Okay…Bye.” Taylor put her phone back in her purse as she saw Spike walk out of the school building with a blonde haired girl. Taylor raised an eyebrow. The two teenagers were chattering away all the way to the car where Taylor unlocked the door. Spike opened the door. “So, I’ll see you Monday?” asked the girl. “Y-yes. Yeah, Monday” said Spike as he stumbled his way into the front seat. The girl leaned over and saw Taylor.

“Hey, Ms. McCarthy” said the girl.

“Good evening! You’re…Carly, right? Carly Summers?” asked Taylor.

“Yes, I am,” said Carly, “it’s an honor to meet you in person, ma’am.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet YOU Carly” said Taylor, smiling, “Spike told me you’re the leader of your schools mechanics team. Told me you’ve won for three years straight.”

“Taylor…!” Spike scolded.

Carly giggled. “He told you that? Well, yes. I am. Shooting for four years.”

“Well, again, it was nice to meet you Carly.”

“Nice to meet you too, Ms. McCarthy. Bye!”

Spike closed the door and Carly walked back up to the school.

“Would you stop embarrassing me like that!?” Spike snapped.

“What? What did I do?” Taylor asked.

“‘Spike told me you’re the leader of your schools mechanics team.’” Spike mocked in a naily tone.

“It’s was a compliment! I mean, you obviously like her-”

“Taylor! Don’t!” Spike growled.

Taylor laughed. “Alright, Alright, I’ll stop. I just don’t see why you are so nervous. She’s a nice girl. She doesn’t look like the type to smack you in the face by just talking to her.”

Spike slumped. “Just drive.”

Taylor rolled her eyes. Taylor started up the car, and began to drive down the road.

“I’m sorry, I…” Spike suddenly said after a long silence.

“For what?” Taylor asked.

“It’s just that…Frankly…I just don’t get you.”

“What’s wrong with me?”

“You’re just…perfect. You’re nice with everyone: kids, old people, you’re so smart, and yet, you shut yourself off from everyone. You could have so many friends, yet you choose not to. You never change. You never seem to age. You always look beautiful. If I had even half of what you have, maybe I wouldn’t be such a loser. I could feel good about myself, and not so…”

“You’re not a loser, Jacob. It’s just that time in your life where you feel different, left out, and worthless. Trust me, the time will come where the confusing storm will clear, and you will know just what to do.”

“But when, Taylor? When?”

“As a good friend once told me, ‘Fate rarely calls upon us at a moment of our choosing.’ You’ll know what to do. You just need to be patient.

Taylor’s eyes turned back to the road. “As for me, I just…choose to be this way. I don’t want a lot of attention. I just want to do what’s right.”

Spike sighed. “You’re so weird. I guess that’s why Dad likes you so much.”

Taylor smiled. “Perhaps…”

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