Chapter Text
Something was wrong. Something was severely wrong. Charlie's police instincts, honed by years upon years of being Griffin Rock's only police officer (Barney tried, but he didn't really count), were screaming at him that something was up with the bots.
Blades behavior had taken a sudden turn after the rescue of Major Luskey. The normally easy going, happy, if not a bit childish helicopter had seemingly transformed into a whole new person. He behaved... robotic. His behavior resembled the facade the bots had to put up in public more than ever, which was strange for Blades, who was normally the one most prone to blowing his cover. Not to mention his newfound interest in sparring and fitness training. This was normally Heatwave's department. All the bots knew not to touch Heatwave's “sparring log”. Especially the gentle Blades normally wouldn't touch that with a ten-foot-pole. So what had happened?
The children and the bots had tried to play it off as Blades sulking about his defeat in Rescue Ball, but were secretly doubting that explanation already. Of course, Blades was always the quickest to sulk, but was the at the same time the most forgiving of the Bots (next to Boulder). Heatwave was normally the one to hold grudges, as demonstrated by his absolute ban on consuming any type of food inside his cab after having to clean up parts of Kade's take-away burgers one time too often.
But then, the situation had worsened. After that mysterious call for help that, for some strange reason, could only be heard by Blades (although the other bots were right next to him), the personality changes had extended to the rest of the alien family members.
Charlie still remembered Chase first words to him after the bots exited the cave, after he asked why he hadn't answered him. “ I was busy.” He had been flabbergasted. Chase didn't talk back like that. His partner was always, always polite, sometimes frustratingly so. The other bots also just walked past them without even speaking directly to them. What was going on!?
And their behavior had worsened: On the way home from patrol chase had sped as if hunted. Chase would never break the law like that. While he really enjoyed hunting other speeders, he had every traffic rule practically hardwired into his processor, much to Charlie's chagrin sometimes. There was simply no way rule-abiding Chase would speed without a good reason. And always this phrase: “If that is what you wish?”. This mindless obedience had already been exhibited by Blades and didn't fit the bots at all.
As he stumbled out of Chase's cab, Charlie decided that it was high time for an emergency family meeting.
The family meeting uncovered more unsettling behavior changes. Graham recounted how Boulder had given him a plunger instead of a wrench and Kade, while happy about Heatwave's lack of backtalk, realized too that that alone was a huge red flag. Both Kade and Heatwave thrived on arguing with each other. At the beginning, Charlie had been worried that Heatwave would one day snap and ban Kade completely from his cab, but he had soon realized that both human and bot had fun annoying each other. It was just their way of communication and they both seemed to have no inclination of changing it. For Heatwave to suddenly exhibit unquestioned obedience, something had to be seriously wrong.
Of course, Cody had also picked up on the curious behavior from the bots immediately. That boy was much too observant for his own good. Charlie vowed to keep a better eye on him. While Cody was observant, he was always seeing the good in people first. He had formed a close knit relationship with the bots and Charlie was afraid that he would confront the bots on his own. He was just too trusting. After living that long with the bots, he wouldn't expect them to hurt him in any way. Charlie sincerely hoped that assumption was still true.
Normally, Charlie had complete trust in the bots to control themselves around Cody and protect his son, but with the recent developments in their personality, there was no way he would trust them with the most physically vulnerable member of the family alone. Not with the underlying aggression the bots sported now.
But as he turned to talk to Cody, he was already gone. Oh no.
“Graham, Kade, Dani, where is Cody?” “He went down to talk to Heatwave.” “ALONE?!”
In that moment, his Com. beeped. “Dad? I don't think anything is bothering the bots. I don't think they are the bots!” Thank goodness, Cody is alright!
But that relief quickly turned sour. If the bots downstairs were indeed copies or imposters, what had happened to the real bots? Charlie knew that the bots, especially Heatwave and Chase wouldn't go down without a fight. So whatever was out there was powerful enough to capture and detain four fully grown Cybertronians.
While Chase had once told Charlie that they were rather small for Cybertronians, they were still several meters high, made out of metal and trained rescue workers. Whatever had overwhelmed them would likely not have a problem harming humans.
So, what to do now?
The move with the EMP zone had been nerve-wracking. Charlie had been against bringing Cody with them, but the boy had smuggled himself along anyway. And Charlie had to give him credit, it was a good idea. But only if the bots listened. If they didn't, if they remembered the area somehow or perceived the danger, they could turn on the family instead. As he stepped forward to give the deciding command, he had to concentrate on not letting his family or the (fake?) bots see his fear. He had to be strong now.
And it happened exactly as predicted. The “bots” entered the EMP zone, promptly shut off and were outed as copies. Charlie was both relieved and nervous: Relieved that his family wasn't in immediate danger anymore and that the bots they had all come to love as family members hadn't inexplicably changed , but nervous because that proofed that something had happened to the bots. That there was something out there powerful enough to let four giant alien robots just disappear and replace them with physically almost identical copies.
In the next hour, things tool a dramatic turn: The real bots turned up, literally crawling out of the ground on the side of a serious sinkhole. Of course, Cody was the first to notice the shifting rocks and the first to greet the newly returned team-members, while Charlie remained cautious. And his caution turned out to be justified.
Charlie couldn't believe his ears when he picked up Chase's next words “It's the small criminal Doctor Morocco warned us about!” Criminal? Cody? and DOCTOR MOROCCO???
He began to recognize the stance the bots took. Shoulder by shoulder and tense, ready to leap into action. It was a stance normally directed to threats. The bots saw them as a threat.
Blood began rushing in his ears as his heartbeat quickened. In the next moment, Heatwave began to advance. Thankfully, Cody had also recognized the danger and backed away while trying to appear smaller and harmless. His nervous “Heatwave? Don't you recognize me?” triggered the wrong reaction. The next moment, the entire Burns family was staring down the water pipes of Heatwave's knuckles.