Chapter Text
The air was hot as Cliffjumper drove through the middle of the vast Nevada desert, the dust and rocks bouncing off his wheels as he did. Inside was Ava, fanning herself and sticking close to the AC. It was a regular patrol looking for energon, the team spread across different parts of the world with Cliffjumper and Ava together, and Arcee still within a few hours of base for ease in case the ground bridge was needed. This was a normal occurrence; spend a few hours on patrol which mainly was just talking and hanging out, and head back to base to write up a report. Some days on the military base working in the shop on anything and everything that was needed and repeated with occasional proper meetings with supervisors and such. It was a good routine, one Ava got used to pretty quickly and one she liked. Of course, luck would have it things would change a lot this one patrol.
Cliffjumper was speaking through the coms to both Arcee and Ava, the trio often now spending hours just sharing stories as they went. “Did i ever tell you two what happened in New York while Ava was stuck doing her reports last week?”
“No?” Ava sat up a little in her seat, excited to hear something new. “Tell Tell, Spill it!”
Cliffjumper laughed. “Okay okay so, there I am on the lookout when out of nowhere these high beams light up my rearview…” He pauses, chuckling to himself. “And then it hits me I'm illegally parked!”
“Ouch!” Ava laughed. “What happened?”
“Parking ticket?” Arcee asked, amused.
“Better. The boot.”
Ava burst out laughing, finding it hard to breathe as she pictured Cliffjumper with the huge boot stuck on his tires. It was a hilarious image.”
“Big metal tire clamp, impossible to remove.” Arcee chuckled again. “Just your luck huh?”
“Bingo! The local police do that thing and get me all the way down by a block. That's when I kick up my new shiny shoe and I am free!”
“A true escape artist” Ava hummed, checking her phone while she listened, making a note in her small notebook of their current time and location for the reports.
“New York's finest soil themselves.” Arcee chuckled.
Cliffjumper laughed again. “You know me, Mess with Cliffjumper..” He trailed off.
“And you get the horns.” Both Ava and Arcee spoke after him before Arcee continued.
“Not sure how that complies with Autobot rule number one, 'Keep a low profile.” She teased a little.
Ava nodded. “She has a point, you should be more careful Cliff.”
“What can I say? Patrolling for energon out here is dull and gets me all on my lonesome, other than when Ava and you are with me of course... Almost makes me miss the Decepticons.”
Ava gasped, covering her mouth acting like he had said something so unheard of. “No! You can’t say that…you will jinx it!” She smiled.
Cliffjumper in response shut off the AC which made Ava groan. “Awe come now it won't. Now don’t you be mean or it'll stay off” He teased, getting a glare from Ava before he turned the AC back on.
Arcee sighed. “Like Jasper Nevada's party? We're alone wherever we travel on this rock, Cliff.”
Ava hummed, checking the map again before pausing as a light blinked and a beeping noise sounded. “Oh hell yeah..”
Cliffjumper slowed to a stop, before turning onto a different dirt road leading towards the location. “I'm getting a signal.”
“Need backup?” Arcee asked, her voice losing the amusement from before and turning serious.
“Do I ever need backup?” Cliffjumper jokes, picking up speed to reach the location.
“Don't listen to this idiot Arcee, get back up sorted to be safe.” Ava interrupted, again making a note of the changes, it had been a while since they ever got a signal, and also messaging Will about the development.
“Heard, signing off, see you guys soon."
Ava sighed and rubbed her eyes, getting out a map and checking the area, humming in thought. It's just desert mostly, some natural creators and small mountain tops, nothing really out there depending of course. “Okay, let's check it out but let's be safe.”
“Safety? Pah…what about fun?” Cliffjumper jokes, getting a not-so-happy look from Ava.
“Cliff, you know the protocol.”
He just sighed and teased her making some noises before going quiet to focus as they got closer.
When they were somewhat close and slowed to a stop, the ground bridge activated beside them once Ava shared the coordinates; Arcee and Bulkhead emerged from it to act as backup, as per Ava’s insistence on the protocol. She was not going to get in trouble, no sir, lectures from Will were not fun. Once they had arrived, Ava got out of the seat allowing Cliffjumper to transform and meet the other two in his bipedal mode - apparently, that's what they call it when they aren't in vehicle form, as Ava had learnt.
The signal took them to one of the natural crevices and dips in the land which the map made Ava aware of. What they were not expecting when they got close to the edge was a LOT of energon covering the entire area. Cliffjumper whistled happily, grinning “We just found a whole lot of energon.”
Ava grinned in return. "Nice, I'll call a transport to help with this." Stepping away and away from the area by a few steps she called Fowler, however, as it rang a dark shadow covered the area, making her look up in confusion. What she saw made her gasp. There was a huge ship above them with purple and black colouring. The moment it was above them, Ava could hear the sound of the turrets turning and locking into position and the rumblings of weapons, just as Will picked up.
"Hey, what can I do for you?" He asked before Ava in a panicked voice spoke.
"I think Decepticons are here!"
A few feet away from her, closer to the energon deposit she saw the trio ready their weapons. As they did, a latch on the ship opened to reveal a group of large, purple-coloured bots, in a similar shape to Arcee but as tall as Cliffjumper. They dropped down with a huge crash, making the ground shake as they landed, and immediately a firefight between the two groups started.
"Get out of there, NOW!" Will ordered down the phone.
Ava didn't spend another second on it. As the fighting kicked off she grabbed her backpack and ran for it. That was the protocol if it ever happened; if the Decepticons ever showed up. Get out of there and leave it to the Autobots. She ran and pushed herself to get away, but she had already been spotted.
Behind her she heard the running footsteps of one of them as it tried to shoot at her, the shots landing and exploding the area around her throwing dust and sand everywhere.
"Oh fuck oh fuck!" She screamed as one blast got particularly close, making her stumble only to try to get back up. As she did, she spotted a small cave-like entrance maybe 50 feet away. She didn't have long to think, the sounds of the fighting behind her were so loud it felt like her body was shaking from the noise. It was a cave, so she chanced it, trying to make it before the Decepticon got too close. She felt her legs burn and her lungs ache, thankful in this moment for the gruelling times in the gym those on base put her through. Just as she was going to make it, and hopefully reach perhaps a good hiding spot - a blast from the weapon hit directly behind her.
The force sent her flying forward with a scream, thankfully she was close enough to pretty much be forced into the entrance. However, she landed roughly. It was a blur then as such severe pain took over her and the light of the sun dimmed with sand and dust falling over her. Another following blast shook the ground but didn't reach her, instead creating a rockslide which sealed the entrance shut.
Ava cried out in pain as she tried to gather her bearings, her back and wrist aching as she tried to scramble away and put some distance between her and the exit, still not really having a chance to process the fact that it had been sealed up. A few moments passed with gasping breaths and searing pain when Ava finally managed to have a moment to think. She could hear the footsteps but they were muffled.
She became aware then where she was and what hurt when she tried to sit up and another burst of pain followed.
Broken wrist. For sure with the angle and already bruising she could see in this dim light. She could taste blood, maybe she bit her tongue when she landed? Though her head ached so maybe she hit it.
This was not ideal.
At least five minutes passed with Ava gasping for air to calm herself, sitting up against the rocky wall trying to process. Five minutes in silence other than her breathing and the occasional noise muffled by the caved-in entrance. Never had she been so thankful for the natural rock and cave formations in this area.
Then it really set in; did they know where she was? Were they okay? The fight sounded, at least from what she could hear in her running away, intense. It was her first ever experience with it other than what she saw some four months ago, and that didn't include any weapons or actual enemies. That was sparring. It really set in then now real all this was, as Ava struggled to catch her breath in the current situation that she was in.
Wait…where's her phone?
"Oh fuck fuck goddmanit!"
Even after searching her pockets as best she could with her good hand, it wasn't there. It must have fallen out while she ran or during the fall.
That really wasn't good.
Thirty minutes. Thirty minutes before she heard any semblance of noise on the other side of the entrance. Thirty minutes of panicking, some crying and attempting to splint her wrist with her jacket. She spent at least a few of those minutes checking out the rockslide and very quickly determined it was not possible for her to get herself out, especially with her banging head and a broken wrist.
It was thirty-five until she heard someone again, it was too muffled and made her tense on alert.
Forty aching minutes until she fully heard the voice of Cliffjumper calling out for her, making her body sag in relief and exhaustion.
An hour total before they reached her. An hour of being in there where it slowly had reached pitch black and the air was so stale. An hour total with hyperventilating and pain, worrying she would die there. The moment they made a large enough gap in the rocks, Will in all his glory ran through with a large bag on hand.
"Ava? Ava oh thank the lord! Ava!" He rushed to her, kneeling to take her into a grasping hug. He held her there, muttering thanks to all kinds of beings and things before he let go. "Oh god kid you don't look so good huh?"
Ava just gave him a small grin, nodding. "Yeah, not going to be very pretty for picture day" She joked.
Will just shook his head and laughed before reaching for the bag she could now see was a large first aid bag. "We've got teams coming in, I was able to get here quickly. Let me take a look at you okay?"
"Okay okay - wait!" She sat up. "Are the others okay? Is anyone hurt?"
Will gently pushed her to relax against the wall again. "Everyone is fine, banged up but fine. Let's look after you now okay? You did good getting them back up. Who knows what could have happened if it was just you and Cliffjumper. Thankfully your phone was transmitting until it got crushed."
Nodding in response she closed her eyes tiredly, letting Will look over her before he clicked in her face, making her groan. "I'm tired…"
"Yeah well, we don't know if you have a concussion or not, so no resting missy." He gave a soft smile.
It was then the medical team arrived and things got a bit more blurry for Ava. Pain is a funny thing. They helped stabilise her wrist, confirmed a mild concussion and with the help of Will and another, helped her walk out of the little cave. When the light hit her, she hissed in pain, covering her eyes. At the same time, she heard Will suck in a breath, muttering something to himself. Once outside they sat her down to have another proper look before moving on. Apparently, she didn't look too good, Will being able to comment on the fact how bloody her head was, her wrist not looking a nice colour and how covered in dirt, dust and sand she was. What a look.
"Damn, you don't look too good." She heard, before turning and grinning, seeing Cliffjumper behind her. She could see he was banged up, missing a horn and covered in sand and dust, but alright. Behind him, the entire rest of the team must have arrived while she was trapped.
"Yeah well, have you looked in a mirror yet either?" She teased, gaining a laugh from him.
"I'm glad you're okay Ava."
"Yeah, you too."
It wasn't until that evening when Ava was released by the base's medical team, wanting to ensure she was cleared and going to be fit and not collapse and die on them. Sadly with the broken wrist, no workshop for a few weeks to months. That sucked. But hey, at least she has a cool cast. The base was pretty empty by the time she left, often many had left by this point - she wasn't here by this time really either. Will met her outside with a quick hug, quick maybe because he was still around his workplace and had a reputation to uphold.
"Damn, I'm glad you're okay Ava. Don't you scare me like that again you hear me?" He ordered, tone harsh but gripped her shoulder, squeezing it. He cares.
"Hmm, maybe I'll do it again for the fun of it?" She smiled before nodding. "I'll do my best. Thanks for looking out for me "
"Yeah well. It's my job. Stay over tonight?."
After a shared smile and another small hug, they went off, Ava accepting Will’s offer, knowing he would feel better with her safe at his place for the night.
The night was - difficult. As she lay in bed in the guest bedroom the darkness felt suffocating. She felt her wrist ache. She spent hours staring up at the ceiling before finally giving in and keeping a light on, feeling at ease the moment she was no longer in the darkness. Finally, she got some sleep.