A/N: Okay, so! This was a series I did a little while back, and (after getting the idea from CT7567Rules) I put it into a single document. I had a not-so-brief hiatus to Middle Earth and then Mount Ebott, but after getting the most recent Transformers movies for my birthday (go ahead, yell at me all you want, Bayverse was my door into this fandom, and I love the movies; sue me [actually no, don't, I'm a poor high school student with no job and no car please don't actually sue me]), I'm back in the fandom again! I'm also working on another project, a TFP/Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes crossover story, which dragged me back to – you guessed it – our lovely girl Rachel!

I am gonna be altering this a bit, but I'm leaving the original one-shot versions of the story up, so you can see how they looked the first time around. That having been said, I'm planning on extending the Refugee-verse as a something like a TV series. I'll be doing it in seasons, with one story coming out (hopefully) every couple of weeks or less. Each 'season' is gonna have 18 episodes, and yes, I will be doing a cliffhanger at the end of the season (which I promise I'll write in its entirety before I publish it, so you won't be left on an awful month-plus-long period of cliffhanger).

If, however, it doesn't take off like I'm hoping it will, then I'll simply release the cliffhanger ending as a series finale (but I hope this'll take off enough that I do another season). Feel free to comment/PM me with ideas for stories, arcs, or characters you'd like to see!

Also (For no reason whatsoever), I calculated how many reads I have, and wow. WOW. 15,723 reads in almost a whole year of posting! That is amazing! I am blown away. Thank you all so, so much for all the reads, comments, reviews, everything! Thank you. I would never have gotten this far without you all.

Now…on with the show!

It was a quiet, warm afternoon in the desert town of Jasper, Nevada. Outside, the birds zipped by the closed window of the town's only high school, going on their merry way and not paying any attention to the students stuck inside as their teacher droned on and on about the history of a civilization called the Greeks. While most of the students were half asleep or distracted by their phones, the world outside, or passing notes to their friends, Rachel Starr was deeply interested. She'd been on planet for only a few weeks, and still had much to learn about the place.

The clock turned to 4, and most students immediately got up and began to pack everything away. Rachel didn't pack until the weary and annoyed teacher called "Class dismissed." Then she got her textbooks, notebooks, pens, and pencils, and put them in her backpack. She was pretty much the last one out. Not that she minded, of course. The blonde haired, blue eyed girl had no friends, nowhere to go, and nothing to do once she got home except study everything about everything on Earth.

She planned to take the bus home, like every other day, as she had no other way of transit – except walking, of course, and she wasn't about to walk the 10 or so miles to her place. She stepped on amongst the crowd of other students of all grades, taking a window seat near the back, like always. That's when she noticed one of the older kids pushing around a smaller one with red glasses and auburn hair.

The older one was Vince, and the teen had been trying to get a date with the blonde since she stepped foot in the school. The younger one she'd seen only a few times, and always with two others. One was Miko Nadakai, and everyone in school knew the Japanese student because she was called to the Principal's Office every other day. The other, she didn't know, but she did share a class with him.

The younger one's friends weren't there now, and the bus door was closing. If she didn't get off to help him now, Vince would have his way until the kid's friends showed up, and who knew when that would be. She'd not been trained to sit by when someone needed help, and old habits die hard. "Wait!" she called. She hopped up out of her seat and ran off the bus, marching over to Vince and his gang. "Hey!" she called as she strode up holding her backpack strap with one hand and letting the other swing as she matched. "Leave him alone, Vince."

Vince looked up, his characteristic smirk fading a little when he saw her. He let the younger student go without hesitation, even pretending to help by brushing him off. The tween swatted his arm away. Rachel was unimpressed with the act. "Oh, hey, Rachel," Vince greeted in as smooth a voice as he could manage. "Come to take me up on that offer for a ride?"

She fought back a scoff. "No, I came to keep you from bullying him," she replied somewhat harshly, nodding to the kid before looking back at Vince. "And FYI, you don't impress me. You could try being nicer; maybe then I'd take you up on that offer. Till then, ciao." She even tilted her head a little to convey her snark.

Vince scoffed and signaled his group to follow him away. Rachel shook her head and rolled her eyes, then turned to the kid. "You okay?"

"Yeah," he answered, picking up his books and pushing his glasses back into position. "Thanks. Who are you?"

"Rachel Starr. You?" she asked, extending a hand. She only realized after doing so that might not be able to shake it, but he adjusted his grip on the books, balancing them in one arm as he shook her hand with his now free one.

"Raphael Esquival, but my friends call me Raf. Thanks for the help with Vince," he said. "Sorry you missed the bus."

She looked to the now empty spot on the road. She knew that was what would happen – not that it changed her mind about helping – but still groaned as it sunk in. "Great. How am I getting home now?"

"You could, uh, wait for your parents," Raf suggested.

"Um..." She'd never actually come up with a good lie for this one. It was gonna have to be convincing and on the spot, two things she didn't do well with. "They, uh, don't get home until much later. I, um… I-I usually just take the bus home and…have the house to myself. All afternoon. With no way to call them. Cause I… don't have a phone?" She wished that last bit didn't sound so much like a question.

"Oh," he said, seemingly not noticing how lackluster and patched together that explanation was. "Well...um...maybe I could- oh! Hey, Jack!" he cut off, waving to someone behind her. Both the other friend - Jack, apparently - and Miko came out. Miko waved enthusiastically, despite not being the one called to. They both jogged over. "Jack, Miko, this is Rachel Starr. She, um..." he looked for a way to say it that didn't sound embarrassing.

"I got Vince off his back," she explained, hopefully well.

"Thanks," Jack said, looking from Raf to her. She noticed how blue his eyes were, and then berated herself for thinking of so odd a fact.

"Yeah. Usually, I'd be here to stomp on his foot, but, y'know. Had to talk myself out of detention," Miko explained nonchalantly. Rachel couldn't help but snort at that, both because of how true it was and how casually the exchange student had said it.

"It was no big deal," Rachel replied with a shrug. "I was happy to help. The only issue is, uh..." She put her hand on her neck, rubbing it and looking toward the clouds for a moment. "Well, I missed the bus."

"Jack, maybe you could give her a ride?" Miko suggested, and immediately, Rachel knew there was something strange going on. Raf was picked up by a yellow muscle car every day, and Miko by a green SUV. Both, presumably, had lots of space and open seats. Yet they were suggesting she ride with Jack, who she had only just met and rode a motorcycle?

They were hiding something.

Okay, maybe she was being paranoid, but after what happened last month, she was perfectly justified in being paranoid. After all, she'd been hunted by people she trusted and considered her friends, her Master had been killed, and she'd been chased into unknown space. The Unexplored Regions. It was the only place the clones wouldn't follow her. She'd arrived on-planet alone, scared, injured…

She put the past back where it belonged, dragging herself back to the conversation. Jack, Miko, and Raf had retreated to the cars, maybe talking to those inside. She shook her head, clearing her thoughts as the three walked over again. "I'd be happy to give you a ride, if you want," Jack said as he walked up. She shrugged her shoulders.

"Only if it doesn't complicate things," she replied. "I don't want to be a burden."

"No, no, it's fine," Jack insisted. "I mean, it's a long walk back, and there won't be another bus. It's really no trouble, and it's the least I can do to thank you for helping Raf."

"Alright, then," she conceded with a smile. "I've never ridden on a motorcycle before."

It wasn't hard. All she had to do was just hang on tightly to Jack. At first, she was a little uncomfortable with the position, but comfort went out the window when Jack took off down the road. She gave a small yelp and hung on tighter. It was like riding the outside of a starfighter. Eventually, she became more comfortable, once she decided she wasn't about to die. She tried not to think about the death grip she must've been using as they jetted off.

It was fun. The wind in her hair made her feel free. She pointed when Jack looked back to silently ask 'Which way?' The slight rush of thrill and panic when she let go with one hand was enjoyable. It was almost like she was on the battlefield again, backflipping over battle droids, that split second of vulnerability, despite knowing they wouldn't be able to hit her. It was the same rush. It made her miss home.

The Jedi Temple.

Her Master.

Her troopers.

The Defiant, her flagship.

But those were all gone. So much for sleeping tonight.

Jack dropped her off at her front door. "Thanks so much for the ride home. It was awesome," she thanked, turning around, hoisting her backpack over her shoulder. She resisted tucking her long hair behind her ear, like she usually did when slightly nervous.

"I enjoyed giving you a ride, too," Jack replied. She blinked in surprise once or twice, and he ducked his head a little. "There's not a good way to salvage that, is there?" She giggled.

"No, but I get what you mean. See you tomorrow, Jack," she answered. She took a step back, toward her door. "It was really nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too," he called as she walked in and closed the door. She couldn't help placing an ear to the door and listening, just out of curiosity. "'I enjoyed giving you a ride, too'? Oh, why me?" She giggled, and she heard someone else chuckle as well. She froze and listened.

The voice was female, older, mature. "Relax, Jack," she said. Rachel dropped her bag and rushed to the window, peeking through the thick curtains. Jack was resting his elbows on the handles, and his head in his hands. The motorcycle's gauges lit up in time with the voice. "She got it." It was talking.

"That doesn't mean it wasn't still awkward," he replied. "I'm never gonna get a date..."

"So you like her," the other voice teased.

"No!" he protested, much too quickly to be true. "Yes," he amended after a moment. "I don't know. Maybe? Sorta? Not so fast, though. She's nice." The motorcycle chuckled again.

"Mm-hmm."

"Arcee..." he whined. The engine started up, and she retreated to behind the door again. Once the engine faded away, she let out a breath she didn't realize she was holding. She hadn't been on Earth that long, but she knew cars, trucks, motorcycles, stuff like that...

They were not supposed to talk.

So what was it?

She decided to do some research. She walked through her house to the computer in the study. Technically, the house wasn't hers. It belonged to some rich guy out in another state called Ohio who bought a vacation house here – why anyone would by a vacation house in Jasper, she couldn't understand – and never used it. She made a deal with him that, in exchange for her stay there, she would take care of it. It was a good deal. The owner payed for electricity, water, gas, etc. She had a nice job at the town library that payed for food, clothes, and other stuff.

She sat down at the computer and typed in 'talking motorcycle.' She came up with two dozen pages of conspiracy theories, including a story about a large alien spotted at some kind of shipping container center, or docks, or something like that. She didn't pay it much attention.

She also didn't find anything specific about the motorcycle, but everything she did find said aliens or US government projects. Knowing what she knew about the universe, she figured it was the former.

Which meant she was not alone in being from off-world.

Meanwhile, light-years away, a flagship loomed near the edge of the Unexplored Region. On its bridge was a Mirial woman, dressed in black armor, a silver, circular object with a bar through it strapped to her back. The bridge commander walked up to her. "We are ready to launch," he informed. A smirk played on her lips. The Jedi hiding within the uncharted confines of the Region would not stay hidden for long.

"Thank you, Commander," she replied. She strode off the bridge and down to where her ship was located, within the hangar. She boarded the small, one-man fighter, and took off, sailing out of the hangar bay. She directed it beyond the border and focused on the faint, Force-sensitive presence somewhere within.