Authors notes: well its been a bit of a hiatus folks. More stuff than I care to mention has happened, but I think the wait was worth it. Any how I hope you all enjoy the 11th story in the "Angel" series. thanks RP1

Leagal stuff: Dont own the TF's.. dont own the song.. borrowing them both.. please dun sue me.

God Blessed the Broken Road: Part 1

I opened the door to the house bags of groceries held in one hand and had to duck as something that resembled a slice of bread came flying in my direction doing something near mach one.

"Do I even want to know?" I asked as I looked at Wheeljack and Ratchet, as they fiddled with their newest project.

"Was that toast?" Optimus chimed in as he followed me more bags of stuff in his hands.

"I think that was wheat actually." Alyssa replied as she brought up the rear.

It had been nearly a week since my family had cleared out and left both the house and the farm to Alyssa, The Autobots and My self. To say that I was enjoying my self after the fiasco that I had been forced to endure was putting it lightly. Just being able to be here and enjoy the company of my lover and my friends was complete and utter heaven.

Every one else that was around us was also enjoying them selves to the fullest amount possible. Case in point, the engineer and the medic who were in the process of doing something that involved the power converter and the toaster. Each one was poised with some strange tool and there were a fist full of wires running from each machine to the other one. I have no clue what they were trying to accomplish with all of that and to be perfectly honest I'm not really sure that I wanted to know what they were doing right then.

"Okay what have I told you two about making the toaster nuclear powered?"
That one earned me a pair of slightly numb looks as they tried to remember if I had ever mentioned anything about the state of my toaster.

"Ummm…" Ratchet tried.

"Can we have a hint?" This was Wheeljack.

I rolled my eyes skyward and silently asked the powers that be in the universe if this was their idea of a joke.

While I was doing that Alyssa had promptly come over, set her sack of groceries on the ground and was poking the contraption to see exactly what happened.

"Hey Angel," She called gleefully, "check out this setting!"

She grabbed a slice of some strange bread she liked, pumpernickel I think, and put it into the thing. Ten seconds later a blueberry muffin popped out of the thing and landed on my counter with a soft thud. I gapped for a second trying to come up with something, while Optimus thought for a second and then made a comment about it.

"Okay who showed you two the short about the Amityville toaster?"

I shook my head at that one and grabbed up my sacks, heading into the pantry. It took me a few minutes to get everything the way I wanted it in there, and some how it actually left me alone with some time to think about what all had happened in my life.

A few months ago I was standing in this self same pantry, dreading the fact that I had actually managed to finally fall in love with some one. Standing there believing that I could never make that love work. Looking back now I don't know what was wrong with me. No that's a lie actually, I reminded my self.

After my family had left me I had promised my self, and Optimus that I would quit making excuses to keep my feelings hid. The truth of the matter was, back then I had been so hell bent for leather on keeping every one else in my life happy that I was willing to throw away my own happiness. Simply put, I didn't believe, not deep down. That I deserved to be with someone like Optimus, that I didn't deserve to be in love period.

I suppose I just had, at that point let time and the circumstances of life, come at me and carve away everything that had once made me into a good person. Not that I was bad mind you. No I guess a better way of putting it was that I had gotten lost on the road of life. That I believed this was as far as I was ever going to get, and I had accepted that.

Strange that it took my nearly getting killed to show me how wrong I was. What's even stranger though is now that I look back at my life, I can see that everything I ever did, every thing I ever really wanted, it was something that was pointing me in the direction I took that night on the rainy road.

I had, for the most part, given my life to the rest of the world. As much as I loved every one in my family, the truth of the matter was I had actually chosen their lives over my own. I had done everything I could to try and make their lives easier, taken my path that put me in the position of someone who would be the kind of person who would stop on the road, in the rain, and try to save a complete stranger. Maybe it was caring about the rest of the world around me too much, and in a lot of cases, such as the recent fiasco with my family. I was setting my self up to have my heart broken into a million pieces because I couldn't live up to the expectations of those I cared for. In that instance however, the compassion that I had for the world around me made all the difference.

I finally finish up in the pantry and walk out just in time to duck as a waffle flew through space and careened off the nearest wall.

"If you make a mess you three had better clean it up!" I inform them as I head deeper into the rest of the house.

I have enough time to catch the smiles and thumbs up from them as I vanish into my bed room and dig around for something to change into that's more comfy than what I have on. I come up with my beat up old sweat pants and proceed to tug them on. As I finally get my self into the things, I turn around and notice something on my bed side table. Scorch marks. The remains of what had once been my alarm clock. Seeing them once again sets me off to thinking about how I got here.

Not just the part of my life this time that led up to my meeting Optimus. No this time I think about the things that have happened since the two of us decided that it was worth it to try and make our love last. It's been a long strange trip that has literally turned me every which way but loose. I wouldn't trade a moment of it, for anything else. It proved to me that Optimus' and my relationship is something that's going to last the test of time.

Facing down the normal problems of a married couple like, bills, and family, are really nothing compared to standing in the middle of a field full of nerve gas bunkers and staring down some one that would just love to be scraping you off the bottom his foot. No if your love can last through something like that, then it's a pretty sure thing that you love is going to last period. All of which finally reminded me that the object of my affections hadn't been seen since we got home. Meaning that there was no better time to go and look for him.

I got back to the kitchen and found now that only Alyssa and Jack were the ones working on the contraption that had once been my poor toaster. They seemed to be engrossed in doing that while the Lambo twins and several of the others took up the table for their most recent pet obsession.

"Hey guys," I called.

"Sup?" Alyssa looked up from her bunch of wires, "where have you been all after noon?"

"Me?" I shrugged, "just kind of relaxing, you know?"

"So that explains the sweat pants from the Jurassic era," Sunstreaker chimed in.

"Shut up golden rod," I snarked back, "So has any one of you guys seen Optimus around here any how?"

"He took off out to the barn for a while. Something he and Ratchet had to take care of out there." This came from Prowl as he faced off against the yellow Lamborghini.

"I see," I had to grin, "So how's it going any now?" I leaned over and studied what they were doing.

"Well he's ahead by about three thousand," Prowl made a face.

" That's right logic boy," Sunny smirked, "And there's not a thing you can do about it!"

Now I had to grin, "You do realize that's MY deck he's playing with don't you?"

"Say wha?" I could almost hear Sunstreaker swallow.

"Have fun boys," I called and headed towards the door.

I had my hand on the knob and was about to head out when Alyssa caught my attention. "Hey wait up! Lemme walk ya out there."

"Don't you want to stay here and work on the project?" I blinked.

"Hehe, Jack can handle it with out me for five minutes, I just want too talk to you for a second."

I had to shrug, "Okay."

A few seconds later we were walking up the path to the barn, which had been converted into the mini HQ by the autobots when they had come down to find me and Optimus.

"So what's on yer mind kiddo?" I asked.

She stopped us for a second, "Listen, I just wanted to make sure that you are okay. After all that happened, I know that it took a lot out of you."

"Did I miss something?" I blinked.

"No I just wanted to see for my self," She made a dismissive motion; "I know how hard it is to deal with relatives."

"Well yah, there is that," I stopped and stared up at the sky for a second, "but you know what?"

"No tell me?" She grinned back.

"I think that every thing that's happened here over the last two weeks has actually been beneficial. Any lingering doubts I had about this craziness I call love have finally been put to rest. If our relationship can make it through all of that intact, I'm pretty sure that the love Optimus and I have can survive any thing."
"That's good," Alyssa nodded, "I'm glad to see that for one time in your life you're actually being reasonable."

"Yah I know," I had to smile at that, "Sign of being hopelessly smitten."

"No really? I hadn't noticed that at aaaaaallll?" She grinned again and rolled her eyes skyward.

I would have said more at that point but a wail of utter and complete defeat came from the kitchen that we had left. It came from poor Sunstreaker and was the result of Prowl having handed him his skid plate once again.

"Oh," Alyssa suddenly fumed, "I could just wring your neck for showing them that stupid card game!"

"Your just mad cus you suck at it." I shot back.

"And you had to loan your super powerful, "I have every butt kicking card in here on the planet" deck to Prowl just to take him down didn't you?"

Now I grinned at her through the growing twilight, "Some one has to knock

C-3PO back down on occasion don't they?"

"You do know he hates that nick name?"

My smiled broadened, "Now my dear why in heavens name do you think I gave it to him?"

She shook her head and gave me a playful shove in the direction of the barn.

"Go on, go find your hubby," She waved and headed back to the house, "Make sure he's staying out of trouble."

"This IS the same Optimus were talking about right?" I raised my eye brows.

"GO ON! GIT!"

I had to laugh about that but I finally made my way up to the barn and stuck my head in the door.

"Rion? Ratchet?" I looked around not spotting either of the autobots I was looking for.

The place was pretty much shut down for the night, with the Dinobots, firmly ensconced in their "rooms". I was about to head back to the house guessing that they snoozing saurians were the only one's there, when I caught the conversation coming from the back end of the room.

"Well?" came Optimus' voice.

"Just hang on a second will you?" Ratchet shot back.

That was the part of the HQ that had been set up as the med bay, and so any conversation coming from that area immediately made my ears perk up, so to speak. I walked back there, but I made sure to take my time and go slow so that I could get what they were saying and not walk in on them in the middle of something important.

"Ratchet?" Optimus asked again.

"Alright already! Gezz!" The medic fussed, "There I'm done."

"AND?" the leader prompted.

"And…" Ratchet shot back, "it's just like I said. There is NOTHING physically wrong with you. In fact, you're in some of the best shape that I have ever seen you in, for a change."

"Okay then Mr. Smart Alec," I could see Optimus' shadow now as he sat up on the scanner. "Then why do I feel this way?"

"The only thing I can tell you is its something Mental." Ratchet sighed, "And that could be any number of things."

"Which means more tests right?"

"Yeah," I could almost hear him make the face. "It means more tests."

Okay there was something wrong with my man, and that prompted me to suddenly pop around the corner and demand to know, "When were you planning on sharing Orion?"

"Aw…" I know he said something foul under his breath, but thankfully Ratchet managed to contain it. "I told those bozos to lock the doors!"

I ignored him and proceeded to pounce on prime. "So?"

"So what Angel?" he actually had the gall to try and look innocent about all of this.

"So I heard everything," I crossed my arms and looked at him, "Now spill."

I could tell he was thinking for a second about what to say, and how much to hide from me, so I proceeded to inform him that I wasn't going to take that.

"Look, hiding something like this wont protect me, in fact it might actually put me in danger. If something is wrong with you and you don't get it fixed, then there's more of a chance something will happen. Now for the last time, what's wrong?"

I guess that got my message across because I could actually see him wilt some and look away from me.

"I don't know what's wrong Angel, that's the problem."

"Come again?"
He looked back at me, "Two days ago I started having headaches. Then this morning when I got up I was having strange… Sensations… run through me. I don't know what could be causing it but I need to find out. I'm sorry I hid it from you."

"Well I'm glad that you…" I suddenly trailed off as something down right wrong occurred to me.

"What?" He asked, "I know that look, what did you think of?"

I ignored him for the moment and turned to Ratchet. "Oh doc?"

"What?" The medic snarled.

"Uhhh... remember that one battle where Optimus got a concussion and I picked up on what was wrong with him?"

"Yah…you had a mental…" now Ratchet trailed off. "Sweet Primus, that never even occurred to me!"

I nearly fell over and had to sit down I started laughing so hard. That had to be the last thing he was expecting me to do.

"Did I miss something?" He looked at both of us.

"You sure the hell did boss," Ratchet told him, adding his cackles to my own.

I composed my self and got Optimus down off the scanning table.

"Babe," I snickered, "I got some explaining."
"Oh boy," He rolled his eyes at me, "Lemme guess?"

"Hey," I shrugged, "I'm actually happy about it. After everything I've been through. If I'm still following normal patterns I'm starting to get over everything."

"There is that," Ratchet snickered.

"Well," Optimus shrugged, "Just one more thing on the road of life I suppose."

"Yah," I cuddled around his arm, "Let's go back to the house. I've got some stuff up there that will help the situation."

Optimus looked back at Ratchet for a second, "go on scoot." He waved, "I'll be up when I shut this all down."

"Well so now what?" Optimus asked as we left.

"Now we go back and relax," I snuggled up against him again, "It's nice to know what after the crazy road we've been down, life's getting back to normal."

"That's the truth love," He hugged me to him. "That's the truth."