First attempt at a transformers fic. Would love suggestions for a better title!

Chapter 1

The morning after Will returned home, Sarah stared thoughtfully out the kitchen window at the truck in the driveway, her hands mindlessly scrubbing the dinner pots she'd neglected last night.

That truck was either some man's substitute for a severe inadequacy, or some rich man's play toy. From the custom smokestacks and the tow cable, to the expensive off road tires, someone had dumped some serious money into customizing it. Hell, even the running lights had been changed from the standard yellow to blue. It also looked like it was the latest design to roll off the assembly line, and though she hadn't looked inside yet, she was pretty sure it was as extravagant as the outside.

If that truck hadn't cost at least eighty grand, she wasn't an Army captain's wife. And speaking of Army captains, Sarah couldn't wait to hear the story on how Will had managed to borrow it. Or, for that matter, just who he had borrowed it from.

Steps lightly thudded down the stairs followed by Will entering the kitchen with Annabelle fussing in his arms.

Will looked a little harried. "She's harder to dress than I thought," he said, tugging ineffectively at Annabelle's shirt as she squirmed.

Sarah laughed at him as she rinsed another pot. "Get her in the highchair, she's cranky cause her breakfast is late."

"First things first," Will said and leaned close, giving her a quick kiss then playfully rubbing his stubbled cheek against hers.

"Will!" Sarah twisted away and flicked dishwater at him, grinning. He moved to retaliate, but Annabelle decided she'd had enough and began to cry.

Will looked at her helplessly and Sarah abandoned the dishes to show him how to feed his daughter breakfast.

Hours later, after Annabelle had been put down for a nap and a detour had been made by the master bedroom for a fun repeat of last night, Sarah returned to her dishes. Will followed her into the kitchen and raided the freezer, pulling out all five cartons of ice cream.

Sarah arched an eyebrow at him.

"What?" He helped himself to a scoop from each, hovering protectively over the cartons. "I haven't had good ice cream since I left."

"Finish off the butter pecan, and you'll be wishing you were still gone," she warned, and drained the old dishwater out of the sink. While waiting for it to fill again, her eyes fell on the truck.

"Will, where'd you get the truck?"

"Huh?" he asked mindlessly, focused on putting the cartons away.

"The truck," Sarah repeated, pointing a finger helpfully when he finally looked at her. "And why didn't you put it in the garage?"

Frowning, Will grabbed his ice cream and joined her at the kitchen sink. He stared at the truck, clearly shocked.

"Will?"

"Uh," Will's eyes darted briefly to her then back to the truck. "I didn't think he was staying."

"Staying? Someone was supposed to pick it up?" Sarah asked as she tackled the dishes again.

"Yeah," Will said slowly, then finally started on his bowl of ice cream, eyes glued to the truck.

"Who's it belong to?"

"Will's face took on that slightly pinched look that it always did when he was trying to figure out a way to skirt around an answer without actually lying.

"Will," she said, exasperated. "It's not like the thing is top secret."

Will's eyes widened comically and he barely managed to choke down his mouthful of ice cream.

"The truck is classified." Sarah stared at him in disbelief. "How can a truck be classified?"

"Sarah honey, believe me I'd tell you if I could, but that truck-" he took a deep breath, "that truck is out of this world."

"Uh, huh," Sarah said, and went back to her dishes. If he didn't want to tell her, fine. She'd find out eventually. She always did.

Will was home only a few days before receiving orders to report to the base. He couldn't tell her anything, other than this was the biggest assignment of his career; so she tried not to be too unhappy when Epps picked him up. She did frown at the truck after they left, wondering why Will hitched a ride and left it home when he seemed to be so attached to it. He had found a reason to be outside by the truck several times everyday, much to her bewilderment.

The first clue Sarah had that there was something strange about the truck was when her car refused to start. She carried Annabelle back into the house to finish her nap inside, then returned to poke around under the hood. She soon exhausted her limited automotive knowledge; the battery was less than four months old and she hadn't done something stupid like forgetting to fill up the gas tank, or not checking the oil regularly.

Giving up, she eyeballed the truck setting on its side of the driveway. She'd never driven a truck that big before, but she had driven a small one in college. She could handle it.

The truck loomed threateningly.

Oh, she was so doomed. It was the size of a tank! Sarah took a deep breath and gathered her courage. Annabelle needed diapers and with Will home the past week, she needed groceries. There was nothing for it.

Besides, Will had left the keys in the key basket. Top secret truck or not, she was going to take that as permission to drive it.

Sarah did a quick check on Annabelle then spent a few frustrating minutes wrestling the car seat free of her car. If that truck was going to be here a while, it would probably be easier just to get a second seat.

She carried the car seat to the truck's rear passenger door, her steps slowing as she approached. It was taller than she'd thought; the truck's side mirror was inches above her head.

It had to be done, she reminded herself, and pulled the keys out, pushing the unlock button on the remote.

Nothing happened.

Frowning, Sarah pressed it again.

After a noticeable pause, the truck unlocked.

Sarah gave the remote a shake; batteries must be going dead, and reached for the door handle.

The truck locked itself.

Sarah blinked. Huh. She pushed the button again; the doors unlocked, then immediately relocked. What the hell?

She tried the remote again, with the same result. "Oh, for Pete's sake," she said under her breath. First her car, now the truck.

Sarah tried the keys next, only to run into a new problem. It wouldn't turn in the lock.

She snapped. "Damn it, you big black beast! I don't have time for this today!" She slapped the door in frustration.

The truck gave a startled, alarm like chirp and the doors unlocked. Sarah eyed it warily, then tried the keys and the remote again. Both worked perfectly. She sighed. Hopefully it was just some sort of systems glitch. Vehicles nowadays seemed to have more computer parts that automotive. She wrestled the car seat into place, then headed inside to get Annabelle.

As she went inside, for a brief second she almost thought that she heard the truck make a low grumbling sound of complaint. She shook her head; the summer heat must be getting to her.

tbc