Hey all! As I promised, here is the beginning of the sequel to my original Transformers fic, "Project Seven". Now, I don't want you guys to be expecting updates every week as I did with the original. They're going to be somewhat sporadic. And this chapter might be a little slow for your tastes, but I need to establish new life for Cat and the Autobots. Things will progress, I promise. Just be patient my friends.

For those of you who have never read Project Seven, you may be somewhat confused as to some characters and their pasts, as well as their abilities, namely Cat. You can always check out my profile and find the original story to catch up on where all of this is. Or perhaps you would rather just start with Soul Recon. It's your choice, but I'm warning you now, you will most likely be lost in the storyline, and I would hate to believe that someone chose not to read my story because they were confused, or not up to date on the subject.

I'm all excited about this new release! I can't wait for your reviews and to watch the hit counter tick away! Don't be shy to say what you think, I want to know!

Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers. There will be both subtle and outright hints of FullMetal Alchemist, and just so you all know, I do not claim ownership to FullMetal either. I DO, however, own soul custody of the character "Cat", who is also the character that shapes my story.

Please Enjoy!

-----------------------------------------------------

There were many years after the battle between Autobots and Decepticons. In those years, the humans and the Autobots had many different adventures, and met many new characters. These are the tales of those events.

---------------------------------------

September 1st, 2007

Moving and New Toys

It had been five months since the battle at Mission city, and Sam and Mikaela had gotten up early in the morning to meet the Autobots at the Lookout one last time before the big move. Both the government and the transformers decided that the best way to keep the new residence comfortable was to clean out the Hoover Dam's old laboratories and make room for them. Bumblebee had decided to stay with Sam, and Mikaela, and Catherine had decided to move to the Dam with the others.

"So are you guys all ready?" Sam asked.

"There really is nothing to prepare. The government is taking care of all of our needs at the new facility. All we really have to do is go there," Optimus replied with a shrug.

"It's going to be weird, not having any of you around anymore," Mikaela said sadly.

"Yes, I imagine that it's going to take some time for us to get used to everything ourselves, " Ratchet replied.

"Where's Cat?" Jazz asked, wondering why she was not with the other two humans.

"We couldn't find her before we left. We figured she was with one of you guys," Sam replied.

"No, we haven't seen her all week," Ironhide added.

"She's probably out by herself again…" Mikaela commented crossing her arms and frowning.

"She's still running off on her own?" Optimus asked.

"Yeah, she just never got used to a normal bed to sleep in, or sitting around the house like a normal college-aged girl. And whenever she was around the house she was always pacing, or sighing, or trying to fix things. Drove my parents crazy!" Sam replied.

"I told her to stop doing that! She still doesn't have full capabilities of her body!" Ratchet scowled.

"I don't think that's going to stop her, Ratchet. She's been insisting on doing things on her own ever since she's settled in," Mikaela replied as she looked at her watch," Well she needs to get here soon, you guys are supposed to be on the road if you're going to make it in time to meet Secretary Keller at the Dam."

"Hi guys!" Cat said as she walked up to the lookout, everyone turning to face her.

Since turning around from being a starved science project, to gaining new human legs and having to learn how to walk, the once skin and bones girl had bulked up and was already beginning to get around on her own, for the most part.

"Where've you been?" Sam asked.

"Oh, just out and about. Getting things ready for today," she replied with a smug grin.

"Things? Since when do you have things?" Mikaela pondered aloud, wondering what it was besides the clothes that they had packed the night before that Cat had in her possession.

"Oh, nothing really. Just some extra things… Are we all ready?" Cat changed the subject.

"Cat, are you sure you want to leave us?" Mikaela asked, now even more upset.

Cat smiled and said, "Yeah, I think that it's for the best for right now. I can learn a lot from these guys and I think it'd be best if I went back there… I think I need to go there as the new me…"

Sam and Mikaela looked to each other with gloomy looks, and then back to Cat.

"Well don't forget that you're always welcome here if you want to come visit," Sam reminded.

"Or if you just want to stay for a really long time!" Mikaela reached forward and hugged Cat, Sam doing the same after laughing.

"You guys are coming to visit a lot I assume, though, right?" Cat asked.

Even though Cat had never managed to get along with other humans, she felt very fortunate to have Sam and Mikaela, as well as Sam's parents, who treated her like one of their own. She considered them the only humans that she could trust with her own life. Other than those four, she only felt safe around the Autobots. She figured that she only felt that way because of the fusion with her former friend, Five, but she couldn't help but feel the way that she did.

"Well, school's starting for us again, so not as often as we'd like. But you can bet we'll be there on all the major holidays and breaks," Sam replied, putting an arm around Mikaela for comfort. They both wanted their friends to stay.

"And we're going to call practically every day, so don't stray too far away from the phone, "Mikaela hugged Sam back with an arm around him as well.

Cat chuckled and looked at her watch.

"Well, we better get going… It's not going to be too long before Keller is going to start wondering where we're at," she said softly.

"Yes, we should go now," Optimus agreed as he and the four transformers who were leaving turned into their alternate car modes.

Ironhide pulled up to Cat and opened his driver's side door to let her in. Before she could climb in she felt a giant hand wrap around her and launch her off of the ground. Before she knew it she was face to face with Bumblebee, who blinked his optics at her sadly.

"Forgetting someone?"

Cat smiled and said, "Of course I wasn't going to forget you! How could I do such a thing?"

Cat patted the yellow Autobot's hand regarding him with a warm smile. His blue optics brightened and he set her back down on the ground. She climbed in Ironhide and waved as the door shut. Sam and Mikaela waved back as the blue semi truck lead the group out of the park, and onto the main highways.

After traveling for a few minutes, Ratchet drove up next to Ironhide and only said, "Ironhide," in a warning tone.

Cat looked over to the Hummer form of the medic with a questioning look, as she knew the truck would send the same look had he not been transformed into his car mode.

"What?!" he asked annoyed, before his car form shuddered with realization.

Cat was still looking over at Ratchet with a strange look when the driver's side seatbelt flew around her and buckled her in safely.

"What's this about?" Cat asked.

Ironhide sighed and replied, "We had a discussion a couple of weeks ago, and it was agreed that we shouldn't travel with ya humans unless you're buckled in."

"Why?" Cat asked.

Jazz drove up to the other side of Ironhide and replied, "Jes' in case we're in an accident, or attacked. That way if any o' that happens, you guys don't get tossed around or thrown through the windows."

Cat sighed and replied, "You shouldn't worry about that with me, remember? I'm not exactly completely human!"

"But you're not exactly completely armored either. It's just a precaution, Catherine," Ratchet replied.

The girl put her hands behind her head and closed her eyes with a smile, "Fine…"

Optimus radioed in and said, "I'm glad you're agreeing to this, Catherine. We were afraid that you would put up an argument about being restrained."

"Yeah, well. I'm in a pretty good mood today, so I'll let it slide," she replied opening her eyes and winking at the radio.

"I thought you'd be more upset about leaving Sam, Mikaela and Bumblebee," Ratchet said with a strange inflection.

"Well I am upset about that, but in a way, I'm kind of excited to be going back to the Dam," Cat replied, closing her eyes again.

The four transformers were caught completely off guard by that comment.

"But I… I thought you disliked being there? You made a big fuss about not wanting to go back there to get the Allspark!" Ratchet caught back up with Ironhide again.

"It's different now… I didn't want to go back that time because I was afraid of being recaptured. And now I'm a different person. I've come to terms with my past and have been able to let go most of the pain that was caused from living there," Cat replied.

"Just most of it?" Optimus asked.

Cat reopened her eyes and softened them as she looked at the new sunrise, "I can forgive myself for most of the pain that was caused to me while living there… But there's some pain that I can't ever forget. There are some wounds that never close…"

"What wounds?!" Ratchet asked, now actually scanning the girl from head to toe.

Cat laughed and replied, "The metaphorical ones."

After driving for several hours from Tranquility, the five friends managed to arrive to the Dam on time. They drove off to the side of one of the mountainous regions located on the Arizona side of the Dam and rounded on the secret entrance, only entering after making sure that no human was watching them. As soon as they were all in, and the main door had closed, Cat jumped out of Ironhide's cabin and the mechanical giants transformed into their humanoid forms. As soon as this was done, Secretary Keller appeared from inside one of the offices nearby.

"I'm so glad that you all could make it in such good time!" he exclaimed cheerfully.

"I'm afraid that I've never gotten the proper chance to thank you for such a generous amount of living space," Optimus replied, looking around the area.

"Ah," Keller waved a hand at the Autobot leader, "this was no trouble at all. I feel better knowing that we're doing what we can to make your stay more efficient and comfortable for you. It must have been a little tight trying to stay quiet in an urban neighborhood."

"Yes, it was getting to be a little difficult to stay in our alternate modes all day and night, "Ratchet agreed.

Secretary Keller glanced over at Cat, who was looking around the area, remembering things from when she had grown up there.

"Miss Andrews, I'm glad that you decided to stay here as well," he said cheerfully.

Cat looked over to the man and did not change her expressionless face.

"Have any of my things arrived yet?" she asked calmly.

"I'm not sure. I haven't heard anything from shipping yet, so I would assume not," he replied.

"Let me know when they do…" Cat replied back to the man as she walked out of the garage area.

"Would you like someone to accompany you to your new living quarters?" Keller asked.

"I'm fine… thanks…" she replied as she left.

As the girl left out of sight, Optimus turned to the Secretary and said, "I am sorry for her attitude, Secretary. She has not managed to put her trust into other human beings, ever since her fusion with Five."

Keller laughed and said, "It's okay, really. I understand how she must feel towards me. She must think that I was involved in her growing up environment…"

"No, I do not believe she thinks that. It's nothing personal towards you. She just has a distrust for humans altogether," Optimus explained.

"I see. Well, it's understandable either way. Maybe it will just take more time for her to understand humans better. I can't blame her for how she feels, " Secretary Keller replied with a nod.

"Thank you for your understanding, Secretary. I'm sure Catherine will thank you at some point as well," Optimus replied.

"Yes, I'm sure she will…. Well! Shall I show all of you around?" Keller asked, clapping his hands together happily.

"Of course. Thank you," Optimus nodded.

---------------------------------------------------

It was nearing the end of the day, and Sam and Mikaela were back at the lookout, along with Bumblebee, watching the sunset.

"Do you think we should-" Mikaela started.

"Give them some time. They'll be all right, Mikaela, just stay calm. Cat said she'd call once she got settled in and I'm sure she'll keep her promise," Sam reasoned.

"I just can't help but worry… I mean, there's still the probability that there's a Decepticon or two out there waiting for them," Mikaela replied, her worry getting to her.

Bumblebee couldn't help but let Mikaela's worry get to him as well, as he revved his newly started engine at the two. Sam and Mikaela turned around, Sam giving their friend a big smile.

"You see what you're doing to Bee?" he asked Mikaela with a laugh.

Mikaela smiled at the poor Autobot and said, "I'm sorry Bee… You shouldn't be scared just because of me."

Just as she said this, her new phone jingled with one of the tones that was built into it. She quickly reached into her pocket and grabbed the phone, pulling it out and answering it in a rushed voice.

"Hello?!" she asked.

-Mikaela? Hey! It's Cat!-the cheerful voice rang through.

Mikaela smiled and nodded to Sam and Bumblebee.

"It's Cat! Hey, did you guys get there okay?" Mikaela asked.

-Yeah, we're all fine. Except none of my things have gotten here yet… But everyone's good. They're all being shown around by Secretary Keller right now.-

"You were more pleasant towards Keller this time weren't you?" Mikaela asked, looking to Sam who stopped smiling hearing her ask that question.

-Oh come on… Don't gripe at me right now, please?-Cat groaned.

Mikaela shook her head at Sam who shook his head as well.

"Just give him a chance for us, okay? He's done nothing but treat you like a daughter and all you can do is-" Mikaela insisted.

-Hey! My stuff is here! Hey, I'll talk to you guys later, okay? Gotta run!-Cat said her goodbyes and hung up quickly.

Mikaela looked at her phone and then to Sam, who was looking to her with great anticipation.

"She's never going to give that poor man a break," Mikaela said with a sigh.

"So, they're all okay then?" Sam asked.

"Yeah, they're fine. Went off without a hitch!" Mikaela replied with a sigh of relief and a smile.

Bumblebee revved his engine happily at hearing this.

-------------------------------------------------

Cat hung up the phone quickly, hoping that Mikaela wouldn't question her any further. She got up quickly from the office that she had called from and walked, quickly to the shipping docks. Upon arriving, she saw several boxes, to which held her new clothes and frowned.

"Is this all that came?" She asked the loading dock manager who was writing on his clipboard.

"Are you expecting anything more?" The man asked, not looking up to her.

"If I weren't, would I have asked?" She replied sarcastically.

The man looked up at Cat with a raised eyebrow.

"Nothing else has arrived, to my knowledge. I'll be sure to let you know if-" the man was interrupted by his radio blaring from his belt.

Cat watched as the man held a finger up to her, telling her to hold on a minute. She grumbled at being ignored in such a way, but she crossed her arms and waited. The man mumbled things into his radio and listened as someone on the other end talked. He looked up to the girl with an eye raised.

"Something has just arrived at the garage where you and your friends arrived… I guess it's for you…" he informed her.

"Good…" she said, walking away.

Walking through the corridors, Cat couldn't help but let herself get angry at some of the past memories. Some of the last times that she had walked through there, she was shackled and being escorted by guards, and monitored by lab technicians.

"Catherine?" The familiar voice of Ratchet rang through the hallways.

Cat turned to see him walked out of one of the laboratories, along with Ironhide and Jazz. They couldn't help but notice how she was tearing through the hallways in an angered state.

"Hey guys…" she returned the greeting and looked to them.

"Is everything all right? You seem upset," Ratchet asked.

Cat sighed and let her anger subside, giving them a newly formed smile.

"Everything's good, actually. I've got a new toy that's just arrived. You guys wanna come see it?" she asked with a mischievous grin.

Arriving in the same garage that they had arrived in just a couple of hours beforehand, a large moving van had parked backwards inside the garage. There was no writing on the side of it, but a man in a black uniform stood at the back of the truck, looking as if he were waiting for someone.

"Miss Andrews?" he asked.

"Yeah, that's me," she replied, still grinning.

The three Autobots looked to each other with questioning looks. Cat had not informed them of what it was that she was expecting, so they were all wondering what it was that she had gotten excited about.

"Just sign here for me," the man handed her a clipboard.

Cat, gladly, signed the paper that was given to her as the man took a string of keys and rifled through them finding the key that he was looking for. He unlocked the key on the back of the truck's door and it flew open.

The Autobot's optics widened as they saw what was before them.

Cat grinned, wildly as she and the man pulled the ramp down from the back of the truck and climbed in. In just a few moments, Cat walked down the ramp carefully, guiding her new toy off of the ramp, and set it in front of her three friends.

"Well? What do you think?" she asked, looking up to them.

Before the Autobots was a two-wheeled contraption, with an engine attached to it's body. The frame was black, with red and orange flames printed on the sides.

"What is it?" Jazz asked.

"It's the world's fastest motorcycle! The Suzuki Hayabusa GSXR thirteen-hundred!" It can actually go quite a bit faster than you guys!" she said proudly.

"What's going on?" Optimus asked, Secretary Keller and him walking back into the large garage area.

"I do not approve of this!" Ratchet scowled.

"Why's that?" Cat asked, her smile fading as she overlooked the motorcycle.

"You could be seriously injured on something like this! Killed if nothing else!" Ratchet snarled.

Cat sighed and said, "Well, that's why I'm going to be extra careful!"

"You cannot tell me that you plan on being careful, when you just said that it could go faster than any of us?!" Ratchet asked.

"I didn't say that I planned on going that fast whenever I'm on it! Just when I really want to, or really need to!" Cat spat back.

Ratchet turned to Optimus and said, "Do you see this?! Just try and tell me that your logic circuits don't find anything wrong with this!"

"So this is what you've been after me for, huh?" Keller walked to Cat and overlooked the bike himself.

"I'm sure that Catherine plans on being careful, Ratchet. Even if it is as dangerous as you say it is," Optimus eyed Cat with a fatherly look.

"She probably doesn't even have the knowledge to ride it! If she doesn't know what she's doing she'll kill herself, no matter how careful she is!" Ratchet snarled.

"You don't have to worry about that, Ratchet," Keller said as he eyed the fine machinery in front of him proudly.

The Autobots turned to him.

"What's that mean?" Ironhide asked, just as worried as Ratchet, but impressed at the bike in front of him.

"I made her take classes and get the proper license for it. I told her that I wouldn't allow her to buy it off of her government stipend until she was fully trained. She did good on her part, so I did good on mine," Keller said as he looked up to Cat and smiled.

"Optimus, I still must give my disapproval of this!" Ratchet announced.

"Yes, well. Everything seems in order here, Ratchet. Unless Catherine shows neglectful use of it, this is her decision. I'm sure she'll behave herself," Optimus reasoned.

"Of course I'll behave!" a strange, twinkling smile was on Cat's face, which of course made her four friends cringe.

"I almost forgot!" the truck driver walked back up the ramp into the truck for a moment before reappearing with two boxes.

"Oh, right! I'm going to need those!" Cat smiled as she opened the smaller box sitting on the bigger one.

Pulling out another box, Cat turned and showed her friends her new helmet.

"See? I'm being responsible!" she giggled as she took the helmet out of it's own box and put it on, making the needed adjustments.

"Well, I should be going," Keller said as he looked to his watch.

"Thank you again for your hospitality, Secretary," Optimus thanked.

"It's not a problem, really. Just give me a call if you need anything else!" The Secretary replied as he waved to the group, walking out of the room and heading for the helipad.

The truck driver closed the back door to the truck, locking it up again and left the building.

"What's in the other box?" Jazz asked.

Cat took off her newly adjusted helmet and set it on the seat of her motorcycle. She reached in the bigger box and pulled out a heavy, black and white jacket. It had padding on the front, back and elbows of it.

"Awesome! It looks better than it did in the store!" Cat said happily.

"When, exactly, have you had the time to take classes, and get your motorcycle license?" Ironhide asked, looking over the impressive bike.

"I've been taking the classes during the day. I'm surprised you haven't been told about it by Sam, Mikaela or Bumblebee," Cat replied, trying on her new jacket.

"Bumblebee knew about this?!" Ratchet asked.

Cat smirked, "Yeah, well. Who do you think drove me to the classes?… Actually, I asked them not to say anything for a while," Cat admitted, pulling bits of cardboard pieces and plastic wrapping from her helmet.

"Why would you do that?" Optimus asked.

"Well I wasn't going to, originally. But then Sam's mom heard me and the other two talking about it and freaked out on me. She gave me the longest speech… After that I absolutely knew that I had to keep most of it under wraps, because I knew I'd probably get worse than a speech from everyone else," she shuddered at the idea of all of them being on her case.

"So you thought that if you just did all of this in secret, we'd have no objections once you actually did it, because you would have already gotten everything taken care of," it was more of a statement, than a question from Ratchet.

"Basically, yeah," Cat nodded with a bright smile.

The Autobots watched as Cat mounted the motorcycle and took some keys out of her pocket. She put them in the ignition and turned the key, the motor starting to purr. Cat smiled and looked over the bike as she shut the engine off again.

"Anyway, it's kind of late to be taking it out now. I'll get up nice and early for it's first run," Cat explained.

She looked up to her four friends and asked, "So, how do you guys like your new place?"

"The facilities here are very spacious. I think we will do just fine. Have you found your new quarters?" Optimus asked.

Cat looked down at her motorcycle the cracks of her mouth turned into a slight frown as she began locking her helmet around the handlebars of the bike.

"No, not yet…" she replied, paying attention to what she was doing with her bike.

"Secretary Keller informed me that they remodeled some of the living quarters into a large apartment space for you. I'm surprised that you haven't gone to look it over yet," Optimus wondered aloud.

"I'm going to be doing that here in a few minutes, actually…" Cat replied.

"Do ya want us to go with ya?" Jazz asked.

"No, it's all right… I'm quite capable of being on my own," Cat replied as she set her bike in it's own spot in the garage where it wouldn't be bothered.

"We should probably get ourselves settled in as well, "Optimus motioned for the rest of them to leave her be.

"Oh, right! Yes, well we'll see you tomorrow, Catherine," Ratchet nodded as he and the others walked out of the garage area.

Cat watched them leave and smiled. She appreciated them wanting to help her in any way that they could, but she needed to reintroduce herself to this place alone. After all, it was only a few months ago that she had made her escape from the same place that she now planned to live in.

Cat sighed and walked out of the garage and into the corridors. The once, dark hallways were now lit up completely. It seemed like a different place, so she knew that she needed to give it a chance. She walked to the nearest elevator and hit the call button.

"I think my room's on the eleventh floor," Cat thought to herself as she walked into the elevator and hit the eleven button.

The elevator arrived to the floor, and she walked down the corridors. At the end was a thick, white door with the number "7" on the door.

"Ironic…" Cat thought as she took out some keys that she was given by Secretary Keller a month back when she had agreed to move in with the others.

Unlocking the door, Cat slowly pushed it open and her eyes went wide with surprise.

Walking into the room, she was greeted by the setting of the sun through the floor to ceiling tall windows. The windows were on either side of the room, which was so wide that starting from the left to the right, there were the windows, then the dining room area closest to her, in the back of there was the kitchen; looking down the middle of the room was the hallway which led back to two bedroom areas and a study, then finally to the right was the living area, completely furnished with a fifty-two inch plasma screen television and furniture. It was all furnished from a completely full kitchen with a refrigerator, dishwashing machine, and stove, to the smallest of coffee tables in the living room.

Cat looked around and noticed that next to her room door was a large garage door, big enough for a car to fit through.

"Imagine that! It's also Autobot accessible! Probably a request from a certain medic," Cat laughed to herself as she knew that there was going to be a way for Autobots to get in, in case of emergencies.

"This will definitely do!" Cat smiled as she jumped onto the new, soft couch and relaxed, watching the sun set as she fell asleep comfortably.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

And as always...

Chapter Teaser!

They had finally settled onto a horror movie, and merely an hour into it, Sam and Mikaela had fallen asleep. It was getting somewhat late and Cat was about to wake the two to make sure that Mikaela got home before her mom called angrily for her. As she got out of the chair, her eyes suddenly caught something outside. Cat stood, frozen, looking out of the window. The room was dark enough so that no one could really see in, but Cat could see, very clearly, who was on the outside.

Manipulating the special lens in her left eye, she zoomed in on the big blue SUV that sat outside the home.

-Someone didn't learn their lesson the first time…- Cat quietly walked out the back door and grabbed her keys on the way out, leaving her jacket and helmet.