Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers, the movies, cartoons, shows, etc. All I own are my crazy thoughts and theories about this wonderful fandom that I love beyond the stars. As well as any OCs that may pop up in the chapters and from the depraved depths of my soul/mind.

Started: 08/02/2016 (scary isn't it?) Published: 7/6/17

Story: Life is full of wicked turns...

Chapter Warnings: Injuries due to a car accident, mild cursing.

Chapter One: So it begins...

It's a difficult decision, to sacrifice your personality, your very soul, in order to help another. To allow another to change you irrevocably, to the point that you aren't even sure if you're even you anymore. Not many people are willing to do that, they have important responsibilities, loved ones, which they are unwilling to let go. Most wouldn't even consider it. There are, however, a select few, who feel they have less to lose, and accept that decision. I never thought that I would be presented such a circumstance, nor that I would be one of the latter.

My name is Elaina, or Elly, I'm twenty-four years old, have been working at the same place for nearly six years, taking the occasional college course when I'm able to afford it, and basically a perfectly ordinary young woman. I have varied interests, including being an adoring transfan. I will be the first to admit that I'm a dork and nerd, and perfectly boring. I rarely go out, occasionally will get together with coworkers and work friends, but am pretty solitary most of the time. My time is divided mostly into work, sleep, and my leisure/reading/hobby time, with the occasional outing as previously mentioned. Finishing up yet another boring work week, dealing with annoyed customers, irritating people at work, and the overall stress of it combined, my normal, ordinary, and boring life quickly flipped upside down, quite literally in my case.

"All I wanna do is go home and pass out," the twenty-four year old resisted the urge to thump her forehead against the wheel. Struggling to contain the massive yawn creeping up her throat, she drowsily inched forward as the car ahead of her made the right turn. The bright red glow from the light cast shadows across her car's dashboard, moving as her 09' Ford crept closer to the line. She waited patiently, nearly nodding off occasionally, until the cars rushing past had vanished. Glancing at the green light, she confirmed the coast was clear, before pulling forward cautiously. This turn was the fastest way home from her work, but she always proceeded with caution with it. The intersection had a steep hill and curve, potentially hiding incoming cars from view. She had just finished paying off her car, thanks, she didn't need repairs or a replacement. She should have known that she shouldn't have tried to take this turn when she was dead tired.

Bright white lights blinded her as a loud horn bellowed out. Looking to her left, halfway through the turn, she couldn't even scream when a silver sports car sped into her, clipping the driver's side engine panel, and causing her to spin rapidly. The horn didn't come from the sports car, however, but from the semi that the sports car had been in front of. She managed to catch another glimpse of bright headlights, before the truck hit her rear. The crunch of metal was loud in her ears, the scream in her throat trapped as she felt her little Ford slam into the guardrail before everything went flying. Her seatbelt strained and bruised her torso, trying to keep her firmly planted in her seat, as her car barrel-rolled several times, rolling down an incline and into a ditch, upside-down for several centuries-long seconds, before with a mighty groan, landing right side up.

"My apologies…" she barely heard something hiss.

"B-bad, Si-de-ways," she murmured, slumping into her seat. She could faintly hear a loud voice calling her, before her door was pried open. Her chocolate eyes fluttered, a hazy red liquid dripping into them, making her vision blurred.

"Miss, Miss! My apologies, Miss! You need to remain awake!" The man was tall, she noted, his short hair ruffled and messily falling around his cheeks, but his bright blue eyes seemed to glow, a slight shadow of facial hair on his cheeks and chin. Blinking at him, as he leaned in to try and unbuckle her, his voice shifted, from panicked and scared, to soothing calm. "You are safe now, I apologize for hitting you, young one," As he lifted her carefully from her car, her nose tucked against his neck, she weakly coughed as pain radiated up her arms and legs. Breathing in weakly, feeling her vision darken, Elly idly realized underneath the diesel grease, sweat, and blood, he smelled like a thunderstorm, the taste of electricity filling her mouth and making her tongue tingle.

"T-than-ks, OP…" his eyes flickered, surprised, before concerned.

"Miss, you must remain awa-,"

The soft sounds of machines and beeping slowly stirred her awake, a strong antiseptic scent making her nose crinkle before a sneeze abruptly snatched her from peaceful oblivion. With the abrupt movement, pain slammed into the petite figure, a startled cry of discomfort bursting from chapped lips as chocolate eyes watered. At the sound, a nurse darted into the room, fiddling with the IV drip, and murmuring soothingly to the young woman on the bed. After several long minutes, Elaina managed to open her eyes again, the pain dissipating to a dull throb, until she could concentrate on the nurse's voice.

"Miss Elaina, is that better?" Nodding weakly, her head ached as she turned it, to peer at him. Squinting her eyes at him, since she wasn't wearing her glasses, she watched as he adjusted the settings on the drip, before tidying up the tiny table. She could see a couple of cards and a tiny vase of flowers, which brought a tiny smile to her face, feeling the warmth of love bubble up. Turning her focus on the nurse, she felt confusion rise.

"H-how did…?" her dry throat protested her abuse, making her cough. Gentle hands stroked her head as a small cup of water was pressed to her lips, helping her swallow a few sips.

"You were in an accident," his voice was smooth and soft, she realized, sitting back. As he explained what he knew, she studied him. His short hair was soft brown, neatly trimmed, clean shaven face, soft blue eyes, and a single scar on his left cheek, almost hidden by his hair. His form was trim and slim, tall, and surprisingly graceful, and his nametag read J. Holt. Biting her lip, to control the sudden urge to giggle, she imagined he would make a pretty handsome holoform for Jolt. Focusing on him, she frowned as she caught inconsistencies with what she vaguely remembered. According to the police, who wrote down on her chart, she had been turning onto an intersection when a sports car had sped through the red light, hitting her, and sending her into the path of a semi, which sent her rolling down into a ditch.

She thought the semi had been behind the sports car, in fact she was almost positive that she hadn't spiraled into incoming traffic, but had spun in her lane until the semi had sent her into the ditch. There was also no mention of the truck driver who had pulled her from her totaled Ford. She didn't say anything though, the truck driver had saved her, especially once James, he introduced himself as, told her that her car had caught fire soon after she had crawled out of it. He repeatedly told her that she was lucky to survive, that the fire had been small but centered on the driver's side.

Once the painkillers had fully taken effect, she had fuzzily counted her injuries, James helping her and explaining what she needed to do to take care of them. Her right wrist had several hairline fractures, keeping it in a hard splint, but she was used to that. She had weak wrists and constantly sprained them, so she knew how to handle that. Her left ankle was badly sprained, with two bones in her foot with clean breaks, so she was currently wearing what her mom un-affectionately called 'the boot.' Considering her mom's constant ability to break her feet and not even realize, she had some experience in handling that as well. She had a slight concussion, and her shoulders were pretty sore, but other than that, it was mostly severe bruising on her torso and chest. A few lacerations from shrapnel would give her a couple of small scars on her arms and thighs, but she emerged whole, and in pretty good condition.

Over the course of the next two days, her family visited her, her mom crying and babying her the entire time. A couple of her coworker friends also stopped by, teasing her about the clunky splints she was wearing, before leaving little gifts. When she was finally released, she had three days medical leave from work, which she fully intended on using to find a new car. To her utter surprise, and her family's surprise as well, the insurance company had been quick to give her a check to replace her car. Her little sister was both grudging and happy to be her chauffeur, taking her to various places. Unlike Elly, her little sister had immediately bought a sports car as soon as she was eighteen, despite the high insurance rates. Her sporty Dodge was the same year and price as her simple Ford, but with higher insurance rate, plus she was only eighteen. Elly wondered what she was thinking, but her sister loved her car and managed to afford the payments, so she didn't say anything. Now, though, Emily was trying to convince her to buy a sportier car instead of a simple and average point A to point B vehicle.

"Come on, Lee-lee! They gave you a check that was MORE than what you paid for your other car, you can afford to get a nicer car now! Maybe you'll even be able to FINALLY get a boyfriend or girlfriend,"

"Don't you think that's a little strange though, Em?" Elaina protested, watching her sister's blonde curls bob up and down as they listened to the radio. Emily was far more energetic and hyper, her dark blonde curls naturally falling to her shoulders when dry, and looking like one of those expensive perms that women are always trying to imitate. Her chocolate eyes were the same as Elaina's except she had tiny golden specks in them, and Elly had a ring of gray on the outer rim of hers. Em was always asking when her big sisters would get boyfriends, or girlfriends, as the case was in their oldest sister. Sam was more of an introvert than Elly was, and had finally admitted to thinking she was a lesbian, except she wasn't interested in actually FINDING a girlfriend.

Elly was the same, except she felt she was bisexual, but only in the respect that she found both male and female bodies sexually attractive. If only she was actually interested in sex, then she might be interested in finding a significant other. She wasn't however, interested in anything other than friendship, and her sisters and older brother constantly teased her and blamed her addiction to Transformers for it. So what if she secretly dreamed of becoming a Sparkmate to a Cybertronian, instead of marrying a squishy human? Marriage could so easily fall apart, but Spark-bonding? That was far more permanent, and something that really enticed her. She had lost a lot of friends in her childhood, it seemed that once she started to really open up to them: they seemed to drift away until she was alone in a crowded room. Her junior year of high school, she had just stopped reaching out to people. She interacted with them, put on a cheerful happy façade, was helpful and kind, but didn't really open up anymore. The few times she did, they seemed to shrug it off or disregard it, making her close back up again. So perhaps it might be strange to others, but her Cybertronian addiction pretty much was the only thing that kept her interacting normally with human beings.

"Well yeah, but hey, they gave you the check, too late to do anything about it now," Em grinned. Elaina glanced down at her lap, she had a bad feeling as soon as she had opened the letter from the insurance company. Seeing the amount they said they would reimburse her to get a new car had been stunning, she had expected maybe a couple grand, (after a long fight), not enough to possibly replace her car completely. More than that though, her medical insurance had also contacted her, said her medical bills were being taken care of thanks to the insurance of the one who hit her. Since it was considered a hit-and-run, according to the police, it made no sense at all, and left the bad feeling to multiply. Even worse, she neglected to tell her little sister that she was feeling paranoid. They had gone to several of the nearest used dealerships, the first couple had been alright, but thanks to her hesitance in regards to the check, she hadn't really picked out anything. The third and fourth dealership, however, she had spotted a truck and car. As Em had oo'ed and aw'd over the sports cars, she had wandered over to the ones that had caught her attention.

The truck was the first one she had approached, despite her practical side preferring a more gas-friendly and environmentally-sound vehicle. She allowed herself to look however, looking and not touching was one of her favorite hobbies, until her curiosity was satisfied. Circling around, her eyes caught on the license plate, which made her flush as she realized she was ogling someone's truck and not one that was for sale. However, as she noted it, her smile faded into a frown. The black truck was hot and masculine, and the plate was customized to reflect that, but it spelled out: IRNHDE. It wasn't a GMC Topkick, she noted, but it was a large truck with smokestacks, and could easily be mistaken for the alt form of the Weapons Specialist. Circling the truck again, she felt her breath catch when she saw the small Autobot symbol, before grinning and shaking her head.

"Cut it out, probably just a fan's truck. Customized plates are expensive, and the insignias can be bought at any specialty store," she murmured. She resisted the urge to touch it, though, just barely, before turning away. Unable to resist the compliment, however, she threw over her shoulder: "Handsome and gorgeous mech you are though,"

The fourth dealership had a sleek Subaru that Emily ogled for a moment, before finding a flashier and sportier car. Elly eyed it for a long moment as well, again, noticing it had a license plate, one reading BLRRBOT. A quick Google search had her giggling for a moment, agreeing that the Subaru WRX would be an excellent alt for the fastest Autobot. Of course as she walked around it, her eyes noted the familiar insignia, and her heart-rate nearly skyrocketed. "What are the odds, that I'd find TWO Autobot transfans in one day, at two different dealerships?" she wondered. Her eyes looking around, she realized something else. Both the truck and the car had been parked inside the lots designated for the vehicles for sale, not the actual parking lots.

On the way to the fifth dealership, a migraine forming, she couldn't help but notice a black SUV keeping about two or three cars between them. Due to the angle, she couldn't see inside the vehicle, but her paranoia was practically buzzing warnings. For once in her life, as she looked around the fifth dealership, she prayed to Primus that she did not find a car with an Autobot insignia. Avoiding the flashier concept cars, both because of her thrifty nature as well as to avoid seeing any possible transfan vehicles, she stuck closer to the ones within the check amount. Mentally calculating possible tax amounts, she figured she could go for a slightly better car, and pay the minimal over what the check would cover. While checking out a decently aged and priced Dodge, she felt someone yank on the back of her hoodie, sending her flailing backwards with a startled shriek. Em's laughter resounded in her ears as her back slammed into the side of a nearby car.

"OMG, Lee-lee! Your face was absolutely AWESOME!" she snickered. With a groan, Elly gave her the bird as she struggled to get back up. The crutch she had to help with her left ankle was more of a hindrance than a help, but she quickly figured a new and resourceful use for it. "Ow, Lee! Don't hit me with that thing!" As she managed to get to her feet again, the salesperson Em had been talking to, approached them. With an embarrassed flush, Elly yanked her hood down, not soon enough however. She resignedly watched the startled look then pity form on the man's face, seeing the bruises and cuts on her cheeks, his eyes dropping to the two splints and the crutch, before nervousness flickered across his face. "Here's my sister, some asshole totaled her car and ran off! Now she's gotta find a new car!" and Emily saves the day, again. The nervousness faded as the man smiled and started his usual sale's pitch, Elly blocked him out as she turned to check the car she had unwittingly been introduced to.

The very first thing she noticed was that it definitely did not belong in this area of the lot. Sleek smooth lines and curves, a highly polished silver-chrome that was nearly mirror-like reflective. "I see you're interested in our Forgiato Corvette, although I'm not sure how it got over here," the man's name tag read Charlie, she noted, as he looked confusedly at the car. At the name of the company, Elly felt a bit faint. Limping around, she let her eyes follow the smooth edges, idly hearing Em gush about the car, with Charlie puffed up and going into all sorts of details, obviously flirting with the nineteen year old. As she circled around, Elly's throat dry, her eyes landed on the license plate: SIDSWPE.

"Em, I'm not feeling too good, perhaps we should continue tomorrow?" she interrupted, hobbling over.

"Well, okay, but it'll have to be after I get off work,"

"That's fine, let's go," she ignored her little sister's inquiries, as well as Charlie's attempts to get them to stay. All she could think about was that three times in one day could NOT be a coincidence, and she needed to go lay down. As they left the dealership, she hunched down, staring intently out the mirrors, observing the black SUV had appeared again.

"Lee, ya gonna tell me what that was all about?"

"You'll think I'm crazy,"

"We're related, I KNOW you're crazy,"

"We're being followed,"

"What the fuck?"

"This black SUV has been following us since the third dealership, and for some reason I keep spotting cars with the Autobot insignias. I mean I know they're starting to get more popular now, but three times in one day, at three different dealerships? I'm lucky if I spot a cheap sticker decal in a month! Let alone full-blown metal die-cast insignias."

"Uh, Lee? What the fuck is an Autobot?" Elly's breath caught, turning wide eyes to her little sister. Staring at her for a long moment, she felt her pulse quicken. Her little sister might not have been a fan, but she knew enough to buy a bunch of transformers memorabilia for her. She KNEW what an Autobot and a Decepticon was, at the very least.

"Never mind, it must have been the migraine. You know, light concussion and all. Tomorrow's okay right? I'm sorry, I promised today,"

"It'll just have to be after four, when I get off. But seriously, are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm just tired. Um, don't tell mom or dad, okay?"

"Sure, but really, are you sure you're okay?"

"Yeah. Why wouldn't I be?" even she could hear the slight hysterical tone wavering in her voice.

"You're really pale, and your nose is bleeding." Fingertips touched her upper lip, coming away with the copper-tasting liquid.

"Shit," as she one-handed dug around for something, she wondered when the last time she had a nosebleed happen. It had really started when she had stressed out over one of her exams, she recalled, the stress had given her one of her most agonizing migraines, but she had continued studying until blood had dripped onto her papers. Ever since then, whenever she had become overly stressed out, she would get a nosebleed. So much fun at work. She finally found some tissues just as they pulled into the driveway. Elly noted as they climbed out, that the SUV had parked itself at the end, nearly hidden from view. As they walked up to the door, however, Emily pointed out the nondescript car sitting innocently in the street in front of the house.

"We're home!"

"Hi sweeties, did you find a car?"

"No, we'll be going tomorrow, Elly's not feeling too good,"

"Oh, dear. Elly, you have visitors, do you want me to ask them to come back another time?"

"Who?" Elly's question was muffled, thanks to the tissues, which immediately had her mom fussing over her. Tilting her head, both away from her overprotective mom, as well as to get a glimpse, she spotted two men dressed in suits sitting in the living room.

"You're supposed to be resting right now, see, you've gotten another nosebleed. I swear, you need to relax, and stop worrying about everything. I can drive you to work if needed, you don't have to stress out about getting a car right away."

"Mom, I'm fine, lemme go talk to my visitors," she washed her face before limping into the living room. As nervous as she was, she knew she needed to get these strangers out of the house, fast. Her little sister's ignorance to her favorite fandom had shaken her up, not to mention the oddness at the dealerships. "Sorry about that,"

"Ah, Miss Elaina, right?" the older gentleman greeted, standing and shaking her hand. The younger also stood and gave a brief handshake as well, she noted, but he was utterly silent, staring at her with a displeased expression.

"Hi, and you gentlemen are?" Her mom raised her to be polite, even if she was feeling subpar.

"I am Peter Johnson, and my partner is John Peterson," he introduced. She bit her tongue, giving them a pleasant, if confused smile. She wondered if those names were true, or just aliases, considering how ironic they were. "We are investigating your accident, we have reason to believe that the ones who hit you are in fact wanted fugitives. We simply want to go over what we know and see if you remember anything else?"

"Wanted fugitives?" she repeated, looking at them oddly. Bad feeling getting worse.

"Indeed, so anything you can recall to help us."

"I don't remember much,"

"That's quite alright, please."

"Well, I was really tired, it was a long day at work. Um, well I was at a red light, waiting to do a right turn. When the traffic cleared, I double-checked, then started pulling out,"

"Wasn't it a green light by then?"

"I don't remember, I thought it was still red, but it could have been green."

"Go on,"

"Um, I saw bright white headlights, turned to look and the silver sports car nearly t-boned me,"

"You say nearly t-boned? It didn't actually hit you?" Mr. Johnson was writing everything down.

"It did, it clipped the side of my car and sent me spinning. Next thing I know, I hear a loud horn and the squeal of brakes, before everything goes flying. I think I rolled a couple times, down into a ditch, before everything stopped moving,"

"Can you describe the sports car as well as the other vehicle?"

"Well, I know it was silver, and obviously will have some damage to its," she paused, raising her hands in front of her for a moment, "Right front bumper, from hitting me. Most likely paint transfer as well."

"Did you see the driver?"

"No, the headlights were too bright,"

"Can you describe the second vehicle?"

"Um, from the horn, I'm guessing a semi, but I didn't see it."

"So you didn't see it braking?" Mr. Peterson spoke up for the first time.

"No, but I could hear them squealing, air-brakes aren't the quietest things on the road," he didn't smile at her joke, but instead scowled at her.

"Can you recall anything else?"

"Nope, everything after that is blank, well until I woke up in the hospital. The nurse ran in to give me painkillers. He also told me a bit of what happened."

"Wait, you spoke to a nurse?" Mr. Johnson's friendly grandfather persona cracked.

"Well, yes."

"What was his name?" Bewildered, Elly glanced at Peterson, only to see him staring right back.

"Um," shrugging, "James?"

"His last name?"

"I don't remember," she lied, "He was really nice, though, why are you asking about him?"

"We believe there was someone at the hospital working with the fugitives, in fact, we're worried that you might be followed, to be silenced, by these men."

"Wait, what? Back up, what the fuck?"

"You've become involved with a group of highly dangerous individuals, Miss Elaina, and we have reason to believe they will silence you if you are able to identify them."

"Oh, is that all?" Elly felt faint, gripping her jeans on her knees.

"If you notice anything out of the ordinary, please, don't hesitate to call," Mr. Johnson pulled free a business card, handing it to her with a gentle smile. It had a single phone number, no name, just the number.

"Sure," she was positive she was about to fall over. She barely managed to see them to the door, watching them climb into the nondescript car parked on the street, leaving easily. Escaping to her room, she practically collapsed onto her bed, scooting up to curl up amidst the numerous blankets and pillows. With a groan, she turned over, eyes automatically seeking across the room to the top shelf. "Things keep getting stranger and stranger, huh guys?" it took about thirty seconds for her eyes to realize that the familiar forms of her prized trine were missing. Sitting up, squinting, thinking perhaps they had fallen over, she stared at the empty shelf. "What the fuck?!" Lurching off her bed, she climbed up to stare at the shelf. Gone. All of her transformer toys were gone. Her Seeker Trine, it had taken her MONTHS to complete, as well as her favorite Prime Soundwave, just gone. The rest of her action figures were tucked in boxes in storage, but she had kept those four out in her room, as well as the mini-Ravage USB drive.

"No, no, no, no, no," Digging through all the drawers and storage containers, she was practically in tears by the time she accepted they were gone. Grabbing her laptop, she quickly searched her browser history, stunned at the lack of transformer bookmarks. Her fanfiction sites were also missing the entire fandom, movie-verse and cartoon alike. A quick Google search only brought up electrical transformers. Grabbing her collection of USB drives, she accessed her written stories. Her heart calmed when she realized that the one USB she carried everywhere, her master USB hidden inside a necklace, had all of her transformer stories, but none of the others did. All of the fanart she had saved to her hard drive was also missing. A quick dig through her jewelry box also came up empty for her transformers-themed earrings and necklaces. "What the hell is going on?" she moaned, flopping back onto her bed, wincing as she jostled her injuries.

"There is no fragging way that I was somehow transported into their dimension," she muttered, despite having read far too many fanfics that eerily matched her situation. "Keep ya head down, Els, don't mention anything to anyone, and don't look them up on the Internet," she pouted. As much as she enjoyed imagining meeting them, she was a pessimistic realist, understanding that she wouldn't be buddy-buddies with the Autobots, and if they were real then the Decepticons sure as hell were as well. Hell, if anything, she would be arrested and thrown in the brig for her knowledge of them. Best to keep her head down and eyes closed, so to speak. If only it would be that simple.

How did you like the first chapter? Read and enjoy!