Hey, everyone. It's me. Listen, I have some news to tell you. I have reread this story so many times that I realized that I didn't like it one bit. So, I decided to give it an entirely new plot and characters. It will be a little angsty and not much humor, but not serious drama either.

Someone a long time ago also asked why Dinobot and Rattrap had not made an appearance. Well, I wanted one character voice by McNeil to be in here, and since I ship Silverbolt with Blackarachnia, that was the final cut. I just need to keep myself organize, and I so appreciate the support if you guys helped me out to the end.

Warning to the haters of Sari that she's in here. But if she ever did appear in TFP, I think Scarlett Johansson would have voiced her, making her a more older and more mature character.

P.S. The titles for the chapters are in Latin. A glossary will be posted in the last chapter. Et vivet in lege!

Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers: Prime or any related contents. I only own those you don't recognize.

1. Spero

Arcee and Jack had been transported from the Autobot base when they found out the Decepticons had discovered it's location. However, they were to be alone. It was Optimus' idea for them to be separated until they could regroup somewhere, though they did not know where to be exact.

Their setting was in the evening somewhere in the eastern front of the United States, trees surrounding them as the two drove down a long highway. Jack had just told Arcee how the Decepticons had captured him and the other two. When he was done, she told him in a fuming tone, "They won't get away with it, Jack. I swear, if they did anything to hurt you or Miko or Raf, I will make them pay."

"Arcee, we're fine," Jack said, trying to calm her down. "I know how it is since you lost Cliffjumper and Tailgate, but I don't want you to strain yourself."

Arcee sighed heavily. "I know, Jack."

"And sometimes, well, no, a lot of the time it actually makes me worry about you."

"Aren't you always worried?"

"Yes, but I just want you to be there for me in the darkest moments."

"I'm always going to be there for you, Jack," Arcee said. "Like your parents are there for you, I'll be there. Always have, always will."

Jack exhaled, relieved to hear how she still cares for him. Like Bulkhead for Miko, Bumblebee for Rafael. It made his heart skip a beat for a while. It stopped swelling when he thought of what could happen now that they were separated from each other. So many questions stirred in his mind. Did Optimus, Ratchet, and Smokescreen escape? Did they survive? Are the others alive? Where were they? How will they meet up? Which one of those questions will he ask first?

"Arcee, about the others," Jack said, trying to keep his voice from straining, "I'm worried about them."

Jack heard his guardian sigh. "I know, Jack. I can't help but wonder if they got out of there alive myself."

"Do you think the Cons could have caught them before they did anything to the base?" Jack questioned without thinking. "I mean, what if they decide to come after us?"

Arcee seemed surprised before it was replaced with a frown. "Let's just stick together," Arcee ordered. "Jack, if we do see any Decepticons, do not run off unless I say so. Got it?"

Jack groaned. "Fine."

"And Jack?"

"Hmm."

"Don't strain yourself if I end up as scrap."

Jack laughed as they took a curve. Arcee smiled, relieved to hear him laugh. That was when she saw it. She slowed down and pulled to the side of the road.

"Arcee?"

"I just want to check something out," Arcee assured him. "Stay put." She disappeared into the forest.

"Okay," Jack said to himself, though he was unsure.

Arcee had noticed the strange drawing on the tree. She saw that it looked more like a Chinese symbol with the saying 'Ringer forever!' under it, signed by some kid named Coby. Arcee frowned. Apparently this person was beyond strange.

"You sure are strange," she told herself before she heard a sound of sticks breaking. Her hand was replaced with a blaster as she went to the source of the sound. When she turned a corner, she saw a squirrel scamper away. She chuckled to herself and turned. But once she saw the tree behind her, her optics widened.

Jack was getting a bit impatient. Arcee had been in there for seven minutes. He was getting a little bit hungry by now and there was no sign of his guardian. So, he went to go look for her. As he walked down the path, he noticed tons of signs with people's names written under them. Soon he found her, but she was supported against a tree, the same eerie feeling there was when...

Oh no.

"Arcee?" Jack said as he ran over to her. "Arcee, what's wrong?"

"I...I..." She couldn't bring herself to answer.

Jack went around the tree and saw something that caught his eye. It was a strange symbol. The center was an upside duck footprint with funny looking c's that made up a face. To his surprise, the entire thing was painted black. There was a circle around it with the centers being slashed. Imprinted under it was a slogan stating "I would rather die an outcast than become the enemy I loathe to be." It was signed by a girl named Sari Sumdac.

"What's that?" Jack asked.

Arcee got up and looked around. "Please," she prayed breathlessly. "Please say they're here. Please say my savior is alive."

"Arcee, who?" Jack nearly shouted aloud.

Arcee immediately transformed. "Hop on!"

"Arcee, what's going on?" Jack demanded.

"Just get on," Arcee snarled.

Jack obeyed and they sped off. "Arcee? Please tell me what's wrong."

"Jack, please," Arcee whispered. "Not now."

That was when she heard it — the sound of an engine before she saw headlights on the highway connected to the road they were on. She picked up the speed to get to the stop sign before the car could.

"Arcee, what are you doing?" Jack panicked.

"The engine — it sounds familiar," Arcee breathed. She cried out and screeched suddenly to a stop as a huge, green truck nearly ran into them, almost causing them to flip over. But Jack held on tightly as Arcee skidded safely to a stop. Jack and Arcee yelled as they stopped on the other side of the road.

"Jack, are you okay?" Arcee asked.

"Yeah, I think so," Jack gasped. He turned to the truck to find one of the doors opening. Oh, great, he thought. Just what we needed. At lease until he saw who it was. "Miko?"

"Jack!" Miko cried out as she sprinted over and hugged him. "You guys are alive."

"Arcee? Jack?" the truck asked as it transformed into a hulking mech.

"Bulkhead?" Arcee exclaimed as she, too, transformed.

"You guys! I thought we would never see you again!" Bulkhead nearly shouted in relief as he ran over and crushed Arcee into a hug.

"We thought you guys were caught by the cons," Jack said, looking up at him as he tried to pry Miko off of him. "Jeepers, Miko, I'm not going anywhere."

Miko smiled before playfully punching him. "Weakling."

"Funny."

Miko seemed overwhelmed. "So, now what do we do?"

"Miko," Bulkhead started.

"What?" Miko asked as she looked up at him innocently.

"You know what's going on?" Bulkhead said. "We're going to our meeting place with Wheeljack."

Arcee glanced up at Bulkhead. "You guys have a meeting place?"

"Yeah," Bulkhead answered. "We established one in case of incidents like this."

Arcee paused and thought for a moment before asking, "Can we come with you?"

"What? Like we're gonna leave you two out here to fend for yourselves? Of course you can come with! Why wouldn't you?"

"Wait, what about Jasper?" Jack asked, mentioning his old hometown.

"That we'll try to figure out," Arcee told him. She transformed. "Right now, we need to find a place to rest."

"She's right," Bulkhead said as he transformed.

Miko cocked her head and looked at Jack before she climbed into Bulkhead. Jack got onto Arcee before they took off.

A couple days later, a fire was set up for the kids, Arcee and Bulkhead watching over them peacefully. The night had gotten cold and Miko huddled closely to the fire. Jack leaned against a tree. He sighed, "Looks like we're stuck in a rut."

"You're telling me," mumbled Arcee, looking up at the stars.

Miko rubbed her arms in an effort to keep herself warmer in the cool night. "I'm worried."

"Don't be," Jack said. "I've said that many times." He looked up at Bulkhead. "What happened after you and Miko left?"

"Rough ride, that's what we got," Bulkhead told him. "It wasn't that much fun, but we managed to get out of St. Louis."

"Huh," was all that Jack could say.

Miko sighed. "I just hope the others are okay," she spoke softly, rubbing her forearms. "When Bulkhead and I left instantly, I didn't think the rest of you—"

She suddenly hiccuped. "I'm just scared right now. Not just about Optimus or Ratchet or the other guys, but for everyone in Jasper. Did any of them survived or escaped? I mean, why do I feel like as if something..." The girl couldn't bring herself to finish as a tear leaked out of her eyes.

"Something is going to happen?" Arcee finished.

"Yeah," Miko sighed.

"Like what?"

"What if the Cons don't get us first? What if something else does like in those cartoons from the nineties?"

Jack frowned. "It's just us — the humans, Autobots, and Decepticons. We're so far the only living things in the galaxy. I mean, what else does the universe hold?"

Arcee's sensors began to pick something up. "Scrap."

"Decepticons?" Bulkhead asked.

Miko perked a little bit, causing Jack to become uneasy. He knew how Miko was when it came to battle. Practically, all of Team Prime knew how she was.

"No, not that I know of," Arcee responded, causing Miko to pout. "But they're coming in from that direction. We've got to hide and fast."

Miko grumbled as Jack put the fire out, grabbed her and hauled her to where Arcee and Bulkhead were hiding in the foliage of the forest, just as a boy around eight dragged his dad to where they last where.

"But I swear I saw it, I promise," the boy said as he glanced around letting go of his father's hand. "It had claws and everything..."

Jack craned his neck to hear better.

"Clifford...There are no such things as winged wolves, you probably just saw a deer."

"But it was big with bird legs and these humungous golden wings with tail feathers," the boy said, showing just exactly what the animal looked like.

Arcee and Bulkhead looked at each other confused. Wolves with wings and talons? Was that even possible?

"That's not possible, is it?" Miko whispered to Jack.

"Please don't get me started," Jack mumbled.

"Clifford, the forest can play tricks on you," the father said as he gently placed a hand on his son's shoulder. "You're probably just excited about going to the museum tomorrow. Now, let's go back, we don't want your mother leaving us behind again.

"Okay," the boy mumbled as the father guided his son away from them.

Miko waited until they were gone before she stepped out into the blue. "What was that all about?"

"So, you were saying?" Arcee asked, making Jack glare up at her.

"Do those things exist?" Bulkhead asked.

"Does what exist?" Jack asked.

"Wolves with bird wings."

"No," Jack assured him.

"Then why did the kid say he saw one?"

"You heard the guy," said Arcee. "The forest can play tricks on you."

"Like that one time where you thought you saw Airachnid, but it actually turned out to be a regular spider?" Bulkhead said, trying hard not to laugh.

Arcee didn't seem happy with his remark, causing the kids to snicker.

"Now is not a good time to say that," she hissed at a smirking Bulkhead before she turned to them all. "We'll head out on the open road when Wheeljack comes. Hopefully we'll find the others along the way. They could be anywhere in the country, or the continent. Until then, it looks like we're on our own from here."

"So, where will we go then?" Miko asked.

"There is a town not far from here in the southeast," said Bulkhead. "But the problem is that we don't have any money for it."

"I might have some leftover money in my pockets," said Jack.

"I think I do, too," said Miko.

"Then we should be okay," said Arcee. "You two should get some shut eye now."

"What about you guys?" Jack asked.

"Yeah, don't you guys sleep, too?" questioned Miko.

"Of course we do!" exclaims Bulkhead. "Why else do our optics go offline?"

"Hmm, fair point," Jack mumbled almost sarcastically. He walked over to Arcee, who had settled herself against a tree before he set himself against her. Miko climbed atop of Bulkhead who set himself by some boulders. Before they knew it, the kids were asleep.

"Arcee, do you think the others made it out alive?" asked Bulkhead, also concerned about Wheeljack.

"I don't know," Arcee groaned, flopping her head onto her right shoulder. "I really want to know if they're okay myself."

"What do you think caused Prime to separate us?" Bulkhead wondered.

"Probably a malfunction he thought would happen," said Arcee. "I don't know. We all were never too graceful. Remember the time when we first arrived on Earth and you walked into those power lines?" She chuckled at the memory, causing Bulkhead to frown in a moody way. "Who knew you could dance like that?"

"Ha ha, very funny," Bulkhead mused.

"I'm sorry, but it was funny the way you were hopping around," Arcee giggled.

"Hmm," Bulkhead said thoughtfully. "Hey, Arcee, I know we asked this before, but does the forest actually play tricks on you?"

Arcee threw her head back slowly as she looked up at the sky. "I don't know, Bulk. I don't know." She did not also know about a pair of electric blue optics that had followed them to camp.

So, what do you think? Good? Bad? Let me know what's on your mind about this. R&R!