A/N: This is my new, and hopefully improved, version of Transformers: Alliance. While I enjoyed writing Alliance, it was my first attempt at writing Transformers fanfiction and I found some errors in it. So I have taken Transformers: Alliance down and rewrote it into this. A Fateful First Encounter is still the prequel. The title is inspired by When We Stand Together by Nickleback, I think that's a good song for my Alliance universe. I hope you all enjoy this and please feel free to tell me what you think!

Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers or any of the characters in it. I do own my OCs Aly Rose and Zoe Smith.

Tick, tock. Tick, tock. The rhythmic ticking of the clock, the humid air, and her teacher's droning voice were slowly lulling Aly Rose to sleep. Quickly she pinched her arm to try to wake herself up. Aly let out a small sigh, why did time have to be against her on a Friday? Her freedom was only mere moments away, but it felt like time was stopping. She took a quick glance out the classroom window to see if a yellow and black Camaro was still parked outside. When she saw that it was still in fact parked there, she turned her attention back to her teacher's lecture. Aly kept imagining that one day her Camaro was just going to disappear and she would discover that the past four weeks had just been a dream. That she hadn't really almost been killed by a giant alien robot and had been rescued by another. That the robot that had rescued her was called Bumblebee and he could transform into a Camaro. That Bumblebee hadn't taken her to meet the other Autobots on Earth, Optimus Prime, Ratchet, and Ironhide. It was too unbelievable to actually be true. But it was, and that fact never ceased to amaze her. Of course, she was the only human that was actually aware of that. Her parents and friends at school were clueless to the fact that aliens even existed, and they never would believe that she was friends with some and that her car was one. Bumblebee wasn't just her car though; he was also her friend and guardian. The Autobot leader Optimus Prime had assigned him that role after she had met the Autobots.

"Mademoiselle Rose now is not the time to be off in La-La Land."

"Désolé Monsieur Burke," Aly replied in French, her face turning red from embarrassment.

Aly let her blue eyes look back up at the clock before focusing back on her teacher. Only three minutes left of class and then she could leave. Another weekend of hanging out with the Autobots was sure to be fun. Well at least for the most part. Aly was having a hard time getting along with the Autobot's weapons specialist Ironhide. He didn't like the fact that a human was hanging around the Autobot base, and he made no attempts at hiding that fact when Aly was around. It probably didn't help that she would get snippy with him whenever he started to be rude. If there was one thing Aly could not stand, it was rudeness.

I should just bring Sherlock with me this weekend. I'm sure Ironhide would just love that, she thought to herself.

Her parents had given her a small grey and white kitten a few days before she had met Bumblebee and she had named him Sherlock after Sherlock Holmes. She had brought him over to the Autobot base once and he had tried to climb on Ironhide the entire time. It had annoyed Ironhide to no end and Aly had had a hard time trying not to laugh at the scene. She hadn't been the only one though judging by the look that had been on Bumblebee's face.

The sound of the bell ringing brought Aly out of her thoughts. She quickly grabbed her stuff and rushed out the door. After a quick stop at her locker she was outside heading towards the parking lot where Bumblebee was at.

"Hey 'Bee," she greeted right after she had climbed inside and closed the door.

"Hey Aly, how was school?"

"Same as always, which means it was extremely boring."

"Really? I think school sounds interesting."

"You wouldn't think that if you went to it. Wait, did you guys not have school back on Cybertron?" Aly asked.

"I don't know if there were any or not. I came online after the war had already started and there weren't any schools then. Maybe there were some before the war started; you would have to ask Optimus, Ratchet, or Ironhide about it."

"I might ask them sometime. So what's on the agenda for this weekend?"

"I don't know yet. Do you have any martial arts stuff this weekend?"

Aly smiled. She had been taking martial arts lessons ever since she was six after her mother had heard that martial arts could help kids with ADHD focus better. Lessons were usually on Tuesdays and Thursdays, but occasionally she would go to the gym and practice some on the weekends.

"No, I'm taking a break this weekend. So any Decepticon attacks lately?" Aly asked brushing a strand of her red hair out of her eyes before looking out the window to see if she saw her friend Zoe coming yet.

"So far there hasn't been any sign of them at all."

"I suppose it's too much to hope that they've decided to just up and leave Earth?" Aly sighed.

"Probably," Bumblebee replied. "But in a way it's a good thing that they haven't left. If the 'Cons leave, we'll probably have to leave too."

"That would suck. I don't want you guys to leave."

"Really, not even Ironhide?"

"Well now that you mention him… nah I guess not, though there are times I do wish he wasn't here."

"Ironhide will lighten up eventually Aly. Just give it time. Besides the two of you have stuff in common already."

"What?"

"Well you both can't stand each other and you both can have bad tempers," Bumblebee teased.

"Gee that makes me feel so much closer to him," Aly rolled her eyes. She took another look out the window and saw Zoe heading towards them. "Here comes Zoe, we better stop talking now."

A few seconds later Zoe opened up the passenger door and climbed inside.

"Hey Alley Cat, not good to be talking to yourself in public. I'm your friend and I love you, so I'll overlook it, but you know how other people can be."

"Well you know I had to answer the voices running through my head. Wait. Alley Cat?" Aly questioned.

"That's my new nickname for you. Your name is Aly and you have a cat, so Alley Cat," Zoe explained.

"Technically Aly is my nickname since my full name is Alyson."

"Yeah but your parents and some of the teachers at school are the only ones who call you that, so Aly is really more your name than Alyson," Zoe pointed out.

"Whatever you say Zoe," Aly sighed in defeat. "What took you so long to get out here?"

"Ugh your French teacher, that's what. He caught me somewhat running in the hallway, so I had to hear him say, 'Miss Smith, the hallways are not for running. Walk in them like you are supposed to.'. Hello, it is Friday afternoon and I do have a life."

What sounded like a small chuckle drew Zoe's eyes to the Camaro's radio. Zoe Smith had always been told that she had good instincts. Her dad liked to joke with her that no one would ever be able to trick her because she would be able to tell if there was something she wasn't being told. Zoe normally would agree with her dad, but lately she wasn't so sure about that. Zoe had been close friends with Aly since she was three and Aly was two. They told each other everything and didn't keep secrets from each other… or at least that's what Zoe thought. Lately she couldn't shake the feeling that there was something that her friend wasn't telling her and she felt like it had something to do with Aly's Camaro. It was silly, but she really thought that there was something weird about it. There would be times that she or Aly would say something and then suddenly the radio would cut off. Aly would always shrug it off and say that the car had radio problems, but Zoe wasn't so sure. It had always struck her odd that Aly had been able to afford a brand new Camaro with the price range her dad have given her. It wasn't that Aly's family couldn't afford a new Camaro, Zoe was sure that Thomas and Elizabeth Rose made enough money for one, they just didn't like to show it off. Aly's story had always seemed farfetched to Zoe as well. Some guy just randomly happened to be selling a brand new Camaro and dropped the price so a sixteen year old girl could buy it? That was something that didn't happen every day. But Zoe decided to ignore it and trust Aly. She knew her friend enough to know she wouldn't do something stupid like steal a car – she had to have bought it somehow. But every time Aly gave Zoe a ride home, she would get this weird feeling that there was something about it that she wasn't being told.

"I swear at times I feel like this car is haunted or something," Zoe muttered.

"Don't be ridiculous Zoe. There are no such things as ghosts and even if there were, this car is pretty new and I'm pretty sure no one has died in it," Aly replied, giving a small glare to the steering wheel.

"Whatever, but maybe that explains why that guy let you have it so cheap. You might want to think about that when your car is randomly switching radio stations. So what are you going to do this weekend?" Zoe asked while she pulled her blonde hair back into a ponytail.

"Umm I'll probably just hang around here," Aly said. "What about you?"

"My mom is taking me and Abby to the beach tomorrow. She says it'll be good for the two of us to get some Vitamin D. You should come with us Aly. Nothing interesting ever happens here, you'll die of boredom. Plus you're paler than me, you need some sun."

"I can't get a tan without getting a ton of freckles, you know that. Besides I'm sure I'll find something interesting to do here," Aly smiled.

The smile on her friend's face made Zoe feel like there was some joke she was missing. After that the two girls remained in an uncomfortable silence for the rest of the way to Zoe's house. When they arrived, Zoe quickly hoped out and told Aly that she would talk to her later and if she changed her mind about the beach to give her a call. As soon as Aly drove away Zoe walked up to the door of her house. When she discovered that the door was unlocked, she realized that something was not right. Her mom wasn't home from work yet and Abby was still at daycare, there was no reason for the door to be unlocked. What if someone had broken into her house and there was a chance that they were still there. Maybe she was being too paranoid, she did watch quite a few crime shows. It could just be her Aunt Maggie coming over to visit. Yeah, that was probably what it was.

Hesitantly she opened up the door and stepped inside. Next to the door there was an umbrella that her mom kept in case it was raining. Zoe picked it up and held on to it tightly as she started through the house. It wasn't much of a weapon, but she needed something to defend herself with if she was attacked. When she entered the living room, she found her intruder. Sitting in one of the chairs was a man that she had never seen before in her life.

"W-who are you?" Zoe demanded fighting, and failing, to keep her voice steady.

"Miss Smith," the man said standing up. "I'm from a government group called Sector Seven. I need to ask you a few questions."

"You didn't answer my question," Zoe said taking a few steps back.

"You don't ask the questions Miss Smith. I ask the questions. And you will answer the questions I ask. But if it makes you feel better, I'm Agent Simmons. Now my next question may seem a little strange, but have you recently noticed any strange activities?"

"Strange? Are you serious? This is like the most boring place on Earth. Nothing strange ever happens here," she scoffed. "Where's my mom? I shouldn't be answering any questions without her here, so stay back." Zoe popped up the umbrella and pointed it at Simmons.

"It's bad luck to open an umbrella indoors. As for your mother being here, there shouldn't be a problem as long as you're not trying to cover up something. That would be a mistake to cover up anything. Do you want to go to college Miss Smith? Get out of this little place and go somewhere exciting? Because if you lie to me or cover up any vital information I need, I'll make sure there's not a college in the world that will accept you. Not even clown college. Now I'm going to ask you again Miss Smith. Are you sure you can't think of anything odd that's happened?"

"The strangest thing that has happened here is that my best friend was able to buy a brand new Camaro from some guy who practically just gave it to her and I think the car could possibly be possessed. Nothing I'm sure you are interested in. Actually scratch that, the strangest thing is having some random guy break into my house, claim that he's from the government and start asking me questions and threatening me. I make good grades and I am a good student. You can't keep me out of college! My parents have been planning on me going to college since before I was born!"

"This Camaro, could you describe it?" Simmons asked, ignoring the last part of what Zoe had said.

"It's a new model I think. It's yellow with black stripes and has a few little decals – I think that's what they're called – on the sides that look like some sort of face. It has radio problems apparently because it will occasionally turn off by itself. I don't know much about cars so that's all I can tell you. "

"Interesting. Do you have any pictures of this vehicle?"

"No."

"I see. Do you think that this car could possibly be a NBE?"

"A what?" Zoe questioned. "I told you it's a Camaro."

"A Non-Biological Extraterrestrial," Simmons sighed. Uneducated kids, they really needed to be teaching these sorts of things in the curriculum these days.

"Like ET? Something like that?" Zoe asked. "Are you on something? Aliens do not exist and Aly's car is not one. I don't know what you want, please leave."

"You're wrong about the aliens Miss Smith. Here's my card, call me if you find something suspicious. Your information could be valuable. Princeton, Harvard, Yale. I can make it happen for you. Think about it. Think about it really hard."

Zoe stepped back clutching her umbrella and pointing it at Simmons as he walked out of the house. She waited until he was out of sight before looking down at the card in her hand. She started to crumple it up before she stopped herself. She didn't believe in aliens and had no plans on ever calling this Agent Simmons dude, but she wanted to have proof whenever she told Aly about this. Zoe imagined that her friend was going to get a kick out of some dude thinking that her car was actually somehow an alien.

"Sector Seven," Zoe said to herself. "Never heard of it. Time to Google."