xxxxxx

Camp Bell, NV

xxxxxx

What had started as a bar fight had ended when the aggressor heard the sound of a shotgun being snapped shut and felt the air at the back of his head move as it was leveled with his body.

"What the fuck," the girl behind him spat out "do you think you are doing?"

He didn't dare open his mouth, instead he turned around slowly and raised his hands little by little. It was only after he turned around he realized that along with the sawed-off shotgun carrying femme fatal, there were two other girls with her, all holding some sort of hand cannon.

"Better answer her," The girl on the left, wearing tight fitting blue jeans and white t-shirt. "She hates it when she's ignored."

Legs shaking the man took his chances and bolted out the front door, just making it to the door jam when a fist stuck itself in the path of his face, causing him to summersault and land unceremoniously on the ground with a thud, a fourth girl appearing from behind the wall. "I didn't hit him, he ran into it!"

The girl with the shotgun slung it over her shoulder, grinning a little. "Grab'em girls. We'll dump'em at the county line."

xxxxxx

Grinning with satisfaction as two of the girls tossed the troublemaker onto the ground just outside they county line, leaving him a bottle of water and a small amount of bus money before turning around and heading back for their cars.

"Still don't get why we leave them water and bus money." One of the girls roller her eyes, leaning on her black Ford pick-up truck.

"Because," The girl with the shotgun answered, stowing it away in the back of a red Chevy Suburban, "We're not murders. Just the local peace keepers."

"Yah, Ironhide!" Another girl called out, leaning on her yellow Corvette, sporting a yellow and black jacket and blue jeans. "Not all of us can act bad-ass like you. Some of us actually have hearts."

"Willing to test that theory, Bumblebee?" The girl called Ironhide retorted, fists held up like she was ready for a street fight.

"Knock it off you two." The first girl growled, getting into her car. "Acting like kids."

"Sorry, Chief." Ironhide replied, shrugged her shoulders and getting into her truck.

"Yah, sorry Optimus." Bumblebee said, climbing into her own car and starting the engine.

"Good," Came the leader's reply over the CB radio. "I'd hate to have to feed you two to Red Alert, or worse yet, Ratchet." Optimus grinned, setting the radio back into it's cradle, knowing full well that both girls were shaken up.

xxxxxx

Tranquility, NV

xxxxxx

Sam groaned realizing that the music wasn't come from his alarm clock, but Bumblebee sitting in the driveway. His mother was already knocking on the door.

"Sam? I think Bumblebee wants you up!"

Well, duh. Sam sighed, rolling out of bed and scouting his floor for the jeans he had tossed off the night before. He pulled the on before pulling a shirt from his dresser and heading downstairs, grabbing his toothbrush on the way and doing a quick job on his teeth before heading outside.

"What, what, what, what?" Sam said, leaning on the hood of the car and leveling his gaze at the hologram sitting in the driver's seat.

"You promised we would head out early. It's almost noon!" Bumblebee replied, revving his engine a little. "It is a good thing that I convinced you to pack and put it in my trunk last night."

Sam rolled his eyes. "Yah, yah. Hold on." He said running back into the house to tell his parents he was off for his summer vacation trip and he'd be back in two weeks before running back out and climbing into the passenger side of the idling Camaro.

"Lets go, Bee."

xxxxxx

Mikeala pushed the strap of her bag over her shoulder, making sure she had everything she would need before locking the front door behind her and heading down the steps. "Morning, Ratchet." She said, tossing the bag into the back of the waiting medic before getting in on the passenger side.

"Good morning, Mikeala. Did you have a proper stasis cycle?"

Mikeala, out of habit, glanced at the radio. "Proper wha? You mean did I sleep well?"

"More of less." Came the semi-smug reply.

"Yes, I did, Thank you." She rolled her eyes a little, grinning slightly. "What about you?"

"My stasis cycle was uneventful."

Just once, She told herself. I'll get him to say he slept well.

"Anyway," Mikeala began. "Did Bee and Sam make it there yet?"

There was a pause and she knew he was contacting Bee. "Bumblebee says that him and Sam just hit the road a little under forty-two minutes ago."

"Great." Mikeala rolled her eyes. "Is Will still coming?"

Another small pause. "Ironhide says he is still trying to wake the sleeping human."

Mikeala giggled a little. "So it looks like we're at the middle of the pack then."

"It would appear so. Optimus won't be leaving with Maggie until tomorrow since she has to work. He says that Glen believes he has come down with something called 'Hunger Sickness' and won't be joining us."

Mikeala could hear the pain in the medics voice at the made up sickness, she grinned a little. "Just say it, Ratch."

"Well, I know I'm new to human medicine, but 'Hunger Sickness'? Is that even a real illness? You think they could have come up with a better name for it."

Mikeala grinned, remembering why Ratchet was her favorite.

xxxxxx

Camp Bell, NV

xxxxxx

"Good work today girls." The girl known as Optimus said, sitting with her feet up on the desk in the wooden house, grinning a little to herself. "Once again, the population here, all seventy of them, is safe from outsiders."

Ironhide rolled her eyes, cleaning her weapon. "Yah, until the next idiot decides they want to raise trouble when they find out this town doesn't have a set police force."

Bumblebee chuckled, having shrugged of her jacket for a plain back t-shirt. "Hey, don't be all pissy just because Ratchet yelled at you for your suspension being all messed up."

"Honestly!" Ironhide growled, slamming her fist down on the counter. "Damn, Mechanic has it out for me! I told her over and over that I didn't see that damn ditch! It isn't my fault that those damn overhead lights don't light up the ground as much as I need them too!"

"Still," Came the smooth reply of the coverall wearing, grease stained, girl leaning on the doorframe. "It looks like you hit that thing doing fifty." She said, holding her hand up when Ironhide went to reply. "I've warned you about your speed before."

"Oh, shut up."

Ratchet rolled her eyes, pulling off the coveralls to revels a blue shirt with the words 'Camp Bell Volunteer Fire Department'. "Keep up that talk and I'll tell Red Alert to not use any Morphine next time you get a hole in your shoulder."

Ironhide sneered. "Just like you to hide behind your sister." She said, watching as said girl walked up and tossed her arm around Ratchet. She was also sporting a blue shirt, but this one read 'Camp Bell First Response Paramedic'.

"Quit your bitchin'." Red Alert said, moving to sit on the nearby bench. "Or I'll prescribe some industrial strength PMS pills." She said, laughing when Ironhide's reply was the middle finger in her direction.

"Anyway," Red Alert began. "Sensors couple hundred miles out picked up a speeding Camaro heading in our direction. Looks like trouble."

Optimus nodded, setting down her freshly opened beer. "We'll have to wait and see. But for now, prepare for trouble."

xxxxxx

Route 36, NV

xxxxxx

"Jeeze, this place is just desert, Bee. We couldn't take the scenic route?"

The Camaro revved his engine. "If you hadn't slept in so late, maybe. But we need to make up for lost time if we plan to get there before the others."

"Okay, but I'm hungry Bee, and I need to use the bathroom."

"My sensors indicate there is a town fourteen miles ahead. At my current speed I will reach there in just under twenty minutes, can you hold out that long?"

Sam rolled his eyes. "Cheeky Camaro." He sighed, looking out the window, he could almost hear Bumblebee chuckle at him over the sound of his engine. Just before they were about to enter the town he felt the car swerve a little and the engine's noise die down.

"You alright, Bee?"

"Something has punctured two of my tires. I will need to stop in town and wait for Ratchet to catch up."

"Great," Sam said as they neared the town.

xxxxxx

Camp Bell, NV

xxxxxx

"Direct hit!" Bumblebee grinned, doing a little dance when Ironhide had confirmed that the hidden spikes they had laid out had hit the back two tires of the Camaro.

"Yah, yah." Ironhide grumbled. "Lets get back into town, Optimus wants us all ready for them."

xxxxxx

With Sam and Bee

xxxxxx

Sam stood up and stretched his legs a little, looking around him before leaning on the roof of the car, watching Bee's holographic driver stand up and do the same.

"I feel like I'm in a western." Sam observed, looking around with a shrug. Bumblebee rolled his eyes, following Sam as he wanted into the nearest building marked 'Trading Post'.

The clerk looked up with a soft smile, putting his news paper down. "You boys look a little lost."

Sam chuckled sheepishly with a small grin. "Heh, yah. We are on our way to a campout with some friends when we got a flat."

"A flat tire, eh?" The clerk said, moving from behind the counter and look out the window at the yellow Camaro. "Nice set of wheels you got there. Not a classic model, but nice all the same."

Sam chuckled to himself see Bee's hologram swell with pride at the complement.

"It does alright," Sam sighed, ignoring the glare from Bee. "Right now I'm just looking for something to eat and bathroom."

"You can use the bathroom here." The clerk said, pointing towards the back of the store. "There's a restaurant down the way, you can get some good home style cooking there. As for getting your tires fixed? Well, Ratchet can get you fixed up with those, best damn mechanic in all these parts."

Sam and Bee glanced at each other before turning back to the clerk. "Thanks." Sam said, heading off towards the rest room.

xxxxxx

"Does Ratchet come out here when we're not looking?" Sam asked Bumblebee while they walked down the dirt road, looking around at the building around them.

"I don't think so." Bee admitted, following Sam around. "I doubt he would have the time."

"Odd." Sam admitted, walking into the restaurant and taking a seat at the counter. The waitress gave him a smile as she walked over. Sam ordered some food and turned around in the seat, leaning on the counter with his elbows while he looked out the large windows at the town outside.

He paid for the food and they heading back outside, just in time for Bee to tell Sam that someone was poking at his tires.

Sam looked up when they reached the car, not spotting anyone right away except for a black pick-up that had parked itself next to Bumblebee. Sam went around the other side to see a girl crouching down by the back tire, her finger tracing the hole.

"Can I help you?" Sam asked, standing over her. She looked up with a grin on her face, a small amount of grease smudged on her nose.

"Checking out that nice breathing hole in your tire." She said, shrugging at him. "'Ole Jericho in there said he had a couple of out-of-towners talking about a blown tire."

Sam looked over at Bee who simply shrugged.

"And you are?" Sam asked, turning back to the girl.

She held her hand out to him. "Name's Ratchet. I'm this town's mechanic."

Sam blinked. "No you're not."

"What?" Came the confused reply, another girl walking up behind her.

Sam held a hand out just above his head. "Ratchet is about this tall with blond hair and blue eyes. Oh, and he's male." I think.

The girl looked over her shoulder when the other one who had approached put an arm around her shoulder. "What's going on here?"

"Ironhide," The girl began. "This kid's claiming I'm not me."

"Ironhide?" Sam echoed, holding his hand out a little lower than he had with Ratchet's height description. "No, no. Ironhide is this tall with black hair and blue eyes. He's a total gun nut and is defidently also male."

Now the other girl was glaring at him. "Listen, Kid, I don't know who you think you are, but you can't just come into town and start saying people aren't who they are."

"But, I know these people. You are not them!" Sam said a little louder then he wanted too. Both girls were now glaring at him just as a yellow search and rescue hummer pulled out behind Bumblebee. Mikeala jumping out of the cab and walking up to Bee's hologram.

"Hey, we got your message. Which tire?" She asked while Ratchet's hologram walked up to Sam.

"What did you hit, Sam? Both back tires? Primus."

Sam blinked wildly between the two girls, the hummer, and Ratchet's hologram.

"I... you... what?!"

"What's wrong Sam? Who are these two?" Mikeala asked, coming up behind Sam and putting an arm on his shoulder.

"Mikeala, that's Ratchet and that's Ironhide." He said, blinking and looking between the two Ratchets.

"What?" Mikeala whispered, looking at the two girls. "But Ratchet is-"

"I am right here, Mikeala." The Autobot replied from his new position next to Bumblebee's hologram.

"Right, and Ironhide is-"

"We went through this already." The female Ironhide sighed, rolling her eyes at the two teens. "Jeeze, is everyone from outside of town this stupid or what."

"I feel like I'm in a paradox of some kind." Sam groaned.

"Tell me about it. Imagine what Ironhide is going to say when he gets into town."

"I'm right here!" The girl yelled, growling at teens. She turned to Ratchet's hologram. "Hey, tall, blond, and handsome, what's your name?"

"I am Ratchet."

"Not funny!"

"No really, that's my name."

"But that's my name!"

Bumblebee sighed, rolling his eyes from his seat on the curb.

"And I thought one Ratchet was bad enough." He chuckled to himself.

"I heard that!" Both Autobot and Human yelled, glaring at him.