*** Hello, everyone. You might not know me, then again, you might, but anyways, I'm just a mediocre writer who likes to write things for fun, whatever it may be. This story was started and finished a while back, but since there were so many mistakes, such as scenes I never put in out of impatience, I've decided to re-write the whole thing.

Now, if you've already read this horrible, awful thing, you don't have to do it a second time. However, you may miss a few things that are important to the story, and just might affect the sequel if I ever get on to it.

Just as a reminder, this was written a long time ago, and even though I'm rewriting it, I don't want to stray too far from the original idea.

Anyways, here we go!

Dulled eyes drifted slowly from side to side in the crowded auditorium. Their owner briefly took a moment to yawn, uninterested. Today was the day of her high school graduation, something that was supposed to be one of the happiest days of her life. That first step to becoming independent and getting her foot in the door to starting a self-sufficient life.

But it wasn't. Not at all.

There were no proud parents sitting in the crowd, taking pictures and smiling like all the others. There were no friends to cheer her on, or congratulate her for being at the top of her class. No one to even speak to her.

Everyone flat-out avoided her. No one wanted to talk to the girl with the long chocolate hair, whose eyes hadn't been seen in months because of the low hanging bangs. No one wanted to talk to the 19 year old who had been held back for truancy. No one wanted to even look at the orphan, the delinquent, the witch.

Even the speaker's voice was monotone as her name was called, no honors awarded despite the high probability she had earned them. She took the ribbon-wrapped diploma, slightly bowing her head to the principle before heading off the stage to sit in an empty chair among the other students. A few snickers accompanied her presence; even the most under-developed had had something positive said about them. She had gotten nothing.

Her locker emptied, her backpack grabbed, she was done with this establishment. A quick change in the bathroom got her out of the blue robe, which she threw away in disdain. A detour through a secluded hallway got her out of the building without any trouble. A few students were loitering in the back, calling out a few sneers as she headed down the sidewalk and on her merry way.

She let her thoughts wander for a moment. Was their callous demeanor out of fear? Fear of her, from what they'd seen she could do? It had only been once, however it had happened, but there was no taking it back. The unprovoked hatred they felt towards her was irreversible.

So the young adolescent by the name of Laura Blake was walking home, heavy backpack on her shoulders, a black turtleneck protecting her from the cold breeze that hung in the air. Some graduation, although it wasn't like she had expected any different. Her days were usually spent like this. She gave a heavy sigh as she took a sharp turn into the woods to take a shortcut.

Although little to her knowledge, it was on this day that her world would be completely turned upside down.

Laura jerked as a thunderous sound echoed through the forest, and she probably wouldn't have heard it if she hadn't been cutting through the grove to get home.

She stood there motionless for a moment, a small chill going up her spine. A sound resembling an explosion sounded, and her heart leapt in a mixture of fear and apprehension. The brunette knew this was probably going to end horribly, but nevertheless she crept through the trees towards the source of the constant booms and bangs. She pushed the thick foliage out of her way as she wandered into the brush, finally being shoved into the open by the backlash of a branch. She tripped to the ground, but stood almost as quickly, dusting off her knees and looking into the open field around her.

Looking back at this moment, she would probably say her heart stopped completely,

Countless forms lay to waste on the ground before her, twisted and broken metal in silver and purple hues. Some of these strange figures were still smoldering, sparks flying from torn holes in the frames.

A sharp, almost snapping sound make her gaze shift forward, and her jaw fell open.

Standing before her was… something that towered high above her. Its surface shone with a metallic sheen, its form colored with a scratched silver, red, and blue paintjob. Her mind reeling, she looked it up and down over and over again.

Its form was almost… human. Like a giant, humanoid robot. Arms, legs, a torso, a head; everything was there, although in odd proportions.

Still, despite its height, its size, and how alien it was, she was beyond amazed at this creature. It was nothing like she'd ever imagined, nothing she had ever read about or seen on TV. It radiated power and held a sort of nobility to it, and it was fascinating.

Although… the red titan wasn't the only thing there besides her. Spiraling in the air above the giant were two deep purple shaded aircraft, shooting ammunition that reminded her of some sort of red laser.

The robot staggered as it was hit in one of its large shoulders, retaliating as its hands turned into giant cannons, shooting off shots of blue light of his own.

Wait, his? Well, if these things did have genders, it certainly seemed like a 'he'.

She gasped as it fell over, knocked back from a blast from a missile. She saw it struggle to get up as it was bombarded with more and more firepower. Laura stood there motionless, heart racing as she debated inwardly. Giant robots were fighting to, judging by all the mangled forms around her, to the death, and the red one was losing to two jets that were hovering in midair.

"Ha! Can you believe it, brother?"

Laura's eyes widened. Did… did one of them just speak? No… it must have been the pilot over a radio or something. Regardless, a response came from the direction of the other jet. "I can see it, but I don't believe it! Optimus Prime taken down by the two of us!"

Optimus Prime? Was that the name of the red robot?

Before her very eyes, the twin jets swooped down, metal twisting and turning into they too resembled some sort of automaton. The two were exactly alike, bearing close resemblance to the countless bodies littering the field, but these two had something resembling faces. They were silver with twisted smiles, the place where eyes would be covered by a red see-through sort of material; a visor, perhaps?

The tallest of the two stepped forward, a hand changing into a sort of gun, the sound of it charging up filling the air around them. "Any last words?" The purple android sneered to the form struggling to stand.

"W…"

Her voice was a whisper, and the three robots had yet to even notice her among the wreckage. The gun charged more and more, almost trembling with power as it began to glow red light.

Something in her finally snapped.

"Wait!"

Three sets of eyes (?) snapped towards her immediately. The red one looked almost shocked, while the twins grew twisted smiles. Instant regret. Those two words entered her mind immediately. "Ah fuck…" She muttered as the tallest twin started a predatory stride up to her. "Uh… ah… um….You better leave him alone…!" She started, slowly taking a step back. "And stay back! I'll… I'll uh…" Hell, what would she do? The only thing she could think of was something that couldn't just be done; it happened.

"Hear that, Autobot? You've got yourself a little fleshie fan!" The purple robot began reaching down to her with a clawed hand, it's gaze fixed on 'Optimus'. "It'd be a shame if I-"

Laura's nerves snapped. It was a knee-jerk reaction, something inside of her that caused her hand to fly out and a nearby boulder to arise and collide with the side of its face. Part of her loathed that it had happened yet again, but as the android staggered she had the chance to run around it, running up to the red mech for some form of protection.

Laura looked over her shoulder as she heard the sound of scraping metal. The giant was getting up, slowly rising to its feet lethargically. Eyes as bright as blue light bulbs looked straight at her, the decently tall young woman severely dwarfed in size. Part of its face was obscured by what she could only call a mask, making it look significantly more threatening.

"Are… are you alright?" She asked it, somewhat afraid. It had multiple scratches along its frame, paint scraped off of its surface; it looked like it had been beaten awfully.

The automaton stared back at her, but finally it gave a nod. "It would be best if you take cover." He responded calmly, voice deep and rich with a sense of power. "Uh… right!" As the giant took off towards the twins, the brunette taking refuge behind a tree, peeking around the edge

Her protector fought admirably, fighting off his two assailants at once. The fighting seemed to go on for minutes, Laura merely watching, until, at one point, that 'Optimus' was busy fighting one of the purple machines, the other snuck up behind him, a blade on its arm raised. Without hesitation, she made a visual in her head, arm swinging in an ark as rocks flew towards the mech. It gave a surprised yelp as it was thrown back as the stones collided, lying stunned on the ground. Briefly, the red automaton looked to her with a look of surprise, briefly catching her arm as it lowered back down. She looked away nervously, but found her gaze catching his again. She gave him a shy thumbs-up before motioning for him to turn back around.

It took a while, but eventually both enemies were subdued, slowly backing away from the largest of the three advancing towards them. She saw them hesitate briefly, looking at each other, but the aircrafts turned around and jumped into the air, transforming into jets as the two flew away at blinding speed. The young woman sighed in relief, stepping out from behind the tree and slowly walking forward.

"All you alright, sir…?" She asked quietly, looking up at its metal face. "You looked like you were in trouble, so I uh…intervened." She added, looking away nervously. How exactly should she be responding to this? She was in front of … an alien or something! This sort of thing shouldn't exist!

"If you don't mind me asking…" The robot paused, standing up straight to its full stature, blaster and sword retracting back into hands. "…are you telekinetic?"

Laura's eyes widened slightly, head cocking to the side. "Telekinetic means-" He had begun to speak when she cut him off. "I know what it means. I'm just surprised you're being so…. casual about it." Her eyes narrowed skeptically. "It doesn't weird you out or anything? You don't want to yell and scream or call me a freak?

She saw the robot's metal grated face plate recede, showing that the robot actually had a mouth. "I don't see a reason to be afraid." It said with a half-smile. The young woman smiled nervously. "That's uh… good to hear. People aren't usually 'friendly'" She made quotes in the air to enunciate. "when they uh, see me do that." She gave a nervous laugh before looking back up at the robot. "If you don't mind me asking…. What are you?"

"Are you afraid?" The robot asked back, looking right at the human. "A little." She responded honestly. "But you seem like a nice robot, so I think I'll be safe." The brunette added with a laugh, until her expression turned a bit nervous. "I uh, am safe right? You're not going to take me to the mothership or anything of that sort?"

"Optimus! Are you there? What happened?"

A voice seemed to crackle from somewhere around the robot's head, though it wasn't the same voice as his.

The iron giant raised a hand, pressing to the side of its metal helmet, like one would do if they were talking through an earpiece. "I'm alright, but I've run into a…. complication." A downward glance was cast towards her, making the brunette look away sheepishly.

The voice seemed to start to say something else, but the giant did something like a mute, probably making it so only he could hear it.

"I can explain back at the base, but for now, I need a Bridge."

The robot was quiet for a moment, probably listening to its friend.

"Alright. I'll be there in a moment."

Laura took a step back nervously as the iron giant kneeled down, maybe so it could look at her better. "Would you mind telling me your name?" It was an odd request, but it was one she would indulge. "I'm Laura. And you?"

"Optimus. Optimus Prime." The apparently 'male' robot said back. Laura smiled at him for a moment, but jerked as a bright blue and green wave of…something, appeared a few feet away. "Do not be afraid." Optimus told her, sensing her hesitation. "Laura, I'm going to have to ask that you come with me. Staying here could only attract further attention from our enemies."

"Uh…" Her mind was reeling, considering the consequences if she did as she was asked. "It depends… can I get some answers later, sir?" Calling by his name felt too oddly casual for her; she had always had a problem with being familiar with people. "Of course. It's your right to know what happens around you." Optimus responded, standing between the portal and herself.

The brunette took a deep breath. "Alright, then." And with that, Laura Blake followed the robot without a second thought.

...

Laura's gaze went from side to side around her as she followed Optimus Prime through the portal. Waves of blue and green energy swirled around them as they walked through. She felt a twinge of disappointment as the swirls died down, and she followed the giant into some kind of metal room. It was wide open, ceiling high and walls far apart enough to hold at least 10 Optimus'. It was oddly bare, with steps leading up to higher platforms.

But as she looked around, she realized that was the least interesting thing around her.

"Optimus!" A robot that was red and white, which reminded her of an ambulance, ran up to the two of them, looking at her with a befuddled expression. "You brought a human into the base?" Green glowing eyes looked at her incredulously.

Laura glanced around, watching as several other huge robots turned their heads as he said 'human', the giants beginning to congregate towards them.

"Yes; I decided it would be best if I did." Optimus replied, seeming to remain calm as the others stared. "Why her, if you don't mind me askin'?" A huge olive green one spoke up, bending down to look closely at her. Feeling the wandering eyes, her anxiety inevitably got the best of her, the brunette hiding defensively behind her robot friend's leg, peering out at them while hidden. These robots were enormous! She didn't even go up to their knees!

"I can explain that later. But for now, I fear we may have a problem." He moved so Laura was out in the open, unprotected and completely visible. She gave a nervous smile, her bangs moving slightly as she looked up, letting the machines see a shine of color before her eyes dropped to the floor again.

A robot that was a bright yellow and black made a few odd sounds that were like beeps and buzzes, making arm movements as it 'talked'.

"Um…Is uh… something wrong with your friend…?" She asked hesitantly, the yellow one responding with more buzzes and beeps, arms crossing and large blue eyes narrowing. "His voice box was damaged." A blue robot answered, crossing their arms. "He's sensitive about it." The seemingly female robot added, causing the yellow ones shoulders to droop a little.

"Uh… I think it sounds kinda cute, actually." Laura laughed nervously, hoping it would make the robot feel better. The olive one laughed at her comment, patting the yellow one on the shoulder. "Here that, 'Bee? The squishy thinks you're cute." He said through the chuckling.

Laura was about to respond to the somewhat demeaning comment until the red and white one made a noise that resembled someone clearing their throat.

"About the human…" He pressed, motioning to her. "Why bring her here?" He questioned, looking up to the larger robot in curiosity.

The young woman looked over at her tall robot friend. "Yeah… what the guy with the ambulance paintjob said." The brunette added. "I mean, don't get me wrong; this is all incredibly fascinating, but it's hard to appreciate it when I'm this confused."

The giant looked hard at her for a moment, not saying anything.

"It may just be an estimate, but I can only assume that you are in danger." Optimus said after a moment of silence. Laura's jaw dropped for what seemed like the tenth time that day. "Because of those jets?" She guessed, receiving a nod from the machine. "Those were Decepticons, evil Cybertronians who strive for total universal domination."

Laura was quiet for a moment, processing the information. "And a Cybertronian is…" She finally asked, cocking a brow in confusion. "Basically us, to dumb it down." The blue one responded, arms still crossed.

"Ok…" The brunette started, scratching her head. "I'm going to take a shot in the dark here and guess that you guys are the good guys, and you fight these Decepticons to keep the peace and protect the universe?" The human looked up for approval, hoping it was that simple.

"Actually, yeah!" The olive green one said with a huge smile. "How did you guess?"

Laura gave a small laugh. "I play a lot of video games. Besides, this is surprisingly cliché."

'Bee' seemed to pipe up at that comment, continuing to 'speak' in his little buzzes and beeps.

"This is a lovely little chat and all, but I come into the equation where…?" The young woman asked after a moment of silence, hands making small gestures to try and enunciate her point. Optimus looked down at her with a serious expression. "The fact that you have seen us is reason enough to need protection." He responded monotonously. "But because the Decepticons saw what you are capable of, they may try and come after you, especially if they see you as our ally."

Her heart sank, either in fear or in worry, before Optimus spoke again. "Given the occasion, I believe it will be best if you stay here with us."

It was that comment that made her heart skip a beat. "Why?" She asked, part of her beginning to panic. "I mean… I just… that…" She found herself sputtering, trying to speak only to be thwarted by her own confusion.

"I'm sure you are hesitant, but it is for your own safety." Optimus said back at her, a bit of bite to his voice.

"Wouldn't I know what's best for me?" She finally shot back. "I'm an adult; I can take care of myself. I've been doing it long before I walked into this hot mess.

The robots watched as her face grew sad, her gaze drifting to the floor. Optimus looked up to his comrades, watching as they all changed skeptical looks.

It was at that moment that he realized they all hadn't been properly introduced.

"Autobots, why don't you introduce yourselves to our guest?" Optimus finally said, breaking the silence. It came out as a request, but really, it sounded more like an order; to break the tension, maybe?"

"Hey there, kid. I'm Bulkhead." The olive green one waved, giving a robotic smile. "My name is Arcee." The blue Autobot said, giving her a small nod of the head.

The red and white one cleared his throat. "My name is Ratchet." He finally said, giving a nod towards the human guest. "And you've already been introduced to Bumblebee." The yellow and black robot waved from behind him.

"So Optimus, you mentioned something about what she can do?" Arcee spoke up, her curiosity piqued. The Autobot leader looked down at the human, then back to his comrade. "I believe its better left seen than explained."

"Oh sure, put me on the spot." Laura sighed, eyes rolling. "Yeah, just ask the kid with social anxiety to show off to a bunch of…" Her voice trailed off as she looked around the room. She saw some sort of metal device sitting down nearby near Ratchet. Hands raising, she began making small gestures and concentrating. "The hand thing isn't exactly necessary," She began, lifting them as the object began to ascend. "but I've found out that it can make things easier." She gave the device a little spin." Control wise, I mean."

The Autobots watched, mystified, as the machine rose a little higher, turning little circles and turning angles before coming to rest back where it came from. Bulkhead looked from the metal to her, then back again. "Whoa. Never seen a human do that." He said in disbelief, large fingers scratching his head.

"I've been doing it for as long as I remember." Laura said quietly, kicking her feet at the floor. "I really don't know why I can do it; I just can. To be honest, it used to happen by accident. I've gotten to control it once or twice, but today's the first time I've gotten free reign of it."

Optimus looked back at Ratchet, observing his amazed expression. "I believe you understand now?" The blue bot asked his old friend, receiving a nod. "Y-yes, I do. But why should she stay here? " Ratchet looked down at the human, who was trying to brush her long hair out of her eyes to no avail.

"It would be too dangerous to leave her alone knowing that the Decepticons could strike at any moment." The leader responded, looking down at their guest. "I assume it won't be a problem?"

The young woman thought for a minute, considering the situation.

"I'd be breaking my lease, but-"

"Would that be breaking a law?" Optimus asked, expression questioning. Laura let a laugh slip, shaking her head. "Would that be breaking a law…" She laughed a little more, cutting herself off when she saw Optimus' expression. "Oh, you're serious." A nod answered her. "Well, technically yes but… I mean, this is sort of a special case, don't you think?" She gave a nervous smile. "Besides, it's one of those little, useless human laws that no one really pays attention to because it's fuckin' stupid."

The brunette looked from side to side for a moment. "But… where would I stay? I mean, I don't know about your species, but humans tend to have a lot of material possessions and I've got a lot of things I can't just give up…" She scratched her head. "I don't want to cause you guys any trouble… It seems like you've got enough to worry about anyways…"

Bulkhead was the first to speak. "I've gotten the run of this place, and there's a ton of places you could put your things." There was a small grin. "This is an old military base, so it's still got rooms to house the soldiers, bathrooms and all."

"Oh thank god. My anxiety just shot up trying to figure this out." She gave a sigh of relief before stopping herself. "Oh wait…"

"What's the matter?" Arcee was the one to ask this time. "I was just thinking… how am I going to get my things here?"

Laura looked at Optimus, still worried. "I mean, I don't want to bother you all, but like I said…" She gave a sigh, running a few fingers through her hair. "Damn it…"

Optimus cleared his throat, causing her to look up. "Besides our stature, there are a few things about our race that are of convenience." He stated , taking a few steps away from the group. Laura watched in pure wonder as he began to change, his form changing and shifting until he became something completely different.

"You can turn into a Peterbilt?" She asked, amazed. The human looked around at all the others as they began to change into a muscle car, a van, a motorcycle, and an ambulance.

"Oh my dear god…." She said with a huge smile, giving herself a small pinch on the arm to make sure she wasn't asleep. "I've spent so much time reading stories and watching TV but to actually see something like this and to know it's real is just…" To think that just today she had graduated from high school AND met a ton of awesome alien robots, she needed to make sure she wasn't dreaming. " Oh lord I think I'm fangirling over here…"

A few Autobots chuckled at her reaction. "So now that we've got introductions out of the way…" Optimus started, transforming back into a robot. "Why don't we go get your things?"