Imperfected

Author's Note: This is the final part of the "Imperfect" series. This takes place during Dark of the Moon. Since it has minor differences, it will be an AU story. I wanted so badly to finish this series, so here we are. That and the fact I have requests for sequels to my other fics as well. Truth be told, I already had plans for them, it's just a matter of getting them up.

"So shall it be at the end of the world: the angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the just, And shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth."

-Matthew 13:49-50

"Every man dies - Not every man really lives."

-William Ross Wallace

By: VampireQueenAkasha

~O~

Chernobyl

Hello.

My name... Well, I never really had one until today.

I began my life the same as many humans do; inside a prison. Though instead of being born into freedom, I was born into servitude. A servitude that lasted for many years of bloodshed and fear. I was born into a world that I believed had no beauty, no joy...and no love.

Love...

Even today, I still do not entirely comprehend the word. I was bred to understand over millions of words, phrases and dialects, but the idea of love still confounds me. It eludes me, even when I have him by my side. Love...it's confusing. I understand many kill in its name, do anything for it and share their lives to protect it. It's amusing, really. It falls under the same evil as religion, money and power. So is love truly a good thing?

Despite these little doubts, I still felt happy.

I was happy that I had someone who loved me. I was happy to be of service to the Witwicky family. I was happy to serve the Autobots.

It's a shame.

If you believe that happiness lasts forever, then I'm afraid you're wrong.

And so was I.

Seeing Ironhide return from Iran to the NEST base was a welcoming sight for her.

Terra rarely showed much emotion around others, but for him, she always smiled and always felt contentment. Such a silly thing to feel for someone far from her species, but those thoughts no longer bothered her as much as they did before. Ironhide didn't care much for anything else as far as opinions went, so he didn't think of it if anyone gave them weird looks when she would touch him in his alt mode a certain way or held him in manners that didn't seem acceptable.

After Ironhide received proper scans and test runs, he rolled up to Terra who waited beside Dino. "You were busy," she remarked.

Ironhide chuckled. "Always."

Dino muttered something in Italian that made Terra glance down at him. "C'รจ un problema? (Is there a problem)?" she asked, in Italian.

Ironhide listened to Dino utter something else and Terra exhaled. "Poi trovare un altro posto dove guardare (Then find somewhere else to look)."

Dino rolled away without further argument and called back to her in English now. "It's not right!"

Ironhide transformed and looked down at her with a knowing grimace. "Forgive Dino. He doesn't exactly like humans as much as some."

Terra chuckled somewhat. "It's quite alright. I don't either."

Ironhide stared at her before a smile touched his mouth plates. "Well, alright then."

O

There was a mission debriefing that involved traveling to Chernobyl later that day to which Terra attended. It was decided that she would be good to accompany them given her ability to exist in radioactive locations where the others could not. She was also rather pleased to be going to a place that carried such history to it.

"Chernobyl has a great deal of human history to it," Alexi told her, as they arrived at Pripyat, "Greater than most."

Terra smiled as they stepped out of their vehicles. She took a deep inhale and sighed, delighted by the taste of the radiated air. The NEST soldiers dressed themselves up in appropriate protective gear, but Alexi did not. He claimed that he did not require such, which intrigued Terra a bit.

"Sir, are you suicidal by chance?" she asked, as they moved through the amusement park.

Alexi stared at her gravely. "No. My time is soon to come anyway."

Terra frowned quizzically, but decided not to make it her business and scanned the entire perimeter with her goggles. Data streamed by of radiation levels, asbestos readings and various other collections of information that was of little importance. Her goggles also picked up bare tremors in the ground, causing her to pause and linger while the others advanced into the facility. Her goggles flashed a warning as the scanners struggled to pinpoint the source. Various indicators flashed and danced about.

UNKNOWN SEISMIC TREMORS DETECTED

MAGNITUDE 1.4

DEPTH 180.4 km

The numbers of the distance began to dwindle rapidly and Terra looked up toward the facility, where the others had already entered. Her eyes widened as the goggles detected the source of the tremors, highlighting it in a bright red square with the word WARNING flashing over it. Something surfaced with a bellowing, metallic roar and her goggles switched to electromagnetic waves, depicting an enormous, serpentine creature breaching the facility.

Terra rushed toward its direction, entering an open field where Ukrainian soldiers and NEST were sprinting. Optimus was standing in a defensive position, his shield and sword raised, just as the creature disappeared into the ground.

"Chy vse v poryadku (Is everyone alright)?" Terra asked a Ukrainian soldier.

The soldier nodded wearily, leaning on his knees.

"What was that thing?" Lennox demanded, looking up at Optimus.

Optimus straightened and flung his shield to the side. "That...was Shockwave."

"What was he after?" Terra asked.

Optimus knelt down in front of something and his optic shutters widened. "It...can't be."

The humans moved to see what he was staring at; it looked like a broken, metal sphere with various wires sticking out of it. Optimus picked it up in one hand, studying it with shock and awe. Terra tilted her head at him.

"What is it?" she asked.

"This is an engine part," Optimus told them, "To a long, lost Autobot ship."

Lennox was attempting to catch his breath. "What did he want with it?"

"I don't know." Optimus said. His optics narrowed in the same manner when he had been irritated with Simmons. "But I intend to find out."

O

Optimus had refused to speak to anyone upon returning, the precise opposite of what he had said. Terra was getting herself showered while the Autobots were properly checked on. When she was done, she stepped out into the hangar, just as others began to file in. They were dressed in suits and clean cut, not like the rough, rugged soldiers she was used to working with at this point. One of them was a woman who was arguing with her assistant and Lennox.

"CIA's up my ass about this mystery raid in the Middle East!" she snapped, "So it's time to come clean. Was a unit involved?"

Lennox scratched his chin. "Uh, I'm not sure ma'am."

"As director of National Intelligence, I'm a really big fan of intelligent answers."

"I really can't tell you definitively. These Autobots are like teenage kids, they like to sneak out of the house every once in a while."

The woman scowled and stopped, turning to face him. "Are you or are you not in charge?"

Terra approached with a look. "Excuse me. Is there a problem?"

The woman frowned at her. "Who's this?"

"This is Terra, Director Mearing," Lennox introduced, gesturing to Terra, "She's the one we talked about in the report."

"Ah," Mearing faced Terra now, "Yes. One of the...uh...NG Projects from 1970's." Her tone dripped with contempt now as she studied the woman. "The expired chew toy they used to send out on Special Ops missions." She looked at her assistant with a snort. "Did they tell us where the other ones are?"

"Ma'am..." Lennox started, grimacing.

"They're dead." Terra told her, briskly. She was not impressed with a human woman going about boasting her status in such a way. "It was causes done to them because of the very government they served."

"Oh." Mearing didn't seem so very sympathetic. "Well, how unfortunate. Excuse me."

Terra glared after her, watching as she approached Optimus. They began a conversation that Terra had no interest in. She wandered to the cafeteria while waiting for Ironhide to finish up what he was doing with the others. Feeling rather hungry, Terra decided to eat a small snack that consisted of a few well-filled sandwiches, a bowl of chicken soup and a steak.

"Terra?" Lennox stepped into the cafeteria, "Everything okay in here?"

"Yes," she replied.

Lennox took a spot across from her at the table. "Don't worry about Mearing. We always get ones like that."

"I'm not concerned with her."

"Oh. Good."

Terra glanced up a him. "I would like to visit Sam today."

Lennox looked a little surprised. "Sam?"

"Yes. It's been a while since I've seen him. I want to see if he's doing well."

Lennox didn't know if that was permitted, but the way Terra stared at him expectantly, he sighed and nodded. "I'll see what I can do."

"Good."

Terra smiled to herself and watched as Lennox walked away. It had been a few years since she last spoke with the Witwicky boy and it would be interesting to see him again.