A/N: I apologize so much for how late this chapter is. Life has been insane, but now I have more time to work on this fic. With The Last Knight fast approaching I want to get as much of this fic out before that movie releases, just in case they try to change everything again.

Chapter 2

Just beyond the half-demolished building, Sideswipe, Mirage, Ratchet, and Ironhide stand around two military trucks. At this distance I cannot make out the logos on the trucks, but I'll bet they are NEST trucks. I start to wonder just what all I have missed while I have been basically underground for almost a whole year. Lennox breaks the silence of my thoughts as we walk toward the Autobots.

"The only reason Ironhide was so angry is because he thought you were dead," Lennox says solemnly. "We all did, it was just so long."

I nod slightly and continue to walk. Hearing him say it makes me realize my own thoughts were grounded. The reason I kept losing hope while I was being held captive was because I thought everyone I knew thought I was dead. No one searches for a person they know is dead, and the government would definitely not spend money for it. I am lucky they continued to search despite thinking I was dead.

"So where do we stand?" I ask.

"Since you...left? A lot has happened, NEST is still inactive at this point. Chicago is just about rebuilt, but I think it is going to take a lot longer to people to move past it. And it should."

Chicago was a tragedy, the whole city was nearly leveled in the Decepticon attack five years ago. The battle still gives me nightmares, but the most painful reoccurring memory is of Sentinel Prime killing Ironhide right in front of me, or so I thought at the time. Even though months later I found out Ironhide had actually survived, I still continue to have nightmares about what was one of the worst days of my life. We stop next to the Autobots, Ratchet approaches first.

"A minor concussion, fractured left arm, malnutrition, but otherwise, nothing life threatening," Ratchet says. "It is good to see you, Rachel."
"Thanks, Ratchet, it's good to see you too."

"How's your arm? We brought a medic with us," Lennox says.

"Yeah, I think bringing a medic was a great idea," I say.

Lennox motions to the second of the two trucks, where a NEST soldier stands with a medical supply kit.

A few minutes later I sit in the passenger seat of one of the trucks, Lennox is driving. My arm is bandaged and my minor scrapes have been attended to. I decided to give Ironhide space and since he did not argue I assume he felt bad about what he said to me. I understand, I was just as angry at him when I learned he was alive after thinking he was dead for so long. He is just as concerned with my safety as I am for his, even though we both play it off with sarcasm and jokes. I also decided to ride with Lennox so he could catch me up and I could tell him what I knew about my captors.

"So, where are we anyway?" I ask.

"You wouldn't believe it, but only about two hours from D.C," he replies, not taking his eyes off the road.

"Are you serious? We're in Virginia!? All this time and if I had just escaped I could have walked back to civilization?"

"Where did you think you were?"
"I don't know, the middle of the desert, the Arctic. Somewhere miles and miles from any city or town."

"They hid you in plain sight, they were good at hiding their trails."

"They got lazy, arrogant," I say, looking out the window.

"I'm glad they did or we might have not found you in time."

I nod and continue to stare out of the window, glad to finally see something besides the inside of that bland building. I can tell there is a lot more Lennox wants to ask me, but he keeps silent.

"Colonel..."

"How many times do I have to tell you, I'm perfectly fine with you calling me 'Will'? Besides, I'm not your commanding officer anymore," Lennox says with a laugh.

I smile, "Sorry, sometimes I just forget."

"Anyway, you were saying..."

"The Autobots are in danger."

"What?"

"The people who abducted me, they said they worked for someone. Someone who wants to supposedly kill every last one of the Autobots."

Lennox takes his eyes off the road to look at me in shock.

"We're heading back to base, right now," he says definitively.

Even though NEST is currently inactive, it still holds a base on the outskirts of D.C. That is where Lennox takes us, the Autobots following close behind. The base is much smaller than the one we once had in central D.C, before the Decepticon attack on Chicago. There are not many people around either, mostly essential personnel, since we have yet to be completely disbanded. He pulls into one of the hangars and stops. As soon as I see who is standing in the hangar, my eyes fill with tears once more and I exit the truck as quickly as possible. Without a word we fall into each other's embrace and remain locked in each other's arms for a few long moments, despite the awkwardness caused by my bandaged arm.

"You never give up, do you?" I say, without leaving his arms.

"On you, never. I made a vow, and I intend to keep it. I love you, Rachel."

"I love you, Daniel."

I lean into a kiss that is ten months overdue. The one thought that kept me going all of those months was knowing Daniel would never stop looking, even if he had to do it by himself. Still holding me around my waist with one arm, Daniel reaches in his pocket.

"For when your arm's better," he says, holding my wedding ring in his palm.

On the day I had been abducted, I had removed my ring, worried I might lose it on my run. We had only been married a little under a year before I was taken.

"I missed our anniversary," I say with a smile.

"I'll let it slide, but just this once," Daniel jests, kissing me again. "Come on, let's get you taken care of."

Together we walk into the small medical area of the base, where I am able to shower and change into clean clothes. The medic that accompanied my rescue party is the only one currently on the base. He gives me an IV and tends to my fractured arm once more. Daniel sits beside my bed, holding my other hand mostly, I think, for his own comfort. I am ordered to remain in the bed for a few hours before I can go home to rest some more. About an hour into my ordered rest, Lennox walks in.

"Sorry, I know you need your rest, but I just wanted to let you know we're questioning your captors. They are not going to be offered any deals, and I will personally make sure they are tried and convicted for the maximum time for the abduction and attempted murder of a military agent."

"Thank you, Will."

"You're family, Rachel, we look out for family."

"Have you talked to Optimus yet? He needs to know that the Autobots may be in serious danger. I know those two were nutcases, but they sounded very sincere when they talked about the Autobots being killed."

"Don't worry, I already told him. He's looking into it himself, and our people here are looking into it as well. Whoever their 'employer' is, they won't be able to hide much longer. Now, get some rest. When you're better, we would be glad to have you help with this search."

Lennox walks out, leaving Daniel and I alone. Daniel places his hand back in mine and holds my hand firmly.

"We will find them. No one is going to hurt the Autobots," Daniel says reassuringly, kissing the back of my hand.

I smile, letting my eyes close. It feels incredibly wonderful to feel safe and unafraid for the first time in a very long time. Without realizing how tired I actually am, I doze off.

They're going after the Autobots and it's all my fault. Something doesn't seem right about that thought. In my exhausted mind I've started to mix together past and present. Someone may be coming after the Autobots, but this time it isn't my fault. This time I am trying to help keep them away from the Autobots, or, rather, I will. A week later I return to the NEST base, a week before I am technically supposed to return to work. Lennox only allows me to return because he understands my urge to actively participate in the search for the person, or people, threatening the Autobots. In the nearly five years since Chicago there have been many threats on the remaining Autobots, but none have ever felt this serious. With NEST's inactive status, the resources available for this search are extremely limited. I tell Lennox my plan to work out an algorithm that catalogs the various public threats made against the Autobots since Chicago. I tell him there is also the possibility that this might not give us what we are looking for. The way Victor and Natalie talked about their 'employer' made it seem like whoever it is was trying to stay out of the spotlight. Their threat against the Autobots may not be public at all. I keep the thought in mind, but start to search anyway. After a few hours, I have worked out the system to use. My work is made easier by the lack of disturbances on the base. Most of the Autobots are doing their own things. Ratchet is over helping the group of researchers on the base. Sideswipe, Mirage and Bumblebee are all training together out in the field. I'm not sure where Ironhide is so I assume he's probably somewhere blowing something up. Optimus is off-base with a handful of new Autobots scouting around for information. I haven't met any of them yet, both Lennox and Optimus told me introductions would follow their return from the mission. My first impression of them, based on what Ironhide has told me, is that they are a rather odd group. I set the system to run the massive search and get up from my desk to take a walk around the base. I head out of the hangar and walk through the field that extends behind the base. With all the catching up I've had to do, I haven't been able to take much time to just relax. A cool, spring breeze blows through the grassy field, blowing my hair back from my face. It feels nice to just be out here, away from the hustle of the base. Even inactive, NEST is still useful. Mainly, I found out from Lennox, NEST is still trying to locate and eliminate the remaining Decepticon threats. I also found out that to say Autobot-military relations are strained is a massive understatement. Everyone in our small base fears that any day could be the last, it would only take one order to shut down NEST completely.

It is not long before I feel someone walk up behind me. I turn around to see Daniel coming toward me.

"Hey," he says, smiling.

"Hey. What's up?"

"I just wanted to see how you were doing. You haven't said much about...what happened, and I know you probably don't want to right now. I want to make sure that, when you're ready, you know I'm always here."

"Of course I know. You're always there when I need you and sometimes even when I don't."

I give him a smile that let's him know I'm joking.

"Oh, come on, now you're just being cruel," he laughs.

"Also, I'm fine, by the way. I just came out here to clear my head and to get away from the computer screen for a little bit. I already started the search, now I just have to wait for the results."

"Which I'm sure you'll get soon enough."

"I hope so."

"You will, you always do."

I take his hand and start to slowly walk back to the hangar. I do need to to check the initial results, but I want to take as long as I can getting back. This whole abduction was hard on him too, I can see that clearly. I want to open up, to confide in him, but I can't bring myself to talk about the hopelessness I felt just yet.

When we get back to the hangar I check the scan only to find that there are no results showing. By now at least something should have come up. This search is not looking very good at the moment. Daniel places a hand softly on my shoulder and gives me a departing kiss.

"You will find them," he says before turning to go back to his own job.

A few minutes later, with absolutely no warning at all, the blue and white McLaren and the yellow and black Camaro tear through the hangar at top speed. It has almost become a daily occurrence that Bee and Mirage's training sessions end in a race. Sometimes Sideswipe joins in too and it kind of starts to feel like a racetrack inside the building. Everyone is usually startled when it first happens, after all they don't have the quietest of engines, but then we all just go back to what we are doing. Mirage is usually the one you have to watch out for; he likes to be quiet, so it is easy to almost get run over when walking from one side of the hangar to the other. After the hour of the search turns up no leads I start to feel like this is pointless. I am almost about to give up on it for today when the first few results start popping up. Then, every few minutes, another result pops up. None of the leads end up panning out, but they are still better than nothing.

After a couple hours, and more dead-end leads, Optimus and the group of new Autobots return from their scouting mission. Lennox takes me down to meet them a few minutes later. I see the Autobots in their alt-forms before they start to transform. A large military missile truck and a blue-and black Bugatti stop on one side of the unmistakable blue and red-flame semi; a green and black-striped Corvette and a Dodge Challenger police car stop on the other side. As Lennox and I approach, they all start to transform.

"How did it go?" Lennox asks.

"We did not encounter any Decepticons," Optimus starts.

"But, we did learn of possible hideouts where we may find some. It was clear once we found the trail, I should have seen it all along," says the police car Autobot.

"Rachel, this is Prowl, he was Optimus' military strategist on Cybertron," Lennox says.

"Still am," Prowl responds.

"Always plannin' ahead, Prowl, but tell me: Did ya see any Decepticons today? 'Cause I didn't. I'm itching to kill some Decepticon scum, but all ya keep sayin' is 'we're close,'" says the military truck Autobot.

"We are close. The probability that-"

"Cut the math crap and just tell me when I can shoot something!"

"Hound, please, you must find peace from within," the Bugatti says.

"Oh, don't start that samurai crap with me. I said I wanted to shoot something, I didn't say it had to be a Decepticon."

I feel like they are about to draw weapons on one another before Optimus steps between them. Of course, any time Optimus gets involved, things get resolved pretty quick.

"That's Hound," Lennox says, pointing at the trigger-happy Autobot. "And the other one is Drift."

"So, is this Ironhide's human pet?" the last Autobot asks.

Almost as soon as he says it, he is knocked over the head by a giant cannon. The green Autobot falls to the ground, Ironhide standing over him. Somehow, without me noticing, Ironhide had driven up from behind. I smile, trying to hold back a laugh. Beside me, I can see Lennox is smiling too.

"Have more respect, Crosshairs, that 'human pet' is far smarter than you," Ironhide says.

"A little touchy aren't we," Crosshairs says, trying to get up.

Ironhide puts a foot on his back, preventing him from moving.

"Apologize," Ironhide growls.

"Fine, fine. I'm sorry."

Ironhide defending me like that makes me feel a great swell of pride. He lets Crosshairs up, but does not help him. He was right, this group of Autobots is rather odd. Out of the four of them, Prowl seems like the most sensible.

Optimus and Lennox discuss the possible locations of the remaining Decepticons. The Autobots part ways, only Ironhide hangs back. He stands beside me as I watch Optimus and Lennox talk. I don't bother thanking him for the defense, I know he would just brush it off anyways. I could tell him that he absolutely sucks at trying to keep an eye on me without me knowing it. The whole week I was at home resting, I would sometimes notice the all too familiar black truck out of the corner of my eye when I went places. Sometimes I think he can't help himself, no matter how many times I tell him I'm fine on my own. I guess getting abducted in broad daylight by two psychopaths doesn't really help my defense. We both got over the tension created by our initial outbursts pretty quickly. It was that same day that I started telling him about what happened, about the threat. Optimus and Lennox finish their conversation and walk towards us.

"Rachel," Optimus says. "I wanted you to know how thankful I am that you are okay. Ironhide told me how strong you were, that you did not tell them about us. For that, I am most grateful."

"I would never betray family," I reply.

Optimus nods, "We will find whoever is behind this. That is, unless you find them first."

"When we find them, they're going to get a real close-up look at my cannons," Ironhide grumbles.

"Ironhide," Optimus says admonishingly. "We cannot harm humans for a simple threat."

"I know, I was just saying...Maybe scare them a bit."

"Ironhide..."

"Yeah, yeah, trying to improve relations and all that. I've got it...It's not fun, but I've got it..."

Optimus knows Ironhide would never actually hurt humans, but I think he also knows Ironhide needs to be reminded of that from time to time. Optimus and Ironhide leave, no doubt to go keep an eye on the other Autobots. Lennox and I start to walk back to the main building of the base.

"So, what did you think?"

"They're an odd bunch, aren't they? I mean, I thought Ironhide was just exaggerating when he said that."

"I guess there aren't that many Autobots left who aren't on Earth. They came not long after you were taken. We were still hunting down the rest of the Decepticons who escaped the Chicago attack, while also trying to find you. I think Optimus sent out another call for backup because that's when they showed up. How's the search going?"

"Not so well right now. I kept getting a few hits every hour, but none of them held up when I looked into them. I'm hoping I'll have better luck tomorrow. There's something else I want to try before I completely give up on it, but it would take too long to start this late today."

"Okay, as long as you think there's a chance of finding something, you keep at it. I was going to head out soon too. There's a lot less to do around here now."

"Yeah, it's a lot less stressful than the old days isn't it? But, also a lot more boring."

"If boring means that there are less Decepticons around, I'll take boring any day."

"Me too."

The next day starts almost the same way as yesterday, except we arrive at NEST around noon. There are only a handful of other people on the base besides Lennox, Daniel and myself. The only real reason Daniel is here is because he goes stir-crazy at home, he isn't getting paid to be here today. He and Lennox have become closer since my abduction, probably because Daniel spent every waking moment at the base helping with the search. Daniel goes off with Lennox to work out the military strategy of finding the last Decepticons, based on Prowl's information. The Autobots are doing a series of weapons tests and training exercises with some of the military personnel. As soon as I get to the base, I look through the search results that came up over night. The supposed threats turn out to be nothing grounded, so I decide to try my next idea out. I go through the NEST data, searching for the exact file I need and find it quickly enough. I change the parameters of the search and try again, this time with a narrower search window. I hope I will find more specific results in a fraction of the time. It is not long before the first few results pop up. I look through them an get further than I did with the previous search, but they end up turning into dead-ends too. I start to get frustrated after a few hours of this, but the leads are providing me with at least minimal information. Finally, a lead pops up that after a good amount of looking into still hold up. I get deep into researching it, pulling up another few files that go along with it. The original file was directly linked to Victor and Natalie Petrov, my abductors. As it turns out, they were not so uncoordinated and incompetent as I first believed. I click on another file and start to read it. I only get a few lines into it before I stop and call Lennox, dread rushing through me. I read the same lines again and then start to read below them while I wait for Lennox to get to me.

By the time Lennox gets to my computer, which doesn't take too long, I have read through most of the document and watched the video clip three times. None of it makes any more sense to me than the first time I saw it, but only because I don't want to believe it.

"Will, you have to see this," I say, playing the video clip.

The video clip, marked only as "Langley", shows two individuals leaving the main building of the CIA. At first it seems there is no importance to these two individuals, but upon closer inspection a more unnerving discovery can be made.

"Wait, is that-?" Lennox asks.

"Victor and Natalie, yes."

"And they were at Langley...why?"

"I'm not entirely sure, but I don't think they got in there on their own. They certainly didn't break in, so the real question is: why did the CIA want to talk to them? I used the file NEST had been compiling on them since they were taken in, sorry about that by the way I know it's not okay for me to be involved, but I had to narrow my search. Two days before they abducted me they were at the CIA. So, I looked into the CIA's files on them-"

"You did what?" Lennox asks in shock.

"Read that document and tell me something doesn't seem wrong," I say, pulling the single-page document back up.

I watch as he reads it and I see the same reactions from him that I had myself.

"'This action to fully dissolve the Non-biological Extraterrestrial Species Treaty will be enacted upon the specified date of-' My, God," Lennox says, his voice dropping.

As he reads on, I start to hear a distant sound carried by the shift in the wind. I turn around and look toward the long, dirt road that leads into the base. When I see the large, black SUVs coming down the dirt road, my blood feels like it has been turned to ice.

"Will...were we expecting any company today?" I ask wearily.

He looks up from the computer, turning around to match my gaze.

"No. We weren't."

We look at one another, some form of understanding passing silently between us.

"Shit," I say, looking back at the fast-approaching SUVs.

This day is definitely not going to end as normally as it began.

A/N: Hope you enjoyed it, comments are greatly appreciated. I have the next chapter planned out and hope I can get it out in the next week or so. Thank you so much if you have returned to this fic after my long absence from it, I really appreciate it :)