DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN ANY OF THE TRANSFORMERS.

CHAPTER 2: UNFAMILIAR FACES

"Get up!" came the familliar screech of my mother up the stairs to my tiny attic room. I quickly rose and dressed, knowing that school was going to be my only freedom from her this day. "Hurry up! Lazy, useless waste of space..."

I winced at her grumbled comment, but hurriedly rushed out the door. I always skipped breakfast and went over to Becky's. When I got there, I was stunned at the number of extra bodies in the yard this early in the morning. Becky had been my best friend since we were in Kindergarten. Now, we were Seniors and closer than ever. So... who were all these strange new people? One of them caught sight of me and elbowed another, pointing at me. The first one that had seen me had blonde hair and blue eyes. He was muscular, but not overly so. The one he elbowed was taller. He had brown hair and calm blue eyes. The way he stood was proud, but not arrogant. I hesitated, til Becky saw me.

"Oh, Kira!" she said, waving me over. The rest of the group caught sight of me and many of them gasped in shock, some in horror. All of them wore varying disturbed expressions. I slowly walked over to Becky's side.

"Mom's making french toast so it'll be a bit," she said, then followed my gaze to the others. "They're... a little hard to explain. No one knows were they all came from and it's obvious that they don't get along. The group's split down the middle. These guys, these four here, get along just fine. Those four over there get along... but the two groups together? That DOESN'T get along at all."

"What would you have me do?" I asked. She gave me a weak smile.

"Your Dad already agreed to have the four with blue eyes stay with you," she said. I winced. "Look at the plus side, your Mom can't do anything when someone else is there, not someone not from here."

"What's to stop her from turning THEM against me too?" I asked softly, not letting the others hear me. She gave me a soft smile.

"One of them knew your name," she answered. "The tallest one of the blue-eyed group. He's the one that convinced your Dad to let him stay with you. It was origionally going to be just him, but the others soon asked to stay with him as well and he relented. The whole agreement was something about protecting you from all harm..."

My eyes widened as I locked gazes with the tallest member of the blue-eyeds. As if knowing exactly what I was thinking, he nodded, his eyes gentle and understanding.

Op...

My heart skipped a beat as I ran over, into his waiting arms. He hugged me close as tears fell out of my eyes.

"I... I didn't think you would... would come..." I whispered softly. I felt him smile against my forehead.

"I promised I would find you," was his answer. I slowly pulled away, noting that all of the people from my world had already left, leaving the nine of us alone here.

"How... is this possible?" I asked, still trying to take it in. "None of you are supposed to exist!"

That seemed to shake the red-eyed ones and some of the blue-eyed ones. Op merely gave me a gentle smile.

"I'm not certain," he answered. "But I DO know that I will keep my word to you as long as we are here."

I paled almost instantly, thinking back on what he was always telling me to do.

"You won't..." I began to ask, leaving it to hang. Op understood immediately.

"It's not my place," he answered. "He deserves to hear the truth from the one he loves."

I regained my color, but shook my head.

"I'm not sure whether this is a miracle or a disaster, but I'll take it," I stated, then looked at the red ones. "Which are you?"

One with fair skin spoke for all of them. He was... dangerously attractive, if that makes sense. It was like, he was more than eye-candy, but something about him warned me away.

"I am Megatron," he answered. "This is the Fallen, Starscream, and Barricade."

I nodded.

"You'll need to get different names while you're here," I told them. "Those designations aren't safe here."

They looked ready to argue with me, but Optimus cut in.

"We all ready have them," he said, speaking for the four Autobots. "Bumblebee will take the name Ben. Ratchet will be Richard. Ironhide will be Ian."

I waited, but he said no more so I decided to prod him after crossing my arms.

"And you?" I questioned. He smiled.

"Oscar," he answered. I giggled. I knew well why he'd chosen that particular name. It was what I always referred to him as during my visits, but only when he was grumpy. I'd explained Oscar the Grouch to him quite well. I then turned my gaze back to the Decepticons.

"Your turn," I stated. "Either think of the names yourselves... or I will."

That didn't sit well with any of them.

"Frank," the Fallen stated, spitting the name out like it was the most disgusting thing in the world.

"Steven," Starscream said.

"Marcus," Megatron finally decided. Then, all eyes were on Barricade.

"Pick one," he said, his eyes on me. I thought it over. He's a cop... really pushy... yet something told me he wasn't as bad as he seemed.

"Brian," I answered finally. He nodded, accepting it. I looked at Op-I mean, Oscar.

"Has Becky made any solid plans for you all yet?" I asked. He nodded.

"Our cover is Transfer Students," he answered calmly. I smirked.

"Going to school, are we?" I teased. "Like y'all really need it."

He smirked back, but it fell as Becky stepped back out of the house.

"Kira, breakfast's ready," she said. With a silent exchange of looks, we all filed into the house. The aroma's coming from there were... intoxicating to my empty stomache. Needless to say, there weren't any leftovers and Big Becky (Becky's Mom) made well over four loaves of french toast, five pakages of Bacon, and two cartons of eggs. After eating, all of us quickly made our way to the cars. Becky and I drove, getting us to their first day at school.