Chapter II

The whole time, Shocker kept repeating the question the universe was tired of hearing; "Are we there yet?" Charm felt some rumbling in her chest, telling her that Star was probably nudging the blue irritable mech. The seeker never had time nor patience to teach them real manners. Even so, she liked seeing these guys fight like children most of the day. What the heck am I talking about, they are children!

"Are we there yet?"

"No."

"Are we there yet?"

"No."

"Are we there yet?"

"No. Hey, wait! Yeah, no."

Shocker took a pause before he asked Charm again.

"Are we there yet?"

"SHUT UP ALREADY!" three other Cassetteicons chorused. Charm giggled and let them continue their verbal fight. Thank Primus they didn't try to get rough inside of her. About two more hours of hearing the cassettes bicker amongst one another and they finally made it to planet Earth. She located where Prime had sent the message. She was lowering her altitude when she was shot in the wing by a bullet.

"What the heck's happening?" Techno shouted in her head.

"Unidentified aircraft, proceed to Hawthorne Air Base, or we'll have to force with ammunition."

"That's what she was trying to do, nut brain!" Star screamed. Charm ignored her and lowered herself down to the base, escorted by two jet planes. When she landed, she was welcomed by a couple of jeeps, pouring out some humans in green uniforms and primitive guns.

"Power down now and step out of the aircraft," said man over a bullhorn. Charm did as she was told and shut down here systems. She didn't dare transform. She knew what they were thinking; that she was a Decepticon. The 'bots Optimus had brought with him were ground vehicles and the humans were under the impression that Autobots couldn't fly at all, like it was a rule.

Four more cars showed up, but they had a different style, a different color than the jeeps.

"Captain Lennox, tell them to lower their weapons," said the voice of the Peterbuilt semi truck that Charm knew all too well that it was Optimus Prime.

"Put down your weapons, stand down!" shouted a man. His soldiers did as they were told and put their guns down.

"Don't be afraid, Charm," Optimus said. "They're not going to hurt you now."

"Thanks, Prime," she answered, transforming. The men backed up a bit and almost raised their guns again when Lennox gave the same instruction. Her chest popped open to release the Cassetteicons. They stretched a bit and breathed in the clean Earth air. They saw a boy step out of the yellow Camero and shiver.

"Like the freak that jumped me," he sighed, his eyes wide with terror.

"Does he know us?" Techno said to his brother. Shocker only shrugged. "Yo, name's Techno!" He held out his hand as he walked towards the boy. The human looked up at Optimus and the red and blue 'bot nodded his head.

"I'm-I'm Sam," he said with a squeak in his voice. He shook hands with the green cassette, not taking his eyes off his face.

"Good ta meet ya!" Techno said, Sam not really believing him.

"Officers, this is Charm," Optimus announced. The silver seeker gave a shy wave and put her hands behind her back. "She's not a Decepticon, like Starscream. She's a fully designated Autobot."

"You sure?" Sam said, a sense of urgency in his voice.

"This guy would leak in his pants if we told him we were Decepticons!" Shocker whispered to Techno. The brothers laughed and Sky Light gave them both a shove. She put a finger to her lips and looked back up at Optimus.

"I take it that you received my message, Charm?" he said. Charm gave a quick nod, afraid of whatever she would say, even if it was simple, that someone would open fire. "Are there others besides you and your Cassetteicons?"

"No, sir," Charm said, not caring anymore. "We didn't see anyone as we passed." She looked over at Sam. He was still looking like a scared animal and knew what would ease him. She removed her face mask and the visor, then took another look. His shoulders were slumped down and his eyes changed from urgent to "okay, nice to meet you." Her guess was that coverings such as hers made him a bit tense.

"Charm, I would like you to meet Sam, a human that made the victory in the war possible," Optimus continued. He motioned his hand towards the boy and Charm squatted down. She gave a cute smile and he smiled back with a little laugh added.

"Hi," he said.

Charm's smile got bigger. "Hi!"

"And this is Bumble-"

"I have already met Bumblebee, sir," Charm announced. "We go way back." She looked at the yellow car as it transformed. "Hello, 'Bee."

"Hello, baby!"

Okay, that was weird. "How come you're talking like that?"

"His audio processor is still in need of repair," said the Hummer ambulance car, changing into an old 'bot. "He uses radio frequencies from the humans to speak."

"Oh, you poor thing," Charm whined as she gave him a hug.

"What are you sorry for?"

"Can't the girl be sarcastic?" Star said, crossing her arms. Bumblebee shot her a look and Charm let go.

"Let me guess, you were being sarcastic, too?" she said. Bumblebee nodded his head. The seeker turned her head and gave Star a look that included a raise in the optic ridge. Star put her hands behind her back and her head slumped down, showing she wasn't going to say anything more.

"This, Charm, is Ratchet," Optimus spoke. "Our medical officer. And this-" He motioned to a shifting Monroe truck. "-is Ironhide."

Sam crossed his fingers and whispered mostly to himself as if speaking to Charm. "Don't fall for it, don't fall for it, don't fall for it." The last word he sang. Ironhide held the cannons on his arms forward and pointed to Charm. The silver seeker took a stance that was ready to jump and come back down on him.

"Looks like I can't scare you," he smirked.

"Try harder!" Charm giggled, letting go of the pose. She didn't want to tell Ironhide that she already knew him as the one who scared newbies with his cannons. She had known that since the academy and the black mech sort of built up a reputation about it. She looked around. She remembered specifically that Optimus had four men with him when he left.

"Where's the fifth?" she asked.

"We're using the last of the All Spark to try and bring him back to life," Ratchet said. "We need to reattach his body before we merge him with the Spark's power."

Charm slouched. Jazz was one of her best friends back in the day. He was one of those slick and smooth mechs that all the girls fell head over stabilizing servos for. Now he's dead? Quit it! The doc said he'd come back, believe it, girl!

"Let's get outta here!" Bumblebee said through his radio. He transformed and the tires squealed as he exited the air space.

"Charm, we are to head towards Tranquility, Nevada," Optimus instructed. "Meet us at Sam's. Bumblebee will leave his frequency open for you."

"Thank you, sir," Charm said. She had a thing for respect when it came to her superiors. The Autobot leader transformed with the rest of his team to roll out. Charm gathered up her cassettes and turned into her Cybertronian jet form, not having enough time to get an Earth disguise. Shocker kept complaining about being stuffed back into her body, the girls were yelling at him to shut up, and Techno was already downloading Earth songs into his system. Charm gave a smirk and flew around for a bit in circles so she wouldn't get ahead of Bumblebee. She saw some humans below her point towards her and gaze. No wonder Prime and the others chose Earth forms to get around. She felt a little uncomfortable being looked at all the time.

Finally, she sensed Bumblebee's signal stop and she flew straight-forward towards it. Her body parts shifted around as she floated over the small house and landed safely in the backyard. A short balding man, who she found out to be Sam's dad, was yelling at her.

"Get off my grass!" he said.

"Dad, where else she supposed to stand, huh?" Sam said, coming out from the house. "Her feet are your size, where else is she supposed to stand?"

"The road, for all I care."

"You kidding me? You want a swarm in front of the house? That's why we meet in the back yard." He looked at Charm. "Sorry about my dad. He gets touchy about his grass."

"Yeah…" Charm sighed, finally realizing what grass actually was.

"Prime will be here soon. Look cute." Sam walked back inside with his dog, Mojo, following behind but still looking back to bark at Charm. The silver seeker let out a terrible growl and the Chihuahua ran inside. Charm giggled and heard her family inside her laugh as well.

"That's right, run, fool!" Techno shouted. There was an awkward silence as they were focusing on that sentence.

"What did you say?" Star said.

"Get with the lingo, girl," Techno replied. "You gotta learn it if you're going to survive on this planet."

Charm didn't have the guts to say it out loud, but Techno was right. What if she messed up even once? What would the humans do? She shook her head to try and get the thought away and bring in a positive one. Everything would be okay. She was sure of it.

Optimus Prime rolled up into the backyard and shifted into his powerful two-legged form. Charm snapped her hand to her head as he approached.

"At ease, Charm," he said, voice calm and cool. The seeker put her hands back to her sides and waited for her commander to speak. "I need to know, and I need to know now. If Soundwave ever comes to Earth, will you fight him?"

Charm didn't know what to say. Her shoulders dropped in shock and her mouth popped open. Soundwave was working on the status of being her boyfriend last time they'd seen each other. How was she supposed to answer that? She was going to say something when he held up a hand.

"It was just a question," he said. "You don't have to fight him, we'll have Bumblebee do it."

"No! I…" She stopped to think of her final answer. "I think…I believe I can do it!"

"Good, because he's close."

Charm's entire face, though he couldn't see it, became shocked. "Where?" she said, almost a demand.

"A few miles outside the outskirts. Are you sure you can handle him?"

"Yes, sir!"

"Good, transform!"

Optimus shifted into his Peterbuilt truck while Charm jumped up into the air and changed into her Cybertron jet. She lifted off higher into the sky and looked for any Decepticon signals. Five of them; Soundwave and his "kids".

Charm's spark rate must've increased thirteen fold. She had just got here and Soundwave pops up. What were the odds of that happening? The cassettes were moving wildly inside her and telling her not to fight him. The seeker felt like she didn't have much of a choice. She told Prime that she was able to fight Soundwave, and she would never lie to her superior. She felt now that she should've taken some real time to think about this. What if Soundwave truly did forget her? Her spark would burst of sadness.

Soundwave felt the Autobots closing in, three of them to be specific. He was here to look for a piece of the All Spark that was rumored to be destroyed to bits, and he and his cassettes were already tearing up a few patches of the ground to search for tiny little parts of it. Rumble had already found a few along with Frenzy, Laserbeak stayed watch in a high tree, and Ravage was the best at this scavenger hunt; twenty small pieces.

"Hold it right there, Decepticon," Optimus Prime said as he drove up and transformed. Another car pulled up and shifted into a yellow mech, but the last one, a seeker femme. Was she familiar in any way?

"Lord Megatron shall rise again," Soundwave said in his regular monotonic voice. Charm stood behind Prime, remembering how sexy she always found that voice. "You will pay for eliminating him. Rumble, Frenzy, attack!"

"Techno, Shocker, get out here!" Charm yelled, popping open her breast plate and sending out a green and a blue mech, both Rumble and Frenzy's size. They went into an all-out force against each other, but it was obvious they were faking it. For once, Rumble didn't fall back far enough whenever he got punched and Shocker didn't have his game face on. Soundwave found this odd and lunged at the femme. She jumped up into the air and Soundwave fell into the ground. He got up quickly than Charm ever remembered and pinned her back to the ground.

"I thought only Decepticons had cassettes such as mine," he said. His face seemed so close to hers. He was inspecting her visage and an automated laugh emerged. "You even look like me!"

Charm used her legs to push against his chest and spring him back from her body. She stood up and waited for the intelligence officer to do the same. Another creepy laugh.

"I must know you from somewhere," he said. "Who else would try to mimic me?"

I knew it…Charm cried in her thoughts. He doesn't remember…

"What kind of face is behind that mask?"

"What's behind yours?" Charm snapped back. She tried to make him remember by all those comebacks she did when they sparred together. It didn't work. But the one thing different about Soundwave was the darkness in his voice and he was faster than the day they graduated. And, ooh, that strength was definite improvement!

"What's wrong, girl?" he chuckled. "The Autobots didn't give you training on how to handle a Decepticon?"

Now Charm felt it. Soundwave had changed with the times. He was dark, mysterious, more superior. This wasn't her Soundwave.

"Primus, I don't have the strength," she whispered to her god. "I don't want to fight him. Please…"

"Are you crying?" Soundwave laughed again. "Obviously you are weak. What makes you think you can come against me?"

"I can't," Charm said, more loudly than she thought.

"Smart femme." His voice, it was more of a purr.

"Charm! Get him!" Optimus shouted, trying to grab the All Spark pieces from Ravage. The black cat kept clawing and biting at the red and blue mech and spun around whenever he sensed the yellow one near his prize. "Don't stand there, you can do it!"

"I can't!" Charm whined.

"Yes you can!" Optimus shouted. "You convinced me you could go up against Soundwave, now do it!"

"I can't do it!"

"Leave her alone, Prime," Soundwave said. Charm could tell that behind that face mask was an evil smirk. One she never saw and never wanted to see. "If she doesn't want to battle, she doesn't have to. None of you could find a way to beat me."

"Yes we can!" Bumblebee said through a recording of Barrack Obama's speech. He left Optimus to deal with the cat and bird to battle Soundwave for Charm. He came at his side, but Soundwave already spotted him and ducked from the swing. From there, Soundwave took his right fist and punched the yellow mech in the tank. Bumblebee released a static gag and leaned over, holding his mid-section. Soundwave interlaced his fingers and brought a double fist onto the Camero's backside and he fell down to the ground. Soundwave held him there with a leg servo and looked back at Charm.

"You see?" he said. "Not even one of Prime's best could get to me."

"No…" Charm gasped. She looked over to Rumble, Frenzy, Techno, and Shocker. Now they were standing still and looking at the drama scene.

"What are you doing?" Soundwave shouted to his minions. "Fight!"

Rumble shook his head lightly and Frenzy only stood still.

"Do as I command. Attack the Autobots!"

Again, they stood still as ice sculptures. Soundwave growled and looked back over to Charm. If the mask and visor were gone, she'd be even more scared than she truly was.

"Ravage, gather the fragments. Fall back!" Soundwave took his foot off of Bumblebee's back and transformed into a Corvette ZR-1. His hood opened up to gather Rumble and Frenzy while Ravage took the All Spark pieces while Laserbeak kept getting into Optimus Prime's face to distract him. Soundwave drove off, leaving Charm shivering cold when she shouldn't be. It was summertime, wasn't it?

"Charm!" Optimus shouted once Laserbeak flew away. "Why didn't you attack?"

"I…I couldn't do it…" she choked. Techno and Shocker walked over and hugged her on either leg. Like Techno had said before, they were connected. They felt the pain she had and even her spark beat pounding inside of their heads.

"He doesn't remember…" she gasped. Optimus sighed as he helped Bumblebee off the ground.

"I didn't expect him to," he said. "I want you to be sure next time you give me an answer about battling. It's critical I know."

"Yes, sir…"

"Good. Let's roll on home." Optimus and Bumblebee transformed and drove back to Tranquility. Charm stood there with her two mechs hugging her legs and her two femmes crying inside.

"That big jerk!" Star cried. "How can he not remember you? You're irresistible!"

Charm gave a weak laugh. "Yeah, thanks. All right, guys, let's get on home." She opened her breast plate to let Techno and Shocker back inside. Once they were safely inside, Charm took another look at where Soundwave had disappeared. "He's in there somewhere…my Soundwave. I just know it."

xXx

Author's Note: Thought it'd be more dramatic if Soundie didn't remember.