The Flaming Dawn

by Zaru

Summary: A year has passed by quickly. The government has funded a special team just for the Autobots to help keep track of the Decepticons still roaming on Earth. When Starscream returns in full force, how will everybody deal with another event just like Mission City?

Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers. I do own Zaru Kiys. I own Club Kunoichi. Leiana Lopez belongs to Ninjalala. Rose Connelly belongs to BlackwingRose. Jade Rivers belongs to Icarian Angel Wings. Kia Hawkins belongs to weapon13white fang. Piper Somoon belongs to BlackHealer222. Erin Timmons belongs to Strawberrytop007. Bethany King belongs to Mrs. Optimus Prime. I own characters with small/very minor roles as well. Songs sang/mentioned belong to their writers/singers/creators.

A/n: Thanks for the reviews so far. I love it! And now we move onto chapter 2 where we meet one of the newly appearing in this story. Please enjoy. It's a nice chapter. XD

Chapter 2

()-()-()-()-()-()-()

Everybody grinned at the look upon her face. It was priceless.

With thinking everybody forgot her birthday, Zaru was more amazed than ever that her friends could come up with such a clever tactic like that. And of course she had to give credit to the Autobots as well. They were able to keep the party a secret. Then, it hit her.

Her gaze transferred back over to the holoform of her spark mate and bonded, Mirage. How was he able to keep the secret from me through the bond? I don't get it.

"Mirage?" She clasped her fingers around his wrist.

He looked down at her with his blue eyes. "Yeah, babe?"

Her head shook with disbelief. "Seriously, if you guys kept this all under the table, how in the hell were you able to keep it from me? I mean, the bond-"

"I blocked it." He interrupted. At her confused expression he laughed. "I'm sorry, Zaru, but I had no other choice. If I didn't block the bond between us, you would have figured out something was going on." He set a hand over the one holding his wrist. "You don't know how hard it was to keep from telling you. I mean, the feelings I felt coming from you made me want to blow the whole thing."

"But you stuck through it, Mirage." Rose stepped forward and hugged him. "I understand it was hard for you to keep it a secret. Especially from your girlfriend, but you pulled it together and kept going." She nodded her approval. "It was wonderful of you, love. Thank you for keeping it together."

The green-haired woman rolled her eyes. "All right. Is this my birthday party or not?"

Everybody cheered and laughed.

"Come on. Let's go have some fun."

()-()-()-()-()-()-()

Sakauchi Takigawa splashed warm water on his face to get rid of the excess hairs his electric razor chopped off. Turning off the tap, the medium built man reached behind him for a clean towel to wipe off the wetness clinging to his skin. He sighed contentedly taking in the sight of himself in the three way mirror. His black and gray goatee stood out under his chin and he smiled. The short black hair on top of his head was combed back. Some gray hairs stood out only making him seem more handsome.

Rechecking himself, he treaded out of the bathroom into his bedroom to get dressed. His granddaughter's party most likely already started and he was late. Sakauchi wished he had readied himself earlier, but another meeting with the investors didn't help anything as they continuously harassed him in a way about letting in two more parties in the club investing.

Rolling his dark eyes, the older man grabbed a gray polo shirt from his dresser drawer to put on over his slightly baggy tan pants and wooden sandals brought home from Japan years ago. How he missed those days in Hokkaido and Tokyo. How he missed his daughter and other grandchildren.

Ever since his wife Chloe passed on, there was talk of him returning to Japan to claim the family dojo from his daughter Jessica. But no matter what, Zaru wouldn't hear of it. She was one of those people who thought begging was overrated. But when it came to her grandfather, she would not allow it. And begged him to stay put.

His decision had been made the moment the tears fell from Zaru's eyes with her latching onto him and begging him not to go. 'Iie, Jii-san! Iie! I won't let you leave me! I need you here with me! Onegai! Don't go!' If his heart was able to break in two, it would. Those heartfelt words coming from his granddaughter was all he needed.

Now, he stood once again, in front of a mirror, rechecking his appearance before heading out of the room.

Suddenly, he lost his balance, dropping to his knees while clutching his chest.

"No. Iie!" He growled in pain.

()-()-()-()-()-()-()

It was not too long into the party. Everybody was having a great time. Even the Autobots. Although, not all of them were there yet.

Jade looked down at her watch. The party started a half an hour ago and Skyfire still had yet to show up. She wondered if he was all right. To be worried about her spark mate was not unusual. But if there was something wrong, she would know it. Especially with the bond they had created between them. Her bond with Skyfire wasn't as strong as the others since they already succeeded in completing their bonding. Her and the shuttle mech only had their beginning.

Leiana was busy at the bar pouring the drinks for all the humans. She had pondered on trying a mix of some Smirnoff with soda, but relented. She was only 19 turning 20. Not yet the legal age to drink. It was tempting though with all the bottles of alcohol placed in front of her with soda on the other side. With a shake of her head, and a roll of her eyes, she clutched the cup of soda sitting on the stool next to her.

While Leiana was drinking, the club phone rang. Sighing, she reached over and grabbed the phone from its cradle.

"Hello?"

------

Zaru and Mirage were leaning against the food table talking with Blurr. One hand was thrust in the right front pocket of his pants while the other held onto the back of his neck. Blurr used to not really be much of a talker and being social was never on his to-do list. If he was human, he would be the guy that would rather stay at home with a good book. But in mech terms, he was more than happy to stay at the base training in the training chambers.

But the poor mech had to get out and do some things. Which is why Optimus was happy making Blurr guardian of Rose. Rose was an intelligent who seemed the type to be interested in intellectual discussions or debates. Her wit was sarcastic in nature, although she got annoyed and irritated sometimes. But she was a great charge for Blurr. The young woman always had somewhere to be and with errands to run, the blue sharpshooting mech was able to get out a lot more and into the sunshine. Not to mention Rose was able to get him to open up a lot more with talking. Everybody was happy with his progress.

And now, he was laughing with his friends and having a good time at a party. Something the Autobots never experienced before. It was always being a tactician to plan out battle strategies and battle in the war against the Decepticons. Parties weren't on the agenda unless it was a victory to celebrate the defeat of the Decepticons. Which, in millions of years, has never happened.

Blurr smiled as Zaru continued talking with him. He noticed how Mirage nuzzled his nose against Zaru's hair and breathed in her scent. Another couple thing. How left out he felt.

Suddenly, something in his chest jumped. That was weird. The mech pulled his hand from the back of his neck and rubbed his chest. It happened again. What an odd sensation this is. It felt like a heart beat, only it wasn't a heart. It was his spark. He raised an eyebrow. My spark is jumping. For what?

Zaru blinked when she saw Maggie standing by her lonesome. Would it be bad of her not to invite the blonde woman to join in the conversation? Yes. It would be rude. And Maggie was a very nice person to be around. Although she didn't know the leader of the Autosect team well, it was part of her duty, as a human ally and spark mate to one of the Autobots, to help make her feel comfortable within her new surroundings. And just her coming to her birthday party made her know that woman must be kind to come to a stranger's party. Even if she felt alone and awkward.

"Hey, Maggie! Over here!" The green-haired woman waved her hand in the air to her.

Maggie's blue eyes noticed the frantically waving hand after hearing her name called. Was there something she needed or was she just being friendly? She looked down at the cup of alcohol in her hand and smiled. There was no reason why she shouldn't be friendly back and join in on a conversation possibly not within her intelligence range, which would be a huge change from what she's used to.

The green-haired club owner grinned at the blonde who was now standing along with them. She gripped her cup loosely with both hands and smiled at everybody.

"Blurr, this is Maggie Madsen. She's the leader of the Autosect team that was sent by Secretary Defense Keller." Mirage generally introduced the young blonde to his friend.

Blurr held out his hand in greeting. "It is a pleasure to meet you We are glad to have you aboard with us." As she took his hand, his spark pulsated rapidly. Why is my spark doing this? And around this woman?

Maggie plastered a grin on her beautiful face. "It's really a pleasure to meet you as well, Blurr. I am happy to be apart of your group. To help against the Decepticons."

"If they even show their faces again." He smirked and winked at her as he took his hand back. A jump. "Um, would you please excuse me for a moment, Ms. Madsen?"

She nodded. "Sure. Please. Be excused for the moment."

Nodding his own holoform's head, he turned his back on the three and made his way through the small party toward Ratchet and Rose. If anyone would have an answer to his spark, the medic would

----

Leiana listened, waiting for somebody to answer her.

"Hello?" She asked again, this time a little cold.

"Is this the club known as Kunoichi?" A feminine voice asked on the other end.

Rolling her eyes, she nodded. "Uh, yeah. But we're not open right now. Private party."

"Oh, that's not what I was going to ask. I need to speak with a Zaru Kiys." The voice sounded urgent.

"Zaru? Yeah, she's here, but busy right now. May I ask who's calling?"

The female cleared her throat. "My name is Bethany King. I'm a registered nurse at Tranquility City Hospital. A Sakauchi Takigawa was brought in a little bit ago complaining of chest pains. He asked that I reach his granddaughter either at home or at this number."

The dark-skinned female's eyes widened liked saucers. "Oh my god! Is Grandpa Sakauchi okay?" She asked a little too loud.

The music was stopped and everybody moved silently toward the bar listening in on the phone conversation. Zaru stood by Mirage, hands clasped with his own.

"Lala, who is that?" Jade stood with her arms folded across her chest.

"Yes. I will let her know. Thank you." Hanging up the phone gently, Leiana turned to Zaru with a sad look. "Zaru, that was a nurse from the hospital."

"The hospital?" The blue-eyed female wondered what they could have wanted. Hopefully it wasn't anything too bad. "Is everything all right?"

"It's, um, it's Grandpa Sakauchi."

"Jii-san?"

At her nod, the only thing Zaru could do, was run out of the club, Mirage at her heels. The people left in the room stared at one another before following suit.

()-()-()-()-()-()-()

The nurse relayed the information over the phone to whomever answered about Sakauchi before hanging up and writing on a clipboard.

Bethany King scratched the back of her neck where loose red strands of her hair fell out of the big white clip holding it together. She peered upward at the translucent writing board in front of her, blue eyes scanning the information. It was nearing the end of her twelve hour shift and she was exhausted. Not to mention her feet ached from all the walking around she did that day. The twenty-seven year old was tired.

When I get home, I'm going to take a shower, then hop into bed for work tomorrow. She groaned inwardly at the distaste of working another twelve hour shift again, but this time starting at seven in the morning. The current shift she worked ended at ten leaving her around a half hour to get home and another half hour to get showered and into bed. Six and a half hours of sleep was not going to count for long shifts. But it's my own fault for wanting to get into the nursing profession. I was the one who wanted to work with people and help them. And going to nursing school for the past couple years was hard work. If she backed out now, then her accomplishment would have been for nothing.

Grabbing a swivel chair, Beth sat down in front of a computer, moving the mouse with a few clicks before typing away. Boy, it was going to be a long three hours.

()-()-()-()-()-()-()

The elevator dinged, several people pushing to get out and running down the hall.

"Hey, no running!" A nurse ordered making her way past them. But she gave up when they ignored her while running around the corner.

Hands slammed down on the Nurse's Station counter and Beth looked up to see a green-haired woman followed by an entourage.

"Can I help you?" The red head asked politely.

"Sakauchi Takigawa, please. I'm his granddaughter."

The nurse blinked. This is Mr. Takigawa's granddaughter? Beth believed her to be younger than this as her grandfather was a very handsome man who couldn't have been no more than at least 45 years old. And seeing her made her wonder exactly how old the man was since he didn't fill out any medical forms. Just gave them his name and the numbers to call for his only granddaughter living close by.

"I see. You must be Zaru Kiys, then?"

With a nod, Zaru asked, "How is he?"

"I do not know at this moment, but I will be happy to notify the doctor taking care of him that you are here." With a bright smile, she motioned toward the waiting room just within the door a few feet away from the Nurse's Station.

Giving her thanks, the group moved quietly into the room hoping to receive good news about Grandpa Sakauchi.

()-()-()-()-()-()-()

Rose, Zaru, Leiana, Jade, Maggie and Glen were sitting in separate chairs around the waiting area. The Autobots had to conserve their holoform energies before projecting all the way inside the hospital. Jade held onto Zaru's hand comfortingly and smiled small.

"It's going to be okay. I'm sure that it's nothing serious."

The twenty-three year old sniffled while shaking her head. "Birthdays are when good things happen to you. But not me." She closed her eyes, tears welling up behind closed lids. "What if... what if I lose him, too, Jadie? Just like I lost my grandmother?"

The blonde-brunette singer averted her gaze away from her friend. In these times, words of comfort were key, yet none seemed to help at this particular moment. All they could do, was sit in silence until the doctor came in to speak to them. Hopefully, with good news.

()-()-()-()-()-()-()

It seemed like hours passed by until a doctor walked into the waiting room, a clipboard in his hands. Looking around, he asked, "Zaru Kiys?"

Zaru stood up, Jade and Rose at her sides holding onto her arms with a gentle, but firm grip.

"I'm Zaru."

The doctor, a man with red hair, green eyes and glasses, smiled. "Well, your grandfather was brought in awhile ago. It seems he was heading out of his home when he felt some chest pains. Luckily, he was able to get to a phone and brought here."

"Is he going to be all right, doctor?" Rose wondered. She was just as worried about Sakauchi as the others.

"Yes. He's going to be fine. We ran some tests on him and turns out he had a minor heart attack."

Zaru smiled, tears cascading down her cheeks, thanking whatever god was listening for sparing her grandfather. "Can I see him?"

"Of course. He's in room number 5-D. But, please, no more than two this evening. He needs his rest as we will be keeping him for overnight observation."

Grabbing the doctor's free hand, she instantly pulled him close, hugging him tightly. "Thank you! Thank you for taking care of him. He's the only blood I have left here." Not that she didn't have other family, but they were across the globe and she never saw them. Only rarely.

Nodding, he left leaving them behind. Zaru glanced over at Rose. "I guess we should go in, huh?"

The red-head nodded. "Yeah. Let's go see how Grandpa Sakauchi is doing." Rose patted Jade and Leiana's shoulders before following Zaru out of the room.

The two college students weren't upset they weren't able to go in at that moment to see how he was doing. They understood why Zaru would want Rose with her anyways. Rose and Zaru had been friends for along the lines of almost five years. And after Rose's own father died when she was younger, he was the only male model in her life with Optimus Prime excluded. When she had first met him, Sakauchi told her to call him Jii-san like all his grandchildren, but she couldn't pronounce it, not having the ability to speak the Japanese words well with her British accent. So, she settled for calling him Grandpa Sakauchi, and was Rose became a part of their family.

Then, Jade and Leiana came into the picture becoming part of the family as well. Everybody who worked at the club knew him now as Grandpa Sakauchi and was well liked by them all. It was hard seeing somebody they care deeply about in the hospital, but since it was just a minor heart attack, he would be all right. And back to normal before they knew it.

()-()-()-()-()-()-()

The door of room 5-D was knocked upon. A smooth voice bade them to come inside. Rose and Zaru smirked as they saw Sakauchi pressing buttons for the T.V., not finding anything decent on any channels.

"Jii-san." Zaru walked over and hugged him tightly, careful not to pull out the I.V. needle in his arm.

He chuckled. "Zaru, I'm all right." The older man patted her back gently and pushed her away. "It was just a minor heart attack. Nothing big."

"Nothing big? Jii-san, you had a heart attack!" Her mane of green hair shook. "Heart attacks aren't exactly a good thing."

The gray-black haired man reached up with his fingers and pinched her nose. "I know that, honey." A smile fell upon his face. "These things happen when you reach my age. I expected it."

"Yeah, at your age. But you're the healthiest person I know, Jii-san."

"I'll be fine."

"Are you sure you're going to be all right, Grandpa Sakauchi?" Rose treaded lightly to the other side of his bed and placed her hand over his big one.

Sakauchi turned it around, gripping her hand with his. "Rose, I will be fine. I am staying here overnight so that they may keep an eye on me if anything else happens."

"What about the company?" Zaru asked. "Who's going to run it?"

Zaru's grandfather owned Taki Architectural Group. The focus of the company was to build new or renovate old buildings across the country. Usually, the business he did had to do with big corporations, but he always made time for even the smallest companies that needed some construction help. And without her grandfather to manage it, there was no one else in his stead.

"It'll be fine. I already thought that through. I'm only going to be out of work for a couple of weeks and the building we're currently working on is in shambles. It will take at least three weeks to a month just to redo it."

"Pfft. I knew you'd have something up your sleeve,Grandpa Sakauchi."

The small trio laughed with one another and continued speaking.

()-()-()-()-()-()-()

The military hummer drove down the highway at a slow speed. Traffic was relentless. There was no way that hummer was going to make it to Tranquility that evening at the rate it was going.

The black-haired female sat inside the driver's seat, knuckle-gloved hand hanging out the window tapping on the door. It was hard to be patient, seeing all these cars driving so dangerously close to one another. And the car on her bumper didn't help much either. But when she moved a little and stopped, she felt the hummer rocking slowly front to back..

Oh, that bastard! I just know he hit the hummer! Her usual reaction would be to pummel first, ask questions later. But with Defense Secretary Keller on her ass about the crude behavior, she kept her trap shut and behind stuck in the driver's seat, hand tightly on the wheel. But he didn't say anything about flipping jackasses off.

Smirking, the hand hanging out the window gave a one-finger salute to the guy behind her, looking into the rearview mirror to get his license plate number as well. Best to remember it just in case I see that asshole again.

The traffic took off, allowing detours to finally open. Several vehicles made their way en route to a different location giving her the freedom to speed up like she wanted to.

All right, Kia Hawkins, we're almost to Tranquility. Keep your ass secured and in one piece until we meet up with Madsen and Whitman. Then, it occurred to her. Do they know I'm even coming right now? Kia groaned as she switched on the light and reached into the middle console scrounging through several loose papers.

"It's gotta be in here somewhere." Her ice-blue gaze glanced between the road and console.

When she finally found the paper she was looking for, the 24-year-old woman pulled a black cell phone out of her pocket. Finally. She sighed and dialed a number.

()-()-()-()-()-()-()

Maggie was sitting beside Glen reading a Vogue magazine when her cell phone vibrated. Looking around, she hoped the nurses wouldn't see and quietly plucked it from her purse. The purple cell flashed with a number she knew all too well and grinned. I guess our other team member is arriving soon. Picking up the phone, she answered.

"Hello?"

"Madsen, where are you?" The feminine voice sounded a little rough.

"I'm somewhere you're not." The blonde grinned when she heard Kia growl at her.

"Well, I'm on my way to Tranquility right now. I should be there soon."

Maggie blinked. "How soon?"

There was a moment's pause before she answered. "I would say in a couple of hours."

The Autosect leader sighed and nodded. "All right, Kia. Call me as soon as you enter Tranquility and I'll let you know where to meet us."

"Right."

The Australian hung up the phone and looked at Glen. "Kia's on her way here now."

Glen paused from reading his magazine. "Oh really? How long?"

"Couple hours give or take."

The black man groaned. Hopefully she still doesn't want to kick my ass for touching her butt last time we met.

The group stayed silent once again in the waiting room.

TBC...

A/n: Well, I guess you could say this went well. It's a short chapter, but I hope you enjoyed it. Thank you very much.

Sweet Mech Dreams,

Zaru