Please Note: I do not own Transformers. I do, however, have my own OC, Reese Shields.

Chapter 3

A week had passed since the incident and Reese was beginning to become restless. She enjoyed the 'Bots company and did not mind the base, but she missed her job…and her bed. She had not been outside the base since the incident and she felt like she was starting to go stir crazy. She decided that she would finally ask Optimus if she could go back home. She tentatively walked up behind the large red and blue 'Bot.

"Optimus, can I ask you a question?" He turned around and looked down at her with a gentle expression.

"What is it you wish to know, Reese?" He smiled, encouraging her to go on with her question.

"Um, I was, wondering if maybe I could go home now." She found it hard to talk to Optimus. He was so tall, much taller than the rest of the autobots. He was also very serious, and though he was kind, he was also very intimidating. "I appreciate the care and protection all of you have given me, but I would like to be able to sleep in my own bed. Not to mention, I have missed a week of work now; I am sure they are wondering where I have been."

"That is a fair question Reese. Agent fowler contacted the people you work for to let them know that you had been in an accident and that you are recovering, so do not worry about your job. As for your main question, I am worried for your safety. The other human allies have guardians, but we have no one else to spare to protect you. Unfortunately, Ratchet and I are needed here to assist the other autobots at all times. If you would like, I could have Agent Fowler bring you some of your things though." The autobot felt bad that there was not much more he could do for the human girl. She had clearly been through a lot, and it was only fair that she would want to go home. There was nothing he could do at the time though, as there were no extra bots to look after her while she was out.

"Um, I see, well, okay." Reese stammered. The conversation was not going exactly how she would have liked. "I suppose I could make a list of things I need and ask either Agent Fowler or Ms. Darby to bring them over. Is there any way though that I would be able to go to work?"

"I am sure we could arrange something." Optimus replied, smiling kindly down at her. "I will talk with Agent Fowler today and see what can be done." With that he turned back to Rachet, who was trying to get his attention about something. Reese was disappointed and sighed as she went back to her gloomy little room. Ms. Darby had brought by some art supplies and a pack of paper she had lying around the house, and she left it in the room for Reese to use if she got bored. Reese sat down at the desk in the room with the pencils and paper and started sketching some designs for a new robot prototype. Looking down at it, it looked so simple and useless compared to the giant sentient robots she was currently living among. She crumpled up the paper and decided to draw something else instead.

She had been drawing for quite a while when someone knocked on her door. "Come in," she called out without looking up from what she was working on. The door opened and in walked Agent Fowler.

"Hello Reese, how are you doing?" The man asked her as she looked up from her project.

"I'm fine, thank you." She replied, deciding not to go into any details about her frustrations. "I just had a couple of questions that I wanted to ask you."

"Optimus told me you were in need of a couple of things, if you have a list I can send someone over to your place to pick them up for you. He also told me you wanted to go back to work. I have contacted them to let them know that you are doing better and that you will be coming back tomorrow; is that okay?"

"Yes sir that is wonderful, thank you. I have already written up a list of things." She handed him the list with a smile of gratitude.

"I will make sure someone makes it over there today to pick those things up for you. Do you mind if we borrow the key to get in?" Fowler took the list from her and waited for her to answer his question.

"Um, yea sure, here you go." She pulled the key out of her pocket and handed it to the Agent. He seemed like somebody she could trust. "Thanks again."

"No problem, I will make sure somebody gets these things to you by the end of the day." With that he walked out of the room and she was left by herself again. She sighed and sat back down to work on her drawing, but after a few minutes she decided that she didn't feel like drawing anymore. Bored out of her mind she made her way back to the main room of the base. Nobody was there, so she took this opportunity to sneak over to the elevator and head up to top of the plateau that the autobot base was hidden in. stepping outside onto the top of the plateau and feeling the warm breeze coming up from the Nevada desert below instantly boosted her mood. She was tired of being stuck inside and just needed some fresh air. She sat outside in the warm sunlight, breathing in the fresh air and enjoying the beautiful view.

She had been sitting out on the ledge of the plateau for a while and did not notice when the door to the elevator opened behind her and Arcee stepped out.

"The Optimus was looking for you, and since you weren't in your room I figured you could possibly be up here." Reese jumped slightly at the femme suddenly standing behind her. She looked down at her watch and realized that she had lost track of the time; she had been up there for almost two hours. The blue and pink femme walked over and sat down by Reese on the edge of the plateau. "I know you're pretty tired of being cooped up in this base. It can get pretty boring, especially if you're here by yourself."

"I just want to go home. I want things to be the way they were a week ago." Reese sighed as she started to stand up. "I don't really see anything to worry about. Those decepticons, as you call them, don't know where I live, and they have no way of tracking me. I don't see any danger going back home."

"It's just protocol. Optimus doesn't want to put any of the humans who know we exist into any dangerous situations." Arcee stood up and walked over to Reese. "By the way, Optimus did want to speak to you, so you should probably head back down to see what he wanted."

Reese headed down the elevator and stepped out onto the platform in front of Optimus Prime. He looked down at her gently.

"Reese, I wanted to speak with you about leaving the base tomorrow. Since you will be going outside the confines of the base to go to your earthly occupation, I want you to always travel with one of us autobots. Bulkhead, Bumblebee, and Arcee will take turns driving you there and back. I do not think it wise for you to leave your place of work unaccompanied by one of them. While it is unlikely that the decepticons will be looking for you, I would rather not take the risk. Do you agree?" The autobot looked down at Reese, gauging her response. She seemed to be thinking it over.

"Okay, that seems fair. What about Jack, Miko, and Raf, though? What will they do while their guardian is with me? Also, will the guardian stay with me my entire shift, or will they come back to base while I am at work?"

"Those are valid questions; I believe that it would be okay for them to come back to base while you are at your place of work, since you will be inside and out of sight of the decepticons. Their charges will either stay here or be in school." Optimus seemed to have considered everything.

"Very well, that will work fine. Thank you for your consideration; I am glad that I will be able to go back to work and finally have something to keep my mind occupied. Is that all?" Reese looked up into the autobot's gentle blue optics. He nodded his helm and turned to make his way over to the computers where Rachet was working. She was happy to finally be able to get out and live again, even if it was under the careful watch of the autobots. While she liked them all very much, she had begun to find the base more like a prison than a safe-house.