I caught the flu, so this took longer then expected-sorry.


Genesis
by Huldra Nix

Between two worlds life hovers like a star, twixt night and morn, upon the horizon's verge.

-Lord Byron


They were headed further away from Tranquility city with every moment, towards Los Angeles if the road signs were any indication.

"This car is a pretty good driver." Mikaela admitted reluctantly. 'At least now that there's nothing chasing us.' She'd been one turn away from losing her lunch earlier.

"Mhmm." Sam agreed slightly distracted by the way she was sitting; half crouched between his seat and Evie's. "Why don't you sit here, with me?" he offered, ignoring the scandalized look Evie was giving him.

"Why?" Mikaela rolled her eyes up towards the ceiling. 'Typical.' Apparently even alien's couldn't deter teenage boys from trying to pull something.

Evie glanced away from the window she'd been staring out shaking her head in vague, passing amusement. 'Opportunist much?' she thought in regard to her cousin, wondering how he could even think about putting the moves on a girl after what he'd just been through.

"Because I have the only seatbelt and well, you know—Safety first and all that..." Sam replied, nodding his head along with his own words as if to agree with his line of thought. 'Not bad if I do say so myself…'

Evie seemed to think so too because she looked at bit surprised before she grudgingly smiled. 'Well, it's not the worst excuse I've heard to get close to a girl and for Sam it's pretty sly.' The blonde mused wryly, watching as Mikaela reluctantly slid into Sam's lap. On the other hand, she really wished Sam's would quit making moves while she was stuck watching him do it, it was awkward.

"The seat belt thing was pretty smooth." Mikaela begrudgingly admitted when Sam wrapped the seatbelt over her. Since being chased by the police car on steroids nothing had felt quite real, but when she felt Sam's warmth leeching into her skin the world suddenly felt a little more solid than it had before. "…you know what I don't get?" she paused, licking her lips nervously. "If it's supposed to be some sort of super advanced alien…why does it change back into this piece of crap Camaro?" she really wished she'd kept her mouth shut when they came to a screeching halt.

Evie gasped, bracing her hands against the steering wheel at the abrupt stop. "Mikaela…" she groaned slumping against the dash as she tried to calm her racing heart. "That was just rude." It was like telling another woman they were fat or something.

The cars behind them were piling up, drivers screaming angrily as Bumblebee threw the doors open. 'Enough is enough already!' he was tired of the sub-par form, the complaints- and frankly if he were going to meet with his superior officers he'd like to look halfway decent. Otherwise he'd never hear the end of it from Ironhide.

"See, look what you've done? You can't just say things like that! That car is sensitive and you just pissed him off!" Sam cried, watching the Camaro ride away with the high pitched peel of its tires. "There goes 4 thousand dollars!" his fingers roved over his head in aggravation.

"How was I supposed to know it had body image issues?" Mikaela responded, crossing her arms defensively. 'It's not like meeting giant robots is a daily occurrence for me! And I didn't ask about its bodily structure, isn't that like way ruder?'

Evie sighed to and pushed the two bickering teens in front of her. "I'd worry more about how we're going to get home, now walk…there's no point in standing around." She quietly mourned the Camaro's departure but soldiered on. 'There went the single most interesting discovery of my life…' She lamented, fingers groping around her pockets in search of a phone only to come up empty. 'Luck, you have none.' The annoyed girl thought as she threw her head back with a groan.

Bumblebee on had just the opposite thought, he hadn't had to go very far to find a new disguise. It was even in his preferred color, and included the racing stripes Evie and Sam seemed so fond of. 'Maybe there is something to me being lucky after all.' The others often joked that he was some sort of magnet for good fortune and at the moment he couldn't really argue.

They were already walking up the side walk when he pulled up beside them his engine thrumming quietly as the radio's bass vibrated through the air. Pride lanced through him at the various looks of disbelief and absolute astonishment washed over them.

"How is this even possible?" Evie roved her hands over the hood of the car in astonishment. "It would mean being able to manipulate matter and mass…" He'd even changed his pigmentation like some sort of techno-chameleon; the color had gone from being a pale, faded hue of yellow to the vibrant color of marigolds and sunflowers. 'Well, I guess the part about manipulating mass does make sense…how else could he fold up like he does?'

She was undoubtedly torn between outrageous glee and befuddlement. The one thing Evie could agree on was that he looked utterly phenomenal despite her fondness for vintage cars.

Rolling his eyes heavenwards Sam interrupted Evie's little tangent by pushing her towards the backseat. "Okay, that's enough; you can fawn all over him and science or whatever on the way to wherever we're going." He was perfectly content not to question how it was possible because the answer probably wouldn't make any sense to him anyways, but watching Evie work herself up into a frenzy made his head hurt. "Besides, we're holding up traffic…"

Even the inside of the car smelled new, but she immediately noticed the disco ball and air-freshener had remained intact. 'Well I guess some things remain the same after all.' She thought fondly.

His quick but entirely necessary stop completed and all humans present and accounted for, Bumblebee continued on, pulling through the bared gates of a construction site knowing that the others would be passing overhead at any time. They had carefully planned the trajectory but as with all things there was a margin of error.

Pulling to a stop in front of the Griffith Observatory to watch the descent, Bumblebee let his little charges clamor out to get a better view. In stunned silence, Evie leaned up against his siding while Mikaela and Sam stood in front of him. To stare out in wonder at the four burning comets racing through the sky as they fanned out over the city.

Maybe Sam was a little terrified but when he felt Mikaela's questing fingers reach for his own, he suddenly felt a little less out of his depth and wondered if she felt the same.

"So, those…they're more of you right?" Evie asked, her fingers tapping against the hard top of the Camaro curiously.

"…More or less the same…There's only one me..." Bumblebee replied after a moment, if his readings were right the closest one to hit ground was Optimus at a distance that was close enough for the humans to reach without him driving them. Already he could hear them calling through the communications system—Ironhide was particularly vocal about having landed in water much to his amusement.

Even from where they were standing they could see the great plumes of dirt and smoke the resulting impact brought with it. Without preamble Evie pushed away from the car quickly and bolted towards the overgrown lot. "I don't know about you two but I kinda wanna see this for myself!" She called over her shoulder, bright eyed and taking everything in stride.

'There must be some sort of crazy gene we all inherited from mom's side…or maybe I got a double dose from dad too.' Sam thought, glancing at Mikaela for affirmation before nodding his head. "It's a once in a life time chance." He steeled himself and took her hand, sprinting after Evie.

The unkempt grass carried nettle bushes but she could hardly be bothered by the clinging seeds, eyes and mind trained on what was ahead of them. In the vacant patch of land fire and smoke speckled the deep grooves left behind in the smoldering earth, dirt half packed around the large egg shaped structure that had wrought the damage.

Besides her Sam and Mikaela came to a rest their hands still gripping one another like lifelines as they watched in quiet trepidation. The smoke and the bad lighting made visibility difficult but if they squinted they could see the huge egg-shaped mass unfolding and taking on new form.

Even with the poor view there was one thing they could all discern. It was much bigger than the bright yellow being they were acquainted with. Crouching low it made a quick retreat disappearing into the night, silhouette barely discernable to their eyes.

At the top of the ravine a buzzing of voices filtered through Bumblebee's system, the Ping-Pong of questions and answers was a welcome change to the silence he'd grown accustomed to.

'Tooth Fairy? Is that what they call aliens on this planet?' Ironhide's ornery voice crackled.

"I thought I had planned my landing more carefully…it's a bit more populated then I anticipated." Ratchet fretted.

"Don't tell me you already squished someone…" Ironhide sounded rather blasé about the thought. "First few moments on the planet and the doc's already gone and splatted someone, figures."

"Of course not!" Ratchet interjected quickly. "But any further off and it might have been another story…" he trailed off.

Jazz chattered excitedly, throwing his own thoughts into the mix. "Forget about all that, have you guys seen the data network of this place? Bumblebee you were holding out on me! Forwarding the languages was all well and good, but the music is where it's at!"

"The pertinent information alone was difficult to transmit…" Bumblebee explained. "But it's a pretty nice place, music and all."

"I can't tell if that's sarcasm or not." Ironhide grumbled. Without a voice the youngster's simple messages lacked context and frankly he couldn't see how a planet with so much water could be considered nice. 'Almost the whole planet is covered in the stuff…how awful.'

"Let's not be so quick to judge." Optimus, ever the sage voice of reason intoned. "Bumblebee, there were three humans…"

"Sam Witwicky, Mikaela, and Evie." The scout explained. "They don't know much yet and there was a bit of an incident earlier with a decepticon." They were probably very confused and if he were to try explaining it himself it'd probably only get worse.

Optimus made a noise, a hum as he thought something over. "I imagine they'll want an explanation. Set a rendezvous point and send the coordinates." He ordered, pausing for a moment. "I hope to see you in top condition upon arrival…"

"Better not be anything less after all that training and the hard knocks he's had before." Ironhide added. "The last thing you want is Ratchet fussing all over you this early."

"You won't be disappointed." Bumblebee responded quickly, more hopeful on the matter then confident. 'Well, no voice does have its upsides. Kind of like the ultimate poker face when it comes to communications.' At least as long as no one could see him. In truth he was actually a bit nervous, but happy. Having been through the area before, he had a decent meeting place in mind and quickly gave them with the information. The communication lines cut away as they each set about navigating the new terrain.

The quick flicker of lights caught Mikaela's attention, turning her head in the direction they'd come from she saw the yellow Camaro flashing its lights. "I think that means the pit stop's over," She said jerking a thumb behind her. "and that it's time to move on to wherever he's taking us."

"Yea…" Sam reluctantly tore his eyes away from the quietly burning earthen gash and moved, returning up the hillside in a subdued pace, Mikaela quietly at his side. 'I can't believe this shit…' he wondered if the unreal, dream like feeling would ever come to an end. The only thing that ruined it was the aches and pains that remained from being tossed about like a ragdoll.

Evie lingered for a moment longer the sting of her teeth sinking into the tender flesh of her bottom lip worriedly. 'Just how many life sustaining planets are even out there?' she pondered as the unwanted thought of Sigourney Weaver in Alien's coming to mind. 'Oh please tell me there aren't chest bursters and face huggers somewhere out there…" her insides protested the thought violently as she caught up with Sam and Mikaela, safely tucking herself back inside the leather interior.

'Sure, giants made of metal with questionable objectives are intimidating and all but something that can live inside you completely unnoticed until it's too late is the level I'm drawling the line at.' Evie thought as she firmly rubbing a bit of the dry flaking blood off her face. It was starting to itch.

The prosperous, busy city of Los Angeles was growing shoddier the longer they drove. Mikaela's eyes flicked towards the clock imbedded in the radio. '7:30? I'm lucky no one's waiting for me to get home…' it was one of the few perks being a foster kid afforded her. "Where exactly are we headed?"

Trying not to think about the major meltdown his parents were going to have when he got home, Sam rolled his shoulders in the universal sign that he really had no clue. "Dunno but I get the feeling we'll be there soon…if we don't get pulled over for speeding." His gentle chiding was a subtle reminder to the alien that there were in fact road laws to be observed.

The steady decrease of the speedometer was the only indication that the Camaro was actually paying them any attention.

They took a path that wound through the inner city's back alleys—narrow, cluttered spaces marred with refuse and bad drainage until they finally pulled into an old disused alley behind an out of business automotive shop just as the lights from an oncoming convoy lit up the space. 'Finally.' Bumblebee felt the thrum of excitement as the distinct ache of being alone on a foreign planet finally faded at the sight of them.

The humans had already left his confines, quiet and tentative. 'Probably a little terrified too.' Bumblebee thought, glancing at the death grip Sam had on Mikaela's arm.

'These guys could make a contortionist green with envy…' Evie thought with a cringe, watching what had been a red and white emergency services Humvee rotate it's entire torso around. It made her spine cringe just watching the perceived abuse. 'How does that not hurt? Can these guys even feel pain?' that was whole new can of worms to ponder over.

Still, she took the time to admire the electrocardiograms racing down his forearms. She'd always loved watching the monitors when she worked at the hospital. 'There's just something so satisfying about watching a steady heartbeat. A testament to good work I suppose.'

There was a strange sort of grace in the way that they pulled themselves apart and reassembled into something completely different but the show was utterly stolen by Big Blue and Red. Any thoughts about the yellow muscle car being huge were thrown out the window when put into comparison to the other three; With the exception of the small, sleek silver one who had pretty much break danced through his transformation the Camaro was second to smallest.

Sam could only blink. 'This is just...I mean…damn.' he'd never considered himself the type of guy to go speechless—more often than not he ended up saying too much, a fact that he regretted more often than not but at the moment he was feeling pretty speechless not to mention antsy. "…Evie, maybe you should do the talking. I mean, isn't that like protocol or something? The oldest most qualified person does the communication in situations like this. You're a doctor and the oldest, so that means you." He whispered, nudging her in the ribs with an elbow.

Hissing at not only the painful jab, but his all too willing desire to put her in the forefront, the irate blonde fixed him with a rather disappointed stare. "A. How am I supposed to know protocol for this kinda thing?! It's not like I took a seminar on this. And B. where the hell is your chivalry?!" she wasn't whispering so much as quietly shouting at him.

"A doctor?" Mikaela mumbled, staring at Evie in confusion. "Aren't you a little young?" Sam had mentioned she was his older cousin, but she'd figured by maybe a year or something.

"I'm 21!" Evie realized she was getting progressively louder in her defense quickly quieted down, completely forgetting her earlier assertion that their spectators could no doubt hear them. "I just look really young…" her baby faced features were a sore subject.

'It's hard just getting respect when you look like this.' she thought miserably. With big eyes, blonde hair and a cherubic face, most people couldn't take her seriously which meant she had to work twice as hard just to prove them wrong. True, Evie found that having to prove the preconceived notions of others wrong was both exhausting and fulfilling in equal measures, 'but it's such a hassle…'

Any further dissent among them was quieted when Big Blue and Red kneeled down, completely oblivious to the personal space bubbles he'd just popped. "Are you Samuel James Witwicky, descendant of Archibald Witwicky?" he questioned, the deep tone of his voice surprising all of them.

"Oh well would you look at that…" Evie smiled tersely at her little cousin. "It was for you anyways Sam." Her tone of voice promised future retribution. 'I don't know when but don't you think I'll forget about this, you little jerk.' There was plenty of dirt she could spill on him.

Paying her and the astounded Mikaela next to him very little mind, Sam nodded his head quickly. "Y-yea…that's me, Sam." He replied in a near whisper, wondering what would have happened if he had not been the Sam they were looking for. '

"My name is Optimus Prime; we are autonomous robotic organism's from the planet Cybertron. "he gave off the feeling of being a leader just by his pattern of his speech, and the deep tone of his voice. The overtly proper speech pattern only enhanced the authoritative weight he seemed to carry.

"But you can call us Autobots for short." The one with the electrocardiogram decals intoned, glancing around inquiringly. 'Not what one would call the most auspicious of places is it?' it had a lot of dirt and water going for it, the latter the cause of much consternation for Ironhide if his gripping about it was any indication.

"What's crackin' little bitches?" The tiny in relation to the other's greeted, throwing himself on top of an old clunker of a car in decadent sprawling. It was easy to tell he was about as chill as they came. "This looks like a cool place to kick it!" he was loving the steady thrum of music the planet had going for it. 'Bumblebee was right about one thing; technology wise they might be behind, but the culture is buzzin!'

Optimus nodded his head briefly in the direction of the deceptively small crew member. "My first lieutenant; designation Jazz…" there were times he wished they could be a little more serious, but then as long as they were not derelict in their duties and preformed to standards he would not impose on their unique…eccentricities.

"W-where did he learn to speak like that?" Sam questioned almost frantically. 'The other one never said a word…' it would have been nice to be clued in on what was going on from the get go.

"We learned the earth's languages through the world wide web…" there were of course still some glitches to be worked out but in the short amount of time they had to work with he was most impressed by the progress. Languages were often tricky things which bent and evolved over time making them difficult to grasp. Seeing the restless way Ironhide was carrying himself, Optimus turned his attention therewithal. "And this is our weapons specialist, Ironhide."

"You feeling lucky punk?" He was all black with gleaming chrome— and pointing a rather large cannon at them- or maybe it was just Sam.

The three humans suddenly looked rather tense, cloistering together even tighter.

Evie's face turned rather ashen. "With you pointing a loaded weapon in our direction? Not particularly!" she squeaked.

"Easy Ironhide," Optimus chided with mild vexation. 'It wasn't that long ago you blew up a planet.' It had been an uninhabited, very small planet—but a planet nonetheless and while he doubted Ironhide would misfire, he'd prefer it if the weapon's expert refrained from pointing armaments at non-hostiles.

"Kidding, I just wanted to show them my cannons." Ironhide remarked, not exactly eager to put his toys away. 'Besides they make such funny faces…'

"They're…uhm, impressive." Evie complimented politely, wondering if that was the correct response to the current situation. Ironhide did seem pleased with the compliment though, much more so then Sam who shook his head in thinly veiled discouragement. 'Admittedly it's probably not a good idea to encourage the display of weaponry too much.'

With one more potential crisis averted Optimus turned his attention towards the next crew member. "And our medical officer; Ratchet."

Ratchet had been studying the three diminutive beings in front of him when his introduction began. Despite their rather delicate structure, there was something rather interesting in the way they were composed. He sniffed, olfactory sensors cataloging and placing the distinct scents around them. "The boys pheromones suggest he'd like to mate with…that one." He motioned towards Mikaela.

Sam whistled sharply, avoiding any eye contacted with the dark haired girl standing next to him. 'Well, that just about ruined any chance I had.'

Mikaela glanced off to the side, biting her bottom lip. 'It's not exactly news, but it's also not something you would really announce to the world like that.' But then she supposed that expecting aliens to follow their social standards just seemed a bit silly.

"If it wasn't awkward enough between the two of them before, it certainly will be now." Evie mumbled under her breath, squeaking quietly when she became to subject of Ratchets attention.

"And this one seems to be experiencing a bit of discoloration—fascinating." In the background the blue of Ironhide's eyes could be seen rolling as he shook his head, apparently finding his longtime comrades interests decidedly boring. "and I detect traces of iron…"

Evie flinched, touching the patch of dried blood defensively. "I don't usually look like this…" she explained. "And the iron is probably from the blood." She found it amazing that he could smell Iron and pheromones—perhaps a little creepy as well when she really thought about it.

"About that..." Bumblebee took that as a cue to explain. 'It's as good a time as any to bring up the little snag…'

"Barricade?" Ratchet grunted in annoyance. "As much of a brute as ever I see, will you be well?" he inquired, feeling out of his depth. He was certainly not qualified or equipped to treat humans despite whatever similarities they had to other life forms they'd encountered in the past. Bumblebee had only supplied the very basics in his preliminary reports.

"I'll be fine." Evie shyly waved the concern away—she was never good at letting other people doctor her. "It could have been a lot worse." And while she was achy at the moment, tomorrow morning would be horrendous. 'Because Felicia is going to murder me…or Aunt Judy and Uncle Ron' she thought curling into a mental ball.

"This Barricade guy, is that the fake cop car on steroids?" Mikaela asked, wondering what was up with the rather…earthy names they had. 'Seems just a little bit odd.'

"Yea and he's a real nasty piece of scrap." Jazz complained, the car creaking beneath him. "But he ain't all that smart." He was little more than a follower happy to tack on to whatever cause would allow him to commit the most violent acts and get away with it. 'Hope Bumblebee thrashed the sucker good.'

"You already know your guardian, Bumblebee." Optimus patted the youngest of them in greeting. 'Despite the hardships, you've done well.' He thought proudly, knowing it had been a long and difficult few years for the mech.

It was the moment the yellow autobot had been waiting for as he rigorously punched the air. "Check on the rep, second to none!" confidence was important and he wanted them to know he was capable despite his little mishap earlier.

"Bumblebee?" Sam and Evie questioned simultaneously. The names were just getting weirder down the line.

"…Any relation to the earth kind? I mean, bees are great and all; they make honey and have fascinating medical applications, they pollinate plants and pack a nasty sting, but uhm…" Evie rambled, not wanting to seem rude but it was a very odd name for an alien. 'More importantly giant bugs, metal or otherwise are enough to make me hide in a closet and cry for a week. Still better then spiders…' She supposed after a moment of consideration.

It took Ironhide only about a moment to catch onto the reference much to Bumblebee's embarrassment. "That is purely coincidental; He was just clumsy— as in bumbling." He watched with amusement as the Scout slapped a hand over his face. It completely ruined his moment.

"My guardian huh?" Sam grinned to himself. 'Damn that's cool.' He seemed to ignore the implication that Bumblebee might not have been the most graceful, or whether or not the affliction was current or otherwise.

There was an electrical whirl and click that came from Bumblebee as he nodded his assertion only to flinch away when Ratchet fired a diagnostic beam into the old injury. 'I hate when he does that!' he coughed the dust from unused chords and circuits, the sensation of a burning, tingling feeling lingered for a few moments after wards.

"His vocal processors were damaged in battle; I'm still working on it." Ratchet explained glancing at the readings. 'No change, but results are better than expected.' Bumblebee's condition was surprisingly good considering the lack of medical care he'd been privy to recently. 'I suppose the first aid lessons paid off, nice to know.'

'Well, that explains it.' Sam thought. 'I mean how much easier would all this have been if he just said "Dude, relax, its fine I'm not gonna kill you or anything." He probably still would've freaked out but he would have appreciated the effort. In his limited experience life was seldom known for taking the easiest course of action, so Sam supposed he shouldn't be surprised.

Despite the surreal nature the night had taken Mikaela supposed she was taking things stunningly well but it was with no small amount of bewilderment that she finally asked the question pressed heavily to her tongue. "Why are you here?" she really hopped no one was planning a mass invasion. 'Let's hope this is more like E.T and less War of the Worlds…'

"We are here for the Allspark and we must find it before Megatron." Optimus drew to his full height once more.

The grave tone Optimus used set Evie on edge. 'If someone that size is worried, I think we should all be concerned.' Her fingers tapped against her elbow anxiously.

"Mega-what?" Sam countered looking around, to his dismay every autobot in the vicinity seemed to have the same reaction to the utterance; resentment. It was in the way they carried themselves, the stiffness that seemed foreign even for them. 'Whoever that dude is he's certainly not winning any popularity contests with these guys...'

'Showing has always been the best medium.' Optimus touched a panel on the side of his head; the memories of the final days of war on their planet took form, projected for all to see. Their once shining beacon of a planet reduced to nothing but a wasteland as it was faced the ferocity of warring factions and failing infrastructures.

The ground groaned splitting open as the three human's shifted away from the yawning crevices as the glow of red miasma pulsed from within. Evie, in her seemingly infinite curiosity had the guile to toe one of the cracks as if to test its actual existence. 'Solid…projections so advanced they look like the real deal? Check.' She mused, watching the foreign landscape take shape.

"Our planet was once a powerful empire, peaceful and just." Perhaps not always, but that was often the case when it came to governments, they became cumbersome and corruptible when left unchecked and tempered. There was a time in their history where castes all but imprisoned them for what was proclaimed to be for the greater good. 'But together we ended that…if only you had not strayed from the path Megatron…' Optimus thought with great regret.

Metal spires twisted up from the miasma of a bleak skied world as a dwindling battle played out before their eyes; in the distance an argent titan reveled in the devastation, head thrown back in rapture as the bodies of his enemies hung from the tower behind him.

'Yea, definitely not a good guy.' Sam thought, a bead of sweat rolling down his face as he stared wide eyed.

"But then we were betrayed by Megatron, the leader of the Decepticons. All who defied them were destroyed and the Allspark was lost to the stars…" it had been little more than a myth, a fable from ages long since passed. That was until it was discovered in an archaeological dig along with the fragmented pieces of five sarcophagi and a single intact one.

Even when their planet was in its darkest hours failing from the inside out and their leaders floundered, what they thought could be their saving construct remained largely unresponsive. 'But that did not stop his corruption, his obsession with power.' For some reason the mech he once considered a brother was convinced that he could change the Allspark, control it.

'It's more like it was purposely launched.' Bumblebee reflected somberly, fingers idling over his chest plate in remembrance of the wound he'd earned in the process of buying time for that particular maneuver. As brutal as Megatron's assault on him had been the fact that he was still functional was a blessing in and of itself. 'Not to mention proof that Ratchet is all skill.' Even if the medic could get a little out of hand sometimes, but that was a different matter entirely.

"Megatron followed it to earth where captain Witwicky found him. It was an accident that entwined our fates. He had crash landed before he could find the Cube. Here, on your planet. Your grandfather accidentally activated Megatron's navigation system and the coordinates for the cube's location were inscribed upon his glasses." By now the projection had long since faded away, the later events Optimus regaled them with were inferred from Bumblebee's investigation—little more than conjecture on their part.

Of course the mention of the spectacles was what really got Sam's attention. "How'd you know about his glasses?!" it was crazy they knew such a tiny detail.

"Ebay." Optimus replied, the simple one word response making the situation far blither then his tone.

'Than again I think it's impossible for this guy not to sound…uh, grave.' Mikaela thought in dim amusement. 'He could make the subject of kittens seem serious.'

"What exactly is this Allspark thing?" Evie questioned, tilting her head up to look at them. 'Because it seems like a big deal if somebody was willing to start a war over it and then chase it across the universe.' But then again Megatron could just be crazy. He hadn't seemed all that put together in Optimus's home video. 'Then again, homicidal maniacs seldom do…'

"Before our time began there was the cube, its origins are not known to us but what is known is that it has the power to create worlds and fill them with life. Legend says that is how our race was born." Optimus explained, studying the small structured creatures in front of him. They were small, seemingly delicate creatures for the volatile universe they existed in. The thought of bringing calamity to their planet due to his decision to use the Allspark as bait worried him the more he imagined the ramifications.

Optimus recalled to himself that in the time that the Allspark had been in their care at Simfur Temple it had given off faint energy spikes and the occasionally odd reading, nevertheless it had remained rather docile for something that gave birth to an entire planet and its inhabitants by Primus' decree. 'But that could have been due to lack of energon and it does not make it less of a threat especially if Megatron is privy to something we are not.' it was not a risk he was willing to take when the lives of others were on the line.

"If I had to take a guess I'd say that if the Decepticons find the Allspark they'll use its power to transform earth's machines and build a new army." Ratchet added, shaking his head at the miserable thought. He may be a soldier when the situation called for it but he was a doctor first and foremost and reviled the loss of life when possible. 'An army he'll no doubt use against the humans.' Whatever good Megatron might once have had never extended to those outside his own kind even when he hadn't been a corrosive, devastating force.

"And the human race will be extinguished in the process." Optimus seemed to share the thoughts of his comrade and he had known the decepticon leader longer and far better than anyone else. "Sam Witwicky you hold the key to earth's survival."

Sam gulped nervously, suddenly feeling as though all eyes were on him. 'Because, hey they are!' he quipped to himself miserably. He was glad for once that Evie remained quiet.

"Please tell me you have those glasses?" Mikaela begged, voice trembling. 'If that cube thingy can do all the things they say it can we are in some deep shit.'

"Yea, it's at uh- home…somewhere." Sam dragged a nervous hand over his face.

"Somewhere?" Ironhide quoted doubtfully, his optics rolling towards the sky. "That sounds promising." Pinning the world on a squishy, unimpressive specimen like Sam seemed like a universal joke. 'What do I know about cosmic design or anything like that? Philosophy is more Prime's thing than mine.'

"How was I supposed to know they were important?!" Sam cried in defense of himself, hands thrown in the air as he paced nervously. 'This is what I get for trying to sell off family history, isn't it? Talk about karma.' eBay was turning out to be the devil in his life. "And why are we still standing here talking when we should be going?" he questioned curtly.

Swiftly taking him by the shoulder, Evie preempted any further panicking. "Before we go anywhere, you and I better get our story straight considering your supposed to be grounded and I-well I look like I got into a bar fight and probably lost... badly." She looked to Mikaela worriedly "You don't have a curfew or anything, do you?"

"No I'm good…they probably haven't even noticed I'm not there." Mikaela brushed the concern aside with practiced ease.

Picking up the vaguely bitter way that Mikaela spoke,Evie filed it away for later perusal. "Well, with any luck no one's called the cops, the real cops.'" She nearly jumped out of her skin when Optimus leaned in on them a second time. .

"You haven't committed any crimes, have you?" he clearly disapproved of law-breaking.

"There have been a lot of laws broken tonight but not a single one by us, promise." Evie found it a little amusing that he was so concerned with their planet's laws. 'I suppose I shouldn't mention Bumblebee's speeding or the destruction of private property they probably caused in their landing.'

Clearing her throat to return to her previous point, Evie continued, turning back to Sam. "We can't just waltz home without some sort of explanation for where we've been. So… listen closely." She spoke, squishing the teen boy's face between her hands to garner his full attention.

Mikaela didn't bother hiding how entertained their current interaction was to her lips quirking at Sam's squished face. 'Must be nice to have a close family...' Besides a few friends of her father checking on her occasionally or the one that gave her an after school job she really didn't have anyone to depend on like Sam did. 'Sure, I get a phone call, some letters and a few cards from Dad around the holidays, but nothing like this.'

"I was out, I had an accident. Some crazy person on a bike nearly ran me over." Sam had the decency to flinch, but Evie continued without pausing. "I fell, busted my head and broke my phone. You following so far?" she felt him nod just slightly beneath her hands. "Good. I called you to come get me on the house phone since yours was lost last night, you of course had no car—since it was stolen so it took a while and that's all there is to it." Easy to remember and close enough to the truth.

'Those are always the best kind of lies.' Although having to lie to Judith and Ron wasn't exactly something she was happy with, telling them the truth seemed just as unsavory. 'They would freak-out and understandably so.' Evie thought, biting her bottom lip nervously.

"Okay, okay I got it." Sam jerked away from her, rubbing his face as he avoided looking at his crush. 'Why does everything embarrassing have to happen to me when she's right there?'

Evie looked up to Optimus with a cheery smile. "Well, by your leave."

A solemn nod was issued from Optimus to his subordinates and they quickly assumed their incognito modes.

Not wanting to subject herself to what was going to be a long and more than likely awkward drive home with Sam and Mikaela dancing around one another and whatever was going on between them, Evie turned to the nearest autobot 'Ratchet.' She recognized with a hopeful smile. "Mind if I catch a ride back with you?"

"Not at all." Although Ratchet wondered if she wouldn't be more comfortable with Bumblebee, or even Jazz who were both by far the friendliest and overeager of them he wasn't going to refuse the request. Especially when she seemed desperate enough to ask.

"Well… I guess it's just you, me, and Bumblebee." Sam said, normally he'd consider being alone with her a winning situation but he technically wasn't alone with her. 'And now she knows I'm most certainly interested her as more than a friend. ' Evie had the foresight to bail out of what she undoubtedly knew was going to be an uncomfortable situation. Unfortunately he didn't have that luxury.

Sensing his reluctance Mikaela smiled somewhat. "Don't worry, I don't bite. Not too sure about the car though..."she teased, joke furthered by the roar of Bumblebee's engine. 'I mean it's not like I didn't have a clue or anything…' awkward sure, but not insurmountable after the crazy night she'd had so far.

Sam laughed slightly patted the hood of the Camaro fondly. "I don't know if he bites, but he definitely packs a punch!" now that they weren't in danger of dying, he could freely consider just how awesome the idea of fighting robots actually was. 'And it is pretty freaking sweet.'

"Okay the three of you can totally stop flirting now." Evie called from Ratchet's passenger seat. As entertained as she was with their little repartee, they really needed to get moving. "You really did a number on those two by dropping that pheromone comment." She remarked as Sam and Mikaela both flushed, ducking into the yellow Camaro.

"I suppose I shouldn't have said that, was it terribly rude?" In his defense it had seemed rather obvious, even without the excessive pheromones.

"Oh maybe just a little." Evie said gently, looking around the cabin curiously. The details were spot on, with the exception of missing medical supplies and she idly wondered why that was since Bumblebee had been able to make an airfreshener and a disco ball. "Would it be terribly rude of me if I asked how this is even possible?" she swept her hands about widely.

It wasn't hard to tell that the diminutive female was completely awed. "I'm afraid you might want to be a bit more specific. Are you talking about the situation in general or us as a species?"

"You." Evie laughed, tucking a few wayward strands behind her ear. "Call it a doctor's curiosity."

Now that he could understand and empathize with. "A complicated question, but I suppose one would be best served to start at the spark of it all." Ratchet said enthusiastically. It was not every day he got a chance to discuss his trade in depth to willing ears.

"The spark? As in the same one Optimus was talking about earlier?" Evie recalled as she drew her knees to her chest.

"Yes and no. The premise is the same in a way. They both provide vital functions necessary for life." Or the Allspark used to when it had been fully functioning but that was from a time beyond his memory. "And they both require energon to carry out those actions." From his right mirror he could see the way her brows scrunched.

Ratchet continued on to alleviate her confusion on the matter. "It's a fuel source, without it we would cease functioning. It's what energizes our sparks, If we take too much damage and our ability to circulate it is impeded badly enough—well, we offline. The same thing would occur if the spark incurs too much damage." In a way he felt as though he were teaching a hatchling, especially when she lit up as if figuring out something spectacular.

"So, basically sparks are like hearts and energon is what blood is to the human body." Evie explained, snapping her fingers happily as she explained the link between the two further. "If the heart takes on damage or it's impeded, unable to circulate blood throughout the body we'd die. The same happens if we bleed out." Maybe she shouldn't sound so happy about it, but it was interesting to see just how they related to one another anatomically speaking.

"Oh? Fascinating..." On the other hand slightly worrying since he had no idea how much of the substance humans could afford to lose. The last thing they needed was a medical mishap so early. "But the spark is no mere physical construct. It's considered to be spiritual in a way. It's what makes us-Us or so we say."

"Sounds like a soul to me." Evie countered after a quiet moment of reflection. "The heart is often used as a euphemism for it, but that's getting into philosophy I suppose…you know the typical questions; where does it reside, does it even exist?" her way of speaking gallivanted as she shrugged her shoulders and in effect the questions away. "But there are people who will argue that the soul doesn't exist in the way we think it does, that the brain is really what decides all of that."

It sounded awfully familiar as Ratchet recalled many a debate about sparks and personality components. 'a bit peculiar how familiar it seems, not to mention interesting.' Maybe even enough to warrant further study. 'Time permitting of course...' At the moment everything hinged on keeping the Decepticons from finding the Allspark and taking control of it. What came after was well, complicated.

An unwitting Evie struck at that matter with her next question. "So what happens when you get the Allspark? I mean…your planet didn't look too, uh—good." She paused, turning apologetic, "Sorry, am I being too nosy?" it was really difficult to not ask questions though.

Truthfully he didn't mind her inquisitive nature, in fact it was a welcome reaction to what it could have been which included; terrified shrieking, quiet horror, disgust, mistrust, and diabolical plotting. Having come across numerous planets in their rather long history he knew not everyone was so content to learn that there were other intelligent, advanced life forms out there.

The conundrum was that he had no clear cut answer, so Ratchet settled for the best one available. "Primus willing, we'll return home." That would be the ideal scenario.

For a moment she debated asking about what, or who Primus was but decided against it, feeling as though she'd already asked enough of him and given nothing in return. "Must be hard having to be so far away from home, from everything you're used to." Evie fiddled with the buttons at her cuffs awkwardly. 'It's one thing to go a few states away, or even a country—but a whole planet? Talk about culture shock.' she thought in empathy.

"It's not so bad, you get to see new places and meet different…people, but home would certainly be a welcome sight." Ratchet admitted fondly. 'Or rather a thriving, vibrant Cybertron would be.'

Evie smiled and patted the window. "It's good to look on the bright side, but I do hope you get to return home soon. Earth's great and all but probably not what you're used to, no place like home right?"

"That's one way of putting it." Ratchet made a noise that sounded quite a bit like a sigh to Evie's ears. "You mentioned that there was iron in your blood if a recall correctly, how much of you is metal?" he wondered.

"Not nearly as much as you," Evie snickered in jest. "It's a bit hard to quantify but we do have amounts of Iron, copper, zinc and manganese—along with a few others. They might be small in amount but they play a pretty big role." She was thankful he was asking a few questions of his own otherwise they would have lapsed into a polite, but awkward for her silence.

"It must be nearly minute amounts considering how…soft, humans seem to be." Ratchet said mostly to himself as he mulled over the information.

"Well by comparison to you guys, I guess we do some pretty flabby." Evie was hopeful that they were the exception to extraterrestrial life and not the rule. 'Well, that little stick guy Mikaela decapitated was pretty small…and Jazz isn't exactly giant in comparison to Optimus either.' it told her that the people from their planet were extremely diverse when it came to size.

Glancing out the window as she chatted with Ratchet about the purpose of Iron in the human body, Evie caught sight of the "Welcome to Tranquility" sign and scoffed to herself.

Any town that had aliens passing through momentarily or residing in it for any length of time was bound to be anything but tranquil.


This chapter was really difficult, simply because there were so many people to write and because its where I start having to laying down the foundations of the world that I'm building up. Picking and choosing what pieces to use from what continuity is a really big task but enjoyable nonetheless.

There is a lot of foreshadow in this chapter...just putting that out there for you. Make of it what you will, I'd loved to see some speculations on what it might be about.

On the subject of transformers I would just like to say that Optimus is super hard to write for me, Ironhide comes pretty easily and his banter with Ratchet is enjoyable to write-along with him picking on Bee. Jazz will have more of a presence in the beginning of the next chapter because I feel like he got a little slighted.

I think it's important that everyone gets love and attention paid to them, because they're all such wonderful characters but it can feel like I'm not giving them enough attention at times and I worry about it-so if anyone thinks someone isn't getting their dues, lemme know.

To the two guest reviewers who complimented Evie, Thank you! I try really hard to make her seem like a real person-and not not let her take over everything, Shes got her part and her place, but it won't be for a while yet.

So with that adieu until next time, I'm going to eat soup and cuddle with a fluffy dog.