Author's Note: I honestly don't think much happens, except for maybe the meeting between Sam, Mikaela, and Lyra. And Lyra getting injured more…but yeah. It's longish…so I hope that's good.

Spanish is translated in italics, radio talk is in bold, memories/thoughts are also in italics.

Anyway, enjoy!


Edit: 9/21/12 Fixed spelling errors and typos.


Chapter 2


Ass Breaking Towers and Perverted Teenage Boys


The sun was beating down harshly on the soldiers as they trekked through the desert of Qatar. There was no wind, nor clouds to hinder the ball of fire in its lethal mission of sweating their lives out of their pores.

Kris' tongue was attached to the roof of his mouth, having finished off the small amount of water an hour ago. The sweltering heat was enough to drive him delirious, and, if it wasn't for the water tank they found near the phone line, he was sure that he wouldn't have made it out sane.

He waited for Epps to finish soaking his face as Lennox said something about hoping the line worked. The water looked so amazing to him, mesmerizing. It felt like forever to the dehydrated latino for Epps to move away, handing him the cup. Of course, as luck would have it, the water had barely touched his chapped lips when something ran into the metal structure ten feet away from him, effectively knocking it down.

"Hey, heads up!" someone had yelled as the soldiers scattered.

"What the heck was that?" Donnelly asked.

"What the hell do you mean, what was that? That tower fell over and almost broke my ass!" Fig said, answering in his native tongue.

"English, dude. English."

Kris, after checking that no one was hurt, had returned to the water and had taken a large gulp when Epps started screaming. The sound of bullets followed, and he found himself letting the heavenly liquid fall to the ground, his gun replacing the cup.

He aimed the weapon at something metallic, dread settling into his mind. If this was anything like that thing that attacked the base, then they would be in for it.

"Watch out!" Lennox yelled as the robotic scorpion dove underground. Everybody started shooting the ground, waiting for it to come back up. "Everybody, quiet. Settle."

"Whoa, mother…what the hell is…" Epps yelled, the mixture of panic and confusion making it hard to form a complete sentence.

Kris was trying not to freak out as he turned this way and that, keeping an eye out for the robot that attacked them. It was nothing that he had ever seen before. Even though the government tended to keep the military 'grunts' out of the loop, he knew for a fact that the US didn't have anything like this in their weaponry.

A scream caused Kris to turn around quickly, his brown eyes widening as he saw Donnelly get maimed by the giant scorpion's stinger. Everybody started shooting at once, hoping in vain that they could save their comrade. It took a bit, but soon they realized that it was no use, and their fight-or-flight instinct kicked their mind into 'flight'.

The team broke into a sprint, jumping and slipping from sand dune to sand dune. Some would turn back and shoot before continuing their run every few seconds in an attempt to hold off their enemy. Kris, who had been one of the ones who had been firing at the metal enemy, finally gave up and just ran for it as did his team mates. They approached a village that was teeming with innocent civilians, and he felt a pang of worry as his eyes landed on a teenage girl ushering a small child into a building.

"Cover fire! Move it! Fig, Montez, cover the rear! Epps! Cover the rear! Move it!" Lennox yelled. Kris nodded, doing just that.

The scorpion was firing missiles at the village, making Kris grow angrier and angrier. Whoever was behind this was a monster! Harming innocents…despicable! The man took his anger out on the metallic beast by firing at it nonstop.

"Hey! I need a mag! Give me a mag!" Someone yelled out as Kris was started shooting at the thing's tail. Fig was next to him, doing the same.

"Take that, sucker!" Fig cried, firing like a mad man. This only seemed to piss off the scorpion. In the next second, it had let lose a group of missiles, hitting the building behind the two Latinos. A loud scream rung out, and, due to the raging war around them, Kris was the only one that heard it.

"Fig!" he yelled, having whipped around and spotted the large slab of stone falling towards him. Fig had jumped out of the way in time, though, and was clutching his heart in shock.

"That was close," he laughed. He was silenced, however, when a nearby explosion threw him backwards. Kris, who had been standing a few yards away, hadn't felt the full blast like Fig, and was stupefied for a few seconds before he fully processed what had happened.

"Call a medic!"


Lyra watched Noah run away, her panic easing slightly as he left behind this mayhem. Her mind was still screaming that this was impossible, but the pain in every inch of her body was telling her that yes, this was real, and no, she wasn't dreaming.

The brunette didn't have much time to think on it as Barricade ran over, having been chasing Sam. He spotted the small, injured femme, and, without a second thought, he scooped her up.

"Let go of me!" Lyra yelled, the familiar burn of pain flaring up in every cell in her body. She was ignored as the former police car continued his pursuit for Ladiesman.

Bumblebee pulled up to the scene then, knocking Barricade over. Lyra cried out as the Decepticon's grip tightened around her. Through the haze of ache that had tripled in her mind, she noticed Sam and Mikeala arguing. Eventually, they climbed into the yellow Camaro and kicked it out of there.

Lyra, who had just pushed through the foggy state she had been in, was thrown back into 'Cade as he transformed around her. They were in the chase scene now, she realized, writhing in agony in the police cruiser's back seat.

"I'm gonna die soon," the brunette moaned, hoping that her words would be true. Death must've been better than this. The 'Con didn't comment, instead he opted for turning his police sirens on. Not only did it clear traffic, it also drowned out the annoying femme's complaining.

After driving over a rather large bump, rocking Lyra around and forcing her to intensify her whining, Barricade made it a point to avoid any more bumps lest he want to lose his processor. He couldn't, however, avoid the window he had to jump through. The landing was less than graceful.

After a few minutes of swerving, the 'Con righted himself and continued his pursuit of the yellow mech. Lyra was less than happy.

"Are you trying to get us killed?" she screeched, gripping the seat tightly. Of course, the fact that the crazy alien robot was a crazy alien robot had slipped her mind.

"Quiet, femme," Barricade growled, picking up speed to catch the yellow Camaro. The scout started swerving as it turned around, and, with loud Cybertronian curses, he did so as well.

Lyra was slammed into the Decepticon's door, and she felt a searing pain as something warm and wet oozed down her side. Her hands flew to the source on instinct, applying pressure. She didn't need to know if she was bleeding at the moment; it was the last thing on her mind.

The police cruiser began to slow down after a while, practically cruising down the street, and Lyra chanced a glance out the window. She hadn't noticed how late it had gotten. Then again, she had other things to worry about than the time of day. Her bleeding abdomen, for example.

The brunette faintly recognized that they were in what appeared to be the warehouse district. "Is it over?" she moaned, pained and nauseated. She didn't expect an answer from the 'Con, and she didn't get one.

Glancing out the window, Lyra's defeated gaze fell on a familiar yellow Camaro. She assumed Barricade spotted them too because he slowed to a stop. Time ticked by agonizingly.

Soon, the yellow car peeled out, followed by the police car. A small shriek escaped the human girl's lips at the sudden movement, jolting forward in her seat. "Here we go again…"

The beaten moan was answered with a smug rev of the cruiser's engine as he gained more and more speed.

Up ahead, the Camaro had let his passangers out and transformed something Lyra wished for greatly. I'm going to die, she thought wearily. I'm going to die in a giant alien robot that transforms into a vehicle that the people who protect us use.

Suddenly, Barricade's door flew open, and, with a none-too-gentle shove from her seat, Lyra was thrown out of the automobile. Not a second later, her previous spot was crushed by the morphing parts of the transforming Decepticon.

Lyra screamed loudly, the pain rising from 'torturous' to 'unbearable' on impact. Broken shards of glass and rubble dug into her skin, slicing the capillaries that resided in the external organ, and allowing ribbons of crimson blood to decorate her pale skin.

She tried to take in deep breaths to calm herself, but the thuds of an alien battle not five yards away kept her heart thudding, pumping adrenaline into her damaged system. The pain slowly started to ebb away, much to Lyra's relief, just as Mikaela came running over to her.

"Hey, are you okay?" the dark haired beauty asked. Lyra groaned, and she seemed to take that as an 'I'm alive'. "Okay, okay, j-just hold still. We need to, we need to stop the bleeding."

Sam screamed suddenly, drawing the attention of both girls. Their eyes rested on his face for a second before it was drawn to the little robot trying to claw him to pieces. The two giant bots continued their death match, completely oblivious to the humans for a second.

"Help him," Lyra groaned out, trying to push herself up. Although it didn't hurt as much to move anymore, her muscles were still weak, and it was starting to take its toll on her, especially since she could be squished at any moment.

"O-okay. Ju-just stay here," Mikaela demanded. She was gone in the next second.

"He's got me! Oh, God!" Sam cried, kicking at the mini Decepticon. A brief conversation with Noah flashed into Lyra's mind.

"That 'baby robot' is named Frenzy. Just 'cause he's small doesn't mean he's weak. He could still maim you and leave you horribly disfigured," Noah said seriously.

Lyra fixed him with a look. "Where the heck did you learn those words?"

"Animal Planet."

"Frenzy," Lyra whispered, eyes welling up at the thought of her little brother. Was he okay? Was he hurt? Where was he now? Did he have enough sense to go to the police? Is he out wandering the streets in the dark? Did he decide to hide out with homeless people? What if he was kidnapped? What if he was in some predator's clutches at that very moment?

Through her darkening thoughts, Lyra hadn't noticed that the mini 'Con had glanced her way, having heard her utter his name. He stored that piece of information in a special file before turning back to Ladiesman. He had to complete his mission.

"He's going to kill me!" Sam yelled, and, much to her horror, Lyra saw that Frenzy had pulled off his pants, leaving him in his boxers. She turned away, not caring that he was practically being murdered, her face burning a dark, hot red.

However, that wasn't the smartest idea on her part. The girl's gaze were drawn to the two brawling Cybertronians; her heart sank as she realized how close they were to her. Pushing herself up as a new surge of adrenaline pumped itself into her bloodstream, Lyra limped away quickly, holding onto her side as she felt the skin pull awkwardly, releasing more blood.

She reached a large, sturdy looking building, and leaned against it. Mikaela ran passed her soon, holding a power tool in her hand. The girl hadn't noticed her standing there, which, to Lyra, was good. She had, after all, directly disobeyed her orders, and that tool wasn't looking very becoming.

Her brown orbs followed Mikaela as she ran towards Sam (he had gotten himself trapped between a psycho alien minibot and a fence), and she watched with unregistered amusement as the girl shredded Sam's attacker to pieces while he cheered her on.

Said boy kicked its head now that he knew it was no longer a threat, and Lyra couldn't help but feel a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. Something was supposed to happen, but what was it? Lyra closed her eyes, leaning her head against the wall she had propped herself up on, taking in a deep breath to try to ease the sensation.

"Hey!" She cracked an eye open, spotting Mikaela and Sam running towards her. It had been Mikaela that had called out at her. "I told you not to move."

"Sorry," Lyra said as she struggled to push herself off the wall. "I didn't want to get squished."

Sam nodded understandingly, but his gaze was drawn to the fighting robots. His Camaro seemed to be winning, and, for that, he allowed a small smile to make its way onto his face. "The bleeding got worse." The boy turned his gaze back to the two girls, and he noticed the large blood stain that surrounded the left side of her ribcage.

"'S fine," Lyra said, shrugging off the worried girl's hands. She tried to direct that conversation to the Cybertronians' fight, but was disappointed to see that it was over. "Guys…"

The other two followed her gaze. "What is it?" Mikaela asked, grabbing a hold of the brown eyed girl's upper arm gently as she followed Sam.

"It's a robot," he said, staring up at his used-to-be Camaro. Lyra didn't speak, her teeth biting down painfully on her lower lip to keep herself from screaming at how much moving hurt. "But like a…like a different…you know, like a super advanced robot," he stuttered out quietly. "It's probably Japanese. Yeah, it's definitely Japanese."

The Camaro came closer, and Lyra felt the urge to tell him to hurry up. Keeping herself upright was wearing her down quickly, and gravity kept a steady flow of blood escaping out of her side. Sam walked towards it, though, led by a mixture of gratitude and curiosity.

"What are you doing?" Mikaela asked, her hand unconsciously tightening around Lyra's arm.

"I don't think it wants to hurt us. It would have done that already," Sam reasoned, getting closer to the alien.

"Really?" she asked sardonically. "Well, do you speak robot? Because they just had, like, a giant droid death match."

"He's a good guy," Lyra whispered, feeling lightheaded. "You have to—he's a good guy. Barricade's not."

Mikaela looked at her curiously, but Sam stopped her questioning as he spoke. "I think it wants something from me," he said.

"What?" his female companion asked incredulously, wrapping Lyra's arm around her shoulders as she realized how worn out the girl was.

"Well, 'cause the other one was talking about my eBay page."

Mikaela scoffed quietly; "You are the strangest boy I have ever met."

Sam ignored her, choosing to address the alien. "Can you talk?" he asked, raising his voice to make sure he was heard.

"XM Satellite Radio…Digital cable brings you…Columbia Broadcasting System…"

"So you…you talk through the radio?" Sam asked.

"Thank you, you're beautiful," 'Bee played, clapping his hands. Whether it was mockingly or in actual congratulations, Lyra couldn't tell, but she still thought it was cute. "You're wonderful, you're wonderful."

"So, what was that last night? What was that?"

Raising his arm up in the air, Bumblebee answered Sam with a jumbled mix of clips: "Message from Starfleet, Captain…Throughout the inanimate vastness of space…Angels will rain down like visitors from heaven! Hallelujah!"

"Visitors from heaven?" Mikaela asked, struggling to get Lyra and herself to where Sam stood. "What…What are you, like, an alien or something?"

The mech pointed at her as a way of saying 'yes', and transformed back into his Camaro form. "Anymore questions you want to ask?" he played, opening his passenger door.

"He wants us to get in the car," Sam muttered.

"And go where?"

"Fifty years from now, when you're looking back at your life, don't you want to be able to say you had the guts to get in the car?"

Lyra looked at Mikaela, wondering if she would answer the question the same way she did in the movie. It was one of the only parts she ever paid attention to in the movie. After all, the scene had been a vital part in Sam and Mikaela's romantic relationship, and Lyra was a sap for romance.

She didn't disappoint.

Mikaela readjusted Lyra's arm, and, with Sam's help, they made their way to the extraterrestrial car. Sam had reached out to make the seat go back, but was beat as Bumblebee did it for him. Painfully, the brunette slipped inside, gripping her side in a vain attempt to ease the ache.

Lyra had expected the other girl to sit up front like in the movie, but she was shocked to discover that, instead, she had slipped in next to her. Sam shut the door behind him after he plopped down in the passenger seat.

"We need to get my stuff," Mikaela said absentmindedly as she peeled off her jacket. Sam nodded from his spot up front, watching the girl through the rearview mirror. "And we need to stop the bleeding," she added, eying Lyra warily.

She had been wearing a blue button up with a black tank top underneath and jeans, but the button up was practically nonexistent now. The only thing keeping it on her body was two thin straps of cloth that had refused to break during the whole ordeal.

Lyra nodded and started to remove her shirt before she remembered that Sam was in the car and that he had a good view from where he was. She kicked the back of his seat wearily, drawing his attention. "Don't look," she said, glaring at him. All the mirrors in the car turned, obstructing Sam's view. "Thanks," she whispered.

Sam had turned his gaze forward, and, as Bumblebee slowed down near Mikaela's stuff, he got out and retrieved her things for her. Said girl had been trying to remove Lyra's tank top without pulling at the open gash it covered.

"Ow," the brunette moaned. "That hurts."

"Sorry!" Mikaela apologized, trying to stop her hands from shaking so she could tend to the girl better.

Lyra checked to make sure that Sam wasn't watching (he was a teenage boy, after all) before she grabbed the edge of her tank top. "I'll do it," she muttered, lightly pushing the other girl's hands away. She took a deep breath, preparing herself for pain. The blood has dried around the skin, sticking the two together. It would be like ripping off a Band-Aid: quick and painful.

"Are you su—?"

"Fuck!" Lyra had yanked off her shirt quickly, leaving the brunette in only a white bra, and the pain had been instantaneous. She hadn't heard the tear of the cloth from the skin like the others; she had felt it.

"Get me a doctor!" Bumblebee's radio played.

"No," Lyra wheezed. "I hate doctors. Just—let's just go…wherever it is we're going. I'll be fine."

"Sam, hand me my bag," Mikaela said, reaching her hand out as Sam passed it to her. She searched through the contents quickly, pulling out a water bottle. "This might sting a bit—hey, I don't know your name."

"Lyra."

"I'm Mikaela," she smiled. "That's Sam." When the brunette nodded in acknowledgment, Mikaela continued her previous thought. "This might sting, okay?"

Lyra didn't have a chance to ask her what was going to sting before the dark haired girl had poured water on her wound. "Ow!"

"Sorry!" she squeaked, grabbing Lyra's ripped button up and cleaning as much blood as she could off. The bleeding had slowed, but it hadn't stopped. Mikaela knew that if the girl lost any more blood, it wouldn't end well.

The button up was soon ripped into strips of cloth and tied tightly around Lyra's abdomen. It was a bit sloppy—Mikaela had only ever seen it done in movies, after all—but it was still something. The bleeding would stop soon, and that was the most important thing at the moment.

After helping Lyra back into her tank top, Mikaela handed her her jacket. "No," the brown eyed girl objected, handing it back. "I can't."

"You need it." This time, instead of just giving it to her, Mikaela practically forced the brunette into it.

They were silent for a while. The entire world seemed to have shut up as the three teens sat in the alien Camaro. What were they supposed to talk about? Mikaela glanced over at the girl next to her. She was practically asleep now, her brown eyes half lidded and blinking tiredly. Sighing, she moved to the front, sitting in between the two seats uncomfortably.

"Sleep, Lyra," she murmured.