I won't say much here...I'll just give you a fair warning...you might want to have tissues for this chapter. Both mine, and Rapidfyrez. Trust me, I needed tissues when reading the two! :'(

Disclaimer: I don't own Transformers: Prime, Man of Steel, or Another Type of Alien

Chapter 6

Out of the Frying Pan

Amber POV

The Base was dead silent. Even the three from Kal's dimension were stunned. He had a sister? And he didn't tell us? Well, maybe he didn't even know.

"Y-your sister?" June whispered, "You have a sister?"

Kal gave a small smile as he helped the girl, Kara, down the ramp.

And that's when I noticed she wore nothing but Kal's cape draped around her.

Jack noticed too and immediately averted his gaze, Ben, Sean and Raf followed suit…along with our mechs.

"Dusk?" I whispered, "Why don't you go get Kara a set of clothes…you two are similar in height. Well, she's shorter, but I think it'll fit better than mine, Dr. Williams or 'Lita's,"

My best friend nodded before she leaped down from the railing.

"Come with me Kara," Dusk said softly, so softly that I could barely hear her, it was probably for the poor girl's ears, "My name is Dusk…I'm a friend,"

Kara turned her gaze up at Dusk and looked at her brother and back again.

"We're going to get you some clothes…so that Kal will be able to have his cape back, ok?" Dusk asked.

The girl gave a slow nod and Dusk put a hand around the girl's shoulders, leading her towards her room.

Dusk POV

"Here, let me help," I murmured, trying to be as quiet as I could so as not to hurt the girl.

She looked up at me, embarrassment clear in her face as I helped her into the t-shirt. Poor girl had her arm through the head hole and had her head halfway through the arm hole.

"Don't worry about it," I soothed as she got herself all sorted out, "You'll get it,"

"What is there to…get," she muttered.

The way she spoke nearly broke my spark, it was halting, like she didn't know how to speak English or how to speak at all.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"I failed…in my mission,"

I put a hand on her back but recoiled as she flinched at my touch.

"Kara, please answer me," I said.

"I was to…protect my brother, to…watch…over him," she whispered, "I have not…done so. He grew up…and I…wasn't there…"

Tears started spilling down her fair cheeks and I got down in front of her. I lifted her chin.

"Hey," I started, "Don't cry, for Primus' sake girl, if you start crying then I'm gonna cry and then the whole room's gonna be filled with water…"

She gave a slight smile.

"Kara, you've got to move on, the past was just a chapter…" I said, "The book still needs to be finished. You love Kal, that much I can see, and you'd do anything to protect him. I know you were told to watch over him when he was a baby,"

Her face fell.

"But," I finished, "You've got a lifetime to watch over him. And keep him from getting his aft kicked…again and again and again…"

Her smile came back.

"Here," I said, moving around behind her, "I'm going to get your hair out of your eyes, that ok?"

She gave a slight nod and I set to work, putting her hair in a simple braid. It'd stay out of her face and, if Kal took her flying, it wouldn't come loose and blind her.

"There, all done," I proclaimed getting up and gently guiding Kara out of the room.

"You're…different," she suddenly said.

"Different how?" I asked, although, I had a sneaking suspicion of what he meant…it was the same thing Kal had seen when he first came to us.

"You're…like the…" she searched for the right word.

"Autobots," I supplied, "Well…not exactly. But yeah, I guess."

"Your heart…it's…spitting sparks. And pulsing…strangely. Stopping, starting, dimming, brightening,"

"Well, it's nothing to worry about," I said, hoping and praying that no one told her what was going on with me, "We just need to get your new abilities in check…then you'll just see my normal face and body, not what's going on inside me,"

She gave that slight smile once again and we came back into the main hall where Kal was explaining everything.

"Dusk?" Kara said as I started making my way towards my brother.

I stopped and turned to face her.

"Thank you," she finished.

I smiled and walked up to Kal, tossing his cape into his face.

"Hey," he protested indignantly.

I smirked as I walked up the platform to my brother who explained a bit about Kara to me. Nothing I didn't already know.

"I would like to introduce you to everyone else," Kal announced, "but only if you're up to it, if you're tired or anything…"

Kara shook her head.

"I slept long enough... don't need more," she said.

Her speech was still broken and I had a feeling it would take some time for her to adjust.

Kal nodded and slowly led her up the stairs to the platform. Her movements may have become smoother but they still had a jerkiness to them and she was still a little unsteady. Kal simply took lead holding one of her hands as he led her up one step at a time.

Everyone was keeping relatively quiet because of obvious reasons and Kal gave us all a thankful look. We were trying our hardest to make Kara's integration as easy as.

The pair reached the platform and Kara became more reluctant. I quickly realized it was because she was shy and nervous. Of course she was, these were alien people to her, she only really knew me…the rest she would have to get to know.

"Kara," Kal said softly, "I'd like you to meet my friends,"

He motioned to us.

Oddly enough the first person to approach and greet her was not Amber or Miko…it was Sean.

"Hello Kara, my name is Sean," he said holding out his hand to shake.

Kara looked from his hand to him to his hand again in confusion.

"You're supposed to shake it," Kal whispered.

She looked at him in confusion.

"Why?" she asked.

Kal shrugged.

"I'm not sure myself, but it's a human gesture," he explained.

Kara nodded and lightly took Sean's hand and shook it.

"Nice… to meet you," she said quietly.

Sean smiled and took a step back allowing the rest of us to greet her as well.

Ben was next.

"Name's Ben," he said, "part time engineering teacher, assistant to the 'Bots, and Dusk's boyfriend,"

Kara looked at him confused.

"Boy… friend?" she asked "what's a… boyfriend?"

Ah…um…well…There was an awkward silence at her question as everyone tried to figure out how to answer her question. I felt my cheeks flare and I looked down, scuffing my shoe against the metal floor, wings tucked tightly against my back.

"A boyfriend is kinda like… a test run before two people get married," Ben explained, looking at me, "To see if they are… compatible before committing,"

I looked anywhere but at his face, this was really awkward.

"Like an… experiment," Kara said.

Her eyes almost seemed to light up at the word and I wondered if Kal's sister was a bit of a scientist.

"I guess you could call it that…yeah," Ben said, happy the girl was starting to come out of her shell.

Next was Raf who quickly greeted her and returned to his work, then Dr. Williams who smiled warmly at her, and then Jack.

That, to say was an interesting intro to say the least.

My baby brother approached the two and Kara looked back between Kal and his counterpart.

"Who…?" she started.

"I'm Ultimus, your brother's counterpart in this universe," Jack explained.

Kara nodded, understanding better.

"Ah," she said as her eyes narrowed a bit as she looked at Jack's chest.

"Your heart looks… like Dusk's," she commented.

Wait, huh? How does his look like mine? He can't be dying either…can he? Please, Maker of All don't let that happen…Mom and Dad won't be able to handle losing one child, let alone two.

I felt my adopted parent's unease at the statement. They didn't know what to think either.

Jack raised a brow.

"Oh?" he asked.

"It sparks," Kara explained.

Oh, now I get what she means…she means that he has a spark too.

"Well Dusk is my sister…" Jack started, "so I guess there would be some similarities,"

He fell silent and came back to stand by me.

"She saw your spark?" he asked via bond.

"Yes and before you ask, no I didn't tell her," I replied, "She's got enough to worry about…I'm getting that mother-hen vibe from her that you show…a lot. I don't need another you on my case. Kal understands…Kara, I don't know."

"So…since he's her younger brother…does that make her your counterpart?"

I shook my head slightly as I watched Amber and Miko go up to the girl.

"I was told by both Primus and Prima that I had no counterpart. Jolt, Ben, Amber, Dr. Williams, Sean, and I are the only ones on Team Prime that don't have counterparts. Kara and I might be older than the two of you and we might be your sisters…but that doesn't exactly make her my counterpart. It's more than just relation, its mannerisms, life-styles, temperament…their very existence mirrors one another,"

As I finished I heard Amber's last phrase to Kara.

"It's nice to meet you," Amber said softly, "It's also nice to see Dusk picked out a nice outfit for you too,"

Kara looked down at the outfit that she was wearing. The shirt was a little long and loose, likely due to our difference in height and build, and the pant cuffs were folded a little so she wouldn't step on them. She wore a pair of plain white sneakers as well.

"Hey!" I protested, "Are you saying I have bad taste?"

"Let's see…you wouldn't let me pick out your swimsuit for the pool party a few months ago…when it looked fabulous on you…"

"It was pink, it was lacy, and I was not going to wear it," I growled darkly.

"I'm surprise you haven't pranked me for that yet…"

I gave a very evil laugh.

"Then that means you haven't found it yet," I replied nonchalantly as Amber's eyes widened.

She'll be sleeping in fear tonight.

Kara turned to her brother with a questioning look.

"What's a prank?" she asked worriedly "It sounds… bad,"

Ah, this wasn't good.

"No, no sweetie," I said, jeeze I sound like Mom, "a prank is just a harmless joke for the prankster people don't get hurt in pranks,"

Arcee II started glaring daggers at me but I ignored it

"A… joke?" Kara said and became thoughtful for several seconds, clearly searching her mind for what the word meant.

Her eyes widened as she made the connection and she did something neither I nor anyone one else had yet to see her do.

She laughed at the realization for a handful of seconds before quickly calming herself. She noticed everyone looking at her in shock and seemed to shrink even smaller her face turning bright red.

"Did I do something… wrong?" she asked worriedly.

"No Kara, you didn't do anything wrong, we were just happy to hear you laugh," Kal said quickly.

"If you don't mind us asking, what was it you were laughing at?" Miko asked.

Kara looked down at her feet scuffing the ground with her shoes.

"I was remembering when I would… prank…Mom and Dad back home," she said quietly.

Wait…say that again…

She's a prankster!? Whoa, I was not expecting that.

"Great, now there's two of them," Sean muttered.

I elbowed him.

"Sleep in fear, Shawnee," I threatened.

"You… pranked… our parents?" Kal asked in disbelief.

"It was… funny," she said, "Dad would get… flustered when I did it. I stopped when things got more… serious,"

She stopped, her face becoming sad. Suddenly, Kal and Arcee II started chuckling, grinning like mad. And…we stared at them as if they were crazy.

Maybe they were.

Kal ignored our looks and quickly regained his composure before turning to Kara.

"There is one more person I'd like you to meet before we get to the 'Bots," he said.

Kara looked at him questioningly.

"Who?" she asked.

"That would be me," June answered softly as she approached her son and his sister.

"Kara, this is June Darby, my adopted mother," he explained carefully.

He looked terrified of how she'd react to this. Would it be violent? Neutral? Hey, maybe grateful? Seeing how Kara acted towards me in my room…and how she revealed how bad she felt over not being able to protect her brother…I see that she'd be more grateful than anything.

Kara looked at the woman wide eyed before slowly speaking.

"You… raised my brother?" she asked.

The base was so silent a pin could be heard dropping in the next state over. Time for the truth…

"I did," June said with a nod.

And Kara did exactly what I thought she'd do.

She suddenly embraced June in a hug, causing June to gasp in surprise.

"Thank you," Kara said, "for taking care of my brother when I…"

She stopped as a small sob escaped her lips.

Kal looked shocked, but I couldn't really see why. Kara was understanding, much more so than my pain in the rear-end younger brother who can't trust a newcomer very easily…

Then again…the only reason Jack was hostile towards Kal was because he hurt me. Though why he didn't warm up to Kal after Kal apologized was still a mystery to me. Jack normally is very friendly towards newcomers.

But that's all in the past now, thank Primus.

"I-it was my pleasure," June said, carefully, "Your brother was a bit of a handful,"

"Hey," Kal protested..

We all smiled and June pulled away from Kara.

"But it was worth it in the end," she finished.

Jack/Ultimus Prime POV

"Thank you… so much," Kara said wiping away the tears.

She turned to Kal.

"Is that… everyone?" she asked.

"All the humans," he answered "there's still the Autobots but if you need a moment…"

He stopped as Kara put her hands on her hips.

"Kal," she started "I am not a child… I can handle this,"

Kal rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment.

"Sorry, just used to people being more delicate then me," he admitted

I looked towards my sister and smiled sheepishly as she glared darkly at me.

"See!" she growled over our bond, "Even Kal listens to her when she tells him that she's fine,"

"She just woke up from a 16 year old nap…or longer, I dunno," I retorted, "But…"

"But nothing," Dusk hissed, "If he can treat her with that kind of respect, then I want you to do the same to me,"

"B…"

"I don't want to hear the 'but she's not dying', Jackson Darby," Dusk ordered.

Kal then proceeded to introduce Kara to the Autobots, each one being a unique confrontation in themselves. Bulkhead and both Wheeljacks had been big and bombastic meetings and I had a feeling she'd be spending little time with them. Our Almost-Prime Smokescreen stayed very polite and tried to act as nice as possible.

'Bee's was interesting.

"Nice to meet you, Kara," 'Bee chirped, "My name's Bumblebee,"

"It's nice to meet you too… Bumblebee," she said slightly stumbling over the pronunciation of his name.

Everyone looked at her in utter shock at her statement even 'Bee. She…she understood him!

"Wait just a click…" 'Bee whirred, "You…you understand me?"

"Of course I can understand you, why would I not?" she asked confused.

"No one else except the 'Bots, Ben, Amber, Sean, Doctor Williams, J-Ultimus, me and Raf can understand Bee," Dusk explained "And we're not sure why Raf can,"

Kara looked at us in bewilderment.

"You are… joking?" she asked.

Everyone shook their heads in answer.

Kara smiled at this.

"It…has it's advantages," 'Bee admitted, "I can talk about almost everyone and they can't hear…so if I say something embarrassing about them…they can't understand…"

"Say something about me and I'm going to get you," I warned over bond.

"Same here, big brother," Dusk snapped.

Kara just laughed at his statement.

"What did he say?" Kal asked.

She shook her head.

"I will not tell," she said mysteriously.

Kal turned to Raf who shook his head.

Sighing, my counterpart continued the introductions.

Ultra Magnus's greeting was short and simple with the SIC giving a simple command to not cause any trouble around Base.

Jolt and Ratchet both greeted her, with Ratchet being his usual gruff self and Jolt constantly apologizing to her about his attitude.

Our Arcee simply said it was nice to meet her and then came the meeting that I, personally, was looking forwards to.

Kal's Arcee approached the two.

"I'm the other Arcee…from your brother's dimension," she explained, "He's my partner and it's good to see that you're adjusting to this well,"

HA!

"Partners," I whispered to Dusk jokingly.

My sister elbowed me in the ribs.

Hard.

I groaned in pain as the low clang died. Kara looked at me, confused.

"Why do you say 'partners' like a joke," she asked and another awkward silence consumed the base.

Um, well…

Kal looked like he was trying to make my head explode with his mind. Umm…can I hide now? Given enough effort…Kal making my head explode might have been the case had it not been for Arcee II's interruption.

"Jack and I," she explained referring to her brother by his human name "are… in a relationship,"

Kara looked from her brother to Arcee II to Kal again with a shocked look on her face.

And here comes the fireworks…

"Ok," she said plainly.

Wait, what!?

Kal's head shot up, that was not the reaction I, nor Kal apparently, were expecting. He gave her a questioning look and she elaborated.

"I see nothing wrong with this, it is your lives, your freedom to choose… I would be… going against my own… morals if I wasn't ok with it," she explained.

She had a dissatisfied look on her face, probably from her word choice. The flow of her words was rapidly becoming smoother but it seemed that her vocabulary was limiting her ideas

Arcee II smiled at Kara.

"Thanks for being so much more accepting then… others," she said with a glare directed at me.

What did I do now? I mean, other than hold a grudge against her beau…for about a day…or two…what did I do?

"Indeed," Dad said as he approached with Mom, "Your wisdom exceeds your age Kara-El,"

Kara just stared at my Dad, her head craned back.

Dad had always been tall but he was huge…he stood nearly as tall as Draconus, whom Kara had not seen yet. So of course she was dumfounded by his size.

"W-who are you?" she asked finding her voice.

"I am Optimus Prime and this is my mate Elita One," he said motioning to her, "I am the leader of the Autobots and the father of Ultimus,"

Kara looked from me to Dad and back again, a process that she'd repeated several times that day

"I can… honestly say I was not expecting that," she admitted and looked to Mom, "And you are his… mother?"

Mom nodded.

"I am," she said.

"Well… that was unexpected," Kara said and turned to Kal, "Is that… everyone?"

"Yeah, that's everyone at base," he said.

A door suddenly slammed open.

"PRIME!" Agent Fowler screamed.

Kara immediately fell to her knees and grasped her ears in pain as the agent stormed in.

Dusk glared darkly at the agent before coming over to Kara and kneeling down.

Those two seem to have hit it off nicely. I don't care what Dusk says about her not having a counterpart, I'm going to say that they are.

"Agent Fowler, please calm yourself," Dad said quietly.

"I ain't calming nothing! You were supposed to get rid of the 'Cons so that our boys could study the ship, given how it wasn't Cybertronian and now you've stolen it and brought it here!" he yelled pointing at Kara's ship.

Kal looked up from his sister whom was still in pain from Fowler's yelling and looked at the agent, his eyes red with anger.

Uh oh.

We all immediately stood out of his way, we'd learned by now that Kal's anger nearly rivaled Dusk's when she hit her berserker rage, the ability she'd demonstrated against Kal in their initial encounter…

And that was scary enough.

"And another thi-" Fowler never finished his sentence as Kal appeared in front of him with his hand clamped over Fowler's mouth.

"Quiet," Kal ordered.

Fowler looked at him in shock. He'd never actually met Kal, but Dad had reported who he was to Fowler and his superiors. Now he got some face to face time with Kal in an angry mood…which was probably not the best idea…

"That ship does not belong to either the government or the Autobots, it belongs to my long lost sister, who is currently writhing in pain on the floor because you never learned to speak quietly," the whole time he spoke his voice never rose or fell…which was frightening enough.

It reminded me of Dusk's when she was really angry. Right before her black out. That eerily deadly serial killer calm that all Primes, and apparently Ivorras had. Mom said I had never reached that point…and she hoped I never did. Dad did it only a few times, Megatron nearly killing Raf being a prime, no pun intended, example. Dusk…best one I can think of is when Ratchet was hooked on the Synth-En and bullied Dusk and 'Bee. Her calm "That's it," before 'Bee snatched her up into his servo.

Kal removed his hand.

"Now try again…and speak quietly," he ordered.

Fowler looked at the boy, who stood taller than he did, before speaking

"I think I'll return to my office and let my superiors know that the ship already has an owner," he said quickly.

"You go do that," Kal said and the Agent scurried off quietly closing the door behind him.

"Whoa," Amber breathed, "He sure told him!"

"Remind me not to tick you off…again," I said down to him.

He gave a shrug and came over to his sister, kneeling down. Dusk looked up at him, nodded and backed off.

"Hey," Kal said softly.

Kara shook her head, muttering something in a language I didn't know. It wasn't Earth-based, I can say that. She then switched over to English.

"Too loud…it hurts…make it stop…please, it's too big…" she whimpered, shaking.

"Then…make it small," Kal whispered, "Kara, I want you to focus on my voice, pretend…pretend it's an island,"

I saw June give a small smile and she nodded. Pride radiating from her.

Kara stopped shaking.

"Can you see it?" Kal murmured.

"I-I see…I see it," Kara started.

"Swim towards it," her brother urged, "Come to it,"

Kara lowered her hands and opened her eyes.

"It…it stopped…" she whispered as her brother helped her up, "And…you all look…normal. I can't see inside of you,"

We all looked at her in amazement. Kal had taught her how to hone her powers…just like that.

"Where'd you learn how to do that, Kal?" Amber asked.

Kal looked at June and smiled gently, "From a very good teacher,"

He put a hand on his sister's shoulder.

"Come on, I want to show you something," he said, leading her towards the Base doors.

I heard a low whooshing sound and I assumed that Kal had taken Kara flying.

After Kal and Kara left, I walked over to my sister.

"What's wrong with you?" I asked.

"What do you mean?"

"You look…sad, and I can feel it too," I replied, "Why?"

She gave an almost pained smile.

"It's n-nothing," she said, "I'm fine,"

"I'm going to keep at you about this," I warned, "Might as well tell me,"

She gave a sigh.

"Not here, ok?" she pleaded, "Let's…get out of Base, I don't want anyone overhearing me."

I nodded and we started to walk out of the Base.

"Where are you two going?" Dad asked.

I turned towards him.

"I'm going to see what's bothering Dusk," I replied over private comm., "She doesn't want anyone overhearing her…we're going to fly for a bit, ok?"

He gave a nod and we continued out.

A few minutes later, we touched back down to the ground.

"Ok," I said as the both of us reverted to human form, "Spill."

"You remember when I first told you that Kal and I were alike?" she asked

I nodded.

"Reason why I said that…was because we were both in a strange universe…and we were all alone," she mumbled, "And…now he has Kara so he's not alone and…"

"You still are," I said, "That's why you're upset, you're lonely, that's all,"

I put an arm around her and drew her close.

"You have us," I added, "We're your family,"

"I just want…" a tear ran down her face, "I just want to know that my people are still there. I don't want to be the only one! Do you know how hard it is…to know that you're the only one here? Even when you're surrounded by people?"

I stayed quiet.

"No, you don't," she said bitterly, "Because you still have your family. You still have other Autobots here to be around! I have no one! I…I'm…I'm alone,"

She started crying harder and I rubbed her back between her wings to soothe her a bit.

"You've seen Cybreians…haven't you?" I asked.

"In-In d-dreams," she sobbed, "An-and tw-twice in th-the d-daytime,"

I frowned, I had only heard about the time she had nearly been kidnapped by Starscream…and two Cybreians came to save her.

"I know the first time was when you heard about the 'Bots," I started, "But when did…"

"Do you remember when you guys found the Polarity Gauntlet? And Dad, 'Bee and I were on a scouting trip?"

I nodded and froze.

"That's right, you never told us what happened…"

"Because Dad told us not to say anything," she replied.

Dusk closed her eyes.

"There were three of them," she whispered, "Three Autaris. My great uncle…one that looked like 'Bee used to…and…"

She stopped.

"And what?" I asked.

"There was another," she repeated, "You remember when I told you the 'Bots had different paintjobs and alts and such?"

I nodded, "How Ratchet was an H2 Hummer and lime yellow and Dad had a flame paintjob, I remember,"

"This one…this last one looked like Dad's old paintjob," she said, "Only he was white and gold flamed,"

She shook her head.

"I couldn't get over the fact that I knew him…he greeted us by name…except me, I was hidden…Tomosal ordered Karrick to go on ahead through a 'Bridge," she muttered, "Karrick went in, but Tomosal and the white mech stayed behind. There was a brief silence between the two, and Tomosal walked into the 'Bridge, disappearing. The white mech stayed behind. Jack, he looked right at me…And he said my name, my Cybreian name!"

She sniffed, wiping away her tears.

"He told me…that my parents loved me…and they couldn't wait until I got home," she cried, shuddering, "He disengaged his battlemask…and I got a good look at his face plate,"

She looked up at the sky, "Jack, his optics were nearly identical to my eyes,"

"You think you know him?" I asked.

"I…I don't know, but Dad reacted strangely…like someone was trying to take me away," she frowned, "he herded me off and told 'Bee to come…when I looked back, the white mech was gone…"

She bowed her head.

"I'm still alone,"

I held her close and immediately commed Dad.

"Do you know a white and gold flamed Autari?" I asked him.

His answer was hesitant.

"…Yes…why?"

"Who is he?"

I felt a slight twinge of jealousy and defensiveness from him.

"Dad..." I started.

"His designation is Faeranar," he growled back tersely, "Translated it is Firesword. He is an Ivorra and Tomosal's adopted son,"

"Dusk says she knows him…somehow…or she feels she knows him,"

"Because she does,"

"Who is he?" I asked.

He didn't answer.

"Dad," I repeated, "Who is Firesword really,"

"His human name is Michael Greyman," Dad growled, "He is Dusk's father,"

So, we know why Dusk is sad...and we find out something about the Metal Attraction scouting trip that no one knew! Dusk got to see her Dad. Her real Dad...and Optimus is protective of her...does the song Cleanin' This Gun mean anything to you guys?

If you all have any ideas, don't be afraid to PM Rapidfyrez and I! We don't bite...much...:)

Anyway, hope you liked it. If you did, please R&R! :)

Qui vállë tóquetë, ván tecë (If no review comes from y'all; no story comes from me)

Máriessë ar mára tecië

Farewell and fair writing

Elhini Prime signing off.