Jared blinked as the man who had been introduced as "Bee" paced, watched carefully by Jazz, Katie, Jordan, Prowl, Armonie, Justin, Sam, and Mikaela. They were all tense, but the blond adolescent was even more so, tossing his head and muttering to himself.

He puzzled to himself quietly as he watched them shift tensely, the air so thick with tension that he was nearly choking on it.

Jared was young: between thirty and forty years of age, and was in many ways like his step-sister Erin. They acted stupid, but it was in actuality their "poker face." "People tend to gab more when they think you're stupid," Erin had said once. And that's what Jared was doing now: sliding his poker face into place and adopting a feinted sense of innocence and mild obliviousness. Behind his eyes, he was inspecting his guests.

He knew there was something up since he had seen "Erin" run up to him when he stepped out of the house. He knew his step-sister well enough to know that no matter how much she missed somebody, she never ran up to someone like that. And the way she was looking around, the way she sat and ate the puupuus he offered them, and the way she carried herself was all wrong. Every. Single. Bit. It was as if there was an imitation of Erin out there. Jared resisted the wry smile that threatened to twist his lips upward. It was as if an alien had taken over Erin's body and set about doing her "act" – and failing each time. A master puppet with an amateur puppeteer.

It just didn't fit; there was no standing ovation, merely a few discordant claps echoing in the poignant, pointed silence of the theatre.

When they all woke up and came down for breakfast, he said nothing about seeing Erin earlier in the morning. He was still mulling over what she told him…somehow. We must speak with you later, Jared. For now, say nothing. Trust us.

Then he had turned away from her with the slightest of nods. Erin had always been strange, and this "other" Erin was just the same, yet he could feel that he could trust…them? Regardless, he ignored the near-silent shuffling of the teenager and the strange sound of machinery clattering and hitting together. Then it was silent, and he knew that Erin had left.

They had all woken up and come down, following their noses to breakfast and the girls had helped him cooked while Mikaela and Katie had chased the well-wishing boys – including Jared himself – out. After a while, he noticed that they began to get antsy. Some of them began to twitch slightly, frowning in worry and staring off into space as if they were talking to someone he couldn't see. All the while, he played the fool, pretending not to notice as the man who called himself Richard narrowed his blue eyes every once in a while, getting up to pace every few minutes, clenching and unclenching his hands.

Oh yes, he certainly was not stupid.

Jared leaned against the windowsill, staring out the pane of glass in front of him, so close that his breath misted against the cool material. The rain had reached his two apartments on Ford Island, turning the world beyond the edge of the street into another world shrouded in silvery fog.

Vaguely he wondered where the Erin-puppet was, but more importantly, he wondered what was residing in his houses. He had watched Richard pace for a while before walking upstairs for a nap. There, he had heard voices.

"She is all right, medic." That was the man called Cade, his voice deep and almost raspy, an almost scary sound that sent shivers up and down his spine.

"And how do you know this?" hissed the woman he recognized as Arcee.

There was silence for a split second before Cade spoke again, voice deep and rumbling; he was obviously angry. "Because unlike you, she doesn't lie to me."

"Decepticon scum." Jared recognized the voice of the young blond teenager who called himself "Bee." "What have you done with her? Don't think for a second we haven't noticed that your piece of scrap partner, Frenzy, isn't here!"

Cade snarled. Jared heard the door open. "I have nothing and neither has Frenzy. Unless you Autobots think that being respectful is detrimental to her health." The door slammed shut and Jared had to wince; he'd have to check the doorframe to make sure there wasn't too much damage…

"It is unwise to jump to conclusions." Prowl murmured.

Bee said nothing, and Jared guessed that he was pacing. "I'm sure Athena will return on her own," this was Justin's easy voice, and they all heard Bee scoff.

"And if she was taken by that stupid 'Con?" Bee snarled. "Face it, we can't trust him!"

There was a low growl, most likely from Justin. "Well giving him the benefit of the doubt – when Athena obviously trusts him – is better than jumping at his throat when we're not sure of what really happened."

"Hot Rod, Bumblebee, cut it out." This was Jazz's voice, low and deadly unlike how it usually ways. Both subsided with low, angry mutters.

"Athena doesn't have Erin's memories." Sam said quietly, and Jared shivered.

"She doesn't have Mei's either." Mikaela added. "She could be lost. Or worse."

Jordan snorted, and Jared heard her chair creak as she leaned back in it. "Erin has a good head on her shoulders and Mei had more sense than even Prime. Even if Athena doesn't have their memories, she has their instincts."

"You're biased." Bee accused.

"Now I'm biased only because I have seen that the very girl we're talking about nearly died so she could help us bring down the Stunticons?" Jordan demanded. "I'm biased because I've seen how determined she is? Even if Athena and Erin and Mei aren't the same person anymore, they're a god for Christ's sake. Have a little faith in them."

It was silent for a long while, but Jared didn't stay to hear more: he went at once to his room where he lay on the bed, staring at the ceiling.

The door opened and closed quietly and he tensed very slightly. "It seems that now you are part of the puzzle." It was the Italian-accented Armonie.

"Really?" he asked dully, head lolling to the side. His eyes bored into hers, brown orbs to brown orbs. "How so?"

"Hot Rod and Jazz saw you at the railing. They were the only ones besides me that could." The woman said. "For whatever reason, Athena is not playing her mind-games on you, just as she is not toying with us humans." She sat down on the bed beside him, mattress dipping beneath her weight. "Though they do not show it very well, they are all very worried about her."

"Erin always liked to go for walks." Jared found himself saying. "She never liked to stay indoors. Not unless she couldn't easily see all four walls."

Armonie said nothing for a while, and though her back was to him, Jared could tell that she was only thinking. "Regardless of her reasons, we do not know why we left, and that is one of the many things that we worry about." She looked at Jared. "Get some rest. I will send somebody up if Athena returns before you wake." And then she was gone, leaving Jared staring after her.

He sighed and shut his eyes, hoping for sleep. He got his wish.

He blinked as he flailed around in the empty white space. He felt like a puppet, held up above the stage by invisible strings. Except for the fact that he couldn't even see the stage, that is. He shuddered, not liking the feeling of weightlessness that hung over him, tugging on his innards and limbs as he struggled to stand properly.

"Relax." The voice was strange and Jared looked up quickly, wincing as a muscle in his neck pulled. "As your race would say, 'go with the flow.'"

Jared took a deep, calming breath and settled, feeling himself shift into a "standing" position even though he couldn't even tell up from down in the emptiness. Then he turned toward the sound of the voice and found nothing. "Who are you?"

There was a pause, as if the voice was deciding whether or not to answer his query. "I believe you would call me a Mother."

The man shook his head. "A what?"

"We do not have time." The Mother told him patiently, voice echoing around him. "There is much to tell you."

"Why?" Jared asked. "Why me?"

"There is no time." Now the Mother sounded sad and weary. "You must tell the Autobots that I am waiting for them."

The man shook his head. "Okay, let's say – hypothetically – that this dream is real, and I'm really trapped in emptiness and I'm really talking to a 'Mother,' and I decide to deliver 'the Mother's' message. How am I supposed to find those Auto…Auto… what were they called?"

The Mother sounded amused when she replied. "Autobots."

"Thank you. How am I supposed to find them?"

A low chuckle like a cross between the chatter of wind chimes and the purr of the ocean waves resonated around him. "They are residing within your house."

Jared shook his head. "Okay. So – hypothetically, of course – I tell them that I have a message for them. What am I supposed to say? 'Hey, I had this dream that I was in emptiness and I talked to someone who called herself "the Mother" and she told me to tell you that she's waiting for you?"' he gave a derisive laugh. "Yeah, like they'd believe me."

He had the feeling that the Mother shook her head. Or would've, if she had one. "I do not know how to explain it in terms you would understand."

"Why me, anyway?"

Another low chuckle but this time the chatter of wind chimes was louder. "Chance. Mostly." There was a pause. "I believe that you would say that you are…keiki 'o ka 'aina? Am I correct?"

"Children of the land?" Jared frowned. "I don't understand."

There was a sigh, like the whistling of wind through a desert. "There is no time, Jared. Your Mother is only allowing me a brief window to speak with you, and that time is running out."

Indeed, the white expanse was beginning to turn grey on the edges. "My Mother?"

"Yes. You call her Earth. Mother Earth."

Jared "stood" there, gaping like a grounded fish as the grey began to approach quicker. "You're a planet?"

"Yes. Now go." The grey leapt forward and changed to black, vaulting him easily out of the nonexistent place.

Then he woke up.

Jared shook his head, rubbing his eyes as he sat up. "Jazz said that I should check up on you." The man's head jerked up painfully to find Justin at the door, head tilted to the side curiously. "Are you all right?" like Armonie, he had a slight Italian accent, but it wasn't nearly as strong as hers was. Jared wondered foggily if they both came from the same place.

The man shook his head again. "No idea." He paused and bit his lip, the lingering effects of the alien Mother drifting through his limbs. "Your name isn't Justin, is it?"

The other didn't look surprised at the question. "No. It's Hot Rod. Everyone calls me 'Roddy,' though."

Jared sighed, leaning back on his hands as he looked up at the Italian-accented man. "And you're not human, are you? You're from a different planet." Now Roddy looked surprised. It was all the answer Jared needed. He lifted a hand and pointed a finger at the other. "Your planet… gives me headaches." With that said, he flopped back on the bed, the Mother's effects receding only to be replaced by a pounding, skull-splitting migraine. God, he hated his life sometimes.

He woke later when a cool hand touched his forehead. Richard blinked down at him, tilting his head to the side though Jared could tell that he didn't have the doctor's full attention. "Justin told me you had a bad headache."

They both blinked as the window opened and Erin/Athena slithered in through the narrow space, looking disheveled and wild-eyed with excitement, but otherwise all right. Richard's face twisted in a scowl and Jared smiled at the teen.

"You must surely know by now that we know that you've been gone." Ratchet said caustically, ice practically dropping from his lips to slither along the floor in frost flowers. "There's no sense in sneaking back in."

Erin/Athena flapped a hand at him dismissively. "If we wanted to sneak back in, we would've done so in the room we share with Mikaela. As it was, we wished to speak with Jared." Bright blue eyes turned to Jared who gulped and realized another anomaly that Erin didn't – and couldn't – posses. Her eyes glowed blue in an almost ethereal way, as if her eyes were clear glass with a blue light behind them, blocked in some places with opaque black and white paint. "Are you all right?"

Jared frowned, brows furrowing. Something about her voice – the way she spoke – sounded almost familiar. "My head hearts."

The girl reached out and touched his forehead and immediately soft warmth spread through the area where her skin touched his and he sighed, the lingering pain of his migraine fading quickly. "Is that better?"

"Kākou nā keiki 'o ka 'aina?"

Erin frowned, withdrawing slightly as she peered at the man. "'A'ole. 'Oukou nā keiko 'o ka 'aina." She switched to English, obviously disgruntled. "Where did you hear that?"

It was Jared who frowned now. "The Mother told me. She said that we were keiki 'o ka 'aina."

Erin stepped back and shook her head. "No." she said slowly, sadly. "You are the Children, not us." She turned slowly, spine ramrod straight as she stared down Richard. "Gather the Autobots in the living room. It is time to end this."

"Who are you really?" Jared whispered when Richard left sulkily.

The girl ignored him. "It is time to end this." she repeated and walked out of the room, obviously disgusted.