Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers.

A/N: Sorry for the delay in updating. I had a major popcorn headache last night after seeing Harry Potter, and writing was painful. It's odd that popcorn kept me from writing and surgery didn't. Gotta love the weird stuff.

Chapter 6

With Lennox and his family safe inside their garage, Ironhide faced Rumble with eager anticipation. The mechs sized each other up. Each knew the reputation of the other: Ironhide, the Autobot's weapon specialist, Rumble, the Decepticon agent with destructive panache. Ironhide felt a tinge of regret; the Lennox house would not survive this encounter. But as long as the Lennox family did, Ironhide would forgive himself this indulgence.

"Rumble, I have to give you this one chance. For Optimus' sake," Ironhide shrugged, revealing his indifference on the matter. "What has Soundwave done with the humans?"

"Like I'd betray my master. Shut up and fight like a mech!" Rumble then had the audacity to taunt Ironhide with a finger. "The sooner I finish you the faster I get to that brat."

Ironhide was on him within seconds, unleashing relentless punch after relentless punch. Rumble made a feeble attempt to block the fists of the larger mech but to no avail. Eventually, Rumble managed to duck out from the flurry of fists to attack Ironhide's knee joint, temporarily crippling the bot. Forced into a kneeling position, Ironhide continued to smash every surface of the Decepticon that he could reach.

Rumble finally managed to get lucky by delivering a second crippling blow to the Autobot's chest. Ironhide let out a roar before tackling Rumble down. There was a crunching sound as the Lennox house crumbled beneath their combined weight. In one fluid movement, the Autobot managed to trap the Decepticon in a bear hug. Then, he transformed his hands into cannons, one on either side of Rumble's head.

Two short blasts later, the battle was over.

Before retrieving Lennox from the safety of the garage, Ironhide took a moment to admire the damage. In the tumble, more than half of the house had been demolished. Ironhide noticed with amusement that Annabelle's room, which now had only three walls, was relatively intact. At least more so than the master suite, which currently had a dead Decepticon lying inside it.

"Will won't appreciate this," Ironhide mused, limping off to retrieve the humans.

Sam tried to keep from fidgeting. He was anxious to arrive at Diego Garcia in order to get to work locating Mikaela and James. He was certain that, once he was with the Autobots, they'd be able to find Soundwave and his hostages in a snap.

Surreptitiously looking up, Sam studied his parents from across the airplane. Ron was doing his best to comfort Judy but it didn't seem to be having any affect. Since learning that James had been taken, Judy had been silent. Considering that this was the woman who generally reacted to a crisis with screams and baseball bats, silence was a disconcerting reaction. It was almost as if Judy had fully withdrawn into herself, unable to accept the reality of the situation. This development steeled Sam's resolve. He was personally going to find his brother. End of story.

When the plane landed at Diego Garcia, Sam waited for them to remove Alexis first. They had decided to take the injured teen to the base's medical facilities in order to ensure there weren't any more Decepticon attacks on the hospital where she'd been staying. Unfortunately, they'd prepared the girl for the flight by pumping her full of more painkillers, which resulted in increasingly bizarre and incoherent conversation. Her father had tried to humor her, but eventually even he had to give up. Luckily, Alexis seemed content to speak to herself as the medics rolled her gurney onto the tarmac.

Optimus Prime was waiting for Sam when he and Bumblebee exited the plane. Ratchet was there as well, although he was more interested in checking over Alexis' injuries. A third bot was with them, one Sam had never seen before. Without waiting for introductions or pleasantries, Sam began to ask questions.

"Do you know where Soundwave took them?"

"We have been unable to trace the location of Mikaela and your brother." Optimus' voice sounded tired. "However, we may soon have that answer."

"How?"

"Ironhide fought a Decepticon known as Rumble at the home of Major Lennox and his family. It appears that Rumble had a device with him similar to the one that Bumblebee described seeing during the kidnapping. Once we are able to study the device, we will know where he took Mikaela and your brother."

Sam hung his head in disappointment. Getting the device to the base and dissecting it would take too long. Even though it looked like the Decepticon had taken James' baby bag, there was only so much formula in there. And there was nothing in there for Mikaela to eat. Somehow, he doubted that the Decepticons would be willing to go grocery shopping for their human captives.

"I'm sorry, Sam," Optimus said, knowing the turmoil that the young human was feeling. "We will recover them, one way or another. You have my word."

Sam nodded his head in reluctant acceptance. He knew a promise from Optimus Prime was the best there was. Trying to change the subject, he motioned to the third mech. "Who's the new arrival?"

"Not a new arrival, just a new body," Ratchet chuckled.

Realization hit Sam. "That's Starscream?" He gave the mech a once over. "Nice paint job."

"It's Captain America!" Alexis laughed. Unfortunately, this caused her chest to constrict and hurt so she was reduced to a wheezing fit.

"As soon as I scan a new alt mode I will no longer look like this,"Starscream sneered. Sam smiled. The former Decepticon's voice was the same, but that appeared to be it. If anything, he almost looked like an Optimus knock-off with his coloring. Alexis couldn't stop giggling despite the pain it was causing her. "It is not funny, insect."

Ignoring the humans' laughter, Starscream accompanied Sam and Bumblebee to the medical station with Alexis. Back at the plane, Optimus and Ratchet were talking with the older Witwickys. No doubt trying to reassure Ron and Judy that their infant son would be safe. Realizing the opportunity he had, Sam gave Bumblebee a gentle nudge.

"Bee, do you think we could find out where they are? Like, can you find some Decepticons to tell us where they might be?" The Autobot seemed surprised by Sam's question, but he answered it anyway.

Jim, we don't have that technology!

"Why don't you ask the Seeker? He can find anything." Alexis said.

"What?" Sam asked, turning to his cousin. She pointed to Starscream.

"He's one. He can find the Golden Snitch for you." Sam ignored the latter part of Alexis' explanation as he looked to Starscream.

"You're a Seeker? I thought they were all old like Jetfire."

"Those are the originals. As a descendant, I've trained harder than any other to be able to track anything."

"Good. Then you can find Soundwave for us." Sam said with a note of finality as he led Bumblebee away. "We'll see you in ten minutes. Be ready to go."

Alexis smiled up at Starscream. "Good luck, Harry Potter."

The former Decepticon rolled his optics. This day just kept getting better and better.

A/N: Can you tell that seeing Harry Potter slightly influenced this chapter? Sorry!