Sorry about the cliffhanger guys, but I wrote up the next chapter pretty quickly, cause to be honest, I don't have an outline, I'm just writing as I go, and I was dying to know what happened next too. So go on. Satisfy your curiosity.

"Tell me a story."

"What story do you want me to tell?"

"Tell me about the first time you met him. The first time they came."

"Don't you ever get bored of this?"

"You gonna tell it or not?"

"Okay, the first time…well, my dad told me I could get a new car if I got two thousand dollars and three A's. I was…ecstatic when I managed to pull it off. Heh, at first he psyched me out, tricked me into thinking I was getting a Porsche. Probably would have been better if he had just gotten me the Porsche."

"Who are you trying to fool?"

"No, it wouldn't have. You're right, of course. But at the time, I was just pissed that he was getting me a piece of crap for my first car; the salesman was walking around, making everything sound like a way bigger deal than it was. But when I saw that old, yellow Camaro, with racing stripes…"

"You knew."

"I just knew. That was my car. And it really gave me one hell of a ride."

"How did you actually meet him though? Tell me that story."

"You never get tired of this?"

"Never."

"You're ridiculous. One night, I heard a car engine rev, and saw a Camaro pull out of the driveway and into the street. My Camaro. I made this huge deal, screaming and yelling, calling the cops, all while chasing after this car on a freaking bike. But when I finally caught up with the thief, I saw that there wasn't a thief. Right there in front of me, my car was standing up. I freaked. Some killer dogs that were lounging around started chasing me. I didn't bother them, they just starting coming after me. They were probably rabid."

"Yeah right."

"No really. I almost died that night. I thought I was gonna die."

"And then he saved you."

"Yep. Yellow, black, tires screeching, he had those dogs flying out of there, while I peed my pants a little. I had no idea what was going on; I threw my keys at him, ran out of there, and got arrested for stealing my own car. Would you quit laughing?"

"You were so dumb. I'm sorry, but that's just ridiculous."

"Yeah, it never gets old for you does it?"

"Not one bit. Keep going. My favorite parts are coming up."

"You've heard them all a million times."

"You're not allowed to stop here, Sam. Commit."

"Okay, fine. So the next day, the car's back right? So I…freak out again."

"Of course."

"Be quiet, will you? So I pretty much just…ran away from my own car on my mother's bike - if you don't wipe that grin off your face, I'm not saying another word."

"Okay okay, I'm sorry. Go on."

"So while I'm running away, I slam into this police car's door. And I think there's a policeman inside, so I'm rambling to this policeman about my…predicament, when the car suddenly starts harassing me. It was not cool. I thought the guy was just mad…that was before the car transformed in this huge ass robot, screaming my eBay username at me, asking about my grandfather's glasses. So I'm running away from this thing-"

"Wait wait wait. What was your username again?"

"You're pushing it."

"Come on. The story's not complete without it."

"…LadiesMan217, happy?"

"You were such a dorky teenager."

"Yeah, every teenager was back then. So I'm running away from this monster, and run straight into my raving crush at the time, Mikaela, who's flipping a bitch on me while I'm trying to explain that I've got a giant evil robot chasing me. See, back then, it was not such a normal thing."

"Even I was alive then, Sam, I don't need the recap."

"I just like to remind myself. It gets hard to remember sometimes. But just when I thought we were done for, my car comes to my rescue again. So we have this incredibly stressful high speed chase scene, until he stops and dumps us. Just dumps us. And then does the impossible, the most incredible thing I have ever and will ever see. He transformed, and protected us. So while he's fighting, Mikaela and I-"

"Yeah yeah, your romantic near death fighting experience. I don't wanna hear this part."

"Hey now-"

"You know I only care about the robots. Skip to the good part. What was it like, when they came?"

"It was…incredible. Like flaming angels sent from heaven."

"Sent to protect us."

"Yeah, Bell." Bell…

Suzanne cracked open her eyes. That was one hell of a dream. "Ungh…" Her head hurt, and she could barely stand the light. "Bell…" Squinting, a tear unexpectedly spilled over her temple, and she tried to remember what had happened. They had escaped, Bell had saved them. And Bell had…Oh god. Suzanne couldn't remember anything past screaming Bell's name. She had passed out before they ever reached the tunnel.

"So you're awake? Take it easy. You've got a broken leg and a concussion."

"You're not much better."

"Put a sock in it Sam."

"At least you're alive. Nobody thought you were gonna make it."

"Yeah…I know." Suzanne's eyes snapped fully open despite their sensitivity, recognizing the voice immediately.

"Bell!" Pushing herself up, Suzanne winced as a jolt of pain shot down her spine. But sure enough, there she was, sitting daintily in a plastic chair, smiling at Suzanne. "You're…you're alive!"

"Yeah. Miraculously." Bell's smile was weak and tired, and her face was battered and bruised – a split lip, a gash running down the side of her face, her right eye almost swollen shut. Wearing a white wool sweater, with grey sweatpants, she looked smaller, and more vulnerable. But the spark in her eye was still the same. "And so are the orphans. The backup team too. Unfortunately, so is Starscream, but I'm not really complaining right now." The guy Suzanne assumed was Sam, stood, nodding at her, and left quietly.

"You're…you're…" And Suzanne did something she hadn't done in years. She broke down into tears, of relief and happiness, things she had never thought she would feel again. Things she was convinced she had forgotten. But here she was, out of the compound, and everyone was alive, despite the odds. After an entire night of the odds being stacked against them, they succeeded. So after years of never allowing herself to show any form of weakness, Suzanne laughed, and she cried.

Eventually, she calmed down enough to talk again. Rubbing the tears away, she looked at Bell again, noticing the mug cradled in her hands. Bell smiled again.

"You're probably thirsty." Suzie nodded, noticing it for the first time. "Here." Bell stood, and limped to the side of the bed. "It's chamomile tea. It's kind of a cure-all, I loved the stuff when I was a kid. It helps anxiety, relaxes you, relieves muscle spasms, back pains…it pretty much does everything, a universal remedy for all kinds of ailments. A medicinal tea. And it's sweet. It couldn't be more perfect." Sipping at it, Suzie had to agree. It was sweet, and smelled incredible; she could feel herself slowly unwinding, and relaxing, an unfamiliar feeling.

"Is your leg alright?" She asked Bell, having noticed the limp.

"It'll heal. Turns out the cut was deep enough the screw up some of the tendons, and scrape up a muscle or something. I've been ordered to take a medical leave of absence."

"By who?" Suzie asked, curious to find out more about the Rebellion now.

"The same guy that fixed you up as nicely as you are." A new voice spoke, and Bell rolled her eyes, grinning again. "Everyone decent?"

"Like you give a crap." A hand grabbed the edge of the curtain to the right of Suzanne's cot, and shoved it aside.

"No need to be so hostile now. If it weren't for me, that leg would probably be long gone by now, Bell." A blonde man looking to be in his mid-twenties strolled in, one hand shoved into the pocket of his lab coat, the other gripping a clipboard. "Show at least a bit of gratitude."

"Suzanne," Bell said, ignoring him. "This is Ryan, the resident medic around this place. A lot of us owe our lives to him, unfortunately."

"I can take away your painkillers. You'd better show some respect soon. How's the new girl doing?" Without waiting for an answer, he peeled back Suzie's eyelid with one hand, and shined a light into it with the other. Jerking away violently, she smacked his hand away. "Well it doesn't look like it's a major concussion, her pupils don't dilate, in fact they constricted rather beautifully just now. You have lovely green eyes."

"Easy doc, she just woke up." Paying Bell no attention, he continued speaking to Suzie.

"Any light sensitivity?" Squinting, Suzie batted his hand away again, and nodded reluctantly.

"This is your doctor?"

"He gets the job done."

"I'm right here ladies. Alright, if you feel any dizziness, nausea, notice signs of forgetfulness, come to me immediately, alright? For now, I'm just going to give you regular doses of acetaminophen, no ibuprofen or aspirin, got it?"

"I'm not sure I feel comfortable with the thought of you drugging me."

"I'll let you girls get back to your lovely conversation." Clicking a pen with finality, he swooped out of the room, dramatically pulling the curtain shut again. For a moment, the girls sat blinking at each other, before bursting into a giggling fit.

"Ow, stop, my ribs are broken!" Bell gasped, wrapping her arm around her chest.

"You're not alone!" Finally, they managed to calm down, and Suzanne sipped her tea once more before asking the big question. "So, what happened?" Bell's eyes turned unexpectedly distant.

"I'm not really sure…luck…I guess?" She sighed, rubbing her forehead. "That missile was gonna hit. I was sure it was gonna hit. You saw it too."

"Yeah…"

"I don't know, I did the only thing I know how to do, I just ran. Somehow, it just…it didn't hit me. I felt like there was a flash or something, and there was this huge sound, and suddenly I'm being blown off to the side, instead of being blown up. I realized what happened later." Bell laughed, her hand resting over her eyes now. "The explosive I planted in his shoulder, the wing – it had a secondary charge. I grabbed the wrong one. That kind is made to explode once, to create some sort of distraction, while triggering a second, way more powerful explosion. It was designed to be used as a trap; you're supposed to plant it somewhere, and shoot it from a distance. The smaller explosion would bring the enemy over to investigate, and by that time the second charge would go off. The second explosion blew off half his wing and he shot out of there. Without a wing, it's pretty hard to stabilize yourself. He ran into the missile, bumped it off its original course just enough that it would still dole out some pretty serious damage…but it wouldn't kill me. I got banged up pretty badly," Bell gestured at her face. "But I'm alive. When does that kind of thing happen?" Suzanne shook her head in amazement.

"I don't know. But I'm glad it did." Grinning, Bell pointed at her head and leg.

"Your turn. How the hell did that happen?" Suzie sipped the tea again, thinking back to what happened after she jumped over the edge of the building. "I saw you jump…then what?"

"Well, Starscream was kind of freaking out, and hit the apartment pretty hard."

"You fell?"

"Well yeah…and then the wall fell on top of me." Suzie winced at the memory.

"What?"

"Yeah. I probably got the broken leg from landing, the concussion probably came from the wall."

"You were unconscious when I found you, but there wasn't anything on top of you."

"Yeah I…lifted it off."

"You what?"

"It was crushing me; I could barely keep it from snapping all my ribs."

"How did you-?" Suzie shook her head.

"I don't know. I was panicking, and I just kind of freaked out. I only remember pushing like crazy, thinking about this one time I lifted the edge of a car to get Josef out, when the invasion first started. It's not the first time I've done something like that…but I can only pull it off in a hopeless situation. I just…" She shrugged. "Stop thinking, and my instincts take over. But the pain always makes me pass out." Bell was slack jawed.

"You…Oh."

"What?"

"Nothing it's just…Ryan was saying your muscles were really unresponsive in one arm or something; they felt like they had almost been torn from the bone, as if you had put a lot of stress on them."

"But my arm feels okay."

"He said it'd heal in a couple days, those injuries heal faster, but you're also doped up on a ton of pain medication. You're not gonna be feeling a lot for a while."

"…That's nice to know." Bringing the mug up to finish off the tea, Bell spoke up.

"Suzie."

"Huh?"

"We really did it." Suzie grinned, the edge of the mug still held against her lips. Yeah…we really did. Tipping her head back, she downed the last bit of the tea.

"What'd I tell you? I never doubted for a second."

So just in case it wasn't clear, the conversation at the beginning was between Bell and Sam, meant to seem kind of dream-like, because Suzanne was listening to it while she was unconscious. To be honest, I was originally planning for that to be one of Suzie's recurring dreams, one that had been haunting her ever since Bell's death. Yeah...I was originally planning to kill her off. But I apparently get too attached to my characters, so...agh. I had a completely different plot in my head, where Suzie would wake up five years in the future as the story's main protagonist...and Bell just kind of ran through my brain and shot it. I'm weak when it comes to killing off characters. So I figured I may as well add that plot bunny (that got shot) in here as a little added bonus. This feels like an ending...
I'm planning to write more though, so disregard the feeling.