Sorry this took a little while. I didn't have much time to write during finals week. That's over now, so hopefully I'll have more time for this sort of thing. :)

Disclaimer: I do not own any part of the Transformers Franchise. The only thing I own are my OCs.


A woman with wavy golden hair sat in a cushy chair, her voice filled the living room as she read from a large book. The young blonde girl sitting in her lap smiled happily. Her mommy's voice always sounded nicer when she was reading a story. The little girl didn't understand all of the words, but she always loved listening to the way her mother said them.

At the sound of door opening her mommy's warm brown eyes looked up from the book, and smiled at the man with short auburn hair who had just entered.

"Daddy!" The girl cried excitedly. She ran over to him and gave him a hug. Her father reached down a gloved hand and patted her on the head.

"It's good to see you too, but aren't you up a little late?"

"I told her she could stay up until you got home." Her mom explained, then smiled at her. "Alright, you've seen him, now get ready for bed and we'll come in and say goodnight."

Her mommy quickly shooed her away. The girl ran out of the living room, into the hallway and toward the stairs. Just before she started to climb up, the strawberry blond girl looked back at her parents. Daddy's normally hard face was softened by a smile as he told Mommy about how well the work was going, and how far they had come. Her mom hugged him, and he ran a hand through her golden hair. It made the girl happy to see them like that. They both worked very hard. She wasn't sure what they did, just that Mommy did something with numbers and Daddy worked with a lots of people. It must have been pretty important if they both cared about it so much. Before they could notice that she was watching, the young girl quietly went up to her room.

The same young girl, who was now able to understand many more words, crouched anxiously behind her new bedroom door. They had moved out of the house to live on base, so that work would be easier for her parents.

"What the bloody hell do you think you're doing?" Her mother yelled.

"Teresa, I really think you're overreacting here." Her father cautioned.

"I'm not an idiot, I know what those equations are and what they can be used for. How can you think of doing something like this?"

"Because it's necessary."

"Necessary? You honestly can't think of any other way to solve this problem?" Rhea pressed her ear closer to the door when her mom stopped shouting. "When this organization was first starting I didn't think it would evolve into this. I'm not sure I can keep doing this."

"Teresa, I've provided for you and Rhea very well all these years. I've worked with you and comforted you when the going got rough. Don't you think I deserve a little trust in return?"

"I know." She sighed in frustration. "I've gone along with everything you've told me, and I've tried to trust you. But it seems like each day this group is changing, turning into something dangerous. It amazes me that you can't see that, and if you keep insisting that we go along with it then I'm not going to stay here."

Her mother's words were followed by a deadly silence. The girl could feel the tension in the next room. Why did Mom have to go against Dad's plans and make him angry? Dad was nice when he wasn't angry.

"You know, I've been hearing some stories from the other men on base." Her father said quietly. "You really shouldn't let our daughter run around the base unsupervised so often. She could get hurt. It would be a shame to have to move her somewhere else...just to keep her safe, of course."

The pause that followed seem to last an eternity, but finally her mom spoke up.

"I'll get you the equations I was working on." She sounded tired, defeated. Rhea knew that would be the end of the argument. A door slammed loudly as her Dad left.

Rhea's eyes fluttered open. She lay on a thin mattress in a sparsely decorated room, not that much different than the one she'd had back at MECH. She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to shake off the lingering emotions of her memory/dream. Things could change a lot over the course of a few years, or even a few days. She rolled out of bed and walked to the closet across the room. She pulled out a pair of jeans and a dark green long sleeve shirt. She hadn't been able to take many things when she left, so most of the items in her wardrobe had been gifted to her by June Darby. Once the nurse found out how little the girl had, she had insisted on giving Rhea some of their old clothes. The girl had tried saying that it wasn't necessary, but Mrs. Darby insisted and told her that she had planned on donating the clothes to charity anyway. June sometimes reminded her of her own mother, so generous and thoughtful. She must have thanked the woman a dozen times for providing clothes and bedding for her.

She lay the outfit on her bed, and also picked up the small teddy bear that had fallen to the floor during the night. The brown bear with a red sweater was one of the few things she'd brought along with her. She'd tried to only bring personal items, since Silas was known to put tracking devices on things that belonged to him. As she changed, she reflected on her new situation.

It had been a couple days since she had arrived here. Most of her time had been dedicated to setting up her new room and talking with Optimus and Flare, hearing about why they were on Earth and about the Decepticons. He had also helped with getting Flare settled at the base. It amazed her that she was being treated so well. Optimus had elaborated a bit more on where she was and wasn't allowed to go, and she readily agreed to all the rules he put down. At this point she was just grateful that they hadn't decided to interrogate her, that's what Silas did he they captured someone with valuable information. The medic had asked her once if there was any sort of information she could give them to help track down MECH, but she explained to him about the deserter protocols. In the event that anyone deserted or was captured by an enemy all the passwords, entry codes, and communication frequencies were changed, so she couldn't help in that department.

She was determined to find some way to become helpful though, for Flare's sake as well as her own. She pulled her shirt down carefully over her bandaged side, and decided that the pain wasn't enough to keep her off duty. Besides, if she didn't start contributing soon they might decide that she should be sent somewhere else. That would mean she would be completely on her own. Flare was the only friend she had now, she didn't want to lose her.

Now fully dressed, she sat on her bed and started to braid her hair. Hopefully if she became helpful in more practical areas then they wouldn't ask her much about Silas or MECH, which would be very lucky since she wasn't sure she could make herself talk about them. She had tried figuring out why the other kids were there, to get an idea of what her own role should be. Optimus had explained to her how Jack, Raf and Miko had come to join them, and she couldn't quite figure it out. By the sounds of it the kids were there just because they were in need of protection, and it would be dangerous for both them and the Autobots if they weren't there. Yet when she saw the Bots with their charges they didn't treat them like a burden or an assignment; maybe there was something she was missing. She stood up to look at herself in the mirror. She was presentable, though the clothes were a bit baggy and the bruise on her cheek was still visible. It had shifted to yellow, so at least it was healing. Satisfied that she was as prepared as she could be, she exited into the hallway in search of Flare.


Ratchet picked up a tool and bent down near one of the computers in the main room. The medic took a certain amount of pleasure in performing repairs on the base's equipment. If there was too much going on it sucked the joy out of the chore, but that wasn't the case right now. The kids were at school, and every bot except Optimus was out patrolling. He looked forward to a few hours of peace and quiet.

"Good Morning, Doctor." He jerked, and banged his helm against a shelf. Scrap. He'd forgotten that he'd be the one to keep an eye on the child while the others were out. He straightened, rubbing his helm. The strawberry blonde girl was standing on the floor by the metal stairs the humans used to get to the couch and TV. She looked up at him with concern.

"Are you alright, sir?"

"Of course I'm alright. What did you want?" He asked irritably. She looked down a bit at his tone.

"Would you happen to know where Flare is?"

"I finished the last of her major repairs last night, so she went on a patrol with Arcee. She'll be gone for several hours."

"I see." she nodded, before turning her gaze up to his distant face. "Is there anything I can help you with?"

"I prefer to do these things myself, less chance of someone making a mistake with it." Rafael was the only human he really trusted to be around his equipment. Plus, considering her questionable background...

"I understand sir. Is there anything else you would like me to do?" Ratchet sighed in frustration, he just wanted to finish the job he'd started.

"I'm busy right now. It would be most helpful to me if you found a place to be out of the way and quiet." Her face fell slightly, but she nodded and started to ascend the stairs next to her. With a huff, the red and white mech bent back down. He maneuvered around the machine to get a better angle and proceeded with the repair. After a while he found himself in need of a different tool. Getting up, he spotted their newest human friend on the old green couch. She sat with perfect posture, feet flat, hands folded in her lap, and eyes staring off into nothing. She didn't look around curiously or fiddle with anything, just sat there, patiently. He'd never seen a human child be so still before.

"You really want something to do?" He asked. The girl's eyes came back into focus and she turned towards him.

"I would love to help, in any way that I can." Ratchet looked around, and spotted the mop and bucket that he tried, in vain, to get Miko to use. He picked it up and offered it to the blue eyed girl.

"Do you mind cleaning?"

"Not at all." she smiled as she grasped the mop's wooden handle. "Where should I start?"


On a dusty desert road two motorcycles sped between giant rock outcroppings. The blue bike was sleek and angular and moved confidently along the winding road. The other bike, a fiery orange color, was smoother and more streamlined, but lacked the confidence of the the motorcycle ahead of it. Both riders had faces concealed by dark helmets. Just by looking at them, no one passing would have guessed that the 'riders' were having a conversation.

"Thanks for this Arcee, it feels great to finally get off base."

"No problem. You'll need to know the territory after all. Besides, it looked like you needed a break."

"You could say that." Flare admitted. She was getting along fine with the other bots, but this was the first time she'd been able to get out of the base and get some quality time with her old friend. It was also nice to get away from Rhea for a little while. She was starting to warm up to all of the kids, but her charge was getting on her nerves. The girl hadn't done anything really annoying, it was just that she wouldn't leave Flare alone. Rhea followed her around like- how did Miko put it?- like a lost puppy.

Arcee suddenly put on a burst of speed and enjoyed the Cybertronian equivalent of a small adrenaline rush as she raced around a curve in the road. Flare held back and took the turn slowly and carefully.

"Come on Flare, I thought you wanted to test your new wheels." Arcee teased. This was Flare's first time in her new vehicle mode, but the amount of caution she was taking was a little ridiculous. It wasn't like this was Fare's first time in a new mode.

"Are you sure we aren't going too fast?" Flare was still a little unclear on speed limits. Arcee laughed through the comm.

"Too fast? After working with the racing obsessed Override you're worried that this is too fast?"

"I guess being on the same team as her must have completely ruined my sense of speed." Flare said sarcasticly but then she laughed too. "Remember when Sunstreaker and Sideswipe were dared to challenge her to a race and they actually accepted?" Arcee started laughing again.

"She wiped the floor with those two! They must have been a solar cycle behind by the time she crossed the finish line."

"I know, poor Sunny and Sides. They didn't hear the end of it for weeks! They were so embarrassed."

"Not as embarrassed as Hotshot was after he tried singing to you and it ended up over the base comm system." Arcee mocked in a sweet voice.

"Oh Primus don't even go there! That was awful! I still don't know where he got the idea that I would like being serenaded." It was silent for a minute. "Arcee?" the blue femme's frame started to vibrate slightly. "Arcee?" Flare was getting a little worried, until she heard her friend sniggering over the comm. Suddenly it clicked into place. "It was YOU wasn't it? You told Hotshot to sing to me!" Arcee finally burst out laughing.

"Arcee! Why didn't you tell me!" Flare cried indignantly. After a minute Arcee managed to get a hold on her laughter and soothe the fuming femme.

"I didn't think I had to, I mean it wasn't entirely my fault. Hotshot came to me and asked about the sort of things you liked. I just told him that you like music, I didn't think he would go quite that far." she was still chuckling. The fiery femme vented a sigh as they continued to drive.

"Please tell me you weren't the one who put it over the comm system."

"Oh no, all the credit for that goes to Sunny and Sides. They were really pleased with themselves, it finally got everyone to forget about the Override incident, at least for a while." this time it was Flare's turn to chuckle.

"Everyone else may have forgotten about it, but Override never did. It was one of her favorite stories to tell when we had some down time on the ship."

"I forgot Override went with when you decided to join the Valkyries. Flare, what happened? I never figured you to be the kind of bot to strike out on your own like I did. How did you end up here on your own?" Flare was quiet for a few moments before she launched into an explanation.

The Valkyrie ship she'd been serving on had landed on an uninhabited planet for supplies. While they were still gathering resources a group of Decepticons found them, Flare and a few others were out scouting when it happened and got cut off from the ship. They tried to find a way to get around the Cons, but ended up in a fire fight instead. During the fight Flare got hurt and was knocked out. When she woke up the battle field was quiet, and there were several dead Cybertronians around her. She wasn't sure how long she had been out, so she got up and ran to where the ship had been. It was already gone. Flare's spark had sank at the thought of being left behind, but it made sense in a way. She'd been scouting that particular area in person because, for some reason, the ship's sensors were having trouble scanning it. The sensors probably couldn't pick up her spark signal, and her comrades had assumed she was offline. Flare went in search of shelter, but instead found a small pod hidden in some thick brush near where the ship had been. Even when under attack her companions had found a way to leave this here, on the off chance that she or another scout was still online. The navigational systems had some damage, but it was all she had to work with. Besides, the pod would have much better communication then she would on her own. She found a little bit of medical supplies inside, and was able to make a few field repairs on herself before setting out.

After a day or so of trying to follow the Valkyries her sensors picked up an Autobot ship, a small one. It turned out to be a mech named Wheeljack. She asked him about the Valkyries, but he hadn't seen them. He did tell her all about the Autobot base on Earth though, putting extra emphasis on the number of Cons he'd bashed while he was there. It turned out that Earth was a lot closer than where the Valkyries were headed. She couldn't set a course with the damage to the pod, but he was able to give her verbal directions and a little bit of extra fuel to make sure she was able to get there. It took her a while, but she eventually got to Earth and contacted them.

"I'm pretty sure you know how the story goes from there." Flare concluded.

"I'll have to mention the part about Wheeljack to Bulkhead, those two have a long history." The two fell silent for a while, but it wasn't the companionable silence one usually shares during a patrol.

"Flare, are you okay?" Arcee asked tentatively.

"I don't know, I just wish I knew how the fight ended. It wasn't just Cons that were dead on the battlefield Arcee, there were a few Valkyries too. I didn't know them very well, but they were still a part of the team. I don't even know if Override made it out okay, or if anyone else got hurt or offlined. I don't know if the ship got damaged or if they took on enough supplies to make it to the next destination. I just wish I knew..." Flare trailed off.

"I know what you mean. Sometimes it's harder not to know, you can't stop wondering if you'll see them again, and you start to wonder if you should keep your hopes up." Flare's frame sank a little as her friend's words rang true. "But I also know that the Valkyries are a tough bunch. If anyone can beat a bunch of Cons, make it out safe, and keep going afterward, it's them."

"Thanks Arcee." The orange femme said softly.

"Anything else you'd like to get off your chest? I'm thinking of starting therapy sessions so it would be great practice." Arcee tried to lighten the mood. Flare did laugh a little, but also decided to take her friend up on the offer.

"Actually, I have been wondering about how you came into contact with MECH."

"That's not exactly what I had in mind."

"If you don't want to talk about it-"

"No, it's alright. You're going to find out about this story from somebody, it might as well be me."

Arcee told her the about how Silas had used June as bait for Jack and Arcee, how Silas had almost cut her open, how Jack had almost been too late to save his Mom.

"In the end everyone made it out safe, but that blasted spider femme still got away." She finished darkly.

"Spider? You mean-"

"Airachnid is back." Arcee said no other name with such malice. Normally it was Airachnid who was called poisonous, but the way Arcee said that name made her sound like the venomous one.

"Oh scrap." Flare said in quiet shock. "Does that mean she's the one that...got Cliff?" Arcee almost skidded to a halt at the mention of her old partner, but managed to right herself and keep going.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have brought that up so abruptly." Flare silently cursed herself for not being more careful with such a touchy subject.

"How did you know?"

"I'd heard that you met up with a mech named Cliffjumper after we went our separate ways. I didn't see him anywhere on the base, so I asked Ratchet about it during one of my examinations. He didn't give me much detail, just said that he'd been offlined fighting with some Cons." There was a long silence. Flare knew better than to break it, this wasn't the kind of thing you could force. Suddenly Arcee slowed and changed direction, going off the established patrol route.

"Follow me." She instructed. Flare didn't argue.


As the two femmes kept getting higher and higher Flare began to wonder where they were going, especially since this didn't seem to be an official road, but she forced her curiosity down and kept quiet. Eventually they came to the very top of a cliff, and the first thing Flare noticed was the view. She could see for miles, and the sun shinning down made the valley vibrant with reds and browns. The second thing was the pile of stones arranged at the cliff's edge. Flare knew what it must be, a memorial for Cliffjumper. Her friend had made a similar one after Tailgate's death, and had taken one of the stones with her when the team had to leave the planet.

Arcee switched to bipedal mode, and stood by the memorial. Flare switched her form also, but held back, waiting to see what the blue femme would do.

"It's for Cliff." she gestured to the rocks, not looking at her friend.

"I thought so." Flare said quietly.

"I come up here sometimes, when I need to think, or just get away from everyone for a while. Sometimes I talk to him, like he can hear me. I know that's silly." She shook her head and tried for a laugh.

"I don't think it's silly. I think Cliffjumper, and all of our old comrades, that their sparks are out there somewhere. This is as good a place to talk to them as any." Arcee didn't seem to hear her.

"It shouldn't have ended this way. Starscream should never have had the chance to offline him. He had me on the comm when he was investigating that energon, I knew something was happening, something really bad. I should have gathered everyone faster, we should have been able to get there in time. We could have saved him from those Cons. Even when his signature came back online we weren't fast enough to stop him from being turned into that half alive monster. I can't stop seeing those killer optics looking out of his face when I go into recharge." Flare's spark was breaking. She couldn't stand seeing her friend like this, filled with so much pain and hatred. The worst part was that the hatred wasn't just reserved for her enemies.

"Arcee, are you saying that you think Cliffjumper's death is your fault?" Arcee finally turned to face Flare.

"I knew him! I knew that he always gets into fights where the odds are against him. I knew he would never call for backup until it was too late! I should have seen what was coming, I should have called for help right away. He's dead because of me!"

"No Arcee. He's dead because of Starscream, the Decepticons, this whole blasted war." Flare spoke forcefully.

"That doesn't make it right." She replied tersely. Flare looked at her for a moment, before sighing.

"You're right, it doesn't. But it also doesn't make it your fault." Arcee looked away from her. "'cee, obviously I didn't know Cliff like you did. But from what I've heard he was the kind of bot who really loved to live in the moment, and didn't like to worry about what could have been. Maybe the best way to honor him, is by trying to do the same." Arcee still said nothing, maybe she needed some time to think things over. Flare turned to go.

"Flare?" the fiery femme stopped and turned back around. Arcee took a step forward and pulled her into a hug.

"Thank you." she whispered.

"Any time 'cee, any time." Arcee pulled back, and the two smiled at each other. They might have stayed up there longer, but Arcee suddenly noticed how much time had passed.

"Scrap, we haven't finished the patrol and I need to go pick up Jack."

"I have a map, I can finish the rest of the patrol while you go to the school." Arcee looked a little doubtful. "I'll keep the comm open and let you know if anything seems unusual, okay? Now go have some fun with your friend."

"Yes ma'am!" Arcee did a mock salute and they both transformed and sped down the cliff.


That last scene was partially inspired by a certain episode of the show Stargate SG-1.

Flare's vehicle mode looks a lot like Arcee's, similar mirror placements and designs. Only Flare's mode would have a lot less angles, all the plates would run together smoothly. I tried to put a link in here, but couldn't figure out how. :(