The Flaming Dawn

by Zaru

Summary: A year has passed by quickly. The government has funded a special team just for the Autobots to help keep track of the Decepticons still roaming on Earth. When Starscream returns in full force, how will everybody deal with another event just like Mission City?

Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers. I do own Zaru Kiys. I own Club Kunoichi. Leiana Lopez belongs to Ninjalala. Rose Connelly belongs to BlackwingRose. Jade Rivers belongs to Icarian Angel Wings. Kia Hawkins belongs to weapon13white fang. Piper Somoon belongs to BlackHealer222. Erin Timmons belongs to Strawberrytop007. Bethany King belongs to Mrs. Optimus Prime. Arc Kiys belongs to me. Sakauchi Takigawa belongs to me. Derrick Rigger belongs to me. I own characters with small/very minor roles as well. Songs sang/mentioned belong to their writers/singers/creators.

A/n: Well, chapter 6 is here. I have decided that long chapters are going to be out of the questions. I like updating this story very much, but only short chapters seem to help me think better. Therefore, the chapters of this story will be short. I hope you guys can understand. Thank you. Please enjoy! :)

Chapter 6


=At the Taki Architectural Group construction site=

It was a bustling morning for the Taki Architectural Group. The many workers were assembled, assessing the day's plan ahead while drinking coffee and eating donuts and bagels.

The gate of the building was partially open allowing anybody entry into the building site. A tall man with shaggy brown hair wearing a white tank, tan shorts and sneakers walked in. He wore sunglasses and had a cigarette in his mouth. Stubble from a beard that was recently shaved was textured on his face. Reaching up with a big hand, he pulled the cigarette from between his lips and headed toward the workers.

Carmen, one of the managers of Taki Architectural Group, was busying herself with a clipboard. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed the stranger walking slowly toward her, a big grin on his face. She stole a glance sensing he must have a fabulous physique under those clothes he was wearing. After all, it was only natural for a woman to wonder how a handsome man such as she was seeing could look like under clothing.

Her breath hitched in her throat as he stopped in front of her, one foot set on a step and leaning against the step railing while smoking. His grin turned into a smirk.

"How ya doin', sweetheart?"

Carmen cleared her throat and clutched the clipboard against her chest. "May I help you, sir?"

"I'm looking for Sakauchi Takigawa. Is he here?"

She shrugged. "I'm sorry, sir. He's not here right now."

The man inhaled and licked his lips before exhaling. "Can you tell me where he's at, beautiful? Cause I really need to speak with him. It's important."

"Are you related to Mr. Takigawa?"

He nodded. "Yeah." The smirk turned back into the grin. "I'm his ex son-in-law. And it's really crucial that I speak with him."

Carmen just nodded. "Certainly."

With a wink behind his sunglasses, he threw the butt on the ground and ground it into the walkway. "Thanks, sweetheart. I owe ya."

=At the hospital=

Sakauchi's Room

Sakauchi sat up in his hospital bed. After a short nap, he was energized and ready to leave the hospital. The man never liked staying in a hospital for too long. Only if it was necessary. That was why he tolerated it because of his heart attack. And hopefully soon, the doctor would come in for him to sign discharge papers allowing him to leave the sick-filled building.

He coughed a little, covering his mouth with his arm. Sakauchi sighed heavily in boredom. There was nothing on television. At least nothing that caught his interest. Reaching to the remote next to him, he turned the muted idiot box off before a knock sounded upon his door. His spirits lifted, hoping it was Zaru or at least the doctor coming to tell him good news.

"Come in."

The wooden door opened. But it didn't reveal Zaru, hospital staff or anybody else he knew from close by. His eyebrows knitted together in anger as he realized who was visiting him.

"What are you doing here, Arc?"

Arc ran his fingers through the shaggy brown hair before pulling a seat next to the Japanese man's bed.

"Awe. Come on, Sakauchi. I came to see ya. Went by your work and you weren't there. Your lovely manager Carmen let me know where I could find you." He clapped a strong hand over the metal railing of the bed and smirked. "So, how'd you end up like this, Sakauchi?"

Sakauchi growled. "You have a lot balls to show up here like this. Especially with how you've treated Jessica."

Arc rolled his eyes and leaned back, crossing his ankle over his thigh. "Come on now, old man. That's old history. Can't you just forget about that?"

"I am Japanese. I hold onto the past in the fist of my hand. It is hard to forgive what you have done to my daughter."

Snorting, the younger man stood and lunged, grabbing a hold of the railing in anger. "You are such an angry, old man. You will never change, Sakauchi. Never."

The hospitalized old man leaned forward, glaring into Arc's sunglasses' covered ones. "And you will never change either, Arc. Ever."

Nurses' Station

Beth was surprised. A different person had come in claiming to be family of her patient Sakauchi. And she was thrilled that he had so much family coming to visit him. But, there was something about that man that bothered her. He may have some sex appeal, but his grin sent shivers down her spine. Like he was wrong in a very bad way. But she wasn't allowed to exclude any family from entering his area since she was a nurse who just had a sense about him. Sighing heavily, she reviewed patient charts before hearing the small bell in front of her ring.

Looking up she smiled.

"Zaru, so good to see you again. How are you?" Beth glanced up with warm eyes.

Zaru grinned widely and danced a little. "I'm fine. Just here to pick up jii-san."

"Jii-san? You mean your grandfather?"

"Hai!" With a giggle Zaru signed the log-in book for the hospital. She was in mid-signature and stopped laughing. "Um, Nurse..."

The fire redhead looked at her. "I'm Beth."

"Uh, Beth, did anybody else come today besides me to visit with my grandfather?" Her voice held worry.

Optimus and Mirage's holoforms just glanced at each other before shrugging.

"Zaru, is something wrong?" Mirage set a hand on her shoulder forcing her to look at him.

"If I'm correct..." She stopped talking as her blue eyes widened towards Beth. "Please tell me that nobody else came, Beth. Please?"

"Um..." Beth stood now, fingertips resting on her desk. "There is a man that came not too long ago. He signed in to visit with your grandfather."

The green-haired woman whipped her head toward Optimus. "My father's here!" Her body, on its own accord, took off running down the corridor of the hallway, making a sharp right turn.

"Zaru, wait!" Her spark mate yelled to her already dashing off after her.

Sakauchi's Hospital Room

Arc leaned against the wall facing Sakauchi's bed. His arms were folded across his chest and his legs crossing at the ankles.

"For an old man now, you got a lot of bite, Sakauchi." He sniggered.

"You have no right to be near me or my family. Leave while you still have the chance." Staring up under narrowed eyes he asked, "Or do I need to remove you from this area myself?"

"Be as it may, you can't talk like that right now, old man. You're in no condition to remove me from anywhere." He grinned ear to ear. "That's why this was a perfect opportunity to come see you."

Sakauchi cocked his head to the side. "What do you want? If it's money, you will not receive a single penny. If it's work, no. If it's -"

"I want Zaru." Arc interrupted.

The dark eyes of the Japanese man widened. "Zaru? What for? She's already an adult. You can't just take her."

"She's my only daughter, Sakauchi. And I'll be damned if I let you continue to badmouth me in front of her." Arc shook his head. "I know that you have been spewing out lies to her."

"I have done no such -"

"Yes you have." He interrupted. "Why else would I receive a cold shoulder from her every time I see her?"

The men were so busy arguing that nobody noticed the door had opened a second time.

"Arc, it's been six years since you have seen her. And the last time you saw her, she was a teenager. Now she is an adult in her twenties. "

"But last I recall, she was my daughter."

"I was your daughter. Until you pulled all that stupid shit years ago."

Arc and Sakauchi turned their gazes to the door where Zaru was standing, arms crossed over her chest. Her blue eyes lowered in anger.

"Zaru, when did you get here?" Her grandfather asked.

"Just a minute ago." Looking over at him, she smiled. "We came to visit and pick you up when you were discharged."

"We?" Sakauchi blinked. Then he noticed Mirage standing behind his granddaughter. It might be a good thing that Mirage is here.

Mirage nodded his head as he wrapped an arm around Zaru's waist. He heard about her father before from Sakauchi and took precaution with the talked about man standing before them.

"Dad, why are you here?"

Arc pushed himself away from the wall and threw the sunglasses above his head. Mirage noticed they were the same kind of blue eyes as Zaru.

She may have many features of her mother, but those eyes have come from this fragging aft.

"Don't I have the right to see my own little girl?"

"I grew up. I'm not a little girl anymore. Especially not yours." She spat out.

"My daughter got the bite and the bark." He glared at Sakauchi. "Most likely from the old man here."

"That old man as you so humbly call him, is my grandfather. The ONLY father figure I have besides Jake."

The shaggy-haired man growled. "Jake! Jake! Jake! Why must you speak of that lowlife who stole your mother away from me?"

"You left mom, remember, dad? When she was pregnant with me? She had to raise me as a single parent. Until Jake came into the picture."

Mirage noticed there was tension rising in the room, in which that time, he intended to set foot between the two of them.

"Hey, this is a hospital where people come to heal. Can't you do this someplace else? Like outside or in the privacy of another area?"

The green-haired female just stared up at her robot lover. He's right. If we do this here, they just might call security on us.

Smiling, she replied, "Yeah, baby. You're right. We shouldn't be doing this in public view." Glaring at her dad she stated, "We'll go to my club. Nobody's there right now."

Nurse's Station

Optimus just watched as Mirage ran after Zaru. He shook his head in disbelief, the mane of black, shaggy hair moving with every move made. Beth was staring in awe at him. He was probably the hottest man she had ever seen in her whole life. She wondered if he was related to Sakauchi somehow, or he was a family friend. Clearing her throat, she pulled up the courage to begin speaking with him.

"So, are you a friend or family member?"

Optimus blinked and turned to face Beth who blushed when she saw the way he was staring at her.

I could get lost in those blue eyes.

"Oh, yes. I'm a friend." He smiled small. "I'm Optimus."

"Optimus? What an unusual name. Your parents must have been very unique people, huh?"

"Uh, yes." His holoform blushed a little when he caught her smiling up at him, her pearly whites showing.

"Well, I'm Bethany King. But everybody just simply calls me Beth." She set out her hand.

What a pretty name for a human female. "It's nice to meet you, Beth." He reached over, grabbing her hand. Bringing it up to his lips, he kissed it lightly earning a deeper blush from the female.

Certainly this one is a gentleman. "So, Optimus, I know it might not be any of my business, but it is out of concern for a patient."

"Yes?"

"Is there something wrong that I might need to call security or anything?"

Raising an eyebrow, the Autobot leader asked, "For what reason, may I ask?"

"Well, uh," she scratched the back of her head, "Zaru didn't seem to like the fact that this man came to see her grandfather. Is he bad news?"

With a shrug, he answered, "Well, if it's her father, then yes. That is bad news. He isn't exactly a stable man from what I have heard."

It was true. Zaru and Sakauchi had told Optimus a lot about their family. Especially about the man who helped to create Zaru herself. Her father wasn't decent as he ran off and left her mother while she carried her in the womb. The only times he ever came back around was when he wanted something and it always ended up in disaster for them all. And the last known time she had seen her father was six years prior, and that had not gone very well either.

Beth nodded. "I can seem to understand that. When he came, I didn't have a really good feeling about him. But since he's family, I cannot just keep him away. It's against hospital policy unless Mr. Takigawa stated that this man was in no way allowed near him while entrusted to the hospital."

Optimus nodded. "I agree. Going against orders is rather unyielding. But there are times when some orders must be gone against and done another way."

The redhead cleared her throat. Why does he seem like a leader? Her heart pounded in her chest. Why is my heart racing? Could it be from this man I have just met?

Prime didn't need a scan to tell him the female before him took a fancy to him. But that was to his holoform and not the real him. Although, his spark began to jump whenever she would speak to him in that sweet voice of hers.

Too quick for me. We have just met.

"Well, Beth, I would love to stay and chat, but I really must see how well things are going with Zaru. If you will excuse me." He nodded and made his way down the corridor.

Beth leaned out of the window to watch him go until he turned the corner and disappeared. She was disappointed that he was gone, but she hoped she would be able to see him again. And if she didn't, her heart might break.

TBC...

A/n: Crap! It sucks doesn't it? I broke up the chapter 6. Sorry! XD I'll post chapter 7 up later this week, okay? Hope you can all forgive me! BYE!

Sweet Mech Dreams,

Zaru