A/N: Hey all, thanks to those of you who reviewed the last chapter, all two of you….come on people! If you read it, review it, please! We live off reviews, if we don't have any, we will DIE!!!!!! So please REVIEW!!!!!

Revelations

Two Weeks Later……

"I want to check Hot Topic, is that okay Jazz?" The autobot turned into the parking lot and sighed at the two girls. Boy, human femmes sure love to buy things…

"Yeah, it's cool. I'll be right here." They got out and strolled through the parking lot toward the large double doors. They'd become much more accustomed to living on base with the autobots, in fact, they were even starting to like it. No college, no work, and no nagging parents. Plus, they cruised around town in Jazz, who always volunteered to take them around. And let's face it, he was hot. Alex pulled a scrunchie out of her pocket and put her hair in a ponytail, moving her sunglasses onto her forehead as they went inside. She was particularly glad she was wearing her own clothes, denim shorts and a vintage Star Wars t-shirt. Charlie was fiddling with her cell phone, playing around with some of the new features that Wheeljack added. They could now call directly into the autobots channel, allowing them to contact any of them immediately. She took off her electric blue hoodie and tied it around her waist, her KISS t-shirt now visible.

"I wanted some new tank tops, and possibly Harry Potter stuff. Yeah." Alex shrugged and followed Charlie through the store, commenting on the stuff she picked out.

"Weren't you supposed to buy a DVD player for Wheeljack? So then he could hook it up to the big screen and do some other science stuff I wasn't paying attention to?"

"Oh yeah, let's go to Target." She picked out the cheapest one she could find and they headed back to Jazz, he must have been getting bored by now. As they walked back out the doors however, Charlie froze. Alex turned around once she realized she wasn't beside her.

"Did you forget something?" Charlie shook her head, looking off to the left.

"No, I'm just gonna go use the bathroom, here take my bags, I'll be there in a minute." Alex shrugged and grabbed Charlie's bags before walking over to Jazz, who was parked near the back. Charlie sighed and, making sure Alex wasn't watching, ran three rows over toward the idling black Honda civic. It had to be a coincidence it just had to be. The black Honda started driving away. Charlie ran after it, chasing it into a nearby empty parking lot in the back of the mall. She stopped and stared. It couldn't be a coincidence. This had to be Nelly. Charlie hesitantly took a shaky step towards her long lost car. Before her foot even hit the pavement, the civic did a 180 in front of her; the passenger door opened and a small shape fell out. Charlie watched as the car she was sure was hers drove away. She sighed and looked down to see what had fallen out of Nelly, it was her Ipod. She bent down and picked it up, any doubts she had about the car not being Nelly disappeared in an instant. She knew now that was her car, and for some reason Nelly brought Charlie her Ipod back. Charlie didn't know why, she didn't think she wanted to know. But she was sure of one thing, Nelly was a transformer.

Alex sighed for the hundredth time. "What the heck is taking Charlie so long? I'm bored! I swear if she got lost I'm going to be so pissed."

"You girls have been here a hundred times. How could she get lost?"

"Charlie couldn't find her way out of a paper bag. You have no idea how many times it's been one in the morning and I find Charlie walking around the base because she can't find our room."

"I didn't know that."

"I wasn't supposed to tell anyone because Charlie is afraid Ratchet or Wheeljack will try to attach some sort of guidance system to her, and it will end up blowing up."

"She's still paranoid about getting things from Wheeljack huh?"

"Can you blame her? He gives her two so called gifts and both blow up in her face, not to mention every time she goes to his lab something explodes. Charlie thinks Jack is out to get her."

"Not exactly." Alex could hear the smile in his voice, and she was about to ask what he meant when she saw Charlie walking up to them.

"Finally! Jeez Charlie what the hell took you?" Charlie sat down and put her seat belt on. Her Ipod was securely in her purse. Alex noticed Charlie looked really pale and she was shaking slightly. "What's wrong?"

"Um I got lost and had a run in with this really creepy guy."

"See Jazz I told you she could get lost in the mall!" Charlie nodded and went with it, for some reason she didn't want anyone to know what happened. Nelly had meant only her to see her, she knew it. And even though she knew she shouldn't, she trusted her. She'd had Nelly for years, they were like family. She joined Alex and Jazz's conversation about pizza and how good it was and tried to relax. Alex would notice for sure if she didn't calm down. They were just going past a McDonald's when they heard it. The light post they had just passed exploded, and Jazz swerved sharply to avoid the pieces. Alex screamed and ducked, and Charlie was thrown to the other side of the car, she damned herself internally for forgetting to put on her seatbelt.

"It's Thundercracker! Alex, alert Optimus!" Jazz slid to a stop and the girls grabbed their things and slid out of him and ran around behind a dumpster. Alex pulled out her cell phone and connected to Optimus, and frantically told him they were being attacked. But Charlie was more worried about Jazz, this Thundercracker guy was a lot bigger than him. Cars swerved around the two as Thundercracker laughed maniacally.

"So nice to see you again autobot."

"Too bad I can't say the same about you Thundercracker." He dodged and rolled as Thundercracker shot at him. Unfortunately, it came a little too close.

"AHHH CHARLIE!!!" His shot hit the concrete and blew their dumpster to the side, Alex getting caught and thrown, while Charlie screamed as one of the pieces landed on her leg. They both looked up to see Jazz get smashed to the ground by Thundercracker and Alex screamed again. He had the same purple symbol on him that Rumble did, he was one of them. She crawled over to where Charlie was, and tried to heave the twisted metal off her leg.

"It won't budge!"

"Keep trying, I can't feel it anymore, I don't want to lose a leg!" Alex gritted her teeth and ignored the blood running down her face from when she impacted. She braced herself and managed to lift it enough for Charlie to move her leg out from under it. She sighed in relief, but Alex choked. Her leg was bloody and very obviously broken. They needed help fast, Jazz was losing and none of the other autobots were in sight. She swallowed and looked down in surprise to see her shirt ripped, and a long cut crossing over her midsection. She blinked in surprise, she was lucky her fall hadn't broke anything, but she must have been cut when she freed herself from the rubble. They needed to get under some cover. Alex grabbed Charlie's arm and slung it over her shoulder and they started hobbling, trying to get out of the way of the fight.

"Did you get a hold of Optimus?"

"Yeah they're on the way, but I'm not sure how long Jazz is gonna hold on." They stumbled as Jazz hit the pavement near them, and Thundercracker looked over and grinned ferally.

"These little femmes are with you Jazz? Oh how fun." He aimed at them and the girls screamed, but Jazz threw himself over them at the last moment, taking the shot. He grunted in pain and Charlie gasped in pain as she landed on her bad leg. Fuck she thought they were screwed. Thundercracker was about to blast them again, but it wasn't Thundercracker Charlie was paying attention to. It was whatever was coming at him. At first she thought it was one of the autobots, but she knew that wasn't the case. Whatever it was it was coming from the sky and fast. Suddenly everything went white and Thundercracker turned in surprise before what looked like a glowing meteor fly straight toward him. Jazz covered them again as the ground shook, and just as they were rising they were surprised as another one hit the ground to the right of them. They stood shakily and as the dust cleared, Jazz gasped.

"Yo, damn man! We saved little ladies!" Though damaged, he scooped up Alex and Charlie in each of his hands and danced. They yelled and he stopped as one of the 'meteors' started moving.

"Jazz, what's going on? What are---" But Alex was cut off as a large shape appeared out of the dust, and strode toward them, recognizing Jazz. He nodded to a crashed vehicle nearby, a very unfortunate soul, as it was a bright yellow Lamborghini. The robot paused and scanned it, and the girls watched in awe as his appearance changed. Standing before them was a bright yellow mech taller than Jazz with what looked to Charlie like fines on the side of his head.

"Good to see you again Sunstreaker." Said mech waved his arm in front of him in a cocky gesture. Charlie was sure that if he had hair he would have flipped it.

"Of course it is. You're just lucky I came in time to save your aft Jazz." Charlie stared at the mech. He was really full of himself. Jazz just smiled, he seemed used to the mech's attitude.

"What are you doing on Earth here Sunny? The transmission Prime sent out originated in the southwest. That's where all new arrivals are supposed to report."

"We were heading to that sector when we received a distress call. We changed our course and came here, with just enough time to teach that decepti-goon a lesson. Too bad he took off before I could finish the job." Charlie was confused, there was only one of him why was he referring to himself as two people?

"We?" Jazz was about to explain what Sunstreaker meant when---

"BOO!"

"AAAHHH!!" Both girls screamed and jerked out of Jazz's hands. He caught them before they hit the ground. A red mech the same height as Sunstreaker came up behind them and started laughing at their expressions. He had a black helmet and resembled Sunstreaker. It was then they noticed the girls.

"Woah, hey Jazz, what's with the femmes huh?" He straightened up and the girls sat up straighter in his hands. The two mechs came and stood side by side as they regarded them. Charlie and Alex stared back, these mechs, while still large, somehow weren't as intimidating as the others. They seemed younger, somehow, especially since they seemed to like pulling pranks.

"Femmes? How can you tell, they look weird, what are they?" Sideswipe shook his head.

"Connect to their 'world wide web' its got info all about this planet." Sunstreaker cocked his head to the side, and about thirty seconds later he nodded.

"Oh I see, I guess they are femmes." Alex took offense to this.

"Yeah we're femmes, but here were called girls, ladies, women, whatever you want. What else did you think we were?" Jazz laughed.

"Guys, this is Charlie and Alex, our new charges." He held up each of them in turn, and the twins looked at them. They were funny looking creatures. "Charlie, Alex these are the resident autobot twins, Sideswipe and Sunstreaker." Jazz said pointing to the red and yellow mechs. Suddenly Sunstreaker spoke up.

"Betcha never seen anyone as beautiful as me before huh? I'll give you a minute to catch your breath."

"Yeah except for when I look in the mirror every day." Sunstreaker paused. This organic just insinuated she was more beautiful than he was. What a preposterous idea! But Sideswipe started laughing, as did Jazz.

"Hey I like you, wanna go out sometime?" Charlie slapped a hand to her face. Alex had already got into an ego contest with one, and got asked out by the other.

"Uhh, Sideswipe, I think you mean you want to hang out with her."

"Oh. Is that right?" Jazz nodded. Sunstreaker stood and pouted, when suddenly they all jumped as they heard sirens coming.

"Hey, we need to get back to base, Sideswipe, scan an alt form and I'll lead you there." He put the girls down and they looked up to see Sunstreaker and Sideswipe just staring down at them.

"Man they're short!"

"Guys, come on, the cops is coming, we gotta split." Sideswipe scanned the same form as Sunstreaker and became a red Lamborghini. Charlie suddenly ran behind a boulder and returned with two beaten up bags.

"I found our stuff!"

"Cool, I can't believe it's not crushed." They got into Jazz and he sped off, closely followed by the twins.

"Well, the DVD player box is squished…but I'm sure Wheeljack won't mind." Alex shifted and put on her seatbelt.

"So, those twins, they're brothers? How can autobots have brothers?"

"It happens when the all spark creates new life and the spark splits in two. It happens very rarely. Sunstreaker and Sideswipe are the last ones."

"Oh okay." Jazz started driving towards the base followed by Sunstreaker and Sideswipe. Half way there they were met by Ironhide, Optimus, and Mirage, who swerved and followed them. Optimus's voice came over Jazz's radio.

"I see you are alright. Alex, Charlie, how are you faring?" Charlie was gripping her leg again and Alex glanced at her.

"I've just got scrapes but Charlie's going to need Ratchet, her leg is pretty ripped up."

"Alright, I told him to expect us, he will be ready when we arrive."

"Good, I forgot about it in the mess, but it's really hurting, and I'm getting blood all over Jazz's upholstery."

"That's alright, I'll clean it out later."

"How?"

"You let me worry about that lil' lady." Charlie sighed and made a tourniquet out of her hoodie. She could at least try to keep as much blood off of Jazz as possible. The autobots drove twenty miles out of town and turned on an old gravel road. They drove for a few more miles before what looked like an old wooden entrance to a mine came into view. The door and front wall slid to the side and the autobots drove in, the old mine turning into the modern base the girl's knew. They drove down a corridor before coming into a large open space which lead to the doors the autobot's rooms were located, and the corridors that led to them. Alex helped Charlie out of Jazz and he transformed, taking her to Ratchet. The other autobots transformed and Optimus picked up Alex and they headed into the Control room, where he placed her on the control panel, so she could talk almost face to face with them.

"Sideswipe, Sunstreaker, it is good to see you on earth. Have you come in contact with any other autobots?"

"Not since we've received your transmission."

"Hm I see. Welcome to Earth. I will debrief you both after Ratchet runs a diagnostic on the two of you."

"Ol' Hatchet is here?"

"Yes he is and he's already made threats against you both if you try any pranks." They saluted him and Alex looked at them all standing there, taking up all the space. She felt tiny and vulnerable, Charlie always made her feel more comfortable around the large transformers, but Optimus was standing next to her, and if she trusted any one here, it was him.

"Not to interrupt, but who was that guy that attacked us?" All the autobots turned to look at her, and she shifted nervously.

"He was Thundercracker, one of Megatron's seekers, they are airborne fighters, who take particular pleasure in shooting down autobots. They are rarely seen without each other however, which bodes ill indeed."

"So, that means the other ones are here too?" Ironhide crossed his arms.

"We know Starscream's around here somewhere, it was just a matter of time before Thundercracker and Skywarp showed up. I'll betcha anything they're with him now, we should find them and take them out now." He pounded his fist into his other hand and looked at Optimus, who shook his head.

"No, not yet. We do not know their numbers or what they are planning, until we are sure---"But Ironhide cut him off.

"Yeah yeah, I know." He grumbled and leaned against the wall.

"Hey Optimus, Jazz said these chics are our charges, how'd you end up babysitting a couple of human femmes?"

"Oh no, we already had this talk, and they're not babysitting, Charlie and I are adults." She glared at Sideswipe, who rubbed his helmet.

"Really? That's as big as you're going to get?"

"Yes, and for your information I'm considered tall for a girl, if you want to look at a short one, look at Charlie."

"Really you're considered tall? It must be awful to be stuck in such an inferior form."

"Oh not at all. I pity you for being stuck as a tall neon yellow gaudy tin man."

"How dare you! For your information I am the most beautiful thing in the universe!" Alex snorted.

"Yeah, you're a thing alright." Sunstreaker and Alex began bickering over who belonged to the superior race. Optimus stepped in before their fight could escalate.

"We should head to the medical bay so Jazz can debrief us." He looked at Alex. "We can see how Charlie is doing as well." Optimus held his hand out to Alex and she climbed on. Optimus and the others headed off to the med bay.

"Can I have a purple cast? I can get a sharpie and everyone can sign it, unless you guys press too hard and my leg breaks again. That would suck. Ow! Dammit Ratchet that hurt!"

"If you held still like I had told you to do it wouldn't have hurt. Now stop moving around before I sedate you."

"You should do it girl. The doc ain't kidding when he says he'll knock you out." Jazz stated from his position on one of the many transformer sized medical tables.

"I'll be good."

"Excellent." Ratchet set Charlie's leg and regarded her. "Do you have any other injuries you haven't informed me of?"

"No Ratchet, besides you would have caught them when you did your creepy invasive scan thingy." Jazz chuckled from across the room. Ratchet frowned.

'You should be careful Jazz I haven't repaired you yet." Now it was Charlie's turn to laugh. The door to the med bay opened and in walked Wheeljack.

"Heya Jack what's cooking?"

"Hello Jazz I understand you and Charlie were injured by Thundercracker, are you alright?"

"I will be as soon as the doc fixes me up. But I take it you're more concerned over how Charlie's doing?" Wheeljack shuffled nervously and tried laughing awkwardly. If autobots could blush he would have been scarlet red.

"Um…well I was concerned about you too Jazz."

"I bet and I'm sure whatever is in your hand is for me too."

"Um…"

"Go on man." He walked over to Charlie's bed and held out his hands, in them sat a box. Charlie regarded it cautiously.

"Gee Jack, you shouldn't have. Ummm, what is it?" Wheeljack looked proud of himself.

"It's something I've been making for awhile, I just finished it." Ratchet was also staring in concern at the box.

"Wheeljack, why don't you leave that on that table there, and Charlie can open it when I'm done healing her." Wheeljack beamed.

"Alright." It was then Optimus entered, carrying Alex, followed by Ironhide, Mirage, Sideswipe and Sunstreaker. Alex squirmed and Optimus set her down, and she ran in between Wheeljack's legs to Ratchet and Charlie.

"Did you fix her?" Ratchet was pointing an odd green beam at her leg, which was elevated above her. Ratchet paused.

"Not if I keep getting interrupt---"

"Hatchet!!" Two voices exclaimed in unison and Ratchet froze in horror. Oh Primus no they were here. Jazz wasn't lying. Ratchet turned around and took a defensive position.

"Whatever you two are thinking about don't you dare, or else I will dismantle you both for scrap."

"Aw Hatchet why do you have to be like that?"

"Maybe because the last time I saw you two you magnetized my tools to the ceiling." Charlie and Alex started giggling. These two were starting to sound really fun.

"See the femmes think it's funny."

"Charlie is heavily medicated and Alex is most likely going into shock."

"Hey!" Both the girls objected at the same time. Ratchet didn't pay any attention to them. He just kept on looking at the twins.

"Get out of my med bay now before I remove you myself."

"But Ratchet isn't it standard protocol to run a diagnostic on anyone whose been traveling in an exo-pod and have just entered a new planet?" Ratchet angrily sighed he knew they were right.

"I will run a diagnostic on you two after I have repaired Jazz and Charlie."

"Actually Ratchet I'm good. I just need some crutches and a sharpie so everyone can sign my cast." Ratchet shot her a look.

"Be quiet you don't know what state you're in." Jazz decided to get in the game as well.

"You know doc I'm feeling pretty good too. My automatic repair systems seem to be doing the trick."

"You will both stay here until I release you from the med bay."

"Well they both say they're stable so I guess you can give us a check up Hatchet."

"I agree Ratchet Charlie and Jazz seem to be doing very well. Why not take care of the twins right now?"

"You too Optimus?" Optimus just chuckled at his friend's obvious dismay. Ratchet looked like a puppy that had just been kicked, and he ushered Jazz off the medical table. Jazz stood and walked over to Optimus.

"Man, I don't know what Thundercracker was thinking man, but I can tell you he wasn't acting on no ones orders, it was way too disorganized. You know them seekers can get crazy on their own." Optimus nodded.

"I was wondering about that. But they will know our general location know, we must tighten security."

"Yeah, but I gotta say, that was a doozy, it's a miracle the femmes weren't killed man. I lost track of em' right away. This ain't gonna work if we're gonna protect them. I think they need someone with them all the time." Optimus regarded the two girls thoughtfully, who were looking at Jazz.

"You are right. They will need guardians like young Sam." He glanced over at Ratchet, who was hovering over his medical supplies defensively, and turned to look at the twins, who looked like they would pounce as soon as it was clear.

"Luckily I believe a solution is open to us." They all looked at him curiously as he bent down to Alex and Charlie's level.

"What Jazz says is true. Now that the seekers know we have taken on more charges you will now be in more danger. You both will need guardians to look after you." Charlie nodded.

"Yeah that makes sense. We were pretty much on our own, I don't think we did that bad though." Ratchet snorted but she ignored him. Optimus turned to Alex, who looked more apprehensive.

"So…what exactly would that entail?"

"Your guardian would be responsible for your safety at all times, watch over you, and escort you off base when you require it." Alex looked unsure, then nodded.

"Yeah I guess….." He rose back to his full height and regarded the twins. They were known trouble makers who loved to play around, this, at least would keep them busy and out of Ratchet's way, while ensuring the girls' were well looked after. He nodded to them.

"The two of you will serve here as Alex and Charlie's guardians." Sunstreaker immediately protested.

"We have to watch them???" He pointed at the girls in disgust. Alex curled her lip.

"I changed my mind, I'll chance going solo. The one with the gaudy paint job will be too busy staring at his ugly mug to take down any decepticons. He probably couldn't anyway."

"Excuse me fleshy." Alex winced at the name, that was one of the names Rumble called her. "I just single handedly took down one of the strongest decepticon seekers."

"You landed on him when you were in your pod thingy." Alex scoffed.

"And by doing so I saved your useless squishy self. You should be regarding me as a savoir, and my paint job is not gaudy!"

"Yes it is, and I don't consider arrogant yellow trash cans as saviors."

"Why you worthless, disgusting, inferior flesh creature, I ought to step on you!" Alex's eyes widened. She knew they were just the same as the decepticons. Optimus was about to reprimand Sunstreaker when someone else beat him to it.

"That's enough Sunstreaker. If you call her such names again I'll make sure to accidently shoot that smug grin off your face in the target range." Mirage had become visible behind Sunstreaker, who jumped and moved to the side. He looked murderous, and he wasn't the only one surprised. Mirage had never shown such concern for one of the humans before. He was quiet and regarded Sunstreaker with such malevolence that he stepped behind Sideswipe. He intimidated him and Sunstreaker suddenly feared for his life, if there was anyone who creeped him out among the autobots, it was Mirage.

"Why are you defending this flesh—" Sunstreaker found himself at the end of one of Mirage's guns. "Why are you defending this girl?"

"She has been through enough due to our war. And you will not be threatening her anymore, or referring to her in any derogatory manner, understand?" Charlie didn't know what to think. Two weeks ago Mirage was willing to sacrifice Alex's life in order to get a good shot at Soundwave and now he was defending her and making threats in order to keep her safe? Something must have happened when the two of them were alone.

As for Alex, she stood still as a statue and was looking between the both of them completely expression-less. Sunstreaker was now just as bad as the decepticons in her mind, but she couldn't for the life of her figure out why Mirage was defending her. She had barely spoken to him, and at the time he had been badly injured.

"You will both stand down immediately!" Optimus's voice rang out authoritatively, and both autobots froze. Mirage reluctantly put down his guns and Sunstreaker stepped back. Optimus glared at the two of them.

"You are to respect the humans Sunstreaker. Rest assured this infraction will not go unpunished. Mirage, control your temper. We do not draw weapons upon each other. You two will come with me." Sunstreaker looked slightly defeated and walked toward the door. He had never known Optimus to look so angry, and he had only just gotten to earth. He didn't understand the autobots treatment of the humans. What had they done to be so high up in their books? But he didn't have time to think about it, as Optimus led him to his control room, and he stepped in after his brother. He had a feeling he was in more trouble than he thought.

Back in the med bay Ratchet had cleared his throat and started talking to Charlie loudly about her injuries and Ironhide glared at the door the twins exited from. He knew there was going to be trouble when they got here. But Mirage had turned to Alex and was staring at her, and she stared back. She wasn't sure what to do, should she thank him? But she didn't have time to open her mouth before he turned and strode out of the room. She shook her head in confusion and turned to Charlie, who was standing up and trying to use her crutches, she was failing.

"Wait, I only need these for a week?"

"Yes, I will give you treatments everyday, and you should be fine by next week, the cast is just a precaution so that you do not re-injure yourself." Charlie gaped.

"Wow Ratchet, you really are a great doctor!"

"I have developed a light treatment that speeds up your natural healing process. It worked quite successfully on Alex, and your injuries are not near so severe."

"But it didn't even take me a week to heal." Ratchet shook his head.

"You were unconscious for a long time after you were brought back here, and your bodies healing processes are stronger when you sleep. It may not have seemed like long to you, but I was able to work on you while you were asleep and your body's natural healing processes were sped up greatly because of it." Alex just nodded. Charlie finally got the hang of her crutches and hobbled over to Alex.

"I'm starving let's go get lunch."

"Kay." The girls exited the med bay and when they turned the corner they heard an explosion.

"What was that?! Are we under attack?"

"Wheeljack made me a get well gift. It probably just exploded."

"How come he keeps on giving you things that explode?"

"I don't know, but I told Ratchet and know he's going on the defensive. I think he's tired of taking care of the random scorches and burns I get."

"Ah." The girls made it to their room and cooked lunch. Their shopping bags were in their room, and after putting their things away they came to a decision.

"Do you know what we need?"

"What?"

"We need weapons." Charlie hmmed and nodded her head in agreement,

"You're right I don't like those so called guardians of ours and I don't want to see someone I actually like get hurt again because they were trying to protect us."

"Exactly. Besides there is no way in hell I'm ever going anywhere near Sunstreaker again. Let's go see Wheeljack and see if he'll make us weapons." Charlie jumped up.

"NO! Um I mean we should go see Ironhide instead cause you know he's the weapon specialist. He could get us weapons that's what he does."

"You just don't want to lose another eyebrow."

"I can't keep drawing them on!"

"Alright let's go find Ironhide." They walked out of their room and started heading toward Ironhide's quarters when they heard voices coming from control room. They both frowned. The door was left open; they never left the door open. They peered around the door into the room and noticed that all the autobots except for Hound was in the room, as he was still patrolling. Jazz's voice was heard and they watched in shock as a picture of Alex in the passenger seat of Nelly popped up on the screen. Shadow obscured Charlie from view in the driver's seat.

"So that signal came from Blackfire? That's why Soundwave captured Alex, she's the only one shown with him in the image Laserbeak took."

"Yes, and we assume Charlie is in the driver's seat, though as you said, Soundwave did not see Charlie, which was why Alex was their primary target." Optimus folded his arms and stared contemplatively at the screen.

"So Soundwave has something against Blackfire, and thought that by capturing Alex, they would lure him out into the open." Optimus nodded.

"Yes, that seems to have been their plan." Wheeljack spoke up from the corner.

"Do they know?"

"No, I did not want them to worry unnecessarily. They are safe here and knowing will only cause them unrest." Alex and Charlie looked at each other. Charlie felt like a she had been stabbed in the stomach and now the autobots were twisting the knife. Nelly was a decepticon and the autobots were never going to tell them? She was the reason Alex had been put through that hell. And the autobots weren't going to let them know this!

"Why did you lie to us?" Charlie and Alex walked into the control room and the autobots looked down at them. Optimus lowered his hand so that the girls could climb on and he would better be able to talk to them. "Get your hand out of my face." Charlie kept her voice even, as she stared at the autobots, Alex was beside her standing still, not really looking at anything in the room. The autobots were looking at Optimus Prime, trying to figure out what to do next, they hadn't intended for the girls to find out about the real reason why they were there. "That's my car, the car I had for six years. I drove her to school every day, all my friends rode in her when we went to the mall. I had her for five years! You knew didn't you? This entire time you know what my car really was. You know I was starting to feel guilty I recognized the signs after I met you guys, but I didn't tell you. I guess we were all keeping secrets."

"Charlie I apologize."

"Charlie…"

"Save it I don't care. Did you feel guilty for lying to us? If you knew this entire time why didn't you stop Alex from being kidnapped? Why did you let me wallow in my guilt for weeks? Why did you lie? Why didn't you tell us what we had a right to know? I should have been the first person you told, not the last. I thought everything that happened was my fault, because I was divided, I didn't know where my loyalty lied. But, you knew this entire time, you could have saved me from my grief, saved Alex from all her suffering. Why didn't you? Why did you lie to us?"

The autobots didn't know what to say, Charlie was always the happiest and most upbeat of the two girls, they never stopped for a second to think about how she might react, or how she felt about the entire thing. They never would have guessed. She just always seemed so happy.

"WHAT ELSE HAVE YOU BEEN KEEPING FROM US?!"

"Your car is a decepticon named Blackfire. He is one of the most feared decepticons. He was assumed dead. We have recently learned that he has created a third faction of decepticons and is competing with Soundwave and Starscream for the leadership of the decepticons. Charlie laughed sarcastically.

"Oh so that's all huh." She was rubbing her forehead and looking for the life of her as if she couldn't believe what she was hearing. But Alex was the one worrying them. She was looking at the ground utterly defeated, and shook her head.

"I thought you guys were different but I guess I was wrong. You're worse than the decepticons. At least they never lied to me." And she turned and walked out of the room. Charlie stood and glared at them.

"You know, I've been trying to get her to trust you guys the entire time we've been here, but I guess I should've been listening to her. You guys can't be trusted. Especially with information you should have informed us of immediately." She shook her head. "Screw this." And she followed Alex out of the room. Jazz jumped to follow them, but Optimus shook his head.

"Let them be Jazz. They've been betrayed, and we may never be able to gain their trust again."

"But Prime!"

"They need to have some time to themselves Jazz. We can't rush them right now. I should have told them." Ratchet put his hand on Optimus's shoulder.

"You did what you thought was right Prime." Optimus just shook his head and looked at the door the girls exited.

"Yes, but I should've done what was right for them."