Author's Note: A review I got for the last chapter from a guest named Pat Macken had said they'd like to see some more changes to Riley like giving up eating human food, some more moments with Riley hanging around her family and reactions from her and the family about her changing into a Cybertronian. There was a little something about her needing Ratchet to teach her about Cybertronian anatomy and what they need to function. The giving up human food and a little bit of changing will be covered here, so this chapter is gonna be really long. Enjoy!

If you have questions about the story or ideas on how I can make this story even better, leave them in the comments. :)

Before I let you get on with the story, I have a poll with the top eleven names for what will become Riley's Autobot name, so be sure to vote! Also, be on the lookout for a second poll to follow the one for Riley's Autobot name to vote for the identity of her Decepticon arch enemy that will debut at a later time. You guys are awesomesauce! :D

Chapter Nine: Jetfire

Taking a seat on the sandy ground, I folded my arms across my legs and brought them to my chest, resting my chin on my knees. I let out a loud sigh and watched the sky above as it turned darker and darker as the night fell, making the sky pitch black like somebody spilled ink over it. Lightning streaked across the sky periodically as the incoming storm came ever closer to Diego Garcia, but I couldn't care less if it were going to rain or not.

"Riley, what are you doing out here? Were you not informed a storm is coming?"

Looking up to meet the gaze of my new companion, I sighed and turned my gaze out to the sea once again, replying, "I don't give a rat's ass if it's gonna rain, Optimus. I needed a place to think away from everybody. Plus Ironhide's out for my blood."

Optimus watched me carefully before activating his holoform and knelt beside me. "Come inside, Riley. You know Ironhide isn't going to harm you. Granted, he's a stubborn mech, but he just wants answers. Ironhide fancies you, you know. He simply wishes to know what it is that he's done to drive you away from him," he said, his holoform's unearthly blue eyes watching me intently, but I could see the questions burning behind them.

"I saw Ironhide with Chromia and watched them act like a couple. It's just... this isn't the first time I've been lured into wanting a man only for me to find out they're in a relationship, Prime. But... the affections he's shown and that passion for wanting me beside him and making sure nobody else can get near me felt real. I've always had to fend for myself... it's an alien feeling that I have somebody taking care of me that isn't my parents," I said finally, turning to look at the azure haired young man and his true body not twenty feet away still watching me.

The last thing I expected was a small smile tugging at his lips in understanding before climbing to his feet and helped me up. "Ironhide's relationship these days with Chromia is nothing more than comrades. He did have feelings for Chromia but those affections were not returned. But this isn't a story I should be telling you. This is something you need to hear from Ironhide himself. Come with me and let's sort this out between you and Ironhide. He needs to hear it from you."

XxXxX

Just seeing the large black mech was enough to make me freeze in my tracks, feeling uncertain of continuing on my path to where he stood with Ratchet against the wall opposite. I could sense he knew I was near and turned to look in my direction, the icy look he gave me sending chills to my very core.

"Come on, Riley. Best not put it off and let this misunderstanding fester into something worse than the current situation between you," Optimus urged, looking down to me where I stood a few yards behind him. "We must take care of this now. You're comrades and comrades cannot work well together if there is bad Energon between them."

I nodded slightly, keeping up my position behind him and followed the red and blue mech to where our target stood. It seemed Ironhide's gaze followed me no matter where I went even though he was facing Ratchet and continuing their conversation.

"Ironhide, Ratchet, I trust you both are having a pleasant evening?" Optimus started conversationally.

"We're doing fine. Ironhide was just telling me about Riley's first time on the weapons range."

That made my heart flutter in my chest that he was recounting that day with the medic. Just how much of that day is he telling Ratchet? I asked myself, drilling my gaze on a piece of Optimus' flame painted armor, trying in vain not to stare at the weapons specialist and think on the very recent memory of him sidling up next to me and wrapping his arms around me to guide me into the proper stance for using Cybertronian artillery. I hope he's not telling him that part!

"Ironhide, you and I need to have a conversation in private. It must be dealt with immediately." Typical Optimus: keeping it short, sweet, and to the point.

He didn't put up a fight as I thought he was going to, instead nodding curtly and headed to the door after Optimus. I trailed behind the two, feeling awkward and out of place among the titans I now know as my friends, listening to them as they talked in their native language as we walked to the room that serves as Optimus' office.

"What is it you needed to see me about, Optimus?" Ironhide's deep Southern accented voice sounded, making me jump as I had zoned out and inadvertently walked right into his leg. I blushed, feeling embarrassed, and mumbled a quick apology before I moved away from him to Optimus' desk and hid behind the leg. "Why is she here? I thought you said this was private."

Optimus regarded Ironhide calmly, reaching downward to gently scoop me up and deposit me on the desk in full view of the weapons specialist. "We are in private, Ironhide. This matter concerns both of you and it needs to be taken care of. All I ask of you is to remain silent and allow Riley to speak." Ironhide looked about ready to protest, but a meaningful look from Optimus kept him quiet before I found myself under their gazes.

"I... I... don't know what to do," I said quietly, feeling self-conscious under Ironhide's unwavering stare.

"It's alright, Riley. He needs to know," Optimus prodded gently.

Taking a breath, I shut my eyes and whispered the only thing I could come up with to sum up what I was feeling. A quick glance up at Ironhide showed he didn't hear me.

"Frag it! Speak up!" he shouted, his trademark short temper already flaring and in turn igniting my own temper and I turned to face the storm head on.

"You bother enough to care!"

The shout was enough to stun him as I jumped off Optimus' desk and onto the floor, the fall not bothering me a bit as I ran for the door and down the hall. Heavy footfalls could be heard behind me and I just knew it was Ironhide giving chase.

"Riley! Get back here!" he called after me, pleading me to stop.

"Go frag yourself, Ironhide!" I screamed back, leading him all the way outside and onto the beach some ways from the base. Quickly initiating my own partial transformation, I activated the tiny thrusters on my back and took off, just barely escaping Ironhide's hand as he tried to snatch me out of the air.

"Riley!"

I ignored his pleas to return, instead engaging my mask to protect my face from the wind and rain as I flew further form the base and higher and higher into the sky above. Choking back a sob, that familiar feeling of helplessness took over me wishing to get as far away from here as I could.

::Riley, it's Optimus. Where are you?::

::I need to get out of here! I only ever came because of him and he doesn't want me to be around!:: I cried, unable to keep the tears at bay. ::Just leave me alone. I'll come back when I'm ready.:: With that, I shut off the comlink and ignored the incoming transmission of the one I was fleeing.

::I know you're listening, Riley. Please talk to me.:: that familiar Southern accented baritone voice beseeched of me. ::At least answer my question: what did you mean by me bothering to care?::

::Loving a man shouldn't have to be this rough. You ain't the only one who feels like this world's left you far behind.:: I sang to myself, ::I don't know why you gotta be angry all the time.::

::What are you on about?::

As an answer, the chorus for 'Wasted' sounded over the connection, serving to only irritate him further.

::Riley, I don't understand! What are you trying to tell me?!::

I allowed myself a small smile as response and played the chorus of 'Every Rose Has It's Thorn'. With that, I cut off the connection with him, leaving the stubborn mech to figure it out.

XxXxX

"Riley? Riley! Argh! Why is she being so difficult?!" Ironhide shouted, feeling his ire reach the breaking point at his lack of answers.

Optimus wasn't fazed, by now used to the ranting and raving the mech has been doing since the platinum blonde left. "Is something on your mind? Perhaps I may be able to help sort it out."

"She didn't give me straight answers! Only song lyrics!" he snapped, feeling more and more irritated at being kept in the dark.

The other mech merely smiled, listening to each lyric played back from the recording Ironhide had made during his conversation. "Those are love songs, Ironhide. The first song pertains to leaving a damaging relationship. The next speaks of a love that was lost between her and another, seeing it was of no use to try and save it. Lastly, 'Every Rose Has Its Thorn' speaks of a failed love. Riley is uncertain of opening herself up to a potential new partner for fear of being harmed again as she was in the past."

Ironhide froze, recalling the way she would interact with him and how her demeanor changed when he drew near compared to when other mechs did the same. "I scared her off?"

"Make no mistake that she likes you, too. She simply feels suspicious of letting someone else in that would want to take care of her. Riley wants the world to see her as strong and independent of help, but she secretly wants a mech to be with her, to support her. Ironhide, all that can be done is give her some space and allow her to come to you. Rewards come to those who are patient and if Riley is what you want, it will require patience," Optimus said calmly, patting his friend on the shoulder. "Come, Ironhide. There's no use sitting here waiting for her. She won't come to us when she returns. Riley will more than likely turn to her family for support."

With nothing but to agree and follow Optimus put of the room, Ironhide, nodded shortly and trailed behind the larger mech as they traversed the hallways. "I don't understand. Why use song lyrics instead of saying what she wants to say outright?"

"That's easy. Riley uses music to express herself and talking about her love life does nothing but reopen old wounds," Isaiah's voice said, getting the duo to stop and acknowledge the arrival of the young man. "It's just another reason for the tough girl façade and the big ass truck she owns. Scares off some boys and it's a turn on for others that such a little girl like her can handle that much horsepower."

Without any warning, Ironhide grabbed the young human to hold him in his hand. "You're coming with me."

"Oh, God, we're in trouble!" Isaiah moaned, squeezing his eyes shut and shook his head. "There's two Ironhide's."

Ironhide scowled, examining the blonde carefully before continuing on his way, leaving Optimus behind.

XxXxX(on a nearby island...)XxXxX

Landing on the sandy beach, I retracted my mask and let out a scream in a combination of anger and sorrow, feeling as though the one person in my life I truly wanted didn't want me back and that he would never understand me. "It isn't fair!" I screamed, watching the dark sky as lightening lit up the clouds and thunder rumbled loudly and kicked at the ground to try and let off steam.

I spent the better part of an hour kicking at the sand and screaming in rage before I turned to take shelter among the trees growing further up the shore. Pressing my back to a sturdy palm, I wiped away the tears from my eyes and sat down in the patch of grass and watched the sea crash onto the shoreline.

"What is this? Another fleshling looking to be saved from an island again?"

I shouted, scrambling to my feet and looked around for the voice's source. "Who's there?!" I screamed, my heart now pounding in my chest in my franticness to gain visual of the apparent other person here with me. "Show yourself!" The ground shook and trees moved, pushed to the side to allow access to a very large and black form to get to me. Scrambling away from the tree I was leaning on to give the larger new arrival onto the beach room to come further out, I had to crane my neck all the way back to see the towering figure of the Transformer. The black of his armor made him impossible to see save the flash of lightening to give me a brief glimpse of him. But that wasn't why I'm currently trying to get away, my feet firmly planted in their place in the wet sand caught in the gaze of twin ruby colored optics looking right through me.

"Has 'Gilligan's Island' taught you humans nothing? You would surely think they'd learn not to wreck after that," the larger mech muttered, bending over to make a grab at me. The movement spurred me into action, letting out a scream of terror before activating the tiny thrusters jutting out of my back and took off, pushing myself to fly faster when the Decepticon shouted after me to return. A quick glance downward to the beach showed me the Decepticon in the middle of the transformation process before the sound of turbines whirring to life cut through the deafening sound of the rain and thunder.

"You're not gonna get me! You're not gonna get me! You're not gonna get me!" I muttered frantically to myself, screaming when the roar of dual engines roared over my head, leaving a trail of thick black smoke in his wake. We continued this game of cat and mouse the entire way back to Diego Garcia, me staying just out of the Decepticon's reach as he tried to knock me out of the sky as I tried to contact anybody on the island for help.

Just as I came in close enough to the ground, I switched off the thrusters and ran for the entrance to the base, opening a comlink with anybody to get help. ::Decepticon! He followed me back!:: I scouted frantically, jumping out of the way in time for an all too familiar black truck to go thundering past. Watching the truck tear apart and rearrange itself into Ironhide's true form made my heart thud hard against my ribcage as his cannons were drawn and aimed at the even larger mech as he landed on the tarmac a good distance away as even more Autobots soon poured from the base, guns drawn and at the ready for the imminent threat.

The Decepticon didn't even react, simply standing there and watched the Autobots surround him and sighed. Optimus' reaction was about the same as the unknown Transformer before calling off the others, explaining the Decepticon is in fact an Autobot after changing sides.

So here I am, staring the massive Cybertronian, now identified as Jetfire, down from across the room as I sized him up. In the light, he looks more like the Cybertronian equivalent of an old man and he more than likely is with the way the others are treating him. Heck, Bumblebee climbed into his lap and snuggled against him as Jetfire spoke with Optimus.

"Something on your mind?"

A glance upward identified my new companion as Wheeljack, the resident mad scientist as he's so affectionately termed by everybody. Blue optics locked onto my own eyes as he searched my face and sat down next to me. "I normally confide in Isaiah when I'm frustrated, but I can't find him anywhere. Tonight has not been my night at all and getting chased by Jetfire didn't help me in the slightest," I sighed, looking up to meet his gaze.

"Oh! I think I might know where he is. Haven't you noticed Ironhide isn't around, either?"

That alone made me grimace slightly. "I have to find Isaiah by tracking down Ironhide? That's just great."

XxXxX

Isaiah was at a loss. He had been picked up by his new companion earlier that evening only to be left for a while when an alert was sent out only to find it was a new team member. The blonde's companion returned shortly after, taking a seat at the Transformer sized desk to be at eye level with him.

"Can you explain to me again why you're going to attempt this? Why not go to Jazz and have him come up with stuff to communicate with Riley for you?"

Ironhide wouldn't be swayed. "You are her sibling, correct? You've known her longer than I have, so it would be a logical guess to say you know how she ticks."

"Well... that truck you guys brought along with us? That's Riley's truck. She's always had a thing for big trucks and the throaty growl of a Hemi engine. Then there's the guns. I guess it just makes her feel powerful knowing how to handle them," Isaiah shrugged, rubbing the back of his neck. "I know for a fact she likes you. She gets all jittery and blushes when she hears your voice or the sound of your engine. If you're gonna try and get her, be patient and use slow seduction. Riley digs that."

A smirk tugged at Ironhide's mouth plating and a sudden warmth swelled from the vicinity of his Spark chamber. "She likes me? That femme seems to like a lot of mechs."

Isaiah returned the smirk with a smile of his own and said, "That's just how she is: friendly, fun loving, and crazy with a touch of PMS and pent up homicidal rage if you get her riled up enough to get her to unleash her wrath on you. The kind of affections she hands out to everyone is different from the kind she feels for you but hasn't quite figured it out yet. Hell, even I can see it! Give her time and she'll come to you. She already talked about it to her girlfriends and I happened to overhear. Arcee is encouraging her to pursue you, but I guess she sees no challenge in you. The trick to get her is showing her a bit of affection and pull away, toy with her, even. If you treat it like you continually gain and lose interest, it will frustrate her and set her sights on you. She will do almost anything to get your attention and keep it, but don't go crazy if she doesn't immediately let you in. The beaus she was with in the past hurt her, so it's only fair for her to be a little timid about letting a new guy past her defenses. She's only ever been in three respective relationships but didn't last. The best breakup I participated in was when one of them cheated on her with two of her former friends. It actually got rowdy enough to have the cops called and a trip to see Dr. Glass."

Ironhide sat there, processing it all and unconsciously brought his cannons to bear. "I see. Where does the music come in?"

"Well, see, that's going to be a little tricky. Every song that's ever been written has a meaning to it. Picking the right song with the right meaning to it to convey feelings is something Riley's good at. If you play something like, say, 'Whistle' by FloRida, she would more than likely get offended and never talk to you again. She'd possibly even shoot you in the balls and cut your heart out," the blonde answered, shaking his head. "Be careful with her. There are songs with evident meaning to the song's intent to convey and there's songs that hide those meanings but when you try to look at the meaning you find it's the worst possible meaning to it ever."

"What about the ones she played over the comlink?"

"Breakup songs. Last time she broke up with someone, we got to listen to those songs along with 'Wide Awake' and other songs of that nature. She listens to stuff depending on her mood as you'll find out. Anger normally brings Bon Jovi, Imagine Dragons, Fall Out Boy, Black Veil Brides, Shinedown, Nickelback, and Van Halen. Happy stuff brings in Dirks Bentley, White Snake, Kenny Chesney, and more. Whenever she's in a mood and runs away to sit around doing nothing in her fortress of broodingtude, normally means 'In The Air Tonight' by Genesis on a loop."

"What would come about if she finally decides to take interest?"

Isaiah shrugged. "Man, that's been a while. Riles hasn't pulled out the love tracks for some time, so I guess we'll see when we get to that point, won't we?"

"'It Must Be Love', 'Cool Thing', 'I Want It That Way', 'Rhythm Of My Heart', 'You'll Be In My Heart', 'Honey Bee', 'Fearless', 'You're In My Heart' and many more. That's such a lie you don't know what tracks I play, I've caught you going through Chromium before."

XxXxX

I had just walked in at the tail end of their conversation. Music, apparently being the topic. The 'she' in question need not be named for me since Isaiah was spouting off artists and songs I listened to according to my mood. So I couldn't resist answering Ironhide's question about love songs.

The duo snapped to attention, their gazes falling on me the moment I answered. "What's the matter? Didn't thing you were going to get caught?" I smirked, walking further into the room. "If you don't mind, I need to steal my brother back."

The mech nodded and placed my sibling on the floor. Isaiah took that as his cue to leave and followed me out. We walked together in silence for a while before my big brother sighed and asked, "Okay, I'll bite. What's going on?"

I clucked my tongue a couple time, attempting to gather my thoughts before turning to face my brother. "You're a guy. Tell me if this has ever happened to you: you get a girl to think there's potential for a relationship, but she sees you talking to another girl and then thinks you're already in a relationship," I said, and Isaiah stopped, making a noise of understanding.

"I can tell you it's never happened to me before. You have a sixth sense about that so you would've found out the moment I started acting different," he said, pulling me toward the wall to get out of the way of other people walking up and down the hallway. "If this has to do with you and finding Ironhide talking to the motorcycle chick, he already told me. He wanted me to tell you it was a simple conversation about upgrades to their weapons systems. Now, since you're suspicious of any member of the opposite sex, except me and Dad 'cause we're family, I can see where you're coming from. You're still sore from Daniel even though we nipped that situation in the bud years ago. It's you don't wanna open up and get hurt like last time, but haven't you seen Ironhide has no intention of harming you? Give the guy a chance."

XxXxX

"Oi! You there! Human!"

I continued to sit there, ignoring the larger mech watching me from behind before heaving a sigh, knowing he wouldn't let up until he got a response. "You realize there's more than one human in the room. Be a little more specific."

Jetfire scowled, reaching down and took hold of me between his thumb and index finger and lifted me to his optic level. "You're the one with the Allspark in her chest, are you not?"

I nodded, squirming around in his grip to get comfortable. "What of it?"

The large mech took a seat on the Transformer sized couch and sat me on his lap, leveling me with his unrelenting gaze. "Allow me to help you. I know more about the thing in you than you do and that's a fact."

I shrugged, leaning back against the metal of his leg and winced, feeling something beneath my skin pinch me. "Fine. Teach me. I need to know what's happening and what is about to happen. Might as well listen to the one that knows a bit more than anybody else about the Allspark." Looking up to meet the former Decepticon's gaze, I let out a sigh and allowed him to begin speaking, hanging on to every word he said from stories about the times the Allspark was at large to the account of the battle in Egypt over the Matrix and a sun harvester hidden beneath one of the pyramids and him supposedly dying and being revived. Once he finished, I started my own account of what had happened from my family being in Mission City in 2007 during the battle for the Allspark and somehow being infused with it. I had went on to telling Jetfire bringing life to my iPod radio and DS to reviving a long lost Autobot unit during the times both factions were still in the shadows either hiding on Earth or elsewhere in space.

Before I knew it, it was well past midnight as I listened to Jetfire's stories as he carried me out of the base. I didn't say anything, simply allowing him to carry me down the shoreline of the island. Jetfire wandered down the shore until the base was out of sight and surrounded by nothing but trees.

I took my time looking around but there wasn't much to see, the only light being supplied by Jetfire's optics and the moon peering out from behind the clouds after the storm had ended. "What are we doing, Jetfire? Why are we out here?" I questioned him as the mech gently deposited me on the wet ground.

"Here we can go about practicing honing your abilities to control the Allspark," he explained, watching me intently before depositing something in my hands. "Prime told me you had a knack for overloading. This way you can write down everything until your little episodes are over."

I nodded, seeing it would be a good idea to carry a notebook and pencils around with me. "Okay. Where do we start?"

XxXxX(Ocean Heights)XxXxX

She stared.

The scene before her was unlike anything she could ever wrap her head around. The entire surrounding area was destroyed, large gaping holes in the ground and debris from the house and nearby trees littering the ground. More than half the house had caved in on itself, but the structure continued to stand. A vast majority of the area was burnt, but there was nobody that was found injured or dead the night it happened. It's like they all just disappeared in one night.

Sunny still couldn't believe what she was seeing close to a month after it had happened. She could still remember feeling the ground shaking, the sky lighting up as explosions rocked the earth and what sounded like screams coming from the vicinity of Riley's home. Those burning twin ruby lights she saw amidst the smoke and flaming remnants of her childhood friend's house would be something she'll remember seeing for the rest of her life.

"Sunny, what are you doing here?"

The young woman didn't turn around to regard the new arrival. "Just thinking, Darren. I'm trying to figure out what happened here," she sighed, slowly moving toward the entrance of the house.

"Don't go in there! The structure isn't safe," Darren said, coming to Sunny's side and took her arm. "I'm amazed the wind hasn't knocked it down already."

"Just the living room is cave in. The rest of the house should be fine," she said stubbornly, already walking through the doorway and made for the stairs a few feet away that would lead into the basement. She paused. "You know, I've seen Riley come out of the crawlspace before. What do you suppose she was doing in there?"

"I don't know, but we should leave. The house isn't safe, Sunny," Darren answered, coming down the stairs to meet her.

"Well, stay here, then. I'm going to find out why she wouldn't let me in there," she said, huffing slightly and reached for the door on the left, swinging it open with a creak. "You can come or stay, Darren." With that, she strode into the small room.

There wasn't much to take in, nothing but a few boxes and a coatrack to the left and a smaller entryway she had to duck to get into and keep her head down to still be able to stand. "Darren you got a flashlight with you?" she called over her shoulder, twisting around to watch the chocolate haired young man watching her.

"Yeah," he answered shortly, pulling a small flashlight from his pocket and tossed it.

Turning it on, Sunny directed the bean of light around the room, utterly dumbfounded at what she found. "Darren? You gotta see this."

XxXxX

"Keep yourself relaxed. Focus."

"I'm trying. It's hard to when you keep breaking my concentration," I said irritably, keeping myself in the position Jetfire guided me into with my legs lined up with my shoulders and my arms stretched outward and bent slightly as though I were carrying an imaginary box. Blue sparks danced in the air between my fingers and electricity ran through my body, leaving a tingling sensation in its wake, making me stiffen a little but tried to keep myself loosened up. "I feel like I almost have it. It's insane to think I have this much power pent up inside me," I said, biting back a moan as the surrounding area began glowing blue and little glyphs began racing through my field of vision. "Jetfire! Where's the sketchpad?"

Jetfire dropped the item in question on the ground in front of me, offering up a pencil for me to write with. The feeling I felt in that moment made me feel like I was going to die. I shook uncontrollably with the pencil gripped tightly in my fingers as I quickly wrote down every little glyph, Jetfire occasionally reaching over to turn the pages around or flip to a new page so I wouldn't run out of room. This continued for ten minutes until I stopped, falling sideways to rest my head on my arm in exhaustion.

The mech didn't berate me for lying there, instead picking up my sketchpad and looked over the glyphs. "Do you have any idea what you've written?"

Rolling onto my back to see Jetfire in the pale light of the sun just over the horizon, I let out a yawn. "I haven't the foggiest. That episode did me in. The base is about to start its day in the next thirty minutes or so. I'm ready to sleep," I replied, letting out another loud yawn.

"You've written out coordinates to planets our kind has visited before. Most of these planets are known only by the coordinates, but others such as Linthone, Quintessa, Velocitron and the Planet of Junk haven't been contacted in centuries. I'd explain more, but you look as though you'd rather me not talk at all. You and I will be getting back at your practice again soon. And I'd imagine not only are you tired from exerting your energy, but also the Cybertronian part of you as well. Come along."

Pushing myself to my feet, I winced at how stiff I felt after that episode and trudged my way back to the base after the mech. "Do you mind carrying me, Jets? I don't think I can walk the entire way."

XxXxX

Several hours later I was wandering the base again with Jetfire totting me around in his hand. The mech had brought me into the rec room and more specifically, a machine sitting in the far right corner on the other side of the room. I watched Jetfire mess with the machine as he filled what appears to be a glass cube with some pinkish flowing fluid and filled a second and decidedly human sized one before moving to the couch and sat down. Taking the offered cube from him, I held it above my head in curiosity, fascinated at the light filtering through it and set it down in my lap, tentatively swirling it around.

"Well?"

I jumped, almost spilling the suspicious glowing liquid all over myself and looked up to meet the questioning gazes of Jetfire and any other Autobots that paused in their activities to watch me. "Well what?"

"You're supposed to drink it, Riley," Ratchet said, coming to sit beside me with a cube of his own.

My gaze flicked between Ratchet, Jetfire, the others, and the glowing cube for a few moments before asking, "What is this?"

"Energon. It's the fuel that keeps us alive. You should start implementing this into your daily diet to keep up your strength. The fuel your protoform takes from your body will not be able to support it for much longer and needs Energon as sustenance," Ratchet explained.

I shrugged, lifting it to my lips and sipped it, wincing when it met my tongue. I forced myself not to spit it back out, swirling it around in my mouth before forcing myself to swallow, feeling the burning sensation travel down my throat. "It's... um... different," I choked out in between coughs.

Ratchet laughed. "The Energon may not agree with your human form, but it will agree with your protoform. If you cannot stomach it, I will supply you with a pump that will put it directly into your protoform's tank. I can assure you will feel better once you and your protoform are properly fueled," he said in amusement.

"When can you supply me with the pump, Doc?" I coughed, wiping at the tears welling in my eyes from the burning sensation.

"If you come with me, I can give it to you now."

"What did you say?"

Both our gazes snapped up to meet a very irate looking Ironhide staring down Ratchet. "Ironhide, if you keep that up you might blow a gasket," the medic said calmly. "If you only heard about me giving Riley a pump, I can assure you it's for medical purposes."

"You ain't giving her any kind of 'pump', you son of a glitch!" Ironhide roared, lunging for him but stopped when I stood up and said, "You think nothing of it when you're talking to Chromia about 'getting it done' and you flip out when Ratchet's going to give me a pump? Good to know you got your priorities straightened out, 'Hide. I need an actual pump— as in a machine— to put Energon in my protoform's system because I can't stomach the stuff. Sheesh. Ratchet, let's go."

Ironhide narrowed his optics. "I was talking about upgrading her weapons system!"

"Sure you were," I said, unconvinced, crawling into Ratchet's hand to let him take me to the Med Bay, taking pleasure in the frustrated groan that sounded behind us.

XxXxX

Lying back on the berth Ratchet had set me on, I waited for him to hook me into the machine. "Ratchet? Can I ask you something?"

"About what, Riley?" the medic asked, returning to the berth I occupied and began hooking me into the machine.

"Is there anything going on between Ironhide and... Chromia?" I asked, feeling rejected at even asking that question out loud.

Ratchet paused a moment before turning on the device plugged into me and replied, "Well, they did court each other for a while many years back, but it wasn't anything serious. It was more like what humans call a crush. Ironhide loved Chromia, but she didn't feel the same. Why are you asking?"

I wavered, suddenly feeling awkward about what we were now talking about. "Last night, I saw them talking and standing real close to each other like they were a couple. Do you know if they're back together?"

Ratchet shook his helm. "They went their separate ways centuries ago. I can assure you it was amicable."

Sighing, I laid back down and shut my eyes, trying to focus on the feel of Energon coursing through the tube connecting to my arm and, more specifically, into a small compartment in the crook of my elbow putting it directly into my protoform. "I guess that helps. The Energon is really doing the trick."

"Good. I will send you off with a smaller, more portable, machine for daily use. For you to remain in optimal physical condition as a Cybertronian, for now, you must consume one gallon of Energon, one in the morning and another gallon before you go to bed. For every foot you grow, tack on another gallon. This will only continue until you transform."

XxXxX

I hardly noticed the day was almost over until the sun started setting, the world now bathed in a golden hue, helping me calm my nerves. I had escaped Diego Garcia for the time being, roaming the island I found Jetfire on and moved further inland. The ground was covered in a good layer of grass and small flowers scattered across the ground.

"What are you doing here?"

I jumped, not expecting to be talked to. Turning around to meet my new companion, I looked up to meet Shock Burst, one of the few of the Autobots living out of the junkyard in Ocean Heights. "You startled me. What are you doing here?"

Shock Burst shrugged, leaning against a sturdy palm tree. "It's quiet out here so I can process the data I've gathered since you brought us back."

"I hear ya. It's nice out here now that I can see it and I'm not in a hurry running for my life from what I've found to be a senile old Decepticon-turned-Autobot," I said, idly curling my toes into the sand.

XxXxX(Ocean Heights)XxXxX

"What's wrong?"

Sunny shook her head in bewilderment. The room was covered in decidedly alien glyphs, painted on every available surface in different colored paints. The far wall featured two lone pieces of paper held there with tape. She moved closer to get a better look at the drawings to find the two papers were in fact multiple pieces of paper taped together to make one. Every detail on one page would spill over onto the pages above, below, and on either side of it, the meticulous layering of the pages making it almost impossible to tell where one piece of paper ended and another began. "She drew me and... whatever it was I saw that night. It's like she knew it was going to happen and expressed it in a picture," she said, amazement plain on her face as she took in the large image that took up most of the back wall.

The image was of her burning home and a monstrous towering figure with glowing red optics hidden amidst the smoke. A second image beside it featured the exact same figure but now completely free of the obscurity of the smoke in the first, displaying sharp angular points in the silver colored armor, hands ending in claws. One thing about the picture that really intrigued her was the markings engraved into the metal.

"Where have I seen those markings before?" Sunny mused, turning around to face Darren and frowned. "Riley painted them on the walls. The writing is literally on the walls and we have no idea what it means. Now what?"

Darren shrugged, still attempting to take it all in. "I don't know, but we need to get out of here. You'll never know when this place might decide to fall over. Let's go."

"One more thing," Sunny insisted, leaving the crawlspace and strode through the door on the crawlspace's immediate left and into Riley's old bedroom. "Help me find her sketchbooks. I think it will help decipher what she wrote on the walls," she said, finding a box full of her friend's art supplies and dumped them out onto the desk.

The brunette observed the young woman for a while before moving to help, briefly glancing through every book they saw to find sketches and placed them in the box, taking nearly an hour doing so.

"Riley sure has a lot of sketchbooks," Darren grunted, lifting the box and carrying it up the stairs and out of the house with Sunny close behind.

"She goes through these things like nobody's business. Every available bit of paper is covered," Sunny agreed, nodding her head. "We have work to do. I need to know what those glyphs mean."

XxXxX(on a small island near Diego Garcia...)XxXxX

There was silence between me and Shock Burst for a while before I sighed and leaned against his leg, taking comfort in the familiar presence of the massive Autobot. "Ratchet says I have a month until I transform."

Shock Burst tilted his helm downward to look at me. "Really? What does your family think of this news?"

I grimaced. "I haven't told them yet. I only found out yesterday, so I'm gonna head back and talk to them."

The mech nodded. "You should. It'll be easier for them to find it out from you instead of hearing it from an Autobot," he agreed.

"I guess I should do it now. Better do it sooner than later," I sighed, turning to leave the mech behind to round up my family.

XxXxX

Taking a seat on the couch in my family's private quarters, I heaved a deep breath and let it out slowly, wavering beneath the collective stares of my sibling and parents.

"Riley, it's okay. Whatever is going on, we'll get through this together," Mom said encouragingly, sitting down beside me and wrapped her arms around me.

Looking up to meet her gaze I asked, "You remember when Ratchet told you I was turning into one of them?"

My family nodded.

"The time it would've taken if I hadn't Sparked life into Chromium, Blare, and the others, it would've taken years for me to actually experience what I am now. And with all the overloads I've had and partial changes I've had... it accelerated the time it would take from years to the end of this month."

"When did you find this out?! Riley, you're supposed to tell us these things, not hide them!" Dad shouted, moving to get on his knees in front of me and took my hands in his and gave them a squeeze. I closed my eyes and sighed, leaning into Mom's side.

"Yesterday night. I wanted to be with you guys but Jetfire kidnapped me," I said quietly, feeling arms wind their way around me and pulled me close.

"Riley, the soldiers wanted to have us come and sign some paperwork regarding the Autobots and you. They're wanting to operate on you and get the Allspark shard out of your chest. Ratchet is telling them it's melted into the bone."

Looking up to meet my father's gaze, I asked, "So I'm guessing they're gonna back off about it, then?"

"They only back off because you have Optimus Prime himself backing you up. Plus he has an army that can easily level the island if they wanted to," Isaiah said, taking a seat beside me and brought me into a hug of his own.

XxXxX

Jazz and Bumblebee exchanged glances with each other in bewilderment.

The larger mech standing before them stared back, arms crossed over his chest in impatience. "You gonna help or not?"

"Um... since when were you into love songs, Ironhide?" Bumblebee asked finally, optics wide in amazement at the request he and Jazz were asked of only minutes before.

"I know, 'Bee. The new femme got to him," Jazz smirked, his visor shining brightly in mirth. "I kicked it with her iPod earlier today an' she tends to convey thoughts and feelings through music."

"You do that, too, Jazz," Bumblebee countered, shrugging. "But then again, so do I."

Ironhide narrowed his optics dangerously. "If you're not going to help, I'll just give her something and hope for the best," he threatened, already turning to leave when Bumblebee pounced on his back, shouting, "No! We'll help! Right, Jazz?"

The silver mech nodded. "Take a seat and let us do the work and you get the femme. You can thank us afterward."

XxXxX(twenty minutes later...)XxXxX

A soft knock on the door made us jump at the break in silence. We each exchanged glances with each other before Isaiah broke away from the group hug that's been going on for the past twenty minutes to answer the knocking that's become a steady rhythm on the door.

"Can I help you two?"

A second blonde, no older than Isaiah entered the room with the familiar darker skinned young man that is Jazz's holoform, asking, "Wanna go on a walk with us, Riley? It's a nice night out."

I frowned, trying to identify the newcomer, looking him up and down to take him in. "Bumblebee? Is that you? I didn't recognize you since last time I saw your holoform it was a child."

He shrugged. "I only manipulated it to be a child since I've come to find femmes are attracted to Sparklings and we really needed to get you to come closer so we could investigate," he answered, shrugging again and offered his hand.

"I think I'll give you guys a rain check for now. Maybe next time," I sighed, leaning into my father's side.

Jazz shook his head. "That ain't gonna fly tonight. It's important you come now."

I frowned. "What's so important I come on a walk with you now? Does Prowl or Optimus need me for something?" I asked.

Bumblebee and Jazz exchanged glances before Jazz answered with, "Prowl wanted to see you. Needs to ask a few questions to follow up on the report he's writing up for the mission in Ocean Heights."

Exchanging glances with my parents, I reluctantly pulled away from their embrace to follow the duo out of the room. "Where is he?"

"He's outside on the beach. Prowl does that when he meditates."

XxXxX

::Where are you two? I'm getting tired of sitting here.:: Ironhide grumbled over the comlink with the duo in charge of getting Riley.

::She's coming, Ironhide. Give her a few minutes to leave the base. Oh, our cover story was Prowl is needing to talk with her and he happens to be meditating on the beach.:: Bumblebee said cheerily. ::Feel free to thank us for this later.::

::Yeah, man. I'm amazed she didn't question it. Remember to be gentle and don't scare her. She's got a lot goin' on at the moment, if her body transforming into one of us wouldn't be enough stress to a human adolescent femme to go through.:: Jazz chimed in, chuckling. ::She should be near your position soon.::

::I see her now. Can't tell if she sees me yet.:: Ironhide rumbled.

::Be sure to give us the full workup on how it went later.:: Bumblebee snickered, cutting the connection before Ironhide could answer him.

XxXxX

Wandering down the shoreline in my attempts to find the tactician, I paused, not expecting to see what I did.

The big black truck was enough to keep me from moving any closer. But not as much as Ironhide's holoform standing there leaning against his passenger door with his arms crossed looking out over the sea. If I didn't know any better, I'd say he was waiting for me.

Author's Note: Okay, so what do you have to say about that? I had to leave it at this for a bit of fluffiness between Ironhide and Riley in the next chapter. :3

Be sure to leave reviews and vote for Riley's future Autobot name, people! :D