A/N: I apologize for the careless mistake in the last chapter. I fixed it so I hope it makes more sense. Here's the newest chapter! On I think people have been looking forward to.

I don't own anything.

The Ties that Bind
Chapter Nine: The Choices We Make

Sitting in the driver seat of a black Ferrari she was supposed to be pretending she was driving, but she just couldn't seem to stop staring out the window. Sideswipe had been kind enough in reminding her of this multiple times, but he gave up when she would responded with 'mm hmm's and soft 'yeah's. Peyton gnawed on her thumb nail as she recounted the past hours. To say her answer to Optimus' question was unexpected was a huge understatement.

Sam's mouth pretty much hit the floor with Glen's. Maggie, who still needed to put a filter on the 'mind-mouth thing' as Secretary Keller mentioned immediately demanded to know why, but Peyton stuttered over her words. She didn't want to say she was afraid, because frankly she was. Seeing death on a nearly weekly basis you'd think she'd be desensitized enough, but not yet. That and she just couldn't drop her career. Jeffery would never forgive her.

When it seemed that everyone was really starting to give her a hard time she was rescued by the bot whom she had denied. Stepping in, the Commander ordered everyone to back off, stating that Peyton had made her decision and there was nothing they could do about it. Peyton couldn't even look him in the eye, even when he offered to take her home. She decided that wouldn't be a good idea, mostly due to the fact that he was missing/stolen evidence and the entire state and maybe even beyond that would be looking for him, so Optimus ordered Sideswipe to take her home. Peyton went right around again and said a ride to the nearest airport would be fine. Las Vegas was a good distance from Los Angeles and she didn't want to inconvenience them anymore then she already had. He agreed and Sideswipe didn't give his boss a hard time. Glen offered to go as well, but a hidden look from his partner stopped him.

After getting her sprained fingers wrapped by Jason she climbed into Sideswipe and they drove away. So, there they were, cruising the streets towards the airport where Peyton would catch the first plane home. She had her gun and her phone returned to her, thankfully. She had said goodbye to them all, a bit awkwardly, expressing her thanks, as well as promising not to tell a soul about what she saw. Optimus' words still rung clear in her mind and it only made her feel worse.

"It was an honor to meet you Peyton," he had said, "Hopefully our paths will cross again under better circumstances."

Peyton sighed for probably the eleventh time.

"Would you stop that?" Sides asked irritably.

"Huh?" the blond responded.

"The sighing!" the radio answered, "I know it's a way you humans express emotion, but geez! Enough!"

Normally, Peyton would've just stopped. Normally, she would've listened. Normally, she was polite and courteous to other people. Normal, normal, normal, but things weren't so normal anymore. Normally, she wouldn't have reacted in the way she did.

"I can sigh if I damn well want!" she cried angrily, "You're a robot! Turn off your ears or something!"

"Excuse me," the bot retaliated, "But I believe I'm the one driving your fleshy butt to the airport so you can just abandon our boss!"

"I am not abandoning him!" she screeched, "I hardly know any of you well enough to abandon you! What do you expect me to do?"

"Give it a chance?" Sides proposed sarcastically.

"I don't have time! I have my job! I have my family! I just can't drop everything to go on a world saving adventure!"

Sides' irritation switched to anger as she seemed to speak of things she didn't fully understand. "Do you think that the others don't have jobs? Families?" Sides asked, "Sam and Mikaela aren't even out of high school! Lennox has an infant daughter! Glen has a cousin and a Grandma he takes care of! They didn't drop anything to help us!" His voice softened dangerously, "You're just scared."

Peyton's hand flew forward and twisted the volume dial down, but that didn't work at all, since she could hear Sides chuckling at her. She slouched in the driver's seat, arms crossed over her chest. She didn't like where this conversation was going.

"Didn't Optimus tell you guys to back off?" she asked snidely, "I made my decision."

"Maybe it's not the right one."

"So the right one is to join you guys?" she snapped again, "Why can't you see that I can't?"

"Because you have no legitimate excuse," he replied simply, "Oh, yeah, and being scared doesn't count."

This time her foot rose, kicking the radio harshly, but hardly enough to hurt him. If he could, Sides would've rolled his eyes at the human woman's explosiveness.

"I'm not afraid," she stated firmly.

Sides didn't respond to her. He detected her heart rate increase in her emotional state. She stayed quiet the rest of the drive, not even sighing. He pulled in front of the airport and stopped. The door popped open and he waited patiently for her to get out. She hesitated, but did so, slamming the door shut behind her harshly. Walking around the car she was stopped by a calm voice coming from the Ferrari.

"You know," he started, "Optimus has been really picky about choosing a human partner and he choose you. That's got to count for something. So, I'm gonna ask you again. Are you sure this is what you really want?"

Peyton hesitated again, cursing herself for even allowing the question to get to her. Her mind was telling her to walk through those sliding glass doors. To go home, get some left over pot roast, maybe some desert, and go back to work. Dead bodies and crime scenes were easier to deal with then this. Jeffery would be happy to see her, yell at her for being a brainless idiot and reckless, but she could already imagine the hug she would get from him as soon as he laid his warm eyes on her. She wanted the fatherly hug that made everything alright, but at the same time…

Her heart, while it missed her family, was beating so fast it felt like it was going to burst from her chest. The excitement of the past twelve hours was invigorating. She hadn't been that excited since she had solved her first quadruple as a rookie fresh out of college. Maybe she was passing up the opportunity of a life time. And besides, how much would it really interfere in her day to day life. She needed a new car, that was for sure, and while she couldn't drive a semi around for errands, he seemed like a really nice guy…robot…whatever. Not to mention she felt like she was letting him down.

As she stood on the curb, staring into the clear doors, watching blankly as people walked in and out with baggage she had no idea what to do.

"What do they know?"

"Nothing yet. But I'm pretty sure they'll have questions. They're in the interrogation room now."

"Sir, are you sure you want to do this? Once you tell them there's no going back. They could—"

"I know the risks and I know what must be done. Let's go."

John Keller stood up from his desk looking absolutely weary with dark circles under his eyes. Since the events concerning the NBEs and the crisis that accompanied their arrival the President designated him as the ambassador between the two species. This only packed on more stress for the older man. His wife was starting to get agitated that he was never around, but he couldn't tell her what exactly he was dealing with. His two daughters, both in college didn't call as much because he never had time to answer the phone when they did. In all honestly, he felt like he was starting to fall apart.

Only a small portion of the navy, the portion stationed at the Marianna Trench new about the NBEs. And then there were the human contacts the Autobots had established. Keller made sure to tell them again and again not to reveal themselves to any humans outside the circle of whom already new them. The last on he expected to do this was Optimus and as he stalked down the dim hall towards the interrogation room he mulled over choice words he'd say to the Autobot commander when he saw him. Not only did a outsider know of the NBEs, but he had no other choice but to tell the woman's co-workers and godfather too since no other explanation would suffice.

With two guards at each side, it wasn't long until he met up with Agent Simmons and Agent Banachek. Upon arriving the door was opened and they walked in. Jeffery and his team were sitting a steel table, lounging in different positions, having had to wait many hours to see any other humans in the dark room. The four immediately recognized Keller and straightened their posture, but not out of respect. If it weren't for the guards surrounding the older man with guns and years of special training Jeffery would've ordered a full frontal assault on the politician.

"I suppose you all want to know why you're here," Keller stated.

"Kinda," Kelly spat.

"What's going on?" Jeffery demanded, "What do you know about Peyton Callaghan that we don't."

Keller stared at the older man wrought with concern and desperation. "I assure you that your goddaughter is safe."

"How do you know?" he pressed.

Keller didn't respond, but nodded to Banachek, who carried a familiar silver briefcase in hand. Approaching the table he placed the case on the metal surface. Popping the locks he withdrew and manila envelope along with individual folders with names on them. Jeffery quickly read over as many names as he could such as Samuel Witwicky, Mikaela Banes, and even a Captain William Lennox. Each had their own individual file in clear plastic slip jackets. There were a total of seven.

Jeffery watched as the files were spread so they were able to see all the profile pictures. Jeffery had a keen eye for comparable things and the only similarities that he could see that were Witwicky and Banes went to the same school and Lennox and Sergeant Epps were on the same special Ops team. Jeffery's attention was drawn to the manila envelope that Banachek had yet to place on the table.

"Why do I get the feeling that what I really want to know is in that envelope?" Jeffery asked with a sarcastically friendly smile.

Keller sighed loudly from the door and came forward pulling out a chair at the head of the table and to Jeffery's right he sat, lacing his fingers on the desk. The lab supervisor watched the man reading the forlorn expression on is face. He started to fear the worse despite the fact that he said that Peyton was alright.

"What happened to my goddaughter?" he demanded softly.

"Mr. Ellis, almost twelve hours ago your goddaughter came into contact with what we call a NBE."

"NBE?" Grant asked.

"Non-Biological Extraterrestrial," Simmons answered from behind.

The team was speechless.

"What we have in this folder," Keller started again taking the folder from Banachek, "is going to be hard to believe, so I want you to understand that what we show you is held above "classified" and can not be breeched to the public."

"Why not?" Grant asked.
The three men looked at him which shut him up immediately.

"If this information is given to the public we will have a global pandemic on our hands of mass fear, hysteria, and religious uproar. Besides that, what I'm about to let you see will be hard to accept." He held out the folder.

Jeffery took the envelope when it was offered and pulled out a stack of photographs. The first two were shadows, outlined by light, only showing the exoskeleton of what looked like a large robot. Jeffery passed pictures to the right once finished, to Kelly. There were random pictures of other robots some even standing with the people who were in the files sitting on the table. The last photo made him stop and his hands shake.

This robot was the largest out of the six in the photo. It was blue and red with detailed custom flames. It was the semi they picked up at the murder scene of Hector Anderson.

"We have been notified that another has just landed, but we don't have him on file yet," Banachek explained.

"You mean, Peyton really was abducted by aliens?" Carter asked.

"Not really," Keller said, "Miss Callaghan may have gotten a little too close to discovering the truth about the NBEs and that may have lead to her disappearance, but I assure you that they won't hurt her."

"She was going to strip him," Kelly brought up, "She was gonna tear that truck apart! What if it—"

"Then that would explain why NBE-A-1 decided to take off," Simmons shrugged. While NBE already had its meaning either an 'A' or a 'D' was tacked on to represent whether or not it was an Autobot or Decepticon.

"Optimus," Keller corrected annoyingly, "He has a name Simmons. Get it right."

"Yes, sir."

"Optimus?" Jeffery asked hoarsely.

Keller sighed. "Optimus Prime. He's the leader of the Autobots or, to put it more simply, the good guys."

"Who are the bad ones?" Grant asked.

"The Decepticons and they've always outnumbered the Autobots."

"I can believe this," Carter whimpered dropping his head to the table, "T-This sounds like something from a…a lame cartoon show!"

"Why are they here?" Kelly asked.

Keller's weary gaze shifted over to the lab supervisor. "Simmons, get some coffee. We're going to be here for a while.

Jeffery was looking forward to it.

Vortex watched Shockwave leaning over a large metal table, sparks flying from the small object he was working on. Crossing his arms he walked over to the table staring down a small silver robot, the smallest of the Decepticons; Frenzy. Having been damaged severely by his own weapon, while trying to kill an American political head, Frenzy wasn't dropped into the ocean like his larger comrades. Scrambling to escape, he didn't get far before his body gave out on him and his spark started to fade. It was Barricade, who had typically been partnered with the twitchy bot that received the distress call and drove to the Hoover Dam to search for him. According to Shockwave, he barely made it.

"How's it coming?" Vortex demanded.

"Fine," was the swift reply.

Shockwave was one who did not like to be disturbed when working. Very thorough from recon missions and working in the lab he was an asset Vortex would never admit to. Hell, Vortex wouldn't admit that anyone in the faction was an asset.

The small body twitched as hot sparks few from his cranium. The damage to his processor was severe. In human terms, one could call him "brain dead", but that phrase only used lightly in their terms. While the human brain severed as a type of command center to tell what the rest of the body to do, a Cybertranian relied on their spark. Everything was tied to it and if the spark was intact then there was a very good chance that normalcy could be returned to the entire form.

"How long before he's online?" Vortex said again.

Shockwave shot him a dangerous look, but answer anyways, "Not too long now. The rebound of the disc severed his processor in half. It's quite and amazing feat that he even managed to get out of there before he went offline."

"Alright," he said, "What did you learn of that American base near the trench?"

Shockwave looked up from his work, turning his attention to the other. "The best of the best American pilots are stationed there, but it shouldn't be too difficult to eliminate any resistance. I do not believe they are expecting a premeditated attack. The Autobots seemed to have reassured them of that."

"Good. Notify me as soon as he's running."

"Yes, sir."

Vortex quickly left, leaving the scientist to his work. Stalking down the halls of the base he was supposed to meet with Barricade for any new information about the missing human woman involved with the Autobots. The occurrence was extremely amusing to him as he considered Optimus' carelessness. Heavy footsteps drew near, but he knew they weren't Barricades.

Sure enough the bulky form of Demolisher came around the corner. In a way, Demolisher was currently "grounded", forbidden from leaving the base since he seemed to do nothing but get himself into trouble. Red optics met and a wave of disgust passed between them. Demolisher was no more a fan of Vortex than he was of the other, but the plans of retrieving their fallen comrades from the Trench and the possibility of Megatron's revival kept him in line enough. Demolisher was a loyal puppy when it came to Megatron. The Decepticon would jump in an Earth volcano if Megatron ordered him to.

"What are you doing?" Vortex demanded.

Demolisher, trying to show that he wasn't intimidated, which he was, stuck out his chest and tried to make himself taller. "I don't have to keep answerin' to you for long, so get used to it."

Vortex didn't know whether to grin at the other's stupidity or in simple amusement. Getting closer he watched as Demolisher visibly shrunk in apprehension.

"Yes, but for now you do," Vortex said, "Don't test me, Demolisher. I already think you'd be more useful as spare parts. Megatron isn't here and while I'm in charge you best watch your step."

That shut him.

Walking around him, he continued his search for the police cruiser. When he was out of sight Demolisher would've released a heavy breath that he would've been holding if he could breathe. Vortex creeped him out that was for sure, but who cares. If all went according to plan he would no longer be in power and the true Decepticon leader would be back to lead them in the defeat of the Autobots and the extinction of the human race.

Dust lifted in heavy clouds behind Sides as he raced from the road up the hill towards the crowd gathered at the hill. Sunny rolled at his optics at his twin's enthusiasm when there was no need for it. Optimus stood in the distance staring into the rising sun, hands clasped behind his back, in the stance of a hard soldier.

"That was quick," Sam pointed out, "She get on her plane okay?"

Peyton climbed out of the Ferrari.

The teen blinked dumbly. "Oh."

She smiled at the group and stepped away from Sides to allow him to transform, before sending a grateful look his way. "Thanks a lot," she said.

"No, problem," he responded, "Couldn't let you make the wrong decision."

She nodded and sprinted towards the largest Autobot.

"She changed her mind," Ratchet mused in slight amazement.

"What'd you say to her Sides?" Mikaela asked.

The bot grinned and shrugged casually. "Nothing much. Just gave her a little something to think about."

"That's surprising," Sunny put in, calmly snide, "You hardly do that yourself."

Peyton reached Optimus quickly and stood beside him. He looked down at her, his optics wide in surprise if only briefly. Peyton sighed loudly and shifted her gaze towards the sky.

"I did some thinking," she started, "I've only been working for Jeffery for about two years, but I think it's about time I took a vacation. Everyone else seems to think so," she looked back to him with a small grin, "So do you mind if I stick around for a while? I've never really seen LA before."

Optimus returned the smile. "Not at all."

How was that? The last chapter was a necessary evil for this stroy to work. I love Kale as a character mostly due to who he's based off of, but it was kinda of hard without the Autobots. Anyways, I hope this turned out alright. The Decepticon mission should be clear now and yay! Peyton's sticking around! Didn't see that coming...Haha!

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