Chapter 10: Hide and Seeker

Waving goodbye to Spike and Sparkplug, Mabel set on home from the Ark. The chauffer had a duty to do with her mother, so Mabel decided that a walk to the main road and a cab ride would have to do. No Autobot could lend his free time: A code red security alert was set up not long before her departure and the Autobots had to be stationed and on guard.

Striding confidently on the sandy ground, the Asian looked to the sunset, thinking about what could be done at the Ark tomorrow after school. There's running with the Dinobots and Spike on that maintenance test Ratchet and Wheeljack had to make. There was watching Prowl sort the myriad of data-pads that he received today. There was taking a drive with Hound and (amazingly) Huffer to look at clouds (That was Huffer's idea).

There was watching Optimus Prime on his rounds, running after Sunstreaker and Sideswipe, chit-chatting with Ironhide or having a game with the Mini-bots –

"Let's rest here. It'll be a while before our mighty leader Megatron needs us back at base."

Megatron?

Optimus Prime had warned of those who spoke of that name in that manner.

One rascal of a Decepticon called Starscream.

And he sounded dangerously close.

She had stopped at the edge of a rather large boulder and was quite a distance away from the Ark and its safety.

Nervously, she peered around it.

There, in the light of the sunset and more than a stone's throw away, were three large metallic bodies with wings, with semicircular ornaments built upon their torsos and angular heads pointed thankfully away from her.

Seekers.

"I dunno, Starscream. He seemed hopping mad when we - "

"That failure was none of my doing!"

"Ya don't need to tell us that. Tell Megatron that."

The one who yelled, presumably Starscream, turned to the one who last spoke.

"Shut up, Skywarp."

"Whaddabout me?"

"You too, Thundercracker!"

After the snide remark that certainly echoed across the desert, Mabel retreated back behind the boulder.

It was definitely not safe to walk for the taxi. It was not safe to walk back to the Ark either.

So, she would have to wait. The Seekers had to go back, so as the histrionic Starscream had mentioned.

But, how did it come to this?

The Ark sensors should have sensed and located those Seekers. There were quite close to the Autobot's fortress. Were they not scared of being possible captives of war?

Maybe it did.

The Autobots will come down soon, shoo the Seekers off and help escort Mabel to the main road and home.

Yeah, that should occur.

Now all she had to do was to sit and wait patiently – and hope that the Seekers would not find her.

"What was that?"

Mabel held her breath.

Uh oh.

Thundercracker spoke up in a tone of confusion, "What what?"

"I heard something, that way," the nasal voice of Starscream rose.

"Really? I heard nothing." That was Skywarp.

"I assure you, I heard something over there!"

"I don't know… you could be imagining things."

"If I kept imagining, I would've been dead long before we came here! There's something over there and I'm going to check it out."

"If you want to be Autobot prey, go right ahead. You know we're close to their base, right?"

"I set up a jamming field as we landed, TC, so it shouldn't be a problem."

"Whatever, whatever."

The sound of shifting sand was heard, and silence followed.

Mabel felt her throat tighten.

Oh slag.

Maybe now it's a good time to move.

As quietly as she could, she slipped her school bag off her shoulder and let it rest in the shadow of the boulder. Thank goodness the sun was on the opposite side of the desert right now.

Picking herself up, she moved her foot, a step at a time, to the left side of the boulder and peered out for a shadow of a looming enemy that should be coming her way.

Any minute now.

The crunches grew louder, and louder still as she waited with baited breath.

'Optimus, where are you?'

The crunches kept coming, along with some cursing that was muffled by the grating sand.

'Guys? Autobots?'

The crunching ceased, leaving a still silence that seized Mabel with fear.

'Anyone?'

No shadow came before her. She waited and watched, but no silhouette of a tall figure showed itself on the ground before her.

What she did discover, however, was the shadow that towered over her and the cold hard object that prodded her back.

"Gotcha."

A scream ripped the silence.

"Figure she'll come back any time, Dad?"

Sparkplug laughed, and patted his son on the back.

"Son, you gotta understand girls at times. They are touchy creatures. Why, when Mabel discovered that she had screamed into Hound's audios during that drill, she must've felt so bad she may not come back for a week, maybe more.

But she'll be back soon – with some flowers for Hound. I'm sure of it."

A/N: One shouldn't rely on her OC too much. Hopefully this is the last of my OC for a good while. I'll try and focus on other human characters.