Hello readers! Thanks for the reviews/alerts/faves as always. Okay, this chapter was an odd one to write. There might be some Blitzwing OOC-ness but hopefully it's not awful. It's also a little boring but hey that's plot development. Please enjoy the update!

Transcendental Mysteries

Chapter 10 Second Chances

"Vell, it looks like I got jou home vithout asking jou for directions," Hothead stated proudly.

"That's because you decided to hold my driver's license after you spooked me in the park," Cynthia reminded, "you great big stalker."

After Blitzwing had exited the lair, he assumed his aerial vehicle mode and flew Cynthia over to where her apartment complex was. The flight to her home was silent and a bit awkward and neither wanted to say much of anything. Cyndi was dwelling on the odd conversation she heard between Starscream and Blitzwing. The triple changer, on the other hand, was thinking about anything as long as it didn't pertain to the content of the conversation he had with the air commander.

About half a mile away from her home, he landed in the woods and decided to walk alongside her in his holoform. At first, she felt uncomfortable walking with this particular disguise of his mainly because of the bad memories she made with him while he was in that form. Now, she was relieved she had him as her company since it was almost three in the morning. Cynthia didn't doubt that there might possibly be some miscreants hanging out in these dark and snowy woods such as criminals or other malcontents of society. If someone decided to jump her, she hoped he'd at least give them a bloody nose like the bimbo at the mall. Perhaps his mere presence would discourage any troublemakers from harming her too since he looked like a tall strong man.

The two stood out in the outer fringes of the complex's parking lot. To Cyndi's slight joy, there were no cop cars present. She wasn't too keen on having a dramatic welcoming anyhow. She looked at her bedroom window, recalling when Mandy saw the man Cynthia assumed to be a disguised Blitzwing.

"Please tell me the truth," she said, facing him.

"Ze truth about vhat?" Blitzwing asked.

"Were you standing here in the parking lot? Did you scare my sister?"

"No," Icy answered, "zis is actually my first time being here on ze complex's premises. I vasn't ze man she saw. Neizher did I get ze note jou said jou zhrew out."

"Are you being completely honest?"

He nodded his head. Cynthia actually felt a little anxious at this. Now she had another problem to worry about and it wasn't Blitzwing.

"Okay, then," she said. "Listen, I want to thank you again. You saved me three times now and I'll say that's pretty damn impressive. I, uh… Don't mean to ruin your image or offend you since you're a Decepticon but I expected much harsher treatment."

"I have bigger zhings to fry," said Hothead. "Vhy kill jou vhen I could crush an Autobot's helm? Like I said earlier, killing Autobots are a lot more fun!"

"Of course, I'm not asking to be murdered… Forget it, it's no big deal."

"Jou're velcome, Cyndi!" Random exclaimed. "Jou're my favorite organic! Maybe I can be jour guardian since I'm saving jou a lot!"

"Oh, that'd be a sight…"

"And I must zhank jou for jour cooperation," said Icy. "Jou remained calm vhen Starscream confronted me and he suspected nozhing…" He frowned a little. "Vell, he did, but ve managed to get avay easily. I von't keep jou any longer, Cynzhia. Jour family members are concerned for jou. I must return to my base so I don't raise any more brow plates."

"I understand completely. Thanks for everything. I promise I won't tell anyone about this."

"I appreciate jour confidentiality. I vill reciprocate and do ze same." He smirked at her. "Farevell, Ms. Preston. If ve should ever meet again, I vill avoid crushing jou."

"Sounds like a done deal. Farewell."

Before she could walk over to the stairwell, he abruptly turned on his heels and Blitzwing began to walk away from her. Cynthia turned her head, watching him disappear into the dark snowy woods where they emerged from. For some reason, she was half tempted to call his name out and stop him. There was a part of her that truly wanted to repay him for his mercy. Yet she was all too aware of the ferocity and callousness she knew he could very well wield at any moment he deemed necessary. It was so strange and unexplainable to her though…

Since he had saved her those three times and had conversed with him during their encounters, she no longer felt threatened by him so much. Cyndi knew this was potentially deadly thinking but it was what she felt. To her greatest confusion, she found herself developing a respect for him that felt vaguely like a gesture friends would extend to one another. To her, Blitzwing wasn't a threat to her and thus, he didn't actually seem so bad as an individual. Yes, he was terribly unstable but on the more positive side, Cynthia believed he'd be a complete sweetheart if he wasn't a Decepticon. Not only that, he didn't kill her although she didn't doubt he was compelled to do so a few times earlier on.

He was walking farther away now. Once he'd get far enough, he'd dissolve his holoform. She had one more thing to say. She wasn't ready for him to leave just yet.

"Wait!" she yelled.

Cynthia ran over to him. Blitzwing stopped and turned around to face her. Judging by his expression, she could see he wasn't expecting her to ask him to stop. He didn't seem annoyed or angered. If anything, he seemed curious.

"I think we ought to start over on better terms," she explained, not knowing exactly how to put things. "Our previous conversations have not necessarily been friendly. Now that I have spent some time with you and have gotten to know you a little more, I want to give you another chance…"

"Are jou saying ve should become friends?" Icy asked, raising a brow.

"Um…" She was starting to blush excessively. "Yes. I mean, only if-if you think it's necessary… I get it if you don't."

He laughed out loud. Cynthia felt like the fool of the hour.

"Ah, ze little organic femme vishes to make up and by my friend!" Hothead mused. "Zat's hysterical!"

"Yeah, I see this is really awkward," she said lowly. "I guess I'll see you around whenever."

Now it was Cynthia's turn to walk away from him. Her face felt like it was redder than before. She felt so embarrassed, she felt like she was becoming physically ill.

"Now jou vait for me!" Random said.

He jogged over to her to intercept her. The seemingly real Human male grabbed Cyndi's wrist. As if they were both dancing on a ballroom floor, he spun around and gently pulled her to him. His arms came around her and held Cynthia against him.

She began to panic. He told her this was a holoform yet she could feel a very solid man holding her. Then she remembered Blitzwing said he could give it some mass to make it more realistic but it was still startling. He felt very cold and he smelt faintly of steel and oil.

"Woah, what's up with this?" she said. "Please, let me go!"

"I vant jou to vait for me now," Random smiled.

"Well, I'm here, trapped in your arms."

Suddenly, he let her go. Cynthia assumed a swap of personalities was to blame for this. She took a few steps back to feel less invaded. She brushed a piece of hair out of her eyes. The holoform gazed on her with solemnity.

"I'm sorry, I cannot control ze ozher two at times," Icy apologized. "But vhat jou are saying is true?"

"Forget it," she said, wanting to abandon her original plan due to the embarrassment. "Let's forget what I said. I think I had enough…"

"I accept jour proposal."

"Wha..? What?"

"I vould be interested in zat, Cynzhia."

"But it's a secret between ze two of us and no one else!" Hothead said sternly. "Don't tell anyone!"

"Really?" Cynthia was so relieved. "Great! I don't want to sound corny…"

"It's not every day a Human vants to be my friend," Random giggled. "All of zem run avay and scream! Besides, jou're a femme!" Some of his giddiness died. "All ze Cybertronian ladies zhink I'm annoying…"

"It's not every day a Human vants to befriend me," Icy explained. "If anozher organic asked me ze same question jou did, I'd laugh at him and valk avay. But I can see jou vish to make matters better between us. I must confess jou hold my interest and once jou aren't screaming and zhreatening me, jou're a fairly decent individual, Cynzhia."

"Thanks." She rubbed the back of her head. "I guess that's a good compliment."

"Jou better appreciate it because I don't like complimenting people," Hothead grumbled. "But I vonder if it really is vorth it to have jou as a…" He seemed to hesitate with the word on the tip of his glossa. "Friend…"

"Don't listen to him!" Random pushed the aggressive persona aside. "I'm very happy!"

"I'll seal my lips about this," Cyndi swore. "It'll be between you and me and no one else."

"Very good." Icy sounded satiated. "Ve vill discuss more later if jou don't mind, Cynzhia."

"But when will we meet again? We have to be smart about being friends, right?"

"Let me figure out how to do zat. Jou may go about vith jour business, Cynzhia. Remember, I know vhere jou live so I can see jou vhenever I vant."

"My sister and brother may not be very receptive to you because you're a complete stranger to them. But as long as you maintain that holoform and not show up as a robot at my door, I think we can fool them."

"I'm not zat reckless!" Hothead spat. "Don't take me for a fool!"

"I never said anything about you being stupid."

He folded his arms.

"Fine zhen," he said, turning his head away from hers. "I can't believe I'm actually allowing zis."

He walked away from her at last, muttering beneath his nonexistent breath. Cynthia watched him widen the gap between the two of them, a little confused by his mannerisms. She then reminded herself that this was Blitzwing she was dealing with after all. For Pete's sake, he had three personas in one head!

Shrugging it all off, Cyndi walked over to the stairwell at last. She climbed the concrete steps, wondering just what had happened in her absence. Without a doubt, she was certain Amanda and Darien had called the police regarding her disappearance. In all actuality, she was half expecting a police car to be in the parking lot to watch after the two of them in while the authorities were looking for her.

When she made it to the top of the stairwell, a revelation came over her. Cynthia slapped her hand against her forehead. She groaned out loud, disbelieving what was going on.

"Aww, shit!" she thought. "I have to think up of a good story to explain where I've been for twenty four hours without mentioning Blitzwing! They'll never stop hounding me about what happened and I really can't find another explanation for what happened. I can tell some lies and some truths… I just hope he doesn't find out I had to break our pact." She shook her head. "He'll kill me, I know it! But what more can I do? I can't lie to my siblings." Another realization struck her. "I have to tell them our car got eaten too! This can't get any worse!"

The young woman silently walked over to a door. On that door was her apartment number: thirty three. Cyndi slid her fingers into her pocket and pulled out her keys. She stuck them into the lock. A click sounded a second later and she turned the knob.

"Guys," she said softly.

She pushed the door open further. The whole apartment was in darkness. However, the only sign of life was in the form of the TV that was on. Before she could even fully enter the living room, she could hear the TV. According to what she heard, it was a late night infomercial or paid program of some kind.

"Are you sick of all that annoying, nasty and unsightly flab? Is your muffin top embarrassing? Did you wish you had that sexy, itsy-bitsy bikini body? Do you miss that little black dress? Well, fuss no longer, ladies! You can have that nice, slim, tight body!"

Cyndi rolled her eyes. B.M.I. came to her mind immediately.

"I hate that metal man," she growled.

Quietly, she entered the living room. Immediately, she saw Darien and Amanda sprawled across the loveseat. They were leaning against each other, lost in sleep. There was a quilt spread over them and it seemed as if they were sharing it prosperously (too bad it couldn't be reproduced while they were awake).

"Mandy," Cynthia spoke, "Darien. I'm here!"

The sixteen year old boy stirred upon hearing her voice. Mandy on the other hand appeared to be almost dead. Darien's pale green eyes opened up laboriously. He appeared to be suffering from sleep deprivation.

"Cynthia..?" he said weakly. As this reality registered in his groggy mind, he became miraculously alert. "My God, Cynthia!"

Before she knew it, Darien leapt out of his seat. He threw his arms around his eldest sister, holding her in a crushing embrace. Cynthia felt immobilized like a rodent in a boa's coils.

"Big Sis, you're alive!" he wept tears of joy and celebration. "It's you! You're here!" He hugged her as if she was a giant teddy bear. "I thought we lost you forever!"

Amanda groaned as if she was a reanimated corpse on the hunt for brains. She wasn't happy to hear her little brother whooping in glee. At the moment, she wasn't aware of what was transpiring exactly.

"Go back to bed," she ordered. "We were up all last night calling Cyndi… When we get some rest, we can continue looking for her."

"Mandy, Cyndi's alive and here!" the boy rejoiced. "Wake up! She's here! I'm hugging her!"

Just like Darien's case, Amanda suddenly seemed to be filled with vigor. She rubbed her eyes, disbelieving her sister was in the living room. She wrapped her arms around Cynthia too, crushing her even more.

"You are so friggin lucky!" Mandy said. "I love you! But I demand to know who gave you roofies!"

"Roofies?" Cyndi gasped, the air being squeezed out of her. "I wasn't drugged!"

"Then you have some explaining to do! We thought you were a goner! I was half expecting to see a news flash about a hobo finding your body in the river!"

"I'll explain if you let me go and stop compressing the life out of me!"

In unison, the younger folk released their grip on their substitute mother. Cynthia took a few deep breaths, relishing this fresh intake of air.

"Where have you been?" Amanda angrily demanded. "You scared and worried us so badly, Cynthia!"

"We called the police at around one, a few hours after you left," Darien explained. "They were looking all around the city and in Detroits' outskirts. A few hours ago, the cops found a ditch with a few car parts, shattered glass and a license plate in it. The license plate belonged to our car. But no car was there… And you weren't there either."

"Did you call Mom and Dad at all?" Cynthia asked.

"No, we didn't want to call them and have them freakout. We wanted to try to handle it on our own and not have them worry. They'd kill us anyway if they found out you disappeared and we let you drive out in the night."

"Not only that," Amanda cut in, "there was a giant footprint found by the ditch where you crashed into. There were no Autobots hanging out twenty miles outside of Detroit on January 7th. So, I put one and one together and concluded a Decepticon was out there."

"You're out of your mind," Cynthia stated. "Look, I'm alive!"

"Where's the car, Cyndi? Did it eat the car?"

"No…" Cynthia gave up. She was in no mood to weave an intricate web of white lies. "Who the Hell am I kidding? Yes, he ate the car."

"'He'?" Darien inquired. "There're four of them."

"Look, I'm alive and the car is in a Decepticon's stomach. I'm alive! That's all that matters right?"

"You will tell us what happened!" Mandy demanded. "You will tell the truth! We are your siblings! We love you and care for you! You always want to know what's going on in our lives but you always push us out of yours!"

"We won't tell anyone else," Darien swore. "It'll be between us. If that's the case, we gotta tell a real good lie to the cops to close the case."

"I swerved off the road and went unconscious," Cynthia said slowly. She still wanted to lie a little just to keep them in the dark about the real truth. "The roads were icy and I lost control."

"Okay, continue," Amanda said with her arms folded across her chest.

"Before I go on, you two better listen up and listen up good. What I'm going to tell you is strictly between us and no one else. If you tell a soul about what I'm going to say, I will smother you in your sleep. Got it?" Both the girl and boy nodded in understanding. "Good. Here's what happened in a nutshell: I got saved by a Decepticon, taken to a base where I woke up at and got dropped off."

"Are you sure you don't have roofie residue in you?" Darien asked.

"No, I do not! Don't even say stuff like that! I'm telling the truth and I'm pretty sure I'm not high or delusional in any way, shape or form! I asked myself whether I was or not a few times but I see I'm sane for the most part."

"I believe it," Mandy said shortly. "I believe it because of the footprint the cops found. Which one took you and the car?"

"Blitzwing…" She was almost expecting him to magically manifest in the living room and murder her for uncovering their secret. "He was the one that decided to eat the car too."

"Blitzwing? Blitzwing…" The blonde Preston mulled over that name, trying to remember which 'Con he was exactly. Her eyes widened a few moments later, realizing who exactly it was. "Holy crap! The one with the three faces!"

"Him?" Darien said. "Mandy, Cyndi ran into him almost two days ago in the city, remember? She was by his foot!"

"So let me get this straight: he took you out of the ditch, took you to his home and then brought you back here?"

"Technically, yeah," Cyndi confessed.

"How is that possible?" the boy pondered. "He's a Decepticon! Aren't they supposed to kill squishy little organics like us?"

"Apparently, yes, but I'm exempt for some reason."

"This is really, really confusing," Amanda mumbled. "I have more questions than answers!"

"Then how about I stop this narrative before it can conglomerate into an even bigger mass of bewilderment?"

"No! I never told you to stop! How'd you escape the Decepticon lair?"

"I made a deal with Blitzwing when I regained consciousness. We earned each other's trust and I made it out of that cradle of filth without being seen by any of his friends. He flew me over here and… Well, here I am."

"This is weird," said Darien as he ground his jaw. "Cyndi, how are you alive? That's what I want to know. Those Decepticons are bad news."

Cynthia wasn't too keen on revealing more than what she felt was required to her brother and sister. She really didn't feel like explaining more about her past experiences with the triple changer either.

"I don't know, I guess I'm lucky," she lied.

"I said, don't lie!" Amanda barked. "Decepticons just don't save people for no reason and then let them chill in their base and take them home."

"For the love of God, get the Hell off my case! Blitzwing's crazier than a lemming! Maybe he couldn't decide what he wanted to do because he doesn't get a chance to get up and personal to an organic! Why are you asking me all this? If you want answers, why don't you swerve off a road and hope he comes by and whisks you away? Oh, yeah that's right, I forgot! We don't have a car anymore! I have to buy a new one with the tuition money Mom and Dad sent to me!"

"Mandy, don't press matters more," Darien urged. "Cyndi's home. She looks alright. She says she's okay, so drop it. I don't want any fighting. I'm just happy she's alive."

Amanda gave Cynthia a calculating stare. The youngest Preston lady was more than certain her best friend was withholding information about the past twenty four hours. An evil Transformer had taken her sister from the folds and security of the Human race and she couldn't abide by that. Mandy also got the creeping suspicion that somehow, Cyndi was siding with the three faced mech. Grudgingly, she had to agree with Darien that she ought to just be happy Cynthia had even returned. However, she was determined to get more information out of her in time after their lives settled back down.

"Okay," Mandy nodded, "he's right. I'm only overacting because I was so scared. You understand, right?"

"Of course," Cynthia embraced her sister. "You always were fiercely defensive of family."

The phone rang.

"Darien, go get that," Mandy commanded. "I'm busy hugging Cynthia."

"I bet its the cops checking in on us," Darien predicted.

The boy lifted the phone up out of the receiver. He pressed the 'talk' button on it and answered the call. He lifted it up to his ear.

"Preston residence, this is Darien speaking," he sounded remarkably professionally despite his character.

"Hey, kid," Captain Fanzone spoke, "I was just checking in to see if you and your sister Amanda were alright."

"We're okay, thanks. Cynthia came home about five minutes ago."

There was a surprised silence on the police chief's line. Cynthia and Amanda cloistered near their brother so they could hear on the conversation as well.

"Really?" Fanzone said after a few seconds of being quiet. "Is she alright? Is she acting funny at all?" He grunted in annoyance. "You know what, let me talk to her if you don't mind."

Without saying another word, Darien handed Cynthia the phone. She didn't ask him any questions because she was listening in with Mandy. Cyndi cleared her throat and put the phone up to the side of her face.

"Hello?" she said.

"Ms. Preston," Fanzone addressed, " this is Captain Fanzone of the Detroit Police Department, are you alright?"

"Yes, I'm fine."

"Since your brother and sister called twenty four hours ago regarding your disappearance, the police have been searching for you. How did you manage to get home?"

Cynthia couldn't work up on explanation. All she could do was draw a blank. Off the top of her head, she couldn't remember if it was against the law to lie to an officer about one's disappearance even if they were the one that had vanished. At the moment, she didn't care and the only thing that mattered was trying to cover up what she could.

"On second thought, you can answer the questions when I arrive down at your apartment," Fanzone resumed. "I will be down to meet you and your siblings alongside with the paramedics so they can check to see if you're alright."

"Okay, thank you, Captain Fanzone," Cyndi said. "I suppose I'll be meeting you shortly then."

"Before I hang up with you, I want to ask you one thing."

"Of course, sir."

"Do you remember anything about the past twenty four hours or so?"

Cynthia swallowed hard. It pained her to lie but she couldn't tell the truth. She feared Blitzwing's wrath and she didn't want to betray him for all the times he had gave her mercy.

"No, I must've been unconscious," she said. "I remember veering off the road and then waking up in the woods by the apartment complex about ten minutes ago."

"Miss, I want to forewarn you right now that we have some evidence that suggests you and your vehicle were carried off by a Decepticon. We believe it's very likely that while you were unconscious, you were abducted by them and held for some amount of time before you woke up in the woods. I just ask you to remain calm and I will see you very shortly."