Here you go, my readers! I'm so sorry it's been so long, but I've had a lot on my plate... I hope this chapter doesn't stink. Someone hit me if it does!

Chapter 9

Mistakes

As Sarah stared with sad and angry eyes at her father, another man dressed in a suit entered the room and, noting the tension between the soldiers and the Sector Seven agent, questioned, "What's going on here?"

"Thank goodness you arrived sir. Did you authorize the presence of these men?" Agent Simmons asked, gesturing to John Keller, the Quatar survivors and Sarah witwicky, who muttered under her breath," I'm not a man…"

"I most certainly did. Events are unfolding in which we will need all the help we can get," The older man turned to Sarah and told her," I'm Tom Banachek, head of Sector Seven."

She nodded quietly as she asked," Can I please have my car back?"

"Your car is an alien. We don't know, at this point, whether he's friendly or-"

"If you don't give him back, then I promise to make your life miserable," Sarah responded coldly.

Tom Banachek gave her a hard stare," Young lady, the security of our planet is at stake. If you truly wish to be uncooperative, then you will be confined."

Sarah glared at him as she responded," You can try. Eventually though, you're going to find that my car has many of the answers to your present problems. If he does end up escaping and finds out you've locked me away, he's going to be ticked off. Not to mention the fact that you've already mistreated him."

five minutes later, Sarah found herself once again isolated in a room all by herself. She stood and paced, restless. Suddenly, she paused as she looked at the security lock in the room. She glared at it, her mind working," I fixed Bumblebee. An advanced alien robot. Could I unlock that door there?"

She hesitated and the voices of so many discouragers in the past years taunted her.

Sarah, you're so tacky!

Useless, utterly hopeless geek...

Crater-face!

Klutz!

Drama Queen, glad you could join us...

ENOUGH, She pushed them all out of her head and went to the lock. She gently examined it before reaching into her hair and pulling out a single bobby pin.

A smile flashed across her face as she looked at the bobby pin. True, she was no slave to fashion, but the bobby pin did more then just hold back that one annoying patch of hair. She put the bobby pin to the wall and pried the metal surface off, revealing wires beneath the metal grating. She felt among the wires, very carefully, and sensed which ones needed to be pulled. A jolt of electricity coursed into her, but didn't harm her, surpringly. Closing her eyes, she was surprised when a visual map of her objective flashed through her mind's eye. Relying on this inward map, she work, pulling, gently rewiring the door and it's alarm.

In less then 10 minutes, she had the door opened.

It had taken persistence and she had nearly given up more then once, feeling unconfident in her abilities. But each time she wanted to give up, an image of Bee, in both vehicle mode and robot mode flashed through her mind. Each time she had felt down, he had always brought her back up, in some small way or other.

No way, no way would she let him down now!

When the door opened, she almost felt that she would burst with utter excitement and disbelief. She held on to the door knob, looking out very carefully before slipping out into the hall. She breathed in and out before moving as fast and as quietly as she could.

I'm coming Bee, I'm coming!

8~8~8~8~8~8

As Optimus and Ratchet traveled down the road, Leigh sighed," I really wish Sarah was here right now. I just know she'd be freaking out," Leigh chuckled as she added," And then, I'd probably tell her to man up or something."

"Why would you tell her such a thing? It's literally impossible for you female humans," Ratchet objected. His voice crackled in over her mental radio.

"It's a figure of speech, dude. What I mean is, I would tell her to stop being a wimp," Leigh rolled her eyes.

Optimus replied," When I met her, she did indeed appear the timid type."

Ratchet's voice crackled in over Optimus' radio," Unfortunate that she should be brought into this mess, she has no business being the key to such an important mission."

Leigh frowned as she replied testily," You are the most disrespectful bot I have ever met! Sure, Sarah's a dweeb and a scaredy-cat, but she's loyal and the best person to entrust a secret to."

Optimus hid a smile as he replied," You appear to be very defensive of your friend. I am glad to see it. It will prove useful if the two of you are ever in decepticon hands."

Leigh scowled," If I ever get the chance, I'm going to give those decepticon bastards so much crap, they'll choke on it!"

Ratchet growled," Good luck, human."

Leigh rolled her eyes," Same to you, old man."

Optimus cut in before the two could start arguing again," Er, how long have you known Sarah, Leigh?"

"Oh, pfft, like forever, man. Well, pretty much anyways. I mean, let's see, she totally ran into me when we were in 1st grade. Literally, ran into me like I was a wall or something and she kinda just clung to me cause I didn't chase her off and I even did stuff for her, like helping her with homework and protecting her in gym class, see? And really, she's the only person I ever met who wasn't a jerk. She's not perfect, sure, but she's not like the snooty cheerleaders or the stupid bitches on my soccer team. She's a good friend. Are we there yet?"

"Almost. We're getting closer," Optimus replied.

Leigh looked out the window, shivering somewhat. She missed her friend, desperately.

Sarah, please don't be hurt or something. I don't think I'd be able to forgive myself for all the rotten things I've said to you. Please, please be ok.

As Leigh sat back, she closed her eyes. She jumped as she heard the cybertronian language break through her thoughts. She squealed, putting a hand to her ear, which did nothing as this was a sound she couldn't block out.

"Leigh? What is it?" Optimus voiced, concerned at her physical reactions.

"I'm picking up a communication!" Leigh snapped," I have no idea!"

Her vision seemed to turn inwards as she listened to the voice. It was deep, rough and yet completely computerized and void of emotion.

(Leigh McDuff, you are being monitored. Do not try to run. You cannot hide.)

Leigh set her jaw as she replied with a snarl (You rusty bucket of bolts, just try something.)

Leigh added out loud," Optimus, some decepticon just told me we're being "monitored."

Optimus didn't respond. Because at that moment, the seventh circle of HELL broke loose.

Optimus heard the beginnings of a warning from Ratchet before he shoved Leigh out of his passenger seat, transforming, he told Leigh very simply and plainly, RUN!"

Leigh snarled," Damnit!" as she began to hobble away as fast as she could before the ground rocked under her feet, causing her to go flying a couple of feet. other cars on the same road were thrown and/or squealed to a stop as the ground rocked again with the impact of a missile.

Leigh saw four decepticon bastards. And in her mind, she was weaving a tapestry of profanity. Upon which, she noticed that every single transformer turned to look at her with horror.

Oops… this whole "broadcasting" ability was going to take some getting used to...

8~8~8~8~8

Rachel wriggled impatiently as Ironhide and Jazz approached the Hoover Dam.

"Well?"

"This is where Sarah's energy signature is coming from. Now, we wait for Prime."

Rachel sighed and squirmed," Guys, I have to take a powder. Do you mind?"

"Yes," growled Ironhide, before Jazz could respond.

Rachel glared," Do you even know what I'm talking about?"

There was silence, and Rachel glared at him," You are pathetic. I have to pee. Don't you guys ever have to go?"

Ironhide only hummed, confused by the human terms. Jazz spoke to him, via internal comlink, and Ironhide coughed as he spoke," Go, but be careful and do not let anyone see you!"

"… That sounded really weird, but I'm not going to say anything," Rachel thought glumly as she took her leave, heading to the tourist shop. There had better be a little girl's room there or SOMETHING…

Jazz's tires suddenly squealed and he raced away. Ironhide's voice crackled through Rachel's head," Rachel, we're about to be attacked by incoming decepticons!"

Rachel groaned," NOW? I HAVE TO PEE!"

8~8~8~8~8

Sarah snuck past the security guards, coming to a halt as she peered around the corner, seeing Bee in stasis. The sight made her blood boil with rage. She didn't know why, but she felt something else besides rage. It wasn't another emotion, more like… a feeling of electricity. And pain. Definitely pain. Her eyes felt like they were burning.

As she touched the wall she noticed there was a power outlet. She quickly placed her fingers into the socket and felt the now familiar burst of electricity, connecting her with the power within. Closing her eyes, she saw the entire electrical network in the Hoover Dam. She very promptly shut it all down. And elsewhere, there was a loud sparking sound, and someone yelled," We're losing power!"

The technicians all raced from the room in fright as the computers refused to reboot and their tools powered down. As soon as the room was empty, Sarah rushed in and disconnected the wiring and machines from her guardian. Bee woke, springing to life as he regained the use of his limbs. His helmet suddenly flashed as he prepared his gun to fire, searching for his targets. However, he paused as he realized they were all gone… the only person there was the one he had wanted to see the most.

He couldn't think of anything to say. He could only whine and click with joy, unable to express how glad he was that she was ok. There wasn't a song in the world that could express what he felt. The relief and the magnitude of gratefulness that shone in his optics. He finally played a short clip from a song,

You were there when I needed you!

You were there when the skies broke wide, wide open!

Sarah smiled, despite tears, and told him," Nice to see you too, Bee. Let's blow this joint! We got team members to join up with!"

Bumblebee obliged by transforming into a Camaro. Sarah could hear the alarms going off, from whatever she had done to their equipment. As she climbed into Bee, his tires spun as he raced out the hallway, making people scream as they scrambled to get out of his way. security guards opened fire, but their bullets bounced off of him.

Sarah grinned…

And then froze as they entered the next room. Even Bee stopped short, as he saw the situation.

Megatron. Megatron stood in the room. He had obviously been kept in stasis, like Bee had been. And now…

"Oh. Shit. Oh shit. Oh SHIT!" Sarah gasped, unable to believe the magnitude of her mistake in shutting the power down in the building. The ice that had encased Megatron was melting fast.

Bee backed out of the room, swerving he headed the other way.

Sarah's thoughts raced and she commanded," Bee! Let me out! I gotta try to fix the wiring! Let me out!"

Bee slammed on his brakes, letting her out. Sarah quickly raced to a plug that was in the wall. She put her hand to it, trying to tap back into the electricity. No use.

She looked back at Bee, who revved his engine, "Let's get out of here!" A familiar line from a movie played.

Sarah was about to jump into him, when she saw her father, racing towards her. Bee transformed, his cannons fired up, but Sarah told him," Bee hold on!"

She was looking into the eyes of sorrow. Sorrow and something she could only call regret.

"Sarah, please, listen to me. I know what you did. And it can't be undone. You have to take this and get it as far away from here as you can!"

And he thrust a strange, glinting object into Sarah's arms. It was a huge rubix cube thing… The allspark. But… much smaller then she had seen...

She gaped at the heavy object in her hands, which she could feel sparked with unthinkable power.

She looked back at her father. She understood the pain, the message in his eyes. There's so much I could say. So much that I've learned... Don't make my mistakes. Learn from my heart ache.

He responded harshly out loud," There's no time, Sarah. You have to get out of here! Go!"

Sarah nodded. Bee transformed back into a Camaro and she jumped into him. He took off.

Sarah's father stood there for a split second, wanting to tell her all the times he had wished she had a better father and how sorry he was for all the mistakes he had made.

But there was no time for that now. She cradled the cube as she asked," Where do we go, Bee?"

"Into the beautiful Mission City!" Came a radio voice. Sarah chuckled slightly. It was so ironic… not to mention random.

8~8~8~8~8

Leigh had managed not to get captured… up to this point. She had managed to grab some puny teenager boy, on a road trip with some buddies of his, and pretty much hijack their car. She drove off, callously ignoring their yelling as she drove, as fast as she could. Optimus had called for back up… whatever the hell that meant.

She screamed as another car smashed into her from her blinside. It was Barricade. Fan-EFFIN-TASTIC.

She struggled to maintain control of the car, growling as she was struck again. Suddenly, out of nowhere, there was a magnetic pulse that shook the ground from beneath Barricade and leigh both. Leigh's car flew up into the air, but she was caught and gently placed on the ground.

Barricade went rolling, transforming into his robot mode, he snarled something naughty in Cybertronian.

"I'm your back up, femme! Get out, quick!"

Leigh saw the giant silver legs of another transformer before it folded back up into a silver solstice. She ditched the teenager's old ford for the solstice.

"Go! GO! GO!" screamed Leigh as she looked in the rearview mirror and saw a lot of mad Barricade.

The solstice's wheels screamed as he took off, dodging shots and his voice crackled over," Femme, see if you cin confuse th'a 'Con! Ah know ya got abilities, use em!"

Leigh sighed as she placed her hands on her temples, her eyes beginning to glow as she turned her thoughts inward and focused on this communication power she had.

She connected with seven hostile minds and imitated the gravelly voice that had communicated with her, giving them different and opposite commands. It seemed to work for all of them… except Barricade.

"Damn it…" the solstice muttered.

Leigh set her jaw and just kept it up.

8~8~8~8~8

Rachel had transformed into her robotic mode and using her new vision, she spotted the oncoming attack, giving Ironhide warning.

Then, she saw something just a little unbelievable. There appeared to be evacuees from the Hoover Dam itself. Rachel called to Ironhide," I'm going to do some investigating!"

"The hell you are ,rachel Lennox!" Ironhide responded roughly as a silver Jet suddenly roared over their heads. Rachel recognized the bastard and fired a shot, hitting him square on the back. She grinned… until he turned around, apparently now fully aware of her position.

"OH SHIT!" she screamed as she rocketed, using her jet pack to flee the missile he had shot at her.

It was of the heat-seeking model and she swore under her breath as she kept just slightly ahead of it.

The chase was on and the battle had definitely begun.

Fan-'effin'- tastic.

Please, if this isn't good, have the grace to tell me so. But if by some miracle you DO approve... review!

The title of the song is by Kutless. The lyrics are shown, before her father tells her to scram. The first song lyrics are by Jars of Clay's Five Candles (You Were There) and the movie line I think is from Toy Story.