By this point, Shey and Mako have been doing test drifts every day for two weeks, and have actually jockeyed twice. Her drifts are still unstable, but she is getting better…slowly. Unlike most, Shey can only reign in her memories during combat, and they harass her the rest of the time. They are like sisters—like twins—and that's all.

The Secret

TWO WEEKS LATER, SUITES, MID-SEPTEMBER

The same sound wakes me up. I groan before grabbing my robe. I'd been up at midnight for a kaiju attack, and I've only had two hours sleep since then. I sigh and calm myself before walking to the bathroom door. "Graham?"

"I didn't mean to wake you."

"It's fine. Do you need anything?"

"Not right now."

I sigh before opening the door. "You're sure? Where's your meds at?"

He sighs. "On the table beside my bed."

"I'll get them for you." I return shortly with the bottle before handing him a tablet.

He swallows it before looking over at me. "How is Star working?"

I smile. "Great, Graham. She's perfect. I never thought I'd enjoy being on the front lines against monsters." I sigh. "Monstrous Decepticons, maybe, but not monstrous kaiju." I sigh before leaning against the doorframe. "And Mako's good at what she does. She designed Star to be Gipsy's twin after seeing how well Gips and I get along."

"Kade showed me that picture you gave him. Weren't you scared?"

I laugh softly. "Terrified, actually, but in a jaeger, you don't have to worry about anything—even bad weather." I smirk. "Same way you didn't have to worry about too much on Griffin Rock with your Rescue Bots to protect you."

"It doesn't mean we aren't still careful."

I nod. "And it's the same with a jaeger. We still have to be careful. I still wear the necessary armor, and I still make sure we have sufficient weaponry to face down the beast—though that's usually Mako's forte. We're still careful. We can't afford to be careless out there."

"You don't stop, do you?"

I shake my head. "I don't have the time to stop, Graham. I have to stay at the top of my game, or everything crumbles." I sigh softly. "Come on. Let's get back to bed. Morning comes early." I sigh. "Well, not for the jaeger teens. They get the day off to rest."

"Who got hurt?"

I sigh. "Gips got her arm damaged again. She heals fast, and I healed Raleigh, so they're all right, but it's going to be stiff for a few days. Since they're all like siblings, they all stick together, and I heard Cherno threaten to rebel against Herc if they try to send them to school. They want to be near her. They protect her."

"But she won't be the only girl if Star comes to life."

I sigh before sitting on the edge of his bed. "Which won't happen unless we're all killed. That's not an option."

"Couldn't you use the inferno? If she was built from destroyed jaegers and just given new tech and new paint…"

"I'd have to ask Ratch about that." I sigh. "Now get to sleep. It's too early to be thinking about living jaegers."

"You started it."

I cross my arms. "So now we're getting childish?" I sigh. "Just go to sleep. We'll worry about all that later."

SIX HOURS LATER

I get up and get dressed before heading down to the cafeteria. Today I opt for taking my tray back to our suite so I don't have to answer any questions from worried Burns'. I walk back into the suite with my tray to find Graham at the table. "Homework again?" He nods. "So, how are you feeling?"

"I've been better, but I'm all right."

"That's good, I guess." I sigh softly as I sit beside him. "I'm down to hiding from your family."

"Because I haven't told them yet?"

I nod weakly, then sigh. "They're hounding me."

"Is Blades still mad at you?"

I sigh. "Not really. He never really was. He understood why I felt I had to tell."

"Ratchet wants to see me about something today." He sighs. "Should I be worried?"

"Nah. You'll be all right." I smile slightly. "Ratchet doesn't hurt carriers, and he warned me not to, too."

"That's good. I'm still a little nervous."

"He just wants to see how you're doing. That's all." I lay my hands on his shoulders. "Just relax. Ratchet's learning something during this too, all right? He just wants to see if everything's going smoothly." I sigh softly. "I'm going to spend the day with Ratch after I check on Gips."

"I'll see you later."

RALEIGH'S SUITE

I knock on the door. "Gipsy?"

"Come in!"

I open the door. "It's me, Gips. I just wanted to see how your arm was healing before I went to help Ratch."

She smiles at me. "I'm fine, Shey."

"I know, but I need solid proof for Ratch." I check her over before recording my findings on my data-pad. "All right, I'll see you later tonight."

"All right."

THAT EVENING, CYBERTRON TEAM MEETING

I walk into the meeting room to find the rest of our small team waiting for me. I sigh before walking to the front of the room. "Sorry I'm late. I was meeting with Stacker and Tamsin about Coyote's new reactor." I look around. "We've been here for a month. How's everyone settling in?"

Chief Burns shrugs. "It's been a learning experience."

Kade grins. "I love it."

Blades looks down at me. "It's terrifying."

Optimus kneels to me. "We have settled in well. Have you?"

I nod. "I've been settled in for four years, Optimus." I sigh. "Storing Cybertronium—and Ratchet's frame—kept me here for several months at a time, then they made me one of their Rangers." I turn to the others. "Doc Greene? Kids?"

Cody smiles. "We're good."

"Good." I sigh. "Anything new we need to know about?"

"Cherno's good at starting fires."

I shrug. "Can't say I didn't warn ya, Kade." I sigh heavily. "Anyone have anything we don't already know?" I look around before sighing. "Doctor Gotlieb believes the kaiju attacks will start getting closer together again. We've got an idea, but I can't be sure that they'll go with it."

"What's your plan?"

I smile to the bots. "I've got one of Lockdown's bombs stashed in the CCU of the med bay. If we turn them into Cybertronium, they can't attack—now, or ever." I sigh. "All we have to do is tie it to a kaiju carcass and send it through the breach. Only thing we're waiting for is for the breach to re-stabilize, and we can close that thing up for good this time." I sigh. "Anyone have anything else we need to take care of?" I look around. "Chief Burns?"

"The Cultists have been stirring up trouble outside the Shatterdome. I've been talking to the Marshal about taking the jaeger teens out of school, and I've pulled the kids out until things settle down."

I nod and look around. "Anyone else?" I sigh and turn to Graham. I can tell he looks nervous… "All right, Yeager family, you can get your supper and take the evening off."

Once they leave, Graham stands. "I-I have something."

I turn to Graham. "Are you sure?"

"They've been hounding you for two weeks now."

I nod. "All right." I smile at him. "This is very brave of you."

He sighs before turning to his family. "I know you've been wondering what's been going on with me."

"We've just been worried, Graham."

"I know, but you don't have to be. We're just testing a theory Shey had." Graham sighs.

I shrug weakly. "I'm hoping it will bring some hope to the Autobots we still have on-world."

Charlie lays a hand on Graham's shoulder. "What's going on with you, son?"

Graham looks to me nervously. "Shey?"

I nod and rest a hand on his shoulder. "It's all right."

"It's just…too weird for words."

I nod. "I know, but we still need to tell them. They need to know."

Graham rubs the back of his neck. "Can you…?"

I nod and lay a hand on his shoulder. "It's all right. Of course I can." I sigh before turning to the team. "You may want to sit down for this. It's going to be quite a shock." I wait until they sit before continuing. "The experiment we've been working on was to see if a human could carry a Cybertronian—er, at least, half-Cybertronian—child. I was going to volunteer, for obvious reasons, but…" I pause, trying to figure out how to word this without causing them to freak out. "When I explained Cybertronian biology to Graham and Doc. Greene, they were wondering if a human could do the same. Graham volunteered to be our test subject, in my place."

"Wait…"

"So he's…" Cody gives me a confused look.

I nod. "Yep."

"It shouldn't be possible—it isn't possible."

I sigh. "Kade, don't make me slap you, cause I will."

Dani sighs. "Wouldn't you be a better choice?"

I sigh softly. "I'm still willing, Dani. I plan to be the next one."

"But he'll be okay?"

I nod. "Everything's been going fine. Doc and I have been helping out where we can."

Charlie sighs. "So this has been going on for how long?"

I sigh before turning to him. "Eight weeks. Two months now." I lay a hand on Charlie's shoulder. "He's going to be all right. Trust me. I've helped with carriers before." I look down. "But I know I need to be honest with you. We lost the carrier." I sigh when the others turn to me worriedly. "It wasn't because of the sparkling, guys." I sigh. "It was Chicago. Soundwave and Barricade killed him. I foolishly said that he'd be fine because his armor was a thick as Cherno's, and he'd survived blowing himself up countless times."

"But he died."

I nod. "He died. And it killed their hope, too. I was the one stationed there. I was the one who was supposed to save Chicago, and I failed. That's why I was going to carry—because it was my fault to begin with."

"Is there anything we can do?"

I smile. "We're trying to keep this between as few humans as possible. In a few weeks, he won't even be allowed to leave our suite. We'll have to bring things to the suite for him."

Cody turns to me. "Who knows?"

"Everyone in this room, and Mako Mori, but that's because of the drift, and it wasn't preventable."

"We're here for you."

Graham smiles. "Thank you."

"All right. We'll meet back here next week, same time. You all need to get your supper."

"What about Graham?"

"I need to finish my homework."

I shrug. "I'll bring him some food when I come back."

SUITES

I leave the room and return with two trays. "Hey, Graham. I'm back."

He sighs and takes his tray. "That didn't go as badly as I thought it would."

I smile before sitting beside him. "They're your family, Graham. They're not gonna turn you away because we're testing something—even if it is as weird as this."

"Dad said he'd stop by in a few hours."

"Are you sure you're okay with that?"

"It's fine. I'm just happy they know. It's not going to be easy to hide this for much longer."

"Trust me, I know." I smile.

"Are you sure you're going to be okay, carrying? Your jaeger's nuclear."

"And my Cybertronian CNA protects me from everything—even radiation. You realize I didn't have anything shielding me when I was working on Coyote?"

"Should I worry—"

"Cybertronium is denser than lead. You were safe. Trust me, Boulder would make sure of it—that's why I had you get inside him before the fiascos started."

Graham sighs and stands. "I'm going to bed. Let Dad know I'll talk with him in the morning."

I nod. "You need that more than ever right now."