Really fast chapter. I'm sorry, but I hate this entire ROTF arc. I didn't really like the few bits of the movie I saw, compared to the other two, and I just . . . Optimus died, man. Do I even need to explain any of this to any of you. Our loving, kind, diplomatic Optimus dies!

Not really lot to say about this, and I don't feel like arguing with Lawyer Dave about rights, so everything belongs to UlurNaga and I have Dance Rehearsal coming up in ten minutes so I have to go!

When Selena woke up, everyone was in a frenzy. The tell-tale headache she felt on her temples told her, easily, that she had suffered from another of her famous flash backs and wound up crying. How she had managed to get into her bed, though, she couldn't remember. Until she honestly forced herself t remember where she had been before she'd managed to pass out completely.

The minute she did, she wished that she hadn't.

Ironhide. Of all the people she had to seem weak in front of, it had to be Ironhide, so . . . where was he? "Serena," she called getting over to the garage, her head still pounding. "Serena, sweetie, what's going on, and where is everyone?" She stopped as soon as she saw the small gash in her sister's head. The second the small bit of blood on her forehead cam into her sight, Selena's eyes narrowed and her face became red with rage. "Who do I kill?" She asked, stalking over to her sister and taking a look at the small gash. It wasn't life threatening, but Selena had a track record and a reputation to keep up. No one, but no one, eve hurt he little sister to any degree, emotionally or physically, and lived for long. How had Sideswipe let this happen?

"The others left when they found out that some Decepticon took the last piece of something called an AllSpark Shard," she answered. "I was sitting on the beam in the corner when I saw a picture of it." She pointed to the large screen to the side, which showed a small piece of metal with hauntingly familiar writing on it. "When I recognized the symbols, I fell out and wound up scrapping myself up a bit. Thankfully, nobody noticed."

Together, they pulled out two small, boxes held onto a chain. Once opening them, they showed to hold two pieces of metal with similar markings on them. "They're the same," Selena whispered, holding her own up to the piece.

"Not possible," Serena argued. "Mama gave these to us when we were babies. That's from the AllSpark. Sideswipe said that Optimus and this boy, Sam, destroyed it years ago. About two years ago to be right. Before that, it was whole." They both put their metal pieces back in their respective boxes and stared at the Spark Shard on the screen in front of them. "We should tell Optimus."

"No," Selena ordered harshly. "Mami was specific: we tell no one of what we hold. Never." She saw Serena wither at the thought of lying to the others, though they weren't exactly telling them everything, hiding the fact that they may have something that could help bring back their race bothered her. Sideswipe was so hurt by the thought that they might die out all together, and they idea of hiding this from him made her shiver.

By now, Serena was willing to admit, despite her sister's attempts at stopping it, she was head over heels for the Corvette, and she wasn't sure if she could go back now, not that any of the other girls in the small human trio that was usually in the garage could blame her. She'd overheard Optimus and Tessa before they'd left. Both of them were seconds away from jumping one another, and, after a very long drive with Ironhide, Selena was better than she'd ever been before, even if she wasn't going to admit it to anyone.

"Where's Tessa, then?" Selena asked, looking around. There was no way that Optimus let her anywhere near a dangerous place where they could get killed. None whatsoever. She had to have either gone home or be somewhere on base. The second was far more likely, as, Selena knew, Tessa worried over Optimus like an army wife.

"Over here," she said, walking over to the two. "I see you finally woke up. When Ironhide bought you over here, we thought he'd knocked you out in a fight, you were so deep asleep." She shook her head. "You're normally such a light sleeper. What happened?"

"I'll go into it when this whole AllSpark issue is dealt with," Selena lied, knowing well that she wasn't going to talk about it with anyone ever. "For now, I hear a certain truck, and I'm willing to bet he wants to see you."

Tessa smiled, sure that the younger girl had used the Peterbilt's introduction as a way of keeping both her and her sister from asking just what had happened while she was gone with Ironhide. "Oh, I'll go," she said, "But don't think, for one second, that this is over." With that, she walked over to her Prime, intent on finding out how everything had gone.

"Not one word," Selena cautioned her sister as she began her way over to the silver sports car.

"I know," She answered. Of all the times in her life, the only person Serena thought Selena loved more than her was their Mami, as Selena liked to call her. If Mami told them not to say anything about the metal and Serena said something anyways, she was sure that Selena may never speak to her again. She'd still protect and love her, but she'd never forgive her for ignoring their Mami's final wish.

Sure that her sister would obey her, Selena walked over to Ironhide, noting that he looked furious at something other than her. That just wouldn't do. "What's a matter, toaster?" she asked, walking up next to him. "Got sand in your fuel tank?"

Her playful glib wasn't as playfully retorted as she had hoped it would be. "Sam has decided he will not stand by us," h said eventually. "He intends to turn his back on all of this. On the war, on Prime . . ."

"On you," she finished for him, understanding. He had helped her that morning. It was time for her to return the favor. "Now you're angry with him because he's afraid. You can't blame him; he's just a kid!" She made a small calculation in her head. "He's only a few months older than Serena!"

"He is still a part of this war," Ironhide growled. "He is still one of us. He cannot just turn away!"

"Yes, he can! He is a frightened boy terrified of a war he can't hope t compete in, and, obviously, he wants to walk away from it! It's a human mentality! Something with the ability to kill you is in font of you, you turn around and walk away from it."

"There are soldiers dying here. He is needed!"

"That doesn't mean he has to do it! That's a part of working with humans, Ironhide: you have to accept that, sometimes, you will over- or underestimate people! You underestimated me when we first met, and you've overestimated Sam. Accept it and find another plan!"

"There is no other plan!"

"Then think of one!"

As they continued to argue, blood and energon rushing through both of them, Selena had climbed up his side and gone right in front of his face, this spot, she decided, she liked best for their arguments. It wasn't until they both recognized how lose their faces were, though, they were already close considering the fact that she had to hold onto his helmet to stay on the small chest plate in front of him.

Huffing from the argument, Selena, the first to look away, sat on his shoulder. "You cannot make him fight, Ironhide. You have to accept that."

Before he could argue with her more, Selena heard the sound of him communicating with the others. "I have to go," he said, lifting her up before gently putting her onto the ground. "You must stay here. They will be going after Sam whether he wants to be a part of this war or not."

"Wait," Selena called before he drove off.

"What now, slag it. I cannot-"

"Come back safe, understood?"

Had he been in bipedal mode, he would have smiled. "I don't take orders from you." With that, he drove off, leaving a trail of dust and a very confused girl behind him.