A Year after the Battle of Mission City

The Autobots in the hangar looked up from the weapon that they were trying to build on when the doors banged open. Valerie strode in, obviously angry.

"This," she announced, "is a nightmare."

Optimus spoke up. "What's a nightmare?" he asked. The other Autobots had to admire his courage to even talk to Valerie when she was in this state.

"The freaking prom, that's what!" she shouted at him. He flinched away. "It's two freaking days away and I don't have a date, a dress, or any freaking plans!"

Optimus activated his holoform and walked up to her. "Why didn't you start planning before?" he said. Valerie glared at him, and he wisely didn't press her for answers.

"Did anybody ask you?" Ratchet asked tentatively.

Valerie glared at him. "What do you think?" she demanded. "I'm only the most popular girl in the school besides Mikaela. That totally isn't reason enough for someone to ask me."

"So no one asked you?" Ironhide said. Valerie groaned and threw herself down on a human sized couch.

She looked up at the Autobots. "Do you guys understand sarcasm at all?" she asked. They shook their heads, and Valerie rolled her eyes. "Never mind, then." She turned to Optimus. "And to answer your question, I was too busy with my homework from school and N.E.S.T. training to even think about the prom 'till now."

"I thought I told you not to sign up for N.E.S.T.," Optimus commented.

Valerie rolled her eyes again. "For my safety, not time management," she reminded him. "You knew perfectly well that I could defend myself decently, even a year ago when I didn't have that training. There seriously is no reason why I can't be in N.E.S.T."

During the year after the Battle of Mission City, Valerie had moved to live on the N.E.S.T. base, which was only a few miles away from her high school. She still attended her old school, and she would until she graduated (which was later on in the month). After school hours, Optimus would work with her on her skills with her powers and Transformium, or she would train with the Autobots and N.E.S.T. soldiers.

Her schedule was mostly packed between training and homework, but the other Autobots observed how she always made time for Optimus. In fact, the two of them had grown extremely close over the past year and could almost always be seen in each other's company. Every day, the Prime drove her to school in the mornings and picked her up in the afternoons without fail. At the base, Valerie would almost always be seen walking around with his holoform, sitting on his Autobot shoulder, or curled up in his truck's cab. Behind their backs, the Autobots had taken bets on how long it would take for them to get together. Sadly, that didn't seem to be happening any time soon.

"How about one of us goes with you?" Ironhide suggested.

Valerie grimaced. "That would be plain weird," she stated. "I think of you guys as, like, brothers or something! Just... ugh!" But even as she shuddered, she glanced at Optimus, who was staring determinedly at his feet, his face a bright red.

"Well, we can help out with the dress," Ratchet told her with an evil grin.

Valerie gave him a speculative look. "Should I be worried about that?" she asked him.

"Naw," Ironhide replied. "We got the dress."

Two days later, Valerie was being escorted into the same hanger by Optimus's holoform, who had his hands over her eyes. She didn't exactly enjoy having her eyes covered (she felt too vulnerable), but knew that Ratchet wanted to see her reaction to the dress. She heard the doors slide open with a hiss, and Optimus nudged her forward. Valerie took a few tentative steps forward, not wanting to trip and fall on her face because she couldn't see where she was putting her feet. After a few more steps (Valerie guessed that they were in the middle of the hangar), Optimus uncovered her eyes.

Valerie, the second her eyes were open, saw the dress that was on a manikin that had the same body shape as her. She let her eyes move up and down the dress, taking in the design and shape.

The dress hugged her body and showed off her curves until it got to the bottom, which flared out in ruffles. It also had spaghetti straps, and the back of the dress was bare, showing off her back. There was a V-neck that wasn't too revealing but showed enough for people to use their imaginations to picture the rest. The dress was mostly black, but when it got to the part where the ruffles flared, it gradually changed to the same shade of blue as the Autobot's eyes. It had a few glitter trails that formed swirling patterns. When the light hit it, it sparkled brightly.

"Omigod," Valerie muttered. She turned to Ratchet and Ironhide, who were standing a few feet behind the manikin. "This is gorgeous! Thank you! How did you make this?!"

Ratchet smiled. "I'm not giving away my secrets," he told her. "But I'm glad you like it."

Valerie rushed up to the dress and felt the fabric. It didn't feel confining or stiff, but instead was smooth and comforted her skin. She could tell that the material was stretchy, too, so if she had to pull out some of her martial arts moves, she would be able to.

"This is comfy," she commented. She looked up to Ratchet. "Can I try this on?" The mech nodded, and Valerie slipped it off the manikin and hurried into a room off to the side.

Once she had disappeared behind the door, Ratchet activated his holoform and pushed Optimus out. "Out," he ordered.

"Why?" Optimus demanded. "I wanted to see her in her dress!"

Ratchet glared. "Remember our plan?" he asked. Optimus, after hesitating for a second, nodded and turned around, leaving the room.

Valerie stepped out of the room a few minutes later, wearing the dress. It looked gorgeous on her and emphasized the blue streaks in her hair. If she had some blue jewelry and makeup on, she would look perfect.

"Where's Optimus?" she demanded immediately, noticing the absence of the Prime.

Ironhide coughed. "He had something urgent to do," he lied. "Something with the president of the U.S. or something." He noticed how her face fell and smiled at the obvious affection between her and the Prime. "He really wanted to be here and see the dress."

Valerie nodded and gave a half-hearted twirl. "How do you like it?" she asked.

"It looks gorgeous," Ratchet answered.

Ironhide started laughing. "Don't let Prime hear you say that," he joked.

Valerie shot a confused look back and forth from Ratchet to Ironhide. "What are you talking about?" she snapped. "Am I missing something here?"

"Yeah... a boyfriend!" Ironhide choked out, still laughing.

She gave him a look that clearly called him crazy. "What the hell are you talking about, 'Hide?" she asked angrily, putting her hands on her hips. When he didn't reply, Valerie rolled her eyes. "Yeah, whatever. See you guys later. Thanks for the dress!"

After she left, Ratchet elbowed Ironhide to get him to stop laughing. "C'mon, you knucklehead, we need to do some finishing touches on the matching piece." As he spoke, he pressed a few buttons on a nearby control pad. A long coffin-sized box slid out of storage, and Ratchet opened the lid to reveal a black tuxedo with a bright blue colored tie. "He's going to love this."

Ironhide looked speculative. "She's going to kill us, you know," he told Ratchet.

"No she won't," Ratchet replied. "She's going to love this just as much as he is."

A few hours later, Valerie was driving a sleek Mercedes (a regular car, not a Transformer) to the hotel ballroom that her school's prom was taking place in. She was a little concerned about the Autobots and her uncles; when she had left, Ratchet, Ironhide, Lennox, and Epps were unable to keep their laughter in at the sight of her, and Optimus looked slightly nervous. After she had asked them multiple times if they had hit their heads one too many times, they had kicked her out of base and told her to get to the prom already.

She pulled into the nearest parking spot, and as she walked past Bee (that meant that Sam and Mikaela were already in the hotel), she tapped his hood. Bee let out a quiet honk, acknowledging her presence.

Valerie opened the hotel doors and stepped inside the building. After asking directions at the front desk, she was able to find the ballroom without getting lost and opened the doors, stepping into the room.

The most noticeable thing was the music. It blared loud enough that Valerie could hardly think, much less speak to anyone. The next thing she saw was the people. There hardly seemed to be room to fit anyone else in the ballroom. Then her eyes moved towards the tables upon tables upon tables of food- cakes, donuts, chips, cookies, candy... a teenager's heaven. She eventually forced her eyes away from the food and looked at the decorations, which were basically all saying "Congrats, Grad!" or lines from that Dr. Seuss book "Oh the Places You'll Go."

"Hey, Val!" she heard someone shout, and she turned to see Sam and Mikaela on the dance floor. Valerie waved at them and made her way over to a group of her friends who were standing in a corner; Valerie didn't want to dance because all the guys in her high school were idiots and she didn't want to dance with them. If Optimus were here, though, the story would be different... Valerie shook her head to clear it.

For about a half hour, she had a fun time, fooling around with her friends. She was a bit disappointed at how it seemed like all the other parties she had ever been to in her life. Weren't proms supposed to be a big thing? You know, like, end of high school education, going into college? Maybe it was because she didn't have a date- she had turned down everyone who asked her because she had had her eyes on a certain Prime... but she should have known he wouldn't ask her to go, even as a friend. He was too... uptight.

"Well, well, well," a voice behind her drawled. "If it isn't Valerie."

Valerie turned and glared at the guy. "If it isn't dick-head Trent," she replied in the same tone. "What is it this time?"

"I was wondering...," Trent said, "if you wanted to dance."

For a second, Valerie was stunned speechless. Trent seriously thought that she would dance with him? Maybe he had hit his head too hard, not the Autobots and her uncles.

Then she grimaced. "Uh, why would I want to dance with you?" she snapped. "Because I can go on and on for weeks about how annoying you are."

"Well," Trent started, "it's more of a revenge thing."

Valerie gave him a blank look. "You had a big enough brain to plan something like that?" she asked incredulously. Then she shrugged. "I guess you learn something new each day."

Trent smirked, not understanding that it was supposed to be an insult to his brain size, not a compliment. "If Sam wasn't going with Mikaela, he would have asked you," he told her. Valerie couldn't deny the truth in that. "And if Mikaela wasn't going with Sam, she would be going with me. So, if they look over and see what a fun time we're having together..."

Valerie scoffed. "You really think that that's gonna work?" she demanded. "First of all, Sam and I are friends. I don't have a crush on him. Second of all, I don't feel bitter towards Mikaela about going with Sam. Third of all..." She trailed off, not knowing what her third argument was.

"She's the reason you don't have a date," Trent reminded her harshly.

Valerie glared. "Who said I don't have a date?" she snapped.

"Well, who are you going with?" Trent asked, sounding extremely smug that he had been able to trap Valerie like that.

Valerie hesitated, knowing full well that she didn't have a date. "I'm going with..." She trailed off again.

"Me," a familiar deep voice said. "She's going with me."

Both Valerie and Trent turned to see a college-aged boy with messy blonde hair and the brightest blue eyes. He was in a black tuxedo with a blue tie that was the same shade of blue as his eyes and the bottom of Valerie's dress.

It was Optimus Prime.

"Who are you?" Trent demanded. "I've never seen you around before."

Valerie observed Optimus. His blue eyes were narrowed in dislike, and she could tell by his stance that he and Trent weren't anywhere close to becoming friends. She knew that she had complained to Optimus multiple times about Trent throughout the past year, but Optimus had never had any interactions with bullies on Earth. She hoped that he would be able to handle himself.

She really shouldn't have even doubted him.

"I doubt that you need to know that," Optimus replied, sounding completely casual while giving off the air of someone who was extremely annoyed.

Trent, however, didn't get it. "Obviously you don't understand how things work around here," he snapped. "I'm the man here, dude. You don't cross me. So why don't you fucking tell me who you are?"

Optimus's blue eyes narrowed. "I'm an old family friend," he answered, his tone laced with ice. "And someone who you shouldn't cross unless you want to regret it. Now get out of my sight." Trent's eyes widened in fear and he stumbled backwards, pushing everyone out of his way. Valerie started laughing loudly as he tripped on a girl's skirt, causing both of them to fall into the punch bowl.

"Good one, Optimus!" she exclaimed, turning to him. The Prime was smiling slightly. "Thanks for helping me out, by the way."

He smiled. "My pleasure," he replied. The girls behind Valerie started giggling, and Valerie rolled her eyes at them before turning back to Optimus. "Would you care for a dance?"

Valerie looked speculatively at the masses of people fooling around on the dance floor. It definitely wasn't a slow dance, and she couldn't imagine Optimus just letting himself go and moving like the guys out here. In fact, she wasn't sure if he actually wanted to dance. "You don't have to offer if you don't want to," Valerie told him. "I mean, if you're only doing this to be a good friend-"

Optimus cut her off. "Valerie, I don't say things that I don't mean to follow through with," he said. "I asked you if you wanted to dance, and I meant it."

"Well, if that's the case, let's go," Valerie told him, grabbing his wrist and pulling him towards the dance floor. "You do know how to dance, right?" He shrugged, causing her to roll her eyes. "Just wing it, then. Watch me."

And for the rest of the night, she and Optimus fooled around as if they were regular teenagers. Optimus had taken a few tries to figure out how, exactly, to dance, but eventually he was spinning Valerie around and laughing. Valerie had never seen the Prime so carefree and relaxed. She knew it wasn't her imagination when she and Optimus passed Sam and Mikaela, who had given Optimus slightly puzzled but pleased looks. Valerie soon had taken back her earlier statement about the prom being just like any other party- Optimus changed all that.

"I have something to show you," Optimus told her when they had finally left the dance floor, Valerie flushed and out of breath. Optimus, however, had hardly broken a sweat. Valerie assumed that it had something to do with the holoform technology.

"What is it?" Valerie asked curiously.

He smiled at her. "It's about a fifteen minute drive from here," he answered. "By the time we finish up over there, the party will be over. Do you still want to come?"

"Hell yeah," Valerie replied instantly, standing up. "C'mon, let's go."