Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers. Primus damn it.

A/N: To VeronicaD13, your questions beat this chapter to the punch! (If you've seen Armada, that'll help define my idea of Starscream. For now.)

Chapter 11

While Alexis and Starscream took on Ironhide and (a reluctant) Lennox, Mikaela pulled Sam aside for some first aid. Even though the beanbags weren't intended to hurt that bad, one had managed to puncture the skin.

"No offense, but your cousin kicked your ass," Mikaela said as she put disinfectant on a cotton ball.

That little shorty's burning on the…battlefield.

"It was completely unfair," Sam protested. "Starscream can fly and we were stuck on the ground! We could have won…"
Winning isn't everything…It's the only thing!

"Hey, it's not my fault she has damn perfect aim!"

"You know what I don't get," Mikaela said, dabbing Sam with the disinfectant. "Why does she know how to do any of that?"

"They must've been training."

"But why?" She looked back at the practice field where Lennox, unlike Sam, was keeping even with the aerial team. "I mean, did they plan on going into battle someday?"

"Uh, I don't know-"

"It makes no sense. The Decepticons hate humans, yet here he is flying her around like he's her chauffer. Something is weird about that."

"Yeah-ow! Watch where you put that."

"You're such a baby, Sam."

"Hey, maybe he never threatened her. She's a nice girl who can be a little odd. I wouldn't put it beyond her to befriend an evil alien."

Maybe he…makes the good girls go bad.

"Ew, don't say it like that, Bee." Mikaela laughed at the horrified look on Sam's face. "You're making it sound dirty."

The Autobot shrugged it off. He knew what he meant. Since arriving on Earth, he had noticed that certain humans had an affinity for Transformers, and the same was true of them. Ironhide, who had once considered 'eliminating' Ron and Judy Witwicky, had become inexplicably close with Major Lennox and his family. Maybe Starscream had that same natural connection to humans. Maybe that was why he had finally switched sides after a lifetime of insubordination beneath Megatron. Unfortunately for Bumblebee, he had been unable to find any Earth songs to convey that thought.

Mikaela slapped a band-aid on Sam and gave back his shirt. "They have a good idea though."

"What's that?"

"You and Bumblebee have been together for three years, but he's always guarding you. Maybe he should teach you to defend yourself."

Before Sam could begin making excuses as to why that was a bad idea, someone called his name from the hanger. Looking over, he was surprised to see it was Leo, crutches and all. Exchanging a glance with Mikaela, he headed over to his roommate.

"Hey, someone want to tell me why the Secret Service took me from my hospital suite?"

"I thought you wanted to be here," Sam said.

"I don't know where here is. The grunts who brought me in kept saying our location was 'top secret'. Wait, are we- No way!" Leo hopped in a circle, taking in the Autobots, weapons, and soldiers. "This is Diego Garcia? Dios mio, it's better than I imagined! Where are the bunkers?"

"What bunkers?"

"Simmons told me that everything is stored in bunkers a mile underground. He said it was almost magical, like the Land of the Lost."

"Uh, they're over there," Sam said, pointing in a random direction. Leo almost fell off his crutches as he tried to see where they were. He was caught by an older man wearing a well-pressed suit.

"Thanks, man. Shit!" Leo's eyes were wide with surprise. "You're the former…former…Supreme Court Judge?"

"Try former Secretary of Defense," a young woman with an Australian accent said. A sort of chubby black man was standing behind her. "I'm Maggie Madsen, this is Glen Whitmann, and the man holding you up is John Keller. Hey, Sam."

"Hi. What are you doing here?" He was a little surprised to see the former SecDef and the two CIA analysts. He hadn't seen them in over two years, when they had been part of the same tour group at Sector 7 headquarters beneath the Hoover Dam.

"Same reason as you," Keller said, letting Leo go after straightening him on his crutches. "They're worried that we could be potential targets for Megatron. And, now, who are you?"

"That's Leo 'Pon de Replay' Spitz. Just ignore him," Simmons said, joining the group.

"That's not funny man. My name is a big deal. Leonardo Ponce de Leon Spitz. I'm the web master at-"

"The Real Effing Deal. Yeah, I've hacked your site before," Maggie said, shaking Leo's free hand. "No offense."

"Baby, you can hack my site anytime." Sam rolled his eyes. It seemed nothing would stop Leo's various attempt to get his Spitzy freak on. Not even a trip to the hospital.

"What happened to your leg?" Glen asked, deliberately taking Maggie's hand in his as he did so. Of course, nothing but engagement and wedding rings seemed capable of stopping Leo from flirting with attractive women.

"This? Oh," Leo turned away, trying to act humble. "Just, saving a couple of kids from getting hit by a car."

"Really?" Simmons asked. "I could have sworn you got it tripping down some steps outside your campus library."

"On my way to the kids," he countered.

"How's that search going? Sam suddenly interrupted. Even though Simmons and Leo were 'friends', they still got off-track easily.

"Found 'em. They were right where I left them."

"Where you left them?"

"You know what I mean. We're arranging to move the parts the Autobots completed for their ship to the Ghosts. We'll be out of here in no time. I'm finally going up into space."

As Simmons walked away, Sam hurried over to join him. A little surprised, Mikaela followed, leaving Maggie, Glen, and Keller at the mercy of Leo's boasts about saving the world.

"Sims, wait up!"

"What did you just call me?"

"Sorry. I just wanted to know, who's going up?"

"Up-where?"

"To Cybertron."

"Sam-" Mikaela started, but Simmons beat her to the punch.

"Kid, this isn't some joyride around the solar system. It's a serious rescue mission."

"That's why I want to go," Sam said. "I owe it to them."

"Then I'm going too," Mikaela said, taking Sam's hand firmly in hers.

"I strictly forbid it."

"Mikaela, let's see what Optimus has to say about that." With that, the two teens headed off to find the Autobot leader. Simmons was left standing with a stunned expression on his face.

"Kids today with their alien robots. No respect for their human elders."


A/N: That's it for now. Enjoy!