Trials, Tribulations, and Transformations

XI - Be Prepared


Socorro County, New Mexico - April 23rd 2011, Saturday - 10:30 pm

On the Plains of San Agustin, there is a radio astronomy observatory known as Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA), which keeps twenty-seven 25-meter radio telescopes for the purpose of making key observations in space.

For tonight however, the radio telescopes would be used for other purposes, in favor of the Autobots.

"Wrrrrrteeeeepzzzooop?"

"Relax Bee, it will work. And don't worry about anyone seeing us, Fowler sent them all home."

Former Wrecker Bulkhead and Cavalry Scout Bumblebee were in the process of hot wiring the radio telescope (furthest away from the Array's main facilities) in order to transmit an embedded message, an encrypted message.

Its message: Calling all Autobots. Come to earth. Reinforcements gravely needed.

"Brrrrzzzzzrrrrtttt?"

"If we do this quickly Bee, Soundwave won't have enough time to listen in or even get ahold of this message," Bulkhead said as he was making some final adjustments to the satellite's algorithm. "Almost got it...and...done. Do it now Bee!"

At that, Bumblebee took a receiver and pressed a few keys, activating the transmission sequence. The signal was sent, received into the radio telescope Bulkhead just hot wired, and the signal was sent heavenward, into the stars.

"Ok, turn it off Bee!" Bulkhead shouted.

Bumblebee did as he was told and the signal was dead.

"Eeeeeepwooooteerrreeep."

"Don't worry Bee. Wheeljack ought to be the first to hear it, along with any other Autobot out there that might be able to pick up the signal," Bulkhead said assuredly. Then his expression became somber. "If there are any bots out there to hear it."

Bumblebee slapped Bulkhead on the arm, sending out angry whirs and beeps.

"Yeah, I know Bee," Bulkhead said, nursing a sore spot on his arm. "Just don't want to give our hopes is all."

Bumblebee rolled his optics. "Wrrrrteeeep! Eeeeeprrrtzzzz!"

Bulkhead chuckled. "The Autobot cause was built on hope?" And then he sighed in defeat. "I haven't forgotten Bee, it's…it's just hard is all. It never seems to get any easier."

"Wrrrrrteeeeezzzzooop!" Bumblebee illustrated his 'words' by pounding a fist into his palm.

Bulkhead smiled grimly. "I don't know how you do it sometimes Bee."

Then Bulkhead activated his communicator in his audio receptor. "Ratchet?"

At that, a ground bridge immediately opened and the Autobots wasted no time going through before the portal vanished.


Autobot Outpost Omega One - Jasper, Nevada - 10:30 pm

"Whoa."

"Nice."

Vince Raider and Rafael Esquivel had just entered the men's barracks of the Autobot base. What they saw astonished them.

The room looked brand new. Several beds were set up in the room, as well as dressers and nightstands for each bed. There were even desks set up around the room complete with lamps and writing utensils. And there was a door in the back of the room with the words 'WASHROOM' engraved in it.

What was most bewildering was their own personal sleeping areas. Each bed set was sectioned off by partition walls but no roof and a door either blank or with a name engraved in them. Three of which on the left had the names of the only three males having their stay at the base. But that is not what was the most bewildering factor of the rooms, rather what the rooms contained, contents which looked very familiar.

"Hold up," Vince said, looking about his room. "This is...no…"

Raf, his room next to Vince's, approached his desk to find a computer, which looked very familiar indeed. As did the covers on his bed. "This looks an awful lot like the things from my room," Raf said a big shaken.

"Because they are from your room! Everything is here! My bed covers, my bass guitar, my PS3, my tv, everything!"

Vince's anger was palpable.

"SECRET AGENTS HAVE BEEN IN MY ROOM!" Vince roared.

Raf was startled. "H-hey, this is good isn't it? Our stuff is all here. Now MECH can't ransack our houses and rummage through our things."

This simple fact seemed to placate Vince a bit. "I guess so, but...still...they went in my room and took my things."

"Would you rather that MECH took them and never gave them back?"

Vince did not answer.

"Vince?"

"I heard you Esquivel," Vince said in a huff. He left his room and approached Raf, who looked frightened upon seeing him approach so menacingly.

"Vince-"

"Relax Esquivel, I'm not going to hurt you," Vince said impatiently.

Vince knelt down and slipped something in his pants pocket.

"Whether we like it or not, we're in this together. We'll just have to make due," Vince said, as he placed a finger on his lips and motioning his eyes downwards towards Raf's pants pocket.

Raf seemed confused at first, and then he nodded in understanding. "Yeah, sure. Thanks Vince, I guess."

"Whatever, I'm going to bed," Vince said as stood back up. Then he went to his room and shut the door behind him.

Raf then heard the sound of someone dropping onto their bed and he considered doing the same, but he couldn't go to sleep yet.

He headed straight to the men's washroom.

Upon entering, he couldn't help but marvel at how new and authentic the washroom. It was complete with shower stalls, bathroom stalls, sinks, and the design and craft of it all looked very high-class.

Shaking himself from his stupor, Raf forced himself to remain on task. He entered the first bathroom stall he could find. He looked thevstall behind him, sat on the toilet and he reached into his pocket for whatever object Vince slipped into it.

It was a piece of note paper and there was something scribbled on it, in such a way that the writer was in a tremendous hurry to have it written.

Check for bugs.

Bugs?

Raf's eyes widened.

Listening devices! MECH has people everywhere and they might have bugged our belongings before they were brought here. But...bugging would be useless here. The silo walls of this base isolates all radio waves. But MECH doesn't know that. I'd better tell Ratchet just to be safe.


"Wh-What?"

"I said were you at freshman homecoming Miko?"

At this point, Miko Nakadai considered being in the clutches of MECH or even the Decepticons to be more preferable than this conversation.

She said nothing, she simply turned away and tried very hard not to show how nervous she was.

She was failing. Miserably.

Her reaction was all the answer Jack needed.

"Miko...it's ok. It's not like I didn't...well, I didn't actually know for sure," Jack said.

Miko turned back to look at him. "How?"

"Honestly, you seemed familiar to me, I just couldn't put my finger on it."

Miko frowned. "How could you not have recognized me?"

"Because you were a mess Miko and you seemed like a completely different person. I've always known you as someone so full of life and energy, not at all like that girl I found on top of that parking garage more than two years ago."

Miko clenched her eyes and bit her lip. Jack put a comforting hand on her shoulder, which made her shudder a bit.

"How long...?"

"How long have I known?" Jack said. "I only suspected and I suspected for some time. Yesterday's events gave me pause and you just confirmed it to me, judging by how you reacted."

"When did you first suspect, as you put it, that that girl who you stopped from killing herself was me?" Miko asked shakily.

"The day we met the Autobots," Jack said.

"Seriously?!" Miko cried. "Why didn't you say anything?"

"I thought you'd want that topic left alone and I didn't want to risk opening up old wounds."

Miko sighed. "That's thoughtful."

"But I can see that that old wound has never been fully treated, seeing what happened yesterday," Jack said grimly.

Miko winced at that.

"But my mom has already covered all that hasn't she?" Jack asked. Then he smiled. "I never seen you so radiant."

Miko felt her heart melt.

God, that smile of his.

They held each other's gaze for a moment, both smiling at each other, at least until Jack realized what they were doing. He cleared his throat before he continued. "Let's just cut to the chase, are you really ok Miko?"

"Sure. Mostly," Miko said but she did not sound entirely certain.

And Jack seemed to catch this. "Why did you call me the night before?"

"Just wanted to talk is all," Miko said a little too quickly.

"In the middle of the night?" Jack asked with a raised eyebrow. "And you tried to call me at least six times?"

Miko was starting to sweat. She managed to resist the temptation of twiddling her forefingers or biting her lip.

It's now or never.

"I just really wanted to talk to you."

"Why?" Jack asked. "Why me?"

Miko prodded her forefingers together as she looked downward, only momentarily making eye contact with Jack before looking downward again.

Jack gulped and then he spoke. "Maybe we can about talk more about this over breakfast tomorrow?"

Miko finally looked up at him, but with longing. "Or maybe...dinner?" she said almost instinctively.

Jack's face turned red and his mouth dropped open.

Upon realizing what she said, Miko's face turned many shades redder. "Wait! I mean dinner as in-"

"Ok."

Miko stopped rambling almost instantly. "Wh-What?" she asked as though she did not hear correctly.

"Dinner would be great," Jack said, although there was still some redness in his cheeks.

"Really?" Miko said almost disbelievingly.

"Sure but we have to plan it carefully since we're in hiding and all."

"Oh right," Miko said as she yawned.

Jack chuckled. "We'd better turn in for the night or we won't wake up in time for breakfast."

Miko giggled. "Yeah, still hard to believe we've got our own rooms now."

"Me neither. Thank you Fowler and Dr. Sumdac."

As they scaled down the ladder of the catwalk, Miko's heart was doing somersaults.

If I had known it'd be this easy, I would've talked to him sooner.


"Ratchet!"

Ratchet turned from the main console to see Rafael rushing over towards him.

"Rafael, why aren't you in bed?" Ratchet asked.

"Have my belongings along with everyone else's been checked for electronic listening devices, cameras, or tracking devices?" Rafael asked without missing a beat.

Ratchet recoiled as if he was struck. "F-Fowler assured us that they were checked. Besides even if they were, no signal, no radio waves of any kind could penetrate or leave this silo base."

"What about recording devices then, for when we no longer need to stay here and are sent back to our homes, outside the base. Anything that was said or heard would be retrieved later on. Besides, how do we know the guys who brought them here were not MECH spies and that they haven't found a way to bypass these silo walls in order to get a signal out?"

Ratchet looked like he was about to blow a gasket. Why hadn't he considered this? He needed to move fast, lest the base becomes compromised if it hasn't already.

Ratchet immediately punched a number of keys on the main console in order to reach a certain contact.

"Arcee! Come to Central Command and hurry! It is urgent!"

In a manner of seconds, a great whirring sound of wheels at high speed could be heard and was getting louder. And no sooner that it was heard, Arcee appeared in her vehicle form and transformed.

"What's the situation Ratchet," Arcee asked battle-ready.

Ratchet quickly reached for a wrist-mounted device from a compartment on his chassis and handed it to Arcee.

"Put this on so that you can transform. You'll get to the human barracks faster. Scan every room for listening devices, recording devices and anything of the sort. Don't ask questions, just do it and don't say a word while you're doing it. Go Arcee!"

Alarmed and confused, Arcee acted quickly. She nodded in understanding, transformed and rode away to the human barracks.

Rafael, still looking stricken, looked up at Ratchet and said, "That device you gave Arcee, if there are bugs, she will find them?"

"And short them out in the bargain. You needn't worry Rafael, they cannot track us. If there was something that allowed MECH to bypass our base's walls, our instruments would detect it. We'll be fine."

Rafael let out a breath he didn't realize he was holding in as relief washed over him.

Ratchet smiled down at him. "That was very thought of Rafael, you ought to be commended."

Raf chuckled. "Actually, no Ratchet. It was Vince who thought of it first."

Ratchet almost choked with surprise. "The bully?"

"Former bully Ratchet," Raf said. "It's been months since he's ever picked on anyone, not even me. He gave five-hundred dollars today to replace the laptop he broke, remember? You were there."

Ratchet harrumphed. "Material compensation does not make up for years of petty offenses."

"No, but I believe he's trying to make right Ratchet. Besides, he doesn't have to in my case."

"And why is that?" Ratchet asked.

"Because I already forgiven him," Raf said.

"Why?" Ratchet asked. "Why forgive him?"

"Because unforgiveness is poison Ratchet. My mama always taught me that unforgiveness is fertile soil for the root of bitterness, a root which can strangle your heart."

Ratchet seemed puzzled. "I'm not sure I understand Rafael."

"It means unforgiveness and bitterness will destroy you, corrupt you. And I wouldn't wish that on anyone," Raf said resolutely. "Mama also taught me that hurt people hurt."

"I'm sorry Rafael, your planet's turn of phrases still elude me somewhat."

"Those who hurt people have been hurt themselves in their life, which includes Vince apparently."

"That doesn't make what he did to you right," Ratchet said bitterly.

Rafael looked Ratchet dead in the optic, not looking the least bit fearful.

"I know that but it doesn't matter now," Rafael said. "What matters is whether or not we move forward from this. We don't need to add more hurt when there's already been too much hurt."

Any trace of anger or bitterness left Ratchet's face. Now he just seemed quite old but very pleased, as though he were looking upon the success of his own child. "When did you get so grown up?" Ratchet asked smiling.

Raf returned the smile. "When I got caught up in an intergalactic war."

Neither of them spoke for a moment. They just smiled at each other, sharing a loving moment.

Then Rafael's eyes widened as though he had forgotten something. He then observed the command center as though there was something missing.

"Rafael?" Ratchet said.

"Ratchet, where's Optimus? He's been gone for a while."

"Ah yes," Ratchet said. "He and Agent Fowler are having a private conversation, very important one considering how long they've been talking."

"Should we be concerned?" Raf asked.

"You needn't worry Raf," Ratchet said reassuringly. "Whatever the topic, it's not for us to worry about. It will be in Optimus' hands since Fowler had singled him out for a private chat."

Ratchet then grimaced as a troubling thought came to mind. "I just hope that it does not involve safeguarding another human here."

Raf laughed. "Be careful what you wish for Ratchet."


"You've seen the rooms?"

"No, but Arcee told me that there all walled in but no ceilings, like cubicles. And here's the real kicker Miko, all of our things have been moved into our rooms including our beds and clothes."

Miko's eyes shot open. "What?!"

Jack held his hands up defensively. "I know, I know. But Arcee assured me that Fowler saw to it and it has been done in such a way that our location, including the bots, will not be compromised."

Miko didn't look at all happy. "Secret agents touched my guitar?!"

"Miko…"

Groaning, Miko threw her hands up. "Whatever, at least MECH can't search my room if they ever learned where I lived."

"Let's just get some sleep, I could use it and you definitely could use it," Jack said.

Miko yawned once more. "Yeah, you're right."

As they both advanced on the two different hallways leading to their respective barracks, they heard a noise steadily growing louder, the sound of a motorcycle.

"Arcee's in a rush, something must be wrong," Jack said worriedly.

Arcee did not say a word. She simply rushed into the hallway leading to the men's barracks, not bothering to transform first.

Alarmed, Jack rushed in after her while Miko followed after him.

They saw that Arcee had already entered the sleeping area as the automated steel door, which was not big enough for most of the Autobots to fit through but small enough for Arcee to squeeze through.

Just before Jack and Miko reached the room, they could see a searing sheet of red light in motion emanating from the room, very much like Ratchet's scanning device for the purpose of scanning abnormalities from his patients.

"Arcee?" Jack said as he entered the men's sleeping area. Arcee was operating a similar appliance of Ratchet's and appeared to be scanning every room, especially the three currently in use.

"What are you looking for Arcee?" Jack asked in growing alarm.

"Bugs," Arcee answered without pausing from her task.

"Bugs?!" Miko cried as she looked about herself to make sure nothing was trying to crawl on her.

Arcee sighed. "Audio bugs and anything like it."

"Should we be worried?" Jack asked.

"No, so far this room is clean," Arcee said, now making a scan on the final section of the men's barracks. "And as it turns out, it is."

Arcee then accessed her communicator. "Ratchet, men's sleeping area, including the washroom is clean. Moving on to the next one."

As Arcee was making her way out, she turned to Miko. "No girls allowed in the boy's room Miko." Arcee winked at her, smiling.

Miko raised her hands in mock surrender. "I know, I know."

"Then what are you still doing here?" cried a tired voice from one of the room's cubicles.

Miko's hair stood on end, her pigtails along with them.

"Already turned in Vince?" Jack said.

"Yup, now I'd like to get some sleep so could you escort your girlfriend out Darby?"

Jack blushed and scratched the back of his head, not saying a word. Miko however covered her face (which was many shades darker than Jack's), gradually backing out of the room.

Not noticing the extending power cable across the floor, Miko tripped over it and fell backwards with a cry.

Without thinking Jack dashed over to Miko and reached for her. Almost instinctively, she reached out for him in turn.

They grabbed each other by the hand and Jack leaned back to restore Miko's balance. The momentum of the maneuver caused Miko to crash into Jack, who held onto her tightly. It looked like the two of them would topple over, but Jack managed to keep his balance, thus preventing either of them from falling.

Both held onto each for dear life and after a moment, they seemed to relax, knowing that

"You ok?" Jack asked.

"I think so," Miko answered.

Then the sound of someone clearing their throat could be heard in the room.

Both Jack and Miko looked over to see Vince peering over from on top his personal cubicle.

"Very bad place to be getting cozy Darby," Vince said more annoyed than amused.

Jack immediately let go of Miko, while she just turned away, both still red in the face.

"I'll just go to bed then," Jack said.

"Me too."

Jack turned to go his room but-

"Wait! Jack!" Miko cried, grabbing his arm.

"What?! What is it?!" Jack exclaimed, quite startled by Miko's sudden alarm.

"Just...Just one last thing."

Jack stared at her for a moment. "Uh, what's th-OOOMF!"

Jack was interrupted in his question when Miko hugged him tightly around the middle.

"Uh, ok," Jack said awkwardly, unsure what to do or say.

Jack then noticed movement in the corner of his eye and saw that Vince was trying to get his attention. Looking annoyed, Vince was making gestures with his arms as though he were hugging air and then pointing at Miko, who was still holding onto Jack for dear life.

Oh, right.

Jack at once wrapped his arms around the girl, returning the hug. Delayed though the return was, Miko responded by snuggling her head into Jack's chest as though she would never get another chance.

"Thank you," Miko whispered, not wanting to be overheard.

"For what?" Jack asked in a low voice, sharing her sentiment.

"For saving my life back then for the first time."

Jack chuckled bashfully. "Anytime."

After what felt like an eternity, Miko released Jack from her embrace, looked him straight in his ocean-blue eyes, stood on her toes, and planted a quick peck on his cheek.

"Sleep good," she said sweetly before making a mad dash out of the room without another word.

Jack stood there dumbly, subconsciously reaching to touch the spot on his cheek where his friend just kissed him, his fingers lightly brushing it.

In his stupor, Jack had a strange feeling in the back of his mind, as though he were forgetting something. Once he realized what it was, his heart thumped as he turned to see Vince looking at him with a smirk.

Oh geez, did he see all of that? Did Miko forget he was there or did she not care?

"I didn't know you were such a stud," Vince said grinning like a Cheshire Cat.

Jack sighed, exasperated with the day he's been having. "I'm going to bed," he said, not bothering to respond to Vince's quip.

Vince shrugged his shoulders. "Sure, whatever."

He then pointed to the cubicle just beside his. "Your room is right next to mine. Can you believe it?"

"With the day we've been having?" Jack said almost humorlessly. "Why not?"


"Ratchet, both rooms are clean."

Arcee had just finished doing an emergency scan for MECH bugs of both the boy's and the girl's barracks. With the possible threat now passed, the Autobots and their diminutive allies could now rest at ease, for now.

With her report complete, Arcee shut off her communicator. She then turned to look at the humans who have been looking up at her strickenly.

"It's alright girls," Arcee said. "There are no listening devices or any spy tech of any kind in your rooms."

Katie sighed in relief but Sierra was not entirely convinced. "What about the rest of the base?" she asked. "What if bugs were hidden around the base, outside of this room, by whoever brought our belongings here?"

Arcee smiled reassuringly. "Sierra, if any spy tech was smuggled into the base, earth-based or Cybertronian, our sensors would detect them before they had a chance to be active."

"If that's true," Katie said crossing her arms, "Then why did you bother scanning our rooms at all?"

Arcee frowned slightly. "Because our sensors did not extend in the parameters of this area because it was out of bounds and of no use to us. If anyone attempted to bug this area, they'd have to get past the command center which is under constant surveillance. Even if they managed to bug this area, while it was still out of bounds, they wouldn't acquire anything any information."

Katie released yet another breath out of sheer relief. Sierra simply sat down on the floor, utterly exhausted, and she set her eyes downward.

Arcee knelt down beside her. "Sierra, are you ok?"

Sierra did not look up at her. "No, I'm not," she said coldly. "I've almost been kidnapped and killed today, twice. And now I have to go into hiding because I unwittingly walked in front of the crosshairs of some psycho government mercenary group! And now must be placed under the protection of some giant alien robots in the middle of an intergalactic war! And it was all done on my first day of the first job I had in almost a year!"

She was not screaming anymore, she was crying. The entirety of today's collective ordeals weighed down on Sierra's soul like an ocean. It was quite practically the worst day of her life.

Sierra just sat there, weeping bitterly.

"Can I...ever...have a life again?" she croaked. "I was so...happy...this morning. And then...m-my life just...falls apart before my eyes."

Suddenly, Sierra felt a pair of arms wrap around her being from behind. Whoever it was smelt of strawberries and Sierra knew that scent. Only one person wore that conditioner.

"It's ok Sierra," Katie said soothingly.

"How?" Sierra croaked. "How's it ok?"

"We're still alive. We have a chance to live. And we're not alone in this. We're safe here. We're going to face this together," Katie said as she soothingly rubbed her friend's arms.

This seemed to calm Sierra down, if only a little. Sierra slumped in Katie's arms, today's events and her breakdown completely worn her out.

Katie knew this. "Let's get you to bed sis," she said, helping Sierra to her feet.

Slowly, gradually, Katie guided Sierra by the hand, practically carrying her to her room.

Arcee watched them both go, both touched and deeply saddened at the same time.

She heard soft footsteps from behind her. Arcee slowly turned to see Miko tiptoeing in the room.

In a silent flash, Arcee was upon her, looking as unimpressed as ever.

Miko has to cover her mouth to keep herself from crying out in surprise.

Arcee leaned in close to Miko and she whispered, "Were you lurking outside this room to listen in?"

"No," Miko whispered in turn. "I heard someone crying and saw that Sierra was...well...having a hard time, so I stayed out of the room until she got it out of her system. I didn't hear anything other than her crying." Then Miko raised a hand and placed the other on her heart as though she was sweating an oath. "I promise, scout's honor."

Arcee chuckled a bit. "Relax Miko, I know you're not the nosy type. Just tread carefully, Sierra is in a really bad place right now."

"I noticed."

"Now then, I'm going to need your phone Miko," Arcee said.

"What? Why?" Miko asked.

"Because MECH may be able to tap or trace your phone calls, even the phones themselves, which could be why they found us at Jack's house so quickly. Ratchet can modify them so they cannot be traced or tapped. I already picked up the girls' phones, I just need yours."

Hesitantly, Miko pulled out her phone and handed it to Arcee.

"Thank you," Arcee said. "Now go get some sleep, we have a big day ahead of us."

"Yes I do," Miko said smiling to herself and then she yawned. "Goodnight Arcee."

"Goodnight Miko."

And with that, Arcee placed Miko's cellphone in a storage compartment in her hip and she walked out of the room.

Turning to retire to her new room, Miko looked down the hall of cubicles and saw that certain doors were name for those who would be staying in them. Her room was so named as such: MIKO NAKADAI. This was clearly her room.

And it would seem that Sierra's room was right next to hers while Katie's was right next to Sierra's. Miko groaned at the implications of this arrangement.

I'll have to be quiet then.

Miko entered her room and wonder took of how well the room was arranged. It was if she was back in her old house.

Whoa. Talk about authentic service.


Optimus Prime was in his personal chambers with the door locked and the room set to privacy mode, which is an electronic setting, Cybertronian in origin, for the room to prevent any sound or radio waves of any sort from exiting the room. A security precaution for occasions just like this one, for exchanges of the utmost importance, so important that nothing can be left to chance, should there be a risk of being overheard by those who have no business listening. A double precaution of sorts.

And this was such an exchange which does not often happen, especially when it involves Optimus Prime and his human liaison to the United States government.

"You're absolutely certain about this Agent Fowler?" Optimus said gravely.

"I am Prime," Fowler said.

Agent Fowler sounded quite professional but Optimus Prime, discerning and insightful as one who possesses the collective wisdom of the Primes, could see that it was taking a great deal of strength for Fowler to not show any sign of anguish and fear on his face or in his voice.

William Fowler was deeply shaken.

"And I wouldn't be coming to you Prime if there was another way."

"There is none other you can trust Agent Fowler?" Optimus asked.

Fowler shook his head mournfully. "Not enough to stand against MECH or, God forbid, the Decepticons. I cannot risk transporting him unless at least one of your bots escort him."

Optimus said nothing. He simply stared at Agent Fowler, his expression unreadable.

Fowler clenched the thighs of his suit slacks, his anxiety getting the better of him.

"Prime," he said, his voice starting to break. "I...I never begged a favor of anyone...but now…"

Optimus Prime was not one to easily surprise, being as focused and disciplined as he is. However, he was not prepared for what Fowler was about to do.

Optimus' eyes widened as Agent William Fowler dropped to his knees before him.

"I'm begging you Prime," Fowler said. "He's all I got. He's my family, my only family."

There were tears in his eyes but he didn't care.

"Please Prime, I will do everything in my power, pull whatever strings I got to, call in every favor if you just...just take him and keep him safe...please."

Optimus Prime, utterly saddened by Fowler's humble and desperate plea, dropped down on one knee and offered him a finger to help him to his feet.

Fowler looked up at Prime, tears rolling down his cheeks. Hesitantly, he took hold of the Prime's digit and Optimus ever so gently lifted him to his feet.

"Agent Fowler, that will not be necessary. And you needn't beg."

Fowler inhaled sharply and then he smiled. "You mean...you will…?"

Optimus nodded and smiled as well. "Yes."

Fowler burst into silent tears as he embraced the giant finger, much to Optimus' discomfort.

"Thank you…" Fowler croaked. "Thank you Prime...I don't know what to say."

"You don't have to say anything," Optimus said. "Agent Fowler?"

"Yeah Prime?"

Optimus cleared his throat and gently tugged the digit that Fowler was still holding on to.

"Oh!" Fowler exclaimed, immediately letting go of the Prime's finger. "Sorry about that," Fowler said sheepishly.

"It's quite alright," Optimus said. "Now then, when will your son be ready to depart Agent Fowler?"

"Immediately."

To be continued...