Chapter 12

Opening the base doors, Maria immediately flopped onto the nearest couch. Sideswipe glided in behind her, sliding about as if he was still avoiding the police. He smiled and laughed as he spun around the computers and over items in the main room. Maria groaned, hoping her car sickness would go away soon. Toni walked in, chuckling at the sight of the two.

"Rough ride?" she offered to Maria.

"Never again," mumbled Maria.

"I thought it was fun," smiled Sideswipe, stopping his skating.

"How fast?" Toni asked, looking to Sideswipe.

"What ever do you mean," he mumbled, looking away and crossing his arms.

"Sides," persisted Toni. "How fast?"

"Near a hundred," he nodded, slipping toward the door.

"How near?" Toni hummed, crossing her arms. "You do remember what Prime told you, don't you."

"I'm not supposed to go over 150, and I didn't!" argued Sideswipe, slinking closer to the door.

"How close were you to over 150?" sighed Toni.

"Close," he smiled, dashing off.

"Sideswipe!" called Toni, running slightly after him.

She waved him off, returning to Maria. The latter was still flopped on the couch, her face mashed into one of the cushions. She grumbled to herself, her words not leaving the seat. Toni rolled her eyes, sitting on the armrest. She pulled her friends head up.

"Rough ride?" she repeated.

"Never again," was the same reply.

"How fast did he go?" Toni asked.

"150 on the dot," nodded Maria.

"I'll get Ironhide to hunt him down later," smiled Toni.

"Something happened at the store, Toni," mumbled Maria, slowly sitting up.

"Like what?" perked Toni.

"An explosion. One of the walls was destroyed," Maria explained.

"Tell me it wasn't Sides," groaned Toni.

"It wasn't. He was with me…sort of," sighed Maria.

"Any other weird things?"

"We were chased for part of the trip back," nodded Maria.

"What type of car?" gasped Toni.

"Um…I don't…" stuttered Maria.

"Right," sighed Toni, leaning back, "You don't know much about cars."

"Sorry," whispered Maria.

"Anything else?"

Maria paused a moment to think the trip over. Besides the race and the explosion, everything else was normal, she recalled. Oh wait! The mystery man. She thought over his appearance once more. The ghostly pale skin and dark hair. The moment around the story. Maria shivered. It was almost like replaying a horror movie in her head.

"Nope," Maria whispered, looking toward the door.

"Fine, if you say so," sighed Toni, standing up.

"So," hummed Maria, changing subjects. "Got any food around here?"

"Sure, but most of it migrates to Gus's room," shrugged Toni, pointing toward the halls.

"Wonderful," smiled Maria, standing up.

"Want to head that way?" Toni offered.

"No, I think I'll take a nap and change," nodded Maria.

"If you say so," shrugged Toni, heading for the halls. "I'll make sure Gus doesn't eat all the good stuff."

Maria smiled lightly, watching Toni leave. As soon as she was gone, Maria left out a yawn and stretched. Scratching the back of her head, she moved toward her room. The base seemed quiet enough. She didn't pass by anyone along the way to her room. She caught a glimpse of Liz but other than that the base seemed empty.

Reaching her room, Maria fell right to sleep, leaving her bag of clothes on the floor. The covers were tossed onto the floor. The pillow was pressed up against her head, indented slightly. Her eyes fluttered as her dreams slowly played around with her thoughts. Her necklace, almost forgotten during the day of change, glittered unnaturally. The nightmare began again.

Maria tried hard to blank out most of it. She tried hard to change it. She rushed through the halls, trying to find Toni. The creaks of the walls and ceilings pulled at her. She was afraid to lose her friends. She took different halls, remembering the blueprints of the building. She found the main room.

The central computer was destroyed, broken into millions of different pieces. Several unknown bots and known bots were knocked out on the floor, among the shattered remains on the door. Fire blazed around near the entrance. Maria slowly walked around. She noted Ironhide and Bumblebee unconscious. Nearing the entrance she heard a voice.

Maria?

She looked back. Her gasp echoed quietly through the dream. Sideswipe struggled to sit up, pressing both hands down to help. It didn't work. He collapsed back down. She moved toward him, trying to prove he wasn't badly harmed or worse. His hands moved slightly and his eyes flickered blue. Otherwise he wasn't moving.

Sideswipe…

Her voice sounded off beat and foreign. Her mouth moved and a moment later was followed by sounds. She'd never felt such a weird dream. There was something almost drawing her toward the entrance of the base. Glancing over, she saw a familiar mystery. The odd man with baggy jacket, pale skin, and emotionless expression watched her. His eyes were bright red. She felt something pull her along, slowly slinking toward the outside world.

Maria…don't…

Maria could barely hear Sideswipe behind her. The man before her tilted his head, still showing no expression. Maria felt her body growing warm, as if the heat of the desert was trying to push her back inside. As if it tried to warn her not to leave the safety of the base. Her footsteps reached the sand, touching its soft and yielding ground. The man looked straight again.

Maria felt the connection snap. Waking out of dream into a dream…Maria couldn't help but feel the word inception on the edge of her tongue. She looked back at the remains of the base, watching the ceiling getting removed. She spun around, remembering Toni from the previous dream. She felt a hand grab her by the arm. It stung as it gripped her. She screamed but it faded into the dust. She looked back. The man had a tight hold on her arm, still no emotion in his face.

Autobot…

A voice cackled from above. Maria didn't bother to look up. She was more concerned with the death grip she was being given. The man pulled her further from the base. She wailed, feeling the tears start to form. The man finally showed a small smile, his red eyes glittering. A shadow fell over them. Maria screamed once more. darkness fell over the wall, all faded away. Maria opened her eyes, finding herself on the edge of the bed. She was panting heavily.

"Just…just a dream," she sobbed, sitting up to rub her eyes. "Just a dream, nothing more."

She stopped, looking down at her arm. If it had been a dream, why was her arm red?