Hello, readers!

I hope I did a fair job of portraying Optimus. Let me know if he seems at all out of character and I'll see what I can do to fix it. uwu I'm really fond of the scene with the child. I always wanted to make a truck honk but I was way to shy to attempt it.

Funny story, though, I was driving to the mall with my husband a couple weeks ago to pick up Stormfly from the Build-a-Bear and I guess this trucker realized how nervous I was driving next to him because he honked his horn at me and then laughed when I freaked out. I didn't see him laugh but my husband said he was losing his shit.

Whatever you gotta to do entertain yourself on those long hours, I guess haha.

This chapter has been updated as of 3/16/16.

~ Crayola

Chapter Fourteen

All the Miles

Falling.

I was falling.

My body jerked and I picked my head up off the vinyl surface it was resting on. Rather, peeled it off. I looked around through half-opened eyes and pushed myself up onto my hands. Nothing I was seeing looked familiar and I tried to recall where I was. I tried to shed the fog of sleep and figure out why I was in a truck cab.

Truck cab.

The truck drove over a pot hole or a bump in the road and my body jerked with it, making me realize it wasn't falling I had felt earlier. I propped myself up on my arms and crawled backwards into the corner, crouched over. "Jazz? Jazz!"

"Easy, easy," a familiar voice said through the radio, making my head snap in that direction. "You're safe, Kathryn. What's wrong?"

For a moment I stared at the dashboard, then I sat up straight with my legs curled under me. I blinked more sleep from my eyes and rubbed at them with a closed fist. Optimus. Optimus had let me sleep in his cab last night. I yawned and wiped some drool from the corner of my mouth.

"I'm okay, sorry. Just woke up a bit confused I guess," I murmured, voice still heavy with sleep.

"One of your. . .human dreams?"

"Hmm?" I gave that a bit of thought. Faint memories of metal hands, a cube wearing old glasses, and a barking robot dog disappeared into a mist and I shook my head. "No. Maybe. I'm alright now."

I swung my legs over the side of the cot and slipped my shoes back on. Another yawn left me as I stretched my arms over my head, making my vertebrae pop in a couple places. Then I got up and moved toward the front so I could take my place in one of the seats. "Where we are we right—ahh!"

There was a person sitting in the driver's seat. I stumbled back in surprise and tripped over the passenger seat, landing in a huddled heap, back against the door and legs bunched up.

"Who the hell!"

The person flickered like a TV with bad signal and I stared at him, bewildered. He didn't look at me, just kept staring at the road with his hands on the wheel. He was completely average-looking: salt and pepper hair, sunglasses, a gray snap back ball cap, and a hideous, plaid flannel shirt.

"Ah, apologies. I didn't mean to startle you. It's just a hologram."

Said hologram flickered again, and I straightened myself in the chair, head tilted. "A hologram?"

"My windows are not as dark as the other Autobots. I created this hologram so it did not look like a truck was driving itself. Was I too cautious?" Optimus asked. I noticed there was no music at all, not even quietly like when I was riding with Jazz.

I leaned forward and reached out with my hand to run it through the man's arm. It shimmered and I felt a strange current, but sure enough it was a hologram and not a real man.

"No, it's fine. Who is this?" I asked, unable to look away from the strange vision.

"A man I passed a few hours ago. He was driving his own truck."

Everything about it was weird. The more I stared at it the more uncanny it was and I had to look away. "Like the cop car. . .Barricade."

"He used a hologram?"

"Yeah," I said. "Some guy with a mustache."

"It is a valid strategy to keep from being noticed."

His speech was so formal I felt a little uneasy talking to him, like I was in an interview or a conference meeting. I fidgeted in the passenger seat and tried to get a feel for where we were. As far as I could tell we were on a freeway, but I didn't know what direction we were going and all I saw was open range—no landmarks to navigate by.

And I didn't see the other Autobots, either.

"Where are we?" I asked, leaning to see into the side view mirror. All I saw was my own harried reflection. I tried to fix my hair. "Where are the others?"

"They are behind us. We had to move early this morning, as your government was once more on patrol. Once we reach the next town we will stop and try to figure out where the All Spark is. Do you have the glasses?"

I leaned back in the seat and straightened my clothes and hair. "They're in Jazz' glove box. Why didn't you wake me?"

"Ratchet informed me that you were stressed and would need your sleep."

That guy was riding my nerves. I knew he meant well, but the fact that he was scanning me all the time and monitoring my vitals had me on edge. He wasn't asking permission, first of all. I was seconds away from complaining but decided to keep quiet. It was probably a good thing someone was paying attention to my health. Heaven knows I wasn't.

Still, I wished I was riding with Jazz. Optimus was nice, but it was like trying to have a conversation with a stuffy businessman.

"Are you hungry?"

"No," I replied. "Not right now, anyway. I can wait until we get into town."

"It will only be thirty minutes."

I nodded absently and looked out the window at all the nothing. Every now and again the monotony was broken up with an oil pumpjack or some cows, but it was a boring drive and Optimus seemed perfectly fine with sitting in silence.

"There is a child here that is making a strange gesture," Optimus announced after about fifteen minutes had passed.

"Hmm?" I tore my gaze from a lonely tree and looked around for the kid. "Where?"

"In front of us."

At first I didn't see him, but finally I spotted some movement in a car in front of us. It was a little boy, maybe eight or nine. He was pumping his fist in the rear windshield. I smiled and sat back in my seat. "He wants you to honk your horn."

"Why?"

I shrugged. "I don't know. Trucks have a cooler horn than most cars, I guess."

Optimus was silent one second, then his horn was blaring the next. It startled me and the child in the car, but after it passed the kid was bouncing around in excitement.

"Aw look at that, you made his day."

"I am glad I could bring him joy."

The fact that he sounded so genuine made me smile, and I continued to do so even as the more-comfortable-than-before silence spanned. He took a lot of stock in us humans, though for the life of me I couldn't figure out why. Had my great grandpa and his crew left that big of an impression, or had Optimus seen something else?

*:･ﾟ✧

Eventually the half hour passed and Optimus pulled off into a Shell gas station. I almost insisted he stop somewhere else, but I didn't want to make a fuss.

So a few strangers would think I was a hitchhiker. At least I didn't look like I was homeless.

"Thanks for letting me chill, Optimus. It was nice talking to you," I said with a smile. It wasn't a platitude, either. He wasn't much for idle conversation, but he was kind and polite.

"You're welcome, Kathryn. Don't be long."

"I won't." I shut his door behind me and scampered into the gas station to take care of business and bought a bagel sandwich with egg and sausage from the store. Jazz was waiting in a front parking spot when I left and I took residence in his driver's seat once more.

He followed the others out once I was seated and said, "How'd ya sleep?"

"Fine, thank you. A notch below my own bed, even," I teased, grinning around my meal.

"See? Told ya ya din't need t'be afraid'a ol' Prime."

Rolling my eyes, I retorted, "Don't make me 'accidentally' spill my drink all over your interior."

"You wouldn'!"

"Don't test me," I chirped. Before he could reply I changed the subject. "I feel kinda bad."

"Bout what?"

I shrugged and picked up a stray crumb from my jeans. "I drooled all over his cot."

There was a pause followed by a suppressed bout of snickering. "Ya drooled when ya was sleepin' in here, too. But it fine, Optimus ain't said nothing."

"Yeah, alright."

Jazz let me finish eating in peace and not soon after we set out, Optimus led us into the meeting place he chose. It was at the far edge of the city, whatever city it was we were in. A large observatory was nestled away from the pollution of light and smog, empty during the day when the stars could not easily be seen.

After a quick scout, Jazz and Ironhide determined it was safe and the band of Autobots drove around the back of the sand-colored building where any lookie-loos wouldn't be able to spot us.

They transformed into their biped forms and Jazz picked me up to set me down on the first roof level. I stood back until Optimus approached and asked for the glasses. I'd already pulled them from Jazz' glove box and held them out to him—the lenses were cracked and the frame was bent, but they'd been cracked already when Optimus had given them to me the night before. Hopefully the bent frame wouldn't ruin anything.

"Thank you, Kathryn," he said with a nod.

"You're welcome," I murmured as he turned away.

"Please. . .let this work," he intoned.

Jazz had climbed a level higher than me atop the observatory and I glanced up at him as he spoke. "Fire it up, Optimus."

As if he needed prompting. The Autobot leader turned and lifted the glasses out at arm's length. He focused on the lenses and scanned them with a light from his optic receptors. When they hit the lenses, a huge hologram of Earth projected from the glass.

"The code. . . . The code indicates that the All Spark is 230 miles from our current location."

230 miles. I rubbed my face with my hand and sighed. If I ever had to take another road trip after this was all done, it would be too soon.

He dropped his hand and the hologram disappeared with a flicker.

"The Decepticons will be preparing to mobilize. I can feel it in my circuits," Ratchet said, turning to Ironhide who stepped up next to him.

Ironhide nodded. "It's only a matter of time before they figure out where it is, too."

"Wha' 'bout Bumblebee?" Jazz demanded. "We can' jus' leave 'im t'die and become some sorta human experiment."

I turned to Optimus. "He's right, Optimus. They'll torture him and take him apart. The way it works here is if it's not human, it has no rights. At least Sam and Mikaela will just be held in a cell for a while and questioned."

"If we don't move now and get to the All Spark before the Decepticons, this whole planet will die and Bumblebee's sacrifice to save the children will have been in vain." Optimus shook his head and handed me the spectacles again. I carefully tucked them into my pocket. "He is a brave soldier, this is what he would want."

"But why are we fighting to save the humans in the first place?" Ironhide argued. "They're a primitive and violent race!"

Jazz gave him a sour look and Ironhide cleared his vents. "Present company excluded."

"It's alright," I said, lifting my hand. It wasn't that alright, but I knew what he meant.

Optimus turned to face us again. "We were not so different, Ironhide. They are a young species and have much to learn. But we have seen goodness in them, have we not?"

Everyone nodded—well, Ironhide still didn't look convinced—and I felt like this was a conversation I wasn't really supposed to be hearing. Like I was a third wheel eavesdropping. I couldn't imagine what "goodness" he was talking about besides my great-grandpa, so what else had they seen of us and our species?

Their interaction with humans was limited to our government attacking Bumblebee and Jazz when they first arrived, and then finally capturing Bumblebee and kidnapping the three of us humans.

Though I suppose since they had badges it wasn't really "kidnapping."

Still felt like it.

And if they spent so much time learning about us from the internet, I was one hundred percent certain that there was more bad things on the internet than good. Maybe if they managed to stay away from the dark side of the internet they'd seem some good. Maybe he'd seen a bunch of those "faith in humanity restores" posts.

"Freedom," Optimus said, "is the right of all sentient beings. You all know there's only one way to end this war: we must destroy the Cube."

That statement hung in the air for a moment like a ticking bomb.

Wasn't that their planet's power source? The very thing that created them?

"If all else fails, I will unite it with the Spark in my chest."

"That's suicide!" Ratchet finally said, outraged. "The Cube is raw power. Doing that could destroy you both!"

I lifted my hand and stepped forward. "Woah woah that sounds like a stupid idea. Just jettison the thing back out into space or something and make them go chase it down somewhere else," I suggested. "That worked last time, right?"

"No," Optimus sighed, turning toward me. "That won't stop the war, just move it somewhere else. I predict Megatron would just bring it back, as well. Your technology is perfect for transforming into our kind. He wants to build a new army."

"Oh." I leaned back against the wall Jazz was standing on and ducked my head. "I remember you saying that now."

"Optimus ya still can' be serious," Jazz said, making me look up at him. He was so much shorter than the other Autobots, I kind of understood why he was standing up on the building where he could be eye-level with the others.

My poor, tiny guardian.

"It's a necessary sacrifice," Optimus said, turning his head away from the others. "to make sure that the human's don't pay for our mistakes."

I shook my head and furrowed my brow. "I'm sure there's a better way."

It seemed to fall on deaf ears. Optimus glanced down at me momentarily, then turned back to his Autobots. "It's been an honor serving with you all."

"Hang on now," I said, lifting my hands. I looked around for some sort of support from the others, but each of them was hanging their heads, resigned. "You're acting like you're already marching to your death or something!"

Ratchet leaned down toward me. "We very well could be, Kathryn."

"This is war," Ironhide added, some bit to his tone.

Optimus nodded and faced the scenery, squaring his shoulders. "Autobots, roll out." He punctuated the command by taking off toward the road and transforming.

Jazz jumped down from the wall and I watched the other two Autobots follow their leader, feeling a deep helplessness. They were all ready to charge out into a fight their leader seemed so determined to kill himself in. Maybe this mindset was why I never signed up for the military. . .I just couldn't imagine it.

That and the idea of being yelled at for several months during boot camp was anything but appealing. But that's beside the point.

"Don' worry little miss," Jazz said, startling me.

I shook my head at him. "You can't be okay with this, with Optimus' plan, right? There has to be another way."

He shrugged and picked me up gingerly before jogging to catch up with the others.

"He's our leader. We trust his judgment."

"Unconditionally?" I marveled.

"Sometimes," he chuckled. He tucked me in toward his chest with both arms and his form shifted around me. Metal clanked in my ears and spun close to my head, but I was ultimately tossed into the driver's seat without harm.

My breath left in a shudder and I glared at the windshield. "I hate it when you do that."

All he did was snicker in response.

*:･ﾟ✧

"You know where we're headed?" I asked, fidgeting with the station dials. No matter where I turned it, I couldn't get a proper signal to listen to anything.

We were driving right behind Optimus, the other two Autobots following close behind. I had suggested letting Rachet drive out front since he had sirens we could use to clear the path, but they hadn't seemed interested in that.

Jazz was silent at first, but soon he replied. "I'm not sure. Somethin's messin' wit' yer relays. . .I think it's some sorta dam, big tourist attraction. Doesn't make any sense though."

"Do you mean the Hoover Dam? And what doesn't make any sense?"

His frame vibrated and he vented air in an irritated gush, disturbing my hair. "We can' sense th' AllSpark, but we getting' so close. They have it hidden somewhere tha's blocking it's signature. Tha's why we needed th'glasses."

"That's how Sector Seven lured you and Bumblebee out, right? You said they duplicated the signal somehow."

"Ye'h," Jazz said.

"Gotta watch out for us humans," I murmured, leaning back into my seat.

"Y'all're crafty."

Once more I tried the radio, but for all my efforts I earned only static. Groaning, I crossed my arms over my chest and complained. "You said something's messing with our relays or something. Is that why I can't get a radio station? Some sort of signal jammer?"

He replied, "Pr'y th'Decepticons. They gettin' ready t'make their move so they blocking all communication. We can' hardly communicate wit' each other if we weren't this close."

"Oh, right, you guys can talk to each other like computers can, right? Sending signals?"

"Tha's right, little miss."

"You guys have your own language?"

"Course."

"Say something!" I requested, unsure why it made me feel so excited.

For a second Jazz remained quiet and I thought maybe he was thinking of something to say. Then, the radio exploded into life. It rang like feedback from two phones being too close while in a call. I flinched away from the speakers and the sound changed into something akin to a crashing dial tone, then a demonic grinding of gears into strange syllables.

It took everything I had to keep from slapping my hands over my ears, but I didn't want to be rude when I was the one who asked.

Luckily, Jazz finished whatever he was saying and the noise died down.

"Holy shit what did you say?" I asked, trying to ignore the ringing in my ears.

"Sorry, I was a li'l loud. Bu' I said 'this is what Cybertronian sounds like.'"

I shook my head and said, "That's crazy. How are you even able to speak English?"

"We c'n make our vocal processors move however we wanna. We ain't limited in biology like y'all are. We more flexible."

"That's one way of putting it," I muttered under my breath. Considering the shapes and sizes they contorted themselves into on a regular basis simply changing from vehicle mode to bipedal mode, it wasn't so farfetched.

The further into Nevada we drove, the more the surrounding scenery turned into a grassland desert. It was surprising how dry it was when the Hoover Dam was a mere couple hours away. Vegetation was starting to become more plentiful as we moved closer to the Colorado River, but it was mostly barren hills and tumbleweeds.

"No radio, no scenery. . .we're not even close enough to see Las Vegas from a distance. . .gonna be a long drive," I sighed, tilting my head back.

"Be glad fo th'downtime. Gonna get rough today."

"How rough?" I asked, narrowing my eyes at the dashboard.

Jazz remained silent for a couple of seconds, then sighed. "The Decepticons won' practice restraint. They destroy anything an' anyone tha' tries t'stop 'em. I have half a mind t'take ya and drive far away once Optimus' got the cube."

Crossing my arms over my chest, I glared at him. "You can't do that."

Even though the objection left me easy enough, the thought of being a bystander or—heaven forbid—a participant in an alien war didn't particularly appeal to me. In fact, it scared me to death.

"An' why not?"

"There are already so few of you here. You can't just abandon your team like that."

"Ye'h bu' I can' leave ya alone in some town, either. I got a job t'do—I gotta protect ya," Jazz countered, tone matter-of-fact.

My selfish side begged me to agree, to tell him to drive the other way and keep me safe. That I wanted to be about as close to the fighting as he wanted me to be. I was only one person, though, and I couldn't hoard Jazz to myself when his comrades needed him.

"Sure you can," I argued. "I'm a big girl. I can find some way to entertain myself."

"We won' know f'sure where the Decepticons'll strike," he pointed out, an edge to his voice. "I can' promise where I drop ya'll be safe."

Though I knew it pointless to argue, I wanted to come to a compromise somehow. "Well you know where the cube is. Just leave me in the nearest city and go get it, then lead the Decepticons far, far away from there."

He growled, "I don' wanna leave ya."

"Well you can't ditch the Autobots so you'll just have to bring me!"

"You'll be in danger!"

So I leaned back and closed my eyes. I would regret it, but I couldn't just think about myself like a scared child. "You'll just have to protect me while kicking some Decepticon ass, then. Optimus would never agree to your absence and you would be miserable missing a fight!"

Jazz was silent for a few minutes while he mulled the thought around in his head. When he spoke, it was with a sharpness and seriousness I'd yet to hear. "You gotta listen to everything I say, got it? A lot's gonna be happening an' I don' want you making a misstep. You can follow orders if it means saving your life, right?"

"Of course I can. I don't have a death wish," I retorted. "And I'm not that stubborn. I don't have an issue with authority."

"You was bein' pretty sassy with them agents that picked ya up at Sam's."

Sassy?

Rolling my eyes I said, "That's different! They were being jackasses and were taking me against my will! It should be by no means a measure of how well I can take an order."

"Jus' promise you'll be careful?" Jazz said after a moment.

I smiled and nodded. "I promise, Jazz. I'm not ready to die yet."

"Good," Jazz sighed. "I'm not ready t'lose ya yet."

The words stirred emotions I hadn't been expecting and I turned away from the dashboard. I couldn't think of anything to say in response so I let his proclamation hang there. After a moment, I set my forehead against his window and closed my eyes.

"Just don't let anyone step on me."

He laughed and I pulled away with a smile, carefully wiping off the smudge I'd left on the glass.