A/N: Jesus Christ on a merry-go-round! 99 reviews you guys! You don't know how freaked I was when I saw that. Thanks a million!
On to the next chapter!
Finding the roads that lead to Tranquility with ease, Burnout sped along the interstate. Hardly paying attention to any of the human speed limit laws. Only when she detected the signal from a local law enforcer's 'radar gun' did she slow down to the necessary speed. It really was an annoyance, but Optimus Prime had made it very clear that she, along with all the other Autobots, abide by their new home's laws.
Checking the day and time, Burnout concluded that the two humans, Sam and Mikaela, were just getting to their place of education that they so lovingly referred to as 'school.'
'Which means Bee will be there.' She thought as she pulled off the main highway and into the small town of Tranquility. She was careful to start up her hologram that Hound had helped her learn how to use. Entering the town, she took her time. This was her first visit to Tranquility, this was actually her first time in a human development and she wanted to take in all that there was to see.
Eventually making it over to the high school, Bee contacted her before she even turned into the student parking lot. He issued a greeting then a mental question mark.
"I was bored and needed some fresh air." She explained, pulling up beside him.
"And you decide to grace me with your presence, I'm honored." Bumblebee joked.
They talked idly for a large portion of the day, the only time they paused in their discussion was when the parking lot security guard came by and put a note on her windshield.
"Damn kids should know by now that they need a parking permit before they can start parking their vehicles here." He grumbled, "Nice car though, little snob's parents must be loaded."
Bumblebee chuckled, "You don't know how many times I've been chased by that guy, then it's really funny when he confronts Sam about leaving school early."
Burnout laughed, she could imagine the confused boy trying to explain that he had been at school the whole time.
"It's a good thing his parents know about us, he would probably be in trouble a lot. If you thought the wrath of Ironhide or Ratchet was bad, wait till you piss of a pair of human parents."
--
"Isn't that Burnout?" Mikaela pointed out the light blue Lotus with a pretty dirty blonde woman, maybe in her mid twenties, sitting on the hood. The image waved to the two, signaling them to come over. A sun-bleached blond was standing next to her; he had long messy locks that Mikaela always described as the 'surfer look.'
"This is a surprise." Sam smiled to their friends.
"So we get the pleasure of hanging out with you this afternoon?" Mikaela asked the femme's hologram, eyes sparkling. She liked Burnout a lot, the base was much more welcoming to her now that there was another female for her to spend some time with. The mechs are great and all, but they were still mechs.
"Burnout was tired of being cooped up at base and decided to come pay us a visit." Bee explained to the humans.
"Not that we are much more interesting, especially on a Monday night." Sam complained.
Mikaela laughed, "that's right, you've got a history report to finish, you could have been smart like me and got it over and done with a week ago."
"Does this mean you're not going to help me at the library today?" The boy whined.
Mikaela nodded her head; "I'm going to hang out with Burnout, if that's okay of coarse?" She shot the hologram a questioning look.
Burnout laughed, "of coarse."
--
"Sam didn't seem too happy about you leaving him." Burnout commented as they pulled up to a building Mikaela had referred to as 'the mall'.
"Well he needs to learn to do some things on his own, he's so clingy, I just want to get away at times." Mikaela responded a little defensively. She knew that this was a problem in their relationship, but she didn't know how to confront it yet.
Sensing that Mikaela didn't want to continue this matter Burnout changed the subject; she understood first hand what it was like to not want to talk about something. "So what exactly is this place?"
"It's where us humans go shopping, well, one of the places. It's also where people my age like to hang out and spend time with each other." Mikaela explained as she checked her hair and makeup in the visor mirror.
They walked around the mall for awhile, Burnout in her hologram form of coarse, Mikaela explained that she didn't have any money at the moment so they were going to 'window shop.' Going from store to store, Mikaela took pleasure in dressing Burnout up in all sorts of stylish outfits. At first Burnout was beyond confused about all of the different garments and underclothes, but after a few lessons from the very patient and knowledgeable Mikaela, the blonde hologram was soon laughing and picking out clothes for Mikaela to wear.
"I'm going to have to come back next week and buy that last outfit you created for me, that was really cute. You have a good taste of style."
Burnout laughed, unsure of what a taste of style meant, but she had a little notion of the phrase's meaning.
Mikaela suddenly groaned, causing Burnout to look over at her in alarm. "Are you all right Mikaela?"
"Yeah, I just saw someone who I did not want to see, and I'm afraid he saw us."
Burnout looked around, she spotted a group of males about the same age as Sam. They were all standing around a large SUV.
"That's Trent and his gang. He's an ex boyfriend of mine. I ditched him for Sam after the Mission City battle." Mikaela explained. "He's never gotten over the fact that I dumped him, he's too proud."
"Hey Mikaela! Why don't you introduce us to your friend?!" One of the boys hollered.
"She's not interested in any of you, she's way out of your league boys!" Mikaela shouted back, continuing to walk to Burnout's vehicle form.
One of them started to jog over, "Oh, boy. Here comes Trent." Mikaela sighed.
Mikaela stepped between the approaching Trent and Burnout, but Trent just rudely moved her out of the way. " Names Trent, it's a pleasure to meet you." He shoved his hand in front of Burnout's confused face.
Burnout didn't take his hand; it was a gesture she hadn't learned about and didn't know how to respond to. "Why were you so rude to Mikaela?" She asked instead.
Trent stared back at the blonde femme, "Me and Mik go a long way back, she knows I was just playing around." He covered for his actions.
Mikaela snorted and Trent looked over at her, "What's so funny Mikaela. Where's your little dork boyfriend? I think he's long overdue for me to bust his ass." Mikaela's eyes grew wide for a moment.
"You know Mikaela, I think Sam is more of a man then this overgrown sparkling. At least Sam appreciates what he's got and shows way more respect towards you and your friends." Burnout looked at Trent, he was about to retaliate. "Don't waste your breath." She growled taking a hold of Mikaela's arm and making their way back to the Lotus.
Trent looked on, anger smoldering. 'What is it with all of these females?' he asked himself. 'Am I getting ugly?' The thought shot shivers down his spin. 'Nah! Not me. But what the hell is a sparkling?' He pondered the question for only a few moments as his short attention span was drawn elsewhere.
--
Mikaela decided that after the run in with Trent, they needed a little peace and quiet. She suggested the Look Out. Burnout obliged, so far everything that Mikaela had offered had been a great idea, and the femme was having a wonderful time out in the vast world of humans.
The Lookout tranquil and Burnout liked it immediately. She stared off into the distance, the spot offered a wonderful view of the small town and its surrounding scenery.
"It's safe for you to transform up here, the others do it all the time, even Optimus."
Burnout did so as Mikaela watched, "No matter how many times I witness that, it still amazes me. Is it painful to transform?" The human inquired curiously.
Burnout thought about the question, "Only if there is something wrong, everything fits a certain way and if one part is out of place then our whole body has to reconfigure around that misalignment."
Mikaela nodded in understanding. "That's like our bodies. If we have a vertebra out in our spine, our whole body has to adjust so that it can keep functioning."
They remained silent for a while, just enjoying the beauty and peacefulness.
Words were not needed in a place like this, and as the sun disappeared and darkness over came them, Burnout wished she could stay there forever, 'with friends of coarse.' She looked over at Mikaela, who turned and smiled at her.
"Well, curfew calls." The teenager sighed, standing up and stretching. "I don't want to leave, but it's a school night. And unlike Sam, I can't just tell my parents that I have important government/alien stuff to attend to." She climbed into Burnout and they made their way back into town.
Navigating the access road back to town, Burnout suddenly sensed a presence that she hadn't felt in a very long time, but one she would never forget. Her spark suddenly leapt in what she assumed was fear. Headlights ahead of them put her on the defensive and she tuned into her radar.
"Think that's Bee?" Mikaela asked offhandedly.
"No, it's not. That's someone else." Burnout replied quietly, trying to hide her fear. She didn't want to say the worst and not have the vehicle be who she thought it was. 'What am I going to do?' She thought frantically, 'I can't let anything happen to Mikaela.'
The lights were getting closer and panic was rising in Burnout's circuits, so much that Mikaela felt it.
"There's something wrong, isn't there? Who is that!?" Mikaela demanded, putting on her seatbelt.
"I don't know what to do!" The femme thought out loud, frantically.
"Who is that!?" Mikaela asked again, her voice cracking.
Burnout suddenly gunned her engine when she was close enough to make a visual confirmation of the approaching vehicle. Mikaela shouted the transformers name, but her voice was hardly audible over the squeal of tires.
"Barricade!"
"I've never been able to outrun him." The femme made the mistake of blurting as they shot past the Decepticon. Blue lights flashed and headlights quickly filled the rear view mirrors.
Mikaela paled at the cars statement, "You can't out run him?" She shrieked.
"I can out maneuver him though!" Burnout hoped.
"He's gaining on us fast!" The terrified girl shouted. Burnout could sense the fear in the human, which didn't help her confidence at all.
"I can't turn anywhere, everything is a dead end!"
"He's going to try and spin you out!" Mikaela informed, but Burnout already knew this. She had tried so many times in the past to outrun the mech, only to be spun out and over run.
"Hang on, I'm turning around!" Burnout warned before executing a perfect 180, loosing hardly any momentum, shooting past their pursuer once again. She knew from experience that Barricade always packed way to much power then he needed; he never bothered to improve his maneuverability skills, only speed and muscle was important to him. To her pleasure, she watched the headlights spin around a couple of times as he tried to mirror the hairpin turn.
Turning off her lights, to Mikaela's bemusement, she quickly turned down a side street. It was a dead end, but she prayed to Primus that it would buy her some time to put out a signal for help.
"I've contacted Bumblebee, he is on his way. You stay here, I'm going to draw Barricade away from your location."
"But what about you?!" Mikaela asked concerned, "you said you couldn't outrun him!"
"Not when I'm too concerned for your safety." Burnout replied shooting off into the darkness, the human watched in horror as the police car roared past her friend, missing the femme by centimeters. She somehow managed to slip out of his grasp as the mech transformed, trying to get a hold of her. With a roar, he changed back into his alt mode and tore after Burnout again.
"This is all my fault!" Mikaela cried, running out into the street and watching the disappearing taillights. They were heading out of town, back towards the lookout. "Why didn't I just have her take me home?"
A/N: Evil laughter I hope you guys have a parachute; cause I think I just threw the ultimate cliffhanger at ya! I love leaving chapters open like that, it always makes one come back for mo! Oh and in case anyone is wondering, I don't plan on breaking up Sam and Mikaela. I was having some major relationship problems when I wrote this and thought I would add a little of my own drama. Hope you guys enjoyed the update!