We don't see Lilly's point of view in this chapter because this is the second part to Welcome to NEST! I promise we will see what's up with Lilly in chapter 14. This will also be a pretty slow chapter, but things start to look bright towards the end of the chapter! Hope you all enjoy.

Thanks to the three of you who reviewed! You guys are awesome!

A-Mais-Pura-Preguica-do-mundo: The next chapter will have Lilly's POV, don't worry :) You're right, Tori is getting impatient, but she will soon find out about the secrets! ;) Glad you are enjoying it so far.

Answerthecall: Thank you so much! I always look forward to your reviews :) I will certainly try my best to keep it up!

Transformerminionkittycat: Don't we all wish we could bother Ratchet? That is on my bucket list, although it will never come true *cries* I'm glad to make you laugh, I always love reading funny fanfictions! Thank you and here is the next chapter!

Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers, only the characters I have created.

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Chapter 13: Secrets

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Tori and Ratchet walked across the large room, passing the Autobot's alt forms on their way. Tori admired them, noticing how shiny and well-polished each car looked, like the owner of the vehicle had taken extra care to keep it scratch-free.

"Is this yours?" the girl asked, walking up to a yellow search and rescue Hummer. Ratchet smiled and nodded.

"I am a medic on and off the battlefield, so I use this vehicle to transport me quickly in case of an emergency," he said, standing close to it. Tori walked to one of the doors, glancing curiously at a weird looking metal face painted onto it.

"What is this?" she asked, tracing it with one of her fingers. Ratchet shifted uncomfortably and watched as her finger moved along the Autobot symbol, sending a slight shiver down his holoform's spine.

"It is my team's insignia," he replied, moving to stand next to her. She stopped tracing it and turned around to the cars she had previously passed. On the side of every single one of them there was the same exact insignia that was on the Hummer.

"It looks pretty cool," she said, continuing past the car in front of her. Ratchet mumbled a thanks and followed her. They passed more vehicles, some of them not as expensive or powerful looking as others, but Tori froze in her tracks as they walked by a massive eighteen wheeler. She recognized it to be the vehicle she had told Bumblebee was "one nice looking truck" and she hadn't been wrong. Flames were painted on the sides, alternating between the colors of blue and red. On the top of the grill the same insignia all of the other cars had shared.

"This would be pretty badass looking if it turned into one of those robots, don't you think?" she asked, turning around to face Ratchet.

The medic's face went very pale and his eyes flickered with concern. "Yes… It would, I suppose," he said. "Come on, let's get going." He motioned for her to follow, hoping she wouldn't bring up the robots again.

After climbing a set of stairs, they arrived to a large meeting room where there were a decent amount of people gathered. Tori spotted Bumblebee across the room talking to an unfamiliar man with platinum blonde hair. She nervously stood next to Ratchet, trying not to make eye contact with the strangers in the room.

"Hello Tori," she heard and looked up to find Lennox smiling at her. Behind him was Epps, grinning like always. Next to the major was a man that was familiar, Tori recognizing him to be Optimus.

"Hi guys," she replied, feeling all of the eyes in the room train on her.

"Tori," a deep, baritone voice echoed and her eyes met with the blue one's of Optimus. "Please debrief us on what happened last night."

Tori closed her eyes, sighing. The room was silent, everyone patiently waiting for a response.

"So, it all started at around 11:00. I had woken Lilly, because she had fallen asleep at her desk. She explained to me how school was already stressing her out, and I told her that I understood how she felt. We then got into our beds when Lilly all of a sudden got up and ran across the room. I asked her what was going on and she shushed me, telling me to be quiet. Then, she backed up from window and told me that we needed to get out of the room, I had no idea what the heck she was talking about," Ratchet grunted, interrupting her.

"She must have seen the Decepticons," he said and a few people nodded in agreement. Tori still had no idea what the Decepticons were, so she continued.

"That's when the floor shook, and Lilly pulled me out of my bed. We ran down the hall when the floor shook yet again and she told people to start running. Once I heard the sound of an explosion, I finally knew why Lilly had dragged me out of the room. Soon, a ton of people were screaming and running down the hallway with us and we ran down the stairs, stopping as we reached outside. It was complete chaos," Tori fell silent, shuddering at the memory.

"There were buildings on fire and students running everywhere. Lilly and I dove as something was shot over our heads, and I looked in the direction the fireball came from. My heart literally stopped as I saw three giant robots walking towards us with red eyes," she paused, taking a breath. She furrowed her brow in thought, finally connecting the pieces together.

"Wait a minute," she said, looking over to Optimus. "Are the Decepti-whatevers those evil robots?" she asked, Optimus slowly nodding.

"Yes, they are our enemy. Otherwise known as the Decepticons," he said. How could a human be enemies with a twenty foot robot? she asked herself, shaking her head.

"Anyways, we ran for towards the main campus until Lilly pulled me behind a building. She told me how the robots were after her, that they were there because of her. I had no idea why she was saying that, why would they be after her specifically?" Tori glanced at Bumblebee and saw him glaring at the floor, clenching his fists tightly. Pure hatred filled his eyes and she wondered what history he had with the Decepticons. She continued, her green eyes locking onto Optimus.

"She told me I needed to run and never stop, and that if I saw robots with blue eyes that they wouldn't hurt me. She said she was going to try to distract the robots that were attacking, and before I could stop her she ran off. I ran in the direction everyone was running, buildings all around me exploding into flames. Then, I saw more robots, except they had blue eyes," Tori began to fiddle with her thumbs nervously. A few soldiers raised their eyebrows and glanced at each other.

"That's when I heard Lilly scream. I looked back and saw in the distance one of the red-eyed robots pick her up as she continued to struggle. I was way too far away to get to her in time, let alone contact help. Then, the robot turned into a car and sped away," Tori said, tears building up around her green eyes. The room was completely silent, everyone seeming to hold their breath.

"Thank you, Tori," Optimus said and she gave a small nod. "We would like to show you something, our secret. You cannot tell anyone, even family or friends."

Tori raised an eyebrow, curiosity filling her. About nine people stepped forwards and she noticed something unique about all of them. They all had those glowing, blue eyes! Optimus coughed, beginning to speak.

"Tori, meet my family. You already know Bumblebee," he motioned to the boy standing to the left and he gave her a curt nod. "This is Ironhide, Jolt, Sideswipe, Arcee," he continued down the line and she was surprised to see a female. "These are the twins, Skids and Mudflap," he motioned to two young looking boys that weren't as attractive as the majority of the people in front of her. "And, you know Ratchet, our medical officer." Tori smiled at the doctor and he grunted as a reply.

"So, what's so special about you guys?" she asked, placing a hand on her hip.

"We are not from this planet," Optimus said, and Tori took a step back, startled.

"What do you mean? You guys are human, how are you not from Earth?"

Optimus sighed, standing up straighter, his tall form towering over Tori. "The robots you saw at the college attack are not from here," he began, and Tori's green eyes widened. Everything made sense!

"Stop right there," Tori looked at the blue eyes of all of the people in front of her, everything clicking into place. "So, you're saying that the good robots from the attack are you guys?" she asked. Optimus nodded.

"You are correct," he said, smiling at her. She opened her mouth to reply, the only sound coming out of it a small shriek as she watched the nine people begin to disappear, blue sparks taking their place. Her mouth fell open as they vanished and she looked around at the soldiers, all of them chuckling. She went to ask Ratchet what was happening, only to find him gone as well.

"What just happened?" she whispered and Epps walked by, taking her hand.

"Follow me," he said, flashing a set of white teeth at her. She glanced back as she went through the door, still shocked to find that the people hadn't returned. The soldiers filed out of the room, following Tori and Epps down the stairs.

Epps walked her to the middle of the hangar, stopping as he continued to grin at her. He looked in the direction of where the automobiles were parked and Tori's gaze followed and her eyes widened as they all began to move on their own.

She screamed, latching onto Epps's arm as the cars surrounded the humans in a large circle. As if on command, all of the vehicles began to transform and Tori was breathless as she watched what was thought to be the impossible happen right before her eyes. The sound of gears shifting and metal scraping against metal filled the air, until standing in front of her were robots exactly like the ones that had attacked her last night, except these ones seemed different. Instead of crimson red eyes they had soft blue ones, immediately easing the terrified girl. The tallest one kneeled in front of her, his red and blue body towering over her by at least thirty feet.

"These are our true forms, Tori. We are autonomous robotic organisms, or Autobots for short," the robot said gently, and she realized it was the exact voice of the man she was talking to minutes ago.

"Are you Optimus?" she asked and the robot nodded.

"Yes, my designation is Optimus Prime, leader of the Autobots," he replied.

"You're not going to hurt me, are you?" she hesitantly asked, turning around to look at all of the robots. They stared at her with curiosity and she couldn't take her mind off of their intriguing eyes.

"No. We believe freedom is everyone's right and we would never hurt a human being on purpose. We are here on Earth to stop our enemies, the Decepticons, from hurting your race," he said, pointing a giant finger towards the small girl.

A voice from behind her spoke and she turned around to find a black and yellow robot staring at her with soft, baby blue eyes. He kneeled as well, looking directly at Tori.

"It's me, Bumblebee," the robot mumbled, lifting his faceplates into a smile. "I am the Camaro that drove you here last night," he chuckled as realization dawned upon Tori. She just blinked at him, speechless.

"So, why haven't your enemies left our planet? Why did they take Lilly?" Tori asked, turning her attention back to Optimus, who had stood up from his crouched position.

The leader vented, Tori realizing how human the Autobots looked. Instead of skin, they just had metal parts and were, well, a lot bigger than a person. He looked at her, his optics making contact with her eyes.

"We believe they are here looking for something from our planet. I am not quite sure what exactly it may be, but we can only hope they do not find it soon. We do not know the true reason why the Decepticons took Lilly, although we are guessing they want to question her or use her as bait," he said softly. Tori gulped, realizing just how much danger her friend was in.

"So, Lilly knows about you guys?" she asked the robots, all of them nodding in confirmation. The familiar voice of Ratchet came from her left, where a yellow robot stood.

"She was the one who discovered that our race was on this planet, that is why she knew what the Decepticons were. Bumblebee was assigned as her Guardian to protect her from harm, although he wasn't able to fulfill his duty last night. It is not his fault," the robot said, looking at Bumblebee whose optics were downcast.

"It's no one's fault except those evil Decepticons," Tori growled, her voice low. "How are we going to get her back?"

Instead of one of the robots answering, Lennox stepped forward, catching the girl's attention. "I have teams working to find her this very minute. We do not have many clues right now and we are unable to find any sign of Decepticon who kidnapped her. Although, we were informed earlier this morning that Megatron, the leader of the Decepticons, was entering Earth's atmosphere. He is yet to land, but when he does we will immediately follow him to the location where he is in hopes to find Lilly there," the major said, determination plastered across his face.

Tori nodded, wondering if there was any other way they could find Lilly when an idea suddenly popped into her head.

"Can you guys track cell phones?" she asked and Major Lennox raised an eyebrow, catching on to what Tori was meaning.

"I believe we can," he said, looking at his soldiers as they nodded in confirmation.

Tori's face brightened. "Maybe you can track her phone! I remember she had it with her, it was in her back pocket!" she exclaimed, excitement building up inside of her.

The robots and soldiers started to whisper, hope beginning to fill the air. "I think we could try that, do you agree, Optimus?" Lennox looked up to the Autobot leader.

"It is worth a shot," he replied and kneeled close to Tori. "Thank you for pointing that out. We may be able to find Lilly sooner than we thought." The girl smiled brightly, nodding.

Tori felt something cold slip underneath her and she squeaked, falling onto a large, metal hand. She looked behind her and saw the face of Bumblebee, happiness filling his blue optics. "Thank you, Tori," he said and she patted one of his giant fingers.

"It's no problem, Bumblebee. Can I call you Bee for short?" The young mech nodded, beginning to walk towards a nearby catwalk. She grabbed onto his large fingers, gripping them tightly. "Please don't drop me!" she said, shutting her eyes as she mentally cursed her fear of heights.

Bumblebee chuckled. "I won't drop you," he said, Tori raising her eyebrows in doubt. He placed her onto the catwalk and she slowly slipped off the palm of his servo, standing up so she could see him face to face.

"I'm worried about her," Bumblebee said quietly and Tori knew he was talking about Lilly.

"She will be okay, Bee," Tori assured him, but he shook his helm.

"The Decepticons have slaughtered so many beings, both Cybertronian and human. If she dies, I…" he paused, staring at the ground. "I will never be able to live with myself." Tori frowned at his response and could instantly tell how much Lilly had meant to the young mech. Even though only five minutes ago Tori was terrified of the robots, she was already getting used to their presence.

"We can only pray," Tori began, "and hope. Hope is what will get us through this. She will be okay."

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Yay, Tori finally met the Autobots! Things are just starting to get good :)

– SapphireSpark

Credit to the song "Secrets" for the title, by OneRepublic