It wasn't unusual to find her sister staring off into the distance with an odd look on her face, but something about this particular time stuck out for Nicole. Erin was in her usual posture, curled into the window frame with her legs tucked under her. Unlike her usual, however, her head wasn't leaning against the frame with her cheek pressed against the window. Now she stared out as if she could still see with her blind, milky eyes. The bright sunlight highlighted the ugly scarring on her face and she winced.

"Stop wincing about it," Erin said without turning. Nicole stepped forward and curled into a matching pose across from her. What looked all of her modeling clay and Play-Doh was mixed in front of her into a rough cube shape the size of both of her fists.

Nicole sighed. "You know you'll never get your perfect colors back from that."

"I don't need or want perfect colors," Erin pointed out. "I can't see them." Nicole winced again. "Stop doing that. Wincing. It's not your fault."

Her sister shifted, looking over the blind teen in front of her. By now most of her scars had faded but as ever, she refused to put the vitamin E oils her mom gave her on the ugly wounds so they were still stark white against her tan skin. The scar from the surgery on her broken collarbone peeked out from beneath her rumpled blouse and the road burn scars looked like rumble strips down her thigh and legs.

As if sensing her sister's stare, Erin tugged the hem of her skirt down to try and hide it. "Can we go to the store and get more clay?"

"That not enough for you?" Nicole asked, pointing at the lumpy cube that was already beginning to collapse under its own weight.

Erin glanced down at it with one milky eye as if she could see it. "No." She said simply. "It's not right."

Nicole reached for it and this time Erin winced. "It never is. What's wrong?"

The younger teen gently lifted the cube out of Nicole's hands, cupping them almost reverently around the cube that was starting to look more like a shapeless blob of mixed and rainbowed colors. "I need more clay. Better clay."

"For what?" Nicole was used to Erin's eccentricities by now, especially the tics she developed after the incident that had so scarred her. This was a little strange even for her.

Erin groped around for the little tupperware she kept her clays and Play-Doh and squished it all inside. "This is too soft. It doesn't hold the shape."

"What's wrong? Really?" Nicole asked after a while, watching Erin scoop some out and put in another tupperware container. "You're not acting like yourself."

It took her a long time to answer but Nicole waited her out. Erin always answered her questions though sometimes it took a while. The longest had been a wait of almost a week but that had been because Erin had been in the hospital.

"My skin itches," Erin said at last. "The hairs on the back of my neck are standing up. Something is about to happen."

Nicole glanced outside, in the direction that Erin's blind, milky eyes were looking. "Well, Izzy is about to get his ass kicked by that alley cat. Can you see it?"

The younger teen's lips twitched. "I'm sure. I can hear it and I can imagine it." Nicole looked at her sister again. There was something else in those blind eyes, something that sent a small shiver through Nicole. Erin had always seemed older than her years but now she seemed ancient.

"But that's not it," Nicole guessed.

"But that's not it," Erin agreed. She turned from the window and for the first time in a long time since her eyes had been burned, Nicole shivered. "I'll tell you when you tell me."

Nicole narrowed her eyes. "You already know," she accused.

"I may, but knowing is different than hearing it for yourself," Erin said sagely. "But I won't begrudge you your secrets." She smirked suddenly but just as quickly it faded. "Can we go to the craft store now?"

Seeing that she wouldn't get much more out of Erin, Nicole stood to get her things. By the time she was ready, Erin was standing by the door, wearing her dark glasses to hide her eerie milky eyes. She had groped around in the entry closet until she had found and unfolded her cane. They left to the sounds of an angry cat and a distressed dog.

Maggie wasn't sure if she should be concerned at how good at shoplifting Katie was. It seemed like one moment she was squinting at a little tube of ibuprofen and then it was gone without so much as a rattle. Only there was an empty niche in the shelf where it had been. Seeing that her friend was fine, Maggie focused on the limited selection of soup and food that wasn't a bag of chips or pretzels.

She glanced at the attendant who was fanning himself lazily in the sticky heat of the day. For all his laziness though, she had to wonder if he wasn't sharper than he appeared. But then, this was a lonely gas station in the middle of nowhere, miles from the nearest town. There were a few other buildings nearby, an old and run-down diner, a bar that had seen better days, but the gas station was the liveliest, if you could call it that.

The last car she had seen had been almost twenty minutes ago.

Did it even matter to this sunburnt, overweight man that they might be stealing his goods? Maggie waved to get Katie's attention and gestured to the front. The vet glanced at the doughy, sweaty man, and then back at Maggie. Her friend looked like she had taken a novel of information from that very brief glance but without her ears, without being able to speak verbally or with her hands even if the man could understand, she could do nothing but nod and let her friend walk over to the attendant.

They would never know what she would say and if it would work better than whatever Maggie did.

Jazz cocked his head to the side and a minute later, Bluestreak tucked his chin to his chest. Used to these odd quirks, Jordan and Armonie paused in their discussion and turned to them.

Bluestreak returned to himself first. His eyes shone brilliant blue, as if his Autobot nature had leaked through to his holoform projection. "Got a hit on Maggie's cell phone." The two humans grinned wolfishly. It was unsettling how alike they were. Bluestreak made another marking on the map. "Maggie's phone turned on ten minutes ago at this location."

It was a good distance from the last markers. "What is there? And why would it turn on there but not in the last location?" Armonie asked.

Jordan drummed her fingers on her belt. "Must be a gas station or something there. Her phone probably died after they were kidnapped."

Whatever conference Jazz was having evidently finished and he slammed a fist into the table. Jordan's hand immediately went to her gun and Armonie had slid into a defensive crouch, a few charms of her subspace bracelet tucked into her palm. Prowl jumped, skittish for just a moment, before settling; Hot Rod outright disappeared for a moment before winking back into existence.

Jazz smiled at the apologetically but it wavered a little on his holographic face. "General Keynes is trying to submit evidence that the Autobots are threats to the government. The base is on lockdown." They read a lot from that simple statement.

They were definitely on their own.

"That means that they will be on the lookout for us," Armonie said, her accent thickening slightly. Her eyes were narrowed and thoughtful.

Prowl tilted his head to the side. "They're sending out a call to all squad cars to be on the lookout for a silver Pontiac solstice." He nodded pointedly at Jazz. "That was all the information we had on that case, I believe."

"The Ridgeline, too," Jordan reminded him. "Blue. 2007."

"It's back at the base," Jazz said, flapping his hand dismissively.

Armonie pinched Saetta's hand and he obediently moved it away from the atlas which she began to close briskly. "Regardless, this means that we need to move, ducklings," she told them. "Jordan, do you have a change of clothes or will you continue as law enforcement?"

The woman glanced down at her clothes. "You'll need a police officer to deal with the gas station attendant. After that I'll change."

"Let's move, then," Hot Rod murmured.

Jazz nodded. "Scan a new alternate form or change your coloring," Jordan suggested, taking off her jacket and rolling it and her gear into a little ball. She undid her hair and ran her fingers through it. "It'll throw everyone off. You have the coordinates?" This was directed at the Autobots who all nodded. "Meet there. All take different routes, but stay in contact. If you spot a tail, notify everyone."

The Autobots save for Hot Rod nodded and winked out. Prowl's holoform rippled and changed. Now he was dressed like he was out on a casual date. With a smirk, he offered his arm to Jordan who, with a laugh, looped her free arm through his. They gestured for Armonie and Hot Rod to leave first and stayed in the empty kitchen for a few minutes.

"Are we doing the right thing?" Prowl asked, leaning down slightly to nudge his cheek against her head. Outside, Jazz was waiting with the keys to lock the restaurant up.

Jordan led them in the opposite direction of where Prowl parked, already knowing that he had moved. While none of them thought that they were being watched just yet, it didn't hurt to be cautious. "You know we are," Jordan told him, leaning her head against his shoulder like they were on a date. "You know exactly how they feel. What's wrong?"

At the nearest crosswalk, Prowl nudged his nose into her hair. "I'm scared of losing you again," he whispered where nobody but her could hear. "I almost did once. Would you expect me to go through that again?"

Placing a fond smile on her face - it wasn't that hard, really - she leaned over to kiss his cheek. The few other people on the street rolled their eyes or looked away as she intended. "But you want to put Jazz and Bluestreak through that?"

As she expected, Prowl's hand tightened slightly on her arm. She knew that Prowl was analytical and precise, that his movements and reactions in his holoform were deliberate. It was an acknowledgement of her point disguised as an unintentional tic.

The light turned and Prowl tugged her gently toward a rather nondescript car. She tucked herself into the passenger seat and Prowl closed the door gently behind her. Soon they were racing off down the street.

No one was a tailed to the gas station. Perhaps it was too early into their hunt but they knew better than to let it make them complacent. Jordan changed quickly in the parking spot Prowl chose, tucked against the side and away from the security cameras.

She knew that Bluestreak or Jazz, or perhaps even both, were already seeing if they could get the footage. One glance told her that it was probably a very archaic system. VHS tapes, most likely.

Ready, she nodded briskly to Prowl who sent a ripple of light over her clothes until they were the right color for the area. He changed the name on her pocket to DOE with a slight tic of the corner of his mouth. "Guess my name is Jane, now," she murmured quietly. A few more ripples of light and her hair was lighter, shorter, her eyes bluer, skin lighter. Unrecognizable and clothes made to look like an interstate police officer's uniform, she swaggered into the little shop, Prowl in similar pose and garb behind her.

A kaleidoscope of emotions rolled over the sweaty, doughy face of the man behind the counter. Surprise, fear, annoyance, then acceptance. Nervously, he wiped the sweat off his face with a sweaty sleeve as the tiny fan behind the counter rattled as it tried to move the still air in the store.

"Can I help you officers?"

"You reported a theft," Prowl said in an oddly molasses sort of way, a far cry from his usual clipped speech. They were different people, now, on this hunt. It still unsettled Jordan but she buried it beneath her best lazy cop persona.

The man glanced between the two of them, more sweat that had nothing to do with the heat popping up on his face. He wiped his face with his sleeve again. "Yeah. Two girls was in here. The quiet one nabbed a lot of pills I think. Didn't see them leaving except I didn't see her put them back."

Tucking her thumbs in her belt, Jordan leaned on one leg. "That doesn't mean a theft," she pointed out. "And you wouldn't call for something as small as that."

Behind the counter, the man shifted again. His eyes flicked back and forth between the two of them. "You wouldn't believe it if I told you," he said, licking his lips. "The loud one asked me to charge her phone just a bit so she could call her friends to let them know she'll be late. We have a pay phone out back," he added quickly. "But the phone's been down since last year. So I plugged it in. Then she was just gone. Didn't come back."

Jordan crossed her arms over her chest. "You have the phone then?"

It was passed over quickly, with some fumbling. "I thought she was just filling up her car but then I looked and she was gone." As he handed it over, Jordan noticed that the cloth around his neck was stretched slightly, almost unnoticeable with its drenching of sweat from the arid heat of the desert.

And, she would bet, a healthy dose of fear.

She didn't need to signal Prowl, knowing that he saw it as well. "You have security cameras in here?"

Licking his lips again and glancing at him with barely-concealed fear. He nodded so hard that sweat flew from his floppy hair and Jordan was concerned he'd hurt himself. The door buzzed and Armonie and Hot Rod wandered in. After the briefest of glances at them, they headed toward the back where the refrigerated drinks were.

"Don't worry," Jordan said, tucking the phone in her pocket and leaning with one elbow against the counter. "We're just talking. Friendly like."

Mirroring her pose, Prowl slid a picture across the counter toward the clerk. Jordan recognized the picture from the file they had on Katheryne. What she didn't recognize was the blonde in the other picture but she guessed it was Maggie. She'd bet her badge that it was another picture that Prowl covered with a thin hologram similar to the way he worked her clothes. "Was it these two?"

The man only glanced down for a brief moment before nodding quickly. "Yeah. Them." He pointed to Katheryne's photo. "She didn't say anything. Not a word. Her, though, she chatted away."

"Do you know where they're going?" Jordan asked as she glanced at Armonie and Hot Rod. They looked like a mother and teenager on a break from a long trip. With an American accent that she didn't know the Italian could pull off, she argued with Hot Rod that no, he couldn't drive and no, she would get apple chips, not potato chips.

Nervously, the man's eyes flicked between the two of them, to Hot Rod and Armonie, then back to the two officers. He licked his lips, a nervous tic she was sure was from his already hectic day. "She left the first time and then…" He took a deep, shaky breath. "Then someone just...appeared. He took all the surveillance stuff."

Prowl and Jordan glanced at each other. She leaned over the counter and the man flinched. The cameras and monitors were trashed, a perfect imprint of a hand on the metal casing telling her more than she wanted to know. "What did he look like?"

"Red," the man whispered, eyes wet. He gulped. "He had red eyes."

They drove twenty minutes down the road and found an empty parking lot. A few shaded picnic tables were tucked away in a corner. Jordan borrowed a pair of shorts from Armonie and came out in her undershirt in time for Armonie to fuss over her her with sunscreen.

"Red eyes," Jordan said as she applied sunscreen so Armonie would leave her alone. "He was very clear. A man appeared after Maggie and Katheryne left the store with red eyes and destroyed the surveillance equipment."

Prowl grunted. "It was archaic anyway," he muttered. "VHS tapes that only worked half the time. Most of the cameras were cardboard. But we got a positive ID that it was Margaret and Katheryne."

Across the picnic table, Jazz sighed gustily. If they didn't understand, they'd call it impatient, annoyed. "Does he know where they went?"

Armonie dug in her pockets and placed a bottle of eerily yellow soda on the table. "I got this at the gas station."

"I don't like pineapple," Jordan muttered. "It's all yours."

The Italian smirked. "Fake pineapple is gross," she agreed. "But that's not why I got this." She pulled a folded slip of paper from her pocket and opened it to show everyone. In awkward, clumsy handwriting were the words PINEAPPLE PRINCESS. "It was tucked partially under the label."

"It's written by someone's non-dominant hand," Prowl noted, tracing a fingertip over the crooked S at the end.

Jordan grunted. "The guy at the gas station said that aside from us, there were only three other people."

"This is from Maggie's notepad," Bluestreak noted. "But it's not her handwriting."

"The attendant said that Katie had a hurt arm on the right side," Jordan murmured. "She was the only one that was long enough out of his view that she could have done that. And Maggie spent most of the time talking to the attendant."

Jazz leaned forward. "She's injured?"

Lips tight, Jordan nodded. "The attendant said that she was covered in bruises and dust, more so than Maggie. He thought it was a domestic disturbance, that's why he didn't approach them. Didn't want to get involved." Rubbing the last of the sunscreen into her neck, she sighed. "He said that she was limping, that's one of the reasons he didn't try to report all the painkillers she stole. Her arm was in a sling but there were no straps that he could see."

"She was wearing a suit that was a little too small on her. He said her shoulders didn't match up with the seams," Prowl added. "Her pants were too short and he could see her socks." Jordan flipped through the notebook, squinting against the bright sunlight. She accepted the sunglasses Prowl held out for her without looking up.

"He made particular note of them because he only saw two people around three cars. Normally he hears them pull up because of all that gravel. Sometimes only a few get out to go into the store while the rest wait outside but he heard nothing. No one talking or walking around. The cars didn't go for gas. No other doors opening and closing. The two of them just walked in and then walked out."

Bluestreak leaned closer, eyes flashing. "A supply run."

"Humans need to eat," Armonie murmured. She accessed her subspace bracelet and pulled out a few granola bars. One she offered to Jordan who accepted with a nod of thanks. "But why them?"

Saetta hummed, drawing attention to himself for the first time. "If we don't make alarms to remind us, we probably wouldn't remember to feed you," he pointed out. "I doubt the Decepticons would care enough to do that. What better way to feed prisoners than to make them to feed and take care of themselves?"

A dark look crossed Armonie's face but she said nothing. "Do we know where they went? What direction at least?"

Armonie pulled the atlas out of her subspace and laid it out on the table. Saetta leaned over and marked their position with a star. "I talked to the diner. They said there were three cars, all looking similar. One was black, one was red with a racing stripe, one was white and blue."

"There aren't many ground-based Decepticons," Bluestreak murmured. "But the thought that they're traveling in a group, is indicative of who they probably are."

The Autobots winced or growled as per their natures. "Stunticons," Saetta spat. His eyes glowed with rage.

Armonie muttered something in Italian that didn't require translation. "What do you think they want with them?" Jordan asked tensely.

"Back to the subject at hand, where are they going?" Prowl asked.

Leaning over, Bluestreak marked the location of the gas station with an X and then an arrow in the direction that Jordan indicated. "We're at least headed in the right direction."

"So you're saying that we don't have anything more, then?" Jazz growled.

Jordan frowned. "We know they're alive, though injured." She pointed out. "We know what direction they're headed and that the Decepticons want them alive enough that they're willing to risk discovery to feed them and get them supplies."

That made Bluestreak and Jazz offered her pinched looks but they didn't disagree.

"Can we scan for bases? Groups of you mechanoids have to send off some kind of physical sign, right?" The last word was directed at Armonie who was staring off into the distance.

Saetta's lips twitched. "I'm not sure I like being called 'you mechanoids'," he said but she sounded amused. "We can obscure ourselves from scans as much as we want, but we still physically emit thermals susceptible to outside scans." He leaned back, crossing his arms over his chest. "I wouldn't know where to start," he said with a sigh. "It's a big desert out here and we only know the direction she left in. We don't know the distance they traveled or where they may have left the road."

"The trail is cold by...I'd say about two, three hours?" Prowl murmured thoughtfully.

Bluestreak snorted. "They're long gone by now. I have no skill in tracking. Even in an organic and dust-ridden planet like this."

With a grunt, Armonie stood. "He knows," she said, flicking her fingers at the dusty Jeep in the corner of the lot. "If he doesn't, he can definitely help us."

Looking over, they realized that Hot Rod had already drifted over to the vehicle. The Ferrari nudged the rear bumper, hard. In a normal human Ferrari, the bumper would be crumpled. Hot Rod showed no damage other than the minute transfer of more dust.

"It's you," the Jeep said, sounding disoriented. "Folgore. No, Hot Rod, right?" A pause. "And there's that little lady of yours. Hello, Army."

Armonie smiled. "Hello, Hound. Am I right?"

The gravel rasped beneath his tires as Hound backed out of his stall and rolled over. "I'm sorry, little lady," he said as he settled at the end of the line of cars in the lot. "I wasn't paying much attention until Hot Rod nudged me. The base is on lockdown so I've been lying low here."

"No one wonders how she knows he was there?" Jordan asked, sounding amused.

Hot Rod's holoform rippled. "Does it matter? It's a skill she developed because it was needed."

"I am intrigued as well but I am fine with not knowing," Hound said agreeably. He activated his holoform, a rather pudgy-looking hiker. His newness on Earth was reflected in the clothing choice and the otherness in his eyes. "May I join you?"

Jordan and Prowl moved over and he slid into the emptied space. Introductions were shared and good and bad news. Armonie turned out to be right.

"I was curious when I sensed three mechanoids drive by," Hound admitted. "It was very suspicious because those not at the base were told to lay low." He rubbed his chin in an approximately human gesture. It needed work but they didn't have the heart to tell him yet. It was still passable. "So I followed them a ways. I didn't recognize their signatures."

Jazz leaned forward. "How did they not pick you up on those scanners?"

This made Hound smirk. "Out here in the desert, it's hard to pick up heat signatures, especially when it's this warm."

Armonie huffed a laugh, plucking at her long sleeves. "Don't I know it," she said. "Continue."

That made the new Autobot smile and wink at her. "I followed them to what looked like their base. As soon as I could, I got out of there. I had Seekers incoming."

"We need more intel," Jordan grunted. "We can't barge in without more numbers."

The table cracked beneath Jazz's fist. "So we can do nothing?"

Armonie leaned over and put a hand on his fist. Beside her, Hot Rod shifted, eyes flicking back and forth between Armonie, Jazz, and Bluestreak who looked just as furious as Jazz. "Right now, no. We must be patient."

"They're not dead," Bluestreak hissed but looked immediately remorseful.

The woman flinched. "No," she agreed after a very brief and awkward pause. "No they're not, but you won't do them any good rushing in without knowing all the facts."

"They want them alive for the general." Hot Rod murmured. "If we barge in, they may be killed accidentally. We have to proceed with caution." Armonie nudged his shoulder gently with hers. "It won't do any of us any good if we let them know that we're hunting them."

With a frustrated growl, Jazz disengaged his holoform. Bluestreak looked away and Armonie knew she made her point. She leaned back and discussed more human things with Jordan.

"I know who you are," he whispered as he bowed in the shadow of the creature before him. "I bow before you."

The screechy, raspy voice that answered sent shivers down his spine. "Who am I then, human?"

Aldrin pressed his forehead deeper into the hot sand, relishing the burning tingle and the feel of the sun beating down on the back of his neck. "You are the archangel Michael, the messenger of God."

The angel's footsteps rasped on the and as he circled Aldrin's prone form in a few massive steps. He laughed in that grating voice and Aldrin shivered again, a cold tingle of fear running down his spine. But it was normal to fear such an angel, who is the Lord's messenger.

"I have done as the Lord commands," Aldrin said when the angel remained silent. "Will my daughter's soul be saved?"

Gabriel chuckled. "Such love for such a sinner."

"How can I help but love her?" Aldrin wanted to know, pressing his face further into the sand. He knew that the true form of angels would blind the unworthy and while doubt was a sin, he had not been told he was worthy. "My own daughter, my own flesh and blood? If I could save her soul from eternal damnation, I would."

The angel walked away and then approached again, like he was pacing. "Such faith," he said with odd emphasis but Aldrin knew that it wasn't his place to question the will of the Lord and His angels. "But no, I have come to tell you that there is more that you must do."

"Ask and I shall obey the will of the Lord Almighty," Aldrin murmured, feeling his lips brush the sand beneath them. The angel did and then flew away with a sound that reminded him of jet engines. Or, perhaps, the screaming of lost souls.

He looked up, blinking his eyes in the bright light of the blinding sun. Tears streamed down his face and he told himself that it was from the sun, not from what the angel asked him to do.

The dog in the first scene with Erin and Nicole is Izzy, Erin's service dog. I'm not sure if he's going to show up again. Not sure that anyone cares.

Also, I'm not sure anyone reads this, but I'll be delayed in my updates for most of June. I have another project that came up and I'm going to focus on that until it's done. It'll go by faster if ya'll help though ;P

(Just kidding, my beta reader's on it. He's awesome like that)