AUTHOR'S NOTES: If you aren't old enough to read sexually explicit… smut for want of a better word, please don't read this series. That being said, I warned you so if you end up mentally scarred for life blame yourself not me. Thanks for all the feedback and reviews, folks! Sorry for the delay between chapters.

Characters: Grace and Izzy are mine. Adrian belongs to author Chaos Knight. April, Winona, and Danni all belong to author Stormdracona. Erin Perry belongs to Kinonaru89. Aurorah belongs to author AD Axel. Emma belongs to author Iwanita. Mikaela and Ratchet as a couple inspired by the lovely smut of author Chaitea16. Maggie, Mikaela, Verity, Dani Burns, Miko, Marissa, June Darby, and Carly of course are the property of Has-Tak, which leads me to the disclaimer: I don't own the Transformers (but of course) and make no claim of ownership.

Warnings: Sexual content, language, dominant mechs, and general smuttiness. If you're not old enough to read such material or are easily offended by it- don't read.

Ch.14: Complications

"And how are we holding up today?"

Trailbreaker growled softly as he tried to ignore Mirage. The other mech was bent on antagonizing him though for all intents and purposes. And Mirage was more than aware of how aggravated and hostile Trailbreaker had been growing over the past few days.

"Do you need something?" Trailbreaker growled as his optics narrowed.

Mirage shrugged indifferently as he leaned against a thick tree. "I just know that it must be so hard… being separated from your pet." The blue mech's lips quirked slightly as Trailbreaker's armor panels flared out slightly.

"She's not my pet and you know it." Trailbreaker flashed his dental plating briefly at the other mech.

Mirage smirked at him, content to needle the bigger mech. "Ah, yes, because you generally don't frag a pet senseless…"

Cliffjumper stepped between as Trailbreaker lunged to his feet to throttle Mirage. "Act your ages. Mirage, quit baiting him." The smaller red mech growled low.

"I just want to talk to him." Trailbreaker drawled slowly as he eyed Cliffjumper. As big as he was, it was sorely tempting to simply grab and move the smaller mech out of his way.

"Yeah, you'll just talk him into a pile of scrap." Cliffjumper laughed as he cast a disparaging look at Mirage.

The spy drew himself up to his full height, armor flaring up. "I can hold my own against that brute." He growled indignantly.

The other Bot in their happy little group, Hound, glanced over curiously, but kept quiet choosing to watch as their group of five unhappy looking human support staff were trying to coax a small fire from the soggy dead branches they'd managed to scavenge. It had been sporadically misting rain since they'd arrived two days ago. While the weather couldn't seem to decide whether to actually rain or not, the fine continuous mist had already thoroughly soaked the entire group and was more than sufficient to make them all sodden and miserable.

They'd made their camp out in the wooded land at the foot of the Allegheny Mountain range lying in the Monongahela National Forest of West Virginia.

Even for the Autobots, the going was slow along the muddy trails and even the characteristically amiable Hound was beginning to grow less enthusiastic about exploring nature since nature didn't seem all that accommodating at the moment. The little scouting trip wouldn't have made it on any of the group's choice vacation locales, Trailbreaker thought dryly. He wasn't quite sure what was worse- the dampness or the mud. On the bright side, he didn't have to deal with the mosquitoes like their organic companions.

"I'm going out of my processor here." Cliffjumper groused as he kept between Trailbreaker and Mirage. "And I know you two are too."

"I'm calm." Trailbreaker ground out the words huskily as his visor flared angrily.

"Maybe take a walk?" Cliffjumper suggested over his shoulder as he glared at Mirage.

Trailbreaker snarled softly, but nodded stepping past the camp, drawing the wary glances of the humans. He fisted his hands at his sides as he stepped into the woods, fighting the urge to do some damage to the trees surrounding him. As old and tall as the pines and oaks were, he knew they'd snap easily under the insistent pressure of his big hands.

The damn trees weren't what he wanted to damage though. Mirage's smug face entered his processor and his optics narrowed to slits behind his visor band. He shrugged off the anger though and glanced around at the abundant, not to mention damp, wildlife.

They had come to investigate a ghost- a glitch of a signal that had blipped so quickly across the screen it hadn't been logged by Teletran. Only Red Alert had seen the quick flash of energy, but there hadn't been any sign of the unknown Cybertronian energy signature Red Alert had been raving about detecting in the area. The only signs of life they'd seen period had been indigenous and Trailbreaker doubted he was the only mech questioning Red Alert's sanity. Not that he'd ever felt Red Alert was all that sane to begin with.

He grumbled softly, wondering how April was doing without him, but instantly feeling foolish. She'd survived just fine before she'd met him. She'd wanted to be included in the scouting team, but he'd instantly balked at the idea. If, and he used the word very speculatively, Red Alert had detected a Cybertronian energy there was no telling if it would be friendly or not. And even if April was a soldier, he wouldn't willingly see her put at risk.

She was just so… fragile despite all of her protests to the contrary. Humans were fragile, short-lived beings. Pain twisted his spark as that sobering thought circled inside his processor, refusing to be dismissed.

She would die. He'd only be allowed to keep her for such a short period of time. A blink in the face of his own lifespan. She'd die.

He'd live on.

He ground his dental plating together as he walked lost in his own thoughts until he realized the sky caught in snatches through the tree branches was changing colors. He sighed, venting loudly in aggravation realizing he'd walked the night away without recharging.

He was about to turn back the way he'd come when his sensors picked up the faint tingle of energy at the edge of his awareness. He paused, peering through the trees, before he opened his comm. to Hound. 'I think I just found our guest.'

"It's a Cybertronian pod." Mirage acknowledged as he circled the crash site with wary alertness. "The energy signature is… unusual though…"

Hound glanced at the human team as they took their samples and notes, before he met Mirage's optics questioningly.

Trailbreaker stared at the pod with a chill seeping into his energon lines. Unusual could mean anything. Cybertronian life had spread far and wide to other planets even before the war had begun. Those ancient settlers had done what Cybertronians had always done best- they'd survived and adapted. In some cases diverging into wildly different sub-sets of their species. They'd crossed paths with some of those far-flung distant relatives in their pursuit of the Allspark and Trailbreaker had seen first hand how alien some Cybertronians had become.

"Stay on alert." Trailbreaker growled out loud. The humans startled slightly, a few touching their weapons out of an almost unconscious superstitious habit.

Danni pressed her palms over her clenched shut eyes, trying to ignore the shaking of her hands and steady whispering on the very edge of her consciousness. Tears threatened her again as she pulled her legs tighter up against her chest, paralyzed with growing fear and unable to leave her small apartment in human housing.

She knew she had to get up and call Epps. She had to tell him she couldn't make this rotation, but it was too hard to dare move from her spot when she felt as if she was about to break.

The voice kept right on murmuring softly, oblivious to the turmoil it was spawning inside the young woman. Danni quivered trying to push the voice away by force of sheer will. She'd always thought that when people heard voices, those voices were supposed to be talking to them, but this voice seemed to be preoccupied with its own agenda and fully ignorant of her. She took a shuddering breath, thinking that it wasn't surprising she was losing her mind- after all, her own mother had suffered a mental fission in the form of a violent multiple personality disorder.

She felt the tears tracking down her cheeks as she gave in to the mounting helplessness and despair.

And felt an answering query at the edge of her awareness that stilled her.

The cautious knock on her door startled her.

"Y-yes?" She stood up on shaky legs and opened the door, staring in confusion up at a mass-displaced and frustrated looking Topspin.

"Are you okay?" He asked harshly as he looked her over.

Danni quivered slightly as one of his huge hands brushed her hip. "How?" She asked softly as she frowned up at him. "How did you know?"

Topspin crouched slightly until they were more on level and she felt one of the clamps above his wrist brush her back. "I was worried about you… I don't know why…" He soothed in his rough, deep voice.

She pressed herself against him, his armor warm against her as he allowed her to cling to him.

To Miko life was to be lived as vicariously as possible, avoiding at all costs the all too common stretches of boring that was normalcy. It had been that way for her ever since she'd escaped to the United States as a pre-teen. Back home she'd been expected to behave a certain way and to make deadly sure that everything she did was carefully considered to make sure she never brought any kind of embarrassment on her busy parents. While they'd been loving in their own way, they'd been high-ranking business officials who'd been perpetually busy with little time for their only child.

All that expectation, those rules and training had gradually crushed Miko into a perfectly well-behaved child who'd never dared speak to an adult unless spoken to first and then always with duly respectful tones.

Her first trip to the U.S. had been as an exchange student and it hadn't taken her long to break free of the mold her parent's had enforced her to adhere to. For the very first time in her life she'd been free to make her own decisions, speak her mind, and do whatever the hell she damn well wanted. And she'd loved it.

She'd eventually come to stay and she'd joined the military for the excitement. Working EOD was certainly never boring- it was an exciting seat of your pants job where the thrill was the ever present danger to her own hide and her team. She'd thought her life couldn't get any more exciting in fact until she'd been selected and drafted into the NEST team.

Because the only thing better than playing with explosives was working with explosives alongside giant alien robots.

Miko grinned blatantly as she shoved her hands into her ABU pockets. The base was sprawling enough that it took some time to hoof it from human housing to the outlying series of hangars that were designated as Engineering, Development also known as the Wrecker Den, and Construction. The trio of hangars formed a triangle, with Engineering lying out further from the other two with its walls reinforced.

Construction had claimed the largest of the hangars, though the Wrecker's were constantly snarling and demanding the area for themselves. The few Bots she worked with were much tamer than the Wreckers. That whole group vaguely reminded her of a frat party on the verge of violence.

She smiled slightly. The few weeks she'd been training in Construction had been a real learning process. Engineering tended to blow up with little or no warning and at any given moment some Wrecker might have a tantrum and start slinging parts through the windows of Development.

Their own hangar was almost peaceful and her alien coworkers were friendly enough.

The biggest of the two Bots she'd actually assumed were brothers for quite a while before she'd asked, but the big green mechs were only friends. And to be fair, she got along well with Bulkhead and Boulder both even if they weren't quite as wild as some of the other mechs.

It was hard to not like Bulkhead. While he seemed a little slow, the big lug was so good natured it hadn't taken her long to think of him as a friend. And for all her false bravado, it was nice to have a real friend who wouldn't judge her.

Bulkhead was so mellow and laidback it was hard to imagine that he had once worn the mantle of Wrecker, but she'd seen him occasionally trading blows with Twin Twist in a good natured way. Rough housing seemed to be the norm for the Wreckers.

As soon as Miko crossed the threshold to Construction she sidestepped closer to the wall. One of her other human coworkers, a skinny, hawkish man named Graham, glanced at her idly before returning his attention to the tablet in his hands.

"Hard hat." He admonished neutrally as he studied a digital schematic.

Miko rolled her eyes even though it was a wasted effort since the guy wasn't even looking at her. He was too absorbed in their latest project to even give her the time of day- something that chafed her far more than she would ever admit.

She strapped her own helmet on and skirted along the wall deeper into the hangar, carefully keeping out of the way of preoccupied mechs and their large peds. Bulkhead was at his drafting desk, but he paused as soon as he spotted her. She didn't even have to ask as he bent to carefully wrap a huge hand around her waist and lift her up onto the desk.

"So when do I get to blow something up?" She demanded as she hopped onto the smooth steel surface, her boots clattering loudly on the metal and the impact sending reverberations through her calves.

He chuckled, a deep throaty rumble of sound that always managed to make her cheeks heat. "Nice to see you too."

She peered up at him owlishly, fidgeting. "Nice to see you, Bulkhead." She parroted obediently. "And I get to blow something up?"

He prodded her shoulder teasingly with one huge finger and she reflexively swatted at him. "Not today."

"Why do I even get out of bed?" She muttered darkly as she walked over to what was quite possibly the biggest data pad she'd ever seen. She climbed up on the edge of it to peer at the scrawling alien script and the blueprints of the underground facility the Bots were designing. It would run the entire length of the base, but would lie far underground. With the limited property the Bots had been allotted, they'd had to either build up or down and down was simply safer.

She had no doubt that within a few years, the NEST base above ground would look deserted as the Bots moved into better hiding. The idea of living underground in a world of long tunnels and fluorescent light just depressed her.

"You get out of bed to see me." Bulkhead chuckled again drawing her from her thoughts.

"Don't flatter yourself." She couldn't help the blush this time.

She knew as well as he did that there were mixed-species couples: a fact that most of the base was slowly becoming aware of. So it was hard to just dismiss his teasing when it probably wasn't just teasing. He was hard to read though. Most of the time he was friendly, sure, but sometimes it seemed like there was more to it than just friendly banter.

And she wasn't really sure what to do about it or even how she felt about it.

She considered herself quite adventurous, but interspecies dating was a little scary despite how many of the other women seemed to prefer it.

Bulkhead grinned and she wished she had a clue what was going through that head of his.

Bulkhead rumbled softly as he watched Miko's small form walk along the outer edge of his data pad. Her hands were down at her side with her fingers splayed out, giving him the impression that she was about to take flight. He'd never met a female of any species in his entire life that was so fragging hard to protect.

Part of it was that she didn't realize she needed protection. He suspected that she didn't realize the effect her teasing had on the human males. The stink of their arousal around her was nearly enough to send him into a possessive rage, but he contented himself with merely shadowing her around base, growling warnings at any males that might range too close to what was his.

And she'd been his since he'd first set his optics on her. While most of the human females seemed wary or timid of mechs, she was friendly albeit with a scathing sense of humor. She'd talked to him as an equal rather than as some fearsome alien she had to deal with and it had meant a lot to him that she trusted him.

It was so tempting though to break free of the status quo of their relationship and see if she was willing to be more than friends, but he always ended up balking. The idea of rejection was always there and their friendship was so easy and comfortable, he was afraid he'd lose that if she didn't return his feelings.

The last several days he'd given in to the mischief in him, flirting with her just to see her face darken with embarrassment. The fact that she had yet to rebuke him had only spurred him on and made him bolder. Maybe it was just his years of being a Wrecker, but he was toeing the line between innocent flirting and the urge to try for something more.

He revved softly and she glance up at him uncertainly, her smile wary.

"You want to get some fresh air?"

Miko blinked at the unexpected question and peered up at Bulkhead's immense frame as he watched her. "Sure?"

She didn't have time to protest, gasping out loud as he easily snagged her off the desk and carried her outside. He paused to nod at Boulder in passing, and then the bright sun was blinding her. The heat outside their air-conditioned hangar was unbearably oppressive and only amplified by the concrete edging the hangar. She squinted up at the blue sky as Bulkhead carried her toward the wooded area bordering the base perimeter.

"Where are we going?" She demanded as he crouched down and placed her on her feet on the pine needle littered ground. She reached up to fumble her hard hat off as sweat started beading her skin.

Bulkhead changed sized so suddenly she nearly dropped her hat in surprise. She took a step back as the former Wrecker studied her.

"I like Earth."

Miko pursed her lips, baffled. "It's okay."

"It's alive. Everything is so… alive." He took a step toward her.

Miko was struck by how much bigger he still was even mass-displaced. "Cybertron isn't?"

"Not anymore," he said dismissively as he caught her wrist when she would have retreated another step. She tensed as he seemed to study her open palm.

For the first time in her entire life, Miko had no words. She fumbled for something-anything to say into the silence that stretched between them, because it seemed almost tangible.

And then Bulkhead tugged her into him.

She would have squeaked or gasped, but his head descended suddenly and she was shocked as his strange mouth covered hers. His lips and mouth hadn't been designed with kissing in mind, but he kissed her roughly with an almost desperate air.

It was like being kissed for the first time all over again- two fumbling uncertain teenagers who didn't really know what they were doing. She opened her mouth to his curious glossa and he took possession without any hesitation. One of his large hands cupped the back of her head and she became slowly aware of a deep rumbling purr and of a softer whimpering that was a surprise when she realized the sound was from her.

Miko broke free as darkness crowded the corners of her vision to gasp in much needed air. She panted like she'd run a marathon as she became slowly aware of his own huffing pants to cool his overheated systems. The pure hunger glittering in his optics as she met them was nearly devastating. She shivered, her own eyes closing as he nuzzled her cheek. He rumbled softly, crooning words to her in his own language. They were alien nothings, but easily recognized as a lover's praise and she reached up to skim her fingertips along his jaw.

His own hands skimmed up her sides with feather-light touches, a question seeming to hang in the air between them.

Sighing darkly, Boulder ducked out of the hangar door to glance around. To his left was the chain link fence that encircled the back lot of the Wrecker's area and the long, whip thin grass and poison ivy twining with the mesh couldn't block out the tall piles of junk parts the Wrecker's were steadily accruing. Directly behind the Construction hangar were thick woods that spread out all the way to the base's perimeter wall.

He rumbled as the thick scent of mating reached his senses. His optics narrowed with suspicion as he stepped into the woods. It didn't take much searching to find his wayward coworkers and he almost stumbled to a halt in shock.

The two forms were unmistakable as Bulkhead and Miko moved urgently against each other with soft sounds.

Boulder shuddered as the sharp, sweet scent of feminine arousal assaulted his olfactory senses. To his horror, he felt his interface stirring and thickening with a dull ache behind his codpiece. But he couldn't make himself leave either. His systems revved softly, his spark thrumming almost in rhythm to the female's panting moans.

Bulkhead's large, capable hands shifted on Miko's thighs and it was all Boulder could do not to groan out loud.

Bulkhead's interface looked too big as he rocked his hips in a frantic movement against her much smaller body. The sight of that interface disappearing and reappearing, slick with her arousal was doing things to him.

Boulder growled as he panted, trying desperately to keep himself from overloading just watching them. Temptation won out as his interface throbbed its own demand though. Boulder's glossa swiped his lower lip as he removed his codpiece to free his stiff interface.

He bit back a snarl as he wrapped a hand around the base of his shaft and stroked himself. Bulkhead's own snarls comingled with Miko's cries of pleasure to drown out his own growl as he fisted his interface and pumped himself. His optics dimmed as he lost himself to the sounds and scents of the mating couple and his own growing need.

Surprises weren't always good things.

Grace wasn't personally all that fond of surprises. Growing up with three older brothers had developed in her a keen sense of self-preservation; especially when it came to a male declaring he had a surprise. In her experience, surprises were usually nasty things- water balloons full of sticky soda, a green snake in her underwear drawer, or being shoved unexpectedly off of a trampoline had been the sort of surprises her brothers had always been armed with growing up.

So she couldn't help the involuntary unease she felt as she stepped into Wheeljack's quarters. The fact that the mech was positively preening didn't lessen the impulse to flee at all.

"Don't look at me like that." He muttered, catching on to her expression with a frown.

"Habit." She replied with a hesitant smile. "It's not going to blow up is it?"

"What?" Now it was Wheeljack's turn to look confused.

"The surprise." She eyed him, glancing around his quarters, but not seeing anything unusual. His room was as cluttered as always though with half-finished projects he'd brought back to his quarters to tinker with. In fact every available space had been given away to storage of his various projects. Only his berth and a narrow cleared off area of floor were clutter-free.

He huffed in amusement at her suspicion. "No explosions or spontaneous combustion." He assured her as he crouched to gather her in his palm, rubbing between her shoulder blades with his thumb. "I have food."

She tensed instantly as he carried her to his berth and gently deposited her. She blanched as she spotted the covered tray on his berth. "I'm not hungry." She blurted as she wriggled in his grip.

Wheeljack growled softly, rolling his optics. "I didn't cook it." He grumbled, setting her down.

She blushed as she glanced up at him. "No offense."

He huffed through his vents, nudging her gently with a fingertip. "Eat and we'll talk."

Unease pitted in her stomach as she studied the big mech, before sitting. The food smelled delicious she noted, but worry ate at her as she twisted to watch him sit on the edge of the berth. She sighed softly. "Look, I've had enough boyfriends to know the whole break up song and dance by heart," she said. "So just say it."

His head tilted as his optics narrowed. "The… what?"

She eyed him warily, ignoring the food. "Are you breaking up with me?"

Wheeljack huffed softly as he sat on the edge of berth. "What makes you think that?"

She didn't flinch as she changed size. "Usually when a guy says we need to talk, its man code for 'I'm dumping your ass' or 'I found something better.'"

The big mech had the nerve to laugh and her face reddened. "Well, isn't it?" She demanded in annoyance.

He shrugged, his mask withdrawing to reveal a crooked grin. "I'm not… dumping your ass." He pushed the tray at her, looking far too amused. "I'm just tending to you."

She lifted the cover off the tray to peek inside at a pile of food big enough for three people. "How much do you think I eat?"

"Do you need more?"

She bit back a snicker. "I can't eat all of this."

"You're too small. Eat it." He nudged her shoulder, smiling and she fought not to roll her eyes, knowing he meant well.

"What did you want to talk about?" She asked, avoiding his prodding finger as he changed size to be on level with her.

"I've made a few modifications…"

"To the food?" She stared at the tray with new suspicion.

He rolled his optics at her exaggeratedly. "I didn't touch the food."

She raised her eyebrows at him and he growled. She didn't even have time to try and flee before he pounced her. Grace squealed in surprise, laughing as he nipped at her throat with a purring rumble.

"Jaaaack." She shoved at his chest, earning her an annoyed growl. Her resistance melted though when he started suckling on her throat. She moaned softly, letting him strip her with surprising skill stemming from years of working on small mechanisms.

She wriggled playfully as he flipped her onto all fours, dragging her under him to gently grip her neck with his dental plating. "Behave." He crooned as one of his large hands trailed down her belly to stroke her clit teasingly. She shuddered, bucking against his finger, hearing the click of his codpiece as he removed it.

"You behave." She shuddered, feeling his thickening interface nudge her inner thigh.

He chuckled, kissing along her shoulder and she gasped as he entered her suddenly to slowly stretch her. "Jack…"

He crooned softly, rocking his hips teasingly before gripping her again with his dental plating. She braced herself on her hands and knees as he shifted to fully cover her. She mewled out loud when he started thrusting urgently against her with barely controlled power on the edge of being wild. She whispered his name as he pounded into her, lazily playing with her clit to the rhythm of his thrusts.

She trembled and pushed back against him, as his grip on her tightened ever so slightly. He bucked frantically into her slick sex, growling possessively.

Grace's arms gave out, only Wheeljack's arm around her waist keeping her from collapsing under him as her release tore through her, drawing a cry of pleasure from her throat. Wheeljack's powerful form tensed over hers and a low snarl issued from his throat as he suddenly began thrusting even more frantically than before.

Grace whimpered as Wheeljack abruptly roared out loud as he overloaded, the sound nearly deafening her. She shuddered, eyes widening as she felt his interface twitch inside her before his heated release filled her.

He shakily nuzzled her throat as he rolled onto his side, dragging her with him. She closed her eyes, panting. "Damn…"

She would have loved nothing more than to simply bask in the after-sex bliss, despite the faint niggling at the back of her mind that something was off.

The alarm klaxon was an instant mood killer though.

High above U.S. airspace, a sleek black jet tore through the clouds unseen and invisible to radar.

Agent William Fowler resisted the very tempting urge to break the delicately thin tablet that rested across his knees. He kept his expression schooled to perfect indifference though as the Secretary of Defense's face frowned up out of the screen at him. No matter how many years it had been since he'd actually worked- real work- not this diplomatic, go-between bullshit, he never got comfortable with it.

On a battlefield you knew your enemies, but in politics every smiling face seemed more than inclined to stab you in the back the first chance the opportunity presented itself. In fact he was fairly certain the SecDef would just as soon as spit on him as deal with him, but he plastered a fake smile on his mug anyway because it wouldn't do to antagonize the old bat.

If anything his smile just seemed to make her frown deepen. "I was told you had explained to them to be more… discreet?" Every hair on her head was smoothed back perfectly in place, her blonde hair strategically only showing a little gray at her temples that, like the blond, wasn't natural. With her hair gathered into a tight bun at the back of her head and a pair of reading glasses perched on her thin nose, she vaguely reminded Fowler of a rather big predatory bird disguised as a librarian.

"Well, they are aliens, ma'am," he said evenly in his best 'what can you do' tone.

Her lips pursed slightly, before the image wavered and stuttered. "Don't call me-" She elongated on the screen only to be replaced by the hiss of static.

"Perry?" He glanced questioningly up at his pilot and assistant.

Erin Perry pressed a hand to her headset as the alert came through. "Sir, evasive maneuvers."

Agent Fowler looked up from the tablet in his hand, cursing as the small jet was thrown violently into a tight turn. "Dammit." He scrabbled for his tablet as it fell from stiff fingers onto the floorboard. "A little more warning?"

"Sorry, sir." Erin's voice wasn't even remotely recalcitrant as she focused on the cacophony of warning lights, readings, and the input from her HUD. "NEST airspace is compromised."

A silver and blue edged jet sliced through their airspace, rolling in a spiral that no earthly pilot would have been able to mimic before it opened fire.

"Decepticons!"

June lurched to her feet from her desk as the intercom roared to life at the same time as the base-wide alarm klaxons sounded. She snatched up her medical bag and slung it over a shoulder as training kicked in.

She shoved out of her office, running through the connecting hall to med bay. The heavy thud of mech feet and the snarling of Cybertronian assaulted her ears. She pressed herself against the wall as the entire building seemed to quiver. "Shit…"

"Get to the bunker!" She snapped out of her stupor as Lennox grabbed her upper arm and gave her a push.

She hesitated only a second, before she was running not to safety but into hell itself.

Cybertronians were everywhere outside- more than she'd ever seen at one time and they were yelling back and forth to each other. Like mice scurrying around the feet of elephants, she spotted groups of human soldiers taking up defensive positions. Something exploded somewhere, the sound blasting over her and in the confusion she spotted the threat.

Her eyes widened in shock as something massive and snarling slammed into the roof of a building. A nightmarish scream of harsh Cybertronian rent the air, answered by several angry roars.

Decepticons.

"We need some help here!"

June gritted her teeth as she turned toward the yell. Swiping sweat from her eyes she spotted Kade Burns crouched over a fallen human form. Her stomach pitted as she grabbed her bag and hurried over, recognizing the limp female as April. "Where's she injured?" She demanded as she dropped to her knees beside the woman.

"I don't know. She seemed fine, but she just fell over suddenly." Kade said as he hovered nearby.

June leaned over the fallen woman, finding a pulse and steady breathing. Her nimble hands raced over the woman, finding no damage. She made a soft sound of frustration that turned into a cry as something hit the concrete wall to throw up a plume of dust and rained dirt down on them.

Kade helped her as she grabbed her patient and began dragging her toward medbay. June screamed out a curse as a blur of metal stomped by inches from flattening one of her legs underfoot as the mech joined the battle unfolding around them.

"Triage here!" Someone called out loudly.

"Ratchet! Ratchet, we don't have enough berths-"

"Can't feel my arm! Someone please-"

Ratchet felt a shudder ripple through his systems as he stared out over his medbay. The red and white medic squared his shoulders as he stared at all of the supplicant faces turning towards him, expecting help, humans and Bots, medical personnel and the wounded alike. Too many.

It was Cybertron all over again. Iacon. Kaon. Every pit-spawned battle-field he'd ever set ped on. He huffed air through his vents as he fell into the rhythm of a trauma ward.