"And how exactly did you manage to show up on N.E.S.T doorstep, seemingly unharmed?"

Hostility was like a virus, it seemed. It spread. Fast. An epidemic unable to be purged unless someone – say, Mikaela – did something that would ultimately restore whatever faith the humans and Autobots had in her.

So far, she wasn't doing a great job.

Charlotte Mearing was glaring daggers at everyone, which made Mikaela feel a tab bit better about the current situation. Megatron was glaring right back, as was Trina, the only other human in the room. They had returned upon such short notice that Trina was still clutching her blood-speckled machete, her empty pistol holstered at her side.

Lucky for Mearing, Optimus was standing behind her and if by some bizarre circumstance Trina was to lash out, he would be there to stop it.

Mikaela doubted that. Despite Trina's ruthlessness earlier on, she'd managed to cool down and sit in the metal chair with a seemingly stoical expression, despite the glares.

"Megatron and Trina," Mikaela gulped and jerked her chin towards said two people, "They worked together."

Mearing stared at Trina with disgust. Then, looked up at Megatron with the same expression everyone had carried as they'd entered the base, walking down the hallway. Hostility. Mikaela had been surprised that Prime had allowed the Decepticon to even enter this base, even with all the chaos raging around them. The news that Lennox and his team were dead had spread like a wildfire through the human ranks, and now they, as well as the Autobots, were practically screaming for Caine Fisher to be hunted down and killed.

Mikaela steeled herself for Mearing's response, but none came. Instead, Optimus cut in and said, "With all due respect, Director, the intentions were far from inimical. Megatron has offered us an alliance and I see no reason why we sh–"

"With all due respect, Prime," Mearing began, rounding on him, her framed spectacles flashing, "This creature…..no, this felon, has proved time and time again that he is not to be trusted."

"How?" Trina snapped.

Megatron's head swiveled down to look at her. She was defending him, and better change from when she'd suggested to leave him in the desert to die. Mikaela wondered what exactly had gone on during her capture, when Trina had been left alone with Soundwave and Megatron all that time.

"The Sun Harvester. Mission City. Everything," Mearing replied coolly, glancing briefly at Optimus, opening her mouth as if to bring up another point, and then closing it. "We are perfectly capable of handling the Brotherhood situation without his help."

"I am right here, you know," Megatron replied. "And while your human organization has proven quite….prosperous when it comes to dealing unknown threats – Cybertronians, in particular – I don't have the slightest belief that you know who, or what you are dealing with. Director," his lips curled back in a nasty sneer, "Have you been on the fronts lines yourself? All you have is a pile of tedious paperwork that describes who Caine Fisher is, but not what he can do. He successfully managed to capture and kill one of my top commanders. A Decepticon, mind you. Not one of your petite little Autobot pets that would have qualms about killing a human."

"And that's not all," Trina added. "No offense, Prime, but you have too many limitations. Megatron, believe it or not, is like a vicious animal. And when it comes to a situation like this, we need someone who won't show any mercy or hesitation."

Like you, Mikaela wanted to say. She still had the images of Trina, running, screaming, swinging that massive scalpel around and beheading people left and right in her mind. Megatron must have taught her a lot in a scale of a few weeks.

"Yeah," Mikaela said. "I mean, I'm not trying to pledge my loyalty to the Decepticon's or anything, but Megatron has helped with the whole Brotherhood thing, more than once."

"Oh, and now you're talking about moral standards?" Mearing snorted. "Says the girl who willingly switched factions. How has that been holding up for you, Banes?"

"Hey," Trina growled. "She saved my dad. Lay off."

Mearing's look was far from pleasant, but she was able to shrug Trina's comment off with a sigh. She shuffled her papers, bit her lip, and then said, "I see where you come from."

Mikaela looked around, and then tried to put herself in Mearing's place. The woman was sitting in front of a rogue Autobot, the Autobot commander, a human with an untainted streak of violence, and the Decepticon overlord.

And she was doing a hell of a good job concealing the fact that she was scared out of her wits.

You couldn't get any more dangerous than this, Mikaela thought with a shake of the head.

"Megatron," Optimus said, the words heavy on his lips. "You have offered a temporary alliance between our two factions, and for the sake of the femme we both love, I will honor it. But only if you do the same."

Megatron's red optics flickered over Optimus' frame, his shoulders stiff. His silver armor wasn't as shiny or flashy as it was before, the stress of his previous injury having caused some of it to pale and then flake away. He looked like a sunken scarecrow, Mikaela realized. Half of his troops were either dead or rogue. His air commander was offline. All he'd had for company the past few weeks had been a human female and Soundwave.

A part of Mikaela knew that he was desperate. On any other day, he'd have said no and then stabbed Prime in the back.

Open mouthed, Mikaela watched as Megatron extended a long, talon clad hand.

Optimus took it in his, and shook gingerly.

Trina gave a whistle of appraisal and began to swing her machete, much to Mearing's distaste. She said, "Fantastic, boys. That's a wrap."

"Let me look at yo –"

"No, Ratchet," Mikaela said wearily, brushing away his hand. "I don't need an exam. Certainly not now."

"But you were deprived of energon for far too long," he said quickly. It was almost funny, watching him fret over her like this. As they walked down the hallway, most of the soldiers shot her looks of obvious suspicion, though some were a bit more uncertain than others. It spoke volumes about how much Ratchet must care for his patients – Autobot, Decepticon, or in Mikaela's case, neutral.

"Optimus has some," she said. "I'll get some from him."

Ratchet pursed his lip plates, but eventually veered away and back towards the medical bay. The hallway began to empty of its human residents as the Autobots quarters came into view, and Mikaela slowly opened the door to Optimus' room, seeing his form resting on the berth before closing it behind her.

"Mearing was unhappy," he said, his eyes staring, motionless, up at the ceiling.

"When is she ever not?" Mikaela said, squeezing her slim frame into the ounce of space left on the berth, placing a hand over Optimus' spark.

The mech didn't respond. His hands came up to cover Mikaela's affectionately, his head shifting so she could bury her head in the crook of his neck.

It had been so long since she'd been like this, lying beside him. Eternities, it seemed.

Finally, he spoke. "That was a brave thing you did back there."

"Huh? What? With Jude Garrison?" Mikaela shrugged. "I saw him and Trina together a while ago."

"Did he thank you?"

"He was in that 'shock-and-awe' mode everyone goes into. He took the revelation of the Autobots a lot harder than my own dad did, especially since his daughter is so avidly involved now."

Optimus nodded in understanding, leaned over, and kissed the top of Mikaela's head. Warmth traveled from her helm down to her pedes, and she found herself rumbling with pleasure.

"You know, it's been a while since we've…."

"I know."

"Do you want to try?"

Mikaela felt herself twitch instinctively, and she gave a groan as her joints popped and her gears creaked. She swung one leg around so she could drape herself across him, straddling his waist.

He gave a rumble of pleasure as Mikaela showered kissed up his throat, his cheeks, his lips, and his helm.

"Whenever you're ready."

They made love several more times after that. On his berth. On her berth. It was almost like a game, one stumbling away and disappearing until the next day, and then retire to whichever room felt necessary for the occasion.

Of course, people started to notice. And by people, Mikaela meant Trina Garrison, probably the most attentive human on the base.

"I don't get it," she said one day, while walking with Mikaela, her machete swinging rhythmically beside her hip. "You two are having sex and making enough noise to wake a dead person. What part of that seems a bit odd to you?"

"The part where you mention that we're having sex."

"Other than that," she shook her head violently and took a sip of her soda, stopping to lean against an abandoned shed beside the tarmac. It was isolated and away from prying eyes, and part of Mikaela wondered if her words had been planned.

"Okay, what? Tell me."

"Megsy'!" Trina said, incredulous. "Ole' Fearless Leader. The one who your mindmate," she tapped the side of her head for emphasis, "Is supposedly in love with?"

"What about him?"

"While you and Optimus have been humping each other's processors out, he's been brooding in a corner. I mean, I'm not saying to invite him in on the action, but, I mean, at least go…."

"He set you up to this, didn't he?"

Trina's face paled, and then, as if Mikaela were an oblivious nimrod with half her processors hanging out of her helm, she said, "No."

"Liar."

Trina chugged a gulp of soda to hide her discomfort.

"He's jealous, isn't he?" Mikaela said. The thought in itself was hilarious, yet bizarre at the same time. Megatron was incapable of anything but loathing and contempt. "In the middle of all this, he's worrying about emotions?"

"You kind of shoved it in his face."

"How?"

"By stumbling through the base looking like a drunken monkey, with half your armor hanging off," Trina toyed with the strap that held her machete in place, running her tongue across her teeth, looking as uncomfortable as Mikaela felt. She said, "My advice?"

"Who said I wanted your advice?"

"You do," Trina flashed Mikaela smile. "Go talk to Megatron. I mean, if you're going to have a threesome, like, I don't want to know about it, but you can at least make him feel like part of the squad."

"The squad?"

"Yeah. That's our official name. Made it up myself," Trina grinned savagely. "Me, you, Prime, Megatron. Ratchet, if he can get his ass out of the med bay. Soundwave, if he can learn to be a bit more….um….sociable."

"I doubt that."

"You aren't the first."

Mikaela chuckled, and then glanced down at her friend.

"Thank you," she said softly.

"Huh?"

"Thank you for saving me," Mikaela reached out and pressed a finger against the top of her head, smiling when Trina's eyes traveled across her face. "For getting me out of there. I would have died if it hadn't been for you."

Trina just nodded in apprehension and patted Mikaela leg, saying, "What are badass sisters for?" She paused, a devilish smile creeping across her lips. "That's our new name. You and me. Badass Sisters."

Mikaela smiled, staring at the single human friend she had left.

"I like it. I like it, a lot."