I do not own anything. And I redid this chapter completely, thanks to some fantastic advice from my awesome beta, Alathea2. Hope you leave your comments and everything else in the reviews. Enjoy.

Chapter 20

I looked around the area surrounding Sunstreaker and me. It was quite stunning, but also had a sense that it was something you could find anywhere. Strange organic…things popped up from the fine grains that decorated much of the island. Shorter, green organic threads stayed well out of reach of the water, but stayed in the center near the other organics.

The sun was beating down on us as we sat on large rocks, awaiting the arrival of the Autobots. However, large grey clouds were starting the crowd the horizon. The non-existent breeze had slowly begun to pick up, but it was barely enough to ruffle the organics.

"What do you think is taking them so long?" I asked the mech beside me, trying to dispel the stiff, awkward air that sat between us.

"Ground bridge is broken," he muttered, cobalt optics taking in the scenery.

"That's a shame," I said. The clouds crept closer, but were still at a very safe distance. A storm was brewing, I knew. Starscream, who had taught me how to fly, in his own violent way, had told me that it was unsafe to fly in such conditions. On Earth, they had something called lightning, and if it struck you, it could do a number of possibly horrid things to metallic beings like us. "So…" I started uncomfortably, "How are things back at the base?"

Sunstreaker shot me a confused glare before going back to ignoring me. I wasn't on a mission, so I absolutely detested the silence. And with the silence, my thoughts slowly circled around to Colonel Thana Kalu. An interesting creature, that one. Proud and strong, yet weak. And I'm not talking in the physical sense. She had weaknesses, and refused to acknowledge them.

Much like me, in fact.

I wasn't invincible. I wasn't immortal. However, I acted as if I was, as if nothing could hurt me. But it could. I had anger issues, was impossibly stubborn, too self-assured, and pushed anyone and everyone away.

"Did you know Colonel Thana Kalu?" I watched the frontliner's expression carefully. The first emotion was to expected: confusion. It was just a natural response to something that wasn't expected. And I was ready for the next set: curiosity, anger, and even a bit of grief hung behind the stronger, more potent emotions.

"Why do you care?" he growled. I cycled air through my vents slowly, readying myself for what I was about to say. I didn't trust him, but I respected him and hoped that he would give me a straight answer.

"What if I told you I had…visions, for lack of a better term, through her optics…?" This caused Sunstreaker to snap his helm in my direction instead of staring out onto the open ocean.

"What do you mean…" but I cut him off before he could continue.

"I mean like some nights when I recharge," if I can catch it, that is, "that it's like I look through her optics. I see what she sees, feel what she feels. Did you know her personally?"

It was a long wait until he spoke again. At first I had hesitated, thinking he was trying to concoct some stupid story to put together, to throw me off the trail. But as the silence reigned, I realized he was only gathering his thoughts.

"We weren't that close," he finally admitted after what seemed to be an eternity. "I saw her everyday on base, talked with her a couple times, but never really knew her. In fact, I think the only ones who did know the real Thana was Prowl and Jazz."

"Really?" I hadn't expected that. "Why do you think that is?"

"Prowl was her guardian." That would explain why the SIC felt a need to be close to me, despite him calling me by his long-lost sibling's designation. There must've been something in me that reminded him of his charge. "And Jazz…I think he had a crush on her."

"A crush? What is that?" Stupid Earth lingo. That make up so many stupid words for even stupider things.

"It's when someone develops feelings for another. More than friendship or familial." I nodded in understanding, casting my golden-amber gaze over to the clouds that were still making their way towards us. However, if it went at the same rate, it wouldn't hit the island until a couple more Earth hours had passed.

"Why would he, an autonomous robotic organism, develop a crush on an organic Earthling?"

"Who knows," Sunstreaker shrugged. "He saw something he liked and couldn't stop from liking it more. But he never said anything. I think if he told Prowl…"

"…Prowl would whoop his skid plate across the Earth," I finished, and we shared a round of half-sparked chuckles. It became quiet once more, the only sounds being Sunstreaker's ventilations and the soft lapping of the water on the grains at our pedes. "What's your personal evaluation of Thana?" He grimaced at my phrasing, but seemed too tired to respond any more physically than that. I couldn't help but agree. I was having a bit of a hard time holding onto consciousness myself. I swear, holding back a fight is harder than having an actual one.

"Quiet, reserved…suspicious," he added after a moments thought. "Didn't dare get emotionally close to anyone, baring Prowl. Maybe she opened up a little to Jazz, but I don't know."

"Nice femme?"

"Yeah."

"Did or do you have a crush on her?" I teased. The brightly colored mech whipped his gaze to me, his expression reading, 'What the…?'

"No," he answered sharply, as if I had offended him. I realized I had pushed too far in teasing him, so I muted myself, content just to grab a dead part of one of the taller organics and draw in the grains. It bothered me somewhat that I was actually relieved that I could hear the truth in his voice, and even more so that I was…happy that he didn't harbor any affections towards the one who haunted my recharge. From the picture I had painted of the Earthling and from what I knew and experienced with Sunstreaker, the pairing would never happen. Too many differences, not enough similarities.

"Tell me, what are these organics that surround us?" The frontliner turned bodily around to look at the green organics that swayed a little harsher in the growing breeze.

"The tall ones are called palm trees, and they are surrounded by grass," he explained to me, pointing them out. "We are sitting on rocks, the island is made of sand, that's the ocean, filled with corrosive salt water, and those are clouds that promise a bad storm." His tone carried a sarcastic bite that I ignored easily. I'm sure the water isn't that corrosive, considering us who would go down to the lab under it needed to always be in tip-top shape.

Neither of us spoke after that. Sunstreaker didn't offer any more insight onto Thana, and I didn't ask. It was obvious I had pushed one too many buttons on the volatile mech, and one more would push him into more physical means of anger. I didn't doubt that even as tired and energon-deprived as we both were, he still would've put up a decent fight.

Propping my helm in one servo, I drew with the part of the palm tree with the other. I really didn't know what I was drawing; my processor was blank and my servo kept moving to form different squiggles and lines and shapes. I stopped eventually, and began to study what I unconsciously drew in the sand.

I had traced a crude picture of my flying alt mode. I knew I could have two ground-based ones, but never had a chance to pick them out. Another was of the gun that killed Thana's creator, and another of the same airplane that Thana's adoptive brother flew. The last one, though, was more intricate than the others.

At a quick glance, it appeared to be a maze of sorts, complete with different shapes off of each little line. I felt like it went underground somehow, judging by the three sets of stairs I had drawn in with horizontal lines. The first level, it had to be ground level, was a rectangle, an opening, probably a doorway, at one end. Maybe it was kind of like a commons room, where one would make their last check to see if they had all their gear or where they could relax. A small room was in the farthest corner from the door, with stairs or a ladder going underground.

The next level had a main hallway, with a few different outcroppings where doors would be to go into the other rooms. Maybe these were conference rooms or supplies. The next level held five rooms of the exact same size. I don't know what they were possibly used for, but that didn't stop the chill that ran down my back. The fifth room had the last set of stairs or ladder next to it, outside of its door, in the hall. What I could only presume was a tunnel, was filled with twists and turns, and was quite long, if I did so say myself.

"What's that?" I nearly jumped; I had practically forgotten that the mech was there. Quickly berating myself for being so forgetful, reminding myself harshly that I'm supposed to be aware at all times, no matter what, I turned to Sunstreaker, who only looked at the pictures.

"That is my alt mode, an F/A-18 Hornet," I said, pointing to it. "That's the gun that killed her creator, a .22 revolver." It was obvious who she was. "That's another Hornet, but it's the one her brother flew." I ignored the way the mech's cobalt optics jumped to mine, the stunned expression on his faceplates. "And that…well, I'm not quite sure what it is, but I feel like it has something to do with Thana. Maybe one of the organic homes or bases she had to infiltrate, or something."

While Sunstreaker studied my drawings, I stood and walked to the other end of the small island, which was about forty or so paces from where the rocks that we were sitting on. If I wanted to be precise, it was 45 and a half paces, but still. I stretched my wings by moving them in broad sweeps, trying to ease the ache from the strained cables.

The clouds were much closer now, the breeze picking up to a steady light wind, bring with it the scent of rain. How I knew that particular scent was unknown to me, but it brought a sense of comfort with it. A prick made itself known in my processor, adding to the slow and steady increase of ache. I hadn't really realized it until now how little recharge and energon I had been getting. I must do something about that as soon as I can. All this pondering about Thana and question-and-answer game with Sunstreaker probably didn't help, though.

"When are the Autobots going to arrive?" I called back to the sunshine-yellow mech where he, too, had stood and was currently stretching.

"In a few Earth minutes. They're coming from this side." I nodded, just to let him know that I heard him, going back to observing the brewing storm. Flashes of light could be seen for a split second, the boom of thunder, reminding me of bombs, following 65 seconds after each flash. I didn't know how far that meant the storm was from here, but I was willing to say we only had a few Earth minutes until it hit the island.

Under my vents, I began to hum a tone to a song I didn't even know I knew. I didn't know the words, they just wouldn't come to me, but I just kept humming. I felt as if it had something to do with storms and hardships, but that's all I could gather.

The Autobots better get here soon because it's almost on top of us.

… … … …

Well, there you go. I would like to point out that this was kind of a challenge, as well as the next chapter, to get at least 2000 words in. I managed it *glares playfully at Alathea2* in 2018 words, so ha! I hope it was a nice insight into a whole bunch of stuff that I'm too lazy to name. Forgive me, please. And apparently, if you see lightning and thunder doesn't follow until 5 seconds afterwards, the storm is about a mile out from where you are. So I had picked a random number (13) and multiplied it to 5, to give me the seconds. The storm was about 13 miles out when she counted. And the song she was humming, I actually did have a song in my head. It's called Every Storm Runs Out of Rain by Gary Allen. Great artist, if I do say so myself. Country music, if you wanted to know what genera he's in. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed it. Have a great day, everyone!