Hey! Hope you all had a great 4th of July and managed to catch some pretty spectacular light shows!

Anyhow… I'd like to acknowledge DooopDoooooopDop, Steelcode, bajy, X Valkyrie Prime X, Qzak501, AoBlick and those who favorited and followed this story. You guys ultimately rock! Seriously, I was on cloud 1000 when I came across the words "…amazing as always."

In any case, this is it folks! The chapter you have all been waiting for! Ironhide meets the Team Prime! Anyways, FYI, I am strictly an English speaker only with meager knowledge of French and Spanish. (Legit, I only know how to say a few words and sentences in each language). I do not know how to read, write, or speak in other languages besides my native one. So if you find any odd translations, you should know that I merely used a translator, so I'm sorry if I messed up anywhere. I am not trying to purposefully insult anyone's culture, beliefs, or anything in between and beyond. That also applied to any insults I used like when Aria called Starscream gay. I am not trying to be hypocritical, and neither is Aria, I just use them as insults for particular characters to make this story more humorous. I am totally cool with and actually admire anyone who has the courage to stand up and go against social norms.

Okay, mini rant over.

Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers Prime in any way, shape, form or deviation! (Sadly) :'(

Chapter 25: The Secret is Out

When people die, why do people refer to them as late? Were they supposed to die earlier or something? Or, when they are born, why are they referred to as 'early'? Should they have come into the world at a later date? Were they not wanted at the time or something?

Those were the morbid thoughts that swirled around in my mind as I lay in bed, staring unseeingly up at the blue-painted ceiling with its glow-in-the-dark constellation designs. My mentor, Azriel Slade, had been dead for a little over a week now. A fact of which I was still coming to terms with.

In any case, Ironhide and I had just returned Jasper only a couple hours ago, and I hadn't said a word in the two days since we had searched that hotel room back in New Orleans. Even Ironhide, who had more than one good reason to be pissed off at me, hadn't attempted to engage in conversation with me either. In the two-day drive it took to get from New Orleans to Jasper, not once had the Autobot even tried to goad me into another trivial argument. He could probably sense that I wanted to be left alone with my thoughts for the time being. Of course, that may have also been a side-effect from all the angry and pissed off thoughts clouding my mind as I brooded over the fact I had lost that sick bastard yet again.

Trust me, brooding silence is a heck of a lot scarier than any angry, snarling woman.

In any case, from the looks of things, my bad mood was not going to improve anytime soon. Hell, I hadn't even bothered to call or text Optimus that I was back because I just wasn't up to dealing with him or anyone else right now unless I strictly had to.

I shook my head a little.

No. Correction: I didn't want him to see this side of me. I could barely think straight enough as it is. Wait, no, that sounded wrong.

Growling a little, I turned on my side with a huff, eyes narrowed at no point in particular. Maybe tomorrow, when I went back to school, I would get lucky, and someone would decide to pick a fight with me again. That would surely improve my mental state, even if no one there was even close to my level.

I was just starting to perk up a little when the door to my room suddenly crashed open.

Immediately, a weapon in hand before anyone could even blink and attention snapping to the intruder. However, instead of a gun-toting psycho, like I half expected, I found myself looking at Ironhide's stern-faced holoform.

"Get up Squishy," he commanded, his tone of voice equally as stern as his features.

I finally spoke for the first time in days. "What the fuck?! Ironhide get out of my—"

He marched over, looking like he was ready to drag me out of bed if he had to. "Up. Now."

Face twisted in a half-scowl, half-snarl, I reluctantly did so, standing at my full height of 6'1" and glaring the mech in the face. Considering he was less than two feet away, we were practically nose-to-nose when I got to my feet, and I could now make out the multitude of pale lines marring his face in even greater detail than before. Was it bad that I thought a little of Mad-Eye Moody when I looked at him?

"Get out of my room, Ironhide," I growled. "I am no– What– Hey let go of me you oversized trash compactor!" I hollered when he grasped my good arm with one of his rough hands, that felt a bit like calloused leather, and began dragging me out the door.

"Mute it Squishy," he snapped with equal ferocity, not even bothering to look back at me. "You still owe me for doing your dirty work, and I need a sparring partner."

Taken aback by his words, I blinked a couple times in surprise. How had he known?

Carefully, I studied him, but that was it as I—now a little more willingly—let him drag me along into the warehouse he had been calling home for several weeks now. To my surprise, everything was already set up and waiting; a large red mat laid out with a water bottle filled iced chest set to one side that had a small towel and wrappings set out atop it.

I merely grunted as 'hide released me, shoving me toward the cooler, and ordered me to get ready. Numbly, I stripped myself of my shirt, glad that I had chosen to wear a black sports bra underneath the dark red AC/DC t-shirt. With my old MCJROTC sweat shorts lightly brushing me somewhere at my knees as I stretched out, I soon enough found myself facing off against the Autobot weapon specialist.

He was pretty good; I will admit that. Sure, he mainly relied on his strength and size since he could not keep up with my lithe movements and speed, but he certainly could hold his own against me, even if he did end up with his face shoved into the mat by the end of the first round.

But as we got ready to go at it once again, I finally came to a decision.

I needed to tell the Autobot's about him.

—Next Day, Jasper High—

"WHAT?!" Miko and I shrieked at the same time, staring at Mr. Brunnswick, our History/Government teacher, in horror.

"You can't be serious!"

"Are you out of your freaking mind?!"

"Tutor her?!"

"I don't need a tutor!"

"I can't work with her!" we both said in unison once again, pointing at each other.

"ENOUGH!" Mr. B shouted, fed up with our protests.

Immediately, we shut up. Though probably for different reasons.

Taking a deep breath, the teacher then fixed us in turn with a stern expression as he addressed each of us. "Yes, I am completely serious, Miss Slade-Cage. You have the highest marks of all my senior classes, despite your frequent absences. Not only that, but I understand that you are already taking college courses online as well and know at least three other languages, including Japanese. That makes you the perfect candidate to help Miss Nakadai with her grades."

He turned his gaze onto Miko then. "And on the contrary Miss Nakadai, your grades suggest that you do need a tutor, or a coach at the very least. In these past two weeks alone, I have not received a single significant assignment from you, and those that I do, I can tell that you only half tried. If you do not start picking up the pace soon, you will fall behind. So Miss Nakadai you have two options: either you let Miss Slade-Cage tutor you, or you trade in your passport for a plane ticket back home."

He stopped, looking between us. "Am I understood, girls?"

Both of us were silent. However, swallowing back the uncomfortable lump of revulsion in my throat, I was the first to put my pride aside and say with some forced enthusiasm, "I understand sir. However, I while I promise to do my best, I want you to know that cannot guarantee any results as this depends on Miss Nakadai's cooperation and willingness to get her grades up." I made sure to stand a little straighter and (falsely) smile apologetically as I spoke.

Hey, call me a kiss ass all you want but at least the school authority liked me for it and saw me as more mature than the rest.

I could feel Miko's exasperated eye-roll from my left, but ignored it as the history teacher smiled warmly at me.

"I expected nothing less from you Miss Slade, and I understand if that is the issue. However, I have faith that you will be able to work out something with Miss Nakadai considering your stellar record. Now, any more questions you two?"

He caught Miko's look and quickly said, "And no, this is nonnegotiable Miss Nakadai. In fact, I have already taken the liberty of explaining what is going on to your host parents, and they have agreed to this solution."

Unseen by the two other occupants of the empty classroom, I secretly smirked, eyes glinting mischievously as Miko sagged in defeat.

"Good. Now, here is a list of assignments that Miss Nakadai is still missing. You have two weeks before I simply decide to just fail you," he said, smiling all the while as he gave us his ultimatum.

I merely nodded, taking the slip of paper as Miko gaped in horror.

We were no doubt thinking the same thing; this was going to be hell.

—Outside Classroom—

"I can't believe the teach is making me work with you of all people!" Miko ranted, making her mutual dislike of me quite evident.

I just ground my teeth, determinedly fixing my gaze on a point straight ahead of me. Yeah well that makes two of us.

Seriously, ever since day one when I met her, I knew without a doubt that Miko was not someone I was going to enjoy having around. She was loud, obnoxious, idiotic, and completely disrespectful and carefree. In other words, my exact opposite in almost every way, and someone I could never fully respect. Accomplished she may have been at getting herself all the way to America, she was not the definition of intelligent in my book. Miko took things for granted which should not have been taken for granted in the first place. Adrenaline and attention seeking and completely oblivious to the ways of the world, I had no doubts that she was going to drive herself into an early grave eventually. It always happened with her type unless something significant occurred to them to make them change their ways. But that rarely ever happened.

"Hey! I'm talking to you!" Miko's obnoxiously loud voice broke into my internal monologue.

Resisting the urge to roll my eyes, I turned my gaze on her, face betraying nothing as I snapped, "What?"

With a huff and unrestrained eye roll on her part, Miko tried her best—though it honestly wasn't that spectacular—to give me a stern glare. "I said, just because you are boss bot's charge, that doesn't make you the boss of me. You got that?"

Fed up with her childish antics and overall careless demeanor and disregard of others, I decided to be a bitch. Seriously, I hated people like Miko with a passion, and she was a teenager so that made it inevitably worse. Maybe that was why I was determined to not ever have children?

Anyways, with a mild scowl that made most school bullies wet their pants and run to mama, I said, "Oh really? Well last time I checked, the teacher put me in charge, and your parents agreed to the arrangement wholeheartedly even. So tell me, how am I not the boss of you now?"

Okay, so maybe the phrase "fed up" was a bit mild when it came to how PO-ed I was with Miko, but that girl just seriously got under my skin worse than the scarabs in "The Mummy".

"Jibun no meinu o okashitekudasai!" she snapped in her native language. (Go fuck yourself you bitch!)

Unfortunately, Mr. Brunnswick hadn't been kidding when he said that I knew Japanese along with several other languages—even if he had no idea on how many languages I actually knew—so it was a bit of a nasty surprise when I started firing back insults in Japanese.

"Anata wa mazu, meinu," I growled, teeth bared. (You first, bitch.)

Temporarily muted in her rage, I took advantage of the silence and cockily gave her my best and most mocking, wolfish grin, before turning and walking away, being sure to slam my shoulder into hers on my way out. Hard.

Of course, I made sure to drive the stake in deeper as I imparted one last insult. "Anata no o shiri kara atama o nuite shimaeba, mōichido watashi ni hanashite kudasai." (Talk to me again once you've pulled your head out of your ass.)

I merely smirked when the last thing I heard before exiting the educational facility was an enraged shriek, coming from somewhere behind me. Sometimes it really paid to be a purebred bitch.

—Later, Base—

I have never been more glad to have Optimus as my guardian. When I arrived at base, I half-expected everyone to start bombarding me with questions. After all, my phone conversation the day I had left was not exactly subtle, especially when I had lost control of my emotions like that for a brief moment. Seriously, to them, that one instance was probably akin to a human seeing a legit unicorn.

In any case, when I arrived, I was fully prepared to snap out several unkind sounding "Never you mind's" and "None of your damn businesses'". Instead, as soon as I took a deep breath and pulled my motorcycle helmet off, I found nothing but a few curiosity-filled looks shot my way. However, that was it.

Frankly, I was more than a little stunned and surprised. Then I caught sight of my tall, proud guardian, and I just knew that he had something to do with this. It was the only logical explanation. But you would hear no complaints from me about it.

In fact, as soon as I was comfortably situated on his shoulder like a parrot would be on a pirate's shoulder and we were out of the sight of the others, I made sure to thank him to the best of my ability, giving him a hug around his neck as well as I was able to considering how small I was compared to him. If I'm being completely honest with myself, I think I surprised both of us with my actions. In my defense though, I've had a crazy past week, so I was allowed to be a little off my game.

"Thank you," I whispered quietly, fighting back a blush as I pulled away and schooled my features back into a mask. Seriously, what is with that odd feeling in my heart again?

Apparently still recovering himself from my action's he said slowly, "You are most welcome, Aria." Was it just me or did he just smile a little for a moment there?

In any case, he didn't push about what had happened. All Optimus did was merely ask if I was alright and tell me that he was always willing to lend an audial if I ever needed to talk. Then we resolved into talking about random stuff, comparing things like human relationships and cybertronian relationships, and actively avoiding talking about the past week. It was surprising how similar yet different our cultures were.

Anyways, as we talked, I eventually managed to gather up enough of my courage to tell him about Ironhide.

Swallowing thickly, I opened my mouth and began to say, "Optimus, I have to tell you something."

However, before I could even get two words out, Ratchet's nearby voice cut in, "Optimus! You're not going to believe this!"

He shot me an apologetic look, those enchanting blue optics of his asking me silently for forgiveness. Swallowing back my words with slight discomfort, I managed a weak smile, feeling my throat relaxing in relief.

"Go on," I told him. "I can tell you later."

—Later—

"Hoo-yah!"

"Oh!"

"Munched!"

"Give it up for the baddest beast machines on the planet!"

Grey eyes rolling exasperatedly, I continued to work on another one of Ratchet's smashed—I'll give you three guesses as to who did it—devices. The medic could have probably done it himself, but he was busy monitoring the situation with the other bots. Plus, like I had told him, I had much smaller servos meant for getting into even smaller spaces that Autobot digits couldn't reach without a lot of time, patience, and other various tools meant for such jobs. I was basically doing him a favor here.

Anyways, if you are wondering, Miko and I are basically at the 'not talking' stage of being enemies. Oh, we acknowledged each other alright, but that was only when we saw an opening to shoot a barbed comment at the other. We were lucky that there were at least two other people—or bots if you prefer—in the room. Otherwise, we'd probably be at each other's throats. Well, Miko would be dead, and I would be enjoying the silence that came with it, but you get the idea.

Listening as I worked, I couldn't help but smirk a little as Ratchet groaned a little in frustration, that figurative vein no doubt throbbing in his temple. Annoyance evident in his tone, he called over to the loudest duo on Team Prime, "Would you mind lowering the volume?"

Of course, the request went right of the duo's heads with how dense both of them were. Instead, with his optics glued to the television screen, Bulkhead said, "Hey, Ratch, check out the monster-truck rally Miko took me to last week."

"I compiled some highlights with my cellphone," the aforementioned girl added, waving the horrendously pink device in the air.

I guess the medic must have caught a glimpse of what they were watching because he said in a horrified tone, "Innocent vehicles battling for the pleasure of human spectators? Blood sport."

Pausing briefly in my work, I sighed softly at his words. Though they may not have been directed at me, it still stung a little. I mean, what he had just described was the same basic principle of what I did in the street blood fights. Yes, I wasn't exactly proud of what I had done—and what I still did—but hearing that tone of disgust only served to make my internal guilt-o-meter rise further along with my self-loathing.

Still, it didn't exactly make me feel any better when the other two merely cheered excitedly, shouting in unison, "Yeah!"

I shook my head, almost wondering why humans enjoyed such violence. Then again, I couldn't really speak since even I basically reveled in violence, whether it be verbal or physical.

"You could be helping Optimus in the field right now," I heard the medic lecture, obviously aiming his tirade at the green wrecker.

However, I could almost imagine the green giant waving off the other bot's words, saying, "Aw, he doesn't need my help to search for some ancient educational thingamabob."

Of course, Ratchet would scoff, possibly even roll his optics, and say in that same tone he used when he tried to explain the ground bridge to us, "The "thingamabob" to which you refer happens to be a cybertronian data cylinder."

I almost smirked.

Anyhow, looking up from my now completed task, I watched as Ratchet pressed a button on the monitors and caused the TV screen to show an image of what I guessed was the data cylinder.

"Hey!"

"Awe…" the other two complained, obviously not interested in the subject while the older mech continued his lecture.

"And there is no telling what vast intelligence it may hold." More info, mostly written in cybertronian, appeared on the screens in front of Ratchet, probably describing certain features and functions of the device. "During the Golden Age, dozens of these cylinders were created, each containing the sum total of cybertronian knowledge on any given subject stellar cartography, medicine, ancient mythology. When the war broke out, the cylinders were hidden throughout the galaxies to keep them as far as possible from Decepticon reach.

"Detecting one signal here, on Earth, is the opportunity of a—"

"T.M.I., dude," Miko suddenly interrupted, obviously bored out of her mind by the lecture just like her guardian. It was no wonder she wasn't doing well in her classes.

"Switch it back!" the green mech demanded. "I want to see the hoedown showdown!"

Scoffing quietly, I shook my head. Idiots.

"If you don't mind explaining Ratchet," I began politely, simultaneously catching the mech's attention and practically feeling Miko rolling her eyes at me from behind my back. "I would like to hear more about the data cylinders."

Like I've said before, I enjoy school for the most part. I mean, it's basically free knowledge, which is one of the more powerful objects in the world. After all, as it has been said time and time again, knowledge is power; it can solve problems as well as create them, win the day for an army, create conflicts such as wars, end them, bring like-minded people together and so on. That's why I tried to learn as much as I could; and that's why I tried to sate my curiosity now.

—Ratchet's POV—

The Autobot medic glanced at the golden-haired human femme. She actually seemed sincere, not mocking. Still, he couldn't help but say, "Oh? And why would a human be interested in Cybertronian technology."

The stony-faced femme shrugged, trying to appear nonchalant. However, the look in her optics gave her away. There was this insatiable twinkle in them, a yearning to know more that only the knowledge-hungry possessed. It made him almost laugh a little because that look, whether she was aware of it or not, was just so familiar to him. It reminded him of a certain, young mech he once knew long ago, who also had had an unquenchable thirst for knowledge too.

Anyways, she said, "Who knows? Maybe the information will come in handy at a later date. You never know."

The femme probably would have said more but was cut short when two successive three-toned beeps from the monitors suddenly issued from the monitors, alerting him to an incoming transmission.

Then, Optimus' voice sounded through the communication link. -{Ratchet, Decepticon ambush. The cylinder is at risk. We require backup.}-

Briefly, Ratchet noted how his leader's voice had taken on a sterner, more gruff tone, like it always did when he was fighting; a brief glance in a certain femme's direction proved that she had noticed it too.

Noiselessly venting, the medic shifted his gaze over to the green mech, giving him the silent message to get ready before he walked over to the ground bridge controls, reactivating the previous set coordinates.

"Backup is what I'm built for," the green wrecker said, pounding his fists together.

"Go bend some fenders, Bulk!" Miko cheered as her guardian ran through the ground bridge.

Figuring that it was best to keep Miko occupied so she wouldn't get herself into trouble, he quickly snatched up something from nearby before approaching the trouble-making youngling. "I have an important mission for you, too, Miko," Ratchet said seriously.

The dark-haired femme perked up. "Really?"

Internally, he smirked. Oh he was so going to enjoy this.

—Miko's POV—

Finally! Some action!

Reaching over, the medic opened his hand and revealed…a broom.

"Aw!" she groaned.

Hearing faint snickering from nearby, she wanted to refuse, but the look on Ratchet's face prevented her from doing anything else except accepting the cleaning instrument. Apparently pleased, the red and white bot went back to his workstation, where he actually picked up Aria and set her on his shoulder before explaining more about the data cylinder thingies.

Seriously, why did that cow get to sit back and relax while she was stuck cleaning?

She was about to start attacking the chore with as much ferocity as her anger allowed her, but a flash of green out of the corner eyes stopped her. Considering the swirling green mass of the ground bridge where Bulkhead had just disappeared through, an idea suddenly hit her. Making note of how the other two's backs were turned to her, the foreign girl made her escape, dropping the broom with a clatter as she b-lined toward the ground bridge. It was time to prove herself.

Finding herself in a rocky area that gave her a sense of déjà vu, Miko made it through the portal just in time as it closed behind her the second she was through. However, the issue of getting back was the last thing on her mind as she arrived on the chaotic battlefield. Metal clashed and shattered as sparks and blaster fire flew. All the bots were fighting at least one or two opponents at a time. Most of them were your average vehicons, but Miko did catch a glimpse of Breakdown somewhere as well as the 'con medic, Knockout, who fighting Optimus.

Hearing a seriously close fight nearby, she turned in time to see Bulkhead slam his mace into the face of a Decepticon, sending him topping into the ground…right in Miko's direction.

Slag.

Glancing around as the 'con seemed to fall in slow motion, she did the smart thing and ran for it, thankfully going unnoticed by either of the warring factions. Behind her, she could hear, as well as feel the tremors the con caused as he hit the dirt; the resounding, small shockwave sending her tumbling though she managed to right herself in time to skid to a halt behind some rocks.

Unlike most people, who would probably be terrified to be stuck in a battleground for giant robots, Miko merely smiled, peering out from her cover to watch the epic smack-down of the century go down.

She gasped and wowed in excitement as she watched the Autobot scout, Bumblebee, pull off some pretty sweet boxing moves on one particularly unfortunate 'con, before peering around the other side of the boulder.

"Whoa."

Completely enraptured, Miko watched as Optimus managed to send Knockout flying with a solid punch to the chassis. It was so damn wicked, and it made her grin like a lunatic. She would be willing to bet her guitar that Aria would be so jealous of her right about now as she was missing out on the opportunity of a lifetime to watch her badass guardian—second only to Bulkhead of course—beat the snot out of some Decepticon's.

"Autobots, stand your ground," the Prime shouted. "The artifact must not fall into enemy hands."

Miko blinked.

Right, she reminded herself, remembering what she had come here for. It's time to get down to business. She couldn't wait to see Aria's face when she brought the data cylinder back all by herself.

Peering out from her cover, she looked around the battleground, scanning for the device from Ratchet's pictures. Finally, though, she spotted it, nearly thirty yards away.

However, someone else was already making a swipe for it.

In retrospect, it was like watching some comical race between all the good guys and bad guys, as Arcee charged for the device, only to be knocked aside by the already recovered Knockout. Getting dangerously close to the device, Doc Knock had his clawed hands reaching for the cylinder, saying, "Come to papa."

However, before he could get ten feet closer, Bulkhead swooped in and punched him aside like a badass, growling in a deadpanned tone, "Run to mommy."

Then Breakdown came up behind him, knocking him over the head, before grabbing him by it and lifting him off the ground. "Say "Uncle." Say it!" he laughed tauntingly.

With the con's back turned, she used the distraction to her advantage, racing over until she skidded to a halt behind the device. Really, it was huge! It had to have been at least twice her height! Still, hopefully it was lighter than it looked.

Whipping out her phone, she dialed the Autobot base, making sure to keep an eye out in case someone saw her. "Ratchet, come in," she finally said when the medic picked up.

-{Miko? This is an emergency channel. We need to keep it open for the Auto–}- He stopped, probably hearing the distant clashes of metal in the background. -{Wait. Where are you?}-

"D'oy! I'm with the thingamabob," she snapped, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. Seriously, weren't doctors supposed to be smart? Especially alien ones like Ratchet?

-{Thingama– The data cylinder?!}- he squawked.

"Yes. Can you bridge it out of here?" she demanded, shielding her face from a sudden upsurge of dust from a nearby fight. Was it just her or was everyone getting closer all of a sudden?

-{I'll reactivate arrival coordinates.}-

A moment later, she heard the tell-tale swishing, humming sound of a ground bridge being opened up. Peering over the top of the device carefully, she nearly screamed in frustration when she saw how far away it was. "Dude, can you open it any closer?" she complained. She wasn't the freaking Incredible Hulk here!

-{Supply coordinates.}-

"Um, 50 yards?" she tried.

-{Precise coordinates.}- Ratchet emphasized.

Bang!

"Wha!"

Miko had to duck as a shot came way too close for comfort. Panting slightly, she gathered her wits about her, standing up, pocketing the device, and turning around in an attempt to push the device toward the portal.

It didn't budge. Maybe it was caught on a big rock or something?

Okay then, she thought, backing some ways away from the cylinder. Well no pain, no gain, right?

Then she charged. "One… Two… haaa!" Her feet met the side of the device, but all it did was rock a little while her body obeyed the laws of gravity and slammed into the ground with a small "Oof!"

Then something unexpected happened. At first, it sounded like one of the bots was powering up a blaster, except it was either rusted or clogged or it was underwater or something. Looking up, Miko watched as the blue bio-lights on the device lit up along with the one end that had the red lens-thingy on it.

Uh-oh, she thought, staring in horror. Suddenly, the end with the red cap transformed a little.

"Whoa!"

However, the device's reaction didn't go unnoticed by the other's either.

"Miko?" Bulkhead called, catching sight of her, eyes going wide when he saw the cylinder charging up to do…something. He knocked his opponent, as well as anyone who stood in his way, aside with his mace as he charged over. "No!"

Suddenly, the big green bot tripped over a rock, landing so that his face was directly in front of the device, only separated by a couple feet. It was in that moment, just as he landed, that the device discharged a red beam of light…right into Bulkhead's head.

"Bulk!" she cried, running over as her guardian seemed to pass out.

"You really took one for the team, Bulkhead," Knockout practically purred mockingly as he walked over and snatched up the device. "My team."

And with that, all the con's in the area booked it out of there into their own ground bridge, disappearing from sight.

"Bulkhead, are you—?" boss bot asked as the rest of them rushed over, worry evident in the Prime's tone.

"Fine. It didn't even smart," the green bot quickly waved off, getting to his feet a little unsteadily.

Hugging the bot's ankle, Miko almost smiled at that. However, the sense of looming dread stopped her. It wasn't so much that she was dreading the imminent lecture she was no doubt going to get when they went back to base; she could easily tune out of that. No, it was the disapproving look on Aria's face that she was going to see, the one that seemed to look down on her with a sort of smugness and say in nonverbal mockery "I knew you couldn't do it."

There was just going to be no living with that bitch now.

—Base, Aria's POV—

Since she knew that outright smacking the living daylights out of the foreign exchange student would be frowned upon, Aria settled for glaring daggers at Miko's back from her perch up on one of the higher catwalks.

"I helped lose that thing. I want to help find it," Bulkhead prodded. "I need to get back in the field with Optimus."

"Eh, eh, you're under my watch now. Optimus' orders," the medic said, waving a wrench threateningly. "And running a full scan of your neural net would be a wiser use of your time."

"Come on, doc. There's nothing up there to scan," the green bot whined.

"He seems fine to me," Miko chirped (un)helpfully, causing Aria to roll her eyes.

Ratchet groaned, finally relenting. "Well, if you insist on making yourself useful, you can help Miko tidy up." He opened his servo to show the broom Miko had dropped earlier.

Figuring that Ratchet had things covered, Aria turned and left the room with a scoff, listening as Miko complained about Ratchet being mad with power. The last thing she heard was Miko and Bulkhead saying something about an art project.

Stretching a little, she felt her muscles and bones groan a little. She seriously needed a nap.

—Later—

Luckily for me, I managed to get that small catnap in, using Optimus' room as it was the only place on base least likely to be disturbed. However, upon finding the main room empty, I made my way over to the medbay just in time to hear what had happened. For Primus' sake! I was only asleep for about an hour and this is what happened? Really people?

Sticking to the shadows, I managed to sneak into the room unnoticed, listening as Ratchet talked.

"This hot spot you see here," the medic said, pointing to a particular spot on the scan of Bulkhead's helm. "It's information, data, living energy."

"Hold on. It's alive, it's on fire, and it's in Bulkhead's brain?" Miko asked, getting louder with each word. However, not once did that look of worry retreat from her features and tone.

"Chill, Miko," Bulkhead said from his place on the medical examination table. "The data's only inhabiting a fraction of my brain, infinitesimal by standard neural-net densities." He stopped himself, optics wide, looking stunned. "Wait. How do I know all that?"

"Based on what we witnessed during our skirmish," Optimus began, "the living data must have been programmed to eject when it sensed unauthorized access."

"A security measure," Ratchet surmised with a thoughtful hum, practically reading my mind.

"It would have jettisoned heavenward," the Autobot leader continued, "lost to the stars."

"Except my fat engine block got in the way," Bulkhead concluded bluntly.

Arcee, however, appeared confused. "Every 'con there made a grab for it, but the cylinder doesn't go off until Miko touches it?"

"The cylinders originated from Cybertron's Golden Age, predating the Autobot/Decepticon division," the scarlet and white medic said knowledgeably, pulling up a schematic of the cylinder on the screen in front of him.

"So it wouldn't consider any native of Cybertron to be a threat," Optimus concluded.

"Only alien life forms, such as humans," Ratchet input.

That was an odd thought. We always thought of the Autobot's and Decepticon's as aliens, never stopping to think that they technically viewed us humans the same way.

:{So what does it all mean?}: Bee whirred questioningly.

"Are we staring at genius or gibberish?" Arcee prodded, gesturing at Bulkhead's 'art'.

"I do not wish to falsely rally anyone's hopes," the medic said slowly, drawing everyone's attention with the suspense. "But these equations appear to be the formula for a synthetic energon."

Everyone froze.

Then, despite the medic's previous words, a palpable excitement seemed to hang in the air.

:{Hell yeah! Jackpot! Whoo-hooo!}: Bee cheered excitedly, the first to break the tension.

On the other hand, though, Arcee still seemed to be computing what was said, though she was obviously excited. "We hit the mother lode?"

Bulkhead turned to his charge, grinning. "Miko, do you understand what this means?"

"Um…"

I snorted. Of course she couldn't put two and two together. Luckily for her, Bulkhead filled her in; I guess there was hope for at least one of the duo.

"Energon provides our fuel, our ammo, our life force. With the natural stuff in such short supply here on Earth, this could solve a whole lot of problems," he said, glancing over at the Prime, who nodded.

"Such as providing us with the edge we need to turn the tide of this war," Optimus declared, hope shining brightly in his optics.

"Or handing us the key to revitalizing Cybertron," Ratchet put in, joining in on the excitement.

"We got the goods, and all Megatron got was an empty bucket," Arcee obviously couldn't help but smirk.

"How often do I get to use my noggin to save the day?" Bulkhead said jokingly with a smile

Everyone in the room had smiles on their faces, big and small.

Everyone, except for me, that is. And for some reason, I just had a very bad feeling about this.

—Later—

Watching from the shadows like I did best, that bad feeling from the beginning had been steadily growing as I watched Bulkhead slowly become more distant with Miko and become more like a cybertronian version of Hermione Granger. It was actually starting to worry me.

"…Intersection of atomic coordinates indicate convergent tertiary structures…" the green mech was mumbling.

"Aren't you done yet?!" Miko complained but her guardian just ignored her.

No joke, he legit ignored Miko of people. Now I could understand other people doing so, but this is Bulkhead and Miko of all people. They are best buddies. They never ignore each other.

But here he was, muttering something about "Resulting in an asymmetric…", completely tuning Miko out.

Nearby, I could also hear Arcee and Bee talking about how weird it was seeing Bulkhead 'brainiac mode' as the blue femme dubbed it.

"…Vector l1 norm squared…"

"Break time!" Miko suddenly called loudly, trying to get Bulkhead's attention as Arcee dragged away the filled metal canvas. "How about a lightning round of "TNT Street Racer 7"?"

But the mech just kept painting on the metal boards laid out for him, muttering chemical and mathematical gibberish to himself.

"…Energon temperatures and volume proportion…"

Miko just groaned dejectedly, maybe hoping that if she seemed sad or something, Bulkhead would finally react. But there was still no change.

"…Angle trisector construction…"

Sighing, I decided to follow Arcee and Bee like a little shadow almost, listening as the femme called, "Got another round for you to log, Ratchet."

Meanwhile, the medic seemed to be explaining something to my guardian, both of their expressions looking grim.

"This is Bulkhead's neural net as you saw it earlier," I heard him saying as I crept over, pointing at the picture on the screen.

"This scan was recorded just minutes ago."

Climbing up onto the catwalk just behind said screen, I watched as he pressed a couple keys and pulled up another image of Bulkhead's cranial cavity, only this one was a little more different. It seemed to me as if more areas were active than the previous scan, but they were colored red, spreading outward from the original spot like a plague.

I felt myself grip the railing in horror; it was the cybonic plague all over again.

"It is as I feared. The data seems to be actively and aggressively rewriting Bulkhead's neural net. I had hoped he was purging the data, but he seems to be merely transcribing it as it…"

"Consumes his mind," Optimus finished, tone grave. I could tell that we were both thinking along similar lines right now.

The medic continued, rattling off info like my sister would after she read another medical encyclopedia, only there was less excitement, and I doubted that the medic would be bouncing on the balls of his pede's anytime soon. "From all indications, by the time Bulkhead completes the formula, his own thoughts, his memories…could be wiped clean," he concluded.

Arcee, who had apparently been listening while Bumblebee was who knew where, stepped forward. "But if we stop him, goodbye, synthetic energon," she said.

The medic looked at her. "You assume we possess a means of stopping him. I don't exactly have instant access to the wisdom of the Ancients."

Like always, Optimus make the difficult decision, opting as always to save the life of a comrade now than take a chance that may win him the war. Maybe that made him predictable according to Megatron, something to be exploited, but it was an admirable action nonetheless. "I will not allow another one of our own to be sacrificed, no matter the cost," he said, his tone leaving no room for argument.

The medic nodded. "If the living data transmitted itself from the cylinder, perhaps we could somehow coax it back inside," he suggested thoughtful yet hopeful at the same time.

For a brief moment, contemplative silence settled over us.

"What is it Aria?" Optimus suddenly asked, probably noticing my troubled expression.

Brows still furrowed, my gaze met those of the Autobots' who were standing before me. "It's just…it doesn't make sense." I shook my head a little, massaging my forehead. "Maybe it's just because I'm human or something, but…well, it sounds like you all seem to think that it's the device that controls the ejection of the data. But that doesn't make sense. Now I may not be a big computer techie, but usually it's a computer program that would be responsible for a data purge, like when you hit the delete button on a computer."

His metal brows now drawn together like mine were, Ratchet considered me like he was just grasping what I was saying, asking in a halting tone, "What are you trying to say?"

Meeting his gaze, I said, "What if that program is part of what Bulkhead is spewing out now, and that those data purge protocols are still active?"

"But…that's…. completely and entirely possible," Ratchet gasped, optics wide, staring off at some far away point.

"Okay, now that we've figured that little problem out," the blue and pink femme began, "that still leaves one other problem: How are we supposed to get it back from the Decepticon's?"

This time, it was my guardians turn to come up with a plan. "Megatron will bring it to us," he said with such certainty, that I almost believed him.

—Later—

From my perch, I watched as Miko continuously tried to get a reaction of some kind out of her guardian; and with each failed attempt, the girl looked more and more hopeless.

After our little conversation, Optimus had rigged up a device with Ratchet's help that faked the signature of the data cylinder before taking Bumblebee and Arcee with him through the ground bridge to the coordinates of where he would meet up with Megatron. However, before leaving, both he and the medic had pulled me aside with the request to keep an eye on Miko. We hadn't told the foreign exchange student anything about what we had discovered. The main reason behind this being that we all knew she would do something foolish. Plus, neither of them wanted to cause her any undue emotional harm. Personally, I think they just hoped that they could fix all of this without the girl noticing, so that it all would be gone the next day like a bad dream.

However, this charade didn't seem like it was going to last long, and all of us knew it, which is why I was asked to look out for her. Not to mention, they both knew I was capable of dragging her back through the ground bridge if the need arose.

"…Coefficient quotient of the subset amplified…" the bulky mech mumbled.

"You want amplified?" I heard the girl hiss, with a determined light in her eyes.

Despite being on less than civil terms, I had to hand it to her: the girl certainly was certainly creative. I mean attempting to catch his attention by way of music certainly was a new one in the long list of attempts so far.

"…Proving Preceptor's paradox is nothing of the kind…"

Then she began to play. And there was almost an immediate reaction. "Aah! What is that?!" he hollered, covering his audials.

My brows furrowed. Did he just call his favorite type of music 'that'?

Obviously pleased that she had finally got some results, she replied in a tone that suggested that it should be obvious, "Metal. You love this song."

"I'm trying to concentrate," he growled in a very un-Bulkhead-like way.

Miko growled. "You're starting to sound just like Ratchet!" she snapped.

My eyes widened at the mech's following response. "Who?"

Oh, slag.

Obviously, Miko agreed with my mental statement because her eyes widened before she turned tail and headed over to Ratchet.

Quietly, I made sure to be unseen as I listened in.

"Ratch, I think Bulk's losing his mind," the younger girl said, in a small voice. She then must have seen Ratchet's expression. "You…already know."

"Miko, we didn't want to frighten you," he admitted in a placating way that I'm positive all medics learned during their training. "But rest assured, Optimus has a plan."

"Optimus isn't Bulkhead's doctor," she snapped, statement quite astute for her typical day to day comments. "I just need to know, when Bulk's done spitting out that formula, he'll go back to being regular old Bulkhead…right?"

—Later—

Now that Miko knew, she tried to get Bulkhead back to himself with a new, frenzied fervor in her eyes and actions.

"Do you remember the time you watched Wheeljack lob his only grenade into the Decepticon heat exchanger?" she prodded, dwindling hope in her eyes.

"Who?" was all she got in response. He didn't even so much as look in her direction.

"Wheeljack! Your best bud?!" she cried with false enthusiasm, flipping open her phone to probably show him a picture, adding quickly, "Besides me, of course."

Even now, I could see that flame of hope dying; it was all there in her posture and mannerisms. "Oh!" she groaned in half-frustration, half-dejection. "Do you even know who I am?" she finally asked, no doubt fearing the answer.

"Of course. You're…" he thought about it for several seconds before he was back to spewing nerd. "Equivalent to the flattening of the oblate spheroid to the nth power. Internal energy of isolated "E" remains constant…"

"Keep them coming, Bulkhead," the medic encouraged as he walked over and pulled the metal plate away to reveal a fresh canvas for the mech to paint on.

However, as the red and white mech disappeared into his lair, my eyes narrowed in suspicion as Miko looked around in almost a lost daze before heading over to a nearby desktop computer and typing something in.

Deciding to wait and see what she was up to before attempting to stop her, I watched as she managed to get the ground bridge up and running, coordinates set to a location of her choosing. Directly after, she waited until Bulkhead's servo was close enough before grabbing the cleaning instrument, turned paintbrush and dashing toward the ground bridge. "Come on," she called cajolingly, in a tone better suited for a scared animal, waving the cleaning tool enticingly. "You want to finish your formula, don't you?"

I could only watch as mech followed her like a lost puppy dog through the swirling portal before following through myself, sending up a silent apology to my guardian and the medic who had been counting on me.

Sorry Sangroyal, Ratchet, but this had to happen. Otherwise, we may just loose more than one member of Team Prime.

—Later—

Stepping out onto solid ground, I almost managed a wry smile. The monster truck rally's arena? Seriously? Where does this girl come up with these ideas?

"Look! You love monster trucks," I could hear Miko saying somewhere nearby. Figuring it wouldn't go down well if Miko found me following her, I dove for the nearest cover behind a cement ramp, whipping out my phone and texting the first bot I could find on my contacts list, telling them to get to the location before something bad happens. Meanwhile, I kept an ear on Miko and the other out for trouble.

"Remember when we snuck in here after the show last week?"

Ah, so that's why she came here of all places. She was hoping that, like it sometimes does with amnesia cases, seeing a familiar site would trigger something in him.

"…Mass times diffusion rate squared is constant…"

It's a pity she didn't get the memo that the data is taking over his mind, not deleting his memories. At least not yet that is.

"Is any of this ringing a bell?" she tried, voice rising in desperation.

"Bell curve? No, no, no. That wouldn't factor in."

I peered around, spotting Bulkhead painting one of the walls of the arena with more technical spew, and Miko standing not too far away. Both had their back's turned to me.

"How about our Sunday-morning dune bashings, rocking out to Slash Monkey, helping me with my homework? Ha! Trick question! You know I don't do homework…Don't you?" she tried, tone becoming more frantic. "Okay, forget the past. Starting now, we can make new memories."

Honestly, it was kind of sad to watch; Miko practically pleading, grasping feebly at any straws she could reach, trying to get her best friend back while overwhelming amounts of data took over Bulkhead's processor.

"…The cube root of the exothermic energon yield Delta "E" violates Clank's law of energon conservation…"

Then Miko said something that took me a little by surprise, if yanked at my heart strings a little too. However, now wasn't the time because we had company, and I had no idea how long I could stall before help finally arrived.

"Bulkhead, I know somewhere inside, you will always remember me, and I just want you to know I'll never forget you."

Then, one of our uninvited guests had to interrupt. "Boo-hoo! I'm shedding lubricant."

Seriously, how do beings so big managed to make so little noise?

Her eyes growing wide in surprise before narrowing in determination as she turned to her guardian, I barely heard her next words as she hissed, "Follow me right now, or these guys are gonna steal the formula!"

Like a switch had been flipped, those were apparently the magic words to say because Bulkhead immediately reacted.

"My equations?" he said in an almost panicked tone, like some part of the old Bulkhead was still there.

"Come on, come on!" Miko called, leading the mech away towards one of the vehicle entrances on the side.

Being careful enough to say absolutely silent and out of sight, I followed the cons while they followed Miko.

"Not like Bulkhead to run from a fight," I could hear one of them—I think it was Breakdown—say.

The other Decepticon, Knockout, merely said, "I'm afraid our friend has had a little too much to think." Then he pressed a digit to his temple and said, "Lord Megatron, we're good."

Silently, I cursed. Dammit! Now Optimus' plan has gone to scrap.

Anyways, upon seeing the dozens of monster trucks that could be mistaken for Bulkhead, with the mech nowhere in sight, my mood improved slightly, face threatening to break out in a grin.

"Okay, then. Fun and games," Knockout said before the pair spilt up.

"Come out, come out, wherever you are," the medically inclined, but nonetheless narcissistic con drawled as he strolled along the lines of trucks.

Breathing deeply, I hoped Miko was safe, and that my message had gotten through in time. I had no doubts that the 'cons were probably scrambling and all cell signals.

Picking up a sizable rock, I lobbed it at the nearest Decepticon's head…which happened to be Knockout of all mech's. You may not see it now, but I'm wearing an absolutely feral look right now. I knew all about Knockout's narcissistic habits, and I was planning on using it to my fully advantage.

Predictably, when the throw resulted in a nicely sized dent in the con's cheek, the red mech growled ferally, "You're going to pay for that fleshy!"

While his partner ran over to him, the red-opticed con searched fruitlessly for me lifting up vehicle like that would shake me loose from my hiding spot. However, I was already on the move, finding a new location before lobbing another stone at a certain red mech.

The con began to visibly seethed, and I could imagine steam shooting out of his ears like in some cartoon. "Do that again and I will skin you alive!"

"Knockout, what's—?" the one eyed con began to ask.

Crash! Clang!

Two more rocks sailed through the air in quick succession, one nailing the mech in his remaining eye before rebounding and scratching one of knockout's shoulder's, while the other one scraped his chassis.

Smirking in my shadowy hiding place, I watched as the mech stared at his scratched paint in horror, before he looked up, murder in his bloody gaze. "That is it! I'm going to find you fleshy, and when I do, I'm going to skin you and then rip you limb from limb!" the mech screeched.

"You'll have to catch me first," I sing-songed, my voice nothing but taint carried on the wind.

The con bared his teeth before turning to his partner. "Find Bulkhead, I'm going to deal with a nuisance."

Clang!

"Arrggh!"

Another scratch on the mech's perfect paintjob.

I was just behind the con now, and I know that my eyes were glittering like firework on the fourth of July, slate grey full of mischief. Climbing carefully until I was level with his back, I made sure to secure my grip on one of the con's particular features before taking out my house key and beginning to write.

Scccrrrreeeeech! Screech! Sccccrrrreeeeeecchhhhhhhh!

"What the—? Argh! I'm going to kill you fleshy!" the con screeched as he realized what was going on, trying to grab for me but I was in that exact spot that everyone seemed to have trouble reaching in the shower. Only once I was finished did I let go, smirking all the while and wanting to laugh myself to tears about what I had done.

I must have an

amazing aft.

Every time I walk

away from someone,

I hear them whisper,

"What an aft."

Ducking under a truck, I was long gone by the time the con lifted up the vehicle to look for me, singing I Love Myself by Kendrick Lamar rather raucously and making sure to emphasize the lyrics 'I love myself' every single time and substituting in some of my own insulting lyrics when I could think of any.

The mech growled. But he stopped himself before he could make good on his promise to 'skin me alive'.

"Breakdown, forget the humans. Games are only fun to play—" much to my horror, he drew out a scanner, obviously tuned to search for the energy signature of the data. "—When you're winning."

And that was where our little game ended, much to my frustration. Megatron must have really had something on the mech because he barely spared a glance my way when I continued to taunt and pummel him with rocks, both verbal and physical. Only time he did react was when he tossed one of the smaller trucks my way. Eventually though, he came to stop before a familiar green vehicle.

"I think I'm warm."

Suddenly, Bulkhead transformed and painted Knockout, muttering science whizz babble all the while. "En3 divided by the square root of the propulsion factor equals—"

Knockout's blood red eyes blazed. "You painted my paint job! Prepare for surgery!"

I could only watch as Breakdown then came in from behind and sucker punched Bulkhead. KO-ed from the hit, the doctor reached down and tilted the Autobot's head up, exposing more of his neck. "Heads, you lose," the con drawled, transforming his left servo into a freaking buzz-saw!

As the con went in for the kill, I could hear Miko screaming from somewhere nearby, the faint pound of feet signaling that she was probably rushing towards him.

"No!"

But the killing blow never came. Instead, the sound of a new engine entered the fray, one I recognized, and that sound was then followed but the transformation of a familiar black truck.

"About damn time, Ironhide!" I called over, allowing my face to contort into a grin. I hadn't been kidding when I said that I called the first bot on my contacts list. "What took you so long?"

The mech transformed one of his servos into those awesome huge-ass cannons I had once seen. I was even more pleased to note that he towered over both Breakdown and Knockout, standing at about Ratchet's height. "Cork it femme! You try turning an hour long drive into a 10 minute one!" he grunted in his typical fashion.

To hell with you too, I thought with mental sarcasm, rolling my eyes in exasperation though I continued to smirk.

He then turned his gaze on the two gaping Decepticon's, both cannons at the ready now. "Cowardly punk-aft Decepticon's. Who's first?"

However, that all stopped when the area took on a red glow and a sound like Ironhide's cannon's powering up under water issued from Bulkhead. Risking a glance over, I saw Miko, who was indeed by her guardian's head now, and a still downed Bulkhead whose optics shone red.

"Not again! Get down!" I heard Knockout shout, both con's diving to the side just as two red beams of light shot out of Bulkhead's optics, aiming heavenward.

Figuring that Ironhide had the situation covered better than I did since I didn't even have my batons on me, I rushed over to Miko's side.

Aside from being a little scared and obviously distraught because of her guardian's condition, she seemed to be alright and in one piece. However, I could hear her muttering brokenly to herself, "I did it again? Bulkhead?"

However, unlike last time, the mech didn't move.

"Squishy?" I heard 'hide call, nonverbally asking if Miko and I were alright.

"Yeah, just focus on the 'con's!" I retorted, a little frustrated that I could do nothing as I had no effective weapons on me except my brains and inherent ability to be an annoying bitch.

I could practically see the mech smirking. "Don't worry about that, fem."

Meanwhile, I could hear Knockout growling angrily. "Megatron will peel our paint for losing that data," he said.

"So we're gonna have to peel you," Breakdown finished.

Awe how cute. They even finish each other's sentences.

However, before either side could make a move, a ground bridge portal opened up nearby and the rest of the Autobot's, excluding Ratchet of course, jumped out, weapons at the ready.

"Or peel out of here," I hear the con medic say as both transformed their servos to normal, racing towards a brick wall and making their own exit before reverting back to vehicle mode, doing just that.

Of course, Ironhide made sure to send a couple parting shots their way before the duo fully disappeared from view.

"Punks…" I heard him mutter angrily, as I walked over to him. I knew he wanted to chase after them. But, there was a lot of explaining that needed to be done, and I could already feel myself being crushed under the weight of the oncoming lecture.

So patting his ankle as a sort of silent thank you, we both turned towards the approaching Autobots, who were all regarding Ironhide warily, weapons at the ready. That is until they caught sight of his faction symbol and face; then all suspicion turned to shock and surprise as weapons were lowered.

Eventually, Prime was first to speak. "Ironhide?" he said in undisguised surprise.

For once in all of the time I had known the giant pain in the aft, Ironhide actually smiled a little though it was more of a small smirk. "Good ta see ya again, Prime," he said, stepping forward.

Taking note of the expression on my guardian's faceplates, you could tell that he really wanted to believe that the black mech standing before him was really his old friend. However, thanks to the events with the false Wheeljack, we all became a little more wary towards others because of it.

Mentally, I sighed. It's now or never.

Stepping forward, I couldn't help but rub my forehead in a show of exhaustion, determinedly not looking at my guardian as I said, "Optimus, it's really him. I checked."

Finally risking a glance up, I nearly cringed at the sight of the inscrutable look on my guardian's faceplates. Yep, I was most definitely doomed.

Thankfully though, everyone turned when the sound of Miko actually crying reached the audials of all present. "Bulkhead…"

Sparing one glance for Ironhide and I, the Prime said, "We will deal with this later," before turning and walking over to where Bulkhead and Miko were. The former of which was still unresponsive.

—Base—

Just like the others, Ratchet had been quite surprised when a new bot had walked in along with the rest of the Autobots. However, that shock quickly turned to horror when he caught sight of Bulkhead's condition, immediately jumping into medic-mode.

Ironhide and I both stayed out of everyone's way, only keeping close enough to listen in. Neither of us spoke or were spoken too since our arrival on base.

"The data has been fully expelled," Ratchet finally said after running several diagnostic checks. "But Bulkhead remains completely unresponsive."

Miko, who had been mostly silent until now, preferring to stay glued to Bulkhead's side, finally spoke, finishing the medics sentence in an almost unnervingly calm voice. "Because the energy took Bulkhead's mind with it, heavenward, lost to the stars," she said, in what I thought was almost a poetic way. "It's my fault you'll never know the rest of the formula, and it's my fault Bulkhead's gone forever." There were definite tears staining her voice now.

There was a bout of silence before my bot finally spoke, sounding like he was trying to comfort the distraught girl. "Miko, your quick thinking prevented the formula from falling into Decepticon hands."

A small smile formed on my face at the words, but it was ruined by this odd pain in my heart, which did not abate even when I massaged the skin over the area. My lips curved downwards. What could it be?

"If anyone would have backed that play, it's Bulkhead," Arcee piped up.

Then Ratchet spoke up, adding in his own words of comfort and reigniting that old flame of hope that the forest green mech would be alright. "It's simply too early to know the extent of his condition. Something as simple as a familiar sight or smell, perhaps even a sound, could trigger Bulkhead's awakening."

I may not have been able to see her, but I knew that the foreign girl had just gotten an idea. This was only proved to be true a couple minutes later when she was hooking her guitar up to the loudspeaker, said musical instrument in hand.

Watching, the girl then raised her right hand high in the air before bringing it down and strumming the guitar chord loudly before stopping completely, allowing the note to carry.

"Bulkhead?" she called, in a small voice as we all waited with bated breath for something to happen.

A moment later, there was a sound from Ratchet's monitors, followed by a groan from the big lug himself.

Then suddenly the mech jumped to life, sitting up as he imitated the sounds of a guitar. "I love that song!" he cheered before he turned, and his gaze landed on his charge. "Miko?"

In that moment, I allowed myself to smile a little as everyone else cheered and whooped happily at their comrade's recovery.

—Later, Optimus' Room, Optimus' POV—

Optimus Prime looked down at his charge with a disappointed frown. Despite having confirmed that the mech in the main room really was his old friend Ironhide and hearing the whole story of how he and Aria had met, he had still needed to pull his charge aside for a long talk about safety. "Aria, what you did was very foolish and dangerous," he said, taking the hard glare she shot him in stride as he continued to lecture her. The reckless femme needed to understand. "You should not have been so reckless. What if the cybertronian you had discovered was not an Autobot? What if he was a Decepticon? He could have killed you the instant—"

However, he was cut short when his charge finally reached her breaking point.

"I did it for you!" she exploded, before her grey optics widened, seemingly as shocked at her own outburst as he was. Torn between defiance and embarrassment, the golden-haired femme continued in a more carefully controlled tone, cheeks slowly beginning to redden as she spoke. "I did it for you alright?" she said softly. "I…I saw how hurt everyone was after that incident with the fake Wheeljack. All of you were so willing and happy to believe that there were more Autobots out there, alive and fighting the good fight. I didn't want you guys to get your hopes up only to get hurt again. You guys have been through enough hardship as it is, and I didn't want to see any of you go through that pain again." She then looked him directly in the optics. "Optimus, hope on this team is fragile enough as it is. I do not want you guys to break completely. So, if it means taking a risk and putting my own life in harm's way to protect you and the Autobot's from harm, then to me, there is only one logical choice left."

As he listened, Optimus' optics began to soften as he gazed down at the truly unique being before him, his spark humming slightly in approval and pride. Gently scooping her up, he brought her to optic-level as the femme finished speaking, gaze never straying from his. "You see? That's why I did it; that's why I kept him hidden from you all this time. I wanted prove that he was trustworthy before even mentioning his existence to you. So that none of you would get hurt."

"Oh…Aria," he rumbled softly, gently bringing their foreheads together like before. "You are truly one of a kind. And while I appreciate the gesture, I want you to promise me that you will never do something like this again."

Placing one of her small servos on his cheek-plate, the human femme actually managed a small but noticeable smile, helm rubbing against his face slightly. "I promise, Optimus."

And there you have it folks! Miko and Aria nearly kill each other, and Ironhide joins Team Prime.

Now to those of you who are counting, including this chapter, there are only two chapters left to vote before the realization hits either Aria or Optimus first that they are in love with the other. Here is the tally so far.

—Aria: 7

—Optimus: 13

Again, don't forget that if you add a small explanation behind your vote, it will count as two votes. So please review and add in your vote at the end. I do not care how impossible it seems. Don't forget: I am the author so if I want it to happen, then it will. And please if you guys have any ideas or suggestions, I am all ears. Your idea may not make it into the story because of a direction I may go with this piece, but I am willing to listen anyways. Who knows? Maybe I will even manage to incorporate it, though it might not be in the manner you were thinking.

Anyways, the 5-Review Policy is in effect as usual, so please review if you want another chapter. You guys know the drill!