A/N: Sorry this took so long guys! Hope you enjoy it and what not. Leave me long rambly reviews! Also the contest is still going strong! I've had a few people show interest or turn things in (you can find more information in the A/N of chapter 23).

Oh another quick announcement! I plan on keeping a little announcement board thing on my profile bio where you can go there and see how far along I am with a new chapter. I'll update it every week with a percentage (10% done, or 50% done, or 80% done) so that way you guys kind of have an idea of where I am with it!

Thanks again! Don't forget to review, darlings!

Chapter 25:

Goodbye

"Goodbyes are important. They're how we know we're doing the right thing. If they come easy then by all means leave and never look back. But if you open your mouth and feel the words get stuck like glue in your throat, you're making an awful mistake." – Beau Taplin (The Test)

Some mornings flowed so well that the kids and I were out of the house and heading to school in less than thirty minutes. Things just operated well. The kids found what they needed to find, the mechs caused no issues, and I managed to get out of bed on time. Today was not one of those mornings.

I should've known it was going to be a wreck the moment I woke up late. Usually, the mechs woke me up if I somehow slept through my alarm, but they had all been downstairs busy with their machine which left me waking up in a time induced panic.

"Taylor, are you ready? Do you need me to do your hair?" I called out as I pulled a hoodie over my head outside my bathroom door.

"Almost, and no thanks. Bee is doing my hair for me!" The little girl called back from her room. My eyes narrowed curiously before loud arguing distracted me. It sounded like Tyler and Peter were shouting at each other in Peter's room, but I couldn't tell what the argument was about. I quickly opened the door and stuck my head in just in time to see Prowl's holoform calming them down and trying to come to a logical solution. As he pacified both of them, I slowly stepped back out into the hall. It may have been a wreck of a morning, but the mechs sure knew how to help calm the hurricane this makeshift family called getting ready.

Optimus walked up the stairs and paused at the top with his gaze focused on me. His holoform had activated last night right before the kids got in bed much to the kids' absolute delight.

Now I had a bit of a mental picture of what Optimus' holoform was going to look like. In my mind, I pictured the typical tall, blond, blue-eyed good looking American hero kind of guy. The type of man who flew fighter jets during the week, played golf with the president during his off hours, saved kittens from trees, saved orphans from wells, and modeled for 'Patriotic Weekly' on the weekends or something. It was hard to put my mental thought into pictures, but basically it was almost nothing like what his holoform actually looked like.

Optimus' holoform was handsome in the most ordinary way. He was tall, the tallest holoform by far being about four inches taller than the twins, but he didn't have this wide chiseled 'hero type' chest or body to match the height. His shoulders were a bit on the broader side, he was still obviously muscled, but it was in a slim way. Optimus' holoform had an oval shaped face with a firm jawline that was clean-shaven. His light brown hair was closer to short than medium in length and looked like it had been neatly combed to the side hours ago, but was now slightly ruffled in the front. There was a small smile on his features that matched the one I occasionally saw in his bipedal mode when his battle mask was down. The only two things that matched my mental image were his pretty sky blue eyes and his outfit of choice. Optimus wore a dark gray suit with a white button up shirt and a black simple tie.

"Their book bags and shoes are by the front door ready when they are." He gave me a short nod and stuck his hands into his pants pockets casually.

I grinned, "Thanks, OP. I don't know what I'm gonna do…"

My smile nearly slipped off my face, but I forced it to remain glued on tight. The slight furrowing of Optimus' eyebrows made me realize that he knew what I was going to say. He knew how that sentence was going to end.

'What I'm gonna do when y'all are gone'.

It was Thursday. February 5th, 2015. They had just about finished their ride home, and by tonight they'd be gone. This was a good thing. They couldn't stay here forever obviously. All of them were needed back in their own universe, in their actual bodies. This was a good thing.

"You know, I really like your holoform, OP." I commented with a grin.

Optimus pulled one hand out of his pocket, pressed his palm against the center of his chest, pushing his tie back, and then glanced down at himself, "Thank you. I don't hear that very often."

"What do you mean?"

"The few humans who I work closely with usually comment that my holoform doesn't match who I am." Optimus shrugged as if he didn't get it himself.

I crossed my arms, "I thought the same thing at first, I guess, but the more I think about it the more I think it does suit you. Your holoform doesn't look like a badass, war-torn military leader, and I think that's what throws people off." I let my arms fall to my side and gave him a reassuring smile, "You aren't a military guy to the core though, right? I mean, you told me you used to work as a librarian."

"Are you saying I look boring?" Optimus joked.

I chuckled and let a sincere smile grow on my features, "I'm saying you look like the type of guy people want to know. The guy that you can trust with not only the big things, but the small day to day things too." Quickly, I replaced the soft smile on my face with a smirk, "Plus you're pretty handsome too."

"Of course. It's all part of our take over the world with charming smiles scheme." Optimus replied with a charming smile of his own making me laugh and shake my head. He nodded, "Thank you though, Aj. I appreciate your words."

"No problem." I shrugged then pointed toward him, "Don't you have any casual clothes though?"

Optimus chuckled lightly before glancing down at himself again, "I only ever use this holoform for meetings, and there aren't many meetings that are considered a casual affair."

"You could at least pick a colored tie. Add a little fun in your suit." I replied.

He paused in consideration before changing the topic, "Have you spoken to Jazz this morning?"

"Jazz? No." I shrugged, "I haven't even seen him yet."

There was a deep growling that filled the air making both of us suddenly glance down into the first floor foyer. Grimlock, in all his 7'5 glory, marched from the kitchen into the living room. He was forced to duck his head to get through the doorframe and his swinging tail nearly took down the chandelier. I was starting to think that if they had stayed for any longer this house wouldn't make it.

"Aj! Aj look!" Taylor came skipping out of her room. She wore light jeans with a simple t-shirt, but her short blonde hair was tied into two small, braided pigtails with a cute barrette holding back her bangs. "Good morning, Optimus Prime!"

"Good morning, Taylor." Optimus chuckled.

"Nice, Tay." I nodded, "Bee braids better than I do."

Bumblebee's holoform walked out of her room a second later with a shrug, "The internet has a tutorial for everything."

Taylor beamed, "Can I wear my hair like this to Pete's play?"

All three of us tensed up, but Taylor didn't notice. She didn't even wait for an answer. Instead she waltzed away from us into her brother's room to show her hairstyle off some more. The kids still didn't know that the mechs were leaving tonight and that not a single one of them would be here next Wednesday to watch Peter's play.

Optimus glanced over at me and quietly spoke, "You need to tell them."

"I know." I said back quickly, "And I will. When they get home from school. There's no need to tell them right now and ruin their school day."

Plus, I had no idea how I was going to tell them. The kids were smart and I had no doubt that they had an idea of what was going on. I just don't think they knew that the mechs would be gone within hours rather than days.

"Aj! Your phone is ringing!" Sideswipe yelled from downstairs. I gave Optimus and Bumblebee a quick smile that probably looked more like a grimace before I rushed down the stairs. Out of the corner of my eye I could see half of Grimlock lying on the couch while the other half was on the floor. He seemed comfortable enough though. Standing in front of the TV was a 7 foot tall Thundercracker. He had gone through the upgrade a little after Grimlock did. It seemed like all the mechs were following the regular order again when it came to upgrades. It frustrated Ratchet, who wanted answers, to no end. I was just happy that no one else was getting sick like Barricade had. Thundercracker huffed a sigh and it was then that I noticed the jet was talking to the two other seekers who were on top of the entertainment system.

I turned and walked into the kitchen to see Sideswipe's holoform leaning against the island counter. He answered the phone and brought it to his ear, "Hello?"

"Sides." I snapped and rushed toward him.

"Ms. Bradshaw? Why yes, she's right here." Sideswipe answered the speaker on the phone with a sly smile, "You'd like to talk to her? Sure thing. One moment please."

He pulled the phone away from his face and held it out to me. I reached forward to grab it only for him to yank it back and away from my hand, "Hey!"

"You didn't even tell me good morning." Sideswipe teased.

"Good morning, aft head." I replied, "Phone. Now."

"So rude." He shook his head, but the smile remained on his lips. Sideswipe leaned forward and tapped his lower lip briefly with his thumb before smirking at me, "The phone will cost you. One kiss and-"

Before he could continue his statement I pressed my hand against his face and shoved his head back. He let out a laugh that I ignored so I could pull the phone out of his hand.

"Hello?" I spoke into the phone as Sideswipe pulled my hand away from his face and pouted at me. I rolled my eyes at him, "This is Aj Bradshaw."

"Oh, Ms. Bradshaw, good morning." A woman's voice replied. She quickly cleared her throat, "My name is Dr. Janice Jones. I'm calling in regards to an email that you sent to a colleague of mine, Dr. Early?"

My eyes widened in surprise. It had totally slipped my mind that I had ever even sent anyone an email. Weeks ago, back when I first discovered that strange symbol both in the house next door and with my mom's stuff, I sent a picture of the weird design to an old professor of mine. He was the only professor that would probably remember me considering I was his aide for two different classes both my junior and senior year. He was a psychology professor, but I knew he had some contacts in the history department that might be able to make heads or tails of this thing.

"Right. Thank you." I nodded and tried to pull away from Sideswipe, but he kept a tight grip on my hand. "This is about the symbol, right?"

"Yes. I was very intrigued to see it mainly because I have never seen anything like it before."

A frown slipped onto my lips, "So you don't know what it is?"

"As a whole? No, but there are parts of it that I think I have deciphered."

Sideswipe, who had laced his fingers through mine, pulled me even closer so the phone was right by his head as well. He grinned at me and I couldn't help but roll my eyes again. I was fully aware that Mr. Super Hearing didn't need to be this close to hear my conversation. Thundercracker could probably hear my conversation if he wanted to listen in.

"Do you have the image in front of you? May I begin explaining?"

"Sure." I replied. The image might not have been in front of me, but for some reason I had every detail of the symbol burned into my brain. I wasn't going to forget it anytime soon.

"Alright, the outer border is a very common design seen all throughout Greek and Roman art. It is called a meandros. It was an important symbol in many popular works, but in this context I believe it stands for both infinity and unity." She paused briefly and I could hear the ruffling of paper before she spoke again, "Now the writing is unfamiliar to me, and I've run it by as many people as I can and no one seems to recognize it either. However, the snake design in the center is a bit easier to identify though there is no telling what it truly means. Sticking to a Greek theme, the snake could be symbolizing a number of mythical creatures. It could be a reference to Medusa, Typhon, Python, Chronos, the Gorgons, Asclepius, Aeetes, or even Olympias. There is just no telling what exactly the snake is referencing."

"Oh, ok." I replied slowly as I let her words roll around in my head. My eyes snapped over to my hand intertwined with Sideswipe's to see he was using his thumb to trace symbols on the back of my hand. "Thanks, I really appreciate it."

"Of course! Anything for Dr. Early."

"Yeah, let him know I said hi." I replied. She agreed and spoke a quick goodbye before handing up the phone.

The moment I pulled the phone away from my face Sideswipe spoke, "What was that about? What symbol?"

"It's nothing..." I shook my head as my eyes darted to my hand again. There was something odd about the shapes he was tracing on my hand. My eyes slightly narrowed as I tried to focus on what exactly he was doing.

"Does my touch make it hard to think?" Sideswipe asked in a husky voice as he leaned toward me with a sly smile.

I shook my head and pulled back, "Wait, what are you drawing on the back of my hand?"

Sideswipe's smile fell slightly as he shrugged and quickly answered as nonchalantly as he could muster, "Nothing."

"No, seriously, what was it?"

"It was just Cybertronian. Why?" Sideswipe questioned.

Before I could make sense of anything the kids began rushing down the stairs. My eyes darted to the microwave clock to realize we were still late and that I needed to get the kids to school now. I set the phone down and rushed to meet them at the door, but before I could get two steps away the phone began to ring again.

"Aj?" Bumblebee stuck his head into the kitchen as Sideswipe picked up my phone to answer it again. The kids had their shoes on and rushed outside to wait for me.

"What's up, Bee?"

The mech's holoform shifted in his stance slightly as he scratched the back of his head. He lifted his other hand to show my truck keys, "I was wondering if I could drive the younglings to school? I'm a good driver, I promise."

A small smile slipped onto my features. He was nervous because he thought I was going to say no. He thought I didn't trust him enough to let the kids ride along with him. I gave him a nod, "Course you can. Does Blue wanna go with y'all?"

"He's in the garage on watch. Maybe you can let him pick them up?" Bumblebee suggested.

"Good idea." I replied, "Now you better go or they'll be late."

Bumblebee grinned at me before turning on his heel and jogging out the front door. From where I stood I could hear the kids faintly cheer outside. Maybe I should've let the mechs take them to school more often with their holoforms. Leave it to me to wait until the very last opportunity.

"Well maybe she doesn't want to talk to you." I turned back around to see Sideswipe grinning as he spoke into the phone. "Hey, you might be the human's sheriff, but you have no authority over me." My worry lessened when I realized he was just talking to Josh. A second passed before his face fell in surprise, "Wait, what? How did you get Prime's commlink number?"

I reached forward and pulled the phone away from him, "Charming?"

"How do you put up with him all the time?" Josh replied. Sideswipe rolled his eyes before moving to leave the kitchen and head to the garage.

"You sound grumpy, sheriff charming." I joked.

Josh scoffed, "It's been a long night shift." He paused before continuing, "Shouldn't you be taking the kids to school?"

"Bee took 'em."

"Did you tell them?"

I groaned, "Not yet. Don't rush me."

"Well you're kind of running out of time. At this rate they'll just wake up in the morning and realize the mechs are missing." Josh replied, "Anyways, Rosie and I will both be there tonight to help you out and say, you know, good-bye."

I nodded and leaned against the counter, "So is there a reason you called?"

"Yeah." Josh's voice perked up, "I found her. I found that Kaylee girl you wanted me to look for."

My back went straight as my eyes widened, "Where?"

"She's in Auburn of all places." He replied, "I don't have an address for her, but she works at a diner in the city's outskirts. I can give you the address for that place."

"Do you know when she works next?"

"From what I'm looking at, she'll be there tomorrow from about 3 to closing." Josh answered, "It seems like she's there everyday after school and all day on the weekends. Poor girl."

"Thank you so much, Josh." I gushed. The garage door opened and a few seconds later Jazz, in his bipedal mode, came into the kitchen, "Just text me the address."

"Will do." Josh replied before hanging up.

I hung up as well and glanced at Jazz who was smiling at me as he came over. The conversation I was having with Sideswipe before Josh called wasn't over, but the mech seemed more than happy to leave it where we did. I still had more questions for him though about the supposed Cybertronian he was tracing on the back of my hand. Technically, I could ask Jazz about it, but Sideswipe's nervous nature on the topic made me want to go to him.

Instead of chasing after the mech though, I lifted my hand and pointed to Jazz, "You."

"Meh?" Jazz questioned with a grin.

"Why'd you tell Sideswipe about us kissing? Now he asks for kisses every opportunity he gets." I set both hands on the counter so I could lean forward against it.

Jazz's smile faltered slightly, but he was quick to chuckle and shake his head in response. Jazz leaned against the counter beside me, "I didn'. I told Ratchet 'bout it. So the gossiper in this case is the grumpy medic."

"Why did anyone have to know?" I questioned, "It wasn't that big of a deal."

"First Cybertronian-Human kiss? Thought someone other than us should know." Jazz shrugged, but it seemed like there was something more.

I blinked, "I was…I was the first Cybertronian-Human kiss? I feel kinda special now."

"Ya should." Jazz set his hands on the counter beside mine. I reached out and flicked the side of his metal hand with my own, but he was quick to catch my hand and wrap his own around it, "I need to talk to ya 'bout somethin'."

Optimus' earlier question filled my mind and I shook my head in worry, "Is everything ok?"

"Everythin's fine, sweetspark." Jazz reassured me, "It's a sensitive subject, but the cons are bound to find out by tonight anyways. Aj-"

The sound of my ringtone cut off his words. I pulled my hand away from Jazz's, "Sorry. I'm apparently super popular this morning."

He nodded and I grabbed the phone. I almost answered it immediately and pulled it to my ear without a second thought, but at the last second my eyes caught sight of the caller ID. My jaw clenched as the blood in my veins turned to ice. Jazz noticed my change in stature and lightly grabbed my wrist. He pulled it toward him so he could read the name flashing on my screen. His own hand tightened around my wrist unconsciously.

"I should answer it, but…" My words trailed off.

"Don't." Jazz said firmly, "Don't answer it."

Boss hadn't called me since Jazz sent him all that money to pay off my debt. He hadn't even called the day I was supposed to get on the plane and show up in New York. For come reason though, four days after my missed flight he decided to give me a call.

"I need to." I replied, "He's going to be pissed."

"Let him be!" Jazz replied sharply in a tone that was so angry it startled me.

"You guys are leaving. I won't have 12 mechs and a fire breathing metal dinosaur to protect the kids if he decides to come knocking." I said and tried to pull my wrist away from him to answer the phone, but he wouldn't let go. My eyes narrowed and I tried to use my other hand to grab the phone, but he grabbed that hand as well. "Jazz, let go."

Jazz released my hand and grabbed my phone instead. He took a few steps back, but I took the same amount toward him. He shook his head, "This isn't a good idea. I can handle this. You don't have to worry."

"Give me the phone, Jazz." I said firmly, "I can handle this."

The phone stopped ringing and the kitchen was filled with a tense silence. I still hadn't figured out exactly what I was going to do in this situation. Truthfully, it was something I'd have to talk to Aubrey about and I didn't plan on doing that until she was back home and healed. Besides, right now my focus was on getting the mechs home. I needed to handle this one step at a time.

"I'm sorry, but talkin' to 'im would only make it worse, sweetspark." Jazz said smoothly in a tone that told me he was trying to convince me that his words were true.

I shook my head, "I could've talked him down. I know how to handle Boss."

The garage door opened and both Jazz and I glanced over in time to see Sunstreaker's holoform pause in the doorframe opening. His eyes were narrowed to a glare aimed in Jazz's direction. Slowly, he let his gaze slide over the room toward me. His eyes lingered on me a moment and I forced myself to shove all the anger and frustration I felt for Jazz down so I could give him the most neutral look I could muster. His glare lessened slightly before he clenched his jaw and continued down the hall toward the foyer. I hadn't talked to Sunstreaker since the day I got home from that crazy lunch party. The two of us had managed to avoid each other in this small house, which was a feat in itself. Neither of us would have to tiptoe much longer though since he'd be gone by tonight.

I glanced back to Jazz, "I don't want to fight. Not on your last day."

"Aj-"

"I could've handled that, Jazz. Even if I couldn't, I obviously need to learn. I won't have you around to save me all the time." I replied and gave him a small forced smile. Jazz looked like he was going to speak up, but he hesitated and I took that as my escape, "I'm going to go change into something more comfortable."

I was wearing a pair of jeans and a hoodie that I had thrown on so I could go outside and take the kids to school, but I'd much rather be in a pair of shorts or something more comfortable than this tight denim. Besides, I needed just a bit of space to get rid of any frustration I felt toward Jazz. Like I had said, I didn't want to be mad at him right now. This was my last day with him after all. I jogged up the stairs and went straight to my room that looked more like a truck stop than a bedroom. All along the floor were the alt modes of the mechs using their holoform right now. As I quickly began to change clothes I began to wonder how this was even going to work. Were they going to leave these large bodies behind or walk through the portal with the 'used to be toy' bodies?

Sport shorts had replaced jeans and I was wearing just a black sports bra over my upper body as I searched for a shirt to wear when the familiar sound of slight static briefly filled the room.

"It's 58.23 degrees Fahrenheit outside, you should wear more coverings." Ratchet's voice snapped from behind me. I spun around in surprise at his holoform who was now standing a few feet behind me at the desk. At the sudden movement, my foot slipped on the hoodie I had thrown to the floor and I went down fast and hard. Luckily, I had a freaking metal car to break my fall. I wasn't entirely sure whom I had fallen onto, but my back was throbbing from the car spoiler digging into my skin as I gritted my teeth in discomfort.

Suddenly static filled the room again and Wheeljack's holoform formed beside Ratchet with a light blue glow and a look of panic written across his features, "Aj?"

I sat up and glanced back to see it had been Wheeljack who I had fallen onto, "Sorry, Jackie. You ok?"

"Of course. The question is are you?" Wheeljack asked as he rushed forward and offered a hand to help me up. I took his help happily and let him pull me back up to my feet. Ratchet came over and grabbed my shoulder to turn me around so he could look at my back.

I sighed and shrugged away from Ratchet's touch, "I'm fine, I'm fine. It's takes a lot more than Jackie's spoiler to take me down." They both continued to look at me as I rolled my shoulders, Wheeljack wore a look of worry while Ratchet looked skeptical, "Seriously, I'm fine. Y'all have seen me black and blue, why are you freaking out about this?"

"Well we were just worried in general…" Wheeljack began to beat around the bush, but Ratchet cut him off, "Your energy field is upset."

"My energy field? Is that my energy signature?" I questioned, "Why is it upset? I thought it was giving off Ratchet signals."

Wheeljack nodded, "Oh yes, you're signature is still broadcasting Ratchet's guardian charge signal, but your energy field is just the other signals surrounding your signature. Those with inexperience have trouble biting back their emotional signs from the field and end up broadcasting. Usually, it's a problem sparklings and younglings have."

"First, I am not a youngling." I said firmly, "Second, how come y'all have never mentioned this before?"

"It's a rather new occurrence." Wheeljack rubbed the back of his head as he leaned against the desk casually. I reached back and grabbed a random short sleeve shirt from my closet to wear. Ratchet walked forward and snatched the shirt from my hands. I narrowed my eyes at him, but he ignored me and threw the shirt back into the closet before grabbing one of the long sleeve shirts and handing it to me. I rolled my eyes and began to pull it on as Wheeljack continued, "And since it is a new occurrence we thought-"

"There's no need for you to know." Ratchet interrupted as he crossed his arms, "The change is from interacting with our own signatures for so long, but once we leave tonight it will no longer matter. Your signatures will either go back to normal or stay how they are which is unnoticeable to anyone but us Cybertronians."

I dropped down onto my bed and pulled my legs into a crossed sitting position, "What did your energy signatures do to us this time?"

Wheeljack's eyes brightened and he pushed off the desk with a grin, "We use our energy signatures to communicate often and we tend to rely on it occasionally for social cues. Humans don't use their energy signatures for anything really, but because your energy signatures resonate at a level so close to ours, yours has the possibility to do what ours does. Interesting enough, having close contact to our energy signatures has allowed your own to change in a way that allows you to use an energy field like we do."

"That's confusing." I stated with a blink of my eyes.

"Like I said, we'll be gone by tonight so in the long run it won't matter. Don't trouble yourself over it." Ratchet commented before moving to shift something on the desk. I narrowed my eyes at him as he continued to ignore my presence. Wheeljack opened his mouth to speak, but when Ratchet snapped a glare in his direction he shut his mouth and shook his head. The even grumpier than usual medic turned to look at me, "Have you spoken to Jazz yet?"

I shrugged, "I argued with him like five minutes ago downstairs after he stole my phone."

"Not what I meant." He replied dryly and then nodded toward the door, "You need to go talk to him."

"Well, I was gonna find Sides first because-" I stopped midsentence because of the heated glare Ratchet was looking at me with. His holoform definitely did him justice. I threw my hands up in defeat, "I guess I'll go back downstairs to talk to him."

I walked out of the room with the full intention to not go talk to Jazz. As I reached the stairs I suddenly realized that I had forgotten to ask either of them about the whole 'where will your toy bodies go?' question too. I couldn't go back now though because if I did then Ratchet would yell at me. A groan escaped from my lips as I marched downstairs.

The front door opened as I reached the bottom step and Bumblebee breezed in with a small frown on his face. The frown changed into a small smile when he saw me though. I shook my head, "Everything ok, Bee?"

"The younglings got to school safe and sound!" He chirped and gave me a friendly thumbs up in reassurance.

I nodded, "That's great, but are you alright? You look like someone spit in your soup."

Bumblebee seemed perplexed at my words for a moment before he shrugged and stuffed his hands into his pants' pockets, "I was just thinking is all."

"About?"

"How much I'm going to miss this place." Bumblebee admitted sadly, "The younglings, you, Rosie, Josh… I- We haven't been here long, but it still seems odd that tomorrow I won't be watching cartoons with Peter and Tyler, or talking to you, or…" Bumblebee visibly wilted and if he had been in his bipedal mode I was sure his door wings would've sunk way low down on his body, "Or hang out with Taylor."

I shifted awkwardly in my stance and tried to give him a reassuring smile, "Hey, just think about all your friends you'll get to see again." There was a pause before I continued, "You'll get to see Ironhide and Chromia."

Bumblebee smiled softly at me and nodded his head once before slowly walking through the kitchen to get to the garage. I crossed my arms and watched him sulk away from me. The bot seemed really torn up about this and it hurt my heart to see the friendly Bumblebee so down in the dumps. I was sure once he got back home and he'd be fine. Him and the others would probably miss the kids for a little while, but eventually they'd get over it. Their time spent here probably equaled a blink in their lives if even that.

"So squishy." Skywarp's voice cackled in amusement from the living room behind me, and it was quickly followed by a frustrated sigh that was without a doubt Thundercracker.

"Don't you have somewhere else to be?"

"Like where?"

"Anywhere but here."

It was odd to here Thundercracker sound so annoyed when talking to Skywarp. Exasperated? Sure, but the seeker was usually the most leveled headed of the trine and didn't snap at the more energetic of the three like Starscream did. I turned around and my eyes widened at the sight before me. Grimlock was curled up on the floor in front of the TV with a bored look on his features. He took up most of the living room and the TV behind him could no longer even be seen. Sitting on the couch however was an unfamiliar face with a purple and black jet flying circles above his head.

"You 'cons annoying me Grimlock." The metal dinosaur grumbled in warning. Skywarp, who was still mini sized, was smart enough to warp away without another word and I heard him reappear somewhere upstairs. The unfamiliar holoform, which was obviously Thundercracker sank in his seat with a sigh. Grimlock grumbled again, "What you human looking at?"

Thundercracker turned in his seat to look at me as I stood in the living room archway. I tore my gaze away from Grimlock who didn't look like he cared much about hearing my answer to the new holoform in front of me. The seeker slowly stood up as my eyes darted from him to the light blue jet resting on the coffee table. His holoform must have just appeared.

"Hey, TC. You look good." I gave him a warm smile. The seeker's only reply was to rub the back of his neck and glance away. After seeing what Barricade's holoform looked like, I expected all the Decepticon's holoforms to look kind of dark and intimidating, but Thundercracker didn't. Unlike some of the Autobot's holoforms, he did look like he belonged in the military with his broad shoulders, muscled arms, and rugged appearance. His light brown hair was shorter than most of the other holoforms and it messily stuck up in some spots as if he had been running a hand through it. There was matching stubble down his jawline and around his lips. Surprisingly, his eyes were a lighter shade of amber brown rather than the very dark shade that Barricade sported. What really caught my eye though were the scars. There was a faint white line over his right cheekbone where an old injury had healed and another scar in his eyebrow toward the end making it look like there was a small gap in the light brown patch of hair above his eye. He wore a dark gray t-shirt over a pair of regular blue jeans.

"Aj." I turned to see Jazz's holoform leaning against the stair railing behind me. Briefly, I wondered when he had snuck up on me and how long he had been standing there. "Ratchet said you were looking for me."

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. Biting back a scoff, I mumbled, "I bet he did."

"Can we talk?" Jazz questioned. I didn't exactly know why Jazz wanted to talk to me so bad or why everyone else wanted me to talk to him either, but his tone made me feel like this would be a conversation I didn't want to have.

I forced a grin, "I want to, I do, but I promised TC I'd take him to town."

"What?" Jazz questioned at the same time that Thundercracker's holoform blurted the same question.

I nodded, "Last day here, he wants to explore before he goes. Who am I to say no? Come on, TC."

Jazz didn't let his gaze linger away from me, but I was pleasantly surprised to see that Thundercracker came out of the living room to stand beside me. I could see Jazz's jaw clench in frustration and I briefly felt bad about running out on him, but the guilt didn't last long. Why would it? I'd talk to him before he left for good. It didn't have to be now.

"It's cold out." Jazz said as he let his gaze shift ever so slightly to the decepticon holoform beside me.

I shrugged and slipped the tennis shoes that were sitting by the front door on, "It's a good thing Ratchet made me wear a long sleeve shirt then." I glanced at Thundercracker and quickly told him I'd be back before jogging into the kitchen with the plan to head to the garage. Bumblebee had my keys last and he probably just forgot to put them down. I only made it halfway before Sunstreaker's bipedal mode stepped into the kitchen from the opposite doorway.

The plan was to just walk by him, but he forced me to stop by sliding into my path. He wasn't looking at me when he spoke, "You're taking that slagging seeker out?"

"Yeah, I am. Now move-"

"Why?"

"Because I can." I replied shortly. Getting by his bipedal mode would be harder than getting by his holoform, but I was close enough where I could grab the wires in his wrist if need be. My plan of attack was cut short when his eyes glanced down at me. He lifted his hand and opened it palm up.

"You shouldn't trust him." Sunstreaker said firmly as I stared at the keys in the middle of his hand. I grabbed the keys and his hand closed around mine tightly, "I'm serious, human. He's a Decepticon."

"A Decepticon who'll be gone in less than 24 hours." I replied firmly. Sunstreaker let go of my hand with narrowed eyes, but I didn't pay him a second more of my attention. I walked back out to the foyer where Thundercracker was waiting alone and led him outside.

Ratchet was listening to Wheeljack babble when Jazz came into his makeshift medbay. The engineer's words came to a halt as the two of them looked over at the saboteur expectantly. Jazz, who was obviously not in the best of moods, shook his head, "I know you heard everythin' downstairs, what are you waitin' for me to say?"

"I don't know." Wheeljack shrugged, "I didn't think you were going to let her walk out."

"You shouldn't have let her walk out." Ratchet added in an annoyed tone. They had this meeting two nights ago, and yet Jazz still hadn't managed to talk to Aj about the outcome of said meeting. "What are you waiting for?"

Jazz scoffed, "She isn't exactly making this easy."

"Did you think she would?" Ratchet questioned, "Have you met her?"

"What am I supposed to do? If I go into this conversation while she's already in a bad mood she'll shut down."

Wheeljack nodded, "That is a good point."

"Right, and waiting until the very last minute to talk to her about this is much better." Ratchet argued.

Wheeljack bobbed his holoform's head again, "Also a good point."

Ratchet shot the engineer a glare that didn't seem to even faze his old friend. He snapped his attention back to Jazz, "Talk to her. This shouldn't be this difficult. She's five foot three inches tall and weighs no more than 130 pounds."

Jazz smiled at Ratchet, but it wasn't the casual, laidback grin that usually adorned his bipedal or holoform's features. This smile was hard and a bit cold, "Sure thing. When she gets back I'll just wrestle her to the floor and tell her then."

There was a tense silence in the room that lessened slightly when Optimus' holoform walked through the door. Ratchet's attention went to him immediately, "What are you doing here? Who's downstairs with the machine?"

Jazz used this opportunity to slip out without another word. Optimus didn't stop his third in command, but did watch him walk out with a bit of concern for him. He shook his head, "The twins are down there along with Prowl, Bumblebee, and Bluestreak."

"They should be running final tests soon. I'll go take a look." Wheeljack announced before leaving himself.

Ratchet shook his head, "Jazz hasn't even spoken to her yet."

"I'm aware."

"Are you aware that this is going to end horribly?" Ratchet questioned, "She won't say yes."

Optimus paused, "Do you truly believe that? Is that what you'd like?"

Rather than blurting out an answer, Ratchet thought to himself briefly. He thought about the circumstance, he thought about how they planned to go about this, and he thought about Aj's stubborn demeanor. He nodded, "I do believe that." Ratchet paused again at the second half of that question. It was much harder than the first. There were a lot more variables to deal with in that second question. He settled on the only answer he would allow himself to have, "It doesn't matter what I want."

The Prime nodded once before a silence stretched between the two of them. From everyway that Ratchet looked at this, it was a complicated problem. There were just as many pros as there were cons. An easy answer did not exist. The medic was startled by Optimus' next statement.

"I need to talk to you about my holoform."

I let my fingers thrum against the steering wheel as I drove. Thundercracker hadn't said a word since we left the house and instead just sat beside me in silence. He hadn't brought his actual form with him, which meant I had to stay within a ten mile radius of the house, but he didn't seem very curious about where we were going.

"The last time we rode in this truck together, I thought for sure I was gonna vomit, pass out, and then go careening off the road." I said to break the silence.

Thundercracker lightly bobbed his head, "You were very ill."

It was silent for another beat before I broke it again, "Are you excited to go back to your own universe?"

"I should be, shouldn't I?" Thundercracker mumbled as he stared out the passenger seat window. He suddenly glanced over at me, "Why are you avoiding Jazz?"

"I'm not avoiding him."

"You don't want to talk to him." Thundercracker pointed out. "To the point where you brought me out."

I glanced over at him briefly before pulling into the parking lot of the small coffee shop, "I brought you out because it's your last day and you finally got your holoform. I'd thought you'd like it."

"So avoiding Jazz is just an added bonus then?"

I couldn't help but smirk in amusement at Thundercracker's question. I didn't talk to him as often partly because he wasn't the most talkative of mechs back home, but holding conversations with the seeker was always interesting.

"I guess so."

Thundercracker glanced out the window again, "I can't consume any drinks or food in this form."

"I know." I nodded, "I didn't bring my wallet anyways so I have no cash. I thought we could just sit here in the parking lot and relax."

"Should you be driving without a driver's license on your person?"

"Probably not." I admitted with a shrug then gave him a grin, "Lucky for me, I know the town's sheriff."

Thundercracker relaxed his in seat, "Joshua wouldn't punish you for breaking the human driving laws?"

I chuckled, "Actually, now that I think about it, I'd probably rather just get a ticket then listen to one of charming's 'safety first' rants." I took off my seatbelt and got comfortable, "What's happened to your holoform's face? The scars?"

"Isn't it considered rude to you humans to ask questions like that?"

"Do I seem like the overly polite type?"

Thundercracker paused, "It's an old wound. It isn't noticeable in my true mode, but it shows up on my holoform." He shrugged, "It wasn't from the war. I got them when I was young and learning to fly."

"That sounds like it'd be quite the story." I commented.

The seeker let out a hum of agreement, but didn't explain any further. He glanced over at me, "Did you really kiss the saboteur?"

"Didn't you know it's rude to ask a lady to kiss and tell?"

"You asked about my scars."

I sighed and leaned my head against the side of the seat so I was mostly facing him, "How does everyone know about that? It wasn't that big of a deal."

"For you perhaps." Thundercracker replied.

"How often do you use your holoform?" I blurted in hopes to pull the conversation away from the topic it had been on.

He shook his head, "Never. None of us really had any opportunity or desire to use it. I think we stole the technology mostly out of spite."

I chuckled, "That honestly doesn't sound super surprising."

Thundercracker clasped his hands in front of him and let them rest on his abdomen as he leaned back in the truck seat. I was surprised to see him close his eyes and relax beside me. Most of the mechs back home seemed to never fully relax. There were a few mechs that would relax if it were just the two of us alone, but most of the mechs that did that were Autobots not Decepticons. I wondered if he was able to relax because the seeker trusted me or just considered me so little of a threat. It was probably the latter.

"You should talk to Jazz." Thundercracker spoke suddenly without opening his eyes. His tone was calm, but there was something else in his tone that made me think that the seeker might actually know what it was Jazz wanted to talk to me about so badly.

I turned my gaze away from him and leaned my head against the back of the seat. A soft sigh slipped from my lips, "You know, sometimes I wish y'all had never even come."

"Why is that?" Thundercracker questioned.

"Because now I'm going to have to see the kids in pain, and that's something I've always wanted to avoid." I shrugged.

There was a pause before he spoke again, "How about for you? Will saying goodbye be difficult for you?"

"No. I've gotten pretty good at it." I turned slightly to look over at him and realized he had been staring at me with a look of perplexity. Quickly, I offered him a soft smile. "In my life, I say goodbye way more often than I say hello."

Thundercracker couldn't help but let his holoform's optics continue to glance over at the strange little human femme driving the Earth vehicle beside him. After sitting in the vehicle with her for about an hour, she decided the two of them would go visit Joshua at his working place. Joshua did reprimand her for driving without the proper paperwork, but Aj expertly navigated through the argument with a cheerful smile and playful remarks. The human male gave up on the rant fairly quickly and the three of them went out for what Aj referred to as a brunch meeting. Thundercracker's holoform wasn't capable of eating or drinking, but he sat at the same table as them to join in the conversation. It was an interesting experience.

Thundercracker was hardly a fan of humans, but he had to admit that being stuck in this random universe had changed his opinion some. Not that he'd ever admit that to any other Decepticon. Although, he was fairly certain that Soundwave had a similar thinking process. The communications officer seemed to have a large soft spot for the younglings. Though Thundercracker personally didn't mind the younglings, he did prefer the conversations he held with the older humans more.

Joshua, for example, seemed like a level headed human and Thundercracker thought that if he had been created as a Cybertronian rather than a human then the two might even be friends. He had a similar opinion toward Aj which was the main reason why he didn't mind coming out with her and being her excuse to avoid the Autobot Saboteur.

Thundercracker thought Aj was pretty easy to read and rather predictable, but he had to admit this behavior had thrown him for a loop. It was nearly 12:00 and she was in the middle of driving the two of them home. The vehicle's radio was playing a song and Aj was happily singing along to it as her servos bounced against the steering wheel in beat.

He thought for sure that she'd be upset on some level today considering it was all of the mech's last day in this universe, but she wasn't. Thundercracker could see, though the conversations they had since they left the house, that a part of her was nervous and worried about breaking the new to the younglings, but she personally didn't seem sad in the slightest. Maybe she wouldn't miss Megatron, or Starscream, or Barricade, or even him, but he thought for sure she would at least miss some of the Autobots. She had grown rather close to many of them.

Yet, here she was singing along to the music and bobbing her helm up and down as her servos stilled on the steering wheel. She suddenly stopped singing and glanced over at him making his optics widened slightly at being caught staring, but she just smiled, "Thanks for coming with me, TC. I appreciate it."

"Of course." He nodded as he still tried to wrap his processors around what was going on in her fleshy little helm.

Her own optics darted back to the windshield as she began to turn into the driveway. She let out a low whistle with her lips, "He ain't messing around, is he?"

Thundercracker forced himself to look out the window to see Jazz's holoform sitting on the front porch steps. He glanced back at Aj once more before looking back out the window again. Every mech knew what Jazz wanted to talk to her about. The Autobots had a slagging meeting to discuss it. The Decepticons knew exactly what the Autobots were sending Jazz to propose and each 'con had their own opinion about it as well. Thundercracker got out of the vehicle as Aj did the same. He gave the human one last nod before heading toward the front door. Typically, he'd ignore Jazz entirely, but he paused long enough to give the Autobot's holoform a nod of the helm for good luck. Based off the nonchalant way Aj was behaving, he was going to need it.

I sighed and watched as Thundercracker greeted Jazz with a slight bob of his head before heading inside. The weather had warmed enough where the temperature didn't bother my bare legs and the direct sunlight beating down on me made me want to roll my sleeves up. The only thing that kept me from doing so was the slight breeze and coolness that brushed against me when I stepped into the shade.

"Hey there." I greeted, "Mind if I sit?"

"I was hopin' you would." Jazz nodded. Without another word, I brushed off the step with my hand and then sat down beside him. He shifted slightly so his right leg was pressed against my left, but he didn't look at me. Instead he kept his gaze forward toward the street in front of the house. "Sorry 'bout earlier."

I shook my head, "I should apologize too. I didn't mean to get upset at you. Not today."

Jazz finally glanced over at me with a firm smile, "We both made mistakes."

"Agreed." I chuckled, "Now what do you want to talk to me about? I swear, everyone is bugging me about talking to you about…whatever this is."

"Right." Jazz replied simply and rubbed his jawline with his hand. In his true mode, I could never see his eyes, but his holoform's sunglasses weren't as good at hiding them. It was faint, but I could see how his eyes briefly narrowed in worry before he continued, "I want you to just listen to me for a klik, alright? Don't say anything, just…hear me out."

He paused and he didn't say anything else until I nodded quickly, "Sure, ok."

Jazz let out a quick sigh, "Jackie's machine is up an' runnin'. He says it looks good, but we're gonna wait until tonight to use it because he's pretty sure it might knock out the power in this neighborhood. Plus, it gives us time to say goodbye." So far this was all information I was already aware of. I didn't know the machine was officially up and running, but Wheeljack had explained the rest to me yesterday at some point. "Two nights ago, when you an' the younglings were in recharge, we had a meetin'. Just us Autobots. I had somethin' I needed to run by them. A plan that I needed Prime's approval on."

"I know I said I wasn't going to interrupt." I blurted quickly with a raised eyebrow. Jazz actually looked relieved that I had cut in despite the fact that he asked me not to. "But, can you get to the point, Jazz? You're making me nervous."

Jazz chuckled, "Sorry." There was a pause where I put an encouraging smile on my face and he thought to himself. Finally, he focused his attention back on me, "We want you to come with us. You, the younglings, an' your sister."

I blinked in shock, "Wh-What?"

"We thought about it. We weighed the pros and cons, an' we think this is the best option." Jazz continued, "The five of you aren't safe 'ere anymore. Rosie an' Josh'll be alright, but now this Boss guy knows 'bout your family an' you and I both know he ain't gonna stop until he either has you, hurts them, or both."

"Jazz…"

"In our universe you'll be safe. Boss can't reach you there, an' we'll still be around." Jazz said in determination, "You can live in the town closest to the Ark. Pit, you can live in the Ark with us. We've been talkin' about adding human barracks for the soldiers. We could always just add in two apartment sized areas. One for you and one for Aubrey and the younglings."

I shook my head, "I don't-"

"You don't even have to live by us." Jazz finished with a shake of his head, "You can live anywhere you want, but we've made the decision that we think your chances are better coming with us."

He finished his case and now a painful silence hung between us as I stared at him in shock. Go with him? All of us? Admittedly, there were some huge problems here. Boss would always be coming after me, and by association he'd be coming after Aubrey and the kids too, but moving to a different universe seemed a bit extreme. Jazz shifted and then set his hand on the crook of my elbow.

"Sweetspark, we don't have to say goodbye. None of us do."

We didn't have to say goodbye, but… but I was ready to. From the moment they got here I knew they wouldn't be permanent. They'd be a part of all our lives for a bit, but then they'd be gone forever. I had mentally prepared myself since the beginning for this moment and now he was telling me that moment didn't have to come? I liked the mechs. I liked them a lot. However, my entire relationship with all of them was built on a temporary basis. This new permanent option was terrifying.

"We can't." I shook my head and shifted to the side so Jazz was no longer touching me, "We can't do that."

"Aj-"

"Go to your universe? Live there?" I scoffed, "We aren't meant to be there."

Jazz sighed patiently, as if he expected this argument from me, and then spoke, "Why not?"

"Because that isn't our universe!" I cried, "Humans and mechs aren't supposed to go skipping from universe to universe, Jazz. It isn't natural. This is our universe. This is where we belong." I let out a harsh laugh, "For all we know, your universe already has a version of us."

"So what?"

"So what?" I repeated in disbelief, "I've seen the movies. You meet your alternate universe self and the universe is ripped to shreds or something."

Jazz scoffed and shook his head, "You're bein' ridiculous."

"No, I'm not." I argued in return.

"This is the safest option-"

I shook my head, "Safest? Running through a portal made of spare parts into a universe that's in the middle of a robotic Civil War is the safest option for us? See, I don't think Megatron is going to be so friendly back when he's working on his 'Take over all the worlds' agenda."

"We'll be there to protect you." Jazz said firmly with a set jaw, "Do you honestly think we'd let anythin' happen to any of you?"

"It only takes one slip up and then we're a pancake under a fifteen foot tall Decepticon." I snapped back and rose from my seat.

Jazz stood up as well and took a step toward me, "None of you are safe 'ere anymore. Boss could show up at your door with-"

"I can handle Boss!" I shouted, "He's human. He bleeds the same blood I do. My chances in a fight against him are pretty fragging good, but my chances against a fully grown Decepticon are pitiful!"

Jazz shook his head with a hurt look on his features, "I knew this would be a tough sell to you, but I thought at least some part of you would be excited." I crossed my arms and glanced away as he continued, "I thought you'd be happy that we wouldn't have to say our goodbyes tonight." I kept my gaze on the front door as I tried my hardest not to look at him. That plan went to hell when Jazz lightly grabbed my chin and turned my head to look at him before letting his hand fall back to his side, "I already figured it out. The others would go back with the 'cons, but I would stay. Either Jackie would tell me how to work the portal or maybe he'd stay too, but either way we'd stick 'round 'til Aubrey got back an' then we'd go. All of us together."

"I just don't think that's a good idea." I said quietly.

"Why?" Jazz pleaded, "Why not? The younglings would get to stay with us. We wouldn't have to lose them, we could be a part of their lives. A more permanent part. We could watch 'em grow up an' be there for 'em. Aubrey would get any care she might ever need for her sickness. Money is no issue for us, an' you…" His features softened, "You wouldn't lose someone again."

I wouldn't lose someone again. This time at least. Who's to say what would happen a year from now or ten or twenty?

"Jazz, I-"

He shook his head, "You asked me once 'bout why we cared so much. You mentioned that this moment was so short for us. A blimp compared to the other millions of years we've experienced." Jazz waited until I nodded my head slightly acknowledging the fact that I did remember asking him something along those lines. "We… We feel things deeply. Once we make a connection we aren't used to havin' to let go of it so soon. Sure, we've all lost people to this fragging war, but our relationships typically last centuries, not just a couple slagging orns. None of us are ready to say goodbye."

There was so much I could say, but no words formed on my lips. I didn't know how to explain to him any of the reasons that had built up in my mind. So instead I just shook my head and offered him a soft apology. His face crumpled again in frustration and I felt bad about upsetting him like this. I wanted to make it better, but the only thing that would turn this conversation around for him was conceding with his side and that wasn't about to happen.

The front door opened and Bluestreak's holoform poked his head out sheepishly, "Sorry, I didn't want to interrupt, but Ratchet said you guys were done talking and he wants to see Jazz in the garage."

"Thanks." Jazz nodded in his direction.

I shot the younger mech a smile, "Hey, Blue, you wanna come with me to pick up the kids?"

Bluestreak's eyes widened, "Yeah, I do, but I thought they didn't get out of school until 3:10? I set an internal alarm for fifteen kliks before that time so I wouldn't forget."

"I'm gonna pick them up early today." I replied, "Give them more time to hang out with you guys before you go."

Bluestreak's face fell slightly before he pasted a smile on his holoform's lips. He came outside and jogged the short distance between us. I handed him the keys and told him to start the truck up, but before I could turn and follow him Jazz grabbed my wrist.

"Think about it, Aj." Jazz said firmly, "And don't let your past dictate your future."

I gave him a brief nod to appease him and watched as he went up the porch steps toward the open front door. Thundercracker stepped into the doorway, but let the Autobot third in command stalk past him. I gave the seeker a curious look, but his only reply was to throw me my wallet. A chuckle slipped my lips as I caught it, but Thundercracker didn't stick around to hear my gratitude. I double-checked to see if my ID was inside and then I jogged over to the truck and slid into the passenger seat. Bluestreak gave me a smile and then pulled out of the driveway.

"Bumblebee was right. It's kind of strange to drive a car in our holoforms. One that isn't us at least." He said, "Oh and don't worry, I remember how to get to their school."

The last time Bluestreak had been in this car was one of the few times I let him and Bumblebee come with me to pick up the kids. That was back when they were small toys though. I kept my gaze on his happy features as my thoughts went back to what Bluestreak has said when he came out of the house, "Ratchet said our conversation was over. All y'all heard it, didn't you?"

Bluestreak's smile faltered slightly, "We didn't want to listen in. I mean, we weren't trying to, but you guys got kind of loud at one point and all of us really wanted to know what you were going to say about it. Sorry, Aj."

"It's fine. I'm not mad." I shrugged, "Are you mad? About me saying no?"

Bluestreak didn't immediately begin speaking and that made me lift an eyebrow in surprise. He sighed, "We had a meeting about it and Optimus wanted to know all our opinions because it is a really big thing so he held a vote before deciding." He paused and glanced over at me sheepishly, "I voted no."

"You voted no?" I asked in surprise. I thought for sure Bluestreak would have been on board with the kids coming to their universe. Him and Bumblebee both, "Why?"

"Being one of the youngest Autobots on base means that sometimes mechs don't look to me to make decisions. I kind of get treated like a sparkling sometimes. I don't mind it all that much. Prowl has always treated me like a little brother since the moment he pulled me out of the rubble in Praxus, so I'm kind of used to it. Besides, it's nice to know that he's there for me." Bluestreak admitted, "The only mech younger than me is Bee, but it's still kind of close." He shrugged, "Being here though, this was the first time since before the fall of Praxus that I got to really interact with younglings. Tyler likes hanging out with me and he looks up to me and for the first time that I can really remember, I feel like an older brother of sorts. It's nice."

I nodded, "Tyler really does love you. All the kids do."

Bluestreak grinned, "And I really like them." He thought to himself before sighing. His smile fell slightly, "But if I learned anything from Prowl, it's how to be a good big brother. It's not just making someone laugh and keeping them safe when they sleep. It's making the hard decisions. I want all of you to come with us, but the others made a really good point as to why you shouldn't come."

"The others?" I questioned. "Who all voted no?"

"Prowl, Ratchet, Sunstreaker, and me." Bluestreak answered without hesitation, "Prowl and Ratchet both said that our war was too dangerous for you guys. Any humans that we interact with are possible targets for Decepticons, but if you guys came then you'd definitely be targets. The Decepticons know how important you guys are to us and that we'd do just about anything to save you."

I hadn't thought about it like that, but it was a really good point. Bluestreak got distracted asking about something he saw by the side of the road and the rest of the car ride was just his cheerful rambles. As much as I tried to pay attention to what he said though, my mind was a million miles away.

The kids were beyond excited about being picked up early, and their excitement only grew when they saw Bluestreak had come with me. The entire ride home they had conversed with the cheerful Bluestreak who seemed to always have something to say. Now they were bouncing around the house with bright smiles as I leaned against the kitchen counter with a lump stuck in my throat.

How was I supposed to tell them? How was I supposed to break the news? Was it better if I did it alone or should I do it with the mechs in the room? There was no easy way to do this, and every path ended in heartbreak. I sighed and buried my face into my hands. This was the exact reason why I didn't let these mechs too close to my heart. Sure, I liked them and hanging out with them was fun, but I knew that when this day rolled around it wouldn't be worth the pain. The kids had accepted them into their lives 110% and now they were about to be crushed whereas I would be able to handle this day. I'd be able to stay standing. This would just be like college all over again. Saying goodbye to friends was really easy if you went into the relationship knowing you'd say goodbye eventually. As long as you didn't put too much in to begin with then cutting ties with them wouldn't leave you broken.

"Aj?"

My head snapped up with wide eyes as I realized Peter had walked into the kitchen and was now standing across the island counter from me. I took in a shaky breath, "Yeah, Pete? What's wrong?"

"Nothing." He shrugged. None of the mechs were in the garage anymore because the machine was complete. Now they were lounging around the house enjoying their last few hours. Last I saw, most of them were in the living room with the kids. "Are you ok?"

I gave him a small smile, "I'm fine. Just tired I guess."

Peter nodded and glanced over his shoulder to the doorway before looking back at me, "They're all leaving tonight aren't they?" My jaw fell open slightly as I stared at the boy in shock. I wasn't entirely sure how to even respond to his question. Apparently, this was answer enough for him and he let out a disappointed sigh. "I knew it."

"Peter, how did you…?" I began, but I guess I shouldn't be too surprised. Peter was a smart kid and he knew the deadline for the mechs was around two months. In fact, the only reason why I bet he hadn't said anything sooner was because admitting it would make it that much more real.

"I've been marking the days in my school calendar." Peter admitted, "Plus, I talked to Prowl. He didn't say when they were leaving, but it makes sense now."

I pressed my lips together, "I'm so sorry, kid."

"I knew this had to happen eventually. At least we got to know them, right?" Peter said, but his voice wavered near the end and his eyes were beginning to grow slightly red. This meant so much to Peter. Having the only tie he had to his absentee father come to life was a miracle. Getting to know his heroes was healing, and hearing him speak now was only proof of how far he had grown in this short span of time.

"Exactly." I nodded, "Do Taylor and Tyler know?"

"No. I didn't know how to tell them and I didn't really want to."

I rubbed the back of my neck, "Same, kid. Same." Despite the fact that I didn't want to do this at all, I knew I had to get it over with. This was my responsibility and the sooner the twins knew then the sooner they could start to heal. "Can you tell them come here, Pete?"

He nodded before using his hands to rub his eyes under his glasses and then slowly walking off. I turned and went to sit at the dining table. My fingers drummed against the wood as my eyes darted to the microwave clock. It wasn't even one in the afternoon yet. It also suddenly occurred to me that even though I had bought the materials to fix the microwave, no one had done so. I could try, but maybe it'd be best if I asked Wheeljack to do it before he left.

Taylor skipped into the room, all smiles, and came to a stop in front of me. Tyler ran in a second later laughing about something that had happened in the living room. They both greeted me happily and questioned their presence, but I asked them to sit down at the table with me. Rather than grab two separate seats, I watched as they both shared half the seat to my left.

"I need to talk to you guys about something." I said slowly.

Taylor blinked, "Just us? Why not Pete?"

"But Aj, I'm in the middle of a race with Sideswipe." Tyler pouted slightly.

After a second of me not saying anything, they both seemed to pick up on the fact that something wasn't right. It might not have even been something they outwardly realized, but I could see them twitch in their seat and their eyes grow worried.

"The mechs have been working really hard in the garage lately. That's why we didn't want you going in there." I began, "The thing they've been working on is the machine that…that's gonna get them home." Tyler's face grew hard as he narrowed his eyes and Taylor immediately began to shake her head no with a quivering lip. "They finished it, officially, earlier today and tonight…"

"Aj." Taylor cried in desperation as she continued to shake her head, "No!"

"Tonight they have to go back home." I finished softly. The noise from the living room had died down and now the only sound in the house came from the two kids in front of me.

"No!" Tyler yelled, "They can't go home. Aj, you can't let them go!"

"Guys, they have to. They have friends back home and responsibilities. They can't stay here forever as-"

Both the twins scrambled out of the chair and ran out of the room with tears dripping down their cheeks. I jumped up to run after them and wasn't surprised to see that they had run into the living room sobbing and yelling at the mechs to stay. Tyler had his arms wrapped around Thundercracker's legs and Taylor had leaped into Optimus' arms and was sobbing hysterically into his shoulder as she pleaded for them not to go. It seemed like they had latched onto the closest mech they could after running in.

Peter was sitting on the couch with Prowl on one side of him and Wheeljack on the other. They must have been talking, but they had stopped to watch the twins. Peter's own eyes were still rimmed red as he wiped away stray tears on his cheeks. Grimlock, who was curled on the floor on the other side of the room behind the couch, had sat up to stare at the twins as Sunstreaker and Sideswipe both stood in front of him awkwardly shifting their weight. Megatron, Soundwave, and Starscream were standing on the coffee table, still in their mini forms, as Skywarp sat on top of the entertainment system. Jazz, who was the only one in his bipedal mode, sat on the single seat couch with his elbows on his knees and his hands covering the lower half of his face. He didn't turn to look at the kids and instead stared straight ahead stiff as a board.

"Please don't go. Please don't go." Taylor stuttered between shaky breaths as she tightly wrapped her little arms around Optimus' neck. If he were a real human, he probably wouldn't be able to breath. He made a soft comforting noise as he rubbed her back softly.

Tyler had given up on talking and instead just sobbed into Thundercracker's legs. The seeker seemed hesitant, but he carefully knelt down slightly to set a hand on the young boy's shoulders. I opened my mouth to speak, but any words of comfort I had got stuck in my throat. There was movement behind me when suddenly Bumblebee and Bluestreak hurried into the room as Ratchet stood behind my right shoulder. They must have been upstairs.

"Taylor?" Bumblebee spoke softly and after a moment the blonde girl pushed herself away from Optimus and threw herself toward Bumblebee who caught her easily and wrapped his arms tightly around her small form. Her quieted sobs had grown louder again in his arms. Bluestreak didn't say anything, but he knelt down and scooped Tyler up into his arms. Both mech's holoforms glanced at me, silently asking for permission. I nodded once and the two of them carried the kids out of the living room and upstairs probably to their own room to talk. Maybe they could calm the kids down because Lord knows I was useless at the moment.

Wheeljack began to quietly speak again to Peter who turned to listen to him, but I didn't focus on what the Engineer was saying. All I could think about was that some of their pain was my fault. If I had said yes to Jazz then they wouldn't have to say goodbye. The kids would be thrilled to go into their universe with them. As if he were reading my mind, Jazz finally tore his gaze away from the wall to look at me with a knowing look. I stiffened and turned to leave when I caught Ratchet's gaze. He was still standing behind me by the staircase. The medic gave a small nod, "You're making the right choice, youngling."

I knew I was. Safety came before happiness, right? Still, my heart ached as I heard the twins cries echo down the stairs.

"Is everything ok? You sound kind of…sad, Aimee." Aubrey's voice drifted through the phone speaker. I sat on her bed staring at the wall. It was nearly six in the evening and Granny was downstairs in the kitchen cooking dinner, I could faintly hear her and smell the food. Josh was somewhere down there as well. The kids were still taking this really hard, but they put on brave faces to enjoy the last few hours. I was proud of them. I really was. "Aimee?"

"Sorry, Aubs." I sighed, "The kids are kind of sad today and it's effecting me."

"Sad? Why?"

"The…Army guys that always come over and spend time with them are leaving." I replied, "They're getting stationed overseas and the kids aren't taking the news too well."

Aubrey paused, "How are you handling it?"

"Well, I'm just trying to keep them happy. They're downstairs hanging out with all of the guys right now so that's good but-"

"I meant, how are you handling it, Aimee? Is Jace leaving too?"

I paused before nodding, "Yeah, Jace is leaving too."

"I'm so sorry."

Aubrey continued with words of comfort, but I couldn't focus on any of them very well. She mentioned that she'd call back tomorrow to talk to the kids rather than take time away from them tonight that they could spend with the mechs. I said a quick goodbye before hanging up and letting the phone fall from my hand. There was a ball of dread stuck in my chest and it seemed to grow with every hour that passed.

Someone knocked on the door making me glanced over just as the wooden barrier opened. A bright, red mech stood in the doorway with dark lavender blue eyes focused on me. The kids said they didn't want to spend the last few hours with the holoforms so all the mechs were walking around in their bipedal mode. It made things a bit more crowded, but no one was complaining. The only holoform activated was Thundercracker and that was just because he couldn't turn it off yet.

"Hey, babe." Sideswipe greeted before breezing into the room. "Ratchet was looking for you."

"How come?" I shifted where I was sitting and tucked my legs under me.

Sideswipe shrugged, "No idea. I don't typically stick around to ask Ratchet questions. That's how you get hit."

I chuckled and Sideswipe beamed in response. He walked over to the bed and then suddenly fell forward to land beside me making the entire bed sink under his weight. I fell to the side, landing on his chest, from the incline of the mattress, "Hey, watch where you throw that fat ass of yours."

"Oh please." Sideswipe shifted so he was lying on his back with his hands behind his head, "You think this fat ass is hot. Admit it."

I rolled my eyes and pushed off his chest so I could sit up. He kept his head slightly turned so he could remain looking at me, "What are you doing here?"

"My last few hours on this Earth, thought I'd bless you with my presence."

"Don't you mean curse?"

Sideswipe playfully scoffed and moved a hand to set it over the side of his chest, "You wound me, babe. My spark aches."

"Is that where your spark is?" I questioned.

"Yeah, but it's closer to the back then to the front." He replied nonchalantly then pointed his finger at my face, "Don't tell the cons."

Rather than answering him, I rolled my eyes again and in response he flicked my nose with his finger. I batted his hand away making him chuckle. He suddenly set his hand on top of my thigh, but before I could brush it away he used his finger to start writing against my skin. My eyes widened as I let him do so. He made strange movements in a line until he reached my knee and pulled away.

"Was that Cybertronian? Like earlier?" I asked and he nodded. It suddenly reminded me what I wanted to ask of him and I scrambled off the bed. Sideswipe sat up to watch me dig through Aubrey's bedside drawer looking for a pen and paper. I couldn't find a scrap of paper to use, but I did find a blue sharpie and that'd be good enough. I jumped back onto the bed, pulled up my sleeve, and began to scribble on my arm out of memory. Sideswipe was sitting up now, meaning he towered over me, and leaned forward so he could peek at what I was doing. When I finished I thrust out my arm toward him and he suddenly leaned back, "Is this Cybertronian?"

Sideswipe tore his gaze away from me to study my arm and his eyes widened in surprise before narrowing again. He grabbed my arm and pulled it closer before shaking his head, "Aj, how do you know this?"

"So it is Cybertronian?" I pressed.

He nodded, "Yeah. It is. How-"

"I saw it." I shrugged, "On this thing. What does it mean?"

"On this thing?" Sideswipe tilted his head in a manner that made me think he wanted way more information than what I was giving.

I shook my head, "What does it mean?"

Sideswipe sighed and looked back down at my arm at the three separate symbols. He pointed to the first, "This one stand for…the closest English translation I can find is magnanimity."

"What does that word mean?"

"Um like, being of great heart and mind. Not being petty and being willing to fight, essentially." Sideswipe shrugged and moved to the next, "This one is…royalty? No, it's more like a birthright. It means rising up to your birthright. Kind of."

I nodded and then pointed to the last one, "And this one?"

The last one was how I made the connection from the symbols Sideswipe drew on my hand earlier to these symbols being Cybertronian. It wasn't the same symbol exactly, but there was a portion of it that was identical.

Sideswipe nodded, "That one is conscience. Guiding right or wrong." He shook his head, "Aj, seriously, how do you know about these?"

I ignored him, "This one looks kind of like the one you were tracing on my hand earlier. It has that same zig zag part. What did you write on my hand?" He gave me a deadpanned look and I sighed, "You answer my question and I'll answer yours."

"I already answered a bunch of your questions, but whatever." He replied and took the pen from me. I held my arm out, wrist up, and he took it. As he scribbled on my skin I realized the red mech was left handed. Sunstreaker was right handed, I've seen him drawing and painting, but this was the first I noticed Sideswipe's dominant hand. "There." I focused on the symbol on my wrist. It was a bit longer than the symbols I wrote, but it wasn't as long as a sentence or anything.

"What does it mean?" I pressed and looked up at him.

He paused before rolling his shoulders, "It's ah…It's just- Well, it's kind of my name."

I blinked in confusion, "Your name? This means Sideswipe."

"Not exactly." He pressed his lips together, "It's like a signature. It stands for me. If I sign any Cybertronian documents, this is the mark I put down."

"Does everyone have one?"

"Duh." He replied simply, "Now your turn."

"Technically, I already told you." I said and traced my finger over the marking on my wrist, "I just saw it. It's not that big of a deal. Anyone can Google 'Cybertronian' and get a bunch of stuff."

Sideswipe paused and something told me he was checking for himself. He twisted his lips slightly, "Yeah, but 80% of all that stuff is wrong. It's just gibberish."

"So are you saying that 20% of the people posting that stuff got it right?" I questioned. Sideswipe sighed and seemed like he wanted to press it further, but it wasn't something I wanted to talk about. Finding out that it was Cybertronian written on the word symbol was beyond strange, but it wasn't any weirder than a group of Cybertronians coming through a portal and living in the house with us. I gave him a small smile, "So I bet you're eager to get back into your real body."

Sideswipe took the bait and scoffed, "You have no idea, babe."

"What's gonna happen to the bodies you're in? Will they stay here as toys?"

He shrugged, "We're not really sure. We're pretty positive that it's our sparks that traveled somehow so Wheeljack thinks our real bodies are probably just offline in our real world waiting for our sparks to show up. These bodies might go could go through the portal with us and just become inactive when our spark leaves it."

"Oh." I mumbled. It made complete sense, but it meant that the kids were going to lose everything about them. A part of me thought that was for the better though. If their bodies were to stay behind I wouldn't be able to look at them the same. They'd be just huge toys and that didn't sit right with me.

Sideswipe laid back down, but this time he did so in a manner where his head was resting against my legs like a pillow. He gave me a cheesy grin, "So, hey."

"Hey?"

"Are you gonna kiss me or not? Because I don't have much time left." Sideswipe asked cheekily. I reached behind me, grabbed an actual pillow, and then shoved it into his face muffling his laughter. "Oh come one, Jazz is the only Cybertronian to ever kiss a human and that isn't fair. I'll settle for second."

I scoffed, but a smile slipped onto my features, "You're a dork."

"You said it didn't mean anything, so what's the big deal?"

"Kissing by itself is fun and doesn't really mean anything unless it's with someone you really like, but that doesn't mean I wanna run around doing it with everybody." I laughed, "That's how you catch mono."

Sideswipe smirked, "I guarantee you that you won't catch mono by kissing me." I ignored him with a content smile on my lips. He shook his head, "Not even a goodbye kiss?"

My smile faltered slightly and the feeling of dread returned. It was stupid of me to feel this way and I continued to mentally scold myself. I was ready. I had mentally prepared myself to say goodbye, to cut those ties on my own terms, which meant it shouldn't hurt. It never hurt before.

Sideswipe slowly sat up again and turned around so he was facing me, "I don't like it either."

"Don't like what?"

"Saying goodbye."

I shook my head, "I'm fine. I like you guys and it wont be the same here without you, but I'm fine. You guys need to go. Your world needs you and I'm ok with that. The kids will eventually be ok with that."

That was the key to people leaving. I learned it early on in college. A majority of the reason why it hurt when people left was the shock of finding out. It hurt worse when you never saw it coming and them leaving caught you off guard. If you knew though, if you planned on it and did it on your own terms, if you cut the ties and said goodbye with them then it didn't hurt as badly. The wound it left didn't turn into a scar.

Sideswipe shook his head, "It's ok to not be fine."

"I was prepared for this. I knew from the beginning that this wouldn't last and I mentally readied myself for it." I shrugged, "It's not my fault you guys don't know how to do that."

My tone was a bit harsh and cold, but Sideswipe didn't seem fazed. He just stared with his unblinking gaze, "I get why you did that. Trust me, I do. I used to do something a lot like that, but do you realize how messed up it is to go into a relationship with the mindset that it won't last? That you have to say goodbye before it actually ends up going anywhere good?"

"Do you know how messed up it is to go into a relationship thinking that this time it might be different only to be wrong?" I questioned.

Sideswipe nodded honestly, "Yeah."

"I prepare for the worst because at the end of the day I have to be able to pick myself and all my broken pieces off the floor." I said simply.

"So it's fear then. That's the reason why you said no to Jazz?"

"If you mean fear of being stepped on then yes."

Sideswipe let out a sad chuckle, "Fear that if you truly let everyone in. If you give them a chance to actually be a part of your life, they'll walk away one day."

I didn't give him an answer because he didn't need one. Sideswipe knew and he knew that I knew that. Instead, I motioned toward my leg in a poor attempt to change the subject, "What did you write on my leg?"

Sideswipe gave me a sad smile, "Till all are one." I glanced down at my leg as if I could see the markings then lifted my gaze back to his eyes. "It's a Cybertronian goodbye."

"Oh." I mumbled under my breath as I realized my attempt to steer the conversation away from this had crashed and burned. Luckily, Granny who yelled up the stairs that dinner was ready saved me. Without hesitation I gave Sideswipe a quick smile before grabbing my phone and pushing myself off the bed. As I walked down the hallway to my room I pulled my sleeve back down. The plan was to just drop my phone off onto my desk and go eat, but as I stepped into the room I realized that Ratchet was in there. He glanced over at me as I froze in the doorway, "Ratchet."

The room had no other mechs in it now since everyone was walking around in their bipedal mode and Thundercracker was keeping his alt mode somewhere else. I glanced around before coming further into the room, "Sides mentioned you wanted to talk to me earlier?"

"I was looking for you, yes." Ratchet replied. He then shrugged, "It's no longer pertinent though."

"Ok." I replied then reached forward to set my phone on the edge of the desk. I turned to leave the room, but Ratchet's hand suddenly wrapped around my wrist.

"Wait." I glanced over my shoulder, expecting him to begin some sort of rant or speech, but instead he pushed my sleeve up an inch or two so he could see my wrist. His eyes read over the writing before snapping back up to me. I blinked, "What?"

He narrowed his eyes, "What do you mean, what? What is this?"

"Sideswipe said it's his name, right? Did he spell it wrong or something?" I joked.

Ratchet shook his head, "Why is it on your person?"

"We didn't have any paper." I shrugged and pulled my arm away. As I readjusted my sleeve I continued, "He was telling me about your language."

It wasn't a complete lie. There was just some part of me that wanted to keep this on the down low. It wasn't important, and it didn't really matter since they'd be gone. Ratchet seemed to accept this answer and scoffed, "He spent some of the last moment he has with you bragging?"

"Bragging? I wouldn't say bragging." I shrugged, "He just told me what some words meant."

"He didn't tell you?"

"Tell me what?"

Ratchet paused before a slight smile crossed his features, "Sideswipe is good at a lot of very random things." The medic crossed his arms, "He's hands down one of the best front liners in this war, the other being his brother. He's exceptionally skilled at finding a loophole in nearly all situations. He understands how important it is to keep up soldier morale and he's damned good at keeping every mech on the ark entertained. Sideswipe is good at thinking on his feet, despite common belief, he is good at improvising, and Primus knows he's good at getting on my last slagging nerve." I couldn't help but chuckle. Ratchet nodded his head, "Do you know about Sideswipe being a trader?"

"Yeah." I nodded, "He mentioned it. That he worked at some dock."

"He worked at The Docks. The largest port on Cybertron. He was extremely good at that too. The twerp knows how to work a deal in his favor." Ratchet shook his head, "Before he became a trader though, Sideswipe was trained to be a linguist."

I paused in surprise before speaking, "Does linguist mean the same thing for me as it does for you?"

"A person who studies and is skilled in foreign languages." Ratchet said, "He's a licensed Cybertronian linguist and he's a damn good one at that. Althought rather than working as a linguist he picked up a job as a trader, unsurprisingly really. It came in handy for him working at The Docks, and it has worked in our favor as well. I know for a fact that our Communications Officer, Blaster, goes to Sideswipe anytime he has to deal with an unusual language." Ratchet shrugged, "The red devil knows thousands. He knows all the various forms of Cybertronian, both old and modern. He knows the languages of our neighboring planets and I know for a fact that he is absorbing as many Earth languages as he can."

I leaned my hip against the desk as I listened in interest, "But don't you guys just download the language? How hard could that be?"

"Not exactly. We know our own language, but how we're speaking now is just from our translation software. When you speak our mind translates it into Cybertronian for us to understand and our thoughts are translated into English before being spoke."

My eyes widened, "So what you're hearing now?"

"It sounds like a strange, soft gibberish. This translation occurs almost instantaneous though which is why there is no lagging in our conversations."

"How come nobody told me this before?"

Ratchet shook his head, "It wasn't important."

"No, but it's kind of cool." I argued.

He waved me off, "Anyways, what Sideswipe does is actually learn the language which takes more than just a download. He learns it the way a human would, but he does so at a much faster rate than any human and remembers much more."

"So Sideswipe is the only mech in this house actually speaking and understanding English?" I pressed.

Ratchet nodded, "For the Autobots, yes."

"Why would he do that though?"

"From what I hear, he enjoys it."

"Aimee Jane, if you don't get your little behind down those stairs in the next minute!" Granny's voice threatened. I gave Ratchet a firm smile before turning to leave. The old woman never was a fan of people being late to dinner.

One of the smaller things that Ratchet found he would miss was coffee. Obviously their version of Earth also had this delicacy, but he was beyond positive that their true bodies wouldn't be able to handle the caffeinated beverage. Although, Wheeljack had mentioned trying to find a way to make their energon taste more like different flavors of coffee, which was an interesting concept. However, any new ideas Wheeljack had for inventions filled Ratchet with dread. New inventions meant more injuries for him to deal with considering Wheeljack was the type of scientist to figure things out by trial and error. Emphasis on the error.

The living room was filled with an odd atmosphere. It was warm and cheerful with the kids playing charades with many of the mechs, but there was also an undertone of sadness. It was already close to nine at night. Dinner had ended hours ago, and now everyone just sat around talking and watching the kids play. If this were a normal night, the kids would be getting into bed, but tonight was not a normal night.

"It was an astronaut!" Aj cried in mock frustration.

"How was that an astronaut?" Skywarp yelled in real frustration, "Can I switch teams?"

Prowl shook his head, "That did not look like an astronaut."

"Just because you jokers don't know what a fragging astronaut is-" Aj began.

"Aimee Jane, language!" Granny scolded as the opposing team laughed at her expense.

"Another point for us." Josh high fived Tyler who in return began to climb up Grimlock's back to cheer loudly. The youngling ignored the cries for him to get down and cheered louder when Grimlock stood up and carefully began to parade around the room.

Ratchet took another sip of what would be his last cup of coffee and let his optics wander across the room to the red front liner who was on the same team as Taylor opposing both Tyler's team, Aj's team, and Peter's team.

::You're glitched you know that?:: Ratchet shot over the commlink to the warrior.

Sideswipe's optic widened before looking over at the medic in surprise. He looked more surprised at the private comm channel rather than being called glitched though.

::What did I do this time?::

::I saw the mark on Aj's wrist. What the frag was that about?::

::What?:: Sideswipe replied and Ratchet could see the slight confusion on his features before realization dawned on him. ::Oh, that.::

::Yeah, that.:: Ratchet countered in a firm tone.

::What's the big deal?::

If it wouldn't have attracted so much attention, Ratchet would've thrown the coffee mug in his servo at the twin's stupid helm. Seeing Sideswipe's mark on Aj's wrist had thrown him for a loop, and if he had been Prowl he surely would've crashed. Wearing another's mark was a sparkmate tradition. The most recent that Ratchet had seen was when Ironhide and Chromia came to him asking him to help them trade marks.

Sideswipe's optics widened again. ::Wait, did you think I was marking her?::

The look on Ratchet's face must have explained it all because Sideswipe laughed to himself, and the only reason no one looked at him funny was because many others were laughing about something else entirely.

::Why would you even think that? She's human!:: Sideswipe scoffed. ::I mean, I like her, but…geez. Get your processors out of the gutter, Hatchet.::

Ratchet seriously had to resist the urge to get up and strangle the annoying little fragger. His tone over the commlink was short and harsh. ::Then why the frag is your mark on her, you glitched spawn of Unicron?::

There was a pause over the commlink and Ratchet could see the confusion on Sideswipe's face. Sideswipe shrugged at him before replying.

::I don't know. I wasn't thinking about it earlier. I was just tracing it on her servo and then she asked what is was and we had no paper so…::

Sideswipe seemed troubled all of a sudden. The comm channel was closed and Sideswipe turned to stare at his golden brother who was staring back at him intently. The two of them were obviously arguing over their bond, and Ratchet only had a faint idea of what the argument was about. The room suddenly grew quiet and the cheerful atmosphere died leaving only the sad one. The medic glanced away from Sideswipe to see Wheeljack had come in through the back archway and now stood there sheepishly.

"It's ready." Wheeljack said with no emotion in his tone whatsoever.

It was time.

It was time.

I spent the first few days after the mechs showed up thinking that this was never going to roll around, and yet here it was. I stood between Josh and Granny with my hands balled into fists at my side. The machine had been pushed back so it was right up against the metal garage door, and what used to be an empty archway was now a glowing gray circle with swirls of a darker gray constantly moving. All the mechs were in the garage, which was a feat in itself. The only way it worked was with Grimlock in his bipedal mode. Hell, that was the only reason he fit through the door.

It was time to say goodbye.

Everyone was moving suddenly. The twins were crying again, clutching onto whoever got close enough. Peter was knelt down talking to Soundwave. Josh was shaking Thundercracker's hand. Granny had her arms wrapped tightly around Ratchet who pat her back softly. I, however, stayed rooted to my spot.

I couldn't move.

Instead, I just stood there yelling at myself internally to get a grip. They had to go home. They needed to go home. It was for the best.

"Aj?" I swallowed the lump in my throat and glanced up at Optimus who came to stand in front of me. He retracted his battle mask and offered me a smile, "I wanted to say thank you one last time for letting us stay here under your protection." He chuckled, "Getting to know you and your family was an honor."

"We're the honored ones." I managed to blurt out.

"I understand the decision you made earlier, but know that there is still time to change your mind, if you wish."

I was too biased to make this decision. That was the truth of it, but then again so were they. Maybe I did want to say yes. Maybe I did want them to stay, but I couldn't make that decision for Aubrey. They were her kids. She needed to have a say in all this. Saying yes would buy us time. Maybe that was the right choice.

Was I being selfish? The kids wanted to be with the mechs so badly. Was I saying no not out of their safety, but because I was just too big of a coward to make a permanent spot in my life for someone? Multiple some ones? Then again, there really was no such thing as a permanent spot. This was proof. They had to go. They had to go home, and we couldn't go with them.

Optimus seemed to take my silence as an answer and nodded his head, "Goodbye, Aimee Bradshaw. I am proud to call you my friend, and I wish you only the best in your life."

I opened my mouth to speak, but it was like my throat was filled with cement. Nothing would come out. I was trying to say goodbye. I wanted to say, 'Till all are one, OP', but it wouldn't come out. My eyes darted away from Optimus to look around the room. Peter was hugging Prowl. Jazz was walking toward me. The twins were with Bluestreak and Bumblebee. Sideswipe was giving Granny a hug. Josh was standing by Thundercracker's bipedal mode who glanced my way. My eyes shot over to the yellow frontliner who stood stock-still and stared right back at me.

Nothing would come out.

"Wait, we should take this slowly. We haven't done any testing with living material yet." Wheeljack's voice spoke up.

"I will be the first to go through." Starscream declared as he transformed into his alt mode and hovered in the air, "How can you lead the Decepticons if you have no body to return to Megatron?"

Megatron growled at the seeker who laughed in return. Everyone watched as Starscream took off toward the portal, and our eyes only widened more when Starscream slammed into the swirling gray portal and fell to the garage floor in a heap.

"What just happened?" Josh questioned.

"Serves you right." Megatron spat.

Wheeljack ignored the groaning Starscream and stepped over to stand by the machine. He stuck his hand out to go through the portal, but his hand would go no further than the surface. He pushed against it, but it looked like he was pushing against a solid wall.

"What's wrong with the portal?" Prowl questioned. Wheeljack looked confused as he moved to the side to mess with the controls. Soundwave went over as well to check the other side.

"Status: All stats are in check and energy levels are steady." Soundwave announced.

Wheeljack nodded, "Everything looks good here too. I don't understand it. This should be working. I triple checked everything, then you tripled checked everything." The statement was geared toward Soundwave. The Engineer moved to touch the portal once last time, but it made no difference. "This makes no sense…"

"Does that mean you're gonna stay a little longer?" Taylor asked. Her voice was quiet and laced with hope, but I could tell she was afraid of what the answer would be.

Wheeljack glanced over at her and I knew he was slightly smiling under the mask. His fins glowed blue as he replied, "I guess so, Taylor. I hope you don't mind too much."

The ball of dread in my chest disappeared as relief flooded through my body. I didn't want them to go home. I didn't want to say goodbye. Despite this being 'bad news' the room now seemed a bit lighter, minus a few Decepticons who looked less than happy. I had spent so much of today being afraid and worrying about what would happen if I really let these guys in completely, but it was a total waste.

The honest to God truth was, they had already managed to worm their way in my heart. At this point, there were now official aspects of my life just like the kids, Granny, and Josh were. Just like Aubrey was. In that way, saying goodbye to them would be nearly as impossible as saying goodbye to the kids.

Figuring this out made me happy. I was happy, truly happy, but there was a nagging voice in the very back of my mind that reminded me how terrifying this all was. The worst pain seemed to come from people I loved, and now there were quite a number of people who fit that description.