Chapter 25

Raf woke up to the sound of someone shaking her awake. "Rafaella, wake up."

She opened her eyes and put her glasses on. "Optim… Father, what's wrong?"

"Do you know where Bumblebee has gone?"

"No, the last time I saw him was before I went to sleep. He let me sleep in his room while he monitored communications." Raf said pulling her hair back.

"Optimus, you may want to hear this." Ratchet called from the main room.

Both Optimus and Raf headed for the main room to see what Ratchet found. Ratchet pulled open a communication that happened no more than an hour ago.

The communication was between Bumblebee and Knockout, with the latter challenging the primary to a race for the lives of Raf's parents. Raf gasped and just about started crying again.

"He went to save my parents." She said quietly brushing away a tear.

"It has to be a trap." Arcee said.

"Good thing Bee left the bridge open." Bulkhead said pointing to the ground bridge.

"Autobots, roll out." Optimus said as the others transformed and rolled through the portal. "Ratchet, close the ground bridge and don't open it again until we radio back to base."

"Understood Optimus." Ratchet said shutting it down.

Raf got a really bad feeling about all this. Just before the bridge could complete its shut down, she charged through the portal as fast as her wings would carry her.

"I've been taking too many Miko lessons." She scolded herself. But some part of her told her she had to be there, so she closed her wings and felt the twinge she had felt earlier, only this time, more intense.

"No, please, you've done enough for one night, please just stay quiet a while longer." She pleaded.

She suddenly heard vehicles coming her way. She looked up and saw two familiar cars racing toward her. It was Bumblebee and Knockout. She jumped to the side and watched as the two cars raced past her for a second and then they stopped and looked like they were about to continue on, but instead, the red car transformed and started toward her.

Raf opened her wings again and tried to fly off, but Knockout got a hold of her, but only for a second because at that moment Bumblebee charged and knocked Knockout to the ground causing him to lose his grip on Raf. Bee caught her and hid her behind a nearby boulder.

"Stay here and do not come out until I tell you it's safe." He instructed her.

Raf nodded and pressed herself closer to the rock. She watched as Bumblebee turned around as Knockout picked himself up and make a move for Bumblebee. They each put up a good fight with Bee looking like he was about to win, until Knockout's partner, Breakdown moved to sucker punch him from behind.

"Bee look out!" Raf tried to warn him but it was too late.

The punch landed and Bee landed and wasn't moving. Raf felt her urges come back, this time, she couldn't focus to ignore it, not with the two 'cons about to take the life of the one she cared about. She jumped out and flew directly over the two of them and landed in front of Bee's unmoving form.

"Do not touch him!" she warned.

"So this is the Prime's little girl?" Knockout said in casual manner. "I knew she was young but I still expected, well more."

"But we can still bring her to Megatron, after we deal with a little bug problem." Breakdown said as he moved toward her.

Raf didn't know what she could do, but she felt something pushing inside her mind and not sure what it was, but she let it loose and she felt a wall drive out of her and surround both her and Bumblebee. Breakdown and Knockout were pushed back and she moved toward Bee's body.

"Bee, Bee come on wake up. Please, don't do this to me. I've already lost my parents tonight, don't let me lose you too." She cried shaking his arm as best she could.

"Why can't I get through." She heard Breakdown grunt.

"It's the girl, she put up a shield, a wall of her psychic energy, nothing can get in unless she allows it." Knockout explained jabbing his electro-spear at it uselessly.

'I can put up shields?' she asked herself mentally. Not having the time to think about it, she turned and saw Bee waking up. "Bumblebee, thank goodness. I thought I lost you." she said embracing his arm.

"Raf, what happened? Where are the 'cons?" Bee asked looking around.

"There." She said pointing behind her. "I put up a shield, I'm not sure how, but I did and they can't get through."

"That must be one of the powers Ratchet said you'd have." Bee said looking at her.

"I guess, problem is, I don't know how to bring it down."

"I wouldn't worry about it for now, wait until the two decepticreeps are gone."

The 'cons kept going at the shield with no success, Bee urged Raf to stay behind him. They both feared that the shield wouldn't hold for long given that Raf didn't know how to bring it down o how to keep it up. She wasn't even sure how she brought it up to begin with. Knockout and Breakdown kept up their antics until they saw the rest of the team approaching. The 'cons made a run for it while the rest if the team came closer to see if Raf and Bee were alright.

"Rafaella, I thought I told you to stay back at base." Optimus said looking at her.

"I know, it's just, I got a bad feeling, like I had to be here. So I snuck out and found Bee and Knockout. When I thought Bee was going to be hurt, I kind of felt a surge and this one I let it go and it formed some sort of shield. It protected us and I think it's still up, the problem is I don't know how to bring it down." Raf explained.

"A shield, that is the first ability you have been given. Intriguing, to let it down, is not necessary, it is already down." Optimus said stepping forward, passed the void where the end of her shield was. "When a Guardian puts up a shield, it lasts as long as the threat is present. Once the threat is gone, the shield vanishes on its own." Optimus explained. "Another matter for another time, right now we need to get you and your parents back to base."

"You found my parents?" Raf asked feeling excited to see them.

"Yeah, they were hidden not far from where we bridged out here." Arcee said pointing to Bulkhead.

Raf rushed over and saw her parents unconscious but otherwise unharmed inside. She heaved a sigh of relief.

"Ratchet, we need a bridge back to base." Optimus radioed Ratchet.

Once they were safely back at base, Mr. and Mrs. Esquivel began to come to. When they opened their eyes, they could hardly believe what they saw. They started to panic but were calmed once Optimus reassured them that they were perfectly safe and explained that they had saved them from the ones who had grabbed them.

"So it wasn't just a strange dream." Mrs. Esquivel said brushing her hair out of her face.

"I can't believe this." Mr. Esquivel said gazing around.

When they caught sight of Raf the rushed over and hugged her tight and asked her if she was okay.

"I'm fine, and I'm sorry I didn't tell you about all this sooner. I wanted to, I really did, I just couldn't. I was afraid if I did, you would get hurt." Raf apologized.

"Honey, it's okay, we know why you did what you did, we're just glad this is where you have been spending your time." Mrs. Esquivel said rubbing the back of her head. "Dad and I were starting to get worried that you had gotten involved with the wrong people because you were spending so much time away from home and you had been so secretive lately."

Bumblebee suggested that everyone give Raf and her family some space to talk, and everyone left Raf and her family to talk.

"Mom and I started suggesting searching your room to see if we would find anything that would tell us why you were becoming so distant. We are just glad to see that we were wrong, although we did not think the crowd had had fallen in with would be something like this." Mr. Esquivel said looking around.

"Well, there's more to it than you think." Raf said not sure if she should tell them this yet, but felt that now would be as good a time as ever. "They are from a distant planet called Cybertron, and I know that this is going to be hard for you to believe, but…"

"Sweetie, considering where we are now and what we have seen, I think at this point we'll buy anything you have to tell us." Mrs. Esquivel assured her.

"Okay, well, where they're from is where I am from. I am part of a co-existing race on their planet known as Guardians and I was sent her to Earth as a baby shortly after my mother was killed. My Father sent me here to keep me safe and he happens to be one of the bots you saw." Raf explained.

"Really, which one?" Mr. Esquivel asked quizzically.

"Optimus Prime, the leader of the Autobots." Raf breathed. Her parents were at a loss for words. "And there's more, my Mother, she was the queen of the Guardians and each Guardian is born with a gift that first appears when they turn fourteen. However in the case of those in the royal family, they have many different powers. And I just found out what mine was tonight, I am a shield, that is to say that is the one that has appeared now. Ratchet tells me that there are more to come, a shield is just the one that has appeared now."

"This is all so much to take in." Mrs. Esquivel said rubbing her temples.

"Well, we can discuss this later. Right now we need to get back home, I'm sure the other kids are wondering where we are." Mr. Esquivel said getting up.

"Right, how are going to get home?" Mrs. Esquivel asked.

"Bumblebee can take us. You guys will love him, he has been the one looking after me for the passed several months." Raf said as she and her parents left the room and joined the others in the main room.

After Raf's parents said hello and met everyone they asked Bee for a ride home. Of course Raf had to translate for them when Bee replied. The ride home was exciting, for Mr. and Mrs. Esquivel anyway. They were pretty surprised to see that the base was just outside of Jasper Nevada although at the same time they were relieved to know that she was never far from home.

When Bee pulled up to their house, the Esquivels thanked Bee for driving them and for looking after their daughter. Thankfully the other kids were already asleep in bed so they could go to bed themselves without a cross examination from them. Raf went to sleep feeling a lot better knowing her parents now knew the truth, but still unsure if it was the right thing. Now the 'cons not only knew about her but also her human parents, and she was afraid of what the 'cons would do if they ever got either of them again.

But her eyes began to feel heavy and her mind started feeling sluggish. She closed her eyes and just felt happy knowing she wouldn't have to worry about lying to them anymore.