Chapter 25

If there was one thing Ash would never get used to, it was flying.

She was pressed down to Sundance's plated shoulders and back, wrapped so tight around her armor that her knuckles were white. Sundance shot through the air with hardly any resistance, massive wings stretched out and angled to ride the winds. She would shift every few seconds, to pick up speed or change direction.

Neither of them had said much since they'd left base. Ash had spoken just enough to tell Sundance where her dad lived, before falling deep into her thoughts.

Now all that could be heard was the sound of cold air whistling through Sundance's feathers.

He can't be missing.

Ash closed her eyes, leaning down until her cheek was pressed against the dragon's warm armor. She tightened her hold on Sundance. The damn robot was suddenly the only thing keeping her sane, the only thing holding her together.

There was no way that her dad could be gone. Missing, dead, whatever. There was just no way. All her life, he had been there. Not always in sight, but he'd always been there when she needed to talk to him, or when she needed to get away from her mom for a weekend. He'd never missed a birthday. He'd always find some way to come see her for every holiday, even the stupid ones like Halloween or valentines day.

He couldn't possibly be missing.

"If I was human," Sundance said, yanking her out of her thoughts, "I wouldn't have any feeling in my back."

Ash blinked at her, catching the crimson glow of her eyes when she tilted her head to glance back. It took her a minute to realize that Sundance was talking about her death-grip on her armor. Ash glared, readjusting her hold, "Shut up, Sunny."

"We'll find him."

Again, Ash blinked. Sundance was staring forward again, "Uncle Rex gets into trouble all the time, but he always pulls through. He always comes back to us."

She abruptly tilted her body up, arcing her long neck down to scan the earth. She added before Ash could say anything, "I see the house and that piece of crap pinto in the yard."

Ash glanced down, raising an eyebrow when she see anything but fog and darkness, "I need to get me some glasses or something because I can't see shit."

Sundance seemed to hover, beating her wings slowly as she simply floated there. She kept looking down, like she was watching something. Ash leaned forward, squinting, "What are you looking at, Sunny?"

"There's someone here," Sundance answered. She swung her head around to look at Ash, "I don't recognize them. I thought uncle Rex didn't have any friends."

"He doesn't," Ash muttered, "You guys are the only ones he doesn't freak out."

"I can't land," Sundance told her, "you're going to have to jump."

"WHAT!" Ash shot up, "You're fucking crazy! Damn, you've done fried your own brains out with all that fire breathing, Sundance! There's no way in hell I'm jumping off your back from this high in the air!"

Sundance snorted and abruptly arced her body and dove down. Ash clamped her jaws shut to keep from screaming and held on for dear life, feeling the straps around her waist tighten in response. The wind rushed past with so much force it felt like her face would tear right off. She screwed her eyes shut and hunkered down. I swear I'm going to beat the crap out of her when this is all over.

Ash just about had a heart attack when she felt the straps securing her to Sundance's back loosen then disappear altogether. She felt the dragon turn upside down, and then, damn it all, her armored plates shifted and shuddered until Ash lost her grip and went tumbling down.

"SUNDANCE!" She snapped, opening her eyes to glare at the dragon, but she was already out of sight.

She was twisting her body when she smacked into the old trampoline her dad had salvaged from Gears' junkyard and bounced right off to hit the grass with an 'OOMPH.'

It took a few minutes before she could actually get over the shock of what had just happened, but she slowly rolled over and pushed herself up, cursing her best friend the entire way. After taking time to make sure nothing was broken or sprained, she started off towards the old beat down house.

Her heart eased when she realized that more than one of the lights inside was on, and she could even see someone's shadow on one of the walls. Ash walked around the house to the front door and raised a hand to knock.

Before she could, the door opened. Ash smiled with relief, expecting it to be her dad. She opened her mouth to start picking on him for losing his phone again...

...And froze.

A girl a couple of years younger than her stood in the doorway, pretty little brown eyes wide with shock and one hand raised to push her perfect curls from her face. The shock melted from her face and she put on a snotty look. Her raised hand went to her hip, "Um, who are you?"

Okay, we left off with Ash asking Sundance to take her to Rex when Jolt said that he had gone missing. They found the house, but not Rex. Just this random snotty little girl.

Back in business...Trying to catch up on everything.

Sorry, just been having a really hard time lately. Anyway, hope you enjoyed it. Much love.

Sundance and her family and the story belongs to me. Transformers does not.