Authors Note: Sorry about the wait again. I swear I didn't know it would take this long. I was busy most nights getting ready for my drivers test. I'm about eight years late, but I finally got my license! Okay, back to the story. I've had this chapter planned out for a while. I'm just trying to show that Ella is still very much human and normal, even if she has some odd company. I did a time skip because there wasn't much else to tell until now. Her life has been going on and she's a happy teenager. She's growing up around humans and Autobots like it's something that everyone does. Again, please read and review. Reviews tell me if anyone is paying attention. Thanks so much guys. I love my loyal fans.

Title: All Hallows Eve.

3 years later…

The bell had rung long ago, yet there was still a lone student walking into what should have been the abandoned shop classroom. Everywhere he looked there were tools neatly put away and different objects set on the counter, waiting for their respective owners to return after the weekend. His gaze then turned to the corner of the classroom where the car the students were working on sat. He could see tools spread around and a pair of silver legs poking out from underneath.

"Ella?" He asked.

"Oh come on, how did that get in there?" Her voice echoed from her position. She hadn't heard him.

From underneath the vehicle, Ella was off in her own world. This was her least favorite class, even beating out math class. The high school junior would have never picked it if it hadn't been for a certain friend that could hack into the schools scheduling system. Ratchet thought the class might be good for her. She didn't speak to him for a week after that.

"Ella" A voice suddenly called from where part of her protruded from her hiding spot. She jumped with surprise, neglecting to remember that metal parts were closer to her head than ever. There was a loud clack as her forehead connected with one of these said parts.

"Ow! Son of your mom!" She yelled, holding the sore spot with her hand. "If you're going to do that, at least pull me out first."

With one quiet motion, the person grabbed her by the ankles and pulled her out into the light. "Sorry about that."

"Lewis?" She said, still rubbing her hurting forehead. "What the heck are you doing here?" She looked around at the empty classroom. "Where is everyone?" She realized how stupid she sounded in front of her old crush.

"You're friends, Maddie and Joe, mentioned they hadn't seen you. I thought I'd check the last place you'd probably be." He pointed at her legs. "Those shiny things weren't hard to miss."

Ella looked up at the clock. "Aw crap, they did it again! They snuck out last week too." She said as she gathered up her tools. No male in her class ever darned to try and steal her pink tools. Best decision she ever made.

"What's your hurry?" Lewis asked, seeing her try and cram her toolbox into the right place.

"I'm going to be late for training, I'm probably going to get chewed out by my trainer, and my costume for the Halloween dance isn't ready yet."

It didn't help that her trainer just happened to be a giant robot with no patience for tardiness.

"I actually came to talk to you about that." The teenager rubbed the back of his neck.

Ella paused and looked at him. "What?"

"If you wouldn't mind, I'd like to show you something tonight. If you can, meet me by the baseball dugout two hours after the dance starts. Is that okay?" He asked.

Ella raised an eyebrow. Was he putting the moves on her? "Why there?"

"I have something to talk to you about. It'll be more special if it's during the dance."

The girl could feel her cheeks start to flare up. If she hadn't been wearing her eye covering, she probably would be getting warning flashes to check for abnormalities. She really needed Ratchet to get rid of that feature.

"I…well…okay. I'll make sure my friends know where I'll be and I'll meet you there." She smiled like a Cheshire cat. She'd never been asked out before. This is what it must have felt like to have a date.

The two gave a start when Ellas' cell phone went off from inside the backpack sitting by her feet. She recognized the ringtone and groaned. Why did she set it to the "X-Files" theme?

"I know, I know." She said to it as she fished it out and answered it. "Hello?"

"Where are you? First you tell me you need to get out of training early, and now you are late." Ratchet didn't sound happy.

"It's not my fault they ditched me again. They know I get in the zone when I'm working and can't hear the bell. They had me under a car for crying out loud!" She tried to hush her voice so Lewis couldn't hear.

"Return home immediately. I do not want your arm locking up again from lack of exercise."

"It wasn't from that!" She called out. She looked to Lewis with an embarrassed look on her face before lowering her voice. "I shut my arm in the bathroom door and knocked around a gear. You're the one that told me that and I didn't forget this time."

"Just get home."

There was a distinctive click at the other end telling Ella that her old friend has cut off his communicator.

"Wow, what a grouch today." She turned back to the other teenager.

Lewis shrugged. "Your aunt must be really strict now."

Ella knew she couldn't correct him and say that Celine was actually still at work now. "I have to go. Duty calls." She swept up her backpack and went for the door.

"Don't forget, okay?" He smiled. "Oh, and Ella?"

"Yes?"

"You have some dirt on your head."

The girl laughed and started to wipe her hand across the spot she had hit the car. Sure enough, there was a black streak left on her hand. "Thanks." Clutching her backpack and whatever pride she had left, she quickly exited.

Within a few minutes, she was outside her little, used Saturn, cramming her backpack into the trunk. She loved her little blue car. She still couldn't believe Celine traded the old mini-van for it a few months ago. Then again, she also traded in her out vehicle for a sports car.

"Sorry to leave you waiting, Remy. Boys suck at timing." She snickered as she climbed into the drivers seat. Even though she knew her car wasn't a Cybertronian, she still could help but give it a name.

She let out a sigh as she started it up. "Ratchet is going to kill me." She flicked her little car into drive and made her way out of the dead packing lot. In the back of her mind, she was starting to come up with good enough excuses to why she was really late. He didn't have to know about the talk with Lewis. What he didn't know wasn't going to kill him.

X

Training was just a nice way of saying physical therapy. Ratchet had come up with the program shortly after Ella returned home from her surgery. He had built and set everything up in a barn on an abandoned property near Ellas' home. She had never seen it because the wooded area covered it. When he found time to make it and figure out a program, she would never know.

To say it was difficult was an understatement.

The CMO had combined the types of defense training he had gone through with various different fighting styles from earth. He thought it would be the best way for the young girl to learn balance and strength to bring her back into her old state. It also gave him frame of mind that she would be able to hold her own if any of the bullies tried to harm her. He was never going to let anything like the wheelchair incident three years before happen again.

Ella, on the other hand, didn't exactly enjoy it. It was difficult at day one and hadn't let up. She spent many of her first days with a bag of ice after falling so many times. After whining and begging, she realized that Ratchet wasn't going to give this up. She just had to live with it. Doctor knows best.

"Ratch, I'm…sweating…the…a…pig." She said punctuated each word with a punch to the padded dummy in the middle of the room.

"You have five more minutes." He answered through his holoform. He was far to big to come inside while she was working, so he made his orders this way.

Ella panted, but didn't stop. "My costume still doesn't have a hem and the dance is tonight." She gave the dummy a shift kick with her left leg. It helping imagining that it was her robotic friends head.

"You should have thought of that before you were late." He wasn't sympathetic.

Ella used a motion with her once bad arm on the dummy that mirrored Ratchet using his saws. She personally loved that move. "Optimus would let me go."

"I highly doubt my leader would want you to skip out on an important session." He retorted quickly. "Nice try."

She flipped backwards like her was evading an attack. "You suck."

"You are using too much of your energy to argue with me. Focus on the task at hand."

"Then stop talking to me."

The two continued like this until Ratchet finally decided to end the girls suffering. He released the girl and turned to his true form waiting just outside.

"You did very well today, even if you were distracted." He had placed the girl on his shoulder so she could keep up with him.

"If I don't finish my dress before my friends get here, I'm soaking you in road salt for a week." She said before drinking deeply from her water bottle. The cool air was helping her to stop sweating.

The CMO gave a quick glance before looking in the direction he was traveling. "Something is different."

Ella took her water away from her mouth. "Huh?"

"I can sense it about you. Your internal activities seem to be working at a higher rate this afternoon. Has something happened?"

"No. I have no clue what you're talking about." Truthfully, she was feeling a bit overwhelming by the fact her lifelong crush had asked her to meet him at the dance. It just felt like there was so much going on at once.

He could sense her confusion. "Perhaps you should rest before continuing with your evening."

She laughed and splashed a bit of water at his cheek plate. "I'm fine. I just need a cold shower to get rid of the sweat stink." She pulled at her shirt to cool herself.

"I never have found that scent to be pleasant."

"You have no one to blame but yourself for that."

When they reached the house once more, Ratchet gave Ella a boost into her bedroom window.

Her little room had changed since she first moved in. Most of the stuffed animals she had been given while she was in the hospital were put away or gone all together. The color pink was now mixed with various shades of blue. The boyband posters that used to number in the dozens were now down to two. There were now movie posters of action and comedy movies. Most of her books remained in their place, but many others had joined them. The newest ones just so happened to be medical related, as she had gained a fascination with them. Really, the only things that hadn't changed about her room were her collection of pictures. The ones of her family still looked on from their place next to her bed. Their smiles never aged even if Ella did.

Ella crossed the room to a red, silky dress hanging off her closet. She had been working on it for weeks and now it was nearly finished. "Yeah, I think I can pull this off."

"I have never understood this tradition of Halloween." Ratchet peeked in through her open window.

The teenager smoothed the dress over with her palms. "It's all in good fun. When you get old enough, you can just dress up and party." She then reached into the closet and pulled out a bathrobe. No sense in changing clothes twice that night.

"At least you are not doing what you did last year. That was slightly disturbing."

"Oh, so I went as you that year. Everyone else thought it was funny." She snorted as her threw the robe over her shoulder. "It's still in the basement."

"That was not as amusing to me." The Autobot didn't sound mad, just annoyed.

The girl rolled her eyes as she left the room. "Spoil sport. Oh, and you better change back now. Celine said she'd be home early to get ready for her party tonight."

Again, Ratchet was never going to understand Halloween.

X

"Ella!" Celine called from the living room. "What are you doing up zere?"

"I can't get the tangle out of my wig." The teenager called down. She had been working none stop since her shower to get everything ready for the dance. Out of every night of the year, this was the one that made her feel the most normal. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary on Halloween. She still went through her traditions and stress of getting everything perfect. Even the gagging during the carving of the pumpkins happened every year. She was able to push anything that made her life strange out of her mind, even her best friend.

"Your friends just drove up." Celine replied back. There was a groan of defeat from Celines upstairs bathroom with footsteps following.

"I should have just dyed my hair black." She said as she came to the top of the stairs. She looked nothing like the usual Ella. This night, she was Esmeralda. Her red dress flowed around her, a purple scarf tied neatly around her waist. Her wrists were decorated with gold bangles which jingled together as she moved. A gold band crossed her forehead, coming together in the middle to meet a red circle. Instead of her normal blonde hair, a black wig fell halfway down her back. She wanted to go barefoot to be more like her character, but she knew the school wasn't going to allow it. She had to settle for wearing brown sandals, her silver feet out shining them.

Celine opened the front door as Ella started down the stairs. Outside, her friends were running up the front step. "Hi, Ella!"

"Hey!" The girl called back. Without warning, she hit one of the steps wrong. She slipped and fell down the last few steps, her friends looking on.

"Oh geez, are you okay?" Maddie asked.

"Yep." Ella laughed. She hadn't down that in years. It was almost welcomed. "Just landed on my tambourine." She pulled the instrument out from under her. Her eyes darted to the kitchen window, knowing that a certain someone was parked near it. She hoped he hadn't heard that and thought she could use more balance training. Fat chance, but she still hoped.

Kimi helped her up. "Cute costume."

"Thanks. It took me forever." She spun around to show it off. "Let's see. We have a ghostbuster, a black cat, Supergirl, and…a Hot Topic employee?"

"I'm a goth." Bethanie laughed.

"Come on, we should go." Ella motioned for her friends to follow out the front door. She then turned back to grab her purse. "I'll be home a little after midnight."

"I'll try to be 'ome tonight." Celine answered.

Ella wanted to give her opinion of this, but decided it wasn't worth it. Her aunt was adult. What she chose to do was her business. At least the teenager wouldn't have to deal with too much of the aftermath if she stayed at a coworkers place.

"Got it." She said as she dodged out. She fished her car keys out as she walked. How the DMV never found out she was actually missing a real eye, she would never know. If they had, she would have never been allowed to try for her license. Good thing Celine didn't know that either.

She jumped at the honking of a horn. "The boys are meeting us there." Kiki called from her window as her twin was trying to get into the car with her fake proton pack still strapped on.

Ella hated being the only single girl in the group.

She climbed into her car and started it up. She watched her friends start to back out of the driveway in her rearview mirror.

"Ratchet, I know you can hear me." She loved having a friend with super hearing. "I won't be out too late. Don't come after me, okay? I know this is the time of year for tricks, but I'll be fine. If I'm not too tired, I'll tell you all about it later. Okay?"

He couldn't answer her without interrupting the radio frequency. Instead, he sent a click that could be heard over the music, but just sounded like a hiccup in the system. The girl would know what it meant.

"Good. I'll see you later." She smiled as she started to back out. She hoped tonight would be one to remember. She needed a break away from her life sometimes. What a great opportunity.

X

Over half of the school was packed into the cafeteria for the Halloween dance. Everywhere you looked, there were kids in colorful costumes. Some were hand made, but most were the cheap store bought ones. Teachers surrounded the area to keep watch for those trying to make trouble or getting a little too friendly on the dance floor.

In the middle of the action, Ella danced along side her friends. Her style wasn't exactly the most graceful. She often described it as a lemur being electrocuted with a cattle prod. One this night, she could have cared less. Music pounded from the speakers, sending the girl into a near hypnotic state.

"You having a seizure there?" Joey yelled into the girls' ear. He was decked out in a Batman costume he had purchased the year before. He had come with his new girlfriend, but she had gone to the bathroom.

Ella gave him a death stare. "Not nice."

"She's a gypsy. They're supposed to dance funny." Maddie laughed. Ella couldn't figure out how she had heard him.

"I thought you were meeting up with Lewis tonight." Joey said as he danced along side her.

"Yeah, around eleven."

The boy looked up at a clock. "It's five after eleven now." He called back.

"Crap!"

"Wait, aren't you bringing the girls?" Joe raised an eyebrow. Ella wasn't one to run off alone at night.

"I'll be fine. He just wants to talk in a quiet spot. I'll be back before you know it."

Joey still looked worried. "You sure? I know this guy and he's not exactly someone I'd trust."

"Joe, stop being such a brother. I've know the guy for years."

"No, I've known you for years. You've only known OF him for years."

"Joe, stop acting like your outfit. I get enough worrying about me at home. I'm going out there and I'll be back. Maybe I won't be single when I return." She added an extra wink at the end.

Before he could continue, she started for the door. Outside, there were other students milling around in the cool night air. It was far too hot inside to stay there the entire time without a break. Also, there were no teachers out here.

"Nice night." She said to a couple making out on a bench as she passed. They didn't answer her.

The lights hadn't been turned on in that area. She struggled to see where she was going by the moonlight, but it was difficult. Ella wished she could have pulled off her eye covering to see a bit better, but the blue light that came off of it would attract attention. Somehow she made it to the baseball dugout without tripping on anything.

"Hello?" She said, looking around. She couldn't see or hear anyone moving around. "Lewis?"

Suddenly, someone walked out from behind the dugout. "Hey, I almost thought you weren't coming."

"Lost track of time." She giggled. On the inside, she cursed herself for that.

"It's okay." He said, approaching her. "Nice costume."

"Thanks." She blushed. "Where's yours?" She had just noticed that he was in normal clothes.

He shrugged. "I'm not into the whole dressing up thing."

"Oh."

There was an awkward silence between them.

"Anyway, why did you want to talk to me?" Ella broke through. She rocked back and forth on her feet, her toes just barely touching the dewy grass.

"I have a surprise for you." He answered.

The girl furrowed her brow. "A surprise? Really?" Maybe Joey hadn't been wrong.

"Don't worry. It's something really special." He laughed, starting back towards the dugout. "Close your eyes."

Ella looked around as if to look for approval.

"Well, okay." She said. She closed her eyes, drowning herself in darkness. As she listened to his footsteps on the grass, the voice in the back of her head was screaming at her. This voice always sounded like either her mother or father. Something wasn't quite right and she was being stupid.

"Keep them closed." She heard Lewis say.

Her heart was pounding. Maybe it was going to be a dozen roses. That had always been a fantasy of hers.

What she felt next brought her back to reality.

In an instant, she felt something slam against her. Her head was launched backwards, her body following. The shock didn't allow her time to break her fall with her hands. She felt the damp grass soaking through her clothes, chilling her skin. Her head was swimming in agony as she listened to laugher from above. She opened her eyes, one sending off signals of pain.

"She went down quick." She heard a familiar female voice say. As she looked around, her vision in her left eye was shaky. She could see a crack in the middle of her eye. Her eye covering was broken, but remained in place. It finally came to her what had happened. She had been punched.

"What do we do with her now?" Lewis asked.

Ella looked up at him. Seeing the other girl hanging off of him, she knew she'd been betrayed. Ratchets training had done nothing to save her from this.

"Get her up." Kelsey ordered her group. They could see her eyes were open. "Get those legs off."

"Oh…slag."