Chapter 36

(Rafaella)

In the weeks following Bee's replacement surgery, Raf would sometimes wonder what Bee must have been thinking about cause every so often he would look like he was unsure about something but even when she would ask he would just tell her he didn't want to talk about it. It bothered Raf, but she just had to keep telling herself that she just had to give him time and when he was ready he would tell her what was on his mind. Besides, she had other things of her own to worry about.

"Are you sure about this Bee?" She asked nervously looking down toward Bumblebee at the bottom of the cliff.

"Don't worry Raf, if you fall I'll catch you." Bee said from below. "Just open you wings, jump and let the wind catch beneath your wings." He instructed her.

Raf could feel her heart race even faster knowing that right now her first flying lesson involved her jumping off a cliff. She loved Bee, and she trusted him, but she still wasn't sure if she wanted to take that kind of leap. But, she reasoned with herself, if she was going to learn to fly, she needed trust that Bee knew what he was doing.

She opened her wings and took a running start, and then she took the jump. She opened her wings farther and let the wind catch in her wings. She felt herself rise a little higher, but the jerk of the air catching her made her lose control for a moment and began to fall. She kept trying to right herself but she didn't have time. All at once she felt her caught in Bee's hand. When it was all over, she was little shaken, but otherwise alright.

"Are you okay?" Bee asked as Raf tried to get her bearings.

"I think so." Raf answered feeling her body shaking.

"I think that's enough for today." Bee said setting her down.

"I think so too." Raf said as she tried to stand on shaking legs. "How about we go racing?" Raf said folding her wings.

"That's probably a good idea." Bee said transforming and letting Raf in.

"Remember, we cannot tell anybody I'm learning to fly, but especially my parents. If Mom, or Dad find out, they would kill me." Raf said buckling in.

"No worries, I won't say a word." Bee promised.

In the weeks following that first lesson, Bee and Raf practiced each time they went racing. Raf slowly got better at keeping control of her wings and soon she could at least keep herself airborne. Although maneuvering in the air was proving to be more difficult than she or Bee thought. But she eventually figured out that all she had to do was move her wings and lean the direction she wanted to go. Eventually she was able to fly short distances but only for a few minutes.

"Don't worry Raf, you're wing just need some exercise." Bee comforted her one day after the lesson for the day. "Once your wings are strong enough you'll be able to fly anywhere at any time."

"Thanks Bee." Raf answered taking a swig of water. "So are guys ready for our race with everyone else tonight?"

"You bet I am." Bee answered in excitement.

Raf laughed and pulled out her new car. "We're going to win, I can promise you that." She giggled showing Bee the new upgrades she was able to do on the toy.

"I look forward to it." Bee said with excitement in his voice.

That night, everyone was revved up and ready for the race. Jack and Miko brought their cars and the race was on. The bots were excited and cheering for their partners. Raf was true to her promise she was winning, and she most definitely would have if not for the call that came in from Agent Fowler.

"Prime! Do you read me?" His rang out through the sub-link.

"I'm sorry Agent Fowler, Optimus isn't here at the moment." Ratchet answered.

"Then I'll take that as a confirmation that he's presently trying to run me off the road." Fowler answered shocking everyone especially Raf.

"Agent Fowler that hardly seems likely." Ratchet answered in a calm disbelief.

"Tell that to my burning treads." Fowler responded.

Ratchet fired up the ground bridge for Fowler's coordinates and the team raced out. A few minutes later, Fowler was brought through, along with an unconscious Arcee. When she came to, no one could believe what they were hearing, especially Ratchet.

"I'm only reporting what I saw." She answered.

"Why would Optimus try to knock off Agent Fowler?" Jack asked.

"Maybe Optimus believes he's a Decepticon all over again." Raf answered her voice shaking.

"Or he's been faking being a good guy all this time." Miko answered.

"If Prime has gone off the rails for any reason, we have a serious problem." Fowler cut in.

"This is absurd." Ratchet said heading for scanners. "A quick check for Optimus' signal will reveal that he's nowhere near the location of tonight's incident." he said running the scan. "In fact, he's just returning now."

Every stood ready as Optimus pulled into the base. Raf could sense that he could tell that something was not right in the tense atmosphere.

"Is something wrong?" he asked.

"We were just, wondering where you were." Arcee asked weakly.

"We haven't been able to reach you." Bulkhead added in.

"I've been outside of our communication range." He answered reaching behind him. Every pulled out their weapons and Fowler shielded the children. "In a subterranean Energon deposit." He finished revealing the sample he had brought with him.

Everyone looked like they wanted to believe him, but they just weren't sure. Not until Jack spoke up.

"Come on, it's our guy! Can't you tell?" he asked almost like he was scolding them for doubting.

Everyone lowered their weapons and Optimus was just left confused, Raf could see it in her father's eyes.

"Don't blame them Prime." Fowler spoke up. "I was attacked earlier tonight, on an open highway by a big rig. One that bore a striking resemblance to you."

Raf opened her link to her father and she felt the confusion that was spinning through his mind, and she couldn't blame him. She and everyone else was just as confused. No sooner had Fowler explained what happened, his phone went off and the news that he got didn't sound good.

"The military base is under attack by Optimus Prime." Fowler said when he hung up.

"The truck?" Jack asked.

"The bot." Fowler answered shocking everyone even further because Optimus was right there with them.

So how or who could be behind this attack?

Optimus ordered everyone through the ground bridge to stop the attack. Raf felt her heart begin to race even faster knowing that who or whatever was behind this was definitely not friendly. The team returned not even a minute later with the sound of gunfire not far behind. A minute later Fowler's phone rang again and he was now trying to defend the bots. But from everyone could tell about how the conversation went, it could not have been good news.

"So what's the damage?" Jack asked nervously.

"All military personal are under strict orders to destroy any and all bots on sight." Fowler let out.

"Are you kidding?" Jack exclaimed.

"But they're innocent." Raf argued.

"Optimus was framed." Miko yelled.

"Though unfortunate, the military order changes nothing." Optimus spoke up as if quieting the children. "Our imposter presents a clear threat to humanity."

"A 30 foot tall transforming imposter." Fowler reminded.

"They actually did it." Ratchet spoke up as if he had figured out who was behind this. "Those butchers managed to crack the code."

"MECH." Optimus answered.

"MECH abducted Breakdown, and by all indications, deconstructed him from cranial chamber to heel strut." Ratchet summed up.

"And we know that more recently, they obtained Starscream's T-Cog." Optimus reminded everyone.

"Which they evidently installed in a knock off of you." Arcee added in.

"Which in turn scanned an appropriate vehicle form." Ratchet surmised.

"Fill the tank with Energon," Jack spoke up.

"And say hello to Nemesis Prime." Miko finished.

"So where do we start? MECH's base could be anywhere." Fowler interjected.

"Not necessarily, Agent Fowler." Optimus answered. "While MECH have learned much about our biology,"

"They haven't nessarily absorbed our technology." Ratchet finished. "Without access to a ground bridge, Nemesis Prime would rely solely on its vehicle mode for transportation."

"Chances are the MECH base is within driving distance of both incidents." Arcee finished.

"Well, what are waiting for? Let's get out there and smash MECH's little science project." Fowler said with frustration in his voice.

"Agent Fowler, I would not advice putting yourself in harm's way of MECH robot again." Optimus stopped him.

"Well I'm not sure it's wise for bots to be running recon with the military out there gunning for you." Fowler argued.

"We will remain in vehicle mode until absolutely necessary." Optimus stated finishing the argument.

Raf could feel her heart pounding. She had already seen what MECH was capable of and how far they were willing to go to get what they wanted. And it worried her that her father and Bumblebee as well as all her friends were going after MECH's newest weapon which happen to look just like her father. At first she thought about begging her father to let her go, but she already knew that he was never going to let her go, especially if it meant that she could get hurt. But still, she couldn't get it out of her head that she had to go. As the team drove through the bridge, when no one was looking, she slipped through after them.

She followed Bumblebee from the sky trying hard to stay airborne. At first she struggled to keep steady, but she remembered from one of her first lessons that once she was in the air, if she let the air carry her, she wouldn't have to work so hard to keep herself up. When she was able to level off and not worry about falling she watched Bee and followed him to an installation and watched as he combed through the place. When she saw what looked like her father come behind him, she landed and watched as what she hoped was her father try to talk to Bee.

"Bumblebee, be on your guard." She heard. "My double could be anywhere."

"Okay, but Optimus, how did you get here so fast?" Bee asked.

"I'm sorry, what?"

That was how they now knew, it wasn't her father. Optimus would have been able to know what Bee would have said. In a split second they were now locked in combat. Raf watched as Nemesis Prime was about to get the upper hand on Bumblebee. Finally she, knew she couldn't hide anymore. She glided out as fast as her wings would carry her and put herself between Bee and Nemesis Prime and put up her shield.

"Raf! What are you doing here?" Bee asked in surprise.

"I'm sorry, I know I should have stayed behind, but I was just too worried about you guys. I had to come." Raf apologized.

Bee pushed Raf behind him and they watched as Nemesis Prime pounded uselessly against the shield and began to fire energy blasts. The shield held strong enough, but Raf could feel her energy start to give. She wasn't strong enough to keep it up for much longer.

"Raf, once the shield comes down, I want you to fly and hide far from here." Bee ordered her. "Do you understand?"

"But Bee," Raf began.

"Don't argue with me kid, just run." Bee cut her off. "I can buy you enough time to put some distance between you and him, just go and hide. I'll come for you when it's safe."

Raf knew she was not going to convince him otherwise and she also that she was going to be in trouble for this later. But right now, she had to be ready to run like Bee asked her to.

When her shield finally collapsed, she turned and flew across the installation as fast as her wings would let her. Though she didn't get far, she was able to put enough distance between her and Nemesis Prime for her to find a place to hide. She listened as Bee went down and she could feel her heart pounding harder and harder as she heard Nemesis coming closer to her. She crouched in her hiding place and could almost feel tears coming to her eyes. Now she really felt like a scared little kid. She didn't know what to do. She didn't know how to fight and she didn't have enough energy to put up another shield. All she could do was pray that Nemesis didn't see her.

Just as it seemed that he was coming too close, she heard him turn around head in another direction. She peeked out and saw him heading for Bulkhead. She wanted to help, but what could she do? She could only watch helplessly as Nemesis Prime tackled Bulk into a dark alley. She didn't see what happened next, but when she saw Nemesis come out of the shadows, she knew he had beaten Bulkhead too. She followed him and could only watch as he took down Arcee too. Her father was the only one left.

She knew she had to be ready to help him no matter what. She may get in trouble later, but she wasn't going to let Nemesis Prime or MECH get away with framing her family. She went looking for her father and found him still searching a short distance away. Careful to stay out of sight, she watched as her father came face to face with MECH's robot.

"Optimus Prime, we meet once again." She heard Silas speak through Nemesis.

"The deception ends here Silas." Her father said pointing his blaster at the imposter.

"Does it?"

Raf watched as Optimus were locked in battle. She hope that her father would be able to stop Nemesis. But when Nemesis cornered her father on the roof of a silo, she flew up as fast as her wings would go just as Nemesis drove his blade into her father's side.

"No!" she cried using her shield to push Nemesis back. She flew to her father and got a look at the wound.

"Rafaella, I thought I told you,"

"I know, I just couldn't let you and the others go alone." She said trying to keep her shield up.

They both looked and saw Nemesis wasn't moving. Silas must have been distracted, which bought her father time to regather his strength. Raf could feel her heart and energy twinge. When she focused and let it go, she saw it gather around her hands and then start to flow to her father. Both she and Optimus watched as the light seemed to be healing his wound. After a few seconds, Raf felt completely drained and her shield came down and the light around her hands healing her father faded. But he had enough strength to stand and he ordered her to get back. She climbed down the ladder and stayed as low as she could as Optimus stood and destroyed Nemesis Prime.

When her father came down, he transformed and Raf climbed inside as he called for a bridge back to base. When Raf was safe back home, Optimus and Ratchet went to gather the rest of the team that were all just barely regaining consciousness as they came through.

"So how was it to see someone who looked exactly like Optimus kicking the scrap out of you?" Miko asked curiously.

"It's a sight I won't soon forget." Arcee answered.

"The question remains whether MECH will be able to function as we know it without its leader." Optimus stated as Ratchet finished the repairs to Optimus' wound.

"Well here's a kicker," Fowler answered over the com-link. "We sifted through the wreckage with a fine tooth comb and couldn't find any trace of Silas."

Everyone looked confused, but this wasn't the first time MECH had vanished without a trace. Raf could tell that everyone was thinking the same thing, chances were they would be hearing from them again soon.

For now, Raf had other things to worry about. Her father asked if he could speak to her and Bumblebee. He led them to a room further into the silo and closed the door.

"Bumblebee, you exercised extremely poor judgement in letting Raf to come with us." Optimus scolded Bee.

"It's wasn't his fault, he didn't want me to go either, I left on my own." Raf spoke up. "I'm sorry, I was just worried about you all, I just felt I had to go with you, but I knew you would never have let come. So I had to follow you when no one was looking."

"Raf," Bee tried to stop her.

"I'm sorry Bumblebee, I didn't mean to get you in trouble too." Raf apologized to Bee. "Father, if you're going to punish anyone it should be me. I'm the one who broke the rules and followed you guys, so I'm the one who should be punished."

Optimus looked at both her and Bee. Raf could only hang her head in shame.

"Raf, what you endured has been lesson enough." She heard her father say. "We're just glad that you're safe."

"You just have to promise that you won't do something like that again." Bee told her.

"I promise." Raf answered.

They left to join the others in the main room and Bee and Raf left with the others for home.

"Bee, could you please not mention to my parents what I did tonight?" Raf asked. "If they found out that I pulled a Miko,"

"As long as they don't ask." Bee teased her.

"Ha-ha." Raf laughed back.

When they finally pulled into the drive way, Bee let her out and they said good night. When Raf got inside, she went upstairs and was on her way to her room when she felt someone grab her and pull her into her sister Paulaura's room. The light came on and she found herself surrounded by her older sisters, Elena, Trina and Paulaura.

"So, come on, you've got to tell us who you're mystery boyfriend is." Elena said giddy and up too close for Raf to be comfortable.

"And don't try to deny it, we know you like him." Paulaura said getting closer too.

"What's his name? Is he tall? Does he have a hotter older brother?" Trina pried.

"Stop it, okay!" Raf yelled. "He's not my boyfriend, we're just friends." Raf said trying to hide the fact that she did have feeling for him, but she just couldn't bring herself to admit it because she wasn't sure if what she and Bee had really was true love. She remembered that they had said that they had loved each other after she had almost been killed by Megatron, but she just wasn't sure if she was even ready for a serious relationship.

"Come on, you can tell us." Paulaura pushed. "We promise we won't tell anyone."

"Look, there is nothing to tell because there is no boyfriend." Raf said trying to leave.

"So you don't like him?" Elena said.

"No, I didn't say that." Raf answered feeling caught. "I mean, I don't dislike him, but he is not my boyfriend, he's boy who's a friend."

"How long are you going to be riding that scooter?" Trina teased. "It's so obvious that you like him and sooner or later you two are going to be a couple."

"Look stop it!" Raf cried. "He is not my boyfriend and even if he was, it is none of your business. Just leave me alone." She cried opening the door and marching to her room.

As she got ready for bed, she couldn't stop thinking about how it was she really felt about Bumblebee. She knew that she loved him, and she knew that she had told him as much, but she wasn't sure if he remembered or if either felt that they were ready for a serious relationship right now. She was only fourteen years old and he was, heaven only knows how old. But thinking about what her father had told her about their life spans being longer than humans', maybe that wouldn't matter. But she still couldn't get it out of her mind that, as much as she loved him, maybe she wasn't ready to be in a relationship with anyone yet, not even Bee. For now, she felt all that she could do is have an innocent friendship until they both knew if what they had really was true love. She thought through this again and again as she finally got into bed and pulled the covers over her head.

"What can I do?" she asked herself out loud as she fell asleep.