Sam drove as Simmons used his cell phone to make a few calls. She seriously hoped he had one hell of a plan or the roaming fees would suck. Leo and Mikaela were in the back, but neither had said anything for some time. She knew Mikaela was probably rest, but hopefully Leo wasn't having a melt down. Though she supposed a silent meltdown was better than the alternative.

Mudflap and Skids followed along behind them, Wheelie in one or the other, she hadn't really paid much attention. It surprised her a bit as the tiny bot seemed scarily attached to Mikaela. It made her wonder if all Decepticons had such masochistic tendencies, which would totally explain a lot.

"Okay." Simmons' voice broke her from her thoughts. " Here's what my CIA contact says." Name dropping much? "Ancient Sumerians used to call the Gulf of Aqaba the 'Dagger's Tip'."

"So that would be the same Dagger's Tip Jetfire was telling us about?"

"It's part of the Red Sea," the man continued. "It divides Egypt and Jordan like the tip of a blade. 29.5 degrees north, 35 east." He held up his cell to show her how he got the coordinates. "Here it is."

Maybe she should give him a gold star or something? The man seemed to thrive on personal verification. Wow, clearly she was tired if her thoughts were this bitchy. Shaking her head slightly she ran through what they needed to do. Hopefully if they found this key thing it would be able to revive Optimus. It was a long shot, but it had to be powerful for a group of Primes to make such a sacrifice to keep it hidden.

"First thing we've got to do is get Optimus to the Dagger's Tip," she stated with as much conviction as she could. It was a logical first step. They just needed to put their plan in motion and get NEST to bring him to them. Trying to find the key then get back to the states would be too much of a risk.

"How are you gonna get him halfway across the world," Leo asked incredulously. Granted he had a point, but he didn't know the people she knew.

"I'm gonna make a call," she informed him as if it was the most obvious answer.

Sadly though it wasn't. Would Will even do as she asked? Part of her believed he and the others would come in a heart beat. However, this was asking a lot. She was an international fugitive. Asking them to help her was putting their careers and even worse, their lives at stake. Yet, there was no one else she trusted more to come to her rescue. If anything they could relay the information to the Autobots, they would come if there was any chance at saving their leader and friend. And they had to save him; she had to save him. The guilt of his death still weighed heavily on her mind.

Logically she knew she hadn't been at fault. Megatron had simply taken the opportunity given him. But the image of the energy blade crashing through Optimus' chest was burned into her mind like a horror film that refused to stop playing.

"There's a town up ahead," Mikaela announced suddenly. "We might be able to find a phone there or something."

"Why can't we just use his cell," Leo demanded point ting to his 'arch nemesis'.

"Because it's traceable idiot," Simmons snapped. "And the batteries too low."

"If it's traceable why'd you call your contact," the youth argued, clearly pleased to have put the older man on the spot.

"Because this contact is a trusted friend who wouldn't have the ability to trace it, nor would they even know I'm involved in this little mission," he spoke as if talking to a young child. "There would be no need to trace the call. But if I started making calls to NEST that would be a different story."

"So your… contact is used to you calling up and asking about random places in the world," Mikaela queried, her eyes catching Sam's in the rear view sharing a smirk.

"I may be known to inquire about various bits of obscure information from time to time." The admittance sounded like it pained him, which only made it more amusing.

Sam might have commented had they not reached the outskirts of the town. Following some back roads she pulled over behind a section of buildings. One they had vacated the cars the three Autobots transformed.

"Man, I was getting tired," Skids whined as he stretched out.

"At least you didn't have this little pain in the ass messing with your radio," Mudflap grumbled, waving Wheelie from one giant hand.

"Well if you dunderheads had actual taste in music I wouldn't have to interfere," the other snapped.

"Okay, okay. I know it's been a long few days." Sam stepped in trying to keep a fight from erupting. They didn't need to alert everyone to their position after all. "Please keep the fighting for later. Right now we need to find a phone."

They made a plan to split up to search for a working phone. They hadn't been apart for three minutes when Leo came running back around the corner of one building.

"We got cops!" The group ducked quickly behind a set of buildings away from the street only to see a police vehicle pass by on a what appeared to be a routine patrol. "I can't got to prison guys," Leo moaned behind them. Sam just shot him a look to shut up while Mikaela rolled her eyes.

"Sam, we need to lay low," Mikaela whispered to her. "If any one catches us we're dead."

So they made sure to keep close to the buildings and stay as far from the main roads as possible. Not the easiest feat with three giant robots in their main forms. It didn't help that Skids and Mudflap were trying to 'out ninja' each other, whatever that meant. Poor Bee looked like he wanted nothing better than to smack both of them upside their servers. Apparently they were not his first choice of companions for such a mission. Then again, beggars can't be choosers.

It took a good hour of searching, and can she say this place was hot? Seriously, growing up in Nevada did not prepare her for the ridiculous temperature this region of the world suffered. Finally they found a phone.

"Okay, you guys keep watch I'm gonna call Will," Sam advised.

"Who's Will," Leo asked in confusion.

"That's a bad idea kid," Simmons told her at the same time. "You're on the Worldwide Wanted list. Try calling his base, they will track you here in seconds." He snapped his fingers to make his point. "The CIA is all over the place!"

Sam stopped to consider his words. As much as it pained her he was right. They no doubt had voice recognition and the moment she got on the phone they'd have her. The same would got for Leo and Mikaela, since they were known 'accomplices'. However… there was one of their group that they didn't know about, and he was prone to making strange calls.

"You're gonna call," she told Simmons confidently.

It took a bit not to smile at the look that came over his face as the words processed.

"Okay. That's a good idea." He didn't have to sound so surprised. She did have them every now and again. "I mean, I just had mu mind on other things. Like winding up in an Egyptian prison. Not a good place to be, just so you know."

"I'll take your word for it. Call."

XOXOX

Will watched with barely repressed anger as Optimus' corpse was loaded onto one of the cargo planes. The members of NEST were in charge of that at least, since the other servicemen that piss-ant Galloway had brought with him wouldn't be nearly as respectful.

"So we're shipping him back to base," Epps muttered from where he came up next to Will. His whole posture spoke of his own anger at the situation. "This is such a mistake."

Will didn't say anything because there was nothing he could say. That was one of the things that sucked about the military. The bureaucratic idiots who had never even been to boot camp, let alone know anything about a real battle had the ability to order them around and they couldn't do anything about it. Thankfully it was rare they stuck their noses where it wasn't wanted, as the General tended to head them off quickly. But this time they were all stuck, even the General. This time the president was involved first hand and too much was at stake. Yet the ones making the decisions had never been in the mix of things so they didn't truly understand the whole picture, they just assumed they did. Worse, they refused to listen to those that actually did know the true stakes.

"Major Lennox?" the two turned to find one of the support men waiting patiently to be acknowledged. "Phone call."

Sharing a look with his friend, Will moved to take the call. Hopefully it wasn't more bureaucrats demanding things they had no understanding of.

XOXOXO

"Lennox," Simmons greeted happily. Sam perked up knowing Will was on the phone. Mikaela smirked at her, which only brought forth a pout. Okay, so she was still crushing hard, that was no reason to tease her. "I'm with the kid. The kid."

Seriously? This was how he made a 'coded' call?

"You know the one with the attitude?" Excuse you? She didn't have an 'attitude' thank you very much. She couldn't help getting annoyed when in such situations. "We need the truck. The truck. We got a possible resurrection going on over here."

Wow. And he was one of the high level operatives. Huh.

"You're not gonna believe where we are. Code Tut, as in King Tutankhamen. Back of the dollar bill." No doubt they got it considering how not subtle he was being. "Coordinates for airdrop. 29.5 north, 34.88 east. Write it down. Write it!"

Yes, because their not highly trained soldiers who can remember such things.

"Gotta go! The heat's coming." He hung it up the phone. Well that won't worry them one bit.

Okay, she needed to get away from Simmons, he brought out way too much of her sarcasm. Sure enough though there was another police car coming towards them. So the group ducked out of sight once more. Being on the run was not like they made it out to be in movies. It was in no way exciting and adventurous. Instead it was nerve wracking and exceptionally irritating.

She just hoped Will would believe them and bring Optimus. Their world depended on it.

XOXOX

"Coordinates, 29.5 north, 34.88 east," the analyst read off to them. "Tip of the Red Sea. Gulf of Aqaba."

"Egypt," Epps huffed in shock. "Are you serious?"

Will felt a small sense of relief knowing that Sam was indeed alive and not in enemy hands. The rest of him felt angry and worried that she was in Egypt of all places, with Simmons of all people doing god knows what. The only good thing was he had no doubt Bumblebee was with her along with Mikaela. But what the hell was she doing in Egypt?

And a resurrection? Was it possible? Had she found a way to bring Optimus back? It seemed too good to be true, but hadn't Sammy done the impossible before? And in all truthfulness they needed the big guy, especially with Megatron alive and kicking again.

"Even if we figure a way to get the big man over there," Epps whispered fervently into his ear. "How is S… the kid supposed to bring him back to life?"

"Look, I don't know," Will admitted freely. "But this is the first semblance of a plan we've gotten aside from the 'hand-the-girl-over-to-the-bad-guys'. We all know how that one will work. We've gotta believe that S… she's found a way. We gotta trust her."

Epps studied him for a moment and when it looked like he might argue further he just slumped. "Hell man, you're right. Sammy-girl hasn't let us down yet. Besides, better to be out there doing something than following these bullshit orders we got now."

Will clapped him on the shoulder. "Get the men together. We got a mission to prepare for."