Disclaimer : I don't own it.

Note : Sorry about the lack of updating this week. I've been out of town, then stuck to a new game I got installed, and then we had really bad weather... -.-' Well, I'm back...for now. Enjoy the next update!

(Normal POV)

He'd enjoyed watching her talking to Sarah. Admittedly, when angered, the human femme could be rather intimidating, but despite the differences in species, he was glad to see the two femmes with someone who knew about child care. He could watch them relax as they chatted about the differences in taking care of human or Cybertronian sparklings.

He watched as they almost seemed to trade off sparklings, hesitant to let someone who didn't know how handle a Cybertronian sparkling. Then he recalled their base instincts. They could tell when a creature was more fragile. They knew, from observing their parental units interacting with humans, that humans weren't as durable. He smiled as the two Cybertronians happily examined Sarah.

Also, this is not the first time a human has handled Sunfire. He mused, watching the sparkling closest to his spark as she laughed and played with the long blonde hair, her optics wide with wonder as the silky threads slipped through her tiny fingers. He could feel his spark melting just a little bit more, and took a still image, locking it away in his memory banks.

Just as he was cycling through the file of special images he'd been creating, a sort of mental photo album if you would, he paused, once again coming across that image of Bella in the sunset, and the way the sun glinted off her slightly oversized armor. He couldn't help but lose himself in the colors, and the look of awe on her face as she stared into the multicolored sky.

Her armor might be a little too big, her leg sheaths hiding her slender legs, and her chest armor making her appear larger than she really is, but it only seems to accent how tiny she is underneath it all. The sunlight glinting off her armor made her appear to be covered in hues of oranges, reds and yellows, in a remarkably attractive way.

He listened to them speaking, and put his own two cents in when they placed all three of the sparklings together and seemed shocked at the gentleness that the two Cybertronians used on the human. He took in their confusion, and had to struggle not to smile. Then, as they retrieved their sparklings, the call shouted.

"DECEPTICONS!"

(Bella's POV)

The happier mood of the party quickly vanished. Before I could blink, Jazz was next to Rika, scooping up Moonfrost in one claw and my best friend in the other, and Ratchet was winding his fingers around me, even as Ironhide crouched warningly over Sarah Lennox, his cannons out and whirling.

Even Will and Epps were looking around wildly, each wielding a pistol that I hadn't even noticed they were carrying.

Which was probably for their benefit, because, threat of impending danger or not, seeing those pistols, Sarah was shooting her husband the evil eye that promised he would be sleeping on the couch for a little while -I guess he'd agreed to leave the military, fighting thing at home for the event- even as she stepped back and crouched slightly under Ironhide's legs, taking cover under his massive body.

As I felt the fingers wrapping almost gingerly around my body, I curled up, leaning back as Ratchet turned his hand, holding us up against his chest, his other hand fisted as a whirring saw buzzed angrily on his other wrist. His eyes flashed as he looked around, and I was in awe of how deadly he looked, as he held us protectively agover his spark chamber.

I think it took everyone a moment to realize who had made the call, let alone the fact that there were no Decepticons in the immediate area. Bumblebee was rubbing at his throat, giving a choked and painful sounding cough, and it hit me then that the call had been rough and broken. "Bee?" I tapped Ratchet's hand and the saw disappeared after a moment. Placing Sunfire down in Ratchet's palm, I stood up and walked to the edge, climbing into the other free palm he brought over.

He lowered his hand and I hopped off, transforming and walking over to Bumblebee. But not before catching the startled look on Sarah's face. Guess no one told her. Well, that wasn't exactly true. We'd told her, but I couldn't blame her for her reaction. After all, hearing about it is very different from actually seeing it.

Standing in front of Bumblebee, I saw the wild, far away look in his eyes. I glanced to the others, and watched as they all stiffened up, horror and panic crossing their faces. "What is it?" I started to get nervous as several bots began violently whistling and clicking, transforming on the spot, and many of them driving away at speeds clearly impossible for normal vehicles. "Bee? Ratchet! What's going on?" I looked back and forth between them.

With a growl, Ratchet stalked forward. "Come, femme of mine. The base has been attacked." His tone was quiet and grim, but there was a look about his eyes I didn't like. He gently handed me Sunfire and quickly transformed. I crouched next to his holographic form as it appeared and handed her back to him, even as Bumblebee transformed behind him. Then I transformed, taking her back.

"Who was hurt?" I could see the intensity in his eyes and knew it wasn't good. We stopped the second movie from taking place, right? We stopped it from happening... "Ratchet?" I climbed into the waiting passenger seat and the belt was around me before I knew it. "Ratchet!"

There was a sigh, even as holographic-Ratchet appeared and we spun in a hasty circle, speeding off towards the nearest road. "The base was attacked, the Chevy twins took minor damage, Sideswipe and Sunstreaker were also temporarily offlined..."

It only just hit me that Sideswipe wasn't here, though I'd though he was supposed to be. I didn't really mind it, I knew they had duties, and Sunstreaker probably didn't find the idea of a human celebration all that enthralling. "Half our forces were at the base." Now I frowned, growing anxiety coursing through me. Jolt had left again, after dropping off the Lennox's, saying something about catching the next boat back to the island. He was there, so things would be ok...right?

Vaguely, it hit the back of my mind that time seemed to fly as we spoke to Sarah Lennox. We must have been here half a day, losing track of time. It certainly didn't feel all that long, but I saw no other feasible way for Jolt to be already back at the island.

"And they're all down for the count. Jolt suffered damage as well, and is currently attempting to stem his own injuries, and at the same time is attempting to look after the others who were injured."

With all the down for the count, there's no one standing between the Decepticons and the shards, or them and... I felt my eyes widen. Ratchet had given a report to how most of the troops were faring. All...but one. "And Optimus?"

The Hummer seemed to tense greatly, and a fresh burst of speed turned the outside scenery into a blur.

"Ratchet! Is Optimus-"

"Captured." Was his terse response, before he let lose a fowl collection of whistles and clicks. "Surrendered himself and the shard the humans were holding, for the safety of the base and the humans. They slagging knocked him out and blasted the place anyways."

My gasp echoed through the cab of the Hummer, and I could feel my body beginning to tremble. They have Optimus. They have Optimus and the shard! Images began coursing through my mind once again, about the movie. I began to doubt if we'd managed to stop it at all.

"Few human fatalities were reported, and no Cybertronian...that we know of." His tone was tense and clipped, as he swerved violently around a car, causing Sunfire to squeal in delight. "They 'gave as good as they got', I believe the human term is."

"They damaged the Decepticons heavily, too." There was a low grunt. I couldn't tell if it was in approval or disapproval. "But they have Optimus and the shard! Ratchet, we need to get them back! Hell, fuck the stupid shard! We need to get Optimus back before they kill him!" My language was the last thing on my mind, the panic nearly blinding. They're gonna... They're gonna... Optimus! They're gonna kill him! My heart hummed hotly in my chest, my cooling fans switching on as my internal temperatures rose with my panic, my breathing growing erratic. We were supposed to stop this!

"They won't dare damage their bargaining chip."

"They're not using him as a bargaining chip, dumbaft!" I shouted, barely registering Sunfire's distressed cry. "They're going to kill him! They have the shard! They're gonna bring Megatron back with it, and then they're gonna offline Optimus! He's the only thing standing between the Decepticons and their desire to take over the planet!" Some part of me registered I was nearly screaming and I was spilling everything, but if they really had Optimus...

"How can you possibly... Did this happen in the movie?"

To tell or not to tell? Oh hell, it might already be too late to stop it! So I decided to spill my guts. "In the second movie, while chewing the Autobots out over a video connection, the new liason Galloway accidentally let spill the location of the Allspark shard and Megatron's location, but no one realized Soundwave was listening in. He sent Ravage, and another mini-con, though who that is, is usually varied per fan. Some say it was Reedman, and others say Buzzsaw. I have no freaking idea." I shook my head.

"The point is, once they learned of it's location, the Decepticons launched an immediate attack to get the shard, succeeded, and went to retrieve Megatron, using the shard to bring him back to life."

"That's how you knew that Rika's should could bring Jazz back to life?"

I nodded. "Yes. When he's brought back, Megatron leaves to speak to 'The Fallen', the original Decepticon, who tells him he can only be defeated by a Prime. And there's only one living Prime left."

"Slag!"

Ironhide's voice through Ratchet's speakers startled me, and I glared down a moment, before realizing, if the shit really was about to hit the fan, it was best they all heard it. Saved me having to repeat it. I swallowed heavily and stroked Sunfire's back with admittedly shaky hands. "Yeah, you can say that again. They're gonna kill Prime, and then the Fallen's gonna come to Earth, locate the key to the sun harvester machine in Egypt and destroy our sun."

"We have to stop him!"

Mikeala's voice also startled me, and I growled slightly, kicking the underside of the dash in front of me -why didn't he at least warn me everyone was listening in?' before groaning and shaking my head. Reaching out, I rubbed the area with my toes lightly as an apology. After all, desperate times called for desperate measures. I felt the Hummer shudder slightly, and then jumped with a squeak as a tiny metal hand seemed to shoot out of nowhere and grabbed my foot, steadying it. When I glanced over, I blushed when I spotted Ratchet's glowing eyes and heated exression, scolding expression..

I mouthed the word 'sorry' before sighing and turning forward again. Now was not the time to find out where all his most sensitive parts were, and what did what.

"All I wanted was a normal life! Was that so much to ask? I just wanted to go to college, get a degree, maybe have a careeer."

"Wasn't gonna happen, Sam." I interrupted, feeling sympathetic. I could understand his feelings, sometimes still wishing I'd had a normal life. Then all I'd have to do is look at Ratchet or Sunfire and all that went out the window. "In the movie, you only had one day and it wasn't even productive or peaceful. You were attacked by Decepticons for the information of the allspark in your head."

"But I don't have that now!"

"Oh God!" Rika's voice made me blink a moment. "What if we weren't supposed to stop it?"

I shook my head. "They don't all have to die. I mean, Jetfire? Chromia and Arcee?" The gasps made me wince.

"But Optimus is! Bella, remember? Remember what the Primes told you-know-who?"

"But we've changed things!" I smacked my free hand down into my lap hard enough to startle Sunfire who was already crying. Pulling her to me, I tried to soothe her, but knew it was futile, even as Ratchet's holo-hand came over and clasped my arm lightly, his thumb stroking the back of my arm.

"Maybe not enough. Sam, you might have to touch the allspark. You're the one who's supposed to learn the location of the Matrix of Leadership, the location of the key for the machine."

I noticed how she purposely kept from mentioning his 'destiny' to save Optimus, and I realized why. If he was the key to finding the machine, it was one thing. If the fate of our world, all our lives, and especially Optimus Prime's life were all on his shoulders, it would be too much. He was just a freaking kid!

"So we gotta get Prime back."

I hesitated. "Either way... He might be supposed to die." Ratchet's engine growled, and he almost ripped his hand away from me, a betrayed look crossing his face. "No, Ratchet, you don't understand."

"I understand you're about to give up, and that you suggest we let Optimus die!" He snapped, his look freezing over.

"When did I say we let him die?" I snapped back, fed up with him. "So much for trusting me, huh? I guess you can't really love me all that much, now can you?"

"I'm sure he didn't mean it like that, Bella." Mikeala put in softly.

"You're not the one on the receiving end of a rather betrayed look." I growled. "I'm merely suggesting we break into two teams. Sam needs to get ahold of the other shard with one team, then go to Egypt. We also need to have complete radio silence for this to work. The other team goes after Optimus." That way, if the team going after Optimus failed, we still had a chance with the Matrix.

His expression lightened, but he still refused to meet my eyes, which hurt. I could understand it, he didn't realize what we were thinking. He hadn't seen the movie, he didn't know what was going to happen.

"One day. You couldn't even let me have one day!" It was so similar to what he said in the movie, that in any other situation, it might have thrown me. Right now, I was too worked up, too panicked, my mind spinning in every which direction.

I growled again. "How many days at home did you have, Sam? How can you possibly expect to have a normal life, when evil giant alien robots wanna kill you, and good ones wanna protect you? You're the key to so much Sam."

"Me? I'm just a kid!"

"Don't you think Rika and I used to say the same thing? We might not be human anymore, and we might not know you well, but we know what we heard and saw in the movie! We also know you're the only one!"

The lines went quiet for a long moment. As we hit the streets, Ironhide broke off from the rest, mumbling quietly about taking his charge's family home, only to be stopped by Ratchet, when he mentioned they should gather all the charges and their families, and bring them to the remains of the base. Then, when the troops and injured bots relocated, they could go with, for their safety. Sarah wasn't too happy about it, but quieted down quickly enough when Will began to speak softly to her, only to have Ironhide mute the link to give them privacy.

I bit my lip, glancing towards Ratchet. I wondered if he'd ever get over these snap suspicions. Would he and I ever have what Sarah and Will had? Did he really love me? I mean, after his confession, he'd taken to calling me his femme, but we never spoke more on it. Were we a couple? Actually, the more imminent question seemed, did he want to be a couple, after all this?

Finally, a sigh caught my attention. "Fine. I'll do it. What do I have to do?"

"We already know the majority of it, but for safety sake, you'd better touch the shard. It'll download information into your head-" I wondered if I was the only one who heard the slight hesitation in Rika's voice, and knew about the silent 'probably'. "-but as far as the movie showed, it didn't actually hurt you. We already know the location of the key and the weapon, so... I dunno for sure, but I'd guess we need to get to Egypt."

"Without telling anyone over the radios?" Epps was riding on the back of Flare, the least feminine looking femme in her alternate form. Well, ok, she still looked feminine, but at least she wasn't hot pink. "That's gonna be some feat."

"Work it out, because if we communicate over the radios, I wouldn't be surprised if Soundwave's in orbit now, and he'll tell the others."

"Understood." Will was back. "We'll get to work on it as soon as we're back at base."

I nodded a little, and glanced over at Ratchet's holoform, feeling slightly more at ease now that we'd gotten our point across. "I'll be helping...the medical team...?" I left it as a question, watching his face for any sign of an answer.

He closed his eyes, probably a terrifying image to those in the vehicles around us that weren't part of our group. He reached over and took my hand, squeezing it, before reopening his eyes and shooting me a sincerely guilty look. "I'd be honored to have your assistance." He glanced briefly at the dash before looking back. "I've muted the comm."

I nodded. "Ratchet, I mentioned Optimus might need to die, because in the movie, it was Sam who brought him back." I watched his eyes widen. "But we can't tell him that. It might be too much for him to handle. He died to bring Optimus back, and that's where he met the ancient Primes, who told him it had always been his destiny to revive Optimus. To save him, save the world."

His eyes held a new understanding. "But why didn't you tell me this before?"

I felt my eyes burning as a whole new panic set in. "We were trying to stop all of it from happening! We didn't want anyone to die, and thought we could help, but we were afraid to tell anyone 'Hey, you're supposed to die at this point in the movie'. I mean, what if we told Optimus that he'd be ambushed when he rescued Sam, all alone? He'd forbid his troops from following him anywhere, to protect them and ensuring he's alone even more often, making him a big target. What if we told Chromia she gets blasted in Egypt, the exact details? We risk her spending so much effort looking for that blast, she might miss a totally different one."

He nodded slowly, still holding my hand. "I understand." He winced. "And I kept trying to force you to tell me."

"And we might have royally screwed things up by interfering. There's no telling what's gonna happen now." I swallowed heavily and took a deep breath, stilling myself. I closed my eyes, struggling to push all the 'what if' scenarios aside, and struggling even harder to send a sense of peace to Sunfire, who was wailing and keening in my hands. It was so hard, though, considering that new sense of panic refused to fade.

"We will work this out."

I could tell he was trying to be supportive, but the grim, tight tone to his voice ruined any soothing effect. I blinked repeatedly, rapidly, struggling to control the burning in my eyes, even as I stared at the city moving ever closer. We tried to stop it, but it's still happening. How? Why? How'd they even know where the base was? My mind drifted back to the Decepticon taxi at the dock. They knew where the dock was, but the dock was switched, and new security was added.

Closing my eyes, I took several slow, deep breaths, and clenched my fingers around Ratchet's. I felt the warmth and strength in his touch, and I immediately relaxed. Despite everything, I could tell he was warming up to all this, and he was there. I felt safer knowing that much at least.

And he was right. Even if the Decepticons had Optimus, we had Sam. We had the key.

Written : Feb 7, 2010

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Tenshi