Author's Note

Aww yeah, I'm back. :D

It's good to be back to this fic after a month, and what a long, interesting month it's been. My Jurassic World fic, Life Versus Living, was quite successful and I'm so happy with how it all went. I also had really fun with NaNoWriMo. I made it to the 50,000 word count and am proud to call myself a winner! I got a really cool price out of it too. Still, good to be back, because Ari still has a long way to go before the end of this fic. But the end is getting closer, as I'm sure you can guess by the title. It's time to speed things up a bit.

I'm going to forego reviews considering it's been so long since the ones for the last chapter were written, but I've also decided to start doing reviews differently. During Life Versus Living, I used the PM messenger in order to respond to reviews, as is usually customary, but the reason why I never used it for this fic is because I get quiet a few readers who are guests and who also leave reviews that I would like to respond to. But the PM thing is really convenient and I can just respond as I get them. So I've decided to compromise. Any reviews I get from account holders will be responded to through the PM messenger from now on, but any reviews from guests will continue to be responded to through the Author's Notes at the beginning of chapters. This way I still get to talk to everybody but don't have to wait so long for most people. And it won't take me an hour to get new chapters up anymore. :3

Alright, after so long, go onward and enjoy!


Escalation

Ari stares down the range at the target, sniper rifle in hand. The day is hot even though it's still only morning, the sun beating down overhead to coat the back of her shirt in sweat, but the metal overhang of the outside gun range provides at least a bit of relief from the heat. She stretches herself out on the ground, positioning herself and the rifle with practiced movements, movements that have long since become instinct by now.

Putting her eye to the scope, Ari steadies her breathing and concentrates.

This is something Clint taught her, how to empty her mind and force her body to relax as a way to destress. He does it all the time, usually with his bow. He's been teaching her how to use one, too, but she still finds that she prefer a sniper rifle. There's just something about the feel of it in her hands and the way her body is laid out on the ground in an almost relaxed position that she finds comforting.

She focuses on the target several meters away, only a small circle even through the high-powered scope. She takes her time, feels the wind, counts her breaths, and between one and the next she fires, the bang echoing loudly across the flat Nevada desert. She fires several more times, only minutely adjusting her aim, until the clip is empty.

There's a lot that she doesn't want to think about right now. Like how Anti-Alien spied on her during her date with Sideswipe. Them knowing she's the AllSpark. Knowing that the traitor behind it all is still out there somewhere, over a week now past since they left that note for her to find. It's hard to feel safe here anymore. Sides and Sunny are taking turns keeping watch at night, along with their normal patrols, and it's gotten to a point where they're exhausted all the time. They can't get enough recharge, even for them, and though they insist Ari doesn't take a shift she's still not getting a whole lot of sleep either. Security around the base has quadrupled and there's at least two N.E.S.T. soldiers watching her back from afar who are on a rotation so that, even if one of them is the traitor, they're not watching her for long and they're never alone because of their partner. Even with that, though, it's not like the traitor could do anything anyway because she has a third bodyguard. She never sees them, but she can always feel their eyes on her. At any given time at least one of them, Clint or Natasha, are watching over Ari as well, just like they said they would

It still doesn't feel like enough though. The investigation is still underway, almost done with the recruits, but then if nothing is found, there is still the rest of N.E.S.T. to go through. It could still be several more weeks, maybe even months, until she'll know peace again.

Which is why she finds it whenever she can, however she can, even if it's a gun in her hands despite the gun portion of the recruit training being over with already.

She stands, dusting the dry, sandy dirt from the khakis of her recruit uniform, and then makes the long walk out to her target. She looks it over, eyes squinting from the bright sunlight. Shouldering the gun, she runs a hand over the holes, feeling the depressions with her fingertips. They're set in a perfect line from the left side of the target to the right, a lot like how Clint showed off with his bow the first time she saw it. She smirks to herself. She didn't really need the extra training but she's gotten all the better for it.

But gun training is over, the training program now halfway done. Now, they start with teamwork, first with each other, and then with the Autobots. This will be the most important part of their training but it's the part that Ari is dreading most, because of Trent and Ferrel. She highly doubts either one of them are very good at teamwork so they are going to make this a lot harder than it has to be.

Gathering her target, she heads back to the weapons locker in the gym to put away her stuff, her shadows following behind. Recruits are already trickling out of the locker room to gather in the main Autobot hanger and she quickens her steps so she's not late, stepping into line just as Welles takes his place in front of the group.

"Alright, listen up," he says, voice drill sergeant loud. "Today we are shifting in discipline from weapons to teamwork. Behind the outdoor gun range is a training facility dedicated to running real life combat scenarios, both for humans and for Autobots, but working with the Autobots won't come for another two weeks. Right now, it is all about learning to work together. We have several different combat scenarios but first we will start with capture the flag.

"You will be divided into two teams, red and blue. The rules are simple: each team will hide their flag and when the whistle goes off you will try to capture the enemy's flag. The first team to have the flag in hand will be declared the winner. Now, I will name your team captains and then tell each of you which team you are on." He leafs through the ever-present clipboard in his hands, scanning the page. "Your captains are Lennox for the red team and DeMarco for the blue."

"What?" Ferrel calls out, unable to suppress her anger and frustration. "Why does Lennox of all people get to be team captain?"

Welles narrows his eyes at her but doesn't reprimand her for the outburst, reminding Ari of teachers playing favorites. "Captains were chosen based on the combined scores from combat and weapons training. Lennox and DeMarco had the highest marks."

"Seriously? How does that make her a captain? So what if she has a few good skills, that doesn't mean she has what it takes to be a leader."

Ari's teeth grind together, holding in her retort. Like Ferrel would be any better at being captain. She doesn't lead, she bosses around. But she's tired, too tired to deal with Ferrel and her prissy attitude. And she may still have a point anyway.

"It's alright, sir," Ari says, rather reluctantly. "It's true, I've done well so far but I've still never undergone the same basic training as everyone else. I should learn to fight beside them before I even think about leading them. Let the person with the next highest score be captain."

"Very well, Lennox," Sergeant Welles readily agrees. "That means you're up, Ferrel."

Ferrel grins triumphantly, visibly holding in her excitement.

Ari internally cringes. Yeah, this is going to go well. She hopes she doesn't regret this but this is better than putting up with Ferrel's attitude.

Welles divides up the rest of the recruits, thankfully having the forethought not to but Ari and Ferrel on the same team. Instead, Ari ends up on Trent's team, the blue team, which she considers to be the better of two evils.

Besides, when their team beats Ferrel, the look on her face will be completely priceless.

They're just about to move out to the training facility when a radio squawks nearby. Ari looks over her shoulder at Lando, one of her current bodyguards standing near the back of the group of recruits. He has his radio held up so both him and his partner, Bryant, can hear what's being said. She strains her ears but is still too far away to hear more than jumbled words so she focuses on the men themselves. Lando remains completely calm but Bryant is one of the newer soldiers, just from the last batch of recruits before the one Ari joined. He has yet to develop his game face so right now everything he is thinking and feeling is bleeding out. Right now, he is tense, his frown digging deep furrows around his mouth.

Something is wrong, very wrong.

The recruits are falling into line around her, beginning to move out in rows, but she doesn't move with her row. She watches Lando as he says something into the radio and then meets Ari's eyes expectantly. Her chest constricts with dread.

She's only taken one step out of ranks when Welles snaps at her, "Lennox! Where do you think you're going?"

"Lennox is excused from training for the rest of the day, Sergeant Welles," Lando says, him and Bryant flanking her.

"Lennox can't just be excused whenever you feel like it," Welles spits out.

"This is an emergency. The plane the team was on is touching down in five minutes and she needs to be there when it does."

The plane? A team of Autobots and soldiers went on another mission, Decepticons had been spotted in Kansas, but why do they need her?

"Tell me what's going on," she demands, looking from Lando to Bryant. "What am I walking into?"

Lando places a comforting hand on her shoulder but it's not comforting, not at all, it destroys her calm just a little bit more.

"It's Moonracer," he says. "She's been hurt really bad. Ratchet says he needs your help."

Ari doesn't think after that, just runs, out of the hanger, onto the tarmac with her head tilted up to the sky. She can hear the warbled rumble of the plane and there, she spots it maybe only a minute out now, steadily lowering to come down to land, and her eyes never leave it. Finally, it hits the tarmac, wheels squeaking, and taxis to a stop.

The cargo doors lower and she sprints to the first person she sees, who turns out to be Rob.

"What happened?" she asks, trying to get a look at Moonracer who is probably somewhere in the back with the rest of the Autobots in their alt modes. Everyone except Ratchet that is. He's in his bipedal mode, hunched over in the small space of the cargo plane, with his optics focused on something at his feet.

"It was supposed to be a routine op," Rob says, looking more tired than she's seen him in a long time, almost as tired as after Mission City and Egypt. It's the look of a man who's seen far more than he ever wanted to. "Energon scanners picked up two Decepticons on the outskirts of a city but when we got there we found nothing. So we thought, alright, they're messing with us again. Wouldn't be the first time we flew out only to find cows, but it wasn't only cows this time."

He hesitates, struggling with finding the right words, and then Will comes up behind him, clapping a firm hand on his shoulder. "It was Anti-Alien," Will says grimly. The rest of the soldiers spill out of the plane behind him, allowing the Autobots in their alt modes to roll out. "Anti-Alien ambushed us and they were prepared with some pretty heavy weapons, even RPGs. That's what got Moonracer."

He turns just as Optimus clears the ramp, allowing them to see straight through to the back of the plane where Ratchet still sits, hands working tirelessly on Moonracer's body. Ari gasps at the sight of her. Moonracer's legs are mangled, pieces of armor twisted and threatening to fall off. But it's the top part of her that's the worst. An entire arm is missing, as is most of her shoulder, and her spark chamber is exposed. The chamber is compromised, dented. If not for Ratchet being there, she would have offlined on the plane.

Jolt rushes by, coming from the Med Bay probably, and carrying a stretcher under one arm. It gets Ari moving, running into the cargo hold after him. Jolt sets the stretcher down so that he and Ratchet can gently move Moonracer onto it. Something moves threateningly inside Moonracer's chassis, like metal scraping together.

"How is she?" Ari asks, climbing onto the stretcher as well so she can get started right away, already calling the AllSpark to the forefront of her consciousness to start her own assessment, but she highly values Ratchet's judgment. He's been doing this a lot longer than her, after all.

"Not good, little one," Ratchet replies, hoisting two of the stretcher poles in his hands as Jolt lifts the others. Something scrapes again and Ratchet grimaces. "Her spark chamber is staying connected by a prayer. I've tried to repair it but there is a bit of shrapnel from the RPG lodged inside. Every time I start moving around in her chassis the shrapnel moves, threatening to pierce the chamber, but I am unable to safely remove it until the chamber is stabilized."

They move out of the plane, sparks coiling down Ari's arms to slip inside Moonracer's body. She hears the scraping again, but this time she also sees it, the AllSpark bringing an image of what's going on inside to her mind. The piece of shrapnel is at least four inches long and dangerously close to the spark chamber.

"Stop," Ari says urgently, but Ratchet just looks at her over his shoulder curiously. "Stop moving right now!"

Both he and Jolt stop, joints stiff. "What is wrong, little one?" Ratchet asks.

"Look at the shrapnel. It keeps shifting every time you move her."

"Yes, I am aware of that which is why we need to move quickly to the Med Bay."

"But look at it now." He complies, a light red light shining from his optics to scan over Moonracer's chassis. When he is done his optics then go wide with fear and Ari nods in agreement. "It's way too close now. Just one more millimeter and it'll puncture the spark chamber. It needs to be dealt with before we move her any further."

"What do you suggest then?"

"Were you able to save any other pieces of her?"

"Yes, her arm, though broken off, is mostly still intact, along with some larger pieces of her shoulder."

"Alright, then set her down as gently as you can. I'll do it here."

Nodding, he and Jolt carefully lower the stretcher to the ground, moving without the slightest jostle until it is lying on the tarmac. Ari looks around, noticing Arcee and Chromia standing worriedly nearby, unwilling to leave their sister's side. They can't lose her. They're triplets, sharing a sibling bond like Sideswipe and Sunstreaker do. This could break them. Maybe not completely destroy them, Chromia has her sparkbond with Ironhide to keep her aloft and that strength she can then use to hopefully keep Arcee from offlining as well, but they will never be the same again without their third.

"Arcee," Ari calls out to her, startling the femme from her thousand yard stare at her sister. Arcee's optics look at her but she gives no other kind of acknowledgment. It'll have to do though. "Arcee, I need you to go back into the plane and bring me the pieces of Moonracer Ratchet was able to salvage." Arcee's optics go hard, her stubbornness about to show itself, unwilling to leave her sister's side, but Ari is prepared for that. "This is important, Arcee. I need them in order to be able to save your sister's life. The longer we wait, the more danger she is of offlining. Now go."

A small whimper escapes Arcee's voice processor but finally she moves, rolling over towards the plane. Ari turns her eyes to Moonracer, focusing on cataloging everything that needs to be done in order to save her life. This is going to be tricky. It's a miracle the shrapnel didn't offline her going in. Ari's going to have to carefully maneuver the parts of Moonracer's chassis, simultaneously fixing what's broken and slowly dislodging the piece of metal without accidentally cutting any wires or tubes. This'll be a lot harder than fixing Bumblebee had been.

Arcee returns, setting down the parts next to the stretcher, and Ari shoots her a grateful smile. It's then that she sees they've acquired a bit of an audience. The recruits are standing nearby, having stopped between leaving the main hanger and heading over to the training facility. Lando and Bryant are with them, as are Clint and Natasha. Even Welles is staring, not even attempting to get his recruits moving and back on track. They all have an idea of what's about to happen, something none of them have actually ever seen except for Lando and maybe Welles. Lando had been there when she was rescued from the Decepticon base in the caves, and during Egypt, but she's unsure if Welles had been there yet.

But all of the others have never seen her use the power the AllSpark has given her. It's one thing to be told she's the AllSpark. It's another to actually witness it.

She shakes her head. They don't matter right now.

With a deep breath she draws up all of her power and pushes it towards Moonracer and the parts needing to be reattached, blue sparks flowing down her arms and wrapping themselves around the places that are compromised. She uses the sparks to pull the parts closer so that she can reconnect them and create new metal to fill in any gaps. Once that is started, she takes a firm grasp on the shrapnel, keeping it from moving while she repairs the damage to the spark chamber and the surrounding area. She closes her eyes, struggling to keep her focus splintered to so many different areas, but she manages it. She can feel Moonracer's systems getting better, and as soon as the arm is reattached, the shoulder repaired and her systems far enough out of danger, Ari starts to move the shrapnel out of Moonracer's body. She slowly manipulates Moonracer's internal parts to subtly move out of the way without compromising functionality in order to make enough room for the jagged piece of metal to pass, careful not to knick anything.

After a few moments, she holds out her hand above Moonracer's chassis, and the shrapnel levitates up out of Moonracer for her to grasp.

When her fingers wrap around that piece of metal she breathes a huge sigh of relief, finally opening her eyes. The worst is over.

"Well done, little one," Ratchet praises quietly, settling a hand lightly on her upper back. "Well done. I believe her systems are bringing her out of stasis lock now."

The words aren't all the way out of his mouth yet when Moonracer's chassis lifts in a deep breath and her optics slowly brighten to blue. Ari slips away, allowing Arcee and Chromia to take her place so the sisters can be together again.

She looks down at the piece of shrapnel in her hand before tossing it aside. This was a close call. Too close. And it's brought a terrifying question to her mind.

Why did N.E.S.T. detect Decepticon activity only to find nothing but hostile humans?

There's the easy answer, that there were never any 'Cons and that Anti-Alien mimicked an energon signature somehow in order to draw N.E.S.T. and the Autobots out.

And then there's the other answer, the one that Ari doesn't want to think about because it's mind-numbing and also doesn't make a whole lot of sense: that there were Decepticons and they're working together with Anti-Alien. That one doesn't seem very likely considering the Decepticons hate humans and Anti-Alien doesn't like any aliens, especially the ones who actually kill people. Then again, how could Anti-Alien mimic an energon signature? How would they know how to do that and where would they have gotten the equipment? It would have taken a lot of money and resources that doesn't seem likely a small organization like Anti-Alien should be capable of.

Though there are still whispers of a mysterious benefactor to the organization. Would they be able to help Anti-Alien pull something like this off? It would explain the weapons they used today.

Will comes up to her side and she instantly sinks into his hug, burying her face in his shoulder.

"How you holding up, kiddo?" he asks.

"Alright, considering," she mumbles into his uniform. "Kind of tired. That was almost as bad as Optimus had been and I passed out for a while after that, even with the help from the Matrix."

"Maybe you should go lie down for a while then. Lando told Welles you have off for the rest of the day, right?"

"Yeah, and thanks for that. I definitely don't feel like running around in tactical gear after all of that."

"I figured you wouldn't."

She slips out of his arms and gets her first good look at Will's face. He looks worn, like he always does after a hard mission, but it's more than that. He looks like he's regretting asking these people, humans and Autobots, to go out with him, risking their lives. Optimus gets that look a lot, too, but that's usually because it's the humans who are in the most danger. Now, it's the Autobots with the targets on their backs, so much larger than they ever have been before.

"You going to be okay?" she asks.

"I will be," he replies, kissing the top of her head. "We'll talk about it later, alright?"

"So long as we do talk about it."

She wants a nice long chat with Will and Optimus about what happened. She wants all the little details and then she wants to know how they're going to keep it from happening again and to discuss a better plan for going after Anti-Alien. Finding the traitor is taking too long, there are just too many suspects and Clint and Natasha have to move at a relatively slow pace in order to not be found out they're spies. They need something faster, something better, before someone else gets hurt.

She'll use herself as bait if she has to. No one else will like it but this cannot go on. She's tired of the fear and uncertainty, of looking over her shoulder every day and every night. She could have handled it for a while longer if it was just her but it's not. Anti-Alien isn't targeting just her anymore, they're going after their true targets, the ones they really hate. And Ari will do whatever it takes in order to protect them.

But that's a conversation for later, after some solid rest and the fear of almost losing Moonracer has a chance of dying down.

In the meantime, she leaves Will and heads over to where she sees Sides and Sunny standing with the other Autobots who are looking on. He smiles at her proudly and she gives him a small smile in return.

"Ari?" Moonracer calls out as she passes, sounding a bit weak but still thankfully online.

Ari redirects, making a beeline for her, and slips her hand into Moonracer's healed fingers. "Yeah?"

"Thank you, for saving me."

"No need to thank me. You're family, all of you are. I'm just glad I was able to get to you in time."

"The sentiment is the same for us," Arcee says from the other side of Moonracer. "You're our family, too."

"But that doesn't mean family should not be thanked," Chromia adds in next to her. "Thank you, Ari. You've saved all three of us today."

Ari doesn't speak, afraid of doing something sappy like crying, so she just smiles brightly at all three of them, gives Moonracer's fingers one last squeeze, and then backs away so Ratchet and Jolt can pick her up and continue the journey to the Med Bay. She sighs tiredly and then continues her own journey towards Sideswipe.

He instantly kneels down when she's close, one long finger reaching out to skim the side of her face tenderly. "You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Or, at least, I will be after a bit of a nap. Care to keep me company?"

He grins. "Always. Our room or the rec room?"

She thinks it over for a minute, finding neither place any safer than the other, and then says, "Rec room. I can fall asleep to the T.V." She turns to Clint and Natasha, firmly ignoring how the recruits are still standing there, all of them staring at her. "You coming with?"

They instantly separate from the group to join her and Sideswipe. "Where are we go going?" Natasha asks curiously.

"Just a nap in the rec room."

"I'm a master napper," Clint says excitedly, already beginning to shed his jacket. "Count me in."

Natasha rolls her eyes but there's a bit of unease in them despite the light gesture. Ari's not sure how much she knows about what happened, but it's still unsettled her all the same. "I'll come, too, just to keep you out of trouble."

"Aww, come on, Nat," Clint pouts. "We'll be sleeping. What trouble could we possibly get into?"

"Knowing you, a lot."

Sideswipe lifts Ari into his arms as the two agents continue to banter on the way to the rec room, the sound gently lulling Ari into sleep. She better get it whenever she can because she gets the feeling that whatever's coming, whatever Anti-Alien is planning, it's going to happen soon. The amount of violence they're willing to cause is escalating, and it's only a matter of time before someone actually dies.

And Ari may not be able to save anyone next time. Including herself.


Author's Note

So, Anti-Alien is getting bigger, badder, and bolder. They're not just taking cheap shots at Ari anymore. People are really getting hurt. It's only a matter of time now until they do something really bad. *cue evil laughter*

Next chapter should be up within the next week I think? I'm not sure and I hesitate to make any promises when it comes to this fic, but I've got the next chapter about two-thirds of the way finished. There'll be some more training and possibly some Wheeljack. I'm not sure about the Wheeljack part though, depends on how long it makes it.

Hope you enjoyed, PLEASE REVIEW, and see you all next time!