In which Alison celebrates July 4th with her family

The next couple of weeks passed quickly, and soon enough, the first of July was on us, and those of us heading up to Oregon were making our way. Mom and Dad drove their car, Bee and Cade drove themselves with their respective amanti, and Arcee once again rode a trailer, and I'm pretty certain napped most of the way up. Asami drove with us for most of the way, but split off from us at the last rest stop, as her place was further northwest than Uncle Sparkplug's farm. As opposed to Thanksgiving, this time we were the second to arrive, after Aunt Beth, Uncle Robert and Laura, Mikey and Nicky. When we pulled up, Spike and Sam were watching the kids were racing through the yard with Junkyard, Pips, and a dog I'd never seen before, a bulldog puppy if I had to guess.

"Hi, everyone!" Spike said, walking towards us with a big smile as we climbed out of the cars. "What's with the police escort?"

"That's Cade, a friend of Ben's," Dad explained, and I didn't need to look back to see Cade's eye roll. "Alison invited him up for the week, and he decided to drive himself and Miles."

"Alison, if you keep inviting people, we're gonna have to build a new guest house just for them," Sam said, following his brother, only to be passed by the kids and dogs, who immediately tackled us with hugs, jumps, barks, and hellos.

"You've got to meet our new puppy!" Laura said, catching the bulldog around his middle and holding him up. "His name is Tuxy and he's a French Bulldog. Mom and Dad got him as a present, cause we all got A's on our last report card."

I could see why they picked that name, cause his pattern looked like a little tuxedo, being mostly black with white on his chin, chest and front paws. Laura was closest to Bee, and he kneeled down and took Tuxy's paw in a shake. "Nice to meet you, Tuxy."

Tuxy looked right at Bee and snuffed, and started wiggling in Laura's grip. She set him down, and he trotted up to Bee, butting his head against his hand until Bee started scratching, at which point he looked like he melted.

"Aww, he likes you," Mikaela said with a smile.

Bee looked up with a grin. "Seems so."

"Does this mean we're gonna have to get a puppy?" I asked, then laughed as Bee gave me an approximation of a puppy dog face. "Maybe after moving out, we don't want Mojo getting jealous."

"Already making post-high school plans?" Spike asked, and I remembered he had just graduated. "That's good, best to get something like that figured out as soon as possible." He gave a half glare to Sam, who shrugged.

"I'm working on it," he said, unconvincingly.

"I've got a plan!" Mikey said, turning from where he had been interrogating Barricade about his alt mode. "I'm gonna open a bike shop and work on motorcycles. I've even got earplugs so the noise doesn't bother me."

"That's a plan I can get behind," Mikaela said. "Maybe when you're older I can show you a few tricks."

"Don't worry about me, Spike," I said. "I've got a pretty solid plan on what I'll be doing this time next year." Probably the same thing I'm doing this year, except I'll be living in one of the houses with Bee and Mikaela instead of using Bee's room as an apartment.

"Since introductions are done, how about we get our bags put away?" Barricade asked, hefting a bag to emphasize his point.

"Good idea, follow me," Sam said, probably happy for an excuse to end the conversation.

Like last time, Arcee, Mikaela and I shared, while Bee, Barricade and Miles took another room, which they'd share with my cousin Buster who was coming with Uncle James. Laura, Mikey and Nicky were camping out in the family room, literally, with a small pop up tent. The other living arrangements were much the same, except the room that had been Laura's was now Uncle David and his wife, Claire's. Those two arrived that evening, and everyone else trickled in the next day.

On the third, the clan worked together to get everything set up. Farm chores were completed, wood was gathered for a big bonfire, grocery runs for hot dogs, sodas and bags of chips, and other necessities. The aunts and Uncle David spent the day in the kitchen, making a bunch of small sweets and snacks to pass out at the parade the next day. Somehow in this chaos Barricade got wrangled into watching over the kids, and despite his initial grumblings, he took good care of them. Though he drew the line at changing Baby Ben's diaper, he gladly left that to Charlie.

The morning of the Fourth dawned bright and clear, and like at Thanksgiving, chores and breakfast were completed early and quickly. Instead of people being conscripted to KP, we all loaded into vehicles and drove into town for the Fourth of July parade. Everyone was dressed in some patriotic outfit for the day. I myself wore a short-sleeve blue and white plaid shirt tied over a red tank top, jean shorts and my favorite boots. Mikaela had a red and white striped dress with a blue jean jacket over top, and white sandals. Bee changed out his usual jacket for a flag patterned one, but otherwise was as usual. Miles had a white flag shirt, and had somehow convinced Barricade to wear a matching one, except in black. (Come to think of it, I don't think I've ever seen him in something other than black. He's like a vampire, or Snape.)

The unofficial "Witwicky Spot" was the parking lot of a bank in the center of town, right where the parade made a turn to head to the high school, where a small fair was set up. It was also where Aunt Josephine set up her baked goods stand, where the bounty of goodies baked and bagged the day before would be given out in exchange for a donation of money or canned goods for the local food pantry.

As we finished setting up the canopy, chairs, and stand, I heard my phone chime that I had a text. When I read it, I grinned and started typing.

"What's got you happy?" Janet asked, already sitting in the shade with Baby Ben bouncing on her lap.

"Asami says she's coming down," I said. "I'm giving her directions to get here."

"Oh, this great Asami you kept talking about." Janet smiled up at me. "I wonder if she'll live up to the hype."

"She will," I said. "She's wicked smart, funny, drives like crazy, and can kick even Cade's ass if she wants."

"Careful, Alison," Miles said, dropping into a chair next to Janet. He was walking on both feet now, but his leg still ached if he stood too long. I felt a twinge of guilt at the idea he already had a war wound, but shoved it away. "Sounds like you're trying to make Mikaela and Ben jealous."

"They know I've only got room for two in my heart," I said with a smile. Bee, Mikaela and I revealed that we were dating each other the other day, and everyone was actually really supportive, though Buster kinda scrunched his nose and muttered something about "crazy cousins". Laura once again threatened to find Bee and Mikaela holes in the ground if they ever hurt me, and Bee actually picked up Tuxy to shield from the girl's glare.

"Asami's like… the sister I never had." Or a replacement for the one I lost in the Jump. Hmm, maybe that was why we got so close so fast. Never thought of it that way before.

"And I thought that was me," Janet said, her hurt tone belayed by her grin. "In any case, it will be nice to meet her."

Janet got her wish an hour later, when Asami managed to work her way through the crowded streets to our lot and pulled into a space next to Bee and Cade. She got into the holiday spirit too, with a burgundy lace top over a white pair of skinny jeans, tan sandals, and her hair pulled back into a ponytail by a flag patterned scrunchie.

"Asami!" I waved and ran over, giving her a hug when I reached her. "Glad you could make it. Cleaning go well?"

"Good to see you too, Alison." Asami hugged me back. "It did. There wasn't a lot to do maintenance wise this year. The renters were responsible for once."

"That sounds like a relief. Come on, we'll get you a treat," I looped my arm around hers and pulled her over to the goodie stand, currently manned by Aunt Josephine and Uncle Sparkplug. "Aunt Josie, Uncle Stan, this is Asami Stark. Asami, my Aunt Josephine and Uncle Stan"

"Oh, Asami," Uncle Sparkplug smiled, holding his hand out to her. "It's nice to meet you, Alison and her friends have been singing your praises."

Asami smiled and shook it. "It's nice to finally meet you. Alison's told me a lot about you all."

"Only good things I hope," Aunt Josephine said, waving a hand over the goodie selection. "Please, take one, whichever you want."

"Thank you." Asami reached for a bag of snickerdoodles, then noticed the donation sign. "Oh, I don't have any cash on me to give."

"Don't worry, Asami," I told her. "I got you covered when the clan paid the toll." And I had, cause I had been the one to place the money tin on the stand, and I snuck two hundred dollars into it.

"Thank you." She picked up the bag and took one out to try. "These are delicious, Mrs. Witwicky."

"Please, call me Josephine. There are too many Witwickys here to go around calling everyone by last name."

Bee and Mikaela came over and then and greeted Asami, and we pulled her around to meet the rest of the clan. Not long after that, we heard the notes of the first band of the parade and all settled in to watch. There were a fair number of great floats for a small town parade, from the local 4H club, the sports department of Spike and Sam's high school, the local beauty and country fair queens, and other clubs and organizations. From almost every group, a person would peel off and pass Aunt Josephine some cash or canned food and then run off with a couple bags of cookies, like happened every year, and at one point, a reporter and news camera came to speak with Aunt Josephine about the bake sale as well.

Almost before I knew it, the parade was over, and we packed up to caravan back to the farm, with some additional cars behind us as Asami and some locals who'd been invited to the cookout. Once there, the chairs and canopies were set up again, while Uncle Sparkplug pulled the extra grill out of the barn and a couple more were pulled out of the back of trucks and vans. Every year, it turned into a sort of grilling contest between the different Dads, but that wouldn't be for a little bit. First, everyone dispersed to the different games that were set up. Cornhole, horseshoes, a kickball/t-ball diamond, board games on the porch and in the main house living room, while snacks were in both kitchens. A few people had brought their dogs to join Mojo, Tuxy, Junkyard and Pips, so there were those who played with them. A small pool was set up, so the under ten kids could swim a little, and of course, there were those who just wanted to talk, and there was plenty of seating for that.

After a bit of remeeting some of Spike and Sam's friends from school and playing through a few rounds of Mario Party, I was somehow kidnapped by Laura, Mikey and a few of the other younger kids to be a monster in their current game. Then I became the pitcher in a game of water balloon baseball, which quickly devolved into a water balloon fight after every kid had a chance to swing and run. It was all great fun, even got most of the teens in on it too as they left the games. Then Asami got hit.

She'd been circulating among the adults since we got back to the farm, but a stray balloon managed to hit her in the back. She turned, and the little boy who threw it gasped, then immediately pointed to me, standing a few feet away. "She did it!"

Now anyone watching could obviously tell I hadn't been the one to throw the balloon, but the kid was also about seven, and I'm a sucker for a cute kid, so I just called out, "Sorry!"

Asami looked from the kid to me, then smirked and started walking towards me. A smirk and stalk I was very familiar with. "Well, Alison, if you wanted a training session, you could have said something, and I'd have changed into something more appropriate."

"You can still do that. I'm in no rush." I took a step back, moving my hand still holding a balloon back to prepare to throw it.

"Oh, no, this is a challenge, and you know I never back down from a challenge." She stopped by one of the buckets of balloons and took off her sandals, then she grabbed a balloon. "Ready?"

"Nope!" I threw the balloon in my hand at her, then took off for one of the further buckets. Asami laughed as she came after me.

We chased each other around the battlefield for a few minutes, grabbing and throwing balloons as we could. I got Asami's arm and one of her legs, and she got the back of my shoulder and my hip before she finally caught up to me. On instinct, I immediately slid into a combat stance and smacked the arm holding another balloon that would have hit my chest away, then brought my leg up to hit her side (I'd taken off my boots earlier, so I didn't have to worry about really hurting her). She powered through it, grabbed my arm, and pulled me closer, elbowing me in the gut. I grabbed that arm and dropped back into a roll, sending her over my head and she let go of me. We pushed ourselves to our feet, and Asami started off with a kick towards my head. I dodged back, then grabbed her other leg as she brought it around, pushing it the other way, then reaching for her shoulder and turning her, intending to drive my knee into her gut. Instead, she caught my wrist and kicked at my shoulder. I dropped down and twisted my arm, breaking from her grasp, and rolled away to get back to my feet.

"What was your mistake there, Alison?" she asked me, settling into a ready stance, completely ignoring the grass and mud that now stained her white jeans. Not that my legs were much better, but I could be sprayed off with the hose.

"I should have gone for your back, gotten you on the ground and tried to pin you," I said. "And of course there was challenging you in the first place."

Asami laughed and dropped out of stance. "There was that. Good job there. You're really coming along."

I smiled back. "Thanks. Of course, it's only cause I have a great teacher."

A little body tackled my side, and I looked down to see Nicky with stars in his eyes. "That was so cool! How'd you learn that?!"

"Asami taught me, with some help from Ben, Cade, and Sadie," I said.

"Really?" Laura asked. "That's so cool!" She seemed to have a sudden idea, and whispered something to Nicky, who nodded and the two ran off together, as Uncle Ben walked over.

"Well, that was unexpected," he said. "I didn't know you were learning self-defence, Alison."

"I only started it after Thanksgiving last year," I said. "Asami happily offered to be my and Mikaela's teacher when I asked around, and, well, you saw the results."

"I certainly did," he said. "You did very well, Asami."

Asami smiled. "I only taught, Alison did the hard work."

Laura and Nicky returned, dragging Bee, Cade and Mikaela behind them (I spotted Arcee talking with Aunt Beth and Mikey, so they didn't bother her). The two insisted that they and Asami show off their skill, and after some convincing on Cade's part, the guys agreed, while Mikaela insisted she'd just be watching. We grabbed the cones we'd used as bases in baseball to mark out a "ring" and Uncle Ben agreed to ref, timing the matches to five minutes each. Bee and Cade went first, while Asami went to change into something more suited for rough housing (and Aunt Josephine followed to throw the dirty clothes in the wash. She had a magical stain remover people would die for). Cade ended up winning his and Bee's spar, pinning him to the ground after a failed grapple on my amanti's part. He then went against Asami, and like their first spar and the intermittent ones since, they were extremely close the whole match, before Cade managed to scrape a victory by ring out. Asami and Bee then went, and once again, my amanti was pinned after Asami turned an open palm strike against his lower back into a tickle attack and he flinched just enough to get knocked off balance. The watching crowd cheered for them, then Uncle Sparkplug announced they were firing up the grills.

Mealtime was just as hectic as the earlier play time, just with food, begging dogs, and setting up tents for anyone who wanted to camp out for the night added to the mix. There was no definite winner of the grilling competition, except everyone who got to eat the food. As people were finishing up, a couple of little campfires were started, and the fireworks set up to be ready for launch. Makings for S'mores were distributed and a couple of people pulled out instruments to play. I dashed back to my room to grab my guitar before joining my circle at one of the fires.

I hadn't had as much time to practice my guitar as I might have preferred, but I managed to work my way through the traditional campfire songs without too much trouble. Then someone had the idea to let all the guitar players have solo songs, and someone suggested reverse alphabetical order, so naturally I was last. I considered "Time of Your Life", but a neighbor called Wyatt did that one first.

"Damn, I was gonna do that one," I said quietly, taking a skewer and stabbing a marshmallow to roast as he played.

"Got another one?" Mikaela asked. She and Bee were sharing a camp chair, she in his lap, while I was in the one next to them. She was holding their own skewered marshmallows. Arcee was on my other side, just eating a chocolate bar, and Cade and Miles were next to each other with Asami on their other side.

"Oh, I don't know," I said, thinking what songs I could play. "'Every Time We Touch' doesn't really fit, and 'Before It's Too Late' is our song, and I don't feel like sharing."

"Me neither," Bee said, and Mikaela kissed his cheek.

Arcee thought for a moment. "Hmm, what about that one you were gonna play for Sides and Sunny's prank on Simmons when we get back?"

I thought for a moment, pulling. "You know what, why not? Be practice at least."

Spike played next, "Home" by Daughtry, then another neighbor did "Country Roads", and it was my turn. "Tell me if you recognize this one," I said, then went into the opening riff.

"There's a man who leads a life of danger
To everyone he meets he stays a stranger
With every move he makes another chance he takes
Odds are he won't live to see tomorrow

"Secret agent man, secret agent man
They've given you a number and taken away your name

"Beware of pretty faces that you find
A pretty face can hide an evil mind
Ah, be careful what you say
Or you'll give yourself away
Odds are you won't live to see tomorrow."

A couple people laughed at my song choice, and started to clap and sing along. I glanced at Asami, thinking she'd enjoy it since she knew who it was originally for. And she did smile at me, but before she noticed me looking, she had a bit of a frown on her face. And there was something in her eyes…. She almost seemed worried.

I had no more time to think about it, cause I got swept up into playing some more in between making S'mores, then the fireworks were set off. It was an impressive display for a private show, though when the high pitched shrieker ones went off Arcee and Bumblebee both flinched. Too much like Seeker missiles, perhaps. Once the show was over, parents went back to the cars to pull out sleeping bags and pillows and families divided up into tents. There was one extra when all was told, with Laura, Mikey and Nicky's pup tent had been transferred outside, and Bee, Mikaela and I decided to take it for ourselves after changing into PJs.

Our tent had an air mattress, and Bee, Mikaela and I collapsed into a pile on top of it, me in the middle and dragging the two of them closer to steal their body heat. Despite it being the middle of summer, it got cold once the sun went down.

"I'm a bit surprised no one made a fuss of us sharing a tent," Bumblebee commented, resting one arm over my stomach while propping his head on the other.

"These walls are so thin, anything more than a heavy make out will be heard by the whole camp," Mikaela pointed out. "At the very least, they're relying on our wish to spare innocent ears of things they should not know yet."

I giggled. "So make outs are not off the table?"

Mikaela answered me by straddling my leg and pressing me into the mattress with a kiss. I reached up and slid my fingers into her hair. Bee's hand was between our bodies and traced nonsense on our stomachs. Until I realized it wasn't nonsense, but cybertronian glyphs for love and affection. I turned to face him when Mikaela released my lips to kiss my jawline. "You're just a big sap, Bee."

He smiled and leaned in for a peck. "And you love me for it."

I smiled back and pulled him back for a more extensive kiss, which only ended when Mikaela shifted and her thigh pressed against me and I moaned.

Mikaela pushed herself up, smiling as her hair fell like a curtain on the right side of her face. "Shh. Innocent ears, Alison."

I groaned and pushed up on her shoulders, rolling her over so I was on top. "You are a temptress and a vixen."

"Always." She wrapped her arms around my neck and brought her knee up. "Am I succeeding in my seduction?"

"Oh you're coming really close." I leaned down and nuzzled the side of her head. "I'm just not quite ready for that yet."

She sighed but nodded. "Alright. God, you're killing me, making a girl wait so long."

"And you still love her enough to wait," Bee pointed out, smiling at us.

"Yeah, I do." She turned us so we were on our sides, and Bee tucked himself at my back, head on my shoulder, one arm wrapping around my waist while the other rested on Mikaela's hip. He made a brief proxy to cover us with the blanket, then dissipated it.

"Whenever you're ready," Bee affirmed, kissing my cheek.

I smiled and squeezed the hand he had on me. "Thank you, both of you."

Mikaela snuggled close, shifting to rest her head on my chest. "Love you both."

"Love you two," Bee said.

"Love you three," I finished. Not long after that, we all fell asleep.

The morning after the Fourth was a slow start. I was the first one up in my tent, thanks to my lowered sleep requirements, and carefully detangled myself from the pile to go to the bathroom. A look at my phone while I pulled on my boots told me it was eight o'clock, and when I stepped out of the tent, I only saw Charlie walking back to the camper and Spike poking at the fire which was just starting to catch again.

"Sleep well?" Spike asked.

"Like a rock," I said. "Anyone else up?"

"Mom and Aunt Beth are in the kitchen and Dad, Sam and Uncle David are taking care of the cows." He pulled out a cast iron pan and set it on the stand over the pit. "I got tagged for breakfast duty."

"What is breakfast?"

"Fire cooked bacon and sausage and stove cooked pancakes and eggs if you're willing to wait. If not, there's cereal, muffins, granola and yogurt in the kitchens."

My stomach growled at the thought of that bounty. "Thanks, that sounds perfect." I hit the bathroom for a quick shower, then changed into clean clothes for the day; my boots, a pair of flare jeans, a black tank top, and a v-neck mint green and dark blue striped long sleeve shirt. I also slipped on Bee's bracelet and my dog tags, as always, and pulled my hair back into a braid.

I had a muffin and a cup of yogurt while waiting for breakfast and Mikaela, Bee, Arcee, Miles and Cade joined me before too long, the smell of bacon and sausage waking most of the campers.

Breakfast was a long, loud affair with people rotating between the main house and the guest house for the various offerings and to get dressed. Even when it was over (aka the last of the cooked food was demolished), very few people wanted to leave and so games and a couple swimming groups broke out again.

I just finished wrestling with Bee and some of the kids after a game of pretending to be monsters and chasing the "princesses and knights" when Asami came up to where we were flopped out on the grass. "You're both really slacking if some kids can take you down so easily," she said, looking down at me with a soft smile.

"Hey, never underestimate the mobbing power of a bunch of five to twelve year olds," I said, sitting up. As I did, I noticed her eyes had a similar look to the one she had last night at the campfire. "Are you okay?"

Her smile slipped away, even as she offered me a hand to help me up. "I'm… I actually wanted to talk to you about something… personal."

That caught my interest as I caught her hand and Bee pushed himself to his feet. "Sure. We can use one of the bedrooms, maybe have Bee stand guard."

"You mind if we take a drive and talk instead? You know I relax more while driving." She looked at Bee. "You can follow behind if you want."

Bee nodded. "What'll we tell everyone though?"

"Let's say I got a call about something for my house and I asked you to help me move it. You're driving up cause there won't be room for a third person in my car with it in the back."

"Works for me," I said. "Just let me grab my purse and kiss Mikaela goodbye."

Bee and I explained what Asami had said and while Mikaela pouted a little at being left behind, she promised to pass the explanation to anyone who asked. Asami and I climbed into her Charger and pulled out the drive, Bee following behind us.

We traveled in a fairly tense silence for a few minutes, heading away from the town, towards where there was open farmland and some wooded areas.

Asami's fingers tapped on her steering wheel as she kept looking ahead, sparing an occasional glance at me. I wanted to ask her what was on her mind, but I decided to let her speak when she was ready.

"Alison," she finally said after nearly 20 minutes. "I…." She trailed off, as if trying to figure how to put into words what was in her head. "Sorry, it's just hard to know where to start."

"The beginning?" I joked, which did get a laugh from her.

"That could be a good spot to start. I've been thinking a lot recently."

"About?"

"Several things. Mostly about... about how much your friendship means to me."

I smiled at her. "You mean a lot to me too, Asami. You feel like a big sister."

She smiled but it looked a hint sad. "Never had a little sister but… yeah, that could be a good way to describe it. Never thought I'd get that close to anyone."

"Really?"

She shook her head. "I've other friends but they're more passive friendships. I rarely really let people close to the real me. It… makes things easier down the line. Yet I can't help but open up to you."

"I guess I can understand that. Holding others back, it's harder to get hurt. What changed with me?"

"I don't know, honestly. Maybe getting lonely and soft. Maybe your infectiously optimistic nature. Maybe you opened my eyes that sometimes there are other options than the most direct. Especially after you trusted me enough to bring me into your inner circle about the timelines."

"Well, after all the time we've spent together, if I can't trust you, who can I?"

She turned her eyes from the road to me, holding it longer than she probably should have. "You really shouldn't."

I blinked, and started to hear the blood rushing in my ears. "What?"

"I've been-SHIT!" Her words were suddenly cut off as the road just a little ahead of us exploded. She swerved hard to just barely avoid the crater, causing me to nearly slam into the door despite my seatbelt. "Shit! Hold on!"

I held on as best I could, my hand blindly digging in my purse for my comm. I managed to grab it and turn it on before calling for Bee. "Bee, what is it?"

"It's Starscream! And at least four- five- six Cons! How the frag did they get here without us knowing?" I could see him in the rearview, following as Asami kept taking evasive maneuvers.

"Arcee and Cade-"

"We're on our way, Alison," Arcee's voice came on. "Just-"

"SLAG!" Cade's voice broke through, and I thought I heard a transformation noise. "Everyone get inside! Get out of the way!"

"Cade!" All I got was a couple of cannon shots and some screams, then the line cut, static replacing the noise. "Cade, Arcee, please respond!" Nothing, but the rush in my ears, which I quickly realized was not blood, but lots of displaced air.

Asami slammed on the gas, tearing us down the road. I got a glimpse of a jet out the window before it disappeared into the clouds with another sweep of sound, which lessened but didn't disappear like last time. "It's got to be Starscream's team."

"How the hell did they know where we were?"

"I don't know- Fuck, the parade. They must have seen one of us in the local news from it." She gritted her teeth. "Of course, Soundwave would've been scanning the newscasts."

Soundwave. Shit, how could I forget. "And we just gave them the perfect opening to attack. Shit!"

Asami swerved again, dodging another shot tearing up the road just ahead of us. "Bee, how close are they?"

"Maybe two minutes, for the grounders. I'm only registering two jets, but they keep flying in and out of my range, I can't track them."

"Why are they shooting at us?" I asked as I gripped the crash bar to keep from being flung around on the next swerve. "I thought they wanted me alive."

"They probably think you're in Bee," Asami said. "Probably hoping I'll crash and stop him, or he'll transform to help and expose you."

"Well what can we do?" I craned my neck around, trying to catch a glimpse of the approaching 'Cons. "I can't see any 'Cons to even attempt sending an EMP or energon globe."

"They're way closer than you think."

Despite what she said, I couldn't see anyone, and the only signs of our pursuit remained the explosions destroying the road. We went around a sharp bend in the road, and saw a bridge. Or rather the remains of one that was now a heap of twisted metal half collapsed into the river.

I nearly choked from how hard I slammed against my seatbelt as Asami slammed the brakes and swerved to a screeching halt, not even ten feet from the edge of the river. Bee managed to stop quicker, and transformed, blasters active.

"No," I breathed as I stared at the wreckage. "Shit!"

"Shit is right," Asami said.

"Run!" Bee shouted to us. "Get out of here, both of you! I'll hold them off!"

"Bee, no!" My hand went to my buckle to get out, but the stupid thing wouldn't release.

"Bee, you're going to get yourself killed," Asami yelled at him.

"I'm not letting them get you two," Bee said.

"And I can't leave you behind, Bee!" I kept yanking at my seatbelt. Why won't this damn thing release!?

"I'm your Guardian." He spared a moment to glance down at me. "It's my job."

"Bee, you damn noble-" I started charging an energon globe in my hand. Screw it, I'm gonna melt this belt and give Asami a refund for it.

Asami caught my arm before I could, her grip tight enough around my wrist it actually hurt and I lost concentration. I tried to yank my arm free. "Asami, what are you-"

I cut off when I felt it.

A new EM field springing to life, not one nearby, but one completely surrounding me. I barely had time to realize what that meant before everything around me began shifting on itself. I'm pretty sure I screamed, thinking for a terrified moment that I'd be crushed as the Charger transformed around me. In moments, I found myself held in a servo, my arms pinned against my sides.

Bee had started to turn around, shock in both his EM field and expression. I could only see it for a brief moment, before the 'Con who held me lunged forward. Their free arm reached out and they hit Bee in his side with an open servo. I heard the loud crack of electricity as it connected and sparks flashed all over Bee's frame as he gave out a pained cry.

"NO!" I screamed, helpless to do anything but watch as Bee collapsed. I could barely feel his EM field as he lay motionless on the ground. I struggled against the 'Con's grip, trying to find enough of an opening to try to form an energon globe or an EMP. The 'Con stepped around him and with a hard kick, knocked him into the wreckage of the bridge.

My throat was seized with choked sobs. I had to get to Bee before he died, but the 'Con was holding me so tight I could barely move. I reached back for the AllSpark, tapping into Her power. I tried to twist my arm so my palm could touch their plating. If I could generate energon on my palm, I could melt their plating to give me some more room to move. If I could just get them to open their servo enough for me to slip an arm out, I could potentially get an EMP or energon burst on their face and-

My thoughts cut off as the 'Con squeezed one of their digits tighter, the digit that wrapped around my waist and hips and, more importantly, my wrists. My hands were forced against my legs and I shouted as what energon I had managed to gather burned through my pants, getting reabsorbed through my skin.

The AllSpark stepped forward then, turning our head to look up at the 'Con. "~My child, why do you do this?~"

The 'Con didn't have time to give us an answer before I heard the terribly familiar sound of a jet approaching. Starscream dropped down in front of us, tearing up what little of the road was still intact, and pointed his missile launcher at us. "Hand over the human," he ordered.

"I think not, Commander." The 'Con spoke with Asami's voice, except it now had the reverb I had grown used to hearing in the 'Bots' voices. It felt wrong to hear it now. "I have to admit though, herding us to a dead end was a rather clever tactic. Shatter's plan?"

Starscream seemed to recognize the femme, if the shock on his face meant anything. "I-Impossible! You were left back on Cybertron!"

"Yes, I was." The sound of contempt in their voice was painfully clear. "But after your incompetence forced the Nemesis back, Shockwave graciously granted me a ship so I might continue the search for our lord and the AllSpark."

Starscream's shock was replaced by anger, as he lowered his arm. "And where have you been? When did you arrive? Why hadn't you reported in?"

"I'll brief you later on your ship." The 'Con glanced at me from the corner of their optics. "It is not a conversation to be having in the open, or in front of the Bearer."

Their digits squeezed just the slightest, and I screamed as electricity started jolting through my body. I convulsed once, twice, then in the middle of the third, the world went dark.

*Stands on a wall arms spread like Samuel the Lamanite* I regret nothing!

So what did you all think of that twist ending? Who is this femme pretending to be Asami? Is Bee alright? What will happen to Alison now? Find out next time!

EDIT: Forgot to mention, I have graphics for the Fourth of July celebration, the kidnapping, and prom linked on my profile, so feel free to check them out.

Guest Review Replies

Guest 1 (CH 30): Sorry, just checked back in (distracted by RWBY). And I have one sentence. WHAT THE FREAKING HECK?! Sorry. Just, a little weirded out. Great story still. Keep up the good work!:);)
I guess I can understand, triad relationships aren't mainstream yet, so it can be a bit odd to those who aren't used to them. Hope that doesn't stop you from reading. And I also understand distracted by RWBY, I'm way behind myself (only finished Vol 2 recently) but my brother is keeping up and he was very excited by Vol 7.

I'll see you all next week, same 'Bot Time, same 'Bot Channel!