It took time for Mr. Qualm to drive around and find her place. Often times he had been told he was bad with navigating. Well, that's what GPS devices were for. And yet each one failed for him. He sighed as he saw the house in view and pulled over. Leaning into the back, he pulled over his case and stepped out of his car. The house was small and quant looking. Something he did and yet didn't expect. Though it did seem strange that after all of this time, this was how he was going to be introduced to her home. Certainly not the most professional way, and not the way he had imagined either.

Stepping closer to the door, he could hear the voices of the metal beings protesting as they called for food. Wonderful. In all of his years, he never thought that the haunting voices of those creatures would never pernitrate his hearing ever again. Looking into the reflection of a window, he saw his frown show. No, this was the wrong expression to have. Shaking his head, Mr. Qualm swiftly placed on a happy smile and rang the doorbell.

It didn't take long before he heard the voices of Jack and Echo calling to each other. He certainly was keeping his smile on now. As soon as the door opened, he was ready for action. To his shock, Jack was the one who answered the door. Would explain the extra car.

"Good noon, Jackie," Mr. Qualm said with a chipper tone. A sudden hush took over the interior and silenced the chanting.

"Uh, yeah," Jack said, "come on in, Echo is getting ready."

Slowly stepping in, Mr. Qualm took a moment to examine the boy to assess the condition they were in. Seeing his clothes and many wounds, this was certainly worse than he thought. Perhaps those miniature invaders were prepared this time. Which got him thinking back to the earlier call, seeing why Echo might have been upset. The door closes behind him and the two walk inside as he looks around. Once they made it to the kitchen, the whole room was filled with whispers and murmurs.

"It's him."

"What's he doing here?"

"Dibs on killing him."

They all had a few choice words to say, but wouldn't dare say anything aloud. Mr. Qualm kept a close eye on them as to watch them for any sort of attacks. Counting in his head, there was one missing. He knew well who it was.

"If I may ask, where is Skywarp," Mr. Qualm said.

Jack took a moment to think as he was wondering which one he was talking about, but then it was clear which one was in question. "I saw him earlier. He was drinking blue stuff before the whole group went beserk."

"Ah, they haven't had their refuel time yet. That would explain it," replied Mr. Qualm.

Opening his case, he pulled out some scrap metals that he slipped into the cracks of the cages. Each of the small bots either shared their spoils or fought over them. It was certainly weird to see them being fed like animals, and even stranger when the Autobots tried to see if they could save some for later. All acting as though it were routine.

It didn't take long for the moment to be interrupted by a happy tone exiting from the bathroom. "Oh there you are," Echo began, "finally my day is saved!"

"Awww, you're happy to see me," Mr. Qualm said with eagerness.

"Happy to see ya take them away," she replied, "now then, let's load them into your car."

"Whoa, hold on, I never said I was taking them. I came to help you get situated."

Just like that, she was losing hope again. "I-wh-you-they . . . I can't be the only one who thinks this is not okay!"

"You're not alone," Jack said, "this was a dirty move."

Mr. Qualm shook his head. "I know I should have been honest, but I can't keep taking care of them and I need someone to do so. You were the best choice out of all of the employee's."

"You didn't even give me a choice," Echo shouted.

"I had little time and one window. So let's not dwell on the past."

"We're dwelling on the present mistake that you need to fix!"

"Please let's not make this into a fight."

"You're gonna get one no matter what you say!"

Swiftly, Jack got in between them before Echo could make the situation worse. Mr. Qualm noticed that she was cleaned up more than Jack, but could see the scrapes and bruises that remained. It certainly made the man course, yearning to give these pint sized robots a piece of his mind. But it all changed as Jack turned to face his boss.

"Mr. Qualm," Jack said, "unless there was a real reason you did this, I don't see why you can't just take them back."

Taking a deep breath, he took a moment before responding. "Can we speak in private? I would like it if they were not listening."

Echo sighed as she lead him to another room. Jack followed to hear him out. The three entered into the bedroom, which was still a mess, and waited for a reply. Mr. Qualm-Victor merely took a breath and looked them in the eyes. "I know I messed up on this one. And I have only one reason why I did this. To explain that would take forever and would not end well, so, my answer to you is that I have no real reason."

"Then why won't you take them," Echo stated.

"Because it would go against everything I have been trying to work towards for seven years."

"Wait, seven years? You had them for seven years," Jack asked, feeling really unsettled about this fact.

"Yes, and before you ask, I do not intend for you to go through that same hell as I did."

Echo shook her head in confusion. "Then what do you want from me?"

"I need you to hold onto them for only a few months. After that, they will be out of your hair forever," Victor said.

"A few months!? Of this crazy stuff!?" Echo nearly shouted with that statement.

"I will send you someone to repair your home, and not to mention if you need days off from work, consider it a paid vacation."

"It feels more like a second job. You know they tried to kill me, right?"

"Yet you are the only one I know that can handle this."

"Why? Why me?"

Victor took hold of Echo's shoulder's and stared right into her eyes. "For the short time that I have known you from working at my shop, I have learned that you are a person who can do amazing things. Perhaps this is reaching, but I know that you have something that can keep these things at bay and keep human kind safe. All I ask is that you don't make the mistake of letting them loose."

It was tense. It almost felt like a large weight of responsibility was being placed on her. And Echo hated it. Yet as she looked at the door and at her floor, the destruction did seem to get her thinking about something. What if they could do more? They were once huge creatures. Was there a reason why they were shrunk down? She wanted to know, but something about this still seemed fishy. Something that she knew was bad, and he had something to do with it.

"Alright. A few months and no more! I don't like this, but if you really are gonna pay me when I ask off, I am gonna ask that we negotiate something."

"No worries, I have my ways to make this work."

Time had passed since the visit with Mr. Qualm. The robots were unhappy to hear that they were still going to remain in their cells for the rest of the day. But Echo did promise that there would be a chat with them in the morning to discuss an agreement with the leaders of the factions. She was finally catching on. Jack did assist with setting up and reading through with some of the book, finding the instructions a little difficult to understand at first, but thankfully, Mr. Qualm assisted them as much as possible before he left.

By the end of the day, Jack had left Echo hesitantly, but she insisted it to try and gain control over this by herself. A poor choice, but she did not give him any options to change her mind. It was finally late as she soon got prepared for her nightly stasis lock. By the time that happened, they were instructed that they would not disturb her until it was truly morning. While many wanted to rebel, Optimus and Megatron cooperated with her. Once she was out of it however, Skywarp found himself to be at work as he silently teleporting Megatron away. No one said a thing as soon Optimus was approached by him.

"Megatron requests an audience with you," Skywarp said, mocking a formality.

While the Prime was hesitant at first, he knew there was little choice as he was teleported into the bed chamber. Echo had decided to sleep in the living room as she did not want to sleep in an energon stained bed. Megatron and Optimus stared at each other as they stood on the floor of the room.

"What is it that you want, Megatron," Optimus asked.

"A negotiation amongst each other," he replied.

" . . . Describe what you are-"

"You know as well as I do this is humiliating. To be left at the mercy of a human."

"It was your choice to cooperate with her."

"It has the advantage over us. If you could not observe, we were used like hostages only a short moment ago."

Prime was aware of what he was talking about. Though he did not hold a similar pride as the Decepticon did. "If I may remind you, it was your actions that lead to this. You were the ones who attacked the humans first."

"And yet you attacked us, increasing the hostility of the situation. Face it, we have both dug the hole far too deep now to escape. At least, not in a way one would think. Shockwave and I only had a short moment of discussion before the organic awoke this morning. There is a possibility that with the right equipment, we can construct a groundbridge back to Cybertron, where we can begin to reverse this disgusting effect."

Hearing this, the Prime was in shock. "Is it truly possible?"

"Only if we unite this one time. Once we create it, we can leave this planet for good, and escape the inhabitance of their kind."

"How do I know you are not tricking me into assist a scheme of revenge?"

"Trust me Prime, you will never know."

The statement did reign true. There was little time for them to react. If there truly was a window for them, they either had to react fast, or choose to continue this cycle. Echo did not seem malicious, only focused on trying to survive her world. In the end, what Megatron was suggesting was trying to escape the humans without them knowing.

"Victor will know. He always does," the Prime commented.

"Then he will have to witness his defeat as we leave him in our dust. Prime, this is for our survival. I could care less who did this to us. All I want is a chance to leave this horrible memory behind us."

With nothing else left to say about this, the Prime turned around and thought long and hard about his next words. He either chose to help his people or doom them all. Victor would be a problem. He was an enemy to them all. But in the end, Optimus turned around and shook the hand of the tyrant. It was a deal.

Sorry this took so long, I had a lot going on in IRL. Not to mention I had to properly rewrite this a few times before I got it just right. From this point on, it will be bridging story with shenanigan's. That isn't a spoiler, but merely a peak into the next chapters. Hopefully I can get through this fic without losing hope for it. I already have three to five ideas for chapters stored away and I cannot wait for it all to come true. So hopefully you will keep an eye out for those soon, cause I will not make you wait too long for them.

Until then, I am rising up and rolling out!