Hello everyone! Time for another chapter yay! This one has Megatron in it finally. Can you believe we're nineteen chapters into a Transformers Prime fanfic and we've yet to meet him? That's just crazy. But he is here now so woo-hoo lol.

Now then, let us continue on with the story. This is my disclaimer that I own nothing. NOTHING!

Chapter Nineteen:

Today was my birthday.

I was brought into this world exactly twenty-two years ago. For most people, they're birthday is a celebration of their life. It was typically a happy occasion with birthday cakes, presents, and family togetherness. However for me, this day was a reminder of being abandoned by my parents for the majority of my childhood. It wasn't something to celebrate, I must have wanted to forget it. That's why I never bothered to tell anyone what day it was on.

But, of course, I was friends with a tech savvy twelve years old. And Miko. So naturally everyone knew and decided it was the perfect occasion for a party. Yay me.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!"

The whole base was decorated from top to bottom with balloons, streamers, and signs. The whole team was there, including Lennox and Will. Even June had stopped by before her shift.

The humans stood around a table that held a collection of cupcakes, cookies, and other snack foods, as well as a giant, three-layered cake. Whoever had put this together had clearly gone all out. Another table was set up with sodas and a bowl of ice. There were also a half dozen pizzas.

As much as I hated my birthday, I was speechless by the effort they had put into this party for me. "Wow guys, this really is incredible but you didn't have to do this for me." I finally managed to say once the surprise had cleared up.

"Of course we did! It's your birthday after all!" Miko grinned as she skipped over to me and gave me a bone crushing hug. Jack and Raf quickly followed suit.

"I know, but I typically don't celebrate my birthday. You know it's attached to some pretty bad memories." I reminded her, though my smile never left my face. My friends really were the best.

Cliff's holoform appeared beside me to pull me into a one armed hug. "That's what makes this celebration that much more important. We want you to have only happy memories for your birthdays from now on. This is our first one together so we want to make it extra special."

I definitely did not tear up. Nope. Not even a little bit.

Miko proceeded to pull me over to the table with the pizza. "Food first and then we open presents! I'm so excited for you to open mine. It was pretty hard to get but I managed it and I just know you're going to love it so much!"

I grabbed a couple slices of pepperoni and a cheese cup before taking a seat at the table they'd set up for everyone. The bots, minus Optimus, were all using their holoforms to join us as well. The Prime was still present, but he was focused on reading a datapad rather than the festivities. I was grateful that he was here, at the very least. Typically whenever we had some kind of party, Optimus would either leave the room, or head out on patrol. I might not be as close to him as I was with some of the others, but I still cared for him. He was family.

Having such a large gathering meant that it got pretty loud. Everyone was talking and laughing with one another. It warmed my heart to see how happy everyone was together. This is what I had been missing while I was growing up- community, friendship, family, and love. All of these precious things that others took for granted. I know that I never would and I would do whatever it took to keep it. Because it was too important.

Sometimes I wondered what my life would be like if I'd never picked up the Allspark shard all those years ago. Would I have been happy? I remember feeling mostly joyful throughout my first nine years of life. My parents were loving, gentle people who spoiled me but still made sure I was generous and kind to others. We had a good life.

Then that fateful day happened and everything changed. I could vaguely recall the fear in my parents eyes when I would come out of a fit. They had had many late night arguments after I'd been sent to bed. There'd been so much apprehension and uncertainty during that time. I suppose that my grandparents' intervention had been the breaking point for

"Present time!" Miko cheered when everyone finished eating. We gathered around the final table. I was amazed at how many gifts there were, not used to this kind of generosity. When I lived in the mental hospital, my parents would send me a card and a little token gift for the holidays and my birthday. Even when I was released, we never did anything special. So this was definitely special.

I grabbed a small, neatly wrapped box that had a sparkly red bow on the top. There was a card attached by tape on the side 'To Jess, love Raf,' neatly scribbled on the envelope. The youngest of our group lit up when he realized I picked his first. Carefully, I detached the card and opened it first. Raf had handmade it with yellow construction paper and markers. There was a drawing of all the bots, the two other kids, and myself. In the picture, we were standing in a semicircle, holding a giant banner that said "HAPPY BIRTHDAY!"

"Aw, this is so going on the fridge in the kitchen!" I practically squealed. Rafs cheeks reddened, but he still had a pleased smile. I set the card on the table and then opened the gift. Inside was a pair of wireless, Bluetooth headphones. "Holy moly, Raf! This is awesome! How did you… these must have been expensive!"

Raf just shrugged. "I know you like to listen to music a lot, and I've seen you struggling with the wires while exercising and training. So I thought this would be a useful gift. And they really weren't too bad. Believe it or not, I'm pretty good at saving my allowances. This barely made a dent."

"Well then thank you very much. I love it!"

I picked out June's gift next. It was three long, rectangular boxes that were tied together with ribbon. I undid the top bow and opened the gift box. Inside was about four new shirts, all of them pretty but still casual. The next box contained a variety of pants, leggings and shorts. I was excited to try them all on. My wardrobe was very limited after all so new clothes were always a blessing. The final box contained a pair of sandals, flip flops and two different pairs of sneakers. I was floored with her generosity.

June smiled softly when I wrapped her in a hug and thanked her profusely. "Of course dear, you deserve to be spoiled a little. Besides, I've always wanted a girl to spoil with clothes and shoes. I love Jack, but he just doesn't have the appreciation for fashion like most girls do."

"Mom!"

She giggled and winked at her son before she turned back to me. "They should all fit. I was able to get your sizes from Ratchet. However if they don't, I saved the receipts so just don't take off the tags until you've tried them all on."

"Of course. Thank you so much June, I really appreciate these. I can't wait to try them all on!" I squealed happily. I wasn't one of those girls who thought fashion was everything, but I did enjoy wearing new clothes.

The next box I chose was long and narrow. The names written on it were Cliffjumper and Sideswipe. I thought it was pretty funny that Sunstreaker wasn't doing a gift with his brother, but I knew whatever my mentors had come up with would be interesting.

I was very surprised to open it up and see a pair of katanas. "Whoa." I gasped in awe. "They're beautiful."

Cliff and Sideswipes holoforms appeared beside me. The latter picked up one of the swords from the box and turned it over. "These are specially modified katanas, made of cybertronian metals. If you press this button right here-" He pointed towards the handle where I could see the slightly raised bump, "-it will become electrified. There's enough power in this thing to knock a Decepticon on his aft so be careful."

"This is a Cybertronian weapon. You trust me with this?" I asked, amazed. The Autobots refused to give any weapons to our military because of how violent the human race can be. So the fact that they were willing to give something like this to me was mind blowing.

Optimus knelt down then, a gentle smile on his face. "You have proven to be trustworthy several times, Jessica. I not only approve of you having this weapon, but I encouraged Cliffjumper and Sideswipe to make it. You are a part of this team. My gift to you isn't necessarily physical, but it is a recognition of your place in the Autobot faction. Normally we would do a Rite of the Autobrand ceremony, but given that you are human, that's not possible. Instead I will offer you a title amongst the Autobot ranks. We have an idea on how to have you carry the Autobot insignia, but you shall discover what that is later."

I was honestly in total shock. I knew I'd be working with the Autobot and human military, but I hadn't expected to actually be inducted into their ranks. Even as a Lieutenant, I wasn't technically part of the military. I was just a civilian with special clearances that granted me access to certain classified information- i.e. anything Cybertronian related.

"Optimus, I'm honored. I already consider you guys my family, nothing would make me happier than officially joining the team. " I informed him with a teary smile.

The Prime nodded. "Good. Autobots, let you now bear witness as I enlist this woman into the Autobot faction. Jessica Summers, do you swear to uphold the Autobot Code, not only when you are out in the field, but in your everyday life as long as you are a part of this war?"

"Yes, I swear."

"Good. Do any Autobots here have any reason why Miss Summers should not be allowed to join the team?"

No one said a word. In fact, they all looked just as happy as I was. They truly wanted me to be an Autobot. Me, a young human girl who was still wet behind the ears. There were no words to truly describe how I felt in that very moment.

"As the leader of the Autobots, I hereby name you Jessica, Ground Control Special Ops Captain and Medical Specialist. As the Allspark, we will look to you as both a leader, and a guardian. If anyone should question your authority, let those who are present now defend your honor and my judgement. Welcome to the Autobot ranks, Specialist Jessica." Optimus stood up once more and saluted me.

I blushed when the other Autobots followed suit, while the humans clapped and cheered. This day had been absolutely insane so far, and it was still so young. What more could happen to make it better?

"My gift is along the same lines as Prime. I've finally gotten permission to take you on as an apprentice. Some day you'll take on the responsibility of being the Autobot Ambassador. By making this official, you will be given a salary and a new title. So you're no longer Lieutenant Jessica Summers, you're Ambassador-in-Training Jessica Summers. We'll discuss your new salary at a later time. Now the boys upstairs understand you're currently in hiding because of the Decepticon threat, but eventually you'll have to start coming with me to meetings. The President and the Secretary of Defense are both very interested in meeting you."

"Whoa. That's… that's huge. And I have so many titles now, how am I supposed to keep up with all of them?" I chuckled good-naturedly. The fact that I'd one day meet the President was wild. I'd become such an important person to the Autobots in such a short amount of time. And to gain two new titles in one sitting? Insane.

Ambassador-in-training, Autobot Ground Control Special Ops Captain and Medical Specialist Jessica Summers, reporting for duty. Let's not forget that I was also the Allspark. I guess that could be thrown in after Autobot. Yeah- Ambassador-in-training, Autobot Allspark Ground Control Special Ops Captain and Medical Specialist Jessica Summers. What a mouthful.

Lennox cleared his throat to gain my attention before he handed me his own present. "Well it's kind of hard to go after that, but here's my gift."

I opened it up to several DVDs for a TV show that we had been recently discussing. It'd never seen it before and Lennox seemed to take a personal offense to this. He assured me that he would take care of the problem soon enough so that I could enjoy how amazing it was. I just laughed, "Thanks Lennox. Guess I'll have to watch this so I can know what the hell you're talking about during training."

His only reply was a sly wink.

First Aids gift was next. With a little help from Raf, he'd built me my own laptop. It was pretty much impervious to most hacks and viruses and had excellent speed, no matter how many programs, games, or files I put on it. I thanked him graciously. My last laptop had been left at my parents house when everything had gone to shit. It was collected for evidence by the feds and had yet to be released. I doubted that I'd ever see it again so this was pretty practical.

Sunstreaker nearly had me in tears with his gift. It was a giant canvas, which he had painted himself, of the Nevada desert at sunset. Colors of red and orange spread across the sky like cascades of fire, both rich and intense. Sand dunes and cacti stood dark against the horizon, complimenting the array of colors he painted. I'd never seen anything as beautiful as what he captured with just some paint and a brush. It was definitely getting hung up as a centerpiece in Cliff and I's room. "This is an amazing Sunstreaker. Thank you so much. You're really talented."

He just sorta grumbled and shrugged, but I could see the pleased smirk that tried to overtake his face.

Bee got me a dozen or so video games for everyone to play on the newly installed Xbox. It had taken some convincing, but the kids and I had talked Fowler and Prime into getting the gaming system only a week prior. The one system they had was so old and could only have up to two players at a time. This would allow more of us to play and we had more of a variety when it came to picking out a game.

When I opened Arcee's gift, I was one again stunned. She had gotten me a brand new violin. "I heard you talking to Cliff one day about how much you used to love playing the violin. I know your old one was left behind when you moved here from Colorado so I figured you would appreciate a new one."

Towards the end of my stay, the hospital had started allowing some of the patients to learn a musical instrument of their choice. I had chosen the violin and had picked up on it pretty quickly. When I was released, one of the first things I asked my parents for was my own instrument. They were all too happy to get it for me. Playing it had helped calm some of my racing thoughts, allowing me to drift away to the sound of calming musical notes.

That was the last of the gifts and I couldn't help but feel overwhelmed with love and appreciation for my family. This day had gone better than I had expected it too. I figured it would just be another day, with nothing special going on because I didn't like my birthday, nor did I find it important to celebrate. But this wonderful collection of Autobots and humans showed me how wrong I was.

"Thank you for this guys. I will never be able to find the words to express how grateful I am to have you all in my life." I told them, my voice choked up. Humans and holoforms alike surrounded me in one giant group hug. You practically feel the love pouring off of everyone in this room. The fact that all of these people gathered here were willing to get me a birthday gift was just extraordinary. I never felt more loved and cared for than I did at that moment.

The only ones left to receive a gift from were Jack, Miko, and Ratchet.

"So Miko and I went in together with your gift. We've already got it cleared and all planned on so you don't have to worry about anything when you open it." Jack explained as Miko handed me an envelope. She looked about ready to burst with excitement, which only served to intrigue me more.

I tore open too and pulled out the contents of my gift. To my surprise, there were three tickets to the upcoming Smash Monkeys concert. "No freaking way, are you serious!" I gasped with excitement.

"Yes! You, me and Jack are all going! It took a little convincing, but everyone agrees that you deserve this. Besides, Arcee, Bulkhead, Cliffjumper and the terror twins are all going, you know, just in case. It'll be so awesome!" Miko gestures wildly while practically spinning around the room. This has to be the best gift I'd ever been given.

I'd never been to a concert before but I've always wanted to. Who wouldn't want to see their favorite singers performing for them live. "Thank you, so much! You guys are all so awesome! This has already been better than every birthday put together. I love you guys so much." I sniffed.

Today really was the best birthday I have ever had.

XxRebelWriterxX

After the party was over and everyone had gone home, Cliff helped me move all of my gifts to our room. I was basically on Cloud 9 after the evening I had. Though one thing did bother me. I had gotten a gift from everyone except the bot that mattered more than anyone else. Ratchet. He had been quiet for most of the evening.

I knew we were on shaky terms, but I doubt that would be reason enough for him not to celebrate my birthday with everyone else. He had to have something planned. The only question was, what?

I didn't have to wait too long to find out. After we finished moving all my things, we returned to the front of the building where Ratchet was waiting. He seemed tense, almost anxious to see me. That certainly had me feeling curious.

"Jess, would you mind accompanying me for a drive?" He asked with a nervous smile. I nodded, almost a little too enthusiastically, with my own shy smile. Ratchet transformed into his vehicular form and popped open the passenger door so that I could climb in. I wasn't surprised to see his holoform already sitting there behind the wheel. We left the Silo, though we didn't go towards Jasper. Instead, Ratchet drove us further into the desert.

I was very curious as to where we were going. I'd never actually been inside Ratchet's alt-form before but it still felt comfortable, like I was home.

He always felt like home.

We drove in silence for a good twenty minutes before finally stopping. He'd brought me to the edge of a giant canyon. The sun was already beginning to sink into the horizon, casting an array of orange, red and pink colors across the sky, reminding me of the canvas Sunstreaker had given me. The view was absolutely breathtaking. "Wow." I whispered in awe.

"This is one of my favorite places to go whenever I need some time to myself." Ratchet spoke up, his voice thick with emotion. "I've seen many tragedies during this Primus forsaken war, and sometimes I just feel overwhelmed with it all. When I need to scream, or cry, or even just sit in silence to process everything that's happened, I come here."

Ratchet turned his head to look at me, his eyes shadowed with pain. My heart broke for him. "I understand that today was a success with our teammates but I can see the anguish in your eyes too. You're hurting, but you don't have to hide your pain from me, Jessica. I will always be on your side. So do what you need to do. Cry, scream, talk, or we can just sit here in silence until you're ready to go back home. Just let yourself feel those emotions before they overwhelm you and you snap."

I hadn't realized I started to cry until he reached forward and gently wiped a tear away. Just like that, it was like a dam had burst, all of the emotions I'd been burying all day hit me in tidal waves of grief. Ratchet opened his arms and I quickly latched onto him as if he were the one thing that could keep me from breaking into a million tiny pieces. He held me tightly, stroking my hair as he whispered that he was there for me and that it was okay to cry. And so I cried for so many things that it was impossible to know what hurt the most.

I cried for my shitty childhood,

I cried for my parents,

For hating them most of my life,

For the guilt I had about hating them no matter how much I was justified,

For their unnecessary deaths,

For causing their unnecessary deaths,

I cried for my unhealthy habit of pushing people away when they loved me,

For never trusting them,

For hurting them.

And finally I cried for loving someone with all my heart and soul,

For choosing not to be with him,

And for hurting him more times than I could count.

But most of all, I cried for Ratchet. Because, here we were. I had hurt him, over and over and over again. I've lied to him, pushed him away, and I've refused to love him. However, despite all of that, he was still right here, holding me in his arms, loving me more than I could ever possibly hope to deserve. He sacrificed his own happiness over and over again just to see me smile.

So I held him just a little tighter. Maybe I was taking advantage of his love, by allowing him to comfort me when I needed it the most. And perhaps I was giving him some kind of false hope for the future. Somehow though, I really didn't think this was true. I think we were meant to be in this moment together. I've never been one to believe in fate or destiny, even despite the fact that it straight up was mine to become the Allspark. But love was a different story. It was one that I believed wholeheartedly that only two people could write together. That was why Primus warned me against it. But I failed to heed that, and now we were in this situation.

The shirt of his holoform was now soaked through, but neither one of us cared. Because this was our moment. For just one minute, I was a normal girl, in the arms of a normal guy whom I loved more than my own life. Our story was our own, just as it was almost meant to be.

And just like that, another piece of the wall I had built so strongly around my heart fell away. For just one second, I could see a light at the end of this tunnel. It was one where we could finally be together, with no danger between us and nothing stopping us from our own perfect happily ever after. And I longed for this, more than anything.

Slowly, I began to calm down and my tears slowed to a near stop but I didn't move. I wanted this moment to last just a little longer, to live in this bubble that surrounded just the two of us. Ratchet seemed just as content as I was. His whispered assurances had stopped but he still had one hand braced against the back of my head and the other rubbing comforting circles on my back. His chin set atop my head, where he would occasionally kiss my hair.

Eventually I leaned back just far enough so I could look up into his eyes. His face was slightly blurred from residual tears, but I could still see all the love he had for me written clearly on his face. "Thank you, Ratch. How do you always seem to know exactly what I need?"

Ratchet smiled warmly. "I know everything about you, Jess. I love you."

My heart was bursting with affection for this guy. Everything in me screamed to kiss him. And I wanted to, so badly, but I just couldn't hurt him like that, not again. Because in that one perfect moment, I had realized something so very important. Something that could possibly change everything.

I wasn't just scared to be with Ratchet because I was the Allspark. I mean, that was still a very valid reason, but it wasn't actually what kept me away from him. What I was really scared of was falling in love. I was terrified of being so open and vulnerable with someone else, to give my entire heart and soul to them and hope that they loved me enough to take care of those things. Because loving someone, anyone, meant there was the potential of losing them, to heart break or to death.

And I just wasn't ready to face that. My whole life, I had to take care of myself. Being on my own meant I never had to concern myself with the well being of others. I wasn't ready to let someone into the wall I've built around my heart. I knew I loved Ratchet beyond anything I'd ever loved in my entire life. If there was someone whom I could trust with my entire heart and soul, it was him. But I just wasn't able to let him in. Not yet.

Maybe not ever.

That realization stung more than anything I'd ever felt, even more so than when I first told Ratchet we couldn't be together. Because now I realized it wasn't the Allspark that kept the two of us apart, it was my own selfish fears. I was hurting him because I couldn't give him the love he deserved, the love that he freely gave to me.

"I'm sorry Ratchet." He looked confused by my sudden apology and I smiled ruefully. "I've just realized something very important and now I don't know where to go from here. I've always felt so certain that keeping things platonic between us was the right way to go. I wanted to keep you safe. But now I realize it was never about that. It was about my own fears.

"You have to understand that I've had some pretty piss poor examples of love all my life. My family abandoned me, the one relationship I've had, the guy tried to kill me, and just when things were finally better between my parents and I, I watched them be killed by my enemies. The first healthy relationship I had was when Jack pulled me on top of a sentient motorcycle and I was introduced to you guys."

I sighed deeply, before looking away from his eyes and lying against his chest once more. I could hear a thrumming, no doubt a mimic of their spark beating. It was comforting, so I closed my eyes. He kissed my head again, but didn't say a word so I continued to talk. "A large part of me was terrified when I first realized I was falling in love with you. Not only were you from an entirely different planet, and like five times my height, but you had become my mentor and friend. I didn't want to ruin the friendship that we had been building. I still managed to do that, of course. I never hated myself more than when I saw that look of betrayal in your eyes and I hope it never happens again. I'll do my damnedest to always be truthful with you, that is a promise.

"Anyways, when I got kidnapped, that's when I finally accepted that I really loved you and that I had to tell you. I would've done whatever I had to to regain your trust so that we could be together.

Then my parents were killed. I told myself it was to keep you safe, but I think it was really to keep me safe. I was in so much pain that I locked away my heart and I threw away the key. I think some selfish part of me was just trying to protect my heart from any more pain. But it was silly and rash, and I'm sorry for that. Because the truth is, I do love you too Ratchet. I love you so much it hurts, but in a good way if that makes any sense."

I pulled away again, this time far enough that he had to let go. He watched me with a hesitantly hopeful smile. I couldn't help but return it with one of my own. "I want to be with you, but I still need some time. It's no longer about keeping you safe, I know you can take care of yourself and our family. This is all on me. I have to do some work on myself before I can commit to someone. I hope you can understand this but I really need to learn how to love myself enough to be able to open up before I can be with anyone. I don't want to ask you to wait for me, especially when I don't know how long it will take me to get there but…" I trailed off as I stared out into the desert.

Ratchet reached forward and tucked a stray hair behind one of my ears. Then he caressed my face, drawing my attention back to his eyes. "I would wait until the end of time for you, Jessica Summers."

My breath caught in my throat.

And maybe it was a bit rash, especially after the speech I'd just given, but I couldn't help throwing my arms around his neck and kissing him with every bit of spark I had in me. It wasn't a commitment and I knew that he knew this. It was a promise. And in that moment, I felt in my heart that everything would be alright.

Somehow I knew he felt it too.

We were on our way back to the base when Ratchet remembered he had a present for me. He reached into his glove box to pull out a wrapped box. I took it from his hands and beamed graciously at him.

Carefully, I took off the wrapping paper and opened the box to reveal my gift. I was in awe when I saw what it contained. "I made it myself, I do hope you like it." Ratchet mumbled nervously, his holoforms hands twisting nervously.

"Are you kidding? I love it!"

It was a silver chained pendant, shaped like the Autobot insignia. It felt light in my hands, but I had no doubt that it was made from only the best metals. I brushed my finger across the surface, admiring the amount of detail he'd put into it. This wasn't a project that took an hour and was deemed good enough. No, Ratchet really put some time and effort into creating this. And it was absolutely breathtaking.

"I figured that, since you were a part of the team, it was time you got something to show your Autobot affiliation. This was what Optimus had been talking about. I know some humans like to get tattoos, perhaps you had one day planned to get one, but I thought this would be enough for now. Besides, I-, uh well…"He trailed off, rubbing the back of his neck apprehensively. "I may have also added a tracking device. It can only be activated when you press this button right here." He pointed at a slightly raised area located in between the eyes of the insignia. "I designed the program myself, it should be impervious to most signal jammers and, so long as you are within the same galaxy as myself, I should be able to track you. It would ping an sos straight to my processor as soon as it was activated. I can also access its location if I truly needed to. But that I would never abuse that, nor would I want to invade your privacy. I just figured that, after your last two kidnappings, it might be best to have a way to find you."

I was grinning like an idiot, I just knew it. "Thanks Ratchet, I really appreciate it. This gift is perfect. Will you help me put it on?"

Ratchet took the chain from me and I turned my back to him. His arms reached around me and gently sweeped under my hair. I shivered when I felt him make contact with the skin of my neck. It was just a friendly gesture, yet there was something so intimate about a mech putting a necklace he made on the woman he loved. When he clasped it closed, I turned to face him once more. "Today has been the best birthday ever. Thank you for being there for me, Ratchet. Even after all the times I've pushed you away, you've always managed to be there when I needed you the most. I just hope you know how much I appreciate you."

He kissed my forehead gently. "I know, Jess. I've always known, no matter the state of things between us. And I appreciate every moment I spend with you."

XxRebelWriterxX

The following three weeks passed quickly and soon enough the day of the concert arrived. I was so excited to go out and do something normal for the first time in a very long time. The fact that it was something this fun with two of my best friends made it even more special. And while I didn't know too much about Smash Monkey (besides the songs that Miko had been blasting the past week straight to prepare for this), I knew we were going to have a great time. There was always the potential of the Decepticons finding us, but with five of our best bots, as well as Ratchet on Groundbridge standby, I felt confident that things would go without a hitch.

For now, though, we just counted down the hours till the concert began.

At this moment, we had accompanied our guardians to an energon mine that they had discovered recently. It had clearly been occupied already, no doubt the Decepticons had found it before us. But they were getting a faint signal from within and, with supplies running low, they needed to check out any potential resources they came across. Theoretically, I should be able to use my powers to create energon. However I had no clue how to do that and Primus hadn't said a word to me in months. I was basically on my own it seemed.

Miko, Jack and I were told to stay outside while our guardians checked out the mine. It was possibly unstable. The bots had a higher chance of surviving a cave-in should one occur so it made sense why we wouldn't be able to accompany them. And I had my comm link and necklace in case we needed any help. Miko, of course, was not happy to be excluded from the mining exploration and made sure Jack and I knew it. "We're supposed to be at a rock concert, but all I see is rock." She complained in a whiny tone.

"Relax, Miko, the show doesn't even start for another two hours." Jack reminded her with a bored yawn.

Miko was not impressed. "Do you know how long I've wanted to see Slash Monkey?" Jack and I just stared at her. "Forever! And it's their only U.S. date!"

"Who doesn't love obscure Bulgarian shriek metal?" Jack muttered, much to my amusement. Miko sure did have interesting taste in music but I couldn't complain much. I listened to a variety of different genres, including her least favorite- country. Everyone had different tastes but I'm just excited to see a concert for the first time ever with two of my favorite humans.

The clanking sound of metallic footsteps brought our conversation to a close. Our attention was redirected to our Autobot friends, who were all focused on the energon detector that was beeping steadily in Bulkhead's hands. "By all appearances, the mine has been stripped." Arcee was telling the other two bots.

"Yeah but I'm still getting a signal. It's faint, but it's definitely energon." Bulkhead replied with a puzzled frown directed at the device. I faintly heard Mikos amazed 'whoa' but focus was on my teammates.

"Doesn't make sense. This operation has been abandoned for four, maybe even five years! And Decepticons never leave energon behind." Cliffjumper added, looking just as confused as the other two Autobots. It was curious that they would abandon a mine that still had energon in it. The Cons would not want us to get even a little bit of it if they could prevent it.

"Um guys…" Jack spoke up wearily. I followed his line of sight to see Miko running into the cave, exclaiming how cool it was. We watched her until she faded from view, before Arcee grumbled about how it was unbelievable that she'd run in. I snorted when Jack replied with, "Really? Have you met her?"

Bulkhead groaned before taking off after her. "Miko, get back here!"

I skipped over to Cliff and grinned mischievously at him. "You knooow, it would be cool to see the inside of a massive cave. I've never been in one before, err…" I tugged at the ends of my hair,the memory of the first time I met Cliff replayed in my mind. "That is, when I wasn't in a life or death kinda situation."

Cliffjumper crossed his arms. "A stripped mine could easily cause a life or death situation, you know. They're structurally unstable."

"We promise to step lightly." Jack assured Cliff, and Arcee by extension. Our two guardians shared a look, no doubt they were communicating via their private comm systems. Jack and I waited with bated breaths for their verdict. I really hoped they would say yes, especially since Miko got to go. Granted she took off without permission but still… I wanted to see the mines dammit!

Finally though, they both relented on the promise that Jack and I didn't tell June or Ratchet respectively. That was fair enough so Jack and I cheered victoriously before we carefully scaled down the rocks that we had been perched on. The mines were going to be pretty interesting to walk through and we were ready to go.

Once we got a little ways in, Arcee attempted to call Bulkhead, but she was unable to. "The mineral composition down here is causing interference." She explained. That didn't sound very good. However she didn't seem overly concerned about it, just annoyed at the lack of proper communication methods.

We trudged on through the cavern, keeping our eyes and ears (or optics and audio receptors) opened for any clues as to where our missing friends had gotten too. It was quiet however, almost eerily so. I half expected something to pop up out of nowhere and surprise us. Or maybe it's just been watching too many horror movies with Miko lately. I shivered, at both the chilly atmosphere and apprehension of the unknown.

It was maybe another twenty minutes into our walk when we picked up on some nearby voices. Thinking it was Bulkhead and Miko, Jack and I sped up just a little bit. I realized just how wrong we were a second too late. "You have ceased to be of use to me, Starscream. So you will simply cease to be." A chilling voice spoke to a cowering Starscream.

I did not recognize the bot who's blaster was pointed at my parents' murderer's spark, but somehow I instantly knew exactly who he was. I'd heard so many stories about Megatron but to be in the same location as him was enough to make my skin crawl. Just the sight of him had my heart racing in fear. I was nowhere near ready to tangle with the leader of the Decepticons, especially when all my weapons were back at the base.

Arcee and Cliff came up behind the two of us and that's when Megatron realized we were there. He growled, then raised his arm to begin shooting at us. Jack and I immediately dove for cover as our guardians returned fire. Over the sounds of plasma exploding rubble, I thought I heard Megatron call Starscream a coward. No doubt he'd taken off, leaving Megatron alone to deal with the Autobot 'nuisances'.

I looked around a rock in time to see Megatron shoot at the ceiling opposite of where my teammates were. My guess is that was the way Starscream had fled. However, Megatron seriously hadn't thought that through. The mines were already unstable from being stripped bare and it didn't appreciate being blasted. The next thing we knew, the ceiling and floors began crumbling all around us.

"JACK!" I screamed as rocks crashed down all around us. I saw Megatron get buried beneath multiple large rocks and Arcee and Cliffjumper disappeared in the smoke and chaos. I held Jack's arm tightly as everything crumbled all around us, burying us deeper in the mines.

Then, just as quickly as it began, everything settled around us.

Jack and I struggled to stand, knocking off any rubble that had managed to fall on us. Luckily neither of us seemed to be injured so that was a plus. However, there was absolutely no sight of Cliffjumper and Arcee. They'd both vanished. This was not good. "Come on, we have to try and find someone." I led Jack over the fallen rocks and onto some steadier ground.

"ARCEE…! CLIFFJUMPER…! BULKHEAD…! MIKO…!" Jack called for each of our friends but other than an echo, we received no reply. The two of us looked around desperately for an answer. Being trapped this far underground meant we had a limited air supply. We needed a plan fast.

The sound of a rock hitting something metallic drew our attention and, to our surprise, we saw some mining drills that were no doubt left by the Decepticons. "Well that could be useful." I pondered thoughtfully. Jack agreed with me so we walked over to it. Jack climbed up first before offering his hand to help me up. I could have just jumped up there, but I accepted it anyway. From there, we just needed to figure out how to work the controls. Luckily we'd been around the bots long enough to know how to work their technology.

Soon enough we had it started and we rolled out. Next stop, find our friends, wherever they might be. And hopefully we wouldn't run into any Decepticons, be it Megatron, Starscream, or some random drone.

Of course, fate was a funny, but cruel mistress, so the first being we found just had to be Megatron himself. "I suppose helping those less fortunate would be completely out of the question?" He asked as his optics roamed over Jack first and then myself. They seemed to light up with interest when he looked at me and I knew he recognized me right away. I glared challengingly at him, something that seemed to amuse him. "If that is the case, you might as well use your drill to finish me. I guarantee you will never have a better opportunity than right now."

"I wouldn't be so sure of that." I spoke up, without an ounce of fear in my voice. Something that I was actually very proud of because I was actually terrified at the sight of the war lord.

Megatron looked intrigued. "Is that so? Well then, perhaps you shouldn't kill me then. I'd love to have the opportunity to see you try and prove that to me. Then again, you might as well seize the glory right now. Optimus would, after all."

"No, he wouldn't." Jack replied firmly. I had no doubts he was right about that. Optimus would never kill a defenseless, unarmed opponent, even if they were Megatron. Jack began to back out but paused when Megatron began to laugh.

"You should have killed me human. Soon enough I will possess the Allspark." He grinned madly at me. "And then I will create my own army to exterminate all the Autobots and take over this despicable planet. If you had helped me, I would have let you live as my pet. Now I will kill you, slowly, in front of your friends and family. That is a promise I make you."

I glared fiercely at the Decepticon leader, not at all deterred or afraid of what he said. "You won't win this, Megatron. The bad guys always lose. Someday soon you will understand this." I turned away from him and gestured towards Jack. "Come on. Let's get out of here."

"I will be sure to share the details of our little conversation with Optimus- the day I rip out his spark." Megatron taunted us as we drove away from where he was trapped. "And we will meet again, Jessica Summers. It won't just be your parents who meet a gruesome end at the hands of the Decepticons, it will be everyone you know and love."

His words sent a shiver of fear down my spine, but I was not about to let him see that his words got to me. Instead I spun around to glared fiercely at him. "You can try, Megatron, but you won't succeed. I believe in my Autobot friends. Together we'll protect ourselves and one another. While there might always be a part of me that's terrified of you and all the Decepticons you lord over, I have zero doubts that my family will win this war. You will be defeated, it's only a matter of time." I growled with conviction.

Megatron seemed amused by my words. "You just keep telling yourself that, human." He laughed and the sound reverberated all around us. I just turned away from him and focused forward. Soon enough, he faded into the background but the intensity of the moment created a tension that stuck with us.

We always knew it was likely that Megatron would be after me, but to hear it confirmed from the source was honestly a little terrifying. Add on to the fact that he was right there, within meters of us, with no Autobot back up, I knew this encounter would be nightmare fuel for weeks to come. Even Jack looked shaken up. His shoulders were tense and his eyes darted suspiciously around the mines as if he expected a shadow to jump out at us at any moment. Honestly it was a fair conclusion, considering Starscream was possibly around here somewhere. Even the other Decepticons could show up at any time to help their master get free.

Funnily enough, it was because of Starscream that we found Bulkhead and Miko. He was threatening Miko, but Bulk wasn't letting him near her, despite the fact that he was stuck holding up a giant boulder. Jack and I exchanged a frown before he floored the drill, smashing into Starscream and throwing him into the wall on the other side of the cavern. "Jack, Jess, get Miko out of here! NOW!" Bulkhead ordered when he realized it was us.

I ran over to the edge and knelt down to offer my hand to Miko. She hesitated, her eyes watering as they darted back and forth between her guardian and me. Bulkhead yelled at her to run, causing her to let out a choked sob. "We can't leave Bulkhead." She cried as I pulled her onto the drill. Before I could reply, Starscream recovered so Jack reactivated the drill and drove backwards to get away. Miko was trembling beside me so I took her into my arms. It was only a slight comfort for the terrified girl. "Arcee and Cliffjumper will save him, won't they?" Miko whimpered.

"I don't know. Right now, however, we need to focus on escaping before Megatron digs himself free." I wish I had a better reply for her, but I didn't want to give her any false hope. For now we did need to focus on finding the exit and then calling base. I was worried about Cliff, but I had to have faith that he would be alright. Otherwise I'd be a mess just like Miko currently was.

Jack suddenly slammed the brakes on the drill, nearly causing us to lose our balance. His gasp of surprise filled me with a strange combination of hope and dread. Thankfully, the first won out when I looked up and saw that Arcee and Cliff had found us. Miko quickly directed them towards Bulkhead's trapped form and they took off to save him. I breathed a sigh of relief. Everything was gonna be okay.

A minute later, our three guardians reappeared but Starscream was nowhere to be seen. I realized instantly what they had done and snorted in amusement. I hope he had lots of fun holding up the cavern ceiling until his arms gave out. Miko cried out Bulk's name and ran over to hug his foot. He just laughed, looking relieved that it had all worked out.

"I suggest we all head out now before Megatron finds us." Arcee directed and everyone nodded in agreement.

I skipped over to Cliff, ready to greet him with my own hug before he transformed. However, just as I reached him, there was a loud bang and I was suddenly splashed with a familiar blue liquid. "CLIFFJUMPER!" I screamed when I realized he'd been shot.

My guardian stared at me in shock, as if he couldn't comprehend what had just happened. My blood pumped loudly in my ears as I watched in horror. Energon was spilling out of his wounded side in thick droves. He fell down to one knee as he tried to hold in his life source, but it spurted between his digits and drenched the cave floor. The last time I'd seen Cliff die, it had been after the fact. He'd been sliced up and turned into some kind of monster. I'd barely known him, so it didn't affect me then but this was agonizing to watch.

Arcee and Bulkhead returned fire, but I couldn't focus on who they were attacking. Everything seemed to be happening in slow motion. The cannon blasts could have been on the others of the cave. All I could see was my best friend, dying in front of me. "Jess, i-it's-" Cliff tried to say, but he started coughing up energon. "... M-M-Mega… Megat-tron. Run!" But I wasn't going to run when he needed me. I was the only one who could save his life. I just needed to trust that Arcee and Bulkhead could keep the Decepticon leader back long enough for me to save Cliffjumpers life.

I took a deep breath and flexed my hands, then reached down deep inside for my powers. Soon enough I could feel them thrumming at the tips of my fingers. My hands began glowing, lighting up the entire cave. Everyone paused and turned to face me as I reached towards Cliffjumper. It was the first time any of them had seen my powers in action. His optics were glitching as he fought to stay online. "You're going to be okay." I promised him before I touched the fatal wound and focused my powers on repairing the damage.

There was a strange lurch in my chest as soon as I touched him. It was painful, but tolerable. I watched as the metal of his side repaired itself. Then my powers spread beyond the wound, fixing up every scratch and dent he had once more. When it was finished, Cliff looked like a brand new bot once more.

I sighed in relief. He was okay.

"I swear to Primus, you are going to be the death of me Cliff." I grumbled, but I knew the grin on my face counteracted the annoyance in my tone. Cliff returned my smile, "That's what family is for, partner."

"Holy crap." Miko and Jack said simultaneously. I turned towards them and saw they both had equal looks of amazement on their faces.

"I know, pretty cool right." I smirked.

Then we heard someone chuckling. I turned towards the source and saw Megatron standing on the other side of the cave, a menacing grin on his face. "Fascinating," was all he said before he turned and walked in the direction that Starscream was located. I briefly wondered if he planned on finishing his execution.

Everyone was stunned for just one moment before we decided to get the heck out of there. The Autobots transformed and we quickly took our spots so we could exit that dreadful cave. Thankfully the drive didn't take too long and soon enough we made it back outside. As soon as we were clear, the bots stopped and allowed Jack, Miko and I out (or off in Jack's case) so that they could transform again. "We could finish them, here and now." Arcee remarked.

We all watched the entrance of the cave for a moment. "Shame we didn't bring any grenades." Bulkhead added, with a punch to his palm.

"Would Optimus finish them?" Jack wondered. I knew the answer would be no, not like this. Arcee did as well and said as much. Then Miko added that he probably wouldn't rescue them either. That we could all agree on.

"Let's go home."

XxRebelWriterxX

When we returned to the base, we were all immediately sent to the medical bay. Ratchet and First Aid wanted to look over us before we were allowed to go anywhere. Optimus joined us to debrief the team on what happened. Miko grumbled the entire time, the concert started in a half hour and she did not want to be late.

I was sitting on Cliff's shoulder when Ratchet scanned the two of us. Whatever came up must have really surprised him. "By the Allspark," he practically gasped, "You said you used your powers again, right?"

"Yes. Cliff was dying, so I had to do something." I replied with a nod. Ratchet looked completely lost as he scanned again, then a third time and a fourth. I was beginning to get really worried. "Ratchet, you're starting to scare me. What's going on? What do your scans show?"

He vented deeply and shook his head. "By all accounts, it doesn't make any sense. Though really, I should've expected it. I'd seen the changes that occurred each time you used your powers but this… this is just unbelievable…" He trailed off.

"Ratchet." Cliff warned, sounding both annoyed and concerned.

"I'm showing a ninety- nine point eight percent energon level in your bloodstream. It shouldn't be possible, but I'm not reading any human blood in your body. I don't understand how your organs haven't started shutting down. And there's some kind of strange energy level in your heart. I can't get a read on it, but I think you have a spark growing inside your heart." Ratchet explained gravely.

I blinked. "I'm sorry what?"

"What does that even mean, Ratchet? Is she growing a new spark for herself or is she having a sparkling?" Cliffjumper asked wearily.

"A what?" I practically squealed. Pretty sure I just lost all brain function. What was going on here? How has my life gotten to be this insane? I knew that Sparklings were baby Cybertronians but I wasn't sure what to think about the idea of me carrying one, especially in my heart? Like what?

Ratchet huffed. "It's more than likely her own spark. Unless she's merged with anyone's spark sometime within the past week or so, it's highly unlikely she's carrying a sparkling. Then again, this is completely outside my realm of knowledge. As the Allspark, it's completely possible Jessica could carry a sparkling without a sparkmate."

"What's a sparkmate?" Miko asked curiously. I'd forgotten that Jack and Miko were still here. They both looked equally confused, yet intrigued by the topic of conversation. I'm glad my messed up situation brought them some kind of interest, while I was sitting here internally freaking the freak out.

No one bothered to answer her.

"Ratchet, do you believe Jessica is in any danger?" Optimus asked, concerned.

The Autobot medic looked defeated. "I couldn't tell you for sure. This isn't something I've ever seen. I hardly know how to deal with human injuries. This is just madness."

"I feel fine right now. I'm sure Primus has a plan, we just have to have faith in him." I finally said. I was trying to sound upbeat and positive but I'm sure that fell flat. "Right now, I just want to go to the concert with Jack and Miko and pretend that I'm a normal person for a few short hours."

Normal. I need normal.

"Is that wise given your condition?" Optimus wondered.

I shrugged. "Maybe not. But I don't care. I'm going. Tomorrow we can discuss the next step. But for now, I just want to go to the Smash Money's concert with two of my best friends."

They were still a little hesitant but I was not taking no for an answer. I would walk there if I had too. But they finally agreed that I could go, with the condition that Ratchet tagged along as well so that he could monitor my condition.

That was fine with me. First, I needed to get a shower because I was once again covered in someone else's energon. I could feel a bubble of hysterical laughter threatening to burst out of my chest when I was finally alone. I just stood there for a moment, staring at the shower wall as the blistering hot water pelted my skin, numb to everything.

My emotions had been on a roller coaster for so long now, I wondered if I'd ever feel normal again. I doubted it. What was normal when you were caught between two worlds like I was. Being the Allspark meant that I could help so many bots and hopefully restore Cybertron some day. However, it also meant that I could feel my humanity slipping away. I was becoming something different, something strange and unbelievable.

When I left the shower, I quickly dried and changed into something acceptable for a concert. By the time I reached my friends, I had a smile on my face.

But inside I was falling to pieces.

Welcome to the end of yet another chapter. Hope you thought it was a good one. Poor Jess, she's basically going through an identity crisis. I don't blame her. Wouldn't you if you were born human and now you got some kind of cosmic force rewriting your entire dna? Just wait until she does become a Cybertronian. That should be interesting!

So one thing I wanted to touch on was my choice in rank for Jessica. First off, my source for the ranking structure was this website:

https

:/tfwiki

wiki/

Insignia/War_for_Cybertron_Trilogy

You'll have to join all together as one to get the site obviously.

But I combined the Special Ops Captain and Medical Specialist because, really, she embodies both of those. Jessica is a soldier who goes on missions more often then she probably should. One of the main reasons I gave her the higher rank of Captain is because she is the Allspark and bots would need to listen to her when it comes to certain aspects of the war. Optimus is smart and he's aware of this. Now the Medical specialist is because she is A- training to be a field medic with Ratchet and B- again, she's the Allspark. If you can heal someone with the touch of your hand, clearly you're a specialist in your role. Prime is basically telling the Autobots that he has full faith in her abilities as a soldier and their Allspark, so bots need to listen to her.

Also it might be a little weird how they call her Specialist Jessica but I have a reason for that. First off, Specialist is a slightly higher title than Captain. Calling her Specialist Captain (or vice versa) just sounded weird so I went with the higher rank. And then, since Autobots technically don't have last names, I thought it would be a little weird to them if they called her Specialist Summers. She'll rarely get called by her title though so it probably won't be something you'll need to worry about. It'll probably be used a little more when Ultra Magnus joins. We shall see.

Also I don't know what TV show Lennox introduced her to. Pick your favorite one and that's it lol.

Also Holy cheese this is the longest chapter I've ever written. Over ten thousand words is amazing. I hope you all liked it and feel free to leave a review!