Disclaimer: I only own my OCs.

Authoress: Well, this certainly took some time.

Lizzie: Yeah, why is that?

Authoress: *sheepishly* Well, I'm kinda excited for what future chapters hold so it is hard to get through this one.

Lizzie: Really? You do know that you can't get to those future chapters until you...*realizes something* Wait...what has you so excited for those future...*turns and sees Authoress gone* Authoress get back here!

Chapter 18: The Itsy Bitsy Spider

Paul's 1st P.O.V.

"You know, this is getting kinda sad Paul." Miko teased me as we sat in the human area. Jack had work and Raf had a study group for a class that he didn't have with Miko. They were going to be coming later with...her. Who was her? Well, she was, "You've been hiding from Mrs. Darby for all four days since she found out about everything."

...Yep, June was coming by later.

Now, don't get me wrong, June is a great person. But, I couldn't forget one of the first things that she told to me after the whole we-saved-her-from-Airachnid incident. Well, it was more of she yelled at me because I was an adult and how could I allow the kids to be let into dangerous situations like they faced before she figured everything out. Seriously, I felt like I was a teenage boy getting a lecture from his parent instead of a deity. And that wasn't the only time that she had gotten on my case. Some little jabbermouth, though I hadn't quite figured out who that was yet, had spilled to her the times that I had actually suggested that a kid come with me, mainly Miko, on these adventures with the bots.

Oh boy did I get it that time.

But, there was something that Miko said that I wanted to get cleared up quickly. "I am not hiding from June. As an adult, I feel like it is best if we give each other some space. June is obviously not happy with me about the decisions I have made at base concerning you three and so it would be for the best to give her some space."

"Right." Miko snorted in a disbelieving way. "And Bulkhead doesn't scream like a girl around scraplets. It's funny how the ancient deity is afraid of a single mom who is barely a sliver of his own age."

I shot the girl a look but shook my head. Seriously, I was not hiding from June. There would be no reason for me to hide from her. We were both adults and, as adults, we were able to discuss our differences in a civil manner. We could show the kids that the two of us could work out our differences without fighting or one side surrendering.

Speaking about differences, though, I felt my eyes cast to the shifty trio, which I started calling Pitch, Flamewar, and Sentinel Major. Lately, those training exercises were getting more intense, and sometimes if I was only facing one at first, the others would pop in unexpectedly. It was getting almost dangerous to practice training with those three...especially alone.

Thankfully, though I wasn't sure why in the case of one bot, I usually wasn't alone against the three of them. Lately, Cliffjumper and Zarron had been joining me more often during the training sessions. I knew why Cliffjumper was helping me, since he was my guardian and all. However, the full reason why Zarron was helping me was still out of reach. He was a good and well trained cybertronian but he seemed more the lone cyberwolf type than the type to help me with training against those three.

"Wheeljack I need you back in the field investigation odd magnetic disturbance." Ratchet suddenly spoke, pulling me for my thoughts.

Wheeljack, who had gotten back from patrol 10 minutes ago, looked up as Ratchet spoke to him. "No problem doc." He then looked around the room at the bots gathered, which consisted of Chromia, Sentinel Major, Zarron, Blaster, and Flamewar. Chromia and Blaster we're going over recent scouting logs while Sentinel Major and Flamewar seem to be discussing something in the corner. So, that left only one bot in the room that Wheeljack would probably take with him. "Hey Zarron, want to come with me to check this out?"

The scout, who looked like he had been started out of his thoughts, looked toward Wheeljack for a moment before nodding and walking over. "Sure as long as we're not out too late. I'm expecting a long-distance message tonight and I do not want to miss it."

What was he talking about a long-distance message? Did any of the others know about this message? And who was it going to be from? There was no possible way for me to figure out who Zarron could be contacting and that bothered me more than I cared to admit. However, maybe I could learn more about Zarron if Miko and I went with them. "Hey, if this is just a scouting mission can Miko and I come along? It seems like it has been forever since we've been allowed to leave with you bots."

The two lone cyberwolf cybertronians glanced over at us before Wheeljack nodded. "Don't see why not. This won't take that long and we can watch you two pretty well." He then looked over at Ratchet. "Okay doc, you can open the bridge now. We'll be back before you know it."

Ratchet, in turn, threw Wheeljack a look before walking to the groundbridge controls and saying, "My name's not doc, it is Ratchet." He then activated the groundbridge.

The moment the bridge opened I flinched as I heard the sound of a car engine entering the base. As the four of us quickly made our way into the bridge, I watched as June's station wagon pulled into base. That was too close for comfort.

Once we exited the bridge, I noticed that we were in a desert-like terrain and the path in front of us look to be on an incline. Great. Well, at least it was going to be better than being at base with June. As the four of us started to climb, Miko tugged on my sleeve. "Paul, this looks a lot like that episode called Metal Attraction. Isn't Bulkhead supposed to be here with Arcee?"

That's right! I have been so wrapped up in my worry about...giving June her space, that I didn't realize that we were on Metal Attraction. So, hopefully Airachnid would still show up and caused the interference that we needed her to cause. However, even I was going to be in the dark about which bot from the Nemesis would be here during the situation. I wasn't sure if Breakdown had been rescued from MECH and that meant that his spot in this episode was now open.

The sound of rocks falling slightly cause all of us to look up. However, Zarron completely overreacted to the situation and pretty much panicked while taking out his blasters. What was that about? When Zarron had first got here on Earth, he had been so calm and collected about everything that was around him. Nothing seemed capable of even phasing the bot slightly before and now he was jumping with blasters out at a little rubble falling.

Now that I thought about it, this new on edge attitude seemed to have started after the Russia mission. He had given us his full report, but who is to say that his report was the complete report? Zarron was the first one to wake up after the two of them were knocked out by the Decepticons in Russia. Maybe something more had happened after he woke up and he didn't report it. Something was definitely going on with the motorcycle mech and hopefully, I will be able to find out what that was.

"You okay there? Just some…" Wheeljack started but the sounds of distant metal clanging against each other caused him to be quiet.

The four of us move to the ledge and I felt my eyes widen Surprise when I glanced at the scene playing out before us. Airachnid was down there fighting as she should be but it was her opponent that caused me some surprise. That opponent was Breakdown! I knew that he was supposed to be the one fighting her, but I hadn't realized that he'd been able to get away from MECH. That was a huge burden off of my shoulders, though I wasn't sure how it happened. Now I just had to hope the rest of the episode would play out even though Wheeljack and Zarron were here instead of Bulkhead and Arcee.

Wheeljack's 1st P.O.V

I let out a grunt as my sword clashed with Breakdown's hammer. I hadn't expected to run into Decepticons while investigating this magnetic disturbance that Hatchet had picked up but I wasn't complaining. It had been too long since I had last been able to face some Decepticons and I was feeling a bit rusty. Hope Bulk wouldn't mind me facing off against Breakdown.

When Breakdown and I ended up locked together, blade against hammer, I decided to do some digging. "So, what happened when you were in Russia big bot? Seems odd that you let two Autobots get away from you." I wanted to find out what had happened. Hopefully, that would help explain why Zarron was acting the way that he was.

I could tell that most of the bots at base, and even the humans, seemed to be weary of Zarron. He, along with Pitch, Sentinel Major, and Flamewar kept to themselves for the most part, outside of training, and none of us knew much about them. From what I saw around base, I was pretty sure that, outside of me, Cliffjumper was the only other bot who trusted Zarron really well. Honestly though, that was probably only because Zarron was helping keep an optic on Paul during his training work with the other three mystery bots.

"You just better hope that the same luck happens to you Autobot." Breakdown shot back before he swung at me. I blocked it with a little difficulty before Breakdown continued to speak. "Fragging took me and," Well, it was more of a mumble and the big lug was able to stop himself before he said more.

But, that little slip up did tell me something about the incident in Russia...though not much. "What do you mean by that?" I tried to push him for information. "Who took you?" Maybe they were the ones who took his optic?

However, it didn't look like I was going to be getting any more answers out of him as he got in a lucky hit and I went sprawling out of the way. Thankfully, however, Zarron was able to land a hit on Airachnid that sent the hunter femme flying into Breakdown and caused both of them to hit the canyon wall. The two-wheeler then came and stood next to me, a hard look in his optics along with another kind of look that I couldn't identify. What happened during his fight with the bug?

"Thank you." I turned at the mumbling of Breakdown and felt slightly worried when I saw that he was holding the device that both he and Airachnid had just been fighting over.

As he activated it, Airachnid looked slightly panicked. "Do you even know what that does?" It was then that I noticed she had a fresh new scrape across the right side of her faceplate, probably courtesy of Zarron. "It isn't a toy!" Airachnid continued worriedly. She then started to scramble out of the area.

To my surprise, Zarron was after her rather quickly with his swords out. But, the mech reached the spider femme just as she had dug away from the fighting. What was that thing in Breakdown's servo? Oh well, better get it away from him. Taking out my swords, I made a step toward him.

What I wasn't ready for was for the device, when pointed at me, to start dragging me toward Breakdown against my own free will. What the frag was going on? "It's a polarity gauntlet!" Zarron yelled as his lighter chassis was dragged through the air and toward Breakdown.

Almost as soon as he finished that, the two of us were raised in the air and I could only watch as Breakdown smirked and looked down at the device. "What's this switch do?" I felt my optics widen and, before I could say a word, we were flung away from Breakdown and the polarity gauntlet and toward the cliffside. I saw Breakdown smirking with the gauntlet in his servo before I felt my backplates hit something hard before my lights went out.

I must not have been out long because I heard the faint sounds of a motor driving off and the sound of light pedesteps. Since the pedesteps sounded too light to be any Cybertronian, I figured that they were Miko and Paul. Just in case the Decepticons decided to come back, I knew that I had to online my optics again. So, I did so and the first thing that I noticed was that Zarron was not in sight.

"Wheeljack!" Miko spoke in urgency. "The 'Cons are getting away!" I let out a groan as I tried to sit up, though for some reason I felt more weight on my back than normal. "Hey!" I looked back down at Miko as she looked at something on my leg before she spoke. "My phone!"

Paul then tried to help Miko pull her phone off of my leg before he said with frustration. "It's stuck on here."

Continuing to look around and not seeing Zarron, I finally asked the question that was on my processor. "Where's Zarron?" My processor still felt fuzzy from the impact and...by Primus what was that weight on my back?

"Ugh, why don't you just," Miko started to complain.

Of course, I wouldn't get to hear the rest of her complaint as a voice suddenly caused me to jump. "I'm right behind you." It was Zarron.

Was I trapping him? So, I stood up quickly and tried to look around better. "Where are you at Zarron?"

Instead of the motorcycle mech answering me, however, it was Paul, who was looking behind my back plates along with Miko. "Well, let's just say that Zarron has your back...literally."

"What do you…" I started as a tried to turn. But, it was at that click that I suddenly realized what Paul and the others were talking about. There was a very logical reason that I couldn't see Zarron. He was seemingly stuck to my backplates. I think that I was more surprised that Zarron was so light. I didn't expect him, even as a two-wheeler, to be this light. He was larger than Arcee slightly and while it was dangerous to guess a femme's weight I had thought her lighter than Zarron...but I was almost positive she was not this light.

I felt Zarron struggling against my backplates for a few clicks before he seemed to sigh in defeat. "No use." He growled that in slight anger and irritation. He seemed extremely angered at us being stuck together.

But, I didn't want to get into that mess until we got the humans back to the safety of the base. "Ratchet, you there?" I started on the comm.

"Yes, and I am in the middle of some important work. You and Zarron can't possibly be finished with your scouting already?" Ratchet responded.

"Not quite Hatchet." I responded and, before he could get angry at the nickname, explained our situation. "Zarron and I have kinda been...magnetized together."

There was a slight pause on Ratchet's end of the line before he continued. "You've been magnetized together?!"

Miko, who was pulling on Zarron's pede, must have heard Ratchet because she responded to him. "They're inseparable."

Zarron let out another annoyed sigh before I continued to report to Ratchet, though I put my comm receiver on speaker so the others could hear as well. "Yeah, and Breakdown has taken the device that did this to us and it is on its way to Megatron."

"A polarity gauntlet." Ratchet confirmed what Zarron had yelled out during the fight. So, he had been right.

I didn't say anything, though, as Blaster picked up where Hatchet left off. "It's so simple yet so dangerous to us."

However, it seemed like Zarron was more impatient than I gave him credit for because he suddenly let out a huff before saying, "By all that is good in the galaxies just tell me that you can unhitch us...and in a timely manner."

What was his deal? The once calm and collected mech now seemed impatient and inexperienced. there is something going on and I needed to find out what that was and quickly. Zarron seemed like a good mech, but something was messing with him.

Ratchet didn't answer in a very enthusiastic tone, "It may simply be a residual magnetic charge providing your current….attraction."

While the answer sounded positive, I could hear the 'but' in his response. "But what?" Zarron asked tentatively.

"But, I'm afraid retrieving the gauntlet is our surest bet for reversing its effect."

"Scrap!" Zarron hissed from behind me.

I wasn't exactly thrilled with this news either. If Breakdown was able to get that thing back to Megatron…

"Once Megatron gets his hands on the gauntlet He'll use it for a whole lot more than attaching notes and family photos to the fridge." Jack started from the other side of the line.

"Jack, I'm not following." And that was Jack's mom, who I was pretty sure was the reason that Paul was hiding with us on patrol.

So, I figured I would answer her. "Listen, we're forged out of metal. If the 'Cons could force us back with the flick of a wrist, we might never be able to win this war."

"Instant force field." And that was the youngest human at base, Raf.

"Worse yet, he might use it to meld us all into a scrap pile." Blaster added with a worried tone. I knew that the mech was worried about Eject and Rewind the most.

Thankfully, Hatchet had some good news in all of this. "The good news is, the gauntlet hasn't traveled far. I would strongly advise pursuit."

I knew that the fastest way for us to catch up to Breakdown and the gauntlet was to drive. "We can catch up faster on wheels." I then prepared to transform.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa." Zarron started in a panic. "And snap me in half? How about not."

"Right." Oops. Kinda forgot that he was stuck there.

"Sweet! I'll take point." Miko exclaimed excitedly. Paul looked amused at her outburst and slightly hopeful. But, I was going to have to burst that excitement.

"Not this time you two. We better send you two back quickly." I tried to ease into it.

"What? But can't you two," Paul started to argue to my surprise.

"That was recon, this is war!" Zarron snapped at them, though he couldn't see them. "I'm not risking your well-being just so you can hit your daily adrenaline quotas. Now you two are going to walk through the bridge without any more arguing." He then talked into the comm. "Ratchet, Miko and Paul need a bridge."

I heard Ratchet's response over the comm. "Coming up."

Instead of arguing, like I expected, Paul nodded and motioned Miko toward the open bridge before he turned and looked back at us. "Good luck."

I nodded as the two entered the bridge and the vortex closed. The two of us then moved in the direction that Breakdown had run toward.

Trying to keep it light, I let out a chuckle before saying, "You know, I never had eyes in the back of my helm before...or blasters to cover my rear…" When he didn't respond right away, I tried to give one of his benefits. "...and you get a built-in shield."

"Turn off your comlink." Zarron suddenly demanded.

"What do you mean? I think that we need to have a little chat." Okay, I needed to figure out what was wrong with Zarron. First, he was acting harsh and very distrusting, and now here he was making demands like he was in charge of everything.

"Which is exactly why I need you to turn off your comlink." he responded back.

Well, while I didn't want to listen to him, I figured that doing what he said, for now, would get me closer to the answers I wanted. So, I did as he asked and turned off my comlink before saying, "Okay, I turned off my comlink. What do you,"

"Hang on Wheeljack. I don't have much time to say what I want to say before we get to our destination." Zarron interrupted me quickly. "I have a feeling about what you are going to ask. But, I need you to promise me first that you will not repeat anything that I have to say to any of the other Autobots."

This was sounding dangerous but, since I wasn't the biggest fan of authority, I figured I would agree unless he said he was some Decepticon assassin. "Deal."

Zarron stayed silent for a nano before finally sighing. "Alright then. First order of business, I am assuming you wish to know what my true purpose is here on Earth?"

"Sounds like a fair place to start." I responded to him.

So, he started. "Well to explain why I'm here I have to tell you what it is I do. I am a scout by trade, however other Autobots sometimes contact me in hopes I can investigate situations for them."

"What kind of investigations? I asked. This had been the most open that Zarron had been with anybot so I was trying to get as much information out of him as possible.

"Think of my work as a sort of internal affairs. When a bot feels that something is not right within the faction itself I am one of the bots that they hire to investigate these situations to find out if they truly have merit." Zarron responded to that.

But that still left something open. "So why are you here on Earth?"

He seemed slightly hesitant before saying, "Not long ago I was hired by... A close friend, to investigate a situation arising that they had heard rumors about. Rumors, about the Autobot faction itself starting to fall into darkness. However, my friend was not sure how many Autobots were falling. All that they did know, however, was that these Bots were either already present or would soon be present on the planet known as Earth. So, through contacts, I had heard of a group from Cybertron planning on meeting up with Optimus Prime and his team on Earth. With that knowledge, I made my way to Cybertron and introduced myself to Springer."

That sounded dark and almost unbelievable. But, then I thought about how Sentinel and Pitch acted and then everything Zarron was saying seemed more believable. "So, have you made any positive matches for your search?"

"If you mean have I found any Autobots here who have fallen, the answer is not yet." He responded to me before continuing. "And unfortunately, there are very few of the Autobots at base who I have officially ruled out as having fallen into darkness. They are you and Cliffjumper."

That was it? After over a month of being on Earth this mech could only eliminate myself and Cliffjumper? This investigation must be pretty serious if he was taking this much time looking into each Autobot. There were a couple things, however, that I still wanted to find out from him. "Well, thanks for that. But my next question is this; when you were in Russia with Bulkhead, did you immediately call base after you woke up?"

He seemed less hesitant with his answer this time. "No, but it was not long after I woke up that I called the base. I took the time to send a high frequency message to my friend asking about how the mission was progressing. Last night, I received a high-frequency message from my friend saying that they wished to contact me over a secured com-line tonight at 2200 hours. So, you now see why it is important that we become unseparated as soon as possible. While I trust you and I have eliminated you from the list of suspect Autobots, I need to keep my friend's identity confidential until they say otherwise."

I could hear the worried tone in his vocals at that last part so I decided to let those kinds of questions drop. However, I was curious about something else that might not be connected to that. "Okay, so what's been with your jumpy attitude lately? Freaking out over rubble falling, snapping at Paul and Miko like you did; what has you so on edge now if you aren't sure if any of the bots at base have fallen?"

This time, Zarron stayed quiet for a few clicks before he spoke. "It...it's been a few things. The rubble, that was because of the training I've been doing. It has put me on edge. Thank you for bringing it to my attention. I will see that I am not so moved by that again."

Well, that sounded weird. What did training have to do with why he was almost paranoid about the rubble falling? But, I wanted to know the other half of that answer so I let that slide for now. "And about Paul and Miko?"

"I…" Zarron hesitated for a click before he leaned his helm back. "Well, let's just say that I have a friend who was on the wrong side of that spider and I knew that we couldn't let them stay with us...no matter how harsh I had to be."

Okay, that made sense and I knew not to push him further on that. Wartime conflicts haunted all of us and I had heard that Arcee had a history with the hunter femme as well...and it wasn't a pretty one. If Zarron's friend went through anything that even resembled what Arcee went through, then I could understand why he wanted Paul and Miko out of here.

The sound of beeping coming from the tracer I was using caused me to look down and I felt relief at what it showed. "The gauntlet's close." I informed Zarron before moving into the abandoned gas station. Feeling like something was off, I transformed my servo into its blaster form before continuing on. From behind me, I heard Zarron do the same.

...Wait...he has blasters? That was something I didn't know. The mech had avoided using them up until this point and I thought he might not have them. But, I guess the mech was keeping an ace hidden away for a solar like this solar.

The sound of grunting caused me to stop and point my blasters toward the sound. However, I was surprised that Breakdown was tied up with web against a storage container. From behind him, the bug femme rose from hiding. She had a knowing smirk on her face that I couldn't wait to see blasted off.

"I assume Zarron isn't far behind." Airachnid didn't sound like she was asking a question.

But, I figured I would give her an answer anyways. "You might say that."

She seemed to not be taking any chances. "Blaster servos in the air and turn around."

Internally, I smirked at that. Well, I better do what the femme said. "Whatever you say." I answered her before turning around quickly.

Zarron didn't waste a click and I immediately heard the sounds of blaster fire coming from him and, from the sound of pain that came from Airachnid a few nanos later, I had to say that he shot those blasters pretty accurately. Unfortunately, the sound of the gauntlet activating told me that something must have happened. "Scrap. Wheeljack move!" Zarron yelled at me.

Before I could even try to listen, I felt the magnetic field of the device start to pull me backwards toward the gauntlet. Just as I lost my footing, however, I heard the device turn off. But, I could stop myself from flipping onto my back for a nano, causing Zarron to let out a yelp of pain, before I was able to get back on my pedes. "You alright?" I asked the mech.

His response was immediate. "Don't worry about me. Focus on the Decepticons."

So I did and I saw that Breakdown had stopped in a battle-ready position in front of me. From the sound of light pedesteps stopping behind me, I had a feeling that Airachnid was facing Zarron. "Still up for a truce, muscles?" I heard the bug ask.

Breakdown didn't seem to happy with the response he gave her. "Only because I hate Wreckers more than I hate you." Breakdown then threw a sucker punch that caught my faceplate and I almost stepped back. So, I returned the hit and it landed home.

Breakdown and I continued like this for a servo-full of nanos before I heard Zarron. "Wheeljack, would you please remember that you aren't the only one fighting and stay still?"

"My bad." I apologized to the two-wheeler before I landed a hit on Breakdown that sent him flying. I then turned to face the bug. "Need a servo?" I asked him.

"No, I can handle her. Focus on Breakdown." Zarron responded in the calm way that he normally does. Glad he was already getting back to his old self. He was weird when he was paranoid and angry.

So, I turned back to Breakdown Just in time to see him pointing the polarity gauntlet at us. "Scrap." I muttered right before the piece of human drilling equipment hit my helm and I fell backwards. Frag my helm was hurting.

"Wheeljack, get up!" I vaguely heard Zarron yell. Why did he sound like he was so far away?

I then heard the echo of a femme chuckling darkly. "Pinned like a bug little mech. Reminds me of the same situation I had those friends of yours in." Wait...what was she talking about? My helm hurt too bad and the echoing of her voice wasn't helping.

"Frag it Wheeljack come on! Snap out of it!" Zarron again yelled at me.

As my processor started to clear, I heard the femme continue. "Of course, I can think of one permanent way out of your predicament."

The feeling of Zarron going tense told me that I had to snap out of this haze I was in...and soon.

"I'll take topside." I heard Breakdown say clearly.

And that was the thing I needed to snap out of my haze and I quickly reached up with my right servo and caught Breakdown's hammer. Hurt like the pit to do it but I had to get off of Zarron and getting hit again was not going to help.

Once I threw Breakdown forward using the momentum he built to swing his hammer, I rolled off of Zarron and stood up. To my surprise, Zarron was in front of me. "Hah! I'm free. Thank Primus." The scout sounded very relieved that he was free from my backplates.

Give the situation we were just in, I really couldn't blame him at all. The scout then ran forward at an amazing speed and kicked the gauntlet backwards toward me before he jumped into the air. He seemed to hang there for a click before he came right on Breakdown's backplates and pushed him to the ground before Zarron started to fight him.

So the bug femme wouldn't feel left out, I turned to her and took out my swords. "Want to dance?" I could tell that she was looking at the gauntlet, which was currently right behind me.

"You're not my type." She retorted as I charged at her.

While I knew fighting her was going to be tough, I wasn't ready for the femme to suddenly turn into her hunter mode and try to drill a hole through my chestplate. I got distracted enough so the femme crawled over me. By the time I turned around, Airachnid had the gauntlet active on her servo. "Scrap!" Was all I could say to that.

Airachnid, however, seemed to be done with me. "Let's leave the big mechs to themselves." She smirked before using the gauntlet to pull Zarron closer to her.

I knew that the mech could handle her so I picked up my swords and put them away before charging at Breakdown and I started to swing at him. The two of us kept a steady pace of punches going back and forth until, after a servo-full of clicks, I took out my blaster and hit him in his thick armor so, while it didn't go through, it did throw the big mech into one of the human oil mining equipment.

When Breakdown stood back up, I took out one of my swords and stayed at the ready. He surprised me by firing one of his rockets. Immediately, I went to try and catch it...so I could throw it back at him, when it was suddenly stopped around my servos by a magnetic force. It then deflected toward Breakdown, who put up his arm to block the rocket. However, the rocket was magnetically repulsed away from him and shot into the air before it exploded.

"We can't touch metal." Breakdown figured out. Weird, I didn't think he could think that well.

But, I had to agree with the 'Con. "We're polarized."

The sound of a grunt coming from Zarron had me turn toward him and I was surprised to see Airachnid standing...with the polarity gauntlet! "Always leave on a high note." The hunter femme smirked before she transformed into her helicopter mode and started to fly away.

"Wheeljack, get the gauntlet!" Zarron yelled as the femme flew by him.

Well, all he had to do was ask. Smirking, I jumped into the air and grabbed the tail of Airachnid's helicopter mode before throwing her against Breakdown. The two hit each other hard and fell into a building...destroying it in the process. When the dust settled, I saw that the two of them were unconscious.

Once I was next to Zarron, I put my fist into my servo before saying, "Let's finish this."

"And risk becoming twins again?" Zarron asked me in surprise. "No offense but I have too many things to worry about and being your twin wouldn't help me at all."

Eh, good point.

Frenzy's 1st P.O.V.
"Take a breath." Thundercracker spoke, being quiet and calm. Of course, given what was going on, it was probably for the best. Lizzie took a breath before Thundercracker continued. "Now….fire." He didn't yell that because he didn't want to make Lizzie jump and miss-fire.

The blaster shot sailed through the air and hit the dummy right on the helm. "Finally! I thought you were never going to hit it!" I let out in an exaggerated complaint.

It had been six cycles since we had started on weapon's training for the solar, since Lizzie got her work done with Shockwave and Soundwave early this solar, and this was the first time that Lizzie had hit the target right where she was supposed to hit it.

Lizzie, in turn, looked at me with an upset look. "Give me a little bit of a break Frenzy. Before this da...solar, I had never even held a blaster. Only taking six cycles to learn how to disassemble and assemble it, as well as fire it, is pretty good in my books."

I noticed Lizzie's slip when she almost used the human word for solar but let it slide. She was really trying to make the grammar switch to use our words in her language and it was hard for her.

Soundwave said not to mess with her when she corrected herself but we were to help her when she said a word in the human language that she spoke...English she called it, that we had a word for in our own language. While it seemed tedious now, it would help Lizzie understand new Decepticons as they came in. We all knew that more of us Decepticons would arrive on Earth and, if Lizzie knew the words that we used instead, she would be able to become familiar with the new Decepticons easier.

"Lizzie is right Frenzy." Terrance Scarlett stated in her defense as well. If one couldn't guess, Terrance was what Thundercracker decided to name his soliform. Since Starscream had already picked out the last name, and since he was Starscream's brother, Thundercracker decided to keep the last name. Anyways… "For never having weapons training before this solar, Lizzie is making progress. I bet if I asked Soundwave for a recording of your first solar of blaster practice neither of you would be much better...if you even were."

Well...there may or may not have been some misunderstandings that solar with a certain scientist and where my blaster shot hit. "Hey, I didn't say anything about her shots!" Rumble complained. "Why am I lumped in with him too?"

Lizzie smirked and shrugged as she helped Thundercracker clean up. "Guilt by association Rumble." He frowned at that before casting me a look.

While a part of me wanted to tease Rumble, Lizzie had just opened herself up for a perfect comeback. "You seem pretty recovered from that little lecture that 'Scream gave you for the training room incident four solars ago Lizzie."

At my taunt, Lizzie froze in her steps and seemed nervous. Not scared though. We had really only seen her scared of Lord Megatron and, according to the boss and Starscream, she had seemed scared of 'Scream when he had first found Lizzie on the ship. "Well," Lizzie started to respond to my retort, though I noticed that she continued to remain nervous. "Starscream brought up some good points about what happened. However, if the situation repeated itself, I would definitely do it again." By the end of that sentence, Lizzie was smiling.

Thundercracker shook his helm and, once everything was cleaned up, he turned off his soliform and returned to his normal form before he put down a servo and waited for the three of us to climb up. Once Rumble and I were on his shoulders, and Lizzie was sitting on his servo, he started to make his way to the rec room.

The reason we were going to the rec room? Well, we had agreed to meet up with Skywarp and Skyquake before they took us to the flight deck and allowed the three of us to watch them perform aerial maneuvers. Their practice was supposed to happen earlier but, when Lizzie slipped that she had no idea how to use a blaster, they all had agreed to postpone their practice until Lizzie had one lesson for the solar under her.

It wasn't long before the four of us were in the rec room, where Skywarp and Skyquake were waiting for us. In the room with them was Blitzwing as well. That threw me for a surprise. I thought that he was supposed to be with Breakdown for servo to servo combat training this solar?

"Hey Blitzwing, why aren't you with Breakdown practicing right now?" Thundercracker asked the triple changer, obviously just as confused as I was.

In return, Blitzwing's helm changed from Random, who had been talking excitedly with Skywarp about something before we walked in, to Icy before he continued. "Lord Megatron order Breakdown to investigate a magnetic disturbance zhat Soundwave detected."

Well, that made sense. Out of the corner of my optic, I saw Lizzie tense slightly at his answer. Guess it didn't take much for her to figure out that anything doing with 'magnet' in its name plus any Cybertronian did not equal good.

But, speaking of Lizzie, I was curious about something. One of the big mysteries surrounding her since she got here was...well...how she got here. I knew that both boss bot and Shockwave had been looking into that whenever they could. Maybe Lizzie had remembered something that could help. "Hey Lizzie," She turned to me, a curious look to her, before I continued. "Have you remembered anything from how you ended up on the Nemesis?"

We all paused and looked down at Lizzie, who seemed to pause for a click. She seemed to really be thinking about it. We all seemed to be on edge as we waited for her answer. Unfortunately, after a click, she shook her head. "Sorry mechs. I honestly have no idea how I ended up on the Nemesis."

Well scrap. I was hoping for a miracle but I guess it wasn't meant to be yet. Boss bot did say that humans had sensitive cerebral cores and that trauma could actually permanently erase a human's memories. While we were all hoping that wasn't the case with whatever happened with Lizzie, and that she would remember something, we knew that there was a chance that the memory was gone forever.

"Now I have a question for you mechs." Lizzie started and so we all paid attention as she spoke. "Have you mechs ever used your soliforms to explore Earth?"

Well, I never did. Only used it for pick up errands that Rumble and I needed for our pranks. So, I was about to answer her that when I got a message from Soundwave. "Frenzy, is Lizzie with you?"

Did Lizzie have to report for work already? I thought she was finished for the solar. "Yeah boss. I'm here with Rumble, Blitzwing, Skyquake, Skywarp, and T.C." Figured it would be best to let the boss know who was here with me just in case. Boss did like to know stuff...even though he probably already knew who was with me. He was probably looking at us through the security cameras right now.

Everybot seemed to be thinking about how they were going to answer Lizzie as Soundwave continued to talk to me through our link. "Have Lizzie brought to the bridge. Breakdown should be returning soon and Lizzie should be here when he does. If he has brought back whatever was causing the disturbance, then she will need to know about it. I do not care who among the others come along."

"Sure thing boss bot." I responded to him before he turned off the link between us. Once that was done, I turned to the others and spoke before any of us had answered Lizzie. "Sorry Lizzie but it looks like that answer will have to wait. Soundwave says he wants you on the bridge with him. Breakdown should be coming back soon and boss bot thinks that you should be on the bridge when he does."

Lizzie nodded at that and seemed content that she wasn't getting an answer to her question yet. Skywarp looked at me before shaking his helm. "I think I'll stay here and talk with Blitz some more. Random was just telling me about a great idea he had."

So, that was two out of the six of us mechs here. Skyquake took a step forward and nodded. "I'll shall come to the bridge with you. There is some information that I would like to research." Wonder what that was about? Oh well, boss bot would probably tell me later. He knew what everybot did on the monitors.

Rumble smirked. "I better go to the bridge with you Frenzy. If Astrotrain is there, one of us has to act good and I bet it won't be you."

While a part of me wanted to argue with Rumble, T.C. going to talk stopped that. "I'll bring you three to the bridge with Skyquake. I have to speak with Starscream on some matters anyways and I have little doubt that he will be there."

So, with everybot decided what they were doing, I stayed on T.C.'s shoulder as he moved out of the rec room with Skyquake right behind us. Taking a glance at Lizzie, I saw that she was worried. But...why? She was a Decepticon and she wasn't in trouble with Lord Megatron. So what could she be worried about?

Lizzie's 1st P.O.V.

I was worried. It was strange but it was true. One would think that, after solidifying my place among the Decepticons and staying out of trouble, I wouldn't have much to worry about. But, I was worried...and not for something usual. Even though I had turned away from Paul and pretty much abandoned his mission, I still felt a sort of loyalty to the god and that was what was causing me to worry now.

Before I became a full-fledged Decepticon, I had no issue in keeping information to myself around the bots on the Nemesis. If they asked me something about how I got here, I had no qualms about stretching the truth. I honestly didn't know how I ended up on the Nemesis. So, when Frenzy asked me if I had remembered anything about how I had arrived on the Nemesis, I had been able to honestly answer him.

But, I felt guilty. I know, I should have no reason to feel guilty about keeping information that could not be verified to myself. But I was a Decepticon now and I felt guilty by not telling them about how Paul...who was a portion of Primus, transported me to this dimension to help him on his mission to make peace between the two factions. I knew the circumstances of how I arrived on the Nemesis...just not exactly how it happened.

Another issue I was having was planning for the future. No, I didn't care how the timeline continued anymore. It could go to the Pit for all I cared. No, I was worried about the solar the other Decepticons would ask the right question that would force me to decide; lie to the Decepticons...who I had sworn my loyalty and service to, or tell them everything about what I knew and pray that they didn't decide to kill me on the spot or think I was insane...or both.

Something told me that time was drawing closer and I had to be ready for it. I just had to be. If I was asked right now...honestly...I'm not sure which direction I would go. While I had told Paul that all ties between us were done, I still felt nervous about telling the Decepticons about...well...everything. That is what it would end up boiling down to. If I told the Decepticons...the rest of us, about how I had started my journey toward the Nemesis, then I would have to tell them about who I really was, who Paul really was, and why I seemed to know so much about them to fit in so quickly.

When we entered the bridge, I put on my helmet and glanced around and realized that I forgot what was going to be happening. I knew that earlier, somebot had said something about Breakdown investigating a magnetic disturbance…

….Oh slag.

When the doors opened up behind me, I jumped and stayed tense as Breakdown walked in, battered and scraped up. Hold on...I don't remember Breakdown looking quite that beat up. Either something happened and Arcee and Bulkhead were able to work together stuck...well, together, much better than they had been able to in the show, or different Autobots had been stuck together. Since there were so many new Autobots at their base, then that possibility was a very good possibility.

I watched Breakdown as he walked up toward Megatron, who was in the center of the circular room while we were on the top right side. While we couldn't see what was on Breakdown's backplates, I knew that this was not going to be good for my continued stay.

...Though the fragger Astrotrain might enjoy it.

"Breakdown, you dare to return empty-handed?!" Lord Megatron demanded as Breakdown, along with the two drones who were escorting him, stopped in front of Lord Megatron.

Luckily for Breakdown, he could answer that in the negative. "No, master." He then turned around so that every other bot could see what was attached to his backplates. I actually felt Thundercracker tense and Starscream, who was standing next to us, seemed to slightly tense as well. The twins looked nervous and it was at this moment that I was glad that I had put my helmet on. I would not have reacted the way I should have since I knew that Airachnid was coming.

I pulled myself out of my thoughts as Lord Megatron spoke with slight surprise in his vocals. "Airachnid. It has been some time."

"Lord Megatron, what can I say?" The bug femme started with the false praise that Starscream's character did in the actual timeline. "It's good to be back." She then glanced toward Thundercracker and I could see the smirk come on her faceplate as her optics landed on me. "My my Thundercracker. It appears you have acquired a human playtoy. I do hope you will be kind enough to share with me as well."

When Lord Megatron didn't say anything, I had a feeling that this was going to be like a sort of test. This was going to test my ability to stick up for myself when other Decepticons came into question. Astrotrain didn't count because he had been on the ship before I had become a full-fledged Decepticon. Airachnid would be my true test.

So, instead of getting angry about being called a playtoy, I took off my helmet so I could look at the femme directly. "I'm sorry, but the femme who is stuck on another bot's back has very little room to talk about being a plaything. Sorry dear."

I was so proud of myself when I didn't flinch as a smirk appeared on Airachnid's faceplate. "Oh, the little human thinks that she is so smart now, doesn't she?"

A smirk was my response back at her before I spoke again. "Oh this little human knows she is at least smart enough to not get stuck on another bot's back and then act like she didn't screw up." I then sat cross-legged on Thundercracker's shoulder before continuing. "Oh, and this 'little human's' name is Lizzie. I hope the piece of biology that you call a processor is capable of holding onto that little bit of information."

The hiss of annoyance that came from Airachnid after that told me that I had won that round. Served the fragging femme right. I was a strategist on this ship and, while she was known for being sly and tricky, and using the field to her advantage, two femmes could play at that game. Seems like I was playing it better this solar. "Why you insolent little,"

"Enough Airachnid." Lord Megatron ordered her with a hard look. "Lizzie has earned her place among us and she is to be treated as a fellow Decepticon. If I find that you have attacked her without sufficient cause, I will personally deal with you."

I felt nervous as Lord Megatron was speaking. But, at the same time, I felt relieved. Him sticking up for me told me that my place among the Decepticons was truly solidified. As long as I didn't royally screw this up, my being in the Decepticons that is, then I would be protected. Of course, Lord Megatron was the only bot on the planet, that I knew was here, that scared me.

Airachnid looked reluctantly obedient as she answered Lord Megatron. "Yes...my Lord." However, the glare that she sent me told me that I had definitely made an enemy of her. Great. I doubted that it would take her too long to hook up with Astrotrain in the 'Decepticons who hated Lizzie' club. When that happened, I knew that I was going to have to seriously watch my back to make sure that I didn't end up killed. Definitely was going to be keeping my helmet on at all times.

"Breakdown," Lord Megatron addressed the warrior. "Go to med bay. Hook and Knockout should be there and will help relieve you of your...package." Guess since I won the banter, Airachnid wasn't going to stay very high in Lord Megatron's books for now. I loved it when something good happened to me.

"Yes, Lord Megatron." Breakdown responded before he left the bridge.

I was zoned out for a few clicks, thinking about how I was going to be surviving on this ship now that I would have both Airachnid and Astrotrain after me...and not having a lot of luck with any ideas, before I paid attention to Thundercracker as he addressed Lord Megatron. "Lord Megatron, permission to return Lizzie, Frenzy, and Rumble to Soundwave's quarters for their solar recharge?"

Lord Megatron's gaze moved over the three of us, and stayed on me for a few nanos longer than the others, before he gave a solitary nod. "Very well. Lizzie," I focused more as my leader addressed me directly. "When you awaken from your recharge, you are to report to Shockwave."

I bowed my head toward him, my helmet under my arm, before saying, "Yes my Lord."

Thundercracker then bowed his helm toward Lord Megatron before he moved out of the bridge. Not long after we left, Thundercracker looked down at me. "Femme, I have to ask if you have an offlining wish. First, you get on Astrotrain's bad side and now Airachnid's.

I really didn't see the big deal of being on their bad sides so I shrugged and asked just that. "What's the big deal? I couldn't help that Astrotrain hated me the nano he glanced at me and that femme was just asking for trouble."

It was Rumble who answered me. "Lizzie, Airachnid is a hunter model femme and she is dangerous. You need to keep as far away from her as possible."

Instead of agreeing with one of the mechs I saw as a brother, I shook my head. "Sorry bots, but no way. While I'll admit to you mechs that the femme makes me nervous, I'm not going to run away in fear from her...or even caution. She would take that as me being afraid of her and that is something I am not. There is only one Cybertronian on this ship that scares me and that is Lord Megatron. He has earned my fear and respect. I will not fear Airachnid and put her on the same level as our leader."

We had arrived at Soundwave's room at that point and Thundercracker was putting in the code for it. As he did, though, I could tell that the mechs were trying to make a counter-argument against what I had just proclaimed. But, I knew that they wouldn't be able to. Once I brought up Lord Megatron, I knew my fight was won. They wouldn't be able to argue against that now.

Once T.C. walked into Soundwave's room and set us down, he gave me a studying look before letting out a defeated sigh. "Just...be careful Lizzie. None of us want to see you hurt by her or Astrotrain."

Well, I could at least comfort the mechs a little. "I promise I'll try."

That seemed to make him relax a little so he nodded before leaving. The twins and I then got ready for recharge before we all got onto the bed and snuggled close together. It was weird. I was an only child before all of this, but now I couldn't imagine what it would be like not sharing a bed...berth, with another being.

"Night Lizzie." Both Rumble and Frenzy spoke at the same time as their systems started to cycle down.

Being sandwiched in-between them, I smiled and snuggled a little more before relaxing and saying, "Night Rumble; Frenzy." All of the stress of the solar then seemed to hit me at once and awareness left me.

Paul's 1st P.O.V.

I felt tense as I sat with the kids in the viewing area. Since June knew about the bots now, Jack's grounding had been leniated and so that allowed him to be at base when he wasn't at work, school, or home. Of course, there were still aspects of his grounding that were in effect but it definitely wasn't as harsh as it could be. That was even more so because she found out that I wasn't responsible for getting Jack into that pile of scrap. He and Bumblebee rolled up to that one all on their own.

Speaking of June, however, once Wheeljack and Zarron returned, I decided to buck up the courage to talk to her about our differences and settle them like adults should. Yes, I would only admit it to myself that I had been avoiding June all day, running from her instead of talking things out.

Once the two of us had talked, however, I could feel a change in our relationship. I felt like she respected me more than she had before and that was a step in the right direction. With the tension that was at base here, mainly due to Pitch, Sentinel, Flamewar, and Zarron, one less tense situation made everything that much better.

Speaking of Zarron, though, I noticed that he seemed slightly more relaxed after he had returned with Wheeljack and the Polarity Gauntlet. I wasn't sure what happened after Zarron had lectured Miko and me and sent us back to the base, but I knew it was something major. Not only was Zarron more relaxed, but Wheeljack seemed very comfortable around the mech now. Something must have been revealed that eased whatever worries Wheeljack was having about the mech.

Wish I could have the same information.

Instead, I was stuck wandering around blind like everyone else in this dimension was. All of the new bots and changed events had caused this dimension to morph into an entirely different version of itself. One worry that I was still having was Breakdown. While I was relieved that he had been here this cycle to fulfill his role in the timeline, I was worried about how he had escaped. Obviously, the Autobots did not have any idea about what happened to the mech in Russia, and the mech didn't share much except that something had captured him.

But, that didn't tell me how he escaped. In the original timeline, Starscream had helped save Breakdown to get a favor from the warrior for 'when the time came'. Even though in the original timeline that favor was never called up, this new timeline could bring more trouble.

"What are you so stressed about Paul?" Miko asked me. "The 'Bots kicked aft and everything turned out alright." Since Jack and Raf where with us, she couldn't say much but she made her point well enough. From what I had shown her in the episode, everything had gone almost perfectly...except for Bulkhead and Arcee being replaced with Wheeljack and Zarron.

So, to cover up my worry for the timeline, I shook my head and said, "Just some stress from work. Emails about orders not being delivered that we needed and shipments being delivered that we didn't order." From the quick understanding look on Miko's face, she knew that I was worried about the timeline.

"I bet it'll get better soon." Raf spoke encouragingly.

I nodded at his enthusiasm. "I hope you are right Raf. I just,"

"Prime!"

The distance I jumped out of my seat almost would look suspicious as I suddenly heard Fowler's voice yell that. What the frag was going on? He wasn't supposed to show up during this. Thanks a lot fate. Just a little bit of love would be nice. Please?

All of the bots in the main room, which was most of them actually, looked up at Fowler before Optimus walked up to him. "Agent Fowler. What seems to be the problem?"

Fowler then held up a flash drive, which made me nervous, before he continued speaking. "Been going over some satellite surveillance from the past few weeks with the intel boys and I think I found something that you are going to want to see." He then motioned to Raf, who along with the rest of us had moved so we were standing next to Fowler. "Kid, can you put the videos up here on the big screen in order?"

"Sure Agent Fowler." Raf responded before taking the flash drive and plugging it into his computer, which was linked to the main monitor at base. After a few minutes, the screen went hazy before it showed the familiar setting of the Comp Chakna incident.

"This is footage from eight days ago near the Comp Chakna Peninsula." Fowler started as we watched the fights between Breakdown and Bulkhead, and Vox and Zarron. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary with the fights as we watched Bulkhead and Zarron get knocked out by their respective opponents.

"Hurts just watching it again." Bulkhead commented as he saw himself unconscious on the screen.

While Zarron didn't give vocal support to that, he did give one nod...wait...when did he get in here? Last I knew, he had been bridge a few dozen miles away to get the message that he had been waiting for. Maybe Fowler coming in had distracted me from the bots entrance. That was what I was hoping for anyways.

When the bolts of electricity hit both Breakdown and Vox, I didn't feel any sort of surprise. This was what was supposed to happen then. But, that didn't explain anything that I didn't already know. What I needed to know was, "Hang on," Wheejack started. "If MECH captured Breakdown and Vox, then how the frag was Breakdown at the canyon today with the polarity gauntlet?" That.

"Yeah," Sentinel started with an annoyed look. "The 'Cons don't worry about bots who are stupid enough to get captured by humans like that." I might have been imagining things, but that almost sounded like he was...no, that couldn't be right.

It seemed like Fowler, for once, was the man with all the answers as he motioned to Raf. "Play the second clip." As Raf pulled it up, Fowler continued to speak. "The reason that I wanted to get to you 'Bots right away was because of what we found next."

The scene on the monitor then changed to the MECH base. My eyes were immediately wide with surprise when I saw that not just Starscream were in on the action against the terrorist organization. From the video that we were getting, Starscream had been there with Thundercracker, Skywarp, Skyquake, Shockwave, Blitzwing, and Astrotrain fighting against MECH to rescue Breakdown and Vox.

"What the frag?" Flamewar stated in shock. "'Cons don't rescue their own. Why the frag did Megatron allow a good portion of his higher command to go on a mission to rescue two?"

In return, Fowler shook his head. "I don't know...but that isn't even the most surprising thing we discovered out of this."

Why the frag was Megatron using so many of his troops to rescue Breakdown and Vox? He didn't usually do...what did Fowler just say? "What do you mean?" I asked the agent.

He turned to me as the video seemed to switch cameras. "We were able to get a couple minutes of footage from inside of MECH's facility and we discovered this."

We all then watched the screen as, for the first minute, two MECH troops stayed at attention at a door. Then, a third MECH troop was thrown into view and was seemingly unconscious on the floor. Were the Decepticons using their soliforms as well? That didn't sound right. None of the bots from before would risk their chassis' to go to their soliforms and, since I didn't see the Nemesis in any of the shots from before, the distance would be too far away for the soliforms to be tangible in the base.

So, my eyes widened when I saw a male humanoid figure fighting against the MECH troops. No way. While this possibility seemed impossible, it would explain so much. The Decepticons did not just have Lizzie on board of the Nemesis as the only organic. There was another organic up there with her.

That caused me to worry more about Lizzie. While the others in the room started to talk about this new development, I lost myself in my thoughts. Lizzie was really only a kid, though she was technically the human age of adulthood. Now, not only was she stuck on a ship with Cybertronians who would not hesitate to offline her, but there was another organic...possibly another human, who could be a danger to Lizzie.

Of course, there was a positive side to this. With the revelation of another humanoid being on the Nemesis, it explained Lizzie's harsh and abrupt cutting of ties with me. Like Miko suggested, if she talked in her sleep and this other humanoid heard her, Lizzie could be placed in serious danger. Had Lizzie been trying to hint that there was another human on the ship but my grilling having pushed her away from that topic? Maybe this other human had even forced Lizzie to join the Decepticons! That made more sense since I had hired her to make peace, not pick a side.

Everything was becoming so clear and I was honestly relieved. Lizzie was still on my side...just secretly. Hopefully, she could survive a little longer on the Nemesis. If things went alright...and hopefully they would, then the Autobots would have a chance to be on the Nemesis and find her here at the end of season one...when Optimus and Bulkhead invaded the ship after Megatron shoots Raf.

The future was finally looking up, and Lady Luck was on my side now!

Miko: See Paul, I knew something was going to go right.

Paul: *nods...relieved* Yes, that is true. I'm just glad I finally got an explanation that makes sense about Lizzie.

*both leave*

Authoress: *walks in before shaking head* Oh Paul. Just as blind as ever...and you're dragging Miko with you. *looks over notes for future.*

AN: And here it is! The next exciting chapter of this story! I hope you all enjoyed it as much as I did! I have decided to not be so detailed about the reviewing of the chapter since I want you guys to catch a lot of this one your own...or be totally blown away when the hinted at stuff blows you away.

Short and sweet? This chapter definitely dropped some hints about the future and what is going to happen...and some that aren't that obvious to the viewer as much as other things. Keep an eye out because, with the end of season one just over the horizon, I'm sure that things are going to get crazy.

As for next chapter, things will definitely be changing along with some interesting developments on at least one side...maybe even two. XD Things will definitely be interesting with who I have slated for the first point of view...*zones out*

*comes back* Anyways, that's all for all of that now. Here are the names of the next chapters and their original names in italics to help with those trying to follow along.

Chapter 19: Danger Keep Out Rock Bottom

Chapter 20: Mistrust Partners

Chapter 21:...(I'm sure you've caught on to how this works by now. XD )

Okay...so that is that for now. Please drop a review, even to say hi. I love the inspiration that I get from all of you guys and reviews...or even PMs coming to me, mean more than any of you could know. Well, until next time, TTYL! *looking to future with more glee than you all know yet*