Two weeks later, Paige was officially out of food. She lifted a large fishing net she had taken from the nearby docks and waded out to the shark line where most of the sharks in the area gathered to feed. The net was full as she dragged them toward the shore. She didn't bother to cook the fish, but she did let them die before she ate them. She didn't want to feel them swimming in her stomach. She used her metal nail file to cut off the heads of the sharks and tossed them back into the ocean. She didn't want to risk passing all those teeth through her digestive system. It was a temporary stopgap for the time being, but she knew she needed to hunt down an Autobot so she could get in touch with Fowler. She'd rather not face off against the military by just showing up at one of their bases and she wasn't sure which base Fowler was usually at.

xxxxxx

Bumblebee and Bulkhead were out patrolling in opposite directions when they picked up a signal. Bumblebee commed Bulkhead.

"I just picked up the same signal, let's rendezvous at those coordinates," said Bulkhead.

Bumblebee was quicker and located the beacon first. He approached it when suddenly he was hit by an energy blast from behind and he fell to the ground in stasis.

"Silas, another one is headed this way," said a Mech operative. "Two minutes."

"Work quickly," said Silas.

From above, Starscream landed and observed. "It would appear the signal was a trap," he mused to himself. "Better Bumblebee than me."

Mech had started cutting when a shadow overtook them and their and Starscream's attention was drawn to the rapidly approaching figure. Silas growled and Mech abandoned their goal pulling back and aiming their weapons, but Paige was too fast for them. In one step she had scooped up Bumblebee and in the next she was already gone.

Paige had stumbled across the scene by accident, but she was relieved that she had found an Autobot so easily. With Bumblebee cradled in her left arm she continued to run past Mech avoiding most of their shots. The shots that got through were like insect bites on her legs. Bulkhead was driving toward her and she scooped him up in his vehicle form much to his surprise. She ran for several miles before gently placing them both on the ground. Bulkhead transformed and Bumblebee started to come back online. Paige knelt on the ground her chin resting on her raised right knee. She breathed in deeply trying to catch her breath. Exercise on little food was difficult. "The beacon was a Mech trap," she told Bulkhead in a quiet voice. "They're trying to create one of you. They wanted Bumblebee's T-cog. Warn the others. Mech won't give up until they get one. You didn't see him, but Starscream was there too. It's likely that he'll team up with them."

"There's no way Starscream would team up with humans," called Bulkhead.

"He would if he's desperate," said Paige. "Speaking of desperate, I need you to tell Agent Fowler that I need protein powder in quantity if he doesn't want to deal with a 100ft corpse. Vitamin powder would work as an addition, but protein is essential. I need it soon. I'm out of rations. You should take Bumblebee back to get checked out by the Doc."

Bumblebee returned to his feet still slightly disorientated. Bulkhead called for a bridge and the two disappeared into it.

At base, Ratchet examined Bumblebee while Bulkhead explained what had happened. Raf hovered at the railing looking worried.

"Optimus, there is some damage in the area around Bumblebee's T-cog," said Ratchet. "It does appear that Mech was trying to remove it."

"It was fortunate that Paige was there to intervene," replied Optimus.

"Yea, but you don't actually think Starscream is helping them, do you?" asked Bulkhead.

"I believe Starscream would only form an alliance with Mech if there was an advantage he could gain from them," said Optimus. "So I would not rule the idea out."

Bumblebee beeped.

"Right," said Bulkhead. "Paige said she needed to get in touch with Fowler. The kid is out of rations. What did she say she needed?"

Bumblebee answered.

"How is her condition?" asked Ratchet looking up from his work.

"I couldn't say," said Bulkhead. "This was the first time I've seen her."

"Perhaps we should check on her," said Optimus looking at Ratchet. "Neglecting an ally is never a good idea."

"Be that as it may," said Ratchet. "I recall her specifically telling you to take care of your own. I suspect that she has her own agenda, but I do agree that I am concerned about her health."

Suddenly an alarm went off.

"Augh," said Miko covering her ears. "What is it?"

"Another beacon has been activated," said Optimus.

Bulkhead, Cliffjumper, Arcee and Optimus went through the groundbridge, while Bumblebee remained with Ratchet as he finished fixing the damage to his chassis.

Ratchet retreated to the back to look for parts for a project he was doing when Fowler called with news that the coordinates for the central headquarters of Mech had been found by satellite. Bumblebee answered his call and Raf translated for him. Bumblebee then bridged out to the coordinates ready for some payback.

xxxxxx

That evening as Paige prepared to leave the cave and head to the ocean. She pulled her bag from the entrance when blinding light shone up at her. She pulled her bag close to her on reflex and swore. It was Mech. Suddenly an explosion rocked the mouth of the cave and she and her bag were pelted with rocks. Paige coughed at the dust that was kicked up. The light of the moon was now completely blocked leaving the cave in pitch darkness.

"Target contained," said one of the Mech agents.

Paige pushed against the new rock wall that had formed at the mouth of the cave pushing the rocks out of her way as they cascaded into a pile outside the cave. With the opening wide enough, she swiftly hefted the bag and threw it as far out as she could. She then dove out of the cave rolling in a somersault once she hit the ground. She could feel pain as she rolled so she knew that Mech had set a trap for her outside as well, but her momentum carried her past it and she shakily regained her feet and started to run. She claimed her bag as she ran by. Mech had found her. How had they found her? She could only wonder. A tracking device came to mind. If that was the case, then it could be on her or on her bag. She glanced back to see headlights following her. Her gym bag was nearly empty, but was shredded on one side due to the blast. All she had in it now was her purse, a towel, her water bottle and a small first aid kit. She pulled everything out hastily stuffing whatever would fit into her purse and slinging the purse over her shoulder. She stuck her water bottle under her armpit. She turned and threw the empty gym bag at the approaching cars trapping them momentarily.

"I want the machine that created her," said Silas over the radio. "She's caused enough trouble for us. If we can't get what we want from her, then take her down."

Paige turned in the direction opposite of the ocean trying to mislead them and she seemed to have lost them for the moment. She had cuts on her hands from shielding herself from the blast. She bandaged those and then pulled off her black waterproof jacket. She ran her hands over the material, but didn't feel anything amiss so she put the jacket back on. She ran a hand over her leggings, but there wasn't anything sharp or hard sticking out of the material. She then pulled off each shoe. She found something black and metal sticking into one of them so she pulled it out and placed it on top of a high plateau. She changed directions again hoping to throw them off. She heard a helicopter approaching the plateau as she left and ducked down behind a taller plateau as she continued on. Paige rounded another corner and paused to catch her breath. She leaned up against a plateau that was about chest high and looked around. She thought she was in the clear when a missile was fired at her from close range. She instinctually brought her left arm up to block it and the blast singed the material burning her jacket in the process. Her right hand came up in reflex to pat out the flame and Starscream used the moment to dig his long sharp free hand into her chest aiming for her spark or whatever humans had. Paige jerked back swinging her water bottle, which sent Starscream sailing off the plateau. She took off again only pausing once to check her chest and arm. Her arm was slightly red, but no worse the wear. Starscream had actually drawn blood though on her chest. There were three small scratches on her chest between her breasts. Luckily the extra padding in her sports bra had prevented him from doing worse damage. The transformers were now about knee level with her so she knew she would have to take extra precautions in the future, otherwise they might be able to hurt her worse. She turned and headed for the ocean cautiously. She needed food; a bath and then she would head for the Grand Canyon.