Cliffjumper and Bumblebee returned to base after attempting to visit Paige at her cave. Optimus turned to them expectantly.
"We were too late. She's gone," beeped Bumblebee.
"What do you mean she's gone?" asked Ratchet.
"The cave where she was staying was destroyed," said Cliffjumper frowning. "It looked like explosives. There wasn't any blood though so she may still be okay. We found tire tracks and wire lines so it might have been Mech."
"There was no evidence of a fight so I don't think they got her," beeped Bumblebee. "I'd like to get my hands on Mech though."
"If Mech is indeed after Paige, we will need to find her for her safety," said Optimus. "Cliffjumper, do you have any idea where she might have gone?"
"I mostly showed her the location of fresh water lakes and a path to the ocean," said Cliffjumper thinking. "None of those are suitable places to hide though."
"Optimus, what about where we first saw her?" said Ratchet. "She could easily hide there."
"Ratchet, open a groundbridge. You two are with me," said Optimus.
xxxxxx
Optimus, Bumblebee and Cliffjumper bridged into the middle of the Grand Canyon. They'd only gone about a mile when they encountered Paige. She blended in well with the shadows cast by an outcropping from the wall. None of them had seen her until she moved in response to Bumblebee accidently sending several large rocks tumbling. Paige was sitting as far back against the wall as she could with her hands lightly clasped over her pulled in knees.
Paige turned her head in alarm when she heard noise. She fervently hoped it wasn't Mech. She breathed a sigh of relief when she saw Optimus. Optimus made his way up onto a large boulder adjacent to the recess where she was sitting.
"Paige," said Optimus. "We are glad to have found you."
Paige nodded her acknowledgement, but remained silent.
"I have reason to believe that you are currently in danger," said Optimus. "I would prefer if you returned with us to the base. We can call for a groundbridge if you agree."
"Do you think I'll fit?" asked Paige. "I suppose I could if I crawled, but I wouldn't want to damage your groundbridge."
"Ratchet has reassured me that it will be fine," said Optimus.
"I'll go, but I need you to scan me for tracking devices first," said Paige.
xxxxxx
Ratchet received the comm and then told everyone in the control room to back up. All the kids were on the second level and the other bots moved away from the groundbridge. Bumblebee and Cliffjumper came through first followed by Optimus. Paige on her hands and knees came through after. She carefully moved away from the groundbridge before pulling herself to her feet. She looked up at the ceiling that stretched above her. This place was bigger than she'd imagined though she would probably be limited to only this room. She noticed that Optimus' height now reached mid-thigh on her, but she was still over twice his size. The kids as well as some of the Autobots just stared up at her in awe. Paige carefully moved closer to the wall out of the way of both the entrance to the base and the groundbridge and sunk down bringing her closer to Optimus' height. She placed her water bottle and purse on the floor next to her. She could hear some noise from the kids, but couldn't make out what they were saying. At least she could understand the bots now.
"Whoa," exclaimed Miko. "Who is she? She's huge! Did a relic zap her? Where did you find her?"
"That's Paige," said Raf.
"Wait, you knew about her and you didn't tell me," accused Miko.
"I only saw her when Bee was rescuing us from the tornado," said Raf. "I forgot."
"Why is she here?" asked Jack.
"For her protection, Mech is hunting her," said Cliffjumper.
Ratchet had stepped over to Paige. "What is your condition?" he asked.
"I'm surviving," she replied dismissively. "Whatever happened to me seems to be reversing itself. I'm shrinking."
"That's true," said Cliffjumper. "I nearly reach her knee now, but before I was way below it."
"That's good news, isn't it?" said Bulkhead.
"Better for my needs, but I won't be as resilient to damage," said Paige shrugging.
"May I ask what happened to your face?" asked Optimus.
Paige reached her right hand up to gingerly touch the bruises that had only started to fade. "I had a run in with several avatars of Unicron, but I came out with mostly bruises."
"Why would Unicron attack her?" asked Arcee. "She doesn't give off any signals and he was more focused on Optimus and the Matrix."
"Maybe because I became infected with dark energon when Megatron shot me," said Paige.
Ratchet's attention riveted to her. "You were infected with dark energon. How are you still alive?"
"I was indirectly hit in the left hand," said Paige raising her hand. "I was sick for awhile, but it wasn't enough to kill me. I think I have nerve damage though. Three of the fingers and part of my hand is numb. I can barely move them."
"You were the one that gave us the information about combatting dark energon with regular energon," yelled Ratchet angrily. "Why didn't you come to us for help?"
"You would have figured out that information on your own," said Paige. "And I didn't have a way to contact you. Besides, Unicron is obviously gone so you must have been busy."
Ratchet was seething, but Optimus put a hand on his shoulder to placate him.
"Where did your information about Unicron come from?" asked Optimus.
"Old stories," said Paige. "Unicron is a big theme in some of them. It figures that he'd make an appearance."
"What happened with Mech?" asked Optimus.
"Those." Paige stopped momentarily halting the swear word that threatened to leave her lips. She glanced over remembering that there were children here. "They jumped me last night," said Paige starting again. "Blew up the cave entrance to block me in, but I got out. I ran for it, but they had a tracker on me so I planted a false trail in one direction and ran in another after ditching it. Then I ran into Starscream. I think he's working with them. He tried to take me out, but I punted him like a baseball and fled."
Several of the bots snickered at that.
"I would prefer for the time being that you remain here for your safety," said Optimus.
"That's fine provided I can leave periodically through the groundbridge," said Paige. "Also, did Agent Fowler send what I needed?"
"He did," said Optimus gesturing to where a pallet of boxes was stacked. Behind them was a white board.
"That's why we were out looking for you," added Cliffjumper.
"I appreciate it," said Paige. "You can give the kids the whiteboard though. If they want to talk to me, they'll have to write. I can understand you, but I still can't make out what their saying. My ears are not that good."
"We should be so lucky," muttered Ratchet.
"Optimus," said Paige. "You still have time, but I recommend moving to another base. Megatron isn't stupid and Soundwave has already seen the children. If they find out their identities, it wouldn't be long before they could approximate the location of your base. You should tell Fowler to put their families in witness protection as well."
"I will consider it," said Optimus.
"What other injuries have you sustained?" said Ratchet not giving up.
Paige sighed. "Cuts on my fingers, a superficial burn on one arm and both legs among the bruises. Oh and a small set of scratches on my chest. That idiot Starscream thought he could rip out my spark, but my clothes protected me. He probably knows as much about human anatomy as you do."
Ratchet huffed.
"Listen Ratchet, I appreciate the concern, but I've already taken care of my injuries. I have a first aid kit with me and it's my size. The rest will heal on their own," explained Paige. "It's pointless to worry for me because none of what happened is your responsibility." She smiled at him trying to reassure him, but he still seemed slightly put off.
