Dreadwing gave the Autobots the Forge of Solus Prime in revenge on Megatron for accepting the mech that had killed his brother back into the Decepticon ranks. Optimus quickly used the Forge to turn their groundbridge into a spacebridge after divulging that the Omega Lock was on Cybertron. Everyone but Ratchet went to Cybertron to steal back the Omega Keys from the Cons and restore Cybertron. The Cons however had kidnapped Raf, Jack and Miko forcing the Autobots to relinquish both their weapons and the keys.

Smokescreen couldn't help but think about Paige's earlier comment on jars as he looked at the kids. She had known, he realized. She had predicted what would happen both with Dreadwing and the Forge and with the kids. He couldn't see her as a traitor because she had warned him. If only someone had listened to her, things could have been different.

xxxxxx

Paige could feel the ground shaking as Megatron began terraforming Earth with the Omega Lock. She stepped out of the cave she was currently taking shelter in to see the rising tower in the distance. So begins the beast hunt, she thought.

On Cybertron, Optimus regained his sword and destroyed the Omega Lock effectively saving Earth and extinguishing the hope for Cybertron's restoration all in one go. The resulting battle on Earth and explosion of the base could be heard for miles around and Paige could feel the resulting tremors even as she sought shelter deeply in the cave. She knew the team would be headed back after they regrouped, but she didn't know how long that would take. Right now all she could do was avoid the Cons. Hopefully, she would meet up with the Autobots before Shockwave's pet found her.

Xxxxxx

At the army base, the Autobots, the kids, Fowler and Ms. Darby had gathered after the battle.

"Okay, someone's got to say it," said Miko looking up at the new larger Optimus. "Optimus 2.0 is rad. Imagine what the Forge could do for your body."

Ratchet huffed. "Is it true that the Forge has been drained of all its power? Then any hope of rebuilding the Omega Lock has truly been lost."

"I did what I thought was right," said Smokescreen looking down.

"And your instincts have once again proven to be quite sound," said Ratchet.

Smokescreen raised his head in surprise as the Autobots and their allies celebrated their latest victory.

Smokescreen approached Optimus. "Permission to leave to search for Paige?" he asked.

"Where did Paige go?" asked Ratchet curiously. "She wasn't there when we evacuated the base."

"I used the Phase Shifter to take her to a cave a few miles outside of the base," said Smokescreen. "She insisted on it. She said she'd only get in the way and that the base would be compromised soon."

"When was this?" asked Optimus.

"Shortly after I returned with the Omega Keys," said Smokescreen sheepishly. "She did say that she warned you."

"She did," admitted Optimus. "However at the time there were too many situations to deal with and I'm afraid her warning was overlooked."

"If she had knowledge about was going to happen, could she be a spy?" asked Ultra Magnus narrowing his eyes.

"Paige is human," said Ratchet looking at Ultra Magnus. "She didn't have access to any electronic devices and she was confined to the base. There was no way she could have gotten a message out to the Decepticons."

"Paige has given us no reason to doubt her word," said Optimus. "She's given us warnings and help willingly while risking injury to herself."

"Plus she's gone up against the Cons," added Bulkhead. "They're not on friendly terms with her especially Starscream."

"She's saved my hide before," added Cliffjumper.

"Do you know where to look for her?" asked Ratchet turning his attention to Smokescreen.

"I know where I left her, but she may have moved," he replied. "She was in a hurry to get distance between herself and the base."

"Take this," said Ratchet handing Smokescreen a handheld scanner. "I put a tracker in her bag. It's short range, but it'll make her easier to find." Ratchet looked up to find the group staring at him.

"Trust issues," said Miko from below.

"Okay," said Smokescreen taking the scanner and leaving.

"Hey, you don't have a tracker on us, do you?" Miko called up to Ratchet.

"I do not, but knowing your tendency to disappear and your small size perhaps I'll make you a collar," said Ratchet. "So you don't get lost anymore."

Miko huffed. "You better be kidding Doc."

Ratchet just smirked at her miffed off expression.

xxxxxx

Paige was so relieved to see Smokescreen she wanted to cry. She didn't have enough water in her body to spare for tears however. Her water supply had run out nearly two days ago and she hadn't found another water source yet. Her search was hampered because she could only move at night. Not only did she have to avoid any remaining Cons in the area, but she also couldn't afford to sweat any precious liquid away during the day. She was acutely aware that most people died after three days without water and she feared that would happen to her. She had assumed that the Autobots would regroup and forget about her again so when she first saw Smokescreen she thought she was hallucinating. He turned out to be the real thing however and all she could think was that she was so fortunate that they didn't forget her this time. She immediately hugged him much to his surprise. Paige was too weak to walk for long distances so Smokescreen ended up carrying her most the way. He told her that Ratchet had attached a tracker to her purse and given the situation Paige couldn't be mad at him.

Smokescreen ended up carrying a disorientated Paige back to base. He was surprised to find that despite her being just under Bumblebee's height, she was ridiculously light for her size. Of course she wasn't made of metal and she was rather thin for a human so that helped a lot. Smokescreen phased through whatever was in his way in order to get her to the base as fast as possible. When they finally arrived, she pointed at a hose connected to the wall of one of the buildings on base. He gently placed her down next to it and she immediately turned the water on and drank and drank.

Paige didn't care about anything but getting water. She didn't bother pulling out the empty cubes from her purse instead she drank straight from the hose until she couldn't drink anymore. Then she sprayed the water over herself letting it cool her down externally. The base would probably have a very large water bill this month, but that wasn't her problem. She finally shut off the hose and looked up to see both Smokescreen and Ratchet hovering over her. They helped her up and into the hanger that now served as their base.

"Paige," said Optimus in greeting as she entered.

Ultra Magnus looked at her in confusion. "I was unaware that the natives could reach our size."

"Paige is unique," said Optimus. "When we first encountered her, she was over three times my original size."

Ultra Magnus looked like he couldn't even imagine that.

"She's shrinking," said Ratchet. "We believe she may have been exposed to a relic, but we've been unable to determine if that was the case." Ratchet helped her sit down on a raised platform.

"Paige, this is Ultra Magnus," said Optimus.

Paige inclined her head in acknowledgement. Her eyes swept Optimus from top to bottom. To be honest she preferred Optimus' bulked up appearance to the one he had before. The original had made his seem gangly and it was cool that he could fly now. She had known that Ultra Magnus had the same color scheme, but he was mostly blue compared to Optimus' red. He was also incredibly tall, but he was still no match for Optimus' new height. Ratchet drew her attention away from them.

"You are severely dehydrated," said Ratchet.

"I'm well aware of that," said Paige.

"You could have died out there on your own," said Ratchet in reprimand.

"Unicron, the Cons, Mech, the elements and now the Predacon," said Paige. "Any one of them could have killed me Ratchet. I'm well aware of that and yes I saw the Predacon. Ultra Magnus, I assume the ship I saw was yours. Nice flying by the way," she said.

Ms. Darby walked up the stairs to stand on the platform next to her son. She watched as Paige tried to prevent Ratchet from poking and prodding her. "Is she okay?" asked Ms. Darby in concern.

"I'm suffering from two day dehydration and I'm probably 50lbs underweight if I had to guess," said Paige briefly lifting her shirt to show that her ribs were more prominent now. "I think I've already burned through my bodies' reserves. Other than that, I'm fine. I still have some protein powder so hopefully I can last until I shrink further."

Ms. Darby frowned. "Is that all you've been eating?" she asked. When Paige nodded, Ms. Darby stood up and headed for the stairs. "They have a mess hall here," she said. "I'll see if they can make you a large batch of soup. You'll need to start eating something light before you start on the heavier food. Ratchet, leave her alone," said Ms. Darby sternly. "She's malnourished and dehydrated, which means she'll be weak until her health is restored. I can't believe you let it get to this point."

Ratchet actually managed to look guilty.

"He's an alien," pointed out Paige in his defense. "How was he supposed to know anything about us? Sure they could have learned from the Internet, but they're kind of in the middle of a war so they have other priorities. Plus the kids always got fed at home or brought their own food so it was likely they assumed we were self-sufficient. Fowler did get me the protein powder and I used to be much bigger than I am now. Otherwise I'd be worried about decimating the food supply in the area."

Ms. Darby considered her argument, but still left with a disgruntled look on her face. Paige looked over at Jack. "Sorry, I think we peeved your mom off," she said.

Jack laughed. "She's just overprotective sometimes," he said.

"True, but you're the one that has to deal with her later," said Paige. "I wouldn't be surprised if she comes back with a plate full of healthy food for you as well. No more fast food burgers for you."

Jack groaned at the thought.