In which Alison searches her room, gets arrested, and make a plan


Once I explained that the glasses were in my house and we'd have to go there to get them, it took only a couple minutes to get us on the road. Bumblebee, Mikaela and I led the way, though I instructed Bee to pull down the alley next to the house instead of parking on the street, the rest of the 'Bots following like ducklings. Mikaela and I jumped out and I looked to Optimus. "Okay, I should know exactly where those glasses are, so just stay here and let me bring them to you." I looked to Mikaela. "Keep an eye on them, please?"

She nodded, looking back over the group. "Okay, go!"

I opened the back gate and ran through the yard, meeting Ron at the back door. "Thanks for staying on my path," he said sarcastically.

"Dad!" I said, crashing into the back door to keep him in. "The path, sorry, sorry, I forgot. Didn't- didn't want to be late, you know?"

"You know," he started, "I buy half your car. I bail you out of jail. And then, since I was amazed you got a date, I just decided to do all your chores. So, life, life is good."

"Chores?" I asked, glancing back behind me as I heard the bushes rustling and seeing Optimus transforming. Then it hit me, as I smacked my forehead. "Chores! Oh, gosh, Dad, I am so sorry. It's just, we were all having such a good time, I completely forgot."

"Yes, yes you did."

"Tell you what Dad." I turned back to him. "I'll take care of the trash cans right now, and all day tomorrow, you can order me about the yard."

"No, no, you must be tired after your long day," he said, opening the door before I pushed it shut in his face.

"No, Dad, you must be tired. I couldn't ask you to do that for me, after you've done so much." I looked back and saw Optimus stepping into the yard. "Okay, I promise, I'll do the trash cans, and I'll work in the yard tomorrow, laundry, all your chores, I promise."

"You sure?" Ron asked me just as I noticed Bee peeking around the side of the house.

"Yes!" I said, leaning on the door. "Yes, I'll do it, cause I love you so much Dad."

Ron looked at his watch. "You know, your Mom wanted me to ground you. You're three minutes late."

"Yes, I know, and I know I forgot to call and I should have. Like I said, I promise to make it up to you." I smiled as sweetly as I could, which got a smile back and Ron went back into the house.

Heaving a big sigh, I turned around to the sight of six autobots in my backyard. As if five hadn't been bad enough.

"Optimus! Optimus!" I shouted up to him, heading into the yard. "Optimus, look out!" But I was too late to save the fountain.

Optimus looked down as he set his pede to the side of the rubble. "Oh- oops. Sorry, my bad."

"Yes, very much your bad," I said back, running a hand through my hair and I looked at Mikaela. "They couldn't wait, could they?"

"Well they seem to be in a bit of a rush," Mikaela gestured up to them in a "what do you think I could do?" motion.

I shook my head as I snatched up Mojo just before he could pee on Ironhide. "No, no Mojo, we do not pee on the feet of our guests."

Ironhide looked down at us, raising an arm. "You have a rodent infestation. Shall I terminate it?"

"He's not a rodent, he's a Chihuahua. Easy to confuse, but humans, especially my mom, love these guys. So no terminations, capish?" I set Mojo by his dog house and he relieved himself there, before turning around and dashing back to the door. "Okay, look, Optimus, I know you need the glasses, but if anyone sees you, they're gonna call the cops, or the FBI or MIB, so you need to hide. Okay?"

"Just hurry," Optimus said, though he and the 'Bots did move away from the house.

I went inside with Mojo, raced upstairs and found my bag sitting in my room by my desk. "Yes!" I smiled as I knelt and reached into the side pocket where I had stuck the glasses, then it fell away as I found nothing there. "What? No, no, no-no-no-no-no!" I started searching through the pockets, hoping I had just tucked it them into a different one than I'd thought, but I didn't see or feel them. I started taking my books and folders out, setting them on my desk chair, just to make sure they hadn't just fallen into the main pocket. "No, no, no, no!"

I heard a creaking by my window and looked over to see Optimus lifting up Mikaela to the window. "They really want those glasses," she said when I went to pull her into the room.

"I know," I ran a hand through my hair, gesturing with the other one. "And I was certain I'd stuck them in my bag, but they aren't there now."

"Well they're gonna be pissed, so what are we gonna do?"

"Just make a sweep of that side of the room, I'll take this side," I told her, pointing to one side of the desk while I took the other. "Just ignore anything you find that's not the glasses." I suddenly heard transformation sounds outside and looked out the window to see the 'Bots had all transformed to car mode. "No! Guys! People don't park their cars in their backyards!" I turned away from the window with a yell of frustration.

Mikaela and I spent the next several minutes searching the room as I cursed my terrible memory. It always blanks out just when I need it, and I wasn't getting any helpful little flashbacks for this. Nope, had to go scouring through the room, taking in all the possible locations for the glasses to go.

"Alison, Alison," Mikaela hissed and I looked up, seeing her jerk her head to the window. "He's back."

I went to the window and looked down, seeing him standing in the flower bed. "Dude, off Mom's flowers."

Optimus looked down and took a step back, placing a servo against the side of the house. "Opps."

"Yeah, 'Opps' is right." I took a deep breath, folding my hands in front of my mouth and nose. "Optimus, look, Mikaela and I are searching everywhere for the glasses, but we can't focus if we have to keep checking on you to make sure you aren't seen. If my parents see you, they're going to freak out, and my mom has both a temper and a baseball bat. And you just destroyed her garden."

Optimus sighed. "We must have the glasses," he said sharply.

"I know that!" I snapped back, as he run a servo over his face. "Look, if you want Mikaela and me to find them, you need to get back in the alley and wait until we either run them out to you, or call for you to get them, okay. Please, fifteen minutes, at least, please?"

Optimus sighed again, then turned to the 'Bots. "Autobots, fall back."

"Thank you." I said, turning back to resume the search. I could hear pedesteps away from the house, then the ground shook and the lights started flickering, steadied, then finally went out. I heaved a heavy sigh. "Why me?"

Optimus, Ratchet and Ironhide all came up to the windows, trying to point their headlights into the room to light it. I went to the bathroom window. "No, no! That isn't helping, my parents are going to see it, get back! Cut the light!"

We heard a knocking on my door. "Shit." I hissed, then looked at Mikaela. "Behind the bed, now!" I told her, running the sink and soaking a washcloth. As Ron called out for me to open the door, I scrubbed most of the dirt from my face and neck, drying off as I went to the door. I tossed the towel onto a shelf, then pulled the door open as Ron got to 3.

"Hey Mom, hey Dad" I said, looked at them. Ron had his lights while Judy had the bat. "What's up? What's with the bat?"

"Who are you talking to?" Ron asked.

"No one. Just myself. I do that, you know."

"Your face is flushed," Judy said.

"Really? I just washed it, so it's probably just friction."

"We heard voices and noises and we thought maybe you were-" Judy started.

"It doesn't matter what we thought. What was that light?" Ron asked, cutting her off and pushing past me into the room.

"What light?" I asked.

"The light. There was a light under the door."

"I don't know, maybe it bounced from outside?" I shrugged and moved to stand next to the window, blocking the 'Bots from view. "As you can see, I'm fine, everyone's fine, why don't you go downstairs and back to enjoying your evening."

"We will, once we find out what's up here." Ron started trying to look around, but I caught his arm.

"Dad! Nothing is up here, it's just me. Honestly, it's like you just wanna barge in here and catch me doing something!"

"We knocked!" Judy said.

"Your door was locked, that means your hiding something," Ron said.

"Maybe I just want to be left alone for a little bit?" I defended.

"For Pete's sake, you're so defensive," Judy said. "Were you… masturbating?"

That stopped me and Ron in our tracks as we turned to her gobsmacked.

"Was I mastur- Mother!"

"Judy this is our daughter. Our little girl here. It's not something you bring up!" Ron argued, getting a little red faced.

"It's okay, it's okay!" Judy said, waving her hand like she hadn't just said one of the most embarrassing things possible.

"Not in front of Dad! It's a mother-daughter thing!"

"Well we don't have to all it that word if it makes you uncomfortable," Judy tried to rectify the statement. "We can call it… Alison's happy time, my special alone time…"

"Mom! Stop! Please!" I put my face in my hands with a groan.

"I'm sorry. It's just been a weird night. I've had a bit to drink," Judy said.

Not as weird as my life right now, Judy, I thought to myself.

"There was something in here," Ron went back to insisting, pushing past me and going to check the en-suite. "I don't know where it went, but it was making a light."

Suddenly, we felt the house shake again and as Judy and I tried to steady ourselves, Ron was calling "Earthquake!" and dove into the bathtub. A few moments later, the lights came back on and I stepped into my room proper, looking around for the glasses again as Judy told Ron to get out of the tub. As he started going on about the ruined yard, I glanced over at Mikaela, who threw me a "What do we do?" look. I gave her a shrug back as Ron and Judy came to interrogate me again.

"Look, we heard you talking to someone, Alison," Judy said. "We wanna know who."

"Mom, I told you-" I started but was interrupted by a cough.

We all turned to see Mikaela standing up from her hiding place. "Hi, I'm Mikaela. I'm a- I'm a friend of Alison's."

Judy started shaking my shoulder, giving me a grin and happy noises. "Gosh you're gorgeous." She turned to Ron to repeat it as he gave me and Mikaela a shifty eye while she thanked Judy.

"She could hear everything thing we've said," I pointed out, and Judy gasped.

"Oh my goodness, I'm so sorry you had to hear our little family discussion," she said, waving her hand between the three of us as Mikaela gave an awkward laugh.

"Mom, do you know what happened to Grandpa Archibald's glasses?" I asked. "I wanted to show them off."

"Oh, your father grabbed them, they're in the kitchen."

"Kitchen. Thanks, Mom." I kissed her cheek, grabbed my purse, reached for Mikaela's hand, and pulled her downstairs. When we got in the kitchen, the glasses were sitting on the counter next to the bag of Archibald's other stuff. I picked them up and looked them over, finding them no worse for wear. "Oh thank God."

"Your Mom's really nice," Mikaela said, redoing her hair.

I opened the window, calling "Optimus!", but he and the 'Bots were nowhere in sight. Who was, however, was Sector 7 agents and scientists. "Shit, it's MIB!"

"What?" Mikaela looked out the window with me, before helping me quickly shut it and backing away. I tucked the glasses into my sports bra and we went back to the living room to find Simmons and a couple other agents talking with Ron and Judy.

"What's going on?" I asked, drawing their full attention.

"How're you doing?" Simmons asked, tossing Judy's bat to an agent. "Is your name Alison?"

"Yes."

"Well, I need you to come with us, then." He started walking towards me, but Ron and Judy stepped between us.

"Whoa, way out of line!" Ron said, standing in front of me so I could just see Simmons over his shoulder.

"Sir, I am asking politely. Back off."

"You're not taking my daughter," Ron declared as Mojo started barking at Simmons. I knelt and picked him up, petting his head.

"Really? You gonna try to get rough with us?"

"No, but I'm going to call the cops because there is something fishy going on here." Yeah, and it's me, Ron.

"Yeah," Simmons said. "There's something a little fishy about you, your daughter, your little Taco Bell dog and this whole operation you got going on here."

"What operation?" Ron asked.

"That's what we're gonna find out," Simmons said with finality.

Then the Brian Stepanek agent came up to Simmons with the radiation detector, and he motioned for me to step forward. When I did, he held it up and the thing started beeping like crazy, to match the grin on his face.

"Fourteen rads! Bingo!" He turned to the other agents. "Tag them and bag them."

The agents put the cuffs on us while another got Mojo onto a lead pole and took us outside. Judy called out that she would kick the agents' asses if they hurt Mojo while Ron called for me not to say anything without a lawyer as they were taken to the second car as Mikaela and I were taken to Simmons's. After we were pushed into the backseat, he and Stepanek got in front and led the S7 convoy away.

After about five minutes, Simmons pulled my phone from the box of my pocket evidence and slipped it out of it's bag. "I thought a government agent would be more strict about possible contamination of evidence," I remarked dryly, trying to casually work my way out of my cuffs. Mikaela I'm sure was already getting out of one.

"So, Ladylover217," Simmons said, ignoring my comment. "That is your eBay username, right?"

"Well, IFuckingLoveLadies was against the rules, so I took the next best thing." I rolled my eyes.

"Well what do you make of this?' he asked, turning and showing us my "last words" video from the night before. "Is this you?"

"Why do you have that, Alison?" Mikaela asked me.

"In this, you said your car was alive, and ten minutes later, it drove away when an officer was putting you into his cruiser. Enlighten me."

"The video was going to be a prank," I said. "I was figuring, around Halloween, I'd get permission from my parents to prank some people into thinking I was missing, then I'd show up at the Halloween dance like a triumphant return." I shrugged. "That, or I'd stick it on Youtube and see what hits I get. With the cop, I just assumed someone dove for the driver's seat while he was giving me the patdown and took off with it. Haven't seen it since."

"Mmhmm, sure, sure. Understandable, Youtube is quite popular these days," Simmons said. "So what do you kids know about aliens?"

"Aliens?" I asked back. "What, like Star Wars? Men in Black? Well, actually, there are some pretty cool looking ones in that new Mass Effect game that's coming out soon."

"They're an urban legend. Science fiction." Mikaela said as Simmons pulled out his S7 badge.

"You kids see this? This is my I-can-do-whatever-I-want-and-get-away-with-it badge. I'm gonna lock you up forever!"

Mikaela rolled her eyes. "Oh, God. You know what? Don't listen to him. He's just pissy 'cause he's got to get back to guarding the mall."

"You, in the training bra, do not test me," Simmons said. "Especially with your daddy's parole coming up."

Mikaela's face shifted and fear flashed into her eyes at the threat. "Parole?" I asked, and she tried to mask it.

"It's nothing," Mikaela tried to say, but Simmons interrupted.

"Oh, grand theft auto, that ain't nothing?"

"You know those cars my dad used to teach me to fix?" Mikaela asked me. "Well, they- they weren't always his."

"You stole cars?" I asked.

"Well, we couldn't always afford a babysitter, so sometimes he had to take me along." Her voice started to choke up at the end, and I pointed a glare at Simmons as he went on.

"She's got her own juvie record to prove it! She's a criminal." Simmons gave Mikaela a onceover, and I wanted to hit him. Always did for that bit. Then I noticed the radiation meter starting to beep and braced myself. "Criminals are hot! Well, that'd be a real shame if he had to rot in jail the rest of his natural life. It is time to talk!"

The car suddenly hit the bottom of a familiar pede and spun out, Simmons and Stepanek freaking out up front. I felt a triumphant grin cross my face as black fingers broke through the windows to pick up the car by the roof. I was the only calm one in the car as we were lifted up, then dropped back down as the roof ripped off.

We were momentarily blinded by headlights, then they cleared up and we could see Optimus standing above us. I leaned forward towards Simmons and Stepanek. "And this is why you don't mess with a Witwicky. Gentlemen, I want to introduce you to my friend, Optimus Prime, leader of the Autobots."

"Taking the children was a bad move," Optimus said with a growl. As the other agents came over and pulled their guns, he ordered, "Autobots, relieve them of their weapons."

The other 'Bots rolled in, Ironhide and Coppertone practically sticking their blasters in the agents' faces as Jazz used a magnet to pull the guns from the agents' hands. Optimus knelt over our car as Simmons tried to keep the situation "calm".

"Hi there," he said, giving Optimus a small wave.

"You don't seem afraid," Optimus noted. "Are you not surprised to see us?"

"Look, there are S7… protocols… okay," Simmons stuttered out. "I'm not authorized to communicate with you except to tell you I… can't communicate with you."

Optimus just glared. "Get out of the car. Now!"

I kicked at my door, and the agent next to it pulled it open for me before being herded away with the rest of them to stand by a light pole. Mikaela slipped out after me and, like I had thought, had already worked herself free. As she stood behind me and opened mine, I tried to joke, "So you're good with handcuffs too, huh?"

"You weren't supposed to hear all that," she said, taking a step back as the cuffs fell to the ground.

"I know, and I'm sorry I found out that way." I turned around and gave her a hug. "I'm not holding anything against you. So your dad took you car stealing as a kid. It's in the past, you're not a car thief now."

"It's not that he took me with him," Mikaela said, stepping out of my arms. "My record is because I didn't turn him in. Not that you'd understand it. When have you had to sacrifice anything in your perfect little life?"

The weight of that statement hit me, and I suddenly had to blink away tears. "You'd be surprised," I said, then cleared my throat, turned around and headed over to Simmons, who was mindlessly chattering at the 'Bots. "Hey, Secret Agent Man. What's Sector 7?"

"I'm the one who asks the questions around here. Not you, young lady!" he yelled at me.

"How do you know about the aliens?" Mikaela asked, coming up next to me.

"I'm not at liberty to discuss-" he started, but I reached forward and snatched his badge away. "-it. Hey! You touched me, that's a federal offence."

"Do-whatever-you-want-and-get-away-with-it badge, right?" I asked, holding it just out of his reach as I looked over it.

"Yeah. Brave now all of a sudden, with her big alien friend standing over there."

"More like I know I can get away clean now," I said. "Where's Sector 7?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?" He shot me "I-know-something-you-don't-know" smirk.

Bumblebee trilled a noise, then popped a cover on his pelvic plate. I pulled Mikaela back a few more feet as something hit Simmons on the back of the head, just before oil came pouring out onto his head and back, splashing onto Stepanek next to him. I smirked back at Simmons while Optimus looked down at Bee.

"Bumblebee, stop lubricating the man," he ordered as Simmons yelled. While that happened, Mikaela knelt down and picked up a set of handcuffs. She looked at me and we both smiled at the same time as the idea came to her head. God, I loved this woman.

It didn't that long at all to cuff all the agents together, working pretty much from the middle out. I just finished cuffing Stepanek and another guy when I saw the phone in Stepanek's hand. I took it from him and said into it "Catch us if you can," before ending the call, dropping the phone and stepping on it. Right after I did that, Mikaela stepped around.

"All right, tough guy, take it off," she said to Simmons.

"What are you talking about?" he asked.

"Your clothes, all of it, off."

"For what?"

She gave him a stoney look. "For threatening my dad."

Simmons glared at her, but started undressing. "Little lady, this is the beginning of the end of your life. You're a criminal. Uh huh. Let's face facts. It's in your gene pool."

"Those are nice," Mikaela commented on his Hawaiian boxers like he hadn't said anything at all. "Now back behind the pole." She chained him to the pole, and I chained Stepanek to him, then looked to Optimus.

"We better go, this guy called for reinforcements," I said, just as Ironhide called out "Optimus! Incoming!"

He slammed a transformed fist into the ground, sending a shockwave down the road to slow down the S7 SUVS.

"Roll out!" Optimus ordered, sending the 'Bots away as he knelt down and offered us his servo. "Up you get." He lifted us onto his shoulder just as a couple choppers came overhead. He ran down the city streets, and how he managed not to step on or kick anyone or anything was Primus's good fortune shining down on us. Optimus managed to duck down an alley and we lost the choppers, heading to a bridge. With great grace, Optimus swung himself under the bridge and with great strength, he clung to to bottom of it.

Mikaela and I adjusted our positions so I was sitting on the back of Optimus's shoulder while Mikaela was on the back of his neck. "Easy, you two," he warned us as we watched the approaching helicopters.

Then something, I still don't know exactly what, caused Mikaela to slip off Optimus. I grabbed and caught her arm, but in turn, lost my own seating and fell, barely grabbing the edge of Optimus's plating to keep from plummeting.

"Alison!" Mikaela screamed, clutching at my arm as one of the choppers passed right under us.

"Grab my legs!" I yelled down to Mikaela as I tried to hold onto both her and Optimus. Just before she could, my hand slipped and we both started falling as Optimus swung his legs down, to slow our fall or to catch us, I didn't know.

In any case, we bounced off his pede, myself hitting my funny bone on the way down, and were saved from a splattery end by Bumblebee's quick catch. After skidding a ways down the riverside, he righted himself and set us down, Mikaela and I hugging each other with relief for a minute.

"Bee," I said, pulling away and turning towards him. "Thank y- BEE, LOOK OUT!" I shouted as the helicopter came into view.

He turned and watched the chopper come in. I yelled for him to run, but it was too late. The harpoon caught through Bee's wrist and he was pulled down the bank, Mikaela and I having to dodge to avoid being kicked or stepped on. The second one came, and I screamed "Nooooo!", but it was too late.

In a minute, Bee was caught by all four limbs and pinned down as S7 showed up with their vans. Bee was screaming and flailing, trying to get out. I wanted to run to him, but the SUVs pulled up and agents jumped out and ordered Mikaela and I on the ground. As we did, the guys with the giant fire extinguishers came out.

"Leave him alone, he's not fighting back!" I shouted, but they didn't pay me any mind, spraying him down. Bee looked our way and my eyes locked onto his optics. He was terrified.

They picked Mikaela and I up to take us to the vans, but I managed to get the drop on my guy and got him in the nuts. As he let go and yelled in pain, I raced over to Bee, shoving one guy right into another as I dropped down by Bee's face. I'd just managed to reach out and touch him when an agent tried to grab me. "No, please!" I yelled, curling down around Bee's helm, not caring for the frostbite I was probably getting from his plating being chilled. Two agents came and grabbed me by the arms, pulling me back and holding me so I couldn't kick out or strike at them. As they dragged me away, Bee and I locked eyes and optics again, and I tried to reassure him, even as I felt tears start falling down my face.

"It'll be okay, Bee! I promise on my life, it'll be okay!"

The agents took me back to the vans and Simmons was there, pants back on and with an armor vest over his S7 tank top. "Happy to see me again?"

I wanted to lunge and growl and snap my teeth at him like a wild animal, but with the agents holding me back, I had to settle for glaring at him.

"Put her in a car with her little criminal friend," he ordered. The agents holding me put me in a van, and when Mikaela and I locked eyes, we wrapped each other in a tight hug, holding each other like a lifeline.

"The 'Bots will get him, right?" Mikaela asked. "They'll get Bee free."

I moved a hand to my chest and I couldn't feel the glasses in my shirt. "No," I answered truthfully. "No, they won't."

The van started moving out soon after, and I must have been so exhausted from the day I fell asleep, because the next think I knew I was being shaken awake by an agent and hauled into a building.

Surprisingly, or maybe not, they put Mikaela and I into the same room, which looked like a bare dorm room, the only furniture being two single metal beds, a small dresser and a ceiling light, with another door I assumed that led to a small bathroom. What was definitely surprising was that they gave Mikaela and I back our purses, instead of just holding them 'til morning. I guess Frenzy was just that good at hiding, so they didn't suspect anything about them, or they didn't investigate fully. Once we were inside, the door was locked and we were cut off from the rest of the world.

"I can't believe this," Mikaela suddenly said, sitting down hard on a bed. "Last night, we had a great time with you taking me home in your crappy old Camaro, and now it turns out your car is an alien robot who summoned his alien robot friends here to Earth because your grandpa's junk held the key to saving the planet, and now we're under arrest from a part of the government that probably technically doesn't exist." She shook her head. "Just… no!" She lay back on the bed, closing her eyes. "I'm going to open my eyes, and realize this was all a crazy dream."

"Doesn't work," I said, dropping onto the other bed. "Trust me, I tried it."

"How are you so calm!?" she asked me, sitting up again. "We almost died I don't know how many times today, and there you are sitting like it's nothing!"

"It's not nothing!" I snapped back, my exhaustion, terror and several other emotions I couldn't name bubbling up out of my chest. "It's that I'm exhausted from today, worried sick about Bumblebee and my parents and what they're doing to them, and terrified about fucking things up tomorrow that people are gonna die!"

Mikaela actually rocked back in her seat, and it startled me so much I started crying again. "I- I'm sorry, Mikaela," I said, trying to wipe my eyes. "I just- I'm scared. I'd specifically tried to change things about today, but everything ended up going exactly as it did before, and I'm terrified it'll be the same way tomorrow."

"What do you mean 'change things'?" she asked.

I sighed and tried to think of the best thing to tell her. Saying this was all a movie plot was probably not going to go over well. "Would you believe me if I said I had a vision?"

"A vision?"

"Yeah. Wednesday night, I had a dream about this weekend, starting from me giving my report in Hosney's to late Sunday night. I didn't believe it at first, then everything that happened in my dream happened at Bolivia's, and when Bee admitted to being an alien, I realized it was true. Meaning tomorrow, there's going to be a chance that lots of people are gonna die, and if I mess up, it'll be the wrong people."

"So, you- wait?" Mikaela gave me a look. "You already knew about my dad?"

I nodded. "And I mean it, I don't hold it against you. Honestly, you finding out all this is not something I would have changed. What I did try to change was Bee and I being separated and getting the glasses to Optimus, but something kept both of them following the vision."

"The glasses!" Mikaela came over and grabbed my purse, looking in it. "Where are they?"

"I tucked them up here," I said, pointing at my cleavage. "They fell out when we fell. That's part of why Optimus didn't come after us."

"But, Bee's his soldier! How can he abandon him?"

"He's not, at least not fully." I sighed and took her hand. "It's hard to explain, especially right now, but I promise, once everything is done, I'll tell you all of it."

Mikaela looked down at our hands, then nodded and looked up. "Alright. But the first moment you can, you're telling me everything."

I nodded back, squeezing her hand. "We better get some sleep, we're going to have a full day tomorrow."

She nodded and went back to her bed, kicking off her shoes and getting under the covers. I turned out the light and mimicked her, but I couldn't fall asleep. What I had said before was still eating at me. I specifically sent the signal early so we could avoid the arrest, but it still happened. And I'd placed the glasses in a specific place to find to get away from the house before S7 showed up, but they were moved. Was everything destined to play out the same as canon?

No, it can't be. If everything was supposed to be the same, why am I here? There has to be some way I can change things.

I thought over the upcoming battle, and the different parts of it. Optimus would fall behind to kill Bonecrusher. Starscream would attack and Bee would be hurt. I'd be given the AllSpark to run with. Megatron would kill Jazz. Bee, Mikaela and the Rangers would killed Brawl. Optimus and Megatron would come after me and battle while the Rangers and 'Bots killed Blackout. And then the AllSpark choice; Optimus or Megatron. One to stand, one to fall, and a race to doom.

But the movies didn't have Coppertone in them, so that could throw the battle. Maybe enough I could make an exit plan. But, the AllSpark would be unshielded, and the 'Cons could easily track it, and I'd probably be stuck with an even worse choice. Especially if the Fallen decided to make a move. Without Optimus, there'd be nothing any of us could do.

Ugh! This was so frustrating. Knowing something has to be done, yet unsure what and not knowing if it'd be right. Why couldn't I have a plan downloaded into my brain with the stupid little memories of this Alison's life?

Download. The AllSpark downloaded information and power into Sari's key in Animated. Could it do the same for me? But I don't have a key like that. But I do have a pacemaker, sitting in my chest. Could it…

No, that's ridiculous. Why would having a pacemaker matter if the AllSpark was destroyed anyway. Though maybe I don't have to destroy it completely. Maybe just shove it at Megatron enough for his spark to give out, then pull back. It'd probably still be damaged, but it'd be better than its alternative.

With that vague plan in mind, I finally closed my eyes and dropped to sleep, getting as much rest as I could before the big day.


AN: Apologies for the late update, i had errands to run, and my sleep schedule is outta whack this week, so I haven't had chance to put this up until now. Enjoy this chapter, and I hope to be on time next week.

Guest Review Replies

Gerard (CH 3): Red femme decepticon is Shatter from Bumblebee film, right? Will there be other references?
Me: I won't publicly confirm or deny who that femme is. That said, there will be some slight references to Bumblebee (2018), but as I see it as completely separate verse from the Bay films, they won't be major. Meaning, sorry, not Charlie or Memo cameos, though maybe an Agent Burns one.