Like I said when I reposted the previous chapter, apologies for the formatting errors. I haven't updated on this website for a while. I've mostly been active on Wattpad with my Criminal Case story. I need to get a hang of updating here again. Next time, document upload. Not copy and paste. I can safely say I've learned that lesson the hard way.

REVIEW REPLIES:

wolverine12: Yes, the chapter did mess up. Again, my apologies. I do like what you're thinking about how far I can take Jack's Cybertronian ancestry. Honestly, weapons never crossed my mind, but I did think of other abilities.

willowbeean: I'm just glad this plot bunny worked out. We are getting close to Talida's rescue. I know it seems like I'm drawing this out, but I wanted to at least have Jack have some type of thing with the Autobots and another event (I'm keeping that under wraps) before we get to the rescue. But I promise we're getting close. But that depends on if I have another plot bunny run away from me. I wouldn't exactly discount that possibility.

Jacob D. Mercer: I did think they were clever. ;) I wanted to challenge myself this time, so that's why I did the change. I'm older, somewhat wiser and I would like to think a better writer than I was before.

It's Bumblebee this time. Had a hard time with this one. I went with You'll Be in My Heart by Phil Collins. You know, from Tarzan? That song's always been a favourite and I wanted to incorporate it somehow. I thought it was perfect to describe Bumblebee's relationship with Talida.

You guys know the drill by now. I own nothing aside from original characters and original plot points.

ENJOY!

…or not…

It took a further day for Jack to process the revelation concerning his Cybertronian ancestry and that he had basically started the process of marrying his best friend.

Considering everything, he was actually handling the news remarkably well.

Although, if you were to ask Jack, he would just shrug and say how nothing has surprised him anymore since that day the Decepticons attacked him in the desert.

Once again, Jack found himself in Talida's bedroom. When this first happened, he felt like he didn't really know his best friend. But the more he learned about her life, the more he understood.

He understood the secrets she kept. How would she have been able to explain everything to him? The answer is she couldn't.

He couldn't think of any way she could explain this. It wasn't exactly like she could casually slip it into one of their random conversations – and they've had several conversations where they talked about everything and nothing.

He went through her box again. That box he found under the bed when this all began. But he was looking at everything even closer. He looked at the back of the photos he pulled out. He looked at the writing on the back. He frowned in confusion when he saw the word 'holoform' written on the back of a few photos. Particularly the ones of Talida posing with a group of humans.

He heard the familiar sounds of footsteps. He looked up to see Bumblebee this time. Jack almost dreaded being alone with him. He seemed like a nice bot, but he always felt awkward because he didn't feel like he could communicate with him.

"Hey, Bee," Jack greeted the black-and-yellow Autobot.

Bumblebee looked over and saw the photos Jack was looking at. So, he stood still, and the next thing Jack knew, he saw a figure crackle to life in front of him. A figure with sandy brown hair and the familiar blue eyes. Wordlessly, the being went to Talida's drawer to pull out what Jack recognized as a text-to-speech device.

"Hello, Jack," Bumblebee typed into the device.

"Wow," Jack stammered.

"This is a holoform. We all got fitted with one when Talida was born," Bumblebee explained (or, rather, the device explained for him), "We wanted to be able to be part of Talida's life. Go to her school events. This was the best way to do it without revealing our secret."

"You use this text-to-speech when you're around others?" Jack asked.

"I'm not around other people that often," Bumblebee admitted, "But I wanted to be with my sister."

"From everything Lida told me, you guys are very close," Jack pointed out.

"I was there when she was born," Bumblebee recalled, "It was the day of those storms."

Jack remembered hearing about those storms. It was a freak of nature in Jasper, Nevada and the surrounding desert and towns.

Begin flashback

Arcee went through the breathing exercises she had practiced religiously, trying to block out the storm around her. Of course, it had to happen now.

"Okay, kiddo," Arcee muttered under her breath, "You sure know how to make an entrance."

Optimus had gone to a meeting with Agent Fowler concerning the continuing alliance between the Autobots and the U.S. government. They were still trying to iron out what the Cybertronians would give to the government in exchange for the secrecy. Bulkhead and Ratchet had gone on patrol, leaving Bumblebee at base with the heavily pregnant Arcee.

Everyone was on tenterhooks because the baby was due anytime soon. Optimus didn't want to leave his pregnant wife, but the meeting was important and Arcee practically pushed him out the door. As she rightfully pointed out, this was to give their daughter a home. A life outside the war.

Besides, she still had two weeks.

Well, as Arcee bitterly lamented, her daughter was in line to inherit her mother's impatience because she decided she didn't want to wait two more weeks.

She also heard that women giving birth to their first child tended to experience lengthy labours.

Again, her daughter didn't want to wait.

"Bee!" Arcee screamed.

She heard the heavy, hurried footsteps before she saw the panicked Autobot.

"I can't get through to the others!" Bumblebee beeped in panic, "The storms must be affecting communications!"

"It's okay, Bee," Arcee tried to give him a reassuring smile, which she is sure came off more like a grimace since she was mid-contraction, "Looks like it's just us."

Bumblebee's eyes widened in panic. But he didn't have time to panic. The world around them seemed to shake. Quickly, Bumblebee moved to shield Arcee with his body as she continued her labour.

Bumblebee just closed his eyes as he continued shielding Arcee. He heard her screams. They seemed to be worse than before, but he couldn't tell you why. Despite being there when he heard the human doctor and even Agent Fowler talk about the "miracle of childbirth", he never understood any of it. He barely understood Cybertronian childbirth. Did this mean she was bringing the child into the world? He didn't understand what was happening.

Then he heard a cry. And the world calmed.

Bumblebee finally opened his eyes and looked down. He saw Arcee laughing and crying as she held a squirmy, bloodied mass against her chest. This mass seemed to be joining Arcee in her cries, determined to alert the world to her presence.

Bumblebee felt lubricant leak from his face as he finally worked out what had happened. Arcee had given birth.

His sister was born.

"Bee…," Arcee panted, "The bag."

Nodding, Bumblebee moved over a bag they had prepared just in case Arcee ended up having to deliver on her own. The first Arcee did was grab a blanket to drape over her daughter while she continued digging for the clamp and scissors to take care of the umbilical cord.

It was at this moment they heard the sound of the others arriving. He saw Optimus, in his human form, run towards his wife and newborn daughter, smiling happily as he looked at his daughter in wonder. The doctor – whose name Bumblebee kept forgetting – came to take over clamping the umbilical cord. Wordlessly, he handed the scissors to Optimus. They had heard of the tradition of the father being the one to cut the umbilical cord, something Optimus was eager to take part in. Once the cord was cut, the baby was taken from Arcee to be cleaned and thoroughly examined.

A few hours later, the chaos had died down. Bumblebee watched as Optimus and Arcee cooed over their baby daughter.

Eventually, Arcee looked up at Bumblebee and asked, "Bee, would you like to hold your sister?"

Nodding, Bumblebee nervously held out his hand. Gently, Optimus placed his newborn daughter in Bumblebee's palm. Instinctively, Bumblebee cupped his free hand around the baby, to protect her from the elements.

The baby fussed slightly as she adjusted to being in Bumblebee's hands.

Bumblebee's voice box may have been damaged – seemingly beyond repair – but he could still make some sounds. This included some clicks that seemed to soothe the fussy baby almost immediately. Bumblebee ran a gentle finger over the baby's head, freezing when the baby immediately grasped it when it was within her reach.

"Bumblebee, this is Talida," Optimus officially revealed the baby's name.

Bumblebee smiled, moving his faceguard out of the way so Talida could see his true face. So, his sister could see just how much her big brother loved her.

He made her a promise that moment. He would always love her. He was always protect her. He would always have her back.

End flashback

"So, you're saying the storms stopped the second Talida was born?" Jack asked.

"That's what it seemed," Bumblebee typed out, the device speaking for him, "Nobody could explain it. We all think it was just a coincidence."

Jack sighed as he again looked at the photos. He still seemed amazed that Talida was able to keep this big of a secret from him. From everyone. From the outside, she looked like a normal person with a normal family. Maybe with different interests compared to the other girls at school.

"Do you think there could come a time, where…?" Jack trailed off, "We could talk? You know, you don't have to use a text-to-speech device in your holoform and I can understand your beeps?"

"Talida talked about coming up with an earpiece," Bumblebee mused, "She always wanted to tell you the truth. That should be proof. She started making plans for when you found out to be able to communicate with me."

"Well, she loves you, Bee," Jack stated, "She's got the coolest big brother, if you ask her."

He grabbed the box of tissues Talida kept by her bed when he saw Bumblebee get emotional. It goes without saying that Bumblebee was taking Talida's kidnapping extremely hard.

"Have you felt anymore…?" Bumblebee began asking, referencing the newly discovered bonding process.

"No," Jack shook her head, "It still feels unstable. Anytime I feel something, it's feelings. Not pain or anything like that."

"What is she feeling?" Bumblebee typed urgently.

"Scared. Sad. Tired," Jack listed, "She's fighting. But I don't know how much fight she has left. I don't know what they're doing to her."

Bumblebee slouched before he finally started crying. He had tried holding on for so long. Immediately, Jack reached for him. He was surprised to find the holoforms were solid. He was fully expecting to fall on his face. But instead, he clung to Bumblebee and even shed a few tears of his own.

They were both hurting.

Talida sat on the ground, overlooking a sight she was quickly starting to get used to. Cybertron's ruins.

"I don't think I'll get used to this," Talida sighed as she felt Megatron's presence loom over her.

"Neither will I," Megatron rumbled as he sat next to her, "I see Starscream has devised a new form of torture."

Talida looked down at the metallic leg that now attached to her skin. She will never let go of the hatred and disgust that she felt whenever she looked at it. She will never forget how they tried to dehumanise her. To take away something they knew she valued above everything eels.

"Yeah," Talida breathed out, "Anytime I move, shooting pain goes through my body. Even if it's just a twitch. I can't count the amount of times the pain's made me pass out. So, anytime you want to come home, you're more than welcome."

Megatron let out a dry chuckle, "I'm afraid I cannot come home yet, my dear niece. I promised the Decepticons I would return with something that would help me turn the tide of the war. I can't return home empty-handed."

Talida grumbled. She knew what his answer would be. But she still couldn't help but ask every time they 'met'.

Seriously. She couldn't meet with Jack? Or Bumblebee?

"Yay," Talida drawled as she felt the familiar pull, "I'm being woken up."

"Until we meet again…"

Talida gasped at the pain shooting through her as she woke up. She was being picked up. She suddenly recognised that she was being held by Soundwave while Laserbeak hovered nearby.

Soundwave snuck in every once in a while, slipping Talida small amounts of water and the occasional bit of food. Not enough to fully quench her thirst or satisfy her hunger, but enough to keep her alive.

Laserbeak held the bowl to Talida's lips, encouraging her to sip what she recognized was a broth. She couldn't tell you any particulars about the broth. But she sipped what she could.

Afterwards, she felt a cool cloth being dabbed on her forehead. She could feel the contrast of the cool cloth against her hot skin. What had made Talida pass out before was shivering. The mere, uncontrollable act of shivering had caused that shooting pain to travel through her body to the point where she passed out. She knew she was getting sick, and with this sickness, she was developing a fever.

"Soundwave," Talida's voice was scratchy.

Soundwave said nothing. He just placed Talida back on the ground as gently as he could. Then, he and Laserbeak left as quickly as they came.

Again, Talida quietly sobbed. Again, Talida was amazed she could still cry. She thought she would have long cried herself out by now.

"Bee," Talida sobbed.

She so desperately wanted her brother. When she was sad and when she was sick, he would hold her. He would sing to her (or, sing to her as best he could) the lullaby he had sung to her since her birth. He would continue holding her even long after she had fallen asleep. He always made her laugh. He always made her smile. Even if he drove her up the wall sometimes with his overprotectiveness.

As Talida slipped into a dreamless sleep once again, she longed for her brother.

Okay. I got over that hurdle. Can't say I'm happy. But we're getting close now and I don't wanna wait any longer.

Sorry for the long wait. And the short chapter. I actually think walking away and working on another story for a while helped.

But I think I'll have better luck writing Optimus's chapter next.

Bye!