The day started like any other: sunny with fluffy, white clouds. Thanks to the absence of the showers that had been going on for the past few days, the town was now bustling with life. A school bell rang, and kids began to pour out from the doors. Among one of the kids was a young girl with short brown hair, light brown skin, brown eyes, and glasses. This was Nicki Jomei, who was now on her way home like the other kids. Only, what Nicki didn't know was this was not going to be her average walk home from school in more than one way. For one thing, because of some construction going on, she would have to take an alternative route. That's where the second hitch came in.

Halfway home, Nicki suddenly found herself sliding down a tunnel of some sort, like in Alice in Wonderland. She screamed at the top of her lungs as the tunnel kept revealing sudden twists and turns. Finally, Nicki felt herself flying as she exited the tunnel from six feet high. Her landing was followed by about ten rolls, tumbles, and thuds before she finally came to a complete stop. She laid there for a few seconds before she started groaning as she struggled to push herself up. "Where am I?" she asked aloud, as her vision began to get accustomed to the darkness around her. 'It's some kind of underground tunnel,' she said to herself as she looked around. She wondered if this tunnel had anything to do with the road construction about two blocks away, although she knew it couldn't because that type of construction didn't necessarily mean that the crew had to build a tunnel or go underground. Suddenly, she heard something that sounded like a motor. Nicki recognized that type of motor sound- a construction vehicle. Judging by how loud the sound was, there had to be more than one and they were getting closer. When she saw a light appear, she wasn't sure whether to be relieved or scared. Then, as fast as it had appeared, the light stopped advancing and was accompanied with the hiss of air brakes.

"Are you sure you heard something, Wedge?" asked a voice.

"I'm positive, Heavy Load, and I'm sure it came from this direction," replied another voice that Nicki guessed was this 'Wedge' character.

"Over here," Nicki called, figuring that since there was no way she was going to get out of there by using the same way she came, maybe the crew ahead would be kind enough to show her another way. "I'm over here." She heard the sounds of construction vehicles starting up and heading right for her. One by one, they showed themselves- a bulldozer, a dump truck, a crane, and a backhoe. Grabbing her backpack, she ran up to the bulldozer as it stopped. However, she too, stopped when she noticed something very different about the vehicles. None of them had drivers. After that, she was in for another surprise.

"Wedge, transform."

"Heavy Load, transform."

"Hightower, transform."

"Grimlock, transform."

Each of them changed into a giant robot. Nicki took a step back as the orange one that was the bulldozer knelt down on his left knee. When she did, she tripped over a rock and fell. "It's ok kid, we're not going to hurt you," he assured her, and, as if to prove his point, he gently picked her up and placed her back on her feet. As she dusted herself off, the robot that was the crane approached her carefully so as to not startle her.

"How did you get in here, kid?" he asked.

"I fell down that tunnel," she pointed.

As Heavy Load approached her, he apologized for the inconvenience, "I guess you could say we got so wrapped up in some construction and repairs elsewhere, we totally forgot that we left one neglected."

"Hey, no harm done," Nicki said modestly, "my name's Nicki and, uh, would you guys not mind helping me out of this place?" With that, Wedge picked her up, placed her on his shoulder, and began to climb the tunnel she came through. Or, at least he tried. He was unable to get further than the first fifteen feet into the earthen tube since the following slope was too steep for him to climb. The assistance from his three teammates didn't help much either.

"Well Nicki, I guess we're just gonna have to get you out of here the long way," Wedge announced. He transformed into vehicle mode, and Nicki hopped into his cab.

As the escort drove through the maze of tunnels, Nicki kept feeling this strange sensation toward Wedge. As they turned into another tunnel, all of the surroundings suddenly changed. They were now on some kind of bridge or street that had some kind of face on it and arch-like structures every twenty feet or so. Plus, all around them was a brilliant, yet freaky, display of splashes of red, as if it were almost alive. The next thing Nicki knew, they were now near a warehouse that was only two blocks away from her house.

She thanked her guides for the ride as she hopped out, then asked, "What was that that we just went through?"

"That's what we call the Space Bridge," Grimlock replied. The group explained to Nicki about the Space Bridge, the Autobots, and themselves. Nicki listened with fascination, but she couldn't take her eyes off Wedge. She finally had to when he disappeared into the Space Bridge with the others, and she headed on home.

The next day at school, Nicki told a classmate, Koji Onishi, all about her adventure the day before. When she was done, he told her that he was friends with the Autobots, too. He also explained the reason behind it- his father, the famous Dr. Onishi, was taken captive by the Predacons months ago, and the Autobots promised him that they would rescue him. He had been friends with them ever since.

"Would you like to see their base?"

"Are you sure that's a good idea?"

"Don't worry, you have connections with one of the teams now, so there shouldn't be a problem."

"Ok."

The next day, Koji and Nicki went to pay Autobot headquarters a visit. Nicki had to admit, she never would've guessed in a million years that it was located underneath a parking garage. "Welcome to the Autobot base, Nicki," said Koji as she admired all of the gadgets around her.

"Who's your friend, Koji?" a high computerized voiced asked from behind her. What Nicki found was a young woman wearing a pink uniform, pink and white knee-high boots, and a pink hat that had a gold plate with the same face she saw on the Space Bridge's streetway.

"Hi, Tai," Koji waved, "this is Nicki; she just happened to get acquainted with some of the Autobots a couple of days ago and I offered to show her around the base a bit." Nicki stepped forward as she offered her hand to shake with Tai, but instead, it went right through Tai's body. In the process, she lost her balance and was now in for a hard landing on the floor when someone caught her.

"You alright, miss?" a drawl-like voice asked. Nicki found her rescuer to be a young boy who looked as if he was around hers and Koji's age. He had blonde hair, white skin, green eyes, and was wearing a white long-sleeved shirt, blue jeans with a black belt around the waist, white boots, and a white cowboy hat with a drawstring under his chin.

"Yeah, good save," she replied, " My pleasure," said the boy as he cocked his hat up with his thumb.

"Nicki, this is Jan Crow; he's from America," Koji politely introduced, "Jan, this Nicki Jomei; a classmate from my school."

"You're really from America?" a surprised Nicki asked, "Yep," Jan confirmed with a nod, "All the way from Nebraska." Nicki was just wondering how it was possible this kid was actually able to get from the North American wilderness to the island of Japan when Tai stepped up.

"The Space Bridge is a global network. Its tunnels are connected to locations all over the world, even to the Earth's core itself. That way, no matter where the Predacons or Decepticons strike, the Autobots will be able to get there and strike back."

"Wow," exclaimed Nicki, "you guys sure do seem like you're prepared for just about anything."

"Well," Tai blushed, "we try to be, anyway". Remembering Nicki's near incident a few moments earlier, Jan apologized and explained that the Tai before them was only a hologram; technically, Tai was really a program in the base's main computer system. Then, Koji continued with his tour of the base, with Jan as his assistant. When it was over, Nicki knew the base like the back of her hand. A thought popped into her head and Nicki turned to face Jan.

"Jan, do you mind if I ask you a personal question?"

"Fire away."

"Why are you here at the base? I doubt it has anything to do with a simple visit."

"I'm 'ere for practice."

"Practice?"

"Yea'. See, I'm a member of a group of Autobots called the Spychangers who're somethin' like the ninjas of the Autobots. We have a trainin' session taday. An' that's why I'm 'ere.'

"You? A member of an Autobot team? Get outta town."

"Believe it, Nicki," said Koji, "that story's as true as it goes."

"Gets," Jan corrected, "As true as it gets". Koji rolled his eyes; he could never get Jan's cowboy phrases right, let alone fully understand what they meant. Suddenly, Jan's watch alarm went off. "Oh, break's over, I gotta head back down to the trainin' room," and he took off down the hall. Nicki casted a glance at Koji, who nodded back.

In the computer room, Koji and Nicki, along with Tai, watched the Spychangers' training session on the main computer. Even though she was seeing it with her own two eyes, Nicki still couldn't believe what she was watching. Jan and his horse, Apache, were actually training with six robots that were 50-60 times their own size. As the drill continued, Koji and Tai filled her in on how Jan became an Honorary Spychanger. When it was over, Koji ran to hang out with the group, leaving Nicki with Tai to ask a question that she had on her mind.

"Tai, what do you know about Wedge?"

"Well, he's the leader of the Build Team, a group of Autobots who specialize in construction. His alternate-"

"No,no, I mean his personality? How would you describe his character?"

After giving it some thought, Tai answered Nicki's question.

"He has a tendency to be hot-headed, but he's brave and really cares for his comrades. Like Optimus, he's willing to put his life on the line for them. He wants to prove his worth as a fighter and not just as a construction engineer, something his team feels the same way about."

As Tai talked about Wedge, Nicki's consciousness kept moving from the present to the past and back again.

"Well," said a familiar drawl-like voice that brought her back from her trip into memory lane, "how's that for a 'uman kid?"

Blushing, Nicki admitted, "You showed me, that's for sure."

That night, at her home, Nicki just lay sprawled on her bed with her hands behind her head. Around her neck, she wore her new communicator that she received as a gift from the Autobots. From under her shirt, she took out something else she was wearing around her neck. It was a golden colored crucifix with a tiny diamond-like gem in the center. She gazed at it for a few moments before turning to look at a picture on her nightstand. In the picture was a smiling 19 year old boy with curly brown hair, semi-brown skin, and brown eyes. "Ben," she sighed with a weak smile. With that, she got up and prepared to get ready for bed. It had been an eventful week.

Eventually, Nicki decided it was probably best to tell her parents about the Autobots, and the introductions were made. With that load off of her back, Nicki was free to go visit the Build Team every weekend. Therefore, with permission from Prime, the Build Team would have an hour long break from the digging to just hang out. Their favorite pastime was going to the hills where they could just lounge around. Even though Nicki had become good friends with all of the Build Team members, it was Wedge to whom she felt the closest. Whenever she saw, talked, or even thought about him, she would feel happy and sad at the same time. 'He reminds me so much of him,' she'd say to herself many times, 'Whenever I look at him, it's like seeing him again."

One day, Nicki and Koji were passing by a fenced in construction site when their communicators went off. Optimus' face was on the screen.

"Kids, our resources tell us that the Decepticons have made another strike. I need you to get as far away from the anticipated battlefield as possible. A team is on their way now."

"Where's this battlefield supposed to be, Prime?" Koji asked. Before Prime could respond, a laser blast hit the far end of the building frame.

"That answer your question, Koji?" asked Nicki, and they made their break for it. They had managed to get across the street when Nicki saw a pale blue light in the corner of her eye, and turned around. Out from the Space Bridge came the Autobot Brothers along with the Build Team. Once the Decepticons made their appearance, the battle began.

The battle went on for half an hour without much incident on either side. However, that was all about to change. Armorhide, seeing his chance, fired on a mechanism that was keeping four heavy beams hoisted up to a certain height and angle. The beams were now heading right for Sideburn with a great amount of speed. Wedge was the only one who saw them coming. " Look out," he called as he pushed Sideburn out of the way. What happened next made everyone feel like someone had hit the slow motion button. With a terrible amount of force, the beams charged into Wedge; thus he was hurtled toward a wall. Everyone heard the sickening crack-thud like sound as Wedge's entire form made contact, and he fell to the ground, motionless. Not even the faintest groan was heard. As the Autobots looked on in shock, the Decepticons observed the scene with pure glee. Nicki watched the whole thing in absolute horror as memories started flashing through her mind; memories of a beam swinging toward a young construction worker. Another young worker, a leader, ran to him. The leader pushed his subordinate out of the way, but ended up taking the full force of the falling beam. The crack of broken ribs could be heard. Then, the stricken leader was sent flying toward a plaster wall where his hard hat broke in half when his body made contact. His broken and battered body slumped to the ground as Nicki, along with the construction crew and other spectators, stood there, too paralyzed and numb to do or say anything. The next memory was that of an ambulance heading to the hospital with its sirens wailing. Finally, a tombstone with a bouquet of flowers and framed pictures resting on a beautiful patch of green grass emerged in her mind. 'No, no, it's happening again,' Nicki said to herself as her consciousness shifted back to the present. "NOOOOO," she cried out as she held her head and tears started to form in her eyes. The similarities between what happened in her past and what was now happening in her present was too much. Heavy Load finally broke the silence spell as he roared and charged right into Armorhide with all of his brute force, rendering the Decepticon unconscious before he even hit the ground.

The battle continued with the Decepticons losing. Most of the damage was done by the Build Team, who were now filled with the raw power of pure rage.

Heavy Load continued charging into his targets as if he were an enraged bull, Grimlock grabbed Mega Octane and gave him a punch in the gut that knocked the wind out of him, and, like a cat, Hightower pounced onto Rotor and volleyed punches until the Decepticon managed to mutter, "Un-cle."

" De . . .cep . . ticons, re . . .treat," Mega Octane managed to say as he stood bent over and gasping for air. He was still trying to fully recover from Grimlock's punch. Thrashed and bruised as a good number of them were, the Decepticons transformed and drove off with Mega Octane carrying any of the team who were either unconscious or too weak to transform.

Back at the base, everyone was anxiously waiting outside the doors to the repair bay for news on Wedge, who was being repaired by Sideburn. The Build Team would've helped, but Tai made the point that this case might be a little too emotional for them to do the job properly and suggested that they sit it out. They agreed. Heavy Load noticed that Nicki, sitting with her knees bent very close to her body, head in her hands as if she thought it was going to fall off and eyes tightly shut, was sitting at the end of the hallway. As he walked over to her, he noticed something before his hand felt it as it enveloped around her as if to give her a hug. She was shaking. She didn't even acknowledge his attempt to comfort her, although her shaking did seem to calm down a bit. "Are you ok?" he asked. When she shook her head, he tried again, "Would you like to talk about it?" Heavy Load knew that Nicki and Wedge were especially good friends, but he could see that this behavior was something more than just shock and worry. It was something more, much more. She nodded and motioned for the rest of the gang to come over.

"There's something I've been meaning to tell all of you for some time," she began as she tried to control her shaking, "and I guess now's as good as time as any."

"I once had a brother, Ben. He was capable of being a little headstrong depending on the situation; once he had his mind made up, that was that. But, he was also very caring, especially to his family, friends, and fellow workers. He always had a passion for building things, which is why he became a construction worker. Eventually, his boss was so impressed with him, he was placed in charge of a minor construction crew, just like Wedge is. One day, something happened. One of two cables that were holding a beam snapped and fell toward one of the other workers. Ben was the only one who saw it coming. With no regard for his own safety, he pushed the other worker out of the way. He took the hit and was thrown into a plaster wall. I was there when it happened, I saw it happen right in front of my eyes. At the hospital, the doctors found that, along with nearly all of his ribs being broken, he had really bad head trauma. They couldn't explain why he didn't die the moment he hit the wall, considering his hard hat wouldn't have provided that much protection. For that matter, they couldn't even explain why none of the ribs punctured any of his inner organs to cause internal bleeding, which I guess is something they were expecting. Anyway, they did what they could, but it was no use. The trauma was just too great. He managed to hold on for as long as two days after the accident. Or, at least we thought it was an accident, which I will get to later. I'll never forget his attitude on the hospital bed, even though he knew death was slowly coming over him. He kept smiling his same warm smile, asked if his fellow employee was o.k. Personally, I believe deep down he was sad about knowing he had little time left because he would be leaving two parents and a sister, along with some relatives and friends, behind. On the day he died, after the priest was done with him and we were allowed to come back into his room, I held his hand. He said he wanted to let us know that he loved us, that we would be together again someday, and that he would be waiting for us at Heaven's Gates when our times came. A few minutes after that, after he breathed out his last breath, he died. I remember slowly letting go of his hand and watching it fall onto his chest. Everyone who knew Ben well was at the funeral. Old high school and college friends, his small construction team, all of the other construction workers who worked for the same company Ben worked with, even the boss himself. There was even this guy I didn't know who was there and was wearing a pretty formal black suit and had gray, silver-like hair. A few weeks after the funeral, we received unexpected company. It was a lawyer who requested our presence at this hearing that was going to occur the next morning. It was there we discovered that the accident wasn't an accident at all; it was sabotage. The same stranger I saw at Ben's funeral was the owner of a rival construction company. He had one of his men cut the cable to the point where it would eventually snap to make it look like an accident. The only thing that was meant to happen was to make the construction take longer, but the one thing he didn't count on was someone getting badly injured or killed. That's why he went to Ben's funeral--guilty conscience. He even turned himself in to the police. That's what the hearing was about, to determine his punishment. Eventually, he was sentenced to 8 years in prison for sabotage and manslaughter, he kind of got off easy due to the fact he turned himself in. Before they took him away, we had a chance to meet face-to-face. He said he understood that no apology would be enough and he wished there was something he could do to make up for what he did to us and my brother. My Dad told him he already did by facing the consequences of his actions."

Meanwhile, all of this time, everyone had been listening with realization and sorrow written all over their faces. 'I get it now,' Heavy Load said to himself, 'that's why Nicki likes to hang around Wedge,' and he could see that the others came to the same conclusion as well. Aside from the fact that he was a robot from another planet, Wedge was like her brother in every way, minus how often they resorted to being stubborn. And, because of that, the developing friendship between them was bringing back bittersweet memories.

Laying a comforting hand on her shoulder, Koji spoke, "So what happened to Wedge today brought back memories of how your brother died, huh?"

"It was like reliving a nightmare," she nodded with tears streaming down her face. Everyone nearly jumped when the doors hissed open. Sideburn came out with a tired look on his faceplate. Knowing the question on everyone's minds, he spilled the beans.

"I've done everything I can. Even with Tai's help, there's still no guarantee to give. It's basically up to him now."

"Ah no," groaned X-Brawn, "You don' mean-"

"Yeah," replied Sideburn as he turned to look inside the room, "It's a waiting game from here." Nicki, along with the rest of the Build Team, peeked inside. With all of the wires and tubes inserted into his arms and lower abdomen, Wedge looked so weak and frail.

'It's time's like this that I'm glad that Ben didn't need that kind of treatment,' she said to herself. She went inside along with the Build Team.

During the next hour, the Build Team and Nicki just sat solemnly at Wedge's bedside. Every once in a while, some of the other Autobots would drop by to see how he was doing, but so far, his condition didn't improve in the least. Then, Heavy Load stood up, "C'mon you guys, we can come back in the morning." The other two robots followed, but Nicki just stood where she was.

"That means you too, Nicki."

"Heavy Load."

"Yes?"

"May I please stay with him a little longer?"

Looking into her eyes, how could he say no?

"All right, but don't be up too late."

"I won't," and she climbed onto Wedge's chest.

After ten minutes of solitude, she grasped her crucifix, clasped her hands together, and said a silent prayer. 'Almighty One, hear my prayer, please have him be o.k. Let what Grace has given my family and me pass onto him. Amen,' and she signed off with the sign of the cross.

Two hours had passed since the Build Team had left Wedge's bedside. Optimus walked in the computer room, where they were hanging. "No change in his condition yet?" he asked.

"No," Grimlock replied sullenly; then, Hightower stretched and let out a yawn.

"Well," said Prime, "we'd might as well get some shuteye, it's been a rough day."

Just when the group was done bidding each other 'good night', the main computer came to life with a voice saying, "Excuse me."

"Mrs. Jomei?" Hightower exclaimed as the picture came up.

"I'm sorry you guys, but you know I wouldn't have called you unless it was important. Is Nicki still there?"

"Nicki? No."

"I was afraid of that, she still hasn't come home yet. I was hoping you guys might know where she could be."

Optimus and the other Autobots were stunned, they thought Nicki had went home hours ago with Koji and Tow Line. "Tai," Prime called, and from a floating ring that appeared out of nowhere, Tai materialized. "Do you by chance know if Nicki's still inside the base?"

"As a matter of fact, I do Optimus. She's inside Wedge's repair room."

"I'll get 'er," Heavy Load volunteered, and he took off. When he got there, he saw one of the cutest sights he had ever seen. Nicki was sound asleep on top of Wedge's chest. He must've stood there for five minutes when Hightower came running.

"Hey buddy, what's the hol--oh," he stopped as he saw the sight and smiled, "Poor kid, she must've fallen asleep without realizing it." Using his com-link, Heavy Load patched into Mrs. Jomei's frequency.

"Mrs. Jomei, this is Heavy Load. I've found her, but she seems to have fallen asleep. I'll take her home."

"Wait, if it's not too much trouble, I wouldn't mind her staying there for the remainder of the night. I'd hate to disturb her."

"No problem, Mrs. Jomei, and good night."

"Thank you, good night."

Hightower, instead of leaving, entered the room. "What is it?" Heavy Load whispered. Out from a drawer, Hightower took out a clean rag, and placed it on top of Nicki to serve as a cover.

"That's better," he whispered when he reached his comrade's side, and they left.

She didn't know what time it was, but Nicki, for some reason, found herself groggily waking up. Before her, she saw a bright light that strangely didn't blind her. In the light, she could see a man. Or, she thought it was a man until she saw some movement on his back. It was a pair of wings, and they were spreading out. He knelt down to one knee as his wings stretched forward, as if he were trying to engulf what he could of Wedge's form in them, and placed his fingertips on Wedge's upper chest. Nicki could just barely hear something like he was talking, but couldn't make out the words. As he continued to speak, she felt this radiance surging from him. Then, he stood up and, as if he just remembered she was there, turned to face her. She couldn't make out his face, but she some how got the impression he was smiling at her. Finally, she gently fell back to sleep.

Nicki continued on with her beauty sleep into the morning until she felt a little cold. Groggily, she opened her eyes and saw the cover was resting on her waist. "Very funny, Sideburn," she said as she pulled it back up and went back to sleep. Or, she nearly did until she felt the cover retreating down to her knees, "Sideburn, cut it out," and she pulled them back up. This time, the cover was slid all the way off. "Hey," she said suspiciously, "wait a minute." She looked around the room and didn't see Sideburn or anyone anywhere.

"It's about time you woke up," a soft, weak voice said. She spun around, and there was Wedge smiling, who managed to lift his head up.

"Wedge! You're awake, how are you feeling?"

"A little better, but still pretty sore and thrashed."

"I'm going to go tell the others," and she climbed down and broke off into a run.

It didn't take Nicki long to find the Build Team in the entrance tunnel that lead to the network they were going to work on, even though their hearts weren't really in it at the time. "Where's the fire?" asked Grimlock who, like Heavy Load and Hightower, was surprised to see her in such an elated mood.

"He's ok, Wedge's going to be ok," she called back.

"Are you sure?" asked Heavy Load. He knew Wedge was a fighter, but he didn't expect his condition to improve so rapidly.

"Yeah," Nicki replied, "he was awake, he was talking, he's ok!" Hightower leaped into the air and was about to produce a "yahoo".

Except, he forgot the roof was kind of low, so he hit his head and it sounded more like, "Ya-arr".

"Whoa, that's gonna leave a mark," Grimlock remarked.

"Tell me about it," Hightower replied as he rubbed his head.

By late morning, Wedge's rapid reawakening had become common knowledge amongst the Autobots. Even Tai couldn't determine how it was possible. "I tell ya," Jan remarked, "that bot can jump in a lake an' come out dry."

One day, while the Build Team were alone in Wedge's quarters where he was recuperating, he told them something they would never forget.

"I was in this weird, pitch black place. It was so dark, I could barely see my hand in front of my face. Then, I saw this speck of light, and it approached me. The closer it came, the brighter and bigger it got. I also noticed that in its center, there was the silhouette of a male human, but he had these huge wings originating from his upper back. He told me to hold on, that there was still a spark of life inside me that I needed to grasp, and that he would help me in doing so. The next thing I know, I'm waking up and I see Nicki snoozing on my chest."

Nicki blushed and giggled. "I've heard about winged humans," said Hightower, "they're called angels; they're said to be spirits of those who have passed away and some, called guardian angels, look out for certain people on Earth."

"Hmm, sounds someone up there's looking out for you Wedge," said Nicki, and Wedge gave a nervous smile.

"Yes, but don't forget, Wedge was unconscious at the time," Grimlock pointed out.

"Yeah," agreed Heavy Load, "for all we know it could have been a dream." Nicki, Wedge, and Hightower knew the two had a point; the mind was capable of developing ways to play tricks on you if you let it. But, they all agreed that it could be possible that Wedge really did have some kind of limbo experience, and it could be the key to discovering how he was recovering so quickly.

It was the end of the week, and Wedge was back up to full strength. The Build Team, along with Nicki, were standing in front of a tombstone. Ben's tombstone. Nicki wanted to drop off a new bouquet, and the guys insisted on coming along to 'meet' her brother. Seeing the grave site filled them all with a sense of sadness, and yet, strangely, a sense of peace as well. "Hey Ben," Nicki greeted, "there are some new friends of mine I wanted you to meet, the Autobot Build Team." Each of the bots gave the tombstone a friendly wave. After introducing their names, Nicki carefully placed the bouquet at the center of the tombstone among the other bouquets and framed pictures. They stood there in complete silence with a gentle breeze blowing the grass and Nicki's hair this way and that, lost in their own thoughts. Then, they left, all except Wedge. He didn't know why, but he had been feeling this strange sense of kindredship with Ben ever since his teammates had told him about Nicki's brother and how he died.

'Could it be because we have, or had, so much in common?' he asked himself. The answer to his own question he didn't know, but he could feel the sense of kindredship growing stronger now that he had 'met' Ben. When he was sure that no one was watching, he walked up to the grave marker and knelt. "Nice to meet you, Ben," he said, and he carefully placed a blue flower he picked on the way next to Nicki's bouquet. Then, he went to go catch up with the others. That day, he vowed, that as long as he was able to do so, he would be there for Nicki and protect her.