Disclaimer: Ben and Nicki are my characters. I don't own Transformers.


It was a warm, sunny day. Nicki Jomei was waiting at a small cafe when finally, the blue sportscar that was Nicki's ride showed up. She helped herself into the passenger seat, and in the driver's seat was Koji. "Thanks for picking me up, Sideburn," she said.

"Hey, no problem, Nicki," Sideburn replied. As the Autobot drove down the street, a young man whose face was hidden behind a newspaper earlier brought it down. He saw, when he dared to peek, and heard, the whole thing and gave a friendly smile.

The next day, Nicki was at the cemetery, visiting her brother's grave. She had just fingered some of the letters on the headstone when she heard a car coming and saw that it was her parents who had come to pick her up. When she left, the same man that was at the cafe walked up to the grave. When he was sure he was alone, he knelt down, placed his palm on the name, and closed his eyes. Many thoughts began to race through his mind. It was nearly dark when the young man finally stood up and disappeared amongst the headstones as he walked away.

A few days later, the Build Team got into another little skirmish with the Decepticons. Nicki took cover by a cliffside. However, a laser blast struck the overhang of the cliff and it fell right for Nicki. Just when it looked like it was all over for her, Nicki felt herself being picked up and moved away from the spot real fast. She heard the boulder crash to the ground. Before she could turn to face him, a man's voice said, "Hurry, get outta here." She found the man's voice familiar somehow, but she obeyed without turning back. This time, she took a post on a small hill where she could still see the battlefield, but from a safe distance. She hoped the man got away safely, too.

When it became apparent that they were losing, Mega Octane gave the order to retreat. However, when they were no more than three miles from the former battlefield, they transformed and turned around. "But before we go too far," mused Mega Octane, "lets teach those amateurs that sometimes victory comes with a price." Each one of them locked their weapons onto Hightower.

"Twin laser cannons."

"Moon laser."

"Plasma mortar."

"Roto-Gun."

"Cannon laser."

At the prior battlefield, the man that saved Nicki called, "Hightower, behind you!" Hightower turned behind him, and the last thing he saw and felt were the combined weapons of the Decepticons and the deadly force that struck him from the chest to the abdomen. He fell to the ground and exhaled his last breath.

Everyone stood dumbstruck, not believing what they had just witnessed, until Wedge ran to his fallen comrade and pressed his hands on Hightower's mid-section, which was leaking a lot of energon. Grimlock joined him in the act. Nicki could be heard calling Hightower's name and was running back to the group. She would have joined his side with Wedge and Grimlock if the man hadn't stopped her. She stood there, tears welling up in her eyes. Wedge took a minute to scoop up and cradle Hightower's upper body in his arms while Grimlock continued to apply pressure on the wounds. Hightower was extremely limp, and when he didn't stir, Heavy Load walked up to him. He took out an instrument from his subspace compartment and placed it on Hightower's chest. 'That's not a good sign,' Wedge said to himself as the vital energon started to ooze out between his fingers. Heavy Load's expression was grave. Hightower still had an electro-pulse, but it was weak and his sparkbeats were spaced too far apart. When Wedge looked at him, Heavy Load sadly shook his head and removed the instrument.

"Even if we were to get him to the base, considering he survived the trip, there's nothing Tai would be able to do," he said quietly. "Besides," Heavy Load continued, "you and Grimlock did all you could, but he's lost too much energon." Slowly, Wedge and Grimlock lifted their hands from Hightower's abdomen. After a few seconds of just staring at the fallen bot's inert face, Wedge clenched his energon drenched hands and screamed a cry of agony and hatred. As long as breathed, this crime was not going to go unavenged.

Until he stepped up, the man that had saved Nicki and tried to warn Hightower was totally forgotten. He climbed onto Hightower's chest and said to the bots, "Stand back." When they did, the man knelt down, closed his eyes, and started breathing deeply. Then, an outline of yellow light started to surround his form. During a passage of one minute, the surrounding crowd watched in awe. Suddenly, the outline became a bright and brilliant blast of yellow light. However, as bright as the light was, it didn't blind the onlookers and they could still see the man and Hightower.

'This is starting to look familiar,' Nicki thought as she remembered a light of the same nature. Next thing they saw was something that seemed to be growing and flexing from the man's back. It was a wing; beautifully white and regal looking. They noticed something else happening on the man's back. A second wing had appeared. The light that was enveloping the man's form now increased in size. Now, from where she was standing, Nicki could feel the same radiance she felt the night when Wedge was incapacitated in the repair bay. Without warning, the light not only tripled in size, but it also blinded the onlookers. Nicki and the Build Team were forced to shield their eyes. After a minute, the light's brightness faded, and the group was able to see what was going on. They saw that Hightower's fatal wounds were gone, almost as if they were never there. They finally dared to come closer to get a better look, and the man didn't stop them. In fact, it looked as if he welcomed their presence. Suddenly, as Hightower gasped in a breath, his optics glowed the same bright yellow light and quickly returned to their normal black color. He was alive. The man hopped off just as Hightower began to sit up.

"Hightower?" said Wedge.

"Wedge?" Hightower replied, and the next thing he knew, he was the center of a laughing ring his friends formed around him, nearly piling on top of him.

"He'll be alright now," said the winged man. Finally, seeing him clearly for the first time, Nicki recognized his face.

"Ben?" she gasped, and he nodded.

"It's been a long time, sis," he replied.

"I've been watching over you, Mom, and Dad ever since the moment I left this realm. So, you could say I'm kind of a guardian angel for our family. Then, when I saw how you had become real good friends with the Build Team and how their leader and I were so much alike, they became my friends too. The first time I intervened was the time Wedge was stuck in Limbo."

"So you were the winged man that helped me out that night!" exclaimed Wedge.

"And, you were the angel I saw?" asked Nicki. Ben nodded with a smile. "So," Nicki continued, "none of what we experienced that day was a dream?" Ben thought about it for a moment.

"In a way, it wasn't a dream," he began. "You see, Nicki, because you were still pretty tired, your consciousness ended up being in that weird state where you're not quite awake, and yet, you're not asleep."

"Ben, you mentioned the first time you intervened in mortal affairs was that night when Wedge was incapacitated. Why did you intervene now?" Grimlock inquired.

Once again, Ben smiled, "Same reason why I helped Wedge; it wasn't his time, so, I just used my powers to make his life-force strong again and convinced him to come back." When everyone surrounded him with quizzical expressions, he explained further. "Well, you see, because I'm not an official guardian angel, I'm unable to do some things they can do, like say, for instance-bring recently departed souls back to their bodies."

Heavy Load gasped, "In other words, bringing people back from the dead?"

"Basically, yes," Ben confirmed. Suddenly, Ben went on the alert and looked up at the sky, as if he had just sensed something.

"What is it?" Wedge asked.

"I have to go now," was Ben's reply, "It's time for me to go back."

"Where are you going?" Nicki asked, even though she already knew the answer.

"To a place where I can continue to watch over you, our family, and friends until we're together again," he said as he reassuringly stroked her cheek. With a smile, Nicki clasped her angel-brother's hand in hers as she felt the same gentle, warm, and powerful radiance she had begun to know so well. As Ben turned to leave, he and his sister purposely let go of each other's hands slowly.

When Ben reached the spot, Hightower called to him, "Ben, I just wanted to say thanks for helping me."

"All for a friend," was Ben's final reply. After that, the yellow light surrounded Ben's form, he spread out his wings, and, with a giant leap, took flight up into the heavens. The team on the ground followed him until they couldn't see him anymore.