Well, I figure at this point I may as well take a leaf from a few other author's fics, primarily because this is truly the only place where I can address the guest reviewers. Nothing bad mind you :) however:

Susan: thank you, as for Kae's alt-form? If I can get her to survive that long I have a very good idea of what she's going to be. :) The cathedral I shall attempt to explain or give a visual of, however my recent attempts at doing so have become quite the rambles.

Autobotsoldier1: Seven times? Really? I am honoured.

Xireana and Angel: for your continued support I am truly grateful.

And to my dear, wonderful Beta Bee4Ever, my eternal gratitude for your patience for my spazzy brain. If you have not yet popped over to view Bee's writings? Do it. You shall not regret such an action.

Chapter 85 – the Real Challenge

(MPOV)

"Go!" Optimus shouted, I could hear his grin. I straightened slightly and began to circle Sideswipe, observing, measuring him. We darted together and began dancing around each other at high speed, defence and offence back and forth. I couldn't stop the grin that hit me anytime I was fighting a skilled opponent.

Gods it was fun. I saw a tiny opening and swooped in. His sword went flying, in a second I had him on his back with my own sword at his throat.

Sideswipe grinned up at me and brought up a strong punch, knocking my sword from my hand. I flexed off of him and stood ready for hand-to-hand.

"Well done Sis, now let's see what you can actually do," Sideswipe grinned at me, sinking into the defence. I straightened and gave the evidence of not being prepared. "I'm not falling for it, come at me little sister!"

I rolled my eyes and walked toward him, Sideswipe frowned, tracking my movements. I feinted coming in high and dropped, springing up feet-first and planting both feet square into his chest. He landed hard on his back with a loud oomph and stared up at me in shock as the ball of my left foot rested lightly on his throat.

"Holy CRAP!" Epps shouted behind me.

"Sorry," I said with a small frown, reaching down to pull him to his feet. He spun and knocked me down, flexing to his feet and trying to get me into submission.

I twisted and got him down again, catching his wrist, flipping him onto his stomach and holding him in gentle submission, increasing the pressure slightly as he tried to twist out. I held him for a moment longer before standing and backing off. He jumped to his feet and turned to face me.

"Again!" he growled, I dropped into a defensive stance.

He came at me and we began sparring back and forth as holoforms and soldiers both watched us. Sideswipe began to fight with a snarl, and I began to fight myself. Fighting to not hurt him.

"You're holding back, and you'd better stop it or I will kill you!" Sideswipe snarled at me. I dropped onto my back and took him hard in the sternum with both feet, throwing him well back. I flexed to my feet and backed off several paces.

"Then you're going to have to kill me, brother," I stated firmly, grabbing my wrists behind my back and standing firm.

"Sideswipe!" Optimus barked. The holoform straightened and crossed his arms.

"Little Sister you stink of fear," Sideswipe growled. "What the scrap are you afraid of? You'll give up your life to save a holoform? I'm not real!" he promptly waved his hand through his own head. "We dial back our pain settings, Stop. Holding. Back."

He came at me and began throwing increasingly fast punches. I ducked and dodged them, never once releasing the death grip I had on my own wrists. Finally, I dropped and took out his legs, rolling and planting a knee in the middle of his back.

"Stop," I gasped, "Just stop a minute." I could feel myself shaking. I knew by the sting that my nails were drawing blood from my wrists.

"Kae, Sideswipe's holoform has been fully dialled back from his form," Ratchet announced patiently. "You may kill him with no harm."

"No, absolutely not no," I growled, squeezing my eyes shut and trying to direct the energon flashing through my system to consume the adrenaline in my blood.

"Why?" 'Hide asked curiously, walking toward us.

"Each kill becomes easier, it doesn't matter if it's necessary or not, each kill is becoming easier than the last, I know my programming, and I will not cater to my addiction to the power. It's not happening. No." I babbled quietly.

"Kae, it's alright, we kill each other's holoforms constantly, the trick is remembering it's not really us." Ironhide murmured in my ear. "Sideswipe is parked safely two hundred feet away and you know it." He raised his voice to the level that the soldiers could hear it. "Alright you two, take a break and Chrome and I will show you how it's done!"

I stood up and walked, trembling in the circle of Hide's holoform's arm to stand beside Optimus. Ironhide grinned and jerked his head to Chromia. She giggled and pranced toward him.

"Gonna kill me lover?" she asked teasingly.

"Let's see if any of Kae's skills have rubbed off on you yet," Ironhide drawled, they walked to the middle of the mat and proceeded to beat the living shit out of each other until Chromia was laying on the floor, her head backwards. Her holoform winked and she was standing again. Grinning at Ironhide.

"I don't know how you always manage to get me with that one," she laughed, winding herself around her lover's holoform again. "That's what? The sixth time you've snapped my neck?" she giggled as Ironhide pecked kisses all down her neck.

I closed my eyes for a second, taking a deep breath.

"We all know your gentle heart," Optimus rumbled in my ear, "and we've all seen you kill, not one of your shots misses it's target."

I shuddered and crossed my arms, Optimus wound his own tightly around me. I leaned back against him automatically.

"But we also know you adore showing off from time to time," Optimus continued in my ear with a low laugh. "This is how we train without hurting each other, every time you take one of us down we learn something, and you will be joining us with your own holoform in time. Go on." I pulled back to look into his smiling eyes, then at a grinning Sideswipe.

"You're sure," I asked in a sceptical tone.

"Bring it Little sister!" Sideswipe grinned. "How many times can you kill me in five minutes?"

I frowned and looked at Ironhide.

"Bets?" I asked with a small grin.

"Three!" Bee shouted.

"One!" Sideswipe grinned, ducking at me as we walked to the centre of the mats. There were numbers being called out all around us.

"Ten!" Optimus rumbled suddenly.

"Cutting it fine love!" I called over to him. "Where's the timer?"

"Go!" Optimus roared.

I ducked into Sideswipe and hit three points before coming up directly behind his defences, a strong punch and hit and he was down on the ground.

"ONE!" I shouted, backing up to let him re-set.

"That's playing dirty!" Sideswipe growled.

"Decepticons don't play clean son!" Ironhide roared gleefully. "Get him Kae!"

"Right, you wanted to learn this strike you learn it now," I stated coldly, walking toward him with my hands down. He frowned at me. I jumped forward, deflected two shots and killed his holoform again. "TWO!"

He flexed to his feet and charged toward me. I took the ground and tore his throat out with two fingers*. Blood splashed across my face and arms, the surprised look on his face burning itself into my mind.

"Fuck!" Jacobs bellowed as the holoform collapsed. I straightened and forced the ice to return to my blood.

"Three," I stated softly, backing away to let him re-set.

After five kills I leaned over and planted my hands on my knees.

"Kae you've hit him like, ten times, there's no way you're tired!" Lennox called out.

"Tired no, seriously seriously grossed out." I groaned. Sideswipe jumped me, I spun, broke his neck and almost threw up. I forced myself to cool again and sat waiting, watching Sideswipe as he jumped to his feet, righted his neck and charged toward me. I sighed and killed him three more times before I had to run to the edge of the mats, violently throwing up into a bin.

"Time!" I groaned, pushing myself to my feet and turning to face Sideswipe again. He was standing and grinning at me. Shaking his head.

"You have another twenty five seconds to kill him again." Optimus rumbled with a low laugh, I promptly turned around and threw up again.

"You're pushing me way the hell away from powertrip kills, I don't know whether to thank you or kick you." I groaned, retching again.

"I challenge you, once you've finished up," Optimus rumbled, "so you can probably do both."

I looked over at him with a frown.

"If you think you're going to go ten kills against me too you're out of your auto-bot mind." I grumbled, heaving myself to my feet and facing Sideswipe.

"I just want to see somebody get her into submission now," Ratchet stated with a grin.

I sighed, took a deep breath, squared my shoulders and pelted in full charge at Sideswipe. He went low, trying to anticipate me. I feinted dropping, sprang up and flew over him, catching his head and using it as leverage to control my own descent. I landed lightly on the other side, Sideswipe fell down.

"Rule number 17," I stated in a calm tone. "Do and expect the unexpected."

"Ten times, five minutes." Ironhide rumbled with a frown.

"I want to know how you keep getting in!" Sideswipe grumbled, righting his head again.

"You're too used to your weapons," I shrugged. I walked to the edge of the mats and caught the water bottle Chance threw at me, taking a long drink.

I took a deep breath and forced down the rising bile of having killed my brother. Ten times. My muscles sang with adrenaline, ready to go, ready to keep going.

"Let's go Kae," Optimus rumbled at me firmly.

I took a deep breath, walked to the centre of the mat and faced him. We stood, facing each other for a long minute.

"Oh god I can't do it!" I moaned, burying my face in my hands. "Fucking personal attachments. Damn it." I straightened and looked at the ceiling.

"Uncle, forgive me," I whispered, spun and pelted toward Optimus, a second of observing him and I threw three blows, got inside his defences and faltered. I wrapped myself around him and kissed his jaw.

(OPOV)

Optimus glared down at his spark-mate.

"Kissing me to death is not going to work," he rumbled. She sighed and backed up.

"Fine," Mikaela snapped, "I am not going for kill-shots though. I've got enough nightmare material for months after killing Sides. You want me to kill your holoform you're going to have to wait until I am one. And, you know, not so attached to the fact that I'm still human and killing the human forms of my family!"

"Scrap, she's right about that one," Bee said suddenly. "We've got these set for human configurations. Sorry sis, it's kinda hard to not consider you, just... you know... a bit weird that you're always using your holoform instead-a using the regular transmissions, or standing up and talking to us face to face. That's a processor tangle in itself." he crossed his eyes and made a face at Kae, she stared at him for a long second.

Ratchet snorted back a laugh.

"Just go to submissions," he rumbled with a grin. Optimus frowned. "Oh come on, Optimus, you honestly expect your fiancee to kill you?"

"I expect my fiancee to teach us how to defend ourselves, her fighting styles are defeating ours, and you have not yet broken out in a sweat." he frowned, looking at his Kae.

"And what do you mean we're too used to our weapons?" Sideswipe asked, looking at her with a frown of his own.

"I fight under concealment," Mikaela stated firmly, "Assassin's strikes, things that security cameras miss. Dirty hits. I don't lose my temper, I don't see red and I don't get hot and sweaty. I was trained to kill and not care beyond not getting caught. Moreover I was trained to kill well-protected people. Sniper shots, tracking, getting into high security buildings. Putting on a new face. Becoming a new person."

Optimus strode toward her and looked into her eyes as she began burying her grief behind the iron shutters.

"But the Kae you have shown me, is the Kae you are," he rumbled softly, reaching up and cupping her face as the anger faded from her eyes. "And the Kae you are, is a protector above everything else. Now do as your Uncle commanded you."

She straightened and looked him in the eye with an incredible fire.

"You want to learn, fine. I'm not going to take anymore flack." Mikaela stated with ice in her tone, she turned and looked at the group.

"I caught Sideswipe with the same hit five times, you aren't learning by getting your ass whipped. Drop into stance." Mikaela commanded, stepping back from Optimus and walking toward Sideswipe.

She took three quick steps and dropped, kicking up from the ground and freezing.

"Where are your hands?" Kae demanded, somehow managing to stay frozen, her arms alone supporting her weight inside of his defences. She flexed back, landed on her feet and crossed her arms, looking at him with a frown. "you're fighting with weapons you don't have. Stop grasping for the gun you don't have and fight with the fist you do."

Sideswipe crossed his arms with a frown.

"In fairness you're going to have to re-teach me how to fight when I'm a bot," Mikaela grinned at him. Sideswipe stared at Kae and burst out laughing.

"Alright, I've seen you do the sequence, time to learn." he grinned.

(RPOV)

"I still want to see Kae and Optimus do against each other," Ratchet murmured.

"Challenge!" Arcee shouted with a grin.

Mikaela looked at Optimus with worried eyes.

Optimus grinned and sank his holoform into a starting stance.

"To submissions," he rumbled with a grin. She smiled and walked toward him, her head tilted to one side.

"Submissions, plural, you know me too well love, but I haven't yet seen you fight," she sank into her own stance with a grin. "Let's get to know each other, shall we?"

Optimus laughed and strode toward her, flashing a few light punches, which she deflected easily, lightly tapping his stomach with an open fist. They circled each other, both grinning. Kae cocked her head to the side with a coy look.

And then they went at it.

Perfect synchronicity. Every blow deflected, and neither was trying.

"Open it up!" Bumblebee shouted. They began dancing with each other, Optimus would have her locked in his embrace and she would break out. He would get her on the ground and she would flip him onto his back. Every now and again they would slow down, Kae would be holding him in a gentle submission and delicately kissing his face or neck.

In truth it was frankly erotic. Mikaela's pheromones seemed to kick it up a notch every time Optimus got the upper hand. And anyone with ears... well, Kae's ears, could hear the deep tone of lust slowly increasing it's frequency in Optimus' spark.

They finally wound up on the floor. Kae was laying on Optimus' back, their arms intertwined.

"She got him into submission!" Sideswipe howled.

"Then why isn't he kicking out?" Ironhide rumbled. Kae seemed to struggle for a second before laying on top of him again.

"Only you would manage to leave the both of us in submission. What are the fricking odds?" she grumbled before laughing. "Do we call it a draw or are you going to have to get me into solitary submission to keep your Primely brass ones?"

Optimus burst out laughing at the reference.

"I am okay with a draw," Optimus chuckled. They broke apart and rose, Optimus wound an arm around her waist and bent to murmur in her ear. "But I am going to revisit that, later."

She shuddered and lightly whacked his chest. The well-concealed glance she shot him was immediately betrayed by a pulse of that deep tone emerging from the Prime's chest.

Will was rubbing his ears, looking around.

Ratchet couldn't help the laugh that broke out of his normally stern demeanour. Arcee shot him that same glance and he felt his own spark pound against it's casing.

Will looked around and seemed to pinpoint the source of the noise and looked around himself, finally looking at a blushing Mikaela and at the way Arcee was eyeing Ratchet.

"Now what?" Mikaela asked with a small smile, looking up at Optimus with her arms lightly wrapped around his waist.

"Now teach us your style," Optimus rumbled, pulling her tightly against his chest for a second before shooting pleading eyes at her.

"How?" she frowned, "it took me years to figure my style. I don't even know my style."

"You said you were trained to use assassin's strikes," Will stated with raised eyebrows.

"I was trained the strikes, yes, but to use them they need to be ingrained, and once you learn them you can't unlearn them." She stated sadly, looking at Will. "But I learned the strikes, Shao Lin, Tai Chi, Accupuncture, and judo." Mikaela listed off calmly. "Along with breakdancing, gymnastics, and Yoga. I fight by instinct, how do I teach that?" she asked curiously, looking at her Optimus.

"At three in the morning, when most of us are asleep you do this intense sequence," Chance called out, "Even when you're injured, you get up and you do that sequence every night unless you know someone's watching you. Teach that!"

Mikaela stared at him.

"Insomnia," Chance grinned. "Every now and again I like watching surveillance tapes in the hopes that it'll be boring enough to fall asleep to. Without fail, you wake up at oh three hundred, walk to the mats, do that sequence, wander around for a minute and go back to bed. And I wanna learn it." he smirked at her.

Kae took a deep breath, nodded and closed her eyes, walking to the centre of the mats. "Sideswipe, you know this set." she murmured, her eyes were closed as she danced slowly through the set she did anytime she was worried or stressed. Ratchet thought for a moment and stared in shock.

"You do that anytime you get aggravated enough to hurt something!" he stated loudly.

"And it took Uncle Sho damn near a decade to get that behaviour pounded into my head," Mikaela added with a snort. "Mind, it was Tin..." she trailed off and stopped, standing stock still to look at the clock. "It was eight years, this minute, that Tinny was taken." she whispered. The group fell dead silent as she stood, soundless, tiny and alone. Her eyes were ancient, lost in memory as she stared at the clock.

Ratchet did the only thing he could think of.

He walked forward and crushed Kae into a hug.

"It's time to fight away the last of the past, Kae," he rumbled softly. She straightened in his arms and looked at him for a long moment before nodding. She walked away in absolute silence, picking up knives and sword without stopping.

"What'd you say?" Will asked in a shocked tone.

"That it's time to fight away the last of the past!" Ratchet stated with a frown, looking at the door Kae had walked through.

"Last of..." Will frowned and turned to Optimus. "You don't think..."

Optimus was staring off into space.

"She has gone into storage and gotten the trunk she has not opened yet." Optimus rumbled. His holoform offlined the next second as he transformed and stood, walking toward his private quarters with everyone in tow.

*Yes I know it's impossible to tear a throat out with two fingers. It's a movie people! and she's killing holoforms besides! :P