A/N: This chapter was so much fun to write. Writing this made me feel like old times. It was fun and amazing and that's why it's a decent length finally. Please please please leave me some lovely reviews. I read them all and the longer they are the more tears of joy I cry!


Chapter Nine:

Surprise Attack


"I don't rise from the ashes, I make them. I'm the whole fucking fire." –Erin Van Vuren


Coffee wasn't the same in this universe. His true self couldn't drink it here and though his holoform technically could it didn't hold the same taste he had grown used to twenty human years ago. Still, anytime he found himself in this stupid, small shop on the edge of the street in the middle of the city he always ordered the same thing. A small Americano with extra sugar.

He'd order it, sit at the table by the window, and wait.

He's been waiting for days now. That kind of time was nothing to him usually, but the last few days have felt like vorns to him. The front door opened and his optics shot to it. A human female walked in with her mate and youngling. Annoyance flooded through him briefly. Thundercracker would be here eventually. He wasn't the kind of mech to hand out his trust, but the seeker had done much for him.

"Is there anything else I can get you, sir?"

He looked up from his servos to see a familiar human face. She was female and not very old. Her hair was composed of dark, tight curls that hugged her faceplate like a cloud. Her skin was similar to the color of his sweetened coffee and there were darker spots under her wide, bright optics. Freckles they were called.

"No, I am fine. Thank you." He replied with a nod. She smiled again, bit down on her lower lip, then turned and walked away. The server had visited him often during his visits here.

::It's happening.::

The comm startled him. They were supposed to be on radio silence. These comms were no longer safe out in the open.

::Thundercracker, where are you?:: He sent back. If he spoke quickly then maybe they could get something done before any of their enemies caught on.

::He's planning an attack. It will occur soon and my cover is blown.::

This wasn't expected. He thought they had more time to work, but with this new information everything had changed. He quickly rose from his seat and reached into his holoform's pants pocket where a few real human dollars sat.

His optics caught the gaze of the female server and he briefly hesitated before motioning for her to come over. Her smile grew as she said a few words to her coworker behind the counter before hurrying over, "Yes? Is there anything I can do for you?"

She wore the same uniform as the other females. A pale yellow dress with a white apron. The tag on her collar read 'Alika'.

"Alika?" He spoke and she nodded once, "You should leave this area."

Her eyebrows furrowed, "What? I'm sorry?"

"This city. Take your family and leave it immediately." He said firmly before turning around and leaving. He didn't stop when she called out to him or questioned him further. He issued his warning. He did what he could.

Now it was time for him to start fighting back.

Megatron was ready to return to the war.


"Have you told anyone else any of this?"

Optimus' voice had always been deep and resounding, but in this small room filled with mountains of tension it seemed louder and even more profound than usual. The fake window off to the side was letting in minimal fake light and the fluorescent lights above were dimmed. Still, the blue glow from Optimus' eyes made me feel like I was sitting under a spotlight.

"No." I shook my head, "You're the only person I've told. I didn't know… I wasn't sure I even wanted to share this information."

He bobbed his head once and said nothing. It had taken a while for me to actually work up the courage to start talking, and then it took even longer for me to decide what all to say. Finally, I started at the beginning. I started with the hallucination of my fake mom standing over me as I was dying in my kitchen. I told him about the nightmares where she plagued me, the weird ass symbol I've been seeing everywhere, the devil that haunted me, and then I finished with the visit from the two mysterious strangers.

Optimus had looked on and listened closely as I spoke. He never interrupted, he never asked questions, and he didn't give away any emotions on his stoic face. I wasn't sure if any of those things were good or bad. Sure, it allowed me to continue on and get it all out, but my emotions were frayed.

"Op…Optimus?" I said meekly. His shoulders relaxed slightly as he leaned forward to show I had his attention. With a shaky breath I spoke again, "Can you tell me what you're thinking? Anything at all. I'm just…I'm kind of panicking. "

He reached out a hand and set it against my back in comfort. I instinctively leaned against it and marveled at the fact that this small action did put my mind at ease some. It reminded me that I had Optimus Prime on my side, and boy was that a boost of confidence for me.

"I am very glad you told me of this, Aj. It was the right thing to do." He reassured me.

I forced a smile, "I'm glad you think so, but you still haven't told me what you think and..."

Optimus pressed his metal lips together for a moment before speaking, "I believe you if that's what you're implying."

"That's good. That's great." I smiled and scratched under the edges of my brace, "Got any ideas on what the fuck is happening to me?"

The Prime didn't offer me any answers immediately. He just let his eyes drift away from me in thought. A minute or so passed before Optimus looked back to me, "There is no easy answer, and though I do have a few theories I need to speak to someone else about this."

My eyes widened and I quickly pushed myself off his desk to stand. Optimus moved his hand closer to help me balance, but I pushed it away, "Optimus Prime you can't tell anyone else!"

"Aj-"

"No, no. No!" I replied and buried one hand in my hair, "You can't tell anyone. This has to be a secret! It has to be."

He shook his head, "You should know that no one would ever look down on you for this, Aj. I am honored to hold your trust in this, but I may not be the one with the most knowledge on this."

"Optimus… All of this is insane." I said slowly, "A part of me thinks that I'm insane because stuff like this doesn't happen."

"You are not insane." Optimus said firmly. I used my hands to cover my face. The thin, faint scar on my hand from where I sliced my palm open was proof that something had happened in that house, but that experience itself… Was it real? The Defenders idea sounded like something from a bad sci-fi movie. A warm hand gripped the top of mine and slowly pulled it away from my face. Optimus' holoform stood over me wearing a wrinkled white button up shirt and tie, "I swear to you that I will get you answers, and I will do so without telling anyone who I feel doesn't absolutely need to know. I ask that you continue to trust me, Aj, and know that I only have your best interest at spark."

I heaved a sigh and tried to offer him a smile. Optimus wrapped his arms around me in a comforting hug and after a moment I buried my face in his chest and hugged him back. If my trust were to ever be rewarded it'd be from someone like Optimus. He'd get me answers. Somehow.


The entire city had been basically wiped from the map. Most of downtown was demolished and all that was left of the center of the city was a crater. The attack began around 10:20 in the morning, but by time NEST got all the way out to the far east side of Texas it was too late. The perpetrators were gone and all that was left was rubble and a rocket high body count.

Lennox's jaw clenched in frustration as he watched his soldiers, and other emergency providers, work around the area trying to save those who could be saved. He kicked a brick by his boot and turned to walk away. The evidence they had gathered so far was muddy. Signs pointed to drone activity, but also to Decepticon activity. Had they both been here? Perhaps a battle between the two? It didn't explain why drones were out here to begin with. The closest hive was in Austin, about an hour away, and it was a small one contained to the city itself. It made no sense for the hive to branch out like this. They hadn't done so before.

He caught a quick glance of Bear sprinting across what used to be a store of some kind. A rescue team chased after him as he barked and led them to another survivor. Lennox would never stop being impressed by what that dog could do.

"Lennox, get over here." Epps called out to him over the small comm piece in his ear. He quickly made his way over to where he knew Epps would be. It was the last place he saw him and he seriously doubted the man had finished the job he had been stuck with.

Epps stood off to the side with his arms crossed watching on as Optimus' holoform sat on a small cot next to a young woman. The woman stood out from the scene simply because she was clean with no injuries whatsoever.

"She just got here." Epps stated.

Lennox raised an eyebrow at him, "Here? How'd she get through the barricade we set up?"

"She told the guards she had information and once she was cleared they sent her to us." Epps replied. He pulled his phone out from his pants pocket and accessed the newest file being added, "Her name is Alika Jacobs. She's a college student on break and works…well, worked at a local coffee shop." Epps turned around and pointed to the corner of the street where a building used to be. It was nothing but a pile of bricks now, "It was located right there."

"How the hell did she manage to escape unscathed?" Lennox dragged his eyes back to the woman. She had her hands balled up in fists on her knees and it looked like she had been recently crying.

Epps shook his head, "According to her, she got out of the city about twenty minutes before the attack started."

"Pure luck?" Lennox questioned skeptically.

"Nope. A man told her to get her family and get out of the city." Epps replied. "She said she tried to get her coworkers to leave, but they wouldn't. She got in trouble for it, but got the hell outta dodge anyways."

Lennox nodded toward her, "And her family?"

"Doesn't live in the States. She's here on a student visa."

Lennox watched as Optimus' holoform set a gentle hand on her shoulder as he spoke. The rescue team passed him with a man groaning on the stretcher they carried. Bear trotted over and sat by Lennox's feet. Lennox knelt down and began to scratch the dog around the neck, ignoring the dust and dried blood that was matted in his fur. "You said a man told her to leave? How did he know?"

"She said the guy came every morning for the past four days and ordered the same drink, but he never actually finished the coffee. Just took a sip and tossed it." Epps began. He tucked his phone away and readjusted his hat, "Here's the kicker. The guy she described matches a known holoform."

Lennox slowly stood back up and Bear went from sitting to lying down, his tongue hanging out of his mouth onto the ground, "Whose holoform?"

"Megatron." Epps finished.

Confusion washed over the solider as he tried to gather his wits. What the hell was Megatron doing as a holoform in a coffee shop? The last known sighting of him was the battle of Chicago in 2024. Sure, there had been Decepticon attacks since then, but none of them involved Megatron himself and no soldier or Autobot had actually seen the mech with their own eyes yet.

Now all of a sudden he was saving civilians in Texas?

Lennox stiffened when Bear suddenly sat up rim rod straight. The dog's ears twitched back and forth and Bear slowly stood up and turned his head in the opposite direction. Suddenly, he let out a quick bark and took off again into the distance. Lennox whistled for the rescue crew, "Hey! Bear found someone else!"


Tyler glanced at his watch again. It was 1:20 in the afternoon and the main NEST squadron still hadn't returned from Round Rock, Texas. Some reports had come back already and the incident was already all over the news. They were calling it a Decepticon attack, but most of the reports he had already looked over made him lean toward it being a drone attack. The Decepticon aspect seemed more like a coincidence. A confusing, unlikely one granted, but one none the less. He leaned back in his seat and let his arm rest on the back of Riley's seat as she continued to eat lunch while listening to his sister tell some story. She looked cute today with her blonde bangs braided back and out of her face. Her face lit up anytime Taylor hit a funny point in her story.

"Got room for two more?"

Tyler tore his gaze away from Riley to see Smokescreen and Bluestreak's holoform coming over. Taylor grinned with a nod, "Course, guys."

"What's up, Blue?" Tyler reached out with his other hand to bump fists with his guardian as Smokescreen grabbed the empty seat by Taylor.

"It's been so long since we had lunch like this! And Riley!" Bluestreak sat on the other side of Tyler, "It's so cool to see you again. We should hang out more often."

Tyler readjusted his posture, "You two?"

Riley nodded, "Yeah, Blue and I hung out yesterday since we were both stuck on base."

"Oh." Tyler replied. This was his first time hearing of it. His current girlfriend and guardian hanging out? Usually his girlfriends didn't spend much time with Bluestreak. It wasn't that they had a problem with his guardian, they just didn't put the effort. Tyler's lips quirked up in the corners. He kind of liked it. "That sounds like a good idea."

Taylor's laughed drew his attention back to the table, "Aj's gonna go crazy."

"Crazy?" Tyler questioned.

Smokescreen laughed with a nod, "She's getting her new brace on right now and Jack really upgraded that thing. She's gonna be able to do everything she could before the injury, plus more."

Tyler smirked, "That's exactly what Aj needs."

"I heard Wheeljack planning on eventually putting a jetpack feature in her boots that will allow her to glide to some degree. I mean, he doesn't think putting an actual rocket feature into it would be a good idea, but he's already salvaged one of the anti-gravity features from an old ship." Bluestreak added.

There was a long pause of silence as everyone at the table soaked this information in. Smokescreen lifted a hand in question, "Anti-gravity boots?"

Tyler let out a loud, booming laugh that the others joined in on. Wheeljack was essentially planning to give Aj the technology that would successfully cause Ratchet's metal to go permanently gray. The medic was going to lose his shit and Wheeljack might lose a few limbs. Simply, because the medic was probably going to rip them off.

Taylor's phone began to go off so she pulled it out to read the message. Tyler watched as his sister's face of ease turned to one of shock then confusion. He kept his gaze on her until she glanced up at him. He simply raised an eyebrow at her and she shook her head in return. She couldn't talk about it now.

"I gotta run, guys. Lennox and the squad will be back soon too so you guys will probably get a message too." Taylor shrugged.

"I'll clean up, don't worry about it." Smokescreen brushed her hands away as she tried to scoop up her garbage.

"You're a lifesaver." She gushed before running off. Tyler watched her go with worry. If she had to hurry off like that did that mean an Autobot was injured on the job? The mission was supposed to be non-hostile. The battle zone had supposedly cleared before they got there. He reached over and laced his hands with Riley who shot him a soft smile in return. Regardless of what happened, he'd find out soon enough.


I laid motionless on top of the metal cot as Wheeljack's holoform worked on hooking my leg up to the newest brace. This one came with same major upgrades. For example, I'd be able to take this one off without completely destroying it. Plus, this one was supposed to be stronger.

Still, as excited as I was for the brace I couldn't help but be distracted. This morning I had my heart to spark with Optimus and then a few hours later some city in Texas was being attacked and a bulk of the base had been whisked away to put out the fires. They still hadn't returned. It was supposed to be safe, but I couldn't help but worry. Accidents happened. Plus, all it took was one mistake.

"There we go." Wheeljack chirped, "Can you sit up for me?"

I pushed myself up and admired the new accessory. It looked very similar to the old one, but Wheeljack had switched out the translucent look for a dark, gunmetal gray. It was perfect.

"Thank you so much, Jackie." I smiled at him, "It's perfect."

He nodded once and his smile falter slightly, "Aj, are you alright?"

I pushed myself off the cot and began to walk around. The brace held perfectly and I felt no pain whatsoever. I turned back to face his holoform, "Yeah, I'm fine. Why?"

Wheeljack's holoform fizzled out of existence as his bipedal mode came back into view. He began to clear up the space around us, "You just seem distant. Is something on your mind?"

There was a lot on my mind, but how much was I willing to share? I trusted Wheeljack just as much as I did Optimus, but for some reason the thought of sharing all my worries with him made me want to vomit. With a shrug, I offered him a small smile, "I think I'm just worried about that attack."

"Right." Wheeljack paused in his motions to look at me directly, "This is the first one you've been here for." I nodded and he softly tapped the top of my head with one of his fingers, "Have no worries, Aj. They'll be back before you know it safe and sound."

"Thanks, Jackie." I crossed my arms and watched as he went back to rearranging his tabletop. Before I realized what I was doing, a question began to tumble from my lips, "Wheeljack, do you believe in the d…" He glanced back over at me, waiting for the question to come out, but I froze up. At last minute, I changed my wording, "Do you believe in God?"

Wheeljack's fins flashed in surprise and he didn't speak for a moment. He just glanced from me to the object in his hands then back to me, "Like Primus?"

"Yeah." I bobbed my head, recognizing the equivalence, "Like Primus."

"That is…a curious question." Wheeljack pulled out one of his stools from the table and sat down. I remained standing in front of him. He rubbed his chest plate before speaking again, "Can I ask why the sudden interest?"

I shrugged, "No idea. It just…hit me and I was wondering. Sorry if it's a personal question."

Wheeljack quickly shook his head, "No, not at all. It just caught me off guard." He leaned against the tabletop slightly and this made it so the difference between our eye levels wasn't too extreme. "For us, every mech and femme believes in Primus. We all have the central belief that our planet was created by Primus millenniums ago. What our race argues about is whether or not Primus is an entity that still exists. Some believe that Primus still exists and plays a role in what occurs in the universe."

"But you don't." I stated. It was easy to tell by the words he chose and the tone he used that he was skeptical of this belief.

"I do not." He shook his head, "If Primus was around and playing an active role in any of our lives, why has our planet suffered so much? Why are we still stuck in this war?" Wheeljack shrugged his shoulders and pushed off the table, "I'm a mech of science and evidence, and I have found no solid evidence to support the claim of a still existing Primus."

I rubbed the back of my neck, "What about the devil? Is there an Cybertronian equivalence to that?"

"Unicron would be the best fit." Wheeljack replied, "But I believe in Unicron less than I do Primus. Science supports that a being created our planet, a being like Primus, but he gave his own life to do so. Unicron was nothing more than a myth. A story to scare sparklings." I let his words bounce around my head. "Do you?"

My eyes focused back on him, "What?"

"Do you believe in…God?"

A small chuckle left my lips. It was a good question, but it was the kind I don't think he'd ever guess my answer. I crossed my arms and nodded, "Yeah, I do." His face, like I predicted, expressed surprise at my words. "Most people don't expect that from me, but I do. It's funny. I bet most people would expect me to be the atheist and Aubrey to be the choir girl, but it's basically the exact opposite."

"Aubrey doesn't believe?" Wheeljack pressed.

"Not at all. Dad-…" My voice faltered slightly, "Our father used to take us sometimes. After mom died though, Aubrey lost faith."

"But you didn't?"

I paused in thought. There had been a time where I would've called myself a nonbeliever, but that was hardly accurate. I had just become angry. I still believed, but all I felt toward Him was hatred. Granny was the one who got me to go back to church a few times, but it never felt right so when I got to New York I didn't bother to go. I believed, but with all the shit I had done it felt like I didn't have the right to anymore.

"Guess not." I shrugged again.

Wheeljack stood up from his seat, "You should talk to Ratchet about this."

"Why?"

Wheeljack's fins glowed and I could tell he was smiling behind his battle mask. He bobbed his head once, "Ratchet does believe in Primus. It's something we debate all the time."

My eyes widened in surprise as Wheeljack stepped away to go back to what he was doing. If I really thought about it, I would've had it pegged completely opposite. In the same way one might label Aubrey as the believer and me as not, I would've labeled Ratchet as the nonbeliever over Wheeljack. Life was funny like that, I guess.


Peter unhappily ran his hand through his hair. To say he was frustrated was such an understatement. The moment the base got the call about the attack in Texas he knew it was going to be a bad day. He didn't realize today was going to be the day straight from hell itself. It was like the devil had handcrafted today for the sole reason of driving Peter to the brink of insanity.

"Is our team back?" Peter questioned for the third time in the last five minutes. Finally an answer came over the radio stating the team had just landed and were unpacking in hanger four at the moment. "And the unknown artifact?"

"It was unloaded into Ratchet's medbay thirty minutes ago, sir."

"I know I-" Peter heaved a sigh and tried to keep his cool. It wasn't anyone's fault. He picked the radio handheld up, "Put Lennox on."

The radio went silent as Peter waited. He glanced around the conference room while various others scrambled to get a hold of what had happened. There were people managing clean up crews, tracking the progress of figuring out what had truly happened, and trying to handle the public relations side of the incident. Every news channel was broadcasting this attack, but not all of them were blaming the ones they should blame. In any case like this there were always those who tried to pin all the blame on the Autobots. It was exhausting.

"Pete, talk to me." Lennox's voice came over the radio.

Peter walked away from the table, away from the people, to stand over by the double doors. He readjusted his tie with one hand while holding the radio in his other, "What's the latest update on the artifact?"

"Last I heard, Ratchet and Taylor are still working on it. They sent the specs to Perceptor and I think Wheeljack just started working on it about twenty minutes ago."

Peter scrunched his eyebrows up in confusion. Why would Wheeljack have only just started on it? Before he could ask, he remembered that today was the day that Aj was supposed to get her newer brace on. He rubbed at his face, "And they have no news? I'm not getting any info from them up here."

"They got nothing, and the guy is getting agitated." Lennox replied, "I'll let you know as soon as I get a real update. Do you have anything for me?"

"Only bad news." Peter began regretfully. "Johnson sent out the report before I could get my hands on it. He cranked the priority level all the way to the top and it got to Washington maybe ten minutes ago... We can expect someone by the end of the day, if not sooner."

"Fuck." Lennox breathed over the radio, and Peter could agree with his choice of wording. The double doors opened and Prowl's holoform stepped in with a nod. "Keep me updated on that."

"You got it, Lennox." Peter replied before tucking the clip of the radio to his belt. He focused his attention on Prowl who looked the slightest bit worried. Considering the mech was usually good at remaining stone faced, even in holoform, seeing the little bit of worry that showed meant something big. "This is a shitstorm."

Prowl nodded, "I can hardly disagree with you, Peter."


This brace was nice. Obviously the brace I had before was nice as well, but this one stood out. Every step I took was so smooth and unhindered with no pain or discomfort whatsoever. After leaving Wheeljack's lab, I ran all the way up to the main floor's cafeteria for a snack. I literally ran. In fact, one could say I sprinted all the way up. There were a number of times where the soldiers I breezed by stared at me in worry. It probably wasn't a good idea to run with such alarm on a military base, especially the day of an attack, but I couldn't stop myself. If I could find the gym on my own I'd go work out right now.

These days I always dressed like I was about to work out anyways. Right now I had on another light gray ARMY physical training shirt and shorts. Luckily, I had traded in the baggy men looking shorts for a pair of Taylor's ages ago.

A loud bark made me stop midstride and whip around with a smile. The smile faltered however when Bear came running around the corner looking awful. His tongue hung out of his happily and he seemed as happy as can be, but his entire coat was matted with dried blood, dust, and small debris.

"Bear, buddy." I knelt down and began to pet at his face, "What the hell?"

Bear licked at my face and pushed his head against my chest leaving dirt marks on the gray color. Seconds later Joey came around the corner with a look of panic. It faded as soon as he spotted me, "Oh thank God. I thought I lost your dog, I mean he just took off."

"What happened out there?" I stood up as Joey came closer. His hair was damp with sweat and he had streaks of dust across his own face that matched the filth on his uniform, "Are you ok, Joey?"

"I'm fine, don't worry." He quickly reassured me, "There was no fight out there for us, but we spent a lot of time digging through the rubble. Bear saved a lot of lives." My hand drifted down to scratch Bear's ears again as he stared up at me with a lopsided look. His tongue slung to side and his ears haphazardly thrown about. Joey motioned toward me, "It's good to see you up and about on your own again."

I nodded, "It's good to be up."

"Hey, I was going to take Bear with me to wash him up. That ok with you?"

"You don't have to do that." I shook my head.

Joey waved me off, "Nah, it's fine. It's basically a routine now. Besides, Sunstreaker's usually the one who gets him looking good." The man crouched slightly, "You ready, buddy? You ready to go see Sunstreaker?"

Bear barked and took off again. Joey sighed and threw his arms up before giving me a quick wave and jogging after my dog. The urge to follow after them hit me hard. I wanted to see my Bear get cleaned up, to make sure that dried blood didn't actually belong to him, and to make sure everyone I knew who had gone out was doing ok. However, my initial goal came back to mind and my eyes darted down the hall to where Ratchet's medbay was located.

I walked this time, rather than running, and noted how eerie some parts of the base were. It was like all the activity had been moved to one location and now that I was away from that area it was a dead zone. By time I got to the hanger where one Cybertronian elevator and where Ratchet's medbay entrance was I was the only living soul there. I let out a low whistle before heading down the hall.

Apparently, I wasn't the only soul around here because there were two soldiers standing outside the entrance with weapons. I blinked in shock and nervously walked forward as the stared at me.

"Um, hi there." I chuckled and pointed past them at the door while trying to get by them, "I'm just gonna-"

"No one is allowed in ma'am. Lennox's orders."

I shook my head, "Uh, not to alarm you, but Lennox would let me in. He grilled me a burger and I lied and said it wasn't burned. We're basically like besties now."

"You're not getting in."

"I don't think you understand." I chuckled awkwardly, "I'm Aj, and in there is Ratchet. My Ratchet. Dr. Rat." The soldiers shared a skeptical glance before looking back to me. "I'm just going to go in."

They blocked me as I tried to pass and I sighed in aggravation. My hands involuntarily balled up into fists and the urge to hit them overwhelmed me. What the hell? It wasn't their fault. They were doing their jobs and doing it well, but the anger in my chest made me want to full out brawl with these two soldiers.

I swallowed the urge and turned on my heel to briskly walk away before I did something I would later regret. Maybe I was just irritable and on edge today. It didn't matter anymore anyways. They would block that entrance all they wanted. I had another way in.

It took me less than five minutes to get in the elevator located in the hanger and travel to Ratchet's true medbay where he wasn't currently located, but I was able to get to the back elevator that opened directly in the medbay. I used my phone to activate the controls for this elevator, since they were too high up, and then a minute later I was inside the medbay.

"Run another scan." Ratchet ordered.

I walked into the main area to see Ratchet standing off to the side working with a computer system that hung down from the ceiling while Taylor worked with something on the berth beside him. They looked busy and frustrated. If I was smarter I would turn around and leave them to their work, but I wasn't smarter. I was a pain in the ass.

"What's up, guys?"

Ratchet glanced back, "You shouldn't be in here."

"That's what those soldiers said." I nodded and came further in, "I didn't like them bossing me around though. It made my skin crawl."

Taylor shot me a quick smile that barely hid her stress, "Who would've guessed that authority would make you, of all people, uncomfortable?"

"Ha ha." I replied. "Seriously though, what's with the secrecy?"

Ratchet shook his head, "It's nothing you need to concern yourself with."

I raised my eyebrows, "Yeah, that's convincing. Is there anything I can help with? Granted, I know nothing about Cybertronian anatomy if that's what you're working on, but I can bring snack foods over."

"Actually…" Taylor began and them shared a look. Ratchet shook his head no, while Taylor bobbed her head up and down with a smile. This lasted for a full minute before I coughed to interrupt them. They both shot their gazes to me and Taylor laced her hands together, "This plays to your strengths."

I laughed, "You mean talking out my ass."

Ratchet nodded once, "Yes, actually."

"Oh."

I hadn't expected for him to agree with that. Ratchet came over and held out his hand, which I stepped onto with ease. He lifted me up, "How is your knee?"

"It's good. Jackie did good work." I nodded. Ratchet carried me over to the lifted human hospital room off to the side. The one I still lived in. For some reason the wall was closed. This was odd because once I found out the wall was able to swing open I wanted it open 24/7. Hell, this was the first time I saw it closed since Ratchet surprised opened it on me.

"That's good to hear." He set me down on a ledge that had a door that would lead into the hallway outside the room. I tried to figure out why I was being put here rather than directly in the room if that's where he wanted me. "We just need you to distract him. Keep him calm. If at any moment you feel unsafe or uncomfortable let me know and I'll get you out."

I blinked in disbelief, "Wait, what? Who's in there?"

"A man from the attack in Texas." Ratchet answered, "And his…therapist."

"Therapist?"

"Government recommended."

Ratchet turned and walked back over to Taylor. I rolled my shoulders before shaking my head and entering into the hallway. The moment I stepped in I could hear a male voice walking. The voice was low and rather monotone, but I couldn't make out the words being said until I got closer to the entrance of the room.

"This is a stressful time for all and I only hope that you can open up to me. The first step to healing is talking about what happened."

"God, what bullshit." I mumbled to myself.

"I'm sorry who is there?" The same voice said and I realized that maybe my quiet mumble hadn't been so quiet. Quickly, I stepped into view with a small wave. The room was the same, but filled with two new people. The therapist guy was sitting on the chair by the bed. I knew he had to be the therapist because he wore a gray suit and the look on his old face told me he had a boring ass voice to match. He pushed the glasses on his nose up a bit.

My eyes darted over to the other guy who looked frustrated and confused. Now this guy was familiar. Sort of. He looked like someone I had seen before, but I couldn't put a finger on his name or where I had possibly seen him. He was absolutely filthy. He had tan skin that looked darker due to the dirt and dried blood caked around his grayish blue eyes. His hair was dark brown, but like his skin it too was matted with filth. His clothes were torn and dirty and it looked like there was something metal wrapped around his rather large bicep. My eyes darted to handcuff around his wrist keeping him to the medical bed.

"Who are you?" The therapist asked.

"Me?" I stalled and stepped further in, "I'm uh, the new therapist."

The guy in the bed snorted while the therapist looked me up and down with a shake of his head, "I highly doubt that."

Lies came to mind. Various things I could say to convince him to get out. All of it took so much effort though and the last thing I felt like doing was putting effort toward this guy. I sighed, "Yeah I'm not a therapist. Do me a favor and just get the hell out."

"Excuse you…" He slowly stood up. I walked over to the bed where I knew the remote was and found the one that was connected to the wall. With a quick press it began to rise up. Ratchet was over without a second to waste with a glare on his features. The guy on the bed stiffened and the therapist stumbled.

"Is everything alright?" Ratchet demanded.

"Uh- I- We-" The therapist stammered.

I shook my head, "Am I legally allowed to kick his ass? I mean, he's trespassing in my room."

Ratchet heaved a sigh and plucked the guy out of the room. I waved as Ratchet set him down on the floor then I closed the wall in triumph. That's one for the cranky asshole and none for the boring therapist.

"Thanks."

I jumped at the deep voice and turned around. Right. This guy was still there. He was probably having a worse day than me though on account of the whole being in the middle of a drone attack thing.

"No problem." I shrugged, "You're kind of in my bed you know."

He didn't let his eyes waver from mine. Instead, he lifted his handcuffed hand until it couldn't go any higher, "It wasn't really by choice to be fair. None of this was." He scoffed and finally looked away, "I shouldn't be here."

"Maybe you should be in the hospital." I pointed to his various injuries, "Anyone look at those yet?"

"Some doctor guy when I got here." He replied bluntly. It had probably been Ratchet's holoform. Ratchet wasn't the kind of medic to leave someone injured unattended to. No matter how busy he was. "Can I leave yet?"

I crossed my arms, "Probably not. Not really my say."

He threw his head back against the pillow and let out a huff of anger. I bit my lower lip in thought while he closed his eyes and used his free hand to cover the upper portion of his face. The guy was mumbling something under his breath now, but I couldn't catch what he said. One word did stand out though.

"Tessa." I repeated, and he slowly pulled his hand away from his face to look at me, "Is that…Is that your wife or sister or…?"

He paused before nodding once, "My daughter. Tessa is my daughter."

Dread flooded my system the moment he said that. He had a daughter and she wasn't here with him. Had she been there during the attack? Had she not been as lucky as him?

"Is she…ok?"

"She finished her junior year of high school last week." He answered, "She wanted to go to New York City with her best friend's family. I said yes."

I rubbed the back of my neck, "Well that's good. She wasn't there, she's safe, right?"

"Yeah. She's safe." He breathed out as if he was still trying to convince himself of that. He shook his head then, "She's going to think that I'm… I'm all she has and she's all I have. I have to go to her, I have to get in contact with her."

The guy was starting to get worked up again and I didn't really know what to do. I held my hands out to try and calm him, "Can't you just call her? Ratchet doesn't want you to leave, I don't think."

"Call her? Call her?" He scoffed in anger, "I wish I could! I get dragged in here, held against my will, I got this- this thing on my arm! I tried to call her, a million times, but you people keep telling me this is classified, that I can't-"

I pulled my phone out of my pocket and shoved it toward him. His jaw fell slack in surprise while I just bounced it in front of him slightly. He sat up a bit as his blood-matted eyebrows furrowed together in confusion. I smiled at him, "Call her. I assume she has a phone and you know the number?"

"You're kidding."

"Nope." I reached forward and took his free hand in mine. I then placed the phone in his hand, "Go ahead, man."

He griped his fingers around it tightly, as if he feared I was going to rip it away from him. After another second of thought, he quickly began to dial a number. I dropped down into the seat by the bed and just waited. He pulled the phone up to his ear and didn't have to wait long. It seemed like a rang once before being answered.

"Tessa? Tessa? It's dad."

For the first time since I stepped into the room, the guy seemed to relax. His shoulders were no longer tense and it looked like a weight had been removed from him. In fact, there was a smile on his face. It was why I noticed his lower lip was busted.

"Yeah, baby. I'm fine I promise. I'm ok, just a little bruised."

Their conversation continued for about ten minutes before he said good-bye and hung up. He stared at the phone for a few seconds before handing it back to me. He nodded, "Thank you."

"Of course. It's stupid they wouldn't let you get in touch with her, they're total morons and if they give you shit about this I'll fight 'em." I replied, then paused, "Unless the guy that told you that you couldn't is William Lennox. If that's the case, then we're just gonna keep this to ourselves. Our secret."

He chuckled in amusement, "I'm sorry for snapping at you."

"Don't worry about it. I'm Aj by the way."

"Cade. Cade Yeager." He introduced himself with a nod. My head tilted to the side slightly at that name. It was familiar. He was still familiar. Shit, was he from a movie? Cade let out a tired sigh and my mind drifted away from the movie thing. "Is there any water?"

I stood up and went over to the mini fridge that should still have a few bottles left over and grabbed him one, "So, can I ask what happened or is that insensitive?"

Cade chuckled, "I wish I could answer. I really have no idea what happened. One minute I was buying some hardware for my garage and then Main Street blew up." He shook his head, "I saw one of those Protector bots before the ceiling came down on me."

I handed him the water and sat back down with wide eyes. He downed half the bottle right then and there and when he finished I spoke up, "You saw one of the drones? Which one was it?"

"I don't know." He shook his head, "It was silver…I think. It's all kind of a blur to be honest."

"It kinda looks like you hit your head." I leaned forward to see the wound at his hairline. It wasn't too bad, and it did look like it had been cleaned, but it was still an open wound. Ratchet must have been in a hurry.

"Feels like it." Cade mumbled and lifted his hand to touch his face, but it was his handcuffed hand he tried to use and it was halted halfway. He heaved another sigh and I stood up. My hair was pulled back in a braid, but I quickly undid it and shook my hair loose. He raised an eyebrow at me, but I ignored him and pulled a bobby pin out of my hair. "Oh no way."

I grinned at him in response and prepared my bobby pin by bending it open and ripping off the plastic tips. Unfortunately, this was not my first time unlocking a pair of handcuffs with a bobby pin. As I toyed with it I warned him, "Just for your information, if you try and run out of here I'll kick your ass. Injured or not."

"I think I owe you too much to go running out of here." Cade replied.

"Damn right." I said softly under my breath while trying to focus. It had been a while since I've done this.

It was silent for a minute as I struggled to find the latch. Cade leaned forward toward me and whispered, "Are you sure you know what you're doing?"

I smirked and looked up to catch his gaze, "This isn't my first rodeo, but... It has been a while."

"Past delinquent?" Cade joked.

"Something like that." I scoffed. I continued trying for a few more minutes before I realized I must have lost my touch. That blows. Annoyed, I threw the bobby pin across the room and looked at the guardrail his handcuff was attached to.

Cade shook his head with a slightly amused smile, "I appreciate the effort."

"Can it." I said then took a step back. I lifted my newly braced leg and quickly dug my heel into the side of the bed. To my surprise, the guardrail didn't just crack enough for me to pull on. The entire thing bent inwards and the guardrail crumpled. I grabbed the top half and it fell off in my hands, "Wow, Jackie wasn't kidding about the brace."

"And you weren't kidding about the being able to kick my ass thing." Cade whistled.

"There's a shower in the bathroom over there you're welcome to. That was kind of my grand 'help you out' plan." I said sheepishly.

He swung his legs off the bed and stood up. I awkwardly took a step back as I realized he was much taller than me. He was probably only a couple inches shorter than Tyler though, "Thanks. Again."

"My pleasure." I gave him a warm smile. The wall began to lift up again and I bit back a sigh. Ratchet stood there with his arms crossed. The moment his eyes landed on the bed he threw them up in annoyance.

"Youngling!"

"It was…" I lifted my hand and realized I was still holding the guardrail, "An accident?"

"Uh huh." Ratchet replied skeptically.

Cade stepped closer to me and it was then I realized he had gone tense again. I glanced up at him to see his jawline clench, "He's an Autobot, right?"

"Yeah. He's Ratchet. Ratchet's a good guy. The best." Cade glanced at me nervously before backpedaling into the bathroom. I dropped the guardrail and walked closer to the edge where Ratchet still stood, "It's my bed."

Ratchet shook his head, "I can call Sideswipe or Sunstreaker to sit with you."

"That will be the opposite of help. I think this Cade guy might be starting to trust me. Which is why I came in here, right?" I narrowed my eyes, "Wait, why am I in here?"

Ratchet shook his head, "We just need someone to keep him calm. He's been through a lot."

"The idea is to keep him calm and the initial solution was to handcuff him to a bed and not let him call his daughter?" I asked skeptically.

"The initial idea also included not having you involved."

I crossed my arms, "That might be the only smart part of the plan actually. I think I recognize him."

"From?" He questioned and I lifted both my eyebrows with a nod in hopes he'd understand. It took a second before Ratchet leaned back, "Oh, right. I see."

"Why is he here?"

"He was found in the rubble of a store with a Cybertronian artifact." Ratchet knelt down so we could talk face to face.

I stepped closer to the edge, "That thing on his arm? What is it? I didn't get a good look."

Ratchet glanced away, "I don't know. So far none of us have any idea what it is, but it is made of ancient Cybertronian metal."

"Well that's sketchy as fuck." I commented. Ratchet leveled a glare at me and I frowned, "Sorry."

"Just keep him happy while we work this out." Ratchet slowly began to stand again.

"How long is that gonna take?" I asked but my only answer was Ratchet shutting the wall between us. I mumbled a curse under my breath and walked over to sit back down in my chair.

For ten minutes I sat there bored out of my mind playing with the tips of my hair while the shower ran. My hair had actually gotten pretty long since I last cut it. It fell a little past my shoulders now in loose waves. Maybe I'd keep it long. I wasn't fighting anymore so there wasn't the worry of having it ripped from my scalp anymore. That was a plus.

The sound of nails on the tile floor down the hall made me smile and seconds later a clean and fresh Bear charged into the room and jumped into my lap. I let out a breath as he sat on my stomach, "Bear, you're not a puppy anymore."

"He still acts like one." Tyler commented and stepped into the room. He hadn't gone on the mission this morning, none of my kids had, and for that I was eternally grateful. "How's the knee?"

"Basically super human." I chuckled and cuddled up to Bear who happily got comfortable on top of me. "What are you doing here?"

Tyler pointed to the bathroom, "I'm supposed to talk to our new guest. Ask him questions."

"About?" I pressed.

"About the alien artifact on his arm, cousin." Tyler replied smugly and I rolled my eyes at him. He walked over and sat on the edge of the bed facing the bathroom wall, "You don't have to stay."

I shrugged, "I have nothing better to do with my time."

"Suit yourself." He shrugged.

It was silent a moment before I pointed at him, "How did you get in here though? Those soldiers said no one is allowed in."

"By no one, they meant unknown civilians with no military background whatsoever." Tyler answered, "AKA, not me."

"Smartaft." I mumbled and buried my head in Bear's coat.

Ten more minutes of silence passed before the sound of the shower shutting off made me sit up in my seat and Tyler turn off his phone. I watched as Tyler's goofy smirk turned to a serious look. He sat up straight and held his hands between his lap. Tyler looked professional as hell.

"Aw, my little Ty is all grown up." I cooed, "Look at you! All business like and ready to interrogate."

Tyler turned his head and gave me a forced smile, but I could see the amusement in his eyes, "You're making it a little hard to be professional, Aj."

"Ignore me." I waved him off, but made sure he could still see the smirk I wore. It was so strange to see Tyler like this. The bathroom door opened and Cade stepped out. My eyes widened in surprise. As it turns out, the filth and dried blood was hiding a hunk. He was handsome in a rugged, human sort of way. As in, he didn't look painfully perfect like some holoforms did. His hair still looked rather dark, but that was probably from the water now. It was short thought and slicked back. The slight scruff along his jawline and around his mouth was clean and the patches of dried blood were gone. "Hello, Cade Yeager."

Cade smiled slightly, his cheeks going slightly pink, and Tyler slowly turned around to shoot daggers at me. I smiled sheepishly back at him. I truly didn't mean to say that out loud and I wasn't trying to use the 'yowza' tone at him.

"I borrowed the clothes from in there. They were close to my size." Cade motioned toward the plain t-shirt and men shorts. They technically belonged to Peter, but I had borrowed them ages ago.

Tyler put on a smile, "No problem, Mr. Yeager. I hope you're adjusting well here."

"Oh, I hate it here." He replied bluntly and Tyler faltered. Cade pointed to me, "She's not too bad though."

"I get that a lot." I grinned and flipped my hair in a showy way, "Mediocrity is my specialty."

Tyler opened his mouth to speak, but Cade's eyes widened as he walked right by my nephew and over to me, "Oh my God, it's that dog."

"Bear." I nodded.

"What?" Cade knelt down and put a hand on Bear's neck.

"His name is Bear. He's my puppy."

Cade tore his eyes away from me to scratch Bear behind the ears with both hands. Surprisingly, Bear put up with it. Even after all these years, Bear still wasn't very open to new people, but he had gotten friendlier to others. This was an example if any. "He saved my life."

"Bear did?"

"Yeah, when I came to I was pinned under a bar. Couldn't get out." Cade said. "I was yelling and next thing I knew I could hear this guy barking and digging above me. The rescue team showed up a little after, but this guy never left."

I smiled like a proud mama bird. Damn right, my dog saved his life. My Bear was a hero like no other. Tyler cleared his throat and stepped closer, "Mr. Yeager, I need to ask you a few questions if you don't mind."

Cade stood up skeptically, "And who are you?"

"This is my cousin, Tyler." I answered for him. "He's a good kid, cut him some slack, huh?"

Cade glanced back at me and Tyler raised both eyebrows at me in exasperation. When the guy looked back to Tyler with a nod, I gave him a wink and thumbs up that Tyler completely ignored. Cade sat down on the edge of the bed and I stood up and motioned for Tyler to take my seat. He did and began to delve into bland questions like 'Where were you when this occurred?' and 'What do you know about Cybertronians?'. While he did that, I began to look for the med kit I knew Ratchet kept around here in one of the smaller cabinets.

I was surprised to hear Cade knew so much about Cybertronians. I mean, I knew the public knew them, but Cade talked with more knowledge than I thought some random civilian would know. It was a bit off-putting until Tyler asked what he did for work and Cade claimed to be an inventor. He explained that's why he knew so much about the bots. He had an interest in them, admired them.

"Got it." I mumbled and pulled the kit out of the cabinet I had found it in. Bear was following me around the room, but I turned and put the cloth handle toward his mouth, "Take this to the bed, Bear."

Bear bit down and carried it over without hesitation. I walked over to the bathroom to quickly wash my hands. If there was anything I learned in not going to medical school, it was to wash your hands before messing with wounds. Safety first and all that jazz.

"He's smart." Cade commented towards Bear as I sat down on the bed beside him. Bear had laid on top of the bed with the kit.

I opened it up, "I know."

"So can you tell me when and how that happened?" Tyler pointed to the metal ring around Cade's right arm. It was the one furthest from me at the moment, but I leaned over to look at it. It was a tarnished, dark gray metal and looked like it was made of interlocking pieces. The width was probably two inches, but there was a circular portion facing outward that was wider than the other portions.

"Your guess is as good as mine on that." Cade replied. I reached forward to lightly grab his chin and tilted it toward me. His eyes glanced at mine briefly before going back to Tyler. I grabbed an alcohol swab and started to clean the wound at his hairline first. "It was there when I came to. I swear."

"I believe you." Tyler nodded once, but his nose scrunched up slightly. It reminded me of when he was a kid. He'd do that anytime I asked him something and he was giving me a false answer. It was his tell and that meant Tyler didn't believe Cade's answer. Cade hissed and I pulled my hand away with an apology under my breath. Tyler stood up, "Well I'm going to talk to my superior officer. You take good care of him, Aj."

I gave Tyler a smile and he walked out with his hands in his pockets. Cade shifted so he was facing me with his body. It made it easier to get to his wounds, "So I see all the face problems, but what about your body?"

"My body?"

"There was blood on your shirt."

He nodded, "Yeah, my shoulder is messed up. Some scratches on my back to from the bar I think."

After cleaning the wound at his hairline, I moved to the one of the side of his face. This one would need butterfly bandages at the least. Maybe even actual stitches. Cade cleared his throat, "Are you a doctor or something?"

I laughed, "No. Not even a little. I'm just used to cleaning up these kinds of wounds." The last bit I mumbled to myself, "Granted, they're usually my own."

"This just part of your past delinquency?"

"Exactly." I smiled. "So you're from Texas?"

Cade made a hum of agreement, "Born and raised. You're from the south aren't you?"

"How could you tell?"

"Your accent. It's slight, but you got a bit of a twang."

I laughed and finished fixing up the wound on the side of his face, "I'm from Alabama. Most people can't hear my accent though, not unless I'm drunk." Cade shrugged and I scooted back an inch or two, "Take off your shirt so I can fix those wounds. You're bleeding through the shirt."

"Shit." Cade breathed and tried to quickly pull it off. He hissed in pain at the movement though, "Sorry."

"No worries. It's not my shirt, remember?"

There was a shallow gash starting above his right armpit to his collarbone. I twisted my lips in annoyance, "This one is going to need stitches."

"Can you do that?"

"Technically, yes, but I haven't in a while." I sighed. "You probably want to wait-"

Cade interrupted me, "Can you do it?" My eyes widened slightly and he shook his head, "No offense to anyone else here, I know they're just doing their jobs, but you're kind of the only person I like so far."

"That's just because I broke all the rules for you." I chuckled and searched for the right equipment. Cade gave me a slight, firm smile and I shrugged, "Hey it's your shoulder, man. Just know I did warn you."

"Noted."

I cleaned the wound and set up the needle so it's be ready to go. Knowing that this was going to hurt like a bitch I gave him a kind smile, "So tell me about Tessa."

It was a good distraction. Cade smiled and started talking about his 17-year-old daughter. She sounded like a good kid, but what parent wouldn't paint their child in an uplifting way. Still, in the same way his face had lit up when he heard her voice over the phone, it lit up again while he was talking. It took about fifteen minutes to stitch him up, only because I was being super careful, and he spent most of the time talking about his daughter.

"Do you have any kids?"

I smiled at him, "No, but I-" The first thing to come to mind was Tyler, Taylor, and Peter, but it'd be hard to say they were kind of like my kids considering we were now around the same age. "I love kids though."

Bear, who had been quietly resting beside us, sat up suddenly and jumped off the bed. With the way he was excited, it meant only one person could be nearby. Cade nodded his head toward the door, "What was up with that?"

"You'll see." I said, "Turn around for me."

Cade turned so I could check out his back. There was a dark bruise that went from the lower end of his right ribcage to his left shoulder blade and around his left shoulder blade was a collection of torn skin. It looked like something had ripped up the skin around there.

"You're quiet. Does that mean it's bad?"

"Yeah, it's pretty bad. Above my level of skill bad."

"Damn."

Sunstreaker's holoform breezed in with Bear bouncing around his legs and a glare on his features. His eyes focused on me, but to do that he had to basically look over Cade's shoulder, "You ok?"

"I'm peachy." I said and stood up, "What are you doing here?"

Sunstreaker nodded his head toward the hallway. I glanced at Cade, "I'll be back."

Sunstreaker turned around and I followed him out into the hall. He crossed his arms and leaned against the wall, "I don't think it's a good idea for you to hang out here. We have no idea what that thing is or what it can do."

"I'm fine. He needs someone."

"Why does that someone need to be you?" Sunstreaker pressed.

I gave him a smile, "Because I know what it's like to be in a place with no allies. It sucks. Now can I go back in and help this guy?"

Sunstreaker heaved a sigh and looked away for a second. He glanced back at me, "How is your new brace?"

"Amazing. I love it." I grinned, "I kicked the bed and literally broke it. It was so awesome."

Sunstreaker chuckled, "I'm going to stick around the medbay. I won't be far. If you feel-"

"Unsafe or uncomfortable just give you a call." I chuckled and leaned forward to give him a tight hug. He returned it briefly before his holoform disappeared. I snapped my fingers by Bear and the two of us walked back into the room. Cade gave me a tight smile as I came back over to where I was, "I'm just gonna patch this over until Ratchet can get to it. He's the best doctor in the world and you can trust him. I do."

Cade nodded, "I'll take your word for it." There was a pause before he pointed toward the doorway, "Was that your overprotective boyfriend?"

"You know", I chuckled, "Sometimes I wish it were that easy, but it's not and he's not and… God, it's just a mess of a story."

Cade laughed, "So it's complicated?"

I smiled to myself in amusement, "So tell me about those inventions of yours."

The conversation continued and most of it was just small talk. Still, he was easy going despite the situation he was in and I enjoyed his company. It took me a minute or two to put away the medical kit and then I came back over to continue talking.

"So you really don't know how you got this?" I sat down beside him again, but this time on the opposite side. This let me get a closer look at the weird ass contraption on his arm.

"It was just there."

"Does it hurt?"

Cade shook his head, "I can't even really feel it, but it won't come off." He lifted his hand and tried to pull it off, but it didn't budge. It almost looked like it was welded to his skin. "See?"

I reached forward to tug on it as well, but the moment my fingers brushed against the metal it began to light up. The circular metal piece began to glow red and I watched as it slowly flashed a very familiar symbol. The same symbol that has been haunting me since the beginning of all this mess. The symbol I painted on the door with my own blood.

Cade lifted his arm and glanced down at it, but the moment he did the glow and symbol was gone, "What's wrong?"

"I-I have to go." I shot off the bed and tried to find my bearings.

Cade stood up as well, "Is everything ok? You seem kind of shook up." I shook my head at him and backpedaled a step, he followed me, "Did I say something wrong?"

"I'm sorry, but I have to go. Bear make sure he stays." I said and quickly rushed out of the room just as the wall began to rise up. Bear followed me briefly but sat at the door facing away from me. I heard him growl as I reached the end of the hall and I assumed it was because Cade tried to leave the room.

I took the elevator down in a panic. I had to find Optimus. He had to know about this. When I stepped out I heard a gasp of surprise and turned to see the soldiers staring at me in surprise.

"Were you-?"

"In the medbay? Yes. I listen to no one don't take it personally." I called back before running out. The hanger wasn't as empty as it was before, there were people milling about now and that should've been my first clue to slow down.

I figured Optimus would be in the main hanger where they held meetings since this was such a busy day which meant I needed to head down the north hallway.

The moment I ran around the corner to do so though, I ran directly into someone sending us both sprawling back. The guy was on the shorter side with thinning light brown hair and no rimmed, square glasses. He had on a dark suit, with an American flag pin on his lapel, and a blue tie.

"Excuse you." He snapped in annoyance and brushed off the front of his pants. He stared at me for a moment before narrowing his eyes, "Exactly who the hell are you?"

My own eyes widened in surprise at his words, "Me? Who the hell are you, jerk?"

He puffed up his chest and stepped forward, "I'm Director Theodore Galloway, liaison and national security advisor to the President himself."

"Oh." I said and mentally prayed that the earth would just open up and devour me whole. "It's super nice to meet you. Sir."

Unsurprisingly, he wasn't impressed by my addition of the word 'sir'.