A/N: Hah Merry Christmas? I had some people randomly comment on the story and send me messages and it kicked my ass into finishing this chapter so I could post it. Told y'all that stuff works. Sorry I have been dead tho. That's my bad.


Chapter Thirteen:

Being Found


"For there is nothing lost that cannot be found if sought." –Sense & Sensibility


Here's the thing about Optimus Prime that I didn't notice until I saw the drone version of him. The Prime was intimidating as hell. From the flamed paint job to his behemoth height there was no part of him that didn't scream 'I'm about to fuck you up'. Even his mouth guard was intimidating. However, there was always something about Optimus Prime that never seemed dangerous to me. It was probably because I was never the one to go toe to toe with him, but his eyes always seemed kind. I've seen determination in them, I've seen resolve and resilience, but there was always a kindness to them and that kindness never evoked a fear response.

Right now though? The creature in front of me had no kindness in any part of him. His soulless, or sparkless, blue eyes were closer to an off shade of white and they were blank and emotionless. It was the only part of the drone that didn't match the real Optimus.

Standing in front of this drone as it formed its arm cannon and prepared to fire made me extremely thankful that I was on the real Optimus Prime's side. The feeling didn't last long though as dread and fear was pushed to the forefront of my mind. Cade and I were at risk to get vaporized yet again, and boy had the action not grown on me at all.

"Get out of the city!" The armored stranger yelled. The drone glanced at him once, but didn't turn the gun towards him. This didn't stop the armored stranger from pulling a circular, metal device from his back and chucking it at the drone Prime. It hit the drone on the arm, stuck to the metal, and began to beep. The drone lifted its other arm to swat it away, but before he could the circular device detonated. "Move!"

The bomb had sent the drone stumbling back towards the front exit so Cade and I began to backpedal in hopes to find a back exit. Through the smoke of the bomb though another Cybertronian sized figure leaped through the hole on the wall tackling fake Optimus. This sent both large beings staggering towards us.

"Down!" Cade yelled, grabbed my arm, and dragged us forward. We both dove forward just as the beings flew over our heads and crashed into the front desk we had been standing near.

I glanced over my shoulder to see it had been Megatron that leaped in to attack. That was the second time the Decepticon leader had saved my ass today.

"Aimee!"

My head swiveled over to see the armor figure motion toward me and then turn around and take off running. He wanted me to follow, and every ounce of my being wanted to follow him. I needed to know who he was. I leapt up to run after him, but Cade grabbed my wrist, "What are you doing?!"

"I have to follow that guy!"

"I don't think that's a good idea! We have no idea who the hell he is!"

"I think I might!" I cried. The stranger was getting further and further away. I had to go. It was now or never.

Cade must have heard the desperation in my voice. He let go of my wrist, "Please be careful."

I nodded and took a few steps away just as a ringing filled my ears. Megatron and fake Optimus were duking it out in hand to hand combat only a few feet away as electricity filled the air making every hair on my arms stand up. I turned around to see Cade staring at the talisman. He made quick eye contact with me and shook his head, "I can handle this. You find that guy, Aj."

I took one more step away from Cade only to stop and sprint back. I latched my arms around him just as the ringing began to grow louder.

"What are you doing?"

The electricity crackled and the scene changed again. We were in an office building hallway. The entire left wall was covered in windows, some in place and others broken and shattered. I pulled away from him to see surprise still drawn across his features, "We started this together. I'm not letting you finish it alone."

Cade opened his mouth to speak only to close it just as quickly and nod his head. The hallway behind us seemed to go towards a room of desks, but the hallway in front of us led to a larger conference room. As we got closer voices filled the air. Cade opened the door and we both slipped in quietly. The conference room was actually a large lab, but most of the technology was broken and covered in what looked like vines. I stepped closer to one near me and reached out to touch it.

The vines weren't vines at all, and as my fingers brushed against one it shifted into small cubes, rotated in place, then formed back into the vine shape. The entire room was filled with the same metal that formed the drones.

"Will you hurry up? Are you waiting for a drone to storm in and kill us!?"

"This is a delicate process! I can't just slam buttons and make it work!"

"I don't care, we are running out of time and-"

"Do you want to do this? Do you want to do this?"

Cade and I stepped further into the lab to see Joyce and Simmons bickering at each other in front of a large screen and control panel. Good news, they made it into the KSI control room. Bad news, now we were stuck with them.

Simmons turned at the sound of our approach with a gun pointed right as us. As soon as he recognized us he lowered, "What the hell are you two doing here?! Aren't you supposed to be making a distraction!?"

"I was really hoping to never see these guys again." I sighed mostly to myself.

Cade nodded once, but then shrugged and leaned towards me, "Same, but if you haven't noticed today hasn't exactly gone as we wanted."

"We haven't died yet. That's pretty cool." I lightly argued.

Simmons scoffed, "Are you two done?"

"The real question is are you two done?" Cade demanded. He motioned to the screen, which had a variety of 'warning' and 'access denied' pop-ups flashing on it, "The drones are still working out there."

"For the last time, I am trying!" Joyce cried without even bothering to look over his shoulder.

Simmons shook his head with a smile, "We are on top of this. We just need a little more time."

"You have very little time." I replied. "Decepticons and Autobots are in the city, but drone Optimus Prime is in the lobby ready to fuck some shit up. Megatron is holding him back, but they're gonna attract more."

"Shit." Simmons snapped and marched back over to Joyce. They began to argue again with each other under their breaths.

Cade lightly wrapped his hand around my arm and pulled me a step back, "Why did the talisman teleport us here?"

"It wants us here." I said, but my tone was nowhere near confident. I looked around the room for some kind of clue, but nothing popped out at me. There was, however, a slight ringing at the back of my head now, but Cade didn't seem to notice it. The talisman also wasn't glowing and freaking out which meant this was a different kind of ringing. "Cade, search the room."

"For what?"

I bit my lip, "Look…look for an alien staff."


He has always been limited in the things he could and could not do in the field, but he never felt that more than he did at this exact moment. Tyler dropped onto his stomach and positioned his rifle in a steady, comfortable position. The building that Bluestreak dropped him on had a vantage point of a majority of the city, and the energy shield working around him ensured that no drone was going to target him out specifically while he did his job.

Did he want to be lying on a roof firing at drones? No. Tyler wanted to be on the streets looking for Aj, but there was no way in hell any of the Autobots were going to let that happen while they were in the heart of the hive.

"We need cover fire!" Lennox barked through his helmet.

"Northern flank in progress, Southern flank in position." Tyler replied. He pressed his fingers into his suit's forearm and his back armor pieces swung out and up. The small-scale 'door wings' on his suit allowed him to do the same thing Bluestreak's did. Monitor conditions. Wind, altitude, and various other factors flashed across his helmet's mask in the upper left corner. He glanced at them briefly before taking aim.

In the heat of a battle, aiming for the eyes, though ideal, was difficult. The drones moved too quickly. So unless they were at a standstill, Tyler aimed for the next best thing, joints.

"Northern flank in position." Bluestreak's voice crackled to life.

Tyler smirked and fired his shot. He didn't wait to see if it made contact, he knew it would, so he began to set up for the next shot. By creating this cover fire at the same time as Bluestreak it'd allow for Lennox and his squadron to get down the street towards where Aj's energy signature was.

After a few more distracting shots, he watched a drone get taken down by one of Bluestreak's. The energy bullet from the sniper's gun tore through the drone's head. They had to aim for the head, which wasn't typically what Cybertronians did. In war, the target was always the spark, but when your enemies were sparkless you had to find new ways to do an old job.

Tyler's sights went past Jazz, Bumblebee, a seeker, and then to the drone. He whipped his sights backwards though, back to where he had seen the seeker. It was Thundercracker fighting off a drone, and Tyler found himself frozen in place.

His sights tracked a spot on the seeker's back. One that he knew was a weak spot, one that he knew would damage some of their flight relays. His finger twitched over the trigger.

A loud crash made Tyler look up from his sights. On the street below a little girl sprinted out of an alleyway. A Ratchet based drone, with a missing arm and half a missing leg, chased after her. The drone, Triage, usually had a neon green paint job with accents of white and yellow, but this one was scorched badly. Tyler assumed since it was chasing this little girl she either had to have a hand in harming it or was in the vicinity and got the blame. He was leaning towards the latter. That was the only reason drone's went after humans.

"Fuck you!" The little girl whipped around, pulled a Molotov cocktail from her bag, lit it, and then threw it at the drone's face with surprising accuracy. Alright, maybe this girl actually did mess up this drone. No wonder it was pissed.

"Southern flank compromised." Tyler said. He closed his 'wings' and activated the magnets on his back to hold his rifle in place.

"Tyler are you alright?!" Bluestreak called out over a private communications line.

"I'm fine, Blue." Tyler called back and leaped off the roof. It was a six story drop, but as he got closer to the ground his rockets activated and slowed his descent. When his boots made contact he rolled to transfer his energy and sprinted toward the girl. "There's a civilian in trouble. I'm confronting an injured Triage."

Triage was trying to fire a weapon, but it's aiming program must have been damaged. Tyler scooped the girl up in one arm, holding her so he was half in front of her and facing the drone. She kicked and screamed and did not make it easy on him.

Tyler threw his right arm up, shook it once, and an energy cannon began to form in it's place. His helmet's screen locked onto the drone's head and he waited until it got a few feet closer before firing. The bright energy blast hit in the dead center of Triage's face and it exploded before crumpling to the ground. The gun on his arm fell off. It was built in by Wheeljack as a 'use in case of emergency' kind of weapon, but the power in it was so great that it usually only worked for one shot.

"Let me go!" The girl screamed again and tried freeing herself.

"Hey!" Tyler knelt down, bringing her down as well, then pressed the side of his helmet so the darkened face glass became clear and she could see him. Her dark eyes widened and she stopped squirming, "I'm a soldier. I'm here to help you, ok? Just cooperate a little, please."

She sucked in a sharp breath, "My friend. Please, she's in trouble."

Tyler knew as soon as he left the energy shield that covered this block he was going to get ripped a new one by a number of mechs. He also knew that he couldn't not help. If there was anything worth fighting for or getting in trouble over, it was protecting the people around him. He nodded once, "Lead the way."


"Did you find anything?" I called out while fruitlessly searching the room myself. The only thing that could be found was broken electronics, creepy ass metal vines, and the occasional hunk of literal garbage.

"Considering I don't even know what an alien staff looks like, no I don't think I have!" Cade yelled back from across the room in frustration.

Simmons wandered over to me with wide eyes, "Did you just say alien staff?"

I shrugged and I know the next words that came from my mouth had more bite than I actually intended, "Maybe we did. Is that relevant to you at all?"

Simmons raised an eyebrow before frantically digging through his the zippered pocket on the side of his track pants. He pulled out a yellowed piece of paper and dramatically shook it open with one hand. Any skepticism I held of this man disappeared the moment my eyes landed on the picture he was holding. It was a rough sketch of the same staff I had seen with a foreign language written all around it. As if whoever had drawn it was also taking notes on it.

"How did you get that?" I asked breathlessly.

"What do you know about this staff?"

"I know I need it!" I shouted as my arms snatched the paper out of his hand. My own movements startled me and I could only stare at the hand that held the paper. Had I said those words? Why did I need the staff? A warm hand settled on my shoulder I jumped in surprise.

Cade was giving me look that was part caution and part worry, "Aj…Are you alright?"

"I-I don't know." I mumbled. Cade slowly took the paper from me, looked it over, and then folded it up and stuck it into his jean pocket.

The entire building shook and Joyce cried out in excitement. He clapped his hands drawing our attention. I still couldn't shake the uneasiness that had settled in my stomach at what had just happened. The feeling that the staff was still in here remained and that odd part of me knew I needed to find it. However, there was a logical part of me that wanted to get the hell out of here and never see that weird glowing staff again.

"I've done it! I've done it!" Joyce grinned. His smile broke slightly as he shook his head, "Well, I've sort of done it." His look of pride returned at he pointed to the screen, "The Protector Bots in this hive are still online, but I think with the programming I've just installed once we blow this control room it'll knock out any bot connected to this hive!"

"The military tried blowing a hive to kingdom come. It just pisses the drones off." Cade argued.

Joyce waved his arms, "No, no, no. They try firing missiles from the outside and the hive protects itself. Even if they hit the center of the hive it doesn't shut the- the drones off. My program changes that. I'm confident this will work and when it does we can take this programming to all the hives!"

"You said blow this place up?" I asked, "Did you have an escape plan that doesn't involve the lobby where-" The entire building shook again, "Where Megatron and fake Prime are decking it out like a pair of rock'em sock'em robots?"

"Well…no." Joyce admitted.

"You were supposed to keep them away from here!" Simmons argued. The radio on Simmons belt crackled to life and he snatched it up angrily, "What!?"

As the other person spoke he walked away to converse with them. Cade pulled me aside slightly with a shrug, "So what's our game plan? We still looking for the staff?"

"I don't know, Cade. I feel like we need to find it, but…" I crossed my arms, "I just have this weird feeling now that I can't shake."

"All the civilians are packed up and out of harm's way. The Autobots and Decepticons were a big enough distraction for them to get out. Activate the sequence." Simmons said loudly as he walked back over to Joyce.

Cade rubbed my arm in comfort, "Then let's bail with these guys. No harm, no foul."

"But we've been bouncing all over Austin. It's led us here. You're willing to just let that go?"

"If you say we should, then yes." Cade replied, "I told you. I trust you."

"How sweet." Simmons snapped, "Are you two done yet?"

Cade turned to give Simmons an exhausted glare while Joyce stepped back from the control panel as things began to light up and sirens began to go off. That was as clear of a sign as one could get.

"Time to go, time to go." Joyce motioned for the door. Cade and I shared a glance before following Simmons and Joyce at a distance. They exited the room, and Cade was next to pass through when an armored boot kicked him in the chest and sent him flying back into the room with a cry of pain.

"Cade!" I cried and ran to his side. I helped him sit up as the armored stranger stepped into the room. Simmons ran back with wide eyes and his gun drawn. The stranger turned to him. "Simmons! Go! Get out of here!"

"Oh, I don't run." Simmons leveled his gun at the stranger, but the stranger lifted his arm and sent out an energy blast of sort that sent Simmons flying backwards. Distantly, I heard him yell, "Good luck, lovebirds!"

If it didn't look like we were currently in danger I'd roll my eyes. The armored stranger started to approach us so I helped Cade to his feet and the two of us began to backpedal away. We didn't get far though and suddenly we were trapped with our back to a broken window that led to a twenty-story fall.

"Give me the staff." He demanded.

Cade and I gave each other a confused look. I shook my head, "We don't have it, dude."

"Do not lie to me, Aimee!"

His tone and words rang in my mind briefly, but a sudden swelling in my chest overshadowed it. There was worry mingled with urgency and the wind from the open window caused a whistling noise to each my ears. Was that just the wind though?

"You said you trusted me right? Are you sure about that?" I offered my hand to Cade. His gaze traveled from my eyes to my hand before he slipped his own into it. The stranger was yelling at me again, but I tugged Cade to the edge. Cade sucked in a sharp breath and I tried to avoid looking straight down. I squeezed Cade's hand one more time, and then we leapt.

We fell six stories, with me screaming apologies to Cade every other story, until my faith was rewarded. The loud whistling cut through the air again, I could barely hear it over the whipping wind around us, but I definitely felt it when a solid mass of metal scooped us out of the air. The wind was replaced with the twisting of metal and suddenly Cade and I were sitting in the cockpit of a jet with me in his lap since there was only one seat. I was thankful it didn't end up the other way around.

"Squishy! You functioning?" Skywarp's voice crackled loudly over the sound of the wind and engines.

"Skywarp, I've never been so happy to see you before." I breathed in relief. He cackled in amusement before taking a nosedive. Cade and I were pressed into our seats from the force as we cried out in alarm. Skywarp only laughed louder.

He leveled back off when he got close to the ground, screeched to a halt, and when he got slow enough he threw us from the cockpit. I hit the ground hard and began to tumble down the asphalt road. As if the bruises and bumps I had earned so far weren't enough, now I had some serious road rash to match.

"Skywarp!" Thundercracker barked out.

"Oops, my bad."

I sat up and moved slowly just in case something was broken, but it seemed like every part of my body was still connected to itself and bending how it was supposed to bend. I whipped around to check on Cade who looked worse for wear, but was still up and going. God, today was just not going to end for us at this rate.

"Barricade is pinned down south from here and Starscream is surrounded on the bridge." Megatron's voice caught my attention. The mech was standing tall by a building slightly shorter than him. His arm was transformed into his usual giant ass gun, but it was sparking with damage. I watched as he let his arm transform back to its hand, but in his other hand he let it form into a large blade.

"I got Screamer!" Skywarp yelled. He jumped over us making me flinch and transformed before warping out of sight. Thundercracker gave me a quick nod, one that I had no time to reply to, before he transformed himself and took off.

"Aj." Cade mumbled. He was already standing, and he scooped me up as well keeping me half behind himself. I glanced down at my brace in worry, but the gear was holding tight. Thank you, Wheeljack.

"It's ok Cade." I whispered before stepping past him to address Megatron he stepped closer, but didn't move to bend down. He just stared at us with that unblinking red gaze. "Megsy. You're a sight for sore eyes."

The mech looked different than he did back at home. His faceplates remained the same though despite the more modern looking updates to his body and frame. He tilted his head slightly, "You shouldn't have come to this universe, Aj."

My eyebrows scrunched together in confusion, "Um, what?"

"You should've stayed home."

"Once y'all left, I had no home." I replied firmly, "And to be fair, getting sucked into this world wasn't entirely done on my own accord. It was an acc-"

Megatron interrupted me, "It was no accident."

"We need to go. Something doesn't feel right." Cade whispered to me while tugging on my arm slightly.

He was right. There was a weird vibe in the air that I couldn't shake, but this was Megatron. Yes, he was the leader of the Decepticons who were kings of ruining everything, but he was also a mech I had gotten to know. I was bonded to him, sort of, in that weird ass way. He wouldn't hurt me. I refused to believe it. He had saved me twice today already and so had the seekers.

"Where is the staff?" Megatron demanded. His voice shook me to my core.

"Staff? How do you know about-"

"Where is the staff!?" Megatron barked again and I flinched backwards.

Megatron had a look in his eyes that matched the one from back in my universe. It wasn't like when I first met him, how he gave off that aura of anger and destruction. He held himself with an air of confidence; his eyes weren't filled with rage or malice. They were filled with determination and…and sorrow?

"Megsy. What's going on? Talk to me." I said slowly with my arms reached out in surrender.

Megatron covered his face with his clawed hand before making a noise akin to a sigh. He knelt down, "I do not wish to kill you, Aj." My eyes widened. "However, I am left with no choice. I am free from his clutches, I am no longer a puppet of destruction, but now you are."

"Megatron!" I yelled. Cade growled my name in my ear and tried to get me to turn and run, but my feet were pinned to the ground in shock.

"I am doing this as a sign of mercy. You do not want the life I have been forced to live." Megatron replied sadly. He lifted his blade into the air and in a second he brought it down as fast as he could over my head.

I closed my eyes tightly, as if that would help, but instead of getting split in half the sound of metal on metal reverberated through the air. I opened my eyes and Cade was standing in front of me. His arms were lifted up, and in his hands was a dark gray, metal long sword. It blocked Megatron's blade surprisingly enough. With a grunt of force he pushed the blade back and let the sword fall downward as his hands gripped the handle tighter.

"Cade." I breathed. He turned and we both watched as the sword collapsed in on itself before the hunk of metal traveled up his arm and became the same talisman we've been dealing with all day, "What the fuck?"

Megatron let out a cry before moving to attack again. Cade wrapped his arms around me out of instinct just as a missile collided with Megatron's chest. It went off and I could feel the heat from the fire between Cade's arms. An engine revved and I pulled away from Cade just in time to see Jazz leap over us and tackle Megatron. The two began to wrestle and fight as my blood ran cold. Flashbacks of Jazz being ripped in two filled my mind.

"Jazz!" I screamed and tried to rush forward, as if I'd be any help whatsoever, but Cade held me back.

"Aj!" I turned as Wheeljack, in his alt mode, skidded to a stop and whipped around with his doors open, "Get in!"

Cade dragged me to the car and put me in the driver's seat. The door locked as Cade climbed into the other side. I kicked the door, "Jackie let me out! We have to help Jazz!"

Wheeljack took off and the last thing I saw was Megatron pounding his fist into Jazz's face, "I have to get you out of the city. A detonation sequence was initiated."

"But Jazz! We have to-"

"He can handle himself, Aj, I promise!"

Wheeljack's words did nothing to comfort me and I couldn't stop the dread from settling in my stomach as I sat in the seat useless. Cade must have noticed how close I was to breaking Wheeljack's window and throwing myself out so he reached over and wrapped a hand around my wrist. I nearly yanked my hand back, I didn't need something else holding me back from Jazz, but when I snapped my gaze over to him I noticed the soft look in his eyes. He squeezed my wrist once. This was comfort, this wasn't restriction.

My shoulders fell in defeat and I shut my eyes and leaned back against Wheeljack's seat.


"Tyler, where are you!? A detonation sequence is counting down I'm coming to get you!" Bluestreak yelled over the comm at him, "Send me your location now!"

Tyler broadcasted his signal to his guardian, but continued to race after the little girl who was hell bent on getting back to her friend. He could admire that. The sound of an engine made his blood run cold, "Little girl, are we any closer? We gotta go."

"She's just up ahead! I promise!" She yelled back and sprinted off. Tyler sucked in a breath and kept his eyes peeled for the drone that was sure to follow that engine noise. As soon as he got this girl's friend the whole lot of them could meet Bluestreak and he could drive them out of the city. No big deal. "There!"

Tyler turned the corner with the girl and his eyes widened at the sight of a Cybertronian leaning against the building. It was a femme, a bit on the smaller side too, with a sea foam green paint job that was dinged and scorched. Energon dripped from various spot, there was a black gaping hole at the side of her processors, and one of the femme's eyes was deactivated and crushed. His eyes landed on the Autobot insignia on her chest.

"What the shit." Tyler breathed.

"You have to help her!" The girl yelled and tugged on his hand before racing over to the femme. The Autobot weakly wrapped her hand around the little girl in a protective manner.

"Bluestreak, I have a problem." Tyler said into his microphone.

"Tyler!?" Came the panicked reply.

Tyler rushed over and let his helmet's camera zoom in on the Autobot insignia. He had never met this Autobot before let alone even seen her around. As the camera focused on the symbol it began to read off the serial code embedded into it. Years ago he was taught that the Autobot symbol did more than just represent what side the Cybertronian had pledged to. It also worked the same as his dog tags did. Once the code was downloaded into his helmet he immediately sent it to every Autobot in the vicinity.

"I'm on my way, Tyler. Stay put." Bluestreak said in determination.

"I'm in route." Ratchet's voice spoke over his helmet's system. He was hardly surprised to hear the medic respond to the distressing issue, but he was surprised to hear the panic that tinged his words.

Tyler pushed aside his confusion and knelt down next to the girl, "I have friends on the way. We're going to be ok."

"Izabella…" The Autobot spoke in a broken tone. It was filled with static and pain. The little girl curled into the Autobot and began to cry softly. The femme looked at him next, "Something is c-c-coming."

Tyler turned and pulled his weapon into his hands. If the drone attacked there was only so much he could do, but like hell he wasn't going to try.

"Do not engage any drones, Tyler!" Bluestreak yelled.

Tyler didn't have the time to reply. He didn't have the time. An all too familiar drone stepped into sight with its weapon drawn.


Wheeljack had dropped Cade and I about three miles outside of Austin at a small camp they had set up. It had a few soldiers reporting movement based on the radars they set up, a couple jeeps, and the aircraft that brought them all here. The moment Wheeljack dropped us off though something had him speeding back into the doomed city, but he hadn't shed light on what that was.

"I'm sure they're all going to be ok." Cade stepped closer and crossed his arms. A medic had come by to look over our injuries a few minutes ago, but I had brushed them off. I wasn't dying and Ratchet could look over me when he had time later. "The question is, are you ok?"

I glanced at him, "As ok as you are, I guess. We're probably gonna wake up a bit sore in the morning."

Cade shook his head, "No, that's not what I meant. With the weird ass staff and… and the whole Megatron thing?"

"I-I don't know." I admitted, "I'm confused, I mean I am so confused. With that mysterious person chasing us down and the talisman turning into a Megatron stopping sword and-"

"Hey." Cade interrupted me as my rant started to turn panicked, "It's ok."

"I don't know if it is. I thought I had found my place here, I though I had found solid ground, but…but now I feel more lost than ever."

Cade opened his mouth to speak, but he paused as a passing soldier motioned for us to start heading toward the airplanes. I shook my head in thought, "You gotta go, Cade."

"What?"

"If you stay here they're going to drag you back to base and after what just happened I don't think they'll be letting you out anytime soon. Your daughter."

"Tessa." He sighed in a knowing way. What I said was the truth.

"Take one of the jeeps and go. I don't think many people are going to even notice in this chaos." I added.

Cade paused before stepping closer, "You could come with me, you know? After finding Tessa, we could find some answers."

It was a tempting offer, but not nearly tempting enough. I gave him a soft smile, "My Tyler is out there. Tyler and my mechs and… I'm not going to be functional until I see that they're safe."

"I get that." Cade nodded with a chuckle. "Thanks for having my back today. I don't know what I would've done without you."

There was a comfortable beat of silence as we just took one another in. Here was this guy that I avoided for weeks, but now it actually hurt a bit to say goodbye. Cade was brave and strong, and there was no way in hell I would've have survived today without him.

"So are you two gonna kiss or what?"

My face burned in embarrassment as I whipped my head to the side to see Simmons leaning against one of the jeeps with a raised eyebrow. Cade cleared his throat and took a step away from me as he rubbed the back of his neck with his hand.

"Don't you have a youth basketball team to coach in that nasty 80's tracksuit?" I snapped at him.

Cade chuckled, but Simmons narrowed his eyes at me before doing a quick series of lunges, "Do you see this? This flexibility and movement? I'd like to see denim allow me this skill!"

"I should go." Cade shook his head, "I'll see you around?"

"Don't miss me too much, Cade." I smirked.

"No promises." He replied back before moving to enter the driver's side of the jeep. Simmons hopped into the passenger side and I watched them quietly argue with one another before Cade hot-wired the jeep with a shake of his head. He gave me a quick wave and I watched the two of them drive away as the soldiers in the area focused on other things.

Now came the awful moment where I had to just stand here and wait for my people to come back to me. I turned back around to stare at Austin's skyline, but gasped at the sight of the mysterious armored figure standing right in front of me. He threw his arm out and wrapped his metal fingers around my throat. I couldn't even cry out as he tightened his fist.

"I'm so sorry." His broken voice crackled through to me.

The figure sounded like he was in pain, but I could hardly focus on that. It was futile to fight against him. My limbs were already heavy and I was too weak from the day to even try and break free. The edges of my vision began to grow dark and I could feel consciousness slipping away from me.

Did nobody else see this? Was nobody going to stop him from killing me?

"I told you to leave." It was the last few words I heard before everything went dark.


It was a soft thrumming that woke me up. The noise was steady and resilient. It was familiar and comforting. It was a spark.

My eyes fluttered open to see yellow. Beyond the yellow though was my favorite medic's medbay. The lights in the medbay were bright and fluorescent, which meant Ratchet had to be working on someone, but the area over me was shaded so I didn't have to squint against the intrusive lighting.

As I focused less on the sparkbeat, other sounds began to greet me. Ratchet's barking voice, the sound of a welder, and the rhythmic beeping of monitors.

"How do you feel?" The deep voice seemed deeper with my ear to his chest.

I hurt. God, did I hurt. My ribs ached something fierce, my arms and legs still felt heavy, and my head felt like someone was using it as a drum. My knee also hurt which concerned me greatly. When I had the brace on, pain seemed impossible.

"Don't move too much. Wheeljack took off your knee brace and replaced it with the human one."

Well, that explained the knee pain.

"Sunstreaker." I breathed and he seemed to tense slightly, "What happened?"

"The hive was destroyed. We came back to the makeshift camp to leave and you were passed out. The soldiers said you collapsed." He replied, and I could hear the faint worry in his tone. If I didn't know him as well as I did now I would've missed it.

What he said didn't seem right though. The last thing I remembered was saying goodbye to Cade, and then… nothing. Had I really blacked out? I was pretty banged up, maybe the exhaustion just caught up to me. Still, something seemed off. I had the nagging feeling you get when you know you've forgotten something important. My hand drifted to my throat, but Sunstreaker spoke again.

"Are you in pain?"

"Just a little sore." I sighed and slowly sat up. He hissed for me to stay still, but I forced myself in a sitting position facing him. Sunstreaker seemed to be lying on one of the berths, but he was sitting up at a slight angle. His lavender eyes traced over me again in concern, but my own eyes landed on his shoulder or lack there of. "Sunny!"

He shook his head, "I'm fine. The drone version of Grimlock got his teeth into me." My eyebrows still furrowed so he continued. "Ratchet turned off the pain receptors and stemmed off the energon flow. Tomorrow he'll work on repairs."

"Why not now?"

Sunstreaker tilted his head to the side and I followed his gaze to the sea foam femme that had saved me. She was lying on a berth at the opposite end of the room with Ratchet working at her head and Taylor standing on her chest welding something.

"Moonracer." I breathed.

"You know her?"

"We met." I glanced back at him, "She saved me. Her and Izabella… Izabella!" I tried to stand up, but Sunstreaker kept me down, "She was this little girl, 14 I think, and she was in the city I-"

Sunstreaker sighed, "Will you stop squirming before you hurt yourself. She's fine too. Look."

Sunstreaker carefully twisted me around with his hands so I could see the table across from us. My eyes landed on Tyler first. He was sitting up, still wearing his armor, and looked a bit worse for wear. His hairline was coated in blood and there was a thin gash that went from under his eye diagonal down to his jawline. It also looked like his arm was in a sling. Bile rose up in my throat at the sight of him injured, but when his tired eyes landed on me his face broke out in a wide grin. The silly smile warmed my heart and put my initial fears away. With his good arm, he waved at me and I quickly sent him a wave back.

Now that I wasn't focusing on him though, I could see the small girl curled up in his lap. She had her head resting against his thigh as he set his good hand back onto the top of her dirty hair in comfort. Izabella was fast asleep.

"He ran into her in the city and got coordinates back to us on Moonracer's location. A Stinger drone attacked him, but Bluestreak got to him in time. That female child hasn't left his side since." Sunstreaker explained, "When Ratchet finally started working on Moonracer she freaked out. Tyler got her calm, and stayed with her."

"Who is Moonracer? Do you know her?"

Sunstreaker turned me back around and readjusted himself against the berth, "I never met her personally. Sideswipe did once. It was one of the first bases we were stationed to after we joined." He shook his head, "She was supposed to come to Earth and work on the Australian base a few years back, but there was an attack during transport. We didn't think she made it through the Space Bridge, but apparently she did and she's been here on Earth this entire time."

"I'm glad you guys finally found her."

"Yeah." Sunstreaker agreed, he remained quiet in thought before speaking again, "If I remember correctly, she was a field medic. Pretty sure Ratchet trained her."

"She recognized Ratchet's name, but I assumed she knew a different Ratchet."

Sunstreaker chuckled, "Ratchet isn't a common name among us Cybertronians."

"Yeah, but she used the words 'gentle' and 'kind' to describe him." I argued back.

Sunstreaker paused, "Ok, maybe it was a different Ratchet."

I lightly laughed to myself before lying back down onto Sunstreaker's chest. Despite being in the safest place on Earth, I still felt exhausted and on edge. I had no answers on what went on in Austin, and I knew soon I'd have the entire base asking me for them.

"Do you know where Cade went? He was gone when we showed up."

I chuckled, "Your guess is as good as mine."

Sunstreaker snorted, "Yeah, that's believable."

"Where is everyone else? Is Sides ok? Jazz? Wheeljack? Blue-"

"Everyone is ok." Sunstreaker cut me off before I could continue down my list, "We had a lot of injuries, but we didn't lose anyone. Ratchet already patched up most everyone. I'm stuck in here until my shoulder repair."

I nodded and closed my eyes, "Where is Sides?"

"Debrief. That's where everyone is, really." Sunstreaker sighed, "He wants to be here though. He told me to say he misses you and hopes you're feeling better."

I chuckled to myself, but to my own ears it sounded hollow, "Tell him I miss him too and I'm fine."

Was I really fine though? My physical injuries would heal, but it felt like my mind was still unraveling at the seams. Sunstreaker tensed under me and I felt his hand brush against me. His finger trailed up my back to my face until it stopped under my chin. I opened my eyes to see him staring at me in concern.

"Femme, are you ok?"

Could he feel my distress over the bond or was it just the close proximity that allowed him to catch my worry? I sat up and forced a smile while trying to keep things light, "Y'all are in the middle of a damn war and I somehow still manage to make my own separate mess of things. That's hella ironic, don't you think?"

"Nothing that happened was your fault."

"I know." I agreed, "But isn't it crazy that I'm somehow always at the middle of it? I'm starting to think that I really am a danger magnet." Despite trying to keep it light, my fears started to seep through, "People I love are getting hurt trying to protect me from forces way beyond any of us, and that's never been who I am. I'm the protector, I'm the one who fights, I'm… If I can't even do that anymore than who am I? Sunstreaker, I just feel so…I feel so lost."

Lost.

That really was the perfect word for the storm in my mind. It was a familiar feeling. This isn't the first time I've felt lost, but being lost to myself in New York was a whole other ballgame. I managed to find myself then, through the help of the mechs and the kids. This time though? It felt deeper. More endless. I truly wondered if this was the kind of lost anyone could ever come back from.

"You are Aj." Sunstreaker's words startled me. "You are the femme strong enough to love-… to care, for even the most broken of mechs. Right now, you may not be able to physically fight the threats that arise, but you will always be a fighter. A warrior. I see it in your optics."

His words put a piece of my mind to ease. He looked like he wanted to say more, and the look on his face made me think that he was also discussing things with his brother.

A small smile lit my face as I guessed his next words. They'd say I wasn't lost. It's the comfort that comes most natural. To deny what the person is feeling. Maybe that's exactly what I needed to hear though. Maybe if I was told 'You are not lost' enough times I'd start to believe it.

"Maybe you are lost right now." He suddenly said and my eyes widened in surprise. "But you'll never stay lost. You're too strong to ever remain lost, you will always find your way back to the path." My eyes softened at his words and I felt my heart clench. "And Sideswipe and I will always be right behind you making sure you don't forget that. We will never let you stay lost, we will always find you."

I felt my eyes water so I quickly closed them and laid back down on his chest. Sunstreaker set his hand over me again and relaxed. Right now I was a little lost, but I wouldn't stay that way. Ratchet and the Autobots found Moonracer after she was lost for so long. Being lost wasn't set in stone. It was just a temporary lull.