A/N: Yay new chapter. Also in case you have yet to hear the news, I have started a tumblr and it is going very very well. I've had a lot of people send in questions (someone even drew Aj and I'm still in awe and shock y'all). Keep sending stuff in! I wanna get to know y'all and the tumblr is definitely keeping my inspiration fed!

Here's the link if you haven't checked out the tumblr yet and want to:

thesarcasticknightblr. tumblr. com

[do not include the spaces when you type it in, i just have to type spaces b/c FF hates me.]


Chapter Twenty-One:

Faith Provided


"You have me. Until every last star in the galaxy dies. You have me." –Amie Kaufman


I woke up to the smell of something burning. At first, I thought I was imaging it, but the shrill ringing of the fire alarm definitely wasn't just in my head. I rolled out of bed, nearly hitting my head against the side table, and sprinted out to the kitchen.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" Izabella cried while she used her hands to try and wave away the plumes of smoke coming out of the frying pan. I jumped onto the counter to reach up and turn off the fire alarm. I couldn't find the button and settled for just ripping it off the ceiling entirely.

"What happened?" I jumped down and lightly pushed her away from the hot pan.

"I was just trying to make us breakfast! I looked away only for a second, I'm so sorry!"

I glanced around the overly clean kitchen to the living room where Izabella had neatly made the couch bed just like she had done the past 2 nights. With a chuckle, I put the smoldering pan into the sink, "Izzy, calm down. It's ok, it was an accident. Why were you trying to make us breakfast anyways?"

"Well, today you start training… I thought it would be nice for you to wake up to breakfast instead of going to the cafeteria." She replied with a slight pout, unhappy that her plan hadn't gone accordingly.

I chuckled, "Thanks, kid. I appreciate it."

"I messed it up."

"It's the thought that counts, I hear." I shrugged. "Lemme go get dressed and then we'll go get cinnamon rolls."

She gave me a small smile and I went back to get ready. For the past two days she had been trying waytoo hard, trying to prove something, and it was hardly needed. I didn't want to mention that to her though because I didn't want her to feel weird about it. I really did appreciate everything she did, and I loved having her around. I just wish she didn't think she needed to buy her way in.

Izabella would be going to live with Aubrey tomorrow morning and hopefully she would realize that then. Aubrey was good about making that known without saying anything. She had that motherly touch that I didn't. Izabella was just with me for a little while Aubrey got things ready at home. Her and Lennox had been more than happy with my plan, and now they were trying to turn their guest room into a 12-year-old girl's bedroom. Not that Izabella knew that. It was all supposed to be a surprise.

I washed up quickly and threw my hair up into a bun. I needed to cut my hair soon. It was too long to stay down according to military standards and I really wasn't about this bun every morning kinda life. Lennox had given me clothes to wear to the training's first meeting this afternoon when all the others arrived. I ran my hand over the military outfit and let out a breath I hadn't known I was holding. Camo cargo pants, sand colored combat boots, a brown t-shirt, camo cap, and a matching camo jacket that Lennox said wasn't mandatory today. God, give me some dog-tags and I was Cadet Kelly. Swallowing the lump in my throat, I pulled the clothes on tucking the shirt in, pulled on the belt, and then laced up my boots.

"Wow." I shook my head staring into my reflection. I gave myself a mocking salute and turned to leave the bathroom. Today was the start of something big, and I planned on doing whatever I had to do to get to where I wanted to be. Everything in my life lead me to this moment and damn if I wasn't ready to face it head on.


Cade watched as Ratchet argued with Simmons. It didn't matter that Ratchet was a twenty-foot-tall alien made of metal. Simmons went toe to toe with him all the same. The dark, curly haired guy definitely had some balls on him. Cade was convinced his boldness was more born of stupidity than bravery though.

"Am I still needed for this?" Cade called out. He glanced at his watch, he was supposed to call Tessa soon, and he wasn't going to be late for that because the Autobot Chief Medical Officer and a used-to-be secret agent wanted to have a pissing match.

Taylor stepped up beside him with a bright smile, "I can help you, Cade. They might be busy for a little while."

Thank God for Taylor Williams.

She led him over to the edge of the room he had first been brought to after Round Rock was attacked. The wall was raised so the two of them could not only hear the argument but watch as Ratchet resisted the urge to pummel Simmons into the ground. Taylor motioned for him to sit down and hooked up a few lines to the weird artifact on his arm. Ratchet, Taylor, and Wheeljack had been working on trying to solve the puzzle that this thing was a piece to. Apparently, they were making little to no progress because they talked about bringing in a new Autobot to help the process along.

"When's that new guy coming in to check this thing out?"

Taylor kept her gaze on the screen's readings, but answered him, "It shouldn't be much longer. Maybe the next week or two? Hound and Flare-Up are transferring to a different base, and during that whole transfer process Perceptor is gonna make his way here." She glanced over at him, "You'll like Percy! He's like Wheeljack but a little less… eccentric."

"And y'all really think he'll know what to do with this thing?"

"There's nothing Percy and Jack can't solve when they're working together."

Cade glanced down at the artifact wrapped around his bicep. He hadn't figured out how to get it to morph again into a sword like he did that one time to help Aj. Since being brought to this base, the thing seemed almost content. As if it were happy with where he was. Cade wondered if that was because of the Autobots or because of Aj.

"—and another thing! I should have clearance to the full base. Do you know who I am!?"

Ratchet began to yell in his own language and based on the tone it was probably mostly curses. Cade shook his head in annoyance, "Simmons, I swear to God. I'm going to let him murder you. I swear it. I will sit back and watch while the Autobot smears you against the wall."

"Whose side are you on!?" Simmons barked at him.

Cade stood up, still attached to the machine, "Whose side am I—Are you shitting me? Come here, I'll murder you myself."

"He's joking." Simmons said to the room, "This is how we kid. Now back to the matter at hand…"

"Cade, you are free to go. Take your slagging moron with you." Ratchet snapped and stormed away. Cade resisted the urge to explain that Simmons was not his moron. He wasn't entirely sure who this moron belonged to, but he did not claim that title.

Taylor began to remove the wires from his arm. Cade shook his head again and pointed at the dumbass staring at him in surprise, "Why do you have to piss everyone off everywhere we go? Why?"

"I am unashamed of who I am, Yeager."

"Well I am ashamed." Cade began to walk out of the room, giving a quick thankful wave to the blonde, "I am incredibly ashamed of who you are, Simmons."

He got across the walkway and down to the floor to leave from the Medbay from there, but unfortunately Simmons caught up with him by then. The man was rambling in his ear about finding more intel and bringing it back to Joyce so they could dismantle more Hives. As much as Cade wanted the Hives to fall like the one in Austin had, it admittedly wasn't at the top of his priorities.

"Are you even listening to me right now?"

"Absolutely not, no." Cade replied quickly.

Cade continued down the hall into the second hanger where even more soldiers were milling about. It still felt weird being on base like this.

Like he didn't belong.

"Well, hello, soldier." Simmons hummed in an appreciative tone.

Before Cade could question what the hell the guy was on about now, he spotted Aj across the hanger standing with Izabella. The young girl was beaming up at Aj while she spoke to the Autobot Bluestreak who was kneeling down in front of them. Aj had swapped out her gym shorts and t-shirt for a uniform.

Her cargo pants were tucked into boots and her form fitting shirt was then tucked into the pants. Aj's brown hair was pulled into a tight bun which left her face to be clearly seen. He wasn't sure how long he was staring, but Aj turned and caught his eye. Her blue eyes lit up, her smile broadening, and she lifted her hand in a friendly wave.

"Now that is a soldier I wouldn't mind taking orders from if you know—" Cade whipped around and lifted his hand threateningly. Simmons stepped back with hands raised, "I'm done. I'm done. I'm going to go find Lennox."

"Better."

Cade sent him one last glare before walking over. Aj and Izabella met him halfway. He quickly cleared his throat, "Wow, you look—uh, you look very military."

Look very military?

Dear God.

Aj smirked, "Oh yeah? I do? Do you think it's the military uniform that does it?"

"Yes." Cade chuckled and prayed to any deity that could hear him that he wasn't blushing, "Yeah, I think that's it."

"What was Simmons saying? You looked like you were gonna deck him."

"Nothing worth repeating." Cade shook his head with a smile. Once upon a time, he was good at this flirting thing. Maybe that was a lot longer ago than he thought. It didn't help that Aj was intimidating as hell. She was gorgeous no doubt and had a smile that made him feel weak in the knees, but she also gave off the vibe that she could and would kill someone if the need arose. He glanced over at the girl beside her, "Hey, Izabella with a 'z', how's it hanging?"

She groaned and crossed her arms, "Neither of you are ever going to let me live that down, are you?"

"Never ever." Aj shook her head.

Cade listened as Izabella started talking about what she was going to get to do today. While Aj was off starting training, she was going to be hanging out with a kid named Lexi and someone else named Mikaela in the garage. He was actually tempted to ask to join. It had been a long time since he worked with his hands and he was really starting to miss it.

"You talk to Tessa this morning already?" Aj questioned.

He shook his head, "Not yet. I was in the medbay with Ratchet and Taylor."

"Don't let us hold you up then." Aj clapped him on the shoulder once, "I gotta take Izzy to the garage and meet up with Lennox. Meet up sometime later?"

"Yeah. You have fun, 'with a z'."

Cade watched them leave before pulling out the phone the base had gifted him when he got here. It was technologically ancient and only capable of calling the one number, but that was all he needed.

"Dad?"

"Hey Tess. How're you?"

"Um, good! I thought you forgot to call." She replied quickly. Hearing her voice sent relief washing through him. This was the longest he had been away from her and even though he knew this was for the best it didn't make it any easier. Cade smiled to himself, Tessa was his baby girl and—wait, what was that noise? "Usually you call earlier—"

"Hey, are you with someone?" Cade pressed, "I hear someone. Is that your Uncle?"

He heard Tessa muffle a giggle, "No I'm just—"

"Tessa Yeager."

She sighed, "It's just Shane, dad."

He marched out of the hanger with wide eyes, "Who the hell is Shane?"

Tessa didn't immediately reply, and he repeated his question, more firmly this time. She finally sighed, "He's… my boyfriend."

"No, no, no." Cade argued. "You don't have a boyfriend. You're too young. What's our rule?!"

She sighed again, more annoyed than defeated, "I'm 17, dad! And I know you said no boys until I graduate—"

"You haven't graduated!"

"But my high school was kind of annihilated by drones so…"

Cade scoffed and a few soldiers outside glanced his way, "So you think that annuls the rule!? We made an agreement. I don't date, you don't date."

"Maybe you should." Tessa replied and he could imagine the pout he heard in her tone. She'd have her arms crossed and despite his worry and annoyance with this entire conversation he found himself missing the sight of her rolling her eyes at him.

Cade began to argue, "Me dating is…" An involuntary thought of Aj's face flashed in his mind and he had to swallow the nervous lump that formed in his throat, "It's a non-thing, a—a bad idea and it isn'thappening—"

"Oh my God, dad." Tessa's voice rose an octave in excitement, all irritation gone, "Did you meet someone!?"

"No, I didn't—"

"Is it that woman you were with in Austin? The one you told me about!?"

Cade did not like the direction this conversation had gone. Before he could argue further an unfamiliar, Irish voice drifted over the line, "Congrats, Mr. Yeager. Also, nice to finally meet you."

He blinked in shock, "Tessa, put him on. I'm gonna kill him."

"Through the phone? You're gonna kill him through the phone?"

"I'm gonna send an Autobot to erase his ass off this planet." Cade barked. "I'm best friends with Optimus Prime now! I'll just ask him to pop by and step on this Lucky Charms sounding clown."

"I don't think Optimus Prime does that kind of thing." Tessa chuckled alongside the guy with her. She kept talking about Aj wanting to know more and more, but all Cade could think about was how much he could pay Optimus to actually go step on this guy. Cade didn't have much to his name, but he was willing to pay any price.


Jazz's holoform leaned over the walkway's railing watching soldiers move along on the floor below. The introduction meeting would be starting up any minute now since Lennox and Epps were hosting their tour. He wondered how well Aj was doing on said tour. She already knew every nook and cranny of this base. Pit, she made that her mission the moment Ratchet let her wander on a bum knee.

"Lennox and them are on their way." Tyler wandered over to him and leaned against the railing. "Excited to see G.I. Aimee Jane?"

"Not entirely, but it's somethin' I guess I gotta get used to, huh?"

Tyler chuckled and Jazz glanced over the mech's frame to see nearly all of the rest of the on base Autobots milling around. Their alt forms were parked along the wall for the meeting. Prime liked greeting the new recruits in the least shocking way possible. The public knew about them but seeing their forms in person was always jarring for some.

Bluestreak and Bumblebee were chatting alongside Joey, and Hemi stood not far off to the side listening to Wheeljack babble about something or another. Optimus, Sam, and Prowl were off to the side with Ratchet and while they were speaking the medic impatiently tapped his pede against the floor with his arms crossed. No doubt he wanted to be in the medbay rather than here. Ironhide wasn't here yet, but he had a sneaking suspicion that he was with Lennox and Epps.

"Too bad Sunstreaker can't be here for this. I always love when he glares at the new recruits." Tyler said bringing Jazz back into the conversation. "Is Sideswipe with—"

"He's here." Jazz motioned to the red Lamborghini parked beside Ratchet's rescue vehicle form. The mech was definitely here, but he hadn't called his holoform to the walkway like the others.

Tyler hummed in thought, "Is he alright?"

"He will be." Jazz said. Tyler didn't like that answer and sighed. Jazz chuckled and turned to look at Tyler, "Why you over here, cadet? Something you need?"

"I can't just come talk to my good buddy Jazz?" Tyler countered. Jazz tilted his head slightly and Tyler's faceplate broke out in a grin. He had taught the young cadet to lie, and to lie well at that, but there was no pulling the metaphorical human wool over his optics. As far as Jazz was concerned, he was still the snaggle tooth youngling that used to chase Jazz around the hanger. "Did you hear about Taylor and Smokes? They plan on coming out to Aj about their relationship."

Jazz nodded, "Yeah, I heard. Good for them. Both of 'em gotta be tired of tip-toeing around Aj." He shrugged and glanced over the hanger again. "Not that Aj is very observant of that kinda stuff anyways."

"Very true. Once Taylor tells her though, then she'll be more… observant of it all. Would give any guy or mech a chance to slide in and ask her out."

Jazz's helm snapped to side with wide optics as he went to look a very smug Tyler. Maybe he had taught this youngling too much. He cleared his throat, a very human habit he had picked up a long time ago, "I don't know what you mean."

"Funny. I thought saboteurs were supposed to be good at lying."

"Tyler Williams." He pushed off the railing.

Tyler laughed and shook his head, "Chill, your 'not so secret' secret is safe with me." Jazz crossed his arms across his chassis. He couldn't lie to himself and say he hadn't thought about it. Pit, he had thought about it for a very, very long time. Maybe since the moment he met her. It wasn't something he ever admitted aloud though. Even to Prowl who knew basically everything about him. Although, just like Tyler, he was sure Prowl knew. Jazz hadn't exactly been subtle he supposed. Tyler continued, "I'm just saying, I think this will open up a door and it's a door that not only you wanna walk through. As your favorite cadet, I figured the least I can do is remind you of that fact."

"Gee, thank you." Jazz mumbled. Curiosity, as always, got the better of him, "You approve then?"

Tyler pushed off the railing and lightly punched the mech's shoulder, "I'm rooting for you, sir." Jazz bit back the urge to roll his optics at the usage of the word 'sir'. Tyler chuckled again, "Unlike the other Williams twin."

"Taylor?"

"You won't find her in your corner. Which I find ironic because wasn't she the one trying to marry Aj off to you when we were kids?" Tyler didn't wait for an answer to his thought. He shook his head, "Anyways, it's not our approval you need." Jazz raised his eyebrow in question. "She's a mom now. Better make sure her kid likes you otherwise that relationship is going nowhere." Tyler mumbled the last bit under his breath, "Learned that the hard way."

Realization dawned on him then. His cadet wasn't wrong. He had been the one to fill out all the necessary paperwork and jump through the legal hoops to get it done, but it still hadn't fully registered.

"And here we have the main hangar…"

Lennox's voice drifted through the large room and everyone on the walkway looked over at the small group being led in by him and Epps. Like Jazz had guessed, Ironhide was there with them, but he followed behind the group with a menacing look. The Commander of NEST led the group up the walkway to stand among them. There were 5 new soldiers in this training transfer in total and that included Aj.

The other four consisted of 1 female and 3 males. The female was taller than Aj with tanned skin and dark, brown eyes. Her hair was pulled back into a low tight bun and was light brown in color.

Of the three guys, Jazz actually recognized one from a past co-op mission. He didn't remember the skinny guy's name, but there was no mistaking that bright red, short hair or scattering of freckles all over his exposed skin. The other two guys stood at the front of the group. The one closest to Lennox was an older human. His blonde hair was already going gray and his skin looked like it had seen too much sun in the years he did live. The last guy was the opposite. Light skin, thick brown hair, and a fresh-faced filled with optimism.

At least that was Jazz's first glance opinion.

Jazz's optics glanced over them all as they passed, and his gaze landed on the femme he had just been thinking about. Aj was serious faced and focused, but when her optics met his a small smirk twitched at the corner of her lips and she gave him a quick wink. He grinned in response and the other female beside her looked at him curiously.

"This is where most of our debriefings and meetings will occur because it is the most convenient for us all." Lennox stopped by the large screen and rested his hands behind his back. "There are a few people I want to introduce you to."

Tyler walked over to him as Hemi, Sam, and Joey stepped forward as well. Lennox motioned to them, "This is Captain Tyler Williams he's our human sniper in the field and currently the only Cybertronian asset in the squad. Next is Lieutenant Hemi Kang, she's in charge of communications with Epps. Then of course we have Staff Sergeant Joey Moretti, he's our resident medic—"

"I have band-aids of every color, but my preference is you not getting hurt." Joey chimed with a thumbs up.

"Medically speaking, it's best for everyone if you don't get hurt around Morelli, period." Ratchet scoffed from where he stood.

Joey gasped in mock hurt, "Ratch, you wound me."

"Too bad you aren't medically equipped enough to help yourself."

Lennox chuckled and motioned to Sam, "Finally, this is Sam Witwicky."

"Hey guys." Sam lifted his hand in greeting, "I'm the Autobot liaison. Technically my job is to represent the Autobots in all government affairs and help them with anything they need. The human liaison can't be here today because of some… well, legal issues—" Tyler snickered and Hemi elbowed him in the side, "But please come to me if you need anything at all. I'm here to help."

Lennox nodded, "And you'll meet the rest of the squad tomorrow during morning PT. For now, I'm going to pass this over to Optimus Prime. Prime?"

Optimus walked toward the group as Tyler and the others dispersed to the side, "Thank you, Lennox. I'd first like to welcome you to our base and thank you for your service. We are all excited to work alongside you to keep the peace and protect the public from Decepticons and drones alike. Now, I would like to continue this debriefing by first introducing you to the rest of the Autobots stationed at this base in our true forms. Please do not be startled."

At that cue, Jazz let his holoform fizzle away and quickly transformed. The others did the same around him and suddenly his view went from standing beside them to beaming at them from where he stood between Ironhide and Ratchet.

His optics had never left the group who all stood in a mix of awe and shock, the usual emotions humans got when they were this close to them for the first time, all except Aj of course. Aj was having a silent conversation with her nephew. She was signing as subtlety as she could. It was something about their transformation.

"Thank you, Aj. Dramatic and theatrical is exactly what our aim had been." Optimus said. Apparently, he hadn't been the only one watching Aj.

Aj's face went bright red as the Autobots and squad laughed. The new recruits simply looked to her in confusion. She gave a sheepish smile and Jazz knew her internal monologue involved a lot of creative curse words. Optimus continued with his introductions and after he introduced Jazz, he moved onto Ironhide. Jazz still had Aj's gaze on him though, so he chose this moment to wag his finger at her in a scolding manner. Aj smiled and lifted her hand to rub her nose with her middle finger, flipping him off quickly and without fanfare.

Jazz chuckled as his spark rattled in his chassis in amusement and warmth.

Maybe he could convince Taylor to break the news to Aj sooner rather than later.


Despite wanting the earth to open up and swallow me whole after Optimus called me out in front of everyone, something I would be having words with him over, the introductory meeting was going very, very well.

It was kind of boring actually.

I knew where everything on the base was and I knew all the people I'd be working with. Although, this gave me plenty of time to judge the people I'd be spending the next month with.

So far, I liked them all.

The woman was a year younger than me yet leagues more accomplished than I was. Her name was Maya Hernandez and she had given up her career in NASA to be transferred to work on this base with the Autobots. She was blunt and strong-willed. We'd either get along very well or we'd hate each other for being too much alike.

The three guys seemed nice enough too. Adam Beck was a tall, skinny red head with more freckles than there were stars and the only word I could describe him with right off the bat was 'nerdy'. He transferred here from the CIA where he did something with a computer. He told us exactly what it was, but the words he used went right over my head.

The second guy was older than the rest of us recruits, maybe mid-40's, with graying hair, two sleeves of tattoos, and the build of a vodka fueled Russian bear. His name was Dominic Dimitri, which I had first laughed at because of how cliché it sounds, and he had looked like he was going to punt me to Pluto.

Lastly, was Steve Griffin who by all definitions was the typical, American soldier. Put him in red, white, and blue spandex, hand him a shield, then dye his brown hair blond and he'd be Captain freaking America. I mean, his name was even Steve.

My attention zoomed back in on what Optimus was saying. He was explaining the rules about the Cybertronian only zone below us, and I tried to remain focused as a sign of respect.

"Humans are only allowed down in these levels by Cybertronian escort or invitation. Still we—" Optimus was interrupted by Sideswipe suddenly transforming and zooming out of the room at top speed. He nearly took out a small crowd of soldiers working in the area. The panic I felt at watching him leave so suddenly only increased when Ratchet did the same thing a few seconds later.

"Are we under attack or something?" Maya mumbled curiously.

"It could be a test." Steve replied just as softly.

My eyes shot to Lennox who luckily felt my gaze and looked over at me. I didn't speak, but I prayed he understood what I wanted. Lennox hesitated before nodding once. He was giving me permission. I spun on my heel and ran down the walkway to the exit. Dominic's voice questioned me, but I didn't stick around to hear what they said about my disappearance.

Ratchet leaving the room in a hurry probably meant one of his two patients in the medbay needed him, and Sideswipe leaving at the speed he did too meant it narrowed down to one of the two patients.

Sunstreaker.

Sprinting through the base got me a lot of curious looks, but no one seemed alarmed enough to stop me and I got to the closest elevator quick. I pulled out my phone to activate it. That got me more looks than the running, but as soon as people recognized me they didn't question it any further.

As soon as I got down to the Cybertronian level I was greeted by barking. The door slid open and Bear was all over me, covering me in kisses and running around me trying to get me to follow him. This boded well. Bear had been glued to the medbay since all this had happened. He refused to leave Sunstreaker's side except to use the bathroom or find a human for food.

I jogged after the impatient dog who spun around to make sure I was actually coming every few seconds, "I'm coming, Bear, I promise."

The medbay door was open and I slowed down to step in. Bear did the opposite and sped up to a certain berth in the room. Sideswipe was sitting on the berth where Moonracer usually was, but for some reason she wasn't here right now. Ratchet stood by a very awake Sunstreaker.

I knew this because Sunstreaker was cursing something fierce based on his tone.

Ratchet barked back at him in Cybertronian as the two lightly wrestled. Bear bounced by Ratchet's foot barking up happily at Sunstreaker. Seeing the yellow mech lively enough to verbally spar with the medic did my heart good. I planned on turning to leave the mechs to their argument, but Sideswipe surprised me by leaning over and offering me his hand.

Quickly, in fear that this was some sort of cruel joke, I jumped on to his hand and he pulled me up onto the berth to stand next to where he sat. I wanted to speak, to grovel my apology, but I was stuck in a stunned silence of sorts.

Sideswipe chuckled, not tearing his eyes from Sunstreaker who was now trying to claw his way off the berth, "Ratchet may just actually weld him down. He always threatened, but we never truly needed it. Although, the welding marks on his armor could send him spiraling into a depressive state."

"Shut the frag up, you slagging traitor!" Sunstreaker barked from over Ratchet's shoulder.

Sideswipe glanced at me, "I'm a traitor for not helping him escape." He tilted his head at me slightly, "Shouldn't you still be in the meeting? Can't look good that you're skipping out."

Finally, I found my voice, "Lennox gave me permission. Besides, Prime already called me out as the trouble child of the class. Nothing can get worse."

Sideswipe chuckled, "If you're gonna talk in a meeting, you better get sneakier."

"It's not my fault an entire group of Cybertronians learned ASL." I scoffed, "Plus, I thought Prime would be too busy being Prime like to notice little ol' me snarking to my nephew."

"Seeing you in uniform is a sight to behold." Sideswipe shrugged, "I think we all liked looking at you. We haven't seen you like this."

I winked at him jokingly, "I make the military look good, huh?"

"You make everything look good."

The words had taken me by surprise, but Sideswipe looked away as if he hadn't said anything in the first place. This entire conversation had a weird air about it. It was Sideswipe and he was joking like he always did, but there was a sad undertone with every word we said, and I didn't like it at all.

I opened my mouth to comment on this, to beg for his forgiveness, but he spoke first, "Hey, Sunny! Check it out."

"Don't call me—" Sunstreaker glanced over at us again, but this time his optics settled on me rather than glaring at his brother. He froze in surprise and I gave him a small wave and smile. The mech knew I was joining the squad so I didn't get why he was so surprised by my new uniform. Ratchet took advantage of his surprise though by pining him to the berth and shackling his wrist to the metal. It looked like the kind of restraints you'd find on a hospital bed.

"Frag you, Ratchet."

"Stop being a slagging sparkling."

I chuckled and called out to him, "How are you feeling, Sunshine?"

"I'm feeling fragging betrayed is what I'm feeling. Does that count?"

"No." Sideswipe and Ratchet both responded. I shot him an apologetic look and Sunstreaker just heaved a sigh before settling into the berth. He looked tired and worn out. Arguing and wrestling with Ratchet had exhausted the healing mech.

"Smokescreen and Bumblebee told me you were getting really good with the swords."

I blinked in surprise and glanced over at him, "I like training with them, but I miss y'all."

Sideswipe didn't comment on that. Ratchet had scooped up Bear to set him on Sunstreaker's chassis. The dog curled up there, occasionally licking his armor, and I knew Sunstreaker wouldn't move an inch now in the worry of making Bear fall off. Ratchet must have known the same thing.

"Sideswipe, I am so sorr—"

"Don't." Sideswipe interrupted me.

"But I am, I—"

Sideswipe shook his head, "You don't have to be sorry. I'm sorry."

I wanted to argue further but he shot me a look saying the conversation was over. This didn't feel over though. That same feeling of sadness rang loudly around us and I absolutely hated it with every fiber of my being.

"Lennox is still in the main hanger with the others. You should go." Sideswipe set his hand in front of me so he could get me off the berth. I didn't have many other options, so I stepped onto his palm and tried not to show my disappointment.

Once on the floor, I glanced over at Sunstreaker who had his hand resting over an overjoyed Bear, "I'll swing by later to visit, ok?"

"Focus on your training." Sunstreaker replied, "You're going to do great."

I shot him a smile, looked to Sideswipe one last time, and then left the medbay. Part of me hoped Sideswipe would follow after me to talk further, but that hope was quickly shot in the face and left for dead. As much as I wanted to press on this, Sunstreaker was right.

I needed to focus on training.


The day went by quick and I wasn't sure if that was a good sign or a bad one. Most of everything that went on today was introductions and tours and getting to know people, and luckily for me I had a head start in that arena. It was also a lot of paperwork. Paperwork overseen by Prowl and Sam which meant there was no way in hell I could get out of it. Now it was close to 6 PM and I was getting dinner with the new recruits. Izabella had texted me saying she was eating in the garage with Mikaela and Lexi which was perfect. As much as I wanted to hang out with her some, before she left for Aubrey's tomorrow, it was probably best I get to know the people I'd be stuck with for a month.

"So, Aj?" Maya spoke up and I glanced up from my phone to the smirking woman, "You know the deal about this place. Tell us what we need to know."

All eyes were on me now as I sat across from Maya and Dominic and between Steve and Adam. I gave them all equal glances before shrugging, "Um, I don't know. Don't tell Prowl stupid, nonsense unless you're willing to deal with an angry Ratchet for making him glitch. If you take the time to talk to Bumblebee or Bluestreak enough, you'll have a friend for life. If you wanna get on Smokescreen's good side just nod along as he brags about himself. Oh, and don't touch Sunstreaker."

"Sunstreaker?" Dominic said, "This is the one who was injured?"

I nodded, "Yeah, he's Sideswipe's twin. He's in the medbay for now and will be forever if Ratchet has his way."

"How do you know them so well, again?" Steve questioned. It was something that had come up earlier in the day, but I had given a vague answer and moved on with the tour.

I shrugged, "I've known them a while. Captain Tyler Williams", I couldn't help but chuckle while saying that, "He's my— er, cousin, and Lennox is married to… my aunt?"

"Are you unsure of that?" Adam questioned.

Quickly, I went over what a family tree looked like in my head. If Tyler was my cousin then… yes, yes that would make Aubrey my aunt. Shit, this cover story was confusing. I rubbed the back of my head, "Sorry, I'm a little spacey right now. But yeah, Lennox is married to my aunt."

"That's convenient." Maya pointed her fork at me, a glint of amusement in her eyes. I still couldn't quite put my finger on whether she wanted to be friendly or not. "It'd be nice going into training with some friends."

"You say that now", I raised an eyebrow at her, "But come tomorrow you'll change your mind."

"Why's that?"

"Because Ironhide and the crew are going to make my life a living hell." I smiled with no humor. At the start of today, when I showed up for the tour, Ironhide had made it clear that he did not play favorites and in fact he expected more from me as someone who has been working with the twins. Basically, Ironhide was going to try and murder me and all the new recruits would have a front row seat to my homicide.

We talked for a few more minutes and I tried to supply more tips and tricks for handling the Autobots. I was happy to see that they were very open minded about the Autobots. I mean, it made sense. I didn't think Lennox was gonna let in an Anti-Cybertronian into the training program but seeing how excited they were to get to know my friends made me respect this little crew a lot.

"See all of you bright and early." Dominic said in his thick accent, after moving past the 'me laughing at his name' snafu he had turned out to be quite the cheerful guy. Guess that's what they mean by don't judge a book by its cover. "Bring your smiles to PT."

"I'll bring my smile, big guy. No promise it'll stick around for long." Maya chuckled.

I shared a quick good-bye with them as well and left to head back to the apartment. Izabella was already there according to the text she had sent me, and I was more than ready for bed. Although, I still needed to chop all my hair off. As I walked to the apartment, I pulled by shirt from where it was tucked in and undid the tight bun. I didn't know how people could go their entire day like that. My entire scalp was sore from that bun.

"Honey, I'm home!" I called out as I came through the front door. Izabella was sitting on the couch with a woman I did not recognize at all. My shoulders stiffened as I took in her form. She was tall and skinny, I could see that even from her curled-up position on the couch, and her bob styled hair was a light, fluffy blonde. She was pretty with a heart shaped face and high cheek bones, but she was the kind of pretty that gave off an 'other worldly' kind of vibe. Plus, the blue in her eyes, unlike others I had seen, was nearly glowing.

This was a holoform.

"Hello, Aj! I hope your day went well." She greeted with a sweet smile.

"Look, It's Moonie! I had no idea she could even do this!" Izabella bounced with excitement.

I chuckled, "Yeah, holoforms are wild. I didn't see you in the medbay today or the introductory meeting, Moonracer."

"Ratchet said I didn't have to be medbay bound anymore, and I spent the day in Wheeljack's lab having my holoform program downloaded. It's very convenient."

"How was training today?" Izabella asked.

I shrugged, "It was interesting. Lots of talking. I think tomorrow is when we start with the blood, sweat, and tears. How was your day with Mikaela and Lexi?"

"So much fun! They let me help them take apart a tank!" Izabella was absolutely beaming. It was good to see the girl this happy. In fact, I didn't know she could get this happy. "You should've seen it, Moonie."

I excused myself so I could run off and take a shower while Izabella caught up with Moonracer. I mentally tried to picture her holoform next to Ratchet's, but it didn't match up quite like I hoped. They looked good together in their true forms though which was all ideal. By time I got out of the shower, put on a sleep shirt and shorts, and combed through my hair Moonracer had left. I knew this because Izabella came knocking on my bathroom door.

"Come in!"

"What are you doing?" Izabella asked as she came closer.

I smiled, "I'm cutting my hair. I don't think I can do the military bun thing."

"You looked really nice though."

"Thanks." I chuckled and motioned to her, "You got dinner, right?" She nodded in confirmation and I didn't press further. Izabella watched curiously as I dove into the haircut. This was something I was used to, it was all muscle memory, and thought it wouldn't look as nice as it did when Granny took me to the salon it would get the job done.

After a solid 15 minutes of work, the hair looked decent enough. It rested just a little above my shoulders, in that choppy style I liked. I ran my hand through my hair looking for any bits that needed trimming.

"You're really good at that."

"I used to cut my hair all the time. It grows pretty fast and I like it short."

"Can you cut mine?"

My eyes widened in surprise as I turned to look at her. Izabella undid the two low braids her hair was in and ran her fingers through the tangles. Without the braids it was even longer than I expected.

"I can, but don't you wanna wait until tomorrow? Aubrey can take you to a nice salon. You can get it done by a professional."

She shook her head, "I want you to do it. Please?"

I rubbed the back of my neck, "Sure. How about you take a shower first and get changed into something comfortable."

Izabella nodded happily and I left the bathroom to give her some privacy. As I dropped down on my couch, I pulled out my phone to google 'tips for giving haircuts to others'. Cutting my hair was one thing, but it'd be different cutting someone else's hair wouldn't it? I'd let Ironhide murder me with no fight whatsoever if I fucked up Izabella's pretty hair.

There was a sudden knock on my front door, and I glanced up curiously, "Come in!"

The door slowly swung open and I was shocked to see Sideswipe step in hesitantly. He was the last person I would've guessed would be knocking on my door at this time at night. His holoform was wearing casual clothes rather than a uniform. Jeans, a plain t-shirt, and a jacket over it. He gave me a slight wave, his lips pressing tightly together, and pointed to the seat beside me.

"Oh, yeah, sit down." I scooted over to make room for him, "What are you doing here?"

"Wanted to swing by and talk." Sideswipe chuckled. He lifted his hand to reach forward, but stopped and pointed instead, "Your hair. I like it. Reminds me of when you cut in back in your world while I watched."

I nodded, "Yeah, I just did it in the bathroom. I'm gonna cut Izabella's hair next."

"What? She isn't just gonna try and chop it all off herself?"

"You joke, but I am still a little traumatized by that." I chuckled. It was funny he mentioned it since I had already kind of been thinking of that day. "That day had kind of sucked. After the whole hair fiasco, that was the day we had to take Tyler to the ED for his concussion."

Even saying the words upset me. The stark memory of Tyler's small body lying motionless on the garage floor was seared into my brain. Sometimes I forgot Tyler used to be that small and defenseless.

"You came after us that day." Sideswipe nodded. "Called us 'yours'."

"I feel like I already apologized for that."

"You didn't have to." He replied with a shrug and I glanced over at the small smile on his holoform's features. Sideswipe met my gaze, "You know, you're the only person, Cybertronian or human, that we'd let do that. Sunny and I decided something that night."

I pulled my legs up to wrap my arms around them, "What did you decide?"

"That we'd always have your back. That we'd protect you."

"You've done that." I said and he scoffed. My eyes narrowed and I spoke again more firmly this time, "You have. Y'all were there for me during that marathon fight when I fell apart, Sunstreaker was there when I got shot, y'all were always there… and when I had that awful nightmare and then Granny had her heart attack…" I bit down on my lower lip briefly, "You were the one who kept me grounded in that hospital."

It was silent between the two of us and all I could hear was the shower from the other room. Sideswipe leaned back against the couch and left his gaze on me. I stared back at him, waiting for him to say something, but he almost looked content with just sitting there watching me.

Finally, he spoke, "For a long time I've pretended that I was normal."

"If you think that any of us on this base think that you're normal, I got bad news for you." I joked.

Sideswipe chuckled, "You're not wrong. You know, people always think Sunstreaker is the unbalanced one. He has anger issues in case you haven't noticed." I rolled my eyes at his slight smirk. "But I'm the one that's messed up in the helm. I just hide it a pit of a lot better. See, the thing is… Sunstreaker is an angry mech, but he would never hurt us. Me, you, the Autobots, the younglings… I mean, you've seen it. In your universe when we snapped into Gladiator mode— yeah, he threw you off him, but the moment he saw you—the moment he knew you were around… he snapped back."

"Sides, you're right. I know this." I said slowly. He wasn't saying anything that sounded like news to me, and I wasn't quite sure what the point of all this was.

Sideswipe nodded once, "I'm not like that. I hurt people, Aj."

"Sides—"

"I hurt people. I hurt Sunny when I dove out of the way of that weapon. I hurt you when I pulled you into our bond." He was talking too fast for me to cut in now, "And now I know that it's only a matter of time before I hurt you again. Before I do something wrong and you end up—"

"Stop!" I reached out and grabbed his shoulder. He stared at my shoulder with the saddest look I've ever seen on his face, holoform or otherwise. Sideswipe was wrong. "That isn't true. I know you, Sides."

He shook his head, "No, you don't, Aj.

I scoffed and pushed myself off the couch to tower in front of him, I motioned to the door, "If you're here to try and convince me that you're a terrible mech and you're unworthy of friendship and love then get the hell out, Sides, because I'm not gonna listen to it and you aren't convincing me otherwise."

Sideswipe stood up and I didn't like that he did that because now he was taller than me and I didn't feel as intimidating as I had before. Still, I kept my features steeled and my arms crossed over my chest in determination.

"I am poison to the people around me."

"Shut up. Shut. Up." I snapped. "Poison? Who the fuck told you that?"

"Darkburst."

I blinked in confusion once before shrugging angrily, "Ok, who the fuck is Darkburst and why does her opinion matter at all?"

Sideswipe leaned forward, a dark look on his face that I assumed I was supposed to take as threatening, but I didn't flinch. There was no ounce of me that was scared of the mech in front of me, "She's the femme I dated and nearly offlined." That took me by surprise, but I didn't let it show on my face. He continued, "We got attacked and I got pushed into gladiator mode. I offlined every fragger that came after us, and when I was done with them… I turned on her. I'm not strong like Sunstreaker. I nearly ripped her sparkout. Enforcers had to pull me off her."

"Sides…" My face softened. The guilt from something like that must weight heavy. I couldn't even begin to imagine. I lifted my hands and set them on either side of his face. Sideswipe tried to pull away once, but I didn't let him and he eventually gave in. "You wouldn't ever hurt me or the kids or… I am not scared of you, and you are not poison."

"I'm gonna hurt you." Sideswipe said softly as he closed his eyes in pain, "And—"

"You can't hurt me. I'm sorry about what happened. I'm sorry." I pulled him into a hug, but he didn't respond to it. Sideswipe remained still. "I'm not trying to diminish the relationship you had with her, I know she was probably important to you and I'm sorry, but… Sideswipe, you can't hurt me. Every fiber of me, every atom in my being, knows that you would never hurt me."

Sideswipe slowly wrapped his arms around me, "How can you be so sure?"

"Faith." I shrugged against him.

"I don't know if I have that much faith in myself."

"Well", I hugged him tighter, leaning my head against his, "How about you just have faith in me then? Trust me on this matter, ok?"

We stood there together for a moment. I was glad he had come so we could clear this up. With Sunstreaker in the medbay on top of all this, I could only imagine the guilt Sideswipe had let seep into his spark. The sound of someone clearing their throat made us come apart.

Izabella stood in the bedroom doorway with a small smile, her long hair damp from her shower, "Am I interrupting?"

"Yeah, kind of, kid." Sideswipe joked. I elbowed him in the side. "I hear you're gonna let Aj cut your hair?" Izabella nodded and he smiled at her. "Mind if I stick around? I still think human haircuts are so weird."

She blinked in surprise, "You're a holoform?"

"Yupp. This is Sideswipe." I tilted my head toward her. Realization dawned on her then. She had seen him in his true form a few times, but other than her evening with Moonracer and the mechs who went on their California adventure, I didn't think she had much experience with the holoforms.

"Oh cool!" She grinned.

I glanced at Sideswipe questioningly and the look he gave me was clear and concise. We were okay. Everything was back as it should be. Izabella asked him something about Sunstreaker and we all walked into the bathroom for the new task at hand. It was probably good that Sideswipe was there. It spared me us an awkward silence. I needed all my attention on cutting her hair and while I focused on that Sideswipe entertained her with any stories he could think of.

Izabella had requested that I cut her long hair up to her shoulders. It'd be a drastic cut for the young girl, but she seemed sure of it. As I was combing through her hair looking for any final strands that needed trimming, she spoke up directly to me, "Hey, Aj?"

"Yeah, what's up, Izzy?"

"Is now a bad time to ask you to teach me how to fight?"

The girl had terrible timing because the question had shocked me so much that I nearly took off a chunk of her hair. Sideswipe just snickered from where he was perched on the bathroom counter. I shot him a quick glare before clearing my throat and answering, "To fight? Why do you wanna learn to fight?"

"I saw you fight in the training gym. I just think it'd be important for me to know."

It was hard to argue against that. I was of the opinion that everyone should know how to defend themselves. Maybe not to the degree that I went to. I had overshot 'self-defense' by a mile, but Izabella knowing how to throw a punch or two didn't seem unwise.

"Uh, maybe. After I'm done with all this training stuff, how about we circle back around to that?" I suggested.

Izabella almost nodded, but resisted at last minute, "Sure!"

"She's good, isn't she?" Sideswipe chimed in. "I taught her everything she knows, Iz."

"You did not." I scoffed and trimmed the last bit of hair. With a worried sigh I set down the scissors, "Alright, I'm done. If you don't like it then tell me. I can have Aubrey take you to a real place tomorrow afternoon…"

Izabella turned around in her chair to look in the mirror. Her eyes widened as her hands lifted to touch the short ends, "Oh my God." I grimaced, but her face broke out into a wide grin. "I love it! Thank you, Aj!"

"Hey, it's what I'm here for!" I clapped once.

"I'm gonna send a picture to Moonie." She raced out of the bathroom, probably to find the phone Wheeljack had supplied her with.

Sideswipe chuckled as I started to clean up her leftover hair on the floor, "She wants to be like you. You're her role model."

I shook my head, "God, if that's true I worry about her taste in role models."

"Nah, I think she picked a good one." Sideswipe nudged me with his hip, and I stumbled to the side with a glare. The mech laughed, "I'm gonna go tell her to call Ratchet 'grandpa' anytime she sees him."

Sideswipe left the bathroom and I could hear him and Izabella talking in the other room. I chuckled and continued sweeping up Izabella's hair. Grandpa Ratchet would love that. If he didn't already have a yellow mess of a mech in the medbay healing up, I was pretty sure Ratchet would disassemble Sideswipe and reformat him into a bright red toaster oven.