A/N: I'M BACK BITCHESSSSSS. I'm legit sorry this took so long but forreal I've been waiting to write this chapter since like Small Fry and when I say I wanted it to be perfect I mean I wanted it to b T. And I think I got it as close to perfect as humanly possible. Please leave me rambly comments y'all, tell me what you think, I know I haven't been good with replying to y'all's comments like I usually am but I promise to better about that! Expect some updates/edits on the tumblr page too!


Chapter Twenty-Five:

Faith Tested


"It was always you." –F. Scott Fitzgerald


"What the fuck, what the fuck, what the fuck—"

"Breathe, Aimee."

"What the fuck? I mean, what the actual fuck, Aubrey? Am I being punked?"

"That's not a TV show anymore."

"Is this some April Fool's joke?"

"It's July."

I leaned forward on my couch, elbows on my knees, and phone pressed to my ear as my older sister consoled my panic best she could. Last night, Taylor had told me she was dating Smokescreen. Taylor was dating Smokescreen. Smokescreen was dating my niece. They were dating. Like romantically involved. As in, my precious niece was in a legitimate relationship with a Cybertronian from space and—

"Aimee? Are you still there?"

"Physically, yes. Mentally, no."

Of course, I had saved my breakdown for when I wasn't in front of the sensitive girl. The last thing I wanted was for Taylor to think I was upset at her or that I hate the idea. I loved her more than the world and if she told me she had fallen in love with a tree stump I'd be there at her wedding smiling next to the damn once was tree. This was just…confusing. It left my brain twisted in the shape of something pretzel like.

"You can't date a Cybertronian." I pushed myself off the couch and shook my head.

"Why not?" Aubrey asked calmly. She was good about not adding to my hysteria and simply allowing me to work through the panic.

I scoffed, "Because…Because!" Aubrey didn't reply to my eloquent answer. I sucked in a sharp breath as realization hit me, "Oh God, Aubrey, can you date a Cybertronian!?"

"I don't see why not." Aubrey replied with a hum, I could imagine her in her kitchen cleaning things up as she spoke, "Of all the guys Taylor has dated, Smokescreen is by far my favorite and she's happiest with him."

I shook my head, "Don't make me think about the other guys my baby niece has dated my brain can't take it right now." Aubrey chuckled and I sighed. "Aubrey, I didn't know that they… I mean, I knew, but I never—I never considered that they'd see humans like—"

"Not humans." Aubrey cut in. "I don't think they'd date just any random human. Taylor, to every sensor they have, reads like a Cybertronian. Just like Tyler and Pete and…well, you."

"Oh my God." I dropped back down on the couch, "I'm Cybertronian!"

Aubrey hummed a disagreement, but my mind was still whipping around at a million miles per hour. Suddenly, a lot of my actions seemed questionable. A lot of things I did were only done because they were Cybertronian and I was human, but if I was also Cybertronian… that meant I was putting out signals I may not have meant to put out.

"Shit, I shouldn't have made out with Jazz and Sides." I groaned in self-loathing.

"I'm sorry, what!?" Aubrey cried over the phone, "You made out with who and who!?"

I sighed, "I sort of made out with Jazz to piss off a racist and Sides because I was on an adrenaline high." The other side of the line was dead silent. "Aubrey, you there?"

"I can't believe you made out with them. Both of them." She chuckled, "Did you make out with Sunstreaker too?"

"Sunshine? No!" I leaned my head against the back of my couch in thought, "I think if I leaned in for a kiss, he'd either punch me or have a spark attack. Maybe both at the same time." Quickly, I sat up and shook my head again, "But no, I wouldn't lean in period! Because apparently I'm a pseudo Cybertronian and now it means things?"

Aubrey made a clicking noise with her tongue, "Well now that you realize that—"

"Moving back to Taylor." I interrupted. I needed to handle this news one step at a time and step one was coming to terms with Taylor and Smokescreen. "How did this even start?"

"After she graduated, she moved to the base to work full time with Ratchet." Aubrey explained in a tone that said this wasn't the first time she talked about this story. "She had known Smokescreen from before, I think they met the first time when she was at the end of high school, but they didn't interact much since she was so busy with starting college. Anyways, once she started working here, they just hit it off." I could hear a smile in my sister's voice. "It's cute. Smokescreen always says that the moment she came back to base he saw her, and his spark just jumped. Love at first sight."

"Yeah, well, Mr. 'Love at First Sight' is gonna get a baseball bat to his headlights if he hurts her."

Aubrey laughed, "You aren't the first to threaten him." She continued, "It took Taylor a little while to realize her own feelings. I think she had to first get past the 'him being Cybertronian doesn't matter' thing too."

"It's a big thing to try and get past, Aubs."

"Listen, I was just as wary as you." Aubrey's voice was soft and sincere, "I wasn't sure about this at all, but Taylor is so, so happy. That glow you see when she smiles wasn't always there. She went through a lull in college, but my baby girl is so happy and I just…"

Her voice trailed off and I heard the tears caught in her throat. I sighed and forced a smile, "I'm happy for her. I'd never try to stop that or get between her and Smokes I'm just…nervous."

"You're always nervous about this kind of stuff." Aubrey chuckled, "I'd even use the word paranoid."

"Well..." My voice trailed off as a new sound was faintly heard over the line. It took a minute to fully place it, "Aubs, do you have the TV on or something? I'm in the middle of a breakdown the least you can do is turn off 'COPS' and listen to me whine." Aubrey didn't reply to my poor attempt of a joke and the faint sound of sirens became more clear. It mingled with a low, ungodly wail. "Aubrey!?"

Aubrey's voice was panicked, "Something is happening in the city. The news says… oh my God." I stood and turned on the TV in my own living room. The news came on showing a panicked news anchor and flashes of destruction and fire. Aubrey gasped, "Oh my God, Las Vegas is under attack."


Cade had texted me.

'In Vegas. There are humans fighting alongside drones. Military grade weapons, using heat and cold. Will affect Autobots.'

I read the words for the hundredth time hoping that the message he sent me 15 minutes ago would maybe make a little more sense this time around. Why the hell was Cade in Vegas right now? What sort of military operation would be working alongside the drones?

"Lennox is 5 minutes out. As soon as they hit the ground, we'll get imaging from them and hopefully that will give us more of a clue as to who these guys are." Peter announced to the small group around him. I only recognized Simmons who was digging through archives looking for something. The wild look in the man's eyes told me he was following a lead. "Until then, I want all our attention focused on evacuation efforts. We need Vegas and the surrounding cities cleared out now."

Peter looked determined. There was a fire in his eyes as he worked. I could still a lingering worry, but as soon as he had heard that Delilah and Amy had arrived on base and were in the security bunker the fear had simmered a good bit.

Now, he was probably just like me.

Worried about Tyler and the others as they approached a warzone. Worried about Aubrey, Monique, and the kids as Blaster escorted them to base. Worried about the Autobots who had rolled out with zero hesitation. Worried about Cade who was stuck, defenseless, in a city that was being burned down by an infestation of drones.

I wrung my hands together as my jaw clenched tightly. I hated this. Everyone I loved was spread about fighting a dangerous battle and here I was standing off to the side doing absolutely nothing. Taylor was in the medbay with Preceptor, while Ratchet took to the field, prepping for any wounds and emergencies that would come back to base. Peter was organizing efforts to keep civilians safe. Even Simmons was useful at the moment.

Unlike me.

"They'll be ok. Everything will be fine, Aj." Bumblebee whispered from behind me. He was in bipedal mode ready for anything to happen. Him, Preceptor, and soon Blaster would be the only Autobots on base. The rest went out to Vegas to deal with this horrific mess.

"I should be out there." I growled, "I should be helping."

"You're helping us here. You're helping me protect our home." He tried to comfort me, but the hollow words fell on deaf ears. It was kind of him to try and give me meaning. None of what he said was true though.

"Aha!" Simmons yelled as he whipped a folder out from the ratty box of old folders, "I knew it was in here! Our answer!"

"What answer, Simmons?" Peter pushed for the man to explain simply.

Unfortunately, he wasn't the kind to get to the point. Simmons flipped through the yellowed folder, "Back when I was an agent for Sector 13, we had run ins with a shady organization with nefarious goals."

"Wasn't Sector 13 a shady organization with nefarious goals?" I scoffed.

Simmons ignored me, "We thought we got rid of them all, but one man got away. Now I've always said that in order to squash a group such as this you need to rid the world of all of them. One survivor is all it takes for the infection to come back anew—"

"Simmons! The point!?" Peter snapped.

"This has to be his work! He's the only one with the potential resources to find and use military grade weaponry that will hurt our robo boys." Simmons stared down at his folder with a sneer, "Why he would be working with the drones is beyond me but—?"

Peter snapped his fingers at Simmons to get his attention, "Name?"

"Leland Bishops." Simmons lifted a faded picture of an older man with hate in his stone-cold eyes. His hair was short, military buzz cut, and gray. His brow line screamed Neanderthal and he had a grizzly scar on the left side of his forehead. "Called his group MECH."

I snorted, "Well, he looks like a ray of fucking sunshine."

Peter took the file from Simmons and began to read through it. At the same time this happened a notification pinged on the large screen used in communications. It was a message from Tyler. I recognized the string of numbers and letters that identified him in the high security messages. One of the men working at the station opened it up and a picture filled the entire screen. It was of the Las Vegas strip. It looked like Tyler had snapped the photo around the Paris hotel, but it showed multiple men dressed in all black gear carrying large weapons. Behind them the city burned, and citizens ran for their lives. I could see part of a drone in the background.

"That's it. That's MECH." Simmons pointed to a patch on the man's sleeve. It wasn't vague either. It was an odd symbol, but in bold above it were the letters 'M.E.C.H'. "Those damn, destructive idiots."

Peter picked up his phone and began to make calls. It seemed like everyone on the platform had jumped headfirst into this new job. My hands clenched into fists at my side and I turned to leave entirely.

"Aj." Bumblebee called out. I stopped out of respect and glanced back to beg with my eyes for him not to request I stay. The last thing I needed was to stand around here and feel even more useless than I knew I was. He nodded once, "You have a weapon on you?"

I lifted my shirt to show the handgun I had tucked into the waistband of my jeans. During training, I had gotten used to carrying a gun around, but after flunking out the habit had been lost on me. It felt odd to feel the cool metal of the handgun against my skin. Nobody expected me to actually use it here on base, but it was protocol to be armed. Especially during emergencies.

As I got further away, I tried to text Cade for the hundredth time, but I still got no answer or reply from him. Calling and texting him did nothing. I prayed this was because he had just lost his phone in the frenzy rather than something awful happening to him.

I was in the middle of another text message when the hairs on the back of my neck seemed to stand on end. My feet came to a slow halt and I glanced around to see if anyone was staring or something along those lines.

The problem was I was alone.

I was in a hallway off the hanger I had been in and I knew that the base was running low on soldiers since most had been shipped off to Las Vegas. All hands-on deck situation after all. The entire area around me though was empty of soldiers or working civilians. It was just me.

Was it though?

Cautiously, I looked back down at my phone, pretending to be preoccupied with my text, and that same feeling of someone's eyes on me came back. With a clenched jaw, I slowly continued forward. I only got a few steps down the empty hall when the feeling of being watched morphed into someone standing behind me. Without hesitation, I dropped my phone and threw my elbow back hard.

It made contact with a firm, curved surface and I heard a loud crack of glass and muffled cry of pain. Following the elbow, I spun and kicked my braced leg out hitting something solid. The masked figure went flying down the hall, tumbling over himself, before landing in a crouched position. It was the same dark, helmeted creeper that stalked Cade and I in Austin. He slowly rose to his feet and rolled his shoulders with a flinch. I couldn't see through the glass of his helmet, but there was now a large crack that traveled from the bottom to where the figure's hairline would be.

"Today is not the day, jackass." I snapped and marched toward him ready to straight up commit homicide right now.

The figure lifted one hand, "You don't understand."

"Wait." I blinked in shock, my eyes narrowing in a glare shortly after, "Are you behind what's going on in Vegas!?"

"No I—"

"You being here and in Austin isn't a fucking coincidence." I shouted and launched myself forward. The figure slide to the side, ducking out of the way of my knee. As soon as both my feet were planted again, I swung out my arm to catch him in a backhanded slap, but he caught my arm with ease and yanked me tightly into his chest. "Let me go!"

I struggled in his tight grip desperately as he snapped in my ear to calm down. With a sharp breath, I grabbed his arms around me and bent forward to throw him over my shoulder. The shifting of our weight threw him off balance and he went toppling over me. Luckily, I slipped out of his grip as he fell and before he could rise again, I yanked the gun from my waistband and cocked it back with the sights on his head.

"You get 5 seconds to explain yourself before I fill that helmet with lead."

"Your knight is in terrible danger. The drones are after him."

My face paled, recognizing the term, and the gun fell back to my side, "Cade?"

"If you don't trust me…" The figure stood up slowly, his hands up in surrender and his gaze not leaving me or my gun, "Then Cade will die. Many people you care for will."

The words made my insides feel like they were made of stone. As little as I trusted this figure I knew, despite the pit in my stomach, that I would follow him to the ends of the Earth. Anything to stop that sentence from coming to fruition.


Taylor had her suit on. It was part of protocol. In the case of an emergency, such as today, she would help prep the medbay in her active duty uniform. She always complied because she wanted to be ready to help if God forbid an Autobot was wheeled into the medbay, but she knew the rules were made for more than just that reason. Her suit was protective, and though she never used them, she knew Wheeljack had installed weapons in the event she needed to fight. Taylor wasn't a fighter, not in the physical sense, but if it came down to it…

Bear whined lightly, shooting her an annoyed glare. She had been rocking her leg up and down in worry and it prevented the dog from resting his head on her. Taylor forced a tight-lipped smile and stilled. Bear settled with his head on her foot.

Aj had sent Bear her way with the order to protect. She hadn't seen it first-hand but considering the dog wouldn't leave her alone she knew it had to have been an order from either her aunt or Sunstreaker.

Taylor wrung her gloved hands together as she waited for Preceptor to come back with more supplies. He had gone upstairs to the above ground medbay to gather items while she waited below. It was moments like this when she was still that she felt useless. Tyler and Smokescreen were out in a warzone with the other Autobots and as if that didn't put enough of a lump of fear in her stomach, her family was still out traveling to the base. Blaster would keep them safe, of that she was sure, but she still couldn't keep herself from worrying.

The blonde woman closed her eyes and began to go through the various hotspots of Cybertronian anatomy. It was calming. It kept her busy. Minutes that felt like hours had passed and she had reached the mental listing of Cybertronians leg vessels when Bear stiffened at her feet.

Taylor opened her eyes and stared down at Bear who slowly stood, stiff as a board, hackles raised, and a growl rumbling in his throat. She quickly stood up and Bear situated himself between her and the door. She hadn't heard any alarms go off which meant there hadn't been a breach of the base. Bumblebee would've called her if there had been. Hell, he'd be down here if there was.

Seconds later, Aj stepped into her line of vision. Taylor's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. Bear would never react this way to her. Never. Her aunt's face was drawn in anger and irritation, her shoulders rigid. Before she could question the situation, a stranger stepped into the room behind Aj.

He had on a black suit made of some metal she didn't recognize. It wasn't like her suit, it was more intricate with designs carved into the metal itself. It looked otherworldly. The figure also had on a helmet with a front made of black glass that took up most of the helmet. The glass was cracked from top to bottom though.

"Aj?" Taylor mumbled in worry.

Aj shook her head once, "It's ok, Taylor. Everything is ok. I just need your help."

"What is going on? Who is this?"

Maybe it was the panic in her voice, but Bear reacted to Taylor's words. He let out a deep, threatening bark before growling even more. The stranger took a step away from Bear, closer to Aj, and that only upset Bear further. Bear barked again and Aj sidestepped in front of the stranger with her hands up.

"Bear. Bear down." Aj said firmly. Bear's growls continued. "Bear!" Slowly, the dog relaxed his form. Aj reached forward and bent over to pull Bear into a hug. "Good boy, Bear. Good boy."

Taylor didn't take her eyes off the stranger who looked like he was staring. Not that Taylor could tell through that dark helmet. She cleared her throat, "Aj, what is happening?"

She stood back up and snapped her fingers before pointing back to Taylor. Bear turned and rushed over to Taylor's side. He sat down by her leg, quiet, but still at the ready. Aj rubbed the back of her neck, "I need you to get me into Jack's lab."

"Jack's lab but—why? Wheeljack went out with—"

"I know. But he left what I need in there. I know you have an override code to get in."

Taylor paused only for a second before realization hit her, "You want your suit and swords."

"Tay—"

"That's a terrible idea! You're gonna try to leave base aren't you!?"

"I need—"

"It's dangerous, Aj!" Taylor snapped. "You weren't cleared for combat and that suit has never seen a battle like this. I can't—"

Aj was the one to interrupt her this time, "Taylor, they're all in trouble." Taylor's eyes widened slightly, and her aunt continued. "I know this situation seems sketchy. Especially since I brought the masked bastard with me." Aj motioned back to the stranger who crossed his arms at her words. "But you have to trust me. If I don't get to Cade… some very bad things are going to happen."

Taylor bit down on her bottom lip but the sounds of the elevator being called up to the top floor made her decision for her. She quickly motioned for Aj and the stranger to leave the room as she followed behind.

"Percy was coming back." Taylor said. "He'd ask questions and by Ratchet's orders he'd never let us go through with this."

"Ratchet's orders?" Aj asked as they all followed her quick pace down the hall toward where Wheeljack's lab was.

Taylor nodded, "Unsurprisingly, he had a feeling you'd want to leave base."

Aj scoffed, "Well in my defense, this was less me making a rash decision and more random bastard man forcing my hand."

"Do you have to keep calling me bastard?" The stranger spoke in a deep voice. It was the first time Taylor heard him speak and she had to keep from tripping over her own feet at his words.

Aj replied without missing a beat, "Bastards get called bastards, you bastard."

Eloquently put as always, by her aunt.

They reached the locked door of Wheeljack's lab and Taylor lifted her arm to call up her holoscreen. Anytime she was in her suit she was still able to access doors and codes via her suit's built in mainframe. She was the only one with this ability since she was the only one who ever really needed it. Peter never wore his suit and Tyler was always out in the field with his. She accessed Wheeljack's string of code and sent it to the doorframe's system. A second later the lock on the wall blinked green and the door slid open.

Taylor watched hesitantly as Aj rushed forward to where she knew a ladder would be. It was soldered into the side of Wheeljack's lab bench in order for someone Taylor sized to get up to the top. Her hand rubbed the top of Bear's head absentmindedly. She had a bad feeling in her gut, but she wasn't sure if it stemmed from the mess in Vegas or the masked stranger.

Aj came back down the ladder with her armbands on and the case for her swords strapped around her back. Taylor shot the stranger another hesitant look before focusing on her aunt again, "Aj, are you sure about this?"

"Trust me on this, Taylor." She replied firmly. That was all she needed.

Aj, who was wearing jeans and a tank top, began to strip out of her jeans. It made sense to Taylor. Jeans were a little too bulky to be worn under the suit. It could be done, but it was super uncomfortable after a while. That's why they usually wore a form fitting under armor type item. The stranger didn't seem fazed by her aunt's sudden stripping, but Taylor quickly moved to stand between Aj and him to block his view just in case. After kicking off her shoes and jeans it left her in a loose, cloth tank top and her black boyshorts.

"When was the last time the suit was updated?" Taylor questioned.

Aj activated her suit and she watched it crawl up her skin while answering, "Uh, a week ago maybe?"

"Have you used your suit since then?"

"Well, er—no, but—"

Taylor's eyes widened, "So you haven't even tested the update yet?"

The suit finished completely and all that was left was to activate her helmet. Aj gave her a sheepish smile and shrug, "What could be better than testing the update in actual combat?"

"Literally anything would be better!"

Aj opened the case and pulled out her swords. Taylor let out a soft breath of surprise at seeing them up close again. Wheeljack had done excellent work forging the swords, but Sunstreaker's design was absolutely gorgeous. They were a work of art.

She slid them into place on her back and her sheepish smile faded into one of brief worry. It didn't linger long and morphed into determination. A fire that Taylor hadn't seen in her aunt's eyes for a while came back. Her burning blue eyes snapped over to the stranger, "Time for your part of all this."

The stranger lifted his arm, offering it to her. Taylor swallowed the lump in her throat and turned back to Aj, "Please be careful. I'd never forgive myself if… if…"

"I'll be back before you know it." Aj winked at her. "I'll even bring you back a souvenir."

Taylor opened her mouth to question how they were going to get to Vegas quick enough not to miss the battle, but before the words formed Aj grabbed the stranger's arm and they both blinked out of existence. Taylor stumbled back in shock as Bear began to go crazy at the sudden lack of Aj.

"Please be safe." She mumbled under her breath with a steadying breath.

Please let them all be safe.


I had forgotten that this teleporting shit made me nauseous as hell. It was jarring to go from one place, suddenly to another, and no amount of steeling myself helped that. I sucked in a sharp breath and stumbled away the stranger. Unfortunately for me, I hadn't noticed where we landed and when I stumbled away, I nearly went toppling over the edge of the roof we were on to the ground which was at least 200 feet below me.

A hand grabbed my arm and yanked me back before I fell to my untimely death. Bastard man scoffed at me, "Be more careful!"

"Well warn me next time you teleport me to a fucking roof." I snapped back, yanking my arm away from his touch. I wasn't here to be scolded by this asshole. I was here to save my friends. "Why the hell are we up here!?"

"I need to talk to you first." He said solemnly. The sound of gunfire, explosions, and screams rose from below us and I found it hard to ignore. He pulled me further away from the side of the roof preventing me from looking at the war going on below. "This is important."

I glared at him, "Say your piece and then get me down there. They need me."

"I am not your enemy, Aimee."

"Sure, as hell fooled me. Austin wasn't that long ago, you know?"

"I was trying to protect you in Austin!" He argued. "At the end… hurting you like I did… I didn't want to strangle you, I hated it, but I needed the staff—"

My eyes widened as a lost memory pieced itself back together in my head, "Wait a minute—that's why I blacked out! You jackass! I didn't even have the staff!"

He shook his head, "You did. You weren't aware of it, but it attached itself to you." I opened my mouth to argue further, but he held his hand out and suddenly that same silver staff I saw in my death induced hallucination formed. A sudden longing filled me, and it took every ounce of my being to resist lunging the space between us to grab at it. His grip tightened around it and it suddenly disappeared again. "Only a knight can hold it and not be tempted by its power. That's part of the role we hold. To protect the artifacts. To protect our Defender."

I shook my head and took a step back, "No, no, no—wait… this can't be right. You're a…"

"I am the current Knight until Cade Yeager accepts his role." Another loud explosion had me snapping my head to the side in shock. I had to get down there. I had to help. He took a step toward me and I shakily looked back at him. My reflection stared back at me through his cracked helmet visor. "We must find Cade. We have to get him out of here, to safety. No one other than a Defender or Knight can get their hands on the artifacts."

"Yes, we have to get to Cade." I agreed then shook my head, "But I'm not running. I have to help the others—"

"We don't have time—"

"I'm not leaving them!" I snapped. "You can deal with it or you can leave my ass behind."

He grabbed my arm, but before I could fight him we were teleporting again. My head spun as the world around us shifted to something new. The explosions, gunfire, and screaming was still there and now it was louder than ever. I stumbled back and glanced around. We were still on a roof, but this one was much closer to the ground. Maybe 100 feet up at most.

"Activate your helmet and attack."

I blinked at him, "We're still on a roof you have to get me down there!"

"The best mode of attack is from above. Drones don't look up." He replied simply. "You have the capability."

He had motioned to my boots when he said it. Quickly I shook my head, "No, I have the ability to glide. These are gliders not fliers. Ratchet and Wheeljack made that very clear."

"The update gives you more leeway with that."

How did he—? I didn't even know what the update held. Wheeljack hadn't briefed me on that yet. The guy shook his head, "Make a difference, Ace."

The words sent a chill down my spine, but I couldn't ponder it long because the guy leaped off the building. I gasped and watch him fall halfway before teleporting out of my view. Focus. Focus. I was in a fight. I needed to focus. This was just a bigger, more deadly version of being in the ring.

With a steadying breath, I activated my helmet and watched as my visor's screen came to life. The street lit up with green flares for allies, red circles for enemies, and blue triangles for civilians. I stepped forward until my toes were over open air. Right below me was a large red circle blocking the exit for a group of blue triangles while fighting a couple green flares. From the looks of it, the drone was a Grimlock copy. I swallowed the lump in my throat, steeling myself, and then let myself fall forward.

In the past, I had never gotten the opportunity to go bungie jumping, but I always knew in the back of my mind that it'd be something I enjoyed immensely. A moment of pure adrenaline? That was right up my alley, and as I fell at a startling speed, I couldn't help but smirk as my suit cut through the air. My screen showed a tally of how high up I was and when I got to 20 feet above the drone, I flipped around, so I was falling feet first instead of headfirst.

With a grunt I activated my boots, cutting my speed in half and giving myself a small cushion so I wouldn't die on impact. Still I was falling hard and when my feet made contact with the back of the fake Grimlock's back I felt it. My arms shot up to cover my head as I cut through the metal creature. I hit the ground hard, metal pieces raining around me as the drone exploded, and the force put a crater in the ground. I could feel the aftershock running up my body, dispersing itself so I didn't take all of the fall in my legs, with a gasp I fell forward onto my hands and knees.

Shit, man.

I glanced up to see chaos on the street. The civilians who had been stuck behind the drone were running out now trying to avoid bullets and fire that rained in the air. I didn't even recognize where on the strip I was because it was so destroyed.

Something slid beside me and I jumped with one arm up, but a friendly hand settled on the back of my helmet. I turned to see Lennox staring at me in shock. His face marred with blood, dirt, and sweat. What was my luck that of all the places to land it was gonna be right in front of the guy who had to fire me from his military program? He tapped his ear with his other hand then signed me with that same hand the numbers '4-3-5'. I tuned my helmet into that frequency and his voice filled my helmet as his mouth moved.

"What the hell are you doing here, Aj!?" He barked and helped me to my feet.

"There's more going on here than you think, Lennox. I need to get to Cade. Have you seen him!?"

"Aj you—"

"Lennox!" I snapped and hit the side of my helmet so the gold visor that hid my face turned transparent. I needed him to look me in my eyes. "Please trust me. Please."

Lennox mentally fought with himself. Another explosion down the street hit and we both flinched. He sighed and nodded, "We haven't found Cade yet. We're trying to push the drones down the strip to create a safe zone for civilians to get transport out of the city. So far we've only made it to the MGM hotel. We have an unknown enemy on the ground called—"

"MECH. Pete got in touch with you?"

Lennox grabbed my shoulder and pushed me to the edge of a crumbling building, so we'd have some cover, "He did but we still don't know much other than somehow they're working with the drones. Their weaponry hits our mechs hard."

"So, what do you need, Lennox?"

"Right now, we're trying to carve a path down the strip. Get the drones as far down as possible. Problem is, every time we put one down another one shows up. Las Vegas is turning into a hive at this point. We're just trying to get an evacuation plan in place at this point. Vegas is lost."

I nodded once, "I have to find Cade before that happens, but I'll clear a path for you while I'm at it. Best I can, at least."

"Aj, this is too dangerous. Stay behind our line. That's an order."

I gave him a quick wink, trying to lighten the air between us, "I ain't one of your soldiers, Lennox. Remember?"

He went to grab me again, but I took off down the street. With the suit on, my signal wasn't being broadcasted. Wheeljack made it specifically that way to protect us. However, Lennox must have been a snitch because suddenly my helmet was pinging like crazy with a communications request. I accepted it while dodging debris from a collapsing building and my helmet was filled with yelling.

"Youngling—"

"—the pit are you doing—"

"—out, get out of the city—"

"I'm coming your way now do not—"

I stopped mid-run when I noticed people stuck in a building where debris had blocked the door. I ran over, put myself under the bar of concrete, and lifted it up as far as I could. As people began to run out from under the opening, I had created I yelled over the communications line, "I am fine! I have to find Cade, it's a Defenders issue." The line grew quiet at that news. "Focus on the battle, and if you see a guy wearing an all-black, weird ass alien metal suit don't shoot at him. I think he's on our side unfortunately."

Optimus Prime spoke over the line, something in Cybertronian that I didn't understand, but it ended the argument. He followed it up in English, "Find Cade and then remove yourself from battle, Aj. Keep the line open for updates and notify us with your progress. Understood?"

"Roger, roger, OP." I grunted and let the concrete bar fall as the last civilian ran out of the building. Gunfire suddenly ricocheted off the back of my armor and I stumbled forward in surprise. I dove to the side to hide behind a car and peeked around to see a group of four men dressed all in black, tactical gear converging on me. "Well that's annoying."

I pushed myself up with my hands raised in the air. They aimed their weapons at me, and I shook my head, "Hey, hey! Have you seen my boyfriend? He's about yay-high and wears some creepy ass alien jewelry on his arm?" They barked at me to get on the ground and got closer to me. Just a little closer was all I needed. "Whoa, whoa, guys there is no need for violence here. Let's just talk this out!" They glanced at each other before taking a step even closer. Perfect. "Just kidding, I'm gonna beat the shit outta y'all."

Before they could react, I pulled my swords out from my back and in one swift movement I swung them down on the guns of the two men closest to me. The blades cut through the metal of the gun with ease. I then turned so my back was to one of the men who still had his weapon and used my right leg to kick one of the weaponless men into the guy who still had a gun in front of me. His body hit the other man, and both went flying back tumbling over one another. One of the guys lunged for me, and I ducked under his arm and slammed the butt of both my weapons into the back of his neck sending him to the ground in a crumpled pile.

I turned on the last guy, who still had his gun, only to watch as he dropped his weapon and held his hands up in surrender. I pointed at him, "Nice try, man." Then jumped up so I could kick both my heels into his chest. He went flying back into a parked car while I landed on my back and rolled back to my feet.

My helmet pinged with a communications request again, so I briefly muted the open line to answer it. Ratchet's voice came through, "Youngling."

"Ratchet—"

"Please be careful. Call if you need me. I will come."

I paused mid stride to take in the strained pain in his voice. Guilt rose up in me and I had to force it down. I never meant to make Ratchet worry and yet somehow, I always was. I replied, "You stay safe too, Ratchet. Can't wait until we get back to base so you can rip me a new one."

"I'm looking forward to it as well."

The line was ended, and I brought back the open line so I could hear what was going on with everyone out in the field. I steeled myself again and went back to the mission at hand.

Find Cade.


Tyler lined his sights up on another MECH soldier and fired. He moved onto the next and then another and another. The less MECH soldiers out on the streets with those weapons then then more the Autobots could focus on dealing with the drones. Tyler lined up his next shot, fired, then moved on to another. His aunt was out here, but he couldn't bring himself to worry. Aj knew how to handle herself and the most dangerous thing you could do out in the field was get distracted.

His door wings twitched as the wind shifted and he adjusted his shot accordingly. Hemi requested aid over the line and he moved his vision to the West where he could see her and two others leading a group of civilians down the road. He kept his crosshairs ahead of them, taking out any MECH soldier that popped up to attack them. When Hemi got them into their created safe zone he went back to picking out MECH soldiers on the strip.

Between one shot and the next, as he slowly dragged his crosshairs over the scene, a familiar face filled his vision. His sights snapped back to focus on Cade who was trying to help a woman pinned under a flipped over vehicle. She must have been the driver and it looked like her foot was caught on something.

"I have sights on Yeager." Tyler called over the line.

Aj was the first to respond, and her voice sounded out of breath like she was in the middle of fighting, "Where?!" Tyler opened his map while keeping an eye on Cade and sent the location to his aunt. He shifted slightly to fire at a MECH soldier approaching them. Aj grunted, "I'm on the wrong end of the strip. Fuck."

A new figure stepped into his crosshairs. He was decked out in a suit of intricate black metal and had on a matching helmet with a cracked visor. Tyler's finger twitched over the trigger while the stranger grabbed the end of the car and lifted so Cade could pull the woman out.

"You said don't shoot at the weirdo in the black suit, right?" He asked for confirmation.

"He's a friendly." Aj grumbled. "Is he with Cade?"

Tyler watched as the woman limped away and Cade tensed ready to fight. The stranger was talking to Cade and Tyler confirmed Aj's question. The sniper was so focused on watching the interaction and keeping MECH soldiers off them that he didn't notice the rumbling until it was too late. His door wings hiked up in warning. Tyler pulled away from his scope and rolled away out of instinct. A metal hand came down on where he had been, crumpling that corner of the building, just as he cleared the area.

As the drone, Stinger, climbed up the building it began to fall apart even more, and Tyler found himself falling. He dropped his weapon to grab the ledge and keep him from falling the 60 feet he had originally climbed to find his perch.

Stinger swiped at him again and he leaped to the side, barely managing to catch himself on the ledge again. Tyler grunted into the communication line, "I've been compromised. No cover on the safe zone. I repeat, no cover."

The drone lifted his arm to fire and Tyler quickly made the decision that falling was safer than taking a drone sized bullet to the face. He let go as gunfire peppered the spot he had been hanging from. Debris fell with him and he shifted in the air to try and land on a sign that had been sticking out of the building he was on. He hit his mark but landed on his stomach only barely able to find his grip on the sign. Tyler tucked his door wings back into his suit just as debris hit the sign and sent him falling again.

Tyler realized Stinger had jumped from the building as well and he took note that the only thing worse than hitting the ground from this height would be to hit the ground from this height with a drone on top of him. He activated his door wings again, hoping the resistance would slow him down a hair, and just as he thought the drone fell faster than him. Stinger grasped at him, and Tyler grabbed the drone's arm. When he had a good grip, he dove to the drone's head and held on tight just as the drone hit the ground on his feet. The force of the fall shook Tyler off the drone and the sniper hit the ground from the gentle height of the drone rather than the 60-foot drop.

He didn't have time to count his blessings though. He rolled to his feet and took off just as Stinger tried to stomp on him. Tyler's suit wasn't built for speed like Aj's was which meant out running a drone wasn't going to happen anytime soon. Not without a miracle at least.

Tyler turned and lifted his arm to fire off his one-time weapon in hopes it would be enough. A missile hit Stinger in the throat sending him flying back in pieces, but it hadn't been Tyler's weapon. Tyler sucked in a sharp breath of relief and turned to look at his miracle.

Jazz grinned cheekily at him, "Didn' I give you orders to stay on top of a buildin' an' not pick direct fights with drones?"

"That's tough to do when my building falls apart." Tyler replied. Jazz offered him a hand and he jumped on. "Thanks for the save."

"You were lookin' a little desperate, cadet." Jazz set him on his shoulder so he'd have his hands free, "New building?"

"Lost my weapon in the fight. Take me down to the safe zone line, I gotta get my back up."

Jazz nodded and moved quickly. Tyler knew he had a backup with the ammunition. It wasn't as good as his own, but beggars couldn't be choosers and his team needed him back up in the sky as look out.


Thirty minutes had passed since Tyler told me Cade had been found. Despite making it the area he had been it; I couldn't see him or the supposed Knight. Which made me wonder if he had taken my words seriously and just left me behind. As long as Cade was safe though I guess it didn't really matter. I needed to be here anyways. The Autobots had managed to push the drones off the strip onto a neighboring street which left us to deal with the leftover MECH soldiers and getting the remaining civilians to safety.

"Safe zone has successfully been expanded. Regroup at rendezvous point on map. Planes are here we're evacuating now." Lennox barked over the line. Others sent back confirmations and I paged him my own. The area I was in was abandoned. It looked like I had grabbed all the civilians from this area. All I could see was destruction and burning cars and buildings. I turned to jog toward the rendezvous spot, looking for more civilians along the way, but my eyes spotted a man on the corner of the street knelt over a fallen MECH soldier taking something from the body.

He was wearing all black which briefly made me think he was MECH himself, but instead of tactical gear I noted it was a leather jacket and black jeans. I dismissed my helmet to look friendlier and called out, "Sir, we have to leave! Let me get you to the safe zone. We're evacuating Vegas."

"I belong here though." He called back in a voice my brain said was too familiar. He looked up, his back still to me. I stiffened in place as the man rose to his full height and turned around with a sickening smirk. It was him. There he was. A part of me had convinced myself that I had imagined him while on that date with Cade, but here he fucking was. Standing in front of me with that same smug look I had seen what felt like so long ago.

Vincent Morgan. The Reaper. The brother to Boss. The guy who planned on dragging me to Las Vegas back in my world to be his little pawn. He looked just as I had last seen him, only a little older. There was more gray in his black hair and beard.

This wasn't my Vincent Morgan though. It couldn't be. He was dead. He didn't survive the trip here, all that was left of him was a jagged, torn off arm left in the desert.

"Sir—" I tried to stifle my disgust.

"Well, lookie lookie what the drones drug in." He laughed and motioned to me with one hand. He had a black, leather glove over his right hand. He recognized me. He recognized me, but that was impossible. "And you're all dolled up now. Updated. Fancy as shit, baby doll. I like the power ranger get up. It's a good look on you."

I shook my head, "No, you're dead. We got blasted to this universe and you didn't make it. Only your arm did."

"Now that's where you're wrong. I just got off the bus a little earlier than you." Morgan chuckled. "It's real nice to see you again—"

I lunged forward, no hesitation, to drive my shoulder into his chest, but he ducked out of the way just as quick. Adjusting from the dodge, I turned and lifted my right leg to cave his damn chest in, but to my surprise he used his right hand to catch my super powered leg mid-kick. My eyes widened and his smirk grew. I was too shocked to counterattack, and he used this opportunity to shove my leg down then punch me in the chest. I felt the front of my armor dent in slightly and I went sprawling backwards. I hit the ground the ground hard. I rolled twice, my head scraping the asphalt at the force, before forcing myself to roll to my feet.

"Hot damn, I missed that!" Morgan barked in glee. "You're my favorite version of you, you know that? Spunky and pissed and always ready to fucking brawl!" He stepped closer and I adjusted my stance to mirror him. Morgan began to shrug out of his jacket, "But you're not the only one with an update, baby doll."

He tossed his jacket aside and I stared at the thick metal arm that replaced the one he lost. There were still so many pieces of this puzzle missing, but this was more than enough to proof that this Morgan truly was the Morgan from my universe. Shit.

"You know, I really gotta thank you." He began to try and circle around me, but I matched his movement so we both stayed the same distance across from each other, "There I was content with ruling Vegas not knowing how fucking short sighted that goal was. You brought me here", He motioned to me again and I clenched my jaw, "And now my eyes have been opened. I can see clearly now."

From this distance it was clear how different Morgan had become. It wasn't just the arm either. Before, Morgan had given off a calm confidence. He seemed off his rocker, but only in a power-hungry mobster kind of way. Now though? Morgan seemed unhinged. There was some unrecognizable emotion in his eyes that shook me to my core.

"How aren't you dead? You landed in a hive, the drones should've killed you."

"They saw my potential, baby doll." Morgan chuckled. "Just like I saw the potential in you. We're more than petty humans. We are the next generation. We are gods of our time!"

Yeah, this guy was majorly unhinged.

I scoffed, "You don't look like a god to me. You look an asshole who should be on some heavy medications."

Morgan stopped suddenly and shook his head. He waved his hands as he spoke, "Don't you fucking get it!? We aren't limited to our world, to one world, we have the universes at our hands! With the drones and with MECH and with the power of the artifacts we can rule over fucking everything! Nothing—No one—can stop us!"

This is what the bastard man was talking about. This is who was after Cade, but how did he even know about the artifacts? Morgan stepped forward, catching me off guard, but he didn't come any closer. Instead, he held his hand out to me.

"Come with me, baby doll. Help me reach our full potential. With you on our side, we'll be unstoppable."

"Yeah, hard fucking pass." I spat at him.

Morgan's eerie smirk fell into a disappointed frown. He looked like he actually had expected me to join. The crazed man made a clicking noise with his tongue, "That's a damned shame. Now I have to get mean." My fists tightened and I rose to the balls of my feet in preparation for whatever attack was to come. "Give me the talisman."

"Don't know what you mean." I lied.

"The one that opens portals. The one that teleports you wherever you want in the universe." His voice grew shaky and hard. He was screaming now, crazed, "Give me the fucking talisman, Aj! Give it to me!"

I broadened my stance slightly, ready to block the attack I knew was coming, but Morgan still managed to catch me off guard. Instead of lunging, like I really thought he would, he reached behind him and pulled a small thin box out of his back pocket. I narrowed my eyes at it while he threateningly held his thumb over a switch.

"Last chance. You give me what I want, or I end them." Morgan threatened. I didn't understand his threat. It was too vague, but it still made my blood run cold. He could be talking about anyone, literally anyone. There were too many people in my life I cared about now. Once upon a time all I had to worry about was my own skin, but now I had a list of people I loved a mile long and a threat like this was all it took to bring me down. "Come on, baby doll."

"Don't call me that." I growled between gritted teeth.

Morgan chuckled, "You know, I got to know your frontliners real well." Frontliners. He was talking about Sunstreaker and Sideswipe. My face paled and I knew based on the disgusting smug look on his that he noticed. "I met them in the desert. They were quick, obviously not fucking quick enough, but still."

Suddenly I was mentally standing in that desert again. Staring at Sideswipe and Sunstreaker as that blue ball of fire engulfed the yellow mech. This time I could turn around completely though and when I did, I was greeted by Morgan's grinning face.

"It was you." I murmured in shock.

"You gotta believe me when I say I wasn't trying to kill the poor mech." Morgan laughed in a deranged manner. "I just wanted to take a little peek at that pretty little spark of his."

Lennox was suddenly talking in my ear. Asking me to check in again since I didn't show up to the rendezvous point. It was jarring to hear his voice when all my own mind could think of was Morgan being close to Sunstreaker's spark.

"What did you do?" I said softly first then louder, "What the fuck did you do!?"

"Give me the talisman." Morgan growled.

"She doesn't have it." I jumped at the voice and glanced over my shoulder in time to see bastard man walk up beside me. "The talisman is not in her possession and it will never be in yours."

I spun to him, "Stop. Give it to him."

"I told you. I warned you of this." He said to me firmly. Lennox continued yelling in my ear and now so was Ratchet. Both of them asking me to respond. "No one must hold the artifacts but a Knight or—"

"He's going to hurt the twins!" I snapped. Morgan chuckled again. "You have to give it to him!"

The cracked visor, showing my own broken and desperate reflection, shook side to side. He spoke again, just as firm, "No."

Morgan scoffed and my eyes snapped to the demented man just as he flipped the switch then crushed the box in his metal hand, "Just remember, in the end you're either converted of destroyed, baby doll."

There was a sharp pain in my chest followed by two familiar cries of pain howling over the battle sounds filling Las Vegas. The sharp pain turned to a numbing ache that left me breathless. I couldn't even beg for an answer of what he did. I couldn't even breathe. A drone, an Ironhide mockery, pushed through a broken building behind Morgan to stand behind the man.

"Aimee—"

I should've stayed to help fight the drone and Morgan. That was the rational choice, but I was far from rational right now. The bastard called after me again, but I ignored him and took off deeper into the city to find my twins.


Ratchet called out to his youngling over the communication line again only to be met with silence. Something was wrong. He could feel it in his spark. The battle was nearing its end, the drones were for some reason slipping away. Instead of fighting back they were beginning to escape the city one by one. Only a few, already engaged in battle continued to fight. It made no sense. He turned to Sunstreaker who stood beside him.

Sunstreaker met his gaze and without a word being spoken the yellow warrior nodded his helm, "Sideswipe is with Ironhide fighting the last Grimlock drone. I'll find her."

"Her last ping wasn't too far from the safe zone. Go—"

Before Ratchet could finish his statement, Sunstreaker's entire frame stiffened as if a live current was being passed through it. The frontliner let out a scream of pain, a matching one echoing it from across the city, and he crumpled to the ground beside the medic.

"Sunstreaker!" Ratchet barked and reached out for him. The mech's vitals were going haywire. His spark beat was erratic, and his processing waves were all over the place. Something was very, very wrong. Had Sideswipe been attacked?

The medic was only half a scan in when Sunstreaker's helm snapped up to look at him. He recognized the dark purple and red optics too late, and before he could move the ex-gladiator back handed him hard. Ratchet flew back, landing in the leftovers of a building, dazed. Even with his vision swimming from being hit so hard he rolled to the side to avoid the next attack he knew would come. Luckily, it never did.

"Sunstreaker!" Optimus Prime roared as he held the yellow mech in a tight hold. He had his arms wrapped around Sunstreaker's chest diagonally, one over his shoulder and the other under his arm, with his servos clasped tightly in the middle. Smokescreen, who stood behind Optimus, held Sunstreaker's arms and pulled them back to keep the frontliner from grabbing the Prime. Ratchet stood just as the two mechs pushed Sunstreaker to his knees. The mech was roaring in anger and frantically trying to escape their grasp.

Ratchet hurried forward and knelt down. He wrapped his own servo around the back of Sunstreaker's neck and spoke firmly in Cybertronian, "Sunstreaker. You are safe. Bring yourself back. Ground yourself." The yellow mech growled and snapped, thrashing harshly, "Bring yourself back!"

It took a few moments, but Sunstreaker's fitful movements began to slow and his optics began to lighten back to their usual lilac. His chassis rose and fell harshly as he vented air rapidly. Ratchet nodded, "Good. Good, Sunstreaker."

"I can't feel him." Sunstreaker spoke in a broken, gravely voice. "I can't feel him. I can't feel him. I can't feel him. I can't—"

"Sideswipe?" Ratchet felt his frame tense, "You can't feel Sideswipe?"

Ironhide's voice barked over the communications line as the noise of fighting grew louder again in the distance, "Sideswipe is still in gladiator mode! We can't calm him down!"

"That isn't possible." Smokescreen gasped, "If Sunstreaker phased out of it so should Sideswipe, right? One can't be in Berserker programming without the other."

That sinking feeling in Ratchet's chassis returned. Sunstreaker fell into stasis in Prime's arm. Either from the shock of not being able to feel his bond or the pain of whatever had triggered this in the first place. Prime held him up.

"He won't stop!" Ironhide barked again.

Ratchet shook his head at Prime and Optimus tensed. They had a protocol in place for this. The twins themselves had helped design it, but it had never been used before. More than that, if they were ever to use it the thought had been that both twins would be involved.

"Evacuate the area immediately. Draw back and get the humans out of the city. Vegas is lost." Prime ordered over the line. The twins had told them long ago, there was only two ways the Berserker program ended. Either the twins stopped it themselves or it ran its course. Sunstreaker was the only one of the two who could manage to stop the code. Sideswipe had never been able to end it himself.

Since the twins ending the coding wasn't an option, this meant they had to leave the city. Sideswipe would destroy everything and everyone in sight and once the coding neutralized everything in the vicinity it would end. Then Ratchet would have to pray that there was something left of Sideswipe to salvage from the wreckage. A full course of Berserker programming had the tendency to burn out the user.

"What is happening!? What did Prime mean by that!?" Aj's voice finally rang over the line. Ratchet only felt partial relief at the voice. It was quickly gone and replaced with fear.

Optimus and Smokescreen carried Sunstreaker to safety as he replied, "Are you near Sideswipe?"

"I think I'm heading to him now. What the hell is going on Ratchet!?"

"The twins went into their Gladiator modes. We got Sunstreaker to phase out of it but… but Sideswipe didn't. He's stuck in the Berserker programming."

"That isn't possible—"

Ratchet cut her off, "Sunstreaker says he couldn't feel Sideswipe over the bond. He can't pull his brother out." Aj was unusually quiet over the other end of the line. "Get out of the city now, Aj."

"Ratchet—"

"We are evacuating the city. We have to give Sideswipe the space to wear himself down."

Aj replied back firmly, refusing to be cut off, "We can't just leave him here. He could hurt himself—he could hurt someone else! Ratchet, he'd never forgive himself! We have to snap him out of it!"

"Sideswipe cannot exit out of the programming without Sunstreaker and Sunstreaker is in stasis right now." Ratchet snapped. He couldn't bring himself to tell her the truth. That this could be the end of the red mech. It wouldn't help him convince her to leave and Ratchet still couldn't admit it to himself. "Aj, if Sideswipe hurts you it will kill him. Get out of the city."

"He won't hurt me." She argued and Ratchet's spark ached. She didn't understand. Sideswipe wouldn't be able to stop himself. He had seen this before, he knew Sideswipe's past. She repeated the words again and suddenly her communications line went dead.

He tried to reach out to her, but she had blocked the line. This must be what humans felt when they said they became nauseous with worry. Ratchet watched a building come crumbling down in the distance and transformed to make his way there.

This wouldn't end well.


He won't hurt me.

Sideswipe wouldn't hurt me.

It was more than a gut feeling. It was a truth. I could feel it in every inch of my body. I had faith. Just like I had told him that night. Him and everyone else might not believe it, but I had faith for the whole lot of us.

Sideswipe wouldn't hurt me.

I was running as fast as my suit would take me. Using the gliding ability in my boots had me flying over the ground at record speeds. My entire focus was now on leaping over debris and burning cars as I hurried to where it seemed like the main destruction was stemming. The warzone had quieted all except for one portion of the city where a guttural cry came from. Where some large form was knocking down buildings and leveling the city.

I slid out onto the street then leapt up to an overpass. Down the street from me, the red mech was taking down another building with as much devastation as possible. Behind me people were still on the streets. Only a few, but Bluestreak quietly slipped out of an alleyway beside them. We glanced at each other and I nodded at him once. He tensed in hesitation before nodding back and scooping up the civilians, rushing them out of the way.

Sideswipe roared loudly and I turned back to watch him demolish and already dead drone before throwing a part of its leg through a hotel. He grew closer with the motion. I clenched my hands before using the megaphone feature of my helmet to yell out at him.

"Sideswipe! Sides!"

The mech whipped around at the noise and even from this distance I could see the sickly dark color of his eyes. Gone was the pretty lilac I could find comfort in. The last time I saw him in this mode was back in my world where he was significantly smaller. This seemed even worse and not just for the height either. Hatred seemed to radiate off Sideswipe in waves and that wasn't an emotion I associated with Sideswipe.

"Sides, please—" I began, but he lunged. I spun and jumped off the overpass to run down an adjacent street further away from where Bluestreak had taken civilians. I could hear Sideswipe run straight through the overpass to follow me around the corner. I sprinted as fast as I could and took as many sharp turns to try and keep the distance between us. Sideswipe wouldn't relent or slow down. He tore through anything put between us with an angry snarl. "Sideswipe, you have to stop!"

No matter what I yelled it didn't slow him down. I whipped around another corner dodging a car he must have kicked up in his movements. I was fast in this suit, but I wasn't gladiator fast. He dove forward to grab me, and I dodged it, but the force at which he landed shook the ground making me stumble. Stumbling at the speed I was moving sent me rolling haphazardly down the road. The visor of my helmet slammed into the road, cracking completely, and I could feel the armor over my bad leg pop.

I landed in a heap and tried to gain my bearings. The world was spinning and light from the sky streamed in through the broken cracks of my visor. The ground rumbled with movement and I forced myself to sit up. Seeing double, I watched Sideswipe rise from the ground. I tried to stand, but my bad leg wouldn't bend without immense pain washing over me. My brace wasn't working, and something in my knee had shifted. I wasn't going to be able to hold any weight.

Sideswipe stalked over slowly. Menacingly. I lifted my hand to deactivate my helmet, but it wouldn't work. Something was glitching. With a grunt I tore off the helmet manually and tossed it aside. Sideswipe was standing in front of me now. His entire frame was tense as agitation radiated from him. He knelt down and lifted one hand high in the air with what looked like the plan to bring it down on me.

"Sideswipe this isn't you." I said, knowing he could hear me. "You can't hurt me." His fist shook in the air. "You can't. I know you. You're good to your core." Warm tears were dripping down my face now. "MySideswipe could never hurt me."

There was a pause of silence before the fist came down hard. I flinched as it landed beside me making my entire body shake at the force. I took in a hiccup of a breath and stared at the hand. His other hand hit the ground on the other side of me and I turned forward facing again to look up at his face which hovered above me.

"Sideswipe?" I questioned. His eyes were deactivated, colorless, but I knew he was still conscious based on the way he held himself up on shaking arms. He fell further down, his knees buckling so he was flat on the ground only holding himself weakly up on his elbows. His chassis was moving rapidly as he vented air in and out. I lifted my hand up, stretching as far as I could, and my fingers brushed against his face. "Sides?"

Suddenly his eyes lit up in that familiar shade of lilac that I had grown to adore. Exhaustion was drawn on his features and with a shaky breath he spoke, "Aj?"

I lifted my other hand, pushing myself up as much as my upper body would let me, and pressed both my hands against his face, "Hey, babe. Welcome back."

Cybertronians couldn't cry. I knew that, but the sound Sideswipe made as his entire body shook, reminded me of it. His face came closer as he leaned into me and spoke quietly between broken sounds, "Primus. Oh Primus. I couldn't stop—Sunny was gone, and I couldn't stop—I was stuck. There was no controland he wasn't there. Sunstreaker isn't here and I couldn't control—"

"Hey, shhh." I tried to offer him comfort, "You're ok. Sunny is ok. He's safe, you're safe, we're all safe. You did control it, Sides."

"You stopped me." Sides replied, his eyes were beginning to dim.

I shook my head with a tired laugh, "No. You stopped yourself. I told you. You could never hurt me. Never."

"Aj—"

"Shh, rest. We'll get you home." I could hear an ambulance in the distance, and I recognized that siren as my guardian's. He was coming. "We'll get you to Sunny."

Sideswipe shifted so his head would fall onto his arm beside me rather than on top of me. He was losing consciousness and fast, but I stayed in his line of sight to offer him some comfort while he did so.

He opened his mouth to speak and I went to quiet him, to tell him to rest, but he spoke anyways, "It was always you. I love you, Aj."

My eyes widened at the softness in his words and how it felt to hear them, but he faded into stasis the moment they left his vocalizer. I stared at him a moment longer before footsteps came up behind me. It wasn't Ratchet. He was still heard in the distance and these footsteps were too small. Exhaustion and relief left me as anger quickly replaced them. I grabbed a loose pipe in the debris around me and used it to push myself up off the ground. Pain hit me hard and made me nauseous, but I didn't stop.

"Are you ok—" An armored hand reached out to help me stand, but I used the pipe to strike him away. The bastard stumbled back at the assault and didn't reach out to me again as I glared at him. "We… We needto talk."

"Yeah." I replied bluntly. "Yeah, we fucking do."


Aubrey felt like she couldn't breathe. Tyler was safe. Lennox was safe. But Aimee was gone. She was just gone. She had stopped Sideswipe, saved him really, but when Ratchet got there to assess the situation all he found was a red mech in stasis and Aimee's broken, suit helmet. Her signal couldn't be found and there was no trace of her in the aftermath of the battle. The recovery team still dug through the city trying to find survivors, even Bear was out there, but there was still no sign of her baby sister.

Aubrey had sent Annabelle and the other kids to distract Izabella on the other side of the base. The young girl was terrified of losing someone else, and Aubrey didn't blame her. She sat in the hanger with Peter, Tyler, and Taylor around her. Peter was rubbing her back soothingly as Taylor tried to wrap gauze around a burn on Tyler's arm. None of them spoke.

She hated this. Hated sitting here worried with nothing to do, but this was her life. While her children and husband and sister and friends put their lives on the line to protect an ungrateful world she had to sit at home and wait. Wait and worry. It filled her with nausea.

"Hey, you can't—" Someone yelled, and Aubrey looked up from her hands. There was an uproar as soldiers moved toward the mouth of the hanger. Tyler stood to try and look, and she watched as her son stiffened.

He spun around to face her, "Mama, it's her."

Aubrey jumped up from her seat and rushed forward.

"Get the hell out of my way." Aj barked.

The crowd around her cleared some and Aubrey spotted her baby sister. Her suit was torn up and the woman was using a pipe to help her limp across the floor. Her lip was busted and her face bruised and Aubrey was sure the injuries under the suit would be worse.

News of her being here broke and holoforms began to form in the hanger as a response. Aubrey stormed past all of them to reach her sister, "Aimee Jane Bradshaw!" Her worry boiled into anger, "How couldyou!? Do you know how dumb and idiotic what you did was!? Going into a warzone like that!? Why did you leave base—How could you worry us like this—you have more to think of now—"

Aj lifted her hand and cut her lecture off. It was then that Aubrey noticed the look of pure, unaltered anger in her sister's eyes. She knew of her sister's temper, but she had never seen the full force of it like this before. Aj finally spoke, "I get it. I'm dumb as shit and reckless as hell, but we have bigger things to deal with right now."

"Like what?" Aubrey snapped.

Aj moved to the side and it was only then that Aubrey noticed an unfamiliar figure behind her sister. He wore a dark suit, one she knew Wheeljack did not create, and a cracked helmet. Aj turned to glare at the figure, she scoffed loudly, "Gee, I don't know, why don't you ask daddy dearest!?"

Aubrey watched as the figure took off his helmet and her heart dropped. The man had a lightly tanned skin tone similar to her own with short brown hair peppered with gray at the temples and blue eyes that burned just like Aj's did with energy and life. A familiar smile filled his features. A smile Aubrey would never forget. He didn't look a day older than when he walked out the front door and never came back.

"Hey, Aubs." Her father greeted with a sad smile, "I missed you, girls."