There were tremors that can be felt along with the faint sounds of blasters being shot just outside the base. With pieces of rocks dropping down and fine powder trailing behind it. The reverberation of the whirling vortex was the only thing muffling the outside noise; however, she can faintly hear the Decepticons relentless assault from the outside.

Smokescreen stood in front of the bridge but not before turning to give them a farewell salute and then left. Now, Optimus, Ratchet and herself were the only ones left in the base. Then Ratchet had turned to her and had given her the signal that it was time for her departure. She now stood in front of the bridge, yet she hadn't gone through. That's when Ratchet had asked Optimus what he was going to do.

"I will ensure that the Decepticons cannot follow."

Suddenly, a horrible image flashing across her optics of Optimus's hand sticking out from the rubble of the base. There was an unpleasant chill that ran down her back strut which made her blood run cold. Her optics stung and there were tears already threatening to fall.

She whipped around and stared wide-eyed at him. "No way. I'm not going to leave you behind!"

"Lucy please—"

"NO! The Decepticons will kill you if you choose to stay! I don't want my best friend to die." Her voice box wavered before approaching him.

"Please, come with us, Optimus!" Lucy pleaded for him to reconsider his decision.

Optimus kneeled to be at the same optic-level as her before resting both of his servos on her shoulder-caps. "The risks are too high. That is why you and Ratchet will be departing on your own."

Suddenly her knees buckled, and Optimus maintained her upright, looking down at her with a worried expression. It was hard for her to even create coherent words and when she tried to speak it only ended up coming out as a quiet murmur. Optimus staying behind was one thing but not being able to go with her guardian, really devastated her.

There were tremors once again, however, this time it was much more intense. Optimus raised his helm in alarm until his optics landed back at her. His grip on her shoulder-caps tightened and his face became stern as he proceeded to rotate her with her back facing him.

"You must leave." He instructed her and used a single servo to push her forward.

Another tremor occurred and she still refused to move even after he had gently pushed her.

"Go!"

The urgency in his baritone voice was enough to break her out of her own thoughts. She did what was told and approached the bridge. Then abruptly stopped to look over her shoulder-cap at Optimus and then at Ratchet. There were so many things she wanted to say to them but now was not the right time. Her gaze on Ratchet lingered until she turned to walk through the vortex.

. . . .

The wind howled loudly into her audio-receptors, soaring above the clouds as to not draw attention to herself from the civilians below. She made sure to stay hidden in the skies in case there were possible Decepticons roaming nearby who were most likely hunting them down. Secretly praying that the others remained safe and hidden from Decepticon optics.

It had been hours since she was Space Bridged right in between the US and Canadian border in Minnesota. Traveling southwest without ceasing and bounced from state to state. Even when night approached, she outright refused to stop and the amount of energy she was using was beginning to wear her down.

As the sun peeked over the horizon and the sudden brightness made her hiss. Her optics were dimly lit and was using all her willpower to keep them open yet with heavy lids threatening to fall. At some point her flight decreased because of the exhaustion slowly seeping in but still maintained herself up float and was gently gliding above the clouds. Then she made the mistake of closing her eyes causing her to go into a light snooze and her body inadvertently lowered itself just below the clouds.

However, her moment of bliss was rudely interrupted by the sounds of jets coming her way. Her eyes shot wide open with the adrenaline pumping rapidly through her veins as she quickly hid back inside the thick layer of clouds.

She cursed under her breath for allowing herself to doze off like that. Silently watching as the Decepticon jets flew right past her, having not seen her during her little mishap. She sighs deeply in relief with a shake of her head before she flew off.

For fear that she will fall asleep while flying and she opted to take a detour up the state of Wyoming. There she sought shelter deep within the Yellowstone National Forest landing right by the lake. She hid behind the trees where she would be out of view from any human eyes as well as Deepticons before evidently passing out from exhaustion.

It was twelve o'clock at night when she stirred herself awake. She groggily stood up and walked over to the lake. The mixture of gravel and dirt crunching beneath her pedes to which then stopped right in front of the calm waters. Then she lowers herself on her knees and stares off into the dark skies. The stars were prominent being able to see the constellations as well as the milky way. Even at times of great conflict, there are still moments such as this one where she'd get to truly appreciate what mother nature had to offer.

Lucy hummed absentmindedly and there was a certain medic that kept wandering back into her processors. She was worried about him and wondered how he was handling the situation they were currently facing. Then she looked down at the water expecting to see her reflection, instead she saw Ratchet in his vehicle mode. Her spark skipped a beat and immediately lunged forward where her faceplate was inches away from the reflection.

"Ratchet!" She didn't realize how eager she sounded but she didn't think much of it. There she watched him instantly transform and was desperately searching for the sound of her voice.

"Ratchet, over here! To your left—no wait, on your right!"

Finally, Ratchet saw her, although he wasn't expecting to see her inside of a full-length mirror. He visibly panicked and kneeled in front of the mirror.

"By the AllSpark! How in the world did you get yourself trapped in there?" He exclaimed hovering his servos on either side of the mirror but was afraid to touch it in fear of breaking it. Truly believing that she was somehow trapped.

"What?" She couldn't help but let out a lighthearted laugh. "I'm not trapped, Ratchet. Although, I don't know exactly what I did to call you… but I'm glad this happened. It's good to see you're doing well."

Ratchet nodded, sending her one of his rare smiles. "I would say the same to you, although you look exhausted. Have you been resting?"

Lucy chuckles and gives him a nervous lopsided smile. "That obvious, huh? You see, I've been traveling for two days straight and almost got spotted by a group of seekers—"

"WHAT?! Are you out of your mind?" He had a horrified expression and if it were possible for his optics to get any wider.

"Hey! At least I acknowledged my mistake and managed to get some decent rest for the entire day. Can't I have the right to worry for you!?" The last sentence slipped out of her mouth on pure accident and she didn't even realize it until Ratchet pointed it out in his astonishment.

"You were… worried for me?" Instantaneously, he saw her cheeks heating up and then looked away timidly.

"How could I not?" Lucy admitted softly and then glanced at his reflection giving him a kind smile where a faint blush was still adorned on her freckled cheeks.

"Hey, Ratchet?" He hummed in response as she grabbed a strand of her hair and began to twirl it with her digit. "I know this is silly to admit but… I miss you… I really do."

Ratchet's chest plate fluttered as a warm sensation had begun to spread across his chassis. This time it was his turn to have his cheeks reddened as his own cooling fans activated. He was a stuttering mess and hearing her giggle because of it made him want to shrink back into his vehicular mode.

"Ratchet, where are you located?" The sudden change was unintentional on her part, but there were more important matters that she wanted to discuss.

Ratchet composed himself by coughing awkwardly to the side. "At a junkyard in Woodland park, Colorado."

"Junkyard?! What in the world are you doing there? Shouldn't you be searching for the others?" She questioned and immediately his faceplate fell.

"Ratchet?" Worry laced in her voice.

"Bumblebee and Rafael found me a cycle ago and left in route for the Harbinger. I… remained behind." He bitterly said.

"Why didn't you go with them?" She asked and was taken back when he suddenly glared at her.

"Why? Because we can't stand a chance against the Decepticons." He snapped harshly and seeing her flinch because of him left a pang in his spark before he shook his helm. "There's no hope for us ever winning the war, Lucy."

"Don't say that! There's still a chance for us to win this, Ratchet." She reassured him; however, this didn't convince him in the slightest. "Ratchet, I didn't just travel for two days straight for nothing. Optimus would want us to continue fighting, no matter how outnumbered we are, no matter how much pain we must endure. We must continue to fight, not only for Earth's sake but for Cybertron too."

She hoped to have said enough to make him reconsider but was having a hard time figuring out what exactly he was feeling. Ratchet wore an expressionless stare and something that she had grown accustomed to when she first met him. Then she investigated his optics, she could easily tell that he was distraught about this entire ordeal. All she wanted to do was to comfort him but being that she was nowhere near to where he was it pained her deeply seeing him in such a state.

Her shoulder-caps slumped slightly forward with a saddened smile forming on her lips. "Alright… if that's what you think... then I won't oblige you to join us. But no matter what happens in this war whether we win or not… you will always hold a special place in my spark, Ratchet."

Suddenly the water shifted as his reflection slowly began to disappear. The last thing she saw was his stunned expression and his lips moved yet the sound of his voice was unable to go through until she was now staring at herself on the water's surface.

Lucy could see that her reflection wore a dejected expression. Her servo absentmindedly reached out to touch her face through the water, however, her digits simply passed through the surface. This creates a small movement in the water and her own reflection looks distorted for a moment.

She never realized it until now... at how empty she felt without his presence.

. . . .

Her pedes landed on to the dry and barren landscape, with large rock formations. The moon was shining down at her silvery-blue frame and began to wander around. Suddenly she hears wings flapping, initially shrugging it off, thinking that it was probably a hawk out or maybe an owl hunting for prey. However, the noise kept getting closer and the sound was unlike any other avian on earth.

How can she even be certain of this? Well… because birds don't tend to hiss.

She could see a large creature approaching her and quickly positioned herself in a defensive stance as it neared her. Then it landed with a harsh thud causing the ground to quake beneath her. In front of her stood a large serpentine-like creature which had a striking resemblance to a dragon, instead having flesh it was made from metal. Its armor was made consistently out of dark red and black parts, and robotic dragon wings for flight.

Its yellow optics glaring down at her before it inched closer. She staggered back and then froze from where she stood as its snout was mere inches away from her. Not really having the spark to harm the creature before shutting her eyes and waiting for the pain to come which never did.

That's when she felt a light nudge on her chest plate. She reopened her eyes, with a shocked-filled expression when its wings cradled her small frame before pulling her closer to its snout. It confused her deeply but went along with it as she extended her servo and gently began to scratch under its snout. This earned a delightful purr and leaned into her touch.

"What in the world are you?" She mused to herself before letting out a surprise gasp.

The creature had its tail curled around her waist as it lifted her up and then placed her right on its back. Before she could even process what was happening, the creature had already spread its wings and took off with her riding on its back.

She could never have predicted this and wondered where in the world it was taking her. As it flew high above the clouds and curiously peeked her helm from the side of its neck. Just ahead she can vaguely make out the small town of Jasper and Megatron's new fortress. Realization dawned on her while at the same time her blood went cold along with her faceplate becoming pale.

Somehow it sensed her distress as it ceased its flying where it then slowly descended. Until it landed at a nearby canyon and lowered itself to allow her to slide off his back. When she hopped off is when it turned to her staring at her in bewilderment.

"I appreciate the ride, unfortunately, I can't go with you to the fortress." She said to the creature and gave it a lopsided smile. It let out a whine as it gently nudged its snout on the side of her helm.

There were too many outcomes that could go horribly wrong if she were to infiltrate the mighty fortress. Being spotted by one Decepticon could result in multiple scenarios and none of them were good to begin with. Although there was a high possibility that Megatron would intervene, it would be unlikely he would do so since their last meeting didn't end on good terms.

The roaring of jets neared to where they were located and saw a group of purple seekers off into the distance behind the creature. Before she could do anything the creature suddenly extended its wings using them to hide her from view. Just in time as the seekers flew by without giving it a second thought.

She exhales and smiles gratefully at the creature. "Thank you."

It gave her a curt nod before its gaze landed on to the fortress and then looked back down at her. She could tell that this creature was hesitant to leave her side, but it was too dangerous for her to go.

"Don't worry about me."

The creature hesitated for a moment before it took flight towards the fortress. At that moment, the rays of the sun peeked from over the horizon. This was her cue to hide and she carefully glided down into the narrow canyon. All she needed to do was wait, at least long enough until the others would show up.