Blitzwing didn't know how long they had walked, but they knew that as a human, they would freeze in temperatures like this. From his estimate, it was probably about -10 degrees celcius. It was absolutely horrible as Blitzwing desperately tried to avoid the wind, but it seemed to hit them from all angles.

"I regret this!" Random exclaimed, teeth chattering as they tried to wrap the cloths over themselves. Icy nor Hothead had the will nor the focus to retort. They had never had to deal with something like this and didn't have the slightest clue what to do.

It wasn't long before they noticed a hallowed out tree with an opening that thankfully wasn't getting snow covered. Blitzwing tucked themselves inside of it and wrapped the pseudo blanket around themselves.

They hadn't a clue when they had fallen asleep, as they were doing their best to get comfortable, but was struggling regardless. So whenever they did finally pass out, it was a relief.

The next morning had come quickly, and to their surprise, it was sunny. The snow had melted a bit, but it looked as though it had warmed up over the night. Cautiously, Blitzwing stepped out into the light. It felt warm, pleasant, incredible honestly, especially after such a gruesome night.

"Our first night as a human and we nearly freeze to death! Yep!" Random joked, giggling to himself at the irony. Icy and Hothead still weren't quite over the fact that they were human, but were lucid enough to properly understand it.

"I still cannot believe it." Hothead voiced, still in awe and shock. Everything was so much smaller now, but it didn't feel unnatural like how it did with the holoform. They had never considered how odd it felt as a holoform, but now that they were actually human… it was strange. Icy fronted and exhaled.

"We need to find a way out of the forest." Blitzwing may not have known much about humans, but they remembered how they were trained to survive situations like this should they ever arise as a Decepticon. They could only hope it would apply to this situation as well. "The sun is rising in that direction, and according to Earth's orbit that direction is east. We are about 50 kilometers north from Detroit, so logically speaking, we need to head south."

"I'm glad you decided to do all that boring research, Icy!" Random said relieved. Icy rolled his eyes as he oriented themselves and started to head south, remembering that soon they should be hitting a highway and maybe they could find a settlement where they could find help. After all, they were human, so they should have no issues blending in.

Blitzwing did their best to stay in the sunlight, where at the very least it would keep them warmer than they were now. But walking did also help. They were incredibly surprised when they stumbled across a family of deer walking through the forest. They had never realized just how majestically big these creatures were. They watched the deer in silence until the deer noticed them and then ran off.

"Curious." Icy remarked, clearly fascinated.

"We need to keep moving!" Hothead grumbled as he took charge and continued walking.

It had perhaps been a few megacycles since they had started walking, they weren't exactly keeping track. But eventually, their feet did start to ache terribly and they found themselves exhausted, with their throat feeling dry. However, they managed to find a clearing, and by mid-day they had found the highway that Icy recalled from their internal map when they had one.

But it was practically empty, with more forests running alongside the road. Blitzwing exhaled as they decided to have a break and sat down, with Icy trying to figure out which direction to head towards in coordinates with the sun. Hothead was fuming at Random, because whatever Random did, it got them in this mess. But Random was too excited by all the new sights and sensations to really care.

However, before any of them could despair, they heard what sounded like an engine and fast approaching. Curious, Blitzwing looked over to spot an old pickup truck approaching them, heading south. Icy considered trying to wave it down and ask for help, but the truck slowed down without even needing his input.

Blitzwing watched as the truck stopped right beside them and the window rolled down to reveal a young woman, perhaps a bit older than Cecile, looking at them with concern and intrigue.

"Hey! You okay there?" She asked, her voice was bombastic and loud. She was relatively tanned with short, messy hair with a bandanna wrapped around her head. Blitzwing wasn't too familiar with the ethnicity or races of humans, but they guessed she was of Asian decent. She wore overalls and looked like she had oil stains in her clothes and some smudges on her face. She bore a concerned yet genuine smile as she regarded the triplechanger turned human.

"Oh, um, yes," Icy said, awkwardly. The first conversation with a now fellow human and he was already screwing it up. "We got horribly lost, and have been trying to find civilization for a few me- er hours now."

As Icy explained themselves, the woman looked at him with curiosity. "We?" She asked, a bit puzzled.

"Oh, I'm an alter within a system. We have Otherwise Specified Dissociative Disorder." Icy explained right before Random fronted and grinned at the young woman fiendishly. "Nice to meet you!"

The woman looked them over before a mischievous smile graced her features. "Well, hop in, I can take you to the nearest town. Name's Shion by the way. Whats yours?" Shion introduced herself, grinning.

"Oh! Yes, you can call me Raine! The nerd was Lucius! You'll meet Heinrich soon!" Random exclaimed before he clapped in delight. He went around and opened the door to the truck and hopped into the passenger seat. Now this was even more ironic as he laughed quietly to himself. A giant robot turned human within another vehicle, what a shock. Shion seemed to be unperturbed by the crazed alter as she shifted gear and drove off.

"Raine, huh? Neat name! Are you guys german or something?" She asked bluntly. Icy had to admit that this Shion was quite the interesting person already.

"Oh, yes, more specifically from Austria." Icy answered. Shion hummed slightly before she chuckled and smiled.

"So what were your german asses doing all the way in the middle of buttfuck nowhere Michigan? There's no one out here for miles." She asked, and Blitzwing found that they had no idea how to answer that question.

"I don't recall." Icy said, lying through his teeth. "My memory is foggy."

"Ah, I get it." Shion said easily, before she shot Icy a look, one that he returned with a confused yet silently worried one. She half smiled. "Something tells me you haven't been as honest with me as I would hope."

Blitzwing was stunned into silence, completely thrown off by the woman's forwardness. Then again, she had no idea she was in a truck with a Decepticon. "But, hey, keep your secrets." She added with a smile. "Can't say I don't have a few of my own."

Blitzwing had to exhale a quiet sigh of relief that Shion wouldn't throw them out of her truck nor would she force them to lie further. In all honesty, that's the last thing they wanted – to lie some more. However, Random wasn't one for no words.

"You wouldn't believe us if we told you! Primus! The concept is still crazy, even to me!" He laughed, almost testing fate, but knowing for sure she wouldn't believe them if they told her the truth. However, at that, the woman seemed to be even more intrigued.

"Oh? Try me." She challenged.

"Please!" Hothead scoffed. "The fool is right, you wouldn't believe us."

"Well, you never know. I literally just accepted some rando in my car because there's no reason for anyone to be out here, let alone in the state you are dressed and the way you look. Do you want any water by any chance?" Shion asked, lifting up a bottle of water for him to take. Curiously yet recognizing that humans needed water to live much like how Cybertronians needed energon, Hothead took the bottle and opened it, remembering how Cecile had done so. He peeked inside and sniffed it, and yes, it was indeed water.

"Relax, I didn't poison it." She joked, swiping it out of his hands and taking a swig, all the while keeping her eyes on the road. She handed it back to him with a smile. Hothead felt like a fool for not even considering the option, but none of them felt like telling her that. He took a drink and immediately took several more gulps. Primus, this water tasted really good and it was so refreshing and nice! The aching in their throat was dulled as they practically downed the whole bottle.

"Damn, you were really thirsty, huh?" She teased, but seemed relieved that he wasn't dehydrated. Icy returned the bottle back to its place and nodded once.

"Thank you for your help." He said sincerely. Shion smirked.

"Don't thank me yet! I still wanna know why you're out here, man." She asked curiously yet pestering. Hothead glared at her and all she did was grin at that. "Dude, trust me, you are not as scary as you think you are."

"I like you!" Random exclaimed, immediately overtaking Hothead. "Well, if you really wanna know; we're a Decepticon from the planet Cybertron and we've become human because I wanted to be with my beloved human girl named Cecile! We were in the forest because as a Decepticon we contemplated breaking up with her to avoid her getting hurt, but I said no, and then I wanted to be human and here we are! Don't ask me how it happened though."

Just as they expected, Shion gave them a surprised look as she blinked owlishly. What they didn't expect was for her to whistle and give out a small "huh" before pondering the idea and running it over in her head. Icy and Hothead were in full on panic mode as they were desperately trying to think of something to cover for Random's stupidity, but it seemed they didn't need to.

"Well," Shion started. "Surprisingly, that is not the craziest thing I've heard my entire life."

"I told you she wouldn't believe us!" Random said completely relaxed and expectant of her response. But then…

"Oh no, I believe you. In fact, it kind of does make some sense in an odd way. There's no way an ordinary human would just get dumped out here in nothing but fancy silk and linen. If someone was gonna dump a body, they would do so with you dead and with rags. I meant it when I said there is literally no one out here for at least 20 miles. Besides, I've also been keeping up with the news in Detroit from a few years back. I recognize your voice from the news." Shion deducted rather easily to their surprise. "Blitzwing, right?"

Shocked at just how quickly she figured it out, Random blinked. "Um… yeah." Was all he managed to say.

"Oh, and the way you looked at the water was sus, like you had never drank it in your life." Shion added, completely unfazed by everything that she was saying. Random was starting to wonder if she herself was crazy. None of them had any clue what this human's deal was and why she was so calm throughout this all.

"I suppose so." Icy remarked, trying to remain calm. He didn't take his eyes off of her as she continued driving down the road. "Where are we going?"

"I suppose wherever you need to go. But something tells me you haven't been human long." She said, gesturing to his… well, entire self. Blitzwing felt their face grow warm as Icy nodded once. "So, lemme take you to my place. It's a few miles ahead, then we can figure out what to do from there."

"Why are you helping us?" Hothead practically demanded, seeing all of this as suspicious. He suspected a trap, but also was genuinely curious as to what was wrong with her. Shion paused at that as she looked to be considering her next words.

"Well, you mentioned how you're in love with a human, right? Well, I'm a sucker for a good love story, and I wanna see if I can help." Shion explained, yet Blitzwing couldn't help but think that there was more to it than just that. However, she didn't seem to want to elaborate and Icy didn't want to pester the crazed human who was helping a Decepticon.

"Sure." Icy said quietly as they drove down the highway.

"Welcome! Me casa es su casa, or whatever." Shion said sardonically as she lifted up the garage door and allowed Blitzwing in, who surveyed the space curiously.

It was a whole set up with everything a human would need to fix machines – a workspace. There were tools, mechanical parts strewn about, and larger bulkier machines for cutting and welding in the corners with shelves on the walls with boxes of all sizes. Blitzwing was actually impressed by the level of organized chaos as everything seemed to have a place, despite the seeming mess.

Shion immediately went for a door to the side, which opened up to a section that was connected to the garage. The house she lived in was tiny, but everything seemed to work very well. If Blitzwing had to describe the aesthetic, they would think concrete and mechanic rat. They followed her and as soon as they entered the space, they realized that this was where she lived. It was a tall room, with a ladder climbing up to a built-in open section where her bed was. Bellow it was a kitchenette, a sofa with a TV, some gaming consoles, and another door which they assumed to be the bathroom. Overall, it was a small space, yet everything was utilized very well. And everything seemed to be handmade, including all the appliances.

Shion went to the fridge and pulled out a bottle of some kind of juice before pouring herself a glass and asked Blitzwing if they wanted some with a smile. Random nodded eagerly, which didn't surprise Icy nor Hothead as he was so excited to try human food. Shion gave him his glass and allowed him to have a sip, to which Random grimaced and spat it out.

"What's in this?" Random asked, sounding curious yet still grossed out. Shion had burst out laughing.

"It's rum!" She cackled. Random gave her a confused blink before she giggled. "It's alcohol."

"Oh!" Random exclaimed before narrowing his eyes at the drink and taking a smaller sip, immediately spitting it out again. Hothead fronted and groaned.

"You idiot! Stop drinking it if you don't like it!"

"But its got a funky taste!" Random whined as Hothead dumped the drink into the sink. Shion was desperately trying to conceal her laughter as Hothead deathglared her, which didn't intimidate the smaller woman whatsoever.

Speaking of which, Blitzwing noticed how Shion was shorter than them, which made them all curious. "How tall are we?" Icy asked. Shion hummed once before she put her drink away and grabbed a measuring tape before measuring out their height.

"About 6'2''. For comparison, I'm 5'6''." She explained as she grinned. Icy nodded. "Anyway, sorry for the prank, I promise most human food tastes better than alcohol."

"Dully noted." Icy said casually.

"In any case, we need to figure out some stuff for you guys. For one, can you guys turn back into a Decepticon?" She asked, her tone turning a tad serious, which surprised them.

"We don't even know how we turned into a human." Icy explained. "Let alone how to turn back."

"Gotcha." Shion said as she looked the taller man up and down. "Mind removing the tunic?"

Blitzwing wasn't sure what to expect, but they did so, revealing a very naked human male underneath. Blitzwing felt their entire face turn absolutely hot as they realized what the slag was happening. But before they could respond, Shion moved in. She wasn't perturbed whatsoever as she poked at their body, avoiding private parts, which made the 'con turned human incredibly uncomfortable regardless. And a tad chilly as the air hit their body. They quite frankly had no idea how to respond to this or what to do.

But Shion was done shortly, and nodded approvingly. "Okay, so you did indeed seem to have turned into a human." She said.

"You doubted me?!" Hothead demanded, immediately picking up the cloths and covering themselves back up without hesitation.

"Just wanted to be sure." She remarked casually. "But we should get you some clothes first and foremost. No one walks around in just sheets, my guy."

Before Blitzwing could ask, Shion scurried up the ladder and out of view. They heard her rummage through some drawers and mumble to herself incoherently. But before long, she returned and threw some clothes their way, which they managed to catch. She smiled as she gestured to the bathroom door.

"Go there and close the door, you will have privacy to change." She said sincerely, which was relieving to the man as they entered the bathroom and closed the door behind them, clothes in hand.

Icy fronted and inspected the clothes curiously, with Random watching closely. There was a long sleeved black shirt, a pair of jeans, socks, and some boots, alongside a hair tie. But before they could start dressing, they caught their reflection in the mirror. Out of morbid curiosity, Random dropped the cloths, allowing it to fall around them in a circle.

It was so strange seeing themselves as a human far more clearly. Their skin wasn't pale like Cecile's or Shion's even, rather it was tanned and rich. Their hair was long and straight, coloured a light blonde, almost platinum. It kept falling in their face, which annoyed Hothead to no end. And their eyes were even more curious, they weren't red, but rather a deep yet pleasant navy blue, too dark to be the colour of an Autobot's optics but it wasn't a bad look whatsoever. Their face shape resembled their Decepticon form as it was long with high cheekbones. Overall, they were actually rather handsome and good-looking.

"Perfect to woo Cici!" Random sighed dramatically, before Icy fronted once more and continued to inspect their actual body. They were muscular and well toned, which didn't surprise them considering what their Decepticon selves looked like, but they weren't bulky like Lugnut would probably be. Icy dared to trail his gaze down further as he spotted an odd yet protruding organ dangling from between their legs. Random poked at it curiously and paused when he felt an odd pulse go through them.

"So what is this thing? It's very sensitive!" Random asked aloud.

"I am not sure." Icy admitted. He knew that humans valued their privacy and especially felt it when Shion was prodding at them, but the only research he had done wasn't centered on human anatomy all that much. He was more interested in the anthropological sides of it. He cursed himself for not looking into this more. He diverted his gaze away from the organ.

And then, to their surprise, they saw the Shatter Crystal necklace around their neck. Blitzwing had almost missed it, but it was there. Icy touched it, and it felt bigger in their now technically smaller hands. They all inspected it with curiosity, and wondered if perhaps…

No, that was ridiculous.

"Miss Shion is waiting for us, let's not keep her waiting." Icy said, diverting thoughts away from the Crystal and to the current task at hand.

It took Icy a few minutes to figure out where each article of clothing went on their body, having never done this before. And suddenly, he had an odd appreciation for humans and their commitment to dressing every day. It was far more difficult then anticipated but despite some mishaps, they managed to solve this conundrum. Looking at themselves in the mirror, the clothes were a tad loose, but they wouldn't slip off. But for the life of them, Blitzwing could not figure out how to put their hair into the hair tie.

"Hey Shion!" Random exclaimed, opening the door to the bathroom and stepping out. The woman in question perked her head up from over the sofa questioningly. "Can you help us tie our hair! We don't know how!"

"Pfft, sure, buddy!" Shion laughed before she nodded and walked over. She gestured for Blitzwing to sit down and they did, with Random looking all too intrigued by this all. Shion gave them a look over. "We should probably cut your hair at some point, but we should brush your hair!"

For what felt like the millionth time, Shion darted away and returned with a hairbrush, an object that Blitzwing had seen among Cecile things. But before any of them could ask questions, Shion stood behind them and carefully began to brush out their hair. Aside from the small tugs and pulls, which Hothead complained vocally about, eventually it went smoothly, and Blitzwing found themselves enjoying the process immensely. The brush on the hair was incredibly soothing as Random melted into the chair, relaxing and closing his eyes with a silly grin. Primus, Cybertronians were missing out!

With a small tug and a few motions, Shion was finished and Random reopened his eyes and grinned further when he realized that the stupid hair no longer fell in their face. Shion procured a mirror for them, which Random grabbed and stared at his reflection. The hair was tied back into a mid bun, and Random nodded approvingly before he noticed something. There had been a slight difference when he fronted versus when Icy did, that being the eyes. Random's pupils were tiny, showing more of the inner part of the irises, which were icy blue.

"Cool!" Random exclaimed, before Icy handed the mirror back to Shion.

"Thank you." Icy said genuinely. Shion nodded once.

"No problemo! Now that you're dressed, let's figure some stuff out. Starting with, you should tell me about this gal of yours and what's the story thus far." Shion encouraged.

Blitzwing wanted to deny her that information, but seeing as she was helping them and clearly not going to report them to the authorities or harm them, they figured that perhaps this weird woman did indeed want to help them.

So they told her everything. How they met Cecile, the story behind their romance, the minimal things they knew about being human, the Christmas they spent together, and eventually what led them to becoming a human. They even admitted to her about the mission to eventually defeat and render Megatron offline. For some reason, this human felt trustworthy, and considering her intelligence, it would only be a matter of time before she figured it out anyway. Shion absorbed all of this information like some kind of sponge, taking it all in, but never interrupting them, waiting for them to finish their story. When they finished, Icy took a deep breath and exhaled.

"That sums it up." Icy said finally.

"Oh! And Cici gave us some wonderful presents which would be useful right about now…" Random remarked rather sadly. Shion gave him a sympathetic smile before she cleared her expression.

"So, lemme get this straight, you met this girl, saved her from killing herself, then the two of you started to spend time together, and as a result you both fell in love with each other in about a week?" Shion asked, sound incredulous for the first time.

Random nodded fullheartedly. Shion gave a half smile.

"Wow, who would have thunk." She chuckled. "So not exactly love at first sight, but close enough." She teased.

Random blew raspberries at her, which made her laugh. "Cici is incredible! And we feel so strongly about her, it isn't just nothing! She has been the kindest person we have ever met and she offers no judgment."

"Yet you still haven't told her who you guys are." Shion asked, with a bit of mirth but concerned nonetheless. Icy fronted and exhaled.

"We want to tell her, but we feel like it is more dangerous for her to know than for her to remain oblivious." Icy explained. "She has plausible deniability."

"Yet you guys are still scared of Megatron returning and hurting her." Shion said softly. Blitzwing didn't even want to think of that possibility. She sighed.

"Eventually, you guys are gonna have to tell her, but for now, this should be okay." Shion admitted. "Now the only thing to do is to figure out how to settle you into your new form. Obviously if the Decepticons see you, it wouldn't be good, and you out there by yourselves doesn't sit well by me. I'm assuming the human names you guys gave me is what Cecile calls you guys?"

"Yes." Hothead spoke for the first time in a while, having been watching from behind but not wanting to really speak, for he was rather overwhelmed.

"Perfect, so from now on, I'm going to refer to you all by your human names to avoid people giving you all weird looks, especially if someone knows who you are." Shion said, getting down to business. "You all can't return to your homebase until you figure out how to turn back. So, it's settled! You all will be staying with me!"

Blitzwing was incredibly surprised at that. She was letting them stay there? "I appreciate the offer tremendously, Miss Shion, but why?" Icy asked, incredulously. Shion smiled.

"You guys have no idea how to be a human! And getting yourself acclimated to being a human is a good idea. And, seeing as I've been one for about 24 years now, who better to teach you!" Shion said dramatically, gesturing to herself with equal flair. "Also, please, just call me Shion. 'Miss' is far too formal."

Blitzwing regarded her with surprise and didn't know what to say. It was Random who finally spoke. "Thank you so much, Shion! I promise you won't regret it and we'll be on our best behavior!"

Shion laughed. "Oh trust me, you may end up getting sick of me before I get sick of you." She joked.

Despite everything, Blitzwing couldn't help but have some hope for the future. With Shion's help, they could indeed get used to all the newness of being a human, and then they could go see Cecile again. Thankfully, they still remembered her phone number so they could call her to make sure she was okay. She was probably wondering where they were at the moment, so that was on their list of things to do.

They had faced worst before, becoming a human would be a walk on the Energon farms on Cybertron.

I hope you all enjoyed this long ass chapter because I sure enjoyed writing it! I have a lot planned and I can't wait to delve into Shion and Blitzwing's friendship! And Blitzwing is gonna find that being a human is a lot more complicated than it appears to be.

FYI, the relationship between Shion and Blitzwing is strictly platonic and even bordering on sibling-like. So there's no weird love triangles or anything stupid like that.

So! Thank you for reading and PLEASE LEAVE REVIEWS! Those fuckers keep me going for eternity!

Much love,

Sage!