By Fang Wolfsbane

Ever since Optimus's revival, the bots had been rather on edge. They didn't overly dote on their leader, but there was still something that felt rather off about the whole situation. From the sound of it, Autobots didn't simply come back from the dead like that.

Back from the dead.

The mere thought sent a shudder up Tyla's spine. When she had asked Highdrive for a better explanation, he had simply shrugged his shoulders and claimed that he didn't know the reason himself. Not even Ratchet knew and he had known what the Allspark was the moment he laid eyes on it.

Given his age, she was almost certain of the fact that he knew better than any of them about what had happened, after all, the same had happened to Prowl not so long ago. Why they were trying to keep it a secret from her and Sari, she didn't know, but that didn't change the fact that it irritated her far more than they knew.

"If you keep holding the pillow like that, you're gonna suffocate it."

Tyla blinked out of her trance, looking to the red-haired girl sitting beside her, reminding her where she was. Inside the room of Sari Sumdac, daughter of Isaac Sumdac and heiress to the prestigious Sumdac Towers.

During one of the afternoons the two of them spent at the base, Sari had mentioned that she had never been to a sleepover, so to try and comfort her, Tyla had suggested that they hold one, which was why she was, as Sari put it, squeezing the life out of an innocent pillow in the girl's bedroom.

"Ah, right. Sorry," Tyla apologised, fluffing the pillow back out, cringing at how it refused to return to its original form.

"Something on your mind?" Sari asked, watching as Tyla tried to soothe the pillow back out.

"Is it that obvious?" Tyla found herself asking, frowning at the pillow as if it was somehow at fault for refusing her touch. Not that she blamed it. She wouldn't want to be touched by something that had hurt her, especially not when she didn't deserve it.

"Kinda," Sari admitted, omitting the fact that the pillow was proof of some sort of frustration. If she could have managed a smile, she would have cast Sari a grateful one. She only assumed the other girl already understood some of her reason as to why she wasn't doing so.

"It's just… the whole thing with Optimus. I mean, I still don't even know what really happened and yet they're all acting like it was normal. Hell, not even Bumblebee is freaked out about it anymore and you know how he gets."

Sari nodded her understanding as she slid her arms out behind her to keep herself propped up. "Maybe it is normal for them."

"To what? Just die and come back? I doubt it."

"Yeah but look at what happened with Prowl."

She hit the nail right on the head with that one. Just look at what happened to him. He was doomed to die until Sari's key somehow magically brought him back as if she had used magic on him.

Of course she herself didn't believe in the existence of it, but it made a lot more sense than simply accepting that both Prowl and Optimus had returned from the dead because a human girl stuck her key in their chests.

No matter how she looked at it, that big orange box that the Autobots had called the Allspark had a great deal to do with whatever was really going on. Even though she was convinced of her own theory, she was pretty certain that Ratchet would find some way to avoid the subject entirely. The bot wasn't known for his chatty behaviour.

"Do you think it could work on humans?"

Tyla blinked once more. It didn't take much to figure out that Sari was talking about the key, what with her fingers playing with it as if it were a mere trinket.

"Do you mean like simply heal or bring people back from the dead?"

Sari didn't answer her. Tyla didn't know much about the Sumdac family, but from what she could recall, she had never heard Sari so much as mentioned a mother or second parental figure besides the professor. Thinking on it now, Tyla was curious enough to ask the other girl about it, but the pure sadness in her eyes made it hard to, so she didn't, simply trusting her to tell her on her own time when she felt ready to do so.

Tyla pulled up her shoulders, trying to seem as casual about the question as she possibly could. "Who knows? We're not exactly made of circuits and gears."

Sari's eyes trembled lightly as she focused her gaze on the floor beneath them. "Yeah. I guess so."

Tyla silently cursed herself. Here she had been hoping to cheer Sari up when all she really did was upset her further. Looking around the room some, she sought something to distract them with.

"Hey, what's your score like?"

This time it was Sari's turn to blink as she looked up at the older girl in confusion. "What do you mean?"

Tyla flashed her a smile. "You know, your score in that game you and Bumblebee usually play."

That brought a smile to the younger girl's face. "I'm in the lead so far. Why?"

"You mind teaching me how to play?"

"Hm, that depends. What do I get when I win?"

"Oh, when you win? My, cocky aren't we?" Tyla playfully nudged her arm before she gave it some thought. "How about extra fries when I'm on duty. No extra charge."

Sari's smile widened. "Okay."

"But if I win, then I want…" Tyla's eyes scanned the room once more for something of equal value. With everything in the room being far out of her own price range to keep maintained, she settled for something that could work out for the same amount as the extra fries over the span of a couple of years. "The first choice on whatever new music device your dad brings out."

Thinking it through, Sari nodded her consent, holding her hand out. "Deal."

W ith a firm, competitive handshake, they each picked up a controller and got to work on competing against each other in the racing game, playing through the large TV in the room.

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