Greetings all! I am so happy to be back and writing again. I have missed it so and I have missed all of you. It has been far to long so I hope that this chapter sort of makes up for it. I hope that you all enjoy the chapter and find it entertaining.

Mikaela sat down on the large comfortable chair that sat on top of Optimus's desk. Her body sank into the dark brown fabric hugging her gently and providing a slight bit of warmth to her bare arms. She let out a sigh as she looked at her phone and saw that she had been waiting in the Prime's office for over an hour and a half. Not for the first time she wished that she had at least brought her music player with her to keep her mind off of how long it was taking Optimus to get there. But she hadn't really had the chance to grab anything after practically being shoved out of her auto garage by Sam or rather Alpha as he called himself. She shivered as she remembered looking into the mechs bright white optics and feeling the pure power that seemed to flow from them.

The thought of something like that possessing Sam's body, human or mechanical, bothered her greatly. She didn't know what that thing was but it had protected her and lead Megatron away so she could escape. With that in mind she decided that the thing couldn't be all bad. She was still uneasy about the whole thing but then again she hadn't been at ease since finding Sam in the shower in his new form. She sighed again as more and more thoughts ran through her head. Nothing that had happened in a long while had made seance to her and she didn't know how much more she could take.

"Are you alright Worrier Goddess?" Wheelie asked from his seat right next to her on the couch.

"I'm fine Wheelie..." She lied. "Just a lot on my mind right now."

For once the small toy truck didn't argue back. He let his mistress have her time to think which she was very grateful for. Shifting her position slightly she managed to rest her head on the arm of the chair and put the rest of her body into the best position that she could manage. Slowly her eyes began to close as her mind began to slow down. It wasn't long before she was fast asleep with Wheelie right next to her ready to stand watch until she woke up.

Opening the door to one of there meeting rooms, Will was greeted by the sight of Galloway sitting at the conference table with a look on his face that suggested that he was about to cry. In each corner of the room stood one of Will's soldiers, each one easily a head and a half taller then Galloway and with much more muscle mass on there arms then the man had in his whole body. When they had gotten back to base Will had instantly placed the pathetic man on lock down until he got orders from his higher ups on what to do with him. He almost left armed guards in the room with the man but decided that any one of them could easily subdue Galloway without a fire arm.

Running his hand over his head Will walked further into the room and nodded to each of his men.

"I got replacements coming for you guys." Will told them. "Didn't think you wanted to watch him all day."

"Thank you sir." One of the men said.

Will waved his hand and told them that they could jump out early and that he would watch Galloway until the next four soldiers came. The four men didn't waist one second before darting out of the room and heading to there personal rooms to change into normal cloths. Will sat down at the far end of the table and folded his hands in front of him. His eyes settled on the pathetic man in front of him and for a while the two sat in silence. The only sound that was in the room was the rapid breathing and slight wheezing that Galloway was doing. It didn't take long before the man started to sweat under Will's heated gaze.

"You have no right to keep me here..." The man said trying to sound commanding but only succeeded in sounding scared and pathetic.

"Actually I have every right to keep you here." Will said his voice even. "Kidnapping is a very serious crime, no matter what planet your from or on."

"I didn't kidnap anyone." Galloway said trying to defend himself.

Will felt his eye twitch with irritation at the man's words and what he knew they meant.

"You took another person's child against there wishes..." Will said trying to control his temper. "I think that is the gist of kidnapping."

"You can't kidnap a machine." Galloway said. "Machine's don't have parents."

"That's funny... cause I got a good handful of people... high ranking people mind you, that says differently." Will said his eyes burning holes into Galloway's.

"What I was doing, was for the good of the people of Earth." Galloway said.

What shocked Will was that he knew Galloway actually meant what he was saying. He fought the urge to clench his fist in anger.

"What possible good could there be to the people of Earth from kidnapping and trying to kill a kid?" Will asked his voice void of any emotion.

"Because that... thing use to be a human." Galloway said firmly. "It was that boy, Witwicky. They turned him into one of them. Just like they plan to do to the rest of us."

"What in the name of God would make you think something like that?" Will asked knowing that even though Galloway was partly right he could never know that.

"The facts." He said simply. "The boy goes missing, then this thing shows up with no explanation as to where it came from."

"Sam was killed by Megatron... If you where still in the know you would have read that report." Will said.

Galloway chuckled slightly which annoyed Will to no end. "Yes that's right... I remember that story. Completely disintegrated. Not a single trace of the boy left." Galloway said taking out a folded up piece of paper from his pocket. "I did read that report." He said tossing the paper over to Will who opened it to find his report that he had written.

"Where did you get this?" He asked. "You don't have access to this information any more."

"You're not the only one who has connections Captain." Galloway said. "Mine sent me this, along with all the other clues I needed to put the aliens plan together."

Will clenched his fist tightly around the paper in his hands and glared at the man across from him.

"Who are your contacts?" He asked through clenched teeth.

"Even if I wanted to tell you I couldn't." Galloway said. "They contacted me. I've never seen them, never heard there voice. There is no trail any where that leads back to them."

"So you just decided to trust what someone you don't know tells you!" Will almost yelled.

"They are human, at this point in our war that is all that I need to know." Galloway said.

Will finally couldn't hold in his anger any more. Slamming his fists down on the table he stood up and made a 'B' line right for Galloway. The smaller man yelled in fear as Will grabbed him by his shirt and lifted him up out of his chair. Pulling him in close Will hissed into his ear;

"For your sake... you better hope that this war of yours never comes. 'Cause if it does... it won't be an alien's weapon that kills you, I can promise you that."

Will could almost smell the fear coming off of Galloway in waves, and it made him sick. Throwing the man back onto his chair, which proceeded to fall over with him in it, Will turned on his heels and stormed out of the room just as the four new guards came in for there shifts. Grabbing one of the soldiers by his collar Will pulled him closer and said firmly.

"If he tries anything, and I mean anything..." Will didn't bother to finish his sentence. The solider quickly nodded his head and gave him a 'Yes Sir' before will let him go and stormed off down the hall.

Ratchet looked up from the data pad that he had been looking over as the doors to his med bay began to open. He held back a groan when he knew who it was who was coming in. Since only Optimus and Ironhide could over ride his doors and Optimus usually signed before coming in, Ratchet knew that it must be Ironhide who was on the other side. Taking a moment to thank Primus for giving him the foresight to move the sparkling into a side room the medic stood up and greeted the grumpy mech.

"There is a wonderful tradition on this planet that I think might serve you some good." Ratchet said as Ironhide walked in. "It's called knocking. Maybe you have heard of it?"

Ironhide only grunted at the medic's words and continued to move over to the large berth in the center of the room. Grunting slightly the black mech sat down on the berth and held out his cannon for the medic to look at. Ratchet glared at Ironhide's for a moment before moving closer to his side and looking at the weapon.

"What have you been doing to strip the gears in your cannon?" He asked not really needing an answer.

"Training." Ironhide said, his voice a little scratchy.

"I see... and did this training also involve you stressing your vocal processors to the point that they almost snapped?" Ratchet asked as he began to work on the cannon.

Ironhide simply grunted again and turned his head so he didn't have to look at Ratchet. Letting out a sigh, Ratchet let the room fall into silence for a while as he fixed what was wrong with the mech's weapon. It didn't take longer then thirty minutes to have every gear replaced and oiled but after he was done Ironhide didn't run off like he normally did. Instead he continued to sit on the berth his arms resting on his legs and his optics staring at the floor. Ratchet looked at the all to human position and had to keep back a chuckle.

"Something on your mind?" He asked.

Ironhide didn't say anything right away, instead he continued to look at the floor. Ratchet paused in his clean up and turned to look at his old friend. In all his years of knowing the mech, and there where many many years, he had never seen him act like he was at that point.

"How is he?" Ironhide finally whispered not moving his optics from there spot on the floor.

Ratchet didn't need to ask who Ironhide was asking about. Turning back to his cleaning he spoke gently; "The sparkling... Sam is doing fine. He is fully repaired and his energy levels are all stable."

There was the very faint sound of gears whirling as Ironhide's shoulders sank low in relief. "Can... can I see him?"

Ratchet hesitated. He wasn't sure if it was the best idea to wake the sparkling from his much needed recharge. But one look at the mech on his berth and he couldn't say no.

"He's in there." Ratchet said pointing to the side room. "But please... do not bring him from his recharge."

Ironhide simply nodded before getting down from the berth and slowly making his way over to the door. He paused at the entrance before having it slide open and moving inside. Ratchet watched him go inside and he felt his spark sink low.

"So many things are not right any more..." He thought. "Things have never been this fractured between us all."

"The war has taken a great toll on everyone." Ratchet heard from behind him.

"Please no..." The medic whispered closing his optics refusing to see the image that he knew was behind him.

Optimus held in his sigh of relief when the video screen went black and the face of the General and President faded from sight. The meeting had not gone well at all, not that he had expected it to. Having half a city destroyed and not being able to give the humans any real answer as to why wouldn't sit well with anyone. Turning away from the screen, Optimus made sure to not show any signs of his weariness to anyone in the room. He knew that his Autobot's would understand but he didn't want to show the humans just how bad things where for him at the moment.

Leaving the room, the Prime began to make his way to his office where he knew that Mikaela was waiting for him. This time he did sigh as he thought about what new problems the young human would bring up. He knew that the least she would want where answers, answers that he wasn't sure she was ready to handle or that he was ready to give her. As he walked down the hallway he became so wrapped up in his thoughts that he didn't even notice his young scout until he had ran straight into him. With his guard down so much he couldn't help but stumble back several steps almost tripping over his own stabilizing servos. Faster then he could process Bumblebee had grabbed him by his arms and had helped to steady himself. Shuttering his optics a few times, it took a moment for the Prime to realize what had happened.

"Bumblebee..." He said awkwardly. "Forgive me, I was not paying attention."

"Oh f-forgive me sir..." A voice played out from Bumblebee's radio.

Optimus shook his head and smiled slightly. "You should not apologize for my mistake."

"Why so serious?" An evil sounding voice played out from the speaker again, it was followed quickly by; "Lean on me... When your not strong."

Optimus smiled at his scouts concern for him. He knew that Bumblebee always tried to find a way to help his friends.

"Do not worry about it..." Optimus said trying to sound convincing. "It is nothing that won't resolve its self with time."

Optimus saw the look the 'Bee gave him, he was sure that the scout wasn't buying his story but thankfully he didn't push the subject. There was a moment of silence between the two before Optimus stood a little straighter.

"I must be on my way, I have a meeting in my office." Optimus said not really sure why he felt so awkward with the young scout.

Bumblebee nodded his head and gave the Prime a confident chirp before heading off down the hall way. Optimus watched the yellow mech walk off before continuing down to his office. He paused just out side the door trying to collect his thoughts before entering. He didn't know why he was worried about talking with the young human. He knew that he could easily refuse to give her information if she asked for it, but he had a feeling that whatever the girl had to say wouldn't be good. Filling his tanks with air, Optimus opened the door and stepped in.

The room was quiet, even with his gears whirling and clicking the room still held a heavy silence. Irohide's bright optics instantly locked onto the small form resting on the large berth in the center of the room. The silver metal of the sparkling shinning brighter then the polished steel of the berth he was recharging on. Shuttering his optics a few times Ironhide slowly approached the berth. The sound from each of his steps seemed to be absorbed by the room which only made the silence all the more imposing. He stopped a few steps from the berth and simply stared down at his sparkling. He could feel his spark reaching out for the young one, desperate to feel the younger spark. He tried holding back the bond but it was stronger then he was and quickly connected with the other spark.

Ironhide froze at the contact, it seemed different from the bond he had before with the sparkling. The difference was neither good nor bad, but he could tell something was not normal with it. His curiosity go the better of him and he began to probe further over the bond trying to find the source of the change. Further and further he pushed into the sparkling's spark but whatever it was that was making the bond strange seemed to be avoiding his probing.

Shutting off his optics, Ironhide used all he had to grab hold of the strangeness and bring it out. Suddenly a brilliant blue light across the blackness of his vision and he could feel something pulling his spark in deeper and deeper. Grunting, Ironhide tried to pull himself back out of the bond but the force wouldn't let him go. He could feel the light invading every inch of his being. It moved through his spark and slowly through his body until he could feel whatever it was moving around inside his processor. Before he could do anything he found himself rushing through every memory that he had. Unlike before when he would view his memories, this time he felt like he was a passenger while someone else had control of where they went.

Not a single moment of his life was spared from the strange beings examination. Even events that he had never known that he had kept passed before his optics. Hit with such a wave of emotion from the memories Ironhide was forced to his knees and from there onto his side. He could feel his body curling up around him but he couldn't control it. After what felt like a life time the light began to fade and slowly he could feel control returning to him. Opening his optics Ironhide stayed in his curled up position for a time unsure of what had just happened or what it meant. After another few minutes of laying on the floor, he picked himself up and turned to look at the sparkling which still rested on the berth. He hadn't moved or gave any sign that he even knew Ironhide was there.

Placing his hand over his spark for a moment Ironhide tried to make seance of what had just happened. Shaking his head he turned and was about to leave the room when a voice he had never heard before spoke out.

"Greetings Ironhide..."

Stopping in his tracks Ironhide quickly spun around looking for the source of the voice.

"Who is there?" He asked trying his best not to get to loud so that he didn't wake the sparkling. "Who are you?"

"You can call me Alpha." The voice said. "And there is a lot that we need to talk about..."

I hope that you all liked the chapter, it was fun to write. The ending kind of caught me off guard while I wrote it but like I have said before the story has a life of its own, I just write it down.

All will be reviled in the next few chapters. Until then have fun and be well.