You should never be alone!

Chapter 4

"Smokescreen wake up!" Bulkhead's voice rang in his audio receptors. His processor was too busy thinking of Bella to remember what had just happened to him. He knew she was celebrating her birthday and he had not been able to message her yet since he had been sent on a mission with Bulkhead to retrieve and Omega key. It probably didn't help that he was supposed to bring Isabella in to the base as protocols set by Optimus said but he would worry about that later. His optics flashed on and searched his surroundings. Finding himself by a rock pile in the middle of nowhere with a confused Bulkhead looking down on him.

"W…What happened?" B

Bulkhead sighed helping the rookie to his feet. "That's what I wanna know"

"The Omega key; I had it until something hit me from behind" Smokescreen rubbed his helm from where he was hit.

"Dreadwing must have had backup, that relic's long gone" the ex-wreckers put his servo to his helm to comm the base "Ratchet we need a bridge"

"I told Optimus I would return with that key" yet another frustration added to Smokescreen. He thought he had let it all out to Bella the previous day when he had spent the majority of his time with her and she had listened to him and understood his feelings but now it was building up again and he just wanted to talk to her and get it out again. Perhaps he was doing something wrong, if he was then maybe she could tell him how to fix it all.

The ground bridge Bulkhead had called then appeared before them "Listen kid, Alpha Trion said we need all four keys to restore Cybertron remember. We just need to hang on to the one we have and find a way to get the others back from Megatron" with that they both walked through and saw the serious optics of the others on whether they had a successful mission or not. Arcee's was particularly hardened as the rookie had been treating the whole thing as some sort of game.

Immediately Bulkhead explained that they didn't get the Omega key and that Megatron must have it. To which Optimus continued to decode the last set of Iacon coordinates. "Smokescreen was sucker punched, could have happened to any of us" he placed his servo on the rookie's shoulder only for it to get pushed off. "But it didn't because I was the one that dropped his guard, I was the one that blew it. Some great warrior I'm turning out to be" he clenched his fists in anger and his mistakes looking down at the floor before they darted to the annoyed form of Arcee.

"You still don't get do you? A couple of victories aren't going to make you a legend and not every mission results in success, not for me, not for Bee and not even for Optimus. We've gained relics and lost some. We've also lost friends" she placed her servo over her spark as she thought about Cliffjumper "We've even lost a world. But this is the one time we get a do over, we have a chance to bring back Cybertron and everyone in this room needs to be in sync. This isn't about you or your destiny" she harshly began putting the young bot in his place.

Optimus had overheard the whole thing from his place at the monitor, decoding the Iacon database and decided to intervene. As much as Smokescreen needed to hear it he also didn't need to hear what she had to say. "Arcee, you have made your point"

"Optimus he needs to hear this" she turned back to saddened look of the rookie "You might actually become a great warrior one day and I sincerely hope that you do but greatness begins and ends with putting the team first, not your personal score card"

At her words Smokescreen hardened too. His anger boiling "There's nothing I wouldn't do for you guys"

"Then stop trying to be a hero and start being an autobot" that was it. Silence engulfed the room. Smokescreen saw the empty look on Optimus before turning back to look at the ground. His thoughts everywhere. It hurt that he failed but it hurt even more to have Arcee put him down even further. "You know what maybe I'm not good enough" with that he transformed and sped out of the base leaving the others in the dust that his tyres had kicked up.

He wasted no time in thinking of traffic laws as he kept his speed up to reach Nevada quickly. He made sure to turn off his comm link so that no one could talk him into coming back. Right that moment he needed to clear his head and the best way he knew how to do that was to go see his favourite human. It would take a while for Optimus to decode the last set of coordinates so he had time before he might be needed to help retrieve it.

With his desperation to get far from the base it didn't take him long at all to get to Isabella's house which was quiet and only a single light emanated from her living room. Seeing as it was dark out he didn't want to disturb the rest of the neighbourhood so he quietly drove on to her drive away and honked his horn once to get her attention and to his delight her smiling face peeped out from behind her curtain and lit up at seeing him waiting for her.

As quickly as she could she came out of her house, locking it behind her, wearing black jeggings and a blue top, her arms were covered with a small cardigan and her back pack sat on shoulder nicely as she approached him. He opened his passenger side door for her to get and closed it behind her as she sat and made herself comfortable. "I was wondering when you'd get here Smoke"

"Sorry, wanted to come by earlier but I had a mission and some other stuff to take care of" he immediately reversed out and drove off. He knew the right thing to do was to take her to the base but with the way things were and his current situation he thought it best to leave it. It would only turn into something else that Arcee could have a go at him for. "How was your birthday?"

"Honestly the best one so far, no parents bugging me and only visits from my friends. No arguments or panic attacks just a nice peaceful day. Though undoubtedly I will get some sort of visit or phone call tomorrow from my parents but that's tomorrows problem" Smokescreen enjoyed listening to her day and was particularly happy that she had enjoyed this birthday more than any other. Part of him did want to do something for her thought but he wasn't quite sure what.

"How do you do that? Pass off issues to worry about some other time"

Bella was a bit confused at his question but soon understood that with everything he had told her that some things such as a war can't be ignored that was something he had to deal with every single day. "I guess it's easy for me cuz I do it all the time. It helps with worrying less but it would be difficult for you because a war doesn't just go away on its own" he didn't reply only thought about her words. From this she could tell that something was bothering him. "So you gunna tell me what's rattling your mind"

"I lost an Omega key today"

"…These relics that will restore your planet?"

"Yeah and when I got back Arcee had it in for me that it should stop trying to be a war hero that I'm not what an autobot should be"

"How would she know?" the question made him lost for words. Of course Arcee would know she had been fighting in this war longer than he had "Arcee is just trying to make you see things from her point of view. Perhaps you are trying to be something more that doesn't belong in this war but is that so wrong? She has experience and you have skills both can work together just as long as you are both open to it. I think if you really want to prove yourself to the others then you need to stop trying and start doing"

Her words inspired him and actually got him to realise that he was perhaps trying too hard and putting himself down too much when it didn't go as smoothly as he would have hoped. "How did you get so wise?"

"You'd be surprised how much an opinion from the side-lines helps with understanding the whole situation" she grinned

Bella then took the time to observe her surroundings seeing that they had gone out of the Jasper and were now on the open road surrounded by nothing by sand and rocky mountains that she could hardly see in the dwindling light. "Smoke, where are we going?"

"No idea, where ever my wheels take us" he laughed realising that he had just been driving randomly and had no particular destination set as they talked. She sighed feeling content on just letting them turn up wherever they were going. It was an adventure after all.

An hour into their journey and the air was filled with uncontrollable laughter "Okay, okay the most embarrassing moment of your life?"

Smokescreen thought for a moment before a figurative light bulb shone above his holoforms head "Gotta be when I was training in the Cybertron Elite Guard, I accidentally mistook my commanding officer for one of my friends and tackled him to the ground before realising that I was pinning my chief" Bella's face turned completely red as she tried to withhold the laughter but she couldn't and it all came out which made her struggle for breath as she couldn't help but giggle. "It's not funny, I was on cleaning duty for 5 solar cycles" as he said that she continued to laugh and as he recalled the event he couldn't help but join in as it was quite silly.

"Imagine if that was Optimus and you had pinned and sat on top of your idol" Bella shed a tear as her chest began to ache at all the laughing she had done.

"I think I would've recognised Optimus Prime" Isabella raised her eyebrow at him "Yeah your right, I wouldn't have known" he smirked at her before being a little grateful that it definitely wasn't Optimus he had tackled. "Okay, what's yours?"

She raised her hand to her face as she thought her finger traced the outlines of her chin "It would be when I was designing an advert for a supermarket and when I went to the meeting to handover my sketched out ideas I accidentally handed over a drawing I had been working on of a naked woman to put into one of my art pieces" her words were sort of muffled from her own laughter "So they got quite a surprise"

"Nope yours definitely beats mine"

They both laughed together nothing stopping them as they had exchanged stories. As the minutes passed the noise died down and Bella relaxed down into her seat she could see the redness in Smokescreens cheeks and couldn't help stare at him. "Thank you Smokescreen, you've made me laugh more than I ever had in years" she finished with planting a kiss on his cheek which made his eyes widen in surprise. His cheeks flushed even more red than before.

He was going to say something when suddenly red blasts were fired at him, his holoform fizzled away quickly and he tried to shift sideways to avoid getting hit. The attack and swerving made Isabella scream out as she was thrown around in her seat and her heat beat increased at the fear of what was going on. Smokescreen saw in his mirror that he was being followed by Laserbeak, which presented a problem. His first thought was to protect Bella and keep her calm, something like this could easily set off an attack which would only add to his issues at the current moment.

His tyres screeched from the force of his brakes as he was trying to stop and avoid get shot at. A she did the bird like minicon flew over him. Smokescreen transformed quickly with Bella shifting to his hand where he firmly held her close to him. "You picked the wrong day to mess with me con" the rookie transformed his other servo into his gun and aimed for the flying decepticon. "Don't worry Bella, I'm not going to let anything happen to you" he could feel her trying to control her breathing as she tried to stay calm and watch what was going on at the same time.

Just as he was about to take the shot something else his him from his left side as he was thrown away violently and landed face down. Isabella was caught by the momentum and thrown out of his grasp with a scream on to the sandy surface which wasn't as soft and she might have hoped. It hurt all over as she picked herself up and could feel the shuddering of her bones. She was definitely going to have bruises tomorrow. She heard a groan from Smokescreen and saw that he didn't look as though he was going to get up anytime soon. He had taken the full force of whatever had hit them which worried her even more. She ran as fast as she could over to him and collapsed at his helm as her legs hurt too much. "Smokescreen!" he didn't answer her, his optics peered open a moment and looked past her to their attacker.

"Soundwave…Bel..la run" he was barely able to get the words out before he fell unconscious. Bella looked behind her to where the rookie had looked and saw another mech. His form was sleek as he retracted his weapons that was attached to his armour plating and began making his way over to them. She gasped as he came closer, she couldn't really tell if he was looking at her or not as he had no face but some sort of visor. She didn't know what to do. Smokescreen told her to run but she couldn't and even if she could she wasn't sure if she would, she couldn't leave him.

Her attention then moved to the appeared of a green portal looking thing that opened up, her instincts told her to get over there as it might be Smokescreens team but she was yanked from the floor and held firmly by the decepticon. His digits kept a hold of her as in his other hand he held tightly to Smokescreen and dragged him forward to where another portal appeared and they were going to go straight into it. Bella tried to squirm and free herself but it was no use there was no way she could get free and even if she could there would be a good drop waiting for her. She took a last glimpse to where she saw four other bots running after them with their weapons out ready but they were too late. Before she knew it Bella was somewhere else the portal had shut off so there was no way help was going to come. Wherever she had been taken too along with Smokescreen was very cold and dark which she didn't like one bit. She was alone and now in great danger, now she could feel a panic attack coming on and considering that her backpack was still inside Smokescreen it didn't seem possible for her to get to her medication, not now.

She tried memorising where they were being taken but the whole place seemed like a maze to her that it was hard to keep up especially when he mind zoned out for continuous moments, it was something that she could not help. "It seems the autobots have a new pet, perhaps she will be useful should the autobot decide to be difficult during interrogation" She was then tossed to vehicon standing at the side while Soundwave secured the rookie on the berth activating the restraints on his arms and feet to stop him from going anywhere.

"Is the human broken? She isn't blinking and her heart rate is irregular" Knock Out had scanned her and seemed very curious about the abnormal behaviour"

"She merely needs to be alive to be of use to us Knock Out" Megatron stood with his servos behind his back and watched as the rookie was slowly coming to. Knock Out moved over to him and athced as his optics slowly glowered a more vibrant blue. "Wakey, wakey" his signature smirk grew as Smokescreen became fully conscious.

"What?!" he panicked immediately and struggled to get up. Groaning out as he put all of his strength into breaking free. Lifting his face he frowned directly at the medic that was actually finding pleasure in seeing him helpless.

"If you're looking for your phase shifter; finders keepers" Knock Out lifted his servo up to show that he was now wearing the relic.

"Enough prattling Knock Out!" Megatron moved over to the berth her was lying on "Hand over the final Iacon relic now or…" he moved to the side so that Smokescreen could see Isabella being tightly held by a vehicon.

"BELLA!" she didn't answer. Her chest was heaving up and down quite quickly and her face had gone very pale. Her eyes didn't lift from the floor to meet his so he knew that she was having an attack and he didn't really blame her. He couldn't get to her to protect her so she was at their mercy. They were demanding he give them the relic in exchange for her life but that was a no win situation for Smokescreen because he didn't have any relic. "Let her go!"

"She will be free to go when you give me the final Iacon relic" Megatron was losing his patience.

Knock Out shook his head seeing that the autobot was more concerned for the human than his own life "She's broken anyway, better off putting her out of her misery"

"Isabella isn't broken, she's having a panic attack you idiot! And I don't have any relic the phase shifter was the only one I had"

"Soundwave" on command the communications chief displayed on his visor the final Iacon entry which was what looked like a pixelated picture.

"You got the wrong guy, chief. Optimus Prime is the one who can decode the Iacon database" he was playing it cool even though he just wanted to get Bella out of there. His fists were clenched tight and shaking from how firm they were. He was trying to keep his frustrations and anger in.

"Ah but you misunderstand. The final entry has been decoded by us and according to our findings, it would appear I do indeed have the right guy" the gladiator looked over to the silent mech that showed the clear image in the database to be of Smokescreen.

The rookie couldn't quite believe it. His mouth hung open until Knock Out spoke up holding a scanner up to Smokescreen "the questions is: what is it that you are still packing?" hovering the scanner over his body it began to beep as it showed the outline of the relic that they were looking for hidden within Smokescreeens body. "Why hidden treasure of course" Knock Out laughed to himself. The image displayed on the main screen showed the warlord exactly what was inside of the autobot. "Yet another of these identical relics, remove it swiftly"

"With pleasure" Knock Out brought out his favoured saw "I do so resent a finish flashier than my own" he moved over to the young mech and slowly brought his dangerous tool down to which Smokescreen tried to wriggle free and fight back but he couldn't. Knock Out then laughed and transformed his servo back activating the phase shifter on his other servo and testing it for himself.

Isabella hadn't been paying attention to what was going on at all. Her panic attack had consumed her that she was unable move or do anything. The previous time she had Smokescreen, although she was scared of him, he calmed her down and helped her to slow down her breathing. She needed to snap out of so she desperately tried to calmly breathe in and out in a rhythm that her body could keep up with. As she did her colour came back and she felt less dizzy. She was only a little dazed from what had happened but as her mind was slowly coming back to her she looked around and noticed the image of the scan with the relic inside Smokescreen. She then looked over to the captured mech as he squirmed on the berth while the red mech reached down and his servo disappeared within Smokescreen body, this made Bella cringe "get your stinkin' hand out of my gears"

At the sight before her Isabella's body wanted to go back into another panic attack but she wouldn't let it, she would stay strong and somehow get out of this. The decepticon felt around before slowly bringing his hand back out with something held within his grasp. "Smokescreen!" she voice her concern loud that it got his attention from the relic to her. He smiled slightly that she herself again but that didn't mean she was safe. Megatron observed the relic carefully seeing that it was exactly the same as the other that had seen, not a bit of it was different which made him quite curious at their importance especially if the autobots were fighting desperately or them. "Tell me the function of these relics"

"Doorstops, shavers, bling. Beats me" he smirked at them now that he did know something but he would never give it to them. His response made Isabella giggle as she too knew the function of the keys though she didn't know that that was what they looked like. Megatron instantly pivoted and pointed his gun at Bella which made the rookie narrow his optics and clench his denta. Although she didn't like the idea of her head being shot off she did have a sense of loyalty and knew that it was better to keep the keys function away from gladiator. Though Smokescreen would rather not risk Bella so she spoke up quickly so he she was with him all the way. "Looks more like a doorstop to me but if you put it around your neck Megatron and strut about then we could confirm it for you" she winked over to the rookie. However, the warlord's patience was falling quickly and being spoken to as such by a human really wasn't helping at all.

"Pity this little gadget won't allow me to reach into his brain plan and pluck out the info" Knock Out inspected the phase shifter before his idea got the attention of his master.

"Fortunately, we possess a device that can" both decepticons looked down on their prisoner.

Immediately the medic began working on the procedure, while Soundwave was commanded to continue his work elsewhere. Bella, on the other hand, was forced to watch in the clutches of a vehicon as one end of a weird looking cybertronian cable was connected to the back of Smokescreens head and the other to Megatron that had now taken his place on another berth. On the screen appeared Smokescreen and the other autobots as they were talking about the Omega keys but the rookie failed to see was the Megatron was watching from afar, learning of their function through his memories.

A good few minutes had passed before they had sufficient amount of information to know what the keys were for. They were far more valuable than previously anticipated. Knock Out moved to Smokescreen turning the cable and detaching it from him which awoke him quite suddenly. "That's a wrap" Smokescreen groaned out as his head fell back.

"The power to remake Cybertron as I see fit" the warlord had awoken and quickly stepped off the berth "I will pry the other two keys from Optimus Primes lifeless fingers. We must find the exact location of the autobot base, patch in and tear apart Smokescreens mind if you must" with that Megatron moved to the door to leave.

Knock Out though didn't seem too pleased to have the job given to him "me?"

"Who else? Do you think I would entrust you to see this key safely to the vault containing the other one?" Knock Out didn't reply but looked around clueless. While his master left and made his way to this so-called vault. Isabella could see that there was no regard for her seeing as she was firmly held and not going anywhere any time soon.

Knock Out sighed as he would have to be the one to find out the location of the base, so he moved over to connect Smokescreen in again. "Once more into the brain pain" Bella gasped and struggled even more, she hated seeing them experimenting on him

"No not again, stay out of my head" he squirmed again in his restraints only for Knock Out to chuckle at him.

"Now, now you'll only make things worse for yourself" the medic went to move round the berth Smokescreen was on to get the cord but he was stopped when Smokescreen grabbed the phase shifter on the back of Knock Outs hand and activated it so that he would phase through his restraints. "Worse how?" getting up he struggled with Knock Out as they fought for the relic. Pulling it towards them but trying to push the other way, if Bella didn't know any better than she could have sworn they were almost dancing together which made her giggle slightly. Seeing that the vehicon with Bella was still just standing there but more alerted to Smokescreens escape he shouted out his orders as he fought Smokescreen for possession for the phase shifter. "Don't just stand there, take the girl and go" as commanded the vehicon grasping Bella ran out of the bay.

"Smokescreen" she shouted for him but they were already gone and now she was being yanked around as the mech ran probably to his master to report the prisoner escape. She knew she had to try and get away somehow but even as the vehicon was more focussed on other matters there was still no easy way out for her and she would rather avoid another hit on the floor. She was going to try and shout out again hoping that the rookie would find her when she the sound of something phasing through nearby and looked around that was when she saw Smokescreen running beside the vehicon. "Hey" the vehicon noticed him but before he could do anything Smokescreen punched him hard in the helm.

From this the decepticon fell back unconscious against the wall, his grip on Bella loosening that she fell but before she could scream out Smokescreen caught her in his servo. "Go get your own human" was his last remark before he brought his blaster to the vehicons spark chamber and shot him putting him permanently offline. He looked down to Bella checking her over for injuries but saw that she was fine except the bruises that we coming through from her previous fall in the desert. "I need to get you out of here"

"No we need to get those Omega keys" she argued against getting out as soon as possible knowing that they were very valuable "you might get another chance than right now" Smokescreen smiled and nodded to her lifting his servo to his shoulder so that she could sit there. "Where's Knock Out?"

"I left him in a wall" both laughed for a moment before they set off, Smokescreen running through the halls of the Nemesis looking for Megatron and the vault. He must soon be there. "Hold on tight, I'm turning on the phase shifter" that was when Bella wasn't too sure about the plan anymore. She was actually going to phase through a wall with Smokescreen. The whole idea made her stomach churn. They were careful as the phased into new corridors, not wanting to attract unwanted attention, Smokescreen checked if the coast was clear before moving through the corridor to the next. As he phased through another and Bella clung onto a bit of his armour for support they saw Megatron arriving at the vault and took the opportunity then. Running at the warlord Smokescreen deactivated the phase shifter and jumped beside him to get the key, snatching it quickly within his grasp "Think fast" of course Megatron didn't as before he could do anything the phase shifter was activated again and the figures of Smokescreen and Isabella had gone through the vault door.

Grabbing the second key Smokescreen made haste and phased away before Megatron could open the vault door and stop them. Coming out into an open hall they stopped when they were surrounded by vehicons front and back "What? This isn't the way out?" he joked as they opened fire only for the blasts to phase right through them and hit the other vehicons. Bella had kept her eyes shut but when she peaked them open she laughed at how it had worked out. "I guess we've over stayed our welcome" she said looking to smiling Smokescreen. Phasing right through the warship looking for the way out they moved through a more bulky decepticon and looked quite confused at what he had just witnessed as they had moved right through him like a ghost.

"What was that?"

"Insecticon, probably best to avoid them" Bella nodded understanding that they were probably a lot harder to kill and stronger than average vehicons. They then made it outside where Megatron and a couple of vehicons were waiting for them. Smokescreen shifted both of the keys into one hand and then reached up to Bella taking her in his servo and tightly making sure that she wouldn't go anyway.

"The keys" Megatron held out his hands as the vehicons readied to fire at him and Bella. The rookie stepped back, he had an idea but it was crazy but it was the only one he had. "A pity you are incapable of flight"

Looking behind them Bella could see the very long and high drop and knew immediately what he was thinking, it was why he took hold of her. "Yeah, like I'm going to let that stop me" at that Smokescreen jumped keeping Bella as close to his spark as he could while his other arm was held out on their descent. "Oh my god! Smokescreen!" Bella shouted out, her heart was racing and the adrenaline was pumping through her as they both were falling and seeing the ground getting forever closer. "Trust me" he shouted to her as he opened his comm channel. "Smokescreen to base, I could really use a ground bridge" as they awaited for the ground bridge flying vehicons followed them behind and began shooting at them, one shot almost hit them which made Bella scream out.

The rookie though quickly putting the Omega keys securely in his backing plating and leaning forwards to fall faster so that they would be a harder target for the cons. Just then the phase shifter turned on and they slowed their descent while the cons were still speeding up. Instantly they phase through him and Smokescreen shot him out of the sky from above him, his form engulfed in flames that Smokescreen protected Bella from as they fell through it. "Smokescreen, I'm opening a ground bridge directly below you" his comm was loud enough that Bella could hear it and just as the sentence was finished the green portal she had seen before they were kidnapped appear below their falling forms "What the hell is that?"

"It'll take us right to base" he didn't really have the time to explain the whole complexities of the ground bridge "Braces yourselves, we're going to make quite an entrance"

"Oh God!"

"Don't worry Bells; I've got you" he tried to reassure he as they got closer to the ground bridge and were about to make it I through when the sound of a jet got their attention. It was Megatron, he sped down and hit Smoke off course away from the bridge. The impact made him lose his grip on Bella as she was now freefalling herself below him and screaming out in fear. "BELLA!" Looking down at the phase shifter and the fact that a ground bridge seemed unlikely now he formed a very quick plan that he wasn't 100% sure would work. "I hope proper grounding on this thing doesn't apply to actual ground" seeing the rapidly approaching solid ground Smokescreen moved fast leaning forward to fall faster to get to Bella as he did he reached out and grabbed her quickly activated the phase shifter and turning in the air so that his back was now facing the ground and he would take the full impact should the plan not work. Bella had stopped screaming as soon as she was safely within Smokes grasp, she hide herself within his digits as he brought his other servo over her.

Both of them shut their eyes tight and readied themselves should they go splat on the ground. But they didn't instead as they peaked slowly at where they were they saw nothing but black. "Smokescreen, where are we?"

The rookie began to laugh as they were both alive and could safely get back to base "In a rock" that was when she joined him too. Relief filled both of them knowing that the whole ordeal was over. It was a real adrenaline rush for Bella as she felt exhausted just from that. Though who wouldn't?

Quietly Smokescreen moved forward in the hopes of finding the open surface and soon came upon a cliff face that they phased through onto the solid ground beneath them. Though they remained silent knowing that Megatron was close by thinking that they had perished from the fall. "Hey Ratchet, I could still really use that ground bridge" he whispered hoping to get back to base before they were noticed by surveying decepticons.

The requested ground bridge opened up quickly right in front of them that Smokescreen ran into with it closing behind him. Bella was safely sat in his palm now and he casually walked back into base the other autobots smiling at him for his safe return. He was given a warm greeting seeing at how he had left them and could have gotten killed on the warship. "Smokescreen it is good to have you back with us" Optimus gifted him with kind words.

That was before they noticed Bella with him, Bumblebee noticed her first. She waved to him as his optics met her eyes. He whirled out which confused her for a moment but Smokescreen spoke up. "Oh sorry, this is Isabella she was with me the whole time. Bells meet Optimus, Ratchet, Arcee, Bulkhead and Bumblebee" Smokescreen gestured to each of them as he spoke their names.

"It's a pleasure to meet all of you" she was calm but from what she had just experienced this was the maximum she would be able to take before going into another attack.

"Smokescreen, you were with a human the whole time even when you were captured and you never said a word about her to us" Arcee placed her servos on her hips seeing that he was still acting irresponsibly.

Seeing how stern the femmes face was to the young bot and the other faces that were staring at her and Smoke she stood on his palm and spoke before he could come up with an excuse. "Woah, it's not Smokescreens fault he didn't know he was going to get captured and if some bots treated him equally and offered guidance rather than criticism them maybe it wouldn't have happened"

Arcee was caught off guard, this new human acted as if she knew each of the autobots already and was fully aware of what had had happened before Smokescreen left the base "How do you know?"

"Smokescreen told me" she then rubbed the back of her head and her cheeks flushed red "Actually Smoke tells me a lot of things"

"How long have you known each other" Optimus asked

Smokescreen shrugged his shoudlers before giving a response "Few days"

"Smokescreen why didn't you follow protocol"

Again the red head sounded her voice to defend her friend "He did it for me. I suffer from a disorder that makes me suffer from panic attacks on a regular basis and since he saved me from decepticons my attack count has been increasing so I just needed it to go slowly or I might have an attack that could present other dangers to my body" Optimus nodded in understanding and since allowed that fact her condition meant that simply bringing her in wasn't an option as he could have done more harm to her than good. Lifting his hand up to his shoulder again Bella took her place sitting beside his head.

Reaching back he grasped the two Omega keys and lifted them into view which shocked the others "You retrieved the keys as well" Ratchet was most surprised but looked most pleased as now they had three of the four Omega keys that they needed to restore their home.