Sparks

Official Disclaimer: I don't own Transformers, never have, never will - unless the universe goes screwy.

Author's Note: Thank you all for your reviews, hope you enjoy this next chapter! Also, working for the government is amazing - four day weekend, whee!

- Chapter Six: Visitors and Crotchety Old Robots -

Alex woke the next morning to voices, and blearily opened her eyes. Seeing only the curtains in the back of Optimus' cab, she blinked, her mind momentarily blanking as to why she was sleeping in the truck before she remembered coming home and being unable to face the house. Shaking her head to clear the last of the morning fuzz, Alex focused on the voices that had woken her. She heard Mikaela's voice and pushed herself up, poking her head into the front of the cab, looking up to see Mikaela, along with Sam and the others that she'd met last night, standing around their cars - or truck, in Ironhide's case - outside, talking. They kept glancing up at the house, and Alex suspected they'd tried the doorbell a couple of times already.

"You didn't tell them where I was?" she asked Optimus with amusement.

"You were sleeping." he rumbled back. Alex smiled slightly.

"Thanks." she said, and then pulled herself the rest of the way into the front seat. Sam spotted her then, and glared in the general direction of the truck, obviously meaning it for Optimus. Optimus ignored the boy, opening his door for Alex to climb out.

"Hi guys." Alex said, and then headed for the house, feeler surer now that it was day and she had people around her. "Come on in." They followed, not letting Alex back out from going inside, even when she had the same last minute jerk-away reaction as she'd had last night. They went no farther than the living room, and Alex was glad, since she didn't want to go any farther - it wasn't just that it was her sister's house, and her sister was in the hospital, but the last several times Alex had been there, so had Josh...and he was dead now. Alex felt a chill go down her spine at the thought, and she carefully chose a chair that she'd never seen Josh sit in.

"How are you doing?" Sarah asked, sitting beside Alex and putting Annabelle on the floor at her feet, where the toddler sat and looked around with wide eyes. Mikaela took up station on Alex's other side, while the three men were left to sit elsewhere.

"Good. Better than I'd expect, but then, Beth's not dead. She's going to be a wreck when she finds out Josh didn't make it." Alex replied, her voice surprisingly steady.

"More than you think." Bobby put in, then held out a blood-stained box to her. Alex looked at him as if her were crazy, then her eyes slid back down to the box as she realized it was a ring box.

"No." she said quietly, reaching out and taking the box. She flipped it open, then shut almost immediately as she saw the engagement ring inside.

"There found it, uh, on him." Bobby said, and Alex could tell he censored what he'd been going to say. Looking at the blood encrusting the outside of the box, Alex suspected that the censoring was probably that the box had been found in Josh, not on him.

"Figures." Alex said with a sigh. "She spends all her time since dad's death looking for Mister Right, and she finally finds him only for this to happen."

"At least she found him for awhile." Sarah said softly, glancing up at Will.

"It's better to have loved and lost, then to have never loved at all?" Will quoted with dark humour, and Sarah gave him a baleful look.

"Motto of any soldier's wife." she said sternly, and Will held up his hands in surrender. Alex smiled slightly.

"Thanks you guys." she said. "I...this is more than I expected. I've kind of had to deal with things by myself since Dad died - Beth and I never did the mutual support thing well, we tend to drive each other insane. And I only met most of you last night." There were uncomfortable shrugs from the men, and sympathetic looks from the women.

"Least we could do for someone Optimus saw fit to follow around for three months, driving us batty trying to keep track of him." Will said.

"Well at least he was causing someone other than me trouble doing that." Alex said with amusement, and Will arched an eyebrow. "Do you have any idea how paranoid it makes you, having a truck follow you around by itself? Every night, he was parked outside my hotel room, and I kept catching glimpses of him during the day. I could hardly sleep. A cop probably would have taken me in for drug use if he'd seen how often I checked my mirrors while driving."

"I know the feeling." Bobby said with feeling. "Sunstreaker and Sideswipe...god, both of them followed me around for a month. I had no idea they were Autobots at the time, thought actual people were stalking me. Then Will here shows up with Ironhide one day, and as soon as Sunstreaker showed his front bumper, Ironhide realized what was going on and let me in on the joke."

"And then Bobby threw a rock at Sunstreaker and almost got run over." Will added dryly.

"Seemed like a good idea at the time." Bobby quipped in reply, and Alex giggled.

"I see now why you two get along so well." Sarah said with as much dryness as her husband. Bobby grinned.

"At least I'm not the only one." Alex said, giggling again, then, feeling brave now that she'd survived going this far into the house, she stood and headed for the kitchen. "Anybody want something to drink, or food?"

"Foo'!" Annabelle exclaimed, looking up at Alex, who chuckled.

"We ate before we came here, but some coffee wouldn't go amiss." Bobby said, then got up and followed Alex into the kitchen. "It took a few phone calls to get the police to let me in on the investigation, and by then it was the night shift doing the work." Alex nodded, heading for the coffee.

"How did you manage to get in on the investigation, anyways?" Alex asked. "I mean, it's not like you have any relation to me besides Autobots, and unless I'm mistaken, the cops don't know about them."

"No, they don't. It involved a little bit of lying, to be truthful." Bobby said.

"Oh?" Alex asked as she got the coffeemaker going.

"I may have had to imply to the secretary of defense that we thought the Decepticons might have had something to do with the accident, since you and Optimus wander around together." Bobby said with a bit of a grin, and Alex, in the middle of browsing in the fridge, gave him a look of disbelief.

"You lied to the secretary of defense? Successfully?" she asked incredulously, and Bobby's grin turned into a smirk.

"Hey, I was the one who got them to use 105 sabot rounds, leading to the discovery that they melt through Decepticon armor as well as tank armor." he said smugly, then chuckled. "Actually, anyone who fought in Mission City is pretty much a golden boy - or girl - right now as far as the government is concerned. Just about anything we want, we can get."

"Ah, the perks of helping save the world." Alex said with amusement, looking in the freezer and discovering some frozen juice in there to mix up for herself, and probably Sarah, even though only Bobby had answered Alex's question.

"Hey, you shoulda seen what Sam and Mikaela got." Bobby said with a shake of his head. "They aren't going to be paying for any part of their school from now until they get whatever degrees they want, among other things."

"Good to know the government knows how to say thank you." Alex said as she used hot water to melt the juice and then mixed it up. Opening the cupboard to where her sister stored the glasses, Alex motioned Bobby to them. "Grab some for everyone." she said, and Bobby obliged, hauling them off to the living room. She followed him with the juice. "Coffee's being made."

"Thanks Alex, you didn't need to." Sarah said.

"Hey, it got me into the kitchen." Alex said with a shrug, and then added jokingly: "If I decide someone needs a pillow, I might actually get upstairs today." There were a few arched brows at that, and Alex frowned, feeling the drop in mood, and felt the need to explain. "Josh has - had - become as much a part of this house as Beth this last little while." There were nods of understanding all around.

They talked for most of the morning, before Alex and Sarah investigated what there was for lunch and made soup and biscuits for everyone. It was a good thing Sarah was there, too, since Alex would have made too little - she'd never cooked for men before, besides her dad, and he hadn't eaten a lot. She couldn't believe how much Sam ate, let alone the two army rangers. Sarah and Will eventually headed off so Annabelle could have some quiet nap time at their hotel, but Sam, Mikaela and Bobby stayed until supper, which they decided to go out for before Bobby took off to the police station to see what had been discovered about the crash. Sam decided to let Alex and Mikaela go alone to the hospital, then, and took off in Bumblebee once Cliffjumper said he'd drive Mikaela home that night.

"We haven't told her anything about the accident." The doctor said as he led Alex and Mikaela to Beth's room. "She's still very weak, and we didn't want to upset her."

"So I shouldn't tell her if she asks?" Alex asked, and the doctor hesitated, his hand on the doorknob of Beth's room.

"It's up to you." he said after a moment. "If you can think of a way that isn't too stressful..." Alex nodded, and then doctor opened the door and let them in. "If she gets tired, you should let her rest." he said in parting, but Alex barely heard, her gaze locked on her little sister, who was propped up in the bed, looking miserable. Mikaela discreetly hid herself in a corner and picked up a magazine, knowing she was there for support, not to be part of the conversation.

"Hey Lexi." Beth said softly, using her childhood nickname for Alex.

"Beth..." Alex said just as softly, and then in a few swift strides, was beside her sister, hugging her, being careful of her injuries. Beth hugged back weakly.

"They won't tell me what happened." Beth said miserably once they separated. "Josh didn't make it, did he?" Alex paused, but nodded.

"The truck hit on the driver's side." she said. "It's pretty much a miracle you survived, especially after the second car hit."

"There was another hit?" Beth asked in surprise, and Alex nodded.

"Couldn't stop. It hit from behind." she said.

"Did..." Beth faltered, and Alex just shook her head.

"You and I, we have the luck of the Irish, as Mom used to say." Alex said with black humour. "I jump out of a truck going at god only knows what speed and survive with only a dislocated shoulder and a few scrapes, and you come out of an otherwise fatal accident without serious injury."

"Too bad Josh didn't have more Irish in him." Beth replied with the same humour. The two sisters sat in silence for awhile. "When do you have to head out again?" Beth asked after a moment, sounding awkward as she looked down at her blanket.

"Oh, probably about...never." Alex said, trying to hide her hurt that her sister thought she'd leave her like this. The hope in Beth's eyes as she looked up cleared the hurt, though.

"Really?" Alex nodded, and Beth's smile was as happy as it could be under the circumstances. "Thank you."

"Yeah, well, I probably couldn't leave town even if I wanted to, not that I do." Alex said, hiding her amusement - she somehow doubted Optimus would let her leave Beth like this, considering the concern he'd already shown for Alex.

"Why not?" Beth asked in confusion.

"A few of those friends I mentioned. Plus George would kick my ass all the way back here before letting me leave from his depot." Alex covered. Beth laughed lightly, but it turned into a grimace of pain, a reminder of her injuries.

"So who're you?" Beth asked once the pain left her expression, looking curiously over at Mikaela, who put down the magazine.

"Mikaela, I'm a friend of Alex's." she said. Beth glanced over at Alex in surprise, obviously noticing how young Mikaela was.

"Really? How'd you two meet?" she asked curiously.

"Rather indirectly. I met her boyfriend at a truck stop, and then was introduced to her later." Alex supplied for Mikaela, who nodded. "And no, her boyfriend isn't a trucker. He just parked his shiny new Camaro beside my truck and I decided to let him know that he might not want to park there in the future." Though, now that Alex thought about it, Sam had probably parked there on purpose, so Optimus and Bumblebee could talk.

"Your life has been very weird this year." Beth said to her sister after a pause.

"Oh, you have no idea." Alex said earnestly, exchanging a glance with Mikaela.

"Someday you'll have to fill me in on that." Beth said, arching an eyebrow. The visit continued on a light-hearted note from there, but Alex could see the pain of Josh's loss in Beth's eyes, and the next day she went without Mikaela. She decided not to tell Beth about Josh planning to propose to her until her sister was home.

In the mean time, Alex went back to the jewelers that Josh had gotten the engagement ring from and had them replace the box. They were very sympathetic when they heard what had happened, and what was supposed to be a 5 minute visit turned into two hours as Alex and the store manager - who had lost his wife to disease awhile ago - talked in his office. When she went to leave, he presented her with a locket that he'd apparently ordered engraved before he'd invited her into his office to talk - it now read 'Never Forgotten - Joshua Vanderboten'. Alex tried to give it back, despite the customization, but the store manager told her to take it - Josh had put down a deposit on wedding rings when he'd bought the engagement ring, and while store policy said that the manager couldn't give it back, he could give her the locket. Alex impulsively hugged the man, and then left before she started crying. Cliffjumper drove her home.

It was actually a week and a half before Beth came home - by this time, Will, Sarah, and Annabelle had gone home, but Bobby was still around, and Sam and Mikaela lived in town. Beth didn't even comment about the Porsche Alex drove her home in, seeming drained, but she perked up when they entered the house and she found three other people there - Alex knew exactly how she felt, having experienced that the first night she'd come back here after the accident. Beth took to Sam and Bobby the same way she'd taken to Mikaela - the same way she took to everyone, it was why she'd kept getting crappy boyfriends - and so Alex had little trouble leaving her sister in the living room with Bobby so she, Sam and Mikaela could make supper.

Alex could hear Beth asking Bobby questions about the accident once they left, having been told that he'd been in on the investigation, and Bobby answered everything. Apparently the driver of the truck had been high on marijuana - lots of it. The driver of the car that had struck them from behind had been clean, but old, with slowed reaction times. Beth insisted on sending condolences cards to both of their families, much to Bobby's surprise, and Alex just smiled from the kitchen, recognizing the old Beth.

The real test came once the others had gone home and it was time for Beth and Alex to go to bed, though. They both stood uncertainly at the bottom of the stairs for several minutes before Beth let out a small snort.

"We're ridiculous." she said.

"We really are." Alex said wryly.

"And why are you even hesitating? Didn't you sleep here while I was at the hospital?" Beth asked.

"Truck." Alex said innocently, and Beth shook her head.

"Yep, ridiculous." she said. Then, at the same time, she and Alex looked at each other. "Together?" Beth said softly, and Alex nodded. They went up side by side, and Alex stood by her sister as she entered her room. Beth almost immediately started crying - Josh had left some of his clothes there, and she insisted the room smelled of him, though Alex couldn't tell. Alex spent an hour comforting her sister, before Beth finally fell asleep, tears dried on her face, clutching one of Josh's shirts. Only then did Alex go to her room, opening the door for the first time in over a month.

Almost immediately, her eyes latched onto the folded piece of paper resting in the middle of her bed, addressed to her in unknown handwriting. Curious, she went and picked it up, then abruptly sat down on her bed, feeling like she'd been punched in the stomach, as she read the note on the inside. It was from Josh - he was apologizing for not being able to wait until she'd gotten there, since he'd wanted to ask if she was alright with him proposing to Beth. It went on with casual chatter about random things, almost obscenely cheery, considering what had happened, and when Alex reached the end, she realized she was crying. Sniffling, she brushed away the tears, and then carefully folded up the note. Glancing around her room, Alex hesitated only a few moments before heading back downstairs and finding the locket and ring. She went back upstairs, then tiptoed into Beth's room and placed the three items on Beth's bedside table, where she'd see them in the morning. She'd been putting off telling her sister about Josh's plans, and now she knew why. It was better to let Josh himself tell her.

Tiptoeing back out, Alex glanced at her room again, then sighed. She left the door open and headed back downstairs and out the front door. Optimus didn't say a word as she climbed into his cab, though he turned on a few of his dashboard lights when she didn't immediately crawl into the back, instead sitting with her feet up on the seat, her arms wrapped around her legs.

"Did you ever have a year where everything was just one giant roller-coaster ride? Good following bad in such rapid succession you barely had time to think?" Alex asked finally, softly.

"Depends if you count during the war on Cybertron." Optimus' voice was just as quiet. "In the war, it was always good and bad news following right after each other. We won a fight, but lost a friend. We took back a major building, but Megatron took a different one. It went like that every day. I saw more than a few soldiers shut down emotionally from it." Alex didn't really have anything to say to that, so instead just sat there.

"So how did you end up at George's depot, anyways?" Alex asked finally. The question was one she'd been meaning to ask for awhile, but was always forgetting. She yelped as a person suddenly flickered into view in the driver's seat - it was an older man, exactly as George had described that man who had given him the keys to the truck. As she watched, the driver morphed into a younger version of himself.

"Hologram." the driver said, and then flickered out of existence again. Optimus didn't need to explain anymore, it was easy for Alex to piece together the rest - so she decided to give him hell for scaring her, instead.

"Way to give a girl a heart attack!" Alex said, eyes wide as she stared at the place the driver had been.

"Your heart was in no danger." Optimus primly informed her.

"Oh stuff your sensors." Alex said, sticking her tongue out at the stereo, then frowned. "Where are your eyes in this form, anyways?"

"Technically? Front bumper. In reality? I can see through anything with an optic cable." Optimus replied.

"So...what happens to all those other optics when you're, y'know, robot-y?" Alex asked.

"They're used for extra sensors and damage assessment." Optimus answered.

"Huh." Alex replied, aware that this was the longest she and Optimus had talked since he'd told her about Autobots, Decepticons, and battles to save the world. "Did...do your...um, kind, ever marry?" There was a pause.

"We did, on Cybertron." Optimus replied. "Though not with the same definition as you humans."

"Oh?" Alex asked.

"It's...difficult to explain to...someone not robotic." Optimus said, sounding a little odd.

"Were you ever married?" Alex asked after a pause. There was a long pause after that one, and Alex wondered if she'd overstepped a boundary.

"Not...technically." was Optimus' eventual response. Alex blinked.

"Why do your answers always lead to more questions?" she asked, completely changing the topic. It was partially due to the fact that she could tell Optimus was uncomfortable with the subject, and partly from the fact that her mind was just wandering that way.

"Things end up complicated when you've lived as long as me." Optimus replied with a hint of amusement.

"Yeah, speaking of that, how old are you?" Alex asked curiously.

"Old." was Optimus' enigmatic response.

"That's so helpful." Alex said sarcastically.

"You're welcome." Alex swore she could hear the truck smirking.

"I think I'm going to go to sleep." she said, shaking her head. "I'm too tired to deal with crotchety old robots." Alex made a dive for the back even as Optimus moved the seat and swung open the passenger door in an attempt to eject her for that remark. "Ha!" Alex exclaimed in triumph from the back once she'd righted herself, and Optimus grumbled before slamming his door. Alex chuckled, and then settled herself on the bed for another night.