Hello my lovely readers, and merry Christmas!

I hope all is well with you all and that you enjoy this latest chapter of Reverse Robotics. It's not a particularly Christmasy chapter but hey, it's still a chapter. :)

To my lovely reviewers:

Life-Luvr123: Yes I did focus on my studies, and thankfully the marks have come back better than expected, which is nice. I am really happy to be able to write again and have this story back up and running. Nice to see you again!

OptimusPrimegirl213: Thank you, hope you continue to enjoy.

Erin Primette: Yes, I am intending on bringing him in, but that's not for a few chapters. But he will play a prominent role in this story. Thank you for your review.

So, Merry Christmas once again, and I will probably see all of you again in the new year.

Chapter five: Guess who's back!

Seated outside on the library steps, Hamish Drawson tapped away at the keys of his laptop, chewing the end of his pencil. Despite the chill he didn't make any moves to head inside, seeming far to focused on the screen in front of him. He didn't look up until, out of nowhere, the sun was blocked by someone standing directly in front of him.

Frowning, he looked up, about to comment and kindly ask the person to move, when he stopped and blinked, 'Ally?'

Standing over him, Ally grinned and nodded, 'hey wimp.'

Quickly, Hamish shut his laptop and stood, starting to smile despite himself. Enthusiastically Ally shook his hand, before seeming to think about it for a second, and swiftly hugged him. It appeared that she had hardly changed at all over the last few months. Her white hair was slightly longer but instead of being pulled back it hung loose around her shoulders, framing her face and making her already luminous blue eyes seem even brighter. But her grin was still exactly the same, and she still wore the same leather jacket which she had worn last time they met, complete with the cute martian sown onto the sleeve.

Realising he had yet to speak, Hamish cleared his throat, 'So, what are you doing here Ally? You usually call when you're planning on gracing us with your presence.'

Ally shrugged nonchalantly, 'this couldn't wait. And it wasn't something I thought I could explain over the phone.'

Automatically a little concerned, Hamish frowned as he crouched to slide his laptop back into his satchel, 'Is everything alright Ally?'

'Yeah, essentially. I'll explain when Abbie get's here,' Ally looked around at the empty steps of the library, 'where is she?'

In explanation, Hamish pointed up at the big wooden doors, 'tutorial with a professor, she should be done in a few minutes. I was just waiting for her so we could go and get coffee, but perhaps now…'

'Don't change the coffee plans because of me,' Ally held up her hands, 'this is something that I think would be better explained over coffee. Not to mention I am starving.'

She beamed again, before folding her arms and staring intently up at the library doors. It was a few minutes later when they opened and a small stream of chatting collage students trickled down the steps. Hamish scanned over the various faces quickly, and spotted Abbie at the back of the group, stopped in the doorway, talking to the professor. She was nodding intently, sliding a thick booklet into her bag as she spoke, tossing a wave of dark hair over her shoulder. Eventually, the professor clapped her on the back with a laugh and waved her away.

Grinning, Abbie turned and waved at Hamish, before stopping when she saw Ally standing beside him, 'Ally?'

To say Abbie flew down the steps was an understatement. She bounded down them so fast it was a miracle that she didn't fall, and flung her arms around Ally with a squeal, 'What are you doing here? Why didn't you call? Is something wrong? You could have told me you were coming, I could have skipped that tutorial. Hamish why didn't you call me when she got here?'

At the last statement, she turned to Hamish with a glare, dark eyes flashing. Holding up his hands in a gesture of mock surrender, Hamish just smiled, 'she only arrived a few minutes ago. Besides, you threatened to disembowel me with a crowbar if I ever interrupted you in a class again.'

Abbie shrugged, tossing her braided black hair back over her shoulder, 'I think I would have made an exception for this. So, Ally, particular reason that you have left your oceanic lair to come and find me? More butt kicking? World ending? Or do you just need fashion advice?'

With a soft smile, Ally shook her head, 'no on all accounts, so far. Who knows, this may be a precursor to some world ending event. Come on, I'll explain somewhere a little more private.'

…

It felt strange to be explaining something so strange over something so mundane as a college campus coffee. Not that I was drinking coffee, I had never really found myself particularly partial to the bitter taste of coffee. Personally I preferred the sweeter chai teas or hot chocolates. Beside me, Optimus sat staring in wonder at the Styrofoam coffee cup sitting on the table in front of him, rather mesmerised by the steam. I had given him strict instructions not to touch it until I had told him he could, on the basis that I didn't want to have to put up with an Autobot with a burned tongue.

Across from me, Abbie and Hamish sat, waiting patiently for me to start explaining. They sat next to each other, Hamish's arm slung across the back of Abbie's chair, his hand playing with a loose strand of her hair. They both changed quite a bit since the debacle in Egypt. Hamish's blonde hair was now a little longer, and no longer spiked by gel. Instead he had simply allowed it to flop in seemingly natural curls, taking away the surfer boy look which he had sustained a few months ago. Abbie too had changed, her hair a little shorter and braided instead of loose. Once again she had taken on the clothes and appearance of a much more mature young lady, with her heels, skinny jeans, elegant jacket and cashmere beanie.

'So, what seems to be the problem?' Abbie asked, prompting me to speak.

In response I jabbed a thumb in Optimus's direction. He didn't notice, instead twiddling a sugar packet in his fingers. Abbie looked confused, and tilted her head to the side, frowning.

'What about him?'

'Notice anything odd?'

'Only the way you're acting,' she quipped, then sighed when I flashed her an exasperated look, 'fine. I haven't seen the truck anywhere on campus, and usually you guys can't sustain these holoforms in such good quality so far from your vehicle form.'

'Not a holoform,' Optimus muttered, having now moved on to examining the napkin dispenser.

I slapped his hand away so he couldn't pull more than two out, and answered Abbie's unasked, but still obvious question, 'he's not kidding. This isn't a holoform.'

It was Hamish who asked the next question, 'then what is it? A remote control android?'

I raised an eyebrow at him, 'that's stupid, and you know it. As crazy as it's going to sound, Optimus is fully human.'

As I had expected, Abbie laughed, seeming far to amused by my seemingly outlandish suggestion. Patiently I waited for her to calm down. When she did, she noticed my expression and pulled a face.

'Wait, you're not being serious are you? There's no way-'

'We don't understand either,' Optimus spoke for me, 'this is beyond anything we have ever seen before. Ratchet is most perplexed, but he is working on uncovering what is behind it none the less… Abbie, what are you doing?'

By this stage Abbie had moved and was prodding his cheek, leaning in close to him, 'he certainly speaks like Optimus. Have you just dressed one of the guys up on the base so you can pull a prank?'

Carefully, Optimus pushed aside her hand, 'I assure you Abbie, I am Optimus. Would you please stop touching me?'

'Prove it,' Abbie demanded, folding her arms stubbornly.

'Very well. The first time we met was when Ally had been kidnapped by the Decepticons. You attempted to attack Ironhide with a baseball bat while yelling something about the androids taking over the human race.'

For a second Abbie frowned at him, before she suddenly breathed, 'well shit. What did I name the chainsaw I got in mission city?'

'Buzz. And you have recently started pestering Ally, asking her to make it come alive,' Optimus answered easily.

After shooting him a final look filled with scrutiny, Abbie nodded, 'you're Optimus?'

'Yes.'

'And you're human?'

'I believe so.'

'And you have no clue how?'

'No, it is a mystery to all of us.'

'And you can't transform into a truck anymore?'

'No, I cannot.'

'This is really weird.'

'I agree.'

Seemingly finished with her questionnaire, Abbie slumped back into her seat beside Hamish and frowned deeply. Her dark eyes locked on me and she pursed her lips, her usual look while she was deep in thought. Finally she in drew breath and spoke.

'Why does all this crazy shit happen to you?' she asked, picking up her coffee and taking a long slug.

I shrugged, 'wish I knew. Currently I'm thinking about filing a law suit against the universe.'

Beside me, Optimus looked up, a frown etched across his features, 'I do not believe that is possible…' he started to say.

With an exasperated sigh I patted him on the head, 'I'm aware honey.'

For a few seconds we sat in silence, Abbie apparently digesting everything that she had just been told. Beside her, Hamish appeared to have deemed it wiser that he remain silent, given his relative lack of experience in these matters. Not that Abbie had much more field experience than he did. She had only been present at two Autobot vs Deception battle royals, the one in Mission city close to three years ago now, and the one in Egypt on a few months ago. Apart from that she had been strictly kept away from the battle fields, much to her original distaste. Hamish had only been present at the Egypt affair, where his presence had been accidental to start and then a mixture of both annoying and helpful. Comparatively to Abbie, he was a relative rookie, as she had more experience interacting with the bots, but he was learning, slowly.

Eventually Abbie spoke again, 'so, is this state permanent?'

'We don't know,' I said honestly, 'we don't even know what caused it.'

'Decepticons?' Hamish asked, 'wouldn't they be the likely candidates?'

I shrugged, 'that's what we thought at first. But the bots have been human for days now, and there has been no Decepticon activity anywhere on the globe. If this was their doing, surely they would have used this opportunity to strike, and they haven't. Megatron isn't normally one for waiting.'

'Then maybe it wasn't them,' Abbie suggested, 'and someone else is responsible?'

'Also a possibility,' I agreed, 'but not one we like the sound of. If someone else did this, then it potentially means another enemy which we have to deal with.'

'What happens if this is just a side effect of you guys staying on Earth for too long?' Hamish obviously didn't know quite how absurd that question was.

It was Optimus who answered him, 'unlikely. Our anatomy is not prone to sudden changes like this. We have stayed on other planets far longer than we have been here, and we did not experience changes like this anywhere else.'

The conversation continued like this for a few more minutes, with the pair of them throwing out variously absurd or plausible ideas, and Optimus and myself shaking our heads at just about all of their theories. When she finally seemed to get bored Abbie, in her usual way, change the subject without any warning.

'So, how did you guys get here if he can't drive? Did you teleport?'

I nodded. There had been no other way to get to Abbie's college from where the new base was. Well, there had been, but all the other options, like hiring a car, had just seemed boring and slow. Very, very slow.

'Could we pop back with you and see the other bots?' Abbie asked, 'I want to see what they all look like now!'

Quickly I exchanged a look with Optimus, and he shrugged, obviously saying that he couldn't really care less if they joined us. With a grin, I nodded.

'Sure. But only after you two have finished your classes here for the day. I am not being used a get out of class free tool.'

…

Lennox sat by a computer console in one of the main briefing rooms of the base. This specific room was enlarged, specifically to accommodate the immense forms of the Autobots. Now they were human, the gargantuan size of the place seemed a bit excessive. But Lennox supposed that if need be, the NEST team could always find another use for the large space, such as a very large swimming pool… or an indoor volleyball court… or hey, even a golf course, like the one at Guantanamo Bay.

Why he was sitting here, doing nothing, was a little confusing to him. The word had come in half an hour ago that an official of some kind, to be specific, the national security advisor, was on their way. So far, Lennox had no clue why they were coming, what they wanted, or even who they were. All he really knew was that after a certain, conflict, in Egypt, Theodore Galloway, the previous national security advisor had retired and declined to return back to NEST operations.

A few minutes later, the doors to the briefing room were opened and a guide, followed by a rather large pose of people, entered. Following directly behind the guide, was a woman.

She was a harsh looking lady, with her blonde hair pulled back into a tight pony tail, and her blue eyes glaring out from behind a set of black rimmed glasses. She was talking into a phone with a brisk no nonsense tone, talking to fast for Lennox to make out little more than the occasional word. As she entered the room, she suddenly stopped and clicked at a woman standing beside her, who was carrying half a dozen designer handbags.

The frazzled looking woman hurried forward and dropped a set of Nike trainers onto the floor. Quickly, the woman on the phone kicked off her high heels and stepped into the trainers, before continuing on as if nothing at all had happened.

Just as she reached Lennox, she spoke a few final harsh words into the phone, before snapping it closed and tossing it back to one of the members of her pose. Then she turned to him, surveying him sharply, and making him feel incredibly self conscious about the fact that he had neglected to spit polish his shoes that morning.

'Welcome Director,' he spoke quickly and formally, but she spoke over him as if he wasn't there.

'I am Director Mearing, the new advisor to the president, I was expecting a little more of a formal greeting.'

'I'm sorry ma'am-'

'Don't call me ma'am,' she snapped and Lennox quickly pressed his lips together.

'Sorry ma'am… I mean Director Mearing. Your visit just came as a surprise to us,' he hastily apologised and she seemed to accept it, all be it with a tight lipped expression.

Turning away from him, Mearing surveyed the large briefing room they were in with her cold, calculating gaze. Eventually she turned to him, a questioning look on her face.

'Where are the Autobots?' she asked, skipping straight to the point.

Lennox blanched, 'you want to see the Autobots?'

'Why else would I fly all the way out to this isolated place? Do you think I'm here to watch the Ballet? The Autobots, where are they?'

Subtly Lennox shot a look over to the guide, who was still standing in the room and made a face. He honestly had not been expecting this, not at all. And this inspection, or whatever it was, came at a really inopportune moment. How was he expected to explain all of this to Mearing without her suspecting he had gone mad?

'Major Lennox?' Mearing asked sharply, 'I asked you a question.'

'I know Director, it's just, it's just there's been a slight, problem here on base recently.'

One of her eyebrows shot up and her lips pursed even more, 'problem?'

'Yes, ma'am, I mean Director. The Autobots are currently, how do I put this, not themselves.'

The eyebrow raised even higher, stating quite obviously that she wasn't convinced by his ramblings. Feeling stumped, Lennox looked around helplessly, hoping that someone who could actually explain this would appear. This hope was shattered into a million pieces when the far door suddenly burst open and Ironhide sprinted into the room, closely pursued by Ratchet.

'No you are not performing any more blasted tests on me, Medic,' Ironhide was yelling as he ran for his life.

'Ironhide, get your ass back here, I wasn't done!' Ratchet was sounding very pissed off, trying his best to keep up with the sprinting weapons specialist.

Flinching, Lennox looked back at Mearing, and could tell just from the cold expression on her face, that she wasn't amused. At length, she turned to him with an expression that could have frozen water.

'Major Lennox?'

'I can explain…'

'Don't bother. For now, I will be satisfied if you allow me to speak to Allison Shorecoat.'

Again, Lennox made a face, 'Ally is kind of off base at the moment. But I can give her a call and she'll be back here in like, two minutes. Is that okay?'

After a pause, Mearing nodded, and Lennox breathed a sigh of relief. A call was quickly dispatched to Ally, telling her to teleport straight back to base and within two minutes, as promised, there was a high pitched whine and Ally appeared in the middle of the briefing room. Along with Optimus. And Hamish. And Abbie.

At that moment, all Lennox wanted to do was slam his head into a wall.