A/N Surprise! I'm not dead! and neither is this story!

Wow... it's been over a year... I really don't have a 'good' explanation as to why, other than just being busy and losing interest at some point. But, I really have this kick at the moment! It's summer now and something I really want to do with my time is writing. Everyday if I can. I'm working on original stories at the moment, and writing stuff on here is good practice. I haven't read my previous chapters/stories in a while, and I'm sure they're horrendous. But I don't really want to go back and change them... that's who I was at that time, and I'm positive my writing has gotten better.

ANYWAYS, I doubt you want to continue to read my ranting, so I'll let you read the story.

Disclaimer: I don't own Criminal Minds

Chapter 5

Usually, I'm a very patient person. When I am waiting for something/someone important, nerve wracking, or otherwise, I am not. At all.

I tried to read, but I would get to the bottom of each page, realizing that I had no idea what I had just read. I tried to listen to music, but I barely registered that it was being played. I considered calling one of my friends, but I just wasn't in the mood to talk to anyone.

After about half an hour of laying on my bed and just staring at ceiling, I got up. Half of me was mad that I was just wallowing around and wasting away; the other half wanted nothing more than to do just that.

Sam was finally free and had called the day before to say that he and 'Bee would be over today. Unfortunately, the day was dragging out and moving at an incredibly slow pace. I still had about an hour to kill until they were supposed to arrive at my house.

There just happened to be nothing to do. I couldn't even just talk to my mom, as she was out doing errands. Although, after I had thought about it, I didn't really want to talk to anyone. My nerves were getting the best of me. I just wanted to know what the hell was going on with the Autobots.

I relocated to the living room eventually and was trying to find something to watch on TV. The one thing that was on that I actually enjoyed was Criminal Minds. Even though it was a repeat, I settled for it.

Just as the cast of the show was about to break into the criminal's home, I saw something pass by the windows. My head snapped to the right to get a better look... only whatever it was wasn't there anymore. As I was turning back to the TV, there was a knock at the door. Looking at the clock above the TV I realized that the person knocking on the door had to be Sam.

Jumping from my seat, I turned the TV off before all but running to the door. I flung it open and, low and behold, there stood Sam. He didn't even get a greeting out before I closed the door and went past him.

"Oh, um, uh..." he trailed off, watching me get the extra key we kept outside to lock the door. "Hi?"

"Hey Sam!" I replied happily. Key in hand, I went back to the door and locked it. Not wanting to waste more time, I stuffed the key in my pocket. "C'mon, let's go already!"

Without waiting for Sam, I took off towards 'Bee, who was parked on the curb in front of my house. I climbed in the passenger side and hello to 'Bee. "Goooood morning!" blared from the speakers. It was still weird to me that he couldn't use his voice. Hopefully Ratchet would be able to patch him up again.

After buckling my seat belt, I looked up to see Sam coming around 'Bee's hood. The door on the driver's side swung open and Sam got in. "Someone's in a hurry," he sort of half-mumbled.

"Well, duh," I responded. "I've only had no contact with them for almost two weeks."

Sam shrugged a bit, not having anything else to say. With that, 'Bee pulled away from the curb and made his way out of the neighborhood.

The drive was spent mostly in silence. I was fine with being left to my own thoughts, but Sam seemed to be a bit uncomfortable. I had to admit, it was a little awkward. It wasn't as if we talked much before. Even then it wasn't really out of friendliness, just our situation.

Once I heard him shift in his seat for the umpteenth time, I decided to engage him in some small talk. "So," I started, waiting until I knew he was paying attention to continue. "College...'

"Yeah, I can't believe it," he said. "Doesn't seem real. I still remember the first day of high school." He grimaced a little at the memory, so I suspecting it wasn't a good day.

Letting out a bit of forced laughter, I replied, "Yup... and that's where I'll be at the end of August."

Sam looked over at me, "Oh yeah? Huh, thought you were older." I laughed a bit again before falling silent. Apparently, Sam wasn't all that good at small talk either. By this time he had turned back to look at the road. Getting the feeling that neither of us had anything else to offer up to our conversation, I let my eyes drift to the window on my side.

The road we were following curved along mountainsides. But soon the mountains were replaced with large fields. With the bright sun shining down on them, many of the fields had their sprinkler systems on. The water glistened in the light as it arched up into the air. There was something very peaceful about it all.

It wasn't long before 'Bee turned onto another road, taking us away from the fields. My head faced forward and I could see the base not too far ahead of us. A churning feeling entered my stomach as we got closer. I was preparing myself for the worst, although I wasn't really sure what the worst would be since 'Bee had talked to Optimus not too long ago. That thought didn't help much, though. I just knew that something bad was going on.

'Bee soon rolled up to the entrance of the base, which was closed and being guarded by one of the soldiers. He walked over to the driver's side as 'Bee rolled down the window, "Sorry kid, can't let you in."

"What?" Sam said in disbelief. My eyes widened and I slumped against my seat. "But, the Autobots need to talk to us. They told us to come!"

The man shook his head, "Gonna need more proof than that."

Sam turned to 'Bee's dashboard, "Hey, Bumblebee, patch us through to Optimus, kay?"

'Bee made a short, electronic whir in response before setting off to his task. It wasn't long before Optimus's voice boomed through his speakers.

"Optimus here."

"The guard says he can't let us in without your permission. So... can we come in?" Sam asked.

There was a pause before Optimus answered, "Under normal circumstances, I would have to say no. However, given our current situation and your ties to the Autobots, I believe it would be best for you to know what is going on. Is that an adequate enough reason to let them in, solider?"

The man in question seemed to be debating something in his head. Eventually he nodded, probably deciding it best not to argue with the leader of the Autobots. Hey, I didn't blame him. The big guy could be pretty intimidating. The soldier walked over to the gate and opened it for us. "If I get any shit for this later..." he trailed off, not finishing his threat. As 'Bee drove through the gate, Sam nodded to the soldier in thanks and I let out a sigh of relief.

'Bee took us over to the hanger that the Autobots stayed in. The large, garage type door was already open, so 'Bee went right in. Once we came to a stop, Sam and I got out to allow 'Bee to transform into his bi-pedal mode.

From where we were, there were two different hallways we could take. The left hallway led to the recharge rooms, and the one on the right led to the Rec Room, Med Bay, lab, and offices. Even though I was pretty sure 'Bee knew where to go, he still let me lead the way down the right hallway.

The hall was clear of any others and all sounds were faint. Upon approaching the Rec Room, however, I could hear that the TV was on. When we passed by the opening, I slowed my stride to take a peak. In the far right corner was Mirage, reading a datapad. My eyes traveled to the left side of the room where I spotted the Jettwins sitting on the couch that faced the TV.

As I was about to step in to say 'hi', I felt Sam touch my shoulder. Looking over my shoulder at him, I saw that he was shaking his head. My gaze turned back to the Rec Room and its occupants before I bowed my head in defeat. Sam and 'Bee began to continue down the hall, and I stole one last look at the Rec Room before catching up with them.

Passing the Med Bay came next. The doors were closed, and there wasn't any sound other than a faint crack here and a soft whir there. It was clear, though, that Ratchet was inside, working on a project of his. We didn't spare the doors a second glance.

Soon, the large doors that led to Prime's office came into view. I stopped in front of them, Sam and 'Bee following suit. 'Bee stepped forward and pressed something on the keypad, causing the doors to slid open. In front of us was a large desk and none other than Optimus Prime. "Greetings. I am glad to see that you three made it here alright," he said.

Without warning, 'Bee scooped both me and Sam up, depositing us onto Prime's desk. Looking up at the gigantic robot in front of me, I realized that it had been a long time since I had actually seen him. Even before my almost daily visits abruptly stopped, Optimus was usually busy.

"I wish that our meeting could be under better circumstances," Optimus said.

"What exactly is going on?" Sam asked.

"As I am sure you are aware of, some, if not most, of the people in your government are not pleased with our being here. Unfortunately, their dissatisfaction only grew when they found that I had sent out a message, inviting any lost Autobots to this planet, without their permission." Sam snorted in response, but let Optimus continue. "In addition to this, we have not found an Allspark piece in quite some time. This has led the government to believe that the Decepticons have remained here because of us, the Autobots."

Sam and I both protested this. We shouted about how stupid they were and that more Autobots was a good thing when going up against Decepticons. Optimus raised a hand and we quieted down. I now had a scowl on my face and my arms crossed over my chest.

"They have made it clear that they would like us to leave the planet. For good."

My eyes widened and my arms dropped to my sides, "What?"

"They recommended that we drop contact with humans outside of the government and military. I only issued the order to the others in hope that the humans would see that we were cooperating and reassess their view of us." He nodded in my direction, " I apologize if this has caused you any distress."

"But, but you guys can't just leave," I protested.

"Yeah," Sam put in, "What happens when the Decepticons don't follow you?"

"There have not been arrangements for us to leave" Optimus said, causing Sam and I to let out sighs of relief. "But, that is not to say there won't be any in the future."

I nodded, but couldn't keep my sadness from showing. Optimus must have seen it, because he spoke again. "There is little point in worrying about what may or may not happen," he said, "What is important now is to focus on the problem at hand."

"And that is?" Sam inquired.

"What it is that the Decepticons are up to."

I don't think you have any idea how good it feels to be back. I'm getting excited about this story all over again! :)

You may have noticed I changed my pen name. I just felt that it was time for a change. I'm a different person than I was a year ago (or so I like to think).

Anyways, I hope to hear from old readers as well as new ones! If anyone has stuck around, I'd like to say 'Thank you!' I will do my best to get the next chapter up ASAP, and I'll see ya next time.

-Panic Switch