The shrill noise and distant rumbles echoed in the enclosed room before fading away. We all looked around us in worried confusion. Keller slowly turned to look at our group, his face pale.

"Gentlemen, they know the Cube is here." Silence echoed after his grim statement, broken only by the agent.

"Banachek. What's happening?" We turned to the uptight agent as he spoke into an intercom.

"Sir, the NBE-One hangar has lost power-" another man answered over the speaker.

"What?!" Banachek interrupted the other agent.

"-and the backup generator just isn't gonna cut it!" The blood drained from my face as the implications hit me. 'If the power is out…. Megatron is too!' Lennox grabbed Banachek by shoulder and spun the agent to face him.

"Do you have an arms room?" he demanded, Banachek nodded sharply, something akin to panic flickering in his eyes. I clutched the little Nokia bot to my chest, part of me glad that they were distracted from him. Banachek pressed a button, and the doors were slowly opened from the outside. Once we filed out Banachek began spouting orders and gestured for us to follow him. We ran down through another room and down a dimly lit corridor. I could hear some of the men talking as we ran, but I focused on keeping up with them and their longer legs. We finally made it to the arms room, which was stocked full of various weapons, gear, and ammo. I stood with Sam and Mikaela off to the side, trying not to get in the way.

I surreptitiously snagged a pistol off a nearby rack, as well as several loaded magazines, and shoved them into my waistband under my jacket. All around us soldiers methodically grabbed, loaded, and checked weapons. The lights flickered as another dull thud resonated in the distance.

The entire room immediately froze and Simmons awkwardly finished cocking his gun, staring at the ceiling. Sam strode over to Simmons in the silence.

"You got to take us to my car," Sam begged. "You have to take us to my car. He's gonna know what to do with the Cube-"

"You car?" Simmons deflected, fiddling with his gun. "It's confiscated."

"Then un-confiscate it." Sam sassed, and Simmons' lip curled.

"We do not know what will happen if we let it near this thing!"

"You don't know-" Sam pointed out, but Simmons interrupted him angrily.

"Maybe you know, but I don't know-" This time it was Sam's turn to interrupt.

"You just want to sit here and wait and see what happens?" Sam hissed dangerously. I quickly went to support him, followed by my cousin. We each stood behind him, daring Simmons to deny us.

"I have people's lives at stake here, young man." He yelled, and I felt someone push past me. I was surprised when Lennox shoved the arrogant agent into the car behind him.

"Take him to his car!" Lennox roared, grabbing the man's lapels. The S-Seven security immediately trained their guns on the Captain, who simply raised his pistol in return and ordered them to drop their guns. His unit didn't hesitate to defend him, quickly disarming the guards. I even saw one soldier slamming the butt of his newly acquired rifle into their faces.

"Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!" Banachek called, spreading his hands. The soldiers finished disarming the security and held them at gunpoint.

"Drop your weapon soldier," Simmons tried to reason, but Lennox just glared at him. "There's an alien war going on and you're gonna shoot me?"

"You know, we didn't ask to be here," Lennox rebuked him, tightening his hold on the man's shirt.

"I'm ordering you under S-Seven executive jurisdiction-"

"S-Seven don't exist!" Epps interrupted the agent, glancing back for a split second.

"Right," Lennox nodded to Epps. "And we don't take orders from people who don't exist."

"I'm gonna count to five," Simmons began nervously. "Okay?"

"Well, I'm gonna count to three." Lennox snarled softly, digging his gun into Simmons sternum. I couldn't help the admiration that swelled in me, even as I wordlessly watched the scene unfold.

"Simmons?" Keller jumped in, gaining everybody's attention without having to raise his voice.

"Yessir?"

"I'd do what he says," the Sec Def gave the agent a pointed look. "Losing's really not an option for these guys." I was impressed with how calm the man sounded, considering I felt like I was about to pass out.

"Alright. Okay." Simmons conceded mutinously. "Hey. You want to lay the fate of the world on the kid's Camaro? That's cool."

"He's not just a Camaro Simmons," I berated him softly. I could feel people's attention on me again and I blushed, but continued. "He's a sentient being, with a name." Simmons shook his head.

"Whatever kid," Simmons dusted himself off and made his way to the door. "Let's go."

We ran through the halls again, following Simmons and Banachek as they lead us to Bee. We ran through several more rooms, and I stopped cold when I saw him. The bot who had saved my life lay thrashing on a hard table, held down by thick cables. He was whining and crying out as men aimed more freezing guns at heart dropped, and a scream passed my lips, unbidden.

"BUMBLEBEE!" He began to thrash harder and began wailing as best he could with a damaged vocoder. Sam brushed past me, followed by Banachek.

"Stop! Stop stop stop!" They both yelled, and then men aiming the cold guns slowly backed off. The room waited nervously as Bee continued to thrash against the cables, wailing. I ran forward, quickly followed by Sam and Mikaela.

"Let him go! Let him go!" Banachek ordered, and one of the men hit a button. The cables suddenly went slack and Bee shoved them off.

"Bee!" I cried out. His head whipped toward us and a mask slid over his face when he saw the tense soldiers behind us. Sam stepped up beside me, addressing his Guardian.

"Are you okay?" Sam questioned quickly. "They didn't hurt you, right?" Bee didn't answer him. Instead, his mask receded and he rolled off the table. A cannon whirred to life in place of one of his hands, and he loomed over us in a protective stance.

"Listen to me," Sam tried to placate him. "The Cube is here, and the Decepticons are coming." Bumblebee didn't seem to hear him so I edged closer to him, and reached up. Glancing down at me, Bee gently scooped me into his free arm. I focused on his face as soldiers shifted nervously and patted his cheek. He carefully surveyed them, aiming his cannon in their general direction.

"No, no don't worry about them," I told him quickly. "They're okay, right? They're not going to hurt you, not anymore. Okay?" He gave me a disbelieving look, but Sam backed me up.

"Just back up a little bit." Sam called out to the soldiers. "He's friendly, he's fine," Sam turned to Bee and I, trying to calm him. "Okay, come on. Put the guns down, they're not gonna hurt you." Bee nodded cautiously and powered down his weapons, but didn't put me down. My eyes were suddenly drawn to a large group of dents and cuts that littered his face and neck. I reached out with shaking fingers, and grazed them. Bee flinched minutely, and I swallowed my horror.

"Bee…" I ghosted my fingers along his jaw. "Are you okay? What did they do to you…" My solemn words echoed in the silent chamber. Bee looked at me sadly, and spoke.

"Kitten-/ Auto-/ -bots / are trained to/ resist/ torture-" Bee's comment was a variety of sound clips thrown together, but I still understood it. My brows furrowed slightly.

"Why did you start wailing when I came in?" Bee gave me another sad look, but this time it was mixed with fierce determination.

"Though they were-/ hurting/ -you." I smiled up at him, even as my eyes watered.

"Don't worry Bee. They didn't hurt me, I'm okay." Two of the antenna-like appendages on the top of his head flicked up, then pressed flat against his helm and one of his large fingers gently traced the side of my face- where I had been hit by the gun.

"Except for that," I admitted sheepishly. Bee looked bemused.

"Except for that," he parroted my own words back at me. Behind me I could hear various soldiers muttering creative expletives and my attention was drawn back to the problem at hand. I patted the arm holding me, and Bee lowered me to the ground. I wiggled out of his grasp, gesturing for him to follow me.

"Here, come with me. I'm gonna take you to the AllSpark." Bee visibly perked up, and the group was once again running through the halls. Bee kept up easily, but was careful not to overtake any of the humans running in front of him. We emerged in the massive chamber that housed the AllSpark. We stopped at the sight of the colossal cube, and even Bee seemed to gaze at it in awe. The Nokia bot chittered quietly in my pocket, but I caressed it with one hand and it quieted.

Quickly, the Autobot strode towards the AllSpark and reverently reached up.

The Cube dwarfed him, and I briefly wondered what he was going to do with it. His fingers brushed it's surface before he carefully prodded it, and energy rippled across it. I could hear one of the soldiers muttering somewhere behind me, but all I could focus on was the AllSpark. The ancient artefact, which had been silent, began to hum. The hair on my arms stood up and I shuddered as a wave of energy seemed to wash over me. The Cube let off a slight glow as it began to fold in on itself, clicking quietly as cubes within cubes formed, shrunk, and disappeared.

"Oh my god," My cousin breathed, covering her mouth in amazement. The AllSpark continued to shrink until it landed safely into Bee's waiting hands. It seemed to shock him, not unlike a static charge, and he peered at it. Satisfied, his eyes flicked towards the waiting soldiers.

"Message from Starfleet Captain/ Let's get to it." Bee nodded to them.

"He's right," Lennox spoke firmly, looking around himself. "We stay here, we're screwed with Megatron in the other hangar. Mission city is 22 miles away," He pointed in a random direction, and looked Keller in the eyes. "We're gonna sneak that Cube out of here, and we're going to hide it somewhere in the city." Keller nodded firmly, glad to have some sort of plan.

"But we cannot make a stand, without the Air Force," he continued forcefully. The Sec Def immediately turned to Simmons.

"This place must have some kind of radio link," he prompted.

"Yes-"

"-Shortwave. CB."

"Right! Yes." Simmons' head bobbed up and down rapidly, and Lennox jumped in.

"Sir, you got to figure out some way to get word out to them," Lennox turned to his men. "Let's move!" The soldiers turn, and run towards one of the tunnels. I follow, a little confused, with Bee, Sam, and my cousin close behind. We emerge in the same tunnel we had come in, and Bee transforms. The soldiers gawk, but are quick to turn away.

"Alright, Sam, get in the car!" Sam nods, and we pile in. I end up in the backseat again, with the AllSpark in my lap. I can hear Lennox call out in a commanding tone, but I can't focus on it. I can feel the Cube in my lap, and something brushing against me. Bee takes off, driving down the tunnel.