Hello everybody!

Sorry… I'm just… really, really sorry I made you wait. I moved to a new country a few weeks ago, and we've been getting ready.

Also, once again, the names and countries I am using are real. You can look them up. There are wikipedia pages about them.

And now – as previously stated – Sanity of Earth.

Also, as a quick note - :/Comm link:/

- "Russian"

Wyoming, America

Cheyenne, 0600 hours

January 11th 2014

"Wyoming."

Anne glared up at the buildings surrounding her. Over the past few weeks, she had been non-stop traveling and non-stop hacking. She had gone from Washington State, to Oregon, to California, to Nevada, Idaho, Montana, with Wyoming being her current location after the latter.

It seemed ridiculous really. She was positive that she'd find them in the Washington State. It was named after one of the Americans Presidents after all. After that let down, she had been hopeful – several states later – that Nevada would yield promising results. There was a large expanse of desert there, but no.

After that, there were no expectations. She simply hacked every encrypted file in that state – mainly military. At those times she always thanked Prowl and her former employers for creating such advanced hacking software. Cybertronian technology really was excellent.

Now, as she stood in the freezing city, the morning sun highlighting her short, brown hair, Anne sighed in half defeat. She'd been traveling around this country for ages now, and it didn't honestly seem promising. Maybe Darmen had messed up on the 'Western America' location.

But, for the moment, all she really wanted was coffee. She found that the Americans really excelled at making it.

Trudging through the streets of Cheyenne, she passed other people who ignored her. She was grateful for this. Evidently, unless you were extremely different in appearance, you were just another person, who had no background.

Which – according to the "non-existent" records the government held – she was.

Passing multiple shops along the street, the Swiss foreigner was constantly reminded by the closed up rooms that it was too early for any of the shops to be open.

This was a setback in acquiring caffeine.

Sighing in frustration after she had reached an intersection, Anne glanced around to look for a seat. Might as well wait.

She sighted one just a few meters ahead. Though it was also occupied by another human being, one who was currently cupping a cigarette against the biting wind.

Her morale dropped. She had spent ten years working with a guy who smoked, and now she was going to be stuck sitting next to a stranger who also smoked. Then again, she could just remain standing.

No. Anne refused to stand for half an hour in an unfamiliar city. She knew that sitting was hardly any better, as she still could be mugged – but she had a gun, and actually knew how to use it.

Besides, if the guy that she'd sit next to was a threat in any way, she liked her odds.

Sucking in a cold air of breath, as well as slowly letting it out, the brunette made her way over to the wooden bench. She looked inconspicuous enough. She wore a grey hoody with cargo pants – plus her hair hadn't been brushed in a while.

Minus the computer bag slung over her shoulder, with a wallet hastily shoved in her pants pocket, she was pretty sure she wasn't worth the attention.

Turning to inspect the seat before sitting on it, the foreigner relented after making sure there weren't macroscopic germs crawling all over it. While she was sure that this was a cleaner city than most around the world, she had extremely high standards.

Also, considering after years of working in filthy places to acquire Intel, she had grown to despise filth ridden areas. Not fear, simply despise.

The man cupping the cigarette glanced sideways at her from beneath a ratty old hat. His bloodshot eyes lingered on her for a moment, before he found his nicotine filled stick far more interesting.

Relaxing against the back of the bench, Anne let her gaze wander to the skies above her. It was an almost calming sensation, something she hadn't felt in a long time. This had not started simply because she was in a different country. This had begun when she had been let go from her job. She had been in constant worry when living in her residence. Not only for herself, but for Yuri, as well as Prowl.

She understood that well enough that both of them could take care of themselves, one was an alien robot after all, but she worried more about the abruptness of the split. She had always believed that they would have drifted apart far more slowly than what had happened.

Which led her to believe that something had come up.

Prowl had never been the one to simply vanish without explanation. Anne paused. Scratch that, this was exactly like him. But not in such a way as he had.

But that was nothing compared to Yuri. The Russian had always made his objectives pretty clear. Whatever was going on, it was far bigger than anything they'd done before.

A tapping on her shoulder drew her attention to the stranger beside her. To say that she was somewhat annoyed at the interruption of her calm freedom would be exactly right. Attempting half baked politeness, she turned somewhat of her focus to the man. "Yes?"

The male paused at the evident accent in her voice – he had obviously believed that she had citizenship in this country. "Uh…do ya mind telling me what you're doing here?"

She raised an eyebrow at his question, not fully understanding it. "I beg your pardon?"

At that he laughed. "…I'm sorry. But you aren't in the best part of town." Ah, now she understood. He saw her as someone rich and upper class.

Staring him down somewhat, Anne replied with as much forcefulness as she could muster. "Doesn't matter." He frowned. "I'm not here for long. I just have to finish up some business. The quality of your city doesn't concern me."

The man seemed interested now. "What type of business?"

Anne hesitated. What could she say? I'm illegally hacking into different State government records to find the Alien robots that were currently staying on our planet. No. Personal matters. Ok.

"Personal matters." She answered. He looked on dubiously, but didn't press the matter.

"Well, whatever you're doing here, stay sharp. Many crazy things happen here." This garnered her entire attention. Crazy things could refer to anything. Even aliens.

"Such as?'

The man smirked, knowing he had gained her interest. "There are many shifty figures round these parts. Strange noises at night." Her attention waned as she realised he was simply talking about a street gang most likely selling drugs. Not really interesting to her.

Interrupting his retelling of simply a terrible place he lived in, Anne stood up from the bench, bored of this. "Sorry, but that's not what I'm looking for." She turned her back on the man, beginning to walk away from the hobo.

"Zhen vhat are you looking for Anne?"

The brunette paused and immediately began ranting. "You've gotta be joking you son of a bitch."

"What'd I say?" She glanced back at the man, now sounding American. His appearance was nothing like Yuri's. This was evident. And the Russian spy would never have been able to do that good of a job at an American accent. What had she heard then?

"…nothing. Have a nice day."

The hobo raised an eyebrow. "Uh…you too."

She quickly stalked away. Zhen vhat are you looking for Anne. That had undoubtedly been his voice. She'd heard it clear as day. But that was crazy. He wasn't here. Last she'd checked he'd still been in Murmansk. Darmen had even done a background check to make sure.

Then…what the hell was that?

She shook it off. Not enough sleep. Anne knew that it was probably in her head. Hallucinatory sounds were normal when tired. Yeah, that was it.

Nothing else. Everything was just….

Peachy.

…. … …

Murmansk, 1730 hours

January 4th 2014

Yuri stared at the blue computer screen. He had gone through so much trouble for them. Prowl had been right in their grasp. They had somehow failed to not only exterminate him, but to fail in capturing him as well.

A grin split across his face. That Cybertronian was very clever. A real opponent.

The Russian laughed out loud. Well this had gone better than expected. He had pissed off the Cons, and utterly irked the Autobot tactician and Second in Command. Good job for only one man.

Pushing back from the desk and computer, he made his way hastily across the filthy room. Stage one was complete. Piss off Decepticons.

Stage one and a half was next. Inform the informant.

Reaching the hardly used door to the outside world, the male human tripped first on his own pile of clothes before grabbing the handle. A blast of cold hair hit his uncovered and now bearded face, as the freezing temperatures of Murmansk officially registered with his somewhat sluggish mind.

He stood atop a steel grate, with stairs leading down to the snow covered streets. In retrospect, he should have fished out a jacket from within the confines of his one room apartment – not including bathroom.

But his mind was focused on the task at hand. He had to hand it to his friend. It was an interesting plan.

Trudging down the steps at an agonizingly slow pace, careful not to fall and die, the man made it to the bottom and began his frozen trek towards the closest phone box. The informant wanted it to seem inconspicuous. While not exactly a confidential line, the Autobots and Decepticons didn't bother tracing calls from these public phones.

Yuri pulled out the piece of paper from his pocket, other things spilling out as well as he dug through. While he hated living in that sort of filth, he had been required to remain there for the past few months. He had to always be ready for a message.

Chancing upon the slip of paper, he squinted at the hastily drawn numbers. Weeks in the dark had not helped his aging eyesight either.

Making out the digits, his numb fingers held the handle of the phone to his ear, pressing the buttons below it.

A few seconds passed before the dial tone began. The man waited impatiently. This was extremely important; they had agreed that no matter what, this call could not be missed.

More moments passed, Yuri's calmer exterior cracking somewhat as his frown deepened. The informant – simultaneously informed – had to be there, otherwise-

"Hello?"

The Russian relaxed instantly. "It's me." There was silence from the other end as that information was relayed. When the man next spoke, it was with the utmost seriousness.

"Vhat is it?"

Yuri smirked. "Stage one is complete. How about on your end?"

A sigh came through the line, as the man was obviously relieved by that bit of news. "Going vell on zhis end to. Anne has been sent to look for zhe Autobots in America."

Mr. Arkhov paused at that. Anne? Had she been let in on this? Was she even still alive? Yuri raised a frozen eyebrow, forgetting that no one was here to see it. "Anne knows vhat ve are doing?"

"No." The informant replied icily. "She is simply looking for Prowl, as far as she is concerned. In reality, she is uncovering zhe location of zhe Autobots. Vhich leads us to stage two."

Yuri scratched at the beard that had grown over the weeks, the grey streaks clear in the colour. "Vell, I suppose going someplace varmer for zhe vinter is an upside to all zhis."

"Don't get used to it." The other man downplayed instantly. "It is vinter zhere after all."

The Russian laughed at his comment, but sobered up fairly quickly. "Are you positive zhat zhis is zhe right vay to do zhings."

A slight pause came from the other side. "Zhis plan vill come togezher." With that, the line was disconnected. Yuri glared at the phone, knowing that a little bit more information would've been useful.

Releasing a smoky breath of air, he placed the handle back in its place, and began his trek back to the cramped room he lived in. A little vacation wouldn't be the end of the world.

…. …. ….

Hoover dam, Colorado

January 21st 2014

1100 hours

Optimus Prime glared down – and around – at the datapads in front of him. Never before had so many of these things been delivered to his office. They were everywhere. All over his desk, on the floor, on the shelves – everywhere.

They were being sent to his office in a last ditch effort by the humans – with Jazz – to get the reports, paperwork plus any other means of 'Work' done on time. It wasn't that Jazz didn't do his work, but he wasn't as abnormal as Prowl had been. Ever since the spy had been given this job he'd been working nearly non-stop. But he had to refuel and rest. Unlike Prowl. Not only that, but the Saboteur had other responsibilities.

This was why it was better to have a tactician as Second in Command. You didn't need to send a tactician in to do reconnaissance.

Now he was left with Jazz's half finished reports, coupled with those that had just arrived, or had not even been looked over. This was not a task Optimus – or anybody for that matter – particularly enjoyed. The other downside is that it couldn't be forced onto anybody else as a punishment because it had to be signed by either the Prime, or the Second in Command – not including medical reports, Ratchet gets that.

Seen as one of the two was currently unavailable, Optimus was now left to clean up the rest until the workload could be split when Jazz returned. To say the least, not how anybody would want to spend their day.

But the leader of the Autobots always wondered why the humans sent nearly all of their problems to them. He didn't really care about the busted coffee machine in the human rec room; all they had to do was pay for a new one. They had the money. There was no doubt about that.

Releasing a weary vent, he reached for the 'Actually important' pile, next to the 'In a few weeks' pile. Unfortunately – according to the humans – many non-important things were important apparently.

Glancing at the datapad he held now, it was one of those non-important ones. The humans were annoyed by Ratchet's gruff attitude, saying that he should be nicer due to the fact that they had welcomed them to their planet.

Go say that to Ratchet. We'll make sure your funeral is pretty.

Seen as he couldn't exactly find the pile which held the entirety of human stupidity – please, he may be the Prime, didn't mean he had to like the organics here – it was placed haphazardly on the desk.

Picking up the next datapad though, provided for a much more interesting lead. There appeared to be a hacker – Decepticon or otherwise was uncertain – that had been going from state to state, breaking into government records. Nothing financial had seemingly been opened, but far more secretive works. Background checks on abnormalities that had happened in the different states, secret tunnels, unregistered vehicles, buildings.

Optimus suspected this to be a 'Con, due to the fact that many of those files were high encryption, but this being had gotten by them within seconds, if records were correct.

Unless an organic had somehow managed to get their hands on a Cybertronian hacker system, this speed of break in would be nigh impossible.

This beings last attack had been in Wyoming. Whoever they were was focusing more on the western and central states of America. They had been making their way in a very unusual manner, starting from the Washington state, heading in land a few states, and then dropping down a state. So the next state was either Utah, or…

The light of his optics dimmed in realization. This wasn't fair. These things were never fair.

Standing from his place behind the desk, he understood that this hacker was most likely already in Colorado – or Utah – by now, unless using a wireless connection to hack into the databases.

If this were to be an organic, they would most likely leak the information to the public, which wouldn't be too large a problem – they could simply move to some of their other bases. But if it were a Decepticon, then they would most likely be targeted before they could leave to another area.

So the next thing for him to take care of was arranging for one Autobot, accompanied by two humans, to locate this hacker before they uncover the location of the base. The humans would be used in case the hacker was organic. The Autobot, if the hacker was not.

Activating his comm. line he contacted Bumblebee /: Bumblebee,, this is Optimus. I have a job for you:/

There was a brief pause before a reply came through /: What do you need me to do?:/ This was what made a great soldier. Receive a command; carry it through with no question. What made a great officer – question your commander every single step of the way. Or be loyal.

/: We have a hacker that is most likely a Decepticon. They may be trying to uncover our location. I believe their next target will be in this Earth state. Please take Major Lennox and another human, and watch the main government building in the capital city:/

/: ...Yes, sir. But…why would any information on our location be kept in a government building in this state? It's confidential, so why let anyone else know about it?:/

"It is a connection for the liaison should there an emergency. If need be, he can contact the main force easily, but for that, information must be supplied to the state we are situated, or no connection can be made." It was a stupid and unprotected system, but it had come in handy in the past.

/: Understood:/ the line was ended in a fizzle of static, with Optimus taking a seat once again. The datapad was put to the side, along with the other completed information and reports. It would most likely be lost in the sea of work, but it wasn't like he needed it again any time soon.

A few more breems of – barely – glancing at the work on his desk, was interrupted by a message from Elita, asking why he sent Bumblebee, Lennox and Epps off to watch a government building.

Well at least Lennox had brought along a capable soldier. He sent back a quick message, informing his Sparkmate of the situation.

Whatever this hacker wanted, they would stop them. Whether it was through killing them – Decepticon – or detaining them for about twenty five years – human. Though he didn't understand why the Decepticons would require to hack into different state facilities to simply find them.

His attention was drawn back to his work. Worst part of being Prime.

…. …. ….

Denver, Colorado

January 22nd 2014

0840 hours

They had been sitting there for twelve hours now. After arriving in Denver the night before, after a strenuously silent ride, the three companions had been doing nothing for the entirety of the period of time aforementioned.

Currently, only Bumblebee and Lennox were there. The Major was sitting in the passenger's seat of the transformer's alt mode. Epps had gone to get coffee a few minutes before, to help the two soldiers to not fall asleep. The Autobot did not need anything, as contrary to human belief, Cybertronians were not required to refuel and recharge every single earth day. By all technicalities they were only needed to do that every six days – an orn for them.

The two beings had lapsed into a semi-awkward silence, seen as it was very difficult to begin a conversation with the Autobot scout, plus there wasn't anything to talk about.

The major's thoughts began to wonder before he was instantly brought back by the tapping of a window. He glanced to the side and saw a female brunette in a black trench coat bending over and looking at him. She had short hair and brown eyes. But most prominent, she looked annoyed.

The window rolled down automatically, as the Autobot was also curious about this person. Lennox straightened in his seat, "May I help you?"

The woman paused a moment, her eyes narrowing. She then replied, "Yes, I believe you can," she held up a grey and black aerial image of a large open space, next to a large land mass.

He raised an eyebrow, not knowing what to make of the picture, "Uh…"

"This is an aerial photograph of the Hoover Dam, Major Lennox," his eyes widened at her words and how she had addressed him, but she continued, her tone darkening, "I am looking for someone, a being very much like the one you are currently with. You will take me to their base of operations, and I will speak with the one I am looking for. Understood?"

The two that she had referred to sat in rapt shock at this. The hacker they were looking for, who had been breaking into state government files, was this…woman? Not some Decepticon or major league organization? A single person?

The Major stepped out of the car, the woman stepping back, "You're going to be coming with us. We have a lot to sort out." He placed a hand on her shoulder, a grin splitting across her face as she was placed in the back seat of the Autobot's alt mode.

Lennox just watched her, fully confused. Did she not understand the severity of this? She had basically gone against the United States government, so why was she not more worried about the consequences about her actions?

Taking a closer look at the grinning female, the Major understood. This person wasn't thinking about the consequences. She was simply far more focused on the task that she'd set out to do.

He noticed Epps coming towards them, two steaming, plastic cups of coffee being held in both hands. He glanced towards the silhouette in the back seat then back to his superior. Lennox nodded. They'd got the hacker.

… … …

Anne sat in the backseat of this Autobot. She was happy. She was very happy. After searching for months she'd done it. And it had all been thanks to the ignorance on their part. That car couldn't have been more obvious if it had had a sign painted over it. Having to live with Prowl all those years, she'd picked up on a few tells.

The aerial photograph had been a good touch. She had taken a very wild guess with the Hoover dam, but it was the most likely place. The actual picture was nothing more than a photocopy error that she forgot to throw away.

And now, thanks to this, she was going to find Prowl. Everything would go back to the way it was. She'd go back to Murmansk. They'd work for the Russian Government again. They'd live in the same warehouse as before.

She wouldn't be lonely. She'd have them again. It would all go back to normal.

… … …

January 22nd 2014

1600 hours

The rather futuristic computer flickered as calibrations went into the computer. Darmen Schitzkof watched this with rapt attention. It was an incredible feat of engineering. Well, it would have been had it actually been made by mankind. Otherwise, this was probably far more primitive technology for the robotic alien race currently residing on their planet.

With that thought, his gaze drifted upwards, to where one of these astounding beings was working. While it would have been a lot faster to simply connect the computer to the Cybertronian's processor, they didn't have the technology that had been available before for that to work. Otherwise, this would have been all over a lot sooner.

He had received word from Yuri about a week and a half ago now, with no recent updates coming in. Should word come in from Anne, the information would be directly and instantly relayed, but until such a time, they were waiting.

Unfortunately it was an incredibly long wait. It wasn't like this mech was the most social person to be around, uttering very few words here and there. Fortunately the robotic being could speak Russian, so that helped.

The rest of the room was very dark, save for the blue light coming from the large computer, and fairly silent as well. The two were silhouettes in the dark, one small to the other in comparison.

The only other source of light was cut off rather abruptly, startling the male human. He glanced towards where he had previously seen his comrade, hearing the large footsteps of the Cybertronian walking away.

Darmen was about to call out, but the lights were then switched on, temporarily blinding him.

"My apologies," the Cybertronian intoned dryly, "The work has been completed," he paused briefly, optics locking on the organic, "I assume I do not need to remind you of your next task?"

The mech had delivered it in such an inflectionless and emotionless tone, but Darmen couldn't help but feel as though he was being judged, or as a child feels when an adult is condescending.

He straightened, for what little good it did to muster a hierarchy of dignity, "I know vhat has to be done, Prowl. You can be sure it vill go vell."

Prowl's optics narrowed slightly, the only thing giving off any indication of emotional compatibility. Unfortunately, such a movement usually represented anger.

"It better go well," his tone seemed menacing, but once again gave nothing away, "You know the consequences should you fail."

The organic nodded, knowing all too well what would happen. It had been a miracle to get Prowl to agree to this, due to his dislike of the man before him, and the overall dislike of several governments in on this.

But they needed his tactical brilliance, coupled with superiority over the rest of the humans, like all the other Cybertronians were.

They didn't speak another word, and Darmen made his way outside, hoping to get this over and done with, so as to not have to keep looking over his shoulder and hoping that the black and white mech wouldn't aim a gun at his head.

Prowl watched him go. Stage three had begun.

PLEASE REVIEW

Also…

Please…please don't hit me. I am so sorry I didn't update sooner like I'd promised, but it was just…really not a good time. I was moving from one country to another and I just discovered how great One Piece was. I've been watching a lot of episodes, so…

Yeah, but this is the new chapter, and I hope you liked it, because we are finally getting somewhere. Plus Prowl's back, and actually on the designated timeline that all the other characters are working with, not just in flashbacks!

If any of you have suggestions, I will take them into account. Also, if you want, try guess what the main agenda is here.

I want to thank the people who reviewed.

SunnySides

Not-Gonna-Update - I promise I'll keep on writing.

BookLovingPersonR.B.L – They will meet up I assure you. Chapter 5 is already in the works and it will have accelerations.

2211Nighthawk – Thank you for the compliment. Believe me they are real. I spend hours a day looking up new areas for this Fanfiction.

And everybody who favourited or followed the story.