Yippee! Chapter 8! ^_^

Hopefully this one really is better than the last chapter. -_-

So, if you like this chapter, tell me in a review! Please? ^_^

Artemis improved her aim over the next few days, with help from Ironhide. (Though he never again made himself a target for her, just in case.) Red Alert had immediately started griping about the lack of security around the base, and took it into his own hands to bring it "up to par." Everyone saw the Chief of Security SUV driving from one end of the base to the other, spewing out every minor detail that could lead to a Decepticon attack at the top of his vocal processors.

"Look! This rock is too big! A 'Con could hide behind this, and if our computer systems were down, we could be ambushed!" he yelled dramatically.

"Artemis, aim at that 'giant' boulder over there," Ironhide said, sighing. He was hoping Red would keep his distance from their target practice. Guess not.

Boom.

"See, Red? All taken care of," Ironhide said to the Security Chief. Artemis had expertly hit the boulder to break it into many smaller pieces. He watched with relief when Red Alert went off to bother someone else about a minute detail that could be overlooked. No one could really blame him though…after he heard their base was attacked before, he literally had a Spark attack. (Much to Ratchet's distress…"Why can't anyone be healthy around here for once?!?" he yelled exasperatedly, re-energizing Red's Spark with a little help from Jolt.) The astrosecond he was released, Red Alert immediately set out to dramatically improve the security in and around the base. And despite his annoying tendency, everyone felt safer with the top-grade security.

Jolt, on the other hand, took to sneaking around and playing pranks on everyone. Though he did do some solo and a few others with Jazz's help, (including gluing some of Ratchet's tools to their trays, which resulted in the entire tray being thrown at them with a vengeance) he saved most of his ideas for Sunny and Sides to show up. The deep blue Chevy Volt decided he'd let the masters help him out with his best ideas.

Wheeljack, Perceptor, and Jetfire had arrived, though Prowl wasn't allowed to come greet them because Ratchet utterly refused to let him up off his medbay berth. But Prowl had recovered well, and was finally allowed to walk around. Which, despite his everlasting patience, was something he looked forward to, just so he could get out of Ratchet's presence. The medic was constantly complaining about the onslaught of injured bots and yelled for no real reason. Well, Wheeljack's explosions excepted. The three scientists had their own special, almost-explosive-proof room to build new devices and test them out. Perceptor was a perfectionist, Jetfire was still new to the science realm, and Wheeljack…made the most un-reactive substances explode with a fury.

"Prowl, I take it you're feeling better?" Optimus asked as said mech entered the main room. Ironhide looked up too, having just come in from target practice. Artemis was in her room relaxing.

"Yes, Optimus, I am. I'm surprised at how well I've recovered myself. Soundwave isn't exactly the easiest Decepticon to fight," the Cyber Ninja replied. He was devoid of emotion, with a blank face and blue visor concealing his optics. Just like always.

"Well, it's a mixture of pure luck and the fact that I'm already used to fixing up anyone who's involved in a near-death catastrophe!" came Ratchet's snappy reply from the medbay across the hall.

Optimus allowed himself to chuckle a little at this. "I can see why you wanted to get away from him."

Ironhide snorted in agreement. A ghost of a smile played across Prowl's face, but was quickly replaced by his usual emotionless demeanor. "Yes. I suppose you'd like to hear more about the attack?"

Optimus nodded.

Prowl activated his hologram projector. "I think this will be easier to explain it all."

The hologram showed two Autobots in their entry protoforms in earth's upper atmosphere, as it was from Prowl's point of view.

The mechs were talking back and forth with excited tones and gathering information about earth. It was obvious they had been traveling for some time. Suddenly, seemingly out of nowhere, Red Alert was shot at. Immediately all three bots transformed into their robot modes, and turned to face a satellite with their weapons readied. The group paused for a moment, not knowing if they should attack it or not, until the satellite transformed.

"It's Soundwave!" Prowl bellowed. "Autobots, attack!"

A series of blasts and shots were exchanged between the Bots and the 'Con. Soundwave was obviously used to fighting in these conditions and had the upper hand of the battle. The other three mechs had trouble with the floating and being pushed back every time they shot a cannon.

Red Alert was suddenly attacked by an electric cord from Soundwave's arm, which hit him in the chest and immediately started spreading across him and digging into his armor and coiling around his systems. Prowl threw two ninja stars to cut him free of the cord.

"We can't keep fighting him like this! We need help!" Jolt yelled as Red Alert pulled the now dead coils from his body.

"Red Alert, Jolt, continue to base. I'll hold Soundwave off for now!" Prowl answered.

"Are you crazy? We all need to make a run for it!" Jolt argued, narrowly dodging an attack.

"No, Prowl's right. If we all go, Soundwave could follow us. We don't want to bring him right to our base!" Red Alert yelled. Jolt looked like he wanted to protest, but gave in and followed Red further into earth's atmosphere.

Prowl continued fighting Soundwave with everything he had. It was a futile effort and he knew it, but someone had to keep Soundwave occupied while the others escaped. The fight didn't last much longer; Soundwave obviously took a disinterest to the fight, so he gave Prowl two direct hits to his chest and abdomen areas and was propelled down into the earth. Soundwave transformed back into his satellite mode and left it at that.

The hologram faded. Optimus looked like he was contemplating something.

"Are you alright, Prime?" Ironhide asked.

The commander sighed. "These attacks…they don't seem right. First Ravage, when he obviously could have done more damage but pulled off. Now Soundwave, who could have easily killed all three of you…no offense…but he pulled back and allowed you to get away. They're just toying with us. Its almost like-"

"Its part of a bigger plan," Prowl finished. "I know. I've been thinking about it a lot since it happened too. Do you think…this girl, Artemis, is part of the reason?"

Artemis, who was just about to enter the room to ask Ironhide something, held back at the sound of her name and listened from the shadows.

Optimus looked up. "What do you mean?"

"I could tell the first time I saw her that she's not normal. And I don't mean the metal arm."

"We did know from the start she was special," Optimus agreed.

"I don't know if its because she's not human or anything, but she is indeed different," Prowl added, nodding. "The Decepticons might not know this much about her, but they know she's a weakness now. If she got kidnapped, even just as leverage, they could find out just how different she is. And whatever…whoever she is, I'm sure they could make it work to their advantage." The others nodded in agreement.

Artemis's eyes were wide with shock. "They think I'm a freak?" she thought.

Ironhide heaved a big sigh. "I'll admit I've been worried about her being here with all of us. She sticks out, especially as the only…human…to be around us. Its pretty dangerous."

When she heard Ironhide say this, Artemis immediately ran for the door, tears starting to stream down her face. She was angry and hurt and upset all at the same time. "Of course I'm a danger. They probably wouldn't have let me stay if they would have known I'd be a Decepticon magnet. And I can't believe what they think of me. I mean, I know I'm not normal, but this is too much! So, giant alien robots think I'm some sort of freak? Do they want Ratchet and Perceptor to run all sorts of tests on me to find out what the hell I am? I stayed with them because I thought they treated me with respect and cared about me. But it was all fake. They just want me here because I'm different. And they don't want the Decepticons to have me to use as some sort of freaking weapon against them." Artemis stopped running to catch her breath. She had been sprinting away from the abandoned airplane hangar without realizing it and angry tears flowed from her eyes. "I wish I never met them." Without looking back, Artemis continued to run away. Unfortunately she didn't hear the rest of the Autobots' conversation.

Ironhide continued. "I'm afraid she'll get hurt because she stays with us. I try to keep an eye on her as much as possible, but every time she's not in my sight I get a little worried."

Optimus agreed. "She should be protected even more now for her own safety. The Decepticons have witnessed firsthand that we all truly care about her."

"Someone should accompany her everywhere she goes. It might be easier if we all use our holoforms to do so when possible. Especially if she goes outside of the base," Prowl said.

"Good thinking," Optimus replied. "Ironhide, we should let Artemis know what we're going to do. Will you go get her? She must have her com link shut off."

Ironhide nodded and activated his holoform to go get her.

"Artemis, you awake?" Ironhide asked, his holoform knocking on the small door that led to Artemis's room. "Hello?" The 6'3" figure waited somewhat impatiently, his dark blue eyes narrowed ever so slightly and muscled arms crossed over his chest. He was dressed in combat boots, jeans, and a black shirt, and his dark brown hair was neatly trimmed. He looked to be in his mid thirties. Sighing, he opened the door quietly and peered inside. The room was empty.

"Huh. I wonder where she went?" Ironhide asked himself. Just then Ratchet was coming down the hallway, having finally unglued his instruments.

"Hey, 'Ratch! You seen Artemis lately?" he asked from his protoform.

Ratchet looked down. "Oh, hey Ironhide. I'm not used to seeing you so small and puny," he joked. A strong glare returned his comment. "But no, I haven't seen her."

"I wonder where she is?" Ironhide asked. He felt a little tug of worry at his Spark.

"Let's find out," Ratchet said, activating his scanners.

"Well? Where is she?" Ironhide asked impatiently. Ratchet didn't answer right away. His optic ridges were furrowed together and he looked confused. Now Ironhide really felt worried.

"What's wrong?"

"My scanners aren't picking up her energy signal."

"Do you mean…" Ironhide started.

"She's not on base."

Ironhide's holoform immediately disappeared. Back in the main room, Optimus and Prowl could tell there was something wrong.

"What is it? Is Artemis okay?" Prowl asked, a slight hint of worry in his voice. Even though he'd only been there a few days, he had also become attached to this girl.

"Artemis is gone."

Optimus paused for an astrosecond before opening a communication link with every Autobot on base. "Everyone. Meet in the main room, immediately! We have an urgent situation."

Within two minutes all eleven mechs reported to the room. Many looked confused but could tell there was something wrong, especially from Ironhide's frantic pacing back and forth in the room.

"What's wrong, Optimus?" Jazz asked.

Optimus prepared himself before replying. "Artemis is gone."

"What?!?" Jazz yelled, voicing the others' thoughts as they stood in shock.

"Do you think she was kidnapped?" Jolt asked worriedly.

"The chances of a Cybertronian getting through my defense system are insignificantly small," Red Alert replied. "If she was kidnapped, it was by humans."

"No, she's too tough to be kidnapped by them," Ironhide said, still pacing. "And she would have used the com link Perceptor made for her to contact us."

"The only other conclusion is that she ran away," Ratchet said, shuttering his optics.

"But why? She loves it here, doesn't she?" Bumblebee asked looking around. "She always said we were the best thing that happened to her."

The room was so silent you could hear a pin drop across the hall. Suddenly, Prowl's head snapped up. "She heard us."

"What?"

"She heard our conversation, Ironhide. Or, part of it," he continued.

"If she only heard up to the first part of what Ironhide said…" Optimus mused aloud.

"…Then she could get the wrong idea." Ironhide finished.

"What's going on?" Perceptor asked, looking at the three mechs.

Prowl played back the earlier conversation, pausing it where they thought Artemis had run off, then continued playing the rest of the conversation.

"Oh..."

Optimus stood up. "We must search for her. Ironhide, you go with Jazz and Prowl. Red Alert, you, Jolt, and Ratchet go together. Jetfire, you stay here with Perceptor in case she comes back. Wheeljack, Bumblebee, you're with me. Autobots, transform and roll out!"

Artemis quickly lost her way in the thick wooded hills that surrounded the Autobot base. She wandered around for over an hour before she decided to take a break, sitting by a tree and hugging her knees to her chest and crying. "Why?" she kept asking herself. "Why, why, why?" She felt so betrayed. She spent so much time with them, leaving her past life behind in an instant (not that it was much of a life, but still…) to come live with them, practically brought two of them back to life, one of them twice…she always tried to keep the mood on their base happy, no matter what she was feeling or what was going on. Some days when she felt like crying, she would pretend to be sleeping in her room so no one would know she was upset. She couldn't let them know or they wouldn't be happy. Not like it mattered to her now. They were probably going crazy trying to find her. Well, let them freak out. Off in the distance Artemis could hear her name being called, probably by mech and holoform alike by the number of voices she heard. She decided to rest a little longer, then keep running so they don't find their "precious humanoid freak of a weapon."

"Artemis!"

Artemis jolted awake. Looking around the tree she was resting on, she quietly cursed herself for falling asleep. Now they were within sight range. It will be much harder to get out now.

Her name echoed all over the base and surrounding area constantly. Each Autobot had their holoforms activated to help cover more ground. Ironhide's face was covered in guilt.

"This isn't your fault, 'Hide. You had no way of knowing she was there," Jazz said, trying to comfort him.

"She trusted me. And now she thinks I betrayed her…maybe I did," he sighed, shaking his head. He didn't bother to wipe the lubricant from his eyes because he knew more would take its place.

"She trusted all of us. You didn't betray her, Ironhide. We need to find her so we can explain that its all just a misunderstanding," Prowl replied, keeping the emotion out of his voice. He too felt guilty for her absence.

"What was that?" Jazz asked, pointing ahead. "I saw something move over there."

Artemis could have kicked herself. "They see me! Damnit!" she thought.

"It's Artemis!" Ironhide yelled. The large mech quickly caught up with her and managed to lightly grab her around the middle. He allowed his holoform to disappear while the other two mechs with him kept their distance. "Artemis. We need to talk. I-"

"Shut up!" Artemis yelled angrily. Anger burned in her eyes like a wildfire. "We don't need to talk! I heard quite enough from you already!"

Ironhide was taken aback at the force of her yelling. "But…you need to-"

"I don't need to do anything! You need to let me go! You're not good for being someone's guardian! You can't protect anything! All you're good for is blowing stuff up, like my whole frikin family!"

Ironhide felt like someone had blasted his Spark at point-blank range. He was Sparkbroken to hear her say something so mean and cruel. But he still didn't let her go. He still needed to make sure she was safe.

Artemis had enough of waiting. Angrily, she took aim with her cannon and shot at Ironhide. The blast hit him in the neck, opening a main energon line. It wasn't so much the pain that made him drop Artemis than the shock. Artemis hit the ground hard and winced, but got up immediately and ran.

Jazz ran over to Ironhide while Prowl went after Artemis. "You okay, 'Hide?"

Ironhide was leaning against a large tree and holding the energon line in his neck closed to keep the flow to a minimum. "Yeah, it's just a nick. Call Ratchet over to help though, will you?"

"That's not what I meant."

Ironhide was silent. Soon Ratchet and the others were there too.

"Did she get away?" Optimus asked, though he didn't need an answer. He could already tell from the look on Ironhide's face. Ratchet fixed the broken energon line quickly, though Ironhide made no move to get up. "Maybe…" the black mech started.

"She's not right," everyone echoed around him. They heard everything that was said, as everyone kept their com links open to communicate with one another more easily.

Ironhide didn't look like he believed them. He just sat against the tree, unmoving, and staring off into space.

"Optimus, I've got Artemis," Prowl databurst the commander.

"Good! Where are you? We need to get her back to base," he databurst back, wondering why he didn't just use the com link.

"I don't think that would be the best idea now. She doesn't want to be anywhere near our base. She has agreed not to run from me and talk as long as I don't tell anyone where we're going."

Optimus sighed, knowing Prowl didn't use the com link so Artemis wouldn't know he was even contacting him. "Okay, Prowl. I trust your judgment. Be safe."

Long chapter, huh? But it makes up for last chapter's lack of goodness. ^_^

I felt a little bad writing this. Poor Ironhide. T.T

Oh, and reviews would make Ironhide feel better. And if Ironhide feels better, so do the rest of the Autobots! So, if you want to make the Autobots happy-bots, you should review!