Gah! At this rate the third movie will be out before I finish this thing. Least its still coming though.

Thanks again to Epona Harper, who is the only reason this is readable. Enjoy.

Chapter 5 – Arrival

Kicking up her heels, Maggie relaxed her hold and let Deuce take control as they spun round and headed towards Bumblebee, Deuce's current guardian, and Mikaela. They'd been doing this for a couple of hours every day for the last week, and even Will's team, who were not as frequent visitors as Will himself, had noticed an immediate difference. True, Deuce still jumped when she walked into the room, but it didn't result in him bolting for the door. She was actually able to have a conversation with him with him replying in more than yes or no answers so long as Mikaela was with her. Clearly, the girl's judgement held great weight with him.

They skidded to a stop by Bumblebee's foot, and Maggie threw Mikaela the helmet.

"Well, my break's over. Jazz will be wondering what happened to me."

"If I know Jazz," Bumblebee replied, "he's audio deep in music files with one optic on the security cameras. The second you go inside, he shut them all down and pretend to have worked like a drone the whole time."

Bumblebee's comm. crackled.

"I heard that!"

Maggie started to head off, but turned her head and grinned.

"So, you three coming?"

She'd asked before, and expected the same shake of Deuces head that she'd gotten every other time. So it was hard to tell who was more surprised when Deuce nodded, and clambered onto Bumblebee's shoulder.

"Let's go."

Mikaela and Maggie shared a grin.

Jazz sighed at the group heading back on the cameras, and idly flicked off his music. Just because it was true didn't mean Bumblebee had to call him on it.

He was just about to com the group again when the screens roared into life, and flashing red lights took centre stage. Optics widening, the Pontiac quickly patched a line to Optimus.

"We've got planet fall!"

Mikaela was talking, but Maggie wasn't really paying too much attention, eyes on the small minibot perched on his older companion's shoulder, arms lying on the yellow head. He was smirking and talking non-stop, much to Bumblebee's amusement.

Deuce had definitely cheered up since Mikaela had arrived, but, in turn, Maggie had been starting to feel doubts about the entire situation.

Until the girl's arrival, she had assumed that the Autobots had been forbidden contact with civilians, that the non-military personnel involved had been under the same restraints as her. But Mikaela was here and, from her interactions, was once a fairly regular visitor.

In the deeper recesses of her memory, she remembered a boy at Hoover Dam. A teenager with brown hair and tongue as sarcastic as it was quick, who had defended Bumblebee with a headstrong ferocity. Who had inherited the name of the one who found Megatron almost a century ago?

Mikaela had been mentioned in passing before returning. Lennox and his team were permanently stationed here, Keller was their go-between, and Simmons had let his paranoia and anger lead him to doom. Even Glen, as minor as his role had been, had come up in conversation with Jazz on a few occasions.

They were all accounted for, so where was he?

Where was Sam Witwicky?

It was a question that would have to wait till later, as when they reached the base entrance, Bumblebee jumped back just in time to avoid Ironhide storming out, followed by Optimus, Jazz and Ratchet.

"Slag it all, he's two days early. Will isn't even here," Ironhide snapped.

"There's nothing we can do about it, Ironhide," Optimus sighed. "We'll just have to use a substitute."

Maggie and Mikaela exchanged looks, but the two Autobots with them immediately clicked.

"New guy's here?" Deuce asked.

Bumblebee's eyes went skyward. "He made good time. How'd he do that?"

"Clearly he's used to long distance travelling," Ratchet replied. "That or he's been damaged and is disregarding safety for speed."

"Unfortunately, the human government insisted that any new arrivals be observed by at least one human witness," Optimus continued. "Will was our first choice, but he's not here."

"And will never get here in time if those estimates are accurate," Jazz piped up.

Optimus smiled down at Maggie and Mikaela. "Are either of you willing to volunteer?"

Slowly, the two woman turned to each other, and a cheeky smile crept onto Maggie's face.

"Rock, paper, scissors you for it?"

Three rounds later, Mikaela was stepping into Ironhide's passenger seat, and Maggie was leaning against the entrance listening to the final act.

"Maggie knows how to handle the monitors well enough to get by, but Bumblebee will stay behind to keep an eye on Deuce."

That caught the youngling's attention. "What? I'm coming!"

Ratchet's optics narrowed, and he stared down at the figure still on Bumblebee's shoulder. "No, Deuce. You will stay here."

Jazz gave him a helpless grin. "Hey, we'll let you come next time when you're tip top again, kay little buddy?"

It didn't placate him, and the youngling jumped off Bumblebee's shoulder, arms crossed and kicking the dirt.

-This is so unfair! –

-Tell me about it! – Hax snapped. –If you're on medical watch, you'd think keeping you around Ratchet would be the smart thing. –

Ratchet shook his head at the minor temper tantrum and turned to Bumblebee. "Keep an eye on him, we don't want him sneaking out."

"Not a problem," Bumblebee replied, and the group transformed for the trip. As Optimus called for them to roll out, Jazz hesitated, driving up to Deuce.

"Don't feel too bad about it, little buddy," he soothed. "We'll be back in a few hours." Deuce sighed, and patted the Pontiacs bonnet.

"Good luck," he chirped, and then stilled as he felt Hax move, slipping from his mind to Jazz's processor. Before he could mention it, the Pontiac was gone, heading after the rest.

As they vanished down the path, Deuce felt Bumblebee sidle up behind him.

"Don't worry, Optimus will contact us when he arrives. Until then we have some free time."

Deuce brushed off his confusion and smirked.

"Lookout?"

"Funny. You know we can't leave the base."

"Monitors?"

Bumblebee's optics brightened. "Maggie is in there."

Deuce shrugged, and clambered back onto Bumblebee's shoulder. "So?"

Bumblebee's smile was almost palatable. "Whatever you want."

Less than half an hour later, Maggie was sitting cross-legged on the monitors, typing furiously into her laptop as formulas and equations flew across the alien screens. A respectful distance away, Bumblebee sat in the only chair, Deuce still on his shoulder, apparently amused by the faces the human was making.

"Yes…yes…no! Nononononono!"

And Maggie's fingers were off the keyboard and in her hair.

"Urgh! The simulations crashed again!"

"What's the problem?" Bumblebee asked, just as amused as his charge.

Maggie sighed, closing the laptop and placing it to the side, swinging her legs over the edge.

"I'm trying to set up a trial version of a anti-Decepticon firewall, but so far I can't even get it to boot up without crashing the whole system. It needs to move too fast."

"Your technology too primitive?" the camaro prodded, receiving a distracted nod in return.

"That's putting it bluntly. In another, oh, ten years we might have the processing power to handle it, but given the government, they'll probably insist 'its not cost effective' and stick a Norton sticker on the problem!"

It had been a bad joke, but Maggie took pride that it had made Deuce giggle all the same.

Meanwhile, 30 miles out, a strange contingent of cars was travelling along the back roads, until the giant Peterbuilt pulled off, swapping tarmac for dusty ground, heading into the desert.

'How much further, Jazz?'

'Two more miles, Optimus. Since the new guy was heading down in the day, we figured staying off road would be best.'

'Good idea,' Ironhide noted. 'We were lucky to avoid detection last time.'

Says the guy who landed in somebody's swimming pool, Jazz mused.

-You're one to talk. Didn't you land in a baseball field? –

Jazz's tires screeched, forcing Ratchet to swerve and kicking up the dust.

'Jazz!' the medic screeched. 'What the slag was that about?'

-Don't tell! – Hax begged.

'Uhh, sorry Ratch, temporary glitch, nothing to worry about.'

His comm. crackled, and Mikaela's voice came through. 'Jazz, are you sure?'

'Hey don't worry little lady, I'm just fine.'

This seemed to placate them, and the comm. fell silent.

-What the sla-, ah, what are you doing here? - Jazz hissed inwardly. -How, when? -

-Just before you left. Deuce didn't know what I was planning it. –

-Well you'd better go back before everyone else knows you were planning it. What part of 'medical watch' didn't you understand? –

- 'Deuce' is on medical watch- Hax chimed in. –Nobody said anything about me. –

Jazz groaned. Semantics. Hax couldn't get enough of them.

-You slip up just once, and you'd better be gone. –

-Deal. –

"You've definitely mellowed out," Bumblebee noted, keeping an eye on the small figure on his shoulder, and the woman glaring at her laptop. In reply, Deuce shrugged and leaned into the Camaro's neck.

"She's not so bad. Kinda like Mikaela."

"We're proud of you" Bumblebee continued. "Even if you have been digging in your heels about it."

Deuce perked up at that. "That mean training?"

"Once you're off medical watch, then we'll see."

The youngling sighed, and pulled his legs up higher. "So not fair."

"So how is he going to get an alt mode if he's arriving out here? I thought you needed to physically scan a car?"

"Ideally, yes" Ratchet replied, looking out over the rather dead, dusty land where the group was waiting. "But there are only so many times you can crash meteors into heavily populated areas without incident."

"Thankfully, the internet is a suitable replacement," Ironhide continued. "Scanning specifications and data isn't perfect, but it works on a short term basis."

"If he's smart, he'll pick something common and inconspicuous," Jazz added. "Course, that all depends on his intelligence."

-He's smart- Hax piped up. –He talks like Optimus, and Ratchet when he's not angry-

Jazz stifled a smirk. –Hey now, keep quiet, last thing I need is for someone to figure out I'm not standing alone here. –

Throughout the continuing conversation, Optimus said nothing, optics staring up at the clear sky. Mikaela began to wonder if he even remembered they were here, when his voice rang clear.

"He's here."

"Hey…is that what I think it is?"

Both 'bots looked down to see Maggie had returned to her laptop, but was now focused on one of the monitor screens, a red light flashing in the corner. Learning over, she started pressing a sequence of buttons, bringing up the desired object. The map of space which tracked Cybertronian signals. One was very strong, though beginning to ebb. Their new arrival making his appearance no doubt, but further off…

"Two more beacons?" Deuce squeaked.

"Wait forever for one and then three come along at once" Maggie quipped. "Should we get Deuce to contact them?"

"Hax does it, not me," Deuce corrected. "And he's not here right now."

He winced as the yellow Camaro tensed underneath him, angry optics on him.

"What?"

"Um…oops?"

Bumblebee's face warned him that they would be talking about this later, before he turned back to the screen. Deuce sighed, and then tensed himself.

He felt weird again.

Oblivious, Bumblebee was talking to Maggie. "Regardless, we shouldn't. No contact at all."

"Why not?"

The Camaro pointed at the screen. "Because these aren't Autobot signals. Those are Decepticon reinforcements."

Suddenly, the hand on Bumblebee's shoulder slipped, and Deuce crashed in Bumblebee's lap, much to the Camaro's initial amusement.

"It's not that shocking, Deuce. We knew they'd arrive eventually."

Deuce didn't move, and Bumblebee's smile vanished.

"Deuce?"

Despite the announcement, it was several minutes before Mikaela could make out the new arrival, a tiny speck in the air. Before long, the speck was a blob, and the blob a ball.

By the time she was making out the metal frame beneath whatever hadn't been burned off coming into atmosphere, she had to cover her ears from the screaming noise.

It smashed a good few hundred feet away, and the girl grabbed the nearest leg (Jazz) for balance. When the ground settled, they made their way over, listening to the whirring and clicking as the protoform reshaped. They stopped when a hand appeared at the edge of the crater, and the Autobot pulled himself out.

"Optimus Prime," he greeted. "It's an honour."

"Likewise," Optimus replied. "Welcome to Earth."

He was big, Mikaela noted. Almost as large as Ratchet, but with a build closer to that of Ironhide. On his head was a crest that reminded her of a Mohawk, going down the centre of his skull, and along the ridges above his optics.

"I received your last transmission a few hours ago," he continued. "As requested I found a suitable form that should suffice. It's called the 2000 Range Rover Rhino."

While he spoke, Mikaela watched in fascination as the Autobots outer shell clicked and warped, reshaping and forcing his frame down. She'd never seen the process with her own eyes before – Bumblebee had vanished during his 'makeover', and Deuce had done it too fast.

When he was done, a land rover stood among the group, before almost immediately choosing to transform back.

"I must say this planet is very fascinating," he continued. "I've been to organic planets before, but never one with so much diversity."

"It does have its surprises," Optimus agreed. "Allow me to introduce you. This is my second lieutenant, Jazz."

The Pontiac gave a casual salute. "What's cracking?"

-Huh, he looks tougher than I pictured he'd be – Hax mused.

-You should know not to judge by appearances by now Hax- Jazz chuckled.

"My weapons specialist, Ironhide."

"We've met," the Autobot replied, and his arms whirred into life. A few moments later, a pair of large chain guns had formed, held down to assure they were no threat, and Ironhide slapped a hand over his optics and laughed.

"Now I remember you! Just before the war really broke out, that exploration mission the council was so excited about. You needed a weapons upgrade. How have they handled?"

The Autobot smiled. "I wouldn't be alive without them."

"So you are a scientist then?" Ratchet asked. "Your name is familiar."

"A scientist once," he amended. "Life has insisted on me becoming more flexible…a jack of all trades as this planet might say."

"And this is my medical officer Ratchet" Optimus finished, before nodding for Mikaela to come forward. The girl did, and the Autobot's optics landed on Mikaela, blinking in unhidden curiosity.

"And this must be the dominant species of this planet, a 'human?'"

"Yes," Optimus answered. "This is Mikaela Banes, a trusted friend and ally."

Mikaela wondered if she should do or say something to say 'hi', when the Autobot knelt down in front of her.

"Hello, Mikaela Banes."

She smiled.

"'Mikaela' is fine."

Suddenly, Ratchet's comm. activated, and the medic tensed.

"He what!"

Everyone turned to the hummer. "Ratchet, report," Optimus ordered.

"We have to get back to the base, Optimus," the medic replied. "Deuce just collapsed again."

A little distance away, Jazz tensed as what could only be described as a shudder passed through his mind.

-Oh no… -

As the Autobots transformed, the connection slipped away, Hax slipping back to Hax or the base's computer, whatever would take him first, leaving the Pontiac with nothing but his fears in his processor.

The others however, were oblivious, and as Optimus and Ratchet pulled out, Mikaela ran towards Ironhide, only to have the newest arrival pull up.

"I'm not quite sure what's happening," he started, "but perhaps while Ironhide explains, you could tell me more? It's been too long since I've been allowed to study another planet."

Ironhide pulled away, clearly seeing no problem, and Mikaela gingerly opened the door to the passenger seat. The land rover had just set off, when Mikaela realised something.

"Wait, I still don't know what to call you."

The Autobot laughed. "Oops. It slipped my mind, my apologies.

You can call me Rhinox."

To be continued…