Disclaimer: Transformers/Beast Wars is not mine, yadda yadda, you know the drill by now, people *snrk* X9

Warnings: You may need some tissues…*sniffles*

Chapter 5: Escape

Bronx Zoo, a week later …

Cheetor didn't know if it was coincidence or if Primus had heard him, but less than a week after he'd started thinking about how he could get to Optimus and Rhinox so they could plan their escape, an emergency alert came for a large snow storm that was said to be heading their way.

The zoo was immediately closed down and all the animals were moved into a kind of warehouse/sanctuary where the cages were smaller, but at least it was warm.

In a stroke of luck, the young mech ended up in a cage (Yes, this time there was no denying it was a cage) right smack in the middle between Big Bot and Rhinox.

And, although he was feeling a little put-out because this probably meant they would start planning to leave soon and he'd probably never see Giggles again; he was none the less happy and relieved to see his comrades again.

As soon as the keepers and guards left, the techno-organic crew began some long overdue catching up.

"Big Bot! Rhinox!" Cheetor greeted them enthusiastically, a big toothy grin on his muzzle "Oh man, am I glad to see you guys!"

Both older mechs chuckled softly at their young friend's enthusiasm.

"It's good to see you too, Cheetor." Optimus replied, an amused and teasing undertone to his words.

"How have you been handling the situation? You haven't gotten too bored, have you?"

"Nah, it's been…manageable." He answered casually; a small, cheeky smile tugging at his muzzle.

'Thanks to a certain femme…'

"Well, good for you. It seems we've all managed to fool our keepers, for the time being." Optimus grinned back, and then he sobered slightly before turning to the matter at hand.

"Now, on to business. Do either of you have ideas on how to escape?" He glanced between the rhino and cheetah expectantly.

"Um, well, uh…I haven't really been payin' much attention to that, Boss Bot." The young mech grinned sheepishly. "I was, uh, actually hoping you guys had a plan, heh heh…" He could feel his cheeks heat a little in embarrassment, glad he had fur to hide it.

Optimus sighed and rolled his optics (a gesture he'd observed other humans do and found expressed his exasperation quite well), then looked to the engineer/medic.

"What about you, Rhinox? Any ideas?"

"Hmmm, I have been observing a few of the humans' scheduled activities, and they seem to have very few guards during the night, not to mention the night will give us extra cover, so a nocturnal escape would be best. But," And he looked Optimus straight in the optics "it will be difficult for us to escape without arousing suspicion. There are video cameras everywhere, and probably at least one person watching them; not to mention that we can't just walk out of here, not without being seen by someone. We don't even know where 'here' is relative to the Axalon, we could get lost and into worse trouble. Then there's the matter about the weather…" Even though their bodies were resilient, their beast modes were not built to withstand such extreme weather conditions for an extended period of time. And they couldn't just wander around in their root modes, either.

"Alright, I get the idea Rhinox." Optimus interrupted, raising a weary hand, rubbing his optics with the other.

"And I think I know the answer to this, but I'll ask anyway. Have either of you heard anything from Rattrap? At all?"

"Negative." Rhinox replied, flat and stoic. Rattrap may be an egotistic aft and jerk, but he was his friend. He wouldn't defend him, but he wouldn't speak ill of him, either.

"Our comms depend on the Axalon's comm. System functioning, and it was one of the worst damaged out of the many in the Axalon's mainframe. If we have not heard from him, it is because he has yet to fix it."

Cheetor scoffed. "How do you know he's fixing anything? For all we know, he could've fixed one of the escape pods and used it to leave the planet…"

He hadn't known Rattrap for long, but during the time he did, Cheetor had grown to dislike him. The rat whined and grouched over everything, and when he'd tried to make friends with him, he'd been called a naïve little kid and laughed at in his faceplates! No, Cheetor didn't like Rattrap, at all.

"Cheetor!" Optimus scolded and frowned at the young mech. "That is no way to speak about a fellow crew member! Rattrap maybe a little…conceited, but he is a Maximal; and Maximals never leave their own behind. You should be ashamed to think like that." The commander felt truly disappointed in the feline for thinking such things.

Cheetor immediately flinched at the angry rebuke, eyes widening as he realized what he'd said. His entire body slumped down to the ground, his ears were low enough that they were flat on his head, like they'd disappeared; averting his optics in shame.

"Oh scrap, I'm sorry, Optimus. I didn't mean it like that. No, I did, but I just...I wasn't thinking when I opened my big mouth. It's just…I've tried making friends with him, but he keeps treating me like a kid, like I'm beneath him. I was just mad, I guess…I'm not the kind of bot that goes around talking bad about anyone, honest…" He looked up miserably at Optimus, then shyly over at Rhinox. "And I'm sorry, too, Rhinox, I know he's your friend, I just…"

Unable to look at either mech in the optics, he lowered himself to the ground and covered his face with his paws, trying to hide from the disapproving scowls and words that were sure to come.

Primus, he wished Giggles was here…

Optimus' anger deflated slightly when he saw how miserable the young feline looked. He did know that Cheetor wasn't a spiteful mech and he had witnessed his attempts at trying to befriend the rat; it wasn't all Cheetor's fault.

With a weary sigh, he continued, though albeit, more gently.

"Cheetor, I know that Rattrap can sometimes be too much to handle, believe me I know, but we can't go around accusing our comrades of such things, especially in our current situation. We're stuck on an alien planet with no way of communicating with Cybertron, all of our crewmembers are in stasis pods floating around in space, unprotected, and we're currently outnumbered by Predacons and these humans. If we can't rely on one another, then what hope do we have of surviving this and going home?"

Optimus' words were solemn and true, and they made Cheetor feel worse about his own. And now that he thought about it, for all of Rattrap's sarcasm and sneering comments, he'd never called him anything worse than "Kid" or "Spots".

And there was always a small glint of amusement in his optics when he got a rise out of him, as if he were teasing a friend…

"You're right, Optimus. I really am sorry, and I'll apologize to Rattrap once we're back at the Axalon, I promise." He said firmly, looking both Optimus and Rhinox in the optics.

Optimus smiled slightly in encouragement, nodding approvingly. "Good mech. Now, back to our earlier discussion…"

Once the Rattrap issue was behind them, they began plotting/planning their escape. They figured that they'd have to wait till the weather cleared and warmed up enough that their systems wouldn't freeze by prolonged exposure.

They would also have to escape during the night, but how to deal with the security cameras was still a problem. Cheetor had suggested sneaking out of his enclosure when the camera was pointing away from him, and then cutting the output cable and rendering the camera useless, but Optimus shot that idea down.

The second the camera stopped working "mysteriously", whoever was watching the monitors would sound an alarm or inform the guards.

Rhinox suggested perhaps rewiring the camera to create a video feed loop, but he didn't have his tools with him. Not to mention he was "too slagging big" (His own words) to be inconspicuous.

Cheetor couldn't help but snigger at the comment, and Optimus looked away, looking suspiciously like he was trying to hide his face, his body shaking slightly.

The mechs sighed in resignation; they were running out of ideas.

Then there was the issue of locating where the Axalon was relevant to where they were. Optimus remembered that the humans had called the area 'Silver Lake Preserve'. And they all knew by now that the place they were staying in was called the 'Bronx Zoo'.

Now, if only they could get a map or something…

They sighed again.

"It seems that we won't be coming up with any ideas tonight. I suggest we all get some recharge and continue this tomorrow. Who knows? Maybe something will come to us in our sleep." Optimus stretched his joints and ambled over to the big pile of straw that constituted his 'berth'.

"Goodnight, Rhinox, Cheetor."

"Goodnight, Big Bot. Night, Big Green." Cheetor yawned as he curled into his own hay 'berth', yawning loudly one last time before closing his optics.

"Goodnight, you two. Pleasant recharge." Rhinox's answer was slightly muffled by the hay he was already lying on, recharge quickly claiming him the klick his head touched the soft, dry grass.

Bronx Zoo indoor shelter, few days later…

It had been a few days since they'd been moved to the shelter and Cheetor was starting to go stir crazy. He couldn't help it, he hated enclosed spaces, and all he could do about it, at the moment, was pace around like, well…like a caged animal.

Being in the Axalon was one thing, there was the small low orbit shuttle he tended to use when he was bored, but this?

He sighed heavily.

And they still hadn't come up with a decent escape plan and were all starting to think they'd never get out of this place without revealing themselves. And it didn't help that all he could think about at the moment was his human friend.

'Primus, I miss you, Giggles. I can't stand cages, but at least if you were here it'd be a lot more bearable…'

His thoughts immediately ran to the young femme's smile when she sat in the 'window room', content to just watch him and himself her; her eyes sparkling in mirth and amusement whenever he decided to act silly or when he showed off to the other humans; the small secretive smirks they shared when a human would come down and make some comment about 'how smart the cheetah seemed'.

Their thoughts he knew were always the same: 'You have no idea…'

He sighed in frustration. Again.

Primus damnit, he may've only known the femme for a month but he missedher!

Without noticing, his frustration started to bleed out into his pacing, making it look more like stalking, his tail and ears twitching in agitation; he even growled a little.

He was so focused on the frustration of being kept away from his Giggles (and he didn't, consciously, realize the possessiveness in his statement), that he didn't realize his agitated stalking was getting the other animals riled up.

It wasn't until a strong, firm voice almost shouted at him that he snapped out of his rut. Apparently, Optimus had been trying to get his attention for a while now…

"-eetor! Cheetor!" Optimus nearly shouted, worry obvious in voice. "Cheetor, you need to calm down, you're upsetting our 'neighbors'. And we don't need the humans coming in here and trying to sedate you."

"Huh? Oh! Um, uh, s-sorry Big Bot," The young feline stammered. "I, uh, didn't notice I was…stalking." He blushed slightly, thank Primus he hadn't been muttering anything aloud like he sometimes did…

"I guess I'm starting to feel…caged in. No pun intended."

"It's alright, Cheetor." He grinned dryly. "You're not the only one, but we have to be careful, we don't need the humans coming in for anything other than feeding time. The last thing we need is for them to start keeping an optic-err, I mean, eye on us."

Groaning in exasperation, Cheetor flopped down onto his belly and stated, well, more like whined.

"What we need is a miracle…"

"Did somebody call fer a miracle~?"

The mechs immediately looked up at the source of the smug voice.

"Rattrap!"

"Rattrap! Boy, are we glad to see you!" Cheetor grinned broadly up at the rat, who was currently in beast mode, smirking down at them from the ceiling's rafters.

"What took you so long? Did you manage to fix the ship? Or the comms, at least?" Optimus had never been so happy to see the sarcastic rodent in all the time he'd known him.

But right now, he needed an update on things outside their 'temporary quarters'. "And what about the Predacons, have you heard anything about them?"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Easy dere, Commander Kong. What, no 'Hello, Rattrap!' or 'Glad to see ya, Rattrap!' or 'Have any problems running 'round out in the frickin' freezin' weather, like loosin' ya tail or nose'?" He crossed his arms and looked away in mock-hurt. "Geez, don't I feel loved…"

Optimus sighed and rolled his optics. That's Rattrap for you, sarcastic till the end.

"Of course, of course, silly me. How are you Rattrap? Did you have any problems getting to us?" Sarcastic? Maaaaybe just a little…

"As a matter-o-fact…"

Oh boy, here we go…

"Ahem," Rhinox managed to interrupt the impending argument by 'clearing' his throat loudly. "We are all happy to see you well and functioning, Rattrap, but right now we have other more…pressing issues at hand" He waved pointedly at the cages they were in and raised an optic ridge up at his friend and dryly stated "As you can see."

"Yeah, yeah. And it's up ta me to save yer sorry afts. Typical." He snorted dismissively, and then looked expectantly at his primate commander. "So, uh…what's deh plan, Boss Monkey?"

Optimus was slightly caught off guard. "Um, well, we don't…really…have one. Yet." He mumbled, slightly embarrassed, before clearing his throat and getting back to business. "But, we do have a few ideas. And now that you're here, they're a lot more plausible than before."

So, they began putting Rattrap up to speed, explaining the nightly guard schedule; the cameras and their idea to form a video loop and the need to wait for warmer climate.

"As we've come to notice, we're probably pretty far from the Axalon, if it took you so long to get here and find us, so we'll have to wait till the cold cycle, or winter as the humans call it, ends."

"Ehh, it ain't dat far, I took a while to find ya cuz I had to hide from deh humans and actually find wherever-da-frag they'd stashed ya at. Ya wouldn' believe how many zoos dere are in this joint! An' I couldn' exactly go 'round askin' deh humans fer directions, now could I?" Rattrap smirked cheekily.

"But, yer right Boss, it's best if we wait till it warms up. Ain't no slaggin' way I'm goin' out dere again!"

Optimus tried not groan at the rat's foul language. Cheetor may not be a child, but he was still young and impressionable. The last thing Optimus wanted, or needed, was two foul-mouthed mechs around…

"Yes, Rattrap, I wouldn't ask you to go out there again. Right now, we need to figure out what we are going to do. I think that Rhinox's idea of a video feed loop is perfect for giving us a few hours leeway from the humans, enough for us to lose them and head back to the ship. Now, the only problem is how. We may have to take an alternate route to remain out of the humans' sight."

Looking up at his fellow Maximal "Any ideas, Rattrap? You did get here undetected; I'm sure whatever way you took can work for us as well…"

"Oh, don't worry, Boss Monkey, it'll work."

The smirk on the rodent's face wasn't very comforting.

But at the moment, it was the only plan they had.

Almost a month later, mid-March…

A month.

A whole, fragging month.

That was how long it took for the weather to clear up enough for them to be returned to their original holding pens. It had been near torturous. For all of them.

Between the cramped cages, the smells from their 'neighbors' and Rattrap's incessant whining, Optimus, Cheetor and even Rhinox where just microkliks away from saying 'Frag all!' and just blasting their way out of the warehouse and making a run for it.

The mechs could barely contain their joy when the keepers came in with the special transportation units used to transfer them from the zoo to other places.

And as soon as the transports were brought outside, they immediately noticed the difference in the climate. It was warmer, a lot warmer. This meant they would be implementing their plan within the week and they would finally be heading to the Axalon. They would finally be free.

And Cheetor couldn't help but be completely miserable about that.

Basically, he had less than a week to see Giggles and say goodbye. But he didn't want to.

Primus, he really didn't.

As they made their way to the zoo, Optimus went through their parts in the plan again and the time they would go through with it. In three days.

Three days…not even the full week he thought he'd have!

And then… he would probably never see his Giggles again. Yes, Cheetor was completely and utterly miserable.

He just hoped that Rattrap didn't find out or he'd never hear the end of it.

Girls' apartment, 8:00 am, three days after the zoo re-opens…

Why? Why did she feel that something was going to happen? Something…she didn't even know what it was!

It was like a feeling of dread, anxiety; like she was waiting for something to happen…It made her jumpy. Her stomach felt uneasy, like a storm was brewing in it.

And it all started the day after they re-opened the zoo and she'd gone to visit Freckles. All through the cold and stormy days and nights, all she could think about was the cheetah.

Was he warm enough? Were they feeding him right? Did he miss her? Admittedly, the last one was the most predominant on her mind.

That was quickly answered when she made it to his habitat and they saw each other face to face. The smile on Freckles face was so big, she would've wondered if it hurt…if it weren't for the fact she knew she was smiling just as widely.

Heck, they probably would've run to the other and embraced; if it wasn't because of the three foot thick glass window.

But then…his smile seemed to dim slightly; she didn't know why though.

That was the moment when the feeling started to develop. It was small, barely there, more like a niggling at the back of her head, like when you forget something but don't know what.

It only got worse from there; especially with the way Freckles was acting. He wasn't as energetic as before, his smiles wouldn't quite reach his eyes, and she'd catch him staring at her sadly, almost forlornly when he though she wasn't looking; like he was looking at her for the last time.

This kept going for three days.

Today the feeling of dread was worse than ever; she hadn't even slept at all last night. She didn't want to get up. She really, really didn't.

She was afraid that whatever she'd felt coming these past few days was going to happen today. But, she couldn't stay in bed all day either, or Rose wouldn't let her hear the end of how lazy she was.

Later, she'd wish she'd stayed in bed after all.

"Woah, what happened to you?" Rose asked with a critical, and worried, raised eyebrow when she saw Ashley walk into the living room from her bedroom; looking for all intents and purposes like a zombie.

"Ya look like crap."

Ash merely gave her a sidelong, sullen glare. "Gee, thanks, Rose. You look real nice, too."

Rose's other eyebrow joined the first in surprise at the snarky and almost biting tone from Ash; sure she wasn't a morning person, but she'd never acted like that.

"And I thought the snippy attitude was my thing. What's with da sudden mood switch? You comin' into your 'days'?" Although, something told her this wasn't a case of PMS…

Ash sighed heavily, "No, it's not that. I just…couldn't sleep last night." She winced slightly at how wobbly her voice sounded, like she was about to cry. She quickly cleared her throat and tried to sound reassuring, even forced a small grin to her face. "It's nothing, don't worry about it."

'God, I'm a horrible liar…'

"Oh, don't gimme that; of course I'm gonna worry!" She made her way over to Ash and placed one hand on her shoulder and the other on her cheek, tipping her face over to look at her. "What's wrong, cariño?"

"I…I don't know." She whispered softly, almost brokenly. "I've just…I've got this bad feeling in the pit of my stomach that won't go away. And it's only gotten worse; it's almost unbearable today." She grimaced, and shut her eyes tightly; trying to keep the tears she felt there back.

Rosie felt her eyes widen more in worry and she immediately hugged her friend tightly. "Ay Ash, no te preocupes, todo estará bien. Why don't you sit down on the couch and watch some TV? Ya don't got class today, right? So just stay there and I'll call in sick at work and stay with you the whole day today, how's that sound?" She gave her sister an entreating smile.

"But, Rosie-"

"No buts. You need me more than a buncha bad tempered customers do. 'Sides," She smirked deviously "Those other girls at the diner need somethin' ta do; I've been doin' too much of their work as it is. Here, I'll be right back." She handed Ashley the remote.

Watching her friend leave the room with a determined stride, she just sighed in defeat, turned on the TV and decided to watch the news.

Oh, God, how she wished she hadn't.

The roiling feeling she'd had in her stomach for the past few days suddenly turned into a feeling of numb emptiness; like her stomach, heart, everything just plummeted into the building's lobby, four floors down.

"In other news, Bronx Zoo officials are left baffled at the sudden disappearance of the three African animals found just months before at Silver Lake Preserve. Police have discovered that the zoo's security cameras were tampered with, rendering them useless in their hopes for surveillance footage. At the moment, the officials are going with the theory that whoever had first released the animals into the preserve may have decided to take them back. Not much is known and we'll return with more this evening in our 5 o'clock edition…"

Ash didn't- couldn't hear anything else. It was like her world had been ripped out from under her.

That's what the feeling had been; why Freckles kept looking at her like he'd never do so again. He'd known…known that…

And that's when the reality of everything came crashing down on her.

He was gone. Freckles, her best friend, was gone. She'd probably never see him again…

She could feel the tears she'd been holding back run down her face; but she didn't care.

'He's…he's gone. He's gone. No…'

"No. No, no, no…" She whispered brokenly, her head shaking slowly in denial; the tears coming faster.

"No, he…he can't…he wouldn't…No!" She didn't realize her voice had been getting louder with every word of denial, until she was almost shouting that last word.

"Ashley? Ash, what's wrong?" Rose came rushing in the second she heard her friend's voice heighten in distress, sitting next to her and pulling her into a warm embrace. "Ash, what is it?"

Ash simply buried her head in her friend's shoulder and sobbed in a soft, pained whisper, "He's gone."

This only made her frown in confusion, "Who's gone?"

"Freckles…he…" She got no further when more pained sobs closed up her throat.

"Freckles?" Her frown deepened, before clearing up in understanding, "The cheetah? What do ya mean it's gone?"

"I mean he's gone, Rose! He's not at the zoo! I just saw the news report…" At first she was almost shouting in anguish, but her last words were a broken whisper. "They…they don't know where he, or the other animals, are…but, he can't just be gone…he can't!"

"Tranquila, Ash, tranquila." Rose hugged her friend tighter and tried to sooth her, then the rest of what she'd said registered, "Wait, the other animals? They're gone, too? Maybe whoever let 'em loose decided to take 'em back…"

But Ash was already shaking her head, "No, it's not that…it can't be that…" She sighed in frustration.

"You wouldn't understand. I just…I just know something else happened!" She wiped at her tears roughly and when she looked back at Rose, it was with a determined frown.

Quick as a shot, Ash was up from the couch and running for her room, slamming the door closed.

Rosie, still sitting at the couch, remained there with a stunned look towards Ash's bedroom door, before she, too, was shooting up from the couch and heading to her friend's door. It was locked.

"Ashley? Ash, are you ok? What is it? Ashley!"

Ash wouldn't answer, and it worried her. All she could hear was a few rustling and shuffling sounds from within the room.

"Ashley, you open this door, ahora mismo!"

And the door did open; on the other side was Ash, decked out in her sweater shirt and slacks, her snow boots on her feet. The weather may have mellowed and warmed, but there was always the chance of one last snow fall. She still said nothing and walked around a, once again, stunned Rosario.

Before she could make it to the door, she was stopped by a firm hand holding her arm.

"And just where do ya think yer going?"

"I'm going to go look for Freckles. I will not believe he just up and left or that he got taken."

'Not without having told me first or saying good-bye!'

"Ashley, are you loca? Leave this to the police; it's none of your business! Besides, just what would ya do if ya did find him? Huh? Are ya forgetting he's a wild animal?"

"He's not a wild animal! And I don't care what everyone else thinks, he's not gonna hurt me, and I am going to find him! Now, let go!"

And with those final words, she yanked her arm free, slammed the door shut and stormed down the hallway, down the stairs to the lobby and into the street.

Now, she knew Freckles' was a smart cat, so it's only logical that the others' must be just as smart as well.

They would probably head to a place where they could get some cover from curious eyes and also someplace where they felt comfortable and secure…But where…

The parks! But, there were so many… She took a deep breath and let it out slowly; looks like she had a lot of ground to cover.

First stop, the park closest to the zoo: Crotona Park.

Back at the apartment, 6 pm…

She'd searched everywhere; the alleyways, a few abandoned buildings, all the parks she could find in the areas around the zoo; hell, she even looked in a few animal shelters, just in case.

But who was she kidding?

They were gone…he was gone. She'll never see him again. The first time she'd though it; her heart had dropped from her chest. Now…now it felt like it just got trampled over by a mob of New York City pedestrians.

As she made her way up the stairs to her apartment, she felt like lead weights had been tied to her feet and back; heavy and tired.

She just wanted to reach her room, lock the door, curl into her bed and cry her eyes out into her pillow.

When she opened the door, she was relieved that Rose wasn't waiting for her to grill her on where she'd been or anything.

She didn't even grab something to eat, even when she'd not eaten anything more than a hotdog all day; all she wanted was her bed.

When she did enter her room, it was to a sight she was not expecting to see. "Will? Wha…what're you doing here?" Her voice was a hoarse whisper and it made her cringe slightly.

"Rose called me. She told me what happened." Will answered softly, taking in the condition of her friend. She looked awful, almost dead on her feet. "Oh sweetie, come lie down before you fall down."

Ash didn't argue. The moment she was close enough, she let herself fall on the bed; burying her head in her pillow, refusing to look at Willow.

"Where's Rose? I thought she'd be waiting for me here to chew me out…" Her voice, though muffled by the pillow, was tired and lacked any real curiosity.

"She's at work. I told her to go, that it would help her cool down, because she was too mad right now and that the last thing you needed was getting scolded when you got back. I promised her I'd stay and wait for you; and that if you didn't come back by 10 to call the police." A tiny smile pulled at her lips at the last words, all the while she spoke she'd stroke her friend's head and back soothingly.

The smile disappeared when she looked back down at her friend. "You want to talk about it?"

"No."

"It'll help."

"No, it won't. Besides, you wouldn't understand…" Her voice broke miserably and she buried her head as far into her pillow as possible.

There was silence for what seemed like forever, when Will spoke, her voice so soft it was almost inaudible, "You feel like you're never going to be happy again; that the one person that understood you truly is gone and that you'll never see them again. That the connection you thought you had…was suddenly cut with a pair of rusty scissors, leaving a jagged wound that is never going to heal…did I get it or shall I continue?"

By mid conversation, Ash had raised her head to stare incredulously at Will, "How…?"

Will merely gave her a wry smile, "You weren't the only one who made a friend at the zoo."

Her eyes widened, " Who-? The gorilla…"

Will's smile turned sad, and her tone wistful, "At first, I thought I was going crazy, but when I kept coming back and I kept seeing him, I knew. There was this…intelligence just shining from his eyes, and the way he acted, like a human amongst animals…It reminded me of the old version of Planet of the Apes; I even started calling him Brighteyes." The memory brought a watery chuckle to her lips. "I don't think he ever heard me, though…"

Shaking out of her stunned stupor, Ash inched herself closer to Will, leaning her head on her shoulder and asked softly, "How…When did you realize he was…?"

"Unique? I think it was the second time I visited him, I caught him looking at the other gorillas curiously, like he didn't understand what they were doing and then he shook his head, almost like he was saying 'I can't believe they're doing that' or 'Why am I here again?' It was really amusing. Then, he caught me looking and, well…" She waved her hand in a vague motion. "Things kept growing from there."

"Wow. But…I never saw you at the zoo...and I was there long enough."

"Well, I didn't go every other day like you did, my school schedule wouldn't allow it, but I did visit once or twice a week. Besides, you weren't exactly looking for me, now were you?" There was a light teasing tone in her voice and small smile.

Ash couldn't help but blush lightly, "No, I guess not." A short pause. "We're never gonna see them again, are we?"

The smile was gone, and replaced with a solemn, yet, comforting look, "Oh sweetie, I don't know, and neither do you; who knows, maybe we will see them again. Maybe the zoo will find them, or, maybe, they might even come find us."

'That's a lot of 'maybes'.' She thought quietly to herself, and then said aloud. "Y-you really think so, Willie?"

Will sighed, "I hope so, Ash, and that's all we can really do now, hope that we'll see them again."

Ashley laid her head on Willow's shoulder again, wrapping her arms around her friend as best she could; she could feel the tears coming again, her voice was small and sad, like a child who just learned her best friend was moving away and not coming back, "I'm gonna miss Freckles, Willie. So much."

"I know, Ash. I'm gonna miss Brigtheyes, too." Her own tears that she'd been holding back were now running silently down her cheeks.

Both girls cried silently as they tried to comfort one another after waking up in a nightmare neither seemed able to escape.

Axalon, same evening…

It had taken some fancy maneuvering and sneaking around, but the mechs managed to make it out of the city without getting caught or seen. Most of it was thanks to Rattrap's 'special route'; although they could've done without the horrible smell of the sewers.

None the less, they were grateful that the rat had come for them.

Once they arrived at the Axalon, all four mechs went straight to their own rooms; ready to finally be able to sleep in their own berths. Well, two of them, at least.

Optimus tried to sleep, but his processors kept going back to the young human female he'd met back at the zoo.

She'd been so beautiful. He'd never seen a being more graceful and lovely in all his travels. Not even on Cybertron; his own home world.

She was tall, but slender, almost ethereal in her grace. Her hair had been the color of a starless night sky, her eyes a lovely mix of light brown and gold specks and her skin had been an interesting shade of brownish-red, an almost copper-like color that made all of her features stand out even more.

And although she didn't seem very confident, she exuded an aura of calm that would ease the most savage of beings. He admitted to himself that he'd been entranced by her the first time he'd seen her.

And it'd surprised him when he realized the femme knew about him, but didn't say anything. She never told anyone and treated him like a friend she shared a secret with; always giving him little shy and secretive smiles that always made his spark flutter wildly.

And he couldn't help but feel horribly guilty that he never said good-bye, especially with the way he'd felt whenever he saw her. He couldn't remember the last time he had felt so content…complete; than when he was around her. And something told him she felt the same; if those smiles she'd given him had been anything to go by.

Now…now he'd probably never see her again and he didn't even know her name.

'Primus, I'm such an idiot…I'm so sorry, Angel…'

Yes. An angel. An ethereal being of immense beauty and compassion. The name suited her perfectly; if he would never know her true name, at least he could call her something worthy of her beauty and serenity.

Meanwhile, on the other end of the hall, Cheetor wasn't even trying to sleep.

Who was he kidding? Sleep? When he felt like they biggest slaggard in the galaxy?

All he could do was sit on his berth with his back against the wall, his knees pressed tightly against his chestplates and his arms crossed over them.

His head was resting back against the wall, and although his eyes were staring at the ceiling, the only thing he saw was his perfect friend.

He'd never see her again. And he didn't even say a proper good-bye. He didn't even know her name. She didn't know his. There was so much he wanted to know about her, that he wanted to tell her…Now he'd never get the chance.

The horrible thoughts kept piling up until he buried his face in his arms and finally let the tears he'd been holding back all cycle run freely down his cheeks.

His intakes hitched softly, the words he wanted to shout came as a small, miserable, sobbing whisper.

"I'm sorry, Giggles…"

A/N: *wipes tears away* Oh man, I feel so miserable, having written this. But, don't worry, guys! They won't be miserable for too long, promise! Please, reaview!

Spanish-English Glossary

Cariño – Honey or Darling (term of endearment)

Ay, Ash, no te preocupes, todo estará bien – Oh Ash, don't worry, everything will be alright

Tranquila, Ash, tranquila – Easy, Ash, calm down

Ahora mismo! – Right now!

Loca - Crazy