Disclaimer: I don't own Transformers. I only own Lizzy, Her friends/family, and Dreadbeat.

Chapter 5: Hero

The moment Lizzy stepped from behind the, relative, safety of the tree, every instinct of self preservation screamed "run!" The tremors from the two mech's battle nearly sent Lizzy to the ground several times, but she managed to keep her footing. The Decpticon spun around and kicked Optimus in the chest, sending him flying back into the trees. Shifting his arm into a blaster, the Decepticon aimed for Optimus. Lizzy steeled herself and blew the whistle. Both mechs stopped in their tracks and turned towards her. Both having very different expressions on their facial plates. Optimus stared at her in horror, he tried to tell her to run, but wasn't able to speak. The Decepticon grinned maliciously and growled.

"So, the Autoscum's pet has come to its master's aid." He snarled.

Lizzy gave him a quizzical look, but the Decepticon didn't notice it.

"They've even given you a collar."

Lizzy reached up and felt her Autobot necklace around her neck. The Decepticon must have taken her necklace as a symbol of ownership. A collar, as he said. A thought struck her, that must have been why the truck had hit her the other day. He had seen her and her necklace. But that couldn't be, she had never seen that truck in her life before the crash. Her eyes widened in realization. While she hadn't seen the truck before, she had seen a radio. It must really have been Frenzy that she had picked up in the forest by the college. Lizzy stuck her tongue out in disgust, she had held that little hyped up cockroach.

"Put your silly little stick away, human." The truck said.

Lizzy narrowed her eyes and shook her head. She pulled out an arrow, nocked it on the string, and drew back. The Decepticon grinned in amusement. Lizzy took aim, and a breath, and fired. The Decepticon staggered backwards, clutching his left optic. Energon leaked from between his fingers, and he cursed in his own language. Any other time, Lizzy would be jumping around in excitement from the hit, but now wasn't the best time to do so. The 'Con turned towards her, a snarl on his facial plates. Lizzy swallowed, and backed away a little. Her foot caught on a branch behind her, and she fell on her backside.

"Now, be a good little pet," The Decepticon growled. "And stay there while I obliterate you."

He turned his blaster on Lizzy and charged it. Her eyes widened in fright, and at that moment, she really wished she had listened to the common sense part of her brain. Of course, she rarely had before, so why should this time be any different? Lizzy jumped up, turned on her heel, and ran as far from the Decepticon as she could get. The blast hit fifteen feet behind her, and the shockwave sent her to the ground. Getting to her knees, she spit out a mouth full of dirt and leaves. Her bow, thankfully, was unbroken. Lizzy stood up and faced the Decepticon.

"You're lucky you didn't break my bow!" She snapped.

"So, they found a broken pet." The Decepticon chuckled. "How pathetic. Although, I suppose you should at least know the name of your death dealer. My designation is Dreadbeat."

"That was the best your femme creator could come up with?" Lizzy deadpanned.

"You insolent, little glitch!" Dreadbeat snarled.

He aimed his cannon at her again. Lizzy turned and ran again. This time; however, she made sure to pay attention to how hard the blast hit the ground. That would be necessary knowledge if she was going to stay on her feet. The second blast sent her to the ground again, but she was more prepared for it. And now she had a better idea of what to expect with it. Giving a quick check on her bow, and seeing it was undamaged, she stood up again. Lizzy turned and faced Dreadbeat. She brought the fingers of her right hand up, kissed them, and then slapped her backside. It didn't take a professional interpreter to figure out what that meant.

Dreadbeat snarled in rage and rushed after her. Instead of running away from him, she ran towards him. Ducking under his feet, Lizzy did a one-eighty turn, and nocked another arrow on the string. Dreadbeat stumbled to a halt, and began turning back. But Lizzy had already let the arrow fly. The 'Con stumbled and fell to a knee. He snarled, and stood back up shakily. Although the arrow struck sensitive cables that controlled function and nerves, it didn't do enough damage to keep Dreadbeat down. He aimed his cannon at her again and charged it. Lizzy stared at him wide-eyed, then bolted.

The blast made her stumble, but this time she managed to stay on her feet. Dreadbeat snarled in rage and shot again. Lizzy spun around, and quickly drew an arrow and fired. She wasn't aiming, and the arrow glanced off the armor on his chest plates. Doing little more than scratching the paint. Dreadbeat shot again, but missed. Lizzy dashed behind a thick tree, and panted. The only time she'd run this much was during PE. She'd have to remember to thank her gym teacher once this was over.

"Running away you little fragger?" Dreadbeat growled.

"Don't swear, you butt-head!" Lizzy signed, looking around the tree.

Dreadbeat shot another blast at her, she ducked and ran to the next tree. She looked to her right, where she had just come from. The tree was scorched and splintered. Dreadbeat let out a low growl and stepped towards her new hiding spot. Just then, Optimus had gotten up and went for Dreadbeat. But the 'Con was too quick. He spun around and kicked Optimus in the chest, sending him crashing into the trees. That was just the distraction that Lizzy needed. She drew another arrow, and fired. Dreadbeat stumbled and fell to this knees. The arrow had hit more cables behind his knee joint. This time, he wasn't getting up. However, he still had use of his blaster, that would have to be Lizzy's next target.

"What did you do to me, you little glitch!" Dreadbeat snarled.

Spinning his upper body around, he aimed his blaster and fired. Lizzy ducked and started running, but she wasn't prepared for how close the blast was. A great cloud of dust, dirt, and sticks was thrown up. Lizzy was thrown into a thorn bush. She winced in pain and rolled out. Scratches covered her arms, legs, and face. Her jeans and shirt were also ripped up. Lizzy used the dust to sneak away from her current position, and get to better cover. Dreadbeat growled and scanned the area she had just been in, but between the dust cloud and his one working optic, he couldn't find her. Lizzy leaned against a large tree and calculated her probability of getting to the other side of the clearing without getting spotted. If she went straight across, she would most likely be spotted. But if she went the long way, she had a much better chance. Although, it would take several more minutes.

Taking a quick look around the tree to make sure Dreadbeat wasn't looking her way, Lizzy began darting from tree to tree. The 'Con, on the other hand, was shooting everywhere trying to hit her. Several shots came close, but Lizzy managed to round one corner of the clearing. She crouched behind a fallen tree and watched Dreadbeat. He had finally stopped shooting, and was carefully scanning around. Lizzy drew another arrow and put it on the string. She chewed her lower lip thoughtfully. It was a pretty long distance between her position and Dreadbeat's. She tapped her fingers on the log. But that was exactly what Dreadbeat needed to find her. He twisted around and fired. Lizzy stood up and ran. She was sent to the ground and landed on a hidden stump. She grasped her side in pain and gritted her teeth. She felt a snap in her hand, and looked at her bow. If it kept getting knocked around like this, it would be shattered. And that was the last thing Lizzy needed.

She got to her feet, turned towards Dreadbeat, and drew back her bow. A sharp pang went up her arm, and she nearly dropped the bow. But Lizzy kept hold of it, aimed, and fired. She hoped she was aiming for his shoulder, but the arrow went much lower than anticipated and struck Dreadbeat in the hip joint. He could not hold himself upright, and fell back onto the ground. With a snarl of rage he pushed himself upright and shot again.

"D*mn it, you little Glitch!" He yelled, firing several more times. "You're like a cockroach! Why will you not just hold still and be killed?"

"Don't they ever run out of shots?" Lizzy thought to herself, running for cover.

She looked down at her quiver and grimaced. She had started with twelve arrows, and was down to two. She knew she had only used five of her arrows. The other five had most likely fallen out during all of the times she had been thrown to the ground. Although, looking back, she was surprised she had been able to use so many arrows. She only had two more chances to finish this fight. Or, at least two more shots until she would have to rely on her legs until backup could arrive. Lizzy sighed and leaned her head against the tree. Taking in a breath, she drew another arrow and prepared to fire it. Stepping around the tree, she drew the string and fired.

It flew right at Dreadbeat, but it didn't hit where Lizzy wanted it to. The arrow bounced off the shoulder plates, and landed somewhere in the woods. Now, she only had one left. She had to make it count. Dreadbeat chuckled darkly.

"You are getting tired, little pet." He said. "And you are probably almost out of shots. Why don't you just give up and let me kill you quickly."

Lizzy took out her last arrow, and dropped the quiver. It had no use for her now. She nocked the last arrow on the string, and readied herself. This was her last stand against the Decepticon. Her heart hammered in her chest, and she had the strangest feeling of hyperness and calmness. Like taking the feeling you get right before a recital and multiplying it by fifty. Lizzy breathed in again, stepped from behind the tree, and drew her bow. Dreadbeat laughed at her last attempt.

"This is your last shot." He purred. "Once you fire, I will be able to kill you with no resistance. And believe me, I will make it slow and painful for all the trouble you caused me."

"No, little femme!" Optimus called. "You must run from here, as quickly as you can. Do not look back."

Lizzy stopped and turned towards him. His voice was deep, and rough, just like the movies. Her fan girl self wanted to drop everything and jump around like a hyper Chihuahua. Luckily, that was only a very small portion of herself, and the more serious side kept her down to earth. Besides, this was probably all a dream. She had fallen asleep in the car, and her father would wake her up any minute, and they would be home. Lizzy shook her head slowly at Optimus's request. Even if it was a dream, she had to finish her fight.

"Yes little pet." Dreadbeat smirked. "Sacrifice yourself for your master. But when I kill you, know that your sacrifice will mean nothing. I will still kill him once you are dead. Now, fire your last shot so I may kill you."

Lizzy glared at Dreadbeat, and aimed her bow. The Decepticon stayed where he was, of course he didn't have much choice. Lizzy repeated in her head, over and over, "My last shot, I've got to make it." Both mechs watched her, wondering when she would shoot. In fact, even Lizzy herself was wondering when she would shoot. Time seemed to slow down, and Lizzy released tension on the string. The arrow seemed to take hours to hit. But finally, it did. Dreadbeat's working optic went wide, and he clutched at his chest plates. The ground shook as he fell, and Lizzy stumbled. She dropped her bow, which was now supporting several large cracks, and crept over to Dreadbeat's fallen form.

She paused and waited for him to move. He didn't, but she knew he wasn't dead yet. Stepping around to the side, she could see large amounts of energon flowing to the ground. His chest plates heaved as he fought for breath. Lizzy thought it strange they would need to breath, but then she remembered several fan fictions. They needed to keep air flowing so their cooling systems would work and their core temperatures would rise to dangerous levels. Dreadbeat chuckled weakly.

"Come here, little…pet." He rasped, twitching one of his claws.

Lizzy waited a moment, wondering if it was a good idea. Then she stepped forward. Even when he was laying on the ground, she couldn't see his face. Taking a breath she clambered up and stood on top of him. Lizzy shook her head to stop the tears when she saw his face. Energon leaked from his mouth, and his good optic was dim. It flickered on and off. Lizzy's legs didn't want to hold her weight, and she sat down heavily on the mech. She bowed her head and sniffled.

"I'm sorry." She said.

"I'm the one… who should… be… sorry." Dreadbeat coughed. "I… underestimated you. And I… paid for… it."

"I didn't mean to kill you." Lizzy continued. "I never wanted to kill anyone. And now I can't take it back."

"Welcome… to war." He replied.

"I wish I could say 'good-bye' to it."

"Many of us do… little pet."

"You don't want to fight, either?"

"Never… have."

"Then why did you start?"

"Why does… anyone… start?"

"I'm sorry." Lizzy said once more.

"So… am…I." Dreadbeat grinned.

His breaths became shorter, and more ragged. Then, slowly, they stopped all together. His optic dimmed, and went black. Lizzy scrambled slowly down to the ground again. She walked a little ways away, and sat down. She bowed her head and cried. Large footsteps sounded behind her, but she didn't turn. Optimus walked over, and his holoform stood next to Lizzy. He sat down next to her and put an arm around her shoulders. She buried her face in his chest and cried harder. In the distance, Lizzy heard a siren and several engines racing towards them. Three cars burst into the clearing and Transformed. Lizzy looked up and had to quickly cover her face again. Ratchet, Bumblebee, and Ironhide had just come into the clearing. Her inner fan girl was screaming in excitement, but she couldn't shake the fact that someone had just died.

"Ok dad, I'm ready for you to wake me up so we can be at home now." She thought.

"Optimus, are you alright?" Ratchet asked.

"I'm fine, Ratchet." Optimus replied. "Check over the femme. She has gone through much."

The other three Autobots looked past Optimus, and were surprised to see Lizzy curled up on the ground, staring up at them with teary eyes. Ratchet's medical training kicked in, and he walked over to Lizzy. She scooted back, quite intimidated by him. Ratchet paused and sighed. He Transformed into the H2 and sent his holoform out. Lizzy relaxed a little, and let him walk up to her. A blue light scanned her, and it tingled a little.

"How do you feel?" Ratchet asked.

Lizzy looked up at him and shrugged. Glancing around him, she saw the other Autobots talking. They kept glancing her way, and she ducked her head. Lizzy had never been one to enjoy being the center of attention. Ratchet took her pulse, and checked her vitals. She sat there through the whole thing. She didn't want to move; her head was pounding, her entire body was sore, and she was pretty sure some of her ribs were cracked. Ratchet returned to his normal body and walked over to Optimus. Lizzy watched them for a little while longer, then curled up on the ground. She closed her eyes and was asleep in minutes.

A/N: I'm so sorry this took so long to get out! I went to Florida last week for my Cousin's wedding, and forgot to bring my computer. So I wasn't able to work on the story. When I got back I got on my computer and somehow got a virus. It corrupted several files, and WBTG was one of them. So I had to rewrite Hero... and all the other chapters I had.

Roc2Roll: You're coming in next chapter. I'm glad you loved it :)

Lunar Mist: Your wait is over!

Zoey the Wolf: lol, I was hoping it would make my readers sit on the edge of their seats. You're watching me? You stalker! lol

bee-roxs98: She is a lot like me in the crazy department... although, I'd probably curl up in a corner and cry if something like that happened to me, because I'd think I finally lost what was left of my sanity.