Returning to Autobot City was happy, but traumatic. To my shock there were men in military uniform milling around in the hallways. Mirage was waiting for us as we came in through the locking gate and he had to wave down several men with rifles as they aimed at the three vehicles, and me by association. Mirage had me in his clutches the moment I stepped out of Hotrod, holding me up to get a better look at me as my Vanquish mech transformed.

"You're ok! Look at you, you're better than ok! Where's your cast? You don't know how worried we all were!"

I smiled and stretched out my arms to his face like a small child begging for 'uppy,' so he shifted me to his shoulder. I slid out of his hand, then grabbed onto his head and hugged him tightly, despite feeling the wrath of Hotrod nearby.

"I hear you took a few hits for me, Mirage… Sorry you got hurt."

"It was nothing! You were worth it, my dear!" I could swear that Mirage would've winked at Hotrod if he'd had an eyelid.

"Hey, hey! He's not the only one who cared! I came to meet you didn't I?" Hotrod whined, his hands on his shiny metal hips.

I looked to Hotrod and smiled. "Of course you did." I looked around, suddenly realizing that Prowl and Ironhide had disappeared, and that the human guards at the gate were watching me with expressions ranging from disapproval to curiosity to suspicion. I looked away nervously and tried to cover my discomfort by looking for Prowl and Ironhide. "Where did the others go?"

"Probably talking to Optimus," Mirage replied.

"Aren't you hungry Bravura? Let's go get some food!" Hotrod reached his hands up to me, his mood suddenly turning as sweet as sugar. I gave Mirage's head another squeeze then transferred myself to Hotrod's outstretched palms, almost immediately finding myself perched on his shoulder. Probably something to do with the jealousy between them; Hotrod would not be shown up.

I leaned into Hotrod's head and neck contentedly, feeling a decrease in my guilt for the first time since Thundercracker had swept me up and away from my Autobot friends. I was still a little guilty of course, for requesting Red's execution, but it seemed to distance itself from my immediate thoughts in Hotrod's forceful cheerfulness.

I shook my head slowly. The six new Decepticons would change the way the Autobots were living here on Earth. It was clear to me that the army had moved into the City because of the arrival of the Constructicons. The presence of the enemy had risen from a frustrating problem to a serious situation and I secretly prayed that Hotrod wouldn't be sent out to fight, knowing those prayers wouldn't be answered.

I watched trickles of uniformed men rush up and down the hallways. I avoided eye contact when they looked up long enough to see me, instead looking down vaguely at Hotrod's chest or his feet as they connected solidly with the industrial concrete of the floor. To my dismay, when we got to the rec. hall almost a dozen men were already there, either eating or playing some of the games arranged in the areas decorated with human-size furniture.

Hotrod seemed aware of my tension and shielded me from the room with his large hand, turning his head towards me. While his crystalline eyes bathed me in a cool blue glow he whispered, "You have to face your own kind some day. I'll be right beside you. You can do it." He smiled, his crackly electrified 'teeth' showing. I sighed and pressed my forehead to his cheek for a long moment, then leaned back and nodded grimly.

Hotrod put me down next to the fridge then sat down Indian style next to the table I'd eaten at with Sam not so long ago. I tried to gather my courage, telling myself that this wasn't any different from meeting Sam. I knew I was lying to myself. Sam was part of this strange life, his future tied in with Bee's and the Autobots'. These army men were a part of that future as well, but not in a personal way. They weren't here because the Autobots made up a huge part of their lives. No, they were here on orders. It wasn't like meeting with Sam at all, I admitted.

Once again avoiding the eyes that had targeted me ever since we'd entered the rec. room, I grabbed a couple of slices of cold pizza and a bottled water out of the large fridge, which was much better stocked now that people actually seemed to be occupying the place. I grabbed a paper plate off a stack on the counter next to the stove and made my way back to our table, staring at the ground self-consciously. I was so determined not to look at anyone that I didn't realize someone else was already sitting there, across from Hotrod, until I'd already taken my seat.

I was raising the pizza to my mouth when a soft cough made me drop it in a tiny internal explosion of nerves. I looked up unwillingly to see the man across from me. He was wearing a white t-shirt and dog tags, his hair buzzed and his face clean-shaven. He wasn't particularly attractive but he was pleasant enough to look at. Never the less, I blushed furiously.

"Sorry," he said, smiling apologetically. "I sat here when you weren't looking. Your friend didn't seem to mind," he said with a tilt to Hotrod, who was leaning over me.

I stared at him blankly, and he continued, beginning to look a little uncomfortable. "My name is Zeke, what's yours?"

I wondered which name I should give him and quickly made up my mind, mentally kicking myself for even debating using my old name. "Bravura."

His faced twisted ever so slightly. "That's… uh… different."

"Apparently I earned it."

He reached back and rubbed his neck. "Yeah… well… welcome to the base. It's pretty weird in here, but it's not so bad. Maybe I could show you around when you're done with lunch?" He leaned back over the table and gave me what he probably thought was a charming smile.

"I already have a tour guide, but thanks anyway." I knew I was being rude, but I couldn't help myself.

"Oh- um. Yeah, I'll see you around then?"

I made a noncommittal sound of agreement and he rose awkwardly, heading over to a table with several other men, who'd been watching the whole little exchange and burst into laughter moments after he sat down. I looked down at my pizza and realized my appetite was gone. I looked back at Hotrod pleadingly, and he made a noise that sounded an awful lot like a sigh.

"We can leave when you've eaten something, ok? Just a few bites. I don't want you catching anorexia."

I cracked a smile for the first time since entering the rec. hall. "You don't catch anorexia. It's more of a disorder, not a disease you can catch like a cold."

"Ah. Yes, you're right… Even so, you've gotta be starving! That cheese and bread wedge looks very… scrumptious."

I grinned. "You haven't looked up pizza yet? I'm almost disappointed! It's an American staple, Hotrod, but it's much better fresh." I finally took a big bite from the slice I'd dropped. As I chewed my stomach insisted that pizza, hot or cold, was definitely good to have no matter what my adrenaline was doing to the rest of me.

"Hey, I've been very busy! With lots of important things!"

I swallowed and sipped at my water, then look up at him. "With?"

He stared at me. "Saving you, and other more confidential things."

"Confidential?"

He flicked at some invisible dirt on one arm, and then looked at me with a very human shrug. "Yes, that means I can't tell you."

"I know that! But come on, it's me! You can tell me!"

He shook his head. "Actually, you're the one person I can't tell."

I felt my eyes get huge. "You've been sneaking around behind my back! Who is it, some hot little toaster? A George Foreman grill? That's getting a little butch, but if that's your thing-"

"I have NOT been spending my time with cooking tools! You'll find out soon, I promise."

I smiled up at him, then turned back to my pizza, my hunger overcoming my desire to pry. I was finally beginning to relax emotionally, the angst of the last couple of days melting away in this familiar place. I mused about what secret Hotrod was keeping as I ate my pizza. The vanity in me wanted to say he was preparing a surprise or present, but the rest of me shook that thought off quickly. He was a in a sort of military, just like all these new army guys, and he had a life that extended well beyond my small world.

I drained the last of my water as I took my empty plate to the industrial sized trash can that had appeared next to the fridge, tossing them both away and returning to Hotrod, almost skipping from the sudden lightness in my chest.

"You know big guy, that Zeke person made me realize I don't know my way around in here… So you think maybe it's time I learned?" I asked.

Hotrod nodded enthusiastically. "That's a great idea! Where should we go first? The sick bay? The human barracks? Our room?"

I smiled. Our room. "The sick bay, if you think Ratchet will be there. I need a check up, and maybe he can tell me if I'm carrying a tracking chip."

Hotrod nodded agreeably and held out his hand to lift me up, but I waved it away. "I was hoping to walk, maybe I'll remember the way better?"

He nodded slowly, and then surprised me by reaching up and popping a small chamber on his chest open. He pulled out a baseball sized arrangement of delicate looking metal things and lowered it to floor. There was a flicker, like a fluorescent light turning on, and where the arrangement had been now stood Hotrod's handsome brown-haired hologram.

This was the first time I'd ever seen Hotrod's hologram standing up, and his height threw me off. He was wearing a red button-up shirt with the top few buttons left open to reveal a teensy peek what had to be a nice chest. A yellow autobot symbol graced it liked a brand-name logo. The sleeves were rolled up to his elbows, and he had on a pair of dark jeans that clung to his hips in just the right way...

Feeling my thoughts taking a dive for the gutter, I snapped my gaze up guiltily to his crackling blue eyes, which were dancing with silent laughter. As I stared up at him, jaw hanging just a little slack, he leaned down quickly and gave me a peck on the cheek, more chaste than the one I'd given him in the car. At first I thought the kiss was electric, 'sparks flying' and all that, but then I realized he'd literally shocked me as I felt my hair floating away from my skull.

"You did it again!" I squeaked, smoothing my hair down frantically as a few men around the rec. hall started laughing. The mech Hotrod reached down to just barely touch me with one finger and I felt and heard the crackle of static electricity jumping to him. My hair settled, and I looked from the mech to the hologram a little confusedly, wondering who to speak to.

As the mech stood up, the hologram continued to smile amiably, gesturing towards the wide-open entrance of the rec. hall. "Come on. I'm using the hologram so that people don't think you're walking the halls alone with a mech. They might bother you, being a female out of uniform."

"And you don't think they'd bother a man out of uniform?" I asked, aching to reach out and touch him and briefly envisioning this hologram 'out of uniform.' I caught myself smiling foolishly and toned it down just a bit, though I still felt as giddy as a schoolgirl.

"Well, at least I'm wearing the right badge," he said, tapping the Autobot symbol on his shirt. I looked down to the purple and black Decepticon tattoo on my left wrist, tracing it with the thumb of my right hand.

"Are you coming?" Hologram Hotrod called over his shoulder as he followed his mech body out of the rec. hall, and I ogled his butt for just a moment before rushing after him into the hallway.

Travel took much longer on foot than by robot, but I did begin to notice things I hadn't before. Down at this level there were words in black paint like LOGISTICS, COMMAND, and TRAINING along with helpful arrows. I soon spotted MEDIC and was commenting on this to Hotrod when someone grabbed me by the shoulder and spun me around.

I was face to chin with someone, so I looked up. He was an older man with gray hair and wrinkles. He was staring at me with shock and disbelief, his eyebrows twitching.

He began to make a stuttering sound, until I finally made out the words he was trying to say. "Cammy? You're alive?"