The chapter title is serious. Action, lots of it. It's possible that I'm moving quickly, but if you're like me you're ready for something rough and tough :) Updates are most likely going to slow down after today, I'm chest deep in finals, and literally as soon as I get done with my last final I'll be working full time. I'll try not to disappoint :\

See if you can spot T.S. Eliot in there :)

There wasn't much to look at except what my eyes could light up in the back of the truck, so first I hooked into my GPS and watched where we were going. West, towards California. There were a few decent cities on the way, so I was fairly confident we'd find something.

I had been fiddling on the Internet for a while when I felt the truck slow down and pull over. I tensed, then sent a radio burst to the front of the car. Why are we stopping?

The door opened and slammed shut, then Mikaela lifted the sliding back door a little. I was laying on my back with my legs cranked up to the ceiling, and I had to lean my head back to look at her upside down, but she didn't seem to notice. "I need to get some gas. We're almost in South Lake Tahoe. I'll find a parking garage and we'll see what you can find, k?" She smiled again and I nodded.

She rolled the door down most of the way, just a few inches, letting fluorescent light in from what I assumed was a gas station. She'd finished filling up and gone in to pay when I heard a weird noise from the front of the car. A rhythmic thumping, and a faint noise, like someone talking under a mountain of blankets. I could barely hear it over the sound of the semis and truck drivers outside.

I listened hard, and then kicked at the back of the cab. I sent another radio burst into the cab. If you're breaking into the car I'd think twice.

The weird noise increased, and I started to get concerned. Something wasn't right.

Is there someone up there? If… if you need help, kick twice.

THUD. THUD.

"What the hell…" I hissed. The gas station was crawling with people. I'd never be able to check without someone noticing. But then… why would Mikaela have someone tied up in the cab? My logic processors were practically itching with possibilities. If I was wrong, we'd just have to haul aft out of here. If I was right… I'd think about that later.

I would do it fast, like ripping off a band-aid. I righted myself, took a deep intake, then stuck my fingers in the gap under the door and yanked it up fast. I was out in the blinding fluorescent light and ripping the cab door open in seconds. I couldn't see anything. I'd been wrong. But…

MMMPH!

I could hear screams and exclamations from normal people behind me, as well as tires skidding, but I didn't care. I'd been right. I forced the driver's seat chair forward, and saw the source of the noise. Mikaela, bound and gagged, stuffed in the tiny space between the chair and the back of the cab.

"Oh my God, Mikaela…" I reached in and pulled her out carefully, doing my best to pull out her gag, which was made of duct tape and a washrag, without hurting her. "What happened? I just saw you!"

"Frenzy!" She choked out, gasping for air.

My energon ran cold. Frenzy. It was a trap.

I set her on the ground, back to me, trying to peel back the duct tape around her wrists. I'd begun to get really frustrated when suddenly one of my fingers shivered and twitched and suddenly presented a razor sharp edge. I used it without thinking, slicing her hands free. She peeled off the tape and ripped the duct tape from her hair. I winced. Tough girl.

"What are you doing, Bravura?"

I looked up, and saw the other Mikaela standing on the other side of the U-haul. She couldn't see the second Mikaela.

I didn't even think. I grabbed the Mikaela I'd rescued and cradled her to my chest as delicately as I could. She barely weighed anything. I turned and took off as fast as I could. I had no idea where I was going.

I heard a hideous shriek behind me, and spared a glance back. Even in that brief moment, I could see Mikaela's form flicker and disappear, a spindly silver Frenzy in her place. And he was coming.

"No, no, no!" I tore into the concrete as fast as I could, but I could tell by the chittering and snarling behind me that I wasn't losing him. No, if anything, he was gaining. "Are you ok?" I yelled to the human in my arms, and she gave me a muffled yes.

I charged into a busy four-lane road and almost got hit by a van. It screeched to a stop, and I crossed the small main street and dove into a dark alley, thankful for my GPS. I could hear people screaming behind me, and a crash as Frenzy probably caused havoc during his own crossing. I wished futilely that he'd been squished, but I knew better. I could feel him coming now, he wasn't bothering to hide.

Think, think, THINK! Alt mode's your best chance. Find something, now. I swept my sensors as far as I could, but nothing was small enough. A bunch of damn SUVs. I just kept running and scanning, doing my best to keep the distance between the insane little Decepticon and me.

I'd been forced to burst into another busy street when I heard a ripping roar overhead. I shuddered with fear, running as hard as I could down the side walk, dodging dressed up clubbers and couples. Thundercracker had arrived.

I'd almost made it into another alley where the jet wouldn't fit when Frenzy got a hold of me. Somehow that little beast tripped me up and I flew forward, curling my body to protect Mikaela. I felt the concrete crack under my weight, but I managed to roll onto my back and kicked at the monster attached to my foot.

He was cackling and gibbering, trying to pull something out of my leg. I let Mikaela go a little roughly then reached down, trying to snatch the Decepticon off, but he evaded me, even pausing long enough to laugh at me. That's when Thundercracker landed in the middle of the street, crushing a car in the process.

People are dying! It was true, I heard a short scream cut off as the Raptor crossed the road to the music of screeching tires and human shrieks. It wasn't until I spared a look from the little rat on my foot that I realized Thundercracker wasn't here. No, this wasn't Thundercracker at all.

He was jet black or dark grey in the poor lighting, and there was something sinister about him. Thundercracker wasn't sinister. There was only one other Seeker I could think of, and the thought made me want to scream.

"Starscream," I choked.

The huge mech smiled viciously. "You've heard of me. I'm not surprised. I probably offlined lots of your little friends, femme."

I looked sharply at Frenzy. Starscream didn't know. What had Frenzy been doing, if Starscream thought I was a regular femme?

I looked for Mikaela. She was gone. I breathed a sigh of relief, then decided to face my bigger problem. "What do you want? I didn't do anything to you!"

Starscream hissed. "No, but you will."

I choked. He thinks you're a real femme. He thinks you're the only one. Oh God. No. Nonono.

He saw the realization in my optics, but I knew he didn't see fear. No. I wouldn't be afraid of that again. I'd die this time. Never again.

I rose to my feet, Frenzy still busily hacking at my ankles. I tried to scrape him off ineffectually, backing away from the Seeker. "You'll have to kill me first," I growled as menacingly as I could.

The Seeker laughed uproariously, and while he was busy I saw a flash in the corner of my optic. I looked down, and suddenly my leg got knocked out from under me by a burst of water. Frenzy was blasted down the street was a blood-curdling howl. I frantically looked for the source and saw Mikaela barely controlling a fire hose from between the buildings. She turned the hose on Starscream with much less effectiveness.

He stopped laughing and pointed a whistling gun at her. I threw myself between them without thinking, shielding her and knocking the hose out of her hands. I expected an explosion, but nothing happened. Instead, I was yanked off the ground. Starscream lifted me up to his eye level.

"You need to learn fear, little femme. I will show you fear in a handful of dust."

He leveled his gun where Mikaela had been, but she was gone, the hose shooting water violently across the mostly empty street. Sirens were approaching fast.

I would not let this happen again.

My hands changed, much like they had back at the gas station. Suddenly I had two huge scalpels instead of ten fingers. I gasped, and then let my instincts take over. I started hacking as hard as I could into Starscream's claws.

He dropped me with a roar, and I shot into the alleyway where Mikaela had been. I couldn't see her anywhere.

"Mikaela!" I screamed. I couldn't let her die today. Not because of me. "MIKAELA!"

Psst! "Over here!" I heard another hiss, and looked, finding her crouched over a lock to a large industrial looking bay door. "Get this lock!"

My hands changed back into fingers, and I obliged. Starscream was trying to reach between the buildings, but he was just too big. Frenzy was nowhere to be seen.

The padlock snapped easily in my hands, and I forced the door open. I didn't know why we were going in here, I thought we should be running… But she seemed to know what she was doing.I looked at her blankly.

She gestured wildly into the dark building. "Well?! Find something! It's luxury storage, look!" She pointed fiercely at a sign. Malcolm's Superior Temperature Controlled Storage. I immediately cast out my scanners, and to my utter relief something gave me the green light. I blindly accepted the car, and as soon as it was completely in my system I initiated the transformation protocol.

I felt suddenly tired and my body produced plates I hadn't had before. Complex equipment formed in seconds, and I had a dizzying sense of vertigo as I flew towards the concrete. Rubbery wheels I definitely had not had before caught me, bouncing me off the concrete. I felt bulky, stiff, almost immobile. I tried to move legs I no longer had, and my engine revved.

Ooo. For once, my logic processors had very little to say.

Something yanked my side open, and I could feel a soft light weight in the driver's seat. The pull and click of a seat belt. I explored the feeling, and discovered I could see into my interior through various tiny 'eyes.'

"Well, let's GO!" She screamed. Starscream was really going at it now, literally bashing into the buildings.

I tried, but I had no idea what to do. No idea at all. I revved my engine again, but nothing happened.

"I don't know how!" I admitted.

She sighed, and suddenly she was pulling things, pressing down on my pedals, and to my utter shock my body shot forward through the alley just as Starscream's claws came down. He missed by inches.

"Left, LEFT!" I screamed, watching my GPS. Everything else was a dead end. She barley got us through the turn, going so fast I would've fainted if I'd been able to.

Together we navigated the alleys as long as we could, but eventually we had to enter onto regular relatively open road. We peeled onto a two lane street and she gunned my engine. The feeling was thrilling, and if I hadn't been so terrified I would've loved it. Still, I was much too terrified.

"Do we have any backup coming?" Mikaela asked anxiously. Starscream hadn't seen us yet, but he would soon.

I didn't know what to do. There was nobody I could reach by the methods I knew. They were too far away. All I had was the emergency frequency, and everyone would hear me. Even the bad guys. You don't have much choice.

I found my resolve, and opened the frequency just as Starscream blasted low over us. I could feel the heat from his thrusters.

This is the neutral Bravura with the human Mikaela. South Lake Tahoe, California. Found Starscream for you, need help right now. I'm a car. He's right on top of us, holy sh- I cut of the transmission as Starscream slammed into the concrete right in front of us and Mikaela did her best to spin us around him. We just barely made it, but not before he slapped my back end, fishtailing us.

Bless Mikaela, she was an amazing driver. She got us turned in the right direction and whipping away from the Seeker faster than I could've thought. A bright explosion lifted the concrete just behind us, and I realized he meant business now.

I TOLD YOU! my emergency frequency lit up with a familiar tenor voice. I told you that you needed help!

Yes, you were right, but that's not exactly- I grunted out loud as Mikaela hit a pothole.

"Sorry!" she exclaimed.

It's not helping us right now! What do I do?!

Hide! Several transmissions chimed to me.

You'll never see the little femme again, Autobots. Starscream.

"Mikaela," I said calmly into the interior. "I have to ditch you. When he catches me he'll kill you. He doesn't care about you, he wants me."

"You don't know how to drive!" She argued. "You'll never stand a chance!"

I'd actually figured out a lot of things by paying attention to her. I wouldn't have the moves, but I'd have the speed. I could run.

Without waiting for her agreement I hit the brakes in a dark part of town. As soon as I was going slow enough not to kill her I popped her seatbelt loose and opened my door, spinning to send her flying out the door. I mentally winced when she hit the concrete, but I knew she'd be ok. I slammed my door shut and revved my engine, then sped back the way I'd come.

Lure him away. He'll forget about her.

So I dug in to do just that. Run away from her as fast I could, and try not to die.

Hiding's no good, can't cover my signature, I sent through the frequency. I had a sense of mortality right now. I was either going to die, or I was going to be taken prisoner. I wouldn't make it out of this.

I realized too late that I'd run out of protective city streets. I burst into a much more sparse part of town, where my headlights would be a dead give-away. I switched them off and tried to stay under the trees lining the sidewalk.

I had foolishly begun to think I might actually have a chance when a heard a howl behind me. Red and blue lights flashed. I looked, and my heart sank. A Saleen.

I hit the gas, hoping to outrun the Decepticon. He'd been on wheels longer than me. Even if I lucked out and turned out to be faster than him, he'd outmaneuver me.

Apparently I wasn't as good at driving as I thought. He overtook me in less than a minute, but instead of attacking me, he simply pulled ahead of me. I was dumbstruck, so much that I couldn't pull away in time to evade Frenzy when he leapt out of Barricade's window onto my hood.

Stay with us! his surprisingly smooth message came through our contact.

I swiveled as aggressively as I could without losing control. The little parasite stuck tight.

Trying to help! Stay with us! he repeated.

Help who? Me, or the Seeker?!

You. Stay with us. Let in.

He crawled to my driver's side door and banged on the glass. My logic processors weighed the options, and then made me roll down the window. He slid into the driver's seat, and without asking he managed to stretch out enough to reach the gas pedal. He grabbed the wheel, shifted my gears, and suddenly I got a lot more power out of my engine. Oh.

Together Barricade and I crept into the 130s, sticking to the sparse tree cover. Where was Starscream?

An explosion just ahead of us answered my question. Barricade was ahead, but he managed to stop before the worst of the blast and force me out of the way. Frenzy used his push to somehow drift me out enough for Barricade to slip ahead of us again, then we were pushing hard trying to make up speed.

The second time, Starscream shot the concrete right next to me. I felt my wheels lift off the ground, and the heat simmered down my pain receptors. I was flipped onto my back and then rolled heavily on my side, glass cracking in my windshield. Frenzy popped the upward facing door open and leapt out.

"T-t-transform!"

I obeyed, my body shuffling and twisting wildly until I could get up onto my own two feet. Barricade had spun around and transformed to his own mech mode without stopping first, grinding to a halt as he finished his rapid transformation. He skidded to a halt just a few feet short of sliding into me.

He looked at me sharply, Frenzy perched on my head, then his hands turned into glowing guns or cannons, something dangerous looking. He looked up into the sky, watching for Starscream to return.

He saw the Seeker before I did. He fired several molten-lava shots into the sky, then turned and grabbed me, throwing me to the ground as another explosion destroyed the street around us. He was up again instantly, firing after the Raptor.

"You can't take him alone, Barricade!" I screamed over the roar of their weapons and the jet. "We have to get out of here."

He shot into the sky, answering without looking at me. "There's no outrunning a Seeker. We either die fighting or we die running. Do you have weapons?"

"No, not the shooting kind."

"Then try not to get shot, I'm not dragging you."

I nodded, climbing to my feet while watching as the Seeker came in again. This time, instead of flying by and dogging us with a few shots, he slowed and slammed into the concrete feet first, transforming to his mech mode in an astonishingly short time.

"Stand down, Barricade," the Raptor snarled. "Give it up now and you'll only be punished. Keep on with this useless resistance and I'll destroy Frenzy, then I'll finish you."

Barricade grimly shifted slightly so that he was between the Raptor and me. Why would he protect you? my logic processors asked. He has nothing to gain from this.

Why, Frenzy? I asked the tiny silver mech on my head.

Hard to explain. You're my body. Like a sparkling, but not. Like another Frenzy with the wrong spark. Sort of a piece of me, sort of a piece of him. Can't let Starscream kill you.

His answer did nothing to clear up my confusion. Starscream was coming closer, threatening Barricade again, when suddenly for once the concrete blew up under the Seeker's feet. All three of us looked around wildly, but our ears gave us the answer. A jet blasted past us overhead in the darkness.

Starscream was just climbing to his feet again, looking absolutely murderous, when our savior flew back in, hitting the concrete in just the same way Starscream had moments ago. I saw a glint of purple, and my spark leapt into my throat.

"Skywarp," I whispered. They'd freed Skywarp. He was the only one able to get here in time. They had to let him go or let you die.

He backed up to us, and Barricade moved forward, together creating a small barrier.

"Not you too, brother," hissed Starscream. "How can you turn on me?"

"I don't want to hurt you, Starscream. She's my femme."

Starscream growled. "I'm the High Commander! You have no authority over me! Give me the femme!" He raised his arm, a huge gun there instead of a hand.

Skywarp and Barricade crouched low. My Seeker's voice came out with a dangerous and somehow sad tone. "I can't, brother. Not this time."