Disclaimer: I only own the Montez family.

Author's Note: I'm ashamed. Summer's more than halfway over and I haven't written anything. I suck. I really do. . I've been too caught up in reading other people's amazing fics that I've completely ignored my own. I'm a bad author. D:

I'm not sure if anything awesome happens in this chapter (it's still pretty close to the movie), but I have somewhat good news! Yay! The movie shall be finished in one or two chapters and then what I've planned shall come into play! *cue twins*

Chapter 5

Guilty Pleasures and Sudden Bursts of Emotion

The car ride to Sam's house was tense and silent. Lyra sat in the backseat, twiddling her thumbs as she tried to keep herself from poking at her stitches. Sam and Mikaela were holding hands, she had noticed, eyeing the way their fingers interlocked between their seats.

It was a sort of guilty pleasure for her: internally, Lyra was having a fangirl moment as she got to experience the Transformers romance firsthand. The logical part of her brain was telling her to get over it; that she had to worry about Noah. She could fangirl later.

The thought of Noah sent a stabbing pain through her heart. That dream…it was so real. Could it have actually—? No. It couldn't have. It wasn't possible.

What's possible anymore, Lyra thought darkly, running her fingers over the leather of Bumblebee's interior. That fact in itself shouldn't have even been possible, so who was she to say that that dream couldn't have been some form of premonition of sorts?

It was dizzying, those thoughts. Lyra kept telling herself none of it was real, that the Transformers weren't real, but a part of her kept trying to tell herself that it was. It was the same part that dominated her mind when something concerned her little brother. But she had always believed in the ways of science, never really being one for religion, and didn't this apply? If she could see it, feel it, touch it, didn't that make this whole ordeal real?

Primus! Why was this all so confusing?

Wait…Primus? Lyra wondered. The name sounded familiar—so, so familiar—but she couldn't place why it was. Why did she even think that anyway? Oh, geez. I'm going insane. That's what this must be, some drug induced hallucination. I must've put up a hell of a fight that the nursing staff at the asylum I'm staying at decided to sedate me.

It was a logical explanation, but Lyra didn't fancy the idea of being mad. Still, though, the possibility that this was all in her head made her feel a bit more relaxed. But only a bit.

There was still one question though: why, if this was in her head, did Lyra put Noah in danger?

A shudder wracked her body, dread suddenly filling her soul. Could this…really be real?

A part of her hoped it wasn't, while another hoped it was. On one hand, Noah wouldn't really be in danger. On another, it would mean that she was, in fact, crazy.

Lyra rubbed the back of her neck subconsciously as doubt started consuming her. Is Noah really in danger? Maybe this whole thing is just fake… Her fingers brushed against something cold. Her hand froze where they were, her eyes widening. Slowly, she moved her fingers so it brushed against it again. A necklace?

Her mind flashed back to the dream. She had been wearing a necklace then too. But Lyra couldn't remember ever actually putting one on before she left her mom's house. And she wasn't wearing it a few moments ago either.

"We're almost there," Sam said from the front seat, drawing Lyra's attention.

"Okay," she mumbled, glancing out the window to watch the houses fly by. The neighborhood they were in was gorgeous. It was neat and…homey. The brunette started feeling something she had never allowed herself to feel before as she realized that this place was where Sam grew up: envy.

"Alright, when we get there," the boy continued, rubbing his face nervously, "I'm gonna run inside and get the glasses. You two j-just stay h-here with them. Okay? Alright?"

"Yeah, fine," Mikaela said, smiling in amusement as Sam got more and more fidgety.

Soon, the trio lapsed back into silence, and Bumblebee drove them into an alley near the boy's house.

Even the alleys are nice, Lyra thought.

They climbed out of the yellow Autobot, Sam faster than the two girls due to his nerves. "I need you two to stay here, alright?" he said, as if he hadn't told them the same thing just moments ago. "You gotta stay here and you gotta watch them."

"Okay," Mikaela nodded.

"All of them. You hear what I'm saying?"

"Yeah, okay," the raven-haired girl said, trying to get a word in as Sam continued.

"Five minutes, alright?"

And he was gone.

"Gotta love his communication skills," Lyra said dryly, eliciting a laugh from the mechanic in front of her.

Silence reigned over them a few seconds later, and Mikaela shifted uncomfortably. The hazel eyed teen was busying herself with outlining the chain around her neck with her fingers. There was no charm on it, just a simple silver chain. How strange.

"Lyra," Mikaela said suddenly, turning to face her companion. The girl looked up, taken aback by the serious tone that addressed her.

"Yes?"

"What happened…to Noah?"

Lyra sucked in a breath. "What d'ya mean?"

"You woke up screaming his name, Ly, (—Lyra winced at the nickname—) and you had been kidnapped by Barricade. Something had to have happened to him. "

The brunette looked away, her eyes welling up with tears; she refused to let them fall, though. She wasn't going to cry.

"Sam and I heard you yell 'run' before 'Bee rescued us." Mikaela continued. "I know a lot of people think I'm just another superficial bimbo, but I'm not. I'm not stupid. You were telling Noah to run, weren't you?"

Lyra swallowed the lump in her throat, taking in a shaky breath. Her eyes felt heavy from withholding tears, but she still turned to look at the ravenette. "He was taken by…D-Decepticons." Forcing those words out nearly killed her. She had finally admitted it out loud. She barely registered the sound of shifting gears as she continued. "I was supposed to protect him, 'Kaela. I'm his older sister. I-I failed at protecting him."

"Lyra."

Said girl looked up, her eyes meeting the sparkling blue optics of Optimus Prime.

"We will return your brother to you, Lyra," he said, straightening up from his crouched position now that he had her attention. "But first we need to retrieve the Allspark." The bipedal semi-truck turned to his comrades, nodding his head as he said "Autobots". The group instantly started moving towards Sam's house, and the two human girls were left looking at each other with wide eyes. Hadn't Sam left them in charge of them?

"Wait!" Mikaela called, running after them as they bother reached the same conclusion.

"You can't let anyone see you guys!" Lyra yelled after them, following her companion's lead as her stormy mood was momentarily forgotten.

They arrived as Sam ran over to them. He was practically having a mental breakdown at that moment.

"I told you to watch them!"

"I know," Mikaela said, staring at the remains of his backyard in shock.

"I told you!"

"Okay, you know what? They seem to be in a little bit of a rush!"

"Yeah, Sam. Shouldn't you be getting the glasses right now?" Lyra asked, confused. Her confusion only rose as a small dog started barking.

"No!" Sam yelled, having heard the same thing.

"Awh, is that your dog?" Lyra asked, cooing at how cute it was. She giggled as she watched it do its business on Ironhide. Oh, boy…

"Mojo! Mojo! Off the robot! God!"

"Ew, wet," Ironhide grumbled, kicking Mojo away from him as he tried to shake off the urine from his foot.

"No! No! No! No!No!" Sam yelled, picking up his Chihuahua. "Hold on! Okay? Hold on! This is Mojo. This is Mojo! He's a pet of mine, okay? He's a pet."

This didn't seem to calm the weapon's specialist, though, as he took out his cannons, aiming them at the small dog.

"Put the guns away! Put the guns away!"

"You have a rodent infestation," Ironhide growled. "Shall I terminate?"

This was all amusing to Lyra, but she was having trouble focusing on them. Optimus had told her they would bring Noah back. The relief she felt was slightly overwhelming, yet she still couldn't dissipate the constant traces of worry and dread that had made itself known.

If any harm were to come to Noah, it would be her fault.

"I'll go."

Lyra snapped out of her thoughts as Mikaela spoke. It took her a moment to process that the girl had been talking to Optimus and not her.

The sentient giant picked up the girl and carried her to what Lyra assumed was Sam's window.

"Time is short," Optimus said. "Please hurry."

The rest of what was said wasn't audible to her, but Lyra knew the gist of it from the movies. Why was it that she only seemed to pay attention during the most irrelevant parts of the film?

"Er, guys," Lyra said, looking up at the Autobots from where she stood in the middle of the Witwicky yard. "I don't really think you guys are doing a good job at being inconspicuous."

The brunette soon regretted her words, for, in the next moment, the Cybertronians had transformed to their vehicle forms.

"That's not much better…" Lyra was standing between Bumblebee and Optimus, rubbing the back of her neck anxiously. "Guys, if the Witwickys see you, they're gonna freak," she groaned looking up towards Sam's room helplessly.

Sam and Mikaela were looking down at the yard incredulously. Well, Mikaela was. Sam was practically having another breakdown. After a moment, they stepped away from the window, returning to their search.

"Prime," Lyra said, addressing the semi awkwardly, "this is a horrible hiding spot. You might as well just transform back with how out of place you all are."

"Very well," the truck spoke, leaving the human girl perplexed.

That's gonna take some getting used to…

The Autobots quickly changed back to their bipedal form, and Optimus made his way to Sam's window. They exchanged a few words while Lyra was practically pulling her hair out with how anxious she was. Her fears about Noah's safety and the fear of getting caught were slowly driving her insane. Weren't Section Eleven or something supposed to be showing up soon?

"Autobots. Fallback."

For some reason, the brunette hid behind a pretty flower bush as if Optimus' words applied to her as well. She didn't know why she'd done it, but she dismissed the thought as a reaction to the events to come. Though the government group wasn't really frightening, Lyra didn't particularly like authority figures. After all, it was the authorities' fault that Noah and her were sent to their mothers, and, thus, they wound up in this mess. They wouldn't have even been in California if the Social Worker had just let them be.

A large thud brought the brunette out of her thoughts, and she couldn't stop herself from laughing. Ratchet had run into the power lines, effectively getting electrocuted.

"Wow! That was tingly," Ratchet exclaimed. "You gotta try that!"

Lyra giggled to herself. So getting electrocuted feels…good?

"Yeah. That looks fun," Ironhide drawled.

The lights suddenly shut off in the neighborhood, and Lyra felt like running into a corner and hiding. She didn't like the dark. At all. She was usually okay because she had Noah, or there was some form of light source, but there wasn't any at the moment. Well, not until Optimus started shining a beam worthy of a lighthouse into Sam's room.

Yells could be heard from inside, and, soon, Optimus was forced to kill the light to keep Sam's parents from discovering the large humanoid robots that were currently occupying their backyard.

Lyra could faintly hear the voices from inside the home. A smile tugged at her lips as her favorite seen played out. The "masturbation conversation", as she referred to it as, was absolutely priceless.

"Judy, we gotta call the city. We've got a blown transformer!" Sam's dad said. Oh, the irony, Lyra mused. "Power poles sparking all over the place… Oh, man. The yards a waste. Trashed! Gone!"

As Mr. Witwicky disappeared from view, Ironhide pulled out his cannons. "The parents are very irritating. Can I take them out?"

"Ironhide!" Optimus scolded. "You know we don't harm humans. What is with you?"

"Well, I'm just saying we could. It's an option."

Lyra listened in on the conversation in amusement. Though it was a bit of a morbid topic, she still found the whole exchange cute.

"OP, a large group of humans are headin' this way," Jazz suddenly said, appearing next to the Autobot leader out of nowhere.

"Autobots, fallback," Optimus said seriously.

With surprising stealth, the Cybertronians quickly retreated from the yard, Bumbleebee taking the longest as he reached over and plucked Lyra up. "'Bee!" she squeaked indignantly.

"My apol'gies, li'l lady," 'Bee 'said' playing a clip from an old western film.

Once the two were safely away from Sam's house, the yellow robot gently set down the human girl before transforming into a Camaro. The driver door opened, and she quickly climbed in. The lights on the dashboard were dimming every once in a while, but she didn't comment. She was still in the process of learning the human body's anatomy and physiology; learning anything about how Autobots worked was a little bit more than she could handle.

They had been parked in the same spot for a while (the Autobots no doubt waiting for something to happen) when, all at once, the Cybertronians started up and pulled out onto the road.

"Are…did something happen? Who were those people?" Lyra asked quietly. Bumblebee didn't say anything. Instead, he opted for playing a quiet, smooth jazz radio station. "Thanks, 'Bee. That totally answers my questions."

Lyra assumed that the Camaro didn't answer because he didn't want to worry her. He was probably so confident in the fact that Sam and Mikaela were going to be rescued that he didn't want to cause her any more stress by telling her that the two were in trouble at the moment but wouldn't be in a few minutes.

Sighing, she leaned back in the seat, watching the steering wheel move on its own as she thought, her fingers stroking the jewelry around her neck. She could've sworn that she hadn't been wearing a necklace when she was driving in the car with Noah. And now she suddenly had one on. For some reason, the necklace was also in her dreams, the ones that always had some connection to her little brother.

Now, Lyra wasn't stupid. She was, after all, on the honor roll at her old school, and she was aspiring to be a doctor. But the end result of all her thinking brought her to a conclusion that couldn't at all be possible.

Waking up in a movie isn't all that possible either, she thought to herself.

"Enemies, two o'clock."

Lyra blinked, coming back to the present as she looked to the right. She could see the group of black vehicles that were Section Eleven (or whatever it was). 'Bee, who was lagging behind the rest of the Autobots, sped up as Optimus and the others transformed. He practically forced Lyra out of her seat so he could transform as well.

The cries and yells of the government officials met her ears as soon as she was out of the Camaro.

"Gentlemen, I want to introduce you to my friend, Optimus Prime," Sam said smugly.

"Taking the children," the Prime growled, "Was a bad move." Sam and Mikaela's kidnappers pulled out guns, as if the small hunk of metal could protect them. "Autobots, relieve them of their weapons."

Lyra, whom had been left on the bridge (much to her irritation), watched the large robotic aliens agilely make their way to surround the black vehicles.

Did they forget that she was a short, easily breakable human that couldn't get down without hurting herself even more than she already was?

Muttering to herself about "stupid metalheads", Lyra huffed and crossed her arms over her chest. She realized that she was pouting like a child but couldn't bring herself to care. This was one of the others scenes she had (somewhat) paid attention to, and she was missing it.

The sound of helicopters was the only thing that forced the brunette to be mature again, and that was only because she knew what was going to happen to 'Bee. A trace of anger coursed through her veins but was quickly eliminated as she reminded herself that she shouldn't care about him. The only person she should be concerned about was Noah.

For someone so concerned about her brother, Lyra didn't notice a black SUV driving away from the bridge with a child pounding against the window.

"Run, Forrest! Run!"

"I don't care if you're from a different planet, 'Bee; climbing onto your hand is not the same as running," Lyra said, getting onto the yellow 'bot's hand as quickly as her wounds would allow her.

"~I love you, you love me~" 'Bee played happily, slowly sliding her onto the pavement so he could transform.

"There's a reason people stop watching Barney after they turn six, y'know?" she snapped.

The Camaro was unfazed as he set Lyra down on the street below the bridge before shifting into his alt mode. The driver's door popped open and she slid in without hesitation. A split second after she had sat down, the seatbelt flew across her torso and snapped into place.

The squeal of tires was the only thing she heard as she saw Optimus pick up Mikaela and Sam. Lyra wondered briefly why 'Bee was taking her and not the Autobot leader. As many thoughts she had since arriving in this alternate dimension (which was what Lyra had convinced herself this was after pondering the many science fiction novels she had read in her lifetime for a possible conclusion to her predicament should it turn out to not be a dream) were, it was dismissed with only a second of contemplation from the brunette.

The helicopters weren't pursuing them; instead opting for following the giant running robot that was the great Prime.

A cold feeling of dread filled the pit of Lyra's stomach as she remembered what was going to happen next.

Bumblebee…

She had to stop him from catching Sam and Mika—no. If 'Bee didn't catch them, then they'd die. But then he'd be captured!

The feeling in her stomach turned colder as she realized something.

She was starting to care.

That wasn't supposed to happen! She was using them for her own personal gain: getting Noah back. Lyra couldn't risk making connections. If this was all a dream, and if she just woke up, then what would she do? It wouldn't be the same.

Or, worse. What if she was put in the position of choosing between them? What if she had to decided which one would live, despite how very unlikely that was? What if they jeopardized her brother's safety? What if she had to choose what was best for her brother—being away from this damned war—and what both of them would want—to stay with the Autobots?

Lyra told herself she would choose what was in Noah's best interest in a heartbeat, but she knew that it would be a choice she would have to struggle with.

"~Hang on, everybody! It's gonna be a bumpy ride!~" blared out of 'Bee's radio.

She didn't register what he said until he started transforming. Everything started folding in on itself, and, at the last possible moment before she became a Lyra Pancake, the yellow bot's large robotic arm pulled her out of his morphing alt form.

A loud shriek tore its way out of throat as she was suspended in midair for what felt like eternity but was really only a second. It was accompanied by the screeches of Sam and Mikaela as they fell into the awaiting arms of Bumblebee.

It was a painful impact, and Lyra refused to blame it on her wounds. Though, if she were honest, they weren't doing all that well.

Doubled over in pain, she didn't notice that the helicopters had surrounded them until she heard her two companions screaming. Looking up quickly, Lyra's breath caught in her throat.

Bumblebee was about to be shot.

They were about to shoot him.

The sweetest of all the Autobots.

"NO!" Lyra cried out, running towards 'Bee. It was futile, she knew, but she couldn't stop the sudden feeling to protect the 'bot.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING!" she yelled, pushing at someone who was spraying the yellow robot's body with a cold smoke. "STOP IT! HE'S NOT TRYING TO HURT ANYONE!"

She kept pushing and shoving. Lyra even started scratching at one point. Whether or not she bit someone was debatable. She would neither admit nor deny that. The end result was the same as the movie, unfortunately.

There stood that obnoxious government guy, hands on his hips with the smuggest of smirks on his less than appealing mug.

Lyra was roughly led towards the vehicle parked behind him. Sam and Mikaela were behind her, struggling as much as she was.

"And who might you be, sweetheart?" the guy asked, his eyebrows rising as he stared at her with a scrutinizing gaze.

The brunette didn't say anything. Instead, she spat on his face, glaring through the tears that had accumulated with her sudden burst on unexplained worry and protectiveness. This apparently wasn't the right way to get on his good side (who knew, huh?) and he practically had the goon who was holding her thrust her into the back of the car.

Lyra didn't say anything after that. Holding her abdomen tightly, she stared out the window, ignoring everyone as she forced herself to stop crying. 'Bee would be alright. He would be fine.

It scared her how she was worried about Bumblebee now and not her brother.

Her heart rate picked up, more tears welling up in her eyes.

Though she was awake, she was thrust into another dream. Like all the others, it was far from reassuring.

Author's Note: Not sure if it made sense (half was written a week after summer started and the other half was written now), but I hope it was still good! If you have any suggestions, comments, critiques, or just want to tell me what you wish would happen, let me know!

So, what should the dream be? Should it be a Noah's-in-trouble dream or Noah's-scared-dream? Or maybe a Decepticon-who-captured-brother dream?

Let me know! :D