A/N: Had some time to write in the car yesterday, so have another couple chapters – this one and chapter 14 were originally the same chapter, and ended up split in half because otherwise it was ridiculously long.

Usual thank-yous for follows, favorites, reviews, and reading! I appreciate your patience with the weird update schedule.

Chapter 13: Explanation

Well, the girl was smart enough to have guessed the truth, or pretty close to it. Riella arched an eyebrow and settled back in the chair, assuming the most nonthreatening posture she could manage. "That's a fair question, and you have a point. Both of you have seen more than enough to warrant an explanation – with a condition. I understand that I have no authority over any of you, but I have to ask you to keep this to yourselves. I am not interested in having this conversation with several Sector Seven agents and an anti-Cybertronian weapon, at least not at this point in time." She glanced at the two strangers. "You don't know me, or my team, but please believe me when I tell you that this information could cause serious problems for your entire planet if the government acquired it without my knowledge. I can assure you it will not remain a secret forever."

"Okay," Mikaela said, Sam nodding. "We weren't gonna say anything anyway. Who'd want to talk to these jerks?"

The two on the other side added their agreement. "Well, I can't say I'm not curious, so…yeah, go for it," the woman said. "By the way, I'm Maggie, and this is Glen."

"I'm Mikaela. That's Sam." The girl turned toward Riella, paused, and said, "Maybe you should introduce yourself."

With half a smirk at the stares she got from everyone in the helicopter, Riella shut down her holograms one at a time. Across the aisle, Glen's eyes got wider and more panicked when Riella's eyes began to glow and silvery scars appeared on her forehead and cheekbones; by the time she got to the blue metal forearms, he was all but curled up in the seat. She kept her hands at her sides, trying to project a relatively harmless image. "My name is Riella, third Autobot scout commander, trained and practicing Cyber-Ninja. I serve as a scout, defense and undercover tactician, and special ops agent for the Autobot forces, as well as directing Division III as my sparkmate Prowl's second-in-command. I was born a Vulcan hybrid nearly four thousand years ago, but when I was fatally injured in an early Autobot-Decepticon battle, I was rebuilt as a technorganic. I still retain part of my original organic nature, but am mostly Cybertronian. For all intents and purposes, I am as much an Autobot as anyone you have met in vehicle or robot mode."

By this point, she wasn't sure human eyes could possibly open any wider, and both Sam and Maggie had scooted as far away from her as possible. Sam's jaw dropped. None of them seemed to be able to find their voices, but Riella had anticipated her explanation raising more questions. "A 'sparkmate' is similar to a human spouse, and you would say I am married to Prowl. The relationship is not quite a human-style marriage, but close enough for this discussion. A Cyber-Ninja is an Autobot who is fully trained in the Cybertronian martial arts, and 'Vulcan' is the name of the planet I was born on as well as the name of my birth parents' species. Vulcans are superficially similar to humans with significant internal differences; even before being rebuilt I was stronger and faster than any human, and I have retained my touch telepathy. I do have a robot mode which resembles a conventional Cybertronian's, which is an advantage I prefer not to reveal to Sector Seven until necessary. I do in fact bleed in both modes – Vulcan blood is green - though most of the injuries you have seen so far have been superficial. Did I cover everything?"

Sam finally found his voice. "You - you're, like, an - an alien?"

"Affirmative." Riella gave him a questioning look. "I thought that had been established."

"Wh-why didn't you...say anything?" Mikaela's expression mirrored Sam's. "Wait, telepathy? That's mind reading, right? Do we – do I – " Every human in the helicopter suddenly looked very worried.

"You have nothing to worry about," Riella assured them. Maybe she shouldn't have mentioned the touch telepathy. "It relies on physical contact, and I have to use it consciously. I have no interest in reading any of your minds."

"You could just be saying that." Maggie studied her warily, looking down to make sure they weren't touching. "So…what, you're an alien robot, and Sector Seven didn't notice?"

"That would seem to be the case." Riella glanced over at Sam, who appeared to be stifling a snicker. "Something humorous? Besides the fact that Agent Simmons is extremely dense."

"Well, yeah, I know, but…" Sam choked on laughter. "He kept talking about your alien friends on the way over here. You're an alien! Like a really obvious one once you know what to look for! How the hell did he miss that?"

"Humans see what they want to see. Prowl and I had very little difficulty remaining undercover on your planet." Riella arched an eyebrow, yet again, and refrained from pointing out that Sam himself had assumed she was human not five minutes ago. At least he had questioned it at some point. "I do have to admit that I expected him to notice sooner. The fact that Sector Seven continues to treat me like a human is convenient, but I do not expect it to continue once they realize."

The laughter died away abruptly, and Mikaela looked at her worriedly. "You mean, they'll do to you what they did to Bumblebee?"

"In all probability, they will try." Riella sensed a faint flicker of determination from Prowl, far away now, and glanced out the window. "I am not quite as adherent to the rules as Bumblebee. If Sector Seven continues to harm him, they will regret it, regardless of what they attempt to do to me." Turning back to Sam and Mikaela, she added quietly, "That goes for both of you as well. I am responsible for you until I have a chance to free Bumblebee. Sector Seven will not be allowed to threaten you, either. You can be sure of that."

Sam did not look sure. "…can you define 'regret it'? I mean, they're all a-holes, but I'd really rather not be the reason for murder. Or anything." He looked sideways at Riella. "But if you want to threaten it…"

"I will do whatever the situation calls for," Riella said calmly. "However, Autobot protocol requires that I refrain from intentionally harming humans unless I have no other option."

"That's…good? I guess?" Maggie sighed and leaned against the back of the chair. "God, I hope this mess gets sorted out soon…"

By Riella's calculations, they were in the air for roughly an hour before the helicopter began to descend. Harris reentered the passenger space the moment they landed, gun leveled at Riella again. She sighed and shook her head at him. Really now? You never learn. She ignored him, walking out of the helicopter without looking at the gun and promptly taking in the area around her. Hoover Dam. Plenty of agents on-site. Very few civilians. That is unusual but fortunate. Her comm line snapped back online with a crackle, drawing her attention to the second helicopter on the far side of the landing platform, and the figure being unloaded. Even without the static on the comm line and the signal, she recognized the yellow plating and faint metallic squeaking immediately.

::Bumblebee, come in. Bumblebee!::

::…How was your trip?:: Bumblebee's tone was completely at odds with his weak appearance. If it weren't for the fact that she could see him, Riella would have assumed he was smirking.

::What – oh, for Primus's sake, Bee. Are you playing up your injuries?::

::You did say to cooperate as far as possible,:: Bumblebee pointed out. ::And from what I can tell, they don't want information.::

::Oh, Bee. That's not what I meant.:: Riella's spark pulsed with a quick flash of anger at the humans' senseless cruelty. ::But it may have kept them from doing worse. We will be leaving shortly. I promise.::