"And you're sure nothing else is missing?" Fowler asked, panic buried under a flat authority he had groomed while mediating between the Autobots and the government.

"Positive," Jack said, leaning on the catwalk railing with the ground-bridge projector behind him. "Aside from every piece of glass on the base being shattered, nothing but the bunker was touched." Fowler sighed through a mounting headache, desperately craving a cup of coffee to keep awake.

"Then He knew what he was after," the Director said grimly.

"You sure it was Soundwave?"

"Who else could it be?" Fowler knew Mech was a possibility, but ever since their leader was crossed off by the Cons the whole organization had crumbled. They no longer had the coordination or the resources to pull of something like this. And there were no foot prints or tire tracks leading away from the bunker, so that could only mean one thing; A ground-bridge. He looked at Jack and asked, "Did you tell Rafael to start the program?"

"Yes," Agent Darby answered, knowing what His boss was thinking. "All satellites are scanning the planet for unregistered energon signatures. If he bridges anywhere on earth, we'll know about it."

"Director Fowler," Ratchet said calling the former Agent over to another part of the catwalk. After a quick nod to Jack, Fowler walked over to the Autobot as the young agent went to another part of the hangar. "Director," the medic said sternly, "I know what you plan to do, and I must protest." But Fowler didn't budge.

"You and Rafael are the only ones I trust to operate the ground-bridge, and Mr. Esquivel is the only person in a hundred miles who knows how to work the programs we have tracking Ole Faceless."

"But Jack."

"Is not the scared kid he was when you found him. He's older, faster, and a slag of a lot smarter than he was back then, not to mention he'll have a full squad of Uncles Sam's best operatives following him in."

"He's still not ready to lead a team against a decepticon, let alone Soundwave!" But Fowler just crossed his arms and glared up at the medic.

"Optimus thought he was ready." That caught Ratchet off guard, reminding him of the last Prime's unwavering confidence of the boy's potential. Ratchet knew he himself had complemented numerous times how much like Orion Pax Jack was. Now the boy was grown, and already more like Optimus in character than Ratchet had ever anticipated.

"Very well," He relented, "But if the boy runs into trouble we will contact Bulkhead and Miko."

"Agreed," Fowler compromised, just as Raf ran into the hangar, sweating and heaving for breath.

"I GOT A READING!" he shouted, stopping every other person in the massive room cold. "Massive, *pant* Energon spike," he said doubling over with his hands on his knees trying to catch his breath as Jack ran up beside the teen and helped him stay standing.

"Easy Raf, deep breaths," Jack said with a hand on the computer genius's back to help him breath. He glanced up as Fowler himself ran over to the former charges with one word on his lips.

"Where?"

"Honshu," Raf gasped, "north of Tokyo." The Director looked at Jack, his face stern and stone like, and the young Agent anticipated his next words.

"I'll get the others," he said, but Fowler stopped him.

"No time. I'll round up the strike team, you get down to storage and mount up. And Jack!" He called as the young man started to run off, and tossed him a small silver plate. Catching it, Jack saw it was a metal badge bearing an insignia that was somewhere between a simplified version of the Autobot symbol and Optimus Primes helmet and battle mask. "Wouldn't want leave Faceless confused about who he's up against now would we?"

The first thing Miko saw when she woke up, was a stream of water, like a miniature waterfall falling into a square stone pool. As she blinked away the sleep at the corners of her eyes and her vision focused, she saw the water was flowing from the open mouth of a carved stone dragon. Miko moved to sit up but stopped, feeling the blanket wrapped around her.

"What," She wondered out loud, standing as she pulled the fabric from her shoulders. An ache permeated her entire left side, only serving to remind Miko of last nights sleeping arrangements. She looked up, and judging by the sun's position it was at least eight or nine in the morning. Come to think of it, how did she even get here? She glanced around, noticing the row of wooden shinto temple buildings behind and gardens laid out around her and the fountain statue.

"How are you feeling?" Miko spun to face the voice, a reflex from her time with the Wreckers, only to find the smiling wrinkled face of an old woman in long blue traditional japanese robes looking at her from atop the shrine steps. She was small and aged, her skin denoting a pure Asian descent as did her facial features. Her gray hair was pulled back in a low bun, while her eyes shone with a wise twinkling gleam as she held herself up on a smooth bamboo cane.

"Uh, not bad," Miko half lied, looking at the fountain and statue that fed it. "I've had softer beds though."

"I should hope so," The woman laughed walking down the steps and hobbling over to Miko's side. She smiled when she noticed the young girls gaze upon the statue. "That is Ryujin, ruler of the Sea and Tides. It is said in legend," She said taking on a teacher like tone, "That his power comes from four jewels, and that he was the great grandfather of the first Emperor of Japan."

"Hm, yeah cool," Miko said dismissively, more focused on the issue at hand. "Uh listen Mrs..."

"Otohime," She said smiling in the way grandparents do that make children remember their manners. Miko gave a quick bow, one Otohime returned as well as her cane would allow.

"Miko Nakadi," She said.

"It is a pleasure to meet you Ms. Nakadi," The elderly woman said, still smiling.

"You too, now um, how exactly did I get here?," Miko asked looking around the small shrine. Otohime shrugged.

"The same as everyone I suspect. You walked." Miko stifled a groan, the old woman already reminding her of Ratchet. "You must have wandered into the shrine sometime before midnight last night," Otohime said walking around Miko to the other side of the fountain. "I found you this morning about," She paused for a moment, trying to remember, "Five or six o'clock. You must have been very tired after your swim."

"Swim?"

"You were soaking wet," she clarified, "I gave you a blanket to help you dry off. Seems to have worked." She said, making Miko examine her dry clothing for any proof of the womans story. Finding none, Miko began to suspect Otohime was more than a little off her rocker. She looked back to the woman, only to see she had moved to the opposite side of the fountain from her, quickly too considering her cane.

"It is said," She remarked examining the serpentine body of the dragon statue, "that Ryujin was a master of magic, and that he lived in a magnificent palace beneath the waves, one made of corals as white as snow and red as blood. He fathered the goddess that this shrine honors." The mention of parentage brought Miko's grief back in force, and it was everything she could do to keep from loosing herself again in front of a complete stranger.

"Mrs. Otohime," Miko as respectfully as she could through the tidal wave of emotions. "Thank you so much for your hospitality."

"Are you hungry?" She asked, as if not having heard her, "I just put on a pot of miso soup."

"No thank you. I really need to get back to the road. I sort of, well."

"Ah, I see," Otohime said hobbling up to the younger girl with a wistful look in her eyes. "Young people today are always going. Going nowhere too often if you ask me. But you my girl," she spoke as her tone took on a more mystical quality. "You are going somewhere. Somewhere very important."

"Uh, thanks," Miko said nervously, now certain the woman was soft in the head.

"The road is just down that path," Otohime said pointing across the shrine gardens with her cane. "It will take you where you must go."

"Sure, oh and thank you again," Miko said before bowing respectfully. "It was nice meeting you."

"And an Honor to meet you, Miko," Otohime said bowing herself. "Now you best get going. Wouldn't want to keep your friends waiting would you?" Miko nodded and began to walk toward the path, when Otohime called to her again. "Oh I forgot the most important part of the story! It is said that though Ryujin's natural form was a dragon, his preferred form was that of a man. Not unlike your friend." That stopped Miko dead in her tracks.

'Is she talking about?' She decided to ask the old woman what she meant, and turned around with the question on her lips, but when she did, the woman was gone. Taking only a moment to search for her with her eyes, Miko quickly turned back to the path, even as a pair of soft orange optics watched her from deep within the shrine.

She followed the path as it weaved through the trees on its way downhill, and found her mind wandering into doubt. What was going to happen to her family now? For as long as she could remember her Mom had been the glue that held them all together. Miko fought nearly constantly with her Dad, Her Father and Uncle never really liked each other, and it didn't take a genius to see her grandfather reserved a unique ire for her Dad.

'Oh God,' Miko thought, and inwardly kicked and cursed her selfishness, both in thought and action. Last night she had only thought of her Mom's death in terms of herself, and like a spoiled child she had run away from a family member who was in just as much pain as she was. Of Lord, and her Father! Miko knew how much her parents had loved each other, and without Mom she didn't even want to imagine what grief was doing to her Father.

The screeching of tires snapped her back to the moment, and Miko realized she could see a small parking lot at the end of the path. Running through the stone torii marking the end and start of the path, she barely glanced the planted and moss covered gateway. She was entirely focused on the massive green truck that was dominating the tiny disused parking lot, and the man climbing down from its driver-side and running toward her even as the familiar sound of a diesel engine roared up the nearby road.

"STREAKS!" Rodney cried as he and Miko ran into a relieved hug. "Oh thank God, I thought you'd fallen off a bridge somewhere. Thank God that gps was on de fritz!" Miko said nothing, now at the mercy of her emotions and cried into her Uncles shoulder. "Its all right Miko, its gonna be all right."

Bulkhead felt his spark break as tears flowed from Miko's eyes, but the last thing he wanted to do was put her on the spot by having to explain a giant transforming robot to her Uncle. But just as his resolve ceased to waver, something caught his optic. A quick adjustment of his door mirrors let him see the road behind him, and Bulkhead felt his energon run cold.

"MIKO LOOK OUT!" Miko felt her uncle jump.

"What the heck?!"

Rodney's question died when a black and purple semi truck rammed through the iron poles separating the parking lot from the road, and drove full speed straight at the humans. Miko barely had time to recognize the Decepticon symbol on the trucks grill when she felt herself shoved to the side.

"NO!" She screamed, her Uncle vanishing beneath the truck, only to reappear a split second later, lying with his back flat on the ground. He opened one eye and looked around.

"Heh, now dats a close shave," he said nervously, shaking like a leaf in-spite of his quip as Miko helped him up, even as they heard the truck drift through an about face. It stood there, engine revving and growling as it threatened to charge. Miko knew they wouldn't be able to dodge or duck this time, and the memory of last nights revelation sprung to mind when suddenly the truck squalled its tires and charged. But before Miko could act.

"RAAAAHHH!" Bulkhead body slammed the semi, ramming his shoulder into its side like a linebacker. The truck slid sideways for a moment then stopped, tires smoking as it fought to shove the wrecker off. Bulkhead shifted his left servo to his mace, and started pummeling the semi's hood and windshield. One of his hits must have connected, because the trucks tires stopped spinning. But then he heard plating and armor begin to shift. Bulkhead wasted no time. He grabbed the truck by the cab and front bumper, lifted it up and hurled it like a log end over end into the trees even as the truck shifted out of vehicle mode.

Bulkhead stood there, vents cycling furiously to cool his overheated systems, then cringed. He slowly turned around and looked back and down to where Miko's Uncle was staring up at him with an open mouth and wide eyes.

"Uhhh, Hi?" Bulkhead stumbled nervously. The autobots voice seemed to knock Rodney out of his stupor, and to his credit the man stumbled for only a moment before steadying himself.

"Miko," He started to say but the girl cut him off.

"Okay I know how this looks, but believe it or not I can explain everything!" Suddenly the sound of rending wood and fleeing wildlife filled the air, and Bulkhead turned to face the oncoming storm. But instead of bringing out his mace, Bulkhead transformed and opened both his front doors.

"Get in NOW!" He barked, console flashing.

"What?!" Miko shrieked, certain her partner could take the Con, but without warning Her uncle grabbed her hand and pulled her to the truck.

"Listen to the guy Miko!" he said shoving her bodily into the passenger seat, slamming the door shut and running around the car to the other side.

"What is wrong with you guys?!" Miko asked as she tried to open the door, but Bulkhead had already locked it, and did the same when Rodney threw himself inside, as the tree's and ground outside began to shake. Miko saw her Uncle look out the window, and for the first time in her life saw pure terror written over his face as he looked to Bulkheads console.

"What are you waiting for ya overgrown golf kart?! GO GO GO!" Both riders were thrown back in their seats as Bulkhead took off, swerving through the broken barriers and onto the main road, just as Motormaster forced his way through the tree's. He snarled when he saw the fleeing Autobot, and ran toward the road, transforming mid stride the moment his pedes hit tarmac.

Authors Note:

I am cruel aren't I? A little mystery and just a snippit of action before I leave you on a cliff hanger! I know its a bad habit but its one I'd like to think I've perfected. And I promise, the next chapter will be all action.

P.S. The badge Fowler gave jack is meant to be the G2 Autobot symbol.