I kept the Quill at the bottom of my backpack while Bee and I waited for Prime and the others to retrieve the book. I sat in the back seat, eating a burger in a parking space of a motel.

"How much longer till they get back, do you think?" I asked Bee who gave me an 'I don't know' sound. I sighed and took out my camera and started watching more of the unmarked video until my cell phone vibrated. "Yeah?" I said into the phone.

It was Alisha calling from a payphone. "Can you come get me?"

"Where are you, Allie?" I wiped my mouth with my napkin. She was one of those runaway foster children but I always took her back to her foster parents. One would think with that kind of record that I was a responsible adult…if you take out the lying to the judge part.

Once I was given the cross streets I told Bee to drive me. She sat waiting near a payphone in front of a gas station. She wouldn't look at me when she got in. "What were you thinking?" I scolded as soon as she buckled in.

"I couldn't stay in that stupid hotel anymore," she muttered. Her blond hair was matted with dreads.

I combed my hands through it. "Don't you have a brush?"

Alisha shook her head.

I groaned. "Allie…"

"Please! Can't you take me with you!" She gripped my shirt.

"I can't," I pat her head and wiped the tears from her eyes. Tears were forming in mine and she was lost in a nasty blur. "Allie-bear, I can't take you with me."

"Why not?" She pushed me away and looked out the window.

"Because, if you stay with me you'll be in danger and not only that I will be a fugitive. Its bad enough I lied to a judge."

"But…"

Bee interrupted, "She's in a lot of trouble. She's just trying to protect you."

Alisha's green eyes widened and she looked at me. I smiled and whispered, "Well say something to him." But she couldn't. She just stared at the radio.

"Don't tell me you're a mute too!" Despite the tone it was obvious Bee was trying to light up the mood.

"Wow! Is that…?"

"Bee this is my sister, Alisha. She's the one who was supposed to protect the book. Alisha this car is Bumblebee. I kind of got him for free. I guess he was causing trouble."

Alisha laughed. We stopped at a police station. We got out and I took her up to a cop who was just getting back and explained the situation. He was more than willing to take the extra few minutes to take her back. I ran back to Bee and got in before I could start crying. As we drove away I finally broke down in a mass of sobs.

"It's always hard leaving a brother-sister like that." The correction made me chuckle.

"You don't know the half of it, Bee." I sniffed and wiped my eyes. We drove back to the motel parking lot and waited for Prime to come back. He didn't bring the book with him.

"What's the problem?" I asked as they drove up. People gave me weird looks for talking to a semi but they were even more freaked when they heard it talk back. Some even ran inside possibly to call the government.

"We cannot locate them." He explained. "We must warn your government that Megatron is back."

"The government?" The wind picked up bringing with it the smell of petrichor. It was going to rain soon. "Are you sure they'll be of much help?"

"They may not be of any help to you but they could help us track down Galvatron and the book."

I bit my lip and nodded. "It'll take a while to get there."

"Don't worry about that. If anything happens we'll just do what we always do! Shoot 'em till they're dead!" Crosshairs sounded almost cocky and very arrogant.

A laugh wiggled its way out from my lungs.

"What's so funny?" Bee asked.

"Just…this whole thing is fantastical! I never thought that, in all my luck, I'd meet transformers. I…I just feel like I'm dreaming."

Soon we headed out for Washington D.C. I stared at the Quill and at the letters. The letters suddenly seemed to transform in front of me to spell out my name. I blinked and looked closer.

"El?" Bee's voice sounded concerned.

"I'm fine, Bee," I shoved the Quill in my backpack. I could see myself in the rearview mirror. I looked almost exactly like my sister. We both had the same blond hair and that pale skin that never tanned but I had grandpa's stormy eyes and his inquisitive smile and his curiosity.

We wanted to stay low so we headed out in a caravan of vehicles. Sometimes we stopped so I could stretch out or switch cars so I could better fall asleep. We finally stopped in a desert only a few states over. Despite their vehicle form we were in the middle of Texas. How fast exactly were they going?

Bee sat down and I climbed him so that I sat on his shoulder. I stared at the Quill. "How did this end up here?" I finally asked Prime.

"When Cybertron was still a new planet there were only thirteen of us. They created artifacts and relics not unlike the one you hold in your palm. They soon realized their power was too great and sent them to worlds that were still new. These just landed here."

I stared at him. "I see."

"How did you come across it?" He acted like the question had been itching at him the entire time.

"My grandfather found it in the Congo. He knew it didn't belong to the tribes around it. He found the book close by it and figured out what it was for. He figured out your language and read the book, the history and the prophecies. He realized there would be evil…well aliens coming after it and made us swear to never use it." I sighed and put the Quill back in the bottom of the bag. "He was afraid we would use it too often and the power would eventually corrupt us."

The desert air in Texas was different than in Arizona. The air was cooler here, and the mountains seemed flat compared to the peaks of the White Tanks. There were also many more stars to look at.

I took out the camera after a long while of watching the night sky and I watched my grandfather instead. The camera was pointed at many symbols in the book. "It looks as if this Solus Prime created the book…I wonder who she is. She dies later on by an ally. Sad, really." I smiled and laughed, as the next scene was a younger version of myself running in, squealing. Alisha was only a baby then.

"Oh! Ellie! I forgot you were coming today. Now, say good night to your future self." Grandpa picked me up despite the pain and sickness.

"Good night me!"

Grandpa laughed and the tape was finished.

I don't remember falling asleep I only remember waking up just as we came into a forest. We were already in another state.

Deep in the forest everyone transformed again and Bee put me on his shoulder while we gathered around in a circle.

"The Hound and I will go ahead to the military base. You three stay here."

Bee made a disapproving sound. "Why do you always have all the fun?" He folded his arms and shook his head.

"If we're being followed you can warn us before they get to their base."

"Base? Do you mean the Pentagon?" When he nodded I continued, "I was under the impression we were going to Washington D.C."

"That is not who we want to talk to."

I couldn't help but laugh. "No, of course not. All the President does is sit around on his desk all day until another alien attack." This made Crosshairs laugh. Prime shook his head at the childishness.

"What about the Quill?" I asked him.

"Galvatron does not know you have it. It will be safer with you here than with me."

I nodded. "Yeah got it."

The three of us watched Hound and Prime take off. We waited for some sign for either them or Galvatron. Finally, Crosshairs spoke, "Didn't Starscream die?"

Bee nodded.

"Then why is he back?"

It sounded like a conversation created out of boredom. "Maybe he created a new one. It's the only explanation." I explained.

"But how is that possible?"

I shrugged. "Don't know. You tell me."

We sat in silence again. I kicked my legs and held on tightly every time Bee moved. Soon minutes turned into an hour, which turned into two.

"Where are they?" I complained.

"They'll be back soon, maybe."

"Thanks, Crosshairs, that makes me feel so much better." I rubbed my head. A soft sound, like a muffled shot, pierced the air. The next thing I knew I was being flung into the air and landed on my stomach. I rolled and groaned. Bee's back was facing in the direction of the shot and he made sure I was okay.

"I'm fine, Bee."

Crosshairs was on alert with his guns drawn. My heart pounded in my ears and in my throat. Starscream came into view and I hid behind a tree. Bee stood and got ready for a fight.

"What happened here?" The transformer mocked. "Finally ditched Prime?"

"I'd watch it if I were you." Crosshairs pointed the gun in his face.

Without warning Galvatron came from the trees and tackled Bee. They rolled toward me and I ran down the short steep hill until we came to a river. I quickly jumped out of the way and looked around me. At the top of the hill Starscream and Crosshairs battled it out and with me was Bee and Galvatron. Where was the book? It couldn't be far. I ran back up the hill, carefully maneuvering myself around large feet and the gunfire. I went where Galvatron had jumped out.

I screamed when Crosshairs was flung at me. His body just barely missed. He looked beat up but he still sat up, breathing heavily. "What are you still doing here?" He whispered as Starscream approached.

"The book! They don't have it!"

"Of course we didn't bring the book with us!" Starscream laughed. "Do you take us for fools?"

"I really don't think you want me answering that…" I muttered under my breath. With each step he took I took several steps backward until I tripped over a fallen tree and flipped onto my back. There, behind the fallen tree, was the book. I scrambled to get up and open the cover.

Crosshairs shot at his enemy when he was picked up.

The book's mysterious letters turned into English alphabets. It was beautiful and amazing and almost fantastical. I skimmed through the contents. Everything here was written from the time Prime came to Earth. Some details were just downright wrong but for the most part it paralleled their lives. I flipped through the pages until I came across a blank page.

Bee was flung up the hill and into Crosshairs.

With shaking hands I grabbed the Quill from the bottom of my backpack and started to write. It looked like I was writing English but as soon as I took my hand away the letters seemed to change. It wasn't English. What was I writing? Still, I knew exactly what I wrote.

Prime shoots at Galvatron while his guard is down.

"The human has the Quill!" Galvatron yelled at his subordinate.

"Run!" But I didn't need to be told to run. I was already running away from the book with the Quill still in my hand.

"Duck!" It was Prime's voice. I jumped at the ground and that soft muffled sound came again and the shot whizzed just inches from my head. Galvatron flew backward. I didn't move when Prime ran after him and I still didn't move when the Hound followed. I couldn't bring myself to run.

When I finally did move Galvatron had fled and left the empty body of his subordinate behind. Bee and Crosshairs were being tended to, their wounds could have been much worse.

The Hound was beating himself up about not getting the book and letting it out of his sight. Crosshairs rubbed his temples. "Shut up! You're giving me a headache!"

Bee turned to me and made a sighing sound.

"Yeah I know," I pat his foot. "But I'm okay."

"That is not why Bee is sighing," Prime corrected. "You used the book and Quill…didn't you?"

I looked away from him and nodded. "Yeah. I was scared. I had to. Bee and Crosshairs…I was scared that they would die."

"Power is tempting in situations that are dire." He sounded wise beyond his years. His huge finger fit under my chin and he raised my head so I was forced to look at him. "But you should never give in to the temptation of saving lives. Death does not like to be cheated and you are no god." Without waiting for an answer he added, "Now that they know who has the Quill that is what they will be after next."

"Then shouldn't we hide the Quill?" Crosshairs asked.

"Yes. We will hide it."

I looked down at the pen. It looked like any other human black pen. "Prime, shouldn't you…destroy it? If you can't use one without the other can't we just destroy the Quill?"

Every eye was on Prime now. He shook his head. "They should go to their rightful place."

"And where is that?"

Prime didn't answer. I hated questions that were left unanswered. I screamed, "I am just as apart of this mission as you four are, Optimus Prime! You can either trust me or I am taking this damnable pen and I will destroy it!"

Everyone was frozen with shock. Had nobody talked to Prime like this? Prime turned to me and nodded. "It needs to go back to the Hall of Records and buried there so nobody can ever use it again."