A/N boom! yeah lets kick it up a notch :p

still going okay?

Darkness rising part 4

As they started firing I grabbed Raf and Jack, I had Raf under my arm and I had Jack by the arm as I head for cover I was pulling Jack so hard that he was raising a inch off the ground. I got them behind a rock big enough to shield us for a short while, and then Bulkhead pulled up in his vehicle mode.

"Get in now!" he ordered.

We dived into the front; I was in the driver's seat with Raf in my lap and Jack besides me, Bulkhead sped off avoiding gunfire.

"Thanks Bulkhead." Jack said relieved.

"Yeah thanks!" added Raf.

"Wh-what are you doing here?" Bulkhead said in disbelief.

"Miko was somehow able to follow you, I came out here to bring her back." i said, though the idea itself sounded so stupid out loud.

"ha-have you seen her?" Jack asked in a worried tone.

"What she look like?" Miko said casually as she popped up from the backseats.

Bulkhead then drove us behind a huge rock for shelter, "everyone out" he ordered.

Jack got out, followed by me, then I helped Raf out.

"And this time, please wait here!" he said as he drove off towards the decepticon vessel.

after i watched him for so long and we had got behind cover i looked over Jack, Raf and... "Miko's still in the backseat!"

"H-How do we tell Bulkhead?" Raf asked in an almost squeak.

I then peeked behind the rock; Bulkhead was looking our way so I motioned to him that someone was missing!

I read his words as "where's Miko?" then he stood still for a while, when i squinted my eyes he was looking down then his chest plates open...he found her, her distinctive streak of pink hair was what made her stand out the most.

Then a battle ensured and we couldn't see what was happening, I was so scared for them right now but I won't show that, not now...not to Jack and Raf. i hate this, just the position we're in, too close to enemy fire, looking like stupid kids playing chicken.

Then Raf snapped "Did you see all those Decepticons? There totally outnumbered! Miko and bulkhead could be..."

"We don't think like that Raf" i muttered, as i whipped my head around and forced a grin, "Bulkheads been through worse, he'll look after Miko and take care of those decepticons without breaking a sweat... if he was able to sweat." I said reassuringly, as i looked towards the nemesis again, still do we just stay here? i mean, what if Bulkhead is overwhelmed by there numbers...just like Cliffjumper...urgh! stop thinking about past events, crying and regret never solved anything so just get over it...and that thought alone had distracted me from the lumbering forms of two Decepticons that lingered behind us!

One of them grabbed me and the other grabbed Jack and Raf, I should've been more alert! They could've killed us there and then whats wrong with me?!

I wasn't afraid of the Decepticons...well, of course i was you'd just be plain crazy not to be, but it wasn't fear in that perspective, its more like when I'm alone and in a vulnerable state that i become fearful...because of the fact that I'm alone...another part of that fear is when friends and family are threatened with death by Decepticons, or anything that may cause distress, but in this situation i wouldn't give them the pleasure of fear.

We were eventually on the Nemesis I heard one of them as did Raf and Jack say something about taking us to the brig and how Starscream was keeping another human there, he must mean Fowler and that means they must be planning on interrogating us. I angrily growled at the decepticons that were keeping us captive even if I can't do anything practical at the moment I can still stand my ground, now that I know they would be keeping us alive.

But then just at that moment I heard the distance sounds of an engine running, and then the two Decepticons got knocked out. Arcee caught the boys in mid air; as I landed on my feet during a half pipe flip, brushing myself down Bumblebee transformed and walked up to us.

"Bumblebee!" Raf exclaimed.

"We appreciate you clearing the front door for us, but storming the decepticon warship was not on the activities list." Arcee said.

"Tell me about it" Jack replied.

then after that brief reunion Arcee swiftly scouted ahead of us, she then put her back to the wall armed and ready as she turned the next corner pointing her weapon "friendly...!"

"Hello!" came the voice of Bulkhead.

Arcee sighed in relief "brought the humans huh?" she said.

"You try getting them to stay behind!" he said trying to defend his case.

"We need to find Fowler and get these kids outta here" Arcee stated.

Then me, Jack and Raf said in unison "he's in the brig."

Then more Decepticons came our way as they had become fully alert to our presence, the Autobots formed around us to protect us as they battled them, all we could do was dodge the pieces of terminated decepticons that were falling on us, as well as witnessing the guys get some serious bruising in the process, there was a sense of how frighteningly serious this was to the others as we struggled on survival alone, at one point it had us huddling together.

And as the battle ended and the smoke cleared, we came out of our huddled position and continued our search for Fowler, no word, no recollection, just carrying on, pushing on, this was the way of life. we finally came to the closest room with few decepticons occupying it, the Autobots made short work of them.

Then Arcee approached us, "wait in here" she said.

"Why can't we take them with us?" Bumblebee beeped.

"there slowing us down and are easy targets, they'll be alright in here as long as they stay put." Arcee said, slowing them down, easy targets, i couldn't help but cringe at her words as they left and the door shut behind.

"How is it that we'll be fine anywhere on the Nemesis?" i said in the direction of the door.

"That, was intense!" Miko then declared.

"Was!" Raf said.

"It's your fault that we're stuck in this intensity, what were you thinking Miko?" Jack demanded.

"Did I ask you to follow me?" Miko retaliated.

"You wanted us to be a band; doesn't that usually mean playing together?" Jack said also retaliating.

"Well maybe i decided to go solo!" Miko added.

"Wonder when Ratchet and Dad will come back from there own outing? its been a while and i don't re-call any of the others mentioning any message from either of them." I thought still looking at the door.

"Well maybe I have some regard for your safety!" Jack said.

"Hmm, and my cellphones scrambled."

"Oh I'm sorry is your name Optimus! You can leave my protection to Bulkhead thank you very much..." Miko said raising her voice.

"Look! Stop it! Both of you!" Raf suddenly yelled as i jumped slightly. He then went to sit down to try and get away from the arguing. He crouched down and buried his head into his arms.

We all looked to one another as we then ran over to Raf to comfort him. "Oh, hey, hey Raf. It's okay." Jack said sitting down next to him.

"Yeah we're gonna be fine" Miko added also sitting beside him.

"o-our bots will come back for us" Jack said slightly hesitant.

"Yeah there gonna take us home" Miko said reassuringly rubbing Rafs back.

"How do you know?" Raf said with no sound of hope in his voice.

"Because they have for me." I then said "each and every time I have been in danger they've come for me." I then put an arm around his shoulder as i sat myself between him and Miko. "What's done is done, no point in arguing about it, we need to focus on whats happening now." i said quietly.

"Right." Jack breathed out, as he then took in his surroundings his gaze then looked up, "Hey Raf what do you make of that?" he said, looking at the screen that was in front of us. Raf then jumped down eagerly from the ledge we were sitting on, and took a good look at the screen.

"It's important, real important. We gotta get this to Optimus" He then said.

"How do you know it isn't just a recipe for space nachos" Miko jested.

"I know math when I see it, and that is one serious equation" Raf said.

"You're telling me..." I said, though i have no clue of there math, i know there written language "you see that text at the top? It basically says Space ...bridge..and then there's a number after bridge i think...more or less I'm a little rusty" I explained.

"You can read it?" Miko asked.

"Yes" I said bluntly.

"Dude, you need to make longer sentences." Miko complained.

"Well can we...download it" Jack said picking his words carefully.

"I got a flash drive" Raf said reaching into his backpack. "But I don't see anywhere to plug it in, this tech is way alien."

"there is a Cybertronian equivalent but its like the size of your backpack, so i don't exactly carry one around with me." i said.

Jack and Raf then gasped as i whipped my form around to behind me. "whose idea was it to leave us in here?" I thought as i beheld a Vehicon in the room, but he hadn't spotted us, yet. I motioned them to hide as I grabbed Miko's arm and Jack grabbed Rafs encouraging him to follow before letting go. We put our backs to the wall, my heart raced when I saw Raf run back for his backpack, and then my heart went to my throat when I saw that the decepticon was aiming at Raf.

I ran for him, as the decepticon starting shooting I pushed him out the way. "Miko! Take a picture!" I told her.

"Great idea!" she said. "hey you!" she said to the decepticon as his gaze turned to her, then she...took a picture of him.

I face palmed.

"Not of that! Of that!" Jack corrected pointing at the screen.

"Oh" Miko said then proceeding to take a picture of the said screen. Then we got out of there, luckily because of our size we were harder to aim at. The term 'easy targets' doesn't win today. As the Decepticon pursued us Bulkhead came driving at full speed towards us he transformed and leapt over us then ran towards the Decepticon. He started firing at him before tackling him to the ground; after beating the con down he then transformed and came back.

Then Bumblebee and Arcee pulled up, Raf and Miko got into Bumblebee as me and Jack hopped onto Arcee.

"I told you to stay put!" Arcee yelled.

"then its a good thing we didn't listen to you." i argued.

When we got ourselves back to base, Jack and i got agent Fowler onto an elevated hospital bed, it looked like Dad and Ratchet had a bad day too, Dad was fixing up Ratchets arm in a sling. as soon as i put a cover over Fowler i approached them, "you fixed up Ratchet...have you got anything that needs tending to?" i asked.

"No, my injuries are, minor they will heal." he said.

Then Miko asked what I was thinking "what happened to you guys anyway?" she said in a very concerned way.

"We engaged an army of undead Cybertronian warriors." Ratchet explained.

To me it didn't even sound possible but apparently it was... zombie robots, obviously it sounded like a fantasy to Miko too.

"Zombies? You fought zombies and I missed it!" moaned Miko or maybe she doesn't know, I can't read Miko very well. I looked over Dad and Ratchet they looked like they were brought to their knees in that battle, desperate. I don't even want to think about it... but Miko just doesn't understand that either that or she has very high expectations.

"Bulkhead you exercised extremely poor judgement in allowing the humans to accompany you." Dad scolded.

Bulkhead stood up I then thought he would tell him we went on our own accord but he didn't. "It won't happen again Optimus, i-i promise."

I felt guilty as hell, granted i was very relieved but for Bulkhead to take a bullet...

"But it wasn't Bulkheads fault." Miko started.

"Miko! Please!" begged Bulkhead.

"And check it out re-con" she said as she got out her cell phone and showed a picture to Dad, he in turn lent in slightly to have a look for himself.

"Hmm, Ratchet have a look, it could be of importance to Megatron." Dad said... wait...Megatron!

"Whoa Megatrons back, that's really bad news right?" Jack asked.

Then Ratchet had a look at Miko's phone but looked confused," I...don't understand." He stated.

Then Miko had a look, "oops! That's the con who tried to blow Raf away" she said as I cringed at the words 'Raf' and 'blow away'. "At least that's what he looked like before Bulkhead rearranged his grill!" she said as she punched the air.

"Miko! Raf was almost killed! This isn't a game when are you going to get that through your thick skull!" yelled Jack.

"Erm we were all almost killed jack, you, me, Ellen, Raf, even them!" Miko argued.

"Well if this was just an average day with the Autobots, then I don't want to be a part of it...not anymore." Jack then said. I understand how he feels and if he wants to go home that's fine let him, but I can't say I wouldn't be sad to see him go.

"Jack, putting you in harm's way was never our intent...however it is no longer the safety of you three that is at risk, but the safety of all human kind...we will respect your decision if you wish to leave." Dad told Jack.

Then Ratchet opened the groundbridge a split second after Dad finished his sentence, "no point in long goodbye's here's the door." He said rather flatly.

That was a nice way to show you're not wanted here.

Jack then turned round to face Raf, "come on Raf." He said.

Raf then looked at a saddened Bumblebee, "I'll be okay Jack, see ya at school." Raf said.

"Sure thing" Jack replied.

"Jack." I called. He turned to face me his face remained solemn, "I...I...I can't believe your leaving me with these two!" I jested then I spoke more seriously, "see you at school..." i said reaching out for his shoulder and patting down on it lightly.

"Sure." He replied forcing a small smile, as he walked down the stairs Arcee approached him, he looked up at her "I know, you don't exist." He said as he continued his way through the ground bridge.

"Don't make me hunt you down." She replied sadly, though i tilted my head in confusion to the comment but never mind.

Then Jack disappeared through that portal, the departure was as brief as everything else here, hello's, goodbyes, social interaction, it is very rare where there is a day you can just sit down and chat the whole day...Jack definitely has his head on straight, this will definitely have an effect on his life, knowing what he knows, that the human race is being threatened by the Decepticons...

"Maybe you guys should think about heading home too... it is getting late." I said to Miko and Raf.

"Can't wait to get rid of me?" Miko teased nudging me in the side. "Bulkhead I need to stop somewhere before heading to my host home." Bulkhead sighed feeling like he was a taxi or something I bet.

Raf then nodded at me "see you at school." he said before he and Bumblebee headed out of the base as well.

I briefly waved before they each departed, then i turned to Dad "I'm gonna go for a drive." I said.

"I do not think it would be wise to go out this late." Dad said can't he just say yes without the need of a convincing argument?

"You know the Decepticons are rarely active at night, your just stalling." I pointed out.

"...you may go, but only for an hour...if you are not back by that amount of time, I will retrieve you myself." He told me.

"You sounded like a villain from a horror film when you said that last bit, I'm not sure if I want to come back now." I said briefly laughing.

"Ellen, I am serious." He firmly said.

"And so am I, I can look after myself, worry about someone who can't...see ya." I said as I headed for my bike, I jump on it horse style and sped off outta there. "The tension in there was thick." I said out loud. I collected my thoughts as i drove down the road, "okay maybe I can't fully look after myself especially against the likes of Megatron but when you have to hear the same thing every day it does get a little frustrating, plus the tension was so thick in there i was sweating."

I drove into town, Jack had told me whereabouts he lives but trying to find it in the dark was a challenge, I then saw what looked like Bulkhead driving back from where I'd come from. "Miko had the same idea huh?" I thought. At least I knew I was in the right direction. It was now very easy getting to Jacks as his house was the only one still with the lights on, he was fixing up his bike it seems. I pulled up on the curb, and made my way over.

"Hey" I said in a friendly manner.

"Come to lecture me like Miko?" he bluntly said.

"Um, no I actually came to see how you're doing since the 'goodbye' at base was so brief." I replied.

"Sorry...I shouldn't have jumped to conclusions." He said.

"It's cool, and understandable." I said then there was a long moment of silence.

"Today..." he started I listened intently. "...you weren't panicking at all." He finished.

"What are you talking about man, I was petrified" I laughed.

"No, you weren't. In those situations even those who would know what to do would still panic, you have been in these kind of situations before, haven't you?" he then asked.

"More times than I can count, but your wrong about something Jack, I was petrified... for you guys especially... I mean I have a fixed goal in my head when it comes to keeping those out of danger if it was me by myself I'd have no idea what to do, it's one of my biggest flaws." I said as i leaned against the garage wall. " you may think I'm responsible but I'm not I'm reckless, cocky, thrill seeking and I always manage to put myself in danger, in a way I can be like Miko at times.

"Still... and I know this will probably sound cheesy but I do admire your courage." He said as he finished up on his bike.

"And i admire yours, and your ability to adapt to given situations." i said flashing him a smile as he gave me an unconvincing one.

"Are you really not going to hanging out at base anymore?" I then asked him solemnly.

"i-i need to think about it" he said as he put his bike up against the wall.

"Well just take note that...i might miss you slightly." i said scratching my head.

"what are you talking about, we have class together." he said.

"yeah but its not the same, but, well, never mind, if you do change your mind i will work harder to ensure your safety when Arcee can't, but this is your choice and your choice alone, listen to yourself and what you want." i said.

"Thanks, hey would i be able to text you?" he said.

"you could probably text me yeah, but I'll have to ask Ratchet to make some alterations on Raf and Miko's phone if there parents try to contact them or something." i said.

"he's pretty handy." he said lightly.

"yeah he is..." i then sighed as there was nothing more to be said, "Okay, I'm...gonna head back I'll be seeing ya." I said making my way back to my bike i couldn't help but look back constantly, Jack waved me off before shutting his garage door, still troubled you can tell that.

"Oh well what happens, happens I can't force him to make his decisions...what time did I leave base?" I pulled out my phone to check the time it was about one minute past 1 hour since I left base but a minute none the less. "God dammit" I cursed under my breath.

A/N one more chapter and Darkness rising is over and the one shot episodes begin :)