Disclaimer: "I do not own any part of the transformers franchise, or any of their characters. I own only Harper, and any original content that I make her do or say. Everything else is property of the amazing men and women who brought this story to life on the big screen. Thank you."

Chapter 3

At the used car lot, Sam gives Harper an appreciative glance for her warning the days before they'd gotten here. Ron had indeed tried to play a joke on his son by taking him past a brand new Porsche, before then taking them to the used car lot.

As her brother and dad walk with Bobby Bolivia to look at some cars, Harper steps towards the motorcycles to see which one might suit her. She needed one that had enough space on the back so she could strap a cake container to it. Tight enough that it wouldn't shake too much, or risk falling off. Or, if the bike was just built well enough that she could add her own saddlebags; that would work as well.

Obviously, a car would probably be better suited for such deliveries. But Harper liked bikes. And as long as she didn't take sharp turns while on deliveries, everything turned out fine. And in the long run, as long as she didn't get a sports bike, motorcycles ended up being cheaper. Lower gas mileage, and lower initial cost. So yeah, she was going with a bike.

And the green one that caught her eye… it's perfect. It was long enough to have space for her things, but still looked slender and sleek at the same time. There was also a silver stripe down both sides that added a little extra flare, and the handle bars reached back far enough that she wouldn't have to lean forward too much to reach them.

Harper had an odd body; that was simply a fact to her. She had slightly longer legs than what she'd consider average, but she had a shorter torso than normal. Put that with her paler skin and red curly hair, and she considered it to be impressive that she'd managed to have three boyfriends at all, in the span of her lifetime.

That probably had to do with the fact that her breasts were larger than what was considered average. Sometimes, some men could be so easily figured out. But, anyways…

The bike was good for her, and she liked it. But the stripe down the side, which added flare, was going to mean it added to the price of what it cost. Harper only hopes it's not much.

As Sam and Ron continue looking around, Harper gives out a whistle. Bobby hurries over, and she asks, "How much for this?" "That'll be… thirty-five hundred." Harper gives him a look, "It's rusty and faded, and the silver isn't even all that silver anymore. It's worth two thousand, maybe twenty-five hundred at most." "Sorry. Uniqueness like that can't be bought. Thirty-five hundred. Take it or leave it."

Harper was about to pay him that, honestly. She had four-thousand set aside for buying the bike, so that was doable with breaking her bank. But before she could say that, Sam called out, "Hey, how much for this car?"

The yellow car with racing stripes was rusty and faded too, but it had character, same as the bike she wanted. Which meant that Bobby was going to try and sell it for more than it was worth.

As he declares that the price is five-thousand and Ron declares he won't pay any more than four for it, Sam gets out of the car with a disappointed look on his face. Sighing herself, Harper turns back to the bike, looking at it one last time. Then she says, "You're beautiful, and I'd love to have you." Back to her brother, she says, "But this is his first car. And that's the only one here that doesn't look like a complete piece of junk. So… maybe if you're still here in a month, I'll get you then."

Sam can see her walking back over to them, one thousand dollars pulled out of her wallet for him to have. Coming up to her halfway, he says, "Harper, no. I can't let you do that." "Consider it an early birthday present, alright. I'm allowed to do that. I'm your older sister." "Yeah, who just suffered a tremendous loss." "Yeah… but I still have you."

She was smiling to let him know it was okay, and he was about to take it with the promise of getting dad to help pay for her bike that she wanted. That's when the car behind them set off a high pitched frequency, and the windows of every other vehicle in the place shattered. Literally, every single vehicle.

Except for the yellow Camaro. As Bobby scans the rest of his lot in horror and shock, he swiftly turns back to the Witwicky's and says, "Four… four thousand." And for the sake of not putting a complete jinx on his business, he looks to Harper and adds, "And… twenty-five hundred… for the bike."

Sam and Harper turn to each other for a moment, both trying to discern what the hell had just happened. Because obviously, this was weird. Like… it was actually really weird. But, they were both about to finally get a decent price on the vehicles they wanted. And one thing they both very much believed in, thanks to Epps, is that you do not shoot a gift horse in the mouth. You just take it. So finally, they both shrug, and then turn back to Bobby and say simultaneously, "Sold."

And as Harper drives home smoothly on her 'new' bike, she can't help a small grin. She was still incredibly sad and depressed. It had only been two days after all. But… this was a small victory. It was a little thing… but it still mattered.

She was going to have to look at the little things for a while, if she didn't want to keep returning her focus to the huge thing she just lost. Depressed was not a thing she believed in becoming. She was stronger than that.

And her army unit that she'd written to for years… they wouldn't want that from her. She would be tough for them. She would do this.

She has to.

Out in the desert, after three grueling days of traveling under the hot sun, Will and his unit finally stop for a breather. Mahfouz, a kid from the compound that they'd rescued along with them, knew the way out of the desert, and was taking them to his father's house. All they had to do was get there.

Spinning his cap around backwards and wiping some of the sweat from his face, Will turns to Epps as the man says, "I've never seen a weapons system like this. The thermal shows this weird aura around the exoskeleton… like it's cloaked by some kind of invisible force field."

As Will takes the scopes so he can see what Epps is talking about, Donnelly says, "That's impossible. There's no such thing as invisible force fields. Except in… like, comic books, and stuff. Right?" Epps shrugs, "Man, I don't know."

As Will covers his eye with one hand, trying to see the image more clearly, he tries to make out this thing that Epps is seeing. Because yes, it does look like some sort of force field. Which again, should be impossible. But also…

The thing looked like it had eyes. Eyes that were staring directly into the lens of this scope.

Fig, from on top of the tanker they'd found out here, says, "My mama, she had the gift, you know? She saw things. I got the gene too, and… that thing that attacked us? I got a feeling, it ain't over." Will looks up at him, briefly wondering if he's serious or not. But from the look on his face, their usually comedic friend was as serious as he'd ever been.

Donnelly however, skeptical as ever, says, "Well, why don't you use those magic voodoo powers, and get us the hell out of here? Huh?"

Will shakes his head, "We have Mahfouz for that. Who is doing great, by the way?" He gives the kid a smile, trying to keep him hopeful and encouraged. Then he moves to Epps, handing back the scope. Pointing at it, he asks, "You see what I see?" Epps already knows what he's talking about. Nodding, he says, "When I took that picture… I think it saw me. It looked right at me."

For a moment, everyone is silent. Then Will says, "Alright. First things first, we have to get this," he holds up the scope with the picture, "back to the Pentagon, right away. They gotta know what we're dealing with here." Epps nods, "I tried that. But my radio's fried. I got no communication with aerial."

Nodding, Will says, "Alright. Mahfouz, how far away are we from where you live?" The young boy points, "Not far. Just up that mountain." "And your dad. Does he have a phone?" "Yes." "Alright then. Let's hit it."

And as they begin heading in the direction Mahfouz pointed out, Epps glances at Will. "We never got a chance to talk after the yard got blown all to the hell. Did you talk to her?" "Yeah." "And?" Will sighs, "I didn't want to say any of it over a computer screen. Not when I thought we were gonna be home in a few days."

Epps sighs with him, and then says, "I just hope she's relying on the news, and not that hacker friend she said she had at one point." "Why?" "The news will say they don't know about survivors yet. But the hacker… well, he probably assumes there are none, based on reports he probably read coming from the camp. And if he told her that…"

Will shakes his head, "I can't even imagine. She'd be devastated." "I know." Silence for a moment, and then Will says, "Well… we just have to keep trying to keep our promise." "Which is what?" "That we're gonna do everything we can to get back home to her." "Right. But first, we get this information to the Pentagon." "Of course."

But Epps can tell from the look on Will's face that, just for a moment, he'd temporarily forgotten about informing the Pentagon of anything. It was important, that was unquestionable. But Harper…

She was priceless. And they all knew it. And at this point, if it somehow became possible for them to decide where to go next after this, no one was even going to argue if Will determined they were going to see her first. Not in the slightest.

But first things first. They had to make it out of this desert alive. Or all the rest of their planning was null and void anyway.