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I had spent the past five minutes trying to find clothing. Some of the other customers were giving me strange looks. I tried not to let it bother me. But seeing a woman with two small children, and her shirt's covered in blood, it would be hard not to look.

Picking through some t-shirts, I knew I didn't have any money to buy the clothes. But I remembered the time I had to steal necessities before we went to Mexico. I'd have to figure out how I'd get clothing out of here unnoticed.

I pursed my lips. Carefully, I took the makeshift sling off, gritting my teeth against the burning sensation that shot through my shoulder. I slowly wrapped it around my waist. Grabbing a handful of t-shirts and jeans that mildly caught my attention, and a few clothes I found that would hopefully fit Saoirse and Eden, I walked up to the cashier.

"Would it be OK if I tried some of these on?" I asked sweetly. Optimus's words had finally hit me after Emilia's betrayal. I didn't trust anyone. I kept telling myself that there was still goodness in people; but it finally sunk in that people were lying pieces of trash.

The young man's eyes darted to my bloodied shoulder. He looked pale.

"Son?" I gave my best concerned face. "I'd like to try some of these shirts on. Is that OK?"

"U-Um, you're covered in, um..." He pointed at my shoulder with a shaky hand.

I had done a good job at hiding the pain so far. When I looked at my shoulder, I just smiled.

"Oh that?" I rolled my eyes playfully. "Don't worry about that. The bleeding's stopped. There was some medication applied to it, too, so there's no infection."

The young man's grayish-blue eyes widened, his lips pursing into a thin line.

"So, can you point me in the general direction to the fitting rooms or a bathroom?" I asked, my patience slowly slipping. "I'm on a tight schedule."

"Just take it," he stammered.

"I'm sorry?" I feigned shock.

"Take it, all of it!" He looked as if he were about to pass out. "Just go!"

"Don't you want me to pay for this?"

"No!" he exclaimed. "Just leave, already."

Hiding my smirk, I thanked him.

After changing clothes, I was leaning against the side of a building, my shoulder burning and stinging.

I couldn't really observe how the wounds were; I couldn't make myself look.

I can't go to a hospital, I thought. They'd have Cemetery Wind on our ass in no time.

Looking down at Saoirse and Eden, they looked lost.

"What's the matter?" I asked.

"We miss Daddy," Saoirse said shakily.

"Daddy..." Eden whimpered.

Looking down at them sadly, I tried to figure out how to comfort them. But nothing came to mind. It didn't matter what I tell them, they'll always want Optimus. They want to know why he's not waking up, why I had to hide him. Why, why, why.

A lot of their wants, I didn't know how to give. Optimus was unconscious, the other Autobots were somewhere else. There was no way I could contact them without Optimus.

Saoirse and Eden had endured all kinds of hell because of what Optimus is, because of the "side" I chose.

Attinger probably had his men searching every crack and hole to figure out where we all hid ourselves.

"I'm sorry," I said softly, "but Daddy's hurt. Mama's friend, Ratchet, isn't here to fix him. But I'll find someone here who can."

"Daddy says not to trust anyone," Saoirse exclaimed.

"I never said I was going to trust them." I pinched the bridge of my nose. "Listen, I'm doing the best I can for you girls. I'm trying to find a way to help your father and keep us out of danger. I don't know a single person in this town; I'm scared; I'm in pain; I just want this all to be over..." I cut myself off before my rambling could continue. Honestly, I didn't want them to think I couldn't function properly without Optimus to support me. It was clichéd. I was doing just fine, so far. I was going to stay strong.

Motioning them to follow me, without another word, we walked down the sidewalk, pretending we knew what we were doing, where we were going.

I managed to find a grocery store, a small one, but it would have to do. I asked one of the employees where the bathroom was located, and immediately went in the direction she told me.

Since the bathrooms were at the other side of the store, I was able to take some small things and hide them in the pockets of my sweat jacket.

When I made it to the bathroom, I oozed at myself in the mirror. The brown dye I'd put in my hair pretty much faded; my ashy blonde hair sticking out. My skin was deathly pale, purple bruises outlined my eyes. Lack of sleep. My hair was a little stringy.

Gently pulling the shoulder part of my shirt down, I saw two rounded wounds in my shoulder. The skin around it was stained red and puffy. There was no bleeding, it was crusted over with dried blood and maybe even some dirt. I swallowed thickly. I'd have to take some medication on my way out.

The girls and I left the store with some bandages, various types of medication, toothbrushes, hair brushes, hair dye, sunglasses, some food, toothpaste, and personal necessities.

I didn't want to admit that I was getting better at the whole stealing thing. Normally, I'd feel terrified doing something like that; it was illegal. But that didn't matter anymore.

The girls were wearing some of the new clothes I'd gotten them, having them change in the bathroom of the grocery store.

We kept a steady pace walking around the Texan town. I observed every person we walked past. I looked at every store, every vehicle, every road. I kept a close eye on everything. As we were about to cross the street, a car with a surfboard on top sped by, the music blaring. It parked near the old theater. I noticed a man standing in front of an old pick-up truck, all kinds of junk in the back. He was standing across the street from the theater.

Quickly taking the girls across the street, I noticed the driver of the surfboard car get out. He had wild looking hair, but I didn't pay much attention to him. The two men spoke for a little bit.

"Excuse me!" I called. They looked at me. "Are you a mechanic?" I looked at the other man warily. My shoulder throbbed.

"Yeah," he said. "What's the problem?"

"My truck broke down here," I lied, "and we're kinda stuck here. Do you think you could fix it?"

"Sure thing." He gave me a lopsided smile. "I'm Cade Yeager."

"Ray," I said, resurfacing an old nickname. "Ray McIlvane." I tried not to cringe at using my old last name. I stuck my hand out, giving Cade a smile, as well. He shook my hand.

QUICKY A/N:

DESIRÉE HAS MET CADE YEAGER! MAYBE HE CAN HELP REPAIR OPTIMUS AND HELP DESIRÉE.

ANYWHO, IF I OWNED THE TRANSFORMERS MOVIEVERSE, I'D BE THRILLED, BUT I DON'T OWN THE TRANSFORMERS MOVIEVERSE; NOR DO I OWN THE FOUR OC'S. I ONLY OWN MY CHARACTERS AND MY FILLERS.

SORRY IT TOOK SO LONG TO UPLOAD THIS. BUT HERE IT IS, READERS! I HOPE YOU ENJOY IT.

I HOPE YOU GUYS HAVE THE GREATEST NEW YEAR EVER.

THANK YOU, ONE AND ALL.

READ, REVIEW, ENJOY!

YOURS TRULY,

~SMITHY