228

I frowned slightly. Optimus had dropped by just a couple hours after he had left and explained the whole situation. He said that the others suspected Galvatron was somewhere in Tennessee - their best guest of his location would be Memphis, but they weren't certain.

Optimus had said that there were reports of a possible Decepticon causing destruction, but the way the "Decepticon" was described was a similar description to Galvatron's appearance.

The moment he left, leaving me feeling worried and slightly confused, I frowned deeply. He seemed almost apologetic during his explanation. Optimus said he'd go with the others, leaving Drift behind just in case something happened. While I was grateful of the idea of Optimus leaving one of his soldiers behind for protection, I wasn't very comfortable with Drift yet, despite the time he spent on earth. Crosshairs and Hound were the same - it didn't matter that we fought together against Cemetery Wind, I wasn't ready to fully trust them yet.

Optimus said that they'd leave early in the morning to inspect the possible Galvatron sighting.

A soft knock interrupted my thoughts.

"Who is it?" I called.

"Drift." His voice made me stiffen slightly. I wanted to be able to enjoy Drift's company, really, I did, but he was so...stoic. Occasionally he would show some sort of emotion, but I wasn't really sure what to expect from him. At least he wasn't like Hound or Crosshairs - if I had been trapped with either of them, I would have gone crazy.

When Drift's Holoform entered, he stood at the doorway, his eyes glancing around quickly before focusing on me.

"Is something wrong?" I placed my hands on my swelling stomach.

Drift shook his head. "I just came to make sure you were OK," he said; his accented voice sounded deeper when he used the Holoform. When Drift used his Holoform, he wasn't bad looking. The way Ratchet designed Drift's Holoform was an Asian looking human. And, honestly, the features Ratchet used for him weren't too bad.

Drift was tall and lean; he had dark, well kept hair; he looked like he could be in his twenties, but more likely his mid-thirties. Honestly, if Drift were human, he'd be one of those men most women would swoon over. Pretty much every Autobot, if they were human, would attract some attention from human women.

Giving him my best smile, I shook my head. "I'm fine, thanks though." Drift's eyes studied me carefully.

"I don't mean to cause any offense, but I don't entirely believe you." Drift's shoulders stiffened a little, looking as if he were expecting me to lash out at him or something.

While I tried to settle my suddenly out of control emotions (which had become even worse since I got pregnant), I didn't really find Drift's words offensive. He seemed genuinely worried.

"Optimus asked me to watch over you and his Sparklings during his absence," he quickly explained, before I could say anything. "Your safety is the one thing that is important to me."

"Drift, really, I'm fine." I put on my best face. It wasn't entirely a lie. I was feeling a little better. Ratchet said, during his last visit, that I was still running a dangerous fever, but it had gone down a little. I did spend a little bit of time vomiting, and Ratchet gave me some medication to help settle my stomach. Medication that, Ratchet swore, wouldn't cause any ill-doings onto the baby or myself.

"I know Optimus put you in charge of watching us," I said calmly, "and I'm not offended by what you said. You're just worrying. Ratchet did a check up on me not too long ago, Drift, and he said all I need to do is rest and I'll get better."

The Holoform's eyes watched me cautiously.

"Why don't you dismiss the Holoform," I suggested. "The others aren't leaving until early tomorrow morning. You can have some relaxation time until then."

Drift's shoulders were still stiff as he looked at me, looking unsure on whether or not he wanted to do such a thing. He gave a reluctant nod and dismissed the Holoform after a minute.

Drift POV

While he understood Optimus's worries over his Sparkmate's health and wellbeing, as well as the Sparkling's health, Drift didn't really understand it. Maybe it was because he hadn't Sparkbounded to any femmes before. He wasn't really one who took into romance - he spent most of his time bettering his skills...not to mention that, before he was an Autobot, he was a Decepticon. He was the enemy of his allies, centuries ago.

Once Drift switched sides, and reluctantly being accepted by the Autobots, Drift focused more on using his skills for good, helping the Autobots take down Decepticon threats, and proving his worth. He knew that when he first switched sides, the Autobots thought he was just lying - a Decepticon would never voluntarily switch sides. Decepticons were built to create chaos, destruction, and misery.

But he had fought very few times under Optimus Prime's command. He respected the Prime as a leader and understood that Optimus meant well, but having a human Sparkmate and half-blood Sparklings were something he couldn't comprehend.

Did he just not understand the Prime's feelings towards his family?

He wasn't sure how he could. During his little stay on earth, most of it was spent getting hunted down. Humans were the backstabbers, the liars and cheats and cold-blooded murderers. Drift didn't want to be wasting any time having...romantic feelings over one of their kind. Drift didn't view himself as being hostile to the humans. He just didn't really understand, or trust, them entirely yet.

Though, there was something Drift saw in Desirée that he didn't entirely expect. Loyalty. Sure, Cade, Tessa, and Shane had proved to be loyal to their cause, but Drift had been told many times of Desirée's sacrifices. Stories of how she could have packed up and left at any time, but she stayed.

"Desiree views us as her family," Sideswipe had said. "Her other family. She's got some spunk in her."

He didn't really understand what "spunk" meant, but it must have been good.

Even Ironhide, the usually gruff weapon specialist, had a few good words to put in about the human.

"She's a human to be trusted," he had explained. "But she should not be taken lightly. Desiree is more than just Optimus's Sparkmate; she is more than just a human. Let me just say, that if Jazz were still here, he'd be able to tell you a whole list on what he thinks of her."

Jazz. Optimus's first lieutenant. Jazz had perished at the hands of the humans when KSI was still operational. Since Joshua Joyce had seen the error of his ways and chose to alter his viewpoints of the Autobtos, KSI had gone out of business and Joshua was currently working on exposing KSI and Cemetery Wind to the people and to the government.

And once it was exposed, every little detail, then, and only then, would the Yeagers and everyone else move forward with their plans on putting the government on trial.

Drift felt himself feeling more conflicted, though. How would putting the entire government on trial help ease their situation? Certainly not all of the human government was aware of Cemetery Wind's affiliation with KSI...or that they lied to the human president of hunting down remaining Decepticons...and actually tried killing humans and killed some Autobots to make Transformers of their own...

The way Drift saw it, it didn't seem to matter to the others. The entire government was responsible. The government formed Cemetery Wind. The government had some, if not little, affiliation with KSI. There seemed to be enough evidence against the human government. And the humans under his protection, the ones who lived on the Yeager residence and beyond, seemed pleased with just that.

"You look like you're thinking too hard." Crosshairs' voice interrupted Drift's thoughts. Crosshairs was standing near the area where Drift was parked, smirking slightly. "Ease up, why don't you?"

Transforming, Drift looked at Crosshairs with a disapproving frown.

"I cannot just 'ease up'," he stated calmly. "Once you are gone, I will be responsible for what happens to Optimus's family. I cannot let anything happen to them."

"Well, for right now, calm your circuits." Crosshairs gave Drift a smack on the back. "We aren't leaving until tomorrow."

"Human nights are short," Drift reminded him. "It's not like Cybertronian nights, Crosshairs."

Throwing a hand in the air, Crosshairs scoffed. "I know that," he exclaimed. "You can't keep getting yourself all worked up over nothing. Prime's Sparkmate will be fine! His Sparklings will be fine."

"You can't be sure." Drift held his hands behind his back. "She is still suffering from that virus. It could increase in severity while you are all gone."

"Then get Prime on the ComLink and he'll be back faster than you can blink." Crosshairs' smirk turned more into a scowl.

Drift didn't say anything for a moment. He wasn't sure what to say. He knew that if Desirée's condition worsened under his watch, he'd have to get Ratchet and Optimus. But he wasn't sure, since, in human terms, Tennessee was relatively far from Texas, if the two of them would be able to make it back to the home in time to help improve her condition.

It felt strange, feeling this worried over a human. Naturally, Drift was programmed, along with the other Autobots (well, Drift was rather reprogrammed), to protect the Sparkmate of a Prime. To serve the Sparkmate as well as the Prime.

Maybe Desirée was growing on him in a way he didn't realize.

QUICKY A/N:

HEY-YO! I HOPE THIS UPDATE WAS DECENT. I'M SORRY I'M UPDATING LESS AND LESS, I'VE HAD SCHOOLWORK I NEED TO CATCH UP ON AND, LATELY, I'VE BEEN FEELING REALLY UNDER THE WEATHER [NOT REALLY SICK, JUST NOT REALLY MOTIVATED TO DO MUCH]. BUT I WON'T KEEP YOU GUYS FROM READING MORE OF THIS FANFIC! IT'S NOT FAIR TO YOU GUYS TO BE WAITING FOR A NEW UPDATE! I'M SORRY! PLEASE DON'T BE UPSET.

THE WHOLE IDEA OF POSSIBLY GALVATRON BEING SPOTTED IN TENNESSEE, MOST LIKELY IN MEMPHIS, WAS THE IDEA OF A KIND REVIEWER! THANK YOU FOR THE SUGGESTION! I'VE ALSO HAD OTHER WONDERFUL SUGGESTIONS REGARDING THE SITUATION WITH ELITA-1 AND POSSIBLY WHAT COULD HAPPEN IN THE TENNESSEE ACTION MOMENT.

IF YOU WANT, STAY TUNED FOR THE NEXT COUPLE UPDATES AND FIND OUT!

ANYWHO, THANK YOU ALL FOR BEING SO AMAZING! I'M HAPPY I HAVE SUCH AMAZING PEOPLE READING THIS STORY [AND ALSO HONORED! 1000+ HAVE READ THIS STORY! THAT'S THE MOST REVIEWS I'VE EVER GOTTEN IN A FANFIC]. I HOPE YOU ALL KEEP ENJOYING THIS STORY.

BEFORE I FINISH MY POINTLESS RANTING, I JUST HAVE SOMETHING TO ASK: SINCE DRIFT'S BEING LEFT TO WATCH OVER DESIRÉE WHILE THE OTHERS ARE AWAY, SHOULD THERE BE ANY BONDING TIME [FRIENDLY BONDING] BETWEEN HIM AND DESIRÉE? AND, IF ANY OF YOU FIND THS NECESSARY IN ANY WAY, SHOULD DRIFT HAVE TO PROTECT DESIRÉE FROM ELITA-1 IN ANY WAY?

TRUST ME WHEN I SAY THIS, I HAVE THE WHOLE ELITA-1 ARC PLANNED, I JUST WANT TO KNOW WHAT YOU GUYS THINK!

MY RAMBLINGS ARE OVER! THIS WAS A VERY LONG AUTHOR'S NOTE, I'M SORRY!

STAY SNAPPY.

THANK YOU, ONE AND ALL.

READ, REVIEW, ENJOY!

YOURS TRULY,

~SMITHY