This was originally two chapters but I wrote a rough draft and hated it. Did it again- same result. Mashed two chapters together, shortened stuff, moved things around, and by the fourth revision I decided I'd gotten to something I could work with. So now, instead of two chapters till she gets to the Ark, it's one. Huzzah.

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It was the humans fault, really. They'd traveled a laughably short distance for a Cybertronian and yet they still had not managed to catch whoever or whatever was emitting those signals. The fact of the matter was the energy signatures were very faint to begin with and the transmissions from all the blasted human tech was interfering with the sensitive calibrators on the tracking system. The cons had dealt with it thus far and followed the signals and were almost on top of them once again. And then there was a city, with far too many conflicting air waves and radio transmissions. Their tracker was practically useless until they were only a few feet from the slagging signals. So obviously, it was all the humans fault.

'Stupid humans. Stupid tracker...' thought Rumble, 'This is boring without any Autobots to fight.'

As the purple cassette vented a sigh for what seemed the fiftieth time, Frenzy shoved him from behind, "Hey! What the frag was that for?!"

"Being a slow poke. Come on." The other symbiote jumped out of the way as his brother swung at him, "There's a lot of humans this way. Lets see if we can mess with them while we're looking."

Frenzy's scarlet optic band lit up with nefarious excitement as he tugged his brother. Rumble huffed as the identical cassette-formers slunk along the back alleys toward a larger open space that did indeed have a large multitude of human fleshlings. In front of them was what looked to be a small park with lots of trees and statues with stores lining the other side of the pavement. With a quick dash, both Decepticons were across the road and hopping up onto the concrete sculptures to peer above the heads of the humans. What could be said? They were fun to climb on, even if they had to ignore the weird and nervous looks they got from the nearby organics. But they were still stuck covering this part of the city while Dirge scouted the east side and their boss was doing something or other. Scanning the crowd and still not seeing one that matched the description they were looking for, Frenzy hailed Soundwave on the comm links.

'Hey Boss, do we haaaavvveee to do this? There's like, a couple hundred of these things here. How are we supposed to find one human?'

Only a few second passed until the Communications Officer answered, 'Use the tracker.'

'But it'll take foooorrreeeevvvveerrrr!' Now Rumble broke in, having been bored as soon as they'd started this idiotic hunt in this pit-forsaken city, 'At least with Ravage and Lazerbeak...'

'Siblings: Busy.'

'Yeah, we know. Everybody's busy...' The violet mini-con muttered as he sat on top of a broken bench and went back to people-watching. Frenzy picked up an empty pop can and hurled it at a group of teenage boys walking by. They scattered with yelps and cursing.

'You still getting that stuff?'

'Affirmative. Focus on mission.' With that Soundwave cut off the link and left a bored and destructive pair of brothers to search out a human.

A cacophony of talking, honking, vehicles, people and general discord grated on my ears as everyone bustled about. They all seemed to need to be somewhere and had to get there quickly. The noise was very different than what I was used to and put me on edge even more so than I already was. Leaning against the outside wall of a grocery store, I thought over my options again and got no good results. What I really needed was someone to loan me a vehicle, but I couldn't risk going to a dealership because I couldn't be sure of how far this mess with my dad and the police had spread.

I didn't have time to explain the situation to the law. The Decepticons from yesterday had proven that. Of course, I could just go to the cops and ask for help.

Absolutely not. They would try to take over and send me home. Like hell they'd make me leave these guys alone. The yellow one told me to keep them safe.

Urgh. Back to needing a way to get to the Autobot base. Perhaps I could convince someone to drive me there, although hitch-hiking wasn't the safest option. I sighed as clouds drifted overhead, leaving sun and shadows that sped rapidly across the ground. They momentarily illuminated the shine of sluggish traffic before disappearing. It was bright, but still chilled out. Pushing off the building, I started walking and hoped an idea would come to me. If there wasn't any solutions to be found before mid-day, then I would just have to trek to the Autobot base on foot and hope the Decepticons didn't catch sight of me.

Everyone around seemed to be either walking in groups, texting on phones, or speed walking to their destination as the masses pushed and pulled around the tall metal structures and soaring stone buildings. A jogger in a neon shirt went past me, music heard even though she had headphones on. Personal space boundaries were shrunken here. Even the architecture seemed condensed and maze-like. Distantly, the sounds of a siren shrilled above the man-made buildings that looked like they were holding up the sky. I should probably say I'd only been in a city a few times before, and it was just as loud and uncomfortable as I remembered.

Being in close proximity to so many others was setting my nerves on end. I missed my woods and garden. Pushing aside thoughts of home, I mildly contemplated the state of my treasure box before focusing again. I needed to find a vehicle or someone with a truck who was willing to drive me someplace.

Heading down one way and then another, I finally just rested on a curb with my two bags and ate a quick lunch. An apple and some bagels was all I had left, soon I'd have to buy some more food. The sun stayed out this time and I hoped it would warm up enough that I could take off my thicker denim jacket. Just as I started to stand, a myriad of shouts came from down the street.

Frowning, I grabbed the large bag that held the orbs and slung it onto my back before narrowing my eyes in the direction the clamor was coming from. Quickly deciding I didn't want to be involved, I turned away and started toward a more accessible looking area with smaller buildings and less of the populace. But I hardly gone ten steps when I heard loud footsteps clunking behind me.

Looking back the way I'd come showed two robots heading toward me at a leisurely stalking pace. One dark amethyst and the other black and maroon, both looked identical down to the matched smirks and Decepticon symbol on their fronts. Two scarlet shades stared at me.

"Hey, toldja I saw her this way." A smug male voice that was easily discernible even over all the city noise.

Damn.

Shinedown- Adrenaline (Why is Shinedown so good for fight/chase scenes?)

The human female blinked at them for a second and then bolted, dropping the second bag that held food and clothes.

"Get her!" Shouted Frenzy, urging his brother as he tore after their prey.

Shay tore down the rapidly emptying road using the adrenaline pumping through her body. Neither the few pedestrians around nor the light container slowed her down as the woman plunged left into an alley and then dashed out the other side. Her legs and chest started to ache. First yesterday and now today...yes, someone out there really didn't like her.

Brown hair flying back, she tried to run down another small alley but Rumble beat her there and the woman narrowly missed slamming right into him. Feet sliding, Shay turned sharply and continued to gain speed as she flew across the pavement and shoved through throngs of people. Frenzy almost snagged her as they thundered down a straight road, cars honking at them the whole way.

'Turns,' she thought desperately, 'They'll outpace me on a stretch. I need corners.'

As Shay lunged between two cafes with the red and black cassette on her tail, his servo reached out and just about grabbed her pack this time. With a panic fueled burst of speed, she jumped onto and over a parked car that blocked her path. Behind the sound of crunching metal and glass shattering could be heard as the con copied her.

Blue eyes wide with startlement, she burst from the alley and ducked under Rumble's arm with a baseball slide on the gritty asphalt. Behind came the sounds of metal on metal as Frenzy crashed into his brother. Not stopping, she scrambled up and almost overbalanced but took off with curses being hurled into the air by the hunters.

The chase continued for another couple minutes before the woman realized that she was slowing and it was highly doubtful that the Decepticons were going to be worn out so easily. The only reason they hadn't caught her yet was she had her slightly shorter height and speed on her side. Not to mention all the obstacles she was purposefully using to her advantage. If only she could get lost in a crowd! Every time she tried they easily separated her from the other humans as one does to a calf from a herd.

With a mental growl of 'screw it', Shay did an about-turn and threw herself to the right as her eyes caught on an opportunity. The young woman jumped onto a metal dumpster and heaved herself up on a stack of wood pallets that were waiting to be moved. From there, she got atop the roof of a squat building and turned to kick the flat planks over.

Frenzy was climbing the pile and the wood really wasn't meant to hold a metal being's weight. So it was no surprise when the fragile structure tipped like a stack of flimsy cardboard boxes and crashed into the dirty ground with the cassette. With a growl, the con kicked the wood off himself while his violet brother snickered. Instead of using nearby objects to climb on, Rumble merely dug his clawed servos into the brickwork and pulled himself up the wall easily.

Until a sharp crack was heard and he fell back with a strangled cry.

Getting up, the servo that had reflexively covered his faceplates came down to reveal a cracked optic band and pink energon leaking from underneath. The mini-cons looked at each other with surprise written clearly in their expressions. A snarl on his face, Rumble drew out his blaster and scattered shots all over the top of the building's wall. Shay ducked down immediately.

The woman had put her slingshot and steel balls in the pockets of her jacket earlier. While she knew she couldn't do that much damage to them, hitting the weak points was always better than nothing. And Shay didn't know any species where the eyes weren't vulnerable. So a steel ball at close range was bound to cause some harm to the fragile looking visors that covered where their eyes should have been.

Rumble shouted something in Cybertronian that Shay didn't need a translator to know meant he was going to kill her in a very painful way. Before she could fit another projectile in the sling, the cassette twins scaled upwards with rapid efficiency. An 'Oh shit' look crossed her face before she abandoned her weapon and turned to sprint across the short area. Shay catapulted off the roof and onto a lower one. The gravel cut into the woman's arms and legs but she didn't have time to do anything but ignore the sting as she looked desperately for a way down as the chase picked up again.

'Why the hell do people put gravel of roofs?!' She snarled as she darted to an edge and slid down a water pipe that barely held her weight. Shay failed to notice the blue and white Ligier racer and red Pontiac trans-am below. They however, noticed her.

Once Ratchet had learned of Ironhide's injury, he had ordered the angry warrior back to the Ark under threat of dismantlement. Now Mirage and Windcharger had been sent out to join Tracks and Bluestreak to see if they could figure out why the cons were hanging around. Staying in two team, the Datsun and the Firebird had headed up to were they'd though they'd spotted Dirge while the other two patrolled down in the more populated section of the city. Shouts and a general fuss among the humans had lead them this way only to be stopped by the sight of Rumble and Frenzy scrambling after a young woman who was running across a rooftop.

Mirage just barely caught a glimpse of blue jeans and desaturated tawny hair streaking wildly as the female carelessly vaulted onto a lower platform. A very large backpack jostled around by her shoulders as she sprinted across a narrow ledge and skittered down a gutter pipe rather gracelessly. The cons jumped down after her, leaving small craters in the concrete and all three darted back into the maze of buildings.

"Mirage? Did you see that?" Windcharger shifted back into bi-pedal mode as the spy did the same.

"Yes. Let's go!" The blue and white Autobot started to rush after.

It didn't take the cassettes long to realize their hunt had turned into a three party chase. They were catching up to the tiring human but had to slow as they pulled out blasters and shot at the Autobots. Shay didn't even notice the additions to the chase and continued until they were all tearing through an area that held freight cars and warehouses.

'Hey Boss!'

'Rumble: Focus on mission.'

'But we got Bots on our tailpipes! Oh, and we found the human.' Frenzy tossed in his piece and dodged a shot from Mirage. Ahead, no one noticed an exhausted and trembling human dive under a train car for safety. Rumble activated his piledrivers and hammered the ground, making all of them skid to a stop to keep their balance. A few metal cargo carriers toppled over and crashed into the ground with a clamor.

Soundwave replied immediately, 'Evade. Acquire target.'

'Trying Boss. Slaggin' glitch is fast. When I get my hands on it-' The angry con's rant was cut off as Bluestreak and Tracks swerved into the scene and narrowly missed bowling over Rumble.

'Frag! There four of them!'

In another part of the city, Soundwave paused in his work and quickly changed plans, 'Retreat.'

The Communications Officer wouldn't be able to make it there in time to stop the Autobots from capturing or possibly killing his cassettes. The only logical option was to call them back and see what could be salvaged from this mission. Apparently, his symbiotes didn't agree.

'But Boss-!'

'Negative. Return.'

A yelp came through the line from Frenzy, 'Watch your side you moron! Pussy bots are gonna get you!'

Back at the cargo transport yard, Windcharger barely deflected a shot to the helm and gave a kick that would have sent Rumble flying had the mini-con not dodged. Both Decepticons ducked and wove among the shipping containers while taking pot-shots at their enemy. Frenzy snarled a curse at them when he realized they'd lost track of the human.

"Beat it you two-bit glitches!"

Tracks snarked back, "Not likely!"

Some carefully placed shots from their gunner had the cassettes pulling back even farther before bolting away with derogatory remarks and crude comments. Hardly sparing a moment, the Datsun and Corvette shifted into their alt modes to chase after but paused when Mirage and Windcharger remained as they were. Bluestreak's engine rumbled in confusion.

"What are you doing? They're getting away."

Mirage answered, his tone slightly clipped, "They were chasing a human. We need to find out why."

Two sets of optics turned slightly to the woman who was glaring at them as if they kicked puppies for a living. Shay's eyes narrowed even further when the rumbling sports cars turned slightly as if to face the human as well and she realized they were all staring at her as she crouched in relative safety under the empty coach. No one could really blame her for being in a foul mood at that point.

Bluestreak bounced on his tires, "We'll go see about those cons and then comm link back if we spot or catch them. Or see any others. We still haven't found Dirge yet..."

"Ugh, as if I didn't have enough damage to my paint job!" Tracks grumbled as the gunner volunteered them, "We better be going back to base after this. It'll take hours to get out all these dents."

His prima donna muttering was ignored as they turned and drove in the direction of the cassettes. Mirage and Windcharger shared a brief look before carefully and slowly approaching the human's hiding spot. She shuffled farther back and gripped her last weapon, a four inch long knife, in her hand. Sweat soaked her slightly tanned face and chest as the woman tried to slow her excessive breathing. Running through a city like hell hounds were after her was draining, and the description apt. This was going on her 'Never Do It Again' list, right under 'Playing Chicken' and 'Exploding Pop Cans with Firecrackers'. That last one hadn't even been her idea.

"Hey, you can come out now. The Decepticons are gone." Windcharger's red and gray frame crouched as he tried to peer underneath, as he was smaller than Mirage. What he got was a knife almost slashing his faceplates. The mini-bot jerked back in surprise as his teammate sighed in irritation and crossed his arms.

"Please do come out now. We could just move the train car if we wanted to."

Shay thought his accent was interesting. Not quite stuffy but something similar to it. Still, his statement had logic.

"Forgive me for being hesitant," She replied in the same patient but annoyed tone the spy had used, "I dislike being hunted and am mildly paranoid."

But they could already have grabbed her if they wanted to. So with no other options, she tucked her knife away into her jacket and hesitantly climbed out. Shay stood and carefully brushed off her jeans and coat before studying them. Wary blue eyes set in a rounded face with strong features locked onto their optics and seemed to bore straight through them as if to assess whether or not they were a threat. A few seconds passed as the human and bots sized each other up.

"So you are Autobots and not just Decepticons pretending to gain my trust?"

Mirage scoffed, "Yes, we are Autobots. Blue optics and the Autobot symbol means Autobot." He pointed to the red face adorning his front, "Don't you pay attention to your human news centers?"

Shay's face remained impassive and unimpressed with the Cybertronian before her, even though he was almost four or five times her height. The woman only narrowed her eyes at his words and tried to ignore the poking from the orbs. They were rather lively at the moment as the little lights had figured out something interesting was going on outside. She knew these guys should be Autobots because of the symbols and eye color but that didn't mean those things couldn't be faked.

The other Autobot pushed the conversation along, "So why were Rumble and Frenzy chasing you?"

Now the young woman froze, her eyes hardening and turning just the slightest bit paler. Not that the bots noticed the miniscule change. Once again, she stared at them as if daring the Autobots to force the information from her. Shay's face was so devoid of any clues that it was akin to gazing at a statue. When they merely looked back with Windcharger shifting impatiently, she sighed.

Finally looking away, she took off her backpack. It appeared full and supposedly heavy, but the human easily set it down with one hand. Pulling back the zipper, calloused fingers paused before drawing out a metal and glass sheathed cylinder from the pack's depth. Mirage and Windcharger froze with widened optics. The minibot's jaw fell open as they stared at her cargo in shock.

"I believe it is because of them. If you would be so kind as to give me a ride to the Autobot base?"

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'Prowl sir?'

'Yes Windcharger. What is your status?'

'All accounted for with a few scrapes. Tracks and Blue are almost done scouting out the entire city. We ran into the cassettes but they fled.'

'Anything else?'

A brief pause. 'Mirage and I are heading back to base. We have a human...'

"Hey Boss." Frenzy called as he and his brother filed into the room, "You got that stuff?"

Soundwave didn't look up from his work as his symbiotes settled themselves on top of some wooden crates scattered throughout the dingy warehouse. The host mech's servos carefully exfiltrated the materials from the machines set within their containers. He ignored the question as it's answer was obvious and didn't need to be said.

Rumble skulked over and peered down at the growing pile of tech Soundwave had procured, "Doesn't look like much. Why are we getting these again?"

The taller Decepticon finished pulling out the last of the chips and looked up to note a large crack running along the purple cassette's optic band, "Materials: required."

"Yeah bro. Do you expect this stuff to come outta thin air?" Frenzy waved his servo in his brother's face but Rumble was having a bad day and not in the mood for it. He shoved the twin away with a hard push.

"But why do we have to get it from humans? I thought this stuff was obsolete or whatever Screamer said."

"Well, we can't get all the materials from Cybertronian right now, can we?" Frenzy asked sarcastically as Soundwave stood to separate them before a fight could occur. After subspacing the plundered goods he leaned down to look at his symbiotes.

"Damage: Autobots?"

Frenzy chuckled at the growl Rumble gave, "No. That stupid human shot me with something. Slaggin' glitch..." He looked away with crossed arms and a nasty scowl on his face. There was a brief moment of silence as the host mech contemplated this surprising bit of news. Then he sent a comm link to Dirge for a pickup. Soundwave stalked from the empty building with his cassettes at his heels.

"Target: Description. New Autobot?"

Both mini-cons shook their heads, "Nah, the tracker just pointed to the human. But she had a large bag on her. Maybe she was carrying Blaster's guys or something." With that information tucked away to be studied later, the lead Decepticon looked up to were Dirge was circling. They'd wasted enough time on this two part mission. Successfully completing one of the objectives was better than a complete failure, but Lord Megatron would not be happy. They needed to return with their information and stolen materials.

Well, this certainly solves my problem of searching for a vehicle, I thought as I stared out the window of the speeding Autobot. Ahead I could see the blue and white snooty race car zipping quickly down the empty road. Was that vehicle even street legal? Although it was a nice design, I wasn't going to tell him that.

My head leaned warily against the window, but this Windcharger guy didn't seem to mind. Urgh, I was tired. My chest was aching fiercely again due to that run. Thank goodness I keep myself in shape. Not paying attention, my fingers traced the stitched pattern on my bag with thoughtful habit. My hand was bleeding a little bit from a cut but it wasn't deep enough to warrant a bandage. Later I would have to put something on it to make sure it didn't get infected.

'We're almost there boys. We've just about made it.' I pushed hope and satisfaction toward the orbs. They'd been worrying since my flight across the city earlier but bounced up emotionally, sending good feelings in return. The corner of my mouth twitched up the barest bit before I closed my eyes.

We did it, but what about after?

Another part of my mind snarled something about thinking too much and to save it for later. Letting out a quiet breath, I hugged my cargo and closed my eyes. Sleep, even in an unfamiliar place such as a sentient robot, came quickly. A week of stress will do that to you.