Hey guys! I know, it's insane that I'm updating again so soon, but I've been trying to balance out what I want to do and what I have to do on the side of everything else. This next update has, once again, had no time to be wrung through the old spell checker so... be kind...

AccessBlade: Sounds awesome! I love inspiring people! Hope to see your inspiration at work! gleams

GrimlockX4: Yeah, I knew that Cat would have a few different reactions, but I wasn't feeling very violent at the time, so I figured Cat could be nice and not make the poor guys feel human pain.

Nola1: I had thought of that a while ago, and maybe, just maybe there will be a hint of a little hotness between Cat and one of the guys (I'm so spoiling everything) but I'm mainly going to stick to my original plan, which will be just after this little problem is taken care of.

FORD B: Yeah, but it's kind of what I'd like to think is true with us. Like when we're constantly checking our email to see if there's a new review in our mailbox (wink) I figured that cutting the guys from the internet would be just the same. All of a sudden they're clueless. And of course, you never really know what's going to be made out of this, so Wheeljack might find something else to do with his time (another wink).

Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Transformers, just Cat, Five and a little puppy named Rotten.

--

Cat sighed. Finally, she had managed to get the new human versions of the Autobots to sleep. She had the medical bay staff set up cots so that they could sleep near their original forms. The room was dim and quiet, with the slight humming of their shells still working. Cat had a time just trying to convince them that they would, in fact, wake up after a few hours of sleep.

-Flashback-

"So... We can't control when we sleep?" Sunstreaker asked.

"Well, not exactly. Look, all you have to do is lay down and close your eyes. You'll fall asleep on your own and in a few hours you'll wake up and you won't feel as tired as you do now," Cat watched as some of them yawned in exhaustion. She wanted to sleep just as badly as they did, but she wanted to make sure that they slept themselves.

"How do we wake ourselves?" Wheeljack asked.

"You'll wake up in a few hours, trust me," Cat yawned as well, "You tell them Ratch... I'm shot for the day..."

-End Flashback-

Cat slowly and quietly exited the med bay so as not to wake any of them. She needed to get back and take Rotten out anyway, and she couldn't watch her friends all night. They had the medical staff to watch over them for a few hours. Arriving to her apartment, the first thing she did was take Rotten out, and then come back and put him in his kennel and hit the sack.

It wasn't more than two hours before the cell phone charging next to her bed jingled. Cat slowly woke up and and absent-mindedly reached over, grabbing the phone.

"-Lo?" Cat asked, still drunk with sleep.

"Catherine Andrews?" a deep male voice asked.

"Hmm?" was the only thing that came out of Cat's mouth.

"My name is Stan Edward, I've been employed by Secretary Keller to find some information for you," the man explained first.

"Infor... Information?" Cat sat up in her bed her mind suddenly coming to her senses.

"Yes. I have found information on Brett Craft for you. Is this a good time for you to speak?" Stan asked.

"Um, yeah jus... Just give me a second here to wake up..." Cat grumbled as she got out of bed and walked to the kitchen, surprising Rotten who was nearly half asleep himself.

Cat sat the phone down for a few seconds while she turned on the faucet and splashed some cold water on her face. She turned the faucet back off and wiped her face off with a towel, and picked the phone back up.

"All right, go ahead," Cat said as she sat down at the kitchen table and yawned.

"Brett Craft was the one and only creator for that projection system. Apparently he was employed by Sector Eleven, and when the two sections were disbanded he and his family moved out of state," he explained.

"How far out of state?" Cat asked.

--

"Absolutely not," Ratchet disagreed.

Early that morning after the Autobots had awoken from their first night of human sleep, Cat had called for a meeting to inform them of the newest information.

"Why not?!" Cat wasn't sure why anyone would disagree with such a simple plan.

"Cat," Optimus began, "If you do this, then you'll be completely unprotected. Not only have we already had an encounter with Frenzy, but if you should run into him and Barricade, then we will be powerless to help you."

"You should tell Keller to send someone to do this instead of going yourself," Prowl suggested.

"I can do this myself. It's only about a day's drive, and if I have any problems I'll call for Bee, who should be arriving here anytime now," Cat looked to her watch.

"Bumblebee is coming?" Jazz asked.

Cat smiled, "Yep! I got him to come and watch you guys while I go take care of this."

"What's Sam doing for transportation?" Ironhide raised an eyebrow.

-Back in Tranquility-

"Mikaela! Mikaela, Sam's here!" a grouchy woman's voice shouted.

"I think I'd know the sound of his car by now mo-" Mikaela was sure that it couldn't possibly be true but as she looked out of her bedroom window she saw Sams' moms old buick puttering and backfiring it's way down the alley behind her apartment.

"Oh my god..." Mikaela's mouth was nearly to the floor.

-Back to the Dam-

"It doesn't matter," Cat demanded, "Bumblebee agreed that he needed to be here to make sure you guys are fully taken care of while I'm away."

"Who says you're going?" Ratchet insisted.

Cat sighed and replied, "I have to go. If I don't leave right away, then our chances of turning you guys to normal again are going to be slim to none," she looked to Optimus' blue-eyed human form, "Just try and tell me that I'm wrong."

There was an awkward silence for a moment. Everyone looked as though they had an opinion, but they knew that only one counted at the moment. Cat was almost sure that she'd have to go against direct orders in order to go, but the risk was well worth trying to fix her friends.

Optimus sighed, "And where, exactly, is this place that's a days journey?"

Cat let a smile smile tug at the sides of her mouth, "It's a few miles west of Carlsbad New Mexico. I'd be back before tomorrow night at the latest."

"And if you can't get any answers out of this man?" the leader had to ask.

Cat sighed and replied, "Ratch and Jack are going to have to keep working here, of course. We have to make sure that we cover all of our bases. But this could be the one chance to fix our little problem. You guys may not be able to go, but I can."

Optimus couldn't help but look around at the new faces of his men. They were a bit half and half. Some unsure of this new plan, others were sure that they didn't want to stay human forever. He turned and looked to Cat with a new determined look on his face.

"You have my permission," he nodded.

Cat smirked, "Not that I needed it. I was going to go, whether or not you said I could." She ran off towards her apartment.

"Is that a good idea, Optimus? She'll be completely unguarded. Even the aid of the American Military would be better than sending her alone," Prowl asked.

"I understand the concern, but she's right... She's the only one that we can be sure will get the job done fast. Even the american government wouldn't be able to answer these questions as quickly as Cat can," the leader shrugged and sat down at the table, feeling torn between sending one of his own out, and keeping them safe.

"Optimus," Ratchet began, "I'm all for us returning to our normal states, but one thing concerns me most of all."

"What is it?" Wheeljack asked.

"We still haven't a clue as to what it was that caused her to create that surge that overtook the Dam over a month ago. What if sending her out there causes a reaction that sets her off and she inadvertantly destroys something? She could take out an entire city of humans!" the medic reasoned.

"It's a chance we'll have to take... And let's hope that we haven't made a mistake..."

--

Cat made a B-line for her apartment to grab her riding gear. On her way she nearly ran into Bumblebee.

"Oh, Bee! Good to see you!" Cat smiled.

Bumblebee just looked down at the girl, giving her a concerned expression.

"They're fine for now. I'm just on my way out so I can find this Brett guy," she pointed down the hallway to the conference room, "They're in there, and I'm on my way out. Good luck!"

Cat ran off to her room in a flash, leaving Bumblebee to take care of everything. As he looked to walk into the conference room, the human form of Wheeljack walked out. He looked up to the yellow mech with an almost startled look on his face.

"Oh! Hello Bumblebee! Catherine informed us, just now, that you would be coming to help us out!" Bee nodded, "Then perhaps after this little fiasco, we should look into building you your own hologram!"

"Er... No thanks..."

--

Cat was in the garage zipping up her jacket and undoing the straps on her helmet, having already thrown her backpack on, which was full of water bottles and snacks. She was just about to set off when she heard the loud 'booms' of a certain yellow mech approaching. She looked up to his azure optics as he approached.

"Oh, hey buddy. I was just about to leave," Cat tucked her cell phone and a map into one of the zipped pockets of the jacket.

"Cat... Perhaps I should go with you," Bumblebee said quietly.

Cat looked up to the yellow mech and asked, "Is there a problem?"

"Everyone's concerned that this idea may be a little pre-emptive..." he replied.

Cat gave a scowl, "And what's the other idea?"

"..."

"Exactly. We don't have any other plan. This guy could give us the answers that we need, and we don't have much time before it's too late. You need to stay here and watch over them... and answer every question they have..." Cat said as she put her helmet on. She looked up at Bee and saw the worried gaze that was fixed upon her.

Cat sighed and said, "Look, how about this. If I don't call you by ten o'clock tonight, then you can send the troops in after me."

Bumblebee considered her for a moment before he nodded, "Just watch out for yourself, and call us if you need anything," he encouraged.

"I'm sure I'll get there in time, Bee. Don't you worry about a thing," Cat said as she started up the small, but powerful, engine to her Hyabusa and slowly made her way out of the garage and into the early morning desert sun.

--

Cat had seemed very sure of herself in front of her friends, but really she was quite angry. She could nearly feel her blood boil at the idea of them not having faith in her abilities to take care of herself.

"I know I'm not as strong or as fast as I used to be, but they could stop giving me so much crap about it... I'm not a damn invalid. I admit, I'm not ready for a battle with someone like Barricade, but I'm not going to hide under a rock. I don't intend on staying weak for long!" She sped up, going much faster than the intended speed limits. Cat had a few hours drive ahead of her, and she wasn't planning on stopping for anything other than to refuel the bike.

--

Bumblebee watched as Cat took off, leaving him very sure that she was more upset that she appeared to be.

"Couldn't get her to go with the idea of you going either, could ya Bee?" the cheerful form of Jazz walked up next to the tall, yellow mech.

Bumblebee just shook his head at his, now, much shorter friend.

"Ah, don't ya worry bout her. That girl may be a bit foolhardy, but when she needs it, she's got the stuff that a true Autobot fighter is made out of. She knows we mean well, she's jes a little upset with us right now. She'll get over it," he put his hands into the pockets of his jeans and smiled warmly up to his friend.

"Now," Jazz started, "We've been goin' crazy tryin' to figure out things about these human bodies. And we had some questions we were hopin' that you havin' the internet and all could help us answer them."

Bee just looked down at Jazz with one of those 'uh oh' looks on his face. As if maybe he was beginning to think that he was getting himself into something he should've just stayed away from.

--

Cat had been traveling all day. It was late afternoon before she finally made it to... Well she was going to stop and find out. She found a small gas station in the middle of nowhere, and pulled in. The gas pumps were that of the old ones made back in the fifties. They had the round, bubble-like globes on top, and the bodies were curved. Cat stopped next to one of the pumps and shut off the engine to her bike. The sun was blazing without mercy. Cat felt as if she were in a steam chamber just inside her rider's jacket, even with the air ports unzipped and open to allow air to breathe through the jacket. She pulled off her helmet and threw on a pair of sunglasses, taking out her map and looking it over carefully.

"I passed Alamogordo nearly a half an hour ago and took those back roads thinking that I saw some sort of back way to this guy's house... Where the hell am I now?" Cat mumbled to herself.

She pulled out her cellular phone to see if she could access the navigation tools. She opened the flip phone and growled even more.

No signal.

No signal, of course, equals no navigation.

"Shit!" Cat yelled tucking the phone back into her pocket.

"Somethin' I can help ya with?" a young man stepped out from the small station. His face was thin, and he was covered in grease and dirt. It was obvious to Cat that this man hadn't showered in days.

"Uh... Yeah, maybe you can... Where the hell am I?" Cat asked.

The man chuckled a little and strut across the small area between him and Cat, walking towards her, "Why you've hit Timberon, little lady."

Cat growled at the use of that term, "I'm looking for a place out near Carlsbad. Can you tell me the best way to get there from here?"

"Sure could," the man smirked.

"...That would be the hint where you tell me where it is that I need to go..." Cat narrowed her covered eyes at the boy.

"Well that puts us both in a bad position. See, this here station don't quite make the same kind of profit it used ta... It'd be mighty nice of ya to give what ya could," he leaned against the nearest pump to Cat and crossed his arms.

"...Of course... I need to buy gas and water anyway, will that do?" Cat reached in and grabbed her slim cardholder, grabbing her debit card.

The man laughed, "You've never been round here have ya?"

"I suppose me asking for directions wasn't enough of a clue?" Cat asked with a sarcastic smile.

"We don't take none of those things here. Just cold hard cash," he smirked even more.

Cat sighed and stuffed her card back into the card holder, then pulled out a thicker wallet. She pulled out four twenty dollar bills. The man's eyes widened with glee. He reached out to take them Cat pulled back.

"Ah, information first, gratuity later. Talk," she said gruffly.

"What's the address?" he asked, his smirk suddenly disappearing.

Cat looked to the map that she had set out in front of her and pointed to the hand-written address which was written near the edge of the crumpled paper.

The man didn't even bother to stop himself from showing fear. His eyes strayed back up to Cat's face as he said, "You got the wrong place..."

Cat didn't like this answer and asked, "And how's that?"

"That's the one place a girl like you shouldn't be going to!" he scorned.

Cat grinned and took one of the twenty dollar bills and stuffed it back into her wallet, "Wrong answer number one. Now, tell me where it is."

The man looked astonished that Cat would play a game like that on him, "That ain't fair!"

Cat slipped her fingers across the next twenty bill as if showing that it would be the next to go.

"I.. Uh... All.. All right! I'll tell ya! Just take that service road there and follow it for an hour. You'll know that place when you see it!" he was practically begging like a poodle on its hind legs would for a treat.

"I'll need some of that in gas as well," Cat said as she started folding the map.

The man nodded and reached over to the top of the gas tank of the bike, about to uncap it so he could insert the fuel nozzle. He didn't get more than an inch away from the cap before Cat caugh his wrist and said, "No one touches the bike."

The man actually grinned instead of looking upset and said, "The woman knows how she wants things done."

Cat decided that she had had enough of this guy and just ever so slightly pulled her sunglasses down her nose, looking into the man's eyes.

"And don't you forget it," she winked her yellow eye, startling the man so much that he scrambled back into the gas station, where he grabbed two ice cold bottles of water from a large refrigerator. He walked back out to her and reached across to her as far as he could without actually getting near her.

"H-Here... T-t-take it!" Cat grinned and took the water from him. The man then ran into his gas station and slammed the door behind him. He looked out and watched her from the window with a careful glare.

Cat smirked as she pumped the gas herself and then threw on her helmet once again, starting up the bike and taking off, leaving a cloud of dust behind her.

--

"An hour my ass!" Cat was furious. She had traveled until nightfall and still had not gotten to her destination. And this worried her. Not only was she running late, which could delay solving their little problem, but just fourty-five minutes from now, she had promised that she would call Bumblebee to let him know that she had arrived safely, and since she didn't have a working phone, and she hadn't seen a gas station since Timberon, she was beginning to worry that she'd see the little light on the tracking device, which was welded to the inner workings of her false right arm, blink. Blinking, of course, indicating that someone would have activated the device and that a whole world of trouble would be on her tail within minutes.

Cat continued her driving through the hilly cliffsides. The roads had turned from pavement into rocky and dusty gravel trails. She was beginning to grow weary of trying to avoid some of the bigger rocks that could easily wipe out her bike, or from going too fast and sliding through the sands as if she were going to hydroplane. She was about to give up and stop to wait for the scouts sent out after her, when she saw something in the distance. Amidst the blanket of darkness that she was traveling through, she saw a blinding white spotlight, which seemed to be attached to a police cruiser. As she grew closer, she saw that the police light was pointed at an entrance gate. The gate was made up of black, rusty steel bars, with bright silver chains keeping them closed. There were signs all over the gate that read such things as "WARNING" or "DO NOT ENTER". One sign even read "TRESPASSERS WILL NOT LIVE TO BE PROSECUTED".

Cat slowed down and realized that there were two local police officers at the gate as well, looking rather frustrated. She stopped in the rocky drive just behind the police cruiser and looked into the faces of the confused officers'.

Pulling off her helmet Cat asked, "Is there a problem here?"

The first officer approached her. He was older with a gray,stubbly beard, a beer belly, and his hair was splotchy black in some places, but mostly dark gray. He walked over to Cat, who was still sitting on the seat of her bike.

"You know who lives here?" he asked in a western drawl, putting one hand on his hip, and the other on his gun holster.

Cat pulled out a slip of paper that she had also written the destination address down on and took a look at it. Then looking across the drive, she saw an old, dented and dusty mailbox that had the same address written on it.

"Not personally, but I'm actually here looking for him. I was told that this is the address where I could reach someone named Brett Craft. Is this information right?" Cat asked.

"That'd be the one..." he said with a frown.

Cat looked from the two officers to the gate and asked, "Are you looking for him as well?"

"We got a complaint from some travelers that someone threatened them when they stopped to ask for directions," the younger officer spoke, putting his fingers through his slicked back blonde hair looking frustrated.

Neither the sky blue eyes of the young officer or the light gray eyes of the older one left Cat for a second. She knew that look of untrustworthy stares.

Cat rolled her eyes and looked towards the chained gates, "Can't get in?"

The two officers looked back towards the gates as well.

"We were about to request some tools to take them chains off so we could investigate further," the older one grouched.

Cat smirked, "Who needs tools?"

She walked over to the gate and grabbed the chains with her right hand, and with a swift tug, the chains fell apart in her hands and she dropped them to the ground, looking back at the two men.

"Shall we?" she asked as she opened one side of the gates and remounted on her motorcycle, starting the engine and rolling through in front of the police cruiser.

"How the hell did she do that?" the younger officer asked his superior.

"Dunno... But we're in and that's all that matters..." he growled as they quickly piled into the cruiser, driving slowly through the open gate.

What Cat and the two officers failed to notice was a small perimeter alarm blinking off in the distance.

Someone was watching.

--

Cat pulled up to within about a hundred feet from the two-story brick house. The windows were darkened with the exception of one of the ground level windows. A small flickering light was the only thing that could be seen from behind the white curtains. Cat shut off her bike and dismounted from it, taking in a short surveillance of the area just before the police cruiser pulled up. The two officers got out of their car and watched Cat as she was taking in the entire area, as if recording everything.

The younger officer walked forward and looked around himself before Cat stopped him, throwing her arm in front of his chest roughly.

"Wouldn't do that if I were you..." Cat said in a low tone of voice.

"Why's that?" he asked, annoyed that his duties were impeded by some unknown girl.

Cat pointed just in front of them to where it looked as if a shadow of a person was standing not more than fifty feet or so away. The shadow was completely still, as if expecting someone to come forward.

"There's our man!" the older officer pulled up his equipment belt and began to walk forward as well before Cat stopped him.

"Don't!" she growled, stopping the old man in his tracks.

"What's the problem?" he asked gruffly.

Cat's left eye examined the shadow. Her right eye could see it just as easily as the other two human's eyes could, but her left eye couldn't pick up any energy signature that any normal human would give off.

"It's not what you think it is... You see that down there?" she pointed down to the ground just about a foot in front of them where it looked as though a small line of some sort of red reflectors were, "We're just outside of a dangerous perimeter. It'd be best if you didn't go past those."

"What's that supposta mean? Looks like a man over there to me!" the older police officer growled.

Cat looked along the ground for a moment and then found a long, skinny branch. She picked it up and stepped forward, just barely putting the branch more than a few inches over the line. Not more than a second after doing this, the end of the branch that was over the line of reflectors flew off in a clean cut, coming back and hitting the younger officer in the stomach, causing him to double over for several seconds.

Cat turned her head to the old man and asked, "Still look like an ordinary man over there, Sherlock?"

She threw down the branch and looked back towards the shadow figure, which seemed to multiply right before their eyes, "I don't know what you boys think that you're getting into, but it's probably best that you just report to your boss that no one was home and call it a night... This isn't a place for any ordinary person."

"We came here to find out who was makin' threats, and that's what we're gonna do!" the older officer barked.

Cat shrugged and replied, "Suit yourself. Just don't get in my way."

The two officers glared at Cat as she took her rider's gloves off, then unzipped her jacket and threw it on the seat of her bike. She couldn't help but notice the sudden change of expression on the two mens faces. She looked to her right arm, which gleamed under the bright moon light.

"Don't ask. Under official government orders, it's none of your business," she turned back towards the line of reflectors, "This is something I have experience with, so stay back."

Cat stepped just inside of the reflectors where she became completely fixed on everything around her. If fighting these things were the only way to get to this Craft guy, she'd just have to pull up her sleeves and do it. Besides, she knew what this was.

"Are you crazy?!" the younger officer shouted.

Cat felt a stray wind come across her right cheek. She brought her right arm up and blocked an incoming strike from a shadow, the two officers gasping at once, startled that the shadow had appeared that close to them.

Cat threw off the blow from the shadow and jumped towards it, throwing a hard punch with her left fist, the shadow easily dodged it and stopped off to the side of Cat, kicking her which sent her into a tree. She immediately got up and dodged a head shot from the shadow, which tore into the tree, leaving a gaping hole.

Cat noticed the hole and thought to herself, "The guys would kill me if they knew I was doing this without the safety programs..."

She turned and saw the shadow coming at her again, but this time she ran straight into the shadow, dodging the strike from it, but bringing up her right arm with a strong uppercut, sending it flying several feet away from her and disappearing.

"She did it!" The younger man cheered.

Cat frowned, "It's not over yet..."

Shadows began appearing by the dozens, surrounding Cat in what was most likely an attempt to overpower her with every arsenal possible.

Cat looked to her watch. It was nine forty-five and her time frame was coming close to an end. She knew that her friends were the type to be on time for everything, and this was going to be a close call if nothing else.

"As much as I wish I could have the time to stay and play, I need to make a phone call and soon. So come at me with all you've got!" Cat shouted.

The shadows came at her all at once.

--

Bumblebee checked his internal chronometer again. Two minutes until ten, and still no notification.

"Bumblebee?" a voice brought the mech to look down at the human form of Ironhide.

"Ironhide, you're supposed to be beginning your recharge with the others. Is something the matter?" Bumblebee asked.

"It's not really as important as what's got you in a rift. Something botherin' ya?" the masculine form crossed his arms and looked up at the yellow mech.

"I was debating on whether or not to take Cat's word and send out a scout unit for her. She had promised to call before ten and it's nearly that time..."

"Take her word then. If Cat says that she'll call, she'll call. If she hasn't, then something's gone wrong," Hide's gruff voice encouraged.

Bumblebee merely nodded and was about to go and activate Cat's Global Position Sensor when he stopped and reguarded Ironhide for a moment.

"Wasn't there something you needed?"

Ironhide reached an arm behind his head as if he were only reluctant to say what he wanted to, but he sighed and brought a hand over to the opposite shoulder, pulling up the sleeve a few inches.

"Those fraggin' twins were causing trouble, and I got in a bit of a scuffle with em... I'm not sure what to make of what I've done to this body, and was hoping you could tell me," he said as he showed his concern.

Bumblebee's sky blue optics widened when he saw it.

"Ironhide... You're bleeding human blood! The matter converters are speeding up the process!"

--

Well, I think that was enough of a Chapter Teaser really.

Will Cat come out of battle unharmed? Will her efforts to save the Autobots from turning completely into humans be shattered by the speeding process?

Tell me what you think!