Hey, everyone! I can't apologize enough for how long this took. Essentially, crap hit the fan and I'm still struggling to deal with everything. Shout-out to L. Z. WIldlough and hiyukihime2 for favoriting/following my story! Onwards!

Legend: Speaking in thoughts to wolves or Edward

Thinking

Emphasis on a thought/word

**** swear words

"Comm"

Text Message

Disclaimer: I don't own anything Transformers or Twilight, all I own is Katherine, students that were hurt/died in the attack, and the plot.

What happens in the past needs to stay there.

The silence was deafening at Agent Thomas's words and I jumped to my feet while glaring at Uncle Charlie, "You and dad promised they'd never find me! You promised I would be safe from them!"

He hugged me tightly as tears pricked my eyes when reality began to set in that I wouldn't escape as easily this time, "I'm so sorry, alley cat. We never thought they would find you here. Nobody knows Sarah and I were siblings. They never should have found you."

We sat in silence for a few seconds before he pulled away and resumed his normal attitude of not liking girly moments. I turned to face our audience that was all staring at us and sighed. My family hadn't told anybody that didn't need to know. Only my uncle and Epps knew besides my parents and the FBI of what was happening, even the Bots hadn't been told.

"Guess I should explain everything. I was hoping this would never intrude on my life here, but I must have jinxed it," I didn't pay much attention as Agent Thomas shut the door to prevent eavesdropping, "Well, my Sophomore year of high school, I witnessed a murder. The Oliver family….they're a mafia essentially in California that pretty much controls crime from San Francisco to L.A. My mom and I had been shopping in San Francisco while my dad was in Qatar. I had separated from her to run to the bathroom while she got food and that's when I saw..." I took a deep breath as my hands began shaking and I started to play with the hem of my shirt to try and hide the shaking, "I saw a man stab a woman over and over while I just sat there. I was able to record him stabbing her and then I managed to get a recording of him talking to another man about some other murders that hadn't been solved yet."

I took another deep breath and tried to steady my hands more, but it wasn't working very well, "Turns out I caught Andrew Oliver, the oldest son and soon-to-be head of the Oliver family, stabbing his pregnant girlfriend to death and they saw me as I ran away. My mom rushed me to the cops and they took the video as well as my testimony. I had undercover cops following me for a while until I got caught in Mission City, but then I started finding messages in my locker at school basically telling me not to testify. So my parents sent me to live with Uncle Charlie for a little bit cause it would be hard to connect my mom and I to him since she was adopted by his parents, but she kept her old name. We gave everyone the excuse that I was struggling with memories of being stuck in Mission City and that I needed a change of scenery in order to heal, but it looks like I was somehow found."

I stood silent for a minute before I was tugged back down beside Ironhide as he hugged me tightly and he glared at the agent, "How did they find her?"

The agent shook his head, "We have not been able to figure that out yet. If it had been after the shooting, we could say it was the media publicity. However, we haven't been able to find the leak since this is what caused the shooting. We will release a statement to the press saying that we caught the shooter, but we will not mention anything about you or the Oliver family. We don't need the media getting that and turning the blame onto you for the shooting. You may all go home if you would like."

We all pretty much agreed and followed him outside to where we had parked. I climbed into the driver's seat again with Hide beside me as the other four squished into the back until we got far enough out of the city that Hide dismissed his holoform and Carlisle climbed into the front seat. Once we got back to Uncle Charlie's house, Bella left with the Cullens while I went inside with Ironhide. I was immediately yanked into Elita's arms as Optimus stood right behind her and I wrapped my arms around the femme's holoform while tears slowly dripped down my face, "I'm scared. What if they come after me again?"

I jumped when I heard Ironhide snarl behind me and I turned to look at him while staying in Elita's arms, "Never. They will never get you, sparkling. I swear on my spark that you will be safe."

Then another holoform materialized and I blinked in shock when I recognized Mia's holoform. She had a couple puckered lines on her chest that looked like newly formed scars and represented the weld lines Ratchet and I had to do. She also had a few bruises littering her body that represented the dents I hadn't fixed yet because Ratchet and I had focused on just keeping her alive, "They will have to get through me before they can even touch you, sweetspark, and I can take humans down as easily as I take a Con down."

Gasping her name, I jumped over to hug her and she hugged me back as well when she felt me shaking, "I'm sorry, Mia. I shouldn't have been so stupid. I'm sorry you got hurt."

She pulled back and lightly tapped my nose, "Stop that. It wasn't your fault. Besides, I've taken harder hits. You really think one of those two was going to be able to kill me?"

I laughed a little before wiping my eyes as we turned to the others, "So who is all staying and going?"

They all looked at each other before Optimus spoke, "Only Chromia will be staying with you, Katherine. The rest of us are needed on base in order to look for more Decepticons. Their attacks have been increasing rapidly around the globe."

Despite my best effort, I felt my face fall at the news because I was going to miss everyone when they left. I gave them all hugs, but I held onto Hide a little tighter and longer, "What's wrong, sweetspark?"

I looked up with tears in my eyes, "Save my dad, Hide. I need him back."

His electric blue eyes gazed straight at me and he crouched a little to be at my height, "I promise with my spark that I will do whatever I have to do to bring him home. I promise, sweetspark. I love you."

A small smile crossed my lips as he kissed my forehead, "Love you too, Hide. I'll take care of Mia, don't worry."

He guffawed as his sparkmate wrapped her arm around my shoulders and poked me in the side, "I can handle myself, Kat. I think it will be me saving your aft."

I grinned at her playfulness because that was a sure sign she was okay and it relieved some worry that she was hiding her hurt. Ratchet grabbed a bag out of the back of his alt form before handing it to me and I was surprised at the weight, "Those are some emergency supplies for Chromia in case something tears or come loose. I also put in some of the sealing agent for you to apply once the welds start to disappear. Comm me if you have any problems or concerns, Kat."

He gave a small smile before leaving with Hide, Elita, and Optimus as Mia and I stood at the edge of the yard until they faded from view. I sighed before giggling when my side was suddenly tickled, "Come on, Kat, you need to eat."

I groaned at the sentence, "I don't trust your cooking, Mia. You almost burned down the base last time you tried."

She cuffed the back of my head and I rubbed it as we walked inside, "I didn't say I was going to cook for you, scraplet. I only said you needed to eat."

Rolling my eyes, I shot a text to Bella asking if she was going to come back and eat or if she was going to eat over at Edward's house. She responded back quickly that she was eating over there and I was welcome to come. I smiled and told her I was on my way before grabbing my helmet as Mia's holoform disappeared. In a minute, I was racing down the familiar route towards the Cullens and my cousin as I silently thought about how they were handling everything they had learned.

Mia formed her holoform once we had stopped and she came inside with me after I had set my helmet on her alt form. I waved slightly when we walked in, "Hey, guys. How are y'all handling the giant alien robot thing?"

I could tell they weren't too comfortable with Mia there and I rolled my eyes again, "Come on, she's the same person you knew before you discovered she wasn't human. You just know the secret now."

I could tell Carlisle decided to put the first foot forward in pretending Mia wasn't an alien since nobody else was making any moves, "What is the plan about the Oliver family, Kat?"

Sighing, I shrugged and sat on the arm of the couch beside Jasper, "I honestly have no idea. The biggest problem is how they found out where I'm hiding. Practically nobody in California knows about my mom and Uncle Charlie being siblings. This was the perfect hiding place because of that. FBI is trying to figure out how it got out and the Bots are trying to figure that out on their end, plus how the Cons fou-" I was interrupted by my phone ringing and I walked away as I answered, "Hey, Uncle Epps. What's up?"

I winced at his tone, "Don't 'what's up' me, Katherine. You should have called me the second you found out this involved the Oliver family. Why didn't you call?"

"It's been a crazy day. I've been juggling the role of ambassador and then getting hauled to the FBI headquarters. I haven't even had time to freak out about that ****. I was going to call you later. Sorry."

"Don't apologize, kid. I'm sorry. Shouldn't have chewed you out like that. So vampires and werewolves exist now?"

"Yep. I'm jumping off a bridge if fairies and witches are real too."

"You're a danger magnet, Kat. Seriously, we send you to the most boring town possible and you still manage to find trouble. I'm beginning to think that that's genetic."

I couldn't help the laugh that escaped me, "Yeah, yeah, whatever you say, old man. I ain't as bad as my dad. He's the one that rode a motorcycle underneath a Con trying to kill you guys. Besides, you guys were attacked how many times before even reaching U.S. shore?"

He grumbled quietly to himself for a minute before speaking again, "Genetic, I swear. You and your dad never cut me some slack. I have to go, Galloway is coming for an update on our search for your dad. Stay safe, kid, alright? And call if you need anything."

Smiling, I rolled my eyes slightly, "I'll do my best to stay safe, but that will be impossible if you think I'm a danger magnet. Love you, Uncle Epps."

I could hear the grin in his voice, "I love you too, Kat. Take care."

He hung up and I returned back to the main room, where I was handed a plate of pasta, "Who was that?"

Sitting down on the floor in front of where Mia was sitting, I took a bite before answering my cousin's question, "Robert Epps. He's my dad's best friend and he's basically my uncle. Also my godfather, so he gets custody of me if anything ever happened to my parents."

I saw Bella's face furrow for a second before she spoke again, "I thought Charlie would get custody of you if something ever happened."

Shrugging, I swallowed the bite in my mouth before I answered, "Well, last time they wrote their will, your dad was paying child support to your mom and there was no way he'd be able to support you and me, so they wrote that Uncle Epps gets first custody of me. If he can't, then I go to Hide and Mia, then Prime and Elita, then Ratchet, and then your dad. They wanted me to stay with the Bots if I could since I'm already involved in their war and I wouldn't have to lie to them about it."

I continued eating as everyone sat in silence for a minute before Bella finally spoke again, "Why do you know so much about what they want?"

Silence met her question as I stared down at my half eaten bowl of pasta. I suddenly wasn't hungry anymore as I was able to find my voice, "With my dad in the military, there was always a chance he wouldn't come back. We thought he died once and that was horrible. But when the Cons came into the picture, my parents sat down and discussed everything with me. They didn't want to risk somebody hiding the will and sending me anywhere else."

Nobody responded as I stood and took my bowl to the kitchen to rinse it out. I was in the process of cleaning it when I felt someone standing behind me, "You know Bella didn't mean anything by that question, right?"

I turned to see Edward standing there and I sighed, "I know, Edward. Just sucks remembering that I only have my dad left and I don't even know if he's still alive."

After spending a couple more hours there, I went back to Bella's house to get some sleep before school tomorrow. Heaven knows I would need it to deal with the bullies. When I woke the next morning, I decided to dress in a more casual way than normal. I put on a black tank with the saying "Good Girl with Bad Habits" before pulling on some gray and black exercise capris. I pulled on some black fingerless gloves and some combat boots and then headed downstairs to drink some Mountain Dew while waiting for my cousin and the Cullens.

Mia's holoform appeared beside me and I gave her a smile, "How're you feeling?"

She gave me a reassuring smile, "Good, almost completely healed. I'm taking you to school today."

I eyed her before nodding and I let Edward in as I left to head to school. The school day was absolute torture as kids made fun of me whenever the Cullens and my cousin weren't around. However, it didn't get truly horrible until the end of the day when Mike Newton cornered me by my locker with his buddy, Tyler, "Looks like the freak is still showing her face around here. Why don't you just die and join your parents?"

Breathing in deeply, I shut my locker and turned to look at the boys, "Leave me alone. I haven't done anything to you and you're being immature."

Mike's grin turned into a scowl as he shoved my shoulder a little, "Being alive gives us reason to do this. Learn your place, orphan."

Students started lining up around us and I could see that Alice had been filming on her phone since the beginning while Edward was holding my cousin back from joining me. I turned my attention back to the two boys standing before me, "Don't touch me, Newton. That's your only warning." I didn't have a chance to move before Newton's fist connected with my right eye and I stumbled back a step from the force. I shook my head to clear the fuzziness and got into a defensive stance while grounding out, "If you want a fight, you'll get one."

He swung at me again, but I was ready and I dodged beneath his arm before swinging a fist into his gut. I spinned around him and kicked the back of his knees to make him fall to the floor before Tyler shoved me and I skidded across the floor. My knees stung as I tore them open, but I shoved the pain to the back of my mind as I jumped back to my feet. Tyler began throwing a lot of punches, but they were sloppy and spoke of schoolboy fights. I smirked a little and mentally thanked my dad and the Bots for making me learn how to fight. Without hesitation, I moved in between some of his punches and slammed a knee into his groin before shoving him into Mike, who had just stood up.

I readied myself for another attack, but relaxed when the principal came stumbling over, "What is going on here? Why are you fighting in the halls?"

Mike and Tyler began crying out that I had attacked them for no reason and that they were the victims. I rolled my eyes and picked up my backpack that I had dropped as I turned to look at the older man, "I acted in self-defense, sir. Alice Cullen got it all on film and I am certain many of the other kids here also caught it on camera."

The three of us were forced to go to the office with Alice trailing behind us and I leaned against the wall while the two boys immediately sat down. They both glared at me and I just gave a smug smirk as the principal spoke with Alice. Eventually, he came out and wearily dished out punishments, "Newton, Crowley, you both have detention for two weeks after school every day. Lennox, you're free to go. You will all be suspended if there is anymore fighting and I have called all of your guardians to inform them of what happened."

I left with Alice as the two boys moaned about the detentions, "Thanks, Alice. I would've been screwed if you didn't film it."

She gave me a smile and we reached the others, "Are you okay, Kat? That was a bad fight!"

Rolling my eyes at my cousin's dramatic yell, I began to lead the way to our vehicles, "That was nothing. I get worse injuries when training with Hide, Mia, and my dad. Besides, that was hardly a fight. They just got a couple lucky hits."

I threw my helmet on and Chromia wasted no time in racing towards Uncle Charlie's house. She formed her holoform once we arrived and stalked after me into the house before claiming my laptop to Skype with the Bots and Epps. I winced at the looks I got when they saw my face, "****, girl, I hope they look worse."

Chuckling, I accepted the bag of ice from Mia before covering my eye, "Yeah, I hit them harder than they hit me. They got detention for a while, but we're all suspended if we fight anymore."

They all nodded before I saw Epps narrow his eyes and his voice got serious, "I'm glad you aren't seriously hurt, but now for the truth. When were you going to tell us about the bullying?"

I felt my face whiten because their knowledge about the bullying would explain Chromia's race to get us here and to Skype the others, Well, this isn't going to go over well.