I know this chapter is a little slow, but next chapter should pick up! :)

Hope you guys like this chapter!

I'll let you guys read the chapter without a lot of commentary!

God Bless and Good Day!

~The Lupine Sojourner

The next thing I know is my back being scratched by Uncle Jack.

"C'mon, Robyn. I need to go soon, and I made omelets and toast."

He starts poking my ribs, so I sit up and see Uncle Jack sitting on the edge of my bed as I try to subtly glance at my windows to make sure M-196 isn't peeking in as I stretch.

"Morning, Uncle Jack!" I greet, hugging him. "How was the drive?"

He chuckles. "Fine. Now, go brush your teeth and get dressed. We've got less than an hour before my boys are done scoping out the meteor crash site." I nod, my heart kicking up a bit. Would they find evidence I'd been there? Probably not. Hopefully not… Uncle Jack stands from the side of my bed and sighs. "I really wish I could stay all day. You know that, right?"

"I know." I reply, managing a smile despite feeling sad. He looks so tired. And that new scar…it looks like it might still hurt. "I'll be out in a minute."

He nods and leaves.

I sigh and get up, heading into the bathroom.

It's not until I'm brushing my teeth and wondering how this conversation will go that I notice the faint blue light in the room.

I glance at the window and see M-196 looking in, her eyes causing the blue light.

Startled, I have to stifle a scream by closing my mouth around my toothbrush.

"How long have you been watching me?!" I snap as quietly as I can after spitting out the toothpaste and opening the window.

She just smiles at me. "Not long. What're you doing?"

"Brushing my tee-doesn't matter! You need to hide!"

She chuckles. "Relax. This side of the house is invisible to him."

I huff. "Just please be careful! He has agents scoping out your crash site! That's why he can be here to make me breakfast!"

"Breakfast?"

"I'll explain later!" I pull my hair up into a messy bun. "You need to stay right here until he leaves, ok?"

She throws a casual salute, still smirking. "Got it. Go see what he knows about B-127, if you can."

I close the window and door to the bathroom, changing quickly into capris and a loose floral top for work, grabbing my Converse high tops and socks on my way out. Just as I'm closing the door to my bedroom, I spot M-196 crouching against the house to wait. Luckily, I don't hear her moving, so neither will Uncle Jack…hopefully.

I take a few deep breaths on my way into the dining room to settle my nerves before putting a smile on and setting my shoes and socks by the table before grabbing a mug for coffee.

"Those omelets smell delicious, Uncle Jack!"

Uncle Jack emerges from rummaging in the pantry. "Thanks, sweetheart. Have you seen those granola bars I just bought anywhere? It's a long drive to Texas."

I shrug. "Should be with the other bars."

He sighs, walking into the pantry again. "Yeah, ye-oh. They were just in the back. Thanks."

I smile and cut a bit of omelet. As usual, they are fantastic. Uncle Jack can cook a mean omelet. Onions, bell peppers, mushrooms, salami, ham, and liberal salt and pepper make it so good! "No problem!"

Uncle Jack closes the pantry and walks over, sighing as he sits down to eat. "I hate to talk business this early in the morning, but you haven't seen anything since that crash last night, right?"

I frown, coffee mug halfway to my mouth. "I hadn't heard about it before your message. What's going on?"

He sighs, dipping his head. "Knew I should've just surprised you and not said anything." He straightens. "It's nothing major, but there was a meteor strike last night not long after midnight. I knew you were probably stargazing, so I called just after the report was handed to me and I was ordered to Texas."

I tilt my head, hoping I wasn't about to ask the wrong question. "It's fine. I like knowing you're coming to visit. What's in Texas?"

"More meteors, if you can believe it. Guess there's never just one."

I take another bite, shrugging. Now to backpedal just a little before he gets suspicious. "You'd know more about that than I do."

Uncle Jack smiles. "As usual."

I pretend to be offended. "Oi! I resemble that remark!" I flick a fallen bit of mushroom at him and it hits his scar.

He subtly winces.

I stand. "Sorry, Uncle Jack!"

"Don't worry. It's alright."

Taking another risk, I walk over to get a closer look. "How'd that happen, anyway?"

"Weapons malfunction during a training exercise. Nothing major."

'Nothing major' means 'I don't want you to know more, so I'm downplaying the situation to avoid you pressing', so I just wince and sit back down.

"Dang."

"It'll heal." He sighs, eating a large bite of omelet. "Eat up, honey."

That's another way he tells me to stop asking or pressing or worrying without actually telling me to stop, so I obey, eating in silence and sipping my coffee.

Once we are both done with our plates, I grab them and take them to the sink.

"Thanks for breakfast, Uncle Jack." I say as he finishes his coffee.

"My pleasure, Robyn."

His walkie-talkie then beeps and a man's voice comes on.

"Agent Burns, sir?"

"This is he. Go ahead." Uncle Jack gives me an apologetic look as I make my way toward the hall and my room, as usual when he talks to one of his agents, but this time I stop just outside his field of vision to eavesdrop.

"We can confirm another NBE, sir."

NBE? What's that mean? Is that some code for M-196 and B-127?

"I knew it. Any idea where it went?"

"No sir. Tracks disappear at the base of this trail. The gravel makes it difficult to determine where it might have gone, sir."

I exhale softly. That's a relief.

"Understood. I'm on my way."

I quickly tip-toe back to my room as I hear Uncle Jack take his coffee mug to the sink before pausing. I hear a heavy sigh as I close the door.

Then his footsteps come down the hall.

Time to play dumb…again. I jog over to my earring organizer and grab a pair that goes with my outfit.

He knocks as I put the first earring in.

"Come in."

"I've gotta go, Robyn." He announces, as I suspected.

"Something wrong?"

"The boys might've found something at the crash site. Nothing you need to worry about." Yet another way he dismisses my questions.

I get that some stuff is classified, but c'mon! I'm not a kid anymore!

However, it's not like I have any way to make him talk to me without raising suspicions (or in general), so I just nod as I put the back on my other earring. "Ok."

"The bus comes soon, right?"

I nod. "I was about to go put my shoes on."

"I can drive you to the bus stop."

I shake my head. Normally, I'd take him up on the offer, but I want to talk to M-196 on the way to work. Thankfully, him being called to duty gives me a perfect excuse to say no. "Nah, that's alright. Duty calls."

He groans. "Don't remind me." He gestures me over and I hug him tight. "I love you." He murmurs into my hair as he rubs my back.

"I love you, too." even if I have to lie to you about this.

"I'll see you as soon as I can, alright?"

I nod as Uncle Jack ends the hug. "I know."

"Have a good shift."

I chuckle. "Please. Nothing ever happens at the library, you know that."

"Still."

"Good luck on that situation in Texas!" I call as he leaves my room.

"I should be able to come back for a bit when it's done, so we can buy you a car." Uncle Jack calls back.

I follow him out to the front door. "Sweet!"

"Alright, I'm heading out. You know what to do, right?"

I roll my eyes and smile. "Lock the door behind me, head straight for the bus stop, and never open the door for anyone I don't know. Even if they have candy." When I was 'too old for a babysitter', Uncle Jack had to leave me alone in the house with those instructions (adding the one about the bus stop when I started my job). He'd had me repeat them ever since.

It was something of an inside joke at this point.

He blows me a kiss as he opens the door and soon I hear his car pulling out of the driveway.

I sigh and slump in a seat at the table. I grab my mug and drain the last of the coffee in a bit of a mood.

I didn't like not being completely open with him, even if he is hardly ever completely open with me.

It makes my stomach churn a little.

But I smile a bit as I remember why I had to lie to him.

I'd met an alien robot! And she's on a mission to find her friend and help her people regroup here on Earth! I might be able to help her!

I get up from the table when I remember I have to go to work.

But after work, I'll talk to M-196 some more!

I put my socks and shoes on and grab my purse from my room.

As I open the front door, I have a thought.

Is it ok for me to drive M-196? I know she scanned that car to maintain her cover, but is it breaking some kind of rule of her species to actually drive her?

I'll have to ask. I'm pretty sure it's fine, but…

As I walk over to M-196, I remember Charlie and I are supposed to call after we both get off work.

We happen to share a birthday, so we always do something to celebrate together, but we haven't been able to coordinate anything yet this year.

Our idea is that I take her for a drive (and vice versa if she has a car, too) and we're gonna just have fun together.

But now…I'm not sure how to handle this.

"Hey, uh, M-196?" I ask softly.

"Yes?" She replies.

"I can drive you around, right?"

"We already discussed the plan."

"I know. I just wanted to make sure it was ok for me to drive you."

"I would have said something if it wasn't."

"Fair enough. By the way, the men at the crash site didn't find any evidence of where you went, so we're in the clear."

"That's good. What's the plan for the rest of the solar cycle?"

"Um, I'll be at the library for a while, then after work, I'm supposed to call my friend, Charlie, and set up a time to show her, uh, you."

"Really?"

"Yeah, but in my defense, we made the arrangement a long time ago. Uncle Jack was supposed to take me out to buy a car the day I met you, aka my birthday, so I told her I'd take her for a drive."

She laughs and opens the door for me to climb in, making an engine starting noise (even though I'm pretty sure she doesn't have a car engine, strictly speaking) as I close the door and buckle in. "Fair enough. You think this 'Charlie' could have seen B-127?" Her voice comes from the speakers again, the screen covering where the radio system should be, the Autobot symbol flashing a bit as she speaks.

I sigh. "I'm really not sure. If she did, we're lucky. This is a fairly small town, but if he's gone into hiding to avoid the Decepticons, it'll be hard to find him." As I start driving (luckily I'd memorized the route the bus takes), a thought occurs to me. "I'm sure you've already tried, but isn't there a way for you to track B-127?"

"I wish it were that simple, but no. I have a read on his life signal, but that doesn't give his location data. It just tells me his Spark hasn't gone out." She replies. "Without an open line of communication, I have no way of locating him except by looking with my optics."

I can guess what 'optics' are, but… "Spark?"

"Our very core, the thing that makes us who we are, and pumps Energon through us."

I exhale. "Wow…that's cool." Not an engine, but not unlike a heart, from the sound of it. I'm guessing it's also kind of a soul, or at least something akin to a soul.

"I suppose. Now, it goes without saying, but no one can know the truth about me, alright? Not just your uncle."

I nod. "Of course. You're just my awesome new car. Got it. Once I get out of work, I'll call Charlie and set up a time to meet up and when we do, I'll try to ask about the Autobot symbol as covertly as possible."

"I appreciate it, Robyn."

I smile, unsure if she could see it. "Of course. I know this planet is new and strange for you, but I'm glad I went stargazing last night."

M-196 chuckles. "Me, too. I'll access this 'Internet' while you are at work, and see what I can find."

I nod. "Sounds like a plan."

=#=#=#=#=

This is one of the times I'm grateful to only have a part time position.

I could hardly focus on my work, too eager to call Charlie and hopefully help M-196 find B-127.

M-196 (I've gotta see if she'd object to a nickname) is really worried about him.

I hope he's ok…

The Decepticons seem really powerful if they can follow the Autobots here, but hopefully they haven't found out where the Autobots are yet.

Finally, it's time for me to leave.

"Are you done with work?" M-196 asks as I get in.

"Yup, for the day, anyway." I hope asking about a nickname isn't a bad thing for Autobots… "Hey, if it's ok, can I give you a nickname? M-196 is a little stuffy and impersonal, no offense."

M-196 chuckles as I pull out of the library. "I don't see why not. With the war raging on Cybertron, naming myself didn't seem that high of a priority. What did you have in mind?"

I wince, setting what she'd said about the war aside and thinking about possible names. "Hmm, definitely something that starts with 'M'. Maybe…" I tilt my head, eyeing her green paint in the side view mirror. "Mayfly. It's a kind of insect on Earth that's kinda iridescent green. Plus, the doors on your back look a bit like wings."

"I like it!" Mayfly pauses a moment. "So, who is this Charlie?"

"She's my good friend. Her dad recently passed away, so I've been trying to be there for her, you know?"

"I'm sorry to hear that." She pauses. "I don't have anyone I could consider anything like a parental or mentor figure. Just Optimus, sort of, and a few older femmes I used to be close with. It hurt to lose them…" 'Femme' is probably just the name for female Cybertronians.

I feel bad for her, losing people she's close to over the years of war…

"I don't remember my parents, so it hurts less for me. I can't imagine losing a father you have years of memories with…" I sigh, feeling the familiar pit in my stomach that opens when I think of losing Uncle Jack. He's the only family I have left… I shake myself and change the subject. "What about siblings? You have anyone you've known all your life or that you feel you can trust like no one else?" That's how Uncle Jack described my dad to me, anyway.

Charlie has a more negative view on siblings from her little brother, Otis, who is apparently a pain in her ass. She makes a point of not allowing Otis in her room when I'm over, so I've never really interacted with him.

"I…suppose I could say B-127 is like that, but I've never really thought about it that way." She sighs. "I really hope he's ok…"

I regret bringing up siblings now… "Hey, don't worry. We'll find him, you'll see."

"Thanks."

"So, did you learn anything that might help us find him?"

Mayfly groans. "Yes and no. I stumbled on some of what you call 'news stations' on 'radio' frequencies and they say they picked up B-127's crash and reported that in the same area there was a mine that was destroyed by some accidental equipment malfunctions or something. They're apparently 'unclear on the details' because the military is 'unavailable for comment', which sounds like they're trying to cover the situation up, but poorly."

I frown. "I heard about something entering the atmosphere a few weeks ago, but I didn't hear about the mine." A thought then occurs to me. "Wait…the mine incident was the same day B-127 crashed here, right? And B-127's been here nearly 30 days? And the distress signal was sent the day before yesterday?"

A thought then hits me. I wonder if Uncle Jack's injuries had anything to do with Bumblebee's crash and whatever happened at the mine…the timeline seems to add up. Plus Uncle Jack said he got his new scar from a weapon malfunction. I wish he could tell me what really happened to him. Had he met B-127? Is that what happened that day? He met B-127 and cornered him at the mine?

"Yes, a brief distress signal was sent, but it was nothing intelligible. Just some kind of music. He couldn't seem to speak to us before he went silent again, so we couldn't pinpoint his coordinates."

"This just gets weirder and weirder." I sigh as we near the house.

"Yes, and more distressing. I hate to assume ill of your uncle, given what he means to you, but is it possible he and your military might have apprehended him? And that's why B-127 could only send a signal?"

I bite my lip. "I want to say no, but…" I sigh. "If they saw him, they'd likely engage him without knowing what he is. Unfortunately, the military tends to shoot first, ask questions later." I get an idea as I conveniently come to a red light. "Is there a way to show me where Bee landed?"

Coordinates are displayed on the screen a moment later, and I see-

"Oh, shit." I have to refocus on the road as the light turns green, but that confirms Uncle Jack met B-127!

"What is it?"

"That's the training area of the army base my Uncle works at…if Bee really crashed there, it's all but guaranteed B-127 ran into the military."

"So you think they might have him?"

"It's hard to say for sure…Uncle Jack usually gives vague hints, and all he said was it's an 'ongoing situation', which makes me think they're looking for him. Maybe they damaged him somehow and that's why he can't speak, but it seems to me he got away."

"You think?"

I nod. "I hope, at least. Uncle Jack got new injuries around the time of Bee's crash. Plus, he would've said they 'apprehended a culprit' in the mine incident or something if they'd caught him."

"That's good and bad news."

I sigh. "Yeah, I know. I'm sorry."

"It's ok. It's better than the humans capturing him and experimenting on him all this time. No offense."

I shudder. "No, I agree with you. I'd hate to think what they might try to do to him to understand what he is."

"I'm grateful you didn't turn me in, Robyn."

I smile. "Just because I didn't have a phone and you explained yourself before I had access to one." I tease.

"Surrreee…" She chuckles. "By the way, what's a 'Birthday'? You mentioned you were supposed to purchase a car for that event, but I don't know what that means."

"Oh, it means someone's lived another year. Uh, every 365 days-I think you called them solar cycles-is called a year and we celebrate the day we were born."

"'Born'? I don't understand."

I flush scarlet. Conveniently, I pull into the driveway. "Oh look, we're here!" I stammer, getting out of the car as quickly as I could. "See you in a bit!"

I get inside before Mayfly can ask me anything else. I did not want to give her the 'Birds and Bees' talk.

I clear my throat and take a deep breath before grabbing the phone and dialing the Watson's home line.

"Hello, Watson residence."

"Hi, Mrs. Watson. This is Robyn Burns."

"Oh, hi, honey!" Mrs. Watson is always sweet to me, but according to Charlie, she's different. "You wanting to talk to Charlie, I take it?"

"If I can, yes ma'am."

"Well, she freaked out a little when I borrowed that new junkyard car of hers this morning and took off without saying where she was going. Sorry, hun."

I click my tongue in disappointment. "That's alright. If you see her, please tell her I called and would like to set up a time to meet for our birthday."

"I will, darlin'. Thanks for calling. And Happy Birthday!"

"Thanks. Have a good night."

"You, too."

I hang up, sighing.

Only to hear tapping on the window. I look over and see Mayfly kneeling outside the window, tapping gently on the glass.

"Mayfly, someone could see you!" I snap, opening the window.

"Did Charlie agree to meet up?" She asks.

"No, she wasn't home, but I told her mom to tell Charlie to call me as soon as Charlie is back."

"That's good."

"I was about to come out and tell you." I grumble. "You need to stay hidden!"

"No one was around. Besides, it's confining, being in vehicle mode for extended periods of time."

I sigh, a bit of sympathy overcoming my irritation. "I get that, but still. Any word from your other friends, by the way?"

She shrugs a little. "Just Optimus checking in on me last night, as you call it. I told him I'd met you and you might be able to help me, so he's up to date. I'll tell him about your uncle and the theory we have just to give him all the information."

I frown. I hope she doesn't make him seem like some heartless villain… "Uncle Jack is a good man, he just doesn't know what you guys are and probably assumes you want to hurt us or something."

Mayfly smiles and nods. "I know, and I'll tell Optimus that, but the fact remains that he's a factor in this mess."

I nod. "Yeah, I know. Once he gets an idea or opinion in his head, it's hard to change his mind. If I could just talk to him about it-"

"No good. He'd call the military in anyway because he doesn't trust that I'm telling you the truth. I've seen it before."

I wince. "I'm sorry."

"It's alright. Comes with the territory when you're at war."

I nod, feeling bad for Mayfly and wondering just how long she's been fighting this war. "I bet. If it's not weird…how old are you?"

Mayfly frowns. "Well, converting it all to Earth measurements of time...roughly 1000 years, give or take."

My eyes go wide. "What?!"

Mayfly chuckles. "Hey, I'm still considered young by Cybertronian standards. Aren't you young by human standards?"

"Yeah, but humans don't live to 100 usually! 1000 years is a long time to us!"

"Calm down. Cybertronians live for thousands of your years. Optimus is well over 10,000 years old, and he wasn't even the oldest Cybertronian when we left Cybertron."

I exhale, my mind whirling. "That's crazy."

"Maybe to you."

I blink. "So however long I live will be very short to you." It was a sad thought, and I hadn't really meant to say it out loud, but it's how I feel. I then shake myself. "Sorry. I know you aren't planning on being on Earth my entire life, but-"

"It's ok, Robyn. I get it. I just didn't realize humans have a different life span, that's all."

"Me, neither." I sigh after several moments of silence. "I need to get lunch."

"What's that?"

"Food, like this morning's breakfast."

"You did say you'd explain later. What is 'food' or 'breakfast'?"

"Basically, our version of Energon, but we can make it a lot of different ways using stuff native to Earth like certain plants and even some animal meat or byproducts."

"You eat animals?"

I shrug. "Yeah, we do. Not all of them, though."

She frowns. "Still. That's weird."

I chuckle. "Says the robot lady who doesn't need to eat."

"Touché. You should go get some food, Robyn."

I nod. "Ok."

On impulse, I take my lunch (egg salad sandwich with some chips and pickles) outside to the side of the house where no one passing by could see.

Mayfly sneaks over. "So that's food, huh?"

I nod. "Yup."

"Looks weird."

I smirk. "Maybe to you."

She laughs. "How often are you gonna use my own words against me?"

"As often as it's funny." I reply, then take a bite.

Mayfly lets me eat in silence. "Earth is so different from Cybertron, but I like it so far."

I turn to her. "Oh?"

"Yeah, I wish I knew where B-127 is, but I can't help admiring the vibrance and life here." As if on cue, a bird chirps, and I see a squirrel hop from tree to tree. "See, right there. Those small creatures don't have a worry in the world and go about their lives."

"Yeah they're simpler creatures. They can't think like us, but they're content to simply live life."

"That sounds nice sometimes…"

I didn't expect these kinds of conversations from a robot, but here we are. "Yeah, sometimes, even if my problems aren't as bad as a global war. Though if you ask my uncle, he'd say the Russians are gonna wipe us out if we don't do something. Hell, he might even think you're Russian robots or something."

"Russian?"

"Yeah, a big country across the sea-"

"Sea?"

"Yeah, a big body of water. Water spans most of the world, actually. There are continents in the seas, and we live on what's called the North American continent. You know what?" I stand up, grabbing my plate. "Stay here, and I'll grab a globe of our planet." I come back out quickly and give Mayfly a geography lesson and a brief summary of my understanding of the Russia situation.

"Human politics are complicated." Mayfly chuckles. "On Cybertron, according to the older Autobots I talked to, there was a caste system under the High Counsel and the Prime, Sentinel. Then, Sentinel went missing just before the war started, which is why the High Counsel appointed Optimus as the next Prime, to lead the planet out of a tense time. Unfortunately, it resulted in a planet-wide war between Autobots and Decepticons."

"Wow. So, the war has been going on for a really long time, if Optimus is way over 10,000 years old."

Mayfly nods. "I've only known the war, but I look forward to the day when it's over and we can hopefully rebuild Cybertron and be free to enjoy it."

I smile. "I hope that day comes soon."

She smiles at me. "Thanks. Me, too." She then shifts so she's facing the wall. "Here, let me show you what Cybertron looked like in the historic footage. I got to go to the Hall of Records a few times, and I recorded data on what Cybertron was."

She projects footage on the wall like she projected the Autobot symbol when we met, and spends a while showing me sprawling cities glittering in Cybertron's sun, towers that reached far higher than any skyscraper could hope to, and even an almost crystalline city that Mayfly said was destroyed, showing me the frankly beautiful footage of the initial attack. The crystals glitter and shine in the sun and the flames of the explosions, creating a spectacle unlike anything I had ever seen.

"Wow…that was amazing!" I smile, staring at the now empty and-when did it get dark?

That wall was lit when Mayfly started her footage.

Mayfly chuckles. "I hope to one day see Cybertron like that, restored to it's glory with no war to ravage it." She heaves a sigh. "But that won't happen til all are one."

"Till all are one?" I ask, tilting my head. "What's that mean?"

"I mentioned the Well of Allsparks, right?"

"Yeah. You said you and B-127 came out of there at the same time, right?"

She nods. "Right. Well, that's where we all come from. We activate near the top of the Well and learn who and what we are. The legends say it's because Primus holds all Cybertronians in his arms, forming them from his own Spark, and when a Spark is extinguished, it is merely reabsorbed into Primus' Spark until it's reincarnated. So when we say 'til all are one', we mean 'until we are all One inside Primus' Spark' or 'until we are all of one mind'."

"I like that."

We sit there chatting for a while until I start to yawn.

"You should go sleep, Robyn." Mayfly says, chuckling.

"Yeah, yeah." I yawn again as I stand and stretch. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"See you then."

Same as last night, I smile as I brush my teeth, reveling in the feeling of being the first human (potentially) to befriend an alien.

I hope we can find B-127 soon. Poor Mayfly is really worried about him.

I'm starting to wonder about what's going on with Charlie. It's not like her to just take off, or to freak out over her mom borrowing her car…but maybe that's just how you feel when you first get a car. You want to take random drives and don't want to let anyone else borrow the car (especially if Mrs. Watson hadn't asked first).

But still. I need to talk to her. Finding a functioning car at the junkyard is pretty lucky, and if I were a car-robot alien stranded on an unknown world, I might choose somewhere like a junkyard to hide, especially if I need to recover from some type of injury.

I wonder if Charlie found Bumblebee. I don't have any hard evidence to back this hunch up, but it is an idea I can't seem to shake. What if she found B-127, and has been helping him like I'm helping Mayfly? It's a possibility, even if it sounds far-fetched.

I'll try to call her tomorrow before work, and best case scenario she can meet with me and I can talk to her.

Yeah, that's a good idea. If I call while eating breakfast, there's a good chance she'll answer or be at home to come to the phone.

With that, I turn off my bedside lamp and snuggle down into my sheets.

Tomorrow will be a good day. I just know it!