Cam's yellow Camaro drove up – except he was the car, and the guy who played video games with me and Breaker was basically just a puppet. It was kinda trippy to see the car and know what he really was now. I wondered what he looked like when he transformed.

Dad and Mom jumped out, running over to catch me in the tightest group hug. "Are you okay? Really okay?" she demanded, stroking my hair and looking me over like she was expecting broken bones or something.

"I'm fine, Mom," I promised. "Jazz took really good care of me. I'm just thirsty. And hot. "

Shade fell over us, and I realized it was the big one – Uncle Optimus – moving so that he stood between us and the sun. I smiled up at him gratefully.

"Hey Daemon," 'Trice said, and when I looked her way she was holding out an apple and grinning from ear to ear. "Welcome home!"

"You are the best little sister!" I said, pulling her close for a second before taking the apple. "And I've been wanting fresh fruit for days."

"I know," she cheerfully said and hugged me back. Because even though she was the best, she was still a little sister and that made 'annoying' her default setting. I took a crunchy, juicy bite of apple, hugged everybody I could reach, and just breathed in being home.

…

We were on Diego Garcia. All while I was growing up, I'd always thought of it as our awesome island vacation place. I never realized it was the home of the alien robots. Or one of their homes, anyway. 'Bee drove us from the beach to a little hospital or whatever there, and the doctors hurried me into an exam room.

Evac, Breaker, and 'Bee were there along with my family, so the room was pretty crowded. I even noticed Annabelle and Mr. and Mrs. Lennox out in the hallway, but they didn't try to squeeze in. I think the doctors knew who was really a robot and who wasn't, and they just worked around everybody. It was kind of embarrassing, though, because they'd made me go into the bathroom and change from the survival suit into a hospital gown.

"Can you tell us what your injuries are?" one of the doctors asked when I came back out and sat down on the medical bed-thing there.

"I don't have any," I said to her. "I'm just thirsty and hungry for real food and really want my own clothes back."

Turning to a nurse or whatever, the doctor ordered, "Electrolyte supplement." Then she turned to me. "You've been through a traumatic ordeal, Daemon, but you don't have to be brave anymore. We're here to help you feel better."

"You can trust her," Mom added.

I looked from her to Dad to Breaker and they all had these really worried expressions. Then I thought about all the times Dirge or Shockwave had scared me and I understood why they were reacting like this. I really could have been hurt or even killed by those Decepticons. Trying to help them feel better and make them actually believe me, I said, "I hurt my shoulder when I was running away from Shockwave?"

"Primus," Dad muttered.

Was that an Autobot word?

"Which shoulder?" the doctor asked, all serious.

"This one," I answered, raising my elbow and wincing a little when I swung my arm around. "It wasn't bothering me really on the space station, but now that I'm home, I can feel again that I hurt it."

"Tell me if any of this hurts." The doctor gently moved my arm, and while there was a twinge in one spot, it was fine otherwise.

"Jazz says the hibernation during their flight here probably made the injured muscle stiffen up," Breaker added, "but he didn't detect any breaks or even muscle tears. Not that he's a human doctor, of course, but his electromagnetic upgrades can be pretty useful and he's almost as handy as a field medic for patch jobs."

The nurse returned with a big mug of what looked like water, but when I drank some, it tasted kind of salty and sweet and…thick. It was pretty gross. "Can't I just have some water?" I asked.

"Drink all this first," the nurse answered. I pulled a face and he added, "Trust me, kid. We deal with dehydration here pretty regularly."

They were like Dirge and Shockwave – ordering me around again. I half-wished that Jazz would get me out of here, too. But to make Mom and Dad stop looking like they were about to cry, I sipped at my drink while the doctor finished up with my arm.

Carefully letting my elbow rest against my side again, she said, "At this point, an ibuprofen and gentle motion is all that injury really needs. No sports or additional battles with Decepticons for a few days, and you should be fine."

I grinned around my straw to hear her say that part about the Decepticons, and she winked. "Do you have any other injuries? Or even just discomforts?"

"Clothes?" I repeated.

"I'll see what can be arranged."

"We can help with that," Breaker added. "A woman by the name of Rebecca Segretti will meet you at the front door with a change of clothes for him."

"RaFly will?" I asked, surprised.

"She's in charge of our bug-out bags," Mom explained.

"Thank you," the doctor said. With a nod to the other medical people in the room, she led them all out so it was just me and my family again. The Lennoxs' slipped into the back of the room, too, and Annabelle waved 'hi.'

Mom glomped me again. "I'm so glad you're home safe. I can't believe…you have no idea how worried we've been."

"I'm so glad to be home, too," I said, hugging her back and meaning it.

Dad pulled me close when Mom let me go. "Jazz has told us all he knows about your time on the space station – "

"What about Beatus?" I interrupted.

"Who's Beatus?" 'Trice asked.

"Beatus…is Arcee's and my big secret," 'Bee answered with a sidelong grin at the other 'bots. "We have a sparkling."

"What?!" Mr. Lennox exclaimed.

"Where?" Breaker demanded.

"He's a secondary spark in Arcee's chamber," Evac said. "He doesn't have a frame because we don't have the materials to create a proper one for him. Or we didn't, anyway. That's why Prime is rounding up Sideswipe and Tracks and leaving in such a hurry. They hope to scavenge what we need from the space station's debris field. Beatus is already three years old and is hitting a growth spurt."

"Three years?" Mrs. Lennox asked.

"He was created when we got injured," Annabelle said. "Samuel used Arcee's spark-energy to heal Bumblebee and…well, Beatus was a bonus result."

Both Mr. and Mrs. Lennox looked at her and she smiled with a shrug. "At least I didn't make you wait fifteen years."

"Beatus helped me," I explained. "He was awesome, actually. Especially for a three-year-old. He was the one who knew all about Shockwave and Trypticon's body and where to get warm and everything. I didn't think to run and hide until he said to. And I never would have found Jazz without his help."

"He's eager to meet you in real life, too," Dad said. "But that's going to have to wait until they have a frame for him. And that's going to be, like, another month or two."

"Well, is there any way for me to thank him?"

"He's hearing and seeing everything I am," 'Bee explained. "Cybertronian families aren't blood-related."

"Duh," I reflexively said.

He half-smiled. "Instead, our kin-connections are mental and emotional. Our sparks – our souls, you could say – are in harmony. The energy frequencies are literally compatible."

I blinked for a couple of seconds, trying to wrap my head around that. "Like Luke and Leia with the Force?"

"Sure," 'Bee said. "We'll roll with that for now. So anyway, Beatus is thrilled you're home safe and is glad he was able to help." He snorted. "Okay, okay, his exact answer is…" and then 'Bee played the line, "Hey, it's okay, it's okay! You're Welcome!" from Moana.

I laughed, thinking that sounded way more like Beatus.

There was a knock at the open door, and the nurse was back, this time with a backpack in hand. "Here you go."

"Thank you!"

"Alright, let's give him some privacy," Mom declared and everyone started heading toward the door.

Privacy. It was another thing I was unexpectedly grateful for. That, and being able to use the bathroom again!

Inside the backpack was a couple pairs of basketball shorts, three t-shirts that were a size bigger than I usually wore, an unopened package of underwear, a pair of swimming trunks, a pair of pajamas, and some flip-flops that were too small. I put the flip-flops back in the bag and slung it over my shoulders, figuring we were on an island and it would be okay.

I walked over to the main door and opened it. Most everyone was gathered down the hall a little bit, but a couple steps away I saw Annabelle hugging a woman I didn't recognize.

"How are you doing?" the stranger asked, still hugging Annabelle.

"Okay," she answered. "A little jealous that I couldn't have had it that easy, but mostly just really glad that he's home and doing so well."

"Well, you let me know if you need to talk."

"Still have you on speed dial," Annabelle said, stepping back and smiling. Then the stranger noticed me.

With another glance and a nod at Annabelle, she turned toward me. "Hi, my name is Dr. Ellen Sarkisian."

Annabelle nudged her with her shoulder and smiled at me. "She's awesome. Listen to her, okay Daemon?"

"Okay?"

"I guess I can tell you the truth now," Annabelle added, leaning closer. "I got caught by Decepticons, too, a few years back, but I didn't exactly walk away from it."

"That summer you got in a car wreck?" I asked.

"It wasn't a car. It was Shockwave and a couple of his goons."

She paused, and I realized my jaw was hanging open. I closed it and, with a sad little smile, she continued, "Ratchet and some human doctors put me back together physically, but emotionally I was still a mess. Dr. Sarkisian is the one who's still helping me when I need it. You can trust her, okay?"

I nodded, and the doctor smiled at Annabelle. "That's quite an endorsement."

"Yeah, well, you do good work. I'll let you get to it."

With a nod at Annabelle, the doctor looked back at me. "I just want to talk with you for a few minutes about what you've experienced. Do you want it to be just the two of us, or is there someone else you'd like with you, to help you feel safer?"

"My mom," I instantly said.

The doctor looked down the hallway and said, "Mikaela?"

Mom looked her way and hurried over.

"I'd like to do a quick mental health assessment, after what Daemon's been through, and he'd like you to be present for it."

A smile spread across Mom's face, even though her eyes were still pinched, and she pulled me into a hug. "Of course. Thank you, Dr. Sarkisian."

We went back into the same exam room, but this time, Dr. Sarkisian gestured for me to sit in a chair instead of lay down on the exam bed. Mom sat in the chair next to me with her arm around me still, and the doctor sat on a padded stool.

"So…Daemon. I understand that you were taken from your school by Decepticons. We have a detailed account of what you and Jazz did, but could you fill in a few gaps for me?"

"Sure," I said, rubbing my hands on my knees nervously.

"When you were taken, were you threatened?"

I thought about it for a second. "Yeah, pretty much every Decepticon I talked to threatened me. But they didn't actually do anything."

"They didn't physically harm you?"

"No."

"Did they ever leave you feeling scared, though?"

"Um, yeah," I blurted out. "I mean, I got kidnapped, hauled off to Mars, Dirge almost ejected me in outer space, and I had to survive on granola bars and nutrition shakes for days!"

Mom's arm tightened around me and, confused, I looked up at her. She just looked really serious, though, not like I was going to get in trouble for mouthing off.

"I'm so sorry they frightened you, Daemon," Dr. Sarkisian said – like she meant it. "It sounds like, on that level, it was a pretty horrible experience."

"Well, I mean, it wasn't all bad. It was boring, mostly. They had me color in coloring books for the whole flight there, and then they locked me in a jail cell on the space station. But for being the bad guys, they did try to be nice. They just sucked at it."

"But you almost got ejected into space," Dr. Sarkisian pointed out.

"That was just 'cause I asked Dirge to cool down my water for me. I don't know if he even understood it could kill me to open the cockpit in space. And they even brought in one of their doctors to make sure I was healthy once I got there."

"Really," Dr. Sarkisian said, sounding surprised.

"Yeah. He was freaky to look at, but Scalpel was the one who brought me Pop Tarts."

"Scalpel?" Mom interrupted.

"Yeah?" I slowly answered.

"I'm sorry, Dr. Sarkisian, but we need to cut this short," Mom said. "We can finish later."

"What?" I asked, confused.

"Looks like a spider, right? Fakes a German accent?" Mom said, standing up and crossing to the door. "He once tried to cut your dad's head open. Stuck a probe up his nose that downloaded his brain." Down the hall, she called out, "Breaker! We need to get Daemon to Ratchet now!"

He hurried into the room – Dad, Cam, and 'Trice close behind – and looked at me seriously. "Do you need me to carry you?"

"No! I'm fine! I just need a hamburger or pizza or something – anything – that's not a nutrition shake!"

"Scalpel had him," Mom said, and Dad's face got pale.

"Tell Ratchet we're coming," he said to Cam, and we all kind of half-ran, half-walked down the hall in a group to the front door where RaFly's station wagon was waiting. Both Cam and Breaker were suddenly gone, but their cars pulled up to drive with us to wherever we were going. We climbed into the station wagon and went to a huge building – probably a hangar – and through it to a room in the back.

The station wagon rolled to a stop and we all got out. Breaker's SUV transformed into a huge silver-and-black robot, while Cam's sports car turned into a robot as yellow as Beatus but with funny little wing-things off his back.

But it was the big greenish-yellow one who made me swallow hard and my heart race. He leaned down to scoop me up in his hands just like the Decepticons did.

"So, you've been in Scalpel's tender care, have you?" the grabby one said.

"He gave Daemon Pop Tarts, Ratchet," Mom said, "after days of survival rations. It was something Daemon would eat without questioning. Could he have slipped poison or nanites or something into him that way?"

"Jazz didn't detect anything like that," the robot probably named Ratchet said, setting me on another ceiling-high robot bed, "but I'll give him a good looking-over, just to be sure. Let's start with a blood sample."

Everyone got really quiet, and I suddenly noticed that there was another robot bed on the wall opposite me. A different robot-doctor was working there. His robot-patient was sitting up, and I recognized his color. "Raja?" I asked.

"Mirage, but yes."

A thrill went through me, and I grinned. "You're still alive!"

He smiled and tilted his head in nod. "As are you."

"Shush!" Ratchet grouched.

Somehow, 'Trice found her way up onto the robot-bed beside me, and she pulled another apple out of her backpack. I sighed as I smiled – I really wanted something cooked – but at least this was fresh. "You really are the best little sister," I quietly said as I took the apple and eagerly bit into it.

She sat next to me and rested her head on my shoulder. "I'm just super glad you're home," she whispered. "Nothing was right while you were away." She lifted her head and grinned up at me. "And now, thanks to you, I know what Arcee's big secret was."

"Yeah, your whole family is full of surprises," Ratchet grumbled. "Thankfully, though, Decepticon nanotech isn't one of them. Or anything else more unhealthy than Red 40 food dye."

Mom's breath whooshed out in relief, but I still wasn't sure why she was all upset.

Dad looked up from his cell phone, grinning. "Sarah Lennox heard you're hungry. They're done serving lunch at the mess hall, and dinner won't be for another couple of hours. But Will has already talked to Jazz and Thomaczech, and there will be pancakes, sausage, and some fresh fruit waiting for you in the NEST break room. Be sure to thank Sarah when you see her."

"YES!" I shouted and jumped to my feet. "How do I get down from here?"

'Trice grabbed my hand and led the way.

…

Annabelle and Mr. and Mrs. Lennox were already in the breakroom when I got there, along with Grandma and Grandpa Witwicky. Grandpa hugged me tight and looked me over like Mom had earlier. He even got a little teary-eyed, when I told him I was just fine. Grandma smacked him on the shoulder. "Oh, stop fussing over him, the boy said he's fine. And why are you getting all mushy, for Pete's sake!"

In a whisper, Grandpa reminded me, "Her memory's not so good anymore. She doesn't understand that you were gone. But I do, and so I'm allowed to get mushy, got that, young man?"

He smiled a little at that last part, so I smiled back and nodded, but I felt kinda sad that Grandma didn't even realize I'd been kidnapped.

"Our grandson is hungry," Grandma said, poking Grandpa's shoulder again. "Let him go eat."

"Well that one makes sense," Grandpa said, grinning now, and nudging me toward the table.

I didn't need to be told twice.

I wolfed down two pancakes, two sausages, a banana, and a mango before I began to feel like I wasn't starving anymore. Then I was able to take my time and actually taste the third and fourth pancakes. There wasn't any butter or maple syrup, just some brown sugar to sprinkle on top, but it was all hot and fresh, and I felt like I was in heaven.

Besides my grandparents, Mom, Dad, and 'Trice were with me still, along with 'Bee and Breaker in their holoforms, but there was one Autobot I was starting to miss. Around a mouthful of food, I asked, "Where's Jazz?"

"Getting checked out by Ratchet now," Mr. Lennox said. "We were debriefing him earlier."

I swallowed my food and looked at him, just really confused. "Like pantsing him? He's a robot. How would you even do that? Why would you even do that?"

Dad started laughing and shook his head. "No, no, nothing like that. It's a military term. A briefing is a meeting where the people in charge tell you what you need to know. A debriefing is the opposite, a meeting where you report back to the people in charge and tell them everything you know. The Autobots can share information as fast as any computer – "

"Way faster," 'Bee said with a grin for me.

" – so they were done pretty quickly, unlike us mere humans. We'll have to debrief you at some point, too, but not until you're done.

"Yeah," Grandpa chimed in, "you've got a hollow leg like your dad did at that age."

He always joked that I could eat so much because one of my legs was hollow and that's where all the food went that wouldn't fit in my stomach. Teasing him, I lifted my foot and wiggled it like I was trying to shake all the pancakes and sausage down to make room for more.

Both he and Dad laughed, and Dad added, "Jazz was being debriefed by Prowl, since Optimus was already on his way to Mars with Sideswipe and Tracks at that point. Once Ratchet was done with you, he called Jazz in and is giving him a full physical right now."

"I'm sure you'll be able to see Jazz and spend some time with him after he's done in the med bay," Mom said, almost like she could read my mind.

I nodded and smiled at the thought as I spread some more brown sugar on the last half of my last pancake. "Why did Uncle Optimus leave so quick? I mean, is it safe for him to go to where the Decepticons were?" Then I took another bite of pancake.

"He left because there's probably going to be a lot of valuable materials in the wreckage of that space station," Dad said, "and they want to scavenge there before the debris field gets any bigger. They're really hoping they'll be able to salvage everything they need to build a frame for Beatus."

"And as for safety, Optimus is the leader of the Autobots," Mr. Lennox said. "He can hold his own in a battle, especially now that he's fully repaired. He had the slag beaten out of him a few weeks before you got kidnapped, but that was a ten-to-one fight."

My eyebrows rose in surprise, and I tried to swallow, but my mouth was kind of dry, so I took another swig of milk. (It tasted like it was made from powdered milk, but I wasn't about to complain.) "Ten to one?" I repeated.

"He almost didn't make it out of that fight alive," Dad softly said. "Statistically speaking, it's something of a miracle that he did. But with Tracks and Sideswipe as backup, no one's going to mess with him."

"That's assumin' we left any 'cons alive ta do some messin'," a familiar voice said from the doorway.

I looked up to see a Black man I didn't recognize, but I'd know that voice anywhere for the rest of my life. Jumping to my feet and running to him, I shouted, "Jazz!"

He chuckled as he caught me in a hug, then we fist-bumped. Another guy, white this time, followed Jazz into the breakroom.

I turned to go back to the table, and 'Trice waved our way. "Hi, Fancy! You look funny as a human. A lot more hair. Cool braids, though!"

"Dreadlocks," Mom quietly corrected her. "They're called dreadlocks."

"Fancy?" I froze mid-step. "This is Fancy? JAZZ IS FANCY?!"

Cam Romero's shoulders started shaking with laughter, and Breaker said, "It's 'cause he does everything with style."

I groaned and Jazz leaned closer to fist-bump 'Trice. "Heya, femmlin'! It's good ta see ya this side a' the Well a' All Sparks. Ya talked ta Elita lately?"

"Not since you blew up the space station," she said, looking a little sad. "I haven't had any dandelion-fuzz dreams, either. Just nightmares. But I finally learned Arcee's big secret! I can't wait to tell Besty!"

"Well," he said, pulling up a chair and straddling it backwards, "Ya tell her 'hi' for me when ya see her next, 'kay?"

'Trice nodded and, sitting down, I took another bite of pancake, feeling almost as confused as when I got kidnapped. Swallowing down my mouthful, I asked. "So…Fancy and Besty aren't just your weird imaginary friends?"

"Nope," 'Trice cheerfully answered.

"We're her weird alien robot friends," Jazz added with a cocky grin. More quietly, he said, "Visor. I need a visor." Then a bunch of different sunglasses started appearing and disappearing on his face until he finally found one he liked.

Loading my last bite of pancake on my fork, I asked, "And Besty is…?"

"Elita One," Jazz answered. "She's Optimus' mate."

I could feel my face twisting in confusion. "Like 'G'day, mates' type mate?"

"Not quite," Mom said. "They're spouses. Husband and wife, kinda."

"But…but it's Uncle Optimus," I sputtered. He was always so strong and confident all by himself. I couldn't imagine him needing a wife.

"Yeah, an' this is Elita One we're talkin' 'bout," Jazz said. "She's his equal, an' they're something else in a fight. Ya'll understand when ya see 'em together."

"Is she coming back, then?" Dad eagerly asked.

"The All Spark's replenished now. What do ya think?" Jazz pulled his sunglasses down enough to wink at Dad. Pushing them back up on his nose, he turned toward me. Jerking his thumb in the direction of the other guy who had walked in with him, Jazz said, "Prowler here –"

"Don't call me that," Prowler muttered.

" – needs ta ask ya some questions, Daemon. An' I ain't gonna lie, I got a few a' my own, now that ya got an unlimited supply a' oxygen. We'll give ya the rest a' the day to bask in bein' home, but tomorrow mornin', we'd like a few hours a' your time. Ya up for that?"

"As long as you'll be there, then sure."

"Prowler an' I will both be there," he promised, "an' anybody else ya want is welcome ta tag along, too."

"My name is Prowl," he said, holding out his hand for me to shake it. It was…really weirdly grown up, but I stood up and shook his hand. "Tomorrow morning we'll pick you up and bring you to my office for the debrief. Until then, Dr. Sarkisian feels it's best for you to readjust to Earth and to being with your family again."

"Got it." I took one last drink of my milk and, with a sigh, I set the glass down. When I looked her way, though, 'Trice was offering me another apple. "Where are you getting these things?" I asked as I accepted the piece of fruit.

"It seems someone," Prowl said, tossing a glare at Jazz (who held his hands up like he was saying, "What did I do?"), "told Elita One to tell Beatrice to hold on to hope. 'Trice interpreted that to mean, 'Keep an apple handy, because Daemon will want fresh fruit.' She's been collecting apples in that backpack for days and has offered them to worried Autobots – human and Cybetronian – almost the entire time you've been gone."

I looked down at the apple, thinking about how much she must have missed me to pile up all this fruit, and then I reached over to give her a hug. "Thanks, 'Trice." Then I took a bite of my apple.

She hugged me back before standing up. "I'm just glad you're home for real and not just in my dreams."

"Those wild dreams she has?" Mom quietly said. "They're actually visions, or some of them are, anyway. She's a seer, apparently. She even had dreams that you'd come home to us safely with Jazz."

"Uh-huh," 'Trice said, nodding. "And Fancy is teaching me to steer."

I didn't know what to say to that, and Jazz's expression didn't give away anything, so I took another bite of apple. Apparently Prowl thought standing up meant it was time to go, so we all trooped out into the main hangar. There his police-themed alt-form stood up into his robot mode, and I had to carefully swallow my bite of apple to make sure I didn't choke on it. The silver sports car next to Prowl also transformed into the familiar form of Jazz.

"So what now?" I asked.

"The Lennoxs' don't have their house here anymore, so we've all been staying in the R&R cabins," Dad said. "We could go there and swim and hang out until dinner. After that…we'll see."