Chapter 5
Memory

Stripes came out of standby, sitting up. He was in the med birth, his chest plates closed. The repairs were complete. What was that dream about? He wondered. What did the big red and blue bot mean by "welcome home?" How long had he been out? He looked to his left, seeing Ratchet at a nearby table, doing something with a bunch of computers.
"How are you feeling?" Ratchet asked, looking over in Stripes' direction.
"...Better. It seems easier to breathe."
Ratchet then walked over, his scanning tool out again. "Energon flow is steady... Cooling systems read out... Intake functioning at optimal efficiency... Good, coolant and oil pressure is steady. Clean bill of health, you're good to go. All you need now is a bit more energon. That can I gave you three solar cycles ago was only good for about one-quarter of a tank. Go down a few rooms to the supply room, and Bulkhead will give you a can. He's the green one."
Stripes was feeling a small tinge of thirst again, but nothing like when he was surviving off of premium unleaded. He was grateful for what Ratchet did.
"Thanks, Ratchet." Stripes said, getting out of the medical berth.
"That's what I'm here for." Ratchet said. Stripes then went down a few rooms and saw Bulkhead, whom seemed to be expecting him.
"Hey, kid. Doc told me to be expecting you." He opened some sort of crate, and got out one of the cans like before, except it was slightly bigger. "This should be enough to fill your tank to full."
Stripes took one of the cans and popped off the top the way Ratchet did on earth. He sipped a bit on the liquid energon. It tasted just as good as the first time. He smiled.
"So, you were a racer on earth? Seems like you had quite the need for speed..." Bulkhead asked, trying to make conversation.
Stripes' good mood dropped a few notches, his smile faded.. It pained him to think about what he used to be. What he couldn't go back to. Bulkhead immediately noticed the change, and felt bad.
"I'm sorry. I probably shouldn't bring that up..." Bulkhead started.
"its not your fault. Don't worry about it." Stripes said. "I'll... Just have to take it in stride, and... Eventually forget I ever lived that life."
Bulkhead put one of his hands on Stripes' shoulder joint. "I know it hurts, having to leave everything behind. We can only imagine what you're going through right now, but just don't forget; We are all here for you. You are not alone."
Stripes could feel the tears welling up behind his optics. At least they cared, unlike the Decepticons. If anyone needed proof that these living machines had souls, this was it.
"A wise prime once told me, 'memories help shape us into who we are.' "Bulkhead continued. "I know it may hurt to remember your human life, but seeing how you were able to escape from the Decepticons and maintain your sanity in the process, I'd say remembering your human past would be worth more than any amount of pain they could ever inflict."
Stripes felt a tear stream down the side of his faceplate. "Life was beautiful back then. I remember rolling down the window when I drove on the highway. The wind blowing through my hair and across my skin... Every time I got up to race, I could feel the energy it gave me. Even in drag races, which only lasted a few seconds, I could feel it. Regardless if the race lasted minutes, or even just few seconds, I felt free. I felt... Whole. After a while of racing, I found someone whom felt the exact same way." He wiped the tear away with his hand.
Bulkhead saw where this was going. "You met a femme."
"Yeah." Stripes said, smiling again at the memory. "She was beautiful... In the human way. Feisty and charismatic. She also was not a bad driver, either. Her name was Mia Townsend."
"The undercover officer from Rockport." Bulkhead deduced, taking his hand off of Stripes' shoulder joint. "She was on the news when that happened."
"Yeah." Stripes said. "When she revealed herself to be a cop, she decided to let me get away. I never got to know why, but I know deep down she felt the same way I did. I could tell that from her driving when we first met. She was something special. One of those people that come along once in a lifetime. To be honest, I never was the same after my encounter with her."
Bulkhead's faceplate formed a smile. "Sounds like you two started to form the human equivalent of a spark bond."
Stripes once again was puzzled. Bulkhead then sheepishly tried to explain.
"Spark bonds... are formed among my people by... merging our core sparks together. its a great sign of trust, and... even what a human would consider love."
"I see." Stripes sipped some more energon form the can he held. He was intrigued, but could tell this was sensitive material form the way Bulkhead spoke about it. "Well, I guess I'll never know the truth, but that is the way I choose to view it; That me and Mia were forming a bond."
Bulkhead's smile didn't fade one bit on hearing those words. If only their love had been given time to form the bond.
Unbeknownst to him at the time, that would soon happen.

Decepticon Dreadnought Nemesis
En route to Cybertron...

Megatron watched the two newly converted bots along with the femme as they emerged from their nanite pods, falling to the floor in robot mode, still in stasis. Their vehicle forms were automobile; One a black, flame painted Mustang GT, the second a heavily modified pursuit C6 Corvette. The femme, however, was extra special; a street racing Mazda RX-8 with red paint. Mia, Cross, and Razor. He figured he'd just let Cross and Razor keep their names. They were good enough. That would be familiar grounds for them. Mia would need a proper name, though. He still searched his databanks for one that would suit her. Though he was positive they would be able to recognize each other, and that Stripes would be able to recognize their forms in a heartbeat.
"Awaken." He purred loud enough for them to hear. They began to stir. The female was the first to get up as they stirred to life.
"What happened?" The femme asked, confused. She looked at her hands, then started to panic as she saw the rest of her new form. Megatron was unsurprised. Stripes did the same thing in his conversion. The female then saw Megatron, and screamed, backing up against the wall. That woke Cross. He bolted up and once he saw his changes, he too started to act rashly, lunging at Megatron.
He was prepared of course. He whipped out his sword and Cross stopped dead on the spot before he impaled himself on the sword.
"That would be unwise. I just gave you three new life." Megatron said.
"New life?" Cross snarled. "I'm a freak show now! What kind of life is that?!"
"Good god..." Razor said, looking over his form. "...What the hell is going on? Wait... This is all a dream. It must have been my drink... Yeah, someone spiked my drink..."
"I assure you, Razor, this is no dream or hallucination. This is real." Megatron said, looking over into Razor's orange optics. "I know this is confusing for all of you, but there is little time to explain. You've just been converted to Cybertronians, and your presence is required to prevent a catastrophe."
He had Cross' attention in a snap. "What kind of catastrophe?"
"One of galactic significance." He lowered his sword, and walked past Cross and Razor to the scared Mazda, slowly extending his hand. This was the complete opposite of what Starscream did with Stripes; He had several drones pummel him in a beat down. According to Starscream, he thought it would "toughen him up." A big mistake. He wouldn't make the same one with these three.
"You must be thirsty, Miss Townsend." He said. "Come with me. I can take you to where you can get a drink to fill your fuel tank."
Mia, still unsure if this was real, slowly reached out and took his hand. He was right about one thing; she was thirsty.