Here we go, a new chapter fresh off the page. After some consideration, I'm going to lower the rating of this story down to T. I don't think I was overly descriptive in the first chapter and that was the whole reason for the M rating. If no one objects, that's where it'll stay. Now onto the story. Note: edited 3/15/22

Once Ultra Magnus had steered his ship into the lower atmosphere, he turned his chair around to face the collective Autobots. "Alright," He began. "Would someone care to explain what has happened that lead to what I understand to be three juvenile natives to this world being close enough to the team that the Decepticons would capture and experiment on them?"

He looked at the three pseudo Cybertronians, while he was impressed with how the femme had apparently handled a Vehicon squadron on her own he was reserving judgement on their value to the Autobot cause.

Between Arcee and Bulkhead he was given an abbreviated version of how the three humans became 'unofficial' members of team prime and some of their accomplishments. Again, while he was impressed, it was a protocol nightmare. When it came to the battle for the Omega lock, he'd began to get a slightly bigger picture as to what happened. Count on Megatron to resort to using hostages when he was on the verge of defeat. When he heard that the humans' containers had been lost during the fight the femme, Miko he'd learned, Spoke up.

"When we woke up, we were naked in Knockouts' lab." She cut in angrily, she was still a bit angry at how they ended up in that situation. If the bots had just told them even a little of what was going on they might have been more on guard.

Raf picked up from there. "Knockout and Megatron taunted us a bit before submerging us in raw cyber matter from the Omega lock." He shuddered trying to repress the memory of drowning in that cold burn. "They also used something called the Enigma of Combination to fuse it with us. Th-They said something about seeing if they could use humans to replenish their soldiers."

Ultra Magnus narrowed his brow. "The Enigma of Combination?" He knew that the Cons had it, after the debacle with Bruticus Maximus, they'd found it and used it to create the more manageable combiner Devastator. He never knew it could be employed in this manner.

They were all in for one more big shock though as Jack nodded and spoke up. "During the experiment we were somehow contacted by Vector Sigma." All four bots' optics widened at the mention of the ancient supercomputer. "It somehow used the cyber matter to transform us into these bodies and overload the system, allowing us to escape." He didn't feel like mentioning their combined form just yet. A sentiment the other two felt as well. "It also said that we were supposed to assist the Autobots in their coming battles."

This caused a major upset amongst the ships' Autobot occupants. "Hold up." Arcee called. "We're supposed to be the ones that keep you safe, you're not joining us on missions. I promised your mother I'd keep you safe Jack."

Miko sprung up from her seat on the floor. "Yeah, cause you've done such a spectacular job of it recently. You all shut us out, and we ended up kidnaped, held for ransom, tossed around in glass cages, and used as lab rats in a mad scientists' experiment as a result."

The kids' guardians winced and exchanged somewhat guilty looks. While none of that had been intentional, it is what had happened. Jack got up and put his hand on Mikos' shoulder. As upset as they were, he knew not all of it was their fault.

Wheeljack spoke up. "I ran into them as we were making our mutual escapes. Gotta hand it to them though, they know how to hold their own in those bodies." He knew they were leaving out their combiner mode and he understood. Sometimes it was best to have a trump card.

"We made our way to the fortress' space bridge and Raf used it to get us out. Even erased the coordinate history so we wouldn't be followed that way." He continued. "For all the good it did, apparently the Cons put a tracer on me before I woke up in the brig and they found us that way."

He snorted a bit. "Not that it did them much good. Between Bulkies' intervention and Miko, those drones were scrapped in a hurry and Starscream took off with his tail between his legs." Miko blushed a bit at the praise and relaxed a bit.

Bulkhead looked at her. "For what it's worth Miko, I am sorry about keeping you in the dark, we were so focused on possibly restoring Cybertron we forgot about everything else." He looked at her new form. "I have to admit, whatever you scanned, it gave you some serious skill, I haven't seen swordplay like that in Megacycles."

Miko grinned and shifted back into her beast mode, surprising the Autobots further. "Jack and I tried scanning cars and SUVs, but nothing took until I saw a bird on top of a building. I think it was a peregrine falcon." She spread her wings showing off her techno organic avian body. "Now I'm a high-flying wrecker with wings."

Ultra Magnus cleared his throat. "We'll have to see about that miss Miko. Right now, we still have three other Autobots to recover." He steepled his fingers together. "After that, we need to eradicate the Decepticons' new fortress."

He looked at Arcee. "You said I needed to contact an 'Agent Fowler'; how do I go about that?" Arcee walked over to the communications console and began typing.

The three kids looked at each other worriedly. How was Fowler going to react to what happened to them? Jack shivered; he was worried about his mothers' reaction to his new form. While he knew she'd be happy he was alive, anything else would be in question until he saw her. Their silent musings were broken by the comm system.

"Who is this and how did you get this number?" Came Agent Fowlers' voice from the systems' display screen. Looking they saw Agent Fowlers' face was full of concern and confusion. Apparently, this would be a video call.

"Agent William Fowler, I am Ultra Magnus, Autobot Second-in-command, and I was given this code by another Autobot on Earth." Magnus replied. "I am contacting you to see what your governments' plan is in regards to the Decepticons' new fortress and give an update on our status."

There was a second of silence when Arcee butted in. "I told him how to get in touch with you Fowler, he is who he says he is."

Fowlers' face relaxed. "About time one of you bots contacted me, I've been trying to raise you for hours now. I heard your base was destroyed." He took a breath. "We've evacuated the surrounding area but we cannot get close enough to the fortress to take it out, those cannons of theirs took out three squadrons of fighter jets when we first tried to attack it."

Ultra Magnus nodded. "Outpost-1 was destroyed but the Autobots inside evacuated before the explosion. We are currently regrouping, and from there we will work on a plan to disable the fusion cannons so that your governments' armed forces can destroy it. We will alert you when the fusion cannons are disabled."

Fowler closed his eyes. "Alright, keep me posted. However, there is one other thing." He took a breath. "There are three teenage humans that work with the Autobots, we found their families, but not them. Are they with you?"

Knowing that this was now unavoidable, the three walked over to the comms system, Miko transforming back before going. Jack looked at Fowler. "We're right here Agent Fowler." The three of them came into view, causing the agents' eyes to bug out.

"Is this some kind of joke?" Fowler exclaimed angrily. With everything happening he needed answers and now a Robert Stack soundalike and some new bots were playing a trick on him.

"Unfortunately, no." Raf replied, surprising the agent even more. "Before the Autobot base was destroyed we were captured by the Decepticons. "They conducted an experiment on us that turned us into some kind of techno organic Cybertroninans. After the base was destroyed, we escaped with Wheeljack."

Fowlers' face went from anger to worry. He definitely knew that was Raf and Jack from how they talked, and the third one even looked like Miko. He was also happy to hear that the Wrecker had survived getting shot down. How the hell was he going to explain this to those kids' parents.

Jack cut in. "I'll call my mom to let her know we're okay." Fowler gave him an incredulous look. "Well, as okay as we can be. Just tell Rafs' family and Mikos' host parents that they got sent to a different evacuation shelter by accident." He hated having to lie, but they'd have to deal with this later.

Agent Fowler looked at him. "Please call her soon." He asked kindly. "She has been worried sick about you three since this whole thing started." From there he hung up, the comms deactivating.

Magnus faced the collective group. He'd began formulating a plan while the kids started talking to Fowler. "Alright, first thing we need is to collect Ratchet, his life signal is nearest and the other two are near the Decepticon fortress." The other bots exchanged a worried look. Knowing it was Ratchet that was closer meant Optimus and Smokescreen were near the fortress. They just had to hope they hadn't been captured.

"Second." He looked at Jack and Raf. "If we're going to do this, we'll need every available bot, so you two need Alt modes." At the other Autobots' looks of confusion he continued. "From what I understand, this one," he said pointing at Miko. "Got her weapons after she scanned that bird she mentioned. So, it stands to reason, for all of them to stand a chance, they need, well, beast modes. " He sat at the communications console and pulled up Ratchets' frequency.

As Magnus contacted the Doc bot Arcee walked up to Jack. She still didn't know how to process this turn of events. The human she'd been partners with now stood about a good head and shoulders smaller than herself. "Jack." He turned to look at her. "I just wanted to say I'm sorry about what happened to you. Now that I think on it, I really haven't been a very good partner lately."

Jack nodded. "I can accept that." He looked her in the optic. "I know that what happened wasn't really your fault."

Arcee let out a breath she didn't know she'd been holding. She was relieved to know Jack didn't blame her for their current state. Something else was bothering her though. "I saw how you've been acting around Miko though, what's going on?"

For a moment Jack thought about keeping her in the dark about his and Mikos' feelings about each other, but decided against it. "When we were in Knockouts' lab, we thought we were going to die." Arcee sucked in a breath but Jack continued. "I just wanted to make sure nothing was left unsaid between us and she flat out told me she loved me."

A series of beeps from Bumblebee simply said "About damned time you two stopped dancing around each other."

This caused Raf to laugh. "I know right. At least we don't need Operation: Closet anymore." This caused Jack to blush and Miko to bury her face in her hands.

Ultra Magnus stood up from his chair and moved to the ships' flight controls. "I contacted Ratchet; he'll meet us at the coordinates I sent him in about half a cycle. When we get there, I want Arcee and Bumblebee to take the boys to get their beast modes."

Jack looked at Ultra Magnus. "Where are we going to meet up at?" At Magnus' glare Arcee mouthed the word 'sir' to Jack. "Sir." He hastily added.

"The location is a referred to as a wildlife sanctuary just outside the human settlement called Reno, Nevada." The two boys looked at each other. They'd never been there and wondered what kinds of animals that they could scan there.

Arcee put her hand on Jacks' shoulder. "In the meantime, you've got a call to make." She said motioning to the communication console. Jack gulped and nodded, hoping that this would go better than their talk with Fowler did.

He sat down and dialed in his mothers' number. One ring and she answered. "Hello? Jack?" Came the worried voice of June Darby.

"Yeah mom, it's me. I just needed to tell you I'm alright." He said hoping she believed it. "Jack, what's wrong, I can tell by your tone something is up."

He gulped again. He was really afraid of this next part. "Miko, Raf, and I were kidnapped by Decepticons, we escaped and we're with the bots now."

There was a moment of silence. "Oh my god, are you all okay?" She half yelled. He steeled himself. "Mostly."

There was another pause. "What do you mean 'mostly', what's going on Jack?" June pleaded. He took some deep breaths, trying to figure out how to explain this.

Arcee took pity on her panicking partner. "There was a problem with their escape June, the kids are all alive and whole. Shook up, but mostly unscathed. We'll explain everything once we have this Decepticon fortress dealt with." She took a deep breath. "I swear all three of them will come back unhurt." She felt horrible for this half-truth, but it was necessary for the time being.

June took a breath. "Alright, but please keep them safe. I love you Jack and I'll see you soon." The end of her sentence came off a little choked.

Jacks' eyes teared up. "I love you too mom, I love you too." He hung up before he could start crying openly. He hated the dishonesty with his mother, but what choice did he have? A couple tears streamed down his face. This was getting to be too much.

Looking up he saw Miko and Raf coming towards him. Miko threw her arms around him, holding him tight. Raf then wrapped his large arms around the both of them. Arcee knelt down and followed suit as Bumblebee and Bulkhead looked on. They all hoped to give these kids some comfort after all they'd been through.

A few minutes later Ultra Magnus cleared his throat. "We'll be landing at the wildlife sanctuary momentarily. Ratchet will be joining us there." He said, looking uncomfortable. "And, for what it's worth, I am sorry for what you three went through as well." He turned back to the flight controls.

A minute later the foursome disengaged from their group hug. Jack took a breath, he felt much better. "Thanks, I needed that."

Miko smirked. "Can't be strong all the time Jackrabbit." She planted a quick kiss on his cheek. He smiled and hugged her again. The ship set down and the ramp lowered. "C'mon, let's go get you two beast modes." Miko said dragging him by the wrist towards the outside, Raf following close behind.

A/N: Sorry for the feels in this chapter. I just wanted to emphasize the emotional trauma these kids have gone through in the last 24 hours of their lives. I'm also using it as a setup to bring in a specific character in the coming chapters. Next time we'll have beast modes, a fight, and we check in on what the Decepticons have been doing since Wheeljack and the kids left.