I finally finished the ROTF rewrite. I said by the end of February, but I didn't finish it until the end of March- oops! The first chapter of the ROTF is short, but the next ones are longer. Before I get into this, thanks for the support this fic has gotten! 10 chapters, 108 pages in MS Word later, this fic has gotten over a thousand views!

Disclaimer: I don't own Transformers or any brands referenced in this.

Chapter Seven: The Crossroads

"Come one, let's go! All hands on deck!" Dad yelled, shooing Frankie, our new dog, and Mojo out. "Frankie, Mojo, out! Come on kiddos, we're on a schedule."

"Slow down dad, why are you in such a hurry to get rid of me, did you rent the room out?" Sam groused.

"No, I got other ideas for your room, and it rhymes with home theatre." Dad told Sam as I followed him and Sam out to the back yard. "Alex, when we come back after dropping Sam off-"

"-I'm going to stay home with grandma and grandpa while you guys go to France for 2 weeks." I nodded, resisting the urge to add 'we've been over it a thousand times'. "Why can't I just come with you?"

"You have high school starting." Dad said simply.

I groaned. High School. Right.

I heard mom sniffle from inside the house and show Sam his baby shoes. I facepalmed. She'd been crying about this all day and been carrying around his baby shoes. I walked to the edge of the street and stood on the curb next to Ratchet.

"You're leaving for Diego Garcia now," I frowned. My guardian was being recalled back to base for reasons he couldn't share.

"I'm needed back with Optimus." He responded. "I-"

"I get it." I patted his hood. "Duty calls."

"I wish I didn't have to." He responded quietly.

"Me too." I nodded. "I'll see you soon. Say hi to Arcee for me."

"I look forward to it. I'll make sure to tell her." Ratchet responded. He paused. "You seem like you've got a lot on your mind."

"So much is changing." I sighed, leaning against his grill. "It's going to be weird without Sam and Bumblebee around. It's going to be just us." I scowled. "Now I feel kind of stupid. You lost your home and I'm here pouting about a little change."

"Don't feel stupid, Alex. It's natural to dislike change." He responded in gentle tone. I smiled and patted his hood.

"Ratch', you're the best."

He chuckled lightly, responding in an amused tone. "Thank you, Alex, but that would be Optimus."

"You'll be back in a few days though, right?" I asked.

"With luck, yes."

My parents walk out of the house, mom still crying. "Did you know it would be this hard?"

"Would you- would you just stop?" Dad asks with exasperation.

"Yeah, I'll stop! You carry this shit!" She threw down her bags and I let out a sigh.

"Actually, maybe some peace and quiet might be nice." I comment.

"I don't want to go anywhere with you," Mom berates dad as they carry Sam's stuff to the car. "I don't want to go to France with you, I don't want to go around the corner with you. I'm going back inside."

"I'll call you from Paris." He mumbled.

"Hey dad." I tilt my head at him.

"Well, the two of you are the only ones not acting like lunatics." He acknowledges.

Sam screams. There's a lot of noise coming from his room. Dad glanced around the corner.

"What is all the racket?"

Sam jumps out his bedroom window, and then off the patio's cover, being chased by all the kitchen appliances- which are robots that are shooting at him?! Ratchet and I can just watch bewildered. Sam shouts for Bee, who comes bursting out of the garage and fires one well aimed shot at the machines- and the house.

"Oohhhh boy." I mumble as Bee destroys Sam's room, the robots and trashes the backyard in a matter of a grand total of only about 20 seconds.

"Ahhh!" Mom screamed, running out of our house with a waffle iron on her head and running into the hanging plants. I resist the urge to laugh at how cartoonish it looked.

"BUMBLEBEE!" Sam shouts. "Get in the garage. Get in the garage now!"

"Call 911." Dad yelled as I was doing just that.

"This is 911, what's your emergency?"

"The upper level of my house is burning." I tell the dispatcher and give our address. I put my phone in my pocket. Already you could hear emergency vehicles' sirens screaming from not too far away. We didn't live too far from the Police and Fire Station.

"We will never have a nice yard with you guys around." I comment, elbowing Ratchet's door.

"I informed Optimus of what just happened." Ratchet muttered. "I requested to stay here but my request was denied."

"Of course it was." I grumbled irritably. "By who? That doesn't seem like Optimus's style to do that."

"I'm not sure." Ratchet responded quietly.

Sam glared at me, and I frowned, making an over-dramatic shrug, putting my hands up. "What?!"

"How can you be so calm?" Sam criticized.

"What's getting worked up going to solve?" I asked incredulously. "The house's already been destroyed, and the yard's already been trashed yet again, what will freaking out change, or do besides making it worse?"

Mikeala pulled up on her motorcycle, and Sam went to go greet her, all the while the Fire Department and police department had arrived.

"Sam Witwicky! A word with you!" Mom shouted, then addressed Mikeala. "Hi Mikeala. I got a bald spot."

Dad is talking with the Fire Department while the madness just… gets worse, I guess.

"My life will never be normal, will it?" I frowned at Ratchet. He chuckled.

"It depends on how you define it."

"Oh well," I shrugged good-naturedly, smirked slightly. "At least I got a best friend out of my unusual life."

"When you go, Bee goes! I cannot live with this psychotic alien in my garage." My mom yelled.

"What about him?" Sam pointed at Ratchet.

"When Alex goes, he's going too." Mom frowned. "I can't have two aliens living in the garage anymore!"

"Judy! Remember National Security? If we stay quiet, they're going to take care of everything." Dad tells mom. "Just consider this the start of our remodel."

"Well, if the government's paying, I want a pool!" Mom yells. "and a hot-tub and-" I blocked out her last comment with an eyeroll, not really wanting to think about that.

Sam and Mikeala go in the garage to talk with Bee. I talked with Ratchet for a bit longer, before he had to leave and we had to leave.

Mom glances over at me, then tells Dad. "It wasn't even our troublemaker who made this big mess. She's given me more scares than Sam. She's the reason I dye my grey hairs."

"You think it was bad with him, wait 'til she moves out. You'll be a mess and we'll be empty nesters." Dad responded. Mom, in response, threw the pack of wipes at his face and glared at him.

Sam and Mikeala walked out and my brother said something quietly to Mikeala. Clearly, Mom heard.

"Oh, look, Sam's about to say the L word." Mom said.

"Come on, kiddos, let's go!" Dad shouted.

"Great timing." Mom muttered.

"That's not the word I wanted to hear." Mikeala shook her head at my brother.

"It means the same as the other one. You haven't said it either, so don't get mad at me for not saying it."

"I haven't said it because guys always run when you say it first."

"So do girls, especially girls like you with options!" Sam argued.

"So, this is all part of your elaborate plan to keep me interested?"

"Yeah." My brother mumbled.

"I hate that it's working." Mikeala smiled and they kissed.

"Eugh!" I exclaimed. "My eyes!"

Ratchet chuckled. "Slightly dramatic, aren't you?"

I rolled my eyes. "Sometimes dramatic can be a good thing." It looked like we were about to leave, "Bye Ratch'. See you in a few days." I gave the Search and Rescue Hummer a pat on the hood. He flashed his headlights, too many people around to risk continuing to talk to me. I grinned while Sam and I got in the car to leave for his college.

Read and Review please!