Lost and Found

Chapter 1

Author's Note:

I swear I always meant to finish my Transformers series a long time ago, but I got caught up in my Wizard of Oz stories and put this on the backburner. Also, a lot going on in my personal life as well.

So, I got a few PMs asking me to continue the series. After some brainstorming, here it is. I really appreciate that. I hope you all enjoy.

I do not own anything from Transformers including movies, comics, cartoons, etc.

Gabrielle Ryan wasn't sure when she became a criminal, she wasn't even sure when she was put on the FBI's most wanted list. All she knew was that she had one goal in mind, and that was to find Optimus Prime before the government did.

She still remembered when they came for the Autobots like it was yesterday, and it was now a good two years since it happened. Two years since they were attacked needlessly from the government acronyms. She remembered the last moment she touched Optimus's holoform hand, and the tears began to wet her eyes.

She sat in her hotel room, and gazed out of the window. It was a typical small mom and pop hotel owned by a Spanish couple who were very nice, and were happy when she paid cash.

Oh yes, she was off the grid now. No, credit cards, no checks, a fake ID, everything that it took to keep her hidden from the government until she found him.

Everything that she now possessed was from the black market, and that included her identity. How did she get her cash, you ask? She began to work odd jobs for her informants to keep the money flowing, and information coming. It was all about supply and demand, or exchanges of intel from inside government sources who were sympathetic to the Autobots and herself.

It was getting late, and she wanted to get a head start in the morning. She was now in the middle of Oklahoma. She had been around the world seeking him, and now her informant said he might have been spotted in Louisiana.

Gabby made sure her Smith and Wesson Model 27-2 .357 Mag. with 6" barrel was fully locked and loaded for the night. She had a bigger arsenal hidden in her bags.

Everywhere she went, they went. They were also not registered, and not traceable. It was kill or be killed at this point.

She wanted nothing more than to find him and finally have some peace in her life. It was a never-ending battle of running, hiding, and trying to find where Optimus was.

Gabby sighed as she got up from the bed, and walked outside of the room and lit a cigarette. She sucked on it letting the nicotine calm her nerves. She knew it was a horrible habit, because she used to be a health nut, but now things were different. Everything she had ever known was now gone.

Including Orianna. She pulled out the only picture she had of her daughter, and ran her fingers over it gently. It was starting to fade from being in her pocket for so long just like her daughter's memory.

Orianna had flown off into space, and promised to come back, but never did.

The half human half autonomous robot stopped sending signals six months after she left Earth. Gabby never knew she could feel such pain, even with her father finally succumbing to his heart problems; no it was different when your own child was also lost, and you had nothing to say goodbye too.

She absentmindedly rubbed the lower abdominal area where the C-section scar was. It was the only other thing she had of Orianna.

She remembered the desperate signals Optimus would send out to Orianna after hers had stopped. Those nights were the toughest.

Gabby took another drag of her smoke. She was on the run by the time her father died. She couldn't even attend his funeral without fear of being caught. Her mother had yet to forgive her, but what she didn't know is that Gabby had been there, and stood off in the distance to not be noticed by the wrong people.

She had spotted the surveillance, and knew she made the right choice.

Her anger fueled remembering they had watched for her at her own father's funeral.

She had a dream about her father when he passed, and all he kept telling her was to keep fighting, keep pushing.

Her father's message was what gave her strength to keep going, and most of all the thought that Optimus was still alive.

Gabby scanned the area as she snuffed out her cigarette, and made sure no one else was around. It was a weekday so the hotel was quiet. She could hear the cars and trucks passing on the highway in the distance.

She watched the sun setting in the west, and decided to take a quick shower before she settled in for the night.

The hotel room smelled musty, but it was clean. She shut the curtains, and undressed rubbing her neck to try loosening the stress that went with life on the run.

She looked over at her sandwich that was half eaten and decided to just leave it for now.

Grabbing her gun she set it on the sink, and turned on the shower.

She looked in the mirror, and realized her blonde roots were growing in. She would have to do another color on her hair soon.

Did she mention she was a brunette now? Sometimes, she was a redhead depending on the job she had to take on to get information.

Tying her dark hair in a bun, she leaned over the sink taking in deep breaths to calm down. She was close to him she just knew it.

She undressed and wrapped the towel around her, and turned on the water waiting for it to warm up.

She let the hard water pound her muscles and welcomed the "massage" the shower was giving her.

She had to meet with another informant tomorrow night to gain more information about Prime's location. He would meet her on the Louisiana border, and she would go from there.

Gabby stopped the shower, and stepped out towel drying herself and her hair.

She opened the door, and spotted the figure in the reflection in the mirror sitting in the chair on the other side of the room.

Trying not to give away she spotted him or her, she continued to dry off a little. She was relieved to see her gun was still on the sink.

Her heart began to pound in her chest, and no matter how much she tried she could not calm her breathing.

Kill or be killed.

She glanced in the mirror again, but could not make out the figure's features as it had fogged from the shower.

She wrapped the towel as tight around her as she could swallowing hard as her fingers shook.

She counted to three, stepped out, grabbed the gun and pointed it to the figure.

Gabby then waivered in shock at who was sitting in the chair smiling back at her from across the room, and her mouth dropped in astonishment.

"Hello Gabby," the figure said still smiling at her.

His red-brown eyes looked down and up at her standing in a defensive stance in just a towel holding a gun, and it made him smile even brighter.

Her brown eyes wide in shock, and her mouth dropped into an "O."

"The gun has no effect on me in this form," he said chuckling at the human.

Gabby lowered the gun a little, but did not move.

"I think I like you better as a blonde, but that is a nice look," the man commented.

Gabby finally scoffed and lowered the gun at the holoform Decepticon sitting at the table, but did not put it down.

She then felt her anger rise and said, "Where the hell have you been, 'Cade?"

Barricade adjusted in the chair motioning her to join him.

"Sit down, and I will tell you," he answered still smiling.