"What in Primus' name is going on?!" Ratchet's voice came out loud and clear. The medic bot raced into Lily's room as quickly as possible, looking and sounding frantic. For Lily, she found that to be a bit frightening, hearing someone usually as calm as Ratchet on the brink of panicking.

"I-I don't know," Lily stammered. "Well I do, b-but..."

Activating his Holoform, Ratchet practically sprinted over to where Lily was. He checked her vitals and every machine she was hooked up to. His bright blue eyes had a mixture of emotions running through them, the most prominent being slight panic but an overwhelming sense of curiosity.

"Did you have that dream you spoke of earlier?" he questioned, looking over at her.

Lily nodded.

Setting the Holoform's jaw, Ratchet nodded in return. "What happened?" he exclaimed.

"I saw the red optics again," she sighed. "This time I saw a faint outline of something. I guess it really was a Decepticon. I don't know. But it was growling at me and it was glaring at me..."

"Could you make out any definite features?" Ratchet asked.

Lily shook her head. "Not that I can remember," she said. "But I heard someone telling me to run. I don't know what that means..."

"I may have something." Turning to look at her, the Holoform squared its shoulders and pursed its lips. Lily would've found it fascinating on how realistic the Holoforms were, how human they came off as, but she was too frazzled to really care. "You recall how the All Spark was absorbed into your nervous system?"

"Yeah?"

"I believe in the process of doing so, it may have done some alterations."

Furrowing her brows, Lily felt a sense of uneasiness wash over her. "Alterations?" she asked. "I don't like how that sounds."

"What I mean is that there's a possibility — more of a hypothesis, really — that the All Spark is causing alterations to your brain, possibly to the chemicals in your brain or to the neurons, and giving you realistic visions."

"Visions?" Lily stammered. "These aren't visions. They're dreams."

Letting out a huff, Ratchet crossed his arms over his chest. "Honestly," he grumbled. "Have you stopped to think for a moment on why you're having a dream about a Decepticon?"

Lily shook her head.

"I believe the All Spark is planting visions of future events into your subconscious." A thoughtful expression came over the medic's face. "Though it's still a hypothesis. I'll have to run more tests just to make sure..."

There was a long moment of silence. Lily couldn't tear her eyes off of Ratchet's Holoform. The look on her face was unreadable, indescribable. Ratchet himself looked a bit lost in his own thinking and planning to really pay attention. Whatever he was formulating, he was doing so in silence. Lily would've been envious of that. His ability to plan and think in a faster way than humans could. It was because of that computer mind of his. That was one of many things that made the Autobots superior to humans.

"You've gone over this with me before," Lily stated, her tone sounding almost void of emotion. "I think you called it precognition."

"Yes, I did." Ratchet said.

"So you really think the All Spark's doing this? Giving me future vision?"

"There's no other explanation. As to what you're seeing, that's still up for debate."

Looking down at her hands, Lily felt her blood run cold. She almost felt nauseous. Nothing seemed to be making an ounce of sense anymore. "How many more tests do you need to run?" she asked.

"I'm not sure," Ratchet sighed. "I'll probably have to gather some blood work, to see if the All Spark's causing any significant changes there. I don't have the proper technology here to do any kind of elaborate work."

"Do you think I should tell Optimus?" Lily asked. "I had a talk with Lennox earlier, and he thinks I should."

"That's completely up to you." The sincerity in Ratchet's voice was almost unlike him. He was usually so gruff. "In my own opinion, I think it would be wise to let Prime know. He cares for you, Lily. Holding this kind of information from him could end badly."

-0-0-0-0-

By the time morning rolled around, Ratchet and Lily were exhausted. The medic bot had decided to keep a close eye on his patient for the duration of the night, and that meant Lily felt a great sense of discomfort having him so close by. She wasn't used to being watched while sleeping, and it made her feel almost uneasy to fall asleep. While she knew that Ratchet had the best intentions in mind, that didn't change what Lily was feeling.

And the discussion he chose to bring up didn't make things easier, either.

"Should I tell Optimus about our findings?" Ratchet grumbled. "Or will you?"

"I don't know." Lily slumped her shoulders, feeling her stomach tighten anxiously. "You've only told something I already know."

"And that's a problem?" The Holoform turned its head slightly, looking at Lily with a slightly peeved expression. "Your suggestion from the other day was merely a guess. Last night showed that you were correct in that area."

"We still don't know what it means, though."

"It could mean a number of things."

"That's not very helpful."

"Which is why we should tell Optimus," Ratchet concluded. "Lennox was right in that regard. Keeping such information form Prime will only lead to trouble."

"He's already so stressed with everything else that's going on," Lily sighed. "I don't want to make things worse for him."

With an exasperated huff, the medic rolled the Holoform's eyes. "How is the safety of yourself and others making things worse?"

Scowling slightly, Lily crossed her arms over her chest. "If I tell him, will you drop this discussion?" she muttered irritably.

"That depends," Ratchet said. "Are you actually going to tell him?"

-0-0-0-0-

Optimus spent most of the morning going through some work with Lennox and Epps. The two men were discussing how to locate and hunt down stray Decepticons. Since it's been so long since any have been spotted, N.E.S.T. has been getting quite antsy. No one knows what to do other than file paperwork, track down any 'Cons that may pop up, and keep the higher ups filled in on what's going on. It was stressful, that much is certain. For Optimus, though, it was nothing out of the ordinary. He was accustomed to political work, doing whatever he believed was necessary for his new comrades. He wanted to ensure their safety and well-being before his own.

But it seemed as though he wouldn't be getting as much work done as he'd hoped for that particular day.

Lily came shuffling over, looking anxious beyond belief. Her eyes were darting around, as if she were paranoid. Her shoulders were hunched and there was a tightness in her expression. Her general demeanor looked completely off.

"Optimus?" she called.

Looking down at her for a moment, Prime felt his Spark rattle appreciatively. While his relationship with Lily was still relatively new, he had grown quite protective of her. There was an almost primal need to keep Lily safe.

"Was there something you needed?" Prime asked.

"I, uh..." Lily scratched the back of her neck anxiously. "I need to tell you something."

(A/N):

First, I'd like to apologize for how poorly-written this chapter is. I'm currently running on fumes right now. I'm sure you guys can tell by the way the chapter looks. Second, I know it took a while for me to post this. I didn't forget about it, I had a lot of stuff going on and needed to push this to the side in the meantime. Other than that, leave constructive criticism where you think it's due. I'd greatly appreciate it.

Nothing in the TRANSFORMERS universe belongs to me. All I own are my OCs, my subplots, and the complete exhaustion I'm currently feeling. I have no ownership over the OCs and subplots that were generously loaned to me. If you've got ideas that you'd like to share, don't hesitate to PM me or leave a review. I'll add them in as soon as possible.

Like I mentioned before, the reason this chapter wasn't put up right away, and it's probably the reason why this little bit turned out so badly, is because I had a lot of things going on. My dog got really sick and needed emergency surgery, so I was a mess about that. I was pretty much pushed to the breaking point at my job and practically broke down crying. School's starting to pile up on me and I'm feeling exhausted and overwhelmed. I thought maybe updating would help, but I guess I'm a bit rusty when it comes to this story. I'm sorry, guys. I don't want to disappoint any of you, but I feel like I am.

Also, for any of you who care, I attempted to write a 4th of July TRANSFORMERS one-shot called FIREWORKS. It's not my best work, but if you're interested in reading it, go ahead. Give feedback. If you've got ideas for future one-shots, be sure to let me know.

Leave a random fact on something you've learned today. Or it could be on something you've known for a while.

Be kind to one another, don't text and drive, and stay in school, my friends.

Many blessings,

Indigo Callahan