Disclaimer: I do NOT own Transformers (Prime), only my OC Rosalie Oakley Drew Danielle Drago Esquivel, or Rose for short :)

~Episode 4~

Darkness Rising Part 4

Rose's POV:

*Last Time*

But there is this one question that's bugging me... "Hey, Knock Out?"

"Hmm?"

"Why do you listen to Lor- forgive me, Megatron then?" I scolded myself for nearly calling the Decepticon leader LORD Megatron. I shuddered at the thought.

"Well, because...I...uh..." Knock Out stopped, speechless.

"Knock Out?"

"I...-" Before he could say anything else, a large form broke through the Medbay doors.

*Present Time*

A dust cloud followed shortly after the intrusion. Aww C'mon! Knock Out was going to tell me why he listens to Megatron! And the sorta good part: he doesn't know!...I think. I coughed and coughed till the dust bunnies settled on new surfaces before opening my eyes again. There, right in front of me was a yellow bot we all love, though I've got warn you, he looks pretty steamed right now. Bumblebee was right in front of us, his blasters out and pointing at Knock Out. I could tell that Knock Out was still frozen from the surprise assault to his door.

"Bee!" I cried, happy to see my guardian.

Bee's helm ducks down to see me sitting on the palm of Knock Out's servo. I swear I saw Bumblebee's optics widen at the sight. I stood up to greet Bumblebee properly when Knock Out's servo clenched around me once again.

He brought me up to his optical level and whispered into my ear: "Sorry Cupcake, but I've got a reputation to hold," and that was all he said before he transformed his other servo to a small blade, though I noticed that it was a good 2 meters away from me.

"Ah, Bumblebee, so nice of you to join us," Bumblebee made an infuriated attempt to come towards us, but Knock Out's switchblade came closer to me be 1 meter. "I wouldn't do that, if I were you," Bumblebee halted, glancing at me worriedly. I heard Knock Out mumble something to himself, but I'm pretty sure I misheard it. It sounded suspiciously like 'I know I wouldn't', but hey, I must be wrong.

While Knock Out kept taunting Bumblebee and boasting about himself, he never noticed a particular small femme bot creeping up behind him. I turned my head and saw Arcee motioning me to be quiet. I nod and pretend to listen to whatever Knock Out has to say; though I am keeping Arcee in sight from the corner of my eye. The next few seconds were hectic. Arcee did a summersault and landed on Knock Out's back, while I flew out of his servo. But luckily for me, Bumblebee anticipated this reaction, so he caught me easily in his servos.

"Kidnapping kids now, huh Knock Out?" Arcee joked with a serious tone, never lifting her blaster off
his chest plate.

"Rosalie," Knock Out wheezed.

"Huh?" Arcee asked, bewildered.

"Her name's Rosalie; she doesn't like to be called 'kid' or 'sparkling' or whatever...and here I thought you'd know better since she's a part of Team Prime," he chuckled, using the distraction to shove her off and stand up.

Bumblebee's optics narrowed at Knock Out and Knock Out only raised an optic ridge at him in return.

"Hold on a second, how do you know her name, stalker?" Arcee cut in, waving a hand in the air. Knock Out and me made eye contact and shared a knowing look with each other.

"Ah, well, you get curious over time. I'm no stalker. She," Knock Out pointed at me, "on the other hand can tell you all about...if she wants to," he applied a smirk by the end.

All Autobots in the room looked at me curiously, confusion and disbelief in their optics. Knock Out used this opportunity to escape, though I was the only one who saw.

I crossed my legs and looked up at the bots sheepishly. "Um...hey, what's cooking?"

Arcee gave an annoyed sigh and walked towards the door.

"You okay? Did he hurt you? Any experiments? Conflicts? Boasting? Okay, scratch off the last one; I know he did."

I laughed. Only Bumblebee could become so agitated when it comes to Raf and I...not even our own parents are like that... "I'm in top shape, just a little tired. No, none of that, only the boasting,"

"Oh good. That was the Decepticon medic. His name is Knock Out and he's really egotistic," Bee explains as he sets me down.

"I know, he told me,"

Bee froze. "He...told you? He just...said so? He didn't boast that he was the medic?"

I simply nodded. "Yeah, well, I sort of figured out that he was a medic, but he told me his name...along with him boasting about his awesomeness...why? Is something wrong?"

Bee transformed into his vehicle form and opened the passenger door. I walked over and sat down on the offered place, the seatbelt automatically wrapping itself around me. Usually Bumblebee would speed off into the horizon, but at the moment he was going as slow as 10 km/h.

"I...don't know. It's unusual for him to talk to Autobots or Autobot friends in a civil manner."

"Guess he changed or something,"

"Or something,"

"Did you offline Bulkhead?"

"No. Plus, I haven't gotten the chance to do so yet. Why?"

"No reason...why are you here anyways? Not that I am not glad you are, but just wondering."

"Arcee and I got a call from Bulkhead saying that you and Fowler got captured by the Decepticons, which practically gave me a spark attack." I smile wryly at the headboard. Suddenly, Bumblebee gave a forced chuckle. "If you think that was bad, I must have offlined and gone to the pits when I found out that Bulkhead Groundbridged to the Decepticon warship with Miko, Jack and Raf."

"Raf!?" I exclaim as I start to worry for my little brother's safety.

"Exactly my reaction"

"Is he here? Bulkhead is with him right? Did he get captured? Is he injured? Is he-" rambled on for another minute or two before Bee beeped.

"Rosalie, calm down! Yes, he's here, and I'm pretty sure that Bulkhead is with him...I hope..."

I looked at the dash board worriedly before sinking into Bumblebee's car seat. I lean my head against the car's cool windows and stare expectantly out at the quiet hall way.

"I wish he'd just...appear. Doesn't matter how, just as long as he appears in front of us," I mutter, mainly to myself.

Bumblebee jerked to a halt. "Your wish may be coming true, look," Confused, I looked up in front of us, and my jaw dropped open. There, in the clenched servos of two Decepticon cronies, were Jack and Raf. "Hold on," and without warning, Bumblebee took off, straight towards the two Decepticons.

I gave a small squeal of surprise as Bumblebee accelerated forward.

Bumblebee, I hope you know what you're doing! I screamed to myself. Bee crashed right into the Decepticons, catching them off guard from the attack. Bee made sure to bang into them with the rear end of the car so that I wouldn't get damaged (if he gets damaged himself at all that is.)

Arcee jumped over us in her vehicle mode and transformed mid-air, just in time to catch Jack and Raf as they fell. As she sets them down, Bumblebee transforms with me still inside of him, but still, I somehow find myself sitting on his shoulder again. He stepped out from behind Arcee, and that is when Raf spots him.

"Bumblebee! Rose! You found her!" Raf cried as he rushed over. Bee kneeled down and lends me a servo for me to climb on, which I do. He lowers his servo close enough to the ground for me to jump down. I run over to Raf and hug him tight. I look over Raf's shoulder and see Jack staring intently at me, causing me to blush and look away. Unbeknownst to me, Arcee and Bumblebee shared a knowing look.

"Are you two hurt?" Bee buzzes, talking to Raf and Jack.

"We appreciate you clearing the front door for us, but storming the Decepticon warship was not part of the activities plan," Arcee scolded agitatedly.

"Tell me about it," Jack agreed, throwing his arms up into the air to make a point.

We walked for a bit longer in complete silence until we reached a corner where Arcee signalled us to stay back. She turned the corner and calls out "Friendly!" while the simultaneous answer was "Hello!" from a voice I recognized as Bulkhead's. Miko was the first thing that entered my mind.

"You brought the humans, huh," Arcee dead pans questioningly, retracting her blaster.

"You try getting them stay behind!" Bulkhead exclaims incredulously.

"We need to find Fowler and get these kids out of here," Arcee says, probably strategizing the best possible attack pattern.

"All I know is that he's with someone called Starscream, but that's about it," I add, hoping to shed some light to his whereabouts.

"Uh," Jack and Ref say in unison, "They're in the bridge."

"Well, what are we doing here for? Let's go!" I call over to them, making my way to Bumblebee who had already gone into his vehicle mode.

Everybody nodded in agreement and moved forward without question. We rounded a couple of corners with no interference, which was weird.

"Hey, doesn't it seem weird that we haven't seen any Decepticons?" I ask, rubbing my neck in the process. And just my luck, as soon as I said that a group of three Decepticons appear and start shooting at us.

"Looks like you jinxed us," Jack calls over nervously, trying to avoid all the shots being thrown at us.

Bulkhead moves in and blocks blasts from us while shooting at the Decepticons himself. As soon as a single shot hit one of the Decepticons on their chest plate, the Decepticon exploded, showering the hallway with scattered debris. Everything seemed to go in slow motion from there; Arcee jumped and engaged three newcomers in hand-to-hand combat, Bumblebee assisting her with his powered up shots. I felt someone grab my wrist and drag me towards the far side of the wall, and I turn to see Jack had dragged me and Raf over to Miko. But then, we had to move because a Decepticon head fell at the place where we were standing not so long ago. We are now situated at the centre of the battlefield, feeling more like on lookers than anything else. It felt like forever until the battle ended as abruptly as it started, broken debris getting throw here and there.

We all look at one another before continuing as if nothing had happened. Oh, I hope Optimus and Ratchet are doing alright, I thought to myself.

I watched, confused, as Bumblebee and Bulkhead entered a room and offlined a few Decepticons. What do they achieve by doing that? Once it was safe, Bee gave the 'all clear' sign.

"Alright, wait in here," Arcee commanded.

"What? Why?" Bumblebee inquired, astonished at the suggestion of leaving us alone.

"They are slowing us down, and they're easy targets," Arcee summarized, though I know she wanted to give more excuses. "They'll be alright in here, as long as they stay put." From the tone of her voice I knew that the last comment was directed for us to comprehend.

Arcee walked out of the room, and then Bumblebee and Bulkhead shared a brief look at each other before activating their blasters, in Bulkhead's case, his cannon, and moving out. We just stared out the door before the door closed.

"That, was intense," Miko pointed out.

"Was?" Raf stated incredulously.

"More like 'is'," I corrected.

"This is your fault that we are stuck in this intensity," Jack accused, pointing at her and having a furious look on his face. "What were you thinking Miko!"

"Did I ask you to follow me?" Miko retorted.

"You wanted us to be a band, doesn't that often mean playing together!" Jack spat out, anger lacing every word.

"Well, maybe I decided to go solo!"

"Well, maybe I have some regard for your safety!"

"Oh, I'm sorry, is your name 'Optimus'? You can leave my protection to Bulkhead, thank you very much!" While they were arguing, I couldn't help but notice poor Raf stuck in between them, and how he was becoming really uncomfortable.

"Guys! Knock it off!" I yell, but I just got glares from them instead.

"Argh! Stop it! Both of you!" Raf cries, running over to a ledge and sitting down, covering his face with his hands. My natural reflexes kicked in as I immediately ran over to him sat beside him, rubbing his back in comfort and hugging him.

Miko and Jack came over as well, looking guilty and disgraced.

"Oh hey, Raf, Raf, it's okay," Jack comforts, sitting beside me and reaching over to rest a hand on Raf's knee.

"Yeah, we'll be fine," Miko agrees, rubbing Raf's shoulder.

"Yeah, our 'bots will come over for us," Jack says, trying to lighten up the mood.

"Yeah, they're gonna take us home," Miko adds.

"How do you know," was Raf's gruff reply. I look down at Raf with worry shining in my eyes as Raf and I just sat there, hugging each other.

"Hey Raf, what'd you make of that?" Jack suddenly asks, gesturing towards this giant screen with red numbers and letters, as well as other symbols, scrawled upon it. My eyes go wide as Raf and I stand up to investigate.

We hop down, step to step, in order to reach the screen.

"It's important. Real important," Raf briefs us, gazing up at the billboard-like glass full of information.

"It looks like Cybertronian," I commented. Random, since it doesn't affect us, but still; I felt like I should say it.

"Cybertronian?" Miko asked, mystified.

"Yes; Cybertronian is their home language, um, mother tongue, if you will," I explained.

"We gotta get this to Optimus!" Raf exclaimed, as he studies all the different icons and symbols.

"How do you know if this isn't just a recipe for space nachos?" Miko inquired, hanging her arms limp in exaggeration.

"I know math when I see it..." I say in a daze.

"...and that is one serious equation!" Raf finishes, studying the flickering data on the massive glass screen.

"Can you, ah, download it?" Jack suggests, coming up with nothing else.

I could see the gears grinding at full speed in Raf's mind until his face lit up with hope. "I've got a flash drive," Raf shreds off his bag and unzips it, searching around for the small flash drive.

To me, the plan seemed flawless, but then I noticed something. "But Raf, I don't see anywhere to plug it in,"

Raf looks around and nods sadly, agreeing with me. "Yeah, this tech is way alien,"

I was so engrossed in the problem that we're facing, that I didn't notice the doors opening. However, I did notice the loud clanking sounds of footsteps behind me. I spun around and gasped.

"Guys! Hide! Con alert!" I half whispered as I grabbed Raf's hand and sprinted towards the ledge supported by some technology device. I was nearly there when I felt Raf's hand slip out mine. I screeched to a halt and looked back wildly for Raf. He ran to his backpack and shrugged it back on. I
groaned inwardly before running back for him.

"Raf! What ar you doing! This isn't the tim-" To our dismay, the Con saw us and transformed one of its servos into a weapon and aimed the blaster towards us.

Raf and I gave a little scream and stumbled backwards. The air had been sucked right out of me; I just stood there, frozen like a deer in headlights.

Suddenly, it started firing shots at us, and that is when I went into overdrive; I grabbed hold of Raf's sleeve and pulled him along with me, keeping him in front. Just as one of the shots were gonna hit us, I felt something, rather, someone ram into me. The force not only pushed Raf and I out of the
way, but also knocked us down as well. I fell to the ground with a thump!

Ow, that's going to form a bruise in the morning. As if that wasn't enough, I felt an extra weight land on me. Forget the bruises, I'm gonna be paralyzed! I just lay there for a second or two, not moving at all, I couldn't even remember what I was doing! Then it all came back to me in a flood of memories and flashes.

My eyes snapped open, only to meet with dark eyes. Wait, what? Nope, not Raf; he had more of a dark brown kind, plus, he had glasses. Jack, a part of my mind whispered to me. Out of sheer nervousness and fear, I shoved him off me. He rolled and banged his head on the floor...hard.

"Oh no, I'm so sorry, Jack! I don't know what came over me!" Of course you do, my mind chided. I sighed. I've kept my distance from guys ever since The Incident.

I crawled over to Jack and rested my hands on his chest, trying to see if he's awake. He groaned in response.

"Rosalie? What...happened?" He asked groggily. My heart winced with guilt.

"I'm sorry that I shoved you; you caught me off guard! Please forgive me!" I pleaded, my eyes becoming moist.

"Hey, it's okay. It was partly my fault, I didn't mean to shove you guys so hard," Jack comforted, taking one of my hands in his.

I noticed the Decepticon coming closer, so I gently took my hands out of his before crawling over to Raf.

"Are you okay?" I asked him, worry in my eyes.

"Yeah, are you?" I could sense the double meaning in those words, and I knew that he wasn't asking if I was hurt.

"I'm...fine. Yeah. I'm good." He didn't look convinced since he knew how badly I had been shaken up since The Incident.

"Miko! Take a picture!" Jack yelled, cupping his hands around his mouth to project the voice further.

"Good idea!" Miko called back enthusiastically. I face-palmed. Miko isn't gonna take a picture of the script, is she?

As to prove my point, just as the Con charged up his blaster to shoot at us, Miko yells, "Hey you!", drawing the Con's attention to the girl with a fiery attitude as she took a picture of him.

Beside me, Jack groaned.

"Hey, M!" I called over. "Not of him, of that!" I pointed to the screen.

I could see Miko's lips forming and 'o' as she took a picture of the correct object.

"Come on! We've gotta get outta here!" With that said, I took Raf's hand and ran towards the entrance door. In good time too, since just as we stepped out of the door, the Con started re-firing at us.

"Go, go go!" Jack chanted as we sprinted out of there, acting as if the whole place was in fire.

The Con chased us in leisurely paces, as if taunting us that we would never be able to outrun it. It stopped to charge its blaster. Huh, guess it can't do two things at once. Just as it was going to shoot, a loud series of honking brought our attention to a green mass in the horizon. Bulkhead, I thought. The car jumped and transformed mid-air, jumping aver us and landing a fatal blow on the Con behind us with a blast of his cannon. He pushed the Con and smashed it on to the floor, knocking it out cold. Ha!

Bumblebee pulled up to us in his vehicle form. Raf climbed in and sat in the driver's seat as Miko sat in the passenger's seat. I was going to sit in the back when Bumblebee's voice rang out.

"Rose, you'll have to ride with Arcee since my backseat is occupied with a drowsy agent," Bee whirred apologetically.

"It's okay Bee," I comforted, though inside, I was terrified. No, Jack's different, he's not like those people. Plus, it's only till we reach base. I took a deep breath and went over and sat behind Jack, tentatively wrapping my arms around his torso. I swear that we both turned at least two shades of red.

"I told you to stay put!" Arcee scolded as we gained speed.

"Sorta hard to stay put when the enemy is pointing a gun at ya," I grumbled.

I heard Arcee chuckle at me and left the matter alone.

We drove out of the Decepticon base in silence, and that's exactly what followed us for next few minutes: silence.

"So, ah. Um, what did you get dragged into while on the ship?" Jack asked nervously. I smiled. At least he wants to have a conversation.

"I was stuck with the ship's Medic for most of the time,"

"Really? Was he like Ratchet?"

I chuckled at the memories. "Naw. Well, his habits were similar to Ratchet's. They're both pretty engrossed into what they do, know their way around the Medbay, grumble to themselves while they work and have a very keen hearing range."

"You're lucky that he wasn't in one of his fouler moods. He can be such a fragging aft sometimes. No wait, all the time." Arcee added.

I scrunched my eyebrows together. I wanted to deny her and tell her that he was actually fun to be with, but then his words cut through my mind. 'Sorry Cupcake, but I've got a reputation to hold,' So, I just kept my mouth shut.

About an hour passed before we reached base, Jack and I talking all the way, even Arcee joined in some parts. We talked about everything, a range from favourites to hobbies. I learned that his favourite colour was dark blue, and I commented that it fits him perfectly, since he sort of had that authority figure inside of him. Of course, we burst out laughing afterwards.

When we reached base, it was empty. Now, I started to worry about Optimus and Ratchet. What's taking them so long?

"Um, Jack, Rosalie, I'd hate to be a bugger, but could you two get off?" Arcee voiced?

I blushed as I realized that we had stopped, but none of us had yet to move. I scrambled off the bike, and as did Jack.

"Guys! You'd never believe what Fowler's been babbling about!" Miko laughed as she skipped over to us.

The Groundbridge suddenly opened to reveal a very much dented Optimus and a limping Ratchet.

"Oh no. Optimus! Ratchet! What happened?" Arcee asked worriedly, assisting Ratchet as Bumblebee and Bulkhead assisted Optimus.

"I'll brief you upon our encounter as soon as Ratchet receives medical attention," Optimus winced, as he let Bee and Bulk' help him.

"For Primus sake, Optimus is the one who needs the attention! I can heal myself, thank you very much," Ratchet huffed. I rolled my eyes. Ratchet and his tough front; he's only like this 'cause he's a worry-wart about everybody's health. He's such a softie it's admirable!

"What happened to you guys anyway?" Miko asked softly once they were attended to and were healing at the moment.

"We engaged an army of undead Cybertronian warriors," Ratchet replied while holding onto his injured arm that's currently in a brace.

"Zombies?" Miko exclaimed. Oh boy. "You fought zombies and I missed it?"

"Miko!" I said sharply, giving her a pointed look.

"Bulkhead," Optimus called. "You exercised extremely poor judgement in letting the humans to accompany you."

Bulkhead stood up and looked at us, well, at Miko. "It-it won't happen again, Optimus. I-I promise."

"But it wasn't Bulkhead's fault," Miko defended, walking closer to Bulk.

"Miko! Please!" Bulkhead pled in a sharp tone.

"And check it out," Miko went on, ignoring Bulkhead, as she flipped open her phone to the picture of the data. "Recon."

Optimus bent closer to look at it. "Hmm, Ratchet, have a look. It could be of importance to Megatron." Optimus backed off to let Ratchet come and take a look.

"Wow, Megatron's back? That's really bad news, right?" Jack voiced, mind blown to this new piece of information.

Ratchet approached as he came to look at what had caught their leader's attention. "I," he looked back at Optimus, "don't understand."

Miko pulled her phone back to see what he meant. "Oops! That's the Con that tried to blow Raf and Rose away. At least, that's how he looked like before Bulkhead rearranged his grill!" as she said this, she made punching motions with her fists.

I sneaked a peak at Jack, and my face dropped. He was absolutely seething in anger. Oh dear Primus, this was NOT going to end well, I could feel it in my bones.

"Miko, Raf and Rose were almost killed! This isn't a game! When are you gonna get that through your thick skull!" He lashed. From her facial expressions, Miko did not take that very well.

"Um, we were all almost killed, Jack. You, me, Raf, Rose, even them!" Miko pointed out, her voice full of frustration as she crossed her arms with an angry huff.

"Well, if this was just an average day with the Autobots, then I don't want to be a part of it. Not anymore."

I was silent after that. I looked at him alarm in my eyes, and he looked back at me with remorse, and that was how that he could take it much longer; that he didn't want to see anyone else her harmed.

"Jack," Optimus spoke, "putting you in harm's way was never our intend. However, it is no longer the safety of you four that is at risk, but the safety of all human kind. We will respect your decision if you wish to leave."

The familiar hum of the Groundbridge was heard next. We all looked over to Ratchet, who was next to the Groundbridge panels, and a servo on the lever.

"No point in long goodbye's, here's the door," he explained emotionlessly. I glared at him. Okay, I get that he isn't particularly fond of our kind, but at least he could be neutral about it instead of biased.

Jack took one step towards the portal before halting and spinning on his heels, looking directly at Raf. "Come on, Raf," he said expectantly.

Raf looked back at me, then at Bumblebee, who had lowered his head, before looking back at Jack. "I'll be okay, Jack. See you at school," Raf said, giving a small wave.

"Sure thing," He said dejectedly, before he took his leave again.

Arcee stood in front of Jack with crossed arms, giving him a pointed look.

"I know, I know. You don't exist,"

"Don't make me hunt you down," Arcee warned, slightly deflated.

"Of course," he confirmed. But again, before he took another step, he paused, but did not turn around.

"Rose?" he called over his shoulder. All pairs of eyes/optics turned towards me now. Uh, did I mention that I hate attention? I looked down at Raf, and then at all of the Autobots before settling on Bumblebee. He looked at me with pleading eyes for a while before looking down.

"Jack," I spoke softly, not wanting to hurt his feelings. "I would..." everybody froze, and Bumblebee slumped against the wall. "...if I could. Raf needs me. They need me," I looked over at Bee, who's head had shot up, a smile in his eyes.

I heard Ratchet grumble softly, "Who said that we need you,"

BANG!

Everybody looked over to see a small wrench stuck on Ratchet's helm, surprising Ratchet quite a bit. They looked back at me, surprise and respect in their eyes.

"You're not the only one who can throw a wrench, Hatchet," I growled, remembering one of those stories Arcee told Jack and I about. Oh, if you're wondering where I got the wrench, I found it lying about on the sofa on the ramp.

Arcee, Bumblebee, and Bulkhead laughed openly and even Optimus chuckled. Miko and Raf had no clue upon what I was talking about but were laughing, but I caught a ghost of a smile on Jack's lips. Ratchet looked at me with respect and annoyance, but respect nevertheless.

"Yeah, I get ya. Well, see you later, I guess" He continued to walk to the portal until he was completely submerged into it. I just stared at the swirls of the Groundbridge. I looked back at Raf, who only nodded in response.

"I'll see you at home, Raf. Guess I'll see you all tomorrow?" I asked the Autobots, who looked slightly bewildered at where I was going with this.

"Of course. May I ask where you're going now?" Optimus agreed, though he had doubts about what I was going to do.

I looked simply back at the portal. Optimus looked at where I was staring and gave a simple shake of his head.

"I understand, though I shall recommend not to use force." I smiled back at Optimus and stepped into the portal.

"Wait, what? You're leaving too!?" 'Bee cried, his face crestfallen.

"No no! I will meet you and Raf back at our home, I just...need to see something first. See you later, 'Bee"

I walked up the driveway of a silent, sleeping neighbourhood. The only sign of life was coming from an open lit garage. Oh, I hope that that's Jack's house, I thought. I felt foolish for just barging in through the portal without knowing Jack's house address.

Slowly but surely I crept over to the garage door and saw Jack taking out an old, rusted, deflated, bent and worn-out cycle. He took it over to a workshop bench and got out some tools.

"Whatcha got there, Jack?"

Jack visibly jumped ten feet up into the air before looking back at me, me smiling all the way.

"Wha- how? When- Hi?" He stuttered, looking extremely bewildered.

It made me laugh. "So? Whatcha doin'?"

Jack took a minute to compose himself before answering. "Well, I need a transportation device, now that I don't own a motorcycle, so I have to go back to my old fashioned cycle."

"Jack," I interrupted, "FYI, I doubt that you ever owned Arcee, more like she owned you." In response, I got a glare. "Sorry. Not helping. What I'm trying to say is that; why do you want to go back into the past?"

"Um, because the past is normal, and I'd like to go back to it," he countered., getting a wrench out of his toolbox. That triggered the memory of me throwing a wrench of Ratchet.

"Riding your ancient cycle?" I asked sceptically. "Look Jack, imagine that your cycle is the past...ancient past... and that your motorcycle, a.k.a Arcee, is the future, or present. Now remember how everybody would look at your motorcycle with awe and that life seemed to be easier?...okay, at
least easier to get to places-"

"Rosalie. No. I know what you're trying to do, but no. Life just got...worse. I had to...we had to fightfor survival! I do not want to spend the rest of my life, being cautious around every corner!" Jack snapped.

"But isn't that the thrill of it all? Having no idea what's coming up next? Living a life full of adventure instead of a repeated everyday life?"

"But that's your life, Rosalie!" Jack grabbed me by my shoulders and made me look at him. Hard. "I just want to be the average teenage guy who has to worry about his school work and girls, not about surviving!"

I heard two sets of tires hit the driveway and turned my head to see who it was. It was a green all terrain vehicle (which sort of reminded me of a SWAT truck). I could see the familiar silhouette of my dear friend Miko inside. Fine, he didn't want to listen to me, maybe he'll listen to her.

I slumped my shoulders in defeat. "Okay, if that's what you want. See you at school, Jack."

"Rosal-"

"Jack! We need to talk," Miko interrupted as she stalked over to us in a huff.

I leaned in and whispered into her ear. "It's gonna be tough. I'll be waiting for you inside Bulkhead,"

I climbed aboard the vehicle, whom I'm guessing is Bulkhead, and fell asleep instantly from today's stress.

!IMPORTANT!

HI! I managed to work on this since I found a soft copy of this in my email...no promises on publishing my other stories soon though. I have put up a poll on my profile regarding the pairing for this story, so please vote there, or give me your thoughts through a review. I hope you don't mind that I can't reply to reviews in this chapter since I have to get onto the other stories, but I'll try to update soon! Yes, my laptop is still bugged, and my dad said that the probably of recovering ANY of the data from the him (yes, I believe that mechanics have a gender too,) are very slim. Oh, I do hope you'll get well soon, Vortex! (My Laptop) =P Love you all! 3 I'm closing the poll by Friday-saturday since I really need the result for my next few chapters, so please do vote soon! 3 Just so you know, the pairings you can vote for are: (Note that this list is shuffled)

o Rosalie x Bumblebee

o Rosalie x Jack

o Rosalie x ?Decepticon? (Though I'm sure you already know who the mech is =P)

~Forest Rose~