Author's Note: Greetings, friends! So here's another installment - I'm pleased to announce we are coming upon the final battle for this piece, and I'm a bit of a wreck over that. This story has come such a long way, and holds such a near and dear place in my heart. I can hardly believe it has garnered the attention that it has - and I can't believe it's taken me almost forever to finish it!

Just wanted to tell you - with the release of The Last Knight this week, it is hardly likely that I'll have this one hundred percent complete before the launch of the movie. I'll probably launch my take on TLK before this piece is concluded, which means that some things might overlap between this story and that. But, worry not - I will do my best to keep it concise and in line. Prepare yourselves - the ending is going to be a little bit different, but it won't be bad, I promise.

Needless to say, I hope this goes where I want it to. Feels a little like its dragging on, but I did change things quite a bit location-wise and in areas of plot, so we're rolling with it. This is a pretty emotional chapter for me (I was tearing up in a few places) but it isn't nearly as bad as the previous one - I got some pretty serious reviews and a couple of PM's I wasn't expecting! Huzzah!

Anyway, enjoy - we're beginning to plateau into the end, and I'm not quite sure how to handle it. Please, leave some thoughts behind - you are going to follow me into TLK, right? I hope so! Also check out my other pilots that I have launched - a Bumblebee/OC centric piece called Curbside Mechanics that I'm playing around with, and this story's prequel, Dark Liasons. Not sure where those will sit with updates with TLK coming, but you never know. I write when muse hits these days.

Let's rev up and roll out! Thanks tons - I love all your beautifully noble faces!

Mira watched the Western Star go, before she could no longer hold back tears. Only when they traced down her cheeks and blurred her vision entirely did she turn on heel to face the team of Autobots and humans that had witnessed her exchange with Optimus Prime, to address them with the plan of action.

She swiped at her nose with the back of her hand, pausing to stare down at the bruised and dirty skin that marred her state. She wrinkled her brow and sighed, before she looked up at Bumblebee, who quirked what sounded like a blizting noise from his vocal processor at her. The scout took a knee, tipped his head to the side, and awaited instruction, as per Bumblebee's usual.

Sideswipes holoform rested against the fender of his vehicle form, arms crossed in front of him with his feet crossed at the ankles. Elena was beside him, biting her lower lip and tracing circles on her arm to quell her nervous anxiety. Bryce was observing beside Bumblebee and Tessa, while Cade stood directly in front of her, not twenty feet away, holding Merrick in a strong arm as the boy watched helplessly in an affront to try and discern the coming moments that would, consequently, form his future.

She had a sinking feeling in her gut, one that she had learned to discern as dread, that seemed to bob into her throat. Mira hated the feeling of helplessness that plagued her in moments like this – but, instead of helplessness, she had the overwhelming suspicion that things were not all that they appeared. As Optimus would say, there was more than met the eye revolving around all of this business with Lockdown and his "Creators", and Joshua's KSI catastrophe. Try as she might, she couldn't piece it together – until, finally, she realized that it was not helplessness nor suspicion that had spun her stomach into a whirlwind, no.

It was her instincts, and they were telling her that something was off. The staunch, military officer in her warned her that to deviate from Prime's orders would potentially mean a large consequence for not only herself, but also the people directly in her sphere of influence. To change the game-plan mid-play, as Will always had said, tended to throw a wrench in things – unless you could catch the wrench.

Her head snapped up from examining her feet. Unforgiving tears continued to fall from her eyes, in a silent farewell to not only her leader, but also her best friend – Optimus may well not return from his skirmish with Lockdown, and Mira honestly had no idea what would in turn happen regarding Galvatron. The odds were simply staked too high for Optimus to fight this war alone – she had seen his capacity for bravery and responsibility get him killed once, and he had danced closely with fate more often than she would have preferred. She could not, simply, let her Prime face the fate of Earth alone. Who would she be, besides a coward that sat idly by on the sidelines, to watch her friend fall to destiny and chance survival?

A sudden blast of heat rocketed up her arm, and spread throughout her body to settle in her chest. Even now, at a distance, the Shield could sense the call of the Matrix. Mira could feel its presence calling her forward, bidding her come, in the very depths of her heart. She knew – she knew – this was what she had been called to do; what Alpha Trion had meant by shouldering the additional responsibility in the shadow of the Prime's. It moved throughout her fluidly, like warm stream, until she felt as if she were drowning in the Matrix.

Oh, God, she consulted inwardly, this is what I was born to do. I know it is.

Heaving a breath, she squared her shoulders and marched directly to Joshua Joyce, tears and sorrow suddenly forgotten. She extended her hand, threw her hair over her shoulder, and wiggled her fingers for the man's compliance.

"The Seed," she inserted sharply, arching an expectant brow, "give it to me."

Joshua looked hesitant, and visibly retreated from her, raising his hands in a staying gesture. "Okay," he said slowly, "what do you plan to do with it?"

Her left eye was alive with receiving intel from the position of the rapidly disengaging Autobot away teams, who were all visibly converging to the new coordinates that Optimus had provided them. She wiggled her fingers again, and cocked an arrogant brow at Joshua, then clamped her jaw. "It doesn't matter to you, Joshua – give the Seed to me, and go with Elena and Sideswipe."

He unshouldered the leather case from his shoulders, and passed it to Mira, who nodded and turned on her heel to address Sideswipe, who had pushed himself off of the fender of his vehicle at attention. Elena stood beside him, looking hesitant and confused at Mira's sudden change, and her brows rose half an inch on her forehead when Mira stalked over and slung the case over her shoulder.

"Sides," she addressed the Autobot by the nickname he'd taken years before during their operations with NEST, "I want you and Drift to take everyone out of the city. I don't care where – just get them safe, away from here. I'll meet up with you later," she looked away, back up to Lockdown's ship, and added with a passive whisper, "And I want you to go dark."

His human brow spiked up, significantly. "Dark? Mira, you know that's not a preferred tactic –"

She shook her head, put up a hand, and heaved a sigh. "I know the protocol, Sideswipe. It's the only way I know to get you all out of this city without drawing any attention to yourselves. You go now, and you go quietly."

Bryce immediately interjected, tromping forward with his slight limp. Mira could tell, just given her brother's posture, that he was faring for the worst with his injury, despite his attempt at bravado. "Mira, you can't be serious –"

She nodded, and intercepted him by grabbing his shoulders and stopping his advance fully. Taking a half step forward to curb his momentum, she looked up into his face and replied with a stern sigh. "I am entirely serious, Bryce. I need you to take the others and get safe and drop off the face of the Earth. You and I both know it's the only way we get the civilians out of this alive. Merrick, especially." She looked over her shoulder to Elena, "I assume you have something that could help him?" Her eyes shifted over to Merrick, who had perked at the mention of his name, and now was reaching for her.

Mira crossed to him, and took him from Cade with little more than a gesture. The boy attached onto her like a magnet, and she took a knee to set his feet on the ground. She could feel the quaver of her breath beginning to brew in the back of her throat, as she shuffled Merrick back from her and cupped his face in his hands. She visibly began to cry now, the tears running more fluidly, until the collar of her tank-top was entirely soaked.

Mira looked back over to Elena and raised an expectant brow. Her Latina friend looked away and gestured with a hand, thumbing over her shoulder. "Back at the clinic, yeah. I have some of Ratchet's adrenaline that will help."

Mira nodded, and wiped at the dirt on Merrick's forehead to give him a lopsided smile. "See? Aunt Laney has you taken care of," she brushed the hair from his face and shook her head, tipping her head to the side. "I'm sorry you don't understand, Merrick. Someday, this will all make sense. I promise." She stood to kiss his forehead, and sank down again on her haunches, "I need you to go with Uncle Bryce and go somewhere safe with Drift, okay? I know this is scary and hard, but Mommy has to help Uncle Optimus."

The boy's face was stoic and cemented in what Mira was certain was a pending state of shock. If only Will had been alive to resolve all of this with one of his brilliant plans, she knew this wouldn't nearly be as difficult as she was finding it. Then again, if Will had been alive, he would be livid with her for dragging their son into the middle of an intergalactic, alien war. The thought, for some odd reason, made her chuckle.

But, her chuckle was stifled to a paralytic halt when Merrick sniffled, wiped his nose, and asked, "Will you come back?" as blatantly as if he'd asked what time in the afternoon had befallen them.

The question rocked Mira back on her legs, and left her mouth aghast in surprise. She hadn't expected Merrick's recation – she'd expected any type of tantrum, actually – but this. In all honeslty, Mira would've preferred tha the boy go off kicking and screaming bloody murder – that, she could understand and stomach. But, his understanding of the situation and his harrowed tone of voice, matched with the lifeless void in his eyes, left her eyes swimming and her throat clamped closed. All she could do was throw herself at the six-year-old, embrace him tightly, and bury her face into his tiny shoulder. She was half afraid she was squeeze the boy to death, so she released some of her hold, and mumbled quietly against his ear,

"No matter what happens, Merrick," she said with a choking quietness, "I will always be with you. Inside here," she gently tapped his head with a finger, and pulled away, to rest her hand over his heart and give him a sniffle, "and most importantly, inside here."

He didn't say anything, instead stood passively, until she pressed a kiss to his forehead and stuff, pulling him forward so he could wrap his arms around her middle and lose his face in her torso. She could feel his tears soak through her tank top, and tried not to focus on the tremble of his body as he cried into her belly. A searing jab of roaring heat and twisting pain rang home in the hallow of her belly, and the odd thought that this deep love and connection she shared with Merrick, had started here – had started because of the Autobots, and that she wouldn't have her son without them. That they wouldn't be here, in this mess, had she not met the Autobots all those years ago as a waifish, naïve young girl.

She ruffled Merrick's hair, bent at the waist, and kissed the top of his head, before she sent her son off to Bryce's awaiting arms, only to be confronted immediately with a hug from her best human friend, Elena. She wrapped her arms around Mira tightly, squeezing her tightly to rest her chin on her shoulder and look up at the sky. Mira, suddenly cold as she watched Bryce lift her boy into his arms, hardly heard the woman mumble her a quiet "good luck, I love you", and a "you can do this". When they broke apart, they held each other's gaze for a moment, before Elena looked away and moved back alongside Sideswipe, who lifted am arm to welcome her into an embrace.

It was like slow motion, as if she could taste and feel with painstaking clarity the moments around her. The molecules of the air seemed to burn against her skin, and the air might as well have been laced with fire. Her lungs were drowning in their need for air, and as she was welcomed into a side embrace by Bryce, she let out a sob and hid her face in his shoulder, too. It was all she could seem to manage, was to hide – it was the only thing she could thing to do, but the Shield forced her away, and the Matrix bid her come. All she could manage, however, was a kiss to her brother's cheek, and a tight squeeze before she turned away from his embrace and looked up at Bumblebee.

The scout seemed to understand the shift in the moment, as if he too could feel the Matrix bidding her in the atmosphere around their party of fighters and survivors. He took a knee, tipped his head to the side, and gently lowered a finger to rest beneath her chin. Lifting her face up to his, he let out a soft, quirking buzz. Mira heard his searching the airwaves for a verbal response, while also simultaneously trying not to focus on the blood rushing through her ears.

"You," he paused to search the radio again, "are the bravest-" another pause, and this time Mira rested her palm against his finger and sniffled, before she tipped her head to the side, "-girl I've met. I want you to know…that I will always…be here and now. Don't worry – we're – a...family." At this, he cut out the radio, let out a low and defeated whine, and stood fully to stare down at her. He rolled a shoulder and looked back up to the vessel overhead, that was slowly creeping through the sky, as if watching them from a distance like a predator preparing to strike.

Mira nodded and tucked her hair behind her ear. "Thank you, Bumblebee. We are a family – and I have every intention of keeping us together, no matter the cost." Looking from him, her gaze fell to Joshua, who she nodded to politely, and then found herself gazing at Cade Yeager and his daughter, Tessa.

Before Mira could even react, Tessa rushed up to her and embraced her around the neck securely, squeezing tightly and resting her chin on Mira's shoulder. She trembled slightly; her nerves laced tight, and let out a trembling sigh that Mira knew was laced with a regretful sob. Mira embraced the girl back, rubbed her shoulder, and brushed her hair from her face when she shuffled Tessa back a step to stare at her.

Tessa bit her lower lip, and rubbed her forearm nervously. "I'm sorry, Mira," she said quietly, looking away, "I know this is my fault, and that I should never have –"

Mira chuckled, shook her head, and heaved a deep sigh. "All lessons are learned in their own time, Tessa. Unfortunately, this was a lesson for all of us that came at a time none of us were quite ready for." She wrinkled her nose, shrugged a shoulder lightheartedly, and smacked the girl on the shoulder good-naturedly, "And besides that – you reunited me and my squad, and for that, I'm thankful. You've been strong, and I'm proud of you." Then, she clapped her hands on the girls shoulder, and pulled her forward to kiss the side of her cheek. "Take care, Tessa. I'll see you on the other side, one way or another."

It was becoming exponentially obvious to Mira that her mind was preparing for the worst, while her heart was gearing up for the inevitable. It was almost like an out-of-body experience; saying goodbyes while only half believing them to be so. A part of her understood that this may well be the end of her, and Optimus Prime – but, the primal and instinctual part of her clawed for the hope that warriors denied themselves so often. She was determined, as a military fighter and strategist, to find the exit strategy that would get her, and her family, out alive – even if that meant making a sacrifice with insurmountable consequences down the line.

She felt as if she were slogging through tar that pulled at her to freeze in place as she put one foot in front of the other to step out and meet Cade Yeager in between Bumblebee and Sideswipe; as if a part of her heart had steeled itself to the reality of her predicament, but that the other subsequent parts had rushed straight into her throat to choke out her words. She hadn't felt this nervous around a single man for ages – Will had been the only man who had ever taken her breath away or made her tremble with anxious trepidation – and that had all been so long ago, before she'd been hardened with grief and bitter reality. But now, as Cade stared at her with his hands inside his pockets and his left shoulder dropped into a nonchalant shrug, she felt her stomach pool with not only anxious trepidation, but also sorrow – she may never see Cade again, or explore the uncharted territory of a relationship she hadn't experience in what had seemed like eternity. Because, Mira realized as she slowed to a halt before him, she had been excited to explore the possibility of a relationship with such an interesting man again – she'd almost felt ready.

She gave him a quirky half smile and let out an overdramatic sigh. "Well, I guess this is the moment of truth," she thumbed over her shoulder, "I've got to go, Cade. I'm sorry things have to be this way." After that, she brushed her hair out of her face with a fingertip touch, and nervously bit on her lower lip. "Thank you for everything. I know this hasn't been ideal – I was really looking forward too –"

Before she could finish her thought, he stepped forward lowered his mouth onto hers, catching her by surprise. She took an instinctual step backwards, before his palms gently cupped her face, and his fingers entwined with the curls behind her ears. Strangely, her throat closed, and her head began to swim – but, what was the oddest sensation above all was the feeling of her stomach flipping inside and out while dashing in a sprint into her ankles inside her boots.

He was tentatively aggressive at first, as if seeking her permission while simultaneously unwilling to give quarter, before she reaffirmed him with a small sigh. The tension left her shoulders, and her posture loosened from its rigid frame, and she took an open stance to give him the consensual go. Then, he stepped into her frame, and she lifted a hand to brush her fingertips along his unshaven cheek, suddenly feeling lost and in a foggy daze of confusion, uncertainty, and odd fascination. A tickle of excitement rested in her chest and made her abdomen float with strange butterflies. Mira could feel a blush rush up her neck to explode like fodder on her nose.

He was the first to pull away, and lowered his gaze down into her eyes to hold her attention. His lips parted to speak, but nothing came for a moment, until he mustered up a crackling rasp from his chest. "Whatever has to happen, I'm not sorry things happened this way," he shrugged a shoulder and chuckled at her while offering a pleasant half smile that suited him, "I'm lucky I got to meet you, Mira, and I look forward to exploring the finer parts of a relationship later." He lifted a thumb and rubbed away a smear over her eye before adding, "After all, it's not every day I get to meet a bionic girl who is the appointed leader of an alien race. You think I'm going to pass that up?"

She shook her head and couldn't surprise a chuckle of disbelief. "The feeling is mutual, Cade Yeager." Mira stepped out of his box while holding his hand, and gave it an affirming squeeze before she shrugged a shoulder and wrinkled her nose nonchalantly. "Keep yourselves safe. Meet up with the others and get gone."

With departing nods, they filtered into Sideswipe's form – first Joshua, Elena and Tessa in the back, followed by Bryce and Cade in the front seats, and finished with Merrick on Bryce's lap. With a rev of the engine, Sideswipe pulled away from the curb, leaving Mira and Bumblebee watching as they maneuvered through the chaotic mess of debris.

Mira then looked up at the Autobot scout, lifted the Seed, and gestured to Bumblebee with a wave. He looked down, took another knee before her, and she unzipped the bag to glance down at the technology that was continually signaling location. Looking up to Bumblebee, Mira let out a snort of disapproval, and batted a curl out of her face.

She stood and gestured to the object with a hand. "Take the Seed, Bumblebee. Get it out of the city to safety. I have to go and help Optimus." Surprised, Bumblebee's optic ridges lifted and he let out a squawk of protest.

He waved his hands out in front of him, as if gesturing the idea was a no-go. "It's the only way, Bumblebee – you and I both know Optimus can't face Lockdown alone." She looked up to the shift. "I think Optimus is wrong – I don't think Galvatron is going to abandon his ship to pursue the Seed. He'll let it go in favor of his fortress." She lifted the Seed and extended it to him, "But, that doesn't mean I can't be wrong, or that he'll send his prototypes to collect. I trust you with this, 'Bee – I need you to do this. For me, for the Autobots – for Earth. Please."

He held her gaze in his optics for a few beats of silence, before he let out a defeated slouch and a low whine of displeasure. Plucking the Seed out of her hands with two fingers, he brought it close to his chest and nodded at her, saluting staunchly before he started to all fours, dropping down instead into his Camaro. The door closed with a quiet thump, the transmission shifted mechanically, and he pulled away from the curb with a rev of his engine and the slight squeal of his tires.

Mira stepped out onto the street to watch him go, amidst the debris and other chaotic destruction of Bogota's urban population. Her heart began to race against her chest in realization that she may have made the biggest mistake of her life, while simultaneously feeling as if she had just fully embraced the beginning of her destiny. Her mouth was parched as an aftereffect of the adrenaline racing through her veins, and her body was cold as she focused her efforts on the CAST system blinking in her left eye.

And once the Camaro faded from view, Mira turned on her heel and looked up to the vessel overhead, before she triggered the transformation process of the Cybertronian armor and rocketed into the sky.

Optimus skirted in and out of the debris during his journey throughout Bogota, keeping Lockdown's vessel in his sights while refraining from consistently running perimeter checks. He paused momentarily at a few odd places to make sure he wasn't being traced – and, once satisfied that he was not being followed, he resumed his trek to the city's limits.

The vessel made a slow, menacing crawl throughout the sky, no doubt perusing for any trace of the Seed's location signal, until it had settled over the more rural parts of the territory. The ground was open as it led perilously into the mountains away from the city, and during his drive, Optimus could periodically see the effects of the Dinobots' tirade along Bogota's perimeter. He could even feel the rumble and distant roar of their presence beneath his frame as he rolled out to meet the ship.

Most of his Autobots had left the city to rendezvous at the coordinates, save Mira's signal. That wasn't unusual – it was like her to drop off the radar during operations to keep a low profile, and it was a tactic that they employed during their early days working alongside the American government. He knew, however, that Mira was loyal and trustworthy – and Optimus Prime knew that she would make sure her primary objective was completed. She hadn't failed him yet, and he didn't anticipate that she would.

The Matrix pushed him forward with stony determination, and a tinge of regret. It seemed so fluid and almost organic now, as he had bid his allies goodbye with the realization that he may never return. It was as if the Matrix were consoling him, or perhaps preparing him, for the inevitable outcome that his destiny had promised to foretell. But, simultaneously, it ached in detachment from its equal, the Shield – and, perhaps, its Keeper; the Cybertronian Countess that his mentor had coronated aboard the very vessel that Optimus Prime was willing to destroy.

HE briefly wondered how Alpha Trion had lived when everything else on Cybertron had perished, but he pushed it from his thoughts – there was no time to reflect and speculate on questions that would remain unanswered. Now he must focus on the present and the task set before him, while plagued with the unanswered questions of the moment. Questions like how he was going to get aboard the vessel undetected, and how he was going to engage both Lockdown and his defenses.

The latter question found its answer in short order – if he were correct, most of Lockdown's defenses were automated, and thus programmable. He assumed that if he managed to isolate Lockdown somewhere and engage him in combat, he would not be able to rally his forces to fight. In all preference, Optimus would've liked to corner Lockdown on the ground, but he knew drawing the mercenary from his ship was both unlikely, and impossible. His best bet would be to get on board through a maintenance terminal or an anchor port, and as he scanned the ship, he knew they were accessible and nearly undetectable, given that the ship face alien, atmospheric elements that would likely confuse the defenses with interference rather than an intruder.

The ship was low in the sky as it swept, presumably, for the Seed's signal. Briefly he wondered why Lockdown would want the device back, but it didn't rightly matter at this point in time – what mattered was that Lockdown would not rest until he was given to the Creators, and Mira was destroyed. As he pressed forward, Optimus readied his transformation, and opened a communication link with Strafe, the flying Dinobot. Keeping low as to mind the ship's scanners, he dropped into a crouch to await the transmission's reply.

He commed for the creature to meet him at his current coordinates and get him on board the vessel, and in a matter of moments, the legendary warrior was flying overhead. He pulled low before Optimus and said nothing, and instead of an introduction or an explanation, Optimus stood fully and the being latched its taloned feet onto his shoulders. Seemingly without effort, Strafe plucked him from the ground, and began the climb upwards to the vessel.

Optimus realized with startling attention that he needed to get aboard before Lockdown reignited the ship's abusive magnet. Then, things would be out of his control, and that was something he was not willing to accept. Without having breathed a word, Strafe seemed to understand, and increased his speed readily. In a matter of moments, they had crowned the air, and Optimus was reaching for the ship's architecture.

He gripped it firmly, and his body dropped away from Strafe, to dangle freely in what he assumed was hundreds of feet above ground. It didn't matter – Strafe began to glide back to the city, and Optimus began his climb to the nearest maintenance hatch. He realized, while glancing over his shoulder, that the Dinobot made hardly no sound at all as he flew across the air expertly. Another extraordinary feat of Cybertronian biology and technology; a marvel he neither understood, nor had time to examine.

The climb was perilous, and every joint and angle of his body pulled against his current task. He was exhausted and injured, but not beyond action – he pulled himself at an angle up the slanted slope of the vessel, until he managed to see the access port. It was, of course, large enough for him to press inside, but it required some shimmying. How exactly he was going to open the port, he wasn't entire sure, but it was his way inside and he had no time to deliberate.

He managed to find footing to support his weight, and carefully examined his balance. Once satisfied that he was secured, Optimus felt along the port's hatch for any type of seam that would give way to open – and, once his finger tips had located the break, he slammed a fist into the hatch. With each throw, the door shifted just enough to highlight the seam, and after a half dozen punches, he'd indented one side of the panel enough to expose a gap. Manuevering his fingers into it, he managed to pry apart the hatch and examine the shaft.

Just big enough to fit his width and height on all fours, he pulled his sword from the sheath along his back and managed to launch himself into the shaft. Somewhere in the back of his memories he remembering attempting something similar during the days of the war, when he had visited Junkion and had crawled into the depths of that world at the beckon of the Matrix.

Times were not so different now, he realized– he was on a foreign world, pursuing the call of the Matrix again, for a cause that was greater than his own understanding. And somehow, Optimus Prime knew that the Matrix had something in store at the outer fringes of his subconscious, though he knew he would never be able to figure it out outside of the Matrix's willing revelation.