Author's Note: Okay, so that was a longer gap between chapters than I anticipated. But here it is, folks! Sorry for the wait, hope some of y'all stuck around. :)

Chapter 14: Ghosts That We Knew

Ratchet had already made it half way down the connecting hallway by the time Mikaela pushed the door open to go after him. Seeing the CMO's retreating form she hastened, jogging a bit to catch up to him. Anger radiated from the medic in waves, setting his gaze in stone and his mouth in a thin line and Mikaela reached a hand out to brush his elbow lightly as she matched his pace.

"Hey," she said quietly when he did not as much as look at her. "I'm proud of you."

Simple, honest words, but still enough to make Ratchet turn sharp eyes toward her in a flicker of acknowledgement. His gaze softened briefly in the second he regarded her, and he inclined his head slightly in her direction with a short, mumbled "Thank you."

Mikaela grinned suddenly, resisting the urge to skip along the corridor. "Did you see the look on his face when you punched him? Surprised the hell out of him, the pompous asshole. He probably thought he was untouchable. Sure set him straight there."

Ratchet merely nodded, continuing to stalk the corridor with long strides.

"Where are we going now?" Mikaela asked.

"Outside," was the CMO's vague response.

"And then?"

"I have not the slightest inclination," Ratchet said, somewhat sharply. "I need to get out of this wretched building."

Mikaela nodded in silent understanding, and soon they were rounding the corner to the elevator. The halls were eerily quiet after the evacuation, but that didn't stop Mikaela from glancing repeatedly over her shoulder as they waited for the steel elevator doors to slide open. Once they reached the first floor, another deserted corridor stretched out in front of them and, realizing they had free access of the facility, Ratchet made purposefully for the front of the building with Mikaela in tow.

The moment they stepped out the front doors, Ratchet ripped the KSI access badge and labcoat from his person and flung them haphazardly onto the sidewalk, Mikaela following suit with her own. They rounded the building swiftly, away from the gathering crowd of evacuees and gawkers concentrated around the main entrance, and were almost immediately met with the hulking forms of half the Autobot force; Optimus, Hound, Crosshairs and Sideswipe.

They picked up the pace, almost jogging over to meet the gathered allies, and as they neared they caught sight of another group approaching from the opposite direction. Bumblebee was amongst them, Mikaela realized with a grin – and another Autobot, slightly larger in size than Bumblebee, electric blue with an oddly shaped helmet. Mikaela squinted as she realized there were also three humans walking between the two towering bots; a young male and female, and…

"What the hell?" Mikaela growled, spotting the man from the lab that Ratchet had had the run-in with – the one who had the gall to call the CMO a monster - who stalked forward to stand casually at Optimus' pedes. Ratchet shook his head at her outburst, eyeing the man with equal distaste.

Optimus inclined his head at Mikaela and Ratchet as they approached and Sideswipe started forward, coming around to stand beside them in a mild show of solidarity that Mikaela was suddenly grateful for. Bumblebee chirped excitedly as he caught sight of them, shuffling forward away from the humans eagerly to crouch down in front of them as Mikaela reached out to touch his hand in greeting.

"Hey Bee," she said, a grin breaking out across her features. "Long time, no see."

Bumblebee chirruped in response and his gaze shifted to Ratchet, optic ridges turning downward slightly in a semblance of a thoughtful frown. Ratchet reassured him with a pat on the pede and a quiet "Hello, youngling."

Bee chirped in response, satisfied, and stood up to resume his position next to Optimus.

"Wait, Optimus – Who's this?" the human whom they'd recognized asked with a sharp gesture of his arm, indicating Ratchet. "This guy's a member of KSI."

"Rich coming from the guy wearing a KSI badge," Mikaela hissed from beside Ratchet, who stood a few feet away, eyes narrowed and nostrils flaring in irritation.

"He is no more an operative of KSI than you are, Cade," Optimus said quietly. "This is Ratchet, our lost Chief Medical Officer, and my Second In Command. Ratchet, this is Cade Yeager – one of our human allies who has been helping us for the last week or two."

Ratchet's stance relaxed, though only slightly, and his eyes remained narrowed in suspicion as he accepted Cade's offered hand in a handshake. Silence fell thick as the two parted, and Optimus must have been able to feel the tension because he was suddenly shifting on his massive pedes and gesturing toward Mikaela;

"This is Mikaela, Ratchet's counterpart and assistant," he supplies, and Cade's head swivels over to where Mikaela stands with her arms crossed and hip cocked in a blatant display of derision. "She has been an ally to the Autobots for years and has studied closely under Ratchet to become a formidable medic herself."

Cade nodded, offering Mikaela his hand to shake as well, but the mechanic merely narrowed her eyes further and tilted a disinterested eyebrow at him as she eyed his proffered hand in distaste. Ratchet shot her a half-amused, half-reproachful look and Cade shrugged his shoulders, awkwardly withdrawing his outstretched hand. Optimus, oblivious, indicated Sideswipe with a sweep of his arm and told Cade "This is Sideswipe, one of our frontline warriors and stealth agents."

Sideswipe, for his part, inclined his helm toward Cade slightly, optics shuttering once in acknowledgement. Cade nodded back before turned to where the two younger humans stood and beckoned them forward with a distracted wave of his hand. "This is my daughter Tessa," he informed them, indicating the blond-haired teenager as the pair drew near before jerking his chin toward the male in the leather jacket, "And this is her friend, Shane."

Mikaela tilted an eyebrow at the insistent tone and nodded shortly at the younger pair, even as Tessa rolled her eyes at her father in response to his forceful claim and the mechanic can tell that obviously the boy in the leather isn't just her friend. Cade ignored his daughter's response in favor of turning back to Ratchet and Mikaela.

"You're human," he observed lamely, eyes flickering back to the CMO, and Mikaela snorted sardonically. Ratchet's jaw clenched slightly, the muscles in his shoulders tightening again, though Cade only looked at him with open curiosity.

"It's a long story," Mikaela supplied with an impatient sigh. "Can we get going before the damn squad cars start showing up? I'm not in the mood to be vaporized."

"I second that," Shane said eagerly, nodding.

Optimus inclined his helm in agreement, stepping backward to give himself room. "Roll out," he commanded, transforming rapidly. The rest of the Autobots followed suit, Bumblebee popping his doors open and waiting for Cade, Shane and Tessa to clamber into his cab as Mikaela and Ratchet reclaimed their respective places in Sideswipe's interior.

The Autobot force wasted no time, tires squealing and leaving puffs of smoke in their wake as they fled the KSI premises, crashing through the barrier of the gate without so much as a flashing brake-light, leaving the gate guards in panicked disarray in their wake. Optimus and Bumblebee led them off of the side streets and back onto the main highway, where they headed South.

All was quiet for several moments as they made their way along the highway. Mikaela, who couldn't resist the urge to glance constantly behind them to check for flashing lights that signaled pursuit that she expected would come, had nearly allowed herself to relax when Optimus' smooth baritone suddenly filtered through the speakers. "We are being pursued," he said quickly. "Two drones are inbound, less than half a mile away and approaching fast. Do not engage if you can help it."

No sooner had the transmission cut that Mikaela heard the tell-tale rumbling of two heavy duty approaching engines. She glanced up through Sideswipe's windshield, squinting through the traffic and the other Autobots in front of them to find the two vehicles – one silver, hybrid looking semi-truck and one maroon colored Pagani – weaving expertly through traffic and gaining distance at an alarming pace.

"Coming up fast," Mikaela murmured and Sideswipe's engine revved as he registered their proximity and attempted to close the distance between them and the threat before the two drones could cross the median barrier that separated the northbound and southbound lanes of the highway, which proved difficult as the highway was clogged with slower, civilian traffic.

Mikaela felt herself tense in her seat as they drew nearly level with the drones and for a moment it seemed as though they would simply pass each other by without incident, but then the silver semi transformed – a sequence unlike the which that Mikaela had ever seen – and crossed the median and both guard rails flanking it with a twist and separation before appearing whole again on the other side of the highway, rolling into traffic without heed and destroying several cars in its path.

"What in the Pit was that?" Sideswipe shouted, sounding alarmed. "Did you see that?"

"I saw it," Ratchet said, his own eyes widening marginally. "Keep moving, do not get distracted."

As they neared and prepared to swerve around the carnage in the road, Mikaela got her first up-close glimpse of the drones gasped, her gaze focused upon the shape of the silver semi. "Ratchet, that looks like –"

"Megatron," Sideswipe finished for her.

"No," Ratchet breathed. "No, it cannot be."

They did not have time to dwell on the matter, however, as the drone in question stood and released five high-power explosive rockets in their direction and Sideswipe was forced to slam on the brakes in order to avoid driving right into their path.

"Are you fucking kidding me?" Mikaela breathed, pressing herself into the Porsche's seats as they skidded sideways off the shoulder of the highway and onto the grass to avoid the waiting drone before drifting in a half-curve back onto the asphalt. She turned wide eyes on Ratchet, who looked torn between absolute denial at the drone they had just seen and abject anxiety at Sideswipe's driving maneuvers.

Drift and Crosshairs flanked them, Bumblebee, Hound and Optimus bringing up the rear as each Autobot pushed themselves to the extent of their speed in order to outpace the pursuing drones. They reached the outskirts of town, the buildings reducing to open, rain dampened fields and patches of farmland and Mikaela turned in her seat, only half-surprised to find that the two pursuing vehicles were still close behind. "Can you lose them, Sideswipe?"

"Trying," Sideswipe said, sounding strained as his engines roared with the effort.

"Missiles incoming," Mikaela said tightly as Megatron-looking drone released a second round of close-range missiles. She winced as civilian traffic was caught in the crossfire, several vehicles sent careening across the rain-slick highway, and several more being razed by a cargo baring, flat bedded semi in the process.

Sideswipe bit back a curse, slamming on the brakes once again and forcing Mikaela and Ratchet to grip the dash with white-knuckled fingers as he drifted sideways at high speed, narrowly avoiding the debris and ruined vehicles in their path. Bumblebee's alt. mode also skidded sideways in an attempt to avoid the destruction, but the Camaro was forced to transform, launching himself and the three humans with him into the air. Mikaela bit back a cry of disbelief, fearing the worst until Optimus was suddenly there, snatching the humans out of midair before bursting through a tractor trailer and transforming seamlessly, landing on the highway with his human cargo miraculously intact. The mechanic's breath caught in her chest as the silver semi burst into smaller shapes around Bee's return missile and reform on the other side, leaving the Camaro in the dust with a bewildered stare.

They had barely made it another quarter of a mile before another barrage of rockets was sent in their direction. The Autobots scattered, weaving in and out of each other in an attempt to avoid the projectiles, but a stray missile caught Optimus off guard, forcing him into his transformation sequence mid-roll and ejecting the humans from his cab forcefully, sending Cade and Shane rolling onto the median and Tessa flipping end-over-end along the asphalt of the road.

"Damn it," Mikaela hissed, gripping her seat tightly as she watched Optimus skid to a halt on his knees in the road, leaving deep gauges in the asphalt and the panicked, scrambling form of the teenage girl underneath him. "Ratchet, we gotta help them!"

"Orders were to flee," Ratchet shot back, leaning into Sideswipe's door as they wove through slower traffic.

"Since when do we run from a fight?"

"Since we have no idea what we are up against!"

Sideswipe cursed as he swerved around a particularly slow SUV in their path, forced to reduce his speed as his left two tires hit the softer shoulder of the highway and Mikaela glanced backward again, seeing Optimus and the advancing form of the now-transformed silver drone before making a swift decision.

"What are you doing?" Ratchet demanded, eyeing her in alarm as she pushed Sideswipe's door open.

"Helping!" she snapped before strapping her bag onto her back, swinging her legs around and launching herself from the Porsche with a cry, landing on the grass and rolling to a kneeling position at the side of the road. She distantly heard Ratchet barking orders at Sideswipe to stop, but had no time to dwell on it as she ripped her gun from her bag and immediately fired several shots in Galvatron's direction, successfully catching the drone in the back as he advanced on Optimus and leaving several small, smoking holes in his armor. To her dismay, the silver bot didn't so much as flinch in response, his attention shifting instead towards Sideswipe as the frontliner skidded to a halt further down the road, letting Ratchet clamber swiftly from his cab before transforming and immediately launching a fierce barrage of missiles at the drone.

Mikaela's head whipped around at the high pitched whine of an approaching vehicle and she was forced to throw herself off the road again as the maroon Pagani careened through the carnage, making a beeline for Sideswipe and transforming mid-leap to hit the frontliner at full speed, the force knocking the Porsche off his pedes and sending him skidding back several meters.

Sideswipe loosed a pained shout as the Pagani's descended upon him before he could collect himself, clawed hands ripping visciously at his chassis in an attempt to get at his spark and Mikaela immediately turned her weapon upon the maroon drone, releasing round after round in rapid succession and successfully distracting the bot from Sideswipe long enough for the frontliner to dislodge it with a swift kick to the helm.

The mechanic wheeled about, her attention refocusing on Optimus and the silver drone, who were now both on their feet and tearing at each other in head-to-head combat, their forms dancing around Tessa, who was scrambling backward on her hands in fear as the two bots battled around her.

"Tessa!" Cade shouted from somewhere to her left. "Tessa, run to the field!"

Mikaela couldn't help but wince as Optimus' blade was shredded in the molten hot void that glowed in the middle of the silver drone's chest. She held out her pistol, attempting to align the sight with the silver semi as it threw Optimus into the field that Tessa had just scrambled into and cursing when she couldn't get a decent enough lock on her target to ensure that she wouldn't hit Optimus by mistake.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw the blond teenager scramble back up to the road before stumbling and pressing herself flush against the wrecked SUV hybrid there. "Help me!" Tessa cried out to her, her eyes flashing in fear as she ran around to the door of the immobilized vehicle and shut herself inside. Mikaela locked eyes with her briefly through the window before turning to appraise the rest of her allies with a sweeping gaze.

Sideswipe was down again, pinned underneath the lithe form of Stinger as the drone waylaid the frontliner in the helm with the side of its canon. She could see Ratchet a little to the left of them, pulling himself slowly from the ground as though he'd just been tossed a considerable distance.

Sideswipe seemed to still a moment before gathering all his strength with an angry shout and dislodging the form of the smaller bot on top of him, sending it crashing to the road and sliding into the drainage ditch off the median. Mikaela silently willed him to get up and the frontliner groaned, attempting to push himself to his feet, but his gyros were dazed and he fell back against the road, optics flickering.

Meanwhile, Ratchet had successfully gathered himself and, moving to stand protectively in front of Sideswipe, the CMO whipped his weapon out of his back pocket, activating the transformation sequence and spinning it dangerously in front of him as the quarterstaff began to lengthen and take its shape, the sharp blades at either end glinting dangerously in the light. He widened his stance as the maroon-colored bot approached again, his lips pulling back to reveal his teeth in an angry snarl. Mikaela's heart stood still and she had just started forward to go to Ratchet's aid when Optimus took an unexpected missile that seemed to come out of nowhere to the chassis, knocking away the outer layers of his armor and sending him slumping forward onto one knee.

Mikaela hesitated, glancing frantically between Tessa and Optimus and Ratchet and Sideswipe for a moment, indecision hindering her movements in either direction. The decision seemed to me made for her, however, when both drones suddenly and inexplicably transformed back into their alt. modes, peeling out and heading North back toward the city without so much as a glance back.

Their retreating forms drew Mikaela's attention to a threat of a different kind, however, in the approaching form of a large, heavily armored black Cybertronian.

"Lockdown," Ratchet breathed to her right, his face draining of all of its color and leaving him ghostly pale as his eyes locked upon the approaching form of the bounty hunter. The hair on the back of Mikaela's neck stood on end as she beheld the Cybertronian that was neither Autobot nor Decepticon, but equally dangerous as either, his ship trailing behind him above the highway, creating a hot wind that stirred and swirled dust and burnt, paper-like pieces of charcoal in vortexes around them.

Time seemed to stand still and Mikaela seized the opportunity and darted forward, shoving her weapon in her bag and slinging it over her shoulder as she went and wrenching open the door of the ruined SUV hybrid. She held out her arm to the trembling form of the teenager inside. "Come on," she said, daring to glance back at the slowly approaching form of Lockdown. "Come on, let's get out of here."

Tessa nodded, swallowing thickly and had just reached for Mikaela's hand when Lockdown released another missile, catching Optimus square in the chest and sending him careening backward onto the hood of the SUV. Mikaela was forced to shove herself inside of the front seat as the vehicle slid backward with Optimus' momentum and she turned with a hiss of frustration as Lockdown drew level with where the Autobot CO lay. She swore, shoving her bag to the floor of the front seat and reaching a hand out to quickly snap the door shut behind her.

"Optimus," she ground out as Tessa clung to her arm in the next seat. "Get up, you gotta get up."

"I can't," the CO groaned, lifting his head only to let it fall back to the hood of the car with a pained grunt. "Get out of here."

Tessa and Mikaela ducked low in their seats as Lockdown knelt in front of the SUV, saying something to Optimus that the mechanic couldn't quite hear over the roar of his ship. Mikaela attempted to kick the back door open as the bounty hunter stood and suddenly made to leave, dismayed to find it jammed shut. She turned back to Tessa with a frantic motion of her hands, "Out the back," she hissed.

No sooner had they scrambled over the seat into the back when a black hovercraft descended upon them with a roar of intense heat and blackened ash to drop a net over them and Optimus. The weighty mesh dropped over them with a heavy clank and the girls exchanged alarmed glances as the car lurched sideways as it was lifted from the road along with the Autobot CO.

"Shit," Mikaela cursed. She looked out the windshield and through the confines of the net to see the remaining human members of their party converging upon them with alarmed faces as they were slowly lifted away from the highway by the hovercraft.

Ratchet pushed forward with a startled oath, scrambling up the netting as Cade launched himself off of the road to cling to the bottom of the thick mesh.

"Mikaela," Ratchet grunted. "The windows – quickly. Break the windows!"

The car tilted within the net and both girls were sent rolling. Mikaela crashed into the back windshield with a pained grunt, wincing as Tessa landed on top of her. The blond scrambled off immediately, scooting across the back hatch of the vehicle to where her father dangled from the netting, frantically calling out to him for help.

"My gun is in my bag in the front seat," Mikaela mumbled, half to herself and half to the near-hysterical teenage girl stuck in the car with her. "I need to get my bag."

Mikaela rolled onto her knees, using her legs to launch herself up to the back seats before scrambling up the center, using the cup holders and handles on the console to haul herself upward to reach for the bag that dangled from the gear shift.

"Break the glass," Cade's muffled, frantic voice came from behind Mikaela. "Tessa, you gotta break the glass!"

"I'm trying!" Tessa shouted, banging on the back windshield with the flat of her palm to no avail.

Mikaela freed her bag with a triumphant shout and tore open the flap to rip her gun from the safety pocket. The mechanic flipped the charge rapidly, sliding back down to the rear window of the vehicle. "Look out!" she shouted, hauling Tessa off of the windshield and on top of the back seat by her shirt before bracing herself against the sides of the car with her legs and leaning forward to fire a single shot through the glass.

The windshield exploded in a spray of glass and Mikaela threw her arms up to shield her face, crying out as the subsequent shattering of the window sent dozens of shards of glass into her hands and wrists.

Ratchet hauled himself further up the netting, reaching for his assistant through the shattered glass of the back window. Mikaela surged forward, grasping his forearm with her hands and scooting down to attempt to wiggle through the gaps in the mesh that had captured them even as Cade fell away from the netting with an angry oath. With a frustrated shout, the mechanic realized that the holes in the net were not big enough for either her or Tessa to fit through and she pulled herself back into the SUV with her arms, wide eyes turning to meet Ratchet's dismayed ones.

"Mikaela," the CMO grunted, his voice strained with denial and the effort it took to hold onto the net as the ground grew further and further away. Mikaela swallowed heavily, anxiety rolling around in her stomach for a moment before she steeled herself, resolve strengthening in her acceptance.

"It's okay," the mechanic said, her voice calm and even. "Ratchet, it's okay. Let go."

His eyes met hers, everything unsaid floating between them – He saw the calm, steely resolve in Mikaela's features and closed his eyes for a moment, taking a deep breath before opening them again and nodding once, grave and sharp.

He let go with a short shout, falling the distance between the ship and the surface of the earth and landing hard, rolling away and regaining his feet as Cade went to his knees behind him, lurching forward with a cry of denial and smashing his fists onto the grass.

Ratchet tilted his head upward, mouth falling open to whisper a silent apology as the ship carried his commander and his charge away.