Hello, readers!

*trumpet fanfare* INTRODUCING, THE SEQUEL TO BETTER DAYS! Yes, you've read that right, folks. The wait is OVER! I've finally started work on the sequel! This is just the first chapter, but I hope you guys like it. I've been having a hard time getting this thing started, so it might be a bit of a bumpy ride until I get back into the swing of things. I'm hoping to update at least once a month, considering I have other projects I'm writing for, as well. Depending on things, you may even get more than one chapter a month, but I don't make any promises. :) Please enjoy, and tell me what you think! I'm especially concerned about the new character I've introduced, so let me know your thoughts on her.

Thanks for the support and for waiting so patiently! I'm going to still be following the general movie timelines, but I'm hoping to kind of deviate where I can so I'm not just rehashing the same fic/movies that you've read and watched already. I'll be taking cues from the novel adaptations of the movie as well as the movies themselves, and try to fix the less desirable parts of the movies (since they all just kind of went downhill from the first one) where I can. Let me know if there's anything in particular I can do! I'm always up for listening to ideas and theories. :)

~Crayola

Chapter One

Counting

How much does a person cost?

It should have been a difficult question; something that shouldn't be quantified or associated with a dollar sign. Someone's life, someone's identity. It wasn't a question I'd thought much about until the death of my parents, and even then it hadn't sunk in. I hadn't appreciated how much thought the insurance adjusters put into their claims.

Now I found myself constantly asking that question. Hours spent, pouring over mile-long piles of papers that I never seemed to put a dent into.

Splitting the work with one other adjuster meant that the end was near, though. The Decepticons had been forced into hiding while they licked their wounds, giving me a break from the seemingly never-ending paperwork.

Between the two warring alien factions, collateral damage built up quick. The Autobots did what they could to minimize death and destruction, but the Decepticons showed no such restraint or care for life on Earth. Their last attack on Rome had sent two 'Cons ripping through the streets, wreaking havoc until the military finally took notice.

Buildings were easy: they were taken care of by the local government. Belongings were simple: either dismissed entirely or up to personal insurance. Even livestock was an easy price to negotiate.

In fact, claims processes actually simplified things. It was laid out in basic terms and clear-cut rules. No, the problem wasn't deciding how much to pay out for the loss of life, it was how artless the policies were. The whole procedure was laid out like a damn shopping list.

So, how much does a person cost?

Funeral or cremation.

Hospital bills.

Missed income.

It should have been a simple process. Check the claim to see if damage or loss of life was directly caused by the Cybertronians or the military. Autobot or Decepticon. Just follow the guidelines and fill out the paperwork, and if it was approved, someone from the government wrote a check, otherwise you send a stock-standard apology and denial.

Unfortunately, I mailed out tenfold the number of denial letters than I did actual approvals. Done and done. I was supposed to be able to wash my hands of it.

But each claim I filed for a human casualty ate away at me bit by bit.

Crushed by a building that collapsed from explosives. Stuck in a car someone had used as a shield. Trapped in a pile of rubble after a giant alien ran into the building. Vehicle crashed—stepped on—friendly fire—burned—died en route to the hospital—

"Kathryn?"

I exhaled sharply in surprise and shoved the remaining papers across my desk, tipping over my pen holder in the process.

"Oh, I apologize! Did I startle you?"

Sighing, I covered my face with my hands, propped on my desk by my elbows. For a moment I stayed like that, ignoring my guest, and breathed. I let the soft music on my phone wash over me, let it settle my frayed nerves. This week, I'd have a lot to talk about with my government-appointed therapist.

Finally, I lifted my head to look at the Autobot standing nearby, waiting so patiently for me to recover. "It's fine, Star. I just thought you were sleeping, or in stasis, or whatever," I said.

She blinked—there were quite a few habits she'd picked up from us humans—and hummed at me with a fond sound. "You can call it sleep, if you would like. I was doing just that until a couple of minutes ago. Jazz wishes very much to see you and you were not answering him."

Groaning, I said, "Oh yeah, sorry. I took it out so I could work. Sorry he woke you."

"I do not mind."

With some resignation, I picked up the Bluetooth headset I'd knocked off the desk in my fright and turned it over in my fingers. The tech guys and Autobots had set it up to receive a specific frequency so I could talk to Jazz. Any Autobot could call me, as well, but I could only send a call to Jazz—with the touch of a button.

Star approached my seating arrangement and put a can of Mountain Dew down in front of me. "Here. You need the energy. You have been at this for hours, since before I started my sleep cycle."

"Yeah, I should take a break," I sighed, picking up the can and downing some of it.

"He is insistent."

With another groan, I slipped the earpiece in and hit the call button. He was in my ear immediately afterward.

"Ey! There's m'little miss!"

Despite my previously sour mood, I grinned at the sound of his voice. "What's up?"

"Thought maybe Star'd gone savage again and got ya," he said. Star harrumphed next to me, but Jazz continued. "E'ryone's goin' down to the beach. Come outta ya cave and join us!"

"It's not a cave," I said. "It's my office."

"Same difference. You comin' or what?"

I was already organizing my desk for later and on the way to my personal room to change by the next time I spoke. "Yeah, I'll be there in a few minutes. Usual spot?"

"You know it," he assured me. "See ya soon!"

"Yup, see ya."

The line fell silent and I turned to see Star still standing in my office. She spent most of her time there with me, pretending to be a vending machine. I tried to coax her into spending time with the Autobots or even the others, but she didn't feel like one of them yet.

"Are you coming with?"

"They do not trust me."

With a roll of my eyes, I motioned for her to come. "Don't be ridiculous. That was just Jazz being stupid, he didn't mean anything. He teases me all the time too, remember?"

Star avoided looking at me for a moment, fiddling with my pens, then nodded."I suppose."

As she came out with my half-drank can of soda, I smiled at her and took it back from her. She ducked under the doorframe and I started down the hallway. She was shorter than Jazz by a few heads, but still too tall for most doorways. Her "education" had taken the better part of a year, but she'd come a long way from the snarling vending machine she had been in Mission City.

It had been a joint effort between the Autobots and NEST and had required quite a bit of work. One of the new Autobots had coined her name, taken from the first four digits of her serial number: S74R. Star. The name stuck, and she didn't seem to mind.

I wasn't sure why she'd chosen a feminine persona, but I figured it might have been because a lot of the humans helping to "tame" her were females—myself, a woman by the name of Kaminari Ishihari, and a handful of others. But, it could have been any number of reasons, and I didn't want to bother her by asking.

"Why would he say that if he didn't mean it?" she asked as we walked toward the personal barracks and my room. I and a few select others had our own quarters.

"Well," I started, "that's how he shows he likes you. Through teasing."

She blinked at me. "That is very confusing."

"It's not that confusing. You just have to listen to the tone of his voice. You should be able to tell when someone's teasing or being serious by their pitch. But, when in doubt, just remember that if Optimus trusts you, then everyone does," I reassured her.

My companion turned away from me, unconvinced. "If you say so."

"I trust you." I smiled, placing my hand on the crook of her elbow.

Her expression brightened some and she nodded. "Thank you, Kathryn."

*:･ﾟ✧

Diego Garcia was the largest island of the Chagos Archipelago, and the current base for the Autobots and NEST operatives to train. It had been populated with civilians, but some cockamamie scheme was concocted to kick them all out so the US and UK military could take it over. Everyone assured me that the citizens had been given proper reparations, and that it had been necessary.

Whatever they had to tell themselves.

Despite the ugly politics of it all, it was a beautiful atoll. Lush, tropical plants covered the land around the base, and the water was always blue and clear. The only thing I really had to complain about was the crabs. Those things were everywhere, and they always got inside the compound somehow.

Well, I also tended to complain about the fact that I was stuck on an island in the middle of the Indian Ocean, miles and miles away from the mainland and any decent reception.

It was another great day for the beach, though. Something the others and I weren't really able to enjoy between all the work and new arrivals. The sun was brighter than I'd expected it to be, almost as if I hadn't been outside in a week. I shielded my eyes against the light and tried to scan the beach. There was a light breeze that caused the sarong around my waist to flutter against my legs.

"You afraid of some sand, little miss?"

A large shape blocked out the sun and I dropped my hand, grinning up at Jazz. "Not sand, but I think I might be turning into a vampire."

He chuckled and crouched down in a wide stance. "You are lookin' pale. An' dry."

"Jazz . . . ." I took a step back, one hand up as if it'd stop him. "Let me put my stuff down!"

"You comin' with me!"

I had just enough time to shriek, and then he scooped me up and took off toward the waves. I managed to drop my towel and bag before he carried me too far from dry land.

"Jazz! Jazz, no!" My gleeful squeals continued until I was thrown into the surf. I had the wherewithal to suck in one last breath before the salty water swallowed me up. My arms flailed for a second and I kicked to gain any semblance of buoyancy, and then I was hauled back above water.

Somehow I'd managed not to swallow a bunch of seawater, but I still coughed when I made it up to fresh air. My so-called guardian snickered and set me on his arm. "Sorry 'bout that."

"No you're not," I huffed, flicking water off my hand into his faceplates.

He flinched and pretended to dump me back in, but caught me at the last second. "Ey, no need fer that! I'm kinda sorry, almost. Jus' seemed like the kinda thing people do at the beach! Dunk each other an' stuff!"

"Yeah, yeah. But I can't really dunk you back."

"I'll do it for ya!" came a new voice, following by loud splashing.

Jazz lurched and lifted my over his head, holding me around the waist. "Hey, hold it right there!"

A red Autobot slammed into Jazz, grappling with him while he tried to hold me up with one arm. I squawked when he accidentally tightened his grip to keep from dropping me.

"Sideswipe, I out-rank you!"

"Not at the beach you don't, short-stuff."

I clung to Jazz's fingers, squealing and shrieking as I was jostled. I could feel the top of my bikini loosening and I barked out, "There's a human up here, you two!"

"Yeah," Sideswipe said, trying to heave Jazz up by his legs. "And I'm gonna dunk Jazz for you."

"Sorry for this, Kat," Jazz grunted. Then, all at once, I was sailing through the air once more. This time I didn't manage to take a breath before hitting the water. I flailed around after sinking below the surface, finally breaking through with some serious thrashing.

Coughing and spluttering, I kicked and paddled away from the two 'bots trying to push each other over. The waves they were making only made my job harder.

Somehow, though, I was able to make it to the sandy shore. Star was standing by the collection of towels nearby, watching me with her head tilted. She had already brought over the towel and bag that I'd dropped when Jazz nabbed me.

"Are you alright?" she asked.

Despite the nasty taste of saltwater and bile in the back of my throat, I supposed I was. "I'm fine. Don't you want to get in the water?"

Star shook her head. "My components are not Cybertronian. The salt water would cause harm."

"Oh, sorry. I didn't think about that," I said while flattening my towel out on the sand so I could sit and stretch out.

"There is no need for apologies," she assured me, presenting a beach chair to me. "It is amusing to watch."

Smiling, I gladly stood up and took a seat on the chair instead of my towel. I hadn't even seen it there before that. Shaking the sand from my towel, I used it to dab my skin dry and I started fishing through the bag I'd packed for some lotion.

Another 'Bot approached and scoffed. "Everyone should be as worried about the saltwater as you. And this sand. When they're done playing, the salt and sand is going to slag up their joints and circuits . . . I don't even know why I let Sideswipe talk me into coming this far from the road."

He lifted a pede and shook some grains loose from the plates—all over me and Star.

"Why don't you go back to base then?" I shot back, glaring up at him.

The sun glinted off Sunstreaker's canary-yellow paint job, making me squint. "Sideswipe would never let me hear the end of it," he grunted.

As if on cue, Sideswipe spotted his brother. It seemed Jazz had managed to disengage—or win—and was heading out of the water toward us. Sideswipe shouted, "Sunny, get your shiny aft over here and enjoy the ocean!"

"Pass."

Though the two siblings continued to argue, I chose to ignore them and greeted Jazz as he drew near. "You're done already? I was just about to go in for another dip."

"No you wasn't," he countered.

Considering the fact that I was already lathering on some suntan lotion, I couldn't really pretend with a straight face. "Yeah, okay, but I was thinking about it. Kind of. Sideswipe's a little more rowdy than usual, isn't he?"

Jazz sat next to me when I motioned to a spot that wouldn't block the sun. If I was going to be at the beach, I was gonna get a tan.

"Ah, he's just antsy. Missed out on the Venice mission," he said.

"Is that why Sunstreaker's so grumpy, too?" I asked, adjusting my sunglasses.

Sunstreaker harrumphed. "I can hear you, you know. I'm standing right here."

"Oh, really? I hadn't noticed," I mumbled, earning an amused bout of snickering from Jazz. "Then, are you grumpy because you weren't on the mission?"

"I am not 'grumpy'," he insisted. "Besides, not being on the mission gave me time to buff out some of the organic matter from my systems. Everything here's so dirty and course and . . . wet. How do you humans handle it?"

I shrugged. "By also being organic."

"Stop complaining, Sunstreaker," Jazz cut in, not unkindly. "It's not so bad, an' it's better'n being lost out in space with no home."

The yellow mech grumbled but had nothing else to say.

Star put a hand on the back of my chair and said, "For what it is worth, I don't think that Earth is a dirty, wet place."

With a chuckle, I responded, "Thank you, Star."

*:･ﾟ✧

About an hour later, an engine roar interrupted a conversation we were having and we turned to see a trio of riderless motorcycles pulling up through the sand. The three colorful bikes—a pink Ducati, a blue Suzuki, and a purple Agusta—parked nearby and one of them spoke.

"Where is Lennox or Epps?" It was hard to tell which of the sisters was speaking.

Jazz indicated to the water, where the two were wading back to shore. They were the source of the cooler filled with beer next to us. "They're both coming up now, Arcee."

So it was the pink one speaking. Arcee, Chromia, and Elita-1 were sisters much like Sideswipe and Sunstreaker were brothers, except they didn't all look alike. Even though the twins were different colors, their body types and models—Lamborghinis—were identical. The three sisters all had their own unique look and were different bikes.

"Thank you, Lieutenant," Arcee said. "We have already informed Optimus of this, but there has been activity again."

My guardian made an exasperated sound and stood. "A'ight. One a you go tell those two. Arcee, gimme your report. An' I've told ya before, just call me Jazz. No need to be so formal all the time," he chided her in good nature.

Chromia, the blue bike, struggled to spin her tires in the sand but eventually excused herself to follow Jazz's order.

Arcee said, "I apologize Lieu—Jazz, sir."

"Close enough," Jazz muttered. "What sort of activity?"

"The syntax is strange, but I know we have two more Autobots landing within the next day, and a Decepticon signature was picked up. It was found in . . . ah, I apologize. The decoded message says something about being 'shanghaied'?"

At that, a few of our present company glanced my way.

I drew a blank for a second, and then recollected the meaning. "It usually means that someone's being taken somewhere. I think, um, the original meaning was to be taken by pirates? I don't know."

Sideswipe chimed in helpfully. "There's a place called Shanghai, too."

"Ah, yes. He's right, in China I think," I said, wondering why I hadn't thought of that first.

Sunstreaker added, "Who are the two bots that are coming?"

Elita-1's engine growled and she supplied, "The twins."

Scoffing, Jazz said, "We already got the twins right here."

It was a joke, but no one found it funny. I didn't really, either, but I still chuckled to keep him from feeling bad about it.

"Yes, but . . . it's the other twins," Elita-1 elaborated. It may have just been me, but she sounded displeased by her own information. I might have thought I was imagining it, but the other Autobots' moods made me think they weren't exactly happy, either.

"Mudflap and Skids?" Sunstreaker spat the names out as if they were a bad taste.

Only Sideswipe didn't seem bothered. He clapped his hands together and could have been smiling. "Great! Now there'll be three times as many pranks we can accomplish!"

Jazz gave him a solid blow to the shoulder with his fist. "Y'all gonna behave yourselves!"

Though I was certain it didn't hurt, Sideswipe rubbed the spot he'd been hit and mumbled to himself before moving away from Jazz. I rolled my eyes at him and glanced over when Lennox and Epps approached. Chromia met up with her sisters and the three left.

"Can't get five minutes without the Decepticons mucking everything up, can we?" Epps complained, tossing his towel over his shoulder. Both men were still wet.

Lennox nodded. "Looks like we're heading to China."

"Now?" I asked.

"Soon as we make up some sort of plan with Optimus. We have to brief everyone and then get approval. But, we have to act fast so by the latest, tomorrow night," Lennox explained.

I sighed and rubbed my head. "Well, could you guys just do me a solid and try not to throw civilian vehicles at the 'Cons? Or crash through any more buildings? The paperwork is giving me the worst kind of headaches."

With a sympathetic sound, Jazz said, "We try an' avoid as much collateral as possible, little miss. The Con's don't, though."

Epps cut in. "We'll have to borrow Jazz for a little while, Kat."

"Aw." I frowned but tried not to look too disappointed otherwise.

Standing, Jazz glanced at me apologetically. "Sorry, Kat," he said. "Duty calls. I'll try an' make it quick so we can hang some more."

"It's fine," I said. "I have a lot of paperwork I still need to do. Maybe I'll go finish that, fax it all off to the Pentagon, and by then maybe you'll be free and I can help scrub some of the sand and salt from your joints."

Sideswipe's cheeky reply interrupted Jazz. "If you don't want to wait, you can always help me polish my chassis."

I opened my mouth to retort, but didn't get the chance; Jazz took exception to the remark and was quick to judo-flip the ornery Lamborghini onto his back. The impact made the ground beneath me shudder and I gasped in surprise as sand showered over me.

Great, sand everywhere.

"Ow! Primus, Jazz, what was that for?" Sideswipe whined.

"Didn' like your tone," my guardian harrumphed.

Lennox laughed and gave Sideswipe's arm a pat as they walked by. "Don't know how it works on Cybertron, Sides, but here on Earth you don't mess with another mech's woman."

"I wasn't messing!" Sides objected, standing up. "Just trying to be inclusive."

"Oh, leave him alone," I chided. "He's harmless. Besides, I'm a strong, independent woman who don't need no mech."

"Ah, okay, so then next time some 'Cons show up I'll just let ya at 'em," Jazz teased.

My hands up in defeat, I said, "Okay, let's not go crazy. I'm not that strong and independent."

"Yeah a'ight. Epps, Lennox, let's go meet wit' Optimus," my guardian sighed, motioning with his arm for them to follow. He transformed into his silver Solstice form and opened his doors for them to climb in. "I'll meet'cha later, Kat. Keep ya earpiece on!"

All I offered as a response was an errant wave. "Have fun in your meeting . . . ."

"Come on, Sunny! The water's nice!" Sideswipe was shouting at his brother, making a beeline toward the choppy waves. He seemed to be over the whole thing with Jazz already.

Sunstreaker just crossed his arms. "No. I'm going back to base, as well. This will concern everyone, and if you want to be part of the mission you should show some initiative and attend the briefing, Sideswipe."

"He's right, you know," I added.

Sideswipe sounded reluctant, but stopped and walked away from the water. "Alright, alright . . . Primus . . . let's go."

The two transformed, one red Lamborghini and another identical yellow one, then followed after Jazz and the boys. That left me and Star at the beach—finally quiet now, save for the waves breaking on the shore and the occasional cry of a seagull.

"That was a strange encounter," Star commented, still staring back at the base. "Why did what Sideswipe said upset Jazz so much?"

I shrugged. "He was just being crude, that's all," I said, holding up my hand.

Star handed me a can of soda and replied, "You'll need to purchase more soon."

"Thank you. You're sure you're okay with this? I can get my sodas elsewhere if it bothers you," I offered, turning in my chair to look at her.

She shook her head. "It is fine with me. I am happy to help. It would be denying who I am and where I came from to not vend drinks. However, I am still unsure why Sideswipe's 'crude' remark antagonized Jazz."

Holding the can over the sand, I pulled the tab and waited to make sure it wasn't going to fizz all over, then sat up straighter to drink. I wasn't sure how Star managed to keep the drinks ice-cold while she was up walking around, but I never bothered to ask, either. "Oh, he's just a little overprotective of me, is all. Sideswipe really ought to have known better," I said, swallowing a few gulps of soda.

"I also fail to see what was crude about his comment."

Pulling a face, I settled deep in my chair. "That's not really something I can explain very well. Look up euphemism and innuendo and you should get the gist."

That was kind of a lie, I just didn't want to explain.

"I will take your advice," Star assured me.

A moment later, she asked, "Will you be going with them?"

"No," I said. "I'm not a field agent, I just sit and fill out paperwork."

Sighing, I stood and gathered up my belongings. If it was just going to be me and Star out on the beach, I figured it might as well be me and Star in my office, finishing the last of the paperwork from the Rome mission. I'd been out in the sun for a little more than an hour, anyway, and I felt that was plenty of time for a tan.

"Speaking of which, I guess since the beach party is over I might as well go back to work."

Star nodded and we headed to base together. Star was silent, but I had the feeling that she had something to say. I kept glancing at her, waiting, but decided I would have to reassure her before she spoke up. She was still too worried about what we all thought about her.

"What's bothering you, Star? You can tell me, you know."

The small femme regarded me for a moment, then looked straight ahead again. "I was just calculating how long it had been since your last real break from work."

"Oh, yeah?" I hadn't considered she'd been concerned about me.

"Perhaps it would be beneficial if you went with them. Not on the mission, but it seems that it would be a fine destination for sightseeing."

That thought hadn't crossed my mind, but it had been quite some time since I'd been to the mainland. At least since we'd moved to the new base. Before that, even in the California base, I'd holed up in an office, learning how to fill out the paperwork properly and who to fax it to. I was taught the protocols and a bunch of clearance certification, since this was all the highest secrecy level possible.

Even Sam and Mikaela had certain levels assigned to them. Anyone who had contact with the Autobots or Decepticons were sworn to secrecy, but only Sam and Mikaela had any right to contact us for information—and maybe a handful of others I wasn't really aware of.

Mostly because they still had Bumblebee with them as their designated protector. Really, he was there for Sam, but he and his girlfriend were a package deal.

Maybe it was long overdue that I took some me time.

"You're right, Star. I'll bring it up to Jazz when he gets out of briefing and when I'm done with my paperwork. Thanks for having my back," I said.

"Of course."

For a moment we were silent, but I couldn't stay quiet long.

"You should go to the briefing, too, Star. They might need you for the mission," I suggested. "You can't hang out with me all the time."

It wasn't meant to be mean, but she seemed hurt by my words. "You do not want me around?"

"What? No, that's not what I meant. Sorry, I was just . . . saying. I like hanging out with you! But you can't hide from everyone just because I'm not as scary as them," I pointed out, not unkindly.

She looked down in thought, then said, "But my instructions—"

I put my hand on her arm. "I know. But I sit alone most of the time. You'll learn more about humans and your half-Cybertronian peers by being with them."

Reluctantly, she agreed. "You are right. Okay. I will attend the briefing with the others."

Satisfied, I dropped my hand and grinned. "Good. It's not that I don't like being around you, okay? I'm just trying to help, 'cause you're my friend."

Star smiled back as much as her faceplates would allow. "Yes, I realize that now."

"Alright, so I'll see you later, then."

We parted there, and I headed back to my room to change clothes—again—before I started on the last of my paperwork in my office. I was fond of Star's suggestion to go to Shanghai, and I figured so long as I stressed the fact that I wasn't going to be in the mission, just sightseeing, I should be able to go. Have some fun for once.

The human members of NEST weren't likely to object, it would just be Jazz. He was always so worried about my safety. If I could butter him up first, though . . . .

I was pretty good at that.