With the immediate threat of the Red Eye now out of the way, the gems and the Autobots were able to get to a few new pressing matters. One of the main ones being "what were they supposed to do now that more people knew about them?".

Yet, of even bigger concern than that, how was it that the two factions knew about each other? And how was it that Optimus already knew about them being on the planet?

"Optimus, why didn't you ever tell us that there were Gems on this planet? This is a matter of great concern for both us and the humans." Ratchet said, shocked at the fact that Optimus would keep such a secret from all of them.

Rather than trying to explain themselves out in public where everyone could see and hear them, the Autobots decided instead to take their new acquaintances back to their base. Even with many likely now aware of what they did, they didn't want anymore knowing than what was necessary.

While Ratchet had obviously voiced his own opinion on things, especially after learning what it was they were dealing with, he wasn't about to tell Optimus what should and shouldn't be done about outsiders. Yet of true importance, and what was on almost everyone's mind, was how Optimus ever came to know about them in the first place.

"It was many years ago, and I had no reason to bring it up. Even with them being on the planet, there are too few of them to actually make a substantial difference in our current mission." Optimus told him.

"Optimus, with all due respect, knowing about Gems on any planet is something of a big deal. Regardless of how many there are." Arcee argued.

"I almost didn't recognize what they were at first. It's been so long since we've seen any." Bulkhead added.

"You know, this is all really important, but what are you talking about?" Amethyst asked.

"Yeah, I'm… pretty lost myself." Greg said.

"Yeah. Where did you guys come from? Who made you? And how do you know about gems?" Steven asked.

Bumblebee let out a series of beeps, trying to ask a question of his own to Steven and the rest, but no one outside of Rafael and the other Autobots could understand him.

"It indeed has been a very long time since then, Bumblebee. I will do my best to explain things, however." Ratchet offered.

"Eons ago, before any of us were aware of this planet, before the civil war of our kind, before some of us were even alive, Cybertron faced a threat like none it had ever seen before. During the golden age, our kind would often travel to different star systems to scout out and map the galaxy. Yet no one was ready when we came to be visited ourselves. While it was not uncommon for our ancestors to come in contact with aliens, we were typically the ones to greet them. What was worse, these life forms, Gems as we later came to know them as were anything but friendly. They sent a full-scale invasion force, with the intent of taking Cybertron over. While many details have been lost from the archives, what is known is that both sides suffered heavy casualties. Gems presented new methods of fighting and strategy that had yet to be seen by our people. Thankfully, due to many of the advancements of our kind and having the advantage of being on our home, they were able to push the invaders back. Ever since that day, Gems have been seen as enemies to all Cybertronians." Ratchet said.

"Is there gonna be a test? Because I'm terrible at remembering stuff?" Amethyst said.

"Do you not understand what it is I'm trying to say? By all accounts, we should have assumed you to be hostile. If it weren't for Optimus… well, let's just say that there are a lot of factors that could have changed our reaction had we met under different circumstances." Ratchet said.

"I'm well aware of this, but things are much different from then." Pearl said.

"So you fought gems in the past, but what are you guys doing here?" Steven asked.

"A fair question, Steven. It comes down to two things. The first being that our planet is not habitable, and second is that there is a danger facing your planet. One in the form of our own kind." Optimus said.

"You're own kind? What does all of this mean?" Garnet asked.

"Civil war broke out on our planet centuries ago. Our kind was split into two factions. The Autobots, which is who we are, and the Decepticons." Arcee said.

"The who now?" Greg asked.

"The Decepticons. They're like us, but they're fighting for different reasons. Mainly because they want power." Bulkhead answered.

"You know guys, getting a recap on everything is cool and all, but I have a rather serious question. How did she know Optimus?" Jack asked, pointing at Pearl.

There was a brief period of silence between both sides, waiting for one of them to give an explanation. Pearl and Optimus eyed each other, not sure what to say. Finally, when the silence became too much, Pearl nodded at him, signaling that it was okay to let everyone know.

"It was many years ago when I came across this group. Or, to be more accurate, I came across the leading member of the group, Rose Quartz." Optimus said.

"You met Rose?" Amethyst asked.

"Yes. While I was cautious to approach her at first, she made it clear quickly that there was no hostile intent to us. When I questioned why she was on this planet, the explanation greatly surprised me. To know that your kind had been waging its own civil war put many things into perspective on how difficult things were becoming for everyone in the galaxy." Optimus said.

"She never told any of us about this. Except for Pearl, it would seem." Garnet said.

"Well, as you can see, Optimus didn't really tell us either." Bulkhead said.

"It was deemed necessary. With how much things had changed for both of our kind, we couldn't risk the possibility of reigniting a long forgotten war. So, privately, we brokered an agreement. While we would do our best to keep our factions secret, it seemed that our goal was one and the same. To protect this planet at all costs." Optimus said.

"That still doesn't explain how she knows about you. If only you and this Rose person ever talked, how did she find out about you?" Raf asked.

"It was very last minute, but with the circumstances she was facing at the time, she needed to pass along the information to someone. We met one night to discuss the arrangement, and it was there that I met him. While it was all shocking, I understood why this alliance was important." Pearl said.

"And you didn't think that we deserved to know!?" Amethyst asked, rather angry at the revelation.

"I was sworn to secrecy! I wasn't about to break my promise!" Pearl argued back.

"Does it really matter now? Everything is out in the open now. Whatever secrets that were being kept don't matter anymore." Jack said.

"He's right. We can't worry about what was, because what's happening right now is far more important." Garnet said.

"Agreed. Which leads us to another matter. That being your safety." Optimus said.

"Optimus, while I don't think the Decepticons are aware of any of this, we don't have the numbers to send more out protecting them regardless." Ratchet said.

"You are correct in this matter, Ratchet. However, I don't believe that is entirely necessary. While the Decepticons are a cause for concern, I believe that they will be able to handle themselves. There is a reason that their kind was able to wage war with ours after all." Optimus said.

"Heck yeah, we can handle ourselves! Any creep tries to come near us, I'll split them in half like a dumpster." Amethyst said.

"However, I still feel we should have some sort of contact with you. With you now directly involved with us, there is no telling what Starscream might do." Optimus said.

"Who?" Steven asked.

"Starscream. He's the current leader of the Decepticons ever since their old one got vaporized. While he can't stack up to his predecessor, he's hard to predict." Bulkhead said.

"Ah geez, how do I manage to keep getting myself roped into this kind of stuff? Oh, that reminds me." Greg said, pulling out one of his CD's before signing it and handing it to Miko. "I like to keep my promises."

"Sweet!" Miko said, reaching for it.

"Ahh, ahh, ahh! I don't think so." Bulkhead said, taking the CD from Greg before Miko could take it.

"Hey! What gives?" Miko asked.

"I told you we were going to have a talk, Miko. From what Bee said, you were the one poking around back there and caused all of this." Bulkhead said.

"What? But if we hadn't shown up, everything would have gone terrible. And really Bee, you sold me out?" Miko said.

Bumblebee merely shrugged, unsure of what to say. However, Bulkhead intervened before things could go any further.

"That's not the point, Miko. You need to learn that you can't just go places without knowing what's there." Bulkhead said.

"Aww, come on, Bulk! When did you start being my dad?!" Miko whined.

Before the conversation could continue, however, flashing lights went off in the base.

"What's going on?" Pearl asked.

"The rooftop alert. Someone's landing up top." Ratchet said.

"Fowler, no doubt." Arcee suggested.

"Should have known this was coming. That incident was anything but subtle." Jack said.

"Who's Fowler?" Steven asked.

"Agent Fowler is our designated liaison to the outside world. As well as our first contact for anything that goes awry." Optimus said.

"Wait a minute, I thought you guys had to keep yourself hidden." Amethyst said.

"Even we can't stay hidden all the time, so we need someone to help with when things get… messy, for lack of a better term." Arcee answered.

"Well, shouldn't we get out of here? I mean, him knowing about us can't be a good thing." Pearl said.

"In case you hadn't noticed, we're not Autobots either." Miko said.

"Yeah, but they also aren't humans either, Miko. Not to mention, I don't think Fowler is going to take having more people knowing about this whole thing well." Jack said.

Before any further argument could develop, the light to the elevator leading from the rooftop flashed. Bumblebee pointed it out to everyone, giving off an alarmed set of beeps to everyone. Acting quick, he positioned himself in front of the group, trying to hide them.

"Too late now." Raf said.

Once the light turned off, the elevator doors opened to reveal a highly irritated agent Fowler. Giving one quick scan of the room, Fowler's eyes fell on Prime as he exited the elevator.

"You know, I'm beginning to miss the days when the worst I had to worry about was you guys having too many traffic incidents. Now it's things like planet-wide invasions and near destruction of cities." Fowler said, clearly stressed out.

"Agent Fowler, while we did intervene with this incident, we were not the ones cause it." Optimus explained.

"I'd never accuse you of causing the problem, Prime. The issue is how the problem was resolved." Fowler said.

"You wanna explain how we were supposed to take care of this subtly?" Bulkhead asked.

"I'm more interested in knowing what this was and how you didn't catch the cons beforehand." Fowler said.

"There is little reason to think that the Decepticons had anything to do with this. Even with the desperation they likely face without their old leader, it would serve no purpose to destroy a town." Ratchet said.

"Oh right, the Cons would never do something like that. I must be mistaking them for the other aliens we have on the planet." Fowler said in a sarcastic tone.

The gems couldn't help but look at each other at that statement. While everyone knew that the remark was not serious, they also knew that it was, in fact, a true statement. The real issue was how they were going to tell him.

"Even if the Decepticons were involved somehow, what sense would it make to just start throwing objects at the planet's surface?" Arcee argued.

"What does it matter what kind of sense it makes!? All that matters now is that we have a city that was nearly destroyed because of this. Now it's my job to explain this all away. So, unless we all want to wind up on the evening news, I'm gonna need some help on this one!" Fowler said.

"Well we have nothing to hide, so we can give you a hand." Steven announced before anyone could get their hand over his mouth.

Fowler, having never heard that voice from anyone, turned to see what looked like a boy that couldn't be much older than Rafael. Once he was seen, Bumblebee figured that there wasn't much point in hiding the others, so he sidestepped to reveal the rest of the gems.

"This again? Are you charging rent for this place or something?" Fowler asked.

"It was both necessary and unavoidable to reveal ourselves to them." Optimus said.

"When isn't it with you guys?" Fowler said, sighing. "Alright look, I'm not going to try and get headquarters involved this time. I'm still answering questions for the last incident. So, instead, lets just get some info."

Walking toward the group, Fowler pulled out a pad of paper and a pen from his jacket. He didn't like this when the kids were here, and he doubted that this was going to be any more pleasant. Yet it seemed that some of them were at least adults, so it might make it easier to answer questions.

On the other end of the spectrum, Steven and the gems were rather nervous about this whole thing. This man came in and presented a great air of authority, even going so far as to speak in an authoritative way to beings several times his size.

He was not the type that would be talked down easily.

"Alright, let's get this over with. You first, what's your name?" Agent Fowler asked, pointing at Garnet.

"... Garnet." she answered after a long pause.

"Last name?" Fowler said, not paying any mind to the strange name.

"That's it." she said.

"Look, I get it. You don't want the government tracking you. I'm not gonna ask anything serious, just some standard information. So work with me, what's your last name?" Fowler asked again.

"That's my only name." she answered.

"You're telling me you don't have a last name?" Fowler asked.

"I didn't realize that you needed one." Garnet said.

Fowler pinched the bridge of his nose, realizing that this was going to be very difficult. Even more so than when he got info from the kids.

"Alright let's come back to that later. What's your age?" Fowler said, moving on.

"Well I've been on earth for over five thousand years, but I lost track of time before that." Garnet answered.

"Alright, are you being funny with me, or is this one of those new lifestyles I don't keep up with?" Fowler asked, crossing his arms.

"No sir, she's being honest with you. She's-" Steven started, only to be cut off by Pearl covering his mouth.

"She's been trying out some new things lately, so you'll have to excuse things. We've all been doing it." Pearl nervously explained.

"I see… That's some pretty intense body piercing you got there." Fowler said, referring to the gem in Pearl's forehead.

Bumblebee let out a series of beeps to Fowler, who simply looked at him with confusion.

"He said it's part of their bodies and that it's how they're born on their planet." Raf translated, only to immediately cover his mouth with his hands in realization in what he just did.

"Planet? More Aliens?!" Fowler said in realization.

"Agent Fowler now is not the time to lose our tempers." Optimus said.

"This is the perfect time to lose my temper, Prime! Do you realize what I'm going to have to go through now!? Reallocation, redistribution of supplies and new monitoring for them! This is going to be a nightmare just to get them somewhere to be monitored!" Fowler yelled.

"Why start now? You didn't know about us before." Amethyst said.

"That is not the point, short stack! The point is-" Fowler said, getting interrupted by Optimus.

"Agent Fowler, this is accomplishing nothing. While I understand your concerns, I think I know something that will alleviate all of this." Prime said in his same even tone.

"I'm all ears Prime, but I hope this is good. This is a twenty-foot hole I got here, and I'll take any help to dig myself out." Fowler said, crossing his arms again.

"As they have already said, they have gone undetected for some time now. I think that is not only a testament to their ability to remain undetected but also a way for them to not consume resources as well. In addition, I see no reason that your chain of command needs to know about them." Optimus explained.

"I don't think I follow, Prime." Fowler said in skepticism.

"I know that you are not reporting the children to your superiors, and with good reason. I propose that you do the same with them." Optimus offered.

"Prime, this is a lot bigger than just some kids finding out about something they shouldn't. This is a case of new life forms being on our planet. They-" Fowler said, being interrupted by Optimus again.

"Are far better at passing for inhabitants of this planet than we are. If they have been managing to keep themselves unseen for this long, I think that they can continue to do so now." Optimus offered.

"That is a very big risk, Prime. Especially now that they are involved with you. No offense, I know that you try to keep things on the down low, but that doesn't always pan out, especially with recent company." Fowler said.

"Hey!" Miko shouted.

"They can maintain the same deniability as them. They pass for human far more than we do. We will also keep close tabs on them to ensure that nothing else happens without us knowing. Let this be our burden instead of your own." Optimus said.

There was a very long pause as everything was thought over. Not just by Fowler, but by everyone in the room.

From the other Autobots because it meant more responsibility by needing to look after more people. From the kids due to them likely needing to be involved. But mostly by the gems, due to their lives likely being compromised by all of this.

Yet, before anyone could get a word out to argue against this, Fowler made his decision.

"Alright Prime, you got a deal. This is the furthest thing from perfect, but it's far better than the other option. But if anything happens with them, anything at all, I'm putting my report in as it being your team." Fowler told him.

"We will take all responsibility." Optimus said without argument.

"Alright. I got one crazy story I need to work up, so I have to go. I'll be in touch with these four later." Fowler said, heading to the elevator, "Try not to endanger the planet while I'm gone."

Once agent Fowler had left, Optimus knew that there were going to be a lot of questions from everyone in the room. No sooner had the doors closed did they start.

"What was that?! How could you do something like that without talking to us first?!" Pearl shouted to Optimus.

"I don't normally agree with strangers, but she has a point. This is some serious stuff you just signed us up for, Optimus." Arcee said.

"I am well aware, but it was a necessary thing to do." Optimus said.

"How so?" Pearl asked.

"If I had not intervened, it would have only lead to more problems for you." Optimus explained.

"Yet now that responsibility falls to us, Optimus. What are we supposed to do now?" Ratchet asked.

"I understand everyone's cause for concern, but I have a way to circumvent much of this." Optimus said.

"If anyone can come up with a plan, it's you Optimus." Jack said, hiding his inner worry very well.

"Our daily reports to agent Fowler are among one of the things we have been asked to keep up with. With you now under our watch, you become one of the things we must keep track of. While we will be required to give reports on you, you will still be able to live your own lives." Optimus explained.

The Gems and Autobots were given pause once again. It was hardly an ideal solution, but it wasn't one that was new to the kids. It was a similar situation to what they had, but they often came to the base for protection. It wasn't perfect, but it let them keep living somewhat normal lives.

"I don't buy all of this. There has to be some kind of catch." Amethyst said.

"I will require only two things from you. The first being that at least one of you comes to our base on a daily basis to allow us to give an honest report on you. The second being more involved. That being that, if anything arises on your own end, you inform us so that we can be there to aid you. As you are part of us now, it is only right that we own up to our own promises." Optimus said.

It was strange to the gems, and everyone else in the room, how Optimus could so easily weave a solution around what was just a very big problem. While it certainly wasn't an ideal solution, and it didn't fix everything, it did ease many of the concerns.

"You mean that we get to visit you guys every day?" Steven asked, excited about the prospect.

"So it would seem." Ratchet said, far less enthused.

"Alright, new hang out!" Steven shouted, running over to the Jack and the rest, "This is gonna be so cool. And you guys can come over to our place every day too."

"Uh, Steven…" Pearl said, trying to get him to calm down to no avail.

"Sweet! Spending days at the beach! This is going to rule! Not to mention, I get some time with one of the best rockers out there!" Miko said with equal enthusiasm.

While Miko, Steven, and Amethyst were all excited about this prospect, everyone else was far less happy. Yes, things had been solved for the short term, but things over the long term seemed uncertain. It was an uneasy event they were facing ahead of them, and nothing was certain.

Yet, on the Autobots side at least, they knew Optimus was more than ready to do whatever it took for this to go as well as it possibly could. Even then, there was no way to know for sure what would happen with their new acquaintances.

"Oh boy, this has just made my life even crazier than it already was." Greg groaned.

"I know, isn't it great!" Miko said, before realizing something, "Hey, Bulkhead, can I get my CD back now?"

"I don't think so, we still haven't had that talk." Bulkhead said.

"Oh come on, what is up with you!?" Miko complained.