Author's Note: Okay, this is my first Transformers fic, and I haven't found a beta yet, so please bear with me if I make any major mistakes. Critiques and advice are welcome. Flames will be ignored/laughed at. Remember people, everyone starts out as a beginner. This story takes place in the movieverse, after Transformers and Revenge of the Fallen, and it serves mostly to answer an odd question I had regarding whether an Autobot would pick up a stranded hitchhiker. The relationship in this story is strictly friendship, nothing more...not even if you squint.

Special Thanks: First of all, I'd like to thank Faecat, who encouraged me to write this, and for answering all of my Transformers-related questions. Fae, you totally rock! Every TF fan should read her fics, especially Science and Fiction. Next, I'd like to thank Shawn, my wonderful cousin who helped me come up with the alt mode for my Decepticon character, and all my friends who wanted to read this. Thank you all.

Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers. It belongs to Hasbro. If I owned it, I wouldn't be sitting here, writing fanfiction about it.

"Thoughts/Processes"

::Internal Comms::

Chapter 1: Stranded

Robin Banks was having a bad day. Scratch that, she was having a very bad day. And trudging down the road in the hot summer sunlight did not help matters any. Why was she walking down the road, when she could have driven? Probably because her ancient, piece of crap Taurus had finally given up the ghost and left her stranded in the scrubby forest a few miles back, leaving her to walk down the empty road, hoping she could get to the gas station she had passed some time ago, find some cell phone reception, or get a ride from some Good Samaritan. Grumbling under her breath, she dug her cell phone out of her pocket and checked it for what must have been the fifteenth time. "Still no signal?" she thought furiously, fighting down the urge to chuck the little piece of equipment into the nearby ditch. "Why the hell do I even have this thing if I can't actually use it in an emergency?"

Suddenly, Robin heard a rumble of thunder in the distance, and when she looked out at the horizon, she noticed a line of dark clouds heading in her direction. "Oh joy…rain!" she muttered darkly, shoving her useless phone back into her pocket and renewing her pace. "I guess I should be happy I'm not going to die of a heat stroke."

…

Optimus Prime rolled down the road, unfazed by the driving rain that would have forced a human driver to pull over and wait for it to pass. To tell the truth, the Autobot leader found the sound of rain to be very peaceful, and would often go out during a storm when he wanted to be alone. He always left his comm system open, in case there was an emergency, so no one really complained when he took one of these little side trips. He was actually on his way back to the base, when he noticed someone, a woman, walking down the road, apparently oblivious to the pouring rain. "Strange," Optimus processed, watching the woman continue walking. "Humans do not usually go out in the rain if they can help it. They can become ill from prolonged exposure to bad weather." He quickly ran a scan on her, but found no signs of illness or injury. "Perhaps she is lost? If so, then there is no harm in helping her."

Having made his decision, Optimus quickly generated a holoform to keep from startling the woman, and began to slow down.

…

Robin fought down the urge to cry as the rain continued to fall. Once it had started pouring, she had reluctantly turned around, trying to make her way back to her busted car to ride out the storm and see if maybe, just maybe, it finally decided to work. Of course, now she was soaked and shivering, which only made her more miserable. "What more could go wrong?" she wailed to the uncaring sky.

No one answered, so she continued to walk, sniffling as a few tears finally escaped her. Before she could berate herself for crying, however, a strange, but brief, tingling sensation washed over her, as if someone was staring intently at her. Before the feeling could truly give her the creeps, however, the sound of an oncoming vehicle caught her attention. She turned around just in time to see a semi truck slow down, and then stop. "Wow, that's certainly a flashy paint job!" she thought, gaping at the blue and red flames on the truck. "I just hope he's not some sort of mad serial killer. I'm already alone in the middle of nowhere, and I don't need a psycho man to complete the horror movie cliché."

Cautiously, she stepped back as the passenger door opened, ready to bolt if the driver turned out to be some sort of creepy weirdo, but when she got a good look at them, she let herself relax slightly. The driver was a tall, slightly muscular man dressed in blue jeans, a white t-shirt, and a red jacket. He appeared to be in his forties or fifties, with salt-and-pepper hair and a beard, lined but somewhat handsome features, and bright blue eyes that somehow made him look ageless. "Huh…this guy reminds me of someone. I just don't know who…" Robin thought, cocking her head to the side as she studied the man.

"You really should not be out in the rain," the truck driver said, his face etched with concern.

Robin blinked, surprised by the man's baritone voice. She couldn't pinpoint what made it sound strange, she just knew that it did. "Maybe it's just the acoustics in there?" Shrugging it off, Robin quickly regained her composure, however, and replied, "I know, but my car broke down, and I can't get any cell phone reception out here." She smiled sheepishly, and continued, "Actually, I was on my way back to my car when you pulled up. Do you think you could give me a ride? It's not that far, and you're headed in that direction anyway."

The man nodded and said, "Climb in."

…

A dark blue Harley-Davidson motorcycle raced down an empty side road, conspicuous in its lack of a rider. Of course, the Decepticon, Darklight, could have cared less if anyone saw him without a holoform. "The little meat-bags couldn't catch us, anyway!" he cackled insanely. "Maybe I should go find one, though, and play with it 'til it breaks. I like how all that red fluid pours out when they break."

"IT IS CALLED 'BLOOD', DARK," he admonished. "AND WE CANNOT PLAY WITH A FLESHLING NOW. WE ARE ON A MISSION, REMEMBER?"

"You're no fun, Light!" Dark whined, before submitting to his other half.

Darklight suffered from a severely fractured personality. One part, the 'Dark' part, was chaotic, fearless, and fond of death and mayhem. The other part, 'Light', was just as ruthless, but cold and calculating, and therefore, took the lead in most of their operations. Both personalities were always active, however, and communicated to each other aloud, much to the annoyance of most of their Decepticon brethren. Darklight's current mission was to locate an Autobot thought to be in the vicinity, and eliminate it. The Decepticon assassin did not care which one it was, though, just as long as he could offline it…preferably while inflicting as much pain as possible.

Darklight continued moving, searching for any sign that the Autobot had been nearby, when his sensors reported a vehicle moving along a nearby highway. Quickly, he turned off the side road and into the scrubland, running parallel to the highway. When he finally spotted the vehicle, a semi with a red and blue flame paintjob, he froze dead in his tracks in surprise. "The Prime! It's the Prime!" Dark crowed. "We get to offline Optimus Prime!"

"QUIET," Light snapped, keeping Darklight from bolting after the Autobot leader. "CHASING HIM DOWN AND RECKLESSLY ATTACKING WILL NOT WORK."

"But Light…"

"NO. WE WILL FOLLOW HIM, AND WAIT..." Darklight paused, letting his sensors range again. Then the Light half spoke again. "HE HAS A HUMAN WITH HIM."

"A squishy? Oh, Light, lemme play with it!" Dark pleaded. "I'm sure I can keep this one alive longer than the last one. Can I play with it?"

"PRIME SEEMS TO CARE ABOUT THE PUNY WRETCHES, SO PERHAPS WE CAN USE THAT TO OUR ADVANTAGE," Light said, ignoring Dark's request.

"Ooh, yeah! We could wait 'til the squishy's just outta his reach, and tear its head off! Can we do that?"

If Darklight could have smiled while in his motorcycle form, he would have done so. "WE SHALL SEE."

…

After Optimus picked up the hitchhiker, an awkward silence ensued. He did not even have to scan her to see she was nervous about something. "Is something bothering you, miss?" he asked, his holoform glancing in her direction.

Robin flinched. She always felt uncomfortable when someone called her "miss" or "ma'am". "Uh…you can just call me Robin," she replied. "And I'm just worried about my car…and how I'm going to pay you back."

"No payment is necessary, Robin," he said, shaking his head. "You were stranded, so I wished to help."

"Who the hell talks like that?" she wondered. "He's totally weird, but apparently, a nice guy." "So, you know my name now. Do you mind telling me yours?"

Optimus paused. He hadn't much need for a holoform, so he never came up with a name for one. Finally, he just picked his old name. "I am Orion."

"What, like the constellation?" Robin asked, slightly amazed. "That's pretty neat." Finally, they reached her car, and she quickly climbed out of the truck. "Well, Orion, thanks for the lift."

Optimus ran a quick scan on the car as Robin got in and attempted to start it with no success. "Many of its parts are damaged and need to be replaced," he processed. "I will have to take her to the next town to find assistance." He opened the door and let his holoform get out. "As long as she does not touch me, she shouldn't discover what I truly am." "Could you open the hood, please?" he asked, approaching the car.

When the car refused to start, Robin fought down the urge to scream in frustration. When Orion the Good Samaritan asked her to open the hood, she fought the urge to gape at him like an idiot. "You a mechanic, too?"

He gave her small smile, and said, "Somewhat."

Shrugging, Robin popped the hood, got out of the car, and raised the hood so he could take a look. Before Orion could do more than take a cursory glance, however, a burst of searing orange light fired out of the forest, passed right over the car, and slammed into the side of his truck, where it exploded with a loud, low-pitched thump. "Oh my god, what the hell was that?" Robin shrieked as cold fear threaded its way down her spine. "Orion, are you okay?"

She turned to look at him, just in time to see him turn transparent and full of static, like a television with bad reception. Then, as she reached out to touch him, he vanished, as the roar of a motorcycle engine caught her attention. The thing that burst out of the woods, however, was most definitely not a bike. If a motorcycle could stand up and walk…and glare at you with hate-filled eyes, it would look like this. It was around twelve feet tall, vaguely humanoid, and made entirely out of metal, and it moved with a speed and grace that a cheetah would envy. Time seemed to slow down, and then stop, as the mechanical monster glowered at Orion's truck, opened its mouth, and bellowed, "Optimus Prime!"

Author's Note 2: Darklight's specific alt form is a Harley-Davidson VRSCD Nightrod. I found it while looking through various Harley-Davidson motorcycles, and it just jumped out at me. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this first chapter, even if it's a bit of a cliffhanger.