A/N: So, over a year after the last time I updated this one: here's chapter five. I'm sorry it's so late. It, and my X-men fic are works in progress, but I don't always have the time to work on them when I want, thus, here we are.

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Will stayed with them for five days before she came downstairs one morning to find him waiting, in his uniform, with his bag packed at his feet.

She paused, "You're getting called in, huh?" she murmured sadly.

He nodded, "Russians think they may have found a piece of Cybertronian tech, they want me to lead a team in to take a look, should be a clean sweep, in and out."

"There's something you're not saying." she stated, it wasn't a question.

Will nodded, glancing at Dom as he emerged from the kitchen behind her, "It's at Chernoble."

She raised an eyebrow, "Beware radiation sickness... But I know there's more to it than that."

He shook his head, "Maybe. I don't know."

"I've got that Crazy-Autobot-Adventure feeling in my gut."

He laughed softly and hugged her, "Take care of yourself, 'Kaela."

Mikaela hugged him back just as tightly, "You too. Come home safe. And call if you need me. For anything Will, I mean it."

Will nodded and took his leave.

Mikaela watched him leave with a frown marring her forehead, uncomfortable in that she still had that bad feeling in her gut.

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The news reports about robot cars and explosions and fighting in the streets in Washington, DC started a few days later. Then Will stopped answering his phone. Dom came home from the garage to find her stuffing clean clothes into a backpack.

"I'm flying into Washington tonight. Shit's hitting the fan and if things get really crazy I wanna be where I can do some good." She paused in her packing to look at him as he gazed at her impassively, "I'm going whether you support me or not, but I'm hoping you understand why I have to."

Dom stared for a long moment and then made his way to the closet without a word. Mikaela's shoulders slumped in defeat: this would be his line, he'd put up with all her crazy, but sending her off into a battle zone was probably his limit.

A battered duffle hit the bed next to hers, Dominic pulled open a dresser drawer and started pulling out jeans and shirts and stuffing them in while she stared incredulously.

She opened her mouth to… argue or something… and then closed it and instead pulled out her phone to book a second plane ticket.

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By the time they landed in DC, things were officially FUBAR. Will had sent a car for her, and she'd expected Ironhide, only to be informed by the government goon driving that he was, for all intents and purposes, dead. Killed by Sentinal Prime.

Shit really started hitting the fan after that: Will had originally sent her and Dom to protect Sarah and Emily "just in case", and also because they technically didn't have the clearance to be in on any meetings, but then the announcement came through that the Autobots were being forced to leave the planet and she'd finally been granted clearance by Mearing to be involved (only her, only to say goodbye,) only for the opportunity to grip the edge of the table in the friggin' War Room with Will as their friends were blown out of the sky moments after takeoff.

The room had been silent for long moments before she carefully stood, pushed her chair back, left the room and made her way down the hall to the nearest women's restroom, where she dry-heaved for long moments.

Things moved even faster: Sam (who she'd seen a few times but had been busy with other things) had apparently decided to go into Chicago, Ground Zero, as it were, with Epps to rescue his kidnapped girlfriend. (and Mikaela Banes could tell you she wouldn't have been kidnapped, thankyouverymuch, because she kept a fucking blowtorch in her purse.)

She stared at Will over shitty Pentagon coffee, hours after they got that news as he explained what was next, "… Grissom Air Force Base in Indiana is the closest base we could do outside of the battle zone."

She sighed at her coffee and then looked at him, "Do we even have a snowball's chance in hell or would I have been better off on the Xantium?"

Will stared incredulously, "Am I hearing this? From you? Are you really quitting on me now?"

"Seems like the thing to do." She glared from under the rat's nest she called hair these days.

"'Kaela, do you remember how we met?"

She shrugged, "Mission City."

"But do you remember how?" Will prodded.

When she shook her head he continued, "You stuck out, because you were this seventeen year-old in a ripped up pink hoodie, who looked like she'd been through two days of hell and needed to not be in a battle zone." She opened her mouth to protest that this was not helping when he got to the point, "and you also refused to leave that battle zone without 'Bee. You hotwired a tow truck, chained him to the back end and drove directly into battle, in reverse, because you refused to quit, even when it looked bad. You wouldn't leave anyone behind."

She nodded, slowly, "Are you sending people in?"

Will blinked, "To Chicago? Too dangerous. And crazy. We're trying drones, but they keep getting shot…. No. absolutely not. Mikaela!" he yelled after her, but she was already out of her seat with some half-assed plan to get herself killed, and walking away.

"If Sam can go be a hero, then so can I!" she yelled back, and well, if that wasn't the least bit helpful.

Will leapt out of his chair and took off after her, "What does that mean? What the hell is your plan here? Hell, why even go? You don't care about Sam's girl, so why?"

She turned, "Because Sam's going to go be a hero and destroy shit if he can, and someone needs to try and get the people of Chicago out of the city before they get caught in the crossfire."

"By yourself?!" he squawked.

"No." she scoffed, "I'll bring Dom."

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A/N: Thoughts? Comments? Ideas? Questions? Drop me a review and let me know what you think!