Hello everyone! This is my first Transformers fic ever! So please take pity on my if I don't get everything right. Thank you all, and enjoy!

As she rode along the sand path of the lonely road she was driving on, she undid her hair and opened the window of her car that was closest to her, letting the mixture of wind and sand hit her face. She didn't mind the prickly feeling, and actually had begun to enjoy it from years of feeling it as she drove down this road time and time again. She lived for this road. To her it was like a gateway to a new world. Her world. Her home.

She loved Arizona. She loved the heat, the sun, the rural sandy hillsides in her backyard. Ever since she was little, she believed this was her little piece of heaven, unlike all her friends who wanted to make a mad dash for Phoenix and leave the large pile of dirt behind. She never felt comfortable in large crowds, however, and while all her friends wanted to be movie stars or singers, she shied away from the limelight and wanted to stay where she was for the time being. Forget the city, she always told herself. This is the place to be.

They didn't agree with her.

Ironically, she was the one to head for the city first. Not to sing or dance or shine on stage, but to find work.

Because Alise Brown had a special gift. The gift to open doors, as her father always said.

Alise was not originally from her beloved state of Arizona. She was born in Pennsylvania, and so were her parents and their parents before them. There was really no set reason for them to go to the 'copper state,' other than that her mother and father, Piper and Jeremy Brown, were not very practical people. Mr. Brown was a linguistics major who studied Russian and Spanish, and Mrs. Brown was an interior decorator, both of whom shared a love of adventure and passionate hearts. After the death of Mrs. Brown's mother, and last her remaining relative, the two decided to take themselves and their newborn daughter to Arizona to start anew. Mr. Brown, who had two sisters who no longer cared much for him back in PA, wanted a change of scenery, and after reading a news article about Phoenix in a travel magazine, he was convinced that it was a sign that this was where they were meant to be.

They moved to the scorching state and very quickly realized that moving into the city would be not easy in the slightest. The two, both having no jobs, little money, and a baby, then moved to a small Spanish community outside of the city. Mr. Brown was able to find a job as an interpreter for a Phoenix based company in the city and Mrs. Brown was able to find work at a local business for planning weddings. This was where they made their home, and this was where Alise grew up.

Alise was taught English at home as her first language, and at the same time learned Spanish from the community around her. Her father wanted to teach her some, but she mostly learned it from her preschool teachers who spoke only Spanish and all the children in her neighborhood. By the time she was twelve, she spoke the language as fluently as everyone in her neighborhood and her father. This was the start of her special gift.

Seeming to have gained the love and knack for learning languages from her father, she continued to learn the tongues of the world from any place she could. She begged her father to teach her Russian and he complied, excited to know that his daughter wanted to learn so much and from him. By the time she was twelve, she knew about as much of the language as a native third grader and he continued to teach her through her later years of schooling. In high school, she didn't take many electives and instead chose to immerse herself in language courses. She continued with Advanced Spanish, and also decided to take French. She was truly a natural for learning languages. She advanced in every lesson and every class she took, and very rarely got confused despite all the information and words going through her head.

Outside of school, she continually advanced with her father's Russian lessons and even decided to take courses in Italian when she found out classes were being held in the area. The instructor was so impressed with her skill for yet another language that she gave her private lessons, free of charge, to help her improve even more. When Alise graduated, she went to college and became a linguistics major like her father, only she duel majored in Spanish and French. She was also a drop-in, in Russian and Italian courses being offered at the university. By the time she graduated, she was fluent in Spanish, French, Russian, and Italian, along with her first language English. She was an educated, beautiful young woman in her prime. She was at the top of her game.

Until one week before she graduated, when her parents were killed in a car accident.

For a short period of time, she went into a state of depression, and didn't attend her graduation. Being the only child, she got everything they owned. The house, the small chunk of land they lived on, the insurance money. And because she was 22 at the time, with no real family to help her, all she had was herself and the help of the community around her to sort everything out for herself. It was much to handle, but she could deal with most of what was thrown at her, except for the funeral arrangements. That was what really cracked her.

After about a year, she was able to really get back on her feet, and she realized that she needed to find work. Ironically, even with all the languages she had come to learn, Alise never gave much thought into becoming an interpreter. She enjoyed the languages too much to imagine being able to use them for work and she actually took courses in American Sign Language in the wake of her parents death to get her mind off things (once more proving her exceptional skill.) But she was qualified, and the company her father used to work for gave her his old job being aware of the situation and her credentials. Her father always said the learning another's language would open doors. And she was thankful she took his advice.

It was Friday. She could go home and stay home and not do anything, but sit on the couch and watch some television and sleep. And that's what she planned on doing. Eventually she reached her destination, her parents' home in the middle of her heavenly nowhere. She sighed, and contently reminisced about the memories at that home as she pulled into the driveway; her mother braiding her long brown hair on the front porch, her father humming Frank Sinatra as he burned dinner, the three of them watching the Arizona sunset almost every night on the roof...

She opened her car door and stepped out. The dust still hadn't settled from when she pulled in, but she took in a breath of fresh air and smiled. She was home. She darted into the house and hurriedly got out of her work clothes, pulling on a pair of sweat pants and an old t-shirt to keep her warm. It may have been hot outside, but the necessary air conditioner chilled the air to a frosty degree. She turned on the TV and went into the kitchen to make some popcorn. As it popped in the microwave, she watched the news, a story playing about an unexpected meteor shower that occurred last night, and other series of odd lights that had appeared. Scientists were calling it an unnatural phenomena and that people should be careful and contact the police if they found where one of them landed.

Alise just shrugged her shoulders. Stuff like that didn't bother her much. Not thinking much else of it, she took her popcorn out of the microwave and walked over to the couch. However, just as her body hit the cushions, the doorbell rang.

"Dammit," she muttered under her breath, and she hoisted herself back up to answer the door. To her enjoyment, it was a familiar face.

"Camila!" she yelled, hugging her longtime friend close. As if a reflex, her mind automatically switched from English to Spanish. Camila did speak English, but she preferred to use her native language. "How are you? It's been so long since I've seen you!"

"I know, right?" Camila replied. She came into the house and took off her shoes. The two walked into the living room and Alise muted the TV. Camila continued. "I saw you driving up the road so I thought I'd come and visit."

"Saw me? You live a quarter mile down the path! How did you see me?"

Camila laughed. "Ha! With that ancient car of yours? That thing kicks up so much dirt it looks like a twister's coming."

Alise looked out the window at her '77 Chevy Camaro. It was a faded yellow with black stripes on the top. She bought it off one of her distance neighbors a few years back. It was the first thing see had bought with financially no help from anyone else and she loved it with all her heart. Even if it was a little... rustic.

She mock glared at Camila. "Don't make fun of my car. It's got character."

Camila snorted. "It's got a disease! Look at that thing! It's about to fall apart and you're too stubborn to accept it."

Alise glared once more. "So did you just come up here to insult my pride and joy, or was there a reason?"

Camila dropped the previous subject and smiled. "Tono's having a party tonight!" she sang. "Want to come?"

Alise paused. "I don't know, Cam," she said hesitantly. Alise didn't particularly like Tono.

"Please?" she asked pleadingly. "I don't want to go alone."

Alise was silent for a moment. Camila pulled a kicked puppy look and she sighed.

"Fine. I'll go."

Camila squealed. "Great! I'll pick you up at eight! And wear something nice. Sal's gonna be there!"

"CAM!" Alise yelled after her, but it was too late. Camila didn't even put her shoes on as she raced out the door to her car.

Alise sighed. It was going to be a long night.

The next chapter will be a little more interesting, I promise. Please forgive me if I get any of my Transformers facts wrong. I don't know everything there is to know about the movies, characters, etc. So what do you think? Please give me some feedback! As always, I own nothing.

~Mel