Ashen

Chapter 1 Amber

"Lennox, where exactly are we going?" Sideswipe asked tiredly. A team made up of Ironhide, Jolt, Lennox's soldiers, and himself were given orders to take out a Decepticon threat in North Dakota. Unfortunately, the Decepticons weren't mere drones, they were a bunch of more able fighters and it took a huge toll on the team. They had lost a few good men out there.

"I don't know Sides." Lennox mumbled back, struggling to stay awake himself.

Sideswipe thought about it for a moment. They were in the middle of nowhere on a dirt road at midnight with the nearest rest stop about three hours away, what were they supposed to do? And they had some soldiers that were injured, none were in life threatening situations but it would ease Lennox a bit to get them some medical help. "I think I might be able to make it to Slate, but I don't know about your soldiers though."

Lennox sighed, he was right. If he was tired, then his men must be exhausted. "Let's just…pull over for a few minutes. I'll go talk to Ironhide and my men."

Sideswipe swerved to the side of the road and cut the engine. Lennox got out and headed towards Ironhide, who stopped behind him. While they talked Sideswipe took in his surroundings again. Well, he thought, this is turning out to be a slagging night.

Amber Drake rode down the path urging her horse to go faster. Spirit happily complied, his strong limbs quickening in pace. Amber always got a rush from riding a galloping horse, especially at night. It was just something about riding under the stars and hearing the horses hooves hit the ground the intrigued her. Tonight she was riding on Cawley Drive, it was a good choice for night riding because most people would rather drive on the highway than a good old dirt road. She rolled her eyes at the thought, something was wrong with folks nowadays. Amber was probably the only human being in miles, but she liked it that way. Most people she'd met only drove her to the ground or left her heartbroken, she liked animals better. Patting her horse's neck she slowed down to a walk, although she knew he could run for miles, she didn't like him to tire out easily and let him take breaks often so they could ride longer. Out of all her horses she liked Spirit the best, he was the sweetest one of them all. "You're a good boy aren't you?" She said to him lovingly. He nickered in response. They rode in companionable silence for a few minutes before Spirit abruptly stopped, his ears perking up to something in front of them. "What is it boy?" She asked. He had never done this before. Amber eased him forward, she had heard something too. It sounded like talking, but she couldn't be sure. Finally she could make out what looked like military trucks up ahead. Why are they here? She thought. Getting a closer look it seemed like the soldiers were exhausted, and some even had a few cuts and bruises. Being the compassionate person she was she urged Spirit forward to meet them. A man in an army uniform stood by a sleek black truck, and it almost seemed like he was talking to it. Clearing her throat she called out to them, "Hello there. Are you folks okay?" The man by the truck turned around to face her, she could tell by the look on his face that he was tired.

"Yes ma'am. We're fine but, you wouldn't be from around here, would you?"

Amber nodded, "Yeah, I have a house about ten miles away from here. If I may ask sir, why are you out here of all places in the middle of the night?"

The man sighed heavily and glanced over at his men. "We were on a mission that required us to be here. Some of my men are injured, so we were going to drive to Slate and get medical help there."

Amber shook her head in disbelief, "That's about three hours away sir, and even if you did want to get there, you look exhausted, I'm not sure you would make it." She looked over at the men in concern, "But if you want, I have a pretty large house, you're welcome to stay the night. I have plenty of medical supplies if you need them."

The man visibly relaxed, "That would be a lot of help, are you sure ma'am?"

Amber nodded again, "Yeah, you guys need rest. Just follow me and we should be there in about ten minutes." With that she turned her horse and started off in a trot down the road.

Lennox couldn't believe the woman's generosity. They were practically strangers to her, and yet she was willing to take them all in. He turned to his men, "That young woman said we could stay with her for the night. She has plenty of medical supplies to we'll be able to get you all bandaged up. If everyone's ready to go let's move out!" A happy, "Yes sir!" was heard from all the men. Lennox walked over to Sideswipe and hopped in. "You get all that Sides?"

The radio crackled to life, "Yeah, you sure we can trust her?"

"Yeah, she's a civilian, we'll be fine."

"Alright." Sideswipe revved up his engine and started down the road after her. Upon hearing the car coming down the road Amber urged Spirit into a full fledged gallop, not wanting to be left in the dust. A sleek silver corvette came up beside her, keeping pace with the horse. Being close to her Sideswipe took the femme in, long auburn hair, hazel eyes, and a strong body from working with her horses. He had to say she was pretty attractive, for a human. He watched as she nudged her horse again and with speed he didn't know the animal possessed, he was left in the dust. Lennox laughed and patted the dash, "Looks like you've got some competition Sides!"

Sideswipe, being the competitive mech he was, growled and went faster, quickly catching up with the girl again. Amber smirked and kept urging Spirit to go faster too. They duked it out for another few miles until they reached a large farmhouse that appeared to belong to Amber. Amber slowed her horse to a halt and dismounted, Sideswipe skidding to a stop beside her. Lennox got out and walked up to her, chuckling softly, "You've got one heck of a horse there ma'am."

Amber laughed and patted Spirit's neck. "Thanks. By the way please, just call me Amber."

Lennox smiled and took her outstretched hand, "William Lennox. Thanks so much for letting us stay here Amber."

Amber smiled back, "It's not a problem." She took hold of her horse's reins and led him to a barn a little ways away from the house, "Make yourself at home." She called out behind her.

Lennox turned to his team and ordered them to head inside, leaving him with Jolt, Ironhide, and Sideswipe. Ironhide rolled up to him, "So, we're being stationed here for the night?"

Lennox glanced at Amber and nodded, "Yeah, try to keep a low profile so she doesn't get suspicious, I know word is out there of your guy's presence, but we wouldn't want to scare her."

Ironhide grunted a confirmation and rolled up the drive to park beside the house, Jolt wordlessly followed. "What about my holoform? Can I meet her?" Sideswipe asked from behind.

Lennox smirked, "You really want to meet her?"

A flurry of sparks materialized into a blonde-haired man with the same smirk on his face, "Yeah. So it's okay?"

Lennox thought about it, playfully tapping his chin, "Alright." Sideswipe did a fist pump, but Lennox held his hand out to stop him, "But, you better not show her anything except for your holoform, got it?"

Sideswipe did a mock salute, "Yes sir." With that he jogged out to the barn, leaving Lennox rolling his eyes in his wake.

Amber brushed Spirit's back trying to get all the dirt and dust he collected from riding off of him. She probably got it all off about five minutes ago, but she liked brushing her horses. It was a menial sort of task that calmed her and allowed her mind to wander to other things. Take the fifteen soldiers that she just let into her home. She liked William Lennox, he had a sort of sparkle in his eyes that led her to believe that he was a good man full of wit. She was sure he'd keep his men in order. He had a pretty nice car too, though she didn't understand why it was with him while he was on a mission. Those things cost a lot of money. "Wish I had a car like that." She wistfully said to no one in particular.

"Car like what?"

Amber jumped and whirled around to face a man in he early twenties. He had platinum blonde hair, it looked more white than blonde, strange cerulean eyes that seemed to glow in the night, and a strong muscular body that most military men acquired. She would be lying to say he wasn't handsome. Realizing that she was staring, she turned back around to face her horse, hiding the small blush that dusted her cheeks. Acting casual she picked up her brush again and worked on Spirit's forelegs. "Like that Corvette out there, it's pretty nice."

Sideswipe walked closer to her, watching her brush her horse, "Yeah that's a sweet car, it's mine actually."

Amber glanced over at him in surprise, "Really? I thought it was Will's."

He chuckled and looked up at the large animal, "Nope, so, this is your horse huh?"

Amber smiled up at him, "Yup, he's my big boy, his name is Spirit."

Sideswipe nodded and put a hand out to pet the horse's muzzle, "He's pretty fast."

She finished up the back leg, putting the brush back in the box and turned to face him, "Yeah, not as fast as your car though."

He shrugged, "Yeah well, not many things are faster than me-I mean my car."

Amber arched an eyebrow at his correction but didn't say anything about it, "I can see that. Oh!" She wanted to hit herself! "I totally forgot! I haven't even introduced myself, I'm Amber." She stuck out her hand.

Sideswipe took it and shook it warmly, "I'm Sideswipe."

A disbelieving look crossed Amber's face, "Sideswipe? It that like an army code name or something?"

Sideswipe scratched the back of his head, an unusual habit that he observed humans doing when they didn't know what to say, "Uh, yeah."

Amber nodded and smiled, "I thought so, it's a pretty cool name though, way better than mine." She took hold of Spirit's lead rope and started down the large walkway. After putting him in his stable she walked back to Sideswipe and motioned for him to follow her, "C'mon, I'm all done here, why are you out here anyways? Aren't you hungry or something?"

Sideswipe quickly fell in step with her, "Nah not really, I came out here to see you actually."

Amber laughed a little, "Well it was nice meeting you. You sure you're not hungry? I can go make you some food if you are."

Sideswipe shook his head, "No thanks, I'm actually gonna go make sure there isn't any damage to my car." He ruffled her hair playfully, "It was a lot of fun talking to you Amber." With that he left her on the path and headed to the sleek silver Corvette in her driveway.

Amber watched him go then headed inside, even if he wasn't hungry, she sure was.

Lennox and a few members of his team was the sight she first found as she entered her house. They were playing cards at her dining room table. Upon her coming in the door Lennox glanced up and smiled, "Hey Amber, you wanna join us?"

Amber giggled and shook her head, "No thanks, I'm actually gonna get myself something to eat, you guys want anything?"

A few of the men turned to face her, eyes pleading. Taking that as a yes Amber laughed and opened her refrigerator, "Okay, what do you guys want?" After hearing about six different answers Lennox spoke up, "Sandwiches are fine."

Amber got out the bread and got to work, while she assembled she made small talk with Lennox, "So where are the other members of you team?"

"Crashed on your living room floor."

Amber turned to face him, a horrified expression on her face, "What? B-but I have air mattresses-"

Lennox laughed, "Amber, we're soldiers, not houseguests, a warm place to stay is all we need."

Amber rolled her eyes and turned back to work on their sandwiches, she was still a little miffed as to why anyone would be comfortable enough to sleep on her hardwood floor.

But she wasn't an army dog.

After making a large tray of turkey sandwiches she set it out and front of them and watched them eat. She had to say she'd never seen food leave a plate so fast. Taking their plates from them when they were done she set them in the sink, opting to wash them later. Lennox stood up and stretched, motioning for the rest of his team to go with him, "Thanks for everything Amber. We won't bother you for the rest of the night, I think it's time for us to hit the hay. Goodnight."

Amber nodded and smiled, "Living room floor right?"

A few of his men chuckled and one spoke up, "Yes ma'am. Come get us if you need us."

Amber turned to smile at them as well, "Alright, goodnight."

After a chorus of 'goodnights' were heard the rest of the soldiers went to crash for the night. Amber shook her head and checked her watch, it was only one a.m. and all the night's excitement led to her being wide awake. "Might as well go bug Sideswipe." She said to no one in particular and headed to the door. Sideswipe was her favorite out of the bunch, well, out of the ones she'd already met. And she was sure he was awake, after all, he did say he was going to work on his car.