Okay, so I don't really have an excuse for the ridiculously long gap between this chapter and the last (Sweet Primus it's been over a year!) I promise I'll try and get this story up and running again! I really hope that you can all forgive me!

"Shit. Sam! Speaker phone!" I yelled, hoping for the words to sink in before the choppers landed. I could already hear the distant sound of the blades approaching, the air vibrations throbbing in my ears. We didn't have much time.

"Optimus! Incoming!" Ironhide called, his own ears (or whatever passed) picking up the sound of the machines too. Each passing second drew the helicopters and the impending shit-storm nearer.

"Tamara!" Sam grabbed my arm, pulling me back. I stumbled over the uneven concrete, gripping his arm to steady myself. The helicopters were so close now I could almost feel the wind on my face. Sam dragged me behind him as he ran. "Get behind them!" he called to Mikaela.

The Autobots began to transform even before Optimus ordered them to 'roll out'. Tyres screeched and the smell of exhaust filled the air as the Autobots took out.

"Why are they leaving? Sam? Sam what's going on?" I strongly dislike stressful situations for obvious reasons, and this was turning into one of those situations.

"Calm down!" Sam shook her shoulder lightly. "Everything's cool!"

I was about to utter a protest until the sound of hydraulics filled the air. "Up you get."

Optimus. At least he hadn't abandoned us. Sam pushed me backwards and my knees buckled as they came into contact with solid metal. My head span as I was lifted swiftly into the air. I reached out and fisted my hand in Sam's shirt to steady myself. When my head stopped spinning I realised Sam was talking to me. "Take a huge step and grip on tight. Do not let go." He ordered.

Gritting my teeth I did just that, my fingers scrambling for something to grip onto. Oh my God I'm going to fall. I managed to find something solid to grip onto and wound my arms around it as I felt around for a place to sit. I did so just in time as we were suddenly moving forwards. I took a shuddering breath and repressed a scream as we were jolted violently up and down. I could hear the sounds of car horns below us and I tried to become one with the metal. We left the sounds behind and the metal suddenly tilted forwards. I gripped even tighter to the metal as my feet struggled for a foothold.

"Easy you three." Optimus said quietly and I scoffed.

"Easy to say when you can see where the hell you are." I muttered.

"On Optimus' shoulder under a bridge. You don't want to know how high we are." Sam replied as the sound of approaching helicopter blades got louder.

I wish I hadn't asked.

It was with a scream that I heard Mikaela fall past my right shoulder. Sam's shoulder brushed against mine briefly and he grunted softly.

"No! No! No, Sam, don't drop me!" I could barely hear her over the sound of the blades as I scrambled with one hand for Sam's.

"Sam!" I cried as I heard Mikaela cry out that she was slipping. "Sam!" I heard the two of them scream and my heart plummeted as both Optimus shifted quickly again and Sam and Mikaela's terrified screams filled the air. There was the sound of crashing metal and I shuddered. What the heck just happened? "Sam? Sam!"

It wasn't Sam who responded. "Bumblebee has caught them." Optimus replied. "Hold on." I heard the chopper circle back again and the sound of metal hitting metal at high speed. Something heavy hit the concrete and Bumblebee's pained whines reached my ears.

"Look! He's not fighting back!" Sam cried and my heart tore. "Stop hurting him!"

Bee's high-pitched cries hurt my ears and, if I could, I'd have pressed my hands to my ears. "Oh God." I whispered, pressing my faced into the curved metal in front of me. A part of his shoulder maybe? I didn't care. Everything I had was focussed on Bee's pained cries. Once they eventually faded my heart broke completely in two.

The sound of transforming Autobots just made the pain ever so slightly worse. "Hang back. Let me check it out." One I had never heard before said as Optimus straightened up again. "Optimus, are we just gonna stand here and do nothing?"

"There's no way to free Bumblebee, Sam and Mikaela without harming the humans."

"Then harm them!" I had the feeling I wasn't meant to have spoken but I had a thousand and one things running through my head, none of which were exactly pleasant. "Screw whatever rules you live by. They have my cousin and Bumblebee! You can't just let them walk away!"

"She's correct. It's not right. He-"

"Let them leave." Optimus' tone was final. His feet hit the floor with a metal thunk and I was jolted again. "Move forwards and I will catch you." he half demanded half asked and I slowly let go. I slipped at first before half falling and half climbing downwards. I hit his hand with a thud.

"Sorry." I muttered.

"What about the glasses? The boy has them." my hand flew to my pocket as the Autobot spoke. Optimus obviously noticed it as I could feel him looking at me. I carefully withdrew them and held them up.

"Are these the ones? They were in Sam's bag so I think they were."

"They are indeed Captain Archibald Witwicky's glasses." Optimus rumbled. "Thank you for finding them."

"Um, I'm not sure what you're going to do now, but please. Let me come with you. I know I won't be much use but I can't stay here. I have no idea where here is." I didn't want to sound like I was pleading, but I was. If they left me here I was stuffed. I really had no idea where I was and I had no phone or money.

"You may come with us." Optimus said in an almost gentle manner. "Please, step off my hand." I hung over the edge with one foot and slid from his hand as my foot touched the floor. In all the commotion I'd managed to lose my guide stick, though that was the least of my worries.

"This yours?" The voice of Ironhide was accompanied by something tapping my shoulder. I reached up to take it and smiled. At least I had my stick back.

"Thanks." there was a grunt and the sound of transforming Autobots.

"Can you get in?" Optimus voiced and I nodded, tapping my stick forwards. It took a few seconds to negotiate the steps of his large vehicle form, he had to be some sort of truck, but he didn't complain. He shut the door for me, his engine rumbling into life. "Autobots, roll out." he pulled away and drove in silence. He didn't speak first and I was in no hurry to distract him. Being in a vehicle that could drive by itself was unnerving enough. One that could talk was enough to give me a stroke.

"So, uh, who are the other Autobots? I mean, I know you, Bumblebee and Ironhide, but who are the others? If it's okay for me to ask." I added hurriedly.

"There is myself, Ironhide, our medical expert Ratchet, Sam's guardian Bumblebee and my first lieutenant Jazz."

"Only five?" I asked, quickly backtracking as it came out too rude. "I don't mean that in bad way, I just thought there would be more. I mean, I know there was a war and all that but I thought-"

"How do you know about the war?" he cut me off and I swallowed. Me and my big mouth... "You also knew my designation and Ironhide's. How is that possible?"

"I, uh... it doesn't matter." I mumbled but I knew he could hear me perfectly. I was eternally grateful that he didn't press me.

"You should recharge." Optimus said gently. "We have a while to go before we can access the map on the glasses. You will need your rest." I cottoned on that 'recharge' meant 'sleep' and I nodded, laying the guide stick on the floor and placing my sunglasses next to them. "You may lie down if you wish. I will not let you get hurt." and, for some reason, I did just that with complete faith in him. I wasn't even mildly surprised when two seatbelts slid over my body to secure me to the seats. Then again, this night couldn't get much weirder.

When I awoke I was informed that it was just past eight in the morning. Optimus' voice brought back everything from the night before and I suddenly found I couldn't breathe. Sheepishly, I asked him to stop at a gas station so I could use the bathroom. Once inside the urine-scented room I splashed my face with the cool water. Sam, Bumblebee, Mikaela, Aunt Judy and Uncle Ron. All gone in the space of an hour. I knew that Bumblebee was probably in extreme pain and Sam and Mikaela were probably holed up in a cell somewhere. Hopefully my aunt and uncle were giving their captors hell, but I couldn't be sure. God only knew where Boo and Mojo were.

Exiting the gas station I felt the sudden despair a child feels when they're lost in a supermarket. Boo is almost always there for me and if not a family member was. I never really have to navigate myself. As I stood in the forecourt I realised just how stupid I had been to rely on others. I now had no idea where Optimus or the others was. Without a direction my stick was pretty damn useless.

As though sensing my distress, that or they had just gotten bored of waiting for me, multiple engines started up at once. I quickly stumbled in the direction of the rumbling engines, heading towards the loudest in the hope it was Optimus. I reached for the door handle, pulling it open with a huff. The door was heavier than I thought it would be.

My ascent into the cab was far from dignified but Optimus was kind enough not to comment on it. "Where are we going and when will we get there?" I asked timidly once we had been moving for a few minute. My cautiousness was well called for; vehicle or not he was still leader of an alien race.

"An hour now. We will be there shortly." I had no idea where 'there' was and I was no more informed when we got there. I didn't ask, I was just grateful for the warmth of the sun on my skin. I slipped, literally, from the vehicle but caught myself before I hit the ground. Once the sound of Optimus' transformation had stopped he scooped me up and placed me on a high wall. "You may step back." he informed me. "You are on a high walkway but are not near the edge." I nodded and smiled in his direction, backing up until my back hit the wall. The sound of metal above me and to my right signalled the arrival of the other three.

"I am afraid I never caught your name." one of the Autobots on my right said. My gut instinct said that the 'wise' voice belonged to Ratchet. "My designation is Ratchet." Bingo.

"Uh, Tamara. Tamara Williams."

"I'm Jazz." the one from above me said, his voice appearing closer than I thought it would. I jumped. Again.

"If you give her a spark attack I will rip off one of your servos." Ratchet warned and Jolt muttered an apology.

"Please, let this work." I heard Optimus rumble, silencing the two Autobots above me.

"Fire it up, Optimus." I heard Jazz again, his voice slightly further to my right now.

There was a high pitched, electronic squeal and I guessed it was Optimus accessing whatever was on those glasses. "The code on these glasses indicated the All Spark is 230 miles from here."

"I sense the Decepticons are getting ready to mobilize." Ratchet said and I pressed against the wall as his footsteps went from my right to my left and the sun stopped warming my skin for a second.

"They must know it's here as well." Ironhide confirmed, the first words I'd heard him speak since our escape.

"What about Bumblebee?" I asked, a little worried at drawing attention to myself but knowing the question had to be posed. "You can't just leave him to the scientists at Sector Seven. They'll kill him!"

"He'll die in vain if we don't accomplish our mission." Optimus reasoned and I shook my head. "Bumblebee is a brave soldier. This is what he would want." I decided not to add that he'd want it without the pain he was probably going through. I could be wrong. I hardly knew Bumblebee after all.

"Why are we fighting to save the humans? They're a primitive and violent race." I tried not to take offence at Ironhide's statement. He was right in many ways.

"Were we once so different? They're a young species; they still have much to learn. But I've seen goodness in them. Freedom is the right of all sentient beings. You all know there is one way to win this war; we must destroy the cube. If all else fails, I will unite it with the spark in my chest."

"That's suicide." Ratchet argued. I was confused about the 'spark' for a moment until I remembered Ratchet's earlier phrase: 'spark attack'. The spark must be their version of a heart. My own heart lurched at the thought of what Optimus was willing to do to save both races. "The Cube is raw power. It could destroy you both."

"A necessary sacrifice to bring peace to this planet."

"It won't bring peace!" I argued. "Even if you die, there will still be war. Countries which are unhappy with our way of life. And who's to say the Decepticons will even leave this planet? Countries here, when they've lost or won what they were fighting for, they don't leave. They stay put and find something else to fight over!"

"We cannot let you and your rulers pay for our mistakes. It's been an honour severing with you all. Autobots, roll out!"

"We rolling!" Jazz called, his voice moving away rapidly. I heard Ratchet step over me again and Ironhide follow closely behind. I stepped away from the wall, wondering if Optimus had left too. I never heard him leave, but the other three made enough noise to alert the dead.

"It is time to leave." Optimus rumbled and I sighed.

"I wish you'd let me know you're there." I muttered, working towards the wall where he'd originally put me. He scooped me up and my head went slightly funny with the sudden height gain, then height loss. He transformed down and I stumbled forwards, sliding in as he pulled away. "Right, if you don't mind me asking, what's the Cube?"

"The All Spark is but a shell to contain the incredible life-giving energies within; should that shell be destroyed, the energies will remain, as potent as ever, merely waiting for a new vessel to inhabit."

"So, it's like a God?"

"A human would see it as such, yes. Any fragments that would remain in the event of the All Spark's physical destruction would still possess all of the incredible power that the original object did. When the All Spark was lost from our world it became harder to live there. The Decepticons took to the stars to find it and we had no choice but to follow it. Bumblebee tracked the Cube to Earth where he signalled its existence to us."

"Then why destroy it? Why not take it back to your home planet and restore the life there?"

"While the All Spark exists the Decepticons will do all in their power to gain possession of it. There is no choice but to destroy it." I fell into silence as I processed this information. I couldn't image the world being split in to two teams and forced to fight each other over a box. Then again, humans fought brothers over oil and natural resources. Were the two races really that different?

I was jolted violently from my thoughts by the sound of Optimus' horn ripping through the still cabin air. He slammed on the brakes and the seatbelt fastened quickly over my chest as he spun one eighty degrees. "What is it?" I asked. "What's happening?"

"Sam has the cube."

"Sam's here?"

"He is with Bumblebee." I smiled at the news. Sector Seven hadn't hurt him too badly then. "We are taking the Cube to Mission City. Your cousin is asking if you are with us and are okay."

"Can you pull up on the left of Bumblebee and get Sam's attention for me?" there was no reply but I heard Optimus speed up and the seatbelt unclasp. I slid across to touch the window, waving from it and hoping that Sam could see me.

"He has seen you." Optimus said, as though reading my mind. I mentioned this and he laughed, despite the situation.

"Can I hear sirens?" I frowned, leaning back and trying to focus on the approaching noise. "Shit, is that the police?" the sound of crunching metal joined with the sound and Optimus slammed on his breaks but didn't stop. "Optimus?"

"It is Bone-crusher and Barricade. I need you to jump."

"Jump? Jump where?!"

"From my right door. The soldiers will catch you." the urgency in his voice prevented me from arguing and I swallowed. "I will tell you when to jump and shall get as close as I can. Time is of the essence." I nodded and slid back to the window as the door opened. I grasped my guide stick tightly and held my breath, my hair whipping my face. "Jump, now!" I closed my eyes tightly, even though it made no difference, and I leapt from the open door.