Hey, everyone. So this is my first story in...quite a while. *cue nervous laughter*

So, this is probably not my best work ever, but we'll see. This was kind of me getting back on the horse, and back into the Transformers fandom, which I haven't really visited in a while. Mikaela is one of my favorite characters in the universe, and there aren't enough fics with her in my opinion, so here we are.

Anyways, this was written over the course of about three days. Some of it was written in the afternoon, and some at night, but most of it was written at about four in the morning, because that appears to be when my bitchy little muse strikes. My point is that there may be typos. I only read it through once after I finished it, and even then I just skimmed it.

I don't own Transformers, or any of the characters featured. Enjoy!

xXx

Mikaela Banes was the first being, Cybertronian or human, that he encountered immediately following his arrival to earth.

She was on the outer reaches of the island, elbow deep in the hood of an army-issue Jeep that had broken down halfway through patrol. He struck down less than twenty yards from her, and the incredible force of the shockwave sent her flying back a good thirty feet, bouncing harshly off the roof of the car in front of her before skidding to a stop. The gravel around them had torn her shirt and ripped into her skin, giving her an especially nasty case of road rash.

"Primus!" he cried, running a few steps. The others truly hadn't been exaggerating; the human race was exceedingly fragile. This one appeared to be a femme, and she gingerly got to her feet, a pained groan coming out of her mouth as a strangled whimper. As she came to her full height, she revealed herself to be even smaller than he had originally assumed, standing barely taller than his pedes. "Are you alright? I'm so sorry; I can't aim very well with that."

"I…I'm alright, I think. I assume you're Sideswipe?"

He gave a mock salute. "The one and only, best of the best. So this is Earth, huh?"

"That's what I've been told," she joked, stretching out her back. "Wow, I think I hit my—"

She stopped midsentence and then just stood there quietly. Sides raised his optic ridges quizzically. "Hit your…?"

"I…don't know." She looked at him strangely. "I didn't say that. Anyway, we have an alt mode ready for you. I can take you there."

Immediately, any thought of concern about her strange behavior was forgotten. "Alt mode? What's it like? What color?"

"It's a Corvette Stingray, 2009. Silver. Will that work for you?"

His optics dulled as he accessed the internet, not bothering to break stride to do it. His lip components twisted in a smirk. "That'll do just fine."

About ten minutes later, she was pulling aside a curtain to reveal a sleek silver sports car.

"Oh, look at that paint. It's so shiny," he gushed. The girl grinned slightly while he scanned it.

"Glad you like it. Now, I have to get going, Ratchet'll have my ass if I'm late."

"Wait!" He took a tiny step to fall evenly in to step with her. "What's your designation?"

"Mikaela Banes," she replied with a smile. Before she even got a chance to walk any further, a different human jogged up to her. This one was taller, dark skinned, and generally larger. Sideswipe deduced that this was a male.

"'Kaela, did you finish up with that car?"

Her brow wrinkled. "What…car?"

"The one I asked you to take a look at?" he answered confusedly. "It broke down, remember?"

"Sorry, Will, you must have asked someone else."

"It's Epps, Mikaela," he deadpanned, "Are you feeling okay?"

"Yeah, I'm great. See you later, Will." She wandered off.

"The med bay's the other way," Epps called after her. "So you're Sideswipe?"

He nodded. "Yep. Prime around?"

"He's in the conference room—I'll take you. The other higher-ups will probably want to meet you."

xXx

Per Optimus's instructions, Sideswipe headed for the med bay after his debriefing, accompanied by Bumblebee. Apparently, Ratchet's intern would conduct a physical exam, and the doctor himself would be by shortly to check her work.

The heavy silver doors slid open with a satisfying sshhk as soon as Sideswipe and Bee came within ten feet of it. Mikaela sat on the table, staring at the wall stoically. One of Ratchet's wrenches sat on the exam table beside her, and it was nearly twice as tall as she was, reminding Sideswipe even further of her obvious fragility. His Spark tugged guiltily at him, and he hoped sincerely that he hadn't badly damaged her.

Not that he would ever say out loud, of course.

Bee's optics widened the moment she came into view.

"Mikaela! You're hurt!" he exclaimed. His voice was cracking and slightly garbled, but for the time being, understandable.

"What do you mean?" she inquired, glancing down at herself. "Oh." She jumped to her feet. "Ouch. What happened?"

Bee shifted into alt mode, his holoform materializing on the table beside her. "I was kind of hoping you would tell me."

Sideswipe shifted uncomfortably on his wheels. "Ah…I think I might know."

He narrowed his holomatter eyes. "What did you do?"

"It was an accident!" Sideswipe protested, "I just landed a little closer to her than I probably would've liked, alright? But she stood right back up and she was fine! How was I supposed to know what an injured human looks like?"

"It's called common sense, Sides!"

Sideswipe shrugged helplessly.

"For Primus' sake," Bee groaned, "I'm comming Ratchet. He's gonna weld your helm to your aft."

He shifted uneasily. "Maybe I should get going, then…."

"No! That'll make it worse. And anyway, I need you to carry her to the human's exam table. Be gentle."

"Not really an outstanding quality of mine," he grumbled. Sideswipe examined the femme for a long moment, before gingerly curling his servos around her back and lifting her fully onto one palm. "Are they all this…puny?"

"Eh, they are and they aren't. The femmes are smaller than the mechs, same as us. You won't see many of them taller than maybe two mechanometers, and even that's almost unheard of."

He carefully set her down on the much smaller examination table that was set up on a spare bit of counter space, surrounded by miniscule medical equipment. She shuttered when the cold metal hit her slightly bloody, exposed legs, and he shushed her quietly, running a digit down her back. Mikaela rubbed her head, fighting to stay sitting up, but she relaxed slightly into his hand.

"Watch out, Sides," Bee warned jokingly, "Someone might mistake that for you caring."

Sides gave him the most disparaging look he could muster. Bee just laughed and dematerialized. His alt mode shuddered back into bipedal.

"What the frag is this all about?" Ratchet demanded, storming into the med bay. His glaring optics were enough to send Sideswipe stumbling out of his way. His voice softened infinitely when he next spoke. Apparently she had that effect on everyone. "Mikaela? Can you hear me?" Her eyes slid open. "Follow the light as best you can." He shined a thin beam from his servo around her head. "Mmm. Concussion. Oh, Primus," he muttered as he turned her around to see her back, "That's gotta hurt."

Within the next few hours, Ratchet cleaned and bandaged Mikaela's arms, back, and legs, and then set up a cot for her to sleep on in the med bay. He warned her that she'd be woken up every hour, on the hour, and then she dropped into recharge.

After that, the medic gave Sideswipe a routine physical examination (none too gently, he might add). "The only problem with you," Ratchet proclaimed, readying his wrench to smack Sides in the helm, "is that you are completely fragged," and the first blow landed, "in," then came the second, "the," and the third," head!" and the fourth.

"Ow, ow! Ratchet," he whined, "I thought you were supposed to fix us."

"I am! If you won't learn to keep your processor functioning correctly, I will go to whatever lengths my medical opinion deems necessary. You put my intern out of commission!"

"I'm sorry, Doc. It was an honest mistake," he insisted.

"An honest mistake, my aft! You couldn't have hit an unpopulated sector?"

"I thought it was! I don't usually have vision problems, although with a medic like you I wouldn't know, would I?" he added the last part under his breath, "I didn't bother to run a scan for life forms. It was empty! And then it…"

"Wasn't?"

"Uh…yeah," Sideswipe replied lamely.

Ratchet just frowned at him and kicked him out of the med bay.

xXx

Sideswipe next encountered her in mid-July. She spent most of her time in the med bay, and that was an area of the base that Sideswipe very religiously avoided. But his paint was scratched. The paint took priority.

He rolled into the med bay relatively slowly, at least, compared to his usual speed. Ratchet was nowhere to be found (thank Primus) but Mikaela was standing on the counter, packing a small box with any wayward possessions that had been left in the med bay.

"Going somewhere?"

Her head shot up so fast her neck cracked. "Oh," she laughed slightly as her initial fear left her, "Sideswipe. In a few days, yeah. My dad came home, so I'm getting back there to help him out. School's starting back up soon anyway."

"Came home from where?" he asked, taking a seat on the exam table.

She hesitated. "Prison," she replied after a moment.

His optic ridges rose, but he didn't comment.

Mikaela narrowed her eyes. "What?"

"What? I didn't say anything."

"Look, you don't know what happened, so you can get off your high horse."

He scowled, feeling irritation rise at her irrational defensiveness. "I didn't say anything."

She relaxed, and the motion made her look infinitely more vulnerable. "Okay, sorry. I'm just used to people judging him." Mikaela cleared her throat. "So, you just coming by to chat, or do you need something?"

He grinned sheepishly. "I need a scratch buffed out."

She rolled her eyes and took a rather risky but well executed jump from the counter to the other exam table, and then from that table to the one he was on. "Let's see it."

By the time he left the med bay, not only was the scratch gone, but he'd gotten her to buff his paint as well.

Two days later, she was gone.

xXx

The bell croaked more than it rang, but the stuttering sound was enough to galvanize every student in Tranquility High School to jump out of their seats, schoolbags in hand. Her last class was Anatomy and Physiology, and unlike most of the students, Mikaela was breezing through it.

After her summer as Ratchet's intern, she knew more about both human and Cybertronian anatomy than she was authorized to say. When she was younger, she'd always figured she'd run her dad's business when she grew up. He owned a small but busy auto shop in Tranquility's tiny little version of a downtown. Mikaela realized that she'd most likely wind up taking the shop no matter what, but she'd gotten a taste of a life that she now realized she wanted. She had other aspirations now, despite the perceived unlikelihood.

Sam came up behind her as she tugged her messenger bag over her shoulder and he slipped an arm around her waist. "Hey, beautiful," he greeted her with a kiss.

"Hey," she replied, smiling into it, "You ready to go?"

"Yep. Bee's waiting out front. You coming over?"

She frowned helplessly. "I can't. My dad is out with his girlfriend of the week. I have to open up the shop."

"Maybe tomorrow?"

Mikaela kissed him again, pulling away after a few seconds. "Definitely."

"C'mon, we'll give you a ride home."

Bee's engine revved excitedly when she came into view with Sam. Lately, she'd been riding her Firebolt to and from school, and spending most of her time at the shop, and so the good-natured Autobot had scarcely seen her.

She grinned, climbing into the passenger side. "Missed ya, too, Bee."

Mikaela unlocked the door of the shop, and waved to Sam and Bee before walking in. She flipped the sign from CLOSED to OPEN and dropped her bag behind the desk in the front office before setting out the bell in case anyone came in and wandering into the back.

Cars and motorcycles of all shapes and sizes were parked around in the garage and out in the gated off lot. Tools were arranged haphazardly on tables or just lying out on the floor. Bones barked eagerly when she walked in.

"Hey, Bones," she crooned, scratching him liberally behind the ears. He panted contentedly. "C'mon let's go outside." He followed her dutifully.

An hour passed peacefully, and then, around four, a man started tapping on the metal fence. "Excuse me, miss? My car's broken down, could you come take a look?"

She frowned. "I can bring it into the yard, but I don't work for free."

"No, please, just come out here. I'll pay extra. I just really need to get going."

Mikaela nodded hesitantly. She wasn't sure why, but something about the guy just set her teeth on edge.

Outside the shop, the guy was standing by his car. It was a police car, a familiar one. She froze mid-step. On the side of the car, written in curly script: "To punish and enslave."

"Ah, you know what, I'm gonna go get some tools."

"Isn't there someone in there who can bring them out here?"

"Uh, no, there's not, I have to go…"

She was barely into the lot before the fence was torn straight off of the ground. Barricade was crouched in an attack stance, his cannon pointed straight at her.

Mikaela ran.

"Stay where you are, human!" Barricade yelled from behind her.

Enough adrenaline was running through her now that she felt almost giddy, like she was going to laugh, but she kept going. She pulled her phone out of her pocket and hit five, and she thanked God for speed dial.

"Lennox."

"Will!"

"Mikaela? What's wrong?"

"There's a—" She broke off when the cannon blast landed at her feet, painting her legs black with soot and throwing her to the ground. She rolled and got to her feet. "—'Con! It's Barricade! He's trying to—" The phone was knocked out of her hand with this one, and she wasn't foolish enough to try to pick it up. She just scrambled to her feet and kept on running.

When she got inside the main body of the shop, she frantically searched the tool counter. Sure, she could hold her own against little bots with a welder, but this was Barricade. She needed to think, and she had no time to do it.

As a last resort, she turned on a buzz saw and threw it at his ankle. She didn't check to see if it hit its target before she started off running again, but she heard him yell. His footsteps took a few moments to start back up again, and then they stopped entirely. His engine was revving.

"Oh, I'm so fucked," she panted, racing around a corner.

A blur of yellow streaked past her, and she glanced around the corner. Bee jumped his alt mode and transformed, diving straight into Barricade. Barricade leapt right backup and kicked Bee's feet out from under him. It took Bee maybe five minutes to take Barricade down sufficiently that he could turn his back to him, and he shifted straight to alt.

"Get in!" his radio ordered Mikaela. She didn't waste any time in obeying.

xXx

"Sideswipe to Hangar 5 for briefing," a female voice stated indifferently over the intercom.

Sides sighed in irritation, before dropping the Xbox controller and frowning at Dino. "Next time, your aft is mine."

"Keep telling yourself that, mio amico," Dino laughed.

Sideswipe deactivated his holoform and reverted to bipedal.

Optimus, Lennox, and Ratchet were in the hangar, and Optimus was waving him over as soon as he appeared.

"Sideswipe," he began, "You're being reassigned."

"What?" Sideswipe exclaimed, "Why? To where?"

"You'll be in Southern California. I assume you remember Mikaela Banes?"

"The intern? Yeah, of course."

"She was blatantly targeted by Barricade earlier today. Luckily, Bumblebee arrived in time to prevent her death, but it was much too close. Seeing as she cannot return to base without significantly interrupting her education, we've agreed to assign her a guardian."

Sideswipe shrugged. "And what's that got to do with me?" Ratchet glared pointedly. "What? No, no, no. I don't even have Guardianship protocols!"

"Neither did Bumblebee when he was assigned to Samuel. They'll develop for you as they did for him."

"But I'm Warrior Class," he protested weakly.

"This is why we're sending you specifically. If the girl is being targeted now, I expect you'll have your servos full."

Sideswipe vented deeply. "Yes, sir. When am I leaving?"

"Immediately," Lennox replied, "She'll be staying with the Witwickys until your arrival, but that situation is not ideal. A plane is being prepped on the tarmac as we speak."

"You may go, Sideswipe."

He nodded and turned to leave.

It wasn't that he especially disliked the girl. For a human, he found her company almost pleasurable, but the operative phrase was still 'for a human'. And now that he was saddled with her, it would be no more missions, no more fights, no more anything, at least until she was done with this Earth schooling and could come back to base to work with Ratchet again.

He was still in the same awful mood as he boarded the plane.

xXx

Mikaela and Sam both stayed out in the garage. According to Bee, Sideswipe was scheduled to arrive in the very early hours of the morning the next day. It was currently midnight.

All three of them were shocked out of their stupor by the loud blaring of a horn out in the street. Mikaela grinned hesitantly at Sam. "This'll be interesting. I'll see you at school tomorrow," she said, pecking Sam on the lips. "Bye, Bee."

She set her jaw and walked out into the street. Sideswipe blinked his headers at her, and she got into the car on the driver's side, but made no move to actually drive the car. Sideswipe fired up his engine and she couldn't help but admire the smooth movement of his alt mode.

"I assume you're aware of the new arrangement," he stated gruffly.

"Yeah," she replied shortly, "Do you know where we're going?"

"Yes. Bee transferred the coordinates of any areas I may be required to find." He sounded stiff, and he spoke much more formally than usual.

She supposed that this job wasn't exactly the dream for him. A wave of guilt hit her. "I'm sorry about this. You probably don't want to be here."

His engine hummed slightly, which she knew from experience was an agreement. "It's not your fault. If anything, it's Bumblebee's. I heard he recommended me. Seemed to think I liked you or something."

She scowled, and the guilt was replaced swiftly by a massive cloud of irritation. If he's just here to be an asshole, then she most certainly wasn't going to waste her energy feeling bad that he'd been dragged stateside for her sake. "How stupid of him," she replied a little acidly.

Any offense she might have taken to his remark didn't register with him at all. "Yeah." He pulled up to the curb. "This is it?" he asked somewhat rhetorically.

"Yep."

She reached for the door. "Wait a minute," he added, "Just so I know, what time do you leave for school?"

Mikaela shrugged. "Eh, about seven fifty."

"Alright." He opened the door for her.

"And we have a car lot out back if you have to stretch out or whatever," she called over her shoulder, just before the door snapped shut behind her.

Sideswipe vented. Perfect. Just perfect. But now that she mentioned it, his cables did feel a little stiff. He may as well go.

xXx

Mikaela climbed into front seat of Sideswipe's alt form bright and early the next morning. The Autobot grumbled just about the whole way to the school.

"This is ridiculous, you know?" he ranted as they turned into the parking lot. "How can anyone be expected to absorb information when they're barely awake? Especially when you can't just download it? Organic societies always have been illogical."

"I've been wondering that for the last sixteen years," she muttered. Sides pulled into the spot next to Sam and Bee, where Mikaela usually parked her motorcycle. "I'll see you after school."

"Yeah, yeah," Sideswipe sighed.

As she climbed out of the car, a jock whistled lowly. "Banes! That your car? It's hot."

Mikaela bristled, and Sideswipe sat up higher on his axles. She didn't even have to be looking at him; she could physically feel him preening under all the impressed stares.

"Don't get too full of yourself," she snapped under her breath, "The same thing happened the first time Bee drove Sam to school."

The Autobot over exaggeratedly sank down, and a long suffering sigh came from his radio. Mikaela suppressed a smile.

She twined her fingers through Sam's, and the two of them walked into school.

The parking lot slowly emptied of human adolescents. Sideswipe was already beginning to feel the prickling of impatience wearing at his processors, and he commed Bumblebee.

:: Well, this sucks. ::

He could almost feel Bee glaring. :: This isn't exactly a walk in the park for her, either, Sides. ::

:: What's that supposed to mean? ::

:: Well, for one, she was attacked. By a Decepticon. Who almost fried her where she stood. Secondly, the humans, especially humans their age, thrive on independence. I can't imagine that they appreciate having us looking over their shoulders. And thirdly…well, you. You're being a dick. ::

Sideswipe scoffed. :: You spend too much time around the humans. ::

:: And you spend too little. ::

:: I don't see the problem. ::

Bee huffed. :: You've got a lot to learn. ::

:: Fine, I'll bite. What's that one supposed to mean. ::

He hesitated. :: It means that Mikaela called Sam last night after you brought her home. Sam wasn't particularly descriptive, but you said something to her that legitimately offended her. That's not even the right word. I would almost want to say she was hurt. ::

:: Don't be ridiculous. :: An oddly familiar feeling was twisting his abdominal cavity. His systems were running perfectly smoothly, so he ignored it.

:: Just give her a chance. :: Bee sounded exasperated. :: Can you do that? ::

:: Yeah, yeah. I'll try. ::

:: Good. ::

The sensation wasn't going away. It was something he knew, and something he loathed. Guilt.

Over what? The girl? He shoved the thought away. No way was he going to be made into some sappy Guardian because of some human. Perhaps he should apologize, all the same. It was his responsibility to keep her happy, after all. It wasn't some ridiculous show of caring, it was just him doing his slagging job.

So maybe he'd apologize. But if he did, it sure as hell wouldn't be for her. It would be for his peace of mind. It would be for the job.

xXx

Sunstreaker went down on the planet Kloteth. The battle was a famous one, with several hundred thousand casualties and half of the admittedly small planet left in destructive chaos.

Sideswipe wasn't there. That was something he would never stop cursing himself for, because no matter what anyone said, he was dead sure that if he had been there, then there was no way in the Pit that Sunstreaker would have been taken down.

The yellow Autobot had been right in the middle of it, as he always was. He'd just slammed the Decepticon commander straight to the dirt when Tuockar shoved his Energon blade into Sunny's back, straight into his Spark.

He wasn't in pain, they told him. It was a noble death. To Sideswipe, though, death was death, and Sunstreaker was gone.

He knew that his Spark was gone before Sunstreaker hit the ground. Halfway across the universe, but he still felt it clear as day.

Sideswipe knew pain. He knew it better than he knew most things, like many of the 'Bots of the Warrior Class. He'd been stabbed, shot, tortured, and repaired only for it to happen again and again and again. But he'd never felt anything like this.

There's a very tight Spark bond that forms between any two Cybertronians with a particular type of relationship. Familial bonds, for instance. Lovers. The bond between Guardian and charge that carries even across species barriers. The bond between twins is one of the strongest.

The moment that Sunstreaker's Spark was extinguished, Sideswipe was knocked off his pedes by a crippling, gnawing, physical emptiness. All of his life, he'd been able to feel Sunstreaker. His anger, his happiness, his pain, his trust. And then it was all ripped away in one crushing blow.

Sideswipe hadn't been the same since. He was angry and subdued, quieter than he ever had been but at the same time all the more loud. He was lost. It was the last Spark bond he had left, and the one that he'd relied on the most. Physically, he was fine, but emotionally, he'd shut down. Sunstreaker's death had brought a pain that he wasn't prepared for, and it was something that he would not be feeling again.

Something that he could not feel again.

xXx

The goodbye kiss between Sam and Mikaela was a bit more graphic than either of their Guardians cared to remember, but Mikaela got into the car within a few minutes. Her general demeanor was a little depressing.

"Bad day?" he inquired. They both were fully aware of how indifferent he sounded.

"Like you care."

"Ouch. Okay, I guess I deserved that one."

She didn't reply.

"Look, I'm sorry about last night. Okay? We good?"

Mikaela waved a hand somewhat helplessly. "I don't know. Sure."

"Alright, then."

They fell into a tense silence.

"So, back home?"

"Uh, no, I have to work at the shop, my dad's…out," she finished lamely.

"And you're doing his work for him?"

"It's between him and me, Sideswipe."

"I don't know about on Earth, but back on Cybertron that behavior wasn't exactly celebrated."

"Well, that doesn't chance the fact that it's my problem."

He growled. A million things that he might have said ran through his processors, but he didn't speak.

"Okay?" It was more of a demand than a question.

"Okay," he ground out, "Alright."

She slammed the door when she got out of the car, and he felt like he could've kicked himself.

xXx

Mikaela walked out into the lot a little hesitantly. Sideswipe was barely fifteen meters away, but she still found her eyes darting around nervously, her pulse a little faster than normal and a tight, jittery feeling in her stomach.

Despite the anger she felt towards her supposed Guardian in that moment, she would've felt better in that moment if he was closer. She took a deep breath and attempted to shake off her paranoia.

She was just cracking the hood of a dirty Prius when she heard a car door slam. Mikaela leapt back from the car, wrench held up and arms raised defensively, when she realized it was Sideswipe's holoform climbing out of the Stingray. She relaxed, leaning back on the car.

He was tall, black haired, and his optics shined bright out of his irises. Mikaela sighed deeply as he entered the lot. "You need something?"

Sideswipe shrugged. "Got bored. And you looked like you were about to have a panic attack. Figured you could use some company."

She looked like she was about to argue, but the fight left her body. "Thank you," was all she said. Her voice was small, and even from his newly humanized perspective, she looked breakable than she ever had.

He stared at her, shocked, before clearing his throat. "Well, what good would I be if I just let you freak out in here by yourself? At least now you can do it while I watch," he joked.

She gave him a look, but laughed after a moment. "Yeah, okay. You're…maybe…not all bad. Maybe."

"Aw, shucks, Mikaela, you say such nice things."

"Don't make me change my mind," she warned with a smirk.

"Oh, I wouldn't dare," he promised, grinning. "And you know," he added, "You could maybe be a little worse."

She smiled, shook her head, and turned back to the engine.

xXx

Weeks passed without noteworthy happenings. Sideswipe began to adjust to his new station, to a degree. The relationship that the Autobot had with this charge was more of an uneasy shared toleration than any actual friendship, but they dealt with it as best they could.

Mikaela shot bolt upright in bed, panting and terrified. The dream was so fresh in her mind she nearly screamed for Sideswipe, but she took a deep breath and leaned against the wall, trying to calm herself down.

Just a dream, Mikaela. Get a hold of yourself. It's just a stupid dream.

Once she got her breathing back under control, she looked at her clock. 2:37. She frowned. There was school in the morning, but with the unpleasant feel of cold sweat all over her skin and sheets, she doubted that she'd be able to sleep any more.

Just as her heart rate started to return to normal, Mikaela heard a metallic clicking outside her window. She froze, fear rising up and wrapping around her neck like a noose. Tighter, tighter, tighter…

It's nothing, she thought determinedly, It's the wind. Knowing that she wouldn't be able to have any peace of mind until she was sure of this, she rose and slowly stepped over to the window.

She leaned out into cool night air, and the soft breeze made her feel infinitely better. She looked around, checking in every direction that she could see in. There was nothing there.

Of course there's nothing, she scoffed internally, I'm just being paranoid. Of cou—

A sharp digit tapped her harshly on the back. To a Cybertronian, it would've been barely noticeable, like a mosquito landing, but to her, it was like a violent shove. Mikaela fell headfirst out the second story window, flipping over in an uncontrolled fall, and she landed on her back. She felt a few bones break on impact.

Starscream stood over her, red optics glinting sinisterly in the darkness. She whimpered as he took another step towards her. He was a little taller than Ratchet but shorter than Optimus, and he towered over her like a skyscraper.

She opened her mouth to scream, to call for Sideswipe, to do something, but blood was rising up in her throat and whatever she'd been planning on saying died in a gurgling mess in her mouth.

"Mikaela!" Sideswipe was racing towards her, blades drawn. A burst of relief shot through her. Sides was close, he could help, it would be fine—

Starscream activated his cannons and shot Sides in the chest four times, point blank. He dropped like a stone. A hole was blown clean through his chassis, and his Spark was fizzling weakly.

"Oops," Starscream sneered in that awful, slimy voice of his. "You've been a thorn in our sides for a while now, human." Just one of his hands was several times the size of her. Each of his digits were sharp like knives, and taller than she was. He planted one firmly in her chest. "That ends now."

He dragged his hand downwards.

Sideswipe was dragged from recharge at nearly three in the morning by a blood curdling scream.

"Mikaela!"

He almost tore a new hole into the roof of her garage when he tried to jump up. Cursing under his breath, he ducked out of the garage and raced around the side of the house, moving faster than he had in a while.

"Mikaela! Talk to me, are you okay?"

There was a long pause, and Sideswipe stilled, trying to pick up any sign of her in the area. Primus, Optimus would have his aft if she was gone—

"Yes. Sorry. Right here. I'm so sorry, nothing's wrong. You can go back to sleep—er, recharge."

He turned around. A good bit below his eye level, in her bedroom window on the second floor, she stood with an odd look in her eyes.

"What the frag happened?"

"Nothing did. I'm so sorry. I just...never mind. Everything is fine, honest."

"Everything is 'fine'?" he asked incredulously, "Everything is not fine, you were screaming! Or are you going to tell me it wasn't you?"

"Ah, no, it was me. I just, uh…"

"You just what? Is someone making you say this? Because you know the word for that."

"No, no one's in here. I just had a nightmare, okay? Go ahead and laugh."

"Oh." He frowned. "I wouldn't laugh."

"Well, anyway, I'm—I'm fine. You can go back to the garage, I'm sure you're tired."

"Do you wanna…talk about it? Or something?"

She hesitated. "I don't know. I need to get out of this room," she said quietly.

After a moment's hesitation, Sideswipe reached through the window, twining his digits around her back and then seating her on his opposite palm and carrying her a few steps away from the house. "Better?"

Mikaela smiled weakly. "A little warning would be nice, but yeah. Better." She tilted her head back, examining the stars.

They sat in general silence for a few minutes, only broken by Mikaela occasionally asking about a constellation. Then:

"What was it about?"

She sighed. "I don't know. It wasn't very clear. Starscream attacked me. He killed you. And then me."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," he exclaimed. "Starscream killed me? What do you take me for, an amateur? I could kick that over-fluffed penguin's aft when I was a protoform!"

A smile broke out on her tired face, which was an achievement in Sideswipe's optics, but she quickly sobered. "I just…I could feel it. What he did to me. I meant, I know it was just my imagination but it hurt so much. And I know it was just a dream but I never want to be that helpless, you know?"

"Yeah," he answered after a few moments, optics clouded with memory, "I know." He shook himself out of his stupor. "You should probably get some more sleep."

Mikaela snorted. "I could try," she replied doubtfully.

Sideswipe hesitated. He remembered the first night when he'd picked her up from the Witwicky residence. After Barricade's attack, she'd sat up with Sam and Bee, who made her feel safe. So where would she feel safe here? "You could stay in the garage with me. I mean, if you want," he suggested offhandedly.

She nodded slowly. "That might help," she murmured.

He brought her into the garage, feeling a little out of his depth. Mikaela was usually strong, at least, for a human. For her to be acting like this was something that he hoped never to see again. He got through the garage door with some difficulty, and then lay back on the concrete. "Get some sleep, yeah?"

Mikaela stretched a blanket out on the ground and stretched out on top of it. Sideswipe wasn't in recharge yet, and she was getting the feeling that he was waiting for her to fall asleep before he did. At this time of night, the garage would usually be freezing to the point of inhabitability, but heat emanated from Sideswipe's Spark and made the room feel warm and comfortable.

She was asleep within minutes.

xXx

A month passed, and fall turned into winter. They didn't speak about that night, but Mikaela managed to put just a little more trust in him.

It was a Saturday night. Mikaela had been at Sam's all day, and with his parents in Las Vegas, she was considering staying the night when all hell broke loose.

Sideswipe and Bumblebee were leaning against the house in the back yard, and what with how loudly they were yelling, every word came through the walls, but they did their best not to listen…too much. It started out with Sam bringing up her apparent flirting with some members of the football team, and is escalated more rapidly than seemed to be possible.

"Oh, so this is my fault now?" Mikaela demanded.

"You know what, maybe it is! But, oh wait, nothing is ever your fault. How could I forget?"

"Well, I'm so sorry, Sam, for ruining your life. I'll make sure that I stay out of it from now on," she seethed.

"Mikaela—"

"No, Sam, forgive me, please," her voice was like acid, "You're right, as usual. Have a wonderful night." The door slammed behind her.

Sideswipe and Bee stared at each other with wide optics for a moment. "Frag," Sides muttered, "I gotta go." Both Autobots scrambled out to the front of the house, and if Sideswipe maybe relieved the fence of a few stray boards, well, then it was all the better.

He switched to alt as soon as he hit the driveway, and made sure to drive through the grass a little bit for Mikaela's sake. By the time he reached Mikaela, who stood on the curb, the waterworks that he'd been so fearful of were already starting. She didn't even notice when he pulled up next to her, so he activated his holoform and led her into his alt, an internal stream of curse words flying through his head. He made sure she was settled in the passenger side before taking the driver's side himself.

Sideswipe would be the first (and possible only) to admit that he was generally an amazing Bot in every way. Looks, abilities, intelligence…the works. But if there was one thing in this entire fragged-up universe that he had no idea what to do with, it was crying femmes. Especially human femmes. Especially Mikaela.

He never really had any idea what to do with Mikaela.

"So…did you get in a fight?"

She looked up and glared at his holoform. "Don't pretend you weren't listening." She slammed a fist on the seat, making him wince a little. "Why do I have to be such a bitch all the time? Oh," she added after a moment, "Sorry 'bout that."

"It's fine," he replied quickly. They fell into relative silence while Sideswipe focused on the road and Mikaela angrily wiped tears off her face.

"Do you think I was wrong?"

Sideswipe shrugged. "I think…I think you both said some things that you maybe shouldn't have said, but Sam was obviously glitching."

Another few minutes passed in silence, and then, out of the blue: "Am I a whore?"

Sideswipe shot around to look at her fast enough to give himself whiplash, and his foot slammed down on the breaks by accident, shocking her forward in her seat. He cleared his throat. "Er, sorry." He hit the gas again. "Why in Primus's name would you ask me that?"

She gave him a look.

"Okay, fine. But Sam was also a moron to say that, and if you believe him, you're fragged in the head."

Mikaela nodded. They pulled up in front of the house. She reached for the door, and then turned back to him. "Do you wanna come watch a movie or something?"

His brow furrowed. "If you're gonna make me sit through some chick flick—"

"Don't insult me. Are you coming or not?"

He grinned and followed her up the walkway.

"You can pick. I'm gonna get some food."

By the time she came back with a beer and a bowl of popcorn, he was putting Live Free or Die Hard into the DVD player. His eyes zeroed in on the beer immediately.

"Doc would kill me if he knew I let you drink that," he whined.

"What Ratchet doesn't know won't hurt him."

"Yeah, but it'll hurt me," he grumbled, but didn't protest any further.

Four bottles and one movie later, Mikaela sat on the couch next to him, staring at the credits as the rolled by with a song playing.

"Y'know, Sides," she remarked, her words sounding just the slightest bit slurred, "You're a good friend."

He froze, and she fell asleep while he tried to figure out what to say.

Her head was a comfortable weight on his shoulder, and he shook his head. He knew the alcohol was a bad idea. "Okay…come on, let's get you to bed." Sideswipe carefully slid each of his arms beneath her and lifted her. He shifted her weight slightly, making her murmur something unintelligibly in her slumber. He shushed her and headed for the stairs.

He had her into bed in a few minutes and sighed deeply, looking down at her. "You…" He exhaled deeply. "You are unimaginably ridiculous, Mikaela Banes."

He turned to leave.

xXx

The rest of Mikaela's school year seemed to fly by. Before Mikaela had any time to prepare, it was June, and Sam was going to be going to Princeton that fall, and she would just be there. In Tranquility.

It was nearing five in the morning, and Mikaela was sitting on an uncomfortable metal chair in the garage, clutching a cup of coffee. Sideswipe was crouched in bipedal about ten feet away, watching her warily. She'd walked in and sat down at around midnight, and she hadn't moved or even spoken since then.

"Uh…"

Her head snapped up, her bloodshot eyes zeroing in on him shakily. If he was honest, she looked terrible. Her hair was a tangled mess, her skin had an unhealthy gray tinge to it, and her eyes were dull and red-rimmed.

"Is this about Sam?"

She frowned. "Sort of. Partly. Not really. I don't know."

"Okay," he spoke carefully, "What's wrong then?"

Mikaela remained silent for a long moment. "Look, I know that this isn't really what you wanted. But it wasn't so bad, was it? We did okay, right?"

"Why…are you saying this?"

She shrugged. "Well, you're not gonna stay here forever, obviously. I just assumed…you were gonna be leaving soon. Like Sam is."

"I'm leaving when Optimus orders me to. He hasn't said anything yet," he replied uncertainly. Why did she have to be so confusing? She looked upset, her body language screamed 'upset', but then why couldn't she just tell him that so that he could deal with it? Femmes were too complicated if you asked him.

"I know that. I know. But just in case that's soon, I mean…" She hesitated, almost starting to say a few different things and then stopping herself. "You're one of my best friends, Sideswipe. I just wanted you to know that."

Scrap. He studied the ground, wanting to hit himself. Why couldn't he say something? Anything? It was like his voice modulator just went completely offline and nothing he could do would fix it.

"Why do you always do that?" she asked, exasperated. "Any time anything gets the least bit personal, you glitch. Why?"

He didn't speak. A million different words were swimming through his head, all expanding and bursting into an unintelligible blur that kept him silent.

"Okay, then," she muttered, climbing off of her chair. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Wait, Mikaela, come on." He stood up. "You can't ask me to…just try and understand. Mikaela!"

"Understand what? I'm grasping at straws here, and I have been since the beginning, but you aren't giving me much to go on!"

A tense silence fell. "Okay, fine, you wanna know? You really wanna know?"

She took a deep breath. "Yeah, I do."

Sideswipe vented and dropped to sit again. "Did Ratchet ever teach you about different types of Spark bonds?"

Mikaela nodded. "He taught me enough."

"I had this brother, alright? A twin. His name was Sunstreaker. We were close, and he died, and it was the worst thing I felt in my entire life. That's it."

She watched him for a long moment. "I'm sorry."

"Can't imagine why," he retorted gruffly.

It was almost ten minutes later when she next spoke. "Thank you," she said hesitantly, "for telling me."

"Yeah, well." He shrugged. "What else are friends for?"

She laughed tiredly and sipped at her coffee.

xXx

The attack came in early September, barely a day after Sam left for college. Sideswipe never noticed the shard in her purse; he was on a brief away mission, and by the time he was back, she'd put it into the safe and the lead inhibited his sensors, not that he knew to scan for it anyway. It was just a piece of the Allspark. The signature was much too weak to show up on his sensors without his actual trying to find it.

It was Blitzwing that came after her. She had rarely been so terrified in her life. Blitzwing was nearly ten feet taller than Optimus, stacked with weapons, and he was absolutely insane. Not in the regular Decepticon way of being insane, either. He skipped around between different personalities, and each one was more dangerous than the last.

Mikaela sat on the hood of a Buick with the air of William Shatner acting out death by dehydration. She chugged half of the water bottle in her hand, and poured the rest over her head. Sideswipe shook his head.

"If you were too warm, you should have said something." He lifted the hose, smiling angelically.

"No," Mikaela warned, "Don't do that. Don't you dare—SIDESWIPE!" She ran around the other side of the shop. "You dick!" She leaned around the corner. "You're lucky I had to go get the camshafts anyway."

He leaned back against the wall, studying some of the cars out in the lot. None of them, he observed with a smirk, had anything on his own alt mode.

After about five minutes, his auditory sensors picked up a strangled yell and crazed mechanical laughter, and he was in bipedal and around the corner faster than you could say Decepticon.

And that's when it happened.

There wasn't any particular part of him that it took place in. An authorization request never reached his processors. But he felt it, and from the way Mikaela's eyes snapped open, so did she.

The Guardianship protocols were activated. There was no going back.

A tug in his Spark, and a rush of fear and astonishment that didn't come from him, and it was complete. A need that he'd never known overcame him, and suddenly, if he didn't have her away from Blitzwing and in his own servos where he knew she was safe right now, then he wasn't quite sure what he would do. He rushed at them full speed, and whatever Blitzwing saw must have bothered him, because he dropped Mikaela as though she had burnt him. Sideswipe eased her landing and turned back to the 'Con, only to see him flying away.

"What was that? What was he after?"

A tumultuous storm of fear, anger, and confusion was coming from her end, so he eased off, and the words tumbled from her mouth like stones. "The shard! Sam found a shard of the Allspark in his room and he made me take it! It's in the garage, I'll be back in two seconds!" she promised, starting to run off.

"Uh, no, you won't. You think I'm letting you go anywhere by yourself right after that? That could've been the distraction. Stay behind me."

She huffed, but she obeyed.

Once he had ascertained that the garage wasn't waiting to attack her, he nodded subtly, and she ran to the safe to get the shard.

"Okay," she called after a few seconds, "Okay, I have it. Now what?"

"We have to keep it safe. Hold on to it—the 'Cons know where we are, and if they come for us, they'll think I have it, not you. We have to—we have to get back to base, but for the time being, we need to wait for Bee to get here. I commed him, we'll be safer that way. Primus, why didn't you tell me the moment he gave it to you?"

She threw her hands up in exasperation. "You weren't here, what was I supposed to do?"

He winced. "I know, I know, I'm sorry. It's a stressful situation."

Mikaela's eyes narrowed. "Why are you being so nice to me?"

Bee's horn was beeping incessantly outside. Sideswipe grinned helplessly, reaching down to let her climb on to his palm as he'd done so many times before now, and the contact noticeably set his newly prioritized processors at ease. "I can't really help it."