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Lines	By : CGH Category: S through Z > Transformers (Movie Only) > Transformers (Movie Only) Views: 3802 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I don't own the Transformers. I am not making money off writing this.

Chapter List
- 1-Lines
- 2-2
- 3-3
- 4-4
- 5-5
- 6-6
- 7-7
- 8-8
- 9-9
- 10-10
- 11-11
- 12-12
- 13-13
- 14-14
- 15-15
- 16-16 (FINALE)
- 6
- 7
- 8
Optimus' mouth dropped open. Mikaela never saw him make a face of utter surprise like that before, and she would have laughed if the information wasn't so shocking.

"Wait! Whoa! Hold on..." Mikaela held up both hands in protest. "...so I had sex with Sam, I got pumped full of his sperm, but the baby isn't his? How the hell is that even possible?"

"His DNA was mutated by the All Spark fragment and the Matrix. Your contact with Optimus merely completed the reconfiguration in that single cell. I believe even more processes had to take place--like direct vaginal contact with Spark plasma--but I can't be sure unless the exact environment is replicated...and that is impossible."

"Like hell it is. I CAN tell you that I never put my crotch on his Spark."

Ratchet made a face. "Which is why this whole situation seems implausible."

Mikaela felt a shudder run along Optimus' frame. His expression grew suddenly serious and grave.

"Primes are born, not made," he said softly. "When I walked with my ancestors, they said a new Prime would emerge from humanity. I thought they meant Sam until, but they said I would bear it from my own Spark. I was brought back before they could tell me how."

"Holy shit," Mikaela hugged her knees to her chest and ran both hands through her hair. She looked at Ratchet, "So, to make it real simple...Optimus is actually the father of my baby?"

"That's correct."

"But won't that make her half robot?"

"No." Ratchet leaned closer to her, "But she will be born and live with the knowledge of the Primes existing within her mind. The knowledge will be passed to her children, though to a lesser degree for every generation until it is so diluted it becomes negligible. Quantum physics, remember?"

"Then why am I having episodes of seeing symbols and hearing voices?"

"Because the data is emerging in her brain as its capacity grows. She is merely transmitting it to you as it comes to her. You are acting as a backup hard drive, basically." Ratchet checked something on his wrist display. "This is new territory for me, but I expect the episodes will grow more intense and frequent as your fetus grows, so--"

Mikaela snarled, "Oh, fuck...that Decepticon might know..." She looked up at Optimus, "I lost track of that little stereo, remember? It could have been watching and seen me write those symbols down."

"What's that now?" Ratchet's eye ridges drew down in a perturbed frown, "When was this?"

Mikaela told him the whole story. He looked more and more upset as she went on. Ratchet made a face and called in Ironhide. After filling in the weapons specialist and listening to a fifteen minute rant on the insanity of it all, Ratchet fixed Mikaela in his shining blue optics.

"Mikaela, this situation makes you a target. You should quit--"

"I am not dropping that job. Medical insurance, remember? Optimus even said I shouldn't quit. Financial support or not, I need--"

"Think, Mikaela!" Ironhide blustered, "We can't protect you if you're surrounded by collateral humans. You're safer amongst us."

"I have a life!" Mikaela was shocked at her own fury. "I have a life! I have family out there! I need to have a doctor check on Elita! I can't just disappear!"

"I will monitor your pregnancy from now on," Ratchet said.

"And what about everything else?" she challenged him.

"You won't have anything if this Decepticon has already seen the information you've written down and alerts Megatron to your work location." Ironhide's face plates shook, but Mikaela could tell he was trying to keep his voice at a civil volume. "Your child may be the bridge that brings humans and Autobots together, and Megatron doesn't want that. Most of your race only knows of the chaos the Decepticons have caused, and so their view of us is generally negative. But if you stay hidden until you give bir--"

"No! Screw this!" Mikaela leapt off Optimus' fingertips and landed on her hands and knees. Irrational and immature...she didn't care what they thought of her reaction. But the idea of giving up her life and hiding for five months didn't agree with her. It wasn't until she'd sprinted outside into the late afternoon sun that the truth of it all sank in.

The baby in her womb was Optimus Prime's child. It made no sense, it defied logic and it would probably give religious figures a massive heart attack. And in trying to make a life for her daughter, she'd been putting them both in serious danger.

"God, Elita...what am I supposed to do with you?" Mikaela sat in the grass and clutched her small belly bulge. She could remember the night she got home from her cross-country trek--how she'd looked into Optimus' eyes and wished her future children could have been his. I don't regret who your dad is, Elita...but isn't it ironic? This whole mess is exactly why I should be careful what I wish for.

"Mikaela?" Optimus' voice was soft--she knew without looking that it was his hologram talking. When she didn't answer, he knelt behind her and rested his hands on her shoulders. "Sam's reaction was quite similar when I asked him to help us. My own was much the same when I learned of my heritage."

"Don't give me that shit, Optimus." Mikaela snapped. "It's not that I don't want to help you guys. I just wish the Decepticons would go die in a fire so I can close my eyes at night without worrying about being attacked." She paused and could faintly hear Ratchet and Ironhide arguing in Cybertronian.

"I've already informed Bumblebee of the situation. If you want, I'll have him tell Sam. He'll be able to explain it better. No offense intended to you, of course, but Sam is already upset by the current course of events. Bumblebee tells me his behavior has indicated emotional stress as of late."

"It's probably all the classes he's taking."

"Perhaps, but he does care about you."

"He's also worrying about a baby that isn't even his. It's just so--" She turned around so she could face Optimus and nearly guffawed at how facing the sunlight made his left eye squint almost completely shut. His left eye was his winking eye anyway, so it seemed natural that it'd be the one to half-close in bright light. It looked so human, and thus strange to see on a mechanical being. "You look like a knight in shining armor right now."

Optimus blinked his still-open eye and offered her a yellow dandelion blossom he dug out of the grass. It still had roots attached. "You must have the wrong fairy tale. I'm sorely lacking in a castle and I don't own a horse."

"I'm no princess and I don't need rescuing." She snorted and accepted the flower. Then she flopped to lay on her back as the sun dipped below the horizon. "But I'll take a Peterbilt and a warehouse instead of a horse and castle."

Grass rustled and Optimus laid down so his feet were pointing the opposite direction from hers--thus bringing their heads together. "You're in luck, I have both. Now what is the purpose for lying in this position?"

"There isn't one." Mikaela flicked grass at his forehead and turned her gaze to the sky. It shone a deep blue as the sun sank in the west. "Let's not tell Sam. He's...he's been traumatized enough. I think it's better he doesn't know. Knowing might put his neck on the line, too."

"Are you sure about this?"

"Yeah. I mean, he's still dealing with symbols and voices himself, isn't he? Maybe he'll grow up a little if he believes the baby is his. I hate to lie like that, but can you imagine the mess if people knew?"

Optimus scrunched his face a little, but they were so close together that she only saw the tension around his eyes. "It would not bode well for Elita's safety, I agree. I will have to keep this information away from the human military as well. Otherwise she could meet just as cruel a fate as she would in Decepticon hands."

That idea didn't sit well in Mikaela's mind. She'd be poked, prodded, and--worse--lose that prospect of a peaceful away-from-the-hospital birth on which she'd set her heart.

"She'll know who her dad is, but...well I dunno." Mikaela toyed with the dandelion blossom, "...I don't think I'll go back to Sam now. I feel kinda guilty about it and I guess it's because he tried so hard to get me to like him." She watched a wisp of cirrus clouds dissipate on the horizon. "The things I planned for my life might be happening out of order, but they're still happening. I'm right next to the perfect person, I'm carrying his baby by a freak twist of science...now I just need to get the college degree and career and I'm all set. Big, white weddings are overrated anyway."

Optimus looked at her and his optics tilted slowly into a smile meant only for her. "The money in the account will cover your education. When this is over and you're safe, it will be waiting for you."

"Thanks."

"Anytime."

She frowned at a question in her mind. "If he could, would Megatron kill our baby?"

"He might try to take her from you and corrupt her, first. Just like the Fallen corrupted him. Failing that...it's most certain he would consider her a hindrance and destroy her, but," Optimus' eyes blazed for a moment, "I won't let that happen as long as I have a Spark in my chest."

Now I really don't blame Sam for wanting to run like hell, Mikaela thought idly. She scooted closer and rested her warm cheek against Optimus' cool metal one.

They laid cheek to cheek for ages, watching the stars come out one at a time until the whole sky became a vast infinity. It was cold on the ground, but Mikaela hugged herself rather than spoil the moment.

"Nothing beats traveling in space," Optimus whispered. "No gravity, no sense of up or down, it's just yourself and the void, surrounded by the hiss of the cosmic microwave background or blips from stellar radio sources."

"Sounds like it's pretty cool up there."

"It is."

Mikaela's worries didn't allow her imagination to take her on the flights she wanted it to.

"I don't know what I'm gonna tell Donny." She heaved a sigh. "If I need to go into hiding, I should at least show up with a decent reason for quitting the job I was so desperate for when I applied."

"You could tell him my base of employment has moved to another city, which means we are moving to stay with it and the commute would be inconvenient." Optimus' low voice was right in her ear. How he replicated a perfect whisper without lungs still boggled her. "Perhaps it's a sudden change and you only have a week to prepare."

"Sounds like a plan. But I should go in tomorrow and tell him in person. There's some things on this planet you just don't do over the phone or by email. Breakups and quitting a job are a few."

Mikaela could tell Optimus wasn't very pleased with that, but he didn't argue either.

"All right, but I will stay close by," he said.

"Works for me." She ran a hand through her hair, too comfortable to move just yet. Laying still made her intensely conscious of the little swishing sensations in her lower belly. "Somebody's practicing for Olympic gymnastics."

"Oh?" The grass rustled when Optimus sat up and adjusted himself to recline beside her. He laid his hand lightly on the bump below her navel. "What does that feel like to you?"

Mikaela laid her hand on top of Optimus'. "Feels kind of fluttery. Like when I'm tossing and turning at night. Do I ever keep you awake when I do that?"

"Your movements at night don't bother me at all."

"I also have a lot more room to wiggle around." She pointed at her stomach and grinned, "Elita only has a space about the size of your hand, I guess. So she's just floating around, bumping into things like a little astronaut. Lucky little brat has nothing to worry about except what goes through the umbilical cord."

He chuckled. "I've also noticed less vomiting."

"Um...yeah. I don't miss it. I still get nauseated." Mikaela sat up, afraid that talking about it would make her sick to her stomach. "I feel like pasta..."

Optimus graciously helped her to her feet. "I think you have leftover ziti noodles from yesterday."

They walked back into the warehouse together as a cold wind started to blow across the grass.

.o

Quitting a job with a great boss was like breaking up with a really sweet boyfriend--it sucked. Mikaela mentally cursed the Decepticons in her mind the whole way to the K-mart where she worked. Beside her, Optimus' strange human hologram appeared to pout while he drove. Before they left, she had to remind him that people didn't wear short sleeves on a chilly morning, so upon passing a line of specialty clothing shops, he quickly scanned something in a store window and came up with a replica of an expensive lightweight leather jacket.

"Better?"

It suited him almost as well as the awkwardly crooked front tooth in his smile.

"Mmhmm," Mikaela nodded her approval. "Listen, Optimus...if nobody can cover my shift, I might have to work for my last day. What'll you do then? You can't just sit there for three hours."

"We'll hop that creek when we come to it."

If her mood wasn't so dark, Mikaela would have snickered at the blunder in his figure of speech. She gazed out the window where the sun hadn't broken the horizon yet. It was early. So early that she felt nauseated enough to trade her usual pancake and orange juice breakfast for saltine crackers and 7up.

Optimus' engine rattled in a burst of jakes as he turned the corner into the parking lot. Mikaela waited for the hiss of air brakes before she opened the door and climbed out. The store wasn't open yet--not for two more hours--so the parking lot was empty except for employee vehicles clustered together in spaces near the front entrance and the white Kenworth t800 delivery truck parked in the unloading area.

Donny wasn't in the gardening department. Mikaela sighed at Murphy's Law for making her hunt the one day she really needed to talk to him. She checked her phone. As usual, it had no reception right outside the door.

"Damn. I'll go in and try to call him up. Optimus, I'll be right back."

Optimus shut his engine off. "I'll wait."

Nodding, Mikaela dashed inside with her thumb already dialing, but froze when she noticed the little portable stereo from yesterday sitting between two piles of tires. The whole reason she had to quit was because of that little junk heap! She put her phone away, grabbed a plastic bag and stuffed the stereo into it. Then she hurried into the ladies restroom in the back of the store. After closing the door, she flung the device halfway across the floor. Usually equipment like that broke after such rough treatment, and this stereo didn't even spill its batteries.

"I know what you are, you little freak!" Mikaela snapped. "Who are you?"

The portable stereo sprouted limbs and suddenly burst into a familiar four-foot-tall shape. Razor sharp edges gleamed an odd gold hue in the buzzing fluorescent lights. Four red, spider-like optics peered up at her in what she could only describe as a hateful frown.

"Frenzy?" Mikaela stared in shock. Didn't Simmons have his head?

"Not Frenzy!" The little robot squeaked. He rattled off in Cybertronian clicks and whirrs before speaking English again, "Rumble! Rumble! Not Frenzy! Rumble! Want fetus! Give fetus!"

Then he launched himself at Mikaela's face!

"Want fetus! Give fetus!"

"Augh! Get away from me!" Mikaela covered her head and ducked aside. Rumble crashed into the wall behind her, cracking the tiles. His limbs clattered against the ground. She shoved the trash bin at his legs right before she scrambled out the door with him shrieking at her heels. She smacked into Donny, who was emerging from storage room in the back. He had his usual watering pail sloshing in his hand.

"Hey, Mikaela! What's the matt--" he spotted Rumble. "What the fu--"

"Get down!" She shoved Donny to the ground as Rumble went flying over their heads and smashed against the men's room door. "Run!"

Donny got up at the same time Rumble did. He grabbed the watering pail and swung it at Rumble, who jumped over it and latched into his employee vest. Donny managed to fend the Transformer off by shoving the pail over his head and pushing him to the ground. Rumble rolled around in a puddle of water with his head stuck in the pail. It wouldn't hold him for long. Mikaela yanked on Donny's sleeve and they sprinted down the toy aisle with miniature gunfire ripping into the shelves and toys around them. Donny almost tripped over a pile of G.I. Joe figurines, and Mikaela saw a few Go-Bots explode. She wanted to kick herself for trying to confront the little Decepticon alone. Now Donny was mixed up in her mess, and it'd be her fault if he got hurt or killed by crossfire.

"What the hell is that thing?" Donny yelled over the rat-tat-tat of ricocheting bullets.

"Remember that little stereo?" Mikaela herded Donny towards the end of the aisle. The toy aisle turned into the fitness aisle. She grabbed a five pound dumbbell when the gunfire stopped.

"Y-you mean those robots in Mission City and Shanghai weren't fake?"

"They--" Mikaela's eyes widened at Rumble emerging onto the shelf above Donny's head. "Donny, duck!"

Rumble leapt the instant Donny ducked, and got a face full of dumbbell for his efforts. The impact knocked an optic clean off his head. Rumble hit the ground, screaming and writhing like a spider with a leg ripped off. Donny ran up and punted the little robot eerily like Sam punted Frenzy's head, but they didn't wait to see where he landed. They were halfway to the door when Mikaela's stomach staged a revolt. She doubled over, vomiting up a bitter soup of salty cracker chunks and bile. Donny clutched her shoulders, half-dragging her still-puking body towards the door. Mikaela regained control of herself once the cold morning air hit her sweaty face.

"Are you okay?" Donny asked while simultaneously shoving a line of carts in front of the door to block it.

"Damn morning sickness still comes and goes." Mikaela spat. She grabbed her knees, gasping for the breath she left in the bathroom. Her heart beat with such fury she heard the blood roaring through her ears.

"Oh, thank God," Donny straightened, "Cops."

Cops? Mikaela willed her head to lift and reflections of a black and white Saleen glinted across her dilating pupils. "Oh, shit!"

"What?"

"That's not really a cop car." Mikaela paused to dry heave, bringing up only a few drops of acid and bile. "None of Mission City or Shanghai was fake, Donny," she whispered, inching slowly towards one of the cement pillars lining the roofed sidewalk outside the store. Her mouth and throat stung. "No matter what happens here, you didn't see anything. There's a lot on the line. More than you know."

"What do they want with you? You're scared to death of something!"

"Gee, ya think?"

"Just--" but Donny cut off when he saw what the police car did next.

The Saleen split apart and reconfigured into the hideous form of Barricade. He took a step towards the store. His malicious red eyes made Mikaela feel sick all over again, but she couldn't look away.

Optimus blasted his air horn. Black smoke gushed from his exhaust pipes and his engine roared in spurts Mikaela recognized from the truck shows her father took her to--and she suddenly knew what was happening. The Peterbilt's huge tires shrieked on the asphalt in a spectacular burnout. Gouts of smoke surrounded Optimus' rear tires and drifted until it obscured Barricade in a grayish mist. His horn blasted again, closer this time. The sound bounced off the storefront walls and Mikaela couldn't tell exactly where it came from. Blinded and confused, Barricade halted less than a body-length from the store.

Clanks sounded when Optimus' form rose and changed shape. Barricade charged him before he finished transforming. The smoke cleared and the impact rang like a shot. Optimus attained his robot mode as they rolled across the parking lot, their bodies smashing light poles and cars like toys.

"Turn over the female." Barricade demanded after a cheap blow left Optimus doubled over.

"No." Optimus growled. Suddenly, he bum rushed Barricade, slamming his shoulder into the Saleen's midsection. They skidded along the ground in a cacophony of screeching metal and tires. "You'll never touch her as long as I have something to say about it."

One last blow knocked Barricade offline. Optimus pushed him away and approached the cracked storefront. He knelt down. Mikaela let out the breath she didn't know she held. Seeing his face catch the sun after a harrowing fight was comforting to her.

Unfortunately, she couldn't say the same for Donny.

Donny staggered backwards when Optimus' four foot tall visage came closer.

"Mikaela, Donny, are you two all right?"

"We're fine." Mikaela choked out, her throat sore from throwing up.

"Owen?" Donny whispered.

Optimus regarded him gently, "My name is actually Optimus Prime."

The man's hazel eyes widened into saucers. "N-nice to meet you, Mr. Prime..."

"Just call me Optimus." Optimus smiled, but Donny didn't seem to recognize the expression. He spoke more softly, "Don't be afraid. I won't--"

Mikaela caught a flash of motion behind Optimus' left hip. Barricade was moving!

"Optimus! Behind you!"

The overhang was the only thing that kept Barricade from toppling Optimus onto Mikaela and Donny. Mikaela heard a zapping noise. Optimus' body briefly convulsed and he dropped to his knees. He'd been electrocuted by the store signs, but he recovered quickly. He caught the big, red K when it fell and hurled it in Barricade's face. It exploded into crimson slivers on contact, thwarting whatever attack was about to strike.

"Donny, Mikaela, get behind the pillar!"

Donny dragged Mikaela because her legs were too rubbery to move. The next sound Mikaela heard was metal on metal mixed into Barricade snarling. She peeked around the pillar.

"Megatron knows she has the next Prime in her womb." Barricade said.

"I won't let him corrupt her the way he's been corrupted." Optimus snapped. He kicked Barricade aside.

"So be it." Barricade got to his knees and bellowed, "Rumble!"

Rumble burst through the glass doors out of nowhere, showering Donny and Mikaela in glass. Barricade transformed back into a car. The tiny, silver robot leapt through the passenger-side window. Optimus sidestepped Barricade when he peeled out of the parking lot. His optics widened and he glanced skyward. Then he sprinted straight at Donny and Mikaela, and somehow transformed while running. By the time he reached them he was a Peterbilt again, his grill shimmering in the early morning sun.

"Get in!" Mikaela threw herself at the driver's side door.

Donny seemed hesitant. "But--Shanghai..."

"Donny, come on!" she hedged. "You see that red symbol on his grill? They're the good guys! Now come on!"

The young man climbed in, and his reluctance to touch anything would have been funny in any other situation. Mikaela buckled his seat belt for him before doing the same to her own. She was sweating under her torn black cardigan and strands of her hair stuck to her forehead. Glass fell off her clothes when she shook herself. Her forearms were bleeding slightly from the nicks and scratches she got fighting for her life. Donny had small scratches on his jaw and arms from Rumble's assault and flying glass. He was lucky he didn't suffer worse injuries.

Optimus locked his doors in the same instant he skidded out onto the road. Behind them, something crashed into the parking lot. Asphalt flew across their path. Optimus shifted gears and picked up speed. K-mart looked like a war zone shrinking in the side view mirrors.

"Shit!" Donny cried, "I hope nobody was--"

Optimus' air horn blasted, clearing away traffic. "Starscream is circling. I'm going to try to lose him, and failing that I will lead him away from civilians. Brace yourselves, I'm about to break the speed limit."

They blew a red light and careened around a corner amidst blaring horns and skidding tires. Donny braced himself against the side window.

Mikaela reached over and grabbed his hand. "Just hang on." She faced the dashboard, "Is there any safe place to let Donny off?"

"I will slow at the freeway overpass ahead. Get out and stay there. Do not step out from under the bridge. Is that understood?" Optimus barked the words out in a low tone so serious Mikaela couldn't even think of arguing. This was Optimus being a Prime, a leader.

Mikaela looked at Donny and nodded. Donny's eyes were glassy, but he sat up straighter with one hand on the door handle. She reached out and rubbed his shoulder. "Just do what he says and we'll be fine."

Optimus' jakes roared. He slowed to a stop under the bridge. "Now!"

Donny and Mikaela both unbuckled and leapt out onto the rough pavement. Optimus' doors banged shut by themselves. He took off, weaving through traffic without grazing a single car. His passage forced vehicles onto the freeway shoulder. Angry motorists shouted obscenities, unaware of the danger far ahead. Real police would probably get involved soon. Mikaela just hoped Optimus knew how to deal with that situation when it arose.

"That was...Owen was..." Donny panted. He stumbled off the freeway tar and sat down hard in a clump of brush. He'd skinned his elbow on the street. The wound looked angry and red against his pale arm. "But I saw him. I talked to him--I shook his human hand!"

"A hologram. A really sophisticated one."

Cold air blew under the overpass, which acted like a wind tunnel and made it feel even colder. Mikaela hugged herself and shivered. Donny probably had it worse; his clothes were still wet from swinging a watering pail at Rumble.

"It's all a really long story," she said. In the distance she heard popping sounds like fireworks going off. Puffs of black smoke became visible on the horizon. It was a fire fight, and Mikaela prayed that Ratchet and Ironhide were there as backup.

Please be okay, guys. Mikaela pressed her hands together, though she wasn't sure who she was praying to. God, maybe. How much should I tell Donny?

No answer came. She relied on her own wits.

"Hey, Donny...can you believe I was coming in today to tell you I had to quit because I'm moving?" Mikaela shook her head, smiling sardonically at the whole situation. "I can't get detailed--but the bad guys are called the Decepticons, and I have something they want. That's why I was leaving...Optimus is going to hide me for my own protection."

"I can sure as hell see why you don't want to get mixed up with them." Donny hugged his knees. "But I'm an empath, and I can tell you have really strong feelings for Owe--um...for Optimus."

"That is an even longer story," Mikaela leaned back and hoped he'd drop the subject. "We click, okay?"

"You think a gay guy like me, who gets crap for liking guys more than girls, is gonna knock your relationship choices? Honey, you're nuts." He glanced at his elbow and winced, taking out a tissue to sop up the dripping blood. "What goes on between you two isn't any of my business. I'm not even gonna ask about this whole Prime in the womb thing. I've got a feeling you can't tell me."

The unexpected response broke the tension. Mikaela doubled over and laughed until her sides hurt. It cut off abruptly as another explosion set something on fire. Black smoke rose in huge, roiling clouds. Traffic came to a standstill.

Oh, God! That's getting closer! Mikaela's eyes widened.

From somewhere far off came the chop-chop of police and news helicopters. They started circling like moths around a lamp.

Suddenly, another semi horn blasted from the east. The Kenworth from the K-mart parking lot roared by without its trailer and vanished into the smoke blowing slowly towards the overpass. Its horn rose and fell in pitch as it passed in a white blur. Mikaela glimpsed Autobot sigils on its mud flaps.

The smoke had just reached the overpass when Ironhide skidded to a halt right in front of them. His doors swung open without a word. Mikaela climbed into the driver's seat by habit and Donny joined her from the passenger side.

"I have orders to return Donald to the K-mart store," Ironhide said brusquely.

"Are you fucking nuts?" Donny reached for the door handle. "We just came from there! It's a disaster!"

"You're to tell everyone that it was a freak meteor impact." Ironhide ignored Donny's blustering. He obeyed the flow of traffic and speed limit, and his voice rumbled through the speakers, "It's for your safety, human. This is a war you don't want to be part of."

"Wait! Whoa, wait a--"

"Donny, just go with it." Mikaela leaned back in her seat. "The less you know, the safer you are."

"The front of my store is trashed!" Donny sniffed angrily, his thick eyebrows forming a wrinkle on his brow. "Don't I get to at least know why?"

"Me." Mikaela said, hoping to appease him.

The young man said nothing more. He stared out the window while Ironhide took a roundabout path back to the ruined store. A few confused employees were milling around the edge of--

Somebody landed here! Mikaela realized. She also noticed the white Kenworth hadn't moved, so whoever landed must have chosen it for their vehicle mode.

"I see Kristina and Sarah S. Hm..." Donny craned his neck, "Dunno where Lori and Stacy are. Candice and the other Sarah don't come in until two, and Damien has the day off..." He grabbed his cell phone.

Mikaela caught his hand. "Remember--meteor."

"And I cut myself up slipping and falling on broken glass," he added sarcastically. "Seriously, Mikaela, do you think it'll fly?"

"Don't worry about that. The government is pretty good at covering stuff up. I've already said way too much."

Donny hung his head and his hair fell in his eyes. He rapped his fingers on the edge of Ironhide's door. "So, what's this one's name again?"

"Ironhide," Mikaela replied.

He nodded. "Where do I send your last check?"

"I dunno. I'm on the run, remember?" Mikaela said as the people milling around the crater started drifting towards Donny. "You should go take care of them. Lori just came out, and she looks pissed."

"Yeah." Donny used a twitch of his head to flick stray hairs off his face. He rolled his eyes skyward and jiggled his leg. "She's ex-military, you know--she'll be the one to ask all the questions about what happened. Shit, she might know exactly what kind of blast this was and that it wasn't a meteor."

"I know." Mikaela squirmed around in her seat. She felt genuinely guilty getting more people caught in the web of robots and war she fell into two years ago. "I'm sorry about all this, Donny..."

"It's gonna be okay." Donny seemed to be realizing the gravity of the situation. He always was attuned to the feelings of others. "Do what you need to do, Mikaela. Stay safe, okay? Now scram, I need to go clean up the toy aisle before somebody sees it."

"Maybe Lori already did."

"I hope not." Donny waved her off. "I just hope the guy who interviews me isn't too cute. Don't want to be blushing like a fool on Fox News."

Mikaela's expression softened into an amused smile that Donny shakily returned. Then Ironhide rudely yanked his door from the man's grasp and closed it, backing up in the same smooth motion.

Ironhide spoke when they reached the intersection. "We will stop by the warehouse so you can pack your essentials. Do it fast. We have to abandon it. Optimus found a home in a remote location where you can safely stay. Apparently the seller was happy to accept a large sum of money with no questions asked."

"Optimus bought a house?" Mikaela blinked.

"Technically, it's a cabin. Optimus purchased it last month in the event of a situation like this. He just didn't want to say anything about it and risk the info being leaked to your coworkers. He is already on the way there." Ironhide's frame seemed to shake with repressed anger. "Starscream broke off his attack like the coward he is."

"Wait, last month? He never--" Mikaela heard her cell phone go off and forgot about her questions. She took the call, her nervous hands fumbling to unfold the device, "Hello?"

"Mikaela!" Sam's voice erupted from the earpiece. "I just saw the Boss on the news! Then I saw Lennox telling the cameras to shut off. What happened there? Are you okay?"

"Oh, great," she groaned, "The Decepticons decided to come after me. I'm fine though. Ironhide has me right now. I have to go into hiding because it's getting really dangerous. I might not be able to call you anymore. There's a lot at stake."

"What?"

"I can't say any more. The less you know, the safer you are."

"Should I fly back there?"

"No! Dammit, Sam, please don't stick your neck out like that. I'll make sure Bumblebee keeps you updated on this mess. If you get involved, you might--"

"You must end your call. It may already be traced." Ironhide turned a corner and pulled up behind Ratchet at an intersection near the warehouse. It got quiet while they sat there, waiting for the light to turn.

"Hear that, Sam? I gotta go. I'm fine. Do yourself a favor and stay out of this, okay?"

"Mik--"

Mikaela hung up on him. Why did his failure to ask about the baby sting? Was he pretending it never happened? Had she cut him off before he got a chance to? She swallowed over the hot lump in her throat.

"I have to dump my phone, don't I?"

"I'm afraid so," Ironhide said with unusual gentleness. "It can be traced. The Decepticons have Soundwave in orbit. He can trace communications and hack into satellites to locate you anywhere on the globe. We can encrypt an internet connection, but scrambling primitive cellular phone signals causes too much interference." He shifted his tires. "Set the phone on the ground between my tires. I'll run over it to destroy it."

"Just a second." Mikaela rattled the buttons to send quick texts to her dad and mom, making up excuses that she had to work during the holidays and wouldn't be around. When she was done she went through her photo collection for a last look at them all.

The pictures of Optimus were too dangerous to keep, though Mikaela hated losing them. She swung the door open and leaned as far down as she dared, setting her mobile phone right behind Ironhide's front tire. Then she pulled herself back up and shut the door. "Okay."

Ironhide rocked back on his wheels. The phone crunched once. Mikaela heard the remains crackle when the light turned and they drove away. The second Ironhide stopped at the warehouse, Mikaela hopped out. Neither Ratchet nor Ironhide let her go in until they'd opened the main doors and made sure it was safe.

"Go, quickly!" Ratchet hissed.

Mikaela ran for her duffle bags. The first one was filled up with her clothes, her laptop, important papers, toiletry and bathing supplies. The other she stuffed with canned goods and non-perishables--not to eat on the road, but because she didn't know whether or not there would be food in the cabin. Not to mention her stomach remained in a knot so tight she feared eating would make her sick. Half the time, she didn't know whether the twitching feeling in her belly was gas or Elita moving.

She was surprised, but grateful when Ratchet and Ironhide pulled out their holograms to help. When she finished packing, the bag of canned goods was too heavy for her to carry quickly.

Next, she paused in the bathroom to empty her screaming bladder, ignoring Ironhide's snapping at her to hurry up. Then it was back on the road. They spent less than ten minutes at the warehouse.

When Ironhide's door closed behind her, it felt like a prison cell.

"Get ready." The Topkick said, "It's a six hour drive."
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