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Chapter Text

“In other news, local astronomers and authorities are still trying to figure out what fell from the sky and just in the outskirts of Tranquility city limits.”

There was a cut to an amateur footage clip of the night sky. After a second, a bright ball of light was caught rapidly approaching the recorder’s general location.

“What is that?! It’s coming closer! OhmyGod, it’s gonna hit us!” A woman panicked offscreen.

Before either witness could do anything else, the blazing ball of fire soared overhead, towards the city’s outskirts. The camera jerked as it followed its movements. “What the hell?!” The cameraman yelped as a distant boom could be heard.

“There’s another one!” The woman yelled, pointing off screen.

The camera jerked just as a second ball flew over them before landing in the general area the first one did. The second crash seemed to be enough to make several car alarms go off.

The screen cut back to the news anchor sitting behind her desk, “The footage you just saw was submitted by local resident Ryan Brooks, who reports the incident happened late last night around eleven-thirty in the evening. We’ll now go live with our reporter, Josefina De La Rosa-“ A small square popped up on the top right corner of the screen, where a Hispanic woman stood at the ready in an undisclosed residential area, “as she interviews Mr. Brooks and his wife, who was present when the footage was taken. Josie?”

The box at the top of the screen zoomed in before the image of the street reporter filled the screen, “Thank you Denise! I’m here with local residents Ryan and Katherine Brooks, who were nearly crushed by what they believe were a couple of meteors.” As she spoke, the reporter approached the frazzled looking couple, “Mr. Brooks, the views would like to hear from you and your wife about the events from last night. What happened and what went through your mind?” She held the mic out for Ryan.

“Well…my wife an’ I were sitting out back…drinking a couple o’ beers and having a smoke…you know, enjoying the downtime. I was actually messing with my camcorder, going through the footage I took from a party we had gone to earlier, when Kathy points up to the sky and is like ‘Is that a shooting star?’, and I couldn’t really tell, so pic up my camera and try to zoom in to get a better look, and as I’m watching, I’m like…’I don’t think that’s a shooting star, I think that’s a meteor!’ and so I start recording, and-”

“And then we notice, the meteor was getting closer.” Katherine broke in.

Ryan nodded, “Yeah, and so it’s comin’ closer and closer and closer-” As he spoke, Ryan held up his left hand to represent him and his wife, while his right hand moved closer to his left, indicating that it was the ‘meteor’ and effectively giving the views a small ‘dramatization’ of what had happened, “and then whoosh! It flies right over us and we hear it land somewhere out in the desert.”

Through it all, Josephina is nodding along to the story, “And then there was a second one right after, right?”

Katherine nodded, “Yeah, it right after the first one! Like…the first one hit…and when I turned around, there was another one, and it flew over us and landed I guess in the same vicinity as the first.” She pointed in the direction the objects had fallen. “I had never seen anything like it.” She finished with a shake of her head.

“It was crazy.” Ryan input.

“It was crazy.” Katherine agreed.

Josephina gave a polite smile, “I can imagine so.” She turned back to the cameraman, “As remarkable as that sounds, the phenomena gets even stranger as when you hear what was found at the landing sites. For that, I’ll send you all to field reporter, Luis Johnson.”

The screen switched over to the outskirts of Tranquility, where a dark-skinned man had been awaiting his cue. “Thanks Josie. For those that are just tunning in, I’m here five miles from the nearest suburban residence that borders our city of Tranquility. Last night, two residents, amongst several others, witnessed what looked like not one, but two meteors falling from the sky. Now, according to obtained footage and testimony, the space rocks were heading in this direction,” the man motioned his arm off screen to his left, “and they did land but, when experts arrived this morning, they were met with a shocking discovery.”

The camera panned over to where multiple astronomers were wondering around one of the landing sites. They were all chatting and looking at each other in confusion. Several hundred yards in the distance, another group was inspecting the other site, and they all looked just as perplexed as the others.

“You all are probably wondering what the big surprise is, well,” Luis continued as he approached the nearer team, “when these experts and authorities showed up, they were shocked to see that there was nothing to see…save for a couple of empty holes where the rocks should have been.” The camera paned to the empty crater on the ground.

There was then a scene of an earlier interview Luis held with the head scientist on site.

On the screen, there was an aging man with horn-rimmed glasses and greying hair. A bar on the bottom of the screen read Dr. Herbert P. Williams. Astronomer/Professor at Tranquility Community College.

“I don’t understand what happened.” The scientist shook his head, “We got here at six in morning, and there’s…nothing.” He motioned to the craters, “I mean its obvious something was here, but…we don’t know where they are.”

The scene flashed to another interviewee, this time, a well-built police officer came on the screen. The name bar read, Sgt. Brian Holmes. Police Officer.

“Were investigating and trying to piece together what’s going on, but at the moment, we’re sort of at a loss as to what happened to those possible meteors. Obviously theft was our first thought, but if you look around,” Officer Holmes pointed to the ground, and the camera followed his finger, “there’s no tire tracks nor any footprints that weren’t ours or the scientists’.”

The screen jumped back to Dr. Williams, “I don’t why anyone would think it was theft. By all accounts, these objects were big and heavy. It would have been difficult to lift or transport them without any sort of machinery, and as you can see, there’s no evidence of anyone else but us having been out here.”

Jump back to Officer Homes, “Maybe whoever’s responsible didn’t take the rocks fully intact. Maybe, they found a way to break up the meteors and carried them away in lighter loads.”

“Don’t you think that’s a far stretch and an awful lot of work to get through in just the short time it took for the astronomers to get here?” Luis asked.

Officer Holmes shrugged, “Maybe. But that’s all we got right now. I mean, someone had to have taken it…meteors or fallen satellites or whatever these were, don’t just grow legs and walk away.”

“It kind of looks like something was walking around out here…” Luis noted uneasily, motioning to several large patches of grass that looked as if they had been patted down with something heavy.

Officer Holmes cast the suspicious looking spots a look, “We did notice those, but we’re still working to figure out if those were there before and caused by something else, or if they were caused by the possible thieves and their means to take the objects.”

“Right, right,” Luis agreed.

As the reporter continued his covering of the story, Judy Witwicky was pouring herself a second cup of coffee, her attention only partially on the news segment as she read over the ad in the newspaper she and her husband had submitted the day prior.

Tenants Wanted!

Middle-Aged couple looking for two tenants to share large, two-story home with.

Individual rooms and board included.

Willing to negotiate a suitable monthly rent.

 For more information, please call the Witwicky residence at (xxx)xxx-xxxx

Judy frowned as she packed her brew with cream and sugar. She hated the fact that their number- much less, their home phone number- was posted for all to see. What she hated even more was the fact that they were inviting complete strangers to live in their home.

“We’ll be the latest story on some crime documentary, just wait.” Judy grumbled to herself before taking a sip of her overly sweet coffee.

She was against the idea of renting out their spare rooms to begin with. She had offered to take on a second job- even going as far as to suggest taking a full job, one that paid more than what she was getting from her part-time gig at the nearby clothing store. She even threw out the option that they just move to a smaller home, one that they could easily afford and would better suit the lonely couple.

They never were able to start that large family they had always talked about…

Judy and Ron had gotten married relatively young, she being twenty-one and Ron being nearly twenty-three, and right off the bat, the two started trying for their first child.

When nothing came about during their first year of marriage, Judy wasn’t too bothered. She figured it was for the best since she herself was still at the tale end of her college carrier, and Ron was still a newbie at the landscaping company. When the second year rolled around, she was a little concerned, but wasn’t exactly panicking yet. But when the two reached their third year of marriage, and Judy had yet to conceive- and that wasn’t to say they weren’t trying- the couple decided it was time they each received a thorough exam with their respected physicians to see what was going on.

Ron’s results came with flying colorings.

Judy on the other hand…wasn’t so lucky…

She cried when she relayed the news that she could never give Ron the family he wanted.

Once or twice, adoption or fostering came up, but both options were easier said than done, and eventually, the two came to the conclusion that maybe it was best they didn’t bring any children into their house, and so…the two rooms they had reserved in their large house for their kids, remained empty for nearly two decades. In time, the couple would adopt a chihuahua pup and name him Mojo, and they would dot on him as if he were their own child, and life seemed good.

That is, until property taxes went up and the couple soon found themselves struggling to keep up with their house payments and other bills- hence Ron’s ‘genius’ solution of putting out an ad in an attempt to find some housemates.

A low whine caught the woman’s attention, and she looked down to see Mojo starring up at her, his tail tucked tightly between his legs and trembling with anticipation.

“What’s the matter?” Judy asked in a high-pitched ‘baby’ voice, “You need to make poops and peeps?”

Mojo gave a high bark before jittering around in tight circles, that was his ‘potty’ dance.

Having received the affirmation, Judy placed her mug on the counter table before opening the drawer that contained Mojo’s doggie ‘mess’ bags. She tore a baggie from the roll and made to follow the frantic chihuahua to the back door when the house phone rang just as she was about to grab the door handle.

“For God’s sake!” Judy hissed as she jogged over to where the cordless phone was docked. “Witwicky residence!” she greeted as she powerwalked to where Mojo was scratching at the door. She cracked the door opened and rushed out in an attempt to keep the dog in her sights. She rested the phone against her shoulder as she struggled to get the baggie open with both hands.

On the other end of the line, a young woman’s voice sounded out, “Ms…Wit-Wicky?”

“Mrs. Witwicky, yes.” Judy repeated in somewhat annoyance. Was their last name really that hard to pronounce?

“Ah, Mrs. Witwicky. Sorry…I’m…I’m calling to inquire about your ad. The one in your local news paper asking for tenants?” The woman continued.

Judy frowned. The caller sounded young and it was kind of weird how she pronounced newspaper. Like it was two words instead of one. In fact,…the woman’s voice had started off strange sounding…almost as if there was a metallic hint to it, but as the caller continued, it settled into a more ‘normal’ sounding tone.

‘There’s probably a lose wire or doohickey in my phone…lousy piece of crap…’ Judy thought before plastering on her best customer service voice, “Yes! My husband and I have two spare rooms up for rent. One of them comes with a private bathroom; the other doesn’t, but it is located across the hall from the ‘guest’ bathroom.” Judy recited, “But rest assured, even thought it isn’t connected to the bedroom itself, that bathroom is part of the rented area and will technically belong to whomever rents the second room.”

“I see…” the woman on the other end mused, “And are these dwellings large enough to accommodate two occupants?”

Judy, who was now picking up Mojo’s little stink bombs, paused at the question, “Two?” she repeated.

“Yes, I have a companion that will be staying with me.” The young woman answered. “That won’t be a problem, will it? Because if it is, we can rent an individual room-”

“Oh nonono, it’s fine!” Judy lied. Truth be told, when she heard that there would be a ‘companion’ involved, Judy pictured long, awkward nights in in which she and Ron laid in bed, listening to the intimate sounds coming from one of the rooms down the hall. But if she said anything to drive this potential renter away, and Ron found out about it, she’d never hear the end of it. “It’s no problem at all!” she continued, “As for the room sizes, well…I suppose their large enough for you two to stay comfortably…I mean, you all can come over later and take a look if you want, b-but it’ll have to be when my husband gets home from work!”

Images of Ron and Judy’s faces on the front page of the newspaper, accompanied by the headline, ‘Local couple and dog murdered by intended renters as they were giving tour of house’ flashed through Judy’s mind once more. She quickly shook her head of the disturbing thoughts.

“Just know, I’ve got to go in to work in a few minutes, and I won’t be available till four. My husband doesn’t get out till five, but won’t get here till around five-thirty. Will you two be okay with meeting with us then?” Judy informed.

There was a pause from the other end of the line, followed by a series of what sounded like a mixture of clicks, whistles and whirls.

Judy hit the phone against the palm of her hand, trying to clear whatever was going on with her phone. When she brought it back to her ear, the woman was speaking clearly again, “Is everything alright, Mrs. Witwicky?” she asked.

“Yeah, I think my phone’s acting up is all.” Judy assured.

“Mm. Well, my companion and I have decided to meet you and your husband this evening.”

“Great! Uh…I’ll call you when my husband gets home. Can I reach you at this number?” Judy asked as she led Mojo back into the house.

“You may reach me at this number, yes.”

Judy grabbed a pen and while glancing at the small screen on the phone, began jolting down the ‘unknown’ number, “Alright, and who am I speaking to?”

There was another pause, “Mikaela…Banes.”

Judy raised a brow, “Mikaela Banes?”

“…Yes…that’s…my name…”

Judy clicked her pen, “Right…well Mikaela, I’ll give you a call later on, and…just for the record, what’s your friend’s name?”

Hushed conversation was heard before the faint sound of a young man’s voice was heard, “Samuel!”

“Samuel? Samuel wha-”

“We look forward to your call, Mrs. Witwicky. Thank you for your time.” Mikaela interrupted before abruptly hanging up.

Judy stared at the phone in shock before huffing indignantly. After docking the phone, she looked down at Mojo, who sat obediently at her feet.

“If we all end up getting murdered tonight…you and me are gonna torment daddy in whatever afterlife we end up in. Deal?” she asked her canine companion.

Mojo simply wagged his tail and barked in agreement.

Location: Tranquility City outskirts

Time: 12:05 P.M

Luis Johnson groaned as he wiped the sweat from his brow for the fourth time in the last couple of minutes. His camera man handed him an ice-cold water bottle from the cooler, to which Luis placed it against his overheating skin.

Nearby, Sergeant Holmes and Doctor Williams continued to argue about the disappearance of the meteors.

Holmes was still convinced it was a case of theft, whereas Williams completely disagreed.

The two had been at it since Luis’ interviews, and the constant bickering seemed to have put a stall in the investigation as the rest of the officers and scientists were simply lounging around, trying in vain to stay cool under the ruthless Nevada sun.

At this rate, Luis was about ready to call it a day and tell the cop and professor to give the station a call when they discovered something new. Anything would be better than to waste time in the heat…

“Hey what’s that?”

Luis turned to where his cameraman was pointing and furrowed his brows.

Off in the distance, but rapidly approaching, were ten black SUV’s, all looking menacing as they blew up clouds of dust in their wake.

“More cops or more scientists, I guess.” Luis answered.

By now, the others had noticed the new arrivals, and by the time the cars pulled to a stop, everyone had huddled together in a group.

From the vehicles, two men stepped out from each, all wearing sharp, black suits and dark sunglasses.

“What’s this, the Men in Black?” Luis wondered as one of the men approached Sergeant Holmes.

“Sergeant Brian Holmes?” The man asked the officer.

“Yes sir?” Officer Holmes confirmed.

The man held up a badge for Holmes to see, “Agent Simmons. Sector Seven. I’m going to you and everyone else here to clear the area. As of right now, this is government business.” He flipped his badge holder closed and stuffed it back in pocket.

Officer Holmes blinked in disbelief, “Sector what? There’s no such thing!”

“That show’s how much you know. Now,” Agent Simmons motioned his fingers as a signal for everyone to skedaddle, “off you all go! Back to your routine lives. We’ll take it from here.”

Nobody moved. In fact, Doctor Williams stepped up beside Officer Holmes and squared up to the ‘agent’. “Now wait just a moment!” he said, pointing a finger at Simmons, “You can’t just show up here, waving a fake badge around and ordering people to leave! We’re here investigating an meteor crash site, and-”

“Oh is that what you’re doing?” Simmons interrupted, “Because from where I was sitting, it looked like you two were standing around, arguing.” He looked between the police sergeant and professor, who’s faces flushed further than they already were, “And what’s more,” the agent continued, “is that we do have every right and power to kick you out, as I’m sure you’re about to find out in-”

This time, Agent Simmons was the one to be interrupted as Officer Holmes’ phone began to ring at that second.

“This is Sergeant Holmes.” The officer greeted. His brows rose in surprise, “Hello Chief! I-…yes, sir…” his hazel eyes went to Agent Simmons, who beamed at him behind his dark glasses, “Yes sir…I…y-yes sir…I understand…mm-hm…alright…yes sir, I will. Thank you Chief.” Sergeant Holmes hung up with a confused expression.

“What happened?” Doctor Williams demanded.

Holmes ignored him, and instead, locked eyes with Agent Simmons, “Everyone…start clearing out!” he ordered.

“What?!” Williams protested.

“Chief of Police’s orders.” Holmes snapped. “These men are the real deal, and the Chief wants us to give them some privacy to work. Everybody’s got to go!”

Williams moved to block Holmes’ path, “You can’t be serious! This is our find! You can’t-”

“Get moving before I arrest you for defying an Officer and government official’s orders!” Holmes ordered firmly.

The threat was enough to make the aging man back off, but not without a final glare at the Sergeant and agents’ direction.

Holmes looked at the news crew, “You all need to get going as well. We’ll let you know if there’s any new developments in the story.”

Luis looked at the small crew that had accompanied him and shrugged. He didn’t really care. He was just happy to get the okay to get out of the heat.

With that, he and his crew piled into the news van before hightailing it back to city and ultimately, the station to cool off.

The professor meanwhile, begrudgingly gathered his students and cohorts and ushered them to their individual cars. Within moments, they too were heading back to the city limits. Once they were gone, Holmes instructed his subordinates to return to their regular duties before clambering into his cruiser and leading them away.

Soon enough, the Sector Seven agents found themselves alone at the crash sites.

“Finally! It took them long enough!” Simmons complained as he took off his glasses. “You all! What the hell are you doing still standing around?! Get moving!” he motioned towards the craters. One of the men handed him a small device which he powered on before approaching the landing site closest to him.

He only had to get within several feet of the hole when the meter on the device went haywire, showing readings that were off the charts.

“Bingo! We’ve got a confirmation!” Simmons cheered over the gadget’s rapid clicking.

“We’ve got a positive reading over here too, sir!” A woman called from the other landing site.

“The footprints are reading as positive too, sir!” Another man announced.

Simmons grinned like a kid that just hit the jackpot on Halloween. He pulled out his phone and hit the speed dial before bringing the device to his ear, “Yeah, hey, it’s me! Listen…it’s just like we thought, two N-B-E’s landed here last night! Yeah! N-no, there’s no sign of them right now, but I don’t think they could have gotten far…” he looked in the direction of the city, where the footprints led, and beamed further, “We’ll be finding them soon, don’t you worry.” He said before hanging up.

Agent Simmons released a heavy breath as he rested his hands on his hips.

Let the hunt begin.

Chapter Text

“So how old did you say these people were?” Ron asked as he desperately tried to comb his hair over his bald spot.

“They didn’t say. And by the way, that doesn’t fool anyone.” Judy droned as she checked on the bottles of water she had cooling in the fridge. “I don’t think you having thinning hair is going to influence their decision of whether or not they’re going to stay. And is the tie really necessary?” She gave her husband a pointed look before shutting the door with a dull thud.

“Doesn’t hurt to make a good impression hon.” Ron said as he adjusted said piece of fabric. He then glanced at his watch, “You told them to come by at six, right?”

“Mm-hm. They should be here any minute.” Judy confirmed as she rushed to straighten the sofa cushions for the fifth time.

“Is that really necessary?” Ron mimicked.

“Oh, shut up.” Judy playfully tossed a pillow at her husband. Ron threw it back, and before the two knew it, there was a mini-pillow fight going on in the living room. “Careful with the lamp!” Judy laughed when Ron nearly knocked it off its stand.

“What lamp? Oh! You mean that old piece of junk your aunt gave us when she was clearing out for a garage sale?” Ron joked back.

“It’s not ‘junk’, it’s an antique!” Judy drew her arm back in prep for her next swing when the doorbell rang, effectively snapping her and Ron out of their childish banter.

“They’re here!” Judy gasped as she rushed to fixed the decorative pillows.

Ron quickly smoothed down his hair as he approached the door. Judy joined him, straightening her blouse and fixing her bangs.  

“Here we go…” Ron breathed as they plastered on their smiles and opened the door.

What the middle-aged couple expected was a couple of college-age youngsters at the youngest.

What they got instead, was a couple of teenagers standing patiently at the door.

One of them was a lean woman with lightly tanned skin. Her hair ran down her back in long, dark waves and was held back in a low half ponytail, which left her seemingly flawless face and blue eyes visible for all to see. Her outfit consisted of a black leather jacket, zipped half-way to reveal a white tank top underneath. The bottom portion of her outfit consisted of skinny, black jeans and black boots to go with them.

The young man standing to her right looked about average as opposed to his incredibly beautiful companion. He too bore a light ‘sun kissed’ complexion as well as dark hair, which was cropped short. His eyes were a deep brown and he had the smallest hint of an ‘Adam’s apple’. His outfit consisted of a plane, black t-shirt that was partially covered by a navy blue, short-sleeved button up shirt, which wasn’t buttoned at all, accompanied by dark blue jeans and black sneakers.

In all, they were a very mismatched couple.

Judy was the first to shake herself from her reverie, “Hi, can we help you?”

Surly these weren’t the people that had called earlier about the rooms…

“Yes, we’re here about the rooms you have for rent? We spoke this morning?” The younger woman answered.

Then again, maybe they were.

Judy furrowed her brows, “Mikaela?”

“Banes.” Mikaela finished with a nod.

Judy pointed at the man, “And Samuel…?”

“Yes, ma’am.” Samuel nodded.

“You got a last name, Sam?” Ron prodded.

Mikaela looked at Sam expectantly.

“…Prime.”

Mikaela’s eyes widened a bit.

“…Prime?” Ron repeated.

Sam nodded, “Yes, sir. My name is Samuel Prime.”

“Prime as in ‘prime number’?” Judy asked.

“Uh, yeah. Just like that.” Sam confirmed.

Ron and Judy exchanged looks. “You two got some ID on you?” Ron asked suspiciously.

The teens proceeded to pat themselves down.

“You know what? I left my license in my car.” Sam jerked his thumb in the direction of a Navy blue, Jeep Liberty, “You mind if I go get it?”

“Yeah, that’s fine.” Ron answered.

“Great! I’ll be back in a nanoklick!” Sam said before turning and jogging back to his vehicle.

“Can you bring me mine too?” Mikaela called back.

“Sure thing!”

Ron motioned to the green Ford Focus parked behind the Jeep, “Is that your car?”

Mikaela nodded in wordless confirmation.

Judy wagged a finger in Sam’s direction, “What did he say a little while ago? ‘Back in a nano-click’? What is that? What’s a ‘nano-click’?”

Mikaela waved her hand in dismissal, “Oh, it’s just something he heard from a video game.” There she did it again…putting an unneeded paused between the two words instead of letting it run on as one single word like most people did, “He’s a dork.” She finished with a reassuring smile, just as Sam returned with their respected cards.

“Here we go. Mine and Mikaela’s.” Sam handed the ID’s over to Ron.

Judy looked around her husband’s shoulder as she read the information.

“Wow…his last name really is ‘Prime’.” Ron mused as he read over the cards. “You guys are eighteen?” he looked the teens over.

“That’s what our identification says.” Sam gave a small motion at the pieces of plastic in the older man’s hands, “By this state and country’s law, we’re of age to live on our own and make our own choices.”

“Uh-huh…” Ron handed the cards back to the youngsters, “And do you all work?”

Judy jabbed her husband’s side, “Ron!” she hissed.

“We’ve been working and gathering funds from various jobs over the past…few years, but we’re currently looking for more permanent work.” Mikaela assured.

Sam nodded, “I’m looking to go into…security work?” he glanced at Mikaela as if he wasn’t sure that was the right start up job for someone his age.

The young woman gave him a reassuring nod and added, “And I’m hoping to find work with car mechanics.”

“Oh.” Ron sounded unsure.

“But the funds are there!” Mikaela promised, “I believe we have enough to negotiate a reasonable price, should you agree to accept us.”

Ron and Judy shared a suspicious look, “You two aren’t run aways or criminals…are you?” she asked as she looked back at them through narrowed eyes.

The duo quickly shook their heads.

“No ma’am! We’re just trying to enjoy some time to ourselves before we join our families in the army!” Sam rushed out.

This caught the Witwicky couple’s attention, “Your parents are in the military?” Judy wondered.

The teens nodded in unison.

“Where are they stationed?” Ron quizzed.

“Europe.” Sam answered, blunt and vague.

Judy looked Sam and Mikaela over. They seemed to be telling the truth, and they certainly didn’t look like violent murderers. But then again…they hardly ever do.

But still…

“Would you like to see the rooms?” Judy blurted out, earning her a surprised look from her husband.

Sam and Mikaela perked at the offer.

“Yes, please!” Mikaela accepted.

Judy nudged her husband back and gestured the teens into their home before shutting the door behind them. She didn’t miss how the two glanced around the living room, almost as if in awe at the humble little abode.

“This is a really nice home Mr. and Mrs. Witwicky.” Mikaela praised as she slowly spun in a circle to take in the sights. “Sam and I don’t usually get to stay in places as nice as this.”

“It’s been a while since we’ve got to stay in an actual home.” Sam corrected as he inspected the various photos of Ron, Judy and Mojo that were hanging on the wall.

“Military housing not as crack up to be?” Ron pressed. His eyes watched the young adults’ every movement, making sure they didn’t try to pull anything when he and his wife were least expecting.

Mikaela paused before shaking her head, “Our families don’t stay in one place for very long. We’re always on the move.” She clarified sadly.

“We’ve literally grown up on military bases and ships.” Sam added. “That’s why we’re here. To experience a little bit a freedom before we join the war efforts.”

“Patriotic.” Ron shrugged.

Judy moved to get the bottled drinks from the fridge, “Would you all like something to drink? I’ve got some water cooling-”

“No thank you, Mrs. Witwicky.” Mikaela shook her head, “We’re fine.” Sam nodded in agreement.

Judy grabbed a couple of bottles anyway, one for her and one for Ron, “Alright…um,” she returned the group, handing a water to Ron, who quickly opened it and took a sip. “What do your parents do in the army? Are they regular soldiers or Captains or Lieutenants or…?”

“My si- father is the Chief Medical Officer. My mother is part of a special ops group.” Mikaela answered, her chin lifted and her blue eyes bright with pride. 

“My…parents are high ranking officers as well.” Sam answered, “They lead battalions into battle.”

Judy’s brows raised, genuinely impressed, “Wow! It must be pretty great to have parents with such important positions.” She smiled before taking a swig of water as well.

“It’s great…until they get busy and we don’t see them for…weeks on end.” Sam complained. Mikaela deflated a bit as she gave her own wordless agreement.

“We worry about them.” Mikaela admitted.

Judy bit her lip as she struggled to find a way to lift the mood again, “Well…i’m sure they worry about you two a lot and miss you when they’re out on missions.” She held out a hand in Mikaela’s direction, “But I’m sure your dad has it relatively easy…‘don’t shoot the medic’, right?”

The young woman forced a grin, “That’s the idea, but unfortunately, not everybody plays by the rules.”

Judy faltered again, “I…I guess it would be naïve to assume everyone fights fair.” She noted awkwardly.

Reading the room, Ron jerked his thumb in the direction of the stairs, “You all want to check out those rooms now?”

“Yes, sir, lead the way.” Sam swept his hand out in the steps’ direction.

With that, Ron guided the teens up the stairs, talking as he went, “Okay, so, as we mentioned in the ad, room and board is included. My wife mentioned that one of the rooms comes with an attached bathroom, while what used to be the guest bathroom will be included with the other room, which is a bit smaller than the one you’re about to see.” The group arrived to the top of the stairs and walked down the hall to the larger room for rent. Ron opened the door and lead the way into the lightly furnished dwelling, “As you can see, a bed, dresser and desk is already included with the room.” He motioned to said furniture. “The bed currently has its own comforter set, but of course, you’re free to change out the sheets and use which ever ones you want to use. The closet is your standard reach-in, but it’s pretty spacious.” Ron opened the door and allowed the teens to take in the subspace. “The bathroom’s been recently refurbished…it used to have a clawed bathtub, but we got rid of that and had your standard bathtub and shower installed. We also added updated from a sink stand to a slightly bigger counter sink.” Ron gave a vague motion towards the toilet, “And then of course, you’ve got the throne, which stayed the same throughout the renovation.”

“The bathroom tile and bedroom carpet are brand new as well.” Judy added, “It’s nice and fresh. Just FYI.”

Sam and Mikaela just smiled and nodded as they took in the information.

“If you’ll follow me this way,” Ron brushed past the duo and led them back down the hall and into a slightly smaller bedroom. “This is the second room we have for rent. As you may have noticed, it’s a little less spacious because this was originally meant to be a guest room, but it’s just as furnished as the other. It’s got a reach-in closet as well, and right across the hall,” Ron guided the group to the ‘guest’ bathroom that was across from the bedroom, “is the bathroom that is included with the room’s rent. Again, it’s smaller, but it’s got a new walk-in shower, sink and bowl.” He glanced at his wife, “The tile and carpet are new too.”

“These are lovely dwellings.” Mikaela mused as she ran a hand over the sink counter.

“How much are you asking for per room?” Sam questioned. “Your ad mentioned a negotiable price?”

Ron and Judy shared a look before Ron launched into his terms, “We uh…we were hoping to keep the rent between three to four-hundred a month depending on whatever our tenants could afford. Three-fifty would have been ideal per room, but since you two are so young, and it seems like you’re…still working your way into a more secure job, I guess we would be okay with three hundred a month. At least, for now…we may eventually increase the price, say after a year or so…if you all are still here.” He winced nervously as he awaited the teen’s response to a raise in rent.

“That’s something we wouldn’t have to worry about till further down the road.” Judy explained, “And again, we’d still take your income into consideration. We’re just trying to earn a bit more so we can keep this house. Property taxes have been rising and bills have been piling up…” Judy shook her head, “Any bit of extra cash helps.” She motioned to Ron, “As it is, my husband’s been pulling overtime when he can, and I’ve been taking extra shifts at work, and I’ve even thought of taking a second job-”

“Judy!” Ron hissed, cutting off his wife, “They don’t need to know all that.” He jerked his head in the amused teens’ direction.

Judy brought her hands up, “What? I’m just letting them know our situation! They deserve to know why their rent prices might go up in the future.”

Ron shook his head, “Still, you didn’t have to go-”

“I think we can afford the three-fifty mark.” Mikaela broke in calmly.

Ron and Judy stared at each other wide-eyed.

Seeing the look, Sam quickly insisted, “It’s easy for us to find work, and like we said, we’ve got enough funds to easily cover your cost for the next several months.”

“Sam and I come from a minimalistic background and don’t require much for ourselves. Matching your asking price is really no issue for us.” Mikaela insisted.

Ron blinked a few times as he processed the teen’s offer, “Are you sure? I mean, I know I shouldn’t look a gift horse in the mouth, but I’m still a pretty lenient guy, and I don’t mind lowering the price at least for the time being…”

Mikaela brought a hand up, “Believe us Mr. Witwicky…the two of us are more than capable of affording those rents.”

Ron made to say something else, when Judy spoke up, “Well before we make any final agreements, let us show the rest of the house and go over rules and regulations before you make your decision.”

“Of course! Please continue.” Mikaela relented.

Judy then took the lead and showed off the rest of the second story, which included the corridor laundry ‘room’, Ron and Judy’s shared office, a storage room, and of course the couple’s bedroom, where Mojo barked behind the shut door.

“You two don’t mind dogs, do you?” Judy asked as the group descended the stairs, “Because our Chihuahua, Mojo, usually has free access to the rest of the house, minus the rooms we’re renting out.”

“We don’t mind. One of the soldiers on the special ops team has a dog of his own, and he also had free range around the base.” Sam dismissed.

Judy beamed in relief, “Good! And don’t worry, he’s great with people.” She assured as they approached the kitchen, “As you can see, this is the kitchen. Obviously, sharing is caring, but if there’s something you all buy that you’d rather keep for yourselves, I would suggest marking it, that way Ron and I don’t take or use something that wasn’t meant for us. As for us, you’re free to use whatever appliance or ingredient you need.” She motioned to the dinning table, “That’s the designated eating area. With all due respect, I’d prefer if we all ate here. Over this way, is the living room. Again, feel free to watch whatever movie or borrow whatever book you please.” Judy pointed to the designated DVD and bookshelf at the far wall. She then led the way to the backyard, “Out here is the backyard, please don’t step on the grass! My husband and I work very hard to keep our yard in perfect shape.”

“Noted.” Sam nodded.

“And we’ll go over rules in a bit.” Ron added.

“Yes, now, over here,” Judy guided the teens towards the door that led to the connected garage, “is our garage slash, Ron’s workshop.” She said as she turned on the lights. She motioned to the wall right next to them, “It’s also home to the ‘Witwicky Museum’.” She rolled her eyes as the teens took in the framed memorabilia on the wall.

“It seems your ancestor is famous, Mr. Witwicky…” Mikaela mused as she read over the article titled ‘Artic Explorer Alleges Ice Man Found’.

Ron gave a forced laugh, “Yeah, but not in a good way. Apparently while out on his Artic expedition, he fell into a ravine and later claimed to have seen a ‘giant man made of metal’…” Ron shook his head in dismissal, “Everyone called him crazy because by the time people went back to confirm the sighting, there was nothing there. My great-grandfather ended up spending the rest of his days in an asylum, muttering about ‘metal men’ and scribbling those weird symbols on the wall.”

Sam and Mikaela spared each other a side glance as they listened to Ron’s story.

“The only good thing the family has left is our family motto.” Ron continued as he indicated the plaque above the framed articles and cased artifacts. On it read ‘No Sacrifice, No Victory’.

“That’s a very honorable motto.” Sam said absentmindedly. His focus was on a pair of glasses that were resting in a small case that was bolted to the wall. “These glasses…?”

“Were his. He broke them during his fall into the ravine.” Ron explained.

“And they’re still valuable?”

“He was well respected before his…incident. After his passing, his heirlooms were passed down from generation to generation till they landed on me.” Ron let out a heavy sigh, “I would have passed them down to my own child, but unfortunately, that didn’t happen.” The man shook his head, “But I guess that was for the best. Knowing how some kids are nowadays, they probably would have tried to sell them online or something.” He rolled his eyes, “Some people just don’t seem to appreciate artifacts anymore.”

Sam nodded as he straightened, “Some people don’t realize the value of things until it’s gone.”

“And when they do, they start fighting over it and all of a sudden, nobody’s interested in sharing.” Mikaela sighed as she rejoined her companion’s side.

Ron nodded, “True. When the value’s there, everybody and their mother wants a piece of the pie.”

Everyone murmured their agreements at that before Ron cleared his throat, “So uh…if you two are interested, we can head back to the dining room table and we can go over the house rules, and afterwards, you guys can talk it over and we’ll see where we go from there.”

“That sounds like a plan.” Mikaela praised.

The quartet returned to the dinning room and took their seats. Sam and Mikala sat side by side, while Ron and Judy sat opposite of them, side by side as well.

“Alright, first thing’s first…” Ron started as he leaned forward to fold his arms on the mahogany table, “The grass…is off limits. My wife and I placed paths through the yards, and we would appreciate it if you can stick to those paths.”

“Stay on the walkways. Got it!” Sam nodded.

“Second,” Ron continued, “In this house, we believe in diving chores evenly, so should you stay, we expect you to help out with small tasks, like washing the dishes; watering the plants; taking out the garbage; and of course, keeping your living area organized.”

“Not that we’ll be snooping through your room or belongings, just…please try to keep it clean.” Judy put out.

“Don’t worry, our families have taught us to be neat and organized and to share duties when needed.” Mikaela reassured.

“Good. Now, curfew…” Ron shifted in his seat, “I know you two are technically, legally young adults, and you’re testing the winds of freedom and all that, but, Judy and I do have a habit of locking up and heading to bed around ten-ish, so if you’re going to be out and about, let us know that way we don’t freak out when we hear you coming in past ten.”

“Ron’s the head of the neighborhood watch, and tends to overreact with these things.” Judy explained.

“It’s not ‘overreacting’, it’s being cautious.” Ron defended.

“So, it would be better if we were back by ten in the evening.” Sam reiterated.

“Unless one of you takes a job that requires you to work late or overnight.” Judy answered. Ron nodded in agreement.

“Noted.” Mikaela answered dutifully.

“And finally, if you’re going to have friends over, make sure they clean up after themselves and that they follow the ‘no stepping on the grass’ rule.” Ron finished.

“Done and done.” The teens agreed.

Ron leaned back with a sigh, “Well alright…that’s about it. Judy and I will give you some time to talk it over in private while we let our dog out,” he looked at his wife, who rose from her seat and quickly left to retrieve their fur baby, before hoisting himself up as well, “and whenever you’re ready with a decision, we’ll be out back.” He said as he started heading towards the back door, “Take your time!” he called out as his wife joined him at the door; the overly excited Mojo was cradled in her arms.

“We will! Thank you Mr. Witwicky!” Mikaela spoke back, just before the door closed, leaving the two to talk the deal over.

The teens remained silent as they listened for the couples’ feet to retreat from the door.

“So…what do you think?” Mikaela broke the silence.

“About the room or the glasses?” Sam wondered.

“Both.”

Sam gave a heavy sigh, “I know renting the room was all for fun at first, but after seeing those glasses, I feel like we need to be here. We need to get a closer look at those glasses.” He turned to his companion, “I know we said we wouldn’t take any part of the war while we were here…that the whole point of us leaving was to get away from it all…if only for a little bit, but…I think if we ignore this opportunity that’s been presented to us so easily, we’d be doing a disservice to our fraction, to our creators and to our people as a whole.”

‘Mikaela’, who had been staring down at the table, listening as ‘Sam’ spoke, finally glanced up to meet his gaze, “I agree. That article in the garage had Cybertronian glyphs, and one of them clearly mentioned the Allspark.”

‘Sam’ bit his lip, “Should we call in the calvary?”

‘Mikaela’ shook her head, “Not yet. We need to get to those glasses. If we send a beacon now it may get the attention of Decepticons as well.”

“So why don’t we just take the glasses now and bail? It’s not like we haven’t already committed theft.” ‘Sam’ argued, referencing to the ATM ‘Mikaela’ had hacked the night prior. “We grab the glasses, tell the humans we’re not interested in their offer, and high tail it out of here before they even know the glasses are gone!”

“The human male is gathering detail of our alt forms as we speak.” ‘Mikaela’ noted.

“Then we’ll get change vehicles and create new holoforms.”

“The humans will still report the theft, which will garner attention towards this location, and could potentially put the humans in danger.” ‘Mikaela’ warned.

‘Sam’ furrowed his brows, “Danger from who? The Decepticons?”

‘Mikaela’ gave a reluctant nod, “I…sensed a Decepticon this morning.”

“What?! Where?!”

“It was on the expressway. We were driving in the opposite direction he- or she- was going, and…that’s when I picked up their signal. I guess they didn’t pick up our signal because they didn’t make a scene in trying to get to us. After that, I haven’t picked up on them again, but…if they did sense us and just chose not to act at the moment, then-”

“There’s still the chance that they’re keeping tabs on us.” ‘Sam’ concluded.

‘Mikaela’ nodded, “Or, they’re on the lookout for anything out of the ordinary that could lead them to us. Think about it…if we stole these glasses now, the humans will report us to their local authorities. Even if we change our holograms and alt modes, word could still get out, and if the Decepticon hears about the theft and happens to look into it, they may learn about the significance of the glasses and use that as a means to track us down.”

The young mech beside her let out a frustrated sigh, “So, what? We just sit here and wait for the right moment to strike?”

“Just for a little bit.” The femme insisted, “If we -as the human saying goes- ‘play our cards right’, we may not have to steal the glasses at all. When the time’s right, we’ll ask Mr. Witwicky if we can get a closer look at the glasses; I’ll scan them, and once we have the needed information, we’ll work out our next course of action.”

“Even if it means contacting our creators?” ‘Sam’ asked with a raised brow.

“Even if it means contacting our creators.” ‘Mikaela’ confirmed with a small cringe.

The two fell silent as they stared at the table in thought.

 “They’re not going to be happy when they get here.” ‘Sam’ noted with a smirk.

‘Mikaela’ returned the grin, “Don’t worry. I’ll tell Optimus and Elita it was my idea.” She offered.

‘Sam’ scoffed, “You? The femmeling of Ratchet and Moonracer, talking the mechling of Optimus Prime into running away? Not likely!”

“My sire would believe it.” ‘Mikaela’ insisted, her smug smile never leaving her lips, “He always says I get my persuasiveness from my carrier.” She lifted her chin proudly.

“Eh…Ratchet’s pretty good with his words too.” The mech shrugged. The two shared a small chuckle before ‘Sam’ let out a content sigh, “So…we’re staying?”

‘Mikaela’ nodded, and the two rose from their seats and made their way to the backyard where Witwicky’s awaited their answer patiently.

As soon as the back door opened, the duo approached the teens expectantly.

“So, what do you think?” Judy wondered nervously.

The holograms shared a grin, “When shall we move in?”

Chapter Text

Signing the arrangement deal and gaining a spar house key had taken little to no time at all.

Once everything was said and done, Sam and Mikaela were free to move whatever possessions they had into their ‘suite’ bedroom…which was practically, save for a couple of suitcases filled with random clothing and personal belongings the young aliens had acquired from the nearby retail store earlier that day- again, all part of the human disguise and experience.

When Judy commented on the duo’s minimal packings, she was kindly reminded that the teens were originally from an army base and were technically only there until they got their fill of freedom before returning to their parents.

That made sense to Judy and she opted to drop the subject before giving the new occupants a full, in-depth tour of the house. After that, she whipped up the all-favorite dish of spaghetti and meatballs -complete with Judy’s homemade marinara sauce- and some freshly squeezed lemonade, curtesy of Ron.

Sam and Mikaela had to set their hologram settings to one-hundred percent just to give the impression that they were actually consuming the popular human dish. Afterwards, they would have to find a remote location to expel the substances from their holographic systems.

“So, how are you two liking Tranquility so far?” Judy asked before taking another sip of her drink.

“It’s nice! Sam and I are actually planning to explore the city a bit more tomorrow.” Mikaela said as she spun the noodles around her fork.

Sam nodded, “We figured we’d take in the sights and familiarize ourselves with the area.”

Ron got up to fetch a bottle of wine, “I don’t know about famous sights or anything, but if you’re into museums and zoos or whatever, we’ve got both of those.” He said as he pulled out a brand-new bottle of red wine. He moved to a cabinet and grabbed a couple of wine glasses.

“There’s also that new aquarium that opened up last year, and if either of you are baseball fans, we’ve got a pretty big stadium near downtown…oh! And every Friday evening, Ron and I like to have coffee at Buns and Nimbles…you’re more than welcome to join us whenever you like!” Judy added excitedly.

Ron gave his wife a look as he set her glass in front of her, “Really Jude? First off, wrong name. Second…you really think a couple of kids are gonna want spend their free time drinking coffee and reading books with a couple of ‘old geezers’ like us?” he asked skeptically.

Judy’s mouth dropped in exaggerated offense.

Mikaela giggled, “Thank you for the offer Mrs. Witwicky, and…we just might take you up on that offer once of these weeks.” She looked over at Sam, who was still trying to get the hang of coiling the noodles around the fork, and covered her mouth as she held back a laugh at the sight.

Ron poured his wife’s drink, “Yeah, but uh…just out of curiosity…why did you two choose this city? Why not go to New York or L.A or Chicago-”

“Ron…”

“Or Miami, or Dallas, or-”

“Ron!” Judy kicked her husband’s foot under the table, “Don’t be nosey!” she scolded under her breath.

Ron gave an incredulous look, “What? I’m just asking what makes our city so special that they would choose it over other more popular ones!”

“It’s okay, Mrs. Witwicky. We don’t mind answering.” Mikaela wiped her mouth with a napkin. “We chose this location because it’s more out of the way and not as populated as some of the other locations you mentioned.”

“We pretty much closed our eyes and picked a spot on a map.” Sam added before taking another mouthful of spaghetti.

Ron nodded, jabbing a juicy meatball with his fork, “That sounds about right. Nobody really decides to come live here out of the blue.” He took a bite out of the meaty sphere.

The younger occupants shared a look, “Yes, but…it really is a nice little community.” Mikaela insisted.

Sam nodded and pushed his now empty plate away, “And as it turns out, it has exactly what we were looking for.”

“Which is?” Judy pressed innocently.

“Peace and quiet!” Mikaela filled in.

Judy chuckled, “Yeah, after all that yelling your drill instructors do, I don’t blame you for wanting some quite time!”

“Oh, I don’t think you know the half of it!” Sam agreed, earning a small laugh from his small audience.

After that, the group finished up their meals, cleaned up and spent the rest of the evening sharing small talk about each other. All too soon, it came time for everyone to get ready for bed.

“Um, would it be alright if Sam and I make a quick run to refuel our cars?” Mikaela asked as they all rose from their spots on the sofas. “We rather do that now instead of worrying about it in the morning.”

Judy shrugged, “I don’t mind. Just don’t forget to lock the door when you get back.”

“And if you decide to go anywhere else, don’t forget the household curfew.” Ron reminded.

“We won’t be gone long. Just a quick fuel up and right back.” Sam promised as he backed towards the front door.

Ron nodded, “Alright, well…you two do what ya gotta do, and if we don’t see you when you get back then…have a pleasant night!” he said before turning and heading up the stairs.

Judy made to follow her husband before turning and holding up a finger in warning, “Be careful out there! We’ve got a problem with street racers using the main road as a night time race track.” She rolled her eyes in annoyance.

“We’ll be careful.” Mikaela promised.

“And, stay alert when you’re pumping your gas.” Judy added, stopping at the halfway point of the staircase, “Some guy got robbed a couple of weeks ago while he was pumping gas at night. He was wearing headphones and didn’t even hear the assailant creeping up on him!”

“Judy, you’re making it seem like we live in some crime ridden neighborhood!” Ron called from somewhere upstairs.

“I just want them to be safe!” Judy called back, “The last thing they need right now is a trip to the emergency room or a visit to the police station to file a statement!”

“We will keep an eye out for reckless drivers and opportunistic thieves.” Mikaela repeated with a patient smile.

Sam gave a single nod, “And if anyone does try to mess with us, we know how to defend ourselves, what with our military background and all.” He gave a somewhat cocky grin.

Mikaela gave a more reassuring smile, “As arrogant as Sam sounds, he is right. We’re both trained in self-defense.” She lifted her chin in confidence, “You have nothing to fear.”

::Unless we run into a Decepticon.:: ‘Sam’ commed.

::Shhhh…::

Judy looked up at Ron, who was now watching her from the top of the steps, “I’m sure you two have the proper training and all, but just…please be careful. Some people resort to using weapons to get what they want, and…yeah…”

Sam and Mikaela shared another look before turning back to the worried human.

“We’ll stay alert, and thank you for your concern.” Mikaela nodded in gratitude.

“We’ll be back as soon as possible.” Sam agreed.

“Alright then, we’ll see you later.” Judy relented. She turned to go up the stairs before pausing and turning back to the teens, “You got the house keys, right?” Sam pulled the key from his pocket and held it up for her to see. “Okay, good!” With that, she turned and continued on her way to her and Ron’s bedroom.

Sam and Mikaela in turn left the house, keeping sure to lock the front door as they went.

Once out, they were immediately greeted with the sight of their neighbors across the street, hanging out in their garage and watching them with scrutinizing looks.

“Good evening!” Mikaela called out as she and Sam made their way to their alt forms.

“Evening.” One of the men returned gruffly.

There was no further interaction after that, and the teens were free to continue on with their business.

::And I thought your sire was over protective.:: ‘Sam’ noted as they drove towards the outskirts of the city.

‘Mikaela’ flashed her lights as she drove behind her partner, ::I’m sorry…my sire? What about your carrier?::

::What about her?::

::She keeps pushing Optimus to assign you a bodyguard!::

‘Sam’ scoffed, ::That’ true…slag, I wouldn’t be surprised if she gets us both body guards after we go back.::

::Yes. ‘Bodyguards’.:: ‘Mikaela’ repeated.

::I guess ‘youngling’ sitters would be the better term.:: ‘Sam’ admitted.

::We may not have thought this through.:: ‘Mikaela’ said with a nervous laugh.

::Who knows…if we can get the location of the Allspark and transfer the information back to the A.R.K, we just might avoid any serious punishments.:: ‘Sam’ reasoned.

The green Ford Focus that was ‘Mikaela’ shuddered, ::I hope so. Extra drills with Ironhide are not my idea of a good time!::

::Agreed.::

The conversation dropped after that as the duo reached the city’s border.

::Stay alert…if that visual news broadcast is anything to go by, there are humans that are suspicious of our presence!” ‘Mikaela’ warned as they rolled to a stop.

‘Sam’ scoffed as his holo-form stepped out of his alt mode, “I’m more worried about any Decepticreeps hanging around out here.” He said out loud.

‘Mikaela’ followed his lead, “Don’t underestimate the humans. They may be small, but there’s strength in numbers…”

“Yeah…I guess you’re right…” With that, ‘Sam’ deactivated his holo-form, allowing all of his ‘consumed’ spaghetti to freefall to the ground with a wet ‘squelch!’. “Eww…”

The femme did the same and hummed in thought, “Health risks aside, humans do know how to flavor their meals and beverages.” She noted.

“Many consider the preparation of food an art.” The mech agreed. The comment was followed by the sounds of shifting metal as he transformed to his bipedal form. “And personally, I look forward to experiencing more of it.”

“Of course are, Orion.” The femme said as she shifted and rose to her feet.

Orion smiled as he watched his companion dust herself off, “Aw, don’t be like that, Electra…you know you’re dying to get more samples of human nutrition.”

Electra’s round nose twitched, “I am, but I’m also worried about the readings I’ll get. Not everything humans consume is good for them…especially when it comes to the large amount of salt and sugars that go into almost everything they consume.” She furrowed her brow in concern.

Orion shrugged, “It’s not the worst thing some of them put in their bodies. Remember those…what do they call them? ‘Smokers’? The ones loitering outside that convenience store?”

The femme shook her head, “Indulging in such a habit is a terrible way to treat their respiratory organs!”

A rustle from a nearby shrub made the duo tensed, ready to either flee or defend themselves.

After a few seconds, a small, fuzzy creature stumbled into view. The critter was covered in brown-grey fur; bore wide yellow eyes; two large ears that protruded near the top of its head, and its tail was tucked tight between its back legs, while the rest of its body was hunched in on itself, looking just as startled as the Cybertronians. It gave a small growl, revealing its sharp teeth, followed by a high-pitched yelp before darting back into the darkness.

“Kingdom, Animalia. Phylum, Chordata. Class, Mammalia. Order, Carnivora. Family, Canidae. Genus, Canis. Species, C. Latrans, hence the Binomial name, Canis Latrans.” Electra rattled off.

Orion scrunched his face and tilted his head in confusion, “Huh?”

“It’s a ‘coyote’. One of the native, wild species that can be found in this region. They’re also distant relatives of the Witwicky’s family canine.” Electra explained, her optics scanning the darkness, hoping for another sight of the easily spooked animal.

“Oh.” Orion shifted on his feet, “Then, what was all that extra stuff you added in?”

“Scientific Classification.” Electra answered without skipping a beat, “It’s how humans group and keep track of their planet’s living organisms.” The femme looked around at the vast desert before them, “And I’m picking up on so many different ‘animals!” she added with a hint of excitement.

Orion smiled as he looked around too, “Yeah, you’ve got lots to study here.” He admitted before shaking his head, “But real talk, real quick…what are we going to tell our creators once they get here, cause I think we established that we are going to call them once we get the glasses…” The mech’s side antennas dropped at the next part, “And while I’m hopeful our contribution to finding the Allspark will please them enough to not give us any severe punishments, I know they’re still gonna be pissed the nano-klick they see us…”  

“Pissed?” Now it was Electra’s turn to tilt her head in confusion.

 Orion shrugged, “It’s a term some humans use to express unsettling amounts of anger.”

“Odd…” The femme rumbled, looking and sounding a little too much like Ratchet…

“Sooo…” Orion started, shaking the femme from her attempts to reason why humans would use such a word to describe anger of all things, “Any ideas of how we can avoid any…loud scoldings?” He looked at his admittingly smarter partner pleadingly.

Electra thought for a bit before giving an apologetic smile, “I’ve got nothing at the moment.” She paused to rub the back of her head, “Truth be told, though, I don’t think there is a way to prevent the inevitable rage that is going to rain down upon us…”

“Scrap…”

Electra smirked as she gave Orion a small nudge, “Come on. Lets get back to the house before Mrs. Witwicky calls the police and have them come looking for us.” She instructed before folding down into her alt form once more.

Orion scoffed and followed her lead, “Wouldn’t it be ironic if the Decepticon you sensed was disguised as a police cruiser or something?” he asked playfully.

Electra gave a condescending laugh, “A Decepticon posing as a law enforcer? That would be the day!”

The two youngsters continued to laugh and joke as they made their way back to the Witwicky residence, unaware of the black and white Mustang that ominously watched them from a distant, rocky outcrop.

Chapter Text

Location: Lancaster Residence

Time: 10:00 A.M

Several blocks away from the Witwicky residence sat yet another middle-class suburban neighborhood, one whose moderately peaceful ambience was disrupted by the sudden blaring of heavy, rock music. Those that were in the immediate vicinity, quickly made their way back indoors in an attempt to get away from the racket.

Inside of said house, glass and porcelain object rattled on their perches as they vibrated to the beat of the drums and bass guitar.

It didn’t take long for the woman of the house to storm to the room the music was coming from and swinging the door open. Knocking was useless as there was no way the occupant would hear the feeble taps on the thick, wooden barrier.

“Miles? Miles!” The woman yelled, plugging one of her ears with her finger. With her other hand, she reached out to tap her son’s shoulder.

The reaction was instantaneous and expected.

Miles whirled around and gave a small yelp as he scrambled to pull his blanket from his still unmade bed, and wrapped it around his body like a strapless dress.

“Mom! Can’t you knock?! I’m naked!” The young man complained incredulously.

Cynthia Lancaster rolled her eyes as she went over to the radio and switched it off. She turned to her son and crossed her arms, “Oh please…you’re wearing boxers!” she dismissed before looking around the messy room, “And your room’s a mess! I thought I told last night, if you want to go out today, you need to clean your room.”

Miles groaned, “Moooom!”

“Those are the rules, and they’ve been in place since forever.” Cynthia bent down to pick up a smelly t-shirt, “Look, this…does not belong on the floor! It belongs in the hamper!” she promptly tossed it in to the empty laundry bin in one of the corners before pointing at the rest of the clothing that littered the floor, “The same goes for the rest for everything else. Those dishes,” She pointed to Miles’ desk, where cups, bowls, plates and silverware were stacked, “Go in the sink where they can be washed. That trash bin that hasn’t been emptied in God-knows-when-”

“Okay mom, okay! Look,look,look…I’m picking up, see?” Dropping his bed sheet, Miles began hastily picking up his dirty clothes and shoving them into his hamper, “See? And right now, I’m gonna make my bed and take out the trash and take all those dishes over to the kitchen-”

“And you’re going to wash them and you’re going to sort out and wash your clothes!” Cynthia added firmly.

Miles winced and nodded, “…Yeah…I’ll do that after I get back from the park-”

“No! Absolutely not! If you want to go to the park, you better get started on your chores!” Cynthia shot down.

“But mom! By the time I finish, all the people I want to go see at the park will be gone by then!” Miles argued, haunching slightly for dramatic effect.

“Then you better get a move on.” The woman crossed her arms and nodded in the mess’s direction.

Miles’ heart sunk.

There was only one last thing Miles could do to convince his mother to go easy on him just this once…

“Mom…” Miles brought his hands into a praying position, “I know I screwed up with the room, but if you could just bend the rules just this once…” he held up a finger in emphasis.

Cynthia narrowed her eyes, “If I had a dollar for every time someone asked me to bend the rules during a traffic stop…”

Miles winced.

Yeeeah…that might have not been the best route to go with a police-mom…

None the less, Miles continued, “Okay, okay…how about this-”

“Miles, this is not up for negotiation!”

“I know mom, but just…hear me out.” Miles clasped his hands together in thought, “I’ll clean up as much as I can right now, and when I get back from the park, I’ll do all the laundry and all the dishes, and I’ll sweep and mop and vacuum and I’ll have the house spotless by the time you get back from work!” He brought his hands up to his face, begging now, “Pleeease mom! I’ll only be gone a couple of hours!” When all he got was a skeptical look from his mother, he added, “Carly’s gonna be there…”

Cynthia perked at the name.

Carly Spencer was a new student at Miles’ school, having moved with her family from the U.K, and was incidentally, the source of the young man’s affections.

Cynthia sighed, “Miles, I don’t-”

“Look, if you come home tonight, and the house isn’t the way you like it…you can ground me for a week-” Cynthia raised a brow, “Two-” the woman tilted her head as if to say ‘really?’, causing Miles to sigh, “…a month. You can ground me for a month if this place isn’t spotless.” He offered in defeat.

Cynthia looked her son over in thought, “You drive a hard bargain.” She started as she looked around the room dramatically, “But, the thought of coming home late and not having to worry about spending my day off tomorrow cleaning, is an offer too good to pass up…” She looked back at her hopeful son and smiled, “I guess you’ve got yourself a deal.”

Hearing these words, Miles darted forward and hugged his mom, “Thank you! I promise this place will be perfect when you get home! I’ll even have dinner ready for you!”

“Let’s not over do it.” Cynthia smiled as she patted her son’s back. After a moment, she pulled away, “Well, I’m going to finish getting ready,” she motioned to the room, “you need to at least take care of this room before you leave.”

Miles gave his mother a salute, “Can do!”

Cynthia nodded, “Get to it!” she turned to leave the room before stopping and pointing to the radio, “And keep that thing at a reasonable volume! The last thing I want is the neighbors complaining again about you disturbing the peace!”

“Got it!”

With that, the two went about their separate business.

Thirty minutes later, as Cynthia stood in her kitchen, strapping on her utility belt, Miles entered the kitchen, his arms full of dishes, which he successfully placed in the kitchen sink.

“Okay…the room is clean, and I’ll get to everything else when I get back.” Miles said as he turned to his mother.

“You said you’ll only be gone a couple of hours, right?” Cynthia reviewed before taking a sip from her iced coffee.

“Two hours, two and a half tops, and I’ll come straight back.” Miles promised.

“And you’re going to the park?”

“Yeah, I’ll be there with Charlie and Memo.” Miles confirmed as he rummaged through the pantry for the last strawberry poptart.

“Hm, good.” Cynthia answered as she coiled her blonde hair into a bun.

The mother and son fell silent as the boy ate his late breakfast/early lunch while his mother listened to the local news.

A small buzz from Miles’ pocket sent the boy scrambling to dig out his phone. He flipped the device open before looking over at his mother, “That’s Charlie. I gotta go!” he crossed the kitchen and pecked a kiss on Cynthia’s cheek, “I’ll see you later! Stay safe!” he called as he headed towards the front door.

“And you, stay out of trouble!” Cynthia called back.

“I will!” Miles assured as he grabbed his car keys. He opened the front door, but before he left, he pointed to a photo of his dad on the wall, “Bye dad!” And with that, he left the house, locking the door behind him as he went.

Jogging towards his silver, 2001 Fiat Stilo Miles, unlocked the car and clambered inside.

“Alright…first I gotta pick up Memo and Charlie, then it’s off to see Carly and hopefully not make a complete idiot of myself in front of her…easy.” He coached as he backed out of the driveway.

Location: Tranquil Lake Public Park

Time: 11:35 A.M

By the time Miles and his friends arrived at the park, the local hangout was already packed teens, who were either swimming in the lake or lounging around on the banks and picknick tables scattered throughout the park.

“Some of these people are giving us the stink eye…” the young man in the backseat noted as he stared out the window. “Are you sure the party wasn’t today?” he asked nervously.

“Don’t worry Memo, the party’s next Saturday.” The woman in the passenger seat soothed, “The park always looks like this on the weekends.”

Miles nodded, “Charlie’s right. As of right now, the park is still open to the public, so no one can say shit about us being here.”

“Except that the ‘losers’ are here to ruin the fun.” Memo muttered.

“If we end up ‘tainting’ the park with our presence, then that’s a win for us.” Charlie smirked, “If the snobs stop coming, then we’ll have the whole place to ourselves, and maybe families can start coming here again.”

“That’s the spirit.” Miles agreed as he parked alongside the curb. He scanned the surrounding area before giving a small gasp, “There’s Carly…”

“And there’s Trent.” Charlie nodded to where the bully-jock watched them ominously.

“And there’s Tina and her posse.” Memo added.

“And the friends she stole from me.” Charlie input bitterly.

Miles glanced at his friends, “Just play it cool. We’re here to talk to Carly.” He reminded, indicating the long, young woman that was reading a book under the shade of a tree. “Don’t even look at them.” He instructed as he turned off his car and stepped out of the vehicle. His friends followed his lead. 

As the trio huddled together, they didn’t even register the Ford Focus or Jeep Liberty pulling up behind their car.

“Cool and casual.” Miles coached as he began to lead his friends over to where Carly was sitting.

They didn’t make it far when Trent cut them off.

“What are you losers doing here?” The jock challenged. Tripp Summers and some of the other boys joined him. Tina Lark and her friends stood off to the side, smirking as the trio squared off against some of the toughest boys in school.

“We’re here to enjoy park just like everyone else.” Charlie answered fearlessly.

Memo nodded, “Your party’s not till next week.” He started boldly, only to cower when Trent’s gaze landed on him, “So…the park’s still open to the public, and we’re the public, so…yeah…” he finished meekly.

Tina laughed obnoxiously at the poor boy’s false bravado, “Wow, Charlie! You really know how to pick ‘em!” The four girls flanking her joined in on the hysterics.

Ignoring the pain of seeing her ex-friends laugh at her expense, Charlie forced a grin and pointed over the four lackeys, “Wow guys! You really know how to pick ‘em! Ahahahahahahahaha…” She mocked with an overly exaggerated, fake laugh.

The quintet immediately stopped laughing and stared at Charlie as if she had lost her mind.

“Ugh! What a weirdo!” One of the girls, Shizuka Kubo, whispered to the group.

Charlie shrugged, “That’s what you all looked like. I was just throwing it right back at you.”

Before Tina could throw out yet another insult, Trent held a hand up, “Mental breakdown aside…you rejects never said what you all were doing here.” He repeated.

Miles jerked his head in Charlie’s direction, “Like she said…we’re just here to enjoy the scenery.”

Trent scoffed, “Uh-huh. A likely story.”

“It sounds like a logical reason to me.”

Everyone turned to see a stunning young woman standing behind Miles and his friends.

Trent’s eyes actually widened as he took in the specimen before him.

The slim, lightly tanned figure bore a peach, spaghetti-strap crop-top and tight-fitting jeans, with long, wavy brown locks that fell well past her shoulders. Bright, blue eyes stared into Trent’s as she awaited his next response to her comment. 

Composing himself, Trent wasted no time in activating the ol’ DeMarco charm.

“Who are you, hot stuff? I haven’t seen you around before?” The jock made a show to look the unknown woman up and down.

Said woman was not impressed. “I just moved here a couple of days ago.” She stated flatly.

“Oh, yeah?”

“Mm-hm.”

Trent tossed his beloved football from one hand to the next, “And uh…you came here alone?”

The unknown woman shook her head, “No. I came here with him.” She pointed to another young man, who gave a small wave.

“Hey.” The newcomer greeted.

Trent motioned to him, “Who’s he, you’re brother?”

No way was that scrawny little dweeb anything more than a relative. To the young man’s disappointment, the girl shook her head.

“He’s my boyfriend.” Came the reply. The young man nodded with a smug grin.

Trent did a double take, “Him?” He pointed to the ‘twig’, “He’s your boyfriend?”

The girl nodded, “Yes, is that a problem?” she challenged.

This time, Trent actually took a step back at the woman’s icy response, “Woah! I just asking cause to be honest, a girl like you could probably do better than, well…” he looked at the boyfriend with a smirk.

Memo cast a side glance at his friend and almost girlfriend. ‘Wow…’ he mouthed to them. He knew the brute prided himself in having the balls to say what was on his mind, but Memo never would have thought he would actually diss someone’s partner when said partner was right there…

Apparently, the woman didn’t seem to appreciate Trent’s dismissal of her lover either, as she crossed her arms and took a step forward.

“I guess looks are important to you, but I’ll have you know, there’s more to a person than just their appearance.” The stranger looked Trent over and raised a brow, “But judging by your physical appearance and the implication of your comment, regarding Sam’s structure,” she motioned to the man now labeled as ‘Sam’, “I assume you value physical strength just as much as looks.” She raised a brow as she stared down the stunned bully.

“I…sort of…” Trent fumbled lightly.

The woman gave a knowing ‘Hm!’. “Well, let me tell you, there’s more to a person than what you see.” She looked down at the brown, oval object in Trent’s hands, “That’s a football, yes?”

“Uh…yeah…?” Trent furrowed his brow. How could someone not know what a football was? Even that British chick knew what it was…

“May I?” The woman held out a hand expectantly.

Trent looked at her palm in confusion, “…What? You want the ball?” he asked dumbly.

“That should be obvious, yes.”

After sharing a look at his friends, who all shrugged, Trent slowly handed the ball over to the girl before giving a nervous chuckle, “Don’t break a nail sweet-heart.” He joked, trying to regain control of the situation.

“It’s Mikaela.” The woman corrected, “And its not me that’s going to give a demonstration, its Sam.”

Trent scoffed, “Him?”

Mikeala ignored him and handed Sam the ball, “Would you?”

Sam took the faux ‘pigskin’ and looked at it for a few seconds before locking eyes with Mikaela and nodded with a knowing smile. He turned to the lake before shifting the ball into the proper hold and assuming the throwing position.

The second Trent realized what Sam was about to do, he rushed forward, “Hey,hey,hey,hey! Don’t throw my ball into the-” Before he could finish, Sam threw the ball clear over the entirety of the lake, causing the jocks’ jaws to drop as they made out the faint sight of the ball bouncing at the opposite bank, into the thick foliage of the trees and brush.

The jocks, ‘mean girls’ and designated school ‘losers’, all gathered at the bank in stunned silence.

“My ball! That was a top-of-the-line football! My dad spent eighty bucks for it, he’s gonna kill me!” Trent placed his hands on either side of his head as he stared off where his beloved ball had gone. A second later, he whirled around and pointed an accusatory finger at Sam, “You owe me a new football dipshit!”

Sam quirked a brow at the insult, but chose to let Mikaela do the talking.

“Oh, please…your toy didn’t land in the lake, it landed on the other bank.” Mikaela pointed to a particular spot between two trees, “It’s no further than just past those trees. If you hurry, you can get it before that dog Sam and I saw on the way here, gets to it.”

Trent’s eyes widened, “Why doesn’t he go get it?! He’s the one that threw it all the way over there!”

“Because I’m not a sprinter.” Sam answered patiently, “My hidden talent is strength, not speed. If you’re gonna want your ball back, you and your friends are gonna have to go get it before that dog marks it as its own.”

Trent gawked at Sam for a moment longer before turning and dashing down alongside the lake’s banks, trying to get to his prized possession before some mutt pissed on it. The few other guys that were with him, followed in close pursuit, not knowing what else to do, other than follow him.

Tina and her friends seethed at Sam and Mikaela before making a heel turn and storming back to where they had been sitting previously. They then proceeded to glare at them from where they sat.

Miles, Memo and Charlie turned in unison to beam at Sam and Mikaela, “Woah, that was awesome!” Charlie cheered with a laugh.

“Yeah man, where’d you learn to throw like that?” Memo praised.

“Yeah, and you…” Charlie waved a hand at Mikaela, “No one’s ever turned down Trent like that! Did you see his face? Epic!”

“It was nice seeing him not get what he wants for once.” Memo agreed.

Miles nodded in thought, “Yeah, that was cool and all, but…I don’t think I’ve ever seen you two around before…you two go to Ridgewell High?”

Sam and Mikaela shook their heads.

“Oh no, we just moved here a couple of days ago.” Mikaela explained with a smile.

“Plus, we already finished our educations.” Sam added.

“Oh! So, you guys are in college?” Memo asked, looking at the two strangers that had managed to drive off Trent, Tina and their goons.

Another shake of the head, “No, we’re not enrolled in any universities. We’re currently taking a break before we join our families in the military.” Mikaela answered.

Miles perked, “Your parents are in the military? All of them?”

“Yes, they are.”

A knowing smile crossed the blonde man’s face, “Wow! My dad’s in the military too! What branch are your parents in?”

Sam and Mikaela shared a look, “Marines…?”

“Oh…my dad’s a Ranger. Where your parents stationed?”

“In Europe.” Sam answered vaguely.

Miles shrugged, “My dad’s off in Qatar. It would have been cool if they all knew each other.” He admitted.

“That would have been…interesting.” Mikaela went along.

Miles chuckled, “Yeah…”

“So, wait…if your parents are in Europe, what are you guys doing here?” Charlie broke in. Her two companions nodded and looked at the newcomers expectantly.

The young couple shared another look before Sam answered, “We’re staying in a room this couple rented out to us.”

“Since we’re eighteen, we’re old enough to live away from our parents, and… we figured this would be the best way to enjoy the ‘civilian’ life before joining the forces.” Mikaela added.

“We’re just doing this for about a year and then we’re heading home.” Sam supplied further.

Charlie deflated a bit, “Aw, bummer…not only can we not hang out at school, but you guys are only here for a little while.”

Mikaela quirked a brow, “You enjoy our company?”

Charlie nodded, “Well, yeah I mean, you guys seem pretty cool, and you’re only a little bit older than us, so it would have been fun if we could’ve hung out a bit more.” She shrugged at the thought.

“We can still do that.” Sam assured, “If it’s okay with you all, we can still meet up every now and then and ‘hang out’.”

Miles and his friends shared their own looks and shrugs, “I don’t think we mind, but it would have to be after school or on the weekends.” Miles informed cautiously.

“That’s fine. Sam and I have our own business to take care of during the day, but we’ll be free during the evenings or weekend days.”

Miles’ brows furrowed at Mikaela’s wording.

‘Weekend days’? Why not just say ‘weekend’ like everyone else?

Odd…

“We could really use some guides to show us around town.” Sam requested, his eyes going over the young humans.

Again, Charlie was the first one to speak, “We can totally do that, right guys?” She looked over her friends as if to say ’come on!’.

Memo was quick to agree, “Yeah, I’m down for that! We can hang out right now and get to know each other a bit more if you want, right Miles?” He turned to the blonde man in question.

Miles regarded the group before turning to where Carly sat, or…had been sitting and deflated at the sight of the empty seat. He had been so wrapped up in all the drama between Trent, Sam and Mikaela, he hadn’t even noticed that Carly had up and left…

“Miles?”

Miles jumped and turned back to his expecting audience. Charlie was glaring at him impatiently, though her gaze softened when her eyes flicked over to where Miles had been staring and winced in sympathy.

“You in?” The young woman calmly reiterated.

After another wistful look at the bench Carly had been sitting at, he nodded, “We can hang out…but I’m on a time limit today. I promised my mom I’d have the house spotless by the time she comes home…” Charlie ‘awwwed’, prompting Miles to scratch the back of his head in embarrassment, “Yeah, well uh…my room was a mess, and she wasn’t going to let me come, but I said if she would let it slide this one time, I’d have the house clean the way she likes it, or else she could ground me…” he gave a lopsided grin at the confession.

Sam and Mikaela smiled in amusement while Memo and Charlie side glanced each other like ‘This guy’.

“You probably should have left that last part out.” Memo admitted with a chuckle.

“Yeeeah…I probably should have…” Miles agreed.

The group shared a small laugh before Charlie brough a hand to her forehead to shield her eyes from the sun, “Let’s find a place under the shade to talk. The sun is brutal right now!”

 Everyone agreed and they migrated to one of the empty tables, where they jumped from one conversation topic to another.

After a couple of hours of idle chit-chat, Miles glanced at his watch and frowned, “Hey guys, I’m sorry to cut the fun short, but I’m gonna have to get going if I want to get everything done before my mom gets home.” He apologized.

Charlie nodded solemnly, “I need to get going too…I’ve been wanting to drop by my uncle’s place to get some parts for my dad’s car.”

Mikeala perked, “Your dad’s car needs fixing?”

Charlie nodded again, “It’s an old, classics car my dad and I were fixing up, but…he passed away a couple of years ago, and I’ve been trying to get it to start on my own…” she scratched her forearm, “My mom’s actually getting a little annoyed that the car is taking up room in the garage. She…I have until next summer to get it working, which in theory, gives me another year and a half or so, but I haven’t really managed to make much progress with the car, so…yeah.”

“What happens if you can’t get the car working?” Sam asked.

Charlie shrugged as she picked a bit of peeling paint from the table, “Oh you know…she said the usual stuff parents say when they want something out of the house. If it doesn’t work, why keep it?” She quoted her mother with a small sniffle.

Sam and Mikaela shared a concerned look. “I also know a thing or two about mechanics.” Mikaela started softly, causing Charlie to glance up at her with moist eyes, “My father’s been teaching me how to fix machines.” Mikaela explained.

Charlie gave a small laugh, “So your dad’s a medic and a mechanic?”

Mikaela shrugged, “Machines get sick too, you know?”

“Weird, my dad used to say the same thing.” Charlie smirked. She brought an arm up to wipe her eyes.

“Cause it’s true.” Mikaela replied with a knowing smirk.

“Hm. Yeah…” Charlie looked back down at the table.

Mikaela rapped her fingers on the wooden top in thought, “If it’s alright with you, I’d like to have a look at your car someday. Maybe I can give a bit of my input and we can get your car working before your deadline.” She offered.

Charlie’s head snapped up, “You’d do that for me?”

“I was brought up to help those in need, and you seem like someone in need.” Mikaela guaranteed.

Charlie took only a second or two to ponder the offer before nodding in acceptance, “I’ve got a book report I need to finish tonight, and tomorrow my brother’s got a karate competition I have to attend.” Charlie rolled her eyes at this, “But I should be free once I’m done with my homework on Monday! You can come to my place and take a look at the car!”

“I’m sure my schedule will be free as well. If you want, we can give you our contact information and you can call us whenever you all want to do this again.” Mikaela motioned to the park area.

Charlie grinned, “Oh trust us, we’ll show you all the cool places around here!”

“Better places!” Memo agreed.

“More fun stuff.” Miles added.

Sam beamed, “That’s what we were hoping for!”

After that, the group swapped numbers before splitting up and heading back to the vehicles.

“You guys came in separate cares?!” Memo asked as Sam and Mikaela went to their respected transports.

“We enjoy trying too much to share a ride.” Mikaela explained.

Memo shrugged, “Alright…you do you.”

And with that, the quintet split up for the day.

Location: Lancaster Residence

Time: 2:15 P.M

The first thing Miles was greeted with when he came home was the slobbering face of his pet Mastiff, Mason.

“Okay, okay, get off! You’re too old to be standing like this!” Miles laughed as he carefully guiding his aging companion down to all fours. He gave Mason a few more pats and rubs before taking in the second sight that greeted him.

Dirty dishes -his dirty dishes- were piled high in the sink, while his overflowing laundry basket sat propped up against the hall entrance- no doubt brought out by his mother as a reminder for him to keep his end of the bargain. A closer inspection of the floor revealed that it was due for a good sweeping and mopping, and the shelves and their knickknacks needed to be dusted. Then there was the stuff that was the miscellaneous objects that needed to be taken back to their rightful places…the accumulated pile of shoes by the door; the stack of books and magazines on the coffee table; the gaming console and its respected games were haphazardly stuffed into the small cabinet beneath the living room television; Mason’s toys were scattered throughout the house and his eating area was a mess as always.

Miles looked at his watch. He had another six or seven hours before his mother returned home from work, which should be plenty of time to get everything done.

With a sigh, Miles looked down at Mason, who continued to slobber on the floor. “Well…the house isn’t going to clean itself by staring at it.” He went to the tv and turned it on to his favorite news channel.

Nothing wrong with being entertained while he worked, right?

As the screams from whatever horror movie was on rang out, Miles went to the sink and cracked his knuckles.

“Let’s do this!”

Location: Lancaster Residence

Time: 9:32 P.M

The sound of keys jingling outside the front door made Mason pick up his head from where he laid and gave off a weak ‘Woof’.

“Shhh!” Cynthia hissed as she stepped through the door, “It’s just me.”

The officer turned and locked the door before hanging her keys on the hook next to the entrance, “Miles! I’m ho-” She cut off when she turned to see her son out cold on the living room sofa. An arm and leg hung off the edge as he snored away.

Cynthia gave a small smile before glancing around the room.

Everything was neat and organized and the smell of lemon scented cleaning products filled the air.

Even Mason smelled clean as he reared up to greet the mistress of the house.

After patting the canine down, Cynthia moved to go to her room to change when she stopped short at the dining table. She picked up the note labeled to her and read what her son had scrawled across the small bit of paper.

I think I got everything that needed to done.

I left a sandwich for you in the fridge, just the way you like it.

Turkey, pepperjack cheese, lettuce, tomato and light on the mayo.

Good night! Love you!

Cynthia smiled as she folded up the note. She then went and grabbed a pillow and blanket from Miles’ newly cleaned room and brought it to the sofa.

Lifting her son’s head, she carefully nestled the pillow under the nest of blonde hair before neatly covering Miles with the soft fabric. She ran her hand through his locks before kissing his head. “I love you too, baby.” She whispered before turning off the television.

Cynthia then went to the fridge to retrieve her dinner before heading off her to room to retire for the night.

She sent one last glance in Miles’ direction before stepping into her bedroom and closing the door behind her.

Chapter Text

“Mm, Okay…so…here’s the deal…” Pause. Chew. Swallow. “My folks said if I can raise two-thousand dollars and bring home at least three ‘A’s’ on this next report card, they’ll help cover the rest of my expenses for my first car.” Memo popped a fry into his mouth, “I’ve already got twenty-five hundred saved up, and check it…” He held up his report card for his friends to see, “I’ve got the three ‘A’s’!” Memo beamed as he showed off his high scored.

Charlie smirked, “How far did you have to twist Mr. Hosney’s arm to get that ‘A’?” She prodded before taking another bite of her burger.

Memo shrugged nonchalantly, “Only about two and a half turns.” He joked as he shoved another three fries into his mouth.  

“After all that work, I hope they get you a good car!” Miles chimed in, balling up his empty burger wrapper as he spoke.

Memo deflated a bit, “Well…they said it was gonna be a used car, but you know, whatever…the important thing is, I’m finally getting some wheels! I’m the only one out of the five of use that doesn’t have a mode of transportation!”

Sam and Mikaela shared a matching smile, “Well, congratulations on your high scores. Whatever you end up getting will be well earned.” Mikaela praised.

Sam nodded, “Yeah! And thanks for paying for our dinner! I’ve never had a ‘ham-burger’ before…” the holoform tilted his sandwich this way and that before taking a cheerful bite.

Charlie, completely misinterpreting what ‘Sam’ meant by that statement, nodded as she dipped a fry in the small paper container that contained her ketchup-mayo concoction, “I hear ya! Places this this,” she looked around the ‘roadside’ burger restaurant, “are the only way to get a good burger…other than making one yourself.” She tossed the fry in her mouth, “None of the other big franchise joints can compare to these bad boys.” With that, Charlie took a large bite out of her double cheese burger.

Mikaela lifted the top bun of her meal and studied the contents, “It’s not the best thing for the body, but it’s so good.” She looked over at Sam, “I guess we can call this a blatant example of a ‘fatal attraction.’” She joked before continuing her meal. She made sure to ignore the concerning health risks in the food and instead focused on the meal’s seasonings and flavor.

This was much better than Energon.

Miles rolled his eyes playfully. Leave it to the girl with a doctor for a dad to point out the health risks of one of the most delicious fast foods in the world.

Memo ignored Mikaela’s comment and focused his attention on Charlie, “Food talk aside; What did you say you’re parents were doing tonight?” he asked curiously.

“Ron’s boss is in town, so him and a few of his co-workers are holding a dinner in his honor…at our house.” Charlie rolled her eyes while wiping her mouth with her napkin, “My mom wanted Otis and I there too, I guess to help Ron earn brownie points for having a ‘happy, little family’,” She finger quoted this, “But I told her I had a lot of homework that I was gonna work on with you guys- in fact, if she ask’s…we had dinner and then we went to Miles’ place where we were swamped with paperwork. Got it?”

“Paperwork?” Miles quirked a brow with a smirk.

Charlie tossed a crumpled napkin in his direction, “You know what I meant!”

Mikaela tilted her head, “You don’t like spending time with your family?” She wondered. She knew Charlie had cancelled their previous plans of working on her father’s car due to said get together, but she didn’t realize the young woman actually resented her family enough to lie and avoid them all together…

Charlie shrugged at Mikaela’s inquiry, “It’s not that I hate them or anything, its just…they’re hard to get along with. Ron’s not my dad-dad; Otis is your typical, annoying little brother; and my mom…my mom hasn’t accepted the fact that I’m still not over my dad’s death.” She took a shy sip of her soda after saying this.

Sam and Mikaela shared a side eyed glance before nodding in agreement.

“Families can be hard to relate to sometimes. My mom’s waaaay over protective of me, and my dad has crazy high expectations for me.” Sam winced as he glanced down at his half-eaten meal, “A lot of people do, actually…” he finished solemnly. Mikaela placed a comforting hand on his arm.

Miles motioned to said woman, “What about your parents?” he wondered.

“They’re protective too, but not as extreme as Sam’s parents. Any stress I feel is brought on by myself, what with my dad being as skilled as he is…I just don’t want to let him down.” Mikaela answered truthfully.

Sam scoffed, “As if you need to prove yourself to anyone.” He praised.

“That’s what you think, but people talk you know.” Mikaela argued.

“So, you want to be a medic too?” Charlie questioned, resting her chin in her hand.

“I’m more into engineering, but I want my medical skills to be just as good as my mechanical talents.”

“You’re about ninety percent there.” Sam assured. He swiped the few crumbs from his eating area onto his palm before dumping them onto his now empty burger wrapper and crumbling it up into a ball, just as Miles had.

Mikaela rolled her eyes at Sam’s attempt of flattery, “That’s a pretty generous assumption.” She dismissed while cleaning her own area.

“Better to be over generous, than under.” Memo noted.

Mikaela made to say something when she and Sam simultaneously perked and turned to look out the large glass window that overlooked the establishment’s parking lot. This in turn, caused the three humans to twist around to see what the duo were looking at.

A silver Toyota Camry was pulling up beside ‘Sam’s’ parked vehicle. Once off, the car’s four doors opened, and five occupants began clambering out into the warm sun. The driver of the vehicle, a young -man with fair skin, honey-brown hair and thick, black, square-rimmed glasses, adjusted his frames as he stood on the sidewalk and waited for the rest of his passengers. A strong breeze made his teal tie fly up and slap him in his face, making him quickly smooth the offending article back down and glancing around in embarrassment.

The front passenger of the vehicle, a toned red-head wearing the unmistakable, partial uniform of a firefighter, smirked and said something indistinguishable, making the driver flush in annoyance.

The next occupant that exited, a young woman with short, brown hair and a black and orange jumpsuit, smirked as she sauntered up to the firefighter and gave him a playful punch on the shoulder. The man winced and glared as he rubbed the sore spot, while the woman mouthed something to him.

As the three adults shared a non-heated back and forth, the remaining passengers climbed out of the vehicle. One of them was a young boy with golden blonde hair and a brown aviator jacket, which he quickly shrugged off and held it in his arms. The last occupant was a young girl around the boys age with brown skin and thick pigtails. She too wore a light, pink jacket, which she took off and hooked over her arm.

Once the group was assembled on the sidewalk, they all turned and made their way to the burger shop’s door.

Charlie leaned over to Miles, “Aren’t those your mom’s boss’s kids?” she whispered as the bell above main door jingled, announcing the quintet’s entrance.

Miles nodded, “Yeah those are the ‘Burns kids’…and their friend.”

“Kids?” Sam repeated, eyeing the group up and down.

“Obviously not ‘kid’ kids…they’re the Chief of Police’s sons and daughter.” Miles explained lowly, “My mom works with him.”

“Your mom’s a police officer?” Sam repeated.

Miles nodded.

“Cool.”

“And how is Mr. Burns as a high-ranking officer?” Mikaela wondered innocently.

Miles shrugged, “Eh, he’s actually pretty cool. Pretty chill. I think most people around here like him.” Charlie and Memo nodded in agreement.

“Is that him?” Sam asked with a subtle jerk at the window.

The group turned again to see a blue and white police cruiser pull up beside ‘Mikaela’s’ car.

Sam quirked a brow, “Blue and white? I thought this city’s police cruisers were black and white?” He shifted in his seat as he eyed the vehicle that seemed to stare right back at him.

There was something off about that cruiser…

“Most of the officer’s do have black and white cruisers, but in this city, the Chief drives a different vehicle…I guess to show he’s the boss.” Miles jerked his head at the window, “There he is now.” He announced as the aging officer stepped out of his vehicle.

“He looks remarkably good for his age.” Mikaela noted as she watched the chief take off his aviator shades and place them atop his head.

“He takes pretty good care of himself. He and my mom actually jog at the same park.” Miles informed as Chief Burns entered the establishment. He gave a small wave when the man glanced around and caught his eye.

“Miles! How are you doing, sir?” Chief Burns greeted as he approached the table. He reached out and shook Miles’ hand in greeting.

“I’m doing good, Chief. I’m just hanging out with my friends, Charlie and Memo” Miles motioned to Charlie and Memo, who greeted the top officer and his children with a small wave, “and our new friends, Sam and Mikaela.” He pointed out the duo respectfully.

“Hello Chief Burns.” Mikaela greeted with a kind smile.

“Hello, Sir.” Sam chimed in.

“Hello. I uh…I don’t think I’ve seen you around before…are you two new to this area?” Burns asked, adjusting his utility belt as he spoke.

“We just moved here from Europe.” Sam recited.

“Their parents are in the military, but Sam and Mikaela decided to live abroad for a year or so before joining the forces.” Miles explained on behalf of the duo.

Chief Burns nodded in approval, “That’s good, that’s good.”

“And how’s that working out for you all? Living on your own, that is.” The young woman standing beside Chief Burns prodded with a smile.

Mikaela returned the positive expression, “It’s nice. There’s a sense of…” She paused to think of the correct word for their situation.

“Freedom.” Sam finished with a firm nod, “Here, there’s no high expectations or pressure to ‘fill my dad’s shoes’.” He rolled his eyes as he said this. Mikaela gave his hand a reassuring squeeze.

Chief Burns sent the young man a sympathetic gaze, “Well…I’m sure things will sort themselves out in time, but for now, I hope you two enjoy your stay here, and if anything ever comes up, don’t hesitate to call our department.”

Sam and Mikaela nodded in thanks, “Thank you, we will.” The woman thanked.

“Dad, I’m gonna go order already.” The redhead man announced as he backed towards the order counter.

“Alright, you all go ahead, I’ll be there in a second.” Chief Burns waved his children to where the cashier waited patiently before turning back to the teens, “Well, I’ve gotta get going…the ‘kids’ are hungry, and we’ve only got an hour before a couple of us have to get back to work.” He pointed to Sam and Mikaela, “Like I said, if trouble rears its head, just call us, and…welcome to Tranquility!”

“Thank you, sir.”

Chief Burns bid his goodbyes to Miles and the others before rejoining his sons and daughter for lunch.

Miles, Charlie and Memo continued their casual chatter, though Sam and Mikaela only listened half-heartedly. While they were maintaining appropriate eye contact with their friends, their main focus was on the police cruiser parked beside ‘Mikaela’.

::Please state your designations and factions:: The cruiser ordered via comm.

Orion and Electra tensed at the calm yet stern demand.

::Uh…who? Us?:: Orion asked dumbly.

::You two are of Cybertronian origin, correct?:: The cruiser interrogated.

Orion resisted the urge to rock on his wheels, ::Technically…we were delivered on a ship-::

::But we are Cybertronian in nature.:: Electra interrupted. If she could, she would have sent Orion an irritated glance, ::Our creators are from Cybertron.::

The cruiser gave the quietest of hums, ::I see. What are your designations and faction?:: The mech asked again in his practically monotone voice.

::Why don’t you state your designation and faction?:: Orion countered suspiciously. He almost expected the mech to pull a ‘I asked you first’ maneuver, but to his surprise, the cruiser complied and recited his answer.

::Designation: Chase. Faction: Neutral-Rescue Bot. Occupation: Previous Law Enforcer of Cybertron, current Officer of planet Earth.::

::Rescue bot…:: Orion repeated in confusion. ::We still have those?:: He directed towards Electra.

Before the femme could respond, Chase continued, ::State your designations and faction.:: he repeated a bit more firmly.

::Electra. Autobot.:: Electra answered quickly.

::Orion Prime. I’m an Autobot too.:: Orion chimed after.  

Chase actually paused at this. ::Orion Prime? Mechling of Optimus Prime and Elita One?:: He repeated, sounding slightly nervous.

::Uh…yeah.:: Orion confirmed in confusion.

::And who are your creators?:: Chase directed towards Electra.

::Chief Medical Officer, Ratchet and Moonracer…she’s a top sniper for the Wreckers.::

Chase remained silent as he processed the information. ::How many Autobots are on Earth?::

::We’re…not…sure…:: Orion answered thoughtfully, ::I think we’re the only Autobots on Earth.::

::Your creators are not here?:: Chase asked in concern.

Orion and Electra paused sheepishly, ::We’re…taking a break from the fighting.:: The femme answered.

::Kind of like a ‘vacation’.:: Orion added.

Chase hummed again, ::I see…::

::Up until now, we thought we were some of the few Cybertronians here.:: Orion admitted.

That caught Chase’s attention, ::I thought you said you two were here alone?::

Electra gave a soft sigh, ::We- I picked up the signal of a Decepticon the other solar cycle.::

::A Decepticon?!:: Now Chase sounded scared. A Decepticon? Here? In Tranquility?!

::I don’t know who it was specifically, or how many others there are- if there are others, but…I’m certain I’ve sensed at least one.:: Electra added.

::Where there is one, there are usually more…:: Chase noted.

Orion and Electra remained silent. Chase wasn’t wrong…

Before anyone could say anything else, Electra felt Charlie nudge her holoform.

Back inside the restaurant, Electra tapped Orion and directed his attention to where all the occupants in the building were looking.

Orion shifted in his seat to look at the nearest TV mounted on the wall.

Up until that moment, a cheesy sitcom re-run had been playing on the screen, but that had been interrupted by a news bulletin, in which a news reporter was speaking urgently of an attack that had befallen the U.S SOCCENT base in Qatar.

“-It’s unknown who conducted the attack, but at the moment, there are no confirmed survivors.” The anchorwoman announced solemnly.   

Hearing that, Orion and Electra whirled around to Miles, who stared up at the screen wide-eyed and slack jawed.

The human teen’s lower lip quivered as his eyes watered, “Dad…”

Chapter Text

Location: Lancaster Residence

Time: 5:35 P.M

“-Reports from the Pentagon state that the attack occurred at approximately 6:05 P.M- just as nightfall in Qatar had set. It’s still not clear how many- or if any soldiers survived the ambush, or what led to the assault, but investigations are underw-”

“Memo, turn it off.” Charlie ordered hoarsely.

Memo swiped the remote from off the coffee table before pointing it at the screen and shutting off the device. He then placed the controlled back on the table and returned his attention to his distraught friend.

Miles sat on the sofa; head in his hands while his hunched form shivered as he sobbed.  Charlie sat to his right, slowly rubbing a hand over his back and whispering words of sympathy and understanding, while Mikaela sat to his left; her right hand rested on Mile’s left knee as she nodded along with the other young, woman. Every now and then, she would share a knowing look with Sam, but ultimately said nothing. She preferred that Charlie should be the one to offer words of comfort to Miles as she was the only other person in the room that knew what it was like to lose a father.

Memo and Sam sat at the three couch occupants’ feet…Memo in front of Charlie and Sam in front of Mikaela.

“He was supposed to be coming home next week…” Miles whimpered as he dug his fingers into his hair, “He was going to take mom to her favorite restaurant the night he got back…he and I were going to a game next Friday…mom had asked for next weekend off so we could hang out as a family again! But now…” Miles’ eyes clenched shut as another wave of emotional pain surged through his body, causing him to heave through another round of tears.

Charlie leaned down so she could hug Miles, who leaned into her touch, “I know it hurts, Miles. You know I do…” She croaked out. Her eyes moistened as she thought about her own father’s abrupt death. A heart attack at such a young age…what kind of twisted fate was that?

“Does it ever stop hurting…?” Miles wondered.

Charlie’s grip tightened. It had been a couple of years since her dad passed, and she was still stuck in her mourning phase. “I want to say ‘yes’, but…I’d be lying to both of us if I did that. I’m so sorry.” She continued her soothing strokes as Miles gave a sorrowful cry.

Memo looked over at Sam, “Hey man…you guys have family stationed over in Europe…any chance they know what’s going on? Maybe there’s some survivors the Pentagon doesn’t know about yet?” He asked hopefully. Sam and Mikaela glanced at each other before shaking their heads. “Dang…” The young man breathed, scratching at his head.

The sound of a car pulling into the driveway caught the groups attention, making almost everyone, save for Miles, perk at the sound.

“I think your mom’s home, Miles.” Mikaela announced as a car door slammed.

“I guess Chief Burns told her the news and let her come home early.” Memo guessed, taking note of the time.

Not even a moment later, the sound of jiggling keys could be heard from the other side of the door, followed by the sound of metal entering the slot and the click of a turning mechanism unlocking. A second later, the door swung open, revealing the frazzled looking Cynthia Lancaster.

Memo immediately clambered to his feet, “Hi, Mrs. Lancaster!”

“Hey, Mrs. Lancaster.” Charlie echoed. Through her tears, she mustered up a polite smile. She carefully untangled herself from Miles.

The young man looked up and locked eyes with his red-eyed mother, “Mom…”

“Miles…”

Hearing his name, Miles shot up from his seat and dashed into his mother’s waiting, open arms. Once in her protective hold, Miles broke down in gut wrenching sobs.

Tears rolled down Cynthia’s face as she ran a hand through her son’s hair, “I know, baby…I know…” she choked out, eyeing the last photo the family took together before husband’s most recent deployment. The only time she would see Tyler’s blue eyes again was when she looked into her son’s eyes. The same son that had just lost his father way to early in his life…

Cynthia’s eyes went over to the four other occupants that had been keeping her son company. Charlie and Memo were by no means strangers, but the silent duo that stood behind them were definitely a couple of new faces.

“Thank you for being here for Miles.” Cynthia thanked with a mustered smile.

“What are friends for, right?” Memo returned with a weak smile of his own.

Charlie, having noticed the Officer eyeing Sam and Mikaela, stepped back to fully reveal their new companions, “These are a couple of friends we met over the weekend.” She explained, “This is-”

“Sam Prime.” Sam interrupted with a grateful nod.

“Mikaela Banes.” The young woman added, “We’re so sorry for your loss.”

“Thank you.”

Memo jerked a thumb in the couple’s direction, “They’ve got family in the military too.” He informed.

Cynthia’s brows shot up, “Really?” She asked, fearing the worst.

“Yeah, but, they’re in Europe.” Sam quickly reassured.

Cynthia calmed, if only a little, “That’s good.” She cast a peek at her son who still maintained his death grip on her, but his sobbing had fizzled into hiccupping sniffles, “This is probably an overreach, but…is there any chance they might have an idea of who could have done this?” Cynthia’s green eyes bounced back and forth between the hidden aliens, pleading for some sort of closure for their loss.

Sam shook his head again, “Memo asked the same thing a few minutes ago, and I hate to say it, but…we don’t know anything yet. I’m sorry.”

Cynthia smiled as she blinked back more tears, but said nothing else as she resumed her attempts to sooth her son.

The four teens stood in awkward silence before Charlie’s phone buzzed with a text. After retrieving the device and reading the message, she looked up at the other occupants with an apologetic expression, “Hey, uh…you know, I would really love to stay and be here for Miles, but my mom wants be back home to take care of Otis. Apparently she’s gotta work a double shift at the hospital and Ron’s staying late at the office or something, so I uh…gotta get going…”

Memo winced, “If you need to leave, I might want to start heading off too. If my family sees that she’s home,” He jerked his head in Charlie’s direction, “My family’s gonna start wondering where I’m at and wonder when I’m coming home.” He gave a sheepish grin at Cynthia.

The Officer gave them a reassuring nod and smile, “We understand, and it’s probably for the best.” She looked at Miles again before continuing, “I think Miles need some time to ourselves anyway. We have a lot to talk about…but thank you all again for being here for my baby.”

“It was our pleasure, and we’re more than happy to give you your privacy.” Mikaela relented before turning to Charlie and Memo, “Sam and I will give you guys a ride home.” She offered as she fished out her keys from her purse.

“That sounds great, thank you!” Charlie praised.

With that settled, the group shared their goodbyes and additional condolences to the mother and son before filing out of the house and down the path to where Sam and Mikaela were parked.

It was when they were mere feet from the vehicles that Sam spoke up, “Actually ‘Kay…do you think you can give Memo and Charlie a ride home? I need to go check on something in town.” He suggested out of the blue. The other three teens paused and shared a look of mild confusion, prompting Sam to elaborate, “There’s something I’ve been…needing from the store, and I wanted to pick it up before the shop closes for the night.”

Memo looked at Charlie again before shrugging, “Charlie and I live right across the street from each other, so I don’t mind ridding along if ‘Kay doesn’t mind an extra passenger…”

Mikaela shook her head, “I don’t mind, cause it does make sense if you two live so close to each other.” She agreed.

“I was thinking the same thing. I mean, it would have been kind of weird to go home in two separate cars.” Charlie gave a small laugh at the thought.

Sam gave an enthusiastic nod, “Then it’s settled! ‘Kay will drop you off. I’ll go do my thing, and we’ll all meet up once Miles is feeling better.”

“Sounds like a plan.” Charlie gave a thumbs up.

Mikaela shot Sam a suspicious look as she unlocked her car, “I guess it does. I’ll see you back at Mr. and Mrs. Witwicky’s place?”

“I’ll see you there!” Sam confirmed, stepping forward and placing a kiss on Mikaela’s lips. Then before the femme could say another word, he turned and clambered into his vehicle. He flashed the group a quick wave and smile before pulling away and driving off in the direction of the city.

Mikaela watched for a second before motioning her companions into her alt form.

“Shotgun!” Charlie called out, sprinting to the passenger side door.

“Shotgun…in the back!” Memo returned awkwardly.

Mikaela smirked at their antics, “Shotgun in the driver’s seat.” She played along. Once everyone was settled and secure in their seats, Mikaela tuned in the radio to her passenger’s preferred station and drove off in the direction of their neighborhood. As she drove, the younger teens opted to share their theories as to what happened in Qatar, and who could have been responsible.

The femme medic in training listened along for a while and gave her own two cents here and there, but stayed mostly quiet during the conversation. Instead, she opted to open a comm link to her intended, ::Where are you going?:: She inquired after a while.

::I’m just going to do a coupe of rounds around the city and neighborhoods.:: Came Orion’s voice.

::Why?::

::Because…you said you picked up on a Decepticon’s signal the other day. And then today, we found that Rescue Bot Officer…::

::Yes? And?:: Electra pushed gently.

::And…it’s obvious we’re not alone. There’s other Cybertronians in town, and…I think there’s more out there.::

::‘Out there’ as in ‘other places on Earth’?::

::Exactly.:: Orion confirmed, ::Call me crazy, but…I don’t think humans are responsible for the attack.::

Electra fought the urge to furrow her holograms brows, ::You think Decepticons are responsible?::

::I do.::

::How-::

::I don’t know how or why, I just…do…::

::…They know Megatron and the Allspark are on this planet…:: Electra concluded nervously.

::I think they do. It’s obvious they’re trying to gather intel on where they are.:: Orion agreed grimly.

Electra tightened her hold on the steering wheel, ::Orion, this is getting dangerous! If there’s two confirmed Decepticons on this planet, chances are there could be more! Two younglings against a possible army of Decepticons…we don’t stand a chance on our own!::

::I know, I know! We’ll call in our creators and reinforcements, but first, we need to secure those glasses!:: Orion insisted.

::Alright, so what’s the plan? How do we do that?::

::I…don’t have one yet…::

::Orion-::

::But I’m gonna think of one! Don’t worry.:: There was a sigh from Electra’s end, ::Electra…I’m a Prime. I got this.:: Orion did his best to reassure his future mate.

Electra was silent for a moment before relenting, ::Alright. I trust you. But…I’m only going to give you till the end of the Earth week. If we don’t have the glasses by then, or if things get too dangerous…I’m calling for reinforcements.::

::Deal!:: Orion agreed.

::Good. Now…I’m about to drop off Charlie and Memo. Send me your coordinates and I’ll meet up with you as soon as I can. There’s no way I’m going to let you patrol on your own.::

Orion did as he was asked, right as Electra came to a stop in front of the young humans’ homes.

Charlie and Memo didn’t waste a moment in exiting the vehicle.

“Thanks for the ride, Mikaela! I owe you one!” Charlie thanked, through the open window.

“Me too!” Memo chimed in from the other side.

‘Mikaela’ flicked her hand in dismissal, “Oh, don’t worry about it! It was no trouble at all!”

Charlie made to say something when the front door of her house opened and a young boy stuck his head out, “Charlieee! Mom wants you to order pizza for us!”

The human in question winced before shooting her friend an apologetic look, “I’ve got to get going. The little gremlin wants pizza.” She rolled her eyes.

“Can we get sausage and pepperoni with extra cheese?” The boy called out again.

Charlie sighed, “Thanks again for the ride.” She patted the window frame before turning and heading towards her house, “Extra toppings costs extra ya ding-dong!” She complained.

“Okay, so pay the extra!”

“You pay the extra!” Charlie bit back. As she said this, she guided her brother back into the house and shut the door behind them, effectively drowning out the rest of their sibling argument.

Mikaela turned to Memo with a quirked brow.

“They argue like that all the time, but they love each other.” Memo insisted.

“Isn’t that the case with all siblings?” Mikaela teased, thinking about a certain red and yellow duo.

“Some more than others.” Memo agreed. He looked over his shoulder and then turned back to Mikaela, “Well, I gotta get going too. I’ve got a math quiz I’m supposed to be studying for anyway.” He jerked his thumb behind him.

Mikaela smirked, “Then you better get to it, if you still want that new car.”

Memo’s smile faltered, “Tell me about it! The last thing I need is my parents going back on our deal just because I failed one little quiz!” He held up a finger as he began to back up towards his house.

“That would be unfortunate.” Mikaela agreed. Her eyes went to the curb behind Memo and she quickly pointed out the danger, “Watch your step!” she warned.

Memo stopped right as his heel tapped the curb. Another step and he would have fallen on his aft. “Woah! Thanks!” He said, hopping safely onto the sidewalk, “Thanks again for the ride, and I’ll see you guys later!”

“We’ll see you soon.” Mikaela promised. She waved when Memo did and watched as he entered the safety of his own home. He gave a final wave before closing the door.

Now alone, Electra backed out of the cul-de-sack and turned to make her way to where Orion awaited her.

::I’m on my way.:: She commed.

::Great! But uh…you remember that Rescue Bot we met at the restaurant?:: Orion returned.

::Yes?::

::Well…he wants us to meet up with him and some of his comrades.::

Electra’s hologram frowned, ::Comrades? There’s more of them?::

::A full team.::

::A team…:: Electra repeated.

::I’m sending you the new location. I’ll see you in a few klicks.:: Orion instructed.

::I’m on my way.:: With that, Electra made a U-turn and headed off in the new direction to meet her companion and the unknown Rescue Bots.

Location: Tranquility Outskirts- Abandoned Warehouses

Time: Approximately 7:00 P.M

Dusk had long since set by the time the Autobot younglings arrived at the meeting point. At first glance, the location looked like nothing more than a cluster of condemned and abandoned warehouses, and for a moment, the duo wondered if Chase had somehow given them the wrong coordinates.

“Did you comm him?” Electra wondered as she scanned the desolate area.

“I did. He said we’re in the right location and he’s ‘coming up’…whatever that means…” Orion shifted his tires in confusion as he relayed the mech’s curt response.

“Weird…” Electra agreed, “Do you think he meant- Oh!” The femme gasped as the commercial door to her right creaked as it began to slide open. She backed up and positioned herself so that she was facing the potential threat while Orion reeved his engine in warning.

“At ease younglings.” Came the voice of Chase as he rolled out from the darkness, “There are no threats here. Only friends.”

“How many friends?” Orion asked, uneasy at the thought of being incredibly outnumbered.

“Three other mechs; seven humans; and five younglings.” Chase answered.

“Humans?” Electra repeated. There were humans that were aware of what they were?!

“That is correct. You and your companion already met five of them at the human establishment today.”

Orion inched forward, “Did you say there were also younglings?”

Chase’s headlights flashed, “Indeed I did. But I do not think it is wise to talk about them out in the open.”

“Why not?” Orion wondered.

“Because there is a Decepticon in the vicinity, is there not?”

Electra rolled forward, “I know I picked up on one, but I don’t know where they’re at right now.” She informed, suddenly feeling exposed out here…

“I think there may be more than one…” Orion corrected in a low voice.

The news seemed to rattle the cruiser as he dimmed his headlights, “You have…sensed more?”

“I haven’t.” Electra said. She followed Chase’s lead and switched her lights to low beam.

Orion switched his lights off all together, “It’s more of a hunch…” he admitted.

“I see…” Chase rumbled. He fell silent as he scanned the area out of paranoia. He assumed the young Autobots were going the same as they too fell into an uneasy silence. After a moment though, he cleared his throat and back into the warehouse, “Well…if there is more than one Decepticon in the area, then perhaps now would be a good time for you to enter our base of operations.” He switched his lights back on as he backed further into the warehouse, “If you two will follow me, I can take you to safety.” He instructed.

Orion and Electra hesitated before slowly rolling forward into the seemingly delipidated building. Once they passed the threshold, the commercial door began inching down, prompting the two to jerk forward so as to avoid any fresh scrapes on their bumpers. As soon as the barrier hit the ground, the younglings turned on their own headlights and awaited further instruction from the older mech.

“If you’ll follow me, there is a lift that is strong enough to hold the three of us. It will take us down to the lower level where the rest of my companions are waiting for us.” Chase announced as he backed up and led the way to the far end of the building.

“There’s a lower level to this place?” Orion repeated in awe.

“It is a relatively new feature provided by one of my companions and the human inventors and engineers.” As Chase said this, the group arrived to a pair of large, elevator-like double doors, which slid open for the trio. Chase rolled forward and parked in the center of the room. “Come along, Autobot younglings.”

Electra drove forward and parked next to Chase, while Orion followed and parked beside the femme. Once they were all settled, the doors slid shut and the floor jolted as it began its decent downwards.

It only took a few seconds for the lift to reach the bottom, and the doors opened once more, only this time, they opened in front of them instead of behind.

“A double ended elevator. Nice.” Orion praised as the three drove out of the lift.

“I am glad you like it.” Chase chuckled as he transformed into his bipedal form, “It was our engineer, Graham Burns, who thought of the idea.”

“Graham Burns?” Electra repeated. She stretched as she and Orion shifted out of their alt modes.

“That would be me.” A voice sounded from a nearby control panel.

Orion and Electra looked down to see the spectacled brunette from the burger place approaching them, “I’m Graham Burns,” he pushed his glasses further up his nose ridge, “We sort of met earlier today.” He greeted with a friendly grin.

“You’re Chief Burns’ youngling.” Electra recalled.

Graham chuckled at the alien terminology, “Yeah…I am.” He laughed a bit more as the rest of his family entered the room, closely followed by the young girl that had accompanied them during their dinner trip and an older gentleman with shoulder length dreads. As they all filed in, Graham pointed out the individual members, “Speaking of my dad, you already know Chief Burns,” He pointed to the aging Officer, who nodded at the teen bots, “This is my older brother, Kade,” A young man in a partial firefighter’s uniform gave a single nod as he crossed his arms, “My sister, Dani,” The woman wearing the black jumpsuit smiled and waved, “And our little brother, Cody.” Graham wrapped an arm around the blonde boy’s shoulder.

“Hi!” Greeted the enthusiastic Cody. He was always willing to meet some new Cybertronians, and after the brief history lesson the Rescue Bots provided about the Autobot-Decepticon war, he was stoked to meet some genuine Autobots!

“Over here, we have Frankie Greene,” Graham continued as the young girl stood beside Cody, “And this is her dad, Dr. Ezra Greene…our head scientist and the city’s top inventor.”

Dr. Greene waved off the praise with a blush, “I don’t know about top inventor…but certainly one of the best.” He puffed his chest out with pride as he said this.

Frankie stepped forward, “So…Autobots, huh?” She looked the newcomers over with interest, “You all are the good guys.”

Orion and Electra shared a look, “More or less…” Orion scratched at the back of his head, “We’re still in training.” He gave a sheepish smile as he said this.

“We’re not official yet.” Electra agreed.

“But we’re getting there!” Orion insisted.

A scoff sounded from around the corner, and everyone turned to see a red mech enter the room, “Then I assume you’re not an official Prime either?”

Orion took a small step back as the older mech stared him down, “Uh…not exactly, no…”

Chase moved closer to the firetruck-looking bot, “Now Heatwave…there is no need to scare the younglings. They are here as friends and to help us take care of the Decepticon threat.” He glanced back at the Autobots, who gave a reluctant nod.

Heatwave huffed, “I think I have a better chance taking out a ‘Con than they do.” He dismissed.

“Heatwave.” Chase warned.

“No really, Chase! Look at them! They’re barley older than the younglings we have here!” Heatwave insisted as he glared at the young Prime and medic-in-training.

Orion and Electra perked at the mention of younglings again.

“Oh, come on, Heatwave,” A new voice joined in, “lets not doubt them so soon. We don’t even know their abilities.” A green mech reasoned as he and an orange bot entered the room.

“Exactly! We don’t know their abilities!” Heatwave hardened his gaze at the Autobots, “Which is all the more reason to doubt them.” He growled.

“Primus, are you a downer…” Orion thew back and he crossed his own arms.

Heatwave tensed, “I just know a couple younglings wouldn’t stand a chance against a full grown Decepticon!” He insisted. “Of all the qualified mechs and femmes they could have sent to this planet…why did they send you?”

“That is a good question…” The orange mech agreed, his green optics boring into the younglings’.

Chase turned to the duo, “I am afraid my team-mates bring up a good point…why are you two here alone? I would have thought the Prime would send a team of his strongest troops to dispose of any Decepticon threat?”

Electra winced as she and Orion locked optics, “It’s…a long story…” She said slowly.

“You’re not supposed to be here...are you?” Heatwave guessed.

Everyone’s gaze fell on the Autobot younglings.

Orion sighed, “…No. We aren’t.”

“Technically…we came here for a break.” Electra explained.

“To get away from all the trainings and expectations and…all…” Orion added weakly.

Heatwave stared, “A vacation.” He recapped.

“Basically, yeah.” Orion winced as he confirmed the mech’s suspicion.

The room’s occupants went quiet.

“Oh, we are so dead.” The green-optic mech whimpered.

Electra held up her hands, “No, no, look…we know it sounds bad to hear we ran away-”

“You ran away?!” The orange mech brought his hands to his head, “You mean, no one even knows you’re here?!”

“Blades, please let her continue.” Chase soothed.

Electra sent the police-bot a grateful nod, “Yes, we originally came here for the fun of it, but recent events have led us to-”

“Electra?”

Hearing the voice, the femme paused in her explanation and she looked at an equally confused Orion. The two stared at each other for a second before turning in the direction the voice had come from.

As it turned out, there was a hallway to their left where five younglings stood, staring at them in awe.

Four of them didn’t ring a bell with either Autobot, but the red and white mechling that stood front and center was all too familiar to Electra.

Though it had been several thousand years since the two had met, the femme knew that voice and face, for it was the same voice and face that belonged to her sire’s sister’s mechling, or, as they would call him on Earth, her cousin.

“Medix?!”