"Preparation doesn't assure victory, it assures confidence."

~Amit Kalantri

>>•<<

June woke up with a sore body. It had been some time since she had laid in a proper bed, and her body was letting her know. The trailer was quiet, as Jack wasn't here to start making pancakes or eggs or whatever he decided to have that day.

Sitting up with a groan, she wiped her cheeks to get rid of the feeling of tear stains before stretching, slipping on her slippers before walking to the kitchen area, turning on the stove and placing a pan on the warming coils. She had a good cry last night, now it was time to focus and go back to her job. She'd been gone for far too long; and her leave wasn't being paid for.

Cooking up a few pancakes she sat down at the lonely table for four, staring at the empty seat where her boy usually inhaled his food before rushing off to the Autobot base. Casting her eyes downward she slowly ate her own breakfast before dressing in scrubs and a jacket, doing her morning routine and then sliding into her car.

It was a little odd, actually driving for once. The Autobots were a convenience she hadn't thought about until she was behind her own wheel. She was extra-defensive this time, to make sure her lack of driving for herself didn't give her any excuse to cause a wreck, arriving at the hospital earlier than anticipated.

After clocking in she bid hello to several friends and acquaintances before going to her assigned floor, getting ready for work- changing sheets, bed pans, and the like.

"Hey, Nurse Darby." The head doctor catches her before she slips into a patient's room. "Have you received the medical supplies yet from your agent friend?"

Surprise, then embarrassment, made her face blush pink. "Oh, yes! Agent Fowler has those supplies ready for me to pick up. I've just been a bit . . . Busy . . ."

"We heard about Jack and his friends." Came the soft, warm reply. "I wish everyone working on the case to have the best of luck. I've met a few FBI agents in my time; they're good people. They'll find them."

"Thank you." June strained herself, mentally chanting the words don't cry, don't cry, don't cry.

"Don't worry too much about the medical supplies." The head doctor waves a hand. "I can send someone else to get them-"

"No, it's all right." June replied hurriedly. "I'll get them after today and bring them in tomorrow. I could get an update from Agent Fowler then." She forced another smile, causing the doctor to look at her for a long time before finally conceding.

"Alright, if you insist." He smiled. "Keep up the good work, Nurse Darby." And with that he turned away, allowing her to get back to her task at hand.

>>•<<

"Alright, now try again, but this time, much faster." Smokescreen encourages Rafael as the boy struggled to get back into his alt mode. "It should become second nature after a while."

Raf now sported a simple, light brown paint job, his bright blue optics shinning as he concentrated, soon feeling all of his parts moving and causing his height to shrink, still very new and slow to the process, this being the second time he could get it right. Soon, a 2014 Cadillac CTS Coupe looked back at Smokescreen, it's engine revving before Rafael begins to slowly drive around in it.

"This is kind of weird." Raf speaks through the radio, using his mirrors to "see." It was actually incredibly odd, a sensation he couldn't really describe. He had to admit that going fast would be very fun, to feel the wind whipping past him and his tires eating the road, a luxury Bee spoke of but couldn't really describe.

"Dude, it's actually super awesome!" Miko countered excitedly, having already mastered her own alternate mode. "Now you can drive whenever you want!"

"But I'm still under sixteen." Raf argued, transforming back into his bipedal mode with ease. Going back to his "natural" mode was easy; it was the alternate mode that was much harder. "I barely knew how to drive as a human."

"That's alright, Bumblebee and I can teach ya!" Smokescreen pats the scout on the back, who whirrs his agreement. "With all that desert out there, we can do all sorts of stuff-"

"With all that sand?" Ratchet demands. "Not a chance! These bodies are completely brand new, and I will not have them suffer from sand damage at such an early age!"

Miko rolled her optics. "Yeesh. He sounds like my mom."

"Then where do you suggest they go, doc?" Wheeljack asks, sitting on the medical berth impatiently as Ratchet checks his wound and vitals. "You know of any abandoned parking garages?"

"No, but I'm sure I can find one." The medic replies, typing a few things into his computer. "You're good to go for now, Wheeljack. But I will not allow you to participate in any missions."

Wheeljack slumped and opened his mouth to whine and complain when Miko cut him off.

"Hey, does that mean I can go?!" She asks excitedly. "With Wheeljack and Ultra Magnus out, you're short of a couple bots, and I know how to transform now!"

"Into a Cybertronian vessel, which doesn't really scream 'inconspicuous.'" Ratchet adds, beginning to tinker with his scanner again. "And you still need experience, Miko. We can't just throw you out into the field without any proper training."

"Hey, I heard she kicked Vehicon tailpipe." Smokescreen replies defensively. "She seems to be able to handle herself."

"Against Vehicon troops, which isn't saying much." Ratchet continued to press. "What about against the other Decepticons? Or the Predacon?"

Miko's ponytails drooped as Ratchet shot down her dreams, and she crossed her arms with a pout.

"Don't worry about it, Miko." Bulkhead put a massive hand on her shoulder. "You'll be out in the field in no time, I guarantee it! Besides, Optimus has the last say; and I don't think he'd deny a new Wrecker the chance to proved herself."

She brightened at that. "Really?"

"Doubtful." Ratchet muttered, but let the argument slide. The new power source Agent Fowler had lugged in alongside Raf's choice of alternate mode was just the thing he needed, and after a few more minutes of him playing around with it and the new kids continuing to practice transformation and defensive skills, he had it finished.

"Alright, who wants to be my first patient?" His optics shone excitedly as he waved his new scanner around. He must have seemed too excited, because Rafael and Miko looked at each other warily before the former stepped forward.

"I guess I can go first." He stood still while Ratchet approached him.

"I'll need you to stand still; any movement could throw off its imaging." He warns, Rafael able to easily go completely still while the blue beam passed over his body and began to download information. The scanner didn't tingle like it had last time, when Raf was human. Probably because his body was now "compatible" with the scanner. It could read him with more ease now, and possibly not have any ill effects on his body like it might have had on his human form.

Ratchet finished his scan in a little under thirty seconds, beckoning for Miko to step up next. She seemed more at ease now that Raf hadn't seemed to be harmed by the beam and the scanner itself hadn't exploded.

When Ratchet was done he pulled up the scans onto the big screen, carefully scrutinizing each part.

"Everything looks to be in order; no missing or potentially broken parts. No sign of any rust infection, and things seem to function properly . . . Hmm . . ." He paused, scrutinizing their T-cogs.

"What is it, doc?" Wheeljack looks at the medic, noticing how his brows were furrowed in a concentrated, almost confused manner.

"Is something wrong?" Rafael felt a twinge of fear in his spark.

"I don't know." Ratchet typed something onto the keyboard, bringing a side-by-side of their T-cogs into closer view. "I might be wrong, but . . . It looks like you have some kind of holoform projector attached to your T-cogs. Not unusual, but it's not . . . normal. It's far too big to be just that."

Arcee stood, the only one in the group who was a slight expert, seeing as she used one herself constantly. "Do you think it might just be that way because Shockwave had to build it from scratch?"

"Possibly. But also unlikely." Ratchet leaned back a bit. "Holoforms are an update most Cybertronians don't have or are even aware that they could have, mostly because we've never had to blend in with a human population before." His blue-green optics settle on the small femme. "Yours isn't capable of anything more than just an immobile figure, correct?"

"I can do some subtle movements, if I try hard enough." She shrugs. "Are you saying they could have an updated version?"

"It's a theory." He says reluctantly, not wanting to get their hopes up. "The only way to know for sure would be to test it out."

"Cool! So, how do we activate holoforms?" Miko asked.

"Usually, it helps to transform into your alt mode." Arcee explains. "Then activate your holoform. It can be just about anything; for undercover purposes mine is a human female in full motorcycle gear."

"So I could be anything I want?!" Miko bounced a little in excitement. "I could be a Vulcan or ninja?"

"We'd prefer if you were human, Miko." Ratchet grumbled.

"Try it out, and let's see what happens." Smokescreen was just as eager as Miko to see results.

The femme didn't hesitate, transforming into her Seeker alt mode and hovering carefully a few feet above the ground, minimising the wind disturbance she made in such a confined area, able to move her thrusters in such a way that they pointed directly down to the ground. Raf followed suit with his Cadillac, transforming and sitting briefly.

It took a few seconds, but then suddenly he could materialise into his own driver's seat, his mind splitting slightly as he had to get used to seeing in two different point of views: one from his own body, and one from his holoform. He found that he could moved, and when he adjusted his mirror, he saw the face he had always expected to see staring back at him.

"Whoa . . ." He said softly, adjusting his own glasses. He was . . . Human, again, if only temporarily. It didn't matter, he would have given anything for this . . .

When he opened his car door and stepped outside, the base had gone silent. Miko stood a few feet away from him, her whiskey colored eyes twinkling as they filled with tears.

"Raf!" She ran over and hugged his holoform, which he was surprised to learn had become solid. "Look at me, Raf!! I'm human again!"

"Me too . . ." His words were still caught in his throat, all of these emotions welling up inside him. All hope seemed to have been lost, but now, there was some left. Miko knew it too, as she twirled around on her human feet again, looking up at her guardian.

"Look, Bulk! It's me!!" She laughed and spun around, showing them a 360 of her holoform. "Ta-da!"

Agent Fowler was staring with his mouth hanging open, hands gripping the railing of the catwalk. If these two had it, it meant that Jack would have a holoform as well. June would be able to see her son again in the very near future, as a human.

There seemed to be hope after all.

>>•<<

Optimus Prime, for the first time in a long time, was restless. So many things were happening at once, and it was hard to keep track and stay on task. They had the Predacon to worry about, but now also the kids, and the Decepticon's mission to collect more bones and create more of the beast.

Even when he tried to fly out, with the excuse that he was scouting, he could not calm the overwhelming sense of guilt and worry that ate at him. He thought Ultra Magnus would be of great help, but after he had suffered such grave injuries and could probably never walk correctly again, Optimus was back to doing his best to keep everyone happy and in line.

But moral was suffering, not just because of injuries, but because of what had happened to the human children, who he swore to protect until his dying breath. And now, they were human no more, and Jack was left to the mercy of Megatron. Because he was no longer human, the warlord didn't have to worry about being gentle any more.

As he allowed himself to wallow in the misery of failure, for a short time of indulgence, his comlink opened as Ratchet contacted him.

::Optimus, you have to see this.::

>>•<<

The new language danced before his optics mockingly, his vision blurring slightly as he tried to focus and remember what each symbol meant. They had an alphabet, like most languages, but each character was just similar enough that it made it hard for him to remember which one was which.

It also didn't help to have the silent communications officer watching beside him, possibly judging every move he made. Soundwave had never-ending patience, or at least it seemed that way. He didn't try to see just how far the Decepticon was willing to let him push before he shoved back.

His fingers carefully typed what he believed to be the correct word into the waiting prompt, their lack of multiple keys only confusing him further. He had never learned a second language, didn't eve try, and thus the entire experience was completely new to him.

Jack resisted the urge to slam his hand on the keyboard, instead he kept typing.

Errors glowed before in in red, while the correct words glowed in blue. He was informed that this was the "basics" of Cybertronian, however it didn't seem very basic to him. Soundwave could just be messing with him, taking sadistic enjoyment in his misery.

They had yet to give him an alternate mode, or any other training besides fighting. He could utilize his weapons easily enough, but walking, talking, and overall acting like a proper Cybertronian was left out of his schedule. They also lacked any explanation for the multiple updates that ran through his processor; what it all meant.

Shockwave wanted to take things slow, but to his frustration it was too slow. He hoped Miko and Rafael were not suffering the same frustration due to the Autobots.

The Autobots . . . Megatron tried so hard to make him hate them, to despise their existence, but he couldn't. Not when he was being treated so poorly by the side the warlord wanted him on. Even as a lowly human, the Autobots had nothing but respect and kindness for him, even if it was a tough bit of love on occasion. There was nothing like that here, and it gave him no incentive to stay.

Several words popped up in red this time, and Jack let out a long vent of frustration, but he only allowed himself that one expression of anger. He had to control himself; he was out of his league, and being angry would do nothing for him.

And so he backed up, and re-typed it all in again, trying to ignore the presence that lingered beside him.

>>•<<

Rafael's alt mode: