"Life is like a mirror, you only see one side."

Arcee didn't know whether to tear her holoform's hair out of her holoform's scalp, or to destroy her cover - and perhaps her relationship with Nilsa - and finally take down Knockout.

But-

Arcee's eyes peered at the humans in between her and Knockout in the cinema. Carlos was in the middle of all of them, Hermes sat on Carlos's right with Knockout by his side, Nilsa sat to the left of Carlos with Arcee at Nilsa's side.

They all looked so happy. Even Knockout, the normally hostile towards humans mech was actually enjoying himself. And Arcee, could only imagine that it was only because of the man beside him.

Arcee sighed, moving her holoform's eyes back to the screen in front of them. She didn't want to destroy everything that existed between the five of them; she loved Nilsa too much to do that to her.

And for once, Arcee felt like she actually understood what a Decepticon was thinking. Neither of them wanted to blow their covers as Cybertronians in front of the human they loved.

🏍

"I forgot how awesome that movie was," Carlos grinned, stretching his arms above his head as the five of them walked out of the Cinema.

"Pirates of the Caribbean was waaaaay better than that horrible excuse of a movie," Nilsa sniffed, scowling at nothing.

Alice snorted, "At least it wasn't as horrible as that movie you put on for us last month," she elbowed Nilsa who poked her tongue out at the other woman.

"The Cat in the Hat is a traditional movie," Nilsa insisted, "Everyone needs to see it at least once in their life."

Carlos and Hermes laughed at that. Ken merely looked confused, not understanding what was so funny.

A buzz sounded from a phone, and all five reached into their pockets - Alice and Nilsa had gone shopping a while to find pants that actually had pockets - and turned each cellphone on. 

Nilsa's body stiffened the very slightest as she read over her next mission request.

Alice's shoulders sagged as she read the text from Ratchet, asking her where the hell she was, and that she needed to head back to base immediately.

Hermes rolled his eyes at his friend, Riley's text, asking him if he was still alive.

Carlos grinned as he opened up his email paycheck, letting out a low whistle at the amount of his winnings from his last competition.

Ken muttered a curse as he read over the statement from Soundwave, telling him to return to the Warship a.s.a.p.

"I've got to go," four voices said. Nilsa, Alice, Germes, and Ken all looked at each other, amused smiles blooming.

"Gee, thanks," Carlos rolled his eyes, "I'm the odd one out. Thanks guys."

All of them burst into laughter at that. Only Carlos could ruin the tense atmosphere that surrounded a group of friends.

"See ya losers," Carlos gave the other four a two fingered salute as they parted ways.

"See ya, dickhead!" Nilsa shot back at him, ignoring the glares of mother with young children around them.

Alice snorted as Nilsa gave the mothers the finger when their backs were turned. Not that the mothers knew.

That the thing I love about her, Arcee decided. She doesn't give a damn about what anyone else thinks about her.

🏍

Nilsa sped through the night on her midnight black motorcycle. Her normally flaming red hair had been tucked under her jacket to keep it tidy. 

Nilsa's pitch black helmet was sparkling with the reflection of the stars above in the sky. The moon smiled down upon her, unknowing of what Nilsa's intention this late night was.

Currently, Nilsa was headed through the backroads to New York. She definitely did not want anyone following her to where she was going.

She didn't want-

No, Nilsa shook her head to get rid of those thoughts. No one other than Carlos would ever find out about tonight. Ever.

A few hours later, and she finally reached her destination. A construction worksite that had been "abandoned" for a little over a year now.

Nilsa pulled off her helmet when she stopped, placing it on her handlebars before standing the foot peg so that the cycle would be balanced, and swung her leg over swiftly, standing calmly as she took in the sight of the site.

To the normal everyday person's eye, it would look as if the "abandoned" worksite really was abandoned. But to Nilsa's keen hawk-like eyes, she could instantly see that plenty of cars had been in and out of the site recently, that some machinery had been moved, et cetera.

Nilsa removed the lid to the hidden compartment on her bike, and brought out her black face mask, and her multiple of guns.

She pressed the mask to her face, and the nanobots easily made tiny, unbreakable "strings" that held the mask in place.

This mission wasn't like the others, this mission, Nilsa didn't want any part of her face getting out. Her mask had netted, sunglasses-like patched over her eyes so she would be able to see, but no one else would be able to see her.

She didn't want her to-

Nilsa walked on immediately, throwing out any thoughts that weren't about this mission.

She honestly didn't need to keep thinking about her, just at this moment. Nilsa could go back to worrying what Alice thought of her after this mission.

She was ready.

Lol, it's short, but it's an update, folks!

Towards the end, I wanted to show the struggles Nilsa has in her everyday life. She strives to show everyone the perfect image she has set up, but she fears that that image will come crashing down one day. And she doesn't want "Alice" to be the one to see it go falling apart.

Hope you enjoyed!

[2/05/2020, holy schist. I am so sorry guys this chapter was supposed to be updated months ago. I am so sorry.]