She says, "We've gotta hold on to what we've got.

It doesn't make a difference if we make it or not.

We've got each other and that's a lot.

For love we'll give it a shot."

Whoa, we're half way there

Whoa, livin' on a prayer

Take my hand and we'll make it - I swear

Whoa, livin' on a prayer

Livin' On A Prayer - Bon Jovi

(A.N.: Remember what Alice said in Chapter Thirteen? No? Well you'll learn soon enough. Yes? Good. Let the fun begin. {C.M.})

Alice curled against Optimus' chest, her face hidden in the cables of his neck. He had his arms wrapped around her, looking as if he wasn't letting go of her anytime soon. But the interruption came in the form of a loud knocking at the door. Alice bolted upright, eyes wide as Optimus sat up.

"Shhh." She held a finger to her lips as he nodded and moved away from her, mass-shifting as he did so. The insistent knocking picked up once more as Optimus neared the door. He opened it, the bright light hitting his face and making him shutter his optics. A chuckle met his audials and he shot an unseen glare at the femme.

"Party a bit much last night uncle Prime?" He opened his optics to find Metallicar, as he had figured.

"No. I merely did not get enough sleep." she shook her head. "And how are you this morning?" She groaned.

"Tanks have been rumbling all morning and I constantly feel like I'm about to purge. It is not fun." He chuckled.

"Of course it is not."

"Baby's just pouting." Optimus turned to see Dean strolling down the halls, Metallicar sticking her glossa out at him.

"It's your fault Dean." She muttered.

"Mine? If I remember correctly it was you who didn't let me-"

"Please, do not have this conversation here." Optimus sighed.

"Fine. Dean, I'm going back to bed." She turned on her heel and walked to her berthroom. Dean took off after her and Optimus shook his helm.

"Dean and Baby?" Optimus turned, smiling at the sight of Alice.

"Yes. It was." He closed the door and transformed, his holoform stepping from his alt and sauntering over to her. "Now. Where were we?"

-

Juliet and Gabriel were watching four of the bots, Bumblebee, Blitzwing, Bluestreak and Smokescreen as they played Halo. The youngest of the group was simply demolishing the others as he expertly scouted the area and took the others out.

Less than five minutes later the game ended, with Bumblebee as the winner. Juliet chuckled and looked around. Barricade, Prowl, Jazz, Rung and Ratchet were all talking in the corner, Ironhide walking away from the trio of femmes to join the mechs.

The femmes, Arcee, Flare-Up and Chromia were all talking amongst themselves. Though Juliet occasionally heard Chromia say something about Metallicar. Which brought her attention to the doorway, where the femme entered with Dean on her shoulder. Behind them was Crosshairs, who was growling at Dean for shocking him.

"Relax Crossers. Drift isn't even on base." Metallicar sat and Dean moved to sit over her spark chamber. She chuckled and rest her servo over him. Both were obviously a bit tired still so Juliet waved Sam and Crosshairs towards her. The former wore a set of leather gloves while the latter looked jittery.

"Hey! There you guys are. I can finally give Jules her present." Gabriel grinned.

"Gabe, you didn't have to get me anything."

"Yes I did. Now here!" He held up a small German Shepard puppy, which barked softly. "It's the world's first immortal puppy which will live as long as you do!" He had a huge grin on his face and Juliet sighed.

"Gabe, I'm not six anymore."

"But.... Immortal pupy." He pouted. Lennox and Epps both thought it was adorable and stated as much, earning a look from Gabriel. "I didn't work on this for you two. It's for Jules. A tiny spot of happiness in this hellhole called life." She couldn't help it. She smiled, taking the puppy and hugging it.

"Thank you Gabe." The puppy jumped up and licked her, causing everyone to laugh.

"So what are ya gonna name her?" Metallicar asked.

"Hmmm.... Zasha!" She smiled. The puppy seemed to approve as she slipped free and jumped onto her chest, surprising her enough that she fell back. She was then attacked by the hyper puppy, who kept licking her repeatedly.

It was only when Lennox walked in that the calm was broken.

"I just got word from the Decepticons."

-

Metallicar was fuming as she paced the room, taking care to avoid Dean. The other humans, however, were forced to move, as she hadn't seen them. Lennox had explicitly stated that, in order to get Galloway back they had to turn over Barricade and Blitzwing. The former who she had come to get along with and the latter who was her best friend.

Needless to say, Lennox was considering it. He had to, given that Galloway was they liaison to the outside world. If they didn't get him back then that would cause problems.

"I cant believe he's intending to go through with it! They'll kill Barricade the second they see him! Same with Blitz!" Juliet walked up to Metallicar and she stopped, an action that had everyone staring.

"What other choice is there? Stage a rescue mission?" Metallicar grinned.

"And why not?" Juliet shook her head.

"No, no, no! You're carrying a sparkling. You shouldn't be stressed, let alone staging a suicide mission into the heart of Decepticon turf to save some idiot who no one even likes!" Metallicar glared down at her.

"And for that comment you have been volunteered to go with me."

"What?!"

"Hell no Meta! You are not going to some random ship!" She knelt down, looking to her angered sparkmate.

"Dean I have to. And they can't harm a sparked femme. Which means I'm the most logical choice."

"Baby, please." He begged.

"Look. I'm fully willing to take you with me so that you can make sure I stay safe. I would take Stargaze, but in case you haven't noticed she took Sam, Op and Alice on a hunt an hour ago." He frowned and sighed.

"There's no stopping you, is there?"

"Nope."

"Then let us come with." She turned, seeing Smokescreen and Bluestreak.

"No, you guys just got off the ship not long ago." They shook their helms.

"No way you're leaving us behind. You'd have to knock us out or tie us up and throw us in a box, or even lock us in the brig, or-"

"Blue! She gets the point." She chuckled and stood.

"Alright. Let's plan."

-

"And I'm tell you it's that way!" Alice pointed in the opposite direction of Sam, who was glaring at her. Optimus was shaking his head at the duo. Stargaze was behind them, having gotten tired of their bickering.

"No! It's that way!"

"I'm telling you, I've been here before. It's that way to Denver!" Optimus sighed and let his head drop. "Optimus, where are we?"

"Some place called Fort something."

"Collins. And in that event, Denver is south of here!"

"There's a lot of places in this state that begin with Fort!" Optimus pointed to a sign.

"But I believe Alice is correct." Sam groaned and fell back in the seat. Alice grinned and pointed.

"Now get to I-25, go South and it's a straight shot from there." Dean shook his head.

"You're probably leading us in the wrong direction." She glared at him, a book suddenly flying and hitting his head. This made everyone jump and Optimus pull to a quick stop.

"What the hell was that?!" Alice was holding her head, making Optimus instantly worried.

"Alice!" His holoform knelt by her and she shook her head.

"I'm fine. Just a headache." Sam looked to her and frowned.

"Alice, tell me something. After Optimus died, did you see him? Speak to him?" She nodded.

"Yes. Why?"

"You have mediumship and you never told anyone?" She shrugged.

"And? It's all I got as a psychic."

"I doubt that." She glared at him.

"What the hell's that supposed to mean?!" She winced as Sam's computer flipped up and smacked him in the face. He groaned in pain, holding his nose.

"What just happened?" Optimus asked.

"You're little pain in the aft charge has telekinesis!" He growled, pain and anger shining in his eyes.

"What is that?"

"It's the ability to move things with one's mind. I mean, Missouri said things would develop as I aged. If I got them, that is. She said no garuntees on anything, that I'd probably be stuck with just mediumship." Optimus took her hand.

"So this new development. It is.... Good?"

"Very good. If I can control it." He nodded and stood a bit, kissing her forehead.

"Then I will find some way to help you control it." He moved to leave but she grabbed him, taking note of Sam's interest in their interactions.

'Fuck it. Who cares if he knows?' The moment the thought crossed her mind she tugged Optimus down, kissing him quickly. She had intended on making it short and sweet but Optimus held her to him. Though when his arm had wrapped around her she had no idea.

"Get a room." Sam muttered. Optimus chuckled as he pulled back, glancing to Sam. "So how long has this been going on?"

"When was that party of Jazz's?" Sam's eyes widened.

"It was not quite then sweetspark. Remember, it happened after...." She suddenly paled at his words.

"After Egypt." She winced and Optimus hugged her. Sam watched the duo for a moment before taking note that they had resumed driving at some point and were now in the city they had been searching for.

"Damn. She was right."

-

Barricade sat in the rec room, his helm in his servos. Beside him was a woman with long brown hair, the locks hiding her face. It was flat and slightly frizzed, though the green-eyed woman didn't seem to care. She was knelt beside Barricade, her hand on his leg.

::'Cade? Come on love, look at me.:: He did so, staring down at his small mate. She smiled slightly, her eyes brightening. ::So much better.::

"I apologize, my spark. I am merely conflicted."

::Don't be.:: The mute woman reassured him through their bond. ::I have fullest faith in the Autobots to figure out an alternative.::

"You are right." She smirked.

::Aren't I always?:: He picked her up and she lay back in his servo, smiling up at him.

"Some of the time." She chuckled through the bond. "Alexis."

::Yes?::

"I love you, my spark." She smiled.

::I love you too, 'Cade.::

-

Metallicar held Dean in her servo, ignoring Lennox as he tried to chase her down. "Meta, I don't care if it is just a walk around the island. They will kill me if they find you missing."

"I highly doubt that William." She looked to him. "Besides. Just tell them Dean and I wanted time to think. Away the ruckus on base. We're just taking Bluestreak, Smokescreen and Juliet. That's it. We're going surfing, swimming. Just leisurely time off as a group." Lennox sighed.

"Fine. But be careful."

"We will be." She walked out, seeing Bluestreak and Smokescreen with surfboards, hers stuck into the sand. "Ready?" Juliet walked out from behind the board.

"We're ready."

(A.N.: So I apologize for the wait, I've been busy lately and got stuck at one point. Plus I almost forgot an important part and had to go back, add it in and edit the chapter around it. So yeah, I hope you guys liked it! As for the argument between Sam and Alice. This is an argument I had with ShadeDaruk. She threw a book at me for it because I ended up being right. ;-; I have a strange friend. lol And another thing, sadly we are nearing the end, of book one that is. I know it hasn't been the greatest, but for me when a story gets started it's kind of jumpy and I guess I did that for a good part of the book. To be honest? This was only supposed to be a few chapters and that was it. I didn't expect anyone to read it. So thank you. All of you. I hope you've enjoyed this book so far and will continue to enjoy it as it continues on. ^.^ Also, sorry for the long note. I didn't think it'd be this long. hehehe {C.M.})