I can't fight this feeling any longer

And yet I'm still afraid to let it flow

What started out as friendship, has grown stronger

I only wish I had the strength to let it show

I tell myself that I can't hold out forever

I said there is no reason for my fear

Cause I feel so secure when we're together

You give my life direction

You make everything so clear

Can't Fight This Feeling - Reo Speedwagon

Alice rolled as she woke up, looking at Optimus. She stretched, careful not to disturb his slumbering holoform. Though she did lean down and place a gentle kiss to his lips before carefully climbing over him and out of the semi. She barely noticed Sam still asleep in the passenger seat before leaping out.

She knew the second she touched the ground that something was wrong. It was silent, and she could smell the stench of peroxide and other medical utilities. She spun, seeing the few soldiers towards the front. Panicked, she ran over, sliding to a stop the second she saw Jekyll. She walked over to him, noticing how panicked he looked.

"Jekyll?" His gaze snapped to her.

"Hysteria!" He grabbed her and hugged her. It was slightly uncomfortable. Though they were still friends and it had been a long time since they had quit dating, she still felt as if he wanted more that just a hug. As he and Hyde had said on many occasions.

"Jekyll. Where's Hyde?" She stilled as he began to cry.

"Giant robots. They... They took my brother!" Alice knelt as he fell, hugging him in return.

"Hysteria?" She turned to see Optimus' holoform. Jekyll looked up at him.

"Orion." He tried to compose himself but failed.

"Shhh. It's okay Jek. We'll get your brother back." He shuddered.

"He's probably dead and I couldn't save him." Alice continued to hug him until he fell asleep.

"Hyde is his brother?"

"Not by blood. They've been best friends since they were little." She carefully slipped from the sleeping man's hold, turning as Optimus embraced her.

"We will get Hyde back." He looked down at her. "I swear." She smiled a bit before standing on her toes and kissing him.

"What the hell?!" She turned quickly, ignoring Optimus' growl and staring, wide-eyed, at the bloodied form of her father.

"Dad?!"

"Will someone explain what is going on?!" Alice paled.

"First things first. Drops your guns and keep your trap shut." She ordered. "I'm not going to tolerate you shooting my Op."

"Your Op?" She smiled, looking up at Optimus.

"Yes, dad. My Op."

-

Prowl leaned against Jazz's shoulder, watching the movie with him. He had been jumpy all day, looking around for the slightest movement. His time as a hunter had made him jumpy and sensitive to the slightest sound. He knew that Metallicar's instincts were twice that, as she had been a part of this for a longer time than he.

Which brought him to wonder where the femme was. However, before he could focus more on the fact he felt Jazz pulling him down for a gentle kiss, making him relax.

"You're stressed, spark." Prowl hummed, pulling Jazz against his chest.

"No. Merely jumpy. I know I was always about rules and regulations but I've spent far to much time locked away in base. I need to get out. I need..." He trailed off, frowning when he relized just how dependant on hunts he was becoming.

"Wha' do ya need Prowle'?" He stood.

"To call Miss Singer's father." Prowl grabbed his arm.

"Why?" This made the mech sigh.

"Because I wish to see if he has a hunt for me."

"A hunt? Prowl. Ya don' mean...." The open door was ignored as he nodded.

"Yes. A hunt. As in what Sam, Dean, Metallicar and Alice all did before coming here. What I did before coming here." He then hesitated at his mate's frown. "Jazz, you don't understand. What they- what we do, is protect the humans. And-"

"Exactleh! We protect humans! No' hunt freakish forms of 'em!" Jazz defended. "And I'll be damned to the pit if I let you get hurt!" Prowl winced as Jazz's accent faded. Something that only happened when Jazz was upset. And right now, he was positively livid.

"Jazz, please. We hunt what kill the humans. So in a way we're defending humans in another form. Please, please, my spark, you have to understand. Let me show you. Let me-"

"We've got a hunt." Sam announced, making Prowl and Jazz turn, both wondering when he had gotten back. They saw him standing with Crosshairs behind him. "Give it a chance Jazz."

"Fine. What poor human are we hunting today?"

"A shapeshifter in Minnesota." Sam crossed his arms.

"Did you not just get back from a hunt?"

"Yeah, but Bobby was heading to check it out when he and a friend of Alice's were attacked by Decepticons. I came straight here before the others even got off the plane."

A gunshot echoed and Prowl and the others ran to the door, seeing Optimus running from an injured Bobby. Sam bit back a laugh.

"Guess Bobby found out."

"Found out wha'?" Jazz asked.

"Dad! Quit trying to shoot Optimus!" Alice snapped, grabbing the shotgun and pulling it from her dad's grip. "You shoot at him again and I swear I will make Prowl lock you in the brig for the remainder of your fragging stay!"

"Alice!" He snapped.

"Then don't shoot Optimus!" Bobby sighed.

"You always were protective." He growled, limping towards the base. Alice rushed to Optimus, who scooped her up.

"Thank you Alice." Prowl blinked and then stilled, his jaw dropping with Jazz's and Crosshairs'. Optimus kissed Alice, shielding her form from the sun as he pressed his forehead against her own. Crosshairs then grinned.

"'Ey Ratch! Ya owe meh today's ration o' energon!" Ratchet leaned through the door.

"You mean Optimus and Alice are together?" He watched as Crosshairs nodded. "Slag! I knew I shouldn't have bet against you!" Crosshairs laughed.

They all watched as Optimus walked in, glancing to each of them as they seperated. Bobby followed them in with his arms crossed.

"So apparently none of you knew either?" Ratchet shook his head.

"No. We didn't." He then stepped towards him. "Now you get in the Med Bay." Bobby merely rolled his eyes and walked forwards.

-

Soundwave froze at the sight of the femme ahead of him. She looked so familiar. Like he knew her from somewhere. He knelt, setting Galloway beside Sierra, who moved to stand behind him.

"Soundwave: Requests designation." The femme growled, baring her dentals.

"Why should I give it to ya 'Con?" She snapped, her voice making him wince. She sounded familiar too.

"Soundwave: Demands designation."

"The name's Metallicar." She hissed, crossing her arms. "Not that ya'd care, traitor."

"Soundwave: Not a traitor!" He defended. Sierra stepped up to him.

"Sounds?" She whispered.

"Sierra: Stay back." He knelt, shielding her. He noticed the femme's optics soften. He suddenly stilled, recalling his time in Kaon.

-

Kaon

Three Vorns Before The War

-

Soundwave braced against the acidic rain that poured around him, trying to shield his damaged and dented frame from the wind. He heard a sneeze and turned, seeing a mech barely younger than himself. He walked over, kneeling in front of him and raising his tattered glasses. "Hey, are you alright?" He asked.

"Who are jou?!" The mech snapped, his face going from blue to red and then to black. "Are jou here to bring us candies?"

"No. I'm Soundwave. You?"

"My creators called me Blitzwing. I-"

"Hey Blitz!" Soundwave turned, instantly moving to defend the mech behind him. "Hey! Who the hell are ya?!"

"Soundwave." He growled. The femme smirked.

"The designation's Ironspark." She walked up. "Nice to meet ya mech."

-

Present Day

-

"Ironspark." The femme, Metallicar, smiled.

"Ya remembered." She walked up, placing her servo on his shoulder. He hesitantly reached up, pulling her into a tight embrace instead. "Woah, easy Soundwave. Careful of the sparked femme." He stepped back quickly.

"Ironspark: Carrying?" She nodded and he smiled beneath his visor.

"Sounds. You know this Autobot?" He turned to Sierra.

"Ironspark: Leader of Rouge Kaonians." He looked to her. "Ironspark: Soundwave's true leader."

-

Arcee stood in the doorway, chewing lightly on her lower lip. She was watching Sam and Crosshairs, who were talking with Prowl and Jazz. They were discussing something called a hunt. Which Arcee understood very little of. Her optics remained focused on Sam, who was holding a folder with the information Bobby had gathered.

"A shapeshifter can be killed with silver." Prowl stated, looking between Jazz and Crosshairs. "But they can take the form of a human." Prowl slipped a silver blade from his subspace.

"So tha' is wha' we need?"

"That little blade?" Arcee asked, making everyone turn to her.

"O-oh. Hey 'Cee!" Sam smiled. "I-uh. I didn't hear you." She smiled.

"Stealth expert. Which could come in handy." Sam smiled.

"Sure. The more the merrier." Arcee merely transformed, her holoform appearing on the back of her alt.

"So what are we waiting for?"

-

Optimus sat at his desk, Alice laying on the edge of his datapad. She was attempting to read the little bit of Cybertronian that Optimus had managed to teach her. For the most part she was failing. Albeit epicly.

She groaned and Optimus chuckled, moving his thumb and rubbing her side. She giggled, making the Prime smirk. "Op. You know I'm ticklish." His bipedal form still, optics dimming. A moment later his holoform appeared in front of her.

"Oh, I know." With that he began to tickle her, making her squirm and laugh, trying to escape.

"Op! Please!" He smiled and leaned down, kissing her. She hummed against his lips, feeling as he pulled her into a sitting position on his lap. He pulled back after a moment and she looked up at him. "Optimus?"

"Yes, my spark?" She smiled.

"I...." She paused.

"What is it Alice?" Her gaze softened and she wrapped her arms around his neck.

"I love you." She had no warning as Optimus' holoform suddenly vanished. She chuckled a bit. "Oops." She winced as his bipedal form fell as well. "Didn't see that coming."