I let out a nervous breath as I stare at the phone in my hand, and more particularly, the phone number on the phone screen. I sigh as I press the call button. Putting it up to my ear, I only hear the first ring before a very disbelieving voice comes through the phone.

"Astraea?" Tori asks. I chuckle nervously.

"Hey, Tori", I say softly.

"Oh my gosh! You're actually calling me! What happened to make you call me! What do you need Astraea?" 

I laugh wholeheartedly this time, amused at Tori's excited chatter.

"Calm down, Tori. I'll explain later. In the meantime, Jack, Miko and Raf wouldn't happen to be near you, would they?"

Tori was silent for a moment. "You called at just the right time, Astraea. We're all on break at the moment. Let me put you on speaker."

A few moments later, I hear Miko's excited chatter. "Astraea!!! Oh, we missed you so much!! What happened to make you call us?!"

I laugh again. "I'll explain later. In the meantime, I was wondering if you'd like to meet up somewhere? Preferably somewhere there isn't a lot of people?"

Silence for a moment. "Um... Well, you could always come back to Unit E. There aren't many people around here, and I think Fowler would like to  see you again."

I blink before a smile lights up my face. "Alright. What time works best for you guys?"

"Anytime tomorrow, I think", Tori says. "Let me go check with Fowler."

After several minutes of small talk, Tori speaks again. "Fowler says anytime tomorrow. He's actually fairly excited to see you."

I smile even wider. "Great! I'll see you tomorrow then!"

"Alright, see you tomorrow, Astraea!" They all chorus. Before they can hang up, I speak up again really quickly.

"Wait! Is it okay if I bring a friend? I think he's someone you'd really like to meet."

"Is he a trustworthy person?" Jack asks cautiously. I smile softly, knowing they couldn't see it.

"He's one of the most trustworthy people I know", I say. Silence for moment before Raf speaks up.

"You're welcome to bring him as well, Astraea", he murmurs. A grin seemed to be permanently plastered on my face.

"Great! I'll see you guys tomorrow!"

After they hang up, I go outside to where Bumblebee is waiting. When he sees me, his eyes are instantly anxious for the answer.

"Well?" he asks. I smile up at him.

"We'll be meeting them at Unit E tomorrow", I say. He cheers slightly, before frowning. 

"Um... isn't that across the country?" he asks. I blink before facepalming.

"It is indeed", I mutter. "We'll have to leave now if we want to get to Unit E by tomorrow."

Bumblebee nods before calling everyone over to us.

"Astraea and I are going to go see some old friends. I trust that you guys will be able to remain hidden and not get into trouble", Bumblebee says sternly. "Strongarm, I'm putting you in charge, but if Denny has anything to say, you have to listen to him."

Strongarm nods, and Bumblebee watches as I run to my car to grab some pajamas and a change of clothes for tomorrow. I always stayed the summer here at the scrapyard, so I had clothes in my car.

Bee then transforms and we were on our way. After several hours of driving, breaking the speed limit a couple times, we soon came into the town closest to Unit E. Bee stopped at a hotel, where I got a room, and fell asleep quickly. When I woke up the next morning, I quickly changed into my other change of clothes before running outside to where Bee was waiting. I climbed into the driver's seat, and we quickly took took, getting to Unit E at about ten in the morning. We were stopped at gate by military men.

"Identification", one man says as he comes up to the driver window. I blink before speaking.

"Like, my driver's license?" I ask. He nods. I pull it out and he looks at it before handing it back to me.

"You're good to go through", he says. "But only because you've been here before."

I blink and smile at him, before Bee and I drive to Unit E. He parks outside while I walk inside. Immediately I was glomped by hugs from four excited people. I laugh as I recognize older versions of Jack, Miko, Tori, and Raf. Looking over them, I smile softly.

"So... Where's this guy friend you spoke of yesterday?" Tori teases, her eyebrows waggling suggestively. My face scrunches up as I realized exactly what she was thinking.

"First off, Tori, ew, no! Second, he's outside. I wasn't sure if you would want me to bring him in..."

Tori furrows her eyebrows in confusion. "Of course we want him to come in! He should have just come in with you."

I chuckle softly. "Alright, well you're going to have to open the hangar doors then."

I could tell they were all confused but did as I said, and Bee came driving in. Everyone was confused, except for Raf who recognized the color scheme, even if it was backwards from when they saw him last.

"No way", Raf whispers. The other three look at him in confusion until he whispers one more word. "Bee?"

Bee lets out a laugh. "How bout you close those hangar doors so I can transform without freaking out the soldiers outside?"

They quickly close the hangar doors and Bee transforms. Raf looks up at him with tears in his eyes.

"Bumblebee!" he exclaims as he runs over to his former guardian. I smile softly as I hang back, watching as Jack and Miko go over to him. Tori watches in amusement before walking over to me.

"So... where'd you find him?" she asks.

"A scrapyard just outside of Crown City", I say. She blinks. 

"Crown City? You mean the Crown City that is literally on the other side of the country that takes like fourteen hours to drive there?"

I blink and nod. She stares at me. "Girl, how did you get here so fast?"

I smile softly. "Um... we left like four thirty yesterday and drove most of the night, getting to the city just outside of here about four thirty this morning. We stopped at a hotel so I could rest, and left at about nine."

"That's twelve hours. What happened to the other two hours?"

I chuckle nervously. "We... may have sped a bit..."

Tori blinks before shaking her head. "I swear, you and Bee should not be driving together..."

I smile softly but don't say anything otherwise. After a few moments, Tori spoke again. "Did... did any other Autobots appear with him?"

I blink before noticing her sad eyes. I was confused until realization hit me like a ton of bricks. "Ratchet never came back after... after Optimus died, did he?"

She sighs. "He did, to tell us what had happened with... with Optimus, but said that he was still needed on Cybertron to help Ultra Magnus and any other injured cybertronians. And I haven't seen him since."

I frown. "I'm sorry, Tori."

"It's fine. At least, I'm still able to talk to him via our mental connection, so I know what's been happening lately", Tori murmurs. "I'm mainly concerned about you. How have you been since..." she hesitated. "Since Optimus died?"

I blink before sighing. "The only thing that's kept me going for the most part is my students and two people I work with over the summer... Well... until recently that is..."

Tori tilts her head to the side. "What do you mean?"

I sigh. "For the past five years, I have cried every single time Optimus' name is mentioned, or I thought of him. My work provided a distraction from him. But... yesterday... I saw him... I saw him and I talked to him. He was actually physically here on Earth for several minutes... he had to leave after a while, but... but he was there." I pause only to had on a sentence when I saw Tori's disbelieving face. "And I promise I'm not hallucinating. I'm not the only one saw him. The other Autobots that came with Bee saw him, as did Bee himself."

Tori sighs. "Astraea... This is getting weird... some of the bots come back to Earth, and then Optimus appears? What is happening? This is making no sense at all."

I smile softly. "It may not make sense now, but it will soon. I can just feel it. You know?"

Tori sighs. "I get the same feeling, Astraea. But... I'm not sure I want to know... I just... After five years, you're finally able to see your lover, if just for a little bit, but... I miss him, Astraea... He's not gone, like Optimus is... but... it's hard holding onto something that doesn't seem like it'll last, you know."

I smile softly and pull Tori into a hug. "Be patient. Trust me. He'll come back to you. I know he will. If he loves you, he will return."

Tori sniffs. "I'll try to believe that. It's just hard..."

"I know, Tori. I know."