"You mean the crash was already there?" Lennox clarified after they stopped at a gas station. They were all allowed to stay for longer than five minutes without the looming doom of Marissa's possible demise on their heads.

         "Yup." Mikaela nodded, licking the dripping ice cream from her fingers before it could be wasted on the ground. The vain medic was utterly appalled, which was the young woman's goal (though she knew how to be tidy with such a messy treat). "Knockout saw it on a security camera. For being so fast he's really not as careless as you guys seemed to think he would be."

         "I still think you should go with me and Bee." Sam pouted.

     The group were still several miles from Tranquility, but Starscream (out of all bots) insisted they stop at a gas station. No one was sure why, but Optimus obliged, noting the Seeker had shot off somewhere behind them. The mech was incorporative in telling the group, even Barricade, why he was so adamant about them stopping. Though, Bumblebee noted that Barricade might know and was simply not telling them. 

     The police car indeed, did not know. Frustrated beyond belief at having to endure another who-knew-how-long wait in the baking humidity of California, he all but forced Marissa to carefully climb into his passenger seat before they had parked. He was not allowing an actual fleshy to appear to be driving him. He took some amusement in the woman's startled gaze after his holographic form appeared, but it was short lived. Barricade's attempts to contact Starscream were proved to be in vain, so his time sitting in the parking lot was spent brooding and eerily staring at anyone who passed his front too close for his liking.

     Marissa was enjoying her measly gas station sandwich, containing practically nothing except limp lettuce, a piece of Velveeta cheese and the thinnest piece of turkey she could ever imagine. The bread itself wasn't too bad, but she knew she'd need something more once they reached Tranquility. 

         'I wonder if the humans have a kitchen, or kitchenette.' She wondered, amusing herself with having to specify in her own mind who she was thinking about. "Do Cybertronians bake and cook?" 

         "Not like humans, but in a sense, yes." Ratchet would have nodded, having the young adult in his passenger seat so he could monitor her wrist, which had swelled again. The medic was informed that she had taken the brace off to scratch an itch, which resulted in her crushing it against the door of Barricade's alt after he ordered her to switch seats. "For you humans it would look more like chemistry experiments."

         "I mean, that's basically what cooking is." Marissa shrugged, catching the sight of her father exiting the gas station. "Am I good to go?"

         "Yes, but don't take that brace off again. Especially while traveling with Barricade."

         "Got it. Thanks Dr. Ratchet."

         "Just Ratchet is fine."

     Her sweet smile would have earned a nod in return, maybe with a ghost of a smile to match. Marissa wouldn't know as she slid from the emergency vehicle and joined her father by the trash bin near the doors. Ratchet noted Shane's shifting as he locked eyes with the hologram of Barricade's, sending a subtle glare in return before pointing his attention to his daughter. He smiled a soft smile as she skipped the last few feet.

         "That all you got?" He pointed at her poor excuse of a sandwich. 

         "It's better than the breakfast burritos." She shrugged. "How was the ride with Blurr?"

         "You asked that every stop so far, and every stop I tell you it was smooth." Shane rolled his eyes, noting the twinkling of playfulness in his offspring's. He wasn't sure if she was just trying to see if the sentient robots were growing on him, or if she was genuinely interested. Perhaps Marissa was just trying to be annoying. All the father figure knew was that he looked forward to driving the old manual at home, despite its problems.

     Shrugging her shoulders, the woman took the last bite of her sandwich before throwing the clear plastic away. She was about to say more when the light blue mech began his all-too-common honk for help: a very high-pitched whine that only Knockout understood, still being fluent in their home language. It was the only way the mech could get the attention of his charge so the curious humans around would stop attempting to sit on him for pictures. He wasn't usually so picky, as Knockout would be, and would allow the occasional photo with other humans in the picture, but even a bot without a clear distaste for organics had to have boundaries.

     With a heavy, annoyed sigh, Shane stalked up to the slowly growing crowd. He wasn't sure how many times he had to "protect" his guardian from curious onlookers and decided it too be too much of a hassle. The older man didn't make a fuss about it to avoid offending his daughter's heroes, but it was beginning to get old. Especially when, nine times out of ten, some girl in a skirt would want her boyfriend or husband (maybe even a friend group) to take a fanciful photo. The inevitable happening was explained to both Velocitronians and Earthlings (Shane and Mikaela), so they developed a fabricated story of ownership. Knockout was less than pleased, of course.

         "This thing yours?" Some incredulous man questioned Shane as he dared to near the crying vehicle. Most of the crowd had dispersed in embarrassment, but several stayed with their hands over their ears to see who on earth would give their vehicle such an awful sounding alarm system; and one so touchy at that.

         "Yeah." He answered simply, tapping the metal edge of the cockpit-like window. Blurr's whine stopped instantaneously, relieving the headaches of everyone around. "And I'd appreciate it if no one sat on it."

     Of course, no one admitted to doing such a thing, but those who knew, knew. No one messed with the vehicle afterward and instead decided to observe the more earthly-looking hotrods on the other side of the parking lot. For obvious reasons Knockout refused to be near Blurr after the first incident with human oils and sweat. 

         "Idiotic Velocitronians." Ironhide huffed, forgetting about the oddly quiet Miles in his cab. He had claimed to not be hungry, or need the restroom, so had only taken a couple minutes to walk around and relieve the tension in his legs before getting back in Ironhide's cab.

         "You're not jealous, are you?" The sandy-haired boy decided to be brave, something he hadn't been for most of the trip so far. 

         "Jealous of what?" Ironhide barked, making the teen flinch. "Having humans flock around me like one of your zoo animals?"

         "No- no that's not-" Miles stopped himself and went quiet, making Ironhide realize just how unlike himself the boy had been acting.

    He had expected a messy, annoying little slaggard who couldn't keep his mouth shut and stank of mind-altering substances. The substance stench was still there but it was obviously fading, and the obnoxious, constant talking was practically nonexistent. He hadn't even eaten much except the occasional protein bar and only drank water, unlike the other children, and even the Faireborns had opted for a few more snacks than just a measly brick of nutrients (though Ironhide was sure Barricade minded more than Blurr).

     A vent-filled sigh made Mile's hair fuss from the air.

         "Go get something to eat." The Weapons Specialist ordered. 

         "Huh?" The boy straightened, confused. He didn't want to get yelled at for dropping or dripping something in his guardian's cab.

         "Didn't you hear me, boy? Get something to fuel yourself with. Whatever that Faireborn woman found. We're leaving soon so don't dawdle."

         "But-"

         "Go!" 

     Ironhide opened his door for the teen, making Miles jump out hurriedly and jog to the gas station. Once he was in the tanned human paused, then smiled at himself. Ironhide wasn't so bad after all.

         'He's still kind of grumpy.' Miles thought to himself. 'But I guess that's how veterans can be.'

     When it was time to go, the group quickly filed back into their respective guardians. 

     No one had heard from Starscream, and despite Marissa's odd concern, they left without him. Vector Sigma still remained on her wrist, but gave no indication of where the Seeker went off to, even after Marissa had asked the energy herself. She was mildly unsettled, but the worry was for naught after finding the air bound bot a few miles out of Tranquility. Starscream gave no answer to the curious bots below, who attempted to contact him about his strange behavior, but the mech refused to answer a single one as he flew above them.

     When the group finally settled on the grounds of the Autobot base, Starscream landed on his avian-like pedes. Waiting impatiently for the others to transform, he counted the humans with them, sneering at Shane Faireborn as he glared during his walk to his daughter. Marissa smiled at the Seeker, earning nothing in return, but she didn't seem daunted by the fact. The other humans motioned for the two newcomers to follow, Colonel Lennox wanting to give a tour. 

     Blue optics stared at red once everyone had transformed. No one said a word until the humans were far enough out of hearing range.

         "Quaint." Starscream mocked their makeshift base. His emotionless, arms-crossed demeanor mimicked that of his comrade.

         "So, what do we do with them?" Ratchet looked toward their leader, who displayed a thoughtful frown as he contemplated the two Decepticons. 

         "You act like you can catch the both of us." Starscream smirked, earning a deadly glare from the interrogator. Anyone could guess the scheming Seeker would abandon his teammate without a second thought, but it still didn't make it any less traitorous.

         "We now have something you want." Optimus noted. "And you no longer have the means of keeping it. I don't think you'd leave so willingly."

     After another minute of thought, Optimus decided that the two would remain with them under constant surveillance, or until they decided to leave without Marissa. It was obvious they wanted Vector Sigma, not the human woman, but it was highly unlikely the entity would want to leave her any time soon. Having a constant guardian around the woman was also ideal. However, if Starscream or Barricade did decide to try and abduct their hostage again, there weren't many on team Prime who actually stood a chance. Against Starscream or both 'Cons, anyway. Optimus also recalled Shane Faireborn, and his want to return home. 

         "Marissa?" 

     Said woman whipped around, her low hanging hair bouncing to one side after Mikaela had brushed the ratted mess. She smiled at Blurr, who offered a servo for her to climb on.

         "What's up?" She balanced carefully, wanting to stand, but she soon gave up from the mech's quick movements and sat down, holding on to one of his digits.

         "Optimus wanted to know if you wanted to go home or stay here with us." He asked in his quick tone. The question clearly surprised the woman as her eyes widened. "If you go home, Starscream and Barricade won't be around to harass 'ya."

         "They don't really harass me-"

         "What about the bracelet?" Shane questioned from the floor, hands on his hips.

     Marissa pointed her attention to the suddenly smaller man, then to the silver piece on her wrist. 

         "I guess you guys would want it to stay here?" She assumed, surprised to earn a shrug from the Velocitronian.

         "I wasn't told. I know Optimus thinks Vector Sigma has a plan of his own, but who knows what an ancient energy is thinking, am I right?"

     The human femme glanced back down at her father, who's opinion was already known without saying a word. He wanted to get back to normalcy as soon as possible and bring his youngest child out of danger. Somehow, Marissa knew there wasn't going to be a normal anymore. 

         "Mm-" She paused, knowing her father wasn't going to like her decision. "I think I'd rather stay here with you guys. Dad, if you want to go home, you can. I'm sure mom's worried sick."

         "Of course she is!" The beginning of an argument was brewing, causing the rest of the enormous aliens entering the hangar to freeze and watch. The other humans were just as interested as they too stood off to the side. "That's why you need to come home. We wanted you to expand your horizons, not get caught up in some alien war from another galaxy altogether!"

         "To be fair," Marissa crossed her arms, still high in Blurr's servo, "it was because you and Jesse convinced me to go to Mission City in the first place that I was caught up in this mess."

     Starscream and Barricade smirked behind the Autobots as they watched the stubborn light in Mr. Faireborn's eyes flicker at the realization. He wasn't the good guy in this entire debacle, though he wasn't the antagonist either. 

         "Don't you dare blame us- especially not your sister!"

         "Blame you?" Marissa's voice rose. "I'm not blaming you guys! I'm not blaming anyone. One decision led to all of this: my own decision! I was ignorant of what this bracelet was; now I know, and I want to learn more, is that so wrong?"

         "Those things abducted you from your own front porch!" Shane argued. "They've murdered people! What else is there to learn except that these beings are dangerous in our world?"

         "What is wrong with you?" Her sudden, lower tone made Shane raise an angry brow. "Sure, they're killers, but so are we! How many animals have we butchered just to feed or protect ourselves?"

         "They're animals-"

         "How many human beings have we killed then?" The livid woman was finally put on the ground by Blurr. She had started to crawl to the edge of his servo and was now stomping her way to meet her father chest-to-chest. "Not you, or me, but humankind in general? The reasons why vary, from inhumane enjoyment to freedom. We're just as dangerous and far more unpredictable."

         "We don't have tangible powers or energies that make us targets for colossal maniacs." He grabbed her more operational wrist, forcing it up for the both of them to see the bracelet. "Especially not ones that put voices in your head and makes you think like you're safe with a pair of red-eyed lunatics!" 

         'Marissa- stop.' The now familiar plip appeared in the woman's mind, a more urgent sound than the past ones. Marissa knew Vector Sigma was becoming scared. So, yanking her wrist from her father's grip, the woman held the entity close to her chest, as if to console a child.

         "They make decisions like you and me." She told her father. "Sometimes they're the wrong decisions. I don't know if mine's right or wrong, but I'm not unhappy about it."

     Seeing his youngest retreat back to the group of aliens, Shane glared at every single one before storming off outside.