Barricade sped up as well.

"Nat, listen. As soon as I stop, you have to jump out and hide," I said.

She nodded. I drove quickly into an alley and stopped. Natalie got out. Barricade drove past us.

"Stay here. I'll be back for you," I told her before driving out behind the police Con.

He continued to follow me to an open field. I transformed and so did Barricade. He jumped and pinned me to the ground.

"Where is the Cyber Planet Key?" he asked me.

"How am I supposed to know?" I replied as I took out my blaster and shot him in the arm.

He got off of me and I quickly got back on my feet. We fought for a few minutes until he finally gave up and retreated.

Coward, I thought as I transformed and went to pick up Natalie.

"So?" she asked as she got in.
"He ran off like the coward he is," I replied.
"Heh, nice," she said.
Silence flooded over us as we drove back home.

"Well, thanks, Blue. I have to go do some work," Nat said when we got to her house as she got out.

"Okay. I'm going to go do a little more exploring. I can take you to work tomorrow if you want," I offered.

"I'd like that. Thanks," she replied.
"No problem. See ya later," I said.

She smiled and waved before walking inside. I drove around some more since there were still a few hours of daylight left.

What was he talking about? I know about the Cyber Planet Keys, but I always thought those were just legends. Barricade must have a screw loose in his processor.

I pulled into the parking lot of KO Burger and watched the humans come and go. My mind wandered to the thoughts of my family. I realized just how much I missed them.

No, I can't go back, but Orion needs me...but Star will kill me.

I argued with myself for a few minutes. I finally decided I needed another distraction, so I drove back outside the town. I went out to a clearing and transformed. I just stood with my arms crossed as I watched the sun set behind the horizon. As night came over the land, I transformed and went back to Natalie's house.

*******Time Skip ten days brought to you by Bumblebee's dance moves*******

I had been staying with Natalie for twelve days now. She got selected to be in Special Ops, which she was really excited about. Sometimes I would hang out with Drift and the others. I still haven't told them about what happened though. There have been a few Con attacks and each time they mention something about the Cyber Planet Keys.

I was driving around town while Natalie was at work. I picked up an energy reading on my scanners.

That's odd, I thought as I followed the signal to a mountain outside the town.

I saw a blue object lodged between some rocks. I transformed and studied it. It looked like a Cyber Planet Key.

It can't be. I thought it was just a legend.

I started to try to dig it out. After a few minutes, I finally got it.

I should show this to the others.

Before I left, however, I heard someone coming. I hid in a nearby cave and listened.

"Optimus to base, nothing is here. I am going to continue my search."

Wait what? No, there's no way. That's impossible.

The mystery bot then drove off. Once I was sure he was gone, I walked out. I didn't know what to think.

That could've been a Con disguised as Optimus, but there was no way that it was actually him...right?

I shook my head to clear my thoughts and sighed. I started to walk away when I heard more vehicles approaching. Before I could react, I was surrounded by Barricade, Starscream, and Galvatron.

Seriously?

"What do you want?" I asked them angrily.

"I see you broke free from my control," Galvatron said.

"So...you've come to take me back? Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but that's not gonna happen," I told him.

He chuckled.

"We'll see. We actually just came to get the Cyber Planet Key, so you're an added bonus," he replied with a smirk.

"You want it? Come and get it," I said as I transformed and drove off into a nearby forest.

I heard them gaining on me.

Scrap. I have to hide the Key, but where?

I transformed and threw the Key into the nearby lake. The Cons transformed and Barricade tackled me.

"I don't have the Key!" I told them as I punched Barricade in the face.

I took out my gun and shot him in the torso. I pushed him off of me and got up.

"Don't bother lying. We know you have it!" Starscream said as he attacked me next.

Out of nowhere, the Decepticon known as Pretender Alice attacked me. She jumped and bit into my shoulder.

"Ouch! Not nice," I said as I shot her in the chest and threw her off of me.

She squirmed on the ground before becoming still. I saw Starscream run over to her and fall to his knees.

"No...no, Alli. Come on, sweet pea, you're gonna be okay. You've gotta be," I heard him say.

Starscream and that creep? Huh, I totally didn't see that coming, I thought as I stood up, only to get tackled by Galvatron.

"Since I apparently can't control you, I'll enjoy killing Prime's beloved sparkmate," he said with a smirk as he stabbed me in the torso.

I tried not to show any sign of pain. This was my chance to rip Galvatron's spark out. I took my gun and shot him in the chest. He fell back.

"Decepticons, retreat!" he ordered.

I watched them leave and rolled over onto my side when they were gone. I stayed there for a few minutes before slowly getting up. I put my hand over the wound and walked into the lake.

"Come on...there," I said to myself as I pulled out the Key.

I walked back out of the water.

Well this sucks. I have no way to contact Drift or the others.

I looked around and realized I was near the spot where Optimus asked me to be his sparkmate. I smiled at the memory as a few tears fell from my optics. I slowly started walking to the special place since I was unable to transform. When I finally arrived after what felt like megacycles, I collapsed at the top of the hill. I adjusted myself so I was sitting up and looking out across the river.

The water was crystal clear, so I could see colorful little fish swimming around. The meadow on the other side was spotted with yellow, white, purple, and blue flowers. I could hear birds chirping and from time to time I could see them flying around. The peaceful scene helped me relax and forget about the screaming pain in my torso.

-Flashback-
"Remind me again why we're here," I told Crosshairs.

"To see some idiots fight each other," he replied.
"And this is what you do for fun?" Hound asked.
"Anytime I can," the green teen bot replied.
I facepalmed and shook my head.

"Sometimes I wonder how you managed to pass the entrance exam," my brother said.

"I'm just that good," he replied.

We sat down at a table and watched the bots. It only took a few minutes for a fight to break out.

"There's no way the tiny one will be able to take down the tall one, no way," Crosshairs said.

"Hey, don't underestimate the little guys. Remember when we were little? I was able to take you down, even though you're older than me," I pointed out.

"Please. I could take you down now," he challenged.

"Oh really? You want to test that theory?" I said, crossing my arms.

"Not here," he replied.

"You're just scared of getting beat again by a girl," Hound taunted.

"And you wouldn't?" he asked.

"Actually, I know I would. Well, by Blue at least," Hound replied.

A waitress came to our table.
"Can I get you anything?" she asked.

"Yeah, your number," Crosshairs replied with a smirk.

My brother and I face-palmed.
-End flashback-

I was torn away from my thoughts when I heard some bots coming up behind me.

"I don't care if you were just here or if you saw Megatron in a tutu just get here," I heard one of them say.

That sounded a lot like Star.

She looked at me and I realized it was her. She was...smiling?

"Aren't you a sight for sore optics. Can you walk?" she asked.

I wanted to ask her why she wasn't mad at me, but I decided to wait. I nodded as I stood up slowly.

"Good, Optimus is on his way with the trailer so we can get you fixed up," Star said.

Wait, that's impossible. There's no way he's alive. I must've misheard.

I decided to dismiss the thought. She turned around.

"Come on, slow poke!" she called before turning to me again.

"How long ago did you get hurt?" Star asked.

"About a megacycle ago," I replied, still holding a hand over the wound.

My brother came up and let me put my arm around his shoulder.

"Alright, we will check it out when we get back to base. I just need Optimus to hurry his tailpipe up," she said.

"Hurry the frag up! You'll see just get here first," she added, probably over the com.

Huh, I guess I need to recalibrate my audio receptors, I thought.

After a few minutes go by, I hear a vehicle coming. I turn around to see Optimus! I let go of Bee and rub my optics.

No way!

"Took you long enough fatty. Alright, we need to get Blue into the trailer. Optimus I assume you got her?" Star asked.

He nodded and picked me up.
"You're still beautiful as ever," he said.

I smiled as tears ran down my face. I was still skeptical that it was really him, though.

It has to be a dream, I thought.

However, I wasn't going to ask any questions at this moment. If this was a dream, I wanted to enjoy it. I buried my face in his chest as I let myself cry softly. He held me close.

"It's okay beautiful, I'm alright and so are you. I will always love you," Optimus said.

He set me gently inside the trailer.
"I'll make sure to drive careful," he added.

Star came in and sat beside me. He looked back at us once more before going to drive. Bee came over and smiled at us, then closed the door.

"He missed you a lot. We all did. I actually had to cuff Optimus to the med bay bed to keep him inside," Star said.

Yep, this definitely has to be a dream.

To avoid looking straight at her, I closed my optics and sighed to keep myself from crying more.

"What's wrong with you?  First you leave and now you won't even speak to us. We don't blame you for what happened. If we did then Optimus wouldn't have spent the whole day looking for you and I would be yelling at you. Which I'm not," Star explained.

I opened my optics to look at her and gave a small smile as a few silent tears ran down my face.

"The whole reason I ran away...it was because I thought Optimus was...dead, and because of that, I thought you would be mad at me for what happened," I explained in a quiet voice.

The amount of energon loss was starting to get to me.

"And this is why we don't run off before I can explain myself you lunkhead. Now rest we will be home soon," she replied, smiling at me.

I took a deep breath and relaxed. That's when I remembered that I was still holding the Key.

I guess they were too busy to notice.

I held it in both hands.

"I picked up a signal when I was driving around. I found this lodged in a mountain. Apparently the Cons had also picked up the signal," I said.

"That must have been the signal I sent Optimus to investigate, but he reported seeing nothing. A Cyber Planet Key? I'm glad you didn't let the cons get it, that could have been disastrous," she commented.

I nodded and closed my optics. I was starting to feel really tired. A few more minutes pass and then we stop. Optimus opened the trailer, causing me to open my optics. He walked in and gently picked me up. I held the Key close and snuggled closer to my sparkmate, closing my optics again. I smiled a little. I knew I was safe in his arms.