"Do not merely think that one who has spent a life in darkness cannot return from it."

★☆★☆★☆★☆★

After careful consideration, Toby had ensured that the newest 'con, whose designation she'd learnt to be Wheelie, was to travel with her. She hadn't trusted the others nearly enough to allow him elsewhere, even if they were travelling within the Autobots' alts. So the blue salvage scrap drone had been smuggled into her truck, alongside Aquarius and Frenzy.

Throughout the drive, the cassette had proven himself quite useful, able to ease the sparkling back into recharge whenever the loud-intaked drone woke him. Not only that, but he constantly busied himself with ensuring Aquarius' comfort and interest, allowing Toby to focus completely on driving. When she had asked him why it was that he knew how to keep a sparkling cared for, he had replied in broken English and poor Spanish that he has younger 'siblings'.

The woman accepted his answer with what was surprising ease, and found herself trusting him more than she probably should. It enabled her to drive without worry, though oftentimes she found herself hushing or smacking Wheelie lightly when his words became a little more than PG.

At the current moment, she struggles to resist the immense urge to slam her head into the steering wheel. Simmons' voice fills the radio static, oblivious to the argument turning fight in the young woman's truck. The two 'cons squabble in Cybertronian, knocking each other backwards as they poke in emphasis. What they're actually arguing about, Toby has no clue, but they've been going at it for the past five minutes and it's driving her insane.

Just then, Wheelie says something that clips a nerve and the RC truck finds himself being tackled by an enraged Frenzy. The cassette attempts to reach his carotid cable, optics red and no hesitation to offline the offender.

"Chosen! Oi, Chosen! He's gone nuts!" Wheelie squeals in panic, holding the silver 'con no less than an inch from his neckcables. "Help me!"

With a little more force than necessary, she grabs the attacker by his scruff, yanking him from his prey and ignoring his hisses of protest. However, she doesn't place him down, instead opting to hold him against her jacket, a position that doesn't allow him to move. While he calms down, she raises a skeptical brow at the salvage drone, silently questioning what he said to provoke the other.

"What did you say?"

"Nothing!" He snaps too quickly, slowing bringing himself to stand in a defensive stance.

"Wheelie," she warns, "nobody does that over nothing."

"I didn't say nothin'!" He growls defensively, crossing his arms like a toddler in a strop.

"Frenzy, what did he say?" She asks the shaking 'con gently, aware that she might accidentally set him off again.

"Dijo hermano inútil si no puedo proteger," he hisses furiously, spitting at the offending 'con.

"Can't protect who?" Toby glances at him, "Your siblings?"

Instead of answering verbally, Frenzy nods firmly, glaring daggers at the blue drone. His reaction basically confirms the inventor's assumptions, and though she says nothing, she rubs his miniature backstruts with her thumb, soothing him into calming further.

When he finally stops fuming, she opens her servo to free him, allowing him to crawl onto her shoulder. She ensures that the distance between them is enough to keep from an aerial attack, not forgetting the sleeping sparkling between them.

Wheelie clears his vocal pipes, still overly wary of the other 'con residing out of sight, "I—"

"No," the woman says sternly, not giving him the chance to actually speak. "I already have one sparkling, I don't want to care for another two."

Both of the minibots send her offended expressions, their pride wounded by being grouped with the weakest of their race. It doesn't matter that sparklings are cute, they can't actually do anything besides eat, sleep, and be adorable.

"I'm not a sparkling!" The salvage drone growls childishly, more than proving her point. At least Frenzy keeps his thoughts to himself, likely not wanting to prove her further.

"So it seems," she ignores his humiliated whimper, waving it off as a ploy for attention as he has done so several times already.

"~Ey, girly," Simmons interrupts whatever remaining peace they had, and this time, Toby actually does bang her head on the steering wheel, a frustrated groan leaving her lips. "~You're about to miss the turning."

She swears under her breath and spins the wheel to the left, the large sign catching her eye as they pass it, giving her a lost sense of nostalgia that sends flashes of her childhood through her mind.

"Thanks, Simmons," the second the words leave her lips, she blinks, posture stiff and upright. Did she just thank the ex-agent?

Bumblebee whirs in surprise over the radio, joined by a noise of confusion from the man. Toby Hills thanking the man she hates? Unheard of. And yet, she spoke the sentence believed to never be said.

She rolls her eyes, honestly unable to care any less about the whole deal now that it's done with, and focuses on finding a parking space. Like any museum, the parking lot is full of cars, their owners enjoying the exhibits inside. It's been a long time since she even saw the building.

In front of her, a minivan pulls out of its spot, causing Frenzy to hop down from his perch to avoid being seen. Now offered the opportunity, Toby reverses into the space, noting the Autobots' position on the other side of the row.

Following her train of thought, Frenzy transforms, taking the shape of a small flip phone that she then tucks into her trousers' pocket with a small smile. Wheelie follows suit a moment later, driving his RC truck alt into her backpack without complaint, likely to avoid being threatened by the very threatening woman.

Toby sighs softly, falling against her seat for a moment to regain her composure. Being in the company of idiots while reliving moments from one's childhood is never a good combination.

As usual, her moment of thought is interrupted, this time by a knock on her window. Simmons' eager and mildly serious expression looks at her in concern, and yet, she can only see her own empty eyes staring back at her in the glass. Not even a hint of joy remains in them, just deep sorrow and lost grief. A ghost of a girl she used to be haunts her mind, and it lingers there, softly insisting that she deserves this for her failure.

"Girly!" She lifts her eyes from her reflection, meeting Simmons' in silent conflict, and the man is granted just enough time to watch the walls lock away her emotions.

The woman shakes her head, lightly pressing her servo to her temple before snatching up her bag a little rougher than she means to. With it now zipped, she scoops up her son, careful not to waken him as she places him in the fabric of her shirt, similar to how a child would be placed in a baby carrier. Then she zips up her leather jacket, hiding the sparkling from onlookers.

"You good?" Simmons questions her as she hops out of the truck, locking it behind her. She waves him off, trudging away to pay for a parking ticket.

When she returns, after slipping the ticket under the windscreen wipers, she casually leans against 'Bee's alt, gently dropping her bag on his hood. Her eyes lock on the familiar building, losing herself enough in her memories of previous visits that she doesn't care when Simmons nicks a pair of binoculars from a pocket.

"Smithsonian Air and Space Museum. Land of dreams," Toby rolls her eyes at him, snatching the binoculars from Simmons and stuffing them back in her bag before grabbing a bizarre bracelet of sorts. "When was the last time you stuck your head in here, girly?"

"When I was ten," she sighs deeply, blinking away her mother's sparkling smile from her mind's eye. "Mom took me every year, and every year, I always told her that I wanted to study the stars, not fly to the Moon."

"Really?" He looks at her quizzically as she studies the misshapen object in her servo. "All I ever wanted was to be an astronaut."

"And I always took you as a Men In Black kinda guy," she draws off, smirking at an old memory, though her eyes remain sad.

A ripping noise makes her snap her head up, and the sight that awaits her has staring straight up at the sky with her servo ensuring that an accidental doesn't occur. She keeps her eyes wide, not wanting to relive the image when she closes them. Why Simmons is wearing a men's thong, she doesn't want to know.

"I want to burn my eyes out with a blowtorch," she comments somewhat casually, though her voice carries an undertone of horror. "I need to cleanse that from my brain."

"I'll join you," Mikaela murmurs, facing away from the scene with a grimace.

"Okay," Simmons announces and 'Bee revs his engine in an assurance that it's safe to turn around. "Watches synchronized, shop-mind and empty bladder."

"Radios still good?" Toby asks, interrupting the man to remind him.

"Still good," he replies, holding up his own with a smirk as the woman pats the one on her belt. "You get caught, demand an attorney and don't ever say my name." He tosses her a bottle of pills, and continues as she inspects it, "Take one of these pills. Slip it under your tongue; it's a high-concentrate polymer they put in Oreo cookies. Fools the polygraph every time."

Toby hums in satisfaction, pouring a small handful into her servo before dumping the pills in her pocket and tossing the bottle to Sam. "Take a few. These things actually do trick polygraphs."

Sam rolls his eyes and tosses the bottle back to Simmons, making the two adults shrug in indifference.

"Right, let's get this show on the road," Simmons pulls out a taser and tests it, zapping the air with unnatural electricity.

"Woah! No, listen!" Leo cries, backing away from the group, "I can't do this! I'm not some alien bounty hunter, alright? 'Cause I'm not gonna do this! Guards have guns! I don't want to die."

The ex-agent shoves the student back against Skids' alt with his chest in some sort of bizarre dominance display, "Kid, kid, kid, kid, kid, kid. You compromise this mission, you're dead to me. Now look into my eyes and tighten the spare tank."

Toby scoffs in amusement, rolling her eyes at the two, instead focusing her attention on the bracelet. She had asked Will to retrieve the 'baby monitor' when he packed the bag for her.

Sure, she agreed with him on the matter of the invention being a tad bit overboard, having not originally been comfortable with the idea of being literally monitored when she wore it. Only after a very intense argument with her guardian, had he agreed to allow her to wear it when she pleased. Still, he certainly hates not knowing her current health.

She chuckles softly at that thought, rubbing her eye clear of any traitorous tears as she turns it in her servo. Her heart throbs dully at his memory. He may not be gone, but it does sometimes feel like she won't see him again, especially if she's jumping into situations such as this one. With Decepticons involved, she really doesn't know and it pains her to not be able to contact him.

As the boys scramble to come up with a plan to get in, although Simmons is already dressed as a security guard, Toby snaps open the side of it and sticks it on her chest, just above her beating heart. Normally, she'd slip it on her left wrist, but with her brightly coloured cast, it's not really an option.

"You want me to what?!" Leo cries in horror, rooted to his spot.

"You heard me," Simmons stifles a smirk, poking his chest demandingly.

The woman glances up at the pair, raising a brow in confusion, though she doesn't really want to know. She shakes her head at them and grabs Simmons' abandoned shirt. As much as she doesn't want to use it, her other one is too bloodied for her intended use.

Carefully and swiftly, she ties the top of it around her neck and the bottom around her middle, hiding it beneath her jacket. At this point, she should really invest in a proper baby carrier.

"No! Your plan, you do it!"

"I can't, I'm going in as security!" The ex-agent puffs his chest importantly, annoying the young woman to no end.

"Would two stop it already?" She steps forward, breaking them apart, "You're gonna listen to me, 'cause I've actually got a plan."

★☆★☆★☆★☆★

"I swear to Primus," Toby curses, growling at her unfortunately tight hiding place, "I should've killed that man."

"Killed who?" Wheelie asks, his voice muffled by the bag at her boots.

"Simmons," she huffs in pain, feeling the crick in her neck worsen. "I nearly shot him two years ago. Broke his nose instead."

Silence ensues, an almost nonexistent sense of awe filling the empty space, and the young woman raises a brow at the drone's expression, though says nothing on the matter.

A loud knock startles the inhabitants of the tiny space, their audials ringing from the echoing noise. Three of them swear aloud, cringing in pain as light streams into the darkness.

"Hurry up!" Sam hisses, trying to grab Toby's arm, "We gotta go!"

Seething, said inventor smacks his hand away, making him back off to nurse his injury. She, with the less demanding aid of Mikaela, crawls out of the storage space, cracking her back to ease out the stiffness. On her shoulder, Frenzy does the same, popping his armour back into position.

"Have sympathy for the ones who lost their hearing to your obnoxious self," Toby growls unhappily, limping on her numb leg.

The couple stare at her in annoyance, growing tired of her delays and snappy behaviour. They're getting to the end of their patience with her, and although Mikaela may tolerate her much more than Sam, she's certainly growing close to snapping back.

"Oi, Wheelie," the medic nudges her bag with a foot, tipping it over onto the floor, "show us where this seeker is."

With a tiny grumble, and an 'as you wish', the RC truck speeds out of the bag, leaving the humans to scramble after him. He almost chuckles at their obliviousness, only withholding it to keep from suspicion. Though, a glance at the woman snatching her bag up as she sprints after his alt has him wincing as his spark clenches slightly. 'Never mind,' he decides with blink of his headlights. 'What happens happens.'

"Girly!" Toby glances briefly at the incoming man before tossing him her backpack, only catching a second's glimpse of a spasming Leo laying on the floor. "You know the plan?"

"I came up with it!" She calls back to him, a slight smirk on her lips.

The smirk grows into a small smile as they run through the exhibits, the name of each aircraft coming easily to mind, their mechanical insides intruding her thoughts like schematics on a computer. She had studied them in her childhood, admiring the parts that made the machines capable of so much. That was a long time ago now.

Sam and Mikaela split off from her, following the pull of the Allspark while she keeps running, sliding between the large aircrafts. She pants a little breathlessly, leaning slightly on the barrier between her and the Enola Gay B-29 bomber. She stares at it for a moment, her lips curled upwards in a tight smile, "There's gotta be at least three Cybertronians in this museum besides the one we're looking for."

"There's only the one seeker," Wheelie comments impatiently from the floor.

"Yeah, but they're just a seeker," she continues softly, eyes sparkling, "there could be warriors or medics hidden among these planes."

The salvage drone revs his tiny engine in mild agreement before doing a donut around her feet and speeding off once again, leaving her no time to hesitate. He has to admit, it's nice being able to boss others around for a change.

Toby sighs a little, rolling her eyes at his eagerness, leaning forward into another run, albeit a lot slower than before. She's very mindful of the sparkling hidden under her jacket, ensuring that he's not jostled too much and remains in his remarkably deep recharge.

When she nearly crashes into a halted Simmons however, a surprised curse leaves her lips as she braces her hands in front of her, almost hurtling over his frozen self in an attempt to avoid him. They topple over, landing painfully on the floor with the woman sprawled overtop his chest with her son now awake and giggling.

"Owch," Wheelie chuckles in amusement, transforming to get a better look at the collapsed pair.

"Oh shut up, would you?" She groans, peeling herself off of the older man with a grimace. Relieved of his close proximity, she unzips her leather jacket and smiles at her overjoyed son, taking him out of the makeshift carrier and cradling him in her arms.

"Momma!" He giggles happily, grabbing servofuls of her hair.

She chuckles at him and kisses his helm, pulling herself to her feet, "Yes, dear, it's me."

Aquarius giggles again, prompting Frenzy to crawl out of the woman's jacket and Wheelie to roll his optic. The cassette shoots him a short glare, intense enough to make him turn away in discomfort.

"Are you done there?" Toby frowns at the speaker, looking down at Samuel, who holds the Allspark sliver with a pair of tongs.

Instead of allowing the two to dissolve into an argument, Wheelie coughs, roughly clearing his vocals, and points to the Blackbird in front of them, a grin on his faceplates, "There he is. This guy's a legend."

"Dreadwing?"

The drone snorts, hiding his laughter in a coughing fit that makes him hit his tanks to ease it. He shakes his head with quivering derma, fighting a smirk, "Nah, like the Chairman of the board." He gestures hastily to Sam, a mean look in his optic, "Yo, freshman, point the shard and watch the magic happen."

An uneasy feeling overtakes Toby as she watches the boy direct the sliver towards the plane, making her shudder and hold Aquarius closer. Something's wrong, and it's staring her right in the eyes, taunting her intellect.

Just as Sam freely holds out the piece of the Allspark, her eyes widen and she throws out her servo in an attempt to stop him, "Wait!"

It's too late as the shard flies from the pliers, absorbing into the metal where the Seeker's spark likely hides. Sparks run across his wings and body, filling every gap between his plating. A small shockwave rolls off of him and blue electricity zaps his cabin before it ceases.

"Scrap," the woman mutters, not following the two kids as they rush to check his undercarriage.

"Oh shoot!" Mikaela swears, scrambling back with her boyfriend, "It's a Decepticon!"

"Take cover!" Simmons hollers, grabbing Toby's shoulder and hauling her behind another plane as the 'con transforms, shouting like an old man. The others follow quickly, Leo screaming his head off in terror. When he joined them, the ex-agent doesn't know.

"What sort of hideous mausoleum is this?" Toby's brows shoot up at his query, and withholds her horror as he bashes one of the planes hanging from the ceiling, "Answer me, pawns and knaves! Show yourselves, or suffer my infinite wrath!"

Though wary, the woman crawls out of the hiding place, ignoring Simmons' attempts to restrain her from stepping out. She can't imagine this old bat actually harming them, especially if he's using such terrible threats.

"Oh," he groans at the sight of her and groans even more as the others hesitantly step towards him, "little spinal cord based organisms."

Toby looks at him in amusement, a smile tugging at her lips.

"Bugger it!" He curses as a hanging engine smacks him in the helm. The 'con hobbles a bit, leaning on what appears to be an enormous cane before he waves it dramatically, "Behold the eternal glory of Jetfire!"

The inventor 'oh's in realisation, feeling slightly silly for calling him by the wrong designation. That doesn't mean she's actually heard of him before though.

"Prepare for a systems' override!" She gets a great sense of amusement from watching him stagger over to the hangar door, hitting almost everything on his way there.

"I tell you, this guy did not age well," she almost snorts at the comment before stopping short. Her eyes narrow at the drone, and she sees the fear fill his optics, even the one hanging by a wire. "No, no, no, no!"

A servo grabs him by the back of his neckcables, roughly grasping his small scruff, temporarily disabling his motor functions. Whimpers leave his dermas, and he shamefully avoids the woman's burning glare, shaking involuntarily.

She huffs unhappily, sending him one last glare before holding him by her side, ignoring him for the time being. He hates himself for what he did.

"I command these doors to open!" Jetfire hollers, banging on them with his crane, "Fire!"

Nothing happens, causing the 'con to sigh in annoyance.

"I said," he repeats, punching forwards with his servo, "fire!"

A missile flies back from his arm, dodging between planes and ships before choosing to go off way too close to the group for Toby to be anywhere near comfortable. Shrieks of surprise and terror escape them, the most scared scream coming from Aquarius.

His mother hushes him quickly, opting to drop her hostage and comfort him. Tears leave his optics as he hides in her shirt, her bouncing not helping at all. "Shh, darling, easy, easy," she soothes, rubbing his backstruts.

She only looks up when Simmons pats her shoulder, only just managing to understand that the seeker has left the museum, "The museum's not going to be happy."

The woman shakes her head, stalking away to follow the ancient Cybertronian, despite her distaste for having him scare—albeit unintentionally—her son.

"I'm on a mission," he mutters to himself before his attention is caught by the shouting people.

"Wait, wait, wait!"

"Oi!" A female's voice causes him to swing his helm around, optics locking on the young woman. "Stop!"

The glint of metal makes him cock his helm, having never seen such an organism, and the neon yellow of her strange gauntlet confuses his processor. But it's the gleam in her eyes, her determined and pained expression masked by slight amusement that makes his optics widen, that makes him take a step back. Surely it's not her?

"Thank you," she sighs, her gaze drifting from him to the small being in her arms. He still cries, sniffling and whining, only comforted by the sound of his mother's heart and the soft smell that surrounds her, like wet rocks and smoke.

Again, he takes a step back; he hasn't seen, nor heard of a sparkling since the very beginning of the war. Speaking of which...

"What planet am I on?" He demands sharply.

"Earth," the woman responds after a second's disbelief.

"Earth?" He says with an equal amount of disbelief, "Terrible name for a planet. Might as well call it 'dirt'. Planet Dirt." Thoughtfulness takes over his expression, only for him to interrupt himself, "Tell me, is that robot civil war still going on? Who's winning?"

"The Decepticons," Toby hisses hatefully, making Jetfire stare at her in shock. Never has he ever heard such fury contained within two words.

"Well, I change sides to the Autobots," a smirk slides onto his derma at the victorious grin that the woman wears.

"What do you mean 'change sides'?" Samuel questions rudely, earning himself an eye roll.

"It's a choice, Sammy," the inventor snaps, "a personal decision. You're not born—er—created a Decepticon or Autobot. I chose to become an Autobot."

"Exactly," Jetfire hums in agreement. "Who wants to live a life filled with such hate?"

"Wait," a small voice causes Toby to clench her jaw in anger, "you mean you don't have to work for those miserable, freaking Decepticons?"

The seeker nods, waving his servo to exclaim his point further, "If they had their way, they'd destroy the whole universe."

"That's it," Wheelie shouts, literally putting his pede down. "I'm changing sides! I'm changing sides, Chosen!"

Toby looks at him in surprise, watching as he marches over, despite his obvious fear of her, and plants himself beside her pede. His whole frame shakes, the memory of her fury clear in his processor, but he stays put, choosing to risk it and work with the better of his race.

"Welcome to the Autobots then, Wheelie," she greets formally, sending him a brief smirk before looking back up at Jetfire. "Now, what were you saying?"

He shrugs, not really remembering, but brings his gaze down to the human boy trying to gain his attention. It takes several seconds for him to realise that he's actually speaking to him and that his audials have offlined.

"—These vivid symbols, they're symbols—" Sam explains, only to have the inventor cut him off suddenly.

"You better start again, Sammy," she eyes the ex-con carefully. "I don't think he heard you."

The boy shoots her a glare, making Jetfire bristle protectively, his spinal struts straightening on his back. Should he try something, he'll quickly find a blaster pointed at his head, Autobot or otherwise.

"I think we can help each other, yeah?" Sam smiles hopefully, glancing between the members of his group, "You know things I don't, I know things you don't know."

"I don't think he knows anything. Really, I don't," Toby elbows Leo in the stomach, frowning at him.

"Shut up."

"Sorry."

"I've got these symbols in my mind," Sam takes Leo's pocket knife from him and starts carving glyphs into the ground. "All this is in my mind, and Megatron wants what's in my mind. Him and someone called the Fallen."

"The Fallen? I know him. He left me to rust. The original Decepticon. He's terrible to work for. He's always apocalypse, chaos," the seeker rambles, seeming to momentarily forget the group standing in front of him. "These inscriptions, they were apart of my mission. The Fallen's search. I remember now!"

Toby tilts her head in confusion, her mind spinning at a very fast pace as she tries to piece together what he's talking about. But caution tingles through her every fiber, making the hair on the back of her neck prick upwards, even more so when the other three Autobots roll up behind them. Something's about to happen, something she's not going to like.

"For the Dagger's Tip! A-a-and the Key!" Jetfire's sudden excitement has the gang backing away, though the inventor stays put, feeling that what's about to happen must happen.

"What are you talking about?" Samuel tries to ask, confused to no end.

"No time to explain," he exclaims, shifting into an almost protective stance over the humans as energy starts to crackle from his servos. "Hold on, everybody! Stay still or you'll die!"

'What the frag?!' is all Toby has time to think before a canopy of black dampens her vision.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★

The next thing the woman knows is that she's flying through the air of a very different place, screaming at the top of her lungs. Up is down and down is up; nothing feels right, and her stomach certainly isn't either.

Sand blasts her face, and her shoulder burns. The brief sense of thrill fills her alongside a rush of adrenaline, but it dissipates not a millisecond later, the adrenaline junkie having lost any sense of security.

As the sand dunes come closer, and the woman prepares for her doom, she wraps her arms more securely around the sparkling, holding him tight to her chest. If she's going to die, she'll give him the best chance of survival and cushion his fall.

Just as she braces for impact, a large servo catches her, pulling both her and her son to an ancient chassis. Only when she actually touches the warm metal does she breathe.

A pair of crimson red optics study her trembling self, inspecting every possible injury, gaze eventually lingering on her prosthetics. The Autobot seems more curious and inquisitive than scrutinizing or worried, almost as though he can't believe that she exists.

"T-thank you," her words shake him out of whatever daze he was previously in, encouraging him to hobble over to the gathering group.

"You are welcome, young one," though gruff, his voice is kind, reminding Toby of Ratchet in the way he speaks. "I could not allow harm to come to the Chosen."

She frowns slightly, about to question what he means before cutting herself short, checking on the wellbeing of Aquarius. The young sparkling is shaking terribly, bawling into her shirt in absolute terror while trying to make himself smaller. His mother frantically attempts to soothe his tears with sweet words and gently stroking his helm in a calming manner. Only when he's calm again does she go to say anything, but even then it's a sharp glare at the old mech.

"Try not to do that in the future, would you?"

Jetfire nods in apology, waving off Simmons as the man shouts at him from below. He couldn't care less about the old male, so long as the young woman is safe.

Bumblebee whirs unhappily at the seeker alongside his ex-charge, who currently occupies his time by wrapping up his hand in a strip of fabric. It seems no-one went through that experience unscathed.

"Oh, shut up!" He blunders, having grown tired of the remarks. "I told you I was opening a space bridge. It's the fastest way to travel to Egypt."

Toby coughs quietly, gaining his attention for a mere moment, "Actually, that was a ground bridge."

"What did you tell us?!" Sam proclaims, throwing his hands up, "You didn't tell us anything! Why are we in Egypt?!"

"Don't get snippy with me fleshling!" Jetfire places the woman on the ground before planting himself down as well, "You were duly informed!"

"No, Jetfire," the inventor explains softly, still quite shaken from her unexpected flight, "we weren't. You failed to mention what was happening. So if could tell us why we're in Egypt, that'd be great."

He sighs in defeat, unwilling to argue with her, and sparks up his hologram projection unit, hitting his chassis lightly to stop it from flickering, "This planet was visited by our race once before by our earliest ancestors a millennium ago. They were on an exploratory mission to harvest energeon, the life blood of our race. Without it, we'll all perish, oxidise and rust; like my wretched self." He pauses, forgetting the topic, "Do you have any idea what it's like to fall apart and die?"

Toby shrugs nonchalantly, "Kinda, yeah."

His optics flicker with sympathy before Simmons starts shouting at him, demanding actual answers to their questions. "Let's not get episodic, okay, Old-Timer? Beginning, middle, end. Facts, details, condense, plot, tell it."

Jetfire growls lowly at this obnoxious organism, firing up the hologram once again without breaking eye contact, "Somewhere buried in this desert, our ancestors built a great machine. It harvests energeon by destroying suns—"

The seeker finds himself cut off once again by one of the males, "Destroy suns? Like blow them up?"

"That is what happens when you kill a star, is it not?" Toby snaps at him, scowling at his interruption, "Yes, so shut up."

"In the beginning, there were seven Primes," he starts slowly, only to glare at the woman that has the audacity to correct him with a muttering of 'thirteen'. She mumbles a nearly silent apology before he begins again, his hologram displaying the Primes for all their glory atop a mountain. "They were our original leaders. And they set out in the universe seeking distant suns to harvest. They had one rule: never destroy a planet with life. Until one of them tried to defy this rule. And his designation, forevermore, was the Fallen.

"He despised the human race, and he wanted to kill you all by turning on that machine. The only way to activate it is with a legendary key called 'The Matrix of Leadership'. A great battle took place over possession of the Matrix. The Fallen was stronger than his brothers, so they had no choice but to steal and hide it from him."

The holographic scene shifts from a gruesome battle to a group of fighting Cybertronians, family fighting amongst themselves. Just as their twisted brother seems to claim victory, two spears jam into his sides, disabling him as a young femme retrieves what appears to be the Matrix from his chassis. She retreats swiftly with her siblings, escaping the wrath of their once beloved brother.

"In the ultimate sacrifice, they gave their lives to seal the Matrix away in a tomb made of their very own bodies," Toby looks away as the scene moves to a mountaintop, feeling sick at the thought of the Primes' need to do such a thing. "A tomb we cannot find. Somewhere, buried in this desert, that deadly machine remains. The Fallen knows where it is. And if he finds the tomb of the Primes, your world will be no more."

An involuntary shiver runs down their spines, the seriousness of the situation finally setting in. Though most jump—Leo screeches—when the young medic claps her hands together, wincing at the sudden jolt of pain in her arm and shoulder.

"On that cheerful note, how do we stop him?" She grins cheekily, hiding her pain remarkably well.

"Only a Prime can defeat the Fallen."

Her smile falls immediately and her expression twists in haunting agony, her change in mood not going unnoticed by the rusty mech.

"Optimus Prime?" Her voice trembles on the slightest note, hardly there, but her misery is clear for those that know what to look for.

"So you've met a Prime?" Jetfire inquires curiously, amazed by who she's met, "You must have met a great descendant. Is he alive? Here? On this planet?"

"He died," Samuel says mournfully, full of regret. "He sacrificed himself to save me."

"He didn't die just for you," Toby growls, a glint growing in her eyes. "In case you forgot, I was there, and I had a gun!"

The seeker sighs in loss, hanging his head in defeat, "So he's dead. Without a Prime, it's impossible. No-one else can stop the Fallen."

As the woman grumbles, her mind continues whirring, slotting a puzzle piece into the big picture. Despite her emotions, she allows the spark of hope to light up her eyes.

"You're talking about an energy transfer," she starts, a smile brightening her features as she stands abruptly. "The Matrix transfers energy into the machine and—bang!—Bob's your uncle!" She rambles, grinning madly, "Technically, considering that the Allspark transferred energy through me and gave me Akk, we could use the Matrix to revive Optimus!"

Surprised by the woman's intellect, Jetfire nods, his own spark thrumming in the hope gifted by her brilliant self, "It was never designed with that purpose, but it's an energy of equal to the Allspark."

"Wait," Samuel pipes up, adding his pessimistic attitude to the conversation, "how do you get us to the Matrix before the Decepticons get to me?"

Jetfire ushers them towards their Autobot protectors, clicking at his fellow Cybertronians to transform, "Follow your mind, your map, your symbols, what you carved in the sand, it's your ploom." He orders the boy, before he stoops down to look Toby in the eyes, speaking directly to her, "When dawn alights the Dagger's Tip, the Three Kings will reveal the doorway."

She grows solemn for just a moment, processing the information with deep interest. In silent thanks, she places her servo on his helm in a way of farewell, smiling lightly as Aquarius babbles happily and copies her action. The seeker understands, he knows how unlikely it is that they will see each other again.

"Go," he says softly, raising once more to address all of them. "Find the doorway! It was my mission, now it's yours instead. Quick! Before the Decepticons find me and find you!"

The young woman smiles appreciatively, spinning swiftly on her pede and sprinting over to where Bumblebee awaits her. She won't forget the old scrap heap, not at any rate. He's a friend, one turned from darkness. And those are the ones we mustn't ever forget.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★

I know it took roughly three weeks, but I got it out and that's all that matters.

I will say that you're all gonna hate me in an upcoming chapter. Please comment what you think's going to happen, I want to see what your theories are!

Anyways, have a good night!