As we enter the shack, Raph locks the door behind us. Carefully, I look around before turning my head towards the outside. My car, a 2009 grey Corvette Stingray, stood out like a sore thumb against the bright spring green. Another reason I pulled it around to the back. No one expects such an expensive-looking car to be near a run-down building.

However, there were no other vehicles around.

I turn my gaze back to the inside, cautiously walking forward. So far, everything looked empty. Turning left, I enter the living room and spot our newfound friend. The man stands up from his squatting position behind an armchair. His dark brown hair was ruffled, unkempt. He was sporting a simple t-shirt and jeans, and his eyes were hazel. His face was young but bore the weight of many years of wandering.

"Samuel James Witwicky."

His eyes widen when I speak, and I can only shake my head. "I should have known. Of all the people to have such detailed information, this is the most logical solution." I can see Raph move into view again. Sam only scratches the back of his neck. "Before you say anything, I'm not the reason we got caught." My eyes narrow, noting the defensiveness in his voice. His movements were tight, rigid. He was nervous.

"Relax, I'm not blaming you. And I'm not going to deck you, so lower your shoulders." His eyes widen again, but he does as directed and relaxes a bit. Raph just laughs before heading toward the confused young adult. "You get used to it. She'll read you like a book." He offers a hand, and Sam takes it. Looks like a firm grip.

"I'm Raph. Nice to finally meet you. Rachel is the intimidator, but don't let that startle you. She's a real softie once you get to know her." Sam only gives a nervous chuckle and looks between us. I only shake my head and start towards a backroom. "Don't ruin my reputation, Raph." Quickly, I flick on a single light that dangles in the middle of the room. The sun was still up, but I knew we were going to be here for a long time. As the other two join me, I hear Sam gasp.

"Welcome to our office."

I gesture around at the multiple computer screens, towers, keyboards, and everything you need when hacking government databases. One table has a large transmitter on it with multiple wires hooking it up to the screen next to it. Compared to the outside, this room seems out of place. It was near the front of the house, but the windows were well tinted. One light would show someone was inside, but not enough to find out what was happening. The router was outside, hidden underneath the paneling just outside the window.

Raph was already moving toward the transmitter, which gains Sam's attention. "Woah, wait! You have an energon detector?! How did you-" I only raise my hand to stop him before moving to one of the other computers. "You really don't want that question answered." I plop down in the swivel chair and start turning on all the equipment. Sam sits next to me, watching carefully. I can already feel a question forming, but I don't have to answer it.

"Don't worry. This place is concealed from anyone being able to track us. We have firewalls on our firewalls under our firewalls." Raph doesn't even move, but I see Sam only shake his head with a small smile. "You guys thought of everything, didn't you?" I only shake my head before turning to him slightly. "Not everything. You know how to track pictures?" Finally, I see a hint of excitement in those dull eyes. Sam nods his head, quickly starting to show the intelligence his notes had provided. "That's easy. What am I looking for, exactly?"

I gesture to the computer set up next to mine. "You're going to scan through local media and national headlines, see if we can find any of these mechanical giants hiding in plain sight. You've been close to them, you know what to look for." I turn back to my own station, quickly logging in and opening up the necessary windows. "I'm going to try and get back into the N.E.S.T. database and-"

"Wait, you did what?"

I barely turn my head towards Sam, a sly smirk on my face. "Did you think you were talking to goodie-two-shoe amateurs?" I will treasure the look on his face for the rest of my life. I get back to work while continuing to tell him what will happen. "I'm going to try and find out how they were able to track us down while Raf is going to try and get that detector working again. When we... 'acquired'-"

"Stole-"

"'Borrowed' it, it was damaged and needed repairs. We want to get it up and running to make sure nothing sneaks up on our base." With that, I hear him swivel into place and we all get to work. I quickly pop on an upbeat playlist, then we grow silent while we work. Raph gets to tinkering, Sam beings delving into the codes for each article that appears that bears any sign of the large mechanical aliens that the government has been trying to hide from the world.

But I have seen them in action first hand.

My fingers freeze as the memory of the Mission City attack flashes through my mind. A large, flame-covered robot crashes into a building I was standing by. My father was next to me, and he pushes me away as the rubble crashes down-

I shake my head and re-focus on the task at hand. The past is in the past, I need to focus on the future. Minutes tick by and turn into hours. Raph steps away from his task only for a moment before returning with pizza rolls for all of us, a glass bottle of my favorite soda, and some water for each of us. "Bon appetite." He says before returning to his chair. Sam nods his thanks and eats a few, but I barely move. I have just broken past the first firewall, and now N.E.S.T. was getting suspicious. I could see they were trying to track my signal. 'Need to squash that quickly.'

Danger

My fingers freeze, my body stiffens, and my blood runs cold. No one in the room said anything, but I know there is something nearby. Something bad. "Guys-"

*BEEEEEEEP*

Raph jumps back from the table, knocking his chair over in the process. "Woah!" He shouts. Sam and I jump up as well, but I couldn't shake the feeling of impending doom. Sam stutters out a single sentence that only makes my worry deepen.

"Did... D-Did that detector just go off?"

Raph nods, but I see him stiffen as reality sets in. "I... I finally got it to work, a-and it j-just detected energon... within twenty feet of this c-cabin." For a moment, none of us speak. Then the detector beeps again and I spring into action. Turning, I yank open a drawer on the desk I was at and jam it into the tower I was sitting by. Swiftly, my fingers fly over the keyboard. "Raph! Get the disk!" I hear the teen scrambling behind me while Sam is currently hyperventilating. "W-What d-do you mean- are you saying - right outside-"

"SAM!"

The man quickly quiets and locks eyes with me as I turn to him. "Shut. UP!" Surprisingly, he only nods and I return to downloading every file I can onto the drive. Once I finish, I eject it just as Raph loads a CD into the tray. I snooze the computer screens and we all rush out. I pull Sam by his arm to follow us into the kitchen. Once there, I stand just next to a large rug that goes under the fridge. Raph presses a button hidden on the side of the fridge and the rug rolls back towards the fridge to reveal a trap door. Opening it up, I gesture for Sam to go first. "Get in, get quiet. We're running out of time." He starts to protest, probably because it was pitch black, so I do what any normal person does.

I shove him in.

I hear him hit the ground, but he's still alive. Raph follows behind, and I am quick to follow. Just I close and latch the door, I hear the mechanism above move the rug back into place perfectly. I let out a sigh of relief and collapse against the muddy wall. I hear muttering, and I only shake my head. "Next time, do as your told, Witwicky." I whisper, and I only hear a groan in return. I reach into my pocket and pull out a small flashlight. All of us left our phones upstairs, making sure they couldn't find us in the house. Turning it on, I shine a light around and see Sam nursing his arm gingerly.

It looked mostly okay, just bruised.

"Is it broken?"

He flexes his hand a bit, then shakes his head.

"Good... Sorry."

He only glares, and I shrug. Turning my light to Raph, the boy looks at me with concern. "Never thought we'd have to use this." He says quietly, and I nod as well. "Like I said before, we've thought of almost everything..." I hear an engine suddenly roar to life, and I swiftly turn off the flashlight. However, I feel confusion rise in my mind. I know that engine, but before I can question it, another engine slowly grows louder before overpowering what I believe is my own car.

Suddenly, it's silent.

The small hole we are in suddenly becomes deathly still. No one is moving, and barely a breath is heard. At first, I start to wonder if I had just imagined the engines. Then I hear a door creak open and footsteps slowly echo to us from the floorboards above. A couple of male, muffled voices make their way to my ears, but it isn't until they are directly above my head that I can hear them clearly. One is a deep voice with a slight country-like accent, the other held authority.

"I've got nothin' in here, Colonel."

"With their phones still in the computer room, it's likely they fled on foot. Optimus, Sideswipe, anything outside?"

I hear a sudden intake of breath, and I am already next to Sam with my hand over his mouth. I make no extra noise, as the movement above suddenly stops.

"Did you hear that?"

I feel my heart hammering in my chest, fear starting to sink in as the boards above creak from the pressure of someone possibly squatting on the door. I knew I should have reinforced those blasted planks-

"What? We're on our way! Keep your optics on them. Eps! We've got 'Cons closing in."

"Fantastic."

Their footsteps rapidly leave the building, and I can only breathe out a sigh of relief as an engine roars to life and then disappears into the distance. I release my hold on Sam's face, and he sucks in another breath of air.

"What was that for?!"

"They were directly above us, and you make noise?!"

"Do you even know who they had with them?! Optimus is the freaking leader of the Autobots!" I still can't see his face too well, but my eyes adjusted enough to see the mix of shock, relief, and confusion all mixed together. I can only shake my head before moving back and resting against the wall. "You expect me to understand what that means?" I pull out the flashlight again and click it on. Sam winces at the sudden brightness, but his surprise remains.

"W-What did you guys do to get even Optimus involved?!"

To that, I shrug before listing off the number of felonies we have committed. "Theft, evading the police, breaking and entering..." Raph looks up in thought, then lifts a hand and continues. "Hacking into government databases, tracking confidential information, more theft." I can't help but slightly smirk, and when Raph lowers his gaze, he slightly chuckles. "What haven't we done I think is a shorter question. I used to live in a town that was nearly demolished by these alien robots, I want to know more about them and if there are truly any friendly ones." I only nod in agreement, not feeling like sharing my life story with Sam freaking Witwicky.

He's just using us to get back with his robot friends.

Then again, we were just using him to get to these robots, so I guess it's a win-win.

Finally, we each grow silent again, not wanting to leave the hole and enter into a well-planned ambush. Despite knowing for certain I heard them leave, I know I'm still human. I can be fooled. We wait a bit longer until I jerk awake. I gaze at my watch and note that it's been nearly over two hours. It was most likely safe to leave now, but we would have to file into my car and leave immediately. There's no telling when N.E.S.T. will be back to raid the place.

Slowly, I move to each of the sleeping boys and wake them. Sam slightly jerks awake, but Raph only yawns. "Guess we're good then since I didn't wake up in a cell..." I only let out a small laugh before moving to the latch. Unlocking the door, I then press a button on the wall and wait to hear the rug move. Once the noise stops, I quickly lift the hatch and look around. It was almost sunset now, the light streaming through the windows behind my head. The house was empty. Carefully, I climb out, then offer a hand to Raph. He takes it, and Sam follows behind him.

However, my gaze is locked out back.

My car is gone.

Before I can say anything, I find myself turning to look at a horrified Sam. He was gazing at the front of the house, but whatever he was looking at was making his skin paler than it already was.

"Decepticon..."

He barely says it loud enough to be audible, but a rev catches my attention. I follow his gaze and find myself staring at what looks to be a Saleen Mustang police cruiser. Upon closer inspection, however, I notice the normal symbol was replaced with a very sharp and spikey-looking face-like design. On the side where it normally says "To protect and defend" it clearly said, "To punish and enslave."

It's one of them.

To confirm my suspicions, the car doors suddenly split and pop out a set of rockets on each side. My eyes widen, and I quickly turn and grab Raph's arm. "Run, RUN!" I bolt towards the back of the house and release Raph's arm once I feel him moving. I reach out and grab one of the chairs from the kitchen table and hurl it at the back window. As it crashes, I turn to make sure Raph was behind me. He jumps through just as I hear the rockets start firing. Sam follows and I jump through last.

A rocket is launched.

I try my hardest to run before it makes impact, but my ears are already ringing before the blast slams against my back and sends me flying forward a bit. I crash against the ground and roll to a stop. Pain was radiating through my whole body, but nothing was broken yet. I struggle to get on my hands and knees, ears ringing like a church bell at noon. My vision is blurry as well, and I can barely make out the body shape of a human kneeling in front of me. Hands grab my arms and pull me to my feet.

Crackling and metallic sounds hit my ears first, and I turn to find the source of them. With wide eyes I find myself staring at a massive black and white alien robot sporting crimson red eyes. Its gaze meets mine, and I suddenly understand why the hands around my arms were pulling me. In a panic, I try to tear the hands from my arms as I begin running towards the woods opposite of our would-be killer. I can hear it chasing after us, the earth shaking with each step it takes. Somehow, we make it to the tree line before the monster catches up enough to grab us. I can hear it snapping trees in half like toothpicks as it barrels through the woods. I could see Raph ahead of us, and I turn to find that Sam was the one I was running next to. We were starting to catch up to the teen just as the treeline breaks and we emerge onto the side of a highway. At first, we continue full sprint in a straight line, thankful that the roads were eerily empty.

Then I see it.

A flame-colored eighteen-wheeler pulls off a turnaround and begins barreling straight towards us. The horn is blaring, and I swiftly run to the side as it passes by us. I turn to watch and catch a glimpse at the cab.

There was no driver.

And I recognize the face on the trailer it was towing.

Before I can think, I find myself slowing to a stop and watching as the truck bears down on the treeline. Just as the black and white robot emerges, the trailer from the eighteen-wheeler drops and the main truck erupts into a puzzle of moving parts that suddenly fit together to form a massive red and blue mech that slams against the chest of our hunter.

I can't turn away. My mind is reliving that fateful day at the sight of this oh-so-familiar mech. Even the voices calling for me are being blocked out by the sounds of metal on metal fists being thrown. Hands grab my arm, and I'm brought back to reality as I'm dragged away once again.

A yellow Chevy Camaro suddenly skids into view and pops open the passenger side door. I hear the raido suddenly scream "GET IN" from the movie 'Tron', but I was more concerned about the lack of a person in the driver's seat. However, with Sam all but shoving me into the vehicle, I find myself suddenly in the driver's seat.

But I was not the driver.

The car lurches forward the minute everyone is inside and proceeds to speed away from the fight. I turn to watch out the back window just as the tall blue and red mech fires blue blasts of what I can only assume to be plasma or concentrated energy at a retreating black and white cop car. The blue and red mech was holding his chest slightly, but he is swift to transform back into a semi-truck and reattach to his trailer.

I sit back in my seat, staring at the steering wheel in shock.

It's the same symbol on the trailer and on my own car.

It's similar to the police car's, but not as sharp. The edges are smoother, and the face was more blocky. I can't help but rub my thumb over it.

"You're one of them, aren't you?"

At first, nothing happens, then the radio beeps before playing what sounds like a scene from a movie, "Message from Starfleet, Captain." I tilt my head, but Sam's exstatic expression yanks me from my questions. Suddenly, both Raph and I don't exist as Sam begins losing his mind.

"Bee! I never thought I'd see you again. It's so good to see you're okay. I've missed you, man. You know what I'm stuck with now? A beetle!" Surprisingly, the radio responds in turn, pulling bits and pieces from talk shows, movies, and tv shows to create a sentence. "You know... I had... no... choice. I would have... stayed... with you.... Kept you... safe."

So this is why Sam wanted in.

Sam's eyes slightly tear up, and I clear my throat.

"I hate to interrupt, but since we didn't die, and I am now currently sitting inside the very beings I have been searching for for the past decade..." I gesture to the radio, and Sam suddenly realizes. "Oh! Sorry. Raph, Racheal, this is Bumblebee. He was my Autobot guardian for many years." I nod and say hello, and Raph does the same. The radio, which I figure is Bumblebee's main method of communication, beeps a few times. I look at Sam, who holds the same confusion, but Raph laughs.

"Yeah, I understood you."

I feel my neck pop when I look at my friend, but my gaze swiftly shifts to just behind him.

The blue and red flamed eighteen-wheeler had caught up and was just behind us now.

"So... who's that?"

Sam looks back as well, then scoffs. "That, my dears friends, is Optimus Prime. He's the leader of the Autobots." Normally, I'd have a witty comeback, but I couldn't think of any while realizing I had done it. I had found those responsible for the Mission City attack...

And for the death of my father.