*I don't own Transformers or anything affiliated with Transformers. I only own my original characters and plots. All rights go to Michael Bay and Steven Spielberg.*

The images were all so familiar, yet they were so foreign. The smoke, the fires, the charred bodies, the charred vehicles. People ran, but it wasn't for they're own enjoyment. They ran for their lives, they ran from the hundreds of mechs chasing them down and shooting at them, most of them perishing at the hands of the evil beings.

I hid behind a building column and watched as it all went down, the tears streaming down my face as I watched dozens of innocent people combust before my eyes. I wanted nothing more than to be able to help them, but if I wanted to stay alive, I couldn't do a thing about it. It was selfish, but I didn't care.

A very familiar cry sounded through the air as I sat, drowning out the sound of the gunfire and the crashing metal altogether. My body stiffened and I immediately scanned the expansive area for any sign of the source of the pained sound. After sifting my eyes through the numerous metal and organic bodies, my eyes finally fell upon a small body, one that I've watched grow over the span of five years. It was wrapped tightly in the arms of a man, only this was no ordinary man; this was Starscream's holoform. I met my baby sister's frightened, tearful eyes and she held her arms out to me, her small mouth moving. I was quite the distance away, but I could hear every word and the pain seeping out of her small form.

"Help me, Lea. Please, help me, sissy. They're hurting me."

The tears burned in my eyes as her words flooded into my ears. I immediately got up from my spot and ran over to Starscream's holoform, his amber eyes boring into my blue ones. A smirk played on the corner of his lips as he watched me run, sparking a bit of anger inside my body. I ran faster, my sister and Starscream getting closer and closer to me. Just as I was about to grab Annabelle from Starscream's grasp, I was stopped by what seemed to be some sort of invisible wall. I pounded my fist against the invisible structure in a lame attempt to destroy it, the pounding only getting faster as I listened to Anna cry in Starscream's arms.

"Let her go, please," I pleaded with him.

He lightly caressed my sister's face and I growled just at thought of his disgusting limbs on her. Anna continued to cry, her arms still reaching out to me, and I wanted nothing more than to take her away from him.

"Now, sweet Azalea. What fun would that be?"

"Please. I'll do anything. Let her go. She's done nothing wrong," I begged him.

He only laughed. "Yes, but you and your little mate are the reasons that she is here, young one. You can not save her, just as you could not save your precious friend Braelynn," he told me, his tone shifting to nothing but seriousness.

I gulped and placed my hand against the structure, my pained blue eyes melting in Annabelle's brown ones. Her crying never once stopped, but she calmed herself enough to utter a few last words.

"I love you, sissy."

A loud sob escaped my mouth and I pounded against the invisible force once more, pleading for my young sister's life. Starscream only smirked again and cupped his holoform's large hand around my sister's face. With just a flick of his wrist, my baby sister's body fell limp and my eyes widened in horror as he threw her to the ground.

"No! Annabelle, please," I cried as I dropped to my knees, placing my forehead against the wall.

"Aren't you forgetting one?" I heard Starscream say from above me.

The next thing I knew, there was a new body beside Annabelle's, only this wasn't just any body; it was my mom. My limbs trembled greatly at the sight and the tears flowed at an even faster pace, one that I never thought would be possible.

"Momma," was the last thing I could muster before the darkness consumed me.

____________________

I could hear and feel as a shrill scream escaped my mouth. The sound of rushed footsteps soon rushed into my ears and before I knew it, I was being shaken. My eyes shot open and I immediately moved away from whoever had touched me, throwing my head underneath my comforter as I cried, every single detail from my nightmare flowing back into my mind. I clutched my pillow tightly and rolled over, the mattress lowering beneath me.

"Azalea," I heard Ironhide say. I didn't answer him. I only cried harder. This only got harder and harder and it had barely been a day yet. It had barely even been six hours yet for crying out loud.

Hide let out a sigh and the bed lowered even more, indicating that he had laid down. I jumped slightly as I felt his arm wrap around the front of my body, but relaxed almost immediately as he pulled me closer to him, wrapping me in a protective and comforting hold. I just held on to his arms and cried.

"I need you to speak to me, kid."

"I don't know what to do. I feel so lost. I hate this so much, Ironhide," I said to him.

He sat up, pulling me with him and cradling me in his lap. "I know you do, but you know I'm going to be here you. I hate seeing you like this," he replied.

I sighed, a new thought coming into mind, one that I never in these four years thought I would ever have. "Are you you going to stay with me?" I asked him.

"Of course."

We laid back down and I held on tightly to his hand. Currently, it was about midnight. We had only arrived home several hours ago and as soon as we walked in the door, I ran up to my room, changed my clothes and hopped into bed. The battle was exhausting, but after facing the death of my sister and mom, I realized that I had never known what true exhaustion was. I was emotionally and physically exhausted and I had never been so in my life.

As much as I tried to expel this thought from my head, it just wouldn't work. All it did was force me to go into deep thought. I just couldn't do this anymore; I couldn't do any of this anymore and I honestly couldn't even believe I was thinking about this.

Four years ago, the best thing in the world happened to me, but like always, bad things always have to follow something good. I never thought that I would end up falling hopelessly in love with an alien robot, but I also never thought that I would be dragged into the Decepticon and Autobot war. Yes, things were absolutely fantastic for me when I met Ironhide, or Ron, but the moment I did meet him, things also started going downhill. .fast.

In the span of just a few months, I was involved in not only one, but two Decepticon attacks on my hometown, the final one callously taking my best friend away from me forever. Not more than two years later, I was being reeled in once again. That time, I nearly lost my best friend yet again, and spent three months away from the love of my life, living with nothing but pain for that entire time. Now, I had been pulled back in for the third time. This time, I had lost Mudflap, Skids, Jolt, Que, and most importantly my very innocent mother and sister.

I wondered how my life might have been if my dad had never come home in that GMC Topkick. If he had never even been in the military or even if he had been in the Air Force or the Navy, how would my life have turned out? I had a very vague picture painted inside my head where I would have never had to deal with falling in love with an Autobot. I wouldn't have had to deal with the pain of losing my best friend. Braelynn and I would have went through college happily, no problems at all. There was a possibility that I could have met Sam, but I wouldn't have known who he was so odds are, I probably would have never gotten into that car with him that night of the party; there was the chance that I probably would have laughed at the situation and walked back to my dorm room with Braelynn and possibly Leo. Also, I wouldn't have needed to endure that retched battle in Egypt and nor would my father and mother.

After finishing college, Braelynn and I could have flew back home to Washington state where our families lived happily. We could have gotten jobs in Tacoma and I could have met a normal human boy to spend my normal human life with instead of worrying what would become of my Cybertronian mate after I perished. The only thing I would have even known about the Battle of Chicago would have been whatever they displayed on the news afterwards and I definitely wouldn't have had to deal with the death of my mother and sister and especially Jolt, Que, Mudflap, or Skids because I would have had no entire clue who they were.

Don't get me wrong though. Ironhide is and always will be absolutely everything to me; I loved and still love him more than anything and anyone in the world. There are still no words to describe how I feel about him, he was my "spark mate" after all. But, I just couldn't do this anymore; I couldn't do any of it. So much has happened in the past four years alone and I needed a break from it all. This had done it for me and the only thing I wanted to do was give up everything and that's what I was going to do. It was the only solution I could come up with.

I let out an exasperated sigh and held him tighter, only receiving the same response from him in return.

"I love you. Please don't ever forget that," I whispered.

I felt him kiss the top of my head. "I love you, Lea."

I coughed quietly in an attempt to conceal my sobs. I just couldn't believe that I was about to do this.

*Please vote and comment. It'd mean so much to me. I wanna know what you guys think.*