The wind was deafening, it was hard to hear the radio over it. Right now it was our only contact to the outside world and I was holding onto it-and my sister-like they were a lifeline, figuratively and literally. How long would this tornado last? An hour? Twenty four hours? I didn't know the average "life span" of a tornado. Sure, we studied them in school, but I always thought I'd never have to actually remember the stuff in case I was in one. But now, I stand corrected.

Lillian was holding my arm tightly, and I didn't object even though it was starting to hurt and my feet were falling asleep a little. I shifted a little, stretching my feet out in front of me and reaching over to the radio, which was filling with static and winding it up again. The only light we had was our flashlight and my phone, and I was saving that in case it was important.

The room was quiet, save for the soft, static-y filled chatter of the radio.

"More than sixty volcanoes are erupting worldwide, and downtown Honolulu is under six inches of snow. Scientists continue to devise theories connecting the unprecedented natural disasters with the planetary alignment, which-"

The broadcast was interrupted with a long droning beep before it just became a hissy static, and when the radio started to slow down and lose its connection, I didn't bother to try and rewind it. Eventually we were left with the loud, shrill sound of the wind again.

"...Do...do you want to play a g-game?" Lillian asked after a few seconds. They were the first words she'd spoken to me today. I nodded yes in the dark, and she seemed to be able to tell.

"Okay...what?"

I frowned a little, not knowing.

"We could-"

Lillian immediately stopped when the house started to shake a little more and she grabbed me tighter. The wind became louder; I assumed the tornado had gotten closer to us. I was afraid it would destroy our house, I was also afraid that my parents were stranded somewhere and hurt, or worse, maybe even the Autobots were hurt. Jack? Miko? Raf?

Ratchet?

I wondered what they were doing right now.

A few minutes passed before Lillian spoke again.

"...Truth or Dare?"

I shook my head, getting an idea she could ask about the ambulance.

"I spy?"

I spy something black, I thought to myself, staring at the pitch black room around us. Lillian seemed to have read my mind.

"Yeah, no, okay, that won't work..."

I smiled a little, squeezing her shoulder.

Ratchet's P.O.V.

I couldn't believe it.

A part of me wouldn't believe it.

Megatron was currently out with Optimus and the others, and aiding them? I had a really bad feeling about this, but we are facing our darkest hour, right now we were pretty much open to anything.

I saw Miko check her cell again; she'd checked it three times in the past ten minutes.

"Miko, you do know the base's shielding prevents a radio signal from coming through, right? Unless you're checking the time, your phone is of no use at the moment."

"You tinkered with the TV and our mobile devices so that our phones could receive radio waves from here, remember?" she asked, flipping her phone shut and staring up at me.

"Yeah, nearly smashing our phones in the process," Jack muttered, crossing his arms over his chest.

"..So you asked me to help," Raf added, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose with a finger.

"Sorry, I forgot. I'm just preoccupied," I replied, venting out slowly, staring at the monitor, hoping that a signal would pop up, before turning back to Miko

"What were you doing, anyway?"

"Checking for service. I know it's not really a possibility, with the crazy weather and all, but I'm sorta worried for Cassidy."

"You worry about Cassidy more than your own family?" I scoffed.

Miko bit her lip, looking away. I frowned, deciding to just be quiet as I looked back at the screen.

"Maybe you should...see if she's okay," June suggested, walking over to the edge of the catwalk and resting her hands on the railing. I shook my helm.

"I'm not leaving the base. We could get word from them any second...somehow," I argued.

"Besides, if the rest of her family's there, do I take just her and leave them? No, I'll just stay here, thank you."

"Ratchet, we'd keep an eye on things..." Raf said quietly, shrugging a little, before his glasses slipped to the edge of his nose again and he frowned at them in annoyance.

"No. I'd be abandoning my post here. One of you could check on her if...when...this is over."

"She could need an ambulance." Jack shrugged.

"So call the hospital," I replied. "She's no longer my charge, I have no ties with her anymore."

June frowned a little, before Fowler stepped forward.

"Wait. She's no longer your charge? What happened?"

"She left in fear that her younger sister would discover us and she didn't want that. It was her decision, not mine," I replied, keeping my optics set on my monitor.

Suddenly the base started to shake, and equipment started to rattle. I glanced up, seeing dust starting to fall a little from the ceiling.

"Earthquake!" Agent Fowler called.

"Take cover!" I shouted, shielding the kids as rapid beeping from the monitors sounded.

Cassidy's P.O.V.

A violent rumbling started, shaking the house even more. If the twister wasn't going to destroy the house, this might.

"Earthquake?" Lillian asked fearfully, and I hesitantly nodded, holding her close as I stood up shakily-the moving ground didn't help- and got inside the porcelain white bathtub, sitting down again. She willingly crawled into my lap.

I had read somewhere that a bathtub was the safest place to be in an earthquake, but I had no idea if it was true. I guess it was time to test that theory.

Lillian's head was between her knees as her arms were covering the back of her head. I held onto her, hugging her tight, almost as if she were a teddy bear. A shampoo bottle fell from the small shelf in our shower onto my head, making me jump five inches off the floor of the tub. Lillian shrieked when a hand mirror resting on the sink counter fell and shattered; I just hugged her tighter to try and comfort her and comfort myself.

Then, the earthquake subsided, and with it, the wind. No shaking, no noise, nothing. It was completely silent.

I reached into my pocket slowly, pulling out my phone. There was still no service, which I could expect, but the entire thing-the bizarre weather-lasted for about two and a half hours.

Was the alignment over?

I didn't bother to try and get Lillian to move. She was still freaked out, I was freaked out, and I think it was safe to assume we were both content staying here for a while.

***
It was about another hour or two before I could hear the front door open and footsteps enter the house, and then I could hear muffled speaking. Lillian made no effort to move off my lap.

Soon the door to the bathroom opened and we were greeted with a bright light before anything else.

"Lillian! Cassidy! You're safe! Oh thank goodness," my mother immediately greeted, stepping over the broken glass and wrapping us both into a squished hug. My father practically ran in the room and wrapped us in a hug as well.

"Can't...breathe..." Lillian gasped, before finally being let go and getting off my lap.

"We were so worried. You aren't hurt at all, are you?" My father asked, briefly glancing at the broken glass from the mirror. I shook my head no, but he glanced at my hands, which were shaking. My entire body was shaking and I hesitantly stood up and tried stepping out of the tub.

"First earthquake/tornado duo, huh?" he smiled a little, wrapping me in a hug again.

"What does the house look like?" Lillian asked quietly, her voice muffled as her face was in my mother's shirt, like she used to do when she was four.

"Like a tornado went through it," my dad replied before my mom could. I smiled a little at his attempt to lighten the mood. At least my parents had been safe through all of it, hopefully the 'bots were too.

Ratchet's P.O.V.

No.

Optimus couldn't have lost his memory.

And yet it could, it just happened.

I sighed, pinching an imaginary bridge of an imaginary nose with my digits. I'd learned the gesture from Agent Fowler, mostly. He was even doing it at the moment.

"General Bryce...is not going to be happy," I heard him mutter, and I held back a snarky comment as I turned to look at my screen again, where Optimus' signal was gone.

Cloaked.

Shielded.

Optimus was on the Nemesis.

I shook my helm again, looking back at the others, who were either frightened, lost, or confused.

Optimus Prime was on the Nemesis.

~~~

Dun dun dun!

I hope you liked this chapter! :D

Before I say anything else, I want to give a quick shout out to Nacho-Chan and wheelieandblur for guessing what episodes I would use!

They were supposed to get their shoutout last chapter, but I...forgot. *cough* :S

So, better late than never, right? :)

CHAPTER 16 IS DONE, GUYS! YAAY!!! ^_^

That was a random hyper moment. I had two root beer floats yesterday, I think I'm still on a sugar rush. Don't judge. >_<

I have up to chappy 25 planned. So no, this book will not end at chappy 24, at least (As I said in chappy 12, even If it was a joke).

But I could stray from my plans (I put plants accidentally but then I changed it. Oops. ^_^'), so things could change. :P

But anyway, thanks for reading!

Bye now! :D

*disappears*