I felt someone watching me. It wasn't Jack or Raf; I could see them in my peripheral vision playing a video game. It wasn't Miko, either, she was watching them. That just left Ratchet, but when I looked up, he was always facing away from me.

I ducked my head back into my notebook again, flipping a few pages to pretend to look preoccupied. After a few minutes I lifted my head sharply in time to see a surprised Ratchet staring at me. I flipped a page of my notebook and found the question I was looking for and showed it to him.

What do you want?

Ratchet took a minute to reply.

"Nothing. I don't want anything."

Ratchet's reply caused the others to stop what they were doing to watch the two of us. I got up from the couch I was sitting on and walked along the catwalk until I was next to Ratchet's work area as I was writing another question down.

Why do you keep staring at me?

Ratchet stared at the question for a second before replying.

"Because I still can't get over the fact you..." he trailed off, before turning back to his computer and continued working.

"Never mind."

I watched him for a second. His optics, as I had learned to call them, were focused straight on the monitor as his servos flew wildly on the keyboard, rapid typing sounds echoing across the room, eventually drowned out by the others' video game. I stared at the text on Ratchet's screen, taking a guess that it was Cybertronian. I had no idea what he was working on, but it was fascinating, sort of.

"Hey, Cassidy! You wanna try beating the undefeated racing champion?" Miko asked, gesturing to Raf. I walked back over to the others, but I shook my head as I showed Raf a question.

Can you do me a favor?

"Sure?" Raf replied cautiously as he pushed up his glasses with a finger.

Is there a way you could get Ratchet's number? He has a number, right?

I erased my answer immediately after Raf read it.

"Yeah. They're called comlink codes. Bumblebee gave me his on the first few days he became my guardian. He hasn't given you his yet?"

I shook my head and held up two fingers, trying to tell him he'd only been my guardian for two days.

"Arcee wouldn't give me hers for a week and a half. Give it time," Jack said with a small smile. I blew a stray strand of hair off my face in agitation as I wrote again.

If Arcee didn't give you hers for nearly two weeks, I can only imagine Ratchet won't give me his for a month. Maybe more.

"Then stay on his good side," Jack suggested.

It'd be easier to just get it, but right now staying on his good side sounds like a good idea.

The conversation ended at that, and I sat back down on the couch, before Ratchet's computer beeped, and Arcee's voice filled the room.

"Ratchet, do you read?"

The others and I looked in Ratchet's direction as he replied.

"Arcee, what is it?"

"We need backup. Since Megatron found a dark energon mine, a few hundred eradicons are here, along with Megatron himself. They're overpowering us."

"On my way," Ratchet said briskly, ending the transmission. He didn't look at us as he walked over to the GroundBridge.

"Rafael, man the GroundBridge. Jack, Charge, keep an eye on Miko," Ratchet ordered as he pulled the lever down and a swirling portal that opened filled the room with a greenish hue.

Is he even armed?

The question briefly crossed my mind before it was answered when Ratchet's servos transformed into a pair of giant knives as he ran through the portal. Raf was already at a computer, probably to close the bridge, I guess, when Miko tore past us, running down the catwalk.

"Miko!" Jack cried, swiftly getting up and chasing her, gesturing for Raf to hurriedly close the bridge. I ran after Jack, running down the stairs of the catwalk two at a time. Jack grabbed Miko's arm.

"Did you not learn anything last time you ran into a battle?"

"But last time it was with a zombie! This one is with Dark Energon!" Miko cried in reply, wrenching out of Jack's grasp and running into the portal as it was starting to close.

"Miko!" Jack called as he ran in after her. I quickly looked between the closing portal and Raf, and ran after Jack under pressure. Once I arrived on the other side, the portal closed. I felt like someone had rearranged all my insides and I held my stomach...if it was even there.

Once I didn't feel like puking, I looked around and saw a blur of pink turning a corner behind a purple crystal. Then I saw a blur of grey. I gathered my senses and made my feet move, running after Miko and Jack.

Once I turned a corner, I collided into a giant robot head. I rubbed my jaw as I stared at it. It wasn't an Autobot; at least, one I knew of. It had a V-shape for eyes, no mouth, and had a silver face. I looked around, seeing Arcee fighting two others. They must be Decepticons.

Okay, if every single Decepticon-including this Megatron character-looks like this guy, the Autobots must be really bad fighters if they lost their planet to these guys.

I was pulled out of my thoughts when someone literally pulled me away just as a giant arm landed where I was standing two seconds ago. I stared at the arm for a second, before remembering someone had pulled me. I whipped around, before my head smashed against another's accidentally. I grimaced, rubbing the area that was bumped, and I saw Jack doing the same. I gave him an apologetic look, and he nodded, before hurriedly taking my arm and pulling me along, until we got to a nook between a few purple energon crystals, where Miko was already there waiting.

"Dude, I could've found her in half the time you took," Miko complained to Jack, who rolled her eyes.

"If you hadn't run off into the GroundBridge, I wouldn't have had to find her!" Jack snapped back. Miko scoffed.

"Do you hate excitement and adventure? Because you act like it sometimes."

"Maybe I have concern for your safety," Jack replied, eyes narrowed.

"Don't. Don't even go there," Miko snapped. I stepped back, noticing a Decepticon near us. I shook Miko's shoulder to get her to be quiet as the two continued quarreling.

"Cassidy, stop," Miko said sharply, shrugging me off. I rolled my eyes and roughly grabbed her by the shoulders and turned her body to face the Decepticon near us who luckily hadn't noticed us. I put a finger to my lips and looked at them pointedly.

"Why didn't you say something?" Miko asked me, voice immediately dropping to a whisper. I wanted to grab her shoulders and shake her, mouthing I can't speak at her, but now was not the time. I got that a lot, anyway.

"Move, while he doesn't see us," Jack whispered, and we took off in a sprint, running around a few purple crystals before finding ourselves standing in front of a battle between Bulkhead and a giant robot with an eyepatch. They saw us.

"Your pet brought some friends?" The eyepatch guy asked, a smirk on his face.

"Miko, what are you doing?" Bulkhead said sharply as he blocked a hammer-punch thing from the other robot. Miko took out her phone and snapped a picture as Jack pulled her arm.

Wait. The Autobots willingly let Miko take pictures on her cell phone of them? Whatever happened to the 'robots in disguise' status? What if someone stole her phone? What if Vince did?

The question left my mind as quickly as it had come when I head a sharp voice behind me.

"Charge?"

I knew it could only be Ratchet. Only one person called me that.

Ratchet threw another Decepticon-clone-trooper-thing off his sword he just stabbed it with before turning to us, blue optics fierce.

"You need to get out of here. Why hasn't Raf done anything to get you back?" he asked, before punching another guy in the face.

"We're not really at the original coordinates," Jack replied.

"And it isn't like he would blindly type in coordinates and send a bridge," Miko added. Ratchet scoffed, before his optics widened and he hurriedly stepped over us, running over to something.

"Arcee!" he called.

Or, someone.

At the sound of his guardian's name, Jack's spun around and followed Ratchet, and Miko and I followed him.

Arcee was holding a large gash in her side, and a red bot was behind her, a saw he had transforming into a servo. A small smirk was on his face as a blade appeared out of Arcee's free arm. The robot looked over at Jack running over.

"You brought your 'human friend'?" the 'bot smirked to Arcee, referring to Jack. Arcee's reply was a growl and a swing at the red guy. She missed, and Ratchet took her away hurriedly as I saw a flash of yellow appear over us, and Bee was blasting the red bot rapidly with two blasters on his arms.

"That was Doc-Knock. The other guy you saw getting beaten by Bulkhead was Breakdown," Miko said excitedly.

Suddenly something exploded in front of us, and we whirled around to see another robot wearing high heels.

"Starscream," Jack muttered, rolling his eyes.

"What are you three vermin doing here?" he said loudly, arm extended with a missile on it.

"Time to go!" Jack said quickly, grabbing both Miko's and my arm and running. I didn't dare to look back to see if Skyscream or Starsing or whatever-his-name-was was following.

We caught our breath behind a large clump of crystals once we didn't hear thudding footsteps behind us. Jack collapsed against the back of the crystals, sitting down as Miko leaned against one. I didn't want to touch the purple thing, so I sat down on the ground. I swallowed hard. Running was not my cup of tea.

I reached in my pocket for my phone, seeing why no one was tracking our signals or anything.

No Service

Oh, right. We are pretty deep underground.

I put my phone back in my pocket when I froze, hearing yet another heavy thud. Miko peeked through the crystals and gasped, shaking Jack's shoulder.

"Jack. Is that..."

Her voice trailed off as Jack got up to see what she was looking at, and his eyes widened in shock.

"Yes. It is."

I was curious enough to look. What stood in front of us, back turned, was a tall-maybe taller than Optimus-robot. He was silver and purple, and from what I could see, he was holding something purple in his servo. I had a feeling I knew who this guy was, just by his aura.

Megatron.

~~~

Yesh! Another chappy is out!

And...it was 6 pages on Word and...2 on Watty? Huh.

Typical Miko. Having to run into yet another battle.

Oh, and why wasn't OP with Megatron when the three saw him? Just a thought.

(I don't know why I didn't say this earlier, but this is taken place between Jack's mom knowing and Smokescreen arriving. Just in that general area. I may or may not have a chapter based on an episode, we'll see.

I do have a plot bunny I'll put into action in a few chapters, though. :3)