FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

"Oh, that is beautiful." Jack stared at the sunrise and smiled as Arcee cut her engine and coasted down the gently sloping road. The clouds had started to light up a few minutes ago, and by now they'd turned fiery red. The ocean stretching into infinity ahead of them glowed with rippling streaks of gold from the sun peeking over the horizon.

"It sure is." Her human-size body slipped its arms around him and rested its chin on his shoulder. "Like I've said before, Cybertron was beautiful in its own way, before the war destroyed it, but it was nothing like this. Sunrises there just reflected light off metal that was varying shades of gray, so it all kind of looked the same everywhere. Still pretty, but not much variation. At night, though, it was a sea of lights and holographic displays. I guess you could think of it as Las Vegas dialed up to eleven." She paused a few seconds before adding, "It hasn't looked like that in a long time."

The subtle shift in her tone made him reach up to put a hand over hers. She'd never talked much about it, and he'd never pressed her on the matter. He wasn't about to start now that they were finally getting the romantic walk on the beach they'd been wanting.

She rushed on, as if trying to push thoughts of her dead homeworld out of her mind. "This, though … I'd never even imagined the variety of shapes and colors and textures. We didn't have anything equivalent to a beach there. Everything was metal." She put her hands on his shoulders as they reached the end of the road and coasted to a stop. "Sand, water, birds flying overhead – even after living on Earth for three years, this is the first chance I've had to see anything like this up close. Not without being in the middle of a battle at the same time, at least."

"We'll have to make a habit of it, then." He waited for her doppelgänger to dismount before following her a few steps away, giving her room to transform back into her primary mode. Once she'd changed into her sixteen-foot-tall self, she glanced down to be sure he wasn't underfoot, then walked on down to the edge of the beach.

"I'd like that." She closed her optics and smiled. "It's so quiet here. Well, aside from the waves hitting the rocks over there, but even that is kind of soothing, compared to all the gunfire and shit blowing up that we're usually hearing."

"Yeah. I haven't been to a place like this since I was a little kid, one of the very few times Mom got enough time off work to go on a trip." Jack caught up with her, glanced around, and spotted the crate of supplies and equipment someone from Groom Lake had left for them. "I wonder how General Sanchez arranged for us to have this whole beach to ourselves. I hope it wasn't too extreme, like concocting a story about a biohazard or radiation leak or something."

"I didn't think to ask." Arcee's smaller body walked with him toward the crate while she remained where she stood, gazing out at the brightening sky and smiling. "He guaranteed we'd have total privacy, so that's good enough for me."

"Fair enough." He grinned, opened the crate, and glanced over its contents. Pre-packaged food, a small gas stove, a variety of beverages in a cooler, a folding table and chairs, and an inflatable tent, among other things. "Looks like everything we need."

"Nice. We can set up the tent later." She slipped her hand into his. "For now, I'd like to try this 'walk on the beach' thing we've been planning."

"Perfect place to start." He leaned over to give her a peck on the lips before walking with her over the sand and rocks. They continued in silence for a few minutes, Jack smiling at the sounds of the ocean and seagulls overhead and sea lions somewhere behind them, then grinning when he noticed Arcee's enthralled expression.

Nice to know that she can still encounter new things, even after living for thousands of years. He slipped his arm around her waist and she put hers around his shoulders. Her optics flicked upward to track a pair of seagulls soaring overhead, then she motioned at the rocky cliffs to the right.

"The waves are getting bigger. When we unpack the tent and other stuff, we should do it up there."

"Good idea. It'd be just our luck to have a giant wave come out of nowhere and sweep all our stuff out to sea." He laughed, then he picked up on another subtle shift in her face. "Something wrong?"

"No, I …" She glanced at him and shrugged. "Sorry. I don't want to put a damper on our little vacation, but I also don't want to hide anything from you. It was just something I noticed last night, something in your mom's voice when you guys were chatting while playing GTA."

"I caught that, too. Plus the worried look on her face before you and I headed back to my room at the base. Something was bothering her, but she was trying not to let it show." He sighed. "Ever since then, I've had a feeling that something bad is about to happen, but she didn't want to ruin our weekend with it."

"Well, like you said, it's the way our luck works." She shrugged abruptly. "But if she wanted us to have one weekend without any worries, let's try to accept it. I figure we've both earned a couple of days to ourselves, anyway. If there really is something wrong, we'll find out what it is when we get back. If it can't wait, Optimus will send me a recall signal."

"You're right." He gave her another kiss and tried to push his worries aside.

"So … what do you think was the high point of the festivities last night?" From her tone, Jack wondered if she was trying to distract him or herself from more unpleasant thoughts. He decided to dive right in and see if he could make it work for both of them.

"Aside from cuddling with you the whole time?" He grinned.

"Hah, yeah. Nothing can beat that, so what's the runner-up?"

"Hard to pick just one. The feud between Miko and Ashanti was hilarious. Both of them wandering away from everyone else and laying waste to Los Santos with their endless cycle of revenge, and once they were out of sight, I kept seeing notifications of one of 'em killing the other popping up on my screen for the next hour."

"Yeah, that was good. Then there was Miko's intestinal issues from the hospital food."

"Makes me glad we weren't there for that. Apparently, her farts almost ran everyone out of there. When Jensen got up to take a bathroom break, he said he had to lean into it to move forward."

Both of them laughed until they ended up clinging to each other to stay on their feet. Once Jack caught his breath, he continued thinking it over.

"I think the best thing of all was when Sierra had a connection problem, got kicked into a public lobby, and ran into Vince."

"Oh, hell yeah." Arcee shook her head slowly and an awestruck look crossed her face. "And I thought I was vindictive toward Airachnid. Wow. I had no idea that girl was so vicious."

"Same here. I didn't even know she played GTA until last night, let alone what a badass she is in the game." Jack grinned at the memory of Miko walking over to watch Sierra's screen and giving a running commentary on her repeated virtual murders of the asshole who used to bully Jack constantly back when he still lived in Jasper. "I'm still trying to decide which kill was the best."

"The one I wish I could've seen was when she put a proximity mine in the doorway of the Ammu-Nation Vince was in, and when he tried to leave, the blast left his corpse draped over the open door."

Jack pictured it happening and snort-laughed. "Luckily, everyone was recording their gameplay and Raf is planning to edit together a supercut of the best moments, so we'll each have a copy to enjoy watching over and over."

"Can't wait to see it." Arcee shook her head again. "I have to admit, I was wrong about Sierra. I'd get pissed off whenever she gave you any attention, even before I had the slightest inkling of how I feel about you. Said some pretty nasty things about her. But when she went after Vince and said it was because of him making you miserable all through middle school and high school, my opinion of her skyrocketed."

"Same here. At first, I wrote her off because she seemed to only hang around the jocks and popular kids, and didn't even notice me until she saw me on a cool motorcycle." He let out a slow breath. "But when Vince finally got sick of it and asked why she was griefing him, and she snarled, 'Now you know how it feels,' well, now I've got a lot of respect for her."

"Me, too." Arcee nudged his shoulder and winked. "It's good to see her and Smokescreen bonding, too, so I don't have to worry about her stealing you away from me."

"You wouldn't have to worry about that, anyway." He stopped walking, faced her, and put both arms around her. "You're the one for me."

She beamed, stroked his cheek, and leaned forward slowly. He met her halfway and their mouths joined for a long moment. When they finally stepped back, they held each other's gaze for a few seconds before Arcee glanced over her shoulder at the waves crashing against the rocks.

"The wind's really picking up." She pointed in the general direction of her full-size body. "I'm carrying the crate up to the clifftop. Let's see if we can find a path up there and set up the tent and the stove when we reach, uh, me."

"Sounds good. Hopefully there's a nice spot to have breakfast somewhere up there." He clasped her hand and they headed for the base of the cliff at a leisurely pace.

---

"No changes." Ashanti turned to face the others and slipped her phone back into her pocket. General Sanchez had just texted her an update while meeting with Optimus. The rest of Team Prime had been waiting in the Autobot base for an update. "It's still on course for Earth."

The humans and 'Bots in front of her exchanged a flurry of concerned glances. Miko sighed, June ran a shaking hand through her hair, and Raf crossed his arms over his chest and shivered. Beside him, Tomoko hugged her Catbug plushie.

Ashanti turned to the kids and held in a sigh. "Well, since everything we can do has already been done, I should give you guys a ride home. You should be with your families, at least over the weekend."

"I'm staying right here," Miko said softly. "If I go home with my host parents, I'll just end up fighting with them again. And if my real parents try to force me onto a plane back to Japan, it … won't end well." She glanced at her cybernetic arm and flexed its fingers.

"I already know arguing with you is a road to nowhere." Ashanti tossed off a lopsided grin and rubbed at her still-sore throat. "I learned that the hard way."

"Sorry about that. I really didn't mean to hurt you."

"No worries." Ashanti held her hand out. "I'm willing to call it a fair fight if you are."

"Thanks." Miko shook the colonel's hand and turned to Raf. "How about you? Going home or staying here?"

"My family hasn't signed an NDA yet. They're coming to the base tomorrow morning to take care of that. I'll fill them in on everything then, and just hope for the best."

"Well, maybe they'll at least notice you now." Miko grinned and nudged his shoulder. He flicked a brief smile at her and shrugged. "Try not to worry, Raf. We've been through plenty of shit already, and we've survived. We'll get through this, too, and you'll be able to spend the holidays with your family."

"I hope so."

"Speaking of which, have they made plans for Thanksgiving yet? I was thinking it'd be cool if all our friends and family could get together here or at Groom Lake."

"I don't think they have any plans locked down, but Mom's already talking about cooking turducken again."

Miko snorted. "Sorry, but I could never eat anything that has the word 'turd' in its name."

Raf burst out laughing. Miko grinned and clapped him on the shoulder.

"That's much better."

A chime came from Ashanti's phone, indicating an incoming text. She glanced at its screen and raised an eyebrow. "Oh, she's early."

"Who's early?"

"The new squad member I told you about when we were starting our hunt for Airachnid. I was expecting her this afternoon." Ashanti turned and walked over to the elevator doors. "She should be on her way down from the helipad now."

She waited for the doors to open. When they parted, a woman in a wheelchair squeezed through the gap before they'd finished sliding aside. She stopped in front of Ashanti, grinned, and stuck her hand out.

"Ah, Colonel McKenna, I was hoping to find you here. I'm Kefira Ben-Ari."

"Glad to meet you. Welcome to the team. Have you been briefed on our situation here?" Ashanti smiled and shook Kefira's hand.

"I was told the basics when recruitment was opened up worldwide, but I doubt it even scratched the surface." She took a slow look around at the alien robots and their human allies. "It's a lot to take in."

"Sure is. I'll be happy to fill in the blanks as soon as you're settled in."

"I've already left my bags in my quarters and my surgery is scheduled for Tuesday." Kefira motioned at the stumps at the ends of both thighs. "My flight had some issues, but luckily they bumped me to an earlier one rather than later."

"Ah, good. That'll give you a little more time to get to know the rest of us."

"Looking forward to it." Kefira glanced around again. "I heard a few things on the way over here. No specifics, but it sounds like something big is going on."

Ashanti took a long breath. "A Decepticon ship was detected in the solar system yesterday, and is on a course for Earth. General Sanchez and the Autobot leader are working out a defense strategy, but –" Ashanti glanced over her shoulder and lowered her voice to be sure the kids couldn't overhear. "We don't have anything that could intercept it."

"Huh. Is it like the one you've encountered a few times before? The, uh, what was it called?"

"The Nemesis. No, this one's smaller, but almost as well-armed. Fortunately, the Nemesis is damaged too severely to be much of a threat at present."

"I heard about that." Kefira glanced over at Miko and smirked.

Ashanti nodded. "If the 'Cons didn't believe we could hurt them before, they sure as hell do now."

"What's the new ship's ETA?"

"Monday afternoon, if it sticks to its current course and speed." Ashanti turned to watch the kids for a moment. Miko glanced at her phone, rolled her eyes, and headed for the door off to the right. Ashanti turned and found Miko's host parents waiting there.

Oh, boy.

She turned back in time to see Raf reach up to put his hand on Tomoko's shoulder. He said something and Tomoko nodded and tried to smile. They walked over to the couch where the kids spent a lot of their off-duty time playing video games.

"Hmm." Kefira pointed at her legs and raised an eyebrow. "Maybe we should reschedule my surgery. Instead of waiting, have it done immediately, I mean."

Ashanti nodded and pointed at one of the tunnels leading out of the hub. "Good idea. My car's right this way."

---

"Ah, canned air." Arcee grinned and walked from the crate to the huge tent they'd just finished putting up. She sat beside Jack's rolled-up sleeping bag and began spraying sand out of the crevices in her ankle and knee joints. "Looks like they thought of everything."

"They sure did." Jack smirked and held up a bottle of car polish.

"Oh." Arcee's spark thrummed a little faster at the thoughts suddenly zapping through her mind. Then she laughed and shook her head. "This still seems so weird. Something like this never even occurred to me at first, even after we realized how we feel about each other. Like I've said before, it doesn't work that way for us. But then I linked up to this Pretender body and discovered its 'additional equipment.' I haven't been able to decide whether it's influencing me, somehow, or if I'm just naturally starting to want … certain things … now that it's possible for me to experience them."

"Everybody telling you how good it feels probably has something to do with it. Especially the way Miko's been egging you on." He winked.

"Hah, could be. The idea of 'interfacing' in that way is such an alien concept that it still kind of grosses me out. So does the thought of fluid from your body squirting into mine, since the only time our fluids end up outside our bodies is when we're badly damaged."

"Well, since that's just a mobile platform you're remote-controlling, it wouldn't really be your body."

"It could be, sooner or later." She motioned at the spot where she was actually standing outside the tent. "One night when Miko was still in the hospital, I asked Ratchet to install a vagina in my real body, just in case I don't have access to this platform in the future. I was saving it for a surprise, but, well …" She shrugged.

"Oh, really?" Jack's face turned a few shades redder, but his grin practically split his face in half. "I'm already thinking of the possibilities."

She laughed. "I bet." She glanced away. "It's still almost too weird for me. Also, I've always been a little bit unsettled by how obsessed with sex humans are, and now here I am, devoting a considerable amount of processing power to it, myself."

He grinned, leaned over, and propped himself up on one elbow. "We're not all completely sex-crazy. I mean, sure, I've had my share of 'issues' caused by raging teenage hormones, but I've been lucky enough not to be overwhelmed by them."

"Yeah, I noticed right away that you've always been pretty level-headed. More than a few adults I've met, even."

"Not that I didn't notice how beautiful you are the first time I saw you. I mean, the shape of your body, your paint job … your whole design looks like an athletic woman wearing a bikini. I'd have to be totally clueless not to notice that." He tossed off a lopsided grin and shrugged. "But I fell in love with you despite the fact that we couldn't have sex, back then. I already knew you didn't have the right body parts for it, and I didn't even know the Pretenders existed, so I had no reason to think it could ever happen. But I couldn't help falling for you anyway, because of who you are."

Arcee nodded slowly. "It never occurred to me to find a human attractive until recently, but yeah, we did form a pretty strong emotional and intellectual bond. Before we met, after losing my two closest friends in that damned war … well, it's not that I really wanted to die. It's more like … I didn't care that much about surviving, as long as the mission objective was completed. But now …"

He leaned over to place his hand over hers. "I noticed right away how fearless you were, when I saw you fighting. It was one of the things I loved about you, but finding out why … well, it scared me. Whenever you went off to fight the 'Cons, I was afraid I'd never see you again. I mean, I was always confident in your skills, but all it takes is one lucky shot from an enemy weapon and it's all over."

"Well, now I've got plenty of reason to be careful, and to actually want to get through each battle intact." She leaned closer, smiled, stroked his cheek, and then kissed him. When they parted, she found her palm running slowly over his chest. "I, uh … heh, this is so strange, finding this kind of contact so off-putting but at the same time liking it so much."

"It's a bit less off-putting on my end. A lot less. Well, not at all, actually." He smiled and let out a nervous laugh, tried to make eye contact but couldn't quite manage it. "Y'know, we, uh … don't … um … have to wait until I'm eighteen."

Oh, boy. Her spark practically vibrated and her hands trembled. Even though she didn't need to breathe except to assist her cooling system and clear dust out of her inner workings, she still had a sudden urge to suck in a deep breath to regain control of herself.

"I know we both promised my mom that we'd wait, just to avoid making her even more uncomfortable with … well, with us than she was already. But she did say it was okay if we both thought we were ready to, uh, take that next step."

Am I ready, though? Even if we waited another year and a half, would I be ready then? Or ever? She returned her hand to his chest and found his heart pounding. Maybe he's not ready for it, either. But then, if we waited, would he still be as nervous as he is now? Would reaching some arbitrary age make him ready, like a switch being flipped? I'm pretty sure humans don't work that way.

And then there was the uneasy feeling they'd both had about his mother's behavior last night. Like she knew something bad was on the horizon, but kept it to herself so she wouldn't ruin their time together.

Would we regret it more if we dived right in and it didn't work out the way we hoped, or if we waited and got caught up in whatever's ahead and never had another chance at this? She closed her optics and nudged her forehead against his for a moment. Hell, if we waited Jack's entire lifespan, we might still be just as scared as we are now. And if we hold off and then one of us doesn't survive the next crisis … or both of us …

She stared at her trembling hand and laughed suddenly. "Y'know what else is weird? I lost track of the number of battles I've been in a long time ago, the number of times I've nearly been killed, and hardly ever felt any fear. But this." She kissed him once more. "This is what scares me? Seriously?"

"I guess it's natural to be nervous when you're trying something you've never done before, especially when the very idea of it is so new to you. Or, I dunno, maybe we're making a much bigger deal of it than it really should be. Humans in general do that, now that I think about it." He shrugged, sat up, and put his hands on her chest plate. "Really, though, it's just something people do when they love each other."

"Since you put it that way, I guess there's really no reason not to." She grinned at the sense of relief that suddenly washed over her. "I'm still don't really know what I'm doing, even after the 'research' I did a while back."

"Since I've never done this before, I'm in the same boat. I guess we can … uh, set sail and see where the wind takes us." He pulled his shirt off and fumbled with his belt buckle.

"Sounds like a plan." She waited for him to take the rest of his clothes off and stretch out on the tent floor, then she leaned over to brush her lips over his again. He put his arms around her, pulled her closer, and she closed her optics, smiled, and just let it happen.

---

"Good morning."

June glanced up from her phone and found Rosalina, Lucas, and a human child approaching her table. She'd just finished breakfast and was enjoying the rest of her cup of coffee while trying not to think about the still-approaching ship. She smiled back at the new arrivals and decided not to bring it up in front of the kid.

"I hope things are going well," Rosalina continued as they reached her table. "Despite … well, the news we heard recently."

"Yes. Jack's been texting me every few hours to let me know that he's okay." More approaching footsteps caught her attention and she glanced over her shoulder to find Miko, her host parents, and another pair – her real parents, here from Japan, June guessed – walking over to the table on the left. June faced forward and closed her eyes for a moment, smiling at the sensation of the morning sunshine on her face. "He's left a few voicemails, too. He sounded happier and more relaxed than he has in a long time. Their little weekend getaway seems to have done him a world of good."

"Glad to hear that." Roz and her husband sat across from her, with their son between them. "The last few months have been pretty rough on them both. It's good to know they've finally caught a break."

"It sure is. They've only been there for a day, but it's made a huge difference. They probably won't want to come home tomorrow night." June smiled down at the kid and said, "So, guys, is this Bobby?"

"Yep." Lucas grinned and ruffled Bobby's hair before cutting off a piece of his waffle.

"Hi there, Bobby. I'm June."

"Hi!" He waved and then reached up to straighten his hair.

"He seems to be adjusting to the 'big reveal.'" June took a long sip of her coffee while Roz nodded and picked up a slice of toast from her tray.

"It was such a relief. I expected that finding out his mother is really an alien robot would terrify him, or that he'd be angry or resentful about being lied to all these years, but he took it pretty well."

"He thinks it's awesome." Lucas grinned.

"Yeah!" Bobby thrust his fist into the air.

"It's probably from being raised on a steady flow of Star Trek, Star Wars, and Doctor Who. He's been prepared to meet aliens and robots all his life. For him, this is kind of a twofer."

"Well, that just means you're raising him right," Miko said. She motioned at the new couple and added, "Oh, my parents just arrived and I'm giving them a tour of the parts of the base that aren't off-limits. This is my dad, Daisuke, and my mom, Natsumi."

Her mother smiled and said, "Hello." Her father kept his expression neutral and merely nodded.

"Mom, Dad, this is June Darby. Her son's the one I've been telling you about. And that's Lucas Conrad, Rosalina Mendoza, and their son, Bobby."

Both of her parents repeated the same greeting they'd given June.

"Son," Miko's host-mother said under her breath. She poked at the food on her tray and shook her head, while Miko's host-father winced and let out a quiet sigh.

"Yes," Lucas said, staring at her with an obviously forced smile. "Son."

Roz stared down at the toast in her left hand. Bobby glanced up at her and his dad, then shrugged.

"I'm adopted."

Miko's host mother arched an eyebrow. "You told your kid he's adopted?"

"They couldn't have a baby the normal way." Bobby shrugged again. "They wanted one real bad, so they picked me."

The woman shook her head and Miko's host father leaned over to whisper to her.

"Camille, please, don't make a scene."

"Again," Miko muttered, and Camille shot a sharp glance at her.

"The boy's happy," her host father said. "They're all happy. That's what matters."

Miko's phone released a quick belching sound and everyone turned to stare at her. She shrugged and picked it up.

"Text message." She raised an eyebrow, hurriedly held it up and pointed at the photo on its screen, as if desperate for a distraction. "Huh. Is it just me, or do Donald Trump's eyes look like pussies?"

Natsumi giggled and Daisuke's mouth curved upward ever so slightly. Camille sucked in a deep breath and choked.

A voice behind June groaned, "I'm never going to not see that now."

She glanced over her shoulder and found Jensen hobbling over on his crutches, with Khalilah's human-size body beside him, carrying a tray with a pile of egg-sausage-and-cheese biscuits on it. Since Cybertronians didn't need to eat, and Khalilah didn't even have a mouth, she hadn't picked out a meal for herself.

"Sorry." Miko tossed off a lopsided grin. "Still haven't gotten my brain-mouth filter to work."

"His eyes … look like cats?" Bobby cocked his head and frowned.

"Uh … no, something else entirely. Your parents will explain it when you're older." Miko cleared her throat and bit into her cheeseburger.

Roz snickered and rolled her optics. "Gee, thanks for that."

Awkward, but it's better than Camille starting another argument in front of everyone. June looked past Jensen and Khalilah, and found several more Pretenders heading for a nearby table. She recognized Alice, Rob, and Alan, but didn't know the others well enough to identify them yet. Alan trudged over to the nearest empty bench with a numb expression, and the others remained close to him. Rob kept a hand on Alan's shoulder, and Alice rested one hand on his.

"He looks so sad," Natsumi said softly. "What's wrong?"

"His wife died the other day," Miko said. "They were together for a long time. It's been really rough on him."

"Oh." Camille arched an eyebrow again. "Was she killed by one of these giant robots?"

"Just old age." Lucas scowled at her, shook his head, and focused on his breakfast.

"It's something my people have to live with," Roz said. "Our life spans are so much longer than yours. When one of us falls in love with a human, sooner or later, that inevitable day comes, and it's … not easy to deal with." She hunched forward and braced her arms on the table, and Lucas put his arm around her shoulders. "Some of us have had to go through it more than once."

Camille opened her mouth, but Miko cleared her throat loudly and shook her head, as if to say, "Just lay off, for once." Camille sighed and turned away.

June turned to Jensen. "So, is there any more news about the ship?"

"Nothing we haven't already been told, as far as I'm aware." He glanced at Bobby and kept quiet, though his expression said what he couldn't voice in front of the kid.

Yep, the whole world could be in serious trouble. June nodded.

"I still can't believe you're okay with your son being neck-deep in all this," Camille grumbled. "Especially given what might be coming."

"Heh, I can barely believe it, myself, now that I think about it. I was right where you are, just a few months ago." June sighed. "But what's coming is coming regardless, and all of us are in danger. Jack and Arcee, and the others, have convinced me that they can help stop it."

"They're just kids, and you're okay with them trying to be soldiers."

"They've already proven they've got what it takes. I still worry about Jack, but he and Arcee have each other's backs. I've seen that with my own eyes."

"You actually trust one of them to keep your son safe?"

"They love each other. I'd say she's got a pretty strong motivation."

"That's disgusting." Camille sneered and shook her head. "He's a kid and she's an adult – not to mention an alien. You're seriously okay with that?"

"I was just as freaked out at first." And here I am, defending it. What a twisted world we live in. "Both of them have changed my mind."

Camille snorted and June glared at her.

Suddenly I'm hoping they go right ahead and start having sex, just to spite this bitch. June grimaced. And that's a thought I don't want in my head. She noticed her coffee was almost gone. She chugged it and stood.

"I should check in at the hospital." It was partly an excuse to get away from Camille, but given what was going to show up on Earth's doorstep tomorrow … "They could be needing all the help they can get soon."

---

"Wow." Jack flopped onto his back and gasped for breath. Once he regained his composure, he slid his hand over the beach blanket beneath him and Arcee, found her hand, and intertwined his fingers between hers. He turned to face her and almost laughed at her dazed expression. "I'm really glad we didn't wait any longer."

"So am I." She closed her optics and smiled. "It still seems really weird to me, but I guess you can't go wrong with something that feels so good."

"I guess Rosalina wasn't kidding about your body's internal sensors and that software protocol."

"Hah, yeah, she said it would be mind-blowing, but even that doesn't begin to describe it." Arcee aimed a dopey grin at him. "Now I'm kind of kicking myself for not wanting to try it sooner, but I guess the wait made it even better."

"Well, I'm not sure we were ready for it before yesterday." Jack grinned back at her, slipped his free hand behind his head, and stared up at the stars shining through the darkening sky. I wonder if one of those is Cybertron. He kept quiet about it, since it would probably just bring up bad memories for her. Better for them to keep focusing on much more pleasant things.

They lay there for a few more minutes, watching the rest of the sunset fade away, and then Arcee slid closer and snuggled against him, propping herself up on her arms to keep the weight of her metal body off him, barely brushing against his skin. They cuddled for a few more minutes before she kissed him and sat up.

"Probably should pack up and head back to the base. I'm sure another crisis will be waiting for us when we get back."

"Glad you're keeping up that positive attitude." He laughed, stood, and stretched. "Well, we shouldn't force the general to keep this beach cordoned off much longer, anyway. Sooner or later, it'll be hard to maintain whatever cover he set up for us." He put his clothes back on and they spent the next few minutes packing and making sure the camp fire was out. Once everything was back in the crate, Arcee smiled and walked over to where her real body waited. She'd spent most of the weekend in her motorcycle mode in case any stray aircraft or UAVs passed overhead.

"I just signaled the base," Arcee said as he climbed onto her and her mini-me got on behind him. "They'll send someone to pick up the crate, and Ratchet's firing up the ground bridge."

"Cool. This was wonderful, but it'll be nice to sleep in an actual bed again." He turned his head to give her a peck on the lips. "Especially if you join me."

"Hah. Don't know how much sleeping you'll be doing, but yeah, I'll be right there with you."

"Perfect." Smiling, he waited for the ground-bridge's vortex to appear in the air, and they headed home. After the flash of light faded and they rode out of the far end of the bridge, he found the whole team crowded in the Autobot base's hub, plus Ashanti's squad, Khalilah and Steve and several of the Vehicon defectors, Knockout, Breakdown, and even Starscream. "Oh, hell, it looks like you might be right."

June and Miko rushed over, followed closely by Raf and Tomoko.

"Welcome back." His mom gave him a hug as soon as he dismounted, then she hugged Arcee's human-size doppelgänger. "I hope you had a pleasant time."

"We did." Jack took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "I can't even remember the last time I felt this relaxed. This was exactly what we needed."

"So," Miko said with a wicked grin, "I assume that means you 'got busy'?"

"Hold on." June stuck her fingers into her ears and closed her eyes. "Okay, now you can answer her."

"We … used our time wisely." Jack smirked.

Arcee laughed, leaned closer to Miko, and whispered, "Jack totally fucked me silly. Multiple times."

"Nice!" Miko giggled and high-fived her while Jack blushed. Miko turned to June and gave her a thumbs-up. "All clear."

"Whew." June unplugged her ears and let out a relieved sigh.

"So," Jack said, motioning at the crowd gathered around the huge monitor above the main console, "what have we missed?"

"A couple of things. One is a weird astronomical thing they think might be Unicron, but it's really far away and happened a long time ago. The other is a Decepticon warship heading straight for Earth." Miko nudged Jack's shoulder. "Also, you smell like car polish, which I think is interesting."

"Uh – hold on, there's a 'Con ship approaching?" Arcee gaped at her and June. "Not the Nemesis?"

"Nope. This is a new one."

"Why the hell didn't you tell us?"

"We didn't want to ruin your weekend," June said. "You've been through so much, and we kind of assumed you'd want to … well, you know … and since there was nothing we could do about it in the meantime, we all decided it could wait."

"How long before it gets here?" Behind Jack and her Pretender body, Arcee transformed back into her bipedal mode and strode farther into the hub.

"That's the thing," Ratchet muttered. He stared at something on one of the smaller screens before continuing. "Its ETA was tomorrow, but it's accelerated. It entered orbit just a few minutes ago."

Jack's heart pounded suddenly. Oh, shit! Everything was going so well, and now …

"We've also been receiving a signal for the past few hours, but it's been garbled," Optimus said.

"They're attempting to communicate with us?" Arcee raised a brow plate and made her way through the crowd to the main console. Jack and her smaller body followed, the latter reaching out to clasp his hand.

"Probably snarling at us to surrender or be wiped off the face of the planet," Ratchet muttered as he continued fiddling with controls. "They must be having equipment malfunctions. The signal is directed at us, but it's little more than bursts of static and electronic noises."

Off to the right, Bumblebee crouched beside Raf, nudged his shoulder gently, and nodded at Tomoko and her human-size body. Jack glanced over at them and found both trembling and staring at the monitors with wide eyes. Bee motioned at her. Raf nodded, moved closer to her mini-me, and put his hand on her shoulder. She glanced at him, shifted her Catbug plushie over to her right hand, and put her left arm around him. He looked startled for a few seconds, but then both of them appeared to calm down a bit.

Jack smiled and returned his gaze to the central monitor. Ratchet kept adjusting controls for another minute or two before glancing over at Optimus.

"We're receiving an Autobot security passcode. It's valid."

More static burst from the speakers, followed by a voice – a somewhat deep voice with a tough-guy mannerism. It was choppy for a few more seconds, then finally cleared up enough for Jack to understand the words.

"Is this damn thing finally working? We've been trying to –"

"We are receiving you," Optimus intoned.

"I've heard that voice before," Jack whispered, and Arcee nodded.

"Sounds like Wheeljack."

Bulkhead's mini-me rushed forward and burst into laughter. "Jackie!"

"Oh, finally! We've only been trying to get this piece-of-shit communications system working for the past several days. That's Decepticon technology for ya, I guess. Hey, Bulkhead, good to hear your voice again."

"Same here, buddy. The team's been sending you messages, trying to contact you for a while, now."

"Sorry about that. My ship got scrapped a couple months back, and I've been out of the loop since then."

"Sounds like we've both got some catching up to do, then. A lot's happened here since the last time we worked together."

"I could say the same. Well, you've probably noticed I'm in a Decepticon ship."

"We're a little curious about that, yeah." Arcee crossed her arms over her chest.

"Long story. For now, I'll just say the original crew didn't need it anymore, so here we are. I've got a few passengers, by the way."

"Fellow Autobots, or 'Con prisoners?"

"They're 'Bots. I believe some of you have met 'em before." Wheeljack's voice faded back as he turned to speak with someone else. "Hey, come on up here and say hi."

Clanking footsteps, metal feet on a metal floor, grew louder as someone approached. Then a female voice came from the speakers.

"Optimus, Ratchet, I'm relieved to hear your voices."

Optimus stared at the console, his normally stoic expression slipping ever so slightly, his optics widening and his mouth parting.

"Elita? I thought you were dead."

"I thought the same about you. I'm glad to be wrong."

"As am I. Is your team intact?"

"Not all of them, but yes, a small number of survivors are on this ship."

Wheeljack spoke again. "We can have a proper reunion once we land, Boss. I assume we're visible to whatever passes for sensors on this planet?"

"Yes, much of the world has been watching your approach."

Jack glanced up at Arcee. "Huh. That's something we haven't kept track of – how the world's been reacting to your presence. Well, that and the big, scary alien ship."

"Guess we've had a lot on our minds. It never occurred to me to check up on how the news about us has been going over with the public."

Optimus gestured at Ratchet, who tapped several buttons on the console.

"We are sending landing coordinates, old friend. We will be there to greet you."

"Glad to hear that. We'll see you in a few."

"Could be a setup," Ratchet grumbled after the link was disconnected.

"There's not much we can do about it if it is," Jack said. "All we can do is be ready for anything."

Arcee nodded and he turned to the door leading to the room where the team's armor was stored.

"Okay, then. Let's gear up."