Chapter 29: Temporarily Out of Action

It's so hard to see. It is like being surrounded in the thickest fog.

I feel like I'm under hot rocks. My skin is feels feverish and my lungs constructed. The all too familiar sensation that I can't breathe properly.

I hate this already. And I'm tired.

"My true heiress…"

"What? Who? Show yourself." I growl as I try to move but nothing happens. I couldn't even feel my mouth moving, yet it still felt like I talked.

"It is I, Bringer of Chaos, Unicron!" He presents himself and slowly but surely I see his shadowy figure in front of me. But it was flicking away every few seconds.

"What do you want?" I spat as I try to invoke lightning, but nothing happens.

"I want to see my champion one last time." He says almost in a kind voice, but there is still hidden anger. "The last of the Primes managed to put my spark into dormancy again, but that does not mean my spirit cannot roam for a while longer."

"Why waste your time with me? Haunt someone else's mind. Try Megatron. He's more like you." I sass.

"Do not mention that imbecile's name in my presence!" He roars making my bones vibrate. Then he somewhat calms down, but his hidden anger is still there. "My heiress…"

"I AM NOT YOURS ANYTHING!" I roar and this time lightning surrounds me making the shadow Unicron flick away from me, but appears again. He was silent for a moment but then his shadowy lips twitch into a cruel smirk.

"Of course you are. You can deny it all you want, but that is my power, my legacy, that you possess in your blood."

"Your legacy is destruction! I am not going to destroy the planet!" I yell as more lightning surrounds me, hoping that it will keep him away.

"You cannot destroy the planet; your body is too small and still too fragile to harness all the destruction that I am capable of when I was in my true form." He informs matter-of-factly. "But I know that you more than capable to cause a lot of destruction that could take away a lot of lives in the process. Your morale and fear of retribution is what is stopping you to complete such a glorious achievement."

"I already know that I am capable of that! And I hate it with all my being!" I yell as a bolt of lightning lashes out towards him, but his figure dissolves like black ink in water, before it reappears again in his same position.

This time his was scowling. Then before I could comprehend his movements his arm transforms into a large black shadowy blade and it strikes next to my heart. It burns like molten metal. I wanted to scream in pain, but nothing comes out. My lips are still shut.

Then, his clawed hand grabs my neck and starts suffocating me and brings me closer to his face. Making me see into his glowing purple eyes.

"Listen to me. You are my heiress!" He roars. I could feel his cold breath frosting my face. "You are a human that was blessed by me. My blood now runs through your veins, marking you as mine." Then he says softer, but still harsh. "You are the raging storms." Then I could feel his blade twisting inside of me and this time I finally opened my mouth and scream.

"I have a pulse now!" I hear Father shouting in the background. "Moya detka, thank the stars." He says in a hushed manner.

"Here's a spare shirt that I found in the basement!" I hear Miko yell and footsteps coming closer.

I groan as I feel the lingering pain in my chest, "What happened?" I ask hoarsely. I need a drink and I don't care if it's alcoholic.

"Take it easy, Anya. You- ah-" June stumbles. I slowly open my eyes and squint against the light. She and Father are next to me, with Jack, Raf and Miko right behind her. However, Jack, Raf, and Fowler have their eyes covered with some gray cloths.

Wait a second… I don't have a shirt on.

"You flat lined." Father says grimly as he helps me put the stretcher in a sitting position.

"Again," I deadpan. "Twice, in one day. I think I broke a record." I say dryly as I tried to cover myself with my hands.

"Boys, turn around. She's under-dressed." June scolds to the male 'Bots. Bee, Bulk and Ratchet immediately turn around.

"What do you mean, again?" Father questions angrily. June thanks Miko in the background and gives me an oversized army green camouflaged t-shirt.

I quickly put it on and the sleeves reach below my elbows and if I was standing, I bet it will reach mid-thigh. "I have a shirt on, you can see me now." I say and Jack, Raf, and Fowler take off Jack's ripped gray t-shirt, which was still wet.

Now I realize that I'm not dry either… my jeans and hair are still wet, and worse of all, my shoes are wet too. I like my shoes.

"I thought Megatron was lying when he said that you died. But it's true?" Father says as he grabs my hands. Whoa… they are normal. Well, normal for me. There's no purple on them anymore.

"Yeah, I flat lined hours ago, but as you can see… I'm still alive." I tell him, trying not to worry him too much. "Father, I'm glad you're here with me." I tell him as I hug him around his neck. He quickly hugs me back and kisses the top of my head.

"I don't want to lose you, my little one." He says as he tightens his hug before he releases. "I think you should start diagnosing." He says as he faces Ratchet.

"Ah yes," He says quickly as he walks the few steps close to me and bends on one knee and scans me. He looks on his wrist and looks surprised. "You still have dark energon in you, but your body is fighting it off. They are diminishing the numbers from your blood stream. However, some dark energon is stuck on the outside of your spark and doesn't seem like it is going anywhere. Though, my readings show that it's not in liquid form. It's crystalizing." He then looks at me. "Do you feel anything?" He asks worriedly.

"I do feel pain in here," I answer honestly as I place my hand where I was stabbed by a shadow Unicron. "But it's fading."

"Doctor Volkov?" Ratchet asks Father.

"I'll be doing more scans on her in the lab back home." Father states seriously.

"Why can't she just go to the hospital that I work at?" June asks. "We have the equipment available there." She adds. Father gave her a look which she started to take a few steps back and starts blushing. "What did I say?"

"June, Anya is going to have blood tests done on her. Do you think I'm going to risk her blood be on the wrong hands? Many bad people know of my daughter's abilities and they will grab any opportunity to have a blood sample. Did you know people are crazy enough to reverse engineer her blood so that they could replicate my wife's serum so that they could have power?" Father states serious, his Russian accent getting thicker. He then stops and calms down. "It has happened before and I will not risk it again." He adds softly. He then looks at Ratchet. "Can you transport us through a Ground Bridge?"

"Of course," Ratchet nods.

Before Father moves, I stop him with a look. He wanted to argue with me, but my look on my face must have seen the serious urgency in them. He nods stiffly.

"What's going to happen now that Optimus has been taken away?" I ask the Autobots with my most serious voice.

"I can't believe that Optimus went with Megatron." Arcee grits out.

"It's wasn't Optimus, it was Orion." I say calmly as I stand before the 'Bots.

"Is that supposed to make me feel better?" She asks bitterly as she crosses her arms.

"I didn't have your feelings in mind." I answer honestly which made everyone look at me in surprise. "Optimus is not here and everyone is shaken about it. Even me, but I will make the effort to not act emotional about it."

"But Optimus-!"

"Needs to be rescued." I interrupt her, making her become silent as everyone looks at me. "What Optimus did today is something that I will forever be grateful about. I was barely conscious when I saw him use the Matrix of Leadership to put Unicron's spark in stasis.

"From what Ratchet has told us, the Matrix is the collective wisdom of the Primes. And as we now know, Optimus wasn't always a Prime. So I truly believe that when he used the Matrix, his memories as a Prime got lost, or at least temporally forgotten.

"I don't know how the Matrix works, but it did release a lot of energy. So I would imagine that it is recovering or recollecting itself from the sudden loss of immense power. If that is true, Optimus will recover his memories in time, some way or another."

It was silent for a few moments until Ratchet speaks up, "We do need to find Optimus."

"Hold up!" Fowler exclaims. "I have a chip lodged in my behind that lets Uncle Sam know when I stop for doughnuts." That is way too much information. "Are you telling me you can't just track Prime?"

"Optimus' signal has not reappeared since he embarked for Earth's core, but we must get to work finding him if we have any hope of initiating his contingency plan."

"Contingency plan?" Arcee asks before I could.

"What contingency?" Bulkhead adds.

"Is that even a word?" Miko asks.

"The Keycard." Jack answers. I had forgotten about it… "So what's it do?" He asks the question that I was wondering before.

"It grants access to Vector Sigma, the Repository of the Wisdom of the Primes." Ratchet informs.

"Is that some sort of supercomputer?" Raf asks.

"So, we can just download Optimus memories back into him? Great." Jack says hopefully. "Which one's the big 'V'? Over here? Somewhere in the back?" He asks as he looks around the hall.

"Vector Sigma is more than a supercomputer, Jack." Ratchet starts, making my gut tell me that something is coming up that I'm going to freak about it. "It is an ancient source of mystical power—on Cybertron." Yep, I'm freaking the freak out now, internally.

"Jackson Darby, you will not be traveling to another planet." June scolds as she points accusingly at her son.

"I'm in!" Miko exclaims happily.

"You're not going either, Miko." June scolds as she looks at her then directs her gaze at the 'Bots. "Not when one of you can."

The guardians all look at each other before shrugging. Well, I'm going to another planet, I don't care what she or Father or anyone else say. I am not going to let the opportunity pass. The nerd and geek inside of me is excited to go, even though the planet is has no life. It's still pretty exciting.

"June's right," Fowler starts as he faces Ratchet. "Why send a boy to do a 'Bot's job?"

"Because only a Prime can access Vector Sigma… or one chosen by a Prime. Optimus gave the Keycard to Jack and Anya. It is now imprinted with their unique biosignatures."

"So you mean Anya and Jack are like some kind of honorary Primes?" Miko asks as she looks at both of us. "Anya certainly knows how to take over." She adds making me raise an eyebrow. "See? She even has Optimus' cool."

Everyone looks at me and I continue my cool and neutral face for a few moments. Then Ratchet says, "Let's just say Jack and Anya are the only ones who can return Optimus to the Autobot we knew."

"But why would Optimus willfully endanger humans, children?" She says as she waves at Jack and me.

I feel indignant to be referred as a child. I am a young adult who already had assassination under her file.

"I'm not a child, Mom." Jack defends himself.

"My daughter may be my baby girl, but she by no means is helpless." Father defends for me.

"Maybe Optimus believes there's more to Jack and Anya that meets the eye." Arcee defends us.

"All of which is moot." Ratchet states getting our attention. "The Keycard is useless to us without a means of reaching Cybertron, which we at present do not possess." That is a… complication. A big complication.

"Dude, what about that?" Miko asks as she points the Ground Bridge.

"Miko, that's a Ground Bridge. A Space Bridge is highly more complex and sophisticated. I could imagine it must have been hard to transport the 'Bots in the Earth's core. And they barely made it to Earth's orbit. Cybertron is too far to use the Ground Bridge." I inform.

"Yeah, I know." She says as she then faces Ratchet. "But Ratchet built it. Can't he just turbocharge the thing?" She asks like it was simply that easy.

Actually… Ratchet, Father and I all shared looks of contemplation.

"With a power source so potent…" Father starts.

"And that the Ground Bridge will not have an outage because of that power…" I continue.

"It could be possible." Ratchet finishes. But then he frowns. "Even if we find that type of power source it will still need a large amount of energon."

"Unless we find a different type of energy to fuel it." I suggest, making Father look at me with wide eyes.

"No! You don't mean." He asks in disbelief but also in crazed excitement.

"Yes, I do." I state with all seriousness.

"Hey!" Miko exclaims grabbing our attention. "I'm cool that you took my idea and seriously thought about it and I barely understood what your guys were talking, but can you let us know what alternative fuel both of you guys are talking about? Not all of us are science nerds."

"I do hope you are not referring to dark energon." Ratchet states dryly.

We both shake our heads. "There is powerful technology that is exclusive to one man whose father is the inventor of it and his son managed to improve it just in the past year." I say and this time, Raf gasps.

"You don't mean the Arc Reactor?" Raf asks in awe.

"As in the Arc Reactor created by Tony Stark?" Fowler continues as he recognizes the name. That allowed Jack, Miko and June to look at Father and me in awe. "I know you both are geniuses, but no one has managed to even replicate it. What makes you think that you two can?"

"First of all, we are going to ask for it." Father says. "I do have Tony's number on my phone. I don't lose anything if I ask for him for help. Of course, I'm not going to reveal about the Autobots. He knows that I have been working with someone who is trying to create a teleporter."

"If that doesn't work then we will have to figure out how it works on our own. Three heads are better than one." I state. "This is only a suggestion of turbocharging the Ground Bridge. We can't just rely on this plan."

"Talking about plans, you put a tracker on Optimus. You just told us about it." Ratchet says hopefully as everyone looks at me with that same hope.

"I did put a tracker on him." I start, my heart squeezing on my chest, but I put on my best professional face. "But I am very careful when it comes to trackers. The tracker works once perfectly just in case someone with bad intentions has access to it. Even though Optimus and I are the only ones to know about it, we can never be sure that it is safe."

"But the tracker is still inside of him." Ratchet urges. "There's still a chance."

"It's a one in a million chance, but yes, a very small chance." I agree. "Though I will be honest about the dangers." At that I could feel the tension rising. "If somehow the tracker is operational, it will possibly alert the Decepticons about it and that is bad. Tracking works on both ways. If the Deceptions are going to be smart about it they will investigate it so that they can track it down to this base.

"So, before you even start tracking, I suggest that you erase the tracking code and everything that came with it from the main computer."

"But then how…?" Ratchet questions.

"Do you really think that the main computer is the only place where I could access his location?" I deadpan. "I have the locating logarithm in my own computer which frankly is heavily encrypted and if someone like Soundwave tries to hack in it, my signal will be scrambled and sent to different senders of different parts of the world to disguise my exact location long enough for me to find out that someone is hacking me. The main computer is not designed like that. Plus the firewalls that I have put will take over ten years for an advance hacker to get in, which for Soundwave would give him at least three minutes of trouble. Enough time for me to log out and save the logarithm into a USB and use a different computer."

"Can you start looking for Optimus then?" Bulkhead asks hopefully.

"Once the information on the main computer is erased." I promise. "The tracking system is connected to it and I do not want to risk this location. But you must also have in mind that this is a thirty percent chance of success." I state with all seriousness.

"It's better than nothing." Arcee says but she has the smallest of smiles.

"Contact me when the data files have been erased." I ordered Ratchet.

Father then puts his hands on my shoulders. "But before anything of that, I have to run tests on you after you take a warm shower. Your health is still important." He says softly.

"Your father is right," June says softly. "How do you expect to do all of this if you are not at top health?"

I sigh heavily. "I understand the logic behind it. 'Bots?" I ask them.

"I want you to be healthy before anything else." Bee says as he walks towards me, his face next to mine.

Bulkhead, Arcee and Ratchet all nod and I nod in acknowledgement. "Father, I need you to call in my school that I will be sick for a week, maybe more."

"Very well," He agrees.

"Ratchet can you provide us a Ground Bridge, my father can provide you the coordinates." The Autobot medic nods and Father follows him as he tells Ratchet the information. Then I address everyone else. "I will be honest right now. My body is not in condition to fight at the moment. Once I have the accurate diagnosis, I can calculate when I will be fully recovered if I follow my medical regimen to the letter for a fast healing.

"But just because I can't fight that does not mean I cannot help you in battles. I am capable of leading a squad even though I have no experience in it. But I do have experience in teamwork and strategies. Do not hesitate in calling me in for that. Understood?" I state soberly.

All the 'Bots nod.

"Good, now I have some tests to do." I say, but Bee grabs me gently and pulls me off from the catwalk. But Jack runs towards us and Bee stops his hand from the opposite side of the railing.

"Anya," He huffs and he then grabs something from his pocket and shows me my black ribbon. "You need to have this." He states as he grabs my hand and wraps the ribbon around it. "And this." He says as he quickly pecks my lips as he cups my face. "I'm going to miss you, mi bella dama." He whispers as he rests his forehead against mine.

"I'm going to miss you too, my jolly sailor bold." I whisper back as I caress his cheek. "I'll be gone for at least three days before I travel back here from Russia. But I will let you all know if I'll be gone for more."

"You better," He says as he gives me one last peck and Bee slowly lowers me to the ground where Father is waiting for me.

"Bee, take care of Raf until I come back." I tell him as I hug his face. Then I kiss his 'cheek'. "Take care of yourself too."

"I will," Bee promises as he uses one hand to press me closer to his face before he releases me.

Then I look at Raf, "You take care of Bee, okay?"

"I will," He promises.

"You better be back to show me more karate moves!" Miko says.

"Once I've recovered and you have at an average of B's in your classes." I state as Father leads me to the Bridge. I hear her groan but that's it.

Ratchet then activates the portal. "We will see you soon, Anya." Ratchet says as he nods at me.

"Yes, we will." I promise and I wave goodbye to everyone before Father and I cross the portal. It deactivates a second later when we finally reach the familiar grounds of Volkov Mansion.

The air is certainly a lot chillier than Nevada and it's already night time, the moon and some starts shining down on us.

"Let's get inside quickly; I don't want you to get sick." Father says as he picks me up and quickly runs for two miles towards the mansion.

This feels like it's going to be a long three days. I really want a warm bath, but I will take a hot shower. Time is of the essence and I can't waste a second of it.

"What's in the x-rays, bone scanners, CT and MRI?" I ask Father in Russian once I have regular clothes on. Hey, we are in Russia and we both are mutual speakers.

"Ratchet's scans are correct about something near your heart." Father replies as he moves away from the light board so that I can see my images as well.

I cross my arms as my eyes analyzes it. I almost wanted to touch my chest, but I resisted the urge. "It's a crystal. Ratchet's scanners said so. But the question is… will I need surgery to remove it?" I ask plainly, still examining the multiple images. My ribs are cracked; my right wrist is not in top condition. If I hit anything I can possible break or dislocate it. I can see the slightly torn ligaments from the MRI images. My skull shows signs of a small concussion located on my left lobe in the middle section. I have a stress fracture on my right tibia.

The things I will have to do to rest and heal… Goodbye heels and hello boring flat soles. I got to reinforce a couple of flat shoes with vibranium. Just two pairs of flat sole shoes.

"We cannot risk getting you into surgery unless absolutely necessary. Last time you almost got killed by some mercenaries." Father states gravely, grabbing my attention. "I got your blood results. The machines didn't detect any foreign substances so there is no active dark energon in you."

"That's good news." I drawl, "What's the bad news?"

"There's only .01% of dormant energon in about each blood cell. But I do not think it will be active. The crystal near your heart is more than likely dark energon. It doesn't seem to have negative effects so far, but I have some trusted surgeons on the ready if it starts jeopardizing your health."

"Has the government contacted you?"

"Yes, I informed them that you are alright and with me for a few days. I told them that you were trying to calm the storms with no luck."

"I see," Then I turn to look at Father. "Did they believe you?"

"They were skeptic, but they had no other evidence against my word otherwise." He sighs. After everything I have done for them, many still doubts that I cannot control my abilities. I have a large control over them, larger now that I have been with Jack. But I know that sometimes I lose a bit of control, but that is very rare. I make sure that I am away from harming other people when I know I will lose control.

"Any word on Stark?"

"I left a message. He is currently busy." Father says.

"Tch, too much partying." I say as I watched the latest scandal on Tony Stark on the tablet. He is getting destructive that is actually made alarms go off into my head. I never met the man, but I know Father has mentioned me to him. The question is whether he remembers my name or not. Not that I particularly care.

Okay, maybe just a little. Come on, he is a genius! And frankly, I do admire his and his father's work. The Arc Reactor primarily.

"I'm worried for him." Father admits. "I'm going to call Pepper, once I get her phone number…"

"Do what you can. I will start brainstorming of the possibilities of the Arc Reactor schematics."

"You need a splint for that wrist." Father says as he gives it to me. My right wrist is colored with purple and yellow bruises. Father gave me painkillers, so that's why I haven't felt my body ache in pain. I know I'm going to feel it after the medicine wears off, just right now I feel very uncomfortable as I move. "It's a Grade II wrist sprain."

Then he shows me the black wrist splint and helps me put it on. He then hugs me gently and kisses my forehead. "You need to rest, my star."

"I know." I sigh tiredly. "I'll be in the kitchen after I wake up." I informed him as I kiss his cheek. Then I quickly and quietly leave the lab room and went towards my room. I know Father is going to check the images more thoroughly and get me a splint brace for my tibia.

I wonder how long will I sleep?

During the remaining days that I stayed in Russia, I had made a lot of ammo for Dolor, Vengeance, and Stingers. I was very tempted to stay another day, but Father said that he needed to leave Russia. He was called in to go to Germany.

So I called in Ratchet for a Bridge. There was just no way I was going to fly back. I don't have the patience for it at the moment. I needed to do other important things. Like finding Optimus and recreating the Arc Reactor.

"There's the Bridge." I said as it opens from the middle of my lab. With my good arm, I pull a small hay wagon full of my ammunition towards the green portal. Also, my walking cane is in the wagon. Yeah, it was that or a special walking boot.

Father is following behind me with slightly bigger hay wagon. It's equipped with different supplies that I thought would be necessary such as first aid and medical supplies, chemicals and appropriate equipment to handle them, a couple of guns of different types, a mini printer for forging documents and IDs and other things that I won't mention.

When we cross we both see Ratchet and he offers us a small smile. But the time, that means Jack, Raf and Miko are still in school.

"Good to see you in better health, Anya." Ratchet says.

"Thank you, Ratchet." I reply as Father pulls the wagon further towards from the Ground Bridge.

"I would love to stay and chat, Ratchet, but I have other things to do." Father states hurriedly as he then comes over me and checks me from head to toe.

"I'll be fine." I reassure him. He gives me an unimpressed look. "Like you're the one to talk." I reply as I return his look. "Didn't think I wouldn't smell the vodka in your lab."

Father sighs and groans a bit, but gives me a small smile. He hugs me as tightly as he could without hurting me (which is a lot) and kisses my forehead and cheeks. "I'll contact you."

"Okay, tell me anything regarding about Stark as soon as you find out."

"I will." He gives me one lingering forehead kiss. "Bye, my jewel." He whispers in Russian. He says his farewell to Ratchet very quickly before he dashes towards the portal. Closing quickly once I didn't see him anymore.

It's quiet for a few moments.

"So, what did you bring?" Ratchet asks eyes my wagons curiously.

"To start off…"

When I finished explaining the main things that I brought to Ratchet, he quickly helped me put my ammo wagon away from the reach of Miko. And the other wagon is closer to his area where it would be generally safe.

He actually did all the work of moving them and moving me.

Raf, Jack and Miko actually moved things around while I was gone. I had talked to them about how I was going to stay in base for the meanwhile I am 'sick' from school. So there's now a little section that's close to the Ratchet's working area that's just for me.

They gave me a foldable bed with blankets and pillows. They moved three desks into my area as well as several multiple outlet plugs that are already connected to a mini fridge. And I have the softest rolling chair that we have here.

They know me so well. I smiled fondly as I start setting up my things as I told Ratchet to pass me the wooden box labeled 'Utilities'. He put them on the empty area near my bed and he opens it for me.

"You know I could have done that." I state dryly as I start unpacking. "I'm strong enough for that."

"That may be true, but you are injured." He says as he pays attention to his computer. "You have a cane and protective armor on your arm and leg." He states as he looks back.

"They're braces." I inform him. "I could have used my other arm which is perfectly functional." Whoa… I start to sound like if my body is a machine… I'm spending a lot of time with Ratchet. "Anyways, let's stop talking about that. We have more serious things to work on." I state gravely.

Immediately we both start working, almost synchronizing from the very beginning.

We were discussing about the tracking logarithm when we hear the hum of engines coming in.

My face breaks into a smile as I grab my cane from near my desk and walk as quickly as I could towards them.

"What do you think you're doing?" Ratchet exclaims as he carefully grabs me in his hands and sets me down to the ground. I almost didn't notice it, but the medic was smiling at me, but it was gone when he puts me down to the floor.

Bulkhead and Bee screech to a stop just a few meters away from me. A second later, their doors open and I see Raf and Miko running towards me. Bee and Bulkhead quickly transform into their bi-pedal modes.

However, Raf and Miko slowed down as they stand in front of me.

"No hug?" I ask them and that is all the encouragement they need to hug me, though I am grateful that they are careful about it. My ribs are almost healed, but they still feel sore and I haven't swallowed painkillers in a few hours. I'm waiting until the pain is unbearable that prevents me from concentrating on working.

"You are a sight for sore eyes." Bee says as he looks down at me.

"Yeah, it's good to see you back." Bulkhead says.

"Thanks, guys. But I wasn't gone for that long, plus you've seen me in the video chats in the main screen." I say as Raf and Miko just stood next to me.

"It's not the same." Bee says as I see him finally noticing the cane. "What's that for?" He points at it. "I though only the older humans use it."

"My legs are not in top shape and they're in the process of healing." I quickly say as I see everyone's concern looks. "The cane is just for support. Plus, it has this." I state with a smirk as unsheathe the cane's outer shell to reveal a single edge sword, but I quickly put it back in before Miko decides to touch it.

"That is so cool!" Miko squeals.

"Is it made of adamantium?" Raf asks in awe.

"No, this is just made of steel, though I did had to tamper it so that the blade is sharp and had shock absorption." I inform with a grin. "As much as I like seeing you guys again," I say as I give them quick side hugs, "I need to go back to work." I finish as I turn to walk towards that stairs.

However, I didn't reach the stairs since a yellow metal hand grabs me gently and puts me up towards my catwalk area.

"If you can't walk that much, then you shouldn't be going up or down the stairs." Bee says sternly as he lowers his face so that we had eye contact.

"Okay," I sigh. "It's just… I'm not use to having so many people helping me." I confess as I look at everyone. "I'm not use to asking for help." I state as I look away and walk towards my desk and sit on the rolling chair, my cane placed right next to me.

"So… do you need help?" Miko asks as she and Raf reach my area. I grab my cane to help me swing my seat so that I can look at them.

"I really appreciate what you guys have done for me." I start as I motion to my little area. "But there's no food." I say as I open the fridge to show that there's only a large water bottle. "Do you guys mind buying me food and other stuff?" I ask.

"Sure!" Miko exclaims excitedly. "Though I don't have money…" She says.

"Don't worry about that." I state as I grab four hundred dollars from my jean pocket and gave two hundred each. "Keep the change." I tell them.

"Sweet!" Miko and Raf exclaim.

"What are we going to buy?" Raf asks.

"Here's a list and divide it among you guys." I say as I gave them a lined paper that has what I need. "I suggest that Bulkhead should be taking you guys, he has the enough space to make it look that there's an adult is driving." I say as Bee was about to protest. "Bee, just trail them at a safe distance just in case."

"Okay, sounds reasonable." He nods. "Okay, Bulk, looks like we are going shopping."

"Yeah, come on kids. Anya just sent us on a mission." Bulkhead says with a smile as they transform back into their vehicle forms.

"Be careful." I say before Raf and Miko race into Bulkhead.

The green Wrecker speeds off first and then the yellow scout follows him. It's silent for a few moments before Ratchet interrupts it. "You show the markings of leader." He says. "Optimus must have seen it."

"Optimus is Prime for a reason." I state as I turn my seat so that I can face the medic. "I know what I am capable of. Leadership skills are just something that I had to acquire over time. I have years of practice." I comment.

"What happened that made you require acting on a leader's role?" Ratchet asks curious.

"My father's family is influential." I start. "I do not know much about your cultural Ratchet, but here, my father's family is considered as high class, which includes me. We are very wealthy because of the family business."

"What is it?"

I wasn't going to say about assassination. So I'm going to reveal what we are known for publically. "We are business people. We have ownership of several real estates and properties that we make money out of it. We made luxurious hotels in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Oslo and Nordkapp, built an Academy that is one of the most prestigious schools in Russia, funded several clinics and a hospital.

"All of our land is a profit for us, one way or another. Plus, with my father's genius he is part of the technological revolution that is making Father a multi-millionaire without the aid of the Volkov wealth.

"I will one day have to take over my father, when he isn't capable." I say with a tired sigh. "Here in Earth, there is an old tradition that the first born child, usually a first born son, will inherit everything once the patriarch of the family dies. Is there something similar in your customs back in Cybertron?"

"Something like that." Ratchet says with a shrug. "When both the heads of the family dies, usually an heir is decided. But it is not decided on age. The heir is decided base on their character, if he or she is worthy to be the next head of the family.

"However, it was rare to choose since we didn't have large families. Most femmes give birth to one or two sparklings. It was rare for having three or more sparklings."

"Interesting." I muse. "Well, Father is the first born child. My aunts and uncles are already adults and have families of their own and they already see my father as the patriarch when my grandfather is not present."

"Since you mentioned that you do not have any brothers or sisters, then that means that you are his heir." Ratchet states. "Your… cousins will be looking up at you when you are all adults."

"Correct," I say simply. I did not want to mention that I might not even live that long as a full adult to enjoy that privilege. I'm lucky if I live pass 20 years.

"There is a lot to you. More than meets the optics of this old medic." Ratchet says dryly. "You are the human that has surprised me the most."

"I'm flattered."

Raf and Miko got want everything from the list and them some more for themselves.

"Were the new videogames really necessary?" I ask them as they are putting the food and some drinks into the mini-fridge and the newly bought mini-storage shelf. They refused that I put the things back. It's really sweet of them of helping me in any way that they can.

"Yeah," Miko says, "It's boring to play the same videogames over again. These ones will provide some more entertainment."

"If it's any consolation, I made sure Miko didn't pick the goriest one available." Raf offers. "I didn't want to scare the 'Bots."

"Alright," I sigh and I spot the bags of chips, cookies, candy and a couple of liters of soda that I did not have on my list. "..You both are going to horde junk food here?"

"Yes." They both said immediately.

"…okay." I finally say as I continue on writing and calculating from my desk. I'm not going to be like a mother and start nagging about how unhealthy it is. They can eat the junk, but I'm the one who is watching over it. I control their junk food intake as long as I have a close eye on them.

Also, I might take a bite of the junk that is at my disposal.

I can be evil at times.

When I hear Arcee's familiar engine, I stop what I am doing, stand up, and walk towards the stairs. Raf and Miko immediately came to my side and try to help.

Ratchet only sighs. He motions for them to get away from me, then picks me up and gently puts me on the ground. Bee would have done it, but he is not in the room at the moment. He's patrolling. I gave Ratchet a thankful smile before looking at Arcee and Jack who just stopped a few meters away from me.

Jack quickly gets off and takes out his helmet as he walks towards me. In a few seconds later, his arms are wrapped around me, his helmet on the ground, forgotten. I hug him back, squeezing him for a while and bury my head on his shoulder. I nod at Arcee for a greeting, which she does the same.

"I missed you," I whisper. He just squeezes me back and moves so that we could fully face each other.

"I missed you more." Jack says as kisses my lips and then on my forehead. He then pulls me at arm's length, checking me from head to toe, his eyes showing concern. "What is the damage?"

It took me a few seconds of hesitation before caving in. I don't want to lie to him. Plus, everyone knows that I am taking it 'easy'.

"Cracked ribs, stress fracture and torn ligaments." I say simply. "Oh and I just got healed from a minor concussion." I say as an afterthought.

Jack frowns, "You shouldn't be standing or moving too much."

"That is what I've been trying to tell her." Ratchet grumbles as he picks me up and puts me back towards my area. "But she is too stubborn."

"Hey, at least I am not attempting to jump over the railing." I huff as I went to sit down on my desk.

"Don't you dare!" Jack and Ratchet exclaim at the same time from their different locations.

"That was freaky." Miko whispers to Raf who only nods.

When Jack finally gets up the stairs he sees my area and lets out a whistle. "Who got the food?"

"We did!" Miko says as she points at herself and my cousin. "They're some things Anya made us buy, but Raf and I got some things for ourselves. You missed out the fun."

"You got Pringles?" He asks them.

"I got you, Jack. You like the cheddar cheese, right?" Raf says as he adjusts his glasses.

"Thank you." Jack says with a smile then sees the T.V. screen and sees the game that they're playing. "You got a new game as well? How much money did you give them, Anya?"

"Four hundred." I shrug, but then I smile. "Don't worry, next time, you can go shopping for me and you can keep the change."

"I can't accept that…" Jack then puts his hand behind his neck.

"You have to." I say with finality as turn around and once again continue my work. "You can use that money for our next date."

Miko gags, "Please do not mention your lovey-dovey acts in my presence."

"Oh, grow up." Jack says, but I can hear the smile in his voice.

"Anya," Arcee speaks up and I look up and see her face next to me. "How is the tracking process?"

Everyone in the room becomes silent. Even the video game is silent and the audio of the game controls is absent.

I'm silent for a few moments, collecting my thoughts. "The logarithm is very long and complicated. It started the tracking process 53 hours ago." I inform as I check the timer in my laptop screen. "Exactly the time Ratchet informed me that the information on the main computer was completely erased.

"Right now, it has scanned the planet about four times, using different frequencies each time so that it could detect Optimus' hidden signature. Cybertronians really know how to cloak their locations very well." I admit dryly.

"I still haven't given up." I add with determination. "I am doing everything in my power to locate him."

"That's all we ask." Arcee says.

"Uh… how is the turbocharging going?" Bulkhead asks.

Immediately the headache I was having, intensified. My fingers rub my temples, hoping to sooth them. "It's difficult. It's hard to reverse engineer when you haven't even seen the object closely."

"We both were discussing about possible mechanics and schematics, but nothing concrete." Ratchet adds. "But we are still researching."

"We are still working on it." I state tiredly. I jump a bit when I feel hands on my shoulders. But I relax as Jack's fingers start massaging it. I recognize his hands already.

"I know that what you're doing is important." Jack starts as his fingers continue massaging me. "But you need to rest to not burn yourself out."

"But-"

"I'm sure the 'Bots understand, right?" Jack questions to the Autobots in a serious tone. I have my eyes closed in pleasure so I do not see their reactions.

"Yeah, Anya is only human." Arcee says.

"Plus, your mech creator just gave me a list of what you need to do to speed up your healing." Ratchet says, making me open my eyes and sit up straight. Jack's hands squeezes my shoulders so that they are more relaxed.

"What does it say, Ratchet?" Raf asks.

"It says that Anya needs a minimum of five hours of uninterrupted sleep every day, with twenty minute nap or two during the day," Ratchet starts. I could feel everyone's (minus Ratchet's) gazes on me. "Eat at least two full meals a day with some snacks in between, take some pills that Anya already knows what they are and proper simulation to affected areas." Ratchet then looks at me with a blank face. "I'm going to send this to Bumblebee so that he could also monitor your health. It seems that you are overworking yourself."

"…I don't mean to do that on purpose." I say rather sheepishly. "I do have the intention of doing all that. It's just… I lose myself on my work." I finish in a rather lamely. It's the excuse of a workaholic. I need help, but I'm stubborn when completing an important project.

"Well, I'm going to make sure that you do all of those things." Jack states and I can see the determination in his eyes as he turned me around to face. "Ratchet, please send that list to my phone."

I have too much control over my emotions, so I did not drop my jaw in disbelief. But I did blink several times consecutively.

"Will do." Ratchet says as he types in the computer.

"Now, just relax." Jack says soothingly as he went to massage me again once he turns me around.

"Are you sure you are not interested in the medical field? Doctor Darby has a nice ring to it." I comment. I held back a moan of pleasure when he hit the right spot. Mmm…

"I've been thinking about it, but nothing definite." He admits. "That's a big stress knot right… here." He says as he continues pressing the spot in between my shoulder blades. "If I only had lotion…"

"It's alright…" I sigh out in pleasure. "Just don't stop…" I did blush a bit because it did sound a bit dirty now that I reflect on it. But I quickly get rid of it as my muscles enjoy Jack's magic hands. I'm so lucky to have him as a boyfriend.

"You guys make me sick." I hear Miko say in the background.

"Whatever you say, Miko." Jack replies and everything is relatively silent except for the background sound of videogame music and Ratchet's typing and tinkering.

I'm just going to enjoy these few minutes of relaxation while I can before going back to work.

I was working on schematics when I hear a beeping sound echoing around me. Then Fowler's face on the main screen appears. "Ratchet! You awake? This is an emergency."

"Agent Fowler, it is Optimus?" Ratchet asks hopefully. My gut tells me that it is something else.

"It's 'Cons, and they're busting into the same military research lab they hit two months ago." Fowler explains. I see Bee, Arcee and Bulkhead now all joining us in the main chamber.

"Could they be stealing for the same purpose as before?" Bee asks.

"You mean building another Space Bridge?" Bulkhead adds.

"But for all we know, Optimus is riding with them." Arcee comments.

"Roll out." Ratchet immediately says.

While Ratchet is typing the coordinates I stand in front of the screen. "Fowler!" I exclaim getting his attention. "Evacuate all the humans!"

"But-"

"They and their technology is no match to Cybertronians." I state as I narrow my eyes at him. "Evacuate immediately!" I order.

"Yes ma'am." The agent quickly says and the conversation is over.

I turn around and see the Bridge is already activated. "Be careful, all of you." I say. The alien warriors all nod before they all transform and drive into the portal, Ratchet quickly closing it.

"I wish I could fight." I state to no one in particular.

"I share the sentiment." Ratchet sighs, his hands closing into fists. "At least when you are healed you can go out in the field." He says.

"True," I pacified, as we now both are silent waiting for the Autobots.

Ratchet has his gaze on the computer that shows the 'Bot's vital signs and location.

But in a few minutes Arcee's signature disappears.

"Ratchet." I state alarmed as I quickly use the computer that is connected with the main computer and type away.

"Bulkhead! What happened to Arcee?" I hear Ratchet exclaim through the comm link. I ignore that as my fingers quickly try to find Arcee again.

"She did what?!" Ratchet yells furiously. It was silent for a few moments as Ratchet continues fuming.

"Hey, what's the commotion?" Raf asks as he, Jack and Miko walk over to us. They were in the basement fetching some things for me. However they are ignored for the moment. I don't want to worry them yet.

My computer beeps and Arcee's signature appears again. "Found her. She's in the Arctic." I informed Ratchet who only nods and goes to the control panel.

I grab my ear piece that is connected with the comlink. "Bee, Bulk, what is the status?" I say into my ear piece as I am hacking into the security cameras of the facility.

:: Busy.:: I hear Bulk grunt.

:: Nothing that we can't handle.:: Bee adds but I can hear the sounds of many more opponents in the background.

My screen shows me several angles of the battle and I am grateful that there aren't humans fighting the 'Cons. I quickly transfer the images on the large screen and on my computer screen I have the exact location of the facility.

"Listen to me." I start, vaguely I hear the sound of the Ground Bridge, but that is not important at the moment. "I need to you two to make evasive maneuvers, but stay close to the perimeter. And most importantly, do not get hit."

:: What are you planning?:: Bee asks.

"I've only been able to do this once a few years ago, but I think I am capable of repeating it again." I state vaguely, paying more attention to the security feeds.

I smirk when I see dark clouds looming over them. Yes, I can still help them even from here. The flying drones are still shooting them, but they will soon by the ones getting shot at.

:: Don't tell me that the storm clouds are you're doing?:: Bulkhead asks in disbelief.

"Don't be afraid of the lightning. I promise to make my aim as accurate as possible." I informed and soon a dozen lightning bolts all rain down towards the drones that were in formation.

It hit two of five, both of them falling with smoke coming off of them.

I stare unblinkingly at the screen making some calculations on the speed and distance and shot another round of lightning bolts. I shot one more drone, this one completely fried as it crashes to the ground.

That made the remaining two drones start to retreat, going far away where the security cameras could not reach them.

My lips twitch into a frown as I see them gone from my sight. I was hoping on getting them all offlined. Eliminating as many 'Cons is my goal. It's the least that I can do for them. The Autobots are already outnumbered as it is.

"Anya?" I hear my cousin ask and I quickly turn towards him and I see him, Jack and Miko all take on shocked and worried expressions once my eyes meet them.

"Your eyes…" Miko trails as she points at my eyes.

"Your nose is bleeding." Jack frowns and quickly grabs the box of tissues. I quickly blink at hearing that from Jack and slowly touch the bottom of my nose with the tips of my pointer and middle finger. I hear the sound of the Bridge again, but I again, paid little mind to it.

"Oh, I didn't notice." I comment nonchalantly as I see the red liquid in my fingers. Now that I know I'm bleeding I feel the blood escaping from my nose.

"Here," Jack says as he hands me the tissues. He then grabs my rolling chair and makes me sit on it. "You know better than to walk without the cane." He berates as he pushes the chair and rolls me back to my desk.

"It was unintentional." I inform rather nasally as the tissues are still covering my nostrils.

Ratchet's voice interrupts my thoughts of my nose bleed, "You weren't able to determine the Decepticons' location or if Optimus was even aboard on the ship?" Ratchet interrogates as he finishes checking up on Arcee.

"I… couldn't confirm." Arcee grits out. Shame showing in her body language and tone.

Bulkhead growls and then he suddenly smashes a device that I saw Ratchet using earlier.

"Bulkhead!" Both the medic and I yell at the Wrecker.

"What? You needed that?" Bulkhead yells at Ratchet. "Only thing I need is our head honcho back." He states to us with great frustration.

"It's not your fault." I hear Jack say to Arcee from his position near the railing. Raf had taken his place to give me more tissues. Miko is apparently in garbage duty as she gave me a trash can where I can throw away my bloody tissues.

"If any of us needed rescuing, Optimus would have found a way. I didn't – simple as that." She chastises herself.

The sound of beeping interrupts any further conversation and Fowler faces appears on the big screen again, "Anya!" He yells as he looks around and finally sees me, Miko rolling the chair for me to get closer to the screen. I no longer have tissues on my nostrils. The bleeding had stop. "There you are." He states. "Thankfully there were no casualties, but there was some heavy property damage. However the bigger problem is the stolen artifact." He reports. "The tracker on it couldn't be activated. So we have no idea where it is."

"Obviously the Decepticons have it." I state passively. "Why is the real reason why you're calling me? You never called Optimus unless you needed something."

"Nothing escapes you missy." Fowler frowns. "But that makes it much easier. Can you locate the power source?"

"I can try, but I can't make any promises." I inform.

"Good, inform me when you have something." Fowler orders before logging off, the screen back to the security feed of the research facility.

I rub my temples to sooth the headache that came.

"Here's some ice, Anya." Raf says. I look at him as see him have the small ice pack that I made him buy just a few hours ago.

"Thank you." I say as I grab some more tissues and put it on the ice pack and put it under my nose. I don't want another nose bleed.

"You shouldn't have to worry about leading a team." Arcee starts as she stands up and looks at me. "You are just a human child; you shouldn't have been worrying over about leading a team in a war that you are not part of."

"Too bad that I worry for all of you." I state as I stand up and look at them. "I may be young, but someone needs to have a cool head. If I didn't order Fowler to evacuate all the people from the facility, there could have been more than property damage."

Arcee then narrows her optics at me before saying with a frown. "You certainly take actions that Optimus would have done."

"Yeah, that was good thinking. Things could have gotten ugly. For them and for us." Bee adds.

"Thank you for the comments, but we have more important things at hand." I state.

"Yeah!" Jack says getting all of our attention. "Like the thing that the 'Cons have their claws on."

Ratchet scoffs, "They finally acquired a power source for their Space Bridge."

"That is disconcerting." I state blandly, but my eyes widen as I see Jack nodding at me. "But…"

"But we will let them finish building their Space Bridge." Jack states to everyone.

"Why? So they can bring more zombies back from Cybertron?" Bulkhead rants.

"No. So we can commandeer it and use it to send Anya and me to Cybertron." Jack reveals his plan.

"Whoa. That's a pretty good idea." Miko comments.

"Ho-ho! Well, if Miko thinks it's a good idea…" Arcee says sarcastically.

"Nobody's saying it will be easy, but you've seized a Space Bridge before." Jack states firmly.

"We blew one up. That's a whole lot different than three of us seizing and holding one." Bulkhead argues.

"But we can't do anything without knowing where the Space Bridge is." Bee adds.

"Bee's right. We'd have to find the thing first." Arcee roughly translates.

"Uh, hello?!" Miko exclaims as the attention is on her. "If it's a Space Bridge, isn't it…?" She asks as he points upwards.

"The term 'Space' refers to its transport range, not its physical location!" Ratchet exclaims. "And we've been monitoring Earth's orbits since the last one. We'd know if it were there."

"So, the Bridge could be somewhere here on Earth." Jack states.

"Like trying to find a server in a scrapyard." Bulkhead mumbles.

"Then maybe we'd better start looking." Arcee comments in a more relaxed tone, but it's still firm.

"But the fact remains; we do not know what the Decepticons have in store for Optimus or if he's truly safe from harm." Ratchet states grimly.

"I do not think Megatron has harmed Optimus physically." I call out, now having everyone's attention. "If Megatron did that all ready, he would be gloating. He wouldn't hesitate to torture us with information to show us that Optimus is hurt or worse."

"Gut feeling is telling you that?" Bee asks.

"Yeah," I state. "My gut hasn't been wrong yet."

"We can only hope." Ratchet says.

I look at the time and see that it is almost curfew. "Raf, Jack, Miko, you need to go home now." I state as I look at them.

Jack comes over and gives me a chaste kiss. "Good night, mi bella dama. I love you." He whispers.

"Good night, my jolly sailor bold. Love you too." I whisper back.

He nods and he steps back before walking away.

Raf hugs me and kisses my cheek. Miko just pats my back. I see the three of them leave from base.

Now it's only Ratchet and me.

"I need to prepare to sleep." I state as I look at Ratchet, feeling a small blush rising on my cheeks. "Can you take me to the restrooms? Please?"

Ratchet stiffens, but then sighs loudly. "Very well. Do you have what you need?" He asks a bit awkwardly.

"Yeah," I say as I motion to my little bag that has everything. He nods stiffly and gently grabs me and takes me to the hall that has the restrooms.

When he arrives, he gently sets me down next to the door. "Can you come back in twenty minutes?"

The medic only nods before quickly walking away.

Opening the door, I turn on the lights and sigh. I want to be healed already.

I am being awakened by something gently prodding my shoulder. My eyes blink lazily and I sit up and see Ratchet.

"What happened?" I ask.

"I am receiving a signal from a restricted band." Ratchet says from his new position in front of the main computer. That causes me to awaken fully. "However, unlike the last time it's not from a starship. There from escape capsules."

"There's more than one?" I ask as I stand up from my bed.

"It appears to be three." Ratchet informs. "They all have Autobot identification beacon, but heavily encrypted so that Decepticons can't identify them. This particular encryption comes from the Autobot starship Sigma."

"But?" I ask.

"Their current location is almost past the planet you humans call Mars." Ratchet says. "Their ETA would be in five hours."

"This is short notice," I say as I cross my arms. "Is there any way to communicate with them?"

"Only one capsule has an operational communication system. Shall we communicate?" Ratchet asks.

"Yes, but you will be the one talking. You know the protocols better than I do." I state. "They are more than welcomed here, if that's what you're worried about."

"I know you do not have the power that Agent Fowler has, but it gives me relief for you to say it." Ratchet states.

He presses a button, "Sigma escape capsule, this is Autobot outpost Omega One. Identify yourselves."

There is some static before I hear a deep voice start talking.

AN: Finally finished! I really did everything in my power to update in less time than the last update.

Thank you Sakura9544, Balance2000 (guest), Dentisheik, Zorua1, and ladybug02 for reviewing. You guys are amazing!

Who do you think are going to be the three incoming Autobots?

Even though I already had in mind who is going to join, I want to know who do you guys want to see in this story and why. I'm just curious. Really curious. Maybe if I have a compelling reason, I might change and replace a character with the one you guys have suggested.

You have one week from today (7/30/17) before I start writing. So I shall start writing on 8/6/17.

Thank you so much for staying and reading this. Love you all!