Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

In the outskirts of Jasper, Nevada, a green SUV drove down the road towards a T section, but instead of taking either left or right, it went straight. A big rock formation stood in front of the car but before it could crash head-on into it, some part of the rock peeled itself back to show a large door opening to a tunnel. As soon as the tires touched concrete, the door closed and was covered by the fake rock again. The SUV drove down the large tunnel before it finally opened to a much larger area. The room was at least 10 stories tall and had a few more hallways leading to other areas inside the base. There was a command center and two platforms for humans. One lead to an elevator that went up to the top of the base where a landing pad was and another was an entertainment center, complete with a TV, a gaming console, and even a refrigerator. The SUV slowed to a stop before it opened its passenger door and an Asian teenage girl hopped out. She had pink highlights in her hair, which was held up in pigtails, and she was wearing her usual t-shirt with a tank top over it, with a belt that had a few stuffed animals attached to it. She had tights with purple and pink horizontal stripes, jean shorts, and boots that almost reached to her knees.

After she slammed the passenger door shut behind her, the familiar sound of gears shifting and clanking reached her ears and she turned to see that the SUV had transformed into a giant robot that looked down at her. Her guardian, Bulkhead, sighed before speaking: “Miko, remember what we talked about cutting detention?” 

Miko groaned. “C’mon, Bulk! I don’t have time for detention! Slash Monkey is playing tonight in Ontario and it’s their last night playing in North America! I wasn’t able to see them last time because we were trapped in a cave, and I can’t miss this chance! Besides, who needs detention and you still sound like my parents.”

“We want what’s best for you. Education is really important. You need it to be able to do many jobs. I didn’t have education back on Cybertron and I’m still not the smartest. This has been pointed out many times - especially by Ratchet.”

“I’m old, not deaf!” The medic shouted from his post at the Command Center. 

“But still, you can’t just cut detention! You’ll only be given more punishments. School shouldn’t be that hard as long as you do the work and pay attention. That’s what Jack and Raf keep saying.”

“What’s the point of it? I’m a free spirit! Living free without the burdens of school on my shoulders. Jack and Raf should take my advice.” Miko said as she climbed the stairs towards the entertainment center and flopped onto the couch before flipping out her phone. 

The former Wrecker sighed before the sound of engines reached his audio receptors. A yellow Chevrolet Carmaro with black stripes rolled into the base and allowed a young boy with spiky red hair and glasses exit before transforming to reveal the scout, Bumblebee. 

:Beep! Beep! Buzz! Beep?:

“Yes, Bee, Miko did cut detention again. Which is why both of us are here early.” Bulkhead replied.

:Beep! Whirr! Buzzzzzz: The scout drew out as he brought his servo down his faceplate.

“Miko, you know that school isn’t that hard. I’m twelve and I’m in highschool. Besides, it’s fun!” Raf said to her as he pulled out his laptop. 

“Yeah, fun to do nothing but learn things that you won’t even need and having like 10 hours of homework. Seriously, you need to take the time to have actual fun, Raf! Like, going on an adventure.”

“Aren’t our Autobot friends adventure enough?” Raf asked. 

“Of course they are! And I’m taking advantage of every mission the Autobots’ have for my adventure.”

“And thank you for letting me know to keep a sharp optic on you every time I open the ground bridge.” Ratchet called out, causing Miko to groan.

“To be honest, Miko, it’s for the best.” Everyone turned to see Jack hopping off Arcee and taking off his helmet just as Arcee transformed into her bot form. “It’s a whole lot safer. For you as well as me and Raf.” Jack said. “And you’re back early... uh oh, what’d you do?”

“I’m back early? Well, why are you back late?” The girl shot back. Jack immediately started and blushed. 

“W-well I-I uh I wa-was uhh wi-”

Arcee sighed and rolled her optics. “He was talking to Sierra for like 15 minutes. And he’s got something called ‘a date’ with her this Friday.”

Jack groaned and it was quite obvious he wanted to disappear as Miko dramatically gasped and began to clap. “You finally got the girl! Good for you!” Miko said as she clapped. “You must tell me the details!” She said. 

“What’s a date?” Bulkhead asked the femme. 

“Besides a day, from what I know, it’s when a boy or a girl or two people of the same sex spend time together in a romantic way, and the partners are in lovey duby states… it also usually makes teenage boys even more awkward than they are.” 

“Hey!” 

"What? It's true."

"If we're done here, I need Bulkhead to prepare for night patrol." Ratchet interrupted. "Optimus will be back in about an hour and wants him to be ready by then. There has been some suspicious activity in the Quebec region of Canada." A map of the area came up on the screens. 

"What?! But Bulkhead and I are going to the Slash Monkey concert tonight! Can't someone else take the job instead?"

"Arcee is still recovering from her battle with Starscream, Bumblebee took the morning patrol, Optimus's patrol ends right before the night patrol begins, Wheeljack is somewhere off in the galaxy doing most likely something foolish, and I need to stay here in case of an emergency. I'm sure there is another way for you to get to your concert of very obnoxious music you seem to enjoy." Ratchet said with a wave of his forearm, not looking at her. 

"But-"

"Hey, Miko, Arcee can take you." Jack said, putting a hand on her shoulder.

"She can?"

"I can?" Arcee asked.

"Yeah, my mom got called to assist with an emergency at another hospital and won't be back tonight. I can stay here at the Base tonight and Arcee can watch you."

"Remind me what I get out of it?" Arcee asked. 

Jack sighed before signaling her to bend to his level and whispering something in one of her audio receptors. When he pulled away, she had an understanding look on her face and nodded. "I would be glad to take you."

"Hmpf." Miko folded her arms over her chest and turned away. Bulkhead cleared his intake and looked at her, hoping that she would agree. She sighed "Fine... at least I can see Slash Monkey."

Bulkhead smiled. “Thanks, Miko.”

Raf leaned towards Jack. "How did you get Arcee to agree?"

"Would you want to hear Miko whine and complain all night?" Jack whispered.

"Point taken.”

~-~-~-~-~-~-~

“Ratchet, prepare the groundbridge.”

Optimus Prime returned from patrolling the eastern part of China right on time. Bumblebee had already taken Raf home and Arcee left with Miko half an hour before hand. Jack was making a makeshift bed out of the couch, having being bridged to his home to grab his things for the night. Optimus turned to Bulkhead.

“Remember Bulkhead, if anything happens, contact us immediately. With Megatron’s return, we now need every Autobot we have.”

“Don’t worry, Optimus. I won’t make the same mistake twice.” Bulkhead said, remembering his fights with Breakdown and M.E.C.H. alone, and nearly not coming back both times.

Optimus nodded in agreement. “I’m sure you will. Stay safe, soldier.”

Bulkhead nodded in return as the groundbridge opened up. He transformed drove through it, eventually disappearing as he came towards the other side of the bridge. Optimus stared at the empty groundbridge in longing before it closed.

“Optimus?” Said mech jumped at the sound of Ratchet calling his name.

“Yes, Old Friend?”

“You’re staring again.. You can always offer to go with him.”

“I’m confident that Bulkhead is able to care for himself. I trust that he will make the right decision if something comes up.”

“Optimus… you told me about your feelings… now you need to tell him.” Ratchet said before he left the room.

Jack looked up from the couch. "Uh, Optimus, what does he mean by that?" 

Optimus looked at the boy and sighed before retreating to his berth quarters, leaving Jack even more confused.

~-~-~-~-~-~-~

Jack was eating a K.O burger when Optimus walked back into main hanger. He swallowed the bit he had in his mouth and wiped away ketchup and mayonnaise with a napkin. He placed the remaining amount of food on the table before standing up and walking to the edge of the platform. 

“Hey, Optimus,” The Prime turned towards the teen. “Can I ask you something?”

Optimus strided to him and lowered his open servo, allowing the boy to hop onto it. “Of course, Jack."

Jack looked at his hands, thinking about how he wanted to put his question. “What did Ratchet mean earlier about you telling Bulkhead something? I asked you earlier but you didn’t answer.” 

Optimus sighed before he placed Jack on the ground and knelt on one knee to get closer to the boy. “Jack… I understand that on your planet, there have been many disagreements on same-sex relationships.”

“Yeah, there have been. In the past, it wasn’t allowed, but now, more and more people are beginning to support it. I support it myself. I know some people who define as LGBT. Unfortunately, there are still many people who hate the idea, or at least feel some distaste towards it.”

Optimus nodded. “Indeed,” He was silent for a few moments before speaking “Jack… on Cybertron, both opposite-sex and same-sex relationships were seen as normal… no one thought of anything against them. I... I wanted to see what you thought about it.”

Jack was silent. “You like him, don’t you?” Optimus averted his optics. Jack walked up to him and put a comforting hand on the metal of his ped. “Hey, hey. It’s ok. I said that I support it. I’m sure the others do to… why don’t you tell Bulkhead how you feel?”

“It’s not that easy, Jack,” The mech sighed. “As a Prime, I’m not supposed to have a romantic relationship. My main focus must be on protecting the Universe and stopping the Decepticons… A Prime that has a conjunx is unworthy.”

“Well, that’s a load of scrap! I mean, no one should be alone. Everyone deserves to have somebody, including you, Prime or not.”

Optimus didn’t respond. Was it possible? Could he be allowed to love another? Even if he could, would Bulkhead love him back? It was obvious that Bulkhead would follow him into an acid pit, or jump in it if he was ordered to. His optics focused in on the teenager. “Thank you, Jack, for your support.”

“Anytime.” Jack patted the metal before walking back to the platform, covering a yawn with his hand. Optimus looked at the digital clock on one of the Command Center’s screens.

23:30 Hours

No wonder the boy was so tired. Jack yelped as he was suddenly scooped up and carried over to the couch. Optimus carefully settled him on the couch, moving the blanket over him. Jack settled into the comfortable furniture before looking back at Optimus. “Thank you,” A yawn. “Goodnight, Optimus.” Jack said before his breathing evened out as he went to sleep.

Optimus smiled at the boy. “Goodnight, Jack.” He said, even though it was most likely he couldn’t hear him. 

Optimus walked over to the Command Center, turning on one of the screens. Agent Fowler sent another complaint about the damage of one of their recent missions and ordering him to fill out a report about it. Sighing, he began to fill out the report, answering questions and explaining incidents in “extreme detail” as Agent Fowler wanted.

~-~-~-~-~-~-~

Optimus exhaled in relief as he sent the last filled out report to Agent Fowler. He seemed to not be having a good day as he sent him piles of digital paperwork. He glanced over at the clock.

2:55 Hours

Had he seriously been working for over three hours? Ugh... he needed a good recharge before Bulkhead-

Wait…

He glanced at the time again. Bulkhead would be returning from Quebec in less than five minutes. 

“Finally finished the reports?” Optimus turned to see Ratchet walking from the hallway towards him.

“Yes, I have. What are you doing still up?”

“I woke up not long ago. I need to be here to bridge Bulkhead back to base and in case he has some wounds or found something of interest. It’s my job as the CMO.”

“Indeed…. Old Friend, I thought about what you have told me earlier and talked to Jack about the situation,” He hesitated and inhaled deeply. “I have decided to tell Bulkhead.”

Ratchet smirked. “About slagging time.”

“R-Ratchet, I need a groundbridge...” Bulkhead’s voice came from the overhead comm unit.

“Coming up.” He walked over to the bridge controls and pulled the lever. Bulkhead came out of the swirling light of cool colors. But he looked… different. He was walking more slowly with a limp. His outer plating was dented and even his optics seemed dull or sometimes would flicker with what looked like fear.

“Bulkhead! What happened?” Ratchet asked as he and Optimus ran to him and supported the Wrecker, helping him walk to the Medical Bay. 

The green mech chuckled nervously. “Heh, I wasn’t paying attention and drove off the side of a mountain. Bashed me up like Breakdown was full of high-grade.” Bulkhead groaned in pain before continuing. “It was not pretty.” Ratchet helped him sit on the medical berth before starting up his scanner. 

Bulkhead waved his servos in front of him. “Woah, woah, Ratchet! The damage is not that bad. I just busted my ankle joint and just need to buff out the dents. I’m fine, really!”

“Hmph! I’ll be the judge of that! You could have internal damage or other injuries!” He began to scan him. “How do you even drive off a mountain anyway?” He mumbled, mostly to himself.

“I’m fine! I swear!”

“Bulkhead, Ratchet is right. We do not know what other injuries you sustained. For your health and for the team’s benefit, it’s important to let Ratchet check you over completely.”

“I’m fine! We might need all of this equipment and supplied for bots who have more serious injuries. I just need Doc-Bot here to fix my ankle and buff the dents. Besides, if I was really hurt, I would let you know.”

Optimus and Ratchet looked at each other in hesitation before the latter grumbled. “Fine, but if you are experiencing any pain, you will come straight to me. Understood?”

“Of course, Ratch!”

Ratchet sighed as he began to fix Bulkhead’s ankle joint as Optimus helped Bulkhead buff the dents. Optimus moved around to the Wrecker's back, where it looked like he saw a scratch in the metal. Five lines, four parallel and one perpendicular. Optimus was about to question it before Ratchet spoke.

“Alright, Bulkhead, your ankle has been repaired. Don’t put too much stress on it for another day. I’ll let you know when it’s fully healed, which shouldn’t take much time. And it looks like you both took care of the dents. Now, go get some recharge and rest that ankle as much as you can.” Ratchet told him before putting away his welding tools and powering off the machines. 

“Ugh. T-Thanks, Ratchet.” He started to make his way towards his chambers. Optimus was about to power down the Command Center before he realized that he could tell him about his feelings. Optimus went down the hall and quickly caught up to Bulkhead who didn’t get that far. 

“Bulkhead.”

The mech froze before he turned around.

“Yes, Optimus? Can I help you?”

“I-” He stopped mid word. Could he tell the Wrecker about how he felt? In this dark, damp hallway? No. He couldn’t. If he was going to admit to Bulkhead about his feelings, he was going to do it in a more romantic location.

“I just need to know how the patrol was.”

Bulkhead seemed to startle. He hesitated before answering.

“The patrol was uneventful. Nothing happened. No energon spikes or Decepticon signals…” He spoke his answer quickly with a quiet voice. That was not like Bulkhead at all. Optimus wanted to ask more, but it was clear that both were tired and needed to rest. He would ask him more later.

“Alright. I’ll leave you to rest.”

Bulkhead nodded timidly before turning around and walking to the door of his quarters. He looked over at the Prime. “Goodnight, Optimus!” He said with a smile, but his cheery voice seemed to be forced. Optimus could tell. He could tell if anyone was acting different or unusual. It came from both the wisdom of the Matrix and millions of years of experience.

“Goodnight, Bulkhead.” 

Bulkhead smiled before entering his room and shutting the door. Optimus then started to head to his own quarters. Bulkhead was obviously lying about an uneventful patrol; his actions and behavior gave that piece of information away...

...Something was wrong with Bulkhead, and Optimus was determined to find out.

Chapter Text

As soon as Arcee’s tires touched the pavement, the groundbridge closed behind her. She slowly rolled out of the alleyway and when it was clear, turned onto the road and made their way towards the concert. 

The femme felt Miko quiver and grip her handlebars tightly with obvious excitement. She has been talking about the concert for the last hour, and though she also complained (Or should she say whine?) about Bulkhead not being able to come, she quickly moved on from it as the time became closer for departure. 

“Come on, Arcee! Can’t you go any faster?”

Arcee moved her mirror to see Miko. She was wearing a regular bike helmet, which was black with a slime green mohawk and covered with skull and rock band logo stickers. Her tank top and t-shirt was replaced with a Slash Monkey crop top and a leather jacket. She was wearing tight black jeans and her usual boots. Two thin silver bracelets were perched on her right wrist and an electric guitar swinging from a chain rested below her throat.

The motorcycle nearly scoffed. “Miko, I’m going over the speed limit, and besides, the concert doesn’t begin for another 2 hours.” 

“Do you remember what I said earlier?”

“Yes-”

“I’ve been waiting for this night forever! I will not miss my first Slash Monkey concert!”

Arcee sighed, which wasn’t heard by the girl as she continued her rambling before she went quiet. Apparently, Miko was bored with her temporary guardian’s silence, so she turned on the radio, blasting the rock music and dancing to the song as best as she could, even letting go of the handlebars.

“MIKO! Do not let go like that again!” Arcee ordered harshly before the girl groaned and grasped her handlebars. 

“As if you can’t get any more boring…” Miko mumbled under her breath. 

It was then that Arcee turned off the music.

“Hey!”

“We need to remain inconspicuous. We have already gained the attention of many people, mainly by the music. You turn it up any louder, even the Decepticons will hear it. We will be at the stadium in less than five minutes, so just sit there and be quiet.”

“Hmph…” Miko mumbled, but obeyed nonetheless. Arcee thanked Primus that Miko actually listened. The sound of the wind blowing and her engine helped make her feel more calm. For the entire remaining five minutes, it was gracefully silent. It wasn’t until they pulled into the stadium’s parking lot that Miko started to squeal in excitement, but Arcee didn’t seem to care, as long as she didn’t have to put up with Miko’s arguments or whining. 

Many people pointed and stared with awe at Arcee as she rolled by. It wasn’t unusual, as she had a unique and rare alternate mode. It was uncomfortable at first, but the longer the Autobots were on Earth, the more she got used to it. 

They rolled past a group of men who were smoking their remaining cigarettes. One of them spotted them and wolf-whistled as they passed, and another shouted out a compliment, but Arcee couldn't tell if it was directed at her or Miko.

“Thanks! It’s a very expensive model, only one in a few ever made!” Miko responded. If there weren’t so many people around, Arcee would’ve brought the hammer down on Miko for calling her an ‘it’.

They eventually found the motorcycle parking. As soon as Arcee parked herself, Miko placed her helmet on the ground, jumped off Arcee and started running towards the building.

“Miko,” Arcee’s voice brought her to a screeching halt. “Make sure you behave yourself, and don’t do any drinking.” 

“Yeah, yeah. I’ve been to many concerts. I know how this works.”

“I know. But I’m just reminding you as I can’t go inside with you and Jack or your parents aren’t here.”

“Thanks Arcee. I’ll see you in a few hours.” Miko said before resuming her journey.

“And don’t go off with any strangers!” Arcee shouted to Miko just before she disappeared within the crowd.

~-~-~-~-~-~-~

“I’ll have the wings, with extra buffalo; and a pepsi please.” Miko said to the vendor at a fastfood truck as she handed him a $20.00 bill. 

“Here’s your wings,” He said as he handed her the small box. “And your pepsi.” He handed her the plastic bottle along with her change. She thanked him as she walked away and sat at one of the many picnic benches, setting down her food and starting to eat. 

The buffalo quickly set fire to her mouth. Taking quick, rapid bites until only the bone was left, Miko took a giant sip from the pepsi. The fire quickly began to extinguish until it became tolerable embers. She set the drink down before grabbing another wing and repeating the same steps.

“Excuse me?” Miko turned to see a young man. He had light brown hair that was in a scissor fade and was wearing a red t-shirt and jeans. He also had a leather jacket. Behind him were two men who looked about his age. One had blond hair and a journey shirt with black jeans and the other was mixed-race, he was wearing a C.O.D. long-sleeved shirt and ripped blue jeans.

“Is it alright if we sit here? All of the other tables are full.” The man asked.

“Sure!” 

The men thanked her as they sat down and started eating their own food. Not paying attention to them, Miko resumed eating her wing as she pulled out her phone and opened her Some Social account, writing a new post about her at her first Slash Monkey concert.

“Never thought someone could handle something extra spicy.” A voice next to her said. She turned to see the three boys looking at her, the boy who spoke was staring at her with interest. “I thought I was the only one who liked extra buffalo.” Miko was confused by what he meant before looking down at his food as realization dawned on her. He had the exact same food she did. 

“As some would say, you only order spicy food if you can take it.”

The men laughed at her comment. “That’s true. What’s your name?” The supposed leader asked. 

“Miko.”

“I’m Nic Niles. This is Jason,” He raised a hand towards the mixed-race boy in reference. “And Parker.” Parker's blond hair blew in the slight breeze as he waved and greeted her. 

“You guys from here?”

“No, we’re from the U.S.. We met each other at college. We’re hoping to become pro football players. In about a year, we should be drafted.” Nic answered her.

“We’re seniors at Ohio State.” Parker told her. “Best University around! Especially if you want to enter the sports field.” 

“I’m from Tokyo. I took an english class at my local school and was given the opportunity to be an exchange student here.”

“How long are you staying here for?” Nic asked. 

“As long as I can! My life at home is pretty boring, even if it’s Tokyo. So you guys came up here to see Slash Monkey too?”

“Actually, we don’t know much about the band. We just needed a day to get away from studies and just rewind and have fun, and there’s no place better for that than a concert. You must really seem to be a fan.” He said, motioning to her clothing. 

“Never thought a girl would like heavy metal.” Jason muttered.

“Dude, that was sexist.” Nic stated. “You say girls can’t like heavy metal? What? Are boys not supposed to like country?”

“ That’s different.”

“Like when you hid your Luke Bryan, Tim McGraw, and other country posters from us for the entire freshman year?” Parker brought up. 

Jason glared at them. “You leave Bryan and McGraw out of this.”

Everyone else laughed as Jason defended himself and cussed his friends out. Miko found out that some of the words college students use to each other aren’t that friendly, but she didn’t mind as some of the songs she listened to use those words themselves. 

“Hey, Miko, we have seats near the front of the stage, why don’t you join us?”

“Really?! Front row seats? Count. Me. In!” She said as she pumped a fist into the air. 

“Great! Let’s get going.” Nic said as he and the boys threw away their scraps, though they still had much food and drink left, and started to walk away. Miko looked down at her food, seeing at least 4 wings left and her bottle was half full. Guilt tugged at her heart, but she shoved it to the side with a shrug and threw the box and bottle in the trash can before running to catch up with her new friends.

~-~-~-~-~-~-~

Miko was rocking out to one of Slash Monkey’s songs. The loud music was blasting in her ears along with the crowd. The song that was playing Bulkhead’s favorite. What Miko wouldn’t give to have him there with her…

But, she was having a great time with Nic, Jason, and Parker. All were dancing and talking to each other. Well, it was mainly them asking questions about the band, and asking Miko about her personal life. Which she didn’t mind, and she gladly answered their questions, with the deal that they would tell her more about themselves. 

Nic sighed. “Hey, Miko, why don’t we take a small break from the concert? Get something to drink and talk where it's quieter? The guys and I need it anyway.”

Miko looked at them. “Why? It’s only their seventh song. I thought you guys would actually try to stay a little longer.”

Nic shrugged. “Well, there are many things to do at a concert. Plus we don’t know the songs or the band that much, so we figured it might be more fun for you if you talk about the band with people who actually know about it.”

Miko frowned. She wanted to stay for the remainder of the concert. “Alright. I guess.”

“Great!” He grabbed her arm and began dragging her out of the crowd, following Jason and Parker. “You’ll love what we have planned.”

Miko looked at him in confusion as she followed them out of the crowd and up a flight of stairs leading to an exit. Miko followed the boys out of the stadium. Well, it was more like she was dragged, but even if it was, she went willingly. They walked for about a block, Miko shivered from Canada’s chilly night winds, and after a few more steps, she finally looked at Nic. 

“Nic, where exactly are we going?”

Nic didn’t even respond. The fact that he didn’t answer, kind of made Miko more worried the farther they got from the concert. She sort of wished that Jack was with her, but she trusted these boys; they wouldn’t hurt her… right?

Nic finally stopped in front of a building, which Miko looked at. The old, brick building looked like it hadn't been cleaned in years and the paint was starting to peel. The black lights shone brightly as the name spelled itself out letter by letter before the entire name flashed and did the process all over again. The entrance doors muffled the sound of rock music, and multiple logos of beer and alcohol brands covered the windows. 

“A bar?”

“Hell yeah! We go to these places all the time!”

“Am I even allowed to go in there?”

“Yeah, but to make sure we don’t get labeled as pedophiles, I’ll just go in a buy us some drinks and we can just hang out outside. Any preferences?”

Jason asked for an applejack, Parker asked for wine, and Miko just asked for some water.

Now, the three were sitting at a picnic table at a park across from the bar. Nic entered the building about five minutes ago and they were still waiting for their drinks. The sound of a door opening got their attention. They turned their heads to see Nic walking across the street, carrying a box of drinks, glasses, and cups.

“Phew! This shit cost almost thirty dollars. Of course, the water was a lot cheaper.” He said as he started placing the items on the table. Nic started to pour water into a highball glass. Miko turned to look at Jason practically ripped off his cap, the scent of the cider was so strong, it burned Miko’s olfactory sensory neurons. Parker poured his wine into a red wine glass and took a sip before holding it in the palm of his hand, swirling it like a bachelor. 

“So Miko, if I may ask, why did you decide to come to America?” Parker asked her. 

“I grew up in Tokyo. Two loving parents, two cats, and piano lessons are the signs of a perfectly normal life… a boring life. I jumped at the opportunity to come to America and finally experience something interesting. Problem though: the brochure lied about Jasper being “The Entertainment Capital of the World”. Bright side: I’ve actually had fun in America so far.”

“You mean Jasper, Nevada? How were you able to get to Canada for the concert?”

Miko froze. How the hell was she supposed to answer that? She obviously couldn’t explain that her temporary alien guardian - who could transform into a motorcycle - took her through a portal that could transport anyone anywhere within a matter of seconds.

“Uhh… lots of persuasion...”

The boys laughed as they clinked their glasses together in cheers, Miko nervously laughing as she did the same with hers.

“Hey Miko, what are your parents like?” Nic asked.

“You know, my parents always wanted the best for me. But for them, that means having a ‘professional’ career, marrying a man who’s either a doctor or a lawyer, and having as many kids as I can. But they don’t understand that that’s not the life I want to live. I want to do something with music and go on adventures. I want to travel the world! My dreams don’t have room for marriage and motherhood. I wish my parents would see that.” 

Jason cringed. “That sucks! My parents first said the exact same thing to me when I started playing football in high school. They actually tried to ground me from practice and get me cut from the team because they wanted me to go to medical school. It took a lot of persuasion and we made a deal that I could play football if I got A’s in all of my classes. They then saw how much professional players earn and they kept convincing me to continue to play. Sometimes, it seems that they care more about money than me.” 

“Well fuck your parents!” Miko said.

“Exactly! You know, if I get drafted, I’m not even going to give 5% of my earnings to them. I’m going to save it, spend it, and pay taxes with it.”

Miko turned to Parker and Nic. “What about your parents?” She asked.

Parker shrugged. “My parents were always pretty supportive of my choice, as long as I got a part-time job and did well in my other studies.”

She turned towards Nic. “And you?” 

Nic’s eyes darted left and right and locked eyes with his friends before answering. “My parents are fine with it, they only wanted me to do good in school and serve the community... A+ student, made honor roll several times, and volunteered at the local shelters and living centers. I got accepted into Harvard and studied biomedical engineering. Harvard is actually where I met Jason and Parker.” He said, raising a hand to them in reference. Miko nodded as she had another sip.

“But, we then made some choices that screwed everything up… We hung out with our other friends and went to a few parties, like many college kids do… it’s where we made some… certain choices. We started to drop in our classes and we eventually got found out and expelled. We couldn’t return back home and only managed to get into Ohio State. But we still have much debt from Harvard and we have to pay off some people. We had to work overtime and we are trying to find other ways to pay off our debt.”

“What exactly did you guys do?”

Jason looked around before beckoning her to lean closer. “...We were involved in drugs.”

“DRUGS?!” Miko shouted before the boys shushed her. She said the same word again, more quietly. 

“Yes, and it was a stupid thing we did.” Parker told her. “We were more immature and we have to find out how to pay one of our old dealers off who’s coming after us.”

Nic smiled. “Actually, there’s a way we can pay both off.” He said, locking eyes with his friends before they all looked at Miko sadly.

Miko looked at them confused. “What do you mean…?” The sound of a car engine was heard right after she said that. 

Looking over her shoulder, she saw a black 2011 Lexus IS pull up across the street. Two men came out from the driver and passenger seats. The driver was in his 50’s, he had little to no hair on his head and was a little overweight. His companion was in his 40’s, with short, dark brown hair. The younger man opened the backdoor on his side and pulled out a briefcase before both men started making their way towards the students.

Nic got up and shook hands with both men, before they all turned around to face Miko. “So, this is her?” The older man asked. 

Miko’s heart started to race as Nic chuckled nervously, rubbing his hands together before answering. “Yeah… she’s young and very healthy. She also comes from Tokyo so it will take longer for a missing person report to be made, as she’s not from here.”

The older man walked to Miko, taking the girl’s chin in a tight grip and forcing her to look at him. “Hmmm…. She’s pretty… She’ll do.” Miko’s eyes shifted to the other man, who walked towards Nic, opening the briefcase. Inside were stacks of $100.00 bills.   

Miko wrenched her head free of the man’s grip and prepared to run away, but as soon as she stood up, she felt like she either couldn’t move her legs or she would topple over. The older man quickly grabbed her arm, pulling her to his chest with little resistance.

“Wha-what did you do to me?” She asked, looking at Nic, Jason, and Parker, who in turn, were looking at her in sadness. They then turned their attention back towards the middle-aged man, never even answering her question. It was then she realized that Nic must have drugged her drink when she wasn’t looking. 

“Help! Help! Someone hel-” The man covered her mouth with his hands, smothering all other cries that she tried to release. She tried to kick and punch her attackers, but both boys had her held tightly against them, and being drugged didn’t help either. He started dragging her to the black Lexus, no matter how much she tried, she couldn't escape. Tears began to run down her cheeks as the car came closer and closer...

“LET. HER. GO!” Someone commanded. The man shrieked before dropping Miko and running to the car, along with his friend. They hopped in and quickly drove off, tires squealing. Nic, Jason, and Parker looked to where the voice came from, their eyes boggled before they ran off as fast as their legs could carry them, Nic clutching the briefcase of money to his chest. Miko saw them run across the street and around a corner before something blocked her vision of the boys...

~-~-~-~-~-~-~

When Miko and the three boys left the concert, they didn’t notice a woman riding a motorcycle following them. Only, the woman was unable to see them, as she wasn’t there at all. Arcee followed them a few blocks before they finally stopped at a park, one of the boys entering a bar and exiting with a box. She parked on the other side of the park, deactivated Sadie, and kept an optic on them. Mostly, they were drinking and talking, which Arcee didn’t worry about much, until two older men arrived.

When one of the older men grabbed Miko started to drag her to his car, was when Arcee activated Sadie and rushed over. She revved her engine harshly, doing a wheelie to get more momentum as she closed more distance between herself and the humans. 

“LET. HER. GO!” She yelled, causing the man dragging Miko to quickly let her go and run to his car, his companion quickly joining him. The three younger men ran in a random direction as the car drove off. 

Arcee skidded around Miko, coming to a stop in front of her. “Get on!” Miko struggled to get to her feet and walk. She moved with less stability, stumbling with every few steps and barely managed to get her leg over Arcee’s saddle as she climbed on the robot in disguise. 

Arcee quickly, but smoothly, drove out of the park and back onto the roads. Whenever Miko would feel like she was falling, Arcee would slow down or pull over and stop for her to rearrange herself. After driving for sometime, she steered into an abandoned warehouse, after looking around for any people, she told the girl to get off her before she transformed.  

“Miko, are you okay?” She asked, gently cupping her servos around the shaking girl.

Miko nodded sluggly. “Yeah…” Her lip quivered and tears came to her eyes. “...T-Thank you!” She yelled, hugging the femme’s servo and wrist as best as she could in her state. 

“Who were those boys? What were they planning to do with you?”

Miko cried for about thirty more seconds before wiping tears from her eyes and answering. “T-They were some c-c-college kids that I met at the concert. We talked for a little while before they decided to leave, inviting me with them. W-We went to the park and Nic went in for some drinks. He and the other two had alcoholic d-d-drinks while I just asked for water. Nic drugged my drink when I wasn’t looking and they told me that they were involved in drug dealing and were expelled from Harvard. They had some debts to pay off so they contacted some men who came to kidnap me and…. And-s..sell me-” She broke herself off before she bursted in tears again.  

Arcee raised a metal brow. “Who is this ‘Nic’? And can you tell me more about them?”

“I-I didn’t get the older men’s names. But the others were Nic Niles, Jason, and Parker. They used to go to Harvard before he was expelled. They told me that they all are seniors at Ohio State University and are football players.”

Arcee made a mental note to tell Agent Fowler about this ‘Nic Niles’ and have him do some research on him and his friends. “Miko… why did you go with them? I told you not to go off with any strangers.”

“I know… it was just… I never felt so connected and accepted into a group. They were also really cool and I wanted to be like them. They seemed to understand me… I don’t know if it was all a lie.” She said, before sobbing hysterically.

Arcee looked at her sadly before placing a metal digit under the girl’s chin and raising it to have her look into the femme’s optics. “Miko, you are connected to many people, and you already are accepted into a group: Team Prime. You play a vital role in, like when you helped with the scraplet infestation and saved me and Optimus. You don’t need to be cool to have friends, because you already got many just the way you are.” She said, gently wiping a stray tear away with her thumb. “If anything happened to you on my watch… I would never forgive myself…. I’m just glad that you’re okay.”

Miko smiled, placing her face in the palm of Arcee’s servo, able to actually stand on her feet without swaying. “Thank you, Arcee.”

Arcee smiled before lifting her other servo up to her comm. “Ratchet, requesting groundbridge.”

Chapter Text

Raf woke to the sound of shouting. Rubbing sleep from his eyes, he got up and recognized the sounds of his parents arguing about something, possibly about who was to have the remote. 

Raf sighed sadly, his parents have been fighting often, even about the littlest things. It started about a month ago, but long before that, he could feel the tension between his parents which only got worse as the days passed. The fighting was now starting to have an effect on his siblings. They would fight, get each other angry, or ignore everyone altogether. This was the third day in a row that he had to lock his door at night because of the threat of one of his siblings coming in and either stealing or destroying something of his while he slept. He should know, it’s happened before: Once to his favorite RC car and the other to his dvd player.

Raf threw the covers off of him before getting off the bed. He walked over to his dresser and got a clean pair of clothes from one of the drawers. He clutched his jeans, white undershirt, and orange sweater to his chest as he opened two more drawers and grabbed a new pair of boxers and socks before adding them to the huge pile in his arms. 

Raf unlocked the door and opened it enough for him to peek through, the shouting getting louder instantly. He looked up and down the hallway, seeing no one and no sign of any of his siblings awake or preparing to leave their rooms. Quietly, he stepped out of his room and closed the door before making his way towards the bathroom. Entering it, he quickly and quietly locked himself in before turning on the light. 

Raf turned on the shower before stripping himself of clothing and hopping into the shower. The pouring water dripped down his form as he quickly wet his hair and lathered it with shampoo, the substance stinging his eyes as it was forced down by the liquid. Raf quickly washed the shampoo from his hair before grabbing a rag from the towel rack to rid his eyes of it. Once he was able to open his eyes, he placed the rag back on the rack and went to wash his body. After about five minutes, he turned off the shower and stepped out, grabbing a bath towel and drying himself off as he did so. 

Drying his hair proved the most difficult. Unlike skin, it had a tendency of keeping in moisture. Once his hair was dry enough, he began to comb it upwards before spraying it with extra hold hair spray to keep it up. After fixing his hair, he put on his batch of fresh clothes and his glasses. Grabbing his dirty clothes, he turned off the bathroom light before exiting the room and walking to the kitchen, tossing the used clothing into the laundry hamper his mother kept outside the door.

Getting to the kitchen, he saw his mother standing at the counter with her head in her hands. She rubbed her forehead with her fingers, excluding both thumbs and sighed. Her face showed obvious signs of distress and frustration, but also a hint of sadness. 

“Hi, mama,” Raf said, coming up and hugging her. She smiled at the sight of her son and rubbed a hand over his head. “Where’s papa?” 

“He left for work early again.” She spoke with a latin spanish accent. Raf got this answer from her several times. “Left for work early” was her pseudonym for “He stormed out and won’t be back till 2:00 a.m.”. He figured this out on his own, but didn’t want his mother to know this. She had too many things to worry about already.

“Of course, mama.” He said, giving her a small smile before taking a seat at the dining room table. She settled a plate of her famous bollos in the middle of the table before sitting at the counter and powering up her work laptop. As Raf bit into one of the jam-filled pastries, his older brother walked in. He looked around, specifically at his mother as he stalked to the table and grabbed a bollo for himself, before turning around and stepping towards the front door. 

“Mateo Jorge Gonzales Esquivel.” His mother said, the boy halting in his tracks as soon as she began to speak. She turned around, glaring at her first born. 

“I got several emails from your teachers yesterday. You are failing three of your classes!”

Mateo looked down sheepishly and rubbed the back of his neck with one hand. “Well-”

“It’s your senior year! How will you get into any good colleges with grades like this?!” She asked, moving her hands in reference. 

Mateo looked up. “Mama, there are many other jobs that don’t require college education.” He said, determination in his voice.

“I know that, but jobs do require some type of schooling, even if it’s just high school. If they know about grades like this, they won’t hire you.” Mateo opened his mouth to respond, but was cut off by his mother’s shouting. “I thought I taught you better! And don’t give me that excuse about the teachers’ teaching isn’t good or understandable. I have been told that you haven’t turned in homework, talked to them after class or school, or gotten yourself a tutor - I also heard that you’re hanging out with that kid, Vince?”

“No. Where did you hear-”

“Small town, people talk.” When Mateo didn’t respond, she continued to speak. “I thought I told you that I didn’t want you to be around him. He’s a bad influence and I will not have my kid behave like a hooligan.” Mateo didn’t look up and she sighed. “Mateo, I’m only telling you this because I care about you and I want you to have a successful and happy future. The people you hang around with plays a big role in how your future will turn out.”

“You mean like how you are with papa ?” Mateo asked. Raf’s breath caught in his throat. His mother just looked at him with disbelieving eyes. 

“ Mama , I-I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to say that.”

She looked down for a few moments before sniffing and rubbing her eyes. “You… you both should get ready for the weekend. Have a good day, I love you.” She said before she broke off sobbing and running to her room and slamming the door shut.

~-~-~-~-~-~-~

Raf closed the front door behind him, gripping his backpack as he descended down the single front step. The sound of familier beeping made him look down the street, his spirits lifting when he saw the black and yellow muscle car parked a few houses down. Smiling, he began to run towards the Autobot. 

“Hey, Bee!” Raf greeted with a wave. Bumblebee beeped a greeting back cheerfully as he opened his passenger door. Raf hopped inside and crawled into the backseat.

:Beep! Beep!:  

Raf buckled his seatbelt just before Bumblebee pulled away from the side of the road and began to drive down the street. “I’ve been better…”

:Beep? Beep-Boop?: 

Raf sighed. “It’s just some family issues, as usual. My mom got into two fights this morning and I think my sister stole my toothbrush again.”

:Beep-Beep?:

“Yes.” Raf said with a chuckle. “She did.”

:Beep-beep? Bzz?:

“I tried. In the past, my parents wouldn’t step in to help and now, they won’t listen to me at all. Well, my mom would; but my dad’s never home. Besides, my mom has had many problems lately and I don’t want to make it harder for her with something so pointless.”

Bumblebee beeped back in agreement before it was silent. After a few blocks, Bumblebee drove out of the small neighborhood Raf lived in and turned onto the main road. 

“Hey, Bee, do you have any parents or siblings?”

:Beep:

“You don’t?”

:Beep-beep-boop. Whirl-bzzzz:

“So none of you have parents? But then how are you guys created?

:Whirl-whirl. Boop-beep-beep:

Raf thought over before continuing to speak. “So, if most Cybertronians are forged from the Allspark and Vector Sigma, then what is the other way you guys are made?”

Bumblebee paused for a few moments. :Beep-beep? Bzz?: Raf could tell that he was more flustered when he spoke.

“...Okay, I’ll wait for Ratchet to explain…. Just don’t have me explain how humans are created.”

Bumblebee beeped back a joke in return. The rest of the journey from the town of Jasper to the Autobot base was filled with stories and laughter. Raf finished a story about getting revenge on an entitled neighbor when the secret entrance of the base opened up. But as soon as the door closed, they were greeted with the sounds of-

“PRIME!”

-that. 

Once they got out of the tunnel and into the open space of the Command Center, Bumblebee opened the passenger side door, an obvious message to the boy in the back. Raf climbed out and Bumblebee transformed into his bi-pedal mode once his passenger door was closed. They were both greeted with the sight of Optimus getting yelled at by Agent Fowler.

“We have gotten reports of a blue motorcycle nearly pancaking kids in Canada. Care to explain?”

“Miko met some boys at a concert who threatened to harm her. Arcee scared them off to protect her.”

“I understand that, but your team can’t be going around making flapjacks out of people. And if someone of earth does threaten to harm the kids, let me know so the appropriate authorities can handle it. Let’s be honest, we can’t have anymore people knowing about giant robots.”

“Understood, Agent Fowler.”

The government agent gave a huff and then walked back to the elevator. He entered the lift and turned around to look at the Autobot as the doors closed with a chime, notifying his ascend back to the helipad. 

Raf cautiously approached Optimus. “Optimus? Are you okay?” 

“I am,” Optimus sighed, “I just wish it would be easier for us to protect you.”

Arcee, who was leaning against a nearby wall, said, “Well, it would help if our good friend Agent Fowler would understand that we sometimes need to use other methods to protect the people of his planet.”

Raf looked at the Autobot leader sadly, but before he could offer any words of comfort, Ratchet spoke from his station.

“Optimus! I’m picking up readings of an energon mine. At the moment, I don’t see any Decepticon signals,” he said, the computer showing the coordinates.

“Megatron most likely hasn’t found the mine yet. Ratchet, prepare the groundbridge for those coordinates,” Optimus ordered, “I’ll go with Bumblebee and Arcee to investigate. If there is no one at the mine, be prepared to send backup. We’ll need all the assistance we have to offer.”

Ratchet nodded as he entered the coordinates into the groundbridge computer. He placed his servo on the lever before saying, “Activating groundbridge.” He pulled the lever. The groundbridge opened up and Optimus, Arcee, and Bumblebee transformed into vehicle mode before they drove into the portal.

~-~-~-~-~-~-~

The other side of the groundbridge opened up to reveal a cave. The three Autobots went back to bipedal mode after the groundbridge closed behind them. The mine wasn’t very big, as Optimus’s helm fins were about a story below the ceiling. Exposed energon crystals gave the cave a blue glow and energon cubes were stacked in piles. Cybertronian-sized drills and other equipment were scattered throughout the cave.

“The Decepticons have already begun mining the energon,” Optimus observed, looking around the cave, “But it seems that Ratchet was correct in his statement of no Decepticon life signals.”

:Beep? Beep?:

“Bumblebee is right, there should be some miner bots here,” Arcee added.

“I do not know about the servant class bots, Arcee. Megatron must have ordered them to temporarily abandon the mine for other matters,” Optimus answered, “Which makes it more important to get the energon to base as quickly as possible. Autobots, gather as much of the carts as you can and prepare to push them through the groundbridge.” They gave nods of acknowledgement and went to do as he was ordered. “I will call for backup.”

~-~-~-~-~-~-~

Back at the base, Ratchet was doing some research when Optimus’s voice came over the comm unit. 

“Ratchet, activate the groundbridge to my coordinates. If possible, send another Autobot through to help transport the energon. There is evidence of Decepticon activity here and we must get as much energon as possible before they return.”

“Right away, Optimus,” Ratchet said. Before he could contact either Arcee or Bulkhead to accept the mission, Bulkhead entered the area through the hall. He had been cleared by Ratchet earlier that morning. 

“Bulkhead, Optimus needs you to help transport energon back to base,” Ratchet said, briefly looking at him as he opened a bridge. Bulkhead was a loyal and determined soldier who would clearly give up his spark defending the Autobot cause and the ones he cares about, so Ratchet was surprised to not hear the heavy pedsteps head towards the portal. Ratchet turned to see the wrecker stand there, staring at the portal with wide optics, and… was he trembling?

“Bulkhead?” Ratchet asked impatiently. Bulkhead jumped and looked at Ratchet. “Didn’t you hear me? Optimus needs assistance.”

“Y-yeah, I heard you, Doc,” Bulkhead said, hesitation in his voice.

“Well, enter the groundbridge. The Decepticons seemed to have left the mine temporarily. We need to get as much energon through as we can and time is running out!”

Bulkhead took a step backwards before saying, “Mine? W-well, I do believe I’m not fully healed for a mission like that, a-and I have to check on Miko after what happened last night.”

“I cleared you this morning, and Miko needs some time to recover after her ordeal and she has been ordered to stay home unless necessary,” Ratchet said, “You can visit her later, but right now, you are the only option. Now go help Optimus!” He pointed a digit at the bridge.

Bulkhead stared at the bridge before gulping and making his way to the portal. He stopped in front of it and entered the portal with hesitation. 

Ratchet made a decision to talk about Bulkhead’s actions with Optimus. They were nothing like Bulkhead’s usual ones.

~-~-~-~-~-~-~

Optimus was relieved when Bulkhead came out from the groundbridge. Having one of his most loyal mechs and the one he was captivated with around made worry lift from his spark, even if it was only a little.

“Bulkhead, I need your help to gather the energon. Arcee and Bumblebee will take as much of it back to base as they can.”

Bulkhead nodded, albeit timidly, before running towards some mined energon crystals and helping Optimus stack them into levitating carts. Arcee and Bumblebee were now carefully transporting the unstable form of energon into the groundbridge. 

Optimus paused his work to look up at Bulkhead, who appeared to not notice his staring. Bulkhead was an attractive mech. In the gentle blue light and his cables flexing as he worked, it wasn’t hard for Optimus to remember another reason why he grew attracted to Bulkhead after some time on earth. Optimus’s optics traveled to Bulkhead’s, but when he gained sight of those optics, he didn’t get the same feeling as he usually would. Bulkhead’s optics were wide, and darted side-to-side, as if trying to see every angle he could. There was also the lack of focus in them as well. Seeing the change confused Optimus, and he looked over his body if there were any more changes.

There were.

Bulkhead’s stabilizers and servos were shaking. He almost lost balance and almost dropped the crystals several times. During missions and energon raids, he never trembled or lost focus on the tasks at hand. The changes worried Optimus, and he decided to speak up.

“Bulkhead?” Said mech nearly jumped out of his plating. Okay… that was definitely not normal. “Is something wrong? You’re shaking and you seem out of focus.”

Bulkhead looked at his servos before giving himself a good shake. “I’m fine. Just nervous about Miko.”

Optimus raised a metal brow. “Are you sure? You usually don’t act like this.”

“Of course I’m sure. I would never lie to you, would I?” 

No. You never would unless it was to protect me. That’s another reason why I fell in love with you… Optimus thought. 

Bulkhead began to push a loaded cart to the groundbridge where Arcee walked out of it. Bulkhead jumped at the sound of the exit before he realized it was the femme. As Optimus looked on, worry was beginning to make its way back to his spark. Bulkhead seemed so scared and tense, even Arcee was surprised. She threw up her servos in surprise. “Woah, you okay, Bulk?”

Bulkhead gave himself another forceful shake before smiling and giving a thumbs up. “Yeah, you just surprised me, that’s all,” he pushed the cart towards her, “Here’s another batch for you to escort.” Arcee looked at him in confusion before taking the cart back through with her.

The team spent about fifteen more minutes there, gathering enough energon to last them at least a few months. The entire time, Bulkhead was anxious. Optimus could feel the anxiety radiating off the wrecker. In fact, the longer they stayed there, the more jumpy Bulkhead became. Optimus had enough of seeing Bulkhead like this and decided to stop the mission. Bulkhead practically ran through the groundbridge as soon as Optimus told them they had collected enough and praised their work.

The Prime walked through the groundbridge tunnel, thinking about how to get more clues to lead to the cause of Bulkhead’s changes. It would be something he would have to talk with Ratchet about.