"You really think you're in control? Well,
I think you're crazy"

»«

That next day, Dana got an excited call from Ratchet as soon as school was let out. The other Autobots were already picking up their charges, and she was driving to base on her own; apparently the medic couldn't wait to tell her the news.

"We found it! Bulkhead and I . . . We found the Spacebridge!"

She beamed, sliding into her car and turning it on as quickly as she could, peeling out of the school parking lot. "You did? How?"

"Through, ah, a reliable source." He dodged the question. "But regardless . . . You were right. All we needed was to be patient."

Her smile softened. "Optimus would be proud. Now, at this pace I'll be there in fifteen minutes, as will the others. Does Fowler and Nurse Darby know?"

"I've called Agent Fowler. He is contacting Nurse Darby as we speak."

"Sweet. I'll be there ASAP." She waited for him to hang up first, then closed her phone, carefully speeding up as she left the city limits of Jasper. Her parents were already assuming that she was at her "science fiction club," and so she didn't bother to call them to tell them where she was. As reckless as she could be sometimes, she was not about to let her family get involved in this.

The drive was silent and uneventful, the woman pulling off onto the dirt road that lead straight to the Autobot base, frowning as some red Nevada soil splattered on her windshield.

I'm going to have to clean that.

Pulling in to the base and parking carefully, she got out with a huge grin, Ratchet's optics blazing with excitement.

"Hey," she smiled. "I heard you found yourselves a Space Bridge?"

Ratchet nodded. "Yes, we did." He gestured to the three other Autobots that were with him. "I've already created a plan of action for us to infiltrate the Spacebridge controls and get Jack to Cybertron."

"Can I go?!" Miko waved a hand excitedly.

"No." Ratchet quickly dispelled that idea. "Optimus chose Jack to go to Vector Sigma."

"And it would be too much to have to keep track of two humans on Cybertron." Arcee added. "Even though our planet is . . . dead, there could still be Cybertronian lifeforms crawling around, and none of them will be friendly."

"Arcee is right." Ratchet gave Dana a pointed look. "And don't even think about sneaking onto Cybertron. The chemical composition of our air is much different than Earth's. If you breathe in that air, it will be a slow and painful suffocation."

Dana cringed a little, as did the other humans. "Understood."

Ratchet gave her another intense stare-down before he spoke again. "We will wait for Nurse Darby and Agent Fowler to show up, and then I will explain our plan."

»«

"Soundwave!" Megatron stalked into the bridge, where his third in command was busy keeping Orion Pax out of their sensitive information. "I need you to do a little research project for me."

The communications officer gave no reply or indication he heard, but Megatron knew he was more than capable of hearing his every command.

"Look up any and all information you can on a human femme. I will send you the memory file." He growled softly. "I want to know anything and everything about her; who she is, who she hails from, and what makes her believe she can stand up to me, the Lord of the Decepticons!"

Soundwave paused, then began typing something new on the computer.

"Excellent." Megatron turned away. "I want to know whether she is truly brave, or just stupid. This could be an interesting project."

Soundwave didn't voice his concerns over this development. If Lord Megatron wanted to play with a human of all creatures, that was his choice. Their lord didn't share what happened inside that Autobot base, but now Soundwave had a bit of an inkling. A human femme had happened, at least briefly.

Checking over the memory file, he found the clearest picture of her face - which wasn't very - and ran it through his facial recognition software, going through hundreds of thousands of data bites looking for a match. It helped that she had a blue streak in her hair, which set her apart from most other humans that shared the same basic characteristics.

Match found.

He scanned over the human's "profile" of herself on a social media website. A quick look at her pictures indicated she had at least two parental units and three siblings. The pictures were directly downloaded from an outside source and so he could not trace them to another website, nor could he find that outside source. Not unless he caught her in the act of uploading a picture. The second frustrating thing was she gave no personal information other than a birthday and relationship status, not even an address or phone number from which to find her. He was, however, able to find "tagged" photos and locations.

Judging by how much of "Jasper, Nevada" was in her tagged locations, it would be logical to determine that it was her hometown. But with no specific address, she could be resident in one of hundreds of housing units. He contemplated sending Laserbeak to follow her, but Megatron had not given the order; so he would refrain for now.

His search was halted by the fact that there was simply no other information to glean from these sources, other than her "friends" (which were if no interest to Soundwave). Her parental units were nobody special, and neither were her siblings.

What could possibly be so interesting about her?

»«

"Stealth is of the utmost importance." Ratchet warned his team. "If the Decepticons manage to send a message back to their ship . . ."

"Then the odds become 400 to 1." Bulkhead estimated.

"Sweet! So can I go?" Miko asked eagerly.

"Absolutely not." Agent Fowler reprimanded. "We don't have time to have one of you kids sneak out there on the mission and get hurt."

Miko didn't look too happy about that.

"But what if Jack needs immediate medical attention?" Dana wondered.

"That's why Nurse Darby is here." Ratchet said, refraining from the "duh" portion of that sentence.

"No, I mean immediate, like 'no time to call for a Groundbridge and get him through' immediate." Dana asked. "Because let's be theoretical here. If Vector Sigma is a casual ten minute drive from where ever you drop them, then it could take about five minutes to get back if Jack suddenly can't breathe. Five minutes of no air is permanent brain damage. More if we have to wait for a Groundbridge. Somebody should be there to administer immediate CPR."

"And you're volunteering yourself." Agent Fowler accused.

The girl shrugged. "Well, yeah. Not gonna lie." She immediately started to defend herself. "But I'll only go when they're ready for us! I'm not wanting to go in with the stealth team. Well, I do, but I won't."

Ratchet gave her a warning look, knowing better than to trust that statement. "You won't be going to Cybertron."

"Well, I wasn't planning on it." She assured. "So, am I in?"

Agent Fowler looked at June Darby. This was her son that was going on the mission, after all. If she wanted to be there in case of emergency instead of Dana, then she was more than welcome to volunteer. But the nurse was also not one to enjoy putting herself in harm's way, or in a potentially dangerous situation.

Dana was crazy enough to do that.

"Take a medical kit with you." June finally replied. "I also have a defibrillator in the back of my car. And your cell phone."

The girl grinned hugely. "I will do just that, Miss Darby!" She quickly ran to get her car's emergency kit, as well as the defibrillator from June's trunk. Her cellphone was tucked in her pocket, at 50% battery and ready for use.

Agent Fowler nodded to the Autobots, giving them the signal that it was time, before he put his hand on Jack's shoulder. "Son, it's time to suit up."

»«

The stealth team was incredibly successful, Ratchet's communication jammer working spectacularly, and allowing the Autobots to deal with the Vehicons easily, Ratchet calling for Jack.

Dana eagerly walked through the Groundbridge first, Jack staying behind briefly to bid goodbye to his mother, the medical kit in one hand and defibrillator in the other. She grinned up at her guardian, who only wore a frown of disapproval.

"Oh, come on." She whined. "At least you enjoy my company."

"Is that what you call it?" The medic quipped in return. "My problem isn't actually you being here, it's you being here. If the Decepticons catch wind of what we're doing . . ."

"I've got a weapon." She held up the AED. "This thing is meant to shock the human heart back into the correct rhythm. It'll give a sting at the very least."

Ratchet rolled his optics. "I am so comforted."

Dana laughed, walking to her guardian and setting the stuff down underneath the console, quickly setting up her pseudo-medical-station, standing up straight again as Jack walks through the Groundbridge, which closes behind him.

"Ready?" Arcee asked her human charge.

"Dana, step away from the bridge vortex." Ratchet warned.

His human looked offended. "I'm not going to run through!"

"I know, but I don't know how much of Cybertron's toxic air, if any at all, will filter through the Spacebridge." He spoke as he typed in the coordinates. "So it would be best if you stayed out of the vortex's direct path, to minimise any inhalation."

"Oh." She did as told, ducking under the console again and waiting patiently.

"I will keep the Spacebridge open so it is easier to locate when you find Vector Sigma." Ratchet explained. "Since we don't know the location of the relic ourselves. But, Jack, Optimus should guide you to its location."

The boy nodded. "I'm ready."

Arcee smiled at her charge. "Don't worry, Spacebridging is exactly like Groundbridging."

Ratchet activated the bridge, Dana immediately holding her hair as the vortex briefly created a current through the room, the power making the entire area vibrate.

"Just a little more intense!" Arcee yelled over the noise, and then they walked into the vortex.

»«

"What?!" Jack shrieked over the intercom, causing Dana to bolt to her feet. Arcee was taking care of an Insecticon, Breakdown was so far sated with a half-aft answer regarding an energy flux, and now Jack was screaming about, well, something.

"Jack? What is it?!" Ratchet asked with concern.

"Scraplets!" Came the panicked reply. "And they're eating Vector Sigma."

Scrap. Dana felt her stomach plummet. If the scraplets were eating Vector Sigma . . .

"If they chew Vector Sigma before the Matrix fully reloads-" Ratchet began, Dana backing up a step in surprise as a Groundbridge opened. Who could possibly-

"Well, so it seems Vector Sigma is more than legend." Megatron sneered, stepping through the Groundbridge and pausing, taking several mental note of all the Autobots that were here.

Ratchet shifted his foot to conceal his human charge from the Decepticons, silently pleading that Dana wouldn't make herself known. The last thing they needed was for Megatron to notice a vulnerable human here with them.

It was stupid to bring her along!

"Be assured, I will never underestimate you Autobots ever again." Megatron stalked closer, his optics still focused on the Autobots in front of him. "Now, I am assuming the one called Arcee will be stepping through the Spacebridge with a reloaded Matrix of Leadership in hand." It didn't take a genius to figure out what was going to happen to Arcee and the Matrix if Megatron got a hold of her.

Ratchet briefly shot his charge a stay put face before he walked forward, servos turning into his swords. "We hold the Spacebridge at all costs!" He commands his fellow Autobots.

Bulkhead and Bumblebee immediately opened fire on the Decepticon, Megatron rushing forward and quickly dealing with Bulkhead with a swift punch in the gut, next tossing Ratchet aside like a ragdoll before assaulting Bumblebee, the scout unable to avoid his quick grip and merciless throw. Ratchet tried to knock the warlord away from the scout, but only ended up tossed a second time, Bulkhead finally able to tackle Megatron off of the Spacbridge and toward the cave floor.

Dana stepped out of her hiding spot, trying to get a good view of the fight. She watched worriedly as Ratchet struggled to get up, almost running over to help.

"Stay where you are!" Ratchet snapped at her before standing, and his charge reluctantly took several copious steps back into her hiding spot.

"I want to help." She muttered, but did as told. Now was not the time, she felt. It wasn't right.

Megatron easily knocked Bulkhead off of him, the Autobots jumping down from the Spacebridge to fight, their human companion able to hear the sounds of metal on metal, and the occasional grunt of pain from an Autobot. Finally, she abandoned her post, running to the side just in time to see Megatron deal one final blow to Bulkhead, the Decepticon dropping him like a discarded sack of potatoes, and looking towards the Spacebridge.

I can't let him go through. She frowned, hands curling into fists. If he does, the Autobots will die.

Running as fast as she could, she paused when Megatron jumped up to the walkway that lead to the Spacebridge vortex, his weight creating a massive shockwave throughout the structure. She bit her lip, and then as he walked towards the Spacebridge she ran, eventually making it in front of him, noticing him stop in surprise as she whipped around, spreading her arms out in a pathetic attempt to stop him from passing.

"Stop!" She shouted, shoulders rising up and down dramatically as she painted for breath, finding that each one slightly stung. "I won't let you go any further!"

Megatron looked down at her, a mix of amusement and surprise on his faceplates.

"And so we meet again." He mused, standing with his typical air of domination. "Tell me, human, what is going to stop me from squishing you?"

"Absolutely nothing." She replied. "But that won't stop me from making sure you don't go through this portal."

The Decepticon sneered, and then laughed at her, taking another step closer so that he towered directly over her.

"I have no intention of going through the Spacebridge. I will wait here, patiently, for Arcee to come through. It will be like a 'welcome back' present, as you humans say." His red optics seemed to bore holes into her, and he looked half tempted to actually step on her. But something, and she couldn't quite tell, was stopping him.

The revelation caused her to think. She had to warm Arcee, but how? Megatron would kill her before she could get her cellphone out in time to call Jack, and there was no way she had any chance of stopping the warlord himself.

She looked back at the portal. There was only one way.

"You can't possibly be serious." Megatron mocked her. "Cybertron's toxic air will kill you long before you can get a message to Arcee."

"You may not have noticed, Megatron," she stated, looking at him with a determined glare. "But I'm crazy enough to try just about anything."

Megatron took a half step forward as she turned around and began to run, almost ready to stop her, before he stopped himself, watching with a shocked expression as the human girl ran into the Spacebridge, disappearing from sight.

Stupid indeed.

»«

Hey-o. Sorry if this chapter wasn't too good. Quite frankly I'm not feeling too well but I figured I owed you guys at least something.

Hope you enjoy!