"Wake up, Alyssa! Wake up!"

I groaned as Annabelle shook my shoulders. I really didn't want to wake up right now. I pulled the sheets over my head as an attempt to protect me from the little girl. For a moment there was silence, and then Annabelle jumped onto my back.

"Wake up, wake up, wake up!" She chanted as she bounced on me. The sheets were pulled off of me and I groaned in defeat.

"Okay, I'm up..." I said groggily, squinting from the light. I heard Ironhide chuckle as he plucked Annabelle off my back.

"Morning, Half-Pint. Get dressed and meet us downstairs. Lennox and I are taking you to base for your training after breakfast."

I grumbled under my breath before pushing myself out of bed and heading for the bathroom. After cleaning up, I threw on a purple tank top, black workout pants, and a pair of black jogging shoes before heading downstairs. A plate full of scrambled eggs, bacon, and toast was set on the table for me.

Will greeted me with a smile before taking a sip of his coffee. "Not a morning person?" He jested as I sat down.

I shook my head and took a bite out of my toast. Will chuckled and shook his head. "Since today is your first day, we're just going to check out how much you know and go from there. Destinee, Chromia, and Optimus will train you in physical combat while Ironhide, Epps, and I will coach you through weapons. Ratchet also made a point to give you medical training, so he'll be your instructor in that field. We divided your training into the days of the week: physical combat on Mondays and Wednesdays, weapons on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and medical training on Fridays. You get Sundays off. "

I nodded. Sounded straight forward. "What about my home-schooling?"

Will smiled. "Prowl insisted on helping you with that."

I blinked. "Really?"

"Yup. He says he'll help you with your schooling. You study on Saturdays at the base." 

That didn't sound so bad.

Will suddenly grimaced. "Oh yeah... You have to meet Galloway today."

But that did.

**

The Autobots were watching me spar with Optimus's holoform. Destinee, Epps, and Will were watching as well, insisting that they wanted to observe how much I knew. Shane wasn't there since he was with the Wreckers. Destinee had told me that the Wreckers had their own base since they were too out of control to keep here. However, she did promise that I could meet the Dinobots after I had finished sparing with Optimus.

At the moment, he had me in a headlock and had hold of my right arm. Thinking quickly, I kicked my foot back into his knee. It was enough to make him stumble, causing him to loosen his grip. As soon as I felt the slighted difference, I pulled my arm free, elbowed him in his rib, then swung out for a kick in the stomach. I didn't even see him catch my foot before he flipped me onto the floor.

"You did well," Optimus said as he helped me up. "But you need to stop hesitating before you attack. Your indecisiveness gives your opponent time to attack you. You may take a break."

I nodded before walking over to the bench where Destinee sat. She smiled at me and handed me a bottle of water. I nodded my thanks as I sat down next to her and gulped down the water.

"Gotta admit, I'm impressed," Will told me. "I've never seen anyone last that long against Prime."

"I've never seen anyone touch Prime," Epps said, chuckling slightly. "Well, anyone human, that is. But still, you've got skill, girl."

"Yeah? Well, I wouldn't be surprised if he was holding back," I replied. "And I still lost, remember?"

Destinee chuckled. "Give yourself some credit, you're pretty badass."

I shrugged. "Maybe at training. But to be honest, everything that happens on the field is just luck."

"You got that right."

We all turned to see Bee's holoform standing over us. His mood didn't seem to have improved since yesterday.

"Unfortunately, luck runs out," he snapped at me.

I scowled at him and pushed myself off the bench. "You know what? I'm sick of this little tantrum of yours! You go on and on about how defenseless I am, well has it ever crossed your mind that I've proven otherwise? I may not be a kick-ass alien robot, but I can fend for myself!"

"Oh, really?" Bumblebee snarled, leaning close. "That slipped my notice."

We were attracting a crowd, but I didn't care. Dino started forward in an attempt to stop our arguing, but Ironhide held him back and shook his head.

"If I remember correctly, I scrapped Frenzy," I growled.

"And if I remember correctly, I didn't end up in the hospital," Bee spat. "And that's just one of the messes you were lucky enough to walk away from!"

"You know, I'm thinking we should settle this," I hissed. "Right now."

Bumblebee's eyes narrowed. "Are you saying you wanna take me on?"

"Whatever gets you to shut up!"

"No, please," Destinee said as she stood up. She pulled me back before glaring at Bee. "Allow me."

Bumblebee scoffed. "You have no idea how long I've been wanting to do this."

"Same goes for me," Destinee snarled as they walked onto the mat. Optimus watched them warily before joining me on the bench.

Bumblebee readied himself in a basic fighting position as Destinee looked over her shoulder and winked at me. What happened next was a blur: Bee attempted to punch Destined, but she caught his arm and twisted it before wrapping her legs around his neck and flipping him onto the floor. I stared at Destinee with shock and awe as she walked off the mat with a triumphant smile on her face.

"Who trained you, Black Widow?" I gaped.

"Yo, this takes the whole 'you got your ass kicked by a girl' to a new level," Mudflap whispered, rather loudly, to Skids.

"I can hear you," Bumblebee snarled as he stalked past us. His holoform flickered away and I could hear the sound of screeching tires leaving the room. Optimus sighed before deactivating his holoform and driving off after him.

I felt a sinking feeling in my stomach when I realized what had just happened: Bee and I had another fight. What was happening to us? We never acted like this before!

"Love can only be expressed in anger when clouded by fear and worry," a voice said from behind me. I looked up to see Drift looking down at me. He smiled gently at my confused expression and explained. "It's a haiku. I meant to say that Bumblebee is only acting like this because he's scared for you."

"I know... But it's driving me insane," I groaned.

"Arguing is perfectly normal for couples, especially young ones," Drift said reassuringly. "It will be alright."

I gave him a small smile. "Thank you, Drift."

Drift gave me a slight nod, but then looked up and frowned. The other Autobots looked up with the same look of dislike.

"Oh, shit."

"Where's Prime?!" An angry voice demanded as an unpleasant looking man stormed into the room. Mearing was close on his heels, glaring at him the whole time. "You guys have a lot of nerve, don't you? Brining a civilian to base without any authorization!"

"And that is Galloway," Destinee said to me. "Rumor has it that he doesn't have a dick."

I smiled slightly as Mearing, Lennox, and Epps joined us.

"I am very tempted to order you two to shoot him," Mearing hissed.

"Well, I'm tempted to shoot him with or without your permission," Epps grumbled.

"Where's the civilian?!" Galloway demanded, scanning the area. "They have no right to be here without--"

He stopped when his eyes landed on me. Something about his gaze reminded me of Barricade's, which sent a shudder down my spine. After a very long pause, Galloway cleared his throat

"Um, please excuse my outburst," he said in a more polite tone. Destinee, Mearing, Lennox, and Epps exchanged glances as the Autobots narrowed their optics. He held out his hand to shake and gave me a 'friendly' smile. "I'm Director Theodore Galloway, and you are?"

I didn't take his hand or return his smile. "Alyssa Parker."

"That a lovely name, Alyssa," Galloway said, letting his hand drop to his side. "Am I correct in assuming you're the civilian that was dragged into this mess?"

"Actually, it's cadet now," I said in an even tone. "I was recently recruited by N.E.S.T, so I believe I do have authorization to be here."

Galloway blinked in surprise, but nodded. "That would seem to be the case..."

A long silence hung in the air. Galloway continued to smile like an idiot as he waited for me to say something. I, however, kept my mouth closed. Finally, Galloway clapped his hands together.

"Well, if Prime's not here, I have no reason to stay," he announced. "I hope to meet you again, Alyssa."

"Cadet Parker," I corrected coolly. I didn't like the way he said my name. Galloway just smiled once again and left the room. Once he was gone, all the Autobots huddled around us.

"Something's up," she growled in a low tone. "Galloway is never friendly to anyone..."

"That was definitely not like him," Jolt agreed. The other Autobots nodded.

"Something about him reminded me of Barricade..." I said slowly. I saw Dino, Jazz, both sets of twins, and the triplets exchange glanced as realization flashed in their optics while Ironhide quickly left the room. I frowned at them, but then decided to shrug it off. Instead, I turned to Destinee.

"So... Can I meet the Dinobots now?"