"So one last time,
I need to be the one who takes you home.
One more time,
I promise after that, I'll let you go."

»«

"I'm off work again today." Dana spoke into the phone, which was tucked into her shoulder as she put some books in her locker and took some out. "No one has called asking for me to substitute in for them. So I'll be heading over to the science fiction club with Jack."

"Alright. When do you start work again?" Her mother questioned.

"Tomorrow; I'll actually leave school when I go to fulfill my nursing hours and then just clock out and back in when my school hours are over." Dana tried to close her locker as gently as she could, not wanting to accidentally scare her mother over the phone.

"I just wanted to make sure you're getting all your necessary hours in. Have fun at your club."

"I will mom, thanks." Dana said her goodbye before closing the phone, shouldering her backpack and heading to her car. Today her nursing class just met for the lecture portion, so she was dressed in a more Nevada weather-appropriate outfit: shorts, t-shirt, and a light jacket for the slight wind chill.

Her tennis shoes crunched against the old pavement as she headed to her car, unlocking the doors and opening the back to throw her backpack in.

"Hey, Dana."

She turned; it was Sierra. She smiled. "Hey there, Sierra. What's up?"

The red-head girl returned her smile, holding her books and looking a little shy for once. "I've got a question . . . Well, a few questions, actually. You're friends with Jack, right? Jack Darby?"

Dana blinked for a second, a little thrown off, then nodded. "Yeah, we're friends."

"Okay, good." Sierra laughed nervously. "Would you, uh, happen to have his phone number? We're working on a project together and I totally spaced on giving him mine so we could talk about it after school. I know he works a lot and goes to some club, so he's going to be busy and we'll probably be doing a lot of collaborating over the phone."

The nurse smiled and took out her phone. "I can give your number to him, if you'd like. I don't know if he'd be comfortable having me give out his phone number without him noticing."

"I totally understand." Sierra took out her phone as well. "It's 555-7897. Just tell him to let me know that he's the one texting me, and we'll be good to go. Thanks, Dana."

"No problem." After typing in the message, Dana snapped her phone shut again. "I'll see you in class tomorrow, Sierra."

"Yup, see you then." The girl turned and walked away, heading over to her friend's car, said friend looking a little impatient, though Dana kind of figured that was her normal face. She just had the kind of resting face that made her look mad at everyone. In the few times Dana had talked to her, she was actually really nice.

Some people are like that, I guess. She shrugged to herself as she started up the car and pulled out of the parking lot, heading to base.

It had been a week since she had last seen the base, thanks to work. In that time, a new recruit named Smokescreen had joined them, much to Ratchet's chagrin. Apparently Jack was in charge of teaching him about Earth after a run-in with another human, and the rookie seemed to be getting on everyone's nerves.

Dana couldn't wait to meet him.

Additionally, thanks to Ratchet, Wheeljack, and Rafael's tampering with Soundwave's drone, Laserbeak, the Autobots now had the entire Iacon database stored in their hard drive. Optimus had been meticulously decoding each coordinate, hoping that each new relic was of Autobot origin, and that the Decepticons hadn't reached it first.

Pulling into the base, Dana parked carefully and stepped out of the car, looking around. "Hey, where did everyone go?"

"Smokescreen is out with Jack." Ratchet answered from his place at the computers. "And the rest of the team is currently out searching for another relic."

"Even Bulkhead?" She questioned.

"Yes. His legs have regained their full range of motion, and he has been dying to go out into the field." Ratchet didn't tear his gaze away from the computers, his optics furrowed in concentration. His charge bound up the steps, looking at the computer screens.

"Wait a minute. Isn't that another beacon signal?"

"It is." Ratchet was sounding increasingly frustrated. "But for some reason I can't contact Optimus, or anyone else from the team. The longer this goes on the higher chance the Decepticons have of getting to the relic before we do."

Dana frowned, tapping her fingers against the railing. "Why don't we go get it?"

Ratchet sputtered in surprise. "Just me?! And you?? No, someone has to be here in case the rest of Team Prime is suddenly contactable again. Besides, I can't take on a whole legion of Decepticons myself. I'm just a medic!"

The girl huffed. "Well, we're gonna have to send somebody."

As soon as the words left her mouth, Smokescreen screeched into base, coming to a stop and opening his door for Jack to jump out before he transformed, the two of them laughing.

Dana and Ratchet looked at one another, the latter having a no way in Primus look on his face, though his charge just shrugged.

"Hey Ratchet-" Smokescreen paused when he spotted the new human, offering a smile. "Hey. You must be Dana, Ratchet's charge."

"Indeed I am. Pleasure to meet you, Smokescreen." She offered him a hand, and he looked confused for a moment before he also gave her a digit, which she shook. "Sounds like you've heard about me."

Smokescreen laughed. "Oh yeah, a whole lot. Apparently you and Miko like to cause trouble around base."

She grinned in response. "Just a little bit."

"So, where is everyone else?" Smokescreen questioned.

"They're out looking for an Iacon beacon." Ratchet stated. "But I can't reach them."

"And there's a second beacon as well." Dana added, then looked at her guardian excitedly. "Smokescreen and I can go get the relic!"

"Absolutely not." Ratchet snapped. "You are to stay here at base!"

"Oh, so you're going to let him go alone?" She crossed her arms and shifted her hips, leaning on one leg. "If anything happens, I'll call you."

Ratchet gave her a suspicious look. "And if I can't contact you?"

"Optimus made me promise to not get involved." She sighed. "So I'll lay low until you get there. I'll be okay, Ratchet. I promise."

Her guardian looked at her for a long time, leaving Smokescreen to wonder what happened to make them this argumentative. According to Jack, Dana was one of the few humans Ratchet genuinely cared about, Rafael being the other one. He also only vaguely knew of her history of running around on mission with the other Autobots; what had finally made Optimus Prime put a stop to it?

"Alright, fine." Ratchet huffed. "But if anything goes wrong,"

"I let you know." Dana grinned, eagerly clambering down the ladder as Ratchet activated the Groundbridge. "Alright rookie, let's get this show on the road!" Her hand reached out and grabbed Jack's sleeve, eyes sparkling. "You too, buckaroo."

"I-I'm not sure it's a good idea . . ." Jack stammered.

A few minutes later, Dana had him through the Groundbridge, Smokescreen following behind.

"I . . . Just pulled a 'Miko.' And 'Dana.'" Jack groaned, giving himself a face-palm.

"Let's go!" Smokescreen said, running toward a clearing in the forest, which opened up to a rather large rock-face, which could either pass as a small mountain or a very large hill. Decepticons were swarming the area, clearing away massive rocks and revealing a hilt to a sword.

"Whoa, it's a sword." Jack stated, surprised.

"Not just any sword." Smokescreen's optics widened. "It's the Star Saber, a legendary weapon forged by Solus Prime. As, lore would have it. It's rumored to wield the power of the Matrix."

"Wow . . ." Dana scanned along the Decepticon ranks, her eyes falling on Megatron, who was giving inaudible orders. Her heart stopped briefly in excitement, but then she frowned.

Ratchet is going to get mad if he realizes he sent me on a mission and Megatron was involved.

"I'm gonna make Optimus proud." Smokescreen grinned.

"Not a good idea." Jack intervened.

"Why not?" The Autobot whined.

"Megatron is here." Dana stated aloud, knowing Jack was giving her a look of warning. "And he hasn't taken the saber yet. If the sword is so powerful, why hasn't he just grabbed it?"

Smokescreen thought about it for a second, then shrugged. "Germaphobe?"

"Not in my experience." Dana muttered, earning a "huh?" From the Autobot but ignoring him as Jack tried to get Smokescreen to listen to reason.

"We should seriously wait for back-up." The human boy warned.

Smokescreen shook his head. "You heard Ratchet. Back-up isn't available right now." The Autobot jumped onto a rock, and then leaped into the air, servos transforming into guns as he assaulted the Decepticon ranks.

"Dana, you need to call Ratchet." Jack warned. "Tell him that Smokescreen is alone, and that Megatron is here."

As he spoke, Smokescreen grabbed for the sword, but the relic did not react to his touch, leaving the Autobot open. A Vehicon took advantage of such an opening, shooting Smokescreen directly in the back, the others surrounding the rookie to make sure he didn't try to fight his way out. As Smokescreen laid there helplessly Dana stood straight up, her hands curling into fists.

"No." She said, digging into her pocket as she watched Megatron stalk towards the rookie. "Jack, if we don't do something, Megatron is going to kill Smokescreen." She shoved her phone at him, avoiding his hand as he made to grab for her. "Call Ratchet, tell him what's happening! I'm going to stop Megatron!"

"Dana, no! He'll kill you." Jack called, the human girl already sprinting towards the Decepticons.

"No he won't." She spoke with confidence. "I have something of interest to him. Just call Ratchet!"

Leaving Jack behind, she confidently ran straight toward the titans, her footsteps barely audible to the other Cybertronians.

Smokescreen lifted his head up weakly, knowing that if he resisted, he would be shot on sight. But he wasn't about to give in to interrogation either. His Elite Guard training ran through his head, and he took a deep vent in preparation. His optics were drawn to an approaching object, shock coursing through his body as he realized with horror that the human girl was heading straight towards them.

"Dana, stay back!" He warned, terror clutching his spark as several Vehicons pointed their guns at her, ready to shoot. He became even more confused when he noticed she wasn't running toward him, but rather-

"Let her pass." Megatron ordered his subordinates, holding up a hand to indicate they should hold their fire. Smokescreen's faceplates furrowed in confusion. What is going on? Does he know her?

Dana slowed to a walk as she got closer, standing within Megatron's arm reach, looking up at the warlord. Her legs were shoulder-width apart, toes pointed outward, indicating that she was unafraid, or at the very least not timid. Her green eyes sparkled as she looked up, not breaking contact with the bright red of the enemy.

"I was curious to see if you would be here." Megatron spoke to her, his body also in a more dominating position. Now, he could feel, was the time to intimidate. Here they were, face to face on common ground, neither wholly Decepticon or Autobot, with one of her friends at his mercy.

I will make her fear me.

"Glad to see I didn't disappoint." She replied, tilting her chin up a bit. "And here we are, on a battlefield more or less. Going to see how brave I am, Megatron?"

Smokescreen couldn't quite understand what she was talking about. Had these two met before? None of the Autobots had alluded to Dana having some kind of relationship with the Decepticon leader. Was this why she and Ratchet were arguing about letting her come on the mission? Because she was insane?

Much to Smokescreen's amazement, the warlord got down on one knee, sinking into a position he rarely allowed himself to be seen in, his clawed servo extended out and his faceplates manipulated into a shark's grin. It was a dangerous game, one that could do easily be a trap.

Dana walked between the sharp digits again and into his palm, keeping her balance as he stood again, lifting her very high off the ground. She stood tall and proud, a small creature in the palm of something that could simply make a fist and crush her. But she did not cower or tremble before Megatron. In fact, she seemed just as arrogant and confident as he was.

Megatron clenched his other servo into a fist. Why is she not afraid?

"You seem unintimidated." He noted, beginning to warm up his cannon. "Are you not aware of the fact that I could kill you and your Autobot comrade at the same time, with little energy spent on my behalf?" He pointed his fusion cannon at Smokescreen, whose optics widened and stared at the light.

Scrap.

"I'm not afraid." Dana puffed out her chest a little more, feeling the flood of adrenalin that made her toes and fingers tingle with energy, not daring to break eye contact with the Decepticon. "I know that you won't hurt me."

"Are you so sure?" He snarled, digits curling in little, a warning that he would not hesitate to crush her then and there. The warlord was angry, angry that something as small and as insignificant as a human was unafraid of him. He had spent eons in the pits of Kaon proving his worth and intimidating his enemies. And here, he could not make a small human femme falter before him. He charged his cannon up, and prepared to fire it into Smokescreen's face. "Then I will annihilate your Autobot friend, and show you just how much you should fear me!"

His attention was torn away from them by gunfire and the screeching of Insecticons, three Autobots cutting and blasting their way through Vehicons.

Arcee leaped over her Vehicon attacker, shooting him multiple times in the head to obliterate his processors, landing and looking straight at Megatron, noticing the human he was holding.

"Dana!"

"Smokescreen!" The human called instead, and in the moment Megatron was preoccupied with the other Autobots she jumped, hoping Smokescreen was paying attention. Indeed, the Autobot blasted two Vehicons away before he dived for her, his servo closing around her and suddenly she felt herself being jerked into the passenger seat of his car, grunting as her momentum caught up to her and threw her into his seat. "Thanks."

"No problem!" He spun to avoid shots fired his way, tires screeching as he made a beeline to join the Autobots, the human able to faintly hear Megatron scream with rage. "So, uh, what is the history between you and ten-ton back there?"

"It's . . . Kind of a long story." She admitted.

»«

"How epic was that?" Smokescreen spoke to his fellow Autobots as they walked through the Groundbridge together, reenacting what went down after Optimus Prime grabbed the Star Saber. "I saw it with my own optics, but I still don't believe it!"

"You know what I don't believe?" Arcee snapped, getting in front of the rookie and not at all afraid to get in his face. "That after everything you've been told, you still put a human at risk!"

Jack walked up to her. "A-Arcee, it wasn't his fault. I shouldn't have-"

"Don't even start with me. We'll talk tomorrow." She spoke harshly, her servos on her hips. Her optics then traveled to Dana, who was just behind her charge. "And you."

"What about her?" Ratchet inquired, knowing something was wrong the moment his charge had walked through; she refused to make eye contact with him.

"You were told to abort any missions involving Megatron. But you still put yourself in more danger than any of us could ever imagine." Arcee crossed her arms, voice slowly raising.

"What did she do?" Ratchet demanded, now abandoning his computers to look at his fellow Autobots before his gaze refocused on his charge. "Dana, what happened?"

"She allowed herself to be in the servo of Megatron is what happened." Arcee ranted. "He was holding her when we got there, Ratchet, and he was about to blast Smokescreen to pieces!"

"Which he would have done sooner if she hadn't intervened." Smokescreen cut in. "Look, Ratch, I owe my life to her-"

"You did what?!" Ratchet roared, louder and angrier than he had ever been before. "Dana, what were you thinking?"

"I was thinking that if I didn't do something, Smokescreen would die!" Dana shouted back. "I was trying to delay as long as possible. If I hadn't-"

"I told you, multiple times, to never draw his attention over to you." Ratchet interrupted yet again, looking ready to break something. "But you have not only disobeyed that, you have pushed beyond a boundary that should have never been tested."

Dana crossed her arms, now just as angry as him. "But I wasn't hurt, and Smokescreen got out alive! I was willing to take the risk, because you need every available Autobot to fight against Megatron! One human life is worth the cost for more protection over this planet."

"Maybe you think so, but I don't." Ratchet uncrossed his own arms, taking a stand. "This is it, Dana. I am hereby grounding you from base until further notice! Until you can learn to leave Megatron alone."

The human girl looked personally offended. "You're not my dad! You can't just ground me from base!"

"I can and I will!" The medic finally shouted to his full capacity, and for once Dana flinched in surprise. "Until I say you can come back to base, I don't want to see you here, ever!"

There was a moment of intense silence, Dana able to feel the prick of hot, frustrated tears pool in her eyes, cheeks red from both shouting and the embarrassment of being treated this way.

"Fine." She sniffed, taking her keys from her pocket. As she walked over to her car she unlocked it, the base absolutely silent, having never heard the two of them fight so intensely before. "It's not like you even wanted me around base anyways." She snapped before slamming her door closed, starting her car and driving out of base as fast as possible.

Even Arcee was a little stunned by the sudden explosion of fighting and shouting, her optics watching as Ratchet padded his way back to the computers.

Bumblebee buzzed to his friend and medic, asking if everything was alright, if he and Dana would be okay.

"It's better this way." Ratchet muttered, gazing at the computers, shoulder pads slumped forward and his optics focusing almost too hard on the screens. "Just . . . Trust me. It's for the best."