Chased

Chapter 6

The next morning was gloomy and this time, it was not just because of the weather.

It was raining that day that the band of Autobots and ex-Decepticons were making their way out to Michigan. They weren't going straight to Chicago yet, since they still need some time to confuse Cemetery Wind on their next positions. They were really close to getting found out against the previous night when the "supposed" warehouse lot owner came around to inspect the buildings. He walked into the hangar to find that everyone, expect Starscream and some of the kids, were in vehicle mode and in recharge. Of course, the man ran out to go call what Dorothy imagined to be the government and everyone got out of there before they were found out anymore.

It was about five hours after that incident and everyone was finally on the road again, everyone extremely tired and hungry. The kids, who had Dorothy to feed them and take care of them, were perfectly fine and went with their self-picked partners to drive with. Cade, Dorothy and Toxin with Optimus, Ratbat with Crosshairs, the condors with Drift, the little twins with Bee this time, and Tessa riding on Ravage behind them all. All of the Autobots had complained about how the kids got energon to eat and they didn't, but the woman was thankful for the fact that Optimus defended her actions since the children were more of a priority than everyone else was.

And then there was Starscream. He still had all the energon he had taken from when the house was first exposed and everyone evacuated. Optimus didn't have a justification for that one, since he didn't dare say anything with the seeker glaring to red holes into the Autobot leader's back. The tri-colored mech went off of the "finders' keepers" rule, but Crosshairs started threatening and Dorothy had another fight to break up before it started. There shouldn't have been a fight, but with the Autobots hangry and Starscream sitting there sipping energon with a calm smile on his face, everyone took it the wrong way immediately. The seeker made a note to himself to stay away from Crosshairs, Hound and Drift for the remainder of the trip, unless completely necessary.

The majority of the ride up to their new location was mostly silent, being that Toxin was still tired from last night's events. The little sparkling was all tuckered out from being the resident seeker's cuddle buddy when they recharged. The seeker kept having nightmares and Starscream was very appreciative of Dorothy for letting him do that. The little sparkling didn't seem to mind though, even if he was super cranky the next morning and accidently hit his carrier in the face with his tiny servo when she tried to pick him up.

On the other hand, Cade was becoming a little overprotective of Tessa around Ravage, which was normal because of the "no dating" rule he installed. Of course, both the teenage girl and the cybertronian panther thought it was weird that he would think they were dating, since dating best friends was awkward and gross. The inventor kept checking Prime's side mirrors to spy on Ravage and Tessa the entire ride while Dorothy was forming a plan.

Once in Michigan, the group split up into two separate divisions. Starscream, Optimus and Bumblebee would go to find some shelter for the night while Dorothy, Cade, and the kids went to go get food and supplies. Crosshairs, Drift and Hound were all happy to be rid of the cassettes that they were riding with, but unfortunately had to go on patrol around Detroit and make sure they weren't being followed by Cemetery Wind trucks and cars. They were all more than happy to do it though, since driving with the children was hell and Dorothy knew from experience.

The woman decided to leave Toxin with Bumblebee and Starscream, being that he was too young to being shoplifting with the rest of his siblings. They all meet up in an abandoned lot, ran over the plan and exchanged children and sped off to go do all of their assignments. The only ones left in the lot were Optimus, Bee and Starscream with a squirming sparkling in his servos. They all looked at each other, Star glaring at Optimus most of that silence before transforming into his jet mode and speeding off to find shelter. The little weapon cassette was in the seeker's cockpit and enjoying the time he got to have with his uncle.