TFP: Surprise! (Chapter VI: Within...)

Lauren had run to the closest gas station, people were running towards the explosion, and like a coward, Lauren had just run away. She walked into the bathroom, set her back pack down, and looked in the mirror. There was a scrape on her lip, a cut at the top of her head, and a thin layer of brick dust coated her from head to toe. Lauren quickly washed her face, doctored her cuts, and tried to dust herself off. It was only 06:34 by the time she had walked out of the gas station, and within that time, strange-looking men had begun blocking all visible paths to blinn. "Scrap! Are those marines?" Lauren ran over, but was stopped by a man in a suit. "Hey!"
"The college is closed today, ma'am. Your absences will not count against you."
"What gives, Mr..." Lauren began.
"I am Agent Jason Woods," he said, "And Blinn college was bombed early this morning, we are investigating to make sure it was the only one."
Suuure... Lauren crossed her arms, "What about the school thats right by it. The highschool?"
"It is closed as well, if you are a Scholar student then you need to return home," Agent Woods ordered.
Lauren sighed, "Fine." She turned around, and took a step.
"Were you around here earlier this morning, Miss-?"
"Miss Auto, and I'm afraid not... I was just curious. My studies are the most important thing right now. The soon y'all get that stuff done the better," Lauren lied.
"You will be informed when school resumes," assured Woods.
Lauren nodded, in thanks, and inconspicuously walked. Her heart was pounding, and silently she prayed for them not to find any bots or cons. She made it to the bike racks, and found her spare. She had paid the fifty buck at the beginning of the semester to be able to use the racks, so she biked back home, on the way she had realized she'd forgotten all about her brother's truck... she hoped that her mom would too. Lauren took  the back road again, hoping to remain unseen. On the way she called her mom, informing her of the situation regarding the school. But when she tried to call Optimus, there was only static. Fear was running rampant through her. So many things were going on in her head... and she was scared. What if they found Optimus? What if Breakdown and Knockout got him? What was the explosion?! Lauren shook her head, and reached into her pocket, riding with one hand on the hand of the bike, and holding the matrix shard in her other within her pocket. Her heart beats slowed, and she calmed down a bit.
"AcK!"
Lauren grabbed her breaks, tossing dust into the air, and stopped... she listened. That noise, the voice was familiar. She looked through the trees-seeing him, even with his pointless attempt to hide behind an oak, "Starscream, get out of sight, people are going to see you!"
Starscream peeked out, "Oh no-not you again."
"Cha-me again! And if I can see you, you can be sure any other human can!" Lauren scolded.
He stared at her, eyes narrowing, "What would you know about it?"
Lauren sighed, "I know that if you don't hide a bit better, the American government will find and butcher you!" She got off her bike, "You think it sucks that mech took your T-cog,?! Just wait until the American government swoops in, takes you to a lab, and make a science fair out of you!"
"How would you know about my T-cog?!" Starscream stepped out, "Are you another Autobot pet?!"
Lauren crossed her arms, "I'm no one's pet... and I know about you T-cog, because the autobots told me."
"So you know that I'm a decepticon... and you are not-afraid?" Starscream repeated.
"Ex-con, as I remember it," Lauren corrected. "Besides... you're just a scavenger now. If I where you, I'd recommend--" Lauren saw dust flying into the air from afar. "-hiding, cars on approach."
"Scrap!" Starscream ran back into the trees, managing to actually hide this time.
Lauren picked up her bike, and sighed, "See ya later, 'scream. Buena suerte." One more thing to worry about... She began walking, trying to divide her attention between all the different things going on. So quickly had she totaled her bother's truck, met the autobots, stopped being insane, lied, lost a Prime, talked an Ex-con down-again, and here she was walking the rest of the way home. She could only pray that the rest of her trip home would be uneventful. Now, something that must be understood is Lauren-while her mental problems were solved for the most part-was only beginning to have a streak of bad luck. She heard the car, or cars rather, drawing nearer, and she was prepared for them to pass her, but just as they had almost made it to her, Lauren heard the all-too familiar sound of cybertronian transformation. Dust flew past her, and the sound made her pause. She stopped walking, and slowly turned around, "Aw-scrap..."
"Where's Optimus now?" chuckled Breakdown.
Lauren felt her blood run cold, as she stared at Knockout and Breakdown, "Uh-mm... He-oh-hey Optimus!" She looked past them, and the second they fell for it, Lauren jumped on her bike, and pedaled... granted the fastest she had ever gone was twenty-five mph.
She hadn't gotten a meter away, when Knockout kicked the bike, sending Lauren and her bicycle flying.
Lauren tumbled once, before the back of her head slammed into the hard surface of the dusty road. It felt like she hit a rock or something pointy. A couple of tears escaped her eyes, her entire body was in pain, but her skull to most of the impact. It reminded her of the time before last she had played football. They guys were twice her size, she was knocked head-first into the ground more than once. Blood pounded in her ears, and she looked up at the blurry figures. Metal shining in the sun, so bright... so shiny. Lauren had always loved shiny things. Even before she went crazy, she had always lost her attention when she saw something shiny. It was just part of her personality. She heard the blurs saying something, words-sounds-mutterings, but she couldn't make sense of them. Her right hand drew to the back of her head, then came back around, for her eyes to see the warm red liquid  on her fingers. She tried to stand up, but she just collapsed again... face going straight into the hot sand. She closed her eyes, able to make her mind focus a little more, just enough to hear some things being said.
"-on. We have to."
"Should we take her then?"
"The autobots don't seem to know anything about his disappearance, perhaps we should just keep looking."
"But the human just tried to run, it knows something."
"Now that I think about it... we could use a bargaining chip."
Lauren opened her eyes, she was seeing doubles, but this time she managed to stand.
"Whoa... with that kind of trauma a human should be out cold-resilient little insect," Knockout chuckled.
She heard the sound of her own heavy breathing, head throbbing, heart pounding, darkness trying to steal her, but she couldn't let it-she wouldn't! For what good it did, Lauren stood defiantly, glaring up at them. Thick, warm liquid ran down her back, and the side of her head,
"Ooh-scary human," snickered Breakdown.
A horn blared off from behind.
"He comes," Lauren whispered, grinning.
Optimus transformed, tackling Breakdown, before jumping back, and decking Knockout.
Sand flew into Lauren's eyes, making her fall back. She heard Optimus beating the cons, winning. The vibrations in the ground came closer to Lauren then she would have like.
"Drive!" Knockout called.
When Lauren opened her eyes again, Optimus was making sure the cons disappeared, then as they did, he turned to her, and his facial shield slid away.
Lauren smiled, standing on two shaking legs, "Op-timus." She stumble over to him, and her brought his hand down, to catch her, before she hit the ground, "I'm sorry... so sorry." She climbed into his hand.
"What for?" he asked.
"I ran away... I left you," Lauren muttered, the image of Optimus phased in and out of focus. "Never again... never-leave you."
Optimus blinked, "You are human, Lauren. The fight with the decepticons is dangerous."
"Danger never stops you," Lauren chuckled, looking to him, she glanced over, vision focused enough to see Starsceam looking out of the shadows. "W-we should help-him."
Optimus looked over, "Who are you--Starscream?"
Lauren groaned, "Ugh... my head is killing me... it hurts so much-so much."
Optimus's attention fell back to Lauren, "Lauren... how badly were you hurt?"
"Not bad-its just my head... and I'm so... so tired." The dark was winning, but Optimus would protect her, she knew it. After finghting it for so long, she could finally let go. She could let it all go...
"Lauren?"

Running through a vast battle field, disorientation-it would not stop the autobot. A burning world, dying troops, so much death. Energon poured from fallen troops on both sides. A single enemy left, the leader. They glared at one another, it was him, Megatron. He grinned such an evil expression. Death itself was his greatest friend. So dark, and he had once been considered a friend. Visions of all the times they had stood as one, now they were sworn enemies. But hope of an absolution remained... it was the only way, but with every battle that hope had been fading away like history itself. Every blow, every cut, all the wounds, all of the skill in each retaliation felt so intense, combat so vivid... and the pain ran deep. Peace was all that was visible on the outside, but within there was a storm brewing. There was anger, frustration, compassion, the will to protect, all rose to a single peak, covered by the appearance of control. This is what a leader had to do, for his troops... this is what the war for Cybertron felt like.
Lauren stared, the destruction was horrifying... and in moments it all melted away, before she faced a dark silhouette, "Who are you?!"
A pair of red eyes opened upon the silhouette, like Megatrons, but the silhouette was human.
The eyes glared, like a devil from the night.
"Is this some kind of trick, Megatron?!" Lauren shouted, "What's going on? Tell me!"
The eyes closed, and the silhouette vanished.
"No! Wait, come back!" cried Lauren, "Please, I need to know what's going on! AH!" The ground vanished, if it had been ground in the first place... falling, and falling still, air flowing past her, until it all stopped. Lauren's jaw dropped, as she faced the essence of creation. The very spark of Cybertronian life, and she felt her own heart slowly beat., "P-Primus?"
Light took over her vision, blowing Lauren away with unspeakable force, and after it stopped, she was allowed to rest peacefully...
"Come back!"