I only winced slightly when the syringe poked into my skin, feeling the nerves in my arm tingle. Flashes of the torture I had gone through on the Nemesis entered my brain for a brief moment, but once I glanced up at my guardian, those horrible images were washed away. His vibrant topaz optics were nothing like that of the cold one of Shockwave. Here, with him, I was being treated, not tortured. My lips turned up into a happy and relieved smile when Ratchet pulled the needle out of my arm, feeling the Energon rush replenish me quickly, my spark aflutter for a moment.

"Do you feel any kind of pain?" the medic asked immediately, his digits falling to my upper arm, where the compartment for my spark was. His index digit brushed it slowly, and at his touch, it opened quickly, startling him. "Ah. My apologies," he said quickly, turning his helm back to me.

I beamed brighter and shook my head. "It's okay!" I told him. "It didn't hurt. The only thing I felt was the prick, and the Energon rush, but that's normal, right?"

He nodded once, straightening slightly, though he still was bent over to remain close. "Correct." He hummed slightly to himself, examining the spark deeply. "It seems that your spark is fully functional, and the side effects have calmed," he noted, bringing his servo to his lower faceplate in thought.

"It's your spark shard, too," I said gently, turning to look at it as well. It was pulsing brightly, even brighter than the dead shard had when I had first acquired it. A gentle but strong beat was heavy through the air around us now that it was exposed, but the open air didn't seem to bother it at all. Seeing Ratchet look over it carefully made me blush slightly, my spark swelling a bit. The medic no doubt felt it as well, his shoulder plates deflating slightly as he looked at me with calm optics. I heated up more and glanced away, embarrassed and nervous.

He shuffled a little before giving me a gentle smile, picking me up in his servos gently as he stood up slowly. He said nothing of the swell we had both felt as the spark chamber closed, which was both relieving and disappointing. I wanted him to know how I felt.. but I was too afraid to tell him.

Somewhere in the back of my mind, I was scared that if he learned of my affections, he would reject them. Or worse, reject me. Perhaps he wouldn't even want me as his charge anymore. Even if he kept me, however, I knew that things would never be the same again. I was scared of losing what I had, especially now. Right now, fear could easily consume me, and I needed someone to turn to. Ratchet was one of the few, and the one I wanted most.

So I hid.

Like always.

The medic's attention was turned elsewhere when a GroundBridge opened, a sky blue and red truck driving through. I smiled a little when Ultra Magnus transformed. Though I still was afraid and wary around most of the Autobots, Ultra Magnus was different. Despite the fact he was a rather distant bot, he had saved me, and I was grateful for it, even though I had earlier learned that Ratchet had basically forced him. My guardian walked over to the commander, along with a few of the others, wishing to learn what he had found.

"We didn't find much else in the rubble of the former base," he told them simply.

I flinched a little, missing our former home. My attention turned back to the GroundBridge as the Wrecker walked in, holding a giant ball. Wheeljack had recently become an all-time member, mostly because his ship was damaged. While I was happy to have the new addition, I tended to avoid him a little more than the others. The white and grey bot was a bit reckless, which made me nervous around him. Not that I was allowed near him much anyway, considering Ratchet was my guardian.

"You call this 'not much else'?" the Wrecker teased, throwing the ball up and down in the air for a moment before yeeting it at Bulkhead.

I yelped quietly as the orb traveled in the air, fear clutching me once again. Bulkhead was completely not ready, his face surprised and worried just before it harshly bounced off his metal chest chassis. Though I was nowhere near it, I curled up a little instinctively, my hands over my head. My eyes widened when it neared Miko, Jack barely pulling her away in time before it slammed into the wall where she would have been. A moment of stunned silence befell the room, everyone registering what had just happened. Finally, my guardian stirred, looking over to Wheeljack angrily and stalking towards him a little.

"Wheeljack!" he shouted furiously. "You could have caused serious damage!"

"To me!" Miko screamed as she stood up and steadied herself, giving Jack a short thankful look.

The Wrecker glanced at the floor a moment before we heard Agent Fowler yell from behind the door, where the ball had smashed itself into. "A little help here?!" he shouted, his voice obviously agitated.

"What were you thinking, soldier?" Ultra Magnus said, his deep voice a little angry. It was a little unsettling, but Wheeljack didn't seem to care at all. 

"I was thinking Bulkhead would catch that lob," he joked, throwing his friend a smirk, though he only got disapproving looks from the rest of us. 

While the Wrecker and commander got into a bit of a heated argument, I turned my head to my guardian, who was still holding me out in his servo, having been previously distracted. "He didn't really damage anything, did he?" I asked quietly, knowing Ratchet would be ticked if there was something broken. 

The medic scowled a little. "I would hope not, because he would have to worry about more than Ultra Magnus' lecture if there was," he grumbled quietly. 

I snickered to myself, but Wheeljack said his final words to the commander and then stalked off. We all watched him go awkwardly, glancing at the sky blue and red mech, really unsure of what to say now. For a brief moment, Ultra Magnus looked slightly embarrassed himself, before turning back to my guardian.

"So," he started quickly. "Any word from Optimus?"

~

"Synthetic Energon?"

I turned my head from where I was sitting, close by Ratchet's console by a compartment of parts and tools, when I heard Optimus' voice. I had been gazing at the other sleeping kids, who were all resting on the other side of the room, my mind buzzing and not allowing me any sleep. I was still reeling a little over the whole Predacon conversation, hardly able to believe the Autobots had fought such a creature. It made me a little worried about them, hoping that they wouldn't have to do something of that matter again. My eyes found Optimus standing behind Ratchet, seeing what his old friend was working on. Frowning slightly, I turned all the way around. 

"Indeed," Ratchet told him with a nod, his optics scanning the dull green color cautiously. "I am concerned that without access to any Energon reserves since our base was destroyed, our ability to deal with impending crisis would be severely hampered," he explained with a grim tone to his voice. 

Optimus nodded in understanding. "A wise decision, old friend."

Ratchet paused and glanced away for a moment. "Just, please, manage your expectations," he pleaded quietly. "I am dealing with more rudimentary hardware than before." He motioned to the small stack of tools off to the side, behind where I was seated.

"Ratchet, be sure to manage yours, too," I called, hurrying over and looking up at him from the where I stood. "You remember what happened last time you tried to make this stuff," I added nervously, fiddling with my fingers. 

The medic's expression softened slightly and he bent down slightly. "Believe me, Taylor, I remember. And don't worry, I'll be quite alright. I can hardly imagine that you would allow to do something like that again, the way you are always watching over my shoulder," he added, a rare smirk playing his derma.

I brought a hand to my mouth as I laughed quietly, cheering up almost instantly. I felt something ruffle my head and looked up to see Ratchet stroking my head playfully with his digits, a gentle smile on his faceplate. I beamed and did my best to keep my cheeks from turning pink, though I imagine I probably wasn't able to. 

"Prime!" Agent Fowler's voice suddenly yelled through the building, making everyone jump. "Satellite surveillance has picked up two signs of Decepticon activity: one near an oil field outside of El Paso, the other near the Hebrides bluffs in Scotland. So don't forget to pack your kilts," he added, making me giggle a bit. 

As Optimus began to assemble the teams, I turned back to Ratchet, who was setting coordinates in the GroundBridge. "Hey, can I come up?" I asked brightly with a smile, pointing to my favorite place by his helm.

He paused, seeming to ponder this for a moment. "Shouldn't you also be getting some rest?" he sighed as he let his servo down for me to climb on. 

Beaming, I jumped on. "I'm not really tired," I said as he lifted me up. "Besides, the others have to be awake by now, the way Agent Fowler was yelling."

He snorted as he slid me next to his helm. "Quite true," he turned his attention back to his work as the teams stood ready to Bridge out. I watched in silence, silently praying that none of them would be harmed in the fight, if there was one.

Agent Fowler waited until each of them had left before he turned his head to me and my guardian. "Er, Taylor," he called, a sort of anxious look on his face, "I think there is something we need to talk about so that we can take the proper action."

This caught both of our attention, Ratchet turning away from the console and walking over to the agent, while I watched him with a surprised and curious look. "What is it?" I asked.

"Um, well," he said, rubbing the back of his head. "I know this is a sensitive subject, but I think we need to talk about your family for a minute."

I visibly flinched, to which Ratchet scowled at the man for. My hand gently rested on his metal cheek and I hesitantly nodded to Agent Fowler. "Okay."

He sighed a little, looking tired. "Your mother.. her name was Renae Smithlock, correct?" He continued after I nodded again. "Well, I have a bit of a backstory on her. She was married to Leland Bishop, or Silas, for a couple years. However, shortly after you were born, she divorced him for unknown reasons, and not long after that is when Leland Bishop made his mysterious disappearance."

I forced my body not to tremble at the news. I still could hardly believe that my mother, my role model, would ever marry such a horrible man. Ratchet turned his helm to see me better, his optics apologetic and remorseful. 

"Perhaps she realized his true intentions for you and left him," he tried to assure me, and admittedly it did make me feel a bit better. I grinned a little gratefully.

Agent Fowler nodded. "Yes, but Renae never returned to any of her family, even with a newborn. You said before that none of your relatives would take you?"

I shook my head a little, my gaze downcast. "I never knew my father's side.. and my mom didn't have very many relatives. She was an only child and hardly knew any of her cousins or aunts and uncles. And... everyone seemed against her for some reason." I paused, tears beginning to well into my eyes. "They must have seen how terrible Silas really was before she did and warned her, but she married him anyway." I gulped down sobs, not wanting to cry now, in front of both of them. "They must not have wanted her back after that..." My hand went to my mouth to hide my trembling looks as I closed my eyes and turned my head away.

Ratchet scowled again and turned his helm sharply back to the agent. "And what need is there to speak of this?" he asked him a little harshly.

For once, Agent Fowler backed down a little, raising his hands in surrender. "I'm not trying to hurt her," he explained quickly. "I'm just..." He sighed forcefully and rubbed his temples. "There's someone on the phone that's demanding to know where she is."

My head flew back to him quickly. Both mine and Ratchet's expressions were almost exactly the same, eyes or optics wide as our mouths hung open. "What?!" we cried in unison, both of our shoulders hunching a bit.

He nodded grimly. "She told us she won't stop calling until we find you, and since I have been getting calls from her nonstop for the past two hours, I'd say she knows your under my care. She's demanding to see you."

"Sh-She?" I asked, my voice trembling.

He gaze turned even more serious. "She claims to be your grandmother, Sarah Smithlock."

~

Sorry if this chapter seemed a bit choppy. It's actually hard to make chapters based on episodes lol. Oh well, I hope you guys enjoyed it anyway. It needed to be here to get to an important part of the story.

YOU GUYS ARE GONNA LOVE THIS-

*waves like a crazy person*