Faria shivered as she looked around the large room. She was in chains, being held high above the floor by her arms. Her arms ached from how they were being held up by the chains. She sighed. She didn't know how long she had been there but it felt like forever. So far only drones came in to make fun of her, and sometimes Megatron. They were the only ones she had seen, but she could care less. She just wanted out of here.

A quiet chuckle filled the room as the doors opened. A scrawny silver robot came walking in. Faria honestly couldn't tell if it was a male or female, not that she cared. She glared at the robot, wanting to leave.

"Please tell me you're here to let me out of these chains", Faria said in a bored voice, though inside she was freaking out. 'Please please, Autobots, please come soon.'

The robot chuckled. "I am. Though I do not think you will be excited as to where you are going."

Faria rolled her eyes, though she was terrified inside. "Hmm... are you sure about that? Maybe I will be excited." 'Don't let it be experiments on me, please!!!'

The robot smirked. Faria didn't even know how the metal scrap heap was able to do that, though she couldn't care less. "Trust me, Faria", he said as he undid her chains. "You will not be excited."

His voice sent shivers down her spine, and as he grabbed her, she squirmed, not caring if she died from the height. She just wanted to be off this ship.

"Stop squirming, fleshy!" the robot exclaimed. "Are you trying to get yourself killed?"

Faria smirked up at him. "Perhaps." 

The robot scoffed, as he walked out of the room and down the hall. "Femmes."

"Hey, so what's your name?" Faria asked, trying to not let her fear show through.

"Starscream", he rolled his eyes. Faria's eyes widen slightly as she remembered the last encounter she had with him.

"So wait! When I encountered you in your holoform, where you trying to kidnap me?" Faria exclaimed.

"I was", Starscream grinned at her, stopping in front of a door. "Megatron has been very intrigued as to why the Autobot medic is so fascinated with a fleshy."

"I'm not a fleshy! I'm a human", Faria exclaimed, getting tired of being called 'Fleshy'.

Starscream doesn't respond and instead entered a room, where Faria saw a familiar red robot. "Hey!" Faria exclaimed. "You're the robot Optimus tore the door off of!" 

The red robot looked at her in surprise. "You were there?"

Faria shrugged. "I'm surprised you didn't see me. Oh wait, you did, I was just hidden behind a mask." 'Why am I telling him this??? Viper is supposed to be a secret identity.'

The red robot looked confused, so Faria changed the subject. "Nevermind! What's your name?"

"Knockout", he said. "How long have you known about us?"

"Eh, ever since Optimus tore the door off of you", Faria answered. "Although not even the Autobots know that. So please keep it a secret."

Knockout sighed, but shrugged anyway. "Fine." Faria grinned until she heard the door open. Starscream turned to look at who the newcomer was. Faria saw, out of the corner of her eye, a small smile on Knockout's face. 

"Breakdown", he exclaimed. "How'd the mission go?"

"Well, uh...", Breakdown stutters. "I need your help with something."

Knockout frowns, causing Breakdown to turn around and reveal the spider bot that Faria had encountered the weekend before. 

"Oh hey Spider bot!" Faria exclaimed. "Wait... I'm pretty sure I heard Arcee yell your name in the forest after you escaped.... wasn't it like... Airachnid or something like that?"

The spider bot looked very surprised. "What are you doing here?" she spat.

"Eh, these guys kidnapped me", Faria answered, looking up at Starscream, who was getting impatient.

"Knockout, I really must be going, so do you have somewhere I can place the fleshy?" he asked, his voice sounding very annoyed. Faria giggled.

Knockout looked away from Airachnid and Breakdown. "Yeah, just set her down on that open space there."

Starscream placed Faria down where Knockout had gestured before leaving. Faria watched as Knockout got distracted with the other two, before studying the place she had been placed down on. It was a long distance to the ground, but in the side of what Faria assumed was a counter, was an intricate design. It was designed beautifully, especially to Faria, who immediately recognized it as a means of escape. Carefully, she started the climb down, and with a few near slips, she made it to the floor. She limped over to the door, and found a vent she could easily climb in. Doing so, she found herself in an intricate web of dust. Holding in a sneeze, she quickly started limping her way around, ignoring any ways that go up, knowing that with her limp, she wouldn't be able to climb up anything. After several circles, and several times of her peeking her head out through vents only to whisk her head back in because there were cons, she finally found herself on a big open area where there was no one. She could see the night sky, and the stars, and smiled happily. She walked to the edge, and found herself several miles up into the night sky. Her eyes widen. 

"You've got to be kidding me", she whispered. "It's a flying ship?!"

Shaking her head, she pulled out her phone to see if she had any service. She grinned happily to see that she had at least one bar, though she wasn't quite sure how. She quickly started to type a message to Jack.

'On 'con ship. Plz help. Im scared...'

She hit send and watched as it... it... it sent! She let out a breath of relief and moved to the side of the ship, hiding in the shadows. She felt her phone buzz in her hand, and saw that Jack had responded.

'Ratchet is tracing your phone signal. Hang in there.'

She felt tears come to her eyes, but quickly wiped them away. She put her phone away, and waited for a few minutes. However, her breath caught in her throat when Starscream came out, looking annoyed.

"How the frag did Knockout lose the fleshy?! She was way too high up to have escaped by herself! Did the Autobots somehow sneak aboard the ship?"

Faria tried to keep her giggles in, but failed, and the sound traveled all the way to Starscream. He grinned maliciously. "So you're out here... Lord Megatron will be pleased when he discovers that I am the one to have found you."

Faria shrank into the shadows, curling into herself, trying to hide, but the movement caught Starscream's attention. He smirked. "There you are."

Faria didn't move, petrified by fear. Starscream chuckled. "Come here, fleshy", he cooed. Faria shook her head, closing her eyes as she did so. However, they shot open when she heard an unfamiliar sound. A greeenish blue tunnel opened up and out came four of the five Autobots, though none of them where the one she really wanted to see. Starscream shrieked, and tried to run away though Optimus was quick to grab him, and throw him down to the ground. He pinned him down with a foot, and pointed his gun at him.

"Where is Faria?" Optimus asked. Starscream only smirked.

"Dead, maybe. I don't know. I last left her with Knockout for experimentation", Starscream says slyly. Faria gaped. "Liar", she cried out. "I'm right here!"

She exitted the shadows and moved towards the Autobots only to gasp when something grabbed her by her waist. She looked down and saw Soundwave's tentacles.

"Let me go!" Faria exclaimed. The silent 'con said nothing, and only turned to leave. Faria watched as Optimus punched Starscream, knocking him out, before turning to Soundwave. As soon as he was close enough, Faria began to squirm, causing Soundwave's grip on her to loosen. She slipped through his claws, and felt herself fall only to be caught by Optimus' hand.

She smiled up at him, and Optimus quickly led his team back through the glowing tunnel, wanting to get Faria home as quickly as possible. Faria felt woozy once they exited the tunnel. She placed her hand on her head. "Woah", she mumbled. She felt herself being passed to another robots hand, and looked up to see Ratchet. She grinned up at him. 

"Ratchet!" she cried out, tears filling her eyes. Ratchet smiled softly at her before looking at the platform behind her. Faria turned to look and saw Dahlia standing there, a worried look in her eyes as she watched the two. Ratchet set Faria down on the platform next to Dahlia, and Faria immediately hugged her friend. Dahlia latched on and they hugged for a few minutes.

"Never get captured by 'cons again", Dahlia whispered as she pulled away. Faria chuckled.

"I wasn't trying to get kidnapped by aliens", Faria said. "It just happened..."

Dahlia smiled softly before looking to Ratchet. However, before anyone could say anything Agent Fowler cut in.

"Faria, Jack told me of your... secret identity..." he said. Faria sighed, and looked at the ground.

"Well, it was only a matter of time before you found out. And I told him to tell you if he absolutely had to", she said, not looking up.

"Faria?" Ratchet cut in. "What are you talking about?"

Faria looks up at him, and saw his confused eyes, before looking away, not wanting to meet his gaze when she said it.

"I'm the Viper", Faria whispered. "I've known about you guys longer than you've thought."

Everyone was silent and Faria looked up at Ratchet to see how he had reacted. He was looking at the ground, but a few moments later looked up to meet Faria's gaze, before turning away, and finding something to do, even if it was just reorganizing his tools. Faria felt her heart tug painfully, and she looked away, tears filling her eyes. She looked to Agent Fowler.

"I know street racing is illegal, Agent Fowler", she whispered. "I'm guessing I'm going to be arrested?"

Agent Fowler shook his head. "No. I was looking for the Viper because she had seen the Autobots and that's why I needed to find her. Turns out she was right in front of me the entire time."

Faria smilesd softly, and turned to look at Ratchet, who was watching her, but he quickly turned away when she looked at him. Faria looked down again, and hugged her arms to herself. Dahlia came over to her, and rested her hand on Faria's shoulder.

"You okay, Faria?" she asked. Faria shook her head.

"Can we go home?" she asked. Dahlia smiled softly. 

"Yeah, we can go home", she whispered back. She looked to Ratchet, who transformed, and allowed both of them to get in. Dahlia sat in the driver's seat, while Faria sat in the passenger seat. They said nothing, and were silent for the entire drive. Faria yawned, everything catching up to her. She didn't know how long she was with the Decepticon's but she knew that it had been several days, and she also knew that she hadn't slept much. She was exhausted.

Soon, they pull up in front of the house, and Dahlia got out. When Faria tried to get out, the door was locked. Dahlia smiled softly, before entering the house, knowing that they needed to talk.

"Ratch...?" Faria asked tiredly. He was silent as his holoform fizzled to life. He stared at the steering wheel before speaking.

"I was so worried for you, Faria..." he whispered. Faria blinked before reaching over and resting her hand on his forearm. He looked at her, and she smiled.

"I'm safe now, Ratchet", she said. "You saved me."

Ratchet shook his head. "I didn't really do anything Faria. Optimus is the one who did all the saving." Faria sighed, but moved closer to her friend.

"But he wouldn't have been able to find me if you weren't able to track my text. You did the most important part. Optimus and the others just ensured my safe return. You're the one who made it all possible."

Ratchet looked at her with surprised eyes, but grateful eyes. He pulled her into a hug, and she was surprised, but returned the hug. Ratchet held her tightly, not wanting to let go; Faria was the exact same. They held onto each other like if they let go, they would lose each other. Faria felt tears leaking from her eyes as she thought about how she never thought she would be this close to someone again. Not after what he did to her. She hated his guts, and she never wanted to see him again.

Ratchet pulled away and saw her tears. "Faria, what's wrong?"

Faria gave him a weak smile. "Just... thinking about my father."

Ratchet tilted his head. "What happened to him?"

Faria chuckled sadly. "He's not dead, if that's what you're thinking. I ran away. I hate him. But that's a story for another time."

Ratchet frowned but didn't press. Instead, he hugged her again, resting his head on top of her head. "If you ever need to talk to someone, I'm here and I will always listen."

Faria started crying some more, and started whispering to him. "I missed you so much Ratchet. It was so hard being there, and not knowing if I was going to be saved. Everything that they said to me didn't help either. I was so scared..."

Ratchet hugged her tighter as she spoke, but she let out a yelp of pain. Ratchet looked at her, and she sighed softly.

"While a lot of the pain was mental and emotional, some of the drones did get physical..." Faria mumbled. "Their claws are really sharp..."

Ratchet looked her over, seeing no harm done to her, until she lifted up the side of her shirt, and he could see long bright red marks. They weren't deep, but enough to make her hurt. Ratchet sighed before leading her to the back of the ambulance and pulled out a first aid kit. He hesitated, and Faria saw this. She smiled softly, knowing why.

"It's okay, Ratch. We can go into the house, where I can change into something that will make the injury a little easier to reach", Faria murmured. Ratchet nodded, and they climbed out of the ambulance, before moving to the house. Faria walked in first, Ratchet following.

"Wait here, while I go change into something else. I've been wearing the same clothes for... however long it's been", Faria muttered.

"A week", Ratchet said. Faria looked at him, confused. He repeated himself. "You've been gone for a week."

Faria's eyes widen, and she looked down at the floor. "Okay then..."

She walked to her room, and changed out of the clothes she was currently wearing and pulled on some new undergarments, and then some sweats, before grabbing a crop top that revealed her midriff and allowed the cuts to be visible. She shifted uncomfortably, mainly because she normally wore a tank top with the crop top. Sighing, she walked out of her room and to the living room. Ratchet looked up from the ground, and gaped when he saw her. Blushing, he had her sit down next to him, so he could work on the cuts. He cleaned them with some rubbing alcohol. She winced every now and then, and every time he would make sure she was alright. Once the cuts were all clean, he started to bandage them. She sighed softly, as the roll of bandages went around her midriff several times. When he finished, she looked down and saw the white bandages covered nearly her entire midriff. Sighing, she turned to Ratchet.

"Thank you", she whispered. Ratchet only smiled softly at her. She yawned again, and her eyes started to droop. Her head dropped, and she immediately shot back up, trying to stay awake. Ratchet chuckles softly.

"Get some rest, Faria", he murmurs, kissing her forehead. She groaned, but tried to get up, only to fall back to the couch.

"Nope, I'm staying here", she muttered, and laid down. Almost immediately, she was asleep, surprising Ratchet. Dahlia entered the living to see a stunned Ratchet and a sleeping Faria. She chuckled softly, alerting Ratchet to her presence.

"She needs sleep", she whispered. "But she won't sleep well there. Why don't you take her to her room?"

Ratchet nods, and gently picks her up. She was surprisingly light. Ratchet smiles at her sleeping form, and follows Dahlia to Faria's room. He looked around and was surprised to see that it was mostly blue. Ratchet smiled, wondering what her favorite color is. He laid her down the queen sized bed once Dahlia moved some of the covers out of the way. Just as he was about to move away, there was a sudden grip on his wrist. He looked down to see a very sleepy Faria.

"Stay", she whispered. "Keep him away from me..."

Ratchet looked to Dahlia, who just shrugged. "Stay with her if you want. I think... I think she'll need someone with her tonight. She has nightmares a lot, and I suspect that she'll have more now..."

Ratchet looks at Faria with worry in his eyes, but crouches next to her bed. "I'll stay here with you, Faria", he whispered. She smiled softly at him, before closing her eyes. Her breathing evened out, and Ratchet's eyes soften as he watches her. A small smile graced his lips as he noticed how peaceful she seemed. Dahlia smiles, but says nothing as she exits the room. Ratchet tries to move away to let her rest peacefully, but Faria still had a grip on his wrist. He didn't want to wake her so he sat on the edge of the bed, and stayed there for a long while. After several minutes, he started to fall asleep sitting up. However, he woke when Faria started to mumble in her sleep.

"No, no, please, Father, please", she mumbled. Ratchet's eyes widen at her words. She continued to mumble stuff similar.

'What could she be dreaming about?'