The bullet hit Ratchet's holoform directly in between the eyes, penetrating and making a small zapping sound, not leaving a wound, but a shattered dent in his holoform. Ratchet gasped in shock as it flickered in and out of existence, before shutting off, his human form vanishing with a whirring sound. His true form roaring back to life, he breathed heavily, the forced shutdown leaving him shaky, numb, and in shock. "G-Gh... J-Jennie?" He choked out through gasps. In the back, Jennie poked her head out from behind the seats, acknowledging him with scared eyes. "H-Hang on-n..." Ratchet forced the strange numbness from his processor and focused as Jason suddenly grabbed the handle to the drivers side, and began struggling to pull it open. Ratchet kept it shut and locked, unable to do much more.

"Ratchet. . . What are we going to do?" Jennie whimpered, staring at the steering wheel for an answer.

"J-Just hold-on..." The medic forced his holoform to reactivate, but it simply flickered and glitched before shutting off again, with a quiet hissing sound. He tried this multiple times, and ended up with the same result, confirming what he had feared: his holoform was badly damaged. Which meant he had no physical defense against Jason and his gang without blowing his cover. "S-Scrap-p..." He gave a panicked gasp when Jason pointed his gun to the door handle and fired twice, breaking the lock, and allowing him to pull the door open. Jennie cried out and sank back, as Ratchet yelped in pain and forced himself to jerk forward, pulling away from his charge's father. Despite the popped tires, he managed to put a little distance between them, only for one of the gang members to run up and jump into the drivers seat and slam on the breaks.

"Ratchet...!" Jennie whispered quietly, tensing as the man turned and looked back at her.

Ratchet panicked when he realized there wasn't anything else he could safely do to help her... blowing his cover wasn't an option. "Jennie! There's an emergency mobile phone in that black kit, Agent Fowler left it with us after we met the kids. Grab it!" He hissed to her as the man called out the door to the others, who were running up Ratchet's flanks. "Hide it, but keep it on you. I'll be able to track you if you do."

"But-"

"Shh... I promise I'll come for you... I just need to repair my holoform, or get backup before I can do anything..." It broke his spark to have to be saying this. He didn't want to let them take her... but he couldn't reveal himself in front of so many humans. At least he'd be able to track her and reach her... Jennie shakily nodded, opening the kit and pulling out the small grey device, and shoving it into the side of her shoe, hoping her father wouldn't check there when he made sure she was unarmed. It scared her, knowing she would be taken by them, but she trusted Ratchet to save her... He always protected her.

"Just... don't let them kill me, please," tears were now running rapidly down Jennie's cheeks, which hit Ratchet like a wave. "Please... my dad... he'll... he'll..." Her quiet crying turned into sobbing almost immediately, as Jason suddenly appeared at the passenger door and ripped it open, eyes blazing.

"Alright, little brat, I don't know what the hell just happened with your friend, but we're leaving." He snarled, climbing into the back. Jennie screamed and backed away the best she could, but didn't manage to get far before he grabbed her by both wrists and yanked her into the front. Ratchet held his breath as she was pulled out, and quietly dialed the one human he knew could help. Once Jason and his gang were out of his interior, he called Agent Fowler immediately.

"Hello, Fowler here."

"I need you RIGHT. NOW."

"What's the matter?"

"You recall my charge, right? Optimus contacted you. She's in trouble, her father and his comrades have taken her. My holoform has been damaged, I can't do anything without revealing myself. I'll give you a number to track, alright? I need you to get there and keep them busy long enough for me to fix my holoform and get there. We can't get the police involved though, I technically kidnapped her from her father, even though he abused her. We need to get her back without them."

"Got it. Give me the number."

•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•

Around twenty minutes later, after being shoved into the trunk of a car and taken God knows where, and being yanked out and brought into a rickety old house, Jennie was tied to a chair by a combination of dog leashes and carabiners... Jennie assumed it was because they probably didn't plan on kidnapping her and had to improvise. She was sitting in the hard wooden chair, shifting in discomfort at the fabric of the dog leashes digging into her skin, leaving red marks after a while. Her father and his gang were speaking in another room, sometimes one would speak loud enough for her to hear, and then become quiet again. She just sat, whimpering, waiting for Ratchet to come rescue her... if he even could. Finally, after what seemed like forever, Jason and his friends came back into that room, all looking rather frustrated.

Jason came to stand in front of her, clenching his jaw. He waited a second before speaking, "Jennie," his voice was poisoned with venom, "who were you with?" Jennie stared at him, before shaking her head in defiance. He snarled in anger and slapped her across the face, hard. Jennie cried out, tears beginning to run down her cheeks, one of which sported a bright red hand print. "Who was he!?" Jason screamed, taking a fistful of her hair, and giving a hard yank. She only continued to a sob, crying out again.

"Boss," one of the gang members said quietly, his gaze watching something through a window. "Someone's here."

"Damn!" Jason spat, turning to his other accomplice. "Take the little bitch into the other room, and shut her up!" He ordered, walking over to the window and looking out as well. The man nodded, grabbed the back of the chair, and dragged it down the hall and into another room.

Outside, a dark-skinned man wearing a suit and tie was walking up the lawn towards the door. He knocked. Jason reluctantly answered, greeting with a tiny nod. The man flashed a badge, saying a simple, "I'm Agent Fowler, with the United States Government."

"Yeah?" Jason raised an eyebrow. "Why are you here?"

"If it's alright, I'd like to look around." Fowler replied, slipping his badge back into his pocket. "I have reason to believe you've taken somebody." He added when Jason's gaze shifted into a glare.

Jennie's father gave a strained nod, before stepping aside for him to enter. Agent Fowler slowly walked inside, his gaze sweeping over the room, scanning every detail, searching for something that might lead to Jennie. Jason's other friend stared at him, eyes narrow.

"Afternoon." Fowler offered grimly. The man nodded slowly, eyes flicking back at Jason for a moment. When Agent Fowler turned around, something hard and metal slammed into his forehead, bringing a steady ring to his ears and a throb to his head. Immediately, he was unconscious on the floor.

Both men stared at him in silence for a moment, before the accomplice looked up at Jason again. "That was fast. You didn't waste any time."

"Nope." Jason shrugged.