(Warning: this chapter has topics of trafficking, death, panic attacks, and self harm. Do not continue reading if any of these topics make you uncomfortable.

This is an 18+ book, if you are not in this age range, become triggered by the above topics, or are a victim of sexual assault/sex trafficking, I must recommend you to leave.

This chapter would've been out early, but I just realized I never pressed published.

Please remember this book is fiction and may not be entirely accurate. I am not trying to romanticize any of the above topics. If anything, this is my idea of how the autobots would respond to the evil in the human world, something that doesn't seem to be explored often I imagine due to the sensitivity of the topics.

AGAIN IF YOU ARE UNCOMFORTABLE. PLEASE LEAVE.)

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(Y/n) awoke hours later with Sparrow by her side. When she had gotten a blanket, she had no idea, but she appreciated it. The floor had put a crick in her back but the softness of Sparrow's fur helped her relax. Thankfully, her leg felt better today than it did yesterday so she was able to get off the ground without a problem.

Sparrow didn't stir, clearly exhausted, and judging by his snores, he wasn't getting up anytime soon. (Y/n) smiled at the animal at her feet before limping over to the rail where Ratchet once stood to work. Everyone had left and without a clock, she had no idea what time it was. It was probably early morning, (Y/n) had always had a bad habit of waking up early.

"Oh, you're awake. It's 5 o clock, I don't think the children get up this early." Ratchet's voice announced, snapping (Y/n) out of her trance. Automatically her body language shifted, her arms got closer to her body and her hair went in front of her face.

"Y-yeah... I usually get up early. I try to head toward the roads in the mornings." (Y/n) said with an awkward laugh.

"Would you mind if I ran a few tests on you?" Ratchet asks, not wanting to frighten the woman.

"Uh sure... June said your a... physics man?" (Y/n) asked, wincing. It didn't quite sound right to her. Ratchet scoffed, covering up a laugh.

"Physician." Ratchet corrects, understanding what she meant. "And yes, it'll just be a few scans but I might have June help me run a few blood tests."

(Y/n) nodded, staying silent. She absentmindedly placed her hand where the iv once was, remembering the years of being hooked up to bags of dilated drugs, memories too fuzzy to remember what happened: just the pain.

"The dark energon in your body seems to have had a positive effect on your body. I just need to make sure there isn't any negative effects. Raf was once struck by a wave of dark energon. However, he had a negative effect on his body that we had to reverse with regular energon. Let me know if you feel anything abnormal." Ratchet rambled on, working away on his computer.

"Alright... is it alright if I walk around a bit?"

"I don't think it would be wise."

"If I take Sparrow with me and something happens, he'll come get you." Ratchet looked over at the woman and then the sleeping animal.

"Alright... go to the left. The berthrooms are that way. If you fall, someone will be able to help you quickly." Ratchet gave in, waving her off. Keeping an eye on her as she left.

(Y/n) brushed her fingers through the animals fur, whispering a good morning to her furry companion. Sparrow's tail began to wag, a steady thumping sound filling the room before he yawned and stretched.

"There you go... come on, we're going on a walk." (Y/n) whispered sweetly to the animal. Sparrow shot up and pranced around, excited. "Not that one, but we'll head toward the bathroom, ok buddy? Let's go."

Sparrow whined and followed her down the stairs, letting her use him as something to lean on. The two walked through the hall, the wide open space perfect to play some fetch with Sparrow, but first they need a bathroom break.

"Ugh...!" (Y/n) grunts, slipping on a loose bolt and falling on her ass. "Oh fuck me."

"That is not a good solution for your situation." Optimus' voice appeared behind her as Sparrow helped her up. (Y/n) shied up once more.

"O-Optimus! I-I'm sorry, did I wake you?" (Y/n) asked, rubbing the back of her head nervously.

"No, I've been up. Why are you walking around? You should be resting."

"Well I was... but Sparrow is a dog and since I didn't want to bother Ratchet about going outside I was going to take him to the bathroom to take care of the natural stuff— Sparrow!" (Y/n) abruptly cried in horror as Sparrow lifted his leg on Optimus' pede. "Ohhh! I am so sorry! Bad boy Sparrow!"

Optimus looked down at the two. (Y/n) cleaning off his pede with the blanket and Sparrow tucking his tail between his legs, knowing he was in trouble.

"It is alright. If we need to go outside, then we can go outside." Optimus responds, shifting his pede away as she began to wipe up the pee on the floor.

"Um... actually. I was going to ask... can we go back to where you found me?"

"You wish to leave?"

"That's... no. I had a bag with me. There's some things in there that are important to me. I-if I could just take a look... it shouldn't be too far from where I was." Optimus frowned, in thought. He didn't know what would happen or if she'd run.

"As long as you don't plan on running off, I do not mind returning to gather your belongings. We wish to keep you safe, but also content." Optimus answers, watching as the frown on your lips slightly quirked up into a smile, before hesitation returned and you looked away.

"O-of course." She said, flinching and stepping back when he suddenly transformed. The door opened and she stared in disbelief. Cautiously, she entered, Sparrow jumping up and over into the passenger seat, where he wagged his tail happily. "Are you certain I am not going insane?"

"What do you mean?" He asks.

"I hitchhike in trucks all the time, you could just be a nice guy who found me passed out on the side of the road."

"I can assure you, you are not going insane. We are very real." Optimus relays, holding back a chuckle to not upset the woman.

"I really want to believe you. I'm too young to die." She answers, muttering the last part: "I've barely lived."

The three soon arrived at the ground bridge.

"Ratchet, return us to the dark energon deposit." Optimus asks, still in truck form.

"Why do you need to go back there?" Ratchet asks, crossing his arms not liking the idea.

"(Y/n) has something that we did not spot before that she requires. We will return soon." Optimus replied calmly.

"What if she just tries to run away?"

"She has assured me that she won't do so. If she does, with her injuries she won't make it far." Optimus explains. "I am sorry to sound crude, but you cannot survive on your own, (Y/n)."

The girl frowned, hating feeling so helpless. That is something her abuser once said, something she believed because that was what she'd always been told. However, this was alien and no one could help her. And though she hadn't felt like running, despite being so afraid, she knew she couldn't unless she wanted to die.

"Alright. Just make sure you don't stay there too long." Ratchet responds, cautiously. The ground bridge opened once again and the three went through.

(Y/n) had to squint at the sudden change of light. It was still dark out, and a fog, besmirched with a purple glow, clouding their view. This might be a tad difficult. The door opened and (Y/n) stepped out, Sparrow followed before running off to go potty. Optimus transformed and his large frame terrified the woman once more.

Breathing in and out seemed to help calm her down, but only slightly. When she went to ask Optimus something, she found him staring at her.

"Wh-what...?" She questions, timidly, feeling insecure.

"You are glowing." Optimus states, kneeling down and placing his servo out. (Y/n) jumped back, scared and confused.

"What?!" She cries, hesitant to get on his servo, knowing that's what he wanted. He gave it a second longer before moving his servo away, not wanting to frighten her anymore by scooping her up.

Instead, he leaned closer. Her eyes and veins were glowing purple once more, and yet, she didn't know. He had the temptation to touch her, but she was quite fragile, being human after all.

"Your optics are purple and so are your cables." Optimus explains, not knowing the slightest of human anatomy, instead using his Cybertronian.

"Ah? What?" She looks down and see the glowing purple on her arms. Her breathing quickened and she ran, Optimus went to stop her, but she went through a patch of dark energon. At least he knew where she was going. He quickly made his way over to the place where he found her.

She got there next, looking around for the bag she had spoken of before collapsing and crying loudly. Words were leaving her lips, but he couldn't make out any of them as she seemed to cry and beg for help. He wanted to do something, anything, but he didn't know what to do.

(Y/n) began to crawl, still searching for her bag, but she couldn't seem to find any. Optimus took a step closer and found a large hiking backpack, one taller than her torso. He gently picked up the bag and set it in front of her.

In her hysterics, she held onto the bag and cried, but it wasn't long before she let go of it and her hands moved to her arms. She began digging at her arms with her nails... blood, energon: a mixture of red and purple came out of her arm as she tore through the skin.

"(Y/n), stop this at once." He says, voice filled with concerns as he scoops her up off the ground, trying to stop her. But she didn't, and his digits were too large to stop her himself without hurting her. He heard barking and knew it was time to return. "Ratchet, reopen the groundbridge, quickly."

Optimus returned to the groundbridge, bag in his other servo as Sparrow followed him. As soon as it opened, he rushed through, holding (Y/n) out to Ratchet, unsure of what to do.

"She won't stop attacking herself." Optimus exclaimed, worry taking over. "My digits are too large to stop her without causing further damage."

"Lay her down and go get Arcee, she can hold her still while I call Nurse Darby." Ratchet says, not sure what was entirely going on, as the glow had faded and her blood was still red and purple.

Optimus laid her down carefully and rushed to wake Arcee. Knocking on her berth, admittedly rapidly: an annoyed Arcee opens the door. When she sees it's Optimus, she calms.

"What happened?"

"We need you to restrain (Y/n) until Nurse Darby arrives."

"Optimus!" Ratchet's voice calls, the two bots quickly rushing over. On the table lied (Y/n) and Sparrow. Sparrow was on top of her, using his body to restrain her arms. The girl cried and thrashed, her body wanting nothing more than to harm itself.

Her body slowly calmed, as soon as she stopped, the dog shifted and began licking one of her hands, helping release the rest of the tension. Her eyes seemed to come back into focus, before her eyes had seemed lost.

"(Y/n)?" Optimus questions, cautiously. She slowly raised her head to look at him before pain struck throughout her body.

"I-I'm sorry... I-I didn't mean to...!" She apologizes quickly, keeping her hands under Sparrow to avoid hurting herself any further.

"It's alright, you were having a panic attack." Ratchet states firmly. He's had plenty of patients with this mindset, and frankly, this thought process saddened him greatly. "Nurse Darby is on her way."

"Wh-what?! Why?!" She asks defensively, Sparrow sitting up on her lap to block her from crossing her arms to scratch herself again.

"You are bleeding, a lot and I need to run a blood test to see what the energon is doing to your system. Not to mention, get an understanding of what's going on with you." Ratchet explains, as clearly as he could. He knows he sounded a little rude, but he didn't mean to.

"I'm fine!" She declares, the fear in her eyes returning.

"You're fine when June says you are fine." Optimus states firmly. She tried to argue, at a loss of words, trying so hard to plea her case before just holding onto Sparrow, trying to hide her shame in his thick coat.

It wasn't long before June arrived, clearly just as concerned as they had been. The car drove through the portal and parked right beside it before she rushed out of the car and up the platform.

"Where were you when this happened?!" June questions, concern heavy in her voice.

"I-I was ge-get-getting my bag with Opt-Optimus." She stammered, terrified of the woman's aggressive expression of concern.

"You went back there?! Why did you take her back there?!" June questions, turning her frustration back to Optimus. (Y/n) quickly touched June, to pull her attention back to her.

"I-I needed to go back to get my bag! I-I wanted to get this for you." She explains, digging through the bag before pulling out an index card sized advertisement. On the front was a picture of her and next to it... "I-I don't know what it says, but it has a picture of me on it, s-so I figured it might help."

June felt sick to her stomach. Her face whitened and she covered her mouth. The picture was of her in small undergarments and blind folded in black and white. Besides the image was her name, below that the word "used", below that "age:19" and below that a starting price of $500,000. This was an auction...

"Nurse Darby, what is it?" Optimus asks, conceded about her expression.

"Contact Agent Fowler." June says quietly. "(Y/n), let's go clean you up."

"What should I say?" Ratchet questions, unsure of what was going on.

"Just tell him to get here as soon as he can."

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"How are you feeling? Do you need anything?" June asks, her concern so sincere, (Y/n) found it difficult to believe.

"Food I guess... Sparrow needs food. I just want a new blanket..." (Y/n) answers, her voice lacking care for her own state.

"Alright, I'll get you something too, you need to eat as well." June states, nodding her head.

"Are you going to send me away...?" (Y/n) asks, tears filling her eyes.

"(Y/n)... it's not safe for you here. You need help." June states.

"I've been to 32 rehabs. They either refused to help me or kicked me out soon after. One employee attacked me... I do not want to go to another rehab."

"...then I don't know. You might have to stay here. I don't know what the energon is doing to you. I don't know if you're even safe going back out into the world. I don't even know if you'll die tomorrow." June rattled off, not thinking, just so disgusted and terrified over what she had just seen.

"I don't want to die." (Y/n) sighed out with a shaky breath. "I don't want to die soon. I-I don't even know what life is."

"I know. You don't deserve what has happened to you. I hadn't realized..." June trails off, not quite wanting to address it, in fear of setting her off. She wraps her left arm after cleaning the injury before doing the same to her right.

"Am I a person?" (Y/n) asks. "Do I get a choice?"

"Yes, (Y/n). You always have a choice."

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It was three hours later when Fowler arrived, (Y/n) had fallen asleep and Sparrow was resting at her side. Fowler went straight up to the two bots and June, looking for the problem.

"What's wrong?! What happened?!" Fowler demands, having been interrupted in the middle of a training to get there.

"The bots found a woman impaled by energon yesterday— but that's not the problem. This is." June says before handing Fowler the card. He was quick to grimace in disgust. "My thoughts exactly. But with her injury and lack of knowledge, there is no way she'd be able to enter society."

"Nurse Darby, I must say I'm confused. What do you mean?" Ratchet asks, confused and concerned. June sighs, glancing over at the sleeping woman to make sure she was still asleep.

"She was a victim of sex trafficking. And I'm assuming she was born into it. She knows next to nothing about anything. That also explains her odd response to the fluids." June explains, leaving out the details, the sick feeling in her stomach returning.

"What's sex trafficking?" Arcee asks.

"It's an organization that kidnaps women and children for their own pleasure. They drug, abuse and sexually assault their victims until they're completely submissive or dead. The ones that either get too old or not as attractive are either killed or married off under the belief they're in something called "the company", though it can also happen to younger women." Fowler explains, sounding absolutely disgusted. "Judging by her card, she was either going to be sold to a new trafficker or she was going to be sold off to "the company"."

The three of them looked absolutely horrified at this information. They knew of their blood sports and racing, but not something to this extreme.

"Will (Y/n) be ok?" Optimus asks, unsure of what else to say.

"If the energon doesn't kill her, and as long as she has no internal bleeding or any other problems. She may either die by her own hands, or live with severe PTSD." June explains. "She'll also have to learn basic things if she ever wants to renter society. She needs to learn to read, write, do basic math at least. She'll never be able to work a real job without wasting years of her life on schooling that may go to waste if she dies early with all this stress on her heart."

"Well that doesn't seem entirely true, nurse Darby. She was out there all alone for quite some time." Ratchet comments, remembering (Y/n) ramble to Sparrow and himself about the gas stations and one with gum on the counter and a nice lady with green hair. As well as recounting her finding of Sparrow.

"She said she's been homeless for almost 6 years. I can't believe that with her lack of knowledge. It could've been 6 months, but I wouldn't know considering she said she's been to 32 rehabilitation centers." June answers, sounding lost and frustrated.

"I'm sure arrangements will be made for her June. I'll have to report this to general Bryce. But if she's under the effects of dark energon, I don't think it would be wise to remove her from the bots care." Fowler admits, scratching his head. "You should see what she does know, then we can work with her from there."

"Agreed."

Agent Fowler was gone and June sat beside (Y/n), checking her pulse and her temperature. She seemed fine and Sparrow refused to move from her lap. She did this every ten or so minutes, just wanting to make sure she was alright.

However, Ratchet could see the fatigue in her eyes and knew it would be best for June to go home. Besides, he could take care of (Y/n) in the meanwhile.