VinnieStokerLover, who owns Amelia Rider, asked for this one. Here you go, Amiga! Enjoy! :)

Transformers Prime belongs to Hasbro. I own nothing.

A Crying Heart Soothed By A Caring Spark

A lithe figure landed on a pile of junk, wolf gray eyes scanning the area, wind gently blowing through ginger hair styled in a pixie look. As the fading sun sent out a few last rays, one shone lightly on her face, revealing a long scar across her nose. If anyone had seen her, they would have been a bit startled, but hardly anyone saw her, except for her uncle and a few other racers.

Her uncle, who owned the junkyard, was a cruel man and only cared about racing and doing very dangerous races on the streets, running an illegal racing operation that almost seemed untouchable to the police because they were too quick. She participated in the races too because if she didn't race, then she wouldn't get any food. A cruel punishment, but one her uncle felt did the job. What he didn't know was that she would slip some of the prize money into her pockets to get herself some takeout to eat.

She suited up and was putting on her helmet when she heard some of the male racers mock her. "Oh, is the Junkyard Pup going to race?" Asked one of them mockingly.

She glared at them. "Get ready to lose," she said.

"No way, Junkyard Pup," said another one. "You can't beat us."

"You'll be singing a different tune when you bite my dust," Amelia said, getting into her racecar and revving the engine, ready to race. She was a good racer, despite being a teenager, and she took scrap from no one. She then buckled up, ready to show the other racers that she was better than them and that no one could beat her in a race.

She was also ready to get back to her territory. In the junkyard, there was a small section that was her territory and she lived there in a small, waterproof tent. It was her sanctuary and her home and she didn't let anyone enter the area. "Well, time to show these creeps that they are poor racers," she said to herself as the race began.

Knockout was heading back to base after a good patrol. No trouble in town and no rogue 'Cons about. Reporting this to Optimus, he decided to go for a small drive after his patrol was done.

He was on the main road, humming to himself as he drove in peace before he heard engines racing and glanced in rearview mirrors to see what the commotion was about and slammed his brakes hard, pulling over to the side of the road. And it was a good thing he did as he saw racecars that were seriously customized to be very fast and they were treating the road like a racetrack. "Punks," he muttered to himself, waiting for them to go by and then he slipped behind them, continuing his leisurely pace and intending to not give the racers a second thought.

That was, until he saw one racer purposely bump into another racer and then saw the other two racers also bumping into one of the cars. That caught Knockout's attention as he sped up to catch up to them and turned on his thermal scanners. He nearly hit his brakes again when he saw what was going on. "Three grown men against a teenager?!" He asked himself.

Before he had defected to the Autobots and made peace with Earth's humans, he would have simply scoffed and shown all four that they couldn't compete with the likes of him, but he was a changed mech and he saw the three bump into the girl's car again. "You lose, Junkyard Pup!" One of the men called out to her.

"Eat my dust, loser!" She called back, but there was a bit of fear in her voice. She tried to get away from the three, but they rammed her off the road and she spun out, her car flying through the air as the three raced off.

"No!" Knockout cried out, his worry about the girl's safety making him act and he transformed rapidly, jumping up and catching the racecar carefully in his hands before setting it down, but he heard her grunt in pain and looked to see her left arm was pinned by the mangled door and from her expression beneath her helmet, it was hurting. "Hold on, kid. I'll get you out," he said.

Carefully, he pried the door open and off the car, reaching in to pull her out and she winced sharply, grabbing her arm and gritting her teeth. Knockout did a quick scan and found the girl's arm was broken. Thankfully, it was a simple fracture, but it still needed to be set. Transforming and placing her in the front passenger seat, the red Cybertronian raced as fast as he could back to base, quickly getting a list compiled in his mind about what he would need to treat the girl's arm.

Arriving at the base, he sped into the medbay, not seeing Ratchet at the moment, but his main concern was the girl who was wincing in pain. Transforming, he gently placed her on the exam table and turned on his holoform. "I need to set your arm, but I can't do it with your racing jacket on," he said.

She managed to wiggle out of the jacket, revealing her dark t-shirt underneath. Knockout noticed she was a bit skinny, but he was busy wrapping up her arm. "Those men could have killed you," he said.

"They wouldn't have dared," she said, her eyes dark with anger. "They would have been in big trouble if they dared to try."

"Are you certain about that?" He asked, finding her answer to be rather odd. "And…why were they calling you 'Junkyard Pup'? And don't tell me that's your racing name."

She glared at him. "None of your business!" She said sharply.

Her attitude was starting to make him lose some of his patience. "Well, it is my business since you'll be staying here until your arm is fixed," he said sternly.

"Yeah, right," she said, standing up, but then jarring her arm and she winced, holding it close and gritting her teeth.

"Unfortunately, yes," Knockout said firmly.

She glared at him, but didn't argue again.

But while she was staying with them, she didn't make it easy for them to like her. She stayed away from them, only letting Knockout come near her to check her arm and treat it, but that was it. Even the former Decepticons were getting a little fed up with her attitude, but she simply gave them an 'I don't care' look and would walk away.

She had been there about two weeks when she went into the medbay at Knockout's request so that he could scan her arm and see if it was healing properly. He also wanted to talk to her. She had made Miko cry the other day by telling the girl that the reason her parents sent her away was because they didn't want her. Miko had told her that wasn't true as she was an exchange student and Amelia pointed out that people only did the exchange program to get rid of their kids because they didn't want their kids around. Well, that had hurt Miko and she ran off, tears streaming down her face.

The others hadn't been pleased and Optimus had just barely stopped them from giving Amelia a stern talking to. Knockout stepped in and expressed a theory about Amelia that gave the others pause, but Bulkhead spoke up and said that the girl had no right to talk to Miko that way and she had no right to be rude to them as they had taken her in when Knockout could have easily left her at a hospital instead.

The red medic knew that was true, but he said when he heard the other racers call her a derogatory name, it made him wonder if her family was abusive. Megatron then spoke up, saying that if her family was abusive and had abandoned her as Knockout said he had found out, then perhaps Amelia lashed out because she saw that other kids like Miko had something that she had lost long ago and that she was hurting, but put on a tough demeanor to hide her hurt.

The others agreed to give Amelia a chance, but expressed concern about it, to which Knockout reassured them that he would talk to the girl and make her realize that she couldn't lash out at them because she was afraid they would abandon her as her parents had.

He now turned to find Amelia come into the medbay and he scanned her arm, finding it almost completely healed. "Well, your arm is doing better," he said.

"How much longer?" She asked.

"A few more weeks, I believe," he said.

She went to get up, but he gently stopped her. "Amelia, we need to talk," he said.

"We just did," she said snippily and went to get down from the exam table using the nearby human ladder, but he removed it. "Hey!" She exclaimed, glaring back at him. "Who do you think you are?!"

"Your guardian," he responded firmly. "Amelia, we need to talk and you are going to stay and listen to me."

"Yeah right," she snarled. "Like what you say matters to me."

Knockout took a deep breath. "Yes, it does," he said. "I know what you hide."

Amelia turned to him, giving him a confused look that morphed into her usual glare. "I'm not hiding anything!" She said sharply.

He looked at her as she turned away. "What about your fear of being abandoned?" He asked quietly.

She just barely managed to hold back her flinch, but she didn't face him. "What do you know of being abandoned?" She snipped back, but her tone wavered a little.

"I know your parents abandoned you in the junkyard owned by your uncle," he said and this time she couldn't hide her flinch. "They abandoned you because they had no money to raise you and left you there, but your uncle is cruel and doesn't treat you right."

Amelia kept her back to him, but her head dipped a little. "I…I never told anyone that," she said.

"No," he said. "I found out from those same racers that tried to kill you. I pretended to be another racer and they told me everything."

"It wasn't any of your business," she said, trying to sound angry, but the bite was gone from her voice as she was struggling not to cry as a sob tried to work its way to her mouth and escape.

Knockout turned on his holoform and placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. "Amelia, you are my charge and your past is my business," he said gently. "I know why you've been giving us a hard time. It's because you're scared we'll send you back to your uncle."

She hung her head, which told Knockout he was right. "Amelia," he said, his voice much gentler now as he gently turned her to face him, tilting her chin up so that she was looking him in the eye. "We're nothing like your uncle. Do you understand?"

Amelia swallowed hard and nodded. "No, you guys…are nothing like him," she said. "You don't make me race and win to eat and you…you don't make me live in a tent."

"Because we care," he said, his face softening. "I was once like you, Amelia, before I joined the Autobots. A lone wolf and I felt I couldn't trust anyone, but after I made peace with the Autobots and became one of them, I realized just how alone I felt before."

The teenager looked away, tears beginning to sting her eyes. Knockout gently turned her to face his holoform and he gently pulled her into a hug. "You've felt alone too, haven't you?" He asked, his voice taking a soothing note. "Under that tough exterior of yours is someone who just wants someone to care for her, like a parent would."

That was the breaking point for Amelia. She couldn't hold back her tears anymore and they fell down her face rapidly as she slumped against Knockout, who held her comfortingly as she continued crying, his words having broken past her defenses. He held her as if she was his own daughter, rocking her gently and letting her cry as long as she needed to.

Finally, she lifted her head up, her face a bit gritty as she rubbed at it to get the gritty feeling to go away, making Knockout chuckle in amusement before he playfully ruffled her hair, making her give a small sound of protest as she batted away his hand, making him chuckle again.

"Well, kiddo. Now that you know we won't send you away, how about you stop giving us a hard time?" He asked.

She looked at him. "On one condition," she said, remembering how she'd negotiate a lot.

Knockout cocked an eyebrow at her. "Yes?" He asked, wondering what her condition was.

Amelia looked shy all of a sudden and she finally looked up at him. "Will…Will you be…my…?" She paused.

"Your guardian?" He supplied gently.

She shook her head. "My…Dad?" she asked.

That caught him off guard, but he smiled. "Guess you noticed that I was starting to act like a dad to you, huh?" He asked, still smiling.

"That, plus…you've been taking care of me and you…you've been patient while I've been a brat."

He shook his head. "You're not a brat, Amelia," he said. "You were just unsure of us, that's all, and were reacting the only way you understood how to act."

She looked at him and he gently ruffled her hair again. "Well, Optimus has granted permission for me to be your father and it sounds like Agent Fowler got the paperwork all set," he said, listening to his comm.

"So…I can stay?" She asked hopefully.

"You're here to stay, kiddo," he said, picking her up and playfully spinning her around, making her smile before he held her in a warm hug and she hugged him too.

Her heart was no longer hurting because a caring spark had heard her crying heart and taken her in, showing her that there was someone who really cared.

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GoldGuardian2418