It seemed strange. Everything that had happened just seemed to overwhelm her and put her into a state of stupor. She merely observed the outside world as her mental processor crashed, slowly but unsurely rebooting itself. She was in a car. A police cruiser. The car was on the run from Autobots. And she was covered in oil.

"Are you alright, fleshling?" A condescending tone echoed from the radio as Alira stared at the contraption in numbness. The car did not slow down and she believe it understood her silence.

"Fleshling, I asked you a question!"

"I'm fine." She replied in a monotonous tone. She gingerly touched her head and pulled her hand away to see her fingertips covered in blood. Maybe this whole entire thing was a hallucination. Maybe it was a dream. Maybe...

"Am I dead?" She asked as the car slammed on its brakes and the seatbelt jerked her back against the seat. She put her hand against her head as she struggled to refocus her eyes.

"Incompetent fleshling! You are functioning properly!" Alira winced at the sound of the radio before she groaned in pain. Flashes of yellow, red, blue, and black swirled in and out of her vision before her body went limp.

Barricade growled when he heard her heart rate slow and her breathing even out. This fleshling was beginning to be a pain in his processor. He created his hologram to check on her and he stopped when he finally saw her. Even for a fleshling, she was small. Dark, sable "hair" covered her head as pale skin covered her frame. She wasn't a very old model. Crimson fluid stained her white skin and his upholstery as her head slumped to one side. He took note of the tattered clothes and dirt covering her form. What had the autobots called her? Silverstreak? A cybertronian name for a fleshling was a disgrace. Barricade sneered before reaching over her to his glove box and pulling out the first aid kit.

"Pathetic creature…" He mumbled as he pulled her tendrils away from her optics. He winced as soon as his hologram connected with her and her optics opened wide. Barricade froze as he stared at her. Her eyes were alternating between green, blue, and red as they attempted to refocus just like a Cybertronian. She automatically placed her hand over her chest plate and narrowed her now blue optics on his frame.

"Autobot or Decepticon?" She questioned in Cybertronian causing Barricade to swerve off of the road. He regained his control as he stared at her.

"I said autobot or decepticon?" She asked again.

"I only answer to Megatron." He answered.

"Then you are a decepticon."

The next four hours were long and silent. Barricade would not speak to her and she would not speak to him. Not that either of them minded.

"Barricade, status." Barricade frowned when he heard Starscream's voice over the comm.

"Functioning." He replied. He was wary of telling his commander about the Cybertronian fleshling. Megatron would off-line her permanently and for some reason he couldn't compute, he did not want that to happen.

"What of the Autobots?"

"They outnumbered us. I barely escaped."

"That is because you did not plan your attack well." Barricade turned to the frowning female as she turned to him with a glare.

"And ignorance always loses." She finished before her optics turned green and she leaned back against the seat, her body relaxing.

"Who was that, Barricade?" Starscream questioned.

"A fleshling who the Autobots are fond of." Barricade replied, unhappy his commander now knew of her existence and her proximity to him.

"Exterminate her." Starscream growled as the comm. line went dead and he pulled off of the road. The female did not seem worried as he stopped.

"Out." He ordered as she did as he said. Once she was a few feet away, he transformed. She seemed unperturbed by his massive size as he hovered over her.

"Fleshling," he began as he pointed his cannon at her.

"Silverstreak. My name is Silverstreak." She replied as she sat on the ground, further dirtying her form. He stared at her. Was she not afraid of him? Was she not aware he was about to offline her? Permanently?

"How did you come to possess that name?" He asked, curiosity overpowering all his other data and commands.

"Megatron." She answered as Barricade froze. He heard a large form land behind him, their thrusters squealing in protest to the stop. He turned and saw his leader walking toward him, his eyes set on the female on the ground.

"You." Megatron spoke sternly as Barricade dropped to his knee in respect and the female tilted her head to the side.

"Old one? Is that you?" She asked as she climbed to her feet. Her memory cache registered the similarities between this Decepticon and the one of her past. Megatron eyed the human in contempt before his optics widened. He saw her optics refocusing and took note of the energon spark in her chest.

"Youngling." He spoke quietly, his memory cache bringing forth her file.

"What is your name?" He asked for verification.

"Silverstreak." She answered proudly as his optics widened further. Barricade watched in the interaction in curiosity. His leader had yet to pull the fleshling's plug and seemed unwilling to offline her.

"Silverstreak...you have upgraded." Megatron noted warily as the female nodded.

"Yes, several times in fact." She replied with a smile.

"Barricade!" Megatron shouted as the Decepticon jumped up and moved to his leader's side.

"What were you doing with this female youngling?" He asked as Barricade grimaced.

"Offlining her, as Starscream ordered, sir." He replied as Silverstreak moved closer to the massive Cybertronians.

"Starscream? The one who tried to offline me before?" She asked as she tilted her head to the side and both males turned to her in surprise. Megatron grinded his gears as Barricade simply stared at her.

"I will deal with Starscream. Barricade this youngling is your responsibility." Megatron ordered as Silverstreak protested.

"But I've upgraded! I'm not a sparkling anymore!" She protested as Barricade stared at her. No one defied Megatron, especially no fleshling. Megatron merely ignored her as his thrusters sent him up into the air, leaving Barricade and Silverstreak alone. Silverstreak stomped her foot against the ground as Barricade watched her in amusement.

"What's the matter, fleshling?" He asked, chuckling. Silverstreak turned to him with a glare, her red optics narrowed on his frame.

"I am not some sparkling. I do not need a slaggin' sitter." She grinded her gears as Barricade continued to chuckle. She continued to glare at him before he took note of her transforming feet. Suddenly she raced past him, dust following her. Barricade stood frozen for a moment, her actions barely processing. His CPU suddenly clicked as he groaned and raced after her. Transforming, he sped after her, cursing the female.

"Fraggin' female..." He growled as he caught up to her.

"Pull over, now." He threatened as she turned to him with a defiant grin.

"No." She replied simply as she giggled.

"Fleshling, do not make me force you!" He threatened again. He looked ahead and his optics widened.

"Stop!" he shouted as Silverstreak looked ahead and her eyes widened. She hit her brakes, her wheels skidding against the hard ground. Suddenly she lost control as her legs came out from underneath her, just as she transformed back into her humanoid form. She hit the ground hard and Barricade heard something crack. He transformed, running to catch her from sliding over the cliff edge. He dug his heels into the ground to keep from sliding over the edge as Silverstreak clung to his arm in fright.

"Don't drop me!" She screamed as Barricade ground his gears and pulled her up.

"I won't, you fraggin' fleshling."

"Optimus, what about Silverstreak?" Jazz asked as they arrived back at base.

"She will be fine." The autobot leader replied.

"Yes, Silverstreak is quite capable of handling herself." Prowl agreed as Bluestreak nodded from beside him.

"She was not injured." Ratchet offered as Jazz stared at them with wide optics.

"Come on! She's a femmebot! We gotta go get her!"

"Jazz, cool it, alright? She's fine. I upgraded her weapons last week. She's got the latest in her system. No 'con is gonna get her, believe me." Ironhide soothed as Jazz looked down. Ironhide did know about weapons and if he had upgraded her, then she should be safe.

"But...what about Megatron? Won't he offline her?" He asked as Optimus shook his head.

"No. He has a connection to Silverstreak, a connection he won't break."

"A connection?" The entire group questioned as Optimus Prime sighed. He had never told them of Silverstreak's past, although they questioned it from time to time. She was brandless, which was rare among Cybertronians.

"Silverstreak is a human who was one of the first to encounter Megatron. As an orphan, Alira hated the human race just as much as he did and he grew fond of her and her intelligence. However she fell ill and was meant to die, but he brought her to Cybertron and replaced all of her faulty parts, replacing them with those of Cybertronians." Optimus began as his team leaned in.

"This resulted in her entire system crashing and rebooting itself. So she wasn't the human he had tried to save. She was a youngling and he christened her Silverstreak because of the streak of silver that is now located in her hair. She came to me looking to ease his hatred and Starscream took this meeting as grounds for betrayal. He took it upon himself to eliminate her. This attack left her virtually sparkless." He spoke solemnly as Ratchet nodded.

"I remember that night. I spent most of it, just trying to keep her system powered." Ratchet added as Prowl looked down.

"She looked broken. I remember her dim optics." Prowl mentioned as the younger mechs stared at them. They couldn't imagine Silverstreak being anything less than what she was.

"Her memory storage was damaged in the attack, so she practically forgot everything. She couldn't even remember she was neither human nor a robot. I was just happy her circuitry even functioned at all." Ratchet mentioned as Optimus nodded.

"That was how you met her."

Barricade and Silverstreak were quiet as she sat in the passenger seat, her seatbelt pinning her to the seat. The silence unnerved both of the robots but neither of them were willing to admit it. Silverstreak pulled at the fabric once again before letting out a breath of exasperation.

"Ok, you can let me go now, you fraggin' 'con!" She let out in irritation as the seatbelt tightened.

"No." Barricade replied through the radio as Silverstreak frowned.

"Release me!"

"No."

"Let me go!"

"NO."

"Unhand me!"

"Oh, for Primus' sake!" The seatbelt retracted as Silverstreak grinned in triumph.

"Thank you." She thanked as she winced when she was able to move freely. Her shoulderplate was damaged, she noted in pain and she had dents everywhere else.

"How bad are your injuries?" Barricade asked as Silverstreak groaned.

"I have a cracked shoulderplate and about 7 dents in the most disadvantageous places. I need to get to a shop to even think of repairing this damage." She complained as she continued to wince with Barricade's movements through the human traffic he encountered.

"Do you know of such a place?"

"Not outside the Autobot base and Primus knows I'm not tellin' a 'con where it is. So to answer your question, slag no." She replied as Barricade gave a sigh through the radio. He seemed unwilling to project his hologram again. He didn't particularly want to see the female in person again.

"I will find one." He replied. She nodded and settled back into the seat, trying to ease the pain from the damage to her system. Silence swept over them again and Silverstreak took it upon herself to watch the humans outside of the vehicle. Business men talking on cellphones. Women chatting with one another or singing to the radio. Teenagers being teenagers, laughing and singing to the radio. Old women barely going above the speed limit. Old men barely staying on the road. Families either arguing or ignoring one another. A fat kid eating his probably sixth meal that day as his mother fussed over his growing state. She couldn't remember what it was like to be human, although according to Prime, she had been. Did she have a family who had worried over her? Had they perished never knowing what had become of her? She let out a sigh and her optics caught sight of a couple driving past her. The woman was tucked under the man's shoulder and they were smiling and laughing with one another, just basking in each other's company. They were the best part of the human race, but the others were the worst. This planet had been born out of chaos and would remain in chaos because the humans did not know how to accept one another. They would kill and destroy everything they didn't believe was pure enough for them and each person had a different version of pure.

"I hate humans..." She mumbled as she turned away from the windown, crossing her arms across her chestplate. Barricade chuckled through the radio as he turned off of the highway.

"Never thought I'd hear a 'bot say that."

"I'm not an Autobot." She replied curtly as she glared at the radio. Barricade slowed before speeding back up as his curiosity got the better of his mental processor. He projected his hologram and turned to her.

"You were with them!" He argued as Silverstreak rolled her eyes.

"I was in their care until Old One claimed me." She answered.

"Then you are a Decepticon."

"No, I am neither." She announced as she winced when Barricade hit his brakes.

"What?!"

"I am neither a Decepticon, nor an Autobot." She reinerated as Barricade could only stare at her.

"Then what are you, fleshling?" He asked, his optics locked on her still frame.

"I am...Silverstreak, a human reborn a Cybertronian.