Thank you to everyone who read and reviewed the previous chapter of this story. I tried to get this one out as soon as I could. I hope you enjoy it. Also, this story is rated T for a reason, reasons you will find out in this chapter.


2.

A Stranger's Bed

It was whispering that woke her up when, after the events that transpired the previous day, she should've been dead. Rae opened her eyes, half expecting Jetfire to be there, but instead when she looked over she saw a Hispanic boy standing by her bedside.

"They kidnapped you too?" she asked groggily, trying to remember exactly what had happened yesterday.

The boy gave a small, nervous laugh before he said, "Didn't Jetfire tell you he was one of the good guys?"

"Right…" Rae remarked as her memory came back to her. She looked around only to see that the Hispanic boy wasn't alone. There were two other people standing by her bedside with him. "Who are you guys?" she asked.

"I'm Carlos," the Hispanic boy answered.

"Rad," said the other boy.

"And I'm Alexis," said the only female of the trio, "What's your name?"

"I'm Rae," she replied.

"Jetfire told us about what happened," Rad spoke, "We're glad you're okay."

Rae made a small grunting noise. These kids had never known her until now, how could they possibly be glad that she was okay? She sighed figuring that they must have been young. "How'd you guys meet the transformers?" she asked.

"We accidentally found a Minicon panel," Rad said.

Even though Rae was informed of the war between the Autobots and Decepticons, she still wasn't exactly sure what a Minicon was or what a Minicon panel was. She simply nodded before Alexis said, "We brought the stuff from your car. There wasn't a lot, but we grabbed what we thought was important." And she handed Rae a bag.

"Thanks," she said as she took the bag.

"Jetfire told us to get it since he's too big to fit in your car," Carlos remarked with a chuckle, "He came by earlier this morning but he said you were sleeping so he didn't want to wake you."

"That was nice of him," Rae mused.

"We also found this," Carlos said as he handed her a photograph of a man, "It was clipped to your rear-view mirror, so he must be someone special. Is he your boyfriend?"

Rae looked at the picture and her heart broke all over again. Her throat suddenly seemed to close up and she felt like she couldn't breathe. She felt like if she tried to speak she would throw up. She tried desperately to fight away the tears that were building in her eyes. He was the last person she wanted to see and definitely the last person she wanted to talk about at the moment.

"I see somebody is finally awake."

Everyone looked over as Jetfire walked into the med bay. Rae sighed with relief. Jetfire had just saved her again without even realizing it. "It's not that late," Rae remarked, faking a smile, "I'm sure if you had a concussion you wouldn't feel like moving either."

"Well, Red Alert told me this morning that you were all set to leave the med bay. Since I've got time, how about the kids and I show you around the base and introduce you to the others?"

"Others?" Rae repeated, "Just how many of you guys are there?"

Alexis laughed, "Come on, we'll show you."

Hesitantly, Rae stood from the bed. She watched as Jetfire knelt down and held his hand out to her. She looked up at him, unsure, before she slowly stepped onto his hand. He lifted her and set her on his shoulder, next to his head. Rae clung to the side of his face, which caused Jetfire to chuckle as he remarked, "Let me guess, you're afraid of heights?"

"A-A little," she replied.

"Don't worry, when you're with me, you're in good hands. I won't let you fall."

Together they then left the med bay with the other kids trailing behind. They said they would meet Jetfire and Rae in the command center. Jetfire proceeded to show her around the base and Rae was just starting to get the gist of things when he brought her to a room that was larger than the rest and it was filled with even more Autobots. If she had been walking, she would have paused in the doorway, stunned. If the Transformers had always been here, hiding in plain sight…the thought of it was overwhelming.

The kids seemed excited that she had finally arrived as Carlos exclaimed, "Good, you're here! We can introduce you to the others now!"

"This is the rest of you, right?" Rae asked.

"Besides the Decepticons, yes," Alexis answered.

"Okay, from right to left," Rad said, "That's Hotshot, Sideswipe, Blurr, Red Alert, Scavenger, Smokescreen, and Optimus Prime, leader of the Autobots."

"I'm not good with names," Rae said shyly, which caused a few of the Autobots to chuckle. She went on to say, "My name is Rae. Jetfire and Red Alert told me what happened yesterday and I wanted to say thanks for everything you've done to accommodate me."

"Aw shucks," Hotshot remarked, "We didn't do that much."

"What about you Rae?" Carlos asked, "You haven't really told us about yourself."

"There isn't much to say…"

"Are in you in school like the kids?" Smokescreen asked.

"No, I graduated almost three years ago. After I graduated, I came out to the university here in Lincoln, Nebraska in hopes of getting my bachelors degree in Special Education," Rae said, then she realized the Transformers probably had no idea what she was talking about.

"What's so special about it?" Sideswipe asked.

Rae blushed as the kids laughed.

"Come on Sideswipe," Alexis said, still smiling, "She's going to teach kids that have difficulties learning."

"Oh," the blue Autobot remarked, "My bad."

"So, Rae," Carlos mused, "You're old."

She frowned, "I'm not that old. I'm only turning 21 this year."

"So," Jetfire piped up, "Where are you staying, Ra-Ra?"

Rae stiffened; her boyfriend was the only one who called her that. She desperately fought off a wave of sad memories as she said quickly and quietly, "I have a place." It was a lie.

Jetfire looked over at her only to see that look in her eyes was back, the look that frightened him, made him worry, the look that gave him the feeling that something was absolutely and terribly wrong. "Are you sure?" he asked accusingly, "You're welcome to stay here; we could fix you up a room."

"Thanks but I have a place," she lied again, "I'll be gone by morning…I have things to do."

Jetfire stared at her, knowing that he wasn't the only one who picked up on her sudden change in mood. Rae was fine one second, then quiet and secretive the next. Something was up, and whatever it was, Rae was in no position to talk about it. "Let's take a walk," Jetfire said before he left the command center, Rae still perched on his shoulder.

Rae sighed heavily when the door closed behind them. She didn't know what to say though, she felt miserable. Everyone here seemed so happy and carefree though they claimed they were in the middle of a war. She had yet to see it though. She, in all her misery, did not belong here.

"You know," Jetfire sighed after they walked for a few minutes, "Since I saved your life, I feel kind of responsible for you and your wellbeing. I feel kind of like your guardian."

"Thanks," was all she could say.

Behind his facemask he frowned. "Is there something you want to talk about?"

Tears flooded her eyes and Rae panicked as she tried desperately to keep from crying. "No," she said, "I don't know you well enough to unload all my problems on you. I mean, it wouldn't be fair."

"So there are problems."

She didn't say anything.

"Look," he said, "I won't pry. Are you planning on coming back?"

"I don't know."

"Well, you know where we are if you ever change your mind. I'll take you back to the med bay so that you can get your stuff. I'll have Hotshot give you a ride to wherever you need to be, sound good?"

"Yes, thank you."

Jetfire simply nodded as he walked back towards the med bay where her stuff was.


Rae felt sick to her stomach as she had Hotshot drop her off at her ex-boyfriend's apartment. She grabbed the bag that her stuff was in and waited for the yellow Autobot to leave before she walked into the dirty apartment complex and went up the stairs to where she used to live. When she got to the correct door, she tried the knob only to find out that the door was locked. Rae sighed relieved, that meant nobody was home. Using the key she still had, she entered the apartment, holding her breath as she did so.

She had vowed to never come back here, but her necessity to have her clothes, toiletries, laptop, and other things made her break the vow. Rae worked quickly to pack what she could into a duffel bag that she had and grab her school books. She would shower at the gym on campus and do her homework on campus as well. Since she had a college ID, she could take the bus for free in order to get there.

"Good, you're figuring this out."

When Rae had all that she could take, she quickly left the apartment and went down to the bus stop. As she waited, she tried to avoid the gazes of other people. Instead, she pulled out her phone for the first time since she had left the apartment yesterday. There were no missed calls, no unread messages. She felt like shattering, but at the same time, what had she been hoping for? If her ex had called, if he had sent her a text, that would have showed that he still cared, right? Did she want him to beg for her? To plead on his hands and knees until she finally forgave him?

When Rae stepped on the bus and heard Here Without You by 3 Doors Down playing on the radio, she almost turned around and got off. Instead, she took a seat next to a man whose belly was too big for his shirt and was hanging over his belt. His shirt was full of stains, his beard was scraggly and greasy and he smelled like a combination of diesel and fish. Rae tried to concentrate on the rancidity of the man beside her in order to distract her from the pain in her chest, but he ended up getting off at the next stop.

Instead, she was left to wallow in her own self-destructive thoughts.


Jetfire was surprised when Optimus called him into his office later that afternoon. The Autobot second in command tried to recall anything he may have possibly done wrong, but nothing came to mind as he stepped into Optimus' office. Trying to squish back his nervousness, he said, "You wanted to see me, sir?"

"Yes," Optimus replied, "I want to talk about Rae."

"She left sir," Jetfire said, "I don't know if she's going to come back."

"I have a feeling she will," the Autobot leader remarked before saying, "Has she…mentioned anything unusual?"

"What do you mean?"

"Earlier in the command center she seemed to get a little defensive when you asked her if she had a place to stay. Has she mentioned anything about family or friends?"

"She said her parents live in Pennsylvania, I looked it up and that's over 1200 miles away from here, and since she said she's been here for almost three years I doubt she's homesick. She also said her friends wouldn't notice if she didn't contact them for a few days," Jetfire explained before confessing, "There's this…look in her eyes that just…it makes me feel like she still needs to be rescued from something."

Optimus was silent for a few moments, contemplating what Jetfire had said. "Well," he finally spoke, "If she comes back, she'll be your charge."

"What? But Optimus, I'm second in command of the Autobots, I'm not a babysitter."

"I'm not asking you to babysit her, Jetfire. Just help her out if she needs help. I think what she could really use is a friend."

The deputy commander sighed heavily, "Optimus, believe me when I say that I would really like to know what's going on with her and help her out, but do you really think I'm the guy that's best suited for the job?"

"I wouldn't say befriending a person is a job. Think of it as an opportunity. Besides," Optimus remarked, "If you feel like she really does need to be rescued from something, wouldn't you feel better knowing that you could be the one to save her life?"

Jetfire sighed heavily, "I already saved her life."

"Sometimes people need a different kind of saving," he said, "I would suggest you get a room ready for her. You're dismissed."

"Yes sir."


Rae stood in the shower, sobbing.

She wanted to throw herself at her ex, she wanted to know what she had done to make him go astray, to make him betray her, to make him feel like he had to hurt her like this. She wanted to go back to the beginning with him just so she could prevent this from happening, just so she could have him forever.

Her heart was broken, shattered, bruised, bleeding, coursing pain throughout her entire body…but she still loved him.

The relationship had died overnight, but her feelings hadn't. She hated him for lying, for stabbing her in the back, for abandoning her now, for not offering to let her come home so she could at least have a place to sleep at night. Rae racked her brain trying to think of just what she could have possibly done to make him hate her so much.

"You have an opportunity now to be whoever you want."

Rae felt sick, she didn't want that opportunity. She thought she had found who she was. She didn't want to start all over again with someone else. She couldn't possibly love someone else like she loved her ex.

"Think about the Autobots."

She paused, the thought bringing her a momentary comfort. She had met an alien race of giant robots yet all she could think about was her own misery. She smiled at the irony.

"Think about Jetfire."

For a robot, he was very likeable, almost human beneath all that armor he wore. She tried to picture him as a human. He'd be tall, muscular, and handsome with long red hair and golden eyes. She smiled.

"There you go, now one step at a time. Get out of the shower, finish getting ready, get something to eat, then go to the library and do your homework."

She shut off the water and began getting ready.


Even though it was a Saturday, the library on campus was rather empty. Rae was just thankful it was open until 1:00am so that she could hopefully find a place to stay temporarily. Trying to ignore the heaviness in her heart, she sat down at a table and pulled out her laptop. She worked on homework a little bit before she began texting her friends, asking for a place to stay. While she waited for them to reply, she went to her Facebook and pressed the 'update status' button.

What's on your mind?

She sighed heavily before typing, "Kind of in a tight place, need a place to stay for a few days. Can anyone accommodate me?" She then blocked her mother, whom she was friends with, from seeing the status and posted it.

Her phone vibrated. Holding her breath, Rae looked at the message she received. It said, "Sorry girl, if I could help you out I would." She frowned as she went back to doing her homework, checking her Facebook, and reading text messages in between.

"Are things okay? I'd let you stay but…"
"Just talk to your bf Micah! Things will be okay, love."
"Sorry, can't."
"Try talking to residence life Monday, they might have rooms available on campus still."
"Sorry, just rented the place out to someone else a few days ago. Best of luck!"

By midnight, nothing had changed. Rae gathered up her stuff and left the library. There were no benches to sleep on in town, there were no train stations or bridges or boxes she could take refuge in. There was nobody she could call either. Sighing heavily, Rae hid her duffel bag in some bushes not far from the library on campus.

Feeling empty, Rae walked to a club that was down the street from the campus. She showed her ID to prove that she was over 18 before she walked in, immediately getting swallowed into the loud, drunken, sweaty mess of partying college students and men and women desperate for Mr. or Miss Right Now.

She wasn't there long when a man way older than what she was comfortable with approached her. To Rae, he wasn't attractive. He looked gruff, angry, and she swore he killed people as a hobby.

"Hey," he said above the noise of the music and people, "What's a pretty girl like you doing here?"

"I have nowhere else to be," she replied, trying to keep her cool.

"Are you looking for a place to stay?" he asked, smirking.

His breath reeked of alcohol and marijuana and Rae felt like throwing up. If her mother knew what she was doing...Rae tried to shake away the thought. "Yeah," she replied, "Got into a fight with my roommates."

"You can stay with me…for a price."

She was terrified. She didn't want to. She just wanted to go home. She thought of her mother. She thought of Jetfire. She could've stayed there, with him. What was she doing?

She followed the man out of the club.


"Hi, you've reached the Office of Residence Life, how can I help you?"

"Hi, my name is Rae Emerson, I'm a student here at Lincoln University and I was wondering if there are any dorm rooms still available—

"Honey, it's the middle of the spring semester. All the empty dorm rooms were filled by spring transfers."

Rae sighed heavily, not appreciative of the fact she had been talked down upon. She hung up without saying anything. It was Monday morning; she had class in an hour. She was thankful for something normal to help her forget a weekend that turned out to be from hell. Saturday night had been the worst, sharing a bed with a stranger that she left the moment dawn peeked over the horizon. He had not been gentle and she still had bruises from that. Last night she had slept outside, freezing, in the same bushes where she had left her duffel bag. Despite how terribly uncomfortable it had been, it was better than a stranger's bed.

She tried not to cry as she thought about it. Instead, she went to class early to get her mind off of it. When she got to class, she sat down, thankful to be in a familiar room with people who were completely unaware of her problems. However, during class, she couldn't stay focused. She didn't want to spend another night outside and she wasn't about to seek a stranger's help. Her mind was stuck on Jetfire and how he had offered her a room at the Autobot base. If she went back, what would she say? How would she even get back to the base?

"Are you in school like the kids?"

The kids…


Rad, Carlos, and Alexis all perked up when they saw Rae waiting outside of the school, waiting for them. "Hey Rae!" Carlos said excitedly as he approached her, "I take it you want back in the base?"

She faked a smile, "Yeah. I guess I just couldn't stay away."

"Look, you have your things," Rad said, "Do you plan on staying there for a while?"

Rae shrugged, "Why not? I thought about it, I figured it'd be cooler than living with my lame roommate." It was another lie, but the kids didn't know. They laughed.

"Alright," Alexis said, "You can ride with me."

And Rae rode with Alexis back to the Autobot base. Once inside, the kids immediately showed Rae where her room would be. She walked inside only to find a fully furnished room. She never knew the relief of having a room to herself could bring tears to her eyes. "Guys," she remarked as she went inside and set her stuff down, "You didn't have to do this."

"Jetfire told us to get it ready for you," Carlos said, "We all knew you would be back at some point."

The room was huge. There was a closet, there was a full bathroom, office space, living space, it was like a little apartment for her inside of the base. It was a breath of fresh air in her stale life.

"Well, well, well, look who decided to come back."

Rae turned only to see Jetfire standing outside. It was so good to see him, too. Rae smiled a real smile this time. "I changed my mind," she said.

He nodded, "It's good to have you back, Ra-Ra."

Rae couldn't hold back the tears this time. Jetfire ushered the kids out and knelt down so that he was able to poke his head in the room. "What's going on, Rae?" he asked gently.

"Please don't call me Ra-Ra," she said through tears, "It reminds me of something…someone I lost."

"I'm sorry," he said softly, "I didn't know. Are you going to be alright?"

"I-I don't know. I had a really bad weekend. Nobody cares about me—

"That's not true, Rae."

"I didn't have a place to go, none of my friends would let me stay with them," she confessed, still crying, "A man let me stay with him only after I slept with him—

"Primus, Rae…" Jetfire remarked, his spark going out to her. He took her in his hand and pulled her out of the room, holding her to his chest, trying to bring her whatever comfort he could, "What's going on?"

But she didn't answer as she clung to his chest, feeling comforted by the heat that was radiating out. He didn't force her to answer any more questions. He stroked her back with his thumb as he realized that getting to the truth of the matter was going to be more difficult than what he originally thought. Before he could help her, she had to be happy again, that was more important than anything else.

"Oh Rae…how could you possibly feel so unloved?"


Well, what do you guys think? Review and let me know, I appreciate any and all feedback. Thanks!