Disclaimer: Transformers are copyrighted by

Hasbro, DreamWorks, and Paramount. I just write

this stuff for fun. However, my OC Laura Kencally

is my own invention. Please do not use without permission

*----* thoughts

^-----^ comm

Chapter 2 : Memories or lack thereof.

It always started at that point. Before that, it was nightmare and a horrible feeling that he was missing almost all his life. Which was true, though he knew that the amount was far greater then any one could possibly believe. But the first true memory he had was of waking up in the room by himself with his head and body bandaged and feeling slightly painful. Monitors beeped gently, and he stared at them. He looked the room over, aware of a hum of activity outside. Suddenly a woman opened a door off to the left and front of his bed. "Well I see our 'John Doe' is awake. I'll go get the doctor in a minute but you might want to tell me your name so I can call your family and let them know where you are." He stared at her the whole time, and rising panic became quickly apparent. Why he was so upset became obvious as soon as he spoke. It was like no language the nurse had ever had heard before. More of a cross of a screech and an emergency broadcast system alert. "Oh dear, you don't speak English?" she said as the man suddenly shook his head. Slowly he mumbled "I…do.. not…remember." The nurse suddenly seemed to understand. "Oh you poor man! You must have amnesia."

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That had been the start of it. His English improved quickly, almost miraculously,.

But he never forgot the language that he first spoke in. Nobody could id. it though, It was the first of many frustrations. He had to be taught how to eat,

How to dress, and because he'd been so long unconscious, how to walk again.

As his speech improved, he grew depressed and frightened. The media had come and run a story on him while he was unconscious, but no-one came forward and claimed they knew him. And he began to realize that he had no-where or no-one to turn to after he got out of the hospital. Heck, he didn't even know where he was! So he stopped trying, stopped eating, and didn't talk to anyone. After about a week of this his doctor, Dr. Conmara. decided to change tactics. and recruited the newest volunteer of the therapy people. The hospital had recently started a pet program, and while the animal in question was usually a small dog This was the exception.

"Hello there handsome," a soft soprano voice said as the door opened and shut.

He didn't even look up. What was the point? Then he heard a curious sound,

One he'd never heard before. It was a kind of a 'BLLLEAAARTTT'. Then a

weight was dumped into his lap. "I see that Captain thinks you're special. He's

never wrong, although he's acting like you and him were old buddies. " The animal in question, a large black and orange tom-cat suddenly put two paws on

his chest and rubbed under his chin. He looked at it in fascination. A heavily scarred hand came up and started to stroke the cat, who greeted the action with a almost unheard purr. He finally looked up, his interest aroused for the first time in a while. He looked at the young woman in front of him and at first she appeared like a tall Caucasian woman, quite overweight and with blotchy skin. But then his eyes seemed to blur, and she changed. She was still tall, but now instead of heavy, was well-shaped and muscled. Her skin was now golden and there was a hexagonal-shaped mark on her forehead that was bright silver. He blurted out the first think he could think of which was," What is going on here! Why are you shifting back and forth?" Her blue-gray eyes opened wide. "You can see the mark?" She asked, backing towards the door. " I.. you keep shift-shaping back and forth. Why? Are you trying to hide something?" he asked as he felt a strange need to protect rise in him. "AW nuts! Well this didn't start out right. Look, my name is Laura Kencally. I volunteered to join the new 'pet therapy' program here at Regional. My cat's always been very friendly and though he's old, he can usually get people to respond." She moved closer to him and lowered her voice. "I don't know how you can see through my shields, but that doesn't matter. Just pretend to have a problem with your eyes and things will be okay. I've got people looking for me, and they're not very nice." He realized that she was trusting him not to betray her and was slightly confused, but shrugged it off. She was obviously wanted to help him and needed his help in return.

Laura soon became a regular visitor to his room. As requested, he acted as if his eyes were troubling him when the doctor came in at the end of the first visit. By this time, Laura had learn about his memory loss and why he'd all but given up. After all what was he going to do after he got released? Laura didn't answer him directly, just said, "Well, I might be able to help with that." Dr. Conmara was a little suspicious of Laura as she told him on her next visit. After all he had been monitoring the meeting from a vid-cam and overheard the coversation. But 'John Doe' started to improve again and he soon dropped it. And it was to 'John Doe' that Laura revealed her secret, since she obviously couldn't hide her physical difference from him. "I'm not sure when I found out what I was. I started growing this crystal in my head about age 12. When I started hearing things my parents thought I was going mad. That gave me the clue that I was telepathic. So I managed to create basic sheilds. Then I learned that they were gonna take out the crystal in my forehead, cause they thought it might be a form of cancer. So I ran away, or so I thought."

She ran though the streets, her shields flaring up and down as she darted down alleys. She never saw the portal until she was nearly through it because she had been looking over her shoulder. Then it was to late, and she skidded right though it, too surprised to cry out. Then she slid and fell down on a soft gray grass. "oww!!!," she yelped as she looked at the damage. Blood dripped down her knee, but quickly stopped. However the jeans would now sport a rip. She looked around and stared. The sky was a inky black and the stars were out. But the sun was also up and it was red and huge. It should have been bright and small! "Where am I?" No one answered at first. Then a swirling light popped out of nowhere. It grew bigger and brighter, till she was blinded. Then it flashed, and became a being that wavered back and forth between a horse-form and a bright light. *Do not worry little one! I have come as a link between the ones whoopened the gate for you.* the voice said in her head. "O-kay. Where is this place? She asked nervously. *This is a different world in a different place.

This world was home to the people that were known as Quasis. They came form all worlds but they were the same thing. They had powers to change matter and read thoughts. But most important, they could slip through the fabric of space. And they would come here for training. For those that they left behind did not understand them. And there were others that would learn of their powers and use them. Once trained they would decide then if they would return to their original world or go on. You are the first Quasi to come in many years. And unfortunately this world is old. You will only have a limited time to train yourself before this sun collapses and destroys this planet.*

"So Starburst, as the unicorn was called, trained me. First thing he taught me was how to change my appearance in the eyes of everyone. I went back right after that and stayed on the run for another day. By that time I had changed it so it looked like I had lost the crystal to a stabbing. I had a lovely big scar on my forehead. I was kept in the place for another month after that. But they finally let me go since I seemed to be 'sane' Minute I got home I managed to lock the door and 'slipstreamed'. That's what 'burst called it. And I trained. This continued for about a year. Then the last time I went, Starburst said that it was too early but I had to choose. To go back home, knowing that I would never be able to come there again. Or go 'on'' . For all the grief I'd had in my life, I couldn't leave. Too many people were important to me. So I came home. Then things got complicated," her mouth twist in a scowl. "There was this guy that knew about Quasis and their power. He wasn't a Quasi himself, just had gotten lucky and found a way to extend his life from a Quasi's power. And he could spot 'em too. He found me once. I've learned to shield even from him. But I'm always scared that he might be able to find me again."

He realized something was wrong the minute Laura walked into his room. Her eyes were bloodshot and puffy. She carried what looked like a briefcase. And Captain wasn't with her. "What happened?" he exclaimed, dropping the newspaper he was reading. " I was taking Cap back home from the vet. I got out of the car and his crate fell apart. And somebody was playing with firecrackers. Cap bolted for the street before I could gab his leash and…"she broke off as the door opened. Dr. Conmara was looking in at them with both sympathy and confusion. "Laura, I heard about Captain. He will be missed. But why are you here? I'd have thought coming would be too painful for you." Laura shook her head. "We've become friends though Cap, doc. But they haven't found anyone who recognizes my friend here?" she asked. He was glad Laura hadn't referred to him as "John Doe'. He really had learned to hate that supposed name, especially after he had learned that it was a generic term for an unidentified person. "No and we're trying to find somewhere to place him." Laura shared a look with her friend as he sat on the bed, looking quite miffed. And came to a decision. "I'll give him a place to crash. No problem."
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There was a fuss at first. After all, he was unknown and Laura was living of an inheritance, which would only support her for a certain number of years. And this would exhaust it sooner. Not only that, but she'd be responsible for his hospital bills. And if he was to live outside a residential setting, he'd needed to do certain things. Laura wouldn't give up, though. And she gave the idea a jump-start as she came up with a name for him. It happened the same day she came in to tell him of Captain's death. "Have you even thought about taking a name for yourself," she asked as soon as the doctor left the room. "What do you mean? I don't even remember my real name!" Laura looked like she wanted to hit something. "You mean you're content with being called 'John Doe' the rest of your life? Yes of course, whatever name you choose won't be your real name, but anything's better then what you're id's with now," she said pointedly. He looked baffled and then a thought occurred to him. "Why don't you name me? I mean I don't know much about names." Laura smiled and lifted up what she was carrying. "I brought my NETBOOK so we could go to my homepage and look up the pictures of Captain, but I can surf and see what names we come up with!"

So they spent an hour looking up names on the Internet and discussing them. He was glad that he could provide the distraction, for he guessed that Laura would be deep in grief for her beloved cat if they didn't have this search to do. But the first name was quickly decided. "Michael!" Laura said firmly. He looked at her almost cross-eyed, but only said "Why?" "Because Michael is the name of one of the four archangels in the Bible," Laura answered. She didn't add that she had thought he reminded her of a picture she had seen of a Guardian Angel hovering over the planet. "Michael," he said slowly. "I like it. Michael it is." "Or Mike for short,' she added. But the real kicker was the surname he chose. "It has to start with 'P''," he demanded. "What? Why does it have to be a 'p' name?" she asked generally confused. He wasn't sure himself but it just felt right. Now Laura rarely used her talent of reading minds. He had asked her to, and she had tried, but was blocked by something in the area. So she just shook her head and said "Okay, we'll get a name that fits" She called up the directory that was available on her provider. "Hm, shouldn't be too unusual or you'll have problems. My cousin's last name is Brandfordy and they always leave off the 'y'. How about Patton?"" He didn't seem too enthused. "Look, it's a fairly common name and you really don't want to stand out in a crowd." He sighed then said with an impish bit of humor. "All right. Hi Laura, I'm Michael Patton