A/n: Well, I only had to rewrite the chapter twice this time before I got it right on the third try. I really want to thank all of you for the positive feedback I've been getting, I have a lot planned for this story in the next few chapters. I'm excited to tie in the episode Hurt, that will probably be happening in either the next chapter or the one after that. But until I get there, I hope you guys enjoy this chapter.

Filthy

He pressed his mouth against hers softly, as if he were trying to steal a breath of her life. Miko flinched, forcing her eyes closed as Megatron's mouth moved against hers, forcing her lips to move in time with his in an unwanted and illicit kiss. She whimpered when he pressed harder, course metal scraping against soft flesh. He chuckled, smirking.

"My fragile pet…"

Miko leaned against him, burying her face into the smooth, cold metal of his shoulder. She didn't want to look at him. She didn't want him to be able to kiss her again.

"So delicious."

She felt sick. "Where are my host parents?" she murmured.

"Alive, for now, depending on how well you cooperate."

Miko winced. She didn't want to hear Megatron say that he wouldn't release them until she consented to him once again. She wrapped her arms around his neck. Maybe if she never let him go, this monster, he wouldn't hurt her. Maybe he wouldn't hurt anyone else. She felt tears leak out of her eyes, unaware that they were streaking down Megatron's armor. She heard the cables in his neck tighten as he looked to her.

"Miko…"

"What would it take for you to be gentle?"

To her surprise, he didn't laugh at her for asking that. She felt as he moved, crossing the floor until he reached her bed. He sat down, Miko upon his lap still clinging to him.

"Gentleness is not in my nature," he replied, "But I see you understand my intentions for you are unavoidable."

"I'll scream again."

"And I will rip out your throat if you try."

"Megatron…" she whined.

"Stop crying, Miko."

"I want Bulkhead."

He chuckled darkly, "Bulkhead isn't coming, my dear. Tell me, do you love him?"

"I love him more than I could ever love you."

He grinned, amused. "That will end. Your affections belong to me and no one else."

Miko looked to him disgusted, "I will never love you."

"You will learn," he said as he released her and set her on the floor before him. He studied her as she stood there. He watched as she eyed the window, but he knew she wouldn't be able to escape. "Miko…"

She looked back to him. "What?"

"Take off your clothes."

Horror filled her eyes. "But—

"Remove your clothes," he responded, growling, "You don't have a choice."

You always have a choice, Miko.

Miko fought hard not to cry. She didn't want Megatron to see her tears, to see how weak he made her feel. She bit her lip in order to keep it from quivering as she slowly slid her hands to the buckle on her belt. Megatron grinned wickedly. "Yes, Miko, do it slowly, it's been a while since I've been able to enjoy you," he purred.

Something inside of her snapped. "You like it when I'm fearless, don't you?" she asked as she slowly undid the buckle of her belt and slid it off.

Megatron's optics flared with arousal as she dropped the belt to the floor. "Yes, Miko…" he hummed, "I do."

"My host parents," she said bluntly, "They've always thought I was crazy. They're good people, but they're not my real parents. So, contrary to what you think, I couldn't care less about what happens to them."

"Miko, no!"

However, Miko had already bolted for the door. The desperate want to get away from Megatron steadied her shaking hands as she unlocked the door and slipped out of the room. She slammed the door closed behind her and made for the stairs as Megatron came crashing through it. "Come get me, you fucking bucket head!" she yelled as she ran down the stairs, skipping several time as she went.

When her feet hit the floor, she took off running to the door, Megatron roaring her name behind her. Without glancing behind, she yanked the front door open and ran outside, stumbling down the front steps as she screamed, "Bulkhead, Bulkhead!"

The Wrecker felt his metal chassis crawl with horror as he registered that it was Miko that had just screamed his name. He immediately shifted his attention to her. The worst feeling of terror and anger ran through him as he saw her run towards him, Megatron only a few paces behind.

He immediately transformed, his hand simultaneously transforming into a wrecking ball as he charged forward. With his free hand, he yanked Miko behind him while smashing Megatron with his other, sending the Decepticon tyrant flying backwards into the house.

Miko peeked out from behind Bulkhead's leg as Megatron crashed through the house before looking up at him. "Just so you know," she said, "My host parents won't be happy about that."

Bulkhead looked down at her, "Are you alright?"

"I am now."

"Thank the Allspark you don't have close neighbors," he stated as he radioed the base, "Bulkhead to base, I have a situation."

"Acree here. What's up, Bulk?"

Bulkhead watched as Megatron emerged from the home and used the relic to return to his full size. "Megatron is here, I need back up now," he replied before ending the call.

"Wrecker," Megatron seethed as he stopped his advance. He observed Miko peeking out from behind his leg before he gave a small chuckle, "I suppose you will give up your spark to protect her."

"Get out of here," Bulkhead growled.

But Megatron ignored him as he instead turned his attention to Miko. "Let's see if you truly don't care about your host parents," he said as he proceeded to fire a single blast from his fusion cannon into the house, causing it start on fire. "They are still inside," he taunted, "Let them burn if you're that heartless."

Miko looked to the home as the flames spread, snapping loudly like breaking bones would. She hesitated, frustrated, before she finally ran forward, back towards the home.

"Miko, no!" Bulkhead shouted as he tried to reach for her, but Megatron stopped him, batting him to the side.

"I don't think so, Bulkhead," he said, "Your fight is with me."

Bulkhead groaned as he got back on his feet. He shot a glare at Megatron before saying, "Get out of my way."

"Don't you see, Bulkhead? I am going to kill you; Miko will be mine to do with as I please. Fight me, I'd enjoy it. Give up your spark for that whore."

"That's it!" Bulkhead seethed, charging Megatron.

A groundbridge suddenly yawned open and Optimus, Ratchet, and Agent Fowler came running out just as Megatron tossed Bulkhead aside once again. Ratchet immediately went to Bulkhead's aid as Optimus took over his fight with Megatron.

"Bulkhead, are you injured?" Ratchet asked as he looked the Wrecker over.

"I'm fine," he stated as he sat up, rubbing his head.

"Where's Miko?" Agent Fowler asked as he approached them.

"Miko!" Bulkhead exclaimed as he climbed to his feet, "She's in the house, her host parents are inside."

"I'm on it," Fowler replied before running into the house. As soon as he was inside, he had to cover his head as burning pieces of ceiling fell down. "Miko!" he shouted. He didn't get a response. He glanced around, but he didn't see her anywhere. That's when he heard a thump.

He immediately ran in the direction it came from, dodging pieces of debris as he went. He eventually reached the stairs where he saw Miko dragging her host father down the steps as carefully as she could. "Miko!" he shouted again, getting her attention.

"Here," she wheezed, "You take him." And she turned from him, ascending the stairs.

"Miko, come back!" he shouted, but it was too late. Glumly, he lifted the man and carried him outside before going back in. By the time he got back over to the stairs, Miko was already part way down them with her host mother.

"Take her," Miko pleaded, "Get her out of here."

Agent Fowler slung her over his shoulder before saying, "Come on, Miko, let's get out of here."

"Right behind you," she said.

He led the way out of the house, making sure Miko was behind him. When they got outside, Agent Fowler set the host mother down just as Miko started coughing and spluttering. He immediately went to her side as she collapsed down to her knees. "Can't…breathe," she choked.

"Ratchet!" Agent Fowler shouted as Miko suddenly blacked out.

Ratchet was there immediately and began assessing Miko, grateful that June had taught him about human health. However, there was only so much that he could do. "Miko," he stated as he gave her a slight nudge, "Miko, respond."

"She's not breathing," Agent Fowler exclaimed, "She needs oxygen."

"I'll call June," Ratchet remarked as he stepped back.

"Damn it, Miko," Fowler breathed as he immediately began doing CPR, "Breathe!" He felt in front of her nose. She still wasn't breathing. He began doing CPR again when a groundbridge suddenly opened and June came running through.

"Step aside," she ordered as she knelt down beside Miko, oxygen mask in hand. She worked quickly to get the mask on the girl.

Bulkhead slowly approached. He felt sick as he watched June try to resuscitate Miko. "How is she?" he asked.

"If she doesn't start breathing we're going to lose her," June remarked as she finished putting the oxygen mask on Miko. She checked for a pulse. "Damn it, she doesn't have a pulse!"

June's cry was loud enough that both Optimus and Megatron heard. Both leaders paused from their fight and looked over only to see Miko lying lifeless on the ground. Megatron scowled, "So my human is dead."

Bulkhead glared at the Decepticon leader, "This is your fault!"

"Don't worry, Wrecker. You'll soon be joining her in the grave," Megatron remarked before taking to the skies and leaving.

It was after he left that Miko began to cough. Her eyes fluttered open, bloodshot from the smoke. "Bulkhead," she gasped.

"Miko! Frag, you gave me a spark attack!" he exclaimed as he knelt down beside her. He helped her sit up and she hugged his hand tightly.

"Did you kill him?" her voice rasped.

Bulkhead vented a sigh, "No, Miko. But he's gone. You're safe now."

Her eyes filled with tears. "Thank you," she wept, her small frame shaking, "Thank you."

"Miko…"

"My host parents…are they okay?" Miko asked as she looked over to where they were only to see June assessing them.

"They seem to be fine," June replied.

Ratchet ran a quick scan on them before replying, "It seems Megatron used a small dose of energon to knock them out. They'll be awake by morning."

"What about the house?"

"I'll take care of it," Fowler said.

"Miko, perhaps it is best that you stayed at the base for a while," Optimus stated as he approached, "Despite the fact Megatron believes you are deceased, I feel it's wise to find a better means of protecting you."

"My host parents will ask questions."

"I can take care of that as well," Fowler remarked, "At least on a temporary basis."

Miko's eyes suddenly lit up, "I want to stay in Bulk's room! It'd be like an extended sleepover. We can stay up late and watch movies, rock out to Slash Monkey, play video games…" She stopped as she was overcome by a fit of coughs.

"Easy, Miko," Bulkhead stated as he rubbed a finger along her back.

"Bulkhead, is that alright with you?" Optimus asked.

"You didn't have to ask, Optimus."

Optimus nodded, "Ratchet and I will stay here until things are settled. Bulkhead, take Miko back to base."

"You got it," he replied before calling for a groundbridge. He waited for it to yawn open before he walked through with Miko in hand. However, Arcee was waiting on the other side. She immediately observed Miko with the oxygen mask.

"You okay?" she asked.

"Getting better," she replied, voice raspy, "Megatron burned my host parents' house down."

Arcee looked to Bulkhead who nodded in confirmation. She then looked back to Miko before saying, "Miko, did Megatron hurt you?"

"He tried, but I got away."

"Thank the Allspark for that."

"The others will be back soon," Bulkhead stated, "Miko is going to be staying here for a while. I'm going to go take her to get some rest."

Arcee nodded, "Sleep well, Miko."

"Thanks," she replied as Bulkhead walked further into the silo to his room. They traveled in silence for a bit before Miko asked, "Are you tired, too?"

"I am a little," he replied.

"Do you think I can take this off?" she wondered, gesturing towards the mask.

"I'd leave it on if I were you."

"No you wouldn't."

He gave a small chuckle, "Probably not. But keep it on." When they reached his room, he walked in, closing the door behind him. He immediately laid down on his berth, setting Miko upon his chest where she laid down. He commanded the lights off as he rested his hand over his charge's small frame. He listened to her breathe, he felt her breath ghost against his chassis.

"Miko, did you take the mask off?"

"Maybe."

"Miko…" he hitched a breath when she suddenly began drawing invisible patterns on his armor.

"I can hear your spark beating, Bulk."

He vented a sigh. He wished he could hear her heart beat, to know what the life inside of her sounded like. "I was scared earlier," he admitted, "I thought I had lost you."

"Never, Bulk. I'm not going anywhere."

"You got that right," he said, allowing silence to fill the room. He waited for her to fall asleep, but she didn't. She adjusted her position a few times, trying to get more comfortable. Eventually she was still.

"Does Megatron really think I'm dead?"

"Yes. And we'll keep it that way."

"He wants me to love him."

"What?"

"He wanted to know if I loved you and I told him that I loved you more than I would ever love him. He said that will end. He said I will learn to love him."

Bulkhead had to refrain from shaking with anger. "Don't you dare believe him," he said, "And don't you ever forget how I feel about you."

"I wish I could be a transformer. I could fight Megatron that way. I could be with you."

"Miko, you're perfect the way you are. You mean just as much to me."

"But being human isn't enough."

"It's enough, Miko."

"It's not enough to have you," she breathed as she fell asleep.

In the dark silence of the room, however, he didn't have the spark to tell her that they could never be together.

"Bulkhead, wake up!"

This time, Bulkhead felt it when Miko slammed her fist against his chassis. His optics flickered online as he tried to figure out just why Miko was waking him up so early. "Miko, what is it?" he asked, his voice heavy with exhaustion.

"I have to go to school," she replied, her voice hoarse from the smoke inhalation she endured the previous day.

"You sure you're feeling good enough?" he wondered as he saw she was all ready to go.

"I feel like I smoked a million cigarettes," she said, "But I have to go."

"Alright, I'm up," he stated as he took her in his hand and climbed out of his berth. He walked with her to the exit before he set her down and transformed. He waited as Miko got inside before he revved his engine and headed out of the silo.

"It's not like you to want to go to school," he said.

"I figured someone would make me go if you didn't."

"Good point," Bulkhead said, "You sleep okay?"

"You bet," she said as she fiddled around with his radio before finding a station she was willing to listen to. She growled, however, when it switched to a commercial break. Frustrated, she turned it off. "When I become a rock star," she said, "There will be no commercials to interrupt my songs."

Bulkhead chuckled as he pulled up to the school. "I'll be by later to pick you up," he stated as she unbuckled herself, "Try to stay out of trouble."

"I'll think about it," she said as she slid out, "Kill Megatron today."

"I'll try."

"See you later, Bulk," she remarked before running towards the building.

He vented a sigh as he watched her go. Quite honestly, he didn't know how safe she was here. He noticed a male staring at Miko as she walked up the steps. He revved his engine, startling the boy before he pulled away from the curb. He wasn't sure why he was angry at the human male for staring after his charge as he adjusted his rearview mirror so he could still see the school in the distance. This was the hardest part, driving away.

His comlink pinged and he grumbled. It was too early for any kind of mission. Glumly, he answered the call. "Bulkhead here," he said.

"Bulkhead, I need you to investigate a set of coordinates. Ratchet thinks he has a hit on another relic," came Arcee's voice, "Optimus is on patrol and Bumblebee and I are about to leave on a scouting mission since we're running low on energon."

"I'm on my way back to base, send me the coordinates and I'll go check it out."

"I'm on it. Thanks, Bulk."

"No problem 'Cee," he replied before ending the call. Ratchet had the groundbridge coordinates pre-programmed when he pulled back into the base. He transformed before looking the medical officer. "I'm all set for that groundbridge," he said.

Ratchet nodded before activating it. He watched Bulkhead turn to the bridge before he said, "Be careful, Bulkhead. We don't know if the Decepticons picked up the signal on this relic."

"Don't worry, if it gets too heavy, I'll call for backup," he said, "If I'm not back, make sure someone picks Miko up at three from school."

"I can manage that."

"Alright, I'll be back ASAP," Bulkhead said before disappearing through the bridge. When he emerged on the other side, he ended up in a forest. Immediately, he scanned the area to make sure it was clear, and when his scans indicated it was, he proceeded forward, following the signal on his locator.

He pushed tree branches out of his way as the signal grew stronger until it finally started beeping frenetically. He looked around and spied a hollowed out tree. Inside of the tree was the capsule he was looking for. Carefully, he opened it, only to find two golden wristbands inside. "I wonder what these do," he mused as he took them out, discarding the container. He observed them, one in each hand, and was horrified when they suddenly snapped around his wrists.

"Scrap," he remarked as he tried to get them off but couldn't. He immediately called Ratchet.

"Everything alright, Bulkhead?" the medic asked.

"Well, I have the relic," he replied.

"Excellent, I'll bridge you back—

"It's stuck on me."

"Stuck? What do you mean by stuck?"

"It attached itself to me and I can't get it off."

"I'm opening a groundbridge, I'll assess you when you get back to base," Ratchet said.

"If you say so."

"I do," the medic replied before ending the call.

Bulkhead watched as the groundbridge opened before he entered it. It closed once he got back to the base where Ratchet was waiting. "What do you make of it?" the Wrecker asked as he extended his wrists towards the medical officer.

"I don't believe it," Ratchet remarked as he observed the golden bands that had fastened themselves around Bulkhead's wrists.

"What?"

"Bulkhead, that's pretender technology. It allows one to change their form into that of an organic."

"You mean…I could use it to become human?"

"You could," Ratchet quickly shook his head, "But I don't know what advantage it would serve. At least the Decepticons are unaware that it exists. They could use it to sabotage the human race."

"Or hurt Miko," Bulkhead added, "Think you can get it off?"

"I don't think it was designed to come off."

"You're kidding, right?"

"I will research it further."

Bulkhead vented a sigh just as Arcee called requesting backup. Ratchet looked to Bulkhead who just nodded. It was going to be a long day.

"Hey Jack!" Miko called as she sat down next to him at the lunch table.

"Hey," he replied, "What's going on? I heard your house burned down."

She glanced around before mumbling, "All thanks to Megatron."

His eyes widened, "You okay?"

She nodded, "You bet! I get to stay at the base now."

"What about your host parents?"

"They're fine. Are you coming to the base today or do you got to work?"

"Thankfully, I have today off."

"Think Knockout would be pissed if he knew that you worked at a place called KO Burgers?"

"Just as long as he doesn't come through the drive through wanting a burger. That'd probably freak me out a little," he said as he watched Miko steal some of his lunch, "Hey!"

"Sorry, I'm hungry and a little strapped for cash. I'd work, but I don't have a visa for that."

"Strapped for cash, huh?" a voice said out of nowhere.

Both Jack and Miko looked over only to see Vince standing behind them. Jack groaned before saying, "Vince, really? Why don't you just keep on walking?"

Vince ignored him as he instead looked to Miko. "You know, you could sell your body," he remarked with a smirk, "Though I don't think anyone would want to pay for you."

"Says the guy who is probably a virgin and needs to insult people in order to make up for a small dick," Miko stated, causing a few people to laugh.

Vince scowled. "You're just a stupid whore," he spat.

"Call me that again," she seethed, standing up to him.

"Miko…" Jack tried to reason, "Just walk away."

"Yeah, Miko, walk away," Vince taunted, "Be a coward like him."

She shot him a glare, "I am not a coward."

He laughed, "Then bring it on, Miko. Or do you like it when I call you a dirty slut? I bet it turns you on."

She grabbed a lunch tray before slamming it into the side of his head. Before he could react, she kicked him in the groin, immediately bringing him to his knees. "Fuck you!" she yelled, tears streaming down her face. She went to hit him again when Jack pulled her away and led her out of the cafeteria. "Let me go, Jack!" she shouted.

"No, Miko, you proved your point."

She yanked her arm out of his grasp, "He doesn't know, Jack. He doesn't know what happened to me. He doesn't know what I've been through. And I can't tell him. I can't tell anyone. All I can do is yell and scream and cry for no reason. Do you know how that feels? Do you know how it feels to suffer and not have a voice?"

"Miko, you have a voice. You can tell me. You can tell my mom and the rest of the Autobots."

"Talking about it doesn't take away any of the pain. It doesn't make anything easier. I'm supposed to be fearless, Jack. I'm supposed to be the one that is reckless and untamed and yet all I want is to either kill everyone or die."

"Don't say that, Miko. I know I don't say it, but I care about you—

"Oh please, if you really cared, you would've killed Megatron when you had the chance."

Jack scowled, "Miko, do you know how hard it is going day to day knowing that I had the opportunity to kill Megatron, but I didn't? I regret it every day. I blame myself for what he did to you."

The angry expression on her face immediately softened. "Don't blame yourself," she said quietly, "It was my fault for running through the groundbridge in the first place. I was warned, but I didn't listen. I brought this on myself."

"You're not a whore, Miko. You're not a dirty slut. You're not stupid and you're certainly not a coward."

"I know," she said, her voice breaking, "But I feel so filthy."

"You're not, Miko," he said as he hugged her, "Come on, what do you say we make like two rebels and skip classes for the rest of the day? I'll get my mom to write us notes explaining our absences. We'll go back to the base and just relax, okay?"

Miko nodded and he wrapped his arm around her shoulder as he walked with her out of the school. He proceeded to call his mother for a ride, explaining the situation. They sat on the front steps as they waited for his mom to get there.

Bulkhead was relieved to get back to the base, a fresh stockpile of energon in hand. He observed Ratchet busily typing away at the main computer for a few moments before he asked, "Hey doc, you find a way to get this relic off my wrists?"

"Not yet, Bulkhead. I wouldn't be so concerned."

"You found the relic?" Arcee asked.

"Yeah," Bulkhead replied, showing her his wrists, "Ratchet says it's pretender technology. It attached itself to me and I can't get it off."

/What's it do?/ Bumblebee chirped.

"I can become an organic with it."

"You mean, human?" Arcee questioned.

"Don't get so excited."

"No, if you can turn into a human, then maybe you'll be able to protect Miko better. You can go with her everywhere. You know Optimus wants better protection for her."

But being human isn't enough.

It's enough, Miko.

It's not enough to have you.

But now it was. Bulkhead quickly shook the idea from his head. "Speaking of Miko, what time is it?" he asked.

"Just after one," Ratchet replied, "Don't worry; you'll have plenty of time to pick her up from school."

However, just as he said that, June pulled into the base with her car. When she stopped, Jack and Miko proceeded to climb out of the back. June gave a small wave before leaving the base.

"Jack, you and Miko are supposed to be in school," Arcee said sternly, "What are you doing here?"

"My mom's letting us play hooky," Jack said, "Miko isn't having the greatest day."

Miko's gaze shifted to the floor. Bulkhead watched as she frowned, blinking away a few tears. "What happened?" he asked gently.

"Couldn't stay out of trouble, you know me, Bulk," she replied, but she didn't look up at him.

"Miko…you want to talk about it?"

"Vince called me a whore and a slut and other stuff," she said, "So I beat him up." She bit her lip in an effort to make it stop quivering before she added in a broken voice, "I don't want to go back there if that's what people think of me."

"Miko, you know what they say isn't true. They don't know what you've been through."

"And I can't tell them either," she said. Through the pain, she managed to fake a smile and look up. "Don't worry," she stated, "I'm going to be alright." And with that, she headed out of the main hangar and deeper into the silo.

"Miko," Bulkhead called after her.

"I'm okay," she said, "You don't need to follow me."

When she was out of earshot, all optics fell on Jack as he said, "Someone needs to talk to her. I had to drag her away from Vince. She's hurting a lot. I'm afraid she might hurt herself. I tried to tell her that everything Vince called her wasn't true, and she knows it isn't, but she still feels dirty."

"I'll be back," Bulkhead said.

Nobody stopped him as he headed after Miko.

Miko studied the veins on her wrist as she sat on the floor in Bulkhead's room. She pressed down on them, feeling her life beating through them. She wondered if it hurt to bleed to death. Shaking the thought from her mind, she let painful tears fall from her cheeks as she hugged her knees to her chest.

"Miko?"

She whipped around, unable to hide her tears as her gaze fell on Bulkhead. She quickly turned away, trying to hide her moment of weakness from him. "I said you didn't have to follow me," she stated.

"I know," he replied, "But I care too much not to."

She listened as the door closed. She heard him come closer. She kept her back to him. "Jack said you felt dirty," he said.

"Filthy, actually. Filthy and ugly."

"You're not, Miko."

"It's easy to say that. Nobody is going out of their way to prove it. Not even you."

Bulkhead winced, "Ouch."

"You really don't have to be here."

He fell silent, knowing no matter what he said, it wouldn't convince her of anything. He stared at the gold bands on his wrists. She wanted proof. He didn't want to hurt her. He didn't want to complicate things. He didn't want to make Miko suffer anymore than she already was.

And sometimes, no, a lot of the time it gets me down when I realize that we can only be friends.

I'm always going to be there for you, Miko, like family would be, like a friend would be, like a lover would be.

Don't ever forget you're my best friend, Bulk, but I love you a lot more than a best friend would.

I think I am only fulfilling what you will never be able to do.

I love you, too, Miko. More than you ever could.

Bulkhead closed his optics briefly before opening them again. "Miko, look at me," he said.

She turned slightly, looking at him over her shoulder. For Bulkhead, that was good enough as he pressed his wrists together and was suddenly engulfed in a blinding, white light. Miko could only look on, stupefied, when the light faded only to reveal Bulkhead standing there, but as a human. He still wore his armor, but sandy hair protruded from the helmet that was on his head. He had soft, blue eyes. He was tall with pale skin and big, thick muscles.

"Bulk…" she choked, unable to believe what she was seeing, "You're…how did…what is going on?"

"Pretender technology," he said, "Found it this morning after I dropped you off at school. It lets me transform into an organic, in this case a human."

She climbed to her feet before slowly approaching him. "Why are you doing this?" she asked.

"I won't, if you don't want me to. The last thing I ever want to do is hurt you."

She didn't say anything. Instead, she reached out, touching his face, running her hands over his arms, over his chest. He never realized how soft her hands were, how gentle her touch was. He didn't realize she smelled this good. He reached out, running fingers through her hair, surprised by how soft it was, how warm she was.

"Miko…" he breathed, "We can't…"

"That didn't stop Megatron."

"I don't want to be like Megatron. I don't want to hurt you like he did."

"You won't, you can't."

"Miko…"

She wrapped her arms around him, hugging him tightly. She felt as he returned the embrace, enveloping her tightly in his strong arms. "I'll remember this," she said, "I'll remember this when I need to escape."

Bulkhead squeezed his eyes shut. How many times had he told her he loved her? How many times had he never proven himself to her? Why did things hurt so much more when they were supposed to be feeling better? Words were failing between them. They were walking on a tightrope between being friends or lovers. And he knew that they need to stop walking on wire. They needed to let go, to stop holding their breath. Miko needed to feel beautiful, to be shown she was beautiful through actions, not words. He needed her to breathe in deep, he needed her to find closure, he needed…

He needed her.

"Miko," he said and watched as she looked up. And, with a sigh, he let his walls fall. He pressed his lips to Miko's, knowing that it would hurt more to not try, to not love her like he said he did. He kissed her gently, wiping her tears away as she cried. He whispered between kisses, telling her he loved her, promising to protect her, vowing to never hurt her, swearing how beautiful she was. And when she was finally calm, he pulled away, but he didn't let her go.

"We can't tell anyone," he said.

"I know."

"Maybe now you won't forget you're my girl."

She smiled, "Thanks, Bulk, for saving my life."

"Thank you for saving mine."

Bulkhead carried that moment he spent with Miko in his spark wherever he went. And, as Optimus and Agent Fowler debated about what to do with Miko, he held onto her, knowing that loving her was the best protection he could give. She was heavy on his processor as he carried out his patrol, scanning for energon or anything else that could be useful. He almost didn't notice when his locator started pinging, indicating it had picked something up.

"Bulkhead to base," he spoke into his comm. as he drove along, "Picked up a strong reading, I'm going to go check it out."

He drove off the road, navigating through a forest before he came upon a giant hole in the ground. He transformed, gazing into the hole. "Well, no sign of activity," he mused before he started climbing down into the hole. As he got further down, he looked towards the bottom only to be surprised by what he saw. "Energon," he exclaimed, "Boxed and ready for pick up?"

A noise above him caused him to look up only to see the Nemesis suddenly circle overhead. "Scrap!" he remarked as he tried to climb down the hole faster. Suddenly, his footing gave way and he was unable to hold on. He fell the rest of the way and slammed against the boxed energon, rendering him unconscious as a probe extended from the Decepticon ship.

It picked up the energon, bringing it back up into the ship, Bulkhead along with it.

A/n: I don't really know what that yellow tube thing is called that extends from the Nemesis and picks transformers/other things up. All I know is Bulkhead wasn't exactly saying, "Beam me up, Megsie." Let me know what you thought of this chapter. I hope you enjoyed it.