Woo part 2! I think I'll most likely stop the story after the next chapter, a final encounter if you will. Because I don't have anymore thoughts after the next encounter.

Hope you enjoy!

He kept seeing himself getting trampled over by humans and robots alike. There was blood splattered against the rock that wasn't just energon, but the dark red of the organics as well. Bullets and other primitive weapons alike sang through the air causing his skin to crawl and fur to stand on end, while his hydraulics and muscles quivered with fear and excitement. The pounding of feet caused him to turn but too late, his back feet were swept out from under him. Cheetor turned onto his back out of instinct lashing out with all four paws and bearing his teeth. The attacker was not deterred and in the classic cheetah fashion clamped his teeth around his prey's hroat. Cheetor didn't have lungs per se but he did have energon vessels that were now being cut off. The bot kicked and slashed at the other cat drawing blood but to no avail. It wasn't until he finally sliced the cat's cut open with his claws as he transformed did the animal back off.

Cheetor scrambled backward as did his opponent, holding his throat that was bleeding far more than he wanted them to. He looked for his attacker that was pacing a circle around him. The big yet sleek cheetah panted, but his mouth was closed, signally he still meant business. Cheetor saw light colored brown eyes but the markings on the face were very familiar. Unlike other cheetahs he had almost straight curves for the fur touching his eyes then curving around his muzzle. Blood dripped slowly onto the ground, it became less and less as the wound on the cat closed up with alarming speed. It turned with teeth bared and hackles raised, leaping toward the Autobot.

Energy pulsed with frightening speed as Cheetor pulled himself out of stasis, the snarl still ringing in his ears as he tried to get his bearings. When he first tried to move his body sang with pain and he immediately was subdued into remaining still. He took a moment to cycle air through his systems, or in an organics eyes, take a long calming breath. It was dark, perhaps it was still night? Or the next night even. The sound of a rhythmic hum circled around him, he also became highly aware that he was chained to the device he was in. Cheetor was about to panic when he recalled, as if a distant dream what he'd done before he'd passed out. His fellow Autobots had been startled by his presence and his bad memories with the two legged organics hadn't helped his first impression at all.

The feline bot opened his eyes and glanced around, he'd only been inside one of these before, a CR chamber. Cheetor glanced down where the pain was and was a bit horrified to see a long precise slice from his side almost all the way to his shoulder. Whatever had happened his healing systems adapted alongside the cheetah's version had already closed the wound quickly and nanytes were already replacing the missing fur. His diagnosis screen flew up to his eyes and he was pleased to see that all of his functionalities as a Cybertronian had been restored. If he'd even had the ability to access the humans world wide web he would've been able to at least find all the little sitings that the indigenous people took of his fellow Autobots.

Surfing the web would have to wait, Cheetor was currently more concerned about the fact that he was restrained. He hoped he could persuade them that he wasn't a monster. At least, he remembered that was a word thrown out there when he was first noticed.

Heavy feet shuffled around outside the chamber, so someone was around but obviously not in a hurry. Cheetor could feel the electronic pulses of the other living being through his long forgotten scanner. He'd had dulled senses for what seemed like forever that all of this electronic aid almost overwhelmed his senses. Not only did he have electrons and other energies tell him information but he could feel the rumble of all the activity outside through his skin, feet and ears. Cheetor had to dial back some settings so that he wasn't getting too distracted by one or the other.

His restlessness finally was noticed by the bot on the outside and light flooded the chamber as a privacy button somewhere was pressed to remove the opaque color from the glass. Cheetor turned away from the light for a moment till his sight adjusted and he saw who was standing outside. It was the one Arcee had called… what was his name… Ratchet? Yeah that was it, the medic.

The larger Autobot knelt next to the door to examine Cheetor with his optics first, then opened the chamber up. Cheetor couldn't help but shrink back a little.

"Easy, Cheetor, I'm not going to hurt you." Ratchet assured him as he expertly pulled the bot's face forward by the chin so he could look into his optics closer with a light. Satisfied he let go of his patient, "How are you feeling?"

"Um… ok I guess." Terrified.

"I managed to reengage all of your damaged systems, it seemed like your organic body rejected a lot of the robotic pieces so didn't finish repairing them, as June would say… treated them like the appendix of a human." he examined the incision he'd made.

"Ok… " he didn't know what a June, human or an appendix was but he would get to that, "How long have I been out?"

"Three days at least, had you on an energon drip most of the time but you are quite the healer. I had to venture into a whole new kind of medicine for your surgeries."

"What do you mean? I'm all the same on the inside ain't I?"

"Not exactly, you have all the same parts essentially but you scanning another living being has significantly changed the design of them." the doctor stood up, scanning Cheetor's face with his optics, "Why don't you tell me about your job before you crashed, were you alone in your ship?"

Cheetor clenched his teeth as he felt something pinch, "Um… I was a scout, also aaaaa…. apprentice to one of the scientists from the Ark when I wasn't repairing the ship." he took a breath when the pinching feeling finally stopped and he looked down to see Ratchet had removed a few stitches where the cut had been the deepest. Luckily the nanytes had finished their repair work.

"A well rounded young bot I see, could use more of that around here." Ratchet finally stood up and gave Cheetor one more look over.

"More like, undermanned and with no choice. You're… not scared of me?" Cheetor asked.

Ratchet seemed surprised by this, "Why should I be scared of you?"

"Because… I'm like this?"

"Ah, well, it's not my job as a doctor to judge you unworthy of medical attention just because you're a bit stranger than the next bot. I took an oath, and a lot of risks bringing you back. Arcee speaks highly of you for only knowing you a few days and that femme bot does not give out compliments easily." he folded his arms, "My only concern is your reaction to the humans."

"Humans?"

"The two legged organics that startled you in the ground bridge room. Those are our friends and allies, as well as everyone on this base."

Cheetor arched an eye ridge, "There's nice ones?"

"Yes, there is nice ones, and until I'm certain you're not going to… snap… you'll remain under guard or restraint. Your form is… too predatory to leave you alone."

"It's not like I've eaten any organic flesh… had this been an open field I would've run the other way." the prospect of being a prisoner with his own allies made his skin crawl and sadness made his spark cold.

"It's not just my professional opinion, it's also the orders of Prime himself. He must keep the humans safe, they are after all, the species on this planet that Megatron threatens the most with his schemes." Ratchet ended on a note that had finality on it. Cheetor huffed, his fur standing a little in his frustration. He actually felt a bit sick, so many emotions running through his systems at the moment. Relief, pain, anger, excitement, disappointment. The minibot decided it wasn't best to kick a gift bot in the mouth. He could still be out there, void of any company except Nakeeta, he wondered how she was doing. Probably chasing baby animals to eat. Forgetting him already…

Ratchet wasn't as harsh in Cheetor's restraints as the cat bot thought he would be. Currently the humans weren't in the compound so he allowed the cat bot to at least sit without being restrained, but within his sight at all times. He said that the other Autobots were out on a mission as well so it was just them. Cheetor took this time to catch up on the civil war. The news was to say the least, a bit disheartening. Soon though, Cheetor hoped to be allowed to work with the team against Megatron. He'd been sitting idly on this planet for too long. Despite this, Cheetor decided he liked Ratchet. The medic was realistic even if it hurt, the truth hurt over less time than a lie. Despite Cheetor's condition, he didn't approach it as judgmental but rather curious, fascinated at what the Cybertronian's body had achieved under severe damage and lack of energon.

"I suppose I shouldn't be surprised, the Predacon that's been running around shows the diversity our bodies can take on." Ratchet said, tinkering with a broken park at his desk.

"Arcee mentioned this Predacon… what is it?" Cheetor suddenly tensed then slammed his hand down on a bolt that went rolling toward him causing all of the other bits to jump and Ratchet to look at him oddly. He cleared his audio processor and handed the bolt back to the doctor as he silently cursed the cat.

"A baby in the grand scheme of things, but a fast learner and not one you'd want to tango with."

"Tango?"

"Oh… I mean fight with. Shockwave attempted to create a whole fleet of them but… I think Predaking's performance on the battlefield and desire to be a leader of his fellows… intimidated Megatron just a little bit."

"So what happened?"

"Tricked us into destroying the other developing Predacons… now Predaking's out for our sparks." Ratchet said almost nonchalantly. This medic had seen way too much to be bothered by this kind of news, they had after all, been fighting a very long time.

Cheetor began pacing the room after a time, the light was already slanting through the windows turning orange. His skin crawled as he thought of large open spaces, laying down next to tree and just watching the sun set. A sense of longing grew painfully in his spark. He couldn't just sit inside, these concrete and steel walls that rattled with the wind and prevented him from seeing forever into the horizon.

Ratchet watched the Autobot closely, the poor fellow seemed nervous all around the longer he had nothing to do. He paced quickly back and forth, once in a while a soft growl would escape his throat. The doctor was going to show Cheetor how to use some of their systems but he got a call from Optimus that they were ready to come home. Nothing significant to report. That was always a good day to Ratchet, less him stressing over his ever breaking patients and dwindling supplies. Cheetor perked up at the news of other Autobots, or perhaps his excitement was to hide his nervousness.

The medibot put aside the data he was going over, "You can stay here in the bay if you don't think you can handle a big crowd."

Cheetor swallowed up the shuddering his body seemed to want to do, "I'll be fine, might as well get it over with right?"

"Not always, but if you think you're up to it." Ratchet led the way.

Meeting the rest of the squad was the absolute last thing Cheetor wanted to do, but he could feel it, there were two streams of thought going on in his head. One was to run away, being alone was safe, you wouldn't get crushed or threatened by these giants, the other kept telling the other voice to calm down, that these were allies and wouldn't crush him. The closer they got to the bridge room the louder voice number one grew. Cheetor stopped just behind Ratchet as he pulled all of the controls and set them, bringing the ground bridge alive. The whirring sounds of light and time caused Cheetor's fur to stand on end a little. The urge to run was tremendous at this point.

Then the familiar color he'd come to love came streaking through the bridge, the bike transformed once she got inside and Arcee stretched her struts. Her face lightened up when she saw him, "Cheetor! Up on your feet!" she exclaimed.

"Yeah…" he said a bit shyly, "Nice wheels by the way, maybe when I'm fully functional you can take me to find one myself!" he wasn't sure why he didn't feel as excited about the prospect as he should've.

"Sounds like a great idea!" Arcee smiled, touching his arm momentarily.

Just at the end of her sentence a rather large hulking green mech plodded on through, followed by the one he believed was the one he'd attacked first thing. Then came the red, green and white one. Cheetor lost his nerve a bit when the big blue and the big red Autobots stepped through the portal. He recognized Ultra Magnus and Optimus Prime, although the big bot must've gotten some upgrades since he last saw him. The beast bot's ears lay back and his tail twitched to match his mood.

"Awww look the kitty cat is awake." said big green.

Yellow just made a funny low beeping sound but Cheetor got the idea that he was displeased.

"Aw come on just because he's faster on his feet than you." chuckled a yellow and blue mech.

"Easy, you guys." Arcee said firmly.

The Autobots made way for Optimus to walk forward. Oh boy he was a lot bigger than Cheetor remembered, or had he gotten smaller? He couldn't help but take a few steps back and stare at the floor. The bot couldn't help but let a tiny growl slip in frustration, he used to be so disciplined, he could stand and take the worst verbal punishment from the leadership but here Optimus hadn't said a thing and he was already planning his getaway.

Optimus seemed to realize this, so actually knelt down so that he was at the minibot's level and held out his hand, "Welcome, Cheetor, I'm glad we found you. Although I wish it had been sooner, so you wouldn't have had to suffer alone."

The beast bot perked a little, but his ears were still back. He stepped forward and shook Optimus' hand, "Slag happens." was all he could say. A bit of the tension was relieved and he didn't feel quite as ready to run. Introductions were made, for Bulkhead, who seemed strong but soft in his demeanor. Smokescreen who greeted Cheetor with a vigorous handshake, not seeming to be bothered at all by the situation.

Bumblebee took a bit of convincing though. The cat could see where repairs had been done to his armor, anymore shredding and Cheetor would've gotten to his vulnerable protoform metal and done a lot of serious damage. However after a bit of chat, Bumblebee finally shook Cheetor's hand, beeping something along the lines of 'it's cool, let's just not repeat the experience'.

Then it was Wheeljack's turn to greet Cheetor, however he simply folded his arms and frowned at the beast bot. Cheetor's tail now twitched for a very different reason. He felt the cat's urge to chase off this intruder. The engineer still thought Cheetor was a monster, this was obvious. Actually no, he was the one who made it the most obvious. Cheetor could see out of the corner of his optics as reports were filed and minor wounds were checked. They all side glanced him, wondering why he'd taken on such a strange form.

It had been for survival.

Cheetor continued to stare back at Wheeljack till Ultra Magnus intervened and pulled Cheetor aside, mentioning something about getting a proper debrief done.

Later that evening Cheetor was allowed to sit outside since the base's activities had gone to sleep. Talking with the boss bots had taken an exhausting long time. His voice box actually hurt, at least Ratchet had paused on occasion. Cheetor hadn't spoken this much since before the crash.

He jumped when something glowing was held next to him. It turned out to be an energon flask and the bot offering was Smokescreen.

"Ah… thank you." Cheetor took the flask and out of habit sniffed it's contents before partaking. Energon used to smell like nothing to him, now it just smelled alluring. Drawing him in like the cat was drawn to prey.

Smokescreen nodded and smiled, "Have you chosen a new form yet?" he asked as he sat down next to the minibot.

"What?"

"You know, you gonna be a classic two wheeler or maybe one of those… what do humans call them… quads?" he plucked at Cheetor's mane, "Can't be like this forever, especially here… it's not exactly a native animal."

Cheetor couldn't help but swat the car's hand away rather sharply but he missed thankfully, "I don't know, Ratchet said I can't scan anything till my body's recovered from the surgery. With how much my body has adapted to the… the cat…. he said he's not sure what would happen."

"Hmmm you're body goes back to it's natural state and forgets the cat forever?"

"Is everything simple with you?"

"No, but I figure the process can't be that difficult to switch back and forth. I mean, you became the cat in the first place right?" Smokescreen's offer at hope seemed to make the cat uncomfortable, "Look, I'm pretty new to this group myself, but Ratchet has worked wonders out of nothing. Bumblebee's transforming cog was beyond repair and he fixed that. I'm sure he can help you get back to snuff and into a proper Autobot body."

"So that defines a proper alternate mode?" one ear went up and the other down, "It has to have wheels or jets?"

"Well…. uh…. " Smokescreen realized the hole he'd dug himself.

"What about Predaking? I saw his records earlier today, he's a natural form from Cybertronian matter, simply adapted to the creatures around him when wheels and jets weren't available."

"Yeah, you're right. I guess…" Smokescreen looked up, "Sorry, I didn't mean to come off as a jerk."

Cheetor's face relaxed and his ears returned to their regular positions, "I know I'm weird, but I've come to respect the animals of this planet, not that I don't miss racing along some nice smooth road ways with my wheels."

"Are you going to stay this way?"

The cat leaned back and stared up at the stars, "Hmm, I say one thing and the cat says another."

"The cat?"

"It's what i've started calling it." he sipped his energon, "For a very long time the cat dominated who I was, and for a while I'm sure I just let it. I was very alone and very scared, hurt. Letting the cat run who I was helped ease the pain."

Smokescreen wasn't sure he understood, but he didn't say anything, he didn't want to frag up this conversation anymore than he had. Cheetor didn't add that he now thought that the cat was kind of an alternate personality, having weaseled its way into his core processor. The high powered car looked up when someone approached and stood up, giving Cheetor a pat on the shoulder saying everything would work out one way or another.

Cheetor perked up when Arcee joined him on the steps, "How're ya holdin' up?" she asked.

"Well, I haven't tried to eat any of your squad mates and they haven't tried to kill me, so I think it's all going well."

"That's good." she sighed heavily, "If Wheeljack gives you any trouble… please let me know."

He withheld his aggressive remarks and instead said, "I understand his issues with me."

"That's not acceptable, you are an Autobot like us."

"Not exactly like you anymore." Cheetor smiled, "Besides, with so many betrayals and plots from the Decepticons you'd think his behavior was normal. I'm surprised the others accepted me as pleasantly as they did after… my episode."

"Ratchet told me you've been talking about Earth and the humans, what do you think of them?" Arcee asked. She wasn't accusatory, but there was an edge to her voice.

Cheetor leaned forward on his knees, fiddling with the flask, "I had bullets lodged into places I couldn't get to, Arcee, I'm not sure I can forgive them."

The femme hoped this wouldn't be a problem, "Why does it have to be all of the human's fault? It was hunters from a whole continent away, these humans are not hunters. You're blaming all of the humans like you expected all of us to be completely suspicious of you." he stood up suddenly and walked a short distance away from her, "Cheetor…"

"I just… I just can't…. I'm sorry." he slumped a bit, feeling ashamed that he wasn't able to overcome the past for the future. Arcee didn't say anything for a time, then he heard her get up and walk toward him. She tugged at his wrist for him to turn around.

"Look, I don't expect you to forget, but I hope someday you can forgive humanity for what it's done to you." she touched the place where Cheetor had managed to dig a bullet out himself, "Although the humans can be troublesome, we wouldn't be where we are today without them."

He turned her words over in his mind and looked out over the human base. They weren't present but he could smell them, pungent with sweat, sharpened by gunpowder. Scents that caused his fur to stand on end and his body to tense for action. Then he turned back to Arcee and her sweet and soothing aura made him forget all that. Being near all of the Autobots helped him feel less threatened now that he was certain all… or most of them weren't going to shun him completely.

"I can't make any promises, but you all seem to hold them dear to your sparks. I know Optimus Prime wouldn't defend a race that hadn't shown the qualities he holds dear."

"Optimus would defend anyone helpless, even if they were evil." Arcee quipped, "But I digress." she smiled, "I know it's hard, and thank you for trying." she recalled the time she'd had a chat with Miko on the mountain, it seemed like Cheetor was going to have a similar journey to make in his spark. Arcee recalled the rage she felt when her partners perished and then found out who'd done it. She'd almost forgotten unconditional compassion for a very long time, it was still easier said than done with her painful memories but it was those times she looked to Optimus as an example.

In the distance a coyote yapped at the moon, a snake slithered somewhere around the corner and a rat scampered past their feet. Cheetor looked up when a night hawk swooped under the lamps trying to get at the bugs that buzzed to the tune of their light.

"The pain never stopped while I was lost, did it?" Cheetor asked without executing an answer.

Arcee cast her optics to the big dark blue above them, "No, but it's whether you let it rule you is the next question. This experience I know with a lot more intimacy than I care to have."