Weeks had gone by and Ratchet was working with Janice to help her walk again. At first it all seemed hopeless. He felt that it was going to go nowhere and she was likely permanently damaged, but as the days went by, he could literally feel her getting stronger. Her desire to walk again was so high, she would sweat from the work and never give up.

There were times he'd feel bad because she would occasionally stop to cry, or keep going and tear up. Either way, it was spark-crushing.

He started off by having her do the same routine she had done with Jolt, but when that seemed to work very little, the forearm crutches had finally made their appearance and she slipped them on.

Immediately, she found it easier and had begun her 'rehab'.

"Woah, easy there," Ratchet said, catching her in time before she fell. "No need to go so fast. Take it slow, Janice."

Janice huffed out an agitated groan before continuing. Moving one arm crutch after the other was extremely difficult and Ratchet had his hands on both of her sides, guiding her along. "This.. is.. pointless."

Ratchet glared. "You wanted to do it."

"Yeah," She gasped for air again. "Because I thought it was going to be easy. That, and I'm a female human. I'm supposed to be gullible."

"How gullible?" He asked, slightly confused.

She shrugged. "I was tricked into believing it would be easily done."

He laughed, to her surprise. "Janice, you're not gullible. You're just impatient."

She couldn't help but laugh along with him. "Alright, very funny. Just don't let go of me."

"I would never let go of you," He said, and he sounded so strange. She was too busy thinking about it to realize her knee had come out from under her and she lost her balance. Ratchet wasn't expecting her to fall in that direction, and his grip wasn't tight enough. She fell. "Janice!" He yelled from surprise, quickly getting down to help her. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, I promise," She laughed, to Ratchet's surprise. "I was just thinking about something and I wasn't paying attention."

"What the slag were you thinking about?" He asked as she was finally on her feet again.

"Nothing," She shook it off. Then she smiled. "Ready to go?"

He nodded, "Yeah, but focus this time, huh? You're killing me here." He sighed as he re-positioned himself, making sure he had a firmer hold of her hips.

Janice had to admit, it felt awkward the way he was holding her, but if it was what needed to be done in order for her to have a chance of walking again, then so be it. "Alright, alright." She sighed. One step after another, and finally, she was too tired to continue.

"I think we should call it quits for today," Ratchet sighed, taking his hands off of her.

She nodded in agreement. "Fine by me." She sighed as he brought the wheelchair up to her. She sat down, feeling relief. "Oh wait," She suddenly said, gripping the arms of the chair. Thankfully the wheels were locked, otherwise it would've slid backwards. Ratchet quickly went in front of her, helping her up.

"What?" He asked, grabbing her arms to help her up. She was practically leaning on him. He was shocked when her arms wrapped around his neck in an embrace.

"I just wanted to thank you for helping me." She said, pulling away with a smile.

His shocked expression quickly changed into a smile as he helped her back down. "You're quite welcome, Janice." He began wheeling her back to the inner area of the base. "I forgot to tell you the police contacted me yesterday."

Janice froze. "What did they say?"

"Well, they didn't like how quickly you took off out of the country..," He began, and when he saw her horrified look, he smiled. "You're safe, don't worry. There isn't even a fine. They understood what had happened. I think that's the last I'll talk to them, though. Unless Tom's family decides otherwise."

"I figured I'd have to go to court or something." She looked relieved. "We'll see what happens I guess."

Ratchet shrugged. "They mentioned nothing of it." As they made it to the center of the base, Ratchet released the wheelchair handles. "Feel free to go where you want. I have business to get to and I doubt you'd wanna stick around with me. It gets un-entertaining."

She frowned. "I like being with you." She didn't mean to blurt it, but she knew it was too late now.

Ratchet's head jerked back slightly, a look of surprise all over his face. "Well," He managed to say. "In that case, feel free to come along."

She grinned. "Alright. Wheel me there."

Ratchet groaned as he got behind the wheelchair again and began to push. "You're going to have to learn how to do this on your own," He muttered.

"Oh shush," She smirked.

As soon as they got in the med bay, he wheeled her off to the side and walked away towards his desk. She saw his holoform disappear and then the ambulance, which was already inside, transform into his bipedal mode.

She watched as he walked to his desk and sat behind it, pulling out a data pad. He began tapping his fingers on it. Janice smiled. He was always making himself more busy than he needed to be. When the med bay door suddenly opened, Janice's head snapped towards it.

"Ratchet, it's check-up time," She hadn't had the opportunity to meet this mech personally. Actually, from taking a look at him, she wasn't sure if she wanted to. She'd witnessed his cruel behavior to the twins before. He wasn't as tall as Optimus, but he sure as hell looked like he could take him on. His paint color was black and he had a nice pair of cannons sitting on his arms. "And don't take forever. I have to get back to target practice." He almost had a British accent. She knew him as Ironhide.

Ratchet groaned as he threw the data pad back on the desk and glared up at the other Autobot. "This can't wait?"

"No," Ironhide looked away, and when he did, his optics fell on Janice. She was expecting him to say hello, or something, but instead, he averted his attention back to Ratchet. "I have a date with the shooting range."

"Well," Ratchet began with a sigh as he stood up. "I can already tell by looking at you, that you're suffering from Autobot down-syndrome," Despite the cruelty of the joke, Janice still found herself covering her mouth to prevent the laugh. It hardly worked.

Ironhide growled. "Takes one to know one, old mech."

Ratchet's eyes squinted. "You're older than me," Then he sighed again. "Alright, get your aft over here so I can run the scans." When Ironhide walked over to Ratchet, the medical officer pointed to a table. "Sit on that."

Ironhide obeyed, but his gaze turned towards Janice. "Got yourself an assistant?"

Janice looked taken aback for a second, but then she turned her attention to Ratchet. She wasn't sure why she was shy to talk around the other mech. Maybe it was because he was so intimidating.

Ratchet glanced at Janice. "No, a patient- would you sit still?" He shook his head with a loud puff of exhaling air. "Janice was in a bad car accident. I'm helping her."

"I'll help her," Ironhide joked, smirking at Janice, who couldn't help but smile just a little.

Ratchet shook his head. "Like pit you will. We already have one trigger happy mech on this base, the last thing I need is a trigger happy, crippled human femme." Of course the joke was cruel, but Janice smiled anyway, knowing he was only saying it to mess with Ironhide. Janice watched as Ratchet's hand transformed into some strange looking tool and a red laser shot out. The end of the laser hit Ironhide in his chest, or spark chamber. Ironhide jerked for a second, but then he calmed down.

Janice couldn't help but chuckle at Ratchet and how angry he got when talking to other mechs. She suddenly felt special, because he always talked to her in a civilized manner. She shook her head with a smile.

As the minutes passed by, Janice didn't expect how long the check-up actually was. And then as the hour passed, Ratchet finally stood straight. "Now that you've wasted an hour of my time," He paused. "Get out."

Ironhide smirked as he hopped off the table. "See you next time," He joked as he walked out of the med bay.

"Hopefully you won't," Ratchet mumbled to himself as he put away all the tools he had taken out. Janice noticed his small grin. She could tell that deep down, he really did enjoy his friend's company. He suddenly stopped and stared at her. "I might as well give you yours next."

Janice placed her hands on her wheels. "Want me to come over there?"

He shook his head and activated his holoform. Then he began walking to her. "No, no. I'll come over there." When he got up to her, she was expecting him to wheel her over to the table, but instead he placed a hand behind her back, and slipped the other under her knees, lifting her up in what's known as 'bridal' style.

She wasn't expecting it, and she had wrapped her arms around his neck, hoping she wasn't too heavy for him. He carried her as if she were a feather, and gently sat her on the table so her legs were dangling off. "So, what's the plan?"

He smiled, but didn't look at her right away. "Same thing as Ironhide. Scans. Human technology isn't as advanced as mine." His holoform disappeared and his bipedal mode stood tall and mighty once again.

Janice swallowed hard. "It looked like it hurt, though."

Ratchet looked surprised. "Hurt? Janice, I would never let anything hurt you. Why would I use something that would cause pain?" He smiled as he stepped closer to her, his hand transforming once again into the tool he needed. "You won't feel anything but slight warmth."

She nodded, trusting his words, but when the laser shot out, she tensed. It hit her in the chest, where her heart beat, and a cloak of warmth enveloped her body. It made her shiver when Ratchet was done, as the cold air touched her nerves once again.

"Well?" She asked when she looked at his emotionless face. "That was quick."

He transformed the tool back into his hand and grinned at her. "The check-up procedure is more complicated with Cybertronians than humans. I have to check wires, cables, processors, the such. You're 100% healthy, Janice." Then he activated his holoform. "Just as I suspected."

Walking over to her, he lifted her up as gently as possible, and carried her over to her wheelchair. Sitting her down in it once more, he went to stand up straight, but her arms, which were wrapped around his neck, stayed firm. He was about to ask what she was doing when he was cut short by the feel of something soft against his mouth.

At first he wasn't sure what to do, and his first instinct was to pull away. He didn't mean to do it with so much force, but when he saw her expression, he suddenly felt horrible. She covered her hand with her mouth. "I'm so sorry.. I.. I didn't mean-"

He cleared his throat before turning around. "Um," He began, trying to think of anything to say. "That's quite alright.. I just.. I need to get some work done." His holoform disappeared and his bipedal mode sat behind the desk, still not making eye contact.

"Ratchet, I-"

"I really should get this work done," He interrupted a bit harsher than he intended. "I'm already far behind."

With almost tear-filled eyes, Janice turned the wheelchair around and left the med bay.

"You did what?" Sideswipe's jaw dropped as he stared at Janice with eyes full of disbelief. He laughed and looked away. "Wow. I never thought I'd see the day when somebody had the balls to do that."

"Sides," Janice groaned. "Stop, seriously. I'm not feeling good about the whole thing. Now he hates my guts."

Sideswipe busted out laughing. "Hate you?" He continued to laugh, and Janice found it slightly obnoxious. "Dude, Jan', he loved it. Are you kidding me? You think he hates you? Janice, he's had his optics on you since day one. Trust me." He nudged her arm in a playful manner. "'Member what I told you about the whole when a male Cybertronian finds the femme he wants, he'll go after her?" Janice nodded. "That's what I was talking about!"

Janice raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, except I went after him first.. so.. that's not what you were talking about."

"Okay, so he's too afraid to do it on his own, but," Sideswipe paused with a shrug. "That still doesn't mean he didn't enjoy it."

"He kicked me out of the med bay!" She growled.

"Duh," Sideswipe said. "Because he wanted to have time alone to fantasize about it. Janice, you don't listen to me, do you? I'm a male Cybertronian for Primus's sake! I'm like a younger version of him. Actually," He seemed to contemplate that. "Don't tell him I said that part. Anyway, listen, he liked it. Trust me. Give it a day.. maybe a few hours. He'll come around. Listen to Dr. Sideswipe."

She shook her head, still in denial. "I'd rather doubt it." She sighed and looked towards the med bay. The door were still tightly shut. She could only imagine what he was thinking. He probably thought she was a fool. Just a naive, young, girl.

Sideswipe, who was in holoform mode, put his arm around her. He smirked. "There's always me," He almost said it in a sing-song voice, raising both eyebrows up and down repeatedly.

She laughed and wheeled away a couple inches. "No thanks, Sides. I mean, you're nice an' all-"

"Ouch," He slapped a hand to his chest, where his heart would've been if he was human. "I'll be sure to warn Ratchet you're a spark-breaker," He winked and she couldn't help but crack a smile. Standing up, he began to walk away. "Just listen to me for once, alright? It'll all work out. I gotta go piss of some mechs. I'll catch you later."

By the time he finished, he was too far away to reply to, and Janice huffed out an annoyed sigh before turning her head back to the med bay doors. When she did, her heart stopped. She saw Ratchet walking out and just when she thought he was off to find her, he caught Optimus walking by, and followed him. The two seemed deep in conversation and Ratchet was pointing to a data pad.

She shivered when Ratchet made eye contact with her, and her heart dropped when he turned his back and walked the other way. Trying not to get emotional again, she turned her wheelchair around and headed for the only comfortable place on base for her. The Autobot hangar.

As soon as she wheeled herself inside, she was greeted by a series of hello's from different mechs. She smiled kindly in return and continued to wheel herself until she was at a railing, which had been recently installed on the wall for her use. Her forearm crutches were leaning against the wall next to the railing, but she ignored their presence.

Getting closer to the railing, she locked her wheels and grabbed onto it with her hands. Pulling herself up, she had to use all her strength so she wouldn't fall back down.

"Need help?" She heard Jolt ask. Besides Ratchet, he had been one of her 'trainers' when it came to getting back on her feet.

She shook her head. "No thanks, Jolt. I'm good." When she got on her feet, she could feel the slight tingle in her right leg. "I have nerve," She merely whispered, eyes going wide.

"You sure do," Jolt said with a chuckle as he took a few steps closer just in case she were to fall. "Those railings aren't that sturdy. If Ratchet catches ya without any real support, he'll have a spark-attack."

"No," She shook her head. "I have nerve. In my leg.." Suddenly she felt very dizzy and light headed, and before she could prevent it, she had fallen to the floor and blacked out.

"Janice!" Jolt's optics widened as he dashed to her side. Turning his head far enough to get a look at the others, who were now alert, he yelled, "Get Ratchet immediately!"

I know Jolt wasn't a main character throughout the films, but I figured I should make him a 'kinda' main character in my story. I'm not sure what his personality is like, but I'm just making one up. xD

Thanks for the reviews people! I'm gonna try and start chapter 5 up tonight, but I got major sun burn on my arms from the Pittsburgh Pirate baseball game today and it burns like the fragging pit.. -_- so, we'll see how that goes!