*I don't own Transformers or anything affiliated with Transformers. I only own my original characters and plots. All rights go to Michael Bay and Steven Spielberg.*
Leaves crunched underneath her bare feet, their slick texture causing her to slip as she ran down the dark, tormenting forest. The dark, long branches snapped at her body as she climbed back on her feet, then continued to sprint down the narrow, wet path. They seemed to try and grab her body, looking like deformed faces in the eerily, dark night. A fearful cry left her panting lips as her foot managing to get tangled in an uplifting root, her body smacking into the cold ground with a wet thud. Panting harshly, Rose slipped in the wet mud trying to pull her aching body back up. Her hair clung to her face in muddy clumps, getting into her wide blue eyes. Wiping the hair from her dirtied face, Rose staggered back onto her bloodied and bruised feet, before taking off again.
As she ran, the already narrowed path started to close in on her. Twigs, trees, bushes, all started to merge together, closing in on her escape. Speeding up, Rose leapt over the branches that tried to slow her down, and ran like she never ran before. Screaming, Rose jumped the last few ft, just squeezing through the small gap. Twigs and thorns scrapped her arm, legs and face as she fell through the gap in a crumbled heap on to her hands and knees. It wasn't over though, as she felt herself start to sink. Opening her eyes, a cry tore from Rose. Mud, and lots of it, was pulling her down into a muddy abyss. She tried yanking her arms free, but to no avail. She just kept sinking.
She was up her neck now, the think mud squeezing her small throat. With a strangled cry, Rose screamed with all her might, her throat burning as mud rushed in and down her throat she did so, choking her. "HELP! PLEASE! SOMEBODY! NOOO-!"
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"-NOOOO….!"
With a scream, Rose shot up from the bed she was on, her heart pounding in her chest and regretted it immediately. White hot, almost blinding, pain shot through her torso, stealing the scream from her lungs. Hands were immediately around her coxing her to lay back down, shuddering breaths retching from her tightly shut mouth. "Hush now, little one. Slow breaths." Doing as instructed, Rose found her breathing returning back to normal. But the pain, however, didn't. A whimper tore from her slightly parted lips, before it turned to full on sobs. Hands came from behind her and pulled her into a hard chest, fingers running through her hair. She panicked slightly, trying to get out of the soft, but firm grip the unknown person hand on her. Her breaths quickening, the pain in her chest started increasing to almost agonisingly.
However, when the unknown person spoke, Rose found herself calming almost immediately.
"Calm yourself, Rose. It is just me, Optimus Prime. Ratchet is in front of you. No harm shall befall you, you have my word." Optimus's voice sounded behind her. Relaxing completely, Rose went limp in his arms, earning a chuckle from both men. Not realizing she hadn't done it before, Rose shot her eyes open, hissing when the harsh fluorescent lights attacked her eyes. "Turn the blooming lights off, would you." She mumbled and went to rub her eyes with her hand, but when something hard whacked her in the face, she reopened them to see her left hand was in a cast. From her elbow, down to her fingers.
Squinting her eyes, Rose brought the bright white cast closer to her face, but her chest gathered her attention first. Her white cami top was gone, and instead there was white bandaging covering her whole chest. Drawing her eyes together, Rose studied her bandaged chest. The bandages covered just below her breasts (and she was thankful she had a bra on, or it would of been a little bit awkward) and halfway down her stomach.
Her wide eyes then travelled down to her right leg, which was also in wrapped up in a bandage, starting from her ankle, to the just beneath her knee. Her eyes also caught the man stood at the foot of her 'Bed'. Her breath hitch slightly, as she took in the form. He had on a dark, navy blue bottom up shirt with a yellow tie, with a white lab coat on over, with light brown pant trousers. Travelling up to the face, the 'man' was raising an eyebrow at her and had his arms crossed. Ignoring him, who huffed, she continued her observation. He looked be in his mid-forties, his dark brown hair greying at the roots, a slight beard, and bright blue eyes.
Eyes widening in realisation, Rose gasped, ignoring the twinge of pain in her chest. "Ratchet?" She questioned, disbelief noticeable in her tone. Ratchet nodded, moving to sit on her bed. "Bu-but, how?" She asked, not believing it. He was a robot, for God's sake! How could be human?! "It's simple really, I just used the…." Zoning out, she asked what they hoped she wouldn't, cutting Ratchet's explanation off. "What happened to me?" She questioned, struggling to remember what caused her be in such a state. She remembered the battle in Mission City, her… mother's death and riding with Optimus. But nothing else.
Optimus, who hadn't said a word, moved from behind her, gently moving her into a sitting positon, gathering pillows to make her comfortable. All the while Rose studied his form. He was wearing a simple white t-shirt that hugged his strong body perfectly, showing off his lean muscles underneath, dark blue jeans covered his long strong legs and black combat boots accented his feet. "Ahem." Jumping slightly, Rose raised her eyes to see that Optimus was staring at her with a raised eyebrow. Blushing, Rose tucked a piece of hair behind her eyes, smiling shyly up at him. Optimus flashed her a smile in return, making her belly do a flip flops. But it soon disappeared, a sad glint returning to his gaze.
She was starting to get anxious now. She felt like there was something she was forgetting. "Okay, come on now guys. Seriously, what happened? I don't remember! And it feels like it's something I should!" She shouted, leaning forward pinning them with worried look. Ratchet frowned, moving toward her. "You shouldn't lean forward like that. You sustained an injury to your neck and I rather you not stress it." He stated, before placing a gentle hand to her neck to inspect it.
But that simple touch to her neck brought all of her memories of the past 24 hours crashing down on her. Her father….. he…. he…..he had hurt her. Tried to kill her!
"I will kill you for what you did."
Her father's chilling voice whispered in her mind, but to Rose it felt like he was in the room with her, his hands tight around her neck, sucking away at her oxygen like a leech. With a piecing shriek that surprised both men, Rose wretched her head away from Ratchet's hands. "Don't touch me! Don't touch me! Stay away from me!" She screamed, eyes tightly closed. Ratchet stood there, momentarily stunned before his codes set in. Rushing forwards, he instructed Optimus to grab her hands. But before Optimus could move, the door to the MedBay smashed open and the human medics ran in, as well as the rest of Autobots.
"What's going on in here!? This is exactly why I been hesitant to let them treat the patient in the first place!" An angered voice boomed through in the small room, frightening Rose even further. Another terrified scream tore from her as she tried to make herself smaller. All heads shot towards her, humans and Autobots sizing each other up. The human medic, who Ratchet didn't know the name of, shoved past a fragged off Ironhide, and stormed over to Rose. But as he got closer, she only screamed louder, curling up more.
And that was the last straw for Ratchet. "Stay right there, do not come any closer." Ratchet ground out, glaring deathly at the human medic. He had an idea. Slowly, he started to back away from Rose, motioning for Optimus to go the same. Standing by the door now, Ratchet turned a annoyed eyes to the smug human medic. "Try and move towards her." He snapped, wanting nothing more to smack the smirk of his face. If this suspicion was correct, he won't be smirking in a minute.
Ratchet, Optimus, Jazz, Ironhide, as well as Will and Epps, watched intently as the human medic walked over to a whimpering Rose.
"Miss Williams? My name Jeffery Yandel, but you can call me Jeff. I am a human medi-"He never got to finish, because Rose's terrified shriek cut him off. Jeffery looked confused and tried to move closer, but Rose grabbed the clock at the side of the table and threw it at his head. Barely moving in time, Jeff moved back toward the door and stood next to William Lennox. "William and Robert. If you could please do the same." Ratchet instructed, motioning towards the girl on the bed, never moving his eyes away from Rose. Casting a wary eye on the girl, they both moved towards Rose, trying the same technique as Jeff. But Rose just screamed and tried to get away.
"Hmmph." Rubbing his chin, Ratchet looked over to Ironhide and motioned with his head to go over to Rose. With a nod, Ironhide slowly walked over to Rose, making sure to keep his hand up so she saw his wasn't armed. "Kid? Kid, It's Ironhide. You are safe." He rumbled, getting farthest than the others.
Sniffing, Rose looked up recognising the voice. She stiffened however when she didn't recognise the man. A whimper tore from her, causing a frown to adorn his holoforms face. That's when it hit him. Understanding came across him, "Rose, this is my holoform, just like what Ratchet and Optimus has. It helps us blend in." He explained, moving to sit on her bed. "H-Hide?" Rose asked, her voice broken and cracked from screaming. Grunting in reply, he gave her a small smile. Rose relaxed slightly, but she still looked uneasy.
:. Alright, you going to tell us this idea of yours, or are you going to have us guess? Although I think I have a suspicion. :. Ironhide asked over the comm. Nodding, Ratchet told them his suspicion.
"Rose is afraid of humans. I am uncertain if it is male and females, or just males in specific. But, she is afraid." He announced, looking everyone in the room. Will and Epps nodded before moving to leave the room, saying if that Ratchet Is correct, that they should limit human contact for now. Will paused however, when he had a thought. "Then how come she's not afraid of Ironhide then?" He asked, looking at Ratchet, but it was Optimus who answered him. "Because we are not human, and she knows that will never harm her, or let harm befall her." He said simply before walking over to Rose. She didn't even flinch. Ratchet nodded, "Simple as that." He repeated, gazing sadly at Rose.
Will signed softly, before taking his leave.
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Authors Note: Sorry for taking forever to update and that this is a short chapter! I'll make it up to you guys! College dropped a shit load of assignments on me and that's what I've been doing! And I had a teeny tiny, mental break down…. So I've been dealing with a lot of crap lately….
Anyway…. Please review, it makes me feel better knowing you guys re enjoying my story!
Meg