Jayla glared at the irate medical mech.

"Taking care of family business," Jayla spat venomously as Alex, Allen, and Isa were led out into the dead of night.

"Family? I thought Sam-" Ratchet started, then Jayla turned toward him, anger on her on her face, an anger that seemed old. As if it were always with her.

"You wouldn't understand."

~:~

Ratchet stared at the femme as she stormed away. She was right, he did not understand.

He knew one thing about her, though.

Whoever had visited this femme must have opened old wounds, and whatever wounds had been opened would cause a lot more problems than could have been intended.

~:~

"Jayla, we aren't going to be able to hide everything forever," Will pointed out, his heart tugging as he stared at Jayla, knowing she was pained. He also knew his heart was tugging because somewhere inside himself he was still in love with this woman.

"No? I can sure as Hades try," Jay snarled.

Will frowned. He'd never seen her this angry or upset.

"Jayla, why are you acting like this? You act as if that Alex kid did something to you! And with all of the Camp recruits coming, you are even harder on them than the normal mortals," he said, slipping into Greek.

"I have my reasons, Will. I do not wish to share them with you."

"Don't shut me out, Jayla. What happened?!"

Jayla turned toward him.

"I nearly killed a camper. Not Alex. At the Battle of the Labyrinth. Actually, I did kill him, though most people though it was from a hellhound wound. But...Nightshadow killed him. He was...he was a Hermes kid, and I...I killed him, Will, and I didn't mean to!"

Will frowned.

"If it was an accident, then why are you angry?"

"I'm angry because I don't want anyone to find out about...about...about Ireland. If I falter, they'll figure out it was ME who screwed things up, Will! Danu should have killed me!"

"But she didn't."

"She should have! She should have done everything in her power to make my death a nasty, painful one!"

Will scoffed.

"Why would she do that? Why? Why would she kill an innocent girl? Hmm? Why would she kill a nine, nearly ten year old Greek demigod who had been on an airplane, stuffed in my suitcase? Why would Danu kill you when you were so new to the world of the gods?"

"Because, Will, I'm a Legacy. My mother is her great-grandchild. I'm Hephaestus' daughter-the first. I'm the oldest. I should know-"

"No. You were TEN. How were you supposed to know that demigods trespassing in Ireland would be punished by Danu? She didn't curse the group because you promised her ten days of labor for her."

"She cursed him because I didn't want to stay with her for a thousand years, not because of a warning. It's my fault! I asked her to curse the new demigod when it should have been ME!"

"No. You may have asked for one of the team to be cursed, but you didn't know it would be him, okay?"

"THAT'S NOT WHY I FEEL GUILTY! THAT'S ONE OF THE REASONS, BUT NOT THE ONLY ONE!" Jayla screamed at him in Ancient Greek, making Epps come over to her.

"Then why?" Will asked softly.

Tears spilled over her eyes.

"He was my half-brother, Will. That's why."

With that, she stalked away.

~:~

Jayla stormed into the gun room, angry and yet exhausted.

"Your here early," a deep voice said, making Jay start. Optimus Prime was standing there, as though he, too, was planning on training.

"Yeah, I had family over," Jayla said, scowling fiercely.

"Sam was here?"

"No. My...extended family. From my dad's side of the family."

"Your dad's side?"

"Sam is my half-brother. I use Witwicky as my last name because only my mother and father know that I'm not my father's child. I don't think Sam even knows, though I think he suspects." She wasn't sure why she was opening up to Optimus.

"Who is your father?" He sounded genuinely curious, but you could never tell with these Autobots.

"My dad is a mechanic who had sex with my mom and got her pregnant. I was the result. A cursed child." Jayla laughed, a little sourly. She hated telling the 'generic' story. All mothers of the gods had one, unless they hated their kids, which was always a possibility. "Then my father came along, then so did Sam. Little Sammy. He was cute as a baby. Now? Not so much."

~:~

Optimus stared at the girl as she loaded her gun, bullets made of a type of bronze with weird qualities. Nothing that really registered on his initial scan. Then she started shooting, not stopping until the paper target was shredded.

She had some built up hatred for her extended family.

"Why do you hate them?" he questioned as he aimed his weapon at the Autobot-level target.

"Hate who...? Oh, them. I hate them because any time they call, they just want a gods-forsaken job done. Not to just say, "Hey, I missed out on your birthday, here's a present!" But regular, life-endangering missions that they can't do themselves because the 'Ancient Laws' prevent them. Well I'll tell them they can shove their missions down their throats because I'll be damned to Tartarus if I am going to put up with that kind of slag," Jayla seethed. Optimus could practically feel the anger rolling off of her.

"You are angry at your father's side because they are not good parents?" he asked.

Jayla gave a small smile.

"Yes. They are terrible parents. And I wish that...I wish that I didn't have him as my father. Because all he's done for me is curse me and nearly get me killed."

"Does this have to do with your wolf form?"

She tensed as he asked this. She looked at him.

"Yeah, I kind of figured you'd ask about that. Everyone who sees her can't help but ask." Her facial expression darkened. Optimus knew that the human race was complicated…but this was more complicated than he thought. He shot off a few cannon blasts, but waited afterwards until she was done shooting from her gun. When she did, she took a deep breath. "She's my personal baggage. A creature that was inside of me that I can't control-actually, two. The other one I had I suppressed a long time ago." A small smile came on her face. "I miss her, sometimes, chatting aimlessly in my head. But then I remember what she did…and I hate her." The smile was gone, a shield in its place. Jayla holstered her weapon. "Well, Optimus, that was a nice chat and all, but I really have to go." She waved one hand at him.

He watched her go.

That femme was more and more mysterious…a mystery he was determined to see through.