Amber sat in Bluestreak's hand as they left the medbay. She looked down at the Blue Arcee triplet traveling along next to them, accompanied by Gail, Mikaela, Mrs. Collins, and Serena. She had to admit that Bluestreak looked a lot better now that nothing was bent or dented, but she still wasn't happy about the faded and rusty grey paint that covered him.

"Gail wasn't it, Dear?" Helen asked the Captain as they walked back towards to the Barracks.

"Yes, Ma'am." The Captain answered easily.

"You don't have to bother with the 'Ma'am', just call me Helen." She said quickly. "Now… as I was going to ask… is there a hot tub on this base that Amber can use? After being thrown out of a van like that, it's a certainty that she'll have sore muscles. That means she needs a hot tub or a Jacuzzi to help with that, and she could probably do with another Hot Toddy as well."

"Actually there are several hot tubs on base. Six of them are co-ed, one is female only, and the last is men only. The two single gender hot tubs are reserved for Officers while the rest are for anyone to use at their leisure." Gail answered after thinking for a moment.

"Excellent! I'll meet you at the barracks where I found you earlier. I'll head home, fix the Hot Toddy, and meet you there. That will give you ladies time to get ready." Helen said before she hurried off.

"Ratchet says that an hour or so in a hot tub is exactly what Amber needs right now. A good hot soak will sooth her aches and pains without resorting to any type of pain killers. It will also help her relax mentally and emotionally as well." The Blue Arcee unit chimed in after relaying the conversation to the CMO.

"Sounds like we have a plan then." Mikaela said with a smile. "Hot tubs are great, but I don't often get the chance to use one."

"In that case, go grab your gear and meet us back at Amber's Barracks." Gail said smiling at the idea of relaxing a bit.

Amber sat in Bluestreak's hand all the way back to the barracks that she was staying in. She'd kept silent the whole way because she didn't know how to tell Gail and the others that there was no way she could join them. It wasn't until Rachel and Mikaela showed up as Bluestreak was setting her down that she realized she would have to tell them.

"What's wrong Amber? You like hot tubs don't you?" Gail asked as she noticed the way Amber seemed to be moping a bit.

"I… I don't have a swimsuit." She whispered pensively.

Mikaela's mouth fell open for just a brief second before she frowned as she looked over at the others. "Well crap!" She muttered disgustedly. "I'm the smallest one here, and I don't have one that will fit her."

"I brought a couple of spare bikinis for Gail and who ever else is on duty, along with one for me, but I don't have anything that small either." Rachel added sourly.

Gail frowned for a moment, while deep in thought, before she brightened back up. "No problem! We'll just have to use the Officer's Hot Tub for women only. You can stay in your under wear for today; but just make sure you bring some dry spares with you, Amber."

All three of the Gatekeeper's present desperately wanted to know why Amber didn't have a swimsuit, but at the same time, they also didn't dare ask. That was a clear and blatant violation of the rules and regulations they operated under. Mikaela was under no such restrictions.

"Why don't you have a swimsuit, Amber?" Mikaela asked in disbelief. She couldn't understand why someone wouldn't have one, even if they didn't use it very often.

"Because my Papas never let me go to a public pool; so they never bought me one. The only times I got to swim was on their camping trips and they always wanted me naked so I wouldn't get my clothes wet." Amber stated softly.

Because she was looking down at the ground, Amber never saw the hardening in the faces, enraged expressions, the angry eyes, or even the looks of disgusted outrage from those around her.

"Ratchet said that Bluestreak can select a different alt mode today. So later today, we'll go into town with him and we'll get you a proper swimsuit if I have to pay for it myself!" Gail stated firmly.

Amber looked up at the woman in surprised disbelief. She could tell from the tone of her voice that Gail was a lot more than just angry… she was positively livid! She couldn't understand why the woman would be mad because she didn't have certain clothes, and she tried to protest.

"But… but… I… I don't have any money to pay for it." Amber stammered almost in tears.

"So? No one asked you to pay for it!" Gail answered sharply.

"I'll pitch in!"

"I'm in!"

"Count me in too!"

"Sorry Ladies… but you'll have to sit this one out, because I'm going to buy Amber what she needs!" Arcee replied from her blue frame with out sounding the least bit apologetic about it. "Your Government has been giving me a pay check every month for me to use on things I might need. Since I don't actually need all that much, I have more than enough to cover a few things for Amber."

"But I can't…" Amber began in protest.

"Listen to me Amber!" Arcee said as she placed both of her hands firmly on Amber's shoulders. "Bluestreak is a friend of mine. A very good friend… he has been for a very long time. Many thousands of your years, and I know with out a single doubt that he would do the same for me if our roles were reversed. Now whether you are willing to admit it or not, we are your friends Amber. That means we help each other out when it's needed. Right now, you are the one that needs the help of your friends. That means we… your friends get to step up to the front line! Like you, Bluestreak has saved my life as well. The only difference is; he's saved my life more than once! Right now his programming compatibility issues means that he needs to help you, but he doesn't have any money right now, and I do! So I will purchase what you need, and I want no more arguments out of you about it, understand?"

"I still can't pay for anything!" Amber wailed almost in tears.

"You're right. So how about we work this out in trade? I know of three motorcycles that have all kinds of grime and grease in the wheel wells and they are absolutely covered in dust and grit. You wash and wax those bikes; I get the things you need and we'll call it even… how's that?" Arcee replied reasonably.

"Okay!" Amber said nodding her head with a new enthusiasm. "That sounds fair."

"Good! I'll enjoy getting properly clean for once, because it isn't at all easy to work on yourself like that." Arcee said with a smile.

Bluestreak had kept silent during this conversation on advice from Arcee, and he saw immediately that she was right; she did know how to handle it! He was so glad that she was willing to help him with Amber. Not only had she been on Earth longer, and therefore knew more about humans than he did, but she was also a femme and therefore would know more about other femmes than he did. It didn't really matter that Arcee was a bot, and Amber was human, they were both femmes who could understand each other on that level. Then there was the fact that Arcee was not only better at dealing with others than he was, she was also much better at dealing with sparklings than he was! He could readily see that her greater experience had made all the difference in the world.

"So… I think you need to grab a towel, and some spare clothes Amber. Then we can all go relax in a hot tub. I don't know about you, but it's been a pretty good while since I was last in one, and I am really looking forward to this!" Mikaela smiled.

"Okay." Amber said as she went inside.

A couple minuets later, Amber came out with Gail and Serena right behind her. She had grabbed a trio of towels, a change of underwear, which was hidden between the towels, and a hair brush.

"Bluestreak, I'm going to need you to stay here. This is a female only hot tub, and others might not appreciate that you are only trying to keep an eye on Amber. Serena, Rachel, Mikaela, and I will be with her, so we'll be able to make sure that nothing happens to her, okay?" Gail explained patiently.

Gail had seen and now understood just how… obsessive Bluestreak was about Amber's safety. She didn't want or need any type of incident right now, and she certainly didn't want to provoke any violence from Bluestreak or Amber, because she had also seen how fervently Amber would defend her friend.

"I'm not exactly sure if this is appropriate or not, so I'll just ask… is it okay if I come with you?" Arcee asked hesitantly.

Gail opened her mouth to reply, but then quickly shut it as she thought about the request for a moment. "Honestly… I have no idea!" She finally said with a shake of her head and a look of confusion on her face.

"You are an Officer, so you have the right to use the Officer's facilities. There hasn't been any stipulation that says you can't use the hot tub, but there isn't one saying that you can either." Gail said as she racked her brain.

"I say go for it! If someone has a problem with it, then we'll deal with it then… otherwise, no harm, no foul." Gail added with a shrug.

"Good." Arcee exclaimed. "In that case Bluestreak, I'll also be keeping an optic on Amber. Since it's females or femmes only, I won't be giving you a feed of her status, but I will let you know how she's doing."

"Thank you Arcee. It's not easy knowing that Amber has to go places that I can't, so I'm lucky to have others who can help take care of her. I really don't know what I'd do if I didn't have friends who can help me watch over her. She hasn't been any trouble to take care of even though I haven't had what she needs. I will say that Amber is very nice to talk to because she never tries to ask about something I'm not supposed to talk about. She doesn't even ask about the bad stuff I remember." Bluestreak said quickly.

"I don't ask about that, and I not going to either!" Amber stated firmly. "That's something you want to forget, so I'm sure not going to keep reminding you about it by talking about it, or asking about it!"

"That's good Amber. Bluestreak can be very disturbed by some of the things he's been through, and instead of helping, talking about those things only makes it worse by making him feel bad. I'm sure you also have things you don't want to think about or remember, so you know exactly how such things can make you feel, it's the same for Bluestreak. I know that a lot of humans will look at us and see only a machine…" Arcee finished with a sound of disgust.

"But I can see that you're different. We feel love, hate, anger, and pain just like you do. We have the same emotions, and we can also be hurt and even killed. So even though we are composed of various metals and energon while you are flesh and blood, we are a lot alike." She added gently as the group of females and femme headed towards the cluster of buildings to go enjoy the hot tub.

"I know… Bluestreak told me how it hurt him when I was scared and banging on his doors. He got hurt some more when my Papas shot him… the whole time he was running from them he was only scared because they were going to kill me. I think that made him a little mad." Amber replied quietly.

Arcee smiled a bit at that. She knew that Bluestreak had been far more than 'a little mad' at those men, but she didn't need to say so. "That's true Amber, but he did the right thing in getting you away from them, so don't think about that anymore, okay? Instead, I want you to think about how a nice hot soak is going to feel." Arcee instructed easily as they continued walking to the human rec facilities.

The small group entered the locker room just outside the gender restricted Hot Tub facility; Gail directed each of them to a locker to put their clothes in. Then she turned to Arcee.

"Since you don't have any clothes, I don't think you need a locker, but there will be plenty of towels to dry off with once we're done." Gail told the Autobot.

"That would be appreciated, Gail. Our frames don't rust easily, but it can happen, and that's as serious an issue to us as amputation is to you." Arcee replied with a light smile.

As the women began changing into their bathing suits, Arcee began removing her armor. Rather than subspacing her armor, Arcee actually removed it to place in a neat stack next to a bank of lockers. She did that because, she was certain that no one would appreciate the road grime, dust, and other gunk that had stuck to it. It wasn't until she was in her bare protoform that she turned to look at Amber.

"Amber, just remove your clothing, but leave your underwear on. You can put everything in the locker that Gail showed you." Arcee said gently.

"Yeah, just relax a little… besides, it's not like you have anything we don't see anytime we look in a mirror." Mikaela added easily.

Amber nodded her head while swallowing hard. She was nervous because this would be the first time she had ever taken off her clothes around anyone other than her Pappas. She took the ribbon out of her hair, and then sat on the bench in front of the lockers to take off her shoes and socks. Then, she took a deep breath and removed her blouse. Standing up to take off her belt and skirt, she never saw the hardened, even angry expressions of the others. Gathering up her clothes, she put everything in the locker and turned around to face Gail.

Gail was pissed! Even with the Military discipline and training that had been driven into her, it had taken a few seconds to get control of her expression. There were a lot of bruises that covered Amber's upper arms and thighs. Some had faded until they were almost gone, but she could readily see that there was a multitude of ages on those bruises ranging from a couple of days to as much as two weeks. That was when she knew… just knew that Amber had been subjected to multiple rapes over a period of time.

Now she began to understand why the girl often seemed so nervous around other people, and absolutely avoided being touched by others. Being raped once was a truly horrible experience for anyone to go through, but those bruises showed that Amber had clearly been forced to endure that humiliating and terrifying experience more than just a few times. It was something that made Gail madder than hell, but at the same time, her heart ached to help Amber as much as she could. A sudden and firm resolve filled every fiber of her being as she became more than just determined to do exactly that.

Arcee said nothing as she continued to remove her armor. She could readily see the quickly veiled by enraged expressions on everyone of the women present. Although she tried valiantly to conceal her raging emotions, Mikaela was actually shaking with the need to express or release them. She was sure that the same intensity was also present in each of the soldiers, but they were simply better trained to hide their feelings.

As soon as Arcee finished removing her armor, she turned to face Amber and flashed the girl a nervous smile. "I've never been in my protoform around anyone other than a medic, or my creators."

"Protoform?" Amber asked in confusion. "What's that?"

"My protoform is my bare frame, with no weapons or anything, so it's exactly like being naked." Arcee answered honestly.

Amber looked at the Autobot who was now maybe six feet tall, with very thin arms and legs. In fact, if Amber were to try to describe the bot she would say that the bot was spindly. Knowing that Arcee was now standing naked among them, actually made Amber feel much less nervous and self-conscious about being in her underwear.

"I may not be naked, but a kinda feel that way." Amber said dejectedly as she stared down at what she was left wearing.

Mikaela looked at Amber's underwear and noticed that they were very lacy for someone as young as Amber was. While not quite in the category of racy and sexy lingerie, they were fairly close. She could easily understand why the girl was nervous about being in her underwear.

"Yeah, well just relax and don't worry about it Amber, because the only one here with something the rest of us haven't seen before is Arcee." Mikaela said conspiratorially; before she leaned closer to speak in a loud whisper that everyone could hear. "And I'm not sure she's going to give us a better look… so gawk while you can!"

Arcee started laughing. She couldn't help it. Mikaela had said exactly what Amber needed to hear to assuage some of the fear and apprehension. Then she noticed that her laughter was also alleviating some of the girl's tension, so she kept it up for just a few more seconds. That brief moment was enough for Amber's vital signs to almost drop back to normal. Seeing that, the Autobot contacted Ratchet via comm signal.

(Ratchet, I am sending you scans of some bruising that I can now see on Amber's upper arms and thighs.) Arcee said over her comm.

(I know about the dermal injuries. I detected those bruises when I first scanned her. Unfortunately, there isn't anything that can be done except to allow them to heal naturally. That Hot Tub is going to help with that and many of her other physical ailments.) Ratchet replied the same way.

"Well, none of you will be able to see anything once I'm in the water, so you'd better look while you have the chance." Arcee taunted playfully before she held her hand out to Amber. "Come on Amber, let's both go and relax a bit… shall we?"

Amber was a little hesitant as she reached out and accepted Arcee's hand. She knew the Autobot Femme was actually naked, while she was still wearing some clothes. Granted she was in her underwear, but still. Another thing that had helped ease some of her fear was that the other four women had actually need to strip completely naked in order to change into their swimsuits, but they hadn't asked, or even hinted that she do the same.

Amber was holding Arcee's hand as they followed Gail into a smaller room. The other three women were behind them, with each of them bringing a towel and Rachel carrying a thermos as well. She could only hope that the Hot Tub was going to feel as good as they kept saying because she really needed that.