Those methods were, uh, unorthodox.

I stepped on the gas, the bag of foot slung across my shoulder as I sped away. Half an hour later, once I'd put some good distance between myself and the restaurant, I stopped behind an old motel, shrouded by foliage, and began eating. I stopped at hamburger number three, trying my best to pace myself as I devoured fries.

After, I laid in silence. The urge to drift off and sleep was tempting, but I pushed it aside. Sleeping was becoming an ordeal — I had no clue if I'd be visited by the metal woman or if I'd accidentally make contact with Savoy. I could barely control who I reached out to, and getting caught off guard was the last thing I wanted to happen.

The moon slipped behind a few clouds, blanketing everything in darkness. I heard the howl of a dog and the ringing of sirens in the distance. My eyes began to slip shut, and I let them. Just for a little while…

Tires squealed against asphalt, snapping me out of my trance. I scrambled to my feet, fingers tearing into the dirt as I immediately hauled my bike up. Before my ass could even hit the seat I was blinded by headlights.

I shielded myself, adjusting to the brightness.

Instead of dropping, my heart soared.

"What the hell, Bee?" I stumbled across the parking lot, bracing my hand against the yellow Camaro. "You almost gave me a heart attack!"

The door to the drivers side popped open, and from inside, a voice chirped, "My bad."

The door shut behind me, and I found myself finally relaxing. I glanced into the mirror. I didn't even recognize the girl staring back at me — she had dark, red circles under her eyes, disheveled hair, and skin flecked with blood.

"You doing okay?"

As Bumblebee pulled out of the parking lot, I sighed. My head lolled to the side as I resisted the urge to pass out. Bee's seats were comfortable. Much, much more comfortable than that of a motorcycle. I drawled, "Nah, man. I'm not okay. Oh, God. Bee, Ratchet is dead."

Bumblebee was silent. The atmosphere shifted as I closed my eyes.

"We went to the outpost, the ferry. Cemetery Wind found us. They slaughtered Ratchet," I wiped away a stray tear. "Bee, please tell me you know where everyone else is?"

"I wish I knew, little lady."

I let out the breath I'd been holding, steadying my breathing. In mere moments sleep took me, and for once, my dreams were peaceful. No metal woman, no Savoy.

When I woke, there was abundance of sunlight. I rubbed my eyes, sitting up and peering around Bumblebee's interior.

"Good morning, sunshine."

"Where are we?" I squinted, looking out the window. The land was flat and barren, rock structures stretching hundreds of meters into the air. We were nowhere near the Canadian border like I'd expected.

"Change of plans," Bee's radio chirped.

I leaned forward, peering through the windshield as Bumblebee skidded off the main road, tires kicking up dirt and dust. I lurched forward, gripping the steering wheel to steady myself. Bumblebee did a full 180 and waiting as the dust began to clear.

Then the doors opened. I stumbled out, the sun beating down upon my bare skin.

"Optimus?"

I had to blink a few times just to make sure that this was real. They were all standing there, Crosshairs, Drift, Hound, Optimus. Bumblebee transformed, glancing down at me and fluttering his door wings.

Optimus seemed to be doing the same, staring at me as if seeing me for the first time. Three humans were at his side — a pretty blonde girl, and two men. They seemed taken aback, regarding my tattered appearance with suspicion.

"Rachel," Optimus breathed. "What happened to you?"

"All sorts of shit," I replied shakily, stepping through the dirt as Bumblebee followed behind. "Ratchet's dead, Prime."

"No," Optimus shuddered, optics blinking as he crouched down. Hound's shoulders sagged and he sighed.

I took a deep breath, raising my voice so all the Autobots could hear. "Is this all that's left?"

"All that we know of," Crosshairs said sadly. "You gave us quite a scare, fleshy. I, uh, thought we'd lost you."

My lips twitched and I smiled at Crosshairs. I glanced around the small semicircles of Autobots, rolling my shoulder before finally addressing the three confused humans.

"Who are you people?" I couldn't help but let hostility creep into my tone. I was ten times more paranoid that normal, and the way the three of them were staring at me made me uncomfortable. The tallest of them all was muscular with a ruggedly handsome appearance.

"Who are we? Who are you?" The taller man stepped forward, and his closeness made my muscles tense and I clenched my fists. "Look, we don't want any trouble. We're in a bad situation here."

"You should get yourselves out of it."

"Well, so should you."

"I don't have a choice," I glared. The look Optimus shot me had me raising my hands in a placating gesture. "Look, you know what? It's whatever."

"Rachel, they saved my life," Optimus rumbled.

"So, Cemetery Wind is hunting them, too?" I tilted my head up, raising my eyebrows. Optimus nodded, and I shook my head before addressing the man before me. "I'm Rachel. That's Bumblebee," I pointed to the yellow bot behind me, then at each alien. "Drift, Crosshairs, Hound."

"I'm Cade Yeager. This my daughter Tessa and, uh, her…boyfriend. Shane," the man grimaced as he gave the younger man to his left a not-so-friendly look.

Cade, Tessa, Shane.

They're probably going to die.

I forced a smile as Hound began gnawing on his metal cigar, chuckling. "What a sad little group we've got here."

"Why are you wearing a hospital gown?" Cade said. "And why do you look like you went through a human-sized blender?"

I wanted to make a witty remark, but Optimus was interested as well. I let out a breath. "Cemetery Wind got me. Thought it would be cool to poke around, see how much pain I could take. Assholes."

My hands were shaking. I'd pushed Savoy's very existence down, deep down into the recesses of my brain. The thought of confronting what he'd done made me sick to my stomach.

You still feel everything. His mouth. His fingers.

"Shit," Cade winced. He removed his jacket, and once again I tensed as he hastily wrapped it around me. I watched as he slowly removed his hand from my shoulder, saying, "Look, we'll find you some new clothes."

"Thank you," I said hesitantly. I looked around at the Autobots, before meeting Prime's gaze. "I…I just," I stammered, taking a moment to gather my thoughts. "I need to talk to Optimus."

"I'll get a fire going," Shane said, his accent thick. "C'mon, Tessa."

I zipped up Cade's jacket, his sleeves several inches to long. My bare feet shuffled through the desert floor as Optimus and I headed towards the outskirts of the makeshift camp. When we were far enough away, he knelt.

"Let me talk first," I said quickly, before Optimus could get out a word. "Ratchet and I might have figured out why I'm so strong, why I heal so quickly and why I can communicate with you like I did. We think Sector Seven or whatever they're called used the Allspark to, like, fuck with my DNA."

Optimus took a second to process the information, before nodding slowly. "That is…a possibility. The Allspark would have those capabilities, for it's power if practically infinite."

"Second, the metal bitch — I mean woman — visited me again. She told me to tell you that your creators want you back, whatever that means," I spoke quickly, brows furrowed. "Then she kissed me. It was weird. So, so, weird."

Very, very briefly jealousy flashed across Prime's face before he composed himself and said, "My creators…"

"Yeah. No idea what the fuck it means, but that's what she told me to tell you," I let out a breath. "Shit—"

"What did Cemetery Wind do to you?" Optimus said lowly, leaning closer. One metal finger drifted up to lightly graze my bruised cheek.

"I told you already. They hurt me," I shrugged, letting out a strangled little laugh. "They wanted me to give up your location."

Optimus dropped his hand. "I brought this upon you. I am sorry. I am so, so sorry."

"It's okay, because they're going to die. I realize that now. I want that," I kicked at the dirt. "I've never wanted to kill someone before until now."

"They did more to you."

"Savoy," I gnawed on my lower lip as my limbs trembled even harder than before. I had to squeeze one palm into a fist as I spoke. "He, uh, touched me some. Kissed me."

Optimus' optic twitched and for a moment I thought I'd accidentally caused the poor bot to glitch. But from the way his metal lips curled back I could tell that he was holding back bubbling, seething rage for my sake.

"That was his way of making me give up your location. But it didn't work," I kicked at the ground again. "All he did was make me feel unclean. Confused. Angry. That's probably what he wanted, in the end."

"I'm going to kill him."

"Not if I get to him first."

It was later in the day that Shane, Tessa, and Bumblebee took it upon themselves to head into town and try to salvage clothes and food. Tessa had offered to grab me some fresh clothes, stating that we were around the same size. I agreed, thanking her meekly and pulling Cade's jacket tighter around my shoulders. I was filthy, my hair hanging down, ringlets damp with sweat and grime.

The Autobots had taken refuge amongst the rocks, using them as covers to block the sun and conceal them from prying eyes. I found myself sitting next to Crosshairs as he caught up on some recharge, bare toes flexing. The bottom of my feet were blackened and sore, and I could barely get comfortable.

I was OCD when it came to hygiene, especially when it came to feet. Dirt and grime repulsed me, and having it against the skin of my soles made me twitchy, anxious. There was no way I'd be able to sleep with my body plastered in sweat and whatnot.

"Rachel?" I glanced up. Prime's huge body towered over me, and he lowered his voice so to not pull Crosshairs out of recharge. He murmured, "During my travels, I bypassed a small pond concealed just half a mile from this location."

"Is it safe?"

Optimus nodded. "I was wondering if you wished to clean yourself? I could tell from a distance that you seemed uncomfortable."

"You're a mind reader, Prime," I chuckled, standing.

"Not particularly. Just a good observer," Optimus transformed, engine shuddering as his doors popped open. From beneath an arch of rock and dirt, Hound raised his cigar and nodded as we sped off.

I kept silent, feeling bad about having to touch my nasty feet against Prime's pristine cab. The moment we arrived I hopped out, looking around at the secluded little area, barricaded by mountains and shrubbery. The slop leading to the pond was small, and as I approached I dug my toes into the sand, sighing.

I heard Optimus shift behind me. In a cautious voice he said, "Would you like some privacy?"

I could feel him looking at me, standing there in my hospital gown and Cade's oversized jacket. Squinting, I peered up at the setting sun as it dipped behind clouds, painting the sky with pinks and oranges. It was beautiful, and quiet. Peaceful.

I turned. In a hoarse voice I said, "Uh, no. That's fine. I…could you come in with me?"

"I…am not big enough to fit in that pond, Rachel," Optimus was trying not to chuckle. I covered my mouth with my hand before shrugging off Cade's jacket, folding it neatly and resting it against a flattened rock. Optimus watched, optics glued to my frame as I slipped off the tattered hospital gown. My body instinctively reacted to Prime's gaze and I twirled the garment around my pinky, biting my lower lip before spinning and bounding into the cool, shallow pond. Water lapped at my breasts and I giggled, feeling the sweat and dirt wash from my skin.

I closed my eyes and drifted a bit, yelping when something gripped my leg. When I opened my eyes, Prime's holoform was wading in the water, a smile plastered across his handsome face. I chuckled and splashed, planting my feet in the sand and peering up into his bright, blue eyes. I was distracted almost immediately by the rivulets of water slipping down his neck, past the grooves between the muscles on his chest and stomach.

"Shit," I murmured. I was pretty sure that I licked my lips. When I looked up again, Prime touched his finger against my cheek. Without even saying anything, I knew that he was waiting for permission.

I nodded. I needed to get the whatever was left of Savoy taste out of my mouth.

Prime's lips were soft, just like last time. I sighed against his mouth, hands gently combing through the water until I found his stiff length. This time, he was the one to moan and shiver, big hands cupping my face.

He pulled away, looking down at me beneath hooded eyes as I stroked him, swirling my thumb around the very tip of his cock. He was hardly able to verbalize what he wanted, and instead growled from deep within his chest.

"Primus you are beautiful," Optimus murmured, claiming my lips once again. I was already wet, desire pulsing from deep within my core. Optimus brushed his fingers through my tangled locks of hair, mouth descending down my neck and towards my chest. I could feel him poke against the inside of my thigh, and boldly, I maneuvered his length so the tip brushed my folds.

Optimus bucked his hips, growling. His teeth nipped at my upper lip as he wrapped one big arm around my waist, hoisting me up and keeping a hand against my hip. With one powerful thrust he was inside me. His shoulder seemed to sag with relief, and all I could do was hold on. Making noise seemed unbearable — there were little pinpricks of pain as I adjusted to his size, before he began to move, finally.

"Look at me."

Droplets of water fell from my eyelashes, but I was able to meet his gaze. I could feel his breath — artificial, but still breath nonetheless — against my skin. Unlike Savoy, there was mirth and affection in his eyes. He was focused on me. Focused on pleasing me.

I leaned forward to give him a quick kiss, repeating the gesture when he began thrusting even harder.

"Faster," I grunted, digging my nails into his shoulders. "Fuck."

A guttural groan tore its was through Optimus, muscles flexing as he obeyed. My noises were increasing in volume, soft whimpers transforming into high-pitched whines, demands for him to go faster, harder. More. All I felt was him — his scent, his fingers, his cock.

I came, biting into his shoulder and squeezing my eyes shut. Optimus sank to his knees, still able to keep us above the water as I rested my cheek against his. His breathing was light, reserved, while I was gulping in air.

I wonder what he sounds like when he comes. Him. Not his holoform.

"Optimus," I murmured. "Thank you. For everything, just…thank you. I think…I like you. You make me feel loved. I'm not used to that. Thank you."

I pulled away a bit. His lips were parted, hair damp and flattened against his skin. He was beautiful, regardless of what form he took.

Big hands rose from beneath the cool water to cup my face. His kisses were insistent, needy.

"You are mine. I want you to be mine."

"I am yours. Only you," I breathed, and I meant it. "Only you."

Haha I hope you guys liked this chapter. If it makes ya'll feel better theres entire chapter later that's just literally pure smut. As always, thanks for reading and let me know what you think!