The next time Sam woke up she found herself on a rather comfortable bed in what was clearly a medical ward. Blinking away the sleep she took stock of her situation noting that her right lower leg was in a cast and elevated, she could feel several bandages wrapped all over her body, and an IV was hooked up to her left arm. Her entire body felt heavy and sluggish.

Movement to her right had her turning her head as best she could. Worried hazel eyes met her blurry brown pair.

"Hey there princess." Will greeted quietly, mindful of the other patients still sleeping. "If you wanted to come visit us there are better ways than getting kidnapped."

Sam chuckled only to have it turn into a slight hacking cough given the dryness of her throat. Will lifted her head gently, holding up a cup with a straw allowing her a drink of water.

"Thanks." She rasped softly. "I'll try to remember not to play the 'damsel-in-distress' card in the future."

"You do that. You're damn lucky we caught the radiation signature off that Decepticon that took you and investigated further." He scolded lightly, his hands holding her bandaged right hand. "Scared the hell out of me when we realized it was you he had."

"Sorry." The honest regret in that word had him shaking his head ruefully.

"Sammy what happened? How did those Decepticons get you?"

Sam closed her eyes at the memories knowing that she had to tell him. "Mikaela came to my house…god I don't even know how many days ago. I know it was Friday though. She said I had to get out of the house so she was dragging me to a lake party some of the other kids were throwing. We were there for a couple of hours and dusk was coming. I didn't want to stay any longer, but Mikaela did. One of the guys offered me a ride home since he was leaving too and I accepted. He seemed ok…" Will tightened his grip on her hand, his thumb rubbing her skin in a comforting manner. "About twenty minutes into the ride he pulled off a side road. He um…he tried to…" She gulped harshly eyes adverted. "Anyways, I told him to stop. He didn't, so I broke his nose and got out of the car. He drove off and just my luck his car wheel ran over my cell phone so I couldn't call anyone. With no other option I started walking." She paused again to catch her breath. "Anyway I guess I had been walking about an hour. I had planned to flag a car down and ask them to call for help, but no one passed by. Then finally a car appeared. I started flagging it down. When it got close enough I realized no one was driving and ran for it. Barricade decided to chase after me and shot a net out catching me before I got too far. Then he's calling in the cavalry, which happened to be Thundercracker. While I was lying there they scanned me and…symbols glowed across my skin. It looked like Cybertronian." She shrugged haphazardly. "The Barricade drugged me with some kind of shot. The next thing I know I'm waking up in Thundercracker's cockpit one hour outside Russia of all places. We landed, he hooked up that weird chain to the cuffs they put on me and dragged me towards that base for I guess three days? I know we were outside two nights. I got most of my bruises and cuts from the trek." She snorted. "When we got to the base he dragged me into the hanger where the other Decepticon was waiting and they led me to the Energon Harvester. They said it would strip the resources from the land. They forced some device into my hands, though I don't know why, nothing happened when I touched it. They started arguing so I made a break for it. Didn't get too far. Then a concrete slab pins me down and there's gunfire going off everywhere. You know the rest."

Will sat silently processing everything she said. Taking a steadying breath he asked the next question. "Sam, I know this is hard but where exactly did that boy…touch you."

Wide brown eyes darted to him before quickly moving away, a deep flush of shame creeping over her cheeks. "Does it matter? He didn't…you know…"

"Yes it matters."

From the tone of his voice she knew he would not drop it. "He um…grabbed my neck and right upper arm. He also…um grabbed my left leg at the knee and…the um…inner thigh." When she finished she was bright red and trying hard not to cry at the memory and the shame it brought.

"Hey…hey." Will moved closer taking her face in his hands and turning her to him. "You didn't do anything wrong Sammy. You just say the word and we'll make him disappear. We can do that."

That brought a laugh out. "Thanks, but he's not worth the trouble."

"Yeah…well we still need his name for the report." Will tried to look completely innocent about it.

"Then you probably should have asked for it before you threatened to get rid of him." They shared a small grin before Sam grew serious. "So what's wrong with me? Will I live doc?"

"Smart ass. Yeah you'll live." He sighed tiredly. "You've got a broken bone in your right leg. A lot of bruises and cuts obviously. In fact I think you'll win the 'most colorful injured' contest this time around. Doc said you had a fever due to a minor infection hence the antibiotics." He nodded to the IV drip. "You were also dehydrated and malnourished so you'll be on vitamins for a while. We called your parents to let them know you're here. They told us about finding your purse and cell phone. They wanted to come here to see you but given the base's Top Secret, they can't."

"So when are you guys shipping me out." She asked curiously.

"We're not. You're stuck here for sometime, especially since you were specifically targeted." He gave her a silencing look when she made to protest. "At least until we figure out if you're going to be a target again and Bumblebee's done with his two month assignment here, then we'll see about letting you go."

"Are you sure that's a good idea? I mean we're talking about a debilitated whiny teen here. I could drive you guys to drinking or something." She tried to joke but he could see the worry in her eyes.

"I think we can survive. After all we've had to deal with Epps and Fig for months now."

"Oh well in that case I should be a walk in the park."

Will grinned brightly glad that she seemed able to banter so well after all she had been through. That was one of the things he really admired about the girl, she always found a way to smile through the tough times.

When Sam started to yawn Will pulled the covers around her telling her to go back to sleep and he would see her later. She tried to protest but they fell flat as her eyes closed and she drifted off.

Will sat there for a few minutes contemplating everything she had said, and a bit about what she had not said. Regardless she had once more survived one hell of an encounter with the Decepticons and it looked like she might have more in the future. Even if command didn't agree he knew that she would need some kind of training and he knew several guys that would love to help him out with that.

Placing a gentle kiss on her slumbering head he finally left the medical ward plans forming in his mind.