I apologize for the long delay! I let the months slip by and hardly noticed. Don't worry. There are MANY chapters prepped and ready to go, and many many more that are not yet prepped. This story has a long way to go and is far from dead. roudyredd and I are still wrighting and are years into this work of art.

Please enjoy!

**Mature Content**

~*~ Chapter Twenty-Six~*~

Still Day 348

Blindside had kept tabs on the conversation with the new mech's arrival, but his thoughts returned as Knockout did. "We should be ready for testing soon."

"Good to hear," the medic said with sincere hope as he settled to work again, then he paused. "What are the chances that this is going to blow up?"

Blindside titled his head in thought. "It only happened once so...good that it won't." He said it like a question and started thinking about where they could lug it to turn it on.

"Oh. That's...encouraging." He vented but set to work anyway. They could find a safe place to set it up when it came time.

Sidestep had slunk off to the edge of the camp and was slowly walking the perimeter of the most used parts, moving towards Scatterblade, Illusory, Silverdust, and Charlie. He glanced at them every few kliks but for the most part seemed more interested in scanning the area he was walking.

Scatterblade leaned back and watched Silverdust for some time. Charlie kept her attention, eager to maintain the peaceful atmosphere. She did glance at the new 'bot every few minutes.

Eventually, he came close enough to be obvious where his attention lay and skirted around Scatterblade to move to the opposite side, watching the mech as he went. When he was satisfied that he was far enough away from Scatterblade, he laid down, stretched comfortably and turned his attention to Silverdust. He gave a small purr-chirping sound, and the little femme spun around to look at him.

"Black cat!" She squeaked happily, jumping to her feet.

Scatterblade simply stayed still, his frame tensed but just watching his sparkling's interaction with the mech.

"Hey- oh..." Charlie stopped chasing after her.

Silverdust didn't hesitate to jump on the mech's head with a happy squeal, and he obligingly rolled to his side with a loud, ground rumbling purr. Sidestep pawed at the small femme but in no way that looked as if it could be harmful or aggressive, until she had had her fun and settled in front of him, chatting away with a mix of words and sparkling noises she had not quite outgrown. Sidestep gave her almost all his attention, his sensitive and mobile audio sensors the only thing that showed he was paying attention to what was going on around him too.

Scatterblade watched, the tension still present. He hadn't decided if he trusted the once Decepticon with his sparkling - but then again, he trusted Knockout. Maybe the quadruped wasn't so bad. Still, it was his sparkling.

Charlie grinned at this exciting interaction, glad that someone could relax around here. "New friend, Silver?"

The sparkling turned to Charlie, a big smile on her face as she ran to the woman and grabbed her hand. "Come on!" She giggled. "Black cat is fun!"

Charlie laughed. "Careful, Silver!"

Silverdust stopped pulling as hard but kept tugging at Charlie until they were in front of the large quadruped. He was easily several times the size of Charlie, if not larger. He was more closely matched to the scale of a large horse than any dog or large cat known to man.

Sidestep studied the human in front of him with uncertain caution.

"Uh, hi," Charlie waved then introduced herself. "I'm kinda Silver's aunt."

The mech flinched. "Aunt?" He almost but not quite hissed. "You're human."

"Yes," she said slowly, "I'm pre-the-world-going-nuts."

Sidestep shook his head. "What is that supposed to mean?"

Silverdust grew bored with the conversation and decided to climb on Sidestep instead. He tolerated the femme with no concern other than to stop her from falling.

"It means I'm from before the humans turned on us," Charlie explained. "Blade and Lu are old friends."

He narrowed his eyes at her. "The humans have always been against us," he said darkly. Then with a quick glance at the mech not sitting too far off he eased his dark expression. "I assume those are the Autobots you conspired with?" The designations were unfamiliar to him.

"Conspired?" Charlie laughed. "They're family. That's Scatterblade and Illusory."

He looked back to the mech and the sedated femme with a little confusion. "They are this one's creators?"

Charlie nodded and picked a comfy spot against a tree. "Silverdust."

Sidestep thought for a while on this. "The femme, Illusory? She is Neutral, isn't she?"

"Yup. She had a contract with the 'Bots, then..." She giggled, "she and 'Blade." Her tone carried mischief and awe, a faraway look on her face, memories of those early days.

"They bonded here? On Earth?" He was astounded by the thought. "I knew the little one was young, but that makes her...less than a vorn old!" He looked over the sparkling crawling on him, a look of awe and wonder on his face.

The red head nodded, still smiling. "Yeah. We were all hoping it'd be the start of something better." The smile drifted and her eyes clouded. "We're still hoping."

He looked utterly dumbfounded for several minutes, looking around the camp with what seemed to be an all new perspective. "An Autobot bonded with a Neutral, created, and was happily living with humans?" He made it sound like the most unbelievable thing.

"Yeah. But...yeah. Thing's changed," she shrugged and tried to keep smiling.

"I suppose they have," he vented then turned his attention back to Charlie. "You do not act like a soldier," he pointed out.

"I'm not," she admitted. "I'm along for the ride."

"When you say it like that, sounds like we kidnapped you," Scatterblade murmured. He hadn't stopped listening and watching out for the two femmes.

"No! Of course not. It's just that... I'm not really cut out for this."

Scatterblade looked down and cycled air through his systems. "I'm so sorry you're in this mess."

Charlie frowned. "I'm not." She fidgeted as she spoke. "It's been tough, but I'm where I need to be."

Sidestep looked uncertainly from the mech to the human, then to the sparkling now wrestling with his tail, then vented. "It seems we all end up where we are most needed to be," there was weariness in his voice, but it came with a satisfied purr as well.

"Where did you come from?" Charlie asked.

"So many places, I can't even remember," he admitted. "Most recently I came from a wrecked ship a few solar cycles from here. Met a familiar spark in a parts yard who mentioned a group of refugees - you lot, I would guess – so I came to see what the real situation was and was discovered by a sparkling of all things. Now I am here."

Scatterblade winced. More of them, so beyond repair or aid, hiding in junk yards?

Charlie nodded. "Well. Welcome. We can't offer much, but we could use more 'bots around."

Scatterblade finally relaxed some and nodded. "Silver really likes you," he commented.

"I really like her too," Sidestep purred, finally seeming completely at ease. "I was certain that I would never see another youngling again, let alone a sparkling. It does my spark better than I care to admit." He looked at Scatterblade without suspicion for once. "I promise my spark to protect hers," he stated formally in a way that sounded almost ritualistic and familiar to the mech speaking it.

Scatterblade shuttered his optics. "Thank you," he said sincerely though unsure how to take it. If only Illusory had heard that. Scatterblade then sent the cat's simple message flowing to Illusory. Perhaps when she came out of her stasis, she would be more at ease.

Blindside kept working over the machine, carefully checking and rechecking the device against his schematics. "I think we're good for testing. Just need some raw energon." He sat back on his heels and huffed. "Where are we gonna find raw energon?"

"I still have a few locations that were rich in raw energon that are most likely still intact. Might be a bit of a trip, but worth it if this all works out." Knockout pulled up some maps and shared them with the mech.

"Seriously? Did we use this planet as a depot or something?" It wasn't uncommon, but it didn't seem likely the humans hadn't already found it.

"That's what the 'great' Megatron said." He shrugged, not really caring about the fine details of it all.

Blindside's mouth fell open. "No slag? Huh." He stood and stretched. "Let's get this covered, just in case the planet goes nuts again and fries our work."

"That would be our luck, wouldn't it?" Still, the medic helped find enough material to protect the device from the weather.

By this time Prowl had finished his meeting with Jazz and returned to whatever it was he spent most of his day doing, Jazz once more gone. Blurr had come back and looked to the new mech before settling down for recharge. Hound had come from his post monitoring comms, and Mirage had checked in and set off for another patrol. Arcee had returned with the other humans, and they all inspected the new mech from a distance.

Rex came to Charlie the moment he spotted her. "Hey, love. How's it going?"

Charlie hugged him tightly. "I'm good. Feeling a little antsy, but I'm good."

"Good, good. Housing is coming along, should be done in the next day or so." He looked at Sidestep, trying hard not to look suspicious. "So you're the new guy, huh?"

Sidestep narrowed his eyes at the new human. "And you are a soldier," he growled.

"I was, once. Then my own government tried to kill me and those I love. Now I'm here and happily so."

The mech was stunned by Rex's bluntness. "Your kind turned against you?"

Rex gave a look that said there were technicalities and loopholes. "Yeah. I chose to stand with my brothers in arms - the bots - who had done nothing to deserve what they were getting and ended up on the receiving end myself. No, I don't regret it one bit, if you were going to ask. I still think everything that happened was wrong and stand by that. How about you?"

Sidestep vented. "I am here because of choices made. I believe this is where I should be."

"So we're good then?"

"I mean you no harm so long as you do me none."

"Great! Welcome to the ragtag team we got going."

Charlie chuckled at the rough start. "We'll let you rest," Charlie said tugging on Rex's arm. She wanted some time with him.

Rex nodded to the mech, Sidestep nodded back, and Rex happily followed Charlie away.

"Let's go hiking," she almost whined. "I really want to move." She spoke as though she were to continue but was having trouble with the right words.

"Sure!" He could sympathize with her. "I saw a deer path over this way; let's see where it goes."

Charlie nodded and hopped around him so she could hold his right hand with her left. The man laughed at her eagerness and led the way.

"What did you see today?" It wasn't an unusual question. She was always asking him. Maybe she kept hoping for news about what was going on. Had anyone heard of others? Seen any bots or NEST personal? Her mind would go back to Ratchet and Sideswipe, Lennox and Keith. Oh, God...she put Will in with the ones they'd lost. It was painful thinking about everyone else that was still unaccounted for.

"Not a lot," he knew what she was hoping for, but he rarely left the forest. He was far from battle-ready if anything happened. "Some animals, some nice plants. Found a good place Vance and Myra are going to go back to set prey traps."

"That's good." She leaned on him. "Any streams yet?" She had been really hoping for a bath or swim.

"Well, I expect that the deer like to drink," he said as he pushed aside some branches for them to pass, "and since this path seems pretty popular, I think our chances are good."

Charlie brightened and for a few moments, just enjoyed the quiet.

Rex stopped for a moment, just listening. "Hear that?" He asked with a smile. There was a faint, distinct sound of water falling into a pool.

"Come on!" She squealed and tugged on his arm.

Rex laughed and followed her lead. It was a short sprint to a small waterfall and a clear pool of water that shimmered in the light. It was tucked in by ferns and trees making it a very out of the way and secluded place where people rarely - if at all - had come.

"It's beautiful," she grinned widely, stepping over to the edge of the pool and slipping off her shoes. She settled down and dipped in her feet, then gasped and laughed. "It's cold!" She rolled up her jeans and slid in a little deeper.

Rex watched her for a few minutes before following. These were the moments he cherished the most. He stepped in carefully, doing his best to look like he didn't notice the chill. It wasn't terrible, but it was far from warm.

"I wonder how deep it is?" She glanced at him and bit her bottom lip.

He stepped forward until the water was to his knees then tried looking into the deeper parts. "Hard to tell, it's so clear!"

She grinned more and joined him. "Want to get in?" She asked, her eyes shining, the excitement just pouring off of her.

He debated for a moment before nodding, "Yeah, that would be nice."

Charlie climbed out and started to tug off her jeans. Rex followed, pulling his shirt off as he walked. She slipped off her shirt and stood for a moment in just her undergarments before she tiptoed back to the pool.

Rex was quick to follow her, pulling her against him for a hug and a kiss before he jumped into the deeper waters. She laughed brightly before jumping in after him. She came up gasping and laughing and grabbed hold of him. Rex held her tight to him, smiling brightly.

Despite the chill of the water, his body was warm, and Charlie clung to that warmth, reaching up for his lips she kissed him. First his lips, then his neck, then his cheeks. Her excitement was so high she had to reign herself in so she wouldn't hurt him accidently.

"It's been a while," he whispered in her ear, laying soft kisses anywhere he could reach.

"Too long," she sighed, wrapping her arms around his neck. She relished his touch and kisses.

He pulled her up, supporting her weight and laying kisses on her collarbone, his body trembling with his eagerness. She gasped at the touch, and her hands searched out his hair. She kissed his head, holding it gently with both hands. Wrapping one arm around her, Rex let his other hand wander lower, brushing against the small of her back, then further, touching and caressing every sensitive spot he found.

Charlie gasped, and her eyes shot open. She thrashed and shoved against him. She fell into the water and pushed herself back up to the surface.

Rex helped her back to the surface. "Sorry," he said softly, unsure of what he had done wrong other than being too eager.

When she had her breath back, she stuttered. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I don't know- um..." She trembled. "You're fine. It's not you. I..." What had stopped her? She was feeling fantastic until...his touch. It was too familiar. Creton's office, familiar. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to kill the mood." She shivered once but continued to hang onto him.

"It's okay, love. I shouldn't have." He held onto her, still trembling with desire but not willing to try again.

"No. No, sweetie. I want to. I really do. We'll just work past this; slowly." She kissed him.

"Of course," he agreed, some of the tension leaving him. "Your pace, I will follow." He began kissing her again, slowly, teasingly.

She melted into the embrace, giving into the touch. He moaned lowly, indulging in her willingness but not moving further. He kissed and nipped her ears, neck, and shoulders. Her whole body tingled with excitement, and she leaned her head back, partly to gasp for breath and to allow him access to her collarbone and chest. He accepted the invitation eagerly, breathing in her scent and reminding himself to keep it slow.

Her sounds were soft and breathy. She felt like she was pushing against something. Like a door that she knew she shouldn't open. It took her several minutes to realize what she was fighting; her fear. It was misplaced. She was afraid of this. No, of those memories. Not him. Not Rex. She had faith in him, trusted him. She shouldn't be keeping him out. Still, that fear lingered.

Her body was tense, but she kept holding him, dipping her chin to rest on his head, then kissing it. You're not scared of him, she told herself over and over.

He kept himself from pushing on, desperately wanting to but unwilling to push Charlie before she was ready. He whispered softly to her between kisses, "I love you. I will always love you. I will never hurt you."

"I know. I love you. I know." She said to herself over and over, hoping to chip the fear away. She ran her hands through his hair. Oh, she loved his hair. Just having the different contact from her nightmares seemed to be helping. "I love you." She kissed him deeply, her hands gently holding his head.

He groaned longingly into the kiss, running one hand through her hair and rubbing her back with the other. 'Slowly,' he told himself over and over. She sought out his tongue. The feeling sent new tinglings all over her skin. He explored her mouth with all the interest of his desire for her.

She moaned against the kiss, eagerly pulling him closer. This is safe. This is beautiful. She smiled into the kiss. "I love you, Rex. I trust you."

"Good," he breathed softly, "I love you." He dared move his hand a little lower, slowly so she could tell him to stop.

The tension in her body grew, but she stayed her hand. Charlie tried to relax, easing into the good feeling.

"I won't go any further until you tell me you are ready," he promised, kissing her again, softly but with deep passion.

She melted into the attention. "I think I am," she said, blinking herself to clarity. She nodded. "I love you. I am healing, and I don't want this to be tainted. I won't let it."

He let his hand drift, brushing the same spots as before though lower and accompanied by words of love.

Charlie trembled and clutched to him. "I love you." She let her words and his chip again at her fear.

He kept moving, feeling each second that he couldn't possibly wait for another, but did for Charlie's sake. His hand came around her hip, then slid down, following the gentle slope of her stomach down between her legs. He waited for her to either reject the intimate touch or encourage him further. This was the last of his reserve, if she did not tell him no now, he was almost certain he wouldn't be able to hold back.

Charlie gasped and froze, but she didn't speak. Waves of heat flooded her, and icy cold followed. It wasn't unpleasant. The images that flashed through her mind were. She pushed it back, repeated to herself over and over that she loved him, that she didn't need to fear him. "It's okay."

He moved his hand slowly, looking into her eyes as he did, wanting her to see him, to remember him.

She smiled despite the emotions and raging feelings. "I love you." Then she laughed. "Tell me when you need to me stop repeating myself."

"Never," he said with a smile. He brought her closer to him rubbing against her. "You are sure?" He asked one last time.

She took another deep breath. "I'm safe. I'm sure." She kissed him once more.

With those words, his restraint crumbled. In a few quick movements, her underwear was gone, and he was pressing into her, moving slowly and with great care. She still felt tense, but the movement was welcoming. She followed his lead and moved with him. Keeping his pace slow and purposeful he was able to draw out their pleasure until they were both gasping and shaking with need.

Charlie was barely aware of the sloshing water. She almost wondered if they needed to be quiet, but she wasn't worried about secrecy. "Rex," she moaned, her breath catching with intensity.

Hearing her speak his name was pure bliss to him. He couldn't hold back any longer and picked up the pace. She gasped now, unable to keep quiet. She whispered to him, words of encouragement, love, his name. It was rolling over her and spreading through her body. When he finally climaxed, he almost lost his footing, but he managed to keep them above water. Charlie clung to him as her orgasm wracked her body, gasping for breath as each tremor pulsed through her.

It took a few minutes for his breath to come back. His smile refused to fade as he held onto her. "You okay?" He asked, stroking her back gently.

She practically melted into his arms, her body too shaken. "Yes. I am." She smiled broadly, tears coming to her eyes.

"I love you," he assured her again carrying her back over to the edge of the water where they could rest together.

Charlie leaned on him eager just be close to him. They lay in the cool water together for a long time before Rex decided they should head back. "They'll come looking for us if we're gone much longer."

"Well, I guess we should get dressed," she laughed.

"Oh, if we must," he chuckled, moving to get out of the water.

Charlie grabbed his wrist and pulled him down for another kiss. He stumbled a little, but leaned into the kiss willingly, then helped her out of the water. It didn't take long for the water to dry but it did take a while to retrieve clothes and put them on. She was just so distracted by his lips. Rex sure didn't make the process any easier, grabbing Charlie at every turn just to touch or kiss, he couldn't get enough. She laughed at him, pushing him away then pulling him closer. Even before they reached the edge of camp, Charlie's face was beat red.

"It's a good thing our place will be done soon..." he whispered in her ear. "I don't think we are going to fool anyone."

As if on cue, Myra appeared in front of them with a knowing smile. "Ready for dinner?"

Charlie giggled and laughed outright at the woman's question. She quickly composed herself and nodded, "Yes."

"Good," she winked at them, "come on."

Charlie laughed into her hands, again pushing down the giggling. Rex nudged her gently as they followed Myra back to where Vance was finishing up their meal.

"Have a nice walk?" Vance asked when he spotted the couple.

"Wonderful," Charlie grinned. It wasn't occurring to her to be embarrassed. She was too happy.

They sat and ate with a good mood shared between them.