Thanks you to all my reviewers! I love your feed back thank you for sticking with me. Sometimes my muse likes to go on strike. Anyhow on with the story.

XXX

I spent a long time in that deep sync. While in there I can't tell you how long it was. I just remember resting next to either my mom's spark or my dad's. And when I was close to my mom's spark I basked in her warmth that kept me close and wrapped in its blue haze that caressed my inner self and soul. It felt like a nice spring day just warm enough to be comfortable but keep the chill of out of my spark. And when I rested nestled against my father's I felt the power that not only came from him but also the matrix that gave his restrained force a slightly different feel since he had let it reside in his spark. But the controlled strength felt encompassing enough to protect my fragile psyche as well as my small body and not overwhelm me. There was no where safer physically or otherwise than next to their sparks.

I was allowed to come out of the sync eventually but not completely. The synced sparks were keeping me stable. But as the buffer between me and the real world began to be withdrawn things were coming back I didn't want to deal with. IT was like they were slowly giving my mind back over to me and I didn't want it not a bit. IT must have taken many hours to allow me to even get this far because I remember several times of getting close and then being pulled back into that in-between space where my spark was so close to theirs. I was at a point now that the sync was acting as a balancing agent as I was regaining my cognitive abilities. I remembered from the time I was human the saying how if you boil a lobster slowly they don't know enough that they are being cooked. Well that's what it felt like and there was no pot to jump out of. There was no way out of my mind and the pain hitting me was devastating. I finally began to cry.

I think the pain of feeling lost and alone or abandoned after they had taken me was the worst. That feeling that no one was coming to rescue me. IT hurt more than anything. This time the abuse had been stopped in the most dramatic and final way possible but in another life it had gone unnoticed by those who'd cared for me and for years and then unpunished for the rest of my human life. The injustice that filled me burned deep inside me knowing that even when they knew it wasn't dealt with. It was a familiar feeling that there was no escape or relief from what was happening and although the sheer violence that had I had been exposed to during my time at the hands of Galloway was above anything else I'd seen the years of the other had drilled into me there was no hope. The only escape was to drown in the doll or fight your way out once you saw an opportunity and I did both. This time around though as a smaller being and so new I'd been rescued. I didn't have the ability to decide what to do with the confounding dichotomy of the two situations. So giving in to my little girl/ babybot I cried.

Crying into my father's chest with twitters and chirps that made no sense but they were telling at least to my parents. The crying went on for hours. They were considering letting me go back into that deep blue haze where I was comfortable and calm but they also knew that I couldn't stay their forever as much as they wanted to allow me. And so they held me as my cries echoed in their room and sometimes into the hallways beyond. Their sparks resonated with their sorrow for failing me and not getting me sooner. They were also underlined with anger toward the human organization that put together that little job and were determined to see the whole investigation through. Their resolve was hard as concrete in the bond. That small sure thing seemed to ground something in me. They were still fighting for me even after the man who had ordered the torture in the first place was dead. Smashed under my dad's ped. That small thought was slightly satisfying but it didn't do anything to really quell the horror that had been instilled in me from the experience accept to know that, that there was one person who couldn't hurt me any more.

My parent's sparks were also awash with the love and dedication it took to ride out this storm that I was currently caught in. IT felt like I'd been thrown to an angry see without a life jacket drowning in a sea of my own tears but their love seem to buoy me even as I thought I'd still sink. I held to their lifelines they'd thrown me in the midst of the tempest that raged inside feeling there was no end. Somewhere they were looking for me inside like the coast guard searching for a lost person after a shipwreck that seemed to be my emotional state. It had crashed burned and had been dug up to haunt me even as I thought I could never feel that dark place again it seemed to splash up in my face taking my breath away. But at some point in time the raging storm that was my emotions and mind seemed to come to some understanding that while the wind still battered my soul and the pain washed up over my head I could hang on to the lifejacket my parents had wrapped around me and feel them. And in that there was some semblance of safety even in my mind.

From that small platform I was able to dedicate some of my CPU toward looking at what was going on outside my helm. I opened my optics to the person holding me close to his chest place to find the azure optics of my father. My voice box was a few days healed from what I could tell in my chronometer and from how it felt. "Daddy?" I asked taking stalk of my physical body because mentally I was clearly screwed. I found pleasantly I really didn't have any pain.

My father looked down at me, "My spark," he sighed somewhat relieved probably that I had stopped keening. The pink hand that came to rest on the back of my helm was my mother's.

"Sweetspark," she said softly but couldn't muster the feelings it took to smile. But her face looked as if she was finally letting the stress leave her body slightly.

"Daddy," I said again trying to put into words everything I wanted to say. There was so much I couldn't seem to delineate into verbal sounds to express everything I wanted to. There was anger, pain, and a myriad of so many other things that it left me slightly dizzy.

Optimus just dropped his forehead to mine suddenly and got a thick timber to it as he told me, "You don't have to say it sparkling. We know we feel it. We are here and will continue to be until your spark is healed," and with those words he alleviated some of my fears that they might not want to see this through or get tired of the drama. But parents didn't do that did they? Well not these any way.

XXX

It was the next day and I had a check up with Ratchet scheduled. When I got up my mother told me that we'd be going to see him. I had other ideas. Another invasion of my helm scared the pit outta me and I wanted none of it I let them know it. So as soon as the words left my mother's mouth, I shoved my self off her chest plates sliding down her torso onto the metal berth screaming and flailing. I'd used my epic fit super powers before and I did so now to make sure I didn't have to go to the Medbay.

My banging and screeching could be heard even through the hallway door. Both parents were trying to calm me with promises of being there and that he wouldn't hurt me but the fact that there might be an invasive part of the check up and my inability to tolerate any fooling around in my head hadn't crossed their processors and mine were to crazy to put my fear into words. In a desperate attempt they called for Ratchet and he came tromping down the hall quickly and when I heard the door open and saw his bright and big self I screamed to audio splitting decibels and pushed myself into the corner of the berth where two walls met. My father shoved Ratchet out of the door quickly and locked it behind him and at least I could stop freaking out at his appearance and bring it down a few notches. As a last ditch effort to pull me from my hysterics and terror I heard slightly lighter footsteps coming down the hallway and then the door opened to a different shade of yellow.

"Bumblebee come here," my dad told him frantically. He had his hands cupped against his spark like my father walked with me these days. It wasn't until he got closer that he opened his fingers a little letting the humans' eyes meet with my optics. It was Mikaela and Sam. My eyes went wide and I stopped screaming. The sniffles and twitters that remained were that of an normal cry. Bumblebee's spark searched to know mine and I let him in as far as I could and even when he felt the sharp prickle of my pain at the edges of his spark he didn't pull away cringing but wrapped a hand around one of my small ones as he allowed the humans to scoot onto the table.

His finger stroked my hand and over the commlink he messaged me, Sparkling, little sister, we are here. And again the words and actions of my Cybertronian family were simple but profound to me. Their single minded devotion was completely foreign to me. Maybe it was because it all came down to 1's and 0's and they were either faithful or not but I knew it wasn't that simple. They just loved me enough. And I hoped I could love them enough back to deserve it.

"Hey Steel," the words came from Sam this time. He had been healing well. HE looked stronger. I didn't want to hurt him but the urge to stand and glomp him was too great. My arms wrapped around his rib cage but not too tight even though he let out a breathy laugh. Mikaela walked up next to him and pulled me into a hug also. The crying wouldn't stop now. Neither of them asked me to stop though. There were tears in their eyes though and then I realized they were for me. I looked up at them as a few tears fell from both and I was flabbergasted as I felt them plink of my metal limbs. I could no longer cry for myself and NO ONE had ever cried for me NEVER. I let one hand reach up to Mikaela's cheek and wipe one away from her chin and looked at it as if I'd never seen a tear before knowing I had didn't stop the funny watery laugh that Mikaela let out as she took my hand.

"Steel," she managed to say warmly even though she knew and felt the chill in my spark even without one of her own. "I know it's hard," she said without judgment. "But we have both had to see Ratchet with all his scary tools and sometimes needles…" she let that sink in and I scrunched up my face remembering. "Yeah, I know," she added in response to my facial plates. "But we need to," she explained. "And would it help if Sam and I were there?" she asked suddenly the thought occurring to her. I nodded frantically holding on to her arm. And it seemed settled as Bumblebee carried all three of us and my parents trailing him made it to the med bay.

XXX

The check up went with a few freak outs but he decided to give me a few more days to settle before he would recheck my helm. I was grateful for the reprieve. Unfortunately my close call gave way to a meeting where I was inside my father's sparkling hold that could find him in hot water. The general on site as well as Keller and Morshower had come to the base as soon as they could manage the meeting altogether to discuss the matter of the rogue human group who had taken the humans and I. I was in the best place for this because staying near my father rather than in the base roaming with all the new people it felt better to be safe and away from prying eyes until I could put some time between that had happened and now. I heard two voices before the meeting started.

"Prime," Keller addressed him. I knew his voice.

"Prime," Morshower echoed him with respect. I knew his voice too.

"Mr. Keller, General Morshower," he replied back politely. I could tell there was an edge to my father's voice though that the others couldn't feel like I could. The steel even registered through our bond.

"We wanted to speak to you before the meeting," Keller said suddenly taking on a more casual urgent tone.

"Yes?" my dad asked.

"Optimus," Morshower started, "how is she? We received your…detailed report. It was difficult to finish." I felt my father's stony façade fade a little and he let the sorrow enter his voice.

"She is…healing," he said vaguely. "But her recovery is far from over."

"I can imagine," there was a slight twinge to his tone that sounded more disgusted than anything. "What a…" I am guessing he couldn't think of an appropriate word he could say in polite company.

"Indeed," my father rumbled in response.

"Did he do any lasting damage to any of the kids?" Keller asked his voice grim.

"Mikaela and Sam are both well. Their injuries are healed. My sparkling suffered neural-net corruption equivalent to human brain damage but Ratchet was able to repair her CPU before the damage was permanent. The emotional toll on her young mind however…" again another sentence hanging in the air like no one could finish them with out making the horror of the situation truly real. I heard two sighs of resignation from the humans in the room with my father.

"I'm sorry we gotta go through this now Prime. But the precedent has never been set and some of the suits in Washington are nervous because of the efficiency to which you recovered the children," Keller said apologetically.

"They accuse us of murder when they kidnap and torture children?" that stone was back in his voice. There was another sigh form which human I didn't know.

"You have our trust Optimus," Morshower told him confidently. "We just need to make the other's see that your actions were necessary." I heard my dad vent as he sent me a questioning prod. If he needed me I'd be there even if I was scared to death. It was right after that I heard other's clomping up the stairs in their dress shoes and high heels. I couldn't distinguish how many exactly but there was at least 10.

"Mr. Prime," someone addressed my father unfamiliarly. "This meeting is to discuss the handling of the last mission that was dealt with under your and NEST's control."

"Yes."

"Mr. Prime," a lofty voice said lighter than the others. IT was a woman. "What was the nature of this mission?"

"I'm sure you have had time to familiarize yourself with the briefing material," he started and paused. "Then you know it was a rescue mission to retrieve our most vulnerable members."

"The humans are not under your jurisdiction," a sharp voiced male said one I hadn't heard yet. "And the other is what a drone?" The stony edge in my father's spark bond became concrete.

My dad's voice dropped a full octave. "You are referring to my sparkling, my daughter. She is every bit a child only a toddler in your years, but barely a newborn to us. And the other two CHILDREN," he emphasized the word, "are under our protection and will continue to be. If we need to make them official Cybertronians and give them political immunity or even adopt them we will do so to keep them safe."

"Your daughter?" one older scratchy male voice choked.

"Yes."

"Mr. Prime, the human casualties from the opposing faction were extensive. Please explain to this committee the need to decimate the HUMAN combatants?"

As smooth as ever he rumbled, "They had specialized weapons to disable a Cybertronian and were also using large range assault ammunition on our human counterparts. And to complicate the rescue attempt they were very adamant about making sure they put as much resistance between us and their hostages, our CHILDREN. The force that was used was necessary to retrieve the sparklings."

"Sparklings?"

"Children," Keller interpreted. I felt my dad nod in his direction in a small thanks.

"But Mr. Prime surely you enormous stature and that of your other Autobots didn't require you to carve that bloody path through the hallways?"

"My daughter and those I have taken under my protections like they were one of our own and they were being tortured," he again emphasized his last word to drive home the point that lives were on the line. Innocents. That should mean something to them.

"Are you telling this committee you blasted and slashed and stomped your way through several hundred humans to get to two humans and one small transformer?" the same man that had asked the other accusing question asked it again a different way but just as insulting.

"Did you have any children senator?" My father suddenly asked in a low voice. HE was trying to reach them.

"Of course two a boy and a girl. There grown now with children of their own. I have 5 grand kids," he announced proudly.

"Then tell me what wouldn't you do if one of your children even grown or grandchildren were being held at the mercy of someone who had nothing but contempt for you and your kind and carried out painful, invasive, brain damaging, emotionally scaring, terror inducing acts on them and then stood between you and rescuing them?" The man didn't answer. I knew my father was looking at ever single one of them. "Can one of you think of you progeny or family members especially those who have yet to even know what right and wrong are and live long enough to have made enough mistakes to deserve such a fate?"

"But you're machines!"

I felt my dad shake his head, "We are individuals alive as you are with families and souls," he said sadly. He opened his chest plates just enough for me to crawl out of his sparkling hold into his hand. On my hands and knees I slowly moved into the light of the room not really wanting to but knowing my father knew best. I sat up pulling myself against his armor as tightly as I could and he responded by wrapping his hands around my form. But he left gaps in his fingers large enough for the humans seated around on top of the desk to look upon me. I snuggled into his chest and didn't look for a while. There were some gasps. But I heard two sets of shoes walk over toward my father. Optimus leaned over with me clinging to his chest armor and he bent just enough to allow the standing men to look over the edge of his cupped fingers. The faces were familiar.

"Hi Steel," Keller said smiling.

"Hey there darling," Morshower greeted me. Their demeanor put me at ease. These two I knew and so did dad. I turned a little and waved opening my optics.

"Hedo Kel and Morsher," I smiled back a little. I didn't get up and go to them though. They both looked up at Optimus.

"She is shy today?" Keller asked. My dad shook his head.

"She has been unable to reconnect with humans save Mikaela and Sam since her kidnapping. Recharging is fitful and her demeanor is subdued."

Morshower sighed and turned around, "When I came here the first time and saw her she moved from her father's hands and barreled to me to make friends. She was I vibrant little toddler learning to walk and make friends with people who aren't even her species! And this small shy wallflower is the result of what a human did to a child. That kind of crime in our country is punishable by life in prison or death!"

Keller sighed, "I've viewed her playing, laughing, drinking a bottle, sleeping in her father's arms, and even arguing with him! Poor child doesn't even have the desire to move about any more and freely among us as she did. It is a tragedy she had to learn to mistrust us so quickly because of one person's actions!"

Keller turned his back on the rest and turned a smile on me, "Here there little one," he addressed again. I waved. "I was hoping you'd come to the meeting. I brought you something." The thought intrigued me and peeked the interest of the baby bot programming.

"Really?" I asked quietly still holding on my dad's plating. But I turned more to face Keller.

"I sure did," he said sitting on my dad's hand. The whole room besides Morshower were giving their wrapped attention to the scenario playing out in front of them. I could feel their eyes but did my best to ignore them. He looked up at my dad for permission who gave a quick nod and he scooted over a little towards me. I wriggled back a little so he stayed there a moment then moved closer again. I was expecting it this time and stayed put. He pulled a package out of his pocket and handed it toward me. It was wrapped in pink paper.

"A present?" I asked in a squeal of joy. He nodded with a smile and I reached out with out thinking before I could be afraid and took it from him and sat back against my dad. "It's pink like mama!" I smiled and began to tear into it. And there in the paper was a pony I hadn't gotten yet. I looked up at him and smile wider. "Moondancer!" I squealed again and hugged him. The whole thing caught up with me and I pulled back suddenly not know if I'd done something wrong. The response was just chuckling and a hug back.

"I even talked to your dad to make sure you didn't have this pony. It's a present for being such a brave girl," I smiled shyly. I sighed trying to push away the fear and sorrow from that day.

"Thak u," I said happily and began to pet the small pony and pulled it close to my chest. I was also getting hungry. I waved at Keller also as I began to sit back into the crook of my fathers arm. He was smiling at me. And in his hand he had my sippy cup which he lowered toward me and put in my mouth.

Morshower turned to the gathered congressional committee with Keller and looked at all of them for a moment and then went back to their seats to let them all absorbed what happened just then. My dad stayed quiet until one of the others would make their first move. IT was the woman who spoke first.

"She takes a bottle?" she asked softly her eyes fixed on me. I ignored her turning into my fathers chest.

"Much like human babies Cybertronian sparklings have a need to refuel frequently."

"And she plays with ponies?" a male asked.

"They are her favorite toy from earth. She has accumulated over 300." There was snicker from Keller.

"Gentlemen," Morshower prodded.

"Yes General, we see that there is more to this little robot than previously thought," said the man accusing my father of straight up murder previously.

The woman stood up abruptly bringing the attention suddenly from me to her and the action startled me. I small squeak escaped my mouth but my father's soothing calmed me quickly. "I think we've seen enough gentlemen," she said with an air of finality.

"I have to grudgingly agree with your observations," another conceded. "Let us adjourn and get back to the mainland. I have some grandkids to call…" and with that everyone left with Keller and Morshower last giving me a wave. Somehow my father had done it. He'd gotten through to at least those few giving them something to think about instead of insisting we were just unfeeling machines or overgrown computers. I hoped that in time these demonstrations wouldn't be necessary to prove he was justified in just protecting his own daughter.