A/N: Next chapter is going to be the last one. And that's when I'll announce the contest winners! This Christmas break I've been watching a marathon of Harry Potter. ABC (or I guess they're called Freeform now) is totally obsessed with the scarred, magical teenager. It got me thinking though, what houses would the Small Fry cast belong in? IMO, Aj would a Gryffindor and so would Tyler. Peter and Granny would be in Ravenclaw. Wes would be in Slytherin. Aubrey and Taylor would be in Hufflepuff. Like, I've given this an embarrassing amount of thought… Tell me what y'all think though! Also as a fun little question of the day, what mechs would be in which houses do you think?

Chapter Thirty-Five:

Remember

"Promise me you'll never forget me because if I thought you would, I'd never leave." –A.A. Milne

Hospitals had always creeped me out to some degree, but thanks to my last stay here I had come to almost liking the place. They had saved me after all. This sterile building filled with very un-sterile people had slightly grown on me. Now though? Right at this moment?

I hated hospitals.

Probably because right now I was filled with more fear than I've ever felt before. My palms were sweaty, my body was shaking, and I was just barely holding on. It was a fucking miracle that I wasn't curled up in a ball on this white tiled floor sobbing my eyes out. I would rather face Boss a hundred more times than be here in this situation. At least up against Boss I had some semblance of control. I could do something.

Here? Right now? I was fucking useless. All I could do was sit here on an old, worn down chair waiting. Waiting and waiting and waiting. I wasn't good at waiting.

Last night I had spent hours trapped in a nightmare pleading and begging to wake up, but now I was praying that I was still there. That this was just a continuation of that God-awful dream and that none of this was actually happening. There was an awful pit in my stomach that told me that prayer was hopeless. This was happening. The antiseptic smell that burned my nose was too real. The sounds of intercoms and background conversations and heart rate monitors were too life-like. The solid arm around my shoulder was heavy and tangible. I was stuck in this reality.

The doctor was back and he was talking, but he might as well have been one of the adults from Peanuts. I couldn't hear a word he said, it didn't register for me. Someone was pulling me up, leading me towards a door, and finally I understood. They were done. I could go in. My feet were on autopilot as I walked into the small hospital room. The windows were open letting in plenty of sunlight that brightened the room. The TV in the corner was off and the only sound I could hear was the heart rate monitor by the bed and my ragged, sobbing breaths.

There she was lying in bed with her eyes peacefully shut. She wore a plain hospital gown but the blankets tucked in around her covered most of it. Her arms were out though with an IV stuck in the crook of her left elbow. Her gray hair still looked perfectly in place, despite her condition, but now she looked so much older than I usually pictured her. Granny looked like she had aged years since I last saw her.

I thought I could handle seeing her like this. I thought I could toughen through it and be strong, but God I was breaking. In my mind, I wasn't just seeing her lying there resting. I kept seeing her dead, broken body. Eyes open, but unseeing, stuck behind a mirror turned to glass where I couldn't reach her.

A hand squeezed my shoulder, but I brushed it off and rushed forward. I grabbed Granny's unresponsive hand and collapsed into the chair by her bed. My head hung forward, resting on the side of her stomach and I just sobbed.

Sideswipe's spark ached and spun. It was a strange feeling. On one side, he could feel excitement from the younglings. Whatever it was they were doing had all three of them happy enough that it actually translated over the bond. On the other side, he could feel Aj's agony. He didn't know how it was for all the other mechs, but for him and his brother the agony was at the forefront. Both emotions were strong, but Aj's was nearly palpable. He had seen through his brother's memory what it had felt like the night she had gotten shot, but it wasn't until last night that he got a taste of it himself. Her jagged fear left them staggering. The two of them had nearly fallen into gladiator mode.

'How is she?' Sunstreaker asked over the bond.

Rather than answering, Sideswipe stepped back into the doorway so his brother could see what he did. Aj was draped over a recharging Rosie crying. The sobs had died down after the first couple breems, but she was still leaking fluids from her optics.

'She's still shaky from last night. This just made it worse.' Sideswipe thought.

He stepped away again because it hurt him to just watch her. Optimus was sitting in a chair across from the door, Jazz was pacing the hall, and Ratchet was off to the side speaking to Rosie's doctor. Sideswipe still didn't know the details. All he knew was that the older female had the equivalent to a spark attack. Except apparently the spark attacks humans had were a lot worse than the kind they had.

::According to Megatron…:: Optimus spoke over the comm unit, probably to keep nosy humans out of the conversation. ::The seekers just arrived at Rosie's home.::

Starscream, Thundercracker, and Skywarp had flown over to Rosie's house to get supplies. That way Aj wouldn't have to later. It was a risk to let them do so, but their options were pretty low at this point. It's not like they had another car.

"Should I start tryin' to get in contact with Aubrey?" Jazz asked aloud.

"Pit no." Sideswipe blurted before Optimus could reply. Sunstreaker's agreement rang clear over their bond. "Leave them out of this for now."

Jazz stopped pacing to level a glare at him, "They need to know."

"What difference will it make if they're here right now?" Sideswipe argued, "They can't change anything. Just let them enjoy themselves for now."

"While Rosie lies in the hospital?" Jazz scoffed.

"It's what Aj would want."

Optimus stood up, "Hold off on reaching out to them for now."

Sideswipe glanced back into the room and every inch of his being urged him to go in after her. The only thing that stopped him was the fact that Ratchet said she needed her time alone. He'd ignore the medic if he didn't know that Prime would force him to obey.

All three mechs stiffened as Ratchet's holoform walked back over with a frown, "She's fine. She'll recover, but she'll be weaker than before. The doctor says this wasn't her first spark-…heart attack. That wasn't surprising to him though. Apparently once you have one heart attack you are predisposed to have more."

"Sunny and I saw her take medicine more than once." Sideswipe spoke up, "Did that have anything to do with it?"

Ratchet nodded, "That's probably what they gave her after her first incident." The medic scoffed and shook his head, "Honestly, this system of care is so frustrating. It seems like there are almost no real fixes. It's just chemicals and drugs used to postpone injury or fight back symptoms. Why don't humans have real repairs?"

Optimus let out a soft hum and allowed the medic to complete his rant entirely before speaking, "Did he state where she was found?"

"Yes." Ratchet sighed, "She was volunteering at the younglings' school this morning. Helping some teachers. The attack happened there and the school called for an ambulance. Rosie had no emergency contact on file, but one of the teachers came along and made sure Aubrey's home was contacted. She must have known they were close."

"Primus." Jazz mumbled and turned around shaking his helm.

Sideswipe could tell that Sunstreaker was passing along the information back at the house. He crossed his arms across his chassis and leaned against the wall behind him. The mech had no mock bond to Rosie, but he was worried all the same. Every mech in this universe cared for the older female. Even Barricade respected her to some degree.

"Can we go in with her yet?" Sideswipe blurted. He lifted his gaze to focus on Ratchet. The medic narrowed his own optics in response. It was what Sideswipe expected from the mech.

'He's not going to want anyone in there with her.' Sunstreaker commented. The medic was always overprotective, but that trait went into overdrive when he was worried.

Sideswipe stepped toward him, "You can't help them both at the same time. You check on Rosie and I'll sit with her."

There was a pause of silence between the three mechs before Ratchet nodded in agreement. Jazz stepped forward, "Ratch-"

"I need you and Optimus to run to the front desk. Tap into the system and initiate Rosie under the same insurance as the others." Ratchet interrupted. Early on, when Tyler had been hospitalized, the problem of human money came up. Tyler was under his mother's insurance policy and it was all covered, but the mechs quickly learned that policy didn't cover their favorite accident-prone friend. As it turns out, hacking into human systems wasn't overly complicated and 'Cyber Systems' insurance company was created. It was how they paid for Aj's surgery and hospital stay and it was how they'd pay for Rosie's stay if she couldn't cover it herself. Honestly, it'd be great if they all could just stop getting hurt, period.

Optimus set his servo on Jazz's shoulder with a quick glance. The saboteur nodded once before the two of the turned and walked down the hall. Ratchet motioned toward the doorway, heading in himself, and Sideswipe hesitated only a brief moment before walking in behind him.

"I'm sorry." I whispered. The blanket muffled my words. "I'm so sorry."

I didn't know how exactly, but I knew this had to be my fault. It couldn't have been a coincidence that Granny ended up in the hospital after my nightmare last night. I was warned wasn't I? Warned that I was a danger to everyone I loved. I didn't even really know what that meant though.

"Aj, babe."

Sideswipe was standing by my side, I could feel his presence. Slowly, I lifted my head up and let my eyes focus on Granny. She hadn't woken up yet, she hadn't even moved. There was a hand on my shoulder as Ratchet came into view. He gave me a quick worried glance before looking over Granny's vital for himself. Him and Sideswipe were obviously here, but it just occurred to me that I had no idea who else had come.

"Ratchet." I spoke up and flinched at the crack in my voice. Quickly, I cleared my throat, "Is she…Did the doctor…?"

"She'll be fine, youngling." Ratchet replied softly, "She just needs some rest."

I nodded and Sideswipe carefully pulled me up out of the chair. Finally, I turned to look at him and saw the concern drawn all over his holoform's features. Without missing a beat, he pulled me forward into his chest. Sideswipe's arms wrapped around me as I just leaned against him.

"Sunny wishes he was here right now too." Sideswipe whispered, "He's going to come later though, with some others."

"Take her down the hall toward the cafeteria. She needs some food." Ratchet ordered. I didn't want to eat or drink anything. All I wanted to do was sit here until Granny woke up, but I just couldn't bring myself to argue. There was a pause in the room, as if the two mechs expected me to fight about it, but I just nodded in agreement.

Sideswipe cleared his throat and led me out of the room. He kept his arm draped across my shoulders and kept me tucked into his side. The two of us slowly walked down the hall to the medium sized cafeteria. It was fairly crowded, but I expected no less at this time in the morning. The mech led me to a corner of the room and sat me down at the table. He cupped the side of my face, "Stay here, ok? I'll be right back with some food. Don't move."

I nodded numbly and watched him disappear into the breakfast gathering crowd. My gaze drifted around the room. If I just sat here my mind would go back to where I didn't want it to go so I focused on something else. I watched the guy in the business suit angrily whisper into his cellphone across the room, I watched a mother stir a bowl of food for her grumpy toddler, there was a teenager sitting a table alone scribbling away in a notebook. I stared at a happy family sitting off to the side for longer than was socially acceptable when Sideswipe came back over with a plate in one and a cup in the other.

He set both down, the plate had eggs, bacon, and a biscuit while the cup was filled with what looked like coffee, and then he pulled a wrapper out of his pocket that had a fork and napkin inside it.

"I know you don't like coffee, but Sunny said it'd give you energy. Luckily, I remembered that if you had to drink it you liked it sweet. Like me." Sideswipe gave me a cheeky grin. I knew he was trying to make things better, but I couldn't bring myself to smile back. I just nodded and took a sip of the coffee.

Sideswipe sat down right beside me, rather than across from me, and draped his arm across the back of my chair. Rather than trying to eat I turned my head to look at him. His holoform wore a small smile, but the worry was still evident in his eyes. It was then that I realized he was still using his fake holoform. The one with dark hair. I had seen it yesterday during the meeting, but it didn't really click for me until this moment. My eyes slowly drifted to his lips that were unmarred by any scar or mark.

The mech cleared his throat, "Yeah, I know. These lips are just so slagging kissable." I looked back to his eyes and he shrugged, "I appreciated what you said…about me and my holoform, my real one, but… I'm just… not ready to walk around like that. I don't want to answer any other questions."

"I get it." I replied in a low voice.

"You should eat."

I shook my head, "I'm not really hungry, Sides."

Sideswipe sighed, "Do you…Do you need to talk about it?" I could feel my body stiffen and Sideswipe continued his line of thought, "Last night was…rough. You were so scared and we couldn't do anything. I just…I just want to help."

"Don't."

"Talking helps, Aj."

"I can't talk about it." I snapped, "If I talk about it then I have to think about it and then…"

My voice trailed away as my mind drifted. I couldn't stop the flashes behind my eyes. I couldn't stop my mind from replaying the nightmare over and over again. The bloody bodies, the broken bones, the screams of pain. I could still hear Peter sobbing and begging for the pain to stop. My stomach rolled and for a second I thought I was going to throw up right then and there. Sideswipe moved his arm from the chair directly to my shoulder and pulled me closer, "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Forget I said anything."

"I wish I could forget it all." I mumbled and pinched the bridge of my nose in frustration. What I would give to forget. It was silent for about a minute before Sideswipe covered the hand on my face with his own and pulled it away. I gave him a tired, curious look and he just smiled in response before pulling his arm away from me.

Sideswipe began to sign to me, 'You're officially at 38 nicknames now, you know? After using the one you did yesterday.'

I shook my head and spoke aloud rather than signing back to him like I usually did, "Sides, I don't-"

'Sign to me.'

I hesitated, but the pleading look on Sideswipe's face made me give in. With a sigh, I signed back, 'Why do I have to sign to you?'

'I need to practice.' Sideswipe replied, 'I'm getting rusty.'

'You're almost better than me, you liar.'

Sideswipe grinned, 'You need to come up with more nicknames. The bet ends either when we leave or when you run out of them.'

The light conversation continued, with Sideswipe mocking his brother, and I quickly realized why he wanted me to sign to him. American sign language was hardly my natural language and it still took a great deal of concentration to hold one single conversation. My mind couldn't focus on anything else when it came to signing.

Unfortunately, I couldn't sit here and sign about nothing with Sideswipe. I needed to be upstairs and the moment Sideswipe got a message from Ratchet saying they had moved Granny into a different room and that she was awake it took everything in me not to sprint out of the cafeteria.

"You didn't eat anything." Sideswipe argued as he followed me down the halls. People spared us passing glances and it was probably because I looked like a mad woman.

"My hands were a little preoccupied." I shot back. The mech grumbled under his breath in response and the argument stopped there. As we came to a fork in the hallway, Sideswipe grabbed my hand and took lead since he knew where the room was thanks to the medic.

My hand tightened around his nervously and my feet started to grow heavy. As much as I wanted to be in the room with Granny right now, a part of me was also scared. What if I made everything worse? What if I hurt her someway or somehow? Sideswipe squeezed my hand reassuringly, as if he could hear my poisonous thoughts, and shot me a small smile. In return, I planted my feet forcing him to stop as well.

"Aj? We're almost there, it's around the corner." He said with his eyebrows furrowed in confusion. I let go of his hand and threw my arms around his neck. Sideswipe took an involuntary step back in surprise but didn't hesitate to wrap his own arms around me tightly, "Aj?"

I rested my head in the crook of his shoulder and closed my eyes. Right now, I was a mess of a person. That nightmare had destroyed me. It shattered every inch of my soul and I wasn't entirely sure I'd ever be able to come back from it. Not completely. However, if there was one thing I was thankful for today it was for my mechs. I'd still be a blubbering mess sobbing in my bed if it weren't for them. Plus, it was a small comfort that last night I didn't have to watch my mechs die. I didn't hurt them. Not my big, strong mechs. They were impenetrable. Indestructible.

Sideswipe turned his head and I could feel a pair of lips on my temple before he whispered, "Let's go see Rosie, babe. You can do this."

I nodded and slowly released him with a heavy sigh. The two of us were walking slower now and as we turned the hospital corner, avoiding two nurses who turned at the same time, I spotted Optimus' holoform leaning against the wall across from an open door. He noticed me at about the same time and pushed off to walk toward us, "Aj? Are you well? Did you eat?"

"I'm not very hungry right now, OP." I replied. My eyes darted to the door again, "Is she…Did you see her?"

Optimus nodded, "I spoke to Rosie a moment ago. She seems well. Ratchet is pleased with her condition." He reached out and cupped the back of my head in a paternal manner. A small smile grew on his lips as he gave me an encouraging nod, "You are a brave, strong femme, Aj. You will get past this. You and Rosie both."

"Thanks, OP." I tried to keep my voice from shaking. I gave Sideswipe a quick glance over my shoulder before heading towards the door alone. Ratchet's voice was the one who stood out to me and it sounded like he was in mid-rant.

With a steadying breath, I stepped into the room. This one was a bit larger than the other and it was obviously a room that was meant for someone to heal in for a couple of days. It looked like the one I had stayed in not too long ago. Ratchet stood on the left side of the bed wagging his finger in Granny's direction in an almost comical manner. Granny was awake and looked exhausted, but she was smiling lightly at the stern medic. On the right side of the bed was Jazz's holoform watching the scene in amusement. Jazz was the first one to notice me only because Ratchet was really into his rant right now and Granny, like the kind woman she was, was actually listening rather than ignoring him like I usually did.

"Sweetspark." Jazz breathed and rushed over to me. My eyes widened when he scooped me up into a tight hug, but it wasn't unwelcome. I wrapped my arms around him and gathered the strength I was going to need from his embrace. He pulled away and cupped my face. He kept his voice low and unaccented, "Are you alright? How do you feel?"

"I'm fine, Jazz. I'm ok, I just need to…" My eyes darted beyond him to see Ratchet and Granny staring at us. Ratchet had a look of worry that I expected at this point, but I was surprised to see Granny look equally as worried to see me. Did she blame me for this too? Was she worried I'd make this worse?

Ratchet let out a grunt and walked over, "Come on. Give them a breem or two." He narrowed his eyes at me and Granny, "But if either of you strain yourselves, I swear to Primus-"

"Alright, Hatchet." Jazz let go of my face and the two left the room. One of them closed the door, I could hear it, but I kept my eyes on Granny.

She sat up in bed, scooting over toward the right side, and lifted her arms and spoke in a hoarse tone, "Come here, honey."

Tears fell from my eyes again as I rushed over and crawled into bed beside her. Granny didn't hesitate to wrap her arms around me and my reaction was to fold into her and cry harder. She lightly shushed me between comforting words while rubbing my back with her hand. We stayed that way for a long time. Until my eyes were dry and my chest hurt from crying.

"I should be comforting you." I mumbled pathetically.

"Oh don't be silly. I'm perfectly fine." Granny replied with a light chuckle. She was hardly fine. She could've died. I could've lost her forever. Just like in that nightmare. I wanted to tell her that. Tell her that she was wrong, but my voice just wouldn't work. She hummed lightly, "Ratchet told me you had a rough night."

I nodded numbly, "It was…it was bad, Granny. It was really, really bad."

"Do you want to tell me about it?" To say it out loud, to speak about that horrific nightmare seemed like a God-awful idea. It was bad enough to have it banging around in my head like it was, but to say it aloud? To hear it in my own words? Wasn't seeing it enough? Granny squeezed my shoulder, "Aimee Jane?"

"It was me." I whispered, "It was me. I was just a- a spectator to my own actions. I had to watch as-" My voice broke and for a moment I wasn't sure I was going to be able to continue. Granny tightened her arms around me and in that moment I felt briefly whole again. "I had to watch as this…version of me, killed them. I killed them all. Wes, Aubrey, Josh, you, the ki- the kids." Now the words fell from my mouth freely. It was like word vomit. "There was…like a two way mirror between us. I was on one side and they were on the other. They were dying, the other me was…was beating them alive, but I couldn't do anything!" I didn't think I could cry anymore, but new tears sprung to my eyes, "I hit the mirror until my own hands bled, I screamed and screamed until I was hoarse, but I couldn't stop it. I couldn't save them from myself!"

"Hey, hey now. Shhh." Granny pulled one hand back to wipe away the stray tears streaking my face. "Stop that. It was just a dream, Aimee Jane. A horrific one, yes, but it's over now. You don't need to dwell on that. We're all just fine."

I shook my head, "You're in the hospital, Granny."

She narrowed her eyes at me, "Honest to God, Aimee Jane, if you try to blame yourself for my weak heart I swear…"

"No", I argued, "You don't get it. It felt like…like more than a bad dream. There was something about it… What if I'm cursed?"

Granny scoffed, "Aimee Jane-"

"I'm a trouble magnet!" I cried, "A-A train wreck of a human being and I'm…I'm dangerous, Granny."

"Dangerous?" Granny's voice rose in volume, "Hardly."

I sat up slightly, "I've hurt people, Granny. You know that. I'm a damn good fighter. It's probably the only thing I'm honestly talented at." She looked like she wanted to argue against that, but I didn't let her, "Everything I did in that dream…I'm capable of. I have the ability."

She slowly sat up as her facial features calmed. Granny took my hands in hers and squeezed them, "You're right." My heart fell to my stomach. It was something I knew, but to hear her agree hurt like hell. She pulled at my fingers, making my fists unclench, and brushed her fingertips along my knuckles, "I lost count of all the times I saw you come home with bloody knuckles, and I always knew that no matter how bad you looked, how bad these knuckles bled, I knew deep down that you gave out as much as you took, if not more. That there was someone out there in the same condition or worse." Granny lifted her gaze to meet mine, "But these hands could never intentionally hurt someone you love, Aimee Jane. I know that with every fiber of my being."

"Granny…"

"You aren't just some street fighter. You aren't some…some destroyer. You're a protector." I opened my mouth to point out the many years where all I fought for was money and fame, but she cut me off, "There were a few years there where you got lost, I know that, but you found yourself here. With your sister, with those kids, with those mechs…" Granny smiled, "You protect people, Aimee Jane. It's what you do."

I took a shaky breath, "What if I get lost again? What if I forget? What if…" Thoughts of my dream, of my fake mother speaking to me, came to mind, "What if someone changes me and turns me into a monster?"

"That's not how it works. You won't forget." Granny replied sternly, "And to answer your last question…who are you?"

"What?"

"Who are you?"

My brow furrowed in confusion, "I'm…I'm A-" I paused and reworded my thoughts, "I'm Aimee Jane Bradshaw."

"That's right." Granny replied cheerfully, "And as far as I was aware, nobody tells Aimee Jane Bradshaw what to do. She does whatever the hell she wants."

A chuckle left my lips and I couldn't help but smile in response to her using my own words against me. Granny pulled me back into a hug and I curled up against her side. Images of my nightmare were burned into my brain. Honestly, I wasn't sure if I would ever be able forget them for as long as I lived, but being with Granny, hearing her comforting words, had eased my mind and soul. She comforted me in a way I knew no one else could. She comforted me like a mother would.

Besides, she was right about one thing. I would die protecting the ones I loved. I would do anything and everything to keep them safe and far from harm. Even if that harm was myself. Nothing, not even me, would ever hurt them. Not if I could help it.

"Do you remember when we first met?" Granny asked suddenly.

I let out a laugh, "Are you kidding?"

"I remember being so shocked when I heard that the police were going to escort over a sixteen year old girl to my foster home to be looked after. It wasn't as surprising that the police were involved after I caught sight of your busted up face and sneer."

"Excuse you, I was adorable."

"All you did that first week was curse and slam doors and call me Granny-"

"I only did that to annoy you."

Granny grinned, "And who would've thought that a little less than a year later I'd be scolding you for threatening other kids who tried to call me Granny."

I shrugged, "You're my Granny. They could go out and get their own."

There was a knock at the door before it was lightly cracked open and Sideswipe stuck his head in, "Sorry to interrupt." His eyes darted to me and he grinned in relief, "There's someone here to see Rosie."

"Who?" I pressed in curiosity.

"Abramo."

Granny smiled, "Oh, let him in."

Sideswipe disappeared and Abramo took his place as the large man strolled into the room. He carried a bag of food in one hand and a concerned look on his face, "La mia rosa, sei tu bene?"

Abramo crossed the room and set the bag filled with to-go boxes off to the side. I slid off the bed and he reached for her hand. Without taking a breath, he began to rant in Italian, worry dripping off his tone. Granny squeezed his hand and clapped her other hand on top of his, "Abramo, dear, I am fine."

"I heard from Pam and hurried over. As quickly as I could, my rose." Abramo shook his head. He glanced at me, "Patatina! You must be so worried. I brought food."

I chuckled, "Thanks, Abramo. I'll give you two a minute."

"Grazie."

After one last glance at Granny, I left the room to give the two of them some time to talk. Abramo and Granny had always been really good friends. They had met through me. Stepping into the hallway, I was surprised to see only Sideswipe there.

"Where are the others?"

"Outside talking to the seekers."

"TC and them are here?" I pressed.

Sideswipe stuck out his lower lip, "Why do you sound so excited?"

I ignored him and pressed for even more information, "How did they get here? Don't we have the truck? Wait, did we take the truck?"

Everything that had happened this morning was basically one big haze. I didn't remember getting out of bed or even getting dressed. I glanced down at myself to see I was in my pajamas. Oh.

"They flew, but from what I hear they were careful and everything worked out well for them." Sideswipe said. He smiled, "You look better already."

"What?"

"After talking to Rosie. You have color in your cheeks again." Sideswipe said softly.

I rubbed at my cheek awkwardly before shaking my head at him, "You heard everything, didn't you?" Sideswipe didn't verbally reply, but the look on his face was answer enough. "Did the others?"

"No. Sunny knows, of course, but he didn't share that with the others."

"Thanks."

"What are you doing out?" Ratchet's voice rang out. We turned to see him coming toward us, "Is Rosie alright?"

Sideswipe crossed his arms, "Yeah, she's just got a new visitor."

Ratchet glared at him, "New visitor? She needs her rest. I only let Aj in there because I knew neither of them would stand for it if I didn't."

Rather than trying to argue with him about how Granny could handle one more visitor and how Abramo would do more good than harm, I walked toward him and wrapped my arms around his torso, burying my face into his holoform's chest. I remembered my nightmare vividly, but I didn't recall much about the time I spent conscious last night. However, I was vaguely aware that I spent most of it curled up to my favorite medic.

"What are you doing?" Ratchet asked gruffly.

"Thanking you. Again. For everything." I replied in a muffled voice. His arms wrapped around me in response. "Thanks for staying with me last night."

Ratchet hummed, "Of course, youngling. Just…please stop scaring me."

I wished I could promise him that, but something told me that if I did it would be made in vain. We pulled away and Ratchet shot me a quick, warm smile. Sideswipe cleared his throat, "So hey, we didn't call Aubrey and them. Was that a good choice?"

My eyes widened in realization, "Oh God, they don't know do they?"

Ratchet shook his head, "Their presence wouldn't change anything and the younglings are having fun. We can feel it over the bond."

It must have been a lot of fun if the mechs could feel it. Ratchet was right too. If they knew, if they were here, they'd just be upset and worried. This was probably for the best. I'd check with Granny when I got back into the room to be sure, but I would bet my left kidney that she'd agree with us. "I think that's for the best."

The door opened and Abramo stepped out, "I must go open the restaurant, but I will check up later, patatina."

Sideswipe spoke something in Italian and Abramo nodded before walking down the hall way him, both speaking the larger man's native language. Ratchet set his hand against my back and the two of us walked back into Granny's room.

"Have fun with your bestie?"

"Abramo is such a kind man." Granny chuckled.

Ratchet spoke to her about the kids and she agreed, wholeheartedly, that the news of her heart attack could be broken to them when they return. I sat down on the edge of her bed while Ratchet took the seat right beside her bed.

"How do you feel?" I asked.

Granny smiled, "Perfectly fine, just a little tired."

"What even happened?" I asked.

"Without going to into the details, she had a heart attack while at the younglings' school." Ratchet spoke up before she could, "The medicine she took, while helpful, isn't perfect and humans become more prone to heart attacks after their first anyways. Honestly, the more I hear about human medicine the more-"

"Wait, wait." I interrupted him and stood up to look at Granny, "After their first? Is this your second heart attack?"

Granny frowned, "Aimee Jane-"

"Granny!" I cried, "What? I-I- When? Why didn't you tell me?"

She sighed, "It was years ago, you were in New York. I thought you were in medical school at the time. I didn't want to bother you, it was a minor thing."

"Bother me? Minor thing?" I shook my head, "You had a heart attack, Granny. Oh my God."

Ratchet stood, "I'll give you two some more time, but if your voices rise above a certain octave again I'm coming back in. Both of you need rest."

I paid him no mind as he walked out. My eyes stayed on Granny, "I can't even…"

"It's fine, Aimee Jane. Bad hearts run in the family." Granny shrugged, "My mother was the same way."

I fell back into the chair Ratchet had been in and slumped down with a sigh. Heart attacks weren't out of the norm for her apparently. As she got older they would just get worse too. Two heart attacks was awful, but what if she had three?

"I have to stay." I thought aloud.

Granny narrowed her eyes, "Excuse me?"

"I can't leave with them. I can't leave you, Granny."

"The hell you won't." Granny replied sharply, "I will not have you miss out on this opportunity because of me."

I shook my head, "Then you come with us. The mechs wont argue and- and even if they did I can convince them otherwise. I know I can."

Granny sighed, "No, Aimee Jane."

"Why?"

"This isn't my adventure, it's yours." She replies softly, "Plus, I can't leave this universe. One day I'm going to pass on."

"Granny-"

"It's a fact of life, Aimee Jane. Everyone has to die eventually. Now for me, it's not going to be for a good long while. I can feel it." She smiled, "But when it happens, I need to be in this universe. I've already decided that once you and your family leave, I'm going back to Florida. I'm going to spend the last leg of my life in my old home. The one I had with my Freddie and when I go I'll be with him."

We didn't talk about it often, but I knew the Freddie she spoke about. Fred Tanner was her late husband. They had been childhood friends who grew up and fell in love. They married outside of high school and had a bright future ahead of them. After thirteen years of marriage, when they were in their thirties, Fred had gotten into a car accident coming home from work and passed away. About a year after that she moved up to Alabama and hadn't gone back since. Granny didn't really talk about him much and when she did it was only glowing words about the man. As far as I knew, she had never dated another man again. Fred was it for her.

"I don't want you to be alone." I argued, "What if you had been home alone this morning when you had the attack? Granny…"

"You shouldn't worry so much, dear. You'll go prematurely gray." I could tell by her tone that the conversation was over. She wasn't budging on her end and I knew from experience that Granny could be every bit as stubborn as I was. Internally though, I didn't let it die. There had to be an answer for this that didn't involve her being all alone. There had to be something.

Waiting for the mechs to rotate had been absolute torture. To sit in the house while Aj was suffering so far from him was just the worst. It helped to have his twin there, but seeing things through the bond was different from being there in person. Now though, he was close. Optimus and Sideswipe had come back in the truck to switch out with some people. Jazz and Ratchet had refused to leave and Sunstreaker knew that his twin would have done the same if the others didn't need them separated right now. The comms couldn't work from the hospital to the house, but their twin bond did. It was how they could keep connected and informed.

"Jazz says they're on the second floor on the East side. Room 213." Bumblebee spoke up. Him, Bumblebee, and Prowl had come this round to visit Aj and check on Rosie's condition.

'Grimlock is freaking the frag out.' Sideswipe grumbled over the bond, 'He wants to be at the hospital and I think him and bossbot are about to wrestle it out.'

Sunstreaker didn't bother to respond to him as the three of them headed up to the room. As they got close, the femme came into view. She was standing in the hallway talking to Jazz.

"-find her number for me?" Aj asked. He had missed the first part of the conversation, "I need it ASAP."

"Sure thing, sweetspark. I'll get workin' on it. You gonna be alright?" Jazz pressed. He lifted a servo to rest on the side of her arm.

Her optics glanced in his direction and she smile with a nod, "I will. Thanks Jazz."

Jazz and Aj walked toward the two of them. Bumblebee greeted her first with a tight hug and words of worry, but Sunstreaker kept his glare on Jazz who returned the heated look happily as he passed them.

"You can go in and say hi. She's feeling much better. Had a nap about thirty minutes ago." Aj shrugged. Prowl gave her shoulder a squeeze before the two of them walked by her to enter the room. Sunstreaker stopped in front of her and waited for her attention to fall on him.

Her bright optics drifted back towards him and a small smile filled her features. She was sad and anxious. Her smile didn't quite match the one she usually wore, but her optics had light in them. A light that Sunstreaker was worried he wouldn't see again with the way she looked this morning. She had been a shell, a ghost of her true self as Ratchet dragged her out the door.

"Hey there, you walking, talking caution sign." She chirped as cheerfully as she could. He couldn't even bring himself to be annoyed at the nickname. "How are you?"

Sunstreaker wasn't the kind to outwardly show his feelings and he sure as pit wasn't a 'public display of affection' kind of mech, but he couldn't stop himself from stepping forward and pulling the shorter femme into his arms. Experiencing her fear and panic and pain over the bond had nearly sent him over the edge. He could only picture her lying on the ground bleeding, her optics fluttering closed as she offlined in front of him. Ratchet saving her only for it to happen all over again. Her arms tightened around his neck and he buried his faceplate into the crook of her shoulder. He needed the comfort of knowing she was here and safe, that she was physically online and well.

"I'm ok, Sunstreaker. I promise."

Sunstreaker took a step back and cleared his throat, "How is…how is Rosie?"

"She's doing good. She helped me more than I helped her that's for sure." Aj shrugged.

He motioned with his head toward the hospital room, "Bumblebee has a change of clothes in his bag for you."

Aj glanced over her shoulder, "He didn't mention it…"

"I think he was eager to see Rosie."

It was quiet between the two of them as Sunstreaker just studied her features, trying to see if she was honestly all right for the moment or just seriously faking it. She cleared her throat and grabbed my servo with her own, nodding her helm toward the room, "Come on, Pikachu, Rosie wants to see you too."

Sunstreaker let her drag him toward the room as Sideswipe sang over the bond, 'That's slagging 40! She hit 40! Frag yes!'

The yellow mech tried to bite back the small smile that threatened to slip onto his features. He was not a fan of the 'nickname game' as Sideswipe and the other mechs called it, but he was impressed that Aj had gotten as far as she had. Plus, by calling him different nicknames now it showed that she was trying. Despite what happened last night and what happened with Rosie, she was fighting to get back to where she needed to be mentally and emotionally. At that thought a surge of pride, one that matched his own, blossomed over the bond from Sideswipe. Their femme was a fighter. She never laid down and took a beating, no matter where the danger came from.

"Granny, look who else came along." Aj chimed. The old human looked her age at the moment. Sunstreaker could she the exhaustion in her eyes and body, despite her effort to hold onto her smile, and he felt powerless. Why did humans have to be so Primus fragging fragile?

"Sunstreaker." Rosie greeted happily. Prowl was sitting in the seat beside her bed as Bumblebee stood on the other side.

Sunstreaker nodded, "Rosie. How…How do you feel?"

"I'm fine." She replied warmly.

Bumblebee took off the book bag he wore on his back. It was Taylor's pink school bag, but right now it was filled with random clothes that Wheeljack had thrown in there for her. Prowl rose from his seat, claiming Jazz was comming him, and then left after a brief good-bye to Rosie.

"I'll be right back." Aj spoke up before slipping into the bathroom in the corner of the room.

"Sunstreaker." Rosie caught his attention. She motioned for him to come closer so he walked over and let his holoform drop down into the seat Prowl had been in. Bumblebee wandered back over to where he was on the other side of the bed. "Are you alright?"

The mech blinked in surprise, "Me?"

"You look…well, you looked scared, dear." Rosie shrugged. There was concern in her optics for him. It didn't surprise him. Rosie noticed a lot and more than that she always cared. Autobot or Decepticon, it didn't matter, she just cared.

Plus, she wasn't wrong. Sunstreaker had been shaken up and seeing this human lying in bed sick now put a ball of fear in his tanks. Humans were so fragile. They were so easily broken. Worse, it wasn't just outside factors that could break them. Rosie was sick because of her own systems and from what he heard from Ratchet, that wasn't something that could be fixed. Humans didn't have many fixes. They had patch jobs that barely lasted.

What upset him the most about this was that he was now bonded to a group of these fragile beings. As much as his processors and spark saw them as mechs and femmes, that's not what they were. The younglings were human. Aj was human. They were small and breakable and even if nothing went wrong, even if the mechs all succeeded in protecting them, they would live for maybe over a vorn. Maybe.

That made Sunstreaker's spark ache. His processor replayed the memory of what it felt like when Aj offlined. The absence in his spark. The nothingness.

"I'm fine." Sunstreaker replied more roughly than he intended. His optics darted over to Bumblebee whose face had crumpled in his own worry. He knew the scout understood what Sunstreaker was feeling. He knew that the scout had the same fears as him. They all shared the same fear these days.

"Well", The bathroom door opened and Aj stepped out with the book bag in hand. She had on a black, thick oversized sweater and denim shorts that could barely be seen because of the size of the sweater, "I like the sweater, but I don't know if I would wear this with jean shorts."

Bumblebee chuckled, "Wheeljack packed it. He said he wasn't too sure."

"He tried. Comm him and tell him I said thanks and that I love it." Aj smiled and pulled up the edge of the sweater to tuck it into the front of her pants. Now it at least looked like she had on a full outfit.

"Done." Bumblebee nodded.

Ratchet breezed into the room, giving Sunstreaker a quick nod, before walking straight over to Rosie, standing next to Bumblebee, "How do you feel?"

"The same as I did ten minutes ago when you asked." Rosie chuckled, "I'm fine, Ratchet. Thank you, but I'm fine."

Aj came over to stand next to him, "It's not as fun when he's nagging over you is it? Just wait until he gets to the rant about taking medicine."

"Oh, its not so bad." Rosie shook her head.

"Well when he offers you hot chocolate with an extra dose of morphine, I'm not gonna stop him." Aj joked. Sunstreaker smirked and stood up to offer the chair to her.

Ratchet scoffed, "Are you never going to let that go?"

"Probably not." Aj replied before shaking her head at him, "You can sit, it's fine." Sunstreaker rolled his eyes and set his hands on her shoulder, lightly pushing her down into the seat. She smiled and shook her head, "You're so stubborn, canary."

Bumblebee's grin widened, "That's 41, isn't it? That means Jazz's out!"

"Really? Jazz?" Aj questioned.

Sunstreaker narrowed his optics at him, "How do you know that?"

"Sideswipe commed everyone when she hit 40." Ratchet replied.

'It's true. I did.' Sideswipe hummed over the bond, 'Tell Aj I've never been more proud.'

'Shut the frag up.'

Aj wasn't aware of it, but only two mechs remained in the bet. One was his annoying as pit brother who had bet that the femme could get at least 50 nicknames. The other was none other than Optimus Prime. He had said she could get at least 45. So in this case, Optimus would win if she could think up at least four more and Sideswipe would only win if she thought up nine more. Sunstreaker wasn't part of the bet, considering he was the victim of it, but if he had to bet on who would win he'd say the Prime. He'd put all his credits, and all his hope, in the large, regal mech.

'So little faith.' Sideswipe scoffed.

'It's not a lack of faith, I just really want you to lose, glitch.'

In fact, he would love to see the glitch lose right now.

"Get it all out of your system." Sunstreaker spoke up. He crossed his arms and Aj raised an eyebrow at him curiously, "Right now. Let's finish this, put an end to the game."

Aj smirked, "How so?"

"Throw everything you can at me. Every nickname you have left."

"Right now?" Aj clarified and he nodded in response. She leaned back in her seat in thought. He glanced up to see Rosie smiling in amusement while Bumblebee and Ratchet watched on in interest. "Banana Peel. Butterfinger. Lemonhead. Citrine."

"Citrine?" Sunstreaker pressed.

"It's a yellow jewel. It counts. I would've used it." Aj shrugged. She bit down on her lower lip and Sunstreaker could see that she was reaching for more, but grasping none. Optimus Prime was currently winning. He would win if she could come up with no more. "Goldfinch?" Sunstreaker narrowed his optics at her and she bobbed her helm once, "Goldfinch. It counts too."

He smirked at her, "Go on."

Once again she bit down on her lower lip in thought. Her optics brightened briefly, "Minio…" His smirk grew as she began to repeat herself. Sideswipe was screaming over the bond for her not to say it, as if she could hear him. She quickly shook her helm, "Wait no, I think I used that one. Did I use that one?"

Bumblebee opened his mouth, but Sunstreaker shot him a glare while speaking, "We can't answer that."

Aj groaned and went silent again in thought. Her faceplate lit up in excitement and he tried to keep his smirk from unfolding into an affectionate grin, "Belle!"

"Bell?" Ratchet asked.

"Belle. Like the Disney princess. She has a bright yellow dress and is oh so pretty." Aj winked at him and he couldn't help but chuckle.

Sunstreaker nodded, "Is that all you got?"

Her smile fell in frustration, "Um…Lego man. They're yellow."

She was getting dangerously close to 50 now. She was only two away which was impressive. Unfortunately, that meant Sideswipe was near victory. He was basically dancing over the bond.

"Ken doll." Aj grinned, "Because of your holoform."

"Ok. That it?"

Aj paused and tilted her helm. It looked like she was about to agree that that was all she had. At 49 she was gonna end the game. Of course, Ratchet chose this moment to speak up, "Are you sure you don't have one more nickname to use?"

Sunstreaker snapped his gaze to the medic in a glare and spoke over the commlink, ::Whose side are you on?::

Ratchet shrugged in response as Aj reconsidered her thoughts. Sideswipe buzzed in excitement, 'Come on, come on, come on…Don't let me down, babe. Tell her I said that.'

'Shut up.'

Aj's lips twisted in frustration as her eyebrows furrowed together in the middle. Slowly, realization dawned on her and her face broke out into a warm smile. Sunstreaker braced himself for whatever nickname she had thought of, the one that would push his brother into victory, but he hadn't expected what she said.

"Sunny." She beamed. Ratchet chuckled and began to speak to Rosie again as Bumblebee laughed and announced that Sideswipe had won, both out loud and over the comm unit. Aj turned away from Bumblebee's quick announcement to continually grin at him.

He didn't have to look over the long list of nicknames that Sideswipe kept because he would've remembered if she had called him 'Sunny'. His smirk fell away and she look briefly concerned that she had done something wrong. He quickly offered her a small smile, "Don't call me that."

There was no heat or force in his words. Aj chuckled and focused her gaze on Rosie who was talking to Ratchet about her medicine. Sunstreaker continued to stare at her as Sideswipe celebrated.

"You don't have to wait out here with me, you know?" I spoke up and shifted in the plastic seat I was waiting in outside the hospital. Jazz turned his head to look at me and gave me cheesy grin in response, "I'm serious, Jazz."

He nodded, "I know ya are. How many times do I gotta tell you though? I like spendin' time with you, sweetspark."

I raised an eyebrow at him, "Really? Because I think you're just afraid I'm gonna fall apart again." He didn't reply to that and I sighed. About an hour had passed since Sunstreaker, Bumblebee, and Prowl arrived at the hospital. As far as I knew, they were still up there with Ratchet visiting, but I knew they'd be leaving soon to rotate out with some other mechs. I think the next mechs on the line up to come were Soundwave, Megatron, and…Bluestreak? Maybe? I couldn't remember.

"I jus' don' like seein' you hurt." Jazz finally spoke.

I gave him a soft smile, "I know. Sorry for being so hurt prone." Jazz chuckled and I continued, "And thanks for finding me her number."

"It was easy 'nough. Why did you call 'er and tell 'er to come though?"

An hour ago, I asked Jazz to find me Kaylee's phone number. Kaylee, also known as 'the teenager I beat the shit out of', was flying under the radar at the moment. Josh probably had a way to get in touch with her, but I didn't want to bother him with this. Besides, my saboteur got me what I needed. It worked out even more perfectly because she was in the area and I wouldn't have to wait for her to drive all the way from Auburn.

To be honest though, I wasn't sure what I was really getting in touch with her for. I had the beginnings of a plan coming to life in my mind, but it wasn't exactly super well thought out. It was more of a gut reaction. This was the first thing that came to mind when I thought about keeping Granny from being alone. Gut reactions had done me well thus far so why question them now?

"I'm hoping to figure that out before she gets here." I answered his question with a shrug.

The temperature outside the hospital wasn't too cold, thank God. Today was one of the warmer days and it was only the slight breeze that would bring goose bumps across my bare legs. I let out a tired sigh and sunk down in my seat. My body and mind was ready for a nap, but I was terrified that if I fell asleep I'd end up back in front of that mirror. Granny had talked me down from my edge, and I knew I wouldn't hurt the ones I loved, but I don't think I could survive watching it all happen again.

My eyes darted over to Jazz to see him still watching me. I chuckled at him, "I promise, Jazz, I'm not going to spontaneously combust. You can look away."

"Maybe I don't want to." He replied softly.

"Hmm?"

Jazz let out a breath, "What can I do to fix this, Aj? I'm rackin' my processor tryin' to come up with some…some solution, but I'm drawin' a blank."

I shook my head, "Maybe there isn't one."

"Aj-"

"Not everything has an answer, I think." I said slowly, thinking through my words, "Some things you just have to…to suffer through. Wait it out. Ride the storm. You know?"

Jazz furrowed his eyebrows and I could faintly see the outline of his narrowed eyes through the black glass of his sunglasses, "I don' want you to have to do that though. Ride the storm like you say. I wanna- I wanna take you out of the storm. Shield you from it. After everything… You shouldn' have to go through this too."

"I'll survive, Jazz." I gave him a reassuring smile, "I always do, don't I?"

Jazz looked like he wanted to argue but instead nodded, "Kaylee's here." I turned around to see the young girl making her way towards the two of us. We both stood up, but I was surprised when he grabbed my elbow and pulled me toward him. I glanced in his direction, "Luck doesn' last forever, sweetspark. I learned that the hard way, an' I don' wanna see you run out like I did."

I narrowed my eyes in curiosity, "What do you mean?"

"Maybe later." He replied and pressed his lisp to my temple before heading inside. I watched him go before shaking my head and focusing on Kaylee who was only a few feet away. Her long, dark brown hair was loose and hung around her face making her pale skin look lighter. She wore jeans and a long sleeve shirt, but my eyes were glued the fading bruise that shaded her left cheekbone.

Kaylee smiled, "Hey, Aj. Was that your boyfriend?"

"The hell happened to you?" I ignored her question and closed the space. "Are you fighting again? I swear to God, Kaylee-"

She rolled her green eyes and shook her head, "No. I'm not. This was…something else. You never answered my question."

"And you didn't answer mine."

I led her inside to the lobby where we could sit down and talk without the cold breeze biting at us. She followed me and dropped down on the small couch beside me. I raised an eyebrow at her, "So. Explain."

Kaylee sighed again, "Well…I took your advice. I got emancipated. The paperwork went through about a week ago. It's official."

"Congrats." I replied, but my eyes stayed narrowed, "I don't get how that explains what happens though."

"My mom wasn't happy with my decision to leave." She continued sadly.

My eyes widened and anger shot through me like an arrow, "Your…Did your mom hit you?" Kaylee nodded with a small shrug. I clenched my fists, "Where is she? Auburn?"

"I don't need you beating up my mother for me, Aj." Kaylee replied, but there was a small uplift of her lips. "I appreciate it though. Really."

"I'm just glad you got away from her." I sighed in frustration.

"Me too." Kaylee nodded, "I'm still not far enough though. It's actually perfect that you called me. I wanted to say goodbye."

There was a pause as I took in her words, "Wait. Goodbye?"

"Yeah. I want to get out of this area. I'm not sure where to yet, but any where is better than here and I have the funds to do so thanks to you."

That's when it clicked for me. This couldn't have worked out more perfectly in my favor. It had to be a sign of some sort. The universe was throwing it in my face telling me that this was the right path to take. Why else was everything actually working out in my favor?

"Kaylee-" I began.

She shook her head with a smirk, "No way! I answered you, now you have to answer me. Was that guy your boyfriend?"

"Um well it's not-"

"Aj!"

I turned around to see Bumblebee waving at me from the front door across the room. Prowl was next to him, but Sunstreaker was on his way over to me. He glanced at Kaylee, giving her a brief nod, before looking back to me, "We're heading out now."

"Oh you are?" I stood up and wrapped my arms around him in a quick hug. Sunstreaker wasn't a very huggy mech, but the incident last night and this morning must have softened the mech up because he hugged me back. "Thanks for coming, Sunshine." He raised an eyebrow at me and I grinned, "I gotta try out some of the older nicknames now. I feel like Sunny belongs to Sideswipe. I need my own."

"Primus, you're going to be the cause of my offlining." Sunstreaker mumbled before turning around and leaving.

I sat back down and looked at Kaylee to see her eyes wide and her jaw slightly slack. Quickly, I snapped in her face once, "You ok?"

"Is there a specific reason why you're friends with all these really hot guys?" Kaylee questioned, "Also, the blond guy by the front door…is he single?"

I lightly flicked her on the nose, "He's too old for you." Kaylee pouted in response, but I could tell it was in good nature. I grinned at her, "Now, you said you wanted to leave the area, right?" She nodded and I continued, "Well, I know exactly where you can go."

"You do?" Kaylee asked in surprise.

"Yeah. I do." I stood up and motioned for her to as well, "How do you feel about beaches?"

During the trip upstairs to see Granny, I briefly explained to Kaylee about Granny's condition, who she is to me, and how she planned to leave for Florida relatively soon. When we got close to the room I noticed Ratchet and Jazz talking outside in the hall.

"I'm sorry she's sick." Kaylee offered me. "It sounds like you really love her."

"I do." I replied and swallowed the lump that had formed in my throat. As we got closer to Granny, I grew more nervous. I knew this was for the best, but it made everything more real. If I initiated this little plan of mine it meant that I'd soon have to say good-bye to Granny and I wasn't really sure I'd be able to do that anytime soon. Ratchet looked at us and I sheepishly smiled, "I'm taking Kaylee in to meet her."

Jazz nodded and pulled Ratchet further down the hall to continue their conversation. I led Kaylee into the room and watched as Granny sat up at the sight of us. Her eyes widened in curiosity and she cleared her throat, "Hello there. Aimee Jane, who is this?"

"This is Kaylee. The girl I fought. Remember?" I replied and realization dawned on Granny's face. I saw the older woman take in the sight of the tall, thin girl and the bruise on her face. I pulled Kaylee to Granny's side, "Kaylee, this is Ros…" My words trailed away briefly. I always introduced her as Rosie. That was her name after all. Only I called her Granny. Well, me and the kids of course. I smiled, "This is my Granny, Kaylee, and…and I think she can be your Granny too."

"Aimee Jane?" Granny questioned as Kaylee just stared at me in surprise.

I lightly motioned for Kaylee to take a seat and she did, "Granny, she's 16 years old." A chuckle left my lips at the coincidence of it all. I had been 16 when I first met Granny too. "She just got emancipated because her mom is a druggie. That's why she has that bruise. Her mom hit her." Granny's eyebrows furrowed and I continued, "She's trying to get out. Get a change of scenery and she says she's never even seen a beach in person before."

Granny understood my words in that moment and her features softened. I could feel tears threatening to show up and my throat was tightening so I just gave the two of them a nod before turning and leaving the room. I closed the door behind me and just stood there. The faint sound of their voices could be heard from behind the thick wooden door.

"Sweetspark?" Jazz spoke up. He walked over to me as Ratchet gave him a firm smile before walking away, mentioning that he was going to wait out front for the other mechs to come. "That was a good thing you did."

"I know." I replied with a crack in my words. "I just wish it didn't mean what it did."

He nodded and stepped forward with his arms outstretched. I didn't hesitate to bury my face into his chest.

I didn't dream of that mirror again. Even after days of falling asleep it didn't come back. The first night after I first had the dream, I stayed in the hospital with Granny. She told me that Kaylee had agreed to go with her to Florida, but then we didn't talk about her again. Instead we walked down memory lane as I laid in bed next to her. The two of us fell asleep in the middle of a conversation and everything was fine. The next night I had gone home to sleep, Granny needed to stay in the hospital for the whole weekend, but I still hadn't slept alone. The twins' holoforms had slept beside me and once again no dreams, good or bad, plagued me.

Sunday night, Aubrey, Wes, the kids, and Bear had come back. I hadn't told any of them about my nightmare, but they did finally find out about Granny. We all visited her that night. Peter had been old enough to understand the situation fully, but the twins weren't. They knew something bad had happened and they understood that Granny's heart had hurt her, but since we told them she was in good health and healing they were chipper and cheery. They sat in bed with her telling her about their weekend at the beach in full detail. That night I slept with Bear by my side and everything was ok. To be honest, I was afraid that the moment I chose to sleep alone, things would go downhill.

Luckily, I didn't have to. Bear slept with me every night and Tuesday night of that week Grimlock had somehow fit into my room and slept with me too. His head rested on the bed and his body curled up on the floor. Nothing kept nightmares at bay like your own personal fire breathing, metal dinosaur.

However, this morning would be a nightmare in itself, and I knew that no one was going to be able to keep it at bay. This morning seemed typical in every way. It was a Wednesday, the sun was bright and shining, the morning air was warm and comfortable, but none of that mattered. None of it mattered because this morning was the morning Granny was going to leave for Florida with Kaylee.

The house was loud and happy. The kids sat at the kitchen table eating breakfast with Granny. They were laughing about something and were all dressed for school. They'd go to class about the same time Granny left too.

"I wanna go to Florida." Tyler announced, "I wanna see an alligator!"

"It would eat you!" Taylor rolled her eyes as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. I turned away as Granny added something to the conversation. I couldn't say anything. I couldn't talk to her. If I did I would fall to pieces.

"Aj?" Thundercracker walked up to me, "Are you doing ok?"

"I don't really know, TC." I shook my head, "I don't know if I can survive today."

Thundercracker offered me a small smile, "You can. I know it."

I glanced away from him and glanced out the window in time to see Kaylee being dropped off by another teenager outside. The other girl climbed out of the car, gave Kaylee a tight hug, and I watched as the two said their goodbyes. The other teen drove away leaving Kaylee on the lawn with her single suitcase.

"Kaylee is here. Make sure all the mechs are in their holoform." I said to Thundercracker and he nodded in response. Wes' voice rose above the noise telling the kids they had to grab their bags. I rushed outside and shut the door tightly behind me. Kaylee noticed me as I made my way to her and her eyes widened.

"Aj? Are you ok?"

I stopped in front of her, "You have to make me a promise, Kaylee."

Kaylee's features hardened, "Anything you want."

"You watch over her, ok?" I said firmly. "Because she's going to watch over you. She's going to give you everything and she's going to volunteer at a million places because she's fucking Wonder Woman, but she overworks herself all the damn time and her heart just can't take that shit anymore and you make sure she takes her fragging medicine every damn day like clockwork and-"

Kaylee stepped toward me, "I promise I'll look after her just like she'll look over me. That's what family does right?" She offered me a smile, "Besides, you can always come visit us you know?"

But I couldn't. I couldn't come visit her and that's why this hurt so fucking much. The front door open and I glanced behind me and watched as a flock of people emptied out into the front lawn. It looked like every mech was out here, but Grimlock for obvious reasons. He must have said his goodbyes already or else he'd be crashing through the front of the house. Aubrey came over to greet Kaylee and I sidestepped and just watched as the mechs took turns hugging and speaking to Granny. She spoke to Wes, hugging him tightly, before turning to the kids. Taylor burst into tears first, but Tyler wasn't far behind. I guess it really hit them at this moment. The urge to curl up in a ball and hide came to me. Bear was inside so I couldn't pull him to my chest and hide in his fur. I was stuck here.

Granny turned around and her eyes landed on me, and it felt like my world just stopped. I wanted the earth to open up and devour me. I wanted to be anywhere but here. She smiled and walked toward me and I quickly began to shake my head. Tears were already dripping from my eyes.

Saying goodbye to her the first time, eight years ago, hadn't been this hard. I hugged her, thanked her for everything, and then jumped on a bus without a second glance over my shoulder. I barely called her during my undergrad years, despite her paying for most of my college education, and I never called her after I graduated. Hell, I hadn't called her even when I showed up back here. She had to show up at the damn front door. I was the worst of the worst. I was fucking scum of the Earth.

"Oh, don't you cry, honey." Granny chuckled, her eyes were already rimmed red, "I'll really lose it if you do."

"I shouldn't have ignored you." I said and my voice broke immediately, "I shouldn't have ignored you for all those years. I shouldn't have. I should have called you every day. I should have- I shouldn't have ever even left."

Granny closed the space and cupped my face. She used her thumbs to wipe away my tears, "Hush now. Leaving here was the best thing for you. You had to go."

I shook my head, "No. It ruined me. It ruined all the good you did for me. You did so much for me- so much and I just- I- I threw it all away." I was basically sobbing now and I wasn't sure I'd be able to even keep talking, "I'm so sorry! I'm sorry."

"Don't you dare apologize." Granny said firmly. Her hands tightened around my face, "Now you listen here, young lady. What you went through, all those obstacles, led you to where you are today. You had to take that path, you did, and I understood that. I never spent one moment upset at you for it, Aimee Jane. Not one." She paused, "I see a beautiful, brave, caring young woman who would put her life on the line for those she loves. A woman who despite being beat down over and over again, stood back up stronger than ever."

"Granny…"

"Every time you tried to say that you were broken or that you were damaged", Granny scoffed, "I never believed it. Because I have never seen anyone love with their whole being the way you do, Aimee Jane. You are a rare soul, and now you have your whole life in front of you and…and I want you to live it. I want you to live and love every moment of it. Take none of it for granted, never doubt yourself, and just live."

I bit back an ugly sob and shook my head, "I don't want-" I sniffled, "I don't want you to go."

"Aimee Jane Bradshaw. I have always wanted a child. Always. But after Freddie died, I knew…I just knew I couldn't have one with any one other than him. He was my everything. So I moved here and I opened a foster home because then I could-" Granny's voice broke and she forced her eyes downcast as she slowly shook her head. A moment passed before she looked back up with watery eyes. Her voice was strong now, "You…You are the child I have always wanted. Scars and all. Freddie…Freddie would've loved you and- and I am so blessed to have been a part of your life. To play the role that I did. I thank God everyday for that, Aimee Jane. Every day."

I shook my head, "I should be the one thanking God. I didn't deserve you. I still don't."

Granny was steadily crying now as her hands dropped to my shoulder. She lightly shook me, "Don't you say that. You listen to me. I won't be there to remind you so I need you to remember this." Her bottom lip quivered, "You are not alone. You are loved. You are loved so, so much and I am so very, very proud of you, Aimee Jane. I have always been and I always will be."

She pulled me into a tight hug and I clung to her for dear life. I knew I had to take this step to move on in my life, but God why did it have to hurt this much? I didn't want to let her go. I didn't want to watch her drive away.

"Thank you." I took a shaky breath, "I love you, Granny."

"I love you too, honey."

After another moment, I forced myself to let go and pull away. Granny beamed at me. She cupped my face lovingly one last time before moving toward her car. Kaylee came by me and squeezed my hand. I smiled and pulled her into tight hug, wishing her luck, and then letting her go. Kaylee got behind the wheel of Granny's car and the older woman climbed into the passenger seat. I waved at her and she blew me a kiss. The car started and after Kaylee shot all of a quick nod she pulled out of the driveway. I walked to the end of the concrete, so I stood with my toes on the road, and stared after the car until it disappeared from sight.

It hurt to say goodbye to her, but she'd always be with me really. I'd never forget her or the lessons she taught me. I'd never forget how she took a bloody, punk ass teenager and taught that pathetic sixteen year old how to love herself again. Granny was the angel that kept me from an early grave and there was no way in hell I'd ever forget that. Rosie Tanner would always be a part of me. She'd always be the most important part. The part that told me to hope and trust and love.