"Life mate?" I asked, tilting my head to the side curiously. "What's a life mate?" If we had been in an anime cartoon, Scavenger would have fallen over into a cloud of dust with random limbs twitching and swirly-swirls around his head.

"It's, um, oh what's that term you humans use?" He thought hard for as second. "Wife! She was my wife."

I felt my stomach plunge; so he was already married? "Your...wife?" He nodded, looking sad. "Do you miss her?"

"Terribly." He sighed deeply and put his elbows on the table before resting his head on his hands.

"What was she like?" I prodded, knowing that this was going to come back and bite me on the butt eventually.

"Curious, aren't you?" He asked with a raise of the optic. I nodded, earning another sigh. "She was...perfect, in my optics, at least. She was smart, funny, pretty, and a wonderful soldier. Sharp as a knife and loyal as a K-9 42." I wanted to ask what a K-9 42 was, but he was on a roll and I didn't want to interrupt him. "She always obeyed orders, no matter how stupid or dangerous. Optimus got her good a few times on our annual prank day, before he grew more mature. She wasn't happy about being painted bright neon pink for a week." The image of his lover with splotches of bright pink paint on her brought a small smile to Scavengers face. "Optimus helped me propose; he ordered her to go to the storage room where I was working at the time and then ordered me to hurry up and get it over with because he knew she would say yes."

"Did she?" I leaned forward eagerly; this was just like a movie!

"No." His voice was heavy. I fell silent, looking down at my hands.

"Oh..."

"She was going too," he said softly, "I looked at her diary. She was going to say yes. Her unit was called out that night and she didn't come back..."

"Decepticons?" I asked. He nodded.

"She was checking out a mining cave and they blew it up. They were never able to find her beneath all of the rubble."

"Then how do you know she's dead?" I asked.

"What?"

"She could have escaped! There might have been a back way out of the tunnel and she could have gone through there."

"No. She's gone." Scavenger said firmly.

"But how do you—"

"After one thousand years of searching, I know!" He snapped. I cringed.

"Oh..." He sighed and rubbed his temples.

"I'm sorry, Raven, I—"

"Don't be." I stood up and brushed myself off. "C'mon, the others are waiting. Lets go say hi."

I looked down at my moms cross, sliding the satin ribbon around. Above me, Scavenger sighed in content. He had suggested we get out of the base for a little while after Sideswipe had nearly crushed me with a hug. Hot Shot had tried to get him to cut it out, but the younger bot wouldn't listen. Optimus had wanted to talk to me, but Scavenger managed to duck out of that conversation, only to run into Jetfire, who covered our hasty exit. We found Blurr and Smokescreen in the shooting range and ran into Red Alert outside of the med bay. All of them were really nice to me, most probably because of my 'history'. I wanted to get out of there as much as Scavenger did.

About half a mile from the base there was a lake with some really beautiful flowers surrounding it. We had stopped there to relax and possibly chat. The relaxing part had happened, but so far neither of us had said a word, even though I knew Scavenger wanted to say something. I was sitting on a rock right by the water, my bare feet skimming the surface of the pond, moving the lily pads around and annoying the frogs trying to rest on them. Scavenger was lying on his back a few feet away, optics shut down, snoozing. A very brave rabbit had come up and, surprisingly, fell asleep on his elbow. I found it very cute.

"Raven!"

My head snapped up and I looked around hastily; that was Joseph's voice! Scavenger lazily activated one optic as I stood.

"Friend of yours?" He asked, glancing at the rabbit on his elbow.

"Yeah, my brother, actually." I jumped off of the rock and slipped my tennis shoes back on, then shoved my socks in my pockets. "I'm gonna go find him; you stay here. Like Optimus said, we don't need another human caught up in the war."

"Yes ma'am." Scavenger gave a small mock salute before putting his head back down. The rabbit, which has perked up when Scavenger moved, followed his example. I shook my head at Scavenger then headed towards the voice. About ten yards into the forest, I spotted him.

"Joseph!" I shouted, running through the trees and straight into his arms, winding him slightly. Back where I had left Scavenger I heard a chuckle.

"Hey Raven, where've ya been?" He asked, stroking my hair; so he hadn't been that worried about me; probably because I knew this forest like the back of my hand.

"Graveyard," I answered, snuggling my head against his chest. He was about to say something, probably along the lines of 'The Graveyard? How could you have spent the past two days there?' Unfortunately, a loud, scarily familiar roar of helicopter blades cut him off.

"Aw, if it isn't my favorite squishy!" Cyclonus shouted as he transformed and landed a few yards away from us. I heard Joseph gasp as I just let forth a sigh.

"Not again." I moaned.

"Again?" Joseph was momentarily distracted.

"Don't ask." I shook my head and wiggled out of his arms. Turning, I glared up at Cyclonus. "What do you want, blender butt?"

"What did you just call me, squishy?" He growled angrily.

"Nothing." I gave him a sweet innocent smile. Behind me, Joseph was standing in silent awe and terror.

"Nothin', eh?" This only proceeded to make Cyclonus even angrier.

"Yep! Just like you!" I gave him a large grin.

"WHAT? How DARE you, you little insignificant worm!" He shouted, opening his mouth to its full extent as he said this. He was cut off from saying anymore, however, when a hand tapped him on the shoulder. He spun around, straight into Scavengers fist. With a weak moan, he fell back and hit the ground in front of Joseph and me with a loud crash. My older brother was as white as a ghost, and by the way Scavenger looked at me, I bet I was too. The only reason I had spoken so bravely was because I had seen Scavenger sneaking behind Cyclonus.

"Are you two alright?" He asked, putting a foot on Cyclonus's chest to keep him down. I nodded, and then turned to Joseph.

"I am. Not to sure about him, though." I nudged my brother. "Are you alright?"

"Uh…yeah…just…peachy…" He was still white and had begun to sweat slightly. I bit back a smile; I had never seen him so nervous before.

"Scavenger, this is my brother, Joseph. Joseph, this is Scavenger, my friend." I introduced, hoping to ease the tension.

"Uh, eh, um, hi?" He stuttered, giving a small wave. The mercenary nodded and smiled, showing off his sharp canine teeth. I swear I thought my brother was about to faint. Shaking my head, I wrapped my arms around my brother and gave him a hug.

"Stop being so stiff," I ordered, "Scavengers my friend. He took care of me when Megatron was holding me captive."

"Captive? Megatron? What?" Joseph grabbed my shoulders. "When did this happen?" He ordered, shaking me lightly.

"Well, uh, you know the landslide?" I asked, laughing nervously.

"There wasn't a landslide, was there?"

"No." He grabbed my arm and dragged me over to a rock that was nearby. He sat me down on it roughly.

"Tell me everything. Now." He ordered.

"And I thought Megatron was bad…" Scavenger sighed.

Joseph sat there in a daze, running through everything that I had just told him. Scavenger was asleep on the other side of the clearing, snoring loudly. The bunny had returned and had worked up the courage to climb onto his stomach and sleep. I was sitting on the ground now with my back against the rock. Joseph sat in front of me.

"So…this Megatron guy hurt you just to get a little robot?" He asked, pulling me out of my thoughts. I nodded.

"Yeah, he did. That's where I got all the bruises and junk. Well, most of them, anyway. Cyclonus contributed a few."

Joseph's eyes narrowed in anger. "That…that…"

"Look, it doesn't matter, okay?" I set my hand on his knee. "That's all over now, 'kay?" I gave him a weak smile.

"Yeah, I guess." He shook his head. "It's still unbelievable."

"That's what I thought when I saw Hot Shot in the cave." I laughed. "I'm glad it happened, though."

"Glad? Why? They hurt you!"

"So? I made new friends, and it kept my mind off of mom and dad for a little while. By the way, what's up with dad?" I asked, not sure if I wanted to know the answer.

Joseph's look hardened. "He's in jail on charges of murder and child abuse. His trial is in two days." His looked softened as he set his hand on mine. "They want you to testify against him."

"Me?" I asked, though I knew it was going to happen. He nodded.

"You were the one that was abused most of the time. Jay and May got hit a little, but the main focus was you. If you testify, we can lock him up for good and get on with our lives."

"Yeah," I nodded absently, "get on with our lives…" How was I supposed to get on with my life? I had lived with my father my whole life, and now he was going to jail. My mother was dead, so she couldn't take care of me, unless I decided to commit suicide.

"I've got to get back to college soon; I'm about to fail half of my classes." He sighed. "If I had an apartment I would invite you to come live with me." His face brightened. "But I have called your favorite older sister…"

"You mean I get to go live with Mandy?" I asked. My oldest sister, who I loved dearly, was out of college and worked as a science teacher at a school in Virginia. She was married and had a pair of ten year old twins, Emily and Amy, and a toddler named Julia.

Joseph nodded. "Yes. She and her husband are coming down for the trial, along with Jack. Mandy is planning on taking you back with her then."

I threw myself into Joseph's arms. "Oh Joseph! Thank you!" I said, hugging him tightly. Finally, I would be able to get out of this dirt town and leave all of these bad memories behind!

But…not all of them were bad…

I turned and looked at Scavenger; I couldn't just leave him! He was one of the few true friends I had! At the moment he was sitting up, smiling at me.

"Congratulations." He said with a nod and a half smile. "I'm glad you have somewhere safe to stay now.

"Thanks." I gave him my own little smile. Joseph also nodded to him; he had gained a new respect for Scavenger after learning that he had save me.

Joseph stood, then helped me up. "C'mon; let's get home so you can get everything sorted out." He suggested. I nodded.

"Yeah, I guess…" I glanced over at Scavenger. Joseph quickly got the hint.

"I'll go ahead and make sure the police aren't swarming our house again. I'll see you there." He quickly left the glade, leaving me and Scavenger alone. A long awkward silence stretched between us.

"Raven…"

"I don't want to go."

"What?" Scavenger asked, peering down at me in confusion.

"I said I don't want to go. I don't want to leave you." I felt hot tears well up in my eyes; how many times was I going to cry in front of Scavenger?

"You need to." He said softly. "You need to go where you're safe."

"But I don't want to leave you!" I said again, feeling a tear drip down my face.

"I don't want you to go either, but you have to." He said softly, reaching down and tipping my face up to look at him, "You need to go with your sister now, and forget about this war that you aren't even supposed to be a part of."

"I don't mind be part of this war, though! I want to help you fight! I want to make sure you're safe!" I argued. He nodded.

"I know; I want the same thing. But we can't always have what we want."

"Well why not?" I stomped my foot angrily.

"You're throwing a temper tantrum." Scavenger warned, causing me to sigh wearily.

"I'm sorry." I sniffed. "I'm sorry."

"You only need to say it once." He wiped away the tear that was falling down my cheek. "And if you don't let yourself start crying right now I'm going to arrest you." He gave me a small smile. I giggled, but it quickly turned into a sob. Scavenger gently wrapped his hand around me and held me up to his chest, carefully running his fingers along my back. "It's okay to cry; keeping your feelings pent up inside will make you sick." He advised as I tried to stifle my tears. This wasn't how I wanted him to remember me!

After a few minutes I was finally able to stop my crying and get a hold of myself. I wiped my eyes fiercely with the back of my hand. "Sorry." I said around a sniff.

"I already said you didn't have to say it." Scavenger said softly, looking down at me. I gave him a weak smile.

"Yeah, I know."

"Are you going to be okay?" He asked.

"Yeah, I think I will be. Mandy really loves me; she has never had a beer in her life, neither has her husband. I'll be okay with them. They need help with baby Julia anyways." I shrugged. He nodded.

"Your brother probably needs your help. Do you want me to give you a ride home?" The words held a foreboding sadness.

"Yeah, I'd like that." I gave him a forced smile. He nodded and set me down, then transformed. That's Scavenger for you; all business, no nonsense. I climbed into his front seat and settled back against the surprisingly comfy seat back.

"Ready?"

"Yeah," I nodded.

"Guilty!"

I had never heard such a wonderful word. Joseph and Mandy, who were on either side of me, gave my hands a soft squeeze each. Baby Julia, who was in Mandy's other arm, gurgled her approval. Emily and Amy, Mandy's ten year old twins, were talking quietly around their father, who was sitting in between them. May and Jay sat on Joseph's other side, watching the proceedings with stony faces. May was being sent to rehab in a week, while Jay was being sent off to college on a full scholarship. Beside them sat my oldest brother, Jack, his black spiky hair drawing some odd looks.

"You are guilty on charges of assault, murder, attempted murder, and child abuse." The judge said, frowning deeply. "Your sentence is life in jail."

A cheer went up from the people who were watching. They were packed with friends of the family and coworkers who had finally learned the truth. The story of my moms murder had spread far and wide and attracted everyone who had ever known us, from old neighbors to doctors and dentists. It was truly amazing.

Mandy wrapped her arm around my shoulder and passed Julia off to her husband, Mark, so she could hug me. Joseph was next, then May and Jay. May and I had gone and gotten some ice cream while we talked about stuff; I had forgiven her. The beer had a greater influence on her than dad, and she was just following his example. But now he was going to jail and she was getting help. Everything was perfect.

Except I wouldn't get to see him again. Never again. I leaned my head back against the back of the bench with a small sigh. Something in the courthouse rafters caught my attention, pulling me out of my dreary thoughts. Sitting in the rafters was a metallic orange bird with a camera lens for an eye. I bit my tongue to keep from calling out; at least the Autobots had gotten a taste of the human justice system.

"Come on, Raven! We're going to go out for dinner tonight, remember? We've got to finish getting your bags pack!" Mandy nudged me. "And I think Julia wants to give you a hug." The baby was looking at me with wide, approving eyes. I gently scooped her up in my arms and held her close to my chest. She yawned and snuggled up, her black hair covering her head like a hat.

I walked out of the room with my family and stepped out onto the courthouse stairs. It was all finally over.

The End...?

Done! Finished! If you want a sequel, you must review! And I know this isn't the best thing I have ever written (sighs) I'm sorry. I've been sick lately (turns out I'm allergic to the medicine I've been taking) but I did my best! (Bows) thank you for reading!

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