1A moment later, the doors slid apart, disgorging the imposing Optimus Prime into the med-bay.

Though until now she had remained relatively calm in the presence of these robots, her blood boiled at the mere sight of him, enraged and terrified, amazed and disabused at the same time.

She hated him. She hated him for killing her parents, for bringing their war to her planet, but at the same time she couldn't tear her gaze away from him. It was awe-inspiring in the sense that this robot was marked. Marked in her mind by blood. It might have been any other being in that room that bore her family's blood, and it would still arouse the same reaction in her, the immediate recognition of them and what they had done. Somehow, just the mere sight of it-him- was akin to what a psychic might feel upon sighting the hidden serial killer within the mild-mannered business man. Harmless on the outside, but invisibly Marked on the inside. He was Marked, and she could see it. And it terrified her.

She slowly backed away on the table, her eyes never leaving his optics, looking for what inside of him could make him a killer. She couldn't see it, and it infuriated her. He looked so peacefully concerned with what had happened that she was dying to scream at him to show them his true self, so then everyone could know what she new, and would be able to recognize him as being Marked.

She didn't hear a word of what they discussed amongst themselves, though they said plenty, and didn't even register that two new robots had entered the room, giving Prime their report on what they could find of the bomb, though she didn't hear that either. All that mattered was Prime.

After a while, what she dreaded happened as he turned to her, asking her a question that was filled with so many level of meaning in her mind as she continued to back away on the table.

"Well, hello. Its nice to see you awake. What's your name?" It asked her amiably with lips hidden behind a faceplate.

That's right, hide from me you b!

Her voice sounded lame and squeaky in her own ears.

"F off..."

She backed away again, still on her hands and knees, but this time was met with nothing but air. She gasped as she slipped from the table.

This is just not my day...

Suddenly Prime darted forward and caught her carefully in the palm of his hand.

"Watch it, there's quite a fall there." He said gently, his optics flaring white with an inner smile. She was completely limp for a moment in shock, her thought trains wrecking into one another in her mind. She was in his hand. The same hand that held the gun that killed my parents.

"What's your name?" he asked again. Like being struck by lightning, a fiery will to live jolted her to her senses, and she struggled in his grasp, pushing against his enormous fingers in a silent demand to be put down.

"Why should I tell you?" She snarled. He carefully set her down, and she scrambled away from him.

"Easy; we just want to contact your parents and tell them that you're alright."

Ice filled her, numbing her from the inside out. The only part of her that moved with her heart, which screamed in pain with every beat. Even her breath had deserted her at his question.

"You could try to, if it would make you feel better, but they aren't there it give you an answer." She said when she had found her voice. And suddenly it hit her full force, bulling her over like a tidal wave. They were gone. Just gone. Never coming back.

A sob escaped her lips, and her face screwed up in the agony of her heart being rent in to. Her knees gave way, no longer able to support her, and she sunk to the floor, crying her heart out. And for once, she was completely unashamed of her tears.

For just a moment she brought herself under control to deliver her message, before completely breaking down again.

"My name is Raven Sigil, and you can't contact my parents because you killed them."

For a long time, she remained just like that, the towering 'bots looking at her in surprise and pity. Raven was glad of the chance she had just to cry for a good long while without interruption. If they didn't kill her now, they would send her off to a foster home again, and she needed to be strong to survive that again.

ShadowStriker's POV

I stared down at Raven's crumpled form, at a total loss of what to do. She was crying, and from what I knew of humans, they only cried under extreme emotional duress. What disturbed me most though was what she had said. I knew that there were human casualties- it was a war, and bystanders were often killed. Yet somehow, it had never really bothered me until now. The war didn't just affect the fifty or so that were killed a year, it affected the hundreds who knew them, who depended on them, like that young girl did. And every year, we gained those hundred or so as new enemies.

I couldn't figure out why I cared, but my spark couldn't stand the thought of having Raven as my enemy. I wanted her to be my friend. I knew that I didn't have many friends, and it had never really bothered me until now. But suddenly, more than anything, I wanted to help Raven, to go to her and comfort her. To find a friend in her.

Before I knew what I was doing I had knelt before her. She was so small compared to me, so helpless and fragile. I gently reached out my hand to her, but quickly pulled it back when she flinched away. After a moment, she started to calm down, and I slowly reached out to her again, but this time she didn't pull away from me. I rested my hand ever so lightly on her back, being suddenly able to feel every beat of her tiny heart and every shuddering breath she took.

To a Decepticon, I knew she was nothing more than cannon fodder. But now, more than ever, I knew that I wasn't meant to be a Decepticon- as I had been originally- for I felt only sympathy and caring towards the small human.

Keeping my touch on her back light and careful, I gently began to rub up and down her spine with one finger. It seemed to have the desired affect upon her. Slowly she calmed down and began to relax by degrees, no longer openingly sobbing. Tears still rolled down her face, but she was quieting down, opening taking an occasionally shuddering breath.

I continued to rub her back rhythmically until she had all but stopped crying, then carefully pulled my hand away.

Optimus' POV

I couldn't believe my audio sensors. Her- Raven's- parents were dead? Could it be possible that what she said was true, and that they were killed by one of our battles? If it was true, than our job just became a lot more difficult. Bumblebee had said that it was a home-made bomb that had gone off, one easily made by amateurs.

Anti-Transformer amateurs. Though in my sparks I felt that Raven probably had had nothing to do with it, I couldn't turn down the possibility, as she so obviously felt a degree of hate towards our kind for the death of her parents.

I sighed inwardly, knowing that Elita would have my hide if she knew what I was planning to do. An easy alibi for Raven would be that she had been unconscious the entire time she was on the Ark, and I knew it. I also knew that she didn't plant the bomb, but it was a viable excuse for keeping her at the Ark under Autobot "supervision" in an attempt to rule out her involvement by watching her like a hawk until another bomb went off, thus freeing her from the charge.

I sighed again, knowing that Elita would never buy that as being the real reason I wanted to keep Raven with us. Just seeing ShadowStriker with her was enough to convince me that it was the right decision. Besides, I felt the need to atone for my own sins, and I might just be able to do that through Raven.

Elita was going to weld me to the wall when she found out.