It was three weeks since that event and You clearly claimed that you never wanted to be inside another mech ever again. You also waited til everyone was recharging to wander into Ratchet's Habsuite and load and behold, he wasn't in recharge. He hadn't really been himself since that event and you couldn't help but wonder if it didn't have something to do with Drift.

"Casey...What do you need?" Came his tired tone and you reached up to him. He gave a sugh and reached for you. As he brought you up closer to his face.

"Ratchet...I was asked to give you this...It seemed a secret so I felt I couldn't give it to you with everyone around." You claim and hold out the device out to him. His eyes went wide at it.

Bright bluish liquid gathered into the corners of his eyes as his focus flickered from the device to you. He huffed slightly and took it from you. To your suprise he snuggled his face against you in an attempt to hug you. Then you were placed on the floor again.

"Thank you Casey...I assume you met Drift? Is he well? All in one peice? Probably careless too. He's...My..." A sad and weary sigh drew out his words and you patted his leg.

"Thank you for sending him to save me Ratchet. He is amazing...both sides of him." You claim and watched him wipe a tear away and smiled. You left him with that and walked to your own room. movement caught your attention and when you looked, there stood Magnus.

You wanted to smile at him, Wanted to run to him, But ever since that day, he had indeed built walls and was not as friendly towards you or the others. He simply turned and walked away, and you let him. Your were afraid that your attention would be unwanted now.

Sadly you made your way to your own room and decided to get some rest.

The year was almost coming to an end as Christmas was literally right around the corner. Miko had convinced Optimus that they should decorate. It was funny how the dreary, blank, space had livened up with the human medicore decor. It made you smile. Miko was mischevious however and you frequently caught her setting traps. Mistletoe traps. 'These bots are not going to understand this one...But who knows.' You thought as you padded around the base to your elevated platform. You had left your Ipod there to charge instead of in your room. When you saw it you gasped. There was 5 messages beeping on the screen. You looked around and quickly took notice of everyone's attention. None of which were on you, So you took up the device and opened the first one.

"Casey, What is this christmas? why is the main hanger trashed with lights, paper and...plants?"

You wanted to laugh, you really did but to him, this was serious. Yes he built walls but they didn't hold back that curious side. Curiousity or Detestment.

"I don't understand why Prime has allowed this...clearly human tradition to occur here."

"Casey. please tell Optimus Prime that I'll be staying in My room from here on out."

"You must have went to sleep."

You felt bad as it felt he was trying to reach out to you. You didn't mean to leave the device at your computer. You didn't even open the last one as you tucked the I pod in your pocket and ran down the platform. You don't know why but you wanted to see him. He seemed desperate for attention and you wasn't going to let him sit alone. You reached the door to his habsuite and silently placed a hand on the door. You were on a mission and now that you reach your destination you felt hesitation. You just stood there and leaned your head against his door. Tears welled up and this time you didn't fight them. It wasn't just the pranks that he was upset about, It was being captured and you guessed he felt responsible and was now shutting himself out. 'I wish I could hold him and tell him everything is ok...That I...That I love him.'

Unknownst to you a set of eyes were watching you from down the hall. Optimus watched helplessly as you wept. It pulled painfully at him and was powerless to help you. He knew how much the two of you meant to each other, and even though Magnus closed himself off like before...he still caught the mech's attention on you when he thought no one was looking. Optimus chewed at the inside of his lip and turned away.

"Do you know he loves animals,...Favorite color is white...Loves music" Casey's words replayed through his processor and a thought came to mind. Optimus smiled and went to find Ratchet, He now had a plan.

That plan was thrown to the back burner however as the next day was quiet at first but when Wheeljack rolled in with an injured bot, everything went into chaos. It didn't take you long to figure out who the injured bot was as Ratchet became unrully. Ratchet was holding a gun to Magnus and Magnus was holding his gun to Drift. It hurt you to see this as you climbed up on Drifts chassis and looked him in his frightened eyes. His Mask was covering his mouth but his eyes said it all.

"HE'S A DECEPTICON!...HOW'D HE EVEN FIND US HERE?" Magnus bellowed and Ratchet glared. "WHO CARES HOW, HE'S INJURED! He's also the one who saved Optimus and Casey...or did you not know that?!" He growled back. "HE CAN"T BE TRUSTED" Magnus growled in response and powered up his gun.

Fear lit you as well as anger as you stepped infront of Magnus's Gun barrel.

"STOP!...BOTH OF YOU...LETS HELP HIM! HE'S BLEEDING OUT EVERYWHERE." You yelled, tears collecting in the corner of your eyes. You hurt for Ratchet and pushed at Magnus's Gun. This brought both bots attention to you. Magnus gasped at your actions and immediately lowered his gun. You looked to Drift and smiled sadly. "Come Ratchet Lets patch him up." You offered and watched the Doc's eyes shift from you down to Drift. He choked a nod and you hopped back down. A hand grabbed you suddenly and everyone gasped as you were brought to deadlocks face. He removed his mask and smiled then leaned you to his forhelm.

"Thank you little femme for understanding...But do not be hard on him...I know all to well where his hatred for me comes from, it is not undeserverd." came a voice in your head. you blinked as he pulled you away and set you down. You stepped away and slowly turned to Magnus. His glare was evident as he reguarded you and your actions. You reached up to him as he scowled and turned away. His strides carried him away to the saftey of his room and you ran after him. the tears streamed freely down your face as you desperately tried to catch up. You failed however and now you were staring at his closed door once more. You couldn't take it anymore and sunk to the floor against his door.

"Please...Don't shut me out...Please let me love you." You whispered as the tears fell. "I don't know what happened to you in the past that would make you want to shut everyone out. But Please...Don't shut...me...out."

You don't remember much after that. Sleep must have taken you there on the floor. But you woke up in your bed...somehow. There was voices outside your door. You laid there and listened.

"Please my old friend, what can I do to help you?" It was Optimus's voice, he sounded desperate. Silence soon followed. "She aided an enemy, and placed herself in danger knowing I would stand down. She's a weakness, and now everyone knows it." came Magnus's voice. it held much venom as he spoke. it shattered her heart and she rose from her bed, grabbed a bag and threw some clothes in it. She then threw her iopd and earbuds in it and waited.

When no one was looking she was going to...

"I have never in all of my years of Processing, have I every seen a being with so much compassion. Compassion that extends to all of us but you most of all. She stood up for you that day. She yelled at everyone and even pointed to me that I knew nothing about others, and the sad thing is, she was right. You think I haven't seen you two pinning over one another? You think you are that good at masking it? I'm not saying this as your Leader, but as a friend. Please stop pushing away those that cares for you most."

Footsteps echoed as they walked away. You stand there in the darkness of your room trembling at Optimus's words, bag in hand. Was you still going to leave?...Would it be best?...Your mind was in such a mess. You didn't know what to do. 'Good job at the mess you made for yourself Casey, Love him?, My heart does...but is that enough? I still remember that night in the cave, I bet he doesn't even know I know. This is all my fault for allowing my heart to fill itself with hope. I mean come on Stupid, he's a 60 foot alien robot. How was that even going to work...maybe I should go...Yeah...I should.' You battled yourself and stepped up to the door. You was about to open the door, when you heard a whirling of and engine as is softly rumbled just on the other side. He hadn't left yet and your blood ran first cold and then hot. A very heavy sigh vented and soon footsteps padded away. You stood there and listened. You Knew the base and how to sneak by these giants but you were still battling inside. 'He said himself that I was his weakness. I don't want to be that.' you think as you silently crept out of your door and down the hall towards the mainhanger. You peaked silently around the corner and looked around at the suprisingly empty hanger. You decided to go for it as you slid against the wall and traveled to the ladder that was located on the backside of the elevator. You climbed and hesitated only for a moment as movement caught your attention. The medbay door was open slightly and there sat Drift and Ratchet. The had their forhelms pressed together and was talking amoungst themselves in whispers. Drift tilts his head up and places a kiss on Ratchets forhelm. Ratchet smiled happily as he snuggled into Drift. It was so precious and you found yourself smiling for them. But your task at hand presented itself and you pressed on as you carried yourself up the ladder and to the hatch at the top. As silently as you could, you pushed it open and as you exited it to the outside, you silently closed it. You then made your way to the other ladder leading down the mountain base.

After sometime you made it to the ground and you started walking, it wasn't cold and you were suprisingly not sleepy as you walked back to Jasper. You Pulled out your iopd and messaged Magnus before you lost your nerve.

"I will not be your weakness. I'll leave so that I won't be used against you...I will miss everyone and perhaps this is for the best...Thanks for your time Magnus...I only wish that I could have had more of it... farewell.-Casey"

You hit send and shut it off to reserve power, throwning it back into your bag and continued on.

Through Magnus's light recharge, He recieved a ping and he rose up. He silently read the message and with wide optics he darted up and out of his door. He rushed to Casey's door.

"Casey?...Casey answer me." He called and when he scanned her room with is ray scanner, he realized that she was already gone. He looked up at the now two bots that were standing at the end of the hallway. Ratchet looked frantically to Drift then to Magnus.

"What has happened Ultra Magnus?" Drifts words broke the silence. There was no menace in them as he stared back at Magnus. Magnus caught the conjunction of Ratchet's hand and Drifts. He knew already but seeing it caused the realization to set in.'Casey was right to fight for him.' He thought sadly and looked away. "She's...gone...She took some of her things and left...Because of me."

A hand landed on his shoulder and he looked up to find Drift but not as Drift, as Deadlock. This shocked him.

"I have never once seen the Mighty Magnus brought to his knees. What could this mere little human femme mean to you?...What would cause her to flee?" Deadlock questioned and when Ratchet approached and glared at Deadlock it became painfully aware once again. "You Love him don't you Medic?" Magnus asked in a emotionless tone that brought Rachets eyes to him. "I wondered what that felt like...To be loved like that...But I already knew didn't I?" Magnus spoke Sadly as he rose to his pedes. Both watched him silently.

"She needs you...Magnus go after her." came another deep voice and Everyone looked to Optimus who was walking up behind Magnus.

"Sir?" Was all he could offer as he continued to stand there. Optimus shook his head bleekly and with renewed anger drew back and struck Magnus across the face. It was a blow in the form of a smack and it stunned all parties as Optimus growled furiously. "Why must I state the obvious with you! She could be in danger. GO AND FIND HER! thats an order." He growled in Magnus's face. Magnus snapped to and instantly raced to the coms and searched for any signal. Her message came to mind and he searched its coordinates of when it was sent and found that it was a little ways off from the base. It seemed to be pointint in the direction of Jasper so he Changed into his truck form and hurried to the elevator.

Ratchet watched as Magnus rushed out and then whirled angrily to Optimus. "That is not how to handle ANY situation Prime. He's hurting too you know." His words tappered off in their heat at the look that was on his leaders face.

"I know...But he just won't listen...Unless I bark orders...He's in a pain that he placed there himself and I for the spark of me can't figure out why?"

"It's because he fears he will loose her too...I took his...Love away the first time and I see he's never really recovered from it...He has built many walls... this bothers my tranquility greatly and I myself will find no peace until Casey has returned. Please, allow me to help in his search. I'll radio to him directly if I find her." Drift stated and looked to Ratchet. Ratchet looked away knowingly.

"We will help too." Came another voice and everyone turned to wheeljack and Smokescreen.

"No I need you, to stay here, incase she returns here of her own accord. I will help search for her." Optimus claimed and ordered a ground bridge to the outskirts of Jasper.

You Didn't stop walking and now you were well on your way on the other side of Jasper. You pulled out the water bottle and took a sip. Morning was starting to rise and you decided that the cover of darkness was your only shield. Now because of the rising heat index you were going to have to find a cave somewhere. 'Good idea Casey, lets wonder around aimlessly in the desert til you die of heat exhaustion...that'll fix everyones problems.' you grumbled at yourself and yet, continued on. You didn't even know where the hell it was that you were going.

You found a cave and took refuge in it. It looked like the one that you and magnus had taken refuge in that night. You sighed and allowed yourself the memories and how it felt when he looked at you with that almost smile and when the two of you playfought over the music.

You silently pulled out the device and powered it on. There was still one more message that you didn't open. You hesitated and then after much resolve, you clicked it.

"Why...Why protect someone who has done wrong?...What do you know That I don't...I want to understand. Drift...Deadlock has taken someone that was precious from me and now...I feel like that again...It hurts so deep."

You sat there in the silence of the morning and cried. You freely let it happen as there was no one to question you or judge you. You missed him and started thinking that this was a mistake.

Should you answer that question? He had a right to know why you reacted the way you did. You sobbed and hit new message.

Magnus drove for what seemed like hours and revved heavily as he pulled off to the side of the road. You were nowhere to be found and it scared him more by the minute.

'PING'

The alert scared him for a moment and he had to leave town to see what it was. Changing into his main form he pulled up the new message.

" Because, I believed in love...I believed in you. Thought that you would see it too...Guess I hoped too much, I wanted to show you that there is more to life than Pain."

"Casey." Magnus breathed her name and tapped into where the signal was coming from.

"PING"

He opened it again.

" I am sorry for not knowing of your loss, even more sorry that it appeared that I betrayed you...But the fear in Drifts eyes hurt me more because he just fought to break free of the decepticons just so he could return to his mates side...does that account for anything? Maybe it's not fair to you...Maybe thats the way you see it. Anyways it doesn't matter now as By now you have no doubt located me...so come and get me."

Magnus let it close as he stared at the sandy ground. She sounded so broken and he felt like scrap for pushing her away. She felt guilty, sad, and broken. It pulled at his spark harshly as he changed and followed the signal. It led away from town in the same direction he was going.

Casey sat there huddled up against the coolness of the cave wall. A voice came from deep inside and suddenly there was glowing. 'what is that?' She thought as she slipped back against a millienia old stalagmite that jutted up from the ground. A red mech and a large Blue one came walking out the darkness. The big one was dragging some kind of flatbed with large blue glowing cubes stacked on it. You caught the decepticon emblem and almost gasped. You frantically reached out for your i pod.

In the haste to message Magnus to warn him the Device fumbled and slid down from where you were. Now eyes were on you and you gasped.

"Well now, what do we have here?" The red one cooed as he stepped up to your hiding spot. You cringed as he looked down at you with red eyes. You gulped and looked down at the device. He had stepped on it and it was shattered. Long deadly fingers scooped you up and he walked back to the larger mech.

"My what Firey red hair, Almost matches your finish Knockout." You looked to him with his eyepatch and then looked back at the white face with Red eyes. "She's not afraid of us which tells me...that your an Autobot pet...aren't you?" the red one sneered with a smirk and squeezed you alittle tighter. You gasped at the corset like grip he enduced and suddenly you was smacking at his fingers. He only sniggered and looked up to the bigger mech. "Quite a fiesty little thing...perhaps we should just kill her and be done with this. The mech said flatly as he stomped by pulling the weight.

"Oh no no no, I want to broadcast to them that I have her and see which one comes to her rescue...I bet its that little flighty racecar...what was his name?...Oh yes Smokescreen."

You huffed in laughter as best as you could. "Ha...Try again...bigger" You played trying to buy time...You could feel it. Somehow you knoew Magnus was on his way.

"Oh?...Then lets see, Would it be the Medic?...Nah can't really see that one as he has the traitor...Deadlock to preoccupy him...hmmmm...Maybe Bigger means you went for the Topdog...Like a mech in charge do you?" He guessed and you gave him a staggered unbelieving look. Laughter followed whether you wanted it to or not. His gripped tightened again, choking out your laugh and you were finding extrememly hard to breathe.

"Not Prime...then maybe that Wrecker...He's big."

"Mmmmm... Getting warmer...But ewww, not Bulk...It doesn't matter... if you figure it out... cause this mech couldn't give a shit about me which is why... I'm out here alone." You heaved through gasps. You caught dust kicking up in the distance and you could see blue...Your vision was becoming blurry from lack of oxygen. Wincing you looked up to the red mech again.

"Who else was there?" he asked with a genuine confused look. " Bigger, Rules out the little scout..." He trailed off and was suddenly interrupted by the bigger decepticon yelling from the mouth of the cave.

"MAGNUS!"

Magnus neared the location and quickly noted the two deceticons that were there with a large stash of energon. In Knockout's hand was Casey. His fuel ran cold in his lines as Knockout pointed his sharp thumb at her stomache as to threaten him to stay back.

"I'm Sure your dear leader would be upset if I injured this little human femme as he seems so taken with the species...So if you don't want me to hurt her then you will back away."

Magnus swallowed and held up his hands in defeat. Movement moved ever so slightly in his vision as Drift crouched on the top of the cave top and waited for an opening.

Knockout looked to Casey and smirked. "Yeah your right, this Mech couldn't care in the least about you, He follows orders. I'd almost bet that Optimus growled out the order to come find you. Magnus gapped at what was said and Casey looked to him with Saddened eyes before she dropped her gaze altogether. 'I'd bet she told him that to protect me.' It hurt to hear it being said like that.

'Yeah well she is also very wrong. I care very deeply for her and I know I shouldn't but It's too late to deny it.' he thought as Drift stood and jumped high into the air. Magnus rushed forward and grabbed the wrist that Casey was in. Drift severed Knockouts arm and when Casey was pulled free, Drift threw the discarded arm at the mech and both fleed. Leaving the large stash to them.

Magnus looked down at Casey as she held her side. She weakly smiled up at him and then passed out. Red was seeping from somewhere and Magnus panicked. 'Oh Primus no'

"Rat...Chet Ground Bridge, NOW...Casey's injured." He commed and Ran as fast as he could straight for the now swirling Green Portal that appeared.

"Bring her here now. And tell me what happened." Ratchet's voice rang.

"Please...stay with me...I need your smile...your warmth...your...sigh, Please don't leave me." Came a deep rumbling voice. It sounded so sad.

Casey saw nothing but white. There was warmth everywhere but it was all white.

"Little one." A voice called, it sounded feminine in nature and as you turned there was a mech there. It looked Feminine. It was slender and radiated elegance.

"Who...are you?" you call softly and it looked at you. It's features were soft. It smiled and approached you. It was so beautiful with its blue panels and its soft face.

"I am Zeta one. I was Magnus's sparkmate to be, we never got the chance however. Poor Deadlock...He was being controlled that night when he killed me, It was fault. My specialty was Hardwire...If I had just alittle bit more time, I could have saved him...Now I sense from The Allspark that Magnus has opened his heart once again...This makes me happy...I wish to give you something...take this to your Medic...He'll know what to do with it." She spoke and handed you something that looked like a large keycard. You stared up at her. Her soft blue features was starting to disappear in the fogginess of area.

"Hold him tight for me...Love him for me Casey." her voice called and the words floated across the lightness. Darkness started to pull at the edges of your vision and you clutched the keycard tightly to your chest as it took you.

"Casey?...Oh Primus sake your still with us." came a raspy voice and for a second you were lost in a sea to fogginess. Your eyes almost refused to focus as you let your eyes float around. Everything seemed so blurry as you desperately tried to focus.

"Dear Girl are you as they say, A cat with nine lives?" Came that voice again and you lazily followed it to a white face with Orange streaks and Teal glowing eyes.

'Ratchet' Your thought pushed and you tightened your grip on something laying next to you. 'The Keycard' you thought as you pulled at it.

"Rat...chet...Here...This...for you." You claim as you summoned strength to pull the suddenly heavy Keycard up over your stomache.

"Here...Yip Yip Yip Yip. Do you want to tear that wound back open?" He scowled gently as he reached over and took the card. "What is this?...I recognize this keycard...how did you get this?" He asked and you nodded to him. You felt your strength leaving you again. Darkness once again pulling at the edges of your vision.

"Ze...ta One" you muttered out before the darkness overtook you again.