Useless piece of shit!

Labored breaths passed her chapped lips.

You can't get anything right, can you?!

Fire licked at her skin desperately as if to get another taste.

You're never gonna be good enough, Azrael. You're never gonna be normal!

Weak little arms were clasped around her neck. She cradled the small boy in her arms tightly, her eyes frantically searching for an exit. If she couldn't make it, which Ace doubted she would, then the boy should. All she had to do was find a door or a window or a door. That was all she needed. Ace needed to be perfect, she needed to do this right.

"Fuck you, Dad," she hissed into the flames.

The fire around her seemed to retaliate to her words by flickering up higher, licking at her legs, her arms, trying to get another taste of her skin. Ace tucked the boy further into her grip to hide him from the fiery rage blazing all around. She tried every door they came to, every window they past. The doors were locked, the windows were painted shut, and Ace wasn't going to risk harming the boy with broken glass. With every labored step she forced herself onward, boy in her arms. The floor creaked, the ceiling sank, and everything began to fall into embers. The splintering of wood from over her head speared fear through Ace's core.

Approximately twenty-seven seconds to move sixteen feet to the exit. Any sudden weight shift and the roof collapses fifteen feet here and now.

A thud from the upper level caused panic to seep into Ace's chest. Her mind went blank of any logic, and her only concern was the small boy in her arms. Her steps felt slow and heavy - it seemed like she wasn't going fast enough. The sound of splintering wood grew louder no matter how hard Ace pushed herself to move faster. She could see the door only four feet away. Flames licked at her arms and tried to taste the boy she kept wrapped up in them. The exit was three feet away. The air seemed so thin and heavy at the same time. She just had to go two more feet.

The final crack of a support beam above their heads was a warning - a final warning. Ace wasn't going to make it. Gravity was working against her, oxygen was moving away from her, and hope had long been missing. Her blue eyes, dim and closing, looked down at the whimpering boy that clung to her for dear life. If he stayed with her, he was going to die. Ace looked at the door and ran through the calculations.

He'll be a foot away from fire. He'll run away from it. There is no other choice. He will die if he remains.

With everything she had left, Ace shifted the boy in her arms, and forced him toward the door. She felt something three times her weight came crashing down on her legs. Ace felt the searing pain of flames and embers scorching her skin as her vision was slowly cut off. The last thing she was able to see was a sudden blinging blue light that made her thing of her eyes.

She thought of Orion's eyes.

She peered at herself in the mirror, examining her blue eyes. They were so strange and unusual. Her father hated her eyes, oh, he despised her eyes. But Ace loved her eyes for that reason - their unsettling concentrated blue that nearly glowed in the shadows was her favorite part about them. When she looked at her eyes in the mirror, she felt as if she was looking back at someone else. She felt as if she wasn't so alone. She felt safe and content, staring at her eyes, because they didn't even seem like her eyes some days.

Sudden pounding on the door broke Ace out of her trance-like state. She looked at the door, the angered pounding undoubtedly being her strict father demanding her to leave the bathroom with unspoken words. She sighed softly, giving her eyes another glance in the mirror before she shut off the light and opened the door.

"Yes, fa-"

The cold metal of a ring hit her cheek. Ace felt the stinging pain of her broken skin as blood rushed to the surface and spilled over the cut. The scent of Jack Daniels was strong on his breath as he grabbed hold of Ace's shirt.

"What's wrong with you?" he hissed out. His breath blew over her face, heavy and toxic, "Why can't you be like the other girls? Why do you have to be so damn different?"

Ace remained quiet. She had learned from experience that at these times, it was best to keep quiet and hunker down until he was over his drunken pursuit of normality and fast asleep or at work. It didn't take a lot for Ace to figure out what kind of work her father did. Which powder always lining his fingernails, blood shot eyes, occasional shaking that she recognized as symptoms of withdrawal. Her father worked two jobs. One in his endless search for something stable and considered "acceptable" in the public ye, and a second job for the late nights when he'd had a bear or two and went 'fuck it'.

He shook her as if waiting for an answer to spill from her lips. Ace remained limp in his tight, angry hold. Her blue eyes became dull as she waited for him to throw her to the ground.

Blue orbs flickered open. The immediate tightness of her chest threw her mind into gear and her eyes sifted over everything in sight. The dim lights, the soft mattress, the neatly piled pillows behind her, the smooth white blanket laid over her lower body, and the scent of sanitary substance. It wasn't a hospital - Ace had been in enough hospitals to have the smell burned into her mind. There was a more metallic sort of undertone to the perfume of the room.

Ace sat up slowly, feeling the tenderness in her torso. She looked down, finding the familiar black gel that was part of her 'condition'. She ran her fingers over the smooth gel that covered her wounds and tenderly began to heal them with a gentle, cool touch. Some of the black gel reached out to touch her fingers as she ghosted her fingers over it. Her blue orbs took notice of the white leggings that hugged her legs tightly and the white top that wrapped around nothing but her chest. It was lacking in sleeves or straps.

Without knowing where she was, Ace wasn't comfortable remaining on the bed. She slipped off of the soft bed that was more comfortable than her own at home. Or rather, what was her home. Her feet came into contact with the cool flooring. The small creases in the tile dug into her feet, the slight shift of her dark hair tickled her shoulder. Her senses were on high as she peered around the dimly light room for an exit.

Ace's eyes found the soft outline of a door from the light shining from under it and threw the cracks and crevasses. She took slow steps towards the door as her ears twitched from the sounds of gears whirring and metal clicking. Her hand pressed against the door and she pushed on it lightly.

Silent, no squeaking. Well taken care of - oiled. Solid metal, heavy, but easy to open.

The sudden flood of light that crashed into her eyes caused her to wince. She stumbled backward and grabbed onto the door as best she could. Ace blinked several times to adjust her eyes to the blinding lights while pulling herself back up to her full height of six-foot-four-inches. She looked down at the black gel that was still working away at her wounds. Ace still hadn't a clue what this gel really was, but she had come up with a name for her 'condition'.

"Well I'll be damned," she heard a familiar voice say, "Doc 'bot didn't think you'd be walking around for another week or so."

Ace's startling blue eyes landed on the sweaty, tanned face of Major William Lennox. He had an almost childishly excited grin on his face. The Major strolled over to Ace, a towel slung over his shoulder, his swamp green shirt soaked by sweat, and his military pants were covered in dirt.

Panting, excited. Eyes are wider than normal, pupils are strained. Logical explanation - training. Most likely took place outside due to the dirt and most likely as a team building exercise.

"Major Lennox," she addressed politely, "Training went well?"

"How did you... you know what, never mind," Lennox shook his head, "How are you feeling? I mean, we did pull you out of a burning building. Your a legend around here, by the way, for saving that kid."

"Is the boy alright?"

"Yeah, safe and sound. He went running out of the building and to his parents. But, how are you feeling?"

Ace grimaced at this. She wasn't getting the full answers she wanted, but then again, she was in a military base that she most likely should be in without some sort of high clearance.

"I'm feeling fine," she said, "The Autonoxiatry is doing it's job. I'll be healed within the day."

"The Autono… what?" Lennox look of confusion brought a sense of amusement to Ace. She shrugged.

"It's the term I developed for this 'condition' of mine. Auto-nox-iatry; self-harm-heal. This black gel you see around my torso is the Autonoxiatry substance. In short, I am able to heal myself as long as I am conscious," Ace explained. She peered around the base, her blue eyes sifting over every detail there was. What her main concern was happened to be the high roof, "Major Lennox, why is there such a high roof? Not even helicopters need so much space."

"You don't miss a thing," he chuckled again, "C'mon. You've gotta be hungry. I'll explain while we eat, okay?"

Ace nodded and began to walk along with the Major.

It was nothing more than an afternoon drive while he had some time, that was all Optimus was doing. There was no mission, no responsibilities, nothing of the sort but worry that was taking over his systems slowly the longer Azrael was in the Med Bay. Ratchet had about outright refused to let Optimus know anything about the femme's condition before seeing the Prime's destressed state. When he'd heard the news that Azrael wouldn't be conscious for another week or so, Optimus knew he had to get out of the base and away from the terrible feeling in his spark. It was as if something was trying to light inside of him; a fire; burning embers like the ones that had harmed Azrael so terribly. When he pulled her out of the fire, from under the wood, and cradled her against his chest through his haloform, he was brought to tears.

It was rare to see Optimus show weakness, but it was unheard of for the Prime to reveal the utter chaos inside of him. With just the image of Azrael in his processors, Optimus felt stronger. When he saw her like that, weak and frail, he knew that he had displayed a side of himself that others had never seen. Now, his team was treading carefully around him. Not even Bumblebee and Sideswipe had caused many problems aside from the occasional race around the base. Ratchet updated Optimus when Azrael's condition improved or worsened. What not even the Prime was expecting was for the sudden com-link from Ratchet with what could have been the greatest news that ever fell upon Optimus' audio sensors.

.:Ratchet to Optimus Prime:.

.:I read you, Ratchet. What seems to be the problem?:.

.:Optimus, Azrael is awake:.

The Prime's tires screeched against the road as he came to a complete stop on the empty street. His gears whirred excitedly as his spark pulsed and that attempt to begin a fire in a chassis started up again.

.:What is her condition?:.

.:Her vitals are clear, her mind seems in fine shape, and her body is healing rapidly because of something called 'Autonoxiatry':.

.:What does that mean for her, Ratchet?:.

.:In short, she's going to be fine, Optimus. She's doing quite well at the moment. She's currently eating with Major Lennox:.

.:I'm returning to base. Inform Major Lennox that Azrael is to meet the Autobots once I am present. Optimus, out:.

Ace covered her mouth with her hand as she tried to contain her laughter. Epps had joined her and Lennox at the table they were eating at. He had begun to tell a long line of tails about a few new recruits to the base who had a tendency to race around. When they were caught by their team leader, well, Hell sometimes broke the gates. As Epps was spilling more stories of these characters with the military names of 'Bumblebee' and 'Sideswipe', Ace kept an eye on Lennox, watching his movements and noting them. When he lifted his fingers to his ear, she assumed he was listening in on a com-in.

Furrowed brows, darkened eyes, tense facial features. Most likely a pressing matter or a higher up.

When his fingers dropped, Azrael asked as calmly as her racing mind would allow: "Someone important, I assume?"

"Uh, yeah," he nodded. He looked at Epps, "The big guy called into Ratchet. He wants her to meet the team when he gets back."

One of her dark eyebrows raised in curiosity, "Who's this 'big guy'?"

"Optimus Prime," was Epps's quick response, "He's the leader of the Autobot Team."

"And... who is Ratchet?" she wondered, "Is he 'Doc-bot'? The one you were talking about earlier, Major?"

"Yeah, that's him," Lennox nodded, "You really catch onto things easily, don't you?"

Ace shrugged as if it was nothing, "Yes and no. It's a useful tool for most of my occupations."

"Woah, woah, woah," Epps placed his hand up as if to stop Ace from speaking, "You mean to tell me that you have multiple jobs?"

"Oh, yes," Ace nodded. She smiled hopefully, "Would you... would you like to me to tell you about them?"

"Hell yeah!" Epps agreed.

"Well, you ladies have fun gossiping," Lennox slapped Epps on the shoulder, "I've gotta go talk to Galloway."

As the Major walked away, Ace looked at Epps with hopeful eyes, "Right, well, I guess I'll start with the first job I took up. I started off as an 'on the low' mechanic..."

Her back was pressed against the cool metal of the catwalk as she curled herself over the edge. Her dark hair hung down from her head while her body slowly swayed. Soft, warm breezes blew through the open hanger door while she allowed her mind to wander. She thought back to that man from before, the man she was supposed to have a date with. It would have been her first real date since her first year of high school with a boy named Samuel Witwicky.

Orion Pax, what an interesting name. She admired it, however, due to the name's meaning. Orion the Hunter, a constellation in the sky, a pattern, and a protector. She used to look up at the sky when she was younger just to look at that one constellation.

She thought of his six-foot-eight-inch height and his midnight blue hair - both things not very common among human traits. But it hair didn't look dyed and he was lacking the chemical scent that hair-dye would have. He had a natural musk to him, and something metallic. She pegged him to be a man with military experience. Maybe Lennox or Epps would know him? It was worth a shot after all. She'd have to explain why her apartment was on fire -

Ace's eyes snapped open as she thought of this. She sat straight up, her back stiff as a board as she entered a stage in her mind known as the 'Hyper Reality'. All noise seemed to stop, all air flow came to a halt. It was just Ace as her consciousness sank deeper and deeper into her head.

The light could have been a possible back-fire to a car, but that doesn't explain the outward explosion. Most likely answer is a bomb of sorts - a large one - but not nuclear or there would have been more of a risk bringing me to the base. No, what happened was top secret. A civilian should know nothing about this. The blast, thank about the blast.

It had a bending effect on the windows, causing them to shatter from the sudden force applied to them. The smoke would have filed in slowly after, but it didn't. The smoke began to fill up the room directly after the explosion. The complex was already burning, but from what. It had to be something large if it was a bomb, and no human could have those same effects without some sort of message. This had no message for anyone in the complex. This was a message to someone else - but who?

"Hey, Ace,"

Who? That is the question. Who was this for? It was on a massive scale so it was obviously meant to grab their attention. This wasn't a 'look at me' kind of thing. If that were the case than the bombing would have taken place at a mall or park - a place where people give one-on-one attention.

"Hello? Dr. Echolyn?"

This was a taunt - that's what this was. It was a way for someone to say 'I know your weakness. I know someone you care about is here. Fear me'. It was a warning proving that someone of importance was in that apartment complex, someone important enough that it took chaos, fire, and death to get the message across. The scale. The scale is important as well. A massive message for someone of massive importance. No human could do damage like this without some sort of help, not the way that this went down. No one there had anything planned or anything worth destroying. No one but me...

Ace's eyes opened with a frightening start. They seemed to glow as a small, disgusted frown came onto her lips. Her eyes narrowed as she turned to look at Major Lennox.

"The apartment complex was set on fire as a message, a message to fear whomever did set it. It wasn't a single human being - it would have had to be a mass amount or a single large entity. There was a bomb but it wasn't nuclear or you wouldn't have brought a civilian to this base - I have some sort of importance to this -"

"Ace, hold up -"

"Now stop thinking about the smaller details because those have added up to the major question - who? Who was this message for? What was the message? Whoever set off the explosion was saying 'I know your weakness. I know someone you care about is here. Fear me'. This was a taunt to someone outside of the complex. Not a single person in that apartment had anything planned that would be deemed important for the evening - no one but me. This message, this taunt, was for someone who has some sort of deep connection to me. How do I know it's not to me? Because they could have set the fire while I was still gone. So tell me, Major Lennox, how many died?"

"W-what?!"

"How many died. Casualties? Corpes? I need a number - an exact number!"

"Forty-one,"

Forty-one. For some reason this is important to the attacker, but why. Why would this be important. What are possible numbers to create the number? Fifteen plus twenty-six, then... no, that wouldn't make sense. That wouldn't be important unless a giant or sorts had become sentimental.

"Major Lennox, was I counted as part of the forty-one?"

"Uh, yeah, I think so -"

"You think so or you know so?"

"Yes! I counted you as a body before you started to breath again!"

Forty bodies. No, I wasn't meant to be counted.

"I was meant to survive,"

"What?!" Epps cried out, "Ace, you've literally just blown my mind out of my head then shot it back inside! What the hell do you mean that you were meant to survive?"

"I mean that whoever attacked the building had planned for me to survive, and they are going to attack again on the given date," Ace started slowly and clearly, "Major Lennox, what side of the building was the bomb set off?"

"North,"

"Epps, think," Ace then stated as she stood to her feet. She looked down at the shorter male with her startling blue eyes, "It's mathematical. Imagen the numbers used to get to forty. Fifteen and twenty-five. The numbers that create fifteen are three and twelve. Three; the third day of the week - Wednesday. Twelve, the twelfth month - December. Twenty-five, twenty-fifth - Christmas Day. The date given is Wednesday, December twenty-fifth. That is the next attack. Anymore questions?"

Lennox raised his hand, "Can you teach me how to do that?"

Major Lennox, who Ace was at last calling 'Will', walked down the catwalk near midnight as the Peterbilt truck he had come to respect rolled into the base. With the shifting of gears and hissing of metal moving into place, the massive metal figure of Optimus Prime stood tall. The cyan optics belonging to the last Prime landed on Will. With two steps he was in front of the Major.

"Major Lennox," he greeted, "Would you happen to know where Azrael is?"

"You missed her, big guy," Will chuckled, "Kid passed out two hours ago. Tried staying up with Bee and Sides, but Ratchet told her to head off to bed. Something about her mind entering a suggestive state. Basically, she wouldn't believe that the Autobots are real if she didn't get some rest."

Disappointment settled in his tanks as Optimus realized he had taken too long. Then again, Ratchet had said that Azrael wouldn't be awake for another week. He was beginning to think that there was more to this femme than what met the optic.

"When do you think -"

"Not sure. She seemed out cold when she did get to sleep," Will informed, "Sorry, Prime, but you're just going to have to wait."

"Yes, I understand,"

Will provided a kind smile, sympathetic to the giant made of metal. He could remember his first time away from home and how much he missed Shara. Will could only imagen the kind of pain and longing Optimus felt when it came to Azrael. To have someone that was designed just for you, someone who was a perfect match for you, and you couldn't be near them? Will would have gone insane by this point. Optimus, however, seemed to be more composed. Sure the mech was disappointed, but he seemed to have all the more of a determined aura around him.

"I think you should recharge," Will said suddenly, looking at the Prime, "You haven't done that since Azrael got here last week. She's here, safe and sound in her barracks, asleep. It's not going to kill you to get some rest as well."

"Perhaps you are right, Major Lennox,"

"C'mon, big guy, it's Will,"

"William,"

"You know what, I'll take it,"