oh shit ... oh shit, this wasn't good at all, Katja tried her hand behind her to find something she could protect herself with."I don't know what you mean; you have to be more specific," she said and took a step back but came nowhere as the bench was behind her and he blocked the only exit.

"Don't play dumb, you little bitch," he exclaimed as his fist hit the wall hard so that the paintings hanging there fell to the floor and the glass shatters in thousand bits."You plan to run away, aren't you? I have seen where you want to go. Washington, is it?"

Katja shrugged and held the glass she had been drinking just a moment earlier and quickly shook her head "No, It's schoolwork, nothing else" how had he come to this? She had been so careful to delete all search history.

He gave out a toneless laugh and shook his head "Your little bitch, I know everything you are planning, and you dare stand here and lie to me?" he hisses and slowly walking towards her. The broken glass shards were crushed under his shoes as he did and Katja's eyes darted around for an escape route.

She took the glass and threw it as hard as she could only towards him, and at the same time, she took charge and ran around him. something he hadn't been prepared for

~*-*~ Warning... graphic abuse... Harsh languish...Warning~*-*~

He quickly turned around, "came back here, "he bellowed as he managed to get hold of her hair and tore it hard backward. Successfully he managed to get a grip on her, and she let out a howl of pain.

Katja tried to get a hold of his hand and tried to loosen his grip, but he hit her with his free hand and dragged her out into the living room. As he was at least double her size and a lot stronger, she had not much to say about it.

"You are not going anywhere you ungrateful worthless piece of shit" He tossed her on the floor and swung a blow to her head.

"I give you food," another punch landed on her soft body, making her whimper in pain. "I give you a roof over your head" he pulled her in the leg towards the fireplace. "I even let you keep thus damn animals of yours, and this is how you thank me? by planning to run away?"

"N..no!" she whimpered, but he kicked her in the stomach and the air went out of her lung. She tried to gasp for the air that did not want to come down. "Please...dad..." she begged

"Shut up!" he demanded, She choked on all sound that could translate into any screams, that would only make him more furious. He hated it when she talked back to him or made any sound.

"You are mine, do not think that you are allowed to leave on your own, freak?" for a moment, he left her on the cold, dirty floor. She could hear him drink something and then thrown the bottle at her, hitting her square in the head. Making her whimper as she tried to roll into a protective ball. It felt like she was breathing fire, and it felt like her head would explode any moment now.

She had to get out of here; he was out of control. This was worse than he ever had been. Katja tried to raise her head only for a flash of pain shot through her neck. Her field of vision was blurred but she could see the shape of how he was doing something in the fire. She lay down on her stomach a little more and pressed her hands down to the ground but the force abandoned her, and she fell apart.

Nonono, move, you have to move, she tried to get up again and felt how something hot tickled her face making her stomached cringle as the smell of blood hit her. The dizziness increased, and she gasped for breath. She heard his heavy shoes against the floor and looked up at him. He was holding one of the old branding tools.

"no, please, No!" she cried out and, with the new terror, forced herself up only to fall again as her leg hurt as someone had stabbed it, they would not work!

"Please...nu... please, dad," she begged as she now desperately crawled away from him. Her throat was so sore that she could barely talk, it hurt like she had been swallowing nails or something, but her father didn't stop. She could see the red-hot tip glow like Decepticons blood-red optics, and it was a frightening contrast to the darkness that was around them. She managed to get up on her legs yet again as but collapsed halfway and felt a hard knee dig into her spine.

A low screaming came out of her as she tried to pull away from him and the red hot metal. She tried to say anything, she decided to think of a way to get out of there but the only thing she came up with was a name, and she did not hesitate to scream his name at this moment.

"Mirage!"

she screamed as loud as she could, throat ached, and it felt as if the heart would tear out her chest. Her father turned her around harshly as she continued to scream and tried to push him away with her arms, and he took a hard hold of her neck. His hand was so large that his fingers were almost completely closed around her neck as he was squeezing it so hard that her screams died out before they even could leave her vocals

But that was the least of her problems as the suddenly burning pain shot through her chest where he had put down the branding tool.

She howls out in pain as he leaned over her, pushing her much smaller body down into the cold hard floor as the air smelled of burnt hair and flesh as he pressed the tool even deeper down in her muscle.

She could not think there was nothing in her mind as the pain canceled everything and for a moment, her world went blissfully black and silent, like she was thrown into nothing. But it didn't last and as she came to it, the pain made her scream, and spasm went through her whole body that now was free from her torturer.

~*-*~ safe again, only the aftermath, mentioned of abuse in the text below ~*-*~

JCR. John Clark Ranch, it had been her grandparent's old burning tool and also her father's name.

John, she hated him, she hated what he was doing, she hated that she was soo weak and that he now had branded his name on her. It was all her fault; she was not worthy of being saved; she wanted to let it all go, forgetting everything and give up.

Seconds ticked by, at least she thought it did because the only thing she could focus on was the pulsing pain that had ebbed slightly now, but it was still there. The cold floor chilled her body but in the right way as she was overheating. Her head was spinning, and the taste of blood made her sick, she tried to move but her body didn't want to listen. From somewhere far away, she could hear a loud vibrating roar in pure anger, but she could not recognize it.

Her breathing was turning irregular and tears flowed freely down her cheeks as she now could get air into her lung, and it burned, the burning was everything she was feeling. It felt like the whole world was rocking and spinning around somewhere she could hear her name being said somewhere far away. She could no longer hold it down as she turned to her side and heaved out the content of her stomach.

And she welcomed the darkness that enveloped her.

Katja slowly came back to the world of the living, it had to be because everything hurt like hell, and she would hope that in heaven, there was no pain.

She blinked a little tower the dim light, her vision was still not right, but she could hear a familiar voice speak to her. Filling her with a sense of safety which she did not think was possible anymore. She listens to his voice as she realized that it was Mirage that spoke. She could felt the vibrations in his chest before she could register the words he was pronouncing.

The constant humming from his spark lulled her back into an in-between state as she leaned her forehead against the hot metal, soaking it all in. A large finger gently began to stroke her hair, deliberately avoiding the new wounds on the side of it.

"Katya?" She slowly turned her head up at the sound and could now focus on two worried optics of her guardian.

Hon nodded as she did not trust her voice to work correctly for the moment; she began to move her fingers and then arms more. She was alive, and it was all thanks to him.

Mirage felt how raw anger caused throw his frame and made him shake in pure rage. He had tried to press it down to be there when she finally had woken up. But as soon as she was looking at him, he could see how...dead she looked inside like the very last thing had been taken from her. And again for a thousand times this hour alone; he wished he had killed that awful monster of a man. But unfortunately, he was still alive, still unconscious and beaten, but alive ... for now.

He would kill him; he would squeeze the living life out of the horrible monster that even dared to call himself her creator. Because there was no other punishment that suited him better than feel the life gets ripped away from him. Optimus would agree with him such people did not deserve to live. And the worst of it, he had hurt his charge!. Mirage suddenly felt the small human move around in his hand and focused on her.

"don't move too much," what should he do? Frag it, if he only could contact Ratchet. The medic would know what to do.

"I'm okay," Katja mumbled and he looked down to the small and frail woman in his hand. Never in his whole existence had he been holding such fragile little thing. It was like she was made of the thinnest glass and would break if he even looked at her too hard. Her skin was now almost transparent and shimmered with a cold sweat. He could still see the blood on her chest where the monster had branded her.

"You're not okay," he said with a tick voice, the tone was so dark and icy that it almost frightened himself, never had he been feeling this kind of emotion before. And that was saying something as he had lost both family and friends in this war.

The little female leaned her head against his chassis again, just above his spark, and he felt it strike an extra blow to his already raging emotions. He could feel how small shakes begun to travel through her body as the chock and adrenalin probably was leaving her physique.

"Is he..." her voice was broken and cracked.

"unfortunately alive," he answered and had to keep from hugging her harder against him, he felt how all his programs were going high wire and most of his protective programs were running.

"Good," whispered Katja.

"Good?" he looked down at her and growled, all traces of his dialect were as good as gone "How can that be a good thing? I should have killed him, crushed the pitiful invertebrate example of a man"

Katja raised her hand and laid it against the pulsating surface of his spark as she looked tired into it as she swallowed again, making her cringe as she shook her head only an inch. "No, Autobots are... no killers"

Mirage lifted her higher up so that she now was at eye level with him "We are no saints, I'm not, even we can make mistakes..and a man like him, nobody would miss..."

Katja smiled weakly, and the sight of it made his spark pulse painfully, she raised her hand and carefully stroke it against his much bigger cheek "please? He is ... still my dad."

"No monster that knowingly hurts their offspring should be called a creator" Mirage stared down at her and felt the warm little hand against his cheek and he tried to concentrate only on it. He had to because in this moment, she was the only thing that grounded him.

That made everything worth fighting for. Mirage vented out a warm stream of air over her before leaning his head against her so much smaller. For now, he would not kill the man, but he could not push away the fear that gripped his spark that he was making a huge mistake by letting him live.

"Thank...you," she murmured lowly and if he had been farther away from her, he would surely have missed it. "For caring," He hugged her soft body at the words. He closed his eyes as he felt her hand fall from his cheek and if he had not heard her breathing and the steady heartbeat, he would have been terrified. Mirage sat for a moment before slowly moving his hand toward his chest and keeping her hidden from the hate full world all around them. He suddenly understood where her brushes came from, her reaction to touch. The abuse had been going on for a while now; it had too because she was to calm. Like she knew how to came back from it all like it was another day for her.

He forced himself to only concentrate on her heartbeat to try and calm down; he had to think this through. Because what could he do? Some part of his spark wanted to stay there with her, protecting her from everything that wanted her hurt, and most protecting her from her father. He wanted to protect her and watch her grow into a beautiful woman who would take the world by storm. Mirage looked up and stared at the landscape that lay outside the barn. He was more or less healed now as it was, and if he had wanted to, he would be able to leave tomorrow.

However much he wanted the war to end and hide there and play on his ignorance; but he could not hide from the truth that his comrades still needed him. Decepticons were on this planet and as long as they were still active, there was no guarantee of any living being. He had the ability to fight with them; he could protect what he now wanted to protect. Without thinking about it, one of his fingers began to gently stroke the white hair of his young charge.

What would happen if she followed him? She would be at the center of danger; she would be at the center of the war zone. The thought made his mind turn in discomfort. He didn't want her there. There it would be all the more dangerous. But he couldn't leave her here with that ... monster. He sat deep in his thoughts as he watched the sunset that he almost missed how his charge was waking up again after a far too short rest. He felt her move as she sat up and he let his gaze now rest on her.

"You can't stay here "The words she uttered froze him in place before he vented out again,

"No"

"When are you leaving?"He stared down at the fragile body that was in his palm and almost felt a new dagger dug into his spark. Was she seriously talking about this now? When her father had done...all of that horrible things to her. How could she act like this was just another day?. He couldn't find the right words to answer her, were there even right words for this, but instead of answering her question, he contrasted it with one of his own.

"come with me."

Katja looked up at him, and her eyes were wide and filled with pain and unshed tears. A small spark of hope lit up in her amber eyes before it disappeared again, and she faded away as she looked away "I can't... my dad would never allow it."

"Frag him" the cybetronian growled, " He will only hurt you more, how can you want to stay here? I will not give you any choice in the matter Katja, you going with me and that is final!"

Katja bowed her head and felt a warm feeling spread through her at his words. She wanted to say yes, get me the hell out of here, save me! But she could not. She would only put more trouble on the Autobots, on him. And that was the last thing she ever wanted to do.

"Probably, but always after had doing something this bad he back of for a time," she whispered, he would surely do it again, and again, and until one day he would go too far and kill her. Or if she was still alive by then, moved out of her own the day she was eight-teen.

"He still has the custody of me" Mirage held up her other hand and cupped it underneath his other while she sat in

"Either you follow me with your own free will or I will force you," he repeats, there was nothing else to do. She was safer with him, war or no war, he would protect her and Optimus would understand. He was sure that his leader would support his decision because she would not stay here.

Karja felt the tears threatening to come back but now for a completely different reason. "It would be kidnapping and given what it looks like for Autobots right now, you are already on a sensitive ground when it comes to the people." She had seen it on TV, especially with that extra clean-up group that the military created and so many demonstrations and discussions were already held if they needed the Autobots to stay on earth.

"I refuse to be another blow to your people; I'm not that important."

"You are to me, "he said and leaned over his head and stared up at the old roof, trying to calm down, his thoughts turned to the top and he felt there might be another way.

Maybe he could bring her, not give her a choice? She would surely calm down enough time and see that it was all for her safety. But was she safe there? If he only brought her, the most substantial risk was that they would give the media and politicians extra bait. And given that they were stuck here on this planet, they depended on the generosity of people.

"If we do it on your people's way? This must be against the law of yours," he then asked as the idea hit him. She tilted her head slightly to one side and examined him questioningly.

"If we tell you... government what happens so they can't ignore it, and given the fact that you know me, I'm sure you'll somehow be in contact with us," he said, smiling suddenly. It was not a bad idea; it was brilliant, and it could work.

He saw a flash of fear wander across her face and then she ponder on his words. Katja stared down at the hot and rough surface she was sitting on, letting one of her hands track the patterns on it. What if she could continue to spend time with him? The truth was that she was terrified of what would happen if he disappeared and her father woke up, in such a short time her whole world had changed and was now centered around him.

Then it was decided, Katja nodded to him "okay" her heart suddenly beat an extra beat as she made up her mind and she even gave him a small smile. "But, I do believe that it has to be the government that works with you. It would go faster that way I believe," she said and felt the hope started to blossom in her chest as if the light in the tunnel was getting stronger. This could work!

Mirage gave off a low rattling sound, as he brought her closer to him and nodded. This was a good plan; the only problem was that he had to leave her. But if he could tell Optimus everything and at the same time recognize them that he had created a guardian bond with her. Because he had figured it out after that horrible experience that it was indeed there, that would spin the whole thing faster as a guardian bond was something their race valued highly.

They sat there for a while and was just as happy with each other's company as he slowly was stroking her back. Sometime during his musing, Katja had fallen asleep and Mirage held his hand over her, creating a sheltered and warm cocoon while holding her comfortably in his lap.

His little human charge. That was a strange thought, but he needed to leave as quickly as he could to return to her. It was maybe a 10-hour drive from here to Washington at an average speed. Luckily he was no ordinary car so he could do it in at least half the time.

But he would need a new car model and the mere thought of having to scan the old scrap pile they called a car made him cringle in horror, but he probably only needed to do so until he found something better and faster. Mirage looked down at his clenched hand and could feel the soft movements her body made as she dreamed.

Soon she would be safe with them, and he would get her out of here.