*flails around and falls on floor* So, I am still alive, I've just been awfully busy with life! Becoming an Aunty, trying to deal with the Army stealing my Hubby, moving back home for a few months... whew! And to top it off, my wordpad crashed my computer whenever I run it, I'd been unable to write but I downloaded a new program so yay!

I want to say I'm so so sorry for the delay but, we all know how life can be. ^_^' I wrote this with a migraine, trying to babysit as I wrote so, I hope it's decent enough to keep this story going!

:3

Bumblebee carried Diana to what she could only assume was a training room of sorts for the Autobots, large and open with many, many, skid marks on the concrete flooring. The remaining Autobots and their three human friends were standing in the center of the room, chatting lightly, though all eyes and optics turned to Diana and Bumblebee as they entered.

Diana couldn't help it as she shrunk back into the yellow bot's palm some, flinching away from the various gazes.

"So, what's the story with you?" The young girl spoke, stepping forwards, lacking the judgmental gaze of the hulking green and blue and silver mechs. "Oh, I'm Miko by the way." She twisted, pointing to each person present, introducing everyone. "Jack, Raf, Arcee, Bulkhead and Smokescreen."

"I'm Diana, Diana Kerrin." Diana spoke softly, gesturing for Bumblebee to set her down. Miko walked straight up to her, babbling a thousand words a minute, nearly bounding around the older woman.

"How'd you wind up with Doc Knock? Where are you from? What do you guys do together? You DO know that he's a bad guy right?" The girl chattered on and on, leaving Diana watching her in stunned silence.

Arcee stepped forwards, lifting her hands. "Alright Miko, give it a break." The femme looked down to Diana. "You need to get cleaned up, energon's toxic to humans."

"It doesn't bother me." Diana shrugged slightly, looking down at her blue stained body, missing the curious looks the Autobots gave her. "But I should get cleaned up."

"I'll show you the showers, there's an old locker room here." Miko stepped forwards, headed for the doorway to the room, not bothering to look to see if Diana was following.

"Ah, I guess, I'll be back. Just, thank you for, well, for everything." She gave a small smile to the remaining group before turning to follow the teenage girl. The soft sound of footsteps caused her to glance over her shoulder.

"You don't want to be alone with her." Arcee smirked, trailing along as they arrived at the showers.

Miko had already torn an assortment of items from the lockers; soap, towels and what appeared to be a set of forgotten army fatigues.

"Thank you." Diana smiled, relaxing a bit now that they were alone. She stepped to one of the showers, turning it on and testing the water. Miko bounced over, setting a bottle of what appeared to be shampoo and a bar of soap on the ledge in the room.

Arcee stood against a far wall, arms folded over her chest, watching as Diana drew the curtain to wash herself.

Miko came to stand near the blue femme, rocking back and forth onto the balls of her feet, biting her tongue though a million words tickled at her lips.

It only took Diana a few minutes and she was clean, emerging from the shower with her hair pulled back, wearing the fatigues that were just a bit too large on her. "Better?"

Both Miko and Arcee nodded, the human leading Diana back through the base, declaring a tour was needed. The blonde could do little more than nod an agreement as the three females moved around the base, Miko managing to take near an hour on the tour, slowing as they drew near the area Ratchet was working in.

"I never thought I'd be saying this, but, I'm sure Knock Out will be fine." Arcee glanced to Diana, the trio halting once they'd returned to the training room.

Diana gave a slight nod, unable to hide the concern in her eyes.

"A notion I can second." A deep voice added, the room's inhabitants turning to see Optimus. "Ratchet insists that Knock Out will be fine, but he is in stasis and must remain so for some time."

"Can I see him?" Diana would jog over to the Autobot leader, staring up at the mech with wide eyes.

Optimus would nod slightly, stepping aside so Diana could sprint down the hallway and towards Knock Out.

She made it to the med-bay in seconds, nearly falling over herself as she ran through the doorway, earning a surprised look from Ratchet. "Sorry." she murmured.

Ratchet only scoffed, turning his attention back to the datapad in his hand. "Knock Out will survive." He glanced up, watching as Diana climbed atop the berth that the red mech was lying on. "You're sealing off his energon lines saved him, he owes you a thanks as well as his life."

Diana smiled, carefully stepping near Knock Out's head, laying a hand against his face. "You did all the work, I can't thank you enough."

The Autobot medic scoffed again, waving a hand and turning to leave without another word, leaving Diana alone with Knock Out.

"Hey Knocks, I'm not sure if you can hear me." She kept her right hand on his cheek, leaning forwards to rest her forehead against him as well. "But you'd better wake up soon." She smiled, unable to help the tears welling in her eyes. "Don't make me wait."

Ratchet kept Knock Out in an induced stasis for another seven days, to ensure he had time to heal. Diana rarely left the Decepticon's side, only when the others insisted she eat or sleep, although she preferred to curl up on Knock Out's chest, a blanket that Bumblebee had dug up draped over her tiny form.

The Autobot's had seemingly gotten over their suspicion of Diana, after having gotten to know her some. Even Smokescreen would offer her a smile, always making a point of saying hello. Bulkhead had asked her several times during the first few days of her stay if he could take her home, usually earning a glare from Miko, though Diana would politely decline.

Diana, for her part, had learned a great deal from the Autobots, mostly just from watching the group. She'd even spent a few hours talking with Optimus Prime, immedietly seeing why every Transformer revered the Prime, whether if be due to his skills as a leader or a warrior. The three children had tried to include Diana, offering a seat on their sofa to her, though they seemed to regret it when Diana proved she could beat all of them at their favourite racing game. Ratchet too had learned to relax around Diana, and she in turn learned that it was best to give the older Bot his space and respect his privacy.

But of all the Autobots, it was Arcee she'd grown closest to. The femme was serious and no nonsense, reserving her kinder side for her friends and the proper moments, Diana found herself developing a deep respect for the blue femme, as well as sympathy when Arcee relayed the stories of her past.

It was the morning of their eighth day at the Autobot base when Ratchet announced he'd let Knock Out out of stasis, although he may still take some time to wake on his own. So later that afternoon Diana found herself seated on Knock Out's chest, Ratchet the only Bot in the base as the others were off performing various tasks, the older mech taking the quiet time to read over some content in the privacy of his quarters.

The blonde was sitting cross legged, talking to Knock Out, as she had every day since they'd arrived. Arcee had given her a datapad filled with Cybertronian lore, which the human had been poring over daily. A soft mumble tore her eyes from the words, looking to Knock Out's face, the Medic grumbling quietly, optics parting into slits. "Knocks?"

The red mech's optics fluttered open at her voice, taking a moment to adjust to the lighting of the room.

"Hey!" Diana smiled, tossing the datapad down and standing, tip toeing along his chest until he could see her. "Welcome back to the waking world."

The confusion in his gaze faded some as he focused on her. "Hey." His voice was gravely, lower than usual.

"How do you feel?" She smiled, bracing her hands on his chin so she could lean forwards to kiss him.

"Like, like..." Knock Out groaned a bit, closing his optics again. "How am I alive."

"Ratchet fixed -" Diana didn't get to finish, Knock Out jerking upright at the mention of the Autobot. "Whoa, easy!"

The Decepticon flinched as he moved, still healing insides protesting the sudden movement. His crimson eyes flashed about the room, realization of where they were dawning on him. "W-what, how did we get here?"

"Knocks, relax." Diana managed to keep on her feet despite the Medic's sudden movements. She found herself on his lap, trying to calm him. "It's alright, they're alright! I asked them to help us, and they did."

Knock Out shook his head, grumbling gently. "This is, how did." His voice trailed off.

Diana struck a hand out, slapping at his chest. "Calm the hell down."

He blinked a bit at her hitting him, giving a heavy sigh before lying back again, moving slowly this time.

"That's better." She smiled, inspecting his chest, trailing her fingers over the scarring that was slowly fading as his body repaired itself, something she just couldn't wrap her mind around despite Ratchet's efforts at explaining.

The sound of an opening door and footsteps would cause both to glance to the source, Diana smiling and Knock Out frowning as Ratchet approached. "Well well, look who's awake."

Diana spoke before Knock Out could, the blonde shooting a warning glare to the Decepticon as his lips moved to, more than likely, spew some insult. "Just woke up, he seems alright."

Ratchet walked over, ignoring the dirty looks Knock Out directed his way. "I'll do a few scans, runs some tests-"

"I don't need you to do anything, I can do it myself." Knock Out spat, trying to sit up again, nearly sending Diana tumbling off him.

"I have no doubt that you can, but I am the one who repaired you and am, unfortunately, your doctor. Thus, you will do as I say." Ratchet rolled his optics, annoyance creeping into his voice. "Like it or not, you're in bad shape."

"Knocks, please, just trust him." Diana had moved down onto the berth next to Knock Out, lest he decide to toss about again.

The red mech glanced down to her, seeming torn between wanting to vault the table and run off or just lie back and relax again. Another pleading look from Diana was all it took for him to choose the latter, the Medic falling back with another deep sigh.

Ratchet glanced to Diana, giving a small nod of thanks before beginning his inspection of Knock Out, Diana watching with curious eyes, eager to learn more.

Once Ratchet had finished up and declared Knock Out fine, merely requiring more rest, and left the med-bay, Knock Out seemed to relax some.

"See, it was alright." Diana smirked, poking at him.

Knock Out only rolled his optics at her, looking away, pouting like a little kid. "Now what."

"What do you mean?"

"We can't stay here, and we can't go back to the Decepticons." He glanced back to her, worry in his optics.

Diana shook her head. "Don't worry about that now, we'll deal with it when the time comes, alright?

"But I-"

"ALRIGHT?" She fixed him with a glare, not unlike one a Mother would give her complaining child.

Knock Out groaned, closing his optics and thumping his head into the berth a few times. "What did I get us into."