"You will do as you are told!"

"You may control my body but you will never control my will."

"I made you what you are. You are a weapon."

"I WILL NOT SUBMIT!"

I wake up screaming like I normally do after one of these nightmares. I curl into my little ball and gently rock myself; self soothing was the only thing I knew after so long. I can hear the pounding of footsteps as Optimus heads to my location once again. I hear him come closer before stopping a good distance away. I can feel his optics burning on my form. I refuse to let him see my face. I do not wish for him to see my tears. Tears mean weakness.

Suddenly his voice filled the air, "I want to help you Ashley. Please just give me a chance,"

Once I was finally able to stop the tears I looked up at him. He could see all my pain, all my suffering and frowned. He knew that just by looking in my eyes that he was not welcome right now. He knew if he didn't leave soon that I wouldn't hesitate to drive him away which is the last thing he wanted.

Optimus' voice came again, soothing, gentle, "You can't keep refusing everyone Ashley. We can help keep these fears from getting closer. I could keep you from breaking further. What do I have to do to gain your trust?"

I have a sudden memory of someone else doing this not that long ago. Someone was holding me in their arms and gently rocking me to sleep after a terrifying nightmare. As my eyes start to close I quietly say something I hadn't said in years.

"I want someone to love me and not for their own gains. Will you want me around to fight your battles?"My voice trickles as I remember the words.

I could feel my heart sink when he didn't answer right away. His silence was enough for me. All his emotions and thoughts were all over the place. But it was too much for me. And he knew it as well. I didn't move as I heard him walk away, ashamed that he couldn't keep his true feelings in check. I didn't give it any thought for quite some time later. Why didn't he answer?

It was during the afternoon when the alarm sounded. I was on the cliff above the base looking about. I could feel all the others scurrying around in the base below. I had a feeling that something was going to happen today but I didn't know what as of yet. I decided to head there before the Autobots. The place the Minicon was at what seemed to be a small island in the Atlantic. I took in my surroundings before I got that strange feeling once again. I warped to where it was the strongest. I wasn't surprised to see Scavenger standing there.

I couldn't sense the others just yet so he must've gotten here early like me. When He picked up a rock I could see a yellow Minicon beneath it. I heard him chuckle but I couldn't for the love of me figure out what was funny. I looked up when I felt the presence of the others. Scavenger replaced the rock before standing up. He probably knew they were as well. This mech intrigued me for sure. He was enigmatic, something I could relate to in a way. I was able to read all the other mechs but I didn't know what I should do with Scavenger right now. The same kind of power I felt from this mech was unique in his own way.

I watched as he started heading towards where the others were and I started to silently stalk after him, hoping I wouldn't be seen. I kept myself to the shadows and made sure I didn't make a sound as well. I felt the need to learn more about this mech rather then help the Autobots this time. I felt I needed to figure this guy out. I watched him sit down at the edge of the cliff, overlooking the Autobots and Decepticons. I peeked over the edge to see Starscream and Hot Shot getting ready to duke it out with their swords. Scavenger started taunting the two mechs. It didn't make any sense that he would ridicule his own teammate and I didn't even know who his teammates were. The two mechs just ignored Scavenger and started their fight. I'll admit that Hot Shot had definitely improved his skills from the last time I had seen him with the Star Saber. I was impressed when he sliced Starscream's sword in half with one swing. But my feelings immediately left when he challenged none other than Scavenger to a battle. I watched to see his reaction.

I watched as he threw his cloak off and jumped off the cliff and stood in front of Hot Shot. This was a lesson that Hot Shot had to learn on his own. I couldn't be a part of it even if I wanted to plus I wanted to make my observations about Scavenger while he was preoccupied. As Hot Shot got thrashed by Scavenger I watched Optimus. His optics were emotionless at the moment and I knew deep down he was hiding something. He turned to look at me as he finally realized I was there. I nodded to him and turned back to the fight. It was over and Scavenger had won. I felt something but until I had more info I would keep watching Scavenger.

I jumped to the edge of the cliff and threw an energy disk at Scavenger. As soon as I released it I let my mind enter his. I hoped to find more info on him before he turned back to me with an unwavering stare. I quickly teleported away and back to my home in the forest before he could do much else, other than glare at me. I went through the memories and such I had gotten from him before being shoved out. I hated to admit it but he kept his thought heavily secured, which bothered me a bit. All I got from him that was even remotely one string is one where he was the one who taught Optimus how to fight.

I waited until the sun had gone down before heading to my favorite cliff face to look out. I enjoy thinking here; it's a very calming place. I could feel the Autobots inside helping Hot Shot get out of his funk for losing to Scavenger. Hopefully this will be one lesson that he would never soon forget. The one thing I didn't like was that I didn't lose the strange feeling that something bad was going to happen. Whatever it is, it's still going to happen.