Chapter 3
I woke in MedBay, to Ratchet's soft voice. He was shining a light in my eyes. "Aargh, stop! I'm up!" I complained weakly. I opened my eyes and let them focus on the medic's face hovering above me. He was frowning, his holoform's brow creased worryingly. "Ratchet? Everything alright?" Came a soft voice to my left. I looked over to the source. Before me stood another holoform, this one unknown to me. A lean, solid-muscled woman was leaning against the doorframe, her baleful, pale blue eyes watching me warily. She looked to be about my age, with short-cropped blonde hair that sprung up in curls to frame her round face. Her body was thin and strong, like a mountain cat's, and she was about my height, I thought. She shifted and walked towards me, seeing that I was awake. "Hey there, beautiful. You feel okay?" She said, her voice raspy, yet warm and comforting. I nodded and felt a lancing pain go down my back. I arched up off the berth, gasping in pain. A pained shriek wrenched itself from my throat and bubbled into the room. The woman pinned my shoulders to the table while Ratchet inserted a needle into the crook of my arm. Almost immediately, the pain lessened and I stopped struggling. The woman released me. "Keep me posted, Ratchet." She said softly, taking her leave. As she left, another presence entered the MedBay. Actually, three separate presences, to be exact. "Relia!"
"Relia, are you okay?!"
"Rellie! Sweetie!"
It was none other than the Praxian trio; Bluestreak, Prowl, and Smokescreen. The youngest of them approached me first. "Relia, you alright? Did Ironhide hurt you?" Blue's questions tumbled out quickly. "I…I'm fine, Blue…Just a bit sore…" He sighed and looked down at me. His electric blue optics met my green eyes and held for a moment. Then he looked away, leaving me to ponder what all the swirling emotions were. Next, Smokescreen appeared. "Relia, sweetie, are you okay? Sunny said you broke something!" He was beside himself with worry. "I…I'm okay, Smokey…Just need to catch my breath…" I gasped, trying to get some air into my starved lungs. The trio backed away and Bluestreak and Smokescreen left, comforted by the fact that I was in fact alright. I could sense Prowl still in the room; I could hear his voice. He was speaking with Ratchet. They were speaking softly. "..until arrangements can be made with Optimus for permanent quarters." Prowl said. Permanent quarters? Where? For me? With who? Questions bounced around in my mind until I felt like they were about to start dripping from my ears. "If you're trying to make arrangements for me, I'd like a say in that." I said slowly, careful to take in oxygen with each breath. Their conversation paused. "You…understood us, Relia?" Prowl said haltingly. I nodded. "as clearly as if you were speaking to me, Prowlie." I heard Ratchet's pedesteps move quickly to the general area of his desk and knew he was taking note of something. "Did I do something wrong, Ratchet?" I asked. "No, just something unexpected." He replied. "You understood and spoke in Cybertronian."