Heaven has no rage like love to hatred turned, nor hell a fury like a woman scorned.

William Congreve

Almost instantly, the mecha's face changed into the ninja's. The angle I was at meant I was on his shoulder, and he was talking about someone, I could see the mourning gleam in his optics, and he was so much bigger than I was- how the HELL could I know these two!?

"Natasha!" I jolted back from my memory and away from the ninja's face as it faded from sepia to color, and the scenery returned to the destroyed school and surrounding area. Azuki was a disheveled and dirty mess as she rushed over to me. The ninja carefully set me down on the ground, hovering his hands around me to stop me from falling back encase my body decided that gravity was just so in and balance was last season.

Fucking stupid balance center!

"I'm fine Mrs. K. Just a few bruises and bumps!" She crushed me into a hug, and I gasped out as pain as it screamed white noise in my ears and blanked out my vision with black. I could feel the rib moving and press against my lung, and the bruises and fractures in my arms splitter worse against my frame.

"Natasha!" When my vision came back, and the white noise left, I was being lifted onto a stretcher by medics, the ninja filling them in on what I had told him. I caught site briefly of the knight from my memory, and instantly started struggling against their hold on me.

"Wait a damn fucking minute." I growled towards him, shoving the paramedics off of me.

"Hey- whoa no get your ass back down!" One snapped. I snarled at them, and struggled as the Knight turned towards my direction, I tried to catch his green optics, fighting harder as he seemed to sweep right over me until finally noticing me.

"Get her a sedative; she's not going down- gah! Son of a bitch she's strong!"

"Keep trying, can we get some help here?!" I glared at the Knight as he seemed to frown, then turn to the other mech as he came over. A few cops arrived, and pushed me down by my shoulder as I fought harder, landing a few punches to their faces.

"Get the hell off of me!" One had an opening for their gun, and I grabbed it and yanked. They protested loudly, and I could see the Ninja moving towards me to try and disarm me. Some pain flared in my arm- sedative more than likely, but nothing like the institute used to use when I started throwing punches.

I had to be quick; this would be the only chance I get to grab his attention. I aimed best as my tripling vision would allow me, Cops moved frantically as I hit the safety lock, releasing the gun before firing. The grey servo swiped the gun from my hands, but none the less, I heard the bullet make contact, and gave a final scream with his wide optic'd attention to me.

"DON'T TURN AWAY FROM ME WHEN I'M TALKING TO YOU DUKE!" Something collided with my head, and my world spiraled black with Azuki shouting after me and one thought in my head.

Who the hell is Duke?

"Let me through!"

"Azuki-"

"Don't 'Azuki' me Yuuta! Let me through!"

"She shot at Duke! I don't want you anywhere near her!"

"Yuuta she is Smallfry! I know you remember her- you still get nightmares about the attack on Echo four seven two! The young girl you're about to arrest is Nat-"

"Natasha died in her Grandmother's care Azuki!"

"I'm telling you she didn't! She's in there right now if you'll just-"

"She's DEAD Azuki!"

Hearing an argument like that is never a good thing to wake up too. Specifically when the roof above you is white and everything in you is screaming threat. Sitting up was painful, but it was better than the screaming match. Getting to the window was easier then I thought, opening it? Not so much. But, with some fiddling, I managed to get it open. The city sounds couldn't drown out the screaming and arguing behind me, but at the sound of them getting louder, and Azuki hitting tears trying to climb up seemed like a better idea than staying inside.

Hoisting myself up onto the ledge, I managed to swing my legs over the edge and stand when a huge hand appeared. Blinking at it, I looked up at the knight combiner- Duke's combiner form, and silently stepped onto his servo as the sobbing started.

He turned away, and the sound of jets from his back forced me to sit down. I still wasn't a fan of flying, but something about Duke, and the way his fingers curled around me protectively as he took off and flew away soothed the small fear of heights I used to have.

That I still have.

I watched him a little longer, and the longer I did the more I realized the word was fading to sepia again.

Duke was larger, and I mean even larger than he usually is, and he looked like the mecha from the battle at school. But something was different; everything about him would shift between screaming 'Duke' to screaming someone else. There wasn't sound this time, but the lenses would light every time one of the two talked.

The memory faded back to color as Duke settled somewhere. I could pick up the sounds of crickets and other night creatures as his over sized hand lifted me to his shoulder. Turning obediently, I settled onto his shoulder, and looked out over trees, then up at the glowing stars around us.

We sat there silently, staring up at the sky and not exchanging words. There was… Something calming about the silence, like there was a disbelieving understanding between us.

"You… Have not changed much from when you were a child." I could feel the pull at my lips, and scoffed softly at him. He had a soft, very British accent to his English. It was familiar, soothing actually.

"Perhaps not in appearance, but I have changed Duke." I scoffed softly. We fell silent, and I dragged my knee to my chest, and crossed my arms around it. Both hand gripped my shoulders, and my chin rested on top.

"So… I was dead." I said simply. He hummed, and the whirl of parts signaled he nodded.

"That is what was told to Yuuta anyway. We… Had trouble believing that." He explained softly. I hummed, and shut my eyes against the sudden rise of tears.

"Was your presence on Echo the reason the attack happened?" He was silent, and I could practically feel the shame, guilt and shock rolling off of his body as I waited for an answer.

After what seemed like years, he finally spoke.

"Not that we were told. The remote controlled planes had been specifically targeting military bases long before we arrived. They were meant attack when a motion sensor picked up movement on the ground of the base. We still haven't figured out why they attacked." I froze, my world fading to sepia again, and watching myself beg Galen to take me out on his bike. It looked like an exact replica of Gunmax's, and horror gripped tighter to my chest.

It flowed to him agreeing, and both of us sneaking past the purple ninja and outside. I shut my eyes after that, and forced the memory away as I started shaking. Hot tears streaked down my cheeks, and I choked back the bubbling sobs and guilt weighing down my chest.

"It was my fault," I choked out. I felt him shift, and gripped at my head with both arms. My nails dug into my scalp, and I continued to shaking and cry on Duke's shoulder.

"G-Galen and I - we were out on the grounds on his motorcycle. G-giving it a test run when we should have been staying inside - oh gods it's all my fault I should have just stayed inside. Why the hell did I have to beg him and blackmail him into joining - fuck shit crap fuck shit go-d damn!" My barrier broke, and I started sobbing and wailing on the Braves shoulder. It wasn't that soft, innocent sobbing and hiccupping you hear and see on TV or see in girl in the washroom.

No, the sounds I made were loud even to my own ears. They were the cries, screams and wails of a child who was scared, alone, and possibly hurt, and the more I tried to keep it back and within my chest, the louder they got and the more loudly I screamed.

Duke had picked me up at one point, and I was curled into the centre of his chest plates. A familiar thrum came from his frame, and my wailing on grew louder as the lullaby - what I had once thought was my mothers lullaby - thrummed and vibrated out from his body. It was only after I had finally - finally gotten the much needed break down out of my systems that Duke brought me up to his covered face plates.

I must have looked pathetic to him. My eyes must have been puffy and red, and I had tears still cascading down my cheeks and I shook and hiccupped through tears.

"Natasha, little one, what happened that day was not your fault. You are, but all accounts innocent in what happened to your family. Someone would have gone out eventually, and we still wouldn't have been prepared for the attack. You can't blame yourself for something that was bound to happen." He insisted. Something about the deep thrum of his voice, and the purring of his engine made it hard for me to focus, not to mention it made it hard for me to stay awake.

"But- But if I hadn't-"

"Then someone else would have." I scrubbed hard at my eyes, trying to clear the still running tears as Duke put me back to the center of his chest plates.

"Take your time Natasha; I'll take you back to the hospital when you're calmer…"