Important Information

"Blah" Speaking

::Blah:: comm. link

'Blah' bonded speech

'Blah' thinking

Astrosecond- 2.5 earth Seconds

Klik- 150 earth seconds/ 2.5 earth Minutes

Orn- 150 earth minutes/ 2.5 earth Hours

Joor- 60 earth hours/2.5 earth Days

Metacycle- 17.5 earth days/2.5 earth Weeks

Vorn- 10 earth weeks/2.5 earth months

Stellercycle-30 earth months/2.5 years

Breem-slang for a moment/minute.

Night Cycle: star down to star up

Day Cycle: Star up to star down

Authors Note: Thank you so much to Darkness_Rising for doing the first round of beta work on chapter 1!

Thank you all for the reviews!

Please head the FOLLOWING TAGS: The later chapters will contain elements of rape and dub con/ torture. Keep in mind the later chapters will only be posted on Archive of our Own.

Starscream squatted in the empty field that he had chosen for their camp grounds for the first two days of their mission; he had found a water source for Mia, but it was deep and moved quickly.

Forearms rested sideways along his thighs, his hands dangling between his knees as he watched Mia; mouth pulled into his usual irritated frown when he had to interact with her, his annoyance inkling higher and higher.

She had first tried to set up her tent on her own; Starscream had sat where he was now, with an extremely unimpressed look on his face as he watched her.

First, her tent would not stay up. Every time she would thread the poles through the fabric of the tent, one would pop lose and collapse the whole thing. He would watch as her face would flush bright red and her shoulders would slump before she would try again.

Forty five minutes later and she had finally gotten her tent up and was finally trying to start a fire so she could eat. Huffing a long suffering sigh, he lifted one of his hands to scrub at his face, trying to rub the annoyance away.

Mia finally sat up, panting and face bright red, the small fire she had tried so hard to start finally catching the kindling under the log.

She panted, beaming up at him, looking oh so proud of herself.

Starscream's frown deepened. "Took you long enough." He said coldly, dark crimson optics flashing as her smile fell. "If this was a real survival situation, it would have taken you far too long to set up shelter and start a fire."

Shock filled her pretty, fair face before anger clouded it. "Well isn't that why we are here?" she spat suddenly, taking Starscream by surprise "So that I can learn how to survive?"

She seemed to take herself by surprise as well as the anger melted away. For a moment they both just stared at each other in surprise, neither sure of what to say.

Mai relented first, shoulders falling. "Sorry." She muttered, knotting her fingers in front of her.

Starscream glared at her. "Stop apologising." He snapped at her. "You apologise too much. Don't be so sorry."

Her face seemed to crumple, and she looked torn. "But….I'm Canadian." She said lamely as through this should explain everything.

"So?" Starscream spat, his pitch hitting a higher note.

"So…it's like. What we do." She offered him a small smile, white teeth flashing. "Canadian's apologise so often, it's not even considered a form of admitting a crime."

Starscream's wings fell as he just stated a Mia.

"It's a cultural thing."

Starscream rolled his optics. "Of course it is." He snapped.

Heat crawled up Mia's face and she chewed on the inside of her cheek. She just…couldn't get anything right in Starscream optics.

"I'm going to get water." She muttered, pushing herself to her feet, grabbing a pot so she could boil it, making it safe to drink.

Starscream looked at the tiny red head, then to the river and its swift current, then back to Mia. "Give me the pot." He spat at her. "I don't have time to be fishing you out of the river if you fall in."

Mia tipped her head up to glare at him. "I'm not stupid. I think I can manage to get water without dying."

Starscream was unconvinced. "Give me your pot," and he really couldn't believe he was arguing over a fracking pot, "and go read that manual on Wheeljack's scanners. We should get the subterranean sensors into the ground by tomorrow afternoon."

She held her ground for a full minute longer, stubborn little glitch that she is, jaw set and hard eyes that screamed of her determination. Eventually her jaw and eyes softened, shoulders loosening. With a put out sigh, Mia held up the pot and allowed Starscream to collect water for her.

Irritated with herself and that Starscream still thought of her as so weak, Mia pulled out the small, fist sized sensors and the manual, and started to read. Somehow she would show everyone that she was more than just bait, more than just a pretty face that distracted guards. She was reliable damn it, and she just needed to prove it.

And she would start the next morning by collecting water.

It was still dark, when Mia's watch quietly buzzed with an alarm. She awoke with a jerk of her body, head coming up off her folded cloths that acted as a pillow and her hand slapped over her wrist, shutting off the alarm.

She froze, not daring to move, hardly daring to breath, as she waited to see if Starscream would wake up. She counted the seconds in her head, not daring to move her hand over her watch in case the little blue light that illuminated the numbers was still lit.

Fifteen Mississippi

Sixteen Mississippi

Seventeen Mississippi

Starscream didn't make a noise, but she could hear his systems running smoothly and calmly as he recharged.

Mia smiled, bright and light when she realized that he wasn't waking up.

Smug, Mia shimmed out of her sleeping bag, moving slowly and carefully as she peeled the crinkling material off her slim body. She was as quiet as she could be, moving slowly to the door of her tent, knowing that last night Starscream had kept her safe from anything out there.

Licking her lips, Mia felt a rush of joyful excitement; this was almost fun. Her thin fingers wrapped around the zipper, wincing as she slowly began to open the door to her tent.

The zipper made such a loud, sharp noise as she unzipped her tent in the piercing silence of the morning. Only when the door was opened, Mia paused again; how many times had she done something like this? Snuck into and out of places she shouldn't be.

Honestly she had lost count.

She leaned forward, her small hands pressing into the soft, wet earth that was still dew covered, her head and chest peeking out of the tent. The fresh air of early morning and simply outside filled her nostrils and she smiled. She had always wanted to go camping, real camping, but with their previous line of work, it made it nearly impossible.

Behind her the sun was just beginning its climb into the dark sky, chasing the moon as the stars began to fade. Head tipping up, her bushy, unbrushed hair falling around her shoulders as she watched the early morning sun rise.

Today would be the day she would prove to everyone she was not weak.

She slipped out of her tent quietly, twisting so she could close it back up, again wincing at the sharp, loud noise caused the crickets to stop their chirping.

She glanced up at the Seeker that recharged next to her tent, his large, lean frame curled loosely around their camp. One arm curled under his helm, pressing into the wet earth and Mia knew that Starscream would complain about the mud that covered his frame.

Moving quietly, Mia crept to her pack, moving ever so slowly over the wet earth as to not disturb the recharging Seeker. She carefully peeling it open to retrieve her small pot, wincing at the sharp noise the zipper made as she opened it. She smirked in triumph, flashing it to the recharging Seeker as her fingers slipped over the cool metal and Mia had a rush of pure excitement at such a simple task. Her pack rustled and the other four sensors gently tinged against the metal of the pot, making her wince.

Behind her Starscream shifted in his recharge, burying his face into the crook of his elbow to hide his offlined optics from the rising sun.

She didn't have much more time, and her nerves flushed with her excitement as she eased the pot all the way out of her pack.

She smirked at Starscream, as through to laugh in his face. As though to say, see, I can sneak around you! Mister, think-I'm better then everyone-because I can fly Seeker!

Pushing herself up to stand at her full height, Mia grinned and wriggled her toes into the soft, moist soil. Nodding to herself, knowing she didn't have much more time before Starscream woke up, Mia crept around his large form, the pot pulled tight to her chest. Her green eyes constantly on the seeker, her smile bright as she eased around him, giving his wings a wide berth. She knew, because of Callie, that wings were jammed packed with sensors and could sense movement even in recharge.

With the tid-bit of information under her belt, she stayed well away from the long, thin appendages that hovered just over the ground.

She reached the bank of the river with absolutely no problems and grinned as she settled on a smooth, slick rock near the edge. Glancing back at Starscream once more, she flashed him a triumphed smirk before she leaned forward to dip her pot into the cold water.

This close to the water surface, Mia could see how murky the water looked under the calm, smooth surface.

Tongue peeking out between her plump lips, Mia shifted her body weight forward a little more to better reach the water, and her pot gently broke the surface. It was sudden when her feet slipped and tore on the sharp rock she had been precariously balanced on. Mia cursed as her centre of gravity, already tilted forward, shifted and she was unable to correct herself before she tipped head first into the water with a gasp that was cut off from the water.

Ice cold water soaked her, filled her mouth and Mia fought her way to the surface. Her head broke the surface to take one, deep gasp of air before the under tow dragged her back under before she could call for help. Panic filed her as she flailed and fought to get her head above water. She kicked and clawed and tumbled as the rushing current dragged her further away from camp.

Her lungs burned as she struggled before she finally got her head above water, trying to see if Starscream was nearby, hoping to scream for help as the water got rougher. Choppier.

She tried to scream for help, but she was yanked back beneath the cold waves once more. Water filled her mouth before she could snap her jaw shut, hands coming to her mouth and nose as she struggled. Her lungs burned, and Mia though she was going to drown.

With her eyes clamped shut, Mia's small body slammed hard enough into a rock she was sure her arm would bruise. Yet, she caught on the large stone, the water pressing her into the smooth wall. Mia managed to turn her body, her belly flat to the stone and her fingers digging into any gap they found. She struggled and kicked and pulled herself up, her head finally breaking the water as it rushed around her. Her thin, frail form pinned to the rock by the powerful rush of water.

She reached higher to the rock she was caught on, fingers digging into whatever gap she could find even as the stone was no longer smoothed by rushing water and she cut her fingers on sharp edges. Blood dripped down her fingers an she gritted her teeth as she clung onto the rock; her fingers felt hot and in pain while the rest of her felt like ice from the cold water that rushed around her.

"S-Starscream?" she tried to call out, but her soft voice was lost to the sound of rushing water.

Light stretched across the empty field that Starscream had set them down for the night, searing into his optics as the sun continued its march into the morning sky.

Groaning, the Seeker rubbed at his optics and he forced himself to sit up. He stretched, wings sweeping back and arms reached upwards, he groaned in pleasure when he felt his spinal struts pop and his shoulders shift back into place.

Scrubbing at his face, Starscream looked down at the side that had been pressed down into the mud and he frowned. "Disgusting." He groused.

He pushed himself to his feet, stretching again to warm is frame back up for the day.

"Mia!" he called as he walked to the river to wash off. "Mia you'd better be awake." He called as he stepped into the cold water and shivered. He could feel the speed at which the water moved, deceiving with how calm the water looked on the surface, fast enough the Mia would have been swept away if she had fallen in yesterday.

Cupping his hands, Starscream used the cold water to wash off the mud from his white and blue legs, scrubbing the mud off before moving up to his crimson torso.

Irritation rankled as Starscream cleaned himself, and getting no response from Mia. Flicking his hands clear of the water, the Seeker huffed an irritated sigh as he stepped from the river.

"Seriously fleshling, you need to get up! We need to get that scanner in the ground!" he reached into his subspace to pull out a ration of energon. Cracking it open, Starscream felt his irritation turn to disgust. "Would you get up!" he spat at her.

Ruby optics narrowed on the tent as he lifted the cube to his lips to take a deep draught. The energon tasted clean and fresh on his glossa, not like that crap Megatron used to feed them and it helped take some of his anger out of his systems.

Finishing his energon quickly, Starscream huffed in annoyance. "Mia!" he spat. "You need to get up! We have things to do!"

He fell silent, watching the unmoving tent with narrowed optics. He cursed in Cybertrionion, only so that Mia wouldn't understand his vial insult on her intelligence, and he reached down to pick the tent up.

A deep sense of dread suddenly filled Starscream when he picked up the surprisingly light and very empty tent. The Seeker shifted the tent around, testing it, ensuring that no one was hiding inside.

Yet, the tent was empty. Empty as empty could get. Starscream could hear something rattling around inside, a sleeping bag perhaps. Cloths at most.

Starscream cursed again, dropping the tent, quickly pushing himself to his pedes, looking around in almost a panic. Starscream's wings swept back as ruby optics flashed around for the tiny being who was supposed to be his partner.

His optics went immediately to the river of ice cold water then darted to her open pack. Staring at the pack for a moment, the Seeker glanced back to the river, his wings hiking up in panic.

"Idiot!" he spat, refusing to acknowledge that his spark felt tighter, almost squeezing in his chest at finding her missing. He threw himself into the sky, activating his thrusters and began to follow the river.

He needed to find the little fleshling and hope that she hadn't drown yet.

It hadn't taken Starscream long to find his little fleshling head ache.

It was her flaming orange hair, hanging in wet clumps around her head against the solid grey of the rock that had allowed Starscream to find her so quickly. Relief so real he felt as though he could have touched it suddenly filled him before it was replaced by fury.

Stupid little girl! What was she thinking!

He cut his thrusters, and he fell with a thud into the water. It rushed around his knees, seeping into joints and behind his armour. His hands came to his hips and his wings swept back and high, blotting out the morning sun so that only his baleful ruby optics glared down at her.

Mia was plastered against the unforgiving surface of the rock, one side of her face pressed against the sharp edge, her fingers had gone bone white as she clung to the surface.

"Idiot!" he spat at her, his rage making his wings tremble. He knelt down, servos cupped to ease Mia off the rock.

Mia fell limp and boneless in his palm, her bright hair making her skin look almost translucent as she panted and gasped for air. Managing to get her hands close to her body, she tucked them under her arms, her whole body trembling in an attempt to keep warm.

Snarling, Starscream turned, walking back up river, having no trouble what so ever to push back against the current.

"You stupid, little git!" he spat at her, not knowing what else to call her. "What were you thinking! What where you possibly be thinking!"

"S-sorry." Mia muttered softly, her entire body shaking in an attempt to warm itself back up. What had once been pleasantly cool wind was now like ice against her wet skin.

Starscream snarled and opened his cock-pit. Carefully he placed the tiny, shivering human into the bottom of his cock-pit, focusing all his internal heat into his centre to warm her. The glass canopy clicked shut as he huffed, and the glass fogged up almost immediately.

"Sorry." He spat, shaking his head and his warred between anger and annoyance and that so very real relief that she wasn't dead. Mia lay shivering at the bottom of his cock-pit in a wet lump, relieved that she wasn't head but so full of shame at failing so miserably. The tears that strained her face were hidden by the water, but it didn't wash away her humiliation of failing.

Words from her old gang, those she dared called friends popped into her mind. The weak one. They had called her. The bait. Nothing but a pretty face.

Nothing.

Three days into the seventeen and a half days of training Danny had kept her promise. Every morning she would come to Prowl's office, quiet and unsure. She would smile up at Prowl and ask if he had fuelled and only when he said he had, would she find a spot on the floor and eat her breakfast. Prowl had given her an odd look, almost one like pity before he lowered his hand and silently offered Danny the choice to eat up on his desk rather then the floor.

Danny had been delighted at the offer, and had given him a quiet thanks for his understanding.

Despite their rocky start after what had happened with Sunstreaker in Vegas, Prowl found Danny to be a human of her word. She never caused any disruptions during her breakfast and kept her head down during her shifts and training. She seemed to understand why she was being punished, despite how she had wanted so badly to go with Jazz and the twins, but accepted her 'grounding' quietly.

Prowl had been curious why she continued to eat breakfast in his office and when asked she told him that her two sisters were busy this early in the morning, and she just felt…comfortable with Prowl, Which was something that confused Prowl. They hardly knew each other so she should not be taking comfort with him.

It was on that third day that Prowl decided he would go and meet Danny in the mess hall. After all, there was no reason they had to eat in his office all the time, and it did well with the troops to see their commanders during down time as well. It would also allow Prowl to see if there was something going on with the little human who had befriended the twins.

It was by coming to the mess hall that Prowl started to piece together what was going on, and why Danny seemed to refuse to eat in the mess hall.

The room was large and bright, something both Lennox and Prime had insisted on; they all spent so many days in the dark, both emotionally and in the environment, it made sense to make the living quarters bright.

Stepping into the mess hall, Prowl frowned, watching as Danny crossed the room, her small, squishy body stiff and her brown eyes flashing to Cliffjumper. The red minibot didn't bother to hide his disdain, his angry baby blue optics burning holes into the back of Danny's head as he tracked her quick progress across the mess hall. Prowl watched, face carefully neutral, as Bumblebee leaned over and whispered something to the small, red mech. He watched as Cliffjumper's look darkened and his head shook in stubbornness, despite the pleading look Bumblebee gave him.

So, that was this was all about. Danny was in a state of constantly on guard and on edge, Cliffjumper no doubt thinking of ways to tear her down. The fact she was human likely the only thing saving her from an outright, direct attack.

Squaring his shoulders and evening out his wings, Prowl glided into the room, making sure to choose a route that would put him directly between Cliffjumper and Danny.

His bright white armour broke whatever trance the minibot had put himself in, glancing up at Prowl in surprise. He frowned a little, before turning back to Bumblebee and Huffer.

Shaking his helm, Prowl turned to get a cube of energon, ice blue optics flashing to where Danny's tense body quickly gathered her breakfast and to where Cliffjumper's dark look wandered back to.

Danny turned the same time Prowl did, and the look of relief on her face was something so real, Prowl could feel the relief where he stood. Body still tense, Danny walked straight for him, brown eyes flashing to where Cliffjumper ground his denta and she gave a smirk of victory. Cliffjumper wasn't stupid enough to say something or act out with Prowl in the room.

Shoulders pushed back she flashed a grin to Prowl who sighed and led her from the mess hall, walking slowly enough to let her small steps keep up with him.

"Why does Cliffjumper look as though he wishes to dismantle you?" Prowl's cold voice asked once they were alone in the hall.

Danny's shoulders slumped and she looked down at her tray of food. "Probably because I'm Sunstreaker's friend."

Cube still in hand, Prowl gave her an odd look. "Is that why you came to eat in my office? For protection?"

Again, she shrugged. "Maybe a little." Brown eyes, full of worry lifted up to meet his cool blue. "Sideswipe also asked me to make sure you fuelled and look out for you while he was gone." Prowl couldn't detect any hint of a lie there, so he allowed her to continue. "So you know…two birds and all that."

Prowl startled at that, but nodded. He knew the twins and Jazz always asked someone to look out for them while they were away like this, usually a close friend of theirs on base, someone to pop in on him to make sure he was well fuelled and rested. It surprised him that Sideswipe had asked the human, but it also warmed him a little that she had not said no; a lot of mechs told the twins and Jazz no, when they asked others to check in on him.

Prowl paused, thinking carefully about his next words. Jazz was always much better than he was at these interpersonal conversations. "You are…still welcome to continue to have breakfast in my office until the twins return." Danny's head tilted up with a smile.

"Thanks Prowl." She said gently.

They walked a little further in silence, soldiers and mechs rushing to and from their duties, allowing them both to ponder their next words.

"Danny, do you need to be escorted to your shifts?"

Danny's smile turned into a smirk with sharp angles. "Thank you Prowl, but I can get myself to my duties. Cliffjumper isn't stupid enough to outright attack me, and even if he does there are plenty of ways to maneuver in the halls."

Prowl nodded, but despite Danny's words he would ensure to make it a habit of being in the mess hall during morning rations, just to ensure that Cliffjumper did not continue to be hostile towards Danny until the twins returned.

It was the least he could do, since she was tasked with looking out for him. Surely he could return the favor to the twins' friend? They may have had their differences, especially after what occurred in Vegas with Sunstreaker, but they were moving past that right? Sunstreaker surely was and seemed to actually enjoy spending time with Danny. Their friendship was something that pleased Prowl knowing how antisocial Sunstreaker was. It was also something the black and white door winger suspected was what Prime had been hoping for as well when he had sent Sunstreaker to fetch Danny.

With that settled in his mind Prowl gave himself a small nod as they continued down the hall way, back to his office. Prowl's door wings twitched with what Jazz called his 'Spidey Sense', whatever that meant, just as Liz came down the other end of the hall.

Her small shoulders drooped low from the exhaustion that bred from working the night shift, her pale face seemed even paler, causing the freckles splashed across her nose to look even darker than usual, and the black and blue bags under her eyes looking almost like bruises.

Danny frowned when she saw the state of her little sister, her body stiffening at the dishevelled sight of her, but before she could open her mouth Liz perked up, her grin exhausted but excited.

"Morn'n Danny. Don't be mad with Blaster, I'm just getting off shift now but it was so cool!"

Prowl could see the exact moment Danny's body relaxed, had she been Cybertronian he would have sworn he heard her battle protocols wind down.

As the two humans spoke in gentle tones, talking about their days, catching up, Prowl's door wings twitched again, and out of habit he looked down the hall, from the way he and Danny had come.

Red Alert looked furious. His navy blue optics were narrowed in anger, his shoulders hunched up around his helm and the way he clenched his fists and ground his denta, Prowl knew the coming storm would not be a good one.

Skidding around the corner, Inferno's large frame tried to catch up, but when Red Alert was focused on a task it was with laser precision and a one track minded focus. The blue sparks from his audio horns the only sign of Red Alert's true anxiety that was being masked as rage.

Prowl glanced down at the two humans, completely unaware of the coming storm, and he tried to step between them and Red Alert, hoping to sooth his rage over whatever Danny had done. Prowl not even suspecting that it was not Danny that their security director was furious with.

Prowl's door wings came up with his hand, mouth opening to tell Red Alert to stand down, that whatever Danny had done Prowl would deal with it when the yelling started.

"You!" Red Alert snapped, face now heating up with his anger, a large finger jabbing aggressively at Liz. "You stupid little jerk! Do you have any idea what you are doing!"

Prowl went stiff, optics narrowed, there was no need for name calling, no matter how angry one was.

"Any idea? Any at all?!"

Behind him Inferno panted, trying to calm his partner. "Red. Red calm down, Ah'm sure she doesn't mean anything by it."

Red Alert's head whipped around, his mouth pulled into a hard angry line. "Doesn't mean anything by it! This irritating little creation has been hacking into my system for weeks! She is a nuisance. She's doing it on purpose!"

There was a sudden lull in Red Alert's angry words, so quiet that you could have heard a pin drop, so when there was a soft, half suppressed sob, it sounded so much louder than it should have.

Prowl turned his own icy optics from Red Alert's navy, down to the two humans by his pedes. Danny's face had gone red with her anger at Red Alert's words but Liz's skin was almost translucent with shock and her brown eyes widened. Unshed tears glistened in her dark orbs and her hands knotted in front of her as they shook with such force.

Liz's shoulders hunched and she tried to make herself as small as possible. "I...I...I'm not stupid." She said firmly, despite how her voice shook and the small hiccup of a broken sob. "I...I thought you understood what I was doing."

Confusion and irritation warred on Red Alert's face and he narrowed his optics on her suspiciously. "And what have you been doing?"

Her thin hands knotted together so tightly Prowl thought her fingers would break. "It...It's how you make better systems. It's how me and my…my hacker friends got so good." She gave a wet laugh that hid the half sob. "It's how I was able to learn how to hack into the pentagon systems when I was younger."

Red Alert's optics narrowed "Get to the point." He spat.

"W…well. By attacking and defending our systems we learned each other's weaknesses. I...I was helping you point out your weaknesses. Because…because if I can get into your systems, so can other hackers, so can Soundwave."

Red Alert jerked back, looking as though he had just been slapped, navy optics going wide as he stared down at the tiny human. "What?"

Liz's round face nodded. "Your systems are lacking." She said softly, her face falling to hide her shame. "You haven't integrated your Cybertronian tech with our Earth tech very well so you've left yourself wide open to cyber attacks. And you don't realize how vulnerable you are, buy you won't listen to me so I had to show you where you were lacking."

"So…so you attacked my systems so I was forced to fix and improve them?" Red Alert asked, sounding suddenly shell shocked, all the anger wiped from his face.

Liz nodded, her small blonde head tipped down so her hair hid her face. One hand came up to scratch at her upper arm. "Yeah." Her voice had grown small. "Sorry." She whispered.

Without saying anything else she turned and marched the way she had come from, everyone too stunned to chase after her.

Only when Liz's tiny form disappeared around the corner did Danny turn her stunned face up to Red Alert, her surprise melting into anger.

"You're a real jerk!" She spat at him.

Prowl sighed inwardly, this would get them nowhere. "Danny, would you please go and ensure Liz is okay before you go onto shift?"

With one last dirty look at Red Alert the burgundy haired women turned on the balls of her feet and stormed after her sister.

Prowl gave Red Alert a disappointed look that had him also scuttling back the way he came, his own shoulders hunching as he whispered "I didn't know." to Inferno, his voice laced with guilt.

Prowl sighed again and hoped that this would be the last drama that he had before Jazz returned. He would need to speak with Red Alert when he calmed down, Liz too, to ensure that neither of them continued to irritate and hurt each other.

Although, if Prowl was honest with himself, he could see what Liz was doing and why it was not necessarily a bad idea.