Disclaimer: Transformers? Not mine. Beast Wars? Not mine. Do I have to keep saying it? *sighs* Primus, it's like rubbing salt in a wound; painful. *sniffles*

Chapter 7: Found You

Axalon, Silver Lake Preserve, New York…

It had been a long three weeks in the Axalon for Cheetor. As if it wasn't bad enough that he couldn't get a certain human femme out of his processors; Optimus had gone and noticed his change of mood.

He was grateful to the Big Bot for trying to help him, really, he was. But he doubted he had a way to erase the past few months from his processor.

Not that he wanted the memories gone! Pit, no! They were some of the best he had during his young existence. He just wished it didn't hurt so much…

Then one day, a couple of weeks ago, Optimus finally cornered him and demanded that he tell him what was wrong; that even Rattrap and Rhinox had noticed his sudden sullenness and that "enough is enough!"

Cheetor had winced at the frustrated and worried statement, and tried to stammer out an excuse, but couldn't come up with anything believable. Optimus apparently noticed his distress and placed a soothing hand on his shoulder; apologizing for having raised his voice and gotten mad; that he was just really worried about him.

He couldn't take it, Optimus was just being so understanding and he hated lying to the mech; so he told him everything. How he'd seen Giggles and accidentally tripped over himself, how she'd noticed he was more than just a regular cheetah, how she would come every day to see him, how she'd become such a dear friend to him…

How miserable he felt that he had left her without even saying a proper goodbye.

How much he missed her!

Surprisingly, Optimus didn't reprimand him for letting their secret out, sort of, and instead gave him an understanding, yet slightly sad, smile.

And that's when he found out that Optimus had made his own human friend during their stay at the zoo. It was obvious, as the mech spoke about her, that he missed her terribly too.

He felt such a relief when he realized that he wasn't alone in his, well, to put it bluntly, moping; and managed to open up more to his friend and commander, feeling the heaviness in his spark lift, if only a little.

They spoke once or twice a week, playing a human game called chess that was pretty entertaining, trying to get their processors away from their absent friends.

Sometimes, they went on patrol around the forest, pretending that this was just another exploration mission, or looking for any signs of the Predacons. They hadn't seen or heard anything since the crash.

This time, though, Optimus wasn't around; he'd gone on patrol with Rhinox; and Cheetor just wanted to be alone and perhaps have a long run around the lake's shore.

In fact, he was just about at the ship's exit, when…

"And just where do ya think yer goin'?"

'Oh, busted!'

"Uh, nowhere! I mean, uh, just going for a run, that's all!"

Ah slag, could he sound any guiltier?

"Uh-huh. Oh, really?" Rattrap looked at him with a bored expression, "And ya just decided ta go without tellin' anyone?" He scoffed, "Sorry, but no dice, Kid. Especially after dat little 'field trip' o' yours last time."

He winced slightly at the jab; he did not need this right now. "Hey, it was an accident, ok? I already said I was sorry! And besides, you're not the boss of me! I can go out if I want to!"

"Not wit out a babysittah, yer not."

Cheetor was trying, really, really trying not to growl. "I'm not a sparkling! I can take care of myself! I'm just going for a run around the lake, that's it. We've been on patrol around it before, and there were no humans anywhere nearby. And if there are, I'll just duck into the thicker parts of the forest or maybe even the lake."

Rattrap still stood, unimpressed by his words, in front of the exit, arms crossed in front of his chestplates.

It seems he'll have to pull out his 'big guns'…

Letting his expression and stance slump into one of defeat, Cheetor looked up pleadingly at the, decidedly, startled rat. So, he wasn't expecting this, perfect…

"Oh come on, RT, I'm going stir crazy in here!" he nearly whined pitifully, "I just wanna go for a run, I won't even leave comm. Range, I swear! Please?"

He clasped his servos in front of himself in a pleading gesture and let his optics cycle wider just enough…

It was pretty obvious the rat was trying not to fall for the kicked cyber-kitty look, but was failing almost miserably. As much as he tried to act like a sarcastic, selfish jerk; he just couldn't say no to younglings and sparklings. And though Cheetor was well into his young adult frame, he still acted too much like a youngling for him not to be affected.

Slapping his forehead, letting his servo drag slowly over his faceplates, he sighed resignedly and stepped out of the way, but not before giving the young mech a piercing glare.

"Ya check in every mega-cycle, ya hear me! And if Primal finds out, I had nothin' ta do wit dis! I didn' even know you left, deal?"

"Yes, deal! Thank you, Rattrap! Thank you, thank you, thank you!" He raised a fist to the air and just barely kept himself from hugging the annoyed mech.

"Yeah, yeah, whatevah. Just go, 'fore I change mah processors!"

Cheetor mock saluted him with a cheeky grin, before sprinting down the exit hatch, changing to his beast mode and dashing into the forest.

"I'm gonna regret dis, I just know it." He just shook his head and went back to his repairs.

That kid was gonna be the end of him, he was sure of it.

It was always an amazing feeling when he was free to let loose and be as fast as he wanted to be, that he could be. It made him remember his Academy days when everybot used to say he would make a great racer; he really wasn't a vain mech, but what mech didn't like having their egos stroked from time to time?

Besides, he wasn't called the 'Golden Rocket' for nothing. A name he was proud to live up to whenever he could.

He was just making it to the other side of the lake when suddenly…

"AAAAAHHHHHH!"

"Woah!" He came a screeching halt, "What the spotted heck was that?"

His ears were immediately flicking around; trying to find the scream's direction, realizing it was from not that far within the forest on his current side of the lake.

He let his instincts take over before he thought about the consequences, and he was making his way through the forest; the only thoughts in his head were to reach the scream's source and helping whoever was in trouble.

What he found was the last thing, or well, person, that he expected to see.

Ashley's campsite…

'Why does universe hate Waspinator?'

This was all that Waspinator could think as he stared at the unconscious human femme that he'd 'accidentally' encountered.

Well, ok, not entirely accidentally. Why, oh why did he have to let his curiosity take over?

He knew he wasn't even supposed to be this far away from the Nemesis; he hadn't even flown in the direction Dinobot was supposed to be.

What if he had found him? What would he do? Get shot and blown up? Again? No, thank you.

But now…it seemed to just be one thing after another with him; if it wasn't being treated like slag by Megatron, it was being screamed at (It really hurt his audios, by the way!) by a female of the local species.

He just wanted to see what she was doing; he wasn't going to hurt her.

But before he could say so, the femme started retreating and ended up falling out of the tree; hitting every branch on the way (He'd winced in sympathy every time) and landing on the ground below, knocked completely out cold.

Well, now what? Should he call Megatron and ask if he should take the femme?

Waspinator shuddered at that; other than probably getting yelled at and called awful names, Megatron would probably tell him to kill the femme for having seen him, or take her as a prisoner for the tyrant, or even worse: be a 'test subject' for that crazy spider, Tarantulas. He shuddered again.

He may be a Predacon, but he was not some sparkless monster. The only reason he was a Predacon was because most Maximals saw him as stupid because of his vocal glitch. Though, it really wasn't any better with Megatron, but it was too late for that now.

It wasn't too late to help the femme, though; he didn't have to report his encounter...At least, not yet.

Nodding decisively to himself, Waspinator made to reach down and pick up the unconscious femme, and maybe take her to the closest human habitation…

And that's when the universe decided to prove its disdain of him. Again.

"Don't you dare touch her, you filthy Pred!"

His head quickly snapped up…only to find himself nose ridge to blaster muzzle with a very angry looking Maximal. Oh, slag…

"W-wait! Wazzpinator not hurt femme! Wazz aczzident!" He buzzed anxiously, his optics locked on the muzzle of the blaster that sounded like it was powering up.

The mech was slightly startled and thrown off balance, not expecting him to try and defend himself with words instead of a blaster, but regained his anger pretty quick.

" 'Accident', yeah, right. Listen, pal, if you don't get away from her in five nanokliks, I'm gonna pump you full of plasma, starting now. Five…Four…"

Waspinator immediately jumped away from the fallen femme, transformed and flew away as fast as his wings could carry him, asking Primus for the crazy Maximal not to shoot him anyway and just why did the universe hate him so?

All he knew at the moment was that he would probably have to report to Megatron just why he was returning back to base so soon, empty handed, and that this would probably not be the last time he'd see the slagged off Maximal.

Axalon…

Optimus Primal prided himself on being ready for the unexpected. It's what he'd been trained for at the New Iacon Military Academy, and he'd graduated top of his class.

Always expect the unexpected, that's what each and every single one of his instructors and mentors had told him and his peers. He'd paid close attention to everything and kept it locked securely in his processor for future reference, and believed himself to be a capable commander.

But just how many unexpected things could happen in the space of a few lunar cycles?

First, it was the communiqué about Megatron and his crew having stolen a priceless relic from their past and that their ship was the only one in the near vicinity with capabilities to chase down the rogue Preds.

Then, they end up crashing on an unknown planet; their ship slagged nearly beyond repair, virtually stuck with no way out with said Predacons, whom they currently have no idea as to their current location or status.

After that, not even a few cycles on said planet, they were captured by the locals and placed in one of their zoos for almost four lunar cycles.

And now…now, Optimus Primal, commander of the Maximal exploration vessel Axalon, honor graduate and successor to the legendary Optimus Prime's unlimited well of patience, was just about ready to smack his forehelm on a wall.

Hard.

Repeatedly.

Because the last thing he expected (but, really, he should have known better) was to come back from patrol to a missing Cheetor (he was going to have a serious chat with that youngling) and an in denial Rattrap (Primus help him, he was going to throttle the little glitch if he kept acting like one).

"Rattrap, stop trying to talk your way out of this and tell me where Cheetor is!"

"I said I don't know! Geez, why don'tcha get yer audios checked, ya overgrown banana muncher!"

Optimus swore he felt his right optic twitch. With a barely restrained growl, he enunciated carefully, "Rattrap, if you don't tell me where Cheetor went right now; you're going to spend the night, and maybe even tomorrow, in the brig. Strung up by your tail."

The sarcastic mech's optics widened momentarily, before narrowing defiantly, "Ya wouldn' dare…"

The commander met his optics with his own; a narrowed, no nonsense look on his face.

"Try me."

Rattrap's scowl deepened, for a moment, before it fell into a resigned grimace, "Ok, ok! No need ta get yer circuits in a twist…The kid said he was gettin' antsy and dat he wanted to go out fer a run 'round da lake. I told him ta check in every mega-cycle, and he's only been gone half o' one, so he's still due."

"Why didn't you just say so in the first place, Rattrap?" The annoyance in his voice was to cover up his relief; at least Rattrap made sure he knew where Cheetor was and kept contact with him.

"Like I've been sayin', I ain't his sittah, I shouldn' be blamed whenevah he decides to take a leisurely stroll. 'Sides, he's a grown mech, more or less," he muttered the last part under his breath, "we can't keep babyin' him, or he'll nevah be able ta rely on himself."

Optimus' optics widened at that statement. That…actually made sense. Huh. Maybe the rat wasn't as much of an aft as he'd led others believe.

Taking a deep breath, he calmly replied, "You're right, Rattrap. Cheetor is a grown mech and he needs to exercise his individuality and freedom of choice. Just…so long as he doesn't get himself into trouble."

"Ahh, give the kid a break, Cap'n Kong. I'm pretty sure he learned his lesson from da last time, he'll be fi—"

He was interrupted by the sound of the ship's entrance hatch opening and Cheetor's anxious and distressed call.

"Rattrap! I need help, quick!"

"…I just had ta open my big mouth, didn' I?"

Optimus quickly looked away and hid his smirk behind his blast mask.

A few hours later found the ship's crew in the Medbay, gathered around the berth where the injured femme Cheetor had brought in was resting peacefully, completely oblivious to her surroundings.

"Well…now what?" Was Rattrap's brilliant way of ending the awkward silence.

Giving him no more than an annoyed glance, Optimus turned to Rhinox, "What's her status, Rhinox? Was she hurt badly?"

He gave a quick worried glance at Cheetor, who was staring intently at the human; it was obvious, even though the chances had been highly implausible, that this was the human femme Cheetor had befriended during their time in captivity.

"Nothing too serious; a few bumps and scrapes, she'll definitely be sore come tomorrow, but I've managed to clean and cover up what few cuts she has, not to mention she has a twisted ankle, which I've also bandaged. The only thing that concerns me is her right arm…"

"Why? What's wrong with it? Did that Pred do something to it?" If that bug did anything to his Giggles…

"No, I don't think the Predacon had anything to do with it." Rhinox replied calmly, turning to a section of the wall were monitors were showing different readings from the femme.

He pointed to what appeared to be an x-ray of her internal structure, "I downloaded some human medical information; these are called 'bones', they are what serve as the humans' support struts. They're made of a compound of calcium and other minerals, not as sturdy as metal and can break relatively, to us, easily. What I've discovered here," He pointed to her right arm, where a small black line went horizontally across her bone, "is called a 'hairline fracture', not entirely broken, but if not cared for immediately, might leave her with limited use of her arm. And, I believe this was caused by a high altitude fall, maybe 40 or 50 feet, not an injury caused by a violent attack."

"Can you fix it?" This time it was Optimus, his concern wasn't as deep as Cheetor's, but he still did not want the poor femme to lose proper functioning of her right servo.

Giving his friend a dry look, he replied, "Like I said, their inner structure is not the same as ours; I can't 'fix' her like I could one of us or place her in the CR chamber, all I could do was set it in a gel-cast and make sure she does not move it or overuse it for at least a quartex or so. And the same goes for her ankle, she's not to place any weight on it for at least half of that time. " He paused, and added thoughtfully, "Of course…I could give her a small dose of our healing nanites…"

"Nanites? On a human; a full organic? Would they even work? And wouldn't there be side effects?"

A heavy sigh, "I do not know. That is why I would prefer if she were allowed to heal normally as a human would. She may stay here for as long as she needs…provided, of course, she doesn't panic when she awakens."

"Yes, well, something tells me we won't have to worry about that." Optimus replied secretively, a small smile tugging at his lip plates, sending a quick glance to Cheetor; the young bot completely oblivious to their conversation, still staring at the young femme.

It was pretty obvious he wanted to go over to her, but didn't know if it was ok.

Rhinox seemed to realize that there was something else going on and gave Optimus a 'we'll talk about this later' look.

"Well, if you're sure…"

"I am, but…I think it would be best if one of us stayed with her, I don't want her waking up alone in what will surely be an unknown and scary place to her."

"I'll stay!" It was the first thing Cheetor had said for a while, and he quickly slapped his servo over his mouth, feeling absolutely mortified that he'd sounded so desperate and anxious.

"Uh, I mean, I'm pretty much the closest in size to her, uh, I guess, so, I might not be as scary to her as a gorilla or a rhino. No offense, big guys!"

Both older mechs' shared an amused glance before soothing the young bot, "It's alright, Cheetor, you can take the first watch. And, Rattrap can—where's Rattrap?"

That's when they all noticed that the rat was gone, had probably been gone for a while now. They should've known; it had been way too quiet for the usually snarky rodent to have been around.

"I should've known." Shaking his head, he turned back to the young mech, "Alright, Cheetor, looks like you'll be watching the femme for the rest of the night. Should she wake up or if something happens during the night, you are to call either myself or Rhinox, immediately. Understood?"

"Yes, sir." Though he sounded a little distracted, his optics back on the young female.

"Good. Come along, Rhinox, there's a few things I need to speak to you about." Optimus stopped at the door, turning and smiling encouragingly at the youngling.

"Goodnight, Cheetor. We'll see you in the morning."

"Yeah, goodnight." Cheetor replied, still distractedly.

He didn't notice Optimus' widening smile or the closing of the door. All he could see was his friend, his Giggles, sleeping peacefully with a tiny smile on her face, not five feet away from him.

He couldn't believe it. She was here, and it wasn't a dream. He felt a smile tug at his lip plates and he barely restrained himself from rushing over to her side.

Instead, he walked slowly, hesitantly, over to her, still wary that it really might be a dream and if he got to close, she might disappear and he'll wake up in his own room, alone.

Reaching her right side, he suddenly came to a startling realization. She was right there and this time…

This time, there was no glass keeping him from touching her.

Feeling his spark flutter happily at this revelation, he mindlessly reached out and softly, carefully, as though she were made of silica glass, brushed a stray strand of hair from her forehead; his fingers then running down her temple and gently over her soft cheek. His spark felt like it was about to burst, it was thrumming so fast!

And it almost did, when Giggles suddenly shifted, murmuring something under her breath, sighing, leaning her head into his touch, and the smile on her face grew just that little bit more.

"I can't believe you're really here. I never thought I'd see you again." He whispered to her, knowing she couldn't hear him, but needing to say the words anyway, "But never again; I promise you, I'll never leave you again. Never."

And with one last caress over her cheek, he pulled a chair up to the berth side and reverted back to beast mode and took up a comfortable position on it, his paws lying next to her on the berth, his head lying on them. With one last look at the smile on her face, he started to drift off into his own content recharge. The first in many, many nights.

It was several hours later, sometime around midnight, that Ashley began stirring from her deep sleep. At first, the only thing she noted was the pain.

God, it felt like she'd been run over by a semi!

'Ugh, what the heck happened? Where am I?'

As her thoughts started to clear slightly from the fog of sleep, her memories started to come back. She'd been out on her yearly spring break camping trip, she'd been looking for Freckles, she'd climbed up a tree ('Geez, what the hell was I thinking?'), she'd been drawing, she'd seen a giant wasp—

Wait. What?

She hissed in pain when she tried to sit up from the surprise as everything came rushing back.

God, her right arm; hell, her whole body, hurt like a sonnuvagun! But she shook it off and went back to her original thoughts.

Just where the hell did a giant wasp come from?

She was about to try and lift herself up, again, when she caught something at the corner of her eye, she turned her head to look…

And came to a dead stop, her eyes widening in disbelief. No, it couldn't be…

Not a few inches from her face was the sleeping visage of a dark brown-spotted, golden furred cheetah. But, it couldn't…it wasn't possible…

"Freckles?" She breathed out silently, the wonder and awe in her voice mimicking the same feelings she'd had the first time she'd seen him.

How was it even possible? Had she hit her head harder than she thought when she fell from the tree?

No, it wasn't an illusion or a dream, the pain and soreness she felt were too real for that. Then, how…?

Shaking her head and deciding not to question her luck, at the moment, she quickly turned all of her focus to the sleeping feline, feeling her lips lift in a growing smile.

She'd found him. She'd found him!

Oh, the joy she felt couldn't be compared to anything she'd ever felt in her entire life. Just when she'd started to lose hope…

Now, here she was, lying in a bed in some strange looking room, with the object of her search lying peacefully next to her; like some reward given to her to make up for all the sadness and despair she'd felt over the last few weeks.

Unable to resist herself any longer, she reached out with her left hand (now that she realized her right was in some sort of cast) and softly ran her fingers through the fur on his head, scratching lightly behind one of the soft, furry ears. She giggled softly when it twitched and a soft purr rumbled from his chest.

Oh God, he was so cute!

Taking her hand back, reluctantly, she laid back on the bed, her face still turned to him, and a big smile on her face.

What would it be like? To finally be able to be around Freckles, face-to-face? No glass wall, no curious people, no interruptions.

The thought was enough to make her almost giddy with excitement, and that meant she wasn't getting anymore sleep any time soon. But she was loath to wake the sleeping cat, she liked watching him sleep and hearing the soft purring snores he made, it was so soothing…

So, she made herself comfortably on the bed and decided to wait and see if the feline would awaken soon.

She didn't have to wait long, when just a few minutes later, she saw the slumbering cheetah start to twitch and stir out of his restful state.

Ashley had a slight moment of panic when she realized that she was alone in a strange room with a potentially dangerous animal; regardless of her time with him in the zoo. But, something inside her just as quickly soothed that fear and replaced it with a sort of anxious anticipation.

Her breath caught in her throat, as those amazing green eyes opened and focused on her.

It was a moment of tense silence as the feline's eyes widened, almost comically, when he realized she was awake; she actually had to resist the urge to giggle at his face.

Deciding to break the silence, she whispered softly, warmly, "Hey, there. Long time no see, Freckles." A warm, serene smile pulling at her lips as she said the words.

That seemed to snap him out of his daze, and he, tentatively, returned her smile with that same shy, feline like smile he'd given her that first day they'd 'met'.

"Hey yourself, Giggles."

She blinked. Then blinked again, twice. Well, that wasn't exactly what she was expecting…

"You can talk." She was pretty impressed with how calm her voice came out, only the slightest touch of awe and breathlessness present in it.

"Yeah, I can, heh," he shifted nervously, "I…guess I owe you an explanation, huh?"

"I guess." She gave him a teasing grin, "And perhaps you can start with who and what you are, since it's obvious you're not a regular cheetah. Though, that was pretty obvious from the start."

She giggled softly at the embarrassment that formed on his face. It was surprising how at ease she was, even in the face of a situation such as this.

The talking feline seemed to have similar thoughts, if the surprise on his face was anything to go by. It was soon replaced by the same ease he used to show when they were hanging out at the zoo.

He still seemed a bit shy, though.

"Yeah, well, I guess the first thing you should know is my name. I'm Cheetor. Nice to meet ya." He gave her small grin, "And you're right; I'm not a regular cheetah. Actually, I'm not even from your planet."

"Wait, say what? Not from my planet…?"

"Yeah, it's…a pretty long story."

"Welp, I'm all ears! It's not like I'm going anywhere!" She replied cheerily, grinning cheekily and motioning to her current state.

Caught a little off guard, Cheetor started to laugh brightly, all traces of shyness and doubt seemingly gone, "Ok, sure! But, first you gotta tell me something…" There was a teasing edge to his words.

"Hmm? What is it?" She looked at him curiously.

A snicker. "Your name. You forgot to tell me your name."

'Though it's not like I wouldn't mind keep calling you Giggles…'

"Oh! I'm sorry! I guess I let my enthusiasm get the best o' me." She blushed slightly at her blunder; she then smiled shyly and held out her hand, "I'm Ashley, Ashley Hunter; but you can call me Ash. Nice to meet you too, Cheetor~"

Looking at her hand curiously and back at her, she belatedly realized that he probably didn't understand the gesture.

"Oh, um, you're supposed to shake hands with someone you've just met, it's a kind of greeting."

"Oh! Why didn't ya say so? Guess I'm gonna need my servos for that, then."

"Huh?"

She was completely baffled when Cheetor merely grinned at her in a smug and playful sort of way, then proceeded to leap out of his chair and a few feet away from her bed. What happened next was just about the coolest, most shocking thing she'd ever seen.

"Cheetor, Maximize!"

She felt her jaw hit the floor; like, seriously, she probably looked like a fish right now.

But how else was she supposed to react when the feline in front of her suddenly changed, transformed, into some kind of mix between a cheetah and a robot! A really cute looking one, too…

Woah, wait. What?

'Where the heck did that come from?'

She was so engrossed in her embarrassing thoughts that she failed to notice that Cheetor, now a blue and gold colored, 6 foot something robot, had made his way in front of her, the grin he'd been sporting a lot more noticeable now. Her eyes widened in awe, and a little appreciation, as she took him in more detail. He was amazing!

"I know I'm a pretty awesome sight, but you should really close your mouth before a fly gets in."

His teasing words immediately snapped her out of her stupor and she closed her mouth with an almost audible 'clack', her cheeks blushing profusely, her eyes turning away slightly.

It was when she felt a strong, yet gentle, hand close around hers that she finally looked back; only just realizing that she'd left her hand extended towards him. But, for some reason, he now had a look of worry and…fear? Why would he be afraid…?

"Giggles…Ash…I hope that…this doesn't make things…awkward, between us." He said hesitantly, his worry evident even in his voice, "I…I really had fun…those months that you came to visit me. You're the first friend, real friend, I've had in…a very long time and…I hope…that we can keep being friends…"

She stared at him for the longest time, before a warm, reassuring smile slid across her face; her hand tightening around his.

"I'd like that, Freckles. I'd like that a lot."

His answering smile made a lovely warm feeling settle deeply in her chest and in the pit of her stomach, convincing her that she'd made the right choice in going after her cheetah.

And Cheetor was definitely hers.

A/N: D'aaawwww~! XD Gotta love fluff~ Review, please~! Again, would like to remind that I'm currently in a work/study internship and won't be updating this too regularly. Sorry~ ^_^;;