Thanks for the reviews!

I hope nobody minds that she'll still be calling Sideswipe 'Alix' for a while. It's just what she's used to. :P

Thanks again!

"Jenny?" A soft voice woke me from my nightmare, and I opened my eyes slowly. There was a bright light in my eyes, but it was quickly replaced by Alix's head. "Jenn-Jenn? Wake up, femme."

"Shit," I groaned, rubbing my head. "I had the worst bad dream. You were some kind of.. GIANT-ass robot," I told him, but when I finally looked at my surroundings, another pair of eyes were staring at me curiously.. and these pair of eyes belonged to, of all things, a HUGE robot! "Jesus!" I yelled loudly, nearly falling off the bed-like thing I was sitting on. "Get it away from me!"

"Jenn, stop! It's alright," Alix placed his hands on my shoulders and stared into my eyes, and then I remembered.

"Y-you're one of those things, too!" I cried, shoving him away from me. He looked almost hurt and I instantly felt bad for a split second.

"Sideswipe, she needs to lie back down," the other robot said, "or else I can't get these scans done. Do you understand that, girl?" he glared at me. "Get back on that berth."

"No-" I started.

"Do it," Alix, Sideswipe.. whatever the fuck his name was, finished. "Please, Jenny. I wanna make sure you're okay, and Ratchet is the best doctor I know." He then looked over at the yellow robot. "Even though he's a big asshole sometimes." Ratchet glared daggers at him and Alix, as I knew him as, shrugged. "Okay, all the time."

The medic growled before looking back at me. "Please," he pointed a hand to the thing he called a 'berth', "sit. I will not ask politely again."

Did I really want to piss the big guy off? No. So I did as told, even though my mind desperately told me to try and get the hell out of there. As soon as I sat down, Ratchet walked over to me and ordered me to lay back. I did.

"Why did she pass out like that?" Alix asked. I wasn't used to calling him Sideswipe just yet. I wasn't sure if I'd ever be.

I listened quietly as Ratchet explained. He shrugged, "It was only shock. Natural for humans who are overwhelmed. She is still mentally and physically intact.. well.." he examined me with his eyes. "I'm not sure about the mental part.."

"Hey!" I growled, realizing that they did kinda have a sense of humor. "That's not funny. At all."

Before anybody could chuckle or reply, that Lennox guy walked in the med bay. He didn't look happy and judging by the way he was looking at Alix, he wasn't. "Sides, can I talk to you over here for a second?"

Without answering, Alix just walked over to the soldier. If Lennox was trying to be quiet, he did an awful job. Although I couldn't make out some words, I could hear this much, "High school... destroyed.. unsure of fatalities."

"What?" Alix hissed at Lennox.

My heart sank as I remembered what Alix told me the night he picked me up at my house.. that if I didn't go with him, I'd die, too. My blood boiled and before I had time to think about it, I jumped down from the berth and angrily walked over to them. "What happened to my school?"

Confused, Will turned to face me and he looked over at Alix. Alix nodded and Lennox sighed, his face facing mine. "Jennifer, this isn't really the time-"

"What the fuck happened to my school?" I asked again, ignoring him.

"Jenn," Alix tried.

"Stop it," I growled, holding up a hand to him. "I want to know, Alix. You're my best damn friend! Tell me! Stop hiding things from me!"

Alix paused and everybody was silent. Ratchet just looked over, not saying a word. He looked just as concerned as I was. Alix stepped forward, reaching out to me, but I took a step back. He stopped and sighed deeply. "Jenn, there's a lot you need to know before you can fully understand-"

"Then tell me now," I replied through gritted teeth. If they thought I was in the mood for this, they were way wrong.

"We're Autobots," Ratchet's voice began before Alix could reply. Alix glared up at him, but the medic didn't seem to care. "We're from planet Cybertron, but we also have our enemies, who we've been in a civil war with for many years, the Decepticons."

I nodded, listening intently without yelling at him. My beef was with Lennox and Alix. "Alright, I gotcha." I nodded, folding my arms.

"My guess is that the Decepticons attacked your school, searching for Sideswipe," he replied grimly, slitting his eyes at Lennox. "Isn't that right, Will?"

"What?" I gasped, stepping forward towards Alix and Will. "Is that true?"

Alix sighed, "Jenn-"

"No!" I screamed. "That's not fair! Why save just me? You could have saved more! My friends-"

"I thought you said you didn't have friends," Alix growled, which was totally uncalled for if you ask me. Now wasn't the time to argue about stupid things like that.

I glared back at him, "Asshole, what the hell does it matter? People are still people! Innocents are still considered innocent!" I got closer to his face, my fist just threatening to knock him out cold. "You left behind lives who have nothing to do with your damn war!"

"Jenn, I didn't know we were leaving anybody behind!" He screamed, getting in my face this time. I flinched back, suddenly scared of his rage. He then spun around to face Will. "If memory serves, you said we were bringing reinforcements at the school? And not to sound like an afthole, but my memory is pretty damn good!"

"We were supposed to," Will replied, looking grim. "Mearing dismissed the orders. She said it would have already been too late for them." Before anybody could butt in, Will added, "But don't think I didn't try to change her mind. I'm just as pissed off about it as you are. You think I wanted this to happen?"

"That's bullshit!" Alix growled.

"What?" Ratchet interrupted bitterly and everybody fell silent. Just looking at Alix's and Will's faces told me that it wasn't good when Ratchet was pissed. I was too upset to even speak anymore, so I listened. Ratchet dropped whatever he was holding on a nearby table and stood straight. "It is my duty to protect, just as much as it is to serve, innocent lives!"

"Look, Ratch'," Will began. "I wish there was something I could do to send my men out there, and I wish you were a part of it, but I can't just disobey orders-"

"Well that was one order you should have never followed and you fragging know it!" Ratchet bellowed, stepping forward, almost crushing the human and the holoform. I jolted back a couple steps. "It's too late for that!"

"And why the hell do you care so much about me?" I got the courage to ask Alix. He looked at me, confused. "I'm not important to anything here. I'll just get in the way. You could have left without me and you could have lived."

"We both would have died," he snapped.

I laughed bitterly, "Yeah, and how would that have happened?"

"Because I would have gone back in for you!" He hollered, his voice echoing in the large room. Everybody was silent after that, but not for long, because Alix continued to yell. "You think that I show no pity over those who died back at the school, but every particle in my being wanted to do whatever it took to save them. But I couldn't, and you just need to stand up, dust yourself off and understand that what's done is done, and for what it's worth, I'm sorry."

Before I could reply, he stormed out of the med bay and Will quietly dismissed himself and I was left alone with Ratchet, who only looked at me with concern in his eyes. He leaned down towards me, his giant metal face inches from mine. "Jennifer-"

"Stop," I held a hand up in his face, shaking my head, the tears starting to sting my eyes. "I can't talk about it right now. I just.. can't." And with that, I fell to the ground, burying my face in my hands. I didn't sob.. I just sat there.

What else was there to do?

I ignored what sounded like Ratchet transforming, but when I felt a soft hand on my back, I looked over and met the soft blue eyes of a man. At first I was confused, but then I realized that this must've been Ratchet's holoform, bending down next to me.

The look he was giving me, as comforting as it seemed, only made me more upset and I pushed my body close to his, sobbing at last in his shirt.

:3 Poor Jenny. Hey, at least Ratchet's being a good sport to her. :) Sorry if he seems OOC to anybody. I'm trying my best to make this work. Most of my stories are about Ratch', so I think I'm pretty good at keeping him in character, but this is just in case somebody thinks otherwise. I'm tryin'!

Plus, our cranky medic has to deal with eighteen-year old hormones.. so.. he's trying to be civil. ^.^ I don't blame him.

Alix aka Sideswipe will get over it eventually, the big lugnut.