xoxox I am actually really, really excited about writing from the decepticon lines. Thanks for all the reviews! And by the way, I have no idea what the pairing is. No. Idea. :) xoxox

I didn't sit on the cold concrete long. The ground was literally icy, and we must have moved east a lot, plus the sun had already disappeared behind a massive mountain. Thundercracker watched me stand up and begin to pace, then finally something seemed to click in his massive head.

"Oh, you're cold. Skywarp has your clothes underground, if you want more to put on." He rose to his feet, and then bent down to grab me. He picked me up, not exactly gently, but carefully. "Skywarp had a field day carving the base out."

I didn't protest being manhandled, just waited limply in his big hand. He went to a corner of the hangar, and I noticed for the first time a very big trapdoor. Thundercracker grabbed it by the handle, which was nearly as tall as me, and lifted it effortlessly. Warm air billowed up from the surprisingly bright hole, and Thundercracker made his way down into it.

The thing that struck me was the feeling of warmth of the place, not just in temperature. The color and texture was inviting, in soft yellows and creams. It made the Autobot base seem cold, military… almost unwelcoming.

It was much smaller, however, and Thundercracker quickly deposited me outside of a room without a door. "Home sweet home," he chuckled.

I looked around. "Where?"

"Right here." He took a step through the transformer sized hole in the wall and gestured for me to follow. I hesitantly went after him, and gasped in surprise. The floor was carpeted in several strips of different carpet, but each was thick and plush. There was a full-sized bed shoved in the corner of the huge room, and I could even see a human sized bathroom on the other side. I knew it was a bathroom because Skywarp had hung a little picture of a stick figure in a dress from the door.

I roamed to the closet, which was open, and found everything I'd bought with Frenzy and Barricade on hangars. The perfume bottles were arranged on a shelf, and I felt a little part of myself rebel against my unhappy, kidnapped self. He put so much effort into making me feel at home…

I sighed heavily and went to sit on the bed, my fingers brushing one of the wildflowers he'd arranged on the nightstand next to it. I picked one up, a tiny yellow one, marveling that he'd been able to pick them at all.

"Did he do all of this for me, Thundercracker?"

Thundercracker nodded. "Yes. He said this was going to be your new home, so you should like it. He used the internet a lot."

I flopped back on the bed, and Thundercracker perked up. I looked at him questioningly.

"You really do belong to us," he said, surprised.

"What are you talking about?"

"You've got our insignia."

I looked down at my wrist, exposed to Thundercracker. I quickly folded my arm across my chest. "It doesn't mean anything."

Thundercracker snorted, a sound like grinding stones, and made to leave. "I'm here if you need me, just yell. Skywarp will be back in a few minutes, too."

I ground my teeth together, not sure if I should be happy or not. I stared up at the bright yellow lights hanging from the ceiling and sighed, closing my eyes. I was watching the red orbs through my lids when I heard the stomp of a transformer coming into my room.

I kept my eyes shut tight, trying to delay the moment when I had to talk to Skywarp again. Being here and seeing what he'd done for me may have softened me up, but I was still unhappy to be here. Even if Skywarp had saved my life, taken me in when I needed him…

"Bravura?" he whispered. "Are you sleeping?"

I steeled myself, and then finally opened my eyes. "No."

"Are you happy?"

"No, Skywarp. I was happy with them."

"Bravura…" To my shock, his deep voice was pleading. "I just want you to be happy. You're the first living thing I met on this planet. You're not like the other Decepticons. I can trust you… I just want to keep you safe, don't you understand?"

"Well, you already screwed up, Skywarp! You left me with Barricade of all people, and do you know what he did? Do you?!" My voice was gaining volume, and I could feel myself beginning to panic.

"Please calm down, your pulse- please, Bravura, I don't know what you're talking about." He moved closer, hunching down over my bed.

My back flat against the bed, I stared up at his red eyes. "After the battle in Mission City, Barricade killed my parents, all because he wanted to have a tantrum. Like they didn't mean anything. He almost killed me, Skywarp. He would have…"

I was crying again. I seemed to cry so often…

Skywarp reached one big hand down and stroked my arm oh so tenderly. "I didn't know, Bravura."

"I know," I gasped, and suddenly sat up. I latched onto to his finger and held on tightly, sobbing. I hadn't realized it, but with the horror of Barricade behind me, Skywarp really was my protector. He'd never done anything to hurt me, and I needed the comfort now more than ever.

His other hand cupped my back, enveloping me in heat. He was much warmer than any of the Autobots, almost to the point of discomfort. I didn't care.

Skywarp was murmuring to me, but I wasn't really listening. I was wrapped up in my own feelings, and in the heat of his hands. He waited patiently as my sobbing died down into infrequent shivers, and then slowly removed his big hands. I reluctantly released his finger.

"I won't make the same mistake twice, Bravura. He's too valuable, and Frenzy would be unmanageable without him, so I can't kill him. But he won't bother you again. I won't let him touch you." His voice echoed in my mind, reminding me of flying in the rain.

"Why do you and the Autobots have to fight, Skywarp? Your leader is dead… Just let it go… Optimus would forgive you."

Skywarp's face tightened. "Our kind is incompatible with theirs. Our values are too different."

"Frenzy is with you."

"And Frenzy is subsequently half mad."

I sighed, my shoulders drooping.

"Cheer up, Bravura. Ever since I saw you last time, when that despicable Mirage ruined things, I've been working on something to fix your arm."

"My arm? You can't solder it…"

"I know. I may not be a scientist like Starscream, but I'm not too bad with inventions. I already tested it on lots of things, and it'll fix your bone."

I stared up at him, disbelieving. "You made something to heal broken bones?"

"I did. Want to try it?"

I hesitated. He said he'd tried it out already. I tried not to think about the implications behind that and slowly nodded my head. He wouldn't hurt me.

He scooped me up, stomping rapidly through the small base. He pressed his hand to a huge metal door, alone on one wall, and it loudly unbolted several heavy locks, floor to ceiling. We stepped in, and I looked around.

It was large, and less warm than the rest of the base. There were more metals, more grays. He set me down by a metal surgical table, and I wondered where he'd gotten it.

"Lay down on it, I'll take care of the rest."

I obeyed, stretched out on the hard metal. A bright light was shining down on me from the ceiling, and I closed my eyes. I was nervous.

I listened to him moving around and adjusting things overhead. I didn't look around until I heard him go still.

A big dark machine was angled over my cast arm. It was imposing, and I cringed just a little. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea.

"It will probably hurt a little. It takes less than a minute, maybe less if it's already started healing. Everything will be fine," he said in a semi-soothing tone. Then he reached under the table. It wasn't until he'd clipped the first restraint that I realized he was tying me down.

"Wait. What are you doing?" Click.

"You shouldn't thrash during treatment, it'll take longer. This will hold you still."

"Just how painful are we talking, here?!" Click.

"Not too bad." Click.

I was pinned at the shoulders, elbows, and the knees of both legs.

"No, I don't believe you. I don't want to do this anymore. Let me off."

"You'll thank me when it's over," he said cheerfully.

I was in the middle of another protest when Skywarp flipped a switch on the machine. There was the noise of powering up, and then-

PAIN.

A startled gasp escaped my lips and melted into a mindless keening. It rippled across my brain like a lightning bolt. My senses were fried. It pulsed, stronger and stronger.

PAIN!

My mind finally retreated into whiteness.

Soft, white, painless…

I was watching myself. I was sitting in a bar, dressed for clubbing. A man approached me. He was dressed differently, but it was the man in the red plaid.

He bought me a drink, even though he could tell I was underage. He passed the little glass to me. I sipped it, chatting with him, pretending to be a smooth twenty-one year old, instead of a depressed and directionless young woman, two years too young. Not interested, I was trying to convey politely. As we talked, I watched myself swoon. At this point he helped me to my feet, helped me out of the bar. Helped me into his car. I slipped into drugged unconsciousness.

I watched him threaten me. Hurt me. I was scared, so scared, but he always had a weapon on me. I learned to pretend to like what he did to me, just so he would take the gun away.

I watched myself find a black camera film canister under the dirty mattress. It had two pills inside.

I watched four strange men walk into the tiny trailer, Blue and Green among them. They eyed me hungrily. Money exchanged hands. I served them drinks.

Two of them were quickly unconscious, and in the moment of confusion I was running out the back door, running for the trees.

I woke up to a loud drilling noise. Skywarp was hunching over me, carefully sawing through my cast. It cracked open with a satisfying crunch, and I felt a rush of cold air across my skin.

He unclipped my restraints, and I sat up as soon as I could. I stared at my arm in awe, feeling it cautiously, and then flexing it, twisting my wrist about. Nothing happened, no pain.

"It worked," he said with a smile.

"Yeah, it did."

My voice was flat, and my face was grim.

He peered at me, and then asked, "Are you ok?"

"Do you remember the three men who were chasing me? When you found me?"

"Perfectly."

"I want you to kill them."

He was silent for a moment, stunned. "You want me to kill three other humans."

I hissed through my teeth. "The one in red raped me, Skywarp. He did horrible things to me. The other two paid him money to do the same thing."

Skywarp was silent, watching me intently.

"If I kill them, will it make you happy?"

"It would make me very, very happy."

He sighed. "Tomorrow. We'll talk about it tomorrow."

I slid off the table, emotionally numb. "Can I go back to my room?"

Skywarp wordlessly scooped me up and carried me out of his little lab, taking me back to my room. There was no door, and I would have no privacy, but with my mind where it was, I didn't care.

Edited March 20th, 2010