Whoops, I've received a request to warn people when I drag in the smut. This chapter is smut free, you're safe!

I rushed back to my room, ashamed for myself and for Skywarp. Ashamed that I'd gotten caught with him and ashamed that he'd done that without explaining it to me and asking. That made three Autobots to date that had seen me doing inappropriate things with other mechs. It wouldn't be long before I was labeled the resident whore. You do have a grace period, you know. They won't expect you to know everything.

I shuddered, the metal of my body clinking against the recharge bench. Good thing I considered myself a strong person, or I'd be walking off a cliff in embarrassment. I looked at one of my polished hands and snorted, the sound coming out through my vents as more of a gasp than a snort. I'd have to get used to those. I probably wouldn't even die if I jumped off a cliff, just get myself scratched up.

I turned onto my side and moaned, my eyes lighting up the wall next to me. I flicked a mental finger and switched them off, sick of being reminded that I didn't in fact have eyes, I had optics. I stifled a sob and hugged myself. Goodbye, hopes and dreams. Goodbye, plans. Hello uncertain future. Hello war.

I snapped into awareness and out of what was definitely recharge when I felt a message light up my second vision. Checking Mirage's note, I saw that it was coming from Optimus Prime himself.

Please come to the upper deck at 6:00 am. There was a file attached, pointing me to the other unexplained door, the one I'd seen on the map but hadn't visited. I check my internal clock and saw that it was 5:45. I'd have to hurry to get there in time.

There were no guards at the entrance to the upper deck. There was a staircase, which I took, and as I did my optics detected a change in the quality of light. It was different… And then I was up on the upper deck. It was a wide open space, and one entire wall was devoted to glass looking out over the scrub of Nevada. The sun was close to rising, almost just peeking over the edge of hills far in the distance. Optimus Prime was standing with his back to me, hands clasped behind his back. He was watching the sun rise.

I approached slowly, finding a place near enough to Optimus to show I was here to listen but far enough away to satisfy my own nervousness. He looked down at me and nodded, then looked back up just as a ray of sunlight stabbed out onto our piece of the world. The readings it gave me were startling, different from the artificial light of the base. It was beautiful in a way I'd never appreciated before.

We watched in silence until the sun was about halfway up, then Optimus looked back down at me.

"Ratchet and Prowl have given me some worrisome reports, Bravura."

I nodded, looking up at him, trying to keep the emotion off of my face. "Yes," I confirmed, not sure what to say.

"You are new to your body. You'll be learning things about yourself for centuries, but for now, I want to be sure you don't feel that you have to meet any of what you believe our expectations to be. You don't have to be Hotrod's mate, though he seems to feel you should. In fact, I would advise against any serious relationships, considering the war we're in." He looked back up to the now golden hills. "It can only end badly."

I followed his gaze and sighed. "I didn't mean for either of those things to happen, Optimus, thought I do regret that they happened."

"I know. This is not a reprimand. You aren't a soldier. However, you no longer have access to the brig, since Skywarp is a prisoner of war. He may use your naiveté against you, and consequently against us."

"Is there no chance you can sort this out with him? Help him to see all this fighting is pointless now? Megatron is gone, Starscream is gone. Thundercracker isn't all bad, he just needs an outlet. Skywarp just needs direction and someone to trust him. Barricade… Well, he's probably hopeless… Frenzy too."

Optimus gave me a fatherly smile. "Your spark is in the right place, Bravura, and if I could make it happen I would. Maybe your friendship with the Seeker will help change things; he did enact a truce for your sake." He looked down me, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "I'm going to give you limited access to Skywarp. You'll have to be escorted of course."

I nodded, relieved. Optimus understood.

"Are you adjusting to your new body?"

I shifted my weight, weighing that question. "I suppose so. I still feel the same, my body just surprises me sometimes."

"If you have any trouble at all feel free to come to me or to Ratchet." He turned back to the open window.

I turned to leave, but a thought occurred to me. "Isn't this big glass wall a little dangerous? What if the Decepticons fly by?"

"A hologram has been installed here, much like what protects the entrance."

"Ah. Thanks, Optimus Prime."

"You are welcome."

I turned and went back down the stairs.

Mirage was introducing me to my first dose of regular grade energon in the rec. hall about an hour later. I didn't really notice a difference downing it, but Mirage had smugly told me that I would soon. He was right. In a few minutes I started to feel giddy and excited, suddenly strong enough to run a marathon.

"Hey, Mirage," I said as I got up and bounced from one foot to the other. I felt light as a feather, but the clanks of my feet hitting the floor said otherwise. "What can you show me about wrestling? Like the headlock from yesterday. Can I try some moves on you? The martial arts kind of moves, not the 'moves' moves." I laughed at myself, and Mirage laughed too, though probably not for the same reason.

"You really wanna do that?" He asked, getting to his feet from the bench against the wall.

"Yeeeeah!" I felt happier than I had in weeks. I felt like singing. I felt like dancing. I felt like whooping Mirage's aft.

Mirage got up and walked by me, grabbing me by the head and shaking slightly, kind of like ruffling my nonexistent hair. I grabbed his arm, yowling playfully, and then dashed ahead of him into the hall, giving little care to Ratchet's instructions to 'take it slow.' I felt great, and I wasn't going to waste it. I realized I didn't know where we were going, so I spun around and waited for the dark blue mech as he followed, bemused.

"We're headed for the Training Room. Care to race?"

I laughed, then turned away from him and positioned myself as if to take off from the starting line. I expected him to do the same, but when he suddenly swept past me I yelled in outrage and took off after him

Running was a giddy feeling. He was bigger than me, with a longer stride, but I had Frenzy's skittery speed and was soon just behind the blue mech. We were rounding the corner neck and neck when a human appeared practically out of nowhere on my side of the hall. Mirage yelled, I yelled, and through our combined efforts we managed to miss the terrified soldier and land in a heap of tangled metal.

I was laughing without a care in the world as I pulled myself out from under Mirage. His laughter suddenly cut off, and in a few seconds I caught on and followed his look. Prowl was standing down the hall, arms crossed. He looked pissed.

Mirage straightened up, pulling me up by the arm. "Uh… Sorry, Prowl. It was an accident. Getting her used to her body and all… Headed to the Training Room." He saluted, and then pulled me along past the Charger, who eyed us. I could swear I saw the ghost a smile. We rounded another corner and I immediately burst into laughter, and Mirage couldn't help but chuckle.

"Primus, that was close!"

"Yeah but FUN! Let's do it again!" I started to take off, but Mirage grabbed me by the shoulder and held me back.

"As great as that sounds, we're here. Wouldn't you rather wrestle?"

I nodded enthusiastically and followed the Lexus into the Training Room.

It was divided into a shooting range, which was occupied by several soldiers, and a big open space, part of it covered with mats and the rest bare concrete. Mirage led me to the bare concrete and turned to face me. I instinctively measured out mai-ai, the closest you can get to your opponent and still be out of striking range. I took my place in front of the bigger mech, old aikido lessons running through my head.

"So, what do you know about fighting, tiny?" Mirage had an extremely confident posture, hands on his hips, chest puffed out,

"Nothing, really. I know how to defend myself a little."

He thought that over, and then nodded. "Ok, let's see how you handle this."

With that he suddenly lunged at me. I chose to crowd him, stepping forward. I goblet stepped just out of his line of attack and touched his wrist with just a little guiding force. He wobbled and nearly fell to his knees, then wheeled on me again. This time I moved back, and stumbled a few steps as he reached for my neck, which was suddenly just out of reach. I took his wrist again when he switched to a punch, following his steps, and in a flurry of movement which probably looked like a dance to the gawking soldiers in the shooting range, eventually landed Mirage on his knees with his arm cranked awkwardly behind him. I wondered if my suddenly rapid fire reaction times were due to my new electronic brain.

I let him go immediately and flitted in front of him, practically overjoyed with myself. Aikido worked on mechs like Mirage, apparently.

He was grinning, but I could tell he was impressed. "Not bad for a scrawny little thing. Bet you can't throw a punch!" Suddenly he lashed out and grabbed me by the waist, flipping me around and putting me in another headlock. I shrieked and laughed but couldn't get away until he released me. I stumbled forward then settled to my knees, spinning around to look at the blue Lexus. He was watching me, his vents blowing harder than usual.

I smiled to him again, and he smiled back before looking away and rubbing the back of his head.

"What, that's it?" I asked. I was disappointed, even though my energon high was beginning to run down. "You afraid you'll get beat by a girl? Er, a femme."

"No, that's not it. I would totally win if I wanted to," He said wryly.

"Then why?" I asked petulantly.

"Because… Because I'm a gentleman, of course. Wouldn't you rather learn to shoot?"

I perked at that. "Yeah, sure. Not that big one, I hope!" I said, pointing to the large rifle mounted on his soldier.

He shook his head, then pointed to his hip. It transformed outwards, revealing a compartment with a small handgun inside, colored a bluish gray. He pulled it out with a flourish, and his hip shuffled closed again. "Let's go see if the little guys mind us." He rose up, offering me a hand up, and I took it, and then followed after him. There were two standing areas in the shooting range, one up front with a low wall for the humans, and another behind with a five foot wall and lots of leg room. Mirage took me there, and then began explaining the gun to me, showing the safety.

I asked about cocking it or reloading and he shook his head. "It's an energy pistol. All it needs is the safety off and about five seconds between shots to recharge. Remember, never point it at anyone, even if the safety is on."

I nodded and he handed the gun to me. I pointed down the range at a target and fired. I zoomed in my optics to see what happened to the small spat of yellow energy, and saw I'd hit the wall, nowhere near my intended target.

Mirage saw this too, then knelt down to my level. He reached around me and helped me aim the pistol, which was a bit large in my hands. "Try letting your guidance system at it."

I informed him that I didn't even know I had a guidance system, so he sent me the access instructions. I followed them, and suddenly I could understand much better how to aim my weapon. With Mirage's guidance I pointed again, and we hit the second ring from the middle.

I looked around the blue Lexus, who was still behind me, his hands resting over mine. I smiled my victory and he stared at me before smiling back and pulling away. "

"Try again," he said encouragingly.

I did as I was told, and the shot was a little wide, barely clipping the target, but I still felt pretty good. I kept at it for a while, Mirage occasionally giving suggestions, and congratulating me with an affectionate squeeze to the shoulder when I got lucky and hit the bull's eye.

Spending this quality time with Mirage made me realize that not everything about being a Transformer was all doom and gloom. I'd just had a few bad experiences. There was still time for everything to turn out right.

I know what you're thinking, and no, Mirage is not going to go after her. He's learned to care about her in a very different way, he's just becoming aware of her femininity a little more than he was before :)