Hey! I got this out faster than usual! :D I know, still fragging slow. My vacation is over *cries* but whatever. I was going through major computer withdrawals.

Nope. Don't own the Transformers. *sniffles* Oh, or Iron Man.

Enjoy =)

~*~


Chapter Three

'Light… too… bright…'

Val moaned and draped a hand over her closed eyes. Her wrist bumped against her nose, causing a jolt of pain to spread throughout her face, and she let out a small shriek. The teen quickly pulled the offending appendage away and groaned once more. Everywhere ached; her head, her arms, her legs, and a bunch of places she didn't even remember the names for. 'The hell did I do? Drive into the house or something?' She tried to recall what had happened earlier, but came up blank. Val tried a few times, but gave up after her head began to ache. The last thing she could remember was running down the halls of the Stark mansion, into the garage and then jumping into her gray Lamborghini. Everything else was just a blur. 'Maybe I hit my head on the car... Not like that's never happened before...'

"If you can hear me, please respond."

Something blocked the sun's rays, allowing Val to peep her eyes open. A man, about eighteen or so years old, peered back at her with an anxious look on his face. His short, golden blond hair was gelled into a small faux hawk, a jet black stripe running from the front of his hair to the back . He had unnaturally bright blue eyes that seemed to glow against his semi-tan skin. His build was muscular, but not in a 'he takes steroids' way.

Her first thought was definitely hormone-ruled: 'Hot damn, he is fine!'

Val tried to shake her head, but ended up miffing her neck. She let out a another short cry, startling the young man. Small creases in his forehead formed; worry lines. And they were adorably cute. He looked around the car and began tugging on the door handle. "I'm going to try and get you out, okay?" he asked. Val gave him a flimsy thumbs up, and he proceeded to yank at the door.

It wouldn't move. He put his Nike-clad foot, custom shoes that were golden yellow and black as well, against the side of the car and began to pull, but it still wouldn't budge.

After a few more minutes of grunting and pulling, the guy gave up. "Damn it," he muttered. Val couldn't help but giggle at his pouting face.

"What?" he asked, confused by her unexpected snickering. Val slightly shrugged. "You look cute when you're all pouty."

The blond paused before grinning at the comment and gave the car door one last tug before slumping against the broken window. "Looks like you're going to be stuck in here for a while," he sighed. Val smiled. "We might as well get to know each other while help comes," she said, attempting to be somewhat flirty. The man cocked a single eyebrow in response.

"Well, what do you want to know?"

Val pursed her lips before smiling some more. "Let's start off with names. I'm Valerie, but you can call me Val. And you are…"

"Bee."

The blond noticed her confused visage and quickly added, "It's short for, uh... Benjamin."

~*~

Tony changed out of his crimson suit with some help from Jarvis, and bounded out of the lab. He quickly walked down the hall to Val's room and gently nudged the door open. "Val?"

"Valerie has departed from the mansion."

Tony cursed before responding to Jarvis. "Do you know where she went?"

"She drove down the southern exit."

"Which car did she take?"

"She left in her gray Lamborghini."

"Son of a—Okay," said Tony as he took a deep breath, "Get my suit ready again, please."

"Yes, Mr. Stark."

~*~

Flying through the air, Tony searched for any sign of his adopted daughter or her car. "Why couldn't she have taken Bumblebee instead of the damn Lamborghini?" he grumbled to himself. Then he remembered the conversation he had with Val before she left in the Camaro earlier that morning.

"Why don't you drive your Lamborghini? Or your Tesla Roadster?"

The man mumbled some more cuss words.

Tony caught sight of a golden flash and headed towards it. He noticed a smoking pile of metal beside Bumblebee's alt. mode and prayed it wasn't what he thought it was. The iron-clad man landed beside the wreckage and just stared at it, shocked and terrified. The Lamborghini was barely recognizable. All of its windows were shattered, the back end was crushed by a hefty piece of asphalt, and it looked like Optimus Prime had sat on the front end of the car. Tony saw Bumblebee's holoform back away from the driver's side before disappearing.

From behind, Iron Man could hear Bumblebee transforming from a Camaro into his bipedal mode. "What the hell happened?!" he demanded. The Autobot cringed at Tony's angry tone and hesitantly walked over to his side.

"Sideways attacked."

Tony looked up expectantly at Bumblebee. "And?"

"He kicked me into Val's car and retreated."

"So he got away?"

Bumblebee paused and looked down at his mechanical feet. "…Yes."

Boiling with anger, Tony's jaw tightened as he realized one more thing. Through clenched teeth, he asked, "Where is Val?" The Autobot morosely pointed at the twisted scrap metal that was previously a Lamborghini. Before Tony could say anything, Bumblebee quickly stated, "I couldn't get her out." The man looked up sharply at the mech. Most people would shit their pants right then and there if glared at like that. The scout, brave as he was, didn't even flinch. "How fucking hard is it to open a fucking door?" he shouted. Bumblebee's expression hardened at his words. "I tried with my holoform. I didn't want to frighten her anymore by transforming since she was already scared half to death by the skirmish between me and Sideways," he asserted, a bit of irritation audible in his calm tone. "And wouldn't you think that having a mech prying her car door open just might give her a spark-- heart attack?"

Tony considered the possibility, but his mask gave him the appearance of permanent indifference. "That is a somewhat valid point, but still! Getting her out of the vehicle would have made more sense! I thought you robots would at least have some God damn common sense!"

Either Bumblebee completely ignored his comment or he somehow hadn't heard the iron man. Tony was pretty damn sure that it was the former. As he approached the still smoking car, the multimillionaire noticed that there was no movement coming from within. Worried, he quickened his pace and peered inside the car's shattered window.

Val lay motionlessly in the front seat.

"What did you do to her?!" demanded Tony. Bumblebee walked over and knelt down. "She passed out right when you came. My best guess is shock," stated the scout.

Without warning, Iron Man ripped the door off the car and threw it somewhere behind him. The piece of scrap metal skid against the asphalt, creating red hot sparks that jumped all around it, before slowing to a painful stop. "Why didn't you tell me she fainted?" asked Tony, voice taking on an aggressive edge. "Her vitals are fine," replied Bumblebee, "She is quite stable, just tired and with a few minor injuries, but she should recover from them. I believe we should take her in to Ratchet for a full analysis, though; just to be sure."

Tony let out a sharp breath. "Fine, but I ride with her."

Bumblebee nodded his approval and folded back down into his Camaro form. It took a few moments for Tony to gently transfer Val from the Lamborghini to the Camaro. He took a spot next to Val and started to reach out for the door. The scout made sure to slam it before the man could touch it.


~*~

I give up on the summaries. Too damn lazy. xD

Okay, my chapters are being all wonky, some short, some long, etc. Is that okay with everyone? Because I wrote up an original plan/plot sheet a while ago and I didn't realize how the chapters would cutoff at different lengths and blah blah.

...Does that make any sense to you?

Ah well. Please review! :)