These updates are coming out faster... :D Or, at least it seems like they are to me. *shrugs* Meh. I noticed that I've made Iron Man seem like a total asshole, but I don't really know his character all too well. If anyone wants to complain about it to me, I'll accept the criticism with a smile. *puts on phony smile* Whatever. Oh! And I used the first part of the beautiful instrumental 'All Spark' by Steve Jablonsky as my inspiration for the beginning of this chapter:)

Just borrowing all of them yet again.

Enjoy =)

~*~


Chapter Four

Val slowly regained consciousness. The fingers on her right hand twitched before closing into a limp fist. Everything hurt even more than before. Val just knew her whole body would be one giant bruise if she looked in a mirror.

Her first coherent thought: 'Fuck my life.' Her second: 'Where am I?'

The teen let her head flop to the side. With much determination and effort, she barely got her eyes open. Gleaming and intricate pieces of metal were laid upon a table next to the one she was lying on. They seemed to be at least three times her size. Beyond those, humongous vats of some mysterious liquid were lined up against the walls. The pink fluid glowed eerily in the dark of the side of the room.

Where ever she was, it was hot, and she never liked hot. Val tried to push herself up into a sitting position, but a sharp pain shot up from her shoulder. The teen shrieked and collapsed back onto the warm table. Gnashing her teeth together, she rolled onto her right side, clutching her stinging left shoulder tightly with her right hand. The pain was searing her whole left upper torso.

Val managed to open her eyes once again. Electric blue lights glowed upon her, almost mesmerizing. To her horror, it turned out the lights were eyes, eyes that were peering right back at her. The teen screamed as loud as she could, pure terror running through her veins. The owner of the mysterious orbs jumped back, either shocked or afraid.

Seeing that it was distracted, Val took the opportunity to force herself up on her feet and run away. Jolts of excruciating pain surged from her shoulder and knee, but she did her best to ignore them. The teen limp-jogged away as fast as her crippled body would allow her to. She threw a quick glance over her shoulder at the spherical eyes. They were still watching her.

The ground beneath Val's feet seemed to disappear, and as she looked down, she began to scream again. She had run right off the table. The sensation of falling only increased the volume of her shrieking, fear overwhelming the teen. Her life didn't flash before her eyes, just the rapidly approaching ground. 'Liars…' A hand, a giant robot hand, replaced her view of the floor and softly caught her. The impact still knocked the air out of her, but it was surprisingly soft for metal. The hand slowly lifted her and gingerly placed her back on top of the table.

Iron Man rushed to her side and knelt beside her. "Val, Val! It's alright," he reassured, "They won't hurt you, I promise." The teen was visibly shaking in fear as she clutched to the crimson armor. "W-what's going on?" she stammered. The man held his adopted daughter closer to his chest. "These are the Autobots. They're here to help us," he murmured. Val glanced at his armored helmet. "Auto… bots?"

"Yes. It is short for autonomous robotic organisms."

Val jumped at the unfamiliar voice. It was very deep, and had a noble, or even regal, hint to it. The speaker stepped forward, and nodded at her. 'Oh my God…' It was the biggest thing she had ever seen. Scratch that. It was the biggest living thing she had ever seen. The speaker was made up of scratched red and blue armor, silver circuitry and who knows what peeking out from beneath. He, assuming he was male due to his voice, was a mechanical giant. "Hello Valerie," he greeted. "I am Optimus Prime, leader of the Autobots." He stepped back and motioned towards the two Autobots behind him.

The first one was a lime green color, accented with bits of bright red. It had black bars and lights on its chest. "This is our medic, Ratchet." Optimus Prime's booming voice permeated the silence. Ratchet's cobalt blue optics began to glow brightly, almost to the point of being white. "She has dislodged her shoulder, severely bruised her knee, broken her nose, obtained multiple minor cuts and bruises, and suffered slight shock and some head trauma," observed the medic. Val just blinked at him. He noticed her confused stare and sighed. "You should be fine after two weeks of medical treatment from me." She just continued to stare with her wide brown eyes.

"And this is Bumblebee, your appointed guardian," stated Optimus as he gestured towards a much smaller Autobot. This one was clad in yellow and black armor, and had no mouth like the other two. It looked more like scuba gear, or even a baby's pacifier.

Val flinched as an information overload flowed into her mind. She remembered everything now; the fight with her dad, driving away, and the two robots fighting. One of which was Bumblebee, who was apparently her guardian.

Prime's words suddenly clicked in the teen's head. She craned her neck up to look at the massive being and hesitantly stuttered, "G-Guardian?" Tony responded first. "He's kinda like your own personal bodyguard, except better." Bumblebee nodded. Val gave him an apprehensive look in return. He blinked. "Hey! We didn't choose this, John, it chose us. And there's nothing either of us can do about it. My job is to protect you. And you can hate me as much as you want, but I will keep doing this as long as I'm here." Sarah Conner's voice stated through the small Autobot's speakers. Val tilted her head to the left and stared up at the bot with curious eyes. "He likes to use quotes or songs from movies and the radio," explained Ratchet. He seemed uninterested, as if tiny humans like her asked him that question all the time. "So… he can't talk?" asked the teen, eyeing Bumblebee. "I can. It's just not as fun," said her guardian, shrugging. Val slightly smiled; he liked fun. That was good.

Optimus Prime began to speak again. "You will be able to meet the others at another time. For now, Ratchet has requested that you stay in the med bay and rest your injuries."

"How many others are there?" asked Val.

"Two."

"So… there are five of y—er—five Autobots in total?"

Optimus nodded. "That is correct."

The teen frowned and pushed at Iron Man with her good arm. He leaned back a little. "What's wrong, Val?" he questioned. She looked at him in disbelief. "What's wrong? You've kept them a secret, too?!" she yelled, pointing at Optimus. Tony sighed and started to reach out for Val. "Look, it was for your own—"

"Say 'good' or 'safety' and I will punch that mask right off of your face."

"Excuse me? What the hell did you just say?" Bewilderment colored Tony's voice.

Val glared right back at him. "You heard me."

Iron Man roughly grabbed the teen's shoulders, causing her to yelp in pain. "You better get rid of that attitude, or I'll—" Val interrupted him again, crying, "You'll what? Punch me in the face again?!" Tears rolled down her cheeks as she began to sob. Tony let go of her shoulders and stood up, watching as his adopted daughter's chest heaved with each breath. He looked at her remorsefully, unsure of what to do. The three Autobots had remained silent throughout the exchange, but Tony could tell that they were giving him disapproving looks. "What else have you lied to me about? My parents? The Witwickys?" screamed Val. Tony clenched his fists. "You want to know what happened to them? Some of these guys," he yelled, pointing towards the Autobots, "Killed your parents and the Witwickys! Happy now?!"

Val froze, as did the three Cybertronians. The teen looked up at the mechanical beings with wide, frightened eyes, the Autobots giving her expressions of shock in return. A little too late, Tony realized what he had said. "Wait, I didn't mean that," he said, sounding desperate. Optimus Prime and the others now looked offended by his previous words. Val ignored him and continued to stare up at the Autobots, Bumblebee in particular.

"You killed my parents?" she asked. Her voice was no louder than a breath, but everyone could perfectly hear what she had said.

The smallest Autobot quickly shook his head 'no'. Ratchet shifted forward. "We would never harm a human being," he stated firmly. Val visibly flinched from the medic and he backed away.

"I want out," squeaked the teen. "Out?" echoed Optimus Prime, uncertain of what she meant. "I want out of this… this place," stated Val in a shaky voice. Bumblebee began to reach out for her, stopping when she screamed, "Don't touch me!" His door wings drooped significantly. "There is a ladder located here," murmured the leader of the Autobots, pointing towards the corner of the giant table.

Val limped over to the ladder, refusing the offers for help she received from the Autobots and Iron Man. Going down the rungs hurt like a bitch, but there was no way she was going to let those murderers or that jerk touch her. She gave them one last glimpse before limping out the gargantuan door.


Another one of these funky-length chapters DONE! :D Reviews are always loved. 'Thank you's are guaranteed in return. And I might R&R some/one of your stories, too. [If you've written any.] :)