Being separated from the other humans and Sunstreaker made Alexis' outlook on her new circumstanced improve dramatically. She didn't mind the work, which was mostly cleaning and polishing, although she was being taught basic repair work.

She stayed away from the Autobot when allowed, even found a way to put her earned Creds toward his debt without seeing him in person. A little more than a week had passed since she last saw Sunstreaker, a gap of time that wasn't long enough.

Inc came up to her workstation, the tall, branch-like Trili that moved with an elegance that could have defined as a form of dance. She carefully placed a couple more devices and weapons down before Alexis. Her tiny eyes flicked down.

"You all set?" Inc asked of her.

Tonight was her turn for pulling an all-nighter. The repair shop was kept open at all times, so someone had to be up and working. She didn't mind. Alexis preferred the night shifts far more than the day ones. Not that there was really a night and day in space, but her mind was too accustomed to Earth's time zone to erase it entirely.

"Yep, I'm good."

Alexis thought briefly to the first time she heard Inc speak to her before her translator kicked in. Her natural speech was chirps and whistles, an onslaught of noise and squeaks that didn't go with her elegant form. Now, translated and heard as English, her voice was soft and clipped, the points of words rounded out with defined clicks.

Inc wore the same uniform that Alexis did, only hers was in several small pieces that connected together and wrapped over her slim, bark like skin.

"See you at the end of this rotation."

Alexis nodded her head and went back to work. Lights turned off around her, leaving only minimal illumination and her workstation lit.

She picked up one of the new weapons. She scanned it with her upgraded tablet, finding schematics, directions and instructions. Alexis put her tablet on a holder, leaving it upright so that she could look at it while she worked. Alexis didn't work with lethal weapons, nothing sharp or pointed. But anything could be used to kill, and the idea that she was cleaning, polishing and fixing devices that were used to hurt and disable, and yes, kill if needed to was something that left her feeling guilty. But when she reminded herself that it was better than wearing smutty clothes and being an attendant, the guilt was manageable.

Alexis still hadn't been to any of the fights, but she had heard enough talk to know that the arena was not a place for the weak.

"Excuse me," a voice addressed Alexis.

She put down what she was working on, glancing at her tablet's clock. Only three hours had passed. Alexis had a good nine hours left before her shift was over. One of the first things Trilna had shown her when putting her on night-shift duty was the weapon that was attached under the table. Of course, the weapon that she was supposed to use, she couldn't even detach, let alone hold upright. Trilna got a good laugh at her attempt though, her many arms wrapping thickly across the front of her stomach. Alexis enjoyed the sound of the Rhiflo's laugh that was always filled with gusto and pure mirth. A new, smaller weapon was attached next to the other, giving Alexis something to defend herself with. It was only a shocker, but enough to deter and waylay and give her time to get help.

Alexis was supposed to reach for the weapon anytime that she was approached alone. A habit that she was still working into. Over and over, she was told what a dangerous place the fighting barge was, but she had yet to see it. Perhaps, because she had managed to isolate herself and didn't leave the repair shop much.

She leaned forward, two fingers touching the weapon under the table and then pulling back. Trilna did tell her that she could use her own instincts to guide her in whether she needed the defense device. But Trilna was experienced and so much bigger than Alexis, and by the sounds of it, used to getting into heat if need be.

She looked up. The man was standing outside her area of light, creating a dark form of a shadow that made the hairs on her arms stand straight up. He stepped forward.

Alexis wasn't prone to looking over the customers, but he almost looked human. Her eyes traveled down the person's form. He was meticulously dressed, his pants dark and leathery looking, covered by a long jacket that had smooth ornamental shoulder points and sleek lines, allowing a glimpse of a light patterned shirt underneath that fitted perfectly to his lean, muscled form.

"Yes?" She looked up and into his eyes, hoping he hadn't noticed her delay.

Yellow eyes flickered on her, an unreadable expression dancing over his scarlet flesh. When he tilted his head to the side, she saw his exquisite pointed ears. Alexis always studied every new species that she came into contact with, but she had yet to meet one of his kind. She would have remembered.

"I came to pick this up," he spoke, and this time, she realized her translator was interpreting immediately, no lags as were normal when she encountered a new language. Somewhere, her translator had heard one of his kind speak before.

He had an eloquent voice, dipped slightly with an accent. Alexis had always been one to appreciate a good voice, probably from all the animation she used to enjoy. He stepped forward and placed a small identifier chip on the table.

Picking it up, Alexis felt his eyes on her as she took the scanner off her work belt and slid it over the chip.

"I just finished this," Alexis said softly. She leaned over and picked up a box that held a slim rod that had been cleaned earlier. She remembered it well, from its engravings, the luster of what looked like gold, and the way it gripped smoothly in her hand.

She scanned the weapon and marked it as picked up. Flipping the box closed, she handed him the rod. He didn't leave as she expected. Instead, he took the weapon out of its container, twisted his wrist and deftly flipped his hand. The rod extended into a staff. He drew his slim fingers down the device and then retracted the staff.

"You did this?"

"Yes."

Alexis prepared herself for a complaint. Some of the customers were extremely particular about how their weapons were treated.

"You're the first one that cleaned the entire device and not just the outer cylinder."

Another reason why Alexis remembered the rod. She had been sure it was supposed to open, but her tablet nor anyone she asked could show her how to do so. Figuring out how to access the staff part had taken an hour, and when she did, it sent everything on her table flying, including her tablet, which she thankfully didn't damage.

"Probably because the schematics don't show that it's extendable."

"But you knew?"

Alexis shrugged her shoulders and dropped her gaze. She didn't mention that it was not unlike a lit toy lightsaber she used to have as a child that she would play fight her brother with.

"Your name?" he asked suddenly, not a question but a soft command.

None of the customers had asked for her name before, and she was a little slow to respond. His attention remained steady on her, only flickering away as he snapped the rod back inside the box.

"Alexis."

"Alexis," he repeated her name, as if tasting the syllables on his tongue and trying them out. He looked at her, holding her gaze for a couple of very long seconds until he bowed his head and then walked out.

Left alone once again, she reread her scanner, got the info she needed and then found out what species the man was: a Vildan. Just beginning to read about his kind, she was interrupted again.

"All alone?"

Her task forgotten, Alexis couldn't help but cringe.

"If you don't count yourself as someone."

"Oh, I count," Sunstreaker scoffed. "The Rhiflo said you were working tonight."

"She has a name."

"Not one I need to remember."

Sighing, a response she was starting to associate with the Autobot before her, she waited for whatever he wanted. Her mind took her back to the last time she saw him, hovering over her and scowling down. Alexis almost brought her hands to her throat, remembering a little too clearly.

"We need to talk." He stepped toward her, throwing her workstation into the dark as he blocked the light. Her tablet lit up the table though, allowing her to still see.

"Can't you just text me?"

"No." He shook his head as if that was the most inane suggestion.

"Don't you fight tonight?" She brought up, allowing an encouraging smile that she didn't feel.

He stepped closer. Unfortunately, the repair shop was large enough to hold even Cybertronian sizes, and he fit in the space well. Lowering his head, his optics surged momentarily as he smiled, or sneered. Alexis didn't know if there was a difference with him.

"Keeping up on my schedule?" he taunted with undefinable humor.

Alexis ignored him. He could keep track of her, but she couldn't keep track of him? How silly was that? Forcing herself not to show signs of her aggravation, she spoke gently, a far cry from how she wanted to address him, "You wanted to talk?"

His smile stretched and grew, making Alexis' skin crawl.

"About our last discussion. I have come to a decision. Since you are unwilling to follow my orders, you will, if you don't want me to interfere with your life, check in once a week."

"The purpose?"

"I can't allow anything to happen to my charges, even if some are deserving of pitfalls."

Of course, not because Sunstreaker actually cared, but because he would get in trouble if he didn't. She could read between his unspoken words, and had to stop herself from rolling her eyes in that understanding.

Looking up, she smiled sincerely. "That is nice of you," Alexis spoke with warmth and a kindness she wasn't feeling. If it was one thing that she learned in the bible and her upbringing, it was being kind to one's enemy. And that seemed to fit a category as any to put the Autobot in. Also, she knew that he didn't quite know how to handle her politeness and niceties, something that satisfied her to no end. But perhaps it shouldn't have.

He stared at her hard and with obvious confusion. She widened her smile, relaxed her shoulders and forced herself at ease. She knew that Sunstreaker enjoyed frustrating others. A trait that seemed to be a nefarious part of his personality that he shared in part with his brother.

"You haven't responded to my brother's transmissions," the Autobot spoke with calculated slowness. His attention thickened upon her.

Alexis' body recoiled, and her ease was cut expertly away. He knew she was sneaking in to get messages, and he wanted her to know he knew.

"I haven't had the time." That wasn't the truth. But she wasn't going to get into what was true with him.

He huffed at that, and his voice turned cold with accusation. "You've had time to respond to your brother's and your little human friends'. Had time to sneak around and try to deceive me, to use my comline and use me."

"I was only..." she tried to explain.

He cut her off, "I don't want to hear it, human."

"Are you going to stop me now?"

Knowing he had the upper hand, his smugness returned. "I haven't decided. What worthy thing have you done for me lately that would make me want to consider doing anything for you?"

"I am working for you..."

"Are you? Are you working hard? Or are you keeping some of the Creds for your own selfish purposes?"

That was it. He did it again. Offended and now feeling hostile, she jumped up. Waving her scanner at him, because it was the first thing she had grabbed, she spoke, "I have to eat, have to have a change of clothes."

"What you are wearing now..." his voice trailed off and his optics lingered on her body. "It's very... fitting." He said, making sure to say it in such a way that she felt embarrassed.

Her uniform had to be tighter. It would have been dangerous for her clothes to be loose with some of the equipment and tools she worked with. She flushed, crossed her hands over her chest and glared.

"Wear that," he pointed down at her, "and stop wasting my Creds."

Alexis' fingers reflexively curled tight around the scanner. He knew exactly what to say to make her angry.

"You are the one that owes all the money. You are the one that forced us into all this. I give you almost everything I make. Even board here so as not to have to pay for a room. They aren't your Creds." She shook her head and frowned hard. "They are mine. But I am willing to help, willing to give them to you because..." Her voice trailed off as she thought of some of the things the others had bought, from perfume, to clothes, to the very expensive timepiece that Arty had bought for himself.

"I give you almost everything I make," she repeated again with further frustration, suddenly feeling deflated. "What more do I have to do so that you stop treating me like this?"

He leaned down, placed his hands on the edge of her worktable and spoke firmly, the usual mirth gone, replaced with anger. Sunstreaker mocked her, he belittled her, but it had been a long time since she had seen the Autobot truly angry. There was something behind the way he focused in on her as he spoke that made her uncomfortable and working on terrified.

"Stop forcing my attentions on you." He said grimly. "Become the nonentity that your kind is and stop wasting my time."

Alexis spoke before she could censor herself, "What makes you so superior?"

She didn't expect his digit to come toward her. Her chin was lifted up, her green eyes forced to merge with his domineering blue optics.

"From you?" This time it was clearly a sneer that dominated his mouth. "Everything." He left, leaving identifiable finger prints on the edge of her table.