~~~

        It didn't take a minute before he found her.

        Optimus paused and stared at where she lay, completely still aside from the rise and fall of her chest. Not even a fitful shifting of a restless sleep.

        "Filly . . ." He slid off Bear's back, walking over to where the Luna rested her head on Fay's chest and abdomen protectively, her ears flicking back and forth as his feet imprinted on the earth. Optimus shuddered as he spotted the blue and red stains in the moss, in the grass, in the edges of the miniscule stream. His hand reached out for her slowly.

        But a scream ripped through the air, and he froze as Charlie sprinted past him, Trinity not ten feet from Bear. She tore over to Fay and Luna lifted her head, ears rotating between the blonde girl and the now silent Optimus. He watched, not even daring to breathe as tears slid down Charlie's cheeks and her arms lifted Fay off the soft ground.

        Her attention snapped back to the holoform of the Prime, the leader of the Autobots.

        "What the hell did you do to her, you bastard?" She screamed, grinding her teeth together in her frustration, her pain, as she clutched Fay to her body. "She said you were a good one! I trusted you to be good to her and you broke her!"

        Optimus paused, looking between Charlie's infuriated, crying face, and Fay's still one. She was so motionless. If not for the fact that she was breathing, he would have been nervous that she was dead. Even though she was breathing, part of him was still paranoid that she wasn't with them anymore.

        "I didn't think she would react this way . . ." He told her quietly, unable to look away from Fay's face, the way she didn't look back. He wanted to see her open her eyes again. She had to open her eyes again sometime soon. She certainly wouldn't just stay like this. She'd wake up. He'd apologize. And they'd work through things. She'd adapt. Wouldn't she?

        "What did you do, Idiot? I asked a question!" She clutched Fay tighter, protectively. She refused to let go of Fay. She was beyond protective. She'd trusted Optimus to take care of her, and look what had happened. Fay was out cold, unresponsive. And he'd admitted to upsetting her. On the anniversary of all days.

        "We can talk about this soon enough," he told her calmly, using his self-control to restrain himself from reaching for Fay. He was certain that even if he tried, Charlie would slap his hand away and glare at him, like she wasn't already. "I need to contact Ratchet. Just . . . Keep an eye on her."

        Charlie scoffed, glaring at him. "Can do. Since you apparently can't." Her words were biting. For good reason, too. She hated him a little for what had happened. She blamed him. And she was certain she'd have even more reason after all this was said and done. She stayed on the ground with Fay as Optimus walked a fair distance away and made a call, though she couldn't see his phone. She looked down at Fay's too-peaceful face and murmured, "Hang in there . . ."

        Optimus activated his com link once he was a fair distance away from Charlie and the unconscious Fay. "Ratchet," he spoke cautiously, waiting for an answer from the Autobot medic on the other end.

        "Optimus. Have you found the girl? Have you seen IronHide?"

        He let out a slow breath before replying to the medic's questions. "I've found Farrah. I haven't seen IronHide in some time now, Ratchet. She needs medical attention. You need to rendezvous at my coordinates as quickly as you possibly can. Do you understand? This is an urgent matter, Ratchet. We don't have time to spare."

        A moment of pause followed. For a second, the Prime wondered if the connection with the medic had been lost. "I'll be there immediately."

        It was all he said before Optimus was again met with silence. He turned and walked back over to the girls, looking between them. Charlie's hair was a disheveled mess as she looked up at Optimus, glaring at him with a newfound passion. A silent, though not-so-subtle, warning. "Well?" She demanded blatantly.

        "Ratchet will be here soon. He'll take care of her."

        Charlie's eyes narrowed. "Who the hell is Ratchet, anyway? He sounds like a tool." She nearly winced at her own bitter joke. If Fay were awake, she'd laugh and scold Charlie for make such a ridiculous pun, but only because she hadn't gotten to say it first.

        "Ratchet is a medic," Optimus explained calmly. "He's very good at what he does. If we can trust Fay in anyone's hands, it's his."

        She frowned, and would've crossed her arms if they weren't holding Fay. "If YOU can trust her anyone's hands . . . I don't know what to think about someone named 'Ratchet'. What about that Randal loser from when she nicked her knee?"

        Optimus paused, considering telling Charlie the blatant truth. He decided to hold off on that for now. She'd find out soon enough. He couldn't exactly hide it from her. Not when Charlie was so close to Fay. Not when she was probably going to press Optimus about what had happened until she found out the plain truth. About everything. The way their worlds were entwined.

        "I will explain all of it once he arrives." Charlie frowned, shaking her head in disapproval before looking back down at Fay. Her composure began to fail. Her frown ran deeper and she squeezed the motionless body in her arms. Seconds later, the tears began to cascade down Charlie's cheeks again. Her body heaved a moment with a heavy sob, and she did her best to suppress more, but it only caused her body to tremble. The anguished sounds still forced their way out Charlie's throat, the tears flew down her cheeks faster.

        "You have to be okay, Fay!" Her body began to shake, and Optimus felt out of place, like he was trespassing on this emotionally intimate moment. He looked away for a moment, not sure if he should walk away or stay close in case Charlie needed support. "You can't just leave me like this! I-I . . . You're my sister, Fay! You can-can't just go like this! I-I kno-ow you're b-breathing, bu-ut, I don-don't know-! How l-long tha-that'll last! Don't you leave me, Fay! Don't you g-go like this! Not when I still need you!"

        Charlie sucked in a breath, trying to calm herself, but to no avail. "I-I b-broke up w-with Luke, y-you know th-that? A c-couple d-days ago. Bu-but I didn't t-tell you, 'cause, I-I knew," she quickly wiped her face with the back of her hand, sniffling. "Th-that the anni-anni-anniversary, was c-coming, and you were, already s-so sad, and I, I didn't want t-to ups-set you, with stup-stupid love drama, when y-you've got your own . . . I . . . I know, Fay . . . I . . . Did he . . . ? D-did you e-even adm-it it, to y-your-self?"

        Charlie shook her head quickly. "C-come ba-ack to me, Fay . . . D-don't you e-e-ever, gi-ve up . . . Pl-please, F-F-Fay! I st-ill n-need you! D-don't y-you e-ever ju-just gi-give up! D-don't you . . . Don't you e-ever l-lea-leave me a-alo-alone!" Charlie gave up on speaking and devolved into a fit of broken sobs. It didn't take long before she was emotionally spent, before she laid down in the mossy ground with Fay held close to her, terrified that if she let go, Fay might stop breathing.

        She shuddered lightly, and was still lying there when Ratchet pulled up. The ambulance paused, and Charlie stared at it for a moment, watching as the man she knew as Randal stepped out, walking over. Charlie refused to move away. Ratchet's holoform kneeled down in front of the pair, speaking gently but firmly.

        "Charlotte. I need you to move. I need to be able to examine Farrah freely. And I cannot do so with you lying next to her in such a way. Release your grip and occupy yourself otherwise."

        Charlie tensed, examining the supposed EMT. She glanced at Optimus before releasing Fay slowly, walking over to the Prime, watching Fay, watching 'Randal's' every move as he looked her over. Optimus placed a hand on the blond girl's shoulder and led her a fair distance away, so she could still watch Fay, but enough so that Ratchet wouldn't hear them as he explained things to her.

        Of course, things weren't as simple as that. IronHide drove up, braking harshly at the treeline, his holoform leaping out of the truck, running right past Charlotte and Optimus, close enough to make out his features. Ratchet had contacted the other members of their team, Optimus concluded. And the rest would likely be here soon enough.

        Charlie's thoughts, however, were somewhere else entirely as she watched IronHide's holoform rush over to 'Randal', and where he was examining Fay.

        "How is that possible . . . ?" She asked quietly, staring at the men. "He's . . . That's impossible . . . It's just . . . That defies all physics and logic . . . and everything . . ."

        Optimus frowned, realizing Charlie did indeed know what, or rather who, she was looking at. "It's a long story," he told her gently. Finally, she looked back at him, a bit of firmness back in her face, despite the fact that she'd been sobbing for minutes on end, and that she'd just seen something that defied all logic in her brain.

        "Well get telling."

        So he did. Optimus began telling her about Cybertron, Cybertronians, the experiment that had created Fay, the accident that had returned her to a protoformic state, the way she'd been shipped in an escape pod only to crash-land on Earth. The way her contact with human DNA had made her a techno organic, explaining how that was linked to the night she'd accidentally cut her hand.

        Of course, he then had to explain that Fay, against the odds, had a shard of the AllSpark in her possession. He wasn't sure how that had occurred, but he knew that it had affected her Cybertronian half when it had pierced her skin. He also explained that her family had been specifically chosen to protect her, which led to the very basic explanation of the Autobots and Decepticons. And how the Decepticons had created her to be a weapon, and how the mission of the Autobots was, at least where she was concerned, to give her a choice in her path, in the hopes that she would be an ally rather than an enemy.

        Charlie listened intently, eyes darting around every so often as more of the Autobots arrived, some of their holoforms activating and approaching the area where Randal examined Fay, performing small tests. Most of them kept a respectful distance. Optimus glanced over every so often, sighing as he finished his explanation of what had preceded Fay's disappearance.

        "I'm not entirely sure what happened. I didn't think she was going to react so adversely. Perhaps-."

        "Wouldn't react so adversely?" Charlie shrieked, interrupting him. " 'Hey, human-looking-girl! Guess what! You're not really human! You're some freakish half-robot half-human thing! And wait, that's not all! You're also being hunted by some giant evil robots who intend to use you as a weapon so they can kill another race of giant robots who apparently aren't very bright! But hey, that doesn't matter at the moment! We're also going to dump all this shit on you on the anniversary of the most tragic day of your young life!' How isn't that upsetting? What the hell is your problem that you can't see how terrible that is? You idiot! How could you be so stupid to do that to her? What the hell is wrong with you?"

        She huffed, her breaths ragged. She was furious and frustrated with this man. How could he possibly so oblivious and dense? Even if he was of another species.

        "Idiot . . ." She mumbled, looking away from him, glancing back at Fay. She saw IronHide's holoform looking back at her. The holoforms that were activated were watching the pair curiously. All of them were. More so as Ratchet's holoform approached.

        "While I'm not sure I agree with your decision to inform young Charlotte of the situation's complexities . . . Farrah is unharmed. Her wounds have healed on their own. Her inner workings have made the first shift from human to Cybertronian."

        Optimus opened his mouth to respond, but Charlie beat him to it. "Well then when's she going to wake up? She's acting like a dead person over there and it's driving me nuts!"

        Ratchet paused for a moment, looking at Charlotte, debating for a short moment how to say it. He decided to keep it blunt. "I'm not sure when she'll wake up. Or if she'll wake up." Charlie blinked, frowning, her eyebrows stitching together as she watched him.

        "Farrah is in a coma."

        ~~~

        Fay groaned, shifting. Her body ached in every way she could possibly imagine. She shifted her arm and a sharp pain shot through her shoulder. Fay yelped, wincing at the sudden shock. It was still dark. She didn't even know where she was. What had she been doing? A vague image of Malakai . . . And Optimus . . . came to mind. She could hardly recall any of what had happened. None of it made sense. It didn't help that the jolts of pain in her arm caught her attention every few seconds.

        A hand came to her shoulder gently and she flinched, turning her head away, feeling the soft brush of cloth against her cheek. She was wary of any pressure in that area, believing the pain would get worse. Who'd hurt her? She hadn't seen a face. Only known that . . . She'd begun to run . . . And then she'd been grabbed. Harshly. Enough that her shoulder had jerked and . . . dislocated . . .

        She squeezed her eyes shut tightly as her head was shifted with the gentle touch of a hand. Lips pressed against hers, and she wrenched her eyes shut as tightly as she could manage. The touch was a distraction. She knew that for a fact the second a pressure came to her shoulder, and the joint was forced back into place.

        A few tears escaped her in the process, and her shoulder ached fiercely. The lips pulled away from hers, and a small sob escaped her. A secondary kiss came to her forehead.

        "I'm so sorry, Filly . . ." His voice was gentle, comforting. Even through the pain and aching. "I did my best to make it better." His breath was warm against her forehead, but she still didn't know what had happened. She was also too tired to care for more than a fleeting moment.

        ~~~

        The mechs watched as Fay sprung up from her seat and began to run. Malakai was after her first. Optimus was behind him in a brief moment. He was fast. So was Malakai, unfortunately. And the Decepticon holoform managed to grab Fay's arm as it swung back. She was oblivious to what was happening until it was too late. Until Malakai had grabbed her wrist and come to an abrupt halt. He kept a firm hold on Fay's wrist.

        Something had to give. And it did. Fay's shoulder jerked out of the socket, and she screamed at the jolt. Malakai quickly pinned her face-down in the grass. Unfortunately for him, Optimus was on him before Malakai could even make a threat. The Prime threw Malakai off, breaking the holoform's wrist in the process to ensure that he would let go of Fay's arm.

        In a moment, the Decepticon holoform was thrown ten yards down the field. Optimus charged it and delivered a harsh blow to Malakai's chest. He moved for a follow-up blow, but it vanished, and Optimus only struck ground. He vented, frowning, but quickly moved from the area back to where Fay was lying on the ground. He strode back to her quickly, and looked her over. He examined her arm carefully.

        With a bit of consideration, he shifted her into his arms, holding her close, wary of how to shift the weight of her arm, but with a bit of care, managed to get it down. He quickly took her back inside to care for her. It didn't take long before she stirred again.

        ~~~