The pain was fading. They’d taken her off the painkillers for a day to see how she’d do. It was a manageable, ignorable ache more so than the shooting, crippling pain that it had been a couple weeks ago. To take her mind off it the best she could, Fay had decided to go running again. And she was taking her sweet time so that she could stay out later.

        She was being monitored, of course, but for once it wasn’t by Malakai. It was some nameless, forgettable nurse. Her only form of identity was on the engraved black name tag that read “Sarah”. Fay honestly didn’t care for the woman. She just kept running. She was on lap forty now.

        Lap forty. She was about to break ten miles.

        Honestly, her chest ached. Her lungs hurt with how long she’d been pushing them. But despite it all, Fay had it in her head to keep running for two hours straight. She’d gone for an hour and a half at her longest. She wanted to push it again. She had to. She would never get better if she didn’t keep going.

        Subconsciously, she picked up her pace. Her arms ached. She had sweat stains on her shirt, dark areas that indicated how hard she was really working. She was working on keeping a ten minute mile, if not below.

        Sarah was partly here to keep track of Fay’s laps, her time, and to make sure the patient didn’t make a break for it or get stuck outside after hours. It was an efficient system. And it was really the only way they’d conceded to let her do so much running so late in the day.

        “Can’t you do your exercises earlier in the day? It’s not wise to be out so late. Sundown is a little over an hour away.” The man behind the desk had white hair tinged with darker gray and it was beginning to thin. Fay could only imagine what kind of stresses this job brought him. Patients who went off the deep end, potentially dangerous patients in general, really, potential lawsuits if accidents happened . . .

        “Sir, if I were to do these midday I could overheat and pass out. The middle of a summer day is not the time to be running for two hours nonstop. Plus, with this time frame, I’ll be heated enough by the time the sun vanishes to benefit from the lack of it’s rays. If you send someone out with me, they can keep track of my log, and make sure nothing happens to my health. You are concerned about my health, aren’t you?” Her head gave the slightest tilt. “I certainly don’t want my health to be in decline because I couldn’t go running at the most beneficial time of day for what I’m going for.”

        He pondered it for a moment before waving his hand. “All right. Malakai, send a nurse out with her. Make sure everything still gets done correctly tonight. You have two hours and no more.”

        “Actually, I’ll need at least two and a half. I need to warm up and cool down as well. Closer to three, really.”

        “Three? Where do you get that estimate?”

        “Sir, I’ve spent years getting my rhythm down. I know exactly what I’m doing. I’m sure whatever nurse you send out with me can attest to that when he or she sees that I use every hour to the fullest, both for recovery, preparation and the main event itself. I know what I’m doing. You could even ask my coaches. They were always impressed with my ability to pace myself and maintain a rhythm.”

        “Fine. Three hours. And no dawdling.”

        Fay was two hours into her total time. Her feet ached with every step but in no way would she stop now. She knew it wasn’t the safest thing to be pushing herself this hard, but a part of her loved it. She missed getting stronger every day. She was tired of being depressed and blue and feeling like the world was going to end. She had more complications in her life now than she could’ve imagined a couple months ago.

        Things that, sadly, made her father’s death seem petty. She was involved in some crazy war that she had no control over, but such a large role in. Or at least, that was the most sense she could make of it. Her instincts were that of the Decepticon nature from what she could make sense of. But her outer bits of personality more closely aligned with the Autobots, though perhaps that of a more reckless, passionate sort.

        ‘Be careful when you get involved with passionate people. When they love you they love you, but when they hate you . . . They hate you . . .’ She recalled the quote from a video she’d seen online. The guy had gone on vacation in Europe. His girlfriend, though she’d been notified, didn’t remember. And she got so upset with his lack of answers that over the two week period, she sent him email upon email ranging from love to remorse to hate.

        Fay couldn’t help but relate somewhat. She imagined that if she got into a serious relationship and she didn’t get an answer from her beloved for days on end, she’d get rather upset, too.

        Of course, if her beloved went somewhere, and told her, she’d probably pay attention enough to know that he was in fact, going somewhere and be unreachable. That wouldn’t be something she could just ‘block out’.

        If Optimus went somewhere crazy and unreachable, she’d remember if he told her.

        ‘But Optimus and I certainly aren’t involved. Stop being stupid, Fay.’ Of course, half her thoughts were really just part of her long distance tactic. Distraction. It kept her from thinking about the aches that were occupying every inch of her body. It kept her going with a bit more ease, rather than get obsessed with how much this or that hurt. Especially when it came to her ankles. Those damn things seemed to be accident prone. Of course, they were only temporary aches, but they still hurt like hell when she was running and the pain refused to go away. It was a terrible sort of thing and absolutely frustrating.

       The nurse signaled with her hand again. Fay had gone onto lap forty-five. She knew that she normally kept around a ten minute pace, but it was beginning to feel almost leisurely. So she started up again. She kicked up another gear and feet ground against the artificial material that made up the track. She forced herself to suppress a groan as she kept herself going with the will that rested in her mind.

        ‘Distance is more about willpower than it is bodily strength.’

        That was what her coach had told her during track season. That was why the distance events had fewer competitors. Not everyone had the willpower to keep going and going at a steady pace for so long. Fay, however, felt she lived for it some days. She could feel the way her body was forced to adapt to the distance she was going and the way she had to think about something else. If she let her mind linger on the aches digging into her muscles and bones, she’d stop. She’d give in.

        She’d done it before and she was done with it. She didn’t want to give in anymore. She wanted to keep going. She wanted to feel her strength build and build until she impressed herself every time she went running. Fay loved being able to push herself harder and harder until she shattered old records every time she went running. It was an amazing sort of thing to do. She adored every second of it.

        And she would keep going no matter what anyone said. Even when her body was slick with sweat and she felt the aftermath for days.

        When she could do things most people couldn’t even dream of doing with this sort of ease? That was enough to make her want to keep going again and again. She loved the fact that although she was supermodel skinny, her legs, her arms, her body, her everything, could do things that were physically impossible for other people. She adored that about her body. And she had been doing it before she’d known about her otherworldly heritage.

        She’d been doing it since before her odd lineage had begun showing itself. No matter what happened, her body was incredible and equipped with amazing things. She didn’t care what she was. Her human half was incredible without whatever the hell was inside her now. It didn’t matter. She was amazing before and she would keep it that way.

        She would do things that other people couldn’t fathom. And not because she was some freakish half-human, half-Cyber-whatsit.

        Before she knew it, Sarah was signaling for her to stop. But Fay kept going for another half lap until she saw the nurse walking towards her, holding out her hand. Fay slowed down to a walk, her legs and arms trembling as she pulled out an earbud.

        “Y-Yeah?” Fay asked. Her everything was currently an aching mess filled with her body’s personally produced acid. She wanted to fall over. She was ready to. Her knees felt weak. Her breaths came in staggered portions. Even though she’d stopped, she was still a long way from recovering from this.

        “A little over fourteen miles. Closer to fifteen with the extra hundred meters on every mile. You need water.”

        Fay braced her hands on her knees. She was more than ready to collapse. She was a wreck after pushing herself for so hard, so long. She might go over her three hour limit, but she didn’t really care right now. Her skull was perfectly clear of pain for once since that night. The full moon overhead was beautiful and wondrous, casting a silver light down on the track. Fay’s skin nearly glowed the same silver as the moon with the sweat that had gathered on her skin.

        As she began to cool down, not moving nearly as much, a chill began to settle into Fay’s body. She anticipated as much, though, and quickly pulled on a sweater. It was quite contradictory to have so much sweat and wear a sweater, but it was a necessity at this point. She knew how cold it could get without a sweater at night, especially covered in sweat.

        A water bottle was delivered to her as soon as she decided it was okay to sit down. And she downed the fluid from the bottle in a little under a minute. She could feel the cool fluid sink into her stomach, adding to the chill she felt on the outside, but frankly, she didn’t care. Fay knew plenty about exercise and her personal regimen. And she definitely knew how dangerous it would be not to get fluids in immediately.

        It didn’t help that her throat was dry, as were her lips. She wanted more and more, but stopped herself from taking in anymore for now. She’d downed the first amount too quickly, but it couldn’t satisfy her enough. She only paused now to give her body a chance to absorb what she’d given it before adding more too soon. She’d begin a cool down soon, and finish with some stretching. And then she’d go to her room and nearly fall into a coma.

        “I’ll take it from here, Sarah.” It was a male voice that had spoken. Fay knew it all too well for her comfort. She couldn’t imagine what he was doing here now.

        “But I wasn’t notified-.”

        “I’ll take it from here, Sarah," he repeated. "If you have a problem you can take it up with Malakai, but he seems to be in a bit of a foul mood. I wouldn’t want to bother him.”

        The female nurse sighed, handed him a water bottle she’d been holding, and walked off without another word. The grass whispered as she left, growing quieter with every step. Fay focused on slowing down her breath, keeping her eyes locked to the ground, even as his feet slipped through the grass, coming closer and closer until he stood next to where she sat on the bench.

        “How are you feeling, Filly?” His head gave a slight tilt as he watched her, waiting for any obvious signs of tension or defensiveness. He found none. Not tonight. She’d spent herself on the run.

        She took a deep breath, closing her eyes. “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but, I actually kind of almost missed you, Optimus.”

        He gave a slight smile and sat down next to her. “Good to know, Filly.”

        She nodded and stood back up. “Gotta get in my cool down. I’ll be right back.”

        “Care for company?”

        “I’ll be fine. Thanks but no thanks.” She stood up and looked back at him, just now noticing the outfit he was in. He looked like a male nurse. It was partially unnerving, the similarity he had to Malakai this way, and partially comical. Fay wore a crooked smile before taking a deep breath and heading off, her body still aching as she took off at a slow jog for a few more laps to ease her body down.