His strong arms slid Fay off the floor, holding her close to his form. She didn’t bother to fight it. What would the point of that be when she was so broken on the inside? It didn’t matter. Nothing mattered right now. Obviously she was meant to be alone. She was meant to stay away from men in general. Because when she got too close to them, things like THIS happened. She wasn’t prepared for that. She couldn’t keep doing it.

        The world was gray for a moment, she could feel the shadows reaching for her. The slithering darkness that crept around corners and through cracks, taunting her because it would always be so close and she couldn’t possibly outrun it. She needed her medicine soon. It was the only thing that would push the shadows away, even temporarily.

        “Filly . . .”

        She jumped, jerking against his grip, slipping from his arms. She pushed up against the wall as she stood on shaky legs, gripping the necklace in her hand.

        She had to be hallucinating. In no universe or dimension did this sort of thing happen. This wasn’t in any way possible. But he was here. Sitting on her floor, watching her sadly as she forced herself away from him, even though her muscles still ached. They’d be fine by now if she’d bothered to do more than take a few steps here or there, sit up, or turn over in her bed since the night she’d gone running for two miles.

        The night she’d seen Optimus die.

        She’d seen him die.

        And here he was, sitting on her floor like absolutely nothing was out of the ordinary. It was terrifying and wonderful. It gave her hope and felt like a dagger to her spark. He was gone. He’d been gone for days. And she couldn’t imagine how on Cybertron this was in any way possible. It wasn’t . . . That was her only explanation. She’d gone for too long without her medication. The shadows were gripping her mind, playing tricks. He was gone and nothing would change that.

        “Wh-what are you doing here . . . ? Y-you’re not . . .” She attempted to slide across the wall, hoping to get closer to her bed, to the window, but knocked over her bedside lamp in the process, glass shattering on the floor, at the impact, the metal base creating a loud crash. Fay jumped at the noise, at the glass pressing against her skin as she attempted to move again, and she quickly pulled her bare foot away from the danger zone. Her body began to shake entirely.

        Fay took a shuddering breath as Optimus stood, watching him like a spooked animal. She pressed closer to the wall when he attempted to take a step closer, but he soon thought better of it and instead took a step back.

        “I apologize, Filly . . .” He held out his hands in a nonthreatening manner to show her he didn’t have any weapons or any intention of hurting her to begin with. “I know you wanted me to stop exploiting the lax security, and I’m sorry for my lapse in judgement, I’ve just been worried about you . . .”

        She began to shake further, tremors sliding through her body as she took in his appearance, staring at his form. It just wasn’t possible. People didn’t return from the dead. They stayed dead. He was impossibly impossible and her mind couldn’t piece together even a shred of what she was attempting to process.

        “Y-You . . . You’re . . .” Fay stuttered, trying to grasp the words she knew were there, somewhere, but it was hard to get a hold of anything at the moment when she was staring at a dead man, and he was watching her back.

        “Filly?” Optimus reached for her carefully, merely extending his arm just slightly, disapproving of the fear he saw in Fay’s eyes. She shouldn’t be frightened of him. She wasn’t supposed to be frightened of him. Fay had been snarky, quick-witted, brash, hateful, caring, loving, daring, bold and so much more with him . . .

        But she’d never been afraid of him.

        “You’re supposed to be dead!” Her fingertips gripped at the wall, the necklace dangling from her hands. It was an utmost impossibility for him to be here, but here he was. A frown crossed his features as he took another cautious step forward, the glass crunching under his shoes. Fay was cornered, unless she wanted to attempt to brave the glass that surrounded her vulnerable feet.

        Optimus’s head tilted just slightly, his optics searching her face for some sort of joke, but as he expected, he couldn’t find any humor in Fay. Just fear, shock, rejection, not of him but of his existence and well-being in general.

        “Farrah, what would give you that idea . . . ?” He reached for her again, knowing full well she couldn’t exactly run from him as she had so many times before. She was forced to look him in the eyes and face the truth that he was telling her. “I have not perished . . . I’m alive and well . . . Just look at me . . . Do I look like a dead man to you, Filly?”

        Her breath came shallow and weak as she pressed harder to the wall. This man was couldn’t possibly be Optimus. He couldn’t possibly be the same man she’d come to know over the summer. He was gone. And this man was a hallucination caused by the medicine she was overdue for. Where on Earth was Malakai?

        “Get away from me! Optimus is dead!” She made the mistake of sliding her foot against the smooth tiled floor in her attempts to put those last millimeters of space between her and Optimus. Glass sliced through the delicate underside of her foot and the mixture of blood and energon immediately began to spill, mingling together against the stark white. Fay let out a nearly silent sob at the pain that cut through to her brain, biting at her lip. It was a sharp pain, precise and direct.

        Optimus frowned, attempting to get closer to her again, but as the glass gave away his motions, she winced, fingernails digging into the paint on the walls.

        “I promise you I’m not dead, Filly . . .” Though he had a fair guess as to why she would’ve gotten such an idea into her skull. Ratchet had mentioned that it was possible to project the image of others into Fay’s coma crafted world. And only one mech would have the processor to show her the image of his created death. Megatron himself would be the one to sink so low. And while Optimus wished he could do something to even the score, that wouldn’t fix anything. He had to take care of Fay.

        “B-but I . . . Saw you . . .” She took a sharp breath as she shifted her foot again, sliding the vulnerable skin against more glass. It was her instinct to move, to get away from the pain, and it was a hard thing to suppress. Especially when she had the added pressure of Optimus being here when his appearance should be nothing short of a stark impossibility.

        “You must have been dreaming, Farrah . . . I’m well . . . But I’ve missed you. You don’t show up to visiting hours anymore. Were you truly that distraught over the thought of me being deceased?” His words were gentle as he got closer to her. She didn’t claw at the walls anymore, but she still didn’t want to look at him. Not directly at him, at least.

        “I-I sa-saw you . . . Saw you . . . D-die . . . Y-you bl-bled ou-out . . . Y-you didn’t . . . Look at m-me . . . any-more . . . Yo-you were . . . G-gone . . .” She struggled to get the words out from a mixture of grief, anger, fear, and the pain that was shooting through her foot.

        “Filly . . .” He exhaled softly. “I’m not gone . . . I promise you right now, I’m not gone . . .” He knelt down, picking her up, sliding her into his arms as he straightened himself back out, carrying her to the bed, keeping her well away from the floor and the shards that lay there. He set her down on the mattress carefully, allowing her feet to dangle over the edge just enough so he could see what he was doing.

        Her breaths were staggered as she attempted to lay still, staring at the ceiling. Fay’s mind really couldn’t comprehend much else to do. The world was an unusual place. Scary. Confusing. Strange. A little bit terrible and a little bit wonderful. It was hard to sort these things in order to separate one from the other.

        Her spark was beating hard inside her chest. She could feel Optimus’s hands against her feet, the touch light and cautious. She honestly couldn’t imagine what he was doing, only that every few seconds she felt the shards of glass slide out, and the ache began to dull itself. Fay tried to slow her breathing, but it still came in shifted gasps, mimicking the sobs she’d been so enveloped in before.

        In truth, Optimus wasn’t doing much. He held her feet carefully, examining each, and would turn his attention to one or the other in turn, but he didn’t have to do much to remove the glass. All he did was envision the glass gone, envision Fay’s pain fading.

        “While she’s in her world, everything that happens in her mind will be just as painful as if it were real. Every mental injury must be treated as a true injury and be taken care of accordingly.”

        He took it slow, using the utmost care to make sure Fay felt the effects of what he was attempting to accomplish. The pain and tension seemed to be fading from her body and face. She was looking better. More at ease. Optimus exhaled slowly. That was good. It was a very good sign to see her doing better now. He couldn’t help but worry for her, about her. He couldn’t help but wonder what images Malakai had projected that had caused Fay to so strongly believe that he was deceased. The Decepticon warlord certainly played dirty games.

        With a deep breath, Optimus ceased the process and proceeded to bandage Fay’s feet gently. She winced a bit at the antibiotic he applied, but didn’t protest otherwise. Optimus stopped a while later once her wounds were covered and Fay seemed to be calmer, her breathing even and slow. He found out why she was so much more content when he stood up.

        She’d fallen asleep.

        Optimus frowned. He wasn’t entirely sure how that was even possible. She was in a coma, and yet she still slept. Of course, he supposed that could very well just be a part of the illusion that accompanied her presence of mind. Or a way to rest her mind when it was just as active in this ‘realm’ as it was in the real world.

        “Filly,” he whispered, but other from shifting onto her side, she gave no indication that she’d heard him, or that she had any intention of waking up anytime soon. Truthfully, he couldn’t help but wonder how restless she’d been the last couple days. Optimus sat on the edge of her bed, sliding a hand through her hair gently. “I’m here, Filly . . . I’ll still protect you . . .” Her breathing was deep and slow as he sat with her. He watched the minute hands on the clock tick by. Reluctantly, Optimus admitted that she must have been exhausted. And if he had just been able to break through to her sooner, she wouldn’t have lost so much rest.

        Optimus sighed and shook his head gently. At the very least, he could have stayed with her a bit longer. Perhaps that would’ve made a difference and offset this threat. No. He knew better than that. Malakai would’ve waited whatever time necessary to make Fay see the things she saw, and to make her believe Optimus was dead. This wasn’t something he could have prevented. When Megatron got an idea into his processor, he was willing to wait to set it into motion. Optimus wasn’t capable of being here 24/7 and the Decepticon leader knew that all too well.

        It was unfortunate, but there wasn’t a whole lot to be done about it. Optimus realized he could have done better damage control, but he’d attempted to do the best he could with what he’d been handed in this situation. Fay still wasn’t in the best place mentally, as was more than obvious than her continued comatose state, but she would get better. Hopefully, she would accept the fact that Optimus was alive and well soon. It would make his task harder if she couldn’t process that information properly.

        ~~~

        She didn’t wake up for half an hour, and when she did, her eyes seemed a bit glazed over. She stared at Optimus for a moment before a relaxed smile slid over her face. “Well, hey, you . . . What chyou doin’ here? Exploiting security? Naughty, naughty . . .” She waved her finger at him before devolving into a fit of giggles, holding her sides as she rolled over, laughing for a few moments before stopping, staring at the wall.

        Optimus watched her curiously, reaching for her. “Filly . . . ? What’s gotten into you . . . ?” Just like he’d never seen her afraid of him before, he also hadn’t seen her act like this. She seemed inebriated. She wasn’t herself at the moment, and it was befuddling. He couldn’t picture anything that would cause such a drastic change in her.

        The door slid open and closed again, and Charlie slipped in. “Hey, look, I got the ‘nurses’ distracted for a bit and . . . Whoa . . . Optimus what the hell did you do this time? Seriously? Breaking shit?”

        Optimus shook his head before turning his attention to her, placing a finger over his lips, glancing back at Fay for a moment. “I don’t know what’s gotten into her . . . She’s acting strange.”

        “Stranger than usual?” Charlie retorted, unable to ignore the potential for a small jab to Fay. If her friend had her wits about her, she would’ve sent one flying back, but Fay continued to lie still, watching the wall like it were a living thing.

        “Much stranger, Charlotte,” Optimus said gently. He placed a hand on Fay’s shoulder, and she didn’t so much as move. “She was fine, then she fell asleep for a while after I bandaged her feet. Granted she was a tad volatile thanks to some meddling from the Decepticons, but she should be all right . . . I just don’t know what’s gotten into her. She’s acting like she’s drugged . . . or drunk . . . or like she has high-grade energon in her system . . .”

        “Dude, you let her cut her feet on broken glass? I oughta slap the shit outta you. Are you stupid or something? Also, what the hell is high grade?” The blond crossed her arms, staring down at the Prime from where she stood near the door, but her eyes kept flicking over to Fay and the odd way she seemed to be engrossed in the plain white walls.

        Until she abruptly sat up, looking around the room, blinking rapidly before rubbing her eyes like she’d only know woken up. “Hmmm . . . What’s . . . Optimus . . . Charlie . . . What’s going on . . . ? Seriously?” She groaned, focusing on the glass that littered the floor. “Aw! Who broke my lamp? It’ll take forever to get a new one! And it was so pretty!”

        Optimus and Charlie frowned, looking her over for a moment for some sign of her reaction being a joke. Her face was utterly serious. Then she looked back at Optimus and tilted her head. “Whoa, dude. Zombie alert. Someone call Dad! He has plenty of guns!” She snickered and fell back against the bed, sliding her feet up onto the mattress, pausing when she felt her bandages brush against the sheets.

        She quickly drew her feet closer, pulling one to rest against her other leg, examining the white cloth and the small red and blue stains that permeated it. “Whoa! What happened to my feet? Dude, and the colors!” She let out a small gasp when she pressed the tip of her finger to it. “That’s tender . . .” She began snickering again. “I feel like chopped liver! Chop, chop, chop. Ding ding ding, I’m all ready to be cooked, throw me in the oven!”

        Fay burst out laughing again for a few moments. Optimus and Charlie stared at her, frowns on their faces as she amused herself with such ease. “Okay,” Charlie murmured. “I see what you mean . . . And I have no idea what the hell is going on . . . But I’ll be damned if we’re not going to figure it out. We just have to piece together what happened and go from there.”

        Their frowns deepened when Fay went still again, staring at the ceiling blankly, her head giving the slightest tilt, like she was studying something immensely interesting.

        Optimus shook his helm. “I’ve already told you everything, Charlotte.”

        “Well tell me again.”

        To their misfortune, the door opened a third time now, and Malakai stood in the doorway, his tray of medication close. “Excuse me, but these are not visiting quarters. And I’m going to have to tell you to leave now.”

        Charlotte frowned deeper still and looked at Optimus, who gave a small nod just as Malakai noticed the wreckage of glass and the dented lamp base. “And what mess have you created? If you’re destroying property I’ll have to ask you not to return.”

        “We didn’t break anything,” Optimus said calmly, though sent a sturdy glare in the direction of the male ‘nurse’. “Your patient is evidently receiving less than adequate care and broke it in a paranoid frenzy. We may have to take her with us when we leave if this place cannot create a hospitable environment.”

        Malakai smirked as he brought his things inside, holding the door open as a sign for the pair to leave. “Good luck.”

        Reluctantly, sending death-giving worthy glares to Malakai, Charlie and Optimus left the room.

        “She’s fragile in this state. We can’t cause too many ripples in her mind. It could create an adverse reaction. She could slip deeper into the coma and extend its duration or even lose herself to it entirely and die.”

        It wasn’t until after Malakai had gotten the medicine into Fay’s system in the quiet of the now empty, though messy, room, that she spoke again. Her eyes were still glazed a bit, part of her seeming vacant.

        “Shatter me,” she whispered, her blue eyes tinging red for a second before blazing back to an infuriatingly bright shade of blue. Malakai growled his frustration and stalked from the room, leaving Fay to her empty stares and bright blue gaze.