Tears began to slip down Fay’s cheeks as she burrowed herself ever closer to IronHide’s holoform, Harvey, the man who’d been her only true father. “B-But y-you’re . . . D-dead, Dad . . . You can’t be real . . .”

        His arms wrapped tighter around her, breathing against her. “I promise you I’m real, Fair. I have always been real . . .”

        “But i-it’s im-possible . . . Dad . . .” She paused for a second, as a few sobs wracked her chest. “D-did the st-stars . . . Did they s-save yo-you, D-ad?”

        “No, Sweetheart . . .” He sighed gently, refusing to let go of her. “The stars . . . Didn’t save me . . . I have always been here . . . I just haven’t been able to show you . . . For fear that you would react adversely . . . I’m so sorry you were alone, Fair . . . I’m so, so sorry.”

        “B-but I-I mi-ssed you, s-so, muc-ch . . . Wh-why didn’t you . . .”

        Harvey nearly winced, frowning, knowing where Fay’s train of thought was going with this, knowing full well that within a matter of seconds, she would be feeling utterly betrayed. “Someone else would like to see you as well, Fair . . . I believe he’s waiting outside your door now, actually . . . Would you like to see him?” He gave her a moment to answer, but she didn’t even so much as nod her head. All she knew was that she still felt the pain inside her spark, pounding harder and harder at her. “Fair . . . ?”

        Carefully, slowly, the door clicked open and Jazz’s holoform, Jaxson, slid his head in, gazing around the small space. “Am I too late for the party?”

        In utter disbelief, Fay opened her eyes, looking at the blonde boy in her bedroom doorway, staring at him for a moment before it fully registered. “Jax!” She exclaimed, leaving her father for the moment to rush over and embrace her brother, a gesture he promptly returned, a smile crossing his face.

        “I thought I heard my cue. I figured better late than never, eh Fay?”

        ~~~

        It was quite some time before the three were calmed down, sitting on Fay’s bed in an encompassing silence. It was comfortable, really. Questions played out in Fay’s mind, in Harvey’s mind, in Jaxson’s mind, but none of them voiced any for a while. It had been too long since they’d actually known each other and truly seen each other to nitpick the situation. It was a blissful absence of words at this point.

        “Don’t ever leave me again,” Fay murmured, her head resting against Harvey’s shoulder. “You won’t, right . . . ?”

        “Never again, at least not like that, Fair,” Harvey assured her, rubbing her arm gently. “We’re here. We’re not leaving. I’m sorry you’re stuck in this place right now, Fair . . . I really am. I wish I could make it better for you. If there’s anything you need help with, we’re here for you. I promise.”

        “And you’re . . . You’re really real?” Fay asked, looking up at his face, searching for any sign of deceit or false claims. That prospect still scared her; that she would wake up from a magnificent dream and she would never see them again, only to be left with the lingering images of their living forms in the present day.

        “Really real,” Harvey murmured, kissing her temple. “I’m sorry we were gone for so long . . . I’m sorry it’s so complicated, but we’re back, Fair. I promise.”

        She gave a nod, shuddering slightly against his embrace. “I just don’t want to be alone again, Dad . . .”

        “I promise you won’t be, Fair . . . I promise.”

        ~~~

        IronHide vented a good while later after he’d left Fay alone in her prison of a mind. He wished he could’ve stayed, but that wasn’t ideal, even if Megatron was watching her from far too close for the weapons specialists comfort. He watched her unmoving form on the mossy ground, wishing she would move and come back to the real world. He’d left her with a few parting words, however, and trusted she wouldn’t soon forget them.

        ~~~

        Jaxson, Jazz, had just exited the room, leaving the father and daughter pair alone again, if only to say their temporary goodbyes. “What’s going on, Fair? What’s holding you back? Are you all right?”

        “I . . . Of course I’m all right, Dad. Why wouldn’t I be?”

        “What are they doing to you, Fair? Are they hurting you?”

        “I . . . No, Dad. They have me on medicine to help me get better. They’re helping me. I swear it.”

        “What do they have you on, Fair?” He asked, holding her hands in his much larger ones, staring intently into her eyes, part of him searching for the red tinge that would signal her base nature was winning the internal battle.

        “I, um . . . Depression meds, anxiety meds, and some stuff that’s supposed to help me sleep and calm down, and they had me on painkillers for a while . . . And there’s this one they have me on now, but they won’t tell me what it is . . .” Farrah shrugged it off, not quite so disturbed by this as Harvey was. “Whatever. They’re taking care of me.”

        “Stop taking your medicine, Farrah,” Harvey instructed, placing his hands on her shoulders. “Stop taking the medicine. Trust me.”

        “But I need it, Dad . . . You don’t understand! The dark . . . The medicine is the only thing that helps . . . I need it . . .”

        “They’re playing games with you, Fair . . . Trust me . . . And stop taking the medicine . . . You’ll be fine without it . . . At the very least stop taking the mystery pill . . . Please, Fair . . . Do it for me, won’t you?”

        “I . . . I guess, Dad . . . I can try . . .”

        ~~~

        Fay was waiting for her medicine the next day when it hit. An anxiety attack that clamped down on her chest, pressing so close to her spark and yet completely of her mind’s fabrication. Stepping out of line, Fay sat down at a table, gripping at her chest, her breathing starting to accelerate. “Make it stop, make it stop, make it stop,” she murmured, rocking slightly in her seat, the aches starting to dominate her thoughts.

        Closing her eyes as tightly as her lids could manage, Fay sat, splotches crossing her vision, feeling like her chest was heating up, then her skull. The world was closing in, every inch of gravity pushing against closer and closer to her until she wanted to black out. Being unconscious would be such a relief.

        If only she knew.

        Before she could register anything past the pain, she was in someone’s arms, being carried back to her room, laid back down on her bed, a bottle of water and a few pills laid down on the nightstand next to her. Small tremors began to slip through Fay’s body as she laid there, aching and broken, wishing the world wasn’t quite so cruel to live in.

        It took hours for Fay to slide back to the world she’d deemed as real, hours in which a strong hand was pressed to her back, rubbing in small circles, patiently awaiting her return, patiently awaiting for her to overcome the anxiety on her own, if only to reassure her that she could. Optimus wanted her to know that she was stronger than she gave herself credit for, stronger than most anyone gave her credit for.

        When she opened her eyes to see the black-haired blue-eyed man sitting on her bed, her body curled up, her body language highly vulnerable, Fay nearly went into pure defensive mode. But when she remembered how safe she was with this man, she took a deep breath and tried to relax, despite the panic that had settled so deep inside her, though she couldn’t rightfully place where on Earth it had come from.

        “Are you all right, Filly?” He asked gently, his hands never moving anywhere she wouldn’t wish them, keeping them places that couldn’t possibly be interpreted as anything but platonic. The Prime was careful when it came to that. With a slow nod, she sat up and looked at the pills in the small plastic cup, fishing out the one she’d never been fully informed of as far as purpose and benefit.

        She crushed the pill under her foot, and quickly downed the rest.

        Breathing slowly, she tried to ignore the way the shadows were teasing the edge of her vision, knowing full well Optimus couldn’t see them. At least, she thought he couldn’t.

        ~~~

        Optimus sat next to her as she drank the water and got the ‘medicine’ into her system. He silently wondered what the dark slithering shadows were that wavered against the walls of her room were. They were semi-transparent and always seemed to recede if he looked at them directly. It seemed as though they were filtered light, and always seemed natural until he wasn’t focused on their movement.

        Optimus didn’t trust it.

        “Farrah?” He called her gently, placing a hand on her shoulder. Without thinking, Fay turned her head and looked at him, heart still racing in her chest. After but a moment, she threw her arms around his neck and kissed, pressing her lips against his, aching for the physical contact she hadn’t had in so long. Right now, all she wanted was to kiss him.

        And he kissed her back. Optimus held her close, protectively, really, letting her feel close to him, letting her take comfort in his presence. On her end it was marvelous, on his end, it was restrained, he only returned her affections as they were given, refusing to do anything that might even possibly unnerve her.

        It was a few minutes into their kissing that Fay noticed it, the fact that he wasn’t advancing the affection in the least. “Optimus,” she spoke between their lips touching. “Don’t you . . . Like . . . Kissing me . . . ?”

        “Filly,” he murmured against her lips, stroking along her spine over her shirt, keeping his hand carefully below her bra and no lower than her waist. “I cannot . . . Will not . . . Pressure you . . . I am all right . . . Simply . . . Being like this . . .”

        “I don’t want to be alone anymore, Optimus,” she murmured, and instantly, something in Optimus’s spark told him this wasn’t right, even if the shadows around her were receding the longer he gave her his affections.

        Fay backed up and slid off her shirt, kneeling on the bed in her bra her skin considerably bare compared to what it normally was. Optimus watched her face for a moment, not so much as glancing at her chest, but examining her for the telltale tension in her facial features that would give her away, that would confirm his suspicion that she wasn’t in fact ready for such a large step so soon, much less to the words “I don’t want to be alone anymore”.

        He found far closer to the surface than he thought he would. “I apologize, Farrah, but I cannot take advantage of you this way.” He picked up the shirt from the bed and handed it back to her. “I will not lie with you in that way, but I will stay as you wish and keep you company platonically if that is what you wish.”

        “But-!”

        “Please, Filly . . . I’m doing this for your well-being . . .” He cupped her face in his hands and kissed her nose gently, up to the bridge, then to her forehead. “I’m doing this so that you haven’t got anything to regret later on. I promise you as much.”

        Fay trembled lightly for a moment, then nodded, pulling her shirt back on, eyes downcast, feeling rather awkward in the situation. “Sorry I did that to you,” she murmured, rubbing her arm uncomfortably.

        Gently, Optimus pulled her close against him, kissing her forehead. “Do not apologize for your actions. My only question was your motivation. And I could not possibly interface with you if any doubt exists that you are truly ready. I am still here, Filly, as I always will be. If you are ever truly ready, then I shall be here. And I shall never hurt you.”

        “Thank you,” she murmured, relaxing into his hold, not feeling alone, and feeling safer than she would have than if she had given up her body too soon.