After awhile Aelia wasn't sure where one day ended and another began. She wasn't able to see the sun and everything began to blend together. Ironhide was firm on not allowing her to leave the med bay and hovered over her like a hawk. As if he were afraid Aelia would collapse again- though, honestly, she could kinda understand that part. To a degree.

He, Geneva and the modium remained her only sources for conversation and company. At the very least, Aelia didn't feel too lonely.

But after a while, the walls started to press in a little close and her skin began to crawl. Not even nicotine could help her now. Especially since she had already smoked through her last carton and Ironhide was only slowly giving her a singular cigarette when she really needed it. Pushing her to her limit and doing his best to break her of the habit without inflicting harm.

She appreciated it, but at the same time, Aelia wanted nothing more than to sock him right in his stupid robotic face.

Luckily, Ratchet- a big red and white medic bot- allowed her to continue doing her katas. Supervised, but allowed. If he hadn't let her, Aelia was certain she would have lost it and thrown something at him. It helped break the monotony and kept her focused. This was all for Geneva. She needed the medical attention and Aelia wasn't about to leave her.

Until they came to visit.

Aelia wasn't sure what day it was, or how many days had passed, or even how many times she had slept since arriving, when two new bots came to 'visit'. They moved quietly for beings so large. Sneaking through the med bay doors, they made their way in armed with paint buckets and rope, intentions of a prank or trap evident.

"That for Ratchet?" Aelia's grunt seemed to startle them and they both jumped before turning to glare at her.

"Maybe. What's it to ya?" Red huffed at her. Yellow turned from one way to the other, checking their surroundings, as if Ratchet was hiding around the corner and just waiting for them.

"By all means, go ahead. Just keep away from the injured squishies, huh?" Aelia jerked a thumb over her shoulder, where Geneva rested right behind her. And, inadvertently, at a deeply snoozing Ironhide.

Did they sleep? Or was this some kinda shutdown mode? Aelia didn't know.

The robots stared at her, then Geneva, and finally at Ironhide. Large matching grins crossed their faces. They exchanged a long debating look as if their plan were being called back into question. Aelia had to wonder if they were considering stopping or if they were just debating on their targets. It seemed like they were communicating silently and she wouldn't have been surprised if they had some kinda telephone in their heads.

They seemed high tech enough.

"We'll watch for the squishies." Red turned back to her and snickered before he and Yellow turned and crept further into the med bay, weapons in hand. Aelia debated carefully over who their target might be as they moved away from her and her aunt.

Ratchet? First Aid? Maybe that other medic she had seen around- Jolt?

The scream that followed thirty to forty minutes after had her nodding to herself. Ratchet. Definitely Ratchet. She had heard that scream before. Though last time it had been because someone had organized his tools wrong and even glued a few to the ceiling. There was still debate over who had done it. Aelia didn't know any of the names being thrown around, but from the smirk on Ironhide's face?

Someone had gotten bored.

Not that she blamed him, but he could have at least let her help. Or, hell, let her go for a walk outside. Nobody was stopping him from tagging along with, right?

Aelia watched, half bored as Red and Yellow went streaking past, cackling wildly with Ratchet right on their asses, paint dripping from everywhere and the cans tied around his ankles with the rope. He kept catching his odd ankle weights around everything, tripping and falling every few feet as he tried to catch the two trouble makers. She watched all three of them disappear out the door and into the darkness.

For a moment, it was silent.

"The terror twins are at it again." Ironhide chuckled softly, in an almost sleepy gruff way,

"Terror twins?" Aelia tilted her head back to look at him, not bothering to turn around completely,

"Yeah. Sideswipe and Sunstreaker."

"Huh." The names didn't mean much to her. Aelia put it out of her mind, leaned back and ended up drifting off into a nap.

XxX

"Hey. Hey, squishy. Hey. Hey. Hey." A voice slowly filtered into her head. Aelia groaned and tried to roll over, but something large and metallic stopped her.
"I said- hey, squishy. You awake?"

"He's going to keep doing that until you answer him." Another voice joined the first.

"Whaddya want?" squinting her dark eyes open, Aelia glared at the source of the noise, only to blink, startled. There stood Red and Yellow from before.

"Uh…" a very intelligent noise came from her.

"Wanna go for a walk?" Red's mouth widened into a grin, showing off terrifying gray, gear like teeth to her.

"Yeah, but, why?" Aelia's brow furrowed and she pushed off the big metal object that had stopped her from rolling over- Red's finger.

"Tell you later, keep your voice down. Everyone's in recharge." Red raised a finger to his lips,

"Recharge?" Aelia murmured, lowing her voice,

"Sleep." Yellow grunted, looking around in an almost nervous fashion, watching their asses and making certain Ratchet wasn't hiding around a corner, just waiting to make his move.

"Oh." Aelia, not one to look a gifted horse in the mouth, rolled onto her feet and came closer to the edge of the berth. Geneva would be safe until she got back; Ironhide was still sleeping peacefully against the wall. Or, 'recharge' as Red had called it.

"C'mon, hop on." Red extended an open palmed hand to her, the same one he had stopped her from rolling over with. Aelia eyed it uncertain for a moment, feeling a sense of distrust creeping up her chest. But then the cabin fever won out and she hopped down into his hold, putting faith in the robot.

If he knew what was good for him, he wouldn't drop her. Simple as that.

"Sunny, cover me." Red bent over and hurried for the way out of the med bay, cupping her between his hands,

"Don't call me that, 'Sidey'," Yellow grumbled, but followed them closely while keeping an eye out all the same.

They crept out of the med bay together without being caught. Fascinated and heart pounding, certain they were going to be caught at any moment, Aelia looked around, watching everything as they moved through new territory. She hadn't had a clue as to how big the base actually was, and now that she did, she highly doubted she could ever navigate it without getting lost. Especially carrying Geneva and getting around the large robots. Freedom wouldn't come quite so easily.

They moved down the hallway quickly, but quietly. It was empty and silent, giving everything a creepy, eerie feeling to it. There would be, once in a while, a human soldier- but Red and Yellow moved around them without slowing and left them behind, snickering.

Aelia peered over the tips of Red's fingers, watching everything whirl past her. Where were they going? She appreciated leaving the med bay and Ironhide's almost smothering watch, but-

They were outside.

It was sudden and unexpected. One moment they were in the metal insides of the base and the next they were through a pair of warehouse-like doors. Moonlight and cool evening air hit her and seemed to gather her up. As if everything that was Aelia was suddenly being pulled to the forefront. It was a strange sensation. Dizzying and tightening. Her hand reached down into her pocket to tighten around the modium.

The thing Ironhide and Ratchet had refused to let her leave anywhere except in her pocket. Somehow, it grounded her, almost assuring her in its mere presence that everything was alright. The fresh air blew away the cobwebs that had formed in Aelia's mind and body and seemed to clean out her lungs with every deep breath she took.

Aelia had needed this. More than she had thought. Somewhere above her, a throat was cleared, scattering her thoughts again. She turned in the palm that held her, on her knees and without grace, and faced Red. His blue eyes glowed in the dim light and shadows. Seeming to pierce right through her. Intelligence unlike any she had ever seen gleamed in his eyes, different from an animal's or a fellow human's. As if he knew more than she could ever possibly comprehend and held the universe in his hands.

Then there was also the sudden feeling of danger. A glint of something not quite stable that filled the air around them with a silent but very real threat that had Aelia's arm hairs standing on end and saluting. These were not beings to be fully trusted. Not that they were bad or awful, but that something wasn't quite right with them upstairs and because of that they didn't need to be handed a loaded gun.

"So, gotta few questions for you, squishy." Red grinned, sitting down on a large rock just around the corner form the front door of the base,

"'Kay." Aelia grunted, shifting back onto her ass, "Name's Aelia."

"Alright, 'Aelia'." Red spoke her name awkwardly, with a thick inflection where there shouldn't have been one, "I'm Sideswipe and this is my brother Sunstreaker." he gestured with his free hand to Yellow.

"Yeah, Ironhide mentioned you guys. The Terror Twins." Aelia lifted one shoulder and dropped it carelessly in a halfshrug. But she watched his movements carefully. Her stomach was rolling something fierce and she wasn't fully sure where all the caution and slight fear was coming from. While they felt dangerous and like she shouldn't fully trust them, it also didn't feel like they would hurt her.

At least, not on purpose.

"Aw, he mentioned us? See Sunny, he does care!" Sideswipe crooned, his eyes brightening,

"I told you not to call me that," Sunstreaker grumbled, coming a little closer. He seemed more volatile then his brother. More unstable and likely to snap. Maybe that was why Aelia's stomach felt like an ongoing hurricane.

"Don't be mad, sunflower." Sideswipe's mouth widened into an impossibly large grin. He turned back at Aelia, eyes locking onto her like lasers. "Mind if I ask you some questions?" it wasn't really a request. Not really. It seemed like one, but the tone and the way his eyes shifted was all wrong. A facade. Regardless of her answer, he was still going to ask questions- and he was going to get his answers.

It was just the question of how far was he willing to go to get them.

"Sure, why not?" She gave another careless half shrug, the best she felt she could do in the current situation, "Go for it."

"Awesome. Now, whaddya know about that modium you've got in your pocket?" She froze. Like a statue. Still and rock-like. Something about that rubbed her fur the wrong way. Not his question in general, but the fact that he was asking about the modium. It felt beyond dangerous. As if a rattlesnake were waiting in a nearby bush to strike her and the only warning she was getting was the faint noise.

She licked her lips, chasing away the dryness there. Then she took a deep breath and steadied herself. Aelia hoped her lack of information on the object wouldn't trigger either of them. The last thing she needed was getting squished.

Sideswipe stared her down, waiting with a quickly fraying thread of patience.

"Funny story, actually…"

(AN: Writing this was like pulling teeth, sadly. Things have been hectic and difficult lately, and it makes writing feel more like a chore and stressful than the freedom it usually is. So I'm sorry if the energy isn't up to snuff in this chapter, but I really wanted to update this.

Please check out my Youtube channel and my novel, I'd really appreciate it. See you guys in the next chapter.)