It has been only a few hours before I found some company trying to irritate me while I was inside of my cell. It was not really big of a room, and limited whatever movement I had access to. I had been sitting with my back turned to the entrance of my cell and found myself with what looked like paint covered wrenches being thrown into my cell. I didn't bother to turn my back, I refused to give them the attention that they were wanting from me.

"Mudflap, Skids, leave the poor girl alone, and give Ratchet back his wrenches while you're at it." A voice ordered behind her.

"Awe, come on. We were just trying to have a little bit of fun." One of the bots cried.

I stood up and picked up the wrenches that they threw into my cell. As I walked over, I found both of the twins sitting there looking at me. Refusing to look up at them, I dumped the wrenches on the floor next to them, purposely missing their hand that was held out to take them from me.

"You little..."

"Skids, just pick the wrenches up and get out of here." The same voice ordered.

I turned and walked right back over to where I had been sitting previously. I couldn't help wondering what was going to end up happening. What was I gonna do? Let myself be treated like a monster or a slave for the rest of my life? Was I ever going to have my freedom back? I just wanted to be left alone and have my freedom. To be able to fly freely and be able to live away from humanity. That was all I wanted.

If there was anything that life had taught me, it was that people tend to stab you in the back when you least expect it. So why would you try to trust the people to help you if they could simply hurt you in the end?

"Maria, you can come out now. I spoke with Optimus on your behalf and he has agreed to release you. He realized it wasn't all your fault." A bot said, as he was standing in front of my cell.

"What do I call you?" I asked as I looked over at the bot.

"My name is Prowl. Why do you ask?"

"Well, Prowl. When I am sitting there and being gossiped about in front of everyone, of course I am going to stand up for myself. Even when you are among one of those who were talking about me, behind my back."

"I realize that, which is why I confessed to Optimus." Prowl replied as he was looking at her, his expression was unreadable. I looked at him, trying to find any sign that he was lying. "How can I believe you?" I asked as I saw him looking at me. "As far as I know everyone has taken everything from me, from my freedom, to my things, to even my dignity. I have nothing, but this small, dirty cell to call my own. So why should I leave, when I don't feel welcome outside of this cell." I heard the sound of his footsteps leaving the brig, so when I looked up I was not surprised to see that I was by myself. I sat there and felt sadness evade me. I felt like I had been stabbed with an ice cold blade, and I was shuddering at the coldness of the cell. It was dark, and small, with not much more than a bed and a small bucket in the room that looked like it was to be used for a toilet. I sat down on the floor of the cell and felt tears flood into my eyes.

My sobs echoed through the chamber of the cells, until I heard the echo of footsteps entering the brig. I tried to quickly quiet down my sobs as I wiped the tears off my face. My breath was shaky and it took me a moment until I was able to finally steady my breaths.

"Maria." Ratchet's voice sounded at the entrance of the cell. I froze stiff as I heard his voice. I didn't want to believe it was him. Why did I feel this way? Why did I care that he was in the room with me? "Maria, let's get out of here. It isn't healthy for you to be alone like this."

"Why do you care? Why are you willing to help me when all I have caused is trouble?" I asked as I turned around and looked at him.

"Partly because I am your doctor." Ratchet answered.

"Oh..."

"Wait, I'm not finished." Ratchet roared. "Yes, as a doctor I care for my patients, but at the same time I care because I understand. My own parents were murdered when I was a young sparkling."

"A sparkling?" I asked.

"It is the equivalent of a child based on Earth terms." Ratchet explained. "I didn't have any siblings, and my parents were killed when I was only a child. I never did fall in love either. War made it where there was no time for me to find a sweetspark. I was forced into becoming a medic during the war. I have seen many innocent bots die before my eyes. From children, to young bots in love, and it leaves scars on a person."

"How do you move on with all of that?" I asked. "Surely it might cause nightmares or mental scares."

"It has, but I still had to move on, just like you do." Ratchet said. "I understand you're upset about your family's death, but the revenge that you have been seeking isn't the right way to go. Revenge will never solve your problems."

"That doesn't change the fact that I am treated like a monster here. They even took the photos of my family from me, not just my bike. That bike was the only thing that seemed to allow me to run from the past. To allow me to find a way into the future. The three women in the hanger, all they did was gossip about me like I was a monster, when all I want is to be free. Along with the twins that seem determined to cause me pain, along with the military that orders you bots around like dogs. The same way they treat all their men. The weapons I created and the armor I created as a way to feel..."

"To feel safe." Ratchet finished for her. "But that doesn't change the fact you want to probably kill the bot who fired at your family."

"Can you blame me? I have been trying to hunt for them for years, but now I probably will never be able to do that locked up here on this hunk of an island. As far as I know, the military is probably studying how I made my metals and armor. Trying to find a way to replicate it in the process. If I knew any better." I said. "Well, they certainly can try to replicate my weapons, but they will never know how to make my metals, they were homemade. Only I, and I alone know what is in those metals and only I would be able to remix minerals and melt them down to where they were made to the right consistency."

"Do you wish to leave your cell?" Ratchet asked. "You can stay in my medbay. I may not be able to provide you your own room, but I can have something set up for you. The twins wouldn't dare to enter my medbay if I was there, so they wouldn't be able to get to you."

"You really are willing to provide me a place to rest? Even with my history?"

"You haven't murdered anyone. You have not committed any crimes that brought harm to others, I don't see why not." Ratchet replied.

"Fine. I am not social, just to give you a heads up." I said.

"There is no problem with that." Ratchet replied. "Come on, let's get you somewhere warm. You look like you're frozen." The sound of the cell unlocking and opening made me look up and see that he held his hand out for me to walk onto. I looked at him and studied his facial expression, seeing what looked like love in his eyes. He truly did care. Didn't he? He looked like he really was sad about her condition, with her history. "You really are telling me the truth, aren't you? I don't see any lies in your eyes." I asked. He didn't respond, as he patiently was waiting there for me to walk out of my cell. I sighed as I slowly stood up onto my feet that grew used to the cold of the cell, while having been sitting on the cell floor for what felt like hours. I stood up and limped over to the door of the cell and walked out slowly. I found him scooping me into his hand, before he turned toward the entrance of the brig, his eyes were the only source of light in the room.

They walked out of the brig, and down the halls to where I saw us both heading into a hanger. What were we doing in a hanger? I thought we were going to his medbay. I sat up on my knees as we entered the hangar, to find several military men along with several cars and a few autobots that were in their bipedal form. I stood up and looked to see that everyone was staring at us as we had entered the room. It made me antsy and I wanted to leave. I wanted to go back to my cell, where they wouldn't be bothering me. I saw a beam near Ratchet's shoulder that led to the platform, so I quickly jumped onto the beam before he could react and climbed up onto the platform where two military men were standing and had been talking before they had come in.

"Gentlemen." I said in greeting, figuring they were concerned about me having been released from my cell. "Enjoying the view? I didn't know I was that pretty." I heard some of the bots start laughing at my remark, along with a few men.

"No, we are just surprised that you have been released so...early." one of the men commented.

"Who authorized your release?" The other man asked.

"I did." A baritone, authoritative voice spoke up as the semi in the room transformed and walked up to the platform that we were standing on. "I find that there was a misunderstanding, one that somehow managed to evade my notice." I looked up and saw that Optimus was standing up in front of the platform, looking at all of the other autobots. "Should I remind you that we are guests on this planet? I have been told that certain autobots have been acting out of order. Gossiping about others and tormenting those that are unable to defend themselves. At least one was willing to confess to their actions, but the others have surprised me by their actions. As a punishment, they will serve the hours that Maria didn't finish in the brig."

"What?" A woman cried, as they had transformed and were staring at Optimus like he was a ghost. "You expect me to serve hours in the brig? For a lowlife human?"

"Downsizing someone is not allowed. I will not allow it." Optimus cried. "Prowl came to me earlier this evening to report a certain set of women were gossiping in the hangar about someone being a freak. While the other was reporting about her being killed. Along with a certain set of twins planning to accomplish a prank on someone who was on bedrest, unable to even speak or sit up. It was by mere luck that she had managed to force her voice to work, which allowed Prowl to catch them in the act of heading toward the beach with her being pulled from behind. Not to mention the very same set of twins were found throwing wrenches into the girl's cell while she was locked up with no way to defend herself."

"So that explains why my wrenches had gone missing." Ratchet cried. Immediately Optimus was glaring at him. "Nevermind, that is beside the point." Ratchet mumbled as he tried to avoid eye contact with Optimus.

"JUST STOP!" I cried. "I am not going to defend the twins, but I will defend the women, alright." I stood up on the railing of the platform to try to make myself look taller and bigger in the process, the same way a predator would. "It wasn't all 3 of them that were really trying to irritate me. Yes, all four bike bots were there, but of the four of them, Prowl, and one of the women were actually defending me at the moment. Besides, maybe I overreacted." I sighed as I stood there.

"Which femme was not causing the problem?" Optimus asked.

I looked over at the motorbikes who had transformed and were looking at me. One was pink, another was blue, and the other was purple and pink. I pointed at the one who was blue and sighed when Optimus nodded in response. "Don't punish them. The last thing you need as a team is to be attacking one another over me. I can handle myself on my own." I jumped off the rail and backflipped in the air before I landed on the ground below with my hands on my hips and everyone staring at me with fish eyes, and dropped jaws. I walked over to the twins and stood in front of them, looking at them both. "If I can win your respect, I dare you both in your holoforms to fight me hand to hand in the training rooms. I win, you both leave me alone, you win, I will wash your exteriors and interiors in your car form." Before they could respond I walked over to the four tall, but skinny bots. I looked up at Prowl and nodded at him, before looking at the three female bots among them. "As for you three, I don't expect you to go into the brig for simly gossiping, that is normal to gossip, but it is pretty rude to downsize the person when she is in hearing distance, or behind her back all the same, especially when you have yet to know them. I will make a deal with you three, as I said about the two boys, I am willing to wash your alt modes, and seeing as you do not have interiors, instead I willingly will help weld and repair scratches or damage that has been inflicted during the war with your enemy, if you in return will give me the respect I desire." I turned around and looked up at Optimus, "I do not expect anyone to go to the brig because of me. I may be human, frail, squishy, and fragile in your eyes, but there is a reason I have survived for as long as I have." I heard one of the other bots in the room laugh at the remark I made about humans, while the other one next to it, elbowed them for laughing.

"Are you certain you want to do this? It is not necessary." Optimus asked as he looked down at her.

"If I means I can have a sense of my dignity and honor afterwards, than yes. I want to prove that I can be trusted and that I can handle myself, just like any other sentient being." I replied as I looked up at him, "Now you two, are you gonna take me up on my challenge or no? I say Prowl should be there as a witness, seeing he is a cop after all." I turned to the twins with my hand held out for them both to lead the way. They immediately transformed into their car modes and two men came out of both cars. They looked like mere teenagers and were pretty goofy in the process. It was a struggle for me to avoid laughing at them. "Lead the way, you two."

"We're gonna beat your butt so hard." Skids said.

"When we beat you, we will make sure you do extra well washing our alts." Mudflap said.

"Don't count your chickens until they hatch." I replied as I followed them, along with several other bots, whether it was in their bipedal form or in their holoforms as well. Clearly interested in watching the entire show. I walked into the room and found some tall man in black standing in the training room in front of the three of them. As I walked into the center along with the men, he started laying out the rules.

"This will be just a basic hand on hand combat. No hitting people in the head, but as far as anything else goes, it is fair game. The first one on the ground for more than 3 seconds, determines the winner. Me and Prowl will be here to referee." The man spoke.

"Yes, sir." I replied as I stood there and nodded. I looked over at the boys that looked like they were dogs salivating for a bone. I waited until everyone had already come inside and were standing in the room. I was determined to show them that I can pack a punch, and that was exactly what I was going to do.

The two men stood on one side, while I stood with my legs split shoulder length and had myself crouched down with my fists ready to fire. While they stood there just smirking like little kids. I was determined to wait until they made their first move. Once the referee walked away, both boys were running right towards me like bulls charging towards the bullfighter. I waited until the last second before I front flipped over them both, my hands grabbing hold of Skid's shoulders in the process. Mudflap kept running while Skids was brought down onto the ground, with a very loud bang in the process.

I quickly flipped him over, with my legs holding him in place, but I wasn't going to forget the brother, who tried to come charging towards me from behind. I quickly rolled off of Skids while Mudflap ended up barrel rolling into his brother who had been trying to get up in the process. I quickly got up and stood near the edge of the ring, while the other two were picking themselves off of the floor. As soon as they were up I charged with my head straight towards the twins, ramming Mudflap in the stomach in the process as I used his body to help bring his twin down in the process. Before they both knew it, I was sitting on top of Mudflap in a hemlock, while he was sitting on top of Skids in the process. Skids was tossing and turning vigorously while he tried to get out and managed to grab a handful of my long hair.

I quickly jerked my head and rammed it into Mudflap's back, squishing Skids to where he quickly let go and his holoform disappeared. I quickly got up and looked around, seeing no sign of Skids anywhere. "You little..." I quickly turned and looked down seeing that Mudflap still wasn't up from me tackling him. He had been down well over 3 seconds, so I turned towards the entrance and ran for it to find Skid's bipedal form coming toward me to tackle me down. "Cheat!" I saw he was about to grab me off the ground, right before I intentionally jumped onto his arm and climbed up to his shoulder, where he was trying incredibly hard to grab hold of me and take me off of his shoulders. As I sat up on his bipedal form I made sure to have my fingers scratch as his paint job in the process before I went to his neck and jumped off of it. As I backflipped I ended up landing with my feet against his back, sending him flying across the hallway before I landed rolling on the floor. I quickly got up to find that Skids was flat on the floor knocked out from hitting his head on the floor in the process. I stood there for a second, with my arms crossed over my chest, before I turned my back finding everyone had seen me manage to handle the big bot in the process.

"How did you do that?" Sideswipe asked.

"He still cheated, so what does it matter? I won, and showed them that they shouldn't bother me in the process." I replied before I turned to where I saw the three females with their arms crossed over their chests. "So, where do you guys keep all the car washing equipment and the welding equipment? I think I owe three females a nice little pedicure." I heard some of the military men scoff at the remark.