Dawn woke up in an unfamiliar place. It took her a moment to let her surroundings sink in and realize that she was in her new room in the Autobot base.

She hadn't been there for long yet, a couple of weeks, and she had trouble getting used to it. Falling asleep wasn't a problem, though, since from the day she had revealed her metal controlling powers to the others, she had been practicing relentlessly to make use of them.

She occasionally got help from some of the Autobots, which was sometimes a good, and sometimes not such a good thing. Ironhide for example, training with him was… insert the sound of a whiplash. Well, it was the main reason why she was so exhausted after the day. Optimus on the other hand was patient and careful not to overexert her. Unfortunately he rarely had the time to train her.

It wasn't just the two of them; just about anyone with nothing to do came to help her at some point. It was a good way to get to know everyone and with every Autobot she got to know, she liked them more and more. She wouldn't hesitate to defend them and fight with them against the Decepticons.

That was if she would actually someday be allowed to go with them on the missions. Optimus had made it clear he wouldn't do that until he would be satisfied with her progress. Hence the continuous training.

Dawn stretched and yawned, throwing her arm across her face to block the bright sunlight for a little longer.

"Finally you're awake!"

Normally Dawn would have been startled by the unexpected voice next to her bed, but this one she recognized too well.

"Too early for whatever you're here for, Sideswipe", she murmured and turned around to bury her face in the pillow.

"It seems we have a case of sleeping beauty here", she heard Sunstreaker on the other side of the bed. "What do you think we should do about it, brother?"

"I don't know when you have familiarized yourselves with fairytales, but if you try to kiss me, you'll be spending the next month in Ratchet's tender care", her muffled threat made the twins grin at each other.

"Aww, come on", Sideswipe sat down on the bed next to her. "You know you like us."

Dawn knew she wouldn't get rid of the twins by ignoring them, so she turned her head to see Sideswipe smirking at her. "Alright, just tell me what you want and then get your holoform rears somewhere else so I can wake up in peace and get to training."

Sideswipe leaned closer until his face was hovering right above hers, his blue optics glowing excitedly. "We're here to abduct you."

Dawn stared at the red Autobot for a moment. "So you're bored again?"

"Yep."

She rolled to her back and sat up. "Why don't you just drive to town and look for Decepticons you can bother?"

Sunstreaker shrugged and moved to the foot of the bed. "There haven't been any sightings anywhere in a long time."

Dawn threw her covers aside. "Sorry to hear that guys, but I really have to get going, I don't want to waste good training time."

She moved to slide out of the bed, but Sideswipe put his arm over her legs, stopping her. "You've been obsessed with your training lately and we've decided to help you…"

Both Autobots looked too joyful, which always made Dawn nervous.

Sunstreaker finished his brother's sentence. "…By abducting you and taking you out to have some fun."

Dawn sighed, but before she could do or say anything, Sideswipe stood up and nodded to his twin brother.

"Hey! W-what the hell, guys!" The woman protested as her her arms and legs were grabbed and she was carried to the door. "You can't be serious!"

The seriousness of her words was somewhat diminished by the fact that she was almost laughing. She did like the twins, even though sometimes they tended to be too impulsive. This was clearly one of those days.

On the way across the yard they passed by Ratchet and Ironhide, who stopped talking when they saw the strange sight. Dawn turned to look at them and waved her hand.

"Hi! Just passing by here."

"So I see", Ratchet stated, fiddling with one of his medical devices. "So Sideswipe and Sunstreaker went ahead with their plan."

The twins chuckled and Sunstreaker shook his head. "We can't take credit for this, it was your idea after all."

Dawn cast a surprised look at the medic, who glimpsed at her from his work. "You have been straining yourself too much lately. You need to take a break."

"So you convinced these two to carry out this plot."

"Actually they overheard me talking to Optimus. But as you humans say, this way I can kill two birds with one stone. You go relax for a change and make sure you keep those two away from here so I can finish my work uninterrupted by their constant complaining."

"Sure", Dawn agreed. "I just wish they would've let me change my clothes first."

They continued forward, Sideswipe's words fading away. "What's wrong, you are clothed. Besides…"

Ironhide watched until they disappeared from sight. "I can't help, but feel bad for her. Those two make me feel older each time they come up with their ridiculous shenanigans."

Ratchet started walking towards the medical bay. "Dawn can handle them, I don't doubt that."

"It didn't seem like it just now."

"With her powers and how much she's improved them, she could probably easily put the twins in their place if she wanted to."

Ironhide followed the medic. "You seem to have observed her progress very closely during her stay."

"Yes I have", he said, not offering further explanations. Ironhide didn't ask.

Back at the operation 'Dawn abduction', they had gotten to the two Lamborghinis parked in front of the main gate.

"You guys know I could've walked here", Dawn pointed out when they let her down.

The twins shut off their holoforms and the red Lamborghini's door opened. "You would have come voluntarily?"

Dawn couldn't say anything to that, so she rolled her eyes and got in the car. Sunstreaker drove next to them. "Ready to go?"

Dawn shrugged and smiled. "Well, it's what the doctor ordered."

"I'll race you", Sideswipe declared and roared his engine.

"Haven't I beaten you enough times yet, brother", Sunstreaker boasted.

"I think you might have a problem with your memory circuits, since it was me, who won the last time."

"I just know I'm going to regret this", Dawn hurried to put the seatbelt on and leaned back on her seat.

"We'll see who's better this time", Sunstreaker retorted. "Readysetgo!"

The red and yellow Lamborghinis dashed out through the open gate, Sunstreaker slightly ahead.

"Trust me", Dawn heard Sideswipe's excited voice. "This is just what you need to loosen up."

"Yeah well, so far I think this trip is going to have just the opposite effect."

The ride wasn't actually that bad. At first. In the beginning they saw only barren wilderness around them, but eventually the landscape changed to woods and curvy roads. That was when Dawn held on to her seat and closed her eyes in terror, feeling them skidding in sharp turns. At least she wasn't thinking about training.

After a few near heart failures, they finally came to a sudden halt.

"Hah, I won!" Sunstreaker exclaimed victoriously.

"No way, what race were you watching, you scrap metal for optics! Hey Dawn, you tell us who won."

"Can I open my eyes now?"

The twins laughed and Sideswipe opened the door for her. "You should. I think you might like this place."

Dawn did so and drew breath in astonishment. She stepped out slowly, admiring the beautiful landscape around them. Sideswipe and Sunstreaker transformed back to their bipedal modes and stood next to her. Dawn let her eyes travel across the forest that went on as far as she could see from the edge of the cliff they were standing on. Below them was a small valley with a lake in the middle, completed with a tall, sparkly waterfall.

"This… is perfect", she couldn't take her eyes off the scenery. It sure was a welcome change to the Autobot base.

"Success", Sideswipe grinned and gave a high-five to his brother. "We came across this place on one of our Decepticon hunts."

"So...?" Sunstreaker knelt down and offered his hand to Dawn. "Wanna go check it out?"

Dawn's smile widened as she let the Autobot lift her on his shoulder. She had completely forgiven the twins for abducting her, since they had brought her to this paradise.

"Hey Sunstreaker!" Sideswipe called to his brother. "I'll race you to the bottom."

"Sideswipe!" Dawn yelled, grabbing Sunstreaker's head tighter. "You do that and nobody will ever find your rusting carcasses from the bottom of that lake!"

"My carcass is too pretty to be thrown in a lake, so I'll guess I'll have to say no this time."

"Spoilsport", Sideswipe complained, as if disappointed, but smiling at the same time. "I thought we came here to have fun."

"If you two want to race, keep me out of it."

They started their way down, thankfully at a walking speed. Dawn listened for a while to the twins' bickering, but she was too enchanted by their surroundings to pay close attention. She simply felt happy and serene. Like she was out playing with her brothers, without a care in the world.

It was weird how fast she had begun to think of the Autobots as family more than friends. Maybe it was because her real family was long since gone. Still, the Autobots had their own roles in her mind. The twins were like goofy little brothers and Bumblebee, despite being the youngest, acted like the older, overly protective brother. As for Ratchet and Ironhide... better left unsaid.

She loved them, no doubt about that, and loved what her life had become, even with the fact that there was a war going on with the Decepticons. Here she was accepted. She didn't want to think what the future might bring for all of them, not there and then, everything was too perfect for such thoughts.

Dawn leaned her head against Sunstreaker's and sighed contently. Ratchet had given her a job to do, so she might as well start coming up with ideas how to keep the twins busy for the rest of the day.