Seven Wonders|Transformers.

Chapter 9: True Faith.

Clara was quiet as she sat in the passenger side of Mirage's alt mode, the five autobots driving down the empty road with Mirage in the lead. Mirage respected the silence Clara had requested, but he had found himself hating it so much. He wanted to talk to her, ask if she was doing any better, and if she even wanted to talk to Optimus, because he looked like he wanted to speak to her. "So...I know you asked for quiet but...are you okay?" Mirage slowly asked her and Clara let out a breath with a frown on her face. The woman glanced out the passenger window and watched the outside pass by. "I really need to know, man, because they took those kids and..." He trailed off and Clara shifted in the seat. She felt sick at the thought of those three being stuck wherever they were with strangers who threatened and wanted god knows what. Clara found herself swallowing some bile back as her thoughts raced.

"I..." Clara felt her voice falter and her heart began to race. She felt like she was going to hurl. "Pullover, Mirage!" She suddenly shouted, Mirage swerved startled at her sudden shout.

"What's wrong?!" Mirage exclaimed, Clara could feel her palms growing sweaty and her breathing became shaky. "You're pale and sweaty, your heart is racing. What. Is. Wrong." He demanded but Clara didn't answer and pounded on the window with her palm.

"Just fucking pullover, Mirage! Please!" She yelled desperately, Mirage didn't know what to say, so he listened. The autobot jerked off the road and onto the grass to the side, coming to a screeching stop. His actions made the remaining autobots halt in the middle of the road. He quickly unlocked his door and Clara stumbled out before sprinting off into the woods nearby. Mirage quickly transformed startled and the other autobots followed, watching Clara run off into the woods.

"Clara!" Mirage shouted after her.

"What is wrong?" Optimus asked with concern, stepping forward while Jazz and Ironhide shared confused looks and Ratchet frowned with narrowed optics.

"I...I don't know. She just suddenly panicked and screamed at me to let her out and then..." Mirage struggled to explain, placing his hands on the sides of his face. Optimus' optics flickered in the direction Clara had run off to with worry.

"She hasn't been okay since Bee and the kids were taken." Jazz commented, a frown of concern on his face.

"I wouldn't imagine she would be." Ironhide pointed out and they couldn't argue with that. Clara had made it a rule, a law, that these kids were under her care and the doctor clearly took a liking to the young scout.

"Someone must go after her, it is unsafe." Ratchet was the one to suggest, he managed to get a scan off her before she completely disappeared. She was clearly having a panic attack on top of something else. The chemicals in her body were off the charts. He had no doubt whoever went after her would smell her off her alarm pheromones alone if they couldn't see her.

"I will go after her," Optimus stated and Mirage swallowed hard. The Prime noticed the anxiety in his posture and placed a calming hand on his shoulder. "Clara is in pain, Mirage. I understand your worry for her. I can see you want to go after her, but please...remain here." He told the young autobot in a low tone and Mirage took a deep breath, reluctantly nodding.

"Just...make sure she's okay, please, Optimus." Mirage begged quietly and Optimus gave him a firm nod before trudging off into the woods after Clara. Mirage was sure if he was in his holomatter form he'd be biting his nails, badly, he gained that habit from Clara. She bit her nails and picked at the cuticles.

Clara found herself feeling differently. The moment her feet decided she'd gone far enough, her hand placed against a tree and she vomited. Whatever was left in Clara's stomach from today was gone. Her breathing was rapid and she rested her forehead against the tree. "I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry," Clara whispered, heavy with guilt. Her world felt like it was spinning, like her heart was going to burst. This was worse than the guilty feeling and the vomiting. She couldn't even find the word to describe whatever emotions this was. Clara forced herself away from the tree and clutched her chest in pain, she felt like she was having a heart attack. She could hear a ringing in her ears as the world around her became blurry, she didn't even acknowledge the soft rumbling thuds of Optimus walking towards her.