Disclaimer: The Transformers and all related material belong to Hasbro, concept originally created and licensed through Takara Co. LTD.

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Author Note: Due to my preference of Galaxy Force over Cybertron, all the names used in this fic are from the original Japanese version, fansubbed. So for those who are unaware, Demolisher is Mudflap's original name. As for the other names mentioned and used in this one-shot... Autovolt is Crosswise's original name. Guardshell is Landmine's original name. Gasket and Landbullet were renamed Ransack and Crumplezone. Live Convoy's name was changed to Evac. Destron is the Japanese term for Decepticon, Cybertron is the Japanese term for Autobot. Also, this fic takes place just before episode 37, so if you haven't seen that much of the series yet, there may be some minor spoilers in this for you. And since this is a one-shot, I won't be continuing it after this. It's just meant to fill in a gap between two of Demolisher's appearences in the series in terms of some character development. That said...enjoy!

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"Between a Rock and a Hard Place"

Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. The same word kept repeating over and over again in Demolisher's head as he drove down the two lane road, forested areas to either side of him. Out in what felt like just about the middle of nowhere, there was little to distract him from his angry, self deprecating thoughts.

The idea of joining the Destron cause seemed like a good one at the time, especially with that schemer Starscream sugar-coating it with promises of more freedom and opportunities to unleash his rage. Before migrating to Earth, Demolisher had been a respected member of the Seibertronian construction force, able to help with some of the most difficult architectural tasks due to his size and strength. But hiding on Earth under Cybertron High Command's rules felt degrading. And while his new alternate mode was that of a Terran construction vehicle, but he felt worthless. Additionally, with humanity squabbling amongst themselves left and right, the big mech discovered over time that he did not feel any real urge to help them even if he could transform and reveal his true identity. Why should he assist such a petty race?

He should have figured that with an army comprised of the likes of Thundercracker, Gasket and Landbullet that he was in for a rough ride. The lot of them cared only about themselves, anyway, shooting their mouths off only to be blown away by some member of the Cybertron army. Only Starscream and Master Megatron seemed to possess any degree of real power, and yet despite wearing the same insignia, were now constantly at odds with one another. Meanwhile, Grand Black Hole was still closing in, threatening a number of planets and races.

Stupid. All of it was just incredibly stupid.

Growling to himself, Demolisher increased his speed, not particularly caring if a member of the local highway patrol happened to see him or not. Tires spinning faster and faster, he tore down the road almost as fast as his large form would allow, engine gunning and intakes hissing. He was no Speedian racer, but slagged if he wasn't going to work off his frustration somehow. His therapy was cut painfully short, however, as one wheel locked up suddenly, the abrupt interruption in RPM throwing him completely off balance. Skidding to one side, Demolisher slid off the road and down the near embankment, barely avoiding a particularly large tree in the process. Swerving from side to side, he attempted to slow down, brakes squealing as he locked them. Finally, he managed to skid to a complete stop with the assistance of a redwood, his right side slamming into the trunk. Fortunately, it seemed no real damage was done in the side collision; a quick review of his diagnostics informed him that he managed to decrease his speed enough before hitting.

For a long moment, the crane simply sat there, trying to determine what nuisance had just thrown him off the road. Diagnostics continually reported some sort of obstruction and with little room to drive, Demolisher didn't dare work the problem with some tire spinning in the dirt.

"Transform!" Panels and parts unfolding and shifting, the crane came apart at the seams and reconfigured itself in the blink of an eye. Landing on his feet, Demolisher cursed loudly as a sharp pain shot up his right leg, starting somewhere behind the lowest tire in the back. "Saaa... This is all I needed. Something locking up somewhere! Probably a bit of metal or debris lodged up behind my wheel! I can't get anywhere like this!"

Resting his left hand on the tree he hit, the big mech leaned against it a little while trying to bend his right leg at the knee joint, twisting his foot and ankle in an attempt to see what was causing him so much trouble. But the tire itself was set too far back behind one of his outer guards and was beneath another wheel, obstructing his line of vision. Growing angrier by the minute, he sat down and tried to turn at the waist, the fingers on his right hand feeling over the two tires, poking about around where the axel was somewhat exposed. The effort only resulted in more pain, causing Demolisher to roar in rage, his optics shuttered.

"Primus! EVERYTHING is against me!"

Intakes gasping, he lifted his shutters just in time to catch a bit of movement out of the corner of one optic. Whirling to face what he perceived to be a possible threat, he brought just enough hurt on himself to lose his balance and topple over backwards, landing on his aft in the grass and dirt. Fists clenched, he turned his gaze to the grouping of bushes some fifty feet away. "Come out and face me! I'm not afraid of you, no matter who or what you are!"

The bushes rattled a little and a human peered over the tops of the leaves at him, eyes wide. Demolisher cursed himself inwardly. There he was, just sitting in the middle of nowhere in his robot mode, exposed to whatever or whoever might come by. Knowing it was too late, however, he simply sat and watched in irritation as the human crept out of hiding.

She was kind of a skinny little thing, perhaps just shy of those two older children the Cybertrons usually had running around with them. Her hair was short and dark brown, barely shoulder length and her skin was decently tan, a backwards baseball cap covering her head. Wearing a pair of faded jeans and an old black t-shirt, she appeared to be in her younger teen years. Perhaps fourteen or fifteen? For nearly a minute, she simply stared at him as though she wasn't sure what she was seeing.

"Well?" he finally demanded in a low growl. "What are you staring at? Get lost!"

But the girl didn't make a move to leave. In fact, she moved closer. Demolisher backpedaled in the dirt, only managing to push himself a short distance before his back collided with a tree. Grumbling to himself, he tried to gain his feet again, only to fall back onto his aft.

Glaring down at the human, he clenched his fists again. "Stop staring at me, you little brat!"

"What...are you?" she finally asked, sounding almost more awed than frightened. "And how did you get out here? Are you...some kind of military secret project?"

"Fah, none of your business! Go back to where YOU came from!"

Folding her arms across her chest, the girl frowned. "That was rude. And as for going back home, no thanks. I'm never going back there, again."

Demolisher stared at her, then growled again, raising the crane on one arm in an attempt to put some fear into her. More or less undaunted, the girl moved off to one side where it would be harder for him to get at her. Narrowing his optics, the big bot shifted his weight as if to follow, but the pain in his lower right leg kept him immobile. Sticking her tongue out, the teenager pulled a face at him.

"Trying to be all scary and stuff. Some big mean robot you are, you can't even get up, can you?"

Digging his fingers into the dirt at his sides, Demolisher felt his relays quivering in rage. "Shut up! I can get up if I want to!"

"Bet you can't. You've been sitting on your butt since I found you making all that noise."

"I can and I WILL!" Turning at the waist, the mech grabbed the tree behind him for support and tried once more to stand up, using the redwood like a crutch. A slow smile spread across his faceplate as he managed to get into a kneeling position and then push himself up right, leaning the majority of his weight on his left foot. "Ha! I told you I could stand."

She shrugged. "So what? A toddler can stand. Can you walk, too?"

"Why you little..." Gritting his dental plates, Demolisher let go of the tree as if to start towards her...only to lose his balance as he put his right foot forward. Groaning in pain, he teetered before falling over on his side. Frustrated almost to a breaking point, he slammed one fist into the ground. "GAH! Stupid--! Just you wait until I get up again, you runt! I'll stomp all over you!"

"Yeah, sure. Whatever. All talk, no walk." She then turned away, heading off.

Demolisher didn't bother to glance up as she began to take her leave, pounding his fist into the ground a few more times. Humans... Selfish, all of them! They were so much of the reason he joined the Destrons in the first place! Always hurting one another. Fighting amongst themselves. Being needlessly destructive. "You're just like the rest of the humans! I hate all of you! You hear me! I hate your kind!"

Coming to a halt, the girl glanced over one shoulder at the fallen robot. Guilt starting to well up, she sighed and rubbed the back of her neck, watching the mech struggle to push himself up into a sitting position again. Finally, unable to just remain an observer, she walked back towards him, reaching him just as he fell onto his backside against the tree, again.

"You should call someone for help," she stated simply with a frown.

Demolisher eyed her, the corner of his mouth twitching. "...I...have no one to call. I don't need any help, anyway!"

"You can barely stand, let alone walk! You'll be stuck here all day and into the night if you don't do something to help yourself."

"You think I haven't already tried to help myself? What do you know, anyway? Human..."

The girl sighed. "I know you're hurt. You wouldn't be stuck like this, otherwise."

Looking away, Demolisher snorted and said nothing in return.

"Huh, you're just like the older boys at my school," she went on. "You think you're so tough you don't need help. You probably pick on anything and everything smaller than you, huh? That's probably why you said you'd stomp on me. You should be ashamed of yourself. Why should a big robot like you need to do something like that?"

"That's not your business. Go home, little girl."

"I can't. I ran away from home because jerks like you pushed me around."

Glancing back at her, Demolisher felt a jolt along his relays. His surprise was followed by guilt, however. "Heh, perhaps you do understand, then. How sad."

The girl shrugged and walked closer, approaching his right leg and reaching up to touch the metal on the tire guard. "Yeah, I guess it is sad. So where exactly are you hurt? Going to tell me, or are you going to be a big baby about it?"

"You're too young to know how to fix me," he growled back, shifting his leg away from her. "Don't waste your time."

"Well, maybe if you tell me what's wrong and then HOW to fix it, I could follow your instructions."

"Something is obstructing the workings of the rear most tire and axel on my right leg. I don't know what it is. It probably got caught up there while I was driving out on the road."

"Maybe a rock or a bit of metal? There are a lot of construction vehicles that use that road."

He shrugged a little. "How should I know? I can't see back there."

"So stop moving and let me look, already." Before he could stop her, she walked up to him again and climbed up onto the back edge of his heel to peer at the tire in question. "Don't move, okay? Looks like there are a lot of moving parts in there. I tried to reach down into the kitchen garbage disposal after a fork when I was younger and my mother told me that if I did that and the parts started moving, I could lose a finger."

"Uh...uh huh," was all he could think of to respond with. What did this crazy human think she was doing? Sitting as still as he could, the mech stared at the ground by his other foot, suddenly feeling horribly embarrassed.

"So what's your name, anyhow?" the girl asked as she pulled a flashlight out of her small backpack to look further into the working of his foot. "Mine's Samantha, but everyone just calls me Sam. Or even Sammy, but I hate that nickname. The guys at school like to call me that because I don't act like a girl that much and my hair's so short."

"Er...Demolisher." He fell silent again, wincing a little as her hands felt over his axl and the gears around it. "Uh...do you see anything?"

"I think maybe so... But it's so far back in I can't reach it very well. Hang on." Pulling away from his tires, she dropped back down to the ground and cast around until she located a short, thick stick. Taking the stick in one hand and the flashlight in the other, Sam pulled herself back up onto his foot and wedged herself back in between the rear most tire and its guard. "Yeah. There's a rock stuck in between a couple of gears. I'm gonna try and push it out."

"Huh, I'm stronger than some small rock. It should have been smashed to pieces!"

"Maybe, but it's in there at a really weird angle. Kind of ground in between two gears and the nearest wall."

Demolisher gritted his plates as she began to use the stick to try and wedge the rock out. He could feel the gears rattling, demanding to be free to move again, but he willed them to remain still. Finally, with a low grinding noise, the stone came loose and fell, rattling its way down past the tire and falling out onto the ground. Sam wriggled out after, her hands covered in dirt and grease. The hissing of intakes followed, Demolisher's vents unlocking to release the "breath" he'd practically been holding all the while.

"Try to stand up again," Sam instructed as she took a few steps back.

Nodding, Demolisher managed to rise up with a low grunt, gaining his feet and finding he could place equal weight on both ankle joints. He took a moment to shifts his weight back and forth, testing his limits, but found that everything seemed to be in order again, the minimal self repair systems he did have working to realign the gears that had been knocked slightly out of place. "It's...fixed. You actually repaired me."

Wiping her hands on her shift, Sam smirked. "I dunno about 'repaired', but sure. I guess. I think maybe it was more like finding which thing did not belong."

"So will you go home, now?"

"I told you I can't. I ran away from home."

"Running away is a coward's way out." Demolisher frowned, unable to deny the similarity of their circumstances. "Why?"

Sam shrugged, not bothering to meet his gaze. "Because everyone at school teases me. Because I'm different than all the other girls because I don't like girly things. My older sister picks on me and my parents don't understand me. I have a friend in the next town over, so I was going to hitchhike to her place and stay there for a while. All that really isn't your business, anyway. Besides, you're out here by yourself just like me. Where is your home?"

He shrugged in turn. "Destroyed, perhaps. I don't know."

"So what about your friends or your family?"

"I don't have any."

"Why not?"

Demolisher grunted in irritation. "Because I am a fool. I betrayed my comrades for selfish reasons. Then the ones I joined turned out to be selfish fools, as well. Now I can't return to either side."

"So what about your first friends?" she asked. "Won't they take you back?"

"I am a traitor. They have no reason to."

Placing both hands behind her head, she stuck her tongue out a moment. "Sounds like we're kinda the same. Maybe we should go to the next town together? Might be fun."

"No. You are too young and too small to be out wandering around. What happens if you run into another like me who does try to stomp on you? You should go home," he insisted.

"But I can't! I already told--"

Kneeling down, the big mech prodded her lightly with one finger, one optic narrowed. "Huh, I could still step on you. You should go home and I will take you there. That will make us even. At least you have people who are related to you. They will wonder where you are."

"Just my luck." Sam rolled her eyes, arms folded across her chest. "I run into a giant robot in the woods and he turns out to be a bossy ass. Alright, fine. It's getting dark, anyway. Man, my parents are going to be pissed..."

"Come on. Back to the road." Leading the way, Demolisher headed back through the woods, moving slower than usual so he wouldn't leave his human follower too far behind.

When they reached the two lane highway, Demolisher converted back into vehicle mode, opening one door for his passenger to climb in. Sam did so in a grudging sort of manner, sitting with her backpack in her lap all the way back into town again. Despite any protests she had along the way, however, Demolisher did not deviate from the instructions she gave as to how to reach her neighborhood. He tried his best to deny it, but deep down, he knew his main reason for taking her home was not just in repayment for her help, but because if the Destrons returned to Earth in force, there was a chance Sam could be hurt. She was safest with her family.

"Stay with your parents," he all but ordered when he finally came to a halt and let her out. "You will be safe with them."

She huffed, stuffing her hands in her jean pockets, but nodded anyway. "Yeah, I guess. They're gonna be really ticked off, though."

"Better to be in trouble and alive than simply dead for no good reason."

"Are you always so dramatic?"

Demolisher revved his engine as he got ready to pull out. "Huh. Perhaps. Goodbye, Sam."

"Wait!" As he started to leave, she ran after, causing him to come to a halt. "Er, um... Will I ever see you again? I mean, you're just a stubborn, pushy old robot and I don't even know where you came from, but..."

His intakes exhaled in a long, exasperated sigh. "Don't tell anyone about me. For your own good. And maybe...maybe you will see me again. We'll see."

With that, he pulled out and headed down the road. In his rearview camera, he could see Sam running after up to the end of the block, waving madly after him. Grumbling to himself, Demolisher drove out onto the main road and headed out of town again, not even sure as to where he was headed. He had a lot to consider; apparently the three kids that followed the Cybertrons around weren't the only humans who could be decent beings. Sam wasn't perfect, but at least she'd helped him out. He had still made enemies out of the Cybertrons, however. What was he supposed to do, now?

Unbeknownst to the crane as he hit the highway, another Transformer was watching from just inside the tree line. He smiled a little, having seen and heard most of what had gone on between Demolisher and the human girl.

"Guardshell is supposed to arrive sometime tomorrow to check in on Coby and Lori. Maybe if I can sidetrack and borrow him for a little while, he can finish what that girl started and bring Demolisher back to us. I guess things like this are the reason why Live Convoy loves Earth and everything on it so much. Just when you think you have it all figured out, something surprises you. Ah well. Better not lose track of Demolisher. Transform!"

Converting to vehicle mode, Autovolt drove out onto the highway and began following his target at a distance.

End