What Do I Want

By: Lady Venom

Note: Second in the LV series, hope I haven't stepped on anyone's toes with copy- right infringement yet. LV is mine; all other characters that I have in here that I know of are mine. Please don't become angry if you see something that belongs to you. I just write because I enjoy it, as you hopefully will as well!

"What do you most want in the world?"

She hesitated, wanting to answer truthfully. And the answer surprised her.

"A family to call my own."

"But you do already. You have a father - "

She cut him off with a curt shake of her head.

"No, I mean I want a husband, and a child of my own. I want to be loved."

He looked at her skeptically, "You are still a child, much too young to be having thoughts of grandeur such as this."

Eyes lowered, her soft voice carried powerful words.

"You can't keep me here forever, and I always get what I want."

Pignatti harrumphed at her usual up front nature, but continued.

"And what do you envision this family of yours to look like?"

"I... " She stopped, pulling the dream up from the depths she kept it buried in. "We live in a beautiful house; a huge field of grass surrounds us, with rolling hills. He's a wonderful father, with bl- " She stopped, refusing to describe who she wanted as a mate, due to the fact that Pignatti worked with him.

   "And I would have a daughter. She'll be graceful and beautiful. With strawberry blonde hair, worn in a long braid. And I'll teach her how to fight, how to defend herself in battle. And I will teach her right from

wrong."

Interested that a test subject could have such a large dream, he curiously asked the next question.

"And what is her name?"

A faint smile tugged at her lips as she answered without hesitation; "I will call her Chii." Seeing his puzzled look, she explained.

"Chii, it's Chinese. It kinda means blood. Only… more… It means the life force, what gives us the power to live."

"Interesting play on words." He glanced at his watch. "We'll continue this tomorrow."

Escorting her to the door, he watched the guards direct her back to her room. Half- way there, another scientist intercepted them.

"I've got a few tests to run. So I'll take it from here."

She watched the guards leave her in the care of this blonde scientist. Only once in the safety of her room did she allow herself a happy smile.

"Nate, where've you been? It's been ages!"

Nathan grinned at her exuberance, and shrugged nonchalant.

"Here and there. You know, the usual."

Pulling closer she grabbed him in a hug.

"I take it you've had a good day?" He laughed as she began to squeeze him in the hug warmly.

She laughed, "Try a whole three days! No tests, no training, just these little sessions of pokin' around my psyche."

When she finally let go of him, Nate snapped his fingers as he remembered something and dug around the deep pockets of his lab coat. Finally pulling out two small brightly wrapped packages.

"For me?"

She gently unwrapped the foil-covered treat eagerly. Instantly recognizing, it she popped it in her mouth.

"It's chocolate hazelnut, do you like it?"

"Yesh, thank you shhhooo much!" She said around the melting square in her mouth.

Wanting to save the other one for later, she quickly dropped it into a pants pocket in her closet, and returned to him.

"Can you tell me about Cybertron?"

"What do you want to know?"

She paused, she had heard a little bit of the Beast Wars on prehistoric earth, but it was never enough. Curling up on the bed next to him, legs crossed, arms on her knees, she leaned forward and asked.

"Tell me about the war. About Megatron stealing the Golden Disk."

"But you've heard that one already." He laughed.

"But I really like that one." She whined.

He chuckled again, defeated. "Fine, fine."

She listened eagerly when Nate recounted how Megatron would have succeeded in stealing the Golden Disks if not for Optimus and his crew. Of how Dinobot, the mighty warrior, joined Optimus in his quest for what was right. Lady Venom listened intently, filling in her favorite parts when he forgot them. Finally though, the story ended.

"I have to go, the CHM (Council of Humans and Maximals) have a meeting soon that I'm required to attend."

She sat up, sliding off the bed to hold him back. "Is it about the other one. Over in level ten?"

Nate shook his head, "No, I honestly don't know what it's about."

Satisfied, she let him leave. She stared off into space for a moment, bored before deciding to do the exercises Pignatti had suggested for her the previous week.

Moving to the center of the room, she stood motionless, allowing her breathing to clear her mind. Slowly, she twisted her body to the left, keeping her feet firmly planted. Moving her hands in an intricate swoop up and down. Usually her mind and body worked as one, keeping her in a constant state of peaceful well being, but there was a snag. Her thoughts kept tugging at something. Frowning, she forced herself to keep going, to ignore the thoughts.

"Annabelle? Annabelle where are you?"

She jolted at the memory, not knowing where it had come from. She tried to clear her head, forcing the memory aside and

gasped at the flood of images. That spider, it looked familiar. She knew, yet she didn't, that it was poisonous. She felt a burning sensation on her hand, on closer inspection of her right hand, she saw two tiny crescent shaped scars.

Her attention was drawn to the faint sound of her door being unlocked. Turning she saw Mr. Pignatti closely followed by security guards.

"Can I help you?" She asked sarcastically, obviously annoyed that she was not to have some peace and quiet for the day.

He beckoned her closer, "Just a little light training before lights out."

Following, he led her down the hall to another room. It was much longer than the others she'd been in were, and she turned, waiting for instructions.

"This session is quite simple. Get from point A," He pointed to where she

stood, and then across the room. "To point B."

She looked at him skeptically, "Nothing with you is ever 'quite simple'"

The scientist shrugged, "That’s what you have to do. I’ll be on the other side of the room waiting." Turning he left, signaling that training had commenced. With a sigh she turned to face the empty room.

Cautiously, she began toward the other side. No sooner had she taken two steps when razor sharp discs shot out of the walls, aiming straight for her neck. Diving forward she tucked in her legs, rolling with the fall. Before she had a chance to get back on her feet, she felt something cold and hard wrap around her ankle.

Looking up, she saw a metallic tentacle lifting her. Another one shot out of the floor and grabbed her opposite wrist. Wiggling a little, she was able to cut the one holding her ankle with sharp claws that slid out of her hand. But before she could free her wrist, tiny, spike like needles poked out from every link in the tentacle. Including the one round about her wrist. She cried out from the pain, reaching out she sliced the tentacle in half, removing the part still embedded in her wrist was painstakingly slow, and one of the needles had hit an artery, and Lady Venom bleed profusely.

But she continued on; her hand hanging uselessly limp by her side, it's lack of use slowing down her progress. Almost to the other end, she jumped over a stray shot, bringing up her legs to brace for an impact that never came.

Looking down, she saw that the floor had opened up under her. And she fell. Unprepared, she landed on her injured hand at an angle. Wincing from the pain, she looked up and watched the top slid shut over her. Effectively locking her in. Feeling the walls around her, she couldn't think of a way out. And she suddenly found herself out of breath. Feeling the walls again, she swore they felt closer.

Pounding on the walls, she began to panic. Using her claws she slashed a continuous loop of X's, trying to break free. Finding a corner, she knelt down, trying to calm her breathing. Finally losing her nerve, she screamed out in terror.

"Get me out of here!!"

        She started to feel light-headed with the lack of oxygen. She felt her body begin to tremble, finding it suddenly very cold. Looking up, she couldn't even see light shining through, there were no cracks. Closing her eyes she forced herself to calm her breathing, and to picture the room as it should look. Once able to do that she stood, feeling a bit more confidant. Feeling the walls again, she found the gashes she had made. They were just deep enough for her to use as a foot hold.

Wedging her foot into the groove, she hefted herself up, and with her sore hand she felt along the edge for any type of indent, using her other hand for balance. Finally finding the edge she began creating a small hole. Big enough t fit her hand through and push the door back.

With a deep sigh of relief, she climbed out. Panting from the exertion, she wobbly made it to the end, all but collapsing on the door. It opened to reveal Pignatti.

"Very good. You were able to overcome your fear! Now, report to Med. Bay and have that looked at." He said, pointing to her left hand, which was now practically covered in blood.

Not even acknowledging him, Lady Venom sidestepped the scientist, quickly making her way to the Med. Bay. A woman in a white lab coat glanced at the wound.

"Another training session gone wrong?"

Hopping onto the examining table, Lady Venom watched as the doctor cleaned her cuts. After they were bandaged, she picked up a needle and turned to the younger woman.

"Uh. Hey there, watcha doing with that needle? Uh... " She glanced at the

name tag. "… Dr. Hyson?"

"Oh, don't worry. This is for any infections you may have acquired from another type of metal in your system."

"What do you mean 'other metals' in my system."

"The metal in your body is Cybertronian metal, and your body rejects other forms of metal." She explained, injecting the clear liquid into Lady Venom's arm. On her way back to her room she glimpsed one of the few Cybertronians and -

Watched as he held up something for inspection. She shook her head at the flash of memory. Why are they coming back now? What good are they to me? She smiled at it none-the-less. Mo gradach, it was Gaelic and meant 'my dear one' But, since when did I know Gaelic? Only once back in her room did she realize there was no blood on her bandage, nor did it hurt.

She grasped the end and slowly unwound the bandage. The closer to the end she got, the more surprised she was to see no blood. Pulling the cotton white gauze completely away, Lady Venom stared dumbstruck at her unbroken skin. Scared, she brought out a claw and cut a thin line using her index fingernail across her forearm. Fresh blood seeped to the surface; she dabbed at it with the clean cloth. After a five-minute wait, she watched her skin slowly knit itself back together. And she remembered something Nate had once told her about X.

"He has not only an indestructible spark, but he can heal himself instantly."

"How?"

Nathan shrugged. "Not sure, something some bot stumbled on through

tests, no doubt."

The sudden appearance of Nate at her door stopped her train of thought. He came over and grabbed her hands, wordlessly searching for something. Annoyed she pulled them back.

"What is it?"

He still had his eyes on her arms when he spoke, "After training did Hyson give you a shot?"

"Yes," Seeing the look he gave her sent shivers down her metallic spine.

"But she said it was for an infection." Lady Venom protested. He sighed.

She looked at him wearily, "But it wasn't for an infection, was it."

"Just answer this for me. Do you hurt yourself in every training session?"

She snorted, "Of course I do. It's not exactly a piece of pie."

"Cake." But he shook his head, dismissing the confusion. "The meeting was about you. It turns out the CMH see to it that you hurt yourself in each time you train in order to give you a drug that allows you to regenerate. Or, heal. But it's not permanent, hence all those visits to the Med. Bay."

Remembering her earlier, near nervous breakdown in the training room she growled.

"So, make me train hard enough to kill a normal person, than pump me full of that and, poof, good as new for another battle."

Nate nodded, "It's to keep you on a short leash, so that you have to keep coming back to us. They're calling you a human weapon. Indestructible, or at least, almost."

"Keep me coming back? What do you mean?"

Lowering his eyes Nathan refused to meet her questioning look for a moment.

"It’s a type of drug, and they say that it’s addictive so that you will never be able to run away."

She turned her back on him, arms crossed over her chest. "And what else did the great CMH say?"

"They're trying to sell you to the Maximals." He moved closer, resting his hands on her shoulders. "Believe me, if I could, I would stop all this. But it's beyond me, I think even the Tripadacious Council are taking a look at you."

She rotated her index finger in the air, "Woohoo. Lucky for me." She exclaimed, deadpan.

The faint sound of a lock alerted them of another person.

Looking at her Nate growled, "And for the last time, it's Mr.Collins to you. Now I expect you to be ready, bright and early for training tomorrow."

As he left, Lady Venom mumbled something unintelligible after him, turning to look at who was there. It was a guard.

"It's lights out. No more visitors." He moved over to turn on the video surveillance camera in the corner of the room. Grumbling, she nodded.

"Just hurry up and leave will ya?" She stifled a yawn. "I've had a long day, and I'm tired."

"Aren't we all." He muttered before leaving.

Moving back to her bed, Lady Venom crawled under the gray and white linens, and promptly fell asleep.