A/N: please be aware that this chapter takes place at the 'end' of the story. so i used italics for the entire chapter. im putting the end at the beginning lol. this idea sprung out of my head today while watching house. i hate that show. but anyways, i just wanted to warn you that im not sure what im doing with this whole story. it doesn't have much of a plot and basically everything in this chapter is everything i have so far. so it might be awhile before i update. sorry =[ and i also would like to give you a second warning about how terrible a writer i am. and i know by saying that i basically just bashed this whole idea and myself. the only reason im posting it is because i was hoping i could find a beta reader for it, since im too shy to ask one of the registered ones here on the site but for some reason ill just post it so that EVERYONE may see it. weird. oh! my grammar isn't the strongest, so please bear with me on that. its one of the reasons why i'd like a beta reader. and if it bothers you, please go ahead and say it. just dint flame, im downright cruel to flamers =p okay well thanks for taking the time to read my story! i hope you enjoy it =]

Edit May 17th: Starfire201 helped out on this chapter by being my wonderful beta, thanks again!

A sad fact: i don't own transformers. pity.

"Skywarp…"

White lights flashed everywhere he looked.

"Skywarp… Where are you?"

All he saw were lights, flashing on and off. Some unbearably bright, others dim. And they weren't all the same color of white. Some were a grayish color while others were as white as snow. Then a few had a pinkish tint to them.

"Skywarp, you slagger! Where are you?!" It didn't matter how loud he shouted, there was no way Skywarp could hear him. If Skywarp was even capable of hearing, which in the back of Thundercracker's mind he knew was the truth. He just didn't want to acknowledge it.

More flashes of lights blinded him; Thundercracker wasn't sure where they were coming from. The surrounding buildings were as dark as the night sky and they had long ago run dry of any energy, so they couldn't be the source of the lights. They seemed to a part of him almost. Like he was just seeing them. Where were they coming from? As hard as he tried he couldn't get a lock on them and every scan he ran on the surrounding area came up as blank. That wasn't his main concern though, not now.

He could tell both Starscream and Skywarp were both badly hurt due to the last transmission he got from Skywarp.

'..can't…hea..you…..tc..audio-recep..rrr…down..' static. 'lost Starscr…..he went the othe..way…hurr..now therrrrrr…sssss....distrrrres.. signal… i….cant..see…..optimusssss' buzz. 'tried to….out of it..nnnnno…therrre's more….......lights..get ov..rrrr here……please'

Skywarp's last words echoed in his audios. He rarely ever heard Skywarp that frightened, that worried, or that weak.

Something was terribly wrong.

Skywarp had to be around here somewhere. He just had to.

Thundercracker was losing his mind. These lights; where were they coming from? They had been overpowering his sensory arrays for the last breem and they weren't showing any signs of disappearing any time soon. Every few astro-seconds they would pause, but then come back in full force.

Another break in the flashes gave him some time to concentrate. He walked past the pillars that held up the ledge he had been walking under to the open street. There he could see up and down the main road, but that didn't really help him. This place was deserted so he didn't have to worry about anyone being there besides 'Warp and 'Screamer. But he felt...something. He wasn't sure what it was or where it came from. He was certain it wasn't a good feeling. It was like dread.

It was worse than dread. He'd been feeling dread this whole afternoon. Ever since he'd received that last message he'd feared for his wing-mates, his friends. His only friends.

They might be dead. From the sounds of it 'Warp wasn't in the best of shape and Starscream was missing. Optimus had given Thundercracker permission to start a search, but most of the Autobots were in med bay or away from the base at the time. Prime himself was injured, but had promised the blue seeker all the help he could give the moment he was repaired.

"Skywarp!"

Nothing.

"Skywarp!" he shouted again. "Are you here?"

Still nothing.

"SKYWARP!"

Hope was fading. He'd searched the whole city for his wing-mate, and hadn't found a single clue. Not one.

The chances of either one of them being alive, especially Skywarp, were slim. This city wasn't safe, the Decepticons had abandoned it for a reason.

White lights again.

"Where the frag are these coming from?" He all but snarled. Thundercracker was not prone to losing his temper, but his wing-mates weren't there. The stress of not being able to find them had taken its toll on his CPU.

They started to fade again...

"Optimus to Thundercracker, do you read me?" Prime's booming voice came over his comm.

"Yes sir" he answered flatly.

"How's the search? Have you found them? Neither one of their comms are online according to our main communications relay.."

"No... I haven't." Admitting that, hit him hard in the spark. Breems, breems of searching. Neither one of their signals could be heard now. They were lost.

So was Thundercracker. He was at a loss of what to do. His two best friends. Gone.

"Have faith my friends-"

"They were right with me this morning and now they're gone!" He screamed, holding onto his head and bending over. He hadn't realized just how worried and afraid he was until now. His head felt like it was going to explode. But he just couldn't stand it. Once minute they were sitting right next to him laughing at some joke Skywarp had spit out right off the top of his head and the next he's racing all over a blasted city for them both. Crying out for them.

"I know." Prime's calm voice answered back at him, how was he not freaking out the way he was? Thundercracker was shaking, every last inch of him was rattling with worry and fear. "I'm having Skyfire come pick you up. I'm sure your energon levels are down so could you send out a beacon for him?"

Lights. Everywhere! They were coming back. They were stronger this time than ever before. They actually hurt him this time. The hadn't done that before, only annoy him. Before he could respond to Optimus he felt a spasm come up through his body. 'What's wrong with me?" He thought. He tried running a scan but his systems weren't responding. He fell on his knees, digits clawing at his optics. They hurt so bad.

"I...cant..see.." He stained over the comm before letting out a yelp when the lights grew brighter.

"Thundercracker? Whats happening? Are you alright? Send out the beacon, Skyfire is on his way."

Before he could respond Thundercracker's world went white. Completely white. He couldn't hear either. There was nothing wrong with his audios though. He could tell he was receiving a transmission from Optimus but he couldn't hear it. His sight was gone too. All of his senses were gone. His scanners didn't even work. This wasn''t making any sense, the last scan he ran came up as clear. There was not a single thing wrong with him. Ratchet had said so himself the last time Thundercracker went to see him. His cables were snapping, every single one of them were being torn in two. Who was doing this, there had been no one around for miles the last time he checked.

The beacon. He forgot to send out the beacon. There was no way he could send it now.

It felt as though he had left his body now. The pain had subsided and now he didn't feel or see a thing. It was just white.

Was he...dead?

No. That was impossible according to his logic. There had been nothing wrong with him. Not a thing.

The why did he feel at peace?

--

A stellar cycle later:

"Sir, do you think we should try again?"

"No Jazz, we've discussed this. That place is too dangerous. I can't risk losing anymore, four is more than enough."

"But Optimus, sir. They helped us..."

"I know, and we will honor them as best we can. It's just too dangerous. Starscream wasn't heard from at all and the others... They sounded like they had suffered. I couldn't bear to hear any of you sound like they had."

"But what if they're still alive, just hurt?" Bumblebee added.

Optimus didn't answer. Neither did anyone else in the room. The older ones were certain that they were all dead, but the younger ones, Bumblebee and the twins, thought there still might be a chance. After a few minutes Optimus was the one to fill the silence.

"No one. NO ONE. May ever enter that area under any circumstances. It is too dangerous and we don't know what's in it. Understood?"

A few mumbles of 'yes sir' were head and some nods were given, then every one left without being dismissed. The main communications system left on with no one to watch it.

While somewhere out in Kaon, red optics came back online and a beacon that was set a stellar cycle ago, was launched.

A/N: what do you think?? please review =]