Arc 3: 06 Horizon

by Macx

The exploration of the worlds of the doorways system has begun and the other side is not always very friendly -- especially when you find the Gatekeeper assigned to the planet dead; killed by unknown forces. Warning: Heavily Sentinel oriented.

Horizon
by Birgit Staebler (with Jenn Kretch)
This story runs parallel to Below
The planet hung in the silent blackness of space like a silvery globe, small lights dotting the dull gray surface. Some lights were huddled together, others were lonely dots in the twilight that dominated most of the world. The planet had no sun but it was located in a tiny solar system that had no name, just a set of coordinates which were numbers and letters. The closest inhabited system was the Solar system with Earth, but relations to that planet had dwindled. The tiny sun had no name either; it didn't need one. It wasn't the planet's home sun. The weak light reaching the surface was not enough to cast away the shadows but most of its inhabitants were used to that.
The planet's name was Cybertron and it was struggling to survive.
Cybertron had one small satellite, an artificial moon. It was currently rising over the horizon, an unblinking eye staring down on a landscape that was a torn and blackened world. Jagged holes, ruins ... nothing alive. This was the south continent – or it had been; witness and silent accusation of what had happened here. Shuttles and small ships passed overhead, some of them touching down and unloading their passengers. Most of them were either members of search and rescue Teams, also known as Crash Teams, or demolition teams. Reconstruction was underway but all knew that the south continent would never be the same again. The Council had already decided that the reconstruction would foremost include the demolition of the ruins and the clean-up; then they'd have to see what else they could do. Supplies were meager and needed on the other continents as well.
The Council, consisting of members of all factions, a representation of an alliance forged in the war and miraculously still holding, was the driving force behind the struggle. They wouldn't let hopelessness or despair settle in. Everyone was somehow included in the reconstruction, even the humans who had settled down on Cybertron in the last decades. They were reaching for every possibility to make the struggle easier. And they knew they couldn't simply focus on their own planet. There was a whole network at their disposal, a world untouched for millennia.
The doorway system.
After Ralyk's death and the destruction of the main centerway a few years before that, Cybertron currently contained the only accessible centerway, a general entrance into
a stunning system of tunnels and connections
to worlds unknown. And it was necessary that they found out what lay ahead. Cybertron had two doorway teams and Rodimus Prime was heading them both, pointing them into the direction they needed to take.
"That's what we have so far."
Starscream activated the hologram and it came into life in the middle of the conference table, turning slowly. To an outsider it was nothing but a colorful assembly of dots and lines -- gray, orange, green, and red --, but the robots in the room knew it for what it was: a three-dimensional map.
Rodimus studied the map. He knew what was what. He had immersed himself in doorway research ever since the Council had decided that each should head different projects; Rodimus had been chosen for the doorways and he had done nothing but getting to know the system ever since. Starscream and Nightmare had briefed him almost endlessly on everything in the last days and though his head was swimming with facts, he now found information returning. The green dots were simple doorways: a gate to a planet located somewhere in space. The red ones were destroyed ones; no one could say when they had been destroyed or through what. The system simply couldn't access the doorway and the team had to declare it destroyed. One day they would have to fly to this planet the long way, taking warp gates and hyperspace, but not right now. The orange dots, only two now, were centerways; one was on Cybertron, the other was far away and currently inaccessible. The mass of gray dots were planets and stars. Both doorway teams had worked day and night to confirm locations and also destruction of doorways, as well as the one other remaining centerway. Right now locating Gatekeepers and their doorways was more important. The overload of the whole system was still hindering them in their work. They couldn't open all links because of the danger of a backwash of energies. No one wanted to risk another incident like years ago when Melissa Witwicky had been blinded by it. Nightmare had strongly objected to any experiments running along that line. They had meager security up and working and since Ralyk wasn't here to help them lessen the impact this backwash might have, they had to leave it as it was, hoping that the energy would some day disperse and give them back the ability to use the system.
"I marked all the worlds we know and which have a Gatekeeper," Starscream went on, handing out files to everyone. Rodimus looked at the list and nodded slowly. "As far as I can tell, we can only access about three of them. Arry, Tiera and Viji. All the others can't be reached without risking an overload again. Spook has found a way to send short messages through the system and inform the Gatekeepers we can't reach what is wrong."
Rodimus nodded again. "How many of the unknown worlds can we open a link to?"
"Two so far," Nightmare answered. "I've been trying to decode what we have on them but it's not much. The files inside the control cube are better encrypted than any top secret file I ever saw and it will take Raven some more time, if she can open them at all." He shrugged. "We are very much on our own concerning new worlds. I never heard of either of them."
The young Autobot rubbed his chin. "Then it all comes down to opening the link and hoping the other side is friendly enough."
Both Gatekeepers nodded.
"Can we secure our centerway so whatever is on the other side can't come through?"
Nightmare grinned lop-sidedly. "Hey, that's what a Gatekeeper is for, Rodimus."
Rodimus reflected the smile. "I don't doubt your abilities, Nightmare. I just want to be on the safe side."
Nightmare nodded. He understood.
"What about the research into the system itself?" Rodimus now asked.
Starscream sighed. "No news at all. It's like every time we think we finally understand something, something else comes up that invalidates what we have so far."
Rodimus rubbed his forehead. "Great." He shuffled some reports and glared at them, wishing an answer would jump forward. "I want to send through the first teams to the three known planets. Any objections?"
All shook their heads.
"Good. The moment they are at their assigned locations we can try out accessing an unknown world," the Autobot second-in-command decided. "Let's see what we encounter."

* * *

Perceptor shut off his scanner and looked at Skywolf who was looking at the display with a frown.
"I can't find any discrepancies in his systems that would justify the sudden dislocation inside a high energy tunnel," he said.
Skywolf nodded. "Me neither. Mid, your systems are all fine."
Midnight slid off the table. "But I didn't Gate to Arry! And I sure as hell didn't aim for a doorway! I can't use a doorway to exit a Gate tunnel!"
"I know that, but you did."
"Tell me about it. Anything new out of the doorway system?"
"Except that you caused a backfeed and everyone scurried around like headless droids? No." The medic chuckled, watching Perceptor walk over to his work bench, clearly immersed in the data he had gathered. The Autobot would be busy with that for some time now. "You entered the system under someone's or something's authorization and if our doorway hadn't been set for Arry, we might not even have seen it."
Midnight frowned. "Maybe it happened because you set it for Arry. I mean, I arrived on the same planet you were trying to reach! It's not coincidence!"
"No, it isn't," a deep voice said and Midnight stiffened automatically.
Spook slithered into med bay, smiling slightly. "I went through the logs again, byte by byte. You accessed your Gating system just before the Cybertronian centerway opened. The power lines of a doorway run almost parallel to a warp gate or your personal Gates, Midnight. You simply changed transport modes -- with the exception that you couldn't navigate in a for you alien environment and simply rode the link to its end: Arry."
Skywolf rubbed his chin. "So you think Midnight became part of the doorway net?"
Spook nodded.
"But how?!" the Sentinel leader exclaimed. "It has never happened before! The systems aren't even alike!"
Skywolf nodded. "Only because they run on parallel lines doesn't necessitate a jump from one to the other. You shouldn't even be able to get inside."
"Least of all an authorized access," Spook added and scrutinized Midnight.
Midnight clenched his jaw. Even though he and Spook had gone through a lot together, Spook saving his life and all, he couldn't come to trust the half-serpent. Too much still stood between them.
"Something inside you sent the right code and you slipped in."
Midnight felt like a bug under a microscope. "What do you want to do? Dissect me?" he growled.
Skywolf chuckled. "Not such a bad idea." He held up his hands in mock defense as his leader shot him a nasty look. "No, seriously, we have to find out how you did it."
"And the best way to do it is to repeat the procedure," Spook said.
Midnight frowned deeply. "Which won't guarantee that it works."
"But it's the only way I see," Wolf agreed.
"So you want me to Gate again? Where to?"
Spook and Skywolf exchanged a look. "Tricky," the Sentinel medic muttered. "We don't want you to end up slamming into whatever is on the other side of a doorway if you go out of control again."
"How thoughtful."
Skywolf grimaced.
Spook suddenly tilted his head. "Can you feel the system," he asked, voice thoughtful.
"Feel?"
"Yes, feel. If you have access and if you might be able to control it, you should feel it. You can feel an access point to a Gate, so it should be the same with a doorway entrance."
"I don't feel anything," Midnight protested. "It simply happened and I never felt anything at all, either before, throughout or after it!"
The golden-yellow stare unnerved him and he felt a shiver run through him. Spook could access his Interface link, he knew, and through it more. This was the biggest obstacle between them and a friendship. Midnight hated to have his privacy violated like this.
"You never looked."
Midnight felt Steve's concern wash through him. His Interface partner was not with him in med bay and was now inquiring what was wrong. Midnight's reaction to Spook could be felt quite strongly.
Midnight stared at the floor. "And what am I looking for?"
"I don't know."
"Oh, great!" He paced a bit. "So we have to repeat the procedure, fine! I just hope I won't end up lost in the net."
Spook smiled. "Not with me watching you."
Midnight didn't voice his nasty thoughts on that remark. He simply called Steve and told him they were going on a ride. Then he left med bay.
Spook watched him go with a sad expression in his optics.
"I wish I could say 'Give him time'," Skywolf said softly.
Spook sighed. "He will never trust me and I understand why."
The Sentinel nodded. "He is stubborn."
The half-serpent chuckled, a deep rumbling bass echoing through the room. "One of his strongest traits, Skywolf. His stubbornness made the Sentinels what they are today – and what he is. I respect him."
"And he respects you, but Midnight is a fiercely private person, Spook. What happened in the past .... he can't forget."
Spook nodded. "I don't want him to." With that he left as well.
Skywolf walked over to where Perceptor was already deeply immersed. He knew his young friend was a difficult person sometimes but that was made him what he was. He smiled. Spook was right. If Midnight hadn't had his stubbornness the Sentinels would still evade Cybertron like the Plague and maybe they would be dead today, victims of the Tji.

* * *

Soundwave was floating in Cyberspace. He had accessed this intriguing world regularly lately, trying to find what had been lost to them: the shields that had kept Cybertron safe from Tji. Many argued that the Tji were gone and no longer a threat, but Megatron had silenced them. Even if the main Tji force had been obliterated, many had survived, some of them roaming the ruins of south continent, hunted by Counterstrike. Ralyk had erased all traces of the shields, but Soundwave still searched. Maybe, just maybe, there was a single byte of a trace which he could then follow.
When he came out of Cyberspace again, hours had passed. Inside the virtual world, time was irrelevant, but the moment he came out, time was very much relevant.
"No success, right?" Blaster asked as Soundwave showed first signs of returning consciousness.
"No."
The Decepticon communications expert rose and walked over to a terminal, deactivating a program running in the background. It was a security program, a virtual net so to say. Blaster sighed and continued his own work, getting the communication lines up and running, especially those from Below. Soundwave decided for a recharge first, then try again.

* * *

Raven sat in front of the open quartz crystal which was something like a system back-up control unit as they had found out, after countless hours pf trying to understand what the doorway system was. Her knowledge concerning this net was growing but still meager. They were trying to understand but there was no help program to fall back upon. It was trial and error. And looking at what was nothing but circuits and wires, some of them out of a material even she had no clue what it was, didn't help. What she was trying to do was simple in terms: come up with an easy, user-friendly desk top for the controls of the doorway so it would accept certain, pre-set coordinates without a Key present. If a Key was needed to open a doorway to even the easiest location she and Sphere would never be able to take a step out of this chamber.
The whole thing had come up in one of the group meetings. Those meetings were held regularly to exchange information or do some brainstorming and Raven had simply thrown this option into the middle. Rodimus had agreed that it was a good idea and should be pursued, but she had yet to find a way to make it work. Countless security programs counteracted her attempts and now was one of those times where she wished Ralyk was still alive. She could ask for its assistance. Maybe it would not have helped her but it could have at least pointed her into the right direction. Now she was on her own.
"I better not ask, right?"
Raven turned and smiled. "No."
Sphere knelt down beside her and peered into the open cube. "Any idea what I'm looking at?"
The other Key chuckled. "Not the slightest. I always thought I was doing okay concerning computer engineering but this..." she gestured at it, "..... is impossible to untangle."
"Trial and error again, huh?"
She nodded. "So, any news?"
Sphere sighed. "No, I wish I had. We have a list of ascertained doorways working just fine and an even longer list of uncertain ones."
"What about the Quintessons' dimensional portal?"
Sphere grimaced a bit. "Rodimus said we're keeping it sealed and off-limits for now. First he wants to the net up and running, then we can experiment with what secrets the Quints hid."
Raven replaced the cube's cover and rose, dusting herself off. "When's the next trial opening?"
"In about fifteen minutes standard time. We're sending a signal through first, then wait for a return answer from the Gatekeeper. Spook says the signal is on a general frequency and the answer should come automatically."
"What if there is none?"
"Then we'll send in a reconnaissance team," Sphere answered. "All doorways are supposed to have Gatekeepers and those who haven't .... well, we want to know what happened to them."
Raven nodded and accompanied her fellow Key to the doorway chamber where the two gigantic rings sat, one attached to the ceiling, one on the ground. As always, it was an impressive sight. The chamber was large and the walls were made out of a bluish-black quartz-like material. In the middle of the chamber was a large ring lying on the floor and another one was attached to the ceiling. Both rings were made up of three separate sections. The outer one was always the broadest, covered with inscriptions, then came a completely black one, then a nearly translucent one that seemed to bend the light in the room around it, partially reflecting it in soft colors.
The doorway.
"Change of plans," Nightmare said as the two females entered.
"Change?" Raven echoed and shot her team mate a questioning look.
"We are monitoring an experiment," the Gatekeeper explained with a smile.
Sphere frowned. "What kind of experiment?"
"A very important one," Spook told her and slithered into the room. He then gave her a brief idea what would soon happen.
"Dangerous," Raven commented.
"Not if we keep an eye on what Midnight does," Spook contradicted. "I can detect an authorized access if I'm looking for one and if he comes out of a doorway again, you can set the coordinates and follow him."
Sphere clearly didn't like it but she didn't argue. Spook settled down comfortably, hugging his wings to his body, and began his monitoring. Raven nodded at Sphere that she would handle this and that Sphere could go back to her job. Even if things went critical, only one Key could operate the rings.

High above them, just leaving Cybertron's orbit, Midnight was getting ready to Gate. He had been outfitted with special sensors to record what was happening to him as he Gated. Skywolf had used similar sensors when he had first tried to find an explanation for the Gating abilities. He had failed miserably. There was no real explanation for this. It just ...worked.
As he accessed the Gate system only few could see and use, he became aware of a slight difference. There was really something else there – but only because he was looking closely now. He would have missed it if he had Gated like always, but this time he was prepared to see something else.
"Oh .... my..." Steve muttered as he scanned the strange line of energy now open to them.
Midnight felt a part of him, a small part he had never felt before, activate, sending something he could only describe as 'log-in' information and receive a positive reply.
"Showtime," he muttered and jumped.

Spook's head tilted to one side a smile flickered over his lipless snout. "He is in," he only said and then went back to monitoring.
Raven shot Nightmare an incredulous look but her partner only shrugged.

* * *

There was no real passing of time or space. For a second there was utter darkness, then it was replaced by a lighter grayish black. Steve blinked. This had felt unlike any Gating he had ever experienced, phased or not phased. It had been like .... stepping from one room into the next. Midnight had entered the strange power line as he would have a Gate tunnel and then – they had arrived her.
The world around them was a rocky and inhospitable. Wind swept wildly through the narrow gaps in the stunted trees and a thin, persistent rain that was more like a heavy mist trickled down out of a sky the color of unwashed linen. In one direction there was nothing but thick, tangled undergrowth and in the other the ground ran roughly down into a valley as deep as the Grand Canyon only not so picturesque. Something hidden in the trees was wailing like a banshee. Dark clouds raced across the strangely colored sky. Midnight looked at the horizon where lightning could be seen.
"Nice," Steve commented as he phased out, clad in full battle armor. This place would make a lousy vacation spot.
Midnight turned to look at the doorway looming up over them and noted that it looked a bit burned, rather old and brittle even. Strange..... Doorways were made out of a material that could absorb full blasts from fusion cannons without even showing a scratch and the only thing that could really damage them was the destruct sequence set off by either the main centerway or the Gatekeeper. So what had damaged this doorway? And.....
"Where is the Gatekeeper?" he asked out aloud as he became aware of that missing fact. "He should have come here the moment the doorway activated...."
He was pretty sure that the doorway had activated. They had stepped through it.
Steve nodded. Gatekeepers felt the activation and Nightmare had once explained to him that there was more to being a Gatekeeper than guarding a doorway. It also meant defending the planet it was on against invaders coming through.
"Let's take a look around while we are here," he decided.
He had to wait for his energy levels to get up to safe levels before he could risk Gating again. Anyway, Nightmare was even now probably homing in on him, setting the doorway. It would take a while and that gave them both a chance to get to know this world.
Midnight transformed, then shot off into the leaden sky.

* * *

Starscream was working on the control cube, lips pursed in thought, a frown appearing on his forehead. "He went to an unknown doorway," he finally said.
"The one we planned to go?" Nightmare asked.
"No. Another one." He called up the coordinates. "Just a row of numbers, no name."
Spook loomed over his shoulder and looked at the display. "It's one of the outbacks," he rumbled.
"You know the planet?" Nightmare inquired.
"Not personally, no. The Veneran put a doorway there because it was a jump point to the worlds beyond the known border. In the time since it was put there, a lot has changed but the planet is still backwater." The half-serpent seemed to shrug – hard to tell with his body.
"Do you know the Gatekeeper present?"
"No."
Nightmare sighed. "Let's dial in."

* * *

"Gods!" Steve whispered.
Midnight stared at the wreckage in stunned silence. It had once obviously been a robot, but now it was nothing more than a torn and mutilated corpse. The robot had been dead for quite a while and whatever it had been that had hit him, it had also chewed on him. There were bite-marks all over him.
"You think it's the Gatekeeper?" Steve asked softly.
Midnight carefully turned the metal corpse and searched for an indicator as to what faction he had belonged to. "I guess so," he muttered.
"I wonder what did this...."
The Sentinel straightened. "Whatever it was, it was strong.... strong enough to kill a Gatekeeper."
Steve shivered. "What now?"
Midnight looked at the storm in the distance. "We should bring the body home with us. Maybe Nightmare can identify it -- or Spook."
His partner nodded. "You get it back, I'll take a few more scans of the area."
Midnight hesitated. "Be careful, okay?"
Steve flashed him a smile. "Hey, I'm grown up! And I know how to use this suit."
Midnight grimaced, then transformed and lowered two claw-like extension from his lower hull, picking up the dead shell.

* * *

Steve landed, folding his wings back into the subspace pocket he had access to, courtesy of being Interfaced to a Sentinel. He had decided to get at least a rough grid map established of the area around the abandoned doorway, which seemed to consist of more canyons than anything else. From where he stood he saw a desolate vista of bare rocks and jagged hills, through which whistled a savage wind that tugged at him. Dark clouds churned overhead threatening rain, but the ground beneath him was deeply dry, and only dust rode the wind, sometimes thick enough to envelop him and obscure his vision, sometimes just creeping along the ground to wrap around his ankles like smoke. Occasionally it hid the distant horizon, the valley that lay spread out beyond him, huge and staggeringly rough, as if a long-ago river had churned violently along the plain, eating it away in huge gulps. Ten feet beyond his booted feet, the ground dropped away as if it had been cut with a serrated knife.
"What a planet," he muttered and launched himself down into the valley to look for a bit of protection from the wind. He knew Midnight expected him to be back soon, but he had not yet finished his explorations. They were supposed to gather data on the planets the doorways lead to and if there was no Gatekeeper to ask, they had to do the job themselves.
The valley wasn't very promising. In the distance, a series of broken ridges rose high overhead with what looked like narrow passes winding through them. Nearer where he had landed the ground rose slowly but steadily in a series of rough and jagged steps as if giants had once used this way as a staircase. Loose scree filled in the hollows in the stone passage, guaranteed to tumble the unwary head over heels. Here and there a stark and barren tree found a hold in the rocky ground, thrusting up bare, dead branches toward the leaden sky as if seeking rain.
Steve?>
Still kicking> he replied with an audible grin. Geez, Mid, this place is as depressive as they come!>
I think the doorway is about to open....>
You think?>
It .... feels strange. Kinda like an earthquake inside me...> Midnight sounded a bit confused and Steve felt the strange sensation through the link. You coming or are you planning to get more depressed?>
Steve laughed. On my way....>
He never saw it coming. It happened just too fast. He was suddenly thrown to the ground and then a searing hot pain shot through his leg as needle sharps fangs buried themselves there, easily cutting through armor and skin. He cried out in agony, his mind link to Midnight overloading with the pain, and not even the shields he instinctively raised were any help. He was dimly aware of his partner calling out to him.
Steve turned despite the flaming pain and tried to aim at his attacker, losing a shot at the gigantic creature. He didn't get a clear impression of what it was with all the dust whirling up around him, but the laser made it let go of his leg. He tried to get up, but his left leg buckled under him and he cried out again as he collapsed. The armor of his suit was breached and that part of his brain which wasn't yet flooded with the agony of the injury was wondering what this thing was that it could crack an Interface armor! They were strong enough to deflect laser shots from a Cybertronian weapon!
A hiss let him flinch and he was faced by his attacker again, lips pulling back from a mouth full of needle sharp teeth opening into what looked like an obscene grin. A giant paw lashed out for him and Steve was just quick enough to roll away, but it didn't help his wound. The paw grabbed him at the second attempt and he was thrown around, landing hard on the ground, the air driven out of his lungs. Blackness threatened and he fought it. A garbled mess of emotions came through the link, his shields failing, transmitting every twinge of pain to his partner. Midnight had to be going mad!
Looking down his battle suit he saw a long, gaping cut that went through the armor right into his skin. Blood welled up, smearing on the black metal, mixing with the dust all around him. Steve felt dizzy. He saw stars dancing in front of his eyes, his body going into shock and the pain seemed to dim.
Suddenly there was a different hiss and Steve's blurry vision gave him an strange view of something serpentine and also gigantic approaching. There was a brief exchange of growls, hisses and snarls, then the sound of struggling, then ... nothing. He lifted his head and gasped, grasping for any weapon at all. There was none. He had lost his hand gun and he was too weak to get out any of his other weapons.
"No," he whispered.
He couldn't die. It would kill Midnight as well. He couldn't!

He looked down at the small figure, also keeping an eye out for the creature which had just retreated. He didn't know if it would be back, but you could never be too careful. The humanoid lay in front of him, his armor opened at the leg and he was bleeding. And he was afraid. Weak and beaten as he was, he was still making attempts to get away.
A familiar feeling spread though him and a micro-second later another humanoid could be seen. This one was familiar at least.
Midnight was trapped in a world of pain and flaming agony. His left leg was torn up, his ribs were hurting, his lungs were trying to catch a breath. Every sensation coming through the link translated into his own and he stumbled, his aura flaring around him in random patterns, lashing out and trying to find the enemy.
Steve!!> he cried desperately, trying to locate his partner.
Steve's response was weak, clouded by more pain, and all he got was the impression of something big and dangerous, a serpent.....
The black Sentinel transformed with difficulties, racing off toward his partner's location, not even thinking about calling for back-up. He had to find his Interface!
Behind him, the doorway exploded into activity and finally opened.

Steve's world was one of pain, his vision extremely limited, clouds pushing in from the edge. He felt a touch and flinched away from it as it evoked more pain. His leg was on fire! And then someone looked at him. He blinked, trying to focus. What he saw was a humanoid face, crystal clear green eyes looking at him. They weren't human eyes, more like ones of a cat. Silver skin and somewhat mottled looking hair completed the appearance. Slender hands reached out and undid his helmet, carefully freeing him from the now oppressive protection. The cool air hit his face.
"Who .... are .... you?" he whispered, mind feverish with pain.
His body was slipping deeper into shock now, starting to tremble with the reaction to the blood loss.
Whoever she was, she looked ..... beautiful. And she didn't talk. Her eyes were fixed on his face, regarding him curiously -- and then she touched him. It was a cool touch, feather-like and strange, but incredibly real for him. Her hand brushed over his cheek and for a second he forgot the pain.
Suddenly she rose, quite abruptly, and disappeared out of his limited vision. He gave a barely audible protest, gasping as a serpent head came into view.
NO!
And then a familiar roar of thrusters could be heard. Steve weakly grasped his helmet, but was unable to catch a hold of it. He tried not to cry out again as another hot bolt of pain raced up every single nerve he possessed. Darkness claimed him......

Ashtar looked at the pale, drawn face of the human, his incredibly blue eyes drawing her in. They were like deep pools into his soul and what she could see was nothing fearsome or hostile. It was pain, fear and desperation. His lips were a thin, white line. He was handsome, she caught herself thinking, his face slightly angular, unmarked by age, framed by jet-black hair which was now tousled and sweaty. Ashtar looked at the deep wound and winced. Whatever it had been attacking him, it had left a very deep mark. She touched the sweaty skin more out of instinct than a conscious decision. He was shaking with pain and fever.
Fever wasn't right!
Poison.... >
Yes, the poison. The creature's salvia contained poison for his system. His reaction fit.
Suddenly the man's face contorted in pain and he bit his bottom lip. He closed his eyes. As he opened them again they were glittering wetly. Ashtar felt a stab of pain inside her, sympathetic pain..... She gently stroked his cheek, unable to do more. His whimper of pain hurt her even more.
A warning coursed through her and she rose abruptly. Someone was coming.....

* * *

What Midnight saw when he arrived in the small valley made his fuel-pump miss a beat and his aura strengthened. Steve lay on the ground, a small pool of blood forming under his left leg where whatever had attacked him had ripped open the armor, his helmet lying beside him. In front of him was ....something large. It looked like a serpent/bird mix, feathers decorating a lithe and powerful snake body. Right now this serpent was lowering its head towards Steve.
Midnight snapped.
Target!
A cry escaped his lips and shot toward the enemy. He couldn't fire his missiles because it would endanger his partner, but he still had his speed -- and something else. A secret weapon. He usually never used it, but right now all he could think of was pain and fear.
Lure it away from Steve....
Get it somewhere he could fight it....
The serpent's head snapped up and its mouth opened, a hiss escaping its lips. Midnight roared over its head and it ducked. He made a tight turn and came in for a second run. The serpent coiled up around Steve and suddenly a streak of laser fire greeted the Sentinel leader. Midnight rolled to one side -- right into a cloud of acid fire. Pain raced along his nervous system and he hardened his skin, transforming. He touched down, his skin steaming from the attack, his visor the only spot of color on his otherwise pitch-black body. Every feature seemed to blur.... there was only the enemy .....
Midnight aimed and fired, hitting the serpent between the eyes. It roared and another cloud of acid greeted him, accompanied by laser fire. Midnight jumped out of the way, his aura growing stronger.

Steve was slowly returning to semi-consciousness and he was not only greeted by an agonizing pain from his leg and now his rib cage, but also an increasing pressure from the link. Every nerve ending seemed to be on fire and a strange numbness was spreading through him, though it wasn't enough to numb the pain.
"Mid..." he moaned, his head threatening to explode.
His partner was going into Aura Shock.... He couldn't allow that to happen while they weren't phased! Midnight would completely lose it otherwise! The sensation the aura evoked was incredibly powerful, stronger than anything Steve had ever felt. It was cold and dark and dangerous, and it was a part of his friend.
Steve tried to get up but he didn't have the strength. Only now did he become aware of a wall of dark blue metal surrounding him, then a loud roar made him flinch. His fuzzy mind tried to catch a clear thought, to get through to Midnight, but it was impossible. The link was blocked by black ice: the aura.... He started to check his suit, finding it barely functional, but the pain medication was still accessible and he managed to swallow some of it. It was a strong pain-killer, one that would give him a limited time for action but that was all he needed.
And then the wall moved.
Steve blinked and, biting back a groan of pain, he turned to look up. Above him was the gigantic head of a snake, multi-colored feathers decorating the neck area. The snake was attacking something ... someone .... Midnight!
"No!"
His protest was barely more than a whisper. Ignoring his pain -- the pain-killer had not yet settled in -- he pulled himself up, collapsing against the serpent body coiled around him.
"Mid......no....."

A tremor ran through Midnight and he groaned softly, his face a mask of his own and of his shared pain. The darkness increased, threatening to take him over. He thought he heard Steve, but maybe it was only an illusion. Icy blackness rose to meet him, tempting him to use it. It was something terrible, something hungry and dark; something feeding on his anger and rage, his feeling of helplessness.
The serpent suddenly lashed out with its tail and like it had a life of its own, the aura did the same, colliding with the tail. The serpent hissed in surprise, feathers rustling. Black tentacles wrapped themselves tightly around whatever part of the serpent's tail they could grasp and a sizzling noise could be heard. Midnight's visor flared and he gasped as the tentacles grew in strength.
Aura Shock started to overwhelm him.
Cold.
Icy cold.
Blackness.
All devouring.
All enveloping.
Slick darkness.
Kill him!

Fang had no idea who this stranger was, except that he was incredibly strong for one so slender and small. He was completely unlike any other robot he had ever seen and now that the mysterious blackness he radiated touched him, Fang realized that it wasn't just black light coming from him .... it was a weapon. Where it touched him he felt coldness spread.
With an effort he freed himself from the icy fingers, curling up protectively around the injured one, his mind racing with what to do.... Feverish bright optics regarded him with a mixture of hatred, fear and pain. Not with anger or rage or attack happiness. The pain was dominant even. Fang frowned as he continued to defend himself and the injured one. Why was the black one attacking? What was his reason? The stranger was a pool of absolute blackness. His body was barely distinguishable, though it seemed to be an even blacker black than the aura. Fang launched another acid attack and it struck the aura, evoking more sizzles, while he simultaneously struck with his tail.
"NO!"
The cry startled him. The injured human had somehow managed to get out of the protective walls of Fang's body, using what looked like thrusters. He tumbled and slipped, falling down with a cry of pain.
The black robot echoed the pain and his defense wavered.
Fang never hesitated or thought twice. His tail struck the black one, flinging him against the rock face. He collided with a sickening crunch -- and stumbled to his feet again. Fang gaped. Impossible!
Yellow fluids leaked out of broken skin, staining the blackness. The aura wavered around the stranger, now and then touching something, sizzling as it did so.
The human whimpered as he tried to rise.
Fang decided to use his advantage and launched his weapons at the attacker. The aura seemed to swallow most of it, but some got through. A cry of pain could be heard --
-- echoed by the human who curled up into a ball, wracked by tremors.
NO!
The giant serpent looked from one to the other.
Impossible.....
.... but it would explain ... but ...no!
The black robot went down on his knees, bleeding heavily. Then he collapsed completely, his slender frame shaken by violent tremors similar to the humans, his visor flickering on and off.
The human was weakly trying to get to his feet, his left leg completely useless. Fang heard the harsh breathing, saw the thin white and determined line of his lips, the eyes burning an unnatural blue.
Could it be .....
He caught sight of the symbol etched into the skin of the blistered wing of the black robot.
Sentinel!
But .... but .... he had never seen or heard of any Sentinel like this! The color, organic skin, blood .... the living blackness. The aura was now and then sizzling, bunching protectively around the other Sentinel.
The humanoid in the suit moaned and it sounded like denial. Something was happening and somehow it hindered a phasing, something both needed, as far as Fang could judge.
And then things got even more complicated. He heard the whine of thrusters and his optics caught sight of another robot, this one colored in black and dark blue, transformed into an equine mode.
Fang gave a low growl and prepared to defend not only himself but the two partners as well.
"No!" the humanoid suddenly whispered, his voice growing stronger. "Don't. Friend...." He groaned in pain.
Friend?!
Fang was confused. He suddenly had no idea what was happening, except that he had just attacked an Interfaced Sentinel and was now facing a possible new enemy. He hissed. The newcomer transformed and spread his hands away from his body to show he wasn't about to pull a weapon out of hiding. But then, there were many ways to hide a weapon.
"I'm a friend," he said and approached without any visible sign of fear.
Fang growled again. "Who are you?"
"My name is Nightmare. I am a Gatekeeper. My friends need help...."
Fang knew that as well. His mind reeled over the fact what this stranger was. A Gatekeeper?! He had no idea what a Gatekeeper was and he only recognized one of the two symbols this robot was wearing. He was a former slave, one of those who had driven the Sentinels off Cybertron, killing those who had not been able to leave fast enough.
"How do I know I can trust you?"
Nightmare tilted his head. "How do I know I can trust you?"
Fang smiled a bit. "True."
The Sentinel moved a bit away, wondering if this robot knew what he was facing -- except for a gigantic snake. Probably not. He wasn't showing any hostile intent. Fang decided to watch. If this was a trick to surrender the strange Sentinel to him he'd know what to do.
Nightmare walked over to the black one, apparently disregarding the still looming Fang. "Oh, no!" he whispered. "Aura Shock!"
Aura shock?
Nightmare looked at him. "He needs to phase his partner. Otherwise anything might trigger another outbreak!" His red optics held a distressed expression, genuine distress, as Fang saw. This Gatekeeper was truly worried about the black one.
Something suddenly fluttered out of the sky, landing beside them, looking at Fang with whirling, faceted eyes.
"Oi!" it exclaimed. "Wossname big!"
Fang was baffled.
"He is a friend," Nightmare explained quickly. "Bat, is Steve conscious?"
The brown lizard walked over to the injured one and muttered softly. It almost sounded like cursing to Fang. Steve's face was pale, almost translucent white, drawn in pain and desperation. His eyes were half open and he was panting, sweat covering his face.
"Conscious, yes. Baaaad, though," Bat whined.
"Steve!" Nightmare said intensely. "Listen! Concentrate! Get Midnight to accept a phasing!"
"Shock!" Steve moaned and Fang winced at the pain audible in his voice.
"Concentrate!" Nightmare demanded.
The large serpent looked over to where the strange Gatekeeper was attending to Midnight, his hands and lower arms smeared with yellow blood.
Steve whimpered in pain again and suddenly Midnight lashed out, catching Nightmare unawares. His aura flared and the other hissed in pain as it touched him.
Fang acted.
His heavy tail held Midnight down while Nightmare stumbled away, grasping his arm where the aura had left a black and blistering mark.
And then the human disappeared.
Midnight cried out, his aura suddenly shrunk back, and he went completely limp. Nightmare looked up, red optics meeting Fang's.
"Who are you?" he asked.
"My name is Fang," the serpent said, looking at him. "I am a Sentinel."
Nightmare blinked.
Fang decided to risk it and transformed, sending most of his serpent body back into subspace. He was as tall as Nightmare, who was taller than Midnight but not as slender as him. His Sentinel symbol was now brightly visible.
"I'm not your enemy," Nightmare said softly, his optics fixed on him. Maybe it was by accident, but he was standing between Fang and Midnight, the Sentinel noted with faint surprise. This stranger was prepared to act as a shield!
"Neither am I yours. It was a ... mistake."
Midnight was moving faintly, visor flickering as he regained more and more consciousness. A moan escaped his lips.
"What happened?" Nightmare now asked.
"Something attacked the Interface. I managed to chase it off, but then his partner arrived ...."
"And he thought you were the enemy," Nightmare finished, rubbing his neck.
Fang nodded.
"Listen, we have to get Midnight back .... he needs treatment. You are welcome to join us."
Fang tilted his head. "Where did you come from?"
"Cybertron," Bat said, smiling as he saw Fang's utter surprise and confusion.
"It's a loooong story," Nightmare added.

* * *

Fang was hustled into med bay, more or less going with the flow and not resisting much. Everything was overwhelming him at the moment, most of all the presence of all kinds of different robots, belonging to different factions. He thought he caught the glimpse of a Seeker symbol somewhere but it was too fast to be certain. Someone made him sit down on an examination table. Curiously he took a closer look around.
Med bay was large, very, very large – and a virtual labyrinth! It consisted mainly of dozens of interconnected treatment rooms, some of them closed to the prying eye, others open. Each room was numbered in gigantic letters. There was a general waiting area, which was more or less a long corridor with chairs in various sizes in front of several rooms. To accommodate non-Cybertronians, food and drink dispensers had been placed in strategic positions. There were smaller labs and rooms he couldn't identify all over the place. The one he now sat in was a general treatment room, connected to others of its kind, signs telling him where the door he saw went to. Humans and robots walked around, some never even looking at him. They were used to all kinds of patients.
Suddenly Fang heard someone cursing softly in the old language of the Sentinels and his head whipped around, recognition crossing his features.
Skywolf!
The Sentinel medic was overlooking the bustle of humans and robots, barking a few orders. At his side was a human. The man had whitish-blond hair and dark brown eyes. He was dressed up in a white coat. 'Dr. Kyle Scott' was written on a name tag.
"Get him to phase Steve out!" the human ordered, a throng of medical personnel around him.
To Fang everything happened at once. It seemed as if he had been declared a 'friendly presence'. No one cared too much about him because there was a much more serious case right now. Except maybe for the robot treating him. It was a deep red colored female with an Autobot insignia on her chest. She was taking readings of his damage and scribbling down notes. Fang ignored her.
Midnight was more coherent now than when he had been carried to the doorway and he managed to phase out his partner, moaning softly. Steven Parker was dead unconscious, a lifeless heap on the table. His suit was a mess of dust, blood and something that had to be servo-fluids from the suit itself. Dr. Scott yelled orders and started to remove the armor from the unconscious man with professional ease. Fang felt Ashtar's reaction to the sight of the torn-up leg and immediately tried to comfort her. She wasn't squeamish because of the blood; she had seen her share of injuries. Emotions came through her shielded mind and they gave Fang room for thought.
"Trauma room 5!" Kyle now called. "Get him x-rayed and I want Thompson here immediately!"
Steve was wheeled off through the pneumatic doors in a hurry while Midnight, who was struggling to follow him, had to be restrained by Skywolf with quite a bit of force.
"Stay linked with him," the medic said. "Don't lose him."
Midnight's visor flickered and Fang's fuel-pump clenched in sympathetic pain.
"You have a few superficial abrasions," the red female tore him out of his thoughts. "We can get them fixed in no time. Looks like you came in contact with Mid's aura, right?"
Fang nodded, watching the black Sentinel who sat on the examination table, getting his wounds treated, looking lost and alone even though he was surrounded by his people.
"Will he be all right?"
The female looked over to where the humans were preparing the Interface for surgery, then her eyes wandered to Midnight. "I hope so," she said quietly. She tilted her head. "What's you name, by the way?"
He smiled. "Fang."
She stretched out a hand. "My name is Chaos."
He took it. "Nice to meet you, Chaos."
"Nice to see you again, Fang," someone else said.
Fang turned and chuckled. "It's been a while, Skywolf."
The old Sentinel grinned. "You really picked a great time to show up again....."
Fang looked at where Midnight still sat, staring at the wall, a distant expression in his optics. "Yeah.... wasn't my choice."
"I can believe that." Skywolf nodded at Chaos to leave them alone and she smiled knowingly, gathering her equipment and walked off.
"Will he make it?" Fang now asked someone who probably knew more about Sentinels than the female Autobot, though he didn't want to grant her any less expertise. He didn't know who was who and what had happened in all that time. Confusion was a major headache right now.
Skywolf sighed. "Midnight's wounds are rather superficial. I know you threw some stuff at him -- I can see it from the traces it left -- but it looks like the aura absorbed most of it. From the medical point of view he is okay and the skin will heal. As for Steve.... he has lost a lot of blood and his leg looks bad."
Fang tilted his head. "How do you know? You haven't taken a look at him."
Skywolf grinned. "Source inside."
Fang blinked, then it dawned on him. "You ... you are Interfaced?" he whispered.
Skywolf tilted his head. "Yes," he said, a curious tone in his voice but he didn't inquire more closely how he could have guessed.
Fang had left Cybertron at the same time the others had fled but he had not accompanied them. Then, no Sentinel had been Interfaced yet and even the possibility had never been considered. Interfacing had happened a long, long time after they had fled. How could Fang possibly know.....?
"How ... how close are they?" Fang now asked cautiously.
The question roused even more questions because Skywolf knew exactly what Fang wanted to know.
"One hundred percent."
Fang's lower jaw hit the floor – well, almost. He gaped at Skywolf, his optics widening and it proved to Wolf once more that Fang knew about Interfacing – more than he wanted to confess, as it seemed.
"Completely?" he breathed.
Skywolf nodded, trying to ignore the little voice telling him to dig deeper as to why his old friend knew so much about this. "They Interfaced immediately and completely." He then proceeded to give Fang a brief version of what had happened in the past, leaving out a few facts about what Midnight had to go through in VR and some more private things about his leader.
Fang hung at his every word, now and then looking at the black Sentinel. Ashtar was silently listening as well, expressing her surprise and also adding a question now and then only Fang could hear. Fang let those question flow into his own and most of them received clear and satisfying answers but he felt that Skywolf was not telling him everything – for some reason or other.
"Braintrust," he muttered as the medic stopped. "I never trusted him."
Skywolf nodded. "And he killed a lot of slaves in the past even before he was set free. He was the Quintessons' most effective executioner." A dark shadow flickered over his features at the memory of the past. "He proceeded to kill and it got even worse when he found out about the Interfacing business."
Fang nodded slowly.
"So," Wolf went on, "how have you been faring?"
Fang shrugged. "Not bad." His optics were drawn to Midnight again. "Who is he?" he changed the subject.
Skywolf gave him a narrow-optic look but didn't press on. "Midnight is our leader."
Fang's mouth dropped open. "He ... what?!" he stuttered and everything he had done to him suddenly loomed over him like a Damocles sword. "No....."
The medic gently patted his shoulder. "You didn't know...."
"But I should have seen that there was more to this! He attacked with a fury and the human's reaction...." He shook his head.
Skywolf shot him one of those looks again. Fang sighed deeply.
"Can you tell me what happened on the planet? What attacked Steve?"
The other Sentinel accepted the change gratefully and gave his old friend a brief version of what had happened, what he had seen and what he had done. Skywolf nodded, apparently listening to something. Fang kept a close optic on Midnight who now and then shuddered, his hands clenching and unclenching into the table he sat on. Skywolf noticed it as well and excused himself, leaving Fang alone again as he took care of his friend.
Fang stood and walked almost noiselessly over to where surgery was. He discovered a video screen and activated it. It gave him direct access to the cameras keeping watch over the team of humans operating inside the OP. He felt Ashtar shiver in sympathy as they watched the humans fight to save Steven Parker's life and give him back use of his leg.

Unaware of the silent watcher, the medical team was getting ready to treat their patient. Five people had swarmed over him, getting him stabilized, had drawn blood, inserted catether, attached eletrical leads and taken the blood pressure. Kyle was impatiently waiting for the x-rays while Dr. Michelle Thompson, their resident orthopedic specialist was having a look at the other scans and results. She would handle the surgery with Kyle assisting. Steven Parker had been conscious for a few minutes, quite coherent even, but he had slipped off again after he had received pain medication. The anesthetist was currently watching him and finally nodded at Thompson that everything was stable. As if on that cue, the x-rays were brought in. Both medics looked at them and she nodded.
"Compound femur fracture," she muttered, almost to herself. "And that's the easy part."
Kyle stepped to her and regarded the x-ray critically. Broken bones were not the main problem here. Steven had broken his thigh bone in three places and it could be fixed, but there was always the muscle and nerve damage.
Thompson turned to their patient. "Innervation and arterial supply look good. What we're going to do is to stabilize the bone, remove the fragments and deal with the soft tissue as need be. I think we'll find a lot of crush damage to muscle bellies, but the vessels and nerves look intact."
The attack had left Steve with a deep flesh wound, but most of the damage had occurred when he had been flung through the air and crashed to the ground. Kyle was hoping they weren't dealing with cut nerve fibers.
"Anything else I should know?" the orthopedist asked.
"Except that we have a Sentinel linked to our patient, no," Kyle answered with a faint smile.
"Will it hinder the surgery?" Thompson asked matter-of-factly.
The other medic shook his head. "No. Steve will react to everything like any other patient." Only the feedback will drive Midnight crazy if he can't get his shields up, he thought darkly.
Thompson nodded and then stepped to the table. It was time to begin.
They had come as far as the first few incisions when the life signs on one of the monitors suddenly dropped. The ECG monitor's shrill alarm sounded as the tracing line became erratic, almost flat in some intervals.

Outside in the treatment room, Fang could almost simultaneously hear a keening noise from behind him. The doctors and nurses started to stabilize their patient and when Fang turned he saw Midnight collapsed on the table, shivering, his skin turning ashen. Skywolf was shooting worried glances toward surgery.
The poison! Fang thought all of a sudden.
"He was poisoned," Fang called and Skywolf stared at him.
"Come again?"
Fang looked at him, urgency lighting up his optics. "The creature which attacked him is poisonous."
"How do you know?"
"I've been on the planet for a while! Please, you have to believe me!"
"We ran a blood test," someone else suddenly said and he looked down, looking at another alien.
The woman was tall, taller than the average human, with slightly curly, dark hair spilling over her shoulders and down her back. Her face was mostly human, but the horns curling down her cheeks and the second pair curling from her head weren't. The eyes were black and he thought he saw a faint golden glow there. Her skin was a sun tanned brown and her hands looked more like claws.
"Please!" Fang insisted, Ashtar's own fear and urgency flooding through him.
She walked over to the intercom connecting them to surgery and spoke into it. A minute later she came back. "They are checking it."
"Thanks," he breathed.
He looked over to the screen again, noting the controlled atmosphere, the way everything was conducted professionally and calmly, even though this operation meant more than simply repairing damage done to a human; it meant the survival of an Interface partner.

Unknown to all med bay personnel, another robot was watching the proceedings. Tarakk had come by med bay when the emergency team had wheeled in a patient and when she had seen Midnight, half-unconscious and hurt, she had switched on her shields and followed. The shields kept her hidden from prying optics but not from human eyes. Thankfully she was a known person and not a stranger and even if a human caught sight of her, she wouldn't be bothered. Tarakk simply didn't want to be seen by the rest of the personnel.
Her insides clenched as she watched the humans rush Steve off and witnessed Midnight's pain, and she wanted nothing more than to be with him, support him ... help him.
But Midnight hated her.
He hated the Veneran inside her even more.
Tarakk bit her lower lip but didn't leave. Her optics were pinned to the black Sentinel sitting on the treatment table, suffering silently with his partner in surgery. She stayed for a long, long time.

* * *

"Well, that went well."
The sarcastic comment hung in the room and it hit everyone with equal power. Rodimus tapped his pen on the note pad and glared at nothing in specific. He wasn't hurt by Starscream's remark because it was the truth. This whole experiment had gone as catastrophic as possible and now they were back at square one. They knew the doorway still worked but the Gatekeeper was dead. Perceptor and First Aid were currently trying to find out what had killed him.
"I propose we go back and at least secure the doorway," Nightmare now said quietly.
"And risk another attack?!" Starscream asked angrily.
"Whatever attacked Steve never attacked one of the others. It went for smaller prey."
"Which doesn't mean it won't attack anyone else as well!" the other Gatekeeper shot back. "It is strong enough to puncture our armor!"
"Not if we don't let it," Sphere remarked.
Starscream shot her an acid look. They all knew that Interface armor was made out of very resistant metal and it was frightening to know that an organic life form was able to bite through it.
"And Nightmare is right," she added. "We need to at least make sure the doorway is secured. Something killed the Gatekeeper and maybe is still around."
"One more reason not to go back and simply lock out the coordinates!" her brother insisted.
"No, this is the reason why we need to find out what it was and maybe destroy it," Raven now entered the discussion. "Whatever it was, it killed the Gatekeeper and did something to the doorway. The Gatekeeper couldn't trigger a safety latch on it and the doorway system never registered a breach, still the rings look like someone tried to burn them."
Starscream snorted and slumped back in his chair. "If you want to destroy yourselves, fine! Just don't count on me coming to bail anyone out of there!"
Sphere smiled faintly but said nothing. Rodimus had to smile as well when he saw it.
"I want to send a reconnaissance team there as well," he now said, for the first time speaking up. It drew another snort out of Starscream. "But first I want to wait for a full report on the dead body shell, then we'll discuss the further missions. We also have a source of information in form of the Sentinel Midnight encountered on the planet, Fang."
"Maybe he killed the Gatekeeper," Starscream growled.
Sphere shot him a glare.
"I don't think so," Nightmare told him. "I didn't see much of the damage but whoever attacked him did so with great force. I know the Sentinels are strong, the Interfaced ones even more so, but even if they attacked one of us, they'd never take us down within a second, disabling us so completely that we couldn't even detonate the doorway."
Every Gatekeeper had an inbuilt instinct to secure his assigned doorway if danger threatened. If the enemy was so strong that the Gatekeeper had to fear he or she wouldn't survive the battle, detonation of the doorway was the only way out. This one was still intact and the Gatekeeper was dead. Very, very mysterious.
"Tji?" Raven mused.
Rodimus shrugged. "I don't want to speculate on things." He glanced at Sphere for a nano-second. "But I want to wait for the results. Until then, let's continue as planned."
They nodded their agreement and the meeting dispersed. Only Sphere stayed.
"He wasn't killed by Tji," she said when no one was left to hear her.
Rodimus sighed. "Are you sure?"
"Ranora is. We don't know the planet this doorway was built on and even the Tji have lost a great deal of knowledge about them. Most of their data was stored on the space station and probably went up with it."
"Except if Ralyk somehow transferred them to Cybertron."
"Yes, if it did .... But then we have to find them. Anyway, Ranora says a Tji would not mutilate the shell, it would take the shell and leave. And a Gatekeeper can't set a doorway. It needs a Key to do that."
"So something else attacked, killed the Gatekeeper and tried to do something to the doorway," Rodimus muttered. "I just hope it's no longer there."
"I think we're going to find out sooner or later."

* * *

Midnight looked at the fragile form in the small bed of the recovery room; small compared to Cybertronian-sized beds. Steven Parker was as pale as the sheet he lay on, his body limp and the skin almost translucent. The machines he was connected to made no sound, displaying his vital signs in silence. Intravenous hoses hung from one arm, feeding saline, glucose and, occasionally, more plasma. Steve had lost a lot of blood and though he had received transfusions, he was still not out of danger. Heavy bandages covered his mistreated leg. Kyle and Thompson had spent hours in surgery, patching his leg back together and had finally finished at four in the morning. Midnight had felt it all; not acutely, but still enough. Steve had woken in the operating room but he had not been really awake. The drugs had still been working. Kyle was convinced Steve would regain full use of his leg with physiotherapy, but it had brought only small relief. It had been touch and go for a while, the poison inside Steve counter-acting every effort. Right now his Interface partner was kept heavily sedated and would remain so for the next twenty-four hours.
Midnight couldn't get the picture out of his mind: Steve in a pool of his own blood, a deep and ugly wound on his leg, agony radiating through the link, the giant serpent hovering over him. Fang hadn't been the enemy, he now knew, but at the time he had simply attacked him without thinking. He turned away from the distressing picture and walked out of med bay, his steps heavy as if his body was counteracting what his mind was telling him to do. He couldn't help Steve except through the link and he couldn't just sit back and feel miserable. He was the Sentinel leader and he had obligations .... and there was always Fang. He needed to talk to the new Sentinel.

* * *

First Aid cleaned his hands and straightened. In front of him on the table lay a gray wreck that, if looked at closely, could be called a robot body shell. It had once been a living being; now it was nothing but scrap metal. It was a sorry sight and it hurt First Aid. Now he took his notes and walked over to the waiting circle of robots. Behind him, the assistants cleaned away the wreckage of the robot and stored it in a stasis field.
Rodimus was leaning against the wall of First Aid's office, smiling a greeting at him. Nightmare stood beside the chair where Raven was sitting. Starscream had not come. He had pointedly stayed in the doorway chamber.
"Well," First Aid said as he took his place behind the desk. "The first thing I can say is that this is truly the body shell of a Gatekeeper and that she was very old."
"She?" Nightmare asked quietly.
The medic nodded. "The core unit was pretty damaged but I managed to extract at least some data. The Gatekeeper was female and her name was Aparica."
Nightmare winced a bit.
"You know her?" Rodimus asked.
The former Decepticon nodded. "I met her briefly but she left quite an impression. She was one of the First Ones, a very gentle and centered person." Sadness fleetingly passed his face.
"From the rate of decay and taking into account that the Gatekeeper bodies, and the First Ones as well, are of a different origin, using different alloys and all, Aparica died several millennia ago. The cause of death is somewhat undetermined. The body shell shows massive head trauma, the neck almost completely broken through. No anterior wounds below the thighs. There is an undetermined number of third degree lacerations and breaches proceeding from the shoulder down to the waist line. The shell was eviscerated to a great degree and the spinal system broken." First Aid looked at his notes. "Aparica was attacked from behind and beaten unconscious with a great force. She must have shut down almost immediately, leaving her no time to act in any way. The attacker then proceeded to tear the body apart."
Raven winced in sympathy. "Any idea what it was?" she asked.
"From what I can still determine it had wasn't an attack with any kind of weapon such as guns, swords or explosive devices. It looks more like great claws and teeth..... but since the body is so old I couldn't locate any remains from the attacker."
"So it wasn't a Tji?" Rodimus inquired.
"Most certainly not." First Aid shook his head. "Unless this Tji was inhabiting a body shell that fit this description."
"Could it be the same thing that attacked Steve?"
"Also unlikely, though not impossible. We are talking about something that happened a long time ago, Rodimus. Maybe the attacker was an ancestor of what Steve encountered. And if it had been the creature that killed Aparica, Steve would be dead now. Aparica's attacker must have been larger and heavier to tear these wounds."
Rodimus nodded slowly. "Send me a complete report."
"Consider it already there."
"Thanks, First Aid." They left med bay, Rodimus thinking furiously. "So, what now?"
Nightmare rubbed his chin. "I'd still send out the reconnaissance team, Rodimus. It's an unknown world but we should explore it."
The Autobot nodded. "My sentiment is exactly. But this time we have to be more careful."
Raven and Nightmare nodded. Suddenly Rodimus spotted Skywolf and he said good-bye to the doorway team.
"You have the examination report?" the Sentinel medic asked.
"I have." Rodimus proceeded to give him a summary of First Aid's findings and Skywolf frowned.
"Hmm," he made.
"Skywolf," Rodimus steeled himself against what would come when he had finished the sentence, "could Fang have killed the Gatekeeper?"
Skywolf's optics flashed once. "No." His voice was calm and suddenly considerably colder.
"How do you know?"
"Because of who Fang is. He is not a killer!"
Even though he was treading on dangerous ground, Rodimus went on. "He is a Sentinel, Skywolf."
The optics glowed angrily this time. "I thought you, of all, were not prejudiced, Rodimus Prime," he whispered.
"I am not, but he was the only one on that planet and he could have killed the Gatekeeper! Skywolf, we have to face that fact! Midnight gave us the report about what he faced. A gigantic serpent."
"The traces on the Gatekeeper show claw marks," Skywolf told him matter-of-factly.
"As well as bite marks. First Aid says he can't be sure what did it...."
"And so you think it was Fang! Well, fine!" Skywolf stared at him with disgust.
Rodimus shook his head, feeling tired. "Listen, Wolf, I only want to include this option."
The Sentinel calmed down by force, looking at the table for a while. "I know," he finally said. "And I know even I can't vouch for Fang. I can only tell you what his past was like and he never killed unless he was threatened. Or his protégé. He was a bodyguard, not an assassin."
Rodimus smiled faintly. "And I hope is instincts are still the same. He protected Steve from Midnight and he was ready to defend them both against Nightmare, so I think those instincts are still well-honed and present. But we don't know him – not even you."
Skywolf met his optics and nodded slowly. "I know, sad as it is to confess. But I won't pile the blame and guilt his way until we have proof!"
"Neither will I."

* * *

Fang stepped into the office room and had to force himself not to walk straight out again. Ashtar sent a wave of support and the curious notion that nothing would happen, that everything would be okay. He wondered how she could be so sure. Neither of them knew the robot they were facing. Midnight smiled at him, but somehow Fang didn't feel at ease. True, he had saved the Sentinel's Interface's life, but ..... he had also attacked the black robot, prepared to kill him if he wouldn't run. He was responsible for this mess in the first place because he hadn't stopped and used his brain unit for a second. Now that he looked back on the whole scenario he saw many small hints as to what had been going on. But he hadn't listened or looked, he had followed his protection instinct. Nothing would free him of this guilt.
Midnight made his name all honor, Fang mused. He was completely black, which would be no problem, but he seemed to suck in the light around himself, creating a miniature black hole. Strange, yellow colored tubes poked out between what looked like organic skin, and the green visor over the robot's optics glowed softly. Fang could see pain in them but also a strength he had seldom witnessed before. Skywolf had given him a pretty good idea of who and what Midnight was but the Sentinel leader was still a shock to the optic, especially now that Fang's mind was not clouded by battle rage. Had they met as strangers, Fang would have made an automatic detour around him. That the black skin had a slightly washed-out look to it didn't do anything to help put visitors at ease.
"I think I never had the chance to thank you for what you did, Fang," Midnight said. "And to welcome you to our little group of Sentinels. You saved my life."
"I nearly killed you," Fang said bluntly.
Midnight looked openly at him. "No. You followed your instinct to protect someone in need and I know if it hadn't been for you, Steve would be dead. As would I. Thank you."
Fang shrugged, suddenly feeling insecure. He had expected a dressing-down for not thinking, not a welcome and an expression of thanks.
"I understand you never went with the others," Midnight now said and shot him a curious look.
Fang shook his head. "I missed the train." He flashed a smile.
"And you never searched for others of your kind. Why?"
Another shrug. "I don't know. There was a whole universe out there and, frankly, I didn't know how much the others had been freed of the Quintesson slavery. I might have gone back only to find myself trapped in my past again."
"Skywolf told me you were in the bodyguarding and security division back then." A small smile passed his lips. "I see it stuck."
"A lot of things do." Fang felt uncomfortable talking about his slave past, like most Sentinels and Seekers. Then again, he also felt uncomfortable talking about his recent past.
Midnight was silent for a while, then gave a curt nod. "You are welcome to stay, Fang. I'd love to have you as a new addition to our team."
"Thank you."
"I know Skywolf briefed you on a few things. If you have any questions, ask. A lot has changed."
"I noticed." Fang smiled slightly.
"I assigned you quarters in West Central. If you have any needs, don't hesitate to ask. I might not be around all the time, but there are others who can help."
Fang nodded. "Thanks."
"Now," Midnight went on, sounding a bit more official which Fang was grateful for. He was beginning to feel very uncomfortable. "I'd like to know all you can tell me about the planet, the creature that attacked Steve what ever you can think of as well."
Several hours later, Fang left again, feeling a bit tired.
Creepy> Ashtar whispered and he felt her shudder.
I know>
They walked down the corridor and automatically ended up in med bay. Fang was puzzled until he felt Ashtar's soft and barely detectable influence on him. She gave an embarrassed mutter and shielded herself again. Fang tilted his head but didn't inquire. She wouldn't answer him anyway. He retraced his steps and started to head for his new quarters.

* * *

"Are you sure about this," Rodimus asked again, worry battling with reason.
Spike smiled at the larger robot. Even though he was in a Protogen body, he was still smaller than Rodimus. Protogens had about Goldbug's size, though Disaster had mentioned that a larger body shell was possible, though he didn't want to risk experimenting right now.
"I am sure. Rodimus, I can't stand it any more! It's either sitting through rows of examinations or dying of boredom. Given the choice between a reconnaissance mission on an alien planet and boredom, I know what choice to make."
Rodimus nodded. "I accept your offer, Spike. Thank you."
Backdraft stepped beside her team mate. "We had a mission briefing and we know what to expect," she said in her usual, very calm voice. "You can depend on us."
He smiled at her. "I know I can. Just do the basics first."
"Yeah, we know, set up the transmitter, secure the perimeter and so on," Domino said.
He was clearly eager to go and not be kept waiting because of safety procedures endlessly repeated.
Rodimus chuckled. "Very good, Domino. I see the mission briefing was not lost on you, even though you were kind of ....absent."
Domino grimaced. "Can we go now?"
The Autobot second gave Raven the sign and the Key began to set the doorway. A low hum rose around them, penetrating their skin and wormed its way into their minds. The inner ring turned smoothly, sliding into a new position with an audible 'click', like an oversized combination lock. Then the outer ring moved, taking the middle ring with it. Both slid into a new position and again they heard a 'click'. Now the ceiling ring began to move, the whole structure starting to detach itself.
There was an explosion of light inside the tunnel those two rings created, then there was only silence. In front of them was an opening.
"Let's go," Spike said and walked into the opening. His team followed, taking their equipment with them.
Sphere transformed and followed. Until they could come up with a way for a traveling team to set the coordinates back home, a Key always had to come along or the Gatekeeper had to keep the doorway open, like Nightmare had done the last time. Keeping the doorway open was an energy drain and since Raven was needed back on Cybertron with the centerway, the choice had been Sphere.
The doorway closed again.
"Well, now we wait," Rodimus sighed.
Starscream gave a grunt and glowered at the silent rings. Nightmare only shrugged and flashed Rodimus a smile. Waiting was all they could do.

* * *

Med bay was mostly silent at night. Few people were around. Those on duty were in the front offices or making their rounds on patients, which were few at the moment. One of those patients was under constant surveillance by all kinds of monitors and a nurse came in every hour. Right now the nurse on duty was leaving after checking all read-outs and being satisfied with what they told her. Steven Parker was asleep and it was a good sign. He had slipped from unconsciousness into drug-induced sleep and then into normal sleep without waking for real. He had opened his eyes once or twice, only to slip again.
As the nurse left, a shadow detached itself from the empty room opposite this one. She shadow moved noiselessly over to the window showing it the occupant of the room, then entered. Had the nurse seen it, she'd probably have alerted everyone. A large cat prowling around med bay was not exactly what should be in med bay, except as a patient and there was none registered right now. But no one saw it. The cat seemed to flow more than walk – in absolute silence. Stopping at the bedside it looked at the man. It's ears flickered and it wrinkled its nose.
Then the cat suddenly changed form, stretching, growing, the tail shrinking back, the limbs straightening, and finally a female humanoid stood at the bedside. Smells assaulted her nose, had so since she had come here. Disinfectant, medication of different kinds, dry blood, metal..... She didn't like it, had never grown used to this 'civilization', but she had come to slowly accept it, mainly because there was no other way.
Ashtar closely scrutinized the pale, almost fragile looking man.
Steven Parker was alive.
He would survive.
Relief flooded through her even now. She squelched that feeling and simply stood and watched. Suddenly his eyes moved behind his eyelids. He moaned softly, his face twitching. He mumbled something, not real sentences, only words. Ashtar thought she recognized some of them.
Nightmare.
She almost unconsciously reached out and touched his hand, closing her smaller one around his. He moaned again, moving faintly, holding on to her hand with weak desperation. Ashtar made soft, soothing sounds and reached out with her other hand to stroke his forehead and cheek.
Steven Parker quieted down, breathing hard. Then his eyelids fluttered and glazed, haunted blue eyes looked at her from between half-closed eyelids. There was a spark of recognition but no other reaction. He seemed to try and force his consciousness closer to the real world, but the drugs and the exhaustion won. His eyes closed again and he slept once more.
Ashtar felt a smile tug at her lips. Her eyes wandered over to the heavily bandaged leg and the smile vanished. She ran her hand over it, a feather-light touch, then stepped back all of a sudden. She cocked her head and without hesitation morphed back into a cat. The dimmed light of the room reflected off her white fur and the dark rosettes.
The snow leopard left the cubicle as silently and shadowy as she had entered it and sneaked back into the opposite room, resuming her old place. Half a minute later a nurse walked by, glancing briefly at the patient in the recovery room and walked on.

*

The nightmares had haunted his sleep but they had never been strong enough to really come all the way through. Steve thought he was swimming through a gray fog towards sound and light. He blinked, somehow surprised he had eyes to see. His hand felt a blanket, a mattress – med bay. He was in med bay. The light became clearer though not much lighter. Around him was twilight. The first thing he saw was an oval something. It turned out to be a face.
And crystal clear green eyes looked at him.
Her!
Then everything dimmed around him again. His mind was woozy, everything fuzzy and without shape. He drifted back into sleep.
The next time he woke he was more aware and everything around him became clearer. A nurse smiled at him and then called for a doctor.
"Hi," he croaked, aghast at the sound of his voice.
"Welcome back," Kyle greeted him as he stepped to his side, a relieved smile on his face.
Steve managed a smile as well. At the back of his mind a gentle pressure reminded him of Midnight's worried presence.
I'm fine> he whispered tiredly.
Kyle started checking him as he tried to rouse himself out of his exhaustion. "How long..." He wet his lips. "How long have I been here?"
"Two days."
Steve stared at him and Kyle looked back with such a serious expression that he understood that it hadn't been easy. And the way he felt, he knew that was true. He was utterly limp and exhausted, like a dead weight of organic material denting the mattress.
"How bad?"
"Well, you lost a lot of blood, went into shock and got poisoned on top of having your left leg slashed up. We managed to set the broken bone and saved the muscles and nerves and all. It was touch and go for a while and we poured as much glucose and plasma into you as we could get away with without charging you for it." Kyle smiled wryly. "You need to go back into surgery at least twice to correct some more damage, Steve, but I think if you follow a prescribed therapy, you have back full use of your leg. You'll be stiff and sore for the next week or two, but you'll get your flexibility back."
Steve closed his eyes, his head pounding. There was a distant pain in his leg but somehow it felt like it didn't belong to him. It had been that close..... He reached out for Midnight and received a comforting wave of reassurance. His partner had not suffered as much as he had feared and it relieved him. He was lucky to be alive. Suddenly his eyes flew open.
"The serpent!" he whispered hoarsely.
Kyle smiled. "That's a long story and it all comes down to a new member to the Sentinel team."
"It was a Sentinel?" Steve breathed, eyes wide.
The doctor nodded. "His name is Fang and he actually saved your life."
"What about the woman?"
Kyle looked confused. "Woman?"
"She was there.... I remember her looking at me...."
Kyle shook his head. "There is no one else. Nightmare saw only Fang."
Steve weakly shook his head. "She was there!" he insisted.
"Maybe it was only your imagination."
"It wasn't!"
Kyle held up his hands. "Whew, easy there!"
Steve's face was set. "She was there! Maybe she was a native!"
"The poison might have influenced your perception...."
The dark-haired man turned his head away, lips drawn tight in anger. He had seen the woman!
"You better get some rest now, Steve. I'll be back later."
Steve?> Midnight asked worriedly.
I saw her, Mid! She was there!>
Midnight was silent for a moment. Maybe you only thought you saw her. There was no one else and the planet is not populated....>
How do you know?> Steve insisted.
Because we debriefed Fang and he was on that hell hole for quite some time. He said there are no natives of any kind. Except for a wild range of animal wild life there is nothing>
Steve sighed. Animal wild life. Right! He had had his encounters with animal wild life. Okay, okay, so call me a liar!>
No, I'm not!> Midnight protested.
You think I was hallucinating>
His partner sighed. I know what I got as feedback and.....>
That has nothing to do with what I saw!> Steve cried angrily. He felt tired and exhausted again, his leg throbbing distantly. I saw her....>
Midnight sighed softly and though he battled it, Steve slipped back into sleep. Before the link was cut he opened his memories of that particular moment to his partner and sent the image of the woman he had seen.
No hallucination> he whispered, then fell asleep.

In his quarters Midnight pondered the image he had just seen. It seemed very real and Steve believed in it – but had he really seen this woman or had it been a fever-induced image? He didn't know and maybe they'd never find out.

* * *

Camp had been set up quickly, as had the perimeter defenses. Spike checked them a last time, then looked around again. The landscape had not changed for the better and the wind had picked up. He heard animals wailing far away, but they had yet to see any kind of wild life.
"Let's take a look around," Spike decided and nodded at Sphere.
Sphere and Volta would remain in the camp while the other three would head out and have a look around.
"Finally!" Domino cheered and transformed into his vehicle mode.
Spike chuckled and did the same. Sphere saw him in his new mode for the first time and she had to say she was impressed. A dragon. Thorny scales of silvery white and light gray metal lay on his back, edges shining faintly in the twilight of the day. Heavy ridges of spikes guarded his back, and enormous wings, necessary to catapult him into the air, lay folded at his sides. All joints were armored and spined. The head was triangular, almost birdlike, long and narrow, its shape concealed under a mask of bony-looking plates. Icy blue optics shone brightly. Two sets of horns curled on his head, placed on heavy eyebrow ridges. A vast mane of ribbon-like scales cascaded down his neck and a 'shield' extended from beneath the mane to protect the nape of his neck.
He swung himself into the air, followed by Backdraft who had an aerial transformation though not an animal one. Volta and Sphere watched them go, then the Key went back to scanning the perimeter. They had a lot to do and when those three were back with the gathered data, the real work began.
Suddenly Ranora moved inside the Host space.
::What is it?:: she asked.
Ranora normally never did anything except lurk and take in what she could. The former Tji warrior was eager to learn and she had found out quite a lot about her former 'targets'. She respected the Cybertronians for what they were, what they believed in and what they tried to do, which was the main reason why she had changed sides. No one knew that Ranora was inside her, except for a few people, among them Starscream, Megatron and Rodimus Prime. And there was no chance any more would get wind of it, not if Sphere could help it.
::I'm not sure:: Ranora said thoughtfully. ::I felt something::
::Felt?::
Ranora seemed to shrug, something an energy life form couldn't really do but Sphere thought she sensed it nevertheless.
::Maybe it was just a twitch::
Sphere frowned and went about her work. A twitch?

* * *

Rodimus went through a report, finally reading something nice. On two of the three planets accessible to them through the doorway for now were sentient life forms. The sentients on Viji were rather primitive, far away still from what a human would call bronze age, but they were developing and Rodimus had ordered to survey them, nothing more. Since they didn't dwell on the same continent the doorway had been built on, it was unlikely that they ran into them, but he still wanted to be on the safe side. Sabre, the Gatekeeper present, had watched them since they had developed something akin to intelligence and the team present on Viji was adding more knowledge to what he had.
Tiera had a further developed civilization. Mask, the Gatekeeper on Tiera, was in contact with them and been so since he had finally managed to convince them that he wasn't a god and that the doorway wasn't some kind of Heaven's Gate or Portal to Hell. They had yet to develop a technology going past the use of simple crystals for short-term energy storage, but they were on the best way there. They were also an avian people, communicating by whistles and high-pitched shouts. Mask was able to talk to them but the exploration team was still learning their language. They couldn't learn Standard and translators were few but things were working.
Rodimus sighed softly, smiling.
Simple exploration. Nothing to it. No dangers, no problems, no crisis. It was almost frightening.
[Hey, enjoy it while it lasts] Shanygn sent.
[I will. How's your baby-sitting job?]
Shanygn chuckled. [Couldn't put it any better way. Steve's a pain in the butt]
He laughed. [Enjoy you stay]
She snorted and cut the link. Shanygn and some of the other Interfaces visited Steve in med bay and spend some time talking or simply being there. Steve was making progress but he was still restrained to the medical facilities and it was slowly driving him nuts – and everyone around him as well. He wasn't an ideal patient and that he was unable to leave under his own power made him cranky. Midnight was sometimes smiling without a reason and Rodimus knew that the human was complaining again. Before he had Interfaced as closely as all the other as well he had never seen those small gestures or expressions; now he did.
Rodimus rose and left his office. He still had a lot to do.

* * *

"Matrix, what a planet!" Domino muttered.
Spike looked around and had to agree. This planet was a rough wilderness and couldn't be compared to anything he had seen before. It was a barren world. They had left the rocky and wind-swept valley, now looking at an almost endless stretch of moors, behind them nothing but granite landscape. Oak-like trees crowded around where they stood, black and bare branches stretching into the leaden sky. Rain had fallen on them constantly since they had arrived and to Spike it looked like nothing in his right mind would develop sentient life here.
They had seen a few smaller animals but none of them clearly. They were skittish and fast critters, whistling a shrill alarm and then they were gone. They had yet to find the creature that had attacked Steve or the owners of the strange wails.
"Let's scout a bit further ahead, then return with the data we have," he decided and walked down the sodden and unsteady ground, sinking in. Had he been a normal-sized human he would have sunk in to his knees.
Domino muttered something but complied. Suddenly a soft whine alerted them of Backdraft's arrival. The dark red and black Protogen transformed smoothly and touched down beside one of the rotting trees.
"I think I found our attacker," she said.
Domino peaked up. "You did?! Where?!"
Spike chuckled. "Location?" he asked matter-of-factly.
"Twenty miles north of here."
Domino was nearly bouncing up and down with youthful energy. "Let's go get it!" he cried.
"We will monitor it, Domino, that's all," Spike told him. "I want to know what it is."
Domino snorted but he didn't object. As much as he was a hot head, he also respected Spike and accepted his decisions. Now Spike launched himself off the ground, circled once, then came in low and picked up Domino who was hard pressed moving on the muddy ground in his vehicle mode. He had nearly slid off into a fallen tree once and had, under a lot of protest, finally agreed to get carried. Backdraft took over the lead and Spike followed.

* * *

She watched.
No one ever saw her. All she was, was a shadow in the corner, the airvent or the next room. Her sharp eyes took in every move of those around her, her ears moving like small radar dishes. She rarely allowed herself to morph into her more humanoid mode, but sometimes she did.
And she watched him.
Steven Parker had been in surgery three more times and was now receiving therapy for his leg. She took in every move he made, noting everything. He was in pain and walking was exhausting him, even a few steps. Most of his therapy concerned muscle strengthening anyway. She winced as she saw the angry red scar for the first time and she wished she could help in any way, but there was none.
She could only watch.

* * *

Spike sailed in low over the ground, the rain a constant companion now, falling in a steady stream from the depressingly twilightish sky. His optics scanned the ground for any sign of the creature, then he looked at Backdraft.
"You sure?" he asked.
She sighed. "Yes, I saw it. It was moving toward the valley up ahead."
Domino, who had made himself comfortable between the thorns on Spike's back, peered down as well. "Huh, can't see anything. Maybe your optics malfunctioned."
Backdraft drew up level with her leader, tipping a wing toward Domino for a brief second. "You will lose your optics in a second if you don't shut up, hot shot."
"Oh, I'm so scared. Yikes!" The last was an exclamation of surprise and startled fear as Spike banked left and dropped.
Domino saw a large paw full of talons swoosh narrowly past them and a roar echoed in his audio sensors. His hands gripped the thorns for support and his fuel pump beat frantically as Spike wove around a blur of dark fur and flashing talons, finally rising in height.
"What....?!" Domino whispered, stunned.
Spike hovered in mid-air and Backdraft, who he had lost sight of, joined him, transforming into her robot mode. She was the only Protogen who could do that, mimicking Decepticon abilities of flight as a robot.
"Like I said, I think I found it," she remarked dryly.
"I guess you did," Spike growled, staying very much out of reach of the creature.
Domino stared at the thing now looking up at its unreachable prey. It was ugly, he decided. And big. It had about the size of a Predacon Cybertronian. It was four-legged, the rear haunches lower than the powerful forequarters. The head was low, pale compared to the almost black back, elongated and covered with a mixture of fur and bone plates. The legs ended in wrinkled skin leading to five-clawed toes. The dense fur covered almost all the back and front legs, but stopped at the tail and hind legs, which were bone plates again. Yellow eyes squinted at them, a long tongue lolling out a horribly large and fanged snout. The fur was matted with rain and it smelled horribly, even up here.
"Did you see what I saw?" Backdraft asked.
Spike nodded.
"What?!" Domino demanded.
"When it jumped to reach me, it went on both haunches and stretched. You could see the belly. It was metal."
Domino blinked. "It's ... cybernetic?"
Spike nodded again. "Backdraft, take Domino and get back to the camp. Alert the others that we found the creature."
"We could do so by radio," Domino pointed out.
"Yes, we could, but I won't. Get the gathered data back. It's important. One of you has to return to Cybertron with it and I want the others to stay with the doorway."
"What about you?" she asked.
"I'll keep an eye on it."
Backdraft looked hesitant but finally transformed and Domino clambered onto her jet mode, though not without protest.
"Be careful," she said, then veered off and left.
Spike gained more height and searched for a mountain to use as a look-out. He found a suitable gathering of rocks and descended. The creature seemed to have lost interest and snuffled on the ground, then trotted off. Spike watched it as it roamed along the swelling river, crossed it where it was very narrow, and disappeared into the mountains. He took off again and followed.

* * *

Skywolf was in his office cubicle of med bay. He could seldom be found in his private quarters because his job took up most of his time anyway. Right now he wasn't working, he was thinking about a problem. Well, it wasn't a problem, more of a mystery. And the mystery's name was Fang.
Skywolf and Fang went way back. They had been on the same team when the Sentinels had been nothing but slaves of the Quintessons and though they had had different functions, they had been friends. Fang had been a member of the Personal Protection Division, assigned to protect high-ranking Quints from assassination attempts. As such a bodyguard he had been rigorously trained to defend whoever was entrusted to him, if necessary kill the attacker. Fang was a fiercely protective person and whoever he choose as a friend was a lucky person because he or she had someone to really rely on. And whoever was the enemy had to beware. When the Cybertronians had risen and pushed off the Quintesson slavery seal, the Sentinels had fled and Skywolf had lost track of his friend. He had thought him dead. Now he had found out that Fang was alive, had survived on his own all the time, and that he was back.
And that he knew about Interfacing.
That was the biggest mystery. How could he know? The first Sentinel hadn't Interfaced until a very long time after they had fled! Interfacing as such had not even been known! And even after it had happened, no one had really talked about it.
So how could he know?
"Maybe he heard about it," Jill now said, looking thoughtfully at her partner.
"How? From what he told me he roamed around the borders of the known universe, even venturing further. He was never anywhere close to where we lived."
Jill sighed. "He must have heard about it, maybe only recently .... How else can you explain it?"
"Not at all," the medic muttered.
He had been one of the first to Interface, though not the very first. That had been Spellbinder. He and Kayla had met by accident when the scientist had explored a young planet with an even younger civilization, running into a female of one of the tribes and ... phasing her. It had come as a shock to many of the Sentinels at the time, not to speak of the shock Spellbinder and Kayla had been under. Kayla, a Healer and Sorceress of the tribe of the Feyaiin, had thought of them as one of the Demon Gods and had believed that she had been chosen by them to be punished for her deeds. It had taken some time to show her what had really happened.
"And his reactions ... something is not right," Skywolf went on.
"But you can't put your finger on it," his partner finished the sentence.
He nodded.
Jill played with a music tape she was currently recording. "How well do you know him from the old times?"
"As well as you could know a comrade then."
"And has he changed?"
Skywolf tilted his head. "Of course. We all changed, some more, some less."
Jill nodded. "But has something changed dramatically?"
"No. He is still Fang."
"So we simply keep an eye on him and see what happens." She shrugged. "We don't know what happened to him while he was roaming the wilderness of space. He might tell us one day and it might be the explanation."
Skywolf frowned. "I hope," he muttered.
Because something was wrong. Fang was Fang, but .... but .... damned! He just couldn't put it into words!

* * *

Steve lay in the med bay bed, sighing. He felt .... bored. He couldn't get out of bed alone, he couldn't walk the three steps necessary to have a look out of this room and even though he had visitors, he felt a bit alone. Especially since no one believed his story!
He had seen her!
Whatever they said, he had really seen the woman!
He couldn't have imagined those eyes ... the face.... but no one believed him, not really. Even Midnight, who had been privy to that moment through the link, wasn't completely convinced that it wasn't a hallucination. Angry and slightly pouting, Steve had told him what he could do with his doubt. He wasn't truly angry at his partner; just a bit miffed. As if he couldn't keep fever-induced hallucinations and reality apart!
"Try a smile or the nurses will continue to refuse coming in here."
Steve looked up and smiled. "Hi, Kyle."
The medic checked Steve's leg, looking very pleased. Steve could feel it twinge and throb now and then but it was healing and he was receiving regular and quite intense treatment. The heavy bandage had been removed after the first twenty-four hours and when the wounds had stopped bleeding, the drainage tubes had been removed. His leg was still kept in a slightly elevated position. The bones had been mended by artificial means, though they were weak and wouldn't suffer any weight on them. Steve knew he would keep a scar, though it wouldn't be a big one or one that handicapped him. Modern medicine was taking care of that. Nevertheless, the reminder would be there, running up the side of his leg.
"Got you something." Kyle suddenly materialized a small pack of paper, neatly bound and looking suspiciously like files. "Jeff told me to give you these....."
Steve groaned. "Work."
"Takes your mind off this," Kyle grinned and gestured at the room in general. "You just lie back and read and be a good boy."
Steve rolled his eyes. "Out!" he muttered.
Kyle grinned even more and left, having done his part of the job of keeping Steve occupied with something – anything!

* * *

::Mab!:: A shrill whistle accompanied the exclamation and Sphere nearly flinched.
The Key increased the shields between herself and her Host space, turning to Backdraft. "And Spike is watching it?" ::What's a Mab?:: she asked Ranora simultaneously. The answer she got was a shiver and a wave of fear and disgust.
"Yes. He told us to fly back and hand over the data," Backdraft explained in her usual, calm manner. "Domino will take it back to Cybertron."
"Me? Who made you leader?" the other Protogen demanded.
Backdraft turned her infinitely patient optics on him. "You want to go back and face the creature?"
"Uhm.... I'm not afraid!" he then protested.
Sphere smiled. "Raven will send you back, Domino. The data is important. We need to have it analyzed and stored."
"Oh, okay.... right...." Domino didn't sound too thrilled, but he no longer protested.
"Now, about this creature.... any idea?"
Backdraft shook her head, watching as the doorway opened and Domino stepped through. "I have no clue."
Suddenly the com link crackled. "Spike to camp, Spike to camp. Do you read me?"
"Loud and clear. How are you faring?" Sphere answered his call.
::Tell him to get back!:: Ranora urged.
"I lost it in a cave," Spike reported. "I have the coordinates and I'm coming back now. I also have some very interesting data from a scan I was able to take."
"Okay. Sphere out."
::Ranora, talk to me! What is a Mab?::
Another shudder.
Backdraft was busying herself with something else and Sphere walked over to her small science station, sitting down. She didn't need anyone looking strangely at her when as she now communicated with her Guest.
::Something out of the past:: Ranora whispered.
::Your past?::
::No. Yours::
She frowned. ::Would you mind talking Standard to me? I have no clue what you mean!::
::Not your past, Sphere. Cybertronian past under the rule of the Quintessons::
::This thing was brought here by the Quintessons?!::
::No, its ancestors most likely. At least some of them. The Quintessons were always quick with experiments, we all know that. That's why the others chose them as the perfect way to let their creations develop. But they also liked to run dangerous and unethical experiments....::
::And this Mab is one of them?::
::Yes and no. Its ancestors were experiments and when they went out of control many were put into stasis or killed, but some were also relocated onto other worlds::
Sphere thought furiously. ::And they used the centerway on Cybertron?::
::They couldn't operate it. The Mab here were transported with conventional means: space ships:: the Tji answered.
::And did the Quints know there was a doorway here?::
::Most likely not::
::If this Mab is the creature that attacked Spike – why did it do it? Food?::
::I don't know::
::Did it attack the Gatekeeper?:: Sphere inquired.
Ranora hesitated. ::It could have. Mab are strong and short-tempered. And they are intelligent::
Sphere remembered how torn up and mutilated the Gatekeeper's body had looked. And she remembered how long ago the attack had happened. ::And maybe it was an ancestor of that Mab::
::Also likely::
::One thing puzzles me, though....::
::Yes?::
::I read a lot about the ancient past, the Quintesson time and all.... Why did I never read about the Mab?::
::The Quintessons had different names for them. They called them...::

"Transorganics?!"
Rodimus stared at the report and sank slowly into a chair, too shocked to say something. And when he did it was a soft curse.
"What's a Transorganic?" Nightmare inquired.
"Something I thought we had destroyed," Rodimus whispered. "Damn!" At Nightmare's inquiring look he added, "Transorganics are Quintesson creations, a fusion of an organic and robot technology. They took life forms and experimented on them, gave them cybernetic limbs or bodies. They were pure killing machines, each with different powers or abilities, the worst of them the energy leeches. We found the remaining ones by accident once and it nearly cost us our lives. I ordered them to be destroyed, though many had been killed in the battle anyway."
"And now we have one on a doorway planet," Raven said slowly.
"One that attacked one of us already and doesn't seem too friendly," Nightmare added.
Rodimus nodded. "We have two choices: leave the planet and seal the doorway, or go after it and contain it."
Everyone knew what 'contain' meant.
It was a decision he had to make on his own, Rodimus knew. And it was a hard one to make.

* * *

It watched the strangers. They were working around the strange circle its ancestors had always called The Way Home. Ever since the first of its kind had been abandoned here they had searched for a way back to the world where they had been born on, where they rightfully belonged.
The silver planet.
It had heard of it like all had, through history remembered by all who came before and all who would come.
Now those who had banished his ancestors had returned and they had also opened The Way Home.
A snarl escaped its snout.

* * *
Fang stood in med bay, his optics pinned on the stasis hold, back turned to everyone. He had come in about half an hour ago and done nothing but stand there and watch. The humans worked around him if he got in the way, which he didn't all that much, and Chaos and First Aid ignored him for now. Skywolf was watching him with half an optic as he double-checked some of Chaos' scans. He handed the files back to her and then approached his friend.
"What will happen to her?" Fang asked quietly as he joined him.
Skywolf looked at the stasis hold which displayed the remains of the dead Gatekeeper.
"I don't know. Rodimus hasn't gotten back about it yet."
"I want her to be buried in honors," Fang continued just as quietly.
Skywolf shot him a curious and slightly narrow-opticed look. "You knew her?"
A sad smile played around the other Sentinel's lips. "In a way, yes." Skywolf waited patiently and finally Fang continued. "I met her a very long time ago ..... very, very long. I came to the planet because I needed some time alone."
Skywolf thought he heard a deeper sadness for a moment and he wondered what had triggered Fang's need of solitude. But he didn't ask. It would most likely simply shut him up about the rest of the story as well.
"I didn't meet her right away. It's a big planet. Then I finally stumbled over her and somehow .... we were very much alike." Sadness again, this time about the loss Fang was facing. "I never knew what she was. She never told me what she was doing on this planet, only that she wouldn't leave because this was her home, her place – her destiny. I never understood but I respected it." He looked at the dead, gray shell. "She was lonely, I was lonely ..... we needed the company. When I left again she made me promise that I would return one day." A rueful smile played over his lips. "I did. Two days before Midnight arrived. I was too late. Much too late."
Skywolf understood. Fang had apparently been isolated so long that he had accepted the friendship of this stranger and had called her a friend in time. Now this friend was dead.
"You were hunting the creature?" he asked, though he already knew the answer. Never make Fang your enemy.
Fang nodded. "Yes, I searched for it. I found traces but it never showed. And the one that had killed her was already dead. I think this creature only attacks smaller prey...."
"And then it attacked Steve."
Another nod. "I caught a glimpse of it and followed."
"Steve's luck. And Midnight's." Skywolf smiled.
"But I wasn't lucky enough to kill it!" Fang hissed, his hands clenching into fists. "I had to protect Steve. I couldn't go after it as it fled."
Skywolf laid a hand on the trembling shoulder. "You did the right thing. You saved two lives, Fang!"
The other Sentinel gave a soft hiss. "I was too late to save Apa's."
Skywolf dimmed his optics for a second. That was another feature of his friend. Guilt. He wouldn't carry it to the end of his existence, but he would continue to analyze where he had gone wrong, where he could have done better.
"Why did you never tell us that you knew her?" he finally asked.
Fang turned and looked at him. "You never asked."
Skywolf met the serious gaze. Yes, they had never asked. Not once. "Thanks for telling me anyway," he said softly. "And we will bury her in honors. Nightmare has already told me that he will take care of that."
Fang nodded slowly. "Thank you."
He remained a few more minutes, apparently lost in thought, then left abruptly. Skywolf watched him, his mind feverishly working on the mystery his friend represented.

* * *
Two weeks, the planet's weeks, had passed since they had arrived here and since they had had their encounter with the creature. It hadn't been seen since then but Spike was still careful when sending his team out or going out with them. Rodimus had told him that they would stay on the planet and not simply leave and seal the doorway, but if the creature showed up around the camp, they would have to contain it. Spike was not looking forward to it and quite glad that it hadn't reared its ugly head.
He was pleased with the way they were proceeding. They had a quite good map of the area around them, cartographed and divided into sectors. Volta was busy sampling everything he could lay his hands on and Spike was pleased to see how his young friend was developing. Volta showed a lot of interest in sciences and he was happy scouting through the landscape and jotting down notes and bringing back samples to examine. Domino was a bundle of energy and Spike constantly steered him a new way so he wouldn't get tired of routine. Backdraft was doing aerial observations and thanks to her the distant coastline was now taking a definite form.
Spike was proud and he knew he could be. The Protogens were young but they were quite a capable bunch. Currently he was alone at the camp. Sphere had returned to Cybertron and would be back in an hour. Domino and Volta were scouting again; Domino had announced he wanted to take a look at the cliffs. It would take him a few days, Spike knew. Backdraft was on her way back and he expected her any minute.
The wind picked up and it smelled of rain again. Spike couldn't remember a day when there hadn't been rain or a drizzle or strong winds. The sun never came through and it could drive you into depression being here. But the planet was too new and too full of adventures to fall into the depression category. And it wasn't as if he was looking for a place to move in, Spike added with a grin.
He checked his chronometer. He had enough time to transfer some data tracks for the guys back home until Sphere arrived. He turned and walked back to their camp.
Suddenly his instincts rang a soft alarm bell. If he had had skin, real skin, it would have tingled. Spike stopped and listened. He heard only wind and rain ..... and a soft, squelching noise.
A horrible smell enveloped him.
And then something heavy hit him in the back, flinging him to the muddy ground.
* * *

"So Ralyk changed me."
Skywolf met Midnight's inquiring visor and nodded slowly at the fatalistic way the statement had been delivered with.
"The sensors we attached to you before you jumped showed us quite clearly that you are able to access the doorway energy lines," Chaos explained, shaking her head. "It's amazing. I can't explain how Ralyk changed your circuits and where, but you have abilities that go beyond what you should be able to do." She shrugged.
Midnight sighed, wishing the headache he had felt since Steve's accident would stop. "So ..... how do I control it?"
The two medics exchanged a look and his headache increased.
"You don't know, right?" he concluded.
Skywolf nodded. "It has something to do with your Gating abilities and you can use these new powers just like you use Gating, but don't ask me just what you are doing." He grinned. "We can't even explain Gating, so how can we explain this ....jumping."
Midnight rubbed his optics. "I have no clue what it is or how I can control it, but well, it works.... Great!"
"Train it," Skywolf advised. "You didn't know how to Gate either and now you do."
"It took me years," the black Sentinel muttered.
Skywolf gave him a friendly pat on the shoulder. "Relax, Mid. We now know what happened and we know it is controllable. Just try it out. Nightmare suggested we attach a permanent beeper to you so we can home in on your position when you jump. There are still a lot of open questions, mainly whether you can jump to former doorway planets, those where the doorway structure as such was destroyed, or not."
"I can hear the word guinea pig," Midnight mumbled, smiling lop-sidedly.
Chaos chuckled and Skywolf grinned.
"Go off and take care of you partner," Skywolf then said and gave his friend and leader a friendly push off the examination table.
Midnight left med bay with a sigh, wishing Ralyk was still alive so he could 'thank' it appropriately for this so-called gift.

* * *

Ashtar slipped through the door silently, unnoticed by the larger black cat. She kept to the shadows, slinking from one to the next as she watched the strange cat jump on top of the desk and curl up. Nosing curiously around the room, she took in everything, from the blaster marks on the wall to the remains of the last destroyed monitor that had yet to be removed. She had explored the halls and corridors and rooms of her new home a lot lately, but she had never done it openly. Her way was the way of secrecy and shadows, keeping herself hidden and simply watching and learning. Sometimes she was simply overwhelmed by what she saw around her and it took her days to comprehend and work through it. Now she was in this room, one that had been closed to her for some time. When the strange cat had entered it, Ashtar had simply followed, her curiosity getting the better of her caution.
After a few minutes, she grew bored and glanced over at the door. Ashtar frowned; the door release was too high for her to reach in any form without climbing.
Trapped! she thought to herself, panic starting to rise inside her. She squelched it, settling down to wait. Maybe the cat would let her out when she left again.

Sparks' ears shot up and swiveled around, trying to catch the source of the whispering sound of something soft against metal. She narrowed her eyes, jumping off the desk to investigate.

Ashtar glanced up at the desk where the other cat had been; she darted forward to hide in the shadows around the desk when she saw it was gone.
She's leaving now? Ashtar felt a ray of hope.
Cautiously edging around the corner, she saw the door; still closed, no cat trotting towards it, black or otherwise. She doubled back, wary, keeping her body low to the floor --and came face to face with the strange feline as she went around the corner.
It was all she could do not to collapse in a terrified heap; she forced herself to take a step away from the desk, around her opponent, then a second. She kept her posture submissive, ears pressed forward, head and tail low, as she scrambled around the black one when it appeared she wasn't going to move to block her.
Her fear and apprehension grew as the stranger moved then, slowly backing her into a corner. She let out a small whimper as she lay down, tail curled tightly to her.

Sparks eyed the cat warily; the poor thing seemed to be scared out of its wits, but it still didn't belong here.
One of the humans must have brought it as a pet, she thought to herself as she opened a com link and informed Megatron of the feline intruder.

There's another cat in my office?!
The thought refused to leave Megatron as he strode down the hall; one way or another he would deal with it. He had been rather busy with the defense and security system lately, something always on the verge of breakdown and giving him not only nightmares but slowly but surely a migraine as well. They were lacking not only the materials but also the manpower to complete work on the new defense perimeter. It was frustrating. On top of that came this new 'power', the ability to sense Tji presence. It was most annoying when he was around Sphere, which hadn't happened a lot lately, but when it had she always had to shield herself so he wouldn't get these weird, tickling and itching feelings.
And now this.
Megatron opened the door and was greeted by a feline scream as the smaller, trapped cat made a half-hearted bid for freedom and Sparks moved to block it.
The Decepticon leader walked over to them and watched, amused, as the spotted cat seemed to lose all interest in Sparks, backing up against the wall and staring up at him with a fearful expression. This cat was not used to Cybertronians.
He reached down and picked it up by the scruff of the neck, stalking back over to his desk to sit on the edge of it as he examined his captive thoughtfully. It meowed plaintively, scrabbling ineffectively with its paws, trying to scratch him.
"Well," he finally said, glancing at the other, more obnoxious cat. "What do you think we should do with it, fuzz ball?"
Sparks wasn't given a chance to answer. They both heard a small explosion outside the door, followed by something hitting the wall hard and the crunch and screech of protesting metal as someone forced the door open with strength fueled by rage.
"I think you should put it down," Sparks said nervously as Fang stepped through what was left of Megatron's office door, bristling with weapons and a deadly expression on his face.
"Put. Ashtar. Down." Fang hissed, leveling his fusion cannon at Megatron. "Now."
Megatron suddenly cursed, shaking his hand and letting go of Ashtar. She'd managed to sink both feet into the joints in his hand and had left two sets of parallel claw marks in his skin. It wouldn't have been such a problem if her claws weren't quite strong and sharp for an organic, penetrating his skin.
The cat screamed in pain as she hit the floor with quite some force. Her attempt to land on her feet was not entirely successful because of the height she fell from.
Sparks tore her eyes from Fang's menacing form and gaped. That scream had been human! Ashtar wasn't a cat anymore! Well, not entirely, she still looked very feline, but now had a humanoid body -- a body that disappeared almost instantly.
Interfaced!
Sparks sat down abruptly, staring at Fang in complete shock.
Somehow, the expression on Fang's face darkened as he felt his partner phase in.
"I suggest you stay away from her," he snarled, then turned and stalked out before Megatron had a chance to even react.

* * *

"Try to hit the legs!" Spike yelled and dove for cover as the creature attacked. He rolled around and transformed, making for the sky where it couldn't follow. The problem was that in his dragon mode, he couldn't access all his weapons. He was better shielded against attacks, but his own attacks were limited. And when the creature had attacked him it had left him with deep marks on his back which were now making flight difficult. It hadn't hit vital circuits but some of his muscle cables were severed.
Backdraft, in the meantime, was doing what she could, but the creature was fast, belying the weight it represented. Spike's optics searched for weak spots as he tried to drive it away from the already half-ruined camp, trying to remember hunting lessons from his uncle, a passionate game hunter. He had escaped the deadly claws by pure luck because Backdraft had arrived a second after it had attacked him. How it had come through the perimeter defenses ... Spike had no clue. They would have to check on that later.
The beast they were facing was heavily armored, the hind legs covered quite effectively with scales and plates which deflected every shot like it was nothing but small stone pebbles, not a laser blast. His uncle had always told him that a big game hunter faced by a creature coming toward him and presenting no vulnerable flank or spine, he had to hit the front knee or the lower leg of the animal to incapacitate it, then apply the kill shot. This creature seemed to have no vulnerable points anywhere! The plates were like metal, reflecting every shot neatly and continuously.
Backdraft evaded getting caught in the horribly long claws by a hair's breadth, her optics glowing brightly. "We can't hold it!"
"I know," he ground out between clenched teeth, driving the animal back with continuous fire, but it wasn't hurt – simply irritated more than it already was. "I'll be damned if this thing hasn't a weak spot!"
She gave him a wry smile, looking at the creature. It had paused in its attack and the pause seemed to last for an eternity. It stood unmoving and silent, like a statue. Evilly gleaming yellow eyes stared back at her, reflecting anger, lust and even triumph. She saw its intelligence, a sharp and focused intelligence that frightened her.
It knows what it wants, she thought, horrified.
Spike suddenly transformed and touched down.
"What are you doing?!" she whispered urgently.
"The only thing I can think of."
The thing took a step forward, then froze again as if trying to make up its mind what to do next. Its powerful, heavily muscled frame was tensed. Then it started forward once more, coming toward them in its strange, distance-eating lope.
"Spike?" Backdraft breathed, standing beside her leader.
Spike raised his gun and shot at the legs, trying to penetrate one of the plates at the joint, but to no avail. Backdraft joined in, aiming at the same spot he was, but the only result was a howl from the creature as its leg was suddenly jerked back. It wasn't permanently hurt, only faltered slightly. It stopped the run, biting at its haunches as if to bite away the pain and then looked at them again. The rage and blood lust growing. And then it jumped.
Backdraft gave a cry of surprise and warning as the massive body flew toward them catapulted by the powerful legs. She rolled away, felt its stench envelop her like a living creature, then heard a shot.
And a crunching sound.
"Spike!"

* * *

Fang felt his partner's pain and fear through the link, the ankle and neck injuries beginning to swell and throb, burning. It fueled his anger until he transformed even before he'd left the area on his way to medbay, ignoring the polite, then worried inquiries from those he passed
*

Dr. Kyle Scott slowly put down his pen and clipboard and looked through the window to see what the commotion was. Something was very wrong; he could hear the half-frightened, apprehensive murmurs of some of the other technicians and medical personnel, a few of the more excitable ones screaming.
The sight that greeted him explained it easily. The body of a large, dark blue snake lay blocking part of the hallway, its head poking into one room after another, looking for something with malevolently glowing red optics.
Fang caught sight of him through the windowpane and stopped, then shot forward and pushed his way into the room. Apparently Kyle was what -- or rather who -- he'd been looking for. The medic looked Fang over, noting the tightly-controlled rage vibrating through the enormous body. He wondered what had happened to trigger it; from what he'd heard, Fang was level-headed with a temper that was slow to ignite, but explosive when it did.
"I need your help," Fang hissed.
Kyle caught the underlying message, that 'no' was not an acceptable answer, and allowed himself to be herded back down the hall and into another treatment room. He absently noted it was the closest room to the entrance. Fang had to coil himself tightly to leave room for Kyle and keep from damaging the equipment before closing the door.
Kyle watched the restless Sentinel for a moment, confusion on his face. He wasn't afraid of the serpent, though it would be easy for Fang to kill him. Something about the way he acted and how he had acted in the past, protecting Steve and later Midnight, had shown him that though Fang was large and fear-inspiring, he was also protective and not likely to hurt someone not provoking him.
"So, you need my help...? You aren't hurt that I can see..." He trailed off as Fang shook his head sharply, taking a deep breath.
"I'm not ... Ashtar is." He glanced over at the hospital bed.
Kyle followed his gaze and gasped in shock as a feline humanoid suddenly appeared on it in a way he recognized. An Interface dematerializing out of a robot partner! He started to say something, then swallowed and tried again.
"You ... you're Interfaced?" He blinked at Fang in shock; the newcomer hadn't so much as hinted at the feline's existence.
Fang nodded once. "She is hurt. Help her!"
It came out as a half plea, half order, before Fang turned and shot out the door, apparently thinking his continued presence would inhibit Kyle's abilities.
The medic looked from the half-dazed feline on the bed to where Fang was now setting up camp in med bay and sighed.
"Why me?" he muttered and set to work.

* * *

The doorway opened with a whoosh of released energy, light spilling over the twilightish landscape, turning it into a surreal world. Then the doorway shut with a snap and a click. Sphere stood in front of the giant rings, looking around, and her optics came to rest on......
"Spike!? Backdraft?!"
Inside her, Ranora gave a startled gasp. ::Mab!::
"Hi, Sphere," Backdraft said casually, looking almost placidly at her.
Sphere gaped at them. Spike's silver and gray body was covered in blood, mud and stuff Sphere had no clue of what it was but could guess. It trailed down his metal skin and some of it had dried already. The camp was in ruins, the tent torn down, the equipment destroyed. The ground was burned with laser fire and disturbed by sharp claws.
"We did it!" Spike told her, grinning.
"How...." She stopped as she looked at the creature. "Is it dead?"
"Quite dead."
::They killed it!::
"You killed it?" Sphere was too baffled about this to catch a clear thought. Ranora's emotional display inside her didn't help and she finally clamped more shields around her.
Spike shrugged. "Like I said, it had to have a weak spot."
"The eyes," Backdraft nodded and allowed herself a pleased smile.
Sphere looked at the Transorganic again. The eyes..... What was everyone aiming for when faced with the enemy? The chest, the sides, the legs, the place between the eyes, but never the eyes themselves because they were a small target and it took some pretty good sharp-shooting. The head of the creature was relatively intact, though one eye-socket was ruined. The body was blackened and singed by the shots that had hit but not killed it. It radiated an unbearable stench – and it was very much dead.
"How about you set the doorway again and give us a lift home?" Spike now asked, smiling faintly. He looked tired, probably in need of a recharge.
"Where are the others?" Sphere asked as she set the doorway home again.
"Scouting at the coast. I radioed them already and Volta said they are on their way back. Backdraft will stay here," Spike explained and rose from his sitting position. "Give me a hand?"
Sphere grimaced but helped the smaller robot drag the dead body to the open doorway. They were gone a second later and Backdraft looked around.
"Right! Clean-up time!"

* * *

Sparks lay curled up on the latest screen Megatron had received as replacement for the old one, which had suffered the same fate as its predecessors. The technician had given him some well-meant advice on abuse of equipment and the current supply problems, then had fled when Megatron had glowered at him in no uncertain ways. Someone had patched up the hole in the wall where the door had been and she tried to forget about the little incident. She was by nature curious and would have loved to follow Fang and find out about his Interface, but her duties were with Megatron right now. His temper was close to the boiling point once more and he'd soon need a vent.
Right now he was trying to finish a report before he had to go back to the defense perimeter work, but his hand was giving him troubles; he was unable to hold a pen, or much of anything else either, as any kind of pressure on the cuts in his palm irritated and stung. The small cat's claws had punctured just the right places, damaging one joint to a point where it was no longer tolerable.
"You should get that fixed," Sparks now remarked.
His optics narrowed. "Go and catch a mouse!"
She smiled. "I had my exercise for today." Sparks raised one furry eyebrow.
"You," he snarled, "are an annoying little gremlin!"
The cat chuckled and bowed mockingly. "Thank you, Oh Mighty One."
Megatron ignored her. He flung his pen onto the desk and glared at the cuts in his hand, one covered by dried energon. He knew that Sparks was right; he needed to get it fixed. After some more glaring he finally rose in an abrupt motion and left, never saying a word.
Sparks chuckled and then stretched, changing napping places from the screen to Megatron's chair, very much aware of how enraged he would be if he found her on it. That was the whole point of it.

*

"I thought I told you to stay away from her!" an enraged hiss greeted him as he set foot in the medical facility.
Megatron barely managed to keep from being snakefood as he jumped backwards, avoiding Fang's snapping jaws by a hair.
Damn, he's fast! Megatron thought fleetingly as he watched the Sentinel recover faster than he could, catching him crosswise in his mouth on the second try. He struggled, trying to free himself and reached instinctively for his gun when he realized the first attempt hadn't been a near-miss. His fusion cannon lay on the floor, well out of reach as Fang lifted him halfway to the ceiling. Megatron squirmed a bit more, then winced as his movements provoked Fang into tightening his hold. He felt his skin start to dent, not yet breaking though.
"Put me down!" he roared, optics glowing in fury.
Megatron felt the vibrations ripple through the serpent's body as he rumbled a wordless denial. He could see one red optic, glowing with malice, a shiver of pain running down his body.

*

Rodimus rushed down to medbay, puzzling over Perceptor's report. The scientist wasn't prone to crying wolf, but this seemed a little farfetched! Fang was trying to eat Megatron? He couldn't understand how that was even possible, not having seen the Sentinel in his alternate form before.
He stopped dead in his tracks as he entered; the scene in medbay certainly gave credence to Perceptor's report. Fang sat coiled loosely in the main examination room, looming threateningly over everything and everyone, clutching Megatron tightly in his jaws. Even as he watched, Megatron struggled a little, movement that ceased as Fang's grip on him tightened. The Decepticon leader's optics glowed in rage but he was aware of his precarious situation.
"Put him down, Fang!" Rodimus ordered once he had regained control of himself.
The serpent whipped around to face him, rumbling in anger. He shook his wedge-shaped head violently, making Megatron cry out in pain at the force.
Rodimus glared back at the irate Sentinel, trying to think of some way to make him put the Decepticon leader down. A loud whump-whump sound distracted him, and he saw that although his mouth was other wise occupied for the moment, Fang's tail was still free and thumping warningly against the wall.
Suddenly, Rodimus felt much less inclined to want to deal with this and opened a com link to Midnight's office.

*

In the autopsy room several corridors down from where Fang was scaring the personnel, First Aid was performing an autopsy on the Transorganic. He had been much too busy with the Containment Units for the personality cores lately and being back in West Central's med bay was somehow comforting. It was Disaster's turn to check the new facilities while he could do his medic's job, even it was a bit gruesome. First Aid was alone in the room, fully concentrating on his task, feeling right in his element, though autopsies were not exactly what he had to do on a regular basis. He could call on specialists if he needed help, but so far everything had gone smoothly.
X rays, multiple photographs, measurements and weight had been obtained earlier. It was now time to proceed witht eh external examination and internal dissection. Bright overhead lights blazed down on the table.
First Aid looked up when he heard the commotion, then went back to work. Whatever was going on, there was no alarm and so it wasn't serious.
First Aid ignored it.

* * *

Midnight opened the emergency frequency immediately, instantly concerned.
"What's wrong?"
Rodimus Prime's disembodied voice greeted him. "You have a problem in medbay."
Midnight blinked. "I have a problem in medbay?" he repeated.
"Uh-huh..." Rodimus sounded rather distracted, and Midnight could hear some rather loud thumps in the background. "You might want to get down here before he eats someone."
"Eats!?!" Midnight exclaimed, jumping to his feet.
"Well, he's pretty determined on who his lunch is going to be..."
Midnight didn't hear the rest of it; he had already left his office.

* * *

"Hell of a first assignment," Spike chuckled and rubbed his neck in a very human gesture.
Backdraft chuckled as well and watched Beachcomber as he followed the Technobots through the doorway. While the combiner team would only set up a permanent monitoring station and see to it that everything was secure, Beachcomber had been asked to run the small research station on the planet. The geologist had been thrilled. He had told Spike it was like a dream come true. He loved nature and he wouldn't feel lonely on a planet like this.
"But a good one," she now said.
Spike nodded. "I want to type up the file and then send it to Rodimus." He sighed.
Backdraft gave him a friendly pat. "Have fun."
He grimaced.
"Say, did they do an autopsy of the creature?" Backdraft asked as he was about to leave.
Spike stopped and nodded. "Yes. It's a Transorganic. Not one of the originals from the batch Magnus and the others had once faced, but a descendant. Looks like the Quints deported some to this lonely planet and hoped no one would ever stumble over them."
"Well, we did."
"And I hope we won't again."
Spike didn't mention his conversation with Rodimus on the matter. First Aid had found out something that gave them all room for thought and Rodimus has asked him to keep quiet on it for now.
The Transorganics had been sterile. There was no way they could have bred – any of them. The samples from the incident decades ago had given them a first experience and the one they had found only added to this fact. Transorganics couldn't breed.
Then what had brought forth the offspring? Had someone used genetic engineering? If yes, why? And who? The Quints? Rodimus didn't think so. They had lost interest in their experiments – and someone had continued their work.
Who?
Why?
What for?
"So we are going on a new assignment?"
Backdraft's question got his mind switched back to reality. Spike grinned. "Yes. I asked Rodimus if he had any other plans and he didn't. He is rather relieved to have us as an exploration force."
"And it keeps Domino occupied," Backdraft said dryly.
Spike laughed. "That as well." He left the room and Backdraft decided to go and look up Volta. Maybe he was in the mood for a little game.

* * *

"Fang!"
The dark blue serpent blinked at him and hissed through Megatron.
"Fang, put him down," Midnight said softly, once he had reigned in his surprise.
Fang shook his head, rumbling in protest.
Midnight sighed. "Look, you have to put him down."
Fang just sat there and glared.
"Are you going to be difficult about this?"
Fang nodded, hissing in displeasure.
Midnight wanted to hiss back, but he knew it wouldn't help. He tried another tack. "He didn't hurt you, correct? I can't see any signs of blaster burns..."
Fang hesitated, then shook his head. His tail hit the wall with a loud *thump*.
"Then what...?" Midnight shook his head, realizing that trying to get anything more than a 'yes' or 'no' answer out of Fang was impossible. This was like one of those human game shows.
"Megatron, what on Cybertron happened?!" he addressed the other robot involved.
"It was ..... an ... accident ....." Megatron wheezed.
"Fang, at least loosen up a little! He can't breathe!"
Fang grumbled something unintelligible but complied.
Megatron coughed a bit, waiting for much-needed oxygen to flood his systems again. Then he tried to talk his way down. "I swear, it was an accident! I had no idea she was .... urrghhh!" He broke off as Fang squeezed him painfully between his jaws, his metal bending with a scream. The serpent reared back, shrieking.
Bad move, he thought to himself. The message it sent didn't escape him as Fang tilted his head, giving the Decepticon leader a look of fury: no talk about Interfaces. The serpent's jaws relaxed somewhat.
"I won't touch her again!" he wheezed. "I just came down to get the scratches patched, I didn't even know she was here!" Megatron panted in apprehension as Fang's optics narrowed dangerously. He gritted his teeth and tried another tactic: asking politely. "Put me down....please?" The last word was ground out with abhorrence.
Fang rumbled, relaxing a bit, partially mollified. He still refused to put Megatron down, though.
"Fang, let's talk about this? Put Megatron down and I promise he'll stay where you can see him... won't you Megatron?" Midnight said cajolingly, adding a note of warning for Megatron.
"Of course!" came the immediate reply.
"Not..." Fang managed around Megatron, hesitating. "Not good enough," he finished.
Midnight muttered something under his breath. "Who is 'she'?" he asked finally.
Fang's body stiffened again in rage and his tail slammed into the wall hard enough to leave a mark.
Midnight looked askance at Rodimus, who shrugged. He's hiding something, Midnight thought to himself, but at least I'm getting an idea of what must have happened. Looks like Megatron must have hurt someone under Fang's considerable protection.
He had experienced that protection first hand and he knew if the giant Sentinel had chosen someone as a friend in need, there was no limit to what he would do to protect him or her. And this time it was a 'her'.
"Fang, this is getting us nowhere," he said in exasperation.
Fang nodded, an amused gleam in his optics. Midnight sighed and shook his head, crossing his arms over his chest. For the next hour, he stood there trying everything he could think of to get Fang to put Megatron down without resorting to violence.
Primus, I feel like I'm talking to a brick wall! Midnight thought to himself.
Fang's attention had waned some time ago, and Midnight was confused by some of his reactions. He seemed to be in pain, wincing, tremors rippling along his body from time to time, but Midnight couldn't find any sign of damage. Rodimus couldn't either when Midnight asked.
"Well, Megatron, I think you're just going to have to stay put until he decides to put you down," Midnight finally said.
"What?! You're letting this... this snake eat me?!"
The black Sentinel shook his head. "If he were going to eat you he'd have done so by now." He cast a critical eye at Fang, hoping the Sentinel was paying enough attention to answer. "Right, Fang?"
Fang didn't nod as Midnight had hoped he would. Instead, he garbled a series of words Midnight had to work to decipher.
"Like for like. Life for life. If she dies, I take you with me. For now...I wait."

* * *

Kyle worked efficiently, giving Ashtar an IV, taking x-rays of her ankle and neck, scanning for soft tissue damage. He kept a soft stream of encouragement and reassurance going, unaware of what he was saying half the time, but knowing it was all that was keeping his patient from being paralyzed with terror, and, quite possibly, going into shock.
He watched her reactions, the expression on her face, as much as he could while he was treating her, and the mystery behind her began to unravel. Fang was right to keep her hidden; Ashtar followed his hands --no, not his hands, the instruments he was using -- as if they were implements of torture, her eyes glazed with pain and fear.
Fang's probably her first experience with anything of a technical nature....from her physiology, her people are probably back in the stone age, he thought to himself.
The shields he had erected around his mind, keeping Voodoo out, were holding, but consuming as much physical energy as his work. He had had to pull one of the few technicians who hadn't abandoned medbay at Fang's arrival off of his regular duties to develop the x-rays and decipher the scans. Kyle would have been able to do them himself, but he sensed that leaving Ashtar alone for more than a minute or so at a time would make things much worse for whomever was trying to deal with Fang outside. The Sentinel's screams and other assorted noises had penetrated the walls, the thumps against the wall reverberating up and down the corridor.
He sighed, pausing a moment to rub his throbbing temples, then picked up his clipboard and went to talk to Fang. The drugs he'd given Ashtar would take a few minutes to set in, and the tranquilizer he'd given her earlier would probably go into effect by then. The scene that greeted him, while not exactly encouraging, wasn't as bad as he'd feared, and easily remedied. He hoped.
"Fang?" Kyle said, getting the Sentinel's attention.
The serpent twisted his head around to look at him with one over-bright red optic.
"Fang, you can put him down," he said gently but firmly, reassurance in his voice.
Fang did so, carefully arching his neck and releasing Megatron from his crushing grip in a show of docility that made Midnight curse under his breath, before whipping his entire body around.

Megatron sighed in hidden relief and looked down, inspecting the dents in his skin, dents that matched the scale pattern of Fang's mouth. He looked up to glare at the serpentine Sentinel, unaware that Fang had already started to turn around, and received a faceful of massive tail that slammed him bodily into the wall. The world spun crazily, his circuits rattled and sensor points on fire before he keeled backwards and his optics went black.

Midnight barely caught Megatron's limp form in time and eased it to the floor.
"Take care of him," he spat to Rodimus. "I'm going to find out what the hell is going on in here!"
Rodimus shrugged, then knelt to pick Megatron up and move him to one of the examination tables. He glanced over at the wall and winced at the detailed imprint of the Decepticon's front side showing clearly in it.
Midnight strode over to the other side of the room to listen to Fang and Kyle's quiet discussion. The serpent Sentinel had lowered his head so much that he was nearly on the floor so that he could look Kyle in the eyes and was talking so softly he had to strain to pick up anything at all.

"How is she?"
Kyle smiled softly in reassurance. "Ashtar will be fine in a few days with rest and care. Just to warn you, I gave her a sedative to help calm her down. That should be going into effect soon." He flipped a sheet on his clipboard and scanned something. "As for injuries, she has a sprained ankle, some mild muscle damage to her neck and a pulled ligament between the second and third vertebrae. Nothing major, and everything will heal on their own with proper care."
Fang was silent for a moment, letting the good news sink in. Then the protective lids covered his red optics and he trembled, sighing with intense relief. Opening them again, he gave the human a look of extreme gratitude.
"Thank you."
Kyle nodded. "You are welcome. Take care of yourself, ok? You're influencing her as much as she is you. Fighting isn't going to help anyone. I'll let you know when I'm done; I still have to bind her injuries." He patted Fang's snout gently before turning to go back to treatment room 1.

Fang curled himself into a tight coil, neck doubled, head at a steep incline to the floor. He was trembling, breathing in great gulps of air as he regained control of his temper and got his shields back in order. She's going to be okay... he thought to himself, repeating it like a mantra.
"Mind telling me who Ashtar is?"
Midnight's voice cut through Fang's reverie and the serpent jerked his head sideways, startled, his cheek hitting the wall with a smack. He let out a low rumble of pain and protest, then bent his head down in submission, the tremors shaking his huge form increasing.
"Fang? Who's Ashtar? What's going on here?" The black Sentinel's voice was stern.
Fang whimpered, lowering his head even more, his snout nearly touching the ground. His eyes rolled wildly behind the prisma shields and he seemed to be torn up inside by what to do.
"Ashtar's my Interface," he finally whispered, tilting his head away from Midnight and refusing to answer the other question.
Midnight blinked in shock. Interfaced? Fang?! He was vaguely aware of his jaw falling open as a million questions shot through his head, foremost being why Fang hadn't told anyone. He recovered some of his composure, but Kyle reappeared before he could ask and Fang vanished, disappearing into the room where Ashtar was being treated.
Refusing to be put off, Midnight followed.

*

Skywolf looked puzzled as he passed another medical technician, a human who should have been on duty in medbay. There was something wrong; humanoids and robots alike seemed to be migrating out of the area. He stopped the next person he saw heading away from medbay and asked why he wasn't doing his job.
"Are you crazy?! With that snake terrorizing the place?! I'm not going back there until he's gone, whoever he is..." The human shook his head, panic and fear in his eyes, then darted past him down the hall, determined to get as much distance between himself and medbay as possible.
Snake? Terrorizing the place... Fang! Skywolf thought and broke into a run, dodging more humans vacating the premises.
There was no sign of his old friend when he got to medbay, but plenty of evidence that Fang had been there: Megatron was barely conscious, getting repairs, his body marked with dents that were unmistakably caused by the serpent; dents in the walls showed where Megatron had been thrown against it, as well as the scale pattern of Fang's tail.
"What happened?!"
Rodimus looked up at him. "Fang tried to eat Megatron."
"That I can see. Why? Where is he?"
Suspicion began to form in Skywolf's mind as to why Fang would act like this, but a reason for it was still lacking.
Megatron coughed, optics glowing with the old fire. "I hurt his organic."
"Organic?"
"Ashtar. I think that's her name."
"Ashtar?" Skywolf blinked in confusion, then all the pieces fell into place, why Fang knew about Interfaces. "Fang's Interface," he breathed.
The medic leaned heavily on the table, knowing instinctively just how badly Fang had reacted--and probably was still reacting.
"Where is he?"
Rodimus hesitated, disconcerted at the harsh demand in Skywolf's voice.
"Tell me where he is! I have to calm him down before he kills someone!"
Rodimus flinched. "Kills someone?! He seemed okay when Kyle told him about Ashtar's condition..." He wilted under Skywolf's glare. "Treatment room 1. Midnight's with him."
"Wonderful," Skywolf snapped sarcastically. "Let's just hope Midnight has sense enough to leave..." he muttered to himself as he rounded the corner.
He opened the door cautiously, not wanting to startle the already distraught Sentinel, and was immediately reminded of a similar episode millions of years before.

"Fang?"
Skywolf slipped through the door, closing it gently behind him. He'd tracked the panicked bodyguard to a storage closet by the trail of energon and other fluids he was leaking.
Fang screamed in answer, his tail knocking over stacks of supplies as he backed against the wall. His body was coiled into a trembling ball and there was no sign of sanity in the pain-fogged optics.
Skywolf cursed inwardly as he slowly approached the injured robot, trying to project reassurance at him.
"Fang, I want to help."
No, he needed to help, or else his friend would get scrapped. The Quintesson the serpent had been assigned to guard had asked for a few minutes alone with him, and had used the time to whip the Sentinel, just released from massive repairs, into a frenzy of fear and pain. Now Skywolf had to deal with the results, or else there wouldn't be results to deal with.
Fang stared at him with glazed optics, one of the prisma shields cracked from the force of the power-whip.
Skywolf turned on the light so he could see the damage done.
Fang's head was laced with open cuts, oozing lubricants and glowing energon. His fangs were distended in self-defense, one of them broken off by a collision with something, dripping acid poison that ate into the skin inside his mouth. Scales were slashed in half, whole rows missing entirely where he'd thrashed and scraped over something sharp, feathers had been cut off or torn out. The skin on his tender underbelly, not as heavily shielded as his back, hung in strips from the lash of the whip.
"Fang, please. Listen to me," Skywolf whispered. "You'll bleed to death in here. Let me help you." He went on, ignoring each time Fang jerked his head back in alarm, trying to soothe him with his voice and presence.
Sanity gradually returned to Fang's optics, the tremors dying away and leaving the Sentinel exhausted. He lowered his head, panting, and whispered, "Skywolf?" A high, keening noise emerged from his throat.
"It's me," the medic confirmed, stepping forward to take the serpent's head in his hands, rubbing the fluids off his scales. "Retract your fangs. I'll see what I can do, okay?"
Fang whimpered, but followed the instructions.

Skywolf shook his head, pushing the memories away with an effort. He couldn't see Midnight, but he could sense his leader's presence to the left. Fang lay coiled in a massive mound against the wall, skin taught with tension. His head was nowhere to be seen.
"Fang?" he asked quietly.
The serpent quivered, coils sliding over each other slightly before stopping again.
"Mid, leave please." Skywolf didn't take his eyes off Fang.
"I'm not leaving until I have some answers. He's a danger running around with an Interface no one knows!" Midnight told him coldly, a challenging undertone in his voice.
"Correction: he's a danger being harassed about his Interface, and you're making it worse. Please leave," Skywolf repeated, making the request sound like an order.
"I said, I'm not leaving without answers, Skywolf. I don't think that's too much to ask." Midnight muttered something under his breath, his optic shield flashing in anger. "All I want to know is what she looks like so I can let everyone else know she's here."
"If Fang's this determined to keep her hidden, he has a good reason to. And as a current resident of medbay, he is under my authority, Midnight, not yours. Please leave, before I have to remove you."
After a few moments in which the door didn't open and shut, Skywolf looked over his shoulder and glared at Midnight, who leaned stubbornly against the wall, arms crossed over his chest. Skywolf knew that expression. He had seen it dozens of times before and he also knew that there was no succeeding with words.
"All right then, you leave me no choice."
"What...?" Midnight jerked upright, his hands spreading in shocked self-defense as Skywolf pulled his gun from subspace. There was a flash of disbelief in his green visor, his aura starting to flare, then Skywolf shot him in the chest.
The medic sighed as he caught the unconscious Sleeper, then lifted him into his arms, gun sent back to its proper place in his subspace pocket, and carried him outside.

*

Jill?>
Jill didn't look up from the test she was running on the Transorganic's blood samples. Skywolf? What's the problem?>
I need you to run interference for me...This is dicey as it is and the last thing I need is 'rescue parties' bursting in. Fang'll panic>
Jill blinked, then asked for, and got, a condensed briefing of the goings-on in medbay. Interfaced?!> Her jaw dropped as the news of Fang's unexpected revelation sank in.
Please, Jill... this is important! It's going to sound like a war zone in here in a few minutes! You have to keep Rodimus and the others from trying to save me!> His mental voice trembled.
Jill wondered fleetingly why Skywolf was so desperate to deal with Fang alone as she put a halt on the current blood test. It could wait.

*

Anger.
Shock.
Pain.
Nothing.
"Mid.... No!!" Steve gasped, bolting upright in bed. He reached out with his mind and tried to find his partner but was greeted by nothing but darkness. His mind flailed around for a sign of the well-known presence and finally found it. Midnight was unconscious. And the last thing he had seen was....
Steve buried his head in his hands, groaning. "Oh, gods....."
Skywolf aiming his gun at Midnight.
Midnight's startled surprise.
His partner had kept his shields up all the time, but they had cracked right before he had gotten shot. There was no pain coming in, only emptiness. Steve eased himself out of bed, determined to get to the bottom of this. His leg shot out lances of pain as he put weight on it and he bit his lower lip. He nearly collapsed again.
"Steve, stay put! Mid's fine!" Kyle said as he burst through the door. He strode over and helped Steve get his injured leg back up into bed.
"What happened?" Steve whispered, face drawn and pale with pain from his leg and leftovers from the link. He looked at his friend, trembling. "Kyle?" he asked, almost pleadingly.
"Midnight doesn't have any sense, is what happened," Kyle muttered. "Skywolf asked him to leave Fang alone and he refused, so Skywolf stunned him," he explained in a rush, unwilling to go into detail, checking his patient's leg.
Steve's jaw dropped in shock. "Skywolf ... shot Midnight?" It hadn't been a dream.....
Kyle nodded. "He said Mid would probably come around in a little while."
Steve shut his eyes for a moment and sighed. "What does all this have to do with Fang?"
Kyle echoed the sigh. "I knew you would pick up on that ... Fang's been terrorizing medbay for the past couple hours..."
Steve blinked at him in puzzlement. "Terrorizing the place? Why? I thought I heard something earlier..." He shrugged kind of helplessly.
"Megatron found out that Fang's Interfaced ... the hard way." Kyle watched Steve closely for his reaction.
"Interfaced?! The woman I saw!" Steve struggled upright, trying to get out of bed again.
"My thoughts exactly, but you can't go in there, Steve. Fang's panicked and Skywolf has him under quarantine." Kyle gently pushed him back down in bed.
Steve winced, letting out a small whimper of protest; he wanted to see her again -- desperately.
Kyle patted his arm sympathetically. "Fang's not letting anyone see her right now, Steve, not even Skywolf. And Skywolf knows him." He chuckled ruefully. "I'm not even sure he'll let me see her again, and he dragged me off to treat her."
Steve gripped Kyle's wrist tightly. "Describe her?" There was a note of wistful longing in his voice that denied Kyle a chance to refuse.
The medic let out a puff of air, trying to compose himself. "Cat-like ... silver skin, spotted with dark gray rosettes. She was terrified of the instruments I used to treat her..." Kyle trailed off, an expression of pain on his face as he remembered the fearful looks she had given him.
Steve pulled himself into a sitting position again. "Her eyes, Kyle, what color were her eyes?" His face held a hungry look, a desperate need to have his 'hallucination' proven truth.
"Green, Steve, bright green. And filled with terror and pain..." Kyle turned away, lost in his memories of that short time he'd been Ashtar's only grip on reality, what with Fang's rage feeding off the emotions he had been receiving from her.
Steve sighed in relief and collapsed back into bed to stare at the ceiling, convinced she wasn't a figment of his imagination.
"I want to see her," he muttered, almost to himself.
Kyle smiled. "You can believe that she is real, Steve, and she needs very real rest."
Steve sighed deeply.
"And so do you," Kyle added. "Now be a good patient and stay in bed, okay?"
He got a half-mutter and nodded in satisfaction.
"I know the danger of saying this, but I think we can safely release you within the next three days -- if you behave...."
Steve's face lit up. "You are serious?!"
"Very. You've been declared mobile. You won't be able to move much even then and you have to rely on crutches, but ..."
"No problem!" Steve interrupted, grinning happily and like a child, everything else momentarily forgotten.
Kyle chuckled. "Don't exert yourself or you'll be back here in a flash."
Assured that Steve was okay now, Kyle decided that having a look at what was happening right now couldn't hurt and he left the room.
Steve continued staring at the ceiling, a slightly faraway expression on his face, accompanied by a soft smile.

*

Skywolf slipped through the door and shut it quietly behind him. Looking around, he
sighed, seeing nothing had changed; Fang was still curled up on the opposite side of the room and probably hadn't even noticed Midnight's removal.
"Fang?" He paused, getting no response. "Fang, it's me, Skywolf. Midnight's gone; he won't be back in here. I promise."
Silence.
"Fang, please..." Skywolf carefully stepped forward, one step at a time, making sure he wasn't going to set the serpent off again, until he was standing next to him. "Fang, I want to help. No one is going to hurt you. Or Ashtar."
He laid both hands on Fang's side, feeling the tension in his friend's muscle cables as he stroked the sleek, dark blue scales gently. A quiver went down Fang's massive body, but there was no other response.
Skywolf chuckled sardonically. "This is just like old times, isn't it?"
He shook his head, cursing Betol'Mar for doing this to Fang, then turning his anger on Midnight for his complete lack of sense.
"Fang?" He kept stroking the serpent's scales, trying to get him to relax, to do something. "Fang, it's all right to let go. There's nothing in here that can't be replaced, and I know you won't hurt me..."
He kept up his soothing patter, knowing Fang needed something to focus on if he was going to be able to get out of this. A snout appeared over the top of the mound of coils after a while. A long pink tongue whipped out and tested the air.
"It's okay, Fang....It's just me. You can let go."
A roiling red optic had appeared, and Skywolf could see the pent-up fear and anger in it.
"I know you trust me, Fang..." A shudder rippled through Fang's body. "There will be no repercussions. Not this time."
Fang screamed, the top two coils of the mound lifting as he slammed his head through
one of the cabinet doors, sending shards of metal and shattered supplies flying. Pulling out, he bashed his head against the opposite wall, denting it, then repeated it a few times, leaving all but one of the cabinets battered or broken. Letting out another hair-raising shriek, he bent and picked up the table, crushing it in his powerful jaws before dropping it near the door. He opened fire, scorching the walls and the remains of the table with laser fire.
Skywolf stood there and watched, talking through it all as Fang tore through the room, knowing the rage would burn itself out given time. It was all he could do to keep his mind on the present situation, and he knew he was going to have problems once Fang was stabilized.
Finally the wave of destruction died down, leaving the room a disaster area. Shards of glass, metal, and plastics lay everywhere, mixed with other materials. The walls had blackened burns and slagged pits in them, and what was left of the furniture, aside from one chair that Fang had left intact for Skywolf, was a pile of molten metal that had bonded to the floor near the door.
Fang's head hung suspended a few feet above Skywolf as he panted, tremors of exhaustion shaking his huge frame.
"Fang?" Skywolf reached up and took the serpent's snout in his hands, gently pulling him down to inspect the scratches and dents in the scales.
Fang rumbled softly, his optics shadowed with pain, but otherwise clear.
Skywolf sighed in relief.

*

The abandoned feeling of medbay was disturbing as Jill headed to the main entrance and repair bay. Fang must have really terrorized the place, she thought to herself.
The main repair bay was equally deserted of its usual workers; only Rodimus Prime and a Decepticon medic were on their feet. Megatron was getting repairs. And Midnight...
"What happened to Midnight?!" Jill exclaimed as she saw the Sentinel leader out cold on one of the tables.
Rodimus blinked at her. "Skywolf shot him."
Jill paled, every drop of color draining from her face as she realized just how bad the situation with Fang must be if Skywolf had been pushed to shoot Midnight to keep him from interfering.
"You can't go in there! Skywolf said to keep you out. He doesn't need rescuing."
I hope, she added silently to herself, crossing her fingers that her partner knew what he was doing. She started to say more, but was interrupted by a gentle presence in her mind.
Brace yourself>
Skywolf's shields went up, blocking her out.
A muffled shriek, still loud enough to bend metal, came through the walls, followed by a crash. Then all hell broke loose, screams, laser fire, and crashes of various degrees intermixed in rapid succession, as if a tornado had just been turned loose.
Jill's eyes widened at the cacophony. "NO!"
Rodimus stopped halfway to the hall at Jill's shout, gun in hand. "Skywolf's going to get himself killed in there!" he protested.
"Rodimus, he's my partner! Don't you think I'd know if Fang were hurting him?!" she yelled to be heard over the noise.
Jill felt desperately along her link with Skywolf and found nothing, no sign of pain or injury. She sighed inwardly with relief; whatever Fang was doing wasn't hurting Skywolf, no matter how much noise it made.
"But... but..." Rodimus made a weak gesture at the wall separating the room they were in from the racket.
Jill swallowed heavily, bracing herself. "It'll be all right, Rodimus. He knows what he's doing."
Rodimus stared at her for a long moment, then nodded hesitantly, sending his gun back into subspace before turning back to Midnight and Megatron. Jill trembled, mind awhirl with the possibilities of what Fang could be doing in there, and wrapped her arms around herself for comfort.

*

Hands... hands that soothed and healed.
Hands that gave comfort, could be trusted when words weren't worth the breath that they were made on.
Hands that felt...
Hands he remembered vividly, that had drawn him back to life time and again over his career as a bodyguard. That had drawn him back from the edge of insanity.
Fang let out a puff of breath, letting his eyelids shutter over the prisma shields as he followed Skywolf's tugging hands.
Sanity...is such a fleeting thing in an existence of pain and denial..' he thought to himself, then pushed the memories away, unwilling to put himself, and Skywolf, through more emotional turbulence if he went into a flashback. He purred, a sound that was little more than a bass rumble, as Skywolf stroked his muzzle, soothing the last of the tension from his body.
"You okay, Fang?" Skywolf asked gently.
Fang opened his eyes, nuzzling his friend's chest gently and rumbling in answer. He was too exhausted, physically and emotionally, to do more.
Skywolf patted him on the snout. "I'll see to it that someone gets you some energon. Stay put, all right? And try not to terrorize anyone?" A glint of humor flashed in his optics.
Fang nodded slightly, then curled back up, head resting on top of the mound of coils as Skywolf turned and left the room.

He quivered, tremors ripping through him as he battled against the flashbacks he knew would come, trying to hold them off until he could get somewhere private. Fang's emotional state had rocked him to the very core.
"Skywolf?" Jill looked up at him, concern clear on her face as she watched him stumble into the room, his shoulder hitting the doorjamb.
Skywolf stopped just inside and reached out, leaning against the wall. "I'm all right, Jill. He's going to make it..." Skywolf's voice dwindled to a whisper, pain vivid on his face and in his tone.
"What did he do to you?!" Jill's voice became shrill with worry and recrimination. His shields didn't allow her any contact and it was driving her crazy.
Skywolf shook his head. "Nothing, Jill, Fang didn't touch me. It's just...I can't!" He buried his face in his hands and slowly fell to his knees, shuddering uncontrollably.
"Skywolf?!" Jill's voice was frantic, but it couldn't cut through the emotional torrents she felt washing down the link as her partner's shields collapsed.

The screams pierced the air like a wailing siren, stopping everything within hearing range. Ranging from deep base rumbles up several octaves and beyond most robot's hearing range, Skywolf realized immediately who was making the clamor, and why.
Glass shattered as he dropped the vials he'd been holding, bolting out the door.
The sight that greeted him in the main repair bay was horrifying. Betol'Mar stood on one side, a sadistic grin on his faces, amusement lighting his optics. A power-whip was in one tentacle, drawn back for another strike. The wide, orange glow betrayed its strength; it had been turned on full power, something no Quintesson would do, no matter what the punishment.
Skywolf watched in shock as the lash came down, adding a new, glowing cut to the body of the serpent, already thrashing in agony on the floor. The room was a disaster: energon and other fluids were splattered all over the walls, the floor, even the ceiling; even as he watched, the massive coils tore an examination table from the floor, sending it tumbling across the room end over end. The injured one's screams were audio-shattering at this distance, his optics fogged with pain and fear, his body ripped from the power-whip as well as his own thrashing; scraps of metal and entire scales littered the floor around sharp edges left from furniture he'd pulled from the floor.
Fang reared back, lifting fully half his body off the floor in an attempt to escape the pain. Betol'Mar only took it as an opportunity to shred his tender underbelly.
Skywolf was jolted out of his paralysis at the shriek his friend gave as the whip hit again, and he yanked his gun out of subspace, aiming it at the Master. There was no doubt in his mind that the Quintesson was going to whip Fang to death, and he had to stop it, no matter the cost.
"Hold!"
The voice stopped him, coming from the main entrance. Another Quintesson, accompanied by his Enforcers and Sharkticons, entered. The Sharkticons had their weapons drawn, attracted by the screams, as had several other Sentinels and slaves. They were Quintesson guards, employed with the duties of keeping their peers from abusing their slaves, from damaging the merchandise.
A bolt hit Betol'Mar, then another and another as the Quintesson officer laughed in sadistic glee, seemingly unaware of his own impending death as the Enforcers and Sharkticons opened fire on their superior. He crumpled slowly, the power-whip flying from his tentacle as another bolt pierced his cackling face, leaving a smoking hole that oozed energon.
Skywolf watched, transfixed, until Betol'Mar collapsed and lay still, his mind fogged in shock. Tearing himself loose, his concern for his friend overwhelming, he turned and found the bodyguard gone, slick trails of energon and lubricants betraying which way he'd gone.
Sending his weapon back to subspace, he took one last look at the dead body of one who'd hurt one too many and vaguely noticed his power-whip was missing, then ran from the room, optics following the trail Fang had left as he had fled the room.

Jill collapsed against her partner, in shock from the images, the emotions she got from Skywolf. Tears streamed unchecked down her face.
"It really happened, didn't it?"
They both knew it wasn't a question.
Jill shuddered, sobbing quietly as she leaned on Skywolf's leg. That Fang had suffered such pain, such abuse... It was something she couldn't imagine. She shut her eyes, trying to get her shields up and stabilized, knowing Skywolf's weren't going to be functional for a while, knowing he would probably be plagued by similar flashbacks until Fang was out of medbay. She was vaguely aware of her partner's hand around her, offering what little comfort and support he was capable of.

"Skywolf?" Rodimus was stunned yet again; he'd lost count of how many times he'd been so since he'd been called down here.
Skywolf looked up slowly, his optics too bright, his mouth twisted in pain that was raw, unchecked, uncontrollable.
"You can't help with this. It's not his fault, or mine, or..." Skywolf looked at the floor and shook his head. Another tremor shook his body. "It's not my story to tell, Rodimus."
Rodimus winced in sympathy, mind spinning, trying to think of something appropriate to say and coming up blank. He decided it was better to be silent. Whatever he said, nothing could help now.

* * *

Megatron entered his quarters and he would have slammed the door if it hadn't been automatic. Still, Sparks thought he made a pretty good impression of doing so nevertheless. Furious red optics seemed to shoot death rays through the room, finally coming to rest on her.
"Get. Off."
Sparks sat up slowly. "What happened?" she asked, then stared at the freshly patched-up places she saw.
Her sharp eyes saw every little straightened-out dent and every sealing. Something had attacked him.....
"Nothing!" he hissed, grabbed her by the fur of her back and dumped her roughly on the desk. Well, it was a positive sign that he didn't just let her fall to the floor.
"Was it Fang?" she asked softly, seriously.
Megatron's head whipped around and he fixed her with a death glare. "Don't mention that name, cat!"
"What did he do?" she wanted to know, never leaving him out of her optics.
Megatron's jaw clenched and he grated his teeth. Sparks got a pretty good idea what Fang had done, just comparing where those freshly patched places were and what Fang was. She nodded to herself.
Megatron attacked the keyboard viciously, entering his personal pass code and glaring at the files. Sparks watched him and counted. She came as far as '7' before he leapt up, grabbed his fusion cannon and stormed out of the office. The black cat hopped down from the chair and followed in a safe distance. She knew he needed to calm down and cool off. And the best way to do this was to do some demolishing.
Half an hour later the Demolition Team in sector 14 was suddenly out of work.

* * *

Midnight looked at the tall silver and black Sentinel standing in front of his desk, wearing a neutral expression.
"Why?" he asked.
Skywolf's expression didn't shift, his optics fixed on a spot on the wall behind his leader. "Because it was the only way."
"You shot me."
"Like I said, it was the only way." Midnight scowled. Skywolf suddenly met his angry, green visor optics. "You wouldn't leave and your presence was making the situation even worse. You don't know Fang. You don't know what he is capable of."
It had been four Standard days now. Four days since the incident in med bay and four days since Skywolf had told him in no uncertain words that he didn't want to see a shadow of Midnight's aura anywhere near med bay. Midnight had woken from the stun ray with the mother of all headaches, his memory circuits slightly jumbled but swiftly going on-line. Anger had flooded the dizziness away, only to be replaced by worry and fear at the sight that had been presented to him.
Skywolf had collapsed on the floor, Jill beside him, both apparently in shock. Rodimus had stammered some kind of explanation which Midnight had only half understood anyway. What he had made out was that Skywolf had been in the treatment room for some time, that Fang had apparently trashed it quite thoroughly and that now Skywolf was experiencing some kind of flashback, sharing it automatically with his Interface partner.
"No, I don't know. So how about you enlighten me?" Midnight demanded.
He was still angry. Most of it originated from his most trusted friend shutting up about the incident. Something had happened, most likely in the past, shared by both Skywolf and Fang, and it was surfacing now.
"I can't."
"Can't or won't?" the black Sentinel asked sharply.
"Can't. His history is not for me to tell."
"Skywolf!"
The medic met the wave of anger calmly.
"Fang is a Sentinel and if he loses it again like in med bay, everyone starts pointing accusing fingers at me!" Midnight continued. "Don't you understand that he is my responsibility, whether he likes it or not!? I need to know what triggered this so we can work on preventing it from happening again!"
"You can't." Skywolf's expression never wavered.
"Can't prevent it? Can't know it? What? Why?!"
"What happened, happened a long time ago. It has been with him ever since and no power in the world can erase it. Fang has and always will deal with it alone." The medic shrugged.
"And what is 'it'? Do I have to look it up in the old files?"
Midnight reigned in his rising temper with an effort. This was slowly growing into an even worse headache than the stun ray had given him. He had forgiven Skywolf that he had shot him, mainly because Steve had told him it was truly the only way to get him to move anywhere when Midnight was having his stubborn day. But this was getting ridiculous!
Skywolf shook his head. "You won't find it there. It's from before we were banished from Cybertron."
"The Quintesson era."
He nodded. "And it wasn't a happy event."
Midnight frowned. "But you won't tell me and if it happens again I'll be running into it unprepared, right?"
Skywolf's expression cracked and a wave of pain was visible in his optics. "Mid, please. I can't talk about this because it's Fang's past and I won't talk about it behind his back. What happened in the last days were unlucky circumstances. He was under stress because of what he did on the planet – namely attacking you – and because of Ashtar. Do I have to remind you of how you reacted all the time ago when we met? Do you want me to spill your story to everyone who asks?"
Midnight winced. "Cheap shot," he whispered.
Skywolf leaned forward, fixing the young Sentinel with a serious stare. "Yes, cheap. But the only way to get through to you! Give him some leeway. He is a devoted partner and the best bodyguard I ever met. Back in the old times you couldn't find a better one."
Midnight nodded slowly. "Okay, I'll give him room but I won't let him get away with this easily. He should have told us! His distrust and silence created these circumstances!"
"I know, Mid. I think he knows it as well – somehow. Just bear with him. He'll talk to you if he feels safe enough."
The Sentinel leader sighed deeply, watching Skywolf leave.

* * *

The doorway closed behind them and Spike blinked in the light of the greenish yellow sun, looking around. His optics dimmed automatically to adjust to the brightness.
They stood in the middle of a desert. Not far away a city had been erected completely out of sandy brown stone and it appeared deserted. Dust billowed in big clouds along the streets which were not paved. All in all there were only seven buildings and something that looked like a graveyard to him. Around the city was nothing but more bare desert. The sand reflected the sun and it hurt his optics to look at it too long. The doorway was shaped just like all others and was unmarked by any kind of decay.
"All right, team, you know what to do. Let's get busy!" he called.
The Protogen team, this time including their latest addition, SilverFox, swarmed out.
Spike surveyed the world around him again. Another one where no Gatekeeper was present and the doorway was still active; a planet no one knew. Well, he hoped they would find out where the Gatekeeper was – and he also hoped he was alive.

* * *

Steve limped down the corridor, grimacing at the distant pain still present in his leg. It had been slashed up pretty badly, but he was almost back to normal. Physiotherapy had seen to it that he could walk without a crutch and he was looking forward to the day he could also walk normally and without pain. Steve was mostly on his own again, didn't need constant nursing or assistance and it gave him time to think of her.
The alien woman.
At first he had thought she had been nothing but a fever and pain-induced hallucination. The more he thought about it though he came to the conclusion that she had been real. Her touch had felt real. The green eyes looking at him ...... they were burned into his mind. He would never forget them.
Suddenly he heard noises. The TV, he realized. It looked like someone was over in the day room. He shrugged, deciding that he could sit down a bit. Having some company wouldn't be too bad.
Steve entered the room and stopped dead in his tracks. The only occupant, lying sprawled on the floor, eyes pinned to the screen, turned he head and he stared.
Crystal clear green eyes.
Alien.....
Cat eyes.....
Familiar.....
Steve wasn't even aware that she was moving until she was racing toward him. Through his injury he wasn't fast enough to step out of the way and she pushed him aside. Steve's legs connected with a chair someone had left standing in the way and he stumbled over it. His weaker left leg took the brunt of the impact and he gave an involuntary cry of pain, crashing to the floor. He caught most of his fall with his out-stretched hands but for a second he simply half-sat, half-lay there, breathing hard, willing the pain to subside. It wasn't the searing pain from the injury, but it was bad enough. He looked up and right into the alien but beautiful face again.
It was her.
Live.....
No hallucination...
No dream....
She was here....
She moved back as he looked at her and he noticed the grace in every movement, like that of a cat ....
"Wait!" he breathed.
She stumbled away from him.
Steve tried to get back onto his legs and angrily bit back a moan of pain but not completely. His left leg throbbed and he all but fell against the kitchen table anchored down next to him.
Gentle but strong hands suddenly took his arm and helped him to limp over to the couch. He turned his head and met the green cat-eyes.
"Who are you?" he whispered, stunned by their clear green color.
"Ashtar," she said when the silence between them grew almost oppressive.
Steve's mouth dropped open and he stared again. The pain in his leg was completely forgotten for the time being.
Ashtar.
He knew the name.
Midnight had told him about the incident in med bay.....
"You ...." he stuttered. "You are Fang's Interface!"
Ashtar moved away again, eyes wide.
"No, don't!" he called, trying to limp after her, but she was a lot faster. "Darn!" he cursed softly and leaned against the door's frame.
It had been her.
Real.
Steve smiled slightly.
Very much real......

*

"So you met her?"
Steve chuckled and rubbed his slightly aching leg. The collision with the chair hadn't helped, but he wasn't really in pain. "I did. And not the first time." He raised an eyebrow.
Midnight grinned sheepishly. "Hey, I believe you now!"
"Fang is really Interfaced, huh? Did you talk with him about it?"
Midnight grimaced. "Sure. It's impossible to talk to him. He stares at me with such fear that I sometimes think I'm a demon out of his worst nightmares! He's ... almost completely submissive now!"
Midnight felt very unwell with the current situation. He had found Fang after a worker had complained about a giant robot serpent occupying storage room #9. The Sentinel leader had gone there, knowing exactly who this serpent was. Fang had disappeared three days after Ashtar had been discovered because he had been able to phase her without endangering her health. He had left med bay, no one feeling inclined to stop the large Sentinel. Since then he hadn't been seen.
And seeing him now, in the storage area, Midnight had wished more than ever he knew what his past had been. Fang had cowered in front of him – as much as this was possible for a gigantic snake and a rather slender humanoid robot – his optics rolling wildly, in fear, head bowed. Midnight had been unable to get anything more coherent than a few sentences and explanations out of Fang, most of them not making any sense. Fang was terrified of him all of a sudden ..... but why? What had triggered this? Midnight hadn't hurt him! And every time he had lightly reproached Fang, he had winced and cowered even more. As if he was afraid of punishment.....
But why?
Midnight wasn't someone to physically punish one of his team. He would criticize or reproach but never punish. But that seemed to be what Fang was mainly afraid of.....
Steve frowned. He knew how much Midnight hated this fear and absolute terror. He was a threatening looking robot, his blackness always the main reason. If it weren't for the aura, he'd be a slender someone with maybe some powers but no immediate threat, a vision of terror. Steve had had to learn that as well, all that time ago after they had Interfaced, and everyone had to learn it anew. If you forgot about the blackness, the living aura, Midnight was a very normal robot.
"I wonder why," Steve now muttered. "I mean, we are not threatening Ashtar, are we? And he knows you are not trying to harm him."
"That's what we think," Midnight sighed. "Kyle gave me a preliminary report on Ashtar. She isn't as used to technology as we are. Her race is apparently not anywhere close to a technological era and she flinches away from everything she doesn't know."
"She didn't flinch away from me," Steve reminded him.
Midnight grinned knowingly and Steve gave him a mental kick.
"So she is afraid of technology?" he went on.
"Most likely."
"But .... what about Fang? I mean, she is Interfaced to him! She should be used to robotic life," Steve protested.
"Yes, she is used to Fang, but that's about it," Midnight agreed. "Fang mentioned he won't force her out into this new world as long as she doesn't want to. That's as much as I could get out of him."
Parker ran a hand through his hair. "So we have to wait for him to trust us and for Ashtar to grow more secure with this amount of technology."
The Sentinel nodded. "I know it won't amount to much – except more trouble – if we force him. Med bay was lesson to me enough." He smiled ruefully.
Steve chuckled. "Where is he now?"
"Up and about on Cybertron. He knows the dangerous and 'off limits' areas. I think he will stay out of trouble, especially since he has Ashtar with him."
The dark-haired man had to agree. They'd have to sit and wait what Fang would do next. At least he wasn't as outright hostile as Gryph. He was simply protective of his Interface partner. He accepted Midnight as the Sentinel leader, he wanted to stay and he wasn't about to kill Megatron because of a misunderstanding. That accounted for something. Megatron was angry at Fang and it was best that the Sentinel wouldn't be around for some time. Steve leaned back and stretched as much as he could without hurting himself.
"Did Skywolf tell you why he is like that?" he now wanted to know.
Midnight shook his head. "Sadly, no. I wish he would, though. He knows Fang the best and he most definitely knows something about him that triggered his reactions in med bay. I mean, protectiveness or not, this was rather extreme!"
Steve had to agree. All that time ago, nearly two thousand standard years now, Midnight had nearly died protecting him against the rest of the Sentinels, but his reaction had been induced by what had happened in the VR world.
"Everyone has a dark spot in their past, the other Sentinels sometimes even more so."
Midnight nodded.
"Let's just sit back and wait. It will sort itself out," Steve proposed. "If he wants to talk, he will. If not, don't force him." He grinned as he thought of Ashtar. Midnight seemed to pick up on his thoughts and Steve gave him a hard kick.
"Hey, what?!" Midnight laughed. "I think it's nice...."
"And I think you are dreaming." Steve swung his legs off the window sill and carefully slid to the floor.
Midnight watched his partner leave, limping less than he had a few days before, which told the success of his physiotherapy.
"Dreaming?" he said, almost to himself. "I don't think so, Steve. I really don't think so."

* * *

Fang looked at the corpse as it was prepared for storage. The powerful, low body; the dense fur on the back, matted with blood; the long, horribly claws; the metal parts poking out between the fur and covering the whole belly.
A Transorganic, result of Quintesson experiments. A descendant of the original ones.
He should feel pleased, even triumphant, but there was no such emotion anywhere. He felt .... empty. This thing was a descendant of Aparica's killers and he had no emotion at all to fling at it. He had hoped to bring that creature down by himself, but no such luck again. He should feel angry but he didn't. Justice had been served.
Aparica was dead and so was her killer.
It was over.

* * *

The atmosphere in the room was tense and he knew that their Lord was not pleased. The large, gleaming figure on the throne was staring at those present, his eyes holding an unholy light.
"They not only killed the Tji, they also started to explore the network now," he said, looking at the assembled representatives. "And they have discovered the Mab on Hija. I wouldn't so much mind the death of those annoying Tji if it had at least served to keep these meddling robots busy or had taken them with it. But they survived and they are not only recovering quite fast, they are spreading as well!"
The Lord looked at him and he met the icy gaze without flinching. Their eyes locked and finally the Lord turned his attention back to the others, going over the schedule and the events lately.
He left. On his way back to his temple, his aide joined him. "How did it go?" he asked.
He smiled sadly. "The Lord is not happy."
"Well, his allies are dead, his dream of holding control on one of the Eternals is broken and the network has been reactivated." His aide shrugged.
His smile didn't waver, maybe grew even more sad. "The Time of Change has arrived, my friend. As it was written."
"The Lord will fight it, K'va li Opnah."
He shrugged. "He can't fight destiny. Everything has happened as it was foretold so far. And it will continue."
They entered the looming temple, the cool, giant halls echoing with their soft treads. Around them, ancient frescos told a story that was still unfolding. K'va li Opnah pushed a curtain aside and he and his aide entered. In the room stood a stone table. It was large, looking like a chess board of alien origin. Small pawns were all over the surface. And it was as ancient as the frescos.
"Everything will happen as it is written," the priest said, looking at the table. "The Book never lied."
A kind of hologram suddenly lit up and turned slowly in the middle of the room. He watched it, smiling. He saw different worlds and different fates and he knew them all.
"I told it to Ath'antheia and he laughed at me. I also told it the Lord." His eyes met the dark ones of his aide. "Like Ath'antheia he laughed and just like him he will fail in the end."