Chapter 1
Another day, another battle lost, another lecture from the not-so-great Megatron. But Skyline had bigger problems than being yelled at because of a mission-gone-wrong she didn't even participate in. She was stuck standing next to her worst nightmare. Literally. And she couldn't move away or run like usual. But it wasn't the bot on her left, oh no. Standing there was her older sister Flatline, the only bot she'd ever trusted since her dani had disappeared. It was the mech to her right she was scared of, the Decepticon named Blackout, and she had a good reason to be afraid, too. She inched a little more towards her sister. He wanted something from her that she was not even close to ready for. Her adult armor hadn't even finished growing in yet! She knew what he wanted, and so did Flatline, but despite numerous beatings from her larger, more powerful and more intimidating sister he still kept after Sky. She knew Flatline had an audio receptor trained on him, but Skyline still kept watch out of the corner of her frightened blue optics. Of course, as usual, he had an evil grin plastered on his faceplates at poor Skyline's discomfort. Another inch toward her sister; their arms were almost touching. A few kliks passed, and Blackout did nothing but stand there grinning. Skyline allowed her shoulders to drop a millimeter, an amount so small that you had to know what you're looking for to see. Suddenly she felt Blackout's servo stroke her highly sensitive wing. Three things happened at once: Skyline gave the robotic equivalent of a yelp, Flatline pushed Sky behind her body as Flatline's visor shot down to cover optics, and a scorch mark from a plasma pistol appeared right next to Blackout's foot. The whole room went quiet. "Two words," Flatline growled, voice laced with rage and crimson optics holding a steady glare. "Slag. Off."
"You stupid-" Blackout began, but was cut off by Megatron's booming voice.
"That's ENOUGH! You all are dismissed!!" He screamed.
"Talk about a hissy fit," Flatline muttered just loud enough for Skyline to hear as her visor retracted again. Starscream was laughing at the helicopter as the two sisters followed the steady flow of bots out of the room as a single ebony and crimson mech bumped her, but who was quick to murmur an apology. Skyline brushed it off then turned to look at her sister. Flatline turned to look at Sky, her face emotionless. But Skyline knew what she was really thinking; Flatline had taught Sky to watch a bot's optics and read them instead of expressions. Flatline's optics reflected comfort to her sister, finally calming Skyline enough to relax her shoulders and calm her engines.
Flatline nodded, returning to the armory to work on her assigned project. Skyline decided to do what she did best when she became bored. She watched her sister disappear into the armory, then proceeded to walk down numerous hallways and memorize the base. As she walked through the halls, she named all the rooms she knew. To the left, weapons storage, kept safely away from the armory. A little farther down, to the right, the makeshift medbay. At the end of the hall, around the left hand corner, is the small training room, also known as her Hiding Place. No one really ever went in there. There was no trouble for awhile, a few sneers or glances as she walked through more populated halls, but most were deserted as they always were. A few more turns and she was all the way at the hangar, far from the armory. Big mistake. Then she decided to head back. She took another left hand turn and her optics did a double-take. There was someone leaning against the wall. A mech. Another look told her it was Blackout. She was completely unprotected here and Flatline wouldn't get here fast enough. Her engines revved slightly as she walked past him, keeping her optics focused on the path ahead. As she went by though, he began to follow her.
After a few steps he reached out and his fingers brushed her wing. A shiver went through her frame, but she ignored the contact. Another few steps and he touched them again, this time a single full stroke, and she whipped around to confront him. The only problem was the fact that she was scared. Very scared. And he was standing there grinning with his head held high.
"Go away," she said, trying to make her voice menacing and trying to form a glare. It came out looking more like a pout.
"You know, that look only makes you all the more appealing," he said, reaching out to touch her. She backed away a few steps. He followed.
"W-Why do you want me so bad? I-Is your boyfriend not good enough?" She snapped, brandishing the Energon blade in her trembling right arm.
"Why do I want you?" He pretended to be thoughtful. "Well, for one, because of that pretty little face of yours." He stood still for a moment, then suddenly swung around to get right behind her, one servo gripping her right wing as he shoved her up against the wall very roughly. The servo on her wing began to stroke it roughly while his left servo snuck around her front and touched the hypersensitive plating on the inside of her left thigh, dangerously close to her port.
"And two," he said, pressing her farther into the wall. "You're so…. submissive," he sneered as she trembled, both with fear and unwelcome pleasure. He became distracted for a nano-klik with his own pleasure, and she took the chance and landed a lucky blow, driving her elbow full force into his faceplates. Then she bolted, her blade accidentally leaving a large gash in his armor as it retracted. "Come back here you stupid bitch!" He screamed, chasing after her.
Skyline began winding through the hallways and passageways, making a beeline for the armory, where her sister and safety lay. At the sound of her sister's light, quick footsteps, Flatline put down the tools and stood up to see what was wrong. She had gotten two steps when Skyline came screeching around the corner and through the doorway, launching herself at Flatline and hugging her tightly. Flatline hugged back, the sight of her sister so badly shaken tearing her Spark out. Then came the sound of heavier footsteps, and Blackout skidded to a halt at the doorway. Flatline never moved so fast; Blackout didn't even have time to react before her fist collided with his faceplates. He scrambled up and tried to run but, just to stop him, Flatline sent a small missile after him. The explosive did its job, tripping him up and allowing him to be caught. Holding him by the neck, she dragged him back into the armory and slammed him into the wall. "What did you do to Skyline," her voice had an animalistic touch to it, full of 100% pure hatred and rage. Blackout just sneered. Flatline gripped tighter and pushed him harder into the wall, Blackout's vocal processor beginning to cave in and overheat from the pressure. Hearing the commotion, Barricade and Starscream came running in, the two mechs trying, to no avail, to pull Flatline's grip from the helicopter's neck.
"Sis," Skyline whispered through their Spark connection. "Let him go. Please. I don't want to see him any longer," she pleaded in a low, frightened voice. Flatline did, with a glare that could kill, and as he slid to the floor he scrambled up and ran. Barricade and Starscream released their grips, backing away to give Flatline room.
Ignoring the two, she walked over and knelt beside her sister, who was sitting in the fetal position in the back corner, trembling. Flatline picked her up and sat on the edge of the worktable, Skyline in her arms. The two mechs left the room and shut the door behind them quickly, afraid she'd turn on them too. Flatline hugged Skyline close, rocking back and forth gently. Finally Skyline broke into tears, sobbing so hard her whole frame trembled. It was a full five kliks before her sobs quieted to hiccups. Flatline waited a little longer to ask. "What did he do?" She asked gently.
"H-H-He saw me i-in the halls and followed m-me, he touched m-my wings again and I t-tried to confront him. He e-ended up shoving me a-against t-the wall and…. h-he gripped my wing…..and…..and…. " She broke out sobbing again. Flatline began to rub her back and wings gently, comfortingly, like their dani used to. Finally Skyline was able to spit it out. "And, Flatline, h-he t-touched me…." She trailed off, hugging onto her sister. Flatline got the meaning immediately.
He what?! He… he…. TOUCHED her?! I never thought he was serious, I thought it was just to scare her, Flatline though to herself, crimson optics seeming to be on fire so great was her rage. But at the sound of a shivering breath Flatline came back to reality and hugged her tight, surrounding Sky with both her body and Spark. "It's ok," Flatline said, carrying her across the hall to their room. "You won't have to worry about him any longer. We're leaving."
"Leaving? Oh, sis, where will we go?" Skyline asked as Flatline wiped away a single tear and pressed a kiss to her helmet.
"To the Autobots," she said in a low voice. "Pack your things. We leave tonight."
Skyline drew in another shuddering breath in an attempt to calm her systems before being set down and went to pack. Both her and her sister owned few things: Skyline had a stock of medical supplies for her kind, a large pad that she used for sketching, a supply of Cybertronian "pencils", and lastly a giant teddy bear that her mother had given Skyline when she was still a Sparkling. Flatline owned about the same things, the same pad and pencils, both unused, and a gigantic Cybertronian mechanic's kit for repairing weapons. No teddy. Both slung their respective bags onto their backs as Flatline opened the escape "window" she had made just for this purpose. As a last minute thing, she ripped one of the dark green blankets off of the berth Transformers called a bed and wrapped it around Skyline like a cloak. Flatline knew that her crimson color would be less noticeable than the gold on Sky. She leapt out the window first, then helped her sister down. Together they quickly bolted towards the rocky mountain outcroppings. As they did though, there was the sound of a cannon firing and a yell from behind them. "It's the two sisters, they're trying to escape!"
"Damn it," Flatline muttered. "Go, keep running. I'll catch up." It was then Flatline skidded to a halt and brought out her own cannon, landing a well-placed shot to the young Decepticon's CPU that silenced him. For good. Firing off a few more warning rounds, she turned and bolted after Skyline, whom had run into the night patrol. The two on duty had Skyline restrained, Energon tears running down her face as she tried to break free. Flatline's crimson optics became bright with rage as she slammed the first offender to the ground, the with a cannon shot she put the second permanently offline. Two killed, and she didn't look back. "Come on, Sky! Keep moving!" She encouraged her sister. She kept her cannon ready, but there was no more trouble as they crested numerous mountains and hills and tramped through plains, plateaus, and the occasional dry riverbed. The trek lasted for weeks. Finally the landscape began to change, going from dry desert landscape to villages and scrublands, long grasses growing in irregular patches. Flatline carefully maneuvered them around these many run-down villages, until they got to an enormous body of water. Skyline scented the air; salt was in abundance.
"What is this?" She asked.
"This is what the humans call an 'ocean'," Flatline said. "I downloaded a map before we left. We've traveled south from the Decepticon base in Egypt to somewhere in northeastern Africa. So, if we can just get across this ocean, we'll come to the western United States, in which the Autobot's base should lie…. Hey, look! We can hitch a ride on that cargo ship!" Flatline said, pointing. Skyline nodded. The two took to the water, swimming around to the other side out of view of any humans. Flatline helped Skyline up first, and then when the deck had cleared again Flatline came up. There they sat in their vehicle forms, a blue and gold F/A-18 Hornet and a crimson Lamborghini. Suddenly there was a commotion on the bridge. Part was in African and part was in English.
"What are those two vehicles?" The Caucasian man whom looked to be the Captain yelled at a worker.
The worker, in very poor English, replied, "I do not know, I never seen dem before." The Captain rolled his eyes.
"Strap them down and cover them then! If they're on here, then they're here for a reason! Get moving!" The Captain yelled before stomping off. The worker grumbled to himself in African, proceeding to cover and secure the two vehicles. It was then the ship gave a loud, long blow of its foghorn and set off. The ship's journey was a long one, hitting numerous storms and areas of rough waters on its voyage to America. Numerous times Skyline would give a small rev of her engines to show her fear.
"It's ok Sky. Just take this time to rest and get as much recharge as you can," Flatline would say gently through their Spark connection. Finally, what seemed like years later, the ship came to a crawl, then to a complete halt. They had come to port in a northern Californian town. Another worker came around eventually, uncovering the two sisters to be claimed. No one ever came. The Captain began to worry about what he had picked up.
Night began to fall again, cloaking the town and the ship in a veil of ebony. The full moon cast a brilliant light, sending spectacular reflections across the ocean's surface. Flatline transformed out, stretching her stiff limbs and searching for any human activity. None. She then tapped Skyline on the wing to alert her that it was ok. Skyline transformed in a flash, startled, and accidentally tripped over the edge, landing in the water clumsily. Flatline jumped over the side as well, only much more calmly and easily, displaying a rare sort of grace. She felt her joints bring up the typical airlock for underwater, then picked Sky up so her joints could do the same. They then submerged and swam north into colder waters, and finally beached in a cape surrounded by woodlands. Flatline came out first, sweeping the area for any threats or humans. Skyline followed timidly, frightened by the new surroundings. Flatline wound them a path through the tallest trees, until they came to the plains. "Ok, we've been traveling southeast from the state named Washington. Continue our path and we should be at the base within the next few solar cycles," Flatline said, turning her head to give Sky an encouraging smile.
_~*~_
