Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers: Prime or any of the characters in it.

Arcee paced the main room of the base. Optimus, Bulkhead, and Ratchet were all out searching for Bumblebee and Jack, and she had been left there per Optimus' orders. The Autobot leader had decided that it would be best for her to remain on GroundBridge duty instead of being out in the field with the rest of them. Arcee couldn't completely blame him for reaching that decision, she had not dealt with Tailgate's and Cliffjumper's deaths well, and the fact that it was Airachnid who had both Jack and Bumblebee meant that she was even more attached emotionally. There was a risk of her becoming compromised and, should the worst happen, she could be difficult to keep in control. But Arcee still felt like she should be out there searching for them. Bumblebee and Jack needed her and she couldn't abandon them like this.

The sound of an incoming transmission turned Arcee's attention towards the monitors. Her optics narrowed and she strained to keep the rage boiling within her under control when she saw that it wasn't from Optimus, Bulkhead, or Ratchet. It was from Airachnid.

"Where are they?" Arcee demanded to know when she answered the transmission.

"Where would be the fun in telling you that Arcee?"

"Where are they?" Arcee repeated.

"They're with me of course. If you want them back, you're going to have to come find them. I'll give you seventy-two Earth hours to find them before I kill them. Oh and Arcee, should you bring any other Autobots with you or should they come in your place, the scout dies."

Before Arcee could say anything else, Airachnid ended the transmission and turned her attention to her two prisoners. Both of them were trapped in her webbing and were currently glaring at her. She let out a small laugh before walking closer to them.

"You're going to be sorry once Arcee gets here."

"You had better hope that Arcee is the one that gets here," Airachnid said leaning closer to Bumblebee's face. "After all it is your life that is on the line. I wonder if the Autobots care enough about you to let her come alone."

Airachnid let the acid on one of her talons scar the left side of Bumblebee's face, much in the same way she had done to Arcee when they had first met, before finding his comm and letting the acid corrode through the part – effectively cutting off any way for the youngling to contact Arcee or the other Autobots and causing much discomfort to him as well. Once she was satisfied with her work she backed away and headed out of the section of the cave she was hiding in.

"When I come back we're going to have some fun," Airachnid called to Jack and Bumblebee before disappearing from their line of sight.

"'Bee are you okay?" Jack asked turning his head towards the scout. The cave was extremely dark, but luckily Bumblebee's optics was emitting enough light to where Jack could see his face. It sort of freaked him out being in the dark. He could see where Bumblebee was at, and when Airachnid was in the cave he could see where she was at, but he couldn't see what was happening.

Bumblebee remained silent for a moment before nodding his head. The feeling of acid corroding his comm and scaring his face was unsettling to say the least, but the pain wasn't too bad and even though his comm was now officially useless, he was fine. For now at least. Who knew what was going to happen once Airachnid got back. She said that they were going to have some fun, and Bumblebee knew that he didn't want to know what her version of fun was – because most likely it was going to involve a lot of pain for both him and Jack. Arcee would be looking for them, that Bumblebee was sure of, but he and Jack were going to have to think of a way to get out of here before Airachnid could do anything. But how was he supposed to communicate that to Jack? The only human who could understand him was Raf, and thankfully his human friend wasn't with them at the moment.

"'Bee is there any way we can get out of here before Arcee is able to find us? I think that whatever Airachnid does to us is going to be to torment her."

"I don't know how we can get out right now, but I'll think of something," Bumblebee said. He knew that Jack wouldn't be able to understand him, but Bumblebee needed to say it out loud for himself.

"What?"

Bumblebee let out a small warble in apology for not being able to give Jack an answer that he would understand. If Airachnid's web wasn't tightly wrapped around him, constricting his movement, he would have shrugged his shoulders as an attempt of saying that he didn't know. But then Jack probably wouldn't have been able to see that in the dark.

"It's okay 'Bee, I just forgot for a moment that you can't really answer me. We'll figure out some way to communicate."

Bumblebee nodded his head in agreement. They would figure out something and hopefully they would figure it out soon.

"Optimus she said that she would kill Bumblebee if one of you finds them instead of me. I have to be the one who goes to search for them," Arcee explained.

Optimus Prime mulled over the information that Arcee had just given him. They now knew, if Airachnid was telling the truth, that Bumblebee and Jack were still alive and were in Airachnid's possession. It was very likely that this was set up as a trap for Arcee. Optimus knew that there was a history between the two femmes and Arcee still wanted revenge over what happened to Tailgate. If something had happened to Jack or Bumblebee, there was no telling what she would do.

"Arcee going alone-."

"I only have three days to find them Optimus! If I haven't found them by then, Airachnid will kill them! And if one of you comes with me, she'll still kill Bumblebee. I have to go alone."

"Arcee none of us want anything to happen to Bumblebee or Jack, but we need to think of the best way to get them back."

"Me going alone is the only way Optimus. We're wasting time talking about this. Even if the three days aren't up, Airachnid will still try to hurt them. Bumblebee's already lost his voice and had to deal with Megatron living in his mind for a while, hasn't he been through enough? Now he and Jack are stuck with Airachnid. Searching for them can't wait. Jack is my partner and Airachnid will use that as a reason to torture him."

"And Bumblebee?"

"Airachnid doesn't know that he's my little brother, but that doesn't mean that she won't torture him along with Jack. I can't let either of them die like that."

"I understand. You can go look for them, only if you contact base to report your status to us and if you call for backup when you find Bumblebee and Jack," Optimus said.

"I will."

"Good luck Arcee."

With that Arcee transformed and drove out of the base. She was going to find Bumblebee and Jack, even if it was the last she ever did.

Jack and Bumblebee were still trapped in the cave when Airachnid returned. Bumblebee had tried to get out from the webbing that was trapping him, but had had no success. At the very least Jack was now able to somewhat tell the difference if Bumblebee was saying 'Yes' or 'No'. That was at least a small improvement to their communication problem, but not by much.

"No Arcee yet," Airachnid stated as she entered the room, "perhaps we should give her some motivation."