Wow, thanks so much for 8 favorites and 15 follows, and over 100 views! I really appreciate you guys reading it, even though the summary is a little sucky. I'm gonna keep working on it.

CastieLunaWinchester: Oh, thank you!

RoxanneRey: Thanks as well!

Morte Mistrata: Lol. Me too, so thanks!

99luftballonsx.o.x: I actually wasn't sure if I forgot to mention they were twins or not, so thanks for unintentionally reminding me! And I'm glad you're interested, thanks for reading!

TheSarcasticKnight: Thanks! And I sure will, because the plot bunnies won't leave me alone!

Sorry if the feedback seems a little repetitive, because seriously, I can't say anything else but thanks! Enjoy chapter 1!

Chapter 1:

A Perilous Escape

This was it.

After a whole three weeks of planning, tonight was going to be the night.

I was at a cross between excitement and nervousness as I laid down on the hard, metal surface the robots called a "berth." My heart was racing, along with my mind as it ran over the million ways this whole thing could go wrong.

But I had faith in Noah, and I knew that if anyone was going to try and get us out of this mess, it would be him. He was strong, smart, and determined. Even when he was looking death right in the face. I loved that about my brother, and sometimes envied it. He was fierce and loud, while I was meek and quiet.

It reminded me of a book I once read a long time ago, about the yin and yang symbol. It was about how two opposites made a whole, and one not being able to exist without the other. I think in a way, it symbolized Noah and I.

The lights switched off as the door to our cell shut behind us, and everyone settled into their beds. I kept my boots on, drumming my fingers on my stomach as I stared up at the ceiling; waiting.

Waiting for the signal.

I don't know why, but the sudden image of my mother appeared in my mind. I thought back to when Noah and I were little, and she would tuck us into bed, humming a tune I'd never forget. And then I thought about our sixth birthday, where Noah and I had ended up with cake all over our faces before we even got the chance to blow the candles out. My mother was laughing as she snapped the photo of us grinning widely into the camera. I thought about when I was thirteen, and read her a poem I wrote for her on her birthday. It was the first time I ever saw her cry. Then I thought back to the last time I saw her, coming home from the rain. She kissed our heads and told us she'd be upstairs resting.

I blinked back the tears that gathered in my eyes, and tried to think about something else. Luckily, the signal came.

It was a soft, barely audible tapping sound against the wall. Noah tapped three times, and I tapped him back four times. Slowly, I crawled out of bed, and pulled out a huge bag of dirt from the mines. I carefully arranged it so that it looked like I was sleeping, facing the wall. I then crept over to Noah, who'd just finished placing his decoy.

We exchanged looks, and nodded.

Noah pressed his hands against the wall, feeling around for the small indentation we made a week ago to mark the spot. He pulled out a small blade from the mines, and began cutting. Meanwhile, I felt around for the invisible hatch. Once there was a deep enough cut, he pushed his hand into the wall, and out came with it was the locking mechanism used to keep us inside.

Quickly, Noah ripped out two wires, which would, momentarily disable to door from locking and setting off an alarm. We probably had about ten minutes before it would automatically reset. Unfortunately, it meant that the door would not open automatically. So as Noah placed it back inside the wall, and I grasped the hatch and began pulling it open. Noah joined me, and we managed to get it open just enough so that I could slip through.

I crawled into the bright hall, laying low as I checked for the Decepticon drone guard which should be on stand by. As we predicted, the drone was standing at the end of the hall, only a few yards away from the ventilation shaft that we needed.

I crawled back through, silently nodding to him. We pulled the door a little farther for Noah to get out and do the distraction. And before I could follow him, a hand grabbed my arm sternly, and yanked me back inside the room.

I had to bite my lip just to cover my scream, as I was whipped around to stare into the face of the man with the graying beard.

Panic swelled in my chest, causing my heart to beat so loud I could hear it in my ears. And I knew it was all over. He would alert the drone, and we would be executed the next day. And all of the planning and preparations we had done for the last three weeks would be meaningless. We would die, knowing that we would've never had the chance to taste freedom again.

The man's dark eyes moved from my frightful gaze to the opened door, and then back to me before narrowing coldly.

"Please." I found myself whispering, even though we weren't supposed to speak.

The man's mouth tightened into a frown, and he leaned in close, "I want in."

My eyes widened, and I opened my mouth to voice my confusion, but his hand quickly covered my mouth. He raised an index finger above his lips with his other hand, and turned me around, pushing me through the door.

By the time we were out, the distraction had went off.

"Hold your breath." I instructed the man quickly.

A few months ago during mining, Noah had found a Cybertronian weapon. It was as small as our fist, and meant to be used as some kind of bullet for Cybertronians. It was used to slowly corrode metal into nothing, but with the combined efforts of the sulfur and oxygen, it corroded metal in up to three minutes. And because the drone was fully metal, Noah predicted it would rust him from the inside out, and slowly suffocated him until it reached his life force. And since he didn't have a spark, it would be much more easier.

The only problem with the weapon was that it was still poisonous because of the extreme amounts of sulfur, so we had cloths to cover ourselves. The drone was down within minutes, it's dark blue armor quickly rusting into a copper brown. It twitched violently, but other than that, it did not make a sound.

Noah turned back to us, the cloth tied around his face, and his eyes widened as he saw the man behind us.

"He wanted in." I said quickly, because we didn't have the time to argue. The drone's shift would be ending soon, and someone would come around the corner to discover it.

Noah just nodded, and turned back to the ventilation shaft. His hands pulled out the screws that he had untightened a few days ago, and I helped him take it off. The man crawled in first coughing, and then I crawled in next. Noah re-tightened the screws on the shaft, and pulled it back into place before closing it.

Now, was for the most difficult part of the plan. The Decepticons kept us in prison far underground in a network of tunnels, and our best way out would be the ventilations since the air needed to be regularly filtered for humans to survive down there. But as brilliant as Noah was, he nor I could really predict how far we had to travel to get to the surface. We weren't even sure how far underground we were. We could be crawling around for hours, days, weeks. And unfortunately, time was not a luxury we had at the moment.

The ventilation shaft became darker as we moved away from the bright halls. It was so much to the point that we barely see the silhouettes of ourselves. We were basically shooting in the dark, and the only sound of reassurance was Noah's steady breathing behind me.

"You kids couldn't pick an easier way to escape?" The man whispered harshly, huffing it out between breaths.

"There's not a lot of ways to escape the tunnel. Too many motion sensors, cameras, and Decepticons. There's too many interferences, and we wouldn't have made it past the second level."

"How do you know all of that?" The man snapped, seeming to be slightly put out by the fact that he was being chastised by a teenage boy.

"I've spent years observing those 'Cons, watching their technology and grasping a basic understanding of how it all works. The ventilations was going to be our best getaway, it is the only thing untouched because it would take too many resources that the Decepticons don't have to secure it. Not to mention, it leads a direct pathway to the surface, where all the fumes need to be released." Noah said matter-o-factly, and I could imagine him rolling his eyes like the man should already know all of these things.

The man muttered something lowly under his breath, but other than that, did not respond. I smiled, moving some of my curls out of the way so I could see better. But the smile dropped when a blaring alarm started going off.

"The body's been discovered, we need to move faster." Noah said.

We crawled faster, coming to a larger opening in the shafts. It was split in three directions. The only good thing was that the shaft was large enough for us to stand up in. The screeching alarm seemed to be getting louder, and worriedly I glanced at Noah.

"Which one?" I asked.

Noah didn't even hesitate. He grabbed my hand, and we ran to the first opening. The man reluctantly followed us.

"Hey!" He shouted, "Do you even know where the hell you're going?!"

"Doesn't matter," Noah said firmly, "We're escaping no matter what."

"Outpost five to Decepticon Command," We heard a deep voice right below us shout, "Three slaves have escaped. Two male, one female. One of the guarding drone has been found, completely rusted from the inside out. Be on the lookout."

I could feel my hands starting to shake, and Noah's squeezed mine softly in a comforting way. We couldn't talk, we were right above an outpost room, which meant that we had at least made it to the second level.

We had made it to another opening in the shafts. I opened my mouth to ask, but was cut off as I was elbow from behind and staggered forward, nearly falling flat on my face. Noah pulled me back up, before I could fall.

"Move out the way!" The man snapped as he shoved me out of the way, and began running towards the one directly in front of us.

"You son of a-" Noah sneered halfway, but was cut off when a patch of light flooded the dark shafts. I winced as the man dropped, and fell.

There were openings?

I couldn't even do more than gasp as the man fell to his doom, before Noah pulled me away, and we ran for the third shaft. Now we were really shooting in the dark. If there were openings we can't see, we could be dropped at any moment.

"They're in the vents!" A voice cried from above us, and I tried my best not to panic. Even as my heart started racing, and my hands became shakier.

Not only a few seconds later did the sound of horribly screeching metal filled the shaft, and I cried out as I tried to cover my ears. They were breaking into the vents to try and look for us.

We ran even faster than before, and I tried my best to keep up with his fast pace. My feet were nearly stumbling over each other, but I didn't dare let go of his hand. I couldn't stop thinking about what happened to that man. Did he survive the fall? I shuddered to think what would happen to him if he did managed to survive a twenty-feet drop. He may have been an asshole to us, but nobody deserves to suffer such a fate the Decepticons would give him.

The punishment for attempting to escape was death. And it was a gruesome one. They always made them public; all of us would be forced to attend so that it would strike fear in us and persuade us not to escape. The last time I had attended an execution, it was for a young man who was caught trying to escape. They had first, beat him to death, before tying him on to a large target, and the Decepticons took turns blasting him to death with their guns.

I kept my eyes trained on the ground the whole time.

I remember a woman who used to be with our group, before she was killed in a mine explosion. She'd say that death was inevitable, and it was only foolish to accelerate it. And at first, I did believe her. I thought that we were all doomed to this evil, and there was no way to escape it.

But now, running hand in hand with my twin brother, I realized something. I wasn't going to sit here, and let these beings have control over my life. It was my life, and it only belonged to me.

Noelle Reyes was going to be a slave to no one.

And if that meant that I had to die to get my freedom, then so be it. And I knew that Noah felt the same way.

We were halfway through the ventilation, when suddenly, another ear-splitting screech of metal being torn erupted. And out of it, shot a large clawed hand. It gripped down on the floor of the shaft, ripping it down and collapsing the interior.

I collapsed to my knees as the ground shook violently. I was reminded of that moment from so long ago, when our house had been invaded. But I shook the thought from my head, and looked around. The interior was barely holding itself together, and in the under a pile of torn and sparking metal, was Noah.

His legs were completely crushed under the metal, and a sharp piece had impaled him somewhere in the torso. I cried out as I ran over to him, lifting his head gently into my hands.

"Noah? Noah!" I screamed, "Please Noah, wake up!"

Slowly, his eyes opened and he coughed out blood. No…

"Noe," He said, his voice horribly hoarse, "Run."

"No!" I cried, the tears already slipping down my cheeks, "No! No! I can't leave you like this!"

"You have to escape, you need to be free." He mumbled, his voice wavering as more blood began to soak through his shirt.

"It's not worth being free if I don't have you by my side! Here, I can help you." I said shaking my head. I moved over to his torso, and tried to pull the metal rod out, but he clutched my arm weakly, stopping me.

"I'm dying Noelle…"

"No!" I cried, "No, stop talking like that! You're not gonna die! You can't! This was your plan, you wanted to be free more than either of us!"

"I wanted you to be free," He said, moving his head so that his dark eyes were locked with my teary ones, "I never wanted you to have this life, Noelle."

"Please," I sniffled, "Please let me help you."

The hand on my arm slowly moved its way down to my own, and he squeezed it tightly. My lips quivered, and I shakily brought my other hand up to wipe the tears blurring my eyesight.

"You need to run, run and never look back. You have to escape. And if it's not for yourself, then do it for me. Please Noelle, promise me you'll run."

"H-How can you e-expect me to live without you?" I sobbed, "You're all I have left in this world. You're my brother. My twin brother!" To lose Noah, would be like losing half of myself.

He coughed painfully again, and took a moment to inhale an unsteady breath, "Promise me."

"I-I…" I stuttered, feeling the tears come down again.

His grip on my hand became so tight it felt like he was crushing my hands, "Promise me, Noelle. Promise me you'll run, you'll find a way to escape, and have a better life. Promise me you won't let all of this be in vain."

"I promise!" I screamed, squeezing my eyes shut as more tears rolled down my cheeks, "I promise!"

The grip softened, and I opened my eyes again to stare down at him.

A tear ran down his cheek, "I love you Noe."

The grip slackened completely.

"No, no!" I sobbed, shaking him. "Noah, please, don't leave me!" I pulled the rod out of his body, but he still didn't get up, "No! Noah please, no! I need you, don't leave me alone, Noah you're all I have left!"

He was silent.

I sobbed, even harder than before, bringing his head up to my neck, wrapping my arms around his waist in an embrace. I sobbed, not caring at all that the blood on his shirt had stained my own shirt. The sirens of the alarms and all the turmoil from above had swirled into a blur of distorted sounds. For what felt like an eternity, I sat there crying.

Crying over my dead brother.

It was in that moment, that I felt like a part of me had died with him. That part, somewhere deep down inside me was gone. And I was all by myself in this world, and truly alone.

Suddenly, the distorted sounds become crystal clear again. I was snapped out of the haze, and remembered the promise to him. As much as it killed me inside, and as much as I wanted to lay down next to him and just die, I couldn't break that promise. I owed it to him to escape this hell.

Slowly, I pulled his body from out of the wreckage, and smoothed the ruffled hair out of his face. I crossed his arms over his chest, and leant down to give him one, final goodbye kiss.

"I love you too." I whispered shakily, trying to ignore the aching pain in my chest.

Slowly, I got up to my feet, trying to control the shakiness in my hands. I took one last look at him, memorizing his face, before running. I ran as fast I could, blindly through the vents. Even when my legs started aching with pain, and my chest started hurting, I kept running.

I didn't look back.

Somehow, by some miracle, I had managed to make it all the way to the last level. Underneath me, the floor wasn't covered in dirt, but glossy metal, and the air was ten times more cleaner to breathe in. There were more higher-ranking Decepticons walking through the halls.

I traveled more through the shaft, and flinched when I heard a deep rumbling shout.

"You fools! How could you let them escape?!" A deep voice bellowed.

"We are sorry, Lord Megatron! We did not think that they were capable enough to take out a drone!" One cried, a familiar voice. It was Skywarp.

"Just because they are puny does not mean they are stupid!"

"Please Lord Megatron, have mercy! We did manage to capture one of the prisoners." Another voice pointed out.

"And what about the other two?"

It was silent, and my heart skipped a beat as I was reminded of Noah. Quickly, I started moving again trying to push away the weighing thoughts of my brother. As I ventured farther, the shaft became smaller. And it was to the point, that I had to begin crawling again.

I crawled for what felt like hours until I noticed a band of light. A small dose of hope surged in me, but I froze, and narrowed my eyes warily. This could be trap. They knew that we were up in the ventilation shaft.

Cautiously, I crawled towards the band of light, which grew larger and more brighter. The air was so clean, and my skin was warm, tingling with an unknown sensation.

I was getting closer...and closer.

I stopped, only a few feet away from the vent. I could hear something...was that birds? Could this actually be…?

I crawled as fast as I could, my hands pressed against the vent.

All around me was rich, dark green plants. Tall skinny trees towered around, and dark brown soil as well. I couldn't believe it.

I had made it.

Run… I could hear my brother's soft whisper in the back of my mind, Run and never look back…

I squeezed through the vent with the best of my ability, not even caring anymore for trying to be stealthy. I climbed down the large rock that the Decepticons used as a hiding place. And I collapsed to my feet when they touch the soft soil. My hands dug into the soil, and I looked up at the late setting sun, letting it soak into my skin.

It only lasted about a few seconds before pain burned in my side. A Cybertronian gun had gone off, and I swerved out of the way before it blasted me to pieces. But I wasn't fast enough, and it nicked me on the side. I moaned in pain as I pressed my hand down to my left side. When I brought it back, my whole hand was stained red.

My eyes widened, and I threw a glance back at the robot who shot me. It wasn't anything like the ones I've seen before. It was much smaller, but still enormous to my size. And it looked like a long, black, robotic panther with one, crimson eye. It snarled, baring rows of sharp long fangs as it stalked closer to me.

I got up to my feet as quickly as I can, and began running again. It growled as it chased after me, it's claws shaking the ground. I ran directly into the forest, running between trees as it fired off it's gun mounted on it's spine.

The burning pain in my side only increased as I ran, and I ripped out a long piece of cloth from my sleeve, and wrapped it around my side as best as I could. Towards the direction I was running in, I noticed a steep drop. I slid to a stop, staring down below.

It was at least a fifteen foot drop.

I had to think, and I had to think fast. I could hear the Cybertronian beast approaching. I took my chances, and jumped off.

I pretended that I was being tormented by Skywarp again, and that he decided to drop me again out of nowhere. I braced myself for impact, and as much it hurt, I rolled with it. I winced at the sickening crunch that came along with it.

My mind ached with pain, and I bit down on my lip to keep from crying out. I crawled over to a huddle of short trees and bushes, waiting. I waited for at least twenty minutes, before I slowly pulled myself back to my feet. Everything ached, and my head felt heavy, but I trekked on.

It wasn't until night time that I had made it out of the forest, and into the closest town there was. I had jumped over the large metal fence, nearly falling on my face as I stumbled over. I limped out of the alleyway, and into the street. It wasn't as deserted as I thought it would've been. People lined the sidewalks, walking and talking. There were stores alongside of them too, and traffic.

Just where the hell am I?

Food. I needed food, and water. So I would look around for that first.

I turned around, and nearly slammed right into someone, if their arms hadn't caught me at the last second. My mind spun, and I felt dizzy.

"Woah there, are you okay?" He seemed to looked down at my clothes, and his eyes widened, "What happened to you?"

I looked up at the man who was speaking to me. He had short brown hair, warm brown eyes, and a gray shirt with jeans. He had his wallet out, which he must've been looking in before I bumped into him. My eyes glanced at the name written on it:

Lennox.

It was the last thing I remembered, before passing out.

Sorry to anyone who got attached to Noah. I know, I'm a horrible person. I almost wanted to save him though, because honestly I got really sad writing that part. I guess since it summer time, maybe the updates can be every Tuesday? Or every other Tuesday? I'm not sure yet, but I really wanted to get this chapter out. Sorry for any mistakes, I can't catch 'em all. Please review!

- SeaKissed140