This time, Megatron was awakened by someone screaming his name. For a minute he thought the whole captive-and-chained-by-the-neck thing was a dream, but when he woke up to it again...this time Starscream was crying out for him...

"What, Starscream?" said Megatron, bolting up but then feeling pain as he was yanked backwards. The chain wasn't long.

"Who did this to me?!" Starscream cried, obviously in a panic.

"The Autobots," Megatron replied. "Who else?"

"I can't move," Starscream whined.

"Listen, I have to get you out of here." Megatron managed to stretch his chain enough that he could crawl to Starscream, but couldn't reach him any further than his hips. "It's very dangerous."

"Yes," Starscream agreed, struggling to get free. "For the sparkling."

"How much energon do you have?"

"Not m-much..." Starscream gnashed his teeth together and closed his eyes. "I want to go home, Megatron."

"You will," Megatron told him. "The other Decepticons surely will realize we're missing. They'll come looking for us."

Unbeknownst to Megatron and Starscream, the other Decepticons weren't going to come looking. The two captives' energy signals had been overridden. When Soundwave scanned for their energy signals, he had gotten nothing. Everyone assumed they were dead. Their weapons were gone, so it wasn't an option to blast themselves out. They had no way of getting out of their prison, as far as Megatron could see, but he knew he had to keep Starscream calm.

"No they won't," said Starscream. "We're on our way to the crypt."

"Don't SAY that!" Megatron told him, banging his fist on one of the clamps holding Starscream's feet (seeing as he couldn't reach the ones binding his hands). "Maybe I can set these loose."

"Stop pulling on my feet!" Starscream yelled as Megatron tugged at the clamps.

"I-I can't get a good...grip on it..." Megatron grunted. "I will overturn the floor if that's what it takes to free us!"

"Megatron, stop," Starscream moaned.

"Is something wrong?" Megatron squinted and crawled up to Starscream again, putting his hands on the Seeker's knees.

"It's just that I..." Starscream screamed right then, startling Megatron, and then cried out, "Megatron, I think the sparkling's coming!"

"What?!" Megatron shouted in disbelief. "That's impossible! It's not supposed to come for another three months!"

"I'm aware of that," Starscream said weakly. "But whoever did this to us...whatever they did to us...who knows. If it was some kind of chemical or drug, it could easily have induced this. I majored in Chemistry and Biology, remember? I think I would know."

"I never should have taken you so far from base when you were in this condition, Starscream," said Megatron. "And now look what's happened to us. I'm sorry."

"How could you have predicted thi...ahhhh!" Starscream reflexively tried to remove his hands but they were pinned down. Right now this contraction startled him more than pained him, but it wouldn't stay that way for long. And if he was as energy-deprived and panicky as he was right now, especially without a proper medic, his labor would be difficult.

Megatron tried to reach out for Starscream's hand but the chain stopped him; he yanked on it yet again, trying to pull it out of the ground or even pull part of the ground up. Normally he would've been able to do it. But, like Starscream, he was far too weak right now.

"Calm down," said Megatron. "Are you still feeling pain?"

"YES!" Starscream hollered. "And these bonds aren't helping!"

Megatron didn't know scrap about what he should do right now, or even if he should do anything. Besides, did this mean the sparkling was going to come out RIGHT NOW? Megatron hoped not. It didn't seem right, exactly, for the sire to just lay there in the corner while the carrier struggled alone, but still...

"Don't worry about the bonds!" Megatron yelled. "We've got to figure out a way to escape. Hold the sparkling in if you have to!"

"Are you crazy?!" Starscream shrieked. "I can't hold it in!"

"I'm not crazy," said Megatron, "but you are if you think you can give birth now!"

Megatron wasn't too keen on this development. To be honest, he'd pictured Starscream in the med bay, having his sparkling in a proper environment. They had asked Soundwave to deliver the sparkling because of two reasons: one, because he was good with technology and sensitive procedures such as this one (after all, if he could fix and operate computers, rockets, and all those neat little gadgets, why couldn't he be the best candidate in helping with a delivery?) and two, because he had experience with all those cassettes. Soundwave would do anything Megatron asked, especially if it involved his sparkling.

And himself? Megatron thought he'd probably stand outside, or at least faraway from the action, because he didn't know anything about birth and until now he hadn't cared to. After all, he figured, he wasn't the one having the sparkling or delivering it, so why couldn't he just wait through the gruesome part and hold the sparkling after it was born? It was his usual plan: assign the dirty work to Soundwave, assign the pain to Starscream, and reap the rewards for himself.

"Please, Megatron," Starscream told him desperately. "Don't leave me."

"I can't leave you, whether I want to or not!" Megatron looped his finger through his chain's collar and tugged slightly. "See?"

Megatron wondered if he would have bolted, if he had the choice. If he'd been free, but Starscream was stuck here, would he really choose to stay with him? After all, Starscream was about to have the sparkling, and Megatron was no medic...

"It's getting WORSE..." Starscream mumbled, clenching his teeth and continuing to struggle to get free.

"Why are you trying to escape?" Megatron yelled at him. "I've already tried to free you. Those things are permanent."

"STOP YELLING AT ME!" Starscream screeched, obviously enduring more pains. "If-if I had known you'd abandon me at a time like this, I never would have had a sparkling with you!"

"What do you want me to do?!" Megatron hollered back. "Pull it out?!"

Starscream's eyes filled with tears then and he bit his lip. "No. I just want us to stick together."

Oh, how Megatron longed to wipe those tears from Starscream's eyes as they slid down the sides of his face and onto the floor. Right now, he knew Starscream needed him. But the last thing he wanted to do was actually extract a living being from inside of someone; he had heard about the birth process, and to him it sounded...well, gross.

"Don't do that," said Megatron, noticing that raw energon was leaking slightly out of the side of Starscream's mouth. Because the Seeker didn't have anything else to bite or chew or squeeze, he'd bitten his bottom lip to bleeding.

"It hurts," Starscream moaned, and bit down harder.

Megatron did wish he could reach out and hold Starscream's hand. But Starscream's hands were tied down, and Megatron's chain didn't reach that far.

"If only I had my radio, I could call for someone to help us," Megatron mumbled, more to himself than to Starscream.

"Well, you don't have your radio." Starscream took another exhale in and groaned. "You just have me, and your future daughter or son is waiting to meet you."

"You know what? Fine," Megatron snapped. "I'll do it. I'm gonna help you."

"Thank y-OH, SWEET PRIMUS!" Starscream really was struggling to get his wrists free now. But why?

"Starscream, you'd better stop that or you'll break your hands off," Megatron warned.

"My BODY is breaking APART!" Starscream screamed. "Make it stop!"

"I can't do that and you know it," said Megatron. "Now...just..."

Megatron had no idea what to do.