Rated T for violence in a flashback in the chapter. Shattered Glass Arcee is scaaaary. I keep picturing Bellatrix Lestrange. Totally terrifying, thank-you-very-much for the nightmares.

In my mind, I see each of the main crew of the Nemesis enacting roles held by the Autobots in the usual series. (I wasn't going to show the evil Autobots until later, but then I realized I kind of needed them for this chapter). Megatron, of course, holds the role that would have belonged to Optimus. Breakdown takes the place of Bulkhead, Knockout of Ratchet, and Starscream and Airachnid trade off with elements of Arcee. Soundwave..well, you'll see.

Oh my gosh you guys. I just found out that Shattered Glass Ravage speaks entirely in LOLcat language. Day=made.


Jasper, Nevada: 2007

Jack was ten years old the first time he saw the consequences of his family's war. He'd been at the lake with Pop when the call came: it was his mother, sounding absolutely frantic.

"Dad? Where are you?"

"I'm fishing with Small Fry, kiddo. What's up?" he had answered.

"There's been an attack. Soundwave's hurt, can't tell how badly yet. Megatron needs a headcount."

Breakdown's holoform flickered off and Pax dutifully climbed into his vehicle mode.

"Mom sounded scared," he said quietly. Even a child knows when something is dreadfully wrong, no matter how an adult may try to hide it.

The groundbridge sent them straight to their shared family quarters, where Breakdown let the boy out and transformed. "Stay here, Jack," the mech said seriously, "Don't get underfoot." He hurried out of the room, leaving a worried ten year old behind him. Pax had no intention of staying behind. He wanted to know precisely what was so serious that Megatron would actually call for a headcount!

He slipped out of the room quietly and tiptoed down the hall before running headlong into a giant white cat.

"O HAI hooman!" it burbled. "Y U no stay in ur room?"

Pax scowled. "What's going on, Ravage? I want to see!" he complained.

Ravage seemed to contemplate this for a moment before answering, "Somebody got broked, aifinkso. U go back in ur room naow, KTHXBAI!" And with a sudden leap, the small Decepticon had passed Jack and was bounding down the hall, contemplating more pressing matters, like cheeseburgers.

Frustrated, the little human followed the sounds of a commotion and found the rest of his family hovering in a circle over a mech on the floor. It was Soundwave: he hadn't even been able to bridge himself to the med bay.

Starscream began giving orders for the onlookers to move out of the way once Knockout arrived with an emergency surgical kit. Unnoticed, Jack slipped into the crowd and snuck as close as he could. His favorite "uncle" was scarcely recognizable. His signature blue visor was smashed, and one of his optics could be seen gleaming dully from beneath it. One of his shoulder guards was missing, as was his left hand.

Lacerations and fractures oozed energon onto the deck, pooling around him. Worst of all was his throat. The voice box had been completely torn out. Megatron was crouched next to Soundwave's helm, trying to keep him conscious.

"Stay awake, Soundwave," he ordered, "Just until Knockout stops the leaking. Try to tell us what happened if you can."

As the doctor busied himself patching up the wounded mech, with June patching the minor leaks with webbing, Soundwave raised his remaining hand shakily. Starscream caught it and nodded grimly. Pax noticed for the first time that Starscream looked almost as bad as Soundwave did.

"The Autobots set a trap, Lord Megatron," the commander rasped, squeezing his friend's servos. "They uncloaked the energy signature of an energon mine, and Soundwave went to check it out. Optimus Prime was waiting."

The gasps from the surrounding Decepticons warned Pax that this was far more serious than he'd thought.

Starscream continued. "He interrogated Soundwave, I don't know how long, but he never said a word. Not once."

Pax nodded proudly, his little hands tightening into fists. They were Decepticons: Decepticons did not betray family. Starscream explained that he had begun to worry when Soundwave didn't return from his scouting mission, and had tracked him to the mine.

"Furious at our spy's defiance, the usurper Prime enacted terrible vengeance-" Starscream's voice hitched as he stared down at the ghastly wounds. Broken, warped audio began to play from Soundwave's visor, and video soon followed, distorted though it was by the cracked glass.

The hulking Prime stood over the battered mech, hands clasped behind his back.

"I grow tired of asking, so I shall only say it once more: Where is Megatron? What is he planning?"

The view jolted as Soundwave reacted painfully to something. A horned blue mech sauntered into view, spinning a detached shoulder guard on his servos. "You hear him, 'Con," Cliffjumper sneered, "Talk!"

Abruptly, something smashed into the prisoner's visor with a splintering crash, followed by a crazed cackle. "Or, if you don't want to talk, you can always scream!" the sing-song voice became a red-eyed femme with pink armor, who leaned on Cliffjumper's shoulder with a sneer.

"Arcee, you appear to have made some progress with our guest," Optimus said coldly.

Arcee's maddened expression filled the visor's view. "Well, aren't you going to talk to a lady?" she cooed. There was a sickening crunch and static burst across the lens.

Arcee pouted. "Not a peep? Oh, you're no fun at all!"

The usurper Prime's optics filled with rage as the sound of Starscream's engine could be heard in the distance. Suddenly, the perspective changed, as Soundwave was now dangling above the floor from Optimus's grasp.

"Very well, Spy," he hissed, "If you will not talk to us, you will not talk to anyone." Static once more covered the visor, full of error messages as the young mech was forced into stasis.

Pax heard someone cry out in horror, and realized too late that it was his own voice. June rushed over and gathered the little boy in her arms.

"Sweetspark, Pop told you to wait in your room!" she whispered. Pax buried his face in his mother's shoulder.

"Soundwave's my family too!" he whimpered, by way of explanation. Breakdown picked up his daughter and grandson and was about to whisk them back to their quarters when Starscream's voice stopped him.

"Wait. Give him to me." The spindly mech took Pax from his mother and held him where he could see Soundwave. "He needs to see this." There was a hard edge to his voice.

"This is what the Autobots do, Jack. If they catch a Decepticon, they will torture him, tear his spark out, and recycle his energon. And if he's very, very lucky, they'll do it in that order."

"Starscream, enough!" Megatron leveled a stern glare at the SIC from his place by Soundwave's side. Seeing the look on Starscream's faceplates and guessing that his processor was lost in a memory, Megatron's optics softened. "See to your injuries, Starscream. When Knock Out deems you fit for duty, report to your cabin and rest."

Starscream's wings drooped, but he nodded and placed the human on the deck.

"Jackson," Megatron's grave tone caught the boy's attention. There was infinite sorrow written on his faceplate as he gazed down at the shaking ten year old. "I wish that you had not witnessed this, but it served a purpose. You were always going to discover one way or another the nature of the Autobots. Perhaps it is better that you learned now, rather than later, for now you will be more aware of what we are up against."

The child scrambled over to the massive warrior and huddled next to his pede. "I'm scared," he whispered, "Is Soundwave going to be okay?"

Knock Out made a face that might have been an attempt at a smile as he glanced briefly up at his "nephew". "We can repair the superficial damage pretty quickly, kid. Just like when you went rollerblading on the hangar deck, remember?"

From the hall, June winced at the memory of an eight year old Pax scraped and skinned from head to toe because he had decided that elbow and kneepads were for Sparklings.

"Now you run along, Pax," Knock Out tried to sound cheerful, "So I can do my job!"

Megatron nodded and Jack picked his way back to his mother and grandparents, stopping to plant a childish kiss on Soundwave's battered visor. "Get well soon," he said solemnly, "We'll get the Autobots back, I promise."

Then he rushed into June's waiting arms, and Breakdown carried them back to their quarters. "Mom?" Jack asked quietly.

"Yes, baby?"

"Can we sleep in Pop and Rani's room tonight?"

The nightmares stopped after a few weeks, but Pax Minor never forgot that day. Soundwave's voice box was beyond repair, leaving him unable to communicate normally. He used video clips and text to speak, which made him a far more effective spy. Somehow, he retained his cheerful nature, which was the main reason that Jack did not remain traumatized. From that day forward, however, the boy held a deep grudge against the Autobots for what they had done to his family.