I do not own Transformers Prime, unfortunately. I'm simply borrowing the characters. I only own my OC, the Hybrid race, and any other characters you may not recognize.

" And you held it all... but you were careless to let it fall. You held it all, and I was by your side... powerless..." Linkin' Park; Powerless

5

Ω Screaming for You Ω

" Okay," Miko said, " so what movie next?" She proceeded to dig through one of the two large boxes of movies they usually kept at the base for their viewing pleasure. After a minute she pulled away with two movies in her grasp. " The Wolfman," she held out the horror movie for Jack and Raf to see, " or X-Men?" she held out the other.

" Hmm," Jack hummed, taping his chin. " I don't know. How 'bout you, Raf?" he asked the younger boy.

Raf pushed his glasses up on his nose and studied the movies carefully. After a full minute he shrugged as well. " Beats me. They're both good movies."

Miko looked at the two features as well. Hmm, how to decide…

Suddenly the sound of the ground-bridge booming caught all of their attention. They looked down to see the arrival of their Autobot guardians, then they looked at each other. " How about we get their votes?" Raf suggested. When the other two had agreed they ran to the edge of the catwalk.

" Hey, guys!" Miko called drawing the 'Bots' attention. " We have a slight dilemma here." She held out the movies. " Which one should we watch."

Arcee, Bulkhead and Bumblebee all looked at each other in disbelief. Seriously? Out of all the questions in the world, they were being asked which movie to watch. Since when had they become human movie critics? But taking it in stride they examined the movies. " Better not watch The Wolfman," Arcee sighed. " Hunter hasn't seen it yet."

" And she made Optimus promise to watch it with her," Bulkhead put in.

Just then Bumblebee chimed in with a musical hum.

Raf nodded. " Bee's right. Hunter's got a crush on Hugh Jackman, and she never misses X-Men when it's on. She wouldn't forgive us if we watched it without her."

" So… Jaws it is then!" Miko cheered, running back and replacing the two in her hands for the said flick.

Suddenly Jack's phone started going off. Quickly slipping it out of his back pocket, the boy flipped it open. His brows furrowed.

Arcee quickly took notice. " Jack?" she asked. " What it it?"

" It's a text message from Hunter," the sixteen-year-old answered.

" What's it say?"

" 'Ambushed by 'Cons,'" Jack read. " 'OP hurt bad. Need backup immediately.'"

" Where's Ratchet?" Arcee asked, spinning around. Once she spotted the medic coming out of the hallway, she was on him. " Ratchet, bring up Optimus' and Hunter's last coordinates now!"

Hunter hit the ground so hard it knocked the wind out of her. Rolling onto her back, she looked down to see her legs encased in ice from the freeze-ray gun Fang had so conveniently installed in his arsenal. Even though she had no clue as to what they meant, the fifteen-year-old mumbled a few Cybertronian words she'd picked up from Optimus (much to his dismay) and reached for the dagger by her side. Raising it high and taking careful aim, she rammed it down into the ice. She was rewarded with a sharp crack. Another hit and the casing came crumbling off, and she was up and running again, getting the blood flowing through her legs once more.

As she tried to outrun her pursuers, Hunter attempted to put into context just how far she had run. Had it been three miles? Five? How long? Two hours? Four? Maybe it hadn't been hours but minutes that had felt like them. Whatever the distance and the time it felt like an eternity to her. She knew she couldn't run forever, and she knew she couldn't hide. Optimus was wounded and couldn't come to her aid. If the team got her message, it was apparent they weren't going to be able to get to her in time. Bottom line: she was on her own and completely at the mercy of the Hunters—whatever little mercy they had.

Suddenly Hunter's thoughts were interrupted by the sound of roaring water. Seconds later, she found the source. She skidded to a halt, just barely managing to keep from falling into the raging river in front of her. Panting, she stared with wide eyes at the current of foaming whitecaps before her. " No!" she screamed in rage and fear. " No! No! No! NO! You've gotta be kidding me!" Running her bloody hands through her messy red hair, Hunter paced the bank in dismay. It was over. It was all over! She couldn't get out of this! There was no way she could cross that, and with the 'Cons closing in on her she couldn't back track. She was trapped.

Suddenly one of the bushes beside her became encased in ice. Whipping around to face her attackers, Hunter just managed to dodge another ice blast from Fang. The ray hit the water, and immediately the surface froze. Hunter studied the ice for a minute, calculating; it was risky, but it was her only chance. Quickly, she scrambled out onto the slippery surface. The ice strained and cracked dangerously beneath her, but it managed to hold out. If it barely held her weight there was no way it would hold the weight of the 'Cons. They wouldn't follow her out here—not without risk of plunging themselves through the ice too. Turning to face her enemies, however, Hunter could only pray that she was right.

They were a good fifty yards apart from one another. Fang and Blackout stood at the edge of the bank, snarling down at her, and Hunter was crouched in a ready position halfway across the river, watching and waiting. If it was going to end, it would end here. Finally Fang lifted his head and sneered evilly. Lifting his hand to his mouth, he called out to the redhead over the roar of the water, " What's the matter, tidbit? Had enough?" He chuckled as he saw Hunter glancing around at the sound of crackling ice. " Why don't you come back to stable ground and end this all right now? I promise I'll make your death swift and painless. One quick cut and it can all be over."

Hunter stepped farther back and growled at them like a cornered wolf. " If you want me, come and get me," she snarled.

" Fine!" Blackout snapped. Without even thinking, she rushed out onto the ice. Fang made a snag for her, but she was too quick for him. It wasn't seconds later the ghost-flamed femme had covered half the distance between the girl and the bank without breaking the ice—but all of that would soon change. Blackout took one more stride and all of a sudden the entire ice cap groaned and shook. The femme immediately froze. Suddenly one large fissure started to reach from beneath her foot and slit the ice. Looking down at the crack then back to each other, Hunter and Blackout made a silent agreement: save their butts now, kill each other later. With that they started sprinting for the far bank, but the ice and the river were quicker than they were, and the hadn't even taken three strides each before the ice gave out from under them and they went plummeting into the frigid, roaring river beneath.

" Blackout!" Fang bellowed. His optics searched frantically among the whitecaps and ice blocks for the femme, but he didn't see her. Still looking into the swirling water, the dragon 'Con began to sprint the length of the bank, following the river downstream. Soon he came to a steep waterfall. He looked over the edge into the river below. " Blackout!" he screamed again, his voice drowned in the sound of the waterfall. He watched and waited. All of a sudden something came bobbing to the surface. In anticipation he stared after it: a black and ghost-flamed chassis crawling for the shore! For a second he was hopeful, but then his spark was shattered as he caught sight of the human girl dragging Blackout's chassis with Lacerator's stolen dagger wedged deeply into the femme's spark chamber. Rage roared up inside his chest; his eyes burnt into the human. That was it! As soon as he got his hands on her, that little monster was paying for what she had done. She was his now!

Coughing and sputtering for air, Hunter clawed her way up onto the bank, hauling the sparkless body of Blackout with her. She didn't know how she had managed to skewer the Decepticon through the spark, and she didn't care. All she wanted was for all this to be over. She wanted to go home. Most of all… she wanted Optimus. Oh, how she longed to curl up in the warm refuge of his arms, look up into those gentle blue optics and fall asleep to the steady hum of his spark-beat, safe and sound. But with Optimus injured and probably dead now, and with Fang, Bombardier, and the other hunter still out there, the teenager knew that scenario was hardly possible. It was amazing she'd lasted this long, and she still had no clue as to how she had managed that. She was hurt, weak, freezing, hungry… utterly terrified. She couldn't fight and run and hide forever. Something would have to give or come to an end, and in all ways of looking at the situation, that something would have to be her.

Finally she had reached the bank. Hunter threw Blackout down to the ground and slumped down beside her. Looking into the dark, lifeless optics of the femme, Hunter shivered from both cold and horror. She had done that. Today alone she had killed three Decepticons… with her bare hands and nothing but a dagger. Dagger… Tiredly, Hunter raised her eyes to the weapon lodged in the center of Blackout's chestplate. Moaning, she managed to get to her feet and seize hold of the hilt. She pulled.

At first the thing wouldn't budge, so Hunter gathered her strength and pulled again. It still wouldn't move. Finally, after several more tugs, the dagger came flying out. Hunter stumbled back and slammed back-down onto the hard rocks of the bank. Grimacing, she reached for the dagger and brought it to her, wiping off the blade on the leg of her sweats... or at least what was left of her sweats.

All that remained of her gray lounge pants was barely clinging to her body. One leg had been completely ripped off, leaving only about an inch or two of fabric to cover her hip. The other leg was ripped up the side and flopping around like a dirty, tattered old rag. The same could be said for her tank top. The piece of clothing looked like it had been used for target practice as well as looking like a grenade had dropped on it. It was hang in complete shreds, one strap was torn off, and the other was just barely hanging by a thread. She was no longer wear her Uggs; she'd lost them somewhere in the river, along with her socks.

Hunter felt about as bad as she looked. Every inch of her body ached: even the very tips of her hair seemed to hurt. Just from judging that, the fifteen-year-old could guess what injuries she'd suffered, but she wanted a better look at herself just to be sure. So slowly, even though it was torturous, Hunter inched her clothes off until she was stripped down to her underwear, and then started to examine herself. With most of the mud and blood that had at one point caked her body washed away, the girl found that her arms and legs and stomach were red and raw with a series of cuts, all bleeding and ranging in size and depth from 'not-worth-a-bandage' to 'stitches'.

The pricks she'd received from her fight with the beast lined her arms and sides like bee stings. They were swollen tight and hot, already seeping a foul-smelling puss, making Hunter realize that the barbs must have been coated with some type of poison. Some of them hurt so badly she was sure that the barbs had broken off and remained inside her body. Her palms were sliced up badly and were so hot she swore she could see the heat waves rising off of them—the skin hung in shreds. Her knuckles were bloody and scuffed. Her stomach bared one large cut that ran from the top left of her belly to the lower right, but at least it wasn't as deep as it could have been. Her knees were banged up and in a bloody mess, and while one leg only had hundreds of slightly deep cuts and scrapes, the other possessed a deep laceration that ran down the entire length of the inside of her leg. Her feet were bloody, swollen, and turning blue in some places from the frostbite she'd received when her legs had been trapped in ice. Sharp stinging pain came from from her back, and felt blood oozing hotly down her skin. A steady trickle of blood came from the corner of her mouth; more was running off her forehead and blinding her in one eye. How she was alive, God only knew.

A tremor went through Hunter's body and suddenly there was a lump in her throat. A sob escaped her. Tears came to her eyes, and more sobs left her before she could stop them. The redhead didn't want to give into them, but she was too weak and emotionally drained to stop them, so she just lowered her head and let it all out. At first the cries were quiet, but then they started to become louder and stronger until they were wracking her entire body. Hot tears of exhaustion, terror, and pain streamed down her raw cheeks, leaving trails of stinging pain in their wake. Burying her face in her throbbing hands, Hunter pushed the sobs out until she was panting with exertion, then, taking a deep breath, she raised her head and screamed out his name at the very top of her aching exhausted lungs. " OPTIMUS!" She knew he couldn't hear her, but it didn't matter; it was the only thing she could think of to do. " OPTIMUS, HELP ME!" Being held against her will on the couch in front of the TV back at the base watching Spongebob looked pretty good right about now. More tears came to Hunter's eyes when she realized that she was never going to be able to do that again. She was never going to be able to see her friends again. She was never going to be able to argue, or play pranks, or have karaoke night with them ever again. It was all going to end… right… there.

Sobbing, Hunter flopped down onto her back and rolled onto her side, curling up into the fetal position, ready to give it all up. " Goodbye, Optimus," she whispered. " I'm so sorry." Suddenly the ground beneath her quaked. Hunter froze, horror seeping back into her system.

" Well, well, well," an evil, deep voice announced loudly, " here I am lookin' for a girl, and I stumble across a bug, waiting to be squashed."

He was sprinting through the trees as fast as he could. Her screams filled the air and echoed around him with ear-splitting quality. He looked around, trying to find her, but she was no where to be found. Raising a hand to his mouth and cupping it around he bellowed out her name as loudly as he could. " Hunter!" He waited for an answer, but none came. " Hunter, where are you?!" A scream rang out again, but it seemed to come from all around him. Fear brimming up inside his chest, he kept running.

Finally, after what seemed an eternity of deadly silence, another cry came. This time he could make out words. " OPTIMUS! OPTIMUS, HELP ME!"

" I'M COMING, HUNTER!" he called back. " I'M COMING!" He kept running, but it was as though his legs were trapped in tar, and he still couldn't see her! " WHERE ARE YOU?!"

" Goodbye, Optimus" her voice came again, but this time sounded weak; like she was giving up.

"HUNTER!"

" I'm so sorry..."

" NO, HUNTER! NO!"

The ground suddenly rumbled and shook, and he could sense danger.

" Hunter…" Optimus mumbled dazedly. Slowly, his optics twittered open. Everything was out of focus. Trying to blink his vision back, the large Prime reached a heavy hand up to rub his throbbing head. What happened? He remembered telling Hunter to run then… nothing. Oh, Primus, his chassis felt heavy! Suddenly he remembered. Bombardier had tried to kill him with a tranquilizer—no wonder everything seemed fuzzy.

But fuzzy or not, he had somehow heard Hunter's voice. Not with his audio-receptors, but with his… spark? Yes, with his spark. Optimus couldn't explain it, but he could feel Hunter's pleas for help. He could feel her fear and pain as if it were his very own. She needed him—he needed to go to her. Groaning with effort, the red and blue Prime started to push himself up, but a heavy foot was placed on his backplate.

" Ah-ah-ah, big fella," Bombardier's voice reached his audio-receptors. " I'm afraid you can't leave."

Optimus glared up over his shoulder and the sneering bounty hunter.

" Watch me," he growled. And with that, he thrust himself upwards, causing Bombardier to fly off. He was nearly knocked off his feet again by a shot to the shoulder from Contagion, but he held his ground. Pointing himself in the direction Hunter had run, the mech transformed into his alt. mode and barreled off through the forest. " Hold on, Hunter. I'm coming."

Hunter watched as Fang came closer and closer. Every instinct in her body told to her get up and fight, to get up and run, but she couldn't move. She was too weak, and there was no point to it anyway. Fight or no fight, run or no run, Fang was going to terminate her either way—she didn't stand a chance. Besides, maybe he'd be doing her a favor by putting her out of her misery. " Make it quick," she pleaded with him.

The 'Con froze mid-stride. For a moment her stared at her in disbelief, then he threw back his head in an evil chortle. " So you've finally come to terms with your fate, huh?" he asked, grinning dementedly down at the girl.

Hunter remained quiet.

" What's this?" Fang gasped. " No clever retort? No fight to the death? I was so looking forward to that. After all, you do seem to be quite the little warrior," he pointed at the sparkless chassis of Blackout.

Hunter lowered her eyes away from his. " I…" she stammered, "… I just don't have anymore fight left in me." Then her eyes became hateful and cold as she lifted them to his again. " Now… are you gonna finish it… or what?"

" As you wish." The hunter came closer, reached down, wrapped his hand around her, then he lifted her to his face. He stared at her for a minute, then roughly brushed a lock of hair away from her face as he chuckled, " Any last words, tidbit?"

" Quite your yappin' and do it!" Hunter snarled, trying her hardest not to break down into tears again. " Ahh!" Fang's fist started to constrict around her, slowly crushing her in his grip. Her bones began to crackle. " Ah-rah-ha-ahh!"

Fang snickered as he continued to crush her. " Ashes to ashes—dust to dust."

" Release the girl, Decepticon," a familiar voice rang out as clear as day and as deadly as the thunder.

Fang's optics suddenly widened in disbelief. Slowly, he turned around to look straight down the barrel of the cannon of a very ticked off Prime. Silence fell over the three, with nothing but the roar of the waterfall. Fang finally gulped. " So," he laughed nervously, " you have a nice nap?"

" Do as I say!" Optimus barked.

Fang's eyes slipped down to the girl in his grasp, whom was now staring at the Prime with a look of something between shock and joy. He looked back at the red and blue Autobot. " I'm afraid I can't do that," he sneered.

Optimus placed his gun flat against the 'Con's throat. " Oh, I believe you can."

With the common sense part of his processor out of whack, Fang backed away and shook his head. " Nope, I really can't. See, Autobot, your little girlfriend here," he pointed to Hunter who was desperately trying to wriggle out of his grip, " is worth quite the substantial bounty. And with only three of us left, I'll get a bigger cut of the profit. Besides, this little brat killed our pet, my sparkmate's little sister, and my sparkmate!"

" And yet I do not feel the slightest bit of sympathy towards you," Optimus growled, still aiming for his opponent's spark chamber. " Release my companion, bounty hunter; I will not say it again."

Fang sighed heavily. " Fine." With that he chucked Hunter away.

Quick as lightning, Optimus retracted his cannon and caught Hunter before she could hit the ground. Carefully, he carried her a relatively safe distance away and, with all the tenderness in the world, laid her down on ground. " Hunter?" he questioned, examining her with worry in his optics. " Are you all right, little one?"

A grin so wide that was almost a grimace spread across Hunter's face and tears of joy pricked at her eyes. " I am now that you're here," she croaked. She brushed her throbbing palm along the ground until it came to rest atop one of his digits. " I wasn't sure you'd come for me."

Optimus gave her an affectionate smile. " I will always come for you, Hunter, and I will always find you." He pushed his hand farther underneath hers and flipped it over, gently encasing her small hand inside his own massive one. " I promise you that."

Hunter could only smile at her friend. Suddenly, movement beyond her Prime caught her attention, and her stomach knotted in fear. " Optimus, behind you!"

The Prime whipped around, and only just managed to catch Fang's all-to-familiar blade between his palms. Quickly, he threw it down, extracted his own, and stood, swinging at the bounty hunter.

Pushing herself up into a kneeling position, Hunter watched the fight for a moment, before rising to her feet and stumbling off farther away. With a grimace the fifteen-year-old propped herself against the trunk of a tree. She looked on as Optimus continued to pummel Fang right into the ground. " That's my boy," she rasped proudly. " That's my… ahhh!" Hunter suddenly found herself being lifted and shoved up against the tree. The next thing she knew, she was looking down into the face of the sick Decepticon who had… shrunk down to her size? " Put me down!" she screamed as he moved closer and closer still. " Wait, what are you…" she was cut off as the hunter held her lips between his in an all out lip-lock. She tried to shove the 'Con away, but he only held her closer.

Hunter suddenly felt extremely weak and lethargic. Her body tingled and itched as though there were thousands of bugs crawling under her skin. Breathing suddenly became harder. " Why?" the girl wondered. Without warning the 'Con forced his glossa in between her lips and massaged her tongue with it. The sick feeling grew stronger, and that's when Hunter realized. This was his power; he was infecting her. No longer possessing the strength to brace her arms against his chest, Hunter slumped against him, driving herself even further into his lethal death kiss.

Fang crashed to the ground, writhing in pain. He screamed as Optimus seized him by the chest armor and pulled him close to his face. " AHHHH!"

" You will not come anywhere near this child ever again," Optimus snarled, in a complete all-out rage now, " do you understand?"

Fang didn't answer.

Optimus shook him. " Do you understand?!"

All of a sudden, Fang's head fell back in a psychotic laugh. He looked up into Optimus' optics. " Sure, I'll stay away from her," he hissed with a sneer, " but I'm not the one you should be worried about." His eyes looked off over the 'Bot's shoulder. " And my guess is she won't have more than a few hours when he's done with her… if that."

Optimus followed his gaze. His optics widened in horror at the scene before him. " No," he barely breathed. In one quick motion, he ripped Fang's spark chamber from his body, dropped the lifeless 'Con, and went running in her direction. " Hunter!"

Hearing the charging footsteps of the Prime, Contagion pulled away from Hunter's lips and gave her a twisted smile. " Thanks for the moment," he chuckled.

With the sickness coursing hotly through her veins and growing stronger at each moment, Hunter raised weary, feverish eyes to his. " Wh-who are you?" she rasped.

The 'Con leaned down until his face was inches away from her. Then he took a vent and whispered back, " Contagion." As he spoke his name, he exhaled another billow of poison gas right into her nostrils so she had absolutely no chance of escaping it.

Hunter turned away, coughing and gasping for air. Her lungs felt like they were melting! Slowly, she met Contagion's eyes again and released a shuddering sigh. Then her eyes rolled back into her head and she collapsed to the ground in a heap.

Laughing, Contagion turned to face Optimus. " You're turn now, huh?" He took a step forward and returned to his original size. Then he took a deep breath, preparing to release a cloud of deadly fumes in the Prime's direction, but Optimus was too quick for him. He decapitated the 'Con before he had even half a breath drawn.

Panting heavily, Optimus retracted his blade and battle mask. It was over. He turned towards Hunter's crumpled, unconscious body. His spark skipped a beat. " No!" he cried, rushing to her side. Crouching down, he took her into his arms.

She was alive… but just barely. Her eyes stayed closed, and her breathing was short and shallow. She was sickly pale, and the veins beneath her skin were turning from dark blue to brown to black with the virus. She shivered from shock and cold.

Carefully, Optimus held Hunter closer against his body. Covering her with a warm hand, he tried to shield her from the cool, damp, misty air. But Optimus knew that what he could provide her was not going to be nearly enough. She needed medical attention. She needed Ratchet. He had to get her back to the base… now!

Exiting from the ground-bridge, Arcee, Bumblebee, and Bulkhead all hit the ground with cannons primed. After standing back to back for a minute, they all turned to each other and nodded, then they moved off into the woods. When they came across the deposit, they took in the scene.

Kneeling down, Arcee swept her hand over the ground. " Well, there were at least five of them," she reported after counting the ring of footprints. Then she moved on to the scuff marks. " And it looks like Optimus put up a fight."

" Well, that's nothing new," Bulkhead grumbled with a shrug. " Now the question is where are they?"

Arcee looked up and opened her mouth to respond when she was cut off by the sound of a pained yell.

" AHHHH!"

The three Autobots stood frozen as the echo slowly died, then they sprung into action. Minutes later they came across the waterfall. Looking down over the cliff they saw Optimus crouched on his knees, arms wrapped over a badly leaking wound in his abdomen. Bumblebee released a musical buzz.

Slowly, the Prime lifted his optics to them. His faceplate was twisted in pain and worry... but it wasn't for himself.

That's when they noticed he was holding something. " What is he…" Arcee started out, trying to get a better look. She gasped once she recognized the half-naked teenager held protectively in their commander's arms.

" Primus, no…" Bulkhead whispered.