Skye was numb as she watched the crackling fire. It was worse than losing Coulson, because she KNEW that Coulson had been alive. Optimus wasn't, and she felt like it was her fault, because if he hadn't had to protect both of them, he would have had his full attention on the battle and not have gotten distracted by their safety.
Leo and Mikaela watched the two, Mikaela grieving herself for Optimus' loss. Bumblebee and the twins tried to cheer them up by picking on the panicking Leo. Nothing worked until Leo checked his phone and saw that Skye and Sam were the price for Earth's safety.
Sam's outburst was enough to get Skye to perk up and notice that her own secure phone was ringing.
"Hello?" she croaked into it.
"Skye! Stay dark! Do not answer anything but this phone, understand?" Coulson all but yelled into the phone.
"Yes, sir," she said, snapping up, her spine straightening in determination.
"Skye, are you with Sam?" Coulson asked, but there was something off with the way he asked it.
"Coulson, I have to go, we've got to move, I'll contact you later," Skye said, making herself seem frightened and rushed.
"Skye, do you have the Kid?" Coulson asked. She heard the pride in his voice, though if someone else heard him, it would sound worried.
"Bye, AC," she said, hanging up the phone. She gave a choked sob as she removed the battery and tucked it into her pocket. No way for them to turn it back on now. No way to contact home.
"We need to go. These symbols in our heads, they mean something. It doesn't make sense, we need someone to explain what they mean."
"Dude, what do they even say?" Leo asked.
Skye stood up shakily and leaned against Mudflap's leg, reciting the riddle calmly. "When dawn alights the dagger's tip, three kings will reveal the doorway."
"Okay, great. Great. That doesn't help us at all!" Leo all but screamed. "But, wait, I know someone that can help!"
"Who?" Bee demanded.
"Robowarrior," Leo said, awe in his voice.
"Maybe. I mean, he's a little nutty, but…" Skye said, trailing off at the end. Bee transformed after hacking and getting Robowarrior's address.
Entering the meat shop, Sam and Robowarrior locked eyes, disbelief on both of their faces. Skye smiled at the familiar man, having met him on multiple occasions.
"No way. You have got to be kidding me," Sam murmured.
"Wait, you know him?" Leo asked.
"Yeah, we're old friends," Sam said sarcastically.
"Everyone out!" Simmons ordered, and soon the shop was clear except for their little group. Bee's holoform, a teen only just older than Sam with blonde hair cut short in a crew cut, Mudflap and Skidz holos, they looked identical with messy red and green hair, baggy clothes, looking like they were twenty seven years of age, and the two civilians looked worried. Sam and Skye looked annoyed at Simmons reaction.
"Friends? Friends? You're the reason why Sector Seven was shut down," Reggie snarled.
"Hey, Agent Simmons. Jemma says hi," Skye interrupted before Sam could retort.
He looked at her in shock for a moment before shaking his head. "Of course you two are at the center of this. You just can't stay safe. Does she even know if you are okay?" he snapped.
"Of course not, we've gone dark. No contact with home base and all that," Skye snapped. "Now could you give us everything you have on the bots that landed on Earth and have been kept a secret? We need to find one of them."
An hour later, Mikaela remembered something in her suitcase that she had brought to warn Sam about.
Skye darted forward and grabbed the sparkling before he could escape, glaring at Mikaela. "Oh, your poor optic! Oh sweetie!" Skye cooed, calming down the panicked 'con. "Hey, it's okay, she won't hurt you anymore. What's your name?"
"Hey, hey, hey, don't let that crazy lady get me! Name's Wheelie. You… You're the All Spark! And so is Romeo over there! How is that possible?" Wheelie asked, unable to comprehend why two supposed insects radiated such power.
"Yeah, Wheelie. My name's Skye. Don't worry, she's not going to get you. Those despicable Decepticons aren't gonna hurt you anymore, either. Okay?" Skye soothed, shooting a death glare at Mikaela. What could she say, Skye had a soft spot for kids, no matter the species.
"Hey! The Dece-" Wheelie protested before Skye glared at him warningly. "Uh, you're right. The Decepticons stink. I was forced to join when my creators were killed, and I've been stuck in my sparkling frame for forever, man. I tell you, not. Fun. I'm defecting," Wheelie said, curling up closer to Skye.
"Okay, to the Museum!" Skye said as they piled into the Autobots.
The ride to the museum was spent with Skye holding Wheelie and keeping him away from the seatbelts with which Bee was trying to strangle him with after the little bot insulted his driving skills.
Upon getting to the place, Simmons attempted to get them to agree to his insane plan of having them taser the guards. Skye put a stop to it by flashing her SHIELD badge and clearing the building easily. Simmons pouted behind her.
Sam pulled out the Shard that Mikaela had brought to him, nearly dropping it as it shocked him, transferring the rest of the power into him.
"Nice going," Skye said with a roll of her eyes, to which Sam childishly responded with by sticking out his tongue. "Well, how about we go greet the old timer?"
How they ended up at a payphone with a legendary device was a little fuzzy for Skye. So much of her strength had gone into keeping the Decepticons from finding them, blurring the radiation trail they were leaving behind to buy them more time. Now Simmons was on the phone with Lennox, ordering him to bring Optimus' frame to Egypt, a possible resurrection taking place.
"Skye, we gotta move," Sam said. Skye turned her attention back to him, confusion in her eyes. "Skye, are you alright?"
"Yeah, yeah," she said, shaking her head to clear it, "I'm blurring our radiation trail. Keep the 'Cons off of us for a little bit longer," she further explained.
"We have a radiation trail?" Sam asked incredulously.
"Yeah, Sam, now move! I see the planes!" Skye said, looking into the sky and grinning.
They moved quickly, Sam, Bumblebee and Mikaela going one way, towards the Autobots and Optimus, while Leo and Simmons went off with Skidz and Mudflap as a distraction, and Skye taking a roundabout way by herself.
"I really hope this works," she muttered to herself as she raced over the scorched sands, catching glimpses of gunfire, hearing snippets of terrified screams, her instincts telling her to get out of there, her mind telling her that she had to continue on her set path, and her heart telling her to turn around and help out the people.
She shook away the tears that had formed in her eyes and pushed onwards. She was the backup, if the Matrix didn't work. She didn't like it one bit, either.
She heard the scream of an engine above her, and she ducked behind a collapsing pillar, holding her breath, trying not to make any noise. The ground shook as the mech landed, slight tremors vibrating the pillar with each step he took.
The pillar exploded above her. "Oh, shit, that's not good," Skye muttered as she took off again. She was running out of places to duck behind, and the mech, who she didn't know the name of, obviously, getting closer and closer to her.
"Come here, little one," the mech sneered, though she supposed it could have been the mech attempting to coo at her. "Megatron wishes to see you," he added.
Skye ducked behind a building and crouched lowly, hoping that it was enough that she wouldn't be too badly hurt if he took out the building.
"Not happening!" she shouted back to him.
She cried out in surprise as a catlike mech slunk around the wall next to her, growling and circling, getting ready to pounce. She grabbed a piece of rubble and smashed it down on his face, giving her time to get out of there.
"I got ya, lil' lady," a familiar, friendly voice, shouted behind her. She laughed as the silver mech zoomed next to her, opened the door, and allowed her to get in, buckling her in securely as he sped across the desert.
"Thanks, Jazz. I thought they were gonna get me," Skye said honestly.
Jazz stayed silent as they dodged missiles and swerved potholes, getting further away from the battle and closer to the open Egyptian sands.
"What were ya thinkin', not contactin' the base?" he scolded in a brief reprieve from the battle that happened as both parties caught sight of Sam.
"I was thinking that-, wait, why do you care?" Skye asked.
"We was worried abou' all o' ya. Ya are still recoverin'," Jazz said quietly.
"I don't care! I-, oh my god, Jazz, turn around! Get to Sam!" Skye screamed as she caught sight of Megatron taking aim at Sam.
"I'm under orders ta get ya-" Jazz began, but Skye kicked his dash as hard as she could.
"Get your aft back over there!" she ordered.
"No need ta cause hurt, Skye," Jazz rumbled, but he turned around, skidding on the sand before gaining traction once more and speeding across towards the ground to get to the clearing.
"Sam!" Skye shouted, seeing the missile throw him into the air, and then he didn't get up. Jazz slammed to a stop, a high-pitched keen coming from his radio. "SAM!" Skye shouted, trying to remove the seatbelt, but Jazz didn't allow it to budge.
Megatron himself seemed to be in shock at what he had done, he hadn't been aiming to kill, after all, but he broke out of it upon hearing Skye's anguished cry.
"Jazz? Jazz? JAZZ, MOVE!" Skye screamed, staring in horror as Megatron transformed and zoomed closer to them.
Jazz's engine sputtered, but the sports car was able to move, albeit a bit unsteadily, out of the way before Megatron could reach them.
"Jazz, snap out of it, he'll be fine," Skye assured, though she had seen the anguished look Bumblebee had had when he saw Sam's body. Jazz himself had scanned the boy and seen the lack of a heartbeat himself.
"Skye," Jazz began to protest as he slid to the left after faking right, forcing Megatron to lose precious time turning around. "Hang on, Skye," he ordered as he turned sharply once more and Skye rolled out, Jazz transforming rapidly and standing defensively over her.
"Jazz, no, he'll kill you again!" Skye protested her impromptu guardian.
"Then ya'll just hafta bring me back, won't ya?" Jazz retorted as he dodged one of Megatron's swipes.
"That's what you think," she growled. She grabbed a half submerged rock, not believing her luck at finding these things, and flung it at Megatron, the hard object bouncing harmlessly off his helm, but diverting his attention.
"Leave him alone, you stupid tyrant!" she shouted. Both mechs paused in their fight to stare at her incredulously. "I JUST BROUGHT HIM BACK! You leave him be and let him enjoy life!"
Had Jazz not been fighting with the tyrant, he would have laughed at the absurdity of her statement. Or would have mimicked the popular human gesture known as the facepalm.
Megatron snorted and carelessly knocked over Jazz and pinned him to the ground with his pede. "Take care with your words, little one. You are valuable, but being voiceless will not lessen your worth," he growled.
Skye's face lost its color, leaving it a sickly grey as she clamped her hand over her mouth at the horror that statement implied.
"You ain't gonna lay a servo on her, Megatron," Jazz spat struggling futilely to free himself. Megatron growled and pressed him further into the sand, about to kill the smaller being when he was hit by yet another rock. Skye had been forced to move closer to grab it, and she now had to crane her neck to yell at him.
"Hey, ugly! I said leave him alone!" she screamed, hefting another rock, getting ready to throw it if need be.
"I said take care with your words! Be silent or I will remove your ability to speak!" Megatron countered. He made to grab her, but she hefted the rock again, making him pause for some odd reason. It wasn't as if the rock could actually hurt him.
"Aw, look at that, Megsy's afraid of a little femme!" Jazz spat as the shifting of Megatron's weight enabled him to make his escape.
Megatron growled and turned on him, intent on destroying the annoying pest that was back AGAIN! He tossed the smaller mech into a stone pillar, making it crumble on top of the small bot, not enough to kill, but enough to daze him for a while.
Meanwhile, while all of this had been going on, Sam had been brought back to his body, plunged the Matrix into Optimus' spark chamber, and brought the Prime back to the world of the living. Also, the Fallen had begun to activate the Solar-Harvester and was now battling the weakened Prime.
"Megatron," the Fallen growled as he was forced to teleport away once more from the furious Prime. It had gone beyond saving the Earthling's sun. This was personal. The Fallen was powerful, but this was a whole different level.
Megatron growled and spun away from the pests he had been dealing with and went to aid his master.
To say that he wasn't trying his hardest was like saying it hurt to get sand in your eyes. Painfully obvious. In fact it was more like he was trying to herd the fight from away from where he had come.
Jazz and Skye took advantage of this, marvelling at the fact that the tyrant hadn't killed them, to get back to the others.
"Sam!" Skye cried, hugging him tightly. "How dare you die? How dare you! If I hadn't been busy with Megatron, then I would have come over here and killed you for doing that!"
Skye then turned on Lennox. "Mikaela isn't the one that has no self-preservation instincts and a hero complex, Sam is. Grab him next time, not her," she growled.
Finally, she turned on Jazz, "Never, and I mean NEVER tell me that I'm more important than helping other people. I don't give a damn if you're under orders, I am not a china doll."
"Is that understood?" she demanded, crossing her arms and tapping her foot.
"Yes ma'am," they replied.
"Um, miss? I'm sorry, but who the hell are you and what right do you have to yell at my Sammy?" a woman with short ginger hair asked.
"Oh, I'm sorry miss, I didn't realize that any civilians here. I am Agent Skye, and I was one of the people with your son when it started at his college. I've been helping us not get caught by anyone, keeping him safe," Skye explained.
The woman looked at her more closely. "You're the other wanted girl! You risked your life to keep my Sammy safe? Oh, thank you!" Skye found herself in a tight hug, not knowing what to do. She hadn't ever been thanked for doing her job by anyone other than her team.
"I was… I was just doing my job, Mrs. Witwicky," Skye said hesitantly.
"Ron! Ron! Come over here!" Mrs. Witwicky demanded. A man came over, dragging a reluctant Sam, who had snuck off in an attempt to see how the battle was going, with him.
"Yes, Judy?" he asked.
"This girl helped our Sammy!" Judy proclaimed, not releasing Skye, who was looking at Sam pleadingly.
"Thank you," Ron said honestly, hugging her as well. Now Skye had tears in her eyes, not believing that Sam's parents could be so nice to a person who could have gotten their son killed.
"I was just doing my job," she repeated as they finally pulled back. "But thank you."
She made her escape before they saw the tears, shooting a sad smile to Sam as she was forgotten and Sam was crushed in more hugs.
She was successful where Sam was not in sneaking off to go see the battle. None of the other 'Cons seemed willing to intercede, and the Autobots were under orders to guard the humans and let Optimus deal with it.
She held her breath as Optimus tore off the face of the Fallen, then killed him, leaving only him and Megatron, who was severely injured himself. He was pulled back by the mech that had first chased her, and he faded into the shadows, glaring directly at her, making her shrink back.
Once they were out of sight, Skye dashed out, just as Optimus collapsed from exhaustion. "Optimus!" she shouted.
"Skye," he greeted, venting heavily. Skye dashed over and carefully crawled onto his chassis, taking in the damage. With extreme concentration, she healed the spark, giving it more power, power that it had been denied when the Matrix had been ripped out of it.
"Hey Big Guy, you gave us all a big scare. No more dying, okay? Deal?" she asked, trying to keep her mind off the uneasy feeling she was getting about the amount of power she had used continuously over the past few days. It was probably Primus telling her that she was going to burn out if she kept using it.
"Sam?" he asked quietly.
"He's just fine. His parents are clinging a little tighter to him, and it might be a while before he has a good night of sleep, but he'll be okay," Skye assured, getting off of him and stumbling, double vision and dizziness clouding her mind when she stood.
"Skye, you are emitting a lot of energy, are you alright?" Optimus asked.
"Yeah, I'm good, just a little tired," Skye said, waving her hand shakily in dismissal.
"Ratchet is on his way over," the risen Prime informed her.
"See ya," Skye replied, finally clearing her head and moving through the houses and rubble to get back to where Jazz had last been.
"Lil' lady!" a familiar voice called, and she turned, smiling slightly.
"Hey Jazz, are you okay? He didn't get you too bad, did he?" she asked as Jazz offered her a servo and she climbed on. He deposited her on his shoulder, turning his helm slightly to face her.
"Are ya glitched!? Throwing rocks at him? Best idea I 'ave ever seen," he snapped sarcastically.
"It worked, didn't it?" she retorted hotly.
"He threatened ta remove yer ability ta speak. I fail ta see how that was a good thin'," the saboteur snapped.
"But he didn't," she glared.
"He was about ta," Jazz snarled. Skye huffed in annoyance and was about to reply when she was gently pulled off of his should and placed on a larger servo.
"Skye, Optimus informed me of the amount of energy you spent on healing his spark chamber. It was not wise after all the energy you spent keeping yourself and Sam untraceable. I do not know what would have happened had you continued to do what you had done for much longer," Ratchet growled.
Skye was about to reply when she saw a familiar plane. "The BUS!" she squealed, standing on the edge of Ratchet's servo to be able to see better. She frowned when she saw that the BUS had company, another plane landed on the top of it.
"Skye, be careful," Ratchet warned, pulling her back away from the edge and cupping his servo so she was forced to sit if she didn't want to slip and fall. Skye pulled her phone and battery out of her pocket and put it back together, dialing Coulson's number.
"Hello?" an unfamiliar, gruff voice asked.
"I need to speak with Agent Coulson," Skye said.
"Identification?" he asked.
"Above your clearance level. Now hand over the damn phone," Skye growled, not liking this.
"Miss, I highly doubt-" he began.
"I said it was above your clearance level, hand over the phone or tell me where he is," she snarled.
She heard outraged shouting from the other end of the phone, words she could barely make out. "Skye! Stay…...way. Dece…-con!"
Skye held the phone away from her ear in horror. "I need my laptop," she snapped. Ratchet, who had heard the conversation, his hearing much better than her own, handed it over from the subspace pocket he had been holding it in.
Skye hurriedly hacked into the BUS, gasping and tears falling down her face unimpeded as she saw her team, her family, bound together in chains, all of them bloody and beaten though still staring defiantly at the 'Cons that circled them. One of them was holding the phone, grinning cruelly.
"Let them go, you bastards!" Skye shouted through the phone. She had hacked her way into the plane's intercom as well, so her voice echoed around the plane for all occupants to hear.
Skye watched as everyone straightened up and looked around, trying to find out where her voice was originating from.
"Intercom," she advised. "Did you really think I couldn't hack the plane that I literally LIVE on? Wow, I'm offended."
"So you can see everything. You know we have your team. If you want them back, all you have to do is come to us. Alone, without ANY technological devices. Nothing they can track you with. Then we'll let them go," the mech with the phone.
Skye was shaking. Her breathing was heavy as she struggled to hold onto the only connection she had to her family's captors.
"Let them go. They have nothing to do with this!" she tried, but they could hear her fear now. She had shown them a weakness, given them an inch, and now they were going to take the whole mile and crush her.
"All is fair in love and war, Skye," the mech said. She covered the receiver with her hand and sobbed.
"Coulson, I'm sorry. All of you guys, I'm sorry. I will get you back. I… I promise. And you bastards will pay. I will kill you when I come and get them. I'm going to do what Coulson would have ordered me to do if he were here. I'm going to deny your trade," she spat through her sobs. She was appalled by the looks of relief that her team was giving each other at her denial to make a deal.
She hung up the phone and took out the battery once more, chucking the object into the sand, where it broke apart, gravity doing what she wish she could do to the 'Cons on the BUS.
She slammed her laptop shut, pushing it away from her and curling into a ball, crying freely as she tried to get herself under control at the same time.
Primus' feelings were uncaring. Her team's predicament was none of his concern, and they had not physically hurt her. Besides, the longer away from her team she was, the longer she would be forced to stay within the protective cover of the Autobots and his other vessel. No, he was not cruel, he just cared more about his vessels than about a group of humans that would probably be killed instead of let go anyways.
Skye refused to uncurl, to meet anyone's eyes, and the Autobots carefully passed her along from mech to mech, knowing how fragile her psyche was at the moment. With her power, if she snapped, they might very well be killed.
