CHAPTER 7
Fear and Tension

Michael was uncomfortable and scared, especially given his inability to really move. His wrists had been tightly bound together with a thick length of chord behind his back, his ankles tied in the front, and he himself leaned against the side of a cave. Soundwave's minions, Frenzy and Rumble, stood guard nearby while their master in question stood outside the cave, waiting for the arrival of more Decepticons. "A-Aren't you bringing me to the Nemesis?" Frenzy turned his head as Michael spoke up "That's your ship, isn't it?"

"You, on the Nemesis?" Frenzy laughed lightly "It's the first place they'll look! And we'd have gone through all the trouble of snatching you from right under their noses." He stepped forward and ruffled the boy's hair in a menacing way, though Michael tried to turn away "Come on kiddie, look at me. You're so cute." He roughly yanked Michael's head to look at him "Didn't the Autobots raise you to have better manners?"

Michael didn't reply as the mech toyed with him, he was too busy holding back more tears. "Frenzy, desist taunting the prisoner." Soundwave stated as he entered the cave again "Objective: Not to terrify youngling. Objective: Baiting Autobots." He turned to Michael "Youngling: Hungry or thirsty?" Michael shook his head "Rumble: Carry youngling."

"What?" Michael asked in fear.

Soundwave stared down at the young prisoner. "Lord Megatron wishes to see you for himself."

Michael found himself swung over Rumble's shoulder without any means of fighting back. He squirmed and kicked, but he may as well have been flicking the mech. He was finally set down before the tallest mech next to Optimus that he had ever seen. Megatron stared down at him, and on either side of him Michael noticed Starscream and Thundercracker. "So this is the pet that the Autobots adopted." Megatron sneered "Funny, he doesn't even have tags."

"Are you Megatron?" Michael questioned.

Megatron sneered, nodding his head. "So they've told you of me." Michael didn't say anything "Good, then you'll know that you're only as good as your usefulness to me." He began, approaching slowly "So tell me boy, Optimus is your caretaker, is he not?" He asked, Michael slowly nodded "Good, now, we're going to free you from your binds." He nodded at Rumble "If you make a move to run from me you'll never see your caretaker again."

After a few moments, the binds were removed from Michael, who Megatron next took into the grip of his hand. He brought Michael close to his face as the young boy squirmed in the Decepticon leader's rough and iron clad grip. "It's been a long time since I have held so much power over Optimus Prime in the palm of my hand." He chuckled lightly "I'm liable to get every cube of Energon he currently has." He sneered.

"If you hurt me..." Michael whimpered "My daddy will be really mad."

There was a loud chuckle among the Decepticons, taking great amusement. Of course, none of them would take the threat of a seven year old boy seriously. Megatron carefully began to walk towards the cave yet again. "He may get mad, but he won't do anything while I have you." Megatron chuckled "He'll hand over the Energon Cubes, and you... Well... I'll decide what to do with you after."

"Let me go?" Michael asked.

More laughter came as Starscream leaned over. "Oh the possibilities are far too endless for that." Starscream noted "Perhaps, we can send him to Cybertron, let ole Shockwave have his way with you." Michael shrank back, letting out another whimper "He's been begging for a young test subject he could examine, after all." His optics flashed menacingly.

"Oh yes, that is one option." Megatron agreed "After all, once we have what we want from Prime. It would be too much fun to see him squirm not to give his precious little sparkling over to experimentation." He then added "You very well may be the first human sparkling we have the pleasure of dissecting. You should feel honored." He sneered.

Michael was sobbing now, not that Megatron cared. The boy could make as much noise as he wanted to out here, no one could hear him scream. No one cared about how horrified he was, or how much he cried. All that Megatron cared about was what he stood to make off of him. Dropping Michael onto the ground of the cave, he carefully created a forcefield around him. "Alleviates the need for any binds." Megatron chuckled "You'll stay put until we have need for you." He then added "Try to keep your bawling to a minimum. And don't you dare soil yourself."

"Should we acquire food to keep him stable, Lord Megatron?" Thundercracker questioned "One that young needs to be sustained by more nutrients."

Megatron looked thoughtful, and nodded, he turned to sneer at Michael yet again. "We need him alive, after all. All letting him die of starvation will do is ruin this whole plan." He started to walk off, turning to Soundwave as he did "Continue to watch him. If he makes a move to try anything with any hidden Autobot technology..." He paused "See to it the sparkling learns his place."

"Affirmative, Lord Megatron."

As Soundwave turned to Michael, the seven year old sank back a bit, and hugged his legs to his knees. He didn't know what "dissected" meant, but he knew enough about the "experiments" that he was terrified. He wanted his daddy, he wanted his Uncle Ratchet or Ironhide, he wanted anyone to get him out of here. But even he knew that at the moment, it was only a distant need, and at least for the moment, he was at the mercy of the Decepticons.

And heaven only knew how long it may take before he'd see any of them again.

...

"If so much as a hair is out of place, I will end those slagging 'Cons!"

Even though he was the first to speak up after being filled in on the situation, Jazz wasn't the only one with that on his mind. When they had found giant footprints, and Michael's discarded backpack, there had been no question that the Decepticons had made a grab-and-go. But the knowledge did not make the thought of the young child being held captive by Decepticons any less spark churning. "When I'm through with whichever one took him, there'll be just enough energon left to fill a cup." Ironhide growled as well "How did they even know we had him? He was a closely guarded secret!"

"They took him at the school. Therefore, it is logical to assume they noticed one of us dropping him off or picking him up." Prowl suggested, keeping his own calm as best as he could "We were late to picking Michael up today, and they saw the opportunity." He then added "It was only a matter of time with him growing older... We all knew this day would come."

Optimus stood from the meeting table, his optics filled with worry. Though he knew every word that Prowl spoke was true, the Autobot leader didn't want to hear it. He had lived in a bubble of false belief they could protect Michael forever, just as he had when Bumblebee was young. "The point is not how they learned of him." Optimus managed "The point is that we need to get him out of there before they do anything to harm him more than they may already have." He added bluntly.

"Prime, we don't know they've even hurt him." Prowl attempted.

"We don't know that they haven't."

Prowl and Ironhide exchanged worried glances at the coldness within Optimus's voice. There were few things that made the Autobot leader so stoic, and when they did, it usually meant he was penning up the rage he wanted to express. "Prime..." Optimus turned towards Prowl "Until we know more, I think for the sake of us all, we should refrain from going to the negative side." He paused "Many on the base are already out for Energon as it is."

Optimus allowed himself to vent air, nodding his head. Even though he knew that he was most definitely under the list of those who were out for Energon. He was ready to storm into any and every base the Decepticons had. He would find Michael, that much he was determined about, and he would do anything it took. "Do we know around where his tracker was shut off?" Optimus questioned "Surely, we must have some idea of where Michael was taken."

Prowl and Ironhide turned to Jazz, who seemed to have gone quiet. He had been the one to have been keeping track, and was now carefully sifting through what he remembered. "Not in America. They took him across the sea." Jazz paused "Li'l man's signature went off right over an uninhabited island called "Perusa"." He explained "I guess it's possible they took him there, and it could have been too far out. And he is outta range."

"How in Primus's good name are we going to get to an island?" Ironhide groaned.

Optimus looked thoughtful for a moment, it was a good question. Taking The Ark would undoubtedly end in them being spotted, which could land both them and Michael in more danger than they needed to be. And they had only one other option he could think of. "Wheeljack has been building a smaller craft that could be mistaken for a human "airplane"." He explained "It is experimental, but at this point, it seems to be our best option."

"Our best option?" Ironhide questioned "I want to get the kid back, not end up blowing into a billion pieces!"

Optimus shot Ironhide a warning glare, at which point he held back. "Regardless of Wheeljack's past, what else can we do? We know any attempt at ransom the Decepticons make will be a trap." Optimus explained "If we are going to get Michael back we'll have to go there and get him ourselves." He explained "If anyone does not wish to accompany me, I understand. But I will be going there and doing everything I can to retrieve my son, even if I expire trying."

There was silence, but Optimus knew they had all already made up their minds. This was Michael, a boy they had changed the diapers of, fed, played with, and watched grow up. He knew most, if not all of the Autobots would die to keep him safe, and today would be no different. "Well then." Ironhide grunted "I guess we have a mad scientist to see about hitching a ride."