Spiritimus Prime: Well, here's the next chapter. Things are beginning to heat up in this story. XD And it's going to get even hotter, especially with this one. LOL! Enjoy!


Chapter 9:

Captured

Two and a half weeks later, Juliet had gotten much better in her fighting abilities, and she had nearly beaten Scavenger on more than one occasion, but she had still failed to bring him down and he was getting rougher and rougher with her the better she got at fighting. Juliet continued to spend more and more time with Jetfire, and she slowly began to realise that something was beginning to develop between them, something that ran deeper than an underground river.

The unusual feeling for the shuttle mech was something Juliet couldn't describe, and she started to believe that maybe she was coming down with a sickness. Deciding to go see Red Alert, she headed down to the Med-Bay, not noticing that Optimus Prime had seen her odd behaviour and was following her a short distance to see for himself whether or not that she too was feeling something for Jetfire while the Vice Commander had as well.

Red Alert looked up from putting some of his tools away when he heard the door to the Med-Bay open and saw Juliet step through. "Is there something wrong, Juliet?" he asked, tilting his head to the side in slight confusion.

"I don't know what's wrong, Red. That's kind of the whole problem," Juliet replied as her feathered wings twitched in an unusual manner that Red Alert had never even seen before.

"Alright, just hop on the bed and I'll examine you to find the problem. In the meantime, just give tell me what the symptoms are while I do my job," Red Alert said, motioning toward the med-table.

Juliet nodded and sat down on the bed just as Optimus Prime walked into the room. "What's going on?" the Autobot Commander asked, his golden optics squinting a little into a frown.

"That's what I'm about to find out," Red Alert replied simply as he felt Juliet's throat, shoulders and chest.

Optimus nodded and he leaned on a wall with his arms folded across his chest, listening to Red Alert as he asked a few questions and Juliet described what she was feeling. Red Alert shrugged his shoulders when he was done and shook his head. "There's nothing wrong with you, Juliet. I can't seem to find anything that could be causing this discomfort that you're describing to me."

Optimus took his back of the wall and approached the two, looking from Red Alert to Juliet and then back at Red Alert again before he focused his optics on Juliet once more. "Juliet, do these odd feelings come when you're around a certain someone?" he asked.

Juliet thought about it for a minute until she nodded. "Yeah, I think so," she answered. "Why?"

"Exactly who is it that these feelings occur around?" Optimus asked, getting a stare from Red Alert as though he was asking mentally how Optimus Prime would know of such things without needing to be a doctor.

"I'm not sure. I think it's mostly around... Jetfire," Juliet answered as she bit her bottom lip to prevent herself from saying anymore. She looked up at her adoptive father and said, "Am I really sick, or is this normal to feel like this in Transformers?"

Optimus' shoulders shook for a moment and both Red Alert and Juliet heard the Autobot Commander laughing from behind his silver mask. It grew louder until Optimus shook his head as his laughter died down a little when he took a deep breath.

"I believe I fail to see the joke in all of this," Red Alert mumbled.

"I apologise to the both of you. What's funny about this is that there's nothing wrong with Juliet. There's actually something right about her," Optimus Prime said as he rubbed the bottom of his face plate.

"What do you mean?" Juliet asked, tilting her head in confusion.

"Isn't obvious that you're in love with Jetfire?" Optimus asked.

"I should've known that would happen." Red Alert muttered under his breath.

"Oh, so that's what it is," said Juliet.

"Indeed," Optimus replied as he turned his head down a notch, his golden optics looking into Juliet's silver ones as though he was trying to read her facial expressions, but somehow, he couldn't see a thing and his head lifted up a little.

"So what do I do now?" Juliet asked.

"Tell him how you feel," Red Alert said simply.

"It's not that simple, Red Alert. Jetfire may not feel the same about her and could reject her. It would be Sparkbreaking to see such a thing," Optimus explained gently, but in a stern tone, but he already knew that Jetfire felt something for the ex-human and he would do nothing to give that away until the Vice Commander would tell her himself.

"In that case, you might as well wait for him to make the first move. If he doesn't, then you will tell him, Juliet," Red Alert said.

"Yeah," Juliet replied as she nodded her head and hopped off the med-table. "I'm just going to my quarters. If anyone needs me, I'll be there or in the Training Room." With that said, the young femme turned and left the room.

Optimus Prime turned to Red Alert. "Good thing you didn't tell Juliet on Jetfire's own feelings, otherwise it could ruin everything for them," he said to his old friend.

Red Alert shrugged as the Minicon alarm blared into life. "Guess that's another queue then," he chuckled. Optimus also laughed as he and Red Alert headed for the Command Centre.


Juliet and Hot Shot were already in the Command Centre. The young femme was leaning on a wall at the back of the room with her arms folded across her chest while Hot Shot was standing by the giant computer. The kids were nowhere to be seen, which Optimus had to guess that it was a school day.

The rest of the other Autobots arrived in the Command Centre, but Jetfire was the last to enter. It puzzled Optimus as to why he was late, but he had the feeling that it had something to do with concerning his thoughts on how he was going to tell Juliet about his feelings for her. Maybe he might after this mission.

Juliet snuck a look towards the Vice Commander. She could tell from the look in his golden optics that he was thinking about something, but she didn't dare to push him about it. She was never the type to do such things, and even Optimus Prime hated to force things out of anyone. When Jetfire lifted his head and looked in Juliet's direction, Juliet quickly looked away towards Sonicblast as he climbed onto her shoulder so that Jetfire couldn't read what she'd been thinking.

"So where is the Minicon this time?" Scavenger asked, folding his arms across his chest.

"The signal's coming from Colorado," Red Alert replied as he looked up from his typing, his red visor glinting in light of the room.

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go already!" Hot Shot cried.

"Brash brother," Juliet mumbled under her breath, earning a giggle from Sonicburst and a slight snigger from Blurr, who was standing next to the young femme.

Optimus Prime laughed a little at Hot Shot's eagerness, but made no attempt to hush him at all. "Alright, let's get to it," he said as he turned and walked away with the others following.


"Something about this mission just doesn't smell right," Juliet mumbled, who was in tigress form, as she sniffed the air.

"What do you mean?" Sideswipe asked curiously.

"I don't know, but I'm getting a tingle at the back of my head that's screaming 'trap'."

"We'll tread with great caution if that makes you feel better," said Optimus Prime as he walked up beside Juliet and looked down at her with his golden optics. She looked back at him with her own silver optics and nodded at him.

"What! Why are there more trees?!" Hot Shot cried as he ducked a pine tree's branch that nearly flung itself in his face after being pulled by Smokescreen.

"As Rad said, the Earth needs these trees to produce oxygen to help the organic creatures breathe. Now no more complaining, Hot Shot, alright?" Scavenger growled.

"Geez, sorry, Mr. Protective-of-the-planet," Hot Shot growled back.

"Come on, guys, settle down," Juliet said as she rolled her optics in annoyance, earning a chuckle from Optimus.

"Should we split into teams, sir?" Jetfire asked as he circled above the Autobots in shuttle form. The Vice Commander had been scouting the area for nearly five minutes and so far, nothing had come out of the ordinary. The Decepticons were nowhere to be seen either, and it worried Optimus to the core of his Spark.

"No, I think it would be best that we remain together, but you and Juliet will stick to the skies and keep an optic out for Decepticon activity," the Autobot Commander said as he looked up at Jetfire and then back at Juliet.

"Alright," the young femme said as she shifted to her Wedge-tailed Eagle form and took off until she was flying beside Jetfire and her right wing accidentally brushed itself against Jetfire's left wing, making the shuttle gasp in pleasure and spark electricity from his wing back to Juliet, whose optics widened in surprise at the sudden burst. "What was that?" she asked as the last trace of the excitable electricity left her systems.

"Erm... what are you talking about?" Jetfire asked, trying to hide the fact that he'd just overloaded when Juliet's feathers had touched his, extremely, sensitive wings. Didn't she have any idea how sensitive a flyer's wings were? Obviously not because of the way she was looking at him in confusion.

"Oh never mind," Juliet said with a shrug as she did a small barrel roll until she was underneath the shuttle's belly, the feathers on her back and wings rustling in the wind.

Jetfire tried to prevent himself from becoming lost in Juliet's grace and beauty, but the more she stayed under him, the more difficult it became for him to hold back his desperation to touch her wings with his own.

But before the Vice Commander could say anything else, a blast exploded from behind the two fliers and they came to an abrupt halt, hovering in mid-air as they paused to listen to where the explosion had come from.

Juliet used her binocular vision to zoom in on the smoke that was escaping the forest and she screeched in horror. "It's the Decepticons!" she cried as she tightly folded her wings against her sides and flew towards the smoke, hoping to help her friends and adoptive father, but someone grabbed her tail feathers gently, but still roughly, causing her to stop dead in her tracks. She looked up and saw Jetfire, in his robot mode, holding her by the longest feather in the wedge. "What's the big idea, Jetfire? We have to help them!" she screeched.

"It could be a trap!" Jetfire hissed as he pulled Juliet towards his body and his arms wrapped around her feathered form in a protective manner.

Juliet was surprised by Jetfire holding onto her like this but she shook her head. A growl escaped from her lips. "I don't care if it's a trap or not, I'm going whether you like it or not!" she snapped as she wiggled out of Jetfire's arms, and flew towards the raging battle between her friends and the Decepticons.

Jetfire growled behind his golden mask and flew right behind Juliet, knowing better than to get on her nerves. Hang on, Optimus, he thought. We're coming.


Optimus Prime fired upon Starscream, who raised his wingblade above the Autobot Commander. The royal red blast hit Starscream in the wrist, making his hand recoil and open up, forcing the wingblade to flip right out of his black fingertips. He howled in pain as Optimus' right leg connected with the left side of his torso and sent him flying into Demolisher, who had been occupied by Smokescreen.

"Thanks for the save, Prime," Smokescreen laughed, making Optimus chuckle at the delight of his friend.

"Forgotten someone, Prime?"

Optimus felt his Spark come to an abrupt halt and he turned slowly to see Megatron with his clawed fingers wrapped around Hot Shot's arms and the Star Saber's tip just barely touching his throat. Optimus felt his white hands clench into fists as his anger swelled within his systems. If he didn't do something soon, the Hot Shot would be killed right there on the spot in front of his optics.

"Let him go, Megatron!" the Autobot Commander spat.

"Why should I, Prime?" Megatron asked mockingly as his lips curled up to reveal his fangs like a cat spitting at a dog.

"We don't have the Minicon if that's what you're thinking!" Optimus growled.

"Minicon?" Megatron asked with a hint of venom in his voice. "There is no slaggin' Minicon, Prime! We just came here to get what we need."

"What are you…? You mean this whole thing was a trap just to capture one of my men?!"

"Pft. Took you long enough to figure that out, Prime." The Star Saber sword went even closer towards Hot Shot's throat and the young mech struggled uselessly against the tightening grip that threatened to cut off his oxygen tanks.

"YOU WON'T TOUCH MY BROTHER, YOU SLAGGIN' BASTARD!"

Everyone stopped at what they were doing when they heard the screech of a femme's voice. Megatron looked up and spotted a blue and yellow bird with silver optics and the foolish Vice Commander, Jetfire. At first he was surprised by the sudden appearance, but then the look changed to lust and hunger at the sight as the bird transformed to robot mode with grace and beauty and a yellow face plate covered her light blue face to protect it.

The femme landed with a dull thud and she pulled something off her back. It was an Energon-Crossbow. "Let, Hot Shot go, or I'll shoot your optics out," she threatened as her clawed fingers reached the trigger and aimed carefully.

"Oh my, it seems a femme has just joined the Autobot Cause," Megatron purred and licked his lips. The femme's right silver optic twitched in annoyance at the purr, but she didn't remove the finger from the trigger.

Optimus Prime, the other Autobots, and the Decepticons did not move as Jetfire landed beside his commander. They watched as Juliet's fingers continued to stay on the Decepticon Commander, her optics never leaving his blood red optics as though she was trying to predict on what he was thinking and was going to do. But nothing happened.

Without warning, Megatron removed his sword from Hot Shot's throat and kicked the young mech in the back. Hot Shot stumbled a little as he tried to regain his balance, but he failed miserably and he fell into Optimus' arms that wrapped around him like a protective cacoon. Red Alert rushed over to them and checked Hot Shot all over to make sure that he was unhurt.

But while the CMO was doing that, Juliet was still occupied with Megatron. The femme's fingers trembled a little and she felt her throat become parched as Megatron took a few steps towards her. The greed and lust in his optics began to go deeper and deeper as the lips curled back even further revealing more of his fangs.

And before the Autobots could even realise, or before Juliet could pull the trigger of her Energon-Crossbow, Megatron pivoted so swiftly that he was behind Juliet within seconds and quickly wrapped his arms around her neck and he stuck something into her right wing. Juliet screamed in pain and she felt her optics beginning to get heavier and heavier as her hands began to lose their grip on the Energon-Crossbow until it clattered to the ground with a clank. Juliet then blacked out.

"Decepticons, retreat! We've got what we want!" Megatron called as the Decepticons vanished.

Optimus Prime had stood up after placing Hot Shot in Red Alert's arms and rushed towards Megatron with his fist pulled back as he cried out in anger. But the Decepticon Tyrant only laughed and vanished as Optimus' fist had hit thin air. He turned to look around, his golden optics flaring like mini boiling suns, and got down on his knees before he let out a cry of anguish.


The Decepticons stepped down the Space Bridge with the yellow and pale blue femme in Megatron's tight hands. The Decepticon Commander turned to Wheeljack and shoved the unconscious femme into his arms.

The ex-bot looked at his commander in confusion, his blue optics wide with surprise. "W… what am I supposed to do with her?" he asked.

"Take her into a cell and chain her up, that's what!" Megatron snapped, making the other Decepticons recoil, including Wheeljack himself.

"What will we do with her after that?" Starscream asked, looking at the femme with slight curiosity as he tilted his head to the side, his orange optics glinting like dying embers.

"I'll deal with that later!" Megatron growled.

Wheeljack shrugged as he turned and left the room with the femme in his arms.


When Wheeljack reached the holding cells, a foul smell of oil hit his nasal sensors and he wrinkled his nose in disgust. Why would Megatron want to leave this femme in this horrible place? It just didn't seem right for her, especially when she was still bleeding from the needle that Megatron had injected into her side.

Sighing, the ex-bot opened the cell door, placed the femme on the ground, took out six cuffs with their chains attached to the wall and wrapped each of them on a limb, two around the ankles, two around the wrists that held the femme's arms up and two that held her wings in place.

Wheeljack tried to look away, but the growing sympathy in his Spark continued to flow. Sighing again, he took out a cloth and cleaned away the Energon that was dripping from the side of her torso. Once he'd cleaned it away, he stood up and left the cell, closing it behind him and left the holding cell area.


Spiritimus Prime: Ooooo, what's gonna happen now? 'Jack's got a role to play in this story, but I'm not telling you what it is until it happens. Which will probably be a long way off. XD Aren't I evil, especially with cliffhangers? XD hope you liked it and stay tunned with the next chapter!