Chasing the Flame Chapter 10, a transformers/beast wars fanfic

You guys are soooo frickin' lucky this chapter had no good breaking points. Over 8,000 words. Pah. Why am I so nice? Oh, that's right. Cuz I can hardly ever say no to people who ask nicely. Damn it. That'll get me in trouble someday. Oh well. Enjoy this SUPER long chapter, 'cause it's not happening again.

BTW, shit gets real. Huge plot movement. Deceptions. Fighting, both verbal and physical. Swearing. WTF moments. All here. ENJOY!

CTF

Back at school there was only minimal attention raised about my trial and what happened, mostly from the teachers, but that was fine. I was happy how things turned out and I was glad to share the good news even if no one really cared.

Ah, the life of a loner.

I put my textbooks in my locker, running over my mental planner in my head to see if I had any homework tonight. I didn't, which meant hanging out with my family. And that generally consisted of sparing with Gabe or watching him sketch out tattoo ideas, or talking and/or cooking with Seb, or dancing with Jazz if he visited, or doing whatever with Eric. I found myself sighing at the thought of the man and cursed myself for being a school girl. Grow up, Alex. Eric is a grown man and won't tolerate and childish…whatever I am to him.

I didn't even know. We definitely weren't just friends. All the back scratches and cuddling said otherwise. We definitely weren't brothers because we actually did flirt with each other. That had been interesting to do, teasing and flirting with the man and having him return the favor. And we definitely weren't boyfriends because I would know when we reached that point. But we spent practically every moment together, talking, playing, or working in silence. Gabe joked the other day that where you could find either Eric or I the other was sure to be around the corner. It was…hard to describe just what we did to each other, but it certainly had me baffled and hesitating to take the final step and see if he was interested in a relationship.

Another sigh escaped me as I closed my locker and stood up. Memorial Day Weekend. Four days of no school. Awesome!

I stretched my arms above my head, backpack in one hand, before teetering off balance when a hand suddenly grabbed my butt. "Looking good, Alex."

A scowl fixed itself on my face as I turned and came face to face with Jess. "What do you want?" I demand, shrugging on my backpack and walking for the school doors, hoping he would accept my cold shoulder and leave me alone.

He didn't. Instead, he trotted after me. "I heard what happened to you and your dad. Man, I'm sorry." I didn't respond and Jess grabbed my arm. Uh, no. Yanking my arm free, I gave him a warning look but came to a stop anyway. "Look, I wanted to apologize for…last time."

My face dropped and shifted into an incredulous are-you-kidding-me expression. "You mean when you all ganged up on me and tried to brain me with a brick?"

Jess winced and ducked his head. "Yeah. That time. Look, Alex. I wasn't in my right mind and I was…well, you know."

"I'm afraid I don't."

The dirty blond looked up at me with a confused and searching expression. "I was feeling rejected," he elaborated slowly.

I glanced disinterestedly around the hall, hoping I would see one of my teachers and use them as an excuse to get out of this conversation. "Got told 'no' too many times?"

"No, Alex. I was feeling rejected because of you."

My gaze snapped back to Jess'. "I'm sorry," I said, shifting my weight and pointing a finger at my former friend. "What did you say?"

"You really didn't know?" Jess frowned, a hurt look in his eyes as he looked at me. "You never noticed?"

"Noticed what?" I demanded, getting impatient and a little worried on where this conversation was going.

"Dude, I love you." I blinked and stared at the teenager in front of me, words and thoughts failing me. Jess honestly looked wounded. "I tried…How could you not see it? I mean, what did I do wrong? I thought you… Really? Fuck it!"

I took a step back when hands suddenly clamped on either side of my face and something was suddenly crushed in my lips. And Jess was in my face. Kissing me. And then he bit my lip. Blindly, I reached up and grabbed a fistful of his hair, yanking his head back and away from him only for me to release him when he groaned in pleasure.

"What the hell, Jess?" I cried, wiping the back of my hand across my lips. My anger rose when I saw red blood smearing across my skin.

"What is your problem?" Jess shouted back.

I bared my teeth at him and hissed, "I'm not interested, Jess. Get that through your head."

"Boys." We turned to see a male teacher standing there with his arms crossed. He probably saw the whole thing. "Is there a problem here?"

"No," I bit out, wiping the blood from my lip again. "Excuse me."

I stormed out of the school and headed directly for the shop. The long walk was enough for me to calm my need to lash out at anybody who crossed me, but the sharp pain in my bottom lip was enough to keep me in a foul mood. Which was immediately noticed when I got to the shop. Eric followed me back to the washroom and waited as I rinsed out my mouth and cleaned my lip. "It was just some asshole at school," I told him. "He thought it would be alright to kiss me and decided to bite me while doing so."

Eric hummed as he came forward, taking the paper towel from my hand and tilting my chin up for him to take a look. "Don't look too bad," he murmured, dabbing my lip. "I'm guessing you told him to back off."

"Duh. He's one of the douche bags that tried raiding this place."

"Huh." Eric's thumb passed over my bottom lip and I watched his face closely as he just stared at my lips for a long moment before standing straight. "I think I might have a talk with this boy."

I huffed a laugh and linked my arm with his, walking out of the washroom. "He's not worth the time or the effort, Firebird. But I'm flattered. Truly." I batted my eyelashes up at the man and he smiled before smacking my rear, causing me to yelp.

"Go run the register. Seb isn't here today to run interference." I stuck my tongue out at him as I changed direction for the reception area, teasingly waving my fingers at him even as my cheeks flushed happily from our interaction. Eric grinned before shooing me off and I skipped to the reception area to mess around on the computer and settle customers.

It was a normal day, people coming in, people going out, mind numbing computer games.

That is until it was later in the evening where I would get up soon and turn off the OPEN sign. Nobody was in the waiting area since any car being worked on right now was going to be kept overnight to be reunited with their owners in the morning. So I was a bit startled when someone cleared their throat right in front of me.

I jerked my head up and stared at the man in front of me. The first thing I noticed were his purple eyes. Legit purple. I couldn't see any signs of contact lenses so I was left to accept the shade and move on to his hair. It was long enough to be put up in a ponytail, though the actual hair was something to do a double take on. It was mostly black with these thick white streaks that went from the edges of his face to disappear into his thick hair.

Okay, stop staring. Stop. It's rude.

I forced a smile. "Can I help you?"

And then he just stared. Rude. My smile dropped by small degrees the longer the man leaned against the counter and just traced his eyes over me with bored interest. My chest-heat chose then to come back and I was hard pressed to ignored it and the sharp pain in my back. It was a bit easier as he tilted his head to the side slightly and tapped his fingers to the countertop, showcasing the long deadly-looking claws. Ooookkkaaaayyyy….

"How intriguing…" the man murmured in a heavy Russian accent and I scowled, waving a hand in front of his face, acting casual no matter how my alarms were going off.

"If you're not here to get your car fixed I'm going to have to ask you to leave, sir."

"Marov Barrikada."

I blinked. "I'm sorry?"

"My name, Unemerged One." I jerked when one of those clawed hands wrapped around my wrists. I tried to yank my arm free, but I knew in an instant that he had one grip I wouldn't be able to fight. And while his hand was on my wrist like a cuff I could feel his nails pressing lightly into my skin and just by the solid and unbending feel of them I knew they were real claws that could do me harm. "Marov Barrikada. Please do me a favor and tell Ironhide that I was here."

WTF? "Okay, you need to leave," I snapped, bracing my feet against the foot well under the counter and heaved my arm back. "Get ou—OH, SHIT!" My curse rang in the near silence when the freak's grip on my wrist gave out sooner than I expected and I was sent tumbling backwards on the barstool. My back cracked against the ground, making the ache in it hurt worse, and I swore. "What the hell is your problem?" I shouted as I shot to my feet, ready to give the guy a piece of my mind only to find him gone. "What?"

"You alright, Alex?" Gabriel as he came over from the garage. "Did you fall over?"

"Some freak came in here," I told him as I righted my chair and dropped back in it, rubbing my wrist. "Weird looking guy started saying weird stuff."

"We get a few of those here every once in a while," Gabe assured me. "Did he say his name?"

I snorted and turned to look at him with an exasperated expression. "Oh, he did one better. He asked me to tell someone named 'Ironhide' that 'Marov Barrikada' had come to visit." My smile dropped when I saw Gabriel freeze, staring at me in shock. "What? What's wrong?"

"'Marov'?" he repeated stalking over to me, eyes hardening and fists clenching. "Where did you hear that name, Alex? Did Jazz tell you? If you're joking I'm going to kick your ass," he growled, looming over me.

I stared up at him with wide eyes as I leaned back in my chair. "What are you getting on my case for?" I demanded hotly, covering up a slight sliver of fear with anger. "I've never heard of that man or seen him before in my life!"

Gabriel's hands came down tightly on my shoulders and he shook me, getting in my face with a frightening intensity that I'd never had directed at me before. "What did he look like? Was he pale? Purple eyes?"

I nodded, reaching up to trying and push Gabriel's hands off of me. "Yes. Yes! Black and white hair, Russian accent, and wicked sharp claws."

Gabe's grip suddenly tightened. "Did he touch you? Where?" A hiss of discomfort left me when I showed him my wrist and he turned it roughly side to side, looking for any marks.

"Gabe, what are you so worried about? Do you know him?"

Just then Eric walked in, looking worried. "What's going on?"

The large men spun around, keeping a steely grip on my wrist. "Alex says a man came in here and wanted Ironhide told that Marov Barrikada had come by." My confusion and worry only deepened when shock and anger flashed across Eric's face before he went unreadable. They shared a long look, one I tried desperately to decipher but failed when Eric's face tightened in stress and Gabe growled.

"Alex, close up shop. We're going home," the ebony demanded, turning on heel with Gabriel right behind him, dragging me with him.

"Eric, Gabe, can you please tell me what's got you so freaked out?" I begged, jogging to keep from falling. "What's it about this Marov guy that's got you two so worried?"

"Don't worry about it, kid," Gabe grumbled, letting me go to stalk up to the second floor.

"'Don't worry'?" I repeated. "How can I not worry when you two are acting like this because one guy came by? Eric!"

The grown man turned and seemed to be at the end of patience. "Alex, please just trust Gabe and I for now. We'll explain soon. But we need to get home and call the others."

"Others? You mean Seb and Jazz? What the hell, Eric?! What's got you and Gabe acting like we're about to be hunted down and killed? Talk to—" I bend over and gasp as my chest flashes white hot, the worst I can ever remember. It felt like my insides were melting and my back felt like a jagged knife was cutting a hole between my shoulder blades. For a long moment, it's all I can do to keep from falling over and air flowing in and out of my body until a hand comes to rest on my shoulder and I open my eyes to see Eric kneeling in front of me with worry filling his dark blue eyes.

"Please lock everything down," he whispers, running a hand along the side of my head until he's cradling the back of my head. "I promise I'm going to tell you everything tonight. Everything."

I search for any signs of deception for a long moment before I sighed and nodded. "Fine. But you better answer all of my questions, Eric Phoenix."

"I will." The relief he suddenly feels confuses me as he presses a kiss to my forehead and leaves me to go upstairs. I stare after him for a moment before shaking my head and moving to lock up the shop. My stomach flipped and my heart contracted painfully as I got a bad feeling about what was coming.

The car ride home was silent except for Gabriel's furious texting. For a while, I thought his screen was in danger of cracking. When we pulled up I followed quietly behind the two men, watching their tense body language and wondering for the hundredth time that night what was going on.

"Alex, can you go to your room for a little bit?" That was the last thing I expected to hear and Eric got a resigned look on his face when he saw my reaction. "Now is not a good time to fight me on this. Please just listen to me and go."

"You promised me answers," I protested.

"I know, but I have to talk to Seb, Jazz, and Chase first. Can you wait that long?"

My anger and indignation rose. "What's so important that you can't tell me the same time you tell them? Huh? C'mon, Eric! I thought you trusted me!"

Eric, who had been walking away from me, spun. "I do! I do trust you, Alex. But this is beyond you."

My teeth ground painfully. "Oh, so now you don't think I can handle myself."

Eric groaned and turned, massaging his temples and walking away. "I don't have time for your insecurities, Alex. Please. Just go to your room."

I gaped at the retreating back, hurt and offended. "My insecurities? No! This is about you keeping secrets from me. You can trust me. I can take care of myself. You don't need to worry about me," I pleaded, hoping a softer and unaggressive tone would get Eric to answer me. He didn't even look at me. "You know what? Fine. Have your secret meeting. But I'm going to work."

"What? No, you aren't."

I shook off the hand that tried to grab my arm, glaring back at Eric when he tried to stop me from leaving the house. "Yes, I am. My shift starts soon. And where do you get off trying to tell me what to do? You have no say in my life. You won't even tell me what's going on in yours, but you'll certainly tell everyone else!"

I could see his patience fraying in his eyes as the man took a deep breath to calm himself. "Alex. I'm only going to tell you one last time. Go. To your room."

My temper snapped and I got in his face. "Go. Fuck yourself," I spat before turning on heel and making for the door.

"Alexander Steek!" A strong hand grabbed my shoulder and spun me around, though I kept it to a half turn, glaring at Eric as he glared right back with icy fury. "You will listen to me and stay here. Do you understand?"

I growled, something that came out more menacing now that I suddenly had the ability to purr. "Stop acting like my father," I ground out, muscles tensing and twitching to pull myself free and get out of the house.

Our gazes held, battling each other's wills to see who would cave first and lose this entire fight. Even though I was dead set on winning, I felt myself slipping.

"Eric!" Both of our glares switched to Gabe from where he was waiting in the kitchen. He didn't seem bothered. "You need to see this," he told his friend, deadly serious as he stood by a laptop.

I used the opportunity to yank myself free and run out of the house, ignoring Eric's calls behind me. Fuck him and fuck his secrets. I needed to get out and clear my head instead of stewing in my room. I'd come back after work and go at it again because I was not about to forgive Eric that easily.

By the time I reached the diner I was calm enough to put up a façade and a smile for everyone to see. Well, most everyone.

My shift was coming to an end when Marsha came to my side and started helping me with washing the dishes. "Oh, you don't have to do that," I told her.

"I know," the old lady replied, adjusting his glasses with her wrist. "But sometimes, after I fight with Dan, I like to have someone there with me until I'm ready to talk."

"Fight…"

Marsha gave me a chiding look, bumping my hip with hers. "Dan is dense, but I'm a woman. We pick up on these things. So who'd you fight with? That hunk that's been coming to pick you up every night for the past while?"

"Marsha!"

"What? I'm old, not blind."

I snorted a laugh and shook my head. "Whatever." We slowly work through the mountain of dishes and the kind old lady is just silent as we work, waiting. And that eats at me. I don't want to be rude and making her wait is most certainly that. Besides, I could vent and get a second opinion. "His name is Eric, the one who's been picking me and the one I fought with. See…" I let it all pour out. First, I talk about my argument with Eric because that was what Marsha was expecting to hear, but once I started talking about how startled and frustrated I felt about the whole thing Jess came up and the fine result of that. Then my mother and how she lied about having lung cancer came up. All in all, I just dumped everything that I'd been in denial about bothering me came up.

"I…I don't want to sound ungrateful," I told my attentive listener. "I love how my life is. I'm so incredibly lucky that it's mind boggling. I have a…a family in those guys, but I know they're keeping something from me. Something big and bad enough that they freaked out and started locking down everything since that Marov guy showed up. It's…" I sighed and shook my head, blowing my drooping black bangs from where they were tickling my forehead. "I'm not expecting too much by wanting those answers, am I?"

Marsha hummed. "No and yes," she says unhelpfully, laughing at my dejected face. "Relationships and family are never easy, Alex. Your entire life you've grown up alone and for pretty much the last decade you've been on top of everything in your life. You knew what was happening and could even guess what was coming. You didn't have anything that could surprise you before you met Eric and the boys. Am I right?"

"Yeah, I guess." She did make sense. I always knew when my father was on a losing streak judging from the untouched bills or when my mother was feeling especially good because she would cook something. I always knew what was going on with my parents and with school, those two things making up my entire world.

"But now that you're with those boys you aren't sure about anything. You're off your game because you just shucked off all of your roots and stabilizers. I'm not saying you're not happy with your new place, but that it's going to take a while before all of you can believe that you're okay and safe. We're human beings, sweetheart. We're funny like that. Something about the subconscious mind or some confusing thing. But my original point is that this is all kind of overwhelming you and the fact that you now know secrets are being kept from you, when before you didn't have to deal with secrets and unknowns, was simply the straw that broke the camel's back." I frowned as I took in her words. Okay, those kind of sat right and rang true.

"I believe every person is entitled to their secrets," Marsha continued, drying a frying pan. "Even in family, but I also believe that Eric could've made better efforts to make sure you weren't so overwhelmed and that you could've waited a bit longer to get your answers. From what you've said you've known about this secret for quite some time. You could've waited a few more hours."

I sighed and nodded, acknowledging that truth. Then, I reached over and dragged Marsha into a hug. "Where have you been all my life, Marsha?"

The old lady giggled and patted my chest. "I've been here, sweetheart. Come on. Let's finish up these dishes and you can go home and apologize to your beau. Maybe even get some makeup sex?"

My face instantly felt like it was on fire as I gaped at the grinning old lady. "Marsha!" I croaked, rubbing my face furiously.

She laughed loudly and patted my head. "Just making sure you get home quickly."

Dan poked his head into the kitchen with a wry smile. "What's going on back here?"

"Nothing!" I exclaimed, busying myself with dishes again. When Dan laughed and left as I leaned down to hiss to Marsha. "It's one thing to think it, but another to have it said aloud."

Marsha nodded and grinned knowingly. "I know." I rolled my eyes and flicked water at her. She got a dangerous glint in her eye.

It was safe to say that I left the diner late and damp. Even with summer rapidly approaching I shivered in the night air, wishing I'd remembered to grab my jacket before storming out.

Speaking of Eric…

I looked around the parking lot of the diner and was a little hurt to see that Eric wasn't waiting to drive me home. Shit, I really did piss him off. Better start rehearsing my apology, I thought determinedly as I turned and began to walk the familiar route back home.

Listen, Eric, I'm sorry for what I said. It was wrong and cruel to compare you to my father and I'm sorry for that. You're a hundred times the man he is. And I'm also sorry for demanding answers like that. I could've waited but I let my temper get the better of me.

…Eh. Okay. But it sounds a bit too detached.

I'm sorry, Eric. I have no idea what came over me. I should've never snapped at you like that or stormed off. It was immature of me and mean…cruel…disrespectful…Shoot, what's a good word? Horrible? It was immature of me and a horrible thing to do to you. I know it's not really enough just to say I'm sorry, but I wish I could take back everything.

No. Adults have to live with their consequences. Changing the past is a childish ideal.

I sighed and began to turn words over in my head, not really paying attention to the world around me. At least not until my chest flared in god awful pain. I bit my lip to stifle any sound I made even as I tripped over my own feet and careened into a nearby wall. My back hurt like a sonovabitch and when I hunched over I felt something painful give and stretch underneath my skin, but didn't quite break my skin. A groan slipped from my throat as I clutched my chest, waiting for the pain to abate. It was slow and reluctant to do so, beating a fast pace that made me feel like I was panicking. Tomorrow I'd ask Seb to take me to the hospital. This was getting out of hand.

"That looks like it hurt," a male voice quipped, amusement dripping from his tone. My head lifted, ready to tell whoever it was to fuck off when I took in the teenager in front of me.

He was…alien. He looked about my age. His skin was blue, like he'd been frozen and suffered hypothermia, but he had these glowing, black, block stripes running up the sides of his exposed chest and down the top of his forearms. His hair looked almost white except for the slight purple hint to it and he had these black pieces of hair that resembled my bangs, slicked back with the rest of his hair. The eyes that watched me with sadistic mirth and excitement were glowing red almost like a demon. He was completely shirtless and without shoes, letting me see that he was very well built and muscled, sharing much the same body type that I had. In fact, the only piece of clothing he wore were these black skin tight pants with purple patches on either side of his hips. It left nothing to the imagination. And his hands, he had the same claws Marov did.

I straightened, feeling fear begin to take its hold in me at facing something unknown and very dangerous. "What the hell are you?" I asked, refusing to let my voice shake or go quiet.

The teen smirked and rocked back on his heels, grin edged with something dark. "My name is Rumble. And I bet you're hurting something fierce, huh? Yeah, sparks are always a bitch when they first show up."

"What are you talking about?" I eyed any escape routes and things I could throw back and halt Rumble if he chased me, which I think he would do.

Rumble pouted and propped a hand on his hip. "Oh, I guess those wimpy Autobots didn't tell you, did they? What's actually going on with you and around you."

"Like I care. Piss off. I'm going home." I turned and stalked off, tense to see what he would do about that.

"You're not going anywhere." For a second, I thought Rumble had somehow teleported in front of me because the blue freak looked exactly the same if it weren't for the red tinted hair, red patches instead of purple on his pants, and the black sleeveless tank top he wore. It clung to his every muscle as he crossed his arms and watched me lazily. "Do you really think it's going to be that easy?"

"Nothing's ever that easy," I shot back, turning slowly so I could see both of them. "What do you two want with me?"

"Your spark," Rumble answered, a grin on his face as he flexed his arms and claws. Claws that could no doubt tear through my chest.

"Your death," the red look-alike seconded, dropping his relaxed stance as he watched me back up. "Look. Just surrender and this'll be ten times easier."

I snorted and glanced between the two, trying to determine who the bigger threat was. "Surrender isn't in my vocabulary." I paused once more to check the distance between me and them and how far the ten foot fence was behind me. "But retreat is." With that I spun and jumped, latching on to the chain links and hauling myself up as fast as I could. I flipped sloppily over the top, kicking off the hand that grabbed my calf before booking it down the alley as fast as I could, heart racing at a faster pace than my feet, but only by a little. Rumble and his friend cursed and I heard the sound of the fence shaking briefly, but I didn't bother looking back to see how far back they were. That was a waste of speed and time, both I knew I needed very much right now.

I had the advantage of knowing where I was going. I spent my whole life wandering these streets and playing 'explorer' in them. My two pursuers were insanely fast, claws brushing the back of my shirt within a matter of seconds after we began our race and they probably would've taken me to the ground if I didn't suddenly drop and slide through the small hole in the wooden fence we were barreling towards. A hysterical laughter left me when I heard them slam into the obstruction hard, but that died when I heard someone yelling above me.

I looked up to see another blue being, this one older than the other two with white hair and red streaks and no markings on his body. On his chest he wore a little half jacket that wasn't designed to reach all the way and was held in place by two thin straps. His voice grated on my ears as he shouted at how incompetent Rumble and 'Frenzy' were even as he kept pace with me on the rooftops, glaring down at me like an insect. Great. A third one.

My mind thought furiously on where I could go and lose these creeps and came up with a rough plan. Couldn't follow me on rooftops if I was inside, right?

The third one struggled to keep me in sight with me using as many corners and covers as possible to try and shake him, but he stayed right on my tail much to my dismay. He was still there as I pounded into an old factory and I stopped in the middle of the room, casting a look behind me to see if he followed. I couldn't hear any sounds over my rough breathing and was just beginning to relax when I heard glass shatter above me and I looked up in time to see the third one falling through a skylight 30 feet above my head, apparently having jumped through it.

I was ready for him to go splat on the ground when his descent slowed. And then I saw the wings sticking out of his back. Giant bat wings. He smirked as he lightly touched down, unbothered by the glass shard littering the floor. "Did you really think you could outrun me, the fastest flier of all the Decepticons?"

I shrugged and gulped for breath. "It's not really in me to give up until I'm dead, you know?" I asked before turning on heel and running again. Behind me, I heard this weird thrum sound, like someone tried using a broken accordion and the only thing that saved me from getting shot was my chest-heat choosing that moment to make itself known again, sending me crashing to the floor. I watched in horror as the metal forklift that got hit came on in a bright series of lights and loud sounds before dying down, smoking.

"That would've been you if my null ray had hit you," the man purred silkily. "Paralyzed and at my mercy. Such a delicious thought."

My back arched, agony spreading through my body as it felt like it was splitting open. "If you say so," I grunted hoarsely before rolling over and stumbling to my feet, lingering pain and heat be damned. I wasn't about to die.

"Starscream, you fool!" a voice roared behind me as I gained my rhythm again and ran out deeper into the factory. "His wings are about to emerge! Kill him before that happens or I'll have your head." Joyous. A fourth one. Wait, make that five. I skidded and quickly changed directions when Marov appeared out of the dark, silent as a ghost.

"Son of a bitch!" I gasped as I hurdled over a conveyer belt before jumping and grabbing a hanging chain, which was probably used to lift heavy equipment, letting my momentum swing me up and on to a catwalk. Behind me I heard the thrum of 'Starscream's' null ray, no doubt hitting where I'd been moments ago.

"Stop moving, insect!" that scratchy voice demands and I felt the air behind me move just as my feet touched the metal floor of the catwalks. I ducked and rolled, and saw briefly that a whole section of the catwalk had been cut through and sent to the ground. That was plenty of motivation to get up and running again. I had high ground now and hopefully that would be a slight advantage despite the fact that the screechy flying one was in the air.

"Not on your life!" I yelled back, running forward as fast as I could. Below my feet I could see the blue and purple form of Rumble. He grinned up at me before turning into a blur of blue and appearing next to the support of the section of catwalk I was about to cross. I watched in growing horror as he pulled back a fist and punched the support, shattering it and causing the catwalk in front of me to collapse and fall. Who the fuck were these people?! They flew, were really fast, had funky weapons, and could apparently punch through metal. I was fucking screwed!

But that didn't stop me from taking a running leap, hoping to jump over the collapsed catwalk and keep going. I actually think I would've at least caught the edge with my hands if something hadn't knocked into me midair. I cried out as I flipped end over end through the air before bouncing painfully off of something metal and solid.

A groan left my throat as I slowly turned over, body aching. I was just getting to my hands and knees when someone kicked me in the side. Hard. I shouted incoherently as I literally flew through the air and hit something else, falling to the floor in a heap. I gasped and hissed as I moved, everything protesting any movement, but I knew I had to get up before this new player got to me.

He was the leader of all of these freaks. I just knew it by the way the other four appeared and fell in behind him. He was taller than all of them, maybe 6'2" or 6'4". He had the same icy blue sky and wore this grey, skin-tight jumper suit that seemed modest until you saw that the neck line dipped all the way down to below his navel. He had this odd light blue design on his upper chest and these weird markings over his red eyes with black eyeballs instead of the normal white. His white and icy blue hair was pushed back and his claws gleamed even in the dark.

The leader took his time sauntering towards me, a pleased smirk on his lips. "I am not impressed," he told me in a low enough voice to rival Gabriel. "I expected more from Prime's new Autobot."

"Go fuck yourself," I spat before gasping and curling on my side, writhing in pain as my chest and back lit up like the Fourth of July.

"Such spirit," the leader guy purred before I found myself being lifted up by my throat. It was a fight to try and clear the agony of my back and melting chest, but I managed it as best as I could, clawing at the hand around my throat and kicking out. "But so fragile." My eyes bulged when the guy's free hand reached into space and the biggest sword I've ever seen materialized in his hand, and he twirled it like a toy. "Give my best to your brethren in the Well, pest." Then he was swinging that sword towards me.

I could only stare in horrified shock as it came closer, until there was a familiar hiss-pop sound. The new guy cursed and dropped me, jumping away just in time to avoid a giant red ball of something. I looked in the direction of the shot and gasped. "Eric?" I cried out.

Because there he was. Except he was on fire. Or he had fire coming out of his back and fanning out like red and blue wings. He had on a retro spiked blue jacket I've never seen before with a white shirt on underneath that and black jeans on and his hands were bathed in red flames.

Gabriel stood at his right, tan ragged wings coming out his back. He had camo army pants on and black combat boots and a white wife beater. He also had the oddest pistols I've ever seen in my life, smoking and glowing red.

Jazz was on Eric's other side, black tribal tattoo wings fluttering and waving in an unfelt wind and dressed more in a fashion similar to the freaks I'd been running from. He had black pants that clung to his every curve and a loose silver top that left his chest for everyone to see. His sunglasses were gone and replaced by a solid blue band and from his neck hung a bling-worthy necklace with a pendent that was simply a number 4. A pair of huge headphones were over his ears with the band hanging by the back of his neck.

Prowl stood by Jazz, stiff posture and authoritative. He had on a true black jump suit, but had actual armor plates over his chest, shoulders, back, and hips. A long rifle sat easily in his hands as six massive panels of metal hung suspended in air just off his back.

Ratchet was next to Gabriel, in glowing pale green robes the reminded me of a gi but more flowing and accented by white swirls as metallic eagle wings fanned out behind him.

They looked all completely badass and ready for a fight and for a moment I forgot that I was hurting as I smiled in relief. Gabe pouted a bit and lifted his guns, changing their target as the blue leader guy moved away from me. "Sorry, Prime. I missed."

Eric smirked a bit. "Just don't do it again." Then his smirk died and the red flames in his hands and wings grew brighter and hotter. "Megatron. Honoring us with your presence once more I assume?"

Oh, so that was his name. Why did they all have such weird names? My thoughts were derailed as my back surpassed my chest on the agony scale. I tried to keep quiet, but my falling back and reaching desperately for my back drew attention. Megatron sneered. "Starscream. Barricade. Kill the pest before his wings emerge."

"Jazz, Ratchet!" Eric shouted as he rushed forward.

I really wish I could've stayed to see how the fight turned out, but Mr. Crazy and Screechy was turning that rifle that was attached to his arm, I assumed it was the null ray, in my direction and Marov was running at me, black orbs of crackling electricity gathering in his hands. "Shit," I muttered to myself before rolling under the conveyer belt Megatron had kicked me into. I refused to cry out in surprise or fear when the spot I'd been in second ago exploded in sound and light. Instead, I forced myself to army crawl forward and away from the sounds of fighting, biting my lip hard enough to make it bleed when it felt like a dozen knives were carving up my back. When I reached the other side of the conveyer belt I saw a door that opened up to the outside world.

My world narrowed down to just that objective. If I could get to the door than I could be safe. I just needed to stand up and run. Left foot, right foot, left, right.

"Alex!"

I turned at the sound of my name, looking over my shoulder long enough to see Jazz get knocked flying from where he was trying to restrain Starscream, freeing the blue freak to level his null ray directly and fire. There was no way I could move fast enough to dodge.

My scream froze in my throat as the shot slammed into my back, sending what felt like millions of volts of electricity through my body. I was vaguely aware of slamming into the ground, rolling and tumbling uncontrollably as my body convulsed violently as liquid fire poured through my veins. And no matter how I screamed at my body it wouldn't twitch.

I could only watch helpless as Marov slipped past Sebastian's guard and came at me, a lone dark crackling orb in on hand.

"ALEX! MOVE!"

The agony in my back reached a peak before something finally gave and tore, bringing relief and a rush of power and energy to my battered body. Suddenly, Marov wasn't moving as fast as I'd first thought and when I told my body to roll up into a kneel it did. And it listened when I told it to raise my hands, grabbing a surprised Marov by the neck and body slamming him to the ground. I don't know who was more shocked, me or Marov as we stared at each other for a small beat.

But then the Russian was generating another orb and thrusting it at my chest. Some knowledge I didn't even know existed guided my body through the motions of flipping backwards into a back hand spring, using my new back appendages to give me some air and space to do the maneuver. No sooner had I finished putting space between the Russian and I then he was up and rushing me again, hands crackling with black lightning and a dark look on his tan face as three black appendages sprouted from his back, much like Chase's but more shadows than metal. I noticed instantly that he was able to move twice as fast, but before I panicked that ancient knowledge guided my hands straight out from my shoulders, grabbing for something.

And two yellow blades as long as my elbow-to-fingertips materialized in my hands much like Megatron had summoned his big ass sword. A feral grin touched my lips as I brought my blades up in a defensive position, ready for Marov.

When we collided I was reminded of my dances with Jazz, reading each other's slightest movement and moving to compliment it except in this sense I was hurrying to stop Marov's grabs and punches. I struggled to match my speed to his, lashing out and kicking in a flowing manner that I had never found before, not hesitating to slash and stab my familiar-yet-not-familiar knives at my opponent. And I did okay, fending him off, but it was obvious that he had speed and experience as he landed a few glancing blows that my ancient knowledge couldn't warn me about fast enough. Each touch, no matter how slight, hurt like a bitch as electricity coursed through my body. But I'm proud to say that I landed a few hits myself, managing to slice his cheek and get him good on the underside of his forearm as we continued our rapid spinning dance.

I'd never felt so powerful.

I grinned and spun in a roundhouse kick, getting Marov in the stomach and sending him stumbling. I was about to follow him and see if I couldn't end the fight when Megatron's growling voice shouted over the sounds of fighting and cursing. "Decepticons, retreat! This isn't over, Prime—not by a long shot!"

I watched in surprise as Marov frowned, but seemed to call the shadows to wrap around him and make him fade from sight. Slowly, as the sounds of the quiet factory reached me, deafening after the loud fighting, I relaxed my stance and dropped my knives down to my side.

"Alex!" I turned and saw Eric, still flaming, hurdling over a conveyer belt, eyes only on me as he hurried over, dousing the flames on his hands before he grabbed me. "Are you okay? Are you hurt? Ratchet!"

"I'm right here," Sebastian told him, coming up on my right, his hands glowing pale green as he moved them over my body.

"They didn't do anything to you, did they?" Eric asked, looking me over frantically.

I grinned at the man. "Hey, Eric?"

His attention was immediately back on me. "Yes?"

I pointed at the flaming wings behind him, careful to keep my knife away from anything it could cut. "You're on fire," I said obviously, starting to laugh.

Eric heaved a sigh, resting his hands on my shoulders as he dropped his head. I chortled at him, patting his hand carefully as aches I didn't even know about disappeared underneath Sebastian's hands. "I was so worried about you," he finally said as the three others came up to us.

My smile dropped at that and I leaned my head against one of the hands on my shoulders. It came up and cradled my head in response. "I'm sorry," I replied, a whole wealth of emotion and meaning behind it. I'm sorry for worrying you. I'm sorry for getting in this mess in the first place. I'm sorry for snapping at you. I'm sorry for saying those things. I'm sorry.

Eric looked up and held my eyes and I was so relieved to see understanding there. He knew what I was saying. "I'm sorry too." And I could see the several apologies in those two words. My smile came back to show him my forgiveness.

But then the knives in my hands dissolved into gold dust and I felt whatever was on my back falling away in the same manner. I looked down in time to see my regular dirty clothes settling back on my body as gold dust settled down at my feet. And with the last speck of dust falling away the exhaustion hit.

I stumbled as the urge to just let my legs give out and close my eyes hit me. "Whoa," I mumbled, eyes wide in surprise as Eric stopped me from moving further.

"Ratchet?" Eric asked uncertainly.

Seb grunted as he straightened. "He's all healed up. Nasty null ray blast on his back, but nothing bad. He's just ready to sleep. First time emerging his wings and fighting on top of that. I'm actually surprised he hasn't collapsed yet." I swatted at the hand that came up to poke me, unsettling my fragile balance.

"I'll sleep when I get home," I mutter. "I refuse to be carried."

"It'll be quicker if you just let us take you," Eric points out. "You can sleep sooner."

I swayed and tiredly thought that over as my eyes slowly drooped before leaning forward and resting my head against Eric's chest. "Fine." No time was wasted in scooping me up bridal style. I snuggled into Eric's chest, wrapping my arms around his neck. And I couldn't help but notice that despite my proximity to the now blue wings I didn't feel any heat from them other than a slight rise in the warmth Eric carried around with him all the time. Curious, I reached out a hand and trailed a few fingers through the flickering flames. I wasn't burned. It felt like I was just running my hand under really warm water. But the way Eric stiffened and waved his wings back had me pulling my hands away. "Sorry," I mumbled, tucking my head down as another wave of exhaustion hit me and carried me to black oblivion.

CTF

Halfassed ending is halfassed. Honestly, I need to stop making Bee pass out. He needs to be strong!...Eh. I'll do it later. Story of my life. My excuse is that everyone passes out after their wings come out.

Speaking of, we finally know what's been going on between the guys! Well, mostly. Explanation next chapter. I'll post necessary pictures for you guys to see what I'm talking about, but I'm going to tell you now some of the descriptions here come from me because sleepyoldvamp simply didn't have pictures of fanfictions covering these details. Mainly Prowl's appearance, all clothing except for Prime's, and Rumble and Frenzy. I did mix in G1 factor's into their appearances. Jazz's Number 4 bling, Prowl's wings look like doorwings, etc. Plus bayverse influences such as Prime's flames, Ironhide's big guns, Ratchet's coloring, etc. It goes on and on.

Well, tell me what you think of the chapter. I love feedback!