Author's Note: Thanks for sticking with me despite so many delays! Surgery went well and I'm all healed up. Updates from here on out might be a little slow since I'm currently trying to finish another fan-fiction story that I've neglected for far too long. This one will probably be updated faster though, simply because I have the plot all worked out. Thank you for your wonderful reviews!

Cybertronian Time Units

Astro-Second = 2 minutes

Astro-Minute = 10 inutes

Nano-cycle = 120 minutes (2 hours)

Astro-cycle = 100 years

Dec-cycle = 1,000 years

Mega-cycle = 10,000

Cosmo-cycle = 1,000,000 years

CHAPTER 10

**Aboard the Maximus**

The leader of the Autobots gazed out of one of the three largest viewports. He was currently standing on the main deck next to the vast portside window, it's translucency expanding nearly the entire length of the hallway. There was also an identical viewport on the starboard side. Many times, staring out at the vastness of space from the bridge grew extremely dull.

Optimus Prime sought solitude occasionally whenever he had a brief respite from his duties. It was a rare chance for him to temporarily escape the rather burdensome responsibilities that being Prime demanded of him.

It was one of the few places he could retreat to besides his quarters where he could enjoy some well- earned peace and quiet. This was one of his favorite thinking places. He could stand here for hours.

His daughter constantly remained at the forefront of his thoughts. He remembered a time…a special time when his child unknowingly stumbled upon his favorite thinking place, eventually calling it her own before he revealed it to be his as well…

-9 Cosmo-cycles ago—

He was on his way back to his personal quarters. The classified mission briefing with his officers, regarding an intercepted Decepticon transmission, finally adjourned. Optimus frowned pensively as he thought back to the new intel they'd received by one of their covert, undercover spies. Megatron was planning on raiding one of only a dozen remaining energon processing plants on Cybertron. There was enough energon being refined to keep an army refueled for a few dozen mega-cycles. If they succeeded… well, Optimus honestly didn't want to consider the possibilities—What it would mean for the Autobots…his family…his friends.

He left Prowl in command planet-side and rather than leaving his child on the surface below, he had chosen to bring his daughter with him. It was his overprotectiveness and paranoia that mainly influenced the decision. Then again, it was also largely due to his need to remain with her… no matter how dark or hopeless things seemed…her light always broke through the darkness, reminding him that hope could only truly be lost if one simply gave up.

His daughter almost always made him smile and she was one of the few who could make him laugh. Truly laugh.

The guilty smiles she used to give him whenever he caught her red-handed in the middle of plotting something devious—usually a prank with Sideswipe, Sunstreaker, and Bumblebee—made it difficult for him to keep his composure whilst scolding her. Her expressions during his many lectures made him smile. She looked bored and unappreciative…but he knew that she was still taking his lessons to spark.

Optimus Prime paused mid-stride when he felt his daughter's deep, spark-felt sorrow flood through their open bond. He could sense she was unaware that she transmitted her feelings and decided to investigate the matter.

It was never that difficult to find her. The brilliance of her life-force guided him to her.

Optimus felt mildly surprised when he turned a very familiar corner that led into the portside observation wing, to see his little spark staring out at the stars, lost in thought. For a moment she appeared to be completely unaware of his presence. Then she turned her head to the right, in his direction, just long enough for her optics to widen and her spark to flare in surprise when she finally sensed his close proximity.

Then his youngling turned her head away from him and resumed her stargazing. Optimus could feel that she retreated to this rather peaceful area in order to seek isolation and to think.

He internally smiled. His little spark had found his favorite thinking place.

Optimus carefully monitored his child's emotional state as he slowly neared her. He could feel her strong desire for privacy and solitude. A brief wave of annoyance through their bond, directed solely at him, revealed that she was not too thrilled that he had found her. She wanted to be left alone.

Based upon her raging internal emotions emanating through their bond, he felt her internal struggle. She was still processing the grief over the loss of her mother now that she was old enough to understand why she was never coming back.

That pain still lingered on.

What really surprised him however, was when he sensed his child trying to keep her emotions reigned in.

Her childish face had adopted a rather stoic expression, much like the one he often had when performing his leadership duties. The look she now wore would normally have made him laugh…but instead, he felt a bout of sadness and his spark felt heavy.

It was an expression most unbefitting for a child.

Optimus soon reached her side, towering over her small frame. He studied her again in an attempt to read anything he might have missed the first time.

That's when he caught sight of the curling of tiny hands into fists and the glimmer of unshed tears in her optical sensors. She was stubbornly trying to will them away.

His daughter was trying to put up a brave front for him.

He joined her in her silent stargazing, patiently awaiting the time when she would willingly open up to him. It pained him greatly, the longer they stood in silence as he felt the anguish within his child's spark intensifying by the nano-second. He would never force her to speak to him…he was willing to stand there with her until the end of time itself if that was what it took for her to share her thoughts and feelings.

To his great relief, she at last spoke in a soft voice.

"She's never coming back…is she."

Optimus glanced down at her despite the fact she still refused to look at him.

"No… She is with Primus now." It hurt for him to even utter those words. In the past the two of them shared brief dialogue about her mother's death. His child had still been far too young at the time and could not understand what death truly was. Now that his daughter was older, he had no doubt that questions would start flooding out from the depths of her very spark. Questions that he was unable to give…for he did not have all of the answers himself.

She turned her head and looked up to meet his sorrowful gaze.

"Why did she have to leave?"

Optimus knew she was not referring to her mother's death but the day his spark-mate departed, leaving their sparkling with him.

"Your mother was still grieving, over the loss of your elder brother."

"I used to think she left because she didn't love me anymore."

Optimus felt as though he'd been sucker-punched by a combiner.

"Oh, my child. She always loved you. Never think otherwise. She left you with me because she knew I would always keep you safe."

She glanced out of the viewport again in silence though it didn't last nearly as long as the first time. The youngling appeared to be deep in thought again. It was growing quickly apparent that his favorite thinking place was going to soon be hers as well.

"Father…what happened to her?"

And there it was… the question Optimus had been dreading for deca-cycles. Her innocent question broke his spark and he was more than reluctant to reveal what truly happened to her mother that day. He felt it best to avoid the question. His child wasn't nearly mature enough to process or come to terms with the truth. It would hurt his little one to know the gruesome details regarding her capture, torture, and sadistic death at the hands of the Decepticons.

No. It was best she did not yet know.

"That is a story that I will share with you another time."

His daughter looked as though she were about to protest but then realized arguing with him would be pointless. Once his mind was made up, that was it. He never, if rarely, ever changed his mind on something.

"Why did she have to die?" her voice wavered as she managed to choke out the one question that had been burning within her mind whilst she'd been contemplating next to the observation window.

His spark leapt to his throat at the question…for it was one that he too, wished to know. Optimus knew that Primus was the true keeper and bearer of sparks and that each life was bound to the destiny that Primus issued of his faithful ones.

He shook his head softly.

"I don't know. That is usually the one question in the universe that can rarely be answered, or even understood…"

His little spark glanced down at the glowing white floor and choked on a sob, yet still unwilling to release all of the agony she kept locked inside. Optimus knew it was not healthy to suppress one's emotions…a spark could only handle so much. She needed to release it—and soon—because if she didn't, her spark would fade.

He knelt down on one knee. When she refused to look at him, he gently cupped her cheek in his palm and turned her head so that they were looking each other in the optic. He could clearly see his child was still trying to appear brave for him…he could sense she did not want him or any other for that matter to view her in a negative light. Words did not need to be spoken, for their bond translated those feelings into messages.

He understood the reason why she came to this place alone. She didn't want everyone to think her a weak sparkling for shedding her tears. She currently believed that adults never cried. It was time to ease his daughter's mind and put those silly notions to rest.

With a small, nearly imperceptible smile, he gently spoke to his child…flooding their bond with all of the love and reassurance that he could give her.

"Not all tears are an evil, child…It's alright."

And with those spoken words, the grief she'd been holding in…the tears she'd kept pent up behind that crumbling dam finally broke. With sobs she could no longer withhold, she flung herself against him and buried her face in his chassis. He stood up from his kneeling position, picking up his child as he did so, and held her. He spoke soft words of comfort and flooded their bond with all the love he held for her. After a while, her sobs tapered down and she rested her small helm against his shoulder guard. She remained silent. His optics glanced down to see her youthful face and smiled. She had fallen asleep in his arms. It took a lot of energy to purge deep and powerful emotions from one's spark.

He gently shifted his hold on her and began to walk back to their shared quarters…relieved that her spark was now ready to begin the healing process.

-End Flashback—

Optimus shook himself of the memory and stared at the empty space beside him. The place where his daughter once stood. Thankfully there were other times when they bumped into each other in the past that were less sorrowful. Some days they'd simply stargaze together in absolute silence, just enjoying each other's company.

Prowl sent him the latest report concerning the progress of their ship's repairs. It was taking far longer than he liked but considering the fact that they didn't have the necessary parts to repair some of the most critical systems, he could understand the delay. It was a miracle that after crash landing on Earth, that they had been able to patch up the Maximus at all and make the ship space worthy again.

With a small shake of his head, he turned away from the viewport and headed down to the engineering deck where Perceptor and Wheeljack were currently doing everything within their power to get their main warp drive repaired.

On the way down via the gravity lift, his spark grew heavy as he sensed his connection with his daughter slowly fading. He knew she wasn't dying. It was a darkness and an ancient evil that was slowly revealing itself. The same evil that was responsible for robbing his daughter of her innocence and the life she'd once known.

Only one name came to mind in that moment…

Megatron.

Rayne was standing before a large skyscraper. She was confused. It was nighttime and the city was full of the hustle and bustle of people. Which city was this? She didn't recognize it. Before she had the chance to figure it out, she felt the ground beneath her begin to quake. She nearly lost her footing but managed to maintain her balance. The earth quake stopped as quickly as it began.

Then to her growing horror, she felt within her spark…a dark, evil. One that she recognized. He was coming for her! The ground began to split open at the base of the skyscraper and she became glued to the spot when large, clawed, silver digits broke through the Earth in front of her. Then a head and a torso popped out and her eyes widened in recognition. A scream got lodged in her throat as her eyes met those of hellish red optics.

Megatron sneered and roared as he clawed his way out from beneath the ground. He snarled maliciously at her and roared.

"COME HERE, GIRL!"

The ice-cold, heart stopping fear that had gripped her spark exploded and her legs finally unlocked, allowing her to run in the opposite direction. She glanced over her shoulder to see Megatron standing at his full, imposing height. He was MASSIVE, practically the size of the skyscraper itself.

He began to run in her direction and a scream finally ripped free from her throat. Panicked thoughts ran rampant through her mind. There was no way on Earth or in heaven that she could outrun him on foot.

None of the humans around her seemed to see the giant silver titan and continued about their lives. She stopped in the middle of a street and grabbed a young man riding a motorcycle and threw him off. He shouted in startled protest but she didn't bother with an apology.

Amazingly enough, she didn't know how to ride a motorcycle, yet within this terrifying dreamscape, she somehow knew what to do. Gripping both handles in a death grip, yet relieved that the dirt bike was already revved up, she twisted the handles, placed both feet in the grooves, and propelled forward at amazing speed.

Megatron continued to shout and curse after her, raging and threatening her. She tried to ignore him and focused mainly on escaping. She stupidly glanced over her shoulder to see if he was following and screamed when she saw just how close he was at catching her.

"You can run child…but you cannot hide! I WILL FIND YOU! YOU ARE MINE!"

A sob tore from her throat and she began to plead and beg to God…a quickly uttered prayer and hoped that he would listen and make her escape possible. Tears began to run down her face in despair. Megatron was only yards away behind her. Then to her amazement, the motorcycle shifted into a higher gear, propelling her forward like a rocket. The hateful, raging screams and threats that were hurled at her back died out as light began to grow around and ahead of her. The darkness was soon broken completely by blinding sunlight as her motorcycle sped directly into a large glade. It was completely devoid of any trees that might have cast shadows upon the ground.

Her thoughts abruptly ended, when to her dismay, the motorcycle disappeared beneath her. She began to run but stopped when she no longer felt that menacing hate following her.

Thinking back to her frightening yet successful escape, she realized something. Maybe the reason why Megatron couldn't follow her to this place…was because he was phobic of light. He was a creature of darkness after all.

Rayne smiled when she noticed she'd ended up in a large field of flowers. It reminded her of the dream she'd had with her father not long ago.

She began to call out for him. He had to be here somewhere, right? Still frightened by the encounter she'd had with Megatron only moments ago, she felt it would be wise to keep moving. Rayne would search for her father along the way. The young woman wasn't entirely sure how spark-bond dreams worked. She theorized that all occupants involved had to be sleeping or recharging.

That left one burning question in her mind.

How in the hell was Megatron able to pervade her dreams? Come to think of it, he'd been in the last one, the dream she'd shared with her father Optimus. It didn't make any sense! Rayne began to wonder if she and Megatron were related somehow…like an uncle and niece. What other explanation was there?

Deciding not to dwell on the subject, paranoid that such thoughts might summon Megatron and bring that encroaching darkness behind her, she continued walking through the field. Soon the light began to fade and ahead of her was a small town. It wasn't as dark as the nightmare with Megatron but was overshadowed by grey.

With the burning desire to find her father…despite the feeling that doing so might be foolish, she decided to venture forth regardless.

The town was completely abandoned. The landscape reminded her of the cruel, cold reality she'd left behind in the waking world. It was strange…normally when she became aware that she was dreaming, she'd wake up.

Rayne was none too pleased when the dream shifted before she could finish exploring the overshadowed town. Soon Rayne was deep under water, yet she didn't require oxygen. To her horror, there was a very large, eel looking thing. It reminded her of those eels from the Little Mermaid cartoon movie. It had sharp teeth but its eyes were glowing red. She tried to hide behind a pillar but knew it was pointless. The thing would find her eventually, seeing as there weren't many good hiding places. She heard it speak.

"I will find you, little one. You can't run forever."

Strangely enough, she did not sense Megatron's presence. In fact, she couldn't figure out who the hell this disguised Decepticon was supposed to be…

"The bond with your father is fading…why do you think that is?"

He was baiting her.

Rayne didn't answer. She knew that if she did, the eel monster would find her. So far, she was doing well, moving behind different boulders and ruined architecture beneath the water. She had a strong feeling that he was right. She couldn't run or hide forever.

With a growing feeling of dread, she turned a corner, only to see the eel monster about two meters in front of her. It seemed to grin in triumph, revealing sharply pointed fangs.

"I FOUND YOU!"

It snarled as it charged right for her, swimming at amazing speed.

Rayne screamed right as it lunged for her face…the second that it hit her, she was ripped violently away from the dream world.

Jerking awake, even going so far as to sit up, Rayne released a startled cry of alarm. Her heart was beating erratically in her chest and she was panting heavily. A thin sheen of sweat was beaded on her forehead. Her lip curled into a disgusted grimace when she felt the clothing on her back sticking to her wet skin. The young paramedic didn't even remember falling asleep.

Rayne wasn't sure how she knew it…but she had a strong feeling that the eel monster wasn't Megatron. She could sense the Decepticon leader within her former nightmare and yet did not sense a thing with whomever was masquerading as a fanged, sea creature. One name immediately sprang to mind and within her spark, she knew she was right.

Soundwave.

If she had to hazard a guess, she deduced that it would be easy for him to enter her mind. He'd already ripped apart her mind during their little 'interrogation' session back at camp Epsilon-41.

Rayne shivered as she wiped the unwanted sweat from her brow with the back of her hand and gasped. Her head was hot…yet she felt cold. That was not a good sign.

She had a fever. Which meant that her injury was most likely infected.

Turning on the flashlight she'd discovered from the back-pack recovered from the aftermath of the battle, she re-examined her wound. She closed her eyes and winced.

Her assumption was correct. The area around it was a bright red and what looked to be pus was seeping through the quick-clot she'd used earlier to stop the bleeding.

With limited resources, she wasn't sure what to do despite her medical training.

She found two water-bottles in the soldier's pack and a small first-aid kit. Unfortunately, she still had no means of disinfecting or stitching it up without the proper supplies. She cleaned what she could and then took the gauze roll and wrapped it around her leg to keep it covered, discarding the improvised rag that was previously tied around it. After taping it up, she shakily climbed back to her feet, using the cave wall to balance herself and pulled the pack over both shoulders. Rayne was no longer able to completely walk as pain shot through her nerve endings.

Taking her makeshift crutch, she had a growing sense of dread that screamed a warning in the back of her mind.

Something was coming.

Something bad.

Rayne didn't know what it was but that persistent feeling urged her into action. After popping two Tylenol tablets into her mouth, she took a sip of water and after swallowing them, she headed for the cave entrance.

She was moving far too slowly. Rayne wouldn't doubt it if Megatron sent a few of his lackeys after her. What hope she'd had slowly began to shatter when the gravity of her current situation hit her like a ton of bricks.

There was no way she could outrun a Decepticon if she was found…

Rayne weighed her options. She could stay hidden in this cave during the day and attempt to travel by night. She had a gut feeling though, that it wouldn't matter. Cybertronians were highly advanced, intelligent, and technologically sophisticated beings beyond mortal reckoning. They would no doubt have little trouble spotting her either way.

As that growing sense of danger continued to consume her spark, she limped and hobbled to the cave entrance and had to shield her eyes with her free hand as her eyes attempted to adjust to the vast change in lighting.

She had to squint her eyes at first and as she did, she saw something in the distance. It was a pitch-black color and whatever it was, it was running towards her on all fours. It stopped for a moment, sniffing the ground. What the hell was that?! The first thought that ripped through her panicked, fog covered brain, was that it was a wolf…or a panther. It was hard to see clearly from such a long distance. She remembered though that neither wolves nor panthers lived in this geographical location.

Rayne pulled out the small pair of binoculars that she'd shoved in her pocket hours ago and held it up to her eyes. After adjusting it, a gasped curse escaped her lips when she identified what it really was.

"Oh my God…"

Sunlight disappeared behind a cloud briefly…but when it returned, the blazing sunlight glinted off of the being's metal hide.

It was Ravage.

He had to be one of the fastest runners. It was hard enough trying to outrun a bipedal Cybertronian. When it came to Ravage though, escape was virtually impossible. From the look of it, he hadn't spotted her yet. Moving very slowly, she took a few cautious steps backwards, concealing herself within the shadows of the cave's mouth.

Rayne did explore the cave earlier and knew that within the back wall, there was a small passage that lead to another exit. She had no idea what awaited her behind that point. The young woman figured there was no real need to explore beyond her shelter.

All she knew, was that it led further into the blistering heat of the desert beyond. At least within the dark of the cave, it was cooler but with Ravage hunting her, it was no longer safe. Without wasting anymore of her precious time, Rayne headed in that direction. Hopefully it would not be discovered by Ravage. Rayne pocketed the binoculars and turned on her flashlight. Staggering and nearly falling, she used the wall as a support until bright light filtered through the gloom of the rear exit.

A sand dune greeted her. Now she was thankful she'd bandaged her wound tightly enough. Rayne didn't have to worry about sand aggravating her injury as she began to crawl through the grit. She paused for a moment when her sensitive ears picked up on a distant sound.

The throaty growl of an engine.

From the sound of it, it was fast approaching. Fearing the worst, she dug through the sand and buried herself beneath it, hoping to Primus that if it was a Decepticon, that they wouldn't be able to detect her. Covering her mouth and face with a cloth, she burrowed a little further to conceal herself entirely.

The sound became a bit muffled but in a few seconds the noise abruptly stopped. That's when she heard the muffled, yet unmistakable sound of a transformation. Rayne hardly dared to breathe and remained still. The ground began to shake slightly as the unidentified Cybertronian began to near her position.

Rayne's heart hammered within her chest. She never stopped to consider the possibility of being accidentally stepped on until that very second. Should she patiently remain still where she was and hope she wasn't stepped on? Or be better safe than sorry and risk capture by revealing herself?

As the booming footsteps continued to near, she felt the sand around her begin to shift. Rayne made her choice.

Popping up from beneath the sand she struggled to crawl back up to her feet but froze when a large shadow fell over her.

Instinctively, she craned her head back so she could see who she was up against.

Her eyes traveled up the being's torso and landed on the sharp-edged face of an all too familiar faction symbol on the mech's chest.

Decepticon.

Rayne screamed…

Drift detected the faint signal of a Decepticon a few miles away from where the former slave camp once stood. It was the only one in the nearby vicinity. His initial scan pinged back, forming a multicolored visual of the being's heat signature behind walls of rock.

Ravage.

He must be looking for the survivor that Jethro had them searching for. Drift had his doubts that the human could even withstand the blistering heat of the desert. It was mid-day and the temperature was 103 degrees outside.

Without food and water, the human wouldn't last much longer…if he or she were even still alive. He stopped a short distance away and cut off his engine. Hopefully Ravage hadn't heard him coming. Drift transformed and began to walk slowly in the general direction of the closest cave entrance. He planned to ambush Ravage if he chose that particular exit.

Drift froze when his scanners detected a smaller life-form nearby. He ambled slowly towards where it was hiding and was startled when a human female popped up out of the sand about a yard in front of him.

She craned her head up to look at him and when her eyes landed on his former Decepticon symbol, she screamed.

"No! Wait! I'm not going to harm you!"

With wide eyes, she backpedaled but slipped and fell on her haunches and began to crawl away from him, still screaming.

Her scream soon turned into an angry snarl as she hurled accusations at him.

"You're lying! You're only saying that because Megatron wants me alive!"

Drift shook his head and made placating hand gestures in a friendly attempt to calm her down.

At last her angry glare disappeared, immediately replaced with narrow-eyed suspicion as she finally caught sight of his blue optics.

"Why aren't your optics red like all of the other Decepticons?"

"As I've been trying to explain, I'm no longer associated with their ilk. I come on behalf of Jethro, the human resistance leader. The rest of the Phoenix coalition aren't far behind me. When he found out that there was one human survivor left behind after the battle…he organized a search and rescue mission."

She remained silent and nodded, although she still held deep mistrust within her eyes.

"I understand why you have certain misgivings but I want you to know that—" Drifts optical sensors finally landed on Rayne's leg and he frowned.

"You're injured…" he stated with sincere concern.

Rayne slowly began to relax, her expression no longer harboring distrust.

"Yes, I am. Who are you? How do I know I can trust you?"

"My name is Drift. And I will gladly share with you my story of betrayal and what influenced me to switch sides in our war. Right now, we need to leave…you are being hunted."

Her eyes widened when she finally remembered that Ravage was conducting his own search for her. Rayne opened her mouth to warn him of the identity of her Decepticon stalker but released a scream when Drift suddenly scooped her up without any warning. He aimed his gun at the rocky overhang of the cliff's secret exit and fired, just as Ravage made his presence known with a savage snarl.

He lowered himself on all fours and prepared to pounce but howled in pained outrage when a small avalanche of rocks and boulders fell right on top of him, blocking the cave's secondary exit.

Without further ado, Drift set Rayne down and transformed back into his sleek alternate mode. He opened his driver's side door and shouted.

"Let's go before Ravage frees himself!"

Sensing that this Drift fellow did not mean her harm, she trusted her spark and limped forward. She threw the back-pack in the passenger's seat before easing herself into the vehicle. She buckled seconds before Drift hit the accelerator. The G-force pushed Rayne back into her seat as he easily went from 0 to 60 in 3.5 seconds.

A bout of dizziness washed over her senses, as did a wave of nausea. Sudden vertigo left her reeling. She felt herself slumping forward and would have hit her head against Drift's steering wheel but felt the seat belt tighten as her head lolled.

Within seconds, she lost consciousness as the fever continued to burn. Drift radioed in to let the Phoenix leader know that he had the survivor safely tucked away within his alternate form. During transit, Drift picked up on Rayne's soft mumbling and his spark skipped a beat when he heard what she said. Had he heard correctly?

Maybe the heat fried his processor because if he did hear what he thought he had…then his passenger wasn't some mere human mortal.

"Oh, dear Primus…" he murmured softly to himself.

He heard her say a name that he hadn't heard in millions of years…

She uttered the name of Optimus Prime's long deceased daughter. Yet the question burned within his mind. How could she know that name? Only one answer surfaced. The reason why Megatron was going through such great lengths to hunt her and the reason why he wanted her alive.

Drift didn't know how it was possible…but he could sense that the answer was true.

The unconscious young woman resting within his driver's seat, was none other than Prime's long, lost child.

TO BE CONTINUED!

Author's Note: Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Don't worry, more about Rayne's past will soon be revealed and yes…daddy is coming to save her eventually. Probably within the next few chapters. I know it's an event everyone is anticipating. I promise it is coming! :D