Hide and Seek
Chapter 8

Warning: There's character death, slight out of character characters, and alternate scenes. Also, there is very little of the original character in this chapter and it focuses more on the robots. Italics mean Cybertronian translations.

The sound of metal meeting the street echoed through the battlefield, he growled angrily as he struggled against the Decepticon that held him. His arms were twisted at an odd angle, even for their kind, and were pressed against his back. His enemy – he believed it to be Soundwave, just from the grip – taunted him before shoving his helm to the roadway with his foot. He hissed and growled, cursing in Cybertronian, and attempted to pull himself out of this mess.

When that failed, he turned his head to ignore the taunts and stared directly at an equally captured Wheeljack. Angered by the thought of his friend's capture, he cursed Primus for the inventor not listening to his orders to run. The other mech was not made for battle, in his optics, and should have just fled back to the organic femme. It was eerie though, he remembered that this same Autobot had questioned if they were going to make it back. It looked like the crimson bot had been wrong; they were in quite a pickle and things just weren't looking good right about now.

"Lord Megatron is going to like our gifts," one of the Decepticons – Barricade, Mirage remembered that annoying voice anywhere – snickered as he lowered his frame and grasped the inventor's head. Mirage didn't even realise that he hissed and attempted to lunge forward until the one that held him corrected the mistake, with a talon to piercing his shoulder. The 'con cackled, "Oh, that one's feisty."

"Barricade wishes to trade," the sinister voice of Soundwave replied.

"No, this one has a higher price on his helm," the other responded equally as dark. "The Lord will want this one more than that pathetic warrior."

"You won't get away with this," Wheeljack echoed, catching all three off guard – this included Mirage. "The Autobots-"

"Are here," Barricade snarled before a smirk crept onto his faceplates.

Mirage was confused. Until his helm was forcefully turned to the left, showing him exactly what the Decepticon had been speaking of. His tanks wanted to empty at the sight of his companions being dragged towards them. Sideswipe fought viciously against the drone that held him, only to have the bunt end of a weapon meet the back of his helm. He was on his knees in moments and shaking his head, the other two new captives – Bumblebee and Ratchet – struggled against their own captors.

When the bladed mech's optics flickered, the red Autobot attempted to fight against Soundwave and was soon lashed out upon again. A talon dug deeper into his circuitry, the giant that hovered above him cackled at the injured grunt that would have been a scream if Mirage hadn't denied its exit. This was wrong, he knew, but there was nothing that could be done. Optimus was missing and they were all going to be slaves to the warlord. Could it get any worse? He really didn't want to think about it, so he locked optics with the inventor, who looked equally as disturbed as he imagined he did.

Sitting on the cold ground, Erin wasn't sure how long it'd been since she was abandoned. She knew it had to be hours ago, since the dust of the previous battle had settled on the scattered corpse of the flier. She'd been staring at this carcass since her friend had left, waiting for it to move or react to the battle that raged around them. However, it didn't because, unlike her, it was dead. It's death miserable and it had been without its friends or family – if they had anything like that. It had been alone, just like how she thought she'd die in that flat hours before.

Scrambling to her feet, she cautiously made her way over the cold, metal corpse. She frowned once she was close enough to actually view it, disturbed by the thick lines that were deep within the armour. She knew these were not fresh from the battle or the fall – although, there were some that fit into that thought – due to the paint that covered them. She hadn't remembered seeing any of the sorts on her alien friends – should she call them that, did it matter? – and wondered about the poor soul that laid in front of her.

Filthy hands brushed at the dust that had collected, she noted how some of the – for lack of better words – scars were covered, or at least attempted to be, with symbolic tattoos. She couldn't understand them but she was not naïve, this was a warrior and it probably obtained them for a reason. She could almost sympathize with the creature, if it hadn't been on the other side of the battlefield and trying to destroy humanity. She idly wondered if that made her a horrible person for not even trying to understand. Or even if it mattered.

This thought brought more – had it wanted to fight? Did it have a choice in the matter? What had the creature been like before the war? Did it truly change? A part of her wanted to know but another denied all of these things. Mainly because she didn't want to think about it, these were the horrible doers and they needed to be killed. Yet, did it really?

Annoyed with herself, she turned on her heels and advanced to the alley. She was confused, lost, and just wanted to chase the thoughts away. Out of sight, out of mind, her father used to tell her. She remembered that line as she stopped an open door to one of the building and entered it, knowing that she couldn't continue to stand around outside. She couldn't be spotted and just lingering out in the open would cause such a thing. Gently closing the door behind her, she leaned against the wall – where were they?

"Prisoners? You're taking prisoners?"

"Yesss."

"You need teach them about respect. This was all business, but now it's personal, do you understand me?"

"I understand. No prisoners, only trophies!"

Cringing, the Autobot turned his azure optics from the Decepticon and human to his captive companions. He'd been fighting Decepticons long enough to know if you weren't a prisoner, you were offlined, and the cackle that echoed from Soundwave confirmed it. He knew the others were grabbing at straws now: praying to Primus, trying to escape their handlers, to name a few. Mirage wasn't stupid. He knew in that moment that the Autobots luck had run out and that it was all over.

When he heard his friend speaking, he turned his helm to the older mech. As soon as his optics rested on him, they brightened and swirled, noticing the Decepticon that was making his way over to the inventor from behind. He tried to struggle against the drone that now held him, anything to stop what was about to happen, and when the drone whipped their hand against his helm, he knew it was over. He tried to focus on his companion and murmured in their native tongue: "Wheeljack, I'm sorry."

"Wha-"

Painfully, he turned his helm away from the scene as the inventor was blasted. There was a choked inquiry and then another blast, the red Autobot could feel the scientist's field fading away. The spark was disappearing and soon there was nothing, leaving the younger Autobot with a realisation that his friend was now offline. A cold, numbing feeling enter his spark at the laughter that filled the air, the Decepticon moving onto the next and he couldn't bear to look. He hoped it was himself, but listening to the echoing footsteps he knew he wasn't.

He heard the blaster load and Soundwave cackling. He knew what was going to happen next so he waited, whatever Autobot the 'con had in his sights would soon join Wheeljack – they all would. His previous thoughts were confirmed – they'd run out of luck, Primus was no longer with them on this strange planet. They'd been lucky so far and barely made it out time and time again. He had always guessed that it was only time before they lost everything and Mirage knew this was it. The Decepticons would win, just like that traitor said.

However, just as that trigger would have been pulled, something happened. It rocked the earth below and Mirage snapped his helm up in time to see their captors distracted. With Wheeljack's death fresh in his processor, he pulled himself free of the startled drone and within moments a corpse was all that remained. Sparking and greying, he turned and was greeted by an equally free Sideswipe. They barely even spared much of a glance before the two raced off, promising revenge in their wake.

Author's Note: Thoughts? Constructive Criticism?

Okay, I kind of got carried away with this chapter so I had to break it up into two parts for it even to make a lick of sense. Even now I think it jumped around too much, but it's much better than the original piece that I was going to post. Sorry for that.

Now, since I am posting this chapter into two different parts, this also means that you're getting two more chapters after this one. The second part and the finale. Included with the finale will be a small piece in the Author's Note giving a summary of a possible sequel. It is then that I want to know if you guys want to green light it or not.

In addition, my MOTHER proof read this. She did it on her own and gave highlights to what I did wrong and a note on how to improve it. I was embarrassed that she read it but she got a good laugh at it. Ugh. Shoot me now?