A/N: Okay, I apologize if this chapter is a little lame, especially the action scenes. I already said before, I'm not that good at writing action. I hope the rest of it is decent though.

Chapter 10

Starscream fought off his attacker with fervent force, swiping mercilessly with his claws. That resulted in a shrill cry of pain from his opponent and sent her staggering back a few steps.

"Sneak attack, Airachnid? I'm mildly impressed, " Starscream said in mock approval while she was at bay. He stole a quick glance behind him to make sure Luna was out of sight. The femme took advantage of his distraction to pounce on him again, punching him in the mouth while he grabbed her servos, swung her around, and used his pede to kick her off. She clashed with the ground, only to push herself back up again with little effort before transforming into her spider mode.

"Where's your little human?" she asked mockingly.

"This planet is crawling with them," he replied, wiping the energon spilling from his lip plate. "I'm sure you could easily find another to restart your collection." The dueling Cybertronians circled each other, each anticipating the other's next move.

"I'm not here for her," the femme explained. "She is completely usless to me. You, however are my ticket to Megatron's favor."

Luna had run and taken cover behind the fallen trees from the earthquake. Looking over the log, she squinted her eyes to see in the dark. They took in the sight of the aliens in battle. Heart pounding and breathing heavily, her stomach clenched in fear. Hopefully Starscream could take her. Why did he tell her to run? By the looks of it, he could really use her help. Airachnid had jumped into a backflip, landing on a tree and sticking to it like an insect while she fired her hand blasters at the seeker. In return he transformed his own hands into the advanced weapons and fired back at her while dodging her blasts.

This Airachnid was a minion of Megatron's. If she won, she would capture her and bring her to the leader of the Decepticons. Luna's thoughts of terror raced through her head as she watched the scene before her.

To the girl's horror, Starscream recieved a blast to his side. It caused her compainion to kneel down in agony. He staggered back and fell against a rock formation, metal scraping the rough surface as he slid to the forest floor. Against her will, Luna let out a scream. She quickly covered her mouth with her hands as the Cybertronian spider heard it. The femme's predatorial instinct over powered her, so she made her way into the trees to search for the source, leaving the seeker laying on the ground. He wasn't going anywhere.

Luna ran around the tree to reach her friend after Airachnid was out of sight. As she neared, her eyes landed on a gaping hole near the left side of his cockpit, leaking dangerous amounts of energon. Metal eaten away, severed circuits sparked. She gasped, her mind plagued with worry.

"What'll we do?" she asked after she approached. Starscream had to fight to get his answer out. He placed his hand over the wound, wincing as he did so. His optics moved down to look at her.

"She'll be back for me," he forced out. "You need to get out of here. I... sent a distress signal t-to the... Autobots. Don't... worry about me." The red light began to slowly fade from his optics as Luna's organic eyes brimmed with tears at the sight of her wounded friend.

"I'll stay until they get here," she said stubbornly in a shaky voice. She wanted to make sure he would be all right.

"Foolish girl," he said rather harshly. "She could be back here any minute now!"

"I'm not leaving you," she asserted and sat herself on the damp ground next to him, while grasping his giant digit between her much smaller hands. Her soft touch briefly soothed him, though it didn't do much to distract the burning sensation in his side. The duo sat in silence, Starscream's shallow intakes provided the only sound.

"Why didn't you let me kiss you? We could have avoided this," Luna questioned while the word 'we' sent an annoying warmth into the seeker's spark. He really detested the soft spot he had for her.

"I fear that more of the corruption would surely unhinge both our minds," he answered. "It would be best if... we cease the fusions." He offered a sad smile in which Luna returned. She was glad he decided to stop the insanity, but surely in times of danger it would be acceptable.

Not long after, the shooting web barely missed Luna and clung to the rock just beside her head. The spider femme wasn't far behind. Luna let out a yell of fearful surprise as she jumped to her feet. Starscream struggled to his pedes while ordering her to run. Obeying his command, Luna bolted behind the formation.

Positioning himself, Starscream raised a trembling servo to the quickly approaching femme and with the flex of his fingers he fired a missile at her. After that he collapsed on the ground again. The missile streaked by her, taking one of her purple appendages with it, and struck a small cluster of trees. Debris stirred from the impact. Airachnid was left unbalanced as she fired a blast and missed her target. She transformed back to her bi-pedal mode and slowly strutted up to the fallen seeker. Whether the shot had caused her pain, she did not show it.

"Don't think I don't know what you've been doing out here," she said coolly. He sneered up at the wretch. "And now look at you. Pathetic! When I bring you to the ship as my prisoner, I'll surely be in the Lord's favor again. You'll never be like Megatron, Starscream." Gasping in pain trying to push himself back up, the seeker's optics pierced the femme with pure, searing hatred. A certain quote from Luna's Earth education popped into his processor to use as a retort.

"Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn!" he snarled at her while his pede connected with hers, bringing her down with him as she let out a cry. He rolled her over and pinned her servos to the dirt, dentals gritting at the torture that sent through his agonizing wound. He didn't get a chance to do what he wanted, for a swirling mass of green and white formed a few feet away from the two, causing their helms to snap in the direction. The blinding light of it tore through the darkness.

Luna's head peeked around the rock to witness this, eyes growing wide with fear and wonder.

Starscream's relief was short lived as the Autobots weren't the ones to greet them. To his horror, the leader of the Decepticons himself stepped out of the ground bridge.

The heavy footfalls of his pedes sent a cold shiver down his back, and he stood up to release Airachnid. The portal remained ablaze, silhouetting the Lord. Luna's fingers clung to the rock in absolute terror as she tried to keep herself hidden. Panic seized her as she attempted to control her breathing. His back faced the formation as he made his way to her friend and his enemy.

"Lord Megatron, I..." Airachnid tried to explain herself, but was cut off by her master.

"Silence, Airachnid!" his cold voice ordered. "You have left the ship without my authorization!" His red optics looked the two over, surprised to see her fighting with his former second in command but he kept his composure. "Look at you, fighting like sparklings. Do I need to separate you two?" The rhetorical question dripped from his sharp-toothed mouth.

"Yes," Starscream agreed, voice trembling. "Here I was minding my own business when..."

"My Lord," Airachnid interrupted the seeker. "may I remind you, you have ordered his arrest."

"And I should remind you, Airachnid, I have ordered his arrest should he return to the ship. Is he on the ship?" Megatron's statement had left the femme at a loss for words. Suddenly, he lunged forward to grasp one servo around her neck, claws digging into her cables. She gagged as he lifted her off the ground with impressive strength. He brought his face plate so close to hers, she could feel the heat of his words.

"You would be wise to not defy my orders again," after that he tossed her aside, ordering her into the ground bridge. She begrudgingly obliged, glaring daggers at Starscream. Soon she disappeared into the swirling light and it dissipated out. "As for you," he said, turning to his former second in command whose optics had grown so huge, the sight was almost comical. Much to Starscream's humiliation, he trembled before his former master, shielding his face with his servos. Airachnid had been right, he was pathetic.

Luna looked on in dread. She had thought Starscream was the biggest creature she had ever seen, but clearly Megatron's monstrous size left him outmatched. He appeared to be terribly afraid. She never saw him quake with absolute fright.

She had to do something. As much as she feared the Decepticon, she could not leave her friend to die at the hands of the very being who had been hunting her down. Starscream had protected her this whole time and she had to at least try to help him. Run to him and kiss him. That should give him the power to fight Megatron off long enough to allow them to escape. Just one more fusion couldn't hurt.

Knees knocking, she sucked in a huge gulp of air, and high-tailed it to her companion. Running faster than she ever did before, adrenaline pushed through her veins. Starscream's optics landed on her, disbelief plastered on his face plate as he tried to signal her to turn around. It was too late to turn back now. Curse this stubborn human and her incompetence!

The girl was at the seeker's feet know, mouthing for him to lift her to his face. He shook his helm at her in refusal. He seriously doubted the dark energon could help him defeat the Decepticon now. He had been a fool to think he could in the first place. Now it would only result in weary effects rather than the previous strength.

"Well now, what is this? Your new pet?" Megatron asked in a mocking tone. Luna's head moved to look up at the monster. His scarred, merciless face caused a coldness to grab her as if Megatron did physically. Her body began to shake again after the brief jolt of courage was stripped by fear. She brought her arms tight around Starscream's leg in a death lock, clinging to him in shear fright.

"Get out of here, human!" the seeker growled at her, but her frozen terror wouldn't allow her to move.

"It looks like she's grown attached to you," the Decepticon leader jeered. With one move, Megatron knocked Starscream to the side with the impact of his massive servo. The girl went with him as she latched on tighter, shrieking as they landed. The seeker fell to the ground, unconscious.

In that one move, Luna's small hopes shattered. Starscream landed on his back, servos sprawled at odd angles, wings folded to the side. Luna still clung to his leg as if it was the safe zone in a game of tag. Very slowly, she brought her head up to look at the approaching Decepticon.

Wordlessly, he pried her from the seeker's appendage. She tried to scream, but the sound came out hoarse. She tried to squirm free to no avail. Her arms were pinned down in his clutch, preventing her from shielding her face so she turned her head away from the menacing alien. Her eyes squeezed shut and her heart felt like it would explode from the rapid beating.

"Now, what would Starscream be doing with this vermin?" he rhetorically inquired. Quite suddenly, another ground bridge ripped through the night. As he turned around he came face to face with the Autobots.

Luna's ears picked up the sound as well and when she opened her eyes, that small glimmer of hope began to resurface. These guys must be the Autobots Starscream had told her about.

"Megatron?" the big green one called Bulkhead questioned. The yellow scout and the blue femme were there as well. Too bad their leader was too busy doing some favors for him aboard the Nemesis to help his team.

"Drop the human, Megatron!" the one called Arcee demanded with a fierce look on her face plate. They all had their blasters aimed at him.

"Poor choice of words," he said, unfazed by their threats. With a sinister grin, he raised the girl high above his head, teasing them by removing one digit at a time until he held her by her shirt between his thumb and forefinger. Luna struggled to cling to him with shaky hands. She wasn't sure if he held her high enough for the fall to kill her or not. It might cause paralysis.

There was a loud Woosh! Then a Boom!

Behind the Decepticon, Starscream had come to and fired a missile at his former master's pede. He let out a terrible animalistic growl as the impact caused him to drop the girl. She screamed while she fell from his fingers but before she hit the ground, the seeker swooped in and caught her.

The Autobots were about to lunge forward to catch her, but Starscream got to her first. He transformed and took off with Luna in his cockpit. Megatron angrily called for a ground bridge. Why waste his time with his dying former second in command and a worthless human? He had better things to dedicate his time to.

Bumblebee, Arcee, and Bulkhead all transformed themselves to chase after Starscream and the captured human. Hopefully they could keep track of him and rescue her. What did that cowardly seeker have planned?

...

Starscream didn't get very far before he crashed to the ground. He transformed himself and removed Luna from the cockpit. He panted, clutching the tear in his side. He fell to the dirt on his back. If it were even possible, the pain worsened as it ate away at him. By now, his entire left side was soaked with his spilled energon.

"The Autobots should arrive soon," he told the girl. "Go with them."

"What about you?" Luna asked in worry. "Won't they help you?" She couldn't fathom the idea of them leaving him while they carried her to safety.

They should if they claim to be so noble, he thought with bitterness before replying. "I'm not sure I'll make it." He had lost too much energon and he felt weak. Like the life was fading from him. The same sensation of his lost comrades coursed through his system.

It was undignifying that he had spent the last of his days with this inferior life form, but she had grown on him. He should be more ashamed that he had spent all that time plotting against his former master only to result in failure. He had been a fool to not realize the same pattern would always follow his pitiable plans. He would never achieve leadership of the Decepticons. His shameless thirst for power would never be quenched.

At least he could look forward to joining his trine in the Allspark.

He came out of stasis just in time to witness the Autobot's arrival and to see Megatron dangling the human in front of them as if she were bait. For a nanoklik, he considered taking off and letting the Decepticon leader have her. Or perhaps the oh-so righteous Autobots could save her.

But when he saw the fear on her face, he knew he had to do something. He couldn't flee like his cowardly self. He couldn't bring himself to leave her at the servos of Megatron. He wasn't sure why. If it were any other human life, he would most certainly have fled. But not her. He felt disgusted with himself, yet he couldn't bear the thought of her suffering in Megatron's ruthless clutches.

The Decepticon leader would surely want to hunt him down after that stunt. He only hoped he would be offline by the time he came for him to avoid the torture of his wrath.

Suddenly the world around him began to fade into blackness. He felt himself slipping, slipping... The light from his optics fizzed out. The pain intensified before dulling, his intakes hitched, and the blackness took him.

"No!" Luna shouted in disbelieving grief. Frantically, she scrambled to get on top of his chest, minding his injury and grabbed either side of his face to shake him. Though, his helm was too heavy for her. "Don't leave me!" She received no response, so she resorted to slapping his face plate in a swirling haze of remorseful anger and desperation. It only resulted in stinging pain to her fleshed hand.

He had gone to such great lengths to protect her. He dedicated all of that time to her and he was rewarded with death. Luna couldn't stop the guilt from flooding into her heart; he had to waste his time looking out for her. An incredible, advanced alien life had been robbed.

The heated rage faded and the girl finally broke down. The sobs shook her and the hot tears fell in rivers down her cheeks, plinking onto his armor. She collapsed face down on his chest in mourning, burying her face in her arms. Beneath them she felt his metal growing cold.

And the faint pulsating sensation.

His spark hadn't given out yet!

Luna gasped at this discover. Shooting straight up, she placed a hand over his spark chamber. Very light; only the slightest hint of warmth indicated that it was still ablaze. Small flickers of pulsating heat would push against her fingers every ten seconds or so. The glow of the full moon reflected off his metal. Starscream had informed her of the basic biology of Cybertronians. The sparks that lay within their chest cavities were their very life force.

What was it he said about dark energon possessing the ability to revive the dead? Only the husks it brought back wouldn't be themselves. Just mindless undead corpses living a meaningless existence. However, according to his barely functioning spark, death had not yet claimed Starscream. It was worth a shot.

Hesitantly, Luna bent down to the seeker's face plate. Her lip quivered, warning her of more threatening tears. Very softly, her warm lips came in contact with his cold, slack mouth.

And nothing happened.

"No!" Luna cried and kissed him again. What was going on? Why didn't it work? Such horrible irony that the occasion arises when she actually wanted the use of dark energon, it would abandon her now. Or perhaps it was already too late.

In a wail of despair, the girl threw herself back down on the seeker's chassis. The overwhelming grief seized her body and soul. Emptiness stabbed her gut, leaving her with a hollow sensation. She suddenly felt so alone. She had lost another friend.

No. A friend had been taken from her, stolen. Starscream had been stolen from her just as his brothers had been stolen from him. Now she understood what he had gone through when he lost his trine. The sorrow tore at her heart which felt like it was in her throat; she was sure he had went through the same twisting, agonizing emotions.

She hadn't known him for very long, however during their short time together, they had grown rather close. She knew he didn't like her at first but with time, she knew deep down he grew to care for her and she him. All it took was some quality time, opening up, and taking the time to bond with him.

One person had walked out on her, one had turned her back on her, and one had been ripped from her. It seemed as if she was destined to always lose people. This time was different. This time death was robbing her of the only friendship she had gained in years.

She could only hope the Autobots would arrive before loss was another cruel lesson she would have to learn.

...

Arcee was the first to reach the fallen Starscream. Her comrades arrived shortly after. She transformed and they followed. Their optics took in the bizarre sight before them.

A human wept over what looked like an offline Starscream. They could not believe the sight they took in. This couldn't be happening. They looked at each other in confusion before slowly nearing the two.

"Um, miss?" Bulkhead tried. Luna's head snapped up upon hearing the voice. She sat up and turned her tear stained face to the Autobots.

"You have to help him!" she nearly shouted in desperation, not even fazed by their appearance for she had grown accustom to alien life forms. She didn't understand why they looked at her like she had two heads. Didn't they realize Starscream was in urgent need of repairs?

To her surprise, the three of them huddled together and whispered amongst themselves so she couldn't hear.

Bumblebee beeped his opinion.

"Are you fragging insane?" Arcee berated him. "Look at all he has done. We can't just take him back to base and fix him up."

"Yeah 'Bee," Bulkhead agreed. "Leave him here to rust. It's what he deserves." The scout beeped and chirped out his response.

"I know it's not what Optimus would do..." Arcee was cut off by another beep.

"Well, we could always interrogate him after," the wrecker suggested. "Find out why this human seems to be attached to him."

"He was likely manipulating her. But what would Starscream want with a human?"

"We'll never know if we let his spark fade out."

Luna quickly grew enraged at their incompetence. They were wasting valuable time! How dare they!

"Hello!" she screamed at them, prompting the startled Autobots to whip their helms around to her. She had climbed off the seeker's chest and now stood at their feet. "My friend is dyin' here and you're standin' around talking! He needs help!"

Friend? The three of them could not suppress the sickening feeling at the idea. What had this sick fragger done to this girl?

Groaning, Arcee activated her comm. link. "Ratchet, we need a ground bridge and prepare the med bay."