Last time, Elizabeth and Raphael had a deep conversation while they made mac n cheese. And so it continues.

All those nights, when my nightmares plagued me, I felt that I was past scared. The awful vividness kept me on my toes, and woke me up in strangled screams and with sheets soaked with sweat. Only when MECH took me that night and sedated me did I realize there was something worse than those nightmares.

Dreaming nothing.

I didn't have any idea where I was, what was going on, who was carrying me from the concrete driveway, eight feet from safety. I only saw darkness, unable to move or speak or even hear anything. For the first time, darkness did not grant me rest, and silence was deafening. I hated all of it, and I found myself yearning for something to come. I would gladly trade this hellish prison for any of my heart-stopping episodes. Anything to convince me that my heart was still beating, that I was alive and aware.

I was about to give up on waking when I saw a dull light in the distance. I tried walking to it, but it turned out that I didn't need to. It came to me with slow, smooth speed. I suddenly became lightheaded, the light shooting my eyes painfully. I couldn't shut my eyes, they were already closed.

Already closed?

In a single bolt, I realized that I was waking up. I felt feeling return to my arms and legs, my eyes twitching under my eyelids. I smiled as I flexed my fingers, grateful for the warm tingly feeling of control. My body was mine again, no more silence roaring in my ears. With a strong push, I forced my mind to wake up.

I opened my eyes a little bit, the brightness coming from a lamp hanging in the ceiling. I groaned as I felt a bandage wrapped around my calf, probably where they shot me. I experimentally lifted my arm, slowly pushing myself from the floor I was lying on. My hair pooled around me, the ponytail messy and loose. I dragged my foot up, getting to a kneeling position. It didn't take long to get to a stand, my knees weak from lack of use. I realized with a flush that I wasn't wearing my jacket, boots and my pajamas. I was wearing a thin medical scrub, the dress uncomfortably short. I looked around, the darkness impenetrable. Then, with a ceremonial flash, all the lights went on. I shielded my eyes from the glare, scowling from the pain.

"That was fast."

I heard someone walk up to me, from a door or out of thin air I would never guess. His voice was gravelly and thick with sarcasm. I didn't look at him yet, focusing on helping my eyes adjust.

"Usually, someone your age would succumb to the sedative for much, much longer. It only took you twenty-four hours to wake up, while the normal time is close to a week."

That tone. I know that tone. I slowly looked up at the speaker, and when I did I felt someone stabbed my stomach with a dagger. Cylas stood close, smiling his characteristic smile. His scars were healed, and he looked at me with that know-it-all face. I bared my teeth as I stood taller to face him. "You."

He frowned immediately, grabbing my jaw and pulling it up to his height forcibly. My neck muscles weren't stretched, and the sudden movement sent a rejective pain throughout my neck. "I don't recall telling you that my name was "you", now did I? I'm sure that out of all the people involved, you should know my name better than anyone else."

I glared up at him, grabbing his hands and trying to pull away from him feebly. "Well, maybe, after everything you've done I might think you don't deserve to be called anything but a power-hungry devil." His mouth twitched into a small grin, and showed his joy by trying to throw me off balance. I caught myself, feeling my neck in relief. He turned away, his hands behind his back. "I'm sure you have some idea of why you are here?"

"I didn't die in the attack enough?"

He showed no sign of anger, only a shuddering sigh of impatience. "You are the only surviving subject from that case. Everyone else I foolishly killed off because I was stuck. At first, I cursed at myself when I realized your body was not found. But now, I've come to be grateful that you were able to drag yourself out of that firefight." He turned back, a devilish shine glaze his eyes. "All this time, I was missing a single element. A single part of the key I wasn't able to put together for years. And now, since you're here, I'm able to finally see if the key fits the lock." He snapped his fingers, three more people emerging from nowhere. They brought a bar flashlight, a briefcase, and a prod. I tensed my muscles as I continued to search the man's face.

"What would you possibly want with a soldier like me? I thought you were done with us when you threw a sulfur bomb inside the barracks." I clenched my fists, ready to throw a punch if any one of them turned a little too cocky. Though the feeling of my fingernails digging into my palms calmed me down a bit, a slow sad nagging in the back of my mind reminded me that I was in enemy territory; I was at a huge, if not total, disadvantage. Cylas instructed them to put the items on the floor, and turned to me. "The project started when we found an unidentifiable crystalline substance growing in the Nevada desert. After months of experimentation on rats and rabbits, we wanted to try something bigger. Monkeys would arouse suspicion, and we didn't have the budget to use actual human volunteers. So we took from the source of human achievement. The US military."

He walked around me. I followed him with my eyes, not daring to turn around and face him. He continued.

"We chose the survival unit, your unit, and began acting as if we were here as a recovery base. We began administering the substance in everything you consumed. Your meals, your water source, even the objects you touched everyday were coated with a thin but penetrable layer. We thought we were making progress when a soldier recalled having vivid, startling dreams.

We looked into it more, and what we discovered was that we could control the persons subconscious through this matter. We experimented with it by taking the subject and making him do a series of things. It was a succession, and we already yearned for more. We began administering the substance to you fully, in daily doses of injection. The affects were immediate, if not revolutionary. You showed the least progress, however, so we decided to amp you up a notch.

When you were unconscious, we took the liberty of injecting you with enough substance to show as a threat to your immune system. We waited, but surprisingly you didn't die. At first we thought we didn't give you enough. But after a blood sample we realized what we had done. The substance had agreed with your immune system, and was working with it to protect you. None of us understood how it could do that, so we did one last experiment."

"You killed us off, and tried to see if I would survive because of the excess Energon you gave me?"

He smiled again, "Well done. You're not as stupid as I thought you were. However, now that the Autobots came here, they presented another theory to test. Can a human, with enough Energon running through them, become a Cybertronian?"

On cue, one of the men handed Cylas the flashlight. He turned it on, but the light was extremely dim. Or so I thought, until he rain it over my arm. Veins, glowing blue veins ran through my arms, as well as places I knew full well they shouldn't exist. They were abundant everywhere, the glowing spiderweb reaching my toes even. "Is that...Energon?" He nodded as he passed me over again. "It's always been there, adapting to your immune system and working with it. What a marvel of science, hm?"

I couldn't talk, the blue veins holding my every bit of attention. How. That's all I thought. How was it still there, working with me even to protect and work with me? He dropped the flashlight, and he presented the briefcase next. Inside was a computer, the monitor large and busy with data. I studied the charts flashing on the screen. Female...young adult...type AB blood... Just like me.

I backed away slowly, unable to hide my fear. No, no no no. This can't be real. It can't be. I don't want it to. Numerous images flashed through my mind as he typed a few words into the keyboard. I watched him tap the Enter key, a faint buzz shooting through my head. Involuntarily, my right hand went over my mouth and the other hand grabbed my hair. I felt utter confusion when I pulled my hair so hard I pulled a chunk out. It laid in my hand, the blond ribbon drooping sadly in my palm. I ripped my hands off me, staring at them with confusion and fear. Why did I do that? He didn't make me do that, did he? I looked over to him, the telltale smile confirming my fears. He quickly frowned when he saw that I had held my hands away from me. He grabbed the prod, and with a swift poke sent volts of electricity up my torso. I fell, curling in pain and sickness. "That is what will happen if you defy the system." I stared up at him, putting on the bravest face them I could. "What do you mean? I'm not your soldier, Cylas."

"You are now." he said. And zapped me again.

As I felt darkness enveloping me, I felt a single tear fall.

I never told Raphael goodbye.

Raphael's POV

I knew it was too good to be true.

This morning had become a blur, waking up to find her gone, bloodstains outside on the driveway and her handgun on the ground. I called Bee, and we hightailed it to base. I could only sit and watch Ratchet try and gain a fixed position. Miko sat by me to comfort, and Jack was out on patrol with Arcee to try and find any clues. But, for the moment, we were stuck at base.

"Fowler, is it possible to track her from an ID chip?" Ratchet asked. Fowler said nothing as he logged I to the computer. "Let's see...Emmery...Elsen...ah, here we go. Esquivel." He pulled up a blipping dot, large and blinking against the green map. Ratchet breathed a sigh (if they could...) of relief. "She's definitely alive. She appears to be at a base of some sort." He typed a few keys, pulling up an image of the building. A telltale helicopter was planted on the roof of the building. "By the Allspark... MECH has her in custody."

I felt another pebble, cold and hard, fall upon the huge pile of dread, worry, fear and despair pebbles already in my stomach. "She's okay, right? She's not dead?"

"According to these statistics, her immune system is top-notch, though she has experienced physical damage to her abdominal area as well as strain on her eyes. But besides that, she's healthy." Ratchet looked at me with sympathy. "Do not worry, Raphael. She's tough for a human. And since she's in the presence of other humans, I'm certain she will survive this."

I fingered my trinket, a small tin fighter jet she gave to me the day she left, the shiny metal reminding me all too much of my sister. "I know she'll survive."

She has to.

Elizabeth's POV

I felt my eye twitch as I sat in the corner of the room. The shockingly white walls stung my eyes and made them water painfully. My hands, previously rough and cut, were now bandaged and clean. I stared at the skin, the effects of the Energon clearly visible on my self-healing body. I knew that they continually administered me Energon daily, and I could do nothing but let them do it. I also knew that they were watching me, the walls actually one-way windows. Still, I made no attempt to escape.

It wasn't time.

I itchingly became bored, my muscles erratically twitching from disuse. They gave me nothing but a bed (which I didn't dare sleep in) and a dresser ( with clothes washed with presumably Energon-tainted detergent), four walls, a ceiling and a cold concrete floor. I asked for food on occasion, but they made sure I was supervised when I ate (I spat out the food whenever I could). At the moment, all I could do was sit and think.

What did I think about? Well, most of the time I thought about the Autobots and the Decepticons. Their war, their motives, and their militia. I counted off every single Cybertronian I could remember. On the Autobot's side there was Optimus Prime, Arcee, Bumblebee, Ratchet and Bulkhead. On the Decepticon side, there was...Megatron, Starscream, Soundwave, Knockout, Breakdown, Arachnid, and countless Vehicons. I made sure to repeat the names, remembering each syllable and pronunciation. When I reached Knockout's name, a stopped for a minute and thought in the echoey silence.

We had some fun times. Me stabbing him, him making me delusional, him fixing me up and me making him laugh when we had our free time talks. I played through one of our talks in my head, the one where we just asked each other questions.

I was sitting cross legged on the table, my arms resting on my calves. Knockout was sitting in his chair, his arms on the table. We were just chatting, when he asked me a question.

"Why don't you try to leave here?"

I thought for a good minute. "I don't have any options. From up here I can't contact the Autobots or my brother, and there are too many Decepticons walking around for me not to get caught." He nodded thoughtfully. "I was just wondering. Every time I let you loose you always just sit there. Makes me worry." I smirked, "Really? I make the Decepticon medic feel antsy?"

I heard him mumble absentmindedly, though just loud enough for me to hear,"Yeah, and something else, too."

My thought processes stopped for a minute. "Erm, come again?" He froze suddenly, his eyes widening for a millisecond. "Nothing." I cocked an eyebrow. He said that a bit too hurriedly. He was avoiding my eyesight now. "Knockout, is there something you're not telling me?" To my surprise, he calmed himself down, and looked at me straight in the eye. "Yes, and I don't want to discuss it." I folded my arms, making his suddenly bold appearance shrink a bit. "Oh really? Because a little birdie told me that it involves me."

He outright spluttered at that, the first time I saw him stuck. "Well, u-um, maybe..." He raised his eyebrows when I saw my suppressed grin, then narrowed his eyes. "No. We are not discussing this." I frowned, "Oh come on, you can tell me." He shook his head. "No."

"Please?"

"No."

"Please?"

"I've already said no."

"Didn't sound like you meant it."

I really shouldn't have said that. In a flash, he got up, and knelt over the table to where I was. He placed his face just a foot from where mine was, his red eyes glowing in a mixture of anger and...something else. They slowly lidded themselves, sending a shock down my spine. He took a finger and drew it under my chin. Pushing upward slightly, he made my lips dangerously close to his. I swallowed.

"No." He whispered.

He let my chin go, drawing away from my madly blushing face. He smirked victoriously, then he stood up and walked over to his monitor. In five minutes, he was immersed in his reports. All the while, I was sitting dumbfounded at the table, my cheeks flaming. I couldn't stop staring at him, and the thought that he just did what he did. But what bothered me the most wasn't that he invaded my space, or that he refused to tell me anything.

What bothered me the most was that my heart was breaking the speed limit.

I sighed, feeling my stomach jump at the memory. I didn't feel invaded or tainted or anything. I just felt...calm. I looked at the wall I suspected was the one way window and gave it the creepiest look I could muster. When I got no result, I just slumped back in my corner. Little did they know, my mind was just about done planning.

Because I wanted all of them dead.

Raphael's POV

We arrived at the base, hiding in the bushes not too far away from the entrance. Bumblebee let me out, then transformed, moving the leaves for a better view. The base was large, numerous vehicles for both land and sky perched upon the forest grass. Arcee mumbled a few words, obviously disturbed by where we were.

"Remember, engage the enemy only when a serious threat is imposed. This is a rescue mission, not an attack." Optimus stated quietly, though his commanding tone made it loud and clear into our heads. I was only allowed to come along because Elizabeth was my sister, and I was small enough to get through the air vents. Jack and Miko were back at base (a rare occurrence), along with Ratchet.

"What if there's Decepticons in there? Do we engage?" Bulkhead asked, keeping his voice low. Optimus shook his head, "Our priority is the safe extraction of Elizabeth. Use force only when direly necessary." Silently, we approached the building. Ratchet had sent out a high frequency signal, crashing all of their long distance feed for security and tracking. Arcee and Bumblebee went on ahead, while Optimus and Bulkhead waited out near the base. I followed close behind, my tiny footsteps seemingly the loudest. I swallowed as we made our way deeper into the facility. Bumblebee carried me through the high-security parts, where my short legs couldn't keep up with Arcee and Bumblebee's long ones. Soon, we reached a large hallway.

"She's in one of these." Arcee said, checking the doors on her right. I tried every single one, peeking in each. Only three minutes passed when a small beep from Bumblebee signaled that he found her. She was huddled in a corner, her long hair covering her face. I fought the urge to rush in and hug her, and I watched as Bumblebee opened the door to her room. Without looking up, she growled. "I don't want your food, okay? I'm not eating anything."

A quick beep from Bumblebee snapped her to attention, her eyes widening. "Bee? Oh God, it's really you!" She hugged his neck, his fingers feeling her back. She spotted me from under his arm. "Raph? What are you...?"

"No time." I said as quietly as I could, pointing to a clock." We only have so much ti-"

A single shot echoed, a painful noise emanating from Arcee. I spun around, horrified to see Arcee lying on the ground, frozen. I widened my eyes as three men came in with a large gun. I felt my heart sink as Bumblebee started to run. He was in a one-ended corridor painfully small for his figure. He tried to outrun it, but his soon stasised form fell beside me. Elizabeth stood in front, shielding me from the oncoming soldiers. "Run, Raph, RUN." She grabbed my arm and threw me past the attackers. She sprinted after them, tackling one of them with added force. I felt my feet trip as I tried to run, only to run into a wall of more soldiers. They grabbed me by the hair, taking my arms and legs. I squirmed and yelled. My throat caught when I saw the corridor I left only a few minutes ago. Covered in human blood, with Eliza lying on the ground, her blond hair stained with crimson.

Then, I passed out.

Knockout's POV

I felt my cheek sting as I took a punch from the femme. This was just all too familiar, but this time I had a job to do. Megatron insisted that, after everything MECH had done against us, it was time to end the deal. We were supposed to just destroy the base after killing Cylas, however finding the Autobots there was a rather strange surprise. Megatron had apparently made a deal with Cylas to let him kidnap Elizabeth after we let her go, giving him coordinates to her residence. A stroke of genius, but after realizing that MECH was doing things they never consulted us for, Megatron believed that they should be exterminated.

To think that little blond human was right. We were stabbed in the back. Just like she said. We didn't bring it up though, for out own sake. Megatron would have certainly killed us on the spot if we ever did that. He never did appreciate being proved wrong. Especially by humans.

I blocked a kick, and threw her arms away from me. "Sorry honey, but I have a job to do." I transformed, running as fast as I could down the corridors. I didn't hear the femme following me, silently thanking her for staying off my bumper for now. I squealed around a corner, a few humans jumping out if my way quickly. I sped down the hallways, looking for the rendezvous point Breakdown had mentioned earlier. Sure enough, there was a large warehouse entrance, and inside was an extensively large piece of machinery.

Their motherboard and database.

Optimus and Bulkhead were already there, but they weren't trying to enjoy the view. They were talking with Cylas himself, all the while speaking in desperate tones. I took no time, shooting at the scaffolding he stood on. It tumbled down beneath his feet, but to my amazement he was floating in midair.

He glitched.

He wasn't there. Optimus backed away and Bulkhead cocked his guns at me. I merely walked up to them. "A hologram. That dirty human used a hologram." Bulkhead slowly put his guns away, and I heard him mumble a few words. Optimus nodded, "Cylas is hiding somewhere. I take it you are trying to assassinate him?" I smiled, "You're correct. Though I have no idea what you're doing here, you better do it quickly. The Vehicons are supposed to completely demolish the place as soon as I give the word."

Bulkhead froze in panic, then said, "If that happens before we get her out, she'll never make it out alive!" I widened my eyes as he mentioned a 'her'. I didn't dare mention our previous deal with MECH, but I faltered a few. "Do you mean Elizabeth? I thought she was smart enough to keep herself out of trouble." Optimus eyed the place the holoCylas once stood. "Whatever might happen to her, the team will do anything they can to get out alive. She's...grown on us." I nodded, feeling my Energon prod. "In that case, let me help you."

Bulkhead immediately stated quite the opposite, but Optimus let me continue. "I've always enjoyed combating her, as smart and quick as she's been. I beat her last time, as I'm almost positive that she'll want to fight me again. So, with her reputation on the line, I'll help you."

Optimus thought for a good minute. Finally, after seemingly a long time, he sighed. "I will allow you to join us. However, at the first sign of deception, we will make haste to eradicate you." I nodded. Fair enough. We made our way into the back area of the warehouse. Soon, we were encased in total darkness. Walking seemed to get us nowhere. Suddenly, in a bright flash, we were surrounded.

And there was Cylas. Elizabeth was with him

She didn't look like she was breathing.

I know it kinda petered out at the end, but this was a monster. I promise a new chapter soon, as the next one shall be full of action. As always, await more chapters!

Over and Out!