Sideswipe watched as Lennox tightened the knot he had made with the spare shirt from his rucksack on the energon leak in Sideswipe's chest. "I think that will hold," he said with a final tweak.
"Thank you." Sideswipe groaned. He leaned his head back against the wall, feeling he no longer had enough energy simply to hold it up.
Lennox jumped down from where he had stood on Sideswipe to be able to reach his chest. "It's a good thing that shield faded, or I wouldn't have been able to touch you."
Sideswipe didn't want to think about the reason the shield had faded, he was glad it had held up as well as it had. His injuries were nothing compared to what they could have been if Starscream had been able to beat him like he had wanted to. Sideswipe shifted slightly and winced at the pain coming from his dislocated hip.
Lennox settled on the ground next to his rucksack. He opened it and surveyed his rations, "how much longer do you think we will be here?" Lennox had been taken by the Decepticons three days ago, and was nearly though his water supply. He didn't have any kind of appetite so food was not a problem. Will rolled his shoulders, he felt stiff, and sore all over, evidence of too many nights attempting to sleep on a cold concrete floor.
"As long as we are useful." Sideswipe answered, not wanting to think how long that would be. He had lost a lot energon, more then he would like. A liquid sounding cough distracted Sideswipe before he could think about his own situation. When the cough sounded again he looked more closely at his human companion. "How do you feel?"
Lennox coughed a third time and spat to his right, away from Sideswipe. "I feel like I had my head hit pretty hard, and its kind of warm in here. But I am fine, or will be as soon as we are back on base."
Sideswipe changed to thermal vision for a moment and determined the Captain was running a fever, his lungs didn't sound good, not just the coughing, when the Autobot focused his hearing he could detect a slight crackle when the human breathed. And his heart rate was higher then it should be at rest. He glanced at the head wound that the human had received and frowned at the dried blood, Lennox was sick and either didn't want to admit it yet, or didn't realized yet.
Looking up he realized that his concerns for the Captain were going to have to wait, Starscream was looking at them again, and he looked a little too happy.
The Autobots arrived at the clearing Wednesday afternoon. They had delayed another day to give Tera more time to recover to her full strength. The time had not been wasted, her crystal glowed with reserve power and she had been able to give each of the Autobots an extra charge.
Optimus had offered to drive Tera himself, and she had accepted. It had been a thrill to be so high off the ground while being in her human form. The joy of the ride was quickly dampened by the tension of silence that filled the cab. Tera felt guilty for not telling Optimus what she planed for the fight. Her desire to keep him and the others safe, no matter the cost, consumed her. The reason Sideswipe had been taken was her fault; the reason Starscream was here now was her fault. To her, it made sense that she should be the one to fight. It was about time that she started to make decisions like a Queen; this was her first chance to prove that she was worth of the name Teravain. Optimus seemed to be able to sense that she was holding back, and the silence this created was deafening.
As soon as they reached the clearing Tera was out of Optimus and soaking up the last rays of sunlight, in her native form. They were still an hour until sunset, so the trees blocked the direct light. Tera didn't care, the light felt warming on her skin, and gave her a distraction from her guilt towards Optimus. She had opted not to wear her traditional clothing from her world; her worlds clothes were more for beauty, then practicality. The cut off cargo pants and dark green T-shirt that Arcee had found were a bit big on her human form, but comfortable in her native one.
"Now what?" Chromia asked Optimus after they had all transformed to their natural forms.
Optimus surveyed the warriors before him, Chromia, Moonracer and Arcee; sisters who were small but fierce. Ironhide his old friend and weapons specialist, Ratchet his medical officer and friend. It had taken some convincing but they had been able to leave the twins at base to 'protect the humans'. Epps hadn't been excited about the arrangement, but accepted it. And the girl, Optimus surveyed the small alien with trepidation. Would she listen to him when her life depended on it? Was she as strong as he believed her to be? Did she believe enough in herself to achieve her full potential? He didn't know, and he regretted that he hadn't been able to spend more time with her.
"Now we wait." Optimus answered.
Tera regarded Optimus with a look he couldn't interpret. He had half expected Starscream to be waiting for them when they arrived, but knowing how much of a coward Starscream was Optimus decided that the Decepticon would wait until the opportune moment. Optimus organized a patrol to keep watch for signs of the Decepticons. Himself, Ratchet and Ironhide set up a guard for Tera, who Ratchet encouraged to rest. The medical officer was still furious with her for the state she had let herself get in. Optimus settled into a comfortable pacing pattern and waited for the inevitable attack.
There was only a sliver of sky that Sideswipe could see from his view among the filth and dust of the Decepticons base. The stars blinked at him, as if taunting him that they were free and he was a captive. He knew what they were, balls of gas and distant planets, but after hearing Tera talk about them, it made him look harder at the reflections from so far away. To her kind, the stars were hope and the promises of new life all around them. They were signs of the future and the past that were there to remind those alive in the present that anything was possible. Tera had said once that she preyed to the stars, not for any one thing, or for advice on what to do, but because they knew all and they saw all.
Her kind knew what the stars physically were, same as the Autobots did. But they were able to look beyond that to the potential that they represented. The stars for her were friends and family, they were all those who had been lost before memory began, and all those to come in future generations. They had kept her company when she was far from home and all alone. Sideswipe took her wisdom and made it his own, from the dirt covered floor of the Decepticons base he looked at the stars and didn't feel so alone. If the Autobots he had once known were still out there somewhere, if Sunstreaker was out there, then he was not alone, no matter where he may be.
Sideswipe let his head rest back against the wall at the angle so he could see the stars, and closed his eyes, letting memories occupy his thoughts. They had been practicing nearly since they arrived at the clearing the day before the Decepticons had showed up. Tera had been determined to learn the swords; even after her few failed attempts in the back yard. Sideswipe had coached as best he could, but for him the swords were an art form put to motion. "Think of them as extensions of your self." He had said.
"That's easy for you! For you they are!" Tera had yelled back, she had actually yelled she was so frustrated.
"You're thinking to hard, to much, what are you thinking about?" Sideswipe asked, he knew Tera well enough to know that she would be upset with her self for having yelled at him, so he ignored her outburst.
Her brows furrowed, and in the dying light of the sun she looked young, to young for the responsibilities she carried, "I'm thinking about everything. About my family, my world, my way of life, gone. I am thinking that I need to get this right so nothing like that ever happens again, and that it may already be to late, that-"
"Way to much thinking." Sideswipe said simply, with a motion of his hand to cut her off.
Tera regarded him with a blank stare, her moth still open, after a moment she shook her head and asked, "If I am not allowed to think…how does that work?"
Sideswipe dropped to a knee next to her in the field when she was in her native form, as she was now and he knelt they were nearly on eye level. "You think, don't get me wrong, but you think about what you can control. You're breathing, your muscle tension, your blades and balance. And you think about what your opponent is doing, where is his weight balanced, where is he looking, what is he showing you about what his next move is going to be." He held his hand out and she placed hers into it without hesitation, even with that light touch he could feel energy flowing into him from the contact, energy and her thoughts. Whenever she touched him, some of her thoughts and feelings came through to him. Sometimes she was able to restrict the flow, others she enhanced it, pushing her feelings and emotions into him. Now all he was picking up from her was frustration. Her kind was so small compared to his, yet she held so much inside of her, "You think about what you can control, and you let the rest go."
Tera had stared at him; looking so young, so small, "That may be easier said then done." She whispered.
He gave her hand a gentle squeeze, more a reassurance that she wasn't alone then anything else. "I never said it was going to be easy, if it was easy, everyone would know how to do it. Anything under the stars that is going to be worth doing is going to involve hard work. Your young Tera, it took me a lifetime to learn the blades."
She withdrew her hand to wipe a stray tear from her cheek, "I don't have a lifetime, there are to many lives at stake, too many lives lost…" she looked away, up to the stars.
Sideswipe stood and followed her gaze. And listened as Tera told him what her people thought of the stars.
When he opened his eyes again, the stars still shown through the small window far above him. How he missed her. A small cough pulled his gaze down next to him where Lennox was resting beside him. Sideswipe smiled slightly, he truly wasn't alone. He just prayed to the stars, that Tera wasn't either.
"The little fool has come back!" Starscream's shouted declaration pulled Sideswipe from his thoughts. The Decepticon was standing in front of the large view screen in the center of the room, watching what appeared to be live feed of the clearing where Tera and himself had been not so many days before. Starscream began shouting orders to the other Decepticons, ignoring the Autobot and human behind him.
Sideswipes head fell back against the wall again, "what was she thinking?" he whispered to himself.
Lennox stood and craned his neck as far as he could to get a glimpse of the view screen Starscream was looking at, "she didn't go alone, Optimus and the others are with her." With a wicked grin Starscream turned to his captors and said, "we mustn't keep our guests waiting."
Tera sat in the same patch of grass that she had just a few days earlier with Sideswipe. Her knees were drawn to her chest, and her chin rested on her forearms on top of her knees. Arcee and Chromia were on patrol and the rest of the Autobots did their best to keep her in sight while keeping watch. Could she do this? It was her fault that Sideswipe had been taken; therefore it was her responsibility to make it right. To get him back. She closed her eyes to prevent any tears from forming when she wondered what had happened to Wi-Lennox, she reminded herself firmly that she had lost the right to even think of him as Will.
With a shake of her head, she forced any and all thoughts of him from her. She had to focus on whom she could save, and that was Sideswipe. No one had heard from Lennox since he left the clearing. When Ironhide had questioned Epps, the human had no news about the missing Captain. Taking a deep cleansing breath the she focused on what came next. She had one idea, one that could protect the Autobots and let her fight her own battle. Once Sideswipe was safe, she would head the old Queens warning and go home and on the way she could shed every tear that she had suppressed for William Lennox.
The Decepticons arrived at midnight, taking advantage of what little dark the full moon offered to get as close to their intended prey as they could, their target was surrounded by the Autobots that were not on patrol. The patrol was something that Starscream had anticipated and easily avoided, Autobots could be predictable about such things. Starscream had decided that giving the Autobots the chance to back down, without all the mess of a fight would be easier.
Starscream had four Decepticons with him, each of them a fine fighter on their own; even if they were not much for conversation, as long as they followed orders he wasn't going to be picky. The newest and smallest in their group was a particularly savagely smart fighter, Deadset. While he didn't know the bot well, Starscream had known his teacher Deadlock years ago before the Decepticon had turned Autobot. Deadset had trained with Deadlock in the art of swords, a weapon that Starscream found useless when a blaster was so much easier. The new arrival was welcomed to the fight, one more on their side meant less of a chance for Starscream to possible have to step into battle himself.
One of his Decepticon minions carried Sideswipe and another carried their human captive locked inside of his chest. With a glance to his left and right to confirm that they were ready, Starscream stepped out of the surrounding forest to get the Autobots attention.
Moonracer fell backwards with a small grunt as the blast took out the ground before her. She looked up, thankfully unharmed and raised her weapon, and stared at Starscream where he had emerged from the tree cover, flanked by four other Decepticons. Behind her she could hear the other Autobots arranging themselves to be a wall between Tera and the intruders. Arcee and Chromia raced into the clearing from the far side.
"Now that we have your attention," Starscream began with a sneer. "I believe that I have something that belongs to you." He signaled to the Decepticon that was farthest to his left, the one holding Sideswipe.
The hair on the back of Tera's neck rose as she swiveled at the sound of Starscream's voice. The Autobots blocked most of her view, but she could see between Ratchet and Ironhide what was happening across the clearing. Tera's heart leapt to her throat, as she rose to her feet, and watched in horror as the Decepticon that held Sideswipe dropped him to the ground. She heard the hard landing, and saw Sideswipe's face twist in pain as he tried to not groan. As if the drop wasn't enough the Decepticon gave him a kick once he was on the ground. Cold furry washed through her veins.
"Now, now, we don't need to do that," Starscream said with a smile to the Decepticon that had kicked Sideswipe. The offending Decepticon took a step back.
"What is it you want Starscream?" Optimus's voice boomed loudly across the clearing.
Starscream stared right at Tera, as if challenging her to do anything. And with an evil smiled he answered, "Just the little Queen, and you can have this piece of scrap metal back."
Optimus's arm changed to a cannon as he declared, "That's not an option." Before he could get off a clean shot a barrier went up between the Autobots and the Decepticons. The barrier stretched beyond the clearing, and seemed to reach the sky itself. It was translucent and like gasoline on water had a rainbow quality to it that never seemed to stay perfectly still. Optimus dropped his arm a few inches as he stared at the barrier, Starscream looked as confused as Optimus.
Turning to look behind him Optimus stared at Tera who stood one hand raised in the act of fortifying the shield. "Tera what are you doing?"
Her eyes opened and took a moment to focus on Optimus, "What I have to." She swallowed hard, "I'm sorry my friend, this is my fight, not yours."
"That wasn't the plan!" Optimus yelled as Tera ran straight for the shield.
She hit the shield at a full run; it felt like walking though a thin wall of water. As water would cling to skin, the shield clung to her like a second skin and formed a flexible barrier around her. Once on the other side Tera stopped and faced Starscream.
Starscream regarded her for a moment before saying, "So you choose the way of the coward and decide to hide behind your little shield like you did before? Will you stay and fight this time? Or run away like you have done in the past." Starscream taunted her. "That is your way isn't it little Queen? You abandoned your home world when it was attacked; you abandoned your guardian Autobot when you were attacked. Do you have it in you to fight?" He shifted and signaled to the Decepticon to his far right, "lets see if this is enough of an incentive to make you stay this time, little Queen."
The Decepticon stepped forward and shifted in form, his middle section opened and Captain Lennox fell a yard to the ground at the feet of the Decepticon who had held him prisoner. A moment after he landed an energy field sprung up around him, trapping the human inside a dome of power.
Her heart dropped as she staggered a step forward, "Will" her voice came out scarcely above a whisper.
Captain Lenox staggered to his feet and glared at Starscream. "Oho come on!" Lennox yelled as he pounded on the energy field that held him prisoner, he opened his mouth to yell again, but all that came out was a chest-wracking cough that left him gasping for air.
"Little queen you have to make a choice. Do you save your guardian? Or the human you have foolishly fallen in love with?" Starscream challenged. The Decepticon who had held the Captain loomed over him with a challenging come here wave of one hand. The one who had carried and kicked Sideswipe took a step closer to his charge and placed a hand on Sideswipe's injured shoulder applying pressure to the wound and taunting her to do anything about it.
"Go Tera, go back to Optimus!" Sideswipe managed to get out through clenched teeth.
Tera narrowed her eyes at Starscream. A globe of power rose behind the unaware Decepticons, it pulsed with potential power in time with Tera's racing heart. A blue bow of pure power formed in her hands; she drew the string back and took aim with a power arrow. "I choose both."