XX

Mary felt like a piece of luggage or worse as she was being pulled along by the Cons. She followed along, without a word. Every now and then, she would think about escaping but was quickly reminded about the weapons each character held. They moved two towns down. She didn't know why or where but they stopped eventually, stopping just outside of town.

"What are we doing here?" Mary mumbled, looking around.

"Wouldn't you like to know," smirked Knockout, storming passed.

Mary rolled his eyes, turning to Breakdown. The medic's assistance smiled, shrugging. He nodded toward the town.

"We need someone here. He's our…commander," explained Breakdown.

"Your commander?" whispered Mary, turning away.

"That, my dear, is why we needed Knockout so badly," hummed Breakdown, hands behind his head.

"You got your location why keep him? Why not give Kyle back!?" snapped Mary.

"He doesn't want to go back," shrugged Breakdown. "Knockout would hardly give up control to a rotten human like Kyle…"

Mary snarled, shaking her head. She watched Knockout stroll about, socializing with Starscream and Soundwave. Well, Starscream was the only one replying, obviously. Airachnid seemed to be ignoring everyone, trying to enjoy the cloudy day as best as she could. Mary sighed, rolling her eyes. She was losing patients. Knockout, arms crossed, glanced back at her. Mary perked. She saw his eyes flicker, red color fading. He shook his head, color coming back to his eyes, and turned away.

"We're close on the trail."

Bumblebee slowly glanced at Arcee who was proud by her previous statement. Bumblebee was sick of being in the backseat for the last few days. Bulkhead looked carsick, leaning out the car window. Bee glanced between Bulk and Arcee. This wasn't fun, he thought bitterly. They were approaching the latest town, second town since they lost Mary. Arcee says they were close, but who knows.

Freedom. It was on the tip of his tongue, his fingers, his toes. Kyle perked, standing up in his mind prison. The chains were loose, barely holding him down. He felt the world around him. He was breaking free, and Knockout was none the wiser.

Mary was feeling rebellious, feeling reckless. She wanted to get out but, looking over a Knockout, she couldn't leave Kyle. He would never come willingly, unless he flipped back Kyle any time soon which was highly unlikely. Just outside of town, near the entrance. She could hear in the distance. Maybe someone could hear her. What would happen if she shouted? She sighed. Feeling reckless, feeling dangerous, feeling…trapped.

"Help!"

Mary leapt up from her seated position, running in the way of the road leading into town. Breakdown stumbled, racing after her. Starscream, Soundwave and Knockout's conversation abruptly ended as all of them turned to watch Breakdown chase after Mary. She hollered again, shouting just because she could. No real words, mostly just noise. Breakdown leapt at her, tackling her to the ground.

"Oh, no you don't," he hissed, pulling her to her feet.

"Let go of me! Let go!" she howled.

"She's a waste of time," argued Knockout, coming up from behind. "Let's just end the trouble…"

Knockout pulled out his weapon, aiming to take a jab at her. Mary closed her eyes, mumbling under her breath a prayer. No Autobots, no Kyle, no friends, no hope. She gave it one last try with that shouting thing but nothing happened. Time's up.

Tired screeched. Mary opened her eyes, turning around. A car pulled over. The Autobots exited, pulling out their weapons quickly. A mad rush of battle started sporadically. Mary ducked off, hiding behind the car as the battle raced around her. Confused and startled, Mary found herself frozen and silent. Gun shot and loud crashes. She could barely breathe. Battle. She was no soldier.

"Why you…"

Mary looked around, meeting Knockout's eyes. He'd been cut along his eye, which bled slightly down his face. His weapon was right in hand, making his flesh turn almost white. He snarled, raising his weapon. Mary couldn't move, stricken down in fear. He was going to kill her like he'd promised. She shook her head.

"Kyle, please!" she gasped.

She could see the mental snap in his eyes. The color flickered, refusing to stick to any color. His bitter expression turned to one of utter shock. The weapon dropped from his hand. He grasped his head, letting out a yelp. Mary stumbled to stand up, watching Kyle and Knockout fight in one being.

"Don't you dare!" hissed Kyle.

"Get out of my head!" ordered Knockout.

"I was here first," argued Kyle.

"My body, my mind, kid!" Knockout snapped.

"You can't get rid of me!"

Mary watched them argue. One man arguing with himself. His eyes flickered between speakers. His body shook violently. Mary shook her head. She couldn't watch this. This was madness. She looked around. The battle appeared to be ending, Cons retreating. Mary turned back to the argument. Words were becoming less as he fell to his knees. Mary shook her head, looking around for anything to help.

"No!" he howled, mixed between two consciousnesses.

"I'm so sorry…" whispered Mary.

She swung Knockout's weapon across his head. He let out a minor gasp but collapsed to the ground. Mary felt the tears slipping down her cheek. Chaos. She couldn't do anything else. His eyelids fluttered but didn't open. Mary fell to her knees, dropping the weapon at her side. She covered her face with her hands, sobbing.

Bumblebee stood across from her on the other side of Kyle. He didn't know what to do either. He didn't have anything to say, regardless of if he could speak. Arcee and Bulkhead came up next to him. The fight was over. Kyle had been retrieved. Arcee patted Bee on the shoulder, motioning toward the car. They would give her a second. It's been a long couple of days.