Cold. Her whole body was cold. Right down to every muscle, bone, cell, and molecule. She could barely think straight because of it, it was the only thing on her mind at the moment. That was why she barely heard Megatron's harsh voice when asked her questions, heard the sound of his talons scraping against the cage she was being held captive in.
A caged bird. That was what she was.
She rolled over pressing her head against the hard surface of the cage, curling up into a ball, closing her eyes and praying. She had never really been a religious person, but it seemed praying to someone, or something, helped.
For a second, she thought of Optimus. She missed him. The pain of not having him near was almost as agonizing as the bloody hole in her chest. Once again, she had heard the screams, had heard the sound of him being beaten. Over time, the screams had dulled down into nothing. No shouts. Just a few grunts and moans that echoed through the whole base.
Voices. Someone, or something, was speaking too her. Zora's eyes fluttered open, and she felt the urge to snap them shut when she saw a pair of crimson optics hovering just behind the bars of the cage.
"…..humans are so pathetically fragile," Megatron was saying. "Although, you have lasted longer than any of my previous human pets."
"Good for me," Zora croaked. "Where's my award?"
Megatron swatted at the hanging cage. Hard. Zora was thrown from her position on the cage floor, slamming against the bars. She was rocking back and forth, and once again, blood seeping from between her fingers.
"You never learn, do you, my pet?" Megatron growled. "You lack the proper discipline."
Zora didn't answer. Suddenly, her whole body felt heavy. Her eyelids drooped, and she felt the blackness consuming her mind, engulfing her consciousness.
She snapped back into reality, and saw Megatron staring, optics narrowed.
"Pathetic," he muttered. "The Primes, apparently, have not gifted you the slightest."
Zora said the first word that popped into her mind.
"Asshole."
Megatron smirked, his talons reaching out to open the cage. She heard the click as the lock was turned, his fingers reaching through to grab her. She scooted into a corner, covering herself, giving Megatron a nasty glare, for it was the only defense she had. Moreover, it was a fruitless attempt, Zora admitted to herself.
"Come here, fleshling. I am not going to hurt you. Yet," Megatron cooed.
Talons gripped Zora's exposed ankle. Megatron pulled, hard, and Zora found herself tumbling onto Megatron's palm. The Decepticon leader analyzed her for a moment, making Zora even more uncomfortable than before. The wound in her chest throbbed, and her legs ached to the point where she could not stand.
"Such as shame. You are on the brink of death, and you know it," Megatron said. Zora, panting, put a hand over her chest, pulled it away, and cringed when she saw the blood covering her fingertips. Megatron was right.
"Only because you are the one who shot me," Zora pointed out, coughing. Megatron snarled and wrapped his talons around her waist, letting her legs dangle. He lifted her up so he could look her in the eyes. His optics glowed, a demonic red that reminded Zora so much of the bug's eyes.
"Self defense, fleshling. I had no choice."
"And you're glad you did it?"
"Frankly, yes. It stopped your….rampage."
Zora smirked. "Oh, yeah, I forgot to ask. How's Barricade's shoulder. I burned it off pretty good."
Zora braced herself, but Megatron did not squeeze. He just tilted his head to the side, optics focusing on one of Zora's legs. He brought up a claw, almost gingerly touching it against Zora leg.
"You wouldn't," Zora growled.
"I would," Megatron replied, not bothering to hide the sadistic edge in his voice. Growling, he pressed the talon against Zora's thigh, dragging it downwards, wincing when the blood splattered onto his talons.
Zora screamed. Screamed so loud that it bounced off the walls.
Megatron laughed. "What happened to all that power, fleshling? Have the Primes finally deemed you unworthy to hold such power?"
Zora grunted, trying to come up with a response. She feebly spat out a few rude words, unable to come up with anything else. Behind all the haze and pain, she heard Megatron's cruel laughter. She wriggled her fingers, trying to produce more of the burning light, something, that would shut the tyrant up. Nothing. The pain kept blocking her concentration.
"Go ahead. Burn me," Megatron's voice had become deathly quiet. It felt like he was whispering right in Zora's ear. "However, you and Prime will pay the price."
"You sick piece of crap…." Zora snarled, doing her best to shut out the burning agony in her leg. She couldn't look down. Didn't want to look down. She was afraid to see the damage.
"Go ahead…." He urged. "Then I can tell Prime that his precious little human practically condemned him to death."
"No. Not him," Zora groaned. "Please, don't."
"You wish for him to live longer?"
"Yes." Zora said quickly.
"Why is that?"
Zora bit her lip. She spat out a glob of blood, watched it hit one of Megatron's talons. The Decepticon leader did not flinch, did not punish her for getting her "disgusting human lubricants" all over his glorious metal. In fact, he was far more focused on Zora's answer than anything else at the moment.
"Because…." Zora started, and then stopped. Why had she wanted Optimus to live? She cared for him, just as much as she cared for her. Did she think of him as more than a friend….?
She did. But Megatron didn't need to know that.
"Answer me, femme," Megatron squeezed, hard, and Zora heard the unmistakable sound of ribs cracking. Her breathing was labored.
"I can't answer if you crush me," Zora wheezed. "Dead people don't talk."
Megatron sighed and knelt down, letting her drop to the ground. Immediately, her bleeding leg gave out, and she hit the floor, cheek scraping painfully against the stone.
"Stand."
"I can't."
"You can, and you will. Unless you want to prove your species weaker than they already are."
Zora gulped and felt her chest again. Blood. She felt her leg. More blood. She would die of blood loss, certainly.
"I said stand."
"I'm standing," Zora responded. She got to her hands and knees, shakily getting to her feet, crying out when her knees buckled and she felt herself falling once more.
"I-I can't," she sobbed. Already, she was crying. Tears streaked down her dirt covered face. Tears that Megatron failed to acknowledge. Of course, monsters like him never cried. They had been robbed of any emotions long ago.
"Very well."
"Don't kill me."
"Who said I was going to kill you?"
"The w-way you said it….m-made it sound like y-you were i-implying it."
Suddenly, something slammed into Zora so hard that it flipped her over onto her back. The world was a blur, the only colors being the red of Megatron's optics and the red of her own blood. It filled her vision, it was all over her arms and legs and face. She could no longer see Megatron, she could no longer hear anything but her own screaming.
Except for Megatron's distant chuckling.
Sam found Drake by the beach. He wasn't alone, a tall, blonde girl with red streaks in her hair stood beside him. Bumblebee pulled over a little ways away, letting Sam out before he transformed. Drake and the girl both turned their heads.
"Um, hi," Sam said as he approached the talking duo. The girl, who looked surprisingly like Zora in the face, smiled. "I haven't seen you around."
"I bet you have," Drake mumbled. "Really, Sam?"
Sam shook his head, and then rubbed his eyes. The girl tilted her head to the side.
"Arcee?"
Drake shot him a "no freaking duh" look, but did not say a word. He was agitated, from what Sam could tell. Scratching his head every five seconds, shuffling nervously, fiddling with his thumbs. At first, Sam thought it was because he was in the presence of Arcee, one of the few Bot's that Drake had met and talked too. Maybe it was because of Zora. Or both.
"Hello, Sam," Arcee said, smiling and showing pure white teeth. Her holoform looked a few years older than Sam did, tall, with sparkling blue eyes. Sam had never seen her holoform before, and wondered if Ratchet had just helped her design it.
"Apparently, two wheels' over here is my 'Guardian.'" Drake snorted. "As if I can't take care of myself."
Sam shot Arcee an apologetic look. He didn't know how long she had known Drake, but her facial expression spoke volumes about how much she enjoyed him. She shrugged and glanced towards Bumblebee, who was sitting down, picking up handfuls of sand before letting it drop. Each time, he sent up a billowing cloud of sand.
"I should leave you two alone," Arcee nodded her head towards Bumblebee. "I'll be over here with Bee if you need me."
With that, Arcee's holoform fizzled out of existence. Sam heard a thud, and saw her true self, in bipedal mode, approach Bumblebee.
"Who assigned Arcee too you?" Sam asked. Drake took his hands out of his pocket and shrugged.
"Nobody, really. She sort of…took over. Fine with me."
Sam shot him a quizzical look. "Really?"
"Nope," he kicked a rock, watching it bounce across the sand. Then, he glanced at Bumblebee and Arcee. "Not that I don't like her. I do. She's real sweet and all, for an alien."
"She's one of the few accessible Autobots. Ironhide is already with the Lennox's. Ratchet and Jolt are both in the med bay twenty-four hours a day. Like Sunstreaker, or even Sideswipe,would willingly become anyone's guardian. Optimus…." Sam trailed off and bit his lip. "If Optimus were to come back, which I'm sure he will, he would probably take Zora as his guardian."
Drake glared and huffed, kicking at another rock.
"Just an assumption," Sam said quickly. "I know that you don't like Optimus…"
"I don't like him and Zora together."
"Right. So you don't like him and Zora together," Sam exhaled sharply and turned his head to look at Drake. "But you shouldn't let your feelings get in the way of Zora's safety."
"What are you? Dr. Phil?" Drake spat, "Why the hell do you assume that I don't care what happens to Zora? She's my best friend!"
Sam sighed. Stubborn, as always. "I'm just saying…."
"Just saying what, Sam," Drake snarled. "Look, I didn't ask to be thrown into this whole alien thing. Neither did Zora. I wouldn't abandon her, just like that."
"Okay, so you care about her," Sam said loudly. Both Bumblebee and Arcee turned, shooting Sam concerned glances. Sam waved them off, more focused on Drake. Sam could see the envy on his face when he spoke of Zora and Optimus together. It reminded him of when he had first seen Mikaela at school. Beautiful, smart, Mikaela with a jock for a boyfriend. It had filled him with envy.
However, that was then, and this was now. Sam had felt envy before he had seen giant alien robots. His opinion on many things had changed since then, and Sam was still trying to figure out if it was for the better, or for the worse. Drake was letting his feeling blind him, and at this point, that could have drastic consequences.
Sam noticed Drake's silence. He kept glancing at Bumblebee and Arcee, who had turned their backs to the two teens. "I mean, it's not like Optimus would actually fall for Zora," Sam gave a nervous laugh. "C'mon. Completely different species. Could you really see that happening?"
"Yeah," Drake said. "He stares at her, as if species doesn't matter. He likes her. A lot."
"So? That's his problem." Sam shrugged. He knew it was a rude thing to say, but oh well. Anything to change the topic. He really didn't want to discuss feeling with Drake.
"I just can't imagine Zora with an alien," Drake shook his head in disgust.
"Neither can I, Drake," Sam sucked in a breath. "But we should worry about that when they get back."
"If they get back," Drake said. Once again, he had his hands in his pocket. He stared out at the blue ocean, and smiled. "Oops. My bad. I should rephrase that. When they get back."