AN: The outrage over Optimus Prime's actions and words! The shock and anger, death threats, wow. 19 reviews for one chapter, a new record! Anyway, I probably should have warned you guys at the beginning of this story that I love cliffhangers…and making my reviewers mad when I do it. Don't hate me.

Insert something creative: Thanks for thinking my writing is brilliant, I've worked really hard on it. Any spelling errors are purely from writing too fast and then not catching the mistakes when I read back through it.

Stitchar: More therapy sessions? Got it. I knew that about Breakdown, but was unsure if Knockout would want to bring up his dead partner continually. Will have to give this a lot of thought.

Allseer: Sit tight.

Huter: Welcome and thanks for the review and faction vote.

64: I'm getting the feeling that I'm going to enjoy tormenting you.

MissCHSparkles: Extreme circumstances call for extreme measures. That's all I can say without giving anything away.

TheOddAngel: Wow, I did not see defecting coming but yes you're allowed to defect. Would you like to?

To all Guests: Welcome and thanks for your reviews!

Starfire201: Hope can be a very powerful thing.

Asher Tye: You are right to be skeptical, my friend.

AN: To everyone else, as always thanks for reviewing. Lots of reviews really motivate me to write faster, plus a thunderstorm helps too.

{Shockwave's Lab}

The roar of the jet's engines alerted Shockwave to Starscream's return. The scientist looked up as the F-22 flew through the tunnel and transformed as he neared Shockwave's lab, a human clutched in his right hand. The seeker briefly made optic contact with the scientist before ducking his head and placing his cargo on the table.

Starscream stepped back as Shockwave moved forward. The scientist scanned the small human, making sure the young male was in perfect condition before he turned to his seeker. A brief scan of Starscream showed nothing worthy of note and he turned away to focus on his latest test subject.

"There is a cube of energon on the far table, you may refuel and then you will go to monitor the perimeter scans. You will alert me if anyone approaches and you will not send out any signals of any kind."

Starscream walked a little unsteadily on his pedes to the table. His alt mode had not been the only thing Shockwave had changed; his frame was slightly bulkier to accommodate the extra weapons the scientist had added. While he had the speed of a raptor, Starcream also had the weapons assemblage of an A-10 Warthog.

The seeker took the energon cube and tried to ignore the whimpers from the prisoner. He never thought that he would ever feel anything but contempt for humans but having been strapped to that table before and knowing what was coming there was an odd stirring in his spark. He drank his energon quickly, knowing Shockwave would only let him refuel when the bigger mech felt like it, and from the corner of his optics he saw the scientist restrain the fragile human.

Shockwave paid Starscream no mind as he activated his laser tool. Using the lowest setting, he meticulously cut away the boy's shirt and brushed the pieces of cloth to the side. Using a lead pencil, Shockwave began to mark the small body at the places where he would need to pay particular attention during his experimenting. The human would no doubt not survive the process, the first test subjects rarely did, but his sacrifice would bring Shockwave that much closer to understanding the organic's biology and that in turn would lead him closer to his goal.

Having finished his energon Starscream turned away to leave. The muffled screams of the human as Shockwave made his first incision seared the seeker's audios, making him walk faster to exit the room. With any luck the human would pass out and be unconscious for the worst part. Starscream could do nothing, thanks to the slave code firmly entrenched in his systems he could not even think of attacking the scientist without an unbearable pressure building in his processor.

Starscream took up his post in the small command room of Shockwave's underground base. He had already cursed himself seven ways from right to left and back for stupidly getting mixed up in this business. Starscream fervently wished that Megatron had killed Shockwave back on Cybertron all those years ago, as the Decepticons had thought he had.

Starscream shook his head mournfully. Wishing could do nothing; it never would do anything helpful. He could not even monologue to himself thanks to Shockwave ordering him silent and his new battle mask firmly sealed over the lower part of his face. Starscream wondered if Shockwave had done the last part because he himself was without a face, and seeing the seeker would remind the scientist of what he did not have.

A camera in the corner showed the lab and Starscream did his best to ignore it. Seeing the red blood staining the table would most likely make him want to purge his tank and he needed to preserve his energon. It was a flimsy excuse, and Starscream knew it, for despite his outward appearance of being a hardened mech he really did have a queasy system for brutality and tried his best to avoid any situation that might bring him pain.

Well, he certainly had been too desperate to avoid Shockwave's clutches. The scientist had known what he was doing, offering Starscream all the energon he required in exchange for recon missions. The seeker had bought it hook, line and sinker, as the humans say… Starscream winced, the human in the lab would not live, of that he was certain.

I delivered him to his death, Starscream thought. But even without this code in me I doubt I would have helped him, I really am a coward.

AN: So, don't kill me?

Decepticons: 13

Autobots: 8