AN: Well, it's official. I'm dyslexic. What a great way to start an author's note. I do have a chrome extension that catches SOME mistakes, but I guess I'm gonna have to give in and pay for premium so that it catches everything. I'm gonna go back and fix everything I can once I get around to that.

Sorry for the month-long cliffhanger. I had such a hard time writing this chapter, for some reason. I still hope you find enjoyment in it, nonetheless.

Chapter 25:

Roadbuster and Topspin came scrambling out of the brush to aid their fallen brother. They were frantically trying to get him up. He didn't seem to be responsive. He could be dead for all I know. They had no clue what the fuck just happened. They didn't know what to do, at a time like this. Even after a few moments, Leadfoot still wasn't budging. They both looked at me. I guess they were looking for answers. I had nothing to offer them except for my horrified expression, as this wasn't an outcome I anticipated

I was really hoping they would have just left or at least stayed put until found time to come back to them. I should have known better. I completely forgot about Lockdown, for a second. He was coming up from behind me and the two bots noticed the sound of his footsteps. They both looked up. I turned around and he was standing only a few yards away from me, now. He didn't look too happy. His face was back to normal; it was out of gun-mode or whatever that was. He was still pretty menacing, nonetheless.

He raised his arm toward the sky. A weapon began to assemble over his forearm. Whenever he does something like that, I find it hard to find a good way to describe it. It's like his arm has its own transformation if that makes any sense. A bright light flashed from the center of the now fully functional weapon. The light faded, leaving a soft glow emitting from the inside of it. This cannon was massive. After readying his weapon, he looked down on the gang. His gaze was enough to make the bots flinch.

"You couldn't have run away forever, not from me, not even from the humans," Lockdown spoke in a cold, low voice. "I certainly wasn't going to let you get away with my little vermin." His optics wandered their way down and onto me. He only took a second to glance at me before looking back up. Something about the way he said that seemed weird, to me. I couldn't quite put my finger on it.

"Yours?," Topspin was getting up on his feet, now. "She doesn't belong to you. What do the Earthlings want with you, anyway?"

"Bots like you have no business treading on this planet. They want you gone."

I bet those words cut deep. After all, those years of fighting alongside each other and the humans turned on them. It's still hard to believe something like this would happen.

"They're not looking to have you three killed, yet," Lockdown lowered his cannon. "If you come quietly, then we won't have a problem."

Their faces turned grim. There was no way they were just gonna give up like that. The tension was through the roof, and it was only getting higher.

"They don't appreciate what you've done to their world. They don't appreciate you bringing about the destruction of their civilization," Lockdown glanced at me again. "And they don't appreciate all the times you've snatched up their kind and taken them off."

I felt my stomach tie itself in knots. I can't say I'm surprised that this isn't the first time a human's run off with the Autobots. Roadbuster and Topspin both turned and looked at me, waiting for me to say something. Just something to defend them. I opened my mouth to speak, but I just couldn't think of anything to say, at first. I pondered for a second.

"Lockdown, it isn't like that," It was the only thing I could think of. He didn't even acknowledge I spoke.

They realized it was no use looking to me for help. Lockdown didn't want to hear me, right now. He had a mission. I watched the two Wreckers both assume fighting stances, and I knew at the moment now, it was about to go down. Lockdown took this as an act of defiance. Lockdown's visor came down, and He raised his cannon again. He aimed it right at Roadbuster. The second he saw the barrel pointed at him, he rolled out the way before Lockdown could even fire. A sudden piercing light flashed over a spot on the tree Roadbuster was standing in front of before he moved. In a much brighter flash of light, the tree then exploded.

The light blinded all three of us. Lockdown didn't seem fazed. His visor must have protected his optics from the light. After a short second, Roadbuster turned around and wrapped his hands around the trunk of what looked like a medium-sized tree. He pulled upwards until finally, it popped up out of the ground, roots and all. During this, Topspin leaped at Lockdown and tried to bring him to the ground, but it was no use. When Lockdown pried the blue bot off, that was Roadbuster's cue to swing that tree like a bat, and it knocked the other mech to the floor. I took that as a cue to take cover. I was up and out of there before Lockdown even made contact with the ground. I scampered off and hid behind a cluster of rocks by a frozen-over stream. It wasn't too far from the fight; I could still clearly see what was going on.

Something didn't seem right, to me. Roadbuster and Topspin were taking a weird approach to attacking him, or at least I thought. They were going in melee if that makes sense. They were using things around them to help them fight, or they were throwing fists. Now, you might not think that's weird, right off the bat. The problem is, they're both covered in guns. Did they run out of bullets or something?

I caught sight of Leadfoot at the corner of my eye. He was a good few meters away from, and he was still down. The fight seemed to have moved away from him, which is a good thing. I guess my whereabouts had been completely forgotten about once the fight started. That's fine with me. They probably forgot about Leadfoot, too, which isn't a very good thing. I left my spot, and I made my way through the brush to the laying bot. Leadfoot was laying on his side. The wound in his chest had a bit of smoke billowing up from it, still. A blue, fluorescent liquid was still trickling out, a little. It must have been some sort of life fluid, kind of like how people have blood.

His arm was on the ground in front of him, motionless. I placed my hand on it, and his metal form was pretty warm. I'm not sure how long it'd take for him to cool down if he were dead, but I guess that's a good sign.

"Leadfoot?"

He didn't respond to my voice.

"Leadfoot!"

He twitched a little. I watched as the light from his optics began to illuminate beneath his visor.

"Say something!"

"What?" He grumbled. I let out a sigh of relief. It was good to see him a little bit conscious. He tried to sit up, but the pain of the injury hit him all at once, at that moment. He let out a loud groan, and I tried to hush him.

"Don't move, you're hurt!"

"I see that, now…" He raised his hand up to his face and noticed it was covered in the blue liquid. "What happened-?"

He barely finished his sentence when suddenly, a loud noise rang out. We both jumped at the noise. It was cannon-fire. I turned around and found that Lockdown was responsible for it, but he missed whoever he was firing at. The shot was enough to take a huge chunk of dirt out of the ground only a few feet away from Topspin.

Leadfoot painstakingly managed to roll himself over onto his back. That's when he noticed the fight currently happening. "What the hell?!" He cried out.

"It's gonna be fine, I-"

"What the hell's going on?!"

"Listen, I need you to calm down!"

For some reason, he shot me a really mean glare.

"He isn't looking to kill you guys," I began to babble, "I think if we can get the other two on board, then we can get you guys out of-"

Suddenly, we heard a cry in this distance. I couldn't tell who it was. When I looked, I saw Topspin finally managed to bring Lockdown to his knees. He had his arm locked around his throat - or whatever that part's call on a bot. Roadbuster had the hilt of a blade in his hands and the knife part with plunged into the upper left of Lockdown's chest. I heard Roadbuster cackle as he twisted the blade and Lockdown cried out in pain once more. He began thrashing, trying to break free from Topspin's grasp.

Without thinking of the consequences of running in between a group of fighting robots, I rushed toward them. I heard Leadfoot call out my name, but I didn't stop to look. He barely even knew what the hell was going on. I hate to leave his side, like this.

"STOP!"

Roadbuster and Topspin stopped and looked at me. All three of them looked startled by the sound of my voice. I came to a halt. I don't think I've ever run that fast in my life.

"Don't hurt him!" I said, huffing and puffing. The second I finished that sentence I thought 'it's a little too late to be asking that.' They've certainly done him quite a bit of harm.

They both look astonished, to say the least. Topspin dropped the writhing mech, and he fell to the ground with a loud 'thud.' It didn't matter that they stopped. By the looks of it, it was already too late for him. I wasted no time scurrying to his side. His optics were locked onto the blade that was jammed just below his shoulder. I recognized it as one of his own weapons. Roadbuster must have snatched it off of him. He frantically grasped at it and ripped it out of his metal form.

That blue life fluid came pouring out of the injury. In seconds, it was pooling on the ground beneath his chest. Just like that, he collapsed to the ground and tried to cover the wound. I placed a hand on his face and tried to think of something - anything I could do to help him. He pressed his optics shut before opening them again and my eyes met with his. I realized there was nothing I could do for him, now. He shuttered slightly. He was more frustrated than anything. He was upset it had to be this way. Before I knew it, the light faded from his optics.

I took a few steps back and blinked a few times. It took a moment for it to process. My vision began to distort as I felt this strangling anguish rip through my body. Topspin stared at me blankly, while Roadbuster looked like he was about ready to scream. I buried my face in my palms. I stood there for a few seconds. Then, I dropped to my knees, and that's when I began sobbing. I couldn't believe this. How could I have let this happen? It was all my fault. I should have never left the shard.

"What?" Roadbuster blurted out.

"Mate-..." Topspin tried to interject.

"Why?!" Roadbuster hollered. "Why are you even upset?"

"It's just-"

"This is the guy has enslaved you, and you think he's worth your grief?"

I wiped my eyes and looked up. I took a deep breath and tried to calm down. "He was my friend-"

"That isn't friendship, mate." With that, the green bot turned and began to walk toward his wounded comrade. "You're better than that."

He had more he wanted to say; I could tell. He chose not to, though. Leadfoot looked befuddled. He still had no idea what was going on. Topspin sheepishly glanced over at me. He didn't know what to say or do for me. I just gave him a short nod, and he left to go aid his brother.

After wiping my eyes once more, I stood up I didn't bother to brush the snow off of me, at first. The cold was the least of my problems, right now. Maybe they were right. I try to see the best in people. I have a track record of befriending the worst kinds of people because deep down, I think anyone can be good. I know people can change. It wasn't uncommon for my friends to turn their lives around after finding someone who believed in them. It's encouragement like that that makes people change for the better. I was hoping Lockdown would be an instance of that. I really did think somewhere inside of him was some sort of good locked away, but I guess I'll never really know.

I joined the other two who were with Leadfoot, now. I had a lot of things going through my mind. The more I thought about it, the more upset I'd become. Now that he's gone, I don't think I can ever get back to my hometown. I'll never go back to the airfield. I won't ever see the Sgt. or the Col. again, either. They were the only two people I could really depend on if Lockdown couldn't help me. That was the closest thing I had to a home, and I can't go back, now.

The Wreckers were chattering away, like always. They were talking about what they were gonna do with Leadfoot and how they were going to bring him to safety. I didn't have any ideas or anything to add, really. Even if I were in a good state of mind, I'd still be at a loss for any plans. I was still lost in thought. I'll always be a fugitive, I guess. I'll always have people after me. At a time like this, I wish I could just disappear.

I noticed Leadfoot had a weird look on his face. He just looked... confused, for a second there. He seemed to be looking at something I didn't really get to see what, though. My attention was suddenly caught when I noticed a patch of light flicker over a spot on Roadbuster's back. It was like a flash of lightning. I don't think the others noticed it. Then came the sound. With a thunderous 'crack' came an even larger blast of light that blinded all of us. A horrible scream of pain came from the bot and when the light faded, he stood there, frozen.

Whatever hit him left a massive mark on his back. It was a huge circular burn. His metal was scorched black, and it was warped from the impact alone. It's like time froze, at that moment. The three of us were left befuddled. Roadbuster fell like a tree trunk, and the ground rumbled from the impact. The pure, unfiltered fear on Topspin's face was disturbing. I can barely describe it. I don't think I've ever seen fear like this plastered on another living being's face in my entire life. He knew damn well what just happened. I knew it, too.

He hesitated for a moment to look. He tried to hide his terror before turning around. I did the same. In the distance, was a tall, dark figure. His face was masked in a hazy, green glow.

I couldn't believe it.

Lockdown wasn't dead. He was back up, now. He was a little bit hunched over, and he was gripping the wound on his chest. From where we were standing, I could see the barrel of his cannon had smoke smoldering up out of it. He lowered his arm and the weapon practically disintegrated. It fell apart into pieces that scattered onto the ground. He flexed his hand a little bit, probably getting used to the feeling of it being exposed, again. He began moving toward us.

He walked right up to Topspin, who tried taking a few steps back. Every step he'd take away, Lockdown would only come closer. Topspin's cannons flick upward, and I could hear a slight high-pitched whine as they charged up. He chooses now of all times to use his guns? In a quick motion, Lockdown locked his fingers around the posts that the guns were on. With a bit of effort, he ripped them straight off of the blue bot's shoulders. Topspins stumbled back a few feet. In an even faster movement, yet another weapon began to assemble over his fist. In the quick second that I could see it, I noticed it looked kind of like a brass knuckle.

He quickly swung his fist with the knuckle and gave Topspin a right hook straight to his abdomen. A huge electric shock erupted from the weapon and Topspin convulsed a little before the shock subsided and he fell to the forest floor. That was it. It was over.

"Lockdown…" I whimpered. He brought his visor up, and he looked at me, visibly confused. "What have you done?"

"What do you want with us?!" Topspin choked out as he rolled onto his back. He was trying to get back up, it seemed.

"I could not possibly care less about any of you," Lockdown planted a foot on the bot's chest, pinning him back down. "You're only alive because you're going to tell us where Prime is."

"Piss off."

Lockdown scowled at hearing this.

"Vega, why did you go back?!" Topspin shouted.

"I was trying to save you!" I didn't know what else to say to him. This plan hadn't worked out like I thought it would.

"I knew she would return," Lockdown spoke. He took his foot off Topspin's chest and turned toward me. "You're a fool, Vega. I know it's within your nature to protect those you've perceived are the innocent, but you would have led me to them one way or another. You know I'd come for you."

"Don't listen to him," Topspin growled.

"I'm sorry it had to be this way, Vega. I'm sorry you were left to die," He knelt down and for once, I could tell he was feeling something. "I couldn't save you then, but I will save you now. It's time for you to come home."

Topspin had lost all hope, at this point. I felt tears well up in my eyes, and before I knew it, they were streaming down my face, quick. I've only known him for a short period of time, but I can't describe how distraught I felt letting him and the others down like this. I had no other options, at this moment, but I think I know how to fix this.

I gave a short nod, and in a whisper, I uttered

"Okay."