Chapter 28: "Is it a bird?"

Later, whilst the Maximals did the repairs on the… thingy, Caitlin settled in the kitchen. She was experiencing a fierce sense of hunger, and had not been able to ignore it. But, the silence got to her. It was strange, considering she had spent many weeks seeking solitary moments – only to now need conversation. But, she had not been able to get over the fact she was now… Bonded.

And what a strange term that was.

There were no rituals of getting to know one another, dating or even the first kiss. It just was. And that was the parallel between a sentient robot and a human. As bad as it sounded: a human based most of their attraction for a suitable mate on their physical characteristics. If one found a partner who was beautiful on the inside and out: they were very fucking lucky. Caitlin? Not so much. She had only ever had, at least: two boyfriends. The first had been simply a puppy love. She hadn't at all felt much other than the fact it was nice to be… liked. She had never been the type to actively seek companionship – but humans were often social creatures. Even at times: the anti-social desired a conversation or two… if only to avoid boredom. It was not love. And besides, she'd only been, what… 10 at the time? That wasn't a time for a girl to have a 'boyfriend'.

But her second boyfriend… had been a surprise. Most of all to her. He had a girlfriend at the time she first actually met him in High School. They'd been in the same year, but not until the last two years, did they officially meet and actually chat. Then they just kept meeting and her, the person who preferred her own company: found she actually liked his.

It had been… confusing to her.

Then, in her own way: she had started seeking his companionship… but, in the end: he had taken been in a motorcycle accident on a date with his Girlfriend…

She had liked him. And that was why she had been so furious. She could not let go of that piece of her past. She had liked him. Despite the fact he had a Girlfriend, he'd been her Best Friend. She had told him things she'd never been able to tell her twin – who could practically read her mind, when she bothered. And he had been her first kiss. They'd both been drunk at the time. He and the rest of her friends at the time, had been drinking before their 18ths. She hadn't wanted to, really, but even she was not immune to peer pressure. One thing lead to another – and she gave him her first kiss.

It was then she really realised that it had not been a crush. She had thought of him as only her friend.

She didn't think she knew what that kind of love was like. She had enjoyed the kiss, maybe. But… there weren't exactly any sparks either; like the kind some people mentioned. She'd never experienced that. He may have been the one to claim her first kiss – but he had not been the one to claim her heart. In fact, no one had a claim on her heart. But, the fact she was Spark-Mated to Dinobot and Rattrap, bothered her: because that implied they both had a claim…

Frankly, it terrified her.

The apple dropped from her hand and rolled onto the floor. She stared at the hand that it had fallen out of, and sighed.

She needed to think of something else. Mulling over it, she decided to link minds with Rattrap to see what they were doing in the base of the ship.

It was a little thing she'd learnt that she could do, by accident… She certainly hadn't wanted to see him remember a few, perverse memorises…


While they operated on the engine, Rattrap decided to voice his opinion, yet again, about the situation regarding Dinobot. "But we still can't trust Dinobot!"

"Before we decide where he's going," the rhino said in a tone that said he was nearing the threshold of his patience with this argument. "Better decide where we're going. I'm almost done with these drive repairs!" He was hard at it too, didn't even look up at the rat as he told him his point of view on the matter. Business always comes first. How alike peace and conflict were…

"First order of business is the stasis pods still in orbit," Optimus said. "They have to be recovered and our comrades rescued. We also have to alert Tigatron."

"Okay, but after that we start exploring the galaxy again, right?" Cheetor asked.

"Who-Who-Whoa! What're talking here?" Rattrap exclaimed. "E-eh! Have you taken a look at this scrap-heap lately?" he asked, looking around. "We even make it to space, he-he-he, the only place we're heading is back to Cybertron!"

"I'm afraid Rattrap is right," Optimus said after he'd shifted his position from above to where the rat and cat were.

"Woo-hoo-hoo-hoo!" Rattrap exclaimed excitedly. "Yeah-heh! Bout time too! Ohh, I can just hear the dame's cryin for me!"

Caitlin growled, clenching her new apple in her hand. And didn't even notice when it was crushed. The juice dripped down her am and onto the floor.

What did that blasted jackass rodent mean by that….? Besides the obvious of course.

He was Spark-Mated to her, and he was thinking about other 'dames'! That rat would have another thing coming when she got her hands on him!

A part of her brain went Click, and she froze.

Hold on a second… Did she just think what she think she just thought?

Then, behind Rattrap, Dinobot appeared in raptor form. He couldn't help but make a snide remark, if that smirk was anything to go by. "Perhaps it is the thought of your return that causes their… unhappiness."

Rattrap spun with a grin. "E-he-hey, Chopperface! An actual comeback!" Then frowned and waved his hand like a rocking boat on the sea. "Eh, a little lame, but I can tell you're feeling better."

"And with good reason," he jibbed pleasantly as the raptor approached the rat. "I shall not see you again."

"Whoo-hoo!" Rattrap exclaimed, thrilled to be insulted once again. (How positively strange. Usually people were thrilled to be complimented…) "Another dig!"

Optimus, however… didn't feel the thrill of his statement – and what it actually might mean. "Shh," he said as he pulled the rat back to look closer at the raptor. "What are you saying Dinobot? You will not return with us to Cybertron?"

Dinobot shook his head. "No. On Cybertron, I will be merely a Predacon Criminal. But on this planet… I have no equal. I shall remain to conquer and rule."

"I understand," Optimus replied with the patience of the saint, knowing he could do nothing to dissuade the former Predacon soldier. And he remembered something that Caitlin had once said… "Dinobot is a Warrior, born and raised in Predacon traditions and beliefs. True, his honour is a cause of envy amongst you Maximals, but… he isn't suited for the peace you aspire to. He craves combat for that's where he thrives…" And, it was true. It was strange that she, a stranger to war – knew more about this soldier than he himself did. "Nonetheless," he added to the raptor out loud. "Let the records show that I advise against this action. It will eventually lead to your destruction."

"Eventually," Dinobot agreed, but then added, "Eventually can be a long time, Optimus Primal." He stood up straight and looked at them all like a soldier reporting off from duty. "I salute my former Maximal Leader, and my former comrades… Goodbye."

"What about Caitlin?" Cheetor asked. "Are you going to say goodbye to her too?"

"…I do not think she would mind," he replied without turning around and prowled off.

"Dinobot!" Cheetor exclaimed, and then quieter… "Dinobot?"

The raptor didn't reply.

Caitlin growled; a haze of red filtering through her vision. How dare those two Spark-Mates of hers treat her like some sort of garbage disposal unit! But then, her anger defused just as quickly as it had been ignited. Then again… she was the one who had avoided them like the plague. So, she could not fault them for their actions. Well, in regards to Rattrap – he was an abject womanising scumbag hoe! She laughed to herself at that. She couldn't help but think it. He exploited his perverse nature even to Cheetor. He had made it no secret that he liked to travel the wild side… And Dinobot? He was not a bot that valued such attachments. And, if he did… well, she couldn't think on that either.

"Damn emotions!" she snarled and then stood to her feet to grab another apple. She paused at the fruit bowl. What was she going to do? Suddenly, a familiar presence made itself known. Turning around, she smiled at a certain black feline. He'd grown bigger than last she'd seen him. She smiled warmly. "Hello Shadow."

"Caitlin!" he exclaimed excitedly, pouncing on top of his 'Mother' and lavishing kisses on her. "You're back!"

Caitlin almost gagged on the saliva. She wiped it off once her exuberant 'Son' had calmed down, and stroked his head. If panther's had the ability to purr, Shadow would have. Instead, he made a pleased growl at the back of his throat and leant into her hand. She chuckled, but her good mood dimmed as she remembered Shadow's real mother, and how she had died – and then she remembered the events leading up to her capture by the Predacons…

Unable to stop the torrent of emotions, she fell into Shadow's side – hugging the panther closely as she started to sob the tears she had not released in… many, many years.

Shadow growled affectionately, rubbing his head against his distressed mother's side. He tried to comfort her as much as he could with his presence. But, her sobs seemed to increase at his attempts to comfort her and so he simply settled for wrapping his tail around her. "Everything will be okay," he whispered. But, he didn't know if it would be…


Somewhere off in the distance, a white red-eyed rat was sniffing around. He was minding his own business, when suddenly: heavy footsteps came stampeding towards him. His eyes widened as a large foot hovered above him, and he bolted off before he could be squashed. The massive form causing the disturbance, turned out to be Dinobot. He had transformed into his robotic form at some point, and he looked around the terrain. The rat had fallen against a cliff, pressed into the dirt until he started sliding down a wide crack in the earth that lead down into darkness. Dinobot, hardly concerned by the sharp drop – easily stepped over the gap – when suddenly the rat began to screech… and a manic cackling sound, echoed.

A bit of saliva dropped from a familiar pair of pincers onto a certain flyer's beak. Making a disgusted sound in his throat, Terrorsaur made the appropriate face someone made when something disgusting and slimly fell on then; and shook his head to rid himself of the offending… gunk. There could only be one culprit, since he knew Waspinator hadn't sneaked any fruit in and he glared up at Tarantulas: "Stop slobbering on me, Tarantulas!"

The spider shimmied around to look at him, none too pleased to be interrupted. "I am feasting!"

"Waspinator move! Tarantulas fat enough already," Waspinator snapped, pushing against the spider's butt and fed up with being pinned to the wall in the narrow space.

"If Waspinator does not stop cuddling me like a stuffed toy when he sleeps," Tarantulas yelled at the wasp threateningly, "Then I'll eat him as well!"

Waspinator, however: was one of the very few bots who was not intimidated by the deranged scientist. "I'd like to see you try!"
"Yes I will!"
"No you won't!"

...And so the two quickly fell into the argument against their end of the crack. Had it been any other moment in time and not inside the small and narrow and claustrophobic-inducing space between two cliffs – Vincent might have been laughing. Instead, he covered his ears with his hands hard enough for his knuckles to turn white. He hummed a tune almost obsessively in his throat to block out the sounds around him. He was this close to losing it – much like that red chicken who was acting skittish in the cramped, tight space.

"You all make me sick!" Terrorsaur yelled, his voice showing the meltdown of his mind. "I-I can't stand this any longer, Megatron! I GOTTA GET OUT!"

"Cool it, Dickless!" Vincent finally snapped, trying to grasp the red pterodactyl by the neck to stop him from moving around too much – and hitting him. He felt his temper rising; and while he had no qualms unleashing his temper; he couldn't afford the risk for the Maximals, or Caitlin, realising they were actually alive. His temper was wild and as dangerous as fire. And like Caitlin, if he lost control of his rage: a tornado of flames would burst from him – incinerating all around him as if he was an atomic bomb. But, if he did that: Megatron would just come back from the dead just to kill him and drag him to The Inferno with him. And he didn't want that… "You're not the only one who wants out," he sneered at Terrorsaur. "So stop making it seem like you're the only one who doesn't find this annoying!"

Finally, Scorponok was the one who slapped Terrorsaur silly. Vincent ducked just in time to watch the red chicken go SPLAT against the wall. The scorpion sent Terrorsaur a look that said it all: 'It's all your fault, you moron!' "We wouldn't be here, if you didn't trip over that spy cable!" was all he said angrily. Even he was fed up with this situation, it appeared.

"You are correct, Scorponok," Megatron growled out. He made a very awkward, amusing picture in the small space. His hulking figure was forced to crouch down. Frankly, it didn't look at all comfortable. And Vincent hoped the T-Rex was feeling every bit as small and painful as the image looked. But, his arrogance was too outstanding for that. "But, thanks to Terrorsaur's inherent discovery of the enemy spy camera, we were able to pull this little deception… yeeesssss!"

'Ever one to point out the obvious isn't he?' Vincent smirked to himself, hardly daring to voice the thought out loud.

"But what if they detect us?" Blackarachnia asked, the femme Predacon in the most comfortable position, of course. "Don't forget… my signature dampening device is only experimental."

"As all good things are," Vincent muttered to himself.

"We only have to wait until they have repaired their ship," Megatron replied, turning to face the she-spider. "And then attack while their guard is down. With the Maximal shop in our possession, we will be able to recover the orbiting stasis pods, containing Maximal's eager… hehehehe, to become Predacons!" Terrorsaur, who was attempting to get up from his awkward place on the wall, stopped and cowered when Megatron suddenly appeared, towering over him; "SO NO ONE LEAVES!"

"Leaving?" he asked as innocently as a Predacon can be. "Who said anything about leaving? OW!" he yelled – a rock falling atop his head.

"What's that?" Megatron asked, looking upwards – and spotted a very familiar face. "A SPY! It's that traitor, Dinobot!" Dinobot ran off hurriedly, his processor hunting for a strategic place to fight – since he was a smart warrior. "Stop him, Predacons: TERRORISE!" the T-Rex ordered. Waspinator and Terrorsaur were the first ones who shot out of the crack – and flew towards Dinobot's position….

…Only to have a very-very large boulder drop on top of them, courteously of Dinobot.

"Blackarachnia, TERRORISE!" the she-spider said once she was free of the crack.

Vincent, however, chose to fold his arms and watch the battle. He was in no mood to fight, today. The others, however, held no qualms about heading out.

"Scorponok TERRORISE!"
"Tarantulas TERRORISE!
"Megatron TERRORISE!"

"Megatron's forces survive!" Dinobot exclaimed as he ran, his sword on hand as a necessary precaution. "I must warn Optimus!"


Back at the Axalon, a certain illusive tiger was finally approaching the Axalon. He was using the lift to enter the Control Room; however he didn't exactly like the feeling of being closed in on all corners. He had been 'born' out in the open with nature. And since he had no memories of his former life, he often felt more tiger than robot. "It feels strange to be inside an artificial structure!" he hissed, looking very much like he'd rather be outside right now – and running for the mountains that were his territory.

"Hey-hey!" Rattrap called from where he was laying atop the Control Console. "It's Tigatron the Barbarian!"

"And what does that make you, vermin?" Caitlin scoffed darkly, rolling her eyes. She was referring to the rats' unsanitary habits as she headed towards the lift.

"Can it!" Rattrap sniffed in reply, and turned to the white tiger – ignoring Caitlin completely. "Welcome back to civilisation guy! We're going home!"

"And you're just in time," Rhinox added. "All systems check!"

"Let's do it!" Optimus yelled.

"Power up!" Rhinox called, pressing a few buttons – unaware that one occupant wasn't on the ship.

Caitlin was outside, watching from below – when she heard and then saw Dinobot racing towards them. But… he was being followed by the Predacons. He'd been shot in the back, but that didn't stop him from powering up his lasers and shooting at his annoying adversaries from where he'd fallen. Her reaction was instinctive and instantaneous. "DINOBOT!" she yelled, raising her arms. Fire rose at the flick of her fingers. Her left eye flashing as red as her right, before she flicked her arms forward. A deadly wave of red-hot flames shot towards the Predacons firing upon Dinobot. As they skittered back to avoid the temperamental tendrils, she ran forward as Megatron fired a shot at Dinobot. Once she was at his side, she used the wind to blow a blast underneath him, forcing him somewhat to his feet.

"You are two kinds of crazy—You insane, bloodthirsty, arrogan', cocky cocksure varmint!" She growled down at him as he fell back to his knees, unable to support his own weight. "Do you EVER think about ANYTHING otha than ya bloody desire for rulin over those weaka than ya?!" She threw up her hands, interrupting what might have been his reply and slapped him over the head, not in the slightest bit sympathetic to his wounds. "God you Preds, even former ones, are so annoyingly stubborn, it pales when compared to a bloody mule!"

Dinobot could only stare up at her in silence – when suddenly from behind them; Optimus flew down. He placed a shield between the three of them and the missiles. "This is strategically unsound," the raptor managed to say with no small amount of disapproval of Optimus' actions.

"Tell me about it back on Cybertron!" Optimus replied, intending to get the hell out of there – but got shot down by that blasted, no-good bastard Terrorsaur!

Oh, she was totally going to melt a certain part of his body to a certain part of a certain wasp's body!

Cheetor appeared by their side – and together with Caitlin, they fired upon the red chicken. And just like the cowardly ass he was, he flew back. The missiles from the ship came raining down upon the oncoming Predacons; taking them out one by one. Optimus transformed, but the ship was already moving. A little too fast. There was nothing to be done about it. It was going to go, and it was going to go now! Dinobot had passed out, and the ape had to carry him to the lift. Caitlin was already there with Cheetor, leaning forward slightly, preparing herself to help the ape – but suddenly:
….Optimus was falling….

Caitlin's face twisted angrily as Cheetor yelled. When they appeared up in the Control Room, they shook their heads. Caitlin looked to the side in shame. The others understood. She folded her arms over her chest and refused to meet anybody's eye. Then, Dinobot spoke up, weakly; "You should have left me behind…"

Rattrap instantly pulled a: 'Oh no, you didn't?!' stance and glared at the raptor. "Hey pal! Optimus got left behind just to save your scaly skin! So, don't spoke the sacrifice! Capiche?!"

"Oh, but it is already spoiled, yesss!" Megatron proclaimed, entering from one of the doors.

Megaton fired on each of the Maximals and then approached Rattrap, and then Rhinox onlined his optics. At the same time, Caitlin turned her two eyes upon him – and released her rage. "NOT A CHANCE!" the two roared together. Before Megatron could react: he was hit by the complete force of an angered rhino and the one-punch, under-the-belt blow by an extremely pissed of female who was at her wits end and wanted to cause pain. It was Rhinox who shoved him down the lift and Caitlin who closed the hatch with a predatory smile – until the warning lights went off.

Caitlin summed up the situation quite articulately: "Oh… shit…"

Rattrap, however: decided to articulate the obvious problem: "Ohh, we're GOING DOWN!" He tried to balance on his toes, trying to stay upright in the ever-tilting ship. Caitlin was oh-so grateful for her element-manipulating powers as she concentrated on hovering in midair. This kept her… wait… was she upright? Had the situation not been so dire and had she not been so out-of-balance, she would have laughed as the others all slammed against the lower side of the ship as it plummeted downwards. "WE'RE ALL GONNA DIIEEEEEEE!" Rattrap screed as he held onto Dinobot's outstretched arm

"WAIT!" Dinobot yelled, spotting something outside. "Look! Down in the sky! Is it a bird?"

"Maybe a plane?!" Rhinox added.

'Seriously?' she thought, shooting the rhino a glance.

"Neh… it's OPTIMUS!" Rattrap yelled excitedly, thrilled at the appearance of his Commanding Officer, who was once again saving his pink hairy butt.

She groaned loudly, rolling her eyes in exasperation. "Oh, come on! Don't tell me you're quoting Superman at a time like this?!" She blinked, her adrenalin-pumped brain hotwiring confusion through her memory banks. "Or is it Spiderman? Right now… I don't know which. Oh, who cares, Caitlin? This is NOT the time to be thinking over movies!"

Then—the sudden force of something suddenly stopping a rapidly-moving objected: caused them to suddenly veer forward as if they'd just hit the brakes after speeding down the highway at 300 miles an hour. Comically; Rhinox and Dinobot's faces were pressed against the glass, before they slid down like any Warner Bro's cartoon. Then, the ship was placed in almost the exact same spot they were in, beforehand…

Talk about trips around the world in 30 seconds….

Though, to be honest; she could have gone without it… if the state of her stomach was any indication.