DC: -glares at Jazz and Rachel-."What did you two do to the red MP3 player?"

Jazz and Rachel: -look innocently at DC- "We didn't do anything to it."

DC: "Some one erased all 10 gigs of music off of it. Do you know how long it took to upload all of that not to mention all the cd's I had to beg borrow and steal to get the music?"

Jazz and Rachel: -eeps and hides-

DC: -not happy-

A/N: Thanks to everyone for the great reviews! Cookies to whoever makes the connections in the story -evil grin- Slowly things are starting to come together. Now starts the really difficult part... for everyone. Time is an evil taskmaster. When Time is racing to meet Death can those caught in their path get out of their way?

Please Rate and Review and let me know what you think. Constructive criticism is always welcomed!

Story Arc 5

Chapter 36 - Disobeying Orders

The city was in ruins; what the horde hadn't destroyed on their own was lucky to have missed the attacks by the Seekers. Bluestreak and the badly wounded Prowl limped their way west through the battered city, ducking behind buildings and into alleyways to avoid being seen by the humans in the F-15's. The humans were attacking their own city from the sky, bombing where the horde was, or at least that's what Blue hoped they were bombing. Why they would attack the city boggled the young gunner. There could still be people in the city, he thought to himself. It brought up bad memories of the Decepticons destroying his city back on Cybertron, which sent shudders through his entire body. Now was not the time for reminiscing darkly about his past. He needed to get Prowl to Ratchet as fast as he could.

He looked at the Tactician who was valiantly trying to stumble along with him. Prowl had powered down his optics to save energy; he was relying on Bluestreak to guide him along. There was another rumble of jets coming and the young gunner hobbled them over to a slight shadow on the lea side of a building. It was a cloudy mid-morning that held very few shadows for the two to hide in. He pressed against the wall and waited for the F-15's to pass; the humans were increasing their attacks, which was making their trek long and arduous. On the good side, they hadn't had any more run-ins with the horde. He screwed his face up into a frown as he thought about what he had seen earlier; the horde acted like they were frightened of something. They had run past him and Prowl without a second look and crashed through a wall. Bluestreak remembered the drones that were used back on Cybertron and shook his head. Those drones just ran into everything and blew up; it didn't matter if it was mech or building. The Decepticons used drones like that to help destroy his home... Don't think about that. Remember you have to get Prowl back to Ratchet.

The jets had passed and the young gunner hefted Prowl up to try and gain more ground before another sortie came through. The two Datsuns struggled down the destroyed street, with Bluestreak carefully avoiding the abandoned vehicles. Every so often, the pair would pass some of the human dead; they had been trampled to death or run over during the panic to flee the city. He tried to avoid looking at the bodies. He shuddered again, humans died too easily. "Self-preservation, panic and the fight-or-flight instincts are prevalent in most sentient races, Bluestreak. I know this must be difficult for you to witness." Prowl mumbled. It was like the Tactician had read his thoughts.

"Yeah, but it makes me feel guilty that our war with the Decepticons was brought here and now the humans are messed up in the battles and it just doesn't feel right, I mean, they don't really understand what they are up against, except maybe that one secretary guy that calls to talk to Optimus, oh and Rachel, she knows first hand what the war is about and she got dragged into it, which really wasn't fair to her at all, Spike and Carly know too, but they haven't been stuck in an actual fight, but at least they're all safe at the Ark and they got out of the city quickly too, which is good because I don't know if we would have been able to find them with all the panicking humans fleeing the city."

Prowl smiled to himself. Getting the young gunner to talk would help put him at ease; as long as he could talk things out, he seemed less likely to panic and freeze up.

"What do you think was going on with the horde, Prowl? They weren't acting like normal drones, I mean, they seemed like normal drones at first with all the marching and stuff, but then none of them looked like drones with having bodies like mechs, and you saw they had jets marching with them? I didn't think a Decepticon jet would ever march, but I guess it would since it was a drone, but I don't remember in any of the battles back on Cybertron where the drones had jets in the ranks... Or guns. And did you notice they all had standard issue weapons? Wasn't that really weird? And they were shooting stuff too when we showed up to fight them, and none of them had a Decepticon insignia, which is really weird, because I thought everything the Decepticons made was marked with it. Here come the F-15's again, I think we can make it to that street up ahead before they fly over us."

The street offered little cover and the explosions were much closer this time with two wings of F-15's roaring overhead now. Bluestreak gave a small sigh of relief as the sound of the jets dwindled; he wondered how far they had to go to Ratchet's position and if he could even find Ratchet since his guidance system was offline. As the pair limped out of the street, he looked back at the black smoke that hovered ominously over most of the city. Something blew up, sending a huge fireball into the blackened sky. It took a few seconds for the noise of the blast to reach them and he wondered what it was. He turned back to Prowl, "Is your guidance system functional?"

"No. Most of my systems were knocked offline. I cannot even access my self-diagnostic systems."

Bluestreak looked Prowl over. "Other than your optic and your leg, it doesn't look too bad. You've stopped leaking energon and coolant, too. My guidance system is still offline, but I think if we keep going this way, we'll find Ratchet. I don't know why, but even without my guidance systems I have a good feeling that this is the right way. Do you think Sky spy can see us? Maybe Rachel can track us and send someone out to find us. Maybe they're already looking for us, what do you think, Prowl? Do you think they're trying to find us?"

"I believe they would be if they aren't battling the horde right now."

"I haven't seen any of the horde since they ran through the wall. They acted like something scared them and they were looking for a way to escape. It was so weird, Prowl, I thought they were coming for us, but they ran right past us, and there haven't been any pieces or bodies of the horde. Do you think they made it past us?"

Prowl winced as part of his armor scraped against his torn circuitry. "I don't know, Blue."

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"The others had just started to engage the horde when the Seekers attacked. Optimus and Ironhide were missing, but they finally made contact with us, which is good, because with so many missing from the attacks... Things were starting to look very bleak."

"Who else is missing?"

"We've lost all contact with Prowl, Bluestreak, Sunstreaker, Sideswipe... and Jazz." I had been raking my fingers through my still wet hair as I gave Windcharger an update on everything that had happened as we jogged to the front of the Ark.

The red and gray minibot skidded to a stop and looked at me. "Oh, Rachel. I'm so sorry."

I clenched my hands into fists, digging my fingers into my palms to keep from falling to pieces. I swallowed hard. "If Optimus and Ironhide made it safe, then the others had to as well. They could just be injured and unable to communicate with us."

Windcharger nodded. "You're probably right. The Twins are too stubborn to let the Seekers win a fight. Prowl's too smart, and Jazz... Well, Jazz is just Jazz. He's been in far worse situations."

I flinched. "Prowl and Blue are buried under a building, but Optimus and Ironhide were closest to them, so they were going to go find them."

Windcharger looked grim and then transformed in the hallway quickly. "This is taking too long. Hop in."

His driver's side door opened as he directed me over to him. I had barely sat down, when his door slammed shut and his tires squealed on the metal floor. I grabbed the steering wheel for support and braced myself. "Sorry Rachel. The faster we get there, the faster we can help."

"I know, just give me a little warning next time." I managed a small smile as I put the seatbelt on.

"Gotcha."

"I should have checked to see if your shoulder was okay before we ran out of there." I raked my hand through my hair and started to twist it up into a bun. I didn't think Windcharger would like having my wet hair drip.

"I'm fine. Don't worry."

"You can't fight the horde hand-to-hand, they have nanite-infused armor. You'll have to shoot at them, uh, Jazz said the neural net is what you have to hit, so the neck and face is what you have to aim for..."

"I said don't worry. I know how to fight." He chuckled at me.

"I'm just trying to help, Windcharger."

"I know."

"Okay. You drive; I need to work on something. Rachel to Ratchet."

"Yeah, Rachel?" Ratchet sounded so drained and tired.

"I need to turn off my wireless Teletraan for a few minutes, so I can fix a bug I found. It'll take three minutes tops and I'll contact you immediately afterwards, okay?"

"You can still read Prime and Ironhide's positions?"

"Yeah, they're almost to the building where Prowl and Blue were last seen...about 900 feet, it looks like."

"Okay. Radio me the moment you get back online."

"Gotcha, boss." I turned off the wireless and proceeded to open the casing.

"Your computer is malfunctioning?" Windcharger sounded confused.

"Not quite. I'm going to recalibrate a few of the sensors. I think I can increase the sensitivity and be able to reprogram the link with Sky spy to search for the others." I pulled out a few wires quickly.

"Well, if you can fix my shoulder blind, then I know you can recalibrate that thing."

I grinned as I worked. "Thanks for the vote of confidence, Windcharger."

"You don't have to keep calling me, Windcharger, you know."

"Would you prefer 'hey you giant alien robot'?"

"Slag no! I meant, you can call me 'Charger, like the others do… if you want to."

"Okay, 'Charger." I smiled a bit. "Thanks."

"For what?"

"For trusting me." I snapped the casing back over the microcomputer and opened the radio link before the minibot could ask why. "Rachel to Ratchet."

"All fixed?"

"Yes. Anything happen?" I could hear noises in the background.

"We're falling back to a more defensible position. The human jets are getting too close for my liking."

"Okay. I've just picked up on your signal and I'm monitoring the F-15's in the area. Hmmm. Sky spy is reporting that there are no Seekers anywhere near your vicinity or Optimus'." I paused as a new reading came up on the screen. "I've picked up a set of signals, but they're very faint."

"The Twins?"

"I don't think so. The signals are coming from a different sector. I'll keep monitoring them."

"Good. Keep me updated."

"Will do, boss."

"And will you quit calling me that?" There was mock exasperation in his voice.

"Sure thing, boss. Rachel out."

Windcharger laughed. "He's going to throw something at you or worse."

I pursed my lips grimly as I powered down the microcomputer and set it in the passenger seat. "I have no doubt that he will."

-------------------------------------------------

Ironhide grumbled as another sortie of F-15's flew overhead. Hiding two extra large Autobots in the destroyed ruins of a human city from the fighter jets was nearly impossible. The black Topkick and Optimus decided that it would be easier to stay in their alternate modes instead of trying to find spots in non-existent shadows when the jets flew by. They had to push their way through the masses of abandoned vehicles to get to the coordinates Rachel had given for Prowl and Bluestreak. "Can't Ah jus' blow a path fer us through th' street?"

"No. We don't want to attract any attention to ourselves. The humans are bombing everything that looks like the horde. We do not need them attacking us while we try to find the others." Optimus pushed a few more cars off the road.

"This is takin' ferever." Ironhide growled as he forced an empty bus out of his way. "Blue an' Prowl could be in serious trouble an' 'ere we are strugglin' through this mess."

"I know. But we can't help them if we've been seen by the humans."

The black Topkick gunned his engine in frustration and plowed into the next vehicle. "Slag this." Ironhide scanned the sky for the F-15's before he transformed and jumped over the cars, dodging through the still traffic.

"Ironhide!" Optimus growled and did a full scan of the area. Other than the irate Weapons Specialist, the area was deserted. He transformed as well and ran down the street.

Ironhide skidded to a stop in front of the still smoking pile of what used to be two good-sized buildings. He cursed up a storm, starting to scan the wreckage for the others. There was so much glass, concrete and metal heaped into the street that he couldn't scan the entire ruins. He started to climb the pile as Optimus finally caught up.

"You could have put all four of us in danger with a stunt like that." Optimus rarely showed anger in a situation, but Ironhide's rashness could have attracted the humans' attention. The Topkick grumbled back something unintelligible as Optimus started to scan the rubble as well. He was worried about the others, but it would be extremely difficult to rescue the others if they were dodging attacks from the humans.

Ironhide had made it to the top of the smoldering debris and scanned again. There were pieces of the horde that were showing up in the destroyed buildings, but no Autobots. "Th' horde has been through 'ere an' somethin' slagged 'em. Pieces all over th' place."

"Any sign of Prowl and Bluestreak?"

"None so far."

The rubble shifted from Ironhide's weight and he struggled to keep his footing. "Slag it." He sidled around the wreckage, trying to move around the shifting concrete. The only thing turning up on his scans were the empty shells from the horde.

Optimus stopped his own scans and looked up at the sky; the F-15's were returning. "Ironhide, the jets are coming back."

"Slaggin' Primus!" He had maneuvered to a large slab of concrete to continue scanning. He could hear the jets now.

"Ironhide! Get down now!" Optimus was transforming as he yelled.

The black Topkick jumped down into the street beyond with a loud crashing noise ricocheting through the air.

"Are you okay, Ironhide?"

"Yeah." The jets shot by overhead. "Jus' brought some o' th' junk wit' me." He sighed and scanned this side of the rubble, scowling when he didn't find anything. "We sure these are th' right coordinates?"

"Yes. I double checked with Ratchet."

"They aren't 'ere, Prime."

Once he was certain the jets were far enough away, Optimus transformed and climbed up the pile slowly; his weight was making the wreckage shift and move fluidly. He tried to gain purchase in the shifting chaos, but the concrete and glass slipped out of his grasp. He jumped down to a lower part of the pile, finding it easier to skirt around the buildings that way instead of going over them. When he finally made it over to where Ironhide was, the Weapons Specialist had turned away from the pile, his hands on his hips and an angry scowl on his face. Optimus put a reassuring hand on Ironhide's shoulder. "Don't worry, we'll find them."

The scowl didn't leave the Topkick's face as he brought a hand up and pointed down the street. "There are two more destroyed buildings up ahead."

The two Autobots stepped out of the ruined building and towards the next wreckage. They both started scanning immediately, with Ironhide scaling the mess quickly; he wanted to get over to the other side before the jets came back. Only more of the carcasses of the horde were showing up as he crested the pile and started down the other side. He slid down the side of the pile slowly; his eyes already on the next building when something came up on the scanner. "Prime! Ah got somethin'."

Optimus was over the building in seconds as Ironhide followed the signal to a smaller pile of rubble. The black Topkick tore into the mess quickly, hoping that who ever was under the pile was still functioning. His hand wrapped around the unmistakable barrel of a rocket launcher. He cleared the area around it quickly before pulling it free. It was Bluestreak's rocket launcher. The angry Weapons Specialist scowled. There was no other sign of the young gunner, but that didn't offer any consolation to him; even if Blue was still alive, he might not make it very far with the horde around being unarmed. Ironhide held the launcher out to Optimus grimly. "No Blue, but he's unarmed."

The Autobot leader took the weapon from Ironhide and turned it over in his hands; it was dirty, but there were no vital fluids on it, which gave him a small sense of relief. Blue was probably alive and somewhere in the area. He knew Blue had sidearms, but his main weapon against the Seekers was this rocket launcher. He subspaced the weapon quickly scanning the pile again. Almost immediately, something further in the pile came up on the scanner. The two Autobot dug through the debris and found Prowl's rifle, but this time there was energon and coolant on the weapon. They looked at each other quietly; Prowl had been injured. They scanned the wreckage again for the two lost Autobots. Nothing else came up on the scans before they had to transform back into alt form to avoid the F-15's again.

"They got t' be around 'ere somewhere, Prime." Ironhide was scanning in vehicle mode the nearby area. There had to be some clue as to where they were or what had happened to them.

The roar of the jet engines passed and both mechs were out of their alt forms and back on their feet in seconds. Optimus was looking over the pile again while Ironhide's attention was drawn to a nearby alleyway. He grabbed Optimus' arm and motioned with his chin to the semi-dark alley. They crossed the area quickly. Ironhide kneeled just inside the shadow in alley and ran his fingers across the filthy ground. Viscous congealed energon clung to his fingers. There had been a large puddle of it in the alley; one of them was badly wounded and had hidden in here. There was another large puddle farther down the alley... along with two sets of footprints. "They were in 'ere, Prime. Both o' 'em."

Two sets of icy blue optics followed the alleyway down to the broken brick wall and the drying trail of energon leading that way. Without a word, both broken into a run, stopping only at the sidewalk to see where the trail led before taking off again. Prowl and Bluestreak were alive; now all they had to do was get to the Tactician and the young gunner before the wounded one went offline.

----------------------------------------------

"Teletraan 1 says they're just up ahead, 'Charger. I think they've tried to jam the radar to keep their location hidden from the F-15's." I was adjusting the control on my wireless Teletraan and reading the lighted coordinates.

"I see them, Rachel."

He skidded to a stop and I climbed out quickly, hanging the strap for microcomputer over my neck and starting the upgraded sensor relay in Sky spy. The defensible position they had created was the remains of a street; the buildings that lay in ruin around them gave the area a surreal landscape, and a narrow corridor for any attacks by the horde. They had set up some of the bigger pieces of wreckage as a bunker, allowing them some cover from the human F-15's. I doubted it would give them any protection from the Seekers if they attacked, though. There was the soft whine of subspace opening as Windcharger took his sidearms out and brought them online, sidling up to Brawn and Trailbreaker. So far Ratchet hadn't noticed us, but it was a matter of time before he would.

I brought up the lighted screen with the enhanced sensor array and started to scan the city for Jazz. He had to be out there still fighting, I kept telling myself. He just had to be. The weapons fire was unnerving; I had been around active Cybertronian weapons only twice before. Once when Wheeljack and I finished the nanites and let the others try to blow the metal to shreds... the other when Starscream shot that Agent Erickson back at the warehouse on the day I was kidnapped. I shook the images out of my head and tried to tune out the noise. I needed to focus on the sensor relays and find Jazz.

Sky spy started sending me back a slew of information, which I immediately located Optimus Prime and Ironhide's positions; they were heading this way, and by their odd movements, I surmised that they were trying to stay out of sight. The horde was picked up as well, but they were scattered all over the city and that struck me as very odd since Jazz had told me they had attacked as a group. Some of the horde were running this way, which was what the gunners were firing on as they came into view. There were some other very faint signals, but I couldn't get a good lock on any of them. One was dim and somewhat between Optimus and Ironhide's positions and the bunkers. That could be Bluestreak or Prowl, but the signal was very dim and fading in and out of the sensors. There was another signal much farther off, but there was something very wrong with the signal; it was as if whatever was being picked up wasn't in the city. I frowned at only finding the two strange signals and I wondered if I could recalibrate the sensor to pick up spark activity.

I sat down on a piece of nearby concrete and typed in commands to Sky spy quickly over the microcomputer. If I could just get a better fix on… Got it. The signals farther off to the north were very strong and I smiled as I recognized the energy signatures. But they weren't in the city, which was very perplexing. How could they be in the city, yet not in the city? Oh, no. Sunny was probably going ballistic right now. I cringed thinking about how Sunstreaker would be dealing with fighting the horde in the city sewers.

I ran up to Windcharger and the others. "I found Sunny and 'Sides! They're under the city fighting the horde!"

The red minibot turned and grinned at me. "I knew you could to it, Rachel."

Trailbreaker had stopped his firing at the horde long enough to clap me on the shoulder. "Atta girl. You goin' lead them to us?"

"I'm going to try." I smiled at my success. I hopped back to the piece of concrete I had been sitting on and tried to enhance the signal to get a radio message to them. Now if I could just find Jazz and the others…

Suddenly, there was a sharp pain in my temple that bit into my equilibrium and I fought to keep my balance. Not now, please. I need to find Jazz first. The panic that had been eating away at my stomach all day was now threatening to tear me apart and I ended up dropping the microcomputer, letting it dangle from the makeshift strap. Please, not now. I shut my eyes and painful spots of color swirled erratically behind my eyelids. I leaned against a nearby piece of concrete trying to will away the pain. The noise from the fighting became muted as I slipped underwater, the pressure in my ears making me gasp in agony.

I took a few deep breaths and stood up, feeling a strange urge come over me. Something was... calling to me. It was cold, yet familiar. I tried to focus on it only to have it slip through my fingers like water. It called out to me again, but it had no voice; wordless urging me to move forwards, yet chillingly familiar. Why? I tried to vainly grasp at the thought only to have the urge throb back at me to move. I put one foot in front of the other, not understanding what was going on. I felt faint, with my heart pounding in my ears; any sounds from the battle were completely lost to me. My body was shaking so badly as I took another step forwards and I realized it was no of my own volition. I tried to grab onto something... anything around me to stop. This wasn't right, I thought fiercely to myself as my hand touched some piece of torn cement from a fallen building. I managed to stop myself, but the urge to move became stronger, the call to me more insistent. There were flashes of light bombarding my memory now; something cold and hard coupled with a shadow that made my skin crawl. I needed to run away from this; I had to run away. I fought the urge harder and nearly swooned from the onslaught. I tightened my fingers on the concrete, only to feel the skin torn painfully away as I moved again. What do you want from me!? I screamed wordlessly back at the shadow that was edging ever closer to me. The pain in my hand was the only thing that kept me conscious... and that was melting away quickly.

----------------------------------------------------

"WINDCHARGER!" The wrath of Ratchet came down like a ten-ton bolt of violent lightning.

The minibot winced and stopped firing, turning to face the boiling fury of the medic. "Yeah, Ratchet?"

"What- just what in the slagging Pit are you doing here!?" A large fist shook nanometers from his face.

"I'm here to fight, Ratchet."

"And just what makes you think you can fight with your shoulder fragged up?" Ratchet loomed over the minibot, his stature growing with each angry word.

"Hey! Calm down, Ratchet. You called us out here. Remember?" Windcharger put his hands up in front of him, getting angry from Ratchet's verbal abuse.

"I called who out here?" The medic's voice calmed down into that eerie tone; the one used mostly when The Twins got into trouble or when the minibots and said Lamborghini's had one of their famous fights.

"Rachel and I. Rachel said you call-"

"Where is she?" The calm hit a more chilling tone, making Windcharger step back.

"She's trying to contact The Twins. She found their location and was attempting to radio them." He looked around quickly. "Well, she was here a moment ago. She said you called for us to come."

Ratchet shoved the red minibot aside, his optics scanning the area for the femme. Human or not; he was going to throw her back to the Ark if he had to.

"Hold your fire! HOLD YOUR FIRE!" Hound yelled to the others.

Ratchet's head swerved around to see what the commotion was. His optics nearly exploding from his head at what he saw. Rachel had picked her way through the bunker and out into the wreckage on the street. "What the slag- RACHEL! GET BACK HERE NOW!" He bellowed. Her movements were odd, almost mechanical; and if she had heard him, she did not acknowledge it. Ratchet pushed his way past the others, trying to get through the barricades they had set up for defense. The others were trying to call her back as well, yet she kept moving forwards. Ratchet punched at an offending piece of concrete slab that blocked his way. How had she gotten through all of this? And then Ratchet saw something that turned his spark cold: one of the horde was quickly crawling over the wreckage towards Rachel. "RACHEL! RUN!"

The thing was one of the larger mechs from the horde, One who had obviously been fighting before and had the parts from others bulking up its monstrous form into a freakish mishmash of armor. It was crawling on all fours, keeping low to the ground and dodging the few shots that tried to take it out before it got to Rachel. It brought a hand up to block its face and neck from the ammunition that wanted to take it offline. Rachel had stopped below the pile of rubble the creature sat upon with her face turned up to where it was hunched down. The blood red optics of the monster flashed and it turned its head from side to side looking at Rachel but not moving closer to her. The others behind the bunker watched with abject horror with some turning away from the scene not wanting to see the young woman torn to shreds by its evil metal claws.

But the thing did not move. It sat there looking at her, its optics narrowing and relaxing as it studied her.

Ratchet pounded on the concrete again, crushing some of the rubble still trying to get out of the bunker and to Rachel.

The monster seemed to forget that the Autobots were yelling and some were still shooting at it. It crouched lower on the debris and slowly crept towards the young woman. It made no sudden moves but it was completely intent on the woman that stood almost patiently in front of it. The grotesque head tilled to the side again and the snarl that had been plastered like some freakish graffiti across its face disappeared. Its optics opened up and the strangest look of calm and recognition took the heat out of the blood red optics. The shooting stopped completely as the others watched the horde literally change from the bloodthirsty killing machine they had seen and fought with the past few days into a curious and almost childlike creature. It opened its mouth and instead of the audio shattering howl that was expected, it warbled awkwardly.

Ratchet had stopped his attack on the barricade to watch the creature interact with the young woman. Rachel had stood stock still through the whole thing, her head still upturned to where the creature sat.

The medic watched as it bobbed its head and warbled again at her. The calm in its optics disappearing and its face falling, looking almost… Sad? Grief stricken? Heartbroken? Ratchet shook his head quickly. It was a killing machine. How could it show emotions, especially those!

The creature warbled again to Rachel and this time the grief reverberated in its call. It bobbed its head again, its now very expressive optics still fixed on her. The horde took another step towards her, a soft call to her emitted from its vocal processors with an almost pleading tone. Rachel did not move. As the creature slowly lifted one of its clawed hands up to her, another monster scrambled up the debris and howled. The oddly behaving monster in front of Rachel turned and snarled at it, the hatred destroying the pleading look in its optics. Two well-aimed shots rang out and took out the two monsters, their bodies tumbling down the broken pile of concrete and glass. The body of the expressive mech tumbled down right next to Rachel, who had fallen back and was now sitting, unmoving on the rubble. Another of the horde clamored over the wreckage as Rachel was snatched up and drawn into Mirage's electro-disrupter's cloak. The creature looked confused for a second before it too was taken offline. Mirage quickly hopped over the barricade and turned visible again. Ratchet was at his side in an instant, pulling Rachel from his grasp.

"What the slag did you think you were doing out there!? You could have been killed-" She hadn't moved at all; there was no trace of recognition on her face or any hint that she had even heard him. "Rachel?"

She stared out blankly as if in a trance, unblinking. Ratchet started scanning her quickly only to find she wasn't breathing. He started to shake her as his CPU overclocked itself as it attempted to find a reason to what was happening. "Don't you dare, Rachel. Don't you slagging dare do this. Not now." He shook her again and smacked her on the back hard not even cringing as he felt something break. "Breathe. Slag it, Rachel! Breathe!" He smacked her on the back again. She took a loud and ragged breath and started to cough violently, blood splattering all over Ratchet's hand. She blinked rapidly and choked again between labored gasps for air. Panic filled her eyes as she turned to look at Ratchet, coughing and spluttering again as she struggled to breathe.

"It's okay, I've got you Rachel. Try to calm down." He silently cursed at himself as he took her over to the makeshift triage he had set up. He scanned her again and found… nothing broken? She was breathing easier, though still coughing as he ran the whole situation back through his processor. He had felt something break when he hit her, yet nothing showed up on his scan, other then she was hemorrhaging from her nose and the distress her lungs had gone through.

The whole situation had stunned everyone, with only two or three able to snap out of it long enough to fire at the horde that was spilling over the debris again. Ratchet shot everyone a glare filled with energon daggers, and they all fled back to their positions.

"Slag it, Rachel. Why did you have to come out here?" He cursed and grumbled.

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I was lying on something cold and hard when I heard it call. I wanted to run, I so desperately wanted to run, but I couldn't move. Whatever was calling to me came closer; but it wasn't a voice. It was something… familiar. And I could feel cold fear spread over my body as it called to me again. I buried my head in my arms scared and angry that I couldn't move; I couldn't get away from the wordless voice. I tried to scream but nothing came out. My brain felt like it was melting as I heard the heavy footsteps of whatever was coming for me. So close. I started to shake uncontrollably in silent sobs. Go away. It lifted me up and I shut my eyes tightly, not wanting to see what it was. Its touch made my skin crawl.

The calling stopped and I felt a wave of sadness wash over me. Horrible pain. Pain and despair. I opened my eyes slowly only to find everything was pitch black. Whatever had a hold of me picked up my hand, the one I had torn open trying to avoid the urge to move. There was more sadness emanating from the darkness and I felt something icy cold pour into my palm, slipping into the wound and passing through my fingers like quicksilver. The pain was gone and I ran my fingers over the now undamaged skin. The overwhelming aura of despair filled the space around me and then I was falling. I heard it call after me… pleading with me… begging me. I was falling so fast and I screamed again in complete silence.

I hit the floor hard, the light came in a painful flood and I felt my breath knocked back into me.

I coughed and the coppery taste of my own blood filled my mouth. There was a familiar voice now calling urgently to me. Ratchet. He was telling me to calm down and breathe…

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"Slag it, Rachel. Why did you have to come out here?" He cursed and grumbled.

I found my voice. "I had to come, Ratchet." I coughed again; there was blood in my throat and I realized that my nose was bleeding.

"No, you didn't!" He spat at me. "You nearly got yourself killed! Slag it, Rachel. You don't belong out here. You should be back at the Ark where it's safe!"

"It was calling to me, Ratchet." He shoved a rag that smelled faintly of oil into my hands and I held it up to my nose trying to staunch the flow.

The whole situation suddenly flooded my head. I had walked out of the bunker and into the street. I didn't want to, but I couldn't stop myself. I had torn open my hand trying to stop the urge that was drawing me closer. I was lying on something cold and hard unable to move. The call was so powerful. I had to move. It was calling me to it. I stood still looking up into glowing red optics. I tried to scream but nothing came out. It was saying something to me… As if it was greeting me… As if it knew me. I felt a wave of sadness wash over me. Horrible pain. Pain and despair. It had reached out to me as if to touch me. I felt something icy cold pour into my palm, slipping into the wound and passing through my fingers like quicksilver.

I ran my fingers over my hand; the skin was undamaged and whole. I looked at Ratchet very seriously. "What did it say?"

"What?" He was still seething angry, but now it had a hint of confusion.

"When I was out there… What did it say?" I motioned with my head towards the street. "It was saying something out loud."

He growled. "It didn't say anything. It had this odd twittering."

I ran my fingers over the hand that it touched. "What did it do when it touched me?"

"It didn't touch you. Trailbreaker and Hound took it and the one that crawled up after it down before they touched you."

"Ratchet. It did touch me." My palm was oddly warm.

"Rachel, we all saw it. It didn't touch you at all."

I held up my palm to him. "It did touch me. I tore up my hand trying to fight its call."

He grabbed my hand roughly, yet his fingers trailed down my palm gently. "Lift your sleeves, Rachel."

I took off my sweater and lifted the sleeves up off my arms. "It felt like quicksilver running through my fingers."

He growled and grabbed my hand again. "The skin on your palm looks and responds the same as the damaged skin on your arms. I want the whole story. Now."

I bit my lip and tried to remember. "I was watching the new calibrations on Teletraan. I found Sunny and 'Sides signatures in the city, well… under the city. They're fighting in the sewers. And then the headache hit, and I could feel it pulling me. It wanted me to go to it. I tried to stop and that's when I cut my hand up, and then I couldn't move; yet I was moving. I found a hole in the rubble and I crawled through it, but I was lying on the floor shivering as it came to me, like we were drawn by each other. It was so sad. It could feel its despair and it wanted something from me… something to ease its pain. And then I was falling and then I could breathe again."

He was quiet for a few moments, and I realized I could hear gunfire again. "Did it tell you what it wanted?"

I thought for a moment trying to remember. There was the stabbing pain and I lifted my hand up to my face; blood had started to pour from my nose again. I pinched my nose with the rag and listened half-heartedly to Ratchet ranting, still trying to remember what it had wanted from me.

"I'm going to run some tests on you quickly and then you and Windcharger will be returning to the Ark. Do I make myself clear?"

As I started to nod in defeat to him, the stabbing pain hit much harder and sharper than it had before. I could feel the world spin and I tried to not swoon. And then the memory hit me like a ton of bricks.

"Ratchet?" I croaked weakly. "It was so sad and in pain…"

"What was?" His anger seemed to dissolve a bit.

"The shadow… That thing. It was in such agony." I put the rag up to my nose again, coughing on my blood as it ran thickly down the back of my throat. I looked up at Ratchet feeling the sadness that it had projected at me wash over me again. "It begged me to take its pain away."