Chapter 34:

I don't think I'd ever been more groggy in my life when I woke up this morning. The sunlight shining through the window made my eyes sore. I sat up and I looked around a little. I remember before I went to sleep, the barracks were empty. A few of the beds were occupied, now, but most of them weren't. What really caught my attention was one of the men looking like he was about to fall on the floor. It was none other than the Pvt. He was hanging off the side of the bed, turned over, looking like a dead fish.

I wasn't sure what to do. You know when you're at a sleep-over at someone else's house and you're the first to wake up? It almost felt like that, but somehow even weirder. I couldn't think of what to do next. I feel like it would've been weird to just waltz out of here and diddle around the airfield after everything that happened. So I laid there for a while. My mind was still clouded with the happenings of the previous day. Those moments in time playing through my head over and over again.

I felt so helpless, like this, shivering in bed alone with this sinking feeling in my chest. My arm was sore. My head was throbbing. I just wanted the world to go away, for a little while. Of course, I can't always have what I want. After some time, I heard the door open. I rolled over to see the Col. standing in the doorway. He motioned with his hand for me to follow him.

"Come on, Vega," He said in a low voice.

I gave him a slight nod and I crawled out of bed and took a second to stretch. My whole body ached. I didn't even bother to take the sling off of my arm before I fell asleep. Could you imagine I survived all of that, just to have a sling choke me to death in my sleep? I could only wish.

I followed the Col. out of the barracks. Outside, the sun had just risen, it seemed.

"We need to interview you, and then we'll send you on your merry way," The Col. began to explain as we walked. "You were there, you saw everything first-hand- and sometimes Lockdown isn't all that reliable…"

"Understandable," I said with a sigh. It felt a little warmer outside, today. The ground was still coated in snow, though. It brought me a moment of peace. It felt surreal, almost though. I can't explain why. The building the Col. took me to was the same one Lockdown and I were held up in, that one time. Topspin was being held in here, too, if I could remember correctly. He took me to the very back in a small, empty room. There were only a desk and a few chairs around it. It almost looked like an interrogation room.

There was one man already seated, and he had a bulky laptop in front of him. Around were a few hard drives hooked up into it. To top it all off, the laptop's charger was plugged into the back of it. This laptop looked like it was on life support. The whole set up seemed almost intimidating in a way. It made me a little nervous. The Col. motioned for me to sit and I did so. He sat down in a chair next to the man with the laptop.

"So," The Col. began. "I'm sure you're well aware while Lockdown was extracting his target, something happened."

"Right," I confirmed.

"A whole building collapsed, and the both of you were present,"

"That's right,"
"How did that happen?"

I looked down at the desk. The memory seemed kind of fuzzy, but I tried my best to break it down for them. The Col. was once again under the impression that because of the shard, I was once again kidnapped. He didn't like that. He thought it was careless that Lockdown keeps letting it happen, this time it almost cost me my life. I don't think I could ever fathom telling him the truth.

My distrust in Lockdown has really grown the past few weeks. To think I've trusted him with my life, time and time again such a short while ago is disturbing. So many times he could've snuffed my life out like a flame and he would've never felt anything. I was stupid to think I could help him. It's happened to me so many times before. I find the best in the shittiest types of people. The lowest of the lowest. I always seem to think I can help them become better, but it just doesn't work out, sometimes. He's been like this for eons, and this is what I get for going in over my head, I guess.

Sideswipe is dead. Ratchet is gone, now. Topspin is still trapped here. All I've gotten out of this is trauma. Lots and lots of trauma. I really didn't want to acknowledge it, but I really do think Lockdown sees me as a friend. Probably the only friend he's ever had. Sometimes I really am convinced he doesn't care, but if that were the truth, he wouldn't have saved me, last night. I doubt he would've been heartbroken or felt anything really if I did die. Everything is expendable to him, after all.

Maybe he doesn't care about what I think or feel. I don't think he cares about what anyone thinks or feels. But there is no way in Hell he would've dove off that building if he didn't want me to live, at least. It's… sad. It's really upsetting the only way he can have a companion is if he takes them away and makes them. I've never met someone who was this lonely and emotionally stunted. I'm amazed. It's irreversible, at this point. It's a cycle. He causes suffering and as a result, he surely has to be suffering, himself. A self-fulfilling prophecy of sorts. I can't imagine living a life like that for eons with no end in sight. He won't ever break that cycle. It's the same fucking thing over and over again for him, and I can't do anything to stop that.

The interview eventually concluded. The Col. asked me a few other things. He was curious about where I ran off to when Lockdown let me go. I had to make something up. I told him I ended up wandering around before Sirius found me and made me go to the hospital. I guess it's not too far from the truth. I watched as the man next to the Col. closed his laptop and began packing up his things. The Col. stood up, and I did so, as well.

The three of us exited the room, and I was last to come out. I felt my phone buzz from inside my bag, suddenly. For a while, now, I completely forgot I had the thing. I stopped and dug it out and noticed I had a text message. Strange.

'I heard you lived through that ordeal.' The message unnerved me. That was until I saw the sender. Attinger, again. Why is he like this?

I sent a message back. 'What do you want from me?'

I waited for a few seconds. No reply, yet. I dropped the phone back into my bag and tried to put the thought out of my head. I walked on. I was coming up on a giant set of metal doors. Topspin's cell. I stopped and stared for a moment. Several men were standing in front of it, armed to the teeth. The second I stopped moving, all of their eyes were on me. I felt my heart sink like a rock when they began approaching me.

"Vega?" A man with brown hair was coming closest to me. He had a rifle tightly gripped in his hand and a stern look on his face.

"That's me," I replied.

"Come this way," He turned his back on me and began walking to the doors.

I let out a sigh of relief. I wasn't in any trouble, I guess. This really puzzled me, though. I'm not sure why they're bringing me in here. I'm not objected to seeing Topspin again, though. I figure maybe he'd want to hear about everything that's happened. I followed the man. He grabbed a card from a badge clip on his belt and held it against a reader on the wall. The doors opened up automatically, and he nodded, giving me the 'okay' to go inside.

When I entered, the door closed behind me. Topspin was still restrained and heavily injured. The spot on his chest Lockdown had stomped had somehow turned black. There were traces of blue life fluid in the wound. It looked almost scorched. Maybe it was a way to stop the 'bleeding'. Whether the burn was man-made or something short-circuited in the mech was beyond me.

Sirius was here, too. I was surprised to see him in a place like this. He turned around when I entered. His hands were in his coat pocket. I wanted to say something, but before I could, Topspin spoke.

"Vega, you saw Sideswipe die?" He said.

I sighed deeply.

"Really, now-?" Sirius interrupted.

"I tried to save him, but…" My voice was trailing off.

"How did Lockdown catch him?" Topspin asked.

I scratched my head. "The whole thing blurry, to me," I answered. "What are you doing in here, Sirius?"

He laughed slightly and brushed his hair away from his face.

"Well, the Col. got smart and remembered I worked with him and all his friends," Sirius motioned towards Topspin. "He told me to get him to cough up Prime's location."

"Oh," I tilted my head.

"Truth is, I've been catching him up on everything that's been happening,"

My eyes began wandering around the metal room. I spotted a security camera in the corner just above us.

"Aren't you afraid they'll find out?" I mumbled with a shaky voice.

Sirius tilted his head. Then, he looked up and noticed the camera, as well.

"They don't record audio," He said.

Thank fuck. I felt the weight of the world lift off my shoulders.

"What happened to you?" Topspin's voice snapped me out of my trance. "What's up with your arm?"

"Did Sirius tell you about the fight?" I asked.

"He did- a building falling and all," Topspin answered.

"Well, I was up there for it-"

"Oh shit, Vega!" Sirius blurted as he smacked his forehead with his palm. "I still didn't tell you what happened!"

"Oh?"

"Vega," Sirius placed a hand on my shoulder. "This… is going to sound crazy," He rubbed his chin. "But… it was because of Ratchet,-"

"Huh?!"

"He hit you. In his vehicle-form,"

"Holy shit," I heard Topspin yell.

I squinted my eyes. My mind went blank for a second. I was trying to connect the dots. I was running for so long, and suddenly I was just… out.

Sirius took a step back and he rubbed his temple. "I saw you running and next thing I know, you were getting mowed down by an ambulance… I actually thought he killed you, at first."

"O-oh,"

"That's why I couldn't tell you at the hospital,"

I couldn't think of anything to say. Of course, I knew Ratchet didn't mean it. It was all an accident. That's still… wild. Never in my wildest dreams would I have ever seen myself running out into a road and proceeding to eat shit and get hit by a sentient ambulance. I could've sworn I've seen something like this happen before… in a bizarre anime or something.

"It's been a rough past few days for you, I take," Sirius said.

"I can't believe it's only been four days," Topspin grumbled hopelessly. "It's pretty worrisome how Lockdown comes to an area and seventy-two humans lose their lives,"

My eyes widened. Topspin noticed this. His expression drop, as if he realized he said something wrong.

"He killed seventy-two people when he destroyed that building," Sirius repeated grimly.

My stomach was tied up in knots. I felt like I wanted to vomit. I was involved in the killing of seventy-two people. Was it really worth it to Lockdown?

"Vega,-" Sirius reached over and placed a hand on my shoulder, again. "It wasn't your fault,-"

"It was entirely Lockdown's fault," Topspin added.

"That's not entirely true," I mumbled.

"How did it all happen, anyway?" The mech asked.

I stepped back, away from Sirius' grasp and I clutched my stomach. I was close to puking. I took a deep breath.

"Vega, are you going to be okay?"

"No,-"

"Don't force yourself to talk, Vega."

I took another breath and I swallowed hard. It felt like a golf ball had gone down my throat.

"I didn't watch them fight, really," I began. "Lockdown had a big canon and Sideswipe tried to knock it out of his hand, but it didn't work out the way he wanted it to,"

The both of them were silent.

"Sideswipe kind of had a hand in it, I guess," I said flatly. My face twitched. I shook my head. I really didn't want to blame Sideswipe for this. "He was trying to stop him."

The three of us didn't say anything for quite some time. I kept taking deep breaths in, over and over again. I still felt short of breath. I just couldn't get enough air.

I turned to look at Sirius. "If I ever went missing, would you look for me?" I don't know what compelled me to say this. He was speechless. Something about the way he looked at me made me wanna cry.

"If I do, know a man named Attinger had something to do with it,"

"Who?" That was the only thing Sirius said.

"He works with Lockdown. He tried to kill me not long ago," I felt like I couldn't breathe. "Lockdown wouldn't believe me."

Sirius knew something was wrong. I didn't feel like I was breathing. I gripped my chest hard. He then approached me and took me into his arms and hugged me tightly.

"Sirius… I can't breath…-" I wheezed as I held onto his sleeve.

"Vega, you're okay," He said softly.

"Don't let me stop breathing!" Before I knew it, I was hyperventilating. I couldn't stop. I gripped his sleeve tighter and began to cry. I just couldn't hold on anymore. What's wrong with me? I am dying?

"I'm not gonna let that happen, I promise,"

"Is… something wrong with her?" I heard Topspin chime in.

"She's panicking," Sirius replied. I kind of tuned out, after that. My fingers felt numb. Sirius patted my back a few times and began to stroke it. I finally stopped hyperventilating after a few minutes. I took deep breaths after deep breaths, but it still felt like I wasn't breathing.

Why me? Why did I have to be dragged out here? Why did I have to be a part of this chain? Fate is a weird thing. I had to try to come to my senses. This wasn't a time for weakness. It's been such a long time since I've been hugged. Since I've felt someone else's warmth. I pulled myself away from him, though, and wiped away my tears. There was no sense in wallowing around in sadness, like this. I can't change fate.

For a moment, I stood there wheezing, wiping tears from my eyes.

"I think you need some time off, Vega," Sirius advised. "I heard they're going to discharge you guys for a while."

"When did you hear that?" I asked, trying to get my mind off of the panic.

"The Col. said something about it,"

I looked up at Topspin, who was staring off into nowhere. He must have been contemplating something. He kind of snapped back to reality when he noticed me staring.

"We'll keep what you said in mind," He said to me. "I will, at least."

Sirius shot him a suspicious look.

"Don't look at me like that, you could barely remember your badge number back on base, mate," Topspin said flatly.

"You're really going to bring that up, again?" Sirius snapped.

"Of course,"

I blinked a few times. Something didn't feel right. My head felt buzzy. Like something was rattling around in there. I felt myself growing cold. Sirius looked at me again. His expression dropped. Suddenly, he lunged toward me and grabbed my shoulders. Before I knew it, I saw blackness closing in. The void claimed me again.

I was out like a light. For how long, I don't really know. The next thing I remembered, I was somewhere entirely different. Not anywhere at the airfield. When I woke up, I felt the chill of the air hit me. I shivered and grit my teeth. I wasn't sure where I was, at first. I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes before I sat up. I was face to face with an empty throne.

I was back at the Knightship. I felt a little relieved to be back, even though I had no idea how I got here. I was on the armrest of the throne, again, where I always sleep. I groggily turned around and searched the cockpit. Lockdown was nowhere to be found. I hadn't seen him since last night. Part of me wanted to call out of him, but I don't think I would've gotten a response.

What was I supposed to do, now? Alone again. I'm not sure what time it is. I don't know how long I was out. I guess Sirius may have ended up passing me off to Lockdown. I didn't wanna sit around and wait for him, Lord knows how long it would be before he'd come back. I stood up and stretched. I winced a little. I felt sore, still. That's to be expected after falling off a building, I suppose.

My legs felt like they were made of stone, they were so stiff. I tried not to pay mind to it, though. With a bit of effort, I climbed down the armrest. When my feet hit the floor, the sound echoed through the cockpit. That's when I heard a grumbly yawn coming out from behind the throne. I peeked around the corner. The robo-dogs were sprawled out and one of them was mid-stretch.

He lazily climbed to his feet and moseyed on over before giving me a half-hearted lick across the face. Across the face? More like over my whole body. For a second I gawked. Dog spit all over me. Gross. He nuzzled up to me after that and it wasn't long until I was giggling and petting him all over. The other one's ears perked and he glanced up at me, but he didn't seem very interested.

I was happy to see these boys again. Something about their metal, dopey faces brought joy to me. They were one of the few things left here that made me happy. As fast as that joy came, it vanished when something caught my attention. I stopped petting the dog. I heard a faint noise just a second ago. It sounded like something screaming. Not a human scream, though. It sounded otherworldly. Maybe one of Lockdown's crewmates made the noise?

The dogs seemed to have heard it, too. Both of them had perked up and were staring down the hall. They were completely still. All three of us knew something was weird. The dogs and I exchanged glances. They both tilted their heads at me, just as perplexed. The one I was petting stood up and began walking down the hall.

"W-where are you going?" I called out. The dog didn't pay any mind to me and just kept walking. I turned to look at the other one. He was in the process of laying back down.

I took off running down the hall after the one that was leaving. Where he was off too, I'm not sure. I walked alongside him for a few yards, but suddenly, something happened that I had never seen either of these dogs do before. Not once.

The dog stopped dead in his tracks. He let out a deep, shaky bark, and then suddenly his ears went down. He backed up and his tail went between his legs and he whimpered. Without warning, he turned around and ran back to the cockpit like a bat out of Hell. I was stunned. I froze in pure shock. It dawned on me, I was probably in serious danger.

Before the word "run" could even process in my head, I heard that scream, again. It was high-pitched and deafening. I've heard this noise before. In an instant, a creature lept out from God-knows-where and knocked me right on my ass as it flew by. My mind went blank. To my left, I saw a monster. It had four arms, two legs, and it moved like a spider. I know exactly what this thing is. It's that fucking thing that scared the Sgt. and I that one day on the ship.

It was keeping its distance and staying low to the ground. I don't think it what it had done. Frankly, I didn't know what was going on either, really. It was still. Well, as still as it could be, with all those faulty parts stuck to it. There was a large claw sticking out of its back. It was twitching violently. Its flickering blue optics were darting all around as it was looking me over. The jaw of the creature's head was even more broken than I remember. Whatever hit it must have…- Hold on.

Hold on a minute. I've seen this bot before. Well- its face I should say. This was the face of a deceased Autobot. I saw this one get blown to bits in one of my dreams. What a horrible way to go, and what an even more awful fate. The Wreckers mentioned this one. Que? I think?

Whether this thing was really still him or just something that's salvaged his parts is beyond me. Just then, the creature scuttled forward a little. I scooted back quickly.

"W-who-who… i-is…-" I jumped at the sound of its voice. It was raspy and skipping, sounding like a scratched record. Its head began shaking and twitching.

I felt a chill down my spine. I opened my mouth, but no words came out.

"Y-you-ou-... ar-a-are…-" It sputtered out

I swallowed hard. My lips were shaky when I opened my mouth, again. "M-my name is V-Vega," I stuttered. I was hoping to get some sort of reasonable response out of it. I don't think it was going to work, though.

"H-hu..hu-human…-"

"Yes," I nodded. "Are… you alive?"

The creature's head began twitching, again. For a moment, its optics went out, then flicked back on a second later.

"I d-don't… wo-wo-rk… r-r-righ-right…-" It replied. "A-any… more."

I blinked a few times, trying to think of something."Que…?" I don't know what I was expecting. What I heard next shook me to my core.

"It's me..."

I gasped loudly. I scooted back frantically, covering my mouth. This couldn't be right. It can't be. This cannot be another Autobot. There's no way. They said this one died years ago. I can't imagine the pain. I can't imagine the horror this bot has experienced. Living out his days roaming around trying to fix himself. What the fuck. Does Lockdown know? Is this some sick shit he lets happen?

I uncovered my mouth to say something, but when I looked up, he was gone. Gone without a trace. I didn't realize it until now, but I was trembling. I didn't even take time to think about any of this, I scuttled to my feet and darted back to the cockpit. When I got in there, the dogs were both cowering in the farthest corner from the entrance. They seemed utterly horrified. They must know something about this bot. Maybe they've dealt with him before? At that moment, I remember a tidbit Lockdown told me. The bot would collect things it would find. Maybe it tried to pluck parts off of them at some point?

Things just keep getting worse. I was terribly shaken up. Someone had to know about this. I need to talk to Topspin, again. I was lost in thought, once more. My mind was racing with all these thoughts. All these images from the visions I had. The moment that bot was blown to bits. There was no way he survived. He had to have been resuscitated somehow or- or something, right? There's just no way.

"Vega," I heard a voice. I turned around, and Lockdown was coming up to the cockpit entrance. "What are you doing down here?"

I couldn't say anything. I felt myself growing colder.

"What's wrong with you? You look like you've seen a monster," He said. I still didn't reply. He looked up and noticed the two dogs cowering in the corner. He tilted his head, confused. That's when he figured out something was up. He shook his head before snatching me up in his hand. He dropped me back on the armrest of the throne as he took a seat.

I still couldn't think of anything to say. I just sat there, with my eyes shifting around the room. Lockdown spoke again.

"We're not leaving the airfield, anytime soon," He said in a monotone voice.

"Huh?" I managed to spit out.

"No missions, we have to be on call," He pulled up his screen and gazed at it boredly.

"On-call?" I repeated.

Lockdown glanced at me. I saw a glimmer of a sinister triumph in his optics. He laughed a slight 'Hmph' before bringing his screen a little closer to his face.

"We're hot on Prime's trail, Vega."