#11 - From the Shadows

It had been a week since Starfeather had joined the Maximals as an undercover agent and nothing much was going on. She was at her clearing yet again. She was endlessly thankful that Megatron allowed her an hour off duty every day. In fact, that was the only thing she was thankful for about him. She enjoyed the bliss of her patch of heaven where she could do whatever she pleased, especially draw and sing and play music. She loved to sing when she was all alone, to hear her own voice echo back as if someone were singing along. In fact, she was singing Angel by Sarah McLachlan right now. She was in beast mode. Her optics were closed as she stood, perched on the topmost boulder.

"You spend all your time waiting for that second chance, for a break that would make it okay. There's always some reason to feel not good enough and it's hard at the end of the day. I need some distraction, oh a beautiful release. Memories seep from my veins, they may be empty, oh and weightless and maybe I'll find some peace tonight."

Two rabbits stared at her curiously. A doe and its fawn crept closer to the fence. A mocking bird whistled at her from a branch above her. She glanced up at it and cawed back at it. It shook its tail stiffly and flew off. She giggled and continued.

"In the arms of the angel far from here, from this dark cold hotel room and the endlessness that you fear; you are pulled from the wreckage of your silent reverie. You're in the arms of the angel, may you find some comfort here."

A cheetah joined the on-lookers. It perked its ears and Starfeather thought she saw it smile. She dismissed the thought though and continued.

"You're so tired of this straight line and everywhere you turn there's vultures and thieves at your back. The storm keeps on twisting, you keep on building the lies that you make up for all that you lack. It don't make no difference escaping one last time. It's easier to believe in this sweet madness, oh this glorious sadness that brings me to my knees. In the arms of the angel far from here, from this dark cold hotel room and the endlessness that you fear; you are pulled from the wreckage of your silent reverie. You're in the arms of the angel, may you find some comfort here."

The cheetah sat at the fence, staring intently at her, its green eyes wondering at her.

"You're in the arms of the angel, may you find some comfort here." She finished with a deep bow to her animal audience, stretching out her wings to either side for drama. She was nearly scared out of her feathers when the cheetah clapped its paws and spoke up.

"That was great!" he cheered. Obviously, it was Cheetor. "That was one of the most beautiful songs I've ever heard."

"Thanks..." Starfeather responded automatically, turning hot under her feathers and looking away. She shifted her weight in embarrassment. "Y-you heard that, huh?"

"You bet I did," Cheetor nodded then effortlessly leaped over the fence and padded toward her. "Anyway, Optimus sent me to see if you were okay and get a report."

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just tell him to slag Megatron's perverted butt ASAP," she scowled. The cheetah looked confused.

"What're you talking about?"

She sighed. She wished she kept her big mouth shut... again. But then again, she figured she should at least let one of her new teammates know what was going on behind the scenes. Cheetor was certainly a better option than Rattrap.

"Well," she started, collecting the dark memories. "It... it happened a few days after Tigatron was rescued..."

-Flashback-

"Yeah, goodnight to you too," Starfeather mumbled. Scorponok had shot a testy remark at her when she said she was going to call it a day. She waved to Waspinator as they passed and went up to her door. She typed in her passcode and entered. She stepped inside, the door shutting behind her, and she flicked on the light. When she turned around to flop onto her bed, she froze dead in her tracks. Her worst nightmare was there, waiting for her.

He smirked victoriously at her. She took a step back, reaching for the door keypad to try and escape. But he was too quick. Before she could flinch, he had her throat in his grasp. Her aqua green optics widened and she grasped at his fingers to vainly try and release his grip.

"H-help..." she choked but it was too frail to be heard by the audio receptors of her friends.

"You will be mine this time, my dear," Megatron purred into her own audio receptor before he knocked her out cold. She was overcome with a dizzy sleepiness and she felt herself hit the floor. From then on, it was just fearful blackness.

When she came to, her neck was sore and her head was spinning. The room was dark but she could see the flickering reflection of CR fluid from Megatron's personal CR tank that also doubled as a hot tub. She groaned as she reached up for her head. She suddenly felt sick and went to sit up to keep herself from throwing up but someone grabbed her by her wing and yanked her back down.

She yelled with the sharp pain and whirled around to see who dare touch her wing. Her optics widened with fear as she stared into Megatron's face. She was so close that she could smell his hot breath. He was smiling that sickening smirk at her. She narrowed her optics and bared her teeth.

"If you think that I'm-"

"Why must you be so incorporative, my dear?" he interrupted, speaking in a dark yet sweet voice. "You might just end up enjoying yourself." Before she could blink, he held her down with his own weight and closed the gap between their faces. She shrieked when his lips connected with hers. She tried to push him away but he was too strong. He only pulled her closer, crushing her. She couldn't breathe unless he allowed her too.

He tried to deepen the forced kiss but she bit down, hard. He jerked back, spitting energon mixed with oil from his mouth as she tried to spit his taste and blood out of her mouth. He turned back to her, growling.

"How dare you!"

She snarled defiantly at him, panting. Megatron hit her across the face and she fell back. Her optics brimmed with tears of hatred and pain, her cheek throbbing. She shot him an infuriated glare. He growled again and pinned her down on the floor. His magenta optics seemed to burn into her very spark. She wanted to scream but her voice emitter failed to respond. She gasped for air, trying to scoot away but he held her fast. She continued to struggle.

He chuckled darkly as he moved his face closer to hers, blood dripping from his lip, and murmured, "Struggle all you want. It makes it more interesting."

Suddenly, an idea formed in her head. She had seen this done in movies before. She glared defiantly back at him.

"You want me to struggle? Okay, take THIS!"

Before he could try and guess what she was talking about, she tensed and collided her forehead with his face as hard as she could. That caused him to loosen his grip a little, enough for her to get her legs underneath and kick him off. He landed in a heap. He managed to get on one knee but his nose was met with Starfeather's foot. He fell backward, more blood trickling down his face. She kicked him in the abdomen and he groaned but staggered to his feet. Though his vision was clouded, he moved to lunge at her. She met him with a fierce right hook. Her fist connected with his jaw and he skidded to a crashing stop against a wall. He was barely conscious.

She stood there, panting. She wiped his blood from her lips and chin, now mixed with a little of hers that trickled from her nose. She was mad enough slit his throat and let him bleed to death. But... something didn't feel right about the thought. What would the others say? What would the Maximals think of her? A hero? A murderer?

Scorponok would certainly try to kill her. She knew Terrorsaur would be happy that Megatron was gone as he could take the opportunity to lead. The Maximals would have one less Predacon to worry about but... the odds would be uneven. But why did she care if they were outnumbered? She was a Maximal. She wanted her side to win. Why couldn't she just finish it?

Her thoughts were broken when she heard Megatron moan and try to get up. She panicked and quickly kicked him in the side of the head and he was out.

Then slowly, she took a throwing star with feather-shaped blades from a dispenser on her lower arm above her wrist. She had discovered these weapons a few days ago in a training simulation. She fingered the sharp and deadly weapon between her hands, her mind heavy with the decision.

She bit her lip. Her optics blurred. Her mouth went dry. Her stomach churned. Her spark beat was fast. She shut her optics tightly as she flung the star. It hit its target...

The floor at Megatron's feet.

She couldn't do it. She just couldn't do it. She couldn't bring herself to take a life, even the life of her potential rapist. She covered her face and fled the room. She couldn't go to sleep now. She wanted to be alone, to go to her secret place. She raced through the hallways but literally ran into someone.

"Hey, what's the- What happened to you?" It was Terrorsaur. He looked her over and saw that her forehead dented, her cheek was dented, her nose was bleeding, and it looked like someone had sat on her. She sobbed and did something he really didn't expect. She fell into his arms and she cried into his chest, clinging to him in a death grip around his waist. He flinched. He wasn't sure what to do. He could only watch as she cried with fright at what had and happened to her. Tentatively, he put his hands on her shoulders and gingerly pulled her off of him. To his relief, she loosed her arms and took a step back. She sniffed and wiped away her tears away.

"I-I'm sorry."

"No. I should've known he would try to get you while you were asleep, that fraggin' spawn of a glitch." What was she apologizing for? She didn't do anything... Megatron did.

They stood this way for several minutes, Starfeather soaking in the comfort of her wingmate's presence and Terrorsaur clinging to her quivering shoulders, determined not to let Megatron touch her again. Suddenly, the two noticed the position they were in. Terrorsaur promptly let go of her shoulders and Starfeather straightened up, beginning to blush despite all that had happened. She stuttered for a moment until words finally formed.

"I-I need to go," she whispered quickly and slipped past him, running lightly down the hallway. He went to say something as she left but the words died before he could get them out. He could only watch, yet again, as she ran away out of the base.

Terrorsaur hit himself mentally. What was wrong with him?! He allowed her to touch him like that and didn't even think about shoving her away? He never let anyone touch him like that. He didn't mind protecting her from Megatron because that meant he could slag the stupid saurian but if it meant that she would cling to him like a sparkling to its mother...

Terrorsaur was jerked from his thoughts when he heard the door to Megatron's room swoosh open. He ducked into his own quarters before the Predacon leader saw him. Megatron stalked past, wiping blood from his bleeding mouth. The red mech smirked to himself, seeing what damage Starfeather had done.

"That girl will pay for this. Oh yes, she will pay. I'll make sure of that," Megatron growled to himself. Terrorsaur narrowed his crimson optics. Though he didn't understand why he acted so strangely around her, he understood that this was wrong. He wasn't going to stand for a femme being punished for defending herself. Femmes were not something to be toyed with whenever one so chose. He soundlessly crept towards Waspinator's room.

-End Flashback-

"I... I went to my room for the night but Megatron was there. He took me to his room and tried to subdue me. I fought back and knocked him out. I left and locked myself in my room for the rest of the night and most of the next day..." Starfeather said. She told half of the truth, thinking that some details weren't necessary. Cheetor stared wide-eyed at her, his mouth hanging open. He was at a loss for words. "Yeah, I know... hard to believe isn't it?" she said, looking up from her feet.

"That... that's horrible!" he exclaimed, leaping to all fours. The fur on his neck and shoulders bristled. "You gotta get away from there!"

"No!" she shouted without thinking. Realizing how she had said it, she recoiled and spoke softer. "No... If I left, I'd be forced to fight my two friends. They need me. Besides, I can take care of myself. And if I left, I couldn't report what they were planning."

"Are you sure you can handle Megatron?" Cheetor questioned. He was concerned about her, even though he didn't trust her. The strange thing was, he trusted that her story was true.

"I knocked him out once, didn't I?" she argued

"Who's to say you can't the next time?" he countered.

"I'm fighting for my life. Besides, I want to stay. How many times do I have to say it?" she snapped. "I'm on your side but I'm not living in your base... Wait, that reminds me. There's another stasis pod orbit decaying." She quickly gave him the coordinates. Cheetor nodded but still eyed her.

"Thanks, I'll tell Optimus."

"Whatever you tell him, please do not tell him about Megatron. If you do, I'll slice your tail off and hang you by it," Starfeather threatened, hunching her shoulders to look menacing. He gulped silently, glaring at her.

"Fine," he growled after a long pause. He turned around and raced away. She may have a pretty voice but that says nothing about her personality, he thought heatedly.

She watched him go and realized what she had just said. What was wrong with her? Why had she threatened her comrade like that? Maybe she shouldn't have told him in the first place. She thought about calling Cheetor back and saying she was sorry but remembered that the Predacons were able to hack into communications by the Maximals. She didn't want to get caught talking to him. Shaking her head at herself, she took flight.

-x-

"Megatron," Tarantulas was saying. "I have what I need to repair the dimension gate. Why have you not requested that I perform the next step in the mission?"

"Because, Tarantulas," Megatron replied, fingering his chin thoughtfully. "My intentions for this war have changed. I am no longer interested in human drones. There is something about this planet and I intend to discover what its secrets are and exploit them, yes..." He lost himself in thought for a moment before turning back to his scientist. "You are dismissed."

The spider glowered before nodding.

"As you wish, sir." He slightly bowed and left the main control room, grumbling. This ruined everything... Megatron remained in the command center, his hand still to his chin.

"I will sway her yet..." he muttered. "Oh yes, she will be mine."


AN: Song: Angel by Sarah McLachlan