Disclaimer: Transformers: Animated and everything related belongs to the rightful company Hasbro. I am in no way shape or form making money off this.

Author's Note: I have decided to continue the story and see where it takes me. As such, I would like to point out several terms I will be using when it comes to duration of time but I'll be posting these up on all the chapters so you, the reader, don't have to repeatedly go back and forth to understand what a megacycle is. Enjoy and let me know your thoughts in a review! Unless it's nothing nice, then please keep it to yourself.

Cybertron Units of Time = Earth Units of Time

Nanoklik = 1 second

Cycle = 1.5 minutes (100 nanokliks)

Breem = 8.3 minutes

Megacycle = 2.6 hours (100 cycles)

Solar Cycle = 1 day (10 megacycles)

Deca-Cycle = 10 days (10 solar cycles)

Orbital Cycle = 1 month (32 solar cycles)

Stellar Cycle = 1 year (320 solar cycles)

"Nightmare"

Written by: Beloved Shadow

Inspiration by: JazzTheTiger

Few orbital cycles prior…

Without opening his optic the autobot scout knew something was wrong. Sure it could do with the fact that his processor was all over the place, his pain sensors were on high, his servos were aching something fierce, and he felt as though some of his systems had been hacked and disabled/locked down.

'What the frag happened?' was running through his processor but even so he tried rebooting his system. As his optics came online he took notice of his location; he appeared to be in some abandoned building, either a factory or maybe a lab but he couldn't tell for sure. It was too dark to see, what he assumed to be windows were boarded up, and as far as he knew he was alone. Venting softly he looked down at his frame he realized his peds were barely touching the ground and he appeared to be hanging from something. He tried twisting his servos when he heard the sounds of chains clanking together, forcing him to look up and realize that he had been bound with a thick chain and was hanging from a hook. Frowning he continued to tug at them, maybe swing his stabilizers up and free himself but a warning flashed before his optics.

-Warning: energy levels below 40%-

'Wait, what? But I was at 90% earlier—wait, how long was I out for?' His chronometer showed he had been offline for several megacycles, but as his systems finished rebooting it alerted him to a new memory video. Frowning he played it and let out some rather choice words, servos shaking angrily.

He was doing a routine patrol around Detroit when he had gotten a communication message that said an AllSpark fragment had been located and it was close to his location. Naturally the scout offered to get it, ignoring the order to wait for back up as he sped to the location. It was at an old building several stories tall that was scheduled to be demolished first thing the following morning but there were no humans round.

'Must be on an oil break,' he mused, scanning the area just to be sure. No sign of anybot, and certainly no sign of any Decepticons in the area. He knew he should report back his findings, to wait for back up just in case, but he was tired of everyone treating like a sparkling who didn't know any better. Transforming he entered the building and began to look around.

The building was old, the floors creaking under his weight, a fine layer of dust coated everything but his scans were picking up the fragment at the top floor. Locating the stirs he carefully climbed them (nearly falling through twice when his ped got stuck) but he finally arrived. The floor didn't seem quite as rotten as below but there was a lot of junk and sheets covering a lot of stuff. Bee wouldn't admit it, but with the sun beginning to go down and the windows boarded up, the dying lights were casting some scary looking shadows. But he activated stingers, holding them out as he began to search for the fragment. He carefully moved around the floor, entering a large room but it was so dark he was having difficulty making out anything. He activated his headlights and vented as he stared at the piles of boxes, broken items, and large sheets covering most of it. It seemed that this floor had the most junk of the entire building.

"Oh sure! The fragment couldn't be in an empty room! Or better yet, on the first floor or out in the open!" He mumbled to himself. But if he could find it and bring it back, well then everyone would certainly have to treat him like a real autobot and not some sparkling! "Yeah, yeah I'll do that!" he said and began looking. He ripped a sheet off and felt his vents immediately get clogged with a large cloud of dust he had kicked up, causing him to back up. It took several nanokliks to clear his vents, trying not to stir up any more dust before he decided to just seal them and move slowly.

Oh he hated moving slow, he wanted to be done with this stupid search and back to the warehouse! But he peered through the junk, resisting the urge to cycle air least he wanted to cause his vents to get clogged with dust again. It didn't help that the longer he kept his headlights on the faster he was using up his power. Venting in frustration (and spending another several nanokliks clearing his vents out), he moved deeper into the room, turning his headlights off and used what little light he could see through the gaps in the boarded windows. For some reason though his scanner was given him a lot of static as was his comm link.

"zzzz-bum-zzzz-bee-zzz-'ou there?-zzzz-come in-zzzz"

"Boss bot? That you?" He frowned as he held a servo to his audio receiver, moving around in hopes that the static would clear. "I didn't get that, there's too much static."

"Bum-zzzz-'ee-zzzz-can-zzzz-ear-zzzz-e?"

"Boss! Optimus!" Nothing but a lot of static on both ends. "Slag it!" he cursed, kicking a pile of trash only to kick up more dust from before, causing him to stumble back until his stabilizers hit something and he fell onto his aft. His vents stalled, trying to clear out the dust but he just continued sitting where he had landed, upset and disappointed. "So much for showing them," he muttered, crossing her servos over his chassis, shutting his optics for a bit as he slouched back into the pile of trash he was sitting on. "My scanner said there was an AllSpark here, but all I've found is junk and dust. Lots and lots of dust." It made no sense; maybe his sensor had a glitch or something? Well, he could give it one more look and if that failed, he'd just leave. Once more he ran a scan, letting it run over the entire building but his frame straighten as it said the fragment was in the building, what's more, he was right on top of it. Realization hit him too late as servos emerged from the sheet he had been sitting on, wrapping around his frame tightly, pinning his servos at his sides.

"Surprise, autobot!" Starscream cackled as he stood to his full height. He would never mention it even under torture but he had qualms about his plan not succeeding. But there was something to be said about Unicron favoring fools at their lowest (he was no fool, mind you) and he even managed to capture the smallest of the Autobots!

"Lemme go!" Bumblebee shouted, struggling as hard as he could, trying to get him to loosen his grip though he winced when those clawed digits scratched at his armor, some of them catching in the seams and prodding at the sensitive protoflesh beneath. He began to send out a distress signal but stopped; instead he sent the internal command to activate his energy stingers. They provided a little bit of light but he didn't care as he brought them up as much as he could and sent powerful bolts of electricity into the seeker's arms. He managed to suppress his own yelp of pain as the current also ran into him but it had the desired effect as he was quickly released. Landing on his peds he didn't waste any time and turned, ramming both of them just beneath his cock pit.

Thanks to the AllSpark fragment the former second-in-command was immortal, but he could still feel pain just as another other bot. Once more his systems were overcharged by the current racing through him, multiple errors flashing across his HUD. The next thing he knew he crashed into a pile of trash, part of his armor smoking. It took him a klik to bring his systems online and he growled as he narrowed his optics at the scowling scout.

"I will make you suffer for that!" he shouted, immediately lifting his arms he began opening fire on the yellow bot.

Soon as he saw him move he began moving himself, letting the wheels drop down he easily zipped out of the line of fire. Or rather, that would have been the plan if he hadn't forgotten about the thick piles of trash everywhere. And it was still too damn dark to really make anything out. He was clearly at a disadvantage here but so was Starscream. He could still beat him!

"What's the matter, 'Screamer, can't take down a minibot?" he taunted, speeding past him as he ducked gunfire only to yelp as his stabilizers ran into a pile of trash that he swore moved in front of him and landed with a painful thunk on his faceplates. 'Slag it! That hurt!'

"You were saying, autobot?" he smirked, leveling his guns at him. His plan was to take him operational but there was nothing wrong about beating him for a bit. His optics blinked when he heard the sound of something creaking and glanced around as did the scout. He also felt that the floor beneath his peds seemed to be dipping ever so slightly. That's when his processor decided to remind him about the current state of the building. "Frag it."

The sound of splintering wood was abnormally loud in the abandoned building, due to a combination of termites, age, weather, and no proper maintenance the wood was weak to begin with but when the two transformers began running around, firing at each other, the floor couldn't take the weight anymore and gave out. There was a sudden yelp as both bots fell through the floor with the trash, even crashing through the follow floor beneath but the next one held them. It creaked like the others but it was holding their combined weight—for now.

The yellow scout tried to clear his vents that had gotten clogged with dirt and dust, pushing himself to his peds though he did sway a bit as his gyro-inhibitor sensors tried to repair themselves. It usually only took a couple of kliks but he didn't have such precious time to waste.

The sound of engine thrusters revving up was heard but the seeker tackled the scout hard, flying him through some of the building's rotten walls until he slammed him against a stronger wall, servo wrapped tightly around his neck cables. Just like the scout he was also filthy but he had managed to use his own jets to slow his descend a bit so he didn't need nearly as much time to reorient himself. Smirking at his dazed prey he leaned in close even as he pressed his gun into his stomach plates, letting it warm up.

"Seems I have the upper hand now, autobrat," he sneered. "Any last words before I destroy you?"

"F-Frag you!" Not the best choice of words as the digits around his neck tightened, pressing into sensitive cables and wires but he wasn't going to give this Deceptiscum the satisfaction of hearing him beg for mercy!

"So feisty… it makes me wonder why those glitches continue to keep you around." For a fraction of a nanoklik those blue optics widen and he could see a look of shock and fear, but not from him. He leaned in even closer, peering into his optics. When he tried to look away he boldly slammed him into the wall once more, listening to him cry out in pain. "Answer me this, autobot… why does your team continue to keep you around? You may be quick but the way you fight seems to bring your team more harm than good, so what good are you to them? Hmm?"

Wasn't that the billion dollar question. He asked himself that same question after he was reprimanded for something he did or when a prank went off. The way everyone got after him he was surprised he wasn't send to Cybertron. But, why in the Pitt did he have to tell this-this traitor anything? "None of your business!" he snapped. Ignoring the servo around his neck and his gun pressing none too gently into his side, he activated his stingers and lashed out. Even as he was let go he went on the offensive this time, striking him repeatedly as anger took over his processor. "My team needs me! I'm useful to them! They're my friends!"

He knew he had hit a sensory nerve the way he was coming at him, some of his strikes were now missing their intended target and it only grew when he activated his thrusters, flying out of the room. He heard the scout chase after him, cursing up quite a storm but he smirked. Listening to him stop he landed several feet away, holding both guns out in case he thought to open fire at him. He was venting heavily, his fans cycling air rapidly, but aside from the anger in his optics he could also see a look of uncertainty. He couldn't help but taunt him once more.

"Aww! Did I hurt the little autobrat's feelings?" he asked in a mocking tone, chuckling as he watched him go tense.

"Don't. Call. Me. LITTLE!" he shouted angrily, charging his stingers he quickly brought them up, ready to open fire but there was a loud crack and the floor split open right beneath his peds. With a startled yelp Bumblebee fell through the floor but as he fell he let loose the charge of his weapons. The charge not only completely missed its intended target, it blew up the roof of the building. The structure couldn't take it anymore and slowly began to cave in on itself. Unfortunately the scout fell through the remaining floors, hitting the ground floor with another hard thunk but the last thing he remembered seeing was the rest of the building come crashing down atop of him. It was enough that he was knocked off-lined.

As the end of the memory clip finished the scout felt a mix of emotions racing through him: anger, shame, embarrassment to name a few. Well, this was a first, he was a prisoner of Starscream who no doubt disabled many of his features so not only could he not call for help or send a distress signal, he couldn't activate his stingers and break free. Not only that, he couldn't run the most basic scan to see just how badly damaged he had been hurt when the building collapsed on him.

'Yeah, sure Prowl would rub it in, saying that I need to slow down.' Just thinking about the Cyber Ninja made him feel angry and sadden. He cringed when another warning popped up on his HUD to show that he was now at 22%. If it fell any lower he was going to go into stasis lock and then he really would be helpless against the Decepticon.

"… slag it." He closed his optics as he let them go off-line, trying to preserve what bit of power he had remaining. He never realized that he hadn't been alone as he thought.

The seeker was quiet as he slowly made his way to where the scout was hanging like a prized trophy. He didn't think the rusty chains would have been able to hold the scout but while they were not stasis cuffs they were good enough for now. He slowly walked around his prone form, taking in his bulky armor as well as the dark protoflesh that was revealed. No doubt if he were to remove his armor plating this minibot would be even smaller. Stopping before him he reached out and lightly grasped his chin in his servo, gazing intently at his faceplates.

'Such a pretty looking bot… I wonder if that's the reason your precious team continues to keep you around,' he mused and chuckled darkly as he realized another way to torture the scout for information. It would take some time but he had nothing but time at the moment.

A soft groan escaped his lips as his optics slowly came online. For a moment, the yellow scout was confused as to where he was and why his servos were aching but when he tried to pull them the chains made a clanking sound he froze and vented softly.

'Oh, right. I got captured by Starscream of all mechs.' Well, it could've been worse. It coulda been Megatron. He blinked at himself for a klik. Would being in Megatron's servos be better than this nimrod? He wasn't sure anymore as he ran an internal system check.

His self-repair system finished with some minor injuries he was sustained during the fight but everything was still deactivated. Still, he tried to send a communication link out but there was nothing but dead static. Still blocked. His chronometer read he had been off-lined for a few megacycles, and his power level was now at 69% but he wasn't able to do much except hang there.

His optics shuddered when his system said that his personal files had been looked at. They were old clips from past conversations with his team but why would a message be popping up about them? Unless… that glitch of a slag hacked into him while he was out!

"Next time I see him I'm gonna-!" he fumed, twisting his servos in the chains, ignoring his pain sensors as he spun in place for a bit, his peds kicking at the air.

"You're going to what, autobot?" Well speak of the Pitt-spawned glitch himself. Starscream smirked as he slowly came out of the shadows, smirking with his servos crossed over his chassis.

"You!" Swinging forward he tried to reach out even if it was to kick him but he cursed when he realized he was too short to do anything but it didn't stop him from trying. "You hacked my processor! I'm gonna kick your aft from here to Cybertron and back!"

The seeker continued smirking, listening to his empty threats and watched as he struggled. His optics trailed up and down his body as he swung back and forth before he finally stopped, venting air heavily but the look of anger in his optics made them a lovely shade of blue. He just continued to watch him, saying nothing. He had the satisfaction of watching the anger fade away to wariness and suspicion then to a small hint of fear. Now he would have no choice but to stand there and listen.

"You and I are a lot alike, Bumblebee," he smirked.

Okay, that was not what he expected him to say in the least! "Have you fried your circuits? We're nothing alike," he snapped.

"Really? We're both proud, brave soldiers, we're both the fastest in our groups, we're both taken for granted, and we don't get nearly enough recognition for our actions."

"Yeah! Well... I don't try to offline my boss every nanoklik of each solar cycle!"

"But you agree with everything else?" he smirked at the silence. "I'm not hearing otherwise."

'Frag!' This was just another trick to get him to reveal some secret the autobots had, some sort of intel, but his processor was replaying his words on repeat. Was he right? Were they taking him for granted?

"You're wrong... Optimus and the others, they rely on me! We're a team! And nothing you say is gonna change that, Decepticreep!"

"Really? Then why don't we just listen to what your precious team really thinks of you, shall we?" With a smirk he withdrew a data cube and pressing one side, held it out as it immediately began to play several clips, each one showing one of his teammates but what they were saying seemed to crush at his spark one by one.

"Slag it all! When is that glitch gonna start taking this seriously?!" Ratchet said angrily. "If he'd listen to orders I wouldn't have to waste so much time pounding out dents! He's nothing but trouble!"

"B-But Ratchet is like that with everybot. He's never happy," he argued but his words had stung. Did he really think he was a glitch?

"He doesn't realize speed is not everything. He's too impatient and more than once it has affected not only him but the team as a whole," Prowl vented heavily, as though having repeated himself recently. "He doesn't seem to care that his reckless behavior will have us all visiting the Well of AllSparks and no doubt refuse to take responsibility."

"Not everyone can be a failed cyber ninja," he muttered bitterly. Sure he kinda went a bit overboard during some missions but he had never put anyone in danger intentionally! They woulda told him, he woulda listened! Right?

"Aw come on, Bumblebee is a good bot! He just likes to do things his own way," Bulkhead said. The scout perked up, knowing that his best friend would never say anything mean about him even behind his back! "But he's kinda a showoff, racing on ahead, never really looking where he's going. I mean, he nearly ran over Sari a few times and never apologized for it."

"N... no... I didn't..." Well, he was used to getting yelled at for being reckless, but he would never hurt Sari. He would gladly lay down his spark to protect her!

"Bumblebee could be more if he just applied himself. I've lost track of how many times I told him we need to work as a team but it appears to go right through one audio receiver and immediately out the other one," Optimus sighed, digits pressed to his helm as though he was suffering from a processor ache. "I've thought of sending him back to Cybertron but I'm certain they'll tell me he's my responsibility."

"Boss bot…" Did he really want him to go back home? He didn't have anyone back there; all his friends were here on Earth. Or, could he even call them his friends? His spark clenched tightly in his chassis, he couldn't help but let out a keening sound of distress. Was that what they really thought about him?

"Sometimes I wish I had never met him."

That had been the final screw as the data cube showed Sari looking depressed as she said those words. He couldn't believe it but the proof was right there in front of him. He shook his helm, refusing to believe it but he couldn't run away and when he tried to turn off his audio receivers he found he couldn't. They had been locked into their current setting and he couldn't override the lock.

"The truth hurts. It would appear your team doesn't hold you in such high regard," Starscream said even as he placed the cube on a box, letting it repeat the video clips on a continuous loop. Watching him just in case he moved before him, reaching out to grasp his chin in his servo and forcing him to look up at him. His optics were darker and now he could see broken trust, rejection, and loneliness. He was slowly breaking down from the inside. It would take some more time but the end result would be worth it. "You may refuse to believe me but we are much more alike than you could dream of, little Bee."

He cringed, shutting his optics tightly even as soft ktching sounds escaped his frame. He couldn't cry like he had seen Sari and other organics do, but it didn't stop his body from falling into despair as he kept hearing those same words being repeated over and over. His digits clenched tightly but he didn't have the strength for anything except to hang there and accept the truth. "… why…"

"What was that? I didn't quite hear you." Everything was slowly falling into place one klik at a time.

"… why, are you show- *ktch* showing me this?" he asked, slowly opening his optics and looking up at him pleadingly.

"… everybot should know their worth to the team, don't you think?" Brushing a digit over his lips he pulled back and began walking away. "I'll come back later; I'm sure you have a lot to think about." Chuckling he allowed the shadows to swallow him, leaving the scout alone.

Blue optics widen, lips parting, wanting to shout at him to come back and take this lying data cube away from him but instead he let his frame go limp and listened to those hateful words wash over him like a blanket of despair. Dental bit down on his lip plate but he didn't register the pain as sobs continued to rack his small frame, feeling the ache in his spark grow by leaps and bounds.

'I… I'm a worthless glitch…' he thought to himself numbly.

~ To be continued… ~

Author's notes: Starscream can be quit the manipulative bastard when he stoops and thinks about his plans a bit more thorough. The story pretty much takes place after the episode "Mission Accomplished" which means he still has the AllSpark fragment in his head. But, he has yet to create his clones so in a sense this is before "A Fistful of Energon" as well. Hmm, I guess in a way it kinda boosted his processor or something to make him think of a successful plan.

Starscream: How dare you! I have you know I was once a great scientist on Cybertron!

Uh huh. Keep telling yourself that, 'Screamer.

Starscream: Don't call me that!

But it suits you! (cheesy grin) Anyway next chapter will reveal just what 'Screamer is up to and what he plans to do with our unfortunately little scout, 'Bee.

Bumblebee: I'm not little! I'm a minibot!

Potato, potatoe! Same thing!