Nightmare

by Beloved Shadow of Light

Bumblebee didn't think his teammates hated him so much, but was Starscream right? Was he really a worthless glitch not worth anybot's time? All he ever wanted was to prove himself and show them all. Why was a Decepticon the only one willing to tell him the truth? What was this strange sensation in his spark?

11. Chapter 11

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: Hello? (dodges thrown trash) I swear Bulkhead isn't dead! I like him too much it just happened! "Peers behind hiding place) I need Sentinel is be a bigger ass than he's already show, he's so by the book its pitiful but don' worry, he's not getting away with what he did in the last chapter Scott free. So here's the latest ranking in the polls:

Prowl: 11

Starscream: 9

Optimus Prime: 2

Other: 4 (Bulkhead, Skywarp)

Ninja bot is still in the lead, 'Screamy in second, others in third, and boss bot is pulling up the rear. Aaw… I like boss bot even if he needs to loosen up just a tiny bit. Well, remember the polls are still open so if you haven't voted yet, do so! If you have, thank you! Now onto the story!

BTW, below is fighting, injured mechs, and an unexpected rescuer. Enjoy!

"Nightmare"

Written by: Beloved Shadow

Inspiration by: JazzTheTiger

Sari hummed happily to herself as she flew to the Autobot's headquarters, thinking of how excited bumblebee would be when he saw that she had managed to get an advance copy of Ninja Gladiators 2. She wasn't suppose to have it but her dad managed to pull some strings and get it for her—as long as she promised not to show anyone else. That wasn't exactly a problem; her best friend was a giant alien robot.

'I can't wait to see the look on his faceplates!' she giggled; she was now able to see the old factory in sight but her heightened hearing picked up the slightly muffled sounds of someone yelling. Frowning she remembered that the giant aft-faced Sentinel was still here and figure he got in another shouting match with Optimus but as she flew closer she could hear intense fighting. Now that was something she was not used to hearing and she didn't like it! She completely forgot about her game as she flew closer, ready to head into one of the broken windows but the sharp squeal of tires made her halt long enough to see a yellow compact tearing out off the side entranced the Autobots used to come and go.

"B-Bumblebee!" she shouted, ready to take off after him but he was going so fast she wasn't going to catch up. She winced when she heard something hit the ground hard enough to cause a bot to scream in pain. The first thought to come to mind were that the Decepticons had invaded their base and she quickly flew inside via a broken window, her Cybertronium armor covering her body. No one was going to hurt her friends-

Skyfire let out an animalistic shout of rage as he lifted Sentinel above his helm then threw him into the ground hard enough to cause a very large frame-sized hole. Still snarling he slammed his ped into his midsection, smirking when he felt something violently break before he reached down and grabbed the servo that had been holding the battle lance, the same lance he had tried to use on the expected carrier. He didn't care about the shouts from the others as he angrily ripped the arm off.

"I will never let you near either of them!" he hissed, heavy static lacing his vocalizer as he threw the arm to the side and prepared to drive his clawed servo into the dark blue chassis.

"Skyfire, stop!" Optimus shouted, lifting his arm he fired his grappling hook but instead of aiming for the enraged seeker the clawed end wound itself around Sentinel's ped and he managed to pull him out of danger just as the servo came crashing into the ground.

Safeguard, who was still trying to gain control over his own thought processes, used the slight distraction and threw himself at the white shuttle. There was a painful clash of metal as the two transformers grappled with one another, trying to pin the other down but Skyfire lashed out and raked his clawed servo over their duel colored chassis, making the combiner attacked with a powerful blast of heated air. The shuttle was forced back, ignoring the painful burns to his chassis and his servos.

"We is not fighting with you," the large gestalt spoke, a slight hitch in their own vocalizer.

"Then why protect a worthless glitch such as him?" he seethed, cycling air hard even as he tried to fight for control of his processor, his optics shuddering from red to blue and back again. "Don't, make me hurt you," he hissed.

Sari was confused and yes, she was scared, but hearing a pained groan her eyes widen and her battle mask slid back to show her worried expression as she immediately flew to Ratchet's side. "Bulkhead! What happened!? Who did this to you!?" she demanded, telling herself she was not going to cry.

"S-Sa-ri-i-i?" Oh he was in pain, he could feel his spark fluttering in his chassis and his vision was filled with a lot of static but he could see the worried face of his young friend. He made to sit up but cried out in pain and allowed Ratchet to push him back until he was lying down once more.

"Don't move, I gotta see how bad the damage is," the CMO said as he quickly opened the wrecker's chassis. He heaved a great sigh of relief when he saw that the slagging lance had missed his spark chamber completely but it tore a very large hole in his tank and he was leaking too much oil and energon. "Sari, I'm gonna need your help," he said even as he immediately began pulling items from his subspace.

"Anything!" once more she was desperately wishing she still had the AllSpark key but she still had her hands, so she could still do something to help.

Optimus kept a watchful optic on the large seeker but he seemed to be trying to control his processor. Instead he turned to a badly beaten Sentinel and didn't feel the least bit of remorse for him. "Are you out of your processor?! You tried to offline a member of my own team!" he snapped angrily. He was done being the compassionate Prime and he was going to let this glitch have it one way or another.

"Y-You heard him! That minibot is-is a traitor and what's wor-wor-worse is he allowed himself to be sparked—by a Decepti-ticon!" he shouted back, wincing as he held the spot where his arm had been ripped off. His battle lance was too far away to reach and warning flashed across his HUD but he ignored it as he forced himself onto his peds. "W-When Ultra Mag-nus hears-s-s about this-s I'll see-see 'ou all ru-rust-sting away in pr-prison and that-at-at glitch delet-delet-'d!"

"Not if I delete you first!" Skyfire snarled and made to charge at him but he stumbled and fell to his knee joints, servos catching him before he completely hit the ground. Warning filled his vision, energy levels too low to be considered safe, static making it nearly impossible to see but it was the opportunity he needed as he managed to reign in his protective instincts. There was a flash of light and the jettwins didn't waste any time in going to his aid, helping him sit up.

"No fighting now, is being hurt," Jetfire gently reprimanded, wincing as he saw that their combined powers had warped the metal and glass on the shuttle's chassis. Surely he had to be in a great deal of pain.

"We is not having yellow friend hurt. Not Sentinel sir, not anybot" Jetstorm promised, ignoring their commander's rants.

The red and blue Prime tried not to let his emotions overrule his logic, he had hurt those close to his spark too many times but hearing the other Prime swearing to harm the minibot and his developing sparkling left him literally seeing red. "Lay a single digit on my teammate and I'll rip out your struts through your port," Optimus seethed in a calm, icy fury. "This is Earth, not Cybertron, and I am the acting Prime here, not you. I make the rules, I give the orders, and I decide whether a member of my team deserves punishment or not." He paused, still giving the giant-chinned glitch a heated stare and as he took the few ped steps closer to him he had the satisfaction of watching him walk away from him. "The future of my team is mine; meaning I will alert Ultra Magnus to the situation when I am ready, not you. And you had better get it through your processor that you will stay away from Bumblebee and his sparkling, or else."

"Or… or else what?"

"Or else… you had better pray to Primus that Skyfire offlines you before I get my servos on you, or you will wish you had never been sparked." For a moment, unknown to the fuming Optimus his optics shifted from an icy blue to a deep crimson, sending a spike of fear down the backstruts of the injured Sentinel.

On the floor Bulkhead winced as he felt his tank being repaired without having his sensory network dampened but he didn't care as he looked around, not seeing any sight of his little buddy. "W-Where's Bum-Bumblebee-e?" He remembered telling him to run but it wasn't safe out there for him, either.

"I saw him racing outta here like the Decepticons were on his bumper," Sari told him as she flew up and gently rested her hand on his forehelm, telling him to relax and finally looked up at the medbot. "What happened? Why was he running scared? Where's Prowl and Psyche? And what happened to Bulkhead?"

"Those two went off after the kid to try and get him to calm down before he suffers a spark attack. Bulkhead was hurt when he protected the kid from getting skewered by that aft's lance," he explained simply and grimly, glancing at the lance when it had fallen previously. "Kid's running scared, he doesn't know who to trust anymore."

"Bee…" What the hell was going on?! Part of her wanted to grab the damn weapon and shove it up that giant glitch's aft so far it would come out of his mouth! "But why was he trying to hurt Bee? He's an Autobot, just like everyone else!"

"It's 'cuz he's sparked, Sari." The medic looked up at the confused look she was giving him and sighed deeply. "It means he's carrying a sparkling, and he's running scared 'cuz he told us who the sire is." He didn't have time to explain the rest he continued to repair the hole in his teammate's tank, silently praying to Primus to not let him lose another patient.

---

Bumblebee sped through the streets of Detroit as fast as he could; he didn't have a set course in mind or a destination for that matter but he didn't care. He was determined to put as much distance between himself and Sentinel as far as he could. He winced as a warning popped up in his HUD, warning him of an overheated frame, a frantically racing spark, and low fuel levels. Turning sharply with a sharp squeal of tires he skidded along until finally coming to a stop in some remote alley. He wasn't sure where he was exactly but he didn't care as he wordlessly transformed and immediately dropped to his knees. A shaking servo reached up and upon the silent command his chassis split open.

His spark was pulsing erratically, running on his fear and anxiety. The smaller spark was quivering as it continued to orbit his own, alternating in speeds from frantic to sluggish. He didn't know much about medical mechanics but he did know that if he didn't calm down and get his spark to resume a normal pulse, he could lose his sparkling.

'G-Gotta relax… oh Primus…' He vaguely remembered Prowl trying to teach him some breathing exercises to combat his hyperactivity. He wished he had paid more attention but closing his optics he began to cycle air through his system slowly yet deeply. It seemed to take eons but slowly he could feel his cooling fans kicking off, his processor was no longer filled with such intense anxiety, and his spark was finally resuming its normal pulse. Removing his servo he allowed his chassis to slide close but he wrapped his arms around himself as much as he could, curling into a small ball in the filthy alleyway.

'Sentinel—he wants to delete you. I-I can't do that to you, I can't!' he sobbed to himself, feeling the sobs beginning to rack his small frame. 'I don't care if your sire is Starscream, or that he only sees me as a pleasure drone, I love you too much! I want to watch you grow up and fly!' He could feel panic once more trying to set in but he began to breathe deeply once more, but soft ktches continued to spill free. He knew he should go back but he couldn't do that to his team. He couldn't have them suffer because of him.

"I-I need help *ktch*," he sobbed quietly, fighting back the urge to just break down in an emotional mess.

"I can help you, carrier."

Bee's yellow helm snapped up and he pressed himself into the wall as hard as he could, as though hoping/praying it would open up and give him shelter. The bot before him was big, nearly twice as tall as Optimus but he was sleeker in frame and his armor plating was a dark blue-gray color scheme. He also had wings which he realized identified him as a seeker but it was the insignia on his chassis that had him ready to bolt. He was a Decepticon but certainly not one he had ever faced before but while his Autobot training was telling him to comm for help, his carrier instincts were alternating between running to safety or begging him for help. He opted for the third option: make himself as small as possible while sending out a distress signal to anybot nearby, whether it be a friend or foe.

"W-Who are you?" he asked, quietly his sobs as best he could even as she very slowly got to his peds.

"I am Cyclonus, and you are Bumblebee, the Autobot carrier," he said calmly. He took a few steps closer and with no warning reached out, touching the smaller mech's chassis. He could feel the two sparks humming beneath the protective plating and gave a non-descriptive 'hmm'. "Your sparkling is strong."

The scout couldn't stop the blush from spreading to his cheek ridges as he slapped the servo off his plating. "Didn't your creators tell you to ask before you touch another bot's chassis?" Bee snapped, holding his arms over his chassis protectively. "You're a Decepticon, so let me save you the trouble and tell you I'm not going anywhere and I sure as slag not gonna let you take me back to Megatron!"

"My orders were to bring you back, fully operational." He did swear his eternal loyalty to the warlord, but his true loyalty lay with another bot, one who would soon rule over all as far as the optic could see. "I do not wish to fight least you lose your sparkling, but I know where you will be safe from glitches such as that large-chinned aft Sentinel." He moved closer, forcing the minibot to tilt his helm back in order to look up at him. "He will not rest until the sparkling has been permanently deleted."

Yellow tipped servos gripped his chassis ever tighter, the metal groaning in protest. "How… how do you know about that?" the scout in a hushed whisper. He tried not to flinch as the clawed servo reached forward once more, pressing against his chassis. He couldn't help but shiver at his icy cold touch but when he tried to move away from him he felt frozen on the spot. That was something very unnerving about this 'Con but he couldn't place why. He looked around and was shocked to see two other mechs on either side, each bearing the purple insignia on their chassis as well. He tried to struggle once more and was relieved when he found himself able to move, ignoring the way the cold servo felt as it slid off his plating. His processor sent out another burst of distress but he made the mistake of staring into the optics of a bizarre reddish mech. "Who the Pitt are you?"

"Listen to the sound of my vocalizer, forget about everything around you," the mech said, keeping his optics locked with that of the minibot they began glowing. The scout's processor was easy to hack into, overriding his firewall proved to be a tricky but he watched as the Autobot slowly relaxed before going into a forced recharge. "There. He will be out for at least a mega-cycle," he said with satisfaction.

"Still don't see why we needed you here, Mindwipe, my chemicals would have done the trick easily enough," the dark toxic green and burnt gold mech pointed out. He made to reach out and pick up the minibot but hissed in surprise/pain as a servo roughly grabbed his and bent it backwards, threatening to snap it clean off.

"Lord Megatron tasked us with bringing the carrier fully operational," Cyclonus reminded him, his dark red optics boring into those of the 'Con. "The sparkling is important as well, so refrain from touching either or I shall use your own precious chemicals on yourself, Oil Slick." Releasing the chemist the seeker knelt and easily held the carrier to his chassis. Bumblebee didn't so much as stir as they took to the air. Blitzwing was waiting for them and it was best not to keep the psychotic triple-changer waiting.

---

"Psyche, please slow down!" Prowl shouted at the aqua blue sports car.

"No! Every astrosecond Bumblebee is out here is one closer to something happening!" the femme snapped, ignoring the organics as she sped down the streets. "I promised to protect him!"

"How can you protect him if you end up crashing!?" He knew it was harsh but it had the desired effect of her slowing down long enough to pull into a parking lot then skidding to a stop, transforming into her root mode. He did the same but watched as she bean pacing in place, servos clenching and unclenching tightly; she was tense and anxious. "We will find him, and I will never let Sentinel harm him."

"I know you won't. You're a good mech," she said quietly, feeling her gears tightly before letting out an angry roar from her engine. "I swear to Primus and Unicron I will beat the living slag out of him! What in the Pitt was the High Council thinking making him a Prime? Why don't they just give Cybertron over to Megatron while they're at it?! Useless, processor dead, inferior glitches! I hate them! I hate him!"

"PSYCHE!" The verbal shout might as well been a slap in the faceplates but the revving of her engine stopped, staring at his with large optics. Looking down in her servos she didn't realize she had her short handled hammer out. Prowl noticed it but didn't say anything and waited a few kliks before speaking up.

"I do not agree with the decisions of the High Council, I never wanted to be part of this war, but I will fight for what I believe is right and if that means going against a Prime and helping Bumblebee raise his sparkling in secret, then I will and never look back." He paused, watching as she slowly looked up at him. "I don't know anything about you aside from what you told us, but I know you have negative feelings for the High Council and those that represent them."

"What are you getting at?" she asked, tightening her digits over the handle of her hammer, feeling the energy crackle in response.

"Let us focus our energy on finding Bumblebee and keeping him safe. He has already agreed to live on Dinobot Island for the time being and the sooner we can get him there, the safer he and his sparkling will be."

"… you're right. We should be finding him first," she said, looking down at her hammer before placing it back into her subspace she transformed but not before giving the ninja a sincere smile. "Thank you."

He smiled and transformed back into a motorcycle, letting his holoimage appear in the seat. "You're welcom-" He felt his backstrut stiffen and his holoimage of a police officer stiffened, gazing up at the sky.

"Prowl? What's wrong?"

"I'm getting a distress signal, but… it appears to be moving."

"Bee. It's gotta be Bee! Lead the way!" without being told the motorcycle took off, followed closely by the sports car but in the air they never realized they were being followed as well.

---

The flight was a relatively short one, the mysterious seeker flying fast enough that the puny organics never noticed him. His mouth plates twitched as the thought of staying here on this miserable planet any longer. He only agreed to come for the sake of making sure that the magnificent descent of the Emperor of Destruction would come to be and he would do anything to make sure it happened. Slowing down he dropped from the sky and landed easily, not so much as jarring the carrier in his arms. Mindwipe and Oil Slick didn't have the speed to keep up but he could care less about them. Looking around he turned when he heard heavy ped steps and watched as the triple-changer stepped out from the shadows.

"I see joo've brought the Autobot, vas there any problems?" he asked.

"None whatsoever; he was in great distress when we apprehended him, though," he pointed out. "I believe his team has found out who the sire of his sparkling is and threatened harm."

"Zen their fault vill be our gain," Blitzwing nodded just before his faceplates shifted to that of the manic persona Random. "Ve now have a cute minibot of our very own! I'll hold him and pet him and squeeze him and call him George!" he cackled and made to grab the still recharging minibot but instead received a heavy ped in his faceplates, sending him crashing on his aft. Sitting up his faceplates shifted to a pissed off Hothead. "Vhat vas zat for?!"

"Megatron has requested the Autobot fully operational and the sparkling intact, I will not allow your demented actions to risk harm coming to them," he said coldly. He never so much as flinched as the fuming soldier surged to his peds, glaring at him from behind his bright red visor.

"Do zat again and I'll rip joo apart!" he shouted before switching to Random. "Zen all ze king's horses and all ze king's men can put joo together again!"

'I am surrounded by glitches,' the seeker thought to himself but was thankfully saved from any more bursts of insanity as he heard the loud rumble of an engine getting closer. Turning he watched as a toxic green and black motorcycle raced up to them before transforming at the last klik to a halt, soon to be followed by a strange plane that resembled a massive bat began descending from the sky, transforming as well so it could land soundlessly. "What kept you two?" he demanded.

"You're the one that took off on us with no warning," the chemist was quick to point out, ignoring the way the grass died under his peds or the way the ground burned and warped. "And this one decided to have a glitch in his processor that took him forever to get rid of."

"I told you before it was not a glitch! I was communicating with our fellow Decepticons who are no longer with us," the maroon-colored seeker snapped. "Either way I clearly don't expect to understand the true extent of my powers."

Random took over with a loud cackle. "Powers? Make a petrorabbit appear out of joor helm!"

"I'm a hypnotist, you processor damaged fool! Why would I want to pull a petrorabbit from my helm to begin with?" Why did no one understand him?

Before Random could say something idiotic Icy took over and turned to the only professional and sane Decepticon solider. "I have just send Lord Megatron a comm that ve have ze Autobot, he is expected our return. Ve should leave now, before his team come looking for him."

"I agree." There wasn't a way to transport the minibot safely in their seeker modes, he was just too big and bulky but as Blitzwing took the yellow mech from the Cyclonus' arms a series of laser fire tore up the ground between them, forcing them to separate. They looked up and witnessed an enraged blue-violet jet flying straight towards them, going at break-neck speeds. Seeing the jet firing at them the grayish seeker frowned at the sight, as though he was not expecting this.

"I knew it! Our fallen brothers were trying to warn me that we were being followed!" Mindwipe declared loudly, making himself a grand target before taking cover behind a parked car.

"Some warning would be very helpful," Oil Slick hissed, removing a wicked long chain from his subspace. The jet was flying too fast for him to use his own brand of chemicals on him, but that didn't mean he couldn't slow him down enough to get a better shot. He began swinging it over his helm, waiting and watching at the jet continued firing at them, smirking when he saw it head straight for him. 'Now I have you!'

A sleek turquoise and purple jet, flying just over their helms, flew by at an incredible speed. Just before the chemist could release the chain, the jet caught it and dragged the unsuspecting mech along for the ride. She purposely flew lower so she was dragging him along the ground and street, causing his frame to get heavily damaged but just before he could think to let go she began performing acrobatic moves that an organic pilot could only dream of ever attempting.

"If you mess with one seeker, you mess with the entire trine!" Slipstream taunted, performing a barrel roll she flew to the ground, purposely aiming for the idiot Mindwipe. "Hey seeker wannabe! Heads up!"

"How dare you! I have powers you couldn't even begin to understand!" he ranted, standing from where he had been hiding, firing at the femme fatale he noticed realized what she was planning she flew up into a tight roll and released the chain at the perfect moment. Neither the reddish-seeker and toxic green mech had the chance to do anything as one slammed into the other with enough force to cause some serious damage. Chuckling she transformed and hovered in the air, smirking at the chaos she had caused but a warning from her brother forced her to take to the air once more, avoiding the rapid fire from one very irate Blitzwing.

"Joo seekers vill pay for zis!" Hothead ranted as he continued firing at the two jets, completely oblivious to the destruction he was causing as well as the noise. He never realized that his yelling and the powerful sounds from his guns were rousing the Autobot from his recharge.

'Primus… why's it so loud? Did I leave the TV on again?' he asked himself, his processor throbbing ever so slightly. His stabilizers felt too heavy to move but as his audio receiver reset, clearing away the static he heard yelling followed by weapons' fires. 'Weapons?'

"Hold still so I can blast joo!"

"Aim better!"

Wait, wait an astrosec, he knew those voices! Opening his optics he forced them to online, trying to reset them as quickly as possible and when he saw a purple Decepticon symbol on the chassis of the bot holding him, he wished he hadn't and in his panicked stated did the only thing he could think of. He allowed his servos to transform and bringing his stingers together, struck the crazed hothead with a full charge.

The triple-changer let out a static-filled shout, his trio of faceplates rapidly spinning as his system tried (and failed) at dealing with the sudden electrical charge. He promptly dropped the Autobot and began staggering around, his vocalizer going through a great deal of heavy static itself. Bumblebee ignored the pain in his aft and scrambled to his peds, ready to run in any direction that would take him far from here when he ran into a sleek frame. "No!" he panicked and made to shock the other bot when servos quickly grabbed his.

"Carrier, you're safe!" Skywarp said, holding the charged stingers back he waited and watched as terrified blue optics looked at him. Slowly, he released his servos but jumped when the Autobot lunged at him and embraced him tightly, hiding his faceplates in his chassis. He didn't know what to say but wrapped his own servos around him in a tight embrace. "I will never let any bot harm you," he vowed quietly.

"Isn't that sweet. Blech!" Slipstream frowned but hovered in the air, ready to take off. "Let's go before more com-" She screamed in pain as a sharp plate cut through one of her thrusters, and another slice cleanly through a wing. Unable to stay in the air she tried to land but a dark figure struck her from above and sent her crashing into the ground. She was knocked offline.

"Slipstream!" Skywarp could only stare at his sister, torn between helping her and getting the carrier to safety he was too slow to react when the figure seemed to materialize behind him and chocked back a scream of his own as two dark blades pierced his wings. His grip around Bumblebee shook, trying to shut down his sensory network but the pain was too much. The blades were quickly removed then he was quickly grabbed by the edge of his back plates and forcefully thrown back where he skidded to a halt by his fallen sister.

"S-Skywarp!" The yellow mech was terrified and ran towards them, dropping to his knees but he didn't know how to help them. Once more he set out a distress signal, hoping that someone from his team would hear it. "Oh Primus… I-I don't know what to do!"

"C-C-Car-rrier-r… ru-run a-wa-wa-way…" the blue-violet mech stuttered, ignoring the pain in his wings as he forced himself to try and sit up. "Pro-tect… the spa-spark-ling…"

"No, I-I'm not leaving you two behind!" It didn't matter if they were Decepticons, or they were clones of Starscream, they risked their own plates to save him and he was not going to leave them behind! "I can fight!"

"Too ri-risk-y-y… ru-run, now-now!"

"No!"

"Only few would stay behind to save their fallen comrades, even though they are greatly out powered, and outnumbered," Cyclonus pointed out as he stood before the minibot, holding his twin dark energy blades in his servos, a slight coat of energon and oil coating the metal. Blitzwing was also standing, his chassis badly singed and looking positively livid. Oil Slick and Mindwipe, covering in numerous dents, scratches, frame either cracked or completely broken looked ready to tear the three of them apart one circuit at a time. "Come with us."

"No! If I do, you won't hesitate to destroy Skywarp and Slipstream," he accused, refusing to show them any hint of fear.

"You should not concern yourself with such pitiful weaklings. They let their programming dictate their processors and were easily taken down. They have no right to be called warriors of the stars."

"Shut up! Two of my friends are seekers and these two were trying to protect me and my sparkling!" Standing but making sure he was standing before them protectively he held his stingers out, letting the charge build up. "I'm not going anywhere, and I won't let you harm my friends."

"… so be it." The grayish mech silently raised his sword up and was prepared to use it; Skywarp tried to get his system to cooperate, even if it was just enough to grab the carrier and pulled him back but nothing was working. His pain sensors were overwhelming his processor so he couldn't teleport. Bumblebee felt a tiny sliver of fear but refused to back down, letting the charge build he was vaguely aware of a roaring engine coming closer and closer to their location.

Icy frowned, picking up an engine but he didn't notice anything. "Vhat is zat-" His words were abruptly cut off as an aqua blue mustang roared onto site, tires skidding it sideswiped the triple changer's stabilizers right out from under him. Letting out a yelp Icy landed faceplates first onto the ground and the sports car managed to stop, a rather deep serious of dents gracing the driver's side.

"How much does that slagger weigh, a megaton?!" a feminine vocalizer said, engine still revving, ready to take off.

Wait, he knew that tone! "Psyche!" Bee called out happily.

"Hold on, sweetspark. I have everything under control," she revved softly, watching as two of the 'Cons began approaching her. She purposely backed up, drawing their attention away and would have smirked if she could. "Now!"

Another engine pierced the quiet space, the mechs looking around for the noise they failed to take notice of a motorcycle as it came up behind the sports car and took to the air. Transforming Prowl let loose his shurikens, one of them striking the chemist in the protective dome covering his helm and the other tearing a hole in Mindwipe's wing when he tried dodging out of the way. Landing the Cyber Ninja moved swiftly, charging towards Cyclonus.

Oil Slick growled angrily, removing the small weapon from his helm. Anymore and his protective helm was going to shatter. "Slagging glitches!" he hissed and lifted his servo up. The chemicals filled the clear cylinders on his arm, ready to hit him with a heavy concentrated dose of his Reverse Evolution virus. "Time for you to become a Decepticon."

"I don't think so!" Psyche had taken the opportunity to transform and lunged forward, bringing her hammer down she shattered the cylinders as well as breaking most of his arm. She also kicked at his helm, shattering the protective dome and nearly kicking in his olfactory sensor in. Such a heavy and unexpected blow caused his system to freeze up and crash, hitting the ground with a dull clang. The femme winced, feeling some of her dents rubbing at some parts of her protoform but she had to help Bumblebee. Opening her mouth plates to shout at him she cursed as her hammer was shot out of her hand, dropping to the ground in a block of ice.

"I'm going to rip joo apart!" Hothead ranted angrily, charging at the femme but once he was close enough to touch her he froze. His faceplates rapidly shifted from the easily short-tempered one to the icy calm one, both holding looks of shock and confusion. She was about to ask what was wrong when he grabbed her by the shoulder plates. "Star Siren! Joo're operational?! I had heard joo had joined ze Vell of ze AllSpark!"

"Star Siren?" Why did that designation seem so familiar? Wait a klik! "That, that was my carrier's alias," she whispered, watching as his faceplates shifted to that of the pale blue mech, a look of shock in his optics. "He's gone, has been for the last several vorns."

"Gone…" his servos shook as he released the femme and took a few shaky peds back. "But, he-he can't…!" It couldn't be true, it was impossible! The femme's words finally pierced the haze in his processor and he pointed at her. "Joo're—his creation? Vho is joor sire?!"

Psyche blinked, very confused but just as she was about to tell him she heard movement behind her and whirled to find herself staring into eerily glowing optics. Her own optics widen when she felt a foreign presence in her processor and it was trying to breach her firewalls. She raised her servos to her helm, clutching it but the presence was still trying to push through. "N-Ngh!"

"Stop fighting and give your processor to me," Mindwipe smirked, optics glowing brightly. "Let me in; tell me all your secrets."

"S-Secrets?" This mech though he was so clever, trying to hack her processor just by looking her in the optics was sneaky, but she learned from the very best. Severing the connection she reached into her subspace to pull out her other hand-held hammer. "Only thing you need to know is don't ever hack my processor!" she seethed and similar to what she did to Waspinator, swung her hammer with both servos and sent him flying, half of his faceplates caved in.

Cyclonus was impressed by the Autobot's skills, finding it difficult to score a hit on him but the slender mech was no match against him. "A valiant effort, Autobot, but I have had stellar cycles to train," he said calmly as she darted to the ide and lunged at him, sword held firmly in his servo.

"A true warrior allows his actions to speak for themselves," he muttered, preparing himself to move out of the way but he froze when the seeker vanished from thin air. Momentarily stunned he never heard him appear behind him until the sharp blade of his sword slashed at his back plates, making his jump jets useless.

"They do," he said simply. He heard the femme yelling at him, heard something heavy with an electrical charge hurled in his direction but with a swift slash of his sword sent the hammer back. Psyche couldn't utter a curse as it hit her, the charge frying her own circuits and forced her processor to reset as she fell to the ground.

"Prowl! Psyche!" Bumblebee shouted, optics impossibly wide but as he made to go towards them the mysterious seeker stepped in front of him. He even held his sword up, the sharp top pressing none too gently to the front of his throat cables. "Y-You said, Megatron wanted me, ali-live," he whispered, cursing himself as his vocalizer hiccupped.

"He does. But I have my ways of bringing you to him that will leave you operational. Though you may wish you had been offlined." He could see the yellow mech trembling and knew he had him. He could care less about his friends; they were weak to begin with. "Blitzwing, we have the carrier. Let us return before more of these pests come along."

The multi-vehicle mode mech said nothing, didn't give so much as an indication that he had heard what the other mech had said. He was looking down to where Psyche had fallen, watched as she tried to sit up but her system kept shorting out, making her twitch and jerk in uncontrollable fits. He was torn, he wanted to take her back with him, demand everything she knew about Star Siren's demise. 'But, zat's not even his real designation,' he thought to himself. So lost in his thoughts he never heard the sound of jets streaking through the air, never heard Cyclonus shouting at him, nothing until the steady hum of a weapon charging made him look up, startled and staring down the barrels of two arm rifles. He looked up the arm and narrowed his optics at the dark crimson orbs of the last mech he thought he would ever see. "Starscream."

"Blitzwing. I suggest you take those Decepticons and get as far away from here as quickly as possible," he said coldly, his rifle so charged sparks were dancing along the heavy plating. Behind him the rest of his seeker army had not only gathered the badly beaten 'Cons in a large pile, they had taken their injured seekers and Autobots behind him as well as making certain the carrier was well guarded.

The split-personality mech frowned but this was suicidal. If he so much looked at the yellow minibot the wrong way, he knew they would tear him apart and destroy his spark before he could escape. Even the mighty Cyclonus appeared weakened, as though he had expended nearly all his energy. Growling lowly he wordlessly nodded. "Decepticons, retreat." Stepping back he transformed into his jet mode and took off. Oil Slick uttered a few choice words but transforming himself took in with a sharp squeal of tires. Mindwipe forced himself to transform and flew as fast as his torn wing could manage. Cyclonus was less than pleased but Sunstorm's wings arched higher, a deep threatening growl made him think twice. Slowly getting to his peds he shot the carrier (who was still being held in a growling Skywarp's arms) a glare and took to the air, transforming. Even gone the seekers refused to calm down but Starscream's wings began twitching and the others began moving to the silent orders.

Slipstream groaned as she felt her processor being rebooted, seeing, hearing, even tasting nothing but static. She felt servos on her, helping her sit up and reset her optics once more only to groan when she saw who it was. "About time you slaggers got here!" she snapped.

"I told you not to go after Skywarp, I even said it was a bad idea," Ramjet muttered as he looked over his sister's damaged thruster with a frown. "Good news, you'll be flying before the solar cycle ends."

"Glitch!" Bringing her ped up she kicked the white mech in the faceplates. Soon the two were yelling at each other but the others didn't pay them any mind.

Prowl felt his optics faded in and out, his processor trying to deal with the heavy damage he sustained. He could feel digits probing at his damaged jets and flinched, but he felt small servos on his chassis and focused his optics (after resetting them several times) onto a very concerned yellow minibot. "B-Bumb-blebee-e-e?"

"It's okay Prowl, no one is gonna hurt you," he said softly, giving him a weak smile. He looked over at the seeker probing at the injuries, hoping Ratchet and the others would come soon. "How is it, Sunstorm?"

"It could have been worse?" he said nervously. He was far from a medic but seeing the carrier lower his optics in shame he just about shoved the ninja aside and reached out, grabbing yellow-tipped servos in his own. "Oh don't worry, adorable carrier! I may not be a medic but I will do the best I can!"

"Um, o-okay?" Bee was about to ask for his servos back when he heard a growl and felt servos wrap around his waist from behind, pulling him back into a vibrating chassis. Tilting his helm he watched as Starscream of all mechs held him close then pulled him back, forcing the golden seeker to let his servos go though he did try holding on. "S-Starscream?"

"Hurry up and make sure the Autobots are functioning before Blitzglitch comes back! I am not getting my skid plate shot at," he snapped as he continued holding the scout close.

"Surely they would talk to me since I am the original," Thundercracker sneered as he watched the femme shake her helm, resetting her optics. As she began to stand he reluctantly moved in to help her up only to yelp in pain when she grabbed his wings for balance, clutching at some rather sensitive sensors and wires. "Let go, slag it! Do you know who I am?!"

"A whiny fragger who needs to shut his mouth plates before I make you bite your glossia in half?" she snapped, still holding onto him she managed to stand but her equilibrium sensors were shot to the Pitt and back. She didn't seem the least bit worried about the number of seekers but seeing Starscream currently holding a nervous minibot like he was a toy made her see red. "You!" she seethed, taking a step forward and nearly fell but her grip on the wing tightened even more, making the blue-violet seeker yelp again in discomfort. "You, let him go right now!"

The dark red-violet seeker growled lowly, wings nearly vibrating and twitching as the femme finally let go of the other seeker, taking slow and unsteady steps towards him but he didn't take off or attempt to back up. His growling did grow when she reached for the Autobot but allowed her to pull him against her own chassis, his engine revving angrily. "I was not going to harm him or the sparkling," he hissed lowly.

"Doesn't excuse the Pitt-forsaken damage you did to him previously," she said just as coldly, daring him to try anything. Giving him one more glare she gently pushed Bumblebee at arm's length, looking him over. "You okay? Anything hurt? Did you get hit or anything?" she asked even as she began checking him off.

"No, no I'm fine. That bat thing, I-I think he made me recharge?" He was finding it hard to remember but his processor was no longer throbbing.

"Yeah, he hacked your processor. Pretty weak-minded himself," she muttered as she peered into his optics but he seemed fine. She was tempted to ask him to open his chassis to check on the sparkling but resting her servo on it she vented in relief, feeling the steady and strong pulses of energy. She smiled, then swatted him on the back of his helm, making him yelp. "I can't believe you took off like that! Did you really think I would let that giant aft-faced glitch near you? I nearly had a spark attack when Prowl told me you ran out! Don't you ever, ever run out on me like that! Next time stay with Skyfire! He would lay down his own spark to protect the both of you!"

"I-I-I-" He couldn't stop stuttering, feelings of shame, disappointment, and sorrow filling his system. His helm dropped, optics growing dim in sadness he didn't try to stop the sobs that began racking his frame. "I'm *ktch* sorry *ktch*. E-Everyb-b-bot got hu-hurt 'cuz-z *ktch* 'cuz of me-e-e."

Psyche felt like kicking herself when the smaller mech began crying and felt incredible low. Venting deeply she gently tugged at his shoulders, once more drawing him to her chassis and hugged him close. His own servos wrapped around her waist tightly but the ktching sounds were still coming. "No, I shouldn't have snapped at you like that, sweetspark. I was just really worried," she murmured softly, stroking his backstrut and the back of his helm. "I'm sorry, Bee." He didn't say anything but he did cling to her even tighter.

Prowl watched everything that was going on and noted that all the seekers were watching them with deep focus, as though they didn't trust the femme to be near his friend but didn't want to upset him by pulling them apart. He felt as his wounds were temporarily welded shut, long enough to get back to the old factory he looked around the assorted seekers before stopping at the violet-colored mech that he had noticed Bumblebee had been attempting to protect. He noticed he was being stared at and looked at him, optics narrowed but the ninja nodded his thanks to him. The seeker did nothing but giving a slight nod acknowledged his thanks.

"Prowl! Come in! This is Ratchet, over!"

Wincing he lifted his servo up and touching the button on his receiver. "P-Prowl here. Psyche and I found Bumblebee, but we're been damaged."

"Frag! What about that kid?!"

"Bumblebee's alright, he wasn't harmed." He looked up at Starscream but the former SIC was looking at the minibot with an unusual look in his optics—regret? Shame? Unease? But why?

"Prowl!"

Flinching he looked away. "Y-Yes, I'm here."

"Optimus and Skyfire are heading to your location, don't fragging move! Are there any Decepticons in the area?" The ninja tensed and looked around at the seekers but they were tending to their own injured, casting the occasional look at Bumblebee who had calmed his sobs and Psyche was humming a song too low for him to hear.

"… no. There are no Decepticons in the area."

---

"Are you kidding me?!"

"They are here for Bumblebee's sake, they even came to his rescue."

"It's a trap and your processor must be damaged if you actually believe them!"

"They're not Decepticons!"

"This is the last straw; I'm calling Ultra Magnus right now and having that thing-"

"Unless you would like your helm permanently shoved up your waste pipe, I would strongly recommend you watch what you say around me," Skyfire warned coolly.

"!" Sentinel froze but even as he glanced over at the communication center he knew he would be stopped. As it was he did not feel very comfortable with the amount of Decepticon seekers in the living room and they did not like him. "I-I'm going back to my ship-"

"No, you aren't," Starscream said firmly, servos crossed over his chassis he looked towards the hall where he was told the medbay and the Autobots' quarters were located. The ancient medic was currently repairing Skywarp's wings; the other members of his "army" had their own injuries taken care of although Slipstream was "grounded" until her thruster could be replaced. She had not been happy about that and shouted the worse obscenities anybot had ever heard. But he was more concerned about the carrier (Bumblebee, he had to call him by his designation) who had retired to his quarters, needing to recharge.

"I'm not going to be ordered around by some Decepticon! If I want to go to my ship than slag it I'm going!" the navy blue mech snapped.

"… let me say this as slowly and as simply as possible for your glitch processor to understand. You, threatened a carrier, an Autobot, threatened to delete his sparkling against his wishes, you even dared to strike him down when his own team and your underlings tried to stop you." Pausing he slowly turned to look at him, a murderous look in his optics. "And you're wondering why we won't allow you near your precious ship?"

Oh he was in some seriously deep slag but as the nervous Prime looked around he was dismayed to see that Optimus and his team were doing nothing to help him. He found himself taking a shaky step back but yelped when the seekers surrounded him and the large white shuttle purposely moved to the only door leading in and out. He watched as the SIC calmly walked up to him, wings arched high and twitching madly. "Y-You harm me and it'll be on your helms!" he squeaked.

"Why would anybot miss such an inferior mech such as yourself when I exist?" Thundercracker boasted as a cruel smirk caused his lip plates to curl upward. "We should terminate him and no bot would be the wiser."

"What?!" They weren't serious! Optimus wouldn't let them do that to him! Right?

"I don't think we should destroy his precious ship, without him on it," Ramjet smirked as the others smirked in response to what he really meant.

"If we had access to a space bridge we could send him to the Autobot council one piece at a time," Slipstream smirked, flexing her clawed digits.

"Oh what a brilliant idea! Why don't we take him apart now so we won't have to worry about it later?" Sunstorm cheered, an insane glint in his optics.

As much as the other Prime wanted him to pay for even thinking about hurting his scout he couldn't allow these seekers to harm him. At least not until they could figure out how to keep from blabbing to Ultra Magnus and the council about Bee being sparked and the former Decepticons acting as his honor guard.

"Starscream, as much as I dislike Sentinel right now, I'm afraid I can't let you disassemble him," he spoke up and took slow but steady steps to him. He heard the seekers hiss, wings arched high but he continued to move slowly until he was behind the red-violet SIC. "We are not Decepticons, we do not tears our enemies apart."

"We are not weak-willed Autobots and we do not simply roll over and expose our protoforms to have our sparks ripped out," he hissed angrily at him.

"Please listen-"

"Do not speak to me as though you know our kind!" the seeker hissed as he turned on him angrily. "You glitches know nothing about us, you all just assume we are mindless drones that care for nothing! Your council even stole my CNA to try and create your own seekers! I thought you Autobots were above such underservoed acts, constantly preaching about uniting all fractions under one rule! Your precious council cares not for anybot else except their own worthless skidplates!"

"But-!" Optimus tried saying but the SIC was right. Everybot just assumed seekers were war-crazed aerial fighters but Starscream and his clones risked their own plating to save and protect Bumblebee. Was the council wrong about—everything? "Be it as it may, I will not allow you to destroy Sentinel even if he does deserve it!"

"What?! I didn't do anything!" he yelled but the seekers obeyed the silent command from the rapidly twitching wings and grabbed at him. Sentinel may have been bigger and stronger, but the seekers were faster and more nimble. Slipstream smirked as she produced a pair of all-too familiar cuffs from her subspace and when her brothers kept the giant glitch busy, she moved swiftly and soon had the cuffs on him.

"N-no! Not again!" But the effects of the cuffs paralyzed his entire system. He was powerless now, they were going to tear him apart! He felt his pride drop and was ready to beg for forgiveness but a servo roughly slapped a metal plate over his lip components and painfully bolted them in place.

"I could kiss the genius who created these ingenious ways to keep such a foul bot still and silent!" Sunstorm grinned. His siblings smirked as they moved in closer, ready to tear the plating from his frame and tear him apart but they were forced back when the massive shuttle mech stepped forward and wordlessly lifted the bound Prime up and away from them. "Give him back!"

"He doesn't have to pay for his crimes against the carrier! You're not a seeker, are you!?" Ramjet yelled at him angrily.

"Bumblebee would not want another mech's energon to be spilled because of him. I do not know him as well as his team, but I know deep down he would never accept Sentinel to be harmed for his words," he said calmly. "Right now Bee is in a fragile state, any undue and unneeded stress will bring great harm to him, and may result in him losing the sparkling." At those words the seekers froze and looked back at Starscream uncertainty.

As much as the red-violet seeker didn't want to admit it, he was right; if their actions caused the Autobot carrier to lose the sparkling… then, it would be his fault. Closing his optics tightly his servos tightened into fists, the sharp claws digging through plating and piercing protoflesh. "… … … very well. But I refuse to have such a worthless glitch anywhere near my sparkling and its carrier!"

Skyfire nodded and looked up at Optimus. "Do you have a prison cell we can keep him contained in?"

"No… but Sentinel's ship should." The blue mech let out a muffled shout behind the plate but the only thing he could move right now were his optics thanks to the stasis cuffs. "I think some solitary time in the brig should be more than enough time, though I don't imagine he's going to learn his lesson or apologize anytime soon."

"He had better or we'll be sending him back to his precious council—in pieces." The seekers smirked, snickering but they looked up when they heard the sounds of jets. Soon the yellow-orange and blue forms of both Jetfire and Jetstorm appeared, the latter holding a boxed item in his servos.

"We is back being!" Jetfire said happily but blinked when he looked around the living room and saw their commanding officer currently bound and gagged. "What be happening?"

"And why Sentinel sir looking that like?" Jetstorm asked.

"Sentinel refused to act like a decent bot so he's been put on a time-out." Skyfire said even as he easily lifted the large mech away from the still snickering seekers. Noting the box in their servos he nodded. "Were you able to find it?"

"Oh yes!" The blue seeker opened the box to reveal a jet thruster, one similar to the seekers all used. "Working yes?"

Setting the prime down he took the item in his servos and began running a scan, comparing it with the diagnostics he took of the femme seeker's thrusters. Aside from a few minor differences he could install it and she would soon be airborne once more. "Yes, I think this will work perfectly. Thank you," he smiled at the jets.

"I-It no problem, we is happy helping new friend!" Jetstorm said, a heavy blush on his cheek ridges. Next to him Jetfire snickered only to be shoved by his twin who responded by shoving him back. The two kept up the mock fighting, one teasing the other. Skyfire just smiled and walked over to the seekers.

"What's that?" Ramjet asked with a confused look on his faceplates. "Not that I care!"

"This, is a jet thruster. I asked the twins if they happened to have a spare thruster on their ship, they were unsure but after searching their ship found one." Turning to Slipstream he nodded and held it out for her to see it. "I've compared the schematics of your thruster and the one the twins provided, and I believe it will work and enable you to fly once more."

"It will?" That was stellar news! She hated walking around like some grounder and longed to be flying high in the clouds! But she stopped herself from snatching the thruster from the other mech, giving him a suspicious look. "Why are you doing this? What do you want in return? I'm not joining the Autobots so forget it!"

"I expect nor want anything in return, Slipstream. Not all seekers are Decepticons nor are they Autobots," he said softly but wordlessly pressed it into her servos. "I know what it's like to be denied that which you were created for, but it doesn't mean we can just sit by and let others dictate our true programming."

The femme blinked but his words kept repeating themselves in his processor. Looking down at the thruster she could tell she was going to need another coat of paint to match hers, but she wouldn't have to wait any longer before being in the clouds once more. "Thanks. But I'm not letting that old medic to install it! He'd probably switch the wires on me and it'll explode the first time I use it!"

"I can install it for you, if you would please follow me?" the large shuttle bowed to her and headed to the medbay to get the necessary tools. Just as he was about to knock the door opened and Ratchet gave a short yell before scowling.

"Stop standing in front of my door! You trying to give me a spark attack?!" he snapped angrily, pushing past the two and heading into the living room, a data pad in hand.

"R-Ratchet, may I borrow your medbay to finish repairs on Slipstream?" Skyfire called out to him even as the femme moved inside.

"Fine! Just don't make a mess!" he yelled back without looking. Noticing Optimus he went over and began pulling up the reports he had completed. "Bulkhead's gonna be fine, Sari and I were able to seal his tank and managed to weld the protective panels together. It'll be a solar cycle or two before his self-repair system can finish the minor stuff. Prowl's currently recharging, but luckily he had replacement jump jets, I give him a solar cycle for his self-repair to finish what I started, but I need to run several scans as soon as he's awake. I want to make sure everything is operational before he even thinks of transforming."

"Yes, of course. What about Bumblebee?"

"He's fine. Just need a good recharge, some energon, and no more unwanted stress." At this he sent a glare at Sentinel where he had been left though now he seemed to be teetering on his peds as the twins continued mock fighting while insulting the other. "His sparkling is fine but his chassis refused to open so I'll try examining it later."

"Thanks, Ratchet." Sighing heavily the Prime rubbed his servos over his faceplates, suddenly feeling the weight of everything that had happened doubled in its mass but he looked over as Starscream stepped up to the medic, calm and collective.

"And my trine mates? How are they fairing now?"

The CMO blinked but switching the data pad with another he pulled up the reports. "That femme of yours was lucky, but she'll manage. So will that purple seeker, but I'd wait until tomorrow afternoon before he starts flying again, just to make sure the nanites in his wings repaired everything. He's recharging, having expended a lot of energy earlier."

"I see…" Saying nothing else he stepped back along with the others where they didn't seem to be talking but wings continuously twitched and shifted, riding high on their back plates before drooping incredibly low, frames tensing then relaxing minutely. They were talking but in a seeker dialect no other bot knew or could begin to understand. They tensed as they heard a door open followed by ped steps, only to watched as Skywarp quietly entered the main area.

"Wha-You're suppose to be recharging!" the red and white medic snapped and made to "encourage" the seeker back so he could get some proper rest.

"Can't, Slipstream kicked me out," he muttered, flinching from the medic and made his way to his brothers and creator, wings twitching much slower than the others. Ratchet muttered under his vents and made to head back to his quarters when there was a loud crash and all helms whirled where it was coming from. Sentinel was now on the ground, having fallen forward and landed faceplates first into the concrete flooring. There was a low pain groan coming from him and the jettwins were looking at the mechs with embarrassment on their own faceplates.

"W-We is sorry, we is not meaning knock over sentinel sir," Jetfire said quietly.

"Brother is right, we is helping up Sentinel sir!" To prove it, Jetstorm and his twin tried lifting the mech but he was so heavy to begin with and they were now build for heavy lifting, they managed to get him a human foot off before their servos lost their grip and he crashed into the concrete once more, this time with a louder yet still muffled yelp of pain. "Sorries!"

"Many sorries!" The two tried once more to lift him but again he slipped from their grips and hit the ground, this time hard enough to cause his processor to crash and force him into recharging. The colored seekers took one look and burst into pearls of laughter. Ratchet groaned as he slapped a servo over his faceplates before muttering he was too old to deal with this and that the slagger would stay there until he was ready to deal with him. Optimus was trying to hold back his own laughter but chuckles managed to escape.

---

Starscream felt his optics online and for a moment, was confused as to why his surrounding didn't look familiar. This was clearly not the remains of Nemesis, he wasn't even on the moon. His processor played back clips and he felt his frame tense. He remembered flying out in search of the carrier (Bumblebee), following the signal Slipstream had, he and his creations had found them surrounded by several 'Cons he had meet only once, but seeing the strange seeker pointing a sword at the Autobot made him literally see red. His protective instincts overtook his processor as well as the others and they flew forward, taking out the mechs before aiming his guns at Blitzwing. Now that he had time to process everything that had happened he wondered why the triple-changer looked confused but he was smart enough to leave. He remembered giving the command to have his trine check on their injured flight mates as well as the beaten Autobots.

'We're in their base of operations,' he mused and looked around. It was dark with no activity, meaning the Autobots must be recharging. Looking around in the large room he had been called as the "living room" were his trine mates. They were sprawled out on the limited furniture in some rather uncomfortable positions, wings twitching slightly. But they were all here and they were safe. So what woke him up?

Soft ped steps were heard as a figure slowly walked out of the hall and into the main room. The seeker dimmed his optics but turned on his night vision, seeing everything through a crimson hue. When he saw who it was he felt his vents stall. It was the carrier scout and he appeared to be looking for something.

A yellow servo rubbed at his helm, optics peering around the room, his own night vision coloring everything in shades of blue. "There you are," he muttered softly and made his way to the communication center and bend over, opening one of several storage containers there. Reaching inside he pulled out a cube of energon, paused, then placed it in his subspace and retrieved another one before closing it. The faintly glowing cube shined like a beacon in their night vision but he continued to move slowly as he headed back to the hall to his room, closing the door behind him.

Starscream continued to sit against the wall, waiting several breems before slowly getting to his peds. He should go back to recharge or help himself to an energon cube in the storage container but instead he found himself walking down the hall, pausing now and then to make certain no one else was awake. He had no idea where the scout's quarters were but a gentle tug on his spark had him going to door. Pausing he adjusted his receivers and could hear noise from the other side that sounded a lot like the noise the organics called music. He frowned, he should be recharging and before he could stop himself, his servo gently knocked on the door. The music abruptly stopped and he heard a quiet vocalizer on the other side.

"Yeah?"

"It's Starscream." He didn't know why he didn't lied and he was prepared to walk back to the living room and recharge but the door opened. The yellow mech looked up at him for several kliks before stepping aside. He took that as an offer to enter and did so, hearing the door silently close behind him.

The room was a fairly good size, the head of the berth pushed against the wall facing the opposite wall where a large entertainment screen hung. He also noted colorful images all over, with large lettering on them but he didn't understand any of it. There were also several data pads sitting atop a box that he assumed was being used as a table with the two energon cubes on another box. He also noted he had two storage containers himself, one closed but the other open to reveal cleaning clothes, polish and a buffer, no doubt items needed to keep his plating looking shiny and new. He turned and watched as the smaller mech walked past him, opening the closed container and pulled out a small glass container before closing it then moved to his berth and sat on the edge. Upon a closer look the seeker realized the container was filled with small, round balls that he had never seen before. He glanced at the minibot before looking back to the container in his servo.

"Humans call them bon bons, some kind of treat, 'cept Psyche helped me make these specifically for me," he explained and pulled one out to show him. "Just some metal shavings like iron and aluminum with copper wires, all covered in this really sweet stuff called chocolate. It's good and Ratchet said I need the alloys to help my system create the protoform." Looking at it he held the jar up to offer the seeker some but Starscream politely declined. Nodding he popped it into his mouth and began chewing. "I didn't mean to wake you up."

"You didn't, I was awake for a short period." They fell into an uncomfortable silence and the seeker once more looked around the room but before he tried to decide either to stay or leave the scout spoke up once more.

"Thank you, for coming to my rescue, and for helping Prowl and Psyche. I, I couldn't just leave them behind."

"… you risked your own plating to protect Skywarp and Slipstream, you could have easily left them behind and I would have never known."

"I don't abandon my friends, and they were risking their own plating to save me." He paused, popping another bon bon into his mouth, feeling his hungry subside but he sighed and looked up at him once more. "Why did you come? I thought you hated me."

That hurt more than he original thought but as he vented deeply he felt his wings sagged on his back plates, a clear indication of distress and sorrow to those who could read their expressions. "I was worried about the sparkling. The last time we meet, I shot you in the chassis and forced it open," he spoke up lowly. "I was afraid I had deleted the little one."

"So you came for her but not me… guess I shoulda expected that…" he said sadly, just holding the jar in both servos now.

"'Her'?"

"Hmm? Oh, that sparkling. I've been having dreams about seeing a seeker flying high above me… beautiful, strong, sleek, coloring a mix of ours…" Smiling lovingly he reached up to gently stroke his chassis, closing his optics. "I couldn't see much of her but I knew it was a femme, that my sparkling would grow up to be her." He looked so happy but the serene smile left his lips and his optics opened to mere slits, dim and sad looking. "I used to hate being a carrier, I would get made fun off, some of the glitches would make crudes jokes about getting me reformatted into a femme so it wouldn't be strange. But now… I don't give a damn what anybot thinks or says." Slowly looking up at him his gaze seemed to harden, the soft blue color turning paler, resembling ice. "No one is going to take her away from me, not the High Council, not Sentinel, not you."

The seeker said nothing but his wings shifted as the minibot continued to stare at him. He took a step forward and watched the way he tensed, his servo moving protectively over his chassis. He hated the painful ache in his spark but slowly moved closer and knelt down. He wanted to reach out and touch him, to hold him and comfort him, but now was not the time. "May I please see your sparkling?" He wanted to say "mine" or even "ours" but he just know the scout would outright deny him and no doubt raise an alarm. Bumblebee said nothing, leaning back, a clear indication that he did not trust him. "Please, I will not harm her or you. I—just want to see."

"…" He didn't trust him, he tried to offline him and even told his own clones to rape him, but he winced as he felt his spark reaching out to him, to feel the energy wash over him and the tiny life force he was harboring. He slowly leaned forward, setting the glass jar aside, gave the command for the protective plating to open. "You try anything, and I'll have everybot in here in less than an astrosecond," he warned.

"I understand." He watched as he servo fell and the plates shifted, soon staring into the bright blue-white light. He moved closer (noticing how the carrier tensed) but he watched as a tiny spark pulsed in sync with the larger spark, orbiting it like he had seen planets do. "Beautiful," he murmured softly, enjoying the feel of the gentle light he lifted his servo, wanting to touch it but pulled back instead. "I never meant for any of this to happen."

Bumblebee said nothing but his chassis continued to stay open. He hated to admit it, but the former Decepticon was attractive, his dark coloring a contrast to his own bright plating; when he was racing around he liked to imagine he was almost flying, enjoying the feel of the planet's wind brushing over his frame. He didn't realize the seeker was still talking so he decided to focus on his words instead.

"I needed more AllSpark fragments, enough so I could take down Megatron and take over as the supreme leader of the Decepticon forces. I had though, you Autobots had enough for me to achieve that goal. But my plans always seem to fail in one form or another," he trailed off, looking away from the spark. There was a soft hiss of air as he allowed his chassis to open and revealed a pulsing dark reddish spark inside, but it seemed to be pulsing out of sync and swelled in size as though it was having difficulty staying stable.

"My fragment somehow granted me a spark of my own although I don't need it. You can extinguish it but I will remain online, fully operational. But, I do not know if the same could be said if the fragment is removed will my spark go with it." Looking down he frowned and pushed the plates close. "I'm sorry for everything I have done to you, I won't ask for forgiveness but understand I will do everything to make sure you and your sparkling are protected. Even if you don't want my help allow my trine to stay, they will never allow you to come to harm and will lay their own sparks down for the both of you. I vow to be loyal to you and only you, Bumblebee."

"Starscream…" Could he forgive him? He wasn't sure and his processor was running a utter and complete blank but slowly he reached down, grasping his servo, brought it up and gently, placed it on his spark casing. He suppressed the tingling of pleasure ghosting along his sensors but allowed the seeker to gently rub and stroke his digits over the transparent case. He let his servo go but soon found himself leaning into his touch. The pleasurable tingles were getting more persistent but he didn't care and gripped the edge of his berth tightly.

The seeker smiled gently as he watched the tiny spark flying around the carrier's spark, no doubt feeding off his energy and feeling his thought processes, he watched as the sparkling even flew closer to his own, wanting to feel his energy but that would require pressing their sparks together. Reluctantly he began to pull back but was frozen when yellow-tipped servos grabbed at his own and held it there. He looked up at his faceplates, ready to ask what he was doing when he froze and finally noticed the state of arousal he was in.

"S-Star… scream…" This was like the time he stroked his spark casing, his system running fun, cooling fans trying to keep him from overheating, but this time the touching was from somebot else. His processor supplied clips of what the seeker had done to him but all he focused on was the intense pleasure he had experienced and wanted to experience again and again and again. "I need you…" he whispered, keeping his servo on his spark chamber the other slid down his arm, brushing digits over his arm-mounted gun, tracing seams along the way. "Please… frag me…"

He didn't bother to pull his servo back but his wings were hitched high on his back plates, stiff with tense and he felt his cheek plates heating up, his cooling fans humming, ready to kick on as his system detected a steady rise of his core temperature. "B-Bumblebee… you don't mean it," he tried to reason but he was leaning closer now, his servo reaching up to brush up his neck cables, stroking a heated cheek ridge and traced his lip plates. His wings began trembling and his fans kicked on with a low whirl.

"Please Starscream… tie me up, pin me to the berth, frag me until I crash… I want it…" he whispered hotly, bringing his stabilizers under his frame so he was kneeling, pulling him closer; optics a dark royal blue like the heart of deepest space. "Please…"

"Bee…" He was pleading with him, begging him to frag him like he had before, to take until he was satisfied, but he couldn't. it wasn't his programming, though he would be the first to blame that, but no. He didn't want to hurt him again, and he didn't want to risk harming the sparkling. Carriers went through stages where they sought out heavy interfacing or strange cravings. The alloys was one indication, but the urge to 'face with him, his tormentor, was oh so tempting… it would be so easy to pin him down and take what he was offering, but he couldn't.

'I hurt him so much already,' he thought quietly. Venting softly he pulled back, shivering as his servo slid from the side of his helm down to her chassis, withdrew his other servo from the pulsing spark, and gently, pushed the protective plating closed. He heard the soft whimper of want, the silent pleas to frag him but he didn't pull away completely. He reached up and gently took his faceplates in his own servos this time, pressed a gentle kiss to his lips but nothing more. His own optics were dim, so dark red they were nearly black. "No more fragging… tonight, I will treat you the way you should have been treated in the beginning," he whispered against his lips, brushing digits over the soft ridges. "I will take care of you, my sweet little Bee…"

"Starscream…" he felt like crying as he kissed him once more and slowly wrapped his arms around his neck cables, pressing their heated frames together. The kiss was gentle, caring, almost loving, servos stroking warm plating, brushing over transformation seams. He was moaning softly, silently begging for more but the seeker gently pushed him back onto his berth climbing atop of him. He welcomed the weight of his frame pressing into his own, trying to slip yellow digits beneath the armor to stroke the sensitive wires but his servos were gently pulled away and the warm frame lifted off his. "P-Please…" he moaned lowly, arching upward.

"Just relax and let me take care of you," the SIC whispered hotly, once more kissing his lips he began trailing them over a heated cheek plate, down his neck and licked at the tense wires and cables, feeling the rush of energon rushing beneath the main cable. His servos never stopped touching him, never stopped their warm caresses, never do anything more than traced seams and just barely grazing the black tips of his claws over the more sensitive spots he knew the minibot had. He groaned as the yellow mech let out such needy cries, continuously arching into him, grabbing at him but when he gently pinned his servos back down to the berth he kept them down. "Let me, take care of you," he whispered hotly, lowering his head as he trailed kisses down his chassis, tracing the red insignia embalmed into the metal

* Due to the explicit portion of this chapter, I am complying with FF's NC17 ban and have removed this portion. If you are interested in reading the unedited version, please refer to my AO3 account. Thank you. *

With the charge of energy reaching its climax the sparks gave out a bright violet light, ignoring their sensors even more, a great surge of energy coursing through their systems, prompting processors to crash, offlining one of them.

The ex-Decepticon shuddered at the sensations racing through ever sensor and wire in his frame, processor warning him of an evident crash but he tried holding it back, just for a few kliks was all he needed. The Autobot had taken the full crash, peacefully recharging, frame completely limp and relaxed. It made him smile as he gently pushed him back long enough to allow their chassises to close, although he wanted to stroke the gentle spark he could feel his system slowing down. He made to lift the minibot off his spike so he would be comfortable but that's when his processor gave its final warning and began shutting everything done one by one.

'Slag it,' he thought but vented softly and wrapped his arms around him tightly, holding him close. The last thing he remembered was feeling the yellow mech nuzzle into him with a soft vent of content, servos gripping at whatever was close by, making him smile gently. "Love you, my sweet Bee…" he whispered and allowed his optics to close, slipping into a peaceful and deep recharge. As the two mechs recharged neither realized another mech had been listening outside the door, and had grown angry and jealous at eh sounds he had heard. Digits curled into a tight fist, tempted to rip the door open and violently remove the seeker from the scout, to tear him apart but he held it back and quietly retreated to his quarters. His optics burned with the crimson intensity that was said to come only from the fiery Pitt itself.

Author's Notes: (lays head on keyboard, sighing deeply) This, was the hardest chapter to write. I had been sitting on it for a while, struggling what to write, how to write it, how the plot was going to work, but I did it. Now, the Decepticons I mentioned are indeed part of Megatron's forces. Thanks to TFWiki (sorry, can't set up a link the site likes to eat them) I found out Meggy had other forces beside schizoid, brown noser, and the drunk twins.

Decepticons: Hey!

Blitzy I can see being the only sane one to make sure these new 'Cons brought Bee safely (even with Random on board) but the Constructicons? Really? First barrel of oil or red sports car they see and they'll forget about the mission and go after that instead! Lugnut… I swear his temper is worse than Hothead's, I think he'd used the P.O.K.E. every second of the day if he could get away with it.

Lugnut: Never! Unless Lord Megatron commands it!

See! Anyway, Cyclonus I'm sure you TF fans remember from the original TF movie except in the TFA universe he's a wicked strong fighter and fights with two swords. Oil Slick actually appeared in a TFA: the Arrival #3 comic featuring a back story with Ratchet and a chemical weapon called "cosmic rust". I have yet to hear him speak but I imagine him speaking in a similar dialect like Lockdown, but a bit more crude about it. Mindwipe is another 'Con who claims to be a master hypnotist and can communicated with the dead (mostly Decepticons) but no one takes him seriously. Also, in the original G1 universe he transforms into a giant bat so I decided to keep him as such. Frankly, he looks like he was trying to copy Dracula's look and stopped partway (snickers) Oh yes! I was thinking of doing a side story about Psych's creators and it does include Blitzwing, but the cliff note's version is he knew Psych's creator by his spy name, so you can imagine the shock to both Icy and Hothead when they see her and think they're seeing the undercover spy instead.

Originally I did not plan on Bee wanting to 'face with Screamy, but I was reading about pregnancies and it says some mothers-to-be experience a strong desire for sex or refusing to be touched, especially sex. In this case, Bee is storing a lot of excess energy and his sparkling wants the energy from her sire as well. And yes, bots do eat! (They need to use those teeth for something) so I read on TFWiki that they eat metal alloys and those items are found in great abundance on Earth. As for the bon bons, well one of the items said they eat chocolate-covered wheel nuts so I played with the idea that Psych and Sari created these bon bons for him to eat when he felt like it.

What else… oh quick question! I was thinking of fast-forwarding Bumblebee's pregnancy with a couple of moments during said time with his friends and how they're each helping him with his pregnancy. Would you rather me skip ahead or take my time? TBH, I rather not draw out the pregnancy too much, I still have more I have to write about and I need to bring some more focus on Meggy and his plans to take over Cybertron.

Megatron: Do not call me that!

Would you prefer bucket-head? 'Cuz seriously, if I find a bucket, cut out the front, and paint it silver I can be you for Halloween!

Megatron : … no.

Good tyrannical warlord! (pats hi on the head) Next chapter, construction begins on Dinobot Island for Bee's new/temporary home. The seekers try to adjust to living with the Autobots and one techno-organic, and the unexpected changes of a newly sparked carrier (ie. Cravings, mood swings, really long naps), and Megatron tries to adjust his plans on taking over Cybertron. Also, Psyche gets some bad news from home that she never expected and it'll test her ties with her friends and her family.

See you next time! (waves and lays head on keyboard once more)