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?

13. Chapter 13

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'm gonna make this real quick: sorry for taking so long with the update! Work has been crazy and as much as I would love to take my laptop with me when I travel, it's too heavy to lug around. Hopefully my next chapter won't take as long but just to let you know I haven't forgotten about this or my other story! So please read on, and leave a comment when you're done!

Prowl: 12

Starscream: 10

Optimus Prime: 2

Other: 5 (Bulkhead: 1, Skywarp: 3)

"Comm link."

~Private comm link.~

:Seekers speaking.:

"Nightmare"

Written by: Beloved Shadow

Inspiration by: JazzTheTiger

The Earth's team Prime could only stare at his servos, trying to think about what he had just done, who he had nearly killed. He couldn't believe it, but in the back of his processor he could feel the dark little voice lurking, waiting for another opportunity.

'Admit it, Prime. You enjoyed taking that minibot as your own,' he purred darkly.

"No, I didn't. He-He asked for my help, and I hurt him," he whispered lowly.

'Perhaps… but you heard him. He likes it rough and hard. Remember?' He replayed the clips and felt his backstrut stiffen, cooling fans kicking on. 'He was enjoying it so much! The perks of being a Prime.'

He couldn't lie and say he didn't enjoy it, feeling him respond to his touch, but all too soon everything turned dark and the next thing he was aware was the look of his terrified optics staring up at him, vents trying to cycle air, his EM field projected a great deal of distress and fear. Fear of him. "You hurt him…"

'No, you hurt him, you said so yourself. You wanted a taste of what the fragging seeker had and you enjoyed it. Shall I replay the memory-'

"No!" He jumped off his berth and quickly grabbed his energy axe from its stand, holding it before him as his optics darted around his dark quarters. "I never wanted to hurt him! Bumblebee is my friend!"

'A friend? Is that what you mechs are calling it nowadays?' the dark voice mocked. 'Do you really think you're alone in this? Haven't you wondered just why those two immature seekers listen and follow that glitch Sentinel? Surely it can't be because his superb leadership skills.'

"I don't care about that," he growled lowly.

'No, you wouldn't. What about your war hero?'

Now at this Optimus froze and the axe nearly fell from limp digits. "N-No… he, Ultra Magnus would never…"

'Oh? Is this from, personal experience?' the dark voice chuckled, slowly worming his way deeper into his processor. 'I think I made my point, so I'll leave you alone to process everything. But don't think you've heard the last of me, my dear Prime.'

"W… who are you…?" the same dark chuckle seemed to fill his audio receivers, and for a moment he thought he could feel someone standing behind him, pressing their frame into his backplates, venting heated air against his neck cables. He whirled, energy axe lighting up but there was no one there.

'You should know that already… but call me, Nemesis.' And with that he was gone.

As the Prime struggled with his new-found inner demon the carrier was hiding in the only room he felt safe. His processor was running a complete diagnostic but he was terrified to recharge, that the monster that he once knew as his team leader could come after him and finish the job. Whimpering Bumblebee pressed himself into the tree as much as he could, as though hoping the large plant would protect him. He was holding his stabilizers to his chassis tightly, ignoring the warnings that he had low reserves but when he thought about moving his system and frame screamed at him to stop. Still, he shifted and whimpered as he felt energon leak out from behind his panel and it made him cringe.

"I-I gotta-zzz-clean this-zzz-, be-zzzz-ore Prowl comes b-zz-ack," he said to himself but he was afraid to move. He winced when he heard how rough his vocalizer sounded. A servo reached up and carefully touched the damage he felt. Optimus, or the monster that pretended to be him, had come so close to crushing his throat then he stopped. Why?

The servos were wrapped so tightly around him, completely blocking energon from running to his processor. Nothing but warnings filled his display and he could feel parts of his system shutting down. He tried to relieve the pressure, at least enough so he could still function but there was an audible crushing sound and he opened his mouth plates to scream but all he heard was a burst of sharp static.

"Submit to me, my sweet little Bee, and I will gladly frag you however you desire," the dark mech growled, brushing his lip plates over a cheek ridge then a horn, the gentle ministrations a sharp contrast to the crushing pressure from his servos. "Say yes…"

He would say anything if it meant he would live but he couldn't manage anything save another burst of static, a painful cry escaping. His optics caught the fiery gaze and he watched as they began to lighten until they were the familiar shade of blue he had always known. They looked confused, lost, but when they registered what was happening his servos immediately released him and he was quick to scramble off the berth. There was a wet suction sound as he pulled his spike free, making both mechs flinch at the unnatural sound. Bee's own servos immediately went to his throat as he gasped painfully, vents stuttering as they attempted to cycle air and feeling his processor ache as energon rushed through the bruised cables, making him dizzy. He cried out in pain as he twisted his frame to the side and didn't register he had fallen off the berth until he hit the floor with a dull crash.

"B-Bumblebee!" Optimus called out worriedly and rushed to help but was taken back when the scout screamed at him to not touch him, the static making him flinch and his receivers automatically adjusting themselves. He waited and when he saw he was struggling moved closer, kneeling down and gently touched his shoulder. "Bee-"

"N-zzz-o!" he screamed, static louder than before as he violently slapped the servo away then crawled as fast as he could to the far wall. It was obvious he was in pain the way he was cringing, but there was also the trail of fluids leaking from his valve. He was trembling, shaking so badly his armor plating was rattling. One of his servos was clutching at his chassis that was unable to stay closed on its own since the latches were broken. He sat there on his knees, taking a quick look down at himself before using his other servo to force the panel close. Oh it hurt, it was so swollen, closing it would just make it hurt more but he didn't care. It was then he noticed the trail of fluids he had left behind, including the small puddle on the berth.

"P-Pri-zz-mus… w-why *ktch*?" he sobbed and let out a low keen of pain, resisting the urge to scream.

"… Bee-"

"No! You-zzz-hurt me! You-zzz zz zzzz-my chassis! My-zzzz-ing could have d-zzz! Why?"

What was he going to say, that he wanted it? That he asked him to frag him? Yes, but he didn't ask him to tie him down and have his way with him! He didn't ask him to try and delete his sparkling! He just asked for help and he, he took advantage of it. He hurt the smaller mech when all he wanted to do was show him how much he cared for him. "… I… I don't know…"

He, he didn't know? Bumblebee frowned, and wanted to scream at him, call him every name he could think of but all he could manage was a sound that sounded like nails on a chalkboard followed by random bursts of static. He cringed, gripping his throat but he was certain his vocalizer had been damaged as well. He couldn't scream at him either! His carrier protocols were demanding he find somewhere safe, somewhere the Prime wouldn't come after him and stay there until someone he knew he could trust could find him and help him. He reached out, gripping at whatever he could so he could get to his peds but he stared at the sleek wing that was treated at some sort of trophy, digits reaching out to gently trace the purple insignia. His spark gave a lurch and suddenly, he wished the seeker (even his clones) was here with him. They, they wouldn't hurt him.

'S-Starscream…' Hearing movement he whirled and realized the Prime was trying to get closer. He didn't care that he was badly damaged, only that he had to get away from him. He slowly began moving, making sure he never turned his back on him and headed for the door. He blindly pressed at the buttons, trying to unlock the door that as soon as it was open he ran out. He ignored the worried shouts and raced down the hall ducking into the last room on the left. Once inside he immediately locked the door and even blasted the lock so no one could get in or out. He blearily realized it was Prowl's room but he didn't care as he stumbled to the tree and curled up at the base. Only then did he break down, painful sobs raking his frame.

Looking down he pulled the plating off, dropping it to the side he gave the command and the internal latches unlocked, letting his chassis open. His spark was pulsing irregularly but he could barely make out the tiny spark that was his daughter, pressing so firmly against his own it could have been easily missed. He didn't have to reach out to her to know that she was terrified, so terrified she refused to move even as he pressed his servo against the chamber.

"I-zzz-'m sor-zz-ry…" he whispered and shut his optics tightly, seeing the final warning that he was entering emergency stasis before everything started shutting down. His servos continued to clutch at his spark, repeating how sorry he was and wishing for help.

---

Prowl didn't dare enter the factory but he had already patrolled the city twice. Granted it wasn't as thorough as he usually did but he was worrying himself out. He had tried to comm Bumblebee once but it was not only ignored it was blocked and he flinched at that. Rightly deserved, he added. So he tried sending one to Optimus but that one went ignored. Thinking he was still mad at him he tried again but this one was also ignored. When he was about to try for a third one he got a response back.

~What is it, Prowl?~

That was strange, the Prime sounded—depressed. ~I-I'm done with my patrols. Is there anything else you'd like me to do?~

~… no. Ratchet just send me a comm link that he and the others are heading back.~

~Oh? Have they finished construction?~

~No, there are some things they are currently lacking but they've done as much as they could for today.~

~I see. And, Bumblebee?~

There was a heavy moment of silence that did not sit well with the Cyber Ninja before the Prime answered. ~What about him?~

Okay… ~I've tried sending him a comm but he's blocked me. Is he recharging?~

~… Leave him alone Prowl. After what you did I doubt he'd want to see you anytime soon.~ And on that note he ended the link on his end, making the ninja flinch.

That hurt, but he felt he had deserved that. Bumblebee asked for his help and he was willing to help him, but not like that. And he certainly didn't mean to hurt him. That was the last thing he wanted to do! He vented deeply. Even now he was debating whether to enter the factory or not but the more he paced outside the sooner someone was bound to notice. Steeling his resolve, he drove inside. Entering the main assembly line he transformed and vented softly. Bee wasn't watching TV or anything of the sort, which he was thankful for but he wanted to apologize to him faceplates to faceplates. Venting softly he moved to where the rooms were located, glancing at Prime's closed door he stopped by Bee's but it was closed. Still he moved before it and stood there, debating what he was going to say but even as he lifted hi servo to knock he froze, then let it drop.

'Bee, I…' Oh what was the point? One of the few times he thought back to his former mentor, Master Yoketron, and wished he was still here so he could ask for his advice. Slowly he moved down the hall, wondering just what was he going to do as he neared his room but was forced to look up when the door didn't open. Frowning, he typed in the code to get in but it wasn't responding. "Strange." He tried it a few more times but it still wasn't responding. Pressing his audio receiver to the door he raised the volume, trying to listen in. There was a very faint noise but he couldn't place where he had heard it before.

Outside a red-violet jet streaked through the skies, heading directly for the skylight it transformed and Starscream dropped to the ground, wings twitching so much they were nearly vibrating. Something was wrong, his spark knew something was wrong with no warning he left the others and took off. Looking around he saw no sign of the carrier and immediately headed for his room. He nearly sent the door off its track as he forced it open, looking around but there was no sign of him and the berth was empty. Pulling out of the room he was prepared to check all of them when he saw the ninja attempting to get his own door open.

"Where is Bumblebee?' he demanded as she stalked towards him, wings bristling.

Shuttering his optics (he had not been startled) Prowl turned to the seeker. "I do not know."

"What do you mean you don't know? You're supposed to be watching him!" He wanted to shake the answer out of him but the ninja went back to look at his door with clear confusion. "What are you doing?"

"My door won't open," he said with a frown, trying to wedge his digits into the seam of the door but he was having no success. He never noticed the way the seeker was staring intently at the door, wings arched. Starscream was silent, his spark giving a painful lurch that made his optics widen. With no warning he shoved the ninja aside and buried his clawed digits into the thin metal. Growling he began pulling, ripping the door completely out of its frame with a sharp shriek of metal being torn.

Optimus came out of his room, growling angrily, ready to yell at whoever was making the noise when he saw something being thrown in his direction. He quickly stepped back into his room, optics wide as the remains of the door went flying by, hitting the wall and creating quite a deep dent. He stood there, frozen before he heard a shout and came running out. "What's wrong!? What happened!?" he demanded, racing down the hall to where the door had been ripped off and entered, only to skid to a halt next to a stunned Cyber Ninja.

The seeker was kneeling in front of the large tree that took up a portion of the room, gently cradling a small frame against his chassis. To the side lay a badly scratched plating that was a very recognizable color. The two Autobots would know the metal anywhere and their thoughts immediately turned to dread.

"Sta-" Prowl began but the seeker glared at him over a wing, optics nearly glowing as he snarled a warning to keep back. The ninja was smart enough to not move any closer, in fact he took a step back but he was trying to see around his frame at the mech in his servos. "Is, is he…?"

"No. But the same cannot be said for the two of you," he growled lowly, slowly standing he made sure to keep his backplates to the glitches he thought he could trust; he pulled the minibot even closer, wanting to open both of their chassis, to press their sparks together and let the tiny life force be comforted by his energies. He was so focused on the carrier, unsure what he could do to save him when he felt a servo on his arm and whirled at the bot it belonged to, snarling like a cornered cougaraider.

Skywarp for once, didn't flinch, his expression slack, frame tense, but his wings were twitching as were the others. They wanted to know what happened but the former SIC couldn't answer them. Instead he looked down at the minibot, wings dropping in a sign of sorrow and regret. The violet seeker said nothing but he slowly reached out, stroking the yellow helm worriedly.

"What the slag is going on here?!" No one bothered to tell Ratchet to keep his vocalizer down, he did what he damn well pleased and right now he was demanding answers. He ignored the quiet seekers, pushing his way past them to where they were standing but as Starscream turned to face him he felt his optics widen and faceplates pale. "Kid-" He ran towards them and immediately began running a scan but he uttered a few choice words angrily and placed his servo on the bared chassis, unable to feel or hear the pulse of his spark.

"Please…" The medbot looked up at the dark gray faceplates of the seeker even as he continued running scans over the too quiet form. "Save them both…"

"… No one is offlining on my watch," he vowed and quietly held his servos out; clawed servos tensed, one of the wings twitched outward, a clear sign of hesitation. "I need to treat him, before it's too late." The seeker still seemed unsure, but slowly he passed the minibot to the medic. Nodding Ratchet quickly turned and made his way out of the room, ignoring everything around him as he headed straight for his medbay. He heard peds behind him, following him into the medbay but he didn't care about that right now. Thankfully, the CMO was very aggressive in keeping the examination room clean, neat, and orderly. He could not waste time looking for something and he sure as the Pitt not going to risk any infection with his patients. Setting the scout on the berth he turned to grab the cart full of tools only to see it at his side. He looked up in surprise as the bright red options of the mech that would just not shut his mouth plates for an astrosecond.

"You can save him," Sunstorm said, no hint of flattery in his vocalization, it seemed more of a demand.

"Have yet to have a bot die on in my medbay," he said calmly but as he picked up a tool he found the manual latches that kept the minibot's bared chassis close and managed to get them open. The plates moved slowly, which made him frown but peering at the spark he locked away his emotions, focusing on his training and experiences to handle this.

The soft blue spark was pulsing irregularly, the energy fluxed outward but it immediately pulled back, as though it was trying to boot up his system but wanted to protect the spark at the same time. Or in this case, the sparkling. The tiny white light was hiding behind the larger spark and even though the CMO knew what he was looking for, he still missed it. He tried running a scan as he reached out towards the chamber with his tool, hoping he could try and stabilize the energies there was a very loud crackle of energy followed by a loud snap and the medic pulled his singed servo back, hissing loudly.

"Sonofa-!" he growled, looking at his digits. The excess energy lashed out once it sensed him, the current running angrily over the bared chassis. Gears whined as they tried to close the plates but when the medic had manually opened them he had also locked them in place. Bumblebee let out a low whimper of pain but he was too low on energy to even attempt to wake up.

"What happened?" Sunstorm asked even as Skywarp moved to the other side of the berth and calmly rested his servo on the carrier's helm, one of his digits stroking a curved horn.

"His system is trying to reject me, it thinks I'm trying to harm the sparkling," he grumbled as he reset the sensors in his servo. It still stung but he couldn't shut up the sensors in them, he needed his servos to work. "It's too much energy though, if this keeps up the buildup will destroy the sparkling."

Sunstorm's optics widen but he quickly looked down at carrier. "I can absorb the energy," he said immediately then turned back to the medic. "I can absorb it all and allow you to save him."

"And how are you going to do that? My med bay is already crowded enough as it is and I still need to move around," he hissed, moving to the other side of the berth, grabbing an extra tool or component. The seekers didn't say anything but he heard movement. Grumbling Ratchet grabbed what he was looking for and when he turned to face them he was prepared to start yelling at his unwanted guests. The yellow gold seeker was sitting at the head of the berth, his stabilizers hanging off either side, the yellow scout's helm and shoulders resting on his lap, still looking in pain but Ratchet watched as the clawed servos hovered over the spark chamber. Sure enough the energy lashed out, the same it did to him, but unlike him the sleek mech didn't pull back and his servos seemed to glow as it absorbed the energy. It took a few kliks but the excess energy was no longer damaging the spark itself. "How long can you contain it?"

"Never tried to hold it in, I end up releasing it in a bright light," he admitted but moved his servos to either side of the singed chamber, ready to absorb any more energy if he had to.

"Don't release it in here, I can't work if I can't see," he said and began to look at the spark. He ran every type of scan he had available, filing the diagnosis away to be reviewed later. He had almost forgotten about the other seeker until he tried reaching for a tool just out of reach only to have it placed in his servo. He spared the not-so-cowardly mech a glance before demanding another tool. No words were spoken but he moved swiftly. The spark was beginning to settle, the energy flowing slowly, sluggishly, but the sparkling refused to orbit.

"Why is she hiding?" Skywarp asked in concern, handing the medic a large needle hooked up to a long, thin tube. Attached to the other end was a medical grade energon specifically made for bots who suffered a great loss of energy, where he hung it off a hook so it could drip down.

"I don't treat sparklings, but if I had to guess she's terrified," he mumbled, having taken one of Bee's arms he removed the plating and finding a fuel line opened the tiny port and pushed the needle in. As the medical grade began flowing he wrapped something Sari called "duct tape" around it to hold it in place. Very strange name for the strong adhesive but it worked very well and it wasn't as messy as say welding the needle in place. "The kid's spark is trying to protect her, but he was doing more harm than good."

"And now?"

"Beats me, but as long as his spark doesn't collapse on me or the sparkling for that matter, I'll count this as a good thing." He didn't remove the tool from the chassis just yet, wanting to keep an eye on the spark but before he could go to Bee's interface panel he heard the golden seeker hiss and glanced up.

Sunstorm wasn't used to holding the energy for this long. Yes he could absorb it from his opponents, and redirected it in a bright flash of light, temporarily blinding them, this was pure spark energy mixed with the carrier's electrical charge. It was beginning to get to be too much. "I-I can't-!" he hissed, wings snapping up and down his back plates, showing just how much strain it was beginning to wear on him.

"Get him out!" Ratchet ordered but Skywarp had already lifted Bumblebee so his brother could slip off the berth then after carefully laying Bee back down, helped Sunstorm out of the room, both of them passing an angry/worried Psyche. She barely gave them a glance as she entered the medbay and immediately went to Bee's side, looking down at his spark.

"Primus… you're suppose to be safe here," she whispered, gently stroking his cheek ridges with the back of her digits.

"Psyche, I need your help with his interface equipment." Neither of them wanted to do it, but they had no choice. Making sure the sedatives in the medical grade energon was running through his system they removed the plating and could see damage that he had been fragged badly. The femme's vents cycle a great deal of air through her system before letting it out a slow and even stream.

"I will dismantle them both myself," she muttered lowly.

"Help me first," Ratchet said. He really hated this part of the job but he was determined to save the minibot carrier and once he was certain the speedster wasn't going to offline and take his sparkling with him, he was going to help his friend and do a bit of reformatting himself.

---

Just as the chief medical office entered the medbay the seekers tried to follow, their programming dictating to keep an optic on the carrier but Psyche refused to let them in. "Ratchet needs to work on Bumblebee and his sparkling and having an audience is not going to help-hey!" But Skywarp and Sunstorm entered just as the door closed and it turned red, indicating it was locked from the inside. "Primus give me strength," she vented deeply.

Starscream would have preferred if he was in there with the injured scout instead but he could trust his trine mates. He thought he could trust the Autobots, but now he wasn't certain just who he could truly trust. Whirling to face the two responsible he began storming over to the Prime. "You! You were suppose to watch him, keep him safe!"

Optimus said nothing but his optics narrowed dangerously. "Watch how you address me, Decepticon," he growled lowly, surprising some of his team.

"Or what? You were the one mech I thought could be trust-!"

"It was me!" Everyone whirled to look at the ninja, a swirl of emotions as he slowly repeated himself. "It-It was my fault. Bumblebee asked for my help and I, said something I wasn't suppose to. I didn't know this would happen." There was a brief klik of silence that was soon filled with an enraged shriek. The Decepticon nearly lunged at him, claws curled but he never had a chance to attack the stunned ninja.

Shuttle-class mechs like Skyfire were rare but they were still considered seekers; due to the size and mass of their alt modes, they were taller and broader than the others. Being so large they did not lose their natural agility their kind were known for, so it came to no surprise to those that knew him watch him move at the exact moment the red-violet seeker moved to attack the Cyber Ninja, wrapping servos around him and pulling him tightly to his chassis. He ignored the hissing and shrieking, wings nearly vibrating in rage and the way the clawed servos dug furrows in his arms .

"I believe you should calm down before you do something you will regret," the white shuttle said and without losing his pace walked down the side exit the Autobots used to leave their factory, ignoring the curses and insults hurled his way.

"Let me go, you giant glitch! I'll rip his spark out through his exhaust port!"

"Bulkhead, would you, Jetstorm, and Jetfire please get them some oil?" Psyche offered as she nodded to the seekers who were unsure what to do themselves. "I really think we could use a drink right now,

"Huh? Oh y-yeah, sure…" The green mech didn't seem sure but at least it provided a bit of a distraction. He was worried they would turn and attack him, but they each looked lost and confused, and were more than willing to let him and the twins lead them into the living room. Optimus made to follow but he was halted by a firm command.

"You two, I want some words with you right now," the femme said and immediately pointed to Bumblebee's room with a pointed servo. They halted, looking at her for a quiet klik. "Did I stutter? Move your afts or so help me I will drag you in there myself." Psyche wasn't a large femme, she wasn't designed or built for battle, but the EM she was giving made the two mechs obey her order and shuffle to the room. She followed and once inside closed the door. Arms crossed over her chassis, digits tapping, it was all she could do to keep from pacing but she looked at them each in turn. "Start talking."

Prowl was about to explain what happened but his leader spoke up and once more he was taken back by his attitude. "You have no right to give me orders! I am the Prime and leader of this team! You're not even an Autobot!" he snapped angrily.

"And there's a slagging good reason I stopped being one!" she snapped back. "You two wanted to stay behind and keep an optic on Bumblebee, you even denied having one of the seekers here because you could handle it. So why in the Pitt does Bee look like he's a klik away from offlining and taking his sparkling with him?" She didn't have to scream or yell to get her point across, but the fury was evident in her optics and she wanted answers. Turning to the ninja she gestured to him impatiently. "You. Explain yourself."

Prowl couldn't help but flinch, acting as though he was a youngling who had gotten caught with his servo in the jar of energon goodies when he was told explicitly no. "… It started, when Bumblebee came to me, expressing his desire to get some fresh air. I was uncertain, but agreed," he began. He told her about the drive around the city, how he was calm and even went under the speed limit, enjoying himself before taking off for an parking structure under construction. "I thought perhaps he had noticed a Decepticon in the area but when I came after him he refused my help."

"How so?" she asked with a slight frown. She had taken a seat on Bee's berth, Prowl was sitting on the floor though his stabilizer kept twitching, no doubt reacting to his nerves, and Optimus was leaning against the wall, servos crossed over his chassis with a moody expression.

"He kept saying he was fine, that he needed some time alone, but I wanted to make sure he was alright. So I ended up following him and…" he trailed off and refused to look at either of them. There was an air of tension but the fembot refused to let him go without an answer.

"What did you see, Prowl?"

"… I-I can't say. If he had told me I would have given him all the time he needed! I swear!"

She blinked and slowly straighten. 'He was overcharged.' That single thought made her processor halt before running a quick reboot as she vented slowly though it did not escape the Prime's notice. "Okay. But you said you said something to him, something hurtful," she spoke aloud this time. "What was it?"

At this he fell silent and his servos gripped his knee joints, tightening to the point where he was developing several dents courtesy of his own digits. "He was begging me to help him, that he couldn't stop it. I-I didn't want him to think I was taking advantage of him." He halted, not wanting to repeat himself but the gentle prodding from the femme nearly made him flinch. "… I didn't mean it, I swear it."

"Prowl, what did you say?"

'Slag it all,' he muttered to himself but took a deep cycle of air. "I told him, it had been a mistake helping him, I should have never done it. That I absolutely refuse to frag anybot who acts like some mindless pleasure drone." There was a sudden current in the air, an electrical charge that threaten to ignite. He watched with wide optics as Psyche slowly stood, looking at him with such cold, unfeeling optics. He found his vents stalling the longer she looked at him before abruptly turning away. Scrambling to his peds he watched as she headed for the door and opened it before finding the strength to call out to her. "P-Psyche! I swear, I never meant to hurt him!"

"It's done, Prowl. If Bumblebee and his sparkling manage to survive, you can apologize to him yourself." She pressed the buttons on the panel with a bit more force than necessary, breaking a few of the buttons but she didn't care. She felt so charged right now she wanted to hit something. Hard. Very, very, very hard. With both her energy-charged hammers at once. Walking down the hall she froze when she heard the door to the medbay open and watched as Skywarp walked out, supporting a twitchy Sunstorm. Part of her wanted to go after them and demand to know what they were doing but instead she ducked inside and locked the door behind her. Glancing at the medic she immediately moved to the minibot's side and looked down at his spark worriedly.

"Primus… you're suppose to be safe here," she whispered, gently stroking the side of his faceplates with the back of her digits. He didn't so much as twitch.

Ratchet looked at the small frame, removing the rest of the plating he had to bite his glossia to keep the curses from flowing freely when a rush of fluids escaped, staining the medical berth. "Psyche, I need your help with his interface equipment," he said as he set he plating aside. She just nodded and together the two worked the panel open though it was difficult. Whatever trauma he had experienced locked it into place, making it difficult to work the latches open but when they did they were able to see the external damage. Both medics inhaled sharply but continued working. Ratchet grabbed a tool, a long and slender metal rod with a smooth, rounded tip, it's primary usage to check the damage of internal injuries but he halted. He would have to insert it into the valve directly.

"Ratch?" He looked up and she could see the unease in his optics. He may have been a battle-harden veteran, but not so much that his spark had turned sparkless. Slowly she reached out for the tool. "Let me." He just nodded and stepped back. He couldn't watch as she prepared the probe and in a rare moment of compassion, reached down and rested it on the scout's helm. Luckily he was in such a deep recharge he didn't so much as flinch as the tool was inserted, but as soon as the scanning was complete the tool was immediately removed and Psyche administered a salve that would help reduce the swelling and numb the area. She looked up just as the red and white medic muttered a long stream of curses that made her audio receivers burn. "Ratchet?" He wordlessly passed her the datapad as he went to grab a surgical tool. What she read made her pale then flush in obvious anger, digits squeezing the datapad so hard it started to crack. "I will dismantle them both myself," she muttered lowly, vents cycle a great deal of air through her system before letting it out a slow and even stream.

"Help me first," Ratchet said. He really hated this part of the job but he was determined to save him and once he was certain the speedster wasn't going to offline and take his sparkling with him, he was going to help his friend and do a bit of reformatting himself.

The two worked tirelessly, having no choice but to perform surgery to replace the sensor nodes that had been badly damaged. All of it was noted on Bumblebee's medical datapad, but Ratchet made certain to keep it under high security on a need to know basis. Words were barely spoken and they made sure the medical grade energon kept flowing before finally, after several joors, they were done. They also repaired and replaced some fragile circuitry in his throat, sending a medical coding to increase the self-repair nanites to deal with the bruising and swelling. Psyche was reading the schematics as she made sure that when Bee awoken (on his own) his system wouldn't try and reject the surgery.

"Kid's too young to go through this," Ratchet muttered as he washed his servos aggressively, ignoring the sting of his sensors as he scrubbed too hard. "First he gets botnapped by Starscream, ends up getting tortured then sparked by him, and now this."

"He's a strong mech, I've seen battle-harden soldiers kill themselves right after the sparkling is born," she said absently, swiping a digit across the screen of the datapad. "Thank Primus for soft-sparked bonded who are willing to raise another's sparkling when they hear there's an orphan involved."

That made the medbot pause before turning the water off and grabbing a sterile cloth. "How's it looking?" he asked as he dried his servos. He wanted to ask more about that but seeing the tired look in her optics held it back. He tossed the cloth in the small bin to be washed properly later.

"Slowly. Getting his processor to run a thorough defrag so when he's ready to boot up there should be no errors." Swiping a few more times across the screen she pressed the lock button on the bottom and silently set it down. Looking at the scout she wordlessly tucked the sheet around him before looking up at him. "I think I know who did this, but I need you to verify something first."

He blinked but nodded as he slowly crossed his arms over his chassis. "I know you like to be thorough, but what has that got to do with me?"

"You know these mechs better than I do, I want to know if any of them would ever take advantage of an overcharged carrier." Ratchet would only stare at her, optics wide and mouth plates open in shock.

---

Skyfire said nothing as he watched the red-violet seeker pace and rant angrily. He was prepared to follow him in case he took off but his thrusters were silent. However, he did pause now and then to glare at him. Or rather, glare at the entrance of the tunnel that led inside the factory. Ever since the shuttle had taken Starscream outside to calm down, he had made sure he didn't go back inside or else there would be two permanently offlined mechs. He stiffened and looked up as he lifted a servo to his receiver. "Yes?"

~Skyfire, its Psyche. Is Starscream with you?~ she asked.

"Yes, he's right here."

"Who are you talking to?" the seeker demanded with narrowed optics but the larger seeker merely held up his servo for him to be quiet.

~Good. Tell him Bumblebee and the sparkling are alright, they're resting but he can see them later when Bee has fully rested.~

"Blessed Primus… that's very good to hear," he smiled. He had been worried but even now in the back of his processor he could not forget someone had hurt him very badly. He was able to control it but he still had a strong urge to rip the still pulsing spark from the slagger and crush it before his optics. "Is there anything you need me to do?"

~No. Ratch is telling the others and I'm with Bee right now.~ There was a moment of pause before she continued. ~No, you can do something. Make sure everyone keeps quiet. Bee needs a lot of rest and I don't him to wake up until he's ready.~

"Alright. Please let me know if you need anything else." Removing his servo he nodded to the seeker who was looking at him with such intensity. "Ratchet and Psyche have finished with Bumblebee's surgery, he and the sparkling will be fine."

"Fine? Fine?! How are they fine?!" he shrieked at him, wing tips trembling, frame tense, clawed digits clenching and unclenching. "I trusted those—glitches to keep them safe and look what happened to him! I should have been the one to stay here and watch over him! I am the sparkling's creator!"

"What happened is inexcusable, but the important thing is they are both safe. Construction on Dinobot Island is nearly complete and Bumblebee will be safer with the Dinobots-"

"I trust those walking abominations as much as I trust you," he seethed angrily but from what little he knew of them, they were indeed very strong, their frames built for heavy warfare, but their processors were extremely limited. They could only obey the simplest of commands and even then the "leader" Grimlock, sought to challenge everybot who told him to do something. It was enough to drive anyone mad! Intaking a great deal of air he vented it slowly, feeling some of his rage dispatch but he calmly walked up to the shuttle and looked up at him. "Listen well, shuttle. Right now, Bumblebee and the sparkling are the only beings that matter to me, and I do not care about who is the leader of what but those Autobots have failed in my optics. I do not trust them, I will never trust them, and as soon as construction is finish I refuse for any of them near them. You," he jabbed a digit into his abdominal plating harshly since the mech was so much taller than him, "will pass this message to them. Until I say otherwise they will not be allowed anywhere near my-them."

"They are the closest thing he has to a family unit, denying him from seeing them will bring about undue stress and strain any form of relationship he has already developed with you," Skyfire said calmly. It was on the tip of his glossia to point out he had betrayed the minibot's trust when he kidnapped him and manipulated him to begin with, and while he believed he could subdue the aerial fighter if he chose to attack him, he did not want to bring everybot into it as well.

Red optics narrowed dangerously and the clawed digit poked harder, scratching the plating. "After what happened do you really think he's going to want anything to do with them!?" he hissed angrily. There was a tense silence but slowly, the seeker moved back, the silent hum of his thrusters warming up was heard, wings tense as he clenched his servos into fists. "I will speak with Bee about it later when I speak with him but as of right now, I will not trust any Autobot who claims to be a friend. They have proven to be worse than the Decepticons themselves. And the next time you try to stop me, I'll rip your wings off myself." Launching himself into the sky, the mech transformed and soon the sleek jet was flying off, closing off his comm links with his trine. If he wanted to talk to the carrier he had to calm down first.

Normally when Starscream had time to fly, he enjoyed it. For all the organic life this pitiful planet held, here the skies were open and even welcoming. It reminded him so much of his beloved Vos, he would have no doubt felt what the organics called "homesick" but for that he would need a home. Vos was no more, and even if it was still standing no seeker would be allowed to reside there. Afterall, only Decepticons could fly.

'Autofools! They preach about unity and fighting for the greater good, bah! They are just as bad as the Decepticons! In the end everybot in this war fights to gain more power for themselves!' he thought bitterly. He was no different, but that was before he had a greater reason to fight for. How long had it been since there had been a sparkling created? None that he could think of or remember for that matter, and yet he was the creator of one. Frowning he threw himself in performing some aerial tricks high above the clouds, feeling the winds brushing over the sensors in his wings, enjoying the pleasant sensations. Would Bumblebee enjoy it if he took him flying one day? Would he trust him not to drop him? Would their sparkling be a seeker, just like him like Bee had dreamed? It was enough to almost make him giddy with delight! Well, if he allowed himself to feel such a strange emotion. Nonetheless he was determined to do all he could for them; the AllSpark fragment did much more than grant him repeated rebirths, it granted him the one thing he had always wished for since the death of his own carrier.

Cyclonus silently followed after the seeker, high above him. He made certain he didn't notice him, keeping his energy signal tightly to his frame, and that his shadow cast by the planet's star didn't give him away but the seeker seemed completely lost in his own world. No matter, he had a mission to complete. Making certain they were the only ones in the skies he increased his thrusters and performed a tight barrel roll, purposely cutting in front of the seeker. Hearing him let out a squawk of surprise may been mildly amusing, but it had the effect he was looking for.

"Get back here, you flying glitch!" the seeker shrieked as he activated his own thrusters and chased after him. For an irritating moment he thought it was been the giant aft or the two annoying jets, but not only was the coloring completely wrong, the entire framework was one he had certainly never seen on this primitive planet. That's when his processor supplied him with an image of the last time he had seen this "plane" before. With a scream worthy of his name, he immediately began firing at the gray-violet mech, focusing his rage at him. He refused to contact the Autobots and ignored his logic system to call upon the other seekers for back-up. If he was going to destroy something it would be him.

The purple-gray jet didn't bother to fight back but he made sure the seeker was following. When he saw him falter he resorted to immature tactics but it had the desired effect. Once they were far enough away that he could no longer detect any organic life, he smirked and allowed the energy to build. He waited until the traitor was close enough before he transformed in mind air and turning to face him, unleashed his two dark swords and released a burst of dark light.

Starscream cried out in pain, the light not only blinding him but he also felt some of his frame and even his internal circuitry becoming corrosive, as though it was being eaten by some unknown source. He tried to fight it off, cursing as one of his thrusters sputtered out. With only one working thruster he couldn't keep himself in the air for much longer. Cursing the jet, to Megatron, to Primus and Unicron, to the Autobots, and back to Megatron and Cyclonus he began flying lower. The problem was now his gyro-inhibitors were glitching, meaning he was pretty much going to try landing blind. Uttering another curse he tried to gauge how close he was getting to the ground, the flaps on his wings angling themselves to try and slow his descent and it might have worked, had Cyclonus not decided to help him land in a rather undignified heap. Letting out another embarrassing squawk of surprise he landed nose first into the unforgiving ground, skidding along painfully, scratching up his frame, cracking the faux glass of his cockpit, he forced himself to transform and regretted it as he felt dirt get into his transformation seams but he was able to dig his servos into the soft ground and finally (finally!) stopped skidding. Snarling he made to get to his peds but froze as the sunlight glinted off the dark-colored swords. Cyclonus said nothing but after a bit he pulled back and sheathed the swords behind him.

"What, you too cowardly to offline me?" he sneered as he slowly got to his peds, ignoring the grit and resisting the urge to shake his stabilizers to try and dislodge some of the organic material. Ugh, it was a terrible sensation and he hated it! He tensed as he saw the other jet reaching into his subspace and his arm-mounted guns warmed up but before he could open fire he tossed something at him and on instinct, caught it. "What in the name of the Pitt is this?" he demanded.

"I would think even with your limited processor you would know what a tachyon mini-communicator is," he said in an even tone, his entire frame still, not relaxed but not tense, as though he was in stand-by mode.

"I know what it is, you aft! Why would I need it?!" he snapped, ready to crush it in his servo.

"I also bring you a message from Lord Megatron so may I suggest you do not destroy it should you wish to keep your sparkmate and sparkling fully functioning," he said calmly, making the seeker freeze. "He wants you to return to the Decepticons and follow his commands at his second-in-command once more."

"Why would I do something as idiotic as that?" he sneered.

"I do not question orders, I merely follow them." With that, he transformed and without waiting for a reply, fly off. Once he was high enough he activated his thrusters and soon Cyclonus was gone.

Starscream resisted the urge to scream at him to come back, to shattered the mini-communicator in his servo but after glaring at the insignia for several long, very tense kliks, he turned it on. Fortunately he managed to keep from revealing his shock and rage as the small screen was filled with the faceplates of the last mech he wanted to communicate with. He grinded his denta together but refrained from calling him ever insult he knew in Cybertronium and from overhearing the populace organics on this filthy planet.

"Starscream, I see Cyclonus has completed his mission. I had almost forgotten what it was like to have a competent soldier within my ranks," Megatron smirked.

Whether it was meant to bait him the seeker wasn't sure, but he couldn't stop himself from giving him a sarcastic response back. "If you find him so worthy why not make him your SIC instead."

"What I do with my army is my business, alone. Regardless of what has transpired, my ultimate plan to overthrowing the Autobot High Council and taking my rightful place as the ruler of Cybertron has not diminished in the least. You have betrayed me countless times and have tried—and failed—to overthrow me in order to become the new leader of the Decepticons, for that you should be smelted down-"

"I've lost count how many times you "offlined" me only for me to return a few joors later," he muttered, letting a little bit of smug pride color his vocalizer.

"-but, despite that you still have your usefulness that I am currently lacking," he continued, no doubt ignoring his words and causing the seeker to growl lowly but otherwise kept quiet. "Therefore, I am offering you an opportunity to return to your true prime directive."

"I was wondering if those fifty stellar cycles stuck in stasis affected your processor, why would I ever return and be your SIC? You never listened to me, always taking the glory for my plans, making me look like a fool in front of your "army". I should not only be the leader of the Decepticons, I should be the ruler of Cybertron as well!" if he was the ruler, then he would ensure that Bumblebee and their sparkling would lead the perfect lifecycle, where they would never be harmed and want for nothing. He was prepared to turn off the communicator until the large gray mech spoke up once more.

"There is more to ruling an entire planet than you know, and in the brief kliks when you elected yourself to lead the Decepticons in my absence has been nothing but a failure," he stated calmly and the worse part was, he was right. Before Starscream could get too riled up the warlord continued talking. "You may join me willingly, or by force. If you chose force then I will make you witness not only the permanently demise of your sparkling, but I will ensure that your carrier is still functioning to carry my own. Perhaps, I will even keep him as my own berth slave," he smirked. Starscream was silent, his processor stalled, optics wide. Seeing that the seeker was no doubt froze the warlord decided to end his dealings for now. "I expect an answer in one orbital cycle. If I have not received an answer by then, I will take that as your refusal and your minibot will be mine." The connection closed and the screen went dark but Starscream continued to stare at the communicator for almost a joor before slowly lowering it and remained standing there for another joor. He had no doubt that Megatron would go through with his threat, and while the Dinobots were powerful mechs, they were idiots and he doubted they would be able to properly protect the carrier and sparkling. He could feel his servo tightening, heard the communicator crack but stopped himself from outright destroying it.

Two orns. Twenty-six solar cycles. Unbiddingly his chronometer had begun a countdown and it made him flinch to realize how quickly it was passing by. He felt torn, unsure how to answer but even as he quietly subspaced the communicator and transformed, taking to the air, he knew he would do anything to protect his family unit. Casting a quick scan to make sure he wasn't being followed, he flew back to the factory. If he wanted to see Bumblebee, he wanted to make sure he was clean of the organic filth.

---

As the red-violet seeker was flying back, Bumblebee was finishing up his recharge cycle. Waking from recharge was, at times, a hassle. The processor was the first to boot up, humming to life, warming up it ran through every program, system check, antivirus, and firewall. Everything was coming back with a green-light, showing that everything was in working order. His system did bring up several new changes to his system to be reviewed but it was still showing as green.

'That's strange,' the minibot thought to himself but allowed the scans to continue. The warmth of the startup began to spread through the rest of his system, slowly onlining his functions on by one. Once it was complete he continued to lay there and enjoyed the peace and quiet of the room. He knew he wasn't in his room, the berth wasn't the same and the sterile cleaning solvent he associated with the medbay was pretty strong. He was startled when he heard a voice speak up loudly but familiar and gentle digits brushed over his helm in a loving manner. He didn't have to open his optics to know who it was, making him smile gently. "Hi Psyche…" he spoke slowly, wincing when his vocalizer reminded him of gears grinding together. It didn't hurt, but it was really uncomfortable.

"Hi Bee, we fixed your throat cables but for the next mega-cycle I want you to talk to my through your comm link," she smiled and continued stroking his helm, brushing a digit over a cheek ridge. Slowly pulling her servo back she watched as his optics opened then onlined. She had been worried when she heard the gentle hum of his system starting up and got up, only to nearly trip from the stool she had been perched on, making her curse. "How do you feel?"

"Good, I think." He looked around, verifying he was in the medbay and sighed softly, fans whirling. Looking at the fembot questioningly she produced a slightly cracked datapad and handed it to him. He took it slowly (just now aware his plating had been removed and he was in his bared protoform beneath a sheet) and read the information. It was his medical file, and it listed all his injuries, as well as his recent surgery. He slowly lowered the datapad and realized why his system notified him of new changes. "Why?"

"Sadly, your sensors nodes were badly damaged, and these same nodes had scarred over from what I guess was earlier abuse. If we had left them, it would have at least made interfacing very unpleasant and at worse, would have ruined your sensory network." Slowly she reached over and covered his servo with her own, squeezing it tightly. "We had to act quickly, you were in complete stasis lock."

"Stasis lock…" he couldn't remember falling into that, the last thing he remembered was hiding in Prowl's room, trying to calm his racing spark—oh frag. "… Y-You know, then…"

"I know the end result, and the beginning of what lead up to it, but not the plot." She could feel him tense so without releasing his servo reached out to grab the stool and pulled it up before sitting down. "I said it once, I'll say it again. Whatever you tell me will not be repeated, nor shared. If you want to go to Torkulon, then we'll leave right now, no questions asked."

"…" He knew he could trust her, she had been nothing but helpful, keeping his secret until he was ready to tell everybot else. "I didn't mean for it to happen, I was enjoying the drive and so was my sparkling, but then I got so hot. I thought, maybe it was too much sun but it kept building and I just wanted a really good frag…" Primus, even talking about it he winced. Had he really sounded that desperate?

"It's been known to happen to carriers, the energy a developing sparkling produces can lead to a carrier experiencing a overcharge and a need to release it. Sometimes it even has the opposite effect and makes the carrier reject interfacing, even the gentlest of touching makes them recoil as though they've been struck," she pointed out. "I've seen it before, but I've mostly seen it between bonded creators."

"But, I'm not bonded."

"No, you aren't." letting out a short burst of air she took a moment to compose her thought processes. "Starscream manipulated you into thinking he cared about you, and maybe he does now, but deep down in your logic circuits you're still wary and afraid he'll hurt you again. You asked Prowl for help because deep down, you trusted to help you. He has been with you since the beginning, he cares about you and I know you care about him."

"But… but he rejected me," Bee whispered, clutching at the sheet tightly. "H-he said, he called me a-a mindless-s pleasure dr-drone," he stuttered softly.

"Did he really call you a drone?" She paused when she saw the confusion in his optics and waited as he slowly and carefully sat up. "I spoke with Prowl earlier, and he mentioned he said some hurtful words but I need you to remember, did he specifically call you a mindless pleasure drone?"

"… … … n-no," he said after several kliks, replaying the hurtful words over and over. He could feel sobs creeping up on him that by the time he realized it it was too late to stop them. "H-He said, he *ktch* he wanted-ed to help me-e-e, he *ktch* did…" He winced as he saw a servo come up, unsure why he was flinching but the servo gently curled around the back of his helm and pulled him forward until it was pressed into a chassis. He reached out and clung to whatever he could reach, soft sobs raking his small frame.

Psyche cooed quietly into his audio, digits stroking the back of his helm and neck cables, kneading the tension she could feel. Definitely too young to be going through this much slagging drama. "Bee, I can help you with this," she spoke softly. "It's a programming code I can install that's linked to your logistics. The next time you're feeling overcharged, it will keep the charge from affecting your processor and keep the stimuli at bay but it also depends on you, you'll need to decide how you can deal with being overcharged."

"Y-You mean I wo-won't jump-p any me-me-mech I s-see?" he stuttered softly with softer ktches.

"In so many words. I could have done it when Ratch and I did the surgery, but I wanted the choice to be yours."

"… I… I wa-want it," he said softly, venting softly as he felt the femme shift until she was sitting behind him, servos wrapped around him in a maternal embrace. It was quiet and once more he felt soothed by the servo as they gently stroked his neck cables and back plates over the sheet. Thinking back to the surgery the realization hit him even harder that what had happened was not another terrible nightmare. "I'm not s-safe here, not anymo-more," he whispered but audio receivers picked it up and servos stilled.

"… it's my fault, Bee," psyche said softly, closing her optics and offlining them in the process. "I thought you would be safe here, I thought nothing would happen. How could I have been so blind?" She was startled when she felt a servo brush over her own cheek plates, a touch she hadn't felt in vorns and looked down into concerned blue optics. "I'm so sorry, sweetspark. This, was never suppose to happen."

"Not your fault, Psyche, never was." This time, it was his turn to comfort her.

Psyche ended up staying with Bee until he slipped into another recharge and she took a few breems to watch him quietly. She had been with him for over a megacycle from the moment he woke up to now. No doubt he would have felt better if he recharged in his own quarters but she and Ratchet felt it would better to continue monitoring him and the sparkling. Reaching out she once more brushed the back of her digits over a cheek ridge and smiled when he leaned into her touch with a soft sigh. It reminded her of the few fleeting moments when she felt her creator do the same when he thought she was recharging. It was the few precious memory files she didn't lock away, but it still brought some slight pain to her spark. Venting softly she softly stood and dimmed the lights so he could recharge better, casting him one more look she silently left the medbay. Hearing the door close behind her she looked up and her optics shuttered in surprise at the sight of Starscream standing across from the door, leaning against the wall with his servos crossed over his chassis, his plating exception bright as though he had just cleaned up, looking like he was calmly waiting for her to exit. Which, she was certain he was. He gave her a nod of his helm to which she mirrored before quietly speaking up.

"How are they?" he asked.

"Better. Bee's still resting from his surgery, but his spark has settled into a steady rhythm and the sparkling has continued orbiting his own." She paused to let the words sink in and gestured to the door behind her. "He's staying there so we can continue to monitor them, but he slipped back into recharge once more."

"The shuttle told me. The others are acting on their best behavior as well," he said which explained the almost unnatural quiet surrounding the factory. Pushing himself off the wall he took a few steps away from it. "… may I see him?" If she was surprised by his polite response, she didn't show it.

"I think, he'd appreciate that." She stepped aside and watched as he went to the door, stepping in as it opened but he paused and looked at her from the corner of his optic. He seemed uncertain yet Psyche smiled and nodded to him. "Go on, just be mindful of the equipment."

"… thank you." Turning his attention to the sleeping mech, he walked deeper into the room, the door silently closing behind him. The femme vented softly, reaching up to rub at her optics but she wasn't done as much as she wanted to. After speaking with Bee and hearing his side of the story, she knew who was responsible for hurting him. Ratchet didn't want to believe it, he had worked with the mech for vorns, he knew him, but it didn't deter her in the slightest. She knew he could be stubborn and unyielding in his decision, but so could she and as she pointed out to him, she had studied the inner workings of many processors during her training while he studied the external frames. She was better qualified and she could still be professional about it. Going down the hall she stepped before the door and knocked on it. There was no answer but she knew he was inside so she decided to send him a ping. He ignored the first one so she sent another. He ignored that one as well and she could feel one of her optic ridges twitching so she sent another ping but with an attached message.

~I wish to speak with you, preferably without a door between us. If you continue to ignore me I will beat your door down and everybot in the factory will be able to hear what we will be discussing. The choice is yours so choose wisely.~ She didn't have to wait more than a few kliks before the door opened to reveal the red and blue mech on the other side.

"What do you want?" he asked coolly.

"To talk. So are you going to invite me in or do you want everybot to be listening in to our discussion?" She could tell he was tempted to shut the door in her faceplates, but she could always go through with her threat. But she also had to remember this was not Torkulon, and he was still a Prime. Intaking a great deal of air she slowly released it and spoke up with a softer tone. "Optimus, I sense something is wrong and I wish to help. I am a medic, just like Ratchet, but I treat processor-based and spark damage."

"Why are you telling me this?" he asked lowly, a flicker of uncertainty in his optics.

"I just said I wish to help." She paused, not wishing to point out she could still contact Cybertron and see about having his rank removed if she thought him unqualified, but that would solve nothing. The mech said nothing but slowly, he stepped back and she took that as an invitation to step in. She waited and watched as he passed her to sit at his console, but she chose to remain standing. She saw some cleaning solution and rags off to the side and the quarters smelled as though he had recently cleaned it but she fought back the urge to yell at him. "Tell me about yourself," she began, surprising him. "I haven't been to Cybertron in a very long time, and Ratchet told me he's worked with you for a long time, but I like to get to know the mechs better myself."

"… you, remind me of a mech I used to know in boot camp," he admitted before letting his optics drop. "I tried to get to know. He said he wasn't there to make friends, and he was always arguing with Sentinel. Doesn't help when Sentinel would say something condescending he was right there to tell him off. I remember trying to stop them from fighting, but neither of them listened to me. Kup Minor would find out and the next thing I knew both were performing transform ups repeatedly. Last I heard, he left the boot camp."

"So he was suspended?"

"Sentinel and Elita thought so, but when I asked Kup Minor he told me it wasn't in his programming so he decided to help bots out another way. I had actually tried looking for him but any record of him had been erased. I guess, Nova didn't want to be found."

"It's been known to happen for a number of reasons," she said and moved closer but remained standing. She could see a bit of the mech Ratchet spoke so fondly about, but she had to know his side of the story. "Optimus, I hate to ask this… but what happened when Bee came back to the factory."

He froze, looking at her with wide optics he slowly looked away, servos twitching ever so slightly. "… I was at the communication center, going over the list of materials and items needed for construction when I heard Be-Bumblebee come racing back. I thought something was wrong, that maybe he had been attacked. He broke down crying and I took him to my quarters to try and get him to calm down."

"Where was Prowl?"

"He commed me, saying he had lost him, I told him he was with me and when he told me he was responsible for making Bumblebee cry I ordered him to continue patrolling the city. I was so mad at him for hurting Bumblebee, I knew I couldn't see him until I calmed down."

The femme nodded that she was listening but gestured for him to continue. Now she felt something was wrong; Ratchet had said that in all the years he knew he the Prime was slow to anger with brief moments, it was quick to cool and with their team he was usually the peacemaker. The medic was the one who did most of the shouting and yelling, and he always had the most concern over everybot. She listened as the Prime told her about him and the carrier speaking, how Bee admitted what Prowl had done and said, and that he was still overcharged. Now he froze but his optics were downcast, his posture tense even though he was still slouched in his chair.

"Optimus?" No answer. "Optimus? You still with me?" Still no answer and Psyche was having a very bad feeling. "… Prime?"

"I fragged the minibot, because he begged me for it. I never thought of him that way, but knowing what the seeker did to him, knowing he needed help, my help! I… I never, meant to hurt him." It had been so very very very long since he had been wanted, and he never gave the minibot another look, but after hearing him and the seeker that night—his servo curled into a tight fist and his optics were slowly bleeding from blue to red. "I am a Prime. I am the leader of this team, I should have had that scout reprimanded for having relations with the enemy, then he ended up being sparked. I should be the one that sparked him! It is my right as a Prime!"

"What?" Where was this coming from? This seemed completely out of character, even his EM field felt like someone else entirely, yet she could detect some truth behind his words. He honestly believed he was within his right to do what he wanted. "A Prime, is more than a leader, Optimus. A Prime must prove he has the skills to not only lead his team into battle and return safely, but to keep the team together. Those who are granted the title of Prime earn it and proudly follow the duties given to them, they never think of their teammates as merely drones to serve them."

"Then what about Sentinel?!" he snapped angrily as he jumped to his peds, advancing on her, optics burning brightly. "He's a Prime and yet he's the most pathetic excuse for a Prime if there ever was one! He took the rank away from me, I should have stayed on Cybertron, not him!"

"But he didn't try to kill an unformed sparkling! He didn't take advantage of a carrier who was caught in the grip of being overcharged!" she yelled back, catching him slightly off-guard. She should have stopped and noticed that something was terribly wrong, but the way he spoke about Bumblebee was inexcusable. He honestly thought of his team as nothing more than sparkles drones there to do his every bidding! "Sentinel may be a giant-chinned aft yet he still became a Prime long before you!"

For a single astrosecond it was quiet, but in the next he lunged forward and slammed into the aqua blue femme, servos wrapped tightly around her neck cables, and began squeezing tightly. He was larger than her in both height and mass, and he had caught her off guard. Psyche tried to pry his digits off but his grip was too tight and the edge of the berth was digging painfully into her backstrut. She tried to call out this time, tried to comm for help, but she winced as she felt fragile circuitry snap under the crushing grip. If he squeezed any harder, he would squeeze her helm right off.

"You, you think Sentinel is so great? You don't know him like I do. Everyone believes his lies, his stories, he gets all the glory, he even has those two freaks under his command," he seethed lowly, pulling her up then slamming her back onto the berth, causing her to strike the back of her helm very hard against the unforgiving metal. "I bet, the only reason they listen to him and believe all his slag is because he frags them… that should have been me!"

Was he talking about Jetstorm and Jetfire? Where was all this unbridled hostility coming from? Once more she tried to get him to loosen his grip but it was no use as she felt wires snap under the pressure. She couldn't even beg him to stop, static filled her optics but she could make out a pair of cold, sparkless red optics staring right down at her, watching her die.

The door to the room opened and a blocky frame rushed straight in. Ratchet froze, shock freezing his system momentarily but he rushed forward and grabbed at mech's arm, trying to pull him off. "Prime! What are you doing?!" he shouted.

Optimus snarled angrily, glaring at the medic he roughly shook his grip off but just as swiftly back handed him right in the faceplates, causing him to slam into wall behind them with a crash. "Stay out of this, you old glitch!" he snapped.

With one servo off Psyche felt like she could breathe but the other servo was still trying to rip her throat cables out. Seeing the Prime caught off guard, she gave the internal command to let the electrical charge build and gave the enraged mech a good shock to his system. He let go with a shout but before he could regain control she withdrew her hammer from her subspace and despite the limited space, struck him in the chassis. The electrical charge from the hammer combined with her own was enough to send him flying out of the room, across the hall, and into the wall opposite of the door. If their shouting behind closed doors didn't alert every mech in the building, that did.

Prowl had heard the arguing and was growing concerned, having seen Ratchet leave moments earlier to see what was going on, but the yelling had increased and he stepped into the hallway just in time to watch the Prime go flying out of his room and slammed into the opposite wall. For a moment he thought they had been attacked and knelt at his side, checking to see if he was alright but a movement at the room across from them made him immediately tense and moved before his leader, ready to defend him. His optics grew wide behind his visor as he saw the veteran medical officer stumbled to the doorway, energon running from his lip plate and one of his optics badly cracked. "Ratchet-?"

"Behind you!"

Hearing something behind him the Cyber Ninja immediately jumped to the side, thinking some Decepticon had invaded their base and was trying to get at him from behind but he froze when he saw it was their team leader. "Optimus? What's going on?"

"That's not Prime!" Psyche screamed at everyone through the public comm link even as she stumbled to the doorway, leaning against Ratchet as she continued to grip at her throat with a servo. She was kicking herself for having not figured it out sooner but she couldn't break whatever psychic hold was on the Prime, her own processor was struggling to retain its own normal functions due to the brief lack of energon. Glancing at the other mechs who looked confused she focused in on Skyfire and pointed at the Prime. "Stop him before he gets away!"

"I'm not leaving without that carrier!" he snarled and actually bolted to his right, intending on making it to the medbay but before he could get to the door he found it blocked by a very agitated Skywarp and ticked off Slipstream. "Move!" he ordered.

"Make us!" they snapped back, protective programming surging to the frontlines.

Prime growled and was prepared to do that he failed to notice a large frame behind him until the massive servo gripped him by the back of his plating and in a swift move, slammed him into the ground with enough force to make the entire factory shake even down to its foundation. The optics faded from red to blue then finally flickered off, his processor unable to deal with the sudden damage and crashed, forcing him in a deep recharge. No one said anything but they all had questioning looks in their optics and a singular question on their processors: what in the Pitt happened?

---

At the hidden Decepticon base, a certain seeker jerked from his deep recharge with a snarling curse leaving his lip plates. He had been so close! If only that old medic and those traitors hadn't interfered he could have eliminated one of the Autobots and have the carrier brought to Lord Megatron! But no matter, the trust the Prime had with his team was surely broken, they would never follow another order which meant the next time they fought, the Decepticons would be victorious.

'I failed in destroying that femme, but next time she will not be so fortunate,' he smirked to himself. Yes, his plans were falling into place and soon the Decepticons would be back where they rightfully belong, as the rightful rulers and inhabitants of the planet Cybertron.

All hail Lord Megatron!

---

The Autobot team could not wrap their processors over what they had witnessed. Their team leader, their friend, Optimus Prime, had attacked two of their own as well as a neutral party, and would have botnapped Bumblebee if he hadn't been stopped. No one knew what to do or say but Ratchet was quick to give orders as much as he didn't like it, ordering the Prime to have stasis cuffs placed on him. Since the factory didn't have any way of keeping him secure, the only thing they could do was take him to the Elite Guards' ship and place him in the brig. The veteran was used to giving orders and this time, no one bothered to argue with him. Even the seekers listened to him, including Starscream. Psyche, she was the only one who refused to listen.

'Something isn't right, But I can't place my digit on it,' she said to herself as she looked into the cell where the red and blue Prime had been placed. He was sitting on the floor, propped against the far wall, still wearing the stasis cuffs. His optics were offline, meaning he could still be out. Or he was lying in wait. She winced as several lines of errors filled her HUD before she pushed them aside. The repeatedly strikes to her helm damaged her processor slightly, but all she needed was a good recharge and her self-repair could deal with it.

"You should let the medic look you over," Thundercracker spoke up behind her.

"Tell me something I don't know," she hissed softly. Not only did her processor hurt, so did her backstrut where the edge of the berth had dug in deeply. Ratchet had repaired her damages throat, but before she could let him get to the other damaged area she told him she needed to see Optimus. That hadn't gone over very well.

"I'm going to talk with him, faceplates to faceplates." She couldn't even detect a hitch as she spoke and cycled air softly in relief. She heard the medic freeze before turning swiftly to put his tools away. Meaning, he was upset. At her. Slowly sitting up she moved so she was sitting on the edge and studied his backplates. "I have to talk to him-"

"No you don't. He acted well outta line, he hurt you and he hurt Bumblebee."

"He admitted he hurt Bee but he wasn't right in the processor. I'm a medic-"

"Who was nearly scrapped-"

"-and I made an oath before Primus to help those in need. Ratchet, I know you lost someone you cared about, I know it still haunts you, but I'm not her. I'm nothing like her. I'm not even an Autobot much less a soldier!"

"Don't you think I know that!?" he snapped angrily. Slamming a tool down on the table with enough force that made her jump. "I was upset when you left Cybertron but when I heard what happened I was relieved. It meant you were safe, away from all the fighting… I had lost too many friends, either in the field or in my medbay… I didn't want to lose you as well."

"I hate war," she muttered quietly.

"What was that?"

"Nothing." She paused and turning to the blue-violet seeker nodded. "Thanks, but you didn't have to come here to watch me."

"Perhaps." His wings gave a slight twitch. "Now what?"

"I need to speak to Sentinel." The wings went tense and optics narrowed. "You don't have to escort me, I just want to talk to him."

"He's a glitch."

"I know. Believe me, I know." Seeing how the ship was much smaller than Steel Haven, the dark blue Prime had been locked in his own quarters, all communication blocked. He was literally a prisoner in his own quarters. Coming up to the door Psyche unlocked it and stepped in followed by the seeker.

Sentinel looked up and scowled as he get to his peds. "What the slag do you want?" he demanded.

"To talk," Psyche said calmly, silently gesturing to the seeker with a servo. "I have some questions I want to ask you."

"And then I'll be let out?"

"No."

"Then forget it!" Turning so his backplates were facing them he crossed his servos over his chassis. They had even taken away his battle lance, blocked him from using his shield, they even locked him in his root form! It was humiliating!

Psyche vented softly but looked at eh seeker over her shoulder joint. "Can you leave us for a few breems?" his wings snapped up and down, a clear indication of confusion. "I need to talk but alone." A slight twitch of a wingtip. "He won't do anything. And if he does, I'll crash his processor the old-mech way." No movement at all. "I mean it, wait outside if you want to, just go." The seeker let out a low growl before backing out of the room, locking the door once he was out.

"How can you understand them?"

"Skyfire taught me. There's an old saying, if you want to know what a seeker is thinking, you need to watch their wings." There was a tense silence but Optimus' words replayed themselves in her processor, making it ache. "Sentinel… I have to know, Jetfire and Jetstorm, what do you think of them?"

"What do you care? Those two are immature younglings, they treat their training as though it's some sort of game. They also forget that I'm their commanding officer and they should be heeding my orders, no one else," he said bitterly.

"Perhaps… have you ever thought of 'facing with them?" She should have thought of another way to ask but the words were out before she could stop herself. The larger mech whirled to look at her, optics wide and frame tense with shock. She had her answer before he opened his mouth.

"What do you take me for? That never even attempted to cross my processor! Ever!"

"Yet you wanted to delete an unformed sparkling and imprison the carrier."

"The High Council explicitly stated that all Decepticons must be destroyed and those that fraternize with them are marked as traitors to the Autobot cause," he said coolly, having memorized those exact words the moment he was sworn in as a Prime.

"What if the Autobot in question had been Elita-1? Would you be able to delete her sparkling, especially if she wanted to keep it?" she countered.

Sentinel froze, tensing he looked to the side, a surge of mixed emotions fighting for control over his logistics. "Elita-1 is dead," he said coldly.

"… what if it was someone you cared about greatly? Someone you would give up your own spark to protect no matter what, would you do it? Do you want the energon and memory of offlining a unformed sparkling to be on your servos just because of its sire?" It was harsh and she hated saying it, but she watched as shock and confusion flickered over his faceplates, optics shuddering as his processor tried to go over the data.

"I-the council-orders-I-!" Sentinel could feel a massive glitch coming on, his processor threatening to crash; he stumbled and fell onto his berth, he didn't realize his servo was shaking until he lifted it to his helm, cradling it. "I… I…"

The femme could see he was on the verge of a meltdown and quickly moved to kneel before him. "Sentinel, look at me," she said firmly, resting one of her servos on his shoulder and the other on the other side of his helm. She couldn't do much since her own processor was still struggling with her own injuries but she could still help him. Once he met her optics she sent a wireless coding to temporarily shut down the loop of data he was no doubt experiencing. Waiting a few kliks she slowly removed her servo. "How do you feel?"

He opened his mouth to say he was fine, but he wasn't. Instead he stared down at his peds, letting his servo drop from his helm to grip the edge of the berth. "… I don't know anymore…"

"Sentinel…" Primus, now what? She could apologize for putting him through so much but she wanted him to open his optics. Instead she nearly made him suffer a massive glitch. Slowly she stood and turned to leave but stopped and turned to him. "I'm here if you ever want to talk," she offered quietly.

"So you can tell Optimus how pathetic I am?" he said quietly.

"That's none of his business. Everybot needs to vent once in a while, and I'm willing to listen." Nodding to him she knocked on the door and stepped out as soon as Thundercracker unlocked it from the outside. In the hall she wordlessly walked to the command post as the seeker locked the door and took up a guard post.

Skyfire looked up when he heard ped steps and watched as his friend entered, getting to his peds. "Psyche, how did it go?" he asked quietly.

"I really wish I knew how to answer that," she admitted quietly, wincing as her HUD lit up with more lines of errors. "I'm going to head back to the factory, but let me know as soon as Optimus comes online."

"Would you like me to fly you back?"

"No, I'll be fine." Waving slightly she walked out of the ship, down the ramp. It was well into the night, rarely any organics out, but that was fine with her. Once she was clear she transformed and silently drove back to the factory. Unfortunately, she never realized she was being watched as a purple and beige jet followed, hidden by the dark of night.

Blitzwing shouldn't be doing this, if Lord Megatron ever found out—well, it would certainly not be pleasant. Especially if all he was going to do was talk with the femme instead of following her to the Autobot's base or using her to lure out the minibot carrier. But ever since he saw her and learned about his passing… he wanted answers. Flying in as low as he could without being detected, he opened the panel beneath his jet mode and took careful aim before letting the ice missile loose. It flew through the air and hit the street ahead, coating the streets ahead in a thick layer of ice.

"What was that?" Psyche asked herself, trying to peer into the darkness but she couldn't make out anything. She had let her processor wonder as she thought back to what she had learned from both Primes, and it was so quiet out she failed to notice the ice coating the road until her tires went skidding. Uttering several choice curses she tried to gain some sort of control but she had never driven in such a condition and her tires were unable to gain any sort of traction. She was prepared to transform and take her chances that way but froze when she took a curve too fast and suddenly lost all control. The next thing she was knew she jumped the railing which sent her onto her side, skidding until she smashed her front end into a lone electrical pole, snapping it and causing it to land on her, pretty much pinning her to the street.

'T-That… really… hurt…' she thought to herself and tried to transform but once more several lines of errors filled her HUD and she could feel her processor shutting down. 'Oh scrap…' She fell into a forced stasis, never hearing a jet flying low or transforming as it landed. She was unaware of anything but the quiet of the night.

~ To be continued… ~

Author's Notes: I was going to add more, as a way of "sorry for taking so long to update" and "thanks for sticking around" but at least I'll have something for the next chapter :) Originally I was going to have Sentinel continue being a large jackaft like he usually is in the series, but I felt bad for him so as I was writing this my fingers decided to give him a break. What does that mean for the story? Well, is Sent isn't the one pulling the strings, who is?

Again, I'm gonna be cutting this short. I hope everyone enjoyed the chapter, if not, then please tell me why or what I can do differently. Don't forget to leave a comment/review! See you in the next chapter!