You'll never be alone again

Chapter 8: Downfall

Smokescreens holoform eyes peeked open slightly as he was becoming more self-aware. The rest he had gotten no matter how big was enough to make him feel a little refreshed and ready for the day had to bring. He could tell that he had fallen into stasis on Bella's sofa. His body was slouched back against the back in a relaxing way, his right arm leaning on the arm of the sofa while his left arm was wrapped around something warm. He liked the feeling, it was comforting and gave him the desire to not move. But he decided to look down to get a better understanding of his surroundings.

The rookie could feel his spark humming louder at the sight of Bella leaning on him as she slept. Her head tucked into his chest and her arms clinging on to the fabric of his artificial clothes. She had a smile on her lips as she was dreaming of something that clearly brought her great happiness.

Seeing the fiery haired women so happy and peaceful made him happy in turn. He felt her snuggle closer to him and he liked it. The rookie tightened his hold on the woman and brought his other hand to her face. His thumb stroking lines down her cheek, feeling her soft skin beneath which only attracted him to carry on with his actions. When a few stray hairs fell down over face Smokescreen was quick to push them back behind her ear out of the way. He liked seeing her like this. Scratch that he liked being with her like this.

The feeling of his spark calling out to her was one that made him feel like he could do anything he put his mind to. It even ached when he wasn't around her like there was something missing in his life. The more he thought about the more the young autobot cam to understand this feeling that came from deep within. He didn't want to live without Bella in his life – perhaps this was the reason he felt like he had to follow her voice to begin with. His mind processed everything about Bella and each part seemed like perfection to him.

Her soothing voice that he could listen to for hours on end, the cuteness of her laugh that held a nice ring to it. Her eyes; he had never seen some that he made him feel so at home and lost within when he gazed into them. Her hair reminding him of her fiery nature when she wanted to be. He noticed that the more he maintained contact with him, as he stroked her cheek, the more she seemed to melt into his touch. Her head leaning into his hand a bit more which made him chuckle slightly. But he was careful. Even though it was morning he didn't want to wake her just yet.

Considering the day they had previously Bella deserved to have some extra hours sleeping in. If his guardian duty was going to be like this the majority of the time he was going to love it.

His thoughts was cut short when he heard a few clicks within his processor. Immediately Smokescreen knew that he was receiving an incoming communication link and as much as he didn't want to answer it to preserve the moment he knew it was his duty as an autobot to do so. His holoform suddenly became distant as he focussing on responding to the communication. "Smokescreen come in. Where are you?" it was Ratchet's voice on the other end.

"Smokescreen receiving, I'm on guardian duty watching over Bella"

Ratchet sighed on the other end. Smokescreen hadn't been around that long but he could tell that the old medic liked the humans but sometimes felt that their involvement distracted them too much from their primary mission. "Some things come up we need the whole team at the base immediately"

There was no way Smokescreen could ignore it now "Understood. I'm leaving now; bridge me back to base when I'm outside Jasper. Smokescreen out" now he was clearly showing his initiative.

Though it would be faster to Ground Bridge the young autobot base to base from his current position it would be reckless as well. It was now morning when people would be out and about and would most likely see the portal opening and closing in front of them. The smartest move would be for him to leave the town as quickly as he could and then bridge back.

He had informed Ratchet that he was leaving so he knew he had to leave pretty quickly even though he wanted to stay. He looked down to Bella again and watched as she shifted into him a bit more. He gave a soft smile as he tried to get up but Bella was leaning on him too much. So instead the rookie shifted to the side and placed an arm around her back and the other under her knees before lifted her up as he stood. It took a moment for Smokescreen to find the strength he needed in order to support his weight and Bella's, considering he just woke up.

When he was ready Smokescreen gently carried Bella through her house. He was careful not to trip on the canvasses used or not that were lying around everywhere. Some would say that it was clutter but Smokescreen didn't see it that way. It was Bella's home and it only gave the house character. Moving with precision up the stairs the rookie located Isabella's bedroom which was surprisingly tidy. The only used canvasses in there were ones that Bella had personally chosen and hung on her walls for decoration. He laid Bella down on her king sized bed and covered her over with another blanket that hung at the bottom of her bed. He watched as Bella seemed a bit reluctant to let go of him but she soon snuggled into the warmth of her familiar bed. When she looked well looked after Smokescreen felt guilty but he knew that he had responsibilities; deactivating his holoform his consciousness returned to his true form and he quickly reversed back onto the road and headed for the desert.

Smokescreen could only hope that he wouldn't be kept long from Bella. As much as he seemed care free before, he loved his duty to protect Bella. He wished he had time to tell Bella where he was going and that he would be back but even he didn't know that.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

A couple of hours later Isabella began to awaken. Her eyes droopily opened and closed for a few moments as her mind was trying to wake up with her body. She hugged the blanket closer to her, feeling the warmth that it engulfed her with.

As she began to properly awaken she noticed that she was alone and had somehow made it to the soft confines of her bed. "How?" she questioned but when she didn't see Smokescreen she figured he must have taken her to her bedroom. Getting herself up she quickly exited her bedroom in the hope of finding the rookie in the living room still "Smokescreen?" she called out his name but didn't get a response in return. Deciding to check outside she moved to the closest window that had a view of the front of her house. Her eyes immediately found the empty spot on her driveway and her heart sunk. But she knew it wasn't Smokescreens fault. He had told her before that he would have to go if he was called.

She thought back to the previous day's events and knew that she didn't want a repeat of that. Not yet anyway. She hadn't worked properly for a few days so she came to a quick decision to work on the design for a children's toy that she been asked to come up with. But first she wanted to wake up properly so she didn't hesitate to wash herself up. This time the water raining down on her was warm instead of the cold sprinkler system. She giggled at the memory of unexpectedly getting wet even though it was heart breaking to know that the future of Smokescreens home planet was in enemy hands.

Her mind then pondered to the dream that had somehow occurred during her slumber last night. She grew a little disappointed knowing that it wasn't real. Smokescreen would never look at her the way he had in her subconscious, she had to face it. The majority of what happened would never truly occur between them. She wasn't even sure if the feelings that she seemed to show in her dream world were ones that she reciprocated in the real world. Surely the kiss Smokescreen and herself shared wasn't something that could ever happen. It just showed that she cared for the rookie as a close friend.

The thoughts were only hurting her now as she continued to confuse her true feelings with the meanings behind her subconscious dreams. She allowed herself to change after her refreshing shower before sitting at her dining room table with all her design ideas. She stuck her head down into her papers as she read through the brief she had been given from the company with the criteria that it all required.

One sheet of paper in front of her was dedicated to the overall shape that it needed to be while another was where she needed to design the packaging for the product.

Bella worked tirelessly for a few hours taking small breaks to make sure she ate and drank and didn't go stir crazy from over doing it. She had received a message from Smokescreen apologising to her for leaving without saying anything and she had tried her best in trying to reassure him that she understood his duty as an autobot to the team. It wasn't long after that when her alarm went off reminding her to take her daily medication. She considered taking an extra dose to make up for missing the previous days but she went against it knowing the dangers it can cause.

Bella concentrated way into the afternoon until she was gladly done and emailed her work off awaiting approval or a reply with whatever criticism that the company had to give her. That was when she decided to be done for the day and take a walk. When she had left her home there was a slight a hope inside of the red head that she would find Smokescreen on patrol or something so she could hang around with him.

There was no such luck there though she didn't seem him or any of the other autobots but that didn't mean that she wasn't enjoying the break she was having from working. She wished there was a more remote area instead of the town she could stroll through like the landscapes in her paintings. She wasn't really paying attention to where she was walking as her mind began to ponder more and more about the things that only confused her. "Hey Bella" a loud voice distracted her from her thoughts as she followed the voice to where she saw Miko waving at her. Jack and Raf were behind her as the three teenagers stood in front of their school.

The school was practically in the middle of the town. She had walked quite a distance from her home. She smiled seeing them but felt bad knowing that they were waiting for a ride from their guardians to the autobot base. Considering she hadn't heard from Smokescreen since earlier she knew that Team Prime must be quite occupied. "How was school?" she asked as she moved over to the awaiting teens.

"Boring" Miko put it so plainly for them to understand while she emphasised the 'R' in the word.

Isabella already knew however. She remembered what it was like attending school every day and finding little joy in it. "Don't worry, Miko. You get rewarded by finding a job that you love by the end of it"

Miko thought for a moment. She had never considered her future job; she loved music perhaps she'd form her own band. "What if I don't find a job I love" the others couldn't believe Miko was actually asking for future advice.

Bella chuckled and placed a reassuring hand on the young girls shoulder "don't worry, not everyone does. It just means that you just gotta find your place in the world"

"So have you heard from the autobots today? Our rides didn't show" Jack stepped forward breaking up the chat.

Bella's thoughts went to the bots who were probably looking for the Omega Keys that they so desperately needed to restore their home planet. "Sorry guys. Last I heard they were trying to find a way to Cybertron to stop the decepticons from wreaking havoc" the red head watched as the three teens faces fell a little upset. They wanted to help so badly; it was so clearly written all over their faces. But there was more to it. The kids were scared that their friends would leave them soon. Bella knew the feeling. She feared she'd lose Smokescreen once it was all over. "Come on, I'll take you guys for something to eat"

They didn't complain and happily followed her towards the nearest fast food restaurant to them. Though they still had to walk a few blocks to get there. "It feels like the autobots don't tell us anything anymore" Raf stated as they walked together.

"Yeah, it's not fair. We've helped them so many times. We deserve to be kept in the loop" Miko huffed aloud.

Bella wouldn't admit she felt sort of the same way even though she hadn't known the bots very long "It's their war remember, not yours or anyone else's. They have a chance to save their home so don't you guys think that it's more important for them to concentrate on that then play child minders"

"But we're not children" Miko practically shouted at the top of her voice.

Bella remained calm and used a warning tone in her voice "Miko"

"Sorry" she apologised quickly knowing that she was letting her anger get the better of her.

They remained silent for a while as they walked. Passing through a couple of alley ways in order to take a short cut to the restaurant. Bella considered that talking to the teens might be a good way to understand everything that was going on. There was so many feelings that she had locked away in her own emotional jar that she didn't feel were relevant to be spoken about with anyone. She felt as though they were her problem to deal with and nobody else's. But then again Jack, Miko and Raf had known the autobots a lot longer than she has. She opened her mouth to say something as she walked in front of them but no words came out. She remained silent as ever.

A frown then formed on Bella's face when she recognised a dark purplish car parked ahead of them at the exit to the alleyway. The hair on the back of her neck stood as she remembered that day. When Smokescreen had saved her from almost being killed by the decepticons. She stopped walking and so did the teenagers behind her as they gave a puzzled look. She could hear them talking but to her it was all murmurs as she had complete focus on the vehicon trooper in disguise not far away from them. Her thought then began to betray her as she tried to come up with a way of getting to safety. Her heart beginning to thump a little louder now as she was struggling to keep calm.

"Bella what's wrong?" Jacks voice finally got through to her and she flinched away as he tried to comfort her.

Her emerald gaze met his and he saw the fear within them. The kids. She had to make sure they made it out of this okay. "Back up slowly" she whispered to them as she kept her gaze on the decepticon fearing he would move if she didn't watch him.

The three school kids did as she asked while following where she was looking and each either gulped of gasped knowing they were in a sticky situation. "We gotta call Ratchet" Raf suggested quite quickly.

"He would never get here in time and probably has more important things to do" Bella searched in the corners of her eyes as she took careful steps back "Okay, when I tell you to you three run as fast as you can and you don't look back until you know you are safe"

She wouldn't let them argue as they pivoted on the spot and began to walk back the way they came. They didn't get far though. Each of their eyes started from the bottom and worked their way up when they saw a familiar seeker standing their watching them with a devilish smirk upon his faceplates. "Well, well, well. Look what we have here. Four vulnerable and pathetic humans with no autobots to protect you" his voice was rough and grim.

By now they caught the sound of vehicon transforming and slowly making his way towards them. Oh yeah this was an ambush. Bella could feel herself trembling but she wouldn't let herself have a panic attack now. Doing so would be handing herself over to them. A figurative light bulb then shone above her head and before she could think things over she stood forward staring into Starscream red optics as even he took an intimidating stop towards them. "They are just kids. Let them go and I will graciously go with you as your prisoner"

Again he stalked forward which only made the humans take a precautious step back. Unfortunately they were cornered, in doing so it brought the vehicon trooper behind them just closer to them "why bargain for one when I can have you all?" the so called second in command of the decepticons stretched out his servos revealing the sharpness of his digits.

It was plain to see he was threatening them but Bella was smart "Because I'm the only one that knows the autobots current plan" this didn't seem to stop Starscream from approaching. He wasn't buying into her lies "I'm the only one that knows the location and function of their secret weapon" she spoke more confidently now which seemed to fool the seeker.

He was then thinking "they have become more ruthless now. Valuable intel like that would prove to Lord Megatron that I am truly to devoted to him"

"Seriously this guy has got to stop talking to himself in front of people" Miko spoke out what everyone was thinking but it only angered Starscream.

He stomped his foot down hard scaring them as the tarmac beneath them crumbled. "Silence! You humans are weak" his blood red optics scanned each of them but then landed on Bella which made her skin crawl "if what you say is the truth then tell me where is the autobot base?" She was hoping he wouldn't bring that up. Immediately Bella was aware that this was a test. She had been lying before and this was to see if she would really betray the autobots. She needed a better plan but she didn't have the time to think of one. Starscream was growing impatient at the silence as he leaned down so his face was practically all she could see. She didn't realise she was being timed either when Starscream motioned for the vehicon to come and take the teenagers with his hand. "I knew you would never betray them"

In a quick panic Bella looked over her shoulder to see the vehicon reaching for Raf and Jack. She pushed them out of the way of the vehicons swipe and pointed between the vehicons feet "run!" they didn't question her as they legged it through the gap avoiding being caught. Isabella remained however. She eyes a metal pipe to the side and didn't hesitate to pick it up and throw it at the vehicon to distract him. There was a metallic clang when it did and the decepticon was confused as to who he should go after.

Starscream growled in annoyance as she watched Jack, Raf and Miko run as fast as their legs could carry them down the alley and round the corner out of view. In an attempt to come away with something he made a dash at Bella but she acted on instinct and rolled to the side before running through his legs as she tried to reach for her. The seeker clenched his fists "get those humans now!" he pointed to where the teens had run off to and the vehicon didn't question him. "Clever but not clever enough" he grumbled as he eyed Isabella's fleeing form. He wouldn't allow her to run into the open; raising his arm he aimed and fired one of his rockets at the building in front of her.

There was a small shriek as Bell ducked at the whizzing sound that frightened her as it went by. But then it felt like she was walking down memory lane again when the small building exploded and rubble began to fall. She tried to move out of the way but a piece managed to hit her on her shoulder. The resulting effect made her fall to the ground in pain. The red head let out a groan before picking herself up now wanting to get caught "you've wasted enough of my time". Bella almost forgot how to breathe when she heard his voice not too far away from her. She went to start running away again but felt something hard swipe at her right side making her slam into the wall on her left and fall to the ground.

She felt her whole body throb from the impact and then something warm trickling down the side of her head. Her eyes felt heavy and the world began to spin in her perspective as she tried to get up again. Her muscles gave out on her though. Everything hurt, the darkness began to close in on her when she heard the faint cried of Jack, Raf and Miko calling out to her in fear.

Starscream followed the voice to where he saw each of the humans struggling to get free from the vehicons tight grip. The raven haired boy tearing up as each of them were calling out to the older woman. Raising an optics ridge he looked down at the female below him and heard her let out an exhausted breath followed by "Smokescreen" it was barely audible but it made the seeker laugh as it was her last call out for help before she fell unconscious.

"So the new recruit is your guardian. It would be such a shame for him to see you suffer" the horrible thoughts that entered his processor were too gruesome to even mention. Reaching up Starscream opened a communication link to the warship Nemesis "Soundwave, we require a bridge" within a second the familiar portal opened for them and the vehicon didn't need to be told to go through it with his prisoners. The seeker on the other hand reached down and picked Bella up not too gently. He tried to avoid getting any of her blood on him as it dripped down from her head, which he only smirked at, before entering the bridge and soon materialising back onto the Nemesis.

He found it entertaining watching the teenagers getting put into special glass canisters that Knock Out had quickly built. They each put up a good fight but of course it was futile. When another vehicon trooper approached him with the last glass canister he swiftly dropped Bella inside; listening to the thump of her form as it made contact with the bottom. He chuckled as he waited patiently for when Megatron expected them to appear. "Ready the space bridge for Cybertron" he commanded and the troopers on the bridge of the warship acted quickly to follow out orders. How he missed this when he was alone. Being high up in the chain of command and respected by those he view as insignificant to himself.

The seeker paced side to side as he waited. Knock Out stood over Miko while Soundwave stood over Raf. Each of the humans tried kicking the glass except for Bella. Jack silently watched her as his canister was stood next to hers. He wished he could do something to help but he was absolutely powerless at the current moment. Only the autobots could help her now.

After a few more long moments of silence where time seemed to pass by so slowly. And Jack worried the more time that passed the more Bella's condition would worsen without medical help. He let out a gaps though when he saw a space bridge open directly in front of them all and Starscream quickly moved to pick up Jacks canister and Bella's.

He didn't handle them with care at all. In fact it seemed as though he was trying his very best to hurt them, well he had already done that with Bella. So he was probably trying to kill her at this point.

When they had gone through the space bridge each of them widened their eyes at the sight of Cybertron. Jack had already been to the planet but this was a different part. The area where the restoration of the planet could take place at the Omega Lock. He looked to each of the autobots and could see the horror on their faceplates.

However, Smokescreens face was one not to be messed with. Arcee had placed her armoured servo on his shoulder as he ground his denta together. His fists clenched together and shaking viciously as he shifted his hateful eyes from Starscream to the unmoving Isabella entrapped in the canister. The glass canister being the only thing that was keeping each of the humans alive at that moment from Cybertrons toxic air.

The emotions that the rookie was feeling at that current moment were ones that even he couldn't supress. Anger and hate were some really dominant ones when he looked to Starscream, who only smirked at him. But when he looked at the red headed female he felt extreme guilt. His electric blue optics were turning paler by the moment at the rage was beginning to take over. He feared that soon no one would be able to hold him back from acting upon his inner thoughts of attack each of the decepticons and tearing them limb from limb. The young autobot even had to remind himself that it wasn't just Bella that was in danger. Jack, Miko and Raf had been captured as well but at least they were conscious.

He could see what Megatron had planned. He wanted the Omega Keys that they had managed to take from him in exchange for their human friends. Smokescreen couldn't describe the feeling he had in his spark chamber at that moment. He could barely feel it pulsing within him at seeing his charge so hurt. He could see the blood on her head and hoped that it had dried and wasn't fresh. All he knew was that his charge needed to get to a hospital and soon.

As much as the rookie didn't want to disappoint the others he didn't need to think about exchanging the keys for the human's lives. As much as he didn't want to hand his planet's fate over to the warlord he didn't care for it as much as he cared for Isabella right now. The fear for her life was building up within him that it was going to consume him soon the more he just stared and waited for something to happen.

The look on the gladiators face was one of expectation and victory. Megatron already knew what Optimus was going to do at this point. The Prime frowned not quite believing the lengths that Megatron was now going to. He was taking it too far now and Optimus only blamed himself for not finishing Megatron off sooner. Each of the autobots looked to their charges with desperation. Miko tried kicking on the glass again in a failed attempt to try an escape even though if she did she would die from Cybertrons atmosphere. The autobots remained silent while Megatron was growing ever more impatient. He turned to his second in command in expectation "Starscream!"

The seeker immediately knew how to encourage the autobots to act. The stilettoed decepticon lifted the canister with Jack inside and began toying with him. "Jack…it's time to come out and play" he placed a sharp digit on the glass and dragged it down resulting in an excruciating sound that made Jack almost cling to his ears cringing.

"Go ahead. The autobots were prepared to sacrifice themselves for my planet, I'll do the same for theirs" the raven haired boy spoke without fear. His eyes glaring at the seeker as if daring him to kill him. In his logic it was better that three humans died rather than the whole planet.

Miko and Raf followed his example of bravery "me too, creepy" Miko spoke to Knock Out who wasn't opposed to just killing them. Raf only stared up at Soundwave wondering if the silent mech was staring down at him as well.

"Perhaps we should oblige them" Megatrons gruff voice showed only his happiness in going through with killing the humans that the autobots cared so much for.

When Optimus disengaged his fighting stance Megatron already knew he had won. The Prime already realised what needed to be done "if my decision dooms the autobot cause on Cybertron then so be it, but I will never forsake our human allies" when he had finished his sentence Optimus swung his Star Sabre down into the ground releasing it and backing away. He showed himself as defenceless now as he gave up his weapon to show he wasn't going to attack.

He stepped back to stand with the others who only stared at him before following his lead. They too didn't want anything to happen to their human allies. One by one they disarmed their weapons and threw them down by the Star Sabre, out of their reach. It only made Megatron look all so mighty pleased with himself.

Smokescreens anger didn't go unnoticed by the warlord. His optics looking to where the rookie concentrated on the unconscious female. The young bots anger was growing even more by the second. He felt completely helpless to save Isabella, the felling in his spark of the red headed woman growing to something that he didn't quite understand. He felt a lot more attached to Bella then Bulkhead, Arcee or Bumblebee seemed attached to their charges. Right at that moment all Smokescreen wanted was for Bella to be awake and to hear her voice. The ring in her laugh currently echoing in his audio receptors. Even though it was a figure of his imagination. "Now if you please, the Omega Keys" Megatron lifted a servo as if asking the autobots to hand them directly to him "one at a time" Knock Out was the first to lift the canister with Miko inside and move forward.

Megatron watched as the exchange took place in front of him. "You first big boy" Knock Out signalled for Bulkhead to come forward and exchange the Omega Key he held for Miko. The green autobot didn't move just yet. He looked to the relic he was holding and then to Optimus for guidance. The former wrecker wanted Miko back safe and sound but he didn't necessarily want to give over the Omega Key either. His leader looked to him and nodded right before Bulkhead made his way over towards Knock Out. He stepped carefully just in case the decepticons decided to trick them as they normally like to do. It seemed very con of them to do something like that and knowing Megatron he would only do it to gain more leverage. As Bulkhead approached the vain decepticon medic he spoke worriedly "if I don't get the girl, I'm going to make you eat this key". Bulkhead violently shook with anger as he practically threw the Omega Key into Knock Out's servo.

Knock Out handed the canister with Miko inside over to the green autobot and watched as he turned to return to the team "you're welcome" the medic smirked as he too walked back towards Megatron with the key in hand.

Bulkhead held on to Miko's canister as tightly as he could without damaging it "get scrapped" Miko shouted back to the medic. Even before they returned to the autobots Bumblebee had already began to move forward with his Omega Key to meet Soundwave who held Raf in his capsule. The young scout gave the boy a soft look. But that changed quickly when he eyed the blank face of the decepticon communications chief. His face hardened and communicated quite clearly his anger towards the situation as he handed over his key. Taking Raf in return and going back towards where Optimus stood.

Arcee and Smokescreen were the only two left now with their Omega Keys. This got them both worried as they saw Starscream move forward and place both canister down on each side of him. Jack on his right and Bella on his left. Both the femme and mech looked to each other before they proceeded to move forward. Megatron eyes the rookie and the unconscious human with interest he could see something else was going on there; Optimus watched Megatron carefully as he saw this too. "I suggest you hurry, Optimus. The female will soon lose its value" Megatron pointed to Bella's conscious form lying in one of the canisters. A bruise on her face quite visible now. Smokescreen hate to admit it but the gladiator had a point. They still had no knowledge of the extent of her injuries and time could be running short for them.

Gritting his denta together Smokescreen let out an enraged growl. The rookie didn't waste time waiting for Optimus to tell him to go, instead he moved quickly with Arcee following closely behind.

"No tricks" Starscream raised his arms forward showing that he was ready to fire at them should anything happen. Though the autobots had a bit more of a reason to be sceptical. As soon as Smokescreen and Arcee were in front of the seeker he turned his arms over wanting the keys placed into his servos. "They keys, if you please". Arcee carefully placed the key she was holding into one of his servos whereas Smokescreen almost smacked the key into his grasp.

Both Smokescreen and Arcee picked up their capsules with their humans friends inside. Before they could turn away and move back to their team Starscream decided to have a little fun. "You protect such weak creatures" Starscream turned his gaze to glare directly at Smokescreen "try to protect anyway. Your stupid human got in my way and where were you hmm?" the seeker pointed an accusing digit at him as he mocked the younger bot "where were you when I swatted her pathetic body into the wall like a bug?" the more Starscream talked the more Smokescreen grew angry. His fists clenched so hard that he was damaging the handle to the canister he was holding. "Where were you when she called out your name before she fell unconscious" the rookie growled aloud his whole frame shaking. He almost lost it completely and attacked the seeker but Arcee grabbed onto his arm and began pulling him away with Bella as well.

Smokescreen's concern for Bella had gone well beyond what it had before. As he observed her still body he could see that her skin had grown pale and had a lot of scratches from where Starscream attacked her. He hugged the capsule close to his chest plates for extra protection as though he feared to lose her. Both Arcee and Smokescreen returned to Optimus's side with their humans. Their immediate thoughts were to open a space bridge to that they could be returned to the safety of Earth. As well as, taking Bella to a hospital.

As much as those thoughts would have been lovely to turn into a reality a decepticon space bridge opened up behind them and an armada of vehicon troopers ran through it encircling them so that they couldn't do anything but watch as Megatrons plans occurred right in front of them. "Now bare witness as a new era dawns on Cybertron" the warlord took one of the keys from Starscream and placed it in to the Omega Lock while his loyal followers did the same one by one. The entire area around the cons lighting up with life like the planet hadn't seen in eons "behold; the age of the decepticons"

Smokescreen tried to zone out what was going on around him as he kneeled down and placed the glass canister down. His hand went to immediately rest on the glass "Bells…" he so wanted her to wake up in that moment and place her own hand on the glass just to let him know she was okay. He wanted to talk to her so bad like he used to. When all she wanted was to just listen to him and help him with whatever was frustrating him that day. "It's me, Bells. I'm so sorry I couldn't protect you. This never should have happened to you but I promise I am going to get you back and get you some help" he spoke so no one else could hear him. His voice sounding so upset and vulnerable. His main focus for now was getting everyone out alive so he could take Isabella to the hospital. If it wasn't already too late.

Smokescreens attention quickly went from Bella to what was going on around them as he heard the sound of the Omega Lock powering up. It began to glow and get brighter the more time it had to build up its power. Smokescreen stood back on his feet and placed himself between Bella and the decepticons that would hurt her.

Megatron activated the Lock, his optics narrowed as he concentrated on bending its capabilities to fit his purpose. A huge beam of energy shot right at the nearest wrecked building. Scrap pieces of metal around the building beginning to light up with the same energy as the Lock. Whereas other pieces of metal began to float up into the air and fix themselves onto the structure making it newer and bigger. When the light died down everyone looked to see a brand new building that looked shiny and completely untouched. It was as if the war for Cybertron never even went near it. The sight was mind-blowing to them all at the capabilities that the Omega Lock possessed. When they learned that their planet had a chance to be restored none of them could have imagined the raw power that this would display.

Optimus didn't like what was happening before him. This was something he was trying to avoid from the very beginning; allowing Megatron to get his servos on such a dangerous artefact. "You have what you want, megatron. This conflict is between autobots and decepticons. Allow me to return the humans to Earth" it was clear from the look Megatron gave them that that was never going to happen. The warlord decided to remain ignorant of the fact that Isabella desparately needed to seek medical attention but then again it was fitting of him not care at all about the situation. He was after all the master of the decepticons.

Megatron chuckled "I wouldn't recommend it. They'll be far safer here" that only meant that Megatron had something in mind for Earth and it was promised to be bad. "Is the space bridge locked on target" the gladiator turned to his side where his second in command stood awaiting orders.

Starscream bowed respectfully to his leader as he replied instantly "per your instructions, Lord Megatron" he acted like such a suck up at that moment.

Megatrons optics lit up at the news "excellent. Why rule only one world when I can rule two" just when he finished his sentence a space bridge opened directly above the Omega Lock just as Megatron activated it once again. The beam of intense energy shooting through it which only blinded those that tried to look at the concentrated energy.

"If the Omega Lock can restore Cybertron, it can do the same to Earth right?" Miko tried to look on the brighter side of all this, not that there was much of one currently.

Optimus already knew what was going to happen or what was currently happening to Earth "no. It will cyberform your planet in favour of its new matrix, destroying all indigenous life in the process" oh how the penny just dropped on the situation.

Earth wouldn't survive cyberforming, it would be completely destroyed when the process was complete. It wasn't long before Megatron began pondering over renaming Earth once it was completely cyberformed. This only upset Jack, Raf and Miko as they had to sit and watch as their planet was going to get torn apart. Each of them began to struggle within their capsules. Banging against the glass in utter despair of not being able to do something to stop this "leave our planet alone!"

Miko's plea obviously meant nothing to each of the decpeticons as they began to manically laugh at the victory before them. Optimus hated this; his optics focussed on the Omega Lock as it continued to shoot through its revival energy to Earth. It was an odd piece of technology, one he knew could only be stopped by deactivating it or destroying it. The Prime had vowed to protect Earth and even though he wanted to see his home restored again he couldn't live with the outcome of Cyberforming his current home. He looked to each of his human allies in turn – their desperation only fuelling him as well as the sight of one of them injured and unconscious. The autobot leader clenched his fists and didn't hesitate to act now. His decision was one he wished he didn't have to make but things were never that simple.

Drawing his blade out Optimus acted on complete protective instinct, swinging his deadly blade at decepticon drone right by him and kicking the vehcion away towards Knock Out to distract him. Permanently offlining the trooper. He then used all his energy in punching another decepticon and began to run towards his Star Sabre. Grabbing hold of it tightly and pulling it out of where he had slammed it into the ground. Using the energy that the Star Sabre emitted he swung the large blade horizontally and knocked down a round of other vehicons. All of this finally got Megatrons attention and he didn't waste time in grabing onto his own dark star sabre and charging at Optimus to stop him. Optimus was determined though; the two powerful blades clashed against each other as they tried to strike each other.

Optimus was too fast for Megatron though as Optimus went on the attack quickly. The blade slicing right through the gap between Megatrons shoulder plating and the servo he stole from another Primes corpse. Severing it off completely so he now only possessed one arm. The warlord groaned out aloud from the pain as he kneeled over and sparks flew off from his missing limb. A path was now cleared for Optimus as he continued to run right past Megatron towards the Omega Lock. Soundwave, Starscream and Knock Out then began shooting at the Prime with whatever they had to try and stop Optimus from interfering. He was experienced though and dodged every single one that was shot at him whether it was a blaster shot or a missile based shot. As Starscream fired another one of his rockets Optimus evaded and jumped up using the second in command as a step to jump up higher that he practically flew over the medic and the communications chief. Lifting the Star sabre above his head; Optimus swung the relic down as he fell back to the ground. Using the momentum to pierce through the metal of the Omega Lock which caused a shot circuit in the power.

An explosion blew them all to the ground while the other autobots did their best to shield their trapped human friends. Surrounding vehicon troopers were blown to pieces while others were seriously injured from outburst of explosive power. Optimus took the opportunity, where the decepticons were distracted, to re-join his team and hurriedly called Ratchet for a space bridge so they could retreat to safety.

Smokescreen was the first to grab Bella inside her capsule and run through the space bridge into the autobot base. The rookie's optics softened immediately when he knew that they were finally safe and he made sure to focus on Bella as the others materialised through and Ratchet began worrying about what had happened. "The children…what happened?" the old medic was blissfully unaware of everything that occurred but his face plates clearly showed that he was none too pleased that the decepticons had somehow turned the tides on them and their cause.

Each of the bots placed their human allies down and opened their glass prisons to free them. "Somebody say something" Ratchet was annoyed at this point at the silence that engulfed them all but Smokescreen wasn't interested in what was being said. He opened Bella's capsule and slowly lowered his servos into it, scooping up her body into his hands and lifting her out. He worried that if he moved too quickly then he would hurt the red head even more than she already was.

"Optimus destroyed the Omega Lock" Bulkhead was the brave one to tell Ratchet was had happened on their war ravished planet. Though the words he spoke sounded so exhausted and full of despair at the reality before. With the Omega Lock destroy their planet had no future.

Ratchet's optics widened and he almost fell once he processed what he heard "what? You did?" Ratchet was going to scold the Prime but Optimus didn't let him.

"What was necessary. There was no time for another prolonged battle, not with Earth in imminent danger and Isabella injured" as much as Optimus didn't regret his decision to save Earth he did the others pain in his choice. He had to explain that he was put into a no win situation and stood by his decision even now that he has time to think it through.

Ratchet took a quick gaze over to Bella in Smokescreens servos seeing what he meant before growing angry again "so you destroyed the only device, in any universe, capable of restoring our home. Optimus, we needed that"

The rookie snorted slightly for the old bot to hear. He was truly disgusted that Ratchet didn't seem to care that their human friends had been threatened and the Earth almost put in huge jeopardy. The young bot wanted so much to hug Bella close to him but his fear kept him from doing so. He heard the footsteps of Jack, Raf and Miko running on the catwalk over to him as they looked shockingly at Bella.

"How is she?"

"Is she alive?"

"Will she be okay" each of them asked different questions about the older woman hoping that the answer to each of them would be a simple 'yes'. Things were never that simple though. Smokescreen couldn't respond to them because he truly didn't know. He was tempted to call out to Ratchet at the pain he felt in his spark at the sight of the red head so out of it.

"What happened to her?" he had to know. He already knew Starscream was the one to attack her. The seeker being the one to hurt her so bad but he had to know exactly what happened.

The three teens looked to each other. They could hear the sadness in Smokescreen's voice. It was almost trembling like he was on the verge of breaking down into tears. Jack was the one to bare the weight of the story "she met up with us after school, while she was out for walk, and offered to get us all food but on our way there Bella was the first to notice a decepticon in front of us. It was disguised and when we tried going back Starscream blocked our way" Jack found it hard to describe what happened next but when he looked to Smokescreen he knew that the rookie needed to know. "She tried bargaining herself for us but Starscream caught onto her lies and when she told us to run she remained to distract them but…he struck her hard against a wall"

Smokescreen could truly feel lubricant building up under his optics but he didn't want show such weakness in front of the others. "Bella, save us even if we did get caught" Raf pushed his glasses up his nose as they began to fall. Each of the young humans looking down as if they were already mourning her.

Knowing that standing around feeling guilty that he wasn't there for her wasn't helping her Smokescreen readjusted his posture "I need to get her to a hospital and fast" nothing was more important to him now than her well-being.

The young bot looked to his leader waiting for permission that he so desired. Optimus nodded before looking over to the only femme in the room "Arcee, open a bridge for Smokescreen and Isabella to a hospital out of the state"

The small femme almost ran to the bridge controls. Small beeps coming from the console as she programmed it before activating it. Everyone watched and waited as the rookie slide Isabella into Optimus gentle servos so that he could transform without moving her too much. Once in his Indy 500 form Smokescreen opened his passenger door and allowed Optimus to place her inside. "Smokescreen, make sure she is taken care of and return as quickly as you can. We do not know of the decepticons next intentions. We must be ready"

Sliding a seatbelt over her body to secure in Smokescreen registered his leaders orders "copy that" he kept his voice serious and formal so that he wouldn't let his emotions get the better of him. Smokescreen didn't want to sit around any longer so when he was sure she was secure he put the pedal to the metal and drove as fast as he could through the bridge and out into an area he wasn't familiar with. That didn't matter too much at that moment though; he trusted Arcee. There was a hospital not far away and that was where he needed to get to.