"Do you accept my proposal?" Optimus asked Megatron.

Megatron just looks at him for a moment until he gets a call from Knockout, "Give me a moment." He says before he walks away to take the call.

:: Did you find what you were looking for? :: Knockout asks.

:: It's complicated. :: Megatron responds as he looks over his shoulder at Optimus.

:: Well, Breakdown and I may have located the bogey, fully charged. ::

:: Proceed. ::

:: Just one hitch… We don't have the cylinder. ::

:: Then bring me the head of Bulkhead. :: Megatron said before the comm was cut off.

Optimus and Ratchet watched him, still waiting for him to give an answer, "I don't think he's gonna go for it, Optimus." Ratchet says quietly, "We should come up with a different solution."

"Just wait old friend, he'll take it. There's no other way."

"I hope you're right."

After waiting a few more minutes they finally hear Megatron speak up again, "Optimus…" He says as he turns to face them, "Upon careful consideration, if you want the cylinder, you'll have to take it." As soon as he finished speaking the Vehicons started shooting at them.

Optimus transformed his servos into his guns and he started shooting back while Ratchet transformed his servos into his surgical tools. Optimus hits a few of the Vehicons with his shots making them go down as Ratchet ran towards one of them. He dodges their blasts as he cuts the Vehicon's arm off and kicking it to the side before proceeding to stab another Vehicon in the chest. While he's attacking another Vehicon he gets a call from Raf.

:: Ratchet! ::

:: I'm busy Raf! :: He says as he finds himself in a fight with two Vehicons at once.

:: Ratchet, Miko took Bulkhead out of the base. I tried to stop her but she wouldn't listen. I think they might be in trouble. ::

Ratchet's spark sank after hearing that. They can't lose another teammate. The Decepticons have really brought their team down, they need to figure out a way to persevere and get back to the top. For now, him and Optimus need to focus on taking down these Vehicons. It doesn't take too long, the Vehicons that Ratchet didn't kill was shot down by Optimus.

When they took down the last of the Vehicons Megatron sneered, "Well, in that case. No one gets it!" He says before he crushes the cylinder. He then turns and transforms into his jet mode and flies away.

Never minding Megatron, Ratchet turns to Optimus, "Optimus, I got a call from Raf. Miko and Bulkhead left the base and might be in trouble."

Optimus turns to him with concern on his face, "Tell Raf to send us a groundbridge asap."

:: Raf, send us a groundbridge immediately! ::

As soon as the words were out of his mouth a groundbridge opened up and the two went back to base. Once they were in the base Ratchet checked for the coordinates that Miko and Bulkhead went to, as soon as he found it he opened up another groundbridge to it. They arrive just in time to stop Knockout and Breakdown from killing Miko. The two 'Cons run off while Optimus and Ratchet focus on getting Bulkhead and Miko back to base.

They set Bulkhead on a berth next to Bumblebee and Ratchet hooked him up to the monitors. Raf comforted Miko the best he could as they watched Ratchet scan Bulkhead's processor, "The data has been fully expelled. But Bulkhead remains unresponsive."

"Because the energy took his mind with it. Heavenward, lost to the stars." Miko says before sniffing, "It's my fault you'll never know the rest of the formula. And it's my fault Bulkhead's gone forever."

"Miko." Optimus speaks up, "Your quick thinking prevented the formula from falling into Decepticon hands."

"Bulkhead would have backed him up on that." Raf says as he rubs her back, "You did great, Miko."

"It's simply too early to know the extent of his condition." Ratchet says in comfort to the girl, "Something as simple as a familiar sight or smell, perhaps even a sound, could trigger Bulkhead's awakening."

Miko got an idea. After going to get her guitar she plugs it into the speaker and tunes it before playing it. They then wait to see if anything happens, when there's no sign of Bulkhead waking up they start to think that he probably won't. But then Bulkhead starts opening his optics and they watch as he slowly starts waking up.

"Bulkhead?" Miko asked and Bulkhead fully opened his optics before sitting up while making guitar sounds.

"I love that song!" He shouts before he looks over at Miko who was overfilled with joy at seeing him wake up, "Miko…"

Raf watched in amazement as he begins to get an idea, "Hey Ratchet, do you think the same thing could work with Bumblebee?" He asks and they all turn their attention to the scout who is still unconscious.

"I doubt it. His condition is more severe." Ratchet tells him with a heavy spark. He really wishes there was more he could do.

Optimus watched the boy as he started looking downcast. The kid has been spending most of his time at the base watching over Bumblebee, worried sick for his guardian. Optimus has a great appreciation for these kids who've been spending most of their free time with them, helping them, and caring for them. They were brought into the team as charges they needed to watch over and protect, but they quickly became close friends.

"It might not work, but you can at least try. You never know." Optimus told the boy. Raf looks up at him with a beaming smile and Optimus can't help but smile back.

Arcee looks up from her Energon cube when she hears the door open, expecting to see Soundwave returning. Soundwave does walk in, but he's accompanied by Megatron who has a victorious grin on his face, "Another Autobot down."

Arcee dropped the cube as she shot up to her feet, "You're lying!"

"Sorry dear, but I'm not. It's the one called Bulkhead this time, Knockout and Breakdown took him out. They're on their way back now with his head."

Arcee clenched her servos as she felt her spark start to break. She needs to keep her composure, she will not show weakness in front of her enemies. She glares at the two 'Cons in front of her, that's all they are. Her optics shift over to Soundwave… All of them are her enemies and nothing more.

"All that's left are Optimus and Ratchet." Megatron continues, "But they too will fall eventually."

"Don't you dare hurt them!" Arcee yells as her anger starts to get the better of her.

Megatron smirked as he walked closer to her. Arcee glared at him as she stood her ground but she couldn't keep from flinching when he raised his servo to her, she thought he was gonna hit her. A digit caressed her cheek as it wiped away some lubricant she didn't know had fallen from her optic. She was taken back by his gentleness.

"Cooperate with us and don't try to escape again and you will stay safe." He tells her in a menacing tone.

She slaps away his servo as she moves away from him, "I don't believe you! They're still alive!"

"Wanting them to still be alive isn't gonna make it so." Megatron says as he turns to head for the door, "I'll leave it up to you Soundwave, you can either stay and try to calm her down or you can leave and give her space." He says before he walks out.

Soundwave watched his leader as he walks out of the brig with the door closing behind him, he then turns his gaze to Arcee. He gets a pain in his spark when he sees her glaring at him with hatred in her optics. He tries to ignore it and looks at the Energon cube on the ground, "At least you drunk some of the Energon…"

She picks up the cube and throws it at him causing it to break against his body. He looks down to see whatever Energon that was left in the cube slide down his body. He looks back at her to see her face slightly relaxing as a light blue shade tinted her cheeks, when she realizes that he's looking at her she scowls at him which makes his spike twitch. He never was one to consider a femme all that attractive when she was angry, but Arcee has got to be the hottest femme he's ever seen when she's mad.

As Arcee watches the Energon drip down Soundwave's body she could feel herself getting turned on. Scrap! Scrap! Scrap! Scrap! Scrap! No! He's the enemy! When she notices that he's looking at her she feels her spark pulsing faster, she knows she must be blushing right now. She scowls at him in an attempt to hide the fact that he's actually turning her on. But she also feels a twinge of fear in her spark as he looks at her. She doesn't know if he's mad and getting ready to attack her or what.

"Leave Soundwave. Go check on Laserbeak or something." She says after noticing that Laserbeak isn't on his chest, he must have put him in recharge already or something. Soundwave moves closer to her and her spark jumps. She moves back but he follows her until she ends up hitting a wall, Soundwave keeps moving towards her until he's inches away, "I-I don't want to talk…" She stammers as her spark's pulse quickens even more.

His tentacles come out and he sets his tendrils on her helm, she expects there to be a shock but instead, there's a surge of calming energy. It seems to be similar to what he did with Laserbeak in the cave when they fixed him up, when he started panicking Soundwave did the same maneuver to calm him down. Soundwave removes his visor and sets it on the ground before he leans in closer to her, he puts a digit under her chin to lift up her helm so he can look into her optics, "Calm down, don't stress yourself out."

Arcee cursed her body for betraying her as she feels herself getting even more turned on. But she can also feel her processor settling down, like all concerns and worries are being soothed away. She looks in his beautiful purple optics and her spark flutters. How does this mech have such an effect on her?