Hello, I just have to say how happy I was to see so many reviews and comments! I was so motivated by them, I wrote an extra chapter! I just need to do the final edits and it should be uploaded Monday. To be honest, these weren't the easiest chapters to write, so if you think they need work, let me know!

Thank you to ImaginarySuicide, Starimus Prime, ladybug1995, Cinematronix, Storry Teller, (Guest), aquarius89, Edges05, and lilykitty99! Also, thanks for giving your opinions for my question. I am going to see how the story flows and we'll see what happens between our heros! Also, thank you to everyone who favorite/follows the story. I would love it if you all told me your opinion on how its going as well as any theories as to where it will go.

And as always, please enjoy!

Chapter 15

"I should be out there looking for them!" Jazz argued from his laying position on the berth. He was supposed to avoid movement as much as possible, so he settled for keeping his arms crossed over his chassis. "Those three may be strong, but they are untested as a team. Someone else should have gone with them to begin with, simple transport job or not."

Ratchet grumbled to himself incoherently before turning to face the smaller 'bot. "You know the risks. Physical activity puts a strain on the dampeners. If you're half way across the planet, there will be nothing I can do to stop it." He turned back to the monitor screen which was showing a myriad of data coming from Jazz.

"It's been four years, Ratch! I can't just sit still forever. Besides, I was fine in Alsace." The third in command grouched, but remained motionless.

Ratchet sympathized with the mech. It was hard to remain on the sidelines while the 'bots under one's watch put their sparks at risk. For Ratchet, he could at least do something to help them stay online after a battle. Jazz, on the other hand, was watching both his personal and leadership abilities die away.

"Give it to me straight, doc, how is it?" Jazz questioned, looking sullenly at the vaulted ceiling.

Ratchet's frown deepened upon hearing the TIC's tone. "Well, your external plating and paint nanites are still unresponsive. However, there is an increase in internal scanning and your electro-synapse network are operating at an impressive rate. The only problem being, it is all due to the xenolytic subnanites and not your own cyberneticides."

"So nothing's changed." Jazz clenched his fists. "Why don't we just turn off the fraggin' dampeners and let this slag run its course?"

"You know what would happen if he did that." Jazz lifted his helm, against Ratchet's orders, to see Prowl walking in. "We don't want a repeat of last time, Jazz. Have patience."

Prowl's words really ticked off the silver mech. He narrowed his optics, making a thin line of light glow behind the visor. "You really don't trust me Prowler? You just want to lock me up on base till the sun burns out. Do you really think having me follow around a bunch of fleshies is going to distract me from what your trying to do?" Jazz sat straight on the berth, monitors blinking on and off alarms around him.

Ratchet took a step forward to restrain his patient, but a look at the color behind his visor made him pause.

To Prowl's credit, he looked mostly impassive at the outburst from the otherwise chill mech. Though, his door wings drooped a little upon seeing the state his friend was in. "I am not caging you, Jazz. Were you not on a mission a few weeks ago?"

Jazz practically bared his denta, armor flexing around him in an animalistic gesture. "You sent me to search out clues! If you thought there would be a battle you would have used 'Hide instead!" The 'bot ripped at the wires attached to his frame, making the screens behind him go dead.

"Of course I would have. You are not ready for real combat." Prowl tensed slightly, but otherwise kept still. His optics batted over to Ratchet, who was wisely allowing Prowl to handle the situation. He was, after all, the one who took care of things last time. Still, the medic appeared ready to jump into action to protect either his patient, or who may soon become one.

Jazz's visor flashed. "I knew it! You don't trust me! You think I'm just gonna lose control at any moment, don't you?" In a flash, the 'bot was only feet away from the SIC.

Prowl could feel the heat radiating off his frame and see the ominous purple glow from behind his visor. Keeping his focus on the silver mech, Prowl addressed Ratchet, "How much did you turn down the dampeners?"

Jazz visibly flinched at the question.

"Twenty seven percent." Ratchet replied, scooting towards the side table by the berth where his equipment was.

"That's all." Prowl sighed, is optics piercing into Jazz.

The TIC's visor lost shades of red, transitioning back to its normal blue tones. He took two steps back, glancing between the medic and second in command. Finally, he seemed to find his words again. "Prowler, I… I'm sorry." He shook his helm. "Ratchet, just, hurry up and turn them back up, k?"

Prowl stepped forward, trusting his friend had regained control. In a rare display of affection, Prowl placed a servo on the smaller mech's shoulder plate. "It's alright. You were not yourself. I know Ratchet will find a cure, someday."

Jazz looked down, it was painful for Prowl to see. Jazz was always confident and lively, but his condition was slowly chipping away at him. Ratchet quickly grabbed his xynolyte inhibitor and attached it to the back of Jazz's down turned helm. In a second, the dampeners the medic had created were once again operating at 100%. Ratchet loathed the thought of restraining the mech during these procedures, but he might have to consider it in the future.

The TIC visibly relaxed at not having to fight off the foreign particles. A humorless chuckle slightly shook his frame. "I guess this is the price of coming back to life."

Awareness was the first thing to hit her. Not full consciousness, but the sense of here and now. She was there. Where was that? She had been unconscious, not asleep, something did that to her. That something might still of been around.

Sound retuned next, it was busy, like a hive of bees. Chirping, squalling, leaves rustling, the air was alive with noise.

Then, she could feel. The ground was moist, its chill stung her bare skin. The winding air caressed over her form. She could feel the sting of air meeting open flesh. She was injured, at least to some extent. With physical sensation returned, Erin willed herself to remain still. Her heart rate remained controlled under careful breathing. She resisted the urge to stretch or turn.

A reddish, orange light started to filter past her eyelids as the last strings of consciousness pulled themselves taught.

'Analyze. Start will feeling.' Erin turned her awareness to her body. The ground was soft and patchy, small plants pushed under her back. She was outside. Hands and feet were unbound. That was good. Her right shoulder stung with the promise of a fresh wound while her left side ached in a familiar way. Old injuries, little broken skin. She felt as if her back was lost between numbness and pain. There was also a pressure on her chest, accompanied by a swelling pain in her ribs. Other than that, no noticeable damages. The light she could catch was uneven and patchy, there was likely some form of cover over her. A forest. The sounds around her only confirmed the theory. Erin's mind filtered through places with forests that would accumulate such sounds. Too many. Was she supposed to be in a forest? She could not remember.

Erin focused on what she could not hear. The beating of branches in the wind were erratic, not controlled. There was no heavy breathing or nearby twigs crackling underfoot. Hopefully, that meant there were no potential enemies nearby.

Prepared to fight, Erin shot her eyes open and stiffly rolled to a crouching position, ready to dodge any oncoming attack. The object that was on her chest thumped against the ground.

The only sight that greeted her were large trees with shimmering leaves. Fronds half the size of her entire body poked out of the ground and root systems carried fungal invaders along the maze of the earth. The trees were big, with wide trunks no unique signs she could identify, but at that point, she could narrow down the possibilities.

Erin assessed herself. The back of her jacket was shredded, along with her undershirt. Her pants also had impressive tears. She had her radio, but a quick test of three bursts, one short and two long, yielded no response from anyone. Even her hair tie was missing. The object in front of her was painfully familiar, Que's blaster prototype. How did it end up on top of her? Her e-blade was securely holstered, but her pistol was missing. That made her feel far more exposed. The first prickles of anxiety poked at her mind. She had to focus. What did she last remember?

The stinging in her shoulder brought her back to the training exercise. Sunstreaker and Sideswipe. They were in the brig. Colonel Bishop came. They had a mission, but something happened. Right, the ambush and the helicopter. That left her in the National Forest. Alone and covered in her own blood. Wonderful.

She checked her older wounds, only a couple of days old. The bruising on her side was slightly faded, but still discolored a large portion of her body with black and blue. Her fingers probed along her back, finding open wounds caked with wet earth. The cuts did not seem too deep, though. Her shoulder had freshly dried blood on it, mixed in with small particles of dirt. While she was inoculated against infection, falling victim to a disease was not an impossibility. Once she found a way to get clean water, she would have to sanitize the wound. She focused internally, no broken bones, a possible fracture of her left wrist from her fall and a few bruised ribs, likely from the blaster falling on her, and the air in her and lungs felt heavy. A painful coughed ripped through her throat. The moisture that had soaked through her damaged clothes tore at her and made her shiver. She was getting sick. Perfect.

The ground around her showed a slight dishevelment of earth where she had landed. Sprayed around was also more dried blood. She glanced up to see broken branches signaling where she fell from. They must have been what cut her back and helped break her fall. In a way she was lucky, hopefully the cuts would be a small price to pay to avoid a broken back.

A new mission plan sorted out in her mind. Her first objective was to find the twins, those two weren't likely to get captured, but there was no telling what tech Mech had developed. Using the same trick twice won't work against them, but mech could have any number of secrets to use against the 'bots.

She scanned the area, passing through the tall trees in search for her teammates, just in case. However, as expected, there was no sign of them. Hopefully, she would find them on her way to a safe objective point. If the map she had studied was accurate, she'd have a basic understanding of where she was. The helicopter could not have taken her too far, but returning to the bunker would be suicidal. She needed to evac.

It was a matter of pinpointing her exact location to determine her next move. She had been southward of the base. If she could find water, hopefully from one of the nearby lakes, she would be able to follow the flow to find a road. Erin looked up the trees and considered climbing for a vantage point. However, a deep fear gripped at her. If she became paralyzed up there, then there would be no one to bring her down. She couldn't let weaknesses delay her mission. Even if she climbed, the thick canopy above would not likely yield any landmarks. It was not worth the risk.

She focused her hearing, filtering through the ambient noise. The trickling of water managed to catch her attention. She slowly headed towards the sound, on a constant scan for danger. She also had to keep an eye out for possible supplies or food sources. It was important to keep her defenses up as well as her strength. Heavens knows how long she would be there. The ride to the bunker had taken three hours. Considering the terrain, the speed at which they were traveling, and the direction, the closest guaranteed safe point would be to the southwest would be sixty miles. A glance at the sky, and the sounds of morning birds, gave her an idea where of east was. Sixty miles was a long distance, and there was a possibility that she could miss the forest exit and head even deeper into the woods, but it was her best option at the time.

Out of the corner of her eye, she caught an object unnaturally sitting on a push. Luck must have been on her side, because it was her pistol, barrel pointing up to the sky that cast it down. Erin secured her recovered accessory, glad to be fully armed again. The new weapon she wielded, which was helpfully strapped to her back, added an annoying amount of weight. But it was better to take it than leave it for Mech to recover. Silas had used it against Sideswipe, but Erin hadn't been able to see the results. Still, if it was powerful enough to be used against him in the first place, it would be useful against a Mech raid. Erin wisely decided not to test its power to avoid catching any attention. She had no hope of discovering other things about it, such as number of possible shots. Aside from the trigger, it looked completely alien.

Even being slowed by exhaustion and extra cargo, eventually, Erin saw the telltale shimmering of water. But it was too quiet. She approached, only to find disappointment. There was no lake, not even a river. A small brook trickled by, only three feet wide. There was a chance this brook could bleed into a larger body of water, which Erin would be able to identify. There was also the possibility it could lead her away from her target. She looked forwards, down the brook's path. In the distance, it seemed to widen slightly. The current was strong, for its size. It had to be her best bet.

After hours of silent walking, the light of the day was slowly drowning out. She would have to make camp for the night, and hopefully sleep off her oncoming ailment.

Erin had little trouble cutting out an expansive root that limply curled around a decomposed log. She dug into it, finding soft, dried mulch. Erin carefully cupped her kindling together and strike her e-blade against the flint she kept in her left breast pocket. After a few attempts, one ember caught. She carefully nursed it into a small glowing flames, feeding it larger pieces of the log. After half an hour, she had a well-built fire with a trench dug around it. At least she would be warm for the night. Lighting a fire was risky, but going through a cold night would possibly leave her immobile with illness. The chosen log also happened to have some termites which offered a not-so-lovely snack. Her throat burned as the insects were swallowed down, but her stomach gratefully took them in. This was about survival. She only wished she had more wilderness training. While she had some, it was not satisfactory for her.

Erin allowed herself to fall into a light sleep, dagger in hand, ready to jump up and defend if necessary. Hopefully, she would find the twins in the morning.

Systems: Rebooting

Optics: Online

Neural Sensors: Online

Nanites: Operational

WARNING: Virus Detected

Scanners: Infected

Weapons: Disabled

Subspace Systems: Infected

Scanning

WARNING

Virus in Subsystems

Defensive Response?

-Yes-

Scanners: Offline

Weapons: Disabled

Subspace Systems: Disabled

WARNING

Scans incomplete

Location: Unknown

Sideswipe's optics shot open, his systems were pinging with constant warnings. On instinct, he felt for his twin energon blades. He couldn't access them and his subspace was offline. The pinging screamed at him. Virus! He couldn't access his subspace, an therefore, his weapons. But he should still be able to use his blades, but he couldn't get to them. An emptiness tore through him.

Sunny! Desperately groping through the bond, he could tell his twin was still offline and a herse away. He had to get to him.

Quickly, Sideswipe shot onto his wheels, only to smack his helm against a thick tree. Its bark sprayed as he scraped against it. Sideswipe glared at the offending object. Surprise over took his annoyed features. What was he doing surrounded by trees? He combed through his recent memory banks.

They were chasing after some humans, was he knocked out? That would be embarrassing. Wait. Where was Rin? Sideswipe could remember seeing her on one of the helicopters at some point, but he lost sight of her for some reason. Was she alright?

Sideswipe felt worry for the little femme. She was already injured, due to the training incident, she was not recovered enough to enter a fight. At that moment, he wished more than anything he could access her comm link, but even his own was disabled due to some virus his systems were warning him about. He had no access to scanners, subspace (and therefore weapons), or comm links. Once Sunny woke, they would be able to use their bond, but aside from that, he was basically alone in one of the planet's forests.

He needed to find his twin, once he and Sunny were reunited, everything would be better. The woods were thick and where there weren't large trees, there was a spattering of various plants that made the ground uneven under his wheels. Walking through the narrow spaces was difficult, but he managed to make it. His wheeled feet protested walking, if his subsystems were online, he would adjust his form to accommodate the boot-like foot he used to have or adjust his wheels for off-roading, but he would have to make do with what he had.

Sideswipe's internal scanners continued to frantically ping him and he pushed all the warnings and notifications aside. He knew something was fragging wrong! Trudging through the forest, he kept an optic out for any potential threat, human or even a possible 'con. A shape swooped over-helm, squawking. Caught off guard, he raised his forearms, prepared to take on an assault. Instead, what turned out to be a bird, continued to fly through the trees.

Sideswipe calmed a bit as dry humor hit him. There he was acting like a scared sparkling just because his scanners left him blind. One third of their team operated just fine without scanners and minimal weapons, and she was soft and fleshy. There was little this planet could offer that would easily offline a cybertronian.

He refocused himself and continued venturing towards where he knew Sunny would be. The yellow mech would not be happy when he woke. Even Sideswipe felt uncomfortable with the wet earth clinging to his frame from where he was laying. If Sunny's subspace was also offline, we would be unable to obtain any of his cleaning supplies. That would not be pretty.

As if on que, he felt the ebbs of consciousness return to his other half. Sideswipe considered reaching out to his twin to warn his about what he was waking up to. However, considering the only breakable things around his twin would be some trees, he decided to let him come to such conclusions on his own.

Seconds ticked by as Sunny fully woke. His side of the bond was filled with confusion and mild panic, much like what Sideswipe initially felt. It did not take long for it to morph into burning rage. It lashed out, nearly pulling Sideswipe in. At that point, he had to step in before Sunny lost it.

:Sunny! Calm down!: Sideswipe sent calming waves through the bond.

:Don't call me that, fragger!: Despite his response, Sideswipe could feel Sunny regain some control. :What's your status? My scanners are on the fritz.: His growl vibrated through the bond.

:Same here, but I've got damage. Can't transform or subspace.: He tried to lay it out as casually as possible, knowing how Sunstreaker would react with his twin in a weakened state. :Are you operational?: Sideswipe also sent a data package with the events, after Sunny had run off, that led to him going into stasis lock.

:Frag!:

:I'll take that as a 'no'.:

:I can transform, but that's about it.: he reported.

Sideswipe was worried. The human knew to shoot for his t-cogs. That way they could outrun and outgun the Cybertronians. Although, with them unconscious, they could have had their way with them. Sideswipe had heard Silas's plan to dissect them. Perhaps the squishy took care of it. :Did the humans take you down? Are you sure you're undamaged?: Sideswipe sent his worries over the bond.

:I'm fine.: Sunny, much too Sideswipe's amusement, sounded rather embarrassed. :I was gonna crush those fraggers to paste when I fell into stasis lock for a systems reboot.:

At least Mech hadn't seemed to take advantage of his brother's state. Sunny must have done a lot of damage to their numbers. :Is Rin near you? I lost her after I got hit.:

:I can't see the squishy.: Sideswipe could hear the near sigh on Sunny's part. :I'm heading to you.:

:Gotcha.:

Sideswipe felt better knowing he'd be reunited with his twin soon. Even with Sunny's constant complaining about how dirty it was and what he'd do to 'Colonel Fleshy' when he got his servos on him. The silver mech was more worried about their partner. Nevertheless, he sent calming waves with hints of amusement towards his twin as they got closer. Eventually, the sunlight disappeared right when Sideswipe could hear Sunny's pede steps in the distance. Relief flooded his spark when his optics met the with the pale blue of his brother's. At least they were together.