Author's Notes: For some reason I suddenly felt inspired to write in this fic again. I don't know how long the feeling will last, but I hope it lasts for a while. The Sigma Sisters, including Terrabyte/Bitten, are among my favorite OCs. Interesting aside, chapter 4 of "You Will Care For Me" is also titled "Carriers". Thank you to everyone who is reading this story, and I hope you enjoy this chapter of "I Owe You" :)


Chapter 4

Carriers

The Predacons went about their duties while Megatron planned his next move against the Maximals. There was an uneasiness in the air as every Predacon was aware of Megatron's currently foul mood. Every step seemed a little softer, and every flap of wings seemed a bit more careful. No one wanted Megatron to notice them today since he was looking for an excuse to destroy something.

With this in mind Waspinator sat alone in his room. He was supposed to be outside on patrol, but Megatron was out there pacing back and forth heatedly and Waspinator didn't want to run into him again. He just hoped the purple T-Rex was too preoccupied to notice his absence.

"Wazzpinator wishez he could quit thiz job," Waspinator muttered irritably, but then realized there might be listening devices in his room, so he quickly rescinded by saying, "Uh, well, maybe not quit. Wazzpinator lovez Predaconz! Never wantz to leave!"

Waspinator waited to see if anyone was coming in to punish him, and when he didn't hear anything he sighed in relief. Not knowing what else to do while he rode out the storm that was Hurricane Megatron, he decided to lazily surf around on his computer. There was no access to an information network, so Waspinator had to be content with playing a few games of pinball and checking his emails. Yeah right, the only emails he ever got was notes from Megatron informing him of his next humiliating assignment. He was really starting to dislike his job.

Waspinator saw that he had an email that was from an unknown address, and since no one had ever educated him on the concept of spam he decided to open it.

To: Waspinator

Subject: Dead Frame Pickup

Hello, Waspinator. Recently the Maximals have come into possession of a used seeker frame from the end of the Third War Era. I have discovered that you are the closest descendant of the former inhabitant of this frame, as you were the son of the dead seeker, subject name Quantum Boom. I feel that since you are her son then this frame rightfully belongs to you. I will be at the following coordinates with the frame, and I expect to meet with you there at 19:00.

Bitten

"Bitten? Who iz that?" Waspinator asked himself in confusion, "Whoever he iz, he'z crazzy. Wazzpinator haz no carrier."

Then he looked at his internal chronometer, and realized that the alleged meeting was only 45 minutes away. He thought for a moment about what he should do. On the one servo this could all be a trap set up by the Maximals to ambush him. On the other other servo why would they only target him? Waspinator had no illusions about his lack of importance to his team.

He also thought about what this could mean if it was true. He, like many other Predacons of his generation, had been trained by Decepticon soldiers near the end of the war, but he had no real sparklinghood. None of them did. They were just a mass of experimental mechs and femmes that went on to replace their Decepticon ancestors. Fat lot of good it did when the Maximals ostracized them and treated them as less than Cybertronian just because the Autobots had won the war. Megatron might've been an extremist, but he had offered the Predacons that followed him a chance to reclaim their former glory. Waspinator had joined Megatron's cause more because he craved dignity as opposed to power.

Waspinator, curious about this supposed link to his genetic past, typed the name Quantum Boom into the downloaded historical database on his computer. It wasn't a name he was familiar with, and he wondered if this femme had been powerful. She certainly had a powerful sounding name.

According to the records Quantum Boom was born to a Decepticon mech named Quazar and had been orphaned at just over a vorn old when he was killed by Autobots. She was later adopted by Wheeljack, a prominent Autobot engineer, and joined the Autobots upon receiving her first adult frame at age 4 vorns. Her marriage records listed her as married to an Autobot satellite-former named Cosmos, and their last known residence was recorded as being the city of Kaon. They had a child named Nightscream and became neutral shortly before the war ended. Cosmos' death certificate was listed, but Waspinator didn't look into the cause because he didn't care. It was shown that after Cosmos died Nightscream ran away from home and Quantum Boom went to search for him, both never to be seen or heard from again. No one knew if or when she died, and a body had never been recovered.

Waspinator was intrigued by the circumstances of her supposed death, but more than that he wanted to see her military record. He realized it was an unimpressive one when he saw that Quantum Boom and Cosmos were delivery bots. They gave messages to those that couldn't trust the comm systems and delivered packages to Autobots. Her career was short too, as she and Cosmos became neutral after moving to Kaon.

"Figurez," Waspinator lamented, "Mommy Bot waz an Autobot lackey. Oh well. Maybe the frame will be worth zomething."

His processor made up, Waspinator flew out the window and away from the ship. He was sure this was probably a trap, but curiosity got the better of the Predacon. Whoever this Bitten was, they were probably planning an ambush. Well, Waspinator would be ready if they did.


Bitten looked at the sunset as she stood beside a dead tree waiting for Waspinator to show up. He was a half hour late, but she decided she would wait a little longer. The Maximals likely wouldn't even notice she was gone, except for Dinobot who would likely be relieved to get a break from her.

She looked over at the grey frame collecting dust on the ground. This was what Q-Boom would have wanted, Bitten told herself. She didn't know what happened in the past, but Bitten knew what happened when she lived on the Ark with her Sigma Sisters. Q-Boom had designed Waspinator when she was only 4 vorns old. She had wanted to build a sparkling with genetically engineered sigma abilities. It seemed like a pipe dream, especially for an unmotivated femme like Q-Boom, but Terrabyte still hoped that her old friend had succeeded.

Then again, Bitten realized that if Q-Boom succeeded then Waspinator would be a super weapon. He would basically be immortal and might even have inbuilt weapons upgrades that the Maximals couldn't fight against. Bitten brushed these thoughts away. This was Q-Boom she was talking about. Q-Boom couldn't program a VCR, let alone a super weapon.

Something flew toward her in the distance, and Bitten enhanced her vision to see who or what it was. Sure enough, it was Waspinator, so at least Bitten knew she hadn't been stood up. Still, she had to be on guard. She had been claimed by the Maximals, so that made this guy the enemy. It might be an ambush.

Waspinator landed and transformed into root mode. He was a head and a half taller than her, and more muscular too. Maybe not impressive to the Maximals and Predacons, but Bitten knew she would have to be careful.

"Oh, Hoppy Bot, it'z you," Waspinator greeted her suspiciously, "I zee you brought the frame. Zo, what'z the catch?"

"You are Quantum Boom's son," Bitten replied stoically, "Her frame is rightfully yours. It would be dishonorable to keep you from that which you are owed."

"Pfft. You zound like Dinobot," Waspinator snorted, "Zo, that'z really all you wanted? No trickz? No zurprizes? No backup?"

"No," Bitten replied simply, "We are done here. Do with her what you will."

Bitten then turned away from Waspinator and hopped in the direction of the Axelon. Waspinator was surprised that their meeting was so short, and that she really was just going to leave him with the body. He thought about this, and came to the conclusion that there must be a bomb or tracking device in the corpse, so he scanned it vigorously. Ten scans later he found nothing dangerous. There was a detonator inside the chest cavity under the seats, but there was no power feeding into it so it was little more than an empty case where a bomb used to be.

Waspinator realized he had actually been given a frame of one of their ancestors, and all with no strings attached. He stared at it, unsure of how to proceed. On the one servo this was something the Predacons could scrap for parts and use against the Maximals. There was reinforced plating, missile launchers, and blade weapons. Waspinator even noticed a nanobot system within the fissures of the plating that allowed it to magnetically repair itself; something Waspinator could desperately use for his own constantly abused frame.

Just as Waspinator was about to convince himself to turn the frame in to Megatron, however, a brief thought made him pause. This was Waspinator's carrier. After reading her life history he realized that this was an ancestor whose life had played out in a depressingly similar way to his own. She had been orphaned, recruited for military service in childhood, and never achieved the greatness and respect her position should have afforded her.

If Waspinator delivered Quantum Boom's body to Megatron to scrap, then she would be disrespected in death just as much as he believed she was in life. Waspinator didn't want his death to go unmourned and his frame to be torn apart life a carcass in a lion's den, and she probably wouldn't want that for her body either. He couldn't do that to the femme that gave him life, even if she'd never been there for him.

Wait! Waspinator thought to himself. Quantum Boom waz an Autobot. Why am I a Dezepticon? She would not give me to them if they were her enemiez, zo why?

Waspinator's head was spinning. Something about this seemed very wrong. Why would an Autobot make a Predacon? Did she betray her people? Was she a double agent? She had been born a Decepticon, so it would fit. Maybe she had never been loyal to the Autobots at all, or maybe something happened to sway her opinion of them.

Waspinator took one more baleful look at the huge grey frame laying there on the dry ground. They certainly did make Cybertronians giant back in the day, Waspinator couldn't help but think. He sighed a buzzing sigh, knowing what he had to do to keep his carrier from being desecrated. Waspinator took a big rock from the ground and started digging a hole. He was going to give Quantum Boom a proper burial.


When Bitten returned to the Axelon she noticed that Optimus Primal, Rhinox, Rattrap, and Dinobot were outside scouting the area searching for something. She knew they would notice the missing frame, but she didn't think they would notice so quickly.

"Bitten," Optimus spoke first, "Someone came in here and stole the seeker frame. Did you see anything?"

Bitten didn't reply. She knew her silence looked guilty, but admitting it would only get her in trouble faster. They would probably execute her for what she did if they could prove it, so she would have to keep them guessing.

"I can't believe those stinkin' Preds managed to get past our defenses!" Rattrap shouted in frustration, "We didn't even detect 'em!"

Bitten tried to walk away and go into the ship, but she was cut off by Dinobot.

"I don't believe they did get through our defenses," Dinobot growled, "Bitten, you know something. I can see it in your optics. Did you steal the frame? Confess!"

"Dinobot, enough!" Optimus reprimanded Dinobot's harsh methods, "Bitten is still grieving. That frame belonged to someone close to her. Bitten, if you did take the frame, what did you do with it? It's okay. You can tell us."

Bitten was conflicted. On the one servo she had managed to survive this long by keeping her mouth shut and evading any attempts to reach her spark. She knew she would stay alive if she said nothing. On the other servo, the Maximals had saved her life and she had assaulted Dinobot in her sleep. She owed them, and thus far she had not been able to find a complete means to repay them. She had just stolen a frame that could have been useful to them, which only added to her debt. Sighing, she realized that her accounting system wouldn't allow her to keep this a secret from them.

"I...took her away," Bitten admitted in a soft voice the Maximals had to strain to hear, "You will not find her. I apologize."

"Why would you do that?" Rhinox asked in an equally soft voice to try to avoid scaring Bitten, "Your carrier was protected here. Why take her away?"

"She is not my carrier," Bitten replied as she looked Rhinox in the optic, "She is Waspinator's carrier."

"Waspinator?" Rattrap asked in shock, "That seeker built a Pred?"

"Many, actually," Bitten elaborated, "However, Waspinator is the only one I could positively identify. She belonged with him. I could not keep her here, no matter what benefit we gained from her."

"Why you little...!" Rattrap seethed, "Do you have any idea what the Preds will do to that frame? Do you!?"

"It does not matter," Bitten replied resolutely as she looked challengingly at Rattrap, "It is not our decision. She would want her son to benefit from her if at all possible, and I will not dishonor the wishes of one of my best friends no matter what you have done for me. You might as well kill me. I already owe more than I can repay."

"You...you…Grrr!" Rattrap was so mad he couldn't even form a proper sentence.

Nobody knew quite what to do with Bitten. Clearly she had betrayed them, but she didn't run off and join the Predacons. They needed help around the base, but they couldn't trust her anymore. Bitten realized they were still too stunned to deal with her, so she walked into the ship and took the elevator to her room to await judgment there. She knew it was only a matter of time.

As Bitten sat quietly on her berth she ran her only hand along her hip and felt the fur there. It was an odd feeling to not have a door there. Her old frame had hip compartments for symbiotes, and she used to have three cassette siblings reside within the left take deck. Shriek, Screwball, and Turret were all older than Terrabyte, yet after the death of their carrier she had been tasked with nurturing and protecting them. She was grateful they weren't there to face her fate with her, yet at that moment she still selfishly wished they were there for her to talk to. She missed them, and she felt so alone on this strange ship with these strange beast-formers.

The door slid open, and Bitten sat stiffly and awaited whatever punishment was coming her way. She saw Optimus Primal standing there in his gorilla mode. It still seemed strange to her that someone with so much authority could still look so cuddly and adorable. That was another issue Bitten had with beast frames. They made soldiers look too lovable, especially for an animal lover like herself.

"Bitten, I'm not going to pretend I condone what you did today," Optimus began in a stern voice, "However, I understand that your motives weren't malicious in nature. Because of that, I'm going to give you another chance. That being said, if you ever pull a stunt like that again I'll have no choice but to arrest you as a Predacon sympathizer. This is war, Bitten. Given the era you came from I would expect you to know what that means. I mean, would you have given a weapon to the enemy back when it was the Autobots vs. the Decepticons?"

"My friend was not a weapon," Bitten bristled, "She was a person, and she had a family. I respected the wishes of that family. I'm sorry I hurt your cause, but I refuse to treat my sister as leverage."

"You didn't answer my question though," Optimus pointed out, "If her family had been on the side you opposed, would you have still given her to them?"

"You don't know which faction I belonged to, do you?" Bitten astutely surmised, "That's alright. The truth is I don't care about either faction. I was born a Decepticon, but I was adopted into an Autobot family. I was nearly killed by Decepticons. I was also nearly killed by an Autobot. That Autobot became my surrogate father. You see, to me family will always be more important than a faction symbol. So to answer your question, I would have given my friend to Waspinator no matter the circumstances. I'm sorry."

"You don't sound sorry," Optimus observed, "At least, not sorry enough to stop yourself."

"No, I suppose not," Bitten had to admit, "Still, I feel bad that I upset you. You have all been very accommodating to me. I apologize that I have not lived up to what you want from me. I will do better now that I have no more attachments to my past. I hope that will be enough."

Bitten was starting to feel the stress in her spark from their prolonged conversation. Social anxiety always made these situations tough, and facing an authority figure like Optimus Primal only made it worse.

Optimus sighed, not really knowing how to reply to Bitten. She expressed the emotion in words but not in inflection. Her voice was monotone and her face barely moved. It was difficult to gauge how sincere she was at any given moment, but for now he was willing to believe she meant what she said.

"Report to the bridge in an hour, Bitten," Optimus ordered for lack of anything better to say, "You're on monitor duty with Cheetor. I'll be watching you closely, and I hope you won't let me down."

Optimus then turned to leave. Just as he made it to the door however, Bitten called out "Optimus Primal?"

"Yes?" Optimus asked.

"Thank you for giving me the benefit of the doubt," Bitten replied gratefully.

"If you want to thank someone thank Dinobot," Optimus told her, "He was the one that convinced me you weren't betraying us on purpose."

"Dinobot?" Bitten asked in surprise, "What did he say?"

"He said that you were following your personal code of honor," Optimus replied, "I think he respected you for that, though Dinobot isn't the type to say so."

Optimus left then, and Bitten was left to reflect on what just happened. Dinobot didn't hate her? He wasn't rallying for her execution? That was a surprise to her to say the least, given what precious little she knew about Dinobot's personality. He seemed like the cold suspicious type to her, but apparently there was more there than she gave him credit for. Beneath the cold aloofness, there was a spark.

That thought made Bitten think back to her adopted father. She wondered how Sunstreaker coped with her supposed death after the Nemesis exploded. She had left him a note but had never even bothered to say goodbye. She wasn't a sparkling anymore, but at that moment she wished she could go back home to the Ark and reach out for the spark that belonged to her guardian. She would walk through the door to see her symbiotes drinking energon. She would greet Sunstreaker as he polished his frame. He would show her how to paint and tell her all the stupid things Sideswipe did, and they would use their bond to tell each other they loved each other without having to say a word.

Bitten stroked her hip again, and then rubbed her chassis where her spark chamber was. She had never had no one in her bond before, and it was starting to feel like she was dead inside. Oh well, even if she wasn't a whole Cybertronian anymore at least she had a purpose. She owed fealty to Dinobot for the second time since arriving onboard the Axelon, and she would stay for however long it took to repay him.