"No, no – like this!" Sona cried, smacking Jetfire's servos away.

It was finally her break out of the cell, and the first place she had gone was into Soundwave's room. Jetfire was supposed to be her guard, but he was more of her playmate than anything.

After giving her her name, Soundwave had offered for her to visit his room and play with a couple of musical instruments he had stored away whenever she got time out of the cell. On the few occasions he had been there, he had given her some short lessons. He hadn't come back for a while, but she picked up quickly and didn't really need the later lessons. She was trying to give Jetfire lessons, too, but he didn't pick up quite as easily.

She started teaching him the standard keyboard – by far one of the easiest instruments. Once she had swatted Jetfire's servos out of the way, Sona began to play a beautiful, dramatic song. Her fingers moved delicately along the keys, flowing with the music and playing to their own rhythm, as she had been taught.

Once she finished, Jetfire simply stared at her, astonished, then cautiously pressed a random key on the keyboard.

Both bots burst out laughing, and Jetfire shrugged in confusion. "I'm sorry, I just don't…understand how you can read that," he said, gesturing to the musical staff filled with notes shining on the built-in screen in front of the keyboard.

"Well, I don't understand how you can have the freedom to go wherever you want, whenever you want, and the ability to fly and still rather sit with me than go to your flying lessons!" Sona scoffed back at him.

"I feel bad, leaving you here all day to your own devices."

"I can handle my own devices," she retorted.

"I'm sure you can, but it doesn't make me feel any better, leaving you locked up inside. It's unfair."

"Maybe someday I can come with you," she said, although there didn't seem to be much optimism in her voice. "In the meantime…"

She started to play the same melody, beginning with a dramatic swell leading into the main part of the melody. Jetfire watched in amazement as she skillfully played the piece to her spark's content. Her left servo played only a few notes to back up her right, which played the notes ultimately making up the tune. The tune flowed into a repeat, this time an octave higher, and with a slightly different ending to the first.

The next part of the song took on an urgent, dangerous tone. She played the keys with less fluidity there, more of a stomping motion. It went up the octave as well, before coming to what initially sounded like an end.

But Jetfire knew better; he had heard the song countless times to know what part was coming next. It was Sona's favorite, but this time, instead of continuing to play the keys, she decided to try something different.

She first played a short intro to the next part, but gradually slowed it down.

Then, with a click and a whirring, the next part of the melody picked up again inside her music box.

"E, F sharp, G, B…G, F sharp, G…" she thought to herself as the notes delicately flowed from her chest. "F sharp, G, A, C…A, G, E…E, F sharp, G, F sharp…B…F sharp, G, A, G, C…"

The melody continued to play, slower and slower, coming to a stop.

When the music halted, Jetfire awaited the last portion of the song. But it never came. Instead, Sona sat at the keyboard, a distant look in her optics, completely zoned out.

"…Sona?" he asked quietly.

She waited a moment before replying, "I always liked this part of the song…sad, but hopeful. I feel like it's a message…one so many can relate to."

"Play the last part," Jetfire encouraged.

She looked towards him, and her sad smile became happy again. And she obliged, placing her fingers back on the keyboard and playing the most dramatic, complex, and triumphant part of the song. She also liked the last part; after a sorrowful yet hopeful journey, you come to a vibrant and dramatic ending, but one filled with joy and happiness. Your emotions cycled for so long between hopefulness and hopelessness, and you had almost given yourself up to the latter when something came along – some spark that reunited the passion and hope inside you. And suddenly, the world was perfect. Your journey had ended, albeit with much loss…but still, you had accomplished so much, and the reward for not giving in to your hopelessness was a beautiful, happy ending.

She finished quietly, and tenderly lifted her servos off the keys. She turned back to Jetfire, who was smiling at her in amazement.

"I think you like that part more than you realize," he commented.

"Maybe I do," she admitted. "Maybe it's…the part of me that just won't let go of that sense of adventure, that won't stop the longing to escape."

Her eyes widened as she realized what she had said – to her guard, nonetheless. But Jetfire was continuing to smile up at her, even as she remembered she was with her oldest – and possibly only – friend. She involuntarily let out a small laugh, bringing them both back to the moment.

"Sorry – I got a little metaphorical there. Too many books," she shrugged.

"I think your music is the personification of your feelings," Jetfire explained.

"This isn't even mine – it's a song I just happened to come across and decided I liked," she admitted.

"It can still be your feelings."

"Yeah, I guess so." She smiled wide and turned to face him. "Now look who's sounding so metaphorical!" she teased.

"Sorry! Sorry…" he laughed, then trailed off. An alarm had started blinking on one of his sensors – the alarm that meant it was time to go back.

Both bots stood up. Sona gently placed the keyboard back in the corner and waited for Jetfire to escort her out. Instead, he just stood there, taking his time to turn off the alarm without meeting her gaze.

"It's really not that bad," she told him.

"Isn't it?"

"Stop it—you're here to make sure I don't run, not reflect on my life."

Jetfire watched her disapprovingly as she pulled something out of her subspace.

"You left this the last time," she said, holding out a datapad.

"Oh…sorry," Jetfire said, taking it from her hands.

"And I was nosy, and looked through a couple things on here…" She held the datapad away from him as she tapped the screen, a sly grin appearing on her face.

"Wha—oh." Jetfire's optics went wide as she showed him a group of images, but then he bust out laughing, unable to control himself.

Sona laughed too at seeing her usually-calm friend lose his cool so fast.

"Primus, I…wow, I forgot I even still had those," he said sheepishly.

Sona grinned as she turned the screen back towards her. She turned around so Jetfire could see over her.

On the screen was an album filled with old pictures…of Starscream. Embarrassing ones, at that…awkward youngling photos, stupid poses, and some they would rather not ask questions about.

Both threw their helms back with laughter as they scrolled through the datapad's pictures. "There's so many!" Sona laughed, swiping through picture after picture. "How did you even get these?!"

"It was Starscream's old datapad, and I guess he…forgot to delete some stuff. I…never got around to it," he admitted sheepishly.

"Well, these are great. And I'll bet he has more somewhere, too."

"No…" Jetfire said, trying his best to seriously frown down at her.

"Come on! I get bored sitting in the cell all day…"

"Where would I even get access to more pictures like these?"

"Ask one of the minicons! Offer to do a boring job for Frenzy, and I can almost guarantee he'd do it for you!"

"I don't know…"

"Please! Just indulge me…nobody would know about this but us, and Frenzy would have a good laugh too! Come on, Jet…I know a part of you wants to do it, too…"

"Fine," he sighed in defeat. Sona beamed excitedly. "Just this one time…"

Sona stumbled as the aftermath of an explosion shook the whole fortress. Her spark began to race.

There were no windows in the cell, so she couldn't see what was going on outside the fortress walls. She wondered what could possibly be happening.

She quickly remembered she wasn't alone in the bleak lab and stood back up on her berth to talk to the other prisoner. He had startled, too, and was anxiously watching for someone to come into the lab and explain.

He turned around when he realized Sona was watching him. He peered curiously up at her from his spot on the floor. "They let you out and put you back in?" he scoffed in disbelief. He seemed a lot less anxious now than before; perhaps he had accepted his fate, or perhaps his processor was too full to process anything but what was right in front of him.

She realized she hadn't come up with a good response when the bot said, "Do you have any idea what's going on out there?!"

"No…do you?"

"They're here! The rest of the Autobots are here! The Decepticons don't stand a chance. And the Autobots will come here, and I'll be freed, and you'll be—"

Both bots suddenly cried out in pain. Sona caught herself on her berth this time, but she could hear the other prisoner's helm smack violently against the floor. She groaned and grabbed her helm as she struggled to a standing position. She used the berth to pull herself up and stared outside the cell bars.

Shockwave was there, but he wasn't focusing on her – he was rushing around his lab, scooping equipment and samples into a small carrying case. Even without a face, Sona could tell he was frantic, and she watched him peculiarly as he made one last sweep around the lab.

She said nothing for fear of being shocked again but continued to watch him. When he was done, he raced out of the lab without a second glance.

She knocked on the cell wall to get the other prisoner's attention. "Hey—are you alright?"

No response. The shock must have knocked him out, she realized. She steadied herself to hop up on the berth again but quickly got down when she heard the lab door open again.

To her surprise, it wasn't Shockwave who stepped through – it was Soundwave.

She couldn't remember the last time she had seen Soundwave. He had shown her kindness as a sparkling because of their shared interest in music, but when Shockwave's experiments began to pick up, she saw less and less of him. He eventually stopped coming at all, and she assumed that his random act of kindness was just that – random. It clearly meant nothing to him – or so she thought.

Soundwave approached her cell, holding what looked like the manual shocking device Shockwave always had. She eyed it warily and took a step back, even though she knew it would do nothing if he decided to use it.

He stopped right in front of her cell and pressed the button beside it. She gazed on in astonishment as the bars turned off and slid into the floor and ceiling. Her cell was wide open, and there was Soundwave, unmoving on the other side. Maybe he hadn't forgotten about her – maybe he remembered the poor sparkling he had helped all those years ago when she had been so lost and so afraid. Maybe he wasn't fond of Shockwave either, and as the Autobots closed in, he was willing to make a desperate attempt at rebellion.

The moment she thought of that she shut it down. Still… "Soundwave?" she said quietly. He seemed hesitant to move or say anything, so she decided to start. "It's Sonatina. I haven't seen you in a while."

"No," he agreed.

She stepped forward. "I never really thanked you for that time—"

She collapsed on her knees again, shock running down her back. Had Shockwave returned?

No – it was Soundwave, she realized as she glanced up. He released the button and pulled out a needle. He injected it into her side and took a step back, leaving her confused and hurt. She recognized the woozy feeling it gave her; it was the serum Shockwave would give her before she went on a walk. This couldn't possibly be another walk, though, not with the chaos ensuing in the fortress.

Her strength came back just enough to stand. She stood unsteadily in front of Soundwave. "Soundwave – why?"

He grabbed her wrists and fastened on a pair of restraints. "Soundwave, what's going on? Can you please explain something?"

He shoved her forward, out of the cell and towards the lab door. "Move."

She stole a glance at the cell next to hers. The other prisoner was still lying on the ground, but his optics were dark and lifeless; the shock had killed him. She gasped in heartbreak for the once-hopeful prisoner beside her. He would rust here or be melted down for scrap – whichever came first.

"MOVE," Soundwave ordered again. He shoved her outside the lab door.

"What's going on? Where am I going?" He continued to ignore her. They passed through several unfamiliar halls and up a flight of stairs.

"Soundwave, where am I going?" she asked again, turning her helm as far back as she could to try and make eye contact with him.

"Orders are clear."

"Soundwave, please."

He gave no immediate response this time, and Sona thought she might get her answer when they passed through the doors at the top of the staircase. Instead, Soundwave shoved her towards two new bots: Shockwave…and Megatron.

She visibly lowered her stature at the sight of them – the emotionless scientist who had spent years trying to find a way to harness her powers and regarded her only as a failed experiment. He stared emotionlessly at her, gripping the case from before. Soundwave turned to leave, but before he did, Sona tried to make eye contact with him.

She hoped her gaze was pleading; there was absolutely nothing she could do at this point, in the hands of her original captors. He watched her for a moment behind his visor but turned and left without another word.

Despite the years of no contact with Soundwave, she couldn't help feeling hurt and betrayed. Some tiny flicker of hope still remained within her, even though her processor had quickly shut down the idea of Soundwave returning to save her. Now she felt stupid for ever believing someone besides Jetfire might show her kindness.

Shockwave began to march her to another room, Megatron close behind.

Megatron: she never saw much of him, but Jetfire had warned her of the physical and emotional pains he had subjected so many bots to before, as well as his violent killings in the heat of battle. He felt no remorse imprisoning her as a sparkling, so she had no reason to believe he would now. She wanted to ask them where she was going now, what could have possibly warranted finally moving her from her lifetime prison to somewhere new, but she couldn't deny she was terribly afraid of them both.

They continued to march her through several hallways, up a few staircases and into a large rotund room. The walls were surrounded by circular doorways – escape pods, she realized – and many of them were already gone.

"I did not authorize the use of any of the pods," Megatron said angrily to Shockwave.

"Bots panicked. They dropped all logic and ran to safety," Shockwave replied.

"We'll deal punishments when we get to the rendezvous point," Megatron said. "For now, ready these escape pods."

Shockwave handed Sona off to Megatron while he went to type commands into the computer. Sona's back stiffened when she felt his cold servo lock around her shoulder, and she trained her optics to the ground, trembling slightly. She could tell Megatron was smiling behind her, amused by her fear.

When Shockwave had prepared the escape pods, Megatron led her over to the nearest one. The door opened automatically, revealing a small hatch which she was supposed to climb through. She wanted to run – desperately, she wanted to – but seeing no other way out of her situation, she complied, and seated herself in front of the small control panel.

As she was settling into her seat, she suddenly felt a sharp pain in her neck and cried out in surprise. She turned her helm just to see Shockwave taking a needle away and preparing to close the hatch.

"It will knock her unconscious soon," Shockwave explained to Megatron. "So she has no chance of escape."

"Excellent. Are the other pods ready?"

"Yes."

She heard the other pod doors opening beside hers, then sliding shut.

Sona could tell that whatever Shockwave had injected into her was acting fast, faster than the other serum. She couldn't hold consciousness for long. Her helm lolled down to face the control panel. Sona squeezed her optics shut in frustration, hearing the engines of the escape pods preparing to blast off.

She had no idea where she could be going. Her fate was sealed – from one prison to the next, that's where she would go. And all of his equipment – was Shockwave close to harnessing her powers? Was that where they were going – somewhere where he could complete his task and stop having to worry about a pathetic young prisoner? There was no doubt in her mind she would be killed once they were done with her.

And Jetfire – if Megatron killed her once he had her powers, as she suspected he would, what would Jetfire do? Would he lash out and do something stupid, probably getting himself killed in the process? Would he turn his back on the Decepticons, surrender himself to the Autobots? Either way, he would end up dead or imprisoned, especially if Megatron learned of his traitorous words towards the Decepticon cause.

Wait – Jetfire. Where was he now? Was he alright? Was he fighting? What if he was shot down, what if Megatron killed him because he didn't want to risk someone attempting a rescue?

But what about what he said before? How he couldn't explain more at the time? Hold on…fight back…something along those lines. Did he suspect the Autobots were coming? Did he want them to come, want them to defeat the Decepticons? Want them to defeat him?

No; no, he was different, he shouldn't be killed, couldn't be—

Her thoughts were clouding over. She swayed a little in her seat; the serum would kick in very, very soon, and she could do nothing about it. But what about Jetfire? What would happen to him? And Soundwave…was the act of kindness truly without meaning, like she had thought before?

She would never know the answers if she was dead. And although Soundwave had betrayed her, there was still some bot in this world who cared – cared if she was dead or alive. And there was still some bot in this world she cared for – cared if he was dead or alive. What if he needed help? What if he was shot down and injured? The Seekers weren't known to be loyal to one another; no one would help him. Her childhood friend – dead – that couldn't happen, that couldn't happen, nothing bad could ever happen—

Something clicked in her. Something pushed past all the fear and told her to fight – fight for freedom, fight for Jetfire. Fight to get out of here, fight to be something other than a prisoner. Have hope – the bad had happened, but there was good after it. What happened next could be up to her.

She looked down at the control panel, then looked at her servos; the panel already had set coordinates programmed into it, but what would happen to the pod if it didn't have those coordinates?

"It wouldn't know where to go," she whispered to herself. The pods were probably invented by Shockwave, meaning they included fail-safes in case he himself was ever subjected to something unfortunate with one of his devices.

Meaning if the pod didn't know where to go, it probably wouldn't go anywhere at all.

Although her helm was becoming light and her vision was growing faint, Sona couldn't pass up what may be the only opportunity she was ever given to finally take matters into her own hands. So she raised her servos – still cuffed – high above her helm, curled them into fists, and brought them down on the control panel – hard.

To her astonishment, she had managed to crack the control panel slightly. The engines were firing themselves up, and since they were so loud, no one could hear what she was doing or saying inside the escape pod.

She raised her fists up in the air and brought them down again…and again, and again, and again, and again, until finally, when the injection was starting to take its full effect, she had broken through the panel. She tore as many wires as she could for good measure, then stood the best she could in the low pod.

Sona weaved her way past the chair and towards the hatch – the one that could open to her freedom, could finally allow her to leave her prison life behind…find Jetfire…find freedom…

Her helm was spinning…sights were blurry…she thought she heard the engines of the other escape pods take off, but she couldn't be sure…and then the sound of footsteps, running, unfamiliar voices…

She collapsed right before reaching the hatch.