Author's Note: I am so very sorry! I know I haven't updated in forever, but I've been so cought up in chemistry and trig homework that I've had no time. But I sweer I will not abandon this fic no matter what.

Chapter 7

Without another word, Dinobot took the opportunity to silently depart from command. He was complete unmoved by what had taken place. His features did not betray any emotions at all. The rest of command went dead silent.

"Whoa," Rattrap shook his head in disbelief. "The Isis Khmer. Here."

"What happened to you?" Cheetor asked rather innocently. "You know, after…"

"She has no memory of anything that happened before the Beast Wars," Primal quickly intervened.

"Actually," Blackarachnia spoke up, "I sometimes have these visions. Flashes. I think they might be memories from Isis' life." She felt extremely uncomfortable in this room, surrounded by people who seemed to know more about her than she did about herself. She wanted to be back in her quarters to think over everything and maybe talk to Silverbolt about it. He would understand. He always did.

"They may well be," Rhinox agreed. "From what I have studied about protoforms, they often have such memory glitches. I would need to run some tests but..."

"No," the female rigorously shook her head, and wrapped her arms tightly around herself. "No tests. No probes. The last thing I want to be again is someone's science experiment. Please just... just leave me alone." She stepped back, and finally out of command leaving everyone behind.

Once she was safely back in her quarters, she sat down on the edge of her bed with a heavy sigh. Blackarachnia hated looking so weak in front of everyone, but she had to get away. Everything was moving too fast for her. She only spent two days as a Maximal, and already things were changing again. It was too soon. She wasn't ready for it again.

The doors opened slowly, and Silverbolt stepped inside. She looked up and wordlessly reached out for him. The male sat down next to her and wrapped his arms around her shoulder pulling her into a warm and comforting embrace. After a few minutes of sitting in silence, she sighed and sat up, straightening herself.

"I don't feel that I am her," Blackarachnia tried to compose her thoughts. "I don't even feel that she's a part of me. All there memories…these flashbacks. I can't connect to them. It's like they belong to a complete stranger."

"But there must be a reason you're seeing them now of all times," Silverbolt reasoned. "Is there nothing you remember that you have some feeling for?"

"I remember that Isis…that I knew someone named Dila, another female in the army. I think they were friends, but I can't remember anything beyond that." She paused and thought for a moment, remembering the strange feeling of seeing Dinobot's battle simulation. "There's something else. Something more important, but I…" she sighed in frustration. "I can't remember. All I know is it concerns someone who was very important to Isis."

"A lover?" the Fuzor asked carefully.

Despite the seriousness of the situation, Blackarachnia smiled. "Jealous?" she leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. "No, Rover, I'm sure I would have remembered that. But you're right; I think it was a male. A family member or some sort of guardian, someone she looked up to. I think it was also someone she lost."

"A male family member?" Silverbolt repeated, relieved. "A father, or maybe a sibling she was close to. A brother, perhaps? Although it could just as well be a very close friend."

Blackarachnia's optics widened with realization. "What did you say?"

"Huh?" Silverbolt raised an eyebrow. "It could just as well be..."

"...a close friend," she waved her hand dismissingly. "Yeah, I got that part. What did you say before that?"

"I said it could be her..."

"Brother!" she finished, quickly standing up. "Of course! I'm remembering her brother. My brother!

* * * * * * * * * *

"I'm sorry, I can't help you there," Optimus replied when she brought up the topic the next day.

"What do you mean, you can't help," Blackarachnia demanded. "You seem to know all this information about Is...about who I was."

"I know your military profile," he said. "I have no knowledge of your personal history. I can, however, tell you that Isis Khmer had no living relatives."

"Then why am I remembering a brother? There must have been someone..."

"There was," both turned at the sound of the deep voice behind them. Dinobot regarded both Maximals with a dark look, then focused his attention on the female. "His name was Taratron. He was not your blood brother, but you were family nonetheless. He raised you from a very young age."

"How do you know this?" Optimus asked.

"I was there at his execution."

Blackarachnia caught her breath as a shadow passed over her face. "He's dead? My brother is dead."

"Yes," Dinobot confirmed. "A short time after the Axalon mission departed, he was captured and terminated. I'm sorry."

"N...no," Blackarachnia shook her head. "It's not your fault, but how did you know who he was?"

"It's hard not to know. The two of you were quite infamous among the Predacons. Believe me, if Tarantulas had known who you were when they got a hold of your stasis pod, he would have simply terminated you. They would have returned to Cybertron as heroes among the Predacons for killing Isis Khmer."

"They wanted me dead that badly?" Blackarachnia raised an eyebrow. Dinobot nodded, and she groaned in frustration. "How is it that everyone knows more about my past than I do. You, Optimus," she waved a hand in the direction of the Maximal leader, who, by that time had retreated to the command center, "the rest of the Maximals. Hell, even Cheetor knows more than I do! And, oh yeah, Tarantulas!"

Dinobot's expression changed to an alarm. "You spoke to Tarantulas!"

"Not really. We just exchanged a few pleasant insults, and he brought up this topic. That's how this whole thing started. Speaking of which, do you have any idea how he knows about this? Did...did I ever run into him on Cybertron? Who was he back then, anyway?"

"As to the question if you ever crossed paths, I honestly rather not contemplate on that, but I can tell you that back on Cybertron, he went by the name Shifter."