Disclaimer; I own Shadow Stalker and the plot. That's it.

Warning: Due to language and violence, this series is rated PG.

Of Shadow And Light

Chapter 5

Fallout

by Switchblade X

"I'll go get Rhinox." Silverbolt said before hurrying down a hallway.

Shadow Stalker stood, and took a few steps closer to the CR chamber. Anticipation mixed with fear as the door slowly opened. Would he be dead? Permanently injured? Completely changed? In a way, she didn't want to know.

Slowly, Dinobot staggered out of the darkness. It took his optics a moment to adjust to the light, but by that time, he already had Shadow Stalker wrapped in a tight embrace.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

"I'm dizzy, exhausted, weakened, and about half sick. But, other than that, I'm fine."

She smiled at his rare sarcasm and led him over to the table, where she guided him down into a chair.

"Ah, you're out. Good." Rhinox said, entering the command center with Silverbolt behind him. "How do you feel?"

"Tired, dizzy, and…"— it bothered Dinobot to say the final word in front of anyone other than Shadow Stalker— "weak."

"Are you nauseous?"

He nodded.

"Thought so. Fortunately, the venom didn't do too much damage."

"Too much?" He allowed Shadow Stalker to lean him against her body, and then decided to rest his head against her chest.

"Luckily, you have some sort of an immunity to this venom. It's part of the Decepticon genetic makeup, I think. Shadow Stalker should also have it, but hers wouldn't be as strong as yours, since she's…you know."

"Just say it, Rhinox." Shadow Stalker quietly said. "You won't make me mad."

The Maximal scientist paused for a moment, "…Since she's a half-breed. …Anyway, if you hadn't have had this immunity, the venom would've killed you instantly. However, there was some damage done."

"Such as?"

"It's nothing severe; you'll probably experience some aches. Like the kind you get after working out."

"So I am…damaged?"

"Like I said, it's nothing severe."

"But it's still there. …Is it…permanent?"

"I don't know. This venom has traces of acid in it, you know; that's probably what did the damage. …If I had a guess, though, I would say that it is permanent."

Dinobot's face fell, and he darkened his optics. He felt Shadow Stalker stiffen for a brief moment before wrapping her arms around him.

"I'm sorry."

"…It's all right, Rhinox. You did what you could, and I thank you for it."

Rhinox was silent for a moment. "It's nothing serious, Dinobot. Really. Just a few aches, that's all. …Of course, there could be other things develop later. I'm not really sure… This type of venom is new to me; I don't know what it'll do. It might only cause minor aches, but it might also cause other things."

"Such as?"

"I don't know."

He nodded, and stood with a sigh. "Thank you, Rhinox. I am in your debt." he said as he headed down the nearest hallway.

Rhinox bowed his head, sighing.

"He always did work hard to keep himself in perfect physical condition." Shadow Stalker said after a long silence. "…Doesn't look like there'll be much use for that now."

"I know." Rhinox whispered.

Shadow Stalker collected her things, and started after Dinobot. She paused beside the rhino, and put her free hand on his shoulder, "You did your best, Rhinox. No one could ever ask you for more than that."

He nodded, never taking his optics off of the floor.

She patted his shoulder, and continued on her way, shooting a quick wink at Silverbolt.

Silverbolt smiled in return. He caught a glimpse of her open sketchbook; the drawing that she had been working on when he had come in for monitor duty was of him.

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Dinobot stood in the hallway, leaning against the wall. He didn't move when Shadow Stalker wrapped her arms around his waist and pressed herself against his back.

"Are you okay?"

"I will be. …Eventually."

"D, Rhinox did everything he could-"

"I know that."

"-but that venom is something he's never dealt with before. You'll overcome it; you always do."

He shook his head, "Not this time, Shadow."

Puzzled and more than a little concerned, she moved around his side to face him, "What do you mean by 'not this time'?"

"I won't get over this; the damage has already been done."

Now, she was getting scared. "D, what're you talking about? You're scaring me."

"That acid did something to me. I don't know what, but I could feel it in my veins. In all honesty, I don't want to know what it did to me."

"…Do…do you think you're gonna…die?" She began to choke back tears as the thought hit her.

"No. …Not in the foreseeable future, that is." He sighed, "I don't know what's going to happen to me, Shadow. I might just have minor aches like Rhinox said, but then again, I might get sick and be out of commission for several days, if not longer. I just don't know."

"If you start hurting or anything, even just a little bit, you tell me immediately, okay? Don't do this whole tough-it-out shit like you usually do. If you feel anything at all out of place, tell me. It might be major."

He couldn't help but smile, "Okay."

"I'm serious, D."

"I know." He hugged her tightly, and for the first time in his life, he feared what tomorrow might bring.

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Shadow Stalker yawned, stretched, and glanced at her alarm clock. It was well past midnight, and she had a patrol route to run in the morning; she needed to get some rest.

She was worried about Dinobot. What if she woke up in the morning and found him dead? She shook her head roughly, trying to clear the image of his dead body from her mind; she really didn't want to think about that.

You're just stressed, that's all. she thought, switching off the lights, and laying down on her bed. Maybe things 'll be better in the morning. …At least, I hope they will be.

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A crowd of people loomed in front of her, looking like they were gathering around a street fight. So, this is where her captors were taking her. She struggled, and was rewarded with a smack that was so forceful, it not only snapped her head to the side, but also made her go cross-eyed for a moment. Her fellow captive also struggled, and received the same punishment.

As they neared the mob, the sea of Transformers parted, and they were shoved roughly to the front.

Two families stood at the center of the ring. One family had two small children, who were clinging to their parents and sobbing. The other family consisted of a husband holding his pregnant wife protectively.

The two captives struggled harder, crying out and cursing their captors; these were their families. They were hit again, and forced to their knees.

Three of their captors approached the two families. They pulled the two children away from their parents, held the parents back, and proceeded to rip out the children's sparks with their bare hands and crush them. Then, they did the women the same way, extracting two sparks from the pregnant female. And last, they ripped out the males' sparks, taking special care to be slow.

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"NOOOOOO!!!" Shadow Stalker screamed, jolting out of her reoccurring nightmare, and sitting straight up. Breathing hard, she glanced quickly around the room, making sure that she was alone. Then, she drew her knees up to her chest, wrapped her arms tightly around her legs, and rocked back and forth until she had slowed her breathing. Then and only then did she dare move.

Shakily, she headed for the door, going to the one place she knew her nightmares couldn't follow her.

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Dinobot awoke with a grunt when something touched him. He was about to go into attack mode, but relaxed when he realized that it was Shadow Stalker who had touched him; she had been snuggling into his body. Shadow was the only 'bot who could sneak up on him. "You're shaking." he whispered, nuzzling her neck.

"Nightmare." she replied, deciding to roll over and snuggle into his side now that she knew he was awake. She rested her head and one hand on his chest.

"Oh." He wrapped his arms around her and held her tightly, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah. I am now, anyway." Even though she tried hard to stop it, she was still shaking almost violently.

He gently kissed the top of her head, "It's all right, Shadow, I've got you. …Everything's going to be all right. I promise."

Author's Note; Thanks to Amity-Star, Libero H, and KatDrama for the reviews! You guys rock! More to come!