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 8

Scream

by Switchblade X

Silverbolt awoke with a gasp inside the CR chamber. For a split second, he wondered where he was and what had happened. Then he remembered; he had come to answer Cheetor's distress call, and had been shot down.

Cheetor! Was he all right? Did more backup arrive in time? If backup hadn't arrived, had he been taken captive?

The chamber hissed and opened. He transformed, and walked into the light. It took his optics a moment to adjust.

"Hey."

He looked at Shadow Stalker, who sat at the table beside Dinobot, and smiled. "Hey."

"How're you feelin'?" Rhinox asked from a nearby computer console.

"Considering my previous condition, I'm feeling rather well."

"That's good."

"What happened?"

"What's the last thing you remember?"

"Being shot down and hearing Cheetor call for backup again."

The Maximal scientist nodded, "Dinobot and Shadow Stalker answered that call. Shadow Stalker was injured, and you'll never guess who helped Dinobot and Cheetor bring the two of you home."

Silverbolt sighed and sat down at the table, "Do I want to know?"

"Waspinator."

"Waspinator?!"

He nodded, "Yup. Apparently, he and Shadow Stalker are pretty good friends. He stayed here until she came out of the CR chamber, then went back to his base."

"Was that wise? I mean, he could be telling Megatron the exact layout of our command center as we speak."

"Nah. Waspinator was too concerned with Shadow Stalker to even take his optics off of the CR chamber."

"I love the way you people talk about us like we're not here." Shadow Stalker said, standing. She turned to Silverbolt, "Waspinator is my friend. We've been friends for a very long time. I am the only friend he's ever had, and I know for a fact that he would never do anything that would hurt me."

"Waspinator's not the sharpest tool in the shed, y'know." Rhinox pointed out.

"He's not stupid! Waspinator used to be a brilliant scientist! Smarter than even you, Rhinox. But there was an accident involving energon, nitroglycerin, and some radioactive stuff; the lab was destroyed. His assistant and several others were killed instantly. He, on the other hand survived, but was badly damaged. The best surgeons on Cybertron couldn't repair him completely. He was never the same again." She sighed, "Don't talk about him like he's an idiot, 'cause he's not. He can't help the way he is now, and I don't appreciate other people who don't know him talking slag about him." And with that, she exited the command enter.

Dinobot sighed wearily, and stood. "This is getting old." he mumbled, following her.

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"What am I going to do with her?" Optimus asked, sounding very frustrated. "Knowing that she might betray us at any given moment is bad enough, but to have her heading out to Primus knows where every day? If Dinobot didn't follow her and bring her back every blessed time, who knows where she would go and what she would do!"

"Shadow Stalker is a very…complex…person. She's got some major issues." Rhinox shrugged, "You gotta remember, though, Dinobot was like that when he first came to us."

"And that's exactly what's gotten me fed up so quickly! Dealing with Dinobot those first months was trying enough. I'm not going to put up with this slag any more."

"What are you going to do?"

"First, I'm going to try to talk to her."

"And if that doesn't work?"

Optimus was silent for a long time, "If that doesn't work……I'm afraid we'll have to deactivate her."

"Optimus! You can't be serious!"

"I am. I don't want to deactivate her; the very idea is repulsive. But, she's a danger to herself and everyone around her. I can't have her endangering my crew."

"…This won't go over well with Dinobot."

"I know."

"You might end up having to deactivate him as well. He's very protective of her."

"That's a chance we'll have to take."

This time, Rhinox was silent for a moment; "It's hard to imagine Dinobot in love with something besides battle."

"I know."

"It's kinda scary, actually."

"Rhinox, very few things scare me nowadays. And Dinobot having a girlfriend is not one of them."

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She didn't move when he sat down beside her on the cliff outcropping that looked out over a lake.

"You can't keep doing this."

"I know."

A long and uncomfortable silence passed between them.

He shifted uneasily, trying to ignore the ache that was making itself known between his shoulders. "Come back with me."

"Why?"

"What do you mean?"

"Why should I go back? You're the only one who really wants me there."

"So? At least someone wants you."

She sighed and stood, "You're not going to send me on a guilt trip."

He stood, "No, I'm not. But I am going to tell you the truth. Shadow, you can't keep running from your problems. Eventually, you're going to have to deal with them."

"I know."

Dinobot looked at her for a moment, his optics studying her face closely. "You don't know how."

She nodded, "I used to know how to deal. But…after everything that's happened since I came here, I don't remember how I did it before."

"I see. …You still haven't recovered completely from the crash, have you?"

"Not really. That's probably the closest to death I've come in several years."

He nodded, "I understand."

Shadow Stalker was about to say something else, when she froze, her optics locked onto something behind Dinobot.

"What?" he asked.

"When I say go, duck, get out of the way, and radio the base. Tell Rhinox to send backup."

He nodded, his body tensing up.

"Go!"

In the split second that it took Dinobot to leap out of the way, Shadow Stalker whipped out her pistol, and opened fire on Rampage. Rampage dodged the blasts, and lunged.

"Dinobot to base!" he yelled over the commlink as soon as he landed.

"Base here. Go ahead." Rhinox answered.

"We are under attack! Send reinforcements!"

"10-4, Dinobot; we'll be there shortly. Base out."

"Well, well. Look who we have here." Tarantulas said, dropping down from a nearby overhang. "It's my favorite traitor, Dinobot."

The raptor growled, and opened fire on the spider.

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Silverbolt cursed himself for not being a Transmetal. If only he had Cheetor's speed!

"Ey, Birddog! Where are ya?" Rattrap asked over the comm.

"I'm about five miles from the target. Where are you?"

"I'm about three."

"Good. Get over there and provide as much cover fire as you can. I'll be there shortly." It's been fifteen minutes since Dinobot radioed in. he thought. Primus only knows what's happened since then.

"See ya dere. Rattrap out."

Something told Silverbolt that this was not going to be an ordinary battle. Something told him that with this battle, his life as well as everyone else's was about to change drastically.

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Rattrap whistled lowly when he finally made it to the battleground.

Silverbolt swore softly as he landed and transformed.

Pieces of Tarantulas and Rampage littered the rocky cliff, although the two Predacons were nowhere in sight. Dinobot, who was badly damaged, was struggling to his feet, but Shadow Stalker lay near the cliff's edge trembling violently.

"Late as usual." the raptor snarled upon seeing Silverbolt and Rattrap.

"Good ta know you're still alive, too." Rattrap replied.

"Do you think you can make it back to the base?" Silverbolt asked, following Dinobot to where Shadow Stalker lay.

"I don't have much choice, do I?" He knelt down beside Shadow Stalker, and gently rolled her onto her back.

She was crying.

"What happened?" Dinobot asked, his tone of voice changing from pissed-off to seriously concerned in a millisecond.

She tried to answer, but couldn't.

Carefully, he picked her up and cradled her protectively.

Shadow Stalker cried out, clutching her stomach.

"What happened ta her?" Rattrap asked, walking over to the trio.

"That's what we're trying to figure out." Silverbolt answered, kneeling beside Dinobot.

"Shadow? What happened, baby girl?" Dinobot asked, beginning to get scared.

She drew a shuddering breath, "He raped me."

Author's Note; Thanks to KatDrama for the reviews! They are greatly appreciated! I would have put this up yesterday (5/30), but my entire state was pounded with tornadoes and super-cell thunderstorms from about 10:30 a.m. yesterday until about 5:00 a.m. today (5/31). More to come!