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 14

Courage

by Switchblade X

Silverbolt watched the sparring match between Dinobot and Shadow Stalker with growing concern. Dinobot was mad about something, and it showed; he was going unusually hard on Shadow Stalker. Sensing that something bad was going to happen, he left the observation deck, and rushed toward the training room.

Shadow Stalker tried to execute a quick snap-kick, but Dinobot grabbed her ankle, slung her around, and sent her flying toward a nearby wall. She cried out once when she hit the wall, leaving a huge dent in the metal, fell face first to the floor, and lay still.

"Oh, shit." Dinobot said, realizing that he had just screwed up big time. Quickly, he rushed to her side.

"Don't touch her!" Silverbolt commanded as he ran across the training room floor.

"Don't tell me what to do!" the raptor snapped as the Fuzor fell to his knees beside him.

"Shadow?" Silverbolt asked, ignoring Dinobot. "Shadow, can you hear me?"

She didn't respond.

"Oh, Primus. Shadow?!"

Beginning to get really scared, Dinobot reached out, and gently rolled Shadow Stalker onto her back. "Shadow?" he asked, noticing a small stream of mech-fluid that was running from one corner of her mouth.

"Shit." Silverbolt tapped his commlink, "Silverbolt to Rhinox."

"Rhinox here. What's up, Silverbolt? You sound worried."

"I…I think Dinobot just hurt Shadow Stalker."

"What?"

Quickly, he glanced at the older warrior, who was completely wrapped up in checking for Shadow Stalker's pulse. "I think Dinobot just hurt Shadow Stalker. They were sparring, and…there was an accident."

"Is she badly damaged?"

"I don't know. She's bleeding internally, that much I know."

"Bring her to the lab."

"The lab? Why not the CR chamber?"

"I need to see how badly she's injured; I might need to do some repairs before we put her in the CR chamber. Now, hurry!" The link went dead.

Silverbolt looked at Dinobot, "You should learn to be more careful, Dinobot; women are very fragile creatures."

"That…shows how much you know…'bout this woman." Shadow Stalker rasped, pushing herself into a sitting position and wiping away the mech-fluid from her mouth with the back of her hand. "I don't break that easily."

Carefully, Dinobot scooped her up and headed out of the room, murmuring his apologies to her.

Quickly scrambling up, Silverbolt followed the couple out.

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"Well, aside from the fact that half of your ribcage is shattered, you're in one piece." Rhinox said. "Though I don't see how; the angle at which you hit that wall would've killed anyone else."

Shadow Stalker tried to shrug, "It takes more than a wall to kill me."

"Apparently." He sighed, "Silverbolt, take her to a CR chamber. I need to have a little talk with Dinobot about how much bigger he is in comparison to Shadow Stalker."

Silverbolt nodded, gently picked Shadow Stalker up, and headed for the door.

Dinobot growled loudly. The mere idea of someone else touching Shadow Stalker made his mech-fluid boil.

"He's not going to do anything to her." Rhinox said, as the door hissed shut behind Silverbolt.

"I don't care." Dinobot snarled. "Shadow Stalker is mine. This whole thing was my fault; I should be in his place."

"True as that is, you and I have a little talking to do."

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"I'm not made of glass, you know."

"In your current state, m'lady, you might as well be."

She sighed in surrender, and rested her head against his shoulder. "Whatever you say, Silverbolt. Whatever you say."

"…Why do you let Dinobot knock you around like that?"

"I don't."

"Shadow…"

"Are you suggesting that Dinobot is abusive?"

"No. It's just…well, when he gets mad, people get hurt. He was mad about something when he threw you into that wall."

"Okay, first off, that was a sparring match; you're supposed to go all-out. Second: he's still pissed about Waspy's little encounter with Mega-butt last night. And third; D has never intentionally hurt me."

"I know. Frankly, I don't know how he trains with you; I could never bring myself to strike a female."

"Sweetheart, you're a bit to chivalrous for your own good sometimes."

He smiled, "I know. It's a fatal flaw, I'm afraid."

She grinned, "Don't worry so much, okay? It's not healthy."

"I can't help but worry sometimes. I mean, we're in the middle of a war; one tends to worry about his comrades."

"Yeah, that's true."

He glanced down at her, "Are you in pain?"

"Nah. I've taken harder knocks than this. And dished 'em out. Ask D; he's been on the receiving end of a few good licks from me."

"We're almost there."

"Good. …Thanks for carrying me, Sir Galahad."

Again, he smiled, "The honor is mine, m'lady."

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As soon as Shadow Stalker exited the CR chamber, Dinobot was scooping her up into a tight hug. He began rattling off apologies, but she silenced him with a gentle kiss.

"Mmmm." he groaned, all of his worry dissolving into nothingness in that one instant.

"It's okay, D." she said, relaxing against his powerful body. "I know you didn't intentionally hurt me."

"But-"

Gently, she pressed a finger over his lips, "Shhh. All that's over with and done. Let's move on, okay?"

He sighed in surrender, "All right, all right. You win."

Behind them, the radio crackled, and Cheetor's voice filled the command center, "Cheetor to base! Base, come in!"

Pulling away from Shadow Stalker, Dinobot went over to a console, "Base here. Go ahead."

"I need backup ASAP!"

"Where are you?"

"Grid Delta, coordinates nine-oh-six-point-four-four-two. I--AAH!" There was an explosion and the link went dead.

"Cheetor?" Dinobot asked.

Static answered him.

"Cheetor!"

Still static.

"Shit!" Quickly, he switched channels, "Dinobot to Optimus."

"Optimus here, go ahead."

"Cheetor just called for backup. Shadow Stalker and I are going after him."

"All right. Take Waspinator with you."

"But-"

"That's an order." The link went dead.

Grumbling to himself, Dinobot radioed Waspinator. "Base to Waspinator."

"Waspinator here. Go ahead, base."

"Cheetor just called for backup. Shadow Stalker and I are going after him. Optimus said to bring you along."

"Okay. Where is Cheetor?"

"Grid Delta, coordinates nine-oh-six-point-four-four-two."

"I'm close by right now; I'll see you there. Waspinator out."

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Cheetor never thought he'd live to see the day when he was glad to see Waspinator.

"Dinobot and Shadow Stalker are on the way." he said as he landed beside the wounded cheetah, who had been taking shelter behind a rock.

"Good." Cheetor replied.

"Are you badly wounded?"

"I've been worse."

Before Waspinator could say anything else, the rock was blown to pieces, sending both of them flying. Cheetor landed several yards away; he didn't get up. "Cheetor!" Waspinator cried, scrambling up and rushing to his comrade's side.

Blackarachnia cackled, "Awww, how cute! The traitor has a friend!"

Before he could stop himself, Waspinator whipped out his pistol and snapped off a shot at her.

With a small yelp, Blackarachnia went down.

Quickstrike and Inferno opened fire on the two Maximals, Inferno shouting "For the Royalty!", and Quickstrike hollering "Yee-haw!"

Trying to protect Cheetor, Waspinator took some pretty hard hits. He fell, but managed to climb to his knees and return fire. Where are you, Shadow? he wondered.

"I will bring your lifeless carcass to the Royalty as a trophy, traitor to the Colony!" Inferno declared.

"Kiss my striped ass!" Waspinator yelled, firing several rounds at the ant while dodging the shots that came at from Quickstrike.

Cheetor managed to sit up and take Quickstrike out with a single shot before collapsing again.

Inferno started in for the kill, but was knocked out by a green laser bolt to the head.

Dinobot! Waspinator thought, relieved that help had finally arrived.

"Waspy!" Shadow Stalker exclaimed, rushing to him.

"You're a bit late." he said as she helped him stand.

"Yeah, sorry. But, it looks like you did a good job by yourself."

"Waspinator did great." Cheetor said before Dinobot picked him up and draped him over one shoulder.

The wasp smiled sheepishly, and was about to reply when he saw the amount of damage that had been inflicted upon his former comrades. He stared at the broken bodies, beginning to tremble. He had done most of that. He had seriously damaged three of the 'bots that he had once fought beside. If one of them died, it would be his fault.

"Waspy?" Shadow Stalker asked, bending down in front of him so that she could look him straight in the optics. "Waspy, are you okay?"

"I-" he managed, before breaking down into sobs and throwing his arms around her.

"Whoa. What's wrong?" She put her arms around him, trying to comfort him.

"I hurt them, Shadow." he said between sobs, burying his face in her shoulder. "I hurt the people that I once fought so hard with. Just like I hurt Megatron the other night."

"Oh, Waspy." She leaned her head against his, "You didn't have any choice. I can guarantee that they wouldn't have thought twice before hurting you."

"I've never been so scared in my whole life." Waspinator continued.

Dinobot rolled his optics, watching Waspinator's breakdown with disgust.

Shadow Stalker shot Dinobot a look that told him to keep his mouth shut. "I know. …But, you gotta remember, Waspy; everyone must face their fears at one point in time."

He sniffled, "I know."

"You did that today. And you came through just fine."

Author's Note; Nobody reviewed chapter 13, so I can't say my thank-yous. =( More to come.