"Yes I'm stuck in the middle with you, and I'm wondering what it is I should do. It's so hard to keep this smile from my face. Losing control yeah I'm all over the place."

Louise

"Tap on my window knock on my door, I want to make you feel beautiful. I don't mind spending everyday out on your corner in the pouring rain. Look for the girl with the broken smile. Ask her if she wants to stay awhile and she will be loved."

Maroon 5

Long shadows crept over the Decepticon base as 'night' arrived. Most Decepticons had passed out the evening before from over-energizing, except for one. Lyra lay in the position Thundercracker had thrown her, unable to move through the pain. Her internal readouts had been shrieking danger long enough to merit their deactivation.

'I'm alive,' she thought, in shock. She shouldn't be. The darkness changed dimension as the light in a nearby hallway sent a beam closer to her. It alleviated little of her apprehension. 'Stupid Autobot, you should be dead.'

Footsteps clattered by the door. An evil presence emerged, filling her with more fear. He was here to finish the job. Painfully lifting her head to see who it was, she saw his arm reach for something on the wall. He turned on the light.

Megatron watched her feebly attempt to make out who transpired from the darkness using the only optic still fastened to her head, causing his mouth to involuntarily twist upward. "No..." she whispered. The light hurt, too. She tried to cover it with the hand that wasn't blasted off.

"My dear..." he saw her crushed and torn face crumple at the address. Interesting. "...I came to see if you were still functioning."

"I still function. My apologies." Her voice was barely audible.

The large silver warrior laughed. Even at the brink of a slow and miserable death she had a sense of sarcasm. He liked that. It was more fun to reduce her to nothing when she resisted. "How is it that you never die? They should have called you Phoenix."

"No more names," she groaned, resting her head back on the floor. Lyra's body howled in anguish at every movement. Her face still stung from Megatron's well-placed initiation punch. "Whatever you are going to do, get it over with."

"I came to see how you were doing."

"Liar." If her lip had not been split in half, she would have sneered.

The Decepticon leader stopped smiling. She had never been this bold when she was under him! Megatron never tolerated insolence, especially from a renegade. "You insult me while you are helpless. This is not deferential to your former leader."

"What have I got to lose?" she asked defiantly, hearing the energon bars stop crackling and the silver mech's encroaching steps. She could not lift her head again to see, it hurt too much.

"More than you can ever imagine," he growled. "You may have been broken in every way possible, but there was one violation I prevented occurring-although it is Soundwave's favorite." He gestured to his associate, who had just now arrived with his mind-scan device out and ready for use. "I think that can be postponed, for now." The smirk re-emerged as Megatron paused to allow realization to process.

She tried to scream but it came out sounding like a hiccup.

"No witty retort. Disappointing." He propped her body up on bent and twisted wings to allow her to watch them better. "Did you tell anyone about..." smirk "...your extracurricular activities?"

Megatron was never one to leave something sacred. Or forgotten. "There's nothing to tell." If she had the strength she would slap him in the face, but the only thing she could do was curl her misshapen face into a painful frown. "I was only doing what any other Decepticon does: paying homage to my commander."

"An accolade I'm sure Optimus Prime never receives from ANY of his underlings, except for Elita-1." His hand followed the dented lines that had once been her chestplate. "As for myself...you and I are overdue. I hope you can still disappear."

When she and Mirage were in spy training the females were taken into another room and given a "special talk"-not to scare them, it was just a warning-but if ever in a situation like this, shut their optics off and think of Cybertron. They were warned that the female body was easily probed and tortured due to its lesser armor. The foolish girls had a hearty laugh over that.

Lyra's only thought as the silver bully's heavy bulk enveloped her and he added another pain to her collection was of Starscream.

Elita-1 hugged Moonracer as hard as she could, refusing to let go of one of her most valued Autobots. Chromia hugged them both. The other females were so overcome with emotion they rushed over and joined the group, embracing and jumping up and down at the same time. Sunstreaker dampened the excitement by demanding to know where Nova was. Moonracer pulled away from the females, subdued by the chilling reminder.

"What is it?" Andromeda asked, concerned.

"Nova turned. I saw the swearing-in."

Elita-1 covered her mouth. A few gasped. "No!" Moonracer looked at Sunstreaker sorrowfully. Saying nothing, he turned and punched the orange wall next to him. A few protested this action while he ignored the energon leaking from his split knuckles.

Optimus Prime was tired of the drama. "Sunstreaker, go to med bay. Elita, we cannot mourn for Nova while there is an even bigger threat. The Decepticons have a massive space bridge under our construction site and a renegade ninja stalking us. We're down a flying spy, too."

"She's back where she belongs!" called Sunstreaker, still holding his leaking hand.

"Stop! Sunstreaker, GO TO MED BAY." He stood up and opened the hallway door, addressing four Autobots at once as he strode into the room. "Ironhide! Get me Cosmos! Elita-1, what have you decided? Bumblebee, where did Prowl go? I need him to assemble the attack team. Jazz! Who's on patrol and within driving distance of the Autobot City site? Cosmos! Come in!" The life of an Autobot leader was a never-ending stream of giving orders.