Disclaimer: I own nothing.

AN: Damn heat. My Dad won't turn on the air conditioner until it hits 90. so I suffer through 88 degree temps with no relief.

Chapter 5

"Augh," Sideswipe woke to something tapping on his head. After the night he'd had he needed more than just a few hours of recharge. After he left Blurr's room and got back to his own room, the shock of what Spindle had tried wore off. Then he ended breaking down. Luckily Hot Shot had night guard duty so he wasn't there.

"Mmm… stop that," Sideswipe grunted brushing whatever it was away from his head. To his surprise he heard what sounded like it was …flapping.

Sideswipe allowed a slight amount of energy to go to his optics so he could get a vague outline of his annoying guest. Seeing an outline of what appeared to be a bird he sent more power. As his vision cleared he realized Lazerbeak was hovering over his head trying to get his attention.

"What?" he asked, figuring Rad had sent Lazerbeak to get him for whatever reason. He was slightly surprised that he didn't hear Rad's voice answering him, just Lazerbeak's silent stare. "Rad?" No answer.

Just then the buzzer informing everyone to report to the central command room sounded. Looking back at Lazerbeak, Sideswipe was hit with a sudden feeling of dread.

"Why'd ya call a meeting Optimus?" Jetfire asked after everyone had arrived.

"We have a problem," Optimus said simply.

"Obviously. You wouldn't have called us here if we didn't," Scavenger stated, crossing his arms over his chest.

"What's the problem?" Hot Shot asked.

"Rad didn't go home last night," Carlos said worriedly.

"Huh?"

"But Rad left the base last night," Hot Shot said.

"Yes, we all saw him leave. But the problem is he never made it home," Optimus said.

"Then where did he go?" Hoist asked.

"And more importantly, who did he go with and did he go willingly," Optimus said. Everyone startled. It hadn't occurred to them that Rad might have been kidnapped, though now that they thought about it this wouldn't be the first time someone kidnapped one of the kids.

"What reason would anyone have to kidnap Rad?" Jetfire asked.

"Depends on who did the kidnapping," Scavenger put in. "If it was Megatron he'd probably be looking for blackmail. But if it was somebody else then their reasoning would be completely different."

"Who else would want to kidnap Rad?" Hot Shot asked. Everyone looked at one another to see if they had a clue.

"His dad," Carlos said.

"Mr. Bailey?" Optimus asked.

"No. His real dad," Sideswipe answered. Everyone looked at Sideswipe. "Rad's real dad's in jail though, so he shouldn't have been able to get anywhere near him."

"How do you know?" Scavenger asked.

"Rad told me," Sideswipe said simply.

"Red Alert, go hack into the prison files for—What's his name?" Optimus asked.

"Jason White," Sideswipe answered.

"Check the status of Jason White," Optimus ordered Red Alert. Red Alert nodded and hurried off.

Optimus turned back to Carlos. "We'll find him," he assured the human. Carlos just nodded, looking far from reassured.

Rad was vaguely aware of a buzzing in his head. Being semi-conscious he managed to mostly ignore it while trying to slip back into the darkness of complete unconsciousness. He instinctively knew that regaining full consciousness would bring something he didn't want to face right now.

Metal scarping on metal brought Rad to a state of full wakefulness… and an intense pain in his head.

'What happened?' he thought to himself through the pain. He remembered watching the sunset outside the base after Carlos had headed home but that was it.

Urging his vision to clear Rad looked up at the room he was in. Not surprisingly it was small, empty, and metal. Rad remembered a transformer grabbing him and then taking off. What happened next?

That sound he heard after that, like something was cutting the air. A helicopter! That was the transformers vehicle mode! But it hadn't been Cyclonus, Rad would definitely recognize that nut job after the last time he tried to kidnap him. Plus he would have heard Cyclonus' insane giggling from a few miles away.

So who grabbed him? Was there some new Decepticon out there looking to take down the Autobots by taking the kids hostage again? But then why weren't Carlos and Alexis here? The bad guys never spilt prisoners up, it was easier to watch them when they were all in the same place.

A metal panel near the floor slid aside and a tray with what appeared to be food was slid inside by a big metal hand. Well, whoever had him was interested in keeping him alive at least. But to be honest Rad wasn't sure that that was a good thing.

AN: R&R

Arsenic: Ain't love grand?

The Enforcer: No. I caught my husband with another guy.

Arsenic: Yeah sorry about that.

The Enforcer: I still can't believe you made out with my husband. I thought you had better taste than that.