Kind of a continuation of the last part, but not a full-on chapter. At most, it'll be 2k words.

Also, it'll be half in Arcee's perspective, just to mix things up a little.

Enjoy!

"Do not confuse my bad days as a sign of weakness. Those are actually the days I'm fighting my hardest."

- Unknown

Chapter Fifteen: Chaos and Control

Arcee's POV

It was getting pretty late in the day. I decided it was about time to head back down to the others. Primus knows Silver would've been in her version of panic. My sister always got so worried, like if anything happened to me she'd feel somehow responsible for not being there to stop it.

I guess I was sometimes guilty of doing that too.

When I went back down from the rooftop, there was an eerie silence in the main room. Nearly everyone had gone to berth. Even Optimus and Ratchet weren't there.

Silver was still up though. Well...kinda. She was sitting on a crate she'd evidently been using as a chair, laying face down on the computer in recharge.

I couldn't help smiling when I saw that. It reminded me of back in Prax when she'd fall asleep studying for an exam she had the next day. She never failed a test in school, but lost recharge because of it.

And because of the nightmares.

I was just thankful that phase had passed.

I stealthily tip-toed over to Silver, careful not to wake her just yet. Once I reached her, I gave a little nudge on her shoulder.

"Silver Sun," I whispered in a sing-song voice, "Cybertron to Silver, do you read?"

She didn't wake up fully, just mumbled a little, "Nnnnnn..."

"C'mon, you can't actually be comfortable recharging like that," I said a little louder.

"No...don't..." She continued to murmur in her sleep, "...Don't do it."

I instantly recognised the way she was behaving. A dream. More accurately, a nightmare. My optics widened.

"Silver? Silver, listen to me," I began talking with more severity in my tone, "Scrap, please let it not be another one..."

My spark sank as tears started to fall from her optics, "Don't, please...Don't kill him!"

I reached out to try to calm her down, but yelped as a spark of electricity shot from her frame. The charge created a small burn mark on my arm.

"Scrap!" I yelled louder than intended.

She must have sensed the charge. My sister bolted upright, optics looking directly ahead in fear. Her breathing was heavier than usual, probably from the stress. She glanced up to see me there next to her.

"A-Arcee..." Silver stuttered in a weak voice, quickly making a point to wipe away her tears, "I...I'm sorry. Wh-What'd you say?"

"What did I say? " I repeated in disbelief, clutching my arm to cover the mark, "What the Pit was that nightmare about?!"

Her optics grew slightly as she realised, "Y-You mean...you know?"

"Know that you're nightmares are back? Yeah. You shouted 'Don't kill him'. Who is 'him'?"

Instead of replying, her gaze fell onto the burn as I covered it, "Why are you holding your arm like that?"

Before I could respond, she gently grasped hold of my other servo and removed it from the wound it was blocking. Her shoulders sank.

"I did that," She muttered, though it was more of a statement than a question.

"No, Sil, I-I'm fine," I tried to persuade her, "Look, I understand. Your powers are getting stronger."

She shook her helm, "Arcee, you don't understand. I don't even understand."

"But I believe that I might," A deep voice suddenly spoke from behind us.

We both turned back to see Optimus standing there, gazing directly at Silver with the kind of look that said he was dead-serious. I knew what that look meant.

Switch to Silver Sun's POV

I froze.

There was the leader of the Autobots standing there. Looking solemn as ever.

I had no idea how much he'd heard of our conversation, but could already feel the panic rising within me. Though there was some comfort I took in the knowledge that he already knew about my powers.

"Optimus," My sister began, "She-She was just having a bad dream. I promise, it's fine."

His expression remained, "Silver Sun, may I speak to you alone?"

Not really seeing what choice I had, I sighed and began heading for the hallway where he stood. I turned back one last time to see my sister giving me a helpless look, but smiled to reassure her.

Optimus strode alongside me as we walked down the hallway. I was way too nervous to even look up at him for fear that I would see his memories (that would've been one long history lesson). Nope. Instead, I stared ahead at the ground.

Eventually, he spoke, "You are aware that I know of your abilities, correct?"

I didn't look up. I just nodded.

"I overheard your conversation," He continued, "Including the theory of your powers growing stronger."

Finally, I broke, "O-Optimus, I swear on my spark, I would never hurt anyone on our team. Or any humans. I've only ever used my powers twice against another living person, once to defend myself from Airachnid."

"And the other occasion?" He questioned.

"Well, I..." I began but was hesitant to finish, "One of the others who used to pick on me...wound up in stasis for a week. All because I messed up."

I was expecting him to say something along the lines of "What the Pit did you do to them?!" Instead, he just nodded in acceptance of my answer.

After that, we walked in silence until we got to the training room. I was a little confused as to why we were there. We went inside.

Optimus sighed, turning back to face me, "This is not the first time I have encountered powers resembling yours. From what you've told me, you fear your abilities instead of trying to control them."

"B-But I do control them," I defended slightly.

"No. You merely block the energy from being released, hence why it tries to escape," He continued. It was surprising how much he knew about this, "As long as you suppress power, it will always fight back. You must learn to focus your energy, to harness it."

He then gestured to the target on the other side of the room. In cooperation, I transformed my arms into blasters and tried remembering how to aim properly.

Optimus shook his helm, "Not with guns. With the charge."

I sheathed my blades but looked at him apologetically, "Sorry, I...can't exactly 'summon' them."

He thought for a moment before he responded, "When they...occur, what do you feel? What do you think? How do you act?"

I tried to think, "In the mines, I was scared of Airachnid, but Bee had just been...just been hurt. Um, so I guess it's like fear and anger at the same time?"

"That is how they grow beyond control and mindlessly attack the nearest being they find. If you wish to harness that, you must find the point between rage and serenity," He took a step to the side so I could properly aim at the target, "Think of this not as bringing harm to what you despise, but as saving someone you love. Arcee for example."

I did what he said. I tried to reimagine Airachnid as the target - someone I despised. Then I thought of protecting Arcee. Everything Airachnid had done to her enraged me.

My servos curled into fists as I felt the charge begin to grow.

Every argument about combat. Every mission she felt so eager to jump on. Every time she'd cry to herself late at night over remembering Tailgate. And the Decepticon responsible for all of it.

My optics opened to stare down the target, but it had already been burnt to ash. It must've happened unconsciously, but I suppose that made some sense given that I couldn't order them what to do. I turned to Optimus, who stared in shock at the aftermath.

"Well..." He spoke with a heavy tone in his voice, "...At least now I know what we're dealing with."

"Optimus?" I spoke up, still avoiding his optics, "With all due respect, sir, you heard what I was saying to Arcee about not knowing fully what my powers are. Why are you helping me?"

He considered for a moment before responding, "Part of being a leader means having the will to understand others, even if it means helping them to understand themselves first. If you had come to me and told me this upon your arrival, I would not have outcasted you for it."

I glanced down in embarrassment at the floor, "About that...I'm sorry for not coming clean sooner."

"No need to apologise," He told me, "But as of now, I must ask that you tell no one else of this."

"Not going to be a problem," I half-smiled jokingly. Though telling anyone else compared to Optimus Prime felt much less daunting.

Optimus continued, "Not to obscure my trust in the rest of the team, however Decepticons have been known to use Cybertronians such as yourself. And I do not wish for that to happen to you."

I knew what he was talking about. I knew I was part of an experiment - or at least my parents were. Enhanced Cybertronians were mostly apart of the Decepticon side because of their twisted experiments on Autobots.

I nodded in understanding of what he was saying, "I'll try to use these abilities for the better."

"I have no doubts that you won't try your best," He said reassuringly.

Though some things were out of our control.

_

Just because I felt like I could've written more for the last chapter, but didn't want to write too much. I'm uploading this at like half midnight, so I may or may not regret it in the morning.

Hope you enjoyed this chapter! Next one will be about TMI.

Also, a small sidenote: I'm gonna be starting a one-shot series for this story soon. It's because I have loads of ideas for chapters and have written some out, but just can't find the right place for it to fit in with these chapters.

If you have any ideas, just comment them and I'll try my best. Also, ChildOfGod8080, thanks for the review and I'll be including your idea as part of the one-shot :-)

'Til All Are One,

GreyroseLegacy