Chapter 9: Memories

On the Nemesis

Claw walked around the Nemesis and managed to scare most of the vehicons and others amongst the ranks. He made his way to the helm of the ship and saw Megatron standing there commanding some of the troops to search for energon mines. "Good morning Lord Megatron," Claw said as he moved his hand over his chest and bowed slightly as the silver mech turned to face him. "Is today the day you allow me to finally get my sparkmate back in my grasp, or must I continue to be watched over by Soundwave like some small sparkling?" Claw growled.

"You must understand that there are various protocols in place when dealing with Decepticons that have been outside of the ranks for far too long and do not respect my plans," Megatron said as he had his hands clasped behind his back. "And when it comes to getting Artemis back, you and I both know that there is a simple way to get her back but you seem to be scared of the repercussions due to her past relationship with me before the war."

"You want me to just break my bond with her? To shatter her spark in such a way? That is brutal my lord but I have much more use for the femme not being dead. I want her to carry my sparklings and give me valid offspring. That is all, I also want to get her back for leaving me in such a way. After all she is my sparkmate and it is my right to have her under my control. It is not my fault she was made to bond with a neutral Decepticon, the higher ups of the council and the Autobots enforced that law," Claw explained.

"I am saying to break her spark and force the Autobots to hand her over since I doubt they have the technology or the medical prowess to repair a spark of such damage," Megatron explained. "And once we have her and heal her she is yours. Until then we shall send out some troops and get the Autobots there and begin our plan to give you back your precious sparkmate." Megatron said calmly as he walked past Claw and made his way through the halls of the Nemesis. Megatron did think of a way that the Autobots could heal her spark without their help, it would be for one of them to do a full bond with her, much like she was supposed to do with him in the

He thought calmly and managed to make it back to his berth area and closed his optics and tried to focus on the remaining bond that he and Artemis had. He had never fully broken the bond in hopes of earning her back. He still somewhat cared for the blasted femme who had went ped to ped with him countless times during the war on Cybertron and even on this planet. They had a small bond but had not fully bonded due to wanting to have a proper ceremony within the pits with all the other gladiators to celebrate. Megatron knew how Claw manipulated the system and made Artemis bond with him, a forceful bond can be so dangerous especially with how Artemis's spark was already very weak to begin with from all the stress that was put on her when it came to her sire and her sister. Breaking a forceful bond would almost shatter her spark and kill her. He knew that but he also knew that Artemis chose the other side in the arena where they fought before the war. He also knew how much he still cared for her.

Flashback

Artemis and Megatronus sat in the training room for those that took part in the fights for many to watch in the pits. Megatronus was sharpening his blade to prepare for his battle later in the day. Artemis on the other hand seemed more distracted. "What is the matter?" the silver mech asked as he retracted his blade and made his way towards his soon to be sparkmate. "You have seemed more distracted since that new mech showed up," he said as he sat beside her.

Artemis went to say something and the new black armored mech with naturally dark eyes walked in and saw the pair. "He's one of my issues. I do not trust him nor like him being around us," she said as she narrowed her optics.

The dark armored mech had fresh energon over his armor as well as his blade. The mech smirked and tossed a black blade towards the pair. "I managed to tame the mech known as Beast or Eclypse," he said with ease. Artemis's optics widened. "Oh you knew him? I remember hearing something like he was your sire and the only one keeping your small pathetic family a float," he said. Artemis got up and extended her blades from her forearms and went and charged at the mech. She managed to knock him onto the ground with ease and placed her blade to his neck cables. The mech just smirked, "Fiesty one, I need you in my life" he said as he reached up and ran his claw along her cheek. "One day you will be mine," he whispered.

Artemis pulled back and went to slash her blade across his throat but Megatronus caught her arm. "Enough, he is not worth your energy especially when you have to fight soon," he said calmly, "also listen here you fragger, you will never lay a digit on my future sparkmate ever again if you do, you will wish you were being destroyed by Unicron himself." Artemis calmed down and turned towards the silver mech and leaned up and kissed him before going to prepare for her own battle that day. She grabbed her sire's sword and placed it on her back. It wasn't the family bayard but still was an important blade to herself and her sire. Megatronus picked the mech up and slammed him against the wall and held him there. "I will rip your spark out if you hurt her," he said slowly before letting him drop to the floor, "Don't forget that Claw."

Megatron shook free from his thoughts, he should have killed Claw when he had the chance, or allowed Artemis to do it that day. He sighed and laid back on his berth and allowed himself to get some rest as Soundwave took over for a few moments.

At the Autobots' Base

Artemis was lost in thought as she stood at the main felt someone touch her lower back and she turned and grabbed their wrist to look up and see that it was Ratchet. She let go of his wrist and thought of how Megatron made her break it. "I am sorry Ratch," she said quietly and turned to look back at the counsel's monitor. Ratchet frowned and moved closer and looked at her. "Ratchet please," Artemis said as she frowned and slammed her fist down on the counsel's control panel.

"Artemis, when was the last time you refueled or recharged?" Ratchet asked in a hushed tone. The other Autobots were over by the medical bay talking with the human children. Optimus though was out on patrol with Agent Fowler to speak about what had been going within the small band of Autobots.

Ratchet released a sigh and grabbed Artemis's wrist and pulled her along, she pulled her arm away from the medic. "Don't you ever grab me like that and drag me somewhere!" she screamed as some tears formed in her optics. "Claw did that and that led to him…" she stopped and saw the humans and Arcee, Bulkhead, and Bumblebee staring at her. Artemis shook her helm and stormed past the group and went back to the training area. "Frag!" she cursed and punched the wall causing the base to shake a little. Tears went down her cheeks.

Artemis was drinking from a cube of energon on Claw's ship as he was off having fun with one of the other femmes on the ship. Artemis knew she wasn't his only sparkmate and she also knew that the evil mech conned the system with so many other femmes when they were on Cybertron. Artemis heard the drunken mech stumble into the room. "There's my favorite glitch," he said as his voice was slightly slurred. Artemis set the energon cube down before turning to face him.

She glanced down and saw his package out of his lower armor. Her optics narrowed a little before he came over and grabbed her and forced her to kiss him. She pulled away and pushed him away before he grabbed him by her forearm and swung her to slam against the wall. Her front hit it and she groaned as he walked over and kicked her peds further apart.

"Open that damn armor up and let me have that prize," he whispered as he clenched the back of her neck and retracted his blade and placed it against her stomach area. "Now," he growled. She retracted her lower armor and allowed him to have his way with her. Once he was done he slammed her onto the floor and stomped hard on her midsection. "Onto the next one," Claw said. Artemis laid on the floor with tears going down her cheeks and closed her lower armor and curled up on the floor. This was a daily event.

Artemis was shaken from her thoughts as she saw Ratchet standing there as well as Optimus. "Get away," she growled as she moved her hand up and wiped her tears away before pulling away from the wall that she left a dent in. "Please, I can't operate with you both in here and looking at me like you want to save me again," Artemis said as she looked at the pair of mechs with her very tired optics. Optimus stepped forward before stopping to look down at her. "Don't you dare give me one of your damn pep talks Orion! I don't want to hear it, we all know what I have to do if I want to keep my damned spark safe and to keep you both safe as well," Artemis said loudly.

"Artemis please calm down," Ratchet said calmly as he made his way towards the femme. "Yes, we both want to keep you safe and we both know we screwed up but please calm down," he said in a very soft voice. Artemis took a step back and turned away from them as the medic spoke. "For Primus' sake, I kissed you Artemis and confessed my feelings to you. Of course I don't want to lose you to that horrible mech again! I tried to save you back on Cybertron but you are too stubborn to not let us help you," Ratchet said as his voice raised with his passion. "I'm not the only one that feels this way. I know I am not but let us protect you from him!" he said as he walked closer to her. "I know you might not feel the same way and you might want to be with Optimus instead or even want to be with Megatron, but do not go crawling back to him." Ratchet said as he gently pulled her into a hug. Artemis fought back and pushed the medic away.

Optimus walked over and placed his hand on the femme's shoulder. "I care about you deeply, and there was a crush there but you and I both know it was a crush and mutual respect. Not to mention me being technically still bonded to a femme you still hate," Optimus smiled. Artemis rested her helm against the medic's shoulder and smiled. "There's that smile, we will protect you whether you want us too or not," Optimus said before he walked away and frowned. He did still want to be with Artemis but knew how much Ratchet wanted to be with Artemis and how close the pair was. Optimus was also still bonded to Elita One, the pair had been together since the golden age of Cybertron.