There was a heavy crunch of dirt as he was walking through the dense forest searching for something—for someone. His footsteps abruptly stopped. There was a moment of silence and the sounds of leaves crashing against each other echoed throughout the area. A sudden gust had brushed against his armor, almost like something was crawling underneath the layers of his metal.

He'd been searching for her since her departure. It's like she disappeared from the face of the earth. The thought of her not being with them anymore had caused him to feel bitter. So much, in fact, that it has not only affected him negatively, it was beginning to cause a problem towards those around him. His emotions were getting the best of him.

Suddenly his thoughts were interrupted by someone contacting him via comm-link; it was Optimus. He had reached out to him, wanting to know how his search was going.

"There hasn't been a single sign of her." Ratchet glumly said.

"Don't give up, old friend. We will find her eventually." Optimus reassured but this wasn't enough to ease the field medic.

Ratchet shook his head. "Optimus, it's been two days since we lost contact with her. The overwhelming power of the relic is preventing us from finding her! I'm... I'm beginning to wonder that maybe...she doesn't want to be found. Not after what we put her through that day."

"Whatever caused her to react the way she did is unknown." Optimus clarified to Ratchet whom remained silent. "I advice you return to base, old friend. You've been exerting yourself since her sudden departure. I know you mean well in finding her but we need you here Ratchet. Don't oppress yourself from this, because it's not your fault."

Ratchet was about to argue but he hesitated to do so. He knew deep down that Optimus had a point. He was still the medic of the team, yet here he was, aimlessly searching for someone that couldn't be found while at the same time he was neglecting his position as the medic.

"I'll be sending a Ground Bridge to your coordinates," Optimus informed, leaving Ratchet alone with his thoughts.

The sun had begun to slowly disappear halfway down over the horizon, a beam of light reflected right onto him. It felt warm, not harsh enough to make him squint. All he could do was stare off into the distance longingly. He sucked in the air and lets it out as his shoulder-pads visibly slumped forward. Then a couple of seconds later the sound of the vortex swirling behind him could be heard.

Ratchet turns to take a few steps towards where the vortex awaited him. However, he stopped abruptly and turns his head over his shoulder-pad to stare at the horizon where the sun had finally set and was staring off at the now magenta skies. With one final gaze at the sky as he proceeds to walk through the Ground Bridge. On the other side Ratchet had arrived at the main room of the base yet there was no other autobot nor human present, except for Optimus.

Optimus welcomes him back and Ratchet simply shakes his head in acknowledgement and then walks past him and headed straight towards the med bay where he immediately began to use the monitors. The prime had a visible frown form on his face and was staring off to where Ratchet was before resuming back to what he was doing.

Ratchet was checking up on everyone that was currently out in the field to see their progress, there were no reports as of yet. The only lead they ever received was provided by Agent Fowler. He informed them on the same day of her disappearance that Lucy had contacted the hospital where she was working at and telling them that she had an urgent call and that it was a "family emergency". Ever since then it has been radio silent. She hasn't made any attempts to contact anyone in order to keep a low profile for the time being.

What really struck out to him the most was this supposed "family emergency" cover-up she made up. It just didn't sit right with him. He wasn't the only one who shared the same notion, Optimus too felt the same way. Someone is keeping valuable information from them about Lucy's personal life and the only one who knew the most about the situation was Agent Fowler.

His train of thought was interrupted by a sound and he blinked, noticing an icon on the top right hand corner of his monitor. It was Arcee. Ratchet found it odd for her to contact him instead of Optimus...maybe he didn't notice it and called him instead? Either way, he brushed whatever reasons aside and answered the call.

"Arcee, you better have a good reason in contacting me—" but he was quickly cut-off by the two-wheeler.

"-phone...Ratchet I found Lucy's phone."

Ratchet's attitude changed in a matter of seconds, from looking somberly into a now serious expression on his face plates. "What — Did you find anything else? And Lucy...is she—"

"No...she's not...but her phone is here which means she couldn't have gotten far." Arcee informed.

The place from where Arcee had discovered the phone was out in an open field surrounded by tall black spruce trees. The ground from where she stood was covered in snow as there had been a snow squall not to long ago. Her optics were glancing around the trees around her and that's when something caught her eye. So, she stood up with the phone still in her grasp as she walks over to this particular tree. Upon closer inspection, the tree had a huge chunk of its branches missing, but what was really bizarre was that the outer layer of the tree had a large burn mark on it. This was definitely not caused by any ordinary animal on earth.

She traces her digits against the burned layer then she raised her gaze and noticed the exact same burn marks on other barks of trees in front of her. Something within her told her to follow, so she did. The trail leads her into an abandoned underground energon mine, she made a wise decision in following her hunch. Just before she heads down the abandoned mine, she contacts base and letting them know her current position. As she disappeared down the mine she failed to notice a vague silhouette hiding behind the trees, watching in utter silence.

Arcee had been walking straight down the eerily empty halls of the mine. She had her blaster out in case any foe decides to jump on her, it would be a grave mistake on their part. So far, there has been no signs of anything or anyone roaming down the abandoned energon mine. The deeper she went, the more it dawns on her that this place was practically a maze, there were various entries on either side of her. One wrong turn and she will be lost in a matter of seconds.

Just as she was about to turn back is when there was a faint noise further down the path she was in. The closer she got the clearer the noise became. She took the entry way on her right and walked further with extreme caution. There were lights beginning to appear in her line of sight and there were sounds of mechanical whirring coming from the other side of the tunnel.

With one swift movement to her left, Arcee was now hiding behind a large boulder and holding her blaster up against her chest ready to fire if needed. She slowly peers from the side of the boulder. It was a large and spacious area of the mine with tunnels above her that could possibly lead deeper into the mineshaft. On the opposite side of the place was a large cylinder tube made of glass that was up against the wall that was built in the very center. The tube had cables running a top of it and there was a monitor on the far left of it. However, inside this glass cylinder was a noticeable human figure that was sprawled inside of it with their back facing her...it was Lucy!

Arcee had revealed herself from behind the boulder as she now ran right over to where Lucy was held captive, at the same time she had retracted her blaster. She pressed her servos up against the glass, calling out the girls name. "Lucy wake up!" She watched as the girls body twitched at the mention of her name.

Lucy rolls over and was staring up at the familiar face. "Arcee…?"

"Thank the AllSpark! Don't worry, I'll get you out of here in no time." Arcee declared with confidence.

However, Lucy looked absolutely horrified. She quickly stood up and was bashing her hands against the glass. "Arcee you're not supposed to be here. You have to leave!"

"I'm not leaving you here and there's nothing you can do to change my mind." Arcee adamantly said and this only riled up the girl more.

"You don't understand - it's a TRAP!"

Arcee blinked at the realization of her words. Suddenly the sound of heavy footsteps caused her to swiftly turn around, ready to take on this upcoming enemy. Unfortunately, she was met by a shocking strike, literally. Arcee was electrocuted into unconsciousness as her body collapsed onto the floor.

"Well, well, well. What a pleasant surprise. Quite a shame really." Commented the decepticon medical officer, known as Knock Out.

He approaches the glass cylinder as he kneeled to the human girls height. "Don't worry, my dear. Your friend will not come into harm just yet…" Knock Out then proceeded to scratch the glass from where she stood.

Lucy instantly covered her ears at how uncomfortably loud and intense the noise was from the inside. The sound had nowhere to go, it was like being trapped inside a car and having to hear a piercing noise from the utter silence. This was exactly how it felt like but far worse.

After having a brief moment of fun, Knock Out stood up and was walking away from the cylinder whilst laughing. He ordered the two vehicons that were with him to carry their new prisoner onto the warship. She looked utterly distraught as she watched her friend being dragged away.

This was all her fault.

-x-

Meanwhile, the autobots were frantic after Arcee failed to report back to them almost an hour in a half ago. Luckily, she had left behind her location where she would soon investigate and would disappear afterwards. With this in mind, Optimus had gathered the rest of the team and was currently discussing a plan to search for her whereabouts while at the same time searching for their missing friend.

As he was discussing the plan to the rest when suddenly there was a video message coming through the main monitors. It was an unknown caller. Ratchet steps forward with his digit hovering over the main control panel, debating whether or not to answer the call. He looks over his shoulder-pad at Optimus waiting for his approval. Optimus gave him a silent nod in agreement as the field medic proceeds to answer the call, revealing the evil-doer himself.

"My, it would seem like everyone is here and accounted for...well, some of you anyway." Megatron greeted in a taunting manner.

Optimus was the only one to speak up, wanting to get straight to the point. He genuinely didn't feel like playing along in Megatron's game. "State your purpose Megatron."

Megatron on the other hand wanted to test his greatest foes patience just a little more, but at the same time briefly explaining to them why he had called in the first place. "Purpose? On the contrary I came barring an important message, but that is unimportant for now. However, i do bare an opportunity to hand over one of your comrades, Arcee."

He could feel their angry gazes coming through the other side of the video call. It gave him great pleasure in seeing them like this. So, he pressed on, but this time with a much manipulative, and calculating approach in the matter. "However, greater things will occur upon us! And I oblige you all to come and witness such an event."

Bulkhead scoffs. "Please, what makes you think we would just go there so willingly, huh?"

Megatron couldn't help but smile at the wreckers remark and this is where he proceeded to say the following. "I can assure you - you WILL come, otherwise…"

Megatron steps out of view and that's when the camera pans out, revealing what he was standing behind this entire time. It was a glass cylinder, then the camera proceeds to show what was inside the tube and it presented them with the human they've been desperately searching for. The girl was just sitting there with her legs pulled close to her chest with her arms wrapped around them and she had her face buried into her knees, motionless.

"You beloved pet will suffer the consequences."

Shortly after she was shown up on the screen it got a severe reaction from Ratchet and it wasn't pleasant to say the least. He was furious, scarier even.

"IF YOU SO LAY A SINGLE DIGIT ON HER, I SWEAR TO PRIMUS I'LL—"

Optimus had placed his servo on Ratchets shoulder-pad before he could continue further with his verbal threat towards the Leader of the decepticons. He too shared the same turmoil of his own emotions at the situation. Optimus looks up at the screen where Lucy was still presented to them.

"We accept your invitation."

The camera moves away from the girl and it once again shows Megatron standing right beside the glass cylinder with his hands behind his back. He looked rather pleased with the answer given.

"I will be expecting your arrival then. You already know where we are located. Do keep in mind that any sort of trickery you might have in store...well, we all know the answer to that outcome."

(A/N)

The last time I updated was all the way back in January…sorry about that. I was so focused with my classes that I genuinely didn't have enough time to focus on it. This semester I wanted to literally die because of how much I struggled, it gave me a hard time. Overall, I managed to survive and not die from the stress, yaaay!

While writing this, I am currently in New Mexico for a month - visiting my Aunt along with my Grandma. Being here, seeing new things, and going to places gave me that fresh inspiration that I needed to continue writing this chapter. *The other one is currently underway as we speak!*

Thank you all for your patience and I hope you all enjoyed reading!

Have a lovely day~