AN: No promises this will be a permanent thing, but I'll post the unfinished material and maybe try to continue it when it runs out. Again, no promises


"We're here." Knock Out said suddenly, snapping Jack out of his thoughts.

Jack carefully exited the vehicle, shaking himself out as Knock Out transformed and looked over his plating. Jack looked up at the tall building, just smaller than the tower Shockwave owned, but the metal was brighter and even inviting with its gleaming plates and many windows. "You own all this?"

Knock Out snorted. "Don't be ridiculous. I live in an apartment here. Not everyone can afford their own tower of terror."

Jack grimaced. "That is more accurate than you know."

"I don't doubt that." Knock Out snorted.

Jack gave him a withering glare, and followed him inside the building. The lobby was even flashier than the outside, with gleaming plating and looked every inch like some high-end apartment complex. Bots walked in and out of the building, none sparring them a glance.

Jack though did a double take when he saw two bots walking out of the elevator, one carrying a much smaller bot in their arms. It had a very thin plating, with colors that matched the second bot and giant blue optics that darted around as it babbled in clicks and whirls.

Jack grunted when Knock Out elbowed him. "What?"

"Keep up." The red mech said, and glanced behind him, snorting again. "Don't know what you're so astounded by-you never seen a sparkling before?"

"I...w-what's a sparkling?" Jack asked, astounded. It clicked after a moment. "You mean a baby? You guys can have babies?"

Knock Out stared at him, blinking rapidly. "You-you don't know?" he asked. He shook his head. "How lacking are you? I figured even the low caste would have some information about even the most basic things on Cybertron."

Jack became flustered, spark racing. Megatron hadn't ever told him about this! Then again there hadn't ever really been a need for him to mention it... "T-there's not much down there you know." He covered, ignoring the peculiar look the pair gave him before exiting the lobby. "And the guards hate being asked questions..."

Knock Out waved it off. "I guess since you're just going to pester me, I'll fill you in on the information you're severely lacking then."

Jack grumbled to himself, but ducked his head as he went into the now empty elevator. "I wasn't going to." He muttered, but now that he knew babies could be made here, it opened up a whole bunch of questions. How? Was the most pressing, with why was it possible? Since Cybertronians were aliens, he figured the process had to be different. "Fine, I just want the specifics."

Knock Out huffed. "There's a lot even to that; caste rules to follow on who gets a sparkling in the first place and who doesn't. Which I suppose makes sense since the low caste isn't allowed sparklings at all."

"I never saw one in all my time down there." Jack muttered. "But if we're not allowed to have sparklings then how do they replenish the number of slaves?"

"Well, the first way is if you break the law or do something the council doesn't approve of you get sent to the mines, stripped of whatever caste rank you had before." Knock Out explained. "The second is that low caste are built and onlined fully functional with the know-how to mine and save 'time' on telling them anything."

Jack crossed his arms. "That's disgusting." He said fiercely. Not only were children a commodity, but so was just making bots for cheap labor?

Knock Out hummed, and gave Jack a scrutinizing look. "You're…not exactly the frame type they tend to produce though. You're too small and wouldn't be capable of carrying a lot."

"I uh...I wasn't built in the mines," Jack said, giving him the same story he had given Shockwave. It was easier than keeping track of one background than it was keeping multiple ones.

Knock Out hummed once he got the story, looking him over more critically. "You must have had some controlling creators if they didn't let you know anything."

Jack shrugged. "Can we move on then? What about the other castes?" he knew Knock Out was raising a brow because he must have found it odd for Jack to be referring to his 'former caste' like that, but as he said-even if it were true, he wasn't one anyone. "How do they get sparklings?"

"The middle caste have to fill out a form to have the casting for a sparkling be made- and usually, if they succeed, the spark comes directly from the Allspark," Knock Out went on. Jack had heard Ratchet use the phrase 'By the Allspark', but he hadn't ever asked what it meant or what an 'Allspark' was. He never would have guessed it was a baby making machine...

"And the high caste?" Jack pressed, eager for more information.

"Well, the high caste doesn't have those restrictions-no molds, no forms, just able to create a sparkling through the energy of their own bodies." Knock Out explained. Jack stared at him in disbelief. "Don't get me wrong, it's not like it's easy to do-just they can.

"And it all happens in here." Knock Out pointed at his own chest. "Sparks merge and holding on long enough creates a charge where the combined energy splits and the receiver has a new little passenger orbiting their spark."

Jack tilted his head. It sounded…pretty alien. Building children? Okay. Making them through your sparks? That's where he was getting a little lost. "How do they…well, get out?"

Knock Out chuckled faintly. "They don't." he replied. "The newspark will orbit it's carrier's spark until the carrier is ready to begin the process of letting its body form. Usually that only happens when enough CNA has been stored up to form the shell around the spark." He ran his hands in the air, mimicking an egg. "It stays there for about 2 quadricycle and when the sparkling is ready to come, the shell begins cracking and the carrier opens their chest plates for the sparkling to be removed."

Jack stared at him, blinking slowly. '8 months? It builds for eight months?' And that was only after the 'carrier' let it begin forming?

"And it just...grows from there?" Jack asked, astonished by the revelation. "What does it look like when it leaves the chassis?"

"Squirmy, wriggly little blue things." Knock Out said bluntly. Jack raised a brow. "I've only watched Ratchet help deliver two so far, but he says that there's some natural mechanism due to being created in such a way that their colors eventually start to settle once they reach their first decivorn, then they start to favor one creator or the other."

'Ten years?!' Jack nearly let his jaw drop, but kept it shut as the elevator opened, allowing them to exit. He couldn't imagine being stuck as an infant for ten freaking years. "And…where does the material for these shells come from?"

Knock Out smirked. "Well, not all bots have them, but the most convenient way is this right here." He gestured to his panel. Jack's tank dropped. "You see-"

"I-I don't need to know that!" Jack stuttered.

"You asked." Knock Out grinned, continuing on despite Jacks obvious discomfort. "Some frame types have spikes, while others have valves...and pleasure bots have both."

"What?!" Jack snapped, stiffening up as a visceral unease shot up his spine. He forced his feelings back, trying to remain calm. "Like, naturally, or like a mod?"

"Well, some have both naturally, but it's uncommon. Pleasure bots however always come with both. They're always commissioned at great personal expense for those who need the modification."

"Personal expense." Jack echoed, disgust curling in his spark when he thought of why they would be modified. Though it made him wonder why Shockwave didn't seem surprised or questioned it, but that was not something Jack wanted to think about. "What about the other method? If it were that restrictive to give sparklings the required CNA, the population would be much lower."

Knock Out raised a brow at the change in subject, but thankfully he didn't pry. "Injections of an amount specified by a medic, though how much vary depending on the size of the bot in question. Though, of course, the other way is said to be more fun." he shrugged.

"I don't even want to know." Jack seethed, scowling at the idea of...that.

"Yes, I can imagine you would have an aversion to that subject." The smirk fell, all humor evaporating from his frame. "I take it Shockwave isn't the most pleasing of berthmates?"

Jack went still, freezing on the spot. "W-wh-"

"After everything that I saw during my visits, and how much Shockwave spent on you, his question about the training mod let me put the pieces together." Knock Out explained. "So I don't blame you for getting out of there, just for dragging me into it."

"I didn't have a choice." Jack mumbled, ducking his head. "I...It was my only chance to escape."

Knock Out was silent for a moment, and vented deeply. "Given how controlling Shockwave is..." he trailed off. "Just tell me this then; that friend you have, is he really worth all this to you-what could happen if your caught?"

"It's...complicated. But Megatron is capable of changing things. He just needs a little help to change those things." Jack stared softly as Knock Out opened the door to his apartment. "How soon can you perform the surgery?"

"Depending on how much of a fuss Shockwave is going to kick up when he finds you missing, I'd say half an orn, maybe more or less." Knock Out said. Jack grimaced, which the mech noticed. "Though I'm assuming you expect me to go wherever this Megatron is hold up and give him a message sooner?"

Jack nodded. "You assume correct. I can't spend all that time just waiting." he said. "Do you have something that can keep track of the news?"

Knock Out gestured to his living area, a nicely decorate, with tasteful furniture. He grabbed a remote looking device, and brought up a holographic screen. On it was the latest in racing and upcoming championships.

"I usually use it to keep track of my standing, but it can get the news too." Knock Out said, and the hologram turned to a bot standing behind a desk. "If there's going to be any word on your escape, it'll likely be on here."

Jack nodded. "How fast does news travel?"

"Quite fast once its released. Instant information and all that." Knock Out shrugged casually.

"Oh good, then I should know the second he realizes I'm gone then." Jack drawled. It likely didn't work like that, but depending on how Shockwave chose to proceed, Jack was sure he was going to be stuck here until the worst of the search died down.

Knock Out crossed his arms, giving Jack a look. "And I'm supposed to house you through all of this? A possibly wanted fugitive?"

"Not all of it," Jack replied, "just long enough that Shockwave will stop thinking I've gone back to Megatron and look somewhere else. I show up at the arena right now he'll likely go through with his threat and blow the whole thing open for the police. You go there and see how things are and just say you're there to watch and talk to him. He's got a mech there who can read minds, so he can verify your story if Megatron doesn't believe you."

Knock Out jolted, his optics. "Read minds? And you want me to go there and let him root around in my head?"

"Just tell him to keep it to this moment, where I right now am telling you that I escaped and Knock Out is going to do the surgery but I need to make sure that there's no one suspicious hanging around." Jack explained.

"That seems a little suspicious, doesn't it? Me walking into the veritable scraplets den." Knock Out protested sharply. "What if he doesn't like me, huh? I could get scrapped!"

"You won't because you're a medic." Jack said firmly. "And you're the only one who's going to do the surgery. Though if you're really so worried," he paused, grimacing as he vented, "do you have any different paint? I might as well change my appearance much as possible so if there's a photo of me, I can't be recognized."

"Of course I do." Came the haughty reply, Jack blinked as he watched Knock Out's return to his confidence and vanity. "But red isn't your color, and this will be from my own personal stores."

Jack rolled his optics. "You still got those paints you had before then? It doesn't have to be something good; I'm just looking for a disguise."

"Even so," Knock Out said offended, "it's best not to stand out too much if your face is going to be plastered everywhere."

Jack rubbed his brow. "Okay, fine. Then what would look good on me?"

"Black, perhaps. A splash of silver, maybe some white..." Knock Out mused, observing his current paint job. "You're paying me for this by the way, later down the line."

Jack vented, but nodded. "Yeah, okay." he still had his own unused credits, because he wasn't going to take the money from the haul.

"Good. Now go sit down so I can begin your disguise," Knock Out gestured to his 'couch', Jack obliging wearily.


Looking through the microscope, Shockwave took note of how the tainted energon attacked the dead cells, warping them in the same manner on a microscopic level. Instant and all-consuming, the tainted energon sample worked in the same way the strange mineral did. He'd held off on disclosing this side-effect just yet, because right now that had not been presentable. This strange ability gave J-23 the power to heal bots, but in a raw form turned dead bots into raving beasts?

Shockwave glanced at his shoulder, the scarring gone but it was as though he could still feel the zap of electricity, of how his shoulder felt newer and moved more efficiently.

Another intriguing discovery, that the healing left a bot feeling more rejuvenated and in better condition before they had been harmed.

It was yet another notch to add to medics eventually no longer being necessary. True, it would take time, but progress often did. Shockwave had made the discovery first though, and that would be enough to put his name on it. Along with his analysis of the mineral and of J-23's energon samples, plus the submitted findings of his trials on the gladiator volunteers, something had to pane out. It was only the logical outcome.

It would earn him more funding, grant him a high position than the one he currently held and increase his standing in the high caste as being the one that discovered the means to heal any injury. His name would be remembered forever and etched into Cybertron's history.

'A seat on the council,' Shockwave thought, 'a way to change things-for my ends.' To gain funding, he would need to get more subjects, and soon gladiators would not be enough. To test his results on various bots, to gain more understanding...to change the world as he saw fit.

Shockwave hated it- how stagnant Cybertron had become in the leading millennia. No discoveries, no advancement in genuine branches of science, nothing to better the species as a whole...

This...this would though. This discovery would give Shockwave the opportunity to better the species and take it out of this stale, dull period of time. This so-called Golden Age was rusting and brittle, nothing currently gave that title any meaning. Shockwave took in the vial of energon that was half-empty. He regarded it, and allowed himself the briefest thought of the mech he took it from.

His valuable subject, the very reason he was going to jump Cybertron hundreds of years into the future with his discoveries- all because of a single slave. A slave that pervaded his every waking thought.

Every touch, every caress, every moan his little slave uttered as he brought him to overload. How his slave brought him to overload. He recalled every moment in clarity from that first night at the conference, when J-23 wrapped his arms around his own, pressed flushed against him, optics wide and pleading.

And he vividly recalled how others dared to lay their optics on his property in ways they had no right to- had attempted to take J-23 for their own personal pleasure. It had driven him livid, drawing the slave away from the mech to ensure there was no doubt of whom he belonged to.

Him. J-23 belonged to him, and he would be the only one who ever saw him come undone, squirm and whimper and make all manner of sounds that made Shockwave's chest tighten and heat pool inside. It had been even more of a struggle not to touch him in the gardens, seeing his slave's plating cast with the glow of the crystals that framed him in the most pleasing manner.

Once they returned though...Shockwave, to his personal dismay, had not been able to restrain himself. The first time it had ever happened in his long life as a scientist. He had never experienced such desire so strongly before, to want to touch, but this one slave had brought it out with him. It angered him, in a way, and felt a self-loathing for wanting to give into that desire. Shockwave had not taken J-23's seal because he knew if he did, he would not be able to help himself from taking him, claiming him again and again.

'My work would suffer for it.' Shockwave thought, but now that he'd reconciled he could not dampen that desire, he would sate it.

There would be no better time than tonight. J-23 was freshly painted and polished, devoid of scars and not as frightened as he had been before. Though some of that skittish nature of his had remained, Shockwave would not be deterred.

He would have found the mod useful, but only for after. Tonight, he wanted no manipulations to interfere with this. Shockwave wanted to lie J-23 down and feel that slick, tight port clench around his spike as it had with his digits. He wanted that pristine, clear plating to be marked with his fluid and know he would be the only bot who'd ever touch him.

Even now he could feel heat pooling from his spark, from the very thought of the action.

His optic glowed, bright and intense as he continued through what work he still had. His plating felt tight, something akin to anticipation forming in his chest as he made his notes and checked the structure of the strange mineral. It would need a name at some point, rather than calling it something so generic.

And once he was finished for the sol, Shockwave made his way back to his floor, where his prize awaited him.

Shockwave wouldn't describe himself as antsy but he couldn't deny that there was a certain level of agitation in his fingertips. Of how he wanted to grip the little slave and take him to the berth-

He stopped once he walked out of the elevator, all thoughts evaporating when he saw the open door. His pace was brisk as he walked over to the door, but his optic did not fail him-was not some illusion as he found the door to his slave's room was open.

Shockwave saw the twisted, melted metal of the lock. His optic cycled into a narrow pin-point as it glowed a bright, deadly red when he looked into the room. The empty room. 'My slave escaped.' It was an illogical, downright impossible assumption, but the proof lied right in front of him.

Shockwave wasted no time- there was still a small chance that he was in building, that he had not yet fully escaped. Taking the elevator back down to the lab, he brought up the security cameras.

His optic searched through the feeds, but he could not see J-23 in any of them. It shouldn't have been possible for his slave to have gotten out, but as he looked through the feed there continued to be no sign of J-23 in the building. Eventually, he brought up an earlier time, watching as his slave ran out of his room, and took the elevator before running straight for the entrance, and left the camera's sight. His servo slowly curled into a fist; a deep sense of anger tightened in his spark.

At the slave, and at himself. Shockwave set the alarms to go off in case of an intruder, but not for the one who still had every wish to escape him. Shockwave's fist tightened. He had been lulled into complacency by those sweet sounds and warm body, that he'd overlooked something so basic. 'J-23 had been waiting to get away-to escape me.'

When Shockwave found him again, his slave would know what it meant to cross him.


Jack would have been relieved to have his blues and purple coloring changed, just to feel less like he'd been someone's doll, but it was offset by the mesh cloth tucked over his plating to hide the crystals, and the false mouth guard on his face. Along with the paint change, he looked remarkedly different than whatever photo of him was going to be plastered everyone.

They'd left the next sol, early morning by Jack's estimate's as even on Cybertron mornings ran long and bots were reluctant to go out so soon. He tucked in tight to the inside of the red vehicle's cabin, the drive relatively smoother than the one yesterday. Once they arrived at the office front, Jack slid out of the vehicle and cautiously looked around.

Knock Out did too, though his face scrunched up. "This is where the arena is? It's so...plainer than I thought it'd be. Looks more like an accountant's office than a front for a gladiator ring."

"It's all a front." Jack said quietly, checking for peering optics and audios. "The top floors appear normal to anyone who walks by, or even in, but there's a hidden elevator that leads down into the pits."

"Huh." Knock Out replied, looking over the building in a new light. "And I take it you know this because...?"

"Shockwave brought me through it." Jack said clipped, his optics narrowed. There didn't appear to be any sign of bots loitering around, and so he gestured for Knock Out to follow him to the building. He still kept a sharp optic on the look-out, because he wasn't about to get caught and make this all for nothing.

"Hm. Interesting. I've walked by this place several times and I never would have known..." Knock Out hummed, following Jack as he led the way in.

"It's just that kind of place." Jack shrugged. He looked around the empty office space, and found the hidden elevator that would take them to the gladiator pit below. "I've never been here when things were...slow, as it were, so try not to act suspicious."

Knock Out scoffed as he crossed his arms. "Right, 'cause us skulking around is not going to draw attention."

Jack rolled his optics as he pushed the button to take the cabin to the bottom. The box they were in was less cramped than he remembered, but Knock Out was about his own size so it shouldn't have been a surprise. "If nothing else, don't look at anyone and we'll go straight for where Megatron is."

"And how do you know he'll be there?" Knock Out asked.

Jack shrugged. "Just a guess, so we better hope I'm not wrong."

"Yes, well, I'm sincerely hoping for that because I'd rather not be killed for a misunderstanding." Knock Out replied grimly as they Jack went into the building. He watched as Jack pressed a secret panel, and the wall moved in response. "Huh. I thought you were kidding about the secret elevator."

Jack huffed, and thought of what he was going to say once he saw Megatron again. It felt like so long since he'd been here, and to be here without Shockwave felt even longer. Jack took in the feeling of actual freedom as the elevator brought them to the bottom. The door opened, and they were faced with an empty stadium.

"Really slow day then." Knock Out said.

Jack nodded, and he looked around at the seats, a bit thrown off by the fact they were empty and there was no screaming crowd. "Let's just get through the back, and we can get to the pit bosses' office. Megatron's either there or likely in the waiting room."

"And what makes you so sure that he's going to be there?" Knock Out asked suspiciously, tiring of this little adventure of theirs.

Jack still looked around despite there being no one there, just out of reflex checking for eavesdroppers. "Because this is where Megatron gives his rallying speeches. It's his headquarters."

Knock Out narrowed his optics at him, but said nothing as they finally got to the bottom of the steps. "Even if your friend isn't here there definitely are others. What are you going to do if things go south?"

"Oh, I'll be fine." Jack said grimly, because it would hurt, but he'd come back. "Though don't worry, I'll protect you." he said it with enough sappy sweetness that there was no way Knock Out didn't know he was being mocked.

And it worked, as Knock Out glowered at him. "You couldn't protect your own aft." he retorted. "Now quit stalling and let's find this mech. Is he gonna be hard to spot in a crowd?"

"No. He's tall, broad shouldered, silver, and a face you couldn't forget." Jack didn't add in how it would haunt your nightmares if you were on the receiving end of one of his glares.

Knock Out raised a brow, and smirked at him. "That was a rather apt description; sure it's just friendship?"

Jack sputtered, knowing he'd be beet red if he could blush. "Yes." he managed to get out. He hadn't let Shockwave bait him and wouldn't let Knock Out do the same. "Come on, there's a tunnel through here we can use to by-pass the waiting the room. I'd rather check the boss' area first anyway. Even if Megatron's not here, Soundwave likely is."

"And this Soundwave is...?"

"A capable fighter, loyal to Megatron and apparently a mind-reader; so don't try to mess with him." Jack warned as they crossed.

"Right." Knock Out drawled.

Jack rolled his optics again, and he tilted his head as he listened briefly to the voices and sounds of the gladiators in the room, but couldn't hear Megatron's voice anywhere in the mess. Jack decided to keep them moving on before either of them were spotted, and they continued onto the somewhat familiar walls Jack could remember from the last time he'd been down this hallway.

"Should be this way." Jack ignored to quips that Knock Out spouted, instead opting to listen for the voices of Soundwave or Megatron.

He knew it was likely rarer to hear Soundwave's voice, but his did have a more distinctive way of standing out, while even now Megatron still had a gravely quality to his voice. They turned the corner, but Jack stopped short when he saw a guard stationed outside the door. He resisted groaning. 'I can't believe I forgot about that!'

"Well, we're scrapped." Knock Out said.

Jack shook his head. "No, I-I can salvage this." he said, and walked up to the guard. "I-I'm here to see-" and he cursed for not knowing whether Megatron was still keeping Taciturn as 'alive' or not-"the boss. It's-important business."

"Boss isn't seeing anyone." The guard said as he had the first time Jack and Megatron were here.

Jack would have torn his hair out if he had any. Why was this always so difficult? "I'm sure I can see him if-" Jack had only reached into his subspace in the vain hope he had something that might be worth giving him entry. His fingers brushed something hard, and Jack's optics widened briefly as he grabbed the crystal.

"This!" he pulled out the photonic crystal. "I had a deal with your boss to bring in any valuables I found in the mines. Surely you're not willing to risk getting him angry for costing him credits, are you? I could just find another buyer..." He couldn't believe he had forgotten about this for so long, but he had never been more glad he did.

The guard looked to the crystal, optics narrowed as he recognized the little bot. "Fine. Don't blame me if he's upset that you're disturbing him." The guard said stiffly, moving aside.

Jack nodded, and gestured for Knock Out to follow him as the door opened. He slid the crystal back into subspace, and let out a relieved sigh when the door closed behind them.

"I can't believe that actually worked." Knock Out said in disbelief.

"Honest I can't either." Jack muttered. "But now we're in, so come on." he said, and stepped into the office, Knock Out right behind him.

"Megatron?" He called upon entering the room, but it was Soundwave who presided over the desk. The black visor tilted in their direction, away from whatever he was working on.

Knock Out winced. "You never said he had no face," he muttered, "it's creepy."

Jack snorted. "He can also hear you probably." he replied, and walked up to the desk, taking his face guard off. "Hi, Soundwave, my name's Wayward." he started, feeling rather awkward, since he wasn't sure if Soundwave recognized him. "I know we haven't really, uh, known each other before I-I was taken away, but can you tell me where Megatron is? It's important."

The mech said nothing, and continued to say nothing as he stood.

"...okay, we should probably go..." Knock Out muttered, form stiff and ready to flee.

Jack wouldn't though. He hadn't come all this way here for nothing. "Fine, if you won't tell me where he is, you can give him the message." he said. The other mech continued to stay silent, not even giving any indication he was listening at all. It just made Jack even more frustrated. "How about that?"

The mask tilted in Knock Outs direction, who flinched. "Shockwave: Experimented." It wasn't a question, the pair realizing he had already been looking through their heads. Soundwave's head tilted in a sinister manner. "Control mod: Shockwave purchased."

Jack tensed up, his spark pulsing rapidly. "Shockwave never got a chance to use it! I escaped after he brought it up." he retorted. "I don't get why you're acting so suspicious of me now."

Soundwave didn't answer with words- instead his tendrils slipped from his side's and shot towards them. Knock Out let out an undignified scream as he was slammed into the floor by one. Jack managed to dodge once before he was caught, pressed into the wall.

Jack felt the tendril pressing into his chest, clutching as his head began to feel like it was going to be split open. It hurt too much to even struggle, just to focus on not screaming or blacking out as the pain spread through his head and neck. There was an invasion in his mind, tearing through his memories, his thoughts with little regard. Jack had no idea what Soundwave was looking for, or even why he would use this instead of just keeping with his more passive mind reading.

He didn't know if Soundwave had found anything, but the mech eventually opted to switch the tendril pinning him with a servo at his throat. The other one forced Jack's head to the side, revealing the back of his neck to the mech.

He heard since shifting, the tendrils moving in the corner of his vision when he suddenly felt it hovering over his neck. Jack froze, feeling a small shift in the plates there before the line sunk into the newly revealed port.

A deep cold penetrated Jack inside, slowly spreading to the rest of him as the material world left his vision as he was pulled into blackness.

It felt so similar to the cold void he was used to, but he was pinned in place as everything became one giant haze.