AN: Funny story, this chapter was supposed to go up on the 3rd but I had a surprise visit to the hospital on the weekend that delayed the whole thing.

Now, seriously speaking, I need reviews people, I have ONE person that keeps this story going with their reviews, Dragonlver22, and they´ve been really helpful and even heavily influenced this chapter during our talks. It´s getting harder and harder to keep a regular updating schedule when it looks like there´s a good amount of views but no one says anything. Do you like this fic? hate it? What would you change? DO you have any requests or suggestions for future chapters? Please, let me know.

Also, Rowena_Bensel, don´t think I´ve forgotten about you, I still appreciate your reviews inspiring Lockdown instead of Airachnid in Arcee´s past. And a shout-out to OPIv2 as well for being by earliest reviewer so far!

Airachnid emerged from her tunnel behind one of the bigger tree she could find, her pain threshold having reached its limit with her spider limbs causing her injury to ache too much to keep going underground. She bit her servo hard enough to draw energon, attempting to silence the scream daring to emerge from her voice box, hoping the pain there would also help to distract from the bigger one.

Her cooling fans were in overdrive, the fear of having been caught unaware always having been present ever since the mistake that cost her old life. It wasn't often a client mistook the 'affection' the Makers sold for actual feelings, but when it happened sometimes it was as easy as being banned (and maybe a well-placed punch) although, in other occasions… suffice to say some Autobot helms hand rolled behind the scenes to keep the district in order.

Her client's faceplates had long ago began to look the same in her optics, save for a certain senator and, most importantly at the moment, her current stalker. They'd met when they were both rookies in their areas, her as an 'entertainer' and him as a cyber-ninja. He'd wandered into the district merely out of curiosity, taking advantage of the fact his Master was away to explore the area that, according to the older students, had ensnared a few ex-cyber-ninjas and even some of the Council members. Airachnid couldn't remember much of how they'd actually met, she recalled he'd been taken aback by her appearance at first but something happened to make him a regular for a long time after.

The cyber-ninja kept coming back to the spider-femme´s embrace again and again throughout his stay at the Dojo, spending shanix she had no idea where he got them from but it wasn´t her place to ask either, a lot of mechs did not take kindly to being coerced into divulging such information. Everything had been going smoothly, they had long talks with a few ´intimate´ sessions in-between them but, like everything good (and EXTREMELY profitable), it came to an end.

Lockdown loved how Airachnid made him feel. She would listen to everything he had to say without judgement or that pretentious air he so often got from his master. It was as if she understood how really felt and, instead of telling him to calm down and think about pointless things, let him be who he really was. No matter how hard he trained and proved himself in every challenge he´d only managed to shut up those pretentious students who´d fancied themselves better than him, as long as he didn´t fully master the whole ´processor over matter´ gibberish Lockdown came to realize he´d never be enough for that old bucket of rusted bolts.

Because of his seemingly never-ending flow of shanix from hunting down lawbreakers and turning them in for a profit when his Mater´s back was turned he was able to fuel his secondary lifestyle, immersed in an illusion he´d lost control of long ago. The life of a cyber-ninja was a lonely one, they were expected to fully master their emotions and devote themselves completely to securing Autobot secrets and become a sort of secondary line of defense after the Elite Guard. Other Cybertronians looked at them with wide optics, wishing to be just like them, but their reality was a bleak one filled with restrictions and rules, including personal involvement with a partner.

The mech had long ago stopped caring about the set of rules he swore to abide by when he became a student to join the Cyber-Ninja Corps, any dreams of honor, glory or even recognition by his superiors had faded when he met the most entrancing creature he´d ever laid his optics on. He´d walked towards the precipice of infatuation faster and faster and, just as he reached the top, jumped without ever thinking twice, letting himself get lost in an abyss he had no idea he´d be lost in for the next millennia and more.

So, there they were, sitting on a very comfortable plush seat in their usual private room, with her on his lap, caressing his chest, letting him talk about any and everything. Airachnid occasionally placed a soft kiss on his faceplates as he spoke and he held her closer in turn, everything outside that room taking a meaningless tone. It felt liberating to have someone look after him instead of being told to keep trying and improving pointless techniques that were as real as sparkeaters.

There was nothing that could ever break his quiet of mind when they were like that.

"So, this is where you have been sneaking off to." The voice of an older mech startled the Cybertronians out of their seats.

Lockdown stood up faster than the optic could see, causing Airachnid to yelp and fall undignified to the floor with a scowl. He turned to the side to see the last mech he´d expected to find in the Maker district and quickly averted his gaze to the floor. "Master Yoketron!" Oh Cybertron bellow him, he was in deep trouble.

"Do you think I would be so blind as to no become suspicious of your increasing escapades? At first you were still the same disciplined mech I took in but now… Imagine my surprise to find my best pupil coming here to cavort in this den of immorality, cycle after cycle with not a unit of shame to show for it every time you step into our sacred Dojo." It was easy to see the shame in the Autobot´s faceplates, both in his student and himself.

Yoketron had taken in Lockdown at an early age, the young bot at the time having been on the verge of being expelled from the academy due to his refusal to work in any sort of team and maybe having had a violent run-in with a superior (anyone asked would deny something ever happened). All off-record at Yoketron´s request, of course. Lockdown´s fighting prowess flourished under the guidance of the older mech, quickly climbing his way to the place of top student, but all the sudden might he gained did not surface alone, the desire for more taking a hold of him as well. Soon enough, while the dedicated student was still there, that need became more and more noticeable until Yoketron could no longer will himself turn a blind eye. He just had not expected this to have been the cause of his student´s distraction.

"If it's so immoral then why is at least half your council making regular visits? Shockwave, Ratbat, Decimus, even Dai Atlas has shown up around here and we all know who taught him." Airachnid had picked herself up and was examining her armor for any scuffs or dents from her fall. She did not appear to care the mech in front of her was very likely one of the most dangerous in all of Cybertron if he so chose to be.

"Airachnid, stay out of this." Lockdown warned the femme, still unsure on how to explain his situation. It was what it looked like, no one could deny it, and he had no idea what to do next.

"Suit yourself, you time's up anyway, I´ve got two in one after this."

"How can you not see it? Can't you understand what you have been debasing yourself with?" Yoketron gestured to the spider-femme, who made a face at being talked down. "She merely cares about what you have to offer and when you can no longer provide it you'll be left with nothing. Please, come back to the path of enlightenment, I forgive you."

"You? Forgive me?" For some reason those words cut deep into Lockdown´s spark. Now that he thought about it, what was there to be ashamed of? He´d done nothing wrong. He was the best student in line to become a part of the Cyber-Ninja Corps in a long time, he´d trained so hard up to that point just to impress the one who´d rescued him from a life thrown away and the moment he decided he wanted something just for himself it was a problem, a mistake to be fixed? "I worked my aft off just to show you how good I was, tried my best to impress you, but the one time my spark strayed from the so-called ´path of righteousness´ you expect me to give up the one I love?"

"What?!" Airachnid was caught off-guard by that one, but more surprised than scared by that point. She had to fix that situation and fast, berating herself for having been so blind would come later, from herself and the others. "The burnout may be a pain in the aft but he's right. No shanix, no service, no feelings. I don´t know what you expected from me but love is definitely not on the price list."

Those words had felt like being on the receiving end of an electric shock directly into Lockdown´s sparkchamber. It felt as if his entire system had shut down for a nano-second before booting back up in the most painful of ways. "But… we talked so much…" They´d shared secrets… no, he´d shared his secrets while she smiled and encouraged him further. His master came up and put a comforting servo on his shoulder but Lockdown didn't register it, not with the numbness crawling deep in his frame.

"Yes, because you paid for it." There was no sympathy in her voice anymore, only cold detachment.

"I thought that we… you… there was something between us."

"If we'd really gotten to know each other you'd know I would never bond with an Autobot." With those words Airachnid headed to a secondary door reserved for the workers and swiped her servo through a scanner to unlock it. "Sorry, sweetspark, but you've never known me to begin with."

Not once did she look back. Her spark had been shattered once, she knew exactly what it looked like.

Airachnid knew she should´ve made herself clearer when Lockdown´s visits became more frequent, but he was a good source of revenue and she was eager to show the other Makers she could work and repay them in the fullest of terms. It didn´t help she had been a rookie when she took him as a client, her ´new and improved persona´ still in the works, the remnants of that sweet and kind femme she´d once been taking over with certain clients. Lockdown, unfortunately, had been one of those and, even though she could see how deep he was sinking into those false hopes, there had been no attempts to stop him. Back then he held so many uplifting ideals, willing to see the best in everyone and try his hardest to succeed, so she´d ignored the signs of change, the old part of her clinging to the idea he was just like him.

No! She had to snap out of it and stop feeling guilty! It hadn't been her fault his blinded processor mistook bought affection for the real deal and apparently developed a sort of obsession with her. Mechs who couldn´t take a hint even when thrown at them were the problem, not her and everyone else. Makers had such a limited selection of occupations forced onto them by the morally bankrupt Cybertronian society who cared no more for them than except to pacify a part of the population who resorted to their services.

"Ever since that day I decided to make enough shanix to make you love me but it turned out I did have a knack for bounty hunting. The best of both worlds, am I right?"

The bounty hunter´s words snapped Airachnid out of her thoughts, making her spark jump in fear, not that she´d ever admit it, when she noticed nightfall was already upon them. She must´ve been lost in her memories far longer than she´d realized. Why was it that her past was decided to chase after her, no matter the before and after?!

Anyway, she was in no shape to engage in a fight, not with the damage to her back incapacitating her spider legs, curtesy of the cheap shot by that filthy retro-rat. With no chance to defeat Lockdown her only choice was to actually run with her two legs, but to where?

A servo suddenly grabbed her arm, making Airachnid yell out in surprise and face the mech chasing her though the darkening forest. She was spun around, an arm resting on her neck, the pressure not too tight but making itself known, and pressed against the bounty hunter´s frame.

"Found you, sweetspark. You sure are making yourself hard to get." Lockdown gazed at the trapped femme struggling in his arms and grinned. It felt intoxicating to be the one holding all the power and he did not intend on giving that up.

With a defiant hiss Airachnid did not hesitate and managed to sink her fangs onto one of her captor´s digits, making him let put a pained scream at the acid corroding his frame and loosen his grip enough for her to force her way out. She swept her leg under him and he fell onto his back in another bout of pain before being kicked with more force than expected, crashing into a tree not far away.

The Maker broke into a panicked run, heading to wherever her jumping spark lead her to, leaving behind a mech screaming her designation in anger. There were stories, few but they existed, of one-sided romances that ended in tragedy and she refused to become another cautionary tale for the next generation, if there ever were to be one.

The trees all looked the same to her, no definite path she could follow but even if there was one with no forms of communication with the others it would be impossible to call for backup. What she wouldn´t give for Doomsday to have come along, even while debilitated the two of them put together could take down any enemy.

In Airachnid´s mad dash for freedom she found herself back at Lockdown´s ship and, at the sight of the damned vessel, dared to look behind. He was definitely still on her trail and freezing on the spot wouldn´t help. Racing to the entry Airachnid paused before her pedes could touch the metal. There were bound to be good weapons inside capable of offlining him for good but what else could be hiding up there? Falling into a trap was not on her plans so storming the ship was out of the question but there was still the matter of taking down her pursuer.

It wouldn´t take long for Lockdown to catch up with her so the spider-femme racked her processor for any ideas. It was starting to feel like one of those human horror movies Mayhem liked so much but it wasn´t- Wait! That was it! Dumb as it may be it could work. With a final look back to the cluster of trees behind her she picked up a rock and threw it so it would bounce off the metal floor inside and dashed for a hiding spot outside against the black metal, hoping it would help in her camouflage.

Lockdown arrived just in time to hear the echoes coming from inside his ship and miss the femme hiding against it. He smirked, thinking it would all be over sooner than he´d expected. His ship was a literal maze filled with traps designed not to kill but to painfully trap anyone who dared to wander through the halls and attempt to either steal from him or make a dash for freedom.

"If you wanted a tour, all you needed to do was ask." The green mech spoke loudly as he walked inside with a confident stride. "We´ll be spending a lot of time together from now on, it´s only natural you get to know your new home."

Airachnid let out a low sigh although she wasn´t in the clear just yet. Clambering though the trench left by the ship´s landing she attempted to think of a way to get rid of the obsessed bot when her optics caught onto something blue dripping from one of the sides of the vessel. When getting closer to examine her discovery the Maker was pleased to see it was energon leaking though a hole, probably from one of the main fuel lines. It was time to end it for good this time. She broke into a run, getting as further away from the ship before attempting to pull a Mayhem of the highest caliber.

Inside the ship Lockdown heard the telltale fast-paced steps of a Cybertronian making a run for it and turned swiftly to chase after his love. Smart femme, he thought, fooling a bounty hunter as seasoned as him was a hard thing to do but she´d almost managed to pull it off. Almost. Just as he stepped outside a blaster went off and there had been no time to think before an explosion engulfed the ship and flung him away with a great amount of force.

There was pain, a lot of it, as he fell to the ground, optics closed but he knew his ship was no more than a pile of broken flaming metal at that point. Love and hate melded together in a blazing inferno just like his prized collection´s items and he would not rest until she was his.

"AIRACHNID!"

Arcee had tired herself out not long ago. It seemed her fate was sealed to meet Tailgate and Cliffjumper when she became one with the Allspark at the servos of Lockdown. She did not cry but her optics held sadness in them at the thought of meeting her end like that, left alone at the mercy of a despicable bounty hunter by an ally of all things.

"Tailgate, Cliffjumper, I´m sorry." She whispered to herself. "I wasn´t strong enough and let myself get fooled by someone I shouldn´t have trusted to begin with."

"I hope you´re not talking about me, because I´m seriously considering leaving you here to rust."

The Autobot jerked against her bonds to find the femme she´d been referring to appear from within the dark-covered trees. Airachnid had an air of smugness about her, even if she was coveted in scratches and some dirt from being caught in the edge of the explosion she'd caused. With her arms crossed the femme walked with a confident stride towards the two-wheeler, deciding to keep to herself her initial idea of abandoning her. What Arcee didn´t know, would hurt her, after all.

"You came back for me?" It had been hard not to let that those words slip out.

"Why wouldn´t I?" Airachnid examined the webbing and hooked her clawed digits on it, using her acid to help cut though the bonds until her ´partner´ was free. "I hope you won´t mention the part about me being familiar with Lockdown, that should make us even."

Now those words hit Arcee like a lob ball. "For you freeing me? You expect me to lie to the others, to Optimus, for your sake?"

"I wouldn´t call it lying, if they don´t ask you just don´t tell them."

"Lying by omission is still lying, Airachnid. No deal."

Arcee might have not been left behind by the Maker but her attitude was getting on her nerves. After talking to Silverbot she´d attempted to let go of any prejudices held against Makers but this attitude was something outright expected by her old views.

Putting a digit to Arcee´s lips to silence her, Airachnid smiled in a knowing way. "What of I told you something you´d very much like to know?"

Slapping the offending digit aside the Autobot still held her ground and frowned at the attempted bribery. "No."

Ignoring the refusal from the blue femme Airachnid´s smiled widened and she swiftly leaned forward, whispering something into Arcee´s audio receptor that caused her to stiffen and her optics to widen. Perfect reaction, just as expected.

"I trust we have a deal."

Arcee could only slowly nod. It couldn´t be possible… Could it?

AN: Sooo... what did Airachnid tell Arcee? Can any of you guess? R&R people, let me know what you think :)