A/N: Just a quick shout out to all of our readers: thank you, thank you, a thousand times thank you for bearing with our less than speedy updates! All of you are simply wonderful, and we can't tell you enough how much we appreciate all of the glowing reviews! Now that both Bee and I are settling into the semester a little more, updates should be quicker *keeps fingers cross* But enough talk, onward!

Hope you, dear and amazing readers, enjoy!

~~~Epsilon Pax & Bumbee

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So lost amid her churning emotions, Arcee never saw Megatron coming.

The first blast from his plasma cannon exploded mere inches from her front tire, sending her careening through the air, only to land in a jumbled heap of crumbling concrete.

When the ringing in her audio receptors abated and her optics once more began to function properly after the blinding blast of light, heat and energy, Arcee struggled to make the transformation into her natural guise. But by the time she had at last managed to stagger to her peds, Megatron was on her.

A sweeping backhand blow had Arcee once more sprawled upon the charred remains of the roadway. Dizzy and disoriented she didn't even have time to bring her own weapons online before Megatron's fist closed around her neck, lifting her high into the air to dangle, like a broken toy.

"Good evening, Arcee." Megatron commented mildly as he pulled his facial plates into a macabre grin, "Have I ever mentioned how much I enjoy running into Autobots? Particularly when they have information that I need."

Sensors still in disarray, Arcee valiantly struggled to free herself from his vice like grip, "O-oh r-really? Too bad f-for you that I d-don't share things well with others."

Growing impatient Megatron tightened his grasp, emphasizing his diminishing patience he shook her once, "I could crush you like the annoyance you are right now! It would be easy…so if I were you, I'd tell me what I want to know…Where is Orion?"

"Eat slag!"

"Come now, Arcee, let us be reasonable—"

"Reasonable! After what you did to Optimus!—"

"Optimus is dead," Megatron thundered, flinging her down upon the hard packed concrete once again, hard enough for the impact to stun her, denting the ground beneath her. Though he was sure that her audio receptors were functioning uninhibited, he continued at a leisurely pace as she struggled to stand, to re-orient herself, "Optimus Prime perished along with Unicron, and it is my every intent to see that it stays this way."

In no hurry, he stood almost casually beside her, waiting for her to collect her wits he commented in an offhand manner, "What a pity it is that you Autobots are too dim witted to understand how much more valuable Orion is than Optimus…Yes, more than Optimus could have ever been, or ever was."

"That's a lie!" Arcee's scream reverberated through the night, surprising Megatron with its ferocity. So much raw anger, undiluted hatred; she would have made a decent Decepticon, he noted mildly.

Still reeling from the blow, Arcee fought through her nausea, managing to transform one arm into her favored plasma rifle she drew a line on Megatron, and without hesitation—Megatron had to admire her unwavering devotion—she fired at him.

Lightening quick a series of possibilities occurred to the Decepticon lord in that moment as that surge of potent energy flashed toward him; the foremost of which was how he could twist these events to his advantage in order to win over Orion.

Time seemed to slow down, become thick and sluggish.

It would be easy to elude her clumsy shot, all it would take would be for him to drop his shoulder and the blast would sail harmlessly away into the night. And even if he let the bolt hit him it would do relatively little damage to his frame. Her weapons were not capable of being calibrated to a high enough voltage to pose a serious threat to his systems—not like Orion's were. Besides, if he was going to kill Arcee, he wouldn't be able to go back to Orion, not without making it look as though he had been the one attacked, that it had all been in self-defense.

He had to make it look real.

All of this, the entire stream of consciousness, had elapsed within a nano-click. Faster than one could even shutter an optic, Megatron rounded out his logic, concluding to make no attempt to dodge her assault, instead he stood his ground, still looming over her, and grinned viciously as her shot caught him squarely upon the left shoulder. The blast packed enough of a punch to knock Megatron backward a handful of steps, and left a garish blackened trail that oozed drops of energon. Perfect.

His movements almost casual, unhurried, he flicked his wrist, raising his right arm he ignited his own plasma cannon; her optics went wide as his weapon came to life with a high pitched whine. If you would like to play Arcee, why didn't you say so?

Her frame was light and lithe, allowing for maximum of maneuverability, so she was able to pick herself up, flinging herself to the side as the blast exploded mere inches away from her. Though she was quick to avoid the worst of it, that is to say quick enough to dodge a direct hit, she could not entirely escape its rapidly expanding energy radius, and once again she was caught up in the aftermath of the impact. The sheer concussive force carried her high in the air before tumbling her into a low ditch. Bits of exploded earth rained down upon her beaten frame with hollow metallic echoes.

Blearily she looked up as Megatron leisurely approached, the very picture of arrogance and malicious cruelty; it was as if everything, her pain, the loss of Optimus, even the gash upon his shoulder, all played a fast to him. Could he take nothing seriously? Even as she struggled to pick herself up from the dirt, she couldn't help but wonder, how was it that Orion could ally himself with Megatron? She narrowed her gaze, taking in his withering grin, how could Orion call that, brother?

It sobered her, made her wonder who Orion really was. All this time she had never taken the time to look at him as Orion, had refused to see him as anything other than Optimus—a wounded Optimus yes, but Optimus nonetheless.

But such regrets were immediately pushed from her processor as Megatron drew up to her, the dust kicked up from his heavy pedfalls, swirling practically in her face. She was no match for the Decepticon lord, and she knew it. But she'd be slagged if she was going to go down without a fight. Not just for herself, but for all of those who Megatron had robbed from her…for Cliffjumper…for Trailbreaker…for Elita…for Chromia…for Optimus…

So, Arcee bent in over herself, as though she were favoring a wound, all the while shifting her peds beneath her, preparing to leap, to launch one last desperate strike at the face of evil.

"Feel like being reasonable yet, Arcee?" The mocking rasp of his voice only served to solidified her resolve.

Just as he reached for her, Arcee moved, a sleek blur of blue and gray steel, she sprang directly upwards, unsheathing her arm-blades, the keen edges aimed directly for the weaker panels of his neck. But even as she moved she knew she wouldn't quite make it, he was too tall, his armor too thick. The first blade caught him squarely on the chest, driving a deep slice into the Decepticon symbol embossed upon his chassis, neatly bisecting it, while the second was kept entirely at bay as he brought up his arm defensively, the sharpened digits of his hand locking onto her left wrist. At least the momentum of her attack was enough to topple him backwards, but even as they fell, he maintained his grip upon her wrist, heedless of her blade that bit into his palm and arm drawing bright beads of energon.

Fear clutched at Arcee's spark at being locked in place, so close to that burning red gaze. Twisting she brought her right elbow down in a jarring blow between his optics, but rather than elicit any sounds of pain, Megatron leaned forward, his face inches from hers…and laughed.

"Most impressive, Arcee…most impressive!"

A thought had occurred to him, before her little stunt when she had been cowering on the ground, feigning injury Megatron had begun to entertain a new possibility. While it would have been extremely satisfying to kill her, breaking her frame, crushing her spark, he began to realize that she could be rather useful to him alive. With her as a prisoner, he could weave a tale for Orion that told of her capture by some of their Decepticon soldiers, and how he, Megatronus, had arrived just in time to spare her from execution. He would tell Orion of how he insisted they take Arcee prisoner so that they might return her to the Autobots…under the condition that they release Orion of course.

Such a moving tale of mercy.

It entirely sickened Megatron, mostly because he knew that Orion would fall for it, wholly and completely.

"Let go of me, slaggard!" Arcee screamed, her voice reverberating in his audio receptors.

At the sound Megatron was drawn back into the present, though for a moment he merely watched her, feeling detached, as she struggled to free herself from his binding grasp, the blades on her wrists nicking and slicing anywhere they could find purchase against his frame. Such powerful anger aimed at him, it fueled her frame just as much as energon did. She had fire, spirit…oh what a formidable Decepticon she could have made! Greater than even her rival, Airachnid, whom Megatron saw as hobbled by her single-minded focus for revenge.

Perhaps, just, perhaps during her stay aboard the Nemesis Arcee could be brought to see reason. After all, with Orion on their side, what reason would she have for remaining with the Autobots? To do so would be illogical, for they would be slaughtered without consciousness. Their destruction was only a matter of time. And what a pity it would be to waste such a fine specimen.

"I said let go of me!" This time her words were backed by the sound of her shifting her right arm into her plasma rifle; a futile effort as Megatron had her arm relatively pinned, but he had to admire the sass behind it.

"Yes…it would be a waste to destroy you…"

To Arcee's surprise, he did just as she had asked; as if his servos had malfunctioned simultaneously, his great, clawed hands released her. She didn't hesitate, didn't have time to question as she kicked off of his chest, wanting to put as much distance between them. Though she didn't get very far, for just as she turned her back, thinking to transform and call to Ratchet for a ground bridge, Megatron was there, looming so suddenly before her.

Now it was he who moved without err, as he swung, backhanding her once again. Though this time the blow carried enough weight to knock her unconscious within moments of the impact. With a shudder, Arcee's optics dimmed, then flicked out as she slumped to the earth, sprawled entirely helpless in the throes of stasis.

"I said that I wouldn't destroy you…"Megatron smirked as he contacted Soundwave, requesting a ground bridge back to the Nemesis, "…not that I wouldn't let you go."

Without a care, he scooped her up in his arms then, as the Soundwave's ground bridge blossomed before him, illuminating the night air with bright green and blue light, "No, Arcee," he told her, though she could not hear him, "You are going to be staying with me for some time. That is, until you are no further use to me or until I get Orion back." It didn't wholly matter to him which came first, for Megatron had no intention of ever letting her return to the Autobots. She would help him return Orion to the Nemesis, willingly or as leverage, then she would have a choice: join the Decepticon cause and fight beside her precious 'Prime' once again…or perish.

For her sake, Megatron hoped she would choose the former rather than the latter. The tension that would inevitably mount between her and Airachnid would be delicious.