It was less terrifying than the warehouse full of body parts. Still not great.

After forever in a mine and then being a jet with a restraining bolt, Lyra was NOT very inclined to jump into a drainage pipe.

"This has to be a joke," she snarled, casting a baleful eye at the tied-up Dauber. "Throw him down first."

Grimlock picked him up while Dauber sassed. "Whatever, hone-eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!" Dino-mode Grimlock plugged his "nose" and jumped after him.

"I hate being the only sane one." It was time to dredge up that old not-fear of the dark. Jump!

Starscream's ability to hover in the air had always mystified her. She was also jealous of it on multiple occasions, like right now. *CLUNK*

"GOOD LANDING!" Grimlock applauded.

"Ha ha, thanks." She struggled back up and regarded her surroundings. "So... this is it?"

It was not that ghoulish. Maybe the old ghost stories Sunstreaker and Sideswipe had told were just that: stories. It was a dark room with large statues that had quotes on them. "Death comes to he who crosses me," "Pax per tyrannidem," "Megatron, is that you?" AHA.

"...why is it just his legs?"

Dauber cleared his throat. "That was all that was left of him. Someone thought they were funny." He wiggled his shoulders in an attempt to not only emphasize his restraints but to be sardonic. "If I'm going to be performing a ceremony, I need some freedom here."

"OH NO YOU DON'T!" Lyra replied as Grimlock made a move to untie him. "Just talk."

Dauber sighed. "Starscream...wherever you are...sorry I didn't bring you any presents. Except for this Dinobot. Go ahead and take him."

Lyra didn't get to him in time. Oops. Now Dauber had to talk to ghosts while being sat on.

It hit her a split second later that this was an excellent way to keep a ghost from invading your body-

"AT LAST! BODY AUTONOMY!" Grimlock watched Lyra stretch her arms out victoriously before leaping into jet mode and collapsing. "What-THIS BODY IS CONFUSING!"

This did not surprise the Dinobot. He heard more than he let on; and Ratchet and Wheeljack didn't speak in low enough tones.

Lyra's composition had been subject of a lot of speculation. Originally a car, changed into a jet, modified by Primus-knows-who...both medics wanted to keep studying her before Optimus Prime put the kibosh on that. (He's good at that.)

Dauber looked at him calmly. "This giant could carry you if you get him off of me."

Only laughter greeted him. "I've tangled with him enough to know better." 'Lyra' tripped and fell on nothing. "Blast!" She glanced at the two and weighed her options. "Why DID you come here?"

"HER LYRA WANT TO TALK TO YOU." Grimlock knew the particulars - Lyra had told him - but he was uncertain how detailed he should be. Well, Lyra wasn't here, so he might as well tell Starscream. "YOU STARSCREAM KNOW THINGS TO GET HER OUT OF GHETTO."

"Mishap is in the ghetto..." he laughed more. "Fitting. They dredged her up from a hole to begin with." He glanced at Dauber. "You appear to be comfortable enough. Come, Dino-dolt. I might require your assistance."

Grimlock didn't budge. "ME GRIMLOCK PROMISED COOKIES."

"Of course you were. I know how to assemble those. Chocolate chip or oatmeal raisin?"

Starscream dead was as stupid as Starscream alive. "YOU NEED TO ASK?"

"Right. The former. Come along!"

Grimlock hoisted Dauber over his shoulder and carried him out. "WE NEED DIRECTIONS."

"WHY YOU STARSCREAM HELP LYRA?"

He has expected that question. "Because I intend to keep this body until I find another."

There was another reason but it was too embarrassing.

He felt obligated.

He shouldn't; it was Mishap's own fault she was a lousy spy and a lousy traitor and even worse at providing sustenance when those moronic Autobots assumed that starving him to death would get him to play nice. She was a fool to reject his proposal to perpetually shadow him and even more foolish to assume those same intolerant bigoted Autobots wouldn't stick her in a hole somewhere, too...and look where she'd been sentenced. No wonder she'd turned to him yet again. This faith in him had been sorely missed. For once in his existence on this planet, someone really and truly needed him, and it overinflated his ego that he could do it.

The hall of records was another nondescript Decepticon building. Two guards outside, demanding to see identification, especially when Grimlock dropped Dauber at their feet.

"YOU NO NEED IDENTI-MICATION."

Well...he was Grimlock...sure, they'll watch your "prisoner."

Code Red didn't give them a second. He opened fire.

"ARGH!" It all happened so QUICKLY, and Starscream wasn't used to this body at all! When he tried to leap into the air, the slagging thing fell to the floor, getting in Grimlock's way so that his charge was interfered with long enough to get him hit, causing him to pitch sideways instead of forward and land on Code Red attempting to dodge both of them. By the time the 'bot on the bottom had untangled herself, there was more smoke and alarms than necessary to facilitate a confusion Starscream could manipulate. He had her crawling on the floor to the computer to manually override the elevators and get going on the information search he knew Mishap required.

"ME GRIMLOCK JUST STAY RIGHT HERE. SITTING ON AUTOBOTS EASY! MAYBE ME GRIMLOCK JUST DO THIS WHEN FIGHTING TOO MUCH EFFORT."

In spite of himself, Starscream smiled. "You do that, bozo."

"ME GRIMLOCK NO BOZO, ME KING!"

He was starting to get on Starscream's nerves. "Heavy is the head that wears the crown," he muttered to himself. A crown he hoped to acquire.

Decepticon passwords had been a hopeless joke in that they all followed the same algorithm. Starscream had what he needed in fewer than three tries. Lyra's fingers at least weren't irritatingly iconoclastic. Those parts he'd put in her were a mess, though. How she had adapted to operating like this was a true commentary on her inner strength.

"AHA!" he cried triumphantly. This would be more than enough.