Shadow

"Take me to him. Maybe I can talk some sense into him" I said.

"Doubt it. We've tried all the tricks in the book. He's not a mod addict, he's completely antisocial, and what's worse? HE NEVER SMILES!" Bumblebee fretted.

"I can do it. I know I can".

"Did he ever smile anyway?" Sari asked.

"Well, when he saw mass destruction, but he doesn't even do it for that now" Bumblebee answered.

"Oh…well, he's screwed".

"No he isn't. Like I said, let me handle him. I think I know what his deal is" I concluded as the others took me to the very same barn I'd left Lockdown in when I bought him.

"You kept him here?" I asked.

Then, completely out of random, another transformer I had never seen before came shooting out of the barn.

"He's EVIL!" he said.

"Well, yeah Swindle, we thought you caught on to that" Prowl joined in.

"Wait a minute, Swindle? You're here too?" Lockdown asked.

"Lockdown, Buddy is that you? Come here you big afthole!".

"Not an afthole, Swindle-".

"Yeah, I know, a whole aft. Anyway, it's good you see you man. Where've you been?".

"I'll explain later. But for now Shadow here's gonna try to get Starscream to talk".

Swindle looked at me with really huge eyes. I wasn't sure what to think of him. He was something, I just couldn't quite put my finger on it.

"Nice to meet you, lady. Good luck in there. Hopefully he won't wanna fight you. Trust me, he's a dirty player".

"I'll remember that, thanks" I said, though I kinda already knew that.

"Alright, BB" Peter starts to instruct, "If he dares lay a finger on Mel, you know what to do….Blow off one of his claws".

Sari looked kinda mad right there. "Oh we'll blow off something".
I didn't wanna know what that something was, so I didn't ask. Peter unlocked the barn (Swindle had been thrown to the roof, the poor guy) and there he was. Like with Swindle, I didn't know what to think of him either.

Have you ever seen pictures of a Holocaust victim? Well, think of that, only mechanized, and you basically had Starscream. Only he appeared stronger, but so weak in so many ways. Basically he looked broken in spirit, mind, and body. If I knew anything about Mech abuse and fighting, this was both of those at their worst. One wing was broken and scarred up, as was the left side of his face, where an optic seemed to be permanently offline. Scars and other battle wounds were on his legs and hands. His cannons other weapons, and some plating were removed. He looked so…helpless.

He looked up at all of us and I think the others were all kinda freaked out. But I knew better. Even though he looked like he wanted to hurt us, that one optic, that one looking at me, told me something, sent me a message: Help me.

"It's okay. No one's gonna hurt you".

He seemed to be inspecting my face, looking for any signs of treachery, or honesty, I couldn't tell. Gosh, with just one optic, Starscream was kinda hard to read.

"What'd he do to you?".

That's when he started to freak out. He had been trying to get those memories erased, but I was sure it was hard too. He was emotionally and mentally traumatized. I didn't even know what to do. Whatever happened to Starscream, it was probably worst form of cruelty.

"Cut his claws off!" Peter demanded.

"NO!" I stood up for Starscream, "Not yet! Don't you see, Pete? You're probably only bringing back memories he needs deleted".

"How are we gonna do that?".

"Well, it's not gonna happen like that! He can't talk because he was forced into silence!".

"That's actually something we can all live with, seeing as how his mouth is as big as his ego-" Bumblebee started.

"Look, just give him time. If he doesn't change, I'll put him out of his misery myself" I turned back to Starscream, who was still somewhat scared of what was happening, "Nothing's gonna hurt you, Screamer, not while I'm around".

"Hey, where have I heard that before?" Lockdown asked, "Oh yeah, that one musical movie about the creepy barber who slit people's throats and baked them. Sweeney Todd, wasn't it?".

"Hey, that's right. Toby's song! Why didn't I see it before?!" I knew a way to make him feel better. I had to sing Toby's song.

"Nothing's gonna harm you, not while I'm around. Nothing's gonna harm you, no sir, not while I'm around. Demons are prowling everywhere nowadays".

"Hey!" Prowl said, "I take offense to that!".

I rolled my optics, ignoring him and continued my song. "I'll send them howling, I don't care, I've got ways. No one's gonna hurt you. No one's gonna dare. Others can desert you. Not to worry. Whistle, I'll be there. Demons will charm you with a smile, for a while, but in time…nothing can harm you. Not while I'm around".

Everyone was quiet as I sang to poor Screamer who seemed to be getting my message because he was crawling up to me. It wasn't long before he had his head in my lap. He was so much a like a little sparkling who was afraid of the world, and who could blame him?

"Not to worry, not to worry. I may not be smart, but I ain't dumb. I can do it, put me to it. Show me something I can overcome. Not to worry…Screamer. Being close and being clever ain't like being true" I lifted his chin so he was looking right at my optics, "I don't need to, I would never, hide a thing from you, like some".

Just then, like a miracle, Screamer actually tried to sing too.

"Nothing's gonna harm you…not while I'm around. Nothing's gonna harm you…Shadow? Not while I'm around".

I nodded. Primus, he even sounded like a sparkling.

"Demons will charm you with a smile, for a while, but in time, nothing's gonna harm you…not while I'm around".

Poor thing, I felt so bad for him. I was hoping that maybe he'd grow to trust us. My mother always told me that when it came to fighters, you had make them feel secure. In a world where you fight all the time, you lose your faith and trust in people. In Screamer's case, we had to take it a step further. But I could tell, he was gonna be okay as long as I was there.

A/N: What'd you guys think of that? I do not own the song in this chapter. That purely belongs to whoever wrote the lyrics for the movie/musical, Sweeney Todd. Okay, tell me what you think and I'll talk to you guys next chapter!