Nightstrike had captured them all: the femme, the yellow mech, the red mech, the Dinobot, even the little minicon. As he admired his catch while they twisted and turned in their prisons, his cocoons. Only Nightshade had learned to resist him for long periods of time, but her nightmares, her beautiful nightmares, kept her weak and afraid. Nightstrike smirked and wondered if he would find others of his faction, the Decepticons. He backed out of the gave and left his prisoners to whine and cry out.

ooo

Nightshade walked down the halls of the Nemesis, holding a dagger in her servo. She walked into her carrier's quarters, who renamed herself. Silence stood in place of Nighthawk. "You hurt me."

Silence made a soft noise in her sleep.

"You ran away when I needed you most. What is wrong with you? Because of you, I carried a Seeker trine. You didn't tell me anything, didn't warn me about anything!" She slit the femme's throat just as Silence became Starscream. "No..."

"You're hurting me!" The Seeker backed into a corner, clutching his neck. "Why are you doing this? You're just like your carrier! You are a freak!"

"I am not!" Her armor colors rippled, turning red to fit her mood before she looked and saw. She was a freak...and she had passed the freak-gene to her sparklings. She backed up. "I'm not a freak...I swear..."

I am not a freak...I am not a freak...right...?

ooo

Bumblebee stood in the middle of a burning city. Human bodies were strewn all around, some clutching children, some clutching pets, some clutching themselves. And it was all his fault.

Optimus stood in front of him, burning as well. "I trusted you, Bee. I trusted you with the world and you set it on fire! You are not meant to lead. You are not capable of leading. I made a mistake putting you in charge..."

The Prime faded away into the fire and Bumblebee was left by himself, screaming and crying. He had done this! It was all his fault! Optimus even said so! What had he done? What had he done...?

ooo

Strongarm screamed, arching her back. Energon was everywhere, on the ground, on her servos, everywhere. And the sparkling was dead. Sideswipe stood over her, his optics dark.

"Oops," he muttered, and he turned away.

Strongarm cried into her servos, curling up around herself. Bumblebee was right...

ooo

Sideswipe stared down at Strongarm. He had hit her just a little too hard, a little too much... Hit her? No, he would never hit her!

"Oww," Strongarm whimpered and she looked up at Sideswipe. "You hurt me."

"No, I'd never hurt you...never. I'd never do such a thing...Never. You know I wouldn't..."

"I'm going to go tell Bumblebee."

Sideswipe watched her run away and he whined softly. "I didn't mean it..."

ooo

Fixit cried out as he layed in the junkyard.

"You're worthless, outdated, without value...who needs a disfunctional minicon who can't even do what he is supposed to do? We have you the simplest of tasks and you FAILED."

Fixit cried as he laid in the scrap and he whimpered softly, realizing his worth.

ooo

Grimlock stood on the soft grass, the warm sun shining down on him. It was a beautiful day, and it would be, had it not been for the...beast.

"Mew," it purred.

"GET AWAY FROM ME!"

The little kitten jumped at him, batting its tiny paws at the Dinobot. "Mew, mew, mew..."

"Ahhhhhh!"

ooo

Nightshade opened her optics slowly, glaring at Nightstrike, who grinned at her.

"You killed Auntie 'Hawk?"

She bared her denta.

"Awww, I won't tell, but if your little Autobots friends knew, well..." He smirked and nuzzled her, shrieking into her audio. "I wouldn't want to be in your shoes."

Nightshade shook her helm firmly as she whimpered, feigning falling into stasis. When Nightstrike giggled and left, she opened her optics and took his physical form. She giggled the same way he did and she shrieked. She had the power to put Nightstrike in his place. But first, she had to be free.

She squirmed around and brought her claws to bear, cutting through the tough material as she growled and strained. Then she was free, flapping her wings to rid herself of the clinging blue goo that kept her and the others in the stasis of nightmares.

Then she freed Bumblebee, tipping her helm at him as she dropped the 'guise. "Good. You're alive."

"Why wouldn't I be?" Bumblebee coughed up the goo and groaned.

"Sometimes Nightstrike kills for sport. Sometimes he doesn't."

He looked at her and frowned. Nightshade was an old friend of Team Prime along with her sister. Bumblebee rarely saw the two sisters apart. The Decepticon insignia shone on her chest, as if proudly being displayed. She quickly covered it.

"I can confuse him," she continued. "I will release your friends and then you must get out of here."

"What will he do if he finds you out?" Bumblebee stood up.

She smiled and took her cousin's physical form. "He will kill for sport." She cut the others free.

"The dreams we had..."

"They were nightmares. They seem real, but the only thing that is real is your fear of whatever is in them. You can find out that it isn't true if you look for details that don't make since."

Bumblebee frowned, then blinked. Optimus never called anyone by their nicknames. He always said "Bumblebee", but in the nightmare, he called him "Bee"!

"What was in your nightmare?"

She hesitated before she looked down at the coughing Strongarm. She helped her up, sighing. "I did a lot of things I'm not proud of, too many to count. It could have been any one of those things."

"You won't talk," Bumblebee said with a smile. "Optimus knew you wouldn't talk about anything from your past, but Starsong was very open. Where is she?"

"Somewhere, hidden in the stars. She cried when she saw Optimus in her Spirit Realm. She broke every mirror in her quarters, every glass ball, except one. She keeps that in a pouch she ties around her hip. Optimus frequents there a lot, calling to her. She's nearly mad."

"She wasn't exactly sane, as I remember." Bumblebee helped his team stand up right. "If Nightstrike doesn't kill for sport, will you stay with us?"

Nightshade rolled her shoulders as she thought, tipping her helm back as she sighed. "I will consider it. I will come to you with Nightstrike, and I will stay if I decide it is well enough to do so. Perhaps I can coax Starsong down."

Bumblebee nodded, and while Nightshade went in search for her cousin, he led his team out of the cave.

ooo

Bumblebee wasn't expecting Nightshade to return, even though she said she would. Nightshade wasn't exactly a team player, but there she was, holding a limp Nightstrike who whined and twitched.

"Used his own power agaisnt him. While he is deaf to his own call, he is not deaf to mine." She scratched under her chin, dropping the Nightstrike-'guise. Then she dropped her cousin into a stasis pod. "You let this one out, I will peel your paint, Bumblebee."

"So you're staying?"

"Can't let Optimus' puppies run around blindly, now can I?" She stored the pod, putting a cloth over it. "Show me Strongarm. I request full medic privelages."

"You can have them. Give Fixit less things to do. He's worn as it is, Nightshade."

She nodded and she walked into the main portion of the junkyard, the part where the Autobots slept. Strongarm was laying in Sideswipe's lap, the femme purring and stroking his cheek.

"Mm." Nightshade stroked her belly once, closing her optics. "Mechling." She got up. "A few more days, lovely, and then I will deliver the little one."

Strongarm smiled up at her, then looked at Sideswipe. "A mechling?"

"Pray to Primus it doesn't take after the sire," Nightshade said as she turned to walk away, but Strongarm quickly wrapped her in a hug.

"Thank you!"

Nightshade looked at Bumblebee. The mech laughed.

"Welcome to Team Bee, Nightshade."

She shuddered. "Joy..."