Human faces revived in his helm again and again! A male. A female. A youngling. And her of course.

Phases in her life before the nightmare began. He saw bits and pieces of her youth, her family, laughter, embarrassment, fears, hopes, dreams… all gone, when she got caught by those abominable humans. He saw torture, he saw helplessness, he saw agony, all of it making him feel more and more disgusted. He saw a defenseless, pathetic small being, wondering how she has survived such a long time. 'A long time' in human terms, of course. He also saw another youngling, but for some reason there weren't many memories of it. But above all, he saw a great deal of pain, physical and mental pain.

Megatron growled as he couldn't even concentrate on his research. Those pictures made him more furious the more he realized he couldn't stop them from flaring up over and over again. And there was that feeling as well! As if he had forgotten about something very important, his mind almost scolding at him. Regardless of the unwelcome distraction, the warlord tried to continue his research in the Nemesis database. There have only been a few entries on that specific topic which was not surprising. After all, there haven't been many cases…

Megatron scowled at the monitor. Those entries didn't help at all! There was no way that what he suspected could have happened! Not with Cybertron being dead for eons now. Not without Primus to decide and NOT without him wishing for something like that or even thinking about it! He clenched his servos tight, enraged.

The door to the science lab opened but before someone could have piped up, Megatron grabbed some of the tools laying around in the lab next to him and threw it blindly at the entering mech, losing his temper. Soundwave dodged at the last second, silently surprised and impressed at his leader's anger.

"Soundwave! What is it?" Megatron snarled not even mentioning his outburst.

Soundwave stepped closer to show a life signal appearing and disappearing erratically on his visor. When Megatron paid closer attention to it, he was taken aback, realizing it was his own life signal. That must have been, why Soundwave didn't know what to do with it, coming to his master to ask what was going on in his very own silent way. The warlord's optics narrowed menacingly.

"Your systems must be malfunctioning!", he growled, "Delete the signal! It shouldn't reappear again as you are perfectly aware that I am here and nowhere near those coordinates! After that, you are to report to the med bay and make Knockout fix the problem!"

Soundwave nodded and deleted the signal, making it disappear from his visor. He turned away to make his exit, a tad surprised he was not to investigate on the matter. But he never questioned the decisions of his lord and already focused on another task when the signal popped up again with a beep before the mech was out of the lab, making Megatron roar.

There was a similar situation inside the Autobots base. Ratchet already has called for Optimus and the others to show them the irritating signal.

Bulkhead was the first to pipe up. "Could be a trick. A lure to make us investigate and run into a Decepticon trap!"

Bumblebee agreed, beeping that there was no convincing reason the leader of the Decepticons would wander around through a desert on his own.

"Aren't those the exact same coordinates of the abandoned energon mine we have been investigating before we ran into Megatron and Starscream?", Arcee asked ", If I remember correctly, Starscream was left in a somewhat difficult position and Megatron was buried under tons of rocks."

Optimus hummed lightly. "Megatron has survived far worse than to be defeated by a mere cave in. I wouldn't be surprised, if he managed to get out of the mine."

"Maybe he is wounded though", Ratchet added, "It seems he is not able to fly back to the Nemesis. In fact, his movements are very slow if he is moving at all."

Bumblebee whirled, saying that this could be their chance to catch the warlord off guard and if he was indeed alone and weak, they could finally finish him.

Optimus took a few seconds to think about it. "Detecting his life signal doesn't necessarily mean, Megatron is actually there. But it does look like we can afford to investigate though with utmost care. There could be other Decepticons on site that we may not be able to uncover yet."

The prime looked over to Ratchet, the medic already nodding and tipping in the coordinates of the signal to activate the ground bridge.

"Autobots. If we indeed find Megatron on his own and at our mercy", the prime looked at each one of them firmly, "we are not to take any chances. We will have to act quickly and precisely in order to terminate him before backup appears."

He saw them all nodding seriously and transforming into their vehicle mode.

"Roll out".

She would have cried if there was even a bit water left inside her body to produce tears. They found her! After all she has been through, after she made a discovery beyond believe, meeting an alien life form, seeing parts of what she was convinced to be memories, after being carried out of the mine by Megatron, after all what has been before, they found her!
Being far too weak, she couldn't run anymore. She was just staggering ahead, knowing if she stopped or stumbled, she wouldn't be able to get up again. She felt more helpless and afraid than ever in her life before. The strange feeling of being abandoned hasn't faded away as well, it has rather increased since Megatron left her. It felt wrong and yet she couldn't fathom where this feeling was coming from. She just knew it was wrong! She wasn't supposed to be on her own! She whimpered silently out of exhaustion, thinking about her family again to gather what was left of her strength.

Her pursuers were close, she could hear that. She could hear them shouting at her in the distance, shooting at her though it must still be too far away to aim properly for she didn't get hit. But that was just a matter of time. Soon, it would be over.

It was then, when she has been forced to stop despite the fear for her tormentors to catch up with her. She widened her eyes lightly, too weak to be more then mildly shocked by the huge appearance of green light, whirling like a black hole and blinding her. She wasn't afraid of it although she didn't know what she was dealing with exactly. It was more like a feeling, a newly awakened instinct.

A bullet hit the ground right next to her feet which would have made her jump if she could. She limbed forward to hide behind a rock formation while she noticed a figure taking shape inside the spiraling green light. What her feet haven't been able to do, her heart did. It jumped in surprise, in anger and in great relief, all at once when she saw Megatron coming out of the swirl. Her mind didn't even bother to think how this was possible. Nothing made sense since she found out about his existence. She didn't hesitate as she stepped forward to catch his attention.

The portal of green light was gone as suddenly as it has appeared. The warlord took a few seconds to look around but scowled, when bullets started to hit his chassis, annoying him at the most. He narrowed his optics as he tried to figure out where the attackers were hidden. Doing so, he found what he was looking for in the first place, growling at the small human standing in front of him just a stone's throw away. A cybertronian stone's throw away.

He could see her eyes filled with hope but he couldn't react with a proper angry or disgusted gaze when he noticed the bullets were barely missing her frame. So, he came just in time, he scoffed, coming closer, raising his arm and aiming at the rocks behind the woman where those pathetic humans surely hid themselves. He would get rid of them with a single blast. But before he could eradicate them, a flash of blue blaster fire hit the Decepticon's arm, stopping his assault.

"Megatron", Optimus hollered, "we cannot allow you to harm these humans. Stand down!" The rest of his team in tow, the prime was targeting the warlord again.

"Those parasites don't really deserve the term, even you would admit that if you knew what I do." The warlord was deeply annoyed by the Autobot's appearance but he was not surprised. The possibility for them to get a hold of that specific human was the reason he was honoring the place with his presence. He took a quick glance at the woman, seeing if she was still covered and addressing her suddenly with a piercing glare. "Don't you dare move from that spot." It was the first time she heard his voice. A shiver ran down her spine.

"He has a hostage!" Arcee shouted to the rest, "be careful not to harm the girl accidently. We have to get her out of there!"

The 'girl' in question winced. Hostage? Who are they? What was going on?! The incoming bullets fired by the humans were forgotten when she observed Megatron engaging the other cybertronians on his own. Being vastly outnumbered didn't seem to concern him. He transformed and sped off, flying high and started an assault from the sky.

"So much for not being able to transform", Bulkhead hissed, targeting the warlord with his blasters, "what are we supposed to do now?"

Optimus fired at Megatron along with the others, moving fast to avoid being hit himself. "While Megatron remains airborne, we have no possibility to get close to him, yet alone to terminate him. However, we have to ensure that humans safety! Arcee, get to her while we will draw his fire to cover you. When you got a hold of her, Ratchet shall open a ground bridge back to base for there is nothing else Megatron seems to be after beside that woman."

Arcee didn't bother to answer as she transformed and rushed to her target but didn't make it far as she was hit by Megatron's blaster fire. The impact dashed the femme against a rock, where she felt unconscious.

"Arcee!" Optimus only took a second to assess the damage that has been made to the small blue femme. "Bulkhead. Take Arcee back to base. Bumblebee, you are with me."

Bulkhead retreated without stopping to fire at the flying Con until he could grab his comrade and then waited for the bridge to open. Megatron landed just between the human and the remaining Autobots, glaring at them.

"I am actually not in the mood nor do I have time to play around with you, Optimus. Not today. So…" He loaded his canon and aimed at the far rocks again from where the humans were still shooting at all of them. "If you get any closer I will blow that pest sky high and you can clean up the mess."

Optimus stopped and gestured to Bumblebee to do the same, both of them staring the warlord down. Megatron sneered as he backed away, not leaving them out of his sight. When he got close to the trembling human he activated his COMM. "Soundwave, open the ground bridge."

The portal opened right behind the Decepticon leader and right next to the human. He glanced down at her and gestured to the swirl. "Get in there." When the woman didn't react right away, he hollered. "NOW!"

She winced but started to move, dragging herself to the ground bridge. She tried to move faster, she truly did but she couldn't.

Suddenly, her eyes widened, as a single shot hit her in the back.

Time slowed down. She stopped midway, blinked and looked up as Megatron roared furiously and fired at the rocks. She could hear a couple of her own breaths loudly in her ears. She blinked again. Megatron fired at the both mechs who were trying to reach him before he could get away. She blinked again, surprisingly calm. Then, her vision blurred. She felt the world around her spinning and then, there was darkness.

Knockout almost suffered a spark attack, along with Starscream to whom the doctor was still tending after their lord and master almost beat him to the pit, when said lord and master barged in the med bay. The both of them flinched when they saw the rage in Megatron's optics, thinking either one of them must have done something terribly wrong to infuriate the warlord all of the sudden.

"M…Master! I am sure there is a good explanation…", Starscream started to brabble but he got cut off by his leader immediately. Megatron reached a med berth and opened his fist to reveal a small frame in it. A human! A human in a terrible condition.

"Hmmm", Starscream hummed lightly, "Well, this creature did have indeed a terrible day." He chuckled amused but almost choked, when he saw the dark look piercing at him.

"My lord," Knockout interfered to prevent the seeker from being beaten senseless. Again. "what are we supposed to do with it?"

"I will tell you, what you are supposed to do with it", the warlord said in a dangerously calm voice as he let the human slide down to the med berth almost carefully. Knockdown and Starscream exchanged looks at a loss for words. "You are to fix her. And let me make myself clear: If she dies …" both mechs shrunk as Megatron clenched his servo, afraid for their lives as they should have been, "you will share her condition."

After this assuring speech, he turned away and left the med bay, leaving back two dumbfounded Decepticons behind.

"What just happened?", Starscream asked.

It took a few seconds for Knockout to answer: "I think our all mighty leader has lost his mind! I mean… a human? What is he supposed to do with it?"

"Maybe it knows something", Starscream tried to explain, "It has to be of some value! Otherwise…"

A rattling noise brought their attention back on their 'patient'.

"Well, I will leave you to do your handiwork, doctor," Starscream was about to leave the room, "I know it is in good hands."

"You will go nowhere!" Knockout hissed angrily, "as I recall correctly, lord Megatron told us BOTH to fix it! So, move your aft back here and help me figure out how to repair this tiny thing!"

"How should I know! I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time! You are the medic!"

The medic at hand started to panic, as the human's intakes began to get erratic. "Scream!"

"Alright!", the seeker tried not to freak out, starting to pace back and forth, "Well, if it was one of us, you would scan it first to uncover what is wrong, that much I know, so: scan it!"

Knockout grabbed a tool from the lab table immediately and initiated the scan, not even thinking about how ridiculous that might look like but shortly afterwards, the device almost felt out of his servo.

"What is wrong?", Starscream hissed.

"It… I… I'm getting readings…."

"Excellent! What do they say?" The seeker frowned when the medic didn't respond. "Doctor?" He froze, then shrieked. "Is it dead already?!"

"No, but it's spark is already flickering…" Knockout showed the readings to the seeker, who slowly started to realize what the medic just said and what he saw on the medical device.

"Did you say…. spark? As in the human equivalent to a spark?"

"I said spark and I meant it." Knockout's confusion only grew when he double checked the readings on the labs monitor. "but it makes no sense. Look! Those readings are similar to those of our master! What did he do to the human?"

The human was shivering and started to having trouble intaking, making the present mechs whimper.

"I am a doctor to cybertronians!" Knockout shrieked in panic, "not to some human pets! What are we going to do! I do not know anything about human biology and last time I checked I NEVER was blamed for that lack of knowledge!"

The silver mech was thinking hard. "If you do not know anything about human biology, what do you know about a flickering spark? Doctor! Why would a spark flicker?"

The doctor tried to focus, shoving his panic aside as best as he could: "Well, there are two possible explanations. One is, the chassis has endured extensive damage. Too extensive to be able to host its spark any longer. Second, its flickering due to an extreme loss of energon which is mostly associated with extensive damage to the chassis. If it is the first, we are doomed. I cannot fix a human's chassis even if my life depends on it. This is so unf…"

Starscream cut the doctor off to stop him from pitying himself. "And if it is the second case?"

"Well, I would attach an energon drip and refuel the patient but that is not an option either! Energon and the human nerve system…"

"do not get along with each other." Starscream remembered how the interrogation of agent Fowler had failed due to that incompatibility. "But, for the love of Primus, this human has a spark! You said it yourself: you get clear readings!"

The human trembled and winced once more, intaking heavily…. Then stopped moving at all. The lab's monitor uttered an alarming sound. From that moment everything happened very quickly.

"Give me an energon drip, NOW!", Knockout shouted at the silver mech, forgetting about the seeker's higher rank, "hurry the frag up!"

Starscream almost stumbled over his own peds as he grabbed for the energon drip closest to the med berth, while Knockout prepared an energon sample. The both of them froze midway, looking at each other when they realized their mistake.

"It's all too big!" Starscream squealed. "Frag it all! How are we supposed to inject energon to this miniature without tearing it apart!"

The alarming sound still emanated from the monitor as Knockout started to look around frantically, wishing for Breakdown to be there. His assistant surly would have had an idea or at least he could calm him down. The doctor glared at the energon sample, then around in the med bay, them back at the sample… and he got an inspiration.

"Well, desperate times…", Knockout reached for the sample and opened it quickly, making the seeker beside him frown in confusion. The doctor held the energon containing cube with one servo, trying to pick up the human with the other but failed to get a hold of the tiny creature in his panic.

"For Primus sake, you call yourself a doctor?!" the seeker pushed Knockout aside, closing his claws around the human and lifting it up this way, "If I come to think about how often those unsteady servos of yours were tinkering around on my chassis! Now what?"

The red mech gestured to the cube, holding it directly below the human. "Let it slide into the energon." The doctor's serious look met Starscream's horrified expression. "Do it!" And so, the seeker did, mentally already preparing to make his will.

The human fell into the energon filled cube. It was a nice, fresh sample of energon, almost transparent so they could watch their lab rat sink to the cube's bottom where it remained motionless. Knockout grabbed the spark reading device from before, pointed it at the fluid and waited.

Nothing.

The monitor still beeped constantly, alarming the mech of the medical emergency. Seconds passed, making the 'doctors' worried out of their mind. On closer inspection, they could see the energon enter the humans body through its mouth passively but it didn't seem to work the way the red mech was hoping for. Finally, the beep stopped, being replaced by a single, monotone tone and the screen turned red.

After some time of silence, Starscream piped up, his voice an octave higher than usually: "Lord Megatron isn't going to actually kill us over some human, is he?"

They exchanged glances, recalling their masters rage vividly and groaned simultaneously: "Scrap."

The sound emanating from the monitor changed suddenly. Within the glimpse of an eye, a single spark beat could be heard, making the seeker and the red mech jump in surprise. They waited long, too long, for the second beat, and noticed the cube started to crack so they put It down on the med berth and waited again. The third beat was the strongest. It made the vessel break eventually and spilling energon all over the berth while the monitor showed the spark readings went skyrocketing.

The human laid on her front side and started to cough violently, spitting the excessive energon out of her system. The Cons watched in astonishment as the readings on the screen slowly settled, showing a natural resting pulse.

This time Knockout succeeded to pick up the human and laid her down on his servo. Her frame was shaking, her body surly was still in shock. When she stopped coughing, she collapsed onto the metal and rolled on her back. Starscream drew closer but flinched violently and the doctor almost dropped his patient as the human took in a sudden deep intake, opening its bright blue optics.

Curious? Like it? No? Please tell me!