Kay this is uh I suppose a filler chapter? Considering I intended them being trapped for several days, this idea was added in at some point, anyways it basically takes place in between day 4 and 5

In between

Chaos

It was all around me. Distant screams and explosions echoed in my audio receptors as I ran. No…I wasn't running. Someone else was. Someone was carrying me. I quickly discovered I couldn't move, or feel anything. I felt small, vulnerable.

What was happening?

I couldn't see. Smoke filled the air; the heat of a nearby explosion burned my frame. I tried to look up to see whoever was carrying me, but it was useless. The only thing I could make out was that they were a femme. I wasn't sure how I knew. I just knew.

I could somewhat make out the dim glow of her royal blue optics through the smoke and haze. Another explosion echoed in my audio receptor, this time knocking the femme off her pedes. Terror filled my spark.

What was happening? My mind couldn't process anything.

Suddenly I felt a reassuring tug at the core of my spark.

Everything's gonna be alright. A voice in my mind says.

For a moment I thought it was the femme who had spoken before I quickly realize I am not the only one she is carrying. Beside me is a young mech. Unlike the femme, his optics were golden. He appeared familiar but he was sure he had never seen the mech before in his life.

He wasn't sure why, he had no idea who either of them were, and yet, he felt…safe around them.

The golden opticed mech looked up as the femme suddenly stopped running. Her entire frame seemed to tense as she walked into a severely damaged room, a workshop perhaps? Or maybe a forge? I wasn't sure.

"I swear to Primus, I am going to kill him." she muttered under her breath as she walked in, stepping over debris as she did so. "Brother, where are you?" she yelled in what appeared to be frustration and concern.

"They're always around when you don't want them but never around when you actually need them!" She growled in frustration. "Where are they?" she yelled as she kicked a piece of scrap metal on the floor.

Her frame suddenly tensed as the temperature in the room seemed to drop significantly. I watch as she removes a piece of scrap metal from the wall. Behind it appears to be a damaged ventilation shaft. She places us inside and tells the golden optic mech something in another language before telling, no, ordering us:

"Stay here"

We watch as she replaces the sheet of scrap metal over the vent, but inadvertently leaving a space visible for the two of us to see.

The temperature in the room suddenly seemed to rise in an instant, nearly overheating our frames in the small vent.

We watch as the femme pulls out what appears to a weapon, but before she could fully unsheathe it, a long staff suddenly burst through her spark chamber. She gasped in pain as she was lifted several inches off the floor.

Behind her was a skeleton like mech with lava red optics. Fear filled my entire frame as the mech said something to her before tossing her aside and began walking towards where we were hidden.

We watch was the femme grabbed her weapon and stabbed it deep into the mech's leg. A low growl escaped his voice capacitor before he suddenly lifted the femme in the air, only, he wasn't even touching her.

With a flick of his wrist the femme was lifted into the air inches away from the mech. He said something in another language to the femme; in response she muttered something, which clearly angered the mech.

We watched in horror as he stabbed his claws into her chestplates, ripping her spark out in the process before her frame clattered to the floor.

By now I wasn't looking at the mech, I was staring at the femme as her life slowly slipped away before us. She kept her dying gaze on us as the mech stood over her, holding her still beating spark in his claws.

She was watching us through dying eyes as she bleed out on the floor, her frame slowly changing to ash gray before us.

If I could scream, I'm sure I would have.

Orion suddenly woke with a start; his hand flew up to his chest as if he were the one who had been stabbed. He felt no physical pain; it felt more as if a ghost of pain lingered in his spark chamber before quickly fading away. When he pulled his hand away, there was no energon, no fatal wound. He slowly exhaled a sigh of relief when he realized it had only been a dream. He sighed softly and leaned against the train cart behind him. Had he merely imagined the pain? Before he could dwell on the thought any further, a familiar gruff voice brought him back to reality.

"What's wrong, kid?" Ironhide asked who seemed to be on high alert despite the fact that the driller was probably the least of their concerns.

"Nothing…" Orion said, quietly. "Did…I wake you?"

"Nah, been up for a few hours." said Ironhide. "Nightmares again?" he added. He knew Orion well enough to know what was bothering him.

Orion began to nod but quickly shook his head.

"No…this one was different…"

"Different how," Ironhide asked, not that he was curious, mostly due to the fact he had been sitting around in the dark for hours without so much as a target (say, a huge driller) to blast at. "Was it about..." Ironhide said, trailing off. Orion shook his head.

"It wasn't about Tagon. Everything looked…different…older….Everything was in chaos. In ways, it seemed worse than Tagon." Orion said, pausing.

They sat in silence for a few moments. Ironhide almost believed Orion wouldn't speak until moments later he continued.

"There…was someone there." He said, "Someone I know…or knew. But I've never seen them before in my life. I watched one of them die before my optics...I don't think it was a dream. It seemed too real."

"So what, you think it could have been a vision?" asked Ironhide.

"Or memory…" said Orion.

Ironhide stared at Orion for a few moments, unsure what to think of this.

"You know I'm not the bot to talk about these kinds of things." Ironhide said, not in an attempt to get out of the conversation but due to the fact that he wasn't a therapist. "Shouldn't you be telling Ratchet this?"

"Well considering he's recharging and you're still awake, looks like I'm stuck with you." said Orion, unintentionally resurfacing an old memory in the weapon specialist's processor.

Past

Ironhide had made his way to the med bay the moment they informed him that Orion had woken up. Despite the fact that the broken mech was no longer his concern, Ironhide still continued to visit him. He wasn't sure if it was out of pity or the fact that he had been the one to find Orion during the attack in Tagon Heights.

It was probably a mix of both. Tagon was destroyed, just like many other cities all throughout Cybertron. It would have been seen as any other destroyed city, if it wasn't for the fact that it was the neutral city, also where the Youth centers had been.

The thought brought a pang of sadness in Ironhide's hardened spark. War was war, and there was nothing they could do to change that.

Ironhide had been on his way to visit Orion. He had walked in when Ratchet screamed at Orion (he had no doubt in his mind that all of Iacon must have heard him as well)

"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?" Ratchet screamed at Orion.

Orion stared at the angered medic as his disconnected the last wire that connected him to a spark rate monitor along with several other machines.

"I don't need them anymore." Orion said in a strangely calm voice, which only seemed to anger Ratchet even further.

As it turned out, instead of his usual suicide attempt, Orion had simply disconnected the wires that had been connected to his frame the day he had been admitted to Ratchet's med bay.

Right now Ironhide was standing in front of Orion, who had asked something he had never expected him to say.

"I want to be an Autobot."

Ironhide had been somewhat caught off guard. It not uncommon for neutrals to choose sides after their home had been destroyed. But the calm certainty in Orion's voice is what had caught him off guard. He didn't show the slightest bit of desire for vengeance as many of the others had.

After Ratchet told Orion that he wasn't able to become of the Autobot army due to his mental instability, Orion hadn't tried to fight them or even begged to be in the army. He simply sat back down on the berth and said with an emotionless expression,

"Well considering there's no chance of me leaving this place due to my 'mental instability', looks like I'm stuck with you."

Ironhide stared at the red and blue soldier. Bumblebee had moved during the middle of the night to recharge beside Orion and had been recharging ever since. Orion seemed to have finally noticed him and gently stroked one of his tiny antennas.

Bumblebee purred softly in response, which brought the closest thing to a smile to Orion's faceplates. Ironhide chuckled softly, amused by the yellow youngling.

"This bot in my dream, the one who didn't die," Orion suddenly said without looking up, his smile having already faded, "I think I heard his name."

Ironhide stared at the younger mech with mild interest. If these dreams really were of his past, was he beginning to remember?

"What's his name?" Ironhide asked which surprised Orion slightly.

He leaned back against the train cart and stared up at the dimly lit ceiling as he listened to a song that was playing softly from Blaster's radio.

You got me losing my mmmmmmmiiiiiiiinnnnnndddd!

I'm losing my !

Got me losing my mmmmmmmmiiiiiiiinnnnnddddd!

I'm losing my !

It's like one part angel

And one part danger

You've got me losing my !

I'm losing my !

"Maximus…his name was Maximus…"

A few hours later everyone began to wake up, as always Blaster was blasting something out of his radio. Despite the fact that the music was supposed to save them from the driller, Ratchet still hated it. He rubbed his temples as his processor began to ache from lack of recharging.

If they had been in a different situation, and if he had all function in his arms, he would have most likely thrown his biggest wrench at the red and gold music bot.

At the moment he was playing a rather loud song and was even dancing to it, despite their bleak situation. Ratchet sighed softly and did his best to drown out the racket.

"Ratchet," a familiar voice said. Ratchet looked up.

"Orion?" Ratchet said, somewhat surprised.

"I need to talk to you about something." he said.

"Or course, anything." Ratchet said as Orion sat down in front of him. Orion stared at him with emotionless royal blue optics. It was often difficult to read him due to his stasis depression. Ratchet hadn't the foggiest idea what Orion wanted to speak to him about, considering he rarely spoke to him nowadays. To his surprise, he got right to the point.

"I want to get out of stasis depression." said Orion, catching Ratchet off guard for this was the first time Orion was actually willing to get out of it. During all of Ratchet's attempts to free Orion of his stasis depression, he had almost believed that Orion did not want to remember his past. He believed he had wanted to punish himself for what had happened.

Orion stared at Ratchet, waiting for him to respond. Ratchet finally spoke, still somewhat dumbfounded by Orion's change of spark.

"Orion, you know that everything we've tried has failed." Ratchet said sympathetically.

"Not everything." Orion said, surprising Ratchet even more.

"What do you mean?" Ratchet asked uncertainly.

"A Cortical physic patch." said Orion.

Ratchet's optics widened when he realized what he wants him to do.

"No, there is no way possible I am doing this." said Ratchet, Orion wasn't moved.

"I read about them a long time ago, you're a medic, you could do the procedure." Orion said calmly.

"Orion, I have no idea how you came to know of them, but cortical physic patches are risky and illegal."

"To Autobots." said Orion. Ratchet wasn't sure, but he could have sworn he could see a hint of desperation in his royal blue optics. "Ratchet, nothing has worked and I'm tired of living like this."

"Orion, there's still a chance for you to regain your memories, but not here." said Ratchet.

"But what if something happens and none of us make it out alive? I don't want to die not knowing who I was. I don't want to die in vain…" Orion said quietly.

"Orion, you are not going to die." said Ratchet. Orion nodded slowly and gazed at the others. Not too far away Bumblebee was with Arcee and Sadie. Override was sitting up on a train cart with Blaster as music played from his radio, Jazz was leaning against a rock and playing a few cords on a guitar similar to Nightbeat, Ironhide still seemed to be on high alert, and Sideswipe was with Barricade and Sunstreaker.

Ratchet knew Orion well enough to know what he was thinking of at that moment. He was willing to protect them, no matter the cost. Ratchet knew Orion was a caring bot on the inside but it surprised him now fast Bumblebee had stolen Orion's spark. He knew no doubt that Orion would protect the youngling with his life.

Orion breathed in deeply before slowly exhaling, something that had become somewhat of a habit to him while trapped in the tunnel. Ratchet felt a pang of guilt. There was possibly one more way to restore Orion's memories and yet there were so many things stopping him.

"Orion, even though I don't approve of this, there is no way I could possibly make a cortical physic patch without the right materials." said Ratchet.

"I know how to make one." Orion said calmly.

Within half an hour they were both able to make a makeshift cortical physic patch out of whatever they could salvage from the train wreck. Ratchet had no idea how it was possible and doubted it even worked. He was quite surprised how easily Orion seemed to work as they made the patch, almost as if he had built things before. As they worked, Ratchet noticed a few bots staring at them with curiosity. He ignored them.

When they were done, the patch was a long metal cord with a connection port on either side. In a way looked more like a weapon than a medical tool. He wasn't sure why Orion made it longer than necessary considering they had limited parts. It still looked like a piece of scrap but Orion assured him that it would work. Ratchet still had doubts.

"What's that?" Bumblebee asked out of curiosity as Ratchet began to connect one end to Orion's processor. Several bots were watching as well.

"Something that is going to help Orion remember his past." Ratchet said, not looking up as he worked.

"Is that a cortical physic patch?" asked Arcee.

"Yes."

"Aren't those illegal?"

"Yes."

"Then why are you using it?" she asked.

"Because it's possibly the only way left to retrieve Orion's lost memories." said Ratchet.

"And since we're all trapped down here without Prowl, who cares if we break the law?" Override added casually.

"Aren't those things risky though?" asked Jazz.

"Yes, I know that they're illegal and risky!" Ratchet snapped.

"You should probably stop before he changes his mind." Orion said calmly.

"Orion, you know you don't have to do this." said Arcee.

"Yes, I do." said Orion.

"Look, I miss her too, but is all this really worth it?"

"This isn't just about Ariel." Orion said, not looking her in the optics. "You don't know what it's like living like this. Nearly all my old memories are gone or fading away and what I can actually remember is what I wish I could forget."

Arcee stared at her old friend with pleading optics. But she knew he had already made his choice. But it didn't mean she had to like it.

"Fine, do what you want. But I'm not going to watch you do this to yourself." Arcee said before getting up and leaving.

Orion closed his optics and waited patiently for Ratchet to finish. He began to connect a few more wires to him from a monitor built into his arm to monitor his spark rate as well as his processor.

"Ironhide, I'll need you to monitor Orion's reading. If anything goes wrong, disconnect the patch."

Moments later Ratchet had the other end of the patch connected to himself. Orion sat a few feet away from against the train cart.

"You ready?" Ratchet asked. Orion nodded. Moments later Ratchet turned on the patch.

Nothing happened.

"Maybe it's a bust?" suggested Jazz.

Ratchet was about to agree but moments later both his and Orion's optic suddenly became energized. Ratchet watched Orion's frame suddenly become limp moments before he was engulfed by darkness.

A/N: Alright, alright, I know, it's impossible to make a cortical patch with a bunch of scrap and tech from a crashed train, but hey, the idea of Orion wanting to use a cortical psychic to regain his memories seemed like a cool idea, plus it gives me an excuse to make him have a mental breakdown…whoops said too much *whistles to myself* well, er…this chapter has been done for a while now…Heh…but on the bright side chapter 8 is almost done :3 that's where the fun'll begin ;p enter the void we call Orion's mind to look further into his past

The full story of his past is yet to come, but soon shall it come! Very soon! ….three more chapters tops, at most four, okay bye! *runs off*