Important Information
"Blah" Speaking
::Blah:: comm. link
'Blah' bonded speech
'Blah' thinking
Astrosecond- 2.5 earth Seconds
Klik- 150 earth seconds/ 2.5 earth Minutes
Orn- 150 earth minutes/ 2.5 earth Hours
Joor- 60 earth hours/2.5 earth Days
Metacycle- 17.5 earth days/2.5 earth Weeks
Vorn- 10 earth weeks/2.5 earth months
Stellercycle-30 earth months/2.5 years
Breem-slang for a moment/minute.
Night Cycle: star down to star up
Day Cycle: Star up to star down
Authors Note: I would love to thank SunnySidesofBlue of her help with this chapter and for her editing help. She pointed out some things that helped improve this chapter and make it more cohesive.
Thank you!
Disclaimer: I own only my OC's, nothing else.
Starscream was still incoherent when Vortex dragged him on his aft back to the brig. The seeker mumbled in unintelligible words as his optics flashed and sparked, his vents still rasping with the eerie gurgle. Mia suspected he was far more hurt after that last blow from Megatron then he was even letting on now. Onslaught was limping along behind his interrogator, knees shaking and optics barley able to focus.
Mia was impressed he was able to stay standing, never mind keep walking. Yet Onslaught did, with his visor dim and his throat sore. He wobbled occasionally, suddenly pitching over as he carried Mia back to the brig and having to catch himself on the cool, damp wall.
Mia was able to stifle a gasp and cling to his hand, green eyes jamming shut as he clung to his thumb. Each time Vortex would pause, glancing back to his commander and twitch as though to reach out. He never did offer any sort of physical comfort, but waited patiently for Onslaught to push himself from the wall.
Once Mia heard him fight back a retch; he hissed and gulped, forcing whatever was trying to make its way back up down before he righted himself and continued to the brig.
It was slow going and awkward between them all. Mia had witnessed something she should not have, she had seen Megatron's cruelty. His depravity.
She had seen how low he pushed the Decepticons down. How he hurt them so, and she wondered how many more had suffered like this? How many had been In Onslaught's position?
A large mech, blue and white was moving slowly down the hall, dragging his pedes towards the interrogation room where Megatron was still waiting. Soundwave, Mia realized, was fearful.
His shoulders were hunched up to his audio receptors and his frame was stiff and tense. The red visor that protected Soundwave's optics never deviated and he didn't bother to look back as they passed.
Mia jutted her jaw forward in defiance despite the ache in her leg that had finally dulled from the piercing pain. "So, even your third in command fears him." She whispered only loud enough for Onslaught to hear.
The gold visor flickered down to her for the first time, taking in her tiny appearance but said nothing.
Mia watched Soundwave bitterly, knowing another Decepticon would end up in the med bay tonight.
Onslaught felt weak and sick. Sick with himself and what he had endured, and the cruelty bestowed upon him. When they reached the brig Onslaught sighed and forced himself to stay up right. All he had to do was drop the human off then he could limp to med bay.
He knew Vortex would go check on Ace and Blast Off before coming to follow him to ensure he made it safely.
The interrogator shoved Starscream into the cell even before the dark door slid open, the former Air Commander landing face first on the floor of the damp room. Vortex snarled at him, glaring at Starscream as through he hated him so very much, blaming him for their predicament.
As Onslaught moved to set Mia down, she looked up at him angry and bitter. "Why don't you leave?" because surely the loyalty program was not this strong to force a mech like Onslaught to stay in a place like this.
Gold optics looked down at her as he knelt down for her to pull herself from his hand and collapsed to the ground when her broken leg gave out from underneath her. The visor that hid his optics flickered and there was no pity in Mia's eyes, only that unwavering hatred.
"You assume." His voice was gravelly and course from screaming. "That we have a choice."
He expected pity, he did not expect her face to darken further with anger.
Weird little thing.
Onslaught shook his helm and pushed himself to stand. The door slid shut, plunging Mia and Starscream back into darkness once more. Vortex came up to Onslaught, pressing a hand to his commanders lower back, claws curling in to the plates.
He said nothing as they turned away besides. "I'll take you to med bay before I check in with Blast Off."
Onslaught nodded and tried not to feel pathetic as he leaned into Vortex's smaller frame. They both paused at the off key singing, Mia's broken voice warbling in the darkness.
Vortex snarled and Onslaught just sighed. He had never felt so tired in his entire life. "The human needs water and food." He muttered.
"So what?" Vortex hissed, a hand sliding around Onslaught's waist to keep him upright. "Let the thing die."
Onslaught shook his helm no. Ace, he thought, was making him soft. "Need her. Can't use her if she's dead."
Vortex sighed, and grumbled he would ensure the little helpless one ate. Onslaught nodded and leaned further onto Vortex as they limped back to Hook. Dread filled Onslaught at seeing their medic once more.
Perceptor was careful to pour the contents of one fluid into the other, hoping to create at least the forerunner of a synthetic energon formula.
Aleyah sat on the table, her legs dangling over the edge and leaning back onto her hands while her legs swung. She was well behind a blast shield, and well protected in the event his calculations were wrong. Although they rarely were, he would not risk her life because of his ego.
"Hey Preceptor?" she asked with a yawn, and Preceptor suspected she was not sleeping enough.
"Hmmm?" he made a noncommittal noise to indicate he was listening as he carefully poured the liquid into the beaker.
"How'd you meet Drift?"
Perceptor smiled fondly as the last of the fluid dripped into the larger beaker. He righted himself and placed the now purplish fluid onto a very large Bunsen burner.
"It was before Kup adopted him into the Wreckers. We were on a mission and I had been assigned to the Wreckers to watch over Kup. We were experimenting with a new piece of equipment that was created to help stabilize Kup's sanity."
Aleyah rose a brow. "Keep his sanity in check?" There was so much she had to learn, so much she didn't understand.
Perceptor nodded. "He experienced a rather traumatic event that altered him. He was exposed to a rather potent radiation that affected his mental stability. He became paranoid and aggressive. The Cy-gar helped stabilize his moods and suppress his flashbacks of that mission."
Aleyah's eyes widened. "You can do that?"
He gave a little nod, offering a small smile as the liquid began to bubble. "We can. We try to do what we can to ease the suffering of our fellow Autobots."
Giving a hum of interest, Aleyah's head tilted. "That kind of tech could improve the lives of humans too. Anyone with PTSD, anxiety or depression."
Preceptor paused, optics flicking upwards in though and consideration. He gave a little nod with an appreciated hum. "The electrodes contained within human's bodies do vary from Cybertronions, but I suppose it could be modified to aid humanity as well."
Blue optics flashed and brightened as he considered the possibility. The opportunity to help hundreds, maybe even thousands, to be a scientist again that didn't have to focus on solely war. Already the numbers were being crunched in his processor as he considered what types of materials he would use, the coding he would use. He would have to test it of course, how would he do that? Could he reach out to a hospital perhaps? Look for volunteers?
Aleyah's small cough brought Perceptor out of his thoughts and to her grinning face. "So, Drift?"
Perceptor felt his cheeks heat and he cleared his throat. "Of course. Well, during the first outing with Kup's new ci-gar and I was instructed to protect him and monitor his behavior and mental status during the mission. It was before I had…upgraded myself for a proper military exercise."
Aleyah's mouth pulled into a small frown and her brows furrowed. "You went out as a civvy?"
Perceptor bit his cheek a little to hide his discomfort. She was already speaking like the others in the military. "I did." He confirmed and his face darkened. "And I paid for it. I was shot in the chest and nearly died on a Decepticon war ship that Kup was tasked with infiltrating. Kup had suspected I died on the ship and left me. Drift was the one who came back to ensure I was, and when he found me alive and got me off the ship."
Black anger suddenly filled Aleyah's eyes and her teeth gritted in rage. "The Autobots left you for dead?" she spat.
Perceptor gave a one shouldered shrug. "It is a risk you take when you join the Wreckers. Their missions are often one way." He gave another shrug. "I knew what I was getting into to."
She still frowned at him. "Still. They should have at least checked."
Perceptor offered her a small smile. "They should have. But tell me this, if you are in a fire fight would you risk your life and endanger your comrades to check on the life of another?" she frowned up at him, dark eyes flicking away as she considered it. "Would you risk the life of one sister to check if another is alive?"
Aleyah suddenly looked stricken, her eyes wide and torn. "I….I don't know."
Managing a soft smile, Perceptor gave a little nod. "In the heat of the war that was a common choice we had. Do you risk your whole team for a single life? It's an awful way to live and we had no choice. I do not blame them for not going back."
Aleyah made an annoyed noise none the less, so Preceptor continued. "Drift saved my life and he was new to the Autobots. I felt I at least owed him some kind of guidance until he found his pedes and could stand on his own amongst the Autobots. I befriended him when most others shunned him."
He pressed a hand to his thick chest plate. "I reinforced my chest plate, created the optic tracker to make myself more accurate on the battle field. I ensured that I would never again be a liability to my comrades. I would never again make my few friends put their lives on the line for me. I made myself an asset."
Preceptor gave another one shoulder shrug. "I became a…." he floundered for a word, adding another liquid to the boiling concoction.
Aleyah smirked. "A creature with which one does not fuck?"
Preceptor rose a brow at her. "I suppose." He said slowly, an almost smirk curling around his lips.
Nodding, Aleyah blushed. "Yeah. Mia likes to read these paranormal love stories by a writer named Kresley Cole. That became one of her favorite sayings." Perceptor chuckled at the redness that crept along Aleyah's nose and cheeks. "So, when was Drift supposed to arrive?"
The chuckle died and guilt filled Aleyah at the sudden sadness. "They were supposed to land six months ago. All of the Wreckers were supposed to. It's been radio silence since they left."
Aleyah frowned. "So they should have landed when Thundercracker was picked up by Callie?"
"Mhmm." He paused and gave a little sigh and admitted something he had not admitted to anyone else. "I miss him. I fear he will not come home." Aleyah's face fell and her eyes became sad.
"I am afraid that he died alone on some war torn planet surrounded by dead friends and comrades." He admitted sadly as he took the bubbling liquid from the Bunsen burner to cool.
Aleyah frowned and she gave a little sigh. "Maybe." She said slowly, despite the frown Perceptor gave her. "But maybe not." She gave another little sigh. "Listen, I'm not really great with this. Like…being nice to people. Usually drown my sorrows in liquor."
"Not a healthy coping mechanism." Perceptor noted, blue optics flickered towards her.
She gave a little shrug. "Yeah well, I managed."
Giving her a very concerned looked, Perceptor managed a sigh. An awkward tension settled between them and Aleyah settled back onto her hands. She simply sucked at this. She wasn't comforting like Mia. She was smart like Callie or sassy like Danny. She was just…
Damaged.
Yet, so was Preceptor, and they both knew the odds of Drift coming home after so long.
"You remind me of him, a little." Perceptor said softly, taking a reading of the cooled liquid. "You seem so angry and sad, yet so determined to prove yourself worthy."
He looked towards his little human companion. "And like I told him, you don't have to prove anything Aleyah."
She couldn't explain why that touched her so much, or why her heart softened at those words. "Thanks." She managed to choke out as emotion suddenly swelled. She managed to swallow it back. "I hope I get to meet Drift."
Perceptor looked away from her to hide the wetness in his optics. "Me as well." He said gently, and Aleyah pretended not to notice the tear that slipped from his optic.
Blurr walked with Hound towards the mess hall, the racer's smile not as bright as it usually was. It didn't reach his optics and he shifted uncomfortable next to the green tracker.
"Listen Hound, I know we had a deal…but it's okay. We don't have to like uphold it or anything."
Hound frowned up at his taller friend in confusion. "But we had a deal. We would swap shifts if you spent time with Liz."
Blurr sighed and scratched the back of his helm. "It sounds so much worse when you put it that way." He muttered sounding ashamed.
Hound frowned, kind blue optics dimmed with acknowledgement. "I…I suppose that is true. It would probably hurt her feelings too. If she found out."
Blurr nodded as they came to the mess hall. "She would and I kinda like Liz." They stepped into the mess hall and spotted Liz showing something to a very bored looking Mirage. "She's really smart!" Blurr continued. "And when she's not sad and crying, she's wicked fun."
The racers face brightened. "She loved racing around base and even promised to make up an algorithm that tracks my speed around turns. She thinks I can get more outta them!"
Hound smiled up at Blurr as they crossed the mess hall to get a cube of energon.
"Anyways, the little human isn't so bad. She's okay right?"
Hound laughed. "So you want to be her friend?"
Blurr's ever present smirk fell a little. "And I don't want to hurt her feelings or chase her off."
Blurr nodded as he handed a cube to Hound, looking a little hopeful.
"Well, you know Blurr, we are friends." The former racer had to stop himself from asking 'we are?' and allowed Hound to continue. "So you could always just ask to switch those shifts around." Hound gave a little gasp of pleasure. "Oh! And you could take Liz! I bet she'd like that!"
Blurr gave Hound a shier then usual smile. "And you'd be okay with that? Us hanging out?"
Hound laughed. "Blurr please, we can all be friends." Blurr's smile became a little more genuine at that. "It's not going to hurt my feelings if you guys want to go watch a race."
As they came to their table, Hound smiled at Perceptor as he showed Aleyah something on his data pad and to Prowl who was talking about something about a tree with Danny. "Besides, I doubt you want to hear us geek out about plants right? So go have fun at your race."
Blurr beamed as they took their seats at the table, Mirage looking sullen as Hound took a seat next to him. Liz smirked up to the two mechs. "That race is pretty cool! Danny told me all about it."
If at all possible Blurr's expression got even brighter. "I'm so excited! Do you want to come and watch it?"
"Pfft! Who do you think Danny asked to set up the rec room to watch it? It's going to be so epic!" Her own blue eyes sparkled with amusement. "I'm even going to use the same algorithm that I'll set up for you to measure their speed. I'm hoping to gather all that data to help the Autobots better manage Earth roads. It'll…" Liz petered out, her blonde brows furrowing suddenly.
Joy, full and bright and pure suddenly light up her face. "Red Alert just sent me a computer virus!" She said in a rush of joy and excitement.
Blurr looked confused to Hound. "This…this is a good thing?"
Hound laughed. "Yeah. It's a good thing."
Red Alert sat in his dimly lit control centre, anxiously chewing on his lip. Inferno sat beside him, monitoring the outer perimeter with a keen but gentle optic.
"You know." he said slowly and carefully, "staring at the computer won't make her respond faster."
"If she responds at all." Red Alert snarked back bitterly and his chest filled again with that sad, compressed feeling. He hadn't meant to hurt her feelings, he really hadn't. He just didn't understand what she was trying to accomplish at the time.
"She'll respond." Inferno said gently, hoping against hope that she would. Red Alert needed…someone else besides him.
Red Alert huffed and crossed his arms. He tore his optics away from the internal monitor to the inner perimeter. He felt anxious and afraid that she wouldn't respond in kind because he had been such a jerk. How was it his fault that he didn't see what the crazy little creature had been doing!
A ping sounded from the other screen that Red Alert had been hawking over, and his light blue optics shot directly to the warning message. He made an undignified squeeze of excitement and his audio horns flickered and sparked with the sudden change in emotion.
"What is it!" Inferno asked suddenly, spark pulsing harder at the sudden change in Red Alerts demeanor and EM field.
"Liz responded!" Red Alert suddenly gushed, optics bright and excited. He did one last check of the perimeter cameras before turning fully to his key board.
Inferno laughed, relief pulsing through him. "See? I told you she would." He said mildly, glad to hear Red Alert's digits flying over the keys of his consol.
"Shh! I'm thinking!" Red Alert snapped, and Inferno chuckled again.
Everything seemed right with the world again.
Mia woke up pressed against Starscream's side feeling hurt and cramped. She had been pressed against his cheek with her broken leg stretched out in an awkward angle before she had passed out from exhaustion.
Rubbing the sleep from her eyes, Mia winced and gritted her teeth when pain shot up her leg and into her belly like fire. Forcing her stiff muscles to stretch, Mia wriggled the toes of her good leg to get the feeling back into it. With a dejected sigh, she leaned back against Starscream's cheek and stared angrily at the wall.
She thought about Onslaught and her disgust at what had been done to him rose from her core. She thought about Vortex, and she just couldn't muster ill will towards the interrogator who was trapped here as well, forced to bear witness to his gestalt leader's punishment.
She thought about Starscream and wondered how many eons had he suffered alone?
Mostly however, Mia thought about how she was going to get out of here and all the things she would do. She would be a better sister. She wanted to learn to paint and she wondered if Starscream would want to learn with her.
She wanted Epps to teach her hand to hand combat.
She wanted to go sky diving.
However, Mia swore that if she survived this nightmare, she would spend the rest of her days making Megatron's life a living hell. Even if it was in the most petty of ways, she would find it.
No tears fell from Mia's eyes this time, only a blood boiling rage that seeped like tar into her heart and galvanized it. She clenched her fists in helpless rage and she grit her teeth so hard her head began to pound, and didn't know how to cope with this kind of anger.
"Stop it." Starscream groused suddenly, the living silicon of his cheek moving against her back.
Tuning towards him a little, Mia's rage diminished at the sight of his pain filled optics. "Stop what?" her voice was hoarse and confused.
Starscream sighed. "Wasting your energy. Use your rage to stay alive." At her confused look he gave her a mockery of a smile. "I can feel you tensing. Your jaw is clenched and your fists are balled. Calm down. Turn it inward and use it as energy."
Red brows furrowed. "Is that how you survived for this long?" her voice was suddenly small and brittle, the rage washing away to leave bright green eyes that Starscream was happy to see. That Starscream had been so desperate to see.
Perhaps Megatron hadn't broken her completely.
"Yes." Starscream rasped and his vents felt wet and heavy.
The rage returned and clouded Mia's face. "I'm going to kill him." She swore, an oath she had never made before. The change should have frightened her, but Onslaught's screams of agony echoed in her head stopped her from being ashamed of her rage.
Starscream laughed. It was a hollow and weak thing. "How?" he asked without malice. "We've fought an entire war dedicated to killing each other and yet he survived. How would you do it?"
Mia glared into the dim light of their cell. She pulled her good leg up to her chest and snarled. "I'm going to melt his fucking face!"
Green eyes went wide at the sudden admission and they turned frightened to Starscream's surprised crimson.
The Seeker sighed at her sudden fear. "He does this to people. He twists them. Don't let him win." There were so many mechs Megatron had ruined and twisted. Broken until they didn't even recognize themselves, until even their friends and loved ones didn't recognize them.
Glitch was always one who came to mind when Starscream thought about how much Megatron could bend someone before they snapped. He would destroy a mech so completely and rebuild them into what he saw fit.
The fear faded and determination filled Mia's eyes, emotions switching so quickly that Starscream's head spun attempting to keep up. Her eyes darkened. "I still want to melt his fucking face off."
Despite himself, Starscream laughed again, a little more real this time. "I triggered a rock slide to kill him once. Didn't work."
Mia snorted. "See? Gotta kill evil things with fire." She turned her face back towards him and her eyes softened. "Are you okay?"
Starscream's helm pounded from the last blow, his optic sparked, his servos were near useless now and his tank still had an annoying persistence leak. Still, he offered her a small smile. "I'll live. Are you okay?"
Mia shrugged. "My leg hurts. I think I need to set it or something."
Starscream hummed. "I don't think I have the motor skills right now to set it. Might rip it off accidently."
Mia gave him a disturbed look. "Let's leave it then." She sighed and winced as it throbbed.
Starscream nodded. He swallowed in an attempt to moisten his intake. "That was a brave thing you did for Onslaught."
Bright green eyes suddenly lit up. "Really? You thought I was brave?"
Starscream made an uncomfortable noise, curling around her small frame a little tighter. "Mhmm. It was. Brave, but foolish. Vortex could have killed you. Onslaught is a big mech, he can take his own punishments."
Mia's face fell a little and Starscream's spark twisted sadly in his chest. "But he didn't do anything wrong." She said softly.
Starscream sighed and hated how easily he could hurt her feelings. "Well. It was still foolish. But only a little, it was mostly brave. I'm sure Onslaught won't forget what you did for him. Or tried to."
Mia instantly brightened again and the pressure from his spark lessened. That was a little…weird, Starscream thought. "I guess I was pretty brave huh?" she leaned back into Starscream's cheek. "Why didn't Megatron stop?" she whispered.
Starscream sighed. "Because he hates Onslaught. Megatron knows that Onslaught is far smarter and ruthless. It was bad luck that landed Onslaught in this position and Megaton takes every opportunity to lord that over Onslaught's head."
Mia huffed a sigh and leaned back against Starscream's cheek, her face pulled into an ugly snarl and she glared at the opposite wall. She couldn't look at her awkwardly bent leg and tried to ignore the dull ache.
Starscream sighed softly. "Go back to sleep. We don't know how much longer we have until someone comes back."
Mia leaned back and closed her eyes. "We're going to go home Starscream." She swore softly.
Starscream snorted and tried to make himself comfortable; he did not believe her. "Of course we are," he lied quietly. He doubted they would ever get out of Nemesis alive.
The door swishing open made them both jump, Mia's bright green eyes widened in shock that turned to anger. Starscream snarled and crouched over her protectively like an angry, wounded animal with his wings pulled high and defensive, pain shooting through every part of his frame.
Vortex's silhouette darkened the light from the hall way, his crimson visor burning angrily at the pair of them on the floor of the cell. There was a low grumble of a snarl from the back of Vortex's throat, his large frame stiff and tense with rage. What happened to Onslaught was their fault.
Still glaring and snarling, Vortex held out a cube of energon and a small human bag. "I'm only here because Onslaught asked me to be. You could rot for all I care."
Starscream snarled, denta bared, Vortex snarled back. "We don't have much time, Ramjet is on his way down. Stop being a fool."
"What is it," Mia hissed under her breath, "with Decepticons and the use of 'fool'!? What are you, Disney villains?"
Vortex's visor narrowed in distain. "I have no idea what you just said or what that even meant, but just shut up."
Mia cringed. "Rude."
Vortex sneered. "Well, look who found her steel! 'Bout time flesh bag, thought you'd have drown with all the wetness you let escape before."
Starscream found himself hissing "Enough." as he pushed himself to sit up. "What do you want, Vortex?"
"Told you. Onslaught send me. Here, drink." He snapped and shoved energon to Starscream as he came fully into the cell.
The door slammed shut behind Vortex and plunged them all back into the dim single light of the cell. Starscream glared as best he could and begrudgingly took the cube. "What does Ramjet want?" he asked, aiming to sound bored, but his voice was full of pain and misery.
Vortex huffed, annoyed and irritated as he turned to Mia, the tips of his claws brushing at the odd bend in her leg. "This need to set this," he groused then dropped the bag next to her, glaring at her leg with distain.
"Yeah," Mia said cautiously, giving him a suspicious look before poking at the bag Vortex discarded next to her. "What's this?"
Vortex continued to poke at her leg. "Food and water. Hurry up and eat."
Mia's green eyes lit up with gratitude, and excitement filled her, her previous rage draining away. Her little mouth fell open into an 'O' of surprise and she pulled herself a little taller to better drag the heavy sack towards her. "Where'd you get all this?" she asked with a wince as her leg shifted awkwardly and the pain fluttered in her belly.
Vortex sneered and turned to Starscream, the tips of his fingers pressing into his side and ignoring Starscream's indignant hiss. "Don't worry about it. Drink. The internet says you need water to live, and you need to mash things in your mouth for energy. So get to it."
Mia dug out a bottle of water excitedly with a little laugh. Starscream glanced nervously down at her laughter, and even Vortex paused at her bright "Can confirm!" before opening the water bottle and began to drink greedily.
Vortex shook his helm. "Did we break the little thing?" he asked bitterly at her sudden happiness.
Starscream snarled, hiding his own confusion at Mia's jumbled emotions. "Just do what you've come to do, then get out."
Another growl vibrated in the back of Vortex's throat, and he found himself shaking his helm at the little human as she happily chugged back the water. She took a breath, sucking back a gulp of air. "Thank you!" she gasped before going back to chugging water.
Pausing as he probed Starscream's side, Vortex looked down sharply at her and an odd feeling twisted his spark. No one had ever said thank you to him for anything. He snarled at her, optics glancing between her and Starscream. "Just drink!" he spat angrily before turning back to Starscream. "You too."
Giving Vortex one last uncertain look, Starscream relented and peeled open the cube. "So. Onslaught sent you?"
"Mhmm," was the non-committal noise Vortex made when he turned his attention back to Starscream's side. "Can't patch this up. Even Ramjet would notice if you weren't bleeding any more. I can set the fleshlings bones though. That mech only has two sparks plugs to power his processor, he won't notice its leg has been bandaged up."
Mia stopped drinking water long enough to say "Mia" before going back to sucking down all the water from the bottle, even when the plastic caved in on itself with the force.
Both Starscream and Vortex ignored her jumping into their conversation, and after sniffing his energon Starscream took a hesitant sip, not letting up his glare. "Why are you here?"
"Told you. Onslaught sent me." Vortex lifted a shoulder. "Let me see its leg."
Mia gave him an uncertain look, glancing to Starscream first. "It's Mia." She said again, a little more forcefully.
"Why would Onslaught send you to help us?" Starscream snapped when Vortex's visor narrowed on her.
Vortex snarled. "We don't have time for this! Ramjet is on his way! Now give me your fucking leg Mia!"
Mia's green eyes went wide with sudden, bright fear and she scooted back and pressed herself against Starscream, trying to make herself as small as possible, shaking her head no. Vortex may have brought food and water, but in the end he was still a Decepticon.
Starscream glared and coolly finished his energon in a single painful gulp. "It's okay Mia." Starscream's optic sparked and yet he managed to maintain a bored indignation, despite the pain and bubbling fear. If Vortex was telling the truth they didn't have much time.
She fought the shake of her bones and managed to glare despite the over whelming fear that suddenly took her. Yes, she had done something to attempt to help his commander, but how much sway did that truly have? "We haven't the time to fight with unhinged Combaticons."
"If he's unhinged why I would let him touch my leg!" she spat, her heart beginning to pound a little harder.
"Tick Tock, Starscream." Vortex all by mocked, finding the sarcasm easier to handle than the little thing thanking him. "And I should get points for getting your name right."
"He has steady hands. Give him your leg Mia. Hurry up." Starscream didn't stop glaring even as he finished his energon cube and crushed it.
Mia made a stubborn, mulish face at Starscream. "I don't like this plan. This is stupid." She nearly pouted. She still pushed her self away from Starscream's large frame and safety, trusting the Seeker. With a deep breath to steel herself she lay on her back and lifted her damaged leg up to Vortex; her thigh muscles doing all the work to pull her bent shin up towards him.
Snorting, the Combaticon gently pressed his index and middle finger on either side of Mia's tiny shin. "Well I could always just leave it." He pushed his rotors up a little higher. "Don't have to be nice like this. Ons said only to feed you."
"Then why are you helping me?" Mia asked, her voice losing its edge and her large green eyes nervously watching the Decepticon's fingers on either side of her leg.
Vortex looked down at her, visor making his face unreadable. "You tried to help Onslaught," he shrugged "this makes us even." Without warning pulled hard on her leg. Bone scrapped against bone as Vortex quickly forced them back into a semi straight position.
Pain burned once more through Mia and she arched her back away from the ground and shrieked, nails digging helplessly into the metal of the ship. They broke and tore, making her fingers bleed.
"You fucking asshole!" she sneered and fell backward, writhing on the metal. "You could have fucking warned me! That fucking hurt!"
Vortex shrugged and pulled two thin pieces of rusted metal slates and bandages from his subspace. "If I warned you, you would have tensed." Carefully, with a surprising amount of dexterity, Vortex pressed the two slats on either side of her broken leg and began to bandage as quickly as he could.
"Yeah!" Mia managed to croak, pressing the heels of her hands into her eyes, and Starscream managed to wince in sympathy. "But you do the fake Three-Two-One and pull on two! Not give no warning!"
"You'll survive." Vortex deadpanned and pushed himself to his pedes. "Ramjet should be here any time now. Keep your food hidden."
He turned to leave, and Starscream snarled again. "Why did Onslaught help us?" he called as the door to their cell opened.
Vortex shrugged before he left. "Maybe it's his way of saying thank you." He shrugged again. "Or maybe you're useless to us dead." He left without saying another word, plunging them both back into semi darkness.
"He's such a fucking asshole," Mia groused.
Starscream nodded with a sigh, settling in to wait anxiously for Ramjet to appear. Mia pressed herself back against his frame, the sack hidden away in the shadows and she knotted her fingers tightly in front of her. Just as anxious as Starscream, Mia was ghostly pale and afraid, her leg throbbing in a painful rhythm.
The wait wasn't long.
The door pulled open again and Ramjet's gleaming white armor shone from the door. Mia found herself shrinking back with a gulp against Starscream's leg as hateful red optics glared down at them, a cruel smile on his lips.
"You're lucky. Megatron has grown bored of torturing you and your little friend for today. Seems he's gotten his fill from the others as well." Ramjet smirked, licking his lips.
"You'll learn," Starscream rasped, optic sparking, "that Megatron is insatiable. When he comes for you next, you'd better only hope there is someone left to help you."
The smirk fell from Ramjet's face and was replaced with an angry sneer. "I'm going to do everything you did and more. Better even!" he snapped as he came into the room.
Starscream rolled his optics, making a show of it. "Of course you are," he drawled, making it sound mocking despite his position.
Mia's green eyes flashed up to him, always impressed that Starscream could still manage to sound unfazed by everything around him.
It rankled Ramjet. The white Seeker snarled and his optics burned with hate. "Fleshling." He barked an order. "Against the wall." He jabbed a thumb at the opposite wall, the one near the door. "Now."
Mia paused, swallowing hard before she tried to push herself to her feet, only to come crashing back down to the ground when her leg gave out from under her. Swallowing back a cry of pain, Mia forced back the tears that threaten to fall when pain shot through her and it felt like her bones were grinding against each other.
Ramjet made an impatient noise, and Mia managed to drag herself to the wall with effort, scooting along the ground with her hands and good leg. Every movement causing pain to burn through her body and the air around her seemed colder the further away from Starscream she got. Only when Mia reached the wall did green eyes glance back once to dim crimson, but Starscream was focused on Ramjet, his pain hidden by a smirk and Mia marveled.
Ramjet glared right back until Mia twisted and pressed her back against the cold, damp metal of the cell. Vortex had been right, Ramjet hadn't noticed her bandaged leg. Green eyes suddenly narrowed at his back and she glanced to the open door. Green eyes glanced back to Starscream who was still focused on Ramjet, but still shook his helm no.
Gritting her teeth and using the wall as leverage, Mia forced herself to stand. She pushed up with her good leg and dug her hands into the wall at her back until she stood. It took effort that left her panting and leaning heavily against the wall, but Mia was standing.
"Get up," Ramjet hissed, missing the shake from Starscream's helm. "We're going to the Hole."
Mia frowned, not knowing what that was but she didn't like the sound of it. Ramjet may have missed the flicker of fear, but Mia hadn't.
"Oh good," Starscream drawled as the fear flickered away back to annoyance. "I needed a break from the fleshling."
Distancing himself in hopes to spare her. Mia pressed herself against the wall and glanced again to the open door, gritting her teeth.
Ramjet stalked into the room, grabbing Starscream by his scruff bar to haul him to his feet. Starscream allowed himself to be hauled upright and his arm twisted awkwardly behind him with a too tight grip. His red optics glanced once to Mia before he was marched from the room; one strong hand gripping Starscream's arm, and twisting it behind his back and Ramjet's other hand clamped on the back of his neck.
As Starscream was shoved from the room, Mia twisted her body so that she rolled along the wall, using it as leverage and slipping out the door before it slid shut behind them, falling to the floor in her hurry to get out of the cell.
Swallowing hard she froze, expecting someone to say something, raise some kind of alarm at the fact that she had literally just escaped their cell.
Instead Ramjet shoved Starscream forward. "Move."
Mia stayed plastered to the ground for a full cycle of breath before as she watched Ramjet roughly guild Starscream down the hall. Bright purple energon splashing to the floor every time Starscream took a step and it reignited the anger in Mia's belly. She shoved herself back to her feet, leaning heavily into the wall, Mia glared after Ramjet.
Steeling herself, Mia limped after them, using the wall to stay up she tried to follow along. Pain shot up her leg with every step on her broken leg, the bones shifting painfully and she sucked back air with every painful step.
Yet she shuffled along after them determined to stay with Starscream, moving as quickly as her broken leg would allow. She grit her teeth and tried to keep up until Ramjet shoved him around a corner and Mia lost sight of them. Cursing, she hurried along, following the blood trail Starscream left behind.
Turning the same corner, Mia froze and fear swelled in her throat and she stopped breathing. Two massive Decepticons, one huge with black and purple armor and the other much smaller with black and red armor stood like walls in the hallway.
"Dead End," the massive one hissed as Mia slowly moved her whole body against the wall, pressing her back into the dark metal. Her green eyes were huge and afraid, and Mia was sure they would hear her heart pounding in her chest. "I have told you before, stop messing around with that Combaticon. How many times have I told you!"
"Well…" Dead End started slowly, arms crossed defensively over his chest. "He's just got this tight little aft-" whatever else Dead End was going to say was cut off when the large mech struck him across the helm.
The sound of metal on metal echoed in the hallway and Mia flinched.
"Well that was unnecessary, Motormaster." Dead End sounded annoyed. "Besides, what does it matter? We are all going to die. Might as well enjoy it a little."
Mia swallowed hard. Motormaster should be able to see her, but he didn't. Instead he sneered and struck Dead End again, harder this time and in the face.
Mia winced and continued to silently inch down the wall, green eyes pinned to the two large Decepticons as she followed her hands to the corner and slipped away down another hall, relief filling her and she sagged against the wall. Swallowing hard, she saw two thick drops of energon and was just about to follow them when another pair of large mechs rounded the corner and walked by. Mia swallowed back the surprised cry and flattened herself back against the wall and held her breath, hoping they would miss her as well.
"No listen, Blitz this is bad this time. I heard a rumor of what he did to Onslaught."
They walked by, never once looking down to the floor, so deeply involved in their conversation and that was when Mia realized that she was just too small to be noticed. An insect amongst giants. A smirk turned into a devious smile. The Autobot's had gotten used to always looking down when they walk to ensure they didn't step on any little friends. Decepticons had no reason to look down.
So long as she kept still, they had no reason to notice her pressed against a dark wall. She just needed to not draw attention to herself.
Waiting until the two Decepticon's rounded the next corner Mia pushed herself off the wall and limped across the hall to press against the opposite wall. She slinked along that wall and rounded another corner, following the blood droplets of energon.
On and on Mia went, the drops becoming smaller and more spaced out, and Mia saw more and more of life on Megatron's ship, her stomach churned with each new encounter.
Soundwave with his hand plastered over his cracked chest plates, the glass covered with a spider web crack that touched all four corners. Bludgeon carrying a broken sword, and looking a little worse for wear. She passed the Coneheads bragging about what they had done to Starscream and how the 'Hole' would break him.
They laughed at how they wanted to break him themselves.
Gritting her teeth, Mia pushed on, hobbling on her broken leg. She forced herself to move deeper into the depths of the Nemesis, pausing between doors and pushing herself hard to get through them when she was afforded the chance.
She would fret when she was forced to wait between doors, forced to wait until someone had to come through.
When she came to the final hall, Mia grit her teeth and forced herself down the dank, damp hall to a dark room. Pain burned through her body, it made her vision swim and she felt sick. She fought to keep the food Vortex gave her down as she finally allowed her leg to give out from under her when she arrived to the dark, dank room that simply had to be the Hole. At first Mia didn't understand what she was seeing and it took her a moment to understand she was staring at a cell of sorts. Something from a horror movie.
The cell, if it could even be called that, was two panels of metal that someone had welded around a leak in the ship's hull. Mia could hear the water dripping onto rattling plates and over a very soft sobbing.
The door, a thick slab of steel and a heavy lock was slapped between narrow slit in the wall where the victim could only stand, compressed in at all sides.
Mia swallowed hard and inched into the dank room, pulling herself along the floor, and looked up at the cell that looked like it had been made from an old storage room with a door that did not close properly any longer. The rust from constantly dripping water having taking its toll and allowing Mia to drag herself inside.
"Starscream?" she whispered, approaching the cell. Pressing her hand to the cold, damp metal, she heard the sobbing stop. "Starscream, are you in there?"
Starscream didn't hear Mia's soft voice on the other side of the thick metal as he pressed into one of the walls of the Hole. Panic bubbled from his chest and that made it hard to think, made it hard to hang onto his slipping sanity. His frame hurt and he felt woozy from his injuries and the Hole simply amplified everything.
"Starscream?" Mia's soft voice came muffled through the thick metal.
"M-Mia?" He questioned softly, a soft sob breaking his voice.
Mia shoved herself to her feet once more and limped to the weird cell, tucking herself into the side and hiding in the shadows. "It's okay Starscream. It's…it's okay."
Another muffled sob rattled wetly from the other side of steel and Starscream pressed his helm into the wet wall. His knees shook and trembled, panic welling in his spark and fear made him hurt. He couldn't think beyond the tight walls, the fact his wings were pressed into the wall at his back and the darkness that pressed into him.
It was meant to break him. It was meant to make him weak and easier to manipulate, and Megatron wanted him weak.
"It's okay Starscream." Mia's voice cut though the darkness. "Offline your optics. Just…just listen to my voice. We're going to go home soon."
Clinging to that, Starscream's vents hiccupped. "Scared." He admitted through the metal.
Emotion, guilt, swelled in Mia's chest and her own green eyes watered at the admission. This was her fault, Starscream could have escaped or fought back without her there.
Her voice wavered, but she licked her lips and took a breath. "It's okay." She repeated. "It's okay to be scared. Everyone gets scared, you've just gotta keep…gotta keep going. That's all."
"We're never getting home." Starscream whispered through the thick metal, and the darkness compressed in on him, his wings scraping on the walls of the Hole.
Trapped. He was trapped and going to die in a dark little hole at the bottom of the ocean.
"We are!" Mia suddenly declared fiercely. "We are going to go home. Just don't give up on me yet Starscream. We're going to go home."
An engine hitching was all the response that Starscream gave her, and Starscream so badly wanted to believe her. He wanted to go home. He wanted to be with Thundercracker and Skywarp. He wanted to get to know them all over again and teach the Arielbots what it meant to be a Vosiarian.
He wanted to get to really know the Prime and return to Cybertron to rebuild. He wanted the peace he had tasted.
He didn't want Mia to die.
"Please don't leave me." He whispered brokenly, voice thick with fear.
"I won't." Mia promised as leaned against the wet metal. "I'm right here."
Mia felt the last tear fall and that something hard and dark twisted her heart. "Did I ever tell you about the time I was shot?"
There was a beat of silence and Starscream fought hard to bring himself back mentally. "No." he rasped.
"Well. You stay with me Starscream and I'll tell you all about it."
Starscream nodded before responding. "Just keep talking." If she kept talking he could pretend they were in the cell and he had room to stretch out. He could almost feel it. The space behind his back, his wings spread wide and his legs spread wide so he could relax. He could almost feel the dampness of their cell and not the dripping of water from overhead.
He could almost imagine he was dry.
"Well. We were in Vegas." Mia began, her fingers touching the scarred flesh in her shoulder where the bullet had passed through. The scar in her scalp itched and she could almost feel the pull of stitches. "And I was running interference for our crew, when we hit a snag."
Starscream allowed himself this one pleasure and her soothing voice washed over him, soothing his mind and he was able to get lost in her soft voice as she told horror stories of her youth. It grounded him and he could feel his fragile mind begin to piece itself back together.
Starscream doubted they would be leaving the Nemesis alive, but they'd give Megatron hell before they finally went.
But.
But maybe they'd get out. Starscream doubted it.
But.
But Callie brought Thundercracker home. Danny brought Sunstreaker home. Maybe they could save each other and Mia could bring him home. Stranger things had happened.
Mia kept talking in her soft, quiet voice, and Starscream clung to the thought of but what if.