Hey guys, sorry this took me so long to post. There were a lot of sudden changes to my life and it took some time to get everything sorted out. I was also suffering from a little bit of writer's block (despite already having an outline for most of this fic). I'm still hoping to finish this one around Halloween this year, but I'm not entirely sure yet.

As always, I don't own Transformers (otherwise Michael Bay wouldn't have been the director of the movies). Also please let me know if you guys spot any continuity (to this story) grammar or spelling errors.

Optimus Prime sat perfectly still before a small alter lit with small crystals and oil lanterns. He was deep within himself, drawing on the ancient wisdom that had been given to him in the form of the Matrix of Leadership. It was a rare moment of peace for the Prime.

If only the visions he was seeing were so peaceful.

While in his meditative state, Optimus Prime had learned to detach himself from all feeling. The Matrix held all kinds of knowledge, good and bad. The first time the Matrix had shown Optimus one of its more disturbing pieces of information, he had snapped out of his meditation and purged all over the attending priests. It's wasn't the last time Optimus had had to confront this kind of vision and he doubted it would be the last.

A room filled with glowing blue crystals that were quickly dissolving to crimson red. Mechs, grey as death, jerkily walking towards a black and white doorwinged mech shooting at them, the shots doing nothing to slow the approaching mechs down. A mech carrying another down a dark corridor melted into the shadow of a seeker hunched over. Finally a silver and blue Praxian appeared. He looked sad and whispered, "it is starting."

Optimus jerked back to himself. "It is starting," he muttered to himself, echoing the words of the silver and blue Praxian.

There was a sharp knock on the door, pulling Optimus from his final thoughts. No one was supposed to disturb him while he was meditating. It threw off his ability to interpret his visions. There might be pieces missing or new information could cause a bias to his thoughts. Only if there was a major emergency, was someone allowed to interrupt him.

There was another knock, this time a little more forceful. Optimus sent a command to the door to open. He stood up from his kneeling position.

Jazz and Smokescreen entered the chamber. Smokescreen looked down right scandalized. Jazz, as usual, seemed unfazed that he was disrupting the Prime.

"Sorry boss-bot," said Jazz, "but we have a situation."

"Has Barricade escaped from his prison?" asked Optimus.

"That's putting it mildly," said Smokescreen. Though Smokescreen had never interrupted his Prime during a meditation before, he had seen the aftermath often enough. As Optimus' unofficial spy among his own troops, Smokescreen often reported to him after meditating. Smokescreen was used to Optimus being early perceptive afterwards.

"It was a slaughter," said Jazz. "13 mechs are dead. It'll take a while before that cell block will be able to hold anyone again."

"We don't know how he did it either," said Smokescreen. "Frankly, sir, not even Jazz can pull off the slag I just saw in the amount of time the tapes suggest. It was almost supernatural."

"Yeah, the Winchester brothers might have known how he did it," said Jazz rubbing his chin.

Smokescreen threw Jazz a confused look. "They're from a popular Earth show several decades ago," said Optimus for clarification.

"Oh," said Smokescreen.

"Anyway, Prime," said Jazz getting serious again. "Soundwave, has started tracking Barricade's movements since he busted out. Guess where he's headed."

"Praxus," said Optimus.

"Bingo," said Jazz. "Blaster has been trying to hail Prowl and Bumblebee for joors now without any luck. Bluestreak is still presumed missing in that area and get this, Thundercracker was last seen flying towards Praxus too. No one has heard from him either in a couple of orns."

"Praxus seems to be a major hot spot for disappearing mechs," said Smokescreen.

Optimus thought back to his vision. It is starting. He felt a shiver run up his back.

"OP, are you alright?" asked Jazz. Optimus cursed Jazz's unique observation skills.

"My visions were not the most comforting this orn," admitted the Prime.

"Would you like to talk about it?" asked Smokescreen seamlessly slipping in to his counselor mode.

"No," said Optimus. "I know it was a warning, but I wasn't sure about what until your arrival."

"Then you won't deny me permission to lead a group of mechs to check out what's going on in Praxus?" asked Jazz.

"The city isn't stable enough yet," said Optimus. "But if Prowl and Bumblebee aren't responding to their comms then something must have happened to them."

"What if we set up camp on the outskirts of the city?" asked Jazz. "I'll go in and scout around-"

"We can't risk losing you to the city as well. You may set up an outpost outside of Praxus, but try to reach Prowl first before going in," said Optimus.

"Agreed," said Jazz. "I'm requesting a team with Blaster, Hound, Soundwave, Skywarp, and Smokescreen."

"Why am I going?" asked Smokescreen.

"Because you've already seen what Barricade is capable of," said Jazz. "Nothing else will come as much of a shock to you." Smokescreen glared at Jazz.

"You have my permission to go Jazz," said Optimus. "Please bring our mechs home."

"I'll do my best OP," said Jazz with a lazy salute.

"I guess I'm heading home," said Smokescreen.

(break)

Bumblebee glanced over his shoulder to take a quick peek at Prowl. The tactician had suggested that Bumblebee take the lead, while Prowl used his doorwings to sense anything that might try to sneak up on them. So far they had been lucky and no one (dead or alive) was following them.

Prowl seemed more uptight than usual. It was obvious to Bumblebee that Prowl wasn't doing well since their encounter with the grey mech. His doorwings were held at an angle that he knew, from vorns of living around Bluestreak and Smokescreen, was painful. His optics were dull and Prowl clearly wasn't as focused as he was normally famous for.

"Is the tunnel stable up ahead?" Prowl asked breaking the tense silence.

Bumblebee placed his servos on the tunnel wall. One of the very few things he had learned about minibots was that they were able to detect the structure of small spaces using their servos. Brawn and Huffer had made sure Bumblebee learned the technique. It was one of Bumblebee's key assets as a Special Operations Operative and one Jazz loved for when he needed a scout in a tight spot. It had been especially useful in the Decepitcon bases' vents.

"The tunnel is stable, but I think we might have a problem up a head," said Bumblebee.

"One of the grey mechs?" asked Prowl.

"No," said Bumblebee. "It feels like part of the tunnel either collapsed or gets really narrow. It's perfectly stable, but we might have to find an alternative route if the gap is too small." Well, he might fit through the gap, but Prowl's doorwings might not.

Prowl let out a soft sigh. "It was a high possibility that we'd run into something like that," he admitted.

"What are the odds that we'll be able to escape through another tunnel?" asked Bumblebee.

"Low," said Prowl, emotionless as ever. "All of my sensors indicate that the air currents are coming from this direction."

"Joys," said Bumblebee.

They pressed on. Bumblebee wasn't a very religious mech, but he did send a quick prayer to Primus asking that Bluestreak was still safe and that he and Prowl would find a way out of these tunnels. He continued to take a few glances over his shoulder to check on Prowl. His superior was acting stranger than usual. Bumblebee hoped it was just worry for Bluestreak.

Prowl whipped around. "We have company coming."

"The alive or dead kind?" asked Bumblebee.

"My sensors indicate they are walking around like the mech we found outside the temple," said Prowl. "It is a higher likelihood it is one of the zombie mechs."

There was a brief pause. It felt as if some unseen force had frozen Bumblebee and Prowl. Bumblebee took in a vent of air and then another vent. The atemosphere was suddenly very thick.

"How many?" Bumblebee finally breathed out.

"Enough to pose a serious problem," said Prowl.

They both took another vent. Bumblebee could hear the soft scrape of metal against metal.

"We need to keep going," said Prowl.

"And if the gap isn't wide enough?" asked Bumblebee. Prowl met his optics, but said nothing. He didn't need to. Bumblebee gave Prowl a sharp nod.

Swiftly, Bumblebee turned and stated running as fast as he could down the tunnel passage, Prowl not far behind him. He held his gun at the ready. Maybe it wasn't a gap in the tunnel, maybe it was a door. Bumblebee needed to hold onto something positive, even if it was a fool's hope.

"They are gaining on us," said Prowl.

"How?" asked Bumblebee. "The one we saw outside the temple could barely walk!"

"We'll find out when they catch up to us," said Prowl. Bumblebee was starting to get really annoyed with his commander's sarcasm during dire situations.

They continued running as the passageway narrowed. Their pursuers were still gaining on them. Bumblebee's headlights illuminated a very small gap that might lead to an escape. He hit the side of the wall with his servo just to see if they were about to run into a dead end. The feedback he received was better than he had hoped.

"Prowl, we're about to hit the small gap," said Bumblebee between vents. "I think there's a larger chamber on the other side. If we can squeeze through, we might be able to lose them!"

"Good," was all Prowl said.

The scraping sounds were getting closer. It sounded as though a whole army were after them. Bumblebee didn't want to think about what an army of undead mechs looked like. The gap was getting closer.

Bumblebee nearly ran into the wall. He slid to a stop and flung out an arm to keep his balance. "I found the gap," said Bumblebee.

"And they've caught up to us," said Prowl. He had stopped a little farther up the passageway, blocking Bumblebee's view. He shot off two rounds from his acid gun.

"Prowl," Bumblebee started, but Prowl interrupted.

"Keep going."

"But!"

"That's an order soldier!" snapped Prowl.

Bumblebee was rooted to the spot. He couldn't leave Prowl to these creepy mechs. They needed to stick together. They needed to fight together.

Prowl sighed. "Bumblebee, I can't buy you that much more time. Please, find Bluestreak and get back to Iacon. The Prime must hear about this."

Prowl's speech was enough to snap him back to reality. He had survived the great Cybertronian war. This wasn't the first time he had been ordered to leave someone behind. Though usually he ignored those orders and found a way to save his captured comrades.

But this time was different. This time it was Prowl giving him the order and when Prowl gave an order, you did as you were told. You just had to trust that he knew what he was doing.

"I will sir," said Bumblebee.

Bumblebee pushed himself through the gap and turned off his headlights. He might be leaving Prowl behind, but he wasn't going to just run off as his commander took his last stand. Prowl fired off more rounds from his acid gun. Bumblebee couldn't see if he was taking out any of the targets or not.

Click, click, click.

Prowl tossed his gun to the side. He must have run out of ammo. He grabbed a small blade from his subspace, smaller than a sword, but larger than a knife, and took a defensive stance. Bumblebee watched in awe as Prowl dismembered the first walking corpse that got too close.

Prowl was able to take off the head off of a second walking corpse, when a third managed to grab one of his doorwings. Suddenly Prowl was falling. Bumblebee had a hard time following his commander's movements as Prowl's headlights were now facing the ground. It seemed as though the grey mechs were piling on top of Prowl, forcing him into submission.

Crack!

Prowl let out a low groan and his headlights flickered out. Bumblebee was completely blind now without light. He placed a servo to the wall and turned the audio settings up to their most sensitive. Something, or someone, large was being dragged back towards the temple Bumblebee and Prowl had just run from.

Bumblebee stayed rooted to his spot until he could hear nothing but silence. It took him a few kliks to realize that he had started shaking. He leaned against the wall and pulled in a couple of deep vents. They hadn't come after him. They had taken Prowl, but had left him alone.

Maybe they couldn't follow him through the gap. Maybe they didn't know the gap was here. Maybe they just wanted Prowl.

Bumblebee had a hard time calming himself down. He slid down the wall and into a seated position. He felt moisture around his optics. How was it that he could face down a crazed Decepticon killer, but the thought of corpses attacking him made him feel like a young rookie out on his first mission all over again?

He needed to keep it together.

The dead mechs hadn't killed Prowl. They had just knocked him out. He wasn't going to leave Prowl with those mechs. He would find him and Bluestreak. They were all going to get out of here, together.

(break)

Bluestreak stumbled over the uneven ground again. It was hard to keep his peds under him even with his headlights illuminating his path. There was just too much debris in the tunnel.

"Do you think it'll be much further?" Bluestreak asked his mysterious guide. Not once had he seen the mech who was supposedly guiding him to safety. He felt another shiver go up his spine. He mustn't think too hard about it. At least someone was willing to help him.

Bang!

"I'll take that as a yes," said Bluestreak. "Or at least I really hope it's not too much further. I'd really like to get above ground. The floor here is really bad and I'm worried I'll break something if I keep tripping over everything. I'm usually very well balanced, but my doorwings feel funny. I think it was those weird pulsing crystals. I've never felt crystals hum like that. They're usually quite pleasant to sit next to. Crystal music is really nice. Do you like crystal music?"

Bang! Bang!

"I think that means "no" right?" continued Bluestreak. "That's a shame. I love it, or at least I did. I don't have enough crystals on Earth to really hear their music. It's one thing I really do miss from before the war…"

Bluestreak trailed off. He shouldn't think about before the war. It hurt to think about his family, about everything he had lost. He remembered that it had started out as a normal day. He had been playing in the front room of the townhouse he had lived in when his sire had sat straight up. His sire had told his carrier to hide him in a small crawl space under the staircase. It had been a very small space and he had hurt his doorwings when his carrier had pushed him in.

He remembered as the front door of their house had banged open. He remembered hearing screams from outside and loud engines. The mechs who had barged into their home had laughed as they dragged his carrier and sire in front of their leader. There had been a lot of yelling. Bluestreak never really remembered what was said, but he remembered the mocking tone of the lead seeker, his parent's calm voices, and the voice of a young scared mech. Finally there were two small pops, like when his sire uncorked a fine bottle of high grade.

Bang!

Bluestreak jerked his helm up. He hadn't realized he had stopped walking. "Sorry," he said. He took a deep vent of air.

"Sorry," he repeated. "I really need to get out of here. This place brings back too many memories."

Bluestreak started walking again. "I'm hoping to start making new memories though," he continued. "Happy memories. Sure, there were some good times during the war, but it was still a war. A lot of my friends died. I guess I was lucky to have lived, but some days it doesn't feel like it. I like Earth though. It's colorful and full of life. I like the humans and the birds and the trees. I even like the dessert even if I do get sand everywhere. Have you been anywhere like that?"

Bang! Bang!

"Oh, yeah, you've been stuck here on Cybertron," said Bluestreak. "I guess you don't have places like that here. At least I don't remember Cybertron having places like that."

The mysterious mech didn't bother to respond to Bluestreak. It was silent for a few breems, until Bluestreak spotted something. He clicked off his headlights.

"Oh!" Bluestreak gasped. "A light!"

From the ceiling, Bluestreak was able to see light pouring into the tunnel. The hole wasn't that high off the ground and there was plenty of debris for him to climb up to it. Bluestreak could taste his freedom.

"Thank you so much for helping me!" he called to the mysterious mech. He waited a beat and then added. "Would it be possible for me to see you before I go? You know, so I can thank you properly?"

Bang! Bang!

"Oh, I get it," said Bluestreak. "You don't like the light, that's right. Well, thank you again. I'll make sure someone leaves you some supplies when they come pick me up."

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

Bluestreak was confused. The mysterious mech had never banged that many times before without pausing.

"What's wrong?" he asked. "Is this spot not stable enough for me to climb? Should I wait for another hole? What if we don't find another one?"

Bang! Bang! Bang!

"I promise I'll leave you supplies if that's what you need," said Bluestreak. He had reached the base of the debris pile and was ready to start climbing. "You know you can always come with me, like meet up with me when it gets dark outside or something. Optimus Prime is back and he's going to lead us into a new era. Well, that's what Ultra Magnus keeps telling us."

Bang!

Bluestreak started to climb. He kept talking and the mysterious mech continued banging. Bluestreak didn't understand what was wrong. Hadn't the mysterious mech been trying to lead him to safety? Sure he hadn't seen the mech, but he had seemed friendly enough, even if he only communicated by banging.

"You can get food and shelter if you come back with me to Iacon," said Bluestreak as he climbed higher. "They've already rebuilt a lot of the city. I've seen pictures. It looks beautiful."

Bluestreak was getting closer to the top of the debris pile. The hole to the outside world was only a few meters away. He was almost free.

The mysterious mech continued to bang against the tunnel wall.

"Seriously, you can start a new life now," said Bluestreak.

Just as he reached the hole, the banging stopped. Bluestreak pulled himself through the hole and turned to look back into the dark tunnel. He flared out his doorwings and strained his optics trying to spot his savior. He couldn't see anyone.

"Thank you again!" called Bluestreak. "Even if I never saw you, or know your name."

He tried spotting the mysterious mech again, but there was no one near the hole in the tunnel. "Maybe it was a ghost," said Bluestreak to himself. He shook his helm. "That's silly, ghosts don't exist. Maybe I was just following some sound and thought it was a mech. That's it! The banging was a coincidence. There aren't any mechs except for me around here."

"Are you so sure about that?"

Bluestreak whipped around, but before he could catch a glimpse of the mech who had just spoken, he was hit hard. Bluestreak felt himself falling down. He hit the ground hard and his vision swam. A large dark ped walked up to him.

"Poor little mech," said the deep voice. "So close to freedom, only to run into me. The Unmaker will be pleased to have you join us."

Another sharp hit to his helm, and Bluestreak blacked out.