Chapter 16
Lyn looked around in dismay. The last thing she remembered was falling asleep in the room with the communication's officer, Soundwave. She didn't know where she was now and didn't know if she was in danger or if she was safe. Her wings quivered and pulled closer to her body instinctively as her eyes scanned the near darkness, her -still flesh- hand felt around her gently to try and identify anything she could near her. From the texture of the surface, she was no longer on the console where she had fallen asleep. For a split second, panic started to set in, and she threw her sense out instinctively to search for any hidden dangers.
"Brushing others minds is impolite." Soundwave's steady tone came from the opposite side of the room, she swung her head around to face the sound and saw the faintly glowing visor of Soundwave.
While far from a crushing wave of relief, at least she knew she was still with Soundwave. He hadn't seemed that much of a threat to her while she was awake with him earlier, so why were her powers still rippling in lingering twinges of fear? "Where am I?" Lyn asked, trying to keep all the fears boiling under the surface from being easily heard.
"Safe." Was the only response, what feeble light his visor cast was instantly gone as if he had disappeared. Lyn reached out tentatively to see if he was still there. "Mind touching is inappropriate. Final warning." The sound came from the same area, but there just wasn't any visible parts of him left for her to make out.
"Sorry," Lyn muttered as she tried to squint out any details in the room. But the dim darkness was just a teaser. The dimness promised glimpses of things but denied more than a vague blurry outline. She held in an irritated sigh and folded her legs underneath of her. "So when can I return to my own room?" Boredom was quickly closing in on her like a rabid dog to a flighty rabbit.
"When Lord Megatron wishes." Lyn felt the urge to roll her eyes, but this mech hadn't really given her much reason to be flippant and sarcastic with him, and he did say that the respect the rest of the Decepticons' held for him was 'well earned'. She wasn't entirely sure she wanted to test that reasoning out just yet.
So Lyn did the only thing she could think of, she pulled her legs under her—Indian style—and began to slowly rock back and forth, allowing her mind to ponder of all the new information she had gathered recently. Other than to keep her from her room, Lyn couldn't see the reason for her sudden stay with a mech she'd never met in all the months here on the Decepticon base. He (Soundwave), seemed less interested in her than a person is to air, he acted as though she didn't exist. Which brought her back to the original question, why was she there?
"Suggestion: Don't question Lord Megatron's wishes." Soundwave's voice came from the darkness again, and Lyn bristled. She hadn't felt the psychic's touch, and she knew her thoughts were well shielded, she tried to reinforce her barriers, to wrap herself tighter in the mental webbing that protected her from the onslaught of emotions and thoughts of those around her naturally had. But each time she tried to seal herself off, she ran into a strange problem, it was almost as if someone had a chair propped up in the doorway of her mind, she couldn't seal the connection.
Panic struck her harder and faster than it had when she'd awoken in the darkness, she pooled her power and held it within her, trying to use it to force whatever was keeping her from sealing herself entirely, but no matter how she attacked the block, it refused to move. The connection that protected her from the world remained open, and the most she struggled, the larger the breach seemed to become. Lyn felt her breath becoming ragged and quick, her chest tight with terror, never had she failed to control a situation when she could use her powers to equal the field, but now she was totally incapable of even defending her mind. She took a few deep steadying breaths in an attempt to calm herself so she had better control. But as she steadied herself, and began to feel the deep comfort of stillness wash over her, the block suddenly moved, it lunged deep within her barriers.
Lyn would have screamed but she was frozen under the painful assault, memories slammed to the surface, raw and angry as they had been upon their creation. She re-lived moments of her life she had buried deep within her. All those years of punishment she'd suffered at the hands of her previous captors, the horror of watching Dawn suffer because of Lyn's mistakes, the memories tore through her unbidden and nothing she did could stop the onslaught. As the events became closer to the present, Lyn felt a building terror stronger than before as realization hit her. Soundwave was a psychic, a telepath much stronger than herself, and she was there so he could read her. Megatron wanted to ensure she was still loyal. Lyn redoubled her efforts at regaining control, she couldn't allow her recent thoughts of ill towards Lord Megatron to become apparent and known, he would do worse than have a psychic read her.
Lyn threw all her might against the endless sifting through her personal thoughts and experiences. But suddenly, they stopped, one memory slowing down to replay in real time, and Lyn felt her attacks falter and fall away. It was that night, months ago, the strange mech who had tortured her in the dead of the night, in the darkness. Her wrists ached with the memory of being tied mercilessly up for hours waiting for someone to check up on her. After the memory ended, it began again, she felt her humiliation heighten as she was forced to relive the experience over and over again. Tears streamed down her cheeks as she curled up onto herself, it was something she'd never told anyone except Bonecrusher, who had demanded to know and was determined to force her to tell Megatron what had happened, but she had refused. And had never thought of it anymore until now...
The pain of the intrusion was an agony on its own, but the fact that she could do nothing to stop it brought a new feeling of helplessness to Lyn. She thought she was powerful, and while she could bring mass amounts of technology to life, move objects without much effort with her mind, and use her telepathy with little issue, she now realized how young and naive she'd been. It was obvious that her years of practicing illegally and then her months of diligent practice here with the Decepticons hadn't risen her powers much more than that of a helpless child who discovered they could lift toys and carry them around the house. For as powerful as she had become in her creation ability, her others were obviously not powerful enough to save her from any attacks, no matter what.
Memories continued to flow past her, Soundwave had gotten what information he must have must have wanted based on the further movement, but when the dreaded memory came of her doubts to Megatron, her longing wishes for her twin and her belief that she was just a prisoner who was blind to their enslavement passed through, she felt herself hold her breath. But he didn't linger over those as he did others, she couldn't tell if that was a good thing or a bad thing.
Sleep. The command was from Soundwave's voice, but she wasn't sure if she'd heard it with her mind, ears, or even just felt the command. Her body suddenly grew leaden and her eyes refused to stay open. She was dimly aware she was falling to her side as her body went limp with sudden exhaustion. Within seconds of the command, Lyn was deeply asleep, unaware of anything outside the deep sweet darkness.
It was hours before Lyn started to become aware of her surroundings again. She heard odd bits of the chaotic language which she knew to be Cybertronian, but she couldn't make out what was being said, her mind felt heavy, thick, almost as if she were trying to drag herself through a pool of muddy water that was chest deep, her body was sluggish in its responses, parts of her refused to move at all. As she finally managed to get her leg to twitch, and her wings to shift, the speaking ceased and the room became heavy with silence and tension.
Opening one heavily eyelid she found her vision blurred, a large figure was blocking light from above, the vague thought of familiarity in the frame made Lyn struggle to regain more awareness and control. "You recovered faster than expected." The deep voice was trimmed with a hint of impressiveness. Lyn opened her mouth to reply, but no sound came out, her mouth felt woolen and thick, her throat dry and sore, as though she'd been screaming for hours. She forced her eyes to blink rapidly, to clear the fuzzy drowsiness from them, and see who spoke to her. She knew the voice, but her mind was sore, and struggling to place the voice made her headache. "Don't push yourself. Greater beings than you have been broken under Soundwave's assaults." The voice was soft and deep, but the edge of roughness and power behind it brought up the image of Megatron in her mind.
Lyn struggled to sit up, her arms pushing weakly, wings giving jerky pulses of movement in an effort to force her body into an upright position. Her eyes found the massive bulk beside her, blocking the light from the room, but the crimson shine was so unique that only one would have it. "Lord Megatron..." Lyn struggled to say past the wool in her throat, but her voice was hoarse and weak, her arms shook violently as she strained to keep herself in an upright position.
The bright crimson eyes flickered over her body, seeming to take in all her faults and weaknesses, laying her thoughts bare before him, she felt suddenly small and very vulnerable in front of him. "When Soundwave told me his mission had been completed, I wasn't sure what would greet me upon your waking. I am pleased you are still functional."
A wave of rage rippled through her body, but her power remained cowed and unresponsive, as it always was in his and Blackout's presence. "Why?" Lyn managed to choke out, flinching from the pain in her throat, her body's feelings started to shine through the wooden sluggishness, suddenly wracking her with pain as though she'd been beaten for hours on end.
Had Lyn been able to see the dangerous change in his face, she'd have flinched and immediately apologized, but her mind and body were filled with a foreign ache and soreness she was unfamiliar with. "My reasons are no concern of yours." At his growled response though, Lyn discovered her mistake, but before she could correct it, he lowered himself down so that his massive bulk was painfully close. Lyn could feel the waves of heat come off his frame through the multiple vents that covered a mech's body. He was much closer than she would have ever wanted. "You have been a part of the Decepticons long enough to know the rules. Yet you still foolishly think that you are above them. That is no longer acceptable." His voice was a low, quiet rumble promising of pain and death to those unwary.
Lyn felt her body tremble in fear, her eyes couldn't look away from his close massive crimson optic. She could see the various little marks, scars, and blemishes that were invisible at a distance. "Forgive me, my Lord, I'm not thinking properly..." A deep growl from Megatron's throat silenced her.
"Pray I don't discover I can use you broken the same as complete. Your insolence is no longer forgivable." The threat was heavy from his glare and tone, but Lyn realized weakly that she couldn't feel emotions from him anymore like she used to, her power was there, yes, but it didn't rise or stir at her command. A slow smile crept across the tyrant's face as his voice rumbled deeply again to her. "Consider this an experiment in obedience."
Confusion wracked her brain as Lyn tried to figure out what he meant, but before she could even begin, she suddenly found herself lying flat on her back, wings in awkward position screaming at her back, her metal cybernetic arm screaming in as much pain as the rest of her limbs as she realized Megatron's farthest hand had shot out to her and pinned her painfully to the surface she lay on. The razor fingertips separated to become like agonizing tools of torture holding her steadily. She struggled only once, but as the grips became so strong she felt the metal of her arm bend, and her bones in her arm and upper thighs scream at breaking point, she froze, tears streaming down her face.
Megatron's dark expression had morphed into a scary expression that sent a chill of true terror down through her stomach. "I am the leader of the Decepticons for a reason. Perhaps it is time I show you why the hordes of mechs follow and fear me." His voice almost purred, but she felt no comfort in the change of tone.
Lyn shook her head weakly, her body screaming in agony from his grip, the metal of her cybernetic arm made sounds similar to a aluminum can being crushed slowly. "Please—that won't be necessary, Lord Megatron, please." She plead hoarsely, her tongue felt thick in her mouth, what little comfort she had previously was being quickly destroyed by the incredible heat radiating off his massive bulk. The razor-sharp fingers were freezing cold in contrast to the rest of his frame, but where they held her, it felt as though a fire was racing down her arms and legs.
"I've given you more time than you deserve to remember whom you serve. I have been lenient on you, and perhaps too kind. But I am no fool. Forgiving without due payment is just as worthless as ignoring the slight. Oh no, it is time I remind you who is master and who is the slave." Megatron's voice was dark, soft, and deceptively gentle for the words spoken. Lyn heard every word as though they were carved into her body. Tears whelmed up into her eyes, the truth had come out, she was nothing more than a slave to the Decepticons after all, all thoughts of being a part of them had been folly on her part.
She didn't have much time to contemplate this massive misjudgment on her part before a sickening snap reached her ears, answering her confusion on its origin by a shocking blinding pain that lanced through her flesh arm. She opened her mouth to scream, but all that came out was a hoarse cry of pain.
Back with the Autobots-
Dawn stretched leisurely across the soft fuzzy grass, it didn't have the same texture as grass where she grew up a prisoner, but she enjoyed the feel of it anyway. It had been nearly three days since her confrontation with Optimus and finding the note in her apartment allowing her the freedom she needed and desired. Blade rested next to her a few feet away respectfully, his cautious optics keeping a close watch on the small fleshling femme. A couple of odd shaped leaves danced in the air in front of her as she watched them smiling. Her power had grown nearly tenfold what Lyn's power was when Blade had left the Decepticons for the retrieval of Thundercracker, Dawn, and the Allspark, though he never mentioned that fact to Dawn.
Blade had sent the coordinates of the Autobot base to Soundwave in his latest report, though he was still cautious that the Autobots might intercept the relay, Soundwave was confident it was undetected. From what he had heard from the last reply from Soundwave shortly later, there was to be a raid on the base, just a hit and run made to look like a desperate stab at destroying the base. What the Autobots didn't know, aided the Decepticons tenfold. But what had surprised Blade the most was the way in which the Autobots treated Dawn. They held her at bay as a human might hold a viper, cautiously and ready to kill it if necessary.
The dancing leaves in front of Dawn hovered in the air, their dancing stalled as the puppet master became distracted. She stared off into the distance, the same instant his private comm pinged, she tilted her head and looked at him oddly.
Blade answered the comm silently, listened to the message and acknowledged it. It was all deeply encoded, but any Decepticon would know the cipher. His optics met Dawn's bright blue eyes. "What?" He asked her softly, a gentle breeze from his vents gliding over her, ruffling her wings as they lay sprawled out to either side of her.
Dawn seemed to like the small currents of air that hit her whenever they were around, her wings always twitched with the same sensation of her lips in a happy quirk. "What was the message for? What's coming in shortly?"
Blade blinked in surprise. "What message? I'm not sure I understand..."
Dawn gave him a deep look that he felt go straight to his Spark. "I felt the ping, heard the message, I just want to know what it meant?"
A deep chill went through him. If a small fleshling femme could intercept something so well hidden that the Autobot's sophisticated equipment couldn't detect...what other powers did she have that no one knew of? She was more than her sister had explained to him, was it possible even Lyn didn't know what her own Twin was capable of? "I just got word that something was coming into the system, that's all. Why don't we go explore that ravine we saw on the maps? We have at least five hours of light left." Blade told her with a smile.
Dawn gave him another deep look, her lips pursed together as if she were in deep thought, then it all cleared and she smiled back at him. "Okay!" She hopped up and flared her wings, he gave her an amused chuckle. Since the first day out, she'd refused to be flown or driven anywhere, she had feet and wings, so she would take herself! And could she! With a fluid movement, her body crouched low to the ground, tense, then suddenly with a speed that seemed to deny her size, she took off, her wings held up, avoiding the wind currents, then suddenly flared out, and with two mighty flaps, she was high in the sky, speeding away at nearly half the speed of sound. Very fast for something as plain as she.
Blade gave himself his own running start, leaped into the air and transformed, taking off after her at a slightly slower pace, but still covering much ground. If he could get her a safe distance away, then there would be no worries of her becoming part of the upcoming battle. Which had been his original orders received late last night while most of the base was deep in recharge, and Dawn had been visiting Thundercracker. A part of him was excited at the prospect of watching the Autobot base burn, but still, a small part of his mind whispered reminders that the Autobots had welcomed him into their base with respect and the same freedoms any of the other civilian members dwell on the planet's surface.
Dawn felt a smile settle across her lips as she thrust her anxiety and agitation into the powerful wing beats which kept her aloft and sweeping over the landscape a speed which a normal human would have likely passed out from. This was where she belonged. The sky open above her, no walls for as far as the eye could see, and the freedom to do as she chose. This is what life was truly about. Not knitting blankets or learning to be a good puppy and beg for table scraps or await the next round of punishments for just being herself. This was freedom at its finest or at least the best she'd ever experienced so far in her life.
She felt the tuck against her feathers as the currents changed around her, a soft nudging that alerted her to the presence of Blade. Like most winged creatures, Dawn's wings were super sensitive to the vibrations in the air around her. Even in flight, with the friction of the wind sweeping over her feathers, she could still tell when another entity was coming close to her. Dawn didn't know if Lyn had the same sensitivity, after all, she wasn't even sure if Lyn ever wanted to fly. When Dawn tried to lure her twin out when they were young to go gliding down a ravine, Lyn had scoffed at the idea. "Why fly when you can just levitate yourself? Flying takes too much effort." Dawn shook her head at the memory. For her, flying had never taken effort at all, it was as simple as blinking.
As if to prove to her sister how simple flying was, Dawn angled herself upright and gave five mighty flaps of her wings, sending her screaming straight up as if shot from a gun. The wind lashed her face, pulled her hair wildly behind her, she felt the currents raging around her. With each pump of her wings, she took note of the release of tension in her body, as though the activity were draining away her stresses, closing her eyes, she gave one more powerful flap, then pulled her wings close to her body, and allowed herself to fall backward, doing a slow-motion backflip in mid-air. As her body slowly fell backward and started to plummet to the ground, she relaxed her wings a little, allowing them to move with some freedom with the air currents, still mostly folded to protect them from the possibility of getting broken by an unexpected gust.
Her eyes still closed, she felt the wind as it slapped at her face, as the force of her free-fall pulled at each individual feather, and how the wind even found ways past her carefully made flight suit, caressing bare skin in the breaches of the suit. But unlike a normal human, Dawn felt no pain from this onslaught. To her, this was as close to ecstasy as she ever got. Nothing was better.
At the last possible moment, when she felt the convergence of air beneath her, she flung out her wings and pressed down hard, the air rushing beneath her wings was enough to snap bones in almost any species of flight, but Dawn's body was built for impact it seemed.
Blade followed Dawn and watched her from a respectable distance. He could see why she wanted to make herself a special suit for flight. It allowed her to be modest but also allowed her the freedom of movement which didn't hinder any movements she might need while in flight or during landing or take-off. As she glided, there wasn't much impressiveness to see except for the color and size of her wings. He'd seen Lyn's body. Seen Lyn's wings even, and while they were impressive themselves, they were dwarfed by Dawn's. Where he'd first thought Lyn was a powerful flesh creature and held an impressive stance, she was a toddler with a pout face next to her twin. Dawn's body was beyond all measure of grace and deadly agility.
As Dawn's body began to angle upwards, Blade took note of the rippling muscles that worked effortlessly across her back, shoulders, hips and even legs and arms. It was as though her wings were attached to every muscle in Dawn's body. The suit was open-backed, so low that it seemed to reach where the top of her buttocks began. When he'd first seen it, he'd thought it was a mistake. But seeing her now, with her wings in full motion, using her fullest strength and power to pull herself up at incredible speeds, it wasn't a fault. Her wings seemed to be a part of her entire back, hips, shoulders and even around her sides. It was incredible. He longed to touch the soft fuzz that slowly became feathers along her back and sides, but he knew from the way she stiffened when anyone was behind her, it would be a bad idea.
He shook himself from his thoughts as he watched her pull lazily backward, and simply—drop. At first, Blade felt his spark clinch with fear, the icy dread pulling through his systems. But as he watched, he felt entranced by her grace, while relaxed, she wasn't limp. She was holding her wings at the perfect angle, keeping herself in constant check. Then, just as the ground came rushing up to greet her, she pulled her back up and flung her wings out. With only a few full flaps of her wings, she was back high in the sky, he could see the huge smile on her face. This was where she belonged, free and in the skies. Blade moved closer to her, as she spun and looped lazily in the same spot, obviously waiting for him to catch up. Instead of staying in the sky, he allowed himself to drop into a controlled dive and transformed at the last second, slamming down into the rocky grounds near the ravine's drop off.
Dawn folded her wings slightly and allowed herself to drop down as well, a more graceful dive than her free-fall, and flared her wings and flapped once to steady herself as she fell the remaining twelve feet to the ground, her wingtips showering the area with dust and debris before her feet touched the ground. Blade was surprised, as he always seemed to be, that her heart rate wasn't much faster than normal, her breathing wasn't ragged or winded, she acted after every flight as though she'd done nothing more strenuous than walking a few yards. Her stamina was amazing, even with his knowledge of Lyn and her fitness level, it was nothing compared to Dawn.
Blade stopped himself, realizing he was constantly comparing the two twins and decided that there was no common ground anymore, aside from looks, they were two entirely different individuals. "That was beautiful, watching you fly like that." Blade told Dawn as she studied him in their silence.
Dawn's lips raised again in a smile, her eyes glistening with excitement, cheeks flushed at the praise. "Thank you Blade, that is so sweet of you to say so." The wind blew a little harder in the area they were in, its touch causing her feathers to ruffle and puff. Blade chuckled, she was always so polite, it was hard to believe she'd ever been treated poorly. There was no bitterness in her smile or in her eyes. "The wind is perfect for surfing this little canyon area, wanna race? Its big enough for both of us to fly through."
Blade laughed, shaking his head. "Aren't you in the least bit tired from all that?" Dawn shook her head, the big smile still in place. "You sure you want to race? You know you'll lose."
Dawn's grin widened as she giggled slightly, still feeling the giddy rush of flight. "You think that, but I think you'll find yourself mistaken. So? You up to it?"
Blade shook his head in humorous disbelief. "Alright, you're on! When do we start?"
Dawn's eyes squinted in mischief. "I'll give you a head start! Now!" Without being told twice, Blade took two steps and leaped off the cliff side into the deep ravine before transforming and taking roaring through the canyon. Dawn smiled and took off behind him, running towards the ledge and leaping off into the air, the currents grabbing her wings quickly as she spread them wide, seven might flaps later, she was nearly even with the screaming black form of Blade. With her wings held at an angle, and flapping only every five heartbeats, she caught up with Blade and flew side-by-side him, she didn't need to look over to see him, she could feel him against her wings, his off-set of the currents rolling off of him was all she needed to know every move he was making.
Blade felt her swift approach and her movements at his side, if he kept going at his current speed, she would overtake him and beat him. Adding a little speed, he pushed further ahead, putting more distance between them, the spirit of competition kicking in. A spurt of pride in his ability and in his agility of flying in such tight spaces at high speed.
Hardly half a second after his burst of speed, Dawn was back at his side, flying with as much ease as she'd been flying earlier. Pride wounded, and his darker nature taking over, he threw aside all thoughts of playful competition and pressed his thrusters into high gear and got as close to the sound barrier as he could with the twists and tightness of the canyon. Triumphant at his declared victory as he felt Dawn slide further and further into the distance, he maintained his speed, waiting for the end of the canyon to celebrate his victory and her loss upon her final arrival.
Dawn watched Blade's thrusters fire up and felt the heat off them as he sped away, leaving her in his wake. She frowned at his sudden change in attitude, his determination and sudden anger and let a soft growl rumble from her throat as she set herself into a faster pace, her wings pressing viciously against the updrafts and drag to catch up with the swiftly disappearing Blade. For a fleeting moment, she worried she'd not be able to catch up, but after a couple dozen vicious full flaps, and a very tight corner, she caught up with him, relieve flooding her heart as his frame got closer and closer.
Blade felt her before he saw her, disbelief echoed in his mind and spark, he couldn't go any faster without risking a failed turn in the narrow canyon, and to pull out of it for more speed would negate any victory. Settling on simply getting there first, he pushed himself a little further and focused solely on not slamming into any walls.
With the end of the canyon in sight, and the race swiftly ending, Dawn pulled her speed up a bit, and Blade pulled himself up into a steep climb, before transforming and landing hard on his feet as Dawn's wings flapped harder than her last landing to steady her on her feet as she landed next to him. This time, Blade could clearly see her heart racing and her breathing coming in gulping gasps, and given at the speeds they were flying at, he was impressed she'd managed it. As soon as her feet hit the ground, Blade had a bare few moments to lunge forward to catch her before she fell backward off the cliff ledge she'd landed precariously on. As he held onto her, he could feel the trembling in every muscle in her body, her wings seemed to shiver under the assault of exhaustion that was creeping through her body. "Who won?" Dawn asked between gasping breaths, looking up at Blade weakly, her head limp against one of his digits.
"It was a tie" Blade lied as he watched her chest heave with each breath, he could see her pulse in her neck and forehead veins, her heart hadn't slowed down yet, still beating with such ferocity that he started to worry she'd pressed herself too hard.
"Cool. That—was fun." She said, her voice weaker, her eyes dilating as they lost focus, and just as he feared she'd lose consciousness and give Ratchet and excuse to kill him, she weakly pushed herself up on shaky arms. "Let's not race again anytime soon, okay?" She asked, still gulping air, but Blade was relieved to see her heart was slowing down, even if her body was still terribly weak.
Blade chuckled lightly, happy she was already recovering. "You're the one who wanted to race, I tried to warn you against it."
Dawn shrugged and looked away over at the massive canyon ravine they'd just passed through. "So how fast were we going? Could you tell?"
Blade hesitated before answering her, he didn't feel comfortable telling her that she's flown fast enough to nearly breach the sound barrier, and she'd maintained that speed for nearly seventy miles. If it hadn't been for the constant curving of the walls, she could have easily out-paced him. "I couldn't tell exactly, but you were definitely going at a good clip. I was more occupied with not hitting the walls near the end." He said, mixing a lie with a truth, near the end, it had been more difficult, but nothing he couldn't handle.
Dawn nodded and scanned over the horizon, dark clouds were gathering in the distance. "Looks like there's a storm coming, maybe we should head home?"
Blade's more acute sight and forewarning of the attack on the Autobot base told him it was no storm. "If it is storming, it looks to be in the direction of home, perhaps it'd be best to stay away longer, I can tell them we're riding out the storm here, rather than trying to fly through it." Dawn seemed to think hard about what he suggested, he watched her chew on her lower lip as she looked at the dark clouds. For a few minutes, she was quiet, Blade wondered if her eyesight might have been as good as his, and could distinguish the black smoke from dark storm clouds, but suddenly she nodded.
"Yeah, we'll just wait out here, make sure it's clear before heading back. Don't worry about telling them, I'm sure they'll figure it out given the look of that storm." Dawn said, her voice still edged with exhaustion.
Blade kept his hand frozen, his frame unmoving from the moment he caught her, pondering where he would take her that could keep her safe and upwind from the smell of the smoke, spent ammunition, and death. Before he could say anything, Dawn shifted herself slightly, her wings retracting impossibly into her back, and she was asleep. He marveled for a moment at the amazing ability to recall such huge wings into such a small little body, then slowly stood. Looking around he was just starting to ponder what to do next when something entirely unexpected happened...
~~~~Dream
Dawn looked around her, blinking in confusion. She could see nothing past this intense black smoke, her eyes squinted to see through the thick haze. Voices shouted a mix of orders, cries for help, and screams of terror and pain.
This has to be a dream...Dawn muttered aloud, but her voice swallowed in the inferno of chaos erupting all around. A sudden blast of fiery white slammed through the ceiling in front of her, collapsing much of the roof and silencing some of the voices. Dawn's heart leaped into her throat, her power stirred, a voice deep down inside her whispered tauntingly that she was in the wrong place, home needed her.
Suddenly, a single voice stood out from the others. Her only companion, her only true friend, Metalstar, called out in the darkness for help, crying out for Dawn. The desperation in the tone wrenched at Dawn's heart, a fist closing tight on her stomach.
~~~~Dream End
Dawn lurched awake, her eyes wide, pupils so small all Blade could see were the massive swirling of color as they shifted from pale blue through the color spectrum to almost black, then suddenly, wings out and launching into the air before he could even say anything to her, she was gone, a blur of motion even his advanced tracking system had trouble catching up with.
Her heart slammed in her chest, fear knotting in her stomach, the fist closed tight about her stomach threatened to extend its reach to her heart and soul. She had never been so scared in her life, not even when she has faced her sister and they had parted at the beginning of this nightmare. This was something much stronger, all of her senses told her to get home immediately. She pushed herself harder than she had when she'd raced, wondering how long she'd had to rest before this harrowing rush home, as her body ached and burned, her power instinctively kicked in, pulling the air around her, propelling her on faster than pure physical might could carry her.
It was probably less than five minutes, but to Dawn, felt as though it had been an eternity before she reached the Autobot compound. Upon arriving, she at first was certain she'd gone off track and ended up somewhere else. It wasn't how she'd left it, or how she'd ever imagined it could possibly look. The smoke was so thick that even from the distance and height, tendrils of the noxious fumes caught in her lungs and threatened to choke her. The sounds of explosions continued, screaming engines in the air hidden by the massive plumes of smoke still continued their brutal assaults.
Dawn's eyes caught the flicker of one through the smoke and instantly folded her wings up under her, if she'd seen it, it had probably seen her. Dropping from the air like a stone from the sky, Dawn braced herself for a hard impact but stopped herself just a few yards from the ground. It was littered with twisted metal and jagged pieces of sharp glass and chunks of what likely used to be the walls and roof. A few hard flaps kept her from being impaled on a large twisted metal beam, its broken edge reaching to the sky in a soundless demonstration of brutal death. Fear motivated her heart into overdrive as her eyes—wide—scanned the destruction for any signs of her friends.
A roaring screech brought her attention to a sudden blur of black as Blade propelled himself as fast as he was capable, she looked back just in time to see his outstretched hand scoop her up and –in mid-transformation—carry her away as a massive missile exploded where she'd just been. "You're not safe here! We have to leave!" Blade roared over the battle, dodging incoming fire, whether from the attackers or from the disorientated defenders below, he didn't care, missiles were deadly regardless, they knew no faction.
Dawn flailed uselessly within the sealed cockpit, despair sinking in her heart and stomach, her vision slowly blurring as her eyes filled with tears. "I have to help them! We have to go back!" She screamed as Blade veered back away from the combat and into calmer and safer air.
"If we go back, we'll become part of the wreckage too!" Blade tried to explain, but Dawn kept flailing and screaming, trying to press open the glass canopy. "Dawn listen to me, dammit! This is their war! This kind of thing happens! There is nothing you can do! We have to stay away, if you get involved, you'll only distract the Autobots from their duty and possibly get more people killed!" Dawn heard everything that Blade said and suddenly became dead still. Blade let a sigh of relief flow through him as he took it that his words were sinking in. "We will return after the fighting has finished. This is likely just a quick strike to weaken their defenses, I doubt its a full out assault..."
Dawn took deep gulps of air, calming herself, and reached for her power, blanketing herself in its warmth and reassurance, she focused on the one place she knew would be untouched by all the destruction, the one place that would be safe. She brought up the image of the Allspark in her mind, focused on it, felt its call as she did so, and promptly vanished. She couldn't know what Blade would be thinking, how he would be panicking and hoped he'd stay safe, but she had a job to do. Opening her eyes she found herself staring not only at the Allspark, but straight into Ratchet's surprise widened blue optics. "Um...hi!" Dawn said weakly, she hadn't counted on the Allspark being guarded on the inside of the room.
"Dawn! How did you get in here! What are you doing here!" Ratchet's surprise flashed to anger than suddenly to relief. She caught the brief burst of communication stating that Dawn was safe and in no danger of the assault. "This is a restricted area, heavily defended and guarded, how did you get in here, Ashadawna?!" Ratchet more demanded than asked, taking the few steps that separated them, offering her no escape from the corner she'd teleported into.
"I wanted to make sure the Allspark was safe..." Dawn trailed off at the rapidly changing expression on Ratchet's face.
"I didn't ask why you came here, I asked how you got in here!" Ratchet crossed his arms and narrowed his optics at Dawn in a way that made her feel suddenly being here was a bad idea.
"I didn't really think about the how so much as the importance of being here to make sure none of them got here first," Dawn muttered, feeling her face flush in reprimand.
"Well Prime will sort that out later I suppose, in the meantime..." His lecture was interrupted but a loud explosion and the room shaking, sending a shower of dust down from the ceiling. Dawn's eyes flickered to the ceiling in momentary fear, then back to Ratchet. "In the meantime—you'll be staying here with me, but away from the Allspark, if you don't mind." His tone was nowhere near as polite and kind to Dawn as it used to be, she made a mental note of it as she tried to keep the stab of betrayal and hurt hidden from view.
Dawn shook her head but obeyed the Autobot medic. "If I wanted to steal it, you wouldn't have even known I was there before I was gone again," Dawn muttered wobbling unsteadily as another explosion shook the room.
Ratchet said nothing but clearly heard her mumbled statement. He watched her warily as she walked unsteadily to the other side of the room, farthest from the Allspark. He gave a single glance back at their sacred life-giver and felt a sigh escape as his spark sank. The Allspark was reacting to Dawn's presence, a slow but steady pulsating glow was emanating from the cube, the intricate designs glowed in alternating sequence. He made a mental calculation and record of the oddity but made no mention of it for Dawn's sake.
Dawn kept herself apart from both Ratchet and the Allspark, her eyes and attention locked on a wall to the left of the door. Ratchet scanned out, keeping the silence, but was amazed to realize that outside, a tall bulky shape battled silently in hand-to-hand combat with a slimmer shape. Aside from the signals they gave off that only a mech could detect, Ratchet couldn't see how Dawn could possibly detect anything through the thick sound-proof room. But yet her eyes were locked on the wall and in the exact location, Rachet had no doubt, where the battle raged.
Suddenly, the battle outside was over, and Dawn's entire demeanor changed. She seemed to sag as if suddenly weighed down. She cast a sheepish, almost ashamed look over at Ratchet, and almost immediately, the Autobot medic felt his own shame for treating her so poorly. She'd honestly meant no harm, her devotion to protecting the sacred artifact was just as powerful as his own. Ratchet sent out a message to the Autobot standing over top the motionless Decepticon. :Ironhide, I have Dawn in here. She can teleport. Get word to Optimus.: There was no response, but Ratchet knew the other Autobot had gotten the message.