This particular chapter is rated T. Just to be safe. A number of people brought that issue to my attention.

This starts in Bee's POV. I don't own the Transformers. They are owned by themselves. And Hasbro.

Enjoy, chapter fifteen of Tiny!

We managed to calm Ratchet down enough to get him to talk to us, though he still looked like he was on the verge of tears. Everyone tried to act like they weren't scared for Ratchet's sake, but I knew that every last one of us was terrified, including myself. Ratchet rarely got scared. And when he was scared, he hid it underneath his annoyance. I know the situation is bad when Ratchet didn't even try to cover up his fear.

I stood over Halli, who I had laid down on a medical berth, with a small frame welder in my servo. Her head injury looked a lot worse than it really was. She's going to heal. That crack in her helm was a long one, but it was really thin and wasn't deep at all. A crack in the cranial chamber is always something to be concerned about, but the one she has should heal on its own with no problems.

Thank Primus I was able to get the energon under control. Halli was bleeding pretty bad when I started working on her. I'm putting a temporary patch on her head now, so the wound won't open again. I didn't get a peep out of her, not even while I'm here welding the patch on. I guess she knows that I'm trying to help her.

I glanced down at the injured cyberdog lying on the medical berth in front of me and she looked back. Her bright, molten gold optics seemed to burn through me as she looked into my own. There was a sense of sorrow in her optics, the kind you see in the eyes of those attending a funeral for a loved family member. It was like she was apologizing for something with her optics, though I couldn't really tell what for.

"What happened?" Jack asked from behind me. Jack and Miko stood behind me, opposite of where Bulkhead and Wheeljack had gotten Ratchet to sit down. I looked over my shoulder at them. Thank Primus Jack knows to not panic in this sort of situation. I know he has already noticed that Raf is gone, but he hasn't said anything yet. We're going to get to that a little later.

"I don't really know." Bulkhead answered for us. None of us really knew. I only wish I had a clue or a tiny hint or... or something!

Halli wheezed and whimpered slightly, pulling my attention back to her. She started moving around, like she was trying to get up. I don't know if this was a good thing or a bad thing, but she didn't make it off the berth and onto her paws. I rested a servo on her side and started to stroke her. The plating on her side was very warm to the touch, and I could feel her ventilation system and cooling fans working overtime.

I managed to persuade her to lay still through my petting, thank Primus. Everyone looked at me as I stroked her. They all know I'm scared of dogs, but for some reason I'm not scared of her. At least, not anymore. I found out really fast that she's a really lovable animal. It's sad that such a sweet dog like her had to go through what she went through.

"There had to have been someone in here. There's no other way to explain Halli's injury and Arcee and Optimus's disappearance," Jack said. Bulkhead glared and balled his servo into a tight fist.

"Decepticons! I'm scrap all of them!" Before I could respond to Bulkhead, I saw a flash of emotion in Ratchet's optics. It was a flash I had never seen in him before. He stood from the crate he was sitting on, walked silently around us and over to the Ground Bridge controls. Somehow, the only ones who really noticed him move was Halli and I.

"Whoa, Bulkhead! We can't just jump to conclusions!" Jack held up his hands, trying to calm Bulk down. He succeeded, but only a little. While the conversation continued, I noticed Ratchet start working on the monitor, staring hard up at it.

"Kid, there is no way some human could hurt the dog like that," Wheeljack said, crossing his arms over his chassis, getting irritated himself. He was right about that. If a human had got into the base intending to hurt Optimus, Halli would not have gotten hurt. The only one who would have gotten hurt would be the intruder.

I spoke up before things got any worse between us. "Everyone, calm down. We don't know who was in here, but we already know they're a threat. It's not easy getting into this base. Whoever this bot was had to have been really motivated to get through our defenses and do it without setting off the base security system. If they're able to get into our base and hurt Halli that bad, we have to assume that they have a way to hurt us. But instead of picking us all off, they only took Optimus and Arcee. We've got to find out why."

Everyone, aside from Ratchet, was paying close attention to what I had to say. Even Jack and Miko understood the serious tone in my voice and listened to me. Bulkhead moved in to translate for me, since Raf wasn't here to do it.

"I can't believe he let this happen..." I looked over at Ratchet when I heard him mumble. Who is 'he'? The green tinted monitor was flashed with a picture of the Nemesis and its current coordinates. I froze for a nanoklik before quickly moving towards Ratchet. I know exactly what he's about to do and I have to stop him before he does it.

"I will get them back, even if I die doing it." Before I could even reach the upset mech, he set the Ground Bridge and turned it on.

"Ratchet, no!" My shout was ignored as he raced through the Ground Bridge. Miko started to panic, asking why Ratchet suddenly ran off. Jack was too shocked to say anything. Bulkhead transformed and zoomed through the open Ground Bridge after Ratchet. Before doing the same, I turned and looked back at Wheeljack and the kids.

"You guys stay here! Wheeljack, don't come after us. We need somebot stay here and take care of Halli and the kids."

"The nanoklik I think something real bad is going down, I'm dragging all three of you back here." I thanked Primus that Wheeljack didn't argue as I leaped forward and transformed, tires spinning before I even hit the ground. Hopefully Wheeljack will actually listen to me. But I know I can count on Jack to keep Miko from getting into trouble.

My alt mode fishtailed as I accelerated, tires screeching. Miko and Jack stood clear as I raced through the open Ground Bridge. I hope that I'll be able to get all of us back to the base alive.

...Soundwave's POV: Aboard the Nemesis...

This is extremely unexpected.

I stood beside Dreadwing, a short distance behind Lord Megatron as the troopers brought forwards three restrained Autobots. I saw these Autobots infiltrate the Nemesis not long ago through my surveillance system. I did not need to send out an alert, not that I wanted to in the first place. The Autobot medic was with them, Parvolus's family. The medic seemed to be extremely upset about something - something I sensed that I would discover soon. I didn't know Ratchet well, but it was not of his nature to make such a rash decision.

He and the other Autobots were quickly caught and detained, with few Vehicon casualties. Close to a dozen Vehicons filed into the command room of the warship, aiming their weapons at the Autobots. They were roughly shoved forward, forcing them down on their knees.

What possessed these Autobots to make such a brazen decision? They know that they are heavily outnumbered; to ambush the warship would be suicide. They have far too many reasons to remain alive, the most important being the little one in their care. From the expressions on the faceplates of two of them, I can assume that they know this.

"WHERE IS HE?!" The Autobot medic roared, startling the two Vehicons stationed directly behind him. One of them recovered quickly and shoved the barrel of his blaster into the back of the irate medic's neck. Coming to his senses, he quieted down and glared daggers into our leader.

"You Autobots have grown rather foolish and reckless," Lord Megatron said, eyeing the angry medic in stasis cuffs. I scanned the medic's CPU and was alarmed by the high levels of stress I detected. This mech is more upset than I initially thought. What is stressing him to the verge of crashing his CPU?

"We know you have the kid, Megatron," The one called Bulkhead growled, glaring at our leader. The scout was silent the entire time, keeping a close optic on our leader. Ratchet was glaring at me, as if I had done him wrong. I ignored his stare and paid closer attention to the situation at hand.

"We do not have the child, Autobot," Dreadwing stated, stepping forward. The three Autobots turned to look at him, all of them, aside from the medic, bearing disbelieving and surprised expressions on their faceplates. Dreadwing does not lie; we do not have the little one. The fact that they accused us of taking the little one from his family unnerved me to the point of physical discomfort. Something is very wrong.

Lord Megatron stared at the Autobots for a long moment before ordering all of Vehicons out. The command came as a surprise to the Vehicons, but they quickly departed. I saw that they didn't understand why they were ordered to leave the enemy with their leader and two of their head officers, but, like most wise Decepticons, didn't question Lord Megatron's authority.

Now alone, Lord Megatron stood there for a moment, fusion cannon slowly growing brighter. Through my CPU scans I could sense that he was carefully considering something.

"You accuse us of taking the child, when we have no record of the location of your base." I mentally sighed at our leader's words. I am still the only one on the Nemesis that knows of the location of the Autobot base.

But, more importantly, there is a terrible discrepancy here. It is obvious that the Autobots don't have the sparkling; they would not be here if the little one was still at their base. We Decepticons do not have the sparkling, yet these Autobots were accusing us of taking him. I can only come to the logical conclusion that...

"Someone came into our base and took Arcee and Optimus. The others thought you all were behind it." The scout spoke up for the first time, interrupting my line of thought. I was almost surprised when I heard the serious tone in the young scout's voice. It was the serious tone of a leader.

I noticed Dreadwing's optics widen slightly at the scout's words as he stood beside me. I sensed that he wanted to say something, but must be waiting for a moment he feels is the appropriate time to express it. I silently moved to our leader's left side, in front of the still restrained Autobots. Dreadwing did the same, and stood at our leader's right side.

Lord Megatron glared at the strangely calm youngling. "I highly doubt the cyberdog would allow such a thing to happen." Our leader was not bothered by my giving the cyberdog to the Autobots when I informed him. He was fond of the dog, but didn't mind the prospect of her serving as the little one's bodyguard.

"Halli – the cyberdog – was hit over the head by the intruder and badly wounded," Ratchet said, standing up to his pedes, along with Bulkhead and Bumblebee. I saw from the corners of my optics, behind my mask, a flicker of shock and extreme anger in Lord Megatron's optics. His fusion cannon powered up and began to glow a heated white. His reaction told me that he believed what the medic said.

Dreadwing decided this would be the best time to speak. "I noticed something strange about Commander Starscream's recent behavior, and have been keeping an optic on him."

Lord Megatron turned halfway to look at the blue and gold Seeker standing beside him. I'm sure that the mention of grey Seeker's name made him an immediate suspect. Starscream is usually a suspect when something serious is amiss, given his treacherous nature.

"What has Starscream been doing, Dreadwing?" Lord Megatron demanded.

"That I am not sure of. Although, I did hear him speaking to someone on the monitor in his personal quarters."

Lord Megatron turned his helm enough to pierce me with a glance from a single fiery optic. "Soundwave, tap into your security system and check to history of Starscream's monitor."

I did not need to be told. I scanned through my system, only to find that I couldn't detect Starscream's monitor. He must have somehow disabled my surveillance system. The only way to see the history would be to enter Starscream's private quarters and log onto his monitor.

I played a recording, stating that I couldn't detect his monitor at all in my surveillance system. Lord Megatron growled at my answer. Because Starscream's monitor did not register on my surveillance system, the Seeker is certainly a suspect. However, I know for a fact that Starscream has not left the Nemesis in four solar cycles. There is no way that the mech could have gotten past all of my cameras, taken Parvolus and the Autobot femme, and badly harmed the cyberdog.

"The sparkling is in danger. The only way to ensure his safety is if we work together, with the Autobots," Dreadwing said carefully, looking at our leader. The proposal was bold, but not unexpected, considering I was thinking of it the moment he spoke it. I did not expect Lord Megatron's response to it, however.

"I suppose you are right, Dreadwing. We will make a temporary arrangement to work together, only for the sake of the sparkling," Lord Megatron said, speaking to the Seeker, but giving the Autobots a hard look.

Bulkhead started to protest and Ratchet gained a deathly stare at the proposal, but both of them were convinced by the scout to agree to work with us, reminding them that the occasion was only temporary. The scout said that Parvolus's safety was most important here. He then looked directly at Lord Megatron and said that he and his fellow Autobots would not attempt to attack us if we relieved them of their stasis cuffs. They could work more efficiently if their servos weren't bound.

Lord Megatron knew that they knew he would just snuff their sparks with his fusion cannon if they tried to inflict bodily harm, so he gruffly ordered Dreadwing to release them. The atmosphere grew momentarily tense as the Autobots were released from their restrains, Lord Megatron being the only bot who did not seem to detect it.

"Starsceam disconnected his monitor from your surveillance system. Maybe we should get into his quarters and log onto it that way," The scout said after a brief silence. Dreadwing nodded, agreeing with the youngling.

"Whether the monitor is connected to Commander Soundwave's surveillance system or not, each monitor is set to record any and all activity history, including transmissions."

Ratchet spoke up this time, drawing everbot's attention to him. "Should there be any recorded transmissions, I can trace where they came from."

"The last thing we need is for Screamer to find out we're onto him. He'll be gone in a flash if he figures it out." Bulkhead was correct; Starscream would flee if he knew that we investigating. When Starscream truly does not wish to be found, he will not be found.

Dreadwing furrowed his optic ridges in thought before speaking. "That is not an issue. Commander Starscream is out on a mission with the troops, scouting for energon. If we are act quickly, our investigation will go unnoticed by him."

"Given the situation, time isn't on our side. We have to move with haste." Lord Megatron emphasized, growing impatient. He was never one to take long in planning his next course of action.

As Lord Megatron spoke, I noticed that there was natural distrust in the optics of the Autobots, but that was to be expected. We may be working toegether, but we are still Decepticons and they are still Autobots. There will always be friction between us.

I stood by, watching the conversation and planning between temporary allies. I am willing to do whatever I can to assist the medic in getting his little one back. I lost my little one to a monster, and I wish to prevent the possibility of that happening to another mech. Never, in a million vorns, did I think this solar cycle would come. For one single purpose, Autobots and Decepticons are able to put their differences aside and work together. I am amazed at how smoothly this planning is going as well.

Every bot in this room is attached to this sparkling, including Lord Megatron, as much as he would hate to admit it. The little one is like a little brother to him, and he does not like the concept of the little one being harmed in anyway. Dreadwing did not have much contact with the sparkling while he was here, but he is just as willing as me to help find Parvolus. It would be ridiculous to question whether or not Ratchet, Bulkhead and Bumblebee want to find the little one. They are Parvolus's closest family, after all.

A microscopic part of me wished for Starscream to flee. He will have to face the wrath of an entire angry family if he is the one behind the little one's disappearance.

As I was following Lord Megatron's order given to me moments ago to leave the room, enter Starscream's quarters and download his monitor's activity onto a datapad, I thought of how sad it is that it took the life an innocent sparkling to be threatened for this moment of unity to occur.

...Arcee's POV...

I swore to myself that I would die in battle before I sat in a prison cell again after Cliff and I were caught by Starscream's forces.

After the mech, the baby and I left the base through the Ground Bridge (I still can't figure out how he accessed it), the mech took us to his ship. It had to have been custom built; I'd never seen anything like it. It was too dark for me to see any significant details of the ship or the area around it, but I knew it was big for a personally owned spacecraft. From what I could see, it was big enough for five bots to live comfortably in it.

The hatch opened and he motioned for me to go inside. I hated to take my optics off him, but I had to. I walked in with him following behind, still holding Optimus. The inside of the ship was well lit and had a more modern style to it, with smooth, hexagonal hallways. I could see lights on in other rooms as we passed by the doors. The hallway was relatively wide and there the occasional chair that was bolted to the floor against the wall. We passed by a multitude of art datapads fixed to the walls, some of them I thought were pretty good. This place would almost seem nice if I weren't in this situation.

The mech had me stop in front of a door after we rounded a corner. Taking this opportunity to get him out of my blind spot, I stood to the side, making sure I could see him and the door. I avoided looking at Optimus, who was still in the mech's hand. I doubt I could handle seeing the look on his little face.

"Now, I'd like for you to wait in here." The mech smiled at me as he pressed a few buttons on an access pad attached to the wall next the door. The door slid open silently and I immediately stepped inside, wishing to get as far as possible from the mech. If I can't kill him, I will stay as far away from him as I can.

The room inside was lit with a soft white light, reflecting slightly off the dull silver shine of the walls. I could see a desk on the left side of the room with a padded berth next to it. There were art datapads fixed to the walls and Cybertronian glyphs were etched into the walls and ceiling. I looked closer at the ceiling, at the glyphs circling around the light fixture. I could only read a few of the glyphs (they were ancient), but I could tell that they told the story of the battle of Primus and Unicron.

There was handcrafted, dark grey furniture along the other wall, opposite of the berth. The chairs were positioned around a small table. In the middle of the little table was a very pretty, Bright orange crystal, carved into a marching zap pony. By that table were several shelves full of datapads of all kinds.

I didn't know what to expect, but this was not it.

"Don't run off, now. I wouldn't want to be upset with you." The mech started to move outside of the room before he stopped and gave me that maddening grin again.

"By the way, my name is Faultline. I'm sure you're in no mood to talk with me, so we'll have proper introductions later." I wrapped my arms around myself as he left.

I stood in the center of the room and glared at the shut door in front of me. Just before we left the base, I tried to contact Ratchet, but only got a massive amount of pain in my CPU. I realized it too late that he was using something to scramble the signal. Whatever he used was set at the right frequency to cause pain.

My mind wondered as I gazed around my 'room'. This place was no better than a prison cell. I wished I had died in battle before this happened again, but the universe had something else in mind. Now here I am, online, imprisoned and miserable.

...Ten Minutes Later...

I stared at a sort of air vent in the wall, opposite of the berth I was sitting on. There was a faint sound that kept coming from it... I cautiously walked closer to the vent as the sound came again. I didn't have to listen for much longer for me to realize what it was.

Sobbing.

Seeing that the air vent was higher up the wall than I was tall, I grabbed one of the chairs and quickly hauled the heavy thing over to the vent. I pressed it against the wall and made sure that the piece of furniture was stable before I stood up on it. Now up on the chair, I peered through the silver grill of the air vent, only to see darkness. I could hardly see anything, but the sobbing was even louder. Maybe it's from the next room.

My spark constricted when I heard the little sob again. Before I could stop myself, I called into the vent. "Hello?"

The sobbing instantly died down and I waited for some sort of response. When I didn't hear anything else, I called again, louder this time. The delayed response was low and sounded far away.

"Arshee?" I couldn't help but give a tiny gasp as I recognized who it was. I pressed my faceplates and servos closer to the air vent grill and strained my optics, hoping to see into the next room, though I knew I couldn't.

"Everything's going to be okay, Optimus," I reassured the little baby I couldn't see. My spark broke when I heard him begin to cry again through the echo of the air vent. Through his sobs, he muttered.

"Arshee, I'm scared."

I fought back my own tears and tried my hardest to keep my voice level. I know he's scared, but the only thing I can do right now is reassure him. "It's going to be okay. I'm here – big sister's here."

Optimus had to be alone in there; the only thing I could hear was his distressed sobs. His fearful voice met my audio receptors again, only it was barely a whimper.

"...I-I-I wanna go home, Arshee."

I swallowed, feeling a tear stream down my faceplates. I wanted to go home too, and I couldn't get us there. I couldn't do anything. "We'll be home soon, Optimus. I promise."

I hated the doubt I felt in my broken spark as I made him that vow.

...Optimus's POV...

I was cold and alone.

The mech separated me from Arcee, locking her in a room. The child within me screamed to be with her, though my voice box would only allow a whimper. He carried me to the next door to the right of Arcee's 'room' and opened the door. He stood in the doorway for a moment before tossing me inside the dark, cold room. My frame painfully impacted the hard floor, my arm pinned underneath me. Without a word, I heard him shut the door, leaving me in the dim room.

I grabbed at the blanket that was tangled around my legs and hugged it for what little comfort it could give me. The room I was in was very dark and cold. It was much different from the comforting warmth of my home. I cannot remember another time when I was more frightened. I did not like being alone in this strange place.

However, I soon realized that the biting cold and the darkness was a secondary source of my distress. I wrapped the blanket as best I could around my undersized frame as I fearfully gazed around my prison cell. The sight I saw will haunt me till the day I die.

The twisted remains of bots were scattered all other the room. A row of a multitude of cracked spark chambers lined the walls like lanterns and armor of varying colors was lined along the walls as if they were shingles on a human's house. Digits, legs, pedes and servos sat piled in the back of the room, all neatly organized and separated. I saw severed helms with the mouths open suspended from the ceiling, dead optics wide open and frozen in an eternal stare. Sets of Seeker wings adorned the back wall, all of them of varying size and colors. Each set of Seeker wings were held together with a severed, clawed servo. One of the servos still leaked energon onto the floor.

Despite the horror and fear beginning to smother me, I still looked around in the terrible room. As I gazed at my sickening surroundings, I noticed something that was relatively close to my quivering form. I looked closer to see that it was another bot, one larger than me. They were lying against the wall, sitting in an upright position.

Eager to meet this new bot and glad to know that I was not alone in this death room, I reached over and tapped the bot on the shoulder. This bot was a sparkling like me, as I could tell from the underdeveloped wings on the bot's back. He had deteriorating, light orange paint on his chassis and dull, dark grey plating on his legs. The bot did not respond to my attempt to gain his attention. I tapped the bot again, and instantly regretted doing so.

The sparkling stiffly fell over when I tapped him, gears corroded and locked together from having been dead for a long time.

At this point I could no longer fight against the child within me. My arm still aching from when I landed on it, I pushed myself away from the ominous corpse and started to cry.

I cried for my release from this place, I cried for Arcee's wellbeing, I cried for my family at home. I was utterly helpless and sobbing was the only thing I could do. I wanted my father and my silent guardian to take me away from here. I pretended that my blanket was Halli's warm plating, and tried to fill the silence by imagining her playful yaps and barks. I did not want to sit here in the dark amongst the countless dismembered corpses. I pulled my blanket over my helm and buried my little faceplates into it, sniveling and whimpering. I ceased all attempts to hide my fear and sorrow and my sobs grew louder.

"Hello?"

I heard a voice rend the cold silence of my ghastly prison filled with silenced victims. Not knowing exactly where it came from, I responded, lifting my helm from under my blanket and speaking in a voice so small and timid I hardly recognized myself. I believe I recognize the voice, though I was not completely certain.

"Everything's going to be okay, Optimus."

I was glad to hear Arcee's comforting voice in this otherwise upsetting place, though not enough comfort came over me to calm me down. I was scared, I told Arcee. She only continued to reassure me. Reassurance that did not completely reach me.

How could I be comforted by someone who is not here under the severed helms with me? Who does not see the cracked spark chambers and severed limbs with remnants of energon where they would have been attached to a frame? She cannot see into the dead optics of this sparkling lying on the floor next to me. I am utterly cold and alone.

Arcee promised that we will be home soon. Glancing very briefly at the dead sparkling, I decided that I could only hope, for I knew time is short.

Faultline seems to be a real sadist.

Soundwave's POV, Arcee's POV, and Optimus's POV occur simultaneously.

Someone made fan art for this fic! It was done by WingedWolfAlari, and it is AMAZING. It's a picture of our favorite cyberdog, Halli, protecting little Optimus. There's a link to it on my profile page. I want to thank you, WingedWolfAlari, for exploiting your wonderful artistic skills in making that piece of fan art for me.

This chapter is to WingedWolfAlari, who gave me the idea of the basic structure. Thank you for helping me through this one. I was really starting to get stuck.

Doc bot and Optimus's girl, later on there will be a Dreadwing and Soundwave team up. :)

Shohanny, Faultline is the psychotic murderer who killed Soundwave's sparkling and neighbor when the silent mech lived in Tagan Heights as a factory worker and single father after the death of his sparkmate before the Great War. I'm glad you like my stories! :)

ForgotMyName2Day, hold your horses! I don't plan on doing anything M-rated in this story.

KayleeChiara, Arcee tried, but an EM pulse device disrupted the signal transmission and temporarily disrupted her CPU circuitry. Ratchet heard nothing at the time of the kidnapping.

If you have any comments, questions, or ideas, just drop a review.

Until next time!

P.S. Bumblebee has assumed temporary leadership of the Autobots.