Tiny

by inkdragon13

Wheeljack brings one of his new inventions to the base and Optimus finds out the hard way that they have the habit of blowing up in his face. Who knew the Autobot leader was so tiny as a sparkling...

21. You're It

Is it true? It is! The next chapter of Tiny is finally here!

I am terribly sorry for the obscenely long wait between chapters. It's because of school, college stuff (I'm a senior in high school now) and all that jazz.

At any rate, I never gave up and I have been diligently working on this chapter whenever I can. WingedWolfAlari has been helping me along with it. In fact, she told me that she came up with her greatest idea while thinking about this story. I can't say anything about it because it'll spoil a number of future chapters, but I am very excited about it, and I'm sure you all will like the plans for the next chapters.

This starts in a point of view I haven't done in a while - Knockout's POV - and picks up after Faultline shot Optimus and flew off in his ship. I do not own the Transformers.

Presenting the chapter after Tag, called You're It. Think of it as a part two to the chase that Faultline started.

I stared after that mech's circuit boarded ship for a half a second, watching Soundwave, Dreadwing and Lord Megatron fly right behind it into the black clouds before racing as fast as I could into the center of the clearing, past Soundwave's now dirty, abandoned visor.

Mm-hmm. The freak that caused all this is going to die. And not in a fast way.

While they're off doing that, I'll do what I can here.

Lightning flashed in the black clouds, lighting up the clearing momentarily when I reached the big cyberdog. At first the dog snarled at me, crouching low to the ground over the sparkling with her golden optics blazing, but stopped after a moment of staring at me. I guess she realized that I was there to help.

The white Wrecker, who was still holding the (unconscious, I think) blue femme bridal style, and that slender, light purple femme that came out with him stood there in shock. They were looking in the same direction I was looking.

The sparkling lay there in the dirt, a complete, bloody, twisted mess from that mech's blaster round.

The sight of his spilled energon wasn't bothering me (I'm a medic, for crying out loud!), but the fact that the little twerp was so badly hurt. I haven't felt so... shaken before in a very long time.

I got down on my knees in the dirt, gently putting my servos on her side and nudging the dog out of the way, to get a good look at the injury. The dog was just as concerned as I was about him. She was constantly padding around, sniffing the sparkling and licking his face, hoping to get some kind of response out of him.

She wasn't succeeding.

"By Primus..." I whispered as I looked over him, servos hovering over his little frame, almost scared to touch him. I've seen wounds like this a million times before, and even though the blast was powerful, it was survivable. However, that only applies if the injured is a grown mech.

With this damage, there was a slim chance of a sparkling surviving such a blast, regardless of the medical care given.

And I have never heard of a sparkling this small living after a hit remotely like that.

The wound was large and grave; burns riddled his little body and energon pooled around him..

The sparkling shuddered as he wheezed and coughed feebly, twitching frequently. Energon escaped his lips to begin to flow down his chin. His eyes were shut, he was unconscious, but the pain was still getting to him.

I stood up when I saw that Ratchet was making his way towards me. Bumblebee started to go after him, but stopped and watched as the Seeker medic seemed to drag himself towards me, towards his child.

The Wreckers, the purple femme, the dog and I swiftly stepped out of the way as the medic drew nearer. Thunder rumbled overhead as he walked past me, and I couldn't help but silently look down at my pedes, in something the reminded me of shame.

Ratchet dropped down hard to his knees in the soft grass, right in front of the little sparkling. His servos trembled as he leaned over, servos reaching down towards the child. He gently picked up the tiny sparkling, carefully cradling him to his chassis. The Seeker medic started to rock back and forth, staring down at the sparkling in his arms.

"...Please, oh please no. No, not my... Stay with me, Optimus. Come on, stay with me!"

I could hear a light thumping sound of grass giving under pedes in my right audio receptor. My helm automatically turned in the direction of the sound and I saw that it was Bumblebee walking towards the upset medic. His doorwings were down halfway, and there was a very serious expression on his faceplate. I quickly moved out of his way as he got closer.

Once he was standing next to the upset mech, he placed a hand on his shoulder to get his attention.

"Ratchet, we need to get him out of here, now." The red and white Seeker merely turned his helm and stared up at him. His optics still had that hazy expression, as if he couldn't quite hear what his young leader was telling him.

The yellow mech only continued, slightly gentler. "Your son needs you. And right now the only way you can truly help him is to get him medical care."

The Seeker medic was slow to react, but he did respond, nodding slightly.

I could tell by the look in his eyes that Bumblebee was giving the Seeker medic a comforting smile.

The medic stayed down on his knees as Bumblebee rose and turned on his heel. He wasted no time voicing exactly what he wanted to happen to the rest of us.

"Knockout, I need you to call the Nemesis and have them Bridge us back to the warship. Once we get there, you and Ratchet need to stabilize Optimus as quickly as your frames will allow," he said with a commanding tone. At first I was annoyed by the fact that an Autobot was ordering me around, but as soon as I looked back at the prone and badly injured sparkling, that thought instantly left my mind.

I nodded once and lifted a digit to my audio receptor to request an emergency Ground Bridge to my coordinates as the yellow mech continued, speaking to the Wreckers.

"Once we get on the warship, we need to attend to Arcee, too. Knockout and Ratchet are going to be busy, but I'm sure there's a Vehicon in the ship that can get her some treatment," I heard the yellow mech say as my transmission to the warship was sent. There was a Vehicon on the warship who can help. That old mech with the flickering, sickly yellow visor...

"I don't know if we can trust the Vehicons. They still think we're the enemy," the green Wrecker said, a questioning tone in his voice.

Bumblebee turned his helm slightly to look the larger mech in the optic. "Bulkhead, we are still the enemy to them. We are Autobots and they are Decepticons. Maybe we'll always be like that. But now we have to hope that they will put that aside, after seeing the sparkling we know they have come to love injured."

Halfway through Bumblebee's statement, there was the loud, familiar sound of a Ground Bridge spinning up right behind me. I arched an optic ridge as I turned on my heel to look at the blue-green portal. That was the fastest I can remember the Vehicons ever sending a Ground Bridge, let alone one for an emergency. It was a tad bit suspicious...

"Knockout, you should make sure that they don't shoot us on sight. That way the sparkling isn't at risk of being hurt anymore than he already is."

I lifted a servo and waved Bumblebee off, already on the task. The Vehicon that responded to the order I sent him was saying that I would get, and I quote, absolutely no problems out of him or his comrades. I thought it was a bit suspicious that he didn't question why I called a Ground Bridge to a seemingly random location and that he didn't at the very least hesitate when I gave him the command to hold all fire, but I'll have to worry about that later.

Thunder rolled overhead as I stood off to the side, waiting for the others to come. As they started to walk past me, Bumblebee taking the lead, I noticed Soundwave's cat and two of the Autobots' humans come running out of the forest, the same place Soundwave walked out of to confront Faultline. They came towards us, and the black cat left the two humans behind.

Halli ignored Ravage for the most part, only giving him an uninterested, sideways glance before continuing to sniff and nudge at the sparkling's burned frame.

Ravage continued to race through the Bridge, coming close to hitting Bumblebee (the mech dodged the living bullet just in time), ears flat against his head and his body low to the ground.

I arched an optic ridge. What was that all about?

After watching that little episode, I turned back and saw the two humans being picked up by the white Wrecker and placed on his shoulders. After noticing that he was no longer holding the blue femme, I saw that the green Wrecker was the one with her. She was still unconscious, but from where I was, she was relatively unhurt.

Soon enough, everyone was swiftly making their way through the Bridge, with Wheeljack, that purple femme and Ratchet coming in last. The Seeker medic cradled the little sparkling's scorched, bleeding form to his chest, staring down at his son's energon spattered faceplates. The kid's optics were closed (he was unconscious), his mouth was slightly open, and his face was twisted and his little body spasmed from the pain of the blaster wound.

Optimus's energon was starting to run between his father's digits, and I noticed the trail of little, blue droplets on the grass below as the Seeker medic trudged past me. Ratchet didn't spare me a second glance as he moved towards the spinning Ground Bridge.

I stood there for a moment, vaguely listening to the thunder rumble again over my head, before spinning on my heel and moving to grab Soundwave's dirty visor from the grass. Briefly looking down at the silent mech's black mask in my servo, I ran to catch up with Bumblebee.

Turning to the young Autobot leader, I told him our options regarding the stabilization of the sparkling, and he angled his helm towards me, listening intently.

I haven't felt this determined to do something other than maintain my paintjob in a very long time.

Right now I've got a job to do, and that's to save a life. For once, I'm eager to do it.

...Steve's (Tripwire's) POV: Aboard the Nemesis...

I was talking with Volk about the reactions of the crew to the recent events in the hallway when we both got word over the Vehicon comm. link system that Knockout had called for a Ground Bridge. The mech said through the link that he was the one who sent the Bridge, and that it was out in a seemingly random location on the Earth's surface. He said Knockout commanded him to hold all fire once he comes through the portal.

The mech that answered Knockout's call didn't know exactly why he was told this, but thankfully he didn't sound like he was questioning it. As soon as I heard about the command, I instantly grew nervous. The only reason I can think as to why he would order us to hold all fire is if the Autobots are coming through the Bridge with our medic.

If the Autobots are coming through the Ground Bridge, then that means... Hold on a minute. Something is not right here.

"Why didn't Knockout just have Soundwave Bridge them back here in secret?" I asked Volk, concerned.

"Pit if I know," was his helpful response. Not bothered by the irritated look in his optics, I thought for a second, considering why Knockout would do this.

There was only one good reason I could come up with, and that is that something major happened with Soundwave. Really major.

"Instead of trying to figure it out standing here in this hallway, we should get answers when they come through the Ground Bridge," Volk said in his usual deep voice, folding his arms over his chassis impatiently.

Again not bothered by his tone (this is how he always acts), I nodded and moved to speed walk down the hall with Volk.

As we sped down the halls, we saw quite a few people standing around talking to each other. Groups of warrior class Vehicons spoke excitedly with the laborers. Bots of all ranks and jobs were mingling among each other. In one particular group on the right-hand side of the hall, I even saw two of the warship's engineers. Those bots you rarely see this far away from the engine room unless you go down there yourself (they help keep the warship in the air, after all).

All of these bots seemed to have put work on hold, waiting on more news to come out on the Vehicon comm. link regarding this whole mess with the commanding officers of the ship and the sparkling.

We kept going, not paying much attention to their conversations, really because we had a pretty good idea about what they were speaking of.

Rumors were flying around the warship, attempting to explain what the commanding officers were doing out there, and what happened to Starscream after he was called out to the officers' location. They weren't talking as much about Lord Megatron because it wasn't the first time our leader disappeared on some mission that he didn't tell the troops about. It was something to talk about if Soundwave, Dreadwing, Knockout, and Breakdown all disappeared at the same time, even if the troops do know about why they are gone.

But right now the most popular rumors on the Vehicon comm. link would be regarding the whereabouts of the Autobots. Most of the crew expected to see them locked up and shackled in our brig, but once the jailors confirmed that they weren't down there, all sorts of theories started flying up and around. Most of them were wrong, of course, but I heard one that was right on the dot.

An engineer (one of the natural problem solvers) suggested that Lord Megatron set something up to work with the Autobots to find the sparkling. Since I'm one of the few Vehicons on the ship that knows the whole truth, I stayed away from the gossip. That didn't stop me from listening, though.

Now, another big thing bots were talking about was the fact that Knockout just requested a Ground Bridge, specifically saying that we must hold all our fire.

Maybe that's why there are bots following us to the Ground Bridge station.

Before we knew it, there was an unbelievable number of bots crowding around us, heading to the Ground Bridge station that we hear Knockout will be appearing. Vehicon officers, warriors, engineers, laborers, bots of all different ranks were all around us, talking rather loudly to each other.

I couldn't focus on what they were saying, and I didn't try to. I was too concerned about what could have happened out there to make Knockout call for an emergency Ground Bridge, rather than having Soundwave do it. Something is seriously wrong, and as I saw the door for the Ground Bridge station we were heading towards down the hall after we turned a corner, I knew that we'd find out soon.

...Wheeljack's POV...

I walked through that Ground Bridge, right behind Bulkhead and carrying the kids on my shoulders. I wasn't too happy with going through there, really because I didn't trust those Vehicons. So what if two of them sent us here. That doesn't say anything 'bout what the rest of them are gonna do.

But I guess I don't have much of a choice here. Bumblebee agreed to go in through the Bridge, and he's the leader. All I can do is make sure my grenade is where I can get to it easy, which is right on my hip. They might as well count themselves as already dead if they're planning on attacking us.

I'm feeling confident about what I'd do if we got ambushed, but that femme behind me sure isn't. Ever since she stepped out of that evil glitch's ship, Cinderblade hasn't said a word and stayed right behind me. As soon as she saw the other mechs out in the clearing, she pressed against my back and shook so hard I could hear her armor rattling. She was trying real hard to hide from the other mechs in the area.

Normally I'd get real pissed off if someone was constantly trying to hide behind me, but I wasn't very bothered by it when she did it. From what I know about her (which ain't much), she's been trapped in that ship for a long time, and isn't used to strange bots being around.

She's probably built up a real fear of mechs period, because of Faultline. She's going to have a Pit of a time up on the warship, with all those Vehicons.

I'll do whatever I can to help her feel safer.

Still keeping up with my green friend, I tensed up as I stepped down from the other end of the Ground Bridge tunnel, ready to fight if I need to. But after everyone left the vortex, I saw that I didn't even need to activate my weapons system.

There was a huge crowd of Vehicons, just looking at us. All of 'em were pressed into the doorway that was a bit off to the right, the bots at the back of the crowd trying to see past each other to get a better look at us. The mech standing at the Ground Bridge control panel to the left was still facing the monitor, with his servo hovering over the command panel and helm turned towards us. All of their visors were bright as they stayed completely silent, staring at us.

The two kids on my shoulders were also completely silent, and I guess it was better for all of us. The last thing we need right now is a distracting human in the way. I didn't bother looking at them, knowing that they were fine sitting there.

I leaned to the side as the tension got a bit thick, furrowing my optic ridges and looking past Bumblebee, at the Vehicons. There had to be more than thirty of them just outside the Ground Bridge station, from the looks of it. I could only see about ten of 'em now, but I could tell that there was a lot more of them outside the little room from all moving around I was hearing out there.

Thank Primus all they're doing is staring at us. With how many there are of them, we might as well surrender if they decide to attack us.

Suddenly I heard a tiny little whimper behind me, and it wasn't coming from the cyberdog near my legs. I turned my helm and looked over my shoulder, not very surprised at all, knowing exactly where the sound was coming from.

Cinderblade was trying her best to turn invisible behind me as she started shaking again. She was trembling so hard that I could feel it. The light purple femme must have seen the crowd waiting for us and freaked out. Hell, if I listen hard enough, I could probably hear the poor femme's spark beating.

I looked down at her, and I could see that her black visor was still down, probably to help her hide more. But it wasn't hard to tell that that she was on the verge of tears. Her slender frame was close to mine and her fists rested up against my back, close to her optics, like she was trying to hide even more than she already was.

A strange feeling washed over my spark and I had to look away from the femme. How scared she was is starting to get to me.

Cinder doesn't need to worry. She's gonna be fine with me.

Bumblebee stood ahead of the rest of us, next to that red Decepticon. He was facing the Vehicons, and from this angle I could clearly see the serious look on the yellow mech's burning blue optics.

"Well, what are you all standing there for? Get out of my way!" Knockout snapped, angrily walking towards the closest Vehicon, who promptly moved to the side. The Decepticon glared at the Vehicon who was blocking his path and ran past him, through the crowd of bots.

The rest of us hung back for a half a second, looking ahead at Bumblebee to confirm our next move. The yellow mech turned a bit, giving us a sideways glance and nodded once. He didn't wait for our response as he turned and followed the red 'Con through the crowd.

Nobody questioned his decision and we all moved single file through the Vehicons. The crowd (it was way bigger than I expected) started to part like the Red Sea as we ran through, and all of the Vehicons silently stared at us. Bulkhead looked a bit from side to side at the 'Cons, still holding Arcee close to him. I could tell that they were starting to make him nervous. Course, Wreckers are too tough to let that show.

We sprinted single file through the crowd behind Bumblebee, and I could feel most of them starin' at the femme that was skating behind me. Can't do much about that, something I'm not too happy with. All I can do is stay close to her, to try to make her feel a little better.

It was only when Ratchet came through the crowd that the 'Cons started making some noise. Wasn't a lot, but I could hear the shocked gasps and whispers. They turned towards each other, still looking at us, talking quietly. .

I glanced back, over my shoulder, and looked at Ratchet. Since we had come through the Ground Bridge, I didn't hear a peep outta him, even though I was right in front of him.

Ratchet was cradling Optimus's little, bleeding body in his arms, looking down at him with worried optics. He was hunched over a bit, making his white cockpit hood cast a heavy shadow over his faceplates, looking like he was using his body to protect Optimus from anymore harm. Even though his wings were folded down against his back, they seemed to droop lower. There was a real sad look on his face the whole time.

I turned away from the poor guy, and saw that both of the kids were looking back at him while they sat on my shoulders. There was a concerned look on Jack's face while he turned halfway to look back at Ratch', and Miko's hands were up to her mouth as she looked just plain scared.

I furrowed my optic ridges and looked back ahead, at Bumblebee. I know they both are worried, but there isn't much they can do. Pit, there isn't much I can do for him. Least, not directly.

"Hey Captain, where're we headed?" I asked Bee through the comm. link, eyeing the Vehicons that stopped to look at us. He didn't turn around, but he did answer me pretty quick.

"Knockout intends to go to the medbay and stabilize Optimus's condition. Once we reach the medbay and Optimus is temporarily taken care of, I am going to have Ratchet, Arcee and the sparkling Bridged back to our base, for precautionary measures."

"Sounds like a plan, but what about the rest of us? I know we're not gonna just stay on this ship."

There was a sarcastic edge in his tone as Bee responded. "Well, what do you want to do?"

"I want to find that Faultline creep for hurting Optimus, Arcee, and holding Cinder hostage, and run him so far into the ground he'll come out in China."

"That's what's going to happen." I could hear the smile in his voice as he continued. "We're going to do everything we can to help catch that mech."

Soon as he said that, my plan came to mind. I couldn't help but smile a bit to myself as I kept on walking. I need to go back to the base with Ratchet and them before I can really help.

This is gonna be real fun.

...Steve's (Tripwire's) POV: One Minute Later...

"Uh oh," I said, looking around nervously at the rest of my fellow Vehicons. No one said anything above a whisper until the Autobots, that Seeker, and Knockout were out of sight. Once they were gone, the crowd went crazy.

"I knew the Autobots were working with the commanding officers!"

"Who is that new Seeker?"

"Where did that purple femme come from?"

Everyone was shouting and yelling exclamations and questions at each other, none of them able to really get an answer. I had a million and one questions myself, but there was one question that I know all of us had on our minds.

"WHAT THE PIT HAPPENED TO PARVOLUS?!"

Everybody was furious in the crowd and shoving around, the Vehicon comm. link was buzzing with the news of the Autobots, and that strange Seeker, being allowed on the ship. In a total of sixteen seconds, the entire warship knew what had evidently happened to Parvolus. Everyone made the conclusion that whoever took Parvolus was the one who hurt him, and people were really pissed about it.

I was getting really frantic as I tried to calm the crowd down, and Volk was getting downright paranoid again, saying repeatedly that we're all gonna get in a huge amount of trouble if we do something dumb.

I found my friend Shank in the crowd and grabbed him, getting his attention. I was hoping to see him trying to calm the crowd down, but he wasn't helping the situation at all. The guy was saying to the others that we had to go out there and find whoever took the sparkling and kill him for hurting Parvolus!

I understand perfectly where he's coming from, but doing that is going to make the crowd go out of control. There only seemed to be a few of us who wanted to keep the peace, and we aren't going a good enough job. People were getting angrier and angrier, and I swear, I can hear Pillage yelling loud and clear over all the noise everyone else was making. I turned and looked in the direction of his voice. The mech was jumping up and down, pumping his fist in the air.

"Oh, frag this! Let's go after this glitch!" I facepalmed so hard that my face hurt after hearing that. Pillage was the same guy who wanted to start a lynch mob for Starscream, and I guess he's itching for a fight.

Then the crowd started to chant, evidently excited by Pillage's words. "Let's start a riot! A riot! Let's start a riot!"

Well, Pillage seems to have wanted to start a fragging riot. And now he's got one.

Bots pushed and shoved past Shank, Volk and I, flooding towards the central command room. Those of us that weren't moving with the crowd did our best stay upright and not get trampled. At this point, I know that there was nothing that I could do to keep the other Vehicons from doing what they wanted to do.

Seeing that they were thundering towards the central command room, I had a pretty good idea about what they were planning. They were going to find the original coordinates that Soundwave used, even if it meant tearing up the warship's data system, and rush out there to help find the mech who took Parvolus. I don't think they have a plan past that, but I also don't think they really need much of a strategy. Vehicons have strength in numbers, and sooner or later we'll get the job done.

They are going to swarm that mech like wasps.

"Come on, Steve! They're gonna leave without us!" Shank said, starting to move away from me, after the others. I paused for a second before took a step forward and grabbing his arm.

"We can't leave yet. Everyone on the warship seems to have lost their minds, and we need to tell Knockout and the Autobots about what's going on."

Instead of snatching his arm away from me, like I'd expected him to, he just stood there and looked at me. "Why would we need to do that?"

"You know the Autobots aren't going to just chill in the warship, drinking some high grade. They are going to go after the mech who hurt their sparkling leader! We need to warn them of the other Vehicons going out there so they know to not try and kill our fellow crew members."

After realizing my logic behind that, he nodded and started walking towards the medbay, where we saw the Autobots go. I moved after him, then spun around to sharply motion Volk towards us. The top Vehicon officer was staring, looking like he was about to glitch (all this chaos and mutiny wasn't going over well with him), before snapping out of it and racing to catch up with the rest of us.

Soon enough we were making our way to the medbay as fast as we possibly could. After we warn them, we're going to join the search and do whatever we can to help find the mech who hurt Parvolus.

Well, maybe not Volk. The poor guy would glitch in mid air.

...Bumblebee's POV: Five Minutes Later...

We all made it to the medbay without any problems form the Vehicons, as promised, and I saw that it wasn't empty. There was a Vehicon sitting in a chair near one of the medical berths and he looked up at us as we walked in. The Vehicon's visor was a sickly yellow and flickered quite a bit, and he seemed slightly hunched over as he sat in his chair. Just looking at the Vehicon I could tell that he was very old.

Knockout walked up to the old mech, and without asking, the old mech said, "I'll hold onto that," and took Soundwave's mask from the red mech's servo. I didn't notice Knockout even had it till now.

The red Decepticon just nodded and turned towards Ratchet to take Optimus from him. Before I could warn the red 'Con against doing that, Ratchet sharply turned away and growled at him, making Kncokout immediately back off, servos up in the air in surrender.

"I will care for my son. Touch him, and you will wish that you died long ago," Ratchet snarled, blood-red optics burning intensely. Halli looked between the two bots from next to my legs, whining slightly, a nervous look in her molten gold optics.

The room got even quieter than it already was due to the increased tension, but Ratchet's actions were completely expected to me. I know he wouldn't trust Knockout for a minute to care for his hurt child. Even under a truce, I doubt Ratchet would trust anyone at this point.

Before Knockout could verbally respond, there was another whine, only it wasn't from the dog next to me. Everyone turned to look at the badly damaged sparkling as he started to thrash and kick at Ratchet's chassis, whining and sobbing. The motions didn't seem like they were completely voluntary.

Without a word, Ratchet shoved Knockout out of his way and rushed over to the closest medical berth. The red Decepticon nearly lost his footing completely after bumping into a table, but I managed to catch his arm before he fell to the ground. The mech nodded in thanks as he stood to his pedes again.

My doorwings stiffened in alarm as I heard the sparkling start to cry and scream in his pain. Whatever Ratchet was doing to him was clearly hurting the child, and it hurt to hear the little one going through that, but I also know that he's doing this for the sparkling's wellbeing.

It pulled hard at my spark to hear Optimus in such pain, and I longed to help him in some way. But I knew that I was of no help. So, I did my best to block out the heart wrenching cries of the sparkling in pain.

Ratchet immediately began to mumble under his breath as he hunched over his son, barely audible, and completely unintelligible for the rest of us in the medbay.

The old mech drew closer, briefly glancing at Arcee in Bulkhead's arms, his question evident in his demeanor. I answered without him even asking.

"Optimus was injured by the mech who kidnapped him," I said, looking into the old mech's visor. The Vehicon's response was calm, and carefully considered.

"That much was evident to me, and I see that the same happened to the blue femme." His yellow visor flickered several times as he turned halfway to look back at Ratchet.

The old mech didn't say anything else for a little while, and soon I found myself listening to Optimus's spark monitor, (the small device had been pulled out of a storage room on the far wall) and watching Ratchet. The bot feverishly worked, attaching monitors and other devices to the small form on the medical berth, and tearing up the medbay looking for the proper tools. No one tried to talk to him, knowing that it was very likely that no one would get much of a response. Or a friendly one, for that matter.

I can't help but feel that Ratchet thinks this whole mess with Optimus getting taken and hurt was his fault. I don't know why, but I just get that feeling when I look at him. It makes me want to console him, tell him that this was way beyond his control, but I know that I wouldn't be of much help in that area. At least, not now.

"Soundwave is hunting the guilty mech." I was gently pulled out of my thoughts by the quiet voice of the old mech standing near me. Quickly realizing that it wasn't a question, I merely nodded.

"Yeah. He, along with Megatron and Dreadwing, are in pursuit of Faultline." From the corner of my optic I saw Ratchet's wing twitch at the mention of Faultline.

Bulkhead opened his mouth to question the old mech, wondering exactly how the he knew that Soundwave was chasing Faultline, and I lifted a servo, stopping him. We can get answers to these smaller questions later. Right now we have a higher priority.

Suddenly the medbay door flew open, and all of us (except Ratchet) turned, tense, and looked to see who it was. It wasn't surprising at all that there was a small group of Vehicons in the doorway, but what was surprising was their sense of urgency as they rushed into the room. Halli's tail lifted slightly at the sight of them. I turned to address them, but the old mech standing next to me beat me to it.

"What is it, Steve?" I assumed he was talking to the Vehicon in the front, flanked by two near identical troopers, since he moved to respond. But once he did that, the mech to his right cut him off. This one had an unusually deep voice, compared to the other Vehicons I've heard.

"After seeing the Autobots and that strange Seeker come through the Ground Bridge with the hurt sparkling, the troops went insane." The leading Vehicon nodded, agreeing, and continuing his comrade's statement in a hurried tone.

"The others started to riot and are going to go after the mech that hurt the sparkling. I think they already accessed the coordinates that Soundwave used to take you all out there, and are sending out attack squads." I briefly glanced over at Wheeljack when I saw that he furrowed his optic ridges. It wasn't a glare, but more like he was recognizing a voice he heard at some point.

"I warned you before it wasn't our place to go out there…" Rudder sighed before taking a small step towards the leading mech of the Vehicon trio. "Steve, heated emotions can be the perfect blindfold. And rage, like fear, spreads like wildfire."

Bulkhead looked at Wheeljack in confusion, wondering what the old mech meant by that. I however, instantly knew. I remained silent, watching the conversation as the Vehicon named Steve nodded. "Yeah... we don't need more bots out in the field looking for the mech. That would be just asking for more trouble than I know we're in."

The deep voiced Vehicon seemed to know what was meant as well. "I'll send out a transmission to the troops left here, telling them that no mechs are allowed to leave the warship, aside from the ones that have already left." Midsentence, he lifted a clawed digit to his audio receptor to do as he was saying.

For the first time since entering the medbay, the Vehicon on the left spoke. "By now, the number of mechs already gone has to be past a hundred."

Steve (I think that's his name) turned to look over his shoulder at the Vehicon to his left, "And that's a hundred too many, Shank." He then turned to look at the mech on his right. "Volk, you got the message out?"

The deep voiced one, or Volk, nodded once in response. Steve then turned his back on the rest of us in the medbay and said that they needed to do what they could to keep the troops in the warship, and thanked the old mech before following Volk out of the room.

I briefly pondered why the Vehicon thanked the old mech, but I guessed that he thanked the old mech for granting him a bit a wisdom before making a decision. It seemed to help him make a better decision for the warship's troops.

Wheeljack commented with a very slight sarcastic tone about the Vehicons' urgency, and I didn't smile at the mech's attempt to lighten the mood. I only watched Ratchet continue to move around Knockout's medbay, with a serious expression in my optics.

This situation shouldn't have gotten this far. Optimus should have never been hurt; the same goes for Arcee.

"It would be wise that you go to your base and prepare to search for the mech responsible for harming the suckling." I turned, looking the much older mech in the visor. His yellow, damaged optics flickered as he looked back.

This is what the rest of the Autobot team wanted to do in first place, but the question was getting us back there without providing a method for the Decepticons to find our base. Even under a truce, we simply can't trust the Decepticons with that sort of information. And there was another, more important question...

The old mech's optics flickered a number of times as he waited for my answer.

I spoke to Rudder (I think that's what I heard Steve say while he thanked the old mech) in a low tone, making sure that Ratchet wouldn't hear me. "If we go after Faultline, there will be no one at the base to care for Arcee. Plus, the only way back the base is through a Ground Bridge, and I can't reveal the location of our base to you Decepticons."

Rudder's visor flickered once. "I know, young leader. The blue femme can remain here on the warship, so I can give her medical attention. As for the location of your base, none of us will be the ones to enter the coordinates. I will ensure that the coordinates are destroyed once all of you make it through."

Being an Autobot, I didn't fully trust the Vehicon. But I also knew that that these were possibly our only options. I'll just have to hope for the best.

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

I was sick of being out there.

As soon as that Ground Bridge spun up, I raced through, shooting past that annoying yellow Autobot.

I ran past the crowd of Vehicons waiting in the doorway, and luckily for them, they quickly moved out of my way. I ran as fast as I could, body and tail low to the ground.

I ran so far away from that clearing, but I don't feel any better. I could still feel the rage and hurt that my master felt, even though Soundwave put a barrier up between himself and the rest of his Deployers, and I remembered the smirk on that mech's face as he gazed at my master.

I should have leaped out of the woods and torn the mech apart. I should have dug my claws into his back, shredded his armor and sunk my teeth into his neck. I should have... I should have scratched his optics out and crushed his helm under my weight. But I couldn't. I just couldn't! My instincts told me to go for his blood, to hurt him for what he did, but something held me back.

And I despised myself for it.

I'm in Soundwave's personal quarters now, back underneath his berth. The space underneath the berth was a little bit too small for my frame, but I squeezed in and curled up there nonetheless. I feel like a coward, doing the same thing I did when I was a cyberkitten after seeing the murderer of my master's son.

I was there when it happened. I was only a little kitten when it happened, but I still remember every moment, every sound, every scent as if it happened a few hours before.

The window in the back of Soundwave's residence broke, and I remember stopping eating the cat treats my master left for me, turning and looking towards it. The femme my master trusted and my master's son were in the apartment at the time I heard the window break.

The sound scared me badly, and being a small kitten, I abandoned the food and raced to cower under the table.

It wasn't before I heard a pair of unfamiliar pedes walking towards the table I was hiding under did my gears locked in terror.

In the moment, I was glad that the pedes walked off in another direction, but then I remembered that Clearout and Wingspar were in that room. She was gathering the sparkling and a few of his favorite toys so that he can be taken down to her own residence in the building. My master had left temporarily to get more energon for his son from the local storage unit, and Clearout felt that Wingspar would be safer at her residence, rather than her watching him at my master's residence. There was no way I could warn them; my paralyzed weakling frame then didn't even let me give a feeble mew.

"Why, hello there. You are quite a gorgeous femme, Clearout..."

There was an unnervingly short struggle and a window shattered. The femme's alarmed screams and calls for help ripped through me, and I hid, the little weakling I was, wide-eyed and scared, under the front room table. It was only after a few moments did I work up the courage to crawl towards the door where I heard the screaming.

The door was partially open, and I wish I could wipe away the memory of what I saw Faultline doing to my master's friend as he pressed his frame to hers against the far wall.

That mech attacking Clearout stopped for a moment and slowly turned to look at me. I froze again, tail and limbs stiff, and the mech's optics narrowed into thin slits. He smiled at me as he turned back and continued hurting the young femme.

I bolted, the look in his optics seared into my memory, dashing as fast as my little legs could carry me, and flew into my master's room. I dove underneath the berth he and his sparkmate once shared and cowered there, overcome by my fear.

Looking back, I knew that I could have left my master's residence and cried for help. But I was a kitten then, and didn't know anything other than to follow my instincts and hide when danger was about. I hide under the berth, paralyzed in fear as I listened to the terrible screams and heard Wingspar bawling at the top of his vocoder.

Then I heard Clearout begging through her tears for Faultline to spare the sparkling's life. She cried and sobbed for him not to be harmed. I shivered hard as I heard the attacker laugh softly.

Two gunshots rang through the apartment.

Clearout let out an blood curdling scream, and couldn't stop crying. I instantly knew what happened, and all the strength in my limbs left. I slumped down to the floor, my legs limp and my head to the floor. Then Faultline smoothly spoke again.

"Now it's your turn, sweetspark."

I listened to a sword hiss as it was being taken out of its sheath. My optics widened in horror as her crying was suddenly cut short, and I heard from underneath Soundwave's berth the attacker leave the way he came in, humming some sort of tune.

I shivered as I slept in the shadows for joors until I heard Soundwave looking for me. Then I slowly crawled out to meet my master, my little body close to the ground and short tail wrapped tightly around my hind leg.

I knew from my master's demeanor that he had already seen what happened to the sparkling. Back then, the Deployer bond wasn't established between Soundwave and I, that didn't happen until the gladiator pits in Kaon, when I was older. But it was not hard for me to tell that he was devastated to the core. Soundwave was sparkbroken. He said nothing to me as he looked down at me by his ankle. Just from looking in his optics... I've never seen more hurt in anyone's optics.

My life was shattered by that mech. My master was so distraught, and has remained like that ever since the very moment he found the bodies. Even after joining the Decepticons, he could never let go of what happened. The possibility of Faultline being out there somewhere was too great to bear.

In the long search for him, my master grew silent, and I grew hostile towards any and all strangers.

...That same mech who I heard kill Clearout and Wingspar hurt Parvolus. I hate myself for this!

I shifted uncomfortably in the darkness, wrapping my tail tightly around my right side as I kept my head low to the ground. I was scared, just like I was when I first saw Faultline.

My ears flattened against my helm and I snarled to myself, extending my claws, wishing for something to use them on. I couldn't bring myself to attack him, the killer of my master's son, my friend!

...When I was a kitten, I was found digging through a trash bin behind a factory and was taken into Soundwave's household by his sparkmate. The memory of my first meeting with the sparkling is one of my earliest and most precious. At first, I was fearful of the sparkling, because he was much bigger than I was at the time. It took time for me to adapt to my new life, but the sparkling and I soon became friends.

Every morning I woke up excited, ready for another day to spend with my best friend. We ate together, played together, and, much to my master's annoyance and his mate's amusement, slept together at times.

I can remember batting around one of Wingspar's toys while he watched and laughed. I remember Soundwave watching us play in the front room, with an amused expression on his face, an arm loosely wrapped around his sparkmate's waist. I remember feeling Halyard's servo on my small back, stroking me while she took a short break from picking up Wingspar's toys after the sparkling went into recharge for the night.

It was the life any cybercat could want, despite the dangerous area of the city we all lived in. I felt safe and loved, with my master and his family, and that was all that mattered. As a kitten, I thought the good times would last forever.

But that perfect little picture was shattered by that mech forever, I watched him do it, and I let him escape. Before, I couldn't do anything. I was too weak. But now that I'm older, I had the strength to take down and kill a mech. I had more than enough strength to do it. But I was still too weak.

I rested my head on my paws, ears low in shame. After a few moments I saw that the way I placed my head put the door right in my line of sight. I glared at the dark grey hexagon as I lie in the shadows, and shut my optics, the shame building.

I feel I have let my master down for not lashing out at the mech that killed his son and friend.

I'm normally so sure whether or not I can do something. This is the first time in a very long time that my confidence in myself faltered, and I absolutely despise myself for it.

Hopefully I'll work up the courage to face my fear, to face Faultline, soon.

...Wheeljack's POV: Ten Minutes Later...

Bumblebee and that old mech were talking to each other for a short while about somethin' I wasn't really listening to. But something I did hear was them talking about Bridging back to the base.

Before I knew it, Bee was hustling us out of the medbay, leaving Arcee, Ratchet, that red 'Con and old mech.

Jack protested leaving his partner behind, but Bee explained as we were going that she needed medical help, and that none of us were trained well enough to help her. She needed to be left on the Nemesis to get proper care.

The black haired teen didn't like it one bit, but he didn't really have much of a choice.

After a bit of speed walking, we made it to an unmanned Ground Bridge Station, and soon enough we were walking back into the base.

I dropped the kids off where Jack's carrier was, and left to head underground before the woman started fussing about all that was going on. Maybe Bumblebee will get her to calm down some. I sure didn't feel like listening to her.

Bulkhead stayed behind with Bee and Halli in the main control room to calm Jack's mother down and explain everything. Cinder was the only one that followed me down the hallway.

I know I'm going back out there with the Jackhammer to help catch that evil glitch, but I'm worried about the little femme following behind me. I kind of want to have her along with me, 'cause I know she knows everything about that ship the creep has. I'm sure she's been trapped there long enough to enough all there is to know. She could help us take down the ship, you know, show us the ship's weaknesses.

But the thing about that that I'm worried about is how Cinder would be able to handle being out there in the first place. Helping me out would be like a slave rebelling against the slave master. I don't know how she'll take it. Pit, I don't know if she'll even agree to help me with the hunt.

Cinder doesn't know me real well, but she does know Faultline. She's been there on that ship long enough to know exactly what the evil glitch is capable of, and because of that I know she's scared of him. I'm sure in her mind, rebelling against the bot that held her hostage is the worst thing in the universe to do, and that she's gonna get hurt more than she already has been if she does.

Walking down the brightly lit hallway, I decided that the only way I can find a real answer is asking her myself.

I quietly moved into the underground room, real aware of Cinder skating behind me, looking up at my ship. Hard white light reflected dully off the Jackhammer's scuffed paintjob as the ship stood in the center of the room. I could've almost smiled. It was like my ship was waiting for me to take her out for a spin.

I kept walking, circling around and going towards the left side of the ship. That side of the ship had the external switch that'll open the Jackhammer's hatch. Once I was halfway under the shadow of my ship, I stopped and turned around to face the purple femme behind me. As soon as I did that, Cinder stopped and skated backwards slightly, making herself look smaller than she already was. There was a very nervous look on her face, even with that black visor over her optics.

"Cinder, I wanna ask you something," I said, not knowing where else to start. She didn't do or say anything. She just stared at me, waiting on me to do something.

I glanced over at the hatch control panel and back at the femme standing in front of me.

"Do you think you could help me with taking down Faultline?" At first the only thing she did was stare at me more, like she didn't understand what I was asking. After a few seconds, I opened my mouth to say it another way before she started to shake her head and speak in her tiny voice.

"No... No, please, he'll hurt me if I do..." She shook her head and kept shaking it, starting to slowly skate back away from me. I stayed where I was. I'd scare her if I moved towards her.

My spark sunk when I saw her start to tremble at the thought of acting against the mech that held her hostage for a long time. I could hear her armor rattling, she was shaking so bad.

The light purple femme tried not to sob as she looked down, scared. At the sight of that, I furrowed my optic ridges and said, "Cinder, could ya look at me?"

Her helm came back up, with her shoulders slightly hunched up. It was like she was following a command, bracing herself like she was gonna get hit. I gave her a serious look as I crossed my arms over my chassis. "Do you think I'm gonna let that happen?"

She looked back away from me and stared at the ground, wrapping her arms around herself. I tilted my helm to side slightly, waiting on her to answer. After a few moments, I heard her voice start to break like she was on the verge of tears as she answered in her little, accented voice. "No, but I'm... I'm scared because he hurt me a lot before and – and I don't want to be hurt anymore."

I let out a very small sigh in a bit of frustration and carefully took a step towards her. She didn't move back, but she did look up at me, light reflecting brightly off her black visor. My ship went to the back of my mind as I focused on the shivering femme in front of me.

"I wanna tell you something, 'kay?" She gave a tiny nod as she looked up at me. I inhaled, and spoke.

"Cinder, I wanna promise you that after today, he will never hurt you again," I said to her, gesturing to emphasize my point. She only gave me a nervous look.

I shook my head as I said, "I won't let him hurt you." I didn't know how true that was until I said it. She's been hurt long enough. She's been living in fear long enough.

And even after what I told her, she doesn't seem to believe me. I guess she isn't ready to do something like that. Maybe it's better she stay as far away from that Faultline as possible.

I turned halfway away from her, glancing briefly up at the Jackhammer. "I'm going out with my ship with the others, to help with the hunt. You'll be safe here in the base."

I reached up towards the hatch control panel and pushed the largest button. The door unlatched and started to lower quietly towards the ground. Once it touched down, I reached up to my audio receptor to comm. the others and walked a bit up the hatch when I saw Cinder move up the ramp along with me.

I lowered my hand and gave her a slightly confused look. She only looked down and held her hands folded in front of her like she was ashamed.

"No, I... I want to. I want to help." At that, I smiled gently, and went ahead and comm. the others to board the Jackhammer and get whatever long-range weapons they can along the way here. Bee responded first, saying that he and Bulkhead, along with the dog, were on the way.

"Hey, don't feel guilty about it. This means a lot to me, Cinder," I said, briefly wrapping my arm around her shoulders. I'm surprised she didn't flinch away from me. She looked up at me and gave a very small smile. I returned the look and guided her into the Jackhammer.

I stayed near the open hatch and watched her look around my ship as she sat in the passenger seat in wonder with my arms crossed over my chest. She stared at a few of the many control panels in front of her, and looked like she wanted to touch a few, but she didn't.

I smiled a bit when I saw her lift her visor, showing her soft, sky-blue optics as she looked around.

I'm surprised she changed her mind so fast – no, I'm surprised she changed her mind at all. After seeing her react with that level of fear, I wouldn't have been surprised if she chose to stay here at the base. I guess she's a bit more ready than I thought.

...Ratchet's POV: Knockout's Medbay...

Optimus wouldn't stop crying. But I don't think he could stop.

I gently laid him on the medical berth, and shot around the medbay, only vaguely noticing that the other Autobots left the room. At the moment, I didn't care. My only focus was helping my son.

Looking his little frame over, I knew instantly that he was going to need anesthetics if I am going be able to go any further in helping Optimus. If I continue to work on him, the pain alone would be too much for him to bear. Such an extreme level of pain can drive a grown mech insane, let alone a sparkling. Even if I save Optimus, I wouldn't be able to live with myself if Optimus's mind is lost.

"Knockout! Where are the anesthetics?" I shouted at the red Decepticon who was standing near the wall, next to the old Vehicon. I turned in time to see him jolt at the tone in my voice. I glared at him, waiting on an answer. He didn't give me a verbal one, only running past me towards a cabinet on the far wall.

The red mech snatched it open and grabbed a vial of the anesthetic and a syringe. He came towards me with the container of the pale yellow liquid and the needle. Without a word, I took them from him, and watched Knockout back off from the corner of my eye. I glared as I preparing the needle. I'm going to need to give him a full dose...

"It would not be a wise idea to put him under with full shot of the depressant." My helm whipped around towards the source of the calm, quiet voice. It was that old Vehicon. My optics blazed in anger as I glared at him. What does a Vehicon know of this? He won't keep me from helping my son to the best of my ability!

"I'm sure you wonder what place I have in regards to this situation. To calm your nerves, I have been an experienced doctor for longer than you have been alive." Knockout's optic ridges rose in reaction to the old mech's quiet words. Evidently he was just as unaware as I was in regards to the extent of this mech's experience.

The old mech's damaged, yellow optics flickered as he moved away from the wall to stand near me. Knockout stayed by the wall, and called after the old mech in amazement.

"You, Rudder?" The old mech turned halfway to look back at Knockout's astonished words and nodded. As soon as he said the old mech's name, it occurred to me that his name had been said before, but I had been paying more attention to my injured son.

I remember hearing quite a bit over the DataNet back on Cybertron about this old mech. This mech was Rudder, a world renowned doctor for his chosen practices and chosen place of practice. He was a doctor from the north side of Tagan Heights I believe, and moved south, to help the lower castes. From what I heard, he was well liked among laborers, and they traveled far and wide to get help from him. He was one of the few high caste doctors that willingly aided the lower caste bots.

I vaguely remembered that when I was younger I wished to meet him at some point, but now was not the time for such memories. At least I know he'll be able to provide some adequate help.

"The suckling's frame is too weak to handle a full dose of the anesthetics. With this damage, the full dose will kill him." My spark skipped a beat at the very thought of killing my own son. I... I can't do that to him... But not using a full dose means that...

"This means that the suckling will have to be partially awake while you work," Rudder said, yellow visor flickering. I shut my optics and lowered my servos, still holding the syringe. I'll have to put my son through more pain, but I knew that is was the only option.

I emptied most of the syringe's contents back into the vial, only leaving a small amount of the anesthetics. Looking back down at me son, I realized something important.

"Do you mind...?" I held the ready syringe out to Rudder, and without a word the mech took it. He'll hold it for me until I need it. I nodded curtly in thanks and looked down at my son, who was still whimpering and bleeding.

His armor needs to be taken off if I'm going to see the true extent of the damage caused by that mech's blaster round and find the best way to help my son. I don't know how I will handle seeing that, seeing just how hurt my little boy is, but I have to put that aside. I don't matter here. The only thing that matters is my son.

I quickly took off the little sparkling's armor, putting it the side. Rudder took the armor and handed it off to Knockout, who was standing next to him. Evidently the red Decepticon worked up the nerve to come closer to me. I saw from the corner of my optic him put the damaged armor on a nearby table. I heard him say that he'll do something about the damage at some later point in time, but I wasn't paying enough attention.

I felt sick as I looked at the full extent of the damage. The entire left side of my son's protoform was burned and lacerated. Bright white sparks shot from a particularly large tear in his abdomen, and I moved to keep them from striking my optic. Energon ran freely from the main wound, and broken fuel lines and circuits jutted from the burned metal.

With his protoform exposed, I can administer the anesthetics somewhat easily.

Optimus had never stopped crying, but now his cries grew into screams. He screeched, calling for his father as he kicked and flailed on the berth. His optics were shut as he wailed, too focused on the pain and fear he was no doubt going through to actually tell what was going on around him. Every time I went to take his arm to give him the anesthetics, his screams increased dramatically in volume and he jolted and kicked at me.

I instantly went to soothe him when he kicked away from me on the berth. I gently caressed his helm with my thumb, leaning down to lightly press my forehelm against his. "Shhh. Daddy's here, Daddy's here, Optimus. Shhh, I'm going to make you feel better, okay? Shhh," I mumbled softly, responding to his cries for his father. "I'm here, my sparkling. You're going to be okay."

The mechs in the room didn't say a word; I only felt them watching me. A very small part of me was surprised Knockout didn't make a sarcastic remark about my attempts to calm my baby down.

I moved back up just in time to see my sparkling open his optics. His blue eyes locked with my red ones, and for a moment, Optimus stiffened. It was undoubtedly at the sight of my blood-red optics. In his were a flicker of confusion, fear and recognition all at the same time. He's probably confused by my rather drastic change in appearance and doesn't know what to make of it.

That brief silence ended when I gingerly lifted the sparkling's arm, and he shrieked, the pain taking him again. I went to soothe and coax him again as I took the waiting syringe from Rudder's servo and gave my son the numbing anesthetics. The pain will be significantly decreased in the general area of the wound, but as pointed out before, he will remain awake. Because of that, the pain will still be there, tormenting him.

I proceeded to work on his wounds with a small frame welder, to stop the bleeding, and Optimus still did not calm down enough for me to work effectively. I fell back on an ancient method of communication and pulsed my electromagnetic field, washing it over him, hoping to show that I mean to comfort him.

Unfortunately, Optimus's first instinct was to shrunk away, retracting his EM field when my stronger one brushed against it. He must have sensed some sort of change in me that made him unsure of my presence. He reacted as though I was a stranger, and it hurt me to feel that. It had to have been a large change for him to not immediately see me as his father. The thought of that disturbed me.

From then on, I worked as fast as I could to mend his wounds, aiming for repairing broken fuel lines to stop the bleeding, with Knockout and Rudder helping me where they could. Each time I touched my son, he released a soft cry. His cries decreased in volume after a while, likely because of the anesthetics, and that he was growing tired. Every time he vocalized his agony, I always moved in to soothe him, saying that his daddy was right next to him and that everything was going to be alright. I was constantly stroking his little helm, hoping that my touch will calm him.

After an hour or two of working on my son, I found it harder and harder to remain focused. I knew I had the skills to successfully complete the procedure, but at the same time, there was a nagging feeling that was haunting me. A little voice in the back of my head was constantly wondering. What if I don't do this correctly? What I fail him? What I fail him, like I did Bumblebee?

What if my son dies?

I... I couldn't live with myself if my son died. I don't think I'd want to live if he died.

There was always the possibility of failure. That was proven with Bumblebee. I couldn't get the young mech's voice back fully, even with the tools I had then. I live with that guilt every day, and it has yet to leave my memory.

I was pulled out of my thoughts when I heard my comm link go off. I answered it, knowing that whatever it was had to be important. The other Autobots know that I'm here, still working on my son, and they would not disturb me unless something major occurred.

I opened the link and said I was listening. Soon enough I found out who it was. It was our stand-in leader, Bumblebee.

"We have a status update on Faultine, Ratchet," Bumblebee said, in his now familiar serious tone. He paused, waiting on me to respond, only to get none. The guilt was coming back to me all at once, and given the situation, it was much harder than usual to bear. I failed the young mech, and I don't know if I'll ever be able repair his voice box. I don't want to fail my son, like I did Bumblebee. I wouldn't be able to handle it.

Then Bumblebee responded as if he could see the turmoil going on in me.

"Ratch'?" The young mech sighed, voice softening, continuing after hearing my silence. "Don't doubt yourself in my expense. I know that you still take my losing my voice box pretty hard, but don't let that get in the way of helping your son. I trust you, and I know that Optimus definitely has full trust in your abilities. Whatever happens, just know that we'll be here. All of us. We're counting on you, Ratchet."

I remained silent, but I knew that he sensed I took in his words. He spoke again, the commander-like tone returning. "I'll comm you again regarding the status update at a later time."

The young mech probably doesn't know just how much his words helped me. I felt a surge of confidence and hope in my spark. The effect of Bumblebee's words on me were excellently timed, because I have reached the most dangerous part of the procedure. Repairing the damage done to my son's helm.

At this, both Rudder and Knockout said something along the lines of Optimus needing to be put into stasis. I would be making a huge risk doing that; if I put him in stasis, he may not have the strength to come out of it. But, it seems to be my only choice. It would simply be too dangerous for Optimus for me to work on his helm while he is awake.

Rudder handed me a life support mask (it was, I'm sure, the smallest they had, but was still slightly too large for Optimus). The mask was connected to monitors and other pieces of machinery near the medical berth by a long line. I thanked the older mech and leaned over to carefully attach the mask to Optimus's face, clamping it to the sparkling's battle mask slits.

The mask terrified him, and my son's optics widened in horror as he screamed in alarm. I can understand why my action scared him. Even after terrible battles as a grown adult, he has never needed to be on life support. He would have been alarmed at being put on life support even if he were grown.

I immediately took my son in my arms, careful to avoid the sensitive wounds, holding him so his right audio receptor was to my chassis. Other attempts to calm my sparkling down weren't met with full success, because of the changes he sensed in me. They all confused him, making him very unsure of me. This is the only way I can think that will truly get him to recognize me.

He immediately recognized the sound of my spark beating, and seemed to take comfort in the strength in the familiar sound. Optimus relaxed against me and shifted slightly, moving to look up at me.

The calmed look on his faceplates triggered something in me, and I felt my optics flicker, changing color. They shifted back to my normal blue for a moment, and changed back to red.

Seeing the blue in my eyes finally got the message through to him, and he saw that the father he knew and loved had never left him. The little child was eased by that, and completely relaxed into my hold, leaning into me to listen to my spark beat.

After a few moments, I laid my son back down on the medical berth, and nodded to Knockout. The red Decepticon walked over to a monitor and initiated stasis. I remained by my son, watching him fall into stasis.

I am going to be working with my son's life now, repairing the damage to his head, and any mistake could be the end of him. I must keep those ominous thoughts at bay and only hope for the best as I keep moving forward. I have to do whatever I can to help my little sparkling.

My sparkling turned and looked at me as his eyelids grew heavy and bright optics grew dull. Just as he fell into stasis, I said to him, "I promise that harm will never reach you ever again."

...Bumblebee's POV: Aboard the Jackhammer – Two Hours Before...

I know the Vehicons were coming to help out in the field, but I didn't know it was going to be this many!

Wheeljack had no problem finding the location of the chase after getting the coordinates from Dreadwing. He got us there faster than I thought the Jackhammer could move. We are now flying behind Dreadwing through the black clouds, holding on tightly to whatever was nailed down. Wheeljack was yanking the ship left and right, keeping his ship from getting struck by lightning. The electricity was shooting from the clouds all around us, lighting up the entire sky with a blinding blue-white flash for a fraction of a nanoklik. A very loud boom of thunder followed after a few of the lightning bolts.

The clouds were so dark it was hard to see the light of Dreadwing's engines, and he was relatively close to the Jackhammer. Far ahead, I could only faintly see the multitude of engines on Faultline's ship. The clouds, with all the high winds, constantly shifted around, and at times looked like black ships flying in the air. It was hard to tell what was real and what wasn't.

It was very dangerous up here in the skies, but that didn't stop all those Vehicons flying past us. It was like watching a swarm of angry killer bees, seeing them zoom past their commanders and after Faultline's ship. As they shot past, I got a good enough look at some of them to tell that not all of them were of warrior class.

That fact didn't matter to them as they moved, beginning to break off into different squads, drift away from each other and staying on target.

I shook my helm in disbelief and looked away from the window, back towards the other passengers of the Jackhammer. Bulkhead was preparing one of Wheeljack's shoulder mounted, multi-barreled rocket launchers, putting in a number of the missiles as Halli paced around anxiously. I already held one of Wheeljack's handmade (and powerful) energon rifles, the gun cocked and ready.

Despite its name, the rifle I held wasn't exactly an energon weapon. It didn't fire normal energon rounds, like most of the team's blasters, but fired something like a cross between bullets and miniature missiles. The gun didn't have many rounds, but each one was rigged with a targeting system, to increase accuracy. To add onto that, the rifle had a scope, helping me hone in on long distance targets, something that I know will come in handy.

I was mildly surprised that Wheeljack had so many homemade weapons on his ship. Once we boarded the ship, he opened an entire rack of his weapons that was hidden in the wall. But at the same time, I knew the Wrecker was much more intelligent than he tended to let on, and that he had quite a bit of free time while traveling before he landed on Earth. And now, that free time has certainly paid off.

Just a short distance in front of me were the pilot and passenger seats, on the left and right side and both occupied. Wheeljack was focused on the skies ahead, steering us as best he could. In the passenger seat was the light purple femme. She staring outside, tightly gripping the seat underneath her. Her ventilations picked up in speed as the lightning struck over and over outside, jolting every time it happened.

She was scared of what was going on out there, but I got the feeling that she was nervous about the rest of us in the ship as well, aside from Wheeljack. From what little I know of her, I can understand completely why she's wary of bots, mechs, to be specific.

She was very nervous about Bulkhead and I, but the current conditions outside must be just as troubling for her.

I moved to grip Wheeljack's seat out of reflex as the ship hit turbulence, making the Jackhammer shudder violently. Lightning flashed directly in front of the ship, making the femme release a sound that was similar to a terrified mouse. She tightly held the seat underneath her, and pressed herself back, doing everything she could to secure her body to the seat. I couldn't see her face (she was looking outside) but her demeanor showed just how scared she was.

Thankfully Wheeljack was able to get the ship closer to Faultline's, even with all this going on outside. Wheeljack had flown With Dreadwing leading the way for us, and positioned the ship above and behind Faultline's.

Now that the Jackhammer was closer, we could all see what was going on, despite the black, swirling clouds. The Vehicons were already attempting to take down the ship, firing whenever they could from their squads that practically surrounded the ship. Dreadwing fired his weapons and I could see that Megatron was using high powered rounds from his massive cannon. It was an all out assault.

And yet, that huge ship managed to out maneuver every shot that had the potential to take it down.

I could tell that Faultline was ignoring most of the Vehicons, since he didn't bother to dodge them. I can tell that his ship is heavily armored, and the Vehicons only had standard issue Decepticon blasters. In fact, I saw him go out of the way to scare quite a few of them by aiming the ship right at a large squad of them. The Vehicons scattered like ants to avoid getting hit.

Faultline was paying more attention to Dreadwing, Megatron, us on the Jackhammer, and some missile-launching Vehicons. Noting that, I saw that I couldn't see where Soundwave was. It was like he disappeared in the clouds.

I furrowed my optic ridges at the chaotic scene in front of me. This was going to need precision, not brute force. Wheeljack seemed to have the same idea.

The Wrecker shouted behind him over all the noise from outside, "Bee, Cinder says you guys have to aim for the seams in the armor and the engines. If you can, try and hit that huge cannon on top of that ship!"

"You have to lower that hatch for us to get a good shot!" I shouted back.

"I know! I'm on it now!" Then, behind me I heard a latch shift and loosen, and there was a low rumbling sound as the hatch lowered at the back of the Jackhammer. The sound of the storm outside rushed into the ship and everyone braced themselves. Bulkhead grabbed the wall to keep his balance. Halli crouched lower than she already was to remain in the ship and I grabbed Wheeljack's seat again, tightly holding my weapon.

At this point it was too loud in the ship to communicate verbally, so I sent out a transmission to Bulkhead and Wheeljack to keep their comm. links open, so that we can freely talk with each other.

I moved down the angled hatch slowly, grabbing the hatch support beam to keep from falling to my death. I saw Bulkhead do the same on the other beam.

I squinted as I looked around. Megatron was still putting everything he had at that ship of Faultline's, and he did get a few hits in. But even with his cannon, it wasn't doing too much. Just from that, I could tell that Fautline's ship was armored spectacularly. We're gonna have a heck of a time taking this mech's ship down.

I briefly glanced back into the ship to see the dog pacing anxiously back and forth, her blazing golden optics the most visible part of her in the dark. At first Bulkhead questioned bringing the dog along with us, but we didn't have a choice. With Ms. Darby taking the children home (she refused to leave them at the base after they were gone so long with us), there would be no one at the base, and I can't leave her unsupervised. I doubt Halli will be able to help us now, but at least I know where she is.

"Bulkhead, be careful where you're firing the missiles. We don't need the Vehicons thinking we're trying to kill them." I said over the comm. link after I saw him fire one of the rockets from his cannon. I could hardly see it, but I could just make out the Vehicon barrel roll sharply out of the way, dodging the missile and letting it disappear into the black clouds.

"Right! I'll try the seeker missiles," Bulkhead responded, opening a latch in the side of the massive missile launcher to put in a different type of projectile. That was a good idea. From what I heard Wheeljack say, the seeker missiles can lock onto a single target and maneuver around any object that is not the target. With this weather, and how bad the ship is shaking, it'll be just what Bulkhead needs.

I leveled the scope of my rifle to my optics and the glowing crosshairs split my vision. While the Vehicons did whatever they could with the armor on the sides of the ship, I aimed for the parts that they weakened.

I steadily lined up and fired as the storm roared in my ears, sending a transmission to Megatron and Dreadwing about the weak points Wheeljack told me about. Both of them gave me a verbal confirmation after hearing my message. From back here, I could tell that the two of them were somewhat working together to target what weak points they could, flying and weaving around each other.

After a while, it started to get frustrating. Every time I got in the crosshairs a perfect shot, Faultline moved his ship! It was as if he could see me trying to take his ship out of the sky, even with the storm raging and the Decepticons throwing everything they've currently got at him. The ship was constantly banking from left to right, easily dodging my bullets and Bulkhead's missiles. Even Wheeljack could tell that we needed help, and started shooting with the Jackhammer's weapons at every opening he saw. And with all of that coming down on Faultline's ship, I couldn't see any significant damage.

The chase seemed to drag on for a long time, and it looked like Faultline wasn't even actively trying to get away from us. I can tell just from looking at the engines and thrusters on that custom built ship that he could just as easily kick it into high gear and leave Earth's atmosphere in a matter of seconds. No, he wasn't trying to get away from the Decepticons or us.

Faultline was playing with us.

Looking at it in that light, it became so obvious. This was nothing but a little game to him.

I glared hard past the lightning at the engines of that mech's circuit board ship, my doorwings stiff in anger. Now it looks like Faultline is going to have to play another card.

Lightning split the black clouds, striking the mech's ship. I squinted in the light as the entire vessel lit up in the electricity. The swarm of Vehicons that seemed to wrap around the ship scattered in all directions, all trying to avoid damage. Dreadwing dived underneath the belly of Faultline's ship to avoid clipping his wing on the shuddering ship.

Suddenly Faultline's ship wasn't dancing around in the sky anymore. I saw Bulkhead pump his fist in the air in triumph as the ship flight pattern grew much straighter. Finally, some damage was done. Granted, it took what seems like a divine intervention. Maybe it was. Nevertheless, it happened, and I thank Primus for it.

I shared some of that sense of triumph with Bulkhead as Wheeljack gave the Jackhammer a boost and got closer to that mech's ship. I held on tighter to the rifle and the hatch support beam as the ship we were in picked up speed.

Soon enough, we were just right of the mech's ship, with the Vehicons flying around us like wasps. Megatron was flying off to the left, Dreadwing had moved to same side as the Jackhammer, still below the ship. It was too dark for me to tell whether or not some bot was damaged, and Soundwave has yet to show up, but we'll worry about that later. Now is the time to take him out of the sky, while that ship is weakened.

I went to send out a transmission to concentrate all fire on the ship, and I stopped, vaguely making out several plates shifting and sliding back on the mech's ship. Looking closely, I saw a very small, flying vessel lower from the opening in the ship. The vessel was dark, (whether because the paintjob or the clouds, I'm not sure) but I could tell that it was of a strong engine, due to the bright light from them.

On the angled hatch I watched the little vessel for a few seconds, watching its movement. When I saw that no one else was engaging the ship, I realized that I was the only that saw it.

Readjusting my optic lenses, I zoomed in on the little vessel, and saw that it was just large enough to be a bot's alternate mode. Before I could react any farther, I noticed something other than the engines of that vessel glowing. It was underneath the little vessel's wings...

My doorwings hitched. Those are the glow of powerful guns, and I saw just how close it was to Dreadwing.

After figuring out what that vessel was doing, I scrambled to get my comm. link system back online and get my rifle back up to my optics. I have to do something before that vessel hits Dreadwing. Scrap, I don't think the Seeker can see that ship closing in on him! It has to be the storm...

Okay, the vessel was close to the Jackhammer, and so was Dreadwing, so maybe I can shoot that vessel and knock it off target before it can do anything to the Decepticon commander.

"Dreadwing, look out!" I shouted into the comm. link as I saw the guns on the wings of that vessel start to glow even brighter. Just from those glows, I could tell that there was quite a bit of power in those guns, and because of that, Dreadwing could be in real danger.

No, Dreadwing is in real danger.

The Seeker got my warning an instant too late and I swiftly put that vessel between the crosshairs of my powerful rifle. I pulled the trigger and all the gun did was click.

I swore loudly as I grabbed for another energon bullet. Even while I went into my subspace, I knew I blew my opportunity to keep Dreadwing from getting hurt, potentially killed. It's too late now. I can tell those guns are reaching full power...

Suddenly, I saw a golden flash shoot past me, and down the hatch. Before the flash flew off the hatch's edge, it registered to me just what in the world that was, and I, along with Bulkhead, stared in shock.

It was the dog, Halli!

Completely disregarding that fact that she could fall to her death, Halli crouched and leaped off the hatch edge before I could grab her. All I could do was hang onto the beam and stare in horror as she flew off the Jackhammer and at the small vessel aiming at Dreadwing.

Landing right on top of the vessel, she bore and dug her claws and teeth into the armor of the vessel, tearing at whatever she could reach.

"What the hell is that dog doin'?" Wheeljack shouted over the comm. link after seeing Halli's stunt. I couldn't respond to him as I warned Megatron away from attacking, so he won't kill the dog. I hoped he passed that message on to the Vehicons.

Everyone in the area just watched in shock as Halli savagely attacked the vessel. As she did everything she could to attack the vessel, I couldn't help but think that the little ship that tried to shoot down Dreadwing was Faultline.

Yeah, that had to be him! We would have heard it from Wheeljack if there were more bots than the purple femme and the creep in the ship.

I could see that Halli was starting to inflict real damage on Faultline's frame; I could see drops of energon coming from his flying form. Halli was making quick work of him, and used her strong jaws to hang on whenever he tried to shake her off by rolling sharply left and right. I know the bites are extremely painful, and it's amazing he's still flying with the weight of the dog on his back.

With all of Faultline's moving around, trying to shake Halli off, Dreadwing disappeared down in the clouds to keep from clipping a wing.

Lightning kept splitting the sky, thunder boomed, and Halli ignored it all. She had to have seen what was about to happen with Faultline, and she had to have known that I wouldn't have been able to help him in time. So she just blindly threw herself at him, to keep Faultline from hurting Dreadwing.

Fear crept into my spark as I looked on, unable to help the dog. Now there was a very high chance of her getting hurt. But I can't think about that. I have to hope for the better.

Suddenly, Faultline transformed, returning to his bipedal mode. I could clearly see his bright red optics as he flew using thrusters in his pedes with the dog somehow still holding on.

I could see Faultline reach above him, and grab Halli's foreleg. She instantly bore her teeth and moved to bite the servo off when Faultline yanked hard.

Before I knew it, Halli was falling on her back down through the clouds.

I looked back and saw that Faultline wasn't flying where he was anymore, and that the plating that had moved on his ship to let him out had slid back into place. He must be back in his ship.

A cold fury welled up in my spark when I saw Faultline's ship pick up in speed and move in a different direction.

All Halli was doing was her job; to protect those who need help. And now, she paid the price for it.

"Follow that ship and take it down by any means necessary," I told Wheeljack via transmission as the Vehicon swarm flooded after it, commanded by Megatron. I could tell from their behavior that they were just as upset about what Faultline did to Halli.

My doorwings low, I stood and went back inside the Jackhammer, followed by Bulkhead. I glared as the hatch closed behind us and saw the saddened expression on Bulkhead's face. I tightly gripped the rifle as I reloaded it.

This was going to end. Soon.

...Faultline's POV: Five Minutes Later...

I thought I took care of that dog back in the Autobots' base.

Standing in bipedal mode, I looked up through the break in the canopy, smiling. I'll admit that she caught me by surprise, and did a bit of damage. But I'm sure now that I won't have to deal with that animal again.

I looked back down and shook my head, laughing. This trick works every time. I've sent all of them on a vain chase, flying after my ship. And with the storm raging, it all seemed to work in my favor.

My ship seemed to be doing a fine job at keeping them all busy. I'm not surprised that the Vehicons fell for it. They aren't intelligent enough to see it as a trick. Nor am I surprised the Autobots fell for it. But I am surprised that Lord Megatron went after my ship as well.

I sighed, smiling. I suppose even Lord Megatron can be fooled by the simplest trick.

As they went on chasing a red herring, I could tell that the storm was clearing fast where I stood. Before long, I looked up and saw the bright, blue-white glow of the moon coming from above the grey layer of clouds.

True the clouds were lighter, but it was still very overcast, not that I was very bothered by that.

I turned and walked off into the trees, humming a little tune of mine. Once I know that they've given up chasing after my ship, I'll call it back to my coordinates. When I'm back in there, I can decide whether or not to leave this planet or stay here. I think I'm leaning towards staying here.

I do, after all, want that blue femme back. She was very fun to play with. Yes, much more fun than Lackluster.

I suppose I can let the white Autobot have Lackluster. I wore her out a long time ago, and I don't think that she'll ever be as good as she used to be. It's almost sad. Lackluster used to be much more lively and enjoyable.

Ah well. I can't expect anything to last forever.

But, one thing that comes with good things that pass is that more good things follow them. In my case, that following good thing is the very lovely Arcee.

Yes, the Autobot can have Lackluster, but I will get Arcee back. I was never through with her back on my ship, and I intend finish my fun with her.

It didn't take me long to find a suitable tree to rest by. It was a large one of a sturdy trunk with thick roots bulging out of the ground. I stood there in front of the plant for a moment, studying it, before I turned around and sat at the base of the tree.

Getting comfortable, I rested my back against the black trunk and sighed, relaxing. I'm still sore from the recent events. That dog did a bit of damage, scratching up my armor and even broke a few fuel lines, but it's certain nothing to worry about. The damage that I am a bit concerned about was that hit I took while I was having my fun with Arcee. I have yet to figure out where such a powerful force came from.

After I welded on a recovery patch to my leg, I started to think that the encounter was in my helm. But, of course, that couldn't be right. If it was in my helm, I wouldn't have been physically struck like I was.

But I can worry about that later. I can take this time to relax a bit. And I know just the way to do that. Reaching into my subspace, I pulled out my flask, and uncapped it.

Taking a sip of the sweet smelling homemade high grade, I thought back to that little encounter I had a bit ago with Soundwave.

At the thought of the mech, I couldn't help but laugh a bit under my breath. That masked mech sure is an interesting character. I doubt anyone from his past would recognize him with that mask on. It's a good thing he took his mask off for me, otherwise I would have never guessed who he was.

Those deep blue optics are certainly strange for a Decepticon commander. I thought that he had changed them by now.

I took a longer sip of my high grade, enjoying the sweetness of it, swirling the liquid around its slick black container. It didn't particularly surprise me that he asked me what he did. No, not at all. He wanted to know why I did what I did. Ah, well, the reason why...

I replaced the cap on my flask, studying the container. It was carved crystal, with a slender, winged Predacon wrapping around it. The Predacon wrapped around the flask, its head rising above the cap. I studied its blue optics, bringing it up to my own. I humored myself, realizing how similar this Predacon's crystal optics are to Soundwave's.

For whatever reason, I suddenly felt compelled to look just past my flask. I don't know what came over me, but I looked nonetheless.

My spark skipped a beat when I saw a dark figure a good distance away from me. It was quite far away, but the sight of it standing halfway out from behind the tree unnerved me.

I stared at the figure for a moment longer before slowly rising from my seat on the ground, turning and walking in the opposite direction. Along the way, I put my flask back in my subspace, pushing low branches away from my face.

After walking for a few moments, I turned and looked back. The dark figure was gone. That injury I got may not have been in my head, but I'm certain that the strange figure was merely a figment of my imagination. This forest with its shifting shadows and sounds surely can trick the mind into doing interesting things.

Even though I was sure that the figure was not real, I felt that it was a wiser idea to keep moving. Yes, it is a better idea to keep moving. It will be harder for those bots to track me if they stop chasing my ship.

It was another few minutes before I decided to stop again by another tree and rest. I looked around, though it didn't do me much good. The canopy above me was thicker than before and what little light made it through the clouds barely penetrated the tree branches. Only a bit of the light made it through, making it harder to see at a longer distance.

I looked around once more, only give a small gasp of fear at the sight of that dark figure. Quickly turning on my heel, I walked away, faster this time. That figure wasn't as far as it was before.

It was getting closer to me.

The trees grew even more dense, and the now eerie glow of the moon shone down through the few breaks in the branches. My ventilations picked up in speed as I looked over my shoulder, trying to keep an eye on that figure. It's actively following me, but at the same time, not moving at all. It was just standing there, watching me.

Fear was starting to build up in my spark as I saw it disappear and reappear, closer to me. Like before, all it did was stand there, but because it was closer, I was able to get a better look at it, albeit a fleeting glimpse. It was still a black silhouette, but it was tall and had unnervingly long, slender arms.

I decided that I wasn't going to stay in one place long enough to get an even closer look.

I'm trotting now, weaving in between the trees and looking over my shoulder. Suddenly, my comm. link system activated and static exploded into my audio receptors. I skidded to a stop, holding the sides of my helm, attempting to shut off the sound to make the pain stop.

I fell to my knees, my helm throbbing from the loud and short burst of static that shot through me. It took a few moments, but the pain subsided enough to allow me to look up. Through the pain, I stared at the thick, black tree in front of me, and my optics widened at what was on it. The message "CAN'T RUN" was roughly and deeply gouged into the bark of the tree.

Then, a pair of black tentacles slithered around the trunk of the tree, reaching towards me.

I fell back, hyperventilating, pushing myself away from the tree along the ground as fast as I could before twisting around and scrambling to my pedes. I ran blindly, the static tearing in my audio receptors again, narrowly missing hitting a number of trees and tearing through the bushes.

The figure suddenly appeared in front of me, making me panic even more and bolt to the right like a frightened shock horse. I struck my arm against a low tree branch, tearing the branch off and causing me a small jolt of pain. At the moment, I didn't care. The only thing that mattered at the moment was getting away from this thing that is chasing me.

I ran and kept running, resisting the urge to look back. I'd only grow even more terrified if I do, because I know that it'll be back there, still following me.

I ran until a bit of the fear subsided, and I felt safer. The wound underneath the recovery patch on my thigh throbbed painfully, forcing me to slow down to a trot. The static had stopped and I could think clearly. Perhaps now I can rest.

I scanned the area for an appropriate place to rest and spotted a tree a short distance away, with very low hanging branches creating a curtain of leaves around the trunk that touched the dirt below. I smiled in satisfaction and swiftly made my way towards it. After what I have been experiencing, the primitive life form was an incredibly welcome sight.

Lifting my servo to push the branches out of the way, I walked forward, keeping the leaves out of my optics. I stepped through the leaves, hearing the dryness of the dead ones that littered the ground as I moved. I sat down heavily at the base of the tree, ignoring the dirt I kicked up, and gave a sigh of relief.

I escaped that thing, whatever it was.

I rested a servo on my knee as I rubbed my face. I'm still a bit on edge. Perhaps some of my high grade will calm my nerves...

All I can do here now is listen. That way I can move in time if I must. Now all I hear in my leafy shelter is the rustling of dry leaves shifting and flying in the wind, along with the distant rumbling of the storm. Next to no light made it past the branches of this tree, but thankfully I can see relatively well in the dark.

I found myself looking around at the ground as I sat there, my back to the tree. I suppose it was an attempt to distract myself from the chase I managed to escape from, not that it mattered much to me. There was the now familiar leaf litter covering the damp dirt, and a large dark grey stone, interestingly. It almost looks out of place. Almost.

That same fear from earlier surged back through me as I saw the message scratched onto the stone.

It said "CAN'T HIDE".

My spark started to pound as I dug my digits into the ground in fear. My gears seized up after I sharply drew my legs closer to my chassis. This must be from that black thing. It has to be.

Slowly standing, I moved as quietly as I could, careful to make as little noise as possible as the dead leaves crunched underneath my weight. My ventilations started to shudder and hitch and my optics widened as I slowly made my way towards the leaf curtain.

I hesitated for a moment as I stood in front of the low branches, afraid to leave my little place of refuge. No, I have to leave. The tree won't do me any good. That message was enough to tell me that the figure knows exactly where I am. The only thing I can do is keep moving. That's – That's the only thing...

My digits shook as I grabbed the branches and pushed my way out. I looked left and right cautiously, keeping an optic out for that figure from before.

These trees aren't safe anymore. I need to find a clearing. That way nothing can sneak up on me.

It didn't take me long to spot and head towards a clearing in the forest. I saw it solely because of the glow of the moon shining down brighter than in the rest of the forest. I never thought that the day would come where I would be glad to be out in the open. I've never liked being exposed, in any way.

But now, I guess the openness will aid me.

The clouds above me moved swiftly, constantly shifting and changing shape. I glanced around the large clearing as I stood in the middle of it, careful to make sure that I panned numerous times in a full circle. Aside from this clearing, the forest was quite dense, and the darkness in it seemed to move around, with all the leaves shuddering in the wind.

At least I know that this movement is only leaves.

I spun around once more, digging my heels into the ground in the process, looking around in an attempt to ease my nerves. The clearing was large and the ground was covered evenly with dry leaves. No one would be able to come up behind me. I'd hear them long before they came close.

Grinning slightly, I chuckled a bit to myself. I suppose it decided that chasing me wasn't going to end with its victory over me. It decided to stalk another bot. Good.

I'm safe and I will stay safe until my ship returns. All is fine.

I'm safe. All is fine...

A leaf shifted, and I whipped around to look in the direction of the sound, sending up a flurry of dead leaves.

My gears locked and I stood paralyzed in fear, wide eyed. My ventilation system seized up, my frame went cold and I couldn't even shiver.

No. No, no, no. I got away. I got away! How- How could...?

There was the dark figure, with its head tilted to the side in a sinister manner, standing two pedesteps away from me.

It stood there, silent as the night around it, staring at me. All I could do was stare back; my gears were still locked, and my frame didn't allow me to move. Even my mind stayed still in the fear I was experiencing. I couldn't think. I couldn't move. I couldn't feel my own frame. All I could do was stare at its dark face.

This can't be real. This can't be. The dark figure is not real. I am only dreaming, and I am currently sleeping underneath a tree. This chase never happened, and it is only a figment of my imagination. This thing cannot harm me, and will not harm me.

Then, the dark figure lifted its head and opened its eyes. It had blue optics.

Tentacles shot from its sides and I was suddenly seized by the neck, making me scream in terror. My feet dangled as I was lifted off the ground, held so tightly by the tentacles coiled around my neck I felt it would snap. I could feel the plating straining against the strength in the tentacles, and the energon wasn't flowing as easily to my CPU. I tried clawing at the appendages, but it was of no use. I wasn't strong enough to free myself.

"This is all real, Faultline," said the dark figure as it lifted its arm. My optics widened even more than before as I instantly recognized that voice. "And you will pay for what you did to them."

It was Soundwave, the Decepticon third-in-command.

Before I could give the realization more thought, I had begun to hyperventilate again at the sight of Soundwave's arm shifting into a long shining sword. He moved smoothly, centering the tip of the blade with my pounding spark, like he wanted so badly to skewer me.

"Now, I will do what I have needed to for many agonizing years."

...Soundwave's POV...

I finally caught him. After searching for so many years, I have finally cornered the murderer of my little boy and my friend.

I held on tightly with my tentacles, holding him off the ground, keeping him helpless. I am going to be sure that he feels what it felt like. To be helpless. I know that's how they felt before they died.

Silent rage burned through me as I looking into the eyes of the mech who killed my son. I am looking into the same eyes my close friend, Clearout, fearfully stared into as she was harmed. She looked into these eyes as she was being violated; she saw the pure evil in this demon, and died a victim of it.

My son... My beautiful son...

I wasn't there for him. He was taken from me, and I couldn't protect him... I'll never see his little smiling face again... not until I die.

All of this pain and guilt, all of this suffering was caused by this demon. And I told him that he was going to pay for what he did.

I lifted my arm and pressed the tip of my sword to this demon's spark. This was the same way... that... that Clearout died. Now he was going to feel how it felt to be impaled by a blade. But for him, there will be much more pain. More pain than he has ever experienced in his life.

I was going to slowly end the source of all this misery. Here and now.

Just pressed my sword forward, I realized that I was no longer standing in a moonlit, leaf littered clearing in the woods.

I stared in shock as I spun around, only vaguely noting that the mech disappeared from my grasp. How is this possible? There is no logical way that this could ever take place...

This is the front room of my home, back on Cybertron, on the south side of Tagan Heights.

I couldn't bring myself to move, too stunned to. Everything was the way I remember it. There was the signal monitor on the right wall, and there was the worn, center table in the room. Scattered across the old table was a number of datapads, and in the center of the table was the cracked glowing crystal fragment. There was the scratched furniture set that matched the table. Ahead of me was the front door, shut and locked, just as I had always made sure.

The place was quiet, the only being the world outside. I only heard a few bots driving and flying past on the street. It must be late at night; that was the only time that Tagan Heights was ever calm and peaceful like this.

I couldn't make sense of what was happening. This event was too tangible to be a dream, and yet I doubted that this was real. There was no way that I could be back in my home so suddenly. It was destroyed along with the rest of the city-state as the Autobots and Decepticons fought over its resources generated by the many factories within its borders. This place is nothing but a barren wasteland filled with twisted metal and corpses.

And yet, I am here, standing in the place that was the center of so many pleasant memories of my family.

Just as the sparkbreaking image of my little sparkling's smiling face came to me, I felt a presence nearby. It was not hostile by any means, but it was very kind, warm and loving.

Familiar.

Suddenly compelled to turn and face the presence that had joined me, I looked. The sight that I saw is one that I will never forget.

It was Halyard, my beloved and long deceased sparkmate, smiling gently as she looked up at me.

...

Wide eyed, I gazed back down at the terrified mech in my tentacles, saddened that Halli and I had to part ways. It was perhaps the last time I was to see her until I joined her within the AllSpark, an event I once wished was very soon.

I noted that we were surrounded by Autobots and Decepticons alike in the once empty clearing, all of them baring their weapons. They found our location, and seemed to be waiting for me to do something, seeing that I caught the mech they were chasing after.

They would not have to wait for long. Still stunned by what I experienced, I glanced up at the moon in the now clear night sky and muttered to the mech that I held trapped in my tentacles...

"...I forgive you."

With that, I released the mech, the source of all of this suffering, and turned away, leaving the bots around me to descend upon him.

More happened in that sequence with Soundwave and his sparkmate than was said here. And the Halli that Soundwave talks about there is NOT Halli the cyberdog. 'Halli' was Soundwave's sparkmate's nickname.

In the previous chapter's ending author's note, I asked if anyone could figure out why I had Soundwave's scars like that. They are meant to represent the pain he suffers, after losing the two people he cared most for in his life – his sparkmate and his child. And along with the mask, the scars show the pain he hides.

In this chapter, I referenced the song 'Riot' by Three Days Grace. :) Gotta love that song.

Let me know if you see a typo. This chapter is quite long and I may have missed a few.

Till next time! :D Thank you all for your support and I hope you all had a very merry Christmas and a happy New Year!

P. S. The next chapter will be mainly focused on Ratchet and Optimus, and we will also see what happened between Soundwave and his sparkmate, as well as what happened with Starscream and Breakdown.