Chapter Twenty

"And there was no sign of Crystal?" Optimus asked.

"No sir, just Moongaze. Though there wasn't any sign of those seekers either." Mirage answered as he gave his report of what happened.

"Do you think they could have the information they need and are checking it out?" Prowl theorised.

"Let us hope not." Optimus said. "Thank you, Mirage." The mech gave a nod and walked out. The semi looked over at the Datsun, "Prowl, I want you to post someone where the facility used to be. Tell them to report in as soon as they see any Decepticons no matter how insignificant."

"Sir?"

"It would seem that the only way to rescue Crystal now is by taking her from the facility." Prime explained.

Crystal began to get more and more worried as the days went by, she wasn't worried that the Decepticons would hurt her trying to get the information they wanted. She was worried that Starscream's threat about harming Thundercracker was coming true, each day the blue seeker came to see her he had a new injury that he claimed had been an accident though she wasn't so sure. She couldn't let it go on like this, who knew how far Starscream would go. Would he even…Crystal suddenly squeezed her eyes shut and looked away from the door, she mustn't think like that. She suddenly jumped and gasped as she felt something touch her shoulder, her eyes instantly opened as she looked over. Thundercracker was looking down at her with worried optics.
"I'm fine." She lied.

"You're lying." He told her surprising the female. The blue seeker had figured out Starscream's 'game' and why he was having so many 'accidents' lately. He was the one they were using to get her to talk, somehow the red seeker found out how close the golden brown haired female was to him and by causing him harm it caused her to worry what would happen next. "You're worried about me." He stated.

Crystal looked down at the floor, "no, I…" she began but even though she tried to deny it she could feel herself blushing.

Thundercracker gave a tiny smile before picking her up and standing, "yes you are. I see it in your optics whenever I walk in with an injury."

The female felt her blush deepen. "I'm sorry, Thundercracker." She said idly running a hand over his palm "you've been so kind to me and…I didn't want to lose that. I'm sorry." She apologised again.

"What did he say to you?" upon receiving a confused look he continued "Starscream. What did Starscream say to you?"

Crystal sighed and looked away from him once more. "I guess he must have realised how much I care for you." She told him without thinking "he said that if I didn't tell him where the experiment was that you'd might have an accident. I didn't believe him at the time. I mean, who would believe that someone would harm their own teammate just to get what they wanted."

Thundercracker gently turned her head so she was looking at him. "We are Decepticons not Autobots." He stated plainly "if we have to walk over someone to get what we want we will do it, no matter who they are."

"But they hurt you." The blue seeker shrugged trying hard not to wince at his latest shoulder injury. "They hurt you because of me." Her voice trailed off into a whisper and a lone tear made its way down her cheek. Thundercracker didn't know what shocked him more, the fact that she was crying because someone was hurting him or the fact that he wiped the tear away without a second thought. They stared at each other a while, red optics into hazel eyes. A few more tears made its way down her face and each time he would wipe them away.
"It doesn't exist anymore." She said quietly breaking the silence.

"What doesn't exist anymore?" a voice said breaking the moment and making the blue seeker turn in surprise, there by the door were his trinemates. Upon receiving no reply the air commander stormed over, snatched the human out of Thundercracker's hand and shook her roughly before saying, "tell me!" he demanded. Thundercracker was about to reach over and stop him when he felt something on his arm. He looked over and saw Skywarp standing beside him shaking his head. "I've had enough of playing games with you, Fleshling." Starscream fumed "now you either tell me or say goodbye to your friend over there!" he threatened.

Crystal's eyes widened and she shook her head in fear, she no longer wanted Thundercracker to get hurt because of her. She looked as best as she could and saw Skywarp holding one of the blue seeker's arms and pointing his weapon at his head. She looked back at Starscream and saw he was deadly serious, she then looked down at his hand thinking. Part of her thought he was bluffing that he wouldn't be able to shoot his own teammate but then Thundercracker's words drifted through her mind 'if we have to walk over someone to get what we want we will do it, no matter who they are.' She'd never forgive herself if something happened to him. She sighed and said softly, "it blew up, the experiment you want no longer exists. It exploded taking everything with it, only a few of us managed to survive."

"You're lying to me." Starscream said giving her a small shake.

"No." she said sternly looking up at him. "Many of my friends died in that explosion, even…" she trailed off and willed herself not to cry as thoughts of them came back.

The red seeker knelt down dropping her the last few inches to the floor and surprising her. "You'd better be right, Human, or you won't like the consequences." And headed out, with Skywarp pushing Thundercracker out. As the door closed Crystal threw herself down to the ground and cried.