I apologise for the lateness of this chapter. I know many people have been dying to find out what happens next after my evil cliffhanger. Apparently I had left this story on the backburner for a good long while, lost and forgotten until realisation struck me dead in the brain at the last minute.

I must also apologise for the shortness of this one because... well, mainly because I have a way to further my plan in this story. Sorry, I cannot tell you what it is until the moment is right. Without further ado, let us continue this dark and dangerous road that is my insanity! Mwahahaha!

Chapter 12:

Carried On Leather Wings

Starscream's vicious laughter echoed through the night as Optimus cried out his charge's name, Barricade forgotten for the time being. He mentally cursed himself for not noticing his sensors pick up the arrival of a flying Transformer and snatch her up until he had heard her cries. Optimus wasn't even sure if Ironhide and Ratchet were going to get here in time to assist him in getting her back.

The Decepticon held Jasmine tightly in his clawed hands while Midnight barked frantically up at him at his pedes in an attempt to get him to drop her master, but he seemed to be ignoring the little earth creature. He grinned wickedly at the helpless look of the Optimus Prime, who was stuck between holding Barricade down at blade's point and risking the loss of the human at his own hands.

"Careful, Prime," Starscream warned coolly. "One wrong step and your precious human is as good as dead."

Jasmine whimpered pathetically as he jabbed a sharp claw into her side, penetrating her clothing. If he had been paying much attention, he would have noticed the bristling of Optimus' battle armour. Fury was as clearly seen on his face behind his half-broken mask that dangled uselessly on one side.

"Ironhide," he privately com-linked, "what's ETA now?"

"ETA is five minutes," Ironhide replied. "Why, what's going on?"

"Starscream is here and he has Jasmine hostage!" he snapped.

"Frag! Hang on, Optimus, we're coming!" The sound of engines being pushed to the maximum poured through the com-link, but Optimus ignored it, focusing back on what was happening right in front of him.

"Let her go, Starscream," he bellowed, silverly blue optics squinting in the moonlight. "It's me you want, not her!"

Starscream waved an index digit at the Prime. "Demands, demands, Prime," he smirked, shaking his head dismissively. "It's all you ever ask for these days. No, I don't think I will let her go. In fact, I want to enjoy watching you suffer as I hold what is dear to you in the palm of my servos."

To prove a point, he squeezed Jasmine tight enough to make her squeal the Autobot commander's name.

As she squealed, Optimus' insides almost seemed to crack along with her pain. Horror flickered across his optical sensors for no more than a few seconds before Starscream slackened his grip slightly. Jasmine's head lolled to one side, and Optimus knew that she had slipped into unconsciousness.

More anger gnawed in the pit of his spark chamber as he struggled to hold back every ounce of himself in order to prevent from making the wrong move. "What do you want from me?" he hissed, his voice desperate.

"First of all," Starscream replied casually, "I want you to step away from Barricade. If you do not, then your little human friend will cease to exist." His digits twitched slightly to show he wasn't kidding around.

Optimus' optics shifted from Starscream to Barricade and back to Starscream again. The insides of his chassis screamed it was a trap, but if he was to save Jasmine, then he had no other choice. Everything was riding on his decision. He knew it wasn't too much longer before Ratchet and Ironhide arrived on the scene, but the injury on his side wasn't going to let him hold out on his own for very long either. He let his optics offline for a moment, thinking carefully on the situation that was before him, his processor calculating the odds of success. What could he do without endangering Jasmine? He didn't know and he knew that he couldn't do anything without letting her get hurt even further.

He was out of options.

The blade's tip lowered from Barricade's main energon line and he took several steps back from him, but he never removed his furious gaze from Starscream, malice and hate seen as clear as day on his faceplates.

Barricade got to his feet and quickly limped over to Starscream's side. Starscream seemed perfectly satisfied with the outcome and Optimus' cooperation, the gleeful look on his facial features confirming this as such.

"I let Barricade go, Starscream, just like we agreed," Optimus called. "Now you'll uphold your own end or the bargain."

Starscream glanced from Barricade to Optimus then to Jasmine, who was still out cold from the pain. "You're a fool, Prime," he laughed mockingly. "Just like how you've always been. Your compassion has always been your weakness!"

"What?" Optimus cried with alarm.

"You see," continued Starscream, ignoring Optimus' spoken words, "I have plans for this human that I think you'll find most impressive to say the least. So I think I'll hold onto her a bit longer to ensure that you don't come after us."

"Never!" Optimus snarled as he re-transformed his hand back into the blade. "I won't let you take her from me!" Ignoring the pain in his side, he rushed straight towards Starscream, fury flashing in his optics and his blue and red battle armour trembled violently along with his emotions. He attempted to bring his sword upwards, but the sharpness of the pain prevented him from fully performing the action and he stumbled.

Starscream took advantage of this by lashing out with his unused servo in a swift motion. His claws extended to a certain angle and he scraped them across Optimus' unprotected faceplates, removing the rest of his battle mask. With his cranium flying to one side and being unable to fully calculate what was going to happen, Starscream kicked out with one leg and a foot connected with the Prime's midsection, causing him to fall on his injured side. A cry of agony echoed from his vocal processor as he fell to the ground.

He struggled to get up, but he was forced back down on the ground when something heavy planted their full weight upon his cranium that pushed his faceplates in the dirt, his mouth filling up with the disgusting earth.

"You're as pathetic as you've ever been when you faced Megatron back in Mission City, Prime," Starscream snarled darkly. "You couldn't even defeat him and you let a human kill him for you." He applied more pressure to Optimus' helm, his clawed foot crushing it slightly between his toes. "It's such a shame that your Autobots aren't here to see me finish you off," he continued. "The looks on their faces would have been worth it as they watch me crush you beneath my pedes."

Optimus said nothing in response to the Decepticon. He was far too busy struggling to breathe thanks to the dirt getting inside his articulators. A part of him wanted to do everything in his power to get Jasmine back, but another part of him told him he was far too badly injured to even help her. He knew that Starscream wouldn't have the circuitry to finish him off. Rather he wanted him to suffer until every fibre in his chassis was broken and unable to continue the fight.

Jasmine... his thoughts whispered.

The weight on his cranium was soon lifted off and his sensors told him that the heavy foot was dangling just several feet off above him, almost as though Starscream seemed to be preparing for the finishing blow.

I'm sorry...

His sensors warned him that a high velocity mass was descending upon him, but then suddenly halted when Barricade spoke up, "Sir, incoming energy signatures. It's Ironhide and Ratchet."

Starscream let off a snarl of furious anger and then spat at the ground beside Optimus. "You got lucky this time, Prime," he sneered. "But the next time that we meet, it will be your last."

Optimus' audio receptors picked up the familiar sound of shifting armour, a small plunk that indicated Jasmine had been placed in the cockpit of a jet, and then his entire world was lit up by fire as Starscream let off an enormous outburst of heat from his plasma burners and seemed to disappear into the darkness. There was another transformation sequence and a revving engine that faded away into the distance, leaving Optimus alone in the dirt.

He wasn't alone for long because a pair of powerful engines and two sets of headlights illuminated the dark gloom. He heard the deafening cries of both Ratchet and Ironhide as they transformed and rushed in his general direction, their pounding feet drawing closer and their lit up chest plates guided them to his position.

"Optimus, can you hear me? Optimus!"

He felt his entire body getting turned onto his back and every ounce of his chassis screamed in agony, his automatic recharge systems violently crying out in protest in an attempt to shutdown in order to preserve more energy. He mentally snapped at it, telling it to kiss his tight aft as he suddenly began to twist and turn in the arms of whoever was holding him in an attempt to get back onto his feet, despite the ongoing pain that was spreading through him.

Wiggling free from the comforting hands, he tried to stand on his own two feet (though he failed miserably and sank back down to his knees with a loud thud) and raised his head to the full moon, screaming: "Jasmine!"

Ironhide and Ratchet looked at each other, realisation dawning upon them.

"JASMINE!" he screamed again in the hopes that she would hear his cries to her.

He had failed Jasmine.

He had failed Jason.

He had failed the one family he had sworn to protect until his spark pulsed its last pulse.

A pair of arms wrapped around his chassis, bringing him close to a broad chest. He turned his head, his optics glazing with tears as he leaned into the warm embrace of his dear friend Ratchet. "She's gone, Ratchet," he whimpered pathetically like a sparkling. "I failed..."

His recharge systems finally kicked in and he succumbed to cold, unwelcoming darkness.