A/N: Welcome to Chapter 14, readers! This chapter will contain substantial dialogue, especially close to the end—but much is revealed and new questions will arise. Also, pay special attention to the chapter breaks as they will indicate a change in time. If this chapter comes across as confusing, it was kinda meant to be—all will be revealed later. If you have any questions, don't be afraid to ask! Now on with the story!

Chapter 14: Revelations

Darkness. Complete and utter darkness. It was a Seeker's worst fear to be confined and plunged into darkness. How long had it been since he felt the sun's rays or the delicate kiss of the wind? Too long. Minutes had turned to hours and hours seemingly into days.

Thundercracker checked his internal chronometer to confirm his musings: three days. Slag. The indigo jet sagged under the weight of the chains. Chains. Chained like a damned human pet! Thundercracker released a tired, longsuffering growl. No one else in the world knew best a Seeker's worst fear than a fellow Seeker. With this knowledge, Starscream was punishing him thoroughly and until he cracked or Dezba and Skywarp were found he was stuck here.

His scarlet optics roved the tiny holding cell he had been placed within. It was a small square piece of dirty masonry. His wingtips brushed the ceiling; thick, industrial logging chains firmly bound his legs to the filthy floor. The Seeker's arms were stretched out and above his helmeted head and picketed firmly into the base's foundation walls. It was a position that afforded the blue Eagle the least amount of leverage should he even attempt to escape. Starscream even had his laser cannons deactivated. His body sparked and fritzed from the various wounds across his chassis. Energon dribbled across the dark blue enamel, its bright pink fluid a striking contrast against the dark enamel. It puddled at the Seeker's feet, a melancholy pool serving to remind him as to just why he was here.

His optics settled on the middle of the cell. He began to reflect on what had transpired these past few days—how he had gone from one of the best Decepticon warriors to ever grace the sky to a beaten and humiliated wreck chained like a terrestrial animal. The most vivid memory had been Starscream beating the molten slag out of him, while he was being held no less. It had taken the combined efforts of Barricade, Runabout, and Runamuck to hold him down and "accept" his punishment—it was a small consolation.

His thoughts then strayed to Dezba and Skywarp. Were they OK? Did Warp take her back to Starscream? She had tried to contact him shortly after he had been restrained. He had warned her to stay away from the base until further notice. Needless to say, Dezba hadn't been happy with his orders and he knew that she would have grown even more worrisome after his "punishment." Primus! She was so much like her. So strong-willed…

Flashback…

"Where do you get off telling me what to do?"

"Because I'm your brother, that's why!"

"Exactly! Brother not father, therefore you have no right to order me around! My superiors get that privilege!"

"Solarflare, I'm tellin' you don't do it! Something isn't right with this set-up. It could be a trap."

"Look, I know you're looking out for me, Thundercracker; you wouldn't be a good brother if you didn't. But I'm a fully upgraded Seeker now; I need to make my own decisions and I need to follow my superior's orders, now you can either help me or not. That's your call."

He gave a long sigh. "Alright, 'Flare. We'll do this together…"

End Flashback…

The memory stung like hot acid spilt across his circuits. He didn't like to remember her; the memories were just too painful. And now when someone else was just beginning to rely on him, it seemed as if history was repeating itself. He would lose Dezba, just as he lost Solarflare and once again it would seem there was nothing he could do about it.

In the darkness, a tiny sparkle caught the light of the sparks cascading down his chest armor. Slowly the little sparkle made its way down the jagged surface to drop innocently into the pooled energon below—it was a tear.


Three days earlier…

About two miles away from the underground base, Skywarp warily watched as Dezba recovered from her faint. He sat on a large boulder in a small, secluded mountain meadow. It was the first time he had really even been around the human.

Dezba slowly sat up, not fully taking in her surroundings. She felt warm moisture around the base of her neck; she wearily touched a hand to the spot then brought it before her hazel eyes. Blood. She quickly followed the wet trail until it reached her ear, feeling the source of the flow; it was then she remembered everything—the mind-probing, Thundercracker's intervention, a horrible, high-pitched screeching, and then a black-colored clone of Thundercracker appearing next to her.

She heard a slight shuffling and turned quickly towards the noise. Sitting about ten yards away was Thundercracker's clone, black and purple in color. He had a somewhat questioning look on his faceplates and it was apparent he was uncomfortable with her presence.

She decided to try and be the first to break the ice. "Uh hi. You must be…uh…um…"

"Skywarp."

"Um yeah," she paused, an uncomfortable silence coming between them. "I…uh…I want to thank you for getting me out of there," Dezba finished awkwardly.

His optics narrowed ever so slightly. "TC told me to. He couldn't give Soundwave the aft-kicking he deserved with you in the way."

The hostility was muted but didn't escape her notice; instead it only served to rile her up.

"Look here you overgrown trash heap," Dezba shouted, climbing unsteadily to her feet, "I didn't ask to be here! I didn't ask to be freaking mind-raped, and I sure as hell didn't ask you to step-in to rescue me! So if you have a problem with my being here, take it up with Thundercracker and don't take it out on me!

"Wait! Thundercracker! Oh my God! He's still in the base!" She stared at Skywarp in horror.

Skywarp had never seen anyone or (anything for that matter) change moods quite so quickly; it left him feeling perplexed to say the least. "What?" he said, irritation and confusion mingling in his voice.

"Thundercracker," Dezba exclaimed, "he's still in the base! I need to see if he's OK." She sat back down on the soft ground and pressed her fingertips to her temples in concentration. "Thundercracker?"

"Dezba. Good…to know you're safe. Stay away from the base. Tell…Warp to stay away."

"But what about you? Are you OK? When—"

"I will get to you and Skywarp when I can, until then stay low," he said weakly, cutting her off.

She could feel the link weakening and knew he would break contact shortly, but she clung on, desperate to remain close to the one being she had come to regard as a friend in this strange and dangerous new world.

Skywarp just watched. Femmes were complicated anyway and human femmes just took it to a whole different level. As he watched the human try and contact his friend telepathically, her words echoed through his mind. Maybe she was right; maybe he shouldn't take his frustration out on her. After all, Thundercracker was the one who had brought her here to begin with and Skywarp knew that his friend wasn't telling him everything. Now that he was an accomplice to her escape, he might as well try a different approach and hear the squishy's side of this strange story. Thundercracker was never a mech to elaborate on details; maybe she would be more forthcoming. Bring on the processor-ache.

Suddenly, a violent spasm racked Dezba's body. She gasped both from fright and pain as it intensified causing her to fall onto her back. She clutched her chest, half expecting to see blood, but found none. The blind spasms continued for what felt like an eternity, causing her to scream out in pain on more than one occasion.

All Skywarp could do was stare. So it is true. What one feels the other does as well. What in the Pit is happening to TC now? Twice now this has happened and I can't do a slagging thing about it!

Finally the torment ended. She turned a tear-streamed face back to Skywarp. "He's in trouble," she mumbled, her voice barely audible.

"I gathered that after watching you lay on the ground screaming like a mech possessed," Skywarp said sarcastically. "I am aware of your little mind link thing with him."

"He told you?" a fearful undertone creeping into her voice.

"Yeah, he did—after he plowed a ditch the size of your Grand Canyon with his nosecone," he said, a humorous light in his optics. "At the time it scared the slag out of me, but he gave me the short version of what's going on between you two. I was kinda hoping you could explain things a little better seeing as how I'm stuck in this mess too."

Dezba regarded the black Seeker with her hazel eyes. It was obvious this Decepticon was close to Thundercracker, much more so than any of the others; if he had ordered Skywarp to take her and also revealed their secret to him, then it was a logical conclusion to believe he could be trusted.

"OK, I'll do the best I can," the girl replied. She stood unsteadily and walked over to the towering Con. She sat at his feet and began to relate her story, now quite well-rehearsed. Some things she needed to break down a little more for Skywarp to understand (she surmised he wasn't as bright as some of the others) but for the most part he seemed to understand and accepted her account.

"…so just a few minutes ago when I was speaking with him, he warned us both not to come back to the base; they've had to have done something horrible for me to feel his pain," Dezba finished. She looked up at Skywarp, "Why wouldn't he want Starscream to know about this? This could have all been avoided if he had just said something!"

The black and purple jet raised a clawed finger and scratched the back of his neck in irritation. "I can't answer that one. That's between you and him, but if I know TC he must have a pretty good reason."

"So what are we going to do now?" Dezba asked. "We can't stay here and we can't go back there, not to mention those crazy guys who killed my family are still after me." She sighed in aggravation.

"Do you feel like a flight?" he asked suddenly, breaking her deliberation.

"Isn't that risky?"

"Sure. But it's better than sitting here just waiting for someone to find us, besides I always think better when I'm in the air anyway," he said, standing to his full height and scooping Dezba up in the process. Before she had time to protest she was tossed into his cockpit and they were off shooting up into the clouds high above the earth. Dezba had a sinking feeling that this wasn't going to go well.


Present day…

A door squealed protestingly on its hinges as it creaked open. A shaft of light penetrated the dark holding cell of Thundercracker's prison. Loud, reverberating footsteps reached the imprisoned mech's audio sensors, but it didn't illicit any sign of acknowledgement. The footsteps stopped before him and Thundercracker grudgingly lifted his head to see Starscream standing before him.

His Commander's face was an unreadable wall of metal, his optics a subdued color of red. Thundercracker waited patiently for him to speak.

"Thundercracker," Starscream began, taking a step closer to his SIC, "I know that there is something between you and the human and it would be best for all involved if you informed me what that may be."

Silence.

"Why are you doing this!?" Starscream snarled. "What significance is the human to you that you would put yourself through this? Answer me!"

Thundercracker's optics flickered briefly. How much did Starscream know? How much had Soundwave divulged? Was it possible for them to already know and now they were waiting on a confession?

"How much do you know?" he rasped.

"I know that she possesses a type of Allspark energy; Soundwave came into contact with it during his first interrogation," the beige Seeker answered.

Well, that's news but it certainly makes sense. But his revolution quickly turned to anger. "Interrogation?!" he husked angrily, "More like a torture session! Do you have any idea what you put that human through?!"

"When did you begin to let your Autobot sentimentality take over, Thundercracker?" Starscream countered. "You used to would have not even given a slag, let alone nearly kill one of my subordinates in a human's defense!"

"You're right!" Thundercracker roared back, his voice gaining strength from his anger. "I wouldn't have! But this is different!"

"How different, Thundercracker!?" Starscream paused, mulling over all the previous events. Then an idea came to him. "I know where this is coming from," he whispered. His optics glowed like hellfire as the idea took root. "She reminds you of her, doesn't she?"

Thundercracker's optics flared in anger, but he quickly looked away.

"Yes, I see the similarities. She reminds you of Solarflare—that fire, that passion, a blatant disrespect for authority…it makes sense that you would get defensive over a creature that reminds you so much of her," Starscream taunted, trying to antagonize Thundercracker into a defense.

"Do NOT speak of my sister," Thundercracker growled menacingly.

"But it's true, isn't it? I've only ever seen you that angry when your sister's spark was on the line. Trying to make up for the past, Thundercracker? Trying to repent of a sin that has damned you to a life of servitude in the Decepticon ranks?" Starscream hissed in his audio receptor.

"ENOUGH!" the indigo Seeker roared, the chains rattling angrily as he thrashed against his bonds. "You know NOTHING about me, Starscream!"

"On the contrary, Thundercracker, I know a great deal about you and it would be in your human's best interest if you told me everything about her. Believe me," Starscream rasped, holding Thundercracker's chin in a clawed hand, "Soundwave's methods will be like sparkling's play compared to what I'm capable of."

"Go to THE PIT! I will see her in the hands of the Autobots before I allow your grease-covered claws to touch her!"

"So you would damn our race to extinction!? That human may possess a clue to Cybertron's revival and you would deny us that opportunity!?"

"There are other ways to get her cooperation than using force and experimentation!" Thundercracker rumbled, anger still seething in his optics. "Of all the mechs I know, I would have thought you would have realized that to begin with!"

Before Starscream could retaliate another mech stumbled into the holding cell—it was Runabout. "Commander Starscream!"

"What, you insignificant scrapheap!?"

"It's Skywarp! Barricade has found Skywarp!"

Both Thundercracker and Starscream looked at Runabout; he shrunk from their intense stares.

"Was the human with him?" Starscream asked, facing Thundercracker again to gauge his reaction.

"No, sir. Barricade found him barely functional and surrounded by humans. They retreated with the girl before Barricade could engage," Runabout informed them. "Barricade is waiting to brief you."

"Dismissed Runabout."

"Yes, sir." With that the white Viper turned and left the cell, leaving Starscream and Thundercracker alone once more.

"See what your foolishness has done now?" Starscream hissed angrily. "If you hadn't allowed your pathetic Autobot morals to interfere, we would still have the human!"

Thundercracker weighed his options for the playing field had changed drastically now. The cobalt Seeker raised his head and met Starscream's intense glare. "I have claimed her as my charge and as such I will take on the responsibility of retrieving her. Would you be willing to negotiate a trade?"

Starscream considered Thundercracker's words. "What did you have in mind?"

"I will tell you of my connection with the girl, if you release me and allow me to retrieve her."

"How do I know you will honor your word, soldier? You betrayed me when you attacked Soundwave and ordered Skywarp to free her; this entire situation is because of you," Starscream pointed out.

"Then allow me to rectify it, Starscream. You were right on one thing. Dezba does remind me of my sister, so much it almost rends my spark in two when I think about it. " He hung his head in shame and pain, trying to douse the memories.

Starscream saw a river of emotions flash across the other's countenance—anger, regret, sadness. He knew these emotions had plagued the dark blue Cybertronian for eons--he had been there when it occurred. In all the time he knew Thundercracker as a Decepticon, he had done everything for a reason. Why should this be any different? He decided to give in to his gut instinct.

"Very well, Thundercracker. Tell me what you know and I will release you to retrieve the human," he paused for a brief instant, "I will also rethink my methods for discovering her true capabilities, should any exist."

Thundercracker merely nodded his head, but his optics burnt like red flames. Starscream quickly released the blue jet of his bonds then followed him as they made their way from the darkest depths of the base. Time was short.