The sky's the limit

Chapter 4

A/N: I do not own Transformers nor any OCs in this fic. OCs and credit for this fic go to SuperSentai199. Please don't forget to review, hope you enjoy.

Shade recognised where Predaking had taken her the nanosecond that they had emerged from the ground bridge; well really he had dragged her through not giving her a choice in the matter. He had taken her to the same cavern where she had fought him to protect her family. It crossed her processor that he perhaps was going to get revenge for her letting them go but then again Megatron had given him permission to carry out their plans which she seriously doubted was to kill her, not after all their trouble of changing her in the first place.

They had bridged on the far side of the cave so she was trapped by Predaking, his form blocking the way out so she couldn't try and run away from him. He pushed her down on to one of the large rocks that had fallen during the previous battle as he took his time in making his way over. Shade picked herself up her body aching from where she had fallen against the hard surface. As she did her wings spread open flapping to help her upright. Just as she was stood on her own two legs the large mech approached her and pushed her back against the wall, restricting her movements so she couldn't push him away. A gasp escaped her mouth plates as he drew his own face closer to hers which made her feeling really uncomfortable, she could feel the warmth of his body radiating off and on to her. She heard the small jingle from her necklace that still firmly held its place around her neck, its blue and purple colour darkened by Predaking close proximity to her.

"What…What are you doing?" her voice was uncertain as she tried to back off further from him but she was completely restricted by the wall behind her and the predacon in front of her.

He locked optics with her and saw that she was fearful of him which confused him. The femme was fine around him earlier and now she was scared. "Following orders" his reply was blunt and without emotion but as the young autobot looked at him she could see that there was more to it than just following the warlord's commands. It seemed as though he was hiding his emotions, trying to push them back so that he could act without problems in this case create a new army for the decepticon cause that he could lead.

Before she could say anything else Predacon brought his face closer to hers and connected his mouth with hers. Shade immediately directed her face away but he was able to kiss her again deepening it to which she screwed up her face in disgust having gone through something similar with Starscream before on Cybertron but back then Optimus had managed to intervene before things got worse. This time the Prime wouldn't be there for her, he didn't know she was alive let alone on the same planet as him. Seeing where things were going with Predaking sliding his servo down her sided she used her strength to push back away from her. Her blue optics filled with horror as she understood now what Megatron had in mind.

She gasped out and she made sure to stay away from him. "That's your orders! Don't you want to be free from Megatrons command, free to do what you want?"

At her words Predaking didn't advance further, he kept his distance from her. His processor going over everything that he did want. Though he hadn't been online as long as others he had thought about where he wanted to be. To mate with a femme that made his spark pulse at the sound of her voice. To be able to lead other predacons like him peacefully without conflict or need to spill energon. It was everything that Megatron didn't want, if anything Megatron would see him as a threat, but it was the autobots that destroyed his brethren and they had to pay for that.

His distraction seem to make him unaware of Shade as she took this opportunity to shuffle around him but he noticed before she could get far from him. His servo violently reached for her arm where he swung her around and pushed her down on to the rock. She gasped as he threw himself on top of her, his servos feeling down her shape and his digits smoothing down finding her sensitive areas and massaging her wiring. Although it sent a pleasant sensation throughout her body she was not willing to give in. Flailing her arms she tried punching him away but his right servo reached up and took both of her servos and held them above her helm. He kissed her as his interface panel slide open, his cable ready. Predaking moved his free servo to draw circles around her panel as he tried to gain access while his denta bit down on Shades lip plates.

The mech thrust himself against her his digits forcing themselves into the interface panel to open it. As he did his cable slide around it waiting for the port to be vulnerable but before her panel could open her wings opened up and folded in hitting the predacon making him fall forward over the back of the rock. Shade moved quickly taking the chance as she picked herself up and ran to the exit of the cave. As her legs carried her she heard Predaking following behind growling out in annoyance. She knew that she wouldn't get far with him following so just as she was about to leave she used her wings to haul herself into the air and backflip behind him. This caught the predacon off guard and just before he could turn to restrain her she roundhouse kicked him in the helm, her foot making contact with his face that made him fall down to the side giving her an opening to leave. As she ran through the network of tunnels she transformed her arms into blasters and shot at the ceiling behind her. The stable rock falling behind her as it was trying to trap her inside but with her wings Shade swooped out in to the open. The sun of the day shining on to her armour as she hovered in the sky taking in her freedom as her arms returned to normal.

Though her lip plates felt sore where Predaking hadn't let up from kissing her. "Don't move" another voice surprised Shade from the ground as well as the sound of a charged up weapon ready to fire. Peering down Shade let out a relieved sigh as she saw one of the bots that she had wanted to see for so long. The small blue femme that she considered her sister after the time they had spent together.

Arcee stood in a fighting stance both her arms pointed at Shade in their gun state, charged and ready to fire at will. Not one but of Arcee had changed from when Shade last saw her except perhaps the death glare that she was getting. The purple femme lifted her servos to show that she wasn't going to hurt Arcee, slowly her flapping wings lets her descend to the ground before hiding behind her back again. "What are you doing here, decepticon?" it hurt Shade a little that she was called a decepticon, thought by her sister to be one of those treacherous pieces of scrap but then again if Arcee had known it was her then she wouldn't have said it.

"I'm not a decepticon, Arcee" at the sound of her name the blue femme backed up not sure what to make of the new predacon. It had confused her even more when she had heard from Optimus that this predacon femme had protected and defended both Wheeljack and Ultra Magnus and allowed the autobots commander to escape with them, all the while keeping the one predacon that wanted them offline at bay. "I'm very much one of you"

Arcee frowned at the mention of a predacon being an autobot especially one created by the decepticon scientist, Shockwave. "How do you know me?"

"How do I not know you sis" Shades face softened, she wasn't going to fight Arcee even if it were in self-defence. She would let the autobot take her down. Arcee looked at the predacon in front of her fully seeing that she was taller than her but not as big as the predacon mech. And her form was similar to another she knew and missed every day except more dragon like. But her optics locked particularly on something hanging from the femme's neck that glistened in the sunlight. Its shape was small and circular though it was made up of two colours that were quite distinct to Arcee; one being her body colour of blue while the other being the body colour of Shade of purple. At that moment Arcee stared right into the bright blue optics of the predacon and air was silent, not even the wind blew for it was too nerve racking. Shade wanted to say something more but thought better of it seeing as it might push her buttons a bit too much than she wanted.

"Shade?" the sound of her name made her smile for she wondered if one of the autobots would ever recognise her. She nodded in response confirming that it was her. "It's really you"

"Long time no see" before anything more could be said Arcee ran into Shade; their arms wrapped round each other tightly so that they both were reminded that it was real and they were together again.

Both of their helms rested on eithers shoulder as lubricant leaked from their optics and rolled down their cheek plates. "I've missed you so much, sis" Arcee's voice was softer now and full of emotion.

"I've missed you too" Shade nudged her head against Arcee's as she spoke.

They stayed silent for quite a while taking in the moment of having found each other at last. If anything they didn't want to let go just in case it was real, so the moment would never end. "Arcee, what are you doing here?"

"We picked up decepticon activity here so Optimus sent me to scout it out" at the mention of her sire Shade's smile grew bigger.

Nothing lasts forever though; a load roar startled the two femme's making them retract from their embrace. Arcee readying herself to fight. The rocks blocking the entrance to the cave were moving slightly as they heard loud bangs where Predaking was trying to push the fallen boulders out the way and get out. "What's that?" Shade didn't want to think about what Predaking would do if he escaped and found her associating with Arcee. It made her frightened just to think of such things.

"That would be the decepticon activity" Arcee gave her a confused look "the predacon or as he's calling himself 'Predaking" her plan to trap him in the cave was working but it wouldn't keep him for long so Shade acted quickly she embraced Arcee again as her wings lifted them both off of the ground "hold on" they tightly held on to each other. Shade flying them into the cover of trees where the predacon would have to search by foot to find them if they remained low and quiet. Feet firmly on the ground Arcee stepped back to see the full length of Shade's wings, they were large and could probably take quite a bit of weight.

Her expression then saddened as she realised the change that had happened and what Shade must have gone through at the hands of the decepticons. "What have they done to you?" Shade chose not to answer still not quite believing it herself. "What happened to you, Shade? The last we saw of you was you running away as Cybertron died"

With her wings tucked away ready for their next use Shade turned and moved away not wanting Arcee to see her like this.

"I ran, Arcee. I found barely found a functioning escape pod and used it to leave Cybertron. Next thing I knew I crashed here, quickly found a motorcycle of my taste and drove until I was ambushed by Soundwave and Laserbeak" Arcee didn't dare interrupt Shade's story "I woke up in Shockwaves where he kept experimenting on me, the majority of the time I was unconscious so when I woke up I found myself like this and soon as I was free I saw Wheeljack and Ultra Magnus being attacked so I rushed to them and fought off predaking but now apparently I'm ready for their plans which I just escaped from as I figured that Predaking was going to interface with me to create a new army of predacons after the ones you destroyed"

Arcee's optics widened as she learned the latest of the decepticon plans. They were going to breed a new army probably with Shockwaves scientific help as well to speed up the development process. Arcee actually couldn't wait to bring Shade back to the base with her and tell Optimus that his search for his daughter was over. That he had found her already but didn't know it. The blue autobot was about to reply but the sound of an angry roar beat her to it as well as crumbling rocks which meant that Predaking had freed himself and it was only a matter of time before they were found by him. Arcee gasped knowing that he would be looking for Shade and she hated to think of what he might do if he found her.

"Shade you have to come with me back to base" Arcee rushed the whole sentence out of her mouth and was about to call for a ground bridge but was stopped.

"Femme!" the booming voice of Predaking made Shade's armour shiver but she pushed it aside now that she needed to find all the courage she had.

Shade placed both her servos on both of Arcee's shoulders, staring at her right in the optics "I can't go with you, Arcee" she put her hand up to stop the small femme from arguing "if we go now Predaking will follow and he will kill the others, I'm not going to let that happen. He wants me. I don't want to go back but I will for my family, you have to run. Run like you've never done before because I'm just like him now so I know power one little punch has, the strong sense he has. He can't find you so please…run" she kept her voice low and throughout she could see that Arcee understood but that didn't mean she had to like it. Out of everything she would have stuck by her but she needed to get back and tell the others that the young autobot was alive and on Earth. She was about to turn and run but couldn't help but give in to her sparks request as she wrapped her arms around her lost sister one final time.

"We're going to get you out of there, just remember that we'll be monitoring for any activity and ground bridge energy signatures" she tightened her grip as best she could.

"Femme!" the predacon wasn't giving up anytime soon.

"We'll see each other soon" Shade tried to reassure her as she pried Arcee's servos off of her. They exchanged small smiles just as Arcee turned and fled, Shade watching her until she was out of sight but then her smile disappeared in a spark beat. Whatever courage she had built up to stop Arcee from worrying had instantly disappeared along with her sister but she had to go out there and face him. He could beat her but then again they needed her so they wouldn't do anything to jeopardise their plans.

Letting out a huge sigh Shade moved back to a clearing. "Femme!" his voice wasn't as far off as before which meant that he was close by. Concentrating hard Shade transformed having better control over it now and flew up, soaring through until she was above the cavern again which really she didn't want to be. The air had gone silent then as she waited for any sign of him but there was nothing. She had strong senses though and they picked up on the sound of large flapping wings heading her way and they were close to her position. Upon instinct Shade dropped down to the ground where it shook from the impact. Predaking had underestimated her abilities where she had dropped just as he was about to ram her but he ended up flying into a cliff side. Roaring out in frustration he flew down to her and grabbed her using his talons making sure he had a firm grip on her as he dragged her back inside the cave. Her body squirming to be free from his death like grip but she could only watch as the light of day got further away as she was taken into the gloom of the cave.

"What did you just say" Bulkhead stood with the others as they listened to Arcee telling them of what she saw. They had expected her to scout it out and call for back up but instead she commed for a ground bridge and returned with a story that none of them could believe, least of all their leader who remained silent as he too wanted Arcee to repeat herself.

All the autobots were gathered around the blue femme so that they could properly hear her. "It was Shade…Shade is the new predacon that saved Ultra Magnus and Wheeljack"

Gasps sounded and optics grew bigger than they ever have before as silence settled in to the realisation until Wheeljack spoke up "the kid is on Earth and we didn't know? She saved us" he looked to the second in command that was lying on the berth as he was being treated by Ratchet for having lost a servo in the battle with the predacon.

"It's possible that she crashed here when we were having technical difficulties" Ratchet surmised though that made him feel guilty. If it hadn't been for that then they would have none of her arrival and would have been there to meet her. Resulting in her being with them at the current time and not experimented upon by the decepticons.

"She saved me, giving herself up to the predacon that was looking for her so that he wouldn't find me" they looked to one another as they couldn't believe how brave she was being. Not one of them had seen or heard from her since Cybertron went dark and now each and every one of them wanted her back, to be safely with them, particularly Optimus.

Bumblebee stepped forward communicating the best he could about staging a rescue to get the loved femme back. Ratchet immediately stopped what he was doing so his entire attention was on the conversation at hand. "How do you suppose we do that? We don't know where the warship is and even if we did we would still be outnumbered and gunned"

Optimus took a few steps away to think on his own, having not said any word so far. "Since the cons got tall, dark and scary they've had more success. The predacon puts us at a great disadvantage"

"We can't just do nothing, besides with Shade we have a balance of power" Wheeljack was definitely in for it if they were going to get her back. He hit his fist against his other servo to show he was ready.

"It sounded like Shade has only just been turned given that their plans for breeding a new army have only just begun" Arcee's statement made the wrecker quite confused "She's new to her abilities, Wheeljack. Predaking had more experience so there's no balance"

All of them stopped and turned to their leader, noticing his silence. He was in deep thought taking into account everything he had heard. He had vowed the day he lost her to find her and he had but did not recognise her as a predacon, which meant he had failed. Optimus clenched both of his fists to stop him lashing out in anger. He promised to protect his daughter but he failed at that too. "Optimus?" They waited for him to say something understanding that out of everyone he would be feeling the most distressed and angry about what the decepticons, what Megatron has done.

"We lack the means of locating the warship and infiltration would be unwise" he looked to the unmanned monitor recalling that was how they saw decepticon activity and Arcee was sent to scout it out "monitoring duty with be set for if Shade finds the means to escape again, Bulkhead you will go first. Should anything come up the entire team is to alerted immediately"

Bulkhead nodded in response and took his position at the monitor. "I vow on this day that we will get Shade back" Optimus's servos were practically shaking as he was struggling to control his anger, his optics were narrow as he was determined to do whatever it took to get his daughter back.