Frozen like a statue, she was, standing with her head tilted upward and her mouth slightly open in shock or fear or whatever she was feeling.

Memories flashed across her vision, it seemed. A femme that looked surprisingly like her huddled in a corner, being stalked by vicious red eyes, like a snake and a mouse. Only when the femme cried out did Mikaela realize that it was her, Roadrunner. Also did she realize that she had never been trapped in a corner while Megatron stalked her like a lion, and that these memories were not hers, but of the body she had stolen.

Panic: Check.

Scream? Run? Fight? Yeah, the latter of the options seemed the most irrational of them all.

She chose to run.

Quick as a jungle cat, Mikaela's dodged Megatron's outstretched hand, stumbling through the forest as fast as she could.

Her catapulted over a fallen tree and kept on running, running, running, not feeling the least bit tired because she didn't have lungs that needed filling. Didn't have legs that would ache if you pushed them to hard.

But she did have a pursuer. And her pursuer was huge and bulky, stumbling through the forest after her, fast, but not fast enough. Mikaela's original body had been built for speed and speed only. She stumbled down a hill, armor slapping against tree branches. But the feel felt more like a soft caress than a hard slap.

Run, her mind screamed. Run, run, run.

A talon dug into her shoulder, tearing through the metal enough to cause it to stink. And then that horrifying, yet crystalline moment of flying as Megatron hurtled her thorough the air like she was a rag doll.

She smacked into a tree, rebounded off, and landed in the mud.

She cursed, tried to stand up, tried to scramble away, but to no avail. She found herself pinioned, helpless.

"Running will do you no good, femme."

Mikaela was squirming like a worm, trying to wriggle out of Megatron's iron grip. But he wasn't having any of that and he lifted her up with one talon, like she was made of air, and held her in front of him.

"Primus has been good to me. I ask for another femme, and he brings my old partner back from the Pit."

Mikaela growled and made feeble attempted to bite his finger.

Then, it dawned on her.

He thought she was Roadrunner or whatever her name was. He didn't know….that meant…

"Lemme go," she gasped.

"Do tell me what you are doing miles away from home."

He thought she was someone else. Didn't know…didn't know…

Mikaela gasped as he dropped her. Her head banged against the ground and she saw stars.

"I have been looking for you," he said in his low growl.

Mikaela was gasping and choking like a fish out of water. He had almost crushed her vocal cords. Had almost turned her into Bumblebee…speechless.

"I ran…I.." Mikaela managed. "Don't hurt me."

"Why would I hurt you? You are my beloved, are you not?"

Oh, right, she had almost forgotten Ratchet's story. Had almost forgotten that she was Megatron's lover, but it wasn't her, really? It was just Mikaela Banes stuck in the body of some willing Decepticon femme who had given herself to Megatron. Body, not mind had been given.

So why was she feeling some invisible tug towards him?

Shut it down, she told herself. Shut it down and out or else he will kill you, once he find you are not who he thinks you are.

"I'll ask you again, Roadrunner, how are you here? Did my dear brother, keeper of the Matrix, find you and decide he simply could not function without you?"

"Yes," Mikaela lied.

"And did you give yourself to him? Or did you remember that you still, and always will, belong to me?"

"Ye- I…" Mikaela faltered and did not meet his eye. They were just too glowing red orbs hovering in the air, the rest of his body consumed by midnight. There was nothing else out there, either, just a little bit of starlight and a little bit of moonlight and a whole lot of dark.

Certainly, the Autobots heard the gunshot and her shouts and were searching for her? It wasn't like she had wandered to far….

"You seem flustered. Has spending time in the Pit divested you of your speaking ability?"

"No."

"Is 'no' the only thing in your vocabulary? As an intelligent femme, I would expect you to be able to use more words with more syllables."

Oh, she had more syllables, but she was trying not to use language she shouldn't. Trying not to use language that would get her killed.

Survival. It did that to you.

Mikaela cycled her vents and pulled herself upward, joints screaming in protest, so she could kneel in front of Megatron like some willing dog. But she was far from willing. She needed to get out and get out fast, before he caught onto the fact that she was clueless. Not to mention a body stealer.

"Sire, I.."

"Hush, femme," Megatron tilted his ugly head upward and narrowed his optics. He growled. "Those filthy Autoscum have already detected our signal," he held out his hand. "Come. We will discuss the matter of your resurrection back at the base."

Mikaela looked at his hand.

Then back at his grotesquely put together face.

Then back at his hand.

She ran. Full speed, back into the tree's not knowing where she was going or why she had chosen that moment to run.

She heard Megatron bellow and thunder after her, and she ran, heedless, like a bull. Trees that once would have caused her trouble were shoved away and knocked over.

She burst through the trees and into a clearing, a small part of her hoping she had made it back to the home. A cliff that sloped down into a ravine littered with a few bushes but mostly, utterly, dirt.

Perfect for driving.

Mikaela gave a small, sardonic laugh. Life was just so cruel.

Mikaela turned. The trees seemed to be vibrating from her pursuers bellows. It was either jump or be a victim of slicing talons.

Mikaela glanced down. The fall would maybe kill her, or…or shatter her into a million pieces.

If she had been a human.

But Mikaela wasn't human. Not anymore.

She steeled herself, ran, and jumped, feeling the wind whistle past her armor and few stray leaves whisk away, and then that crystalline moment of flying, then dropping.

She dropped fast. Like a rock. A heavy, metal rock.

The ground rushed up to meet her so fast that she knew if she had been a human, she would have been panicked stricken. But she wasn't. Her mind was clear and calm and collective and was telling her what to do.

Three seconds. For a human, it was three seconds.

But for Mikaela, it was three seconds to decide.

Head first would kill her, definitely, oh, definitely. Feet first? Maybe a pulled joint or something. But nothing to major.

One second….

Crash!

Wires twisted. Armor dented, some falling off and clattering away. A huge dust cloud rose, like a mushroom, blotting out Mikaela optics and audio receptors.

The pain came last. Shuddering waves of it that left Mikaela gasping for air even thought she didn't need it.

And then….silence. She lay there in a pile of dust and dirt.

Five minutes.

Then, she had the courage to get up and start limping towards somewhere.

She looked up. Megatron, standing at the top of the cliff. If he wanted her, now would be the time. But he just stood there and stared down at Mikaela with his head tilted to the side and his eyes glowing ever so brightly in the dark of the night.

"Run, Roadrunner, run! Because when I catch you, I'm going to make you suffer!"