~Morgan's POV

I slowly fought awake from the comfort of sleep, and instinctively went to stretch, but pain flared across my back and I remembered instantly what had happened. I shuddered inwardly as my mind re-lived the experience. I hadn't told Havii, probably never would, but the memory of the smell of my flesh burning was going to haunt me forever. Very slowly and gingerly, I got up to my knees, trying to move my whole body at once so it wouldn't aggravate my brand.

I looked over and saw Havii asleep against the wall, his chin dropped onto his chest. I called him, and he instantly woke up.

"Morgan? How are you feeling?" he asked. I absently picked at the edge of Havii's T-shirt that he'd given me.

"I don't know...my back hurts like nothing else, I'm pretty sure I'm going to think of this in my nightmares for years to come, and we're stuck here." I said. Havii smiled sympathetically.

"I know, we'll get through it." Havii said. I thought back to the fight in the street, closing my eyes tightly.

"Boulder and Pierz are dead...And I saw Ironhide get hurt too." I said. Havii scooted over to me, sitting in front of me.

"What happened, happened. I wouldn't worry about Ironhide, he's as tough as you, and about as stubborn from what I've seen. And I do know that Ratchet will fix him up good as new." Havii reassured me. The sound of footsteps snapped our attention to the entrance of our cell, and we saw Starscream leading a much larger Decepticon to us.

"Master, the prisoners I captured..." Starscream said in a groveling tone. The larger Decepticon, who I suddenly realized was Megatron, snarled and grabbed Starscream by one of his wings with a terrible screech of metal.

"Did I order you to take prisoners? No." Megatron said, tightening his grip and starting to bend Starscream's wing in his hand. Starscream cried out in pain, pleading.

"No, master, please! The female, I marked her w-with our insignia!" he said. I narrowed my eyes at the creep. Megatron released Starscream, appearing to think about something for a moment.

"Normally...I'd have you terminate them...but the female can serve as a reminder to the Autobots we are always closer than they think. The male...I will allow him to live, not out of kindness, but in case the other one needs assistance making it back to wherever the Autobot base is. Starscream, drop them a few miles from wherever you found them. Go now." Megatron said. Starscream hastily bowed, then deactivated the energy barrier to our cell and reached in. He seized Havii first, then me. My eyes widened and I hissed in pain when his grip tightened around the brand he'd given me.

Starscream smirked, then knocked Havii and my heads together again, and after the stars danced in my vision for a few seconds, I blacked out.

…...

I snapped awake later, putting a hand to my aching head. Starscream was nowhere to be seen, and I gingerly got up on all fours, looking around. It appeared that Starscream had dropped Havii and I just outside the city limits, and I nudged him from where he was still lying prone next to me. He twitched, his eyes snapping open, and he sat up quickly. Havii put a hand to his head, which I'm sure hurt as much as mine. He looked around, a smile spreading across his face.

"I can't believe it, they actually let us live..." he said, looking back at me. I, again gingerly, got to my feet, as did Havii. I looked over at the skyline of D.C., sighing.

"Well, the base isn't getting any closer." I said, starting to walk to the road that was a few hundred feet from us. Havii caught up with me.

"Morgan, are you sure you can make it? Your back..." he said. I gave him a look.

"Yeah, it hurts like a mo-fo, but I can do it. Just as long as we go slow..." I said. Havii nodded, and we started walking down the road that led into town. It wasn't a busy one, but there was a fair amount of traffic. Havii and I got quite a few looks, and someone actually pulled over and called to us.

"You guys alright? You want a ride?" the kind man in the car asked. Havii glanced at me, then nodded. I didn't protest, every step I took stretched the muscles in my back, in turn aggravating my brand. Havii opened the back door for me, and I got in, though I was careful not to lean back against the seat. Havii got in the passenger side, and the man pulled back onto the road.

"I can't thank you enough for your kindness. You have no idea..." I said. The man smiled, glancing in the rearview mirror at me.

"No problem, I don't normally pick up strangers, but I'd make an exception any day for the military. Our vets don't get near enough appreciation as they deserve, this is the least I can do." he said. I managed a smile in return.

"So, where you guys headed?" he asked. Havii answered this time.

"D.C., In the city...but we can't tell you exactly where." he said. The man nodded, seemingly in understanding.

"That's okay, just tell me where you want out." he said. I gave him directions to a spot about a block from the base, that way he wouldn't see us go in there and we also didn't have to walk very far. He was silent for a moment, entering the city, then spoke up again.

"If I may ask, who are you and what happened to force you to walk on the side of the road?" he asked. I knew this was probably inevitable, so I sighed and explained at least the first part of his question.

"I'm U.S. Navy captain Morgan Green, and my friend there is U.S. Army sergeant and medic Havii Esquivel. As for how we got on the side of the road...I'm afraid I can't tell you." I said. The man nodded again.

"I understand. So, are you a captain of a ship or just captain in rank." he asked. I smiled.

"Just in rank." I answered. The man drove in silence then to where I'd directed him, and I thanked him once more as Havii and I exited his car. He gave us a salute and drove off, and I started towards the entrance of the base as quickly as I could stand. The guards at the front tensed when they caught sight of Havii and I, but then one of them cocked his head and took a few steps forward.

"Morgan? Havii?" he asked. I smiled.

"Yeah, it's us." I said.

…...

Sorry for so long on the update. I have FOUR stories going at the same time, and this one kinda just got pushed on the back burner. I'll update when I can.