Partners

She was crying. In every sense of the word, she was crying. That's where I found her. Her knees, pulled up to her chest, her hands covering her eyes, she was sobbing. That's the first sound I noticed. Her weakness in breath. Energon leaked through the cracks between her fingers, rolled down her hands, and welled up in a puddle beneath her. It was a perfect blue. Sobbing true: perfect blue.

I was silent. I didn't know how to act, or react. The door closed behind me and I couldn't do much but stare. Megatron's words returned to me. I had to work. I-I couldn't shirk my responsibilities. Not again.

I walked to the monitor and brought up today's plan. Training first, then lab, then back here for sleep. Food would be redelivered tomorrow. But, feeding schedules usually didn't matter, they never did. She wouldn't eat. Her crying lost most of its noise. I looked over at her from behind the terminal, behind the metal bars. She was shaking: trembling. Her chest cavity rose and fell in stressed tremors. It seemed as if her optics' waterfall had run dry. She was silent now. Her energy was gone. Energy she would need in her training session later.

"You need to eat," I said.

Silence.

"I'm not putting up with your insubordination. Eat."

Her arms were trembling. She wiped her face of excess energon and opened her mouth as if to say something. She had not spoken in awhile.

I picked up the last cup of energon she refused to acknowledge, opened the gate, and walked up to her. I towered over her. I stretched out the cup to her. I needed to ensure that she ate. I would not fail Megatron again.

"Eat."

She did not move. Her crimson eyes were fixed on something in the distance.

"Eat," I said.

She turned her head to look at me. Her optics were a dull, low-light red. She did not reach out her hand, not even for the measly units needed to take the cup.

"A cup so close, and you can't take it? Pathetic."

She turned her head away from me. Her chest contracted. More energon fell from her optics. She wiped away each drop as it fell, but she grew tired quickly. She covered her face. Her heavy breathing turned into sobbing. 'What caused this' I thought to myself, 'was it the word pathetic?' She seemed fine until then. I stood there for some time. This wasn't like before. Something about her didn't seem the same. Nothing about the situation made any sense. I didn't know what to do.

"Stop crying," I said.

She did not.

"Stop it," I said, "Take the energon and drink."

She sobbed through her hands, into her knees.

Something was different. My approach wasn't working. Something in her, maybe it was the puddle that leaked from her, or the vulnerability of it all, but something I saw, something in her optics maybe, something clicked in me that hadn't before. I cared for her. Maybe that was it. I wasn't sure. But, two things were: the first was that she was in pain, and the second was that I couldn't fail Megatron. But, I didn't know how to connect the two. I only knew what I was instructed to know. And what I was instructed to know wasn't much help. But, what else could I do? I needed to get her to eat: To reach out her arm and take the cup.

"You know," I said, "Decepticons who don't do as they are told," I paused, "are the same Decepticons who are punished by the DJD."

Her sobbing increased. Her wails were louder now. And I-I couldn't take it anymore. She was in pain. I could see that now. I just wanted her to stop, and force wasn't helping.

I slid down next to her, sat my back against the wall, the same one that supported her, and put one my arms around her shoulders. I pulled the crying femme closer into my chest. Although my audio receptors were closer to her, something about her noise seemed muffled. I could feel her breathing collide with mine, I steadied the shakiness in her arms, her head rested on my shoulder, and her eyes stopped spilling energon. Something about her started to rest. This eased my stress. Something about her felt familiar.

"Just drink," I said.

I felt her spark beat in sync with my own. Something was the same. But, her pain was different. Her misery was real.

"You're just a victim," I said, "That's why you won't drink. It's the pain, right?"

Silence: A calm silence. Her lying there, right here with me, there was something peaceful about it. Something serene.

"I bet your throat's dry too. Energon might help with that. Make the pain go away. Even if it's just a little less."

Silence.

I sighed.

Nothing was working.

I brought the cup to her lips, they were open, just barely, but they were still open. She was the one who opened them. I waited for her to take the cup, but she did not. I tipped the cup and poured. Her actions were weak. I couldn't tell if she had swallowed the drink.

"Ghost," I said, "I need you to drink this. Please."

If not for her spark beat, I could feel nothing.

"Ghost," I said, "You have to drink this."

No response.

"You need to regain your strength. You need it for training."

Silence. I tried a different approach.

"Ghost," I said, "If you won't do this, I won't be doing my job. My job is to make sure you do yours. And," I choked on my words, "You were right. I am just a drone. If I can't do my job, Megatron's going to kill me. He's going to replace me." I closed my eyes and felt her leaning on me. "I'm going to be dead. And you're going to be here. And you'll still be in pain, but the next guy won't realize that. He'll be as hard-headed as I was. And I was hard-headed, I know that now. I was just trying to do my job. And my job was to get you to do yours. And I did that. And I'm sorry."

She gulped.

"You have nothing to be sorry about," she said. Her eyes were soft, weak, faded, but soothing all the same. "You see, just as I see."

...

"Optimus I'm sorry."

"For what Shadow?"

"Before, I said that I just couldn't explain why I was so angry at Starscream. I wanted to apologize for not trying harder. I should have been more descriptive."

"But, you did try to explain. Are you referring to when you implied that I could not understand?"

"Yes, I'm sorry about that too. It's just that Starscream has done some pretty despicable stuff and I was getting too caught up in all of it."

"How so? You do not seem like the type to—"

Deceive?

"I'm the type to show my revenge through not forgiving. It took me a lot of thought to get to this conclusion."

"And the reason you despise Starscream?"

"While I was a Decepticon, he's made some dodgy calls that have gotten many of my good friends killed. On top of that, he used to always use me as a scape goat and take advantage of me—"

"Take advantage? Did Starscream ever..."

"What? No! It's not like that. It's just that, well..."

"You know that you can tell me anything right?"

I still have feelings for you.

"I've been doing some thinking and have been trying to put myself in his position. Idiotic I know."

"What did you discover?"

"For starters that I wouldn't want me as an enemy, haha. Yeah, that's not funny. What I found Optimus, is that, in the current scenario, I am the bad guy. See, I can loathe and hate all I want, but none of that can undo the past. If peace between both parties is ever to be achieved, we must be able to forgive and forget."

"That's very thoughtful of you, Shadow." Optimus jested, "Are you ready to forgive him and work towards peace?"

"Ha. Not yet. I still hate his guts. Funny joke though."

Alarms emanated from the monitor, Ratchet went to investigate.

Ratchet turned to us from the monitor, "Optimus" he called.

Optimus averted his attention from me and walked over to his teammate.

"Our scanners have detected a Decepticon Energy profile. But it's ancient."

They both stared at the monitor.

"The past has a way of catching up with the present Ratchet."

I walked up to the two mechs, "What's going on?"

Optimus explained, "There is an energon spike at the site of the Harbinger's crash."

Ratchet started assembling the team and readying the ground bridge.

"What does that have to do with the past?"

"Two years ago..."

"Yeah?"

"You were with Megatron."

"In deep space doing stuff. What's your point?"

"You should come with us. And see for yourself."

"Cool. So, am I officially ungrounded?"

"Erm, only if you promise to follow my orders."

"Yes sir, Optimus, sir." I tried saluting my leader. He chuckled in response.

"None of that is necessary, but thank you."

"You're welcome," I smiled at him. His faceplate grew a light shade of red, as did mine.

"Autobots!" Optimus called, "Roll out!"

We all ran through the portal into a ship, all of us, but Ratchet. We all reached the Harbinger. This ship seemed to me like a maze that went on forever. We walked past another corner of the long hallway.

Arcee exclaimed, "Airachnid!"

"Surrender!" Optimus added on.

The femme growled and scuttled away with her spidery legs. Arcee sprinted in front of our team after Airachnid. We ran after her. They rounded another corner.

Why does the Harbinger have to be so much like a maze?

I heard Starscream yell in the distance, "Airachnid!"

It seems Screamy and Arcee are on the same wavelength.

"You traitor!"

The sound of a power drill rang about the ship.

We rounded the corner. I saw Starscream wrapped in Airachnid's web. Bits of dirt were falling on him from Airachnid's hole. Arcee and Optimus ran by the commander. Arcee climbed up the tunnel.

Optimus yelled at her, "Arcee, wait!"

I sighed.

"Should someone help her? Optimus?"

"Hah!" Striker yelled, "I'm almost insulted you didn't think me." The femme climbed up the hole in the ceiling after the two femmes.

Great, I thought to myself.

"I will go support them," Optimus said. "You three, transport Starscream to the surface."

Optimus ran back to where we entered the ship.

"Shadow, how nice to see you."

"Starscream shut it."

"Okay."

"Shadow, you don't really think we have to carry this fool do we?" Asked Bulkhead.

"Optimus told us to."

"Yeah but, he's covered by web. We could get sticky."

Bee beeped, "Grow up Bulkhead. Let's follow orders."

I nodded, "You're right Bee. Let's get this over with."

"Get what over with? I swear I will cooperate fully!"

Bulkhead laughed, "Hah, looks like the seeker can't understand you, Bee!"

Bulkhead grabbed an arm and Bee grabbed the other. Both Mechs lifted the Con.

"Hey! That's not fair! Why do Bee and I have to work, but not you?"

"If either of you got stuck, who would cut you mechs free?"

We walked down the hallway in silence. I honestly felt anger towards Starscream. We reached the end. The bright light nearly blinded me. We walked out of the downed ship and over to Optimus, Striker, and Arcee.

I heard Optimus from the distance, "Revenge will not bring back those we have lost."

Aww... He actually listened to what I had to say.

Bulkhead and Bee dropped the commander's arms.

Bulkhead yelled, "Move it!"

"No need to use force," Starscream replied.

Bulkhead punched Starscream from behind, making the Decepticon fall to the ground. Lucky for him, he landed on his knees.

Starscream looked up to Optimus and conceded, "I'll tell you anything you want to know."

Bulkhead laughed, "Is that right? And what would you want in return?"

Optimus walked closer to Starscream.

"I want to be," Starscream sincerely confessed, "on your side."

Vector sigma! He's telling the truth. I'm still angry though. But he looks sad and hurt. I'm still pissed. There's no way I'm working with slag like him. I should scrap him right here, right now.

"On our side?" Bulkhead laughed as Starscream smiled at the possibility. "Hahaha, yeah right," he pointed to himself," and I've been lobbing with the fallen."

Arcee said, "You wouldn't betray the Decepticons."

Starscream dropped his look of pain and hurt. He regained his smug tricking tone, "Wouldn't I? What have they done for me lately?" He turned to Optimus, then looked away, and then back again. "Besides humiliate me, spy on me, demote me? Megatron has tried to extinguish my spark in cold blood. Then all but replace me with that traitorous wretch Airachnid! She abandoned me! Left me for scrap! So why not rat them out?"

Okay, Screamy... First: are you sure it was a demotion? Commander is an awful position. That's what I've been trying to tell Bulkhead anyway. Second: Megatron did all that slag to me too! Third: you said the word blood Screamy! You said the human word blood! That's not you. You hate using human terminology. The f*ck Screamy, the f*ck?

The Autobots minus Striker and Bee turned away from the seeker. I didn't put my back to him, I merely joined my comrades, but faced the Decepticon many paces away. Bee stayed with Starscream in order to intimidate him not to flee. I think Striker was trying to threaten him. Either that or ask for a fight. Both would be threatening, right?

That coward would definitely flee. Ugh! But what if he's actually being honest. Well, he is. I just don't want to admit that. Not out loud of course. Sigh, but I will anyway.

Arcee confirmed, "He's telling the truth about Megatron trying to scrap him. I saw it with my own eyes."

Bulkhead questioned, "You're not saying you actually trust Starscream?"

"Trust him?" Arcee said, "Never. But this may be the one time our objectives align."

Optimus agreed, "You are right to be wary Bulkhead, but I agree with Arcee."

"So wait," I asked, "where does that leave us? Starscream is telling the truth about wanting to join... I just don't think it would be wisest to allow him to join as a comrade."

Optimus looked at me, "Do you have something in mind?"

"It would be much safer to have him start out as a captive. You know, put some cuffs on him so he couldn't do us any harm. After that, his helpfulness could be fair game."

We walked closer to the Seeker. Arcee called Ratchet to transport Optimus's trailer and some cuffs for Starscream. Luckily the Autobots had some just his size, which is almost ironic, because they could have been used on me.

Optimus stated, "Starscream, if you really want to join, you must prove your usefulness."

"Yes, anything!" Starscream begged.

Arcee chimed in, "Do you know where Airachnid's going?"

"Yes, I can lead you there!"

"Starscream," Optimus called, "You can give us directions."

A portal appeared near us. Ratchet walked out of it with Optimus's trailer and two pairs of cuffs. One was for Starscream's wings; the other was for his wrists.

"Where is it?" Arcee screamed.

"A click north from here, I swear!"

Ratchet gave Bulkhead the cuffs and Optimus the trailer. He receded back into the portal before it disappeared.

"Shadow," Optimus called.

I drew my swords. Starscream looked terrified.

"Oh please no! Please, I'll—"

I cut Starscream loose from the straight-jacket of webbing Airachnid had given him, and Bulkhead put the cuffs on him. He exhaled a sigh of relief. Optimus transformed, we hitched the trailer to him, then threw Starscream in the back, and we transformed. We drove to the apposed location. I hated every second of the journey. Minus the being with Optimus parts.

I mean, A, I can fly. B, if I were to fly I could have easily checked out the site by now and probably stopped Airachnid. Wait a second; do I honestly even care about Airachnid? I don't even know. And C,C? Well, because I'm driving I have to be near that fragged Seeker. Man, I am spewing a lot of hate today. I should probably try to calm myself. I mean: I am with Optimus. And? And he's acting just like Orion. I felt like I was smiling. So, that's good.

Bumblebee stopped, as did everyone else. We all transformed. The area we were in was covered in rock formations.

"Whataya know?" Bulkhead said.

"Could still be a trap." Arcee replied.

Optimus walked towards us, "Starscream's loyalty to Megatron has always been questionable. If he has truly split from the Decepticons, our prisoner's knowledge of their agendas could make him a valuable ally."

If I had simply lasted a bit longer in the Decepticons, I could have given you their plans. Ugh! Why did Snowstorm have to change it all up! I'm fragging useless.

"You don't mean permanently?" Bulkhead questioned, "As in keys to the base and everything?"

"However unlikely that scenario, every sentient being deserves an opportunity for redemption."

Oh frag, he's talking about me! Great, if I disagree: I make a point against myself. If I agree: I am supporting Starscream. Silence: I choose silence... Wait a second. I also said that. He really is listening to me. I felt a warm wave wash over me. He really is listening.

Arcee exclaimed, "Even Bot killers? Even Airachnid!"

"Without that hope, we may never achieve lasting peace."

Oh come on! Optimus, you know I'm all for peace. Please don't make me agree with you! But, on the other hand...

Bulkhead went to Optimus's trailer and opened the back.

"Rise and shine Screamy," he called as he grabbed the seeker by his ankles and dragged hi to the ground.

"Hey, I call him that too!" I said.

"Where do you think I got the idea from?"

"Oh... I recede my previous comment."

As I said before: Bulkhead dragged Starscream out, and the seeker fell to the ground.

"We're here," Arcee announced. "Where's the ship?"

Starscream rose to his knees and looked around. "It's through the arch, among the stones," he said as he pointed to the canyon.

Optimus turned to us, "Bulkhead, Striker, Bumblebee, and Shadow, you're with me. Arcee, remain with our prisoner."

Yes! On a mission with Optimus. This will be fun.

As we started to walk away, Arcee ran to our group.

"Optimus please."

Optimus stopped and turned around.

"For Tailgate."

"Your desire to avenge Tailgate will only continue to cloud your judgment."

Optimus joined us. I heard Starscream groveling in the distance. We walked through the canyon. Bulkhead's steps were incredibly loud.

Frag, I guess together, five Autobots aren't incredibly stealthy.

"Be alert," Optimus advised, "Airachnid is known to attack from below ground."

You know, now that I'm thinking about loud steps. Optimus isn't exactly quiet. I stared at his tall frame. Hmmm... Definitely not stealthy. I mean look at all of that... metal? I'm going to look away now. Now. Now. I mean now. Frag! Stop staring! My gaze shifted to the ground.

"Right..." Bulkhead said.

Did I miss something?

We continued to walk forward. We turned a formation and saw the other half of the Harbinger. Optimus gave us the sign to keep moving. The three mechs and one femme had their laser blasters drawn. I readied my swords and dropped my mask. A blue-ish beam was aimed for me. Striker jumped in the air, took the blast, and fell to the ground. She didn't move. She was as still as a statue. I looked up to see Airachnid hopping on the broken half of a downed ship: The other half of the Harbinger. Optimus fired at her. She kept on dodging.

Bulkhead stepped up to the front of our party and exclaimed, "I got her!"

Airachnid struck him with the same beam from before. It came out of this weird stick like device... That I had definitely seen before.

Optimus, Bee, and I ran forward to cover our second immobilized comrade.

"The Immobilizer," Airachnid gloated, "True to its name."

Airachnid took the chance to fire again. This time at Bee, who dodged by jumping out of the way. Then at Optimus, who rolled behind a rock and continued to fire at the femme.

"Shadow, get back!" Optimus yelled.

Funny how Bee gets to fight and I don't. Well, at least he has a laser gun.

I hid behind a rock. Optimus hid behind a different rock. He lost sight of Airachnid, and Bumblebee joined him. Airachnid dug out from a hole behind them.

She quipped, "Freeze." As she proceeded to fire that magical trident- I mean the Immobilizer- at Prime. Optimus turned around and was caught by the beam. Bee fired back at her and jumped in front of Optimus. Airachnid fired the beam at Bee. I ran out of my hiding spot to Airachnid. I slashed at her many spidery legs. Energon seeped from them. She turned her attention away from Bee as she winced in pain. I slashed hard at her torso. Airachnid was knocked back a bit. I ran towards Bee, and brought him behind cover. Airachnid retreated back to the top of the Harbinger. She scouted for us, but could not find us.

"Bee," I whispered from behind our rock cover. "We have to think of a plan."

"How? She has the immobilizer? If you also forgot, she has our teammates captive, and can also drill to our position."

"But Bee, you may not see our advantage."

"What advantage!?"

"We have speed and numbers. We just need to use it to our benefit. Let's see... how do we undo her advantage of captive comrades?"

"That's it!"

"Captive comrades?"

"Yes, but also no. She doesn't fear our teammates because they are immobilized."

"Bee, you are a genius."

"Right? We just need..."

Airachnid started to walk away from the ship.

"Tell me bug," she called, "do you think Megatron will enjoy his new trophies?" She walked up to Bulkhead, "He'll probably use the Bulky one here for target practice." She knocked Bulkhead over with her fragged trident. She then hopped over to Optimus and laughed. "Ahoh, Prime is the true prize. Perhaps he'll adorn the prow of Megatron's warship. Ahuhuhuhuhu," She cooed. Bee looked out from behind our cover. Airachnid rapid fired regular lasers at a rock formation behind us.

Bee shot the tumbling rocks as to turn them to dust before they could squash him. We became cloaked in a cloud of dust. I rushed out to new cover as Bee fired at Airachnid. From atop Optimus's frozen body, Airachnid fired her immobilizer at the dust cloud.

I snuck from rock to rock in order to stealthily get close to Airachnid's position. I was hidden behind a rock close to Optimus.

Airachnid chuckled and walked from her position to an 'immobilized' Bee, "But you bug," she spat in his face, "I suspect Megatron will simply dismantle you for spare parts." Airachnid walked back to Optimus with her creepy spider legs. She stated, "As a rogue: a scavenger, I should disappear into the night with this treasure," she referred to the trident.

I signaled Bee showing that I was going to go for it. He signaled back for me to wait for his move. Bee was caught off balance and moved a bit from his statuesque position. He regained stability and got back into his position before Airachnid looked back at him.

"But using it to worm my way into Megatron's favor is too good an opportunity to pass up." She turned her head towards Optimus.

Bee moved closer. I prepared myself.

"Wouldn't you say Prime?" She sneered. "I mean with results like this, I could earn Megatron's eternal trust."

Bee snuck up to her and punched her in the face. Airachnid stumbled backward to where I intercept her. I immediately reopened her wounds from earlier. I wanted this wretched con to suffer. I honestly hate her more than Starscream. Hmm, do I even hate Starscream, I mean—

Airachnid cut off my thoughts with a swift swing of her weapon. I dodged and swiped at her weapon holding arm. Her arm fell limp, but her grip strengthened. I slid around her and slashed her pressure points. Airachnid tried to stomp at me with her legs, but I was too fast for them.

Bee had his laser pointed at Airachnid but didn't fire. He didn't want to hit me accidentally. He beeped at me about the weapon.

I slashed the weapon out of Airachnid's servos. The immobilizer flew into the air and Bee destroyed it with his laser fire. The device broke into many tiny pieces.

"You fool!" Airachnid screamed at Bee.

While Airachnid was distracted, I sliced into her torso again. She fired her web at me; I dodged by sprinting to some of her other legs and swiped at them. Airachnid fell. At this point she was oozing Energon. Airachnid fired a laser at Optimus. I sprinted away from Airachnid in order to deflect it with my swords.

Airachnid jumped in the air, transformed into her helicopter form and flew off. Bee fired at the fleeing con, but missed.

Bee and I rejoiced.

"Did you see that Bee? I was all like slash, swipe, and then she was all like, I gotta flee!"

"How about when I destroyed the device! I was all like pew pew, and then the device was all like boom! Or how about when Airachnid thought that I was a statue? That was pretty cool!"

"Vector sigma was that cool! Oh, before we forget, we should go check on Arcee and Starscream."

"While we walk, I can call Ratchet for a ground bridge for uhm... our teammates."

"Good. You do that."

We happily walked to the arch. But, when we arrived, Arcee was nowhere to be seen. I thought I heard something from down the hill, so Bee and I rushed to the edge.

"What? Wait! No!" Starscream cried.

Arcee stood over Starscream. She noticed us looking from atop the cliff. She let the seeker go. Both separated in opposite directions. Bee went down to check on Arcee. Both were injured. Starscream hobbled up the hill. I put down my mask again and ran over to the seeker. I drew my swords. He had seen me coming. He cringed. I stopped above him. I looked down on the former commander. It's funny how one's mind can change outlooks. Not an hour ago, I wanted this scrap dead. Frag, a few days ago I was intensely angry that Megatron hadn't finished him off in that cave system. Now, I felt pity for him. Starscream fell to his knees and quivered by my peds. He was scared, tired, hurt and about a million other things I wouldn't want to be. I could see the fear in his eyes. I did not want to hurt him past what had already been done. I put away my swords. I would not turn my back on the former Decepticon, but I knew for certain that he was doomed. Megatron would not allow a traitor such as him, or me, to persist.

"Starscream," I bellowed, "I forgive you."

The seeker raised an eyebrow. He asked confused, "W-what?"

I lent him my servo. I extended it as to offer my assistance.

"We have common enemies. I hold no further grudge against a possible ally."

"You can't be serious."

The seeker started to get up on his own. He neglected my open hand.

"I am far more forgiving than Megatron."

"Are you sure?"

"I know you won't be returning to him."

"So?"

"Is something wrong?"

"It's your mask. It has energon splatter. It's unnerving."

"Why are you so inclined to deny our help?"

"I've seen the Autobot's help. It's not something I want."

"What is it you want? There will be no second offer. For someone supposedly smart, you're acting pretty idiotically."

"Did you kill Airachnid?"

"We have common enemies."

"Why not? You could have rid her from the both of us."

"I could have rid the Autobots from you."

"You're only proving my point."

"What? That I'm weak?"

"That you show too much mercy. If you aren't careful, it'll be your downfall."

"Starscream, are you alright? You're starting to sound as if you have a soul."

"What's a soul?"

"It's a human term. It has a positive connotation."

"You haven't changed a bit."

The former commander started to walk around me. I turned as to continue facing him. I did not trust the seeker.

"Starscream, don't die out there."

"Why? Do you actually care for me, Autobot?"

"No, I am merely trying to keep my conscience clean."

"Hah. Typical Shadow."

The seeker walked away, out of my line of sight.

I walked backed to my stationary teammates. I wanted to ensure Starscream did not take any cheap shots at them. Arcee leaned upon Bumblebee. The two followed me. I wiped the energon off of my mask. I was clean. We arrived at the battlefield where our comrades stood. Bumblebee had called Ratchet for a groundbridge earlier. The medic was collecting the broken parts of the device. Bee disappeared into the ground bridge with Arcee. I took Striker, laid her down gently by the medic's station at base, and then returned to the battle-site. I could move neither Bulkhead nor Optimus, by myself. So, I waited for the scout to return from his talk with Arcee. We moved Optimus first, then Bulkhead second, through the portal into our base. Ratchet followed with all the pieces of the immobilizer. He closed the ground bridge and went to reconstructing the weapon. Bee turned to me and beeped.

"What happened to Starscream?"

"He got away."

"How?"

"Bee, does it really matter?"

"I just want to make sure that—"

"I'm still your teammate. I didn't betray anyone. I'm still an Autobot."

"If anyone asks, I saw nothing. You should create an excuse."

"Why?"

"You know exactly why. Arcee. She's why."

"You think she'll be fine?"

"Starscream's an enemy. He hurt her."

"I know."

"Then act like it."

Ouch. That hurt.

Bee returned to Arcee's side.

I felt low, very low. I went to my paralyzed teammates. Starscream wasn't the enemy, Airachnid was. Did I ever mention how awesome Ratchet is? Ratchet fixed the Immobilizer, tended to Arcee's injuries and unfroze Striker, Bulkhead, and Optimus. Striker first. I made sure of that. I pulled her away from the doctor and others.

"Striker," I asked, "Why did you do that?"

"Take the blue beam for you?"

"Yes."

"It's simple. Arcee has her rival. Bulkhead has his. And, mine is yours. I wasn't about to let Airachnid take that away from me. If someone's going to be fighting you, it's going to be me."

From behind us, Ratchet explained to the wrecker and Prime, "The damage looked bad, but it was a snap to repair. Allowing us to reverse its affect on you. You should regain your full range of motion before long."

"And Arcee?" Optimus asked, looking at the injured blue femme, standing near Bee.

"She's rather resilient, for a two wheeler," Ratchet said.

Optimus walked towards Arcee, "It is the external wounds that heal the quickest."

"I thought settling scores would allow me to move on, instead I chased away our hope of winning this war anytime soon."

"Wisdom cannot be granted Arcee. It must be earned. Sometimes, at a cost."

Striker knew I was listening. She nudged my shoulder. "Go, win yourself another friend."

I walked up to the motorcycle and kidded, "Well Arcee, it's not like you've done anything wrong. I mean: if you wanted to gain Decepticon plans and battle strategies, Soundwave or Snowstorm are the cons whom we should have been after."

...

Matrix's P.O.V.

Megatron looked pissed. Airachnid dashed out of the room. She had miscalculated. I smiled as she passed me. Well, that's a bit of an understatement. As soon as she exited, I broke out into laughter.

Megatron roared, "What?"

I stopped cold in my tracks. I straightened my posture and drew back my insane laughter to a stupid smile. I could feel Megatron's glare.

"It's nothing sir."

"Sir? It's Lord. What is it Matrix? You remind me of an imbecile."

"Sorry, Lord Megatron. It was Airachnid."

"What was Airachnid?"

"The laughter sir –Lord- Megatron."

"Go on, I don't have all day."

"Airachnid was in a large amount of pain. I found her suffering amusing."

"A true Decepticon."

Megatron walked towards me. Each step was somehow louder than the last.

"Tell me, how could you see her pain?"

"Sword wounds, my Lord. If Death's Shadow doesn't kill or disable her target, she always causes the greatest amount of pain possible."

"And how do you know this?"

"She told me herself."

"I see... When? She never enjoyed speaking of battle. The Shadow of Death was a pacifist."

"My Lord?"

"Leave. There shall be no more talk of that traitor."

I walked out of the command center. Odd. Definitely odd. Megatron that is. He was acting odd.