May I just say that I enjoy torturing you guys? :D

Your reactions are really what keeps me writing, so thank you all for that

Just keep in mind that things will pick up in the next few chapters and I plan on making it interesting ;)

Enjoy!

Of The Spark And Heart

Part 1

Chapter 29

To say the mech was angry was an insane understatement. In fact, that was down right suicidal. He was livid to say the least.

Large chunks of the concrete walls had been roughly disconnected from the surface to let massive amounts of pebbles scatter across the floor. Charred results of blind shooting decorated all over the lobby and ceiling above. Loose cables hung down in sparking tails, once holding lights that were now fewer in number than before. Scents of smoke and burning rubber choked the space along with the steadily rising heat. The doors previously covering both the front entrance and the adjacent hall were already removed from their places and left as dented sheets of scrap.

Four figures were in the room at the moment, one of whom was causing a violent and destructive scene. His roars echoed off into the halls and stabbed the aching audio receptors of those with him. The lights flickered again as he tore a scaffold from the above and tossed it over his helm without care.

A silver and gold pair of mechs dodged his blows and tried desperately to find some break in his enraged thrashes. Off in the corner of the room, a nervous, white peer was watching the exchange before him. He seemed to be calculating when it would be safe to jump in and aid those already in action. Although, being the technician he was, he wouldn't be much help otherwise against the crazed warrior.

The twins were circling Solas like he was their prey, just waiting and watching for a chance to take him down. The humans in the nearer area were evacuated and had been greatly advised to keep a good distance from the room so as to remain safe. However, groups of trained soldiers waited in close proximity, standing patiently at attention as they awaited the call for assistance from the 'Bots inside.

Sideswipe narrowed his optic slips when he noticed Solas swinging around to strike at the wall behind him, sending rubble flying. The silver mech stepped to the side to avoid the rock and he looked to his brother. Sunstreaker hunched in preparation, his faceplates focused. The golden warrior returned his brother's thoughts and they silently worked out which points were best to restrain the berserk figure of their comrade.

But before they could make a move, Solas stole a scaffold from nearby and he pulled the thin metal from its place. A loud creak moaned from the motion and that turned to a screeching as Solas easily ripped it down with a booming snap. Releasing a bellowing and manic cry, Solas swung around and whipped the mangled structure with him, barely missing Sideswipe. Sunstreaker however was unable to move fast enough and was hit upside the helm, sending him sprawling across the ground on his spinal support.

Sideswipe felt his brother's surprise through their bond and the growing irritation with it. Sideswipe dropped to his tank as he barely caught Solas' next attack before it too slammed into him and put him in the same position as his sibling. "What's wrong with this psycho?!" Sunstreaker groused when he pulled himself to his elbowjoints. Sideswipe covered his cranial unit as Solas chucked the tangled scaffold and it sailed over him to pass overhelm by less than a foot. "Pit if I know!" he called back.

They both shot to their peds and split to opposite sides of Solas before he could grab something else. His curled faceplates flicked from the room around him to the two mechs standing by his flanks. A feral snarl passed from his vocal processor as he snapped between the two threateningly. His form was defensive and his servos sit clamped shut. The very air around him seemed menacing and dangerous, putting hesitance in Sideswipe's stance. Sideswipe trained his optics on Sol's silver protoform with an unreadable expression covering his faceplates as he moved in a skilled and steady pace. The seriousness in the twin's demeanor was so unlike him, but in this situation, his usual playfulness didn't seem appropriate.

Long before they had come to this planet, and long before Solas Kaon was assigned Guardian, Sideswipe and his brother had served beside him on Cybertron. They'd been told that he had come from the gladiator city of Kaon, hence his secondary term in his designation, but that he had no relative ties. Along with this, he was supposedly trained in close combat. Other than that, they had found out anything further about him themselves. Often a quieter character, Solas wouldn't have spoken with someone unless he had a reason, or was spoken to. But apparently that changed when he was in battle- the mech never shuttered at the opportunity to set a solid -and often reckless- plan with the twins before they charged into the thick of things. There were times that Sideswipe and his brother themselves would have to step back to avoid being in the path of this mech's capabilities. He was so quick and strong that without a second process he would go after any Cybertronian in his way.

Many doubted his affiliation as an Autobot as soon as they saw his vicious and relentless nature in battle, even when Sideswipe, his brother, or someone associated with them piped up for the mech. He never stepped in for himself however, leaving anyone to dispose where his rumored loyalties lie. Not many knew of his past, and even less came to know of it from the mech himself. But when he reached that certain point in his fighting, his own comrades feared him. Thankfully, not many times was Sideswipe's unit able to bear witness to Solas' violent acts, but when they did, they knew full well to stay far back. How they told he was out of conscious control? His left optic turned a bright ruby-red.

"Touch me, I deadspark you." his low threat rumbled over the space and struck deep in the sparks of the warriors around him. Sideswipe felt his energon pulse harshly in his frame at hearing this mindless warning. He knew Solas' haywire nature and he knew the stubborn personality that had clashed with Sunstreaker's so many times before when they fought together, but this...this was different. He was not just blindly on-edge anymore. This violence had a point. Random, but some reason.

Sideswipe nudged his brother through their bond and he sent a cautious feeling towards the golden warrior. Anger as solid as the ground beneath their peds just moved in waves from Solas as he glared at each of them in turn. Flashing crimson and blue optics appeared deeply hued and past convincing as they darted distrustfully to both front-liners. "Solas, we only want to help..." Sideswipe lifted placating servos and took a step forward. Solas growled and jerked at the silver mech, lifting his fist in a dark promise. Sunstreaker could be seen over Sol's shoulderbolt to start forward, only to be stopped when Solas threw a punch at him.

When he saw the distraction, Sideswipe leapt towards Sol and used all of his weight to fling himself on the mech's support. His arms wrapped around Sol's neck and he fell back on his peds before he twisted to the side. Solas' frame was not that much taller than his, so it was easier to shift the Guardian's balance than he would have originally predicted.

On immediately touching the concrete floor, Solas writhed and began his struggles against Sideswipe. Sideswipe leaned to the side to avoid one of Sol's arms and he pressed a firm servo to the back of his helm so to pin it down. "A little help here!" Sideswipe cried to the air before he pressed his body down against Solas'. The insane figure beneath him squirmed and broke free at one point to sharply jab his elbowjoint into Sideswipe's tank cavity. Bright-blue optics shot wider and a short grunt escaped his capacitor. A flash of gold rushed into Sideswipe's view and Sunstreaker jumped in to join his brother in holding Solas down.

Upon feeling the extra restrain, Sol's fighting reached new heights and any fatigue that either of the twins may have thought in Sol dropped instantly. Both of their bodies jumped with his sudden lurching and their audio receptors screamed in protest when his cries struck the space. Sunstreaker bumped into Sideswipe as he fought to contain Sol's left arm. "Hold him, hold him! Pit, this mech is glitched!" Sunstreaker fumbled over Solas as the mech wrenched his arm free and landed a shockingly powerful blow to Sunstreaker's chassis. Sideswipe pushed harder on Sol's cranial unit and the Guardian's entire frame vibrated. "Wheeljack, are you just going to stand there?!" Sideswipe's strained tone reached the technician and the white mech jerked.

To have such sudden aggression like this had to mean something. It couldn't be normal and come from nowhere, but if so, then where? This shocking intensity was near that of Ironhide himself, and Sideswipe never dared even make that comparison for anyone until now. Truly, though he hated to admit so, Solas' Decepticon origins were slowly bringing themselves to surface. Everything about this haywire moment was different. But why?

"Get off of me!"

The passionate demand from the Guardian bounced from the walls with a ringing fade. Wheeljack joined his comrades in trying to hold the mech down, but he was having trouble as well. "Where did this come from? Why is he so angry?!" Wheeljack called from his position at Solas' legs. Sol rocked his shoulderbolts, causing Sideswipe's balance to sway for a moment. Smart.

"I don't know and I don't care, just get one of the others on a comlink now and tell them what's going on here." Sunstreaker commanded, shoving his arm against Sol's support so to have a better control of him. This only got him another abrupt thrash from Solas and the mech's rage quickly showed through his efforts. "Grab his arm, I'm loosing control!" Sideswipe instructed his brother before he began digging his heelpeds into the floor to help steady himself. Sunstreaker was almost thrown off of Solas before he retorted, "I am, you Pit-glitched spawn of a drone!"

"We have the same creators you idiot, just hold him still!"

Wheeljack reached forward and held Solas' legs in a bear hug before he was pushed into Sideswipe, almost knocking him from his perch. "Enough you two!" he managed through gritted oral sheets, "Sideswipe, I can't establish a connection-"

"Release me now!" the wriggling Cybertronian beneath them flailed again and Sideswipe was finally thrown off. One side freed and his helm no longer restricted, Solas was able to fight with Sunstreaker and Wheeljack's constricting holds on him. The sparks flew from Sideswipe's frame when it scrapped across the floor and a sharp jolt shot up his support. "What in the name of Primus-?!" the statement was made by Sunstreaker, who was trying to take his brother's place against Sol. Sideswipe shifted onto his side and then got to his peds before he lifted a servo and created a comlink with their leader.

He then returned to the group on he floor and he pushed Sol's cranial unit against the cement with as much strength as he dared without crushing the protoform armor. Solas' digits were digging into the floor, cracking the smooth, grey surface. Sideswipe kept up a silent conversation with his leader as he repeatedly scrabbled for a solid purchase on the one under him. Without warning, Solas screeched and pushed against the ground, lifting the two ontop of him and allowing him to swing his elbowjoint back to stab it into Sideswipe's tank cavity. "Ow!" he called out, losing his grip for a moment. "Let me go! I need to find her! They have her!" Sol insisted, trying to roll on his spinal support.

"I'm going to tear them apart!"

"Who?! Who are you talking about?!" Sunstreaker had lost his patience long ago with this mech and even more so now that he was scratching his paint and causing pointless injuries to both himself and those holding him down. Sol struck out again, but Sideswipe was able to avoid it and press his servo back against the Guardian's cranial unit. "Does it even matter? Just keep him contained!" Sideswipe ordered, desperately clinging to his comlink with his leader so he would know what to do. "Whoa!" Solas' vocal processor seemed to finally be giving, but that didn't stop him from releasing a garbled, guttural sound.

"Fera! They have Fera!" the angered shouts from Sol turned almost pleading as he fought with all he had left -which couldn't possibly be much more if his scorching frame was anything to go by- to resist the technician's and the front-liners' holds. Sideswipe and Sunstreaker shared a glance and the both of them wore masks of confusion. "How in the ten levels of Pit does he know that?"

"Scrap if I know, this mech's gone haywire!" Sideswipe relayed his situation to Optimus, whose messages were far too grim for the warrior's liking. There was something...off about it, and the silver 'Bot had a sneaking suspicion as to the cause of Sol's anger. But then the commander gave an order and Sideswipe was quick to act on it. "Wheeljack," he called, twisting in place to aim his faceplates behind him. The white 'Bot looked up from his place wrapped around Sol's legs. "use sedatives: Optimus' orders." the technician nodded and suddenly dropped Sol.

Instantly, the mech's flailed limbs started up again and he returned to his harsh strife. Only Unicron himself could have created a psychotic mech such as this, Sideswipe was sure of it. To have such energy without a seeming knowledge of pain; to not even mind the scratches littering his protoform and the dents there as well was disturbing. "Get off me! I need to help her!" this comment was ignore as Sideswipe and his brother had increasing difficulty containing Sol. When Wheeljack appeared before Solas, the furious being pulled back his lip plates into a volatile grin. Vents of every Cybertronian whirred intensely with their exasperated frames and boiling-hot plates. But even when the heaving chassis of the striped 'Bot beneath them lifted up and down in large gasps for air, he still battled on.

Why? Why was he putting himself through so much? Was his charge -one who had pestered him to no end and constantly caused him pain- so important to him? It seemed like she had some form of significance with every Autobot involved with her. Was there a reason? Even Optimus strived to ensure her safety. Was there something Sideswipe and his sibling had missed?

~They took Fera!~ the comlink was so broad and so powerful that it nearly threw Sideswipe from where he stayed. There was such raw and varied emotion behind that message that no one could have predicted. Even Wheeljack hesitated as he received it, sedatives in servo. Looking down, Sideswipe gazed upon a single red optic as it flashed in defiance and a hidden, secret knowing. He'd sent that message. A weakened and fatigued mech had sent that extraordinary pulse of pure feeling.

A horrible mistake was made by every one of them for their pause in holding back Sol. The very air became still, growing in tensity as confounded 'Bots glanced at one another in shock. But this fragile break shattered when a bare Cybertronian mech snapped.

It was without warning and it was without time to allow one to react. He was on his servos faster than they could shutter an optic, lifting himself to his kneebolts so to dislodge both the mechs on his spinal support. They tumbled to the ground, falling on one another in a ball of silver and gold. Sideswipe had fallen so that his brother would land ontop of him and this abrupt new weight crushed any air from his ventilation systems. Someone cried out and Sideswipe noted it as Wheeljack's before an audio-busting bellow cut into the air like an energon blade.

Sideswipe had no choice but to clap his servos over his audios when this cry reached him, and when his brother removed himself from laying on him, he too did the same. Between his digits, the sound rocked his frame and vibrated his very armor with its clarity. Terrible shakes rattled the form before Sideswipe and he believed him to have seen a hallucination when the mech's vents released sparks.

As quickly as it had begun, Solas' infuriated roar died and he jumped to his peds. The shocking expression he held with his differently colored optics bored so deep into Sideswipe that he didn't rise after the mech. Solas moved swiftly to reach the other side of the room where a metallic structure was bolted onto the wall. Before any of them could stop him, he went on to dig his digits under the object and yank himself back, lurching the groaning piece from where it hung. It was a long, rectangular thing, with slits across the front. Figuring it must be some sort of ventilation shaft, Sideswipe jerked as Solas freed it from the wall and spun around to chuck it away. "Those vexpa-created, spawn of Unicron!"

The shaft flew past Sideswipe too closely for comfort and it crashed behind the group with a series of reverberating clashes. The stiff shoulderbolts and curled servos of Solas sent Sideswipe's spark in an uncomfortable twist. He knew that look. He recognized that lust for energon and that need to destroy until there was nothing left to decimate. He himself had felt it once.

"They're touching her!"

Sunstreaker was up in the mere shutter of an optic, tackling the blindly provoked Guardian while he was seemingly distracted. They both fell to the ground with yet another exclamation from Solas and a fluster of sparks. Sideswipe felt their landing with the dull thud of the earth and he sensed the undeniable emotion behind his brother's side of their bond. There was aggravation there, mixed in with the masked torments they both had felt they'd left behind. How dare he bring them forth now? After all this time, Sideswipe had thought they had moved on. He'd known they had moved on. But to even think about sharing that memory and hold it to this in comparison...

The helplessness felt between the both of them on the kalon they lost their fight to save the sparklings. The rage they experienced when both the brothers hadn't gotten there in time. The grief expelled from their systems as they tore apart every Decepticon they had seen that battle. The feel of enemies' life splattering against his frame and how good it felt to punish them. It was an unexplainable series of emotions, magnified between them both as they felt the other's similar feelings. But when that small, young, vulnerable form had clutched onto his ped with its faceplates so full of pain and fright, that had faded quicker than lightning. Looking back on it now, he could see himself standing beside his golden twin amongst the fiery rubble and the eery expanse of light that had suddenly taken the skies. That memory held himself numb with disbelief before they exchanged both the verbal and silent vows of retribution.

Calcius. That had been the sparkling's designation...the one that deadsparked in his arms.

Sideswipe slowly brought himself to his peds, his optics trained on his brother as he strained with Solas. Such ferocity behind the Guardian's motives. His loyalty was undoubtable. His strength was commendable. His sanity however? Questionable.

At some point, Wheeljack moved in with the sedatives and was finally able to inject them into Solas' main line at his neck. The effects of the medication flowed through Solas quickly and within the breem, he was still. Wheeljack stood away from Solas and leaned heavily on the wall behind him, his older frame sagging against the support. Sunstreaker took longer to remove himself from the scene, but when he did, he didn't hesitate to turn away and start straight for the hallway.

Sideswipe felt his brother's pain; his regret. He could feel the unspoken anger and the heights of his aggravation. At himself, or another, Sideswipe couldn't identify. But it was there, and it was unsettling.

Sideswipe reached out to touch his brother's shoulderbolt, but the golden twin jerked away before he could, stopping before his silver brother with his optics low. "I don't want to talk about it." he stated softly. Sideswipe took back his arm and he balled up his servos, but he still kept a firm hold on the calmness he was emitting to his sibling's spark. "Not now." Sunstreaker added before he moved away and disappeared inside the hall.

"Or ever?" it was a quote he'd heard often when this subject came up. His assumptions about his brother's view on that particular file usually stood as more seclusive. Sunstreaker wasn't one to 'talk about it', and neither was he. But something clicked the kalon that they'd failed. They were changed in a way that none but them could understand. The warrior switched his optics back to the limp mech who was being set up against the wall by Wheeljack.

Maybe there was one.

Hours waning by, twelve flying adversaries of the Autobot cause reaching a point to where the human inside the leader's cabin was slowly losing consciousness. Outside the front windshield, she could see the vast expanse of dusky-blue that was the sky and the caps of differing mountaintops scattered just below. There was an odd silence in the cockpit when Fera had begun to feel the pressure building in her ears and her thoughts swimming. Not too long ago, she had been fighting for her life with a Decepticon dashboard as her target. But now, she felt like her skull was going to float off her shoulders and her ears were going to pop any second.

When they had carried her for an hour, the true helplessness settled in. She knew that now there was no chance for her to make some miracle happen- especially more so since she was thousands of feet in the air. The roar of the engines was the only comfort -strange as it may be- for her, and it was also the only thing keeping her awake. Her eyes were slowly lowering and her body was crashing from the excessive amounts of adrenalin she had used earlier on. Even her legs couldn't lift so she could strike out in her pitiful, but defiant, blows. Although, that could just be the restraints there.

A long stretch of quiet had passed before she had finally decided talking wasn't going to be an option. Such an unfriendly voice sent a chill down her spine anyway, but it would have been nice to get in some final retorts before she was subjected to whatever the 'Cons had planned for her.

This thought caused Fera's stomach to drop and her chest to squeeze. What did they want her for? Truthfully, she figured that she was just an object in their eyes to take away from the Autobots. It would make sense considering even she didn't know what importance she had with them. But despite the seeming insignificance to the 'Bots, they protected her quite fiercely. Often, he mind wandered and she would catch herself on-edge of sleep with nightmares threatening the back of her lids. What lengths would the go to to understand her? Did they plan on keeping her alive? What happened when she no longer was 'needed'?

Slightly nauseated and giving off small shakes from her body, Fera blinked and took a deep breath. The best thing to do now was to be as stubborn as possible. Whatever they did to her, she wouldn't be able to forgive herself if she was to give away anything. If information was what they were after, then she'd rather die than give away the fatal secrets of her friends. What were they doing right now? Were they still standing in the rain, watching the skies where she had disappeared? Were they on their way to Washington? Did the others know? What about her mother?

Hope fluttered in her chest and she nearly jumped from the sudden liveliness. It had been so still after its anger had seemingly vanished, and for a while, she had poked at it in trying to get it to answer her. But the unresponsive essence wouldn't budge, so she was left alone once again. Hope buzzed and vibrated almost sluggishly- almost like it wasn't fully awake.

Carefully, Fera brushed it and coaxed it to a better attention. The moment she moved past it, it brightened and leapt out for her, clutching onto her being with everything it had. The intensity behind the grab surprised her and Fera offered her own reassurance to help it calm down. The original uneasiness in her spiked when the 'Con she sat in dipped his wing to the side in a tight turn. Her muscles tensed and she dug her cracked and ragged nails into the armrests of the seat. More mountains and deep valleys appeared over the horizon and approached at a fast pace. The pressure seemed to have dimmed partially and a hovering sensation occurred in her stomach.

Ever the persistent one, Hope pushed comforting thoughts towards her and curled over her to dive deeply into the source of her fear. The necklace on her neck tickled her skin with the warm trembles it gave as it pulsed in tune with Hope. By now, Fera had decided that they were connected. Somehow, some way, her necklace had something to do with it. That fact now etched in the stone of her mind as the seeming connection between it and Hope flared often. But the question was: How?

"Who are you? Please, tell me. I'm slowly losing my mind..." she whispered to the air. Her heart skipped a beat and then abruptly tightened, causing the constrictions in her chest to knock the air from her lungs. Pain laced over her ribs, back, and stomach to slowly focus solely on her core. Everything around her melted when she closed her eyes and even Hope disappeared from her consciousness. Never before had she felt so alone when that mask had come up over Hope. It was like a piece of her was ripped out and she'd been left to bleed across the ground.

Her agonizing yet silent suffering carried on for only a minute longer before it dropped off without a warning and allowed her to relax. Hope was already there, waiting for her, with a calming sense about it. The purity in the encouragement it sent was amazing in simple words. It was a welcomed change from the utter horrors Fera had imagined destined for her. Her numb limbs got a flush of new life and her mind seemed coated in a warm, lax substance.

Easily, she could fall asleep. It would be so simple to, and her body screamed at her to relent. For reasons beyond her, she held on to consciousness and withheld her rest. There just was something deeply embedded within Hope- something that was out of place in her surrounding light's usual bright inspiration: Fear.

Hope was just as scared as her.

"What do you tin-heads want with me anyway?" she demanded, noticing the increasing terror in her own body when she felt Hope's emotion. If it was unable to be completely sure of her situation, how could she be? It wouldn't give up of course, but all it could do was force away some of her darker thoughts and replace them with the fake relief it offered. What justice would it give her to fall into Hope instead of wanting that room to grow?

The tilt of the plane straightened out and those before them hurried ahead to swerve around the soaring cliffs. They were all so dangerously close to the edge, and it was almost as if they were playing some sort of game. "That information is classified." the 'Con answered simply, appearing unwilling to speak. Fera looked around the cockpit at the many -most likely useless- buttons and tools littering the ceiling and walls of the bowed surface. Fera shifted once again to relieve her tingling bottom, but the restrains against her didn't allow her to move an inch. Irritated, Fera burrowed her eyebrows and shimmied in place. "Could you at least loosen these things a little? I'm not going anywhere."

"No."

"Well aren't you a gentleman."

"I am a Decepticon warrior- one who punishes the weak and creates fear in mere presence. I am no 'gentleman'."

"I could see that from the way you handle your prisoners."

Narrowed, blue eyes bore into the dash even though the voices carried from around her. A deep growl came from the speakers and the front controls rattled loosely with the cracks she had made. "Yet you still fight." the twin cables beside the small dials before her vibrated and shook in their spots. Fera's lip came up in a smirk and she projected as much arrogance as she could in her weakened state. "I'm one of the 'Bots, so can you blame me?"

At this, the plane completely jolted. Fera's eyes widened and she gave a small gasp as the entire jet barrel-rolled through the air. The world outside swirled into an incomprehensible mass of moving colors and shapes. Her stomach dropped to her ruined, tattered shoes and her hair whipped around her before stinging against her cheeks. It was like they were in a barrel drum, spinning with the wet concrete as it mixed. They looped more than once, she was sure of it. But just how many times they had, she couldn't possibly know. It felt almost as if her mind was being put through the washing machine when her vision crossed and her stomach twisted.

"Do not dare place yourself where you do not belong. This war is our own, not one for your race to infest with your pestered meddling." the noises flooded her ears with the roaring of her blood and everything was nearly melting, then doubling back and moving again before her eyes. A few times, she had gone on rollercoasters and felt this way. To think how far she'd come.

It didn't take long for her to regain some of her sense of balance, but when she did, she was immediately on the defense. With tight muscles and a venomous stare, Fera darted her eyes around her as she became unsure of where to look so this thing would see her. "Without our meddling, your sorry excuse for overgrown Hotwheels friends would have taken over by now." she retorted sharply, blinking away the rest of her dizziness and giving a quick flick of her head. "A fate bound to come to pass no matter your cooperation or otherwise." the Decepticon said right back, zooming past a cliff face at a speed that couldn't possibly be safe.

Fera felt the butterflies in her stomach and the tightness in her throat. Before, she never really did good with heights, and now was no different. Of course, being around the Autobot's as she had, her fear had lessened considerably. Nonetheless, being in a reckless 'Con and watching the world around you toss and turn like a pancake wasn't the least bit comforting. When the jet dodged the cliffs by abruptly jerking to the side and flying completely vertical to the ground, her past terror returned. She could see the drops of the valleys into the abyss of a gorge and then the sudden expanse of land into a wide-mouthed canyon. A thin stream of blue ran along the bottom, curling and rounding around the rocks as a distant ribbon against the dull brown. Birds swiftly flew under them, moving in a formulated pattern far from the recoil of the jets' engines. It all would have been a beautiful sight if she wasn't seeing it from the inside of a Decepticon and wasn't a few thousand feet above the surface of the Earth.

Swallowing back her anxiety, Fera looked away from the scenic views and focused solely ahead. That was the only way to go now, right? Ahead. Into the clutches of the enemy and tip-toe into their plans without hesitance. Defiance was her best weapon, especially considering she was a fleshy, one-hundred and twenty-pound bag of meat.

Not a really assuring thought when in the clutches of the enemy.

She was getting off track now. Distraction seemed the only way she kept her climbing horror from mounting past what she could handle. For if she thought back to what could truly happen to her, she would realize that this could be her last few days of life. She would realize that in mere hours, she could be screaming in agony. She would realize that these few precious moments of wholeness she felt could be taken away. And she realized that because she was here, her entire life could be scarred both physically and psychologically.

Wasn't that lovely to think of? And what made it worse was when she began to think of just what she could have done to stop it. Maybe if she hadn't ran up to Mirage? No, no, she thought. What she did was right, so there was no going back on that. There were just so many things she could have done differently, and she was the cause of almost every single one.

What if Solas had been there?

This abrupt consideration had Fera's eyes snapping open and Hope tickling the edges of her being in curiosity. If Solas had been there, armor and all, what would have been different? Bumblebee was a great Guardian for her, so what made Solas so different from the little yellow 'Bot? He seemed pretty determined to keep her safe before, but would he still have lost her like Bee did? It wasn't even the mech's fault, but what would Solas done in his situation? From that message Bee gave her from her original Guardian, he sounded like he was actually starting to warm up to her. Maybe he never really got to showcase his abilities before everything happened. Fera knitted her eyebrows and pressed her head back against the seat. What were his abilities?

Her train of thought broke off as the formation of 'Cons began to nose-dive like birds into the gullies under-belly. The one Fera was riding in didn't hesitate to follow, allowing the head of its cone to dip down and reveal the path before them. Rockets blaring, Fera's eyes widened and her teeth clamped when they rushed forward into the rock below. Her heart was somewhere in her throat and she couldn't find her stomach as her body was pulled deeper into the seat she sat in. Goosebumps rose across her skin when a chill brushed her spine and the hairs on the back of her neck rose. Pilots actually looked forward to this kind of thing?

Within seconds, the jet pulled up again and Fera accidentally gave a small squeak when they headed headlong into the rockface. But they weren't going to crash; not if that giant hole in the side of the mountain was anything to go by.

One by one, the other Decepticons entered the cave and disappeared into the darkness. Fera and her captor were close to follow, shooting into the massive mound without apprehension. A blanket of black overtook everything and anything Fera could possibly see, sending her into a rigid stance in the seat. She reached out to Hope and held on to it, feeling as though it was her only light- even if it wasn't physically visible. It seemed like it was the only safety she felt at that moment, and in the suffocating darkness, she decided she'd needed as much support as she could get. It wasn't until now that she felt so trapped.

Then, before she could react, blinding white light exploded before her and quickly faded again into differing colors and shapes. Fera held her face away from the window and squinted her eyes so to let them adjust better. It wasn't long before she was looking up and around the new scene. They were inside an enormous cave, with jagged walls that soared far above and bowed in a dome-like shape. Lights hung from the ceiling and flooded the room in bright illumination.

"Time is up." this simple statement from the 'Con had her heart dropping and her lungs seizing up in fright. What was that supposed to mean? As quick as lightning, the straps across her chest retracted and her body was let free. However, she couldn't even move before the cables escaped the dash again and wrapped around her. A loud cry escaped through her lips when she was once again put through her kidnapper's transformation. The violent shakes and jars of her body rocked her aching muscles and tugged on sore limbs. Again, her whole world turned to a fight for survival as mere seconds ticked by and she was forced to dodge blindly as her body dragged amid the inside of the mech. Unlike the last time however, something closed down on her ankle. Hard.

The snap was a clearly muffled click and the pain was instant. Immediately, Fera screamed and tucked into herself. Her body jerked forward and then yanked back to hit a block of solid metal before she was thrown into the open air. Pulses of sheer fire came from her lower leg and traveled up her femur to encase her entire limb in shocks of affliction. Wind whistled past her ears and she felt her clothes flap against her skin before she hit the ground.

The impact knocked the air from her lungs and sent her body into an arched bow. Her entire spine was shrieking with her ankle and her arms and shoulders were nearly numb from the abusive treatment they'd been put through. Giving a small moan, Fera slowly rolled to her side and reached down to grab her ankle. How many times do I have to be dropped before I break completely?! she thought in exasperation. That made what? Three times now?

But in only a few seconds of writhing in her breathless gasps and squirms of pain, her eyes shot wider and she lifted herself onto her elbow. The space around her was chilly and by her quick assesment, most of their accompanied Decepticons were gone. There were the sounds of the few remaining 'Cons' transformations, but other than that, it was quiet. Before her captor could complete his turn, she climbed to her feet. Her first few steps were heavy because of her limp from her ankle and her arm wrapped tightly around her side. However, she was able to sort of hop faster towards the rapidly closing door at the mouth of the cave.

Voices started up behind her, but she didn't stop to see who it was. Her leg complained with each limp she took from it and her teeth threatened to crack. Her nostrils flared with each breath she took and her hands clenched into tight balls. She was just yards away- so close now that she could still smell the fresh crispness of the outside world. Almost there, almost there... Even when the thuds rocked her feet, she continued on. The pointlessness of her attempts were almost comical, but she was so focused ahead that she thought for a split second that she may make it. What would she do once she was there? Run? Hide? Who would find her? It didn't matter so long as she was away from these metallic demons.

"Come here you!" the gravelled tone sounded half a second before the large, navy-blue and silver hand cut off her path and closed around her. Instantly, she ignored her past pains and used the determination from Hope as a fuel for her struggles. She lashed out and beat at the hand of the one who held her, at one point even scratching at the paint to get free. "Let go of me you insidious, radioactive bastard!" she gave a frustrated shriek, hoping that would be enough to get the 'Con to let her go, but even then, he just continued to hold her against her will. "Silence you pest!" the 'Con snarled at her, holding her up to his disturbing red eyes. Fera pushed against his hand so to rear her body back and she twisted the side of her nose as if she smelled something bad. "Last time one of you got in my face like that, it didn't end well." she hissed back, gesturing she meant to recreate her first abduction.

The Decepticon quickly drew her away from him and he tightened his grip on her. Fera's lungs strained to take in air correctly and she grunted from the feel. Hope was always there for her, urging her on and not allowing her to quit under any circumstance. But now that she could barely breath and her fatigued mind was already shutting down before she could stop it, she couldn't help the lightheaded feeling that came over her. The last thing she remembered was looking into those blood-red eyes, then everything rushed overhead, and her world smacked her in the face.

He wanted to believe everything was as it should have been. He wished it would belong in his favor. He wished that this confusing ache in his chassis would go away, but when he tried pushing it away, his spark would remember everything and he would bring it right back. All the pain and fear bleeding from the small spark seemed to take him over somehow, as if it was his driving force. His sluggish processor was muddled and cloudy with each running emotion: Pain, fear, determination, anger, loyalty, and failure. Above everything else, there was that one peaking sensation. Failure. Regret was there as well, but it was so close to the others that it blended in.

There was a reason he had spaced out; a reason he felt his deeper, darker past rising in him again. He thought he'd disabled that program? the very one given to every Decepticon soldier was buried deep in his processor- so much so that he was unable to actually delete it completely. It was like a scar for his CPU or a stubborn virus that refused to be completely flushed from his systems. That kalon he found them dead in their domicile...he never went back to that base. Nor would he have.

Now, they trusted him. They trusted him for the first time with something that truly mattered. His place among them had finally been cemented. His past was slowly fading...

"Solas, can you hear me?" that voice, he knew it. Mech, definitely. Wheeljack? He couldn't process anything clearly, so just the fact that he was able to recognize the form before him surprised even himself. Where was he again? That small essence inside of him was afraid once more, and he didn't like that. Not one bit. He despised that feeling of helplessness he acquired anytime the small spark felt scared or alone or in pain. There was a certain defiance about it- as if it was trying to pull through on its own. "'Jack...?" there was nothing else he could physically say at that moment. There was a distance anger that he couldn't place, but he felt it echoing at the back of his consciousness.

Why had he been angry again? It had something to do with the small spark, he knew that... "Solas, do you know where you're at?" it was a dull, fuzzy tone and Solas knitted his optic ridges. Wheeljack never sounded like that. It was...almost like he was failing. Even the air seemed slower to his processor. His systems refused to come online properly and he was left to sit in a senseless mass of confusion. There was a calming feeling in his limbs that made him want to lie down and recharge, but his very being wouldn't allow him to do that. It wouldn't give him that pleasure when he needed to do something. So much more. He had a...a mission...to complete.

~Solas Kaon, this is Optimus Prime.~ the leader was clear and full in Solas' audio receptors, but there was an edge to it that the warrior couldn't place. He wished so bad to stand; to move towards what called for him. The small spark needed him- it called for him and begged for him to help. But...but he couldn't. He wanted to, but he just couldn't. ~I...am...where am I?~ he shuttered his optics a few times, but the milky film seeming to cover them wouldn't allow him to see anything clearly.

~Back at base in Amoret, Missouri. You were in a rampage and Wheeljack had to sedate you. What do you feel?~ what an odd thing to ask, even from the Autobot commander. Truthfully, Solas didn't know what he felt. He couldn't comprehend anything enough to understand, and even if he would, the constant swirling of thoughts and emotions would be too much to sort out. ~I...don't know...~ he admitted, ~There's someone...someone here...with me. I can feel them...~

~What do you mean Solas? Who do you feel? Is it Fera?~

Solas squeezed his optic slips shut for a nanoclick and tried deciding that for himself. Fera? Where did she come in this? Was she...was she maybe...no. Not possible. It couldn't even be a minute suggestion. Nonetheless...at some point, he felt he had considered it. Solas vented a shaking cycle of air and he kept his optics trained on Wheeljack as he had since he found himself in the state he was in now. ~I need to go to them...they need my help- I can feel...their pain.~ he tried moving his limbs, but Wheeljack held him down and said something to him. The edges of his vision where turning dark and his CPU was shutting down all of his systems to save both energy and allow a proper start of his recovery programs. ~Solas, remain at base until you are fit enough for conflict. I will see to it myself that she is recovered...~ the basso voice faltered.

~I promise to you we will get her back.~

Then everything went black.

Saw Solas Kaon recently! I seriously stared at the car...

That was an odd experience.

Strange.

Anyway, so we are in the home stretch for 100 reviews everyone! Finally! :D

It is now my challenge to all of you to complete this goal and get my story out there!

Thank you all for your support and time spent reading my work, it truly means a lot

*Chapter Inspiration: Monster= Skillet*