Update time! Another long one. hope you're ready for it. I wasn't haha But I think it turned out okay.

Hours had gone by, and Starscream was struggling to hold himself together. The longer they went unbothered, the more nervous he became. His nervousness made him jumpy, even twitching when someone simply walked by. It was agonizing.

While he awaited whatever Megatron had in mind, he had nothing else to do but think while he held his mate close. His mind was reeling on the loss and death of Typhoon, Barricade being unwell, and the death of his trine-mate. He was also thinking about the fact they were now prisoners in his own base and that he'd failed at defending his title. It was so much to process.

He had time to consider the best and the worst. Best case scenario would be that the Autobots would come. Worst case is Megatron would have his way with both him and Barricade.

The rest of the Decepticons, as far as he knew, were either scattered or dead since he had no communication with any of them. And having lost the contest, he was sure they would be coming back to the base at Megatron's side unless Soundwave could stop the files from reaching them. So, that was another worry… if his 'Cons would still be his.

Having been holding Barricade the entire time, he knew it had to be early morning by now, but still dark. The day was starting too quickly. Looking around, he considered that there were still a few options left, one was that Megatron had entrapped him in his own cell. While Megatron knew nothing of his base, Starscream knew it inside out. Still didn't matter much, since he'd had it made airtight… just in case.

He wouldn't fail her. Not again. She needed him now more than ever to be steadfast. Steadying his resolve, Starscream looked down at Barricade again as he thought about them both getting out, or, in the very least, he would try to get her out. If he managed to leave as well, all the better, but his focus was her first. The fate of one of the last femmes – his mate – lay in his hands. He sent her a burst to get her attention, figuring she had gone back into her mind, "You need to get out of here, 'Run…" he spoke softly, "I'm gonna get you out somehow."

Barricade only moved slightly in acknowledgement. Even though she was thinking about various things, she quirked a frown as if the wall had made a face at her. That had to be the stupidest thing she'd heard him say in a while. "Are you out of your mind? I won't leave you alone here."

"I won't let you stay," The silver Seeker said as he looked down at her shoulder, lightly brushing her shoulder-mount with his claw. He was rather surprised that she had spoken so coherently. "You gotta find our Sparklings." When he thought about his injuries and how fast he could escape, well, let's just say the odds were not in his favor. They'd come for him or her – likely her first – and that would be the only time to pull any of the crazy ideas in his head off. There was no way they were going to fight their way out. It was going to take outsmarting them and running for dear life.

Watching the other mechs for a while, he could tell where they frequented and where they didn't, and where their best route of escape would be. It would be the rear exit. He figured that if he could sneak her at least halfway out, he could distract them enough to give her time to escape. First, he needed an idiot to come and get them.

Leaning back on the wall of the main building at the Autobot base, Sixshot watched the horizon. He always enjoyed a good view. It helped to relax him. He still needed repairs, but he preferred to hang outside while the medics worked on those in more need than himself.

Optimus had told him that he would be needed for the attack on the Decepticon base, but he didn't stick around to hear more about it. He agreed and remained outside of the Autobots' building, knowing his presence had made them all uneasy. He got dirty looks from a lot of them. Some even flinched when he moved. While he found their behavior comical at most, he would rather them pretend he wasn't there.

He was in depth of thought and thoroughly pissed off because Soundwave still hadn't come, and it wouldn't take much to set him off. So, being out here was more for their protecting from his wrath.

Rumble, seeing the mech so annoyed approached him. Sixshot watched him climb up his body and then to his chest and sit. Looking optic to optic to him through his visor to the teal mech he asked, "What?"

Rumble stared into Sixshot's visor and at his blue optics for a moment before asking, "Did you know?"

"What part?"

"Frenzy's alive!" Rumble bounced.

"I figured as much." Sixshot moved painfully to sit up, "Megatron and his cronies probably still think he's a drone. Can you communicate with him at all?"

"No, but I keep trying. I know he's there. Why doesn't he respond?"

"I dunno, maybe he can't," Sixshot shrugged, "You know how Blackout works."

"Can we go get him, then?" Rumble then asked. "I want to see him,"

"Patience, youngling."

"But he could get hurt," Rumble frowned.

Sixshot gave him a doubtful look, "Really? You think you guys have survived all this time because of dumb luck?"

Rumble chuckled, "You'd be surprised."

Sixshot scoffed, furrowing his optic ridges. "Happens with all of us, I think," the six-changer said, "The Autobots are setting something up as of right now. Not entirely sure what it is, either. I haven't bothered with asking."

Rumble nodded, and then happily changed the subject, "Oh, and, hey! Wheeljack checked me. He said there was something weird about me."

Sixshot grinned, "It took him this long to figure that out?" Why had that crazy Wheeljack 'checked' him, again? "You let Wheeljack touch you and you're not in a million pieces? Should I be worried?" the teal mech asked in a show of humor. He'd heard the stories of the famous Autobot Engineer.

Rumble beamed at Sixshot and then went to his audial and whispered something. Sixshot watched the little mech as he backed up, astounded at what Rumble had told him. How that engineer figured it out was beyond him. "When will he know?"

Rumble glanced to the side, shrugged, and then ran off when he saw an Autobot coming around the corner of the building, headed right for Sixshot. Sixshot looked up as to why Rumble had left and let out a hard gush of air from his vents and rolled his optics. This mech just did not stop. "You again…?" he asked and then looked away and folded his arms over his chest, frowning behind his facemask. "Perhaps I should just kill you, so I don't have to see your ugly mug…"

"I could say the same thing," said an annoyed Hot Rod.

Sixshot's optics furrowed in irritation. Was that a threat? "I don't know who you think you are, but you're not, punk. I'm not like the others," the assassin warned without even looking at him. "You make it sound like I have to put up with any of you. I don't. You seem to piss me off every time you open your mouth. Something ill advised."

"Oh, believe me, you'll want to hear this if you know what's good for you,"

Sixshot gave him an unenthused look, "Don't try to blackmail me. I have killed for far less and cockiness only makes me angrier. If I wanted the information, I will get it whether you like it or not."

Hot Rod gave Sixshot a look, wondering how he planned to do it with all the Autobots around, although he also knew that Sixshot was never idle on his threats.

They lingered silently for a moment, staring at one another and finally Hot Rod told him, "I'm going to the shooting range if you want to come. We can talk there."

Sixshot considered it. Perhaps he could accidentally target the gunner and shoot him. Yeah, no one would believe for a second that it was accidental. "Not unless I can shoot you."

Unknown to the pair, they had an eavesdropper. As Jazz watched Hot Rod leave, she looked back at Sixshot. Watching the assassin in slight wonder, she thought, 'What the pit is goin' on between those two?'

It was well into the morning and the hot sun beat down on the very out-of-place black Lockheed Raptor. The pilot, too tired to continue after he sat down on Skywarp's wing, had fallen asleep there.

Skywarp woke with a groan. At first, he was confused because the last thing he remembered, was that he was flying – no, that was more like falling. Like out-of-control-Primus-I'm-gonna-die falling… He remembered Jess struggling to keep him airborne. He also remembered thinking about TC, but not much else.

Much to his surprise, they were safely on the ground… He looked around seeing… forests – Deciduous forests. As far as he'd learned about Earth, these forests didn't grow in the desert. Why wasn't he in the desert? Oh no! Suddenly he began to worry. Where were they? Where was Starscream? And TC? What happened?

…And why was Jess sleeping on him?

The Seeker, not really thinking, dropped out from under the man, causing him to bounce off of him as his landing gear suddenly disappeared. That was a mistake. He hissed in pain. Why did he think that was a good idea?

Jess hit the wing as he bounced and was instantly awake. He put his hand to his head where he'd knocked it off his knuckles. "Fuck, what was that?" he asked out loud in groggy surprise.

"It was me. Wake up."

Jess rubbed the sleep from his eyes, not entirely coherent, but almost there. Especially because Skywarp had literally dropped out from under him. Who does that? Still between wakefulness and sleep, it took him a moment to recognize the voice. It was Skywarp! The man quickly moved and then realized he touched something really hot and jumped, hissing in pain as his palm was burned by the hot metal. Why did he have to be black? Why not white? Or hell, even yellow would be better than black in the hot sun. Jess shook his hot hand, looking up with slight confusion, "Skywarp? Holy shit, you're alive!"

"Uh…I think? What's going on? Why am I clearly in a deciduous forest? Are we in a different dimension where these trees grow in the desert?"

The man shielded his eyes from the sun with a grimace. It was far too bright, and he hadn't had enough sleep for such big words. "A different dimension? What?"

"Are we?"

"How the hell should I know what a different dimension looks like?"

"I heard some are so close to the one that one is from, it's hard to tell the difference," Skywarp said, trying to use his navigation to tell him where he was, but it was on the fritz.

"I sure as hell hope we're not."

"Me too. We might not find our way back." Skywarp thought about it longer. "I've never traveled to another dimension."

Trying to put out of his mind what Skywarp had said about other dimensions, he said, "Listen, I managed to somehow crash-land you last night, spent the next few hours performing Cybertronian surgery blind and without any tools." Nagging him in the back of his mind, he squinted at the Seeker, "You weren't serious, were you? About the different dimension?"

"Oh yeah? And I still function…" The Seeker slowly lifted back onto his landing gear, finding being completely on the ground uncomfortable. "Imagine that… and yes, I was serious."

Jess watched the jet rise up, shaking his head. "Why did you drop out from under me like that?"

"I dunno, seemed like a good idea at the time," the Seeker replied, settling on his tires.

Jess hiked a brow at him as he went to sit on a tire, now looking around to see if anything was… different. "You need to stop coming up with ideas."

Skywarp chuckled at him. "I can't help it. I'm possessed by an idiotic ghost. It tells me to do idiotic things."

This time Jess laughed, "That explains you…"

"Of course it does. How else do you think I've managed to live this long?"

"Sheer luck?"

Skywarp laughed then growled, "Don't make me laugh. It hurts. So, why don't you tell me how we ended up so far from base?"

Confused that Skywarp didn't know what happened, he was hesitant in his answer, "Don't you remember randomly teleporting last night?"

Skywarp thought about it for a minute. He even searched his teleporting memory to find it blank. That was weird. That hadn't ever happened before. "Uh, no?"

"Well, you did… It was the weirdest fucking teleport ever. Made my eyes see colors and gave me a massive headache."

Skywarp gave him a confused frown. "You don't…" he paused, unsure how the man saw only in black and white, "See in color?"

"Of course I do, dummy. It was just rainbow-y sparkles."

"Ah, gotcha."

"We were, as your systems said, 'ejected from the grid'. What the hell does that even mean anyway?"

"It means something catastrophic happened to my mixers and my teleporting core and we're lucky we're not dead. Or worse…" Skywarp's voice became cryptic as he looked around. "Maybe we are in a different dimension…"

Jess just gave him a blank stare, really, really hoping he was trying to joke around. Although, as a jet, it was impossible to tell for sure. "God, I hope not."

"How in the pit did we survive?" the Seeker then asked.

"I have no idea. The only thing I do know, is that you teleported to BFE, and I managed to land you without killing us both."

"BFE? Never heard of it. Where's that?"

Jess had to smirk at the Seeker, "That's short for 'Hell if I know'."

"I thought you said you knew…"

"Shut up." He looked at the jet, eyeing it from top to bottom. The Seeker was still bleeding in some places and other places were still sparking, but it looked much better than it had when he'd landed. "I'm guessing your wounds must have repaired some. Can you transform?"

"Transforming cogs are functional. I can try, though I recommend you get away from me first. You might be my only way out of here if I can't fly myself… It would suck for me to fall over and squish you because of lack of balance."

"Point taken," Jess said, backing up a distance from him.

Skywarp activated his transforming protocols, but his body didn't want to respond at first as if it were stuck. After a few more seconds, he was barely able to transform. His body slid over itself instead of the normal popping and moving. To him, it felt extremely weird. It took him a while because a lot of it was still painful. After he had unfolded, it was no surprise that he had to catch himself before he did fall.

The Seeker sat down weakly, looking at Jess. He then felt for the burnt wound in his chest, dipping his finger around the edges. Taking his hand away with a hiss, he realized it was still a tender area. Jess had done decent repair, for sure, but he still needed a medic. "My diagnostics are offline. I can't tell how bad it is,"

"Well, I can tell ya that something you were seeping smelled different, if that helps. I managed to stop it."

Skywarp looked down at his pilot, amused he could identify something so obscure, "Funny you'd notice something like that… What did it smell like?"

"Kinda like a mix between burnt wood and its normal o-zone smell – You stunk," Jess told him. "You guys never stink."

"Hm," Skywarp acknowledged, still trying to figure out what systems were still offfline. His teleporting system was erroring at nearly every protocol he tried to initiate. When he tried to access it, it would return with 'Insufficient gridwyrm lock'. He knew what that meant. He wasn't teleporting anywhere.

"You also had some sort of metallic rainbow shit seeping out of you. Weirdest shit I've ever seen. I couldn't stop it because I couldn't touch it."

Hearing the man's words, Skywarp said with shock, "That's my stuff."

"What?" Perhaps now was the real time to worry. Skywarp never spoke like that unless it was really important. "What do you mean, stuff? What stuff?"

"It's gridwyrm energy."

Jess gave him a raised eyebrow, "Should I even ask?"

"Probably not," Skywarp replied, thinking it would probably go over his head anyway."Short story, I use that to teleport. We are going to be flying using only navigation. But we still have to wait till I can fly." How in the Pit had that shot gotten that? He knew no one knew where to hit, so when Sunstorm did, it must have been pure luck. No sense dwelling on it. The Seeker shifted as his diagnostics came partially online.

"Can it be um… fixed?"

"There's no fixing it because it's not accessible on this plane. I only use it during teleportation. I get that from the grid. If I can't get to the grid, I can't get it…"

Jess put up a hand, stopping the Seeker, "Wait a minute. You're speaking gibberish. There's no equivalent?"

"No, unless we're on top of a particle collider that I don't see." Skywarp looked up and around at the lack of human involvement in the area. "Yeah, I highly doubt it…" He was worried about TC as well. He wondered if she and their unborn Sparkling were okay. He was also worried for Starscream. He had to give the youngling credit for taking on Megatron himself, and he hoped his bravery paid off.

"A what?" Jess asked in disbelief. There were only a few in the world, the biggest one being CERN.

"A particle collider, it makes-"

"-I know what a particle collider is, 'Warp…" Jess interrupted, "Why do you need one?"

"Because…" Skywarp replied. "It might be able to create what I need. Unfortunately, humans are so backwards compared to us, that it might take too long to get it, and I highly doubt they have the right numbers to even quantify it."

Frenzy had been climbing in the rafters, and he came to a stop when he got to the brig, knowing Starscream and Barricade were in there. Megatron had made it well known that he'd beaten him for leadership of the Decepticons. He gazed down at them for a moment in thought.

The hacker remained where the two couldn't see him, as he only wanted to observe for now and there were too many mechs watching them. Way too many. He'd have thought they were stronger than Megatron to need all that security. There was no way he'd be able to talk to them covertly right now, if ever.

For a moment, he wondered if Barricade could sense him. When she didn't respond to his Spark calls, he figured maybe he'd been reset with Soundwave. He liked Barricade though. Even though she was as mean as they came, there was a side of her he just liked. It was why he asked to be sent with her in the first place.

He was pleased to see that his skill had paid off, but it was sad to have found out this way. He'd see to it they got free. He wasn't finished his mission unless Starscream was Commander of the Decepticons and Runner, a.k.a. Barricade, was the Matriarch if Starscream had become Commander and if Barricade had survived their first arrival. Soundwave said so. The little hacker jumped down from his perch and headed into another room as he devised a plan to maybe help them get the hell out of this mess.

Meanwhile, Starscream continued to think of ways to get Barricade away from Megatron, his cronies and the base. It wouldn't be easy because she only had wheels. She was one of the fastest on the ground, so she still had a slight chance, which was still better than none at all. It would be risky and extremely dangerous, but it was far better than letting her stay in here and be subjected to the horror that awaited her.

He'd made sure to continue sending to Barricade, even if she didn't respond. He didn't know how to keep her here, but if sending those bursts through their link was working, he wouldn't stop. He wouldn't lose her to the Vornsworn or Megatron.

She'd felt his small bursts. They were comforting, though she sometimes had a hard time reaching for them, as if they were distant from her. His constant presence seemed to be the only thing she was holding onto, and she was afraid she'd lose it. She turned it into a feedback loop, one that would continue to echo even if he wasn't sending. It would steady her. "They'll kill you…" Barricade muttered after a moment.

Starscream looked down at her. She must have been thinking about what was going to happen to them. The young Seeker didn't doubt it, but if there were a chance that she could get free, hopefully she would live through his death. "They won't kill me, 'Run," he purred in a lie.

"Not right away, at least," the femme growled darkly. "They'll torture you until you long for death." She knew what he had been through in the past.

Refusing to answer her comment, he said, "Our Sparklings need you."

Barricade didn't answer. She didn't have one. Technically, she couldn't argue with him. Their Sparklings did need her. "They can be surrogated if something happens to you – to us." Never in her life had she ever been forced to make such hard decisions. But then again, never in her life did she think she would be bonded to Starscream and now be worried for him.

The Seeker stood up and made his way to the cell door, looking toward the exit. He waited for the mech to make their way down here so he could get this started. "Not what I had in mind," he told her. "When you get out, you run. That's an order. You find Soundwave, you hear? She'll know what to do."

Still riddled with conflict, Barricade was unsure if she could handle leaving him here. She looked at his back where severe damage was still evident, and he was showing signs of fatigue. She frowned, knowing he couldn't fly. "You're not a hero, 'Screamer. Stop trying to be one."

"Sure, I am, you just don't know it yet," he grinned at her.

Around the Wreck Room, where the other Decepticons congregated, Frenzy had taken a particular interest in a mech that was in a cage on a table. The only reason he'd even noticed him was because someone had walked by and poked at the cage, and something moved in that cage. Ever curious, he approached it, quickly realizing it was a Sparkling – a Sparkling he'd never met. Was this Starscream's Sparkling? He kind of looked like a Seeker, but not quite. His appearance was off a bit. He also noticed he had thrusters growing. Frenzy then wondered if he was the result of what he'd done. The little mech looked like a naturally born Sparkling. And his size was right; everything was right. He made his way to the small creature Megatron had trapped and poked him.

Blacklight flinched away with a growl and moved to the other side of the cage, tired of being poked. "Get away from me," he told the offending poker.

Frenzy ignored the demand and stayed put, really interested in him. "Y-you're not an All-Allspark S-Sp-sparkling, are you?" he then asked.

Blacklight kept his back to him, looking down. He missed Barricade and Starscream and he was scared. "Why are you asking?"

"Curious!"

"No," the Sparkling replied after a long pause, "I was born in a warehouse."

Frenzy beamed excitedly and spit off a few words Blacklight didn't understand and then asked, "A warehouse? Ar-are you St-Starscream's Sparkling?"

"Yeah," Blacklight answered, finally looking over to the four-armed mech, wondering if he'd seen either him or Barricade. He stopped, seeing his bright blue optics, wondering when the Autobots had a Sparkling. "Who are you? Why are you asking me this?"

The small mech chattered something Blacklight didn't understand and then whipped his head around at the sound of someone coming. He then turned back toward Blacklight, tapping his chest, "I'm F-Frenzy!"

Frenzy? Frenzy was dead, right? "Frenzy? Rumble's twin?" They didn't have any looks in common.

"Starscream and B-Barricade are he-here!" Frenzy said, still watchful of anyone who might enter the room. "Meg-Megatron's got th-them."

Blacklight perked up, he got closer to Frenzy, grabbing the bars, "Where? Are they okay?"

"They're being held in the br-brig."

"Can you get them out?"

"No, they're being watched too closely." Frenzy then heard someone coming. "W-Wait here!" and he scurried off. Blacklight only watched him go. He didn't bother to tell the idiot he sure as hell had no place else to go.

At the Autobot base, it hadn't taken long for the Decepticons to cause problems. One Decepticon in particular.

There was a loud yell, clearly Ironhide's, and then an equally loud growl. Ravage bolted. He was often seen running off in wake of such occurrences, which were a pure result of him. It was nothing but a game to him, which he took much enjoyment from. Being on the Autobot base, he had to mess with them. There was just no other option.

He wasn't as subtle as one might think he would be. No… When he got the chance to relax, he did it whenever and wherever he damned well wanted to. Usually, it was right in the way of everyone – in the middle of the floor, on a table, on an instrument panel he knew they would need. He knew they wouldn't step on him, whereas the 'Cons could care less and would.

Sunstreaker stomped in annoyance after shoving the cat off of a table that he swore he was deliberately on to be in the way, he got down in Ravage's face, "If you don't stop playing dead cat in the middle of everything, it's going to come to pass! Now knock it off!"

After Sunstreaker simply walked over the cat-like 'Con, Ravage gave him a diabolical chuckle, saying, "I took the form of a cat, so I must be a cat. Have you seen what those creatures do? I must do the same to make sure I'm well hidden."

"You're not hiding from anyone here!"

"Sure I am. I'm hiding from you Autobots."

"Not in the middle of everything, you're not!" Sunstreaker growled in frustration as he walked away.

Ravage's tail twitched as he watched the yellow warrior walk away. Surely, he had to know he was screwing with him. "I'm hiding in plain sight!" he called after him. He let out a wicked chuckle.

Another growl.

Meanwhile at the target range, Hot Rod was efficiently destroying the targets with one of his guns, but he yearned to destroy them in a more scorching manner. "Blasted, traitor! How in the name of Primus did my grandmother not notice that her brother is a raging sociopath?" he snarled as he aimed for another target.

Suddenly he was interrupted by a voice, clearly not Sixshot's, "…And who's the ragin' sociopath?"

Hot Rod turned around, and almost rolled his optics in annoyance at being interrupted, " Jazz! I wasn't expecting you. Is there something I can do for you?" He looked down at his weapon and fiddled with it, changing the targeting system slightly.

Jazz stared at him for a moment, finally, she said, "Ya sure have changed, Roddy. And I ain't talkin' 'bout the looks, either…" She gave him a grimace in displeasure at his attitude, "We were jus' worried 'bout ya, that's all. In fact, the whole base was worried when ya did your little disappearin' act. Optimus ain't too happy that you've been hidin' things from 'im."

"Well, I had to go thru some growing pains," he told her, "I am perfectly fine now."

"I can see that, but Roddy. You don' look fine," said Jazz, "What's got ya so ticked?"

Hot Rod pinched he's nose bridge as well as closed he's optics before he looked up and informed Jazz, "Look, I know you're worried about me, but my sister gave me some rather disturbing information, and no, I am nottelling you what it is, at least not yet. Now, if you'll excuse me,"

As he walked away, Jazz watched him for a moment, dumbfounded. Had he just said he had a sister? She gave him information recently? What was going on? Was there another femme somewhere? All of this occurred at the time Shockwave arrived. With a frown, she yelled after him, "Ya can't hide yer secrets forever, Hot Rod!" And she would see to that. She watched as Sixshot rounded the corner walking past Hot Rod.

Another one she was curious about. "Sixshot," she said.

"What?" the mech answered gruffly, annoyed at being interrupted.

"I heard ya two talkin' earlier. Wanna tell me why you're so buddy-buddy?"

"We're not," Sixshot protested. "He's asking to be killed if he doesn't stop annoying me." The six-changer powered up a small gun on his arm and aimed at a target. "I'm sick of his attitude."

"He's got one wit' everyone it seems, lately."

"Yeah, but I won't put up with it like the rest of you." He fired a laser type projectile, looked at the target then to the weapon in curiosity.

"He might be a hothead, but he's young," Jazz said as she watched him change the sight on the weapon and aim again. "Give 'im that."

Sixshot fired a succession of shots this time, each right through the first hole. "I do not care. He pisses me off every time he speaks."

"Don't hurt 'im please," Jazz pleaded.

"No promises. He forgets who he speaks to." The assassin fired again, and with it, he un-subspaced two other weapons and fired them at the same time.

"Ya, ya, the one-mech-army-combiner-killer-assassin of the Decepticons," Jazz murmured light-heartedly. Sixshot lowered his arm and gave her a look. She saw the look and smirked, "Don't look at me like that. I'm fairly certain ya won't kill me,"

"If Starscream and Barricade die, I need to vent my anger out on someone. That'll be this base," he decided.

"Ya care about 'em?"

Caught, Sixshot grunted, "That's none of your business."

"Ya do care!" she teased.

Sixshot gave her an unimpressed look. Neither spoke for a beat. Finally, he relented, "I'm not entirely a cold Spark, Autobot."

"Not entirely," Jazz echoed with amusement. "Coulda fooled me." She set off to talk to Blaster, an idea forming in her mind. She didn't want to think the stuff about Hot Rod was true, but she also wasn't about to let this alone. Not any longer.

While working on Blitzwing, Ratchet had been thinking since the Decepticons had shown up. He'd had First Aid and Wheeljack on hand to help him with the more severely injured while Hook and Ramjet took care of those that needed not so dire medical attention. He turned to look at the Constructicon, "We need Devastator," the Autobot CMO finally said. "I know he was sometimes solely the reason some fights were won."

"We don't have Devastator," Hook's voice called with irritation. "And you don't need to remind me."

"Bygones," Wheeljack quipped.

The fact his Constructicons showed their true colors and followed Megatron pissed him off. He knew Devastator was the most powerful combiner of the Decepticons. "I don't have the Constructicons," Hook said, turning toward Ratchet with his hands splayed, "Pretty sure things would have gone much better for Starscream."

"Your team turned on you?" Wheeljack asked. He didn't think teams would do something like that.

"Yes," the 'Con medic growled.

"Why would they do that? Aren't you their leader?"

"Combiners are a little different in that respect," Hook told him, "And they chose to follow Megatron."

Wheeljack snorted but chose to ignore his tone, "Is there any way for you to force a combine and bring them around that way?" he asked. "I've heard of something similar in the past."

"I don't know. With a strong enough amplifier like Soundwave, maybe, but there's no guarantee it will work, and if it does, there's no guarantee he won't attack anyone," the Decepticon medic answered, "Devastator shares our Sparks, but he has his own mind to a point. Our Sparks influence his actions." he twisted down, completing his task with Breakdown.

With a nod, the Stunticon rolled his shoulder and then nodded back and stood up, "Good as new. I'll get Astrotrain,"

Hook then looked back up at Ratchet, continuing where he left off, "if they're following Megatron; Devastator may follow Megatron. Don't think you'll want that. You'll lose me as well."

"We have Blaster. Won't he work?" Wheeljack asked as he watched Breakdown leave. He knew he could rig something up with Blaster's systems and they could amplify him if need be.

"Maybe… Personally, I'd rather wait for Soundwave – if she ever comes – or we have no options left."

"Well, if we could save Motormaster's life, we could have Menasor," Wheeljack then said. "It would be two on two.

"Motormaster isn't an option," Ratchet stated, having already gotten updated information from Hook – which had included that a Predacon had been the culprit. "The other Stunticons won't speak about him," he commented as he worked, "I've tried asking. They may be on the verge of forcing a new leader."

First Aid piped up, looking for a vial to continue what he was doing, "We absolutely do not need that right now."

"I don't think it's going to happen right away. They're loyal to him," Hook told Ratchet and First Aid. "They're not ruffians. They will likely wait until there is no choice."

"I've come to get Megatron's new femme," Skalor said as he approached the cell, a wicked smirk on his face.

Starscream looked over at the voice. Just as he figured, a mech was sent for only Barricade. A snarl came to his features at the mech.

He waited until the mech came close enough to the door to open it and when he did, he reached out and grabbed him as hard as he could and yanked him off his feet and inside. The mech cried out in surprise, but it was that surprise that Starscream took advantage of. The Seeker stomped on him as hard as he could as many times as he could to make sure it would take a minute to get up.

Starscream turned to Barricade who was staring at the wall. He needed her coherent and able to move. With all his might, he sent a series of bursts to her, stronger than ever. If anyone had been watching, they would have seen a dark blue cast over both of their optics.

Barricade jolted and looked up at Starscream. When had he stood up? And why was there a mech moaning in pain in the cell? "'Screamer?" she asked.

He grabbed Barricade, who was hesitant, and pulled her to her feet. "Come on, now's your chance!"

"What?"

"Get out of here! I'll cover for you! Go, go, get!" he told her and then began pushing her. She gave him confused resistance, but continued, following his lead. Starscream continued to run with Barricade to protect her for the only possible escape.

Surprise was evident with the Decepticons that had captured them, "Get them!" Shockwave yelled, knowing he wouldn't get to them in time.

Starscream saw them coming and began to panic. He pushed the femme in front of him harder as the rest of the 'Cons present got closer. "Come on, 'Cade, you need to go! Go, go, go!" he urged. He didn't stop pushing her, guiding her toward the exit, only turning to kick at someone who was too close. His tactic had worked and using the bases' surprise, he'd managed to cover Barricade until she was almost out the back door.

Sunstorm had gotten close enough and lunged for Barricade, missing her as she scooted by. Angered by the fact he'd missed, instead, he caught Starscream, grabbing him by the wing from the side, yanking him almost off his feet. Starscream spun around from the force and got a knee into his mid-section.

"Run, 'Cade! Don't look back, just run! Get away from here!" Starscream called, seeing her head out the door. Throwing a sucker-punch at Sunstorm to distract him from Barricade, he was already exhausted from earlier and having no recharge because he was too worried for her. He knew he wasn't getting out, so he didn't put up much of a fight. The ruckus he had caused was enough for her to slip by the rest of the way. He looked out to see a dust trail from a vehicle leaving.

The silver Seeker then felt a monstrous pain in the middle of his back, and he arched from it, hissing. Turning his head, he saw that Megatron had grabbed him. The mech then grabbed around the thruster on the other side and squeezed until metal started popping and snapping, making the young Seeker's vents hitch in pain, and he dropped to his knees, agonized by his thruster being smashed.

"For that, you will pay severely, Starscream," Megatron hissed angrily.

She couldn't help it. She did look back… And wished she hadn't. The last thing Barricade saw was a large, what looked to be pipe, slamming Starscream upside the head, knocking him to the ground. Guns were fired in her direction, but she did not stop, all of her energy going into her speed.

Shockwave turned to one of the mechs that were still surprised the two had made it that far that quickly, "Bring that slagging femme back here or you'll be joining Starscream!"

She felt her focus slip, and she forced herself to keep her mind on Starscream.

Pay attention to his bursts. Feel his bursts. Focus!

Barricade was already leaving a plume of dust in her wake, her wheels bounding painfully over the rough terrain. She passed bodies and scraps as she went, getting a count of who was where. It was worse than she thought.

Focus on Starscream. Focus on his Spark. Run. Get away.

Before long, she saw someone coming. She kept up her speed, pushing herself to her limits. The mech, now on all fours – or was that threes? – was catching up to her coming diagonally at her. She was plowing through weeds and rocks, so it's no surprise she wasn't going as fast as she could. Her undercarriage had banged painfully off of rocks she went over instead of around like she should have. He moved in, using his body weight, he went to push her into an accident.

Having seen him coming and remembering how she was attacked last time, the hunter readied for him. Obviously, they thought they could do that move again and disable her. When the mech was close enough, the femme transformed enough to push her entire body off of her wheels in a leap. It was a tactic not many knew, or they just didn't think of it. As she did, she began rolling in the air, as the mech blew right under her. She fired as many weapons as she could aim in that time at him. He stumbled and went aft-over-teakettle as she came back down. Barricade went back to her Mustang mode before she hit the ground again. She would have hit him with her flail, but it was inaccessible. Her body bounced at least twice before she had enough grip to take off.

Leaving Starscream was one of the hardest things she had ever done. She didn't think it would be, but Primus, it felt so wrong. She actually wanted to go back and get him, but he had done his best and she would not fail him. Not again. She hoped Starscream could hold himself together.

The last thing he remembered was looking out, hoping his mate had made it. He woke to the same wall Barricade had been staring at. How long was he out for? The seeker moved from his prone position and sat up slowly, leaning back to rest on a wall until his thruster touched it and he hissed, jerking away quickly. Damn them.

He went to move his arm and realized something was on it when there was a chain-like rattle. He looked over, and with a disgusted snort, he dropped it. They'd shackled him to the floor. So much for running away. He let out a gust of hot air from his systems in a sigh as he thought about how hard it was to watch Barricade go, but it was also a relief.

He looked up when he heard someone move. His optics furrowed in anger and confusion. He thought he'd seen him the night before, but now it couldn't be a mistake. "You…"

"Welcome back to your living pit," Sunstorm approached the cell, seeing Starscream shuffle around. "I'm impressed. You managed to get Barricade out, but you… you didn't make it. How fortunate." He grinned at him. "Look who's laughing now, Throwback…"

"I'm not in the mood to deal with you. Fuck off." Starscream didn't want to deal with Sunstorm. He really didn't. He was trying to figure his own way out now and what to do once he got free.

"I wasn't in the mood for you to kill me, but after your Sparkling died bringing me back to life, here we are."

The thought of Typhoon being used to bring such a monster back made Starscream's Spark ache in disgust. What a vile thing for her life force to be used for. He looked down as he thought about how he'd failed to protect her.

Sunstorm smiled at the sadness that went across Starscream's face. He was hoping it would prick him in the Spark like that. He opened the cell and stepped in, but not before grabbing the pipe he'd used earlier that was sitting beside the cell. "You should be proud she was used for such a thing!"

"Unicron take you," Starscream choked bitterly in a curse, trying to get control of his emotions.

Sunstorm bounced the pipe off his shoulder, as if thinking, "Look at you. Right where you should be, weakling. I guess this only proves I was right all along. If there's one thing you do great, it's that you never fail to fail."

"I didn't fail in killing you, did I?" Starscream pointed out snidely.

"That was pure luck on your part. And, judging by what I see, you make a suck-aft leader, as well, considering you lost the contest with Megatron."

Starscream didn't respond, not wishing to entertain his brother's inflated ego, he wished he'd just go away; or in the least bit, shut up.

Sunstorm, annoyed at Starscream's silence, grabbed the younger, weaker Seeker and lifted him right off his feet, using the wall to prop him. "Maybe this will change your tune," he growled. He'd brought the hand around that had the pipe in it, and with a deadly look in his optic, he stabbed the pipe through Starscream's right shoulder and wing, embedding it in the wall behind him, pinning him.

Starscream shrieked in pain and frantically reached for the pipe to pull it out, but the shackles were too short. "You got me where you want me, Sunstorm. What more do you want?"

Sunstorm let Starscream go and backed up, watching him as he dangled there and grinned at his brother. "Where's your trine now, hmm?" he mocked sarcastically. "Oh, wait, I remember. I killed that black slagger." his voice turned more serious, "Do you want to hear how he died?"

Starscream said nothing, hoping he would find something else to talk about, but also figured he would hear it. Sunstorm wanted him to suffer. He lowered his head, preparing himself to hear what his brother would tell him.

"I've never seen anything like it. I somehow hit his warp core. His body scrambled like twisted metal, and he vanished in a very messy vortex."

Starscream squeezed his optics shut, trying not to let his mind visualize what Sunstorm was telling him, but it was too hard.

"I've never heard a Seeker scream like that."

It broke his Spark having to hear how his trine-mate died. "Stop," Starscream said, his voice cracking.

Sunstorm smiled. Continuing to goad and torture his brother, he said, "And Thundercracker – Now there's a gem. Quite interesting to find out that one of the Legendary Elite trine is a femme… Was someone joking when they said she is sparked by Skywarp? It may have his teleporting ability. You know Lord Megatron's going to want that Sparkling. Grid Riders are unheard of. Probably extinct now thanks to Yours Truly."

The tan Seeker suddenly rushed Starscream, getting right in his face. He touched the delicate membrane that made up the canopy while in jet mode, his claws tracing threateningly over it, "You have no idea how much I want to crush you."

Starscream let out a gasp in pain. He finally became scared. Scared Sunstorm would kill him right here. He looked Sunstorm in his optics, the fear evident, "Kill me, then. Such a dishonorable killing will get you nowhere."

Sunstorm's claws continued to press harder, bearing down on the membrane. It could be heard cracking against the pressure he was exerting. "Megatron would probably slaughter me. You're his prize." he said as his claws dug slowly deeper, the pleasure in seeing Starscream's panic.

Feeling Sunstorm's claws digging deeper into his chest, Starscream resigned himself. His thoughts were on Barricade. He didn't try to move, too weak to put up any kind of real fight. Barricade would die if he died. He didn't want that. He didn't want any of this. If he was going to kill him, he just wished he'd get it over with.

Suddenly the tan mech stopped and withdrew his claws. "Because of that, I have to let you live. He doesn't care how much I hurt you, however." He pushed the metal pipe upwards roughly, tearing at Starscream's shuolder and back, he pushed far enough up that the pipe came loose from the wall and Starscream dropped with a pained grunt as it remained through his body.

The tan Seeker looked down when an odd blue caught his attention. It was Starscream's Spark showing through his injuries. It was dark blue. Like the stories. "The blue Spark?" He asked in slight surprise, then gave it a thought and smirked. "No, not you. That would be giving you far too much credit. You're too low life to die a martyr." With a wicked grin, he turned to leave, saying, "However…"

'…Martyr?'

Red Alert stood in front of Optimus Prime's desk, looking down at him. He'd requested a meeting with him about the Decepticons roaming around like they owned the place. "How long until they begin to defect? I have set alerts for trouble."

"It varies, actually," Optimus said, looking up at his CSO.

"I'm surprised they haven't gone to their own base by now, it puzzles me."

"I am aware of Megatron's programming, Red Alert," Optimus said gently, "I, too, have been watching for signs of defection. So far, they haven't shown any."

"Jazz and Prowl are a ready for anything. They too asked me about why the Decepticons haven't gone to Megatron."

"I wonder why it is they haven't," Red Alert asked, "If my memory serves me right, the winner of the contest would have rights to take an army."

"Perhaps the contest was voided somehow?" the Autobot leader said in a question. "It is not the first time something like that happened."

"Perhaps," Red Alert agreed thoughtfully, "it would be the only explanation."

Meanwhile, Barricade drove, damning herself for the one time she actually obeyed him. It was to leave him. The further away from Starscream Barricade got, the less effective his bursts were, and the feedback loop was losing coherency. He hadn't sent them since she left and she figured it was because they'd knocked him out. She could barely feel them as she got to the Autobot's base. By the time she'd stopped, his whispers were too far to hear except small, barely noticeable signatures.

She left him. She fucking left him there. What kind of mate leaves the other to die? And he was going to die, she knew it.

When the femme hit the runway, there were many who had seen her come to a slow stop as if she had just let herself coast. Her lights were pulsing slowly instead of the normal flash she used when she was looking for trouble, and she didn't transform. She didn't speak. She stayed at the end of the runway as if a barrier had been placed there. Her attention had never left where she had deserted Starscream.

Sunstreaker had been closest, and he walked to her, "Barricade?" he said. Surprise was evident on his face at the fact the femme was here, but something was wrong with her. She didn't respond to him, she didn't move. That was weird. Deciding to test her, he reached out and touched her fender. Normally, she would have transformed and threatened him, possibly shot him, but there was no response. Her lights continued to pulse.

"Prowl!" the warrior cried loudly. He ignored the others as they began walking toward them. "Barricade's here!"

The mech had been leaning on a wall talking to Jazz when he heard it. It was a cry for him. Instantly Prowl ran for them, stopping a small distance away when he felt something was not right with Barricade. "Runner!"

At the sound of her brother's voice, Barricade came to her senses a little. She realized where she was, wondering why she had stopped. The femme didn't say a word, slowly turning her wheels to go around Sunstreaker and the others.

Prowl stood in her way stopping her. She still didn't transform nor speak. "Sunstreaker, back away from her."

Sunstreaker did as he was told, still looking at her. His optics then went to Prowl, "What's wrong with her?"

"I don't know." Prowl replied, "But I might be able to find out." He looked around at the gathering crowd, listening to their murmuring, "Everyone, get away from her. Let me handle this."

The group began to disperse, and Prowl turned back for the femme. "Runner, transform," he commanded, also sending the command via their sibling link.

As if his will had made it so, the femme transformed and stood there, staring out across the desert toward the Decepticon base, but she really wasn't looking at anything. "We're finished," she said evenly.

"Runner, look at me," When Barricade's optics didn't move, Prowl took the femme's chin in his hand and turned her head to him. He studied her optics. They were unfocused, as if looking into the distance. He didn't like that look. Not at all. He knew what it meant.

Mikaela had come running when she'd heard Prowl's voice call for Barricade. She was in tears by the time she got close. Seeing the femme banged up as she was made her worry even more. "Barricade! Are you alright? Where's Starscream?" She stopped quickly before reaching her. She was strange. Not knowing what was wrong with her friend, she began to slowly approach her. Her eyes never left the femme as she addressed the tactician, "Prowl… what's wrong with her?"

She didn't even look at Mikaela. "I killed her… Typhoon… she-she's dead…"

Prowl's Spark grew cold at her words. Why was she saying she'd killed her? If anyone had done anything, it was Shockwave. "What? Typhoon?"

"He's going to die in there," Barricade said to no one as her optics went to the ground before her. Her mind demanded she remember, and remembering what she had done to Starscream flooded her. She went to the recesses of her mind and began to hide from all of it.

"What happened?" Prowl tried to ask, watching Ratchet approach.

Ratchet wasted no time getting to Barricade's side and immediately began checking her over. He stopped as he got to her optics, staring. The far-off look in them told him everything he needed to know. Going over what he knew about the Vornsworn, he administered a shot that would possibly help bring her out of it, even just a little. "Prowl," he addressed the elder, "I need you to listen very carefully,"

Mikaela panicked at Ratchet's voice and his words, "What's wrong with her?"

"She's in the process of reality dissociation," Ratchet told the girl. The medic quickly turned to Prowl, "She's lucky you're here. Keep your sibling link open and keep constant with her. We could lose her if you don't."

"He lost. He lost because of me," Barricade said softly. "I… I'm sorry."

"God, Barricade, what happened?" the girl asked again, this time getting closer. For some reason, Barricade blinked and looked at the girl.

Ratchet saw the change in the femme, "You don't leave her either," he suddenly said to her. "Your presence is helping." The medic was puzzled as to how, but as long as it was working, he didn't care.

"'Screamer," her voice was tentative, "I disobeyed."

The femme barely moved, her optics following Mikaela. She saw the marks that still remained on her skin. Her optics unfocused. The marks she had caused because she couldn't protect her. Typhoon had been taken. Blacklight had been hurt. Her mind spiraled around that for a long moment, until she felt her brother's presence. Her optics focus on Mikaela, and she said, "Shockwave… He made me watch…" Her voice was pained.

Mikaela frowned. She didn't know what that meant. Seeing as the femme couldn't seem to give a straight answer, she wouldn't pry her. She didn't know what she was going through and felt asking would only make matters worse. "Where is Starscream?"

The femme's optics went out of focus again. Starscream was trapped. "He lost… He lost the fight. Megatron didn't kill him… Wouldn't… kill him."

Mikaela snapped her fingers up at the femme, unsure if it would even work, but surprisingly, it did. The femme focused on her.

Prowl took Barricade's arm carefully, unsure how she would react to his touch. When he was confident that she wouldn't attack him, he started leading her and she stepped with him automatically, "Let's get you to the med bay. I'm sure there's a berth in there,"

"Megatron… he has him," Barricade said softly. "He didn't kill him," she repeated. That meant something worse than death awaited him.

Mikaela turned to miles who had been standing a bit further away, watching the interaction. She walked to him, shaking her head. "I need to go with them to the med bay. She needs me near."

"What's wrong with her?"

"She's been through a lot. I don't think she's able to cope with it all." The girl could barely keep tears away. She turned her head, hearing Barricade mutter. "Come on," she said to Miles, taking his hand.

"He told me to run. I left him," Barricade was heard saying. "I fucking left him…" she said weakly.

Being sat down on a berth, Barricade's optics stayed on Prowl. He was still there. He hadn't gone anywhere. She could feel his Spark, though it was distant. "Prowl?" she asked.

Prowl kept a hand on her arm. He turned for Ramjet, "Get the Sparklings. Maybe they will help as well." He turned back to Barricade, "I'm here…"

"Don't… don't leave me." her optics were pleading in a way he'd never seen before. "I… I can't lose you too."

He felt an overwhelming urge to hug her, but refrained from doing so, unsure of her reactions. They needed to see how she was affected by the gaze and if she was dangerous. It was known sometimes the gaze could make one unpredictable. "We'll get you through this, just hold on, 'Run."

Ramjet did as he was instructed, returning shortly with Sonar and Radar. Barricade looked up to them, hearing them. Reaching out a hand, she was slow, as if she were moving in oil. She stopped before touching them, noticing one was missing.

Blacklight… Blacklight was missing. She called for him, looking up, "Blacklight?" When he didn't respond to her calls, Barricade snapped to reality. "Where's Blacklight?"

It was so hard for Prowl to tell her, "We can't find him, 'Run, I'm sorry."

Sonar and Radar made their way up their femme creator's body. They noticed she was different, but they were happy to see her, so paid no mind. Instead, they crawled over her arms, and both snuggled up to her chest. She looked down at them, feeling a pang of loss when she saw Typhoon wasn't with them. "I got her killed. I killed her."

As if a switch had been flipped, the femme's optics unfocused once again. Blacklight was gone. He'd been thrown from her… She couldn't protect him, and now he was missing, possibly killed. She'd already gotten one of them killed.

Prowl, sensing her withdrawal, approached her again. He knelt down before her, touching her leg softly. He touched their sibling link, hoping for a response.

Barricade snapped, her voice dangerous, "Don't touch me…"

Prowl flinched back from her tone.

While still coherent, the hunter got up, cradling her two Sparklings, hissing, "Leave us." She demanded and made her way to one of the rooms, found someone in there and scared them out.

Prowl looked to Ratchet, wondering if her being alone was any good. The medic gave him a nod, as if answering his silent question. "Keep sending to her Spark, Prowl. Keep her grounded."

A little later, when the excitement had died down, Mikaela was still in the med bay with Ratchet. She looked up at him. "Ratchet?" Mikaela asked, stepping around a berth. Since it had gotten quiet since Barricade had gone to another room, she wanted to know more about what was going on with her friend.

"Yes, Mikaela," Ratchet turned toward her.

"What is wrong with her?"

"We call it the Vornsworn gaze."

"What is it?" her heart clenched, afraid of his answer.

"For human simplicity, I'll say it's like the thousand-yard stare."

"It seems much different for Barricade than what I've heard about it," she said, "She's almost catatonic."

The medic knelt down to her, "That's because it is," he explained. "The gaze affects their processors the most. It turns them in on their minds. If it's not addressed quickly enough, it goes to their Sparks. It can tear apart a Spark bond, it can cause the gazer to go insane… There is a lot of documentation on it, but I haven't seen it very often."

"Has she seen too much?"

"I don't think so. She is a Decepticon. Listening to her, it was caused by self-blame. She thinks she has caused all of the bad that has happened."

"But she's so wrong, Ratchet…" Mikaela said, a soft whimper in her voice, "None of this was her fault."

"I know. Unfortunately, a Youngling can be affected much easier than an adult. Their processors are more sensitive."

Barricade was considered a Youngling. She'd heard the elders calling her and Starscream that. "Is she aware?"

Ratchet nodded, "Yes and no. A gazer can see the outside world, they are aware somewhat as to what is going on around them and have intermittent moments of clarity. That's why, when you snapped your fingers, she focused on you. I don't know whatever bond it is that you share, but you should treasure it."

"Is there a cure?"

"No. I did what I could, which isn't a lot, unfortunately." He'd heard that sometimes they could be brough back to reality, but it was difficult to do as it needed to be caught before they were lost. "If we lose her to the gaze, she could be gone forever."

Skywarp is okay! An idiot, but okay!

Next: What happens to Starscream and Barricade now?