A small note: I do not own Adrena or Arona. They belong to Frog. I use them in this story with permission.

Now, onto the next chappy.

Starscream sat quietly, his knees brought to his chest and his left arm resting upon them. It wasn't comfortable, but it gave a good way to think and keep him alert. He was doing his best not to move much, as the injuries that Sunstorm had caused had made his right arm pretty much useless. His body hurt something mad but the pain of not being with Barricade hurt more.

He thought about Skywarp. He thought about Thundercracker. Sending a tendril to her, he got no response, and he panicked, worried she had died. The panic made him tense, which made his body hurt even more. It was a nasty cycle. Trying not to think, because it hurt his processors and Spark to think, he felt himself dozing into recharge, even though he'd been fighting it.

"Thought you'd be real smart, didn't you?" Megatron asked as he approached the cell.

Starscream became instantly aware at hearing Megatron's voice. He looked up suddenly, giving him an angry stare, then looked back at the floor, considering why he was here.

"Thought you'd get the femme free, and for why? So, you could stay and die? Since when did you get a Spark, Starscream…?"

Starscream didn't look away from the floor. "At least you won't ever touch her,"

Megatron grinned darkly, "Neither will you,"

"The Autobots will protect her."

"Sad you're leaning on the Autobots for help. They're next on my list. "

"My 'Cons will defeat you with the Autobots."

" Your 'Cons…? Not anymore." Megatron smirked at the anger in the young Seeker's optics. He opened the door, satisfied Starscream was going nowhere. "' Your 'Cons' will kneel before me just as they always have once they have downloaded my information."

Scrap. Starscream had forgotten about that. He idly wondered if Soundwave was still masking it. Shifting, he looked away from Megatron.

The tyrant continued, "I would kill them all if there weren't so few left. You really thought you were in control of them? You thought you were able to lead them?"

"Been doing a fine enough job, I think."

"You don't know how to lead!" Megatron scoffed. "They deserted you in your time of need, Starscream. What does that tell you?"

Ignoring the desertion comment, Starscream replied with a shrug, "I must know something about it, because they chose me to lead them. They even came back when I told them to go away and be free."

"You took them because I was dead. You didn't earn them honorably."

Starscream shrugged casually, "They didn't seem to mind."

"They showed you their real intentions by leaving you to die at my hands," Megatron said. "Unless… they knew you would die and decided to give me the glory."

Finally, he decided to say something about why his 'Cons had left. The young Seeker said to him, "No, Megatron. You're wrong," he looked up at the tyrant, "They left because I told them to."

"Why would you do something so stupid?"

"To protect them. Something you know little about."

"They are there to serve and die for their leader. You never were known for making smart decisions in the heat of battle, Starscream. Speaking of leaving…" Megatron formed a fist, reached out and backhanded Starscream hard. "You've never seen the kind of torture I'm going to put you through for letting that femme escape."

Starscream had been slammed back by the blow. The hit forced his body to twist in a painful way. "Do your worst," he growled, pushing himself back up. If only he had known that was the last thing he should have said.

"There's just one thing you forgot to take in account, idiot," Megatron smirked and looked down at his hand, then lifted it up so Starscream could see. "Maybe I should start by crushing this," Megatron began closing his fist around the object. There was clearly a squeal. It was the squeal of a Sparkling!

Starscream recognized it immediately and his face shifted to horror. Blacklight! He shrieked, panicking at hearing his Sparkling's cries, "No, no, no, don't!"

Megatron knew who and what he had. He gave Starscream a snarly smirk, deciding against killing the Sparkling. He tossed him at Starscream, watching him roll. "I guess you two have been real busy."

Starscream watched him quiver as he rolled. When he stopped, he unfolded and leapt at Starscream and clung to him, shaking fiercely. Moving painfully to the back of his cell with Blacklight, the young Seeker nestled the youngster against him with his functional arm, "Easy, I've got you," he whispered soothingly. "You're safe." He put a protective hand over him.

"Don't lie to him, Starscream. I've decided he will grow to be one of my soldiers. Perhaps he will be my new Second in Command…" Megatron locked optics with the Sparkling, "You would like that, wouldn't you?" he asked. He walked away after saying that, smirking at the look of fear in the Sparkling's optics.

Blacklight relished the comfort of his mech creator's hands. He curled up to them, feeling as much of Starscream as he could but couldn't get comfortable, moving quickly, not settling, afraid Megatron would return and take him away from Starscream and make good on his threat. "I'm scared," he said, his voice thin.

"Shhh, it's okay, 'Light," Starscream soothed, softly purring to him. He watched for signs of Megatron returning. When he didn't, after a few moments, he began to look Blacklight over for injuries, "Are you alright? I thought I sent you away. How did you get caught?"

Still visibly shaking, Blacklight didn't move much at first, looking nervously to where Megatron had gone, worried he would come back. He curled up next to Starscream's neck, returning Starscream's purrs with his own, still working to calm himself. "I'm not hurt. Skorp and I got separated," he replied. He took a moment to look around, seeing Barricade was gone, "Where's Barricade? I was told she was here too."

" I got her out," Starscream instinctively looked up toward the exit she'd left through, "What were you doing with Skorponok? You were to go with your siblings and Hot Rod,"

Blacklight didn't have an answer, for he wasn't entirely sure. There was too much chaos at the time. Changing the subject, he asked, "I thought everyone said Frenzy was killed?"

Starscream put his hand lightly over Blacklight who was still trembling, " All of them were supposed to be dead. I didn't expect this at all… I'm sorry you got caught up in it."

"A small mech who called himself Frenzy convinced Megatron to bring me here."

Starscream thought about what he'd said about the little hacker, "He helped you?"

"Yeah. He didn't come around much. Said you guys were being watched too much to be able to help get you out."

The silver Seeker curled up, keeping a hand over Blacklight as he considered what he'd said. He then thought about the fact Blacklight was even here… If he himself hadn't known about him, Barricade wouldn't have known either.

Fuck.

Sixshot stewed for a while on how to get a hold of Soundwave. He highly doubted she was dead, but it annoyed him she hadn't shown up at the Autobot's base. He was repaired enough to do something. He needed contact with her and to do that, he needed to get the source of why he didn't have contact.

Blackout.

Looking around for something to get Blackout's attention, he grinned when he thought about the perfect lure. Skorponok. "Skorponok, with me," he called.

The mech looked over at Sixshot then nodded, transformed into his scorpion mode and headed for the mech, latching onto his back. "Where to?"

Sixshot rolled his shoulders, not being used to having someone latched onto him like he was. "You'll see. You're probably not going to like it, but I need you for a mission,"

"Whatever you say,"

Personally, Sixshot wouldn't have been surprised if Skorponok was a Sparkling seeing as there were more femmes than he knew about till he got here. The mech shifted and went to stand. Time to find out.

He spotted Groundhog walking with Skids. "Groundhog," he then said, getting his attention. He nodded for him to come over. When he got close, Sixshot decided what was going to happen. "Find me Sunstreaker and Sideswipe." They were the only two to ever survive him and do almost equally to him what he'd done in damage. Their help would definitely get things done quicker and easier. "Tell them to follow you. Bring them closer to Starscream's base. I have an idea."

Groundhog nodded and turned to find the twins, "You got it, boss."

"Find Motor and 'Force while you're at it. Never hurts to have more than we need," Sixshot said to the mech as he left.

Shortly after, Groundhog found Sunstreaker and Sideswipe arguing with Ravage, who had made it a point to lie right in front of their quarters. Each time they tried to step over him, he growled at them or swiped at their feet.

Seeing the shenanigans from Ravage, Groundhog smirked and called, "Sunstreaker, Sideswipe, come with he for a moment."

Sunstreaker gave a snarly face to Ravage as he and his brother stepped over him. Ravage swiped at them, catching Sunstreaker's foot and almost causing him to trip.

"I'm gonna kill him," Sunstreaker growled.

"Not if I kill him first," Sideswipe argued.

They followed Groundhog outside, curious. Even though they often lured each other into traps, they didn't feel this was a game. Sideswipe asked, looking around, "What's going on, Groundhog?"

"Just follow me," Groundhog replied to them, transforming. The twins also transformed, following the mech further into the desert. They stopped when they got a look at who was standing in the distance. Sunstreaker and Sideswipe immediately believed they were lured into a trap.

Motorhead and Roller Force both joined up and stopped closer to Sixshot, "Aren't you coming?"

"What is this about?" Sunstreaker asked.

"Would you just hear us out?"

Approaching a little more, they stopped far enough away that they could outrun Sixshot if necessary. "Sixshot?" Sideswipe called, his tires twitching. "What do you want?"

The assassin looked over at them, "To slag the next aft that gives me an attitude, but that's beside the point… I need you two for a mission."

The twins started to move backwards, "A mission? You want us to work for you? You nearly killed us. Piss off," Sunstreaker growled.

The teal mech remained silent in thought, surprised they wouldn't want to help get rid of Megatron's followers. He considered stomping them into the ground for giving him that attitude he'd spoken about. "Fucking useless. Get out of here," Sixshot wasn't about to tell them that his encounter with them had basically freed him and that's the only reason he let them live. He looked to Race-Track as the team approached him.

Roller Force watched the twins leave, "So, it's just us, huh?" he asked.

"Looks like it," It would make getting Starscream and kicking Megatron's aft even easier if communications were up. Plus, he'd know where Soundwave was and if she was alright.

Inside the Autobot building, Ratchet stepped into the quarters Barricade stole. She only gave him a cursory glance and looked back at the wall. To him, she seemed to still be of clear mind. "Barricade," he said to her, stepping closer. "How are you feeling?"

Barricade gazed at the wall, thinking about Starscream. She wondered how he was doing but imagined he was being tortured by Megatron. Her optics unfocused. "It doesn't matter," she said softly. "He's still there because of me."

Ratchet cocked his head at her, snapping his fingers in front of her face, "Me, Barricade. Focus on me." He watched her optics, looking for signs of clarity. As soon as he saw her focus, he asked, "What was Starscream's last known health status?"

Barricade looked at his optics then looked away. Starscream had been beaten. Badly. He couldn't fly. It was her fault. "Pain. Horror. Death."

He flicked her between the optics, getting her to look at him. Hoping she would have more than that for him, he asked again, "His health, Barricade."

"They used me against him," Barricade muttered. "Megatron attacked him. He wouldn't let me go to him." Her optics became unfocused again. If she had obeyed his order, he likely would have been able to escape. Her voice was soft, almost soothing, as if she were soothing herself, "I did this to him. " She then yelled in horror, "I killed Starscream!"

Ratchet growled loudly out of frustration, tapping her on the chevron, "Femme! Stop it!" Working to keep her focused on him, not on what her mind was telling her, he said, "Hear my voice, listen to me!"

Barricade looked up at Ratchet, hearing him. She remembered her last visage of Starscream, "It's bad. Worse than I've ever seen. He can't fly. He's going to die." She remembered as she ran away… She remembered how they knocked him to the ground. "I should have stayed."

"No, you shouldn't have, Barricade."

"Why not? I could have helped!"

"No. Can you imagine what they would have done to you? How they would have used you to torture him?" the medic's optics became soft. "You did him a kindness, trust me on this."

They stormed his cell when he was trying to recharge. There were a lot of them. Why had they come? The mech barely looked up when he felt himself grabbed and pulled to his feet.

Before he could respond, Scrapper had pushed him back against the wall while Long Haul and Mixmaster grabbed his wrists, pinning them back. Starscream tried to pull, but he was not powerful enough to get free from the mechs holding him. A few seconds later, his legs were also pinned down, keeping him against the wall that he'd been shoved into.

Megatron entered the cell just after, standing there with Shockwave on one side of him and Onslaught on the other. He grinned at Starscream who was struggling against the other mechs. Suddenly he lunged at him and grabbed at his wings, right at the shoulders and squeezed where he knew it was sensitive and fragile, digging his claws in previous injuries.

Starscream hissed but refused to scream, no matter the pain. Fear coursed his Spark, afraid Megatron was going to destroy his wings.

"Starscream…" Megatron said in a deceivingly soft voice. "Have you ever seen the humans talk about ripping wings off of flies?"

Panic set in. He was going to completely cripple him, he knew it. Was this the suffrage he would endure for getting Barricade away from them? "Please, Megatron…" he begged. "Not my flight…"

"What use would you have for it in here? You're never leaving here. At least, alive." Megatron smiled sadistically at him and suddenly let him go. He backed up from him, "I have something better in mind, actually." He nodded toward Sunstorm.

A relief filled Starscream's Spark as he asked, "Wha… What are you going to do?" He was still not able to understand why they had all entered his cell at one time. Surely, he wasn't that dangerous that they needed to hold him like this.

Megatron looked down at Starscream's chest as he spoke, "I need you to be real still."

"Why? What do you have in mind now?"

"Sunstorm is your brother," Megatron replied, a grin in satisfaction appearing as he spoke. "His systems are similar to yours."

"So?"

"It doesn't end there… Shockwave said because of your similarities, Sunstorm can do something no one else can."

"What do you mean?"

The tyrant continued, "Your status with Barricade…" He stepped closer, reaching for Starscream's manual release. Starscream hissed in pain as the panels moved away, revealing his Spark. Megatron's optics brightened at the sight. "So, it's true… you are not just Spark-mated to her, Starscream… You're Star-Mated. Shockwave also tells me that you two, especially, are dangerous. So, this needs to be rectified… now."

Megatron had to have known about Star-Mates. "You'll kill us," Starscream pulled in the grips that had him, seeing if there was a way to get free.

"That's kind of the point. I figured once I find Thundercracker, I have no need of Barricade. And I definitely have no use for you."

Starscream's chest slammed shut. It hurt like pit because of the damage, but he didn't care. Hatred toward the tyrant boiled in his Energon. To protect his living trine mate, he yelled, "Thundercracker's dead! Same as Skywarp! You killed both of them! Leave us out of this!"

In response, Megatron got closer to Starscream, lowering his voice, and taking the Seeker's face into his claws, forcing him to look at his optics, "Well, actually, Barricade will die because of you. This would also be the most agonizing way to kill you if everything I hear is correct." Grinning at the horror that played on Starscream's face, he splayed his fingers out in front of him in a display of what he had to offer, "You said for me to do my worst. Well… here it is. And you won't even have each other to comfort because you had her get away. You'll die, alone."

What a sadistic monster. Starscream blinked slowly, trying to chase away the fear, "Star-Mates can't be separated, you fool! You can't!"

Megatron's optics darkened even more, "You're right. I can't." he then nodded to Sunstorm, "But he can…" He backed up from Starscream. "Sunstorm, prepare to break the Star-Mates. Destroy them both."

As Sunstorm drew closer, Starscream went still, petrified that there was any truth to such a terrifying thing. Barricade had become everything to him. She was his only constant besides his Sparklings. He couldn't lose her. They couldn't do this. They couldn't take her away from him.

"No… Stop! You can't! No!" Starscream pleaded and struggled even harder when his brother stepped up in front of him. His voice shook so badly, he stuttered, "You-you lie! You ca-can't break St-Star-M-M-Mates! It's-it's impossible!"

"Looks like you didn't know it all, little brother," Sunstorm reached for his manual release, even though Starscream was jerking as much as he could to get away. "Shockwave said it's very possible. You both die in misery. Happy ending to my story."

Down below, small red optics watched everything. Blacklight was petrified at what was going on. They'd separated him from Starscream and the next thing he knew, he'd been shoved in a corner and the others refused to let him free. He watched, horrified at what he was hearing as they were holding him, trying to access his Spark. He didn't know why, because he still didn't fully understand merges yet. They'd said they were going to take Barricade away from him.

"I think I may have my wish after all," Sunstorm sneered, holding tight to the struggling Seeker. "I hear it's devastating to lose a Spark-mate. I can't wait to see what happens with this. Hold still."

Starscream, helpless on what to do, remained silent and even looked away when Sunstorm had begun touching his Spark chamber to get it open. He struggled again when Sunstorm's Spark showed itself in preparation for a merge. There was nothing he could do but hope they were lying – or in the least bit, unsuccessful.

Hopelessness. That's all he could feel. Starscream's voice became raspy with fear, "Stop!" he pleaded, "Please stop! Please don't take her from me!" Red immediately flared from the two Sparks as Sunstorm merged with Starscream. He howled as loud as he could as pain unlike he'd ever felt before hit his Spark.

He was going to lose everything. His everything.

The longer Sunstorm held the merge, the more painful it was becoming. Starscream could barely hold it together. So immense was this pain, he felt imminent shutdown coming. There was a small explosion from the two Seekers, a dark blue light flashed from Starscream and pulsed outwards, for as far as the eye could see across the desert.

Starscream screamed in terrified agony. In his mind and Spark, he watched Barricade's spark-light slowly dim until it vanished completely. 'No! Barricade…!'

Just as he went offline, words scrolled over his HUD.

…| Light of Darkness Initiative: PAIR OF BLUE COMPROMISED |…

Off to the side, Frenzy stared in horror. Between the immense red light coming from the mechs' Sparks, and Starscream's cries, he knew Megatron was right. He watched as Starscream fell to the floor, his chest still open and his Spark was no longer the dark blue it was supposed to be. It was back to the light, almost white color. The Seeker went offline right there. This wasn't right.

Sunstorm smiled as he saw the dim Spark that was in front of him. He backed up, his spark slightly weaker from the merge, "I told you, Throwback, that you would be paid back for what you did to me." He stumbled and was caught by Onslaught as he, himself, also went offline.

At the Autobot base, a blue light whizzed past so fast, it was barely noticeable.

Miles felt weird. Just weird. Butterflies invaded his stomach, making it swim with anxiety. His head then started to ache, and darkness clouded his vision. Using the island he was next to hold himself up, a wave of dizziness struck him. "Jesus," he said quietly, trying to blink away the persistent headache.

Mikaela looked up at him at his words. It wasn't what he said, it was how he said it, "You okay?"

"I don't know," Miles replied, blinking quickly to try to clear his vision, "Got the sudden butterflies. Kinda like missing a step when going down stairs. No idea where it came from."

As quickly as it had come, the headache was gone, but then Miles got the distinct feeling he was about to throw up. He grabbed for his mouth, trying to hold it back. It took him a second to realize he wasn't going to upchuck, at least not right at this moment, though his stomach still turned threateningly. He shook off the sudden chill that went through him. "Jesus Christ!" he suddenly cried. "Star! It's Star!"

"What?" Mikaela suddenly asked. "What's wrong?"

"I – I don't know! Something's wrong with him!"

Just after, Mikaela got the sudden wave of anxiety, and she stilled. She then felt her chest tighten and she started to cry. "No, no, no, Barricade!" she cried. "Barricade I'm coming!" She started for the door. Miles was still holding his head, so she left him to go to Barricade.

Elsewhere in the base, Barricade sat in the room she had gone into, remaining quiet. She could feel pulses from her brother, and it helped keep her grounded. She would defocus, a pulse would hit her, and she would focus again. To be honest, it was exhausting, but it was… Keeping. Her. Here. She could barely hear everyone talk strategy just outside, though sometimes it was mumbled jargon she couldn't understand.

Her Spark suddenly twisted and roiled, and she froze. She didn't know what caused that, as it'd never happened before. Just after, a pain like she'd never felt made her falter and she curled in on herself, wrapping her arms around her chest as if to protect it. There was then a sensation in her processors, bringing her right into reality.

Her Spark twisted again, this time harder, going out of synch with her mind in a strange way. She felt afraid. What was happening?

Prowl stopped what he was doing when Barricade's Spark signature changed. He looked up toward the door, wondering what it was he'd felt. He reached for her again, thinking it was some other effect of the Vornsworn and that was when he knew something was wrong. Terribly wrong. "Slag!" he cried as he pushed himself to a standing position.

Hound, who he'd been talking to, looked at the mech in surprise, "What's wrong?"

"Runner!" he cried, heading quickly for the door.

"Prowl!" Barricade called automatically, though her voice was so low it went unheard. Her Spark twisted in pain again, this time the wave was harder, and she felt it over every inch of her body. The less she understood, the more she started to panic. Something was causing this, but what? She knew it wasn't the focusing issue she was having. At least she didn't think it was.

Taking another step, she caught herself as her body vibrated and threatened to betray her. She fell backwards on her aft, her back hitting the wall behind her and she curled up on herself in confusion. "Prowl!" she called again, louder.

Errors began reading across her HUD, most of them faster than she could comprehend. She did catch one thing. They were all Spark errors. Spark disruption errors. Spark logic errors. Spark integrity errors.

Prowl was close enough that he heard her cry for him. He felt he couldn't move fast enough, even though she wasn't that far away. "Runner, hold on!" he yelled.

Ratchet, who saw him run, and assuming it was Barricade, followed right behind him, "What's wrong, Prowl?"

"Something's wrong with her," Prowl replied as he turned for the corridor leading to the room that she had hidden herself in, "It's her Spark."

"No!" Barricade cried, feeling herself weakening. Warnings ran over her HUD of imminent stasis lock. "Mikaela!"

Mikaela had appeared when she had heard Barricade's call. Some emotion was going through her, letting her know something was wrong with Barricade, "Barricade!" she called.

Barricade couldn't describe all of the feelings she got, but there was a strong whisper. It was a whisper in sorrow… Of despair… Of fear. Of finality. It was Starscream. Starscream was causing all of this. "'Screamer?" She called, scared, " No! 'Screamer!" the femme screamed, now knowing she was losing him. He couldn't die on her!

She knew what she needed to do. No matter how her body was weakening and wasn't moving properly, she had to go to him. Rush to him. Save him. She stood, forcing her body to move. Struggling, she exited the room.

Prowl collided with her as she exited, grabbing her, but she fought out of his grasp, he cried after her, "Runner, stop!" But she wasn't listening. He gave chase, calling, "Where are you going?" She couldn't leave at such a fragile time. What was she thinking?

The hunter rounded a corner, hell bent for the Decepticon base. As she neared the exit, just as she prepared to transform and roll, incoherent energy shot through her Spark, radiating out through the rest of her body, stopping her transformation protocol.

Prowl tried to catch Barricade as she collapsed mid-run but missed. She was screaming and shrieking as her legs fumbled under her, and her body slid across the floor to a stop. " Starscream!" she screamed. "Don't leave me!"

She wouldn't ever scream her mate's name like that, especially in Cybertronian. Others heard her cries and were running for her. Hook, having heard the commotion, was close enough to watch Barricade tumble as she fell, "Oh slag," he said heading in her direction.

Then she felt as though her very being was being shredded into two as Starscream began fading from her. She scraped her claws across her Spark, trying to distract herself from the pain going through it, but it wasn't working. Her body overheated then went to an extreme cold. She could not think, nor feel anything other than the sear of finality as her being collapsed.

The Autobot medic ran to her, having avoided a collision as he did so. He went to his knees, opening Barricade's torso manually and shied back on his aft, away from what he saw, "Primus… No!"

Mikaela got to the femme's side as fast as she could, having nearly being stepped on in the chaos. Reaching for her face, she touched her, "Cade! 'Cade, don't!" she heard herself cry, "don't let go, please… don't let go!" She looked up at the medic, tears streaming down her face.

All she could feel was the pressure of her weight in someone's arms while they held her. She could hear voices, but she could not understand what they were saying. Her optics onlined slightly, but she didn't care anymore. He was gone. And it was her fault.

If only…

Ratchet, concerned for Barricade, hadn't heard Mikaela. He lifted Barricade and looked at her face, seeing if he could see anything. He stopped as his optics met hers. There was a different yet similar look to her, this one of complete loss, sadness and hopelessness. Just by reading that look, he knew it was something worse than death. He knew right then that they'd lost her.

…| Light of Darkness Initiative: PAIR OF BLUE COMPROMISED |…

With a quick movement, Ratchet reached for Barricade's manual release, her torso splitting to reveal … what the pit was wrong with her Spark? It was normal colored, not the familiar dark blue he was accustomed to. It was twisting like a whirlpool, then settling, then seeming to suck into itself, then releasing and the strangest part were the miniscule explosions where the Spark struck the casing and missed vital Energon lines that went back into her body. Just what the Pit was happening? In his arms, Barricade went into stasis and he looked up to expecting others.

"I…" Ratchet laid her down and looked up at Hook. "I think Starscream's been killed!" There was no other way to explain what was happening to her.

"Oh my god, oh my god!" Mikaela gasped and threw her hands over her mouth at Ratchet's words. This couldn't be happening! "Barricade, no!"

"What?" Hook suddenly looked over, "Are you slagging kidding me?" he asked in a doubting, angry voice. "He can't be dead!"

Ratchet snapped his attention out of the stupor he was in and to the femme and lifted her as her systems started to fail and weaken. She would need medical attention immediately. "Move, move! She's going to die! Move!" he said as he pushed by mechs who were now hovering. "Get out of my way!" Perhaps her life could be saved. He didn't know if an intervention would help or not, but it was worth the try. "Hook, Wheeljack, I'll need you in my bay double time!"

Sixshot stared out, waiting for the team to bring him back his target. As usual, they were successful, though they looked like absolute idiots fumbling over the desert with a pissed off Skorponok on their heels. They had also confirmed that Skorponok was actually more than a drone, because they had to make him cry out loud enough to get Blackout's attention, who flew for him in a protective manner. It had worked, but he was mad that they had to shoot him to get him to do it. "Take him back to the Autobot base," he called with a laugh.

His attention then went to the black PAV-LOW approaching. With a wide grin, he ran in Blackout's direction. "Hello…" he said as he saw his prey, leaping at Blackout.

Blackout was too focused on Skorponok to have seen Sixshot until he did see him. He knew the mech was never seen somewhere without the intent to kill who he was after, and he was obviously after himself. "Sixshot!" Blackout cried as he transformed, grabbed his main rotors and went to stab the six-changer to defend himself. He knew he had little chance against the assassin, but he would damage him as much as he could.

Sixshot dodged the weapon and the two mechs collided in the air, "You all knew I was here. Why is everyone so surprised to see me?" He quickly forced Blackout to the ground and stood over him, a foot planted on his chest. "Oh wait… that wasn't surprise, was it?"

"I just didn't think-"

"Yeah, that's your problem. What is Skorponok?"

Blackout looked up at the assassin wondering why he was asking about Skorponok. Realizing an arm was free, he moved to shoot him with his main weapon. Unfortunately for him, Sixshot saw it, and something came from around the back of the six-changer and stabbed the arm to the ground, twisting and leaving it lifeless. It looked like… well, he wasn't sure what it looked like. The mech screamed in pain as the energy had nowhere to go and exploded his arm off at the elbow.

The six-changer looked to where the arm exploded and then back to Blackout's optics. "You really must not have needed that."

"I'm sorry! I made a mistake!"

"You're fucking right, you made a mistake. I'll give you a word of advice… don't do anything like that again," Sixshot said to him, the thing retracting behind his back once more.

He didn't like how calm this mech was. It bothered him on a level he couldn't understand. Blackout decided he wouldn't try anything that stupid again, "Why are you asking about Skorponok?"

"Tell me the truth the first time or might have to blow you apart piece by piece. I imagine that'll be agonizing."

"Why should I?" Blackout hissed at his captor.

"Curiosity's killing me," Sixshot replied with a growl.

Blackout stared up at Sixshot a moment longer before answering, "What does it matter?"

Sixshot trained a weapon on Blackout's head with a grin, "Answer the question."

Blackout realized he was going to shoot him right then and there. "Okay, okay! Skorponok is an experimental Allspark drone! Even you should know!"

"You're a liar. Masters don't come for their drones like you did. You wanted to protect him. I think I know why, too." Sixshot got right down in his face. His blue optics stared through his visor into Blackout's red ones, who was wondering how he could have figured that out. "Next question. Are you a mech or a femme?"

"What kind of question is that!"

"Just answer it or I'll have to look for myself and things will get messy," Sixshot replied, "I don't exactly like messy."

"I'm a mech!" Blackout defended, "Skorponok's femme creator was killed!"

Sixshot quieted a moment and then spoke, "Ah, the truth reveals itself. Seems there were quite a few of you sneaks in the 'Cons, huh? Unfortunately, you blocked my communication with Soundwave, and you should know that I can't have that. Killing you is the only sure bet I won't have to deal with that any longer,"

"Skorponok-!"

"-Already taken care of," A second cannon appeared out of the side of Sixshot's arm, extended down the length slowly until it was above his wrist, showing Blackout just what he had in store for him. He watched Blackout's optics go wide in terror. Aiming at his head, he fired, obliterating his processors in one shot.

It had been a couple of hours before Starscream came to. He was still alive… somehow. A strange darkness encumbered his Spark, and he was so weak. His spark itself hurt. It was a devastating pain that couldn't exactly be placed. He'd never felt anything like it in his life. Moving required more concentration than it should have. The Seeker was confused and scared, and the pain all around his chest hurt like hell. Hoping what they had done to him had been a trick, he sent tendrils for Barricade, hoping to find her hiding somewhere or behind a firewall that might have been placed to protect her. He couldn't find her. There was nothing… only a deadened silence. His Barricade… was gone. If he'd lived through this horror, hopefully she had too. As his processors agonized over the missing feeling, he frowned deeply. He knew he was doomed without her. He had already felt the weakness in his spark and in his systems that couldn't be related to his previous injuries or the injuries he'd sustained while they did… that.

'Primus, please… No…'

Blacklight looked up at his mech creator with saddened optics, "What did they do?"

The Seeker wasn't about to tell. His Sparkling was going through enough without hearing about that as well. "Don't worry about it, 'Light," Starscream looked at him and looked away as he tried to reassure himself that things would be alright – hoping someone was wrong about Star-Mates. But deep down he knew… he knew.

Shockwave stepped near the cell Starscream was in. He pulled the vial out of his subspace and looked at it and then flicked his optic to the two in the cell. He never thought he would use it ever again. But now… here was one of the pair. He looked back at the vial. It swirled and moved as if it had a life of its own. A smile formed on his features as he thought about it. He pulled out an injector and loaded the vial into it and subspaced it.

Stepping up to the cell, he said, "If you want me to take the pain away, you must first give in to Unicron. I can make it all go away, Starscream. I can even give you back Barricade as well." It was a lie, but he was curious what Starscream would say.

Starscream said nothing. He only stared at the floor, irritated that Shockwave was even bothering him. How dare he even think he would 'give in to Unicron'. Foolish mech. What did that even mean, anyway?

Shockwave watched Starscream's desolation from the darkness. He never thought he'd come across this. Starscream had an incredible resolve. "It's remarkable, Starscream…" he said, his voice full of disbelief. "You, of all of them – of everyone – to be the pair of blue…"

That made Starscream look up at the mech. "What?" he asked. "The pair of what?"

"The blue Sparks." Shockwave was genuinely puzzled, "How could you be the Star-Mates and not know what they are?"

"Star-Mates are one pair. Supposed to be bound together. Never able to be torn apart. Well, that's a load of slag."

"Let me educate you, hm? I'm going to tell you a story," the ex-commander said. "Once upon a time, before you were ever thought of, there existed another pair of Star-Mates. No one knew about them because I found them first."

Starscream's look turned to surprise.

Shockwave grinned at the surprise on the Seeker. "Oh, yes. And I kept them prisoner for a long time, isolated from everyone. In that time, I did experiments on them and learned everything about them. That's how I knew you would survive the separation."

"What?"

"I used other means to break the other two, but I did learn that a sibling can do it – hence why I suggested Sunstorm. This other pair survived, but not long, because of how I did it. It was a pity, because there was so much more I probably could have learned from them."

"Youk killed them…" Starscream saw his hopes of ever reuniting with Barricade getting slimmer and slimmer.

"Of course I did. But in that time that they lived, they were a well of information."

What kind of monster was Shockwave?

"You see, when a pair of Star-Mates are born, their Sparks have a special mark. There is only one that can detect this mark before they are united – if they are ever united. This one mech or femme is their protector."

"Protector?"

"I can see there's a lot about Star-Mates you don't know. Yes, the protector is born to only serve them. Usually average, nothing special about them. They do whatever they can to keep them out of harm's way and keep them away from Unicron."

"Unicron?"

"This story gets better and better, doesn't it?"

"Barricade and I… We don't have a protector,"

"Yours was obviously killed before they found you, or they would have come to your rescue when they sensed your imminent danger. This also makes what I'm about to do to you, even better."

"Obviously, if you could unbind us,"

Shockwave clucked his glossa at the mech, "Silly Seeker. Do you know why they were supposed to be bound?"

"Chosen by Primus or some crap," another mumble.

"The blue Sparks are Primus' will, you fool." Shockwave smirked at the shocked look on Starscream's face.

"Now, I have something to give you. I was ordered to give this to one of the pair whenever I found them."

"What is it?"

"Don't worry about what it is. I always keep extra in case I was to ever come across more. It's part of my job, you know, hunting the pairs down."

"Megatron knows about us?"

Shockwave actually laughed, "Absolutely not. He's as clueless as the rest of you."

"Then who…?"

"Here's a little secret… I don't work for him, Starscream. I never have."

"What?"

Shockwave opened the door smirking as Starscream backed into the corner protectively over Blacklight. From his subspace, he pulled out the injector. He looked at it, then to Starscream. He quickly grabbed the injured mech's arm. "The other pair, when I injected one with it, things began to happen to them."

"What is it?" Starscream tried to jerk away, but Shockwave held firmly. He knew he was too weak to pull from his grasp.

"It's for you… That's all you need to know."

Shockwave pulled the Seeker's arm out straight and held it still. Making like he was searching down his arm a long moment, that wasn't where he was to inject the vial. Suddenly, he got a dirty look about him and changed his aim and stabbed the needle like contraption between seams in Starscream's chest, directly into his Spark chamber, feeling it slide through the membrane. "What Sunstorm did to you was just the beginning."

Starscream staggered and moved back to get the injector away, but it was futile. It was never good to have something injected directly into the Spark. It could wreak havoc or kill. "What are you doing to me?"

"This is a little something I have had for a long while…" Shockwave explained as he emptied the cartridge. "Megatron has no idea about this," the ex-commander said in a hushed voice, "so don't tell him,"

Starscream felt a cold rush through his systems and then he felt warm and then normal. His optics turned purple and then back to their normal crimson. He looked down, noticing the purple crawling up his Energon lines. He then looked back up at Shockwave. Fear laced his voice as he asked again, "What did you do to me?"

Starscream stilled a moment as some jargon came across his HUD.

…| Light of Darkness Initiative: PAIR OF BLUE SYSTEM FAILURE |…

What the pit was a Light of Darkness Initiative? He hadn't known about what came across his HUD, so only assumed it was the injection.

Shockwave grinned menacingly at Starscream, watching his confusion, "Does it feel good?"

"No," Starscream replied. He didn't know what it felt like, but good wasn't a way to describe it. He could actually feel the Energon crawling through his veins. What a weird sensation. The Seeker grabbed at both of his arms as if a chill ran through him. "What did you do?" he repeated.

"You see, I'm going to tell you another little secret…" he leaned in closer, making sure others couldn't hear what he was about to tell the Seeker. His voice became a whisper as he said, "There is one thing that can defeat the pair of blue…" Shockwave looked down at the now empty injector.

"Sunstorm already tore us apart," Starscream spat, "how much more defeat do you want?"

Shockwave ignored his question. "Even if you were to miraculously escape, you'll never be together again. He'll make sure of it."

"He? He who?"

Shockwave said nothing more and left the cell, leaving Starscream to wonder what he was talking about.

Starscream then decided that perhaps it was a metaphor. He reached for his little one and offered him up. Blacklight crawled into his waiting hands and watched his mech creator as he lifted him and held him close.

" Hey there… You dead?"

A blip was all he got in return.

"Oh, how I longed to hear that from you," the mech replied sarcastically. The six-changer felt relief come to him instantly that the telepath was alive and had not been captured.

"Location?"

"Autobot base."

" Security is breached on all spread links." Soundwave's voice returned, "Lock down maintained until further notice. Minimize usage of all communications."

" Blackout is dead. Bet ya 'ole Megs is gonna be pissed about that. Where are you?"

" Sheltered away from Autobots and Decepticons,"

"What? Why?"

Ignoring the question, Soundwave asked, "Commander Starscream and Barricade's status?"

Now how could he get out of this one? She was not going to like what he had to tell her. After a moment's consideration, he realized he wasn't getting out of it. "Uh… Currently confusing," he answered evasively.

"Explain."

"He and Barricade were caught by Megatron. He somehow manage d to get Barricade out. She is still alive here at the base , but they don't think she's going to make it. Somethings happened."

"What?"

"Sounders… They're saying she has the gaze… "

"Megatron will pay."

"Uh… there's one more thing…" Sixshot's voice was strangely hesitant as he said that, catching Soundwave's attention.

By the tone of his voice, she already knew she was not going to like what he had to tell her, "What?"

Heh. She didn't like hearing what he'd told her about Barricade. He said hesitantly, "Guessing Megs did something to them. The docs think Starscream's dead."

Upon hearing this, Soundwave chose not to respond to him. Her optics furrowed behind her visor as she stared toward of the opening of the cave in thought. The telepath realized the horror of the situation. Her response was an outburst as her good hand slammed hard into the rock wall beside her. Cybertronian would not do…' Fuck… fuck!'

"FUCK!" she crowed, startling Thundercracker. She didn't even care that she'd hurt her hand more.

They had done just too much to those two. Way too much. Now she was pissed, because now it was personal. Holy hell was about to be wrought down on those who did this. She would see to that.

Thundercracker jumped, waking instantly to the screamed word. Soundwave had never, ever yelled like that before. Something real bad must have happened. "Soundwave?" she asked.

"We need to leave," Soundwave droned.

Thundercracker checked on Runway, finding her still in recharge in her hold, surprised Soundwave's outburst hadn't woken her. "And go where?" the Seeker asked with doubt, "What happened?"

"Autobot base. Now."

"Maybe 'Screamer's there too,"

Soundwave knew that was the one place Starscream was not.

"We've got Megatron and Shockwave watching the whole desert probably," Thundercracker said, hoping Soundwave realized the danger.

The darker femme lowered her arm, saying, "Easy to kill. Let's go."

"Easy to kill? Since when? What do you mean?"

"Exactly as I said."

Thundercracker stilled hesitantly at the thought of having to bring her newborn through any area that might be dangerous. "But Runway… I – I can't risk her,"

She decided on telling Thundercracker what had happened. Perhaps that would get her aft in gear and she'd stop stalling. "Commander Starscream lost the fight. Let's go," she said as her optics fell on the Sparkling. "Risks must be taken." Walking toward the mouth of the cave, she didn't have her wave sensor to tell her everything yet, so in essence, she was still very blind. It required major repair by a medic.

It took a moment for what Soundwave said to hit her. "He-he lost?" Thundercracker's Spark hit the ground, hearing that. "He didn't kill him, did he? Oh, 'Screamer…" She'd been sending intermittent bursts to Starscream through their bond in hopes he'd reply since she'd gotten here, but there was never any answer. She was in a state of confusion, because her Spark didn't feel his death.

Soundwave chose not to answer Thundercracker. Instead, she said ominously, "I've let them live. Until now."

Thundercracker stared up at Soundwave a moment. What did she mean that she's 'let them live until now'? If she could have destroyed them sooner, why hadn't she? She quickly got up and stepped up behind Soundwave, looking around.

Soundwave looked up, judged and leapt. As her thrusters started up, she transformed and took off for the sky. Thundercracker looked up, not liking the idea of leaving this place just yet. With a groan, she leapt, transformed, and was off.

They moved almost silently through the air. Soundwave was using extra energy to try dampening the sound, making it harder for others to detect them, without her other systems, it wouldn't be as effective. "Move quickly,"

Blacklight, who had curled up next to a beat up and silent Starscream looked up when something small made itself known. He tilted his head as the blue-optic mech came into view. He noticed that Frenzy was looking around nervously, or so it appeared.

"Frenzy!" Blacklight called.

"Shhh!" Frenzy hissed at the Sparkling then looked up at Starscream. It was sad to see they had disgraced him like this. "St-Starscream," he called quietly, getting the young Seeker's attention. He eyed him, trying to make out the markings on his body. Most were scratched up, but a couple remained. Rumble's dream had come true. He had made a good leader. They'd chosen him.

Starscream's optics turned to glare at Frenzy darkly. There was pity in the small mech's optics. He didn't want anyone's pity. "His voice was harsh and tired, "What do you want? Hasn't your kind put us through enough? Leave us alone."

Frenzy looked to Blacklight, and then back to Starscream. "R-Rumble is my con-connection. Not-not these g-guys. Comms are st-still down, but I am trying to g-get a hold of him or S-Soundwave."

The Seeker glanced down at Blacklight, then back to Frenzy. A renewed hope grew in Starscream's Spark. Perhaps Frenzy would be their ticket out of here. He just hoped they'd make it in time. "Keep trying," he said weakly.

"You know I will," Frenzy said as he pulled out a smaller than normal cube and pushed it through the bars, "E-energon… here, t-ta-take it. Quick, they can't know I'm h-he-helping you." the small mech said quickly.

Starscream eyed it, wondering who was making cubes of Energon. "Why are you helping us?"

"Soundwave's orders," Frenzy answered. He looked away quickly and twitched. Someone was coming. The hacker scampered off before he could be seen.

Starscream watched the little mech go and painfully reached for the small cube and checked it over several times. It was made from normal fossil fuels that were being stored at his base. He righted himself slightly and offered it to his Sparkling, knowing Blacklight needed it. "Here, little one,"

Blacklight quickly snatched it and devoured it.

As his strength slowly waned on him, he wanted to know what Shockwave had done. It bothered him that his energon now resembled Dark Energon. He knew what Dark Energon was, but it was said to be fake. He also knew the stories about the substance and none of it was good.

Having no repairs and relying on his now partially working self-repair system, which was failing, he hurt like hell. He decided he would use what strength he had left to get Blacklight out. If he could save him, his 'Cons would still have a future, as inheritance overrode combat leadership.

Blacklight could see Starscream was in turmoil just by the look on his face, "What did Shockwave do to you?"

"Nothing good," Starscream let out a gust in a sigh.

"What's gonna happen to us?"

"I don't know, 'Light." Starscream replied honestly. His thoughts were on getting Blacklight out of the base somehow. This area was no good for him and he knew something horrible would happen to him if he remained. He didn't deserve any horror Megatron or any of his followers could come up with.

"What are we gonna do?"

" I'm going to find a way for you to get out of here," his mech creator told him.

Thinking of all of the possible escapes, a few came to mind. There was simply letting him go as soon as the door opened, but there was a big chance he would get caught before he made it to an open area to run and he would most likely be injured or killed. He also considered the only other possibility. The vents. He wasn't entirely sure on their structure, but, given the alternative, it would be worth a shot.

Starscream slowly moved, unable to put much weight on his legs. He fought with his body to stand, reaching down, he picked Blacklight up with one hand and looked to where a vent was over their heads in the wall. He nodded at Blacklight, "Use the vents. You know them better." For the first time, he was thankful he and his siblings had gotten into them. The young Seeker removed the front of it and placed him in, and closed it again, keeping alert for anyone who might come around and see him.

Blacklight turned at the front, looked down at Starscream with worry, "But… what about you?"

"Don't worry about me. I'll be fine," the mech said as he turned from his Sparkling, hoping he would make it out alive.

Blacklight was many things, but stupid wasn't one of them. He knew Starscream was lying to him. His mech creator was in a bad way and knew he would be attacked for getting him out. The little mech whined softly and stepped further in, still looking at him through the louvers.

Knowing Blacklight hadn't gone far, Starscream told him, "Now go. Find Barricade or Soundwave." He looked toward the cell exit when he heard footsteps. He knew as soon as they saw Blacklight missing he was in for it – but if his Sparkling made it to safety, that's what mattered now. "Run 'Light! Don't look back!"

Blacklight paused when someone looked as though they would enter Starscream's cell, and he quickly darted off before he was seen or heard. He could hear voices through the vent Starscream had put him in, and he stopped to listen. It was Vortex. "Where is the Sparkling?"

"I ate him."

"Liar," Vortex growled, "You know Megatron is going to beat you until you're almost dead for that."

"Can't help to-" there was a loud screech as Starscream was cut off mid-sentence.

Blacklight continued. There was another sound, then a loud crash making him wince and he stopped to look, worry creeping into his Spark. He let out a whine but didn't turn back for him. He knew Starscream had risked himself to get him out, and all of that would have been for nothing if he got caught.

Blacklight quietly made his way through the vents, being especially careful when mechs walked under him. The last thing he needed was for them to hear him. He continued until he got to louvers leading outside. He stopped at the end, watching for anyone to walk past. When he was sure the coast was clear, he busted open the vent and jumped out. He started running as fast as his legs could carry him, trying to get to the safety of the hills before he was seen.

When he was outside the parameter of the base, he stopped, looking back. He saw Sunstorm peek out of the building but nothing more. He really hoped Starscream was all right. With a heavy mind, the Sparkling began his trek across the desert to the only place he could think of. The Autobot base.

Soundwave and Thundercracker made their way to the Autobot base completely undetected. Thundercracker landed first. Transforming, she looked around with hope for Starscream. Soundwave landed directly after her.

Hearing the arrival of someone new, Autobots headed to see who it was. Sixshot stayed back, seeing Soundwave and Thundercracker's arrival.

"Soundwave! TC! Where were you guys?" Thrust asked worriedly.

"We were um... preoccupied. Where's 'Screamer?" Thundercracker asked hopefully, when she still did not feel him, nor did she see him. Even though he had lost the fight, he should be with his 'Cons. She saw the grim looks they were giving her. Something had happened to him.

No one responded, afraid of telling her the bad news. Looking around with worry at their reluctance, she asked again, this time firmer, " Where is my leader?"

Prowl stepped up. He gave her a solemn look, "Starscream isn't here. I'm sorry."

Dirge then said, "They were both caught after 'Screamer called that retreat."

"So, he's still alive?"

"We can't say, anymore." The mech paused, watching the Seeker, "Something happened after Barricade got here."

"Barricade's here?" she asked quickly.

"Yes, he managed to get her out."

Prowl looked Thundercracker in the optics, "She didn't tell us much. She… she couldn't."

"She had the gaze when she arr-" Dirge went to say.

Thundercracker cut him off, asking, "She has the gaze?" Her hand went up over her mouth. "What has happened since we've been gone?"

"Too much…"

"Now, she's collapsed and is unreachable," Prowl informed. "She's under Hook and Ratchet's care."

Dirge continued, "From what they're saying, her Spark is strange, and she has gone into an unrecoverable stasis lock. I'm sorry, but as far as we know, Megatron may have killed Starscream,"

Maybe she was too far away from him to feel his death. Thundercracker's legs buckled under her at the news, "No…" she said with fear as her knees hit the runway. "Not him too," She had already lost Skywarp. "'Screamer…" Starscream had always been able to survive anything Megatron could throw at him – he was able to survive everything! Well, more like lie his way out of anything.

Her Sparkling, feeling her distress, started becoming agitated. The noise made those present suddenly quiet to listen and look to where it was coming from.

Thundercracker saw them looking and her hand shot up over her hold. She quickly walked around the group of staring optics, looking for the first room she could find inside. Upon finding one, she went in and locked herself in with her newborn. She sat down on the floor and released her annoyed Sparkling, The blue Seeker held her close, comforting her with quiet purrs and chirps.

Soundwave hadn't spoken or moved since she arrived. Her damage was obvious, and those around her were wondering who had managed to damage her so badly. Some were watching where she was injured; surprise and morbid curiosity as to the fact Soundwave was injured had taken them over. The telepath had been watching them all; annoyed they were so interested in her wounds.

Hook approached her, analyzing her damage. "What do we have here? Get into a fight with the planet?" he asked her.

The CO looked to the medic, ignoring his trying to joke, "Repair and recharge: required,"

"No kidding," he said with a chuckle, "follow me. There's a berth free for you,"

When Soundwave entered the med bay, Ratchet looked up, "Well, well, well. Look who's finally decided to show up," He saw the injuries on the femme and his optic ridges hit the ceiling. "What in the pit happened to you?"

"Lost against Earth," the femme droned, peeking at Hook.

Hook laughed lightly behind her. "Can never be too careful around planets,"

Ratchet pointed to a berth off to the side, away from Barricade. Her optics immediately fell on the black and white femme lying there.

Before she went to the berth that Ratchet had pointed to, Soundwave closer to Barricade and looked down at her. She shook her head solemnly. Megatron would pay for what he'd done. All of them would.

Ratchet turned, seeing she was not following. Noticing she was by Barricade, he said, "Leave her be, Soundwave. She's very unstable."

Hook had been watching and glanced at Ratchet when he said that. The Constructicon remained quiet, waiting for the telepath to settle so he could see her injuries closer.

Something was telling her to go to the femme, that she could help somehow. She followed that something, stepping closer to Barricade and rested her hands on the edge of the berth.

"Soundwave, leave it," Ratchet warned.

Ignoring the Autobot CMO, Soundwave lifted her hand slightly, two thin cables protruded from her left wrist, curling around her hand in such a way they were very hard to see.

Ratchet turned around completely when she didn't listen, "What are you doing?" he asked, slight panic setting in. "I said let her alone!" He threw a wrench at her.

Soundwave stopped when the metal pinged off her armor and looked up at the CMO a moment, then proceeded where she had left off. The tips of the cables snaked over her hand and toward the tip of her claw. Ratchet started for her, and Hook quickly darted for him and grabbed him by the shoulder, "Don't."

"What is she doing?" Ratchet hissed. "She could do more damage!" The Autobot medic was upset that she was doing something to his patient.

"Sometimes it's better to just wait and see," Hook said to him.

Soundwave glanced up at the Constructicon for his comment. She then looked back down, making sure she didn't injure Barricade with her protrusions. The delicacy in which she had to work made her concentrate. The cables rushed into Barricade's head, and then a strong surge of energy snapped up them back into Soundwave, causing her to jerk back quickly with a hiss in pain, retracting them quickly. Both medics looked up, hearing her. Soundwave stared down at the femme in shock.

What in the holy pit was that?

Both medics looked at Barricade for a long moment, wondering why Soundwave had reacted like that. There was still no movement from the hunter. "What did you do?" Ratchet asked.

"I could do nothing," she said as her visor blinked out for a couple of seconds, then returned. She proceeded to where Hook had previously pointed.

Wheeljack was off to the side working with First Aid on something. He'd also seen what was going on, but he knew better than to interfere. He shook his head, "If she can't do anything, all hope may be lost…"

When Soundwave sat down, Hook approached her and got a better look at her damage. He'd never seen her injured like this before. He grabbed a tool as he considered where to start. "Who did this to you?"

"Shockwave," Soundwave answered.

"He did all of this?" Hook asked, doubt creeping into his thoughts because there was distinctly two different kinds of energy used.

"No," Soundwave replied. She wasn't going to tell them about Thundercracker. If they needed that information, they could ask the Seeker. Plus, she knew they would be all over her asking her how she saved someone from a failed Spark expulsion, and she really didn't want to deal with it.

"Who else, then?" Hook asked.

Soundwave remained stubbornly silent.

"How did Shockwave injure you?" Wheeljack asked from afar, not wanting to get too close. He'd heard about her being secretive and not wanting others than Hook to work on her. Perhaps he could rig something up for her if it was needed.

Soundwave didn't answer right away, still a little lost on the idea herself, "Weapon: unknown,"

"Heh, where do I start?" Hook asked, looking down her arm, and all the way back up to her wave sensor. He could see where damage was caused by a weapon, and then different damage on her arm was caused my something else. The other damage looked to be energy damage. "Really did a number on your sensor, 'Wave."

Hook proceeded to work on Soundwave's injuries. More notably, her wave sensor. He stopped when he realized he would need restricted information. That was quite possibly the most important thing on her. It couldn't be called a weapon, but it was a weapon. It also couldn't really be called a sensor, but it was a sensor. "Will you allow me to work on the inner systems of this?"

"Affirmative," she droned, her optics still staring at the femme across the room. Soundwave knew he would need access to sensitive information. She turned for him, from under her wrist, a key protruded. He moved into position to accept the information she would give him. His optics brightened for a moment as she transferred to him what he needed to know. He was the only mech, besides Sixshot, who was allowed the information required for repairs.

"Do you have any information on the weapons he used?"

"I do not. I could not get any while he attacked. I detected some kind of shield against me." The femme didn't move when he hit where he knew it was sensitive. She must have had some pain tolerance.

"Lean over. I need access to your back." Soundwave did as he asked. "He used a shield?" Hook asked with curiosity, "Against you? Never heard of that before."

"Neither have I." Soundwave admitted. "How long until the sensor is functioning?" she asked. She needed it. Perhaps it could help with probing Barricade.

"It'll be a while," Hook responded, repairing wires and energon lines first. He was glad Soundwave showed up when she did, "You're not known to be impatient. And speaking of that sensor of yours…"

High over the USA, a Seeker flew. She wasn't fast, as her thrusters still had some development left. It would take longer than she hoped, and she knew she would need to stop to rest before they made it to their destination.

Her new pilot, Tyler, had to quickly get used to flying with her. It was clear that she didn't know how to fly – she was all over the place and scared him many times with either going up too fast, or down too fast – which was the scariest part. When she first got into the air, that was the smooth part. Since she had never flown before, and she had not been taught how to – she had to do it literally on the fly. There were a few times he swore he had to swallow his heart or had to stop himself from throwing up.

After trial and error, Typhoon's flight smoothed out and her movements became less erratic. She climbed higher into the sky, up past the clouds, as Starscream had told her one day while they flew, that there was a lesser chance of a Seeker being seen. The two remained up there as they soared westward. "So… Typhoon, ya finally got the hang of this?"

"I think so," she responded. "It took a minute to find the right energy and such, but I think I am fine now. The only problem is, I will be slower because there are still systems that need to be activated, and I can't do it."

Tyler shrugged, "So where in Nevada are we going?"

"South. Somewhere near a town called Tranquility. Mikaela lives there," she told him, "Or Las Vegas. My mech creator's base is around there somewhere."

"Ah, never heard of Tranquility. Who's Mikaela?"

"She's Barricade's pet Just like you are to me." Typhoon thought about Mikaela a moment, "I think Miles' mate, too."

"What do you mean I'm your pet? When was this decided?"

Typhoon considered his question, then answered, "There's strange connections between the humans and my kind. As Miles is my mech creator's pilot, you are mine. I'd like to think of you as my friend. I think that's what pets are."

Tyler gave a smile at her words. "Pet, eh? Promise you won't try to throw me a bone and say, 'here boy!' and we will get along great." He chuckled. He wouldn't mind calling her friend too. She'd be the most interesting one he had.

"Even Blacklight has a pet."

"Who's Blacklight?"

"He's my elder brother. Don't tell anyone though. I don't think Ironhide would like that."

All these names! "Okay, and who's Ironhide?"

"He's an Autobot and Will Lennox's pet, I think. He's scary." She then giggled, "Starscream calls him a walking cannon."

"A walking… cannon?"

"Yeah, because his main weapons are very large cannons."

"Wait, wait… wait a second… where did the Autobot thing come from? What's an Autobot?"

"Starscream said they're the good guys."

"What do you mean 'good guys'…Who's the bad guys?"

"The Decepticons," Typhoon chirped happily.

"And your daddy… he's the leader of the bad guys, right?" Tyler wasn't exactly sure what to think.

"Yes, I like to think he's the leader of the 'good' Decepticons. I told you about that mech and what he did; What I didn't tell you was that some mech even Barricade didn't know had attacked her and took me from her and that's how I ended up so far from home. Now that I can understand that better, I think something more is going on,"

"What have I gotten myself into?" Tyler asked with a sigh, watching out the canopy of the Seeker.

"I'm asking what I was dropped into… literally. You ended up in it by bringing me to your home."

Tyler sighed. "Just fly… I don't know what to expect anymore. As you said, I'm your pilot; We'll wing it, 'Ty,"

"Ty?" the Seeker asked, a little confused. "Are you calling me by a shorter version? Like how Mikaela calls Barricade 'Cade, and Skywarp calls Starscream 'Screamer? Does that mean we are friends?"

"Yeah. I like that." The man answered.

Thought I'd end this one on a lighter note, because holy shit. Sadness.

Did you shed a tear for them? I know I did writing it.