Apologies for the long absence. I couldn't access this account for a while and I've finally gotten bac in. A lot of new chapters ahead!

Nothing was good 't good enough. Not smart enough to outwit, nor fast enough to escape, nor strong enough to fight. She was useless. Truly and utterly. Memories of knowing glances and cutting remarks spun through the unstable expanse of her mind, pricking her with their knowledge of her failure.

'Stop it,' she begged internally, but the voices kept laughing.

Amid the array of optics that flashed through her processor, one pair stood out starkly against all others, vibrant and piercing, making her feel exposed and ashamed.

'Leave me alone.'

'No.'

The deep cut of his voice echoed inside her helm, making her wince. Whether it was something she had conjured on her own or he had found a way to penetrate the sanctity of her innermost thoughts, she wasn't sure. What was real? What was a dream? Nothing was certain.

'Not in the solace of your mind or anywhere else, ever again. You will never be free of me.'

The slender femme shuddered, curling into herself as though doing so would protect her from him. She could feel his oily caress, his vicious talons skating over her frame, sinking into her very metal and branding her as his. Every piece of her belonged to him now.

All of her efforts, every attempt she'd even considered making... her knew. He'd always known. It only reinforced the notion that he had somehow found a way to invade her thoughts in real time. Why had she dared to hope?

'Primus... why? What have I done to deserve this?'

'You survived.'

A twisted parody of her own voice answered this time.

'You betrayed them.'

With bitterness darkening her spark she acknowledged the voice was right. She had betrayed them. She had allowed herself to enjoy the touch of her enemies, even after all the pain they had wrought upon her and those she held closest. The thought of their claws, so many, all over her, touching her in so many ways... and the filthy euphoria it had elicited in her. There was something deeply wrong with her. She should not have been capable of feeling anything other than disgust at their ministrations... why had her body responded so?

'I-I do... deserve this, don't I? For being so weak. So willing to let them overcome me. For not fighting harder, longer, until the very end. I'm not worthy of their forgiveness... not worthy of redemption. I'm not even worthy of death. This... this is punishment befitting someone so broken and sullied.'

This time no voice answered her... though the silence that followed was almost worse, more damning than any reply might have been.

She started when the door to her cell slid open, a pair of Vehicons flanking her and lifting her easily from the floor. They unfastened her from her bonds momentarily before replacing them with another kind of restraint, the familiar weight of the collar settling against her neck cables. A rough servo on her shoulder pushed her toward the door, and she stumbled only briefly before righting herself. Optics stared listlessly ahead, her steps leaden as she was manoeuvred through the dim corridors of the Decepticon fortress.

'I'm a traitor. No better than any of them. Maybe worse...'

When they arrived at the thrown room, she felt his gaze upon her immediately. It had been three solar cycles since her last encounter with the tyrant, her processor split between panic and numbness at the recollection. The time apart had offered her no respite. She didn't think she would ever know peace again. Staggering loneliness and lingering fear her only companions now. That... and bitter acceptance. She couldn't even muster the energy to be indignant at the knowledge anymore. There was nothing. Only him... and her shame.

Arcee refocused her optics, only now realizing she stood at the base of the stairs. Her gaze flickered slowly up the incline, to where her master sat, rigid and imposing. His scarred mouth was held in a tight line. His red stare bore into her expectantly, and without instruction, she began to ascend. Her steps were slow and demure, but on she climbed until she came to a stop between his pedes. He held her immobile with the weight of his optics for what seemed a small eternity before lifting a single servo toward her. Without hesitation she lifted her own and placed it into his upturned palm.

Megatron smiled.

Arcee trembled.