Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The only time I could go out and fly was at night.

The only time I could hunt for energon, was at night.

A part of me wondered if I was just being overly paranoid, considering it had been nigh 300 years since I had last laid optics on another Cybertronian, but millennia of war had my survival skills alert and going strong.

Granted, hiding from humans was a close second on the list of things to worry about.

I suppose I didn’t really need to be out tonight; the sky was all sorts of grey and I had more than enough energon hidden away, but something was keeping me in the skies tonight. There was a nagging feeling that something big was going on, but for the life of me, I couldn’t figure out what.

I didn’t normally venture this far from the village, either, but again, something wouldn’t let me rest, so there I was, patrolling the mountains and keeping an optic trained to the sky.

“Hey Abby, whatcha up to?” The familiar voice echoed through my com unit, the female laughing when I vented.

“Flying, why?” I replied, tilting my wing and darting between two tall cliffs, kicking up tufts of snow in my wake.

The female on the other end of the call had a smile to her voice. “Well, Annie told me to tell you that if you don’t come home soon, she won’t make you your favourite pudding cups for breakfast.”

I gasped, the woman laughing again as I did a 180 and quickly began flying back towards home.

“Tell Anastasia that she had better be kidding!” I protested, pushing my systems to the limits as I darted across the horizon. It was almost dawn, anyway. Time for me to go back home.

The call distracted me from the stormy late summer skies, enough so that I entirely missed the explosion that took place overhead in Earth’s orbit.

That explosion would change everything.

– – –

Several Weeks Later

I did end up getting my pudding cups, though I was back in the skies the following night, and every night since. I could not get over the sense that something was wrong.

I was currently sitting at Kayla’s kitchen table, munching on a piece of toast while I idly flipped through a book.

“Morning, Abby.” My friend greeted me cheerfully as she walked into the room, halfway to one of her cabinets when I glanced up.

I smiled slightly, withholding a sigh as I closed the book I was reading and leaned back in my chair. “I’m thinking about reaching out to Fowler. Something’s been bothering me and I can’t seem to put my finger on it,” I admitted, her gaze darting my way before she went back to rifling through her cupboard.

“Do you really have to put up with him?” She asked, fishing out a cereal box and set it down, grabbing the milk and a bowl and made her breakfast. “I mean, when’s the last time you actually got something out of this agreement of yours?”

I frowned, running a hand through my hair. “Yeah, I know. It sucks, but there’s not much I can do about it. Besides, it’s been a few months since I last visited the airbase. I just want to double-check that the sensors I gave them are in good working order. I’m probably just being paranoid.” I watched as she dug out a spoon and brought her bowl to the table, plopping in the chair beside me and grabbed one of my hands.

“Be careful, ok? Who knows when the government will change their minds about your agreement.”

I nodded, squeezing her hand once before I stood and brought my plate to the sink. No one was happy with this arrangement, least of all me. With a nod to my best friend, I smiled and slipped out through the back door of her cottage.

The village was quiet this morning, and I used the blessed silence to think.

Special Agent William Fowler had been assigned by the United States Government to be my liaison and to report my movements back to the Pentagon. I wouldn’t go as far as to say that I trusted the man, but I knew that as long as I stayed on his good side, he would defend me to his superiors and keep me out of their hands.

As long as he kept me from a dissection table, I was fine with him.

I left the street Kayla’s house was located on and walked towards the main road, the only way in and out of town in this hidden, beautiful village.

Shivering slightly due to the autumn wind, I untied the leather jacket from around my waist and put it on, drawing the zipper up to my chin and slid my hands in the pockets.

Part of the deal I made with the government when they found me 10 years ago was to keep each other informed about anything Cybertronian-related, and so far our deal had been respected.

I gave them some bits of technology in return for them keeping the village secret and off any and all public maps, ensuring my people’s security and well-being. In exchange for giving them a few upgrades to their jets, they swore to inform me if either side of the blasted war made its way into Earth’s orbit.

There are many things I have kept from the government, and many more that they cannot even begin to speculate about, but I would have to be a fool to just hand everything I knew over to the United States. They would end up destroying themselves, and our planet along with them.

I have been protecting this village and the tribe that resides within for the past 3 centuries, and I will not be giving the military the power and ability to take it all away from me.

Not that it would stop them from trying, but that was where Fowler came in. He had done a decent job already at holding the Pentagon at bay during the last ten years of working with each other.

I turned onto the main street, the shops lining the newly paved road still dark and closed as I walked past them. I arrived at the edge of the town undeterred and stepped onto the dirt path, unbothered by the hidden night watch guarding the entrance.

I had another kilometer to go before I could dissolve my holoform, the chill autumn morning rustling the trees surrounding the small road I traveled on.

The village was nestled in the center of a large valley, with a great mountain range protecting it from human interaction. The only ones who ventured so far into these mountains were hunters and their families, and most if not all of them had at some point or other been brought to the village Chief and sworn never to tell another soul about us.

Most of the current hunters were descended from the first few we took in, and were all well known and trusted.

Though the biggest, and most important secret the village protected, was me.

Generations ago, Kayla’s ancestor found me while I was experimenting with my holoform and trying to make myself look as human as possible. She took pity on the young girl she saw, and brought her to the village then and there.

I lied to them at first, about who and what I was. Of course I did. I read the scans about the planet, knew they had very little going for them technology-wise, and I knew that if I was discovered then, well–

Let's just say that humans have always and will always be human.

Una was the first to find out that I was Cybertronian, and the first to advocate on my behalf when the rest of the village ultimately found out too. She protected me and cared for me, and I will always take care of her beautiful, sacred village, and everyone within.

I sensed a ripple through my systems when I stepped across the barrier, smiling slightly and let my holoform dissolve into nothing.

Bright blue optics came online, scanners activating as feeling returned to my frame.

Time to fly.

– – –

My intention was to head to the military base within the mountains.

My intention was to talk to Fowler and see if he had any new updates for me.

My intentions were thrown into the scrapheap when a strong energon signal came through my sensors, a signal that only unearthed energon emitted.

An unearthed energon signal mere kilometers from the village.

I cursed, turning tail and flew back to the valley, making a beeline for one of the surrounding mountains.

Activity.

Cybertronian activity.

I couldn’t risk it, not so close to the village.

“Kayla, call the Chief,” I said, cutting off her greeting, and with the tone I used she didn’t bother getting huffy about it. “Let her know that I’m investigating activity far too close to home.”

“Alright. Be careful.”

I hoped to Primus that it wasn’t the Decepticons. I hoped that it wasn’t anything, to be honest. Unearthed energon was a problem, though. A huge problem if it meant one of the factions found their way to Earth.

If it was one of the factions, then I needed to know how they got planetside without alerting the government, or tripping my scanners. It could very well be nothing. I hoped it was nothing.

I passed by a clearing at the base of the mountain, and I would have frowned had I been in my bi-ped form.

A single, square cube of energon, just… laying at the cave entrance.

A chill slid down my backstruts, circling it again before coming to a decision.

Please, Primus please, let it be nothing–

I landed and maintained my jet form, activating my holoform inside the cockpit.

I opened the hatch and climbed down, the late autumn sun streaming into the clearing through the tall pines as needles crunched under my flight boots. I kept my helmet tucked under my arm, my military-grade attire befitting a pilot resting snuggly on my body.

I looked like a military pilot. If this was the actions of humans, then I could speak to Fowler and have them move their mining operation elsewhere.

If this was the actions of the Autobots, then hopefully they would do their best to get me out of here.

If this was the Decepticons, then I would be calling Kayla again.

– – –

Several dozen humans watched as the airforce jet landed inside the clearing, a young woman jumping from the cockpit of her fighter.

They watched as she scanned the clearing, her bright blue eyes the only discerning part of her face, the bottom half covered and hidden by a neck scarf.

They watched as she turned back to the entrance of the cave, cautiously walking towards it.

“Maintain your position. Let’s see what she does.” Their orders came from an older, middle-aged man, the only one of them unmasked as they watched the pilot’s actions.

The woman knelt beside the cube, eyeing it suspiciously and gave another glance over her shoulder, towards the woods where they remained hidden.

Her eyes narrowed and she stood, leaving the cube where it was and rushed back to her jet.

Their leader gave a silent order, and the three dozen men moved from their positions and aimed their blasters at the pilot, the woman freezing several meters away from her escape, surrounded.

“Identify yourselves,” she ordered, her sharp blue eyes darting from man to man.

A small gap was made to her right, the unmasked man walking towards her and stopped at the edge of the circle. She clenched her hand, lifting her chin and all but glared at the man.

“I am Flight Sergeant Frasher. I presume you’re the leader here?” Her voice was cold as she stared the man down, ire shining in her eyes when he merely smiled and nodded.

“It is a privilege to meet you, Flt Sgt. Frasher. I am Silas, and this is M.E.C.H.” He said calmly, waving a hand to indicate the men keeping their weapons trained on her. “What brought you to this little corner of the country?”

She never took her eyes away from his. “I was on my way to my home base when my scanners picked up an odd, fluctuating signal. My superiors gave me the all-clear to check it out.” She turned then, back towards the cave, and the cube. “What the hell is it?” She asked, glancing back at Silas. “I’ve never seen anything like it before.”

Silas lifted a hand and the men lowered their weapons, approaching the woman and began walking with her back to the cube.

“It’s called energon. It’s a rare substance that has promising qualities.” When he didn’t elaborate further she glanced at him again, frowning, but he had merely knelt beside the cube and motioned for her to join him.

She did so slowly, warily eyeing the men monitoring the whole exchange. “What does it do?” She asked, turning back to Silas.

He smiled, the cube glowing dimly in the shadow of the cave entrance. “It’s used by an alien race. From what we’ve gathered, it is a fuel source for them.”

His smile fell when the Flight Sergeant coughed and laughed, shaking her head and stood. “I’m sorry, Silas. But I believe I am too old for bedtime stories. If you’ll excuse me.” She turned, and hardly made it a step before M.E.C.H had their blasters trained on her again.

Silas stood, brushing himself off and crossed his arms. “I would have thought that the government would keep their people informed of such important information, considering Roselake Base is restricted for top secret clearance only.” He walked closer to her, moving back into her line of sight. “Especially since both the Autobots and Decepticons have made their way to our humble corner of the Galaxy.”

All Frasher did was raise a brow, pushing past Silas and didn’t stop walking, the men moving with her as she went back towards her jet. “Unless you’re willing to kill me, stand aside. I have people waiting for me,” she said coldly, the men glancing at their leader. “This was a grand waste of my time.”

When she looked back to challenge him, her eyes caught on something hidden within the forest shadows, a large shape, a familiar shape monitoring the exchange. She tensed in shock and fear, slowly shaking her head as red glinted through the foliage. “Your men are dead, Silas,” she breathed, before she turned and made a dead sprint back to her jet.

The men didn’t have time to stop her before the shadow stepped into the clearing, Silas whirling and found a Decepticon grinning down at them.

Frasher was already in the skies.

– – –

My spark would not stop racing, no matter how far away I flew.

I had called Kayla the moment I got back in the air, warning her about what I learned. The village wasn’t safe, they needed to take the cancellation field down and they needed to do it now. They had to activate the emergency procedures I had taught them, and they needed to prepare for the worst.

If the Decepticons found Earth, and were lured to these mountains by Silas and his trap, then that meant the chances of them bridging on the other side of the mountain was high. And once they realized they couldn’t, it would bring a whole world of hurt down onto my people.

The village wasn’t safe as long as they had anything to do with a Cybertronian.

I think Kayla knew this, too, because she was far more reluctant than usual to hang up the call.

Pushing everything along those lines to the back of my helm, I activated my hailing frequency and approached Roselake Base.

Silas was right about it being restricted, about who and what was allowed to step foot inside. There was a reason it was located in the center of a difficult and hard-to-reach mountain range.

“F-16 Falcon, you are clear to approach.”

I would have smiled, had the circumstances been different, finding the landing strip and began my descent.

It was a matter of minutes before I had landed on the hidden base, activating my holoform again and made my way to the main building, nestled in the valley of three large mountains. On the far end of the base, the end of the landing strip dropped off into sheer, snowy cliffs, the ridge acting as both a deterrent and safety mechanism. Staging an attack from the ground was next to impossible; the only way in and out of Roselake Base was through the skies.

I walked in through the hangar doors, stepping around a pair of workers moving a few crates.

These people were mostly self–sufficient, with one of the buildings to the east acting as a greenhouse and another a stable. They grew everything they would need to survive, should they become cut off from the rest of the country.

No one turned to stop me as I walked up to the viewing platform, pulling the cloth over my face down around my neck as I approached the large monitors at the back. Finally, I was greeted, the agent coming to a salute before walking up to me.

“Agent Frost.” I dipped my head. “Where is Special Agent Fowler?” I asked.

Agent Frost frowned, glancing back to the monitor he was supposed to be watching. “We didn’t know you were coming, Starfire. Agent Fowler is not here,” he admitted, walking us towards the large row of screens.

I sighed, letting my helmet dissolve and crossed my arms, looking up at the view. A couple of enlarged satellite images, straight from the disk. “Any idea when he’ll be back?” I asked, Agent Frost slipping back in his seat and typed a few things on the keyboard as he shook his head.

“No, Ma’am. But I’ll give him a call and tell him you’re waiting for him,” he replied, doing just that as I stepped away.

I nodded and began to wander around the hangar, the humans not paying me any mind. When I first made the agreement with the government, hardly anyone got any work done when I visited. They all wanted to see the “alien”, though not many were brave enough or stubborn enough to approach me.

It took a while, and Fowler nearly bashing a few heads in to get them to focus, for the mystical air about me to disappear, just like it did with the village.

Roselake Base was the closest point of human civilization to that village, so should they call for help or need assistance of any kind, the government has promised the village the aid of this base.

I frowned, moving to the lounge and dropped down onto one of the old couches, where I would remain until Fowler arrived.

I’ll hold the human government to their word.

About an hour after I arrived on base there was a commotion out on the landing strip, and I lifted my head off the couch to watch Agent Fowler stride inside the hangar. I smiled slightly, pushing myself up and walked to the railing of the viewing platform, folding my arms on it and raising a brow when he looked up and spotted me.

“Morning, Agent Fowler,” I called, the man sighing and waving me off, walking towards the long metal steps. I watched him approach, straightening when he got to the top and walked over to meet him halfway.

“Starfire. You weren’t meant to arrive for another month, what could possibly be so urgent that you would drag me from the Pentagon?” He asked, exasperated, but I merely frowned and glanced back to the monitors.

“Agent Frost, can you pull up imagery for Shadow Mountain?” I asked, the man nodding and typed a few things on his keyboard before pulling up the mountain I was at just this morning.

“What am I looking for, exactly?” He asked, glancing at me as Fowler and I walked over.

“Circle around the mountain, there should be a small dirt road near the mouth of a cave.” I replied, watching as he did and zoomed in for a better focus.

The three of us were silent as we saw the damage.

“What in Uncle Sam’s beard happened here?” Fowler asked quietly, glancing at me.

I frowned. “Energon is highly explosive, Agents. That is the result of a cube detonating,” I murmured, ignoring their shocked confusion. “What surprises me, however, is the lack of human casualties,” I added, not missing the look between the two of them.

“You mind telling me what’s going on, Starfire?” Fowler asked, and I also didn’t miss the warning in his voice. I crossed my arms, glancing at him.

“Have you ever heard of M.E.C.H, Agent Fowler?”

The two Agents were unable to hide their recognition in time, Fowler sighing again and nodded. “I take it you ran into Silas.” It wasn’t a question, but I nodded the same anyway.

“He knew what energon was, Fowler. He also had information about Roselake Base. He knew what kind of personnel was here, hell, he knew it existed in the first place! And that isn’t even the worst of it.” I took a breath, forcing myself to calm lest they get the wrong idea.

I wasn’t about to go jumping to conclusions just yet. I needed to know if Fowler was aware of this threat first.

“What’s the worst of it, Ma’am?” Frost asked. I shook my head again, trying to calm down before I could work myself up. I knew who that Decepticon was. I knew what she was capable of, I knew what she’s done.

I was surprised Silas was able to clean up the mess. I’m surprised he remained alive to do it. I took a breath. “A Decepticon was drawn to the signal, to the trap Silas laid out. I was honestly expecting to see a lot more destruction on these images,” I admitted, though I paused when I saw Fowler blink, and frown.

No.

“You- you knew.” I blurted, backing a step. “You knew that the Decepticons found Earth.”

He wasn’t saying anything, turning back to the monitors and asking Frost to replay the scene. I didn’t hear what he said. I didn’t hear Frost curse at who they saw, didn’t ask how they knew who she was aside from the descriptions I gave them about the Decepticon leadership.

They knew the war had made its way to Earth, and kept it from me.

“How long?” I heard the growl in my voice, and didn't care to hide it. They knew that the Decepticons were here, because if Phoenix was roaming the planet then there was no chance in the pits that she was alone. The Decepticons were here and they didn’t warn me.

Fowler sighed again. He lied to me. He knew and he lied to me. What else has he lied about? Who else knows about the village? About me? How the frag am I supposed to trust him now?

The government knows about the village and they know what those people mean to me. I cannot believe I trusted them, trusted Fowler. I never should have made that agreement. I should have left the government high and dry before they got any valuable information out of me. I wouldn’t be surprised if they disabled my sensors, just to ensure I was kept in the dark.

“The Decepticons arrived on Earth about 4 years ago,” he said at last, turning to me. “The team of Autobots stationed here have been here for five. I’m sorry, Starfire, but I wasn’t allowed to tell you.”

I slowly shook my head, outright reeling over this discovery.

“Why?” I whispered, Agent Frost turning at the quiet desperation in my voice. I didn’t care. I didn’t care at all anymore. This would be my last visit to Roselake Base. “You knew the lengths I have gone to help this government, to give you the tools you needed to watch for them, to protect yourselves from my kind. So why, Fowler, was our deal broken?” I asked. I taught them in return for information. And they outright kept it from me.

He frowned. “If you think for a moment that either side knows about you, then you never trusted me.” He replied quietly. “I was given a second assignment for the Autobots because my superiors knew I had done well working with you, that I had experience working with Cybertronians. But not once did I tell them about you, or the village. We kept your secret, Starfire.”

I shook my head. “Did you ever wonder why I never wanted to be found, by either Autobot or Decepticon? Why I demanded to be kept informed about developments, at all times?” I asked, narrowing my eyes at the agent. I saw him pause, and I pressed on.

“I am a neutral in this forsaken war, Agent Fowler. I do what I have to in order to survive. And now, because you didn’t warn me, give me time to prepare, give me time to plan, a Decepticon was able to get within a dozen clicks of the village. A Decepticon who would likely be using a ground bridge, who could have bridged to the far side of the mountain and hit the cancellation field! And if they brought their war to this planet, they would have damn well assumed that the forest was the location of the Autobot base.” His eyes widened slightly in realization. He just threatened my people.

“You and I both know it isn’t, but the Decepticons don’t. They also don’t care about being discreet. If they thought my village was hiding the Autobots, they would burn it to the ground.” It, along with everyone in it, to flush the Autobots out.

And when there were no Autobots to be flushed out, they would kill the survivors and move on.

I closed my eyes and took a long, deep breath in. “So you see now, Agent Fowler, why I’m so upset?”

He nodded once. “Starfire, if I had it my way, you would have known the moment the Autobots landed on Earth, and would have been kept up to date through every development. But it was not my decision to make. However, I swear to you the village is safe. That Decepticon poses no threat to them, or to you.” He was almost making sense, up until the last bit.

I raised a brow, shaking my head again. “I’m not sure if you noticed, but that Decepticon matches the description of the most skilled and deadly assassin the war ever produced. She is deadly even to her own faction. She poses the highest risk, excluding Megatron himself.” I argued.

Phoenix was deadly, and was personally trained by the Warlord to be whatever he needed her to be. A weapon, an extension of his very will. The Neutrals on Cybertron feared her above all others.

“I would normally agree with you, Starfire. If Megatron was still alive, that is.”

I think my audials stopped working. I gaped at the agents, Fowler nodding grimly. “Megatron died in the Space Bridge explosion just over a month ago. Starscream currently leads the Decepticons.”

After millions of years of war, and death, and ruin, the Mighty Warlord of the Decepticon Faction was… offline. I couldn’t believe it.

“This is… a lot.” I admitted, running a hand through my hair. Megatron was offline, and Fowler claimed that Phoenix wasn’t a threat to my village. I hardly knew what to believe anymore.

Even still, I wasn’t able to return, not now that M.E.C.H is so close and would likely go to unimaginable lengths to glean information about my kind. I needed to fly, and get as far from my people as I could.

He sighed, resting a hand on my shoulder. “I really am sorry, Starfire.” I glanced up, and knew that he meant it, but I couldn’t stay here any longer. I couldn’t trust him, any of them.

The one thing I asked, the one thing I had every right to know, and they lied to me.

I backed from him and nodded once, blowing out a breath and squared my shoulders. “I’ll see you around, Agent Fowler,” I murmured, managing to send him a small, sad smile, and before he could try and talk me out of it I dissolved my holoform and activated my engines, moving back to the runway and took off before Fowler could order his people to stop me.

I’ve had enough of the government lying to me, and I wanted no part in their war. I would protect my own, as I’ve always done, and that was it.

– – –

Flying back to the village was a risk I had to take, leveling off ten clicks away from Shadow Mountain and transformed, ducking inside the hidden hollow serving as my base and home for the past 300 years.

I slid down the side and landed at the bottom, checking that the cloak was still going strong. I didn’t need Silas to discover my hideout, thank you kindly, and as far as the government knew, this place didn’t exist.

Still, I couldn’t stay.

I grabbed what few belongings I possessed, tucking my energon reserves inside my subspace, along with a few datapads and the remote for the ground bridge I built. Glancing around one last time, I gave a silent farewell before I crawled back out and into the forest I had grown to love.

Standing, I retrieved the remote, punching in a set of coordinates. One rule the Neutrals lived by was to always, always have a second escape route.

The swirling green vortex opened up behind me, and without a second thought I walked inside and didn’t look back.

– – –

Chapter Text

Another few weeks had passed, and I was doing a fine job of blending in. A foreign student, here for the semester learning Ancient History. No one suspected anything, and I had enough savings stashed around the planet to live on indefinitely.

I changed my holoform to look more like the locals, altering my hair from a light blonde to a dark brown, my skin from creamy white to olive, but unfortunately, I was unable to change the colour of my eyes to the hazel brown everyone else around me seemed to have.

Bright blue eyes and the same voice were the only consistencies in every form I took on, and that would remain the same for every Cybertronian who tried to blend in.

Well, the Decepticons would have red eyes, but that's beside the point. I don’t think they would bother going undercover.

Logic told me that the Autobots were the United States’ problem, if they had a government official as their liaison, which meant that so long as I kept my head down and stayed out of trouble, Fowler wouldn’t even know where to begin looking for me.

Don’t get me wrong, I had nothing against the Autobots. I just wanted no part in their war, and I was safer without them knowing I was on the planet.

I had no way to confirm if that remained the case, though, considering everything else Fowler had lied to me about.

I frowned, setting the cup of tea I had in hand down onto the saucer, glancing out the cafe window and out to the busy streets of early evening Athens. Fowler knew the Autobots, had met them 5 years after he started working with me. Why did the government decide not to tell me about them? What the frag did they think I would do with the information? All I wanted was for them to help me protect my people, and to keep the war as far from them as humanly possible.

I sighed, lifting my sunglasses and turned to my phone, idly scrolling through the internet for any sign of activity.

I suppose it doesn’t really matter now, the US government had already put my face at the top of the F.B.I’s most wanted list. Even if I do go back, I highly doubt I wouldn’t be detained.

No, I knew I would be.

I huffed a soft laugh, shaking my head and grabbed my teacup again. I was willing to bet anything that Fowler warned them it was a pointless effort, considering I could change my appearance and face at will, but the humans on that side of the pond were stubborn and headstrong.

They reminded me of the Wreckers.

I smiled to myself, closing down the phone and left the cafe.

– – –

I returned to the apartment I was renting, the landlord an elderly, no-nonsense lady who demanded I pay two months upfront before she let me step foot inside the building.

Before I settled in the forests of North America, I ventured around the planet, and made friends in many places. She was the descendant of one such friend, and would keep my secret for as long as she breathed.

Didn’t mean she wasn’t above hazing me for the time I spent out at night. My guess was she thought socializing at the bars around the city only served a woman one thing, but I found it highly amusing and didn’t see the point in correcting her.

It kept her from figuring out what I actually did.

I dropped my bag on a chair and walked to the warehouse windows, crossing my arms as I looked over the sprawling city. The setting sun washed the streets in a soft gold and orange, the colours idly reminding me of my forest.

I worried about them.

I worried about Kayla and Annie, about Josh and the Chief. About Albert with the border guard, Lexa and her twins. I worried about how they’re faring now that the government lost track of me, worried if the military would try an occupation.

A nerve feathered in my jaw, and I just had to trust that Fowler would not stoop to such lengths.

He wouldn’t, but his superiors likely would if they thought it would make me return. I was nothing more than an asset to them, an asset that had flown off without a trace.

I flicked off a piece of fluff from my flannel, huffing softly as I waited for the sun to set.

I never liked going so long without familiar company, and I didn’t do very well with solitude, despite my best efforts. From the time my creators had me, I was never alone. I always had my twin by my side, through our studies and games and blunders, we were together. Through the beginning of the war, to the twilight hours of it. Always together, always guarding the other’s back. Always watching, always present.

The century after her death was the worst of my life.

A different set of Neutrals found me and took me in, and we fled Cybertron together not long before it went dark.

They died, too.

I closed my eyes, leaning my head against the warm glass. Everyone I knew before the war was dead. Everyone I ever loved, everyone I ever tried to protect. And now, after three centuries of guarding the village, I left.

I put them at risk, I slipped up and was discovered by the government. And now, ever since, my choices haven’t been my own, and they threw my people to the wolves.

I lifted my head when I got a notification from my laptop, pushing from the window and turned to the small desk in one corner of the loft.

I had my scanners rolling 24/7, monitoring for any developments, signs of activity of any kind.

I gave humanity this technology, I can get through their firewalls and watch without leaving a trace.

I frowned, pushing my bag to the floor and sat down, typing a few things into the script. I blinked, staring at the small, seemingly harmless golden orb, resting in the hands of an ancient Greek statue.

“You have got to be fragging kidding me,” I groaned, burying my face in my arms as I slumped on the table. The article mentioned an excavation site, not that far from here, where the orb was discovered two months ago and brought to the museum over in New York, where it currently sat on display.

I sighed and slumped in my seat, casting a tired glare to the computer as my Sire’s vocals rang through my memory.

~Now remember my dears, if you have the ability to help those who need it, but you choose to do nothing, then you admit to standing with the oppressor whether you believe them or not.~ We were learning about the ancient war between Primus and Unicron, Wildspark and I asking why Megatronus turned on the rest of the Thirteen. Our Sire turned it into a life lesson, as he normally did.

That right there, in the hands of a Greek God, rested an Energon Harvester.

My short ranged scanners beeped again, pulling them up to find a strong, unearthed energon signal in the exact same location as the excavation.

Grumbling, I sat up and closed my laptop, stuffing it inside the bag at my feet. I have been here less than a month and now I’m gonna have to move again.

I grabbed my phone, shoved on a jacket, and left the loft without another glance.

I descended the steps wrapping around the building, my boots scraping against cobblestone once I hit the street. I didn’t dare hide my frame inside the city, storing it inside an abandoned barn 10 clicks out of town. I ran to the back of the warehouse and grabbed the bike I bought, pedaling as fast as I could as I raced back to the farm.

Once I arrived I ditched the bike and hauled open the creaky, old barn doors, revealing my silver, gleaming jet patiently waiting for me. Glancing around the surrounding hillside I dropped the bag to the ground and deactivated my holoform, my systems coming back online as I transformed back into my bi-ped mode.

After stretching for a nice long moment I grabbed the bag and subspaced it, stepping out into the brisk night and inhaled the rich scent of the sea. I’m gonna miss this place.

Venting, I cast one last longful glance to the surrounding hills and transformed, taking to the skies and flew back towards the ancient, Cybertronian relic.

I could have gone to the excavation site and restocked my reserves, but if I was able to pick up on those energon readings, then so could the Factions, and I had no interest in announcing myself to them.

Instead, I was going straight for that museum, in hopes that I would get there before the Decepticons realized where the harvester was.

I was going to confiscate that orb before the Decepticons could get their claws on it. While everyone else was busy determining if it was the real deal or not, I would be in and gone before they could mobilize.

Although that did mean I would need to return to American soil.

As much as I wanted to return home, back to the village and the people who had protected me for centuries, I had a healthy amount of fear and respect for the government reigning over that land.

They were powerful, and had connections and resources that I did not.

I also knew that I could bridge back to the hollow and then to the museum within moments, but that was also a risk I could not take. I was running from M.E.C.H, the human government, and hiding from every last Cybertronian on this planet. I knew for a fact that the government was at the very least monitoring the village. I couldn’t get within the valley without their knowledge.

Not to mention that M.E.C.H very well may have found my hiding place, and could have realized how important the village actually was. I hoped Fowler was smart enough to realize the risks they posed to my people. I hope he was smart enough to realize that Silas was obsessed with my kind, going so far as to try and lure one of us out of hiding. If he ever realizes that Frasher wasn’t human and in fact a mere illusion, then he would put the clues together and everyone in the villiage would be in danger.

Silas knew about Roselake Base, there’s no telling what other classified information he’s aware of.

If Fowler left them at the mercy of Silas I will never forgive him.

Venting, I punched my engines and raced towards the Atlantic Ocean.

– – –

It took just over an hour for me to cross the pond, a feat normally unheard of for my type of jet. My cloak kept me hidden from human radar, and I kept high enough in the skies that no one on the water would be able to see me.

I made a beeline for the outskirts of New York, landing in a field and transformed, crouching down low and looking towards the busy highway I deliberately landed beside.

Silently wishing farewell to my wings, I spotted a suitable truck meandering along and quickly scanned it, transforming into my newly acquired vehicle mode and drove down the small hill to the road leading into the city.

Special Agent Frasher made her new debut, returning the blonde hair, swept back into a neat bun. I replaced my pilot gear with a sharp suit I’ve seen dozens of government officials wear, and a small briefcase full of the documents I would need in order to steal the harvester.

I don’t even know why I was doing this. I didn’t care what happened in the war, who lived or died. But I knew, deep in my spark, that the only reason the Decepticons had remained hidden from humanity is that if we banded together with the Autobots, we would be strong enough to push them back. If I allowed the Decepticons to get this relic, if I allowed Starscream to use it against the Autobots, then it would put my people in danger. He could win the war and he could destroy my beautiful planet.

I will not allow them to hurt my family, and if that meant stealing Cybertronian relics back from humanity, then so be it.

The trip into the city was long, and I was simply grateful for the time difference. Where in Athens it was nearing 10 pm, here it was 3. The Autobots wouldn’t move until humanity went to bed, which would give me enough time to get to it first.

Although, this all rested on the assumption that they wouldn’t get Fowler to retrieve it first. He would need time, though, to get the clearance and go ahead to proceed, and since I moved on it so swiftly I should hopefully get there first.

During my hour flight I had called the museum and informed them that a government official was enroute to their location and would be taking one of their newly discovered artifacts for an indefinite amount of time, and told them to get it ready for shipment. I did not specify why, and though I knew they weren’t happy about it, they also knew they didn’t have a choice.

I kept my name from the call and only mentioned an agent was on her way, buying myself just enough time to keep the real government hellhounds off my back as I made my escape.

I pulled into the busy museum parking lot and drove back to the Westward entrance, backing my cargo van up to the hangar doors and cut the engines. Reaching across the center console I grabbed the briefcase and left the vehicle, picking a piece of flint from my suit and made a mental note to deep clean my subspace once this was all over.

Huffing softly, I set a brisk pace to a door beside the hangar, knocking on it a few times and waited for the staff to unlock it, offering a curt nod to the security guard who let me in.

“Special Agent Frasher, from the Pentagon. Is the artifact ready?” I asked, walking beside the young man as he nodded and led me into a small, windowless office.

“Yes, Ma’am. I’ll call the guys and let them know you’re here,” he answered, opening the door to a small room, likely used as a conference room if the large table and rows of chairs were any indication, before he turned around and left, already speaking on his radio. Two men were waiting for me at the head of the table, the younger of the two standing and offered a hand for me to shake.

“I’m Ricardo Reed, the Curator of this museum.” His grip was firm and strong, and reminded me blindingly of Josh.

If Josh wore three piece suits that would be worth more than he would make in a year.

“Special Agent Frasher. I’m going to assume that’s your lawyer?” I asked, Ricardo guiding me to the table where we both took our seats. He sat across from me beside the greying man, the lawyer's salt and pepper beard showing signs that he was a man who took great care in controlling how he appeared, but he was also a man who wasn’t afraid to get his hands dirty.

I could respect that.

“That is correct. Tell me, Agent, why does the government want this artifact?” The lawyer demanded, folding his hands on the table and leaned forward across from me. “We bought it fair and square and just finished getting the display set up. We deserve to know if we’re going to be properly compensated for this or not.”

I raised a brow and looked him up and down, not replying right away and placed my briefcase on the table between us. I clicked it open, sparing a look at the two men, watching me in the growing tense silence.

“To be honest with you, gentlemen, they didn’t tell me what they wanted it for,” I said finally, pulling out a booklet and slid it across for the lawyer to read. I mimicked his stature, leaning over the table and met Ricardo dead in the eye. “The Pentagon says they want it, I don’t ask questions and they get it. Those are the legal documents drawn up for the transfer of ownership,” I explained.

Ricardo swallowed and broke first, tearing his eyes away and leaned over his lawyer’s shoulder to get a glimpse at what it said.

The lawyer frowned, shaking his head and did not look pleased, not in the slightest. “Sign the documents in the indicated sections, gentlemen. I’m going to need both of your signatures, for liability reasons,” I prompted, for good measure sliding a black pen across the table to them.

Ricardo sighed, picking it up and, when his lawyer didn’t protest, began singing the dense document.

While they were doing that, I heard the crews outside moving the orb into my van, refusing to let my nerves or worries get the best of me and remained calm while the two men signed over legal ownership of the Energon Harvester back to me.

Oh, if only they knew what it actually was. They found a piece of alien technology so important that every Cybertronian on the planet was scrambling to get to it first.

I was just the fastest party.

Once the document was signed I retrieved it and tucked it back inside the briefcase, standing and nodded again to the two men.

“It was a pleasure doing business with you.”

– – –

To say I was nervous as I drove through New York rush hour would be putting it lightly, knowing that the government couldn’t have gotten word about my involvement yet, knowing I didn’t enter my name into any database, knowing I didn’t make any mistakes, but sitting here, in an almost stand-still while inside the same city was very nearly driving me insane.

I had to leave the city and get to an airport. I had to scan a plane and I had to fly.

I was a seeker. I lived in the skies, and being grounded like this would actually drive me insane if I gave it long enough.

Grumbling, I turned on the radio and glanced into the back, the orb concealed within a sealed, secured crate. For good measure, I added my own belts around the harvester, and kept my cloak running overtime.

The Decepticons would not scan it, or me. They would not find me.

It was gonna be a long drive.

– – –

When I finally left the city several hours later, the sun was well on its way past the horizon, but I didn’t stop and let myself admire it, deciding that I wouldn’t stop until I reached Glenville. There was an aerial museum there, far more inconspicuous and I would be less likely to have witnesses once I transformed.

I kept the radio tuned for reports from the New York museum, at the same time reading the government airwaves for any sign of my discovery.

The Autobots would be mobilizing soon. Once they did and realized that the orb was missing, Fowler at the very least would begin to suspect that I was back, that I was here and I was responsible. This was too clean to be a Con job, even I knew that, but what’s done is done and there’s no going back.

I smiled slightly to myself, eyeing the darkening road as the sun went down to my left. I could imagine the confusion and skeptisim if the Decepticons got there the same time the Autobots did, and both realized neither had the harvester.

Fowler would investigate, and when Ricardo told him my name he wouldn’t be doubting it any further. My smile fell and I once again checked on the precious cargo I carried in the back.

Primus I sure hope I know what I’m doing.

I reached Glenville a couple hours after I left New York, navigating my way through the surprisingly awake city and over to the aerial museum, where I once again used my false government credentials to get onto the property.

Driving to one of the large storage hangers, I hopped from the van and opened a smaller, human-sized door and peered within, frowning at the three options laid out before me.

I winced, the first vehicle being a Bell UH-1 Iroquois, an old helicopter who had clearly seen better days. The second was a McDonnell F-101 Voodoo, a more advanced jet that was retired back in the 70’s. The third, and the one I decided to go for, was a Convair F-102. It was by no means a good plane, not being able to reach Mach 1 and only had a few successful flights, but it had ties to Greece, so if I did return to Athens, a random person stumbling onto my jet mode would be less suspicious finding it than an American fighter.

I went to the back of the van and hauled the rear doors open, unlatching the crate holding the harvester in place and removed the lid, marveling at the glistening golden metal waiting patiently for me to get it home.

Wherever home was, now.

Shaking my head I quickly resecured it and left the van.

I took a breath and stepped back to the hangar door. Opening it, I got a clear view of the plane I wanted, casting one wary look around before I dissolved my holoform and transformed. I scanned the plane and quickly took to the skies, using a few of my viruses to scramble the nearby cameras and make the footage unusable.

Only when I got above the clouds did I allow myself to relax, huffing a laugh of disbelief. Not only did I fool the museum into giving me the harvester, but I changed the type of plane I was, so if the government continued to ignore Fowler’s advice, then they would keep looking for a Falcon for a long, long time.

I would have grinned if I could.

– – –

A loud, impatient knock sounded on the front door at an ungodly time in the morning, and Kayla was inclined to ignore it and go back to sleep.

The culprit, however, would not be ignored, and continued to bang on the front door until she dragged herself from the warm arms of her husband and trodded down the stairs, tying a bath robe around her naked body.

Her husband, Josh, had returned home late that evening, working with the Chief to update their security measures, and was dead to the world asleep.

Kayla envied him.

“What the hell could be so important that you would wake me up at 5 in the goddamn morning?” She demanded, the faint tendrils of pink across the morning sky blinding her briefly. “Someone better be on their way to the healers’ office or I swear to Primus-”

The man standing at her doorstep was none other than Special Agent William Fowler, and he did not look happy.

“Someone very well might be, Kayla Ruiz, if you don’t tell me everything you know about Starfire,” he growled, not waiting for an invitation and walked inside past the groggy woman.

Kayla raised a brow, shutting the door with a soft click before catching up to the government agent, the man having the decent sense to appear to look apologetic once he took note of her appearance.

She leveled him with a cold look, brushing past him and walked towards her kitchen. “Well, since I’m up, I guess I’ll make us some tea. Sit at the dining table.”

Fowler also had the good common sense not to argue with a pregnant woman.

He waited at the table while she made a pot of tea, silently cursing her best friend for whatever mess she may have gotten herself into this time, though it was mostly because she had left her out of the fun and she had to deal with the fallout of whatever it was by herself.

Rude.

Hiding her pout, she grabbed the two steaming cups and returned to the table, setting them down and crossed her arms. “I take it you haven’t had breakfast, either,” she guessed. She may severely dislike the man, but she was raised with manners and morals, and if a guest entered her home and left hungry then her mother would fillet her.

Fowler waved her off and shook his head, grabbing the steaming cup but didn’t move to drink until she slowly sat.

Once she did he raised the cup to his mouth and took a long sip, sighing deeply when he finally set it on the table.

The two eyed each other for a long, tense moment, each silently evaluating the other, before Fowler took a breath and reached into his jacket pocket. “I would like you to confirm if you know what this is,” he said, pulling out a picture of the Greek statue, energon harvester in hand.

Kayla frowned, glancing at the agent before examining the picture, shrugging once and slid it back to him. “It looks Greek to me. Why did this require you to come barging into my home? A text would have worked,” she grumbled, leaning back in her seat and cupped the warm teacup in her hands.

She wasn’t going to point out that she likely would have ignored it. He knew it though, hence the in person meeting.

The agent at her table frowned, eying her for just a second too long and set her on edge.

“You expect me to believe she hasn’t contacted you, in all this time?” He asked at last, crossing his arms as she blinked, setting her cup back on the table.

She actually smiled, shaking her head at the sheer idiocy. “You know as well as I, Agent Fowler, that Abigail is smart. She knows the government is looking for her, and she can’t come home because you know where we are. Do you really think she’s foolish enough to call me?” She asked incredulously, the man threading his fingers and sighed.

He looked like he wanted to correct her on the name, but wisely kept his tongue. “Are you telling me she hasn’t? I know her well enough to know that a neutral like her is unlikely to find anywhere else on Earth as safe and remote as this village.”

Kayla rolled her eyes and nodded, grabbing her cup again and all but glared at him. “If you know her as well as you claim you do, then you will also realize just how much she loves her home. She knows how you operate, she knows your procedures, and she knows how to get around them. She hasn’t been here in over a month, Fowler, and she hasn’t called.” She took another sip of tea. “And honestly? Even if she did reach out to me, I wouldn’t tell you.”

Fowler knew that, too.

“Why did you bother coming here? You know none of us here would tell you anything.” She leaned forward, not hiding her glare anymore. “You know all that she has done for us. You know who she is to us, and you chased her away. You aren’t going to find any sympathy here, Agent Fowler. The only reason you’re even allowed across our borders is due to the agreement you made with Abigail, which you broke the first chance you got. None of us trust you, and none of us like you.”

He looked as though he wanted to protest, but Kayla was far from done.

“Abigail has been a part of this village, this tribe, for 300 years. She was here long before any of us, and will remain here long after we turn to dust. She is permanent and the anchor of our community. And you chased her away.” The woman’s anger was beginning to show through her voice, the pain and heartbreak this man caused rising to the surface.

“I do not care about the military, Agent. I do not care what improvements you have promised this village. We were doing just fine before you found Abigail, and we would have continued to be fine without your interference. She helped us and taught us. She guided us and protected us. And now she’s gone. This is on you, Fowler. She didn’t have a choice but to sign your agreement, if she ever wanted to return home again. She-”

Fowler raised a hand and sat up, silencing her raising voice. “Kayla, Starfire was seen late yesterday afternoon stealing that orb from the New York Museum.” His words derailed her tirade, and he watched her closely for her reaction.

The only clear sign of emotion was stark surprise, her anger deflating as she slowly shook her head.

“I need to know if she’s been here to try and hide it.” He sounded like he already knew the answer, already knew Abigail wouldn’t venture here even though she wanted to. He knew that before coming here. “Does she have a place, somewhere you think she could hide it? We believe she would stash it somewhere safe to keep it out of sight, and I know there’s hardly anywhere else on Earth as safe as this forest and village.”

Kayla closed her eyes, inhaling slowly and shook her head. “Abigail wouldn’t steal it unless it was important, and you know it. Frankly, Fowler, I cannot help you. I don’t know where she goes when she isn’t here and it honestly was never my business.”

That was twice now he had mentioned the level of safety this village possessed, though she kept her wry comments of irony to herself. It was too damn early in the morning for her sarcasm, even for her.

She frowned, glancing at the picture again and examined it properly. Her eyes widened slightly. “It’s Cybertronian, isn’t it?” She whispered, the agent’s silence answer enough for her. She whistled, finishing her tea and smiled.

“Then by right it belongs to her,” she laughed, Fowler sighing and shook his head.

“Kayla, this is a weapon, and Starfire is the only one who knows where it is. I don’t doubt she knows what it can do, and who it can hurt. Please, if you haven’t heard from her, then reach out.” He urged, but she had sat up so fast he instinctively leaned back in the chair.

He didn’t like the look on her face, a chill sliding down his back as her cold gaze pinned him to the spot.

“What do you mean to say, Agent?” She breathed, the morning sun hiding behind a cloud and doused the house and kitchen in dark and cold. The man became strikingly aware just how far away he was from legal law, how easy it would be for this woman to dispose of him if she felt he was a proper threat to her tribe.

“I will not become your spy.” He regretted asking, regretted the last 5 years of lies and secrets and deceits. He regretted it all.

“She will not hurt anyone, if she wanted to she would have done so before humanity had ways to defend itself. She isn’t a threat so unless you want to see just how far I’ll go to keep my family safe, I suggest you leave.” She breathed, never taking her eyes off him as he slowly nodded, grabbed the pictures, and left her house.

Once she was sure he had left, once she was sure he wasn’t watching, her face crumpled and the tension and adrenaline rushing through her body evaporated, leaving her weary and tired and hurting.

Tears stung the back of her eyes as a quiet sob left her throat.

She buried her face in her hands, crying, and as her shoulders shook a warm arm wrapped around them, shifting her so she was leaning against his chest.

“He doesn’t know about the hollow, I had Daniel confirm it. But you were right, Abigail wouldn’t take that risk,” Josh whispered, kissing her head as she nodded and cried.

She missed her friend.

She missed her sister.

“I’m gonna call Annie and make some eggs, but first let’s get you to the couch.” He glanced pointedly to her rounded stomach, carefully helping her back to her feet.

Kayla inhaled slowly, wiping her eyes again and nodded. “She’ll be ok, right?” She asked softly, her husband nodding instantly and walked her to the living room.

She would be ok.

– – –

Chapter Text

Stealing the Energon Harvester was easier than I had anticipated, though it did complicate things.

For starters, I didn’t know where the frag to hide it. I couldn’t go back to the village, and I couldn’t leave it lying around for just anyone to find it.

For the moment, it remained with me, though that did mean taking absolute care not to let anyone or anything see it, because the mere mention of a golden orb online would have the government on my heels in seconds.

I was currently laying low in an old, cold mountain range in the middle of Europe, away from human civilization and away from the risk of running into an Autobot.

At this point several weeks after the heist, I truly doubted they didn’t know about my existence, since Fowler would have had to explain how the Energon Harvester just got up and walked away the moment it surfaced without it ending up in Decepticon hands.

Kinda fragged myself by doing that, but hindsight sure is 20/20.

On the bright side, though, this meant that I could spend more time in my actual frame, stretching my limbs and adjusting my sensors, silently cursing the government for disabling my orbital ones.

It was through one such test, when I was experimenting with my built-in long-distance scanners, when they began to read something. Something large, something that wasn’t human and was undoubtedly Cybertonian.

I paused, propping a servo against the nearest tree and scowled in its general direction.

“Kindly frag off. I’m trying to hide, here,” I muttered, hesitating for a brief moment before promptly shaking my helm and dusted off my servos, turning around and started back towards the cave I had claimed for myself.

Not my problem, I’m not even gonna go near it.

– – –

Turns out it was my problem.

I was out for a fly the next day when my damned curiosity got the better of me, following the odd signal and remained as high in the sky as I possibly could without losing sight of the ground.

I was an idiot. I shouldn’t be over here, I should be going back to my cave and pretending like I never saw anything. For a femme who claims she wants nothing to do with the war, she sure doesn’t act like it, running to the first sign of activity she can.

I grumbled, cursing myself but still pressed on.

Stupid curiosity. I’m trying to hide, y’know? Self-preservation here.

Rude.

I saw the crash site and instantly sobered up, passing overhead and locked onto the downed ship.

I couldn’t tell if it was Autobot or Decepticon, and the only way to be sure was to investigate myself.

That, however, would be problematic. I was nearly certain Fowler had to have told them about me by now, but if on the slight chance he was telling the truth and the Autobots didn't know about me, then I would be risking my cover with very little to gain from it. I wasn't sure that was a risk I was willing to take.

I had no interest in getting involved in their war, and announcing myself wouldn't serve me any purpose. Exposing myself to whoever was on board that vessel would open up an entire situation that I was unwilling to get involved with. At the very least Fowler would then be able to track me here and I would have to move. Again.

I turned and flew back towards where I came from, though unease ate away at my spark the longer I flew. There were no humans this far into the mountains, and the valley we were in was near the center of the mountain range. Humanity would be safe, and besides. The Autobots had probably already picked up on the satellite imagery. Even if humans were in danger, they would keep them safe.

Right?

~If you have the ability to help in whatever way you can, and you choose to do nothing-~

My Sire’s vocals sounded through my helm once again, drawing me to land in the tail end of the wreckage and curse myself for my morals and curiosity.

I did have the power to do something. I did have the ability to help, and my Sire would be watching from the Allspark. He would know how he raised me and he would expect better from me.

Venting, I transformed and climbed out of the destruction zone and slowly approached the ship.

Primus, why was I here? What was I doing, what would I even do if I did find the owner of the ship? Call the Autobots? The Decepticons? ‘Hello, hi don’t worry about who I am and come pick up your stray. What was that? I sound a lot like who, according to Fowler? Sorry, gotta fly!’ Yeah. Like that would work.

I vented again and shook my helm, once I got close enough ducking behind some trees and activated my holoform. This way, I would be able to investigate without necessarily being identified. Hopefully.

The look I chose was of a girl hardly older than 20, and once again I took reference from the locals who lived in the immediate area. I gave myself my blonde hair back and wore it in a long pair of double braids, falling over my shoulders. I chose a hiking vest with a grey turtleneck sweater underneath and warm winter boots, tugging on black knitted gloves over my hands. For all intents and purposes, I was a camper drawn away from her camp by the loud crash the night before.

A ship this size would have made a lot of noise when it crashed.

My disguise set, I stepped away from the cover of trees and carefully approached the downed ship, making my way to the landing ramp and peered up towards the large entrance waiting for me.

A cold chill slid down my spine, holding the lapels of my vest tightly as I carefully approached and stepped inside, feeling incredibly dwarfed by the interior of the ship. I looked up and felt my energon run cold, going pale at the sight awaiting me.

I made out a collection of different species, many of whom I identified as being from sentient races. Fear began to set in once I spotted the Decepticon insignia stamped on the large door leading to the rest of the ship, backing a step away.

This was the home of a Decepticon, who clearly was not at home at the moment, who had landed on my planet and if I was right about why those things were in those display cases, then humanity was in more danger than ever before.

I tensed when I heard footsteps begin to climb up the ramp, quickly realizing I had nowhere to hide.

By the time I remembered I could disengage my holoform it was too late, darting to the side of the entrance and simply hoped it wasn’t the owner of this horrid ship. Who I did see, however, was almost worse, because the Autobot who entered looked about as horrified as I was about what was laid out in front of them.

I had no way to know if Fowler told them about me, no way to know if they knew about the fact my eyes would never change colour. If the femme knew, I did not doubt she would be able to figure out very quickly who and what I was.

She was a shorter bot around my height, actually surprising me somewhat, with a dark blue paint job and insignia etched on the top of her small wings. Her right servo was already engaged with her blaster, though she lowered it once she determined that the Decepticon wasn’t here.

I flinched back when she raised it again when she caught sight of me, before her optics went wide and she let out a quiet curse.

Yeah, they’re normally meant to remain hidden, and running into a human like me would complicate things.

She quickly glanced back to the outside of the ship, walking over and knelt down. She raised a servo when I instinctively shuffled back against the wall. “Listen, I know you’re afraid, but you cannot remain on this ship. It’s not safe here,” she urged, probably assuming I would find trusting her highly difficult, given the current situation.

She was right, I didn’t trust her, but not for the reasons she was thinking. She probably thought I was going to be suspicious about everything unknown right now, especially with the heads hanging in the display cases along the walls.

I already knew she wasn’t the Decepticon who lived here.

I made a show of noticing the mark on her wing, quickly glancing at the design etched on the wall and frowned, hoping I was making it obvious that I noted the differences. She caught on quick, glancing at the Decepticon marking and actually glared at it.

“That’s the mark of a Decepticon. I’m an Autobot, at war with them. I won't hurt you, I promise.” I could hear the desperation in her voice, the need to leave. I already knew I was better off with her than risking running into the con, so I nodded slowly and pushed away from the corner I was hiding in.

Relief shone in her optics and I followed her outside, though I didn’t fail to notice the way her servo shook when she disengaged the blaster.

Millenia of war has taught me to be able to read people, to know what they were thinking and planning before they said anything.

I think this femme knows who the Decepticon is. I think she has a history with them and that history is anything but good. I frowned, walking by her side as she scanned the trees, though I did blink in shock and surprise when an actual human ran up to us, calling her name in concern.

The femme, Arcee, glanced at the kid, then to me. I think we were in agreement about what this Decepticon was collecting, and we both knew about what they would be looking for now that they were on Earth.

Arcee didn’t know that I knew, however, leading me to believe that she actually thought I was human.

Either she has never acquired a human holoform before, or she just chalked up my eyes to being a natural part of humanity.

“I know who this ship belongs to,” Arcee said finally as a response to the kid, who had just noticed me standing at her peds.

“Who is she?” He blurted, causing Arcee to pause and realize she didn’t actually have an answer for him.

I swallowed and took a breath, understanding that I was in way, way over my head now. “Call me Kayla. Would someone mind telling me what the hell is going on?” I asked, eyeing the bot beside us, who was attempting to call her base.

Of course the ship wasn’t letting the call go through. Of fragging course.

“I’m Jack, and this is Arcee. What are you doing out here? And who’s ship is this?” The kid, Jack, asked, frowning at me and then to his partner when she began talking to herself, muttering about scrambler pulses and began walking to the edge of the forest.

“I uh... I was out camping a few clicks west of here when my radio went dead last night,” I mumbled, Jack and I following the femme.

Whoever this Decepticon was, was bad. From Jack’s reaction, I could piece together that Arcee was acting unusual, closed off.

The ship spooked her.

“Wait here,” Arcee warned, glancing at the two of us, lingering on her partner before she kept going, Jack and I frowning at each other.

I get that she’s trying to protect both of us now, but leaving us within sight of the crash didn’t seem like a good plan to me.

“What is she?” I whispered, Jack sighing and shrugged.

“She’s an alien from a distant planet, called Cybertron. My friends and I stumbled upon one of their battles a few months ago and we’ve been wrapped up with them ever since,” he explained, ignoring her advice and kept walking.

I frowned, eyeing the forest as the sun slowly began to set. I didn’t like this. I didn’t like this at all and I left my frame laying out in the middle of the forest. If the Decepticon scans it they will know I’m Cybertronian.

“She’s called an Autobot. They’ve been at war with another faction, known as the Decepticons, for thousands of years. And trust me, the Decepticons are bad news,” he continued, and I bit back the corrections on my tongue.

Try millions of years, Jack. And you didn’t have to tell me twice about the nastiness of Decepticons. Although, I didn’t like how Jack seemed to speak as though he had first hand knowledge about them. Just what did he witness?

“Once we deal with this, we’ll probably need to bring you back to base with us. It’s standard procedure, but if the Decepticons found out that you had anything to do with us, then they would try and do some pretty nasty things to you,” he added, wincing when he caught my wide stare.

“I’m sorry, Jack, but I’ll take my chances out here.”

Little does he know that I’m a thousand times safer alone, especially since Fowler still wants me in custody. Not gonna happen while I have-

I finally took sight of the trees lining the path we were walking through, freezing in place at the scratches marking the bark.

Primus, no.

Only one Decepticon leaves markings like that. Only one who- I ignored Jack’s concern and ran up ahead, halting beside Arcee as she examined the ground. Puncture marks, leading away into the woods. From a spider.

Arachnid was on Earth.

I was thankful I didn’t need to breathe, because I found myself unable to properly function, all my concentration going to maintaining the holoform durability while my energon ran cold.

Arachnid of all cons. Primus, why?

“Arcee?”

I glanced beside me when the femme jumped, startled from her own thoughts and gave her partner a warning look before transforming into a nice looking motorcycle, all things considered. The order was directed to both of us when she told us to climb on.

She knew Arachnid. She knows what that sadist is capable of. Her history is with Arachnid. Holy Primus.

Which one of Arcee’s companions did that glitch kill?

Jack frowned and gave a pointed look at the waiting Autobot, clearly not impressed but didn’t argue with her before turning to look at me. I didn’t know what my face looked like, I didn’t want to know what he read in my expression for his to turn sympathetic like that.

I didn’t want his sympathy, even though he had no damned clue why I was fighting back such overwhelming waves of panic.

“Kayla, come on.” He held out an arm for me, encouraging me to get on the bike behind him. I quickly glanced back the way we had come, towards the ship and the other edge of the debris field. I could run. I could deactivate my holoform and fly, fly as far from here as I could get.

But…

But that would leave Jack and Arcee alone with Arachnid.

Wordlessly I got on the bike behind the boy and held on, and a good thing, too, because Arcee only waited for another second before she took off, racing as fast as her engines could go to take us as far from the crash site as possible. Jack’s yells of shock and fear echoed over the roaring wind, and if I wasn’t used to this from my jet mode then I would quite frankly be in the same position he was. Arcee was being far from gentle at the moment.

It was only after we cleared a giant ravine did the femme screech to a halt, attempting to call base again, to no luck. Wearily, I lifted my head from Jack’s back, glancing at the Autobot as her partner demanded to know if that was necessary.

I winced, climbing off and rubbed an arm, debating whether I should offer this information or not. It wouldn’t be too suspicious for a human to piece this together, and besides. I’m already wrapped up in it now, no point in holding back.

This kind of information could save Jack’s life.

“My camp is about 10 kilometers away from the crash,” I murmured, the motorcycle pausing for a moment. “I would assume the damper would be emitting in a radius, which means we would have a long way to go if we wanted to clear it.” I shut my mouth and glanced back into the trees, wishing that she had never found this planet.

I knew what kind of scrambler pulse Arachnid used, and I was familiar with the technology it blocked out. It wasn’t that far-fetched of a guess.

It’s what she used to use, at least.

Arcee transformed and looked at me, confliction shining in her optics. I frowned, stepping closer and realized I knew exactly who she had lost.

Primus, Arachnid killed her partner. No wonder she’s treating Jack like this.

Said kid was not impressed. “Look, I’ve seen danger before. What’s the big-” Once again, Arcee cut him off and shook her helm.

“This is different. The only reason you’re here is because this mission was supposed to be no-risk. Got it?” Her voice was cold when she interrupted the kid, the shield she used one I recognized. I’ve used it myself.

“Kayla, I’m sorry you got dragged into this.” She turned to me, kneeling in front of me and glanced at Jack. “I need you to get him as far from here as you can, until you get out of the radius. Then Jack can call for help.” My eyes widened as I realized what she was asking of me, and why.

Jack would follow her. He would disregard all her warnings and it would lead him right to Arachnid.

Arachnid, who would kill him.

Arachnid, who would drag it out once she found out what Jack meant to this Autobot.

Another chill slid down my spine.

The femme nodded once, before turning and drove off without another word, leaving Jack and I alone on this side of the ridge.

Any sensible human would take the advice from the far more experienced warrior, but Jack was a teenager and, as I was quickly learning, almost as stubborn and headstrong as she was.

They were a good match.

“Like hell I’m just gonna let her drive off like that,” he muttered, glancing at me like he was challenging me to argue with him.

I’ve known hundreds of humans like him, I wasn’t gonna ignore the challenge. Even if it did leave Arcee to face her demons by herself. The thought didn’t bode well.

“Jack, I think Arcee can handle herself. The best thing we can do for her now is to call for help,” I pleaded, but he had already walked to the edge of the ravine and had begun to climb down, fear rooting me to the spot.

He-

Damn human stubbornness, Primus he reminded me too much of-

I blinked and ran to catch up with him, crouching at the top and peered down. Jack was already halfway down the ravine. “I won’t blame you for staying. But I’ve never seen Arcee like this and I’m not about to leave her alone.” He called back up, noticing my hesitation.

“Arcee told us to run, Jack,” I reminded. “Don’t you think we should listen to her?”

The boy sighed and simply kept climbing, leaving me with little choice but to follow.

Damn human stubbornness-

“What do you think you’ll be able to do? You’re human, they’re giant aliens!” I protested, scrambling down and faintly heard him proclaim that he didn’t care.

Partners didn’t leave partners. Primus, this kid was loyal.

It was going to get him killed.

By the time we made it to the other side, I had stopped trying to argue with him, panic beginning to set back in as I realized all over again what Arachnid would do to him. In a last ditch effort to protect him I lunged and grabbed his wrist, desperate at this point as he halted and looked at me.

“Jack, please. You don’t know what she’s capable of,” I breathed, watching him frown.

“I think I do, Kayla. She’s my partner.”

I shook my head rapidly and cursed myself for the whole situation.

“Jack, I mean the Decepticon she’s hunting down. You don’t know what Arachnid is capable of and she will kill you as soon as she realizes what you mean to Arcee.” I exhaled, letting go of his wrist as he pulled it away, watching the wheels slowly turning in his mind.

He took a step back. “Arcee didn’t tell us a name, Kayla,” He said slowly, glancing over his shoulder, looking for his partner.

I was trembling, fighting against the panic. I was already in too far, I had to get Jack to listen, but now he was never going to trust me.

I think I might have just made things worse. There was no way he was going to listen to me now, and there wasn’t a chance he would be going anywhere with me.

Realizing the only way I could effectively protect the kid now was as myself, not as a human, I sighed and cursed myself for my curiosity. I had to get to Arachnid first.

Damnit.

I offered him a tired smile, shaking my head and shrugged. “You’re right, she didn’t,” I agreed. He looked wary now, taking another step away from me.

“Who are you?” It was a loaded question, one we didn’t have the time to deal with right now. Arcee was facing Arachnid alone and Jack was about to run after her. I had to do something and unfortunately, it meant ruining my cover.

I shrugged again. “When all this is over, tell Arcee that you can find the Energon Harvester in a cave 40 clicks south west of the crash. It was nice meeting you, Jack.” I smiled as his eyes widened, and turned off my holoform as he began to demand more answers.

If Fowler didn’t tell them about me, then I believe I just did.

– – –

It was an effort to get my vitals back under control, using up precious time that I did not have. Both Jack and Arcee were out there alone, without backup, and without a means to call for help.

I could fly, I could get past the scrambler and regain the ability to call their base within seconds, but I didn’t know what frequency or region the Autobots were located in. The United States was huge, and I didn’t have the faintest idea how to narrow it down.

With time, I would be able to pinpoint it and get through the firewalls protecting them, but time was one thing we did not have.

I transformed and leaned against a tree, able to identify Arachnid’s ship through the darkening sky and picked up the fluctuating signal that was transmitting, such a small little thing capable of so much headache. Of course Arachnid would be scrambling communications, it’s what she does.

The glitch actually made her way to Earth.

Of fragging course she did.

I vented and began running in the direction Arachnid went, able to make out traces of her signal now that I was no longer using my holoform, and cursed my unfortunate luck that Jack was as stubborn as they come.

Damnit now I’m gonna have to move again. Why can’t Primus just be on my side, for once?

Stars above I’m gonna shoot something when this goes south.

I’m gonna shoot Arachnid whether this goes south or not, just for being an inconvenience. Yeah, that sounds like a good way to let off some steam.

I smiled grimly, silently chiding myself to focus. I just gotta find her, first.

My smile fell when a frame-rattling scream wrent the air, sending birds to the skies and pushed me faster onwards.

The sun had finally set, the shadows growing longer and wider, the air cold and dense.

Her scream wasn’t for herself.

Damnit, Jack, please- please, please be alive.

I begged for the boy to survive this encounter, begged for Primus to heed me, just this once as I sprinted as fast as I could towards the one bot I swore I would kill.

If Arachnid has laid a digit on the boy there will be nowhere she may hide from me.

This was my planet, my people, and she was not welcome here.

I ran through the trees and for the first time in ages armed my wrist blaster, praying over and over for Jack to still be alive. Arcee screamed his name, which told me she found Arachnid, and Arachnid found Jack; I just hoped that Arachnid would play into her sadistic nature and turn it into some form of game, to drag it out like she did with me.

Primus please…

I almost fell to my kneeplates in relief when I finally spotted the boy through the towering trees, sprinting as fast as he could and kept continuously looking over his shoulder.

He found Arcee, and that appeared to be the problem.

I ducked behind a tree and peered back around, not willing to give up the element of surprise just yet as I tracked the boy.

Arachnid didn’t know I was here. I was not going to ruin what would likely be my only chance to ambush her by being hasty.

I couldn’t even see her yet. I needed to find some way to signal to Jack that I was here, that I was friendly, and that he needed to trust me, all without Arachnid catching on. I wasn’t going to abandon him, not now, not ever.

“That’s the spirit, Jack! Play hard to get.”

Cold dread slid through my frame when her vocals suddenly reached my audials, panic fighting to set in as memories came unbidden to my processor.

Hard, restrictive metal.

Stinging acid.

Desperate, begging screams.

Shaking my helm to clear it I looked back around, finally laying optics on her for the first time since Wildspark offlined. The panic quickly left and was replaced with frothing, righteous fury, my blaster trembling as I let her pass and taunt the boy.

She will pay for what she has done, but I will do this right. I will not risk Jack just to enact my revenge.

I quickly followed them as they moved through the forest, the patter of her legs threatening my resolve with every click, but still I pressed on and still I waited for my opportunity to pounce. She was not leaving this forest without a proper welcome to Earth.

If I had anything to say about it, this greeting would also serve as her farewell from the physical plane. A femme can hope, right?

I paced Arachnid a dozen meters behind, my steps silent on the brittle forest floor as three centuries of practice finally began to pay off. I had trained and practiced how to remain silent and unseen, a skill as crucial as hunting down energon for a Neutral. Neither side trusted us, and neither side would spare us. We either adapted to our surroundings, or we died.

I had gotten very, very good at adapting, and was proud to claim I could move unheard over Earth's terrain.

I watched as Arachnid allowed Jack to get further and further away from her, allowing him a small sense of hope and security to form while she toyed with him. It was nothing but a game to her, a sick sense of delight washing over her features when we both saw the young human trip, ducking underneath a fallen tree in hopes of fooling her.

I tensed and began to train my blaster on her, begging her to take the bait.

She would. She believed she had him cornered and she would drag this out as long as she wanted. Arachnid believed she had the time she needed to kill him whenever and wherever she wished.

Primus, was Arcee even still alive?

Whether his partner was alive or not, I was not going to let Arachnid kill Jack.

I waited as she approached the log, waited as she taunted him, waited even as she slowly crossed over it, pretending not to notice him as he held his breath and laid perfectly still.

I took careful aim and willed my sparkbeat to slow, willed my processor to calm as slowly, click by click she passed over the log and came to a halt.

The air froze, the forest holding its breath with him and begged her to move on, for her to overlook the young boy.

I knew better.

In the split second it took for her to look down, I exhaled and fired.

– – –

An energon blast echoed over Jack’s shocked scream, launching the spider-con up and away from his prone position.

“Run, Jack! Do not look back!”

He didn’t have time to think about the sudden, unknown voice from the forest or how it knew his name, blindly scrambling to his feet and ran as fast as he could to wherever he could.

He didn’t look back, not when a second shot singed the air, not as Arachnid let out a sound of anger and rage that was beyond pretence as she finally turned serious.

The Decepticon, still stunned by the first shot, only barely managing to get out of the way of the second, launched to her peds and scanned the surrounding trees. Hissing, she spun when a shadow moved, shooting her webs at nothing.

“Show yourself!” She yelled out in frustration, furiously scanning the woods and trees, but found nothing.

Snarling, she turned back to the direction Jack took off in, hardly making it another step before a third shot fired from above, striking the ground mere inches from her peds, forcing her to flinch back and whirl around.

Once again, the shadow disappeared, her scanners working overtime to detect the bot, but came up short.

“Now, Arcee. This is highly beneath you. Come face me if you truly want to settle things,” she taunted, raising two of her razor sharp stabilizers in preparation as she scanned the trees, detecting movement above and behind but made no move to reveal that she knew. “I’m sure your partner Jack will appreciate the head start you’re giving him.”

When the two-wheeler moved to strike again Arachnid spun, webbing the dual blasters and yanked the femme to the ground as she let out a short yelp. Glowering in satisfaction, she was wholly unprepared to find a silver, not blue femme at the other end of her webs, making quick work of the strands and effortlessly regained her footing.

For an agonizingly long second, the two were frozen in place, fear taking hold of Arachnid’s spark.

The silver seeker grinned, her left servo formed into her signature blade while her right remained a blaster, her blue optics clear as she waited. “It’s been a long time, Arachnid,” she mused, swinging the blade once, twice, the two beginning to circle each other while the spider scrambled to gather herself.

It should be impossible. First Arcee, and now Starfire, two bots who have sworn to kill her. Both on the same planet, within miles of each other. Arachnid let out a low snarl and pushed down her nerves.

“I didn’t peg you for joining the Autobots,” she taunted, but Starfire’s optics remained clear.

“I didn’t.” She shrugged, an opening Arachnid seized as she launched herself at the seeker in an attempt to slit her throat. She had to move now, she had to move fast. She didn’t have time to waste, not with her, not ever again.

Starfire was waiting for her, lifting her sword and parried her blow, ducking beneath her lunging talons. Her blaster changed into a blade of its own, bringing it up in a reaching arc as the spider’s scream of rage and pain echoed through the night air.

They broke apart, two of Arachnid’s blades falling to the ground at her peds. Her optics widened, seething at the shorter bot. “I’ll tear out your spark for that!” She hissed, moving to shoot her webs, but Starfire merely smiled and jumped into the trees, falling back and out of sight.

Her signal disappeared, untraceable as Arachnid whirled and yelled in rage and fury, the seeker a ghost that would haunt the spider for as long as she remained on Earth.

“Take my warning, Arachnid. You may run, but there is nowhere you may hide from me while you remain on this planet.”

The words echoed through her helm from their past, a promise and a threat Starfire made to her once before and now made to her again.

Arachnid was beginning to regret getting involved with this particular Neutral.

Realizing one thing, however, she huffed a laugh and shook her helm, turning back to the log and began to look for the boy again.

Starfire was many things, but cruel was not one of them. Going after the human would hurt both her, and Arcee all at once. And then she would be getting the frag off of this planet.

Another shot to the log halted her in her tracks, glowering at the smoldering ruins and whipped her helm to the skies above. “You’re the one who pulled back! Come down and fight me!” She yelled, but the trees gave no answer and the blaster fire didn’t come again.

Beyond furious at this point, Arachnid broke out into a dead sprint, determined beyond all means to find the boy, and make him bleed.

How dare that Neutral glitch threaten her, how dare she make idle threats and then hide like a coward back into the trees. How dare she make a fool of her.

Snarling, she leapt over the ravine in one quick motion, detecting faint traces of heat from the boy’s shoes over the ground, tracking him to the edge of the tree line and back to where her own ship lay motionless.

Pulling out of her anger somewhat, she blinked and grinned, spotting the young human scrambling towards the front end, a mere speck with the distance.

Starfire would be a problem to be dealt with later. For now, she had a different vendetta to settle, and she would do her best to enjoy it.

– – –

I caught up to Arachnid once she left the tree line, dropping from the branches and panted, fighting the surging panic and willed my servos to stop shaking.

I couldn’t see Jack.

I couldn’t see the kid.

Primus where was he?

I stood within the trees and spotted Arachnid, calming my racing spark and crouched down low as she scanned the entrance of her ship for the young human.

I had to get Jack away from her, I had to get him as far from that ship as I could, but I couldn’t fragging find him!

The diversion in the forest cost me, and now she was roiling with fury and hatred. My intent was to spook her, to scare her into fleeing for her ship and evacuating from the planet.

I underestimated just how deep her rivalry with Arcee went. Arachnid would not be leaving this world until she had Jack’s head.

As it stood, neither of us could pinpoint him.

“If you wanted a tour, Jack, all you had to do was ask!” I tensed as her vocals reached my audials as she disappeared around her ship, cursing my miscalculations.

If Jack had hidden onboard her ship, then she would seal it. She would take off and take him with her, and then they both would die.

I stumbled in relief when I spotted the kid creeping around the back, praying I could still salvage the situation as I stood from my crouch, only to pause when his foot slipped into a pool of blue liquid.

I saw him mouth the word energon, realizing that Arachnid’s ship had sustained greater damage than I had anticipated, though Jack actually smiled at the opportunity.

My spark stopped as he grabbed his flint and knelt next to a piece of drywood, beginning to strike it as smoke slowly wafted above him.

Arachnid and I both picked up the vibrations, both of us breaking into a dead sprint in a race to get to Jack first as he kept steadily creating sparks.

I saw him glance to the top of the ship, watched as he willed the flames into existence before he grabbed his new torch and threw it directly into one of the engine columns, and then he ran.

Arachnid reached the end of her ship and could only look on in horror as the energon caught, frozen in disbelief.

Outwitted by a human. Primus, I was proud.

I reached the boy right as the ship began to explode and scooped him up from his desperate run, turning my frame to the flames and sprinted back towards the trees.

“Keep your head down!” I warned, Jack too stunned to argue as I scrambled up the ridge, right as the initial shockwave reached us and sent us flying. I covered his body as we landed on my side, wincing as intense heat singed my right stabilizer.

I tightened my grip on the kid when he tried to stand, warning him to stay down as the secondary explosion I was expecting finally erupted behind us, sending more debris and scrap metal flying into the dark sky.

Once the concussive blasts died down and the only sound to be heard was the crackling of flames, I finally let him go and rolled onto my backstruts, facing the sky and closed my optics.

He undoubtedly had questions, and I needed to be certain Arachnid didn’t escape the explosions. Venting, I sat up and slowly climbed to my peds, wincing at the pain putting weight on my right stabilizer caused.

A wound like this is the last thing I need. If I couldn’t transform because of this then I’d really be fragged.

I glanced away from the burning ship and examined the boy, and aside from the overall situation, I was relieved to see he was physically unharmed. I resisted the slight tug on my derma, shaking my helm and once again focused on the fireworks before us.

“Who are you?” I was expecting the question, the mistrust and wariness to his tone now that everything had calmed down somewhat. I shrugged, silently wondering if I would need to go back to the ship to find her frame, or if there would even be anything left to find.

I was just hoping it killed her.

“You don't need to know who I am, Jack,” I said at last, turning away from the wreckage and began walking back to the forest. I would hide until Arcee and Jack returned to their base, and then I would investigate the wreckage for any sign that she might have survived. I wouldn’t put it past her to lay low now, but I wasn’t about to leave anything up to chance.

“That doesn’t answer my question,” he pressed, running to keep up with me. “Are you an Autobot?”

I smiled and shook my helm, venting deeply. Fowler was gonna have a field day when these two got back.

“Well then, that means you’re a Decepticon. Why would you bother fighting Arachnid? Why did you help me?” I didn’t miss the suspicion and accusation in his tone, but I wasn’t about to go into it right now. I saw him frown when he couldn't find an insignia on my frame, confused and suspicious.

They haven’t told them about the Neutrals. Interesting.

Deciding that was a conversation for another time I didn’t answer, continuing to walk into the forest and away from anything to do with the war. Jack was safe, Arachnid was either severely wounded or offline, and Arcee should be back soon to help her partner.

I paused, glancing at the kid. I actually had no way of knowing if he was able to get out of here.

“What happened to Arcee?” I asked, turning when he stopped. I didn’t really like the look on his face, but I had to admit, it was justified.

“She’ll be here,” he evaded, but he gave me enough to know that the femme was at least alive. Honestly, I was just relieved that he didn’t have to witness Arachnid slaughter her.

I allowed myself to relax somewhat, venting deeply and kept walking. Jack was taken care of.

Turning my back to the wreckage was the stupidest thing I could have done, the smoke and scent of singed metal serving as my first and only warning about her location.

Her mistake was going for Jack.

I heard her webs fire and his cry of shock, hardly turning in time before her seething optics met my own, her talons striking across my chassis as she shoved me into a nearby tree. Grunting, I smacked my helm against the rough bark and stumbled, the impact blinding me for a split second. Jack shouted, picking my helm up to witness her pin him to a tree as embers still fell off her frame.

I lifted my arm and shot off a blast, but another of her webs hit my wrist and pinned it down before I could do more. I flinched, wincing at the awkward position but didn’t allow myself to feel it as I ripped it off and scrambled to my peds, her gaze lifting from Jack’s and met mine half a second before I punched her off of him, firmly planting myself between the Decepticon and the boy.

He couldn’t run this time, he couldn’t do anything as he struggled to free himself from the webs while Arachnid recovered and hissed at me.

“Should have aimed for me, Arachnid dear. Maybe it’s time you pick on a bot your own size,” I purred, not letting her circle me and kept Jack behind me. She wasn’t getting to him again and she really, really needed to learn when to give up.

I returned her glare with a sweet smile, drawing my sword and calmed my processor, willing myself to focus and think. “It would seem my warning fell on deaf audials. Now you’re stuck here on Earth, with me,” I hummed, watching as energon dripped from her wounds as she paled and hissed at me.

She would not be getting away with her crimes this time, not now that she was stranded on my planet. And I think she knew that.

Now that she was running on desperation at this point, I was wholly ready for her to lunge, but a set of bright lights illuminated us both and interrupted the fight, Arcee launching herself at Arachnid while I took the chance and fell back. The two distracted each other from me, their fight quickly edging into the forest.

Arcee wasn’t even close to faltering or losing this time. Good.

I glanced at Jack and knelt next to him, risking a glance at his face before I pulled the webs off and stood, beginning to back away.

Arcee wouldn’t be inclined to let me go so long as I kept secrets from her, and I was personally not inclined to divulge my life story to her. I sent Jack a faint smile, the boy frowning in confusion. Yeah, I couldn’t really blame him.

“Remember to tell her about the Energon Harvester,” I whispered, grinning slightly when his eyes went wide, before I took a running start and transformed into my jet, getting as far from this mess as I could get.

– – –

Jack could only watch in disbelief as the silver bot winked at him and ran off, transforming into her vehicle mode which just so happened to be a jet. He didn’t know what to make of her, didn’t know what to tell Arcee, and didn’t know what to think.

She knew where the Energon Harvester was.

How?

“Jack, are you ok?”

He was torn from his thoughts when his partner ran back to him, utter worry and concern in her voice as she knelt down and looked him over, though she frowned when she saw the webbing laying at his feet.

He couldn’t be sure she even saw the silver bot before she left, so focused on dealing with Arachnid and protecting him that it was possible she missed her entirely.

He blinked and nodded mutely, Arcee managing a slight smile of short lived relief. Short lived, because Arachnid took advantage of Arcee’s distraction and took the opportunity to escape, despite their best intentions.

Jack ran after Arcee as she chased down the Decepticon, but neither of them followed her into the gaping pit Arachnid created for herself. Both of them were exhausted, and neither of them had the energy to pursue her. It wouldn’t be the best idea anyways, not without backup.

Arcee vented and shook her helm, glaring into the pit before turning to the partner who helped her overcome this whole ordeal. “So much for closure,” she muttered, Jack frowning.

“Now Arachnid is stuck here on Earth. I’m not sure that’s such a good thing.” The boy held a mixture of emotions in his voice, regret sliping in as one of them. He knew that destroying that ship gave him one of the best chances for survival, and he didn’t want to inflict Arachnid onto the rest of the universe, but still. His decision would bother him for a long time to come.

And there was something strange about the way her ship blew up.

The femme nodded though, a fond smile making its way onto her faceplates even while her optics darkened. “I’m sorry you had to face my demons today. You were pretty fearless there, Jack.” It was one of the rare few times he had seen her open up completely like this, and he figured some honesty in return was beneficial.

“Honestly, I was terrified. Mostly for you,” he admitted. Even while he ran for his life, all he could think about was getting back to Arcee. She needed him tonight, and now he knew it was just as much as he needed her.

“Where’s Kayla?”

A phantom bucket of cold water dropped over him, his eyes growing wide when the other, slightly more important tidbit of information returned to him. Arcee had tensed and was quickly scanning the woods, her worry for the other human she was meant to be protecting evident in her question.

He didn’t even know where or how to begin answering that question.

He gave it his best shot anyways. “Arcee… I don’t think Kayla is human,” he confessed, his partner whipping her helm around once his words registered. “I think she’s Cybertronian.”

Arcee frowned. “Are you sure?” She asked, her worry morphing into defense when Jack nodded.

He took a deep breath, sighing. “She told me where the Energon Harvester is. She disappeared right before my eyes. And… I’m pretty sure she was the bot who also fought Arachnid.” He still didn’t know why she risked her neck for him the way she did, and the wounds Arachnid gave her looked painful. She said she wasn’t an Autobot, but she sure didn’t act like any Decepticons he knew of. It didn’t make sense.

“Did you get her name?” Arcee demanded, cursing when he shook his head again.

She began to pace, frowning down at her partner in a mixture of concern and confliction. “Where did she say the harvester was?” She asked, calling Ratchet and requested a ground bridge when he told her.

“I’m taking you back to base. The coordinates may very well be a trap, and I’d rather not spring it alone. I think after today I’ve learned that lesson,” she explained, her partner nodding and for once didn’t argue as the swirling green portal opened up before them.

“Arcee… I don’t think she means any harm. She’s the reason I was able to outrun the explosion,” he admitted to the next part circling around his mind, his partner’s frown deepening as she nodded.

“We will tell the team what happened and we’ll go from there. I’m not going to risk my partner on a hunch,” she replied, though she didn’t miss the teasing gleam that appeared in Jack’s eye.

“Partner, huh?”

She smiled and rolled her optics. “Junior partner. I can still pull rank.”

Now that she had admitted both to herself and aloud what Jack meant to her, she knew things would be different. And maybe, just maybe, she would begin to heal from the wounds this war has inflicted upon her spark.

Once Arachnid was offlined, that is.

Baby steps.

– – –

Chapter Text

When Arcee and Jack returned to the Autobot base and told the team of their findings, their leader ordered the coordinates to be explored, but under extreme caution.

They did manage to locate the Energon Harvester, and to the whole team’s stunned surprise they found it to be completely full of energon. There were no tricks or traps, and they left the cave and returned to their base even more confused and skeptical than when they left.

Ratchet managed to open the Harvester and draw the raw energon from it when they returned, and the amount he pulled would supply their team with enough to last them comfortably for months.

Jack insisted that the femme he met saved his life and meant him no harm, but understood why the team would remain cautious around her. None of them knew her intentions or why she risked herself to protect him, and until they did they wouldn’t jump to any conclusions.

The Autobots explained to the kids about a third faction, a group of Cybertronians unwilling or unable to fight, who remained Neutral in the great conflict. Optimus offered Neutrals refuge whenever he could, but many died at the hands of both Decepticon and Autobot, and thus remained distrustful towards both sides.

Their spy within the Decepticon ranks reported that she hadn’t heard of her or seen her on board the warship and didn’t even know she was on the planet, though thanked the team for the information they gave her about Arachnid. She also commented about wanting to get away from the Nemesis for a little while, and mentioned investigating the M.E.C.H sighting Fowler had reported a few weeks prior. Maybe figure out why they chose that mountain for their trap, but mostly so she could leave the ship before she knocked a few helms together.

She didn’t need to be told to be careful.

Miko not so subtly implied she would up her attempts to sneak along on missions, citing her logic that she wanted to be the first one to meet the new bot, already confident that she would join their team and take her out for a joyride in the skies.

The team would have to work overtime to keep her at base, Ratchet already groaning at the prospect, while the girl simply grinned slyly. Nothing and no one would keep her from this new bot, and if she was bad news then she was more than capable of handling herself.

That’s what she told herself, anyway. She didn’t really care, she just wanted to see some robot action.

Bulkhead already knew he had his hands full with that one, but Arcee sent him a sympathetic look regardless.

They would all like to learn more about this strange new bot.

They didn’t even know her name.

– – –

I realized one thing fairly quickly after I left the crash site: energon was meant to remain inside my frame, and leaking it would serve to be a problem of decent proportions. Every single Cybertronian on this planet would be able to pinpoint my location with very little effort. I was a sitting duck for the moment.

I was made to land much sooner than I wanted to, transforming and bracing a servo against a nearby tree with the other pressed tightly against the wound on my chassis. Bright blue energon seeped through my digits, gritting my denta against the pain.

This wasn’t good. Arachnid was still close and if I had pissed her off as much as I believed I had, then I needed to solve this problem, quickly. I seriously didn’t feel like being hunted down by anyone, least of all Arachnid.

Venting, I glanced around the dense forest and prayed to Primus that Fowler didn’t have someone monitoring their channels before I found and dialed Kayla’s number, slumping against the tree I was propped up against.

I couldn’t fly like this. I needed help.

“Hello?” Her cheerful voice nearly broke my resolve, regret washing through me in waves.

I took a breath and managed a smile, steadying my voice. “Hey friend, would you do me a solid and tell me what the weather is like in your neck of the woods?” I chirped, running my signal through over a dozen different networks, scrambling my location and vocals to keep the government from triangulating my coordinates.

I heard her sharp inhale, the line going silent for a heartbeat before she was speaking again, a faint wobble to her words. “Well, the forecast says it’s gonna be clear and sunny, but there’s an 80% chance of rain. I don’t know if it’s gonna thunder. Was there anything else I could help you with, my friend?” She asked, the now-forced cheerfulness breaking my spark.

I exhaled and cursed the unfortunate circumstances. I won’t be able to even approach the village, if what she just told me was accurate. “One more thing. Where would someone be able to find lodging for the evening? It’s rather cold right now and I was hoping for a nice fire to warm myself with.”

Translation: Is my hollow safe enough for me to go home.

Another heavy silence, the seconds dragging on before she returned, swallowing thickly. “I’m sorry, but our lodgings are booked for tonight. Do try and take care of yourself, friend. The forecast could turn ugly at a moment’s notice,” she replied quietly, crushing the faint hope that had begun to bloom in my spark.

It wasn’t safe to go back. Fowler didn’t know about my hideout, but if I attempted to fly or bridge in he would be on my aft in seconds.

Damnit.

“Alrighty, thanks again for the help, friend,” I exhaled and shoved myself to my peds, ending the call with Kayla and frowned, at a loss for the current moment.

It wasn’t like this wound was going to kill me, but leaking energon was a problem I didn’t have the means to solve.

Grumbling, I reached into my subspace and grabbed the remote to my ground bridge, punching in a set of coordinates and limped through, appearing on the other side within the same forest clearing I left all those weeks ago.

I had to risk the bridge over here, if only to get away from Arachnid. If what Kayla just told me was true, then Fowler would have his people mobilizing by now. I couldn’t stay, but I had to grab the medical kit I stashed down here for emergencies.

I vented and turned, facing the hollow that had been my home and sanctuary for the last 300 years and hissed as I walked over, the burn on my stabilizer reminding me that my chassis wasn’t my only problem, just one that had to be seen to first.

I had to be quick.

I had another kit in the cave I was staying in, but I sent Arcee and Jack that way and I have no interest in running into the two of them again. Sliding inside the hollow, I braced myself on the berth I had dug out and vented again, closing my optics briefly and listened to the faint chirping of the wild birds, preparing to settle down for winter.

No matter where on Earth I ventured, this valley would always be my home.

Damn humans lying to me.

Huffing, I grabbed the second kit I had made and stood, peering up to the top, where the large bushes and ancient tree they were growing in kept me hidden from view.

Now how the frag was I supposed to climb out of this thing?

– – –

They watched as the seeker femme hauled herself out of the hollow they had been monitoring for weeks now, three ugly gouges marring the silver paint of her frame. She carried herself protectively, pressing an arm over her wounds as the other clutched what they could only assume to be a medical kit.

Their commander watched her closely and frowned when she retrieved a remote, motioning for the men to move, swiftly. They couldn’t afford to lose her again.

He didn’t care if this revealed their hand to the government, because by the time they mobilized, he would have gotten what they needed and be long gone. Better to take a Neutral than someone who would be missed.

He just had to be patient enough for her to venture back home.

The man at his side flipped open and clicked a detonator, a large, fiery explosion erupting from the hollow behind the femme. The flames caught her off guard, the brunt force of it throwing her to the edge of the clearing closest to them and sent the remote and emergency kit tumbling from her hands.

Already she was struggling to get up, Silas issuing the order to disarm her as his men moved in.

The seeker had drawn her blaster and lunged for the remote, her battlefield assessment of the situation impressive even by Silas’ own standards. Unfortunately for her, his men already had her surrounded, and didn’t wait for her to retaliate before several tons of electricity was shoved into her frame and knocked her out cold, her hand landing mere inches away from the remote that could have saved her.

“Move briskly.”

The men brought over a truck and began the process of hooking her up to a winch, the trickling embers of the fire at their backs a ticking clock reminding them of just how little time they had to get the hell out of there.

“You’re sure she’s down?” Silas glanced at the man to his right, who nodded after consulting the scanner in his hands.

“Yes, Sir. Her systems are offline and show no current signs of reactivating,” he replied, the others almost finished loading her onto the truck.

Silas smiled and approached the seeker, stopping by her helm and watched as his men secured the clamps around her wrists and ankles. “You are going to give me everything I want to know,” he said quietly. “Whether you want to or not.”

“Sir, her systems just began rebooting!”

He waved the man off and watched the seeker closely, amusement darting across his features as her face twitched, though her eyes remained closed. He had to admit though, she was waking up much faster than he had anticipated, especially given how much electricity they shot at her to keep her down.

“I know you can hear me, seeker. I do have to thank you for this opportunity you’ve given us.” He said louder, ensuring she heard every word. “All will be explained once we get somewhere more… secure.”

She flinched, finally opening her eyes and sent a tired but scathing glare his way, Silas merely smiling wider when he at last earned a response from her. “We meet again, Flight Sergeant Frasher. So nice of you to join us.”

He watched as she scanned her surroundings, taking in her burning home to her right, and his men getting back to their trucks and helicopters for the evacuation. He saw her tug against the metal keeping her contained, and idly recognized the sharp glint of panic threatening to push through in her eyes. She whipped her head back around to face him, clenching her fists as she yanked again, to no avail.

“How did you know?” She ground out, the man merely smiling at her.

“That will be a conversation for another time.” He waved one of his men forwards, motioning for the seeker who continued her fruitless struggles against her bonds. “Knock her out.”

The explosion would have surely been noticed by now, and he had no interest in waging a battle against Roselake Base. He waited for the confirmation that she was unconscious again, ordering the man to implant a bug on her frame should she wake up during transport and threw a tarp over her to conceal her from sight.

He had what he wanted.

“Move out.”

– – –

I was in a whole world of scrap.

Now every part of my frame ached, and the throbbing in my helm didn’t help things at all.

M.E.C.H had found me. I knew going back to the hollow was a risk, a decision I had to make, but I didn’t expect it to bite me in the aft so quickly.

I had woken back up a few minutes ago, the truck I was strapped against rumbling beneath my frame and sent tremors surging through my wings with every rut and dip we went across. It hurt, everything hurt, but if I wanted to ever again see the sunlight, if I ever wanted to fly again, I would need to get the frag out of here and I needed to do so preferably within the next few minutes.

Primus knows what Silas had planned for me, and I personally didn’t want to wait around to find out.

Gritting my denta, I transformed my right servo into a multipurpose tool, shifting uncomfortably when we hit another rock.

Just where the frag were they taking me?

Selecting the serrated blade from the array at my disposal, I shifted again and just barely managed to angle it against the steel pinning me to this damn truck.

I swear if we hit another pothole-

I winced when a shock ran through my frame, sawing faster and bit down the desperation eating away at my spark. I couldn’t let it end like this. I wouldn’t.

I had no idea if Silas knew about the village, but I did know they didn't know about him. Kayla would have warned me, she would have ensured I stayed as far from the hollow as fragging possible if she had known what was waiting for me there. She knew Fowler was unaware of it, but M.E.C.H was a whole different thing entirely.

I hope she was alright.

I accidentally shifted my wing as I worked, my optics growing wide as I bit down hard to keep from screaming at the stabbing pain that raced through my systems, blinking past the stinging tears and kept sawing.

I very well might kill Silas for this.

I was almost through when the truck I was on came to a screeching halt, the tarp covering me shifting a fraction and allowed me to glimpse outside.

Tall evergreens with the first dusting of winter snow, bright sunlight and blue sky, and a clearer sound of blasters arming.

Scrap.

“Well well, look what the cat dragged in. It’s been awhile, Silas dearie.” I was able to make out light, feminine laughter from the front of the convoy, tensing and resumed sawing through the cuff. I know that voice. I knew exactly who that femme was and I was so, so fragged.

Primus have mercy-

I had to get out of here.

“I didn’t realize Starscream cared so much about a neutral flier. As she isn’t one of yours, Phoenix, kindly move aside and we’ll be on our way.” I could hear the impatience in his words and tone, finally managing to break the cuff and slide my wrist free.

I needed to know how Megatron’s Assassin managed to find Silas. I winced, glancing at the open wounds on my chassis and realized I already knew how she did it. Damnit, I really need to deal with that.

“Hm, how about no?” I barely had time to tense before yet another explosion erupted around the convoy and sent the truck I was still attached to rolling onto its side. Shouts and yells rang around as Silas’ men opened fire onto the Decepticon, her laughter echoing around the dirt road we were on.

Hissing softly, I managed to pry my wrist free from the shackle, the tarp covering me falling onto the dirt in front of my faceplates. A glance up told me I was facing away from the fighting, a dense forest a couple dozen feet away in front of me. If I could just make it into those trees, I would stand a decent chance at losing both parties. Exhaling sharply, I reached my servo down and pried the metal clamp off my ankle, wincing when my stabilizer dropped onto the dirt beneath me. Panting slightly from the awkward position, I shook my helm and reached for the other, ignoring the stabbing pain in my left wing as I removed the second, and then the third clamp, grunting as I collided into the dirt.

I gingerly pushed myself onto my servos and kneeplates, glancing up as blaster fire rang out above the overturned truck. I didn’t know why Phoenix was taking on M.E.C.H, but I wasn’t about to stick around and find out. It was bad enough that the Decepticons found me.

I winced as energon dripped onto the earth between my servos, wincing again when a sharp sensation slashed across my wing at the faintest twitch. Silas what the hell did you do to my frame-

I couldn’t focus on that, flinching as a minor explosion erupted overhelm and sent heat and debris scattering over my frame, rapid bullets firing back at the femme. I had to go.

Taking my chance, I hauled myself to my peds and ran for the woods, not risking a look back. I didn’t want to see the carnage, and I didn’t want to draw any further attention to myself. As long as Phoenix was distracted, as long as I got away from M.E.C.H, then that was good enough for me.

Well, it apparently wasn’t good enough for Silas, because I had hardly made it inside the tree line before my left wing seized. I gasped, stumbling into the closest tree and squeezed my optics shut against the rushing pain. Frag. What the hell did he put on my wing?

I bit my derma and kept going, for once grateful for the Decepticon keeping my pursuers occupied. I couldn’t stop. I didn’t know where I was or how far from civilization we were. I didn’t know where Fowler was but I didn’t doubt he was scrambling the Autobots by now. First the explosion by the hollow, and now this skirmish along an unmarked dirt road?

If I had to guess, I’d say it was probably one of the few roads into the valley, a route that the hunters normally took.

I kept going, swallowing through gritted denta against the pain. My chassis ached, my stabilizer burned, and now my wing was seized. Primus this cycle has fragging sucked.

Pushing past the towering evergreens I pressed on, limping as fast as I could away from the dueling forces, flinching as another shock rippled through my wing.

I didn’t care if Silas knew how sacred wings were to seekers, he would not be getting away with this outrage.

I scoffed quietly, my servo stained blue. Like I would live long enough to carry out that threat. Phoenix was able to track me. I wasn’t stupid enough to think I could outrun her, and I honestly didn’t know what would be worse: her wrath and the death that awaited me at her servos, or M.E.C.H, who would keep me alive just long enough to get the technology they wanted before killing me themselves.

I didn’t bother hoping that they would tear each other apart for me. There would be a victor, and whoever that was would come after me.

I vented, leaning my helm against a tree as my wings drooped, watching the glistening blue drops land on the fresh snow at my peds. Either way, unless Primus gave me a miracle, I doubted I would be walking out of here a free bot.

I just had to be curious yesterday. Yes, I did a good thing and kept the kid safe, but my damn curiosity started this chain of events that would very likely lead to my death. It’s like the humans say, curiosity killed the cat.

It wasn’t really a metaphor at this point.

I closed my optics, venting deeply and gingerly leaned my weight against the tree, hating the tremble in my stabilizers, hating the injuries keeping me grounded and in danger. I knew I wouldn’t be able to take the Firebird in a fight, and I clearly didn’t stand a chance against Silas. Whoever came through the trees behind me would be my enemy, and they would very easily be able to overpower any resistance I tried to offer.

At this point, this late in the war, I almost welcomed it.

I was tired of all this. I was tired of the useless battles and the countless dead, tired of the endless hate and war. There wasn’t even a point to any of it anymore; Cybertron was lost and had been that way for ages. What the frag were they even fighting for, at this point?

If Phoenix said she was going to kill me, then so be it.

I shook my helm, ridding myself of those damning thoughts. I had to keep going. Venting, I shoved off the tree and took another step, then another, wincing at the faint trail of blue I was leaving behind. I needed to get this wound fixed.

I needed to do a lot of things.

“And where do you think you’re going, femling?” She chuckled as I tensed, a chill running down my frame. How the hell did my scanners not pick her up? I shook my helm, taking another few steps forwards. It didn’t matter. She would have found me no matter what I tried to do.

I heard her chuckle again.

“Look, femling, running from me with a wound like that is futile, and I think we both know that.”

I didn’t care. I knew that if I was going to offline, then at least I would go fighting. I would go the way my sister went, the way my creators went, the way my sparkmate went. I wouldn’t just roll over for her to offline me at her leisure.

I knew fighting her was pointless, I didn’t stand a chance against her, but I wouldn’t yield. I couldn’t.

“Femling, you’re grounded.” Her vocals chilled me, making me brace a servo against another tree mere paces away from her. She wasn’t wrong. I couldn’t fly and since I didn’t have my remote, well- I flinched when another tremor went through my wing, taunting me.

I heard her laugh again.

“I’d highly suggest you sit. You’ve lost quite a bit of energon,” she mused, a grin playing over her faceplates when she caught my incredulous look. “Don’t give me that. Arachnid may not have mortally wounded you, but you’ve been dripping energon long enough for it to start affecting your systems. Besides, your servo is stained blue, femling.” She nodded to the digits I kept pressed over my chassis, the fiery red and orange fem standing before me merely smiling as her words finally registered.

I vented deeply, risking another glance. “How the frag did you know about that?” I whispered, her grin doing nothing to set me at ease. The only one who knew I was injured was Jack, who likely told his partner. The Autobot team should be the only ones who were aware of how I got these injuries.

Arachnid wouldn’t have admitted to injuring me, or even about the fact I was on Earth. She wanted me dead and she wanted to do it herself. She wouldn’t have gotten the Decepticons involved.

“Does it really matter?”

I hated that she was right. My entire frame ached, and I knew deep in my spark that I couldn’t take more than another few steps.

Now that I had acknowledged it, my systems were beginning to protest. Sheer will had kept me going this far, but it had been too long, I lost too much time. I winced as the servo I kept braced against the tree slipped, my stabilizers failing me as I slid down the tree, swallowing a pained groan.

I have known many bots who have gone up against Megatron’s Assassin, and all of them have died. I wasn’t about to fool myself into thinking I had any chance of surviving this, not anymore. The moment she wanted me dead, I would be.

“Silas had a point, you know. Take a neutral flier and no one would bat an optic, let alone notice,” I murmured, shifting until my backstruts rested against the bark, venting deeply. I gave her a glance, the Firebird watching with cool amusement on her faceplates. I scoffed, shaking my helm. “So why did you?”

A twinkle shone in her ruby red optics. “I was in the area,” she hummed, crossing the distance between the two of us and smiled again. “Quite a mess you’ve gotten yourself into, femling. Would you like some help?”

She laughed again at the look on my faceplates, kneeling beside me and grinned. “I assume this kit is yours.” She held out the medical kit I had come all this way for, raising an optic ridge as I frowned. So she followed the explosion to the hollow, and then followed the energon trail. I smiled dryly, nodding once.

Phoenix set the kit onto the snow beside us, cracking it open and whistled softly at the contents. “You're sure you aren’t a medic?” She asked, grinning wider as I huffed.

“I’m not sure if you’ve noticed, Phoenix, but I’m a neutral. Where else am I going to go if I need help? The Decepticons?” I shut my intake and inwardly cursed myself, incredulously wondering what the frag was wrong with me. Face to face with the Firebird and I taunt her? Seriously?

The assassin laughed though, shrugging and grabbed one of the bolts of medical fabric, turning to me and grinned. “You make a good point, femling.” I sat still as she grabbed my left servo, drawing it away from the gouges and began wiping away the energon with a gentleness I would not have expected from the Firebird.

Aside from the occasional wince and hiss of pain, it was silent between us, Phoenix grabbing the small welder from the kit and raised an optic ridge at me when she glanced up. “Do you want something for the pain?” There wasn’t any taunting in her vocals this time, a genuine question that I had to think about through the fog beginning to wrap around my processor.

I shook my helm once, refusing to give her the opportunity to drug me. I needed to remain alert enough to watch her. “My plan was to do this myself. Kinda have to be coherent to use one of those,” I muttered, once again cursing myself for my comments. Sass would not help in this situation, and yet I gave it anyway. What the frag is wrong with me?

Phoenix shrugged, getting to work.

I don’t know why she was helping me. I don’t know what she was playing at but I needed to remain alert. I needed to remain awake and I had to get out of here as soon as I could.

I didn’t understand why she was here.

“How long have you been on Earth?” She asked after another stretch of silence, not taking her optics from her task. I swallowed, closing my optics and shrugged in reply.

I wasn’t going to give her an answer. I couldn’t risk it, not so close to the village.

I tensed, worry gnawing on my spark. If she was as smart as the rumours said she was, then she might very well figure out that I had relations to the village nestled within this valley. Primus have mercy, Fowler better have people protecting them.

“I, for one, find it a beautiful planet. Such a pity that Starscream can’t see it for what it is.” She continued, finishing up one of the gashes and moving onto the second, seemingly oblivious to the stiffness in my frame. What was she playing at…

She smiled, chuckling softly. “The Decepticons are worse off now without Megatron, and Starscream can’t seem to get it through his processor that he will never be able to compare, not in strength or ruthlessness combined.” She glanced up from her task, her smile changing into something quieter, something deadlier. The Warlord’s Assassin shrugged. “I suppose he’ll find out one way or another.”

I swallowed, remaining silent as she returned to her task. I knew Starscream was honestly incompetent compared to Megatron, but by himself he still posed quite a threat to my people. As a neutral, you learned never to underestimate people, a trait I had allowed myself to slack on during my 300 years on Earth. I had forgotten the skills I needed to keep me alive. Starscream may not be Megatron, but he was far more cunning, vindictive, and strategic than most gave him credit for. The Decepticons may be worse off, if Phoenix was to be believed, but they still posed a grave threat to humanity.

She finished welding my chassis, putting the tool away and reached a servo for my wing.

I started, snatching her wrist away and watched as her optics went wide. I blinked, turning my helm slightly and found the energon coating my digits had transferred over to hers, swallowing thickly and let go.

Phoenix frowned, examining her wrist and then my own, before shrugging. “I’ve gotta say, femling, your reflexes are quite impressive,” she hummed, reaching for my wing again, and this time I knew I wouldn’t be able to stop her. “Silas planted a shocker to your wing. It’s why you’re unable to move it,” she explained quietly, plucking it off and chucked it into the snow behind her. “It will take a little while for you to regain your full range of motion, but you’ll be able to fly again before the moon rises.”

I didn’t let the relief I was feeling show, offering her only a small dip of acknowledgement. She tilted her helm, grabbing another of the medical fabrics and motioned for my servo. I hesitated, but Phoenix merely rolled her optics and grabbed it before I could pull it away.

I flinched, but she only began to quietly wipe away the energon from my metal. “Arachnid can be a real glitch, can’t she?” She muttered, my optics widening briefly before I vented and nodded.

“You’ve got that right,” I huffed, closing my optics briefly and leaned against the tree. I wouldn’t admit it, but I was exhausted and running out of options. It wasn’t like I could return to Greece, or remain here in the valley. Fowler was still hunting me, and now that both Factions knew I was on Earth there would be even less of a chance of me staying off the radar. Maybe Canada would yield better results.

“What’s your designation, femling?”

I didn’t open my optics and shook my helm, feeling rather than seeing her finish with my servo and move down to my stabilizer. “I’m not answering that question,” I murmured, resting my wrist over my tanks. There’s a reason I’ve been able to stay hidden all this time, and keeping my identity secret was a good part of it.

I heard her huff of annoyance, and had half a mind to wonder when she would get around to offlining me. I knew her reputation, knew her rapt sheet. I knew what she’s capable of and part of me wondered if she was only fixing me up so I would stand a fighting chance at escape. I wouldn’t put it past her.

There wasn’t much I could do about that, though.

“You do realize that if I wanted you offline, you would be, right?” I didn’t react to her tone, taking another deep vent. I didn’t know what she was doing for the burn on my stabilizer, but I couldn’t find it within me to care too much when the burning began to fade.

I opened my optics when I heard her stand, watching her as she dusted herself off and crossed her arms. I raised an optic ridge, waiting. I had no way to know what her intentions were. Fixing me up could be a ploy. I wasn’t about to assume anything.

She vented. “Femling, the humans will be here soon. I highly suggest getting out of here before they do.” I blinked, but before I could ask who she meant she transformed into a sleek, shiny sports car and drove off, leaving me to stare in shock after her retreating form.

She… left me alive?

– – –

Getting out of the valley without flying proved to be a challenge, but I had escaped enemy forces before and I could do so again, especially since I no longer had to worry about leaving a trail wherever I went.

I salvaged what remained of my med kit and subspaced it, gazing at my wrist in confusion and suspicion.

I couldn’t stop puzzling over the encounter with Phoenix, moving deeper and deeper into the woods towards the towering mountains looming above me. I tried several times to transform, but each attempt had my wing seizing in pain, enough so I finally let it rest after the fourth try.

Why did she leave me alive? I wasn’t a Decepticon, and even then I knew the reports. She was just as vicious and ruthless to her own faction as she was to everyone else who crossed her.

I vented, glancing up as the moon finally began to rise, the sky cloudless and looked absolutely wonderful for flying. I would have smiled, but I was too busy scanning for Fowler, M.E.C.H, the Autobots, or the Decepticons to bother. I had to get out of here, and I no longer had a ground bridge capable of sending me away.

Just my fragging luck that I would find myself stranded clicks away from Roselake Base. Kayla just warned me that it was too dangerous for me to be within the valley, to even approach the village. So I go ahead and bridge over here anyways.

I frowned, glancing at the gouges Arachnid bestowed upon me. I was leaking energon and had no other alternative. I would have gotten away with it, too, had Silas not figured out who Frasher was. I still don’t know how he did that.

I twitched my wing again, testing to see if I could transform and closed my optics in relief when my frame responded to me. Thank the Allspark.

Not wasting anymore time, I transformed and punched my engines, speeding as far from the valley as I could get, heading Northwest. I couldn’t return to Europe while Arachnid was on the continent, and I sure as frag couldn’t remain in the states while Fowler hunted for me. I figured the Decepticons would be airborne, so Canada really seemed like a promising destination.

Now let's just hope my luck lasts this time.

– – –

I found a nice cliff on the side of the rocky mountains, deeming it as good a spot as any to rest upon as I transformed and dug out one of my energon cubes. The sun had long since set and the moon now hung high in the sky amongst a scattering of stars.

If I looked, I would be able to spot Cybertron.

I didn’t look.

Once again alone with my thoughts, I considered all that had been revealed to me.

The war between Autobot and Decepticon had finally made its way to Earth, and with it a whole cluster of issues.

My presence here had been discovered by both sides, and my allies within the human government had betrayed me. The family I had made for myself for the last 3 centuries were cut off from me, and if I attempted to reconnect with them I risked dragging the war to their doorsteps.

A faction of the human government was obsessed with my kind, and would stop at nothing to learn what made us tick. They are patient, and smart, and more dangerous to me than either faction. As a neutral, there would be no one to miss me when I disappeared, no one to come after me when they realized what happened to me. Silas is smart, I’ll give him that.

I sipped from the cube, venting softly and absently kicked my peds in the open air. I should be in the process of being dismantled right now. But I’m not, because Megatron’s most feared and deadly assassin decided to help me.

I frowned, glancing at my wing and shifted it again, just to see that I could.

I was unable to fly, unable to run without being tracked, unable to escape and I knew it. I had accepted that, accepted the consequences of my own actions and came to terms with my fate.

I had asked Primus for a miracle.

The Firebird spared me.

She helped me. I had no damn clue why, no clue what her game was, but she let me live. She patched me up and sent me on my way. I still don’t know what to make of it.

Megatron was offline and the Decepticons were weakened because of it. Phoenix had no reason to spare me and I’m certain Starscream didn’t know about the attack. But… she saved my fragging spark.

Venting, I finished my cube and watched the sky, bracing my servos behind me on the cool rock.

I left without giving Fowler a chance to explain. He looked genuinely guilty for lying to me, to my village. I left and now I was being hunted by honest to Primus every living thing on this planet. Decepticons, Autobots, Assassins, Humans.

Was it worth it?

– – –

Special Agent William Fowler was not in a good mood.

He had just left yet another meeting with his General in an attempt to get him to agree to telling the Autobots about Starfire, and he had once again been denied. It was stupidly early in the morning, and he was due back at Roselake base to play cleanup.

The village had gotten a call from Starfire the day before, speaking in codes that didn’t take much to pick apart, so by the time his men realized it was the Neutral she had already bridged into the valley and Fowler had assumed she was going to pay her friends a visit.

He and his men were on the tarmac running for their jets when Frost yelled back that there had been an explosion, around the same location Starfire had bridged to.

Fowler had to scramble a call to the Autobots and figure out if it was the Decepticons, to which Optimus Prime told him about Phoenix already being down there, with no other Decepticon signal in sight.

Not only did Fowler have to contend with the realization that it was exactly where Starfire reported a M.E.C.H sighting, but that their renegade Neutral was about to face their Decepticon spy.

Fowler swore that seeker was going to give him grey hairs before the year was up.

He called off his men and told them the Autobots were already on the scene, and in an attempt to preserve what covers they had, they would not be heading down there. Phoenix could not be seen sparing the human government, or working alongside them. It would spell disaster if Starscream ever found out, and Fowler wasn’t about to give Silas more ammunition to hurt them then he already had.

He had to explain all that to the General this morning, and reported that the Autobots now knew without a doubt that Starfire was on Earth, pleading with Bryce to let him explain.

General Bryce once again said no.

Fowler grumbled and shook his head, climbing into his jet and wished things had played out differently as he started up the engines and began taxiing down the tarmac.

“Good morning, Fowler.”

The agent froze at the quiet, femmine voice that spoke through his earpiece, quickly flicking a switch to begin a recording of the call.

“Starfire. To what do I owe the pleasure?” He asked dryly, the seeker on the other end of the call chuckling softly.

“I missed you, too. I gotta say, you sure know how to keep a femme on her peds. I didn’t realize M.E.C.H had set up a base of operations so close to the village.” He heard the coldness in her voice and knew he messed things up by letting them get so close, but it wasn’t like he did it on purpose. He had been hunting for Silas for weeks, ever since the D.I.N.G.U.S.

“Is there a point to this call, Starfire? I’m about to fly down to Roselake to attempt to clean up your mess,” he said, threading his fingers and narrowed his eyes at the audio screen.

The Neutral flier scoffed quietly, and he had the vague sense she rolled her eyes at him. “Listen, I am willing to come back and give you a chance to explain why General Bryce decided to break our agreement, but only on the condition that you tell me everything we agreed upon ten years ago, and General Bryce calls off the warrant for my arrest.”

He blinked, speechless for a moment, before promptly shaking his head. “Starfire, the General has his reasons. I cannot tell you any details about the Autobots or the Decepticons, not while they are actively at war on our planet. One way or another though, we will find you and bring you back.” He hated the fact he couldn’t just tell her what he knew, but there was a chain of command to obey and he hadn’t figured out a way to bend the rules this time. Not on such a large scale.

The seeker was quiet on the other end of the call, before he heard her sigh. “I didn’t realize the Government of the United States had no honour anymore.” He took her words to heart, a blow to his pride that he knew he deserved for how they had and continued to treat her. “The Autobots and Decepticons are my problem since they know about me now, and their war will continue for another thousand years. Just make sure you do your job this time and keep the village safe. If Silas ever finds out our history then he won’t hesitate to use them against you,” she said quietly, hanging up without a goodbye.

Fowler was seriously tempted to damn everything and explain all he knew, but he didn’t have a means to reach out to her.

Sighing, he forwarded the recording to Frost and told him to begin triangulating it, resuming his taxi down the runway.

She had every right to be angry at him, and he was just grateful she wasn’t a spiteful bot. She didn’t need to save Jack, but she did and it was seriously causing him a moral debate that he did not need.

He was half tempted to go back into General Bryce’s office and shake him down until he agreed, but again, that would only serve to get him court martialed. Some days, he really didn’t like that man.

There was nothing he could do about it right now.

– – –

I vented and hung up, shaking my helm in disappointment. I suspected Fowler wouldn’t cave, especially not over the airways where he could be monitored, but I guess I was expecting more than just a hard no.

Frowning, I stared out over the valley below and watched as the sun lazily drifted across the morning sky. Earth was quite beautiful, in a sad kind of way. The oldest any of these creatures got is a couple hundred years old, hardly a blink to a Cybertronian. I have seen many, many people come and go through my three centuries on this planet, and each one was so bright and resilient and beautiful. They faced death every single day and still woke up and chose life.

To be honest, I envied them.

Knowing their time was short, they were able to make the most of what they had, and from what I’ve seen, they very well may be better for it. Humanity may be young, and naive, and reckless, but they are also extremely creative and versatile, and with enough time they and their curiosity may eventually dominate the stars.

I’d probably still be around to see it.

I closed my optics and tilted my helm back, fanning out my wings and let the heat from the sun warm them. I wasn’t sure what I would be doing next, but for the moment, for right now, I was content right where I was.

I’d need to move soon enough anyways. I can enjoy a few minutes of peace.

– – –

“Prime, I need you and your people to check something out for me.” Fowler’s voice through the monitors drew the Autobots’ attention, drawing them closer to the screen.

“What have you found, Agent Fowler?” The Prime asked. The majority of his team were out of base tending to their human charges, and wouldn’t be back for another hour. Their scanners hadn’t picked up on any Decepticon activity, but Agent Fowler had been known to gather information from resources they didn’t possess. It wasn’t out of the realm of possibility.

“My people are picking up a strange signal up in Canada, but I’m on my way to the Pentagon and cannot be delayed. I have reason to believe it isn’t human made,” he replied, lying through his bloody teeth as he forwarded them the coordinates Frost gave him. He needed team Prime to investigate, and he needed them to go before Starfire fled.

He just wanted to stop lying to them all. How were they supposed to wage a war together if they couldn’t even trust each other?

“The team is currently out of base, Agent Fowler, and I can confirm that there are no Decepticons currently in that location,” the Prime said after a moment, Ratchet sending him a cautioning glance. They didn’t know who would be monitoring Fowler’s calls, and speaking with such certainty would be sure to draw unneeded attention from the wrong sources. Soundwave was very good at his job, and the last thing they needed was for the Surveillance Chief to grow suspicious about a spy within their ranks.

A spy who had just told them about Megatron’s body being found and returned to the Nemesis. A spy who had just told them that Megatron was alive. For now, there wasn’t much they could do with that information.

Ratchet turned to his leader, a contemplative look to his optic. “Optimus, do you think it could be the Neutral that Arcee and Jack were talking about?” He asked quietly, frowning.

The Prime nodded. “I think that it is very likely, Ratchet. However, if it is indeed her, then we cannot be hasty. It would do us no good to spook her into disappearing.”

“What do you suggest?”

The Prime didn’t answer, turning back to the monitors where the human agent waited. “Agent Fowler, can you guarantee that no one will be able to witness this meeting?”

Ratchet blinked, following where his leader was going with this and could hardly believe what he was hearing.

“I can, Prime. Who are you sending?” He asked, but Optimus shook his helm and ignored the stunned look on his friend’s faceplates.

“Allow us to worry about that.”

– – –

I expected Fowler to contact the Autobots, and I knew he would have sent them my coordinates, so when a ground bridge appeared behind me I wasn’t surprised, climbing to my peds and turned away from the yellow light of the sun.

If Fowler wouldn’t tell me what I needed to know, then the Autobots likely would. Arcee didn’t know I existed before I revealed myself, so Fowler didn’t tell them to hide things from me. I was willing to bet General Bryce was none too pleased about the way the situation has progressed, but couldn’t do much about it without the Autobots growing suspicious.

If they found out Fowler knew about me, and kept my presence from them, then they wouldn’t be happy, I have no doubt about that.

Even still, despite my preparations, I was caught entirely off guard when ruby red metal caught the sunlight, my whole frame tensing when the Firebird stepped from the portal and gave me a lazy grin.

“Hello, femling.”

– – –

Chapter Text

I was three steps away from the edge of the cliff, and from there, the open skies.

Part of me doubted if I was quick enough.

The bridge remained open behind her, Phoenix raising an optic ridge at my taught frame, her derma twitching in amusement.

“Why are you here?” I asked quietly, drawing my blaster. I knew Fowler had contacted the Autobots, and expected one of them. What I didn’t bet on was the Firebird to be the first one to show up. Either way, I should probably get what I could out of her before they showed up.

The last thing I needed was for them to think I was working for the Decepticons, but I’d worry about that later.

Phoenix chuckled. “Can’t a fem chat because she wants to?” She asked, her vocals dripping with honey as I scowled.

I shook my helm. “It is never that simple, Phoenix, especially with you. You want something,” I replied, prompting her and shuffled back half a pace. “What, do I suddenly owe you for fixing me up last night?” I demanded.

I didn’t ask her to, and I was not about to begin working for the Decepticons. I’d rather offline than do such a thing.

The Firebird laughed, shrugging a well-polished shoulderplate and grinned at me. I knew she caught my step back, she’d have to be stupid not to have seen it, but I hadn’t run yet. As far as she was concerned, we were playing a game, and she would humor me for as long as it amused her.

I had to get whatever information I could and then jet.

“Why the hostilities, femling? It’s like I said yesterday; if I wanted you offline, you would be.” She smiled, crossing her arms. I didn’t buy it, not for a second, but for the moment, I’d hear her.

Primus, I was playing with fire, literally. She must have tracked the call I made to Fowler. I left it open for him to pinpoint me, and must have forgotten to anticipate Decepticon interference. Primus have mercy.

At my silence she smiled, turning her attention behind me into the vast mountain range, the drop-off sheer at my peds while the wind howled around us both.

“Fine, fine. No, you don’t owe me. In fact, if anything, I owe you.” She chirped, dragging her gaze back to me as I blinked. How the frag did that make any sort of sense? She grinned. “You got me off the warship, and for that, thank you.”

She laughed again when I remained unmoved. “I suppose I'll get to the point of my visit. Why are you on Earth, femling?” She asked. “You won’t tell me your designation, you won’t tell me your affiliation, you won’t even converse with me. You’re a mystery, and I gotta say, I’m quite curious to know more about you,” she hummed, taking a step closer.

I didn’t try to hide my next pace back.

She raised an optic ridge, shaking her helm. “Honestly, femling. Who are you?”

I bit my glossa and refused to answer. Knowledge is power, and the more knowledge I give the Decepticons the more at risk my people become.

Her smile dropped, dread sinking in my tanks. “Look, femling, I’m gonna be real with you. Either you tell me who you are, or Soundwave will break into the human government files and find out anything remotely to do with you. Your designation, how long you’ve been here, and everything about those humans you seem to try so hard to protect.”

The energon drained from my faceplates at her threat, shaking my helm unconsciously. She knows about the village. By the Allspark-

The Firebird shrugged. “It’s your decision. Soundwave doesn’t even know you exist yet, but he will if you refuse to talk to me,” she said quietly, though I hardly heard her over the ringing in my audials.

Phoenix, Megatron’s Assassin, could find out everything the United States knows about the village, about Kayla and Josh and the border guard and their security measures, at least the measures I have announced to the Pentagon. I swallowed audibly, glancing at the cliff and bit back a vent of frustration. Damnit-

This was entirely my fault.

“What’s to say you haven’t done so already? How am I supposed to trust anything you say?” I said at last, bracing as she laughed again.

For all I knew, she had an entire seeker squadron waiting on the other side of that portal, waiting for her signal to storm through and shoot me down. I couldn’t be sure of anything. I needed to warn Kayla, the Chief had to raise the field and their defenses.

She smiled. “I wanted to give you the benefit of the doubt first. Give you a chance to prove yourself, to see if you would lie to me. You have my word that Soundwave does not know about you, nor will he if you tell me your designation right now,” she proposed, chuckling as I gaped at her in shock.

I could feel my spark racing, clenching my servo and hesitated.

When the Firebird gave you her word, she kept it. Always. It was akin to a code she lived by, an honour system she has never, not once, broken.

If she offered me her word right here and now, then I was inclined to believe it.

Granted, it has been millennia since I have seen or heard anything about her, and I truly don’t want to just give out my designation. If it wasn’t for her dangling the village over my helm, I would have taken off into the skies by now. The possibility of learning more about the war wasn't worth this.

I glanced down the cliff again, debating all my options before damning everything and glowered at her.

“My designation is Wildspark. Happy?” I growled, her optics gleaming and she offered me a brief nod.

“Wildspark. Fitting designation. How long have you been on Earth?” She smiled, and I had no doubt she would run the designation I just gave her through their database once she returned, promise or not, and discover that the femme I named was supposed to be dead.

Not that it would matter much if I was too.

I shrugged, narrowing my optics at her. “It doesn’t matter how long I’ve been here, Phoenix. All you need to know is that I’ve been here long enough to grow attached to this planet and these people. For a long time, I have lived among them, and I want you to give Starscream a message for me.” I knew I had piqued her interest, enough so she wouldn’t lash out until she heard me. I just hoped it was enough to buy me enough time to get the frag out of here. She cannot fly and even if an armada was waiting, I know these mountains like the back of my servo. Cloaking my signal to hide from them would be child's play.

“I’m listening.”

I took a deep inhale, steeling myself. I was about to make an enemy out of the entire Decepticon faction, and I found I didn’t care. They all already knew about me, many of them were hunting me; I may as well make my intentions clear.

Although, she did claim that Soundwave was unaware that I was on Earth. Why she was keeping secrets from her own faction, I didn’t know. It really wasn’t my problem and I wasn’t about to complain.

“Tell Starscream that he has to make a choice. Tell him he has to leave Earth immediately, or I will become the biggest kink in his wing that he has ever had.” I warned. “I know I am just one seeker, one lone femme. I know that I am insignificant, but if he threatens my home I will pull out every trick, every deception in order to make his life hell. If he remains I will pester him, annoy him, and be the biggest, most distracting nuisance possible.” Her expression remained unreadable, but I didn’t care.

Starscream will ignore this message, and then the fun will really begin. I most certainly can’t win against the Decepticons, but I can sure as frag annoy them.

“It would be in his best interest to heed me, because one day, maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, maybe not even a year from now, but one day, I will distract him when it counts, and he will lose something to the Autobots. Please remind dear Starscream that I have been at this just as long as he has, and he will not always be able to ward me off. I will be the biggest frustration he has ever had.”

I know I won’t be able to win. I know I won’t be able to beat them. But I can be annoying, I can be infuriating, and if he focuses on me then the Autobots will be able to benefit from it. Someway, somehow. I don’t care. But I will protect my planet the only way I can. I have the advantage of home territory.

I was making my stand right here and right now, and I very well may die for it.

She stood there in silence for a long moment, contemplating my words and threats. This has been a mistake, waiting for Fowler to send them here. I haven’t gotten anything out of Phoenix, and now she knows I’m her enemy.

I meant every word.

“I’ve gotta admit, that took guts, Wildspark,” she said at last, chuckling softly and shook her helm. “But Starscream is never going to hear a word of your threats.”

I didn’t reply, but my wings drooping automatically gave me away. Damnit why-

She smiled. “It’s good to know where your loyalties lie, though. If made to choose, you’re more likely to be an Autobot than a Decepticon.”

I vented harshly, balling my servos. “Well, the Autobots aren’t the ones threatening my people, now are they?” I retorted, truly not caring at this point about biting my glossa. She knew about them. She knows about the village, and what they all mean to me. I just hope I can get to them first, before she changes her mind about attacking.

The government databases needed to be locked down. I’m no scientist, but I’m fairly confident I’ll be able to keep Soundwave out long enough to figure something else out, something more permanent. They cannot find out details, but that means I’m gonna need to get the frag out of here sooner than later.

It means I need to survive this encounter.

The Firebird laughed, shrugging. “I suppose you’re right. But before you take off, Wildspark, there’s something else I want you to see.” She waved a servo, gesturing to the green and purple vortex swirling behind her. “Or rather, there’s someone I want you to meet.”

I was a pace away from the edge of the cliff, but if this mystery bot came out shooting I was basically fragged. I hesitated, her gaze locked onto my every movement as she sent me a knowing smile.

“I’d advise you to hold off on running, femling. You’ll want to see this,” she murmured, the first words she’s said today that weren’t laced with arrogance. I glanced at her faceplates and was stunned to find her expression… calm. Sort of. It wasn’t cocky, or arrogant, but… hopeful. Confident I would do what she said, even before I did. Her stance was relaxed, with a laid-back smile on her faceplates.

Primus Almighty, why was I still here?!

I swallowed, cursed myself for my curiosity, and waited.

She smiled wider, turning from me to face the bridge behind her, stepping aside when a towering frame materialized into view.

I didn’t bother to hide my shock when the leader of the Autobots himself stepped through the ground bridge, Optimus Prime appearing unfazed about the assassin now standing at his side.

Either I’m tripping, or this war has seriously gone off the rails.

“Wildspark, meet Optimus Prime.” The Firebird grinned, gesturing with a servo to the towering mech, but despite it all I still didn’t let down my guard.

No, if anything all this did was set me even further on edge.

“Explain,” I said quietly, looking between the two.

Fowler said she wasn’t a threat. Phoenix claimed my village was safe from Soundwave, that her own faction didn’t know about my existence. Even still, I was suspicious by nature and that fact has kept me alive all these eons. I was not about to change that just because I was caught off guard, no matter the situation.

Phoenix winced and nodded, sharing another glance with the Prime. “I defected, femling. For years now, I’ve been feeding intel to the Autobots, which is why we had to be absolutely certain that you weren’t loyal to the Decepticons.” She frowned, rubbing her neckcables. “I do apologize for threatening your humans. Nothing was ever going to happen to them, I swear it,” she added.

I remained unconvinced.

“Forgive my hesitation, but I am not so inclined to believe you.” I replied, appearing to catch both of them by surprise. The Prime had yet to say anything, observing both the Firebird and myself, half a pace from the edge of the cliff and blaster primed and ready should the situation call for it.

I frowned. “I mean no disrespect, but I am having a hard time trusting your words given all that has happened. Optimus, is there any way you can prove you are who you claim to be?” I asked.

I didn’t miss the stunned look on Phoenix’s faceplates, wincing slightly and shrugged. “I would assume the two of you are familiar with the Decepticon Makeshift?” I asked, earning nods of confirmation, along with another glance between the two.

“Then you should understand my hesitation. All it requires for him to mimic another Cybertronian, be they Autobot, Decepticon or Neutral, is to access the required files about the bot in question. I have no doubt that the Decepticons have heaps of information regarding the leader of their enemy, information that Makeshift could use to properly pass as said leader to anyone unsuspecting enough to fall for it. It’s happened before,” I explained, recalling a few reports I picked up through the war about how devastatingly effective that Decepticon could be. I wasn’t about to fall for the same tricks.

The Prime nodded slowly, frowning. “You make a valid argument, Wildspark. Unfortunately, I am uncertain about what kind of information I could offer to prove I am who I claim to be.” He appeared genuine, his servos extended in a peaceful gesture. If it was Makeshift, then that mech was good.

Phoenix crossed her arms, and once more the two shared a look, the Firebird venting and shook her helm. “I don’t suppose you’ll believe me when I say that mech has been offline for a while, huh?” She huffed, kicking a pebble and watched it bounce across the stone between us.

Interesting. She was right, I couldn’t trust her claims, but if she was telling me the truth then things just got a whole lot sweeter. That mech was a pain in the aft.

I hesitated, debating with myself over asking for this kind of information. In a war like this, knowledge can mean the difference between life and death, and I was currently battling whether it would be worth revealing this information to them, if it was worth the risk I would be taking.

I had two options: reveal that I was in contact with Fowler and have him confirm I’m being told the truth, or go a different, more personal route.

Either way, I had to make a choice, and fast, because no matter what was decided upon here, I needed to update the village on the situation. I don’t trust Roselake to give a damn about protecting them anymore, not after last night.

At this point, the government can kiss my aft for all I care.

Venting, I lifted my helm and met the Prime’s optics.

“Tell me something only Orion Pax would know.”

The shock and surprise in his optics wasn’t exaggerated, Phoenix not much better. The Prime however was quick to recover, frowning at me as a look of wariness seemed to overtake him. “How do you know that designation?” He questioned, tensing almost unnoticeably.

It was either I admit to having a connection to the Iacon Hall of Records, or I admitted to them that Fowler has been lying to their faces for five years. Whatever happens, Fowler is gonna need to come clean eventually, and there truly isn’t all that much information about Orion Pax before the war in the Decepticon database. If this really was Makeshift, then I would have him backed in a corner in a more clear-cut manner than calling Fowler would, and besides. Fowler needs to come forward himself. I'm not going to do his dirty work for him unless I literally have no other choice.

This had better be the right move. I have made enough mistakes for one day.

I shook my helm to his question, eying them both cautiously. “For the moment, that is irrelevant,” I replied quietly, Phoenix quickly glancing between the two of us in concern.

“How would you know if he told you the truth, though?” She demanded, crossing her arms and narrowed her optics at me. “Who are you, Wildspark?”

I smiled slightly and shrugged, shaking my helm and waited for the Prime to answer me. He had placed a servo on the Firebird’s shoulderplate briefly, urging her to calm. She seemed oddly defensive on his behalf, something that I took note of and filed away for later.

It took another few moments of this tense stare down, before the Prime finally conceded and nodded. “Very well, Wildspark,” he began, ignoring Phoenix’s imploring look and eyed me warily. “I do not believe this information is important enough to exist in the Decepticon databases, so this should hopefully convince you that I am who I say I am: I often remained in the Iacon Hall of records after closing in order to do my own personal research.”

I blinked, letting my blaster deactivate and watched the two Autobots in stunned surprise.

Makeshift was offline, Megatron was offline, Phoenix was an Autobot spy, and my village was in fact safe. Holy stars.

Phoenix huffed, ignoring the warning look Optimus gave her and stepped in front of him. “Happy, femling?”

She grumbled when I nodded, though I doubted she blamed me too much. I had to take care of myself, after all.

“My apologies for asking for such sensitive information, Optimus. I needed to be sure,” I said, earning a dip of the helm in answer.

So Fowler sent the Autobots to me after all. Who would have guessed.

He frowned, risking a pace closer. “How did you know that designation?” He asked again, and now that I was certain that Fowler had done something right for once, I felt obliged to give them some answers.

I shrugged, glancing over my shoulderplate to the rising sun. “I had a relative who worked in the Iacon Hall of Records before the war started,” I admitted, turning back and frowned. My Sire knew Orion before he became the leader of the Autobots, though he never introduced us. He always insisted on keeping his home and work life separated, and I only know what I do about the one standing before me from what my sister and I overheard him telling our Carrier.

Sire had his reasons, though I’ve always wondered why he was so strict about it.

Optimus nodded, and thankfully didn’t ask who. I didn’t wish to delve into the past anymore than we already had, and right now I needed to figure out what I was going to do. I could attempt to return to the village considering M.E.C.H would think twice about trying another attack with Roselake on high alert, but that still meant dealing with the government. A government dead set on arresting me. General Bryce was a stubborn, stubborn man, and I wouldn’t put it past him to demand me in custody no matter the decision the Autobots and I came up with.

It was beyond frustrating, though I was relieved that I didn’t need to stress about the Decepticons launching an attack against them. Kayla and the village were, for the most part now, relatively safe.

Pushing all that aside, I turned to them and asked, “Is Jack ok?” I was concerned for the boy, and I just hoped he was coping alright.

Thankfully, the Autobots nodded, and I allowed my wings to relax, utterly relieved. I was terrified Arachnid would have trapped him on her ship, terrified he would have been a casualty of my own carelessness when my bomb went off in orbit. I cannot express just how glad I am that he’s so resourceful. Tricking her like that was one of the most satisfying sights I had ever witnessed.

“Good. I trust you found the Energon Harvester?” I chuckled when the Firebird raised an optic ridge, turning to her leader.

“That was her? I thought you didn’t know where it went,” she said, crossing her arms as I hummed. They turned to me, and I couldn’t help the grin.

So the Decepticons were just as confused as the Autobots. Sweet.

“I gave them the coordinates after the fight with Arachnid. I’m glad Jack relayed my message,” I said, Optimus nodding.

“Our medic was able to open the harvester and gather the energon stored inside. It will be able to supply our team for some time.”

Good. Any advantage the Autobots can get, means the safer my planet is.

“Wildspark, what do you intend to do now?” He asked after a brief pause, frowning as I tensed and shook my helm. I have no fragging clue but I recognize an invitation when I see one and I have no interest in joining their war. No, thank you.

“My intent is to survive,” I said simply, frowning. “And to protect my people however I can.”

I will not leave Earth in the hands of the Decepticons, no matter what opinions I have about humanity's leadership. If I can help them, I will. I refuse to lose another planet, I refuse to say goodbye to Earth like I was forced to do with Cybertron. I won’t.

“You could join us. We are stronger unified.” The Prime held out a servo, but I shook my helm again and smiled ruefully. No thanks, Optimus. I’m quite alright where I’m at.

“Thank you, but I’ve been Neutral since the beginning of the war, and I’m content with how things are,” I said, glancing at the Firebird standing at his side. “But if I find anything that I think could help you, I’ll be sure to pass on the information.” I promised.

Humanity deserves the chance to thrive, and I’ll be damned if I abandon them to the Decepticons.

Optimus nodded. “Very well. The offer stands if you ever change your mind,” he said, motioning for the two of them back to their bridge. He paused and turned back, a contemplative gleam appearing in his optic. “Would you be opposed to sharing your comlink?” He asked, Phoenix raising an optic ridge at the request.

To have a direct line of communication with the Autobots, without needing to go through Fowler, would be nice.

I smiled, nodding. “Here,” I said, transferring it over to both of them, and without another word leapt from the cliff and took back to the skies.

I had to keep telling myself that I wasn’t getting involved.

– – –

Phoenix watched as the Neutral flier disappeared beyond the mountains, biting her glossa against the not-so-pleasant things she wanted to say. Asking about Orion was something not even she did very often, let alone tolerated from a random flier.

She had to admit, though, that it was a smart play. Wildspark used the knowledge she had to her advantage, and she begrudgingly found herself accepting it.

Didn't mean she had to like it.

She said as much, her leader venting softly.

“At least now we know, Phoe. It was information I was willing to share,” he said, following her gaze over the horizon.

Phoenix nodded once. “I get it, I do. I honestly can't say I'm surprised. It's irritating, is all.” Speaking about such personal information to a random stranger, one none of them knew, let alone trusted, was an overstep in her books.

The flier confused her. Then again, she was Neutral. She never had a good relationship with Neutrals during the war.

Understatement of the era right there.

“Starscream is going to call for me soon. I need to head back,” she said finally, Optimus nodding once.

“I know.”

She turned to face him, a dark cast appearing across her faceplates. “He isn’t happy that Megatron is alive.” She crossed her arms, scowling. Honestly, she wasn’t either. It was one thing hiding her true loyalties from Starscream, he was brash and foolish enough not to piece her deceptions together. Megatron, though?

She had been lying to the Decepticons for 4 years. Megatron was gone for three of them. If he recovered and resumed command, it would take him very little time to figure her out, especially once Soundwave reported her movements to him. She had to be careful when and where she hid her signal, and had to be extra careful the Surveillance Chief didn’t have Laserbeak hounding her when she made her reports.

He had come close to discovering her several times, and she feared it was only a matter of time until even Starscream realized what she was doing.

She wouldn’t be a spy for much longer.

Optimus was quiet for a time, contemplating. She knew the history between the two leaders, almost every Cybertronian did. She knew that even now, after all Megatron had done, even after he destroyed their planet, Optimus still wished for his friend, his brother, to return. She knew that he wished things had turned out differently, for all of them.

She would give anything to take his pain from him.

“If Megatron is in stasis, then we have very little time to act, Phoenix,” he said at last, facing her with a resolute expression. “We are going to coordinate a strike against the Decepticons, and hopefully drive them away from our home.”

She nodded, exhaling. A battle where her loyalties would finally be brought to light. It was about time.

They turned away from the horizon, nothing else left to say. She would have to get the Autobots onto the Warship, and when it became clear which side she was fighting on, well. Starscream would blow a fuse.

She'd at least stay at base until the team returned. And she might even take Miko out for a drive.

Maybe.

Her leader turned and kept pace with her as they returned to base, Ratchet shutting down the bridge once it became clear that no one else was returning with them.

“How did it go?” He asked, Phoenix raising an optic ridge and shrugged.

Optimus glanced at her once, and she got the inkling feeling he was imploring her to watch her glossa.

She merely grinned at him.

“It was indeed the Neutral flier Arcee and Jack met yesterday,” Optimus replied, moving to stand beside their medic at the monitors overlooking the base. “She poses no threat to us or humanity, and would appear to be quite resourceful.”

Phoenix couldn’t hide her snort, coughing into her fist and ignored the looks the two of them were giving her. Ratchet was curious, Optimus resigned.

Before anything else could be said, a loud horn sounded from the tunnel, the rest of the team returning from grabbing their charges. Saturdays were one of her favorite days to visit, because it meant she could see the kids longer.

She stood by and grinned when the three children disembarked, the Autobots transforming and seemed quite surprised to find her standing with the others.

“Phoe!” Miko shrieked, scaling the steps two at a time and nearly launched herself over the railing in her excitement. Phoenix laughed and grinned at the girl, the two boys following, though much slower than the energetic 15 year-old.

“How long are you staying this time?” Jack asked when he got to the top, Raf placing his bag down beside the table and came over in time for her to shrug.

“Only as long as it takes to update you all on the Neutral situation,” she said, Arcee tilting her helm and braced a servo on her hip plate.

“You ran into her again?” She asked, Optimus nodding as Bulkhead and Bumblebee came over.

The three of them shared a glance, turning back the conversation when Optimus began to speak.

“Agent Fowler asked us to look into a signal for him. When we went to investigate, we found the flier waiting for us,” their leader explained, recounting their conversation. She wasn’t surprised when he left out her interrogation of him, only stating that she was unwilling to trust them until they could prove they were telling the truth.

“Did you get a name?” Ratchet asked.

Phoenix frowned and nodded. “She told me to call her Wildspark,” she began, but was cut off from saying more when Bulkhead started, his optics growing wide.

“Woah, woah, woah. Did you say Wildspark?” He repeated, and Phoenix frowned and nodded. The Wrecker didn’t look happy. “She’s a seeker, right? What colour was her paintjob?”

Phoenix shared a quick glance with Optimus, her frown deepening at the urgency in Bulkhead’s tone.

Did they just make a mistake?

Optimus replied for her. “She was a silver seeker, Bulkhead. She stated that she wished to keep her distance, but would aid us in our efforts if she could. Do you know her?” He asked, the mech nodding grimly.

“I did, Optimus. She died before Cybertron went dark.”

The Autobots and children fell into a quiet pause, his words hanging heavily in the air.

“That doesn’t make sense.” Ratchet was the first to break the silence, crossing his arms. “Why would she be using the name of a dead bot?”

Arcee shook her helm. “Probably for the same reason Fowler lies to other humans to cover up our activities. She’s hiding something,” she said as she crossed her arms.

Phoenix was more than inclined to agree.

“She has a human village that she appears intent on protecting. I didn’t find anything in the Decepticon database regarding her, nor did we find an insignia on her frame. If she is a Decepticon we have no record of her,” she said, though Bulkhead seemed to be thinking.

She almost made a joke about it, but fortunately kept it to herself. Now was most certainly not the time, or the place.

“Bulk?” Arcee prompted, all eyes and optics turning to him expectantly.

He frowned. “She had a twin. Wildspark had a twin sister, Starfire. The two of them were inseparable and served with the Wreckers for a stint late in the war. When Wildspark died Starfire left, and I haven’t heard from her since.” He explained.

Well this was an interesting turn of events. The others were clearly thinking the same thing.

“Perhaps she’s using the name of her dead twin to try and protect herself.” Ratchet theorized. “We would have been none the wiser if Bulkhead wasn’t here. It isn’t like we have a record of every Neutral from the war.” He pointed out.

He wasn’t wrong. Many Neutrals went underground and never resurfaced if they were discovered, either because they were killed, or were just that good at hiding. Any database that either side had was always incomplete when it came to the Neutral cause.

“What kind of runs did the two of them do?” Arcee was asking, Bulkhead shrugging.

“A little bit of everything. The two of them were part of the Neutral network, and had connections they used to help us. They never said where they got their information from, but every target they gave us was accurate,” he explained, Phoenix raising an optic ridge in curiosity.

She had a hand in the interrogation of countless Neutrals, but not a single one ever gave up the codes to their network, let alone willingly worked for a faction using the information the network gave them. They had tried using the Cortical psychic patch numerous times, but every single one of them had preferred deleting their own processors to giving up their allies. She had to admit, even then, how honourable and sacrificial the majority of Neutrals she came across appeared to be.

They had to be. All of them had someone within the Network they wanted or needed to protect, and giving up the access codes to their frequencies would endanger everyone who relied upon the network. It couldn't have been easy making that choice, but they were already doomed to begin with. Perhaps the choice was easier than she gave them credit for.

She had discovered several Neutral run lines during the war, bots who would gather information and run them to their connections, but the runners always got wind that she was onto them, and always disappeared before she could get to them.

They were the one type of bot who could hide from her and actually remain underground and hidden. They had always been her favorite to try to track down and break.

She winced, pulling herself from her thoughts and returned to the present. The bot she was on Cybertron was not who she was now, and she had to focus on that.

“Well, I don’t think Wildspark, Starfire, Kayla, or whatever her name is, means us any harm.” They all turned when Jack spoke, walking to stand beside Miko after quietly listening to their debate. “She risked her life to protect me when she didn’t have to. She also gave us enough energon that none of you are stressing about it anymore. If she wanted to, she could have left me at the mercy of Arachnid.” Phoenix didn’t miss the slight wince from Arcee, glancing at the two-wheeler. That history ran deep, and she wouldn’t be surprised if Arachnid found her life ending on this planet. She would be more than happy to help Arcee if needed.

She never liked that glitch, anyway.

Optimus nodded slowly, listening to their words and opinions and contemplating his own while the team debated. “Bulkhead, can you speak to her character?” He asked, the Wrecker grinning.

“I can, Optimus. The two of them were some of the best lob players we ever had, and if Starfire’s here then the ‘cons better hope she doesn’t choose a side.” Bulkhead laughed, the team sharing a look. That did sound promising.

Bumblebee nudged the mech, and said a few choice words that made Rafael snicker.

“I’m serious, Bee,” Bulkhead insisted, still grinning. “The femme can give us both a run for our money.”

Seems like the scout wanted to test that theory, though they all turned back to their leader for his final call.

“I advise that we continue to remain cautious and vigilant, and for the time being keep the children away until we can confirm her true intentions,” he said at last, Miko groaning and pretty much pouted at the order.

Phoenix found herself smiling, sharing a glance with Bee. The girl was spirited, that was for damn sure. The scout merely shrugged at her, and she got the feeling he was grateful he was Rafael’s guardian, and not Miko's. She wished Bulkhead luck keeping up with her.

This should be fun.

– – –

Chapter Text

I flew until I came to another stable cliffside, reeling over the information I had just learned.

Optimus Prime was on Earth with a small team of Autobots, including ex-assassin Phoenix. Fowler was still determined to follow orders, but he at least sent them my way. I had to admit, I was grateful.

Doesn’t mean I forgave him.

I vented, transforming and leaned my helm against the rock. The Decepticons were here in force, the Autobots knew about my presence, and the human military wanted me in custody.

Something had to give. I couldn’t keep running and I sure as frag couldn’t hand myself over to the humans. Not a chance.

Humming quietly, I looked out over the beautiful view and contemplated all that had happened these past few weeks, the information I had learned and the way the war has progressed. I couldn’t just sit around and do nothing, not while Earth was under threat. I was by no means willing to choose a side, pick a faction, but I would defend my home. And the first thing I had to do to solidify that, was getting a hold of General Bryce.

I cracked a grin, flicking through my systems and located the number I was looking for, dialed, and waited for the show to start.

– – –

“Ambassador Gardener?” Ambassador Daniel Gardener was pulled from his work when his secretary rang for him, the man raising a brow and called for her to speak.

“Someone just called and told me to pass on a message to you,” she began, intriguing him somewhat. He got many messages every day, and the only ones to reach him through Alissa were either from important sources, or messages that she believed would make him chuckle.

He rarely heard her sound confused and uncertain, thus further piquing his interest.

“What did it say, Alissa?” He asked, glancing around his office. He was currently going through a few documents for some grants, the sounds of heavy machinery outside his window droning on into the early afternoon. He was in the center of a bustling military base, and he found himself missing home far more often lately.

His work was important, however, so he made do with what he had.

She hesitated, before repeating what she was told to pass on. “I think it might be another prank call, Sir. She sounded quite serious though.”

He frowned. Things had been tense for the last little while, so having a prank call would normally be a highlight of their day. Alissa was quite adept at what she did, so to have her sound so conflicted was alarming.

“What did she say?”

Alissa hesitated again. “She told me to tell you that the stars are falling. She made me swear that I would make sure you received her,” she said, his eyes widening and quickly pushed the paperwork he was working on aside. “Does it mean anything to you?” She asked.

He quickly gathered himself and disabled his cell phone, activating a scan and double checked that there were absolutely no listening devices within or around his office.

“I’m sure it’s nothing, Alissa. These kinds of callers think they're hilarious. Thank you,” he said, dismissing her and muting the desk phone. If Alissa needed anything, she would see the Do Not Disturb and shelve the issue until he made himself available again.

He stood from his desk and went over to the windows, peering outside towards the parade square and the platoons for a brief moment, before drawing the curtains closed and dimmed the lights.

Once he was confident that no one would be able to see what he was doing, that no one was able to look in through the ground floor windows, he opened his desk drawer and pulled the key from around his neck off the chain.

He unlocked and lifted the false bottom, revealing a small safe. He took a deep breath and inserted the key, holding it within the lock and counted the seconds until he heard a click, the safe releasing for him to open the hand-held device. Daniel smiled and pulled out a small earpiece and tablet.

He returned the safe back in his drawer and reclaimed his chair, tucking the earpiece in his ear and flicked it on, connecting it to the small tablet and accessed the Neutral frequency with Abigail’s message pending on the screen.

He logged on and quickly wrote up a reply, deactivating the device and returned it back to the safe when he was done.

Daniel sighed and shook his head, securing everything back up and returned the key to its place against his heart. He just hoped she knew what she was doing.

– – –

I smiled when Daniel’s message flickered briefly across my feed, deleting the thread after logging General Bryce’s work and personal numbers to my files.

I hauled myself to my peds and dusted myself off, humming quietly and called the man responsible for this whole mess.

While I waited for the General to pick up, I did a quick count of my supplies. I had lost the medkit when Silas attacked, and most of my energon reserves were inside the harvester, which, as luck would have it, I ended up handing over to the Autobots. I would need to recover one of my stashes sooner rather than later, especially if this call didn’t go the way I wanted.

Knowing the General’s reputation, I was bracing for a fight.

It didn’t take more than three rings for the General to pick up, and I silently swore I would get Daniel ice cream for this.

“This is General Bryce.”

I grinned. “Hello, General,” I chirped, beginning to pace along the cliffside and fanned out my wings. “I figured it was high time we had a conversation.”

“Who is this? Am I supposed to know you?” He questioned, and I just laughed and found myself shrugging.

“I mean, you definitely know of me, but we’ve never had the opportunity to have a nice, decent chat. Which is a shame, because I’ve heard quite a few things about you during my time at Roselake,” I mused, glancing at the rock under my peds. I knew about him, and he most definitely knew about me. It’s only right that after ten long years we finally sat down and had a conversation.

“Starfire, I presume?” The General was quick, I’ll grant him that.

“Indeed.”

He no longer sounded cordial or civil, his tone hardening. “How did you get this number?” He demanded, and I merely chuckled.

“General, need I remind you that all the technology that humanity has developed within the last ten years has been due mainly to me?” I asked, raising an optic ridge. “I’m fairly confident I’ll be able to find a mere phone number or two.”

I don’t believe he was overly happy about that reminder, and there was not a chance in the pits that I would out Dannie.

“What do you want?”

“I do not appreciate being taken advantage of, General Bryce,” I said, not beating around the bush and got right to business. I was still furious about our deal being broken, and even more so knowing that Roselake did such a poor job protecting the village. My people are down there, and I have witnessed M.E.C.H and their tactics first hand. Silas is not above collateral damage. Roselake failed them.

The General on the other end of the call scoffed, and I bit down the mental urge to smack him. “You were never meant to find out about the Autobots. If I do recall, in your own words you claimed you wanted nothing to do with the war. As for your involvement with a certain village, allow me to remind you that those people are citizens of the United States, and as such do not require your protection. You-”

I cut him off and snapped at him. The nerve to read me a script- “General, the war was my priority the moment the Decepticons landed.” I shot back. “It was not your decision to make. You risked that village, you risked me, and you risked Earth, and for what?

“You disabled my warning sensors, you willingly lied to me about the factions, and you risked civilian lives. Tell me, what the frag did you think would happen if one of them found me first?” I demanded. I kept speaking before he could get another word in. “What would have happened if for some reason my cloak stopped working? Say, by, oh, I don’t know, a certain human government getting it in their heads that they had a right to disable them? What if the Decepticons found the village, with me living there? What reason could you possibly give me that would justify the lives of innocents?”

He lied to me, got Fowler to lie to me, and endangered the people I have been protecting for 300 years.

It’s unforgivable.

The call was silent for a long moment, long enough for me to stop digging my digits into the palms of my servos. Long enough for me to gather myself and regain some of my composure. Something had to give.

Something had to give and it sure as frag was not going to be me.

“Starfire, look at it from our perspective,” he began, and I fought the urge to roll my optics. Primus have mercy give me patience.

“Ten years ago, we discovered you, an alien, living on our planet. We found out that we were vastly underpowered in comparison and if you were to turn on us we would have no way to defend ourselves.” I let him speak, resisting the urge to yell some sense into this daft human. “Naturally, we needed to ensure a way to keep you in check.”

I finished his next sentence for him. “While at the same time building up your own defenses in case I turned rogue, is that it?” I asked dryly, fuming.

“That is correct.” The gall to actually agree with my comment.

I huffed a laugh, shaking my helm in utter disappointment. “And is that the kind of deal you made with Optimus Prime when the Autobots landed? Or did you figure they weren’t as much of a threat to humanity as the lone neutral was?” I couldn’t wait for the General’s reply, truly. At least Fowler wasn’t this bad.

“No. By the time they landed we believed we had enough to be able to hold our own should they decide to turn on us. They were offered refuge and Agent Fowler assigned as their liaison.” The fact that he said it like it was obvious almost made my energon boil. The double standard here was outrageous.

“General,” I took a deep breath before continuing, gritting my denta. I officially do not like this human. “If I wanted to hurt humanity, I would have done it 300 years ago. I really wish you people would figure that out. I just want to live my life with the people I care about, but for some reason that isn’t good enough for you!” I huffed, throwing my servos up in frustration. “And do you really think you’ve progressed at all compared to my race?” I demanded. “General, the technologies I gave you were nothing more than trinkets, just the bare minimum to detect any oncoming threat so we could figure out a plan of attack. Do you really think you should be burning down bridges like this?”

General Bryce didn’t respond right away, though my long-distance sensors alerted that he had sent a few messages to Roselake, the closest military base with the required clearance levels to my current coordinates.

So that’s how he wants to play, is it? Very well.

“General, before you send your bloodhounds on me again, I’d like to give you a proposition. The same proposition I gave Starscream about an hour ago,” I said, at this point far beyond done. He really shouldn’t have underestimated me, or pushed me to the point where I wanted nothing more to do with these people.

And I love people.

“Starfire, do you mean to tell me you’ve reached out to the Decepticons?” General Bryce demanded, and if I could see him, I wouldn’t be surprised to see a scowl distorting his face. I have almost declared myself an enemy of the state.

Neat.

I grinned, triple checking that this communication was secure. I did not need Soundwave to tap into my conversation. “Not exactly. See, I ran into someone who gave me the ability to contact the Decepticon Commander, and I told him to tell Starscream that if he knew what was good for him, he would pack up and leave Earth. Immediately.” I paused, allowing the General time to process my words and for him to relax and move away from the red phone. No need to go nuclear just yet.

“You and I both know that the Decepticons are unwilling to listen to reason, hence this blasted war, so it stands that Starscream is going to ignore my advice to leave my planet alone.” I didn’t care if Bryce claimed I didn’t belong here. This was my home just as much as it was his. “Accordingly, I warned Starscream that if he persisted in this futile endeavor, I would do everything in my power to stand in his way. I am now extending that warning to you,” I said, turning to the south, towards Roselake base.

“In the light of recent events, our agreement is officially void. I will no longer be supplying humanity with Cybertronian technology, and you will no longer keep tabs on my movements. You will relinquish any authority you might have claimed over the Village of Rushing Streams, and you will pull out any personnel stationed there immediately. You will also call off the warrant the F.B.I has for my arrest, or I will personally come forward to the Autobots and tell them about everything. Including everything about our first official meeting,” I warned, crossing my arms.

Bryce knew I wasn’t referring to this conversation, the man silent as I continued.

“I would love for you to explain to Optimus Prime why you treated me with such hostility, when I have done nothing, absolutely nothing to deserve this.” I said calmly.

I know the kind of mech Optimus is. While I wouldn’t go as far as to say I trusted the Autobots during the height of the war, Wildspark and I knew that if all else failed, if we found Optimus, then he would help us. I knew he would, no matter what the rest of the Neutrals claimed.

I’d be sure to tell him everything if Bryce pushed me. Who knows how the Autobots would take the news?

“Are you implying that Optimus Prime will turn on our government?” By the Allspark this human was frustrating-

“No, General,” I said slowly, trying to keep the frustration from my vocals. “Optimus Prime cares for his people, and that includes humanity, and myself. He will not turn on you, though if his trust in you is broken, then things may get complicated.”

The General was, once again, quiet on the line, and I figured I had another five minutes before Roselake would be on my aft. I should probably wrap this conversation up.

“If you want my advice, General, then let Fowler tell the Autobot team the truth,” I said, praying to Primus that he listened to me. Please, Bryce. Listen to reason. Starscream won’t, but that doesn’t mean you can’t. “Hearing it from you will be a thousand times better than hearing it from me. You’re meant to be fighting this war with each other, it’s very hard to do that with people you cannot trust.”

I didn’t wait to see what his reaction would be, cutting the call.

I scowled at the rising sun, cursing my unfortunate luck. Of course Bryce would have a double standard.

Growling, I found the second number I needed and gave Special Agent William Fowler another call.

I found myself pacing while it rang, flicking my wings agitatedly as I waited.

Something had to give.

After what felt like an eternity Fowler picked up the call, speaking before I could get two words out.

“Starfire. What happened?” I raised an optic ridge, able to pick out genuine concern in his voice. Odd.

“Well, I had a meeting with the Autobots this morning, so thank you.” I was grateful, despite everything, and between him and Bryce, I would rather deal with Fowler any day.

“I just got off a call with General Bryce,” I continued, interrupting anything else he could possibly say, noticing from the corner of my optic 5 signals approaching the Canadian border to the south. I had maybe three more minutes. “If you cannot convince him to call off the warrant for my arrest and officially rescind our contract, then I will come forward and explain to Optimus Prime everything from my perspective. It’s his choice.”

Either way, Optimus Prime will be brought up to speed by the time the sun sets. Whether he hears it from his allies or the renegade Neutral is up to the humans.

“I am done being your asset, Fowler. General Bryce needs to wake the frag up and realize that if he wants Earth to stand a chance, then we need to stop shooting each other in the back. Get Optimus Prime to contact me once he is caught up to speed on the situation.” I finished, cutting the call and leapt from the cliff, transforming and made a beeline further North and away from Roselake, the Autobots, and my village.

They have until the end of the day.

– – –

I lost the Roselake hounds with ease, quietly laughing as I watched them fly by from the forest floor. I wouldn’t put it past General Bryce to make one last shot at capturing me; it was almost funny.

Letting out a vent, I turned and began walking towards the farmstead I landed near, having little to no doubt that they already knew I was here.

I wasn’t far out from the small town of Mackenzie, and these people have been here long before the town was first established over half a century ago.

Ensuring my scanners kept rolling, I made my way to the edge of the forest, stopping just within the tree line in time for a small jeep to reach the edge of the fields. I smiled, activating my holoform and stepped out to greet them.

“Morning!” I chirped, raising a hand against the sun as the jeep rolled to a stop, a middle-aged farmer stepping from the driver's seat.

“Morning, miss,” he replied, dipping his head as he walked over. “Can I help you with anything? You’re on private property at the moment and my wife is very particular about her privacy,” he explained, stopping a respectful distance away from me.

I smiled, taking in the rolling fields behind him, and, in the far distance, the homestead belonging to generations of my friends and allies. “You can, actually,” I said. “Would you mind telling Nituna that an old friend has come to say hello?”

I knew the moment my words registered to him, his dark eyes narrowing. “How old are we talking?” He asked, and hardly blinked when I dissolved my holoform and stepped out properly.

The secret of my existence is carefully guarded and passed down through their generations, and while many have lived and died without ever meeting me, they continue protecting my secret and waiting for the day I would return, be it for aid or otherwise.

Liana was the current Matriarch of the farmstead, and I was fortunate to have met her once before, when her mother and father brought her home from the hospital for the first time.

The farmer blew out a breath and nodded, and I couldn’t help but smile again. These people naturally kept to themselves, and he was one of the lucky ones to have married in. If memory serves, then they had a young son and daughter together, who helped run the farm and keep a lookout for anyone or thing that didn’t belong.

Like for instance, myself.

“Welcome back, Starfire. Would it be too much to hope that this visit is under good circumstances?” He asked, frowning when I shook my helm.

“I’m afraid not, my friend. It would seem I have made an enemy out of the United States,” I replied, casting a glance to the sky should the Roselake hounds circle back. “I was hoping I could bother you for shelter for the evening,” I added, twitching a wing when a cool breeze fluttered across them.

He nodded instantly. “Of course. Liana will be overjoyed to see you again,” he said, walking back to the jeep. “And please, call me Simon.”

I smiled, looking forward to this meeting as he stepped aside and allowed me to scan the vehicle. I’ve managed to keep in contact with most of my connections through the years, with a brief message on the Neutral network once or twice a year to reassure everyone that I was still around, and they were not alone.

He smiled and climbed in once I was done, turning the vehicle around and made for the farmhouse in the distance. I was quick to transform and follow him, the rolling fields and pastures covered in a small dusting of snow, likely the first of the season.

“Roselake might notice a second set of tracks when they return,” I said to Simon through the intercom, the farmer laughing.

“I’ll get Leah and Landon to head out here with their snowmobiles. By the time they’re done having fun no one will be able to tell there were other tracks to begin with,” he assured, setting my worries at ease at the prospect.

Sounds like a good plan to me.

It didn’t take much longer for us to return to the main part of the farm, finding myself smiling at the pair of Shetland dogs that ran up to greet us.

Simon parked his jeep just outside the main house, and I took the hint and parked beside him. I reactivated my holoform and stepped out, laughing when the two dogs ran up and began making demands to be pet.

“Well hello, you two,” I cooed, Simon whistling once and had both dogs sitting within seconds. I smiled, petting them each once on the head before following Simon up the entrance stairs to the front door.

“Ginny and Dexter are still learning their manners,” he explained, opening the door for us. “Though I suppose it doesn’t help that Leah and Landon spoil them rotten whenever their mother and I aren’t looking,” he laughed, and I couldn’t help but grin.

“They’re beautiful dogs,” I praised, letting my leather jacket dissolve as he hung his coat on the mudroom wall. Simon nodded, motioning for us to enter the main part of the house.

“They’re the kids’ pride and joy,” he smiled fondly, leading me into the kitchen and urged me to sit while he went to get his wife.

I complied, taking a seat at the table and glanced around the cozy room after Simon had left. The touch of five generations of people were evident in the decor and the walls, and I found myself happily surprised to find a few pieces of a silverware set I had gifted to Liana’s grandmother sitting on the kitchen island, clearly being used regularly.

I exhaled softly and closed my eyes briefly, recalling the memories surrounding this house, from the moment my friends built it around a hundred years ago.

I reopened my eyes when a quiet gasp filled the room, turning and smiled at the woman standing in the doorway. I stood, Liana crossing the distance and folded me into her warm embrace.

“It is so wonderful to see you, Abigail,” she whispered, smiling as I returned the hug warmly.

“Likewise, Liana. I love what you’ve done with the place,” I replied, stepping back when Simon entered the room.

Liana beamed, before promptly turning to her husband. “Simon, be a dear and gather the kids. They’re gonna love this; I’ll put on a pot of tea for us, and then we’re going to sit and catch up,” she chirped, directing the last bit my way while Simon stole a quick kiss before he darted back outside to where I was assuming their children were.

Liana turned to the stove and grabbed the blue kettle, stepping to the sink and refilled the water.

“Is there a specific kind of tea you would like, Abigail?” She asked, glancing at me over her shoulder.

I shrugged, standing to go help her. “I’ve always been a fan of chai,” I replied, Liana leading me over to a cupboard beside her stove, opening it to reveal rows upon rows of teas and sweets.

My eyes widened as she grinned, placing the kettle on the element and knelt down to help me choose. “I keep my shelves stocked at all times, and whenever the kids and Simon head into town I always make sure they pick up a box or two while they’re out. I haven’t run out yet in the 24 years since I married Simon,” she said proudly, grabbing the box I selected and placed it on the counter.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen such a large tea collection,” I mused, rising and began to help her make lunch. “Though to be fair, I haven’t really gone around looking.”

Liana chuckled, glancing out the window above the sink when the dogs started barking.

She shook her head, humming. “If it wasn’t for those kids, I’d likely have those dogs trained by now,” she chuckled, a fond smile on her face as she came back to the kitchen island and began assembling the sandwiches I was working on. I was just barely able to make out the two dogs, Ginny and Dexter running up alongside a pair of young adults who I would assume would be Leah and Landon.

There was laughter and a rising in the dogs’ barks, and I faintly heard one ask who the second jeep belonged to.

Liana and I shared a grin, finishing up lunch right as the door to the mudroom opened and the laughter from the two became far, far clearer.

I was in the middle of pouring the tea into five mugs when the youngest, Leah, ran in, her mother’s name on her tongue.

“Mom! Do we have company?!” She demanded, skidding to a halt in the archway to the kitchen, her brother nearly running into her at her sudden stop. “I saw a new jeep but dad refused to give a proper answer! All he would say is ‘Go talk to your mother’,” she said, imitating her father rather dramatically as she excitedly waited for an answer.

I giggled quietly, highly enjoying the show and made a mental note to visit my friends around the world far more often.

Liana sighed and shook her head, wiping her hands on the folds of her skirts while the two finally scanned the room and spotted me, waiting patiently for their questions to finish, setting the kettle back on the element.

Landon, who was around a head taller than his sister, shouldered his way inside the kitchen, sticking his tongue out when Leah elbowed him.

Their mother sighed again, hanging her head with a groan and tiredly rubbed her temples. “Children, I do hope you remember you have manners,” she chided, raising a brow when the two blinked.

“Sorry, Ma.” Landon winced, smiling sheepishly at her before turning to myself. “It’s nice to meet you, miss. My name is Landon, and this is my little sister, Leah.” He introduced, his sister elbowing him again and blew some of her brown hair out of her eyes.

I smiled, Leah moving to stand beside her brother. “Please pardon our rudeness. It isn’t often Mom allows us to have guests over who aren’t family, especially unannounced. You are more than welcome here,” she said, and I spotted their mother smiling in approval.

I glanced behind the two when their father entered the main hall, Simon blinking at his children, who were quite effectively blocking the doorway.

“It’s nice to officially meet you both,” I said, moving around the island as Liana began setting the table. Her kids quickly started to help, their father grabbing the platter of tea and set it down before taking a seat himself beside his wife.

Leah kept giving me not-so-subtle glances, likely catching the wording of my greeting as she whispered something to her brother.

Landon hushed her, their mother clearing her throat and raised a brow at the pair.

They took the hint and got settled around the table, Liana motioning for me to take the seat beside her.

Once we were all situated, I decided it was about time I answered the obvious questions the children were clearly holding back from asking.

“Leah, Landon, my name is Abigail,” I began, the two sharing a quick glance before putting their sandwiches down. “This may be the first time we’re meeting in person, but we have been in contact your whole lives,” I said. They didn’t know if I was the person they suspected me of being, hesitating on asking any questions that would expose my cover to someone who wasn’t meant to know.

I smiled. “I trust you have been helping your parents maintain the technologies I have given you,” I said. “It would be quite difficult running the Neutral Network by myself so far away from Cybertron, after all.” I mused, and I choked on a laugh when Leah shot to her feet and ended up slamming her hands onto the table, ignoring the look her mother was sending her as the teacups rattled.

“Holy Primus it is you!” She exclaimed, her brother gaping at me before tugging on her arm to get her to sit back down.

I grinned, nodding.

“It is indeed,” I chirped, Leah hardly able to contain her excitement.

“I was wondering about your eyes,” Landon remarked, wincing when his mother face-palmed, their father chuckling quietly. “They’re such a unique shade of blue. I suspected but I really didn’t know how to go about asking, and if I was wrong, well…” He trailed off, his sister snickering at his sheepish grin.

I laughed and shrugged, Liana steering the conversation back onto more serious matters.

“What brings you here, Abigail? Simon told me you were run out from the United States. Is that true?” She asked, her children quieting instantly, returning to their food as I nodded.

“You remember when I announced that the military discovered me, and the contract we made?” I asked, referring to the notice I posted on the Neutral Network ten long years ago, alerting every one of my contacts to lay low, and not to make any waves.

They nodded. Leah was seven at the time, and Landon was almost ten. I cut my interactions with the Network down to the most crucial alerts, and only used it for emergencies. I haven’t seen or heard from anyone in those ten years, save for a yearly update reassuring my allies that I was still alive and as well as I could be.

If Fowler ever found out about the Network he would freak.

I’d like to see him try and get it out of me. Not even Megatron would have succeeded.

“Yes, Simon and I were quite worried when the news reached us,” Liana said, her husband nodding slightly.

I smiled grimly, Landon glancing between us cautiously. “What contract, Abigail?” He asked slowly, and though I ensured that my connections knew I was alive, I didn’t risk using the Network more than I had to. Thus, no one ever found out the details of the contract save the people living in the village.

I sighed and took a long sip of tea, relishing the warmth in my hands as I recalled the horrible experience of convincing the United States that I wasn’t a threat to them. I was fortunate enough to have lasted this long without them fully turning on me. Sometimes, being suspicious can royally backfire on someone.

I think General Bryce is learning that the hard way today.

“The Pentagon and I agreed to keep each other informed about developments regarding the war,” I explained, setting my cup down. “In exchange for Cybertronian technologies,” I didn’t fail to catch the alarm on Simon’s face, sharing another glance with his wife, “they would keep me up to date if any other Cybertronian landed on Earth. Be they Autobot, Decepticon, or Neutral.” I said, inwardly going over all that could have gone differently if I was just told about their landing.

Damn human stubbornness.

Leah interjected, frowning and fidgeted with the sleeve of her coveralls. “Abigail, how much technology did you give them?” She asked quietly, voicing the source of alarm her parents were feeling.

I smiled slightly. “Don’t worry, Leah. They don’t know about the Neutral Network, and they never will. I only gave them technologies they would have developed on their own in the next hundred years or so,” I assured, Landon blowing out a breath as his sister relaxed.

“That’s good.” Liana smiled, grabbing a sugar cube and dropped it in her cup, stirring it until it dissolved. “What changed?” She asked.

My smile fell, taking a deep breath and glanced out the kitchen window. Arachnid was on Earth.

Of all Cybertronians, why did it have to be her?

“The war has finally reached Earth,” I murmured, the four of them stilling. Liana dropped her spoon.

I looked back to my friends. “The Pentagon disabled my warning sensors, and hid the Autobots from my scanners for five years. Apparently, the Decepticons have been here for 4,” I explained grimly, simply relieved that Megatron was dead, and the next logical choice for the Decepticon leadership was an Autobot spy.

I had no doubt that if Phoenix had remained loyal to the Warlord, then she would have been able to undermine Starscream and resume command of the Decepticons by now. She was smart enough and ambitious enough to follow in Megatron’s footsteps.

Thank Primus she was on our side.

“How many are we talking about?” Simon asked, his son staring at me unblinkingly from across the table.

I exhaled, swallowing. “Enough that I promised Optimus Prime my assistance should the situation call for it,” I admitted, touched to see the shock and wariness in their faces.

“Wait, if Optimus is here then does that mean..?” Leah trailed off, swallowing as I nodded once.

“The Decepticons are here in force, led by their Commander, Starscream,” I said, folding my hands on the table, my food forgotten. “Fortunately, however, I have it from a reliable source that Megatron is finally offline,” I added.

After so many eons of endless, pointless battle, Megatron was finally dead.

I still could hardly bring myself to believe it. It didn’t seem possible.

Liana gasped softly, her husband placing a hand on her wrist as they all stared, utterly shocked at this revelation.

I closed my eyes and breathed, calming my racing spark. All my allies knew about the Decepticon leadership. I told them all about Megatron, Starscream, Soundwave and Phoenix. I told them about Shockwave and his cruel experiments through the war, about Oil-Rig and his tendencies to test his formulas on unfortunate prisoners. They were as prepared and caught up as I could get them during the last 300 years.

“I found out early this morning,” I said, facing them once again. “As it stands, Phoenix is now an Autobot spy, undermining Starscream’s rule by giving intelligence to the Autobots.”

Liana still looked uneasy, squeezing her husband’s hand tightly. “Are you sure you can trust her?” She asked quietly, the children just as apprehensive as their parents.

I shrugged slightly, shaking my head. “I honestly don’t know what to think anymore,” I admitted softly, taking a breath. “For the moment, I am waiting to hear from Optimus Prime regarding the military’s decision. I gave General Bryce until the end of the day to come clean to the Autobots, and rescind the warrant out for my arrest. Until then, there’s nothing for me to do but wait.”

Simon nodded slowly, sharing a look with his wife before turning back to me. “You are welcome to stay here for as long as you need, Abigail. You will always be family here,” he said, Leah and Landon sharing a grin at the prospect.

I smiled, dipping my head thankfully. I will always strive to protect these people, no matter what it may require of me.

I will aid the Autobots, if it means taking care of my own. I’m sure Wildspark would have agreed.

– – –

Chapter Text

After lunch, I went out and helped Simon around the farm, Leah and Landon being excused from their chores and sent out on the snowmobiles, ripping around as dark clouds started rolling in from the North.

Liana mentioned setting up the spare bedroom for me, and Simon opted to open one of the nearby barns for me to keep my physical frame for the evening.

It had been quite some time since I was around farm animals, though I was happy to report that I managed to collect around a dozen eggs without breaking a single one. Simon was taking care of the small herd of cattle they kept through the winter months, ensuring the heaters, feed, and water were good and at the proper levels.

We started heading inside when the snow began falling, Ginny and Dexter pacing us the whole way.

Simon chuckled and opened the mudroom door for the duo, the happy dogs trotting right on in with large flakes of snow sticking to their fur.

“Leah and Landon will be inside eventually. Why don’t you head to the front room, while I make sure Ginny and Dexter don’t bring in the flood.” He laughed, grabbing a towel and blow dryer and motioned for the two dogs to sit.

I smiled and nodded, sidestepping them and went up the small flight of stairs leading into the house. I dissolved my coat again, and swapped my boots out for a pair of moccasins, poking my head around the entrance to the front room. Liana was sitting at the computer near the corner of the room, turning when I stepped inside.

She smiled and stood, motioning for me to take a seat on the couch. It had been a few hours since lunch, and I was acutely aware that Fowler and General Bryce were running out of time before I called Optimus myself.

“The chickens are taken care of. Simon is just drying off Ginny and Dexter,” I said, glancing around the cozy room.

Across from the couch was a brick fireplace, with a small television on top of the mantle. A handful of candles and mementos sat beside it, and were scattered across the row of bookcases opposite the bay windows.

I smiled, recalling once again helping Helen and John plan out the design of this house, beyond grateful for these people and all they have done and continue to do for me.

Liana nodded, resuming her seat at the desk beside me. “Thank you for helping Simon. He does so much for us, I’m sure he appreciated the help,” she said, glancing at the screen. “I was thinking about letting the Network know you were safe and taken care of,” she added, at my nod turning fully to the computer and began typing out a message.

There was little else left for me to do but wait.

– – –

It was long after dinner and everyone had come in for the night, playing games and chatting in the main room, when my laptop received a notification.

I had my bag at my feet and was talking with Simon and Leah about their chickens, the two dogs curled up by the fireplace while Liana and Landon played a game of crib.

I tensed instantly, cutting off my comment about their newest hen and turned my full attention to fishing the laptop out of the bag and quickly entered in the password.

The only time any of my devices sound off are for my alerts, be they from the Network or my newly established scanners.

Simon and I had gotten a new one set up inside one of the barns, and there it would remain until I destroyed it myself. The Pentagon won’t get their hands on them this time around.

I had half a mind to set up more around the world, giving me another excuse to visit my friends and family. But I would think about all that later, for now I was just concerned about the state of our planet.

“Is everything alright, Abigail?” Leah asked, her father hushing her. Landon and Liana looked up from their game, but I was preoccupied by reading Daniel’s message to give them a verbal answer.

“I think so,” I said at last, typing up a quick response before I stood, returning the laptop to the bag and glanced at my friends. “Daniel just told me that Bryce has finally come to a decision, and will give Fowler permission to explain everything to the Autobots. I’ll be right back, I should be receiving a call soon,” I explained, Liana’s nod the confirmation I needed to deactivate my holoform.

Back in the barn, I found myself encased in a dim glow from the overhead light, transforming and checked my com-link for any incoming messages. I told Fowler to get Optimus to call me, and I trusted the leader of the Autobots would do just that once he was brought up to speed.

Another message from the Network filtered across my visor, narrowing my optics at Daniel’s reply. As it stood, General Bryce was still reluctant to remove the warrant for my arrest, though he was confident that it would be rescinded soon.

A cold wind blowing in from outside sent a chill through the otherwise warm barn, a shiver sliding down my backstruts as my wings fluttered. From the looks of things, winter was finally arriving in Canada, and I just hoped I would be able to fly from here if the situation called for it.

The last thing I wanted was to get stuck on the wrong side of a snow storm.

Liana and her family kept an older jet on their property at all times, so I really didn’t need to go far to reclaim my wings.

I hoped the Autobots would take the news well.

– – –

Phoenix had returned to the Decepticon Warship after getting the team up to speed, promising to keep in touch and to help get the ship ready for their inevitable attack.

Once it had gotten later in the evening, and with nothing else really to do, the team decided it was a good idea to take the children back to their homes. However, a call on the monitors halted their efforts, Agent Fowler’s face appearing on screen.

“Prime? We need to talk, and I would prefer it if we could do so in person. Are you able to bridge me to base?” The team looked at each other in surprise, none of them expecting such a thing so late.

“We can, Agent Fowler. Please supply coordinates and Ratchet will open a bridge for you,” Optimus replied, stepping up to the monitors while the team motioned for the kids to head back to the viewing platform. They deserved to hear this as well.

Agent Fowler gave the necessary information, and within a matter of moments the ground bridge was spinning away, ready and waiting for the human agent.

“What do you think that’s all about?” Jack asked, the three children at the railing waiting with the rest of them.

Arcee shrugged. “Who knows? Though it is unusual for Fowler to call for a bridge,” she mused, and had half a thought to wonder if this had anything to do with their renegade Neutral, Starfire.

Miko was clearly thinking the same thing, excitedly theorizing with Rafael.

In moments, the human agent had appeared through the bridge, Ratchet shutting it down behind him.

“Thank you,” Fowler said, nodding to the team as he made his way up to the platform beside the kids. “General Bryce has finally given me permission to come clean to you all about everything, though I hate to admit that it took some pressuring from our local Neutral to set things in motion.”

The team shared another glance, Optimus frowning slightly. “What do you mean, Agent Fowler?” He asked quietly.

Fowler sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose and held the railing with the other hand. “I’m saying that we’ve known about Starfire’s presence on Earth for the last ten years, and as such we had made a theoretically mutually beneficial contract with her. However, given recent events, she’s called the contract to be void,” he explained, Miko and Bulkhead sharing an excited glance.

It really was his friend.

Arcee frowned. “Why didn’t you tell us about her sooner?” She demanded, Bumblebee stepping up beside her.

Fowler sighed again. “I was under strict orders not to. Not my idea,” he added, raising a hand. “General Bryce can be quite stubborn when he gets an idea stuck in his head. I’ve been trying to convince him to let me tell all of you about each other for years, with very little luck.”

Ratchet frowned. “What kind of contract did you make with her?”

Fowler shrugged.

“She would give us technology, in exchange for any and all information we came across about the war,” he said. “She discovered that we had kept your presence from her and she hasn’t taken to it kindly,” he admitted, Arcee narrowing her optics at the human agent.

“What sort of technology?” Ratchet demanded, Bulkhead blinking in surprise and spoke up before Fowler could respond.

“I find it hard to believe that Starfire would have given you anything. The Starfire I knew hardly gave information to the Autobot team she was working with, let alone a bunch of humans she clearly wanted nothing to do with,” Bulkhead interjected, ensuring his displeasure was heard loud and clear, and his distaste with the man known.

“Oh trust me, she gave us hardly anything,” Fowler started, but was interrupted when Rafael spoke up, the 12 and a half year old peering up at the older human frowning at him.

“Why did you guys lie to her?” He asked, Jack crossing his arms.

“Yeah, wouldn’t it have made more sense to keep each other in the loop?” He added, the Special Agent nodding.

“I’m with you there. It wasn’t easy or fun having to lie to her all these years,” Fowler replied, turning back to the Autobot team. “Starfire has been living on Earth for the last three centuries, hidden within our populations virtually seamlessly. General Bryce felt threatened by that realization, and the Pentagon insisted on this arrangement to ensure our own security.”

As the agent spoke the silence in the missile silo grew heavier, the weight of his words a bitter pill to swallow. They understood what he was implying, and he knew they weren’t happy with how she had been treated by the people of Earth.

“She ran into Phoenix around two months ago when they both tracked down the same energon signal, and proceeded to demand answers the moment she got to the base designated as her station.” He explained. “Starfire cut contact with us after everything came to light, and has been unable and unwilling to be found ever since.”

Optimus Prime didn’t look overly pleased about this information. “Phoenix mentioned a human village that is aware of who she is. What can you tell us about them?” He asked, Fowler hesitating and briefly avoided their gaze.

He sighed deeply, drawing his hand down his face in resignation. “The only reason she’s coming forward now is because of those people. Out of everyone on Earth, they are probably the most advanced and protected people there is,” he replied, debating how to go about explaining all of this and just who those people were, without overstepping what he was and was not allowed to say.

Honestly though, at this point he was very nearly ready to screw it all and come clean to them entirely. It might very well be for the best if he did, no matter what General Bryce had to say about it.

“Starfire has been living within that village since she arrived on Earth. She has given them far more technology then she ever dreamed of sharing with the government, going so far as to build her own ground bridge,” he said, Ratchet appearing intrigued at the new information. “A ground bridge that we were unaware of until M.E.C.H blew it sky-high last night,” he added.

“Starfire has also ensured that there is a cancellation field in at least a mile radius surrounding the entire village, blocking out bridges, certain technologies, and the activating and disabling of holoforms,” he said. “The only reason cellular waves make it through is to ensure the village could call for aid if anything goes wrong.”

Miko leaned over and quietly asked what a holoform was.

While Jack and Raf went about answering her, referring to Arcee’s human hologram ‘Sadie’ that she uses when driving around humans without Jack accompanying her, Agent Fowler sincerely hoped that Starfire wouldn't be too upset about him revealing what he knew about the village.

To say she was fiercely protective of them would be an understatement.

Even Bulkhead seemed surprised at the advancements Starfire had given to this one village, and made a mental note to check it out with her once everything had blown over.

“She has made it quite clear that the technology she handed to the village did not belong to us, and she was willing to fight tooth and nail in order to preserve what she had given to them,” Fowler said. “She has been guarding them for generations, and as such they are loyal to her without question.”

Miko piped up then, “If they know about the war, then why haven’t they done anything about it?” she asked, tilting her head in curiosity. “They know the Decepticons are here now. They could totally take the fight to them if they wanted.”

Fowler frowned. “I have met some of those people, and for the most part they just want to be left alone. A trait quite like the Neutrals, if I’ve learned anything from Starfire over these last few years,” he explained.

“So, hold on. Let me get this straight. She’s been here, on Earth, for centuries at this point, and has revealed herself to a group of humans, while at the same time feeding them our technology?” Arcee asked, Agent Fowler nodding once. She frowned.

“That is correct.”

The Autobots looked at each other, then. Even Bulkhead didn’t know what to say to that.

“The question remains: what do we do now?” Ratchet asked finally, Agent Fowler sighing.

“She gave General Bryce until the end of the day to come clean to you all, and to ensure we did so, she wants to receive a call from you, Optimus,” he explained.

The team instinctively turned to their leader, who was continuing to observe the conversation as he formulated his own thoughts on the matter.

The Prime was quiet for a long moment, appearing contemplative. "If she is expecting confirmation that we Autobots have been informed of the situation, then I believe we should organize another meeting,” Optimus said, turning to his team and in particular, Bulkhead. “Would she react well to seeing you again, Bulkhead? As it stands, she does not yet know you are on Earth as part of this team.”

The Wrecker didn’t have to think about it for long before he grinned, sharing a quick glance with Miko and nodded. “If she’s anything like the Star I remember, Optimus, then this meeting will be a breeze.” He laughed.

The Prime nodded once, Fowler running a hand over his head sheepishly. “I uh, would like to apologize for everything. Be advised that she is quite mad after all this, so don’t hold your breath for her to be willing to do anything other than talk,” he warned.

“Will she be able to return to her village?” Jack asked. “I mean, I would assume that she’s been avoiding the place since you know where it is and everything,” he pointed out.

Agent Fowler nodded. “Just as soon as General Bryce gets the paperwork sent through to the F.B.I to call off the warrant for her arrest, she will be able to return home without issue.” He assured.

Miko jumped up, her eyes growing wide.

“Are you saying she’s on the F.B.I’s most wanted list?!”

– – –

It was early the next morning when I arrived at the meeting coordinates, Liana and her family wishing me well. I promised I would see them all again soon, Leah and Landon sharing a grin and told me they would hold me to it, even if it meant heading down to Idaho themselves.

The location the Autobots picked was further North in Alaska, far from human sight and nestled deep into the Alaskan mountain range.

I landed there ahead of time to scout out the area, relieved to find nothing out of sorts. I still didn’t completely trust Fowler or Bryce, though from the conversation I had with Optimus Prime last night, I was feeling quite more confident in my survival chances.

The Prime wasn’t overly pleased with the General either, and I got the feeling if it came down to it, the Autobots would stand between Bryce and myself.

I smiled slightly, recalling another time when I put aside my desire to remain out of the war, and the friends I ended up making as a result.

My smile quickly fell when I remembered what caused me to leave, balling a servo and blew out a breath.

This time would be different.

I would not lose my family, not again.

A ground bridge came to life a few paces away and stole me from my thoughts, the Autobots arriving right on time.

I waited across the small clearing the meeting was to be held in, counting as each member of their team left the bridge.

I recognized Arcee first, the two-wheeler regarding me with a cautious expression, while the young mech beside her offered me a wave.

He seemed to brighten as I chuckled and waved back, and I found Arcee fighting to hide a smile of her own at his excitement.

The mech was young, very young, hardly more than a sparkling compared to the Autobot leader and the vast majority of the Decepticons. I felt my smile fade, examining him carefully.

He was likely sparked during the last generation before the Well of Allsparks went dormant, choosing his side quickly and was thrust right into the war.

This fight is likely all he’s known.

Optimus Prime was the next one to exit their bridge, regarding me with a neutral expression, though appeared far less guarded than the warrior at his side. Considering what Arachnid had done to her, I didn’t blame Arcee for being so closed off. I was, after all, a stranger, and a Neutral one at that.

“It is good to see you well, Starfire,” the Prime said, and I winced as I nodded. Should have guessed that Fowler would expose my actual designation.

Lying to them seemed like a smart plan at the time, and I didn’t regret it.

“As well as I can be, I suppose,” I replied, glancing over at the assembled team.

300 years without seeing a single Cybertronian, to meeting almost every friendly on Earth within a matter of days.

“Is this everyone?” I asked, catching the glance between the mech and Arcee, Optimus shaking his helm.

“No. There are two others. Our medic, and another warrior,” he said. “A question though, Starfire. Did you serve with the Wreckers for a time?” He asked.

I blinked, forcefully thrust back to my time on Cybertron with the infamous war unit. Wildspark and I needed energon, desperately. So when we stumbled upon a patrol, the Wreckers allowed us to join them temporarily.

Well, that temporary stent turned out to last much longer than anyone had anticipated, Wildspark and I using the Neutral Network and our connections to report Decepticon movements and in turn feed the Network valuable information from the Autobots themselves.

We had made many friends in that unit, friends I had resigned myself never to see again after Wildspark offlined.

I would never voice it, but I felt a sense of responsibility for my sister’s death. I was the one who insisted we try and make contact. I was the one who told her we would be alright just as long as we stuck together, that we would do well to gain Autobot protection just until we could gather enough supplies to head out on our own again.

I still remembered the last conversation we had before that fateful mission, a conversation where we decided, together, as twins, to join the Wreckers officially, to renounce Neutral status and take an active part in trying to save our planet.

Wildspark died in that very same mission, and I left and never looked back.

If we had left when she first mentioned it, then she might very well still be alive today.

I was only able to manage a nod to the Prime’s question, swallowing the lump in my throatlines. I needed to know how they found that out, but the only ones who knew a Neutral was involved with the unit were the Wreckers themselves.

The chain of command was always a suggestion to them, so they never got around to relaying the new developments up to the Autobot leadership.

Was it possible that one of my old friends survived, and was here, on Earth? Did I dare hope?

Optimus smiled, and at my confirmation motioned to the swirling portal of green and blue behind him. “Then I believe you know the fourth member of our team,” he said, and my optics went wide when the mech in question appeared through the bridge, jaw dropping as I instantly recognized the bot standing before us.

“Holy Primus you’re alive?!” I blurted, Bulkhead lighting up instantly once he saw me.

“Starfire!” He darted across the clearing and tackled me in a hug, laughing as he hoisted me off my peds and spun me around, his laughter infectious and caused me to giggle.

“It’s been ages, Star! What are you doing all the way out here?” He laughed, eventually letting me go and grinned the biggest grin I think I’ve ever seen on him.

Bulkhead was alive. Alive, and fighting to protect Earth.

Stars above, I was beyond relieved.

I grinned and shrugged, glancing around him and found the yellow mech nudging Arcee, a motion I recognized to get her to lighten up.

“I could ask you the same thing,” I mused, shoving down the glee I was feeling and chided myself to focus on the task at hand. I could reunite with my old friend in a bit, for now though I had a conversation to have.

“I’d presume this is how you knew I lied about my designation?” I ventured, Optimus nodding and offered a smile of his own.

“That is correct, Starfire,” he said, the Wrecker in question laughing sheepishly and grinned when he caught the look on my faceplates. Just my luck that one of the only bots who knew me on Cybertron would be here on Earth.

I hummed and turned to the two-wheeler. “How’s Jack holding up?” I asked, Arcee tensing slightly.

“He’s doing alright,” she said finally, frowning as distrust and wariness warped her expression. “Why did you protect him?” She asked.

Well that was abrupt.

I felt my derma twitch at the question, realizing that all four of them were waiting to hear my response. Why did I save the human? Why did I put myself between him and Arachnid? Why did I put myself at risk to ensure his safety?

“Why wouldn’t I?”

She clearly wasn’t expecting such a reply, furrowing her optics and nodded, once.

Jack was a kid, a human. He was just as much under my protection as anyone else on this planet. And that is something that will not change.

Bulkhead was grinning at me, glee radiating off of him in waves as I turned to the Autobot leader.

“My statement still stands: I will continue to help this team however and wherever I can,” I began, taking a deep vent. “But I will not become a soldier in this war. My only priority is protecting humanity, nothing more.”

Optimus nodded. “We will respect your decision, Starfire. Our doors will always be open to you,” he replied. I nodded, relieved that they didn’t seem interested in forcing me to choose a side.

I’ve had my fair share of conflict with the Autobots during the war, many of them demanding Wildspark and I chose a faction if we ever crossed paths. It was frustrating, and one of the key reasons the Neutral Network advised avoiding either faction if at all possible, a sentiment I agreed with.

After all, choosing a faction led to my twin’s death, so I wasn’t overly eager to relive it all over again.

I don’t know if I would ever be ready, or able, to accept what happened to her.

However, that didn’t mean I would abandon them. Whether they liked it or not, I was on Earth to stay.

I picked up on Bulkhead’s disappointment from behind me, turning and nudging him. “Hey, don’t think that just because I’m not gonna be living at base means you get out of lobbing with me,” I teased, causing the mech to laugh and swat at me. “I’ll still be around.”

I had no intention of leaving Earth. He and the rest of the team are stuck with me.

Something tells me this is gonna be fun.

“So, what are you going to do now?” Arcee spoke at last, Bulkhead glancing at her as I frowned.

“Well, it would seem like Fowler kept his word, so I’ll probably head back to the village,” I admitted, figuring that if we were to co-exist on this planet, then continuing to lie to them would only serve to stab myself in the backstruts. Besides, I was fairly confident Fowler would have told them something about my home. “I need to give them an update on the situation, and we’ll probably figure things out further from there.”

I’ve learned a lot these last few days, and the prospect of going home was very nearly making me giddy. I want to see Kayla again, and Josh and Anastasia. I’ve missed them.

I need to update my sensors as well, and make sure my physical frame is entirely out of sight. Just because M.E.C.H was thwarted once didn’t mean literally anything. Hopefully, now that Roselake was leaning more towards being friendly with me again, then perhaps I could rely on some aid every now and then.

Either way, I had to be careful.

“Wanna head to base with us first? The kids are dying to meet you,” Bulkhead asked, pressing on when I hesitated. “Come on, fem! It’s been centuries, we gotta catch up! Do you know how hard it’s been to keep Miko from sneaking through the bridge after us just so she could get a chance to meet you?” He asked, and from the corner of my optic I saw Arcee finally crack a smile. “Besides, this way we can bridge you back home!”

I had to admit, it sounded tempting.

“I don’t know, Bulk,” I started, but the young yellow mech had already grown excited at the prospect, running up to us and started listing off ideas that we could theoretically do if I accepted the offer.

I blinked at the utter influx of information, glancing over to the Prime. After all, this was his team. His base, his rules. If Optimus said no then that would be the end of it.

There was not a chance that I would be arguing with a Prime, no thank you.

Instead, however, I found Optimus nodding, the air in the clearing relaxing.

“Bumblebee, where are your manners? Let the fem have a chance to answer!” Bulkhead was laughing, slapping the mech’s shoulderplating while the young bot, Bumblebee, sheepishly smiled at me.

Bulkhead turned back to me expectantly, grinning as I raised an optic ridge.

“You do realize I’m a flier, right?” I asked, fighting the grin of my own. “I think a race would be slightly unfair.”

I laughed when Bumblebee insisted on trying, shrugging once and made sure I kept the sympathy off my faceplates. I’m sure the young mech had dealt with enough to last a lifetime.

It didn’t get past me the fact that he no longer had a voice box.

Primus have mercy, he’s too young to have gone through something like that. I didn’t need to know how or why it happened to understand that he was lucky to be alive, and the fact he remained so upbeat and happy was testament to his perseverance and character.

While I was processing all this the remaining two members of the team walked over, Arcee still keeping her distance but appeared at least cautiously unguarded. Ish.

Optimus smiled, Bumblebee taking a chance to catch his breath and I turned to face the Autobot leader. “I suppose I would be willing to stay for a short visit, as long as it’s alright with you.” I conceded, Bulkhead laughing gleefully.

“Oh, this is gonna be fun!”

– – –

After a few more minutes of chatting in the woods, it was suggested that we moved the conversation back to base.

I was apprehensive at first, not able to gauge what to expect. At least out in the forest, I had the advantage of flight on my side, but the moment I stepped through the bridge I would be in unknown territory and that thought terrified me.

I hadn’t been in unknown terrain in almost 300 years. I knew almost everything there was to know about Earth, from the people to the land even to the handful of crashed Cybertronian ships scattered around the planet.

I had my reservations around trusting the Autobots completely, but with Bulkhead here then I was willing to give them all a chance.

I gave the forest another glance before following them through the bridge, stepping out on the other side into what appeared to be a repurposed military base. A glance up told me we were inside a hollowed out mountain, an elevator in the back of the main room informing me that the surface was at least hospitable up above us.

A row of monitors towered above the human viewing platforms, curving around to form a seating area for the children and any other human visitors the Autobots would host.

It was there that I spotted two of the children, the charges of the Autobots looking up from the television and seemed to light up when they saw us. I smiled when I recognized Jack, the girl beside him bouncing to her feet and ran over to the top of the stairway.

The ground bridge was closed by who I would assume to be their medic, an elderly mech who frowned when he caught sight of me. It was there I saw the third and final human, a small boy who was sitting at one of the computers watching the whole thing curiously.

“I take it the meeting went well, then,” he said finally, turning from the bridge control panel and went back to talking with the boy.

The Autobots dispersed and went over to their individual charges, Bulkhead dragging me along behind him over to the stairs, where Miko was eagerly waiting for introductions.

“Star, I’d like to introduce you to my best bud, Miko!” He chirped, with a wave of his servo encapsulating the human child in front of us.

I smiled and nodded. “It’s nice to meet you, Miko. You’re taking good care of Bulk, right?” I asked, the girl beaming up at us and nodded.

“You betcha! Though I’ve got to know, how did you two meet?” She asked eagerly, and from the corner of my optic I saw Bumblebee, Arcee and Jack tune in to listen.

Welp.

“We met back on Cybertron when I joined up with the Wreckers for a while,” I explained, glancing at my friend. That was quite an adventure, and were it not for the situation that unfolded then I would have likely remained with them until our planet died.

I really needed to stop thinking about my twin.

“That’s so cool! Did you know Wheeljack?” She asked. I raised an optic ridge and looked at Bulkhead, the mech beaming.

“Jackie’s here?”

Wheeljack and I had been close, and he had let me tag along in the Jackhammer with him during a couple missions before I lost Wildspark.

He was sent on a mission right before Wildspark and I went on ours. I never ended up staying long enough to say goodbye, and part of me knows it was because I didn’t know how I would be able to face him.

How would I be able to look him in the optic and tell him his friend, my sister, was dead?

“Wheeljack was here for a day or two. He left not long after to keep exploring the galaxy,” Bulkhead explained.

I nodded, shoving down the pang of disappointment as Jack walked up, his partner monitoring the interaction like a hawk.

“How are you doing, Jack?” I asked, the kid shrugging with a glance at Arcee.

He faced down Arachnid and lived to tell about it. I was still proud of him.

“I’m ok. Kayla, was it?” He asked, referring to the name I had given them the other day.

Well, at least the real Kayla couldn’t claim I didn’t include her this time. I used her name and everything.

“Well, no,” I hummed. “That’s the name of an old friend of mine. My name is Starfire, and my human friends call me Abigail,” I explained.

He and Miko shared a curious look, Jack asking their combined questions.

“Why don’t you just use one name?”

I smiled, recalling a time when I used multiple names for multiple people around the planet, to the point where if I wasn’t literally keeping track of them in a file, then I would have quite honestly gotten them all mixed up.

“It’s easier to go by Abigail when I’m in holoform,” I explained. “It’s also so that if anyone is listening to my conversations they don’t hear anything they aren’t supposed to.”

Try explaining why my friends are calling me Starfire. Not that they owe anyone an explanation, but still. Makes things a lot simpler.

“Starfire, come over and meet Raf and Ratchet!” I looked over when Bumblebee motioned for me, excusing myself from the trio and made my way over, biting back a laugh when I heard Miko quietly demand to include me in their next dune bashing session, forgoing the fact that I was a flier.

Stars, she was adorable.

I smiled and turned my attention back to those in front of me, Bumblebee excitedly waving to his young friend.

“Starfire, this is Rafael. He’s literally one of the best hackers I’ve ever met! He writes his own code and he is so smart and awesome!” He gushed, going on about the kid and waved excitedly to enunciate every word he spoke.

The boy I was being introduced to, Rafael, smiled shyly at the praise, his guardian continuing on about how he was very gifted and how lucky he was to be able to call him a friend.

What struck me, however, was the fact that he appeared able to understand the young mech, and after a minute of Bumblebee praising him laughed and begged him to stop embarrassing him.

I grinned, catching the odd look on their medic’s faceplates, gone when I fully turned to him. My grin slipped instantly, regarding him warily.

I shook it off and returned my attention back to Raf, smiling kindly at the boy.

“I’m thrilled to meet you, Rafael,” I said, wishing I was in holoform at this time so I could show him some of my own codes.

Primus, I’ve been here not even ten minutes and already I’m wanting to spill my secrets.

“Is it true that you built your own ground bridge?” He asked, Ratchet looking over and seemed inclined to hear my answer as well.

I hummed and shrugged, nodding. I worked as a data technician back in Crystal City before the war. I had access to a wide array of specs, and I was just fortunate enough to have gotten clearance into the ground bridge technology department before the war kicked off.

I didn’t go around broadcasting that though, because if it ever came to light that I could build bridges, then both sides would be vying for my favour, and the Decepticons would not have taken no for an answer.

“That’s so cool! Would you be able to show it to me one day?” Rafael asked hopefully, smiling up at me as I hesitated.

“Well, unfortunately the one I built was destroyed, but if I ever get around to building a new one I will let you know,” I promised, catching another look on Ratchet’s faceplates.

“Starfire, would you be open to the thought of exchanging notes on the matter?” He asked after another moment’s pause, waiting as I blinked in surprise at the offer.

Honestly, it had been so long since I built it that a refresher probably couldn’t hurt.

I smiled, nodding again. “I’d like that.”

The medic hummed his approval and mentioned heading back to his laboratory, leaving Bumblebee, Rafael and myself to our conversation.

“So, excuse me if I’m not allowed to know, but where are we?” I asked after a few minutes of conversation, Bumblebee cutting himself off mid-sentence and hesitated on answering me.

I couldn’t say I blamed him, considering we only just met, and there were still a ton of secrets they weren’t aware of. Things I would keep for them for as long as I could.

The reason my network worked so well is because no one, literally no one but the network itself, knew it existed.

Bumblebee and I looked up when Optimus came over, offering him a slight smile in greeting. I was still so unused to being around other Cybertronians, let alone Autobots. It was… different.

Different wasn’t necessarily bad, for say, but it was an adjustment for sure.

Optimus returned the smile, however, and after sharing a look with Ratchet turned back and stunned me with what he said next.

“This bunker is located just outside of Jasper, Nevada. It is where the children live and go to school,” he explained, the guardians walking over.

Bulkhead laughed, elbowing Arcee. “Yeah, and it all started with this one,” he teased, the femme scowling at him. “Jack stumbled upon her facing down a pair of troopers and decided to adopt him.”

“Bulkhead!”

I laughed, my old friend in the process of fending off the now-embarrassed two-wheeler, while everyone else watched. The children started egging the two of them on, Miko beginning to referee the encounter.

I smiled, exhaling heavily as I listened to their banter, the older two bots remaining out of it while Bumblebee joined in.

For once, I allowed myself to relax, finding myself relieved that these bots were here, because for the first time since I landed, I knew without a doubt that if anything happened to me, then Earth, my home, my sanctuary, would still be protected.

It was a very comforting thought.

– – –

Chapter Text

I remained at the Autobot base for another few hours, spending time catching up and exchanging stories, and by the time Agent Fowler called to inform us that the warrant had been officially rescinded, I believed that I had made a handful of new friends.

Bulkhead and Bumblebee made me swear to keep in touch, going so far as to threaten to come find me if I refused.

I had laughed and merely waved as I stepped through the bridge, at the back of the valley the village was located in, and as far from the explosion site we could manage.

They had gotten me as close as they could without hitting the cancellation field, Ratchet again inquiring about the technology I had given these people, and I had once again reiterated their importance to me.

I knew Roselake had to have detected the bridge, and if the handful of jets running patrols every hour was any indication, then I also believed they were doing their part to keep M.E.C.H as far from my people as possible.

I knew I had to keep my frame out of their hands, so I proceeded on foot in the direction the village was settled in.

There was a specific code the village Chief could input into the system to allow me to engage my holoform once inside the shielding, so I theoretically would be quite alright with how things had to be now.

I looked up when the afternoon skies opened up, the snow making my wings twitch and flicker as the flakes landed and melted into my metal.

I laughed and relaxed, after two and a half months of running and hiding and fighting.

I was home.

I couldn’t wait to see Kayla and Josh again, and I needed to buy Daniel ice cream for all the help he’s given me through all this. Anastasia will likely threaten that if I ever left again she would hunt me down, but honestly? I seriously didn’t care. I missed her and she knew it.

The snow began falling harder, coating everything in another layer of the white powder, my peds leaving a trail as I moved through my forest. I laughed and spread my arms out, tilting my faceplates to the skies.

I was home.

After another few minutes of walking I came across the outskirts of the village, able to make out the communal gardens that surrounded the cottages.

I had no doubt the border guard knew I was here, and had been following me for the last five minutes. They had probably contacted the Chief, so at this point everyone in the village would likely be aware that I was back. Or, at the very least that someone had crossed over the border sensors, if they didn’t know exactly who.

I was met near the edge of the forest by Chief Catori herself, my old friend lifting a gloved hand to shield her face from the steady snowfall.

“Abigail, welcome home.” She smiled, signaling for the border guard to return to their posts.

I knelt beside her, the weight on my spark easing as I saw for myself that my family was alright.

Primus, thank you.

“Thank you, Catori,” I murmured, promising answers and an update just as soon as everything was figured out.

The Chief nodded, waiting for me to stand and led me further into town, my people going about their day like normal. I saw Lexi and her twin daughters, Georgia and Michaela playing in the fresh snow, and old man Devon walking home with a bag of produce in his arms, all of them lighting up when I walked by.

I continued walking until we got to Catori’s office, one of the newest buildings in the entire village. Roselake insisted we build a city hall of sorts, along with paving the main road in. We didn’t really have much choice in the matter, which is another large reason the village has been so hostile to Fowler and his people.

Fortunately for us though, the contract is void and I swear to Primus, Fowler had better have learned something from all this, because if I get run out of my home again then I’m gonna shoot something.

Preferably a Decepticon, but I would settle for a tree or a fighter jet.

Chief Catori opened the large garage door and looked my way expectantly, chuckling as I started and took the hint to step inside and transform. She smiled and clicked a few things on the device she pulled from her pocket, disabling the shielding for a brief moment.

I quickly activated my holoform, tightening the scarf around my neck and beamed at my friend. “Thank you, Catori. I’ll return this evening and give you the rundown,” I said, glancing over my shoulder excitedly.

Primus, I was home!

She smiled and put the device away, dipping her head. “I will see you then, Abigail.”

I took the dismissal and bolted back down the main road, laughing as I realized all over again that, all things considered, things turned out relatively alright.

– – –

Kayla Ruiz wasn’t expecting the notification on her phone announcing someone had crossed the border, considering they weren’t expecting company and the guard wore disablers to prevent themselves from tripping the alarm system.

She was sitting at home reading a book while Anastasia made something for them to eat, wondering wryly if Agent Fowler had returned for another chat with the Chief.

He had been here quite often since their last conversation, and though he never mentioned the museum heist, she could tell he was thinking about it.

Roselake had also ordered more aerial patrols within the valley after the explosion the other day, and she had half a mind to scream.

If they had just respected Abigail’s conditions, then perhaps M.E.C.H wouldn’t have found this valley to begin with.

It was the government’s fault that all this was happening in the first place, and the reason her best friend likely wouldn’t be able to come home for when she went into labour.

After generations, she would be the first one without Starfire at her side, and she found it beyond frustrating. They had no right to take her from the village, from her family.

She looked up again when a knock sounded at her door, frowning as dread hit her like a rock. Her husband was still out and wasn’t meant to return for a few hours at least, and if someone was bothering to knock then it couldn’t be her mother or her uncle. That left only Fowler, and she really wasn’t in the mood to deal with him today.

The culprit knocked again, and she whined, begrudgingly setting the book down and made to stand, about ready to knock some heads together.

“Kay, sit. I got it,” Anastasia appeared from around the kitchen door, drying her hands with her apron and fixing her with a pointed look. “If it’s Fowler I’ll be able to scare him off. You just rest,” she insisted, a twinkle in her near-black eyes.

They shared a grin, Kayla settling back on the couch as her cousin opened the door. Fowler had always been afraid of Anastasia, though none of them really knew why. It had been speculated that it was due to her bullshit detector, but that was only a theory.

Either way, if Annie said Kay wasn’t to be disturbed, then she wasn’t going to be disturbed.

Kayla had just grabbed her book again when her cousin gasped, looking up worriedly.

She sat up and peered over the half-wall to try and get a glimpse at what made her cousin react like that, shoving herself to her feet and waddled around to face the front door.

“Is everything ok-” she began, but her words dried in her throat when her best friend grinned at them from the doorframe.

Anastasia was standing there, stunned, beside Kayla, while she struggled to process what she was seeing.

“I- but you- what?” Kayla blurted, standing in shock as Abigail stepped over and enveloped her in a tight, much-needed hug.

She froze, struggling to process the fact that Abigail was currently at her home, holding her. Her best friend was standing right in front of her and she couldn’t make sense of it.

“I’m here, Kay,” she whispered. “It’s real.”

She broke, then, wrapping her arms around her best friend and clung to her, shaking and sobbing and desperately held her tight, crying harder than she had for as long as she could remember.

Anastasia closed the door to the cottage, watching the reunion as a slow grin worked over her face.

She would be taking this as a victory against the government, and she was determined to celebrate.

“How are you here?” Kayla hiccupped, clinging to her. Abigail said it was real but after all that had happened, all the pain the government had caused them, it just didn’t seem possible. She wanted desperately to believe her, but she was scared out of her mind that this was some kind of trick.

Her friend cooed, rubbing her back and held her as she was being held, leaning her head against hers. “It’s a long story, Kay,” she whispered, and her voice only made the tears fall faster. “All that really matters is that I’m back. I promise.”

She was never letting the government take Abigail from her again.

– – –

Several Weeks Later

Settling into a new routine took some time, especially with the threat of M.E.C.H and the Decepticons to worry about. I had to remain inside the village borders, within the ground bridge cancellation field, to minimize the possibility of Silas realizing that this was where I lived.

I explained to Catori, Josh, Annie and Kayla all that had happened within the last few months, admitting to the fact that I’ve come into direct contact with the Autobots stationed on our planet. I told them that I needed our connections to be on alert, Catori messaging the Network with our new directive: report any and all Cybertronian activity the instant they come across anything.

Starscream was a threat to our home, so whatever information my network gave me, I would forward to the Autobots.

I came clean to them about my relationship with Bulkhead, and the painful memories having both him and Arachnid on Earth brought about. This situation was eerily similar to when my sister and I used the Network to help the Wreckers, a similarity I fought hard to ignore.

We came to the agreement that I would stay in contact with the Autobots on top of forwarding them information, so I got into the habit of visiting base maybe once or twice a week, aiming for either Fridays or Saturdays so the children could be present.

With the permission of her guardian, I ended up taking Miko for a fly on the second visit. The girl was fun, and if she ever met Anastasia the two of them would be glued together and cause untold amounts of mayhem.

Rafael asked me questions about the tech I used, and honestly, I didn’t see the point in hiding it from him. He was bright, and resourceful, and had a way with code that was remarkable even by Cybertronian standards.

Ratchet and I exchanged notes on our ground bridges, and even went so far as to help each other figure out a way to optimize both to work better and smoother with less risk of the vortex snapping.

I was still reluctant to bring anyone from the village to the Autobot base, despite the many pleas Kayla and Annie gave me. I was adamant about keeping them away, and for the time being it would remain as such.

It had only been a few weeks.

I helped Catori and Josh set up another sensor in the garage where we were keeping my frame, even going so far as to begin constructing another ground bridge using the notes Ratchet gave me. If we ever, Primus forbid, had to evacuate the village, then this bridge would be vital to getting everyone to safety.

I had begrudgingly agreed to give Roselake the means to construct a small turret outside the main headquarters, with the condition that if General Bryce even thought about taking it apart to learn how it worked I would rescind it and destroy everything I had ever given the United States in terms of technology.

I was familiar with the term ‘Scorched Earth’ and I was not above causing it.

With Roselake even further capable of defending the village, I finally felt somewhat safer in my own home.

Still, I was not about to let my guard down.

Currently, I was at Kayla’s cottage, upstairs helping her get her newborn son to sleep in the nursery. The village healer was absolutely wonderful during the whole thing, and I was relieved to say he was happy, healthy and neither he or Kayla would have any lasting medical conditions to worry about.

My best friend was sitting in her rocking chair, humming softly to him as I got the cradle ready, just beyond grateful everything went right. She had named him Alejandro, after her husband’s great grandfather, and Josh was absolutely smitten.

I smiled, turning back to the new mother and infant, wringing my hands absently. If the Decepticons ever learned about the technology I gave these people, they wouldn’t hesitate to destroy them, Alejandro included.

I took a breath, stepping over and knelt beside the rocking chair, Kayla smiling at me as little Alex finally fell asleep in her arms.

I would keep these people safe. I wasn’t sure what I would do if someone took them from me, and I wasn’t too sure I wanted to find out, given the fact Arachnid was still genuinely terrified of me.

If her fear kept her from hurting my family, then I was just fine with it. Besides, Agent Fowler and Roselake had been pretty cooperative in their efforts to protect the village, and had even increased their surveillance in the valley and surrounding mountain ranges for any sign of M.E.C.H or Decepticon activity.

Hopefully, Silas would take the hint and realize that I was not an easy target, and would move the frag along.

A fem can hope, right?

“He’s beautiful, Kay,” I whispered, reaching up and ran a gentle finger down his cheek, laughing softly as he scrunched his face and sneezed.

Alejandro was nearly identical to his father, Josh, with the same curly brown hair and brown eyes. He was a mix of the Kootenai tribe on Kayla’s side of the family, and a descendant of Mexican refugees from the Mexican-American War.

The village was home to descendants of the original tribe, as well as a scattering of survivors of various wars and genocides through the three centuries I’ve been on this planet. Lexa was the granddaughter of a family of Jewish refugees, her grandparents finding solace with the village being one of the only places in the United States where they were welcomed without question.

Not everyone I tried to help could live in the village though, which is what started the creation of my compounds around Earth. Looking back, it truly was a good thing in more ways than one that those compounds were established, considering recent events.

Kayla smiled, watching her son before glancing at me. “When are you leaving?” She asked quietly, frowning as I sighed.

The Autobots informed me recently that Megatron was, in fact, alive, though thank Primus he wasn’t alert. He was in critical condition, stuck in stasis while Starscream regularly tried to finish him off.

Unfortunately for all of us, Soundwave had done a remarkable job at thwarting his efforts, and Phoenix was unable to find a way to help Starscream do the job without making Soundwave suspicious.

She was, after all, the Warlord’s Assassin. Her loyalty was meant to be to Megatron and to Megatron alone, not to whoever the standing leader of the Decepticons was. If the surveillance chief ever caught wind of her change of spark, then she would be fragged.

“Phoenix disabled the Warship’s shielding. The Autobots will be striking within the hour.” I would be bridging to base before then. I wasn’t going to be a part of the strike team, but I would be damned if I wasn’t present during this mission. I had already failed to participate once before, I wasn’t going to do it again.

My friend hummed quietly and nodded, gingerly pushing herself to her feet and kissed little Alex’s forehead, laying him down in the cradle and turned back to me.

She smiled faintly and leaned down, reaching for my hands and eased me to my feet before wrapping me in a hug.

“No matter what happens, we will be here,” she whispered. “Annie is going to make some pudding cups for when you get back.”

I nodded and held my friend tighter.

I did have the power to do something, and I did have the power to help.

Kayla and I startled apart when a blaring, obnoxious alarm began to go off from my pocket, scrambling to silence my phone before we woke up Alex.

What the frag what the frag-

I yelped as I nearly dropped the device in my haste, Kayla pushing us both out of the nursery. I finally managed to silence my phone, whining when I heard Alex begin to cry through the door, his mother giggling and shrugged.

While she went inside to go soothe her baby I actually took a second to read the alert, paling almost instantly and panic dialed Bulkhead.

“Kay, I have to go!” I shouted, racing downstairs for my laptop and shoved it open as I begged, pleaded for my scanners to be wrong, just this once as my call went to voicemail.

It felt like an eternity as my laptop booted up and connected to the network, though it couldn’t have been more than 5 seconds. I scrambled to find the individual scanner for the Gobi Desert, locking onto The Nightfall and felt my heart sink when I read the warning alerts.

“Is everything ok?” I spared her a glance as my friend ran downstairs, her son in her arms. She had paused when she saw the panic on my face, racing over and read the details over my shoulder.

“Primus Almighty is that what I think it is?” She breathed, tears stinging the back of my eyes as I nodded and redialed Bulkhead. Dammit, mech, answer the phone.

“Someone bridged to The Nightfall. How the frag did they even find it?” I breathed, silently screaming for Bulkhead to answer his fragging com-link. “I thought- no, I know I disabled the beacon, there should have been no way for them to locate it.”

Kayla went back to soothing her son, who was whining and fidgeting in her arms after being woken up so violently, while I brought up closer scans of the ship, leaving the satellite view and logged onto my own scanners.

Bulkhead I swear upon the Allspark, if you do not answer the fragging call-

“I can’t talk right now, Star.” I swear I almost cried when I heard his, albeit distracted, voice, pressing the phone tighter to my ear as I rapidly typed some more codes in my laptop.

“Bulkhead, tell me no one went to that ship,” I begged, but as I was saying it I was pulling up the surveillance feeds I had installed the first time I stumbled upon that blasted ship, and saw for myself the damage was already done.

I checked the time stamp and cursed softly, my alarm having gone off when they were exiting the ship, almost five minutes ago.

I rewound it and brought a hand to my mouth, Kayla and I watching in somber silence as Ratchet and Optimus stepped inside the hole in the stern that I had created all those years ago, unable to hear what they were saying, but I understood Optimus' motion to remain cautious.

At least they were smart.

I shook my head slowly, trying to deny what I was seeing as I clicked over to my secondary camera. What I saw made look away, unable to watch as almost half the Autobot team on earth became exposed to one of the most violent curses from the pits of Cybertron.

“Primus no…”

I looked up at Kayla’s horrified whisper, heart in my throat as we watched the Autobot leader himself become infected with the Cybonic Plague.

I had prayed for my sensors to be wrong, just this once.

There was silence on the other end of the call, dragging on long enough that I almost thought it had disconnected, before I was able to make out Ratchet’s solemn vocals read out the results I already knew he would say.

“I’ll call for a bridge in a few minutes. Does Phoenix know?” I asked quietly, almost afraid for his answer. Kayla frowned, listening in quietly as she rocked her son, Alex falling back into a fitful sleep.

I had little doubt Phoenix was already aware of the situation, and was likely scrambling for a way to get to base as we spoke. What I was afraid of, was her reaction to the death sentence her Conjunx just received, and what she would do if he died.

I had found out not long after meeting the team that Optimus and Phoenix had forged a sparkbond, a sacred commitment akin to marriage among Cybertronians.

She was highly capable, and ferocious in battle, but the element of surprise would only last for so long, and once it wore off even she would fall in the face of the entire Decepticon army.

“Yeah. She knows,” Bulkhead said after a long moment. I winced, reeling as I shut down the laptop and stuffed it in my bag, turning to my friend after hanging up the call.

“Kay, I-”

She huffed and shook her head, planting a hand on my shoulder and marched me to her front door. “Stop explaining and go, Abby. We’ll be here when you get back,” she promised, offering a sad smile when I hesitated and glanced over my shoulder at her.

There was no cure for the Cybonic Plague. The leader of the Autobots was dying, so the least I could do was be there.

I nodded and took off in a dead sprint, Kayla calling after me that she would call Catori.

Optimus Prime had been infected with one of the most deadly viruses in the known universe, a virus that had claimed millions of our people, Autobot, Decepticon and Neutral alike.

I had gone through every file I could get my hands on, every ounce of information, but I was hardly a scientist. I only knew the technologies I did due to my job as a technician. Even if I had found something in my search, I wouldn't have known what to do with it.

That position in the team had belonged to Shockburner, but that's another story for another time.

I fished my phone back out of my bag and scrolled for the contact I was looking for, hesitating a moment.

I had my phone linked to my com system, the Cybertronian text translating into whatever language I set the phone to.

For the moment, it was in English.

I didn't have time for my hesitation, dialing the number and kept running down the main road to Catori’s office, grateful for the path through the snow the guard shoveled earlier that morning.

The phone rang for a long, long minute, and I had half a mind to wonder if she would even answer, or if she was too far gone.

I was relieved, however, when the call connected, double checking that the line was secure before I spoke.

“I'm bridging to these coordinates. The team will bridge us to base. You will meet me there,” I ordered, forwarding them to her and disconnected before she could argue with me.

I had to at least try to get her off the Warship.

I finally made it to Catori’s office and ran inside, hardly having stepped foot in the main lobby before she was running out to meet me, device already logged with her code.

“Go swiftly, Abigail,” she urged, the side door to the hangar swinging open. “We will alert the network for you, go do what you can,” she said, the two of us stepping inside and found my jet ready and waiting for me.

I took a breath and disabled my holoform, transforming and turned to the ground bridge control panel.

“It's functional, Abigail. But I do not recommend using it more than needed,” Catori warned, stepping up beside me and handed my laptop bag to me.

I bent down and subspaced it, hesitating another moment.

“I do not know when I'll be back, Catori,” I admitted, the Chief shaking her head as she crossed her arms.

“That does not matter. You are needed elsewhere, we will be alright. Now go.”

Was I needed, though? I couldn't stop wondering if I would only be in the way if I showed up, or worse, if this somehow caused them to lose trust in me.

I didn't know what the Autobots would do when their leader died, and I didn't know what role I would play in all of this.

I shook my helm and punched in the coordinates I sent Phoenix, nodding once to the Chief before running through, arriving in a forested clearing on the opposite side of the planet.

The bridge shut down behind me, leaving me in silence as I enabled my signal for the Autobots to read.

I didn't know what Phoenix would do. I didn't know how she would react to this, but I had to at least try and get her off that ship. If Optimus died while she was still on board, then we could very well lose her too.

I hated to be so cynical, but the team needed her, and if she was left to her own devices then things could get really ugly really quickly.

Her combat skills were on par with Megatron and Optimus, so if the leader of the Decepticons somehow revived, then she would be needed more than ever if we lost her sparkmate.

We couldn’t afford to lose her.

I vented in relief when a second bridge opened behind me, turning and watched her exit with a murderous expression on her faceplates, blinking in shock when I saw her infamous sword strapped to her backstruts.

That sword has claimed the lives of thousands at least, so to see it in person brought unease swirling in my tanks.

Ignoring it, I watched as the bridge shut behind her and shoved us into silence, none of her usual amusement or cockiness visible.

I understood her pain, all too well.

“How is he?” I asked quietly, her optics flicking to me briefly.

I held her gaze, reading the vast emotions coursing through her.

Anger, disbelief, and grief.

I didn't blame her for being so furious.

She merely shook her helm after a long moment, raising a digit to her audial and called base.

“I need a bridge,” she said simply, and one opened and began swirling away beside us within moments.

Without another word she walked to it, sparing only a single glance my way as she passed.

I went to follow when she paused, looking my way again. I waited as she took in the forest around us, the towering trees barren of snow or frost of any kind. We were far from North America.

“Thank you, for getting me off that damn ship,” she said at last, before turning and walked through the portal.

I quickly got over my surprise and followed, stepping ped in the Autobot base as Bumblebee closed the bridge behind us.

Phoenix looked around before spotting the rest of the team crowding the medbay, tensing almost imperceptibly.

I ordered myself to breathe, unable to see Optimus from where I was standing, and remained back when Phoenix and Bumblebee walked over to the group.

I couldn’t get over the horrible feeling that I was, in some way, responsible for all this. I knew about that ship, and I knew what was on it. I was seriously fortunate to have gotten in and out without getting infected the first time around.

How the frag were they even able to detect it? I knew I had disabled that emergency beacon. They shouldn’t have been able to find that ship.

I hesitated, uncertain if I was welcomed here but stepped closer, Ratchet asking Phoenix if she was able to find anything in the databases.

The entire team looked pained when Phoenix shook her helm, and I could see the struggle she was going through, her gaze locked on her mate as she stood, frozen in place as they all tried to figure out a way to fix this.

I couldn’t bring myself to look at Optimus, turning to their monitors and frowned when I put two-and-two together. They locked onto the Decepticon Warship, which just so happened to be on the same frequency as The Nightfall. It was obscure, and I wasn't surprised that the Decepticons were using it to begin with. However, that still doesn't explain how the Autobots were able to read it in the first place. I made sure I disabled that beacon, so the only possible answer for the beacon turning back on…

Was if someone had reactivated it manually.

I didn’t want to give that thought anymore room to grow, but the more I considered it the more it made sense.

There was only one other person who knew about that ship outside of my Network, but that person has been offline for centuries.

Either way, someone turned that beacon back on, and now Optimus Prime was paying the price.

I’ve seen what this virus does. The Cybonic Plague was merciless, and it did not care who its victim was. There was no hope for Optimus, he would be offline by the end of the day, if he even had that long.

“There has to be something we missed.” Jack was practically hanging over the railing at this point, pulling me from my bleak thoughts. “You’ve all said it many times yourselves: Megatron is smart. The cure has to exist, and it has to be accessible to him,” he insisted, Rafael and Miko sharing a look.

“I’m open to literally anything, Jack. But I’ve already scoured the databases, every single file, locked and otherwise. Soundwave almost caught me breaking into a few,” Phoenix replied, still frozen where she stood and seemed afraid to take another step into the medbay, afraid of what she would find if she did.

Ratchet glanced at the kid, and then to Phoenix, and I could see the gears turning in his processor.

“We still have access to the Decepticon Warship,” he began slowly. He seemed to have formulated some sort of plan, though I was thoroughly surprised at what he said next. “Phoenix, what state is Megatron in?”

The whole team shared uneasy glances at his question, none of us sure where Ratchet was going with this.

The Warlord’s Assassin looked at the doctor coldly, crossing her arms. “He has yet to wake up, if that’s what you mean. That is, after all, the reason I disabled his ship for us,” she said, a bite to her vocals.

Ratchet shook his helm. “That's not what I meant. What is his brain-wave activity like?”

I blinked, my wings falling as I realized, likely before the others did if their reactions were any indication, just what Ratchet was suggesting.

“You don’t mean a cortical psychic patch, do you?” I blurted, a pit opening in my tanks when the doctor nodded grimly.

Phoenix whipped her helm back to him, and it killed me to see the hope on her faceplates. “Knockout told Soundwave and Starscream that his mind is still going strong,” she said quickly.

Ratchet nodded. “If a cure exists, Megatron may be the only one who knows it. Someone must enter his brain, and find it.”

I gaped at the doctor, at what he was suggesting. To enter the mind of the very one who destroyed Cybertron? Would there be anything left of whoever stepped ped in there?

As I scrambled with my thoughts Phoenix stepped forward to volunteer, but Ratchet cut her off before she could speak. “Phoe, if you are discovered helping us then your cover will be blown, long before we will have another chance to strike against the Decepticons. If we fail, and somehow Megatron revives, then your cover must remain intact. This mission has to belong to someone else,” he said, turning to the rest of us. “We must decide quickly, Optimus does not have much time.”

Bulkhead and Arcee shared an uneasy look, only the beeps of the medical monitors filling the stifling silence.

Enter the mind of the Decepticon warmonger himself? The thought terrified me.

Megatron had caused so much pain and devastation to our planet and people, so to enter his processor? Primus have mercy…

Phoenix looked ready to argue, but Bumblebee stepped forward, a determined expression on the young scout’s faceplates.

“I’ll do it.”

Rafael started, gripping the railing tight. “Are you… sure, Bumblebee?” He asked hesitantly, Bulkhead turning to face the children and offered them a reassuring look, even knowing they were bright enough to see through it to the worry beneath.

“Bee’s the best scout there is.”

Miko and Jack knelt beside the boy, both of them comforting him while Ratchet explained what they had to do in order to make this work.

“The Decepticon laboratory should have everything you need to commence the operation,” he said. He turned back to Phoenix. “However, he will need backup.”

She nodded instantly, Arcee volunteering to join them.

“You must prevent Starscream from attempting any more of his eradication efforts until Bumblebee retrieves the cure. It is paramount that Megatron survives until our scout returns,” Ratchet warned, the three of them nodding and quickly made for the bridge control panel.

“Arcee?” The two-wheeler glanced back. “Quickly.”

She nodded, Phoenix activating the bridge. Without another look back, the three of them transformed and returned to the Decepticon Warship.

– – –

It took a few minutes for the team to reach the medbay, though with Phoenix’s guidance they were able to move and get there with relative ease.

Their main concern was Soundwave, who was closely monitoring the Decepticon Leader’s health, to prevent any unfortunate accidents from occurring.

It was hardly a secret that Starscream would try anything to resume complete command, and that included offlining Megatron, permanently.

I was standing near the back of the room under the viewing platform the children were on, when Arcee called that they were ready.

“Initiate cortical psychic patch.”

Miko and Jack were side by side with Rafael, the younger boy nervous and worried for his guardian, though with Bulkhead’s reassurance about his abilities, appeared to be facing this thing with a whole lot of courage.

I glanced down the bay, shoving down the waves of guilt gnawing on my spark.

Optimus shouldn’t have to offline like this. Earth needed him, Primus, his sparkmate needed him. I feared what would happen to us all if he didn’t survive this.

Call me selfish, but it was true. Earth currently hung in the balance, especially if Starscream decided to call in aid from other Decepticon units throughout the galaxy. The whole army against five, six Autobots?

Primus please, let Bumblebee be successful.

“Communications down-link activated. This will allow us to see and hear everything that Bumblebee does while within Megatron’s subconscious mind,” Ratchet explained, a visual appearing on the monitor as I stepped closer to see.

“Woah. Where’s that?” Jack asked, a tone of awe and curiosity evident in his voice as I remained fixated on the screen.

Rafael translated for Bee, claiming it looked a lot like the Decepticon Capital, Kaon. And, if memory serves, not only was Megatron from that city, but it was also where he inevitably created the Academy when he claimed the city for his own.

“Ratch, Optimus’ vitals.” I glanced back down the bay as Bulkhead stood beside their leader, and frowned when he called Ratchet’s attention back to Optimus.

He didn’t have until the day’s end.

“Quickly, Bumblebee. I know you are in unknown territory, but you must figure out where information might be filed in Megatron’s mind,” Ratchet said, scanning the screen for any sign or clue to help Bee find what we so desperately needed.

I stepped away from the screen and walked over to my old friend, Bulkhead glancing at me from the monitors tracking Optimus’ health.

“Can I have a moment?”

He nodded, returning to stand beside Ratchet as Bumblebee continued exploring the Decepticon Warlord’s mind.

I watched him go, turning to the Prime as Bumblebee climbed a vast set of stairs, and for the first time saw the full extent of Optimus’ injuries.

My venting caught in the back of my throatlines when I saw his optic, the metal around his faceplates almost entirely rusted and already in the late stages of degradation.

There was no guarantee that Bumblebee would succeed. All the efforts of Autobot and Neutral combined during the war came up empty during the height of the virus, so the chances of this cure even existing was minute, at best.

It wasn’t every day we got a chance to investigate Megatron’s mind, either. I glanced at the viewing platform, frowning. Jack wasn’t wrong for suggesting this, as hopeless as the situation may seem, that shred of hope he's given us could prove vital in the outcome of this mission.

I turned back to the medical monitors, reading the displays with a sinking spark as reality resumed.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered after a long moment, clenching my servos and bowed my helm over the desk. “I knew about that ship, Optimus. I knew what was on it, I found it centuries ago. But…” I swallowed, unable to face him. This wasn’t meant to happen, no one was ever supposed to find it.

“I deactivated the beacon. I don’t know how you found it, but I am so sorry.”

I dared a look down, my chassis squeezing when he wasn’t even able to muster the energy to respond, closing his optics with a pained vent.

Be strong, Optimus. We need you.

A second thought was nagging in the back of my processor, a thought I tried not to think about too long.

My sensors were never wrong like this, working with codes and data was literally my life before the war. So not only did my beacon reactivate, but my warning alarm didn’t alert me to the situation until after Optimus and Ratchet were leaving the ship. I programed it to detect oncoming bridges for crying out loud. I should have been able to prevent this.

I frowned, tightening my grasp on the desk and swallowed back the unease in my tanks.

No, I did prevent this. Someone came behind me and undid my work. Someone just doomed the leader of the Autobots to a painful, slow death.

My technology was protected by codes only I knew. I was the only one who should have been able to disable my scanner and alarm, without first alerting me that they were being messed with to begin with.

No one should have been able to get to those sensors, I was the only one still alive who knew my codes.

Right..?

A commotion at Ratchet’s workstation drew my attention away from the ailing Prime, turning from him and walked back in time to see Megatron and a replica Optimus charge each other.

The room felt cold, all of a sudden, a violent chill rushing down my wings as I watched Megatron disintegrate his opponent, the view from Bumblebee’s optics a twisted version of reality.

“That never happened!” I smiled wryly at Bulkhead’s shocked comment, Ratchet explaining that this wasn’t a memory but merely Kaon as Megatron had recreated it.

“Makes me glad he’s in stasis,” I murmured, Bulkhead muttering his agreement.

Megatron would destroy my home all over again if he ever woke back up, take Earth for himself like he tried to do with Cybertron.

I refused to let that happen. Earth would not meet the same fate as my home world, there is not a chance in the pits that I would let that become our new reality, I don’t care what I would have to do in order to ensure it.

He was not ripping another home away from me, not again.

We all watched as another replica Prime rose from the rocks in front of Bumblebee, the scout shifting back and out of the way.

“Megatron, your treachery ends here.”

Megatron merely turned, an unbothered expression on his faceplates as he withdrew his sword, lifted his arm cannon and fired upon the doppelgänger.

“No, Bee!” My optics widened, calling for the young mech to stop. I winced as Bumblebee leapt in the way of the shot, cursing soundly under my venting.

The scout was young, I really couldn’t blame him for trying to protect his leader. Even if he wasn’t real. Even if the blast went straight through him and destroyed the false Prime anyway.

We had to watch as Megatron took notice of our scout, and despite knowing he was safe, knowing realistically Bumblebee wasn’t able to be harmed, I still tensed and swallowed back my fear.

He volunteered for this. He willingly put himself in this position, if it meant a shot at saving their leader.

I became keenly aware that I may have survived this war, but everyone else here had fought in it.

“The Autobot scout.” Megatron sneered. “The punishment for trespassing in my domain, is your destruction!”

They were soldiers, I was not.

My venting caught as Megatron took a stab at Bumblebee, at this point worried that if my wings got any tenser I wouldn’t be able to fly for a week.

They were Autobots, I was not.

“Seriously?”

I covered my intake and coughed, hiding my laughter at Bee’s skeptical response as Megatron’s attacks continued to fail to find their mark.

Bulkhead caught on and cracked a grin, nudging me as I huffed and swatted at him. So sorry, Bulk, but that was funny, if one were to ignore the current circumstances.

The scout was sassier than I was.

“How can this be?!”

I looked back to the screen, monitoring Bee as Megatron tried and failed to destroy him, smiling grimly as the Warlord scowled at our scout.

“Megatron can’t touch Bee?” Raf asked hopefully, shifting closer as he smiled slightly.

“Because he is not a creation of Megatron’s mind, Bumblebee is immune to his physical attack,” Ratchet answered, nodding to the boy as Rafael breathed a sigh of relief.

I nodded, focused on the conversation Megatron was having with our scout. He was currently theorizing about how Bumblebee could still be standing in front of him, going on to list and discard several different possibilities.

Phase displacement armour, hologram, spirit.

Though I did find it interesting that Megatron didn’t believe in the latter.

I wouldn’t claim to be spiritual myself, preferring to work with data and my servos, but even I knew that spirits existed. I knew Primus created the Allspark for us, I knew that was where we went when it was finally our time to become one with our Creator. You didn’t cease to exist when you offlined, but merely joined the Allspark and whatever existence was like afterwards.

Spirits existed, though if none had ever visited Megatron then I would hardly be surprised.

He did, after all, kill our Creator’s physical body. That would do it for anyone, I would think.

I was pulled from my thoughts as a new situation evolved, the interrogation stalling when Megatron’s designation was called. I tensed, the view spinning as Bumblebee turned, revealing Optimus, Bulkhead, and Bumblebee himself standing before them.

“Uh-oh, special guest stars,” Miko winced, Ratchet shaking his helm in displeasure.

“This is not good.”

I was quite inclined to agree.

“If Megatron discovers Bumblebee is real, how likely are we to be able to get any information out of him?” I asked quietly, Ratchet refusing to answer me and gripped the desk beneath his servos tighter.

I didn’t like that answer.

Bee had tried to play it off, going so far as to run up and wave to the clone of himself, but Megatron yelled in frustration and shot at the clones, rendering them nothing but dust and ashes.

“You are real. They were not.”

Bumblebee flinched and watched apprehensively as the tyrant began to pace, another foreboding chill running down my spinal struts when he laughed darkly, a sound that was certain to echo in my nightmares.

“A cortical psychic patch. How unexpected.”

“We’ve stirred Megatron from his oblivion,” Ratchet breathed. “He’s becoming self-aware.”

I shared another uneasy look with Bulkhead, not at all liking how this was beginning to play out.

Megatron was waking up.

“If this is my subconscious…”

“What are you doing inside my head?!”

I was not at all ashamed to admit that I yelped and jumped when Megatron got in Bumblebee’s face, though I did mutter an apology to Bulk for slamming into him.

Primus Almighty, Bumblebee is one brave mech.

– – –

Phoenix was stuck pacing the medical room while Arcee kept hidden near the walls, Bumblebee still unconscious and unresponsive as he explored one of the most vile processors in the known universe.

It was taking all her will-power not to go storming on a rampage through this blasted ship, hating that it had come to this. Hating that all she could do was sit around and wait while her mate fought for his very life.

If they weren’t successful, if Bee didn’t make it out of there with the formula for the cure, then Optimus would die.

Her mate would die and she would be unable to do anything but watch, to take it as their bond shattered and dissolved into nothing.

She knew that Primus was cruel, but taking Optimus from them was too far. He didn’t deserve to die.

Phoenix glanced up when the doors to the main laboratory opened, groaning and shoved off the wall when she heard Starscream’s obnoxious prattle coming steadily closer, motioning for Arcee to stay down and out of sight.

Of fragging course the seagull would try something, the one time she actually wanted, or rather needed, Megatron to survive.

“Knockout, if you would be so kind as to provide your expert medical opinion to Soundwave, for the historical record,” Starscream was saying as they entered the room, hardly giving her more than a glance of acknowledgement.

“And what is going on now?” Phoenix interrupted, crossing her arms and stepped between Starscream and Megatron’s unresponsive frame, narrowing her optics at the trio.

She could count only on Soundwave here. Starscream had clearly worked out an arrangement with Knockout to try and pull the plug on Megatron’s life support, and she wasn’t having it.

Not with Optimus’ life on the line.

“Phoenix, stand aside,” Starscream ordered, looking none too pleased to have found her waiting here, though she was relieved that the Decepticons were more focused on her than the stray cord leading into the back of the room where the two Autobots were hiding.

She took a threatening step closer, Megatron’s stand-in scrambling back.

“If you think I’m going to allow you to just waltz on in here and turn off his life-support, then you’re more fragged in the helm than I originally thought,” she hissed, Knockout lifting his servos and stepped away from the equipment, Starscream glowering at her while Soundwave merely watched, silent as usual.

“If you must know, Phoenix, this is nothing of the sort!” He insisted, clearly scrambling to find a way to convince her to let him continue.

She crossed her arms, raising an optic ridge expectantly. “Enlighten me, then.”

She was the Warlord’s Assassin, loyal to the Warlord and to him alone.

She would not allow Starscream to sentence her mate to death.

Phoenix waited expectantly as he sputtered, unamused and inwardly screaming for Bumblebee to hurry up.

“This is merely a medical examination, Phoenix. Surely you wouldn’t want Lord Megatron to suffer, would you?” Starscream asked, fake concern oozing from his words as she narrowed her optics at him.

Primus Almighty, he pulled that card.

Typical.

The seeker smirked, turning to Knockout when she didn’t say anything.

“You were saying, Knockout?”

The doctor skirted around her and made it to the monitors, where Megatron’s vitals were being recorded. “Simply put, unaided, Megatron could remain in this deathless slumber, forever,” he said, and Phoenix had to fight hard not to snort.

“Our Master would not have wanted to be seen this way,” Starscream lamented, putting on an overly dramatic act that wouldn’t fool any but the blind and deaf. “To stand idly by while he remains captive in his own body, is not just.”

Phoenix actually snorted this time, rolling her optics and chuckled.

Starscream turned to glare at her, Soundwave evaluating their dispute. “Do you disagree, Phoenix? Do you not have any loyalty to your lord and master?” He accused, actually trying to spin the situation onto her.

She didn’t take too kindly to the accusation. “You mean like yourself, Screamer?” She demanded, continuing before he could create yet another excuse. “All that Knockout said was without aid, Megatron would continue to survive,” she said, waving an arm in emphasis towards the doctor, who looked like he was regretting his life choices.

“He could remain in stasis. He could remain as he is, right now, if he doesn’t get aid,” she grinned, gleeful that Soundwave was capturing this. If he had doubt over her loyalties before, then this should hopefully put those suspicions to rest.

“So tell me, Starscream, why don’t you get more aid? Why do you insist on disconnecting Lord Megatron’s life support, knowing full well that he is just in stasis?” Her tone turned sweet, relishing the fact that she had him backed into a corner. "If I didn't know any better, then I would classify this as an assassination attempt. Oh wait." She smiled grimly, her underlying message ringing loud and clear to everyone in the room.

She of all people would know what an assassination attempt would look like.

“All I am saying, Phoenix, is that the troops deserve a leader who can lead them!” Starscream shot back, but she could see the ire in his optics, and she knew he didn't appreciate the call-out so bluntly put, especially in front of Soundwave.

Faking loyalty to someone was difficult enough, but to be outright called on it would make it so certain decisions had to be made. She grinned knowingly, crossing her arms and turned expectantly to the silent Surveillance Chief.

As expected, he didn't say a word, but pointed a single digit towards Megatron’s processor scan.

Knockout glanced at the screen. “Brain-wave activity. Not evidence of consciousness, but merely of an endless dream from which Megatron may never wake.” She had to hand it to them, though. If they had chosen literally any other cycle, she would have gladly stood aside and allowed them to convince her that this was for the best.

But today was not that day.

“Soundwave, we must face reality. Megatron is lost to us.” She couldn’t believe how obvious Starscream was being, gritting her denta in agitation.

“The only honourable option, would be to show him mercy,” Knockout added, and the thought was so outrageous for a Decepticon that Phoenix nearly choked at the words.

She turned on the doctor, only having to narrow her optics at him for Knockout to recoil again and step back from the monitors. Primus Almighty they were infuriating.

Decepticons were not merciful, they did not show compassion. They were cruel, and selfish, and only cared about benefiting their own agendas. She would know.

It wasn’t lost to her that if they succeeded in convincing Soundwave to disconnect Megatron’s life support, while Bumblebee was still within his processor, then they would lose their scout too.

She was not about to let that happen.

“You’re talking in riddles, Knockout,” she said coldly, ignoring Starscream for the time being. “He may never wake up, he may never regain movement, blah, blah, blah.” She walked towards the doctor, towering over him as he swallowed audibly. “Do you have any definitive proof that Lord Megatron is better off offline?” She demanded, stepping aside as he vented deeply and shook his helm.

“Then this discussion is over. Leave, all of you,” she snarled, Knockout quick to comply and darted around her again and back to where Starscream was outright seething at her.

She crossed her arms and stood at the foot of Megatron’s berth, returning his glare and silently urged him to try something.

Phoenix didn’t move until Soundwave had dragged them out of there, venting in relief and glanced over towards where the others were hiding.

No one was killing Megatron until her mate and scout were safe.

Then she would gladly be the one to throw the switch.

– – –

I listened in apprehension as Phoenix fought with Starscream, at the same time watching as Bumblebee tried to convince Megatron to hand over the cure.

The tyrant had come to the realization that it was Optimus who Bee was desperately trying to save, and his laughter only served to make further chills race down my frame.

Phoenix had managed to chase Starscream away from the life-support cables, but Primus knew how long we had until he tried again.

“The suspense is driving me insane,” I muttered, Bulkhead nodding as I tapped my ped anxiously.

“You and me both,” he agreed, though we both shut up when Ratchet turned to fix us with a look.

“Did you not see? I do slay Optimus by my own hand, at will, whenever I desire!” I winced. If I wasn’t sure about Megatron’s views before, I certainly was now.

Bumblebee wasn’t having any of it, and I was genuinely impressed by his courage as he stood his ground against the Leader of the Decepticons.

“If you let the plague virus destroy the real Optimus, you will never have the chance to do it yourself.”

I narrowed my optics at Bumblebee’s reply, watching as a look of consideration appeared across the Warlord’s faceplates as Rafael translated for Jack and Miko.

“Smart!”

“Twisted.”

I merely prayed it would work.

– – –

Phoenix was once again pacing, wringing her servos agitatedly and kept glancing over to where Arcee was keeping guard.

“Anything?” She whispered, the blue Autobot shaking her helm.

She checked on the bond again, swallowing when it was even further degraded than the last time she looked.

Come on, Bumblebee!

Phoenix tensed when the doors to the laboratory opened again minutes after she had evicted everyone from the room, frowning in displeasure when the three Decepticons returned while Arcee ducked back out of sight.

“Back for round two?” She drawled, though her instincts went on high alert when Starscream merely smirked.

He didn’t answer her, turning expectantly to the Surveillance chief. “Soundwave. Do I take your silence to mean you concur with Knockout’s medical expertise?”

She blinked, Soundwave not saying or doing anything as Starscream reached for one of the support cables.

No. She was not about to allow this.

She slapped his servo away, growling at the traitorous seeker and sent another glare Knockout’s way for good measure. “Care to explain?” She ground out, Starscream grinning darkly at her.

“Why, Phoenix, it would seem you are unable to let go of the past. Soundwave here agrees that it would utilize far too much energon than we can afford to spare in order to attempt to regather our forces, never mind that there are no actual guarantees that they would be able to do anything to aid our master,” he purred, the familiar stab of fear impaling her spark. “It is time for a new era to be born, one without our Lord and Master.”

She snarled and went to strike him, not caring that technically speaking he was able to order her to the brig. She was not going to let him take her mate from her.

Before she could give Starscream a reason to arrest her, Soundwave stepped between them and shoved the two of them apart, fixing her with a warning look.

“Stand down.” Megatron’s vocals left the Chief’s visor, an order she had no choice but to obey.

Soundwave was the only one who she was unable to argue with without severe repercussions. He had Megatron’s power and authority when it came to his assassins.

None of them liked that, but there wasn’t a whole lot they could do about it. So long as Soundwave was present, she had to heed his commands.

Phoenix glared at the three before her, but knew better than to engage with Soundwave in a duel right then and there.

Starscream grinned, pushing her out of the way and grabbed the cable again. “Speak now, or forever hold your peace,” he drawled, watching the Surveillance chief with a sickening grin on his faceplates.

Phoenix whirled on Soundwave, then. “What could Starscream have possibly said to convince you that this was right?” She demanded, hating the desperate edge to her vocals as panic stabbed at her spark. “If Lord Megatron offlines, then Starscream will have unlimited power and command over this ship! You know as well as I that the Decepticons need Lord Megatron! Please, listen to reason, Soundwave!” She begged.

If Starscream was able to convince Soundwave to offline Megatron, then she might very well need to fight her way out of this, to buy them time until they could get that damn cure.

Megatron had to survive until their scout returned.

“Going.”

“Going…”

She was about to damn everything and retrieve the sword from her backstruts when Soundwave pointed a long, slender digit towards the back of the room, Starscream pausing and shared a glance with Knockout.

The doctor shrugged, frowning.

Her panic morphed into a dull beat in her audials, honing her focus as she mentally prepared for battle.

They found the cord.

– – –

“After our deep history together, to not watch the spark ebb from Optimus’ optics with my very own…”

Nothing except the warlord’s vocals filled the not-so-abandoned missile silo, every living thing within the mountain holding their breath.

“After all these years, are you really going to let such an ancient virus kill him instead of yourself?”

Bumblebee, you mad genius.

Megatron grinned, chuckling quietly and held out a servo. “Well played, scout.”

I gasped when a formula cube rose over his palm, utterly shocked that it even existed. I twisted around and glanced at Jack, the kid grinning at the screens below next to his friends.

I smiled.

“The chemical formula for the cure you seek. Not that I expect you to know how to read it.”

“Tell me you’re recording this,” I breathed, turning back around as Ratchet nodded, wincing when Megatron prevented Bumblebee from grabbing it.

“Not yet.”

Bumblebee seemed beyond exasperated at this point.

“What now?”

The Warlord narrowed his optics at our scout. “And how am I to accomplish, terminating Optimus as you propose, while I am trapped here in a perpetual daydream?” I frowned as Megatron caught onto that little detail, Ratchet beginning to rewind the recording. “Once you release me from this prison, you will have the cure.”

We did not have time for such a thing, ignoring the fact that none of us ever wanted him to recover.

“Do you have any experience working in a lab, Starfire?” Ratchet asked, frowning as he stopped the recording right when Megatron was displaying the cure.

I bit my derma and nodded. “Not a lot, but I had to learn if I wanted to survive,” I admitted. I had to adapt to a lot of situations, but working with formulas and medicine was never ever my strong suit. That had always been Wildspark’s specialty.

Ratchet nodded, before finding the exact frame he was looking for and turned back to the call with Arcee and Phoenix. “Arcee, we have the formula! Disconnect Bumblebee now!”

He transferred the image to a datapad and ordered Bulkhead to the bridge, telling me to grab one of the cubes of energon from under his desk and follow him.

I did as ordered and quickly followed the doctor, Bulkhead making a beeline for the bridge control panel while Ratchet instructed me on how to go about creating the cure.

I could hardly believe it existed.

He had a scan of the formula ready on the table between us, going about deciphering it while I was tasked with mixing the energon and prepping the canisters.

I frowned when the bridge whirled to life, leaning over the table and watched as two members of our team ran back to base before Ratchet ordered me to focus.

Phoenix wasn’t present.

Almost immediately Bulkhead closed the bridge, the three Autobots coming back over to the medbay.

I knew enough about medicine to figure out the basics, enough not to be a hindrance as Ratchet furrowed his optic ridges and kept glancing over to where Optimus lay.

Just because we had the cure, didn’t mean the Prime was out of the woods just yet.

Arcee and Bumblebee came closer, the blue fem frowning as she glanced between her leader and us. “How is he?” She asked quietly, Ratchet muttering to himself and spared her hardly a glance.

“If we can get this formula created, then he should be alright.”

Bumblebee and Bulkhead came to stand beside Arcee, grim expressions on their faceplates.

All any of us could do now was wait.

– – –

Chapter Text

Phoenix watched as Starscream frowned and began to investigate, finding the attachment to Megatron’s mind and slowly followed it closer and closer to where her friends were hiding.

She had felt a killing calm settle over her frame minutes ago, sizing up her potential opponents and sorted them by threat level first and foremost.

Soundwave had to be dealt with first, since he would be able to bridge her literally anywhere he desired, and hardly anyone, the Assassins included, could stand against him without a massive struggle.

Next, she would handle Starscream, leaving Knockout to make a choice. Face off against the most feared assassin of the war, or scamper off to get help. Either way, she would be long gone by the time he returned.

She didn’t have time to kill them. The element of surprise would last not even seconds before they would begin fighting back, so she would need to move quickly if she wanted to leave this room online.

Soundwave, Starscream, Knockout. Then she would get the frag out of there, hopefully with Arcee and Bumblebee.

Her cover was as good as gone, and she was ready to accept that.

“What have you got, Screamer?” She drawled, crossing her arms and took a few steps, coming to stand side by side with the Surveillance Chief. For all he knew, she was on his team. That could not change.

She tensed however when Ratchet called for Arcee to disconnect their scout, stamping down the surge of hope that bloomed through her chassis as Starscream got steadily closer to the Autobot duo.

Megatron’s stand-in frowned, glancing at Knockout again, who shared his misgivings while attempting to recall if anyone else was meant to be in here since he had left.

Her cover was likely blown even if she was able to get out of here without a fire-fight.

Soundwave would demand to know how and why they were able to get to Megatron to begin with, and all signs would point to her.

She was the one who disabled their ship. She was the one who let a pair of Autobots into Megatron’s processor. She was the reason important intelligence was being conveniently handed over to the Autobots whenever Megatron or Starscream had something big planned.

However, she would not abandon ship just yet. There were still a few things she had left to do before she could leave.

None of which mattered much if she was ending things here and now, Starscream finally kneeling down to take a look right where Arcee was hiding, her blaster already in his face.

“What in-!”

“Intruders!” Phoenix tensed at his yell, watching as he armed his blaster and was just faintly able to make out Arcee’s smile.

“Allow me.”

There was nothing any of them could do as her blaster bolt arced through the air and impacted Megatron’s main life-line, before leaping backwards into her awaiting bridge.

It closed behind her, leaving all four Decepticons standing in stunned silence.

Well, at least it didn’t come down to a fight.

Phoenix turned towards her former leader, frowning when the monitors tracking his sparkbeat outright flatlined.

She scowled at it, turning to Soundwave expectantly. She honestly didn’t care if he survived this anymore, but she wasn’t safe just yet. She needed to get out of this room first, evaluate how fragged she was before figuring out if she needed to abandon the Decepticons.

Starscream vented, watching Lord Megatron’s dying frame in a display oozing with pretense. “It was the inevitable outcome,” he began, but Soundwave took a threatening step closer and pointed aggressively to the life-support cable.

She wasn’t sure if she had ever heard someone sound so resigned and frustrated, “Of course, it would be wrong to allow Megatron to perish by an Autobot’s hand. Knockout,” he growled, amending his previous statements, and she was greatly pleased to remember that all of this was recorded, so on the horrifying chance that Megatron did wake, he would take care of Starscream for her.

Knockout was just an unfortunate pawn in all this, she had little to no doubt that he likely wouldn’t try something like this again.

The doctor waved Starscream off and reconnected Megatron’s support cable, the incessant droning of the monitor ceasing once he did.

Phoenix turned on Starscream, moving to tower over and glower down at him. “If you ever try to disconnect his life-support again, I will rip out your t-cog and shove it down your miserable throatlines,” she hissed, before shoving past him and stormed out of the laboratory, not waiting for a reply.

Once she had left the two sets of doors behind, she felt the calm resting over her begin to dissipate, closing her optics briefly and inhaled a few deep vents. She took the time to check on her sparkbond again, swallowing her fear as now her mate wasn’t even able to react to her presence within it.

Their bond was desolate, and empty, and on the verge of shattering, an experience she had sworn she would never allow herself to be subject to again.

She couldn’t lose Optimus, not when she was finally about to go home.

She turned slightly when the doors opened, narrowing her optics as Starscream and Soundwave passed, leaving Knockout in the bay to tend to their Lord.

Starscream glowered at her as he passed, but wisely didn’t say anything as the two of them walked by.

Phoenix smiled grimly, beginning to walk to a control console. She was basically done caring if her cover was found out, and after the events of today, Soundwave would be even more suspicious of her true intentions.

She knew that visiting base twice in one month, let alone the same day, was not a good plan, but if the cure didn’t work she was not going to wait around for the bond to break. She was going to spend as much time with her mate as she could, and if they were unable to save him, if all of this was for not, then the team would at least be able to keep her at base and away from the Decepticon monsters who had sentenced him to such a fate.

Phoenix shook her helm, venting deeply. She really didn’t have much room to call anyone else a monster, not after all she had done throughout the war. Five years of good did not outweigh the eons of pain she had caused, and enjoyed causing. Five million years wouldn’t be enough, but she was going to make the most of every cycle she had.

Optimus had saved her spark, now the least she could do was save his life.

Well, she could guard his scout while he bartered for it. That, she could do.

She frowned as she made it to a console, glancing around before punching in a set of random coordinates and activated a bridge. She was moments away from walking through when a call of her designation made her freeze in place, cursing her unfortunate luck.

“And where do you think you’re off to, hm?” Starscream demanded, crossing his arms as she turned, looking at him blankly.

“I’m going for a drive. I wouldn’t expect a seeker to understand,” she said, a grin tugging on her derma as he seemed to puff out his wings in indignation.

“Need I remind you that we just had an Autobot infiltration?” He ignored her jab and glared at her, and she wasn’t daft enough to mistake his look for anything other than an accusation.

She smiled, stepping away from her portal and back to him, tilting her helm slightly. “Now, Starscream. You have words, I know you’re able to say what you actually mean,” she said sweetly, Megatron’s stand-in scowling at her.

“You never left that room, Phoenix. How did they get there without you noticing?” He spat, and she felt she should get an award for not giving in to her urge to outright pummel this seeker into the ground beneath their peds.

“I don’t know, Starscream,” she replied softly, smiling at him. “Perhaps you would, though? You were, after all, trying extremely hard to turn off Lord Megatron’s life-support back there. Maybe you brought them on board, and are now using my vigil as a reason to discredit me?”

She relished the flash of panic that appeared in his gaze, laughing softly and shook her helm. “Unless you want me to address that theory with Soundwave, I will be heading out for my drive now. I’ll see you later,” she chirped, and with a wave she left Starscream standing like a fool in the middle of one of the ship’s long hallways.

– – –

We had the formula almost created when Phoenix called base, asking for a bridge to her location.

Arcee went and opened it, Ratchet warning me to keep my servos steady as he poured the mixture within.

I frowned, tense as all get out while the bright blue energon gradually filled the canister, optics widening as a drop spilled onto the desk.

Scrap-

I exhaled deeply when Ratchet finished, handing him the precious material and looked up when Phoenix walked in, sharing a grim smile with Arcee before the bridge was shut behind and both of them walked over to the medbay.

The smile slipped from the Firebird’s faceplates when she saw her mate again, Ratchet glancing at her before beginning to administer the cure for the Cybonic Plague directly into Optimus’ IV.

I stepped away from the workstation and found myself next to Bumblebee, the scout watching anxiously as Phoenix and Ratchet stood beside their leader.

The former assassin was quiet, and sat on the edge of Optimus’ berth while we all waited for any sign or clue that the cure was working.

She grabbed his servo, the look of pain on her faceplates breaking my spark.

I glanced at Bee when he fidgeted, nudging him slightly and offered a small smile when he looked up. “You did really well, Bee,” I whispered, placing a servo on his shoulderplate. “Optimus would be proud.”

He smiled slightly, managing a quiet thanks before we returned to wait for Ratchet’s final call.

The doctor was busy running scans and tests, everyone within base holding their breath.

“Is he going to be ok..?” Rafael asked, the three guardians turning their attention to their charges.

One by one they were helped down to the floor of the base, quiet conversations breaking out while we all waited for the final verdict.

I sent another look further down the medbay, Ratchet and Phoenix in the middle of a conversation of their own while I finally had a second to myself to think.

I sat on a crate near one of the walls, frowning as I once again went over everything that had happened in the last couple hours.

My best friend had her child in the early hours of the morning, the same day the Autobots were planning on launching a massive strike against Megatron and the Decepticons.

Our plans were derailed when the Autobots picked up an emergency beacon, a beacon that I knew I had deactivated centuries ago. Nevertheless, they investigated, and Optimus Prime himself ended up infected with one of the most deadly diseases that has ever existed on Cybertron.

Our ambush was turned into an infiltration effort, our scout volunteering to enter the mind of Megatron himself.

I shuddered, glancing at Bumblebee again, who was busy talking with Rafael. I didn’t know how he managed, but he is certainly a very brave mech.

I have been fortunate to have never crossed paths with Megatron, and I seriously hope I never get the chance to. The horror stories I’ve heard about him through the Network are enough to give me nightmares for the rest of existence.

However, the thought that kept nagging at me was how my sensors reacted to the ship being breached.

It wasn’t as though they were old, in Cybertronian terms my tech was relatively new when it came to wear and tear, so it wasn’t like I could chalk it up to simple system failure.

I huffed, shaking my helm. The leader of the Autobots has very nearly died, for Primus’ sake. There’s not a chance I’ll be doing anything less than analyzing every single aspect of the overall situation.

My warning sensors didn’t warn me of the problem until after Optimus and Ratchet were leaving the ship. My cameras didn’t alert me to the movement until after I manually woke them up.

Something was seriously wrong, and I had half a mind to return to the Nightfall and see for myself what the problem was.

I’ve been in there before and I’ve placed my scanners in such a way that there really shouldn’t be any risk of me catching the plague.

Hopefully. Maybe.

Venting, I stood and walked over to Bulkhead, glancing at Miko and nodded to the energetic girl.

She nodded back, perched on Bulkhead’s ped and continued drumming her fingers on his metal impatiently.

Arcee and Bumblebee came over to join us, Jack and Rafael both stifling yawns. I smiled, shaking my helm fondly.

The three of them decided to stay until we got the final diagnosis, whatever it might be. Naturally, it was long past when they should normally be home, but I really couldn’t blame them for staying.

I was still here too, for the same reasons.

“Do you think it worked?” Bulkhead asked, echoing Rafael’s earlier question. Arcee frowned as we all turned down the bay.

“No news is good news, right?” Jack replied hesitantly, and it hadn’t escaped my notice that if it wasn’t for him, then I wasn’t sure if we would have even been able to find the cure. His insistence that it had to exist was likely what pushed the team to actually find it.

We were saved from having to answer when Ratchet let out a deep exhale, Bumblebee hopefully asking if that meant their leader was alright. The doctor sent a relieved smile our way, Phoenix getting to her peds as they both helped Optimus to his.

Holy Primus.

They did it.

They actually fragging did it.

Bumblebee threw a fist in the air, Arcee letting out a huge vent of relief while Bulkhead scooted Miko off his ped as the girl started cheering.

I stepped to the side as the Autobot team began to celebrate this historic moment, Bulkhead, Arcee and Bumblebee joining the children in cheering and clapping. I exhaled, nodding to myself as I took in this team, celebrating the recovery of their leader.

Optimus Prime still lived, and I was wrong.

For the first time in a long, long time, I was glad to be.

Earth was still safe, and this team still had their leader.

Optimus smiled, leaning his weight on Phoenix and waved off the welcome celebration. “Please,” he said. “Reserve the hero’s welcome for my physician. And, my scout.”

I couldn’t help but laugh when Bumblebee startled, all eyes and optics turning to the mech who had willingly volunteered to enter the mind of Megatron himself, who ventured into unknown territory and managed to trick the tyrant into handing us the cure for the most deadly virus on Cybertron.

Damn right we should be celebrating him.

“I- guys!” He rubbed his helm bashfully, Rafael grinning up at his guardian proudly.

“You were awesome, Bumblebee!”

“Great job, kid!”

“Rock on, dude!”

Bumblebee grinned then, striking a bow or two as the others refused to allow him to remain embarrassed, cheering for him and all he had done. His bravery knew no bounds and I highly doubted anyone here would let him forget it anytime soon.

He had every right to be proud after what he had accomplished. That scout was definitely going places.

– – –

Once it had been established that Optimus was alright and would survive this whole ordeal, the team collectively decided that it would be a smart idea to get these kids home, Rafael yawning only proving their point.

Starfire had made a comment about keeping her up to date on developments before she left for her village, Bulkhead even going so far as to ask when we would all be allowed to visit.

She had simply laughed and shrugged, waving once before disappearing through the bridge back to her home.

Phoenix had found herself feeling genuinely envious of the seeker, eyeing the walls of their base longingly.

She hated the Decepticon warship, the Nemesis acting as a prison in every way that truly mattered. She knew Starscream was suspicious now, and Soundwave was monitoring her like a hawk. She didn’t know how long she had, just that her time as an Autobot spy was swiftly coming to an end.

Speaking of the Decepticon Commander, Starscream would call for her soon. She was pushing her luck as it was, returning to base twice in one cycle.

She was reluctant to leave Optimus’ side, however, clinging to both their sparkbond and his servo tightly. She almost lost him.

She almost lost her sparkmate, again.

It was only when it was just the two of them and Ratchet in the main room did she turn to her mate, frowning.

~Are you sure you’re alright?~ She whispered, Optimus glancing at her from his discussion with Ratchet and nodded, once.

Phoenix didn’t buy it, but didn’t push the matter further.

Yet.

“I’d advise staying near base for the next day or so, Optimus.” Ratchet was saying, going over a few notes on his datapad. “The virus did a number on your systems. Even though we managed to reverse most of the damage, it will take time for you to fully recover,” he explained.

Her mate smiled. “I will be sure to keep that in mind, old friend,” he assured, the doctor nodding and returned to his workstation.

Taking the chance, Phoenix squeezed Optimus’ servo again, nodding towards the bridge when he glanced at her.

She couldn’t go to the roof of the base. Soundwave would pick up her signal instantly since she was broadcasting, and that would lead to a whole world of problems. However, she could bridge them somewhere quiet and give Optimus the time he deserved to process the near-death experience he just went through, without triggering Soundwave that she was somewhere nearly impossible for her to be.

As an assassin, it was normal for her signal to be spotty, but she was seriously pushing it with how many times she had seemingly turned it off lately.

They could bridge near the coordinates she called from, so it would be even more unlikely that Soundwave would be able to confront her about it.

Shaking her helm, she looked up at her mate expectantly, waiting.

He may be smiling, but she recognized an act when she saw one.

Or rather, he was so used to almost dying that it didn’t really phase him anymore. Which was just as bad in her opinion.

Whichever one it was, it wasn’t alright and she was going to make sure he had the space he needed, whether he admitted to needing it or not.

“Ratchet, we’ll be back in a bit,” she said, pulling Optimus behind her and started punching in bridge coordinates before either of them could protest.

She only glanced up when she heard the doctor vent, catching his optic-roll as he waved her off. “Fine, fine.”

Her mate frowned, but allowed her to pull him towards the portal waiting for them.

Phoenix smiled when they left the bridge and it closed shut behind them, stepping out onto soft grass underneath towering evergreens and a starlit sky.

She exhaled deeply, turning to her mate who was regarding her silently.

“How are you really?”

Optimus blinked, and avoided her expectant gaze by walking across the clearing they were in and sat down against a nearby tree. “I told you, Phoe. I’m alright,” he insisted, but frowned when she rolled her optics and plopped down beside him.

“Optimus, don’t give me that. You just received a death sentence, and the only reason you’re still online is because Bumblebee managed to trick Megatron into giving out the cure,” she said bluntly, narrowing her optics at her sparkmate. Optimus looked away first.

Her spark broke, finding his servo again and gave it another tight squeeze. “Optimus, I’m an assassin. I’m not supposed to do emotions, I’m not meant to do mercy.” She swallowed, her voice breaking as she relived the utter terror of the moment when he first told her he was dying early that afternoon.

She completely panicked, and if Ratchet didn’t call her literally that second, she didn’t know what she would have done. The doctor was able to get her to focus on something productive, and because of their combined efforts her sparkmate was sitting next to her, in recovery and on the mend.

But it was close.

It was so fragging close.

He looked at her, then, his expression unreadable as she shoved down everything that she was feeling.

“But I would be lying if I said I was alright with what just happened,” she finished, checking again that the bond was alright.

Optimus was silent for a long, long time, squeezing her servo once and leaned his helm against the tree they were sitting against.

She didn’t push him further, merely resting against his side and closed her optics.

They sat like that under the stars for a long while, a calm peace flowing through the clearing and willed their worries away.

For this little while, she wasn’t a former assassin, and he wasn’t a Prime. She didn’t have to worry about getting in the Decepticon’s way, and he didn’t have to worry about protecting this world from literally everything.

They can get back to that later, but from the way she felt the bond relax, she knew this was the right call.

There was nothing but silence for a long while before Optimus spoke, absently running circles in the metal of her servo.

“Honestly, Phoe,” he started, glancing at her as she picked her helm up and held his gaze. Not for the first time, she saw through the layers of the mech he had become, the shields he had in place around who he was ever since Megatron had betrayed him. She saw the tired archivist, squeezing his servo as he trailed off and vented deeply.

“You had come to terms with your fate, hadn’t you?” She asked softly, swallowing the lump in her throatlines when he nodded, once.

“Phoe, from the moment Ratchet read the diagnosis, I had come to terms with it,” he vented, staring into the darkened forest around them. “We had our best scientists try for eons to find a cure for the plague, and all of the best minds on Cybertron were unable to create one.”

He frowned. “I knew Megatron had created this virus, knew he was behind the millions of lives lost because of it, but to have the cure for it this whole time when even he lost soldiers to its wrath…” Her mate trailed off, and when she reached for him through their bond she picked up on the waves of disappointment and hurt he was feeling.

“I’m not sure what I was expecting,” he said at last, shaking his helm sadly.

She frowned. “Megatron would have rather let the entire universe believe there was no cure than to save his own followers,” she said. “The vast majority of Decepticons who died from the plague were those who had begun showing signs of doubt about what we were doing. Megatron used the virus to wipe out what he believed to be traitors.”

His optics darkened, and she knew he was already aware of it.

“I cannot believe he is the same mech I knew before the war.”

She winced, resting her helm on his arm again and vented.

War brought out the worst in people, herself included. It took a special kind of strength to remain steadfast in your beliefs and morals, knowing your opponents wouldn’t extend you the same courtesy.

It was one reason she fell in love with him in the first place.

He looked at her again, pouring a steady stream of love through their bond to her. “I am fortunate, Phoenix, to have you by my side,” he murmured, kissing her helm as she smiled and hid her faceplates in his metal.

He smiled. “Thank you.”

– – –

She had remained there cuddling and comforting her sparkmate under the stars, until Starscream called for her several hours later.

Phoenix still didn’t want to leave her mate, but she didn’t have much of a choice in the matter.

Now, a few cycles later, she was currently wandering the endless halls of the Nemesis, bored out of her fragging processor and had literally nothing to do.

She didn’t want to risk leaving the ship again so soon after everything had happened, and her team was currently using the lull in the war to relax and recover from the hectic few weeks.

She knew she could go bother Knockout in his lab. The mech always had something he needed help with, but after what she did and said the other cycle she wasn’t too sure he would be able to work with her around.

Not that she blamed him, all things considered.

To be honest, she was anxious, and skittish, and every fragging sound sent her further on edge.

Soundwave was watching her. He hadn’t said or done anything after the Autobots were discovered hooked into Megatron’s processor, but that was probably the worst thing that could have happened.

When the Surveillance Chief watches someone, he doesn’t confront them. He remains in the shadows and monitors their actions, their decisions, their words, until he has enough to deal with them accordingly.

She couldn’t call her team and ask for any news, and she couldn’t devote much time to the healing bond between her and Optimus without looking distracted.

No, she had to wait for the privacy of her own room, and she couldn’t hole up in there forever.

None of the Decepticons knew about her relationship with the Autobot leader, and that would remain the case for as long as she had a say in the matter. She had no doubt that Starscream would relish the opportunity to torment either one of them if given the chance.

To admit to a sparkbond was to admit that there was someone out there who literally carried a sliver of your spark within them. Not that either she or Optimus was easy to kill, but Phoenix still wanted to play it safe.

“Phoenix, report to the bridge. Immediately.” Starscream’s screechy vocals echoed over the ship’s PA system, and she could only wonder what he wanted this time as she rolled her optics and mimicked his nasally vocals.

The last time he summoned her like this, he tried to get her to scrub the flight deck.

She very nearly broke one of his wings and threatened to throw him from said deck if he tried suggesting something like that again.

She couldn’t wait to hear what that seagull wanted this time.

Venting, the renowned assassin turned from her mindless pacing and made her way to the warship’s bridge, stepping inside to the sound of their monitors and sensors beeping in the background, with Starscream waiting expectantly at the helm of the bridge.

Phoenix couldn’t help but sneer at the sight, cracking a grin when he turned to face her.

“What took you so long?” He snapped, crossing his arms as she raised an optic ridge. “I summoned you ages ago, you’re supposed to heed my orders!”

So this was how today was gonna go, hm? Fine.

Phoenix’s grin slipped, stepping closer to Megatron’s stand-in and relished as he flinched and tried not to cower before her.

“When have I ever had to explain myself to you, Screamer?” She demanded, leaning back slightly so the seeker could stand without breaking his spinal struts.

Pathetic.

He growled at her, dropping his useless complaints and got to the point of calling her to the bridge in the first place.

“Never mind that,” he huffed, twitching his wings. She very much loved how their wings gave away everything that seekers were feeling. It made intimidating them that much easier. “I am assigning you on guard duty.”

He turned to the main screens, and she took the hint to follow after him when he brought up images of a human building.

“And why exactly are we stalking humans now?” She asked dryly, the seeker giving her a scathing look and growled at her.

“Because, Phoenix, they had something I want,” he ground out, pulling up a different image revealing what she could only guess to be a lens of sorts.

She frowned, raising an optic ridge when he turned to her expectantly.

Phoenix huffed, crossing her arms. “I’m not a fragging mind-reader, Screamer. Spill it or I’m out.”

She had the authority to make her own calls, and if he was refusing to talk to her then she was done playing his little game and abiding by his temper tantrum.

They were all adults for Primus’ sake. Fragging act like one, Starscream.

He scowled, and she had half a thought to wonder if he was a mind-reader and heard her insults his glare was so bad.

She grinned sharply and waited for him to get on with it. At least this was better than pacing the hallways. She wondered if she could turn this into a sport or something. See how long it took before Starscream blew a casket.

Maybe later.

“The Vehicon troopers acquired that lens last night.” He finally got around to explaining, and she knew she should be furious that he went about this mission without her, but she wisely kept her glossa.

For now.

“We have installed it onto our ship and we are going to use it to mine an ND 7 class energon deposit,” he continued, and she maintained the bored expression on her faceplates while tugging on the bond with her mate.

Unmineable energon deposit. The Decepticons do not need that much energon, and she was willing to bet her sword that it was classified as unmineable for a damn good reason.

Starscream was beginning to gloat at this point, Optimus acknowledging the bond and let her know he was there for when she was able to make a report.

Y’know, having a bond with the enemy leader really was a handy thing.

“When we arrive in the Arctic, you are going to stand guard and ensure the Autobots are unable to get to the lens. Do you understand?” He finally finished his little spiel, grinning darkly when she merely shrugged and nodded, walking away from the Commander and the screens.

“Call me when we get there, Screamy. Until then leave me the frag alone.”

– – –

~We haven’t arrived in the arctic yet, but we will within the hour,~ she said through the bond after arriving to the safety of her room, perching on the berth and frowned uneasily.

Starscream didn’t trust her, and she knew he hadn’t forgotten the incident with the Autobots and his accusation about letting them onto the ship.

If he was going to the lengths of accusing one of Megatron’s assassins of treason, then he had been suspecting her for at least a while at this point.

Her time really was running out.

~Do you know where Starscream will dock the Warship?~ Her mate asked, and she found herself frowning, finding the flight path in her records and sent him the destination spot.

~Make sure the rear of the flight deck is unguarded. I will gather the team and we will be there shortly,~ Optimus said after a pause, and she found herself relieved that he had figured out a plan so quickly. ~Agent Fowler just alerted us to the issue. Bumblebee is undergoing system power down so it will be Arcee, Bulkhead and myself. Do your best to keep the path clear,~ he added, and she felt a surge of worry for their scout before squashing it and sending a response.

~Alright, be safe. I guess I’ll be seeing you soon then.~ She mused, shrugging when her mate chuckled quietly before leaving their bond and returned to his team.

She left the bond too, her smile falling.

Bumblebee is the reason Optimus is alive today, but if entering Megatron’s processor caused him to get sick then she would personally see to it that Megatron’s frame was hauled off life-support if it was the last thing she did.

No one hurts her scout and gets away with it.

– – –

Several days after the near-disaster involving the Cybonic Plague, and I was still no closer to figuring out how that ship reactivated than when I started.

I was hunched over my laptop, scanning every file and crevice that someone could possibly be using to hide within my network, and kept coming up empty.

When I got back to the village that day, I had instantly informed Catori to begin the process of changing the access codes for the Network, and to order every compound and family unit to message me directly with their new codes before they were completely locked out.

Almost a hundred messages came through my visor within the first hour, and a dozen more within the second, and I got to work logging them in before I even thought about activating my holoform. The safety and security of my people came first.

Josh had gotten in contact with Daniel and told him to change everything about his files, security and codes, and to tell me when it was redone so I could log it into the new data I was writing for the Network.

Kayla was sitting beside me on her couch, shuffling through papers as I scrolled and read line after line of code to try and find where the back room door was.

Someone changed my alerts and it almost got the leader of the Autobots killed. I wasn’t going to let it happen again.

“Ok, my eyes are starting to hurt,” Kayla huffed, sitting back and rubbing her face. “Are you sure that door even exists?”

I spared her a glance, nodding once and kept scanning the files.

My friend whined, slumping against the cushions and pouted at the pile I had given her.

I tuned her out, flicking through another file as my connections spoke about the security breach.

“We’re doing alright here in Germany. No sign of Arachnid or any other Cybertronian.” My phone translated the text into Cybertronian for me, nodding absently to it and switched to the next section of the file to search.

“Still going strong in India. We spotted the Decepticon Warship on our scanners off the coast this morning, but it continued heading south without stopping. Be advised, the Decepticons are heading south.” I gave the screen more than a second glance this time, frowning and typed a response and cautioned everyone to keep their distance.

My scanners were only able to get through and read the Warship because Phoenix gave me the access codes. Already it’s starting to pay off.

“The Autobots are enroute to the South Pole. Be advised, Starscream hit a telescope facility last night and stole the primary telescope lens. It is believed he is attempting to mine down to an ND 7 class energon deposit. Anyone near a coast is advised to seek higher ground should they be unsuccessful in stopping him.” Daniel’s reply finally pulled me from the deep-scan of my network, crossing my arms as Kayla glanced over.

“Dannie says that Starscream hit the Kauai Naval Observatory and stole the primary lens last night,” I murmured, Kay leaning over and read the report over my shoulder. She hummed, whistling softly.

“Now can we take a break?” She begged, pouting at me. “We’re still no closer to figuring out who broke into the Network than we were two days ago, and if you keep this up you’re going to drive yourself into a burnout. Just have something to eat and sleep for an hour. At least until Alejandro wakes up,” she pleaded, grabbing one of my hands and gave me the look she knew I could never say no to.

I sighed, giving in and logged out of the Network, activating the firewalls I created and closed the laptop.

“Fine, you win. But after I’m getting right back to work,” I warned, chuckling when she squealed and hauled me off the couch.

I’ll find the cause of the discrepancy if it’s the last thing I do.

– – –

Standing beside Starscream, it was taking all her will-power not to knock him off the ship and pretend it was an accident. His so-called “Second in Command” was standing between them, finally understanding what Knockout was expecting to get out of their whole deal.

Phoenix wasn’t kidding when she had told Starfire she found Earth beautiful, but all she could do now was sit here and watch while Starscream attempted to kill who knows how many humans by melting down to the deposit.

~We’re here, Phoe.~ She didn’t physically react to her mate’s words, but sent an acknowledgement back and crossed her arms, waiting.

“Yes! I love it when a plan comes together!” She rolled her optics at Megatron’s stand-in, the seeker ignoring her and watched while the Vehicon trooper operated his melting device.

“Don’t get too cocky, Screamer,” Phoenix drawled, leaning against the side of the ship. “The Autobots could show up.”

She had no plans to tell him that they were already here, but she couldn’t help but laugh at the scowl he sent her way.

“I am aware of that, Phoenix,” Starscream growled. “Why the frag do you think I summoned you in the first place? And where is your sword?” He snapped, and she merely shrugged and turned back down to the ice below them.

She left her Sire’s blade in her berthroom. She would have no need for it in this fight.

Starscream had hardly turned when she caught sight of Bulkhead and Arcee driving in from opposite directions, the seeker growling at them.

“Autobots.” If she didn’t have Megatron to compare him to, then she likely would have found his tone at the word chilling.

“Please, Lord Starscream. Allow your Second in Command the honour.” Knockout gave a dramatic bow to the seagull, before turning to Breakdown standing behind them.

“Breakdown, total them!”

Phoenix huffed as he ran past and leapt off the ship, his laughter echoing up as he fell, and landed right between the two Autobots charging towards them.

She saw no sign of Optimus, but trusted he knew what he was doing. There was not a chance she was going to point out that since Breakdown was gone, their rear was now completely unguarded.

Just like Optimus wanted.

Phoenix watched idly as Breakdown and her team went at it, Bulkhead engaging in his old enemy while Arcee did her best to offer support and switch whenever he was knocked back.

She was genuinely surprised, however, when neither Knockout or Starscream actually noticed their lack of guard, even more surprised when Starscream turned on her.

“Well? What are you waiting for, Phoenix? Get down there and help him!” He snapped, pointing aggressively down to the battling bots.

She growled, but knew that if she was still up here when Optimus arrived then she would be more than expected to fight him.

At least down there she could pull her punches, and even get in Breakdown’s way should he actually get close to getting the upper servo.

“Fine.” She gave him a dramatic bow oozing with mocking respect before making a running start and leapt off the ship towards the snow and ice below.

The air rushing around her during the brief moment she was airborne whipped at her metal and stung her optics, but while she was in free-fall it was almost as though she was the only thing to exist in the entire universe.

There was no war, she wasn’t a Decepticon turned Autobot and she wasn’t expected to do anything by anyone.

She was just her.

Phoenix pouted when the moment ended, sending a wave of snow and ice erupting around her flying towards the three others already waiting for her.

Bulkhead and Arcee went tense, Breakdown grinning as she rose to her proper height and merely smiled.

As far as the Decepticons were concerned, she was as much of a threat to the Autobots as Megatron was. To face her on the battlefield meant many, many of them would die.

She wasn’t inclined to kill off her own teammates, but that didn’t mean she was above having a little fun.

They had sparred before. Bulkhead at least would be able to hold his ground, if only long enough for her mate to deal with Starscream and his melting device.

With that in mind, she grinned and charged the Wrecker, Bulkhead engaging her head on while Arcee did her best to keep Breakdown off of him.

He swung for her, not holding anything back as he tried his absolute best to land a hit on her.

Phoenix ducked low under his swing and reached up, grabbing his wrecking ball and grinned when she saw the resigned look appear on his faceplates. She glanced at him gleefully.

“Say hi to Breakdown for me,” she whispered, before she shifted and threw him back to where the others were fighting.

She snorted when Arcee caught on and ducked underneath her flying teammate, Bulkhead crashing into Breakdown and sent them both tumbling into the snow.

Not wasting any time, Arcee rolled her optics and ran at her, and the only reason she caught onto the amusement on the two-wheeler’s faceplates was because she knew to look.

Phoenix actually giggled, decidedly going easier on the lithe femme and found herself genuinely enjoying the work out.

“Mind telling me the plan?” She whispered, Arcee huffing and struck a handful more times before replying.

“Remember the end run on Polyhex?” Her optics went wide as she got the picture, Arcee pushing her further away from the two mechs who were just now beginning to get back at it.

“I didn’t know you could throw like that. Bulk sure won’t forget,” she added, and if Phoenix didn’t have the Decepticon army literally right behind her she would have frozen.

She just lobbed Bulkhead into Breakdown. Lobbing, which was a game she was never a fan of. Lobbing, which Bulkhead always insisted on playing anytime he got the chance.

She whined, Arcee grinning when the realization hit and dodged the next two attacks Phoenix made.

There wouldn’t be a chance she would be getting out of lobbing with Bulkhead anymore.

They collectively turned to look when the laser beam moved away from drilling, and she flinched back when it rose up too close for comfort along the glacier and back towards the rear of the Decepticon Warship.

Towards her mate.

Arcee shared her uneasy glance, the two of them coming to the same conclusion.

There wasn’t anything either of them could do about it though.

She reengaged the fight with Arcee, Breakdown and Bulkhead striking their hammers together hard enough to send a giant crack splitting down the valley they were in, shaking the ground beneath their peds while they fought.

She stumbled and missed her next strike when a burning pain erupted through her sparkbond, and she was unable to avoid Arcee’s next blow. It glanced off her jaw and Phoenix saw the brief panic in her optics before she fell back into the snow, Arcee taking the chance to go help Bulkhead instead of needing to find a way to not hurt her currently-incapacitated teammate.

She winced and held a servo to her chassis, putting the pieces together and whipped her helm up to the warship where Starscream was currently trying to melt her mate alive.

Before she could find a way to abandon the fight and get back up there she felt the burning ease, watching as Optimus leapt into the air and effectively cut the device in two.

The blast wave from the sudden power cut sent debris and ice tumbling towards the battling bots, and she hardly had a moment to cover her faceplates before it was pelting her mercilessly, a heavy impact landing in their bond like a pile of rocks.

She knew he was stunned, and she knew she couldn’t get to him through the damn tidal wave that was only just now beginning to ebb.

Phoenix lifted her helm once it died down after planting herself in place, from the corner of her optic seeing her teammates regather themselves and find their footing again.

Breakdown was dusting the snow off himself, as concerned about the situation as the rest of them.

She couldn’t be bothered to care about that though, not when she couldn’t locate her sparkmate.

Once she did, however, she felt the energon drain from her faceplates, rising quickly to her peds but froze in place when she saw the seeker Commander do a fly-by overhead.

She realized something, then. She had a choice to make. Maintain her cover that was already beginning to fracture, or shoot Starscream down before he could hurt Optimus.

It wasn’t much of a choice.

“Megatron’s greatest mistake was ever allowing you to live, Prime!” The seeker raged, arming his missile as he bee-lined for her prone mate.

Phoenix took off in a dead sprint, racing across the tumbled snow.

She didn’t care about her cover. She didn’t care about pretending anymore. She loved the leader of the Autobots, and she was not going to stand by any longer and watch as the bots she had grown to care about were hurt. Not when she could fragging do something about it.

She armed her wrist blaster, pleading with Primus to let her get to Optimus first, to get close enough to stop Starscream before he took everything from her. She had never run so fast in all her life, and she wondered if she ever would again, not as she could do nothing but watch in horror as the seeker got within range.

“Primus please..!”

Moments before Starscream could fire he was intercepted.

The Autobots were too far away.

She was too far away.

Optimus was still unable to move.

She slowly stopped, watching as Starscream was dragged back aboard the Decepticon Warship.

She disengaged her blaster, fixated on the burning ship while the Leader of the Decepticons himself threw Starscream onto one of the Nemesis’ wings.

Megatron was back.

Megatron was back and she was in a whole world of scrap.

– – –

Chapter Text

Phoenix could only stare as the most dangerous mech alive pummeled Starscream, a bored expression plastered on her faceplates.

She had scrambled to fix her cover once it became clear to her that Optimus’ life was no longer in any danger, backpedaling away from the Autobot leader and scrambling back to where Breakdown was.

The two factions came to the conclusion that this battle was over, Phoenix yanking on Breakdown’s arm to get him to back off while she called Soundwave for a bridge.

They had to get back to the ship, she had to get to the bridge, and she had to do damage control. Once Soundwave reported to Megatron then her time amongst the Decepticons was as good as over.

The bridge opened behind them right around the same time she saw Optimus get up, their optics locking for a brief second before she turned and ran inside the bridge, the portal closing behind the two Decepticons and left them standing in one of the Nemesis' long hallways.

Breakdown turned on her, then, and she knew he was never really the brightest, but this took the cake.

“Why the frag did you throw Bulkhead at me?” He demanded, and Phoenix merely rolled her optics and started walking, making for the bridge. She had more important things to worry about than Breakdown’s temper tantrum.

“It was a battle, Breakdown,” she drawled, not stopping as he began to pace her. “Besides, everyone should know by now that I don’t play well with others. You get in my way, you get a wrecking ball thrown at you. You're lucky that was all I did,” she added, chuckling as he scowled but dropped the argument.

She was glad, because from the sounds of things, Megatron was pissed.

She would be too if Starscream tried as hard as he did to kill her.

Phoenix just had to make sure that his anger was kept on Starscream, and not her.

They made it to the bridge, Knockout seeming uneasy while Soundwave stood at the helm. The Vehicon troopers were muttering to each other, and she just barely had enough time to find her spot on the bridge when Megatron stormed in with a murderous expression on his faceplates, dragging a begging and pleading Starscream behind him.

The Warlord threw the traitorous seeker against the nearest wall, all production grinding to a halt as everyone turned to look.

She maintained a bored, if not faintly amused look over her features, and if she wasn’t so terrified about what Megatron would do to her next then she would have genuinely enjoyed the show.

Megatron wasn’t saying anything, and she found that fact far more terrifying than if he was listing off all the ways Starscream had failed him, like he had done so many times before and likely would again, should Starscream survive this.

Megatron's wrath was evident, and not a single soul stood in his way as he pummeled the seeker.

~Phoenix, we have a problem.~ She tensed when her mate’s vocals echoed through their bond, pulling her attention away from the brutal scene before her and implied for Optimus to continue.

~Ratchet has informed us that the cortical psychic patch acted as a two-way conduit. Phoenix, Megatron followed Bumblebee and was conscious within his mind for the last several cycles. Megatron saw you at base.~ She felt herself go pale, suddenly reevaluating everything that she thought she knew.

Megatron saw her sitting next to Optimus. He saw her at the Autobot base.

The Warlord glanced her way, his red optics narrowing as she raised an optic ridge. He grinned faintly, before turning back to throttling Starscream.

~What do I do?~ She breathed, her mate not answering for a moment, and in that spanse of time Megatron managed to render the seeker unconscious.

“Knockout.” The cherry red medic tensed, Megatron gesturing to the seeker at his peds. “See to it that Starscream is brought to the medbay.”

With a final sneer at the seeker the Warlord turned and walked off the bridge, Knockout scrambling to Starscream’s side while Soundwave wordlessly followed Megatron out of the command room.

~Wrap up loose ends and come home, Phoe. I am recalling you to base.~ Optimus replied finally, her spark in her throatlines as she fought to maintain her composure as a mixture of fear and excitement flooded her.

She was going home.

– – –

I whined and rubbed my face, glancing at the clock in the corner of my screen and grumbled at the taunting numbers.

I didn’t care how late in the evening it got. I was so close to the breech I could almost taste it.

Josh had returned home late from the Council meeting, the village elders planning what to do in response to the Network being compromised. His demeanor was exhausted but content when he saw his wife, snoring on the couch beside me.

He woke her up and the two of them went to bed, and that was around the time I checked the clock and cursed soundly at it.

The safety of my entire network was at stake here. How the frag was I expected to do anything else until my people were out of danger?

I sighed, shaking my head and pushed my braid to the other side of my neck and dove back into my work.

Whoever hacked into my network was good, I’ll give them that. Despite Kayla’s doubts about them even existing, I had found traces of code that I had not written, lines of lettering that would inhibit the Network just enough to disrupt us.

Just enough to kill the leader of the Autobots.

“Primus, what am I missing?” I whined, sitting back and glared tiredly at the rolling numbers and letters within my screen.

I ran my hands through my hair, stretching and winced when something popped in my back.

This was a holoform. I wasn’t supposed to be popping.

A line of code caught my eye, sitting up and brought my cursor over to highlight it.

I read it, and then read it again.

“I am an idiot!”

I scrambled to wipe my laptop, returning it to its factory setting and in turn, deactivating the Network as a whole.

While it was doing that, I grabbed my phone and did the same thing, glancing out Kayla’s front window.

He got on the Network using my codes. I was the only person who didn’t reset their link, who didn’t create a new one. Even if I had, it would have been linked to me personally, and he would have been able to weasel his way in once again.

It’s what he does.

I turned back to my laptop and began the process of reinstalling everything.

It took me about an hour before the Neutral Network was back up and running, creating a different set of credentials and manually re-added every single user back online.

I gave it another system-wide flush, finding a handful of other misshapen codes and errors, eradicating them all before I finally deemed the Network secure.

I exhaled deeply, leaning back and tiredly watched the screen.

There was no doubt in my mind about who got into the Network anymore. The only one who had my codes was Shockburner.

Shockburner was still alive.

I glowered at the codes now innocently rolling across the screen, my thoughts regularly returning to my time spent with that wretched mech.

I recalled the time after he killed the rest of our crew, betraying Straightwire and Crossbreaker and led them to their deaths. I remembered the rockslide I managed to land on him, and I remembered the days I spent looking through the wreckage for any sign of him.

300 years. That mech hasn’t been seen or heard of in over 300 years, and now come to find out he’s been watching my Network.

He knows where my people are.

I sighed and wrote up another message for the Network:

“I found the infiltrator and rebooted the Network. His name is Shockburner. He is to be considered armed and dangerous, and to be avoided at all costs. He knows the locations of the compounds, which cities you live in, down to the addresses and your names. If anyone notices they’re being watched, followed, or believes they are under threat, message the Network immediately. I will be there. I will give you all personalized codes to say to anyone attempting to pass as myself. Be careful, my friends. He is unpredictable at best. Keep your defenses up and your people alert. May Primus be with you all.”

I sent it and took a deep breath, already messages pouring in with promises of caution and support.

Finally at ease that my Network was once again secure, I powered down the laptop and figured it was as good a time as any to get some proper rest.

I’ve been up for almost three days at this point.

I sighed and stood, slipping my phone in my sweater pocket and started for the stairs that would lead to the guest room, where I had been staying until Kayla and Josh settled in with Alex before I would return to my own dwelling not too far from here.

I was halfway up the stairs when a sharp pain stabbed through my chest, gasping and doubled over as I gripped the railing to keep from falling.

A menacing purple glow began emitting from my hand, lifting it from my chest and squinted at it, the pain and glow fading almost as quickly as it had begun.

What in the name of Primus was that?

I straightened and continued on to my room, puzzling over the sudden emergence and disappearance of that strange purple glow.

My hand had glowed and my chest had hurt.

What the actual frag?

I made it to my room, turning out the light and sat on the bed, staring at my hand as though it would begin glowing again.

I was in my holoform. The only way my hand should theoretically be glowing like that, was if something had happened to my physical frame.

But my frame was parked in the hangar within the center of the village. There’s emergency procedures that would disengage my holoform if there was a problem with it, cancelation field or not.

I finally dragged my gaze away from my hand, beginning to unbraid my hair and tried not to think too much about it. The pain was gone, the glow was gone, and the emergency protocols didn’t engage. I was fine.

I was significantly less fine when my phone started ringing, pausing in my efforts to actually get some sleep and reached over to turn the lamp back on.

I checked the caller display and frowned, heart in my throat when I answered.

“Hey Bulk, what’s up?” I asked as casually as I possibly could, praying to Primus that everything was alright.

It was just friends calling friends, nothing wrong about that.

Just friends calling friends in the dead of the night.

“Hey Star. Hope I didn’t wake you or anything,” he said, and I raised a brow ironically and glanced at the clock on the nightstand.

“Nah, you’re good. Is everything ok?”

It was quiet on the other end, and I was faintly able to make out several voices through his com.

I recognized Ratchet, and Optimus in particular, though I couldn’t make out exactly what they were saying.

“No, Star. Everything is not ok.” I bit back a whine, forgoing any chance of sleep and heaved myself out of bed, heading back downstairs to get my coat and boots.

“What happened this time?”

– – –

The prospect of going home both excited and terrified her, and as soon as she could she abandoned the bridge and made for her berthroom.

She ignored the Vehicon troopers that she passed along the way, reminding herself that she had a reputation to uphold, expectations that she couldn’t break yet.

The threat of being found out and captured was higher than it had ever been before, and she knew that she didn’t have much time to spare before Megatron was on her aft.

Every second that passed brought her closer and closer to her last moments on board the Nemesis, and as far from the tyrant as she could get.

Good riddance.

Finally arriving at her destination, Phoenix punched in the codes to her room and strode inside, quickly scanning for anything she might not want to leave behind.

Her Sire’s sword rested against the far wall, and the first thing she did was strap it to her backstruts. She made sure to grab the supplies she would need to take care of it, especially her personal whetstone that her Sire gave her all those eons ago when she first inherited her blade.

She smiled dryly, flipping it over in her servo. Before she was ever able to wield such a weapon, her Sire made damn sure she knew how to take care of it. She could recall the thousands of hours she spent in his workshop growing up, proving to him that she was capable of giving the tools he created the respect they deserved.

She earned this sword, and she’d be damned if she let anything happen to it.

Phoenix subspaced her equipment and gave the room another once-over. Her berth sat against the far wall, with a scattering of datapads and small mementos of the war on the shelves above it.

Underneath the berth, however, was a decently large chest filled with mementos of a different kind.

She frowned, hesitating. During the early days of the war, after she graduated from the Academy, she quickly became known for taking trophies of every kill she made, something to remember each spark she extinguished and battle she triumphed in.

She was mostly sent on assassination missions, and her kill count was unprecedented for such a line of work.

She used to take pride in the number of pieces she had collected over the years, proof that she was and would forever be feared, but now, seeing that box again with everything that it stood for made her tanks churn.

Phoenix knelt down beside the berth and slid the box out, gazing at the items she used to take such pride in accumulating with a mixture of dread and regret.

Staring at the top of the pile, her servos shook as she reached in and grabbed a small, hardly worthwhile metal horn.

“Well, Phoenix? What are you waiting for? Kill him already and be done with it!”

Starscream’s vocals snapped through her helm again, startling her from her daze and causing her to drop the horn back in the box.

Primus why…

She shook her helm rapidly and blinked back the sudden tears welling up in her optics, picking the small horn back up before shoving the box back under the berth. She stood, scanning the room again and chided herself to focus.

As much as she wished Primus would be compassionate, she knew their Creator was far from forgiving. He had taken everything from her, so why should she bother asking for anything in return?

Their Creator was cruel, and cold, and she was not about to go asking for his help.

Venting deeply, her gaze landed on the small stash of energon she kept in her room should she ever not feel like venturing to the storage rooms.

Her team wasn’t desperate for energon, but any little bit would help, especially since the Decepticons had mines in most of Earth’s reserves. She grabbed the handful of cubes and subspaced them.

She regularly downloaded files to read during her downtime, the few datapads from the shelves loaded with a collection of random but useful information. She subspaced them and did one last check of the room. She likely would never step ped here again.

Satisfied that she was alright with leaving the rest of her things for the Decepticons, she turned and left her berthroom for what would hopefully be the last time.

Phoenix frowned as she walked, an idea worming its way into her processor.

~Optimus, the Decepticons have files from Iacon here. I could see if I could download them before I go,~ she offered, and she knew she could do it. Soundwave was busy bringing Megatron up to speed, though she knew she was playing a very risky game if she tried.

As soon as he detected the database being tampered with, Soundwave would be on her like a scraplet on a scrapheap. She would need to move very quickly.

Her mate didn’t reply right away, and she decided to head to the nearest station that would be able to run the dense database.

All of them could run it relatively well, but certain ones, like the lab, could run the data noticeably faster.

She wasn’t going to the lab, she didn’t have an offlining wish, but there were other, stronger consoles she could find that would give her a boost to her downloading speed.

Soundwave would have noticed if she tried downloading it before, and her cover would have been blown much sooner. But now that she was leaving, she figured she should get as much out of them as she could.

The Decepticons owed them that much.

Apparently, Optimus didn’t agree. ~It’s too dangerous, Phoe. The longer you remain on the Nemesis the higher your chances of capture,~ he said firmly, making her pause in the middle of one of the hallways. ~It is only a matter of time until Megatron gathers himself and figures out what he wants to do with you.~

Phoenix frowned, resuming her walk and fished out one of her transfer drives large enough to fit the entire database. ~Optimus, if we get the records then it might give us an edge over the Decepticons,~ she argued. ~Soundwave has been unable to break into them, but you can. We need every advantage we can get.~

She could sense the uncertainty through their bond, but her hopes fell when a wave of resolution covered it. ~Come home, Phoenix. The Iacon records are not worth your life. This is non-negotiable.~

If they allowed the Decepticons full access to the Iacon relics, and they figured out a way to decode them, then Megatron would do only Primus knew what with them. ~Optimus please, let me do this,~ she begged, finding the control station she would need and gazed at the chip in her servos.

Five minutes. All it would take was five minutes and then the Autobots might finally have a shot at pushing the Decepticons back.

She knew she was playing with fire, knew that every second she remained on this ship posed greater and greater risk to discovery, but she had to try. She had to try and get the Autobots one last gift. She was known as the Firebird for a reason. Playing with fire was kind of her thing.

His frustration was tangible. ~Phoenix do not make me make it an order. Come home, now.~

She huffed but begrudgingly didn’t argue further, reluctantly subspacing the drive and punched in the coordinates she and the team agreed upon should this very situation develop.

The Iacon files were vital. She just hoped Soundwave didn’t suddenly teach himself a new way of decryption, or they would all be fragged. And it wasn't like she could just delete them, either. There were so many security measures in place surrounding those files it was ridiculous.

Once she got the ground bridge spinning she stepped in the portal and left the Warship, the Decepticons, and her status as Megatron’s most trusted Assassin behind.

Phoenix entered into a darkening forest of pine and oak, the towering trees dwarfing even her, and the only source of light disappeared when the bridge shut down behind her.

She smiled, despite herself, an invisible weight lifting from her shoulderplates.

Her team, her real team, was waiting for her. She could spend some proper time with the children, she could try and talk Bulkhead out of making her lob with him, and…

And she could finally be able to be with her sparkmate.

~I’m ready for the bridge,~ Phoenix said, and almost laughed. ~I’ve hardly seen any other Decepticon since I left the Warship’s bridge, and certainly not Megatron. This is almost too easy.~ She smiled, her mate’s relief and minor amusement echoing down their bond as he told her they’d have a bridge for her in a moment.

She was finally going home.

The forest stretched around her, somewhere within North America and away from human interference. When she glanced up she was just barely able to make out the moon, a small sliver peeking out through the clouds. She vented softly, closing her optics briefly and relished the peaceful night.

“Going somewhere, Phoenix?”

She tensed and whipped around, Megatron standing mere paces behind her and smiled grimly as she scrambled to compose herself.

Phoenix recovered quickly and offered him a smile of her own, shrugging at the Decepticon Leader. “I just figured it was a nice evening for a walk, Lord Megatron,” she said, the shadows stretching between them sending sharp lines over his frame, the mech standing before her unreadable and, worse, unpredictable.

“Is that so?” He drawled, beginning to walk towards her. “That wouldn't have anything to do with your change of spark, would it?”

Her smile sharpened, shrugging once. “I’m not sure I understand what you mean, my lord,” she mused, servos twitching as she braced for the fight that was surely about to come. “I figured it was a good spot to train. I found it a while ago, and the solitude is nice. Is that so wrong, Master?” She asked sweetly.

Megatron grinned at her, and despite her large stature, he still towered over her, the faint light of the moon glinting off his silver metal. “And how long ago did you find this place, my Firebird?” He pressed, and she slowly started edging towards the nearest tree.

“I’d say a few years ago at this point, though I never really cared to mark the time.” She shrugged, tugging firmly on her sparkbond.

Optimus, where the frag was the bridge?

She was good. She knew she could take Megatron in a fight, especially since he had been in stasis for so long.

She also knew he was here waiting for her. There wasn’t a chance in the pits that she was here alone. He wasn’t stupid. He brought backup.

Megatron paced her as she kept backing up, and she knew there was only so long she could stall before he decided to drop this little act.

“And would you say you prefer this forest compared to the amenities I have offered you on board the Nemesis?”

She could faintly hear the rushing stream behind her, remembering why they agreed upon this spot as the meeting location in the first place.

The terrain was quite hostile to anyone unfamiliar with it, and fortunately for her, she had made sure to become acquainted with it. She knew that just past the stream the ground steadily sloped upwards, and once it leveled out the trees got much thicker and harder to traverse through.

She knew the quickest path through to the secondary meeting spot, and she just prayed there weren’t too many Decepticons between here and there.

“I wouldn’t go that far, my lord,” she said, his grin slipping then. “It is just a patch of forest I found and liked. It isn’t that deep,” she added.

It was that deep, and she knew he knew it.

~Optimus, I really need that bridge.~ She breathed, her mate seeming distracted all of a sudden and she stiffened when Megatron slowly began to laugh.

Chills slid down her spinal struts at the dark sound, the silent forest growing even quieter as his laughter rose in volume, the mech in front of her slowly shaking his helm.

“Not only have you betrayed me, my dear Firebird, but you’ve become such a terrible liar.” He smiled, movement stealing her attention as Soundwave walked into view behind her.

“I still don’t know what you’re talking about, Lord Megatron,” she murmured, but finally brought her servo up to the wrapped hilt of her sword. Megatron was far more prepared for this than she was.

Megatron nodded to Soundwave, and she turned slightly when the Surveillance Chief started playing a feed over his visor.

She felt her spark drop to the pit of her tanks, and silently cursed herself for her carelessness.

They collectively watched as Laserbeak’s field of view flew above her when she exited the bridge last week, watched as she raised a digit to her audial and called for another one.

It was right when Starscream called her out for allowing Arcee and Bumblebee into the laboratory, the accusation a damn distraction to allow Laserbeak through the bridge.

They all watched as she willingly entered the bridge to the Autobot base, Laserbeak's field of view picking up everything, from her digit to her com to the faint smile on her faceplates when she walked inside.

The damning imagery made her energon boil, because even if Megatron didn’t already see her at the Autobot base, her slip up that cycle just cost her her cover.

The video cut and she could have sworn the tension within the immediate area could be cut with a human butter knife.

Ok, maybe she had been spending a bit too much time with Miko on the internet, but the phrasing still worked.

“So what now?” She asked quietly, Soundwave watching her every move as Megatron crossed his arms. “Even with that video, even with your optic-witness account, you still need to take into consideration that I am where I am because I am the best,” she said.

The tyrant raised an amused optic ridge. “You truly believe that, don’t you?”

It was her turn to grin.

“Damn right I do. Or do I need to remind you of my reputation?” She asked sweetly, slowly beginning to maneuver herself in such a way she could keep an optic on both of them. No more sneak attacks, thank you. “I was the best in the Academy, I was the one given the most important assignments. I was the one you trusted to get things done.” His optics flashed at that, and her grin grew. “Megatron, you would do well not to underestimate me.”

She expected him to consider her words, expected him to at least pause and remember that she was, y’know, right, but he did none of that.

He only chuckled and the smile he gave her was enough to make her fully draw her sword. “Oh, don’t worry my dear Phoenix. I have not underestimated you,” he assured, and it was at that time that her mate finally came back to the bond.

~Phoenix, Megatron compromised our ground bridge. We are unable to get within 100 clicks of the meeting location.~ She could hear the direness in his vocals, dread washing through her as Megatron grinned knowingly.

“The Autobots will be unable to assist you, my Flaming Firebird. There will be no one to help you now.”

She really was alone.

– – –

I knew I was probably not going to be getting any sleep tonight, Bulkhead filling me in on the situation as I packed my laptop and made my way back to the hangar where my frame was waiting for me.

Megatron was awake.

I was so tempted to be petty and whine about it, but I knew Bulkhead was just as exasperated as I was about the situation, and so I decided to keep my tongue.

It was snowing again, the soft flakes falling and melting when they came into contact with my jacket, the snow crunching under my boots as I turned the block down to the village center.

Bulkhead just finished telling me that Megatron took control of Bumblebee’s mind, and the poor kid had to deal with that for several days before the Warlord was able to wrestle control long enough to revive his own body.

Honestly, I was damn impressed Bumblebee managed to hold him off for so long. He probably didn’t even realize what was happening to him until it was too late.

I paused when I stepped inside the access door of the hangar, flipping my hood back and frowned, flicking on the light as I mentally did some math. “Bulk, what does this mean for Phoenix?” I asked, able to hear more voices through the call and dropped my laptop bag to the floor at my feet.

She was at base when Bumblebee came back from his mission. Meaning if Megatron was inside his mind, then-

I started pacing, beginning to worry about the Autobot spy.

All I used to know about her was what her reputation was on Cybertron. I had never met her, but I knew a number of bots who had, and who had managed to survive the encounter. Phoenix was cruel, and vicious, and had a vendetta against any Neutral she came across. I would have been willing to bet Crystal City that she sought my people out deliberately.

Now, however, after having a few decent conversations with her, it was clear to me that something had changed within her, and I had a feeling I knew what it was. So to hear that she was in danger from the Decepticons, namely Megatron himself, well.

“Optimus just recalled her. She’s coming home,” Bulkhead explained. “In fact, she just called for a bridge now,” he added, a cheery note to his vocals that I found endearing.

I nodded slowly, putting the call on speaker and flicked through my phone, frowning as I pulled up the tracker the Network made for the Decepticon Warship. I found it still over the middle of the Atlantic, though that didn’t really mean much considering most of them could fly and I had no doubt they had a bridge.

I picked up more voices through the call, Bulkhead’s attention being pulled away and I was able to enhance the call enough to pick up what Ratchet was saying.

“Are you certain that Megatron didn’t try anything with the bridge?” I tensed, debating for a second before I got to work breaking into the Decepticon communication arrays. Now that I had their location and was on the inside of their cloaking, it was almost child’s play to get in.

“I- I really don’t remember, Ratchet-” I frowned at the panic in their scout’s vocals, bypassing the Decepticon firewalls. Almost instantly I was hit with dozens of calls and conversations, and I wryly remembered that the Decepticons never slept. I syphoned through their links and was able to snag a current frequency from the Warship to somewhere far up in Northern Canada.

The text rolled across my screen while the Autobots quickly realized that something was wrong with their ground bridge.

“Uh, guys?” I called, staring at the screen in my hand in horror. “Megatron knows where the meeting location is. He’s already down there.”

None of them bothered to ask me how I knew that.

“Star, our bridge isn’t working.” Bulkhead I do believe I was able to figure that out.

I frowned, triangulating Phoenix’s signal and was able to pinpoint at least two dozen enemy beacons in the surrounding areas.

Well that wasn’t fragging good.

“I can see that,” I said. “I also see a whole ton of Decepticon signals surrounding Phoenix.”

I was able to make out Optimus asking Ratchet how long it would take for him to get the ground bridge working again.

At least ten minutes.

Ten minutes, that Phoenix really didn’t have. She was good, really really good. Better than I ever was or ever will be. And I knew, realistically speaking, that she could take Megatron in a fight.

But the Decepticon Warlord never played fair. If he was already down there, on top of the Autobots being locked out, then her chances of survival just plummeted astronomically.

I glanced up to the other side of the hangar, to where my own ground bridge waited.

I still had to work out the kinks in it. There were a few bugs to smooth out, but in a pinch, my bridge worked.

I was not about to bring the Autobots to the village.

Phoenix needed help.

I whined, shoulders slumping as I once again heard my Sire’s vocals and his lessons in my ears.

I did have the power to help. And if we lost Phoenix, then Earth would be in even more danger, which meant this village and the entire Network was in danger.

Damnit.

“Bulkhead, you focus on getting that bridge working. I’ll do what I can to stall them until you guys can get down there,” I ordered, striding for my frame and manually switched off my holoform before I could talk myself out of this.

I could almost see the shocked look on his faceplates, my phone deactivating as the call synced back to my audials.

I transformed and subspaced my bag, my old friend passing on my words to the Autobot team.

“Are you sure, Star? This is Megatron we’re talking about,” Bulkhead reminded, and I took a deep vent before walking to my bridge control panel.

“Do we really have another choice, Bulk?” I shot back, and after a brief conversation the Autobots relented and got to work trying to fix their bridge.

I entered the coordinates into my bridge and flinched when it sputtered before leveling out, eyeing it suspiciously.

You better behave, bridge-

“I’ll do what I can to buy her time. Just hurry up and get down there,” I said at last, cutting the call and walked through the bridge to meet the leader of the Decepticons himself.

I really thought I wasn’t going to be getting involved.

– – –

She couldn’t rely on her team to get her out of here.

She didn’t know if she would be able to fight her way out, either.

All she knew was that she had to try. It wasn’t like she really had a choice in the matter.

“Do you not remember the oath you swore to me? The vow to remain loyal to me, and to me alone?” Megatron demanded, eyeing her sword as she braced for a fight. Soundwave remained behind her, motionless, but she knew full well how deceiving he could be.

The secondary meeting location was within the borders. Megatron knew, he knew and he probably has Vehicons lined up waiting for her all within this forest, the forest that has now become akin to a prison.

“Maybe I realized that the oath was worthless,” she spat, anger flashing in his optics. “Maybe I just woke up and realized that it became worthless the moment you stopped fighting for a better world.”

She knew she struck a nerve, his jaw feathering. “I am fighting for a better world, Phoenix. My world,” he snarled, and she just rolled her optics and twirled her sword once.

She was not going to die here.

“What world, Megatron?” She shot back, scowling at Soundwave when he took a step. “Cybertron is dead, when will you figure that out? We destroyed our home, and now what? You’re going to try and do the same to this one?” She laughed, and her anger at the mech standing before her threatened to consume her. “I wish you luck, honestly. You would think you would have learned a thing or two in the several million years we’ve been at war, but I suppose I was mistaken.”

Megatron glared at her, and she was ready when he deemed the conversation over, snarling at her and charged her. She cursed softly, blocking his wrist blade with her sword and ducked under the punch he threw at her.

She knew she was on borrowed time, knew she had to get the frag out of there, but that was seriously easier said than done, shoving the Warlord back and bought herself a few precious moments to think.

Megatron seethed, switching for his cannon and forced her to leap out of the way of the consecutive blasts.

She quickly came to the realization that taking on both Soundwave and Megatron, though plausible, was not the best course of action. Instead, she transformed and sped away, dodging and weaving between the trees and the energon blasts Megatron sent after her.

She was able to make out Soundwave when he took to the skies, cursing quietly and drove faster.

She didn’t have time to make a plan with her mate or their team, she didn’t have time to do anything other than drive.

If she got outside the dead-zone, then they could get her a bridge. She just had to outlast Soundwave, Megatron, and whatever else they had waiting for her out here.

Phoenix didn’t like those odds.

She drove faster through the dense forest, tilting her mirrors when she heard Laserbeak disengage from Soundwave and watched him fly past overhead.

The mini-con was smaller, faster, and far more maneuverable than a regular size Decepticon. Herself included.

She saw a hill rapidly approaching and revved her engines, racing for it and transformed mid-air to take a shot at the mini-con hot on her heels.

Laserbeak screeched and flew to the side, her momentum carrying her over the top of the ridge. She rolled and slid down the other side. Not missing a step she transformed back in her alt mode, scrambling to think of a way to get herself out of there as she drove.

Her scanners weren’t picking up on any movement, but Megatron could have had her codes disabled for all she knew. She really couldn’t trust anything.

~Optimus, what are the chances you’ll be able to give me a scan of the terrain?~ She ground out, dodging fire as Laserbeak recovered and flew past her again. ~I could really use all the help I can get!~

She could hear Soundwave above her, driving so fast at this point that the trees she was passing were nearly a blur.

Speed would be her greatest mistake.

Phoenix watched as the Surveillance Chief fired a handful of lasers ahead of her, slamming on the brakes hard enough to send her into a spin when the energon Soundwave hit ignited and exploded.

Large plumes of blue fire and smoke erupted in her path, and she was unable to stop before colliding into the smoldering debris.

Burning pain scorched up her left flank, forcing her to transform and barely managed to roll away from the burning energon before a consecutive blast shot into the air behind her.

Gritting her denta, she shoved herself to her servos and shook her helm, cursing when she realized she was effectively blocked in.

Flames on her stern, a royally pissed off Warlord in front of her, and she was in a whole world of scrap.

Eons of battle instincts kicked in almost immediately after she came to this realization, and she brought up her deflector shield barely a second before Laserbeak’s shot would have hit her, scrambling to her peds and drew her sword again.

The fire licked at her backstruts when Soundwave landed before her, wordless as ever while his little minion circled above them.

She sneered at the Decepticon, forcing down her nerves and didn’t fail to catch the dozen or so Vehicon troopers surrounding her.

~Phoenix, where are you?~ She couldn’t respond to her mate, ignoring his worry and concern and focused on the slightly more pressing matter at her peds. So the team couldn't even get a fix on her signal anymore. Great.

Her left stabilizer was severely burned, and she knew she would not be able to stand her ground for very long.

Primus, she wouldn’t even be able to stand come a few minutes.

~I don’t care what you have to do to fix the bridge,~ she breathed to her mate. ~Just fix it.~

She would literally clean Ratchet’s laboratory and help him do whatever the frag he wanted, just as long as he got that damn ground bridge operational.

She would even scrub the entire main room top to bottom if he wanted. Just as long as she didn’t offline here.

That’d be nice.

“So, Soundwave,” she drawled, leaning heavily on her intimidation skills. Not that she thought it would work on him, for say, but the Vehicons? “You willing to face me one-on-one, or do I need to melt a few cinder blocks before getting to the boss fight?” She smiled grimly, sensing the troopers behind her shift nervously.

She may be an Autobot now, a traitor to Megatron, but that did not erase the fact she was and always would be known as the Warlord’s Assassin. She wasn’t afraid to get her servos dirty, no matter what her mate thought of her actions.

As expected, the Surveillance Chief didn’t say anything, the crackling flames behind her filling in the heavy silence.

The stalemate was broken when she picked out the roar of a very familiar engine, venting shakily and lifted her sword and shield higher, refusing to cower as Megatron landed between Soundwave and herself.

Laserbeak still circled above them, and she knew if she ran the mini-con would be on her aft all over again.

Lovely.

She regarded the Warlord warily, the glow of the flames reflecting off his metal and eerily washed the silver in a menacing blue tint.

“I can’t say I’m surprised,” she began, taking in his relaxed stature, “you always did know how to keep me on my peds.”

Megatron grinned sharply, his denta glinting. “I’m glad you appreciate it.”

She chuckled, shrugging a shoulderplate and hissed when she shifted her stabilizer slightly.

The Warlord caught her wince, but didn’t comment on it right yet. But if it came down to a fight she knew he would target that limb.

She hoped it wouldn’t come down to a fight, but she really couldn’t count on the team getting here in time.

“After everything I have given you, this is how you repay me?” He asked finally. “By becoming an Autobot?”

Oh she could go on about all he had ‘given’ her, but that would take her ages and none of them had time for that.

“Given me?” Phoenix sneered. “You turned me into a weapon. How the frag did you expect me to act?”

He growled, glaring at her. “Might I remind you, Phoenix, that it was you who approached me.” She winced, recalling the early days of the war, when she was scrambling to gather the broken shell of who she used to be. “You sought vengeance for the death of your creators, vengeance that I gave you the power to achieve.”

She hated that he was right, if nothing else then about that.

But that wasn't who she was anymore.

“You turned me into a monster, Megatron,” she snapped. “A monster who killed without remorse, a monster who didn’t care what pain she caused! A monster who was feared, and who enjoyed it! How is that something to be grateful for?” She demanded.

He turned her into a weapon. He turned her into a monster. And she let him.

Phoenix had longed to be a gladiator like her Sire, longed to make a name for herself, to make an impact on the world.

She had wanted to make a difference.

Becoming this... thing he had created, becoming so full of hatred and rage?

This was not what she wanted.

She seethed at the tyrant before her. “You used me, took advantage of my pain and grief. You saw something you could mold, someone you could turn into the perfect little assassin. Well guess what, Megatron?”

She glared at the towering mech responsible for the last millions of years of war. “I am done being a tool. I am done allowing you to manipulate me! For the first time since the war started, I finally found a purpose. A reason to fight. And it was no thanks to you!” She didn’t regret telling him the truth, even after rage lit his features.

She didn’t have to explain herself to him, or to anyone. Nor would she allow herself to be guilted into feeling wrong about her decision to join the Autobots.

Honestly, she wasn’t missing much. She did not want to be a Decepticon any longer, and damnit if she wasn’t going to make that abundantly clear.

“So be it.”

She hardly had time to raise her sword.

Even knowing how Megatron fought, even having been trained by the mech, it still paled in comparison to dealing with the real thing.

She was effectively trapped, the flames licking at her metal a dull reminder that they were far more prepared for this fight than she was. Already she felt the strength in her stabilizer wane, Megatron pressing that weakness with a ruthlessness that could only be expected from a gladiator of Kaon.

She gritted her denta as they locked swords, swiftly coming to the conclusion that if she wanted a shot at surviving this, then she needed to stop fighting like an Autobot.

She had to start fighting like an assassin.

Playing into her injury, she allowed herself to begin to lag, favouring her stabilizer and urged exhaustion to start showing on her expression.

She reacted slower to his attacks, letting him strike her right shoulderplate and send her off balance, her sword weighing heavily on her injured limb.

Taking the bait, Megatron grinned and took a swing for her tanks with the intent to stain the grass beneath their peds bright, sparkling blue.

Phoenix knew the moment he recognized the trap, far too late to correct himself as she pivoted, grabbed his sword, and gave him an uppercut hard enough to send him flying across the clearing.

The Vehicons surrounding the fight tensed, but she wasn’t going to run.

She closed the gap between them and pelted him with a flurry of blows, forcing him on the defensive even as her wounds bled.

One last fight as an assassin. She could do this.

The troopers and Soundwave were something to consider later, a threat that she willingly put on the backburner.

She had to deal with Megatron first.

Her little trick only bought her seconds before he had fully recovered, and the hatred on his faceplates made her tanks churn uneasily.

While they fought she vaguely saw the troopers start to close ranks around them, her fight with their leader growing more and more confined.

If she had time, she would have been able to use some of the equipment in her subspace. She would have been able to rig something up to take out the vast majority of the troopers monitoring her.

She might even have been able to put something together to take Megatron out of the fight long enough for her to get the frag out of there.

But she didn’t have time, and now her injuries were actually starting to affect her, Megatron littering her frame in cuts and deep gashes. Her left stabilizer was hardly able to support her weight anymore, burnt and charred and straining against the weight she had to brace upon it.

She knew he noticed, knew he delighted in her pain especially when he shoved harshly against her sword and irritated her wounded shoulderplate.

“If you beg, Phoenix, I will make your death quick,” he taunted, laughing when she glowered and shoved him off.

That shove sent her stabilizer buckling, the ruined metal finally giving out as she cursed and stumbled.

She was sent to her kneeplate, struggling to stand and glared at the Decepticon leader.

“How pathetic do you think I am?”

He grinned at her, kneeling in front of her and ripped her sword out of her servo. “I’ll be taking that as a no, then.”

Megatron stood, looking her Sire’s sword over and handed it off to one of the Vehicons. She wanted to take it back, but at the present moment she couldn’t even stand.

Optimus please…

All of them turned when a ground bridge swirled to life behind Soundwave, instantly the troopers leveling their blasters at it while relief made her dizzy.

Thank the fragging Allspark, they got the bridge working.

Megatron glowered at the portal, aiming his cannon to her helm while the Surveillance Chief turned to face it.

When it came down to it, she knew she was going to need to knock Megatron’s cannon away from her before her team could do anything. She was ready.

She was not ready to see the bot that stepped through the portal, the femme raising an optic ridge at the array of blasters and weapons pointed at her chassis.

The bridge shut behind her, and Starfire merely propped a servo on her hip-plate and cracked a grin.

“What’d I miss?”

– – –

Chapter Text

Every living soul in the forest watched as a silver seeker stepped out of the ground bridge, none more surprised than Phoenix herself.

They all watched as her bridge closed behind her, the Vehicon troopers lowering their blasters somewhat in confusion.

“Who in the pits are you?” Megatron scowled at the seeker, and Phoenix could only gape at the scene playing out in front of her.

What was that seeker thinking?!

Starfire hummed, taking in the abundance of Decepticons, the execution in progress, and the fact that currently, even flying wouldn’t serve her much chance of escape, not when Phoenix knew that Megatron brought only fliers out with him for this little excursion. Starfire might think she was good, and yes she knew this planet better than any of them did, but she had no chance of outrunning Megatron or his Decepticons.

Phoenix knew it, and also knew what Starfire was trying to do.

She meant to buy her time.

Risking her spark for one such as hers was not something the Firebird was expecting, and found herself fearing for the Neutral’s life.

“Starfire, get the frag out of here,” she hissed, Megatron glancing at his former assassin curiously. “This is not your fight!”

The seeker grinned wider, a glint to her optic that suddenly set her on edge. “Who says it’s gonna be a fight, Phoenix?” She asked, appearing entirely unfazed about facing down the Decepticon leadership. “The only bot I see in danger here is you.”

The troopers began murmuring to themselves, Soundwave and Megatron sharing a quick look as Phoenix’s venting caught in the back of her throatlines.

“To answer your question, Lord Megatron, my designation is Starfire,” she added, beginning to walk towards the circle and raised a ridge at the troopers blocking her path.

“If you would be so kind, I am in the middle of a conversation, and you are standing in my way.”

With a nod from their leader the Vehicon troopers stepped aside, Starfire calmly walking over to the Decepticon Warlord.

She smiled up at the towering mech. “I am a Neutral, and I have been looking for you for quite some time now.”

The silver seeker then did something that stole the air from the Firebird’s systems, striking a bow to the Leader of the Decepticons.

“Leave, Starfire,” she hissed, but the seeker merely ignored her and focused her attention on the Decepticon Warlord instead, maintaining her bow to the tyrant.

Megatron grinned slightly, and with the raise of a servo had the Vehicon troopers lowering their blasters.

“Is that so, Starfire?” He drawled. “What a coincidence that you should find me right before I am to execute my traitorous assassin.”

For good measure he kicked her remaining stabilizer out from under her, Phoenix grunting when she slipped and crashed ungracefully onto the forest floor.

Starfire watched the exchange indifferently, rising from her bow and smiled at the Warlord. “Well, Lord Megatron, I wouldn’t really call it a coincidence,” she mused. “In fact, if I am to be completely honest, it was relatively easy to figure out where and how to find you, now that chatter revealed that you were released from stasis early this afternoon. I broke into the Warship's communication arrays a few weeks back thanks to her. All I had to do was wait and, well. Here we are.”

She grinned at the flicker of surprise that flashed over Megatron’s faceplates, regarding the Neutral flier with a sudden wariness that he reserved for only the most troublesome of Autobots.

A simple glance had Soundwave reconfiguring their systems, and for good measure adding a consecutive firewall to protect their codes. If she checked, she would find that she was once again locked out and unable to listen to their communications, until she tried again.

Which was exactly what she wanted.

Megatron glanced at the assassin at his peds, Phoenix lifting her helm and stared at the seeker before them in a mixture of confusion and wariness. “What the frag are you doing?” She ground out, struggling to push herself to her servos and kneeplates. “You told us you wanted no part in this war.”

Starfire spared her hardly a glance, Megatron watching in growing amusement as he appeared to be piecing a few things together, from the betrayal starting to show on Phoenix’s expression to the confidence of the Neutral standing in front of him.

“I lied, Phoenix.”

Megatron laughed quietly, lowering his cannon and motioned for a trooper to take his place guarding his assassin, stepping closer to the Neutral seeker standing before him. “You intrigue me, Starfire. What is it that you are after?” He asked. “You must have some reason for approaching me.”

Ignoring the rage that morphed over the Firebird’s faceplates, Starfire turned back to the Decepticon leader.

She bowed again. “Indeed, my lord,” she said quietly. “I wish to join the Decepticon ranks.”

A Neutral seeking sanctuary from the Decepticons was unheard of, and had never before been done. A stab of glee fluttered in her spark at the realization that she was going to be the first.

They both looked over at a strangled sound, Phoenix glowering at them with an expression that would send most bots running. It would appear that she had finally come to the realization that Starfire was not there for her, nor could she rely on her for aid as the seeker just smiled at her, a realization that unless the Autobots and her mate arrived now, her fate was as good as sealed.

Her anger at the Neutral-turned-Decepticon was a rage she hadn’t allowed herself to feel since she became an Autobot, cold and sharp and consuming, a rage begging her to give in to her nature.

Megatron was first, and then that traitorous flier.

Second only to that rage was pure, consuming fear, because if Starfire revealed to Megatron that she was Optimus Prime’s sparkmate, then Megatron would delight in that fact, and drag out her death over days, just to hurt his eons-old enemy.

Primus, for once, have pity on them. Please.

“And how is it that you know my assassin, Starfire?” Megatron was asking, waving a servo at the injured warrior. “She seems to be taking this news with much difficulty.”

Starfire shrugged again, ignoring Phoenix deliberately and didn’t bother dignifying her with the time of day. “I ran into her a handful of months ago,” she admitted. “It was there that she informed me that the war had made its way to this humble corner of the galaxy, and there that I began to reconsider what I actually wanted out of all of this.”

She let her smile fall, a familiar pain fighting to resurface as she spoke her truth to the leader of the Decepticons. “Discovering the Autobots were on Earth was one of the worst cycles of my life. For ages, I had attempted to remain impartial, to keep my distance and to not step on anyone’s peds.” Her spark squeezed at the memories beginning to rise to the forefront of her processor, and she let them. “The Autobots killed my son, Lord Megatron. Ripped him from my servos simply because they didn’t trust a seeker to be anything but a Decepticon.”

Starfire laughed dryly, hundreds of thousands of years of rage and pain that she had kept carefully contained begging to be felt, and she let it. For once, she let herself be angry, allowed herself the right to be furious at the hand fate dealt her, and sent a scathing look in Phoenix’s direction.

“If they want me to be a Decepticon so badly, then here I am. On Cybertron, I wouldn’t have been of any use to either faction, and stayed out of the way and allowed you all to do your own thing. But here, on this planet?” Starfire chuckled darkly, shrugging again. “Let’s just say I know this rock better than the Autobots could ever hope to.”

When the war finally broke down the walls of Crystal City, she and her family had tried to evacuate. To where, she would never know. She was separated from her mate and her twin, and ran into an Autobot patrol as they worked their way through the burning city.

Among the ruins of the surrounding buildings, she watched as they ripped Raze from her arms, as they ignored her son’s pleas and cries and his insistence that she was his carrier and he was her sparkling.

The Autobots would have offlined her, if a Decepticon squadron didn’t blow their position not 5 seconds later.

Starfire still did not know how she survived the attack, caring just that her only son was dead.

She has hated the Autobots ever since, and the Decepticons for the part they played.

Now that she had to make a choice, however, she knew which faction to choose.

Megatron listened to her quietly, and if she was stupid she would have thought a shred of compassion flickered across his faceplates. “Why join us now, Starfire?” He asked a moment after she was done. “What would you have to offer my ranks?”

The seeker glanced at the assassin glowering at her, and simply grinned.

“I have something that will make the Autobots hurt. I know the location of the Autobot base.”

“Don’t you dare!” Phoenix jerked at the implication and lunged for Starfire, injuries be damned she was not about to let that traitor reveal their outpost. She would not allow Starfire to endanger the children, her team. This fragging planet, just because she was angry at what some long-dead Autobot had done.

The flier’s optics widened slightly, and if she was a hair closer her energon would have stained the earth blue, just as Megatron attempted to do to the assassin herself, mere minutes ago.

The Vehicon trooper behind the Firebird and the Decepticon Warlord in front of her stopped her efforts before she could even get to her peds, the former shooting her injured stabilizer as the latter grabbed a hold of her wounded arm and threw her back onto her side.

Starfire watched all of this with an expression of boredom and what Phoenix could have sworn was pity, seething at the thought while the trooper kicked her for good measure.

Utter delight danced across the Warlord’s expression, turning back to Starfire and motioned for Soundwave. “I’m sure you understand the necessity of confirming you’re telling us the truth, Starfire,” he drawled, the seeker raising a ridge. “Supply Soundwave the coordinates and we will see for ourselves if your words can be trusted.”

She smiled and shrugged, willingly forwarding the coordinates to Megatron’s Chief of Surveillance and watched as Laserbeak dove down to reattach to his master.

Soundwave turned then and opened a bridge, the mini-con detaching after downloading the information and sped through, the portal closing behind him.

Within seconds a feed began to play within Soundwave’s visor, Laserbeak flying over what appeared to be a mountain range covered in deep, deep snow underneath an overcast and dark grey sky.

Starfire knew that if the weather was clear, she would have been able to make out Cybertron from standing on one of the ridgelines quickly approaching. She had done it many times before in the past.

From her prone position, Phoenix was unable to see the screen, her wounds keeping her down while the Decepticons surrounding her watched Laserbeak fly over the snowy peaks.

Starfire merely smiled at the distrustful glance Megatron sent her way, only murmuring for him to watch.

No sooner had she said it did Laserbeak come across a military base on the highest peak of one such mountain, the runway layered in snow and surrounded by at least a dozen buildings large enough to hide a Cybertronian.

Or, rather, a whole team of Autobots.

They watched as Laserbeak circled the base, and if Laserbeak had provided audio she knew the humans on that base would be shouting, pinpointing the mini-con while the turret located near the headquarters took aim and began firing energon rounds at him.

Starfire laughed quietly, and knew the moment Megatron recognized the turret as Cybertronian engineering.

He grinned at the sight, Soundwave reopening the bridge and allowed Laserbeak to return safely to his chassis.

Starfire smiled at the Warlord. “The Autobots allowed me to visit their base a few weeks ago, buying into my story that I was willing to give them aid to preserve this planet. It was Optimus Prime himself who told me where to find their base. Seems appropriate to pass on what I know to you,” she said, continuing to ignore Phoenix and the devastating but weakening glare she was giving her.

Megatron’s grin was nothing short of terrifying, turning back to the assassin at his mercy. “It is unfortunate, my Firebird, that you will not live long enough to witness me destroy everything you betrayed me to achieve,” he crowed, bending down and hauled her to her peds, her pained scream as he dug his digits into her wound testament to just how much pain she was truly in.

He laughed quietly, holding her at arm’s length and lifted her effortlessly above him. “Knowing that I will make them feel the pain and despair you’re going through will just have to be punishment enough.”

Starfire watched as Megatron held a servo out for Phoenix’s sword, the Vehicon trooper stepping over and handed it to their leader.

Genuine fear lit Phoenix’s optics when she realized what the Warlord was doing, struggling to break his iron-clad grip.

He examined the blade again, sneering at the initials engraved on the handle. “A pity you chose to betray me,” he murmured, bright energon beginning to drip down his arm from the wound he was digging into. “You were the best assassin I had ever seen. Perhaps Starfire will succeed where you failed.”

Fury ignited in her optics and their gazes met over his shoulderplate, the seeker femme smiling grimly at the sight before her.

Phoenix remembered why she used to hunt down Neutrals, why she took so much pleasure in their deaths. It may not be who she was anymore, she may have left that part of her on Cybertron, but Primus Almighty she would make an exception for her.

“There is nowhere you may hide from me, you backstabbing glitch,” she seethed. “I will extinguish your spark, and I promise, Starfire, it will hurt.”

Megatron laughed at her threats, the seeker shrugging and idly examined her digits. “Honestly, Phoenix. You’d think about taking care of yourself first before you go off making threats.” She grinned at the assassin, dangling from the Warlord’s servo and moments away from being run through with her very own sword. A very poetic end, if she did say so herself. “Besides, I doubt you’ll live long enough to see any of them come to fruition. What have I to fear?” She purred.

Phoenix snarled at the seeker, but Megatron had heard enough. He twisted his arm and shoved her to her kneeplates, her cry of pain muffled as he brought her sword next to her neckcables.

He looked down on her emotionlessly. “Your death is far too swift, my Firebird. Be grateful.”

She strained against his grip, clawing at his servo in a desperate but futile attempt to loosen his hold, glaring daggers at the seeker merely watching this whole thing.

She trusted her, allowed her guard down around her, and this is how Starfire repays her?!

Megatron lifted her sword, the metal glowing blue in the light of the flames and glinted from the moon shining dimly above them, and panic finally grasped her spark.

Phoenix was not going to offline here.

She couldn’t.

Her gaze flickered from the Warlord to those standing behind him, and the sudden hope that appeared over her faceplates made the tyrant pause.

“Optimus!”

Megatron instantly took his attention off of her at her plea, turning to face his age-old enemy and released the assassin from her death-hold.

Starfire started, having never taken her gaze off of the assassin, her optics widening in horror. “Lord Megatron, it’s a trick!”

He realized his mistake too late, Phoenix surging up and knocked her sword out of his servo, claiming it and flipped it around, fury lighting her gaze as she made one last attempt to end his life.

She couldn’t offline so long as that tyrant lived.

Once last fight as an assassin.

It very well might be her last fight anyways, but she shoved those hopeless thoughts from her processor and brought her Sire’s sword down upon the Decepticon Warlord.

Primus, please.

She gaped as a silver streak darted between them, the clash of their blades ringing out over the crackling flames and shocked murmurs from the troopers surrounding them.

Starfire glared at the assassin, shoving her away from the Decepticon leader and sneered as she stumbled onto her good kneeplate. “Nice try, Phoenix. Better luck next time.”

They all watched as Phoenix growled but swayed, Megatron grinning when she finally collapsed, her systems frazzled and stressing as the nearest trooper kicked her sword away from her limp servo.

The Warlord spared Starfire a simple nod before walking past her, kneeling beside the Firebird and grinned as she tiredly glared up at him.

He could hear her systems labouring to keep her online, her wounds bleeding steadily now, until she was laying in a pool of her own energon.

Even if he didn’t strike her down, the wounds inflicted on his dear assassin were fatal.

Megatron shook his helm. “Determined until the very end. I find that quite endearing, my flaming Firebird,” he murmured, laughing quietly as her optics flickered, threatening to burn out as her derma curled.

He smiled. “I tried to offer you a quick end, Phoenix. You’re the one who chose this.”

Her optics followed to his wrist as he unsheathed his sword, her ragged vents hitching as he examined it.

“All you have to do, Phoenix, is beg me,” he reminded. “And all of your suffering will be put to rest.”

He chuckled when she managed a scowl at him, shrugging and put his sword away as he stood.

“So be it then,” Megatron said, and turned to the Surveillance Chief. “Soundwave, return to the ship and prepare a strike team for our assault. When I return we will destroy the Autobot base.”

Starfire watched as the silent mech nodded, creating a bridge and wordlessly stepped inside, approximately half of the Vehicon troopers following him. She crossed her arms, watching as Phoenix slowly but steadily became closer and closer to offlining, an impassive expression on her faceplates.

– – –

Phoenix knew she was offlining.

She knew her systems were crashing, and she was unable to stop her wounds from bleeding.

Try as she might, she was unable to move any of her limbs, gazing tiredly up at the starless night sky stretching far, far above her, above the trees, above the worries and pains of life.

She could no longer reach her sparkbond.

She couldn’t remember the last message she got from her sparkmate, or if it was minutes or years or eons ago. She knew he would find her like this and it broke her spark.

Her Conjunx didn’t deserve to go through the same pain she did.

He deserved to be happy, and she knew that losing a sparkbond would damage him and she hated it.

Faintly she heard vocals, muffled vocals above her, but her audials were ringing and ringing and ringing. She couldn’t hear them and that seriously ticked her off.

Listening to things is how she survived. Listening is how she got to be the best assassin ever.

Everything was foggy and she hated it.

Above the vocals, above the ringing, her sparkbeat thumped again and again and again, and she wondered absently if it would be the last thing she ever heard.

She hated not knowing. Hated not being able to say goodbye to her mate.

She could taste energon on her glossa, the blue liquid staining the inside of her intake and the smell threatened to make her upheave, if her frame had any strength left to do so.

She was an assassin. She knew what system-grade energon tasted like, knew what it smelt like. She tasted her own energon before, this was nothing new. But for some reason her tanks wouldn’t stop churning.

Her frame wasn’t obeying her, the vocals growing louder as the sky and trees slowly became dimmer, then brighter, then dimmer again.

She just wanted to see Optimus again. Just once more, then she would be happy.

She did good, in her last five years alive. She did good and she just wanted to say goodbye.

She just wanted to say goodbye.

– – –

The gathered Decepticons watched as Phoenix slowly but steadily began to offline, Megatron determined to witness her final moments, to ensure she was well and truly dead.

Starfire stood at his side, her expression unreadable and her frame tense, preparing for anything and was acutely aware that it had officially been 9 minutes since she arrived at these coordinates.

The Autobots were still to be accounted for, and she had half a mind to wonder if Megatron had forgotten about them entirely.

“How did you bridge here, Starfire?” Megatron asked quietly after a long moment, sparing the seeker a glance before returning his attention to the dying femme at his peds.

Starfire crossed her arms, pity and something else shining in her optics. “I built one when I first came to Earth, my lord. It isn’t much, but it gets the job done. Faster than flying, that’s for sure.” She murmured.

Her bridge was faulty still, and she didn’t trust it to be used more than in extreme cases. For instance, like this one.

And if the village needed to evacuate.

Hopefully, it wouldn’t come to that, but she always had a second escape ready.

Always.

Megatron nodded, and she got the sense that the history between the Warlord and his Assassin was more than anyone truly knew, a history that both saddened and enraged him in light of her betrayal.

“Lord Megatron, if I may-”

She was interrupted from finishing her question when the unmistakable sound of a ground bridge came from behind them, the Warlord and the seeker turning in time to see the Autobot team come running out, weapons at the ready.

She knew the moment they registered what they were seeing, smiling at them and propped a servo on her hip-plate. “Welcome to the party. I see it took you long enough,” she chirped.

Starfire smiled when Bulkhead froze, the Vehicon troopers taking up rank around her and their leader. Megatron laughed, grinning when the Autobots took note of where she was standing.

“What are you doing, Star?” Bulkhead demanded, Arcee scowling as Bumblebee frowned in innocent confusion. She hummed, their bridge shutting down behind them. “Why are you standing with Megatron?”

She heard the denial in his vocals, the Warlord watching this go down with a twisted sense of amusement, his wide grin showing his sharp denta.

Starfire shrugged. “It’s not my fault you trusted me, Bulkhead, but that trust did wonders for securing my place among the Decepticons. So, thank you,” she grinned, the Wrecker staring at her in shock and disbelief.

The Autobot leader regarded the assembled Decepticons warily, and she recognized the moment he spotted his Conjunx, laying in a pool of her own energon with her systems barely online, her laboured, raspy vents faintly heard over the crackling flames behind them.

The glint of fear that shone in the Prime’s optics was something she would remember for as long as she lived, and Megatron’s delight at the situation only grew. “What have you done, Starfire?” Optimus breathed, Megatron laughing and motioned for the troopers to step aside.

“Let this be a warning, Optimus, about what happens when someone goes out of their way to betray me,” he gloated, revealing Phoenix properly for the Autobots to witness. “And what happens when you turn my own assassins against me.”

The Autobot leader could only stare at the state his sparkmate was in, his team looking at their friend with a mixture of horror and anger.

“You backstabbing glitch!” Arcee snarled, charging the silver seeker as all hell broke loose.

Starfire blocked the two-wheeler’s blade and engaged her in the fight, Bulkhead and Bumblebee taking on the Vehicon troopers. Blaster fire tore up the quiet forest as the two leaders fought, Megatron gleeful while Optimus focused more on bypassing him to get to his sparkmate.

She didn’t tell Megatron what the Assassin and the Prime meant to each other, though she had half a thought to wonder if she even had to, not with how Optimus was fighting. Megatron wasn’t stupid, of that she was very aware, but only time would truly tell.

Arcee seethed at the seeker, striking hard and fast and without mercy, forcing Starfire to back away from her injured teammate, shoving her thoughts back to the task at servo.

“You’ll pay for what you’ve done!”

Starfire huffed, ducking under her next swing and grabbed her wrist, kicking her stabilizers out from under her and pinned Arcee against her chassis, holding the struggling Autobot and frowned.

“I didn’t do anything, Arcee,” she murmured, but grunted as Arcee slammed her helm into her faceplates and shoved free from her hold.

Starfire stumbled back, clutched her faceplates and winced when energon trickled down from her nose ridge.

The blue Autobot glared, charging her again and shoved her further back from the main fight, away from Phoenix steadily bleeding out. “We trusted you. We welcomed you, and this is how you thank us?” She demanded, and Starfire struggled to keep up with the rapid and furious blows.

Her optics narrowed. “I never asked you to help me. I was doing just fine on my own for years before Fowler stuck his nose where it didn’t belong,” she snapped, shoving off of the two-wheeler.

She returned the glare. “I never asked for any of this, Arcee! So don’t go blaming me for your own mistakes!”

Arcee didn’t take too kindly to the comment, and furious didn’t even begin to cut it as the two locked blades again.

Bulkhead and Bumblebee were holding their own against the Vehicons while Megatron and Optimus fought, the Warlord sneering at his ancient enemy. He knew that his assassin must have meant something to this ragtag team of Autobots if they trusted her enough to spy on him, and knew that her death would hurt.

Megatron relished the thought, though he found himself taking his optics off the fight for a split second when another bridge opened on the opposite end of the clearing between Phoenix and the energon flames, snarling when the Autobot medic ran out next to his Firebird.

Catching where his attention went, Optimus growled and took a shot at his shoulderplating, forcing the Warlord away from his former assassin.

Starfire raised an optic ridge when a second bridge opened not 20 feet away from where she was fighting Arcee, smiling grimly when Ratchet ran out and stared at the dying bot at his peds.

“Something wrong, Ratchet?” She taunted, the medic deciding to ignore her as he grabbed the wounded warrior and began to haul Phoenix back through the bridge to base.

Starfire frowned, idly noticing the energon trail leading into the portal from her injuries and was genuinely surprised that she was even still online.

Arcee forced her back to the fight, and she caught the relieved glance the Autobot sent towards the bridge once it was clear Phoenix was out of Decepticon reach.

Starfire chuckled, taking advantage of her distraction and took a swing at her.

Arcee quickly redirected her attention to the seeker, glaring at her while they fought.

“Autobots, fall back!” Arcee’s helm snapped up at the order not long after Ratchet got the assassin back to base, and before Starfire could process she shoved her away and transformed, speeding towards the swirling bridge.

Bumblebee and Bulkhead abandoned the troopers they were fighting, Optimus knocking Megatron down long enough for the three of them to follow the blue Autobot back to their base.

She crossed her arms and didn’t bother running after them, knowing there wouldn’t have been a point, and the bridge closing in several of the Vehicons’ faceplates only proved her right.

The battle was over, and Starfire found herself actually disappointed.

Megatron walked over as the forest fell back into silence, examining her with an expression she was unable to decipher.

She steadily held his gaze. “The Autobot medic is very good at what he does,” she said softly. “She might still survive.”

His optics flashed, before he grinned sharply. “Even if she does, the blow we caused them tonight will haunt them until the cycle we destroy their sparks.”

She smiled, dipping her helm once and watched as one of the surviving Vehicons grabbed the Firebird’s sword and offered it to their Lord and Master.

If Phoenix survived, she would come for her.

Starfire grinned, and mentally welcomed the prospect.

– – –

Special Agent William Fowler was woken from a dead sleep to a flurry of calls on his cell in the late hours of the night, and was currently on his way to Roselake.

Laserbeak had been sighted earlier in the evening, escaping through a bridge before they could shoot him down.

If Soundwave was targeting one of their most secret bases, then Fowler feared something had happened to Starfire.

She alone knew how advanced that base had become with the aid of her technologies, and she alone knew how devastating losing that base would be.

The village would be vulnerable, and their most secret satellite systems would be unable to be reached. She would only give up their location under the highest duress. He hoped she was alright.

Agent Fowler arrived on the snow-blown tarmac in the midst of the high-alert alarm, and quickly ran inside to escape the miniature blizzard pelting against the buildings.

Sometimes, he questioned the sanity of building a base on top of a mountain, but then again, sanity has never really been the United States’ strong suit.

“What do we have?” He asked, scaling the steps two at a time as Frost spun his chair around to greet him.

“There hasn’t been another sighting since we contacted you, but there’s something you should see, sir.”

Motioning for the agent to continue, Fowler stood over his shoulder as Frost pulled up satellite imagery of the far North.

Fowler felt his heart drop to the pit of his stomach at the scene Frost was playing for him, their satellite managing to pick up the scuffle from earlier. They watched in silence as Phoenix attempted to outrun Megatron and his minions, watched the explosion, and watched as Megatron prepared to kill her.

“I take it Prime is aware of this?” Fowler asked quietly, Frost nodding and murmured that he wasn’t done.

Fowler kept watching the screen, wondering why Prime and his people hadn’t arrived yet. They knew to meet her there, Phoenix wouldn’t have bridged to the middle of nowhere without a plan, and from what he understood about their biology, she should be able to telepathically communicate with Prime as long as both were somewhere on this planet.

Why weren’t the Autobots there yet?

He crossed his arms and ignored the soldiers running through the headquarters below them, and felt relief when a bridge opened, stalling the Decepticons from executing their spy.

“At least they got there in time,” he mused, but frowned at the wary glance Frost gave him.

To say he was shocked to see Starfire exit the bridge would be putting it lightly, and while he watched the feeds he stepped to the station beside Frost and pulled up the scanner for the valley. He cursed soundly when he read the alert that a bridge had been activated, from the center of the village no less, and made a mental note to have a little chat with Catori come the morning.

“What in Uncle Sam’s beard is she doing down there?” He demanded, not expecting an answer as clearly, the satellite would explain for him.

What was that Neutral playing at?

They watched as Starfire approached the Decepticons, watched as Phoenix snapped at her to go, and watched as the seeker struck a bow to the Decepticon Warlord.

He watched as Starfire bowed to Megatron.

Fowler fumed, turning to one of the soldiers running by and halted the man from whatever it was that he was doing. “Contact General Bryce and begin Protocol Dolion,” he ordered, the man nodding and quickly ran to the office to make the phone call.

He crossed his arms and ordered Frost to speed it up, needing to know how deep of a hole she just dug for them. Fowler didn’t want to believe Starfire would turn on them, considering the main argument she had claiming that she would have hurt them long ago if she had wanted to, but the fact is he was watching her declare loyalty to Megatron.

There isn’t really much she can say to justify that, and he hated it. He hated that this is what it had come to.

“When this is all said and done, fly Catori up here. If that village had anything to do with Starfire’s betrayal then we need to lock it down,” he said quietly, Frost glancing at him again and nodded.

She made her choice.

He watched her give up the coordinates to their base, watched Laserbeak bridge out. The timeline lined up perfectly with what they knew of the drone’s location.

He gritted his teeth and watched Soundwave return to God-knows-where, and tensed when Megatron turned his attention back to Phoenix, who had gotten progressively weaker the longer she tried fighting back.

“Where the hell are the Autobots?” He demanded, but got his answer moments later and had to watch their horror when they saw Starfire standing side by side with Megatron.

He had to admit, as he watched the fight break out, that even if she wasn’t a giant robot, he would not want to face off against Arcee, no way no how. That Autobot was fast, and he saw with no small amount of satisfaction that Starfire struggled to keep up with her.

Frost played the footage until the Autobots retreated, and he was relieved that Ratchet managed to get Phoenix out of there before Megatron could finish the job.

A deafening silence began ringing in his ears, staring at the frozen picture of the femme he had worked with for the last decade, grinning at the Decepticon Warlord.

How dare she?

“Secure this base and prepare for a fight,” he ordered at last, Frost standing from his station. “We have to assume that she gave up Roselake in order to get into Megatron’s good graces. An attack is imminent.”

While Agent Frost went to carry out his orders, Special Agent William Fowler claimed his seat and sent a message to the Autobot base.

He knew that they had a lot on their plate at the moment, but if Megatron attacked then they very well might need Optimus and his team for aid.

Fowler sat back in his chair and gazed at the frozen imagery, at the seeker he was beginning to call a friend, and quietly wished her farewell.

– – –

Chapter Text

It was quiet.

It was quiet and she still couldn’t move.

The first thing she realized was that she had access to her sparkbond again.

The second thing was the pain.

She winced slightly, her venting skittering as slowly but steadily her senses returned to her one by one.

Her audials were no longer ringing, and her sparkbeat no longer echoed loud enough to drown out everything around her. She was able to make out what she would have to assume to be a spark monitor beeping quietly beside her, and she wryly wondered when she would get around to unplugging it. Likely it would be due to a fit of annoyance, and that was probably going to happen sooner than later.

The next thing to come back to her was her sense of feeling, her digits twitching against what she believed to be a berth, the metal supportive and held her frame securely. The downside to feeling things again was her injuries, as they promptly reminded her they existed and would not be ignored.

The metal of her stabilizer smelled very strongly of some kind of disinfectant, and stung severely when she tried to shift it. She quickly decided against that specific course of action.

She realized her right shoulderplate was in a metal brace, her arm wrapped in a steel sling and secured closely to her chassis.

The other minor cuts and gashes littered across her frame still throbbed, but she figured they were sealed if the strong smell of sanitized energon was any indication. Lucky her.

Finally, Phoenix gradually forced her optics open, squinting at the overhelm lighting and instinctively tried bringing a servo up to shield them. The stabbing pain in her shoulderplate kindly reminded her that she probably shouldn’t be doing that.

Ignoring the lights for a moment, she instinctively took in her immediate surroundings.

She quickly found the source of the beeping, and wasn’t at all surprised to learn she was right. The spark monitor connected to an energon drip and was standing directly beside her berth, beeping in time with her spark.

She recognized the Autobot medical bay, mentally locating her berth being tucked near the back of the room for a sense of privacy, she would assume. She would get around to thanking Ratchet for that later.

Slowly, her gaze traveled around, finding the empty human area and had half a mind to sulk that the children weren’t here waiting for her.

Then again, if they weren’t here then they were probably at home or school, depending on the time of the cycle.

She was too exhausted to bother checking the time or the date, gingerly shifting to try and get more comfortable before continuing with her casual scan of the room.

Even with the children and the guardians out, Ratchet and Optimus were normally around here somewhere.

Optimus.

Her chassis squeezed and she had to use all her training and will power to hold the tears back at the thought of her conjunx.

She didn’t remember much from when she was knocked down for the final time to when Ratchet evacuated her off of the field, but she remembered that there was a skirmish, and blaster fire. She desperately wished to see her sparkmate, just one last time.

She forced back the sudden and unwelcome tightness of her throatlines, and gingerly tugged on her sparkbond.

Wherever he was, she knew he would come for her.

She smiled, closing her optics and rested her helm back against the berth.

He always did.

Surprisingly, she didn’t have to wait long at all as loud, echoing ped steps alerted her that someone was approaching from the back of the base, and from the sounds of things she knew who it was.

She managed to look over in time to see both her mate and their medic enter the main room, and again it took extreme mental control to maintain her composure as they both stepped over.

“You’re awake,” Optimus murmured, coming to kneel beside her berth. She knew he would have grabbed one of her servos if he could, but the brace was sort of in the way. She smiled anyways, inwardly cursing as she had to blink back more tears.

Damn emotions.

Her mate chuckled softly and she felt her faceplates flush, exhaling heavily and ignored the pure relief that he was alright. She hadn’t seen him since Starscream tried melting the Arctic, however long ago that was.

Both of them really needed to stop getting hurt, and she had a suspicion Ratchet agreed with that sentiment. From the look he was giving his datapad, it wasn’t really a guess.

Either way, she couldn’t go ahead and change the past.

“How long was I out?” She asked softly, Optimus sharing a glance with their medic.

Her conjunx vented. “The ambush was last night. It’s currently early afternoon,” he replied, and she nodded slowly. That lined up with her assumption on where the children and team were. They likely wouldn’t be back for another few hours, never mind the fact Miko would likely try and drag them into doing some after-school activities. If she did then Primus knew when the team would return.

Phoenix smiled slightly at the thought. If it was only last night, and the children were still at school, then perhaps she wasn’t as injured as she thought she was?

Optimus frowned and shook his helm, hearing her thoughts and put an end to her hope of leaving the berth anytime soon. “Phoe, Ratchet was almost unable to save you,” he explained quietly, and her optics went wide. “We almost lost you.”

Oh.

Well then.

“I see.” She murmured, her hope that she would be able to, y’know, do things being squashed quite thoroughly as she turned to Ratchet for the diagnosis.

“So, what’s the damage, doc?” Phoenix asked hoarsely, and tiredly waved them both off when a coughing fit wracked her frame, ignoring the soreness of her throatlines. She was fine.

Ratchet raised an optic ridge, consulting with his datapad and frowned down at her. “Well, would you like the list to begin alphabetically, or in order of severity?” He asked dryly, and if she wasn’t so dependent on the berth beneath her she would have swatted at him.

He vented at her scowl. “Well, Phoenix, you are extremely lucky. If the fire didn’t melt the metal on your stabilizer the way it did, you would have bled out long before the team could have gotten there,” he said bluntly. “I managed to save your stabilizer on top of your life, but barely. If I see you so much as standing on it within the next week I will not hesitate to have Bulkhead sit on you.”

Her optics widened the longer he spoke, straining to peer down at the lower half of her frame.

The red and orange paint had burned off, leaving pale chrome and steel in its place. Around mid-calf a large swath of medical gauze was tightly wound over what she would have to assume to be the worst of the damage.

Maybe she could get Miko, Jack and Raf into repainting her stabilizer once it healed enough to remove the bandages. Turn it into an activity for the four of them. Yeah, that would be nice. Certainly better than leaving it as is.

Not that she cared all that much about appearances, but she knew that seeing the bare metal would cause the team to remember last night every time they looked at her, and if she could turn such a horrible experience around then she very well should.

She swallowed thickly, allowing Optimus to lean her back onto the berth and tiredly closed her optics.

“You will not be able to return to the field for at least a month.” Ratchet was saying, her mate beginning to gently run his digits around her audials. “Your shoulderplates both have noticeable damage, but as long as you listen to my orders, you should heal up relatively quickly.”

Phoenix nodded slowly, flexing her digits and didn’t have the energy to argue with him right then, not as her sparkmate kept up his soothing motions. It felt as though her entire frame was weighed down, like the gravity on the planet had suddenly increased a thousand fold, but Optimus thankfully didn’t relent.

She had the nagging feeling she was forgetting something important, something crucial that would impact how the war would play out, but that entire night was a damn blur.

“And finally, you need to give your systems time to adjust to the new energon I administered. You lost quite a bit, Phoenix. Enough so that if we didn’t have the energon harvester I don’t know if I would have been able to stabilize you.” Ratchet finished quietly.

Something about the Energon Harvester sent her nerves on edge, frowning and fighting with her processor to remember why.

Megatron woke up, Soundwave shot her down, and then went to prepare a strike team because-

Starfire.

Phoenix snapped her optics open, the seeker’s designation sinking in her tanks like bile.

Her derma curled slightly and she turned to Optimus, who had halted his soothing efforts when he saw the expression on her faceplates, and she ignored both their protests as she forced herself to sit up. “The base is compromised. Starfire told Megatron where we are.”

“What?” Ratchet blurted, looking up from his datapad. She nodded grimly.

That seeker’s cycles are numbered, but first she needs to protect her team. She had half a mind to wonder at the sheer fact the base was still standing, since Megatron sent Soundwave to prepare a strike team and everything. She would have expected him to have attacked by now. What was he waiting for?

Phoenix frowned, glancing at the roof of the base. It shouldn’t be standing, not if Megatron had anything to say about it. Did the Decepticons already attack but were fought off? Was that even possible, especially with the Warship acting as reinforcements? Was the team alright? Was she even still online, or was this all some sort of twisted dream in the Allspark?

Would Primus do that to her?

Yes, yes he would.

Optimus and Ratchet shared another look, and she got the inkling suspicion that there was something they weren’t telling her. Something important that shook her from her depressing thoughts.

“What is it?” She demanded, pushing past the pain in her shoulderplate and braced against the berth when her vision tilted.

It took a long moment for the spinning to cease, her left shoulderplate throbbing at the pressure she put on it, but this was important. Pain was only temporary anyways, this would pass, the safety of their base would not.

Her sparkmate vented, murmuring for Ratchet to give them some space for the time being.

Her frown deepened, not liking this in the least as they waited for the medic to leave the main room, his datapad in servo.

Optimus didn’t say anything either aloud or through their bond until he was sure Ratchet had left, turning to her and frowned. “I believe it would be best if you laid back down, Phoe,” he said quietly.

She scowled. “Not until I know what’s going on. What aren’t you telling me, Optimus?” She demanded. She hated when secrets were kept from her, secrets that served only to cause future problems and messes. The only ones who could keep secrets from her without her able to throw a fit were Megatron and Soundwave, and that was only because if she tried they were more than capable of reminding her of her place.

She may have been extremely high on the food chain, but they were still higher.

Either way, she refused to budge until her mate gave her answers, and if that meant straining her injuries then so be it. She didn’t care that he was, technically speaking, her leader and a Prime. First and foremost in this situation she was his sparkmate and they were equals.

Her stubbornness was interrupted when a sharp, stabbing pain ran up her arm, yelping as it buckled and sent her careening towards the unforgiving medical berth.

Optimus quickly caught her before she could collide with the metal and vented as he carefully lowered her back down.

Primus that hurt!

“Ratchet just told you to take it easy, Phoenix,” Optimus chided, examining her wound as she whined and blinked back the sudden tears, but remained still while her mate ensured she didn’t just tear the wielding.

Satisfied that he didn’t need to go get Ratchet, Optimus let go of her arm and rested it gently against the berth by her side.

She begrudgingly stayed put, waiting for her mate to explain what was actually going on. Megatron should have attacked by now, what the frag was he waiting for?

Optimus frowned at her thoughts. “Phoe, Megatron did attack. But he didn’t attack here,” he explained quietly. He paused, giving her time to process what he just said.

Her scowl turned quizzical, tilting her helm slightly and frowned at him.

Slowly she recalled the evening, recalled that seeker selling them out. She heard Megatron laugh and welcome her to the Decepticons.

“What the frag would she gain by lying?” She finally demanded. It didn’t make sense. Starfire wanted to hurt them, and selling them out would be the quickest and most sure-fire way to go about it. She didn’t buy it for a second.

Optimus took a vent before answering. “Late last night, Agent Fowler called us to his base because they were under threat of attack. Laserbeak had been sighted and Megatron bridged there moments before we did,” he said. “Megatron believes that Roselake is where our base is located. Currently, we managed to ward them off, but it is likely Megatron will try again. The team was there until just a little while ago, helping rebuild.”

Phoenix blinked at him, shifting against her better judgement and shook her helm at her mate. “Optimus, you weren’t there. She did nothing but watch as Megatron did this to me,” she retorted, gesturing to her battered frame. “For all we know, she wanted Megatron to take out everyone who had wronged her and do her dirty work for her. We both know how rocky her history with Fowler is.”

Her mate glanced down her frame, and she could feel the confliction through their bond, the bond that was almost shattered because of that seeker. He wasn’t there when Starfire merely stood by and watched as she bled out.

He wasn’t there when Megatron shot her, when Starfire did nothing as she was very nearly run through with her own blade. So what if she gave up Fowler? It didn’t prove that she wouldn’t turn around and sell out this base next.

Her derma curled in a snarl. “She stopped me from killing him. I had a clear shot and she got in the way,” she growled. The war could have been over, or at the very least the Decepticons would have been without a capable leader now that Starscream was in the medbay. “She swore herself to the Decepticons, it doesn’t get much clearer than that!”

Optimus didn’t answer right away, and she once more got the inclination that he was keeping something from her. When he did speak, though, she found that she didn’t know how to react.

“Phoe, Starfire called base right after she bridged out there, after walking out into that ambush,” he said finally. “She said she would buy us time to get our ground bridge working, to ensure Megatron didn’t succeed in killing you before we could arrive. We heard the entire conversation.”

Phoenix stared at her mate, slowly shaking her helm and refused to believe it.

No, she watched that seeker bow to Megatron. She swore fealty to him, swore to become a Decepticon. She watched her hand over the coordinates, she-

If what Optimus was saying was true, then that meant that Starfire had-

“No.” She wouldn’t believe it. She would not believe that Starfire would willingly get involved in this war, not if what Optimus was saying was true and she remained as a Neutral.

The monitors tracking her sparkbeat spiked, and again she forced back the tears threatening her.

Optimus nodded solemnly. “Phoe, Starfire is the only reason you’re still alive,” he murmured, gently resting a servo on her cheekplate and wiped away the stray tear that leaked out.

No.

Starfire was a Neutral. Starfire had proven time and again that she cared about her village first and foremost. Starfire was not a soldier.

Starfire had just joined the Decepticons, at the exact same time she left.

“Starfire has agreed to become our spy.”

– – –

Once the battle had ended we returned to the Decepticon Warship, Megatron quickly ordering me to the medical wing while he went to speak to Soundwave.

Before he left, he told me to get my insignia and have Knockout and Breakdown give me a tour of the Nemesis, and promised there would be a full debrief of my time through the war once he returned.

I quickly realized that Megatron was intending to leave me behind while he went to deal with the supposed Autobot base, and while I was more than a little relieved that I wouldn’t be expected to fight those who I considered friends, I knew I needed to show some kind of resistance.

“My Lord,” I began, frowning at the Decepticon Warlord when he paused and glanced back. “Am I to take this to mean that I won’t be joining the strike team?” I frowned, forcing ire to shine through my optics when Megatron merely nodded and continued walking.

If I pushed the situation further, then I might very well provoke his anger, an anger that I will be certain to do my best to avoid if I can at all help it.

Megatron would demand a full debrief once he returned, so I needed to use what time I had to come up with what I actually wanted to say, now that I had more than a split second to think, and to sell my act with absolute certainty.

Turning to the Vehicon troopers beside me, I motioned for them to lead the way.

The Autobots destroyed three of them, the surviving troopers all sporting injuries, though from my own assessment none appeared to be life-threatening.

I frowned as I walked behind them, scanning the towering walls of the Cybertronian craft and for the first time in 300 years remembered what it was like to exist in a structure built for my kind.

The Vehicons were murmuring to each other, their vocals quiet and I found myself maintaining the distance behind them to give them the semblance of privacy. I realized again that they lost friends tonight, and had no intention of eavesdropping.

None of us knew what rank Megatron would decide to give me, if I would be an officer or a mere soldier. Either way, I was not about to go around making enemies, not if I could help it.

Word would spread through the ship like wildfire as soon as these Vehicons were cleared from the medbay, and their version of events would reflect how the rest of the Decepticons viewed me.

For now, I was quite alright with keeping myself unreadable, and if that meant keeping my distance, then so be it.

Finally though, after minutes of walking, we arrived at the medbay, the four of us entering in time to see Knockout and Breakdown standing over the beaten form of Starscream, likely in the process of running scans and tests if the equipment in their servos were any indication.

The doctor and his assistant turned at the sound of the doors, and appeared more than a bit surprised to find me standing with the Vehicons, Knockout putting his datapad down and raised an optic ridge.

“And what have we here?” He drawled, Breakdown tilting his helm curiously.

I smiled and struck a brief bow, catching the glimmer of amusement in Knockout’s optic when I did so. “Call me Starfire. I’m the femme responsible for handing the Autobot base over to Lord Megatron. You’re welcome,” I purred, and I grinned when his amusement morphed to shock and surprise.

Word of Phoenix’s betrayal would spread fast, but it had not yet reached the medical wing.

Knockout shared a quick glance with Breakdown, who appeared to have come to the same conclusion. “I take it Lord Megatron sent you here. Judging from the lack of insignia on your frame, I’m gonna go out on a limb and assume that’s why you’re here,” Knockout ventured, nodding slowly when I shrugged.

“Well, give me a moment, if you would be so kind, Starfire,” he said. “I’ll just wrap up with Starscream here and I’ll be right with you.”

While Knockout took to preparing his supplies for the procedure, Breakdown began seeing to the three Vehicon troopers who came in with me.

I stood to the side, remaining out of the way and idly watched as the Doctor ensured the Commander wouldn’t offline while he was gone.

Primus, I do not want to get on Megatron’s bad side.

That might very well be the end result of all this, despite my best efforts, but I merely hoped that his wrath wouldn’t be directed to me today. Months from now, sure. But tonight is a no-go, thank you kindly.

“Alright, if you would step over here please,” Knockout motioned me over to the side of the room, and it was here that I informed him where to put the insignia. Opting for it to go on my wings, he got to work while I watched Breakdown interact with the troopers.

As I suspected, none of their injuries were life-threatening, and I found myself actually relieved at that fact before mentally chiding myself to remember why I was here. They were the enemy, damnit. Get your helm on straight, Starfire.

Turning my attention back to what Knockout was doing, I peered over my shoulderplating to watch. Having the insignia on my wings instead of my chassis like the majority of Decepticons would prove to have two advantages: it would take most a second to find them, a second I could and would exploit, and two, should I run into anyone who knew me back on Cybertron, I would have time to explain myself before they outright attacked me.

Knowing Jackie, he would likely give me the chance anyways, but I had lived and breathed by the saying “Better safe than sorry.” The less risks I have to take, the safer I would be.

It didn’t take very long before Knockout was finished, stepping back and allowed me to stand from the berth and stretch my wings out. I absolutely loathed anyone going near them, but I knew I didn’t have much of a choice but to let Knockout do his job. While we were doing that, though, Breakdown had finished with the Vehicons and sent them on their way, coming back over to stand beside his friend.

I smiled, fluttering my wings slightly to get the tingles out. “Lord Megatron ordered for you both to give me a tour of the ship,” I informed, the two sharing another glance before Breakdown shrugged.

“Sure, follow us.”

They began the tour by showing me where the energon storage room was, and explained the ration system in place while mentioning that they would need to add me to the roster. Next, I was shown to the bridge, the main hub of the Nemesis and where Megatron spent the vast majority of his time, alongside Soundwave and any other officer currently on this planet.

Speaking of, they gave me a list of said officers, Knockout consulting his datapad to make sure he didn’t miss anyone, and I was keenly aware that they made no mention of Arachnid. I made a mental note to check her last known location once I had a moment to myself before the two of them continued the tour.

They showed me the laboratory, the trooper’s quarters, down to the escape pods and the navicomputer to the energon power core, and by the time the two of them led me to an officer’s quarters almost the entire ship knew what happened with Phoenix.

I kept a faint smile plastered over my derma the entire time, making a comment here and there about small things and how the ship ran, but mostly my processor was running overtime, locked securely in planning mode.

Once we stopped, however, I didn’t fail to catch the sudden reluctance surrounding the doctor and his assistant, the two of them seeming uneasy at the mere proximity to this room.

I raised an optic ridge at the pair and frowned, crossing my arms. “And why are you hesitating now?” I asked quietly, neither of them meeting my expectant look. “Don’t tell me you don’t know the codes.”

Knockout shook his helm. “It’s not that, Starfire. It’s just…” The doctor slowly trailed off, and his assistant supplied the information for him.

“This is Phoenix’s room,” Breakdown said, and I could have sworn he glanced down the halls nervously, as though even being remotely near this room was ill advised.

I chuckled quietly and shrugged. “So what?” I asked. “She’s as good as offline now.”

Still they hesitated, as though the assassin would come storming down the halls and rip them to pieces for even thinking about entering her room.

I smiled. “Who are you more afraid of? An offline assassin, or your very alive leader?”

That appeared to do it for them, Knockout punching in the code to the room and stepped aside as the doors slid open.

Before us stood a decently decorated berthroom, and though Knockout and Breakdown hesitated I merely stepped inside and took a look around.

Against the wall to the right was the berth, and on the walls above it stood some shelves with a very limited amount of datapads remaining on them. Straight ahead and against the back wall was a small desk, with a stand that I quickly realized was where she kept her infamous sword whenever she wasn’t using it. The left side of the room was filled with a bit of miscellaneous things, like a table and a sculpting set in the corner, though after looking around again it became quite clear to me that she never intended to step ped in here again.

“So she knew Megatron was onto her,” I murmured, nodding slowly. Behind me, Knockout and Breakdown remained in the doorway, the doctor holding a datapad and appeared to be frowning at it while his assistant kept an optic to the halls behind them.

“I’m going to go out on a limb here,” I began, turning back to face the pair. “Lord Megatron told you that this room was now mine, correct?”

Knockout nodded, putting his datapad away as I grinned.

“Is there anything else you need, or can a fem take a few to get acquainted with her new room?”

The doctor and his assistant didn’t need further prompting, Knockout quickly mentioning that I was able to create my own codes for the door before they left me alone in Phoenix’s room.

My grin fell the moment they left, scanning the room again and nodded slowly. I could make this work.

The first thing I did was retrieve one of my own datapad from my subspace, pulling up my security files and plugged it into the door systems. I ran my scanners into the code reader and only then did I feel safe enough to add my own codes to the doors.

Soundwave would not be accessing my room, thank you kindly.

Once I relocked the door I went over to the desk and set up the datapad on the metal, activating the keyboard and quickly logged into the Neutral Network.

I bit my derma, then, inhaling slowly and typed out a message for my people before promptly logging out and tucked the pad back into my subspace, not sticking around to read their replies.

I leaned back in the chair with a heavy vent, tilting my helm to the high ceiling and frowned at it.

Primus, I seriously hope I know what I’m doing.

– – –

“Kayla, wake up.”

Her eyes snapped open at the urgency in his voice, Kayla rolling over and saw her husband standing beside their nightstand fully dressed for the cold and in the process of putting on gloves.

She squinted against the dim light of the lamp, raising a hand to shield her eyes and frowned at him, checking the clock and scowled at the taunting numbers. It had only been a few hours since her husband dragged her to bed, why the ever-loving frag was he waking her up now?

Instantly a thousand worries flooded her mind, jerking upright and suddenly wide awake.

“What’s wrong? Is Alex alright?” She asked, and though her husband nodded it did nothing to quell her worries and her bubbling questions.

Her husband gave her a grim look, taking her phone from the charger and handed it to her. “Check the Network.”

Confused, and more than a bit alarmed, Kayla did as her husband said, logging into their family account and the first thing she saw was the message her best friend sent less than fifteen minutes ago, highlighted and bolded to signify the sheer importance of it.

Kayla read it, and then read it again, shaking her head no.

“This is a joke, right? I just saw her, she’s in the spare room.” She looked at her husband but frowned when he didn’t smile, peering past him through their bedroom door and towards said room, finding it empty and dark and devoid of her best friend.

Abigail wasn’t here.

Her friend was gone.

Her friend had left them. Again.

She swallowed down harsh, hot tears, tearing her gaze from the bedroom across the hall and reread the message her friend posted, over and over again as denial rose up in her throat.

“Kay, the Chief has called an emergency meeting to discuss our next course of action,” Josh said quietly. “If Abigail really has joined the Decepticons, then we need to get our story in order, before Fowler sends for Catori.”

Kayla scrunched her face at the mention of the agent, rereading the message her dear friend sent to the entirety of the Network. Suspending her heartache, she quickly realized what she needed to do.

“I’m going with you,” she said without a shred of space for argument, shutting her phone off and scooted off the bed. It isn’t everyday that Catori summons the entire village, but that’s why they have the meeting hall in the first place. This affects everyone, not just the council and not just her friend.

Abigail wouldn’t do this to hurt them. She knew that deep in her soul.

Her husband finally smiled slightly, the dim lamp lighting up his brown eyes. “I figured you would say that,” he murmured, helping her up. “Alejandro is already bundled and ready to go.”

Kayla beamed at her husband, leaning up to kiss his cheek before the two of them finished getting ready and left their home, newborn in arm against the freezing snow storm.

Abigail wouldn’t do something like this without a really good reason. It’s their job now to trust her.

– – –

Agent Fowler was in a foul mood, and it was taking all his self-control not to take it out on the people around him, his people who had gone through a hellish night as it was and did not need him snapping at them.

He was still at Roselake, dealing with the aftermath of the Decepticon assault and still reeling over Starfire’s betrayal.

The base was still standing, and he knew he had the Autobots to thank for that. If they didn’t arrive when they did then he knew Megatron would have totaled their base completely, and killed everyone stationed up there, himself included.

After he contacted the Autobots, Prime had told him to evacuate the base. Optimus refused to risk human casualties, and Fowler was about to heed his advice, but Megatron chose that very moment to attack. The Decepticons immediately destroyed the tarmac and thus the only way in or out of the secret military base, and without access to their fighters rendered the human military unable to reach fighting potential.

They only had one energon turret at their disposal, and Fowler knew it wouldn’t last for long, not when Megatron knew to target it.

Megatron and his assault team had bridged out weapons at the ready, and Fowler realized all over again that they were going to be in for the fight of their lives, with or without Prime’s aid.

The team quickly bridged in and engaged the Decepticons, and with no small amount of luck they were able to push them back, but not without destroying most of Roselake’s resources. The greenhouse was gone, along with the mess hall and their storage hangar. They were effectively defenseless.

The Autobots had remained to help clean up, and during this small respite Optimus debriefed Fowler on the situation.

He explained how Megatron had been revived in the first place, how Megatron had seen Phoenix at base through the eyes of Bumblebee, and how the scout had to deal with Megatron in his head for days before the Warlord was able to wrestle control over his body.

Fowler had shuddered at the thought of the Decepticon Leader inside his mind, and felt a vast wave of sympathy for the small, yellow scout.

Optimus told Fowler how Megatron compromised their ground bridge, how he saw the meeting coordinates in Bumblebee’s mind and locked them out of their system. Prime explained how Megatron was waiting for Phoenix, and had days to come up with what he wanted to do to her.

Starfire had a working bridge and volunteered to stall the Decepticons for as long as she could, until the team could get their bridge back up and running.

Fowler was beyond skeptical, especially when faced with the fact that Phoenix was still in critical condition, and said as such to the leader of the Autobots. Could they really trust Starfire, after she had orchestrated all of this?

He gestured to the torn and destroyed buildings around them, and he could see it in Prime’s eyes that he was conflicted about it all, too.

Starfire may have lied about this being the Autobot base, but that didn’t erase the fact that she caused this, and watched as Megatron almost killed Phoenix.

None of them knew if they could truly trust her, and Fowler knew none of them liked that thought.

Agent Fowler’s first priority now was getting their runway operational. He needed to ensure he could evacuate his people when Megatron returned to finish the job, and should it come down to another fire-fight he would be damned if they wouldn’t get airborne. General Bryce was already initiating Protocol Dolion, and reworking their firewalls and codes in the hopes of keeping Starfire out.

All of that would take time, however, and time was one thing none of them had, especially not when Roselake was still being pelted by the blizzard from last night.

They had to get that runway up and running, and they had to do it soon.

– – –

Hours later, and finally relief supplies could be flown in. The blizzard had lifted enough for emergency craft to land, and the runway had been repaired enough to receive them.

Fowler was beyond relieved, and finally felt safe enough to send the Autobots back to their base. They needed to regroup and figure out what they would be doing from there, and Fowler needed to evaluate who would remain to guard their satellite controls and who would evacuate off Roselake.

Their turret Starfire built for them was completely destroyed, and none of the Autobots were familiar with it enough to rebuild it, not even Ratchet or Optimus. Fowler wryly wondered just how that seeker was able to get her hands on the blueprints for it, but figured he might never get the answer, not as he worried this base might very well be retired now, thanks to her.

He had just gotten off the phone with General Bryce, and had orders to shut down all but the most crucial operations and begin the process of relocating satellite control to Lunarcrest Outpost. Bryce also demanded to know what Catori had to say about all this, and Fowler was just as eager as he was to find out.

He was in the middle of throwing his winter coat on when his cell began ringing, the agent frowning as he dug it out of his pocket, moving out of the way of the relief crew as they entered the hangar.

“This is Agent Fowler.”

“Hello, Fowler. It’s been awhile, hasn’t it?”

The Special Agent froze at the female voice through the call, frantically waving Frost over from where he was helping move in some crates.

“You have some nerve calling me after what you did last night,” he growled. “What do you want?”

He heard her sigh, and Frost finally made it over to him. Fowler frowned, and motioned for the two of them to head upstairs, away from potential prying ears and from the chilly bite of the winter afternoon.

While they were walking, Starfire was quick to get to the point.

“I don’t have long, Fowler. I’m calling to warn you, Megatron is planning a second assault. If Roselake has flight capability, then evacuate the base. This time, he will not hold back from wiping it off the face of the mountain. It, and everyone on it.”

Fowler stalled halfway up the staircase, ignoring Frost as he very nearly bumped into him. “Why are you telling me this?” He demanded, putting the call on speaker so Frost could hear her response.

Starfire sighed again. “Fowler, I am not your enemy. Leave the village alone, and get out of Roselake. This is all I can do for you now,” she repeated, and before he could ask for more details she disconnected the call, leaving the two agents staring at the phone.

“Begin the evacuation, now.” Frost nodded and sprinted off, Fowler running back to the monitors to check how the satellite transfer was coming along, and cursed soundly when it read as only 15% complete.

They might very well need to call the Autobots back again, if nothing more than to buy them all some time.

He was not leaving without that satellite.

– – –

“To the entirety of the Neutral Network: As of this moment, I have officially gotten involved in the war. Megatron has returned. I say again, the Decepticon Warlord is alive. I am currently onboard the Decepticon Warship the Nemesis, and I will remain here for as long as I possibly can. Activate emergency procedures and do not draw attention to yourselves. Stay low, and stay out of sight. I have the insignia of a Decepticon now, and I will do what I must to protect my people. I will never abandon you.
- Starfire. Status: Decepticon.”

– – –

Chapter Text

Roselake was officially evacuated within the hour of Starfire’s call, and no sooner had they left did they get an alert that the Decepticons had bridged back, and the explosion that followed was large enough to shake the mountains.

Starfire wasn’t kidding when she said that Megatron would wipe it from the face of the Earth, and despite himself he was grateful for her warning.

Agent Fowler was currently leaving the debriefing room at Lunarcrest Outpost, General Bryce on the verge of reactivating the warrant for Starfire’s arrest. For the moment, Fowler had stayed his hand, but should she put one more digit out of line then all bets would be off and the entirety of Uncle Sam’s military would be gunning for her.

If Optimus Prime said Starfire wasn’t their enemy, then the least Fowler could do was give him the benefit of the doubt. He seriously didn’t want to hate that seeker, but she was making it really difficult not to lately.

Sighing, and more than a little stressed, Agent Fowler left the main building and walked across the tarmac to one of the several barracks scattered around the base.

They were still in a high state of alert, and with the loss of Roselake it was taking everything he had to keep General Bryce and their superiors from the war path.

Ambassador Gardener and his secretary, Alissa Melendez, had arrived not long after the soldiers from Roselake had gotten settled, the Ambassador flying in once the alert had gone out about the loss of that base.

Fortunately for them all, they had managed to transfer the access and controls of the satellite before Megatron could destroy their only means of accessing them, but that was the least of his worries for the moment, not as the Ambassador spotted him the second he left Bryce’s building and the expression on his face warned Fowler that Daniel would not be ignored.

Alissa was nowhere to be seen, though Fowler had a sneaking suspicion that it was a deliberate play on the Ambassador’s end, and once the young Ambassador caught up to him on the far side of the parade square Fowler finally sighed and turned to face him. No point in delaying the inevitable.

“Agent Fowler, what’s this I hear about your people flying Chief Catori here?” Ambassador Gardner demanded, crossing his arms and did nothing to hide the scowl on his face or the contempt he felt for the agent before him. “We are halfway across the country, you cannot expect my people to go for so long without their Chief, especially not in light of recent events. They’re still feeling the aftershocks of Roselake’s explosion.”

The village had heard the explosion, and had actually remained quite calm in the face of recent events. Fowler knew if anyone would be able to bounce back, it would be them.

He didn’t blame the Ambassador for fighting on their behalf, but it was exhausting. Fowler sighed again and shook his head, at this point wanting nothing more than to hit the hay for even half an hour. It had been a long day.

“Ambassador, we are just following protocol,” Fowler explained, frowning at the man. “You and I both know that Chief Catori has been in direct contact with Starfire, and as of this moment, said Cybertronian is largely considered our enemy.” He raised a hand to stall the man’s protests, pinching the bridge of his nose. “This is just going to be a conversation. I promise you that Catori will be allowed to return to the village as soon as she has been debriefed. You are welcome to see her before and after the meeting,” he promised, and Daniel still looked irritated.

Fowler didn’t really care, excusing himself from the man and made a beeline for his quarters, falling asleep before he even hit the mattress.

– – –

“Excuse me, but I am not staying behind!” Kayla Ruiz protested, bouncing her newborn as her husband continued packing an overnight bag.

They had gotten word about the military order to fly Catori out to some random base Primus-knows-where about an hour ago, and thank the Spirits for Daniel, because her cousin was able to convince them to bring her husband as Catori’s second.

Now that she actually had a moment to think, though, she was beginning to regret signing off on allowing her husband to go, now that she realized that she would be remaining behind with their son.

Their newborn baby boy who needed his father, now more than ever without his aunt present.

Josh sighed, poking his head out from the closet and frowned at his wife and fussing baby. “Kay, things are extremely volatile right now, and the last thing our son needs is to be taken by plane to Lunarcrest,” he said, coming out and rested his hands on her shoulders. “I won’t let anything happen to Catori, and Daniel won’t let anything happen to me,” he murmured, once more reading past her whines and complaints to the deeper worries she was feeling. “I promise.”

Tears stung the back of her eyes and she squeezed them shut, leaning into his chest and blew out a heavy breath. “Josh, please be careful,” she whispered.

Roselake was destroyed, her oldest friend joined the Decepticons, and now her husband, her best friend, her everything, was leaving to safeguard their Chief from the very people they sought protection from.

Her husband smiled, kissing the top of her head and held them both close. “I will be, I promise.”

– – –

Ambassador Gardener had returned to his quarters after his conversation with Agent Fowler, and he could see in the agent’s eyes that he was exhausted.

Daniel wasn’t a cruel man, and allowed Fowler to exit the conversation before he had gotten everything he wanted out of him.

For the moment, he was shuffling through the papers he brought with him from the Pentagon, and had just returned from speaking with General Bryce.

He convinced the man to allow his Chief to bring a plus one, and knew Catori’s logical choice would be his cousin’s husband, Josh. If anyone could keep a head on their shoulders in the light of such accusations, it would be him. Josh had been instrumental through the last ten years since Abigail was found out in keeping the government out of the village, and Daniel knew he would be just as needed in keeping Catori out of their hands.

Absently Daniel brought a hand to the key over his heart resting securely under his suit, setting the papers aside and closed his eyes when he thought about his friend.

Abigail wouldn’t join the Decepticons to hurt humanity. She was loyal to a fault and if her description of the war was accurate, which it was, then she would never side with Megatron. He knew this, but there had been no more messages on the Network, and he had done his best to pacify their connections over the first few hours since her message had come in. Her words had rattled everyone, adding to the fact it occurred hardly any time at all from when she announced who the infiltrator was.

The compounds around the planet had gone into lockdown, and though everyone within the network trusted her without question, it still set everyone on edge knowing that she was with the Decepticons. That Megatron was alive and clearly on the warpath.

They were scared, and didn’t know what the future held for them, but he knew they would remain steadfast in her wake and remain strong, both for each other and for her.

Daniel worried about her safety, about what her fate would be should Megatron find out she warned Roselake of his impending attack. What the government would do if Bryce and Fowler didn’t like what Catori had to say.

Grasping the chain and the key, all he could do now while under such surveillance was wait and play everything out by ear.

“Abigail, you better know what you’re doing. For all our sakes.”

– – –

Chief Catori and Josh Ruiz stepped off the helicopter at Lunarcrest base minutes before sundown, and were promptly led towards the main building, a pair of soldiers taking their overnight bags from them and ran them to the rooms they would be staying in.

“Daniel is going to be waiting for us by the meeting room,” Josh murmured, leaning over to the older woman as they walked. “Fowler gave his word that we would be allowed a moment to speak with him before the meeting.”

Catori merely nodded once, her dark black eyes fixed on the pair of soldiers guarding the entrance to the main building.

“Agent Fowler may mean well, but he is not the one in power here. General Bryce is the one we need to look out for,” she replied quietly.

They were both wearing their most formal dress for this occasion, neither of them willing to leave any form of battlefield unchecked.

Josh wore one of the few suits his grandfather had left for him from before their ancestors were run out of their home, his curly brown hair brushed back and secured with pins to keep the majority of it out of his eyes.

Catori, on the other hand, wore a woven dress passed down from chief to chief, her long black hair streaked in white and bound in a pair of double plaits. Her wrinkled hands were adorned with a scattering of bracelets, with a beaded necklace at her throat.

The Chief was a force to be reckoned with, and Josh was genuinely excited to see her tear into Bryce, whether through sheer iciness for the man or not.

They entered the main building and were led to the meeting room, and as promised, they found Daniel waiting for them, a frown seemingly glued onto his face.

The two men shared a quick hug, Josh whispering that Kayla was doing well and that Alejandro was just fine, Daniel relaxing visibly at the reassurances before parting from his in-law and turned towards their Chief.

“I’m sorry for being unable to talk them out of this, Chief,” he said quietly, all three of them conscious of the soldiers guarding the door listening in. “They won’t let me into the meeting room.”

Chief Catori nodded once, and a faint smile dusted her face before it vanished as swiftly as it had arrived. “You have done well, Daniel. Josh and I will handle things from here.”

Daniel nodded and stepped aside, and one of the soldiers opened the door to General Bryce’s office and motioned for them to enter.

Josh and Catori obliged, stepping inside the room and immediately noticed three things: Special Agent Fowler was standing beside the four-star general at his desk, a soldier was against the far wall holding a camera, and there was only one chair waiting for them in the small room.

Josh pulled out the chair for Catori, the Chief sparing him a single glance before sitting across from the humans who caused her people such pain and heartache.

“Let’s begin, shall we?” General Bryce wasted no time in formalities, and didn’t thank them for arriving since neither of them had much choice. “Chief Catori, was it? Were you aware of Starfire’s intention to betray the Autobots, this government, and humanity in order to join forces with the Decepticons?”

Oh, this was off to a great start, and Josh worked hard to keep the scowl from his face.

Catori remained unaffected, simply tilting her head slightly at the odd question. “General, I believe you don’t have all the facts,” she said calmly, ignoring the camera pointed at her face. “Abigail did not betray anyone, least of all humanity.”

The General frowned, and behind him Agent Fowler drew a hand down his face. This was going to be a long meeting.

“Who is Abigail? Is she working with Starfire?”

Catori smiled. “No, General. She is Starfire. The people of my village have never referred to her as her Cybertronian name, opting instead to use her chosen human one,” she explained. “Abigail spends most of her time in what is known as a holoform. She passes as human whenever and wherever she gets the chance.”

General Bryce turned to Fowler, and the Special Agent leaned down to explain again what a holoform was. The General then turned back to Catori. “If you would be so kind as to elaborate?”

The Chief dipped her head. “Of course. Abigail has been living within the village longer than any of us here have been alive, doing what she can to help us learn and grow. To claim that she would betray anyone, especially humanity, is like saying the sun revolves around the Earth. It is impossible, and unrealistic. Abigail has not and will never harm us.”

General Bryce shook his head. “We find that hard to believe, Catori, given recent events. We have recorded footage of Starfire bowing to the leader of the Decepticons, and proof that she was the one who gave up Roselake, the closest military outpost to your village,” he said. “Your claim that she won’t harm us has already been disproven, and the fact that she targeted Roselake in particular has not escaped our notice.”

Josh tightened his hands on the back of Catori’s seat at the thinly veiled implication, but his Chief remained unfazed.

“General, did she or did she not orchestrate the entire event so you all would have warning?” She asked. “She sent Laserbeak to Roselake, knowing you would see him. She knew you would go into high alert, and gave that base enough time to prepare for the Decepticons. And when the first wave was fought off, she gave you a verbal warning that Megatron was planning a second attack, giving you all enough time to evacuate.”

Agent Fowler glanced at the General, ignoring the fact that Catori really shouldn’t have known that information. Although at this point, he really shouldn’t be surprised. Starfire always made sure her people were kept up to speed. “She’s right about that last part. Agent Frost and I both heard Starfire warn us to get out of there,” he said quietly. “I don’t think we would be having this conversation if she didn’t.”

“At the risk of her own life, might I add, should her transmission have been intercepted by Soundwave. I would advise not underestimating Megatron’s Chief of Surveillance.” Josh spoke for the first time, and caught the small nod from his Chief, giving her approval.

General Bryce nodded slowly, folding his hands on the desk in front of him. “I see. Still, through Starfire’s actions our spy onboard the Decepticon Warship has been critically injured, and we have had no other word from her since early this afternoon. If she is really on our side, then why has she not reached out?”

Fixing the man with a sharp look, Catori simply folded her hands in her lap. “Did Phoenix make daily reports?” She asked, the General sitting back at her tone. “Did Phoenix report her every move? Or was she given the freedom to move and act and was trusted to play what part she could against our common enemy? Abigail did not blow Phoenix’s cover, so what damage was done to your spy was no fault of my villager.”

Catori shook her head. “Abigail never wanted a part in this war, General Bryce. She was a Neutral and has been since their war first began, millions of years ago. But now, when the situation on Earth has changed so drastically, she stepped forward, knowing she could do something about it.”

The Chief’s voice shook with emotion, viewing Abigail as one of her own children, a member of her village that had gotten lost in the forest and saw no way out. Abigail would never hurt them, and it killed her that she had chosen to do this with no regard for her own safety. “Abigail loves humanity, and loves her home. She realized that Phoenix was compromised, and if she stood by and did nothing then our spy wouldn’t just be injured, General. Phoenix would be dead and we would be without a direct link to the Decepticon Warship.”

She took a steadying breath. “Abigail has joined this war, and is in a unique position to support the Autobots. The Decepticons have no record of her, so she can create the cover she needs with the freedom of not contradicting herself or her history. It is vital that we put our faith in her if she is to succeed.”

Again Agent Fowler turned to the General. “Optimus Prime debriefed me on the situation from their end earlier today. Phoenix bridged to their meeting location under the impression of leaving the Decepticon Faction. Her cover had been blown due to Megatron witnessing her at the Autobot base, and Optimus Prime sent for her to get out of there.

“Unfortunately, Megatron was able to manually lock out the meeting coordinates from the Autobot ground bridge system, preventing them from getting within 100 miles of where Phoenix bridged to,” Fowler explained quietly. “Starfire was already on call with Bulkhead during this, and volunteered to bridge to the coordinates herself to buy our spy what time she could while the Autobot medic began rebooting their bridge. Ratchet had estimated a ten minute fix, time that Phoenix did not have unless someone interrupted Megatron.

“Starfire was on call with the Autobots through the whole conversation she had with the Decepticon Leader, and claimed that Roselake was where their base was located,” he said. “Starfire knows exactly where Team Prime has their base, and lied to Megatron’s face about where it was in order to get accepted into their ranks. Optimus Prime has put his cautious trust in her. It is my strongest advice that we do the same.”

General Bryce frowned at the Special Agent. “And how is it that Megatron was able to access the Autobot bridge controls?” He asked, and it was here that Fowler hesitated.

He knew damn well how it happened, but Bryce was a man of logic and stubbornness that combined made him difficult to accept Cybertronian Mythos.

Still, he gave it his best shot. “Do you remember my report about the Autobot leader being infected with the Cybertronian version of Bubonic Plague?” He asked, Bryce nodding. “It was during the mission to retrieve the cure that Megatron was able to follow Bumblebee, the Autobot scout, back into his mind. It was through Bumblebee, who resisted against the much stronger warrior, that Megatron was able to not only see Phoenix at base, but to also lock the coordinates out of their systems.”

Well, he gave it his best.

The General stared at Fowler, and Catori chose this moment to speak up. “General, it is called a Cortical Psychic Patch,” she explained. “The Decepticons created this technology as a means of interrogation, and more than a handful of Neutrals have killed themselves to prevent the information they had from being handed over to the Decepticons because of it. The patch transfers the mind of one Cybertronian into the mind of another, seeing what knowledge they can extract. Bumblebee indeed entered Megatron’s mind, but the Decepticon Leader was able to follow him back to his. It is also how he was able to repair his own body, using a form of energy source that humanity does not have an equivalent version of.”

She spoke so matter-of-factly that General Bryce found it difficult to argue with her, especially since it would explain how Megatron was able to get to the Autobot base without their knowledge, and compromise their spy so effortlessly. “This power source, are we able to harness it?” He asked.

Agent Fowler frowned and shook his head. “It’s referred to as Dark Energon. A substance so rare that it was believed to be almost non-existent until Megatron returned from deep space with a whole chunk of it,” he explained. “The only remaining amount of Dark Energon currently resides within the Warlord’s chest, keeping him alive against all odds.”

General Bryce appeared thoughtful, glancing to the camera recording the entire exchange. “I see. Is it true that Phoenix woke up early this afternoon, and that the Autobot doctor has given her high chances of recovery?” He asked, and Fowler nodded.

The General was quiet for a long moment, Josh very nearly holding his breath while his Chief remained calmly seated in her chair, as though they weren’t debating for the life of one of their closest friends.

“I believe then for the moment, given all accounts, we will allow Starfire to proceed,” he said at last, as though they actually had the means to stop her. “The Autobots have taken no deaths, and we theoretically have an ear in the Decepticon ranks. For now, we will see how this goes.”

– – –

I was still getting used to the layout of my new room when Megatron returned from his assault, and I only knew he was back thanks to the summons I received to head to the bridge.

I halted in my pacing and took a steadying vent, squaring my shoulderplates before I left the room and made my way straight for the Leader of the Decepticons himself.

Fooling Megatron into believing Roselake was the Autobot base was the easy part, especially with Phoenix’s anger helping to sell the act. But here, I needed to come up with a convincing story as to who I was and why I had refused to join the war until now.

Megatron wasn’t stupid, and would only buy into my story if I was smart about this. Everyone on Cybertron knew about the Neutrals, and knew how scarce we made ourselves be in order to protect ourselves. To have one willingly join a faction was no small feat, and Megatron’s interrogation of me would be long, of that I had no doubt.

I halted just outside the doors to the bridge and took another vent, calming the unease swirling in my tanks before promptly striding inside.

I found Megatron standing at the helm of his ship, Soundwave paces behind him while Vehicon troopers continued their work at the consoles surrounding the room.

Word had spread as fast as I had predicted, and not a single Decepticon was unaware about what happened last night.

The Warlord turned when the doors shut behind me, and again an unreadable expression graced his faceplates when I approached and bowed before him.

Bowing to the mech responsible for the deaths of everyone I have ever cared about was one of the worst things I had ever done, but I did it anyways and rose, a smile on my derma as I faced the tyrant.

I would not allow him to inflict the same pain on humanity that he did to Cybertron, and if I was to succeed in this then he could never know my true feelings on the subject. I would lie, as I have always done, and I will do it so well he will never begin to suspect I was hiding anything.

I will keep my cards so close to my chassis that no one will think I have any to begin with.

I have done this song and dance thousands of times before, and I will do it again.

“You called for me, my lord?”

Megatron nodded, gesturing with a servo to the Surveillance Chief at his side. “Indeed, Starfire. Soundwave informs me that we have no record of you before the events of last night. Effectively, you are a ghost and do not exist. Let’s remedy that, shall we?” He may have phrased that as a suggestion, but I knew that if he didn’t like what I had to say here, then my time onboard the Nemesis would be quite brief indeed.

I simply smiled.

“Of course, where would you like me to start?”

Megatron smiled slightly. “From the beginning.”

Knowing that a single contradiction in my story would spell my doom, I was once again relieved to have had the time to gather myself alone in Phoenix’s room, and because of that I had the perfect story to feed the Leader of the Decepticons and string him along into believing every word out of my intake.

I worked as a data technician in the halls of Crystal City, a bustling hub of technology and innovation that was on par with Iacon itself. I created and filed data and codes to make things easier for others to access, and I was there when Shockwave attempted to create his combiner and when he was cast out when it eventually failed.

I made myself out to be a low-caste worker, only there in passing and not a head scientist as I could reportedly be referred to as. I explained to Megatron how I lost my young sparkling, and how his death during the fall of my city played a critical role in my decision to remain Neutral and as far from the war as I could get.

When Mindblade offlined at the hands of Dreadwing, I vowed never to take a side, never to choose a faction now that both had stolen the only things I truly cared about: my sparkmate, and my sparkling. I remained in the shadows of Cybertron and found my way into the Neutral Network, fighting fiercely to protect those who couldn’t protect themselves, and spiteing anyone who stood in my way.

I refused to mention my twin sister, knowing the rarity of twins would give Soundwave an easier time to fact check my words. The less truth they knew about me, the better.

I knew Soundwave would be checking every word of my story through their records anyway, and knew that if anyone would be able to hunt down a record of me, it would be him.

Knowing that, I knew I had to give him something else to look at, away from Crystal City and the death of my loved ones.

I had debated this long and hard in the time I spent alone, and ultimately decided to give up a handful of Neutral outposts from Cybertron, some that I knew the Decepticons would have loved to have found eons ago, and some that would be of little value to them even if the war still raged back home.

I would need to gain access to the Network sooner than later and alert it to the threat Megatron is posing to them, and warn them away from the outposts I had just given on the off chance that anyone was still on-world. I would need to act carefully, and cover my tracks so Soundwave doesn’t find a way into the Network through the ship. Accessing the Network through the Decepticon databases was going to be a challenge.

A single Neutral outpost remained active on Cybertron, an outpost deep within the sea of rust and far from simple to find, and there is not a single thing Megatron could do to me that would have me reveal its whereabouts to him. That, I would keep from him for as long as energon ran through my systems.

Then came the question I was bracing for.

“Do you still have access to the Neutral Network?”

I knew what he wanted, I knew why he was asking. So many times this Network had thwarted him, so many times my people had escaped his using that Network. By giving access to the Decepticons, Megatron would be able to hunt them all down, very nearly effortlessly.

He would also be able to have access to the Network I created on Earth, and Primus Almighty that was not about to happen.

Add onto the fact that he would know in an instant that I’ve been lying to him, I have more than one motive for keeping it from him.

I shrugged, and once again lied. “Unfortunately, Lord Megatron, the Neutral Network was cut off once the Great Exodus was enacted. And even if it was still active, hardly anyone would dare use it now. There would be no point, not when information would take so long to travel without the proper structures in place. By the time it would reach anyone it would likely be invalid anyways.”

I had lost access to the main network the moment my ship was destroyed, though the last I heard, 300 years ago, it was still a bustling hub of activity and warning. The Neutrals had expanded their reach, and embedded their codes onto any ship they could get their servos on. Shuttles, cruisers, warships and carriers. It took a while, but by the time I arrived on Earth there wasn’t a single part of the Galaxy that didn’t have some reading or record within the Neutral Network, not a single piece of Decepticon or Autobot movement that we were unaware of.

The lengths Megatron would go to gain that information terrified me, but fortunately, I had eons of practice lying to bots and cons alike, and Megatron was, thankfully, no different. For now.

If I still had the Brilliance, then I would have known about the Autobot and Decepticon presence making their way to Earth long before Fowler got around to updating me, and I would have been able to keep the Network updated about how the war was progressing from my end.

Alas, Shockburner was a royal pain in the aft and blew up my ship, so until now I had no way to reach the rest of the Network.

But here?

I fought down a smile, Megatron appearing satisfied with my report.

I turned to leave the bridge with the intent of figuring out just how to go about putting a virus within the mainframe of the Nemesis, when Megatron turned back around and called for me to wait.

He gave me another once-over, nodding slowly when I glanced back. “Last night aside, how capable are you in battle?” He asked, and it was the one question that I was unprepared for.

Frag, I was an idiot for forgetting to think about such an important detail as fighting abilities in a war.

My Sire would be shaking his helm at me right now, but I merely smiled and shrugged. “I wouldn’t claim to be good at it, Lord Megatron, but I’ve survived this long for a reason. I can hold my own against most,” I replied, and though I wasn’t completely honest, it wasn’t all that far from the truth either.

I wasn’t a soldier. I never fought in their war, even during my time among the Wreckers. Wildspark and I supplied information and coordinates, not engaging in hand-to-hand combat. I could use a blaster, but I was far more reliable with data and my servos. That fatal mission with Arachnid was one of the few, one of the only times Wildspark and I left their main headquarters, a decision that I regretted to this day.

Megatron nodded slowly. “You handled the fight with Arcee quite well. You have promise. Effective immediately, I am assigning you to the training roster. The Vehicons will bring your abilities up to speed.”

I honestly couldn’t hide my surprise at the order, but I nodded the same and bowed again to the Warlord, but he had already turned back to the bridge controls and had begun speaking with Soundwave about the possibilities of another assault.

I forced my wings not to reveal my unease at the fact, striding from the bridge and made a beeline for my room. Well, I couldn’t very well run, but I sure as frag wasn’t walking either. I was just grateful that I had all these years of practice keeping my wings from revealing too many of my emotions, because I had a sinking feeling that would come in handy in the near future.

I arrived unbothered and uninterrupted to my room, a small mercy as I went about securing my door and used my datapad to scan the room for any cameras or listening devices. I wouldn’t put it past them to spy on me, especially not after what happened last night and the uncertainty surrounding my arrival here.

Once I was satisfied that Soundwave wasn’t listening, I quickly called Fowler, the man not happy in the slightest to hear my vocals, but I truly didn’t care. I may have stabbed all of them in the back, but that didn’t mean I wanted them dead.

If Megatron was able to access Roselake’s records, then he would know everything that the United States knew. The Decepticons would know, from Uncle Sam’s perspective, just how advanced I have made the village, and how many things I had just lied to Megatron about.

I couldn’t allow that to happen.

Once I had finished warning Fowler of the potential attack, I sat back down at the desk and set up my datapad, logging into the Neutral Network and frowned at the chaos my initial message had created. Daniel had done a wonderful job at reassuring everyone and calming their fears and concerns, but they were still being cautious.

My compounds had all gone into lockdown, reporting that they would keep their doors open to the Network and the Network alone. Many of my connections in the cities and urban areas had begun making plans of meeting up, citing safety in numbers, and I could only watch while my spark broke for them.

This was my fault. Their restlessness, their unease and worry, was because of me. Their fears for the future, the uncertainty about what tomorrow held, was because of what I just did.

I closed my optics and exhaled deeply, calming myself down before finding Daniel’s contact. I encrypted another message for him, a message to warn Catori that Fowler would be gunning for her and the village just as soon as he had Roselake taken care of. A message explaining exactly what happened, from my perspective, and why I did what I did.

Please, Daniel. Protect our Chief while I cannot.

Protect our people.

– – –

Chapter Text

Shouts and screams filled my audials, thick black smoke rising from the ruined buildings surrounding me as I raced through the wreckage, clutching a small frame to my chassis.

I flinched when an energon blast to my right kicked up chrome and shards of metal, twisting my frame to shield the smaller one from the spray, continuing my desperate sprint once the debris settled.

“Carrier? Where’s Sire?” I was unable to answer him, only able to shake my helm and duck under a twisted metal beam, taking a brief moment to catch my venting.

Raze squirmed in my arms, propping his small black digits on my chassis and peered up at me. “Carrier, where’s Auntie Wildspark? Why isn’t she with us?”

I hushed him and shook when another bomb exploded frighteningly close to us, Raze flinching and ducked his helm back against my frame.

I had lost track of my sister minutes ago, and were it not for our sibling bond still intact I wasn’t sure what I would have done. Mindblade was still unaccounted for, having shielded our sparkbond so I was unable to figure out what he was doing or where he was. He worked in the sparkling center, and I feared he would try and play hero. My creators were on the other side of the city, having gone to watch the council meeting about the assembling Decepticon forces in Kaon and what it meant for us. They promised me they would make it to my dwelling before the sun set for our evening meal, but now I wasn’t even sure if my dwelling still stood.

All I knew was that I had to get my son out of Crystal City, and I had to do it soon.

The Decepticons had finally brought down the walls of my beautiful city, and they did not hesitate before beginning to rain down destruction and hell-fire. Reports of their assault had made it to Iacon, but we could not rely on the Autobots getting here in time to stop them. The only chance my son had of survival was to get him to the secret tunnels that lead under the walls, and from there? I didn’t know. I just had to get my sparkling to safety.

Perhaps we could make it to Iacon, the Autobot Capital. They would help us, I know they would.

“Raze, I need you to be brave for me,” I whispered, peering around the metal beam and scanned the desolate streets, praying to Primus that we could get out of here. “Sire and Auntie will meet us outside the walls, ok? We’re going to be ok.” I wasn’t sure I believed that, but damnit I wasn’t going to let my son worry.

Maybe Primus was watching, maybe our Creator would protect us.

Another bomb fell, its whine echoing above the screams and yells and landed a few streets away with a resounding boom. We both flinched, and I chided at myself to focus.

My son nuzzled into my chassis and nodded, clinging to me. “I trust you, Carrier,” he mumbled, and I steeled myself and resumed running.

Minutes passed without seeing anyone else, and I nearly tripped when I turned a corner and saw the city walls towering above us, less than a block away. Relief threatened to overwhelm me, but logic and my senses told me we were far from safe.

The Decepticons had broken down the walls on the opposite end of the city, so with any luck we should be able to get through and avoid any patrolling squadrons.

I heard through radio chatter that the Autobots had arrived and engaged the Decepticons, another seeker squadron doing another fly-by and dropped more bombs in their wake, further ruining my beautiful city.

Crystal City was home to some of Cybertron’s most brilliant minds the Golden Age ever produced, and a handful of scientists created a secret network of tunnels that passed under the walls and stretched for miles in every direction. The entrance to one such tunnel was quickly approaching, and I once again thanked our Creator that I had the foresight to memorize them, and force my family to do the same.

“We’re almost there, little love,” I breathed, and the only sign I got that my son heard me was his small digits tightening in the cracks of my metal. I kept running, the sounds of the war fading in the background the further away from the main assault I got.

We were nearly at the entrance to the tunnel when I rounded a corner and ran right into an Autobot patrol, my optics growing wide as my grip on my sparkling tightened.

They whirled on me, weapons at the ready as I fought to get my venting back under control.

The tunnel was literally right behind them, the secret entrance hidden behind the still-standing statue.

“Who are you?” The one who I could only assume to be the leader demanded, narrowing his optics at me and quickly scanned my frame, coming to rest on the sparkling in my arms. “And where did you get that sparkling?”

It was still a struggle to regather my senses, flinching as another bomb strike landed frighteningly close to where we were standing.

“Please-” I gasped, trembling. “I’m a civilian, I swear. He’s my son.” I couldn’t stop my frame from shaking, the Autobots regarding me warily, but I was telling them the truth. I didn’t have an insignia, I wasn’t a Decepticon or Autobot. I was just me.

“What are you doing all the way out here? It isn’t safe, go take shelter,” the Autobot officer ordered finally, the rest of his squadron watching the surrounding areas as I meekly nodded.

Yeah, that was the plan. Just as soon as I could get to those tunnels standing right behind you.

I didn’t vocalize those thoughts, and went to leave, before one of the other Autobots spoke up. “Sir, she’s a seeker. Are you really going to believe her?” He demanded, the officer glancing at him before frowning.

I felt myself pale, clutching Raze tighter and backed up a pace. “Please, he’s my son. I’m not a Decepticon,” I pleaded, slowly shaking my helm at the wary looks they were giving me. Primus Almighty, Megatron. Did you really have to make a bad designation for seekers? Not helping, mech!

Despite everything, I heard Raze giggle slightly in my arms, overhearing my thoughts and I couldn’t stop the faint smile from forming over my derma when I glanced at him. Primus, I love this sparkling-

“Yeah, I’m going to believe her. Move out, and you!” I whipped my helm up when the Autobot officer called for me. “Get your sparkling out of here.”

I nodded, and they ran off, leaving me alone with my son mere paces away from the tunnel that would protect him.

I was only able to take a single pace forward before a seeker squadron dropped a bomb that landed hardly a step beside us, knocking my sparkling from my arms.

– – –

“Raze!” I shouted, lurching awake and threw a servo out, tears stinging the back of my optics as I desperately clutched my chassis, rapidly scanning the room.

A dream. It was only a dream.

What wasn’t a dream, however, was the fact that I was still onboard the Decepticon Warship, alone.

I shook my helm, hauling myself out of berth and promptly shoved my dream, memory or whatever you wanna call it, to the back of my processor. I couldn’t afford to grieve here, not again, not now.

Primus, why? Why did you take my son from me?

Out of my family, the only ones who survived the Fall of Crystal City was Wildspark and myself. It remained that way until she offlined, eons later, and for the first time in my life, I was left alone.

Well, whatever the reason, at least my son wasn’t in the Allspark alone. He had his Sire, Aunt, and Grandcreators to keep him company. I couldn’t ask for more.

I smiled sadly, shaking my helm and told myself to focus, slipping out of my room and made my way towards the energon storage rooms.

After the second attack and the confirmation that Roselake was indeed destroyed, Megatron had called for me again and demanded to know where the Autobots were. They had taken no deaths, and were nowhere to be found.

I gave a list of the secret military bases I knew about, but warned that if the Autobots had fled their base, then likely they would be at one that I was unaware of.

I neglected to point out that it was impossible, I could find every last base on the planet if I put my mind to it, but Megatron didn’t know that and Soundwave would be unable to hack into the human mainframes now that my codes were protecting them.

I had read what they did with the satellite arrays in Texas, and Primus Almighty I was determined to put an end to that nonsense.

I don’t think Megatron was overly happy with my responses, but at least he wasn’t demanding I leave his ranks.

Speaking of ranks, I finally asked him what my place on his ship would be. I had held my own against Arcee somewhat, but I was also extremely skilled in data and coding. I wasn’t a soldier, but I knew how to take commands and follow orders, to a point. I was genuinely curious to know where he wanted me, and I would adjust my strategy from there.

I was quite surprised when he regarded me with another one of his unreadable looks, before informing me that currently standing, I would be considered one of his lieutenants, reminding me that my knowledge of this planet would prove invaluable to the Decepticon cause.

Now, a handful of cycles after my supposed betrayal of the Autobots, I believed I was finally in a position to make a phone call, ignoring the fact that the one I was planning on calling might very well not want a thing to do with me after what I had done.

Shaking myself of those useless thoughts, I claimed my ration of energon from the trooper responsible for today’s handout and returned to my room.

The Vehicon trooper seemed mildly surprised when I thanked him, and I quickly remembered where exactly I was, and what role I was supposed to be playing.

An ex-Neutral who had just tried to destroy the Autobots stationed on this planet. I couldn’t afford to be kind here, but I feared some habits might be harder to break than others. For the moment, though, I couldn’t focus on that, once more locking my door and plopped down on the berth, frowning at the cube in my servo.

I haven’t had the chance to check in with the base, or with anyone really, since my last message to Daniel. I hadn’t yet dared to try getting the Network in the Nemesis’ systems, fearing Soundwave would be watching my every move for the near future.

I had to be patient, and careful. I could not afford to be hasty here.

However, I could afford to make a much-needed phone call, finding the comlink in my contacts and waited as it dialed in.

I had my datapad at the ready, prepared to scramble and encrypt the call just as soon as it connected. For all intents and purposes, this call would be lost in the multitude of conversations from the Decepticon Warship to their mines on Earth. And besides, even if Soundwave did notice this call, he would be unable to pinpoint where it was heading to or who I was speaking with.

He just wouldn't find the call.

Finally, with my spark in my throat the recipient of my call answered, and I very nearly felt my composure break.

“Well it's certainly been an interesting week, hasn't it, Star?” He asked, vocals kind as I huffed a soft laugh.

“You're telling me, Bulk. How are things?” I asked quietly, beginning the scrambling process on the datapad.

I heard my friend speak to someone, before a young, cheerful voice interrupted whatever it was he was going to say to me. “Star? Is that you? Girl you had us in the first half, you’re lucky you were only kidding or Phoenix would roast you!”

I chuckled quietly when Bulkhead scolded the girl, shooing her away and vented when he refocused on me. “Sorry about that, Star. Miko’s just glad you’re on our side." There was a brief, quiet pause. "We all are.”

I frowned, nodding slowly and took a deep inhale, letting it out slowly and asked one of the few questions I was afraid to get an answer about. “How is Phoenix, anyways?” I asked tentatively. She was furious when she thought I was handing the team over, when she thought I was betraying them. I figured the Autobots would have explained the truth to her by this point, but I wouldn’t blame her if she was skeptical, and rightfully angry with me.

My friend went silent, but before my overactive imagination could get the best of me, he answered, “Well, Ratchet nearly made me sit on her to keep her from leaving the berth yesterday, but aside from that she’s healing up alright. Gonna take a while for her to be field ready and I think it’s already beginning to drive her insane,” he mused, drawing a chuckle from me at the thought.

I smiled. “I wouldn’t doubt it. Being a warrior is kind of her life,” I pointed out, absently beginning to kick my stabilizers and took a sip of energon, recalling the second reason for this call. “Also, Bulk, are you able to take note of a few sets of coordinates for me?” I asked, and I hummed, reciting them once he agreed. “Those are some of my energon storage locations I have stashed around the planet. You guys are going to need it more than I will these days,” I explained quietly.

I had the Decepticon Energon Mines to keep me fueled. The Autobots could use all the help they could get.

I could hear the surprise in his vocals. “Thank you. This is going to come in handy,” he promised, and I smiled a tad wider at the reassurance.

“Good, I’m glad,” I mused, glancing at the datapad in my servo and frowned when my timer began approaching where I should probably wrap things up. I may be good, but Soundwave would notice this call sooner or later.

“Hey Bulk, I gotta get going. Soundwave is gonna pick up this call if I stay on much longer. I’ll keep in touch, ok?” I said, setting the cube aside and almost giggled at the frown I knew slid over his faceplates.

“Already? But you just called!” I could just see his pout, and snickered quietly, especially when I heard Miko echoing his sentiments from wherever she was, clearly listening in.

“I promise I’ll call again later. Oh, one more thing!” I added, right before he disconnected. “Tell Arcee that I said no hard feelings for the fight?”

He actually laughed. “Star, you’re gonna need to apologize in person for that. If anyone can hold grudges, it’s the femmes on this team, and unfortunately for you, you managed to tick off both of them all in one fell swoop. Good luck.” I whined before begrudgingly ending the call, and despite the context of the conversation actually felt a whole lot lighter.

Bulkhead didn’t hate me, and neither did Miko. I’ll take that as a win.

– – –

Once I finished with the call, I downed the rest of my cube and continued work on the virus I was trying to make for the Nemesis. I couldn’t just plug the Neutral Network into the Decepticon Warship, I wasn’t that stupid, but I could make a decoy of sorts, a one-way link from the databases to my devices.

It would double as a way for me to do my research from the comfort and safety of my own room, without the added risk of someone walking in on me. I could probably access the Network without Soundwave finding it for a brief moment, but in the long run this would serve me so much better.

Unfortunately, that wasn’t such a clear-cut task, and it was taking me a tad longer than I would have preferred. I just hoped that when I did regain access to the rest of the Neutral Network, that my information regarding the war would help at least someone out there.

Now, however, I would be about ready to tear out my hair if I was in holoform, so I shelved the task and scooted from my bunk. Leaving my room, I made my way to one of the consoles in one of the nearby hallways and got to work on my other project.

Megatron did not know that Arachnid was on Earth. He did not know that Shockburner was on Earth. I did.

I may have been a Neutral for the vast majority of the war, but I knew how to find signals if given enough time and resources.

Fortunately for me, I had both. I wasn’t scheduled to the training deck for another few cycles, one of the perks of being the newcomer I suppose. It takes time to finagle my way into things. For right now, I wasn’t about to complain.

It was a hard mental debate about which monster to track down first, but ultimately I chose to go after Arachnid, pulling up scans of Europe and started there. Shockburner may be wholly unaccounted for and hadn’t been seen in 300 years, but all of my people were aware of his presence on this planet and I was literally onboard the Decepticon Warship, far out of his reach.

Once again I was grateful that I was cautious by nature, keeping the location of the Autobot base out of the Network’s conversations. Even before I found out about the infiltrator, I resisted giving too many details to my people, simply because the less they knew, the less danger they would be in.

I had complete faith in their abilities, but their safety remained my utmost priority, above literally anything and everything else. Thank Primus I didn't reveal their outpost.

If Shockburner knew where the Autobot base was, he would have skyrocketed on my priority list.

Arachnid, on the other servo, was ruthless and vindictive and didn’t have the patience to wait and make a proper plan. She was likely already far from the forests of Romania, and had probably healed from her injuries by now. If I wanted any chance of locating her, I would have to break into her Cybertronian energy signature.

Every Cybertronian, be they Autobot, Decepticon, or Neutral, emitted a low-level frequency generated by their sparkchamber. My work in Crystal City revolved around such low signals, giving me a unique advantage to begin breaking them down into more manageable pieces.

This secret was right up there with the fact I could build bridges, both highly sought after pieces of knowledge. Before my research into the spark chambers and sub-frequencies, we knew hardly anything about them. To find an expert in the field would have given either side an outrageous edge in the war, an edge I have gone to extreme lengths to keep from them.

I could track Arachnid, but it would take time considering I had to constantly check that Soundwave wasn’t monitoring my work. If I did spot the Surveillance Chief hovering over the databases, I would need to scrub everything and try again at a later time.

Even still, I was making slow but steady progress, though I was interrupted when the doors to the hallway I was in swung open.

Instinctively I switched screens to a regular data file, glancing over my shoulderplate to gauge if I needed to delete my research. It could very well be a Vehicon trooper just walking on his patrol, but even still I refused to take that risk.

I was surprised, however, to find myself face to face with none other than Starscream, the seeker Commander freezing in shock when he looked up and spotted me.

He looked wretched, cuts and scrapes littering his frame, and once again I made another mental note to stay far in Megatron’s good graces. For now, anyway.

I smiled, deleting the other tab and turned to face him.

Well, this should be interesting.

I waited patiently as the Commander scrambled to collect himself, narrowing his optics at me. “Who the frag are you supposed to be?” He demanded, and I merely shrugged, maintaining my faint smile.

“You can call me Starfire, and you must be Commander Starscream. It’s a pleasure,” I purred, bowing slightly to the seeker as his wary expression turned calculating, no doubt catching the insignia on my wings.

“When did you get here?” He asked, and if he wasn’t in such rough shape I would have been willing to bet the Network that he would have started trying to intimidate me. He kept a servo protectively around his chassis, and was clearly trying to downplay his limp.

Primus, Megatron did a serious number on him.

Alas, his intimidation wouldn’t have worked even if he wasn’t on the verge of joining the Allspark.

I simply shrugged. “The same cycle Lord Megatron awoke from stasis. Which just so happens to line up with when he executed Phoenix.”

I smiled at his startled look, grinning faintly when his jaw dropped. Keep him off guard, keep him uneasy. This way he won’t look too closely at what I was doing in here in the first place.

“What? Why?” He demanded after a split second, narrowing his optics at me when I merely shrugged. “And what do you have to do with any of this?”

I smiled wider and crossed my arms. “Well, I was the one who told Lord Megatron where the Autobot base was. Also,” I relished the dumbfounded expression on his faceplates, “Lord Megatron executed Phoenix because it came to light that she was an Autobot spy.”

If I checked I knew the expression on my faceplates would be frightening. “She fell for my act hook, line and sinker, and got the Autobots to trust me long enough to learn where their base was. So, that’s why I’m here. I handed them over to Lord Megatron a few cycles ago in exchange for a position within the Decepticon ranks.”

Starscream wisely remained contemplative, examining my features closely and narrowed his optics at the words I neglected to say. “There’s something else, isn’t there?” He asked quietly, and I had to hand it to him, when he didn’t have Megatron to compare to, this seeker Commander was smart.

Clearly, he had earned his rank, and that would be something that I would be wise to keep in mind.

I merely turned back to the console I was standing at. “A piece of advice, Commander?” I glanced at him over my shoulderplate, grinning sharply. “Phoenix defected under your command. Don’t think Lord Megatron is not acutely aware of that little detail.”

Starscream’s faceplates twisted into a mixture of both fear and rage, closing the distance between us and physically turned me from the monitors. The only reason his servo remained attached to the rest of his arm is because I allowed it to be.

“What do you mean to imply, Starfire?” He growled, a threat to his vocals that I merely shrugged at. I stepped out of his hold and he was far too injured to chase me.

“It’s simple, Commander. From a Neutral’s perspective, it’s smart to be aware of all possible situations. And this one appears to be quite important for your well-being,” I said, grinning when he realized just exactly what I said. “But I’m sure Lord Megatron won’t do anything about it, it’s not like you deliberately ignored her or anything and allowed her free reign over this world and ship. Our Master is quite forgiving,” I purred.

Megatron was far from forgiving, and the fear that flashed through Starscream’s optics confirmed to me that was exactly how he treated Phoenix.

I shrugged again and returned to my reading, Starscream scowling at me but continued on his merry way.

It was only when he left the hall that I looked up from what I was doing, my smile falling instantly. Megatron would hear about this little conversation, and Starscream would find out one way or another that I was a Neutral. Lying to the Decepticon Commander about my past would only serve to bite me in the aft once the truth came out. It was a necessary decision.

Speaking of decisions, I decided that continuing my work out here was far too dangerous, erasing my progress entirely from the mainframe with the intent of returning to my room to finish the virus. I was so close I could almost taste it, and once I regained access to the main Network I would be able to update them all about what Earth was going through.

Who knows? Maybe they would be able to send some more Autobots our way, Primus knows we’re going to need all the help we can get.

I started back the way Starscream had come from, but I had hardly made it to the doors before a frighteningly familiar haze overtook my vision, my gaze locking onto a small point near the corner of the walls.

– – –

Her optics glazed over, a sheen of dark purple distorting them as whispers and voices began echoing in her helm.

Wordlessly, she stepped closer to the wall and knelt down, shaking as her servo reached blindly for the object calling to her, speaking to her, summoning her.

Drawing her servo back, she stared at the dark purple glow emanating from the shard of Dark Energon, Starfire slowly regaining her footing and peered down at it.

The incessant voices halted the second she grabbed hold of it, and as swiftly as it came the haze dissipated. Her optics cleared and she shook her helm, shaking off the remaining whispers as she stared at the shard in her grasp.

Deciding rapidly that this would be a situation to deal with in the privacy of her own room, she subspaced the shard and set a brisk pace in the direction she needed to go.

– – –

Sitting alone in my room, I stared at the shard in my servo, puzzling over its mere existence.

There was no doubt in my mind that this was Dark Energon, so rare that it was believed to have been myth. No one on Cybertron would have believed me if I told them that I was in possession of some, and would have likely thought I was insane. But here I was, holding a whole chunk of it in my servo.

I frowned, flipping it over as the menacing purple glow wrapped around my wrist plating, falling slowly to the floor at my peds.

Why was it on this ship? And how did I know where to find it?

What concerned me, however, was what Megatron would do if he found out I had it. I grimaced, but the thought of simply putting it back where I found it made me pause. Logic told me that Starscream was likely on his way to retrieve it, which would explain why he was out of the medbay so soon. I knew without a doubt that Knockout would not have cleared him while he was in such a state. No, he was on a mission, and I worried that I just got in the way.

I vented out slowly, rising to my peds and returned the shard to my subspace. Starscream would likely assume I was the one who found it, so I could expect him to show up at my door anytime now.

Just my fragging luck that I managed to piss off the Decepticon Commander. My situation was rocky enough as it was with Megatron, I did not need Starscream to purposefully try and stab me in the backstruts.

I thought about making another message to the Network, or to at least check in and see how my people were holding up ever since Fowler released Catori and Josh back to the village, but loud, persistent bangs interrupted whatever I was planning on doing, whipping my helm up and scrambled to my peds, striding over and quickly unlocked my door.

To be honest, whoever was on the other side had actually tried to simply enter the room using the outdated codes, which merely solidified my decision to keep my new ones hidden.

It also served to do wonders in informing me about just who was at my door waiting for me, and I was not in the slightest bit surprised to find Starscream glowering down at me.

I smiled, stepping out of my room and let the door shut behind me. “I take it you want the shard back,” I guessed, pulling it out and offered it to him, and his ire morphed to shock and then wariness within a matter of a second.

“What are you doing?” He blurted, and I merely shrugged, pushing it closer to his chassis.

“I want nothing to do with it. Do whatever, I couldn’t care less. Just leave me out of whatever is going on between you and Lord Megatron. Drama like this can quite literally kill,” I said, as nonchalantly as I possibly could while shoving it in his servos.

The seeker Commander could do little more than blink at me, managing to grab the shard before it hit the deck and eye me quizzically. “What kind of Decepticon are you?” He demanded, quickly shoving the Dark Energon into his subspace.

I smiled and shrugged. “One who knows when to stay out of other’s business. I won’t go snooping in yours, and you won’t go snooping in mine,” I hummed, and almost immediately I saw the understanding dawn over him.

He chuckled quietly, shaking his helm. “Oh, I like you,” Starscream grinned, before turning and walking off to do Primus-knew-what with that shard.

My smile fell the instant I lost sight of him. Primus, something tells me I need to monitor him. I pivoted and made a brisk walk towards the flight deck, stopping with a Vehicon trooper and signed myself out for an aerial patrol.

Hopefully, that should give me enough time to figure out what Starscream intended to do with that shard, and hopefully I’ll be able to stop him without already blowing my cover.

I won’t go snooping in yours, and you won’t go snooping in mine. I could have laughed as I took a running start and transformed, flying off the Decepticon Warship for the first time since I came aboard.

It felt nice to stretch my wings.

– – –

Starscream was smart, I’ll give him that. His signal wasn’t easily tracked, and the only reason I knew where to fly was due to the faint dark energon reading my scanners were picking up.

It was fluctuating, and unsteady, and set my systems on edge as I tracked the seeker Commander back towards the United States. I would have thought Starscream would have been too injured to transform, but as his luck would have it, I was wrong. Megatron may have been cruel, but Starscream was still useful to him. Hence the fact the Commander was still online, and not one with the Allspark.

It stood to reason that Megatron wouldn’t damage his t-cog, or his wings, leaving Starscream with the ability to transform. Lucky bastard.

I remained as high in the sky as I could, and when my scanners detected a landing I circled around and landed not far behind him, transforming and crept around the nearby rock to get a glimpse of what the commander thought he was up to.

Legend stated that the power of Dark Energon, otherwise known as the Blood of Unicron, had the ability to reanimate the dead. Not far from where we stood laid the remains of one of the oldest and largest Cybertronian battlefields in this galaxy, and if dark energon lived up to its reputation, then I worried about what Megatron would attempt should he come into possession of it.

Careful to remain out of sight, I watched as Starscream monologued to himself, learning that this would appear to be the resting site of Skyquake, and I instantly ran the designation through my systems, continuing to eavesdrop on the commander while I did.

His designation was familiar and I got the suspicion I’ve either run into the Decepticon in question or knew someone who had. He would be in my records, I knew it.

“But, as the first of my reanimated warriors, you shall bow to my command.” I tensed and turned my gaze back to the commander, and watched him throw a chunk of the shard into the tomb.

My optics widened at the eerie purple glow that began to emanate through the rocks at his peds, and gasped aloud when Starscream did not hesitate to shove the remaining chunk into his very spark chamber.

What was he thinking?!

Before I could figure out if I should confront him or not, my files came up with a match for Skyquake’s designation. I froze, energon freezing in my systems as all my thoughts came to a screeching halt.

Twin brother to Dreadwing, the very mech who killed my sparkmate.

I had no record of Dreadwing since Cybertron went dark, but his twin was as ruthless and as loyal to the Decepticon cause as he was. Did Starscream really think he could control Skyquake? And even if he did manage to raise him, did he seriously believe he would be able to control the terrorcon?

Primus have mercy on us all.

If I stepped in, Starscream would know I followed him, and any chance I had of getting close to him would vanish. But if I didn’t and allowed him to continue with this madness, then who knows how much harm he could cause both to humanity, and himself?

If Soundwave figured out I allowed Starscream to offline, if I just stood by and watched, then Megatron would know and that would complicate everything. No, the last thing I needed was for Starscream to continue with this little stunt.

Primus Almighty this was ridiculous.

I was spared from my racing thoughts when a bridge opened up behind me, whirling in time to watch the Autobots step from the portal.

I didn’t even bother trying to hide, merely offering them a grim smile and watched as the bridge closed behind them.

They would have to be blind to have not seen me. The only things around us were rock and more rock. Plenty of options, surely they wouldn’t notice a silver Cybertronian against the muddy brown, right?

Totally.

This would serve to be the first conversation I would have with the Autobots since the cycle I joined the Decepticons, and I knew we were all thinking it as Optimus Prime watched me cautiously. None of them had forgotten what I had done, and allowed Megatron to do to Phoenix. To the sparkmate of their leader. All of us were acutely aware of that little detail, and a part of me wondered if they would ever trust me completely. But all that aside, we had slightly more pressing concerns to deal with right now.

If Soundwave heard what I was about to say then I highly doubt I would be allowed to return to the Decepticon Warship.

Y’know what? Frag it.

I gestured behind me, to where Starscream was still trying to demand Skyquake to rise. “Starscream got a hold of some dark energon. No damn clue how, but it would seem he’s attempting to raise the dead,” I said dryly, the Prime nodding slowly as their gazes were drawn behind me, to where I was indicating.

I didn’t fail to catch Ratchet glancing at the insignia on my wing, his frown only further setting me on edge even though Bulkhead at least appeared happy to see me.

Kind of have to blend in, y’know?

Shaking myself of my sarcastic thoughts, I chided at myself to focus. I had seconds before Starscream would realize the Autobots were here, and even less to figure out what I needed to do.

Primus, just don’t let Soundwave hear me say this.

“Do me a favour, would you?” I hummed, cracking a faint grin at them. “Try not to hit me in the crossfire.”

I didn’t give them anything more than that, darting out around the side of the rocky terrain and out into the open clearing, a dead-end facing me as I ran towards Starscream.

“Commander, we appear to have company,” I called, and the Autobots thankfully took the hint and followed me out.

Starscream whirled on me at my vocals, and went to demand just what I thought I was doing here, when my words registered to him and he took note of the Autobots standing before us.

“Starscream, stand down.” I had to give it to the Prime, even in the face of the Second in Command of the entire Decepticon army, he still gave him the courtesy of surrendering.

I didn’t know many Autobots, Decepticons or Neutrals who would do the same. War was ugly and unfair, and you had to take whatever advantage you could get to win. Yet another reason why he was made a Prime.

Starscream glowered at me, but to absolutely no one’s surprise refused to listen to reason. “You stand down!” I raised an optic ridge when he fired a missile at the Autobots, and remained impassive when the commander turned on me. “What do you think you’re doing, following me?” He demanded, and I merely smiled at him.

“If I had shown any smidge of interest in what you were doing, we wouldn’t be here right now,” I chirped, and I knew he wanted to tear into me, but for the moment we had the Autobots to attend with.

“This conversation is far from over, Starfire,” he snapped, before again turning to face our joint enemy. “You cannot harm me while Dark Energon flows through my veins!” He taunted them, and I merely rolled my optics at the sheer dramatics.

I still stood by the fact that one shouldn’t underestimate the Decepticon Commander, but Primus Almighty he made it difficult with taunts like that. You wouldn’t hear Megatron saying anything remotely similar unless he was absolutely, 1000% certain he had the upper hand.

In response, Optimus Prime moved out of the rocky outcrop the Autobots took to covering behind and shot off a single energon blast, clipping Starscream right in the wing as he attempted to fire off another missile.

My optics widened in shock when I watched his sundered limb fly through the air, and very nearly face-palmed at his stupidity.

“Now what the frag are you supposed to do?” I demanded, opening fire onto the Autobots as they ducked back behind the rock piles. “Do you seriously mean to tell me you’re grounded in one fragging shot?!” I could hardly believe someone so dangerous could be so outrageously stupid.

Starscream snarled at me, but ran to reclaim his limb while I provided covering fire, preventing the Autobots from advancing while the Commander and I fell back.

“You are so damn lucky I followed you,” I ground out, gritting my denta as I ignored him cursing at Skyquake’s corpse to rise and shine already. Primus give me patience-

The Autobots halted what little ground they gained and ducked back undercover, and I took the brief second to turn on Starscream. “Ignore the terracon for one fragging second and focus on the bigger picture!” I snapped, continuing before he could make a retort. “You’re fragging grounded and you expect to be able to last against the Autobots? Against Optimus Prime? Are you fragging mental?!” I demanded. “Call the ship and get a bridge, there’s only so long I can keep them at bay!”

He glowered at me, but fumbled to call the Warship while I focused on keeping the Autobots from advancing.

Logically, I knew if they truly wanted to, they would have been able to overpower me easily. I was a Neutral and I didn’t have much experience in ways of war and battle, but for all intents and purposes they were deliberately holding back.

I froze however when I caught sight of movement on one of the rock piles behind the Autobots, my blaster drooping in shock when Miko outright yelled at Jack.

“I can’t believe you made me lose my phone!”

Are you fragging kidding me?!

From the stunned looks on the Autobot’s faceplates, who had all turned at the shout, I knew the children had snuck through the bridge. I knew they had done it when no one was looking and Primus I was right to call Jack stubborn before, because he wasn’t having any of Miko’s nonsense, retorting right back while Rafael frowned at both of them.

“Uh-huh. How is this my fault?!”

I stopped firing and ducked behind the rockpile Starscream was sat behind, the mech glowering at me but I couldn’t bring myself to care, not as the Autobots called for a bridge of their own while the one Starscream called for opened up directly beside us.

Tearing my attention away from the children and the Autobots, I snapped at the Commander, “Get going, I’ll cover your retreat and rendezvous back at the warship.”

He for once didn’t argue, making a run for the bridge while Ratchet yelled for the children to do the same with their own.

Once the only Decepticon in sight was gone, I jumped to my peds and gaped at the children, fighting hard to maintain my composure and not give the children a severe talking to about the dangers of interfering in our war. Primus Almighty the Autobots certainly have their servos full, I'll give them that.

Miko wanted pictures of the ‘Zombie-con’ as she dubbed it, and Jack and Rafael had followed her to try and get her to listen to reason. I do not miss when Kayla, Anastasia, Daniel and Josh were that young. The village never got any peace.

To be fair though, I wasn't all that much better. I've never claimed to be a good influence on the young.

I watched as Jack grabbed Miko by the arm and began hauling her to the bridge, Rafael already running ahead of them. Almost as soon as they ran inside did the two bridges begin feeding into each other, my optics widening in shock.

Well that can’t be fragging good-

“Ratchet, what is happening?” Optimus demanded, the green vortex of the portals swirling into each other. The Prime was watching the bridges warily, while I wracked my processor for anything remotely similar being reported from Cybertron.

Come on, Starfire, think! Working with bridges was literally part of your job description back before the war, why would these two be overreacting with each other like this?

“The dueling ground bridge portals must be feeding back on each other,” Ratchet supplied, and all at once it clicked, my optics growing wide in horror.

Oh Primus no.

“Miko. We got to get the kids out of there!” Bulkhead wasted no time in charging towards the portal leading to the Autobot base.

I started, gasping. “Bulkhead, wait!” I shouted, drawing their attention, but my friend had already made it to the portal when the two bridges overloaded and filled the rocky clearing in a pair of brilliant blue, green and purple explosions, knocking every last Cybertronian prone.

– – –

Chapter Text

“Ow,” I muttered, shaking my helm but quickly picked it up when I recalled what just happened.

The bridges just exploded.

I jerked upright, optics wide and quickly did a helm count, coming up with only the four Autobots, plus myself.

There was no sign of the children.

Worry stabbed at my spark as I climbed to my peds, though my gaze was drawn from the assembled Autobots when a pulse of dark purple appeared to my left, towards the tomb Starscream was so adamant about disturbing.

“What just happened?” Bulkhead asked aloud the question on all of our minds, the four of them slowly finding their peds as I went over to investigate the crater, drawing my blaster cautiously and peered down into the hole.

“I can’t be certain. But if two ground bridges sent to the same coordinates crossed streams, the feedback could have triggered a system overload,” Ratchet theorized, and I was highly inclined to agree, turning away from Skyquake’s former resting site. The bridges overworked themselves and I just sent Starscream back through ours. If he ended up getting hurt then it would be my helm on the line here, no matter my intentions. However, I couldn't be bothered to really care about his temper tantrums, not when I couldn't locate the children.

An explosion like that sent everything and everyone in the immediate area flying, so if it managed to catch the children in the crosshairs-

I shuddered just thinking about it.

“The kids made it through, right?” Bulkhead’s concern for the children was well-founded, because out of all the possible options I could come up with surrounding what just happened, none of them were good, giving their chances and their human bodies.

A bot could take a hit or two, but I knew first-hand just how fragile humanity was. If the bridges had spat them out anywhere then they very well might be injured at best, and at worst-

I shook my helm, refusing to finish that thought and turned back into the Autobots' conversation.

“Arcee, did the children make it safely back to base?” Optimus asked, and I was able to make out the two-wheeler’s response from here.

“Negative. You don’t see them?”

“No sign,” Ratchet said grimly, the Autobots turning to begin making their way over to where I was standing.

Bumblebee kept glancing between the older bots, looking to them for direction as I turned back to the crater at my peds.

Choosing to ignore the more dire consequences facing the humans, I began theorizing about where Rafael, Miko and Jack could have ended up. I had no clue where to begin looking, as the cross-section of the bridges would rely on the coordinates of both the Warship and the Autobot base, and one was air-borne and moving while the other could reach every last part of this young planet. However, I could say with a fair amount of certainty that they were not anywhere near Decepticon servos, considering the likelihood of two bridges sending their occupants to their exact destinations during an explosion like this would be slim to none. So while it wasn’t ideal, hopefully the children weren’t in immediate danger.

I crossed my arms, deactivating my blaster as I thought. Come on, Star. Where could they have gotten to?

I would have heard by now if they were on the Warship. Starscream would be gloating and calling to demand me return. If he was staying low then chances were he didn’t have a secure reason to call attention to himself, and after this I highly doubted he wanted to draw out Megatron's wrath.

I wonder what Megatron would have to say if he found out Starscream was going around trying to create an undead army behind his backstruts.

Not relevant right now, Starfire. Focus.

I should make an announcement on the Network, figure out if any of my connections have seen them. Either way, I have people and resources all around the planet, so even if they haven’t been found yet, the chances of at least one of them stumbling into the children was greater than zero. It was as good a start as any.

Optimus turned to their medic while they walked over. “Ratchet, could the children have been transported onto the Nemesis instead?” He was asking a very similar question to the one I just figured out, and I was at least somewhat relieved by the Doctor’s response, confirming my theory that they were out of Decepticon reach. Primus knows what Megatron would do to them should he discover their presence on the Warship, and I didn't want to know what I would do to keep them from him. I could pretty much kiss my cover farewell if that was the case.

No one hurts my humans and gets away with it, and unfortunately for the Decepticons, every human was my human. Tough.

“Not likely. If Starscream didn’t arrive at our base, the most likely explanation is a dislocation. The children may have simply been bridged to an unintended destination,” Ratchet explained, further solidifying my theory.

I crossed my arms. “I’m gonna have to agree with Ratchet on this one. If they were anywhere on the Warship Starscream would have called me to gloat by now,” I mused, the Autobots looking at me. “He isn’t all too happy that I followed him, but I can say for certain that he didn’t leave with Skyquake.” I gestured to the hole at my peds, the empty hole at my peds, and ignored the fact that I just had dark energon be proven effective to me today. We had enough things to worry about than whatever Starscream was planning with that shard. “Believe me, I would have noticed a giant terracon running through my bridge,” I added wryly.

Try explaining that to Megatron, Starscream. I truly didn’t know what his plan was, or if he even had one in the first place, aside from ‘Raising the dead to do my bidding’. Primus Almighty give me patience so I don’t throttle that seeker when I see him again-

Bulkhead frowned. “How’d we miss Skyquake rising and shining, anyways?” He demanded. “A con that big should have made some noise.”

I shrugged. No fragging kidding.

“Another matter for another time. Right now our priority is locating Jack, Miko and Rafael,” Optimus replied, bringing a digit to his audial and called Arcee for a bridge.

As much as I wanted to argue, and say that maybe the undead terracon warrior was a decently important thing to worry about, I knew the Prime was correct. The sooner we find the children, the sooner we know they are safe, the sooner we can deal with said undead warrior. And besides, I highly doubted Starscream would be trying anything with Skyquake anytime soon, not after loosing his arm in the process. If he was smart, then he would probably wait for Knockout to replace said arm before coming back down here to track down the terracon. And when he did, I would be here ready and waiting for him.

I shook my helm, venting deeply and stepped aside when the portal opened behind me. “Unfortunately, the situation on the Nemesis is still far too unstable for Soundwave to lose track of my signal,” I admitted. “I’ll do what I can to look for the children from my end.”

Bulkhead grinned then, slapping me on the backstruts as the others offered me nods of understanding, Bumblebee beginning to walk towards the portal. “Sooner or later, though, you’re coming back to base and we’re gonna have a hell of a game of lob. And now that I know Phoenix can throw-” His grin turned outright devilish, my old friend laughing when both Ratchet and Optimus turned back to give him a warning look.

I chuckled, shrugging him off. “Gotta wait for her to be able to stand if you want a fair fight, Bulk,” I mused, beginning to back up. “I’ll keep you all posted.”

Without another word I transformed and jetted away from the Autobots, making my way back towards the Decepticon Warship.

– – –

Once I arrived back at the ship, the first thing I did was make a beeline for my room again, sparing the Vehicon trooper a mere nod when I passed him.

Thank the Allspark Starscream wasn't waiting for me, because I did not have the time nor the patience right now to deal with his scrap. He could stay in the medical wing for now. I had more important things to worry about.

I needed to put the alert out.

I quickly punched in the code to my door and scooted inside, hauling the chair out and set up the keyboard and wasted no time in activating my datapad. I dug out my hidden files and logged into the Neutral Network, selecting the main chat and, after briefly reading the latest updates, began typing out my report.

As soon as the SOS was written and sent dozens of people came online, and several of my people from several different countries all began typing at once.

I smiled faintly to myself, leaning back and took a deep inhale. I fragging love this network.

“If we find them in Germany, we’ll be sure to alert Chief Catori. She’s got the means of contacting the Autobots, yes?”

"That is correct. The Chief will be able to reach out to Agent Fowler without drawing much suspicion to ourselves about how we were able to locate them." I smiled at Daniel's quick reply, the Germans appearing to be put at ease by that notion.

“Unless they are able to speak Russian, I’m uncertain if they would be able to understand us or our intentions. We very well might end up spooking them instead of helping them. That prompts another issue: this Network has remained secret from the Autobots and their charges, correct? If we reveal ourselves then you might need to come clean, and if you refuse the Autobots may grow suspicious. They already hardly trust you after the events of this week.”

I had to admit, the Russian compound had a point, but fortunately I had both Bulkhead and another ace up my sleeve, so to speak. I hummed, reading the next message that came in.

“Three children, from the ages of 12-16? It’ll be like trying to find a needle in a haystack. How will we know if we found them, and how will they know to trust us without giving ourselves away?” Valid arguments came from Namibia, and I bit my bottom derma before typing out a reply.

“I have given access to the Network to one of the children. He will have our code to share with you all should he bump into you. You will know if it’s them, I promise. And do not worry about the Autobots losing trust in me, I have an old friend among them who will vouch for me. He knows I had access to the Network on Cybertron, and should it come down to me needing to admit to this one, he will again reassure the others that I mean them no harm. We will be alright, I swear it to you all. My priority for this moment is finding those three kids,” I assured, venting deeply and closed my optics.

I trusted the Network to find them. My people were good at what they did, and now I should probably trust them. Just a thought.

During one of my visits to the Autobot base, I found myself in holoform talking with Rafael. He was showing me the new laptop he was trying to save up for, which had prompted me to pull out my own to show him. It led to us comparing specs, and his eyes had grown wide when I revealed just how many upgrades I had installed onto mine.

I had grinned, and offered to upgrade his new one just as soon as he saved enough for it, which very nearly caused Rafael to blue screen out of sheer excitement.

It was just the two of us plus Ratchet at base that evening. Bumblebee had decided to join Jack, Miko, Arcee and Bulkhead for a session of Dune Bashing out in the middle of the desert while Optimus had taken the time to head out for a drive. If I was a betting person, which I wasn't, then I would have bet that the Prime was going to meet up with a certain Assassin-turned-Autobot from the Warship. I kept those thoughts to myself, but the chances of it were greater than zero.

Rafael was talking to me about what the children were working on to protect the bots, and the image scrubbing technique to replace any Bumblebee sighting was genuinely hilarious. I found that I was less annoyed at none of us discovering each other now that I had Rafael sitting beside me proving just how much time and effort he put into taking care of his guardians. I suppose I could understand why my scanners and Network didn't pick up on the Autobot presence for so long, I guess.

The kid had a natural affiliation for code, and reminded me quite like myself back before the war broke out and made me who I was today.

After a little while, when Rafael was finished scanning the conspiracy websites for the evening, we had turned to our own devices and were content in the silence. It wasn't everyday that the Autobot base was calm like this, and both Rafael and I were enjoying it. We were both just chilling on the couch minding our own business, when I looked at the kid.

I didn't know what prompted me to do it, or why, but I ended up showing Rafael the Network.

I logged on and helped him create an account, before gently turning his chin to look me in the eye.

“Raf, you cannot tell anyone else about what I have just given you,” I said quietly, watching as he readjusted his glasses. “The reason I am alive to this day is because of this Network. The Neutrals on Cybertron trusted no one but themselves, and now I am entrusting that responsibility to you. Use this Network for emergencies only. No matter where on Earth you end up, there will always be someone nearby who will help you. I promise.”

The boy nodded, and neither of us spoke about it again since Ratchet had returned to the main room.

He knows the code Nituna, which directly translates to ‘My Daughter,’ the name that Una called me when I first took shelter amongst the village, and should Rafael ever need to find our allies, all he would need to do is speak it to them and they would help him.

“We’ll be sure to keep an eye out for them in Delhi. Although we likely would have noticed on our scanners if a stray bridge was anywhere near us. Perhaps you could try to pinpoint them using the bridge feeds?” It was a brilliant idea, and I had already begun the search parameters while they were talking, though the likelihood of tracking down where the bridges spat them out would be harder than it sounded.

I just hoped the children would be able to find the Network, or we find them. And once everything was settled I had a word or two I needed to say to a certain seeker Commander who appeared to have a couple of screws loose. Stars above he was already beginning to drive me insane, and not in a good way.

Primus give me patience, I honestly have no damn clue why Megatron has kept him online for so long. Starscream is certainly one lucky fragger.

– – –

The reactivation of the ground bridge drew her out of recharge, eliciting a quiet whine from her throatlines as her optics powered back on. She had just fallen into recharge and found a way to escape the pain of her injuries, but no, Megatron or Fowler or whoever demanded her team’s attention. Just her fragging luck that it would be the one time she didn’t argue with Ratchet and went to rest willingly.

She scowled in the general direction of the main room as she gingerly shifted and sat up, leaning against the wall behind her and was just barely able to make out the team returning from wherever they had to go this time around. She shifted her stabilizer and turned her scowl to the still-warped and twisted metal, and once again cursed her unfortunate luck that Megatron was able to catch onto her so fragging quickly.

Couldn't the Warlord be stupid for one? Please? It was not fair.

Her sparkmate's vocals stole her attention from her wallowing, peering over the stairs to where the team was. “Ratchet, if the children were redirected to an unintended location, is there any way to get a fix on their coordinates?” Her optics went wide as all annoyances left her processor, quickly looking to the human area and felt her spark sink when she found it devoid of the three children.

Well that can’t be good.

“If they were lost Miko would have called me by now,” Bulkhead insisted, and Phoenix was not mistaken to determine the worry in his vocals.

She was quickly able to make out a sheer approximation about the situation, hauling herself to her peds and slowly but steadily limped her way around to the monitors. She didn’t care if Ratchet threw a dozen wrenches her way for this, she was not going to be excluded this time, not when it came down to the safety and well-being of their young charges.

“Can’t you call them?” Bumblebee asked, and Phoenix smiled slightly when Bulkhead literally brightened and perked up, side-stepping her when he glanced beside him.

“Call them? Yes!” He cheered, bringing a digit to his audial as she finally made it over to her team, moving to stand next to her sparkmate who wordlessly held an arm out for her. She leaned against him gratefully, taking most of her weight off her left stabilizer and ignored the very pointed look Ratchet was giving her.

It had literally been a week to the cycle, he officially couldn’t gripe about her walking on it anymore.

Logically, he could confine her to base until the war ended and she would be forced to listen to him, but for this moment she couldn’t be bothered to care. It wasn’t like she was trying to do anything more than stand there. She was fine.

She also ignored the faint traces of exasperation she sensed through her sparkbond, and turned to the green mech trying to get ahold of the child he was meant to be protecting instead.

A loud tune started ringing through the base right after Bulkhead called Miko’s phone, all of them looking around in confusion as she winced and covered an audial with her free servo. She glanced back and watched as Bulkhead frowned, turning to the ground bridge and slowly walked towards it.

Phoenix saw him reach down, silencing Miko’s cell phone with a heavy vent. “That’s why Miko hasn’t phoned.”

It would appear that for the first time since she had known the child, Miko was without her bright pink communication device, a realization that had Phoenix silently cursing. Just their fragging luck.

The shrill ringtone from the child’s device had sent her audials ringing, and she found herself closing her optics against the pain. She may be walking now, but Ratchet was right. She was far from field ready just yet, an assessment that she begrudgingly agreed with.

“Let me try Jack.”

~What happened out there?~ She asked, and Optimus turned from listening to the blue femme's call to answer her.

~The children were caught in a ground bridge explosion. Starscream sent for a bridge at the same time we did, and from what we have been able to figure out they were sent to an unknown destination. From what we can gather, they were not transported onto the Nemesis.~ He explained, and she felt the worry for the humans grow at the new information. If Starscream saw the children then who knows what he would do to find them first? They couldn't allow that to happen.

Her sparkmate tightened his arm around her shoulderplates when she ended up leaning more of her weight against his side, and she was able to make out the small amount of concern he sent her way. She vented, cracking an optic open and watched as Arcee’s call went to static, the two-wheeler shaking her helm.

“Nothing.”

By the Stars, where were they? They had to have been transported to someplace without internet if Jack didn't answer the call, but that did nothing to narrow down their possible locations.

When neither Arcee or Bulkhead ended up able to reach the children, the gathered Autobots turned back to Ratchet, the elderly mech beginning to work his magic on the monitors in front of them.

“We’re dealing with fluctuating energy profiles inside a wide distortion field, but it may be possible to backtrace their coordinates,” he was explaining, and she honestly hardly understood half of those words.

She was an assassin, not Soundwave. Cut her some slack, alright?

Just let them find them before the Decepticons do. Starscream saw the children, if for whatever reason he discovered they were unable to locate them, then he very well might do something stupid.

As though he ever did anything smart.

She vented quietly, wincing as the brace her arm was in shifted slightly.

Just let them find the kids. Please.

– – –

They had been trying to locate the children for the better part of an hour, her nerves and worry beginning to build the longer it took to find them, and her stabilizer began throbbing the longer she stood on it, to the point where she was now only standing due to her sparkmate's support.

Phoenix knew she should probably sit back down, but her processor wouldn't let her rest so long as the children were missing. She had an overreactive imagination, an imagination she had used numerous times in the past to figure out what to do with unruly prisoners, but now all it appeared to be doing was coming up with the worst possible situations the children could find themselves in, and she was getting pretty frustrated at her processor. She did not need to be thinking about all the ways they could be hurt, or lost, or scared, or-

“Miko’s phone! It wasn’t blinking before!” Their combined attention was drawn over to Bulkhead at his proclamation, turning from Ratchet and his attempts to triangulate their signals to the bright pink phone used by the children.

Phoenix shook off her warring thoughts and watched as the Wrecker leaned down and managed to flip the phone open, reading aloud the text as newfound hope lit her spark. Thank the fragging Allspark-

“It’s a message: 'In alternate dimension with zombie. Help.'” She blinked, glancing at her sparkmate as he frowned. It had been explained to her that Starscream had attempted to raise Skyquake with a shard of dark energon, but no one had been able to find or locate the terracon. None of them had bothered focusing on that with the children still missing, but now that it was brought back up she couldn’t help but wonder what had happened to Skyquake.

“That doesn’t sound possible.” Arcee said slowly, oblivious to Phoenix’s puzzling thoughts.

“Ratchet, can we triangulate the geographical position of the cell phone’s signal?” Optimus asked, shifting his grip on her frame when she winced. She mentally waved off his apology and refocused on the medic, who was giving them an incredulous look.

“In a parallel dimensional plane?” The doctor glanced down to the keyboard. “Let’s find out.”

Something about all this seemed familiar, and it would likely bother her until she was able to figure out why. There was something about all this that sent her instincts on edge.

“Now, calculating for relative time delays and ionospheric distortions, the signal emanated from the exact location as the original ground bridge coordinates.” Ratchet announced, much to the confusion of the majority of the Autobot team.

She had tensed instantly, her jaw dropping when the realization of just what they were dealing with hit her like a wrecking ball. Scrap. Scrap this was something that she swore to never admit to another bot for as long as she lived oh Primus why do you enjoy messing with her so much? It was not something she had planned on retelling so long as she lived, but their Creator appeared to have a very twisted sense of humor and just loved toying with her. Great.

She ignored her mate's concern and scrambled to regather herself and steel herself for what she would ultimately have to admit. Scrap, this was the last thing she wanted to be doing this cycle, she should have just stayed in berth-

“But we already looked for them there!” Bulkhead protested, but Ratchet shook his helm.

“Perhaps, but not in the correct dimensional phase, as their message stated. But if I can recreate the feedback loop which triggered the event, I might be able to generate a rescue portal allowing passage from their dimension-”

“Back to base?” Bulkhead asked hopefully, and even she winced when Ratchet sputtered and whirled around.

“No! We're talking about interdimensional travel here, Bulkhead! Attempting to redirect the vortex trajectory would be far too risky.”

“Everyone knows that,” Arcee commented wryly, not-so-subtly making a jab at Ratchet being the only one who has any clue how any of this works in the first place. Well, that they were aware of, anyways. And even then she hardly had a clue how Shockwave managed to make it work in the first place. Just that he did and that he lost the technology and the desire to recreate it. He couldn’t be bothered to put in the effort now that he knew that it worked, and since Megatron never knew they were experimenting with it to begin with, neither of them bothered to explain it to him.

Thank the Allspark for that. Megatron did not need any more ways to torment them or their allies, thank you kindly.

“If the coordinates aren't precisely the same, who knows where the humans could wind up?” Ratchet added, and it was here that she decided it was a good idea to speak about what she knew, gently pulling from her mate and cleared her throatlines, gaining the team’s combined attention.

“I may or may not know where they are.”

– – –

My search continued to come up empty, my people talking and passing on reports while I worked.

I decided to use this time to multi-task, and put some more work into building the virus for the Nemesis. I needed to get into contact with the rest of the Network, and the sooner I could do that the better. I didn’t believe Megatron would bother using the energon to scour Cybertron for old and outdated Neutral outposts, not when Optimus Prime and the Autobots were still confirmed to be on Earth, but the sooner I could give my people a warning the safer they would be.

The sooner the Network knew they had an ear inside the Decepticon Faction the safer we all would be.

I smiled ruefully, shaking my helm sadly as I sat back in my chair. It had been so long since I spoke with my own people, so long since I was able to help them. I just hope everyone was still alright.

I still had friends out there, friends I had resigned myself never to see again ever since Shockburner had betrayed us and killed our crew and destroyed my ship.

But now everything had changed and I wondered just how much I had missed, how many things had happened since I’ve been gone. Maybe I would see them again, but for now my priorities were here, on Earth, and there was absolutely nothing anyone could do to take me away from here.

Humanity had welcomed and sheltered me. The least I could do was protect them, especially since I was now in a wonderfully unique position to do so.

Things were beginning to progress, and I was starting to look forward to it.

I was almost done with the virus when the Network flashed on my screen, stealing my attention back. Did they find the kids?

I flicked over to the alert and paused at what I was reading.

"Oh you have got to be fragging kidding me!"

Instead of an announcement proclaiming the safety of the Autobot's charges, instead the Network caused me to curse soundly when it registered another ground bridge activation, from the Warship to almost the exact same coordinates we were at less than an hour ago.

Damnit, Starscream!

Venting, I hauled myself to my peds and disconnected the Network, subspacing my datapads and once again left my room to play clean up.

I didn’t have the time nor the patience to bother flying down there, hunting down the nearest console and bridged myself out. Damnit mech, this was the last thing I needed right now! Why couldn't you just stay in the medical wing until, oh, I don't know, Knockout discharged you?! No, that would be the simple and smart thing to do. Primus Almighty-

Grumbling under my venting, I stepped out of the portal and was once again surrounded by ruddy brown cliffs, the canyon walls towering above even me as I pinpointed Starscream’s signal and took up a brisk pace over to him, not failing to catch the faint but steady presence of his shard of dark energon.

I just hoped he was only here for his zombie-con, and not anything else.

He couldn’t know that the children were missing, he could not know that the Autobots were desperately trying to find them. If Starscream found out about that he would shift his focus to tracking them down first, and Stars above that was the last thing any of us needed.

“Skyquake? Your Master summons you!” I raised an optic ridge when Starscream’s vocals reached my audials, rolling them when I picked up the pace.

Primus Almighty give me patience.

I rounded the next corner and spotted the Decepticon Commander, who appeared oblivious to my presence as he called for his undead warrior again.

“Hello, Commander,” I called, and smiled faintly when Starscream jumped at my vocals, whipping around and narrowed his optics when he caught sight of me. I also didn’t fail to catch him attempting to hide the shard of dark energon from me, but realized that we were already far past that point. I was, after all, the one who handed it to him.

“What in Primus’ name do you think you are doing?” I demanded, crossing my arms, and from the way his faceplates morphed in shock, took it to understand that he had hardly ever been questioned so bluntly like this, at least not by someone of such considerate low rank to him.

Yeah, things are going to change now that I’m on the Warship, and that is going to start with Starscream explaining just what he thought he was going to accomplish with an undead zombie-con.

“I beg your pardon, Starfire?” He countered quietly, and I rolled my optics again and closed the distance between us, acutely aware that he was far, far more experienced in battle than I was, but I did not find it within me to care at this moment.

He was a fragging idiot, and someone had to tell him.

I grabbed his wrist, the only one still attached to his frame, and waved it in front of his faceplates. “You can beg my pardon all you want, what I want to know is did you pause to think for two fragging seconds before you decided to bridge back out here?” I snapped, glaring at him and appeared to have stunned him into silence. For now.

“You are still grounded, and you think it’s a smart plan to bridge down here again? The Autobots are clearly scanning for dark energon, and here you are prancing about with a whole chunk of it. And don’t even get me started about what your plans would be revolving around the terracon. Did you even think about what you would do with it should you actually manage to find it? Try explaining that to Lord Megatron when he ultimately finds out about it, please! I’d love to see it!” I ranted, and only paused in my efforts of chewing him out to catch my venting.

Starscream stared at me, his optics as wide as I think I have ever seen them, through records or otherwise, and I allowed him to rip his servo out of my own. “If you think you can just waltz on in here like you own the place and tell me what to do-” he snarled, but I was not about to take it from him, not today.

I scoffed, rolling my optics and crossed my arms. “Please spare me, Starscream. I don’t need to have a helm on my shoulderplates to know that bridging into territory that the enemy is actively scanning in is not a good idea, and that is without being grounded!” I shot back. “Everyone says you’re one of the most feared Decepticons out there, but from what I’ve seen today I find that really hard to believe, what with how stupid and idiotic you’ve been,” I growled.

I ignored the rage that ignited in his optics and brought a digit to my audial, connecting to the Decepticon Warship. “This is Lieutenant Starfire, requesting a ground bridge to my coordinates.” Within seconds one was spinning away beside us, and I narrowed my optics at the Commander. “Get back to the ship, Starscream. Trust me, Lord Megatron will blow a fuse if he finds out you went behind his backstruts to try and raise an undead army. Something tells me he might not be so lenient in his punishment this time.”

If Megatron ever found out I knew that Starscream was planning against him and deliberately didn't say anything, then he would be after more than just Starscream. Primus Almighty this seeker was driving me nuts and already getting in the way of my plans.

“Now you wait just a second,” Starscream snarled, jabbing a digit over my spark chamber. My derma curled, but I allowed him to speak. “You may have done things differently among your Neutral brethren, but on this ship I give the orders. You would do well to remember that I led the Decepticons just fine while Lord Megatron was away, and I will not take scrap from some no-good, washed-up Neutral who sold out her own people just to get a ped in the door. You would be wise, Starfire, to remember your place.”

I punched him square in the jaw and smiled grimly when he spun from the force and fell to the stone at my peds with a loud, heavy thud.

I knelt down beside him, narrowing my optics at the Commander. “Don’t ever insult me like that again,” I murmured. “I am here to talk some sense into you so you don’t end up offline. Learn to accept some constructive criticism once in a while,” I advised, ignoring his scowl as I grabbed him by the elbow and hauled him back to his peds. “But to address one of your points, being a Neutral has given me an unique insight into such situations. Stop underestimating my kind, and for the love of Primus stop underestimating Lord Megatron. His mercy is not infinite and if you provoke him before you’re ready it will not end well for you,” I said, and I think Starscream was still shocked that I had actually punched him.

I frowned, nodding to the portal behind him. “Get going, please. I’m going on another patrol and please remain in the medbay until you get a new arm. I don’t want to deal with having to explain all this to Lord Megatron when I really didn’t have too.” I waited until he slowly turned to the portal, a bewildered and puzzled expression on his faceplates, before venting and ran my servos over my helm when he finally walked through.

I watched the portal close and blew out the breath I was holding, closing my optics briefly and nodded once as I let my arms fall back to my sides.

Well that could have gone worse, I suppose.

I froze when a second bridge opened to my left, whipping my helm over and frowned at it.

Ok, the bridge I sent Starscream through literally just closed. There should not be another bridge unless the Autobots sent it.

Now that I thought about it, that was probably what it was.

“Hey Bulk, you guys wouldn’t happen to have a bridge out in the middle of nowhere now, would you?” I asked dryly, but before I could get an answer out of my old friend the three children bolted through, my optics growing wide in shock to see them.

What in-

Did someone else on Earth have a ground bridge that I was unaware of? Did the Network find them and I just haven’t gotten the notification about it yet? Were they more concerned with delivering the children safely to updating everyone? It wouldn’t be that far of a stretch if that was it.

Whatever the case, the three of them doubled over as the bridge closed behind them, clearly out of breath and clearly I had no clue what was going on as I ran over to them.

“Are you three alright?” I asked, kneeling in front of them and used a digit to give Rafael something to brace against.

“Just peachy, Star,” Miko panted, lifting her head and gave me a thumbs up while the two boys groaned. “Outrunning a zombie was definitely on the activities list today. Also, the way you ripped into Screamer was awesome! I wish I could have recorded it!” She chirped, before doubling over again as they all worked on catching their breath.

I frowned slightly, genuinely relieved that I could call the Network off and relay that these three were safe and sound, though I was a bit confused as to how she knew what I said to Starscream. Before I could go about asking, a third bridge opened behind me, glancing over my shoulderplates as the Autobots stepped through.

I rose to my peds and moved aside as the children brightened and ran to them, and watched as they were greeted by their guardians.

“Jack, Miko, Rafael.” I was not mistaken to hear the relief in Optimus Prime’s words, the three children visibly relaxing now that they knew without a doubt that they were safe. I would still like to know how Miko knew about my interaction with Starscream, but for the moment I would let it go. It really didn’t matter either way, to be honest.

My smile fell the second Arcee glanced my way, and if looks could kill I would likely be one with the Allspark right about now. I had a feeling she wouldn’t be so easily convinced about my intentions this time around, but I truly didn’t care. If given the option to redo everything I still would have sworn fealty to Megatron, even though it was one of the hardest things I have ever done in my life.

I would do it again if it meant giving Earth a fighting chance at survival, and I will keep doing it until the Autobots either chase Megatron from this planet, or we all die trying.

Whatever the case, I raised an optic ridge in response to her glower and crossed my arms, Bulkhead catching sight of the look she was giving me and merely shook his helm.

Yeah, I really didn’t blame him for not getting involved in this.

“It would seem we now know Dark Energon lives up to its reputation,” I mused quietly, a fact that I would have loved to have gone the rest of my life not knowing. I did not need that to be proven to me, no thanks-

“Uh, Star?" Bulkhead said slowly, sharing a look with the others as I tensed. "We already knew that.” Arcee glanced at their leader as a chill suddenly slid down my spinal struts, my wings drooping almost immediately. “Megatron returned from deep space with a whole chunk of it. You didn’t know?” A new pain grew in his optics when I slowly shook my helm, a pain that had my spark squeezing in dread as we all turned to Optimus, and I prayed that I was wrong.

Megatron was a monster, yes. But to utilize dark energon the way it was being hinted at-

Primus let me be wrong. Please- let me be wrong, let me be overthinking, please don't tell me Megatron-

Optimus regarded me with an expression that I could not read, the children looking between us cautiously as slowly but steadily the energon in my systems grew louder and louder, until the Prime’s words were nearly drowned out when he finally did speak.

“Megatron used his space bridge to reanimate Cybertron’s dead. We had no choice but to destroy his bridge and his army before they could inflict ruin upon this world.”

No.

Primus why couldn’t I be wrong? Just this once?!

I nodded slowly, taking a step back and shook my helm when Bulkhead tried to follow. “This is a lot,” I said at last, forcing myself to take a deep inhale and forcing myself to calm the frag down before I very well went and did something I would regret.

No, my cover would regret it. I never would.

“I appreciate you telling me. I need to get back to the ship before Starscream goes looking for me, I’ll be in touch. I’m glad the children are safe,” I hardly heard my own words and didn’t wait for the Autobots to respond before I transformed and flew as far from that canyon as I could get, trying my hardest to outfly the truth.

– – –

I flew for what felt like hours, but was probably not even one, arriving at my destination with my spark in my throatlines.

I saw the carnage from the sky and didn’t bother stopping, desperately wanting to scream as my scanners filtered through my visor.

Megatron reanimated Cybertron’s dead.

He used the blood of the chaos bringer to corrupt our dead, desecrated the resting site of our fallen people. And for what?!

Megatron did not care that they were at peace. He did not care that they were finally free of his terror. He saw a way to exploit them and he did it without a second thought. If he could do it again I had no doubt that he would.

Primus Almighty give me patience when I return to the Warship.

I needed to regain my composure before I dared return, using the time in the skies to reevaluate the Decepticon threat.

I did not know how much dark energon the Decepticon’s possessed, but from what I could gather, it wasn’t a lot. Megatron would have tried again by now if he had it, though the question should probably be where would he send it?

There have been many battlefields across many galaxies, so choosing just one destination would be quite a task in and of itself. Add that to the fact that Megatron has just reawoken from stasis and we could assume that he would be holding off on that train of thought for the moment.

What I need to know above all else, however, is how much the Decepticons have left on top of what Starscream held, because if it was enough to harm even one human, then I needed to prevent that from happening.

What good is a spy who cannot even gather the most basic of reconnaissance?

It would seem that another conversation with a certain seeker Commander was in order, and Primus I wished him luck.

– – –

“What happened? Megatron pound you like scrap metal again?”

I didn’t care to consider the look on my faceplates as I approached the medical wing of the Nemesis, ignoring the troopers I passed and was faintly able to make out Knockout’s sarcastic commentary as he no doubt worked on Starscream when I stepped through the first set of doors approaching the laboratory.

In any other situation I would have felt some kind of satisfaction knowing that Starscream was there all thanks to me and the punch I threw his way, but today was not that day. I was fuming and I needed answers.

“I would rather not discuss it.”

Yeah, let’s see you get out of discussing this, you lying, no good son of a-

The door to the medbay opened to a dark room, Knockout in the process of turning away from our Commander and propping a servo on his polished hip-plate.

“Honestly, Starscream, you need to take better care of yourself. Didn’t you retrieve your limb?”

Neither of them were given the time to come up with a response as I stalked down to their level, fixing Starscream with a glare that has sent bots running in the past. “Knockout, if you would be so kind as to give me and the Commander a moment, I have a few things I need to discuss with him,” I said, and left honest to Primus no fragging room for the doctor to argue with me, not as Knockout took one look at my faceplates and dipped.

“I’m uh, gonna go and see if I can find a replica arm in storage for you,” he said quickly, scooting around me and it was only when the two sets of doors had slammed shut behind him did I turn on the seeker before me.

“What happened to the rest of the dark energon?” I interrupted anything that he could possibly try and say to me, his optics narrowing at me but I really couldn’t care less.

“What’s it to you?” He demanded, shoving himself upright and returned my glare with one of his own. “Caring about dark energon all of a sudden?”

I bared my denta at him and some small sane part of me relished when he flinched backwards. “I am not going to ask you again, Commander. What did Megatron do with the dark energon he brought back with him when he returned from deep space?”

Starscream’s gaze turned calculating, regarding me warily. “He threw it through the space bridge a few months ago. If it weren’t for the Autobots destroying the bridge then Earth would have been under our control a long time ago,” he sulked, and I chose to ignore that other aspect of things for this moment.

I slammed my servos down on the berth beside him, startling him as he whipped his helm back up to face me. “What else, Starscream?” I growled, watching him swallow.

So help me Primus-

“All of Cybertron’s dead was lost during the space bridge explosion. Megatron used the dark energon to revive the entire planet. What more do you want from me?” He demanded, but I didn’t reply, going rigid and spun on my heel, making for the doors to the laboratory.

“Where are you going?” The seeker Commander called after me, and I hardly spared him a reply.

“To have words with our Lord and Master,” I snapped back, leaving the room and didn’t care to look back.

– – –

Chapter Text

Primus Almighty I was shocked that I was still online after that.

I had stormed straight to the bridge that cycle, so lost in my rage and grief that had consumed me the moment they told me Megatron brought the dark energon back with him from deep space that I forgot just who and what I was, and what my purpose was meant to be.

I was just so angry at Megatron and I didn’t care who knew about it.

I had known what he had done the moment Bulkhead told me they had seen dark energon in action before. I had known that if I ever returned home, if I ever laid optics on Cybertron again, then there would be nothing that would show where the fallen had rested.

I was never able to bring myself to return to the ruins of Crystal City during the war, but I had heard reports that the Autobots went back and buried as many as they could find, and I had silently thanked them all these years for the respect they had shown my people, my family.

Now to find out that Megatron had gone ahead to undo all that and I was furious.

The numerous Vehicon troopers that I encountered all stepped out of my way, clearly all of them reading the utter fury on my expression and high-tailed it out of the danger zone.

I didn’t speak, I didn’t acknowledge, I just went to the bridge of the Warship and did not give an actual frag who was there.

What gave Megatron the right? How did he possibly think that mutilating our dead planet even further was a smart idea? Did he even have a processor in that damned helm of his?!

He killed our Creator, Primus himself, and didn’t even bat an optic. The actual nerve of that mech to go one step further and poison our planet on top of it all? By the Allspark I was going to throw something at him.

It was an utter, absolute, Primus-Blessed miracle that I caught myself from saying something damning, stepping ped onto the bridge and paused, intake slightly open.

It was as though someone dumped a bucket of ice water down my frame, because the second I laid optics on the Warlord, speaking with Soundwave at the helm of his ship, surrounded by quietly working Vehicon troopers, I knew I couldn’t say a fragging word.

The realization that I was condemned to silence infuriated me even further, but I couldn’t dare risk vocalizing any of my most inner and sacred thoughts. Megatron could never know just how furious he had made me, and he could never know just how far I was willing to go to protect Earth from him.

I forcibly worked my wings to rest, allowing them to lower and took a deep, hidden breath and calmed down.

He has made a grave mistake in trusting me, and I was not about to ruin that trust, no matter how hard it was to swallow my anger.

Fortunately for me, I had eons of practice shielding my emotions, eons of practice deflecting and lying through my fragging denta, and I was not about to ruin things now, not when I was so close to getting back into the Network.

I was a Neutral, and it was high time I started to act like one.

If I didn’t, if I failed to keep my glossa, then my time among the Decepticons would begin to come to an end. Megatron would never trust me again if I so blatantly argued against his former orders, if I showed such discontentment towards his decisions and the decisions of the Decepticon Faction.

I couldn’t just pretend that I wasn’t there though, and I scrambled to come up with a different purpose for barging in here when both Megatron and Soundwave turned to face me, putting a pause on their conversation for the moment.

I had a split second to debate about throwing Starscream under the bus, so to speak, and spill that he still had a surviving shard of dark energon, but my instincts screamed that it wouldn’t serve me any purpose to go around making him into my enemy just yet.

He could still be useful.

So I lied, and asked Megatron about the mission report instead. I claimed to have been curious, having seen the explosion in Earth’s orbit months ago and wanted to know what happened. The databases appeared to be slacking in that regard and I wanted to know why.

It wasn’t a lie, I did want to know, and the databases, though accurate, failed to report on his perspective of things.

The more knowledge I have in my possession, then the more powerful of an enemy I would become. Like my Sire always said, knowledge was power.

The Warlord had raised an optic ridge but obliged me, recounting the few cycles it took for him to discover the powers of dark energon, reanimating a freshly offline Autobot, and how he was able to exploit the blood of the Chaos Bringer for his own purposes.

I filed away the mention of the slain Autobot and made a mental note to ask Bulkhead about it when I had the time, but for that moment I was engaged in the fight of my life to keep the outrage from appearing across my expression, merely dipping my helm in thanks towards the Leader of the Decepticons when he turned back to whatever it was he was discussing with his Chief of Surveillance.

There was a shard of dark energon in his energon systems.

By the fragging Allspark.

I had left the bridge even more furious than when I had arrived, but at least my cover was still intact.

Not only did Megatron desecrate the resting site of our ancestors on Earth, the remains of that battle still fresh in my thoughts, but he embedded dark energon directly into his spark chamber, imbuing him with power unlike anything our people had known before.

We were all so, so fragged, and if I didn’t leave the bridge when I did then I would have damned the consequences and started screaming at him.

At least I knew how to pick my battles. For now, anyway.

Currently, I was on my way to the training deck, the cycle arriving where I was scheduled to begin training, my cycles of endless free time coming to a swift end.

When I had left the bridge I went right to my room and did not leave for the rest of the cycle, calling off the Network now that the children were safe and poured all my energy and effort into completing the virus for the Nemesis. It was more important than ever that I made contact with the actual, large-scale Neutral Network and report to them what I have learned.

It was done, and as soon as I was finished in the training hall I would be able to reach out to the rest of the galaxy, and the excitement of that thought took the edge off the sheer rage threatening to overwhelm me.

Every time I even thought of Megatron and the way his derma shifted into that smug smirk made my energon boil, and I just hoped I would be strong enough to survive when the time finally came to reveal my betrayal.

It did not matter that Phoenix very nearly lost her life due to the Warlord, nor did it matter that Megatron vowed never again to show mercy to anyone who dared cross him in response to her betrayal.

I was not Phoenix, and she was not me. He may have trained her into a weapon forged from the Pits, but I had survived this war with little more than my wit and intelligence.

The time and place would be crucial if I was to survive my departure from the Decepticon ranks, and I merely prayed I had what it took to pull it off.

I shuddered, shoving those thoughts out of my helm and chided myself to focus, rounding the corner and knew I had entered the training wing of the Nemesis by the sounds of screeching and colliding metal sounding from the rows of training rooms I was passing.

The Decepticons never slept, and if they weren’t down in the multitude of energon mines on the planet below, or out during aerial and ground patrols, then they were training and honing their skills in the wide variety of rooms at their disposal here on the Warship.

I vented deeply, pulling up the room number I was meant to be at in 5 minutes through my scanners and double checked that I was in the right place.

I was, and now I couldn’t keep stalling.

The Vehicon troopers assigned to train me had been hand picked by the Warlord himself, and I had no doubt whatsoever that they would be reporting not only my progress, but the very words I said and the actions I did.

I shoved down the new wave of anger that rose up when I thought about Megatron, when I compared his infuriating grin to the elegant and sophisticated smile of my twin, and I very nearly spun on my heel to hunt the mech down.

Wildspark didn’t deserve to die, and she did not deserve to be ripped from the grave and forced to fight in his endless, pointless war, brought from the dead to serve his twisted agenda.

She deserved to live, and not a single cycle goes by that I don’t regret talking her into going on that mission with me. And for what?

Now my servos were shaking and I had to pause in the middle of the walkway, closing my optics and ordering myself to calm the frag down.

~Being angry like this will not change the past, and it will only serve to harm the future.~

My Carrier’s advice still rang through to this cycle, and I ignored the stabbing sparkache when I thought about her warm and gentle smile, picking me up on my lowest cycles, and slowly loosed the tension building in my shoulderplates.

I was better than this. Megatron will not get the satisfaction of seeing me break, because I absolutely refused to give it to him. With another mental chastising thought, I reopened my optics and picked up the pace towards the training room that was no doubt going to become one of my new battlegrounds.

I had no fragging clue what to expect from this, but I just hoped that my anger at Megatron would not seep into the rest of my actions here on this ship. I needed to focus, and I needed to calm the frag down.

I had a job to do, and I needed to be in the right mindset if I wanted any chance at succeeding. I couldn’t let my anger or grief cloud my thoughts if I wanted Earth to stand a chance.

I finally arrived at the training room, taking a slow inhale before simply walking inside.

The doors slid open to reveal a vacant and desolate room, the lights dimmer than normal, and as I stepped inside a violent chill ripped down my spinalstruts.

Something was wrong, and no sooner did I realize that I ducked, the trooper missing my helm and grunted when I pivoted and ended up side-stepping his attack, moving further into the room.

I whirled, narrowing my optics at the trooper in front of me and was now faintly able to make out a handful of others watching around the edges of the room through the faint light streaming inside from the open door.

It slammed shut with a heavy thunk, and I knew I wouldn’t be given the courtesy for my optics to adjust.

Oh so this is how we’re gonna start things, huh? Fine by me.

The trooper in front of me was quick to attack again, and in the darkened room it was difficult to make out any weakness I could use to exploit before he was in front of me again. I blocked the next punch he threw at my helm, and I had half a mind to gripe about that but focused instead on throwing one of my own.

I haven’t fought in many battles, far be it my area of expertise, but Bulkhead and Wheeljack were adamant about teaching Wildspark and I the bare requirements to defend ourselves. I cannot count the number of times my sister and I were thrown to the mat during our first training sessions, but I was proud to claim that by the end we had both managed to win at least one fight each against both the Wreckers.

Falling back on that training, I quickly glanced around the room to see if I could find anything I could use to my advantage, and nearly pouted when I realized Megatron ensured the troopers left me with nothing.

Rude-

I didn’t yet know what the limits were when it came down to weapons during this training session, but I figured I would be smart to adhere with whatever the trooper was using. For the most part, that remained his fists, and I blocked the next throw with relative ease now that the element of surprise had worn off.

During all this we ended up moving further back into the room, the Vehicon managing to circle me and surprised me again with a blow to the tanks that I did not see coming, so focused on avoiding the rest of his attacks that I ended up leaving myself exposed.

I stumbled and couldn’t block his next strike, shoved to the floor and blinked at the blaster now in my faceplates.

We remained like that for what felt like ages, the trooper unflinching as he stared me down, before he retracted his blaster and offered me his servo.

I took it, the Vehicon helping me to my peds as the lights came back on, the other troopers in the room with us walking closer.

“Not bad. Lord Megatron was right, you do have potential,” the trooper said finally, and I ignored the stabbing anger at the warlord’s designation and gave the Vehicon a simple nod.

“I take it this was a test?” It wasn’t really a question, but my tanks were now hurting and I really needed to figure out the best way to proceed here.

This conversation would do wonders to inform me how these sessions are going to go, and the sooner I could figure that out the sooner I could begin preparing.

They nodded. “Lord Megatron wanted to see how well you did in the face of an ambush.”

I hummed, crossing my arms and did another helm count, arriving at a total of twelve Vehicon troopers present. Quite a bit more than I was expecting, and the surprise must have shown on my faceplates because he was quick to answer that unspoken question.

“We have been assigned to your Command, Lieutenant Starfire. It is our responsibility to ensure you are brought up to speed surrounding combat and aerial patrols. For the foreseeable future, we are your unit,” he said, and as one the troopers before me brought a fist over their sparks, a sign of fealty and loyalty that I had done nothing to earn.

Command over a Squadron meant that, despite their reports to Megatron, they would follow every word I said.

Unease ate at my spark, but I ignored it for the time being and filed the information away to pick apart later. The amount of power that Megatron has just given me over these twelve lives did not sit right with me, but for now I would let it be.

I smiled, nodding to the troopers before me. “I will do my best to earn this honour,” I promised. “What can I call you?”

There was nothing from the Pits of Kaon to the Allspark itself that could have prepared me for what they said next, and it took all my control not to let the shock at their words form over my faceplates.

“I am 011D6, Lieutenant. I am the leader of this squadron.”

011D6. He just gave me a series of numbers. His designation is a set of numbers.

Primus Almighty I think I might need to go have another chat with Megatron, and I had no intention of leaving until my vocals went hoarse from screaming at him.

I must have done a horrific job at concealing my expression, that or the sudden silence spoke louder than I did, but the Vehicon before me seemed to hesitate before adding, “But my squadron calls me Ironfoot.”

So there is a designation. I very nearly cried in relief.

“Ironfoot,” I said at last, and I would be damned if I would call him anything else. “Can I know the others?”

In order of rank, we have Ironfoot’s right hand, Steelheart. Her assigned designation was 94P73, but I think after they all saw the look on my face when she asked if I wanted to call them that they all got the hint, because not a single one of them gave me a number after that.

There was Magnablade, Razorblade, and Hotline, the three of them assuming the positions of the flank guards. They were followed by Stormblast, Skystorm, Vegawarp, Kilorod, and Highwire, the five of them serving as the main force while the two newest additions to the unit, Frostlight and Gigamine, took up the tail of the flight.

It would definitely take some time to keep all these designations and squadron positions in order, but I was determined to get it right as quickly as I possibly could.

Something told me I was in for a whole new shift on my priority list, but I found that I didn’t truly care. These Vehicons just gave me numbers. They spoke to each other using numbers, Megatron called them using numbers, if he spoke to them at all outside of their reports. It may not have been what I had taken into account when I managed to get accepted into the Decepticon ranks, but I would be damned if I continued on the disrespect.

They deserved to be treated better and my Sire would ground me for life if he ever found out I did anything less.

I smiled at the troopers in front of me, nodding again. “Let’s get started then, shall we?”

– – –

They drilled me for hours, going over what I knew, what I had picked up over the eons, and what the Decepticon standard for combat was. Ironfoot explained that this would be more of a general regiment, to ensure I had a basic understanding of the most important procedures they had, and to make sure that I could at least hold my own in a battle against the Autobots.

I could choose to hone in specific abilities on my own time, but for now they were keeping everything on the table.

If I wasn’t their sworn enemy, then I would have probably taken him up on the unspoken offer.

Don’t get me wrong, I lived before the Great War broke out, and I knew that there were castes for those born through the Well of Allsparks. I knew that if you were assigned to the lower ranks, like Megatron had been, then all you would have been given was a standard set of numbers and letters as your designation, just like theirs. I never knew what Megatron’s created designation was, and I only learned about him once news reached Crystal City that a gladiator from the Pits was beginning to make waves in Kaon.

When I first learned about him, he went by Megatronus, and even then I could see why so many wanted to follow him, wanted to believe in his vision for a better and brighter Cybertron.

I believed him, too.

I also knew that the injustice and the suffering was one of the main reasons Megatron rose up to power to begin with, earning his following through his words and beliefs and convictions. So to find him still using that system for his Army was something I had not expected.

It wasn’t really something the Network shared, y’know? In the grand scheme of things, in life or death situations, no one had the time to worry or care what others were called. Our priorities were to survive.

Now, however, I was furious that Megatron had continued on with the naming systems of the past, and I merely added it to the growing lists of things to one cycle curse him out for.

Primus, a femme can dream.

They didn’t deserve it. He didn’t then and they don’t now. It isn’t right and I will be damned if I called Ironfoot anything but the designations he and his squadron chose for themselves.

However, there was very little I could really do about that, and it wasn’t one of the battles I could fight right here and now, so the best thing for me to do would be to turn my focus back to the things I can control.

Like, for instance, reaching the Neutral Network.

Finally alone and back in the relative safety of my room, I exhaled deeply and stared at the propped-up datapad on the desk, squinting at the rolling text travelling down the screen, my kneeplates squished to my chassis as I watched the code like it had personally wronged me.

I had finished the virus for the ship in a fit of anger the other cycle, and now was my first chance to test it out.

I was ready and waiting with my codes, and once it was confirmed that the Network was reading correctly I would get to work migrating the two databases. My people on Earth were in for a treat come the morning, and I was elated to be able to introduce them to the others.

Just gotta get this working, first.

“Come on, work for me,” I muttered, crossing my digits and hoped for the best.

I was good, I know I was. I built the Network on Earth from the ground up, so this should theoretically be working in a matter of minutes. The problem was if the Nemesis would be willing to accept my codes.

I had to be delicate when working within the confines of the ship, and I had to be extremely cautious not to leave a single spec of code where Soundwave could see it. If he got even the hint of something being wrong then I would never reconnect with the Network.

I couldn’t risk compromising the entire Galaxy’s worth of Neutrals just because I so desperately wanted to reconnect with my people. I had survived this long on this planet, I could continue to do so with or without them beside me. Their lives were far more important to me than any aid I could call for.

They came first. Always have, and always will.

Finally, after what felt like ages, my datapad dinged, whipping my helm over to see a happy green icon, informing me that my virus was active and was currently in the process of syncing the Neutral Network to my datapad.

My optics went wide and I leapt from my chair, covering my intake with a servo and plucked my datapad up, reading the scrolling text and felt my spark skip a beat when my credentials were recognized, allowing me in for the first time in 300 years.

Already the two Networks began syncing, my device creating a new file within the main Network where my people could see, and I could hardly believe what I was looking at.

I double and then triple checked that neither Soundwave or Shockburner would be able to read this, hot and unbidden tears threatening the back of my optics as I flicked through files and found the main conversation channel.

The last message was sent almost a month ago, from a designation I did not recognize, though their location was frequented enough that they likely had already run into someone I knew.

I began to scroll up, backing towards my berth and dropped down on it while I read, the Network continuing to work in the background.

“Things have been quiet ever since the Autobot platoon left the system. As far as we’re aware, they are still none the wiser that we’re out here.” A bot by the designation of Blitz reported a few months ago, others responding asking what their status was in regards to their energon reserves, and I skipped over the conversation and kept reading.

“There is heavy Decepticon presence just outside of Regulon 4. It is strongly advised that anyone heading that way either alter course or prepare standard cover. Our count is at least three vessels, and an unknown number of troops. Be on guard, everyone.”

“We have count of an on-going battle between the ‘Bots and ‘Cons within the Diamond Cloud. Divert course and do not approach. They will be shooting at anything that moves. Stay out of the Cloud and rendezvous at one of the energon supply ships in the nearby systems.”

Slowly I scrolled, reading their messages, reading their warnings. Many had designation updates, run-ins with others and announcements that they were alive to the Network. They spoke of where to go if anyone needed immediate support, where to avoid when a battle between the factions broke out. They reported solar storms, celestial anomalies, everything from the energon count to the current and most recent battle locations, even to-

My tears spilled over as I smiled.

Even to the first Neutral sparkling.

My people were still out there, still surviving and, for some, thriving. It was everything I could have asked for and more, and there was nothing I wouldn’t do to make sure it stayed this way.

This Network was precious, and I would rather offline than let it fall into Decepticon servos. I wished anyone who tried to get it out of me all the luck in the world.

I paused in my reading when I came across a designation I recognized, checking the date and reminded myself to calm when it was confirmed that Sunburst was alive and well no more than two years ago. I had lost contact with him after my sister offlined, and had been too preoccupied with Cybertron’s downfall to reach out to him.

I had seen his reports and his updates through the Network, but I had never taken the time nor the effort to personally reach out to see how he was holding up.

Maybe that would change, but not right now.

I kept going, utterly relieved that he was still online, and didn’t stop again until I came across the last message I had sent, more than 300 Earth years ago. By this time it had grown far later in the cycle, and I got the alert that the power down shift had begun.

I could recharge later, this was too important.

"The refuel depot from the Crescent Cloud was hit by a Decepticon ship. Anyone heading their way is advised to divert to the Hyperion Nebula, you're going to have better chances through that storm than facing off against the Decepticons. If the Brilliance detects anything else we will be sure to pass on the word."

I remember that report, the very same Decepticon ship tracked us down after we left the depot and hunted us down to Earth. That was the very last thing I had ever spoken to the Network, and I will never forgive Shockburner for ratting us out.

I tucked my stabilizers under me, and as I reread my former reports I couldn’t help but feel a stab of pity and sympathy for how unprepared my former self was for what was headed her way.

Even having lost everything and everyone I cared about on Cybertron, my old messages had an air of hope to them that I envied, a hope that I had resigned myself never to feel again after Shockburner’s betrayal.

Even after losing my sparkmate, my twin, my son and my creators, I still believed the best in people, and that naivety had left my spark open to be broken all over again. It was something that even 300 years later I refused to repeat.

I approached everything now with a cynicism that had served me well all these years, analyzing every interaction I had with criticism and distrust. It was the only way I managed to remain hidden from the government for as long as I did, and it may or may not have spilled over into how the village treated outsiders. Una welcomed me willingly, and from there, well-

They all wanted to protect me. The downside of that would be growing suspicion over everyone unknown, and that was a fact I was sorry for.

I vented, closing my optics.

Shockburner had destroyed what little hope I had left in my spark, and I was adamant not to leave myself vulnerable like that again. I refused to be caught off guard, no matter the situation or who I was surrounded by. Be they Autobot, Decepticon, or Neutral.

I shook my helm and returned to the bottom of the feed, lifting my servos over the keyboard to begin typing out my report. I hadn’t been seen or heard from in 300 years, I had a lot to fill them in on. I smiled, but hesitated.

Primus, where would I even begin?

I had the main war on my doorstep, Earth was literally the planet Megatron and Optimus Prime were fighting over, second only to Cybertron itself. How would I even begin recounting everything that happened? How the frag was I meant to condense 300 years of absence into one single message??

There was only one thing to do.

– – –

Kayla Ruiz was once again up late with her newborn, rocking and singing softly to him as she fed him.

Her husband normally took it upon himself to care for Alejandro during the night, but he hadn’t even stirred when their son started crying. She had figured it was best to let him sleep. Josh could make her breakfast in the morning to make it up to her.

Smiling at the thought, she settled Alex back in his bassinet and kissed him goodnight, flicking off the light to the nursery and left his room, making for her own and figured she might actually get a few decent hours of sleep if he stayed down this time.

Alas, her hopeful thoughts of a long night of sleep was squashed when the phone in her housecoat pocket began buzzing, and she scowled at it as she dug it out. Damn habits making her keep it on her person at all times-

One of these days she was going to bury it in the backyard under their cherry tree.

Glowering at the blindingly bright light amidst the darkness of the hallway, she didn’t even find herself checking the caller display before answering.

“I really hope you have a damn good reason for calling, mystery person, because I just got my son to sleep and if you prevent me from doing the same I swear-”

Her rant died in her throat when the caller laughed, covering her mouth with a hand.

“I guess I should let you get some sleep, huh?” She teased, and Kayla nearly squawked at the threat.

“Don’t you freaking dare! Do you have any idea how worried I’ve been?” She demanded, and she figured she might as well make herself a cup of tea. She was not about to let Abigail off the hook so easily after the stunt she pulled the other day. Not a chance, thank you. “I’m literally 28, I do not need to be getting grey hair so young!”

Abigail snickered, and she honestly felt better after hearing her friend’s laughter that she figured she would spare her the lecture. For the most part, she had a reputation to maintain, but Kayla had the feeling she needed a friend right now more than she needed an ally.

– – –

Talking to my old friend was the breath of reassurance I needed. The conversation didn’t last as long as either of us would have wanted, but long enough that I was able to regather my thoughts about how to approach the Network. And as long as Soundwave remained unaware about who I was calling, then I was fine with whatever time I could get with her.

Kayla had done a decent job at chewing me out, but we both were well aware that it was out of sheer concern and relief that I was alright, her voice cracking halfway through.

She filled me in on what Fowler and General Bryce had decided with Catori, and I was beyond grateful for Daniel remaining the voice of reason for those two stubborn men.

Our Chief was allowed to return to the village the next afternoon, and had remained to shore up our defenses should Bryce and or the military fall back on the current agreement.

If that happened there would be nothing to hold me back. No one threatened my family and got away with it.

Kayla told me that Fowler managed to transfer control of their advanced satellite over to Lunarcrest Outpost, and I figured I should keep an optic on it, and I should also probably make sure Megatron never took an active interest in it.

It would scream with Cybertronian technology, and I was not in the mood to explain to him that yes, I was aware of that satellite, and yes, I had given humanity our technology in exchange for reports. Like that would go over well, especially since I neglected to come forward with the information to begin with.

Yeah, Megatron just wouldn’t find out about that satellite.

It was strong enough to read three solar systems out in every direction imaginable, and I helped the Pentagon come up with the blueprints for it near the beginning of our agreement. I needed to show them that I was able to maintain my end of the bargain, and I would feel like a fool for trusting them if I wasn’t able to exploit that satellite for my own uses here and now. I would have no problem hacking into it; I ensured I left myself a few backroom doors when they were building the thing, so if it ever came down to it I knew that I would be able to regain complete control of it.

I smiled to myself, pleased with the foresight I had even then.

It would still be used to protect Earth, so for once I would let the insult go. We had already dealt with this issue, and as long as Bryce and Fowler remained in line we should be alright.

I wasn’t going to hold my breath.

Shaking my helm, I chided myself to focus and brought up the Network channel again, thinking briefly about what I wanted to say before coming up with my message. These people would spread the word to others they may see, and if they were to ever cross paths with any Autobots, then perhaps they would be able to send them our way. A femme could hope.

“This is going to serve as both a warning and a plea: planet Earth has become a target and battleground for both factions. Megatron and Optimus Prime are planet side. I say again, the two faction Leaders are present and continuing their war here. For any of you who run into any surviving Autobots, please send them our way. This team of six is currently the only thing standing in Megatron’s way, and he is transporting the Decepticon Warship the Nemesis.”

I paused typing, frowning at the words waiting for me to continue. I needed to warn them about Shockburner, and the fate of my crew, but neither of those were as high on the priority list as what I was going to say next.

“I would advise anyone approaching the system to alter course, and do not approach the planet unless you have no other choice. Should you find yourself within three systems of Earth I will be able to locate you and we will plan accordingly to keep you off the Decepticon’s scanners. I have been able to claim a rank amongst the Decepticon Leadership, and as far as they know, I am loyal to Megatron. I will continue to forward his plans to this Network. However, I would also advise anyone remaining on Cybertron to avoid most Neutral Outposts save Crystal Echo.”

I ended the message there, and I crossed my digits as I hit send, not expecting a response right away and also wishing desperately for someone to see it.

I haven’t been seen or heard in over 300 years, to suddenly come forward claiming loyalty to the Decepticons. Even the most trusting Neutral is going to have a hard time trusting me, but it had to be done.

The only way to ensure Earth’s survival was to make damn well sure the Autobots were at full strength. If that meant keeping Megatron from offlining Phoenix, then so be it.

I would never regret what I have done.

While I was waiting for the message to be received, I noticed another message in a secondary channel, flicking over to it and frowned when it was revealed to be an audio file.

Well this is interesting, normally the Neutral population doesn’t have either the time nor the equipment to deal with audio files. I know a few who have mastered the art of typing while they run, and it was fascinating each and every time I saw it. Needless to say, I made sure Wildspark and I were able to do the same by the time the week was up.

Audio files were rare, I will tell you that.

Curiously, I double checked that my connection was secure and Soundwave was not eavesdropping on me, and clicked play.

My optics widened in shock when Optimus Prime’s vocals began playing, reading out a message that, according to the transmission tag, was sent to the entirety of the known galaxy.

Primus-

“Without a means of leaving this world, we Autobots take strength in the bonds we have forged with our three young friends. True warriors, if not in body, then in spirit. My name is Optimus Prime, and I send this message: though we did not choose to be of Earth, it would seem that we are here to stay. If you approach this planet with hostile intent, know this: We will defend ourselves. We will defend humanity. We will defend our home.”

– – –

It had been close to a week and a half since Phoenix first came home from the Warship, and she swore if Ratchet kept her confined to the berth for much longer she was going to throw something.

The children had returned to base with the rest of the team several cycles ago, after her admittance that she had used what Rafael had dubbed the ‘Shadowzone’ long ago on Cybertron. Shockwave had been itching to find a new way to deal with rowdy prisoners or anyone in general that he didn’t like, and since she was between assignments and had nothing better to do, she had offered her assistance.

The mad doctor had agreed and they spent close to an Earth month working on all kinds of things, before literally stumbling onto the codes required to generate the access portal. They may or may not have also used it once or twice, but that was only to hide bodies and lifeless frames that neither of them wanted to have to explain away.

At least they could agree on that.

The look her mate gave her when she admitted that last part through their bond made her scowl, and Optimus had merely vented before he had helped her back to the berth before leaving with the team to see if their rescue portal had worked.

He knew damn well who he had mated, and besides. It wasn’t like either she or Shockwave had bothered passing on the technology to Megatron. An Autobot raid hit his laboratory a few cycles after the fact and they had lost the codes in the process.

Shockwave had never bothered rebuilding it, citing a more practical use of his time doing Primus-knows-what, she never actually cared, and so it had laid in dust forgotten for eons.

Until the Autobots and Starscream had inadvertently recreated the damn thing, and she was just relieved that Ratchet was a maestro at work and managed to create a rescue bridge for them.

Currently, however, she was in the process of attempting to walk, Optimus allowing her to use him as support while Ratchet monitored her progress like a hawk.

Miko and Rafael were in the human area watching a show with Bumblebee and Bulkhead while Arcee and Jack decided to go for a drive a little while ago.

She was severely envious of the duo, but one look from Optimus and Ratchet had her swallowing her protests and she didn’t vocalize her desire to maybe, perhaps, possibly go out for a drive too this evening.

Ratchet would throttle her if she even suggested such a thing, and she knew he would live up to his threat to have Bulkhead sit on her until she was healed. The Wrecker would be more than obliged, especially since he would likely still be able to see the tv from his spot squishing her and wouldn’t find any incentive to move, not with Ratchet hovering around.

She vented forlornly, wincing again when she applied a bit more weight on the still-warped metal of her stabilizer. Megatron had done a serious number on her frame and she was this close to hunting him down, if nothing more than to chew him out for it.

Logically, she knew that would be far from the best idea she ever had, but she had nothing better to do but sulk and mentally curse out the Warlord.

“Take it easy, Phoenix,” Ratchet looked up from his datapad, frowning when she tried forcing through the pain. “If you irritate it too much it won’t heal properly, and then I would likely need to confine you to base for another month,” he warned, and she stuck out her glossa at him before returning to focus on what she was doing.

It was hard enough walking on a wounded stabilizer, but her arm was also still in its brace and threw off her balance entirely.

She had practice through the war moving with limited limbs, but that didn't make it any easier to do.

Optimus shifted his weight and allowed her to lean more of her frame against his, a motion that despite her complaints she found herself grateful for.

Taking a deep inhale, she readjusted herself before trying again, slowly applying more weight onto her limb and surprised herself when she was able to take a step.

They continued to make small progress over the next half hour, up until the point she tripped and Ratchet nearly threw the wrench he was using at her and snapped for her to sit.

She, once again, stuck her glossa out at him, but her mate had other plans and didn’t really give her much of a choice before guiding her back to the berth, ignoring her petty mental protests as an air of amusement floated through their bond, amusement that Phoenix pointedly ignored.

She caught the faint smile on Optimus’ faceplates, grumbling as she begrudgingly got comfortable and refused to admit that her stabilizer felt a million times better now that she was no longer walking on it.

Her mate shook his helm, hearing every one of her thoughts and dropped a quick kiss to the top of her helm before walking back to where Ratchet was working on one of his many, many projects.

Withholding a vent, she looked over to the human area and figured she may as well try and listen to what the children were doing. No, it wasn’t eavesdropping if they were talking about it right in front of her.

“-and then she punched him! I wish you could have seen it, Bulk!” She raised an optic ridge as she caught the tail-end of Miko’s exuberant story, sitting up straighter in curiosity.

Both Bumblebee and Rafael had tuned in to listen, and the young human was even nodding along to Miko.

The Wrecker laughed then, grinning at his human, who had turned around to look at the bots while Rafael kept the television muted. “Yeah, I wouldn’t doubt it. Jackie and I taught her how to defend herself back on Cybertron, and I would be surprised if she hadn’t picked up a thing or two in the centuries since we saw her. Jackie would be proud.”

Her smile slowly fell, and quickly morphed into a glare when she realized just who they were talking about, looking away from the human area and promptly tuned them out.

So what if Starfire had punched Starscream? So what if she clashed with the Commander? The fact of the matter was that they could never trust her, not after all that she had done.

Phoenix glanced at her wounds again and ignored the voices in the back of her helm echoing and muttering on about her hypocrisy.

Starfire had saved her metal, stalled Megatron long enough for her team to get to her.

That still didn’t and never would erase the fact that Starfire stopped her from killing Megatron.

She stopped her from ending this forsaken war-

No, no she didn’t. Phoenix shook her helm again and shoved herself to her peds.

She needed to get out of here for a while. She needed somewhere to breathe, somewhere away from everyone else where she could make sense of and figure out the racing thoughts in her helm.

She limped her way out of the main room, using the wall as a crutch while she heavily relied upon it for support, silently begging her racing spark to slow.

She only had one arm, and one working stabilizer. The last thing she needed right now was to send herself into shock, and that was exactly what was going to happen if she didn’t regain control over her jumbled thoughts.

Phoenix didn’t know where she was going as she limped her way down the halls of the Autobot base, repeating her mantra to herself over and over and over again and slowly felt her sparkbeat slow back to a normal level.

Honour, Loyalty, and Truth.

She had her honour, even when she was a merciless Assassin, killing on the whims of a sadistic tyrant. Phoenix always had her limits, and she fought to maintain them up to this very cycle. It was one of the few, one of the only things she had ripped from her former self, and she had been dead-set on holding onto it.

Her loyalty to Megatron came before all else, before her loyalty to herself and before even the Decepticon Cause. Now, it was to the Autobots, and the young children she was beginning to call family. It was to her small but strong team, to Bumblebee whenever he wanted to go for a race.

It was to Arcee, who she didn’t always see optic-to-optic with but respected all the same.

It was to Bulkhead, who was practically vibrating with excitement for the cycle where she would play lobb with him, and where she would inevitably lose to the far more experienced player and would play it again just to see his giant grin.

It was to Ratchet, who worked tirelessly to save her life against all odds, against the Allspark itself trying to call her back home, and who continued to keep her online against the worst patient he had ever seen.

Her loyalty was to her sparkmate, who helped her and protected her even before she knew she needed protecting. He saved her, guided her, and her loyalty to his cause was one she gave willingly. Her loyalty to the Autobots was unbreakable and forged within her very spark chamber.

No one could force her to do this, which made it all the more powerful to do.

And finally, Truth.

In her hunt for vengeance against the one who murdered her Creators in the Dawn of the Great War, she found herself without mercy, without compassion as anyone who was brought before her ended up executed for their crimes. She was ruthless, and in her hunt for the truth she lost sight of what was truly important.

Phoenix struggled to keep her balance against the wall, her silver digits pressing hard against the metal surface as she kept repeating those three words to herself and willed the room to stop spinning.

For the first time since the start of the war, the truth that had confined her, constricted her, suffocated her, had finally set her free. It was the truth that she was loved, and safe, and protected. It was the truth that she would give her life if it meant the people she cherished, those she loved, would be safe. That was her truth, and she was never going to lose sight of what it meant ever again.

Her ped caught on something on the floor, sending her into a freefall towards the hard, cold cement as her ruined stabilizer finally had enough of her and gave out.

Warm, steady arms wrapped around her waist and shoulderplating, breaking her fall and steadied her, drawing her backstruts up against a solid, familiar chassis.

Gently, always so gently, he tilted her chin up to look at him, and she found nothing but understanding and utter, overwhelming love and sympathy in his bright blue optics as he gazed into her own. Love and compassion for her, for the bot she has struggled so hard to become.

Carefully he brought his thumb digit under her optic, brushing away one of the many tears that were streaming down her faceplates, and simply held her to him without needing to speak a single word.

Phoenix broke, then, curling into the arms of her Conjunx and finally allowed herself to collapse.

Optimus held her, turning her faceplates into the metal of his chassis and held her like she was the most important thing in the universe, like Primus himself instructed him to protect her and everything she stood for.

For the first time since she had returned to the Autobot base, she allowed herself to process, and cried in the arms of her sparkmate.

– – –

Several Weeks Later

I had turned my datapads off after I sent the initial message, and had even gone so far as to ultimately decide against linking the two Networks, halting the migration process and sent a quick message to Daniel, Kayla and Catori explaining my decision while at the same time letting them know I had regained access to the galaxy. All of them were on board with this, and I knew the village would be brought up to speed come the next morning.

It was safer for humanity and safer for the Neutrals to keep them separate, because if one became compromised then the other would be safe.

So long as Shockburner remained on this planet, unaccounted for and unchecked, then I would be keeping him as far from the Neutral Network as I could.

His loyalties were always questionable at best, which was why he had never received a code of his own back when he first joined our crew. I couldn’t be certain that he wouldn’t try selling out the Network to Megatron, and I was not about to give him the chance.

The message Optimus Prime had sent to the reaches of the known galaxy was something that had conflict growing in my spark, hearing and realizing again that this small team of Autobots would do their part to keep my planet safe.

I wasn’t alone on Earth anymore, and I still had a difficult time remembering that.

During the last few weeks, however, I had done my best to keep the village and the Autobots up to date on the current state of the Warship.

I sent encrypted messages on the Earth Network daily, and managed to call Kayla more often than not. Little Alex was growing so fast, and I could hardly believe that it had already been a month and a bit since he was born. It had already been just over a month since I had joined the Decepticons and swore myself to protecting humanity, no matter what it took from me.

Starscream had recovered from his injuries and Knockout had managed to find a replacement arm for the Commander. Where he pulled that out of I didn’t know, but I was simply glad that I wouldn’t have to explain to Megatron that Starscream was a fool and had gone out to try to raise the dead against him.

I wasn’t sure I would have been able to keep my composure, and I was still very touchy if the topic of dark energon was brought up around the ship. My squadron had caught onto that fact early on that I did not like talking about it and it wasn’t brought up anymore, not that it had been before.

Speaking of my squadron, Ironfoot and the others kept their word on bringing my abilities up to par, and every cycle they drilled me on topics ranging from everything, from blasters to flights to servo-to-servo combat. They covered all bases and at this point I was slowly finding myself becoming more confident when it came down to patrolling in a group. Yes, it gave me less time to call while in the air, but it also served as a statement to my character.

I could work as part of a team, and I was good at it. That sentiment would come in vital in my efforts to earn Megatron’s trust.

As for Starscream, the seeker Commander was not pleased with the stunt I had pulled, and the first thing he did when he was released from the medical wing was to track me down and chew me out for it. I once again reiterated that he had been in no state to fight the Autobots and I was not about to apologize for looking out for him.

Did I lie about having an interest in dark energon? Of course I did, I was a Decepticon. Was I going to allow him to offline due to his own stupidity? Primus Almighty that would be far too much paperwork, I would do what I could to keep him online, and if that meant yelling some sense into the seeker then so be it.

I would do it again and he fragging knew it.

“Think fast!”

I barely managed to duck and avoid Steelheart’s fist, hardly sparing a moment to think before I grabbed her servo, pivoted, and shoved her onto her backstruts.

We were in the training room going over theory for once, and the other eleven Vehicons turned to look and found me over their second’s prone position, Ironfoot watching on as I grinned and helped Steelheart back to her peds.

She laughed and took my outstretched servo, hauling herself back up and nodded. “Needless to say, you thought quick,” she chirped, and promptly went back to her spot beside their squadron leader.

I hadn’t even noticed her leave his side, and none of them had said a word about it.

Well, I guess now I have something to be proud of, moving back to where I was initially standing and motioned for Ironfoot to continue his lesson.

If I could have seen through their visors I would have sworn his optic ridge would have been raised, but Ironfoot didn’t comment on the interruption or address his second’s actions.

He continued on with the task, and by the time the training session was over for the cycle I was itching to stretch my wings.

The twins, Highwire and Kilorod, had begun bickering the moment the lesson had ended, and after a month working with this group I knew well enough to stay far out of their way, hanging back to watch as they skirted the rest of us and made for the energon storage rooms.

Ironfoot vented as he came to stand beside me, shaking his helm as we watched them go, while the rest of the squadron dispersed to their own duties. “One of these cycles they’ll learn to get out of audial shot before resuming whatever topic they’re arguing about this cycle,” he vented, and I couldn’t help but smile at the thought.

“I’m glad they’re enjoying themselves. It isn’t every cycle that we get a reprieve from the war, they should enjoy it while they can,” I commented, and the trooper beside me nodded.

I left him and the rest of the squadron not long after, and I began making my way to the flight deck with the intent of checking on the Neutral Network once I returned from a quick dip in the skies.

I had been blown away after waking up in the morning after I sent my first message to find an outpouring of bots claiming relief that I had returned, that I was still online and promised to send Autobots my way should they end up running into any.

Many still warned that they wouldn’t go out of their way to interact with them, considering the vast majority of Autobots didn’t believe in the Neutral cause and would likely give every one of my people grief about their choices, but I expected nothing less and I was merely relieved that no one suggested I should be booted from accessing the Network completely since I had admitted to joining one of the factions.

Yet, anyways.

I would honestly love to see them try. Not a single person out there knew who built the Network, or how to contact them. All they knew was whenever we needed to add someone to the system, it would happen and that was the end of it.

Of course, they were always vetted, which is why Shockburner had been denied access. It was something about him that, even back then, had me recommending against handing over our people to him.

That decision proved to be one of the smartest ones I have ever made.

I got into contact with Sunburst, the mech and I opening a channel and started up a conversation, and it was here that I first admitted to what happened to my crew and my ship, a conversation that I was unable to keep calm about and the next thing I did once I finished talking with him was to continue on hunting for both of their signals.

Arachnid and Shockburner may have hidden their signals, and may be masters of deceit and deception, but the main thing they both had in common was underestimating me. I would find them and I swear upon the Allspark that they would both regret the cycle they hurt the people I cared about.

I hadn’t found either of them yet, but things had been going pretty damn well since the initial week on the ship, and I knew I was getting close. It was only a matter of time before I found one of them, and then the fun could really begin.

I smiled to myself, genuinely enjoying the thought of making both of them regret the cycle they hurt my family, and didn’t realize I had made it to the flight deck until I rounded the final corner and very nearly ran smack into Starscream.

I blinked, the seeker Commander whirling around in shock away from the Vehicon trooper he was speaking with, and promptly glared at me.

“Watch where you’re going, why don’t you?” He grumbled, and I merely shrugged.

“Hello to you too, Commander. What has you all the way up here?” I asked, glancing behind him when the Vehicon began walking away.

Interesting.

“Last I checked, you weren’t scheduled for a patrol until tomorrow,” I added, and grinned when the Commander outright scowled at me. This was fun.

“Mind your business, Starfire,” he snapped. “What I do is of no concern to you.”

I chuckled, and I knew his ire towards me was only growing, but Stars above I quite enjoyed egging him on. However, I was also genuinely curious to know why he was here. You would think, for someone of his rank, that he would have something to do besides loitering around the flight deck. “It was only a question, Commander.”

If he was planning something then I should probably walk away, but when did I ever do the smart thing? Simply having this conversation was testament that I really, truly didn’t know when to back off, and I figured that would come back to bite me in the aft sooner or later, but for right now I couldn’t be bothered to care.

Starscream frowned at me, before venting deeply. “It would appear that Breakdown has gone and got himself captured, by humans no less,” he admitted. “Soundwave has done a remarkable job at pinpointing his location, which is why I am about to embark on a rescue mission.”

I blinked. Well, I didn’t see this one coming. I had half a mind to go find Knockout and see how he was holding up, before I promptly shook myself off that thought and chided myself to focus. Now was not the time.

I frowned and crossed my arms, fixing the Commander with a skeptical look. “Why do I get the feeling there’s more to this story?” I asked dryly, Starscream scrambling to pick his jaw up off the floor. Clearly, he hasn't gotten used to my utter lack of respect for his rank. I couldn't be bothered to care all that much.

“Why you disrespectful little-” I raised an optic ridge, and the Commander growled but didn’t finish his statement.

I’ve punched him before and I was not above doing it again, and he fragging knew it.

I shook my helm, scoffing quietly. “Lord Megatron said no, didn’t he? Figured Breakdown deserved whatever came his way if he allowed himself to be beaten by humans.”

One of these cycles Megatron would do well to learn not to underestimate humanity. They were more versatile and stronger than he knew or gave them credit for.

Starscream glared but nodded.

Humans who not only had the resources, but the foresight to plan on how to take and hold a Cybertronian.

Unease stirred in my tanks, and I let my arms drop to my sides. “You said Soundwave got an accurate picture. What did these humans look like?” I asked, and I feared I already knew what Starscream was about to say.

The Commander frowned again and shrugged. “They used primitive weaponry and revealed no discerning features about themselves,” he said. “They also got away in both flight and grounder vehicles. There were at least 20 of them. Why?”

I shook my helm. “I’ll get to that. Was Soundwave able to pick out an identifiable leader?” I asked, and if Starscream said yes then I knew I needed to reach out and warn Agent Fowler and the Autobots. We just got another M.E.C.H sighting, and if we allowed them to do whatever the frag they wanted to Breakdown, then I feared they might become an actual threat.

I couldn’t allow that to happen.

“One of the humans had a scar on his face. Why does any of this matter?” He demanded, and I cursed soundly and ignored Starscream’s question.

For the love of Primus, why did Silas have to be such a pain?

“Nevermind that, Starscream. Point is, I am going with you. We cannot allow this group of humans, in particular their leader, to get their hands on Cybertronian biology, or technology,” I said. “Breakdown currently has both.”

I would be damned if I let Silas get away with this, and I truly did not care that Lord Megatron gave us a stand-down order. He could frag right off with that nonsense.

I vented and waved Starscream to follow me, striding for the flight deck.

We had a Decepticon to save.

– – –

Chapter Text

It had now been over a month since Phoenix had made it home, and Ratchet had finally deemed her wounds healed enough for her to go for a drive.

As long as she was careful, and Primus have mercy if he found out she did anything stupid. She wouldn’t put it past the medic to live up to his threat, and she also knew that once Bulkhead realized she was field ready again he would begin hounding her to humour him with a game of lob, and that was something Phoenix was not ready for.

She hardly spoke about that little scene that took place just under a month ago in the hallway, but that was the special thing between her and Optimus. They never had to say a word to understand each other, and that was something she would always be grateful for.

Part of her wanted to hate Starfire for the pain she had a part in causing, but the rest of her knew that wasn’t fair. The Neutral flier had done what she could and as much as she didn’t want to admit it, she knew she owed the seeker a life-debt.

However, that was the last thing on her processor for the time being, and she had just gotten clearance to go for a drive. There was not a chance in the pits that she would be squandering this opportunity.

So, that very evening, she once again dragged Optimus through the bridge and to the spot they first met, and her sparkmate had simply smiled and shook his helm at her and her utter glee that she was no longer confined to base.

Well, she couldn’t quite claim that it was where they first met, since that was probably back on Cybertron during the war and long, long before she was an Autobot, but this was the first place they met after she had officially joined the team and became their spy. So it was special and that was final.

It was during one of her first reports after defecting from the Decepticons, and her first meeting alone with the Autobot Leader, since she didn’t trust that Soundwave wouldn’t be monitoring her calls after such a long and unexplained absence. It was an empty clearing beside a cluster of rock formations in the dead middle of some random desert, and it was perfect for long evening drives, especially once the setting sun reflected off of her sport mode and sent her metal aflame.

She loved going out there, and she knew that Optimus did too, not that anyone would ever catch him admitting that out loud. There was something freeing about just driving with him, without a single destination in mind and no one and nothing interfering. It was simply awesome.

Now, however, it was the next cycle, and for the first time in over a month it wasn’t her sitting in the medbay.

Leaning against the wall near the human area, she was absently sharpening one of her daggers with her whetstone while Ratchet worked on wielding up their resident Wrecker.

Her spark squeezed when she remembered all over again that she no longer had her sword, but she couldn’t very well focus on that right now.

She would just have to be content with her daggers.

“Engaging the enemy on your own was foolish, Bulkhead,” Optimus chided, and she was just relieved that the disappointment wasn’t directed towards her. That was something she strove to avoid, thank you.

Miko walked up to the railing then, the team sharing glances when Bulkhead spoke.

“Breakdown jumped me. I knew I could take him,” he insisted, before flinching back away from Ratchet and his equipment.

“Stay still.”

Miko grasped the railing and leaned forward, grinning wide. “But we should see the other guy! Right Bulk?” Phoenix turned and glanced at the child beside her, and frowned at Bulkhead’s hesitation.

“Uh, yeah. About that…” He slowly trailed off, and Phoenix watched the exuberant light dim from Miko’s eyes.

“You didn’t torch him?”

Bulkhead shook his helm. “Not exactly. I figured you all did.”

Miko deflated, and a look of concern crossed the child’s face. “Oh.”

Unfortunately for Miko’s pride in her guardian, they were unaware that Bulkhead was in danger until after the Wrecker woke up.

Phoenix frowned and put her whetstone and dagger away, crossing her arms. The team didn’t prevent Breakdown from finishing the job.

The only reason that Bulkhead would still be online is if something else got in the way.

She really didn’t like that train of thought, and promptly dismissed it for the moment.

Let’s just hope she was wrong.

“When I came too, Breakdown was just gone. I remember hearing a copter… maybe it was Agent Fowler,” Bulkhead said slowly, and appeared to be trying to recall more than what he was initially remembering.

She shared a look with Optimus, her mate echoing the sentiments that she was feeling.

~If Bulkhead didn’t deal with Breakdown, then he should not be online right now,~ she murmured, and felt a faint wave of agreement from her conjunx. ~Someone or something stopped Breakdown from finishing the job.~ She had a guess as to who, but she really didn’t want to have to deal with the helmache that that particular group was going to cause. Please let her be wrong.

They all turned to look when the elevator doors opened, and the Special Agent they were just talking about entered the room. “Not me.”

The man walked up above where Miko was standing. “But I have an idea who. Show me where this con-napping occurred.”

Well, there goes the easy way out. Primus, could you maybe stop proving her right for once? Please? That would be nice.

She knew it couldn't have been Megatron. There was not a chance that the Warlord would prevent his own soldier from offlining an Autobot. There were very few other options to choose from and Phoenix liked none of them.

They waited until Ratchet was finished wielding up Bulkhead’s shoulderplate, Miko going to stand next to Agent Fowler when the rest of the team went over to the monitors.

Phoenix once again leaned against the platform next to the stairs, ignoring the small ache in her shoulderplating and focused on the doctor stepping over to the monitors.

Taking her weight off her stabilizer was a small blessing, too.

“This is where we picked up Bulkhead,” Ratchet said, pulling up the coordinates they had bridged to more than half an hour ago. From what she could tell, it had been mostly abandoned, so it wasn’t all that out of the ordinary for only one of them to be hunting down an energon signal. What was unusual was that there was no energon to be found.

This is seriously beginning to sound like Silas and his lackeys, and she was not in the mood to deal with them today. The last time she had to engage them she ended up saving a traitor, and she wasn’t all too inclined to do it again, thank you.

“The Kamchatka peninsula in Eastern Russia. Much of it was abandoned 20 years ago when its volcano first erupted,” Agent Fowler explained. “My intel reported M.E.C.H activity there earlier today.”

Primus why do you hate her?

“M.E.C.H? You mean those techy guys?” Miko asked, turning at the solemn tone when Ratchet spoke.

“The very ones who know of our existence on your planet.” Hardly any humans knew about them, and M.E.C.H just so happened to be some of the most annoying fraggers they had the misfortune of running into.

Primus certainly loves messing with them, doesn’t he?

She pointedly ignored the look her mate was giving her, huffing and crossed her arms. “Just our fragging luck. I’d be willing to bet they were the cause of the energon signal,” she muttered, and she saw Bumblebee nodding off to the side.

They probably got who-knows-how much intelligence when they interacted with the team the first time, and probably picked up on their energy profiles.

If they were smart enough to capture Breakdown, then they were smart enough to figure out what energon was.

Damnit.

Bulkhead frowned. “That, or they managed to track one of us there. Neither of us were being very discrete, you know,” he pointed out, and she merely shrugged. Either way, Silas found them and now they had to clean up his mess.

“But what would they want with Breakdown?” Miko asked, though Phoenix found herself raising an optic ridge at Arcee’s sarcastic reply, the two-wheeler shrugging and propped a servo on her hip-plate.

“What’s it matter? They can have him.” As much as she wanted to agree and wipe their servos from this mess, she had a large suspicion that Optimus wouldn’t agree to that.

Lovely.

Bumblebee squinted, glancing between the two older warriors. “One less problem for us to deal with, right?” Well, the kid wasn’t entirely wrong, but where one problem goes away, another one would rise in its place. They couldn't afford to let Silas keep Breakdown.

Phoenix withheld a vent. She was beginning to sound like Optimus.

Bulkhead laughed. “Ha, yeah, dragged off by humans. Guess I softened him up for them, eh?” He grinned, slamming his servos together but blinked when Miko shrugged and shook her small head. The girl was savage, that was for sure.

But as much as she wanted to let the Decepticons deal with their own, Phoenix had an inkling feeling that Optimus was about to order them out to the field, and from the look on his faceplates when she glanced at him, she knew she was right even before he said a single word on the matter.

“Ratchet, reactivate the previous ground bridge coordinates.” He ordered. “We will rescue Breakdown.”

She actually laughed aloud, muffling her intake with a servo and bit down her grin. She so fragging called it.

“What?” Ratchet blurted.

“Optimus, you can’t be serious.” Arcee appeared unable to believe the words she just heard. Phoenix could, but that was only because she was bracing for it.

“No way!” Bumblebee protested, while Bulkhead himself frowned at his leader.

“M.E.C.H can melt him down for all I care. Let the cons rescue their own!”

Yeah, that was extremely unlikely to happen. There was not a chance in the Pits of Kaon that Megatron would go out of his way to help Breakdown, especially not after the stunt she just pulled a month ago. The Warlord forgets less than he forgives, and she doesn’t think he’s done either, not even to Starscream.

Her mate remained unfazed about the objections his team was giving. “It is unlikely that Megatron would bother with an errand of mercy,” he said, and she knew damn well that her sparkmate was right. In literally every sense of the word and his stance on this matter, she knew he was right.

Finally, she would be able to leave base and actually do something helpful!

“Okay…” Arcee said slowly, “but this is Breakdown we’re talking about.” They all knew, save maybe the humans, just how far that mech has gone, and will continue to go. It was one thing converting a Decepticon over to the Autobots, and a whole other story to rescue a still-loyal one.

Either way, though, they could not allow Breakdown to remain in Silas’ possession. The less technology that these specific humans had to combat them, the safer Earth would be. What they did after the fact, though, was different. She could stab him if that made them happy, but Silas could not keep his grubby little paws on any Cybertronian, not with Earth in the balance.

And Phoenix rather liked this small planet, thank you.

“Sometimes, we must rise above ourselves for the greater good,” Optimus replied, and she knew he was right, but now she was working double time to make sure she didn’t react to his words anymore than the rest of the team was. Did he seriously have to make it sound so darn noble right in front of her? That’s how she fell in love with him in the first place, damnit!

She kept her faceplates neutrally passive and ignored the pout that was itching to morph across her derma. Damnit, mech.

“Oh what’s that supposed to mean?” Bulkhead demanded, clearly exasperated since they were talking about, oh, rescuing his arch enemy. “Breakdown’s gonna be grateful and go all soft and join the cause?”

All optics pivoted to her, and she simply raised an optic ridge at the Wrecker.

“Soft, huh?” She drawled, and Bulkhead audibly swallowed and turned back to their leader, pointedly ignoring that little comment.

Yeah, that’s what she thought. She may be an Autobot, but she was far from soft, thank you kindly, Bulkhead.

~You know what he meant, Phoe.~ Her mate chided, and she only barely stopped herself from sticking her glossa out at him. Yeah, bite her, Optimus. His argument was moot and she had every right to point that out to him. She made sure her mate heard every thought, but Optimus ignored her jab and focused on their team.

She was allowed to have some kind of fun with this, damnit-

“While it is unlikely that any Decepticon will choose the path of good,” the entire base turned to look at her again, and she rolled her optics. Unlikely didn’t mean impossible, guys, come on- “even they possess the potential for change.” Optimus finished, and she allowed herself to smile slightly.

It was this utter conviction to see the good in everyone, even when it shouldn’t exist, that helped make her into the bot she was today. She owed her life to Optimus, and that was something she was never going to take for granted. She would always strive to earn the peace that he had given her, and the olive branch he had held her way.

Bulkhead grumbled, glaring at the floor at their peds. “Egh, I knew where this was headed,” he scoffed, and she sympathized with his frustration, but at this time they couldn’t afford not to interfere. M.E.C.H was an all-out threat, especially if they managed to get access to Breakdown’s biology. That was the utter last thing they needed.

“By ‘Greater Good,’ I meant Human kind,” Optimus said firmly. “M.E.C.H presents a clear and present danger.”

“Prime’s right, two-tonne.” She glanced to the human area when Agent Fowler grabbed the railing, speaking directly to Bulkhead while the other three Autobots slowly appeared to be catching on to what their leader was getting at. “We know M.E.C.H is obsessed with obtaining ground-breaking technology.”

“Which means we cannot allow Cybertronian biology to fall into their hands.”

– – –

“Where are you going?” Starscream demanded, and I glanced at him, raising an optic ridge.

“To the flight deck?” I replied slowly, like it should have been obvious. “We wanted to rescue Breakdown, right? I would assume you have the coordinates from Soundwave?”

He scowled, catching up to me as we walked. “Yes I have the coordinates, I’m not stupid.” Debatable- The Commander shook his helm. “But we can’t fly, not yet. We’re waiting for the trooper I sent off to return with three others. Then we can head out.”

I shrugged, and stepped aside so the Commander could actually, y’know, command, and followed him out to the main deck area. I signed myself out for an aerial patrol with the Vehicon at the station, and for all intents and purposes that was exactly what I was doing. I just wasn’t going to admit that this patrol was going to double as a rescue mission.

It tracked with my history I was slowly building during the last month, and as long as Starscream managed to keep his intake shut about what we were doing, I should be alright.

It was a good thing I told Ironfoot I would be heading for a flight this afternoon, so he would be able to vouch for my whereabouts should Megatron grow suspicious. An angry Warlord was the last thing I needed.

It was also a good thing Starscream remembered that my squadron was reporting my actions directly to the Warlord, and didn’t try to get some of them to join us on this little treasonous expedition. That would have been a flat out no and he could fight me on that.

“Where are we headed?” I asked once we were out of hearing range from the Vehicon guard.

Starscream glanced at me as we walked to the tail end of the ship. “One of the largest landmasses on this planet. The humans call it ‘Russia’, I believe.” He shook his helm, scoffing quietly. “How Breakdown managed to get himself captured by such weaklings baffles me.”

I raised an optic ridge and chuckled quietly, shrugging when he frowned at me.

“What?”

I merely shook my helm. “I have lived on this planet for 300 years, Starscream. A piece of advice?” He nodded. “Stop underestimating humanity. They are stronger and more versatile than this ship seems to give them credit for.”

That is probably the first piece of actual advice I have given the Decepticons, and I absolutely meant it. Stop taking humanity as inferior. They may be small, and their technology may not be anywhere even close to ours, but they were the dominant species on this planet for a damn good reason: they never knew when to give up.

– – –

The rest of the conversation wrapped up pretty quickly after that, and Bulkhead was absolutely adamant about not going with them.

She really couldn’t find it in her spark to blame him, pushing off the wall she was leaning against and went to walk past the ground bridge, her intention to make it to their berthroom. ~I’m just going to go grab my sword, I’ll be ready in 5-~ She abruptly cut herself off and froze, her dark blue, almost purple optics widening when she realized all over again that she didn’t have her sword.

Megatron did.

She managed to catch the brief flicker of sorrow in her mate’s optics, before he stepped over to her while the rest of the team prepared to head out.

Her spark ached at the reminder, about the fact that this was going to be her first mission she partook in without her Sire’s sword strapped to her backstruts.

Not only was this her first true mission as an Autobot, this would also serve as her first mission without a piece of her Sire at her side, and she didn’t know how she felt about it.

Optimus read all that and more in her optics, his gaze traveling down to her freshly healed shoulderplate, and the stabilizer she was currently favouring as he came up beside her.

~I want you to remain here.~

Phoenix blinked, glancing up and cocked her helm to the side. ~And why is that?~ She demanded, crossing her arms as she stared him down.

Like hell she was going to miss this. She was going, and that was final.

Optimus vented, glancing to the rest of the team as Ratchet began walking to the bridge, armed with his medical kit.

~You’re limping, Phoe. Do you want to reopen your injuries?~ He had a point and she hated it, scowling at him before she ultimately shook her helm.

~And what if Starfire decides to do something about this?~ Phoenix demanded, narrowing her optics at her mate. ~If she’s claiming to be a Decepticon then I am one of your best warriors, if not the best. You need me.~ It didn’t matter that the seeker was theoretically on their side, if she showed up with a herd of Decepticons then that meant she was going to have to fight them, and Phoenix would hate herself if she wasn’t there.

Then again, Arcee would probably love the chance to fight her again.

Optimus frowned at her. ~Phoe, we have been over this,~ he reminded. ~Starfire has been reporting every cycle she can since she took your place on the Warship.~ She flinched, but Optimus wasn’t finished. ~This team is more than capable of handling both Silas and any Decepticon Starfire might bring with her.~

Phoenix frowned, grateful that they were having this argument silently. ~But-~

~But nothing, Phoenix. The team will be alright, and the best thing for you is to wait here.~ Optimus cut her off, a motion that if anyone else tried they would have ended up getting punched. But it was Optimus, and so she shut her intake.

She considered his words, hesitating as the vocals in the back of her helm whispered to her. She didn’t know how she was feeling now that she realized that she wouldn’t have her sword with her, and if Optimus was giving her this excuse to remain behind then maybe she should take it.

Phoenix physically recoiled, and she saw the glimmer of alarm flare in her sparkmate’s optics at her sudden reaction.

Primus Almighty did she just think that?!

She let her arms fall to her sides, jaw dropping slightly as her processor raced to make sense of her most recent thoughts. Since when did she run from a fight? Since when did she allow others to make her calls for her, since when did she let a personal matter dictate what actions she did?!

Yeah, no.

She shook her helm. ~I’m going with you, Optimus. I cannot be expected to sit around all cycle while you and the team are out there facing off against the worst humans this planet has to offer,~ she countered, and she knew he wasn’t too pleased that she was still arguing with him, but this was who he had mated and he should probably remember that this was part of the package deal.

Phoenix never was one to bite her glossa, and she wasn’t keen to start now.

Optimus vented. “If M.E.C.H sees your limp, Phoenix, then they will target you. Can you honestly tell me that you are at your full capacity?” He demanded, out loud, and she narrowed her optics at him but didn’t respond.

“I am well aware that Ratchet cleared you from the medbay, but that does not mean you should go right into battle,” he said quietly, and she actually hated the fact that he was speaking sense, and that she really couldn’t do much of anything to fight against this.

Her arm was still sore and she knew if she tried using it now it would only irritate her injury, and her stabilizer, though able to support her weight again, wasn’t exactly where she would like it.

She wasn’t a Decepticon anymore. She couldn’t just do whatever she pleased now, not when this team actually gave a frag about what happened to her.

Venting, she let her shoulderplates drop, and she knew he knew he had won from the relieved smile that graced his faceplates, gone as quickly as it had arrived.

He had a point and she hated it.

“Come on, Bulk, you gotta go with!” Optimus pivoted at Miko’s plea, their gazes locking onto the Wrecker literally pouting with his arms crossed, glaring at nothing on the floor while his charge desperately tried talking him into joining the mission.

Phoenix smiled wryly, shaking her helm and vented again. She wanted to go, and he adamantly refused to. Ironic.

“Don’t wanna.”

Stepping from her sparkmate, she went over to the bridge control panel and punched in the awaiting coordinates, watching the young human try and fail to convince her guardian into joining the mission.

Knowing the history between the Wrecker and the Decepticon, Phoenix couldn’t really blame Bulkhead for refusing to come to his aid.

Absolutely nothing could make her go to Megatron’s.

“Bulkhead-”

“Optimus, I’m sorry, I just can’t do it!” She watched as the emotions boiled over in the green Autobot, whirling to face their leader, and the look of frustration and grief that spread across his faceplates made her pause, her servos hesitating over the control panel.

He was beyond torn, and her spark broke for him. The Wrecker has been through hell these last few weeks, and now add this to the mix and she really couldn’t blame him for staying behind.

Miko, on the other servo, was different, but that was neither here nor there as Optimus calmly nodded to Bulkhead.

“I support your choice.”

Neither of them were expecting that, and it took all her control to hide her grin as both Miko and Bulkhead gaped at their leader.

“Given your history with Breakdown, your judgement may be clouded, and thus jeopardize the mission. Besides, the Decepticon may be more in need of a medic than another warrior.”

~Ouch.~ She winced, and watched as he gave the order to roll out, and she shut the bridge down behind them when the controls read that all the life signals had made it out of the vortex.

That had to hurt, and she knew neither Miko or Bulkhead were happy about the situation.

“Why aren’t you going?” He turned to face her, and she merely raised an optic ridge and gestured to her wounded stabilizer.

“Take a wild guess.”

Bulkhead wisely didn’t mention it any further, and glanced back to the bridge, and she faintly heard him sarcastically wish them a happy hunting.

Phoenix raised an optic ridge, but decided the best thing for him was for her to stay out of it. Let the Wrecker work out his own feelings, it wasn’t any of her business.

They both turned when Miko grumbled and crossed her arms over the railing, and she caught the confliction in Bulkhead’s optics when he saw the utter disappointment radiating off of the child.

She was staying out of that mess, too.

“Uh- what do ya say, Creature Double Feature?” He tried, and Phoenix honestly felt bad for the mech when Miko gave a not-so-enthusiastic sure and refused to look at her guardian.

“Woah ho, I’m in!” She did however raise an optic ridge at Agent Fowler’s cheerful agreement, honestly finding herself a tad taken aback at this side of the man.

She hardly had much contact with him, besides mission reports and debriefs, but to see him grinning at Miko and Bulkhead was something that caught her quite off guard, all things considered. It was a side to him that she did not expect.

With little left to say, the two Autobots and two humans made their way over to the human seating area, Fowler laying dibs on the couch while Miko settled in above her guardian, dimming the lights but did not look impressed.

Honestly, Phoenix wasn’t either, but it was not her place to get between the Wrecker and his charge, and all she could do right now was rest her injured limbs and try to recover in time for the next mission.

She hated being left behind.

– – –

“How do you know so much about humans, anyway?” Starscream asked after a quiet moment, and I spared him a sideways glance before turning my attention back to the blue and white skies around us.

Where would I even begin with humanity?

“Well, for starters, they are some of the most stubborn fraggers I have ever seen,” I hummed, crossing my arms and shook my helm tiredly. “But this group in particular has really ticked me off, so if I get the opportunity to return the favour, then I’m going to take it.” It wasn’t really a lie, but it wasn’t the whole truth, either.

M.E.C.H was a very clear threat, and if I allowed Silas to dismantle Breakdown like they so clearly tried to do to me, then my village, my Network, and everyone I have ever cared about will be put into even further danger, and that was something that I could not let happen. It was bad enough that they found me within clicks of the village, they did not need to figure out how we were communicating.

I had been so preoccupied with everything else going on this past month that I had completely forgotten about the threat Silas posed. Tracking him down if he got away again was something to add to my ever-growing to-do list.

Starscream frowned. “I take it you have a history with them,” he guessed, and I simply laughed dryly and nodded once again.

“You could say that.”

It wasn’t like Silas had blown up my home or anything. It wasn’t like his actions caused the direct chain of events that led me to this very conversation right here, it wasn’t like M.E.C.H and their insane desire to get the best and most ground-breaking technology forced me to take an active stance in this forsaken war.

No shit I have a history with them.

One encounter. That was all it took, just one little insignificant encounter and here we are, with Megatron awake as ever while a Neutral spy reported his movements to the Autobots.

I didn’t want to get involved in this blasted war.

Starscream surprisingly took note of the anger that was beginning to form over my frame, and wisely backed off long enough for me to vent and regain my composure.

Silas was the reason I stopped running, and I still don’t know how to feel about that.

I’ve always run, ever since my city was destroyed. It’s all I have ever been able to do.

The Commander frowned at me, and at my responses. “What made you join the Decepticons?” He asked quietly, and I knew he caught me tensing.

Primus I was worked up enough as it was, did I really need to explain myself to Starscream?

Knowing I couldn’t very well ignore him, I merely shrugged again. “As I stated earlier, I saw an opportunity and I took it,” I murmured. “Anything to get back at the Autobots for all the pain they have caused me.”

I knew I had piqued Starscream’s interest, the rescue mission temporarily forgotten as he stepped back up beside me. “What would the Autobots want with a former Neutral?” He asked. “Aside from the little stunt that brought you here, they should have no need to target someone like you.”

I ignored the subtle jab and the sneer itching to cross his faceplates, balling my fists and continued staring across the endless sea of blue and white.

Why indeed, Starscream.

“They killed the people I loved,” I said simply, and silently begged Starscream to drop it.

He did no such thing.

The Commander blinked and tilted his helm. “That doesn’t sound like the Autobots.”

It was all I could do to subdue my laughter, rolling my optics. Turning, I fixed the Decepticon Commander with a look, raising an optic ridge at the utter nerve he gave.

Of course he didn’t know the Autobots like I did. He was a Decepticon, and they were Autobots. Their reputations far preceded both factions, but within every group there were outliers. It was why Phoenix defected and many Autobots looked down on the Neutrals.

There were always exceptions to the rules, and the Neutrals lived by that mentality.

I smiled wryly. “That’s because you knew them as another faction. I knew them as a Neutral.” They were far from kind to my people, even if I was embellishing the entire thing to sell my point.

There’s a damn good reason the Neutral Network advised against interacting with either faction. The Autobots would judge us, and the Decepticons would kill us.

Starscream stared at me, and I merely turned back to watching the sky, ignoring him and willed my sparkbeat to slow. I wasn’t interested in saying anything else on the matter, ignoring the ache in my chassis when I thought about my son.

Raze didn’t deserve to offline, he deserved to live and grow and thrive and-

I blinked when an alert ran across my screen, tensing almost instantly when Daniel’s message only lasted long enough for me to read before promptly deleting itself from my systems.

The only reason he would risk sending a message to me directly like this was if something was well and truly wrong.

It was only two simple lines, but they made my energon run cold: ~Border alarms tripped; come when you can.~

There was activity near my village. Near my home, near my people.

There was activity near my fragging home.

I had a choice. Track down Breakdown, or go protect my people.

It would never be a choice, but I really needed to figure out how I was going to do both.

“What is taking them so long?” Starscream was saying, narrowing his optics down the length of the flight deck and scoffed when four Vehicons finally ran out to us.

“Well it’s about time! Hurry up, we have a mission to do!”

I was hardly listening, sifting through my files to find the com-link of the one person who would rather see me offline than help me, writing out a quick and desperate message and sent it before turning to the five Decepticons beside me.

I couldn’t be in two places at once, but I could damn well try to be.

There wasn’t a chance in the pits that I would leave my people unprotected, and I both loved and hated that everyone around me always seemed to underestimate me.

Starscream gave the order, and the six of us took to the skies.

– – –

“Dino lizard vs five-headed ape. You’re missing the smackdown.” Phoenix vented when Bulkhead again tried and failed to get his charge to engage in an activity that she normally loved, but Miko was far from willing to take the bait.

They were standing behind the human sitting area with the lights dimmed, Agent Fowler apparently out cold on the couch while Miko sulked on the boardwalk, watching a movie to pass the time until the team got back. She would have loved to have gone out there, but as per usual her sparkmate knew what he was talking about and for once she was going to listen to him. Maybe.

She did tear her optics away from the television and the new dagger she was sharpening when Miko clearly had enough, slamming her hands onto the railing and hauled herself to her feet. “No, you’re missing the smackdown!”

Let no one ever claim that Miko took things laying down.

“Huh?” Bulkhead was barely able to get a sound out before his young human was ranting at him, her pent up anger at her guardian spewing out rapid fire.

“Which stinks, because Breakdown is your arch enemy! Not Optimus’, and definitely not M.E.C.H’s!”

Yeah, she was definitely staying out of this one.

Phoenix watched from the corner of her optic as Bulkhead vented, putting her dagger down and folded her arms across her chassis. “Miko, you don’t understand. Breakdown and me… we go way back. You have no idea the things he’s done. I am not rescuing him, ok? Not now, not ever!” His vocals rose the longer he spoke, his utter conviction in where he stood appearing unshakeable.

She winced, and turned slightly away from the quarrelling duo. She really didn’t want to know how many Cybertronians there were out there who thought the same about her. The amount of scrap she’s done since the war started would be enough to compare her to Megatron, and everyone knew it.

Once, she used to take pride in that fact. But now all it did was cause her unsurmountable levels of grief and regret.

A gentle push of reassurance seeped down through the bond, and Phoenix smiled slightly to herself, ignoring her vicious and brutal inner vocals. She could always count on him to keep her steady.

“Duh! You don’t need to bromance him, Bulk. You just need to beat him!” She whipped her helm over to the duo and gaped at the words Miko just said, and the utter scrap-eating grin morphing over her face.

“Uh- what?”

“No rescue, no rematch!”

Oh Primus-

“Yeah, I’m gonna have to stop you there,” Phoenix interrupted, stepping closer and grabbed the Wrecker’s arm, stalling him in place. She saw the light dawning on him and she would be damned if she let him make this decision without thinking it through first. “You were just saying you would be unable to bear the thought of helping him,” she reminded, continuing before Miko could get a word in, turning Bulkhead to face her and narrowed her optics at the mech.

“Are you absolutely certain you will be able to go through with this?” She asked, and she was just relieved that he recognized her actions not as criticism, but as actual, genuine concern and warning.

She knew all too well what happened when you acted on impulse and emotion, so she was ready to support Bulkhead in this, but only if he was completely sure this was what he was able to do, both physically and mentally.

Bulkhead nodded once, and so she released the grip she had on his arm.

“I hope you realize this means I’m going with you, right?”

Finally, she gets to actually do something! Just gotta make sure Optimus doesn’t get wind of this, but he was focused on his half of the mission. It wasn’t like she could let Bulkhead go off on his own, no, that would be foolish!

A wave of almost giddiness crashed through her at the prospect, and Bulkhead shared a quick grin with Miko.

“I’ll get the bridge running.”

She smiled and retrieved the dagger she left next to the couch, subspacing it and was about to head over to the Wrecker standing in front of the open bridge, but she was halted in her tracks when a message came through her systems, tensing as she instantly recognized the caller.

“Is something wrong?” She ignored Bulkhead’s question and narrowed her optics at nothing, quickly reading the text and deleted it as soon as she got the coordinates downloaded.

“I need you to use your codes and scan for Cybertronian life at these coordinates. I know you can.”

Starfire had some nerve contacting her, she’ll give her that.

The only reason she was running her scan was because humans were at risk, and that was it. She recognized the coordinates from the last time she ran into M.E.C.H, and consequently the first time she met the seeker who had weaseled her way into the Decepticon ranks.

She should have dealt with Silas then, but that human was resilient, much to her frustration. Survived her explosions and everything with little more than a servo full of machinery. Lovely.

Starfire would only ask this of her if her humans were in danger, and despite the fact she did not like the seeker, she wasn't about to drag some innocent humans into their quarrel. She was better than that.

It took a moment before the readings returned to her, and she forwarded them to the seeker before deleting the thread. Faint traces, but that would be expected since Starfire claimed to have spent the majority of the last 300 years in that valley.

“I’m fine, let’s get going,” she replied, walking past the Wrecker and let out a vent of relief when he didn’t push it.

She really didn’t want to admit to him that she was still upset at Starfire, not when the two of them were so close. That was a can of worms that was better left unopened for the time being.

She spent way too much time with Miko on the internet if she was beginning to think thoughts like those.

“We’ll be back, Miko!” She called over her shoulderplate, Bulkhead nodding once before the two of them transformed and drove through the bridge, leaving the base and the humans behind.

They left the bridge into a ruined scenery, both Autobots transforming and eyed the surrounding area warily. Ruined human structures lined the courtyard they were standing in, the only light coming from their frames as she scanned the nearby area.

Fowler was right, this place had been abandoned for a long, long time, and she knew M.E.C.H just loved places like these. No one and nothing would interrupt whatever hateful experiment they were trying to conduct this time around. Lovely.

Her scanners automatically began picking up Cybertronian signatures North by North-West, and she had a sneaking suspicion that was where their team was.

So it was a good thing she had her scanners running, it did not mean she had to like the person behind the reminder.

The more concerning fact was the fainter energon signal emitting from the area.

The team is fine.

“I’ve got tracks over here.” Phoenix glanced at Bulkhead and frowned, stepping closer and crouched down next to him.

Her optics narrowed. “They’re deeper than the rest,” she murmured, brushing a servo over the deep-set of tracks. She stood, knowing for a damn fact that their team had been led astray. “He was dragged off towards the volcano.”

Bulkhead nodded, and they wordlessly transformed and sped off, keeping to the tracks surrounding the nearby buildings.

She allowed him to take point, and while they drove she figured she should probably inform the team what they were attempting to do.

Yes, Optimus had ordered her to stay at the base, but she wasn’t about to let Bulkhead face Silas and Breakdown on his own. That would be even more irresponsible of her and they both knew it.

She reached for him through their bond, and followed close behind the Wrecker when he transformed and ducked behind one of the many apartment complexes. She did the same and glanced behind them, an optic on their rear should anyone try to sneak up on them.

“M.E.C.H,” Bulkhead murmured, drawing her gaze back to him and frowned when a lone vehicle drove between a few other buildings, thankfully oblivious to their presence.

“Stay alert,” she cautioned, earning herself a nod from the mech before they were both running after it, letting Silas lead them directly to wherever they were keeping the Decepticon.

Her mate hadn’t responded yet, but she knew he was aware of the bond if he was able to respond to her thoughts earlier. She sent a simple explanation as to what they were doing before stepping away, deciding to take her own advice and kept an optic trained to the sky. She wouldn't put it past Silas to have helicopters patrolling.

“Did you ever have any missions with Breakdown?” Bulkhead asked out of the blue, catching her by surprise as she kept a blaster pointed at their rear.

“I thought I told you to stay alert,” Phoenix ground out, but the Wrecker just huffed and was clearly expecting some sort of response.

She vented, holding off on responding until they cleared another square and took note of a set of railroad tracks, leading into the base of the mountain.

Gritting her denta, she begrudgingly offered him an answer, venting deeply. “Yeah, once or twice,” she admitted, glancing at him briefly before they ducked behind another rotted building, and she shoved down the guilt that was threatening to surface.

She was a Decepticon, and acted as such. Now she was an Autobot but by the Allspark her past was a difficult pill to swallow.

“I was never really involved in the same circles he was, though. He and Knockout tended to remain close to wherever headquarters was, or out in the field doing whatever it was that medics did.” She frowned when she saw another M.E.C.H vehicle drive past, itching to lay down some fire, but figured that wasn’t the brightest idea she had ever had, not if their goal was to get in, get Breakdown, and get out.

As much as she agreed with Optimus, she still couldn’t believe they were actually embarking on a rescue mission for him. It was… interesting, to say the least.

“Huh. That makes sense,” he said, and she just about rolled her optics.

“Can we please focus now?” She huffed, and followed the Wrecker when he nodded and ran after the second vehicle to pass them.

For someone as smart as Silas was, he sure didn’t know how to keep a surveillance, that was for damn sure.

If she tried anything of the sort back on Cybertron, the Autobots and Decepticons would have shot them down by now.

Sometimes it was a perk dealing with humans.

Sometimes.

They followed the tracks to the mouth of a cave, the Autobots sharing a quick look before proceeding, following it deeper into the heart of the volcano, weapons armed and at the ready.

For once, neither of them were in the mood to talk, following the tracks until they came upon a large, definitely-sealed metal door, the two of them sharing another look and appeared to be thinking the same thing.

Phoenix wordlessly put her blaster away and dramatically motioned for the Wrecker to live up to his title.

“Be ready, they’re probably gonna fight back,” she mused, grinning wider when Bulkhead laughed, arming his wrecking ball and held it up gleefully.

“I’m counting on it.”

Without another word he pivoted and slammed his club into the dead center of the metal, the echo resounding down through the halls.

She laughed, shaking her helm at him and crossed her arms as she moved to lean up against the tunnel wall. “How many strikes do you think it’ll take?” She drawled, Bulkhead hitting it again twice more before pausing to glance at her. Already the wall was severely dented, and the Wrecker just grinned without responding.

He hit it again for a fourth time, and she idly examined her digits as she counted a fifth and a sixth, shoving from the wall.

“This will be the last one,” she predicted, and the look on his faceplates was priceless when she drew her freshly sharpened daggers in preparation.

Bulkhead backed up a step, rolling his arm and hopping in place, really amping up the suspense, and she actually laughed when his wrecking ball connected with the guard door and sent it flying above the heads of over a dozen little humans.

“Marko!!”

Phoenix outright cackled when the small humans screamed, causally walking behind Bulkhead’s carnage and grinned wider at his taunts.

“You’re supposed to say polo!”

Makes her glad that he was an Autobot.

Phoenix calmly followed behind as Bulkhead cleared the way, raising an optic ridge when a human lifted his head before promptly laying it back down when he saw her watching him.

Well, at least someone was smart.

She glanced up when the tunnel opened up to reveal a workstation of sorts, and directly before them was the prone Decepticon they had been sent here to save, cut open and in the process of being dismantled.

Frowning, she watched Bulkhead carefully as he approached, keeping a blaster trained in front of him up until the point where he made it to Breakdown.

Neither of them said a word for a long, long moment, and Phoenix found herself unable to anticipate what Bulkhead would actually do. Here he was, faceplate to faceplate with the one Decepticon who would go out of his way to offline him if given the chance. Now Bulkhead had that chance and she could only guess what kind of thoughts were racing through his processor. Breakdown certainly wasn't expecting mercy of any kind, not this cycle.

“It must be your lucky day.”

She recognized the look on the Decepticon’s faceplates, at what he believed would be his execution, and the simple, tank-wrenching shock that spread over his expression when Bulkhead started breaking his restraints.

Smiling faintly, she nodded once to the Wrecker before turning to the vast screens in front of them, crossing her arms as she quickly read the amount of data Silas had managed to pull from the Decepticon.

Well, that just can’t do, now can it?

Huffing quietly, she walked past the two warriors and stood at the foot of the railing, nodding to herself and began routing around in her subspace for the transfer drive she needed.

“Wha- what are you doing?” She picked up the disbelief in Breakdown’s vocals, ignoring both of them as she found the drive and got to work making a port for it.

Silas wants the best and brightest technology? Fine. She’ll give it to him, but he is not going to like it.

“Getting you out of here.” She caught the disbelieving pause without turning around to look. “Yeah, I can’t believe it either.”

Phoenix’s smile was there and gone in the blink of an optic, and she could honestly say she was proud of Bulkhead for the things he had done tonight.

Now, however, she was fixing up a device to let her connect her drive into the main computer, and that was going to take a bit of time that they didn’t necessarily have.

Humming, she paused in what she was doing and turned around, facing the two mechs and raised a ridge when Breakdown stared at her.

Oh yeah, she was supposed to be offline.

Too bad.

She flashed him a grin, turning to Bulkhead and ignored the look Breakdown was giving her. Now was neither the time nor the place and she just wasn’t going to consider the fact that Megatron would know she was alive just as soon as Breakdown got back to the Nemesis. “I’m going to need you to clear the exit,” she said, glancing up when a high-alert alarm began blaring.

Well isn’t that fun.

“What about you?” Bulkhead demanded, glancing at Breakdown who had only just snapped out of his stupor. She could see the moment he realized that he was vastly outmatched here, and she just begged him to try something. See where it got him.

“I have a few gifts for Silas,” she chirped, grinning. “I’ll be sure to catch up.” Bulkhead nodded and wisely didn’t argue with her, when she turned on Breakdown. The mech had closed his chassis and appeared unsteady on his peds, but she knew that wouldn’t last long. The second they engaged in battle his systems would kick into high gear and the pain he was feeling would go to the backburner.

“Breakdown, if you so much as think about stabbing him in the backstruts, I will personally hunt you down. Got it?” She narrowed her optics at him, and she caught the brief flash of fear that shone in his one-surviving optic, there and gone in a blink before he glared at her.

“Yeah yeah, whatever,” he scoffed, and if she didn’t have more important things to worry about she would have punched him, injuries or not, but fortunately for him Primus was on his side, and the two ran down the halls without another word.

Finally, some peace and quiet.

– – –

I took up the rear of the wing while we flew, Starscream maintaining the helm position while the four Vehicon troopers stayed near the center. We were quickly approaching Russia, having flown for the last 20 minutes straight. We couldn’t very well bridge out here, and the Warship was a decent distance from the largest country on this planet.

Phoenix had replied almost as soon as I sent the message, and I knew the only reason she bothered was because it wasn’t me at risk. I wouldn’t doubt that she was still absolutely furious with me, but apparently that fury didn’t transfer to innocents.

For that, I was grateful.

I vented, unable to get Daniel’s message out of my helm, and I knew if I was distracted when we faced down Silas then I would be at an even bigger disadvantage than I already was. I wasn’t a fighter, and the wrong word out of that man’s mouth and I was done for. Starscream was aware that he and I had history, but if Silas mentioned the village, and the people I had tried to protect, or even the fact that I was clearly involved with Roselake long before I handed it to the Decepticons, then the Commander would begin to poke holes in my cover that I wasn’t ready to patch up yet.

It was frustrating, and terrifying all at once. I had to be extremely careful.

How was I meant to play a part though when it felt like the very ground beneath my peds was falling out from under me? My people were threatened, and even with assurance that they were relatively safe, who knows how long that would last? Shockburner was still to be taken into consideration, and if Silas wanted to, he could out every one of my secrets. The only thing he didn’t know about was the Network.

He knew I had ties to the former base Roselake, to the small human village in the valley. He’d have to be stupid not to have known, not with my hollow being less than 10 clicks away from them. Roselake had done a decent job at warding them off, but now that the base was destroyed-

I felt the energon drain from my systems, and it took all my willpower and common sense to remain in the formation.

Shockburner knows where my people are. He knows I booted him from the Network. And now that Roselake is no longer able to defend my people, with the the border alarms being tripped-

I knew better than to put this past him. He knows exactly how important those people are to me.

“We’re approaching the coordinates. Stay in formation and await my orders,” Starscream ordered, and I metaphorically shook myself off my worries and inwardly shouted at myself to focus.

I would be of no help to the village offline.

I caught the blips on my scanners indicating aerial bogeys, and it didn’t take a genius to figure out that it was Silas and his men, Starscream leading us towards the signals. We flew for another 30 seconds before I saw the blips retreat, and followed the seekers when they leveled out and transformed right in front of Breakdown and Bulkhead.

I refused to let my wings give away the surprise at seeing my old friend standing side by side with the Decepticon he has tried for ages to kill, and instead schooled my expression into one of mere boredom, moving to stand beside the four Vehicons Starscream had brought with us.

The two mechs were battered and worn and scraped, a handful of fires and debris scattered around the smokey air right outside a tunnel entrance that I had a sneaking suspicion led to the heart of the volcano.

Ruined vehicles lay around the clearing, the unfortunate few that were unable to evacuate before we got here.

I found it hard to find any sympathy for them.

The instant Breakdown realized who we were he straightened, turning his back to the Autobot. “Commander Starscream!”

I raised an optic ridge, glancing past him to Bulkhead, who was watching us all warily. He caught my gaze and blinked, but that was all the acknowledgement he would show me, not with Starscream stalking towards Breakdown right in front of him.

“Consorting with the enemy, Breakdown?” He drawled, the accusation weighing heavily in the air and the medical assistant recoiled.

“Bulkhead got me out of there.” I could hear it in his vocals that he thought that fact should have been obvious, and from the look the two of them shared I could tell that neither of them were expecting this outcome.

I know I never expected Bulkhead to rescue Breakdown, not after their intense hatred for each other had coloured each and every one of their engagements for the last million years.

Now to find the two of them here, standing side by side.

Interesting.

Starscream gave an exaggerated bow to the Wrecker, his entire demeanour oozing with mocking pretense that quite literally made me grit my denta in annoyance. “Many spark-felt thanks, Autobot. Now destroy him.”

Bulkhead took an instant step back, Breakdown hesitating and looked between his Commander and the bot who just saved his life.

I didn’t have the means of reaching out to Fowler or the Autobots before we left, so the fact that they had tracked M.E.C.H here on their own did set my worries at ease, slightly. Fowler wasn’t completely incompetent, thankfully.

But now Bulkhead was entirely outnumbered, and I didn’t know where the rest of Team Prime was. If it came down to a fire-fight I don’t think I would be able to stand by and watch them hurt him.

No, I knew I couldn’t. I would step in, and that would be the end of my time as a Decepticon.

At least I gained access to the Neutral Network. I would be able to maintain my connection so long as the Nemesis either remained in orbit above the planet or somewhere within the solar system.

At least there was that.

However, while I was coming to terms with the fact that this would be the first and last mission I partook in as a Decepticon, I was outwardly watching as Starscream yelled at Breakdown. “Do you plan on joining their ranks anytime soon? No? Then be done with him already!”

I watched as Breakdown looked between his Commander and the mech who saved his spark, and watched his quick but all-too-real dilemma as he came to terms with what he needed to do. Either be accused of treason for a faction he did not want to join, or offline Bulkhead right here and now.

As much as I hated it, I knew what choice he would make, and I couldn’t even claim to be surprised.

One good action did not erase eons of war and hatred and the lines between Autobot and Decepticon needed to remain clear. He could not be caught showing mercy of any kind, not today.

Not after what Phoenix had done.

From the wary look on my old friend’s expression, he knew it too.

“Tough break, Bulkhead. Maybe in the next life.”

The quick warning look Bulkhead gave me halted me from exposing myself, tensing when the Wrecker side-stepped Breakdown’s attack and walloped him with one of his own, sending the Decepticon to the ground.

“Destroy him!” Starscream was far from happy, and had hardly given the order to engage before Bulkhead uppercutted him hard enough to send the Commander flying back into our ranks.

My optics widened a tad and briefly locked with his through the smoke as he stared the Vehicons down, glaring at them when they drew their blasters, and it didn’t take a genius to realize what he was doing when he actually smirked and grabbed Breakdown from where he had thrown him, barely having enough time to jump out of the way when he spun and launched the warrior right into our ranks, Breakdown crashing smack into Starscream and the four troopers with me.

I had barely lifted my helm and Starscream had only barely regained his footing when slow, drawn-out clapping stole our attention, and I looked back to the tunnel and paled when I recognized the Autobot casually strolling up to Bulkhead’s side. Her grin sent my instincts on edge and I knew the Commander at my side was only unafraid of her because he was so pissed off.

Phoenix came to a halt when she was side-by-side with the Wrecker, examining all of us like we were the most boring pieces of equipment she had ever seen, and idly raised an optic ridge.

“What’s all the fuss about?” She drawled, resting an elbow-joint on Bulkhead’s shoulderplating. “Don’t tell me you actually cared enough to notice when one of your soldiers went missing this time, Starscream,” she purred, and I knew she was enjoying riling him up as no doubt my words from our first meeting repeated themselves in his helm.

~Phoenix defected under your command. Do not think Lord Megatron is not acutely aware of that little detail.~

The Commander glared at her, the Vehicons taking rank behind him as I remained slightly off to the side. “I’m shocked to see you online, Phoenix. Rumour had it Lord Megatron was quite certain he finished you off.” He snapped back, and from the way her optics darkened when she glanced at me I knew she had still not forgiven me for the part I had played during the whole thing.

Starscream was watching. I had to sell this if I wanted any chance of surviving the Nemesis.

I merely smiled at her and ignored the fact that the Commander caught her glare. “It would seem that some bots are harder to offline than others,” I commented, crossing my arms and shrugged. “That’s not to say it can’t be done. No one can live forever,” I added.

If looks could kill I would be six feet below the Earth, but her devastating glare shifted off of me within a sparkbeat and swung over to Breakdown when the Decepticon reclaimed his peds. I was genuinely taken aback at how swiftly her expression shifted, and if I had thought she was angry before it was nothing compared to the icy calmness that overtook her faceplates now.

“I thought I gave you a warning, Breakdown,” she said quietly, to the point even Starscream flinched.

“I won’t forget this, I assure you,” she promised, and I suddenly realized that I was so, so wrong. She wasn’t willing to offline me, or blow my cover, or go out of her way to harm me or the people I cared about, because the look she was giving Breakdown, the energon draining from his faceplates, would be enough to give Unicron nightmares. It was the face of Megatron’s most feared Assassin, the femme who had gone to unspeakable lengths to do whatever it was that she had been sent to do, and not even the fact that she was now an Autobot would be able to change that part of her.

She would always be Megatron’s Assassin, if not in practice then in sheer ability.

Phoenix idly examined him, the silence between the factions hanging heavily in the air as it stretched until I thought it might very well snap, Bulkhead glaring at the troopers as though he was silently daring them to take her up on her unspoken threat.

I felt like I could breathe again when she finally spoke. “But for right now, I am seriously in no mood to fight. So I am going to offer all of you one chance to leave before I dent in some cinder blocks,” she said, earning another scowl from the Commander on my left. It was only then that I realized just how heavily she was leaning on Bulkhead, and I quickly understood that I had to get the Decepticons out of here before they caught onto her bluff.

“Leave, because I have an entire month’s worth of pent-up energy just waiting for a fragger who would. Try me, I beg you,” she taunted, Starscream outright seething at the Assassin-turned-Autobot casually threatening him while the only reason she was standing was thanks to the warrior at her side.

Primus Almighty this fem was good, I’ll give her that. If I didn’t know Bulkhead well enough to catch the slight strain he was exerting to keep her steady then I never would have known.

“Commander, a word?” I said quietly, Starscream sparing me a mere glance as I stepped over to whisper in his audial.

“If we take any casualties, then Megatron will come to learn of this little expedition,” I murmured, and from the way he glared at the Autobots I had a feeling he didn’t want to have to deal with the fallout of a battle.

Neither did I, but for a whole other world of reasons. Reasons that Starscream could never learn about.

“Very well. Though the next time we meet, Phoenix, I will not be so understanding,” Starscream ground out, and the Assassin simply laughed at his threat.

“I wish you luck, Screamer. Say hi to Megs for me, will ya?” She chirped, Starscream growling under his venting before ordering the squadron to retreat, the Vehicons taking flight after him and shot off into the dark sky, past the volcano and swiftly out of sight.

Breakdown shared a quick look with me before he ran off, transforming and drove into the distance down the railroad tracks.

Now with a full moment alone, I turned to the pair before me and frowned. Clearly she had waited until they were out of danger, but now her full weight was leaning on Bulkhead and she was venting heavily.

We weren’t even remotely close enough for me to ask if she was alright, so I did the next best thing, knowing I was playing with borrowed time the longer it took for me to follow after Starscream and the squadron. They could have already noticed I was gone for all I knew.

I didn’t care.

I nodded to her, glancing over my shoulderplating when my scanners alerted me to movement and caught the Autobot team running over, weapons at the ready but at the lack of any noticeable threat they thankfully weren’t shooting.

Facing the pair I vented. “Thank you for checking the coordinates for me,” I murmured, and though she was still glaring at me and clearly did not trust me, the sheer ice that had been present for Breakdown had melted and she merely looked tired.

“You better get going before Screamer notices you’re gone,” she replied quietly, and I nodded. She was right, and I hated it. I hated that this is what it had come down to, but I would do it all again and we all knew it.

“I’ll keep in touch,” I promised, and with a nod to Bulkhead and the Autobots just arriving beside us I transformed and took to the skies.

– – –

I had decided against rejoining with the squadron, figuring the best form of cover would be to explain away my absence, not to try and pretend I never left. I contacted Starscream and told him bluntly that I was heading out for an actual patrol, and if he knew what was good for him he would make sure Breakdown didn’t speak of this little event to Megatron.

Starscream clearly didn’t like being ordered around, but I didn’t care and cut the call, pushing my systems to the limit as I flew across the Pacific towards the one group of people I cherished with all my spark.

If anything had happened to them there would be nothing to hold me back.

– – –

I arrived nearly an hour later and landed outside the cancellation field, transforming and looked around the old forest warily. It was only mid-afternoon, and the sheer white of the untouched snow covering the forest was nearly blinding.

That didn’t mean someone wasn’t out there, watching my people and making sure I came for them. For all I knew this could be a trap, a lure to get me away from the Warship and the Decepticon forces.

For all I knew this could be nothing.

I quickly began walking, picking my peds up through the deep mounds and kept repeating over and over to myself that my people were fine. No one had called in a panic demanding me to rush to their aid, there had been no news on the Network calling for the village to evacuate. My people were fine, it was nothing to worry about and this would just be a simple check-in.

Right?

I exhaled and finally made it across the border, looking and failing to find any noticeable tracks that would indicate an enemy presence.

That really didn’t mean anything.

I rounded the bend in the snow-blown road and came upon the village, the rows of shops lining the main road into the heart of the village covered in white and small, festive decorations.

Standing at the border into town stood Chief Catori, dressed for the cold in a long deer-skin parka and a pair of fleece boots, her twin braids blowing slightly in the wind when she turned from her conversation.

The two men standing with her looked when she did, and I immediately recognized Albert, the aging man in charge of the Border Guard looking frighteningly calm in the face of the alarm tripping. The Guardian wore a simple jacket of white and brown, to better camouflage out in the large valley we called our home.

The only one who showed me any kind of emotional response was Josh, my old friend running up to me and reached his hand to my servo when I knelt down. The snow was cold on my kneeplate, but I couldn’t be bothered to care.

“You came.” There was relief in his voice.

Like it was a question.

I nodded, and looked behind him when Catori and Albert stepped over. “What are we looking at?” I asked quietly, and my spark clenched at the look they shared.

Please, no. Let me have worried for nothing, please.

Catori lifted her head and Albert nodded, motioning for me to follow them out of the village into the surrounding forest.

Wordlessly we did, rising from my crouch and went first so Josh and Catori would have an easier time following. Albert was fine, he had trained in these woods his entire life and knew them better than even I did. His movements through the thick snow would be fine.

No one spoke while we walked, though I found myself checking over my shoulderplate time after time, checking on my two friends again and again.

I couldn’t bear the thought of anything happening to them.

After a long walk Albert stepped aside, and I recognized the area being the foremost Northern edge of the cancellation field, and far past where the border would have been tripped.

Warily, I walked closer when he waved me on, and I looked past him into a small clearing surrounded by towering pine. Cutting through the far end was the stream that ran throughout the valley.

The village had relied on it for their water, and adamantly refused to install any of the plumbing Roselake had offered them ten long years ago, opting instead to use the offer to build a well near the center of the village. Now, however, it was mostly frozen over, and the task of gaining water would be far from simple if the well froze too.

I knew my people could manage, they have for as long as I have known them, but that wasn’t what stole the air from my systems or made the clearing spin as I swayed.

Written in the snow in bold Cybertronian, half filled in, was a single message written with the sole intention that I would find it:

“I know who you care about.”

Shockburner.

– – –

Chapter Text

Not for the first time, Shockburner was pestering me to let him into the Network.

We had been flying for cycles, and our ship wasn’t due to drop into a port for another full seven more. Unfortunately, that meant we needed to ration our energon between not just the four of us, but into the fuel reserves for the Brilliance as well.

Naturally, it had caused a slight bit of tension among us, and he was seriously beginning to get on my last nerve.

On and on he would ask me for the codes, and when that wouldn’t work he would turn to our commander instead.

Straightwire was having none of his nonsense, and would remind him that neither she nor Crossbreaker had access to the Network either. It was safer for every Neutral out in the reaches of the known galaxy that only one bot on our vessel had the codes, and for better or for worse that bot was me, and to pry from me the Network I cherished so deeply would be a task that not even Megatron could have accomplished.

What none of us cared to tell him was that if they wanted, I would have been able to get all of them access if they had just said the word. It didn’t matter that Crossbreaker was a former Decepticon officer or that Straightwire was a former Autobot soldier. If I vouched for their characters then the Network would have issued them codes.

The only reason I didn’t was because neither of them wanted it. They trusted me to monitor it and report to them, and that was exactly what I did. The only one who wasn’t content with this arrangement was Shockburner.

I had even gone so far as to begin the process of getting him his own codes, but what he failed to figure out was when it came down to his character, I spoke against him.

For someone to receive a code to the Neutral Network, they must not only know a code holder, but that very same bot must speak on their behalf to the Neutrals running the Network. No one actually knows who created the Network, only that early on in the war after the fall of Crystal City, after the influx of civilian lives thrown out to fend for themselves, the Network appeared and rapidly spread across the planet. To add someone to the Network it would need to be approved by another Network of sorts, bots who have far more access to the Neutral Network than anyone else. No one knows who any of them are, not even each other, and thus none of are them able to compromise the others should they be captured.

In the event of capture, however, an alert would be made almost immediately no matter the circumstance and their codes would be locked out indefinitely, so even if they broke under torture the rest of our people would be safe. Brutal though it may be, it was the only way to ensure the rest of the Network wouldn’t become compromised.

I had reached out to that secondary Network after ages of his pestering, a lone frequency that very few were able to access, and when I got a response I was able to explain to them the situation and ultimately recommend against handing our people over to the likes of Shockburner.

Their secrecy is what kept us safe, and I was using that to my advantage.

I then told him that they had refused to grant him access, citing Straightwire’s logic of having only one bot per ship with access to the Network, and he was not pleased in the slightest to learn about it.

He kept going on about how stupid of a rule that was, how if anything happened to me they would be stranded without a means of contacting anyone. We all pointed out that the Brilliance was hooked into the navigation centers of the Network, so even if I lost main access, we wouldn’t be without means of locating aid.

Shockburner dropped it after a while, but Straightwire warned me to be on my guard and to report to her any suspicious activity should I see anything. So when I awoke in the middle of the recharge cycle to someone trying to break into my datapad, I freaked.

“What the frag do you think you are doing?” I demanded, leaping out of my bunk and yanked my datapad out of his servos, Straightwire waking instantly from the top berth.

His bright blue optics widened in shock, illuminated only by the light from my open door. I glared at him, not waiting for a response and shoved him out of my quarters. “Next time I find you in my room without permission, expect a hole through your shoulderplate,” I snapped, and promptly shut and relocked the door.

– – –

They all watched as she flew off in silence, and only turned to each other when Starfire was far out of sight.

Phoenix knew she was in for an audial full once they returned to base, but she didn’t regret her decisions, not in the slightest. If she let Bulkhead hunt down M.E.C.H and Breakdown on his own, and something happened to him, then she never would have been able to live with herself.

The fact that her wounds were acting up was beside the point, and she was grateful that Starfire caught onto it as quickly as she did and got Starscream out of there before he discovered her bluff.

As much as she was angry at that seeker, she owed Starfire that much.

Now, the only reason she was still on her peds was thanks to Bulkhead’s support, her stabilizer aching and outright protesting the exertion she was putting on it this cycle, and the added strain in her shoulderplating wasn’t helping anything. It was all she could do to keep from becoming dead-weight for the Wrecker.

She could see it in Optimus’ optics that he wasn’t too happy that she came out here even after the argument they had back at base, but he knew she wasn’t about to apologize for this. After all, it was her presence here that prevented an all-out shootout between their team and the Decepticons. It threw Starscream off just long enough for Starfire to get them out of there.

She was never going to apologize for protecting their own.

“Alright, come here,” Ratchet vented, putting his blades away and stepped up to the pair, taking her weight off of the Wrecker beside her.

Phoenix winced, but the doctor didn’t falter, holding her steady and released Bulkhead of his duty of making sure she didn’t collapse in front of the Decepticons.

Bumblebee came up to her other side and helped Ratchet keep her upright, and she managed to send a small smile to the scout. It wasn’t like she was leaning all her weight on Ratchet, but she definitely didn’t want to test her stabilizer by walking on it all on her own just yet.

“Engaging the enemy was even more foolish this time, Bulkhead.” They looked back to their leader when he spoke, and she didn’t fail to catch the look her mate sent her way. Yeah, yeah. It wasn’t the smartest plan in the whole world, but it worked, didn’t it?

Optimus didn’t answer her thoughts, facing the warrior before him. “But, I am honoured you saw fit to rescue your rival. You have truly risen above yourself.”

The Wrecker grinned. “Did you see? I beat Breakdown and bashed them all with his own hammer! I won the rematch!!” He cheered, throwing a fist in the air in pure, utter glee, and Phoenix found his enthusiasm contagious, grinning right back at him when their optics locked.

That probably wasn’t the motivation Optimus was expecting, but honestly at least none of them could claim he didn’t just do something great, especially when Arcee blinked and shook her helm with a smile.

“I’m sure Miko would be proud.”

Yeah, the kid was going to freak just as soon as they returned to base.

She was proud of him, too.

Bulkhead paused almost as soon as his cheer died, turning back to her and frowned. “What were you doing in there, anyways?” He asked, but before she could tell him that they probably shouldn’t discuss it out here where Silas could potentially overhear, Ratchet pointedly cleared his throatlines.

The medic raised an optic ridge at their team. “Instead of standing out here where Primus knows what could be watching, how about we return to base and then Phoenix can tell us what exactly it was that she thought she was doing out here?” He grumbled, giving a pointed look to Arcee when she chuckled quietly.

Oh for the love of-

She picked up a small sense of amusement from the bond and scowled at her mate, but didn’t protest when Optimus called for a bridge and simply wished Silas luck.

– – –

Miko was waiting for them at the foot of the bridge when they stepped through, and from the grin on her face she suspected the girl had a good guess about what happened.

“You won, right Bulk?” She chirped, and Phoenix couldn’t help but giggle as Ratchet and Bumblebee led her over to the medbay and settled her down on a berth.

The Wrecker laughed and nodded, stepping aside so their leader and the last member of their team could walk past and join them in the medbay.

Ratchet was already running a scan over her frame, a clear expression of annoyance plastered on his faceplates and she could only guess the thoughts running through his processor. Hardly 24 hours since he had cleared her from his care and here she was, already facing down a flight of Decepticons.

What can she say? Drama loves her.

Phoenix caught the slightly raised optic ridge her mate was giving her, but she didn’t acknowledge it and focused instead on the doctor trying to poke and prod her to see where she may or may not be broken.

“Ratchet, if you bring that thing near me again we’re gonna have a problem,” she warned after one too many pokes, yanking her arm away. The doctor huffed but relented as he put the sharp stick thingy away, shaking his helm at her.

“Honestly, Phoenix,” he vented, and she merely shrugged. She was feeling a lot better now that she wasn’t standing, so everyone could relax now and get off her case about all this. It wasn’t like she faced down Megatron or anything.

Yet.

She smiled grimly and promised herself that that cycle would come, getting comfortable on the berth she was resting on. Megatron may have been able to overpower her then, with Soundwave and a whole legion of Vehicons backing him, but as soon as she got the tyrant alone he would be fair game.

No, it wouldn’t be easy or simple, but one way or another Primus would be claiming him to the Allspark and that was a promise.

Humming quietly Phoenix glanced around and spotted Fowler talking with the hero of the cycle, recounting the story to a very excited Miko, and she idly remembered that she had left a little surprise for Silas, a gleeful grin itching to cross her derma.

~What kind of surprise?~ Optimus asked, stepping over and took a seat next to her on the berth. Ratchet dismissed her once again from his care and muttered something under his venting about getting too old to be dealing with such nonsense, Arcee and Bumblebee mentioning that they were going to go get Jack and Rafael from their field trip.

Phoenix hummed knowingly and leaned her helm against his arm, closing her optics and sent him a mental image of the virus she planted in M.E.C.H’s computers.

She felt his surprise followed quickly by a wave of pride and fondness, and she found herself content and pleased with the job she had done.

Let’s just say Silas will not be happy when he tries accessing his precious data.

– – –

By the Stars this could not be happening.

Here, less than a kilometer from the village, from the people who had sheltered me and cared for me and protected me, was a message directly threatening them and everything I had ever built for myself on this planet. Here, written in the snow in the clearing the village used to use in order to gather their water, was Cybertronian lettering threatening everything I cherished.

The actual nerve of that mech.

I had to calm down, and think, but how could I when the very foundation of my Network was beginning to crash down around me? That cycle, when he broke into my room, he got the codes off my datapad and I was an absolute fool for thinking that merely changing them would prevent him from accessing it.

My only saving grace was the fact that the moment the Neutral Network changed my codes, the ones he had were voided and thus everyone within the Network was protected. Our fail-safes were in place to prevent voided codes from being used, and I distinctly recall his fury when Straightwire, Crossbreaker and I explained that we had locked him out the next cycle and he was forbidden from accessing anything but the common areas of the ship, the bridge, and his berth room.

As a precaution, and with my advice, the Network overhauled their systems and changed their routing routines, altering everything they could as soon as it came to light that someone managed to break into the Network.

Hardly a week later and we were stranded here, on Earth and cut off from the rest of the Galaxy.

I no longer believed it was a coincidence.

There are no lengths Shockburner will not go to in order to get his way, going so far as to break into the new Network I created, and now he was here, taunting me with the fact that everything I thought I knew, every truth I thought I had, was false. My people would never be safe so long as that monster lived.

“Abby?” I didn’t respond to Josh, turning instead to the Chief and from the look on her face, grim and weary, I didn’t want to know what she was able to read on mine.

“You need to evacuate the village,” I breathed, stark surprise lighting her near-black eyes before she frowned at me.

“Why would I ever do such a thing, Abigail?” She asked, her voice hardly reaching my audials over the softly falling snow and the roaring panic raging through my helm.

I had to get them out of here, who knows where he could have gone? He could still be here for all I knew, watching our conversation and relishing in the fact that I was outright terrified of him.

There is nothing he wouldn’t do. He had already proven that to me, 300 long, long years ago when he killed my friends and blew up my ship.

“Starfire, what does it say?” I snapped from the haze at her sharp words and turned back to the clearing, my spark thumping against my spark chamber with such speed that I was amazed that my frame hadn’t gone into stasis-lock yet.

A gentle hand on my ped jerked my gaze away from the warning slowly filling in with the winter snow, Josh watching me with sheer concern and nothing else in his expression. I watched as a flake landed on his nose, but my old friend didn’t even blink or steer away from watching me.

I swallowed audibly, Albert monitoring the forest around us. If Shockburner really was still out here, he would know long before I did if the mech tried anything.

“Roughly translated from Cybertronian, it means ‘I know who you care about’,” I whispered, fisting my servos and willed them to stop shaking. 300 years I thought I was safe on this planet. 300 years I thought the only thing I needed to worry about was staying off humanity’s dissection table. Never in a thousand years would I have figured I would have a shadow mocking me, haunting my every move, toying with the very people I loved. Shockburner was no Neutral.

He was supposed to be dead.

I had to get them out of here.

I turned to the Chief, desperation clouding every action I could even remotely begin to think of. “Please, Catori. Use the bridge I built for you and get our people to safety,” I begged, and my spark threatened to break when my oldest ally firmly shook her head.

She doesn’t understand what Shockburner can do. They all thought I killed him when I dropped the landslide onto him, when I didn’t see or hear from him for ages following the fact. They weren’t prepared to face his cruelty or his wickedness. They weren’t ready, I failed to prepare them for him. Primus please-

“And where would we go, Abigail?” She asked quietly, sympathy dawning in her brilliant black eyes. Sympathy for me, for the panic eating away at my composure and my mission.

Where would they go? I swallowed and looked between the three humans around me, landing on Josh still keeping a steadying hand on my ped.

I was asking Catori to uproot countless families, and she knew I would never do such a thing lightly. She knows I was panicked, she knows I was shaken. But she doesn’t know just how far that monster will go.

I do.

“Any number of the compounds will welcome you,” I whispered. “They would have the space, and their doors are always open to the Network.”

But Chief Catori firmly shook her head. “If what you’ve reported is true, and I have no doubt that it is, then all of us are threatened.” She pointed out, watching as I paled at the reminder. “He was within the Network when you created the compounds, when you established the safe-zones. He knows everything you would ever try to do.”

She was right. Primus Almighty there was nowhere on Earth safe from him.

Catori frowned, stepping next to Josh and placed a gentle hand on my metal beside his. “Starfire, this village is your stronghold. We are far safer here, within this forest, than anywhere else on Earth,” she murmured, resolve shining through her words, utterly convinced of their abilities. “Trust that you have prepared us well. We will be alright.”

I slowly lowered myself onto the ground, Josh and Catori both taking a step back out of the way as Albert walked closer, the Guardian keeping an ever-watchful eye on the forest around us.

“The Chief is right, Abby. We aren’t defenseless. We have the cancellation field and everything else you have built for us. We’ll be ok,” Josh promised, smiling as he took the digit I held out to them.

They were the only family I had left. If anything happened to them…

Nothing was going to happen to them.

Chief Catori smiled up at me. “Go, Abigail, before you are missed. This changes nothing, for we already knew he was aware of our Network. I will make an announcement to our contacts and ensure Daniel is made aware of this outcome. It is your duty now, to this village and this planet, to do what you agreed to do,” she murmured, her gentle but steady voice centering me.

I nodded, rising to my peds and sent another look out into the middle of the clearing, the snow falling harder and faster, and I waited and watched as his threat was gradually filled in until it was nearly non-existent.

They would be alright.

– – –

Starscream was waiting for me in the hallway just outside the flight deck, and I didn’t bother stopping as he took up pace beside me.

The Nemesis was currently over South Africa, so the snow that had formed on my wings had melted by the time I returned to the ship. However, that still left a two hour gap from the last time I had been seen, and clearly the Commander wasn’t all too pleased with me.

I couldn’t find it within me to care, sparing him a side-long glance when we left hearing range of the trooper who signed me back in.

I vented. “Alright, what?”

Starscream narrowed his optics. “Where have you been? It doesn’t take that long to go on a patrol.”

I didn’t like the faint bit of accusation I picked up in his tone, halting in my tracks and fixed him with a glare. “Can’t a femme fly just because she wants to?” I demanded, crossing my arms when he scowled at me. “I’m a seeker, you’re a seeker, don’t think I don’t know about you going off whenever you can in order to feel the wind in your systems. Get off my case.”

He blinked at me, huffed once, and we resumed walking.

“You make a good point, Starfire, but it isn’t me you need to explain yourself to,” he said, and I hardly had a split second to register his words before he led me around another corner and a squadron of troopers walked by.

We didn’t speak for another few minutes, Starscream leading me towards the medical wing of the ship, and I had a sinking feeling it wouldn’t just be Knockout waiting for us there.

“What did you say to him?” I hissed quietly, keeping my vocals low to try and minimize the chances of being overheard.

Starscream sent me a look, and I rolled my optics. “Look, if this is about to be an interrogation then I’m gonna need to know what you said so we don’t contradict each other. The last thing I need is for Lord Megatron to find out I willingly went against his very-clear command,” I ground out, and I wanted to smack the infuriating smirk off his faceplates.

He won’t be the one getting fragged by all this if the truth came out. He’s the Commander, and I am simply a Lieutenant. Megatron knows that Starscream is a conniving wretch, but in the simplicity of the situation he would believe his words over mine.

Doesn’t matter that I handed them the Autobot base.

Damnit, Starscream-

After a long, tense and stressful silence Starscream grinned, shaking his helm at me. “Relax, Lord Megatron isn’t aware of our involvement. I just wanted to see you squirm.”

Why that little-

Before I could try and strangle the infuriating Decepticon we had arrived at the medbay, the doors to the laboratory sliding open for us and it was here that Starscream waved me off.

“Breakdown won’t speak a word of it, to anyone. Do yourself a favour and follow the advice,” he said over his shoulderplate, already beginning to walk away, and before I could snap back that I really didn’t need to be warned against spilling the truth about our treasonous expedition, the Commander was already gone.

Primus Almighty he really pisses me off.

Growling, I turned and walked over to the secondary set of doors and walked inside the medbay, frowning when I found Breakdown and Knockout talking quietly while the doctor worked on installing a new optic in his helm.

They both turned when I stepped in, and I hesitated.

“I can leave if you want some privacy,” I offered quietly. I didn’t care if that didn’t sound much like a Decepticon, they deserved the respect and I was going to give it to them.

And if they wanted me to stay, at least it would take my processor off the spiraling thoughts of vengeance and the pain I wanted to put Shockburner through for even thinking about hurting my family.

Breakdown shook his helm. “It’s fine.”

He didn’t sound completely certain about that admission, but I didn’t push the topic further and walked closer, examining the warrior closely while Knockout got back to work trying to fix him up.

Considering the scrap he just went through, I was genuinely surprised that a missing optic was the only thing Silas managed to take from him.

That I could see, anyway. I wouldn't put it past the infuriating human to have begun stripping his circuitry system.

Anything to figure out what made us tick.

“How’re you holding up?” I asked, moving to stand within his remaining line of sight.

He shrugged, and Knockout hissed at him to stop moving before recentering his wielder and got back to work.

I chuckled, shaking my helm and offered Breakdown a smile. “All things considered, it could have been worse,” I mused. The doctor glanced at me briefly before yet again trying to continue wielding up his assistant, but Breakdown wasn’t making things easy for him.

“Yeah, tell that to Lord Megatron,” he grumbled, flinching when Knockout caused a spark to fly off his metal.

The doctor scowled. “Well if you weren’t moving so much, then maybe it wouldn’t hurt,” he retorted to the miffed look in Breakdown’s remaining optic, getting back to work as I crossed my arms.

“How did that go, by the way?” I asked, uncertain how much of the truth Knockout actually knew. “I was out for a patrol and missed the whole thing. Starscream just informed me about what happened.” It wasn’t really a lie, since the Commander did wait for me to get back and told me where Breakdown was, but it wasn’t so much the truth, either. And Breakdown knew it.

The blue and black mech vented, cringing again away from Knockout and his equipment. “Horrible, as could be expected,” he muttered, and wouldn’t meet my gaze.

I frowned, glancing quickly at Knockout. The cherry red medic had paused in his work briefly, and I could have sworn I saw a flash of anger on his expression, there and gone within a sparkbeat.

It was very common knowledge out in the galaxy that Megatron valued strength and brutality above almost everything else, and would not look highly upon anyone from his ranks who managed to get themselves captured.

I was almost glad Shockburner had pulled me away from the ship, because I didn't know if I would have been able to hold my glossa if I had to listen to the lecture Breakdown no doubt had to endure. Megatron was wrong about humans, but if he thought I was taking Breakdown's side over my loyalty to him then I would be the one in the firing line.

The fact of the matter is that Breakdown was held by humans, the very same species that Megatron thought of as insignificant. Even if our story was to be believed, that he was able to escape on his own, that still wouldn’t be something Megatron would see as a victory. No, in his view getting captured by humans at all was unacceptable. If Breakdown offlined at their hands then he would merely say he had it coming.

The more I was around the Warlord, the more I found myself hating him.

“Well, Lord Megatron does not know everything.” I had to think carefully about my words and how I was going to phrase this. Even though I really wanted to scream at the mech, that course of action wouldn’t get me anywhere, but Primus Almighty I really wanted to throw logic to the wind. “This group of humans in particular poses a large threat to each and every Cybertronian,” I said, the doctor and his assistant looking at me.

“They want technology, and the ability to dominate this planet. The fact is that they just proved themselves competent enough to capture and hold a Decepticon. That is no easy feat, even for the Autobots. Silas and his team managed to go one step further, going so far as to begin stripping you down for parts. If it wasn’t for-” I cut myself off abruptly, the two mechs staring at me.

Breakdown nodded slowly. “He knows,” he murmured, and tore his gaze away from mine.

Knockout knows that Breakdown wasn’t able to overpower Silas on his own.

Acutely aware of the sudden uneasy tension in the medbay, I chose a bit of honesty to offer the pair. “Don’t be too hard on yourself about it, Breakdown,” I hummed quietly. “I’ve had a run in or two with Silas myself,” I admitted, chuckling dryly at the reminder that, yet again, it was Silas who had forced me into this position.

One cycle I plan to pay him back for that insult, but that was something I would have to put aside for the time being.

Breakdown squinted at me, powering on his newly installed optic for a better reading. “Oh yeah? And how did that go?”

I smiled at the pair, shrugging. “No better than your encounter, unfortunately. He planted a shocker on my wing and blew up my hideout. He had me before I even knew he was there.” That was another thing to remind Silas about. He damaged my wings and prevented me from being able to fly for hours. I was still furious about that.

Knockout crossed his arms, frowning at me. “How did you manage to get away?” There was no judgement in his vocals, a genuine question that, if I had to guess, would lead him to better prepare ways to overpower M.E.C.H and their crazed leader if he should ever run into them.

I vented. “I didn’t. If it wasn’t for Phoenix then I’d likely be no more than spare parts in a scrap heap by now, just like you.”

I waited a second. Two. Then my words registered and neither of them knew what to say.

I was unable to escape from Silas and M.E.C.H on my own. I wish I was able to give them a different outcome, but lying about how formidable Silas was would only serve as an advantage for the man, and he had enough of those as it was already.

Breakdown blinked. “Phoenix, as in..?” I nodded, and he whistled lowly. “So that’s how you met her.”

Yeah, and I wonder if Silas would ever realize that our positions had changed. Not that it mattered, but I would rather he not think a Neutral was hanging out in the village anymore. My people have enough problems to worry about as it is without wondering if M.E.C.H was chilling out next door.

I really needed to get my datapad running. Shockburner was now at the very top of my priority list.

I offered a small nod to the two Decepticons, smiling faintly. “Take care of yourself, Breakdown. I’m glad you’re alright.” It was the truth, and as I turned to leave the medbay I caught the small look of gratitude on Knockout’s faceplates.

– – –

I was walking the halls of the Nemesis, having made a detour from my room to stop at the energon storage vault before locking in for Primus-knows how many cycles.

I will not rest until my people are safe, and I do not care what it requires of me. I do not care what I will have to sacrifice. They are worth it. Always have been, and always will be.

It was with these thoughts in mind that I turned down one of the final corridors to my room and came face to face with Megatron himself.

Every thought came to a screeching halt, and the only outward reaction of my surprise that I allowed myself to show was a simple blink.

Not even my wings were allowed to give away the pure fury that rose up the moment I laid optics on the Warlord.

Megatron was alone, and appeared to be walking towards the direction I had come from, stopping in place when I had rounded the corner.

I smiled, dropping into a bow. “Lord Megatron.”

The Decepticon Leader nodded, the amused glint shining in his bright red optics clear as day to me when I rose and returned the smile I offered him. “Lieutenant Starfire.”

The silence rapidly built between the two of us, neither one looking away.

He doesn’t trust me. I knew it just as certainly as I knew I hated him.

Megatron was the first to break the silence, taking all of two steps before he was directly in front of me. “Walk with me.”

It wasn’t a request, and I wordlessly fell into line beside the Warlord.

We didn’t speak as we walked, as my thoughts raced around and round in my helm, listing the so many transgressions he has committed against my people, against my family, against my sparkling and my city. My thoughts and rage begged me to lash out, to demand to know what the frag he was thinking, starting this blasted war, but not a single one of those damming thoughts surfaced to my glossa, an expression of curiosity remaining plastered over my faceplates like the strongest armour.

He could never know just how much I despised him.

We walked for what felt like eons, the seconds dragging out agonizingly slowly as I fought a losing battle to stop myself from making a grievous error.

Just when I thought I would damn everything to the pits and demand to know why he desecrated our ruined planet even further he spoke.

“You intrigue me, Starfire,” Megatron said, sparing a glance at me.

His words startled me from my warring thoughts, allowing me to shove them all into a box and focus on the current dilemma facing me.

I raised an optic ridge. “Is that a good thing, my Lord?” I asked, servos twitching.

I knew Soundwave had been unable to find almost anything to do about me in their databases, and thus drew even more suspicion to just who I was and what my intentions were. I had realized this early on and had begun altering the Decepticon files in small increments, just enough for them not to grow too wary about me.

I was, after all, a Neutral, and so I put my designation in places where Neutrals had been known to be. The officers who made the reports weren’t here to argue the claims of the database, so as long as none of them arrived on Earth I should be set.

Megatron chuckled quietly, a chill sliding down my spinal struts at the sound. “That remains to be seen.”

Great.

I didn’t let my annoyance show.

“Truthfully, Soundwave has been unable to dig up much of anything about you, Lieutenant. I was hoping you would be able to fill in some gaps,” he continued, and I both loved and hated that I was right about what this was. Yet another interrogation.

I shrugged, nodding. “I’ll see what I can do,” I conceded, without promising a damn thing. At least I had a month to figure out a more in-depth backstory. Not that I would need much, but the extra time was nice.

Megatron smiled, and we reached the end of another hallway and turned towards the direction of the bridge, and I just told myself that this was a necessary delay. Shockburner could wait a few more minutes.

Primus I didn’t want to wait but Megatron was making this difficult.

“Tell me about your son.”

The floor of the Nemesis dropped away and I felt my mask slip, disbelief and sparkbreak warping my expression for all of a second, but Megatron saw it.

Of course he saw it.

Tell me about your son.

What was there to say? His designation was Raze, he was a small black and red grounder like his Sire and he was just shy of his first Creation cycle? That he was vibrant, and smart, and sassy, just like his aunt? That he didn't deserve to offline before he even got the chance to live? That the sheer reminder of him threatened to send me to my kneeplates, that once again I remembered that I no longer had the colorful, precious bond tethering me to his very spark? That the grief of his death has not and will never go away? That I resented the Decepticons, resented Megatron, for causing such a bright sparkling to join the Allspark?

What was I supposed to say to that question?

I cleared my throatlines, ignoring the lump that had stubbornly lodged there and shook my helm. “And what does that have to do with the war effort?” I managed to ask, Megatron glancing at me again.

His smile wasn’t cruel, but it wasn’t something I trusted. “Knowing who you were before the war broke out will help Soundwave find references to you in our databases. I recall you claiming to be a Neutral, so any record we may have had of your kind would be incomplete at best. I trust that you were no different when it came to concealing yourself.”

Why did he have to be smart?

I vented deeply. It wasn’t like I could just not answer him, but I once again had to be very careful about how I went about this. I couldn’t give him a complete lie, but damnit I was not about to give him the whole truth, either. That would give Soundwave far too much leverage against me.

My sparkling didn't deserve to be used as a pawn in this blasted war. I won't let Megatron do it.

“His designation was Raze,” I said finally, shoving the grief at his designation down, down, down, until I couldn't see it anymore. I couldn't afford to let Megatron see this part of me, what part he hadn't already seen. “His Sire had offlined shortly before the war started, so it was just the two of us when Crystal City fell under siege,” I said quietly, spinning the story to suit my needs. “He was a sickly sparkling, and truth be told, my Lord, I wasn’t sure how we were going to survive without access to a medical center. I didn’t know where we would go after we got past the walls, perhaps to the Autobots.”

I wasn’t afraid to admit that they were an option. I was a civilian with a small sparkling, alone without aid or support. It wasn’t a secret that the Decepticons were viewed as violent and merciless, so why would a widowed Carrier take her sparkling into their ranks?

No, this widowed Carrier had to bury both her sparkmate and her sparkling, and she has hated the culprits ever since.

Megatron remained quiet, and I continued. “It didn’t matter. I learned that cycle that the only one I could rely upon was myself. Not the Autobots, and not the Decepticons.”

Wildspark and I were the only survivors from our family, and I have, in all honesty, resented both sides for it. I grieved them, and it took me a long time to stop hating the Autobots for the part they had played in their deaths. Going back to Crystal City and giving everyone they could find a proper burial played a large part in my journey to forgiving them.

“I see,” Megatron said after a long silence, and the look he gave me was enough to set my systems on edge. “Allow me to make one thing clear, Lieutenant. You are no longer a Neutral. Your loyalty is to this ship, and the Decepticon cause,” he warned quietly. “It will serve you well to remember that when you come face to face with an Autobot.”

I blinked, genuinely unable to predict where exactly he was going with this. My loyalty was to myself, thank you-

Megatron narrowed his optics. “You will follow orders, even if you find yourself with a clear shot, is that understood?” Oh.

Oh.

I see.

I nodded. “I understand, my Lord.”

Megatron smiled grimly. “Good.”

– – –

“Skystorm, watch your footing!” The femme immediately readjusted her stance and dished out a round of punches that Vegawarp readily blocked.

“Good. Keep it up!” Steelheart called.

The femmes shared a quick grin before resuming their spar.

The squadron was in the training wing of the Warship, and Ironfoot was standing near the back of the large room examining his unit with a scrutiny that could only be expected of a Captain. He had decided that a healthy dose of servo-to-servo combat would do them well, and he was right.

“Kilorod, don’t worry so much about hurting her and actually put some practice in!” Ironfoot watched Steelheart yell across the training room and saw one half of the twins startle, giving Frostlight enough of an opening to land a punch square to his jaw and knock him to the floor.

Highwire, who caught the whole thing, doubled over with laughter and tapped out when Razorblade tackled and pinned him, still laughing at his twin even when Kilorod reclaimed his peds and got back to the fight.

Ironfoot vented deeply, shaking his helm but didn’t say anything. This session was more of a practice than actual training, anyways.

He had split the squadron into pairs, each of them opposing someone who had an entirely different set of strengths.

The twins, Kilorod and Highwire, always went into battle together. They never went on a mission without the other and always made their decisions as a pair. Separating them, even for this session, would normally prove to be beneficial, but now he wasn’t so sure.

It was common knowledge that Kilorod had a soft spot for Frostlight, so placing him with the quietly-spoken femme was entirely deliberate. She may not say much, but she can definitely hold her own, as she was quickly reminding him. This would also hopefully teach him to fight and look past the emotions he was feeling.

Highwire was facing off with Razorblade, and it was his hope that Razorblade would use the opportunity to take a risk or two now that he didn’t have to contend with a life or death situation, and he was pleased to see that he didn’t hesitate when Highwire was distracted with his twin.

Skystorm and Vegawarp, two femmes who normally fought within the same aspect of the wing, were told that they were not permitted to use any previously decided upon routines that the other could readily predict. The goal was to try and get them used to fighting someone who they wouldn’t have hundreds upon thousands of hours of practice fighting against. Both were required to think outside of the box for this, and each of them had a servoful of scrapes to show for it.

The final two pairings had Gigamine up against Magnablade, and Hotline taking on Stormblast.

Magnablade was Steelheart’s second and his third, and the mech gave the voice of reason for many, many of their decisions. Ironfoot had decided to pair him with Gigamine, the young and curious trooper eager to prove himself against his elder.

Magnablade was not holding back on the young mech, but Gigamine, who was used to everyone around him going easy on him, was thriving under the pressure and the chance to prove his metal. The Autobots would not show the young trooper mercy, and Magnablade knew it.

Hotline, who would rather read a radar than engage in regular combat, was facing off against the squadron’s explosive expert, Stormblast.

She, without a single doubt in his processor, lived up to her designation, and Ironfoot had a difficult time remembering all the different creations she has tried to use throughout their time as a unit.

She fought dirty, and mean, and Hotline, who wasn’t used to scrap like that in the slightest, was getting his aft handed to him.

“All right, finish up and bring it in!” Steelheart’s command stole his attention from examining his squadron, Ironfoot turning from his charges and jotted a few more notes on his datapad as he waited for them to wrap things up.

Overall, this was a sound idea and he planned on doing this again in the near future.

~I really thought she would show up today.~ Her quiet vocals reached his processor, their optics meeting from across the room when he looked up.

It had already been three cycles, and Lieutenant Starfire had missed all three sessions they had scheduled.

It wasn’t unusual for an officer to miss one, maybe two sessions. He had spent some time training new recruits for the cause throughout his onlining, but no one ever missed three sessions in a row without something else going on. They either thought they were above reproach and could do whatever they wanted, or they had gotten themselves into a world of scrap.

Neither option sounded like the Lieutenant, which is why Steelheart appeared so worried.

In all his time spent training officers for Lord Megatron, not once had he seen one of them skip a refuel shift.

The Lieutenant just did.

~You and I will pay her a visit after this,~ he replied, subspacing his datapad and watched his sparkmate nod once, walking over behind the rest of their squadron gathering before him.

The twins had immediately begun ribbing each other, Highwire taunting his brother about his not-so-secret crush on Frostlight, and the two of them were standing near the rear of the squadron with the false hope that Ironfoot wouldn’t be able to hear their whispering.

They both shut up when they realized that the squadron was waiting for them, and if their visors were up he had a sneaking suspicion that both of them would be sporting matching grins.

Shaking his helm, he ignored their glee and turned to the rest of the squadron. “So how do we all feel about this?” He asked, Magnablade moving to stand on his left as the others began vocalizing their wishes to do this again.

At least they could all agree on that. Even Hotline was nodding, though he was now sporting a decent number of new scrapes and was standing a fair distance away from their resident explosive expert.

Ironfoot nodded. “Since we are all in agreement, I will bring this up with the Lieutenant with the possibility of making this a regular occurrence.”

At his words the squadron as a whole quieted, and he would have cursed his foolishness if he didn’t need to address her absence to them anyway.

“Speaking of the Lieutenant,” Magnablade said slowly, “where is she?”

Once again he felt Steelheart’s presence in the bond, and spared a moment to check in with her.

His sparkmate was understandably uneasy. ~We need to report to Lord Megatron by the end of the cycle. He won’t be pleased if he comes to learn about her absences,~ she murmured, and Ironfoot was already well aware of that. Megatron’s wrath was one thing he did his best to avoid, and protect his squadron from at all costs.

“We do not know,” he answered his third in command, Magnablade crossing his arms while the squadron murmured to themselves. They were meant to be training her, and she was meant to be leading them. None of them knew where she was and that was not a good thing, not in the slightest.

“So what do we do?” Razorblade asked the question they were all thinking, and Ironfoot resolved to answer him the best he could.

“We keep reporting as normal. She’s shown up to every training shift. Understood?”

They all knew what kind of risk he was taking, but they were his priority first. If he can spare them from Lord Megatron’s fury he will.

If he can take the fall for them, he will.

He retrieved his datapad from his subspace and began to read out their new orders. “Magnablade, Stormblast, and Hotline, report to the bridge and retrieve our incoming data from Soundwave.” The three specialists nodded and began walking to the door. “Frostlight, Gigamine, Vegawarp and Skystorm, report to the flight deck. You four are going to join Thunderbolt’s flight for patrol. He lost four in the last battle with the Autobots and hasn't been able to get replacements yet.” They nodded, Vegawarp and Skystorm leading the two youngest troopers out. “As for the rest of you, you have downtime for the rest of the cycle.”

The twins beamed at the thought, and Ironfoot could only guess what they would try and get into this time around.

He couldn’t worry about that, subspacing the datapad again when it was just Steelheart standing with him, her visor hiding the stark worry from him that was flowing through their bond in waves.

It was quiet in the training room, the silence weighing heavily on his shoulderplates.

Ironfoot vented. “Let’s go pay the Lieutenant a visit.”

– – –

Steelheart remained a constant presence at his side, walking towards the officer quarters where they simply hoped Lieutenant Starfire remained.

Ironfoot didn’t want to think about what would happen if she wasn’t there, about all the things that could go wrong if it turned out she just left. Lord Megatron would quite possibly offline him for failing to report her whereabouts, and if something had happened to her and he kept quiet about it-

Lieutenant Starfire was in her quarters, and he was going to stop worrying that she wasn’t.

But worrying is how he’s managed to keep his squadron online.

~Breathe. We will get through this together.~ His sparkmate murmured, and if they weren’t in public where a superior could potentially oversee, he knew she would have grabbed his servo by now.

It was forbidden to bond another among the Decepticon ranks, for if your sparkmate was killed in battle it would leave you and all those around you vulnerable. Ironfoot knew this, and knew the cost he would pay should it ever come to light.

They soon arrived at the Lieutenant’s quarters, Steelheart knocking on her door before he could hesitate.

They waited with baited breath as the seconds ticked by, as neither sight nor sound came from beyond the sealed and locked door.

Bracing himself, Ironfoot took another step and knocked again, louder this time, and was beginning to figure out how he would tell Lord Megatron that she was missing when the door slid open, revealing the Lieutenant, and Starfire didn’t look overly pleased to see them.

“Can I help you?” Her vocals were cold, but he was simply relieved that she hadn’t run off or gotten captured. There had been reports of an Autobot skirmish in one of their energon mines last night, but nothing to indicate a higher threat. The security in that mine was upped and the Autobots weren’t able to get away with much.

Lieutenant Starfire appeared fine, her silver armour slightly dull, but hardly anyone other than Knockout bothered to regularly buff their frames, especially not seekers. If they tried keeping their frames polished and shiny then that would be all they did whenever they weren’t in the air, and no one had the time for that.

“We’ve come to check on you, Lieutenant,” Steelheart said, taking a gamble that she didn’t just overstep, but they both recognized that Starfire acted differently compared to most other Decepticons. She cared enough to remember their designations and appeared to take an interest in their activities, so they were willing to take this risk on her.

The Lieutenant blinked once, her bright blue optics focusing on them both, and Ironfoot could only guess what she could possibly be thinking. Though they were her unit, though she commanded their squadron, she was still capable of cruelty, as Vegawarp and Skystorm reported from the skirmish that brought her here over a month ago.

“I’m fine, Steelheart. Thank you.” His sparkmate subconsciously straightened, a swell of gratitude making its way through their bond before she could stop it, and Ironfoot would have smiled if the situation was different.

“Lieutenant, it has come to our attention that you missed a refuel shift,” he said, and watched the realization dawn in her brilliant blue optics. They watched as she glanced over her shoulderplate, inside her room that Ironfoot was just now noticing he couldn’t see into. She was effectively blocking both their lines of sight, a feat he found impressive considering they were both taller than her.

“Thank you, Ironfoot. I must have lost track of time. I will be sure to pick up my ration in a little while.” It was as clear of a dismissal as he has ever gotten, but neither he nor Steelheart were alright with this being the end of the conversation.

~Frag it.~ Before he could stop her his sparkmate crossed her arms and shook her helm, two things that would normally earn them a beating from anyone else. “Lieutenant, it has also been brought to our attention that you missed the last three training sessions, sessions that Lord Megatron himself commanded you to attend.” That tone-

Ironfoot violently yanked on their bond, and was utterly relieved when her processor caught up with her intake and she shut it firmly, and even more relieved that the Lieutenant couldn’t see through their visors to the look of horror now plastered over his faceplates.

Starfire blinked slowly, turning to look between Steelheart and himself, and Ironfoot braced for the reprimand, for the anger and the reminder that they were nothing more than foot soldiers, and if they wished to keep their helms they would never speak to her, a superior officer, that way again. She was well within her rights to dish out whatever punishment she saw fit, and he sent a prayer to Primus that she would show mercy upon his sparkmate.

The Lieutenant nodded once. “You’re right, Steelheart. I apologize, I’ve had a lot on my processor these last few cycles. I will make a point to show up tomorrow.”

Steelheart gaped at her. ~Wait I’m sorry, what?~ She blurted, thankfully through the bond, though Ironfoot wasn’t much better off, outright reeling at her apology?

What kind of Decepticon was she?

Ironfoot recomposed himself in record time, offering his sparkmate a mental arm to lean on as she still scrambled to make sure her audio receptors were working. “Lieutenant, Lord Megatron will need to be made aware of this,” he managed, and did not fail to catch the way her optics darkened. “Until your training is complete, your movements must be recorded, even if that means you were remaining in your quarters.”

Lord Megatron will have his helm if the Lieutenant was up to something, and he really didn’t want to force Steelheart to live through the bond breaking.

Starfire crossed her arms, and he had the good sense to recognize that she was getting annoyed with this conversation, her frame twitching slightly as she sent another glance into her room.

What was in there that was so important that she would risk Lord Megatron’s wrath by disobeying his orders?

Ironfoot didn’t vocalize the question, but he was curious. Although, curiosity in the Decepticon Army often led to death.

“If you must, Ironfoot, then tell Lord Megatron that-” She was interrupted from finishing her statement, a tone to her vocals that mirrored Steelheart’s from a moment ago, and whirled around when a loud and obnoxious beeping erupted from within the darkness of her room.

– – –

Chapter Text

The Lieutenant didn’t finish her retort, bolting into her room and before Ironfoot could talk himself out of it he immediately followed her, halting halfway in and couldn’t help but marvel at the array of technology the Lieutenant had up and running. Steelheart stepped up to his side, her awe floating his way through the bond.

Her backstruts were facing them, the Lieutenant hovering over the desk taking up the far wall, and surrounding her was a multitude of datapads and gadgets that Ironfoot had never seen before, and each one was running a different program.

~Just what exactly is she working on?~ Steelheart breathed, the faint light coming in from the still-open door behind them reflecting off her indigo metal and cast his sparkmate in shadow, a foreboding feeling worming its way into his processor.

Lieutenant Starfire had not been seen or heard of in over three cycles, going so far as to miss a refuel shift, which would no doubt be noticed by Soundwave and their superior officers. They had then found her holed up in her room, with at least half a dozen datapads linked together running approximately double that number of files and systems. From her positioning, he was once again unable to make out the details about what any of them read, but he was able to pick up a global reading on the furthest one to her left, the source of the beeping that stole her attention away.

He was prevented from answering Steelheart’s question when the Lieutenant managed to silence the alarm, straightening to her proper height with the offending datapad in servo.

“I found you, you fragging bastard.” Ironfoot blinked at the sheer malice in her tone, and had to consciously remind himself not to step in front of his sparkmate.

“Lieutenant..?” He asked cautiously, tensing when her helm snapped towards them, and Ironfoot was unable to stop himself from shifting closer to Steelheart, and was even more alarmed that his sparkmate let him.

~What do we do?~ Steelheart whispered, as tense as he was and he sent another prayer to Primus that Starfire wasn’t able to pick up on the sudden fear that had flooded his systems at the look on her faceplates.

The Lieutenant’s optics had taken on an eerie tinge of blue, bordering on indigo not that different from Steelheart’s frame. She stared at him, unflinching, datapad suspended above the desk, and although he considered himself a seasoned warrior, a Captain of a flight of seekers and one of Lord Megatron’s trusted trainers, never before had he felt so… disturbed.

Lieutenant Starfire blinked, and the purple tinge in her optics vanished, her expression growing contemplative as she looked between the two of them and the station she had set up on her desk.

“Are you alright?” Steelheart stepped around his protective position before he could beg her not to, and he made out genuine concern for their Lieutenant mixed in with a sharp sense of relief that she no longer looked ready to kill.

Her question was met with another blink, followed by a faint smile that sent his metal crawling.

“I’m quite alright, Steelheart,” she promised, a slow grin working over her expression. “In fact, I’m about to go on a hunt. Would either of you wish to join me?”

– – –

Ten minutes later and we were flying over the Pacific, and the amount of tension I was picking up from the two Vehicons behind me would be enough to snap a fuel line.

I knew my absences would be noticed, and I was prepared to deal with the consequences of my actions when the time came, but I was not expecting to find Ironfoot and Steelheart knocking on my door to check on me.

As a Neutral, living on the fringes of war, we had learned to ration our energon reserves beyond the expectations of the armies, so I hadn’t even realized it had been three cycles until they told me.

It was something that I would need to keep a closer optic on, that was for sure.

Now, however, after dedicating literally the last 72 hours of my life to hunting him down, I have finally located Shockburner, and I swear to the Allspark nothing had better get in my way tonight.

What made me pause back when I first saw the reading, however, before I remembered that Ironfoot and Steelheart were in my room with me, was where his signal popped up, and I immediately sent an urgent message to the Autobot base warning them to be alert and keep the children out of sight.

Shockburner had reappeared in the dead center of Jasper, Nevada.

Part of me hoped it was merely a coincidence, but I had lived through enough of his games to know that it was nothing more than wishful thinking.

The only thing I wish I could have done was send out an alert to the Network confirming that I had a fix on Shockburner’s coordinates, but with the two Decepticons watching me I didn’t dare bring any attention to the datapad running it, shutting the entire display down the moment I managed to get them out of my quarters.

Once again I replayed the encounter, and I couldn’t get rid of the worry that they may have read something they shouldn’t have. Part of the reason I asked them to join me on this little endeavour was to buy myself some time to figure out just how much they knew, and proceed accordingly.

The thought of going against Ironfoot and Steelheart had nausea churning my tanks, unease eating away at my spark. I didn’t care that I would have to explain away their deaths, that part would be simple, but the sheer thought of causing them harm just didn’t sit right with me.

I didn’t want to hurt them. Despite the odds I was actually beginning to enjoy the daily training sessions, and the squadron I had been assigned to was so bright and full of life that offlining their squadron leaders would feel like the ultimate betrayal.

Were their lives worth the price of my cover? If they discovered me, just how far would I go to keep my people safe? To maintain an ear in the Decepticon ranks?

I didn’t want to think about it.

“We’re approaching Nevada,” I said through the channel connecting me to the Vehicons, tipping my wing and banked as we passed countless canyons and dusty, sandy dunes, recognizing the area as we approached Jasper. “Now remember, Shockburner is not afraid to use deadly force. If he throws something at you, dodge it,” I warned.

I have seen him melt a bot using nothing more than a simple injection, leaving nothing but a steaming pile of circuits and metal dust to show for it.

That was one of the many reasons I refused to let him into the Neutral Network.

“We’ll be careful, Lieutenant.”

If I saw even the faintest hint that something was wrong, if I thought for even one second that he knew I was coming for him, then we would be returning to the Warship.

The only shot I had of terminating him was the element of surprise, nothing more. My anger and hatred would only get me so far in battle, and if he realized I was there before I could get to him then it would become an uphill fight, and that was something I knew I could not win.

He had already offlined Straightwire and Crossbreaker. He was not above offlining me, and we both knew it. Why he had left me online all those years ago I would never know, but threatening my village was the final straw.

I wanted that to be the last mistake he would ever make.

The town of Jasper was a tiny spec of twinkling lights amidst the dark desert surrounding it, and I checked the beacon again before guiding us towards the large mill taking up the far side of the town.

Ironfoot and Steelheart maintained a close formation as we flew over Jasper, Nevada, but the single thing that made my energon freeze in my systems and what condemned my choices to none was the small webbing hanging from one of the tallest structures in the complex.

“New plan, we’re landing on the warehouse behind the compound,” I ordered, neither of them questioning me and followed close, transforming when I did and landed a few paces away and watched as I peered over to the large concrete mixer.

From here I could make out the vast majority of the mill, and I did not like what I was seeing.

Arachnid was here, and she had a human. Engaging a lone ex-Decepticon was one thing, protecting humans was another. If the Vehicons with me reported to Megatron that I had gone out of my way to rescue a creature he viewed as insignificant then it would open a whole new set of questions that I wasn’t overly eager to answer.

“Shockburner isn’t here alone,” I murmured, crouching as I looked over the edge and was able to pick up the two of them doing the same.

It may have been close to midnight, but the place was lit well enough to pick apart every possible location Shockburner and Arachnid may be using to hide, the light of the full moon illuminating most of the darkest corners.

I cursed under my venting. Any chance he didn’t know I was coming had just been thrown out the figurative window.

They didn’t need to get a human involved to get me here, but they knew that. So why was that woman caught up in all of this?

There was not a chance in the pits that I was about to leave her, but she was clearly meant as bait. However, if Shockburner was working with Arachnid, as impossible as that seemed, then he would know that just revealing either of their signals would be enough to get me here. No, this was for someone else, and there was only one other bot on this planet that Arachnid would go out of her way to offline, or work with a Neutral to do it.

Arcee.

Which means that the woman Arachnid kidnapped had to be a relative of some kind to one of the children. She was still fuming about the loss of her ship, of that I had no doubt, and-

I cursed again.

She thinks Jack is the one who blew up her ship.

He may have lit the flame, but I planted the explosive.

Which would add up to dragging us both here-

Oh, I really didn’t like this.

I gave a sideways glance to the troopers with me, contemplating my options here. I was not about to leave that woman to her fate with Arachnid, but how the frag was I going to go about this? Shockburner was here, somewhere. I could not afford to forget about him.

My only edge is that neither of them would have expected me to have brought backup.

I smiled grimly. They knew me so well. If Ironfoot and Steelheart didn’t find me when they did, then I would have flown here without a word to anyone.

Lucky for me I had a squadron who noticed when I was gone.

“Guess I’m gonna go spring a trap,” I mused quietly, and didn’t miss the lightning fast glance they shared with each other.

“Lieutenant… why?” Steelheart asked, her vocals quiet, and I knew that from their perspective it must look like I was risking my spark for a mere human.

I grinned, inwardly cursing my unfortunate luck that my two biggest enemies had teamed up. Love that for myself.

“Because, Steelheart, those webs mean that Arachnid is here, too,” I explained, my inner clock reading 23:49. “Long story short, she’s teamed up with Shockburner to lure me out. What neither of them counted on was me not being here alone.”

Ironfoot hadn’t taken his optics off the battlefield before us, Steelheart whipping her helm over at his sharp intake of air, and when I followed their gaze I felt my spark fall to the pit of my tanks, watching the two new lifeforms drive around the far building and out of sight.

Jack and Arcee had just arrived.

“It’s a trap for all three of us. So here’s how we’re going to do this.”

– – –

I had just managed to explain my plan to them when Jack ran from the building he and Arcee disappeared behind, his panicked and desperate voice reaching our audials from all the way up here.

I didn’t let the troopers with me catch on to what I was feeling, but if his mother ended up a casualty because of all this-

Well, it would just be one more thing to make them pay for.

Now, I wasn’t normally a betting femme, but in this instance I was seriously relying on Shockburner not shooting me on sight for this to work.

I was counting on him to drag this out, to gloat over stranding me here, and this time I wasn’t going to taunt him into a fury like I did to Arachnid all those months ago. This time would be different.

“Remember the plan,” I murmured when I caught sight of Arachnid following the young human, once again toying with Jack as he ran.

The troopers with me nodded, and remained on the roof of the complex as I jumped down, landing at the base of the building and scanned the area cautiously.

I had a grim suspicion that he willingly revealed his signal to me, knowing I would have no choice but to engage once I saw the humans in danger, and the only way to get me here was to reveal the signal I was no doubt hunting for after the stunt he pulled at the village.

Damn him for turning this into some sort of twisted game.

Shockburner knew I would be watching Arachnid now, knew that I would focus on protecting the humans from her. So I was going to give him what he wanted to see.

Arachnid had just directed Jack’s direction to where she was keeping his mother when I leveled a shot into the building she was standing on, startling them both as I stepped into the light behind the young human.

“Hello, Arachnid,” I purred, and the flash of fear that lit her optics was sweet. I glanced at the kid. “Jack, be a dear and go get your mother. I’ll handle things from here.”

He didn’t need to be told twice, breaking out into a dead sprint towards the concrete mixer where Arachnid was keeping his mother captive.

The spider-con snarled at me, the roiling hatred for me overpowering the fear in her gaze. “I had a feeling you would show up. Unfortunately, I don’t have time to chat right now,” she mused, grinning sharply when she saw me tense. “An old acquaintance of mine should keep you company. You remember Shockburner, don’t you?”

I ducked, and the dart he shot from behind me embedded into the concrete between Arachnid and myself.

I was genuinely surprised that the asphalt didn’t melt down, but that only further proved my theory that he wanted me online.

I pivoted as I rose, and I was once more grateful that I had practice keeping my emotions hidden, schooling my expression when I came faceplate to faceplate with the monster who had stranded me on this planet 300 long, long years ago.

Betrayal, sharp and sweet struck my spark, backed only by the fury that had grown hotter and hotter every cycle since I discovered he was online.

The actual nerve of this mech, standing here before me, a twisted little grin on his derma.

I wanted to smack that infuriating smirk off his faceplates. I wanted to make him regret the cycle he was born for all the pain he has caused me, caused my people, my family. I wanted to make him regret making me an enemy.

How fragging dare he stand here after what he’s done?

Shockburner’s deep blue and midnight black warframe towered above me when he stepped out of the shadows, malice dancing in his dark green optics when he smiled. He casually holstered his dart gun on his hip-plating, scanning my frame from ped to the tip of my wing.

I hated him.

“I’ll leave you two to get acquainted.” I didn’t spare Arachnid the courtesy of a glance, not daring to take my attention from the mech standing before me as she leapt away back to where Jack was no doubt trying to free his mother.

I knew from experience that no human would be able to rip free of those webs, before she got bored of this little game and killed them both.

Her words from a moment ago repeated themselves in my processor, and I refused to believe what they implied.

“An old acquaintance of mine should keep you company. You remember Shockburner, don’t you?”

It was impossible, but if she was claiming to have known him…

The only time she could have possibly run into him was before he joined Straightwire’s crew on the Brilliance. Which meant that he interacted with one of the most vicious Decepticons during the height of the war and lived to tell about it, which meant that he either had something to offer her that made her spare him, or he had worked with her before, which meant-

Shockburner may be a monster, but if I believed he was a Decepticon this entire time then I would never be able to trust myself again.

That, and Arachnid was a known liar and manipulator.

I just hoped that Arcee would be able to free herself in time to stop Arachnid from killing Jack’s mother.

I had to believe she was still online. Arachnid would make Jack watch as she took them both from him.

Well, not if I had anything to say about that, but I couldn’t really focus on that at the moment. Not when the mech responsible for destroying what little remained of my family was currently standing less than ten paces away from me.

I suppressed a shiver as he continued to drag his optics along my frame, my servos twitching to draw a weapon, but that wouldn’t do me any good until I knew exactly what I was dealing with.

He wanted me online. I could work with that.

His gaze snagged on the insignia on my wings, fury flashing briefly in his optics and it took all my self-control not to glance up behind him where Ironfoot and Steelheart watched.

“So the rumours are true.” His vocals grated on my audials, laced with honey and venom that continued to cause warning lights within my systems to flare. “You actually bothered to join a faction.”

I chuckled, shrugging and ignored the ire in his expression. “What, you can’t honestly tell me you’re surprised,” I mused, flaring them and gave a small little twirl, showing off the Decepticon insignia marking me as a soldier in this war. “What’s a femme to do when she’s stranded on a mud ball like Earth with no way home?”

I grinned when I faced him again, taking the opportunity to analyze him for anything and everything I could possibly use to my advantage.

Nothing, as expected.

“You’re no Decepticon, Starry,” he growled, narrowing his optics at me. “You’re too soft to last long in their ranks.” I bristled, scowling at him. I did not appreciate the insinuation that I didn’t have what it took to survive, not when we were literally having this conversation after I spent an entire war being hunted by both factions.

What did he know about me? The only things I ever shared with him was how much I hated this war and all it had taken from me. Too soft my aft.

I crossed my arms, raising an optic ridge and scowled. “Tell that to the Autobots.” I shot back. “It was remarkably easy to find their old base, which just so happened to have been my ticket into the Decepticon ranks. But please, be my guest and tell Lord Megatron that he’s made a mistake.”

Megatron did make a mistake in trusting me, but Shockburner doesn’t know that. He wasn’t in the Network when I announced that I was joining the war. He doesn’t know what I’ve done these last few months, and I had to keep it that way.

He knows I care about humanity though, and I had a feeling that was going to score me some negative points if I couldn’t spin this.

Speaking of, I allowed myself to glance Arachnid’s way again, narrowing my optics slightly when I found her hovering over Jack and his mother, taunting them both now that the woman was awake.

Scrap.

I whipped my helm back when Shockburner laughed, the sound slow, drawn out and sent chills racing down my spinal struts. The eerie sound floated past us into the darkness of the night, and I knew the two Decepticons standing on the building above him could hear it, and were just as off-put about it as I was.

“Oh, but he did, Starry,” he laughed, grinning at me in a way that made my metal crawl. “You and I both know you’ll never be a true Decepticon. You care far too much about these pesky little humans, and you even went so far as to make a Network of your own for them.” If Ironfoot or Steelheart heard these accusations, knew about that Network-

Shockburner tilted his helm. “Does he know?” He asked curiously. “Does Megatron know what you’ve done, the lengths you are willing to go to protect them?” My silence was damning, and we both knew it. The mech shook his helm, chuckling quietly. “I didn’t think so. So tell me, Starry, what makes you think you have what it takes to last in his ranks? And what do you think he will do to you when he eventually figures you out?”

I knew exactly what Megatron would do to me when he finds out, and I held no illusions about my chances once he did. But that was not going to happen tonight, and I was going to make damn well sure of that.

I felt my optics darken, smiling at the monster standing before me, and decided it would do me some good and give me some much needed catharsis to knock him down a few pegs.

Humming, I shrugged again and willed my anger and rage at the mech standing before me to surface, just enough to clear my processor from any distractions.

“Hey Arachnid?” I called over my shoulderplate, grinning at the spider when she jerked her helm up. “Do you think I have what it takes to be a Decepticon?”

She froze, forgetting about the humans at her peds for a brief moment.

I knew I had just thrown her back to Cybertron, to the height of the war where I haunted her every waking moment. I was certain she was remembering every last encounter we had together, from the cycle she offlined my sister to our most recent scuffle in the forests of Romania, the memories striking her like lightning and from the glare she was giving me I figured I had my answer.

I smiled at Shockburner, dipping my helm to him. “You’re right about one thing, Shockburner,” I admitted, humming quietly when his gaze slid back to me. “I do care about these humans, but that wasn’t the reason I created this Network.” I took care to keep my vocals low, so neither the Vehicons nor Arachnid herself could hear my words, still fixated on the past I reminded her of.

I shook my helm. “No, the real reason I made it was to track you down.” He blinked. “I knew you had survived that avalanche, you’re too stubborn and twisted to let such a little thing be your downfall, so I got to work preparing for your eventual reemergence.” It pained me to twist my beloved Network to such lengths, but if I was to protect them then it had to be done.

I had no idea that he was online, that he escaped the rockslide I dropped on him, but part of me always suspected. I suppose it wasn’t completely a lie then, creating the Network to track him, since the Network has done a remarkable job at finding him these past weeks.

I wouldn’t have been able to track his signal down so effortlessly had it not been for them, bouncing the search frequencies through their relay stations.

But again, he could never know that.

“That’s a load of scrap and you know it, Starry,” he snapped, but I saw the small hesitation in his dark green optics. I saw him recalling my warnings to the village, to the Network as a whole, reminding them that I never found his body and there was always a chance he could be watching. Every time I added a compound, added a new family, I would reiterate to the whole Network the safety protocols and the procedures we put in place. And his designation was always there.

I smiled when he glanced at me, sifting through his files and my interactions with those people, and I seized the hesitation and hammered it in. “Is it?” I asked sweetly. “Or are you finally beginning to realize that you shouldn’t underestimate me?”

He glared at me, but didn’t speak, and there was one more thing in his gaze that I picked out.

I scoffed, rolling my optics. “Of course I was kind to them. How else would I get them to trust me?” I demanded, slowly beginning to walk towards him. “I was left with limited supplies and technology, so if I wanted a shot at reaching you then I needed to work with them. And look where it’s gotten me,” I gestured around us, encompassing the entire mill with a wave of my servos.

“These humans have been my optics and audials for 300 years, teaching me how to thrive on such a small little planet, willing to help me with very little to ask for in return,” I explained. I took another step closer to him, acutely aware that Arachnid had returned her attention to Jack and his mother. I needed to deal with him, and quickly.

“You want to know the truth, Shockburner? Want to know why I renounced Neutral status, why I decided to take an interest in this war when the option was handed to me?” I breathed, my spark beating faster and faster the longer I allowed this mech before me to continue breathing, peering up at him when nothing more than a pace was left between us.

Primus Almighty, give me strength tonight.

“It’s because when you blew up the Brilliance and terminated Crossbreaker and Straightwire, when you destroyed everything and everyone I had grown to care about, when I lost everything again, I had it.” He took everything from me. If it wasn’t for Una taking me under her wing then I very likely would be living as the femme I was making myself out to be.

The rage and pain and grief I was describing was real, and if I was left on my own then I could quite literally see myself turning into such a spiteful and hateful bot.

That village was my haven, and I will do anything to protect it and keep it safe from harm.

Anything.

I glowered at him. “I became involved in this forsaken war all thanks to you, Shockburner. You should feel proud, you get to take the credit of forcing me to pick a side. And now that I have, now that I’ve found you, there is nothing stopping me from turning you into little more than spare parts. But please, tell me again that I don’t have what it takes to be a Decepticon,” I hissed.

Even Arachnid knew I was more than capable of cruelty when pushed, and Shockburner has more than pushed me. The two of them really needed to learn how to pick their battles. But saying I wasn’t fit to be a Decepticon was an insult that I was not about to let stand.

I had my anger and my hatred, that was the easy part. Merely looking at this towering excuse of a mech made my energon boil and all sense of logic and reason fly out the window. It would be so easy to give in, to renounce what good remained in my life and dive helm-first into the despair that begged to consume me after what he’s done.

But he was right. My spark was too damn big and I cared too damn much to give in, so here I was, living a lie and fighting with every instinct I had against giving in and finally giving up.

Humanity deserved a chance to thrive, and I would be damned if I allowed anyone to stand in the way of that, myself included.

Shockburner peered down at me, watching me with an expression that I could not read as he struggled to figure me out. I watched his optics swirl and pivot, zooming in and back out, analyzing me with a criticism that made me want to scratch them out of their sockets.

Yeah, not even I knew what the frag I was.

I was a Lieutenant in the Decepticon Army. I was an Autobot spy. I was neither of those things, a Neutral stuck on this planet just trying to survive a war that didn’t know how to end. I was everything and none of those things, and all I wanted to do was keep my people safe and he was making that really difficult.

My spark dropped when a slow grin worked over his faceplates, amusement igniting his optics as he leaned in. “Nice try, Starry, but if you can come back from Wildspark, you can come back from what I did,” he purred, vocals only for me to hear. “But I must say, your acting was quite impressive. I almost believed you.” Now. I had to do it now-

I lunged for him, my sword going for his throatlines, but he was ready for me, catching my blade and wrenched it behind my backstruts. He effortlessly caught my other wrist when I tried to punch him, hauling me against his chassis.

His laughter floated down to my audials as I fought to free my sword, cursing at him furiously, and I knew if I had come here alone this would likely be it. I knew facing off against him one-on-one was akin to a death-sentence, and here I was, laughing in the face of the consequences and cursing this turn of events.

“Oh, Starry. I’ve missed you.”

Primus, I hated this mech. And what the frag did he think he was doing, teaming with Arachnid?

I glowered, slamming my helm back but all it did was bounce off his armour and give me a helmache, the mech chuckling again while I could now see Arachnid in the distance towering over Jack and his mother, stealing my attention for all of a moment.

“I beat your deadline!” His indignant voice reached my audials from all the way down here, a stab of fear piercing my spark when I saw Jack yell at Arachnid, positioning himself between her and his mother.

I paled, fighting to wrestle my sword free and ignored his chuckle when he saw where my gaze had gone.

He leaned down to whisper in my audial, “Deny it all you want,” he murmured, “but anyone with optics can see just how much you love them.”

“Afraid not, Jack! The task wasn’t for you to find your mother by midnight, you had to rescue her!” No. By the Allspark this could not be happening, I was right here!

Shockburner, if you do not let me go this instant-

“And time’s up.” As Arachnid spoke my internal clock for the Pacific Coastal area struck twelve, struggling harder against Shockburner’s iron-clad grip on my arms.

“Which is why I am going to make you watch them die.”

I knew he would go through with it, too.

“Now, take a seat, sit back, and enjoy the horror show.” Her webbing threw Jack to the boardwalk, pinning him down as Arachnid moved above them, acid dripping from her intake and the grin on her faceplates shoved me all the way back to when my sister offlined.

I couldn’t save Wildspark. I couldn’t do anything as Arachnid dragged her death out over cycles, watched and could do nothing as my sister screamed for mercy that would never come.

I will not condemn Jack and his mother to the same fate, witnesses be damned.

“Shockburner, I swear to the Allspark that if you do not let me go-”

His laughter interrupted me, grinning at me when I jerked my helm up to glare at him. Amusement shone in his gaze while he shoved both my arms behind my frame, pinning them with a single large servo and turned my helm back to Arachnid with the other. “We both know that’s not happening, Starry,” he chuckled.

Finally.

The instant his arm was away from his side an energon bolt ripped through the air and impacted the holster on his hip before he could react, destroying it completely.

The shock from the disruption was enough for me to yank my arms free, stumbling away and spun back to face him.

I couldn’t help it. I grinned, beaming at him and watched shock morph over his faceplates when Ironfoot and Steelheart jumped down behind him, their blasters primed and pointed at him. When he turned he found my own in his face.

Arachnid looked up at the disturbance and I caught a glance of her sneer from the top of the mixer.

At least she was distracted enough not to have killed them yet.

Small mercies.

I smiled at him. “What’s wrong, Shockburner?” I asked sweetly, relishing the sight of the smoldering chunk of metal he threw from his hip-plate. “Did you really think I was stupid enough to spring this trap alone?”

His glare would be enough to send more intelligent bots running.

Unfortunately, this mech has royally pissed me off, and I wasn’t very inclined to let him go so easily.

Fuming, he pivoted his attention to the spider-con, distracting her again from Jack and his mother. “Arachnid!”

She scoffed, rolling her optics and returned to the two humans, Jack having broken free of the webbing and was attempting to pull his mother from hers. It wasn’t really working. “What do you want me to do about it, Shockburner?” She called back, shooting him a glare. “I’m sorry I gave you the impression that I cared!”

Well, at least they weren’t friends. The thought almost made me giddy.

I smiled. “Shockburner, I’ve already told you; I am a Lieutenant in the Decepticon Army.” I shook my helm, chuckling. “Do you really believe Lord Megatron is going to let something happen to the same Decepticon who handed him the Autobot base?” His glare alone could curdle milk.

“Starscream has his seeker armada waiting just a ground bridge away for any sign or sound that something is wrong. You can keep telling yourself you’re invincible, Shockburner, but not even you can fight off the entire Decepticon faction,” I purred, and for once I was relieved I was among the Decepticon ranks. I didn’t want to imagine what would have happened if I was still a Neutral when he revealed himself to me.

No one would have even noticed I was gone, no one strong enough to stand against him.

However, that was thankfully not the case, and I finally saw the hesitation return, and Primus Almighty it was sweet.

He was counting on me to be sneaking around and hiding my activities from Megatron. But if the Warlord was aware that I was out here, then in a matter of minutes the entire Decepticon Army could be at our doorstep, and no matter how cunning or vile the two of them were, neither Shockburner nor Arachnid would last long against them.

Bringing the two Vehicons with me sparked enough doubt that this little ruse just might work, because he was right about me. I did not tell Megatron I was hunting him, and I did not tell him that I was here. But Shockburner doesn’t know that, and that was exactly what I needed.

I read the hesitation beginning to bloom in his optics, watching as he took in the relaxed grin on my derma, and watched him once again begin trying to piece together just who he was facing.

Not even I knew who I was anymore.

The stalemate was broken when we all picked up on the sound of rapid-fire bullets from the complex behind us, Shockburner whipping his helm in its direction and cursed soundly under his venting.

Bullets, not blaster fire, which meant humans, and the only humans who would be shooting at a Transformer, an Autobot no less, would be Silas and his goons.

Oh for the love of-

I scowled at the mech. “Really, Shockburner?” I scoffed. “You thought it would be a smart plan to team up with M.E.C.H?” Of all the plans they could come up with, they really thought Silas was the best one?

Give me a break.

“Watch it, Starry,” he snarled, but with the three blasters pointed at him he didn’t risk making good on his threats.

I smiled, and glanced over at the sound of a familiar engine revving up, Arcee rounding the building and rapidly closed the distance between us.

So that’s what M.E.C.H wanted from the agreement. Lucky for all of us they seem to be remarkably bad at their job, having lost not one but two Cybertronians in the span of a week. At least they’re incompetent.

The two-wheeler charged our standoff and forced the two of us further apart, Shockburner scowling at the femme making a beeline for Arachnid, Jack, and his mother.

Well, that takes care of one problem.

“You’re a real pain in the aft, you know that?” I chuckled, his optics narrowing at the three of us before he merely grinned.

Oh scrap-

I only had time to raise my sword when he crossed between us, my metal stinging from the sudden impact.

The Vehicons opened fire on him, but he didn’t seem to care, his giant frame absorbing most if not all of the energon bolts.

Switching my blaster for a second sword I was still forced to backtrack, scrambling to find something, anything I could use to my advantage and buy me some breathing room from the titan breathing down my neck.

Primus Almighty he was fast-

Jumping on a crate bought myself a split second, the clashing of metal behind me doing wonders of telling me how Arcee was faring.

Shockburner growled and swung at my peds, destroying the crate I was on and forced me to sidestep and avoid the shattering debris.

Blow after blow I managed to block, never able to land a hit as he kept backing me up further and further away from the Vehicons, backing me up near the far side of the complex.

I couldn’t keep this up for long, I wasn’t a fighter and a mere month of training would never be enough to change that, and Shockburner knew it.

I ducked under his next blow and managed to step around him, nicking his arm in the process and drew a decent amount of energon.

Oh, he didn’t like that.

He snarled at me as we resumed the spar, and from the sounds of things on the mixer above us Arachnid was having a swell time dealing with Arcee.

Good.

I yelped when he managed to grab ahold of my arm and threw me into one of the shipment containers the mill was using for storage, stunning me briefly.

He used my split-second hesitation and shoved me up against it, my venting hitching when he pressed his curved blade at the base of my throatlines.

“You are one annoying little femme,” he breathed, utter hatred shining within his dark green optics, pressing me harder against the wall.

Warm energon dripped down my neckcables, coating his sword as I strained against his grip, shoving against his blade and the weight of his frame.

Even with backup, even knowing it was a trap, he still managed to get the better of me.

Damnit all-

My spark was racing, warnings flashing through my scanners as I stared into his vicious stare, my energon staining my servos blue.

What was he waiting for? He wanted me offline, he wouldn’t get a better chance than this. The Vehicons had paused their efforts and were watching everything unfold, hesitating now that his sword was to my throat.

“Call them off, Starry,” he murmured, my spark skipping a beat. “Or I will end things right here and now.”

Bile churned in my tanks when I realized he meant to drag this out, meant to make it hurt. But if I wanted a chance at surviving this…

“Ironfoot, Steelheart, get back to the Warship,” I ordered quietly, ignoring the dueling Autobot and Decepticon behind us and steadily held his glare.

I could sense their shock, but I couldn’t tear my optics away from Shockburner.

How had I ever thought that he was a Neutral? There was nothing but hatred and spite on his faceplates, twisting his expression into something I would have only seen on the fiercest of Decepticons. There was no laughter, or taunting, or teasing like there had been for so many thousands of years we had lived together.

All of that, gone, the instant he made the decision to betray us and destroy what remained of my family.

Arachnid’s scream startled us all, Shockburner whipping his helm in time to watch as Arcee poured an entire concrete mixture over her, trapping her momentarily.

Holy Primus I wish I could do that-

While the spider was confined Arcee took the opportunity to begin climbing towards the pair of humans, the boardwalk Jack’s mother was suspended on having swung downwards to the point where the kid could no longer reach.

My venting hitched when I watched Arachnid move, and in a matter of seconds Arcee was thrown to the ground, Arachnid webbing her down.

Oh scrap-

Shockburner grinned, clearly enjoying this and laughed when I struggled against him, and he didn’t need to bother forcing me to watch, because I couldn’t look away.

He couldn’t know that I was an Autobot spy, and I simply prayed he assumed my worry was for the kid and his mother.

Please, Primus, let him think that.

I couldn’t just sit here and let Arcee fall, for so many reasons I couldn’t just stand by and watch this happen, Arachnid towering over her with a sick grin on her expression, but if I tried anything he would carry out his threat, and I would be of no use to anyone offline.

I couldn’t look away. I owed it to Arcee to watch, and I just prayed Jack and his mother would be able to get out of here alive if she didn’t.

Arachnid I swear to the Allspark I will offline you for this.

Our combined attention was stolen when our scanners detected incoming helicopters, and I watched as Agent Fowler and the men from Roselake arrived over the far side of the complex. Immediately they began pummeling Arachnid in a shower of bullets, buying Arcee her life.

Thank the fragging Allspark-

I was forced back to Shockburner when he growled, his optics darting between myself and the Vehicons. Neither Ironfoot or Steelheart had obeyed my command for them to return to the ship, and Shockburner knew he was both outgunned and outmanned, ultimately shoving off me. “This isn’t how I want to terminate you, Starry,” he snarled as I stumbled forwards and pressed a servo to my necklines. “But I assure you, your time on this planet is limited.”

Shockburner didn’t give me the time to respond, transforming into an armoured jeep and ripped out of the complex and into the Nevada desert, leaving Arachnid to fend for herself.

That left me with Ironfoot and Steelheart to deal with.

I had to get them out of here, and I had to do it now. Shockburner knows that I care about humanity and that was liability enough. “I’ll meet you back at the Warship, now go,” I hissed, and I wasn’t above making it an order. If Fowler saw the Vehicons he would have no choice but to shoot them down, and that wasn’t about to happen, not when it would leave me with the problem of explaining away their deaths.

Yeah, I really didn’t want to have to do that. For a multitude of reasons.

Once again they shared a look, and I was a split second away from following through with my unspoken threat when Ironfoot nodded, the pair of them transforming and made for the stars.

Good, but I couldn’t join them just yet.

Right now I was currently turning in time to witness Arachnid scan Fowler’s copter, earning her the ability of flight and the ability to escape this battle the moment the helicopters ran out of bullets.

Oh, not on my fragging watch-

Fowler could not be seen sparing me, so I would simply have to follow her when she transformed and evacuated the battlefield, unbothered and undeterred.

I took a running start after her, locking optics with the blue Autobot before I transformed into my jet and booked it after the glitch.

I had sent my reinforcements home, and had a pretty nasty slice to my throatlines that I should probably get looked at, so all this had to be was an easy little conversation, like how the frag did she manage to team up with Shockburner.

Tonight did not go the way I had planned.

– – –

One thing to note about helicopters, they were slow. And since I was an Airforce jet, catching up to her was easy.

She made a decent attempt to get away, I’ll give her that, but it wasn’t going to cut it.

“Arachnid, if you do not land I will shoot you down,” I growled through the open channel. “It would make my fragging day.”

I would love nothing more than to watch her fall from the sky and mangle her frame off the Nevada desert, but I wanted answers. Shockburner shouldn’t even be alive, let alone be working with her, and the more I managed to get out of her the more prepared I would be for when he returned.

And he would return.

Needless to say, I was slightly disappointed that she ignored me, but the sense of glee I got from shooting her tail-propeller and hearing her cry of pain would fuel me for weeks.

This was the least she deserved.

She half flew, half fell to the desert floor, and I quickly landed and transformed next to her, stalking over and hauled her to her peds when she finally regathered her bearings. I growled, and slammed her against the rock face behind us.

“Don’t even try it,” I snarled, shoving my sword to her throatlines. She froze, and I wanted so desperately to offline her right here and now, and she deserved it after all the pain she’s caused, but once again I would show restraint, but by Primus it was one of the hardest things I have ever done.

Three of her legs were burnt and charred, though I knew that wouldn’t stop her for long; I had to make this quick.

I glared at her. “You’re going to tell me exactly how you and Shockburner met,” I snapped, her purple optics narrowing.

“And why would I tell you anything?” She retorted, but I simply shoved my sword harder into her throatlines, pinning her servo down with my other.

“Because if you don’t I will terminate you right here and now, and I promise you, Arachnid, no one will miss you,” I seethed, warring with myself about what I was doing as her optics flashed, and I knew she could read the pure and utter hatred in my expression. Hatred for her and her alone.

“So I will ask you one more time,” I breathed. “How did you meet him?”

Information, in return for her life. The thought made me sick, but Wildspark was watching from the Allspark, and if I backed out on my word-

Oh, what the hell does it even matter? My sister was dead and it was all thanks to Arachnid. Would she hold her word?

I highly doubted it.

She squirmed, but with my blade to her throat there was very little she could do to knock me off, and we both knew it.

Growling, Arachnid conceded first. “We ran into each other,” she said simply, and I about had it with her dancing around the subject.

“When?”

Either she tells me what I want to know or I’ll get to tell Arcee that the glitch who offlined her partner was now nothing more than an empty husk.

She yelped when I nicked her, cursing my designation soundly. Her eight legs flared, the three burnt ones twitching. “Alright, alright! We met on Cybertron!” She snapped, glowering at me.

On Cybertron. He was a Neutral on Cybertron, and she hunted Neutrals. For fun. My kind may have had access to almost anything current at any given time, but the chances of getting anything out of a Neutral was slim to none, and both sides knew it. No, Arachnid captured my people for the thrill, and I should slit her throatlines right here and now just because of that.

“Before or after he joined my crew?” I whispered, and from the gleam that shone in her optics I knew her answer before she said anything.

Arachnid, with my sword to her throat, smiled. “After.”

Shockburner ran into Arachnid after he joined up with Straightwire’s crew. After he joined up with me.

“I don’t buy it,” I retorted, but my processor was already running the memory core, cataloging every single interaction I had with him, from the moment we met to ten minutes ago. “I have a hard time believing that you would let a Neutral live.”

Arachnid laughed, the sound echoing off the desert pass we were standing in, grinning sharply. “You mean beside yourself?” She chuckled, but winced when I tightened my servo around her wrist. I was in no mood to deal with her taunts or games. I’ve done enough of that for one evening, and I wasn’t about to entertain that again, not when it would be so easy to break her wrist or slit her throat.

“Try me, Arachnid,” I whispered, and the Decepticon who took my last surviving family swallowed.

Slowly, one by one the puzzle pieces in my mind began to click together, and I was not liking what I was piecing together.

Again, though, she was smiling. “Did you really think he was a Neutral?”

The world around us fell silent as denial ran me through.

Arachnid was bluffing. She had to be.

She laughed, spitting her words out at me like venom. “He was given a mission from Decepticon Command to infiltrate the Neutral Network, and compromise it. We met when he was grabbing a stash of energon from my unit.”

My spark skipped a beat, and Arachnid was enjoying this far too much to be lying.

"Didn't you ever wonder why you never seemed to run out?" Yes. Yes I had, but I believed him when he told us he had his own stashes he had made throughout the war, hidden the way Neutrals hide things and protected the way we protect.

She grinned. “I do have to say, Starfire, that you and your little crew gave him quite a fight. It took him far longer than we had anticipated to gain any form of access to your dear Network,” she purred, but I was no longer able to listen properly.

All this time, Shockburner was a Decepticon. It was why he tried so hard to get me to let him in, why he knew so little of Neutral rules and customs, why he went so far as to break into my datapad.

I paled. The entire Network was on that device. Yes, we activated our warning protocols, and the Brilliance likely crashed before he could transmit anything to the Decepticons, but-

Now I knew why he acted so differently from any other Neutral I had ever met, including Crossbreaker, who was also a former Decepticon officer.

Did Cross know? Did he recognize him and just assume he defected, like he did?

I immediately dismissed those thoughts. He would have said something about it, there isn’t a chance he would have allowed Straightwire and myself to go on believing there was nothing out of the ordinary with him.

Crossbreaker would have made damn well sure we knew about Shockburner’s potential threat level, of that I had no doubt.

But his actions, and his words, and decisions…

Everything finally made sense and I hated it.

I had all but forgotten about the Decepticon under my blade up until she decided to take advantage of my pure and utter shock.

Twisting, Arachnid pried her wrist free and kicked me off her, laughing at me when I stumbled back.

“Oh don’t tell me you didn’t know!” She crowed, malice dancing in her optics. “You traveled with him for ages! You must have been able to tell something about him was off!”

She was right, I had, but like a fool I chalked it up to nothing.

Fuming, I discarded my sword and drew my blaster, Arachnid sidestepping the shots and immediately used what remained of her legs to tunnel under the desert floor, throwing up dust and sand in her wake, and by the time I ran over, there was nothing but a gaping hole where she once stood.

Shockburner was a Decepticon.

– – –

Jack could officially say that this was the worst night of his life, sitting next to his shaken and confused mother.

He never wanted to get her involved in all this, but he was just relieved that she was alive.

They had managed to get her down after Arachnid ran off, Agent Fowler and his men landing their helicopters in a loose formation around the base of the cement mixer and began a sweep of the complex looking for M.E.C.H and their infamous leader, Silas.

Jack gently draped a shock blanket across his mother’s shoulders, exhaling slowly.

June’s hand shook when she grabbed it, but gave her son a grateful smile.

It was then that Agent Fowler approached them, the man moving to address his mother.

“Mrs. Darby,” he began, his mother slowly looking up. Agent Fowler cleared his throat. “I’m Special Agent William Fowler. It’s time you knew the truth. For the past several months, Jack has been… interning for me at the agency.”

It could have worked, had his mother dealt with anyone other than Arachnid tonight.

From the look on his mother’s face, Jack didn’t have to take a guess that she detected a whole load of crap.

“Agent Fowler, mom’s not going to buy it,” he winced.

“He’s got that right.” Finally he heard some life return to his mother, and the relief made him weak in the knees.

“Agent Fowler.” The Special Agent was pulled away by one of his men, managing to piece together that Silas got away again in time for Arcee to walk over.

His mother peered over cautiously. “And she would be your…?” Her voice trailed off, and he didn’t blame her for being wary after the night she just had.

Jack smiled, standing next to his guardian when she knelt down beside them. “Motorcycle, Guardian, Autobot, Friend,” he said, his mother nodding slowly when the two-wheeler smiled.

“Call me Arcee,” she offered, a kindness to her voice that Jack didn’t hear all that often from the veteran warrior, a kindness that only her closest family and friends would ever hear.

His mother slowly got to her feet, clutching the blanket to her chest and nodded to the Autobot. “Thank you, Arcee,” she smiled, Autobot and Human arriving at a shared understanding.

They both cared for Jack, and anyone he cared about was family.

He grinned. “I think it’s time for that ride you once made me promise,” he chirped, a whirl of emotion swimming beneath her eyes now that she knew the truth about her request, and her son’s offer.

Before June could say anything, however, the sky was filled with the sound of a jet engine, Arcee rising to her peds and quickly turned to face the incoming vehicle.

Jack waved his mother back, motioning for her behind him as they watched a Decepticon land several paces away from all of them.

He exhaled just as quickly as he tensed, relieved, and motioned for his mother to relax in time for Arcee to frown. The Autobot lowered her blaster and walked over to the femme, Agent Fowler peeling away from his soldiers to join them.

“Who’s that?” Jack turned at his mother’s question, and found himself hesitating.

How would he begin to describe Starfire?

“It’s complicated,” he tried, but his mother frowned and promptly began walking over to the trio.

Jack startled, reaching for her. “Mom, wait-” he blurted, but June was a woman with a stubborn streak, and once she had her mind made nothing and no one could talk her out of it.

For someone who had only just been introduced to Cybertronians, his mother was taking this remarkably well.

Sighing, he fell in line beside her and they arrived in time to hear Arcee’s quiet observation. “That looks like it stings.”

She was addressing the noticeable blue stain on the seeker’s throat, and Jack blinked when Starfire merely shrugged and nodded. “It does.” Her voice was quiet, and her blue eyes landed on his mother when she came to stand next to Fowler.

Starfire’s expression softened. “Are you both alright?” She asked softly, and his mother nodded, once.

She will be, at least.

Satisfied, she turned her attention back to Arcee and Fowler. Her optics flashed when the Agent frowned at her, but the look on her face sent Jack’s skin crawling.

Starfire gingerly rubbed a hand along her throat. “Shockburner is back,” she whispered, Fowler whipping his head over.

“What?” He demanded, glancing at Jack’s mother briefly. “That shouldn’t be possible, I thought you took care of him.”

Starfire laughed dryly, nodding. Arcee looked between the human and the Neutral cautiously, and Jack subtly motioned for his mother to edge closer to the Autobot. “So did I. But this cut here does a lot to tell me how wrong I was,” she muttered, bringing her hand away and briefly glanced at the blue staining her fingers.

It was still bleeding.

His Guardian frowned. “Who’s Shockburner?” She asked, and from the mixture of emotions that spread across Starfire’s expression Jack already knew he wanted nothing more to do with him.

Starfire sighed, shaking her head. “He was the Neutral responsible for destroying my ship and stranding me here,” she explained, exhaustion weighing on her voice.

Jack frowned, taking a closer look at their spy.

Aside from the obvious, her entire demeanour looked drawn, a heavy weight shoving her shoulders down, and her paint job was duller than he remembered. He knew from listening to Phoenix’s stories that the Decepticon Warship was far from a pleasant place, but Starfire appeared far more worse for wear than she should have been. It had only been a month, and a very quiet one at that.

She didn’t speak for a long moment, appearing as though lost in thought before she looked back down to the Special Agent still reeling over this new revelation. “Shockburner knows about the Village,” she continued, and Jack picked up on a desperate twinge colouring her voice. “Please, Fowler, protect them,” she outright begged, and Agent Fowler nodded grimly.

“You know I will.”

Relief, sharp and clear flashed across her face, and Jack felt an overwhelming wave of sympathy for the silver bot. Here she was, risking her life for the Autobots, for humanity, simply because no one else could. She was the only one the Decepticons wouldn’t recognize, willingly taking Phoenix’s place the moment the need arose.

They all owed her, and he wasn’t even sure if she realized just how grateful they were.

She had turned back to address Arcee and Jack drew an arm around his mother’s shoulders. “He isn’t afraid to get humans involved to get what he wants.” A sideways glance at his mother and Jack narrowed his eyes. “If you or any of the bots run into him, do not engage. I cannot reiterate that enough; he will kill you if he thinks he can get away with it,” she warned, his mother inhaling sharply and held the blanket tighter.

Arcee frowned and crossed her arms. “And what is it that he wants?” She asked warily, and Jack felt a chill run down his spine at Starfire’s response:

“Me.”

– – –

Chapter Text

Returning to the Decepticon Warship was the most difficult thing I had done to date.

Pretending like everything was fine when my world had just been shattered was the utter last thing I wanted to do, but unfortunately I no longer had a choice in the matter, landing on the Nemesis’ flight deck and briskly walked inside.

I had debated the entire flight whether or not to go to the medical wing, but from the way the cut was still bleeding I figured it was now out of my realm of expertise.

It was far into the recharge shift, and I hadn’t the faintest clue where Ironfoot or Steelheart had gone, the halls of the ship void of any other living creature, and I idly wondered if they had reported my actions to Megatron.

I wouldn’t be surprised if they did. I didn’t really explain to them why I was hunting Shockburner to begin with, and I had refused to show up to any of the training sessions for the last three cycles. I should probably expect to have a confrontation with the Warlord in the very near future.

It was their job to report my doings, and I just hoped I would be able to talk away fighting to protect a human as simply luring him out.

I was too tired to be dealing with this scrap.

Wincing, I pressed a servo against the cut again and held it there until I arrived at the medbay, stepping through the laboratory and entered the main space where Knockout spent the vast majority of his time.

A quick glance around did wonders of informing me that the doctor and his assistant were likely in recharge, the silence echoing off the metal walls making my helm spin.

That, or the loss of energon was finally getting to me.

Venting, I decided against waking Knockout or Breakdown and walked to one of the medical stations, beginning to rifle through a drawer in search for something I could use to stem the bleeding.

Just my fragging luck that it would get worse, a steady drip of energon running down my chassis.

If I could only find a roll of gauze…

“Care to explain what you’re doing in here?”

I stiffened, jerking around and felt my spark skip a beat, eyeing Megatron warily as he stepped down the handful of stairs and stopped less than five paces away from me, an unreadable expression on his faceplates.

The Warlord was silent, examining me as I mentally cursed my unfortunate luck. I was hoping for a few hours at least before I needed to come up with a reasonable excuse, with a stint of recharge between.

His optics snagged on the bright blue stain on my throatlines, narrowing slightly when I turned back to rifling through Knockout’s medical supplies.

I was exhausted and was in no mood to be playing games right now. If Megatron couldn’t figure out why I was in the medical wing then that was his problem.

“I believe I asked you a question, Starfire.” His vocals were quiet though, his servo grabbing my shaking wrist and, with a gentleness I would have never expected from the Leader of the Decepticons, pried it away from the medical drawer.

Megatron turned me away from the cabinet, releasing my servo and immediately lifted my chin.

I tensed, his optics flicking between my own, and I remained silent.

Anything I could have possibly said would have been the truth, and I couldn’t risk that. Not when the truth was the one thing I should never tell him.

He glared. “Who did this to you?”

I blinked, but Megatron had released my chin and turned to the medical drawer, opening the one below where I had been sifting through and wordlessly procured the gauze I had been hunting for.

He nodded behind me. “Sit.”

Wordlessly I obeyed, backing to the berth and warily monitored the Warlord’s movements. I watched as he grabbed a welder and a second roll of medical gauze before walking over, needing to crane my helm in order to see him.

“Tell me what happened.” It was as clear an order as it had ever been, Megatron prying my servo away from the metal of my neck and carefully began wiping away the excess energon.

What harm could it possibly do if Megatron discovered Shockburner’s presence on Earth? If anything, I stood a higher chance of destroying him if I had the true support of the Decepticon Army backing me.

I still didn't know what my troopers had reported, so lying was definitely out of the question.

Finally, exhausted, confused and simply done with everything I caved, and began recounting the last three cycles to the Leader of the Decepticons.

There was not a chance in the pits that I was about to admit to the Network, but it would be expected that I had systems in place to help myself around the planet. I used those systems to track Shockburner after he sent a message to me in an attempt to lure me out.

It really wasn’t a lie.

As I spoke Megatron quietly cleaned the cut on my throatlines, pausing whenever my vocals trailed off.

I told him that I was hunting a ghost, someone who I thought I dealt with long ago, and I finally warned against engaging with him in combat.

I warned the Leader of the Decepticons against fighting. Primus, I must be loosing it.

“He isn’t afraid to fight dirty, and he is more than capable of holding his own,” I murmured, obeying when Megatron motioned for me to lift my helm. “He works with chemicals and explosives; if you see him it’s only because he wants you to.”

I kept replaying that femme’s death, watching her metal melt and sizzle and fall apart, the expression of fear and agony on her faceplates seared into my memory banks.

He offlined a Decepticon Officer. One of his own faction.

The reminder that he had always been a Decepticon made my tanks churn, and I fell silent again and closed my optics.

She had made a motion to speak seconds before Shockburner poisoned her. I had always wondered what she would have said, and now that I knew just what Shockburner was, I had a sick suspicion that she was about to expose him, whether intentionally or not, and he couldn't have that.

He would do anything to maintain his cover, and he knows where my people are.

Shockburner knew that if he wanted to get to me, all he would have to do is threaten them and I would come running.

Humanity was my weakness, and they always will be.

The silence returned to the medbay, Megatron rising to his peds as I tiredly opened my optics.

The cut had been cleaned and neatly welded, a heavy wave of exhaustion seeping into my circuits.

“How did he arrive on this planet?” He asked quietly, turning and began putting the equipment away while he waited for my answer.

How indeed, Megatron.

I huffed dryly, lightly drawing my digits across the fresh weld. “He was on my ship.” I didn’t need to explain further, and I knew he realized why I had remained on this planet for so long to begin with.

Shockburner destroyed the Brilliance, and I will never forgive him for that.

I couldn’t read the expression on the Warlord’s faceplates, his optics narrowed and calculating, and I simply sat on the medical berth and watched him tiredly.

I’ve told him far more of the truth than I had ever planned on, and I really wanted to go to my quarters and not leave for another week.

“And during this time you missed every single one of your training shifts.” I nodded, once, and ignored the slight sting to my throatlines.

Megatron narrowed his optics.

“If you ever discover another lead, you will report it. Is that understood, Starfire?” It wasn’t a suggestion. If I went off on my own again there would be consequences.

I didn’t have the energy to argue and simply nodded.

– – –

“Stop by base tomorrow. We could all do with some catching up.”

“Soundwave has yet to lose my signal, and after tonight he’s going to be monitoring me closer than ever. I can’t risk it so soon.”

“Then we’ll meet somewhere else.”

Arcee had left no room for argument, her words repeating themselves in my helm as I fitfully recharged.

Jack and his mother had watched the exchange with mixed looks, his mother cautious and wary while Jack almost appeared sympathetic, and Agent Fowler had sent word to Daniel and Catori that he would be upping security around the Village again.

I let the Network as a whole know I gave my approval the instant I returned to my room before finding the berth and begged my systems to shut down and send me off to recharge.

I tossed and turned, the events from last night refusing to leave me alone, haunting me in my dreams so when I woke I was even more exhausted than when I was before.

I couldn’t afford to miss another training cycle, though, and with Soundwave no doubt monitoring my every move I knew I didn’t really have a choice in the matter.

I hadn’t run into Ironfoot or Steelheart, so I really had no way to gauge what to expect today as I walked through the halls of the Nemesis, making my way to the training wing with a lump of worry in my throatlines.

I needed to know what they reported to Megatron, needed to know how much they overheard and how much they saw on my datapads. I refused to be caught unaware, but Megatron wouldn’t have gone through the effort of patching me up last night if he thought I was a traitor.

Small mercies.

It was with these thoughts circling around my processor that I ended up in the training wing, steeling myself for whatever was to come next and quickly located the room I was meant to be training in.

They were not my friends. I was a spy, and I needed to remember that.

I wished myself luck in that regard.

Venting, I ignored my misgivings and activated the keypad, the door sliding open to a mostly empty room, and I walked in with a strong sense of déjà vu.

This time, however, instead of walking into an ambush, I stepped into the dimmed room and found only three of the Vehicons waiting for me.

Three, out of twelve. Lovely.

From their stances and the way they held themselves I was able to determine order of rank, but until one of them said something I would be unable to piece together just who exactly each of them were. I was working on it, but I knew I still had a long way to go in that regard.

Inhaling slowly, I stepped inside and approached the trio wordlessly.

They turned the instant the door opened, the highest ranking nodding to me. “Lieutenant.”

Ah, so it would be the squadron leaders. I suspected, but until Ironfoot spoke it was difficult to be sure.

I dipped my helm. “Captain.”

Ironfoot watched me carefully, and I was not mistaken to pick up on an air of distrust and wariness from the three leaders of my squadron.

“Are you alright?” Steelheart asked, stepping over and simultaneously waved Ironfoot and Magnablade back.

I blinked but nodded, once more thrown back to the events of last night.

What I wouldn’t give to forget it all.

How was I ever supposed to trust myself again if I didn’t realize I was traveling with a Decepticon? How reliable could I possibly be if I ignored what was right in front of my faceplates?

Unfortunately, not even Primus was able to redo the past, so for now I was stuck here playing a game that I really wanted no part in.

“I am, Steelheart,” I said finally, shoving those needless thoughts as far to the back of my helm as I could get them. I could wallow later, when the fate of my mission wasn’t at stake. “How are you holding up?” I asked. “I’m sorry I wasn’t able to check in last night, I apparently forgot to recharge for three cycles.”

I was hunting a monster, one who was far more cunning and dangerous than I had ever given him credit for.

Once again the three of them shared a look, and I suspected that my apology has, once again, caught them off guard.

It wasn’t like I didn’t mean it, but I’ve noticed that conceding when I was mistaken and admitting whenever I was wrong has been a record game-changer when it came to how the Vehicons reacted around me, and despite my spiraling thoughts a flicker of anger flared to life in my spark.

Anger for them.

My kindness should not be an exception, and once again it took a whole lot of willpower not to give Megatron a piece of my mind.

Steelheart shrugged. “Well, we’re as alright as we can be, all things considered.” It wasn’t really an answer, though I couldn’t really expect them to be entirely honest with me after the stunt I pulled last night.

Arachnid and Shockburner still lived and it seriously ticked me off, but the Vehicons were alright so I was going to take that as a win.

“I’m glad,” I replied, and I was. The last thing I wanted was for them to get caught up in my personal revenge against the two of them, and that was exactly what had happened, much to my frustration.

Primus Almighty I was getting seriously annoyed at my warring feelings for these troopers, and I was still too damn tired to be figuring this all out right now.

From the sounds of things, though, they did not report my data collection to Megatron, an assumption I made by the sheer fact that he didn’t demand the codes.

I turned to Ironfoot, the Captain regarding me cautiously. I could see it in his wings; he didn’t know how this conversation was going to pan out.

Honestly, neither did I.

“I spoke with Lord Megatron last night,” I said, dusting a couple digits over the still-tender weld on my throat. “He is aware of what we did.”

They nodded, and I had a feeling they told him something at least regarding their involvement. Ironfoot had a squadron to take care of; he couldn’t be caught keeping secrets from Megatron if he knew what was good for him. I let my servo drop. “What did you tell him?” The more I knew, the better things would be.

The Captain vented. “We were waiting for you before making our report,” he replied quietly, and I honestly couldn’t school my faceplates in time to hide my shock.

Delaying a report could land them all in scrap, no matter the nature of the information, and they held off for me?

“But- why?” I blurted, stunned. “Keeping things like that will not earn you any favors.” If Megatron learned that they willfully kept information from him- I shuddered.

Ironfoot shrugged, once. “You’re our Lieutenant, and leader of this squadron. We follow your orders.”

My orders, so if I told them not to say a word then they very well might listen to me.

Primus Almighty I was not expecting that.

Megatron didn't know about my absence until I admitted it to him myself. These troopers... lied for me?

Well that is good information to know.

“So, what’s the plan?”

– – –

Several hours and one training session later and I was finally able to go for a patrol.

Ironfoot explained that he was able to assess how I fought last night, and if we wanted to prevent anything like it from happening again then we would need to pick up the pace.

They drilled me in everything, from servo-to-servo all the way to the range. Magnablade volunteered to be my partner for the first bit, and I could honestly say I got my aft handed to me.

I really didn’t want to fight Arachnid or Shockburner again anytime soon, not after the workout the Vehicons just gave me, but if we kept this up then perhaps I would stand a chance.

Now, however, I had signed myself out for another patrol and had been in the skies for all of a minute before I opened a relay channel to the Autobot base.

Well, I opened a channel to Bulkhead, because out of everyone there my old friend would be the least likely to bite my helm off.

I missed him, ok?

“Well look who decided to call.” I found myself relaxing at the teasing tone to his vocals, my spark easing almost the second the call connected.

“Yep, it’s me. I take it Arcee filled everyone in on what happened last night?” The two-wheeler no doubt wasted no time in bringing everyone up to speed, especially since Jack and his mother were involved and were almost made casualties of this war.

Bulkhead’s laughter faded. “Yeah, she also told us that you ran into an old friend? How dangerous are we talking here?” He asked, and the amount of self-control it took not to turn back to the ship and begin hunting them down again should have earned me a reward of some kind.

I exhaled slowly. “He’s a Decepticon, Bulk,” I murmured, and my friend’s curse made me smile. “Listen, Arcee proposed a meet, but I don’t want to risk Soundwave losing my signal just yet. I’m currently flying over Europe, if I forward you all some coordinates would you mind bridging out?” I asked, keeping high over the cloud-line and away from human radar.

Bulkhead didn’t reply right away, a commotion from the base taking his attention briefly before he was back. “Sounds like a plan, Star. Send the coordinates and we’ll meet you there.”

The call cut once I sent the location, a small ledge deep inside the Alps, and a well of nerves bubbled up in my spark as I flew towards them.

The last time I ran into the Autobots, I was with a group of Decepticons and couldn’t spare more than a look of greeting. Now, though? Now I was about to meet up with them and there wouldn’t be a Decepticon signal in sight to prevent us from a proper conversation.

Yeah, this was going to be interesting.

– – –

“What do you mean, I can’t come with?!” Phoenix groaned at Miko’s instant protest, the girl standing next to Rafael on top of a large pile of crates, nearly optic-level with her guardian while she watched from across the room next to the ground bridge.

Bulkhead had told them Starfire had provided coordinates, and if Phoenix knew anything about Earth terrain, then she knew that a mountain in one of the oldest ranges on this planet was no place for a child, let alone one who wouldn’t be dressed for the weather.

“I’ve told you already, Miko,” Bulkhead said exasperatedly, Bumblebee chuckling off to the side while they waited for Arcee to show up.

The two-wheeler updated them on the situation when she reported last night, and Phoenix had genuinely been surprised at the mention of M.E.C.H’s involvement. She was going to need to fine-tune her virus when they returned from this little chat.

~Ratchet will likely be able to assist you if you need it,~ her mate murmured from where he was speaking with said medical officer, their optics locking as she glanced over.

That wouldn’t be half a bad idea, so long as the doctor didn’t question the origin of said virus or what she has done with it.

She had been a Decepticon for literally the entire war, alright? She’s done some things she wasn’t proud of anymore, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t use them for the Autobots now, right?

Right??

Trace amounts of amusement floated through the bond, and she smiled to herself, leaning back against the wall and watched Miko try and convince Bulkhead to let her join, simultaneously taking weight off of her still-healing stabilizer.

Sorry, Miko. It just wasn’t going to happen.

Humming, she craned her neck and peered down the tunnel when the doors to the base creaked open, the Autobots collectively turning at the sound.

Arcee had mentioned in her report that she would be bringing another human with her today, and Phoenix wryly wondered just how many she intended to acquire.

Now that she thought about it, Arcee was responsible for bringing every last one of the humans here, a feat that she was never going to live down so long as Phoenix had anything to say about it.

She grinned.

Miko halted her efforts when Arcee slowly rolled in, turning to peer down as Ratchet and Optimus walked over.

Pushing off the wall Phoenix stepped into view, Jack taking his helmet off and gestured to the assembled life-forms looking down at them, the older human displaying clear signs of shock and wonder.

“Mom, meet my science fiction club.” There was a light to Jack’s voice that made her smile, his mother outright gaping at the bots standing around, and the look his mother sent her mate was one of pure and utter awe.

~Told you I’m not the only one who finds you attractive,~ she teased, and smothered a laugh when Optimus gave her a sideways glance.

The two humans stepped off Arcee, and the blue Autobot transformed behind them and propped a servo on her hip-plate, a look of affection briefly glancing over her features.

“Alright, now that we’re all here?” Bulkhead prompted, and grinned when Miko pouted. “The coordinates Star sent us are already in the bridge.”

Arcee nodded, Ratchet walking back to the ground bridge control panel while Bumblebee waved goodbye to Rafael.

“She got away from the ship?” Jack asked, his mother looking around warily now that everyone was up and moving. “That’s awesome, would I be able to come along? I still haven’t thanked her for her help last night.”

Phoenix blinked, and snickered when Miko outright gasped at the insinuation before anyone could get a word in otherwise.

“The answer is still no, Miko!”

Optimus shook his helm, and the amusement that floated through the bond did wonders of telling her what he thought of the situation. “I’m afraid that is out of the question, Jack,” he replied, the team beginning to assemble beside the mouth of the bridge. “The coordinates Starfire gave us belong to a cliffside high in one of your mountain ranges. However, we will be sure to pass on your gratitude.”

Jack nodded, grabbing his mother’s arm. “Thanks, Optimus. See you guys when you get back.” He smiled, before pulling the older human towards the stairs leading to the common area where Rafael and Miko had been deposited.

She looked over when Optimus rose, humming quietly. “This will be my first proper conversation with her since she left,” she murmured, her mate nodding as Ratchet activated the bridge.

“I know, Phoe.” She read the unspoken words in his optics, the portal spinning away behind her as it waited for travelers.

Inhaling slowly, she straightened her shoulderplates and walked over to the team, Bulkhead very nearly vibrating out of his frame in excitement.

With a nod to Ratchet and the four humans Optimus turned and led the team through the bridge.

– – –

I had landed on the ledge not long after I hung up the call with Bulkhead, and had proceeded to plop myself down and dangle my stabilizers over the edge, leaning back on my servos as I took in the vast mountain range I was sitting in.

The tallest peaks of the Alps towered above me, a soothing wind dusting over my wings as I laid them back for the brief glimpses of sunlight to dance across.

Earth was truly a beautiful planet, and I should probably enjoy the scenery while I can. Primus knew the next time I would be able to.

Snow had begun falling soon after I had arrived, and I was covered in a light layer of the white powder when the familiar tone of a ground bridge took my attention from the view.

Smiling, I rose to my peds and turned to face it, shaking the snow off my wings as I waited for the Autobot team to arrive.

The first one to appear was Optimus, the Autobot leader scanning the area the second he left the bridge, his optics coming to land on me.

The Alps fell away at my peds, this small cliff nestled up against the stony face and was quickly being covered in snow, though I figured the main thing he was looking for was Decepticon soldiers.

I wouldn’t trust me all that much either, if the situation was reversed.

Behind the Autobot Leader Arcee stepped out, followed closely by Bumblebee, the young scout blinking in awe at the view that stretched out around him while the two-wheeler remained stoically off to the side.

She may have been the one to orchestrate this entire meet-up, but I wasn’t about to kid myself into thinking she had forgotten or forgiven how my position came to be.

We still had a long way to go before she would willingly open up to me, and I was more than fine with that.

I was, after all, used to it.

Bulkhead exited the portal next, the Wrecker letting out a slow whistle as the sun glinted off his green frame, taking in the area around us with a slow nod. For a grounder, the mech seemed to be taking in the view with a healthy dose of respect.

I smiled when our optics met, my old friend literally lighting up the instant he saw me.

“Star!”

I had less than that to brace myself as he closed the distance and tackled me in a giant hug, spinning us as he laughed. I giggled, and had half a thought to shove him away from the sheer drop-off at my peds, but relaxed when he shifted us away.

I grinned, his laughter infectious and a weight lifted off my shoulderplates when he gently set me back down on my peds. “It’s good to see you too, Bulk,” I teased, beaming at him and for a brief second I allowed myself to relax, to forget about this treacherous game I was playing and simply soaked in the sheer joy of seeing my friend again.

I really needed to check in more often.

Any form of laughter died in my throatlines when the final member of the team walked through the bridge, as the portal whirled shut and the only thing louder than the wind of the mountains was the ringing in my audials.

The Firebird’s expression remained carefully contained as she came to stand next to her sparkmate, her dark blue optics unreadable and my spark squeezed. The limp she had the last time we ran into each other was still present.

Reality checked back in, and as much as I wished otherwise, I had a job to do.

Blowing out a breath, I offered a small smile to Bulkhead before turning to address the assembled Autobots, Bumblebee in the process of peering over the side of the cliff.

First things first. “How’s June holding up?” I asked Arcee, having learned her name before I left last night. And as much as the woman claimed she was fine, I knew from experience that any interaction with Arachnid was far from a picnic.

Arcee frowned. “She’s at base right now,” she said when the wind died, her vocals guarded. “She seems a bit overwhelmed with everything, but she should be alright.”

Bumblebee had looked up when the conversation picked up, moving back from the edge of the cliff when a fresh gust of wind blew his door wings back and almost threw him off balance.

Optimus glanced at his scout. “Jack would like us to pass on his gratitude for your efforts last night,” he said, and I blinked. “Had the location been less… hostile, for humans, then he would have been willing to join us today,” he added, and a mixture of emotions welled up in my spark before I could squash them.

Out of every sentient creature I have had the privilege of meeting throughout the cosmos, humans are the ones most likely to hold onto things. If for whatever reason Jack thought I could have done more to protect his mother, then there would have been nothing I could have done to change his mind.

Most humans protect their family with a ferocity I have to admire.

To hear that he was grateful?

Primus I was not about to tear up-

Bulkhead laughed again. “Yeah, and Miko would have been here no matter the answer! We had to double check that she wasn’t tagging along and everything,” he added, and nodded to me. “You’ve made quite an impression on her.”

I didn’t doubt it. That girl was something else, and I would be damned if I didn’t get to see her one of these cycles. I want to take her flying again.

I smiled, turning back to the Leader of the Autobots. “Tell Jack that I would do it again,” I replied, exhaling slowly as the snow started to fall faster. I would always protect humans, even though having to explain that away was probably only going to get harder the longer I remained with the Decepticons. “Especially now that Shockburner knows his face.”

Arcee bristled, and I truly didn’t blame her for it. “If he so much as looks at the children wrong,” she began, but Optimus halted her spiel by asking a different question, one that I would love nothing more than to bury and forget.

“What can you tell us about him?”

What couldn’t I tell them about him?

Well, turns out everything I thought I knew about him was literally a load of scrap, so I don’t really know what to tell ya there, Optimus.

Of course, I said none of these things, and once again shoved my despise for the mech to the back of my processor and explained to the Autobots just what they were dealing with, and the longer I spoke the more wary their expressions became.

I dropped the fact that I now believed that he was a Decepticon, but when asked Phoenix claimed that she hadn’t heard about him, not that she would have known every single Decepticon that had ever lived, but I wasn’t going to lie and say I wasn’t hoping for some more insight into how he operated.

By the time I had finished I had explained to them everything I thought I knew, from his love of darts and poisons to his sadistic nature and desire to take things apart just because he could. The snow had continued to fall, and I knew it was only a matter of time until it would grow too cold even for us to remain out here.

The Autobots knew it, too.

“Please, be careful around him.” I didn’t care that I was begging. Shockburner had taken everything from me, and I was not about to let it happen again, not here, not with this team. I couldn’t go through that again.

“We’ll be careful, Star,” Bulkhead promised, Bumblebee nodding. I just prayed that they would be able to keep their word.

That officer's death would forever haunt me.

“We cannot rule out the possibility that he may try again to single you out,” Optimus said, Phoenix frowning. “Do the Decepticons know that he is on Earth?”

I hesitated, my digits finding the weld on my throatlines as I remembered the conversation I had with Megatron last night.

I had no doubt that Soundwave knew about him now, too.

“Yes,” I answered finally, letting my servo fall back to my side. “Megatron is aware. Shockburner has made no attempt to reach out, and I honestly don’t know him well enough to tell if he’s going to rejoin the faction,” I admitted. I wasn’t sure I knew him at all anymore, despite the last several minutes of conversation. All I could do was simply hope that Megatron would turn him away if he tried.

Shockburner would fit right in.

Optimus turned to his sparkmate, the former Decepticon Assassin appearing thoughtful before ultimately shaking her helm. “I can’t see Megatron taking him back,” she said, crossing her arms across her chassis. “His goal was to establish a way to break into the Neutral Network?” I nodded. “Then his mission was a failure. Anything he could have learned will be useless now that the Neutrals have scattered to the stars.”

She sounded so confident in her statement, and I really didn’t want to have to explain that no, actually. My people were more closely connected than ever now, so I maintained the best poker face I had ever mustered.

If Megatron believes the same thing, then maybe I had a chance.

“Anything new to report on your end?” I asked, changing the topic now that they were aware of just how much danger they were truly in.

Autobot, Decepticon, Neutral, Human. Shockburner did not care and that thought terrified me.

Bulkhead grinned, elbowing Phoenix and very nearly knocked her into her mate as she yelped. “This one has been holding out on us, Star,” he chirped, laughing when I cocked an optic ridge. “She gave one of the best lobs I have ever seen last month, and now that she’s been cleared for active duty she’s going to put those skills to use!” He laughed, and since I was looking I managed to catch the faint look of fondness that spread across her expression.

Fondness for her teammate.

“Yeah, we’ll see about that.”

Optimus smiled, watching his team for a moment. “Is there anything to report from the Nemesis?” He asked, borrowing their attention again as I shrugged.

“It’s been remarkably quiet, Optimus,” I admitted. “I have scanners in place to alert me if Megatron plans anything, but they haven’t gone off yet.” Although the virus I planted on the Warship is still going strong, so there’s that. I won't be loosing the Network anytime soon. Either of them.

Arcee frowned. “Are you sure they work?”

I deadpanned. Do my systems work? Ha! “Yeah, been using them since the war started, I’m fairly confident they work,” I said sarcastically, Bumblebee snickering off to the side as the two-wheeler shrugged.

It was a fair question, but come on.

I smiled, shaking my helm. “I have a satellite that can scan three solar systems out, and it’ll notify us if anyone else decides to approach this planet. I’ll be sure to let you know if I find anything,” I promised, and I meant it, too. The more truthful we were with each other, the higher the odds we would all get out of this online.

The more aid I could offer them, the safer Earth would be. I owed humanity that much.

This was war, though, and honestly? Nothing was guaranteed, no matter how seasoned a warrior was. No matter that they all survived the death of our world. Anything could happen, which is why I remained out of it for as long as I possibly could.

Optimus Prime nodded. “That’s good to know, Starfire. You’re doing well?” I knew what he was really asking, and I hummed, crossing my arms.

“If you’re asking if I like being on the Nemesis, Optimus, then I’m gonna have to say no,” I replied, and from the scowl that twisted Phoenix’s expression I could assume she agreed. “But overall, Megatron made me a Lieutenant and for the moment doesn’t suspect a thing. I’m gonna keep it that way for as long as I can,” I murmured, exhaling heavily.

Bulkhead frowned, but I focused my attention on the Autobot leader. “How are your energon reserves?” I asked. Now that I’m working with a Vehicon squadron, I should be able to learn where the Decepticon mines are located.

I locate the mines, and then some energon will begin to disappear. If nothing else, at least this team will be able to carry on the fight.

The snow steadily began to fall faster when Optimus answered me. “We used most of the Energon Harvester contents this month,” he said, and Phoenix winced. “Ratchet has calculated that we should have enough to last another two.”

The Autobots have energon for two months. That was seriously good to know.

I nodded. “I’m going to work my way into the energon mines,” I said, crossing my arms. “It’s going to take awhile, all things considered, but I’m going to do my best to have a consistent supply heading your way before you run low,” I promised.

I was willing to bet that Megatron had already changed everything he could in light of Phoenix’s betrayal, but I had a couple aces up my sleeve, so to speak.

Megatron wasn’t looking for a spy anymore, and I had a squadron of Vehicons to teach me about how their mines worked. It wasn’t like I haven’t stolen energon from the Decepticons before, I could certainly do it from within their own ranks.

“Be careful, fem. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do,” Bulkhead said after a moment, and I couldn’t hide my grin at the implication.

So says the Wrecker who doesn’t know the meaning of caution.

Optimus nodded, bringing a digit to his com-link, calling for a bridge and turned once it began spinning behind the team.

He turned back as I edged towards the drop-off. “Take care, Starfire,” he said, his team gathering beside him.

I smiled, returning the wave Bumblebee gave me and turned my backstruts to the team, milliseconds away from transforming into the steadily building storm when a call of my designation made me pause.

“Starfire, wait.”

I turned, tensing almost instantly when I found the Firebird staring at me, waving her team on through the bridge.

“I want a word with her alone,” she announced, turning to said team, and from the tone her vocals took I had little doubt this would be an… interesting, conversation, to say the least.

The assassin turned to the Prime, the two of them growing silent. I didn’t know what was said through their bond, but Optimus conceded first.

“Call when you’re done.”

She nodded, and the Autobot team didn’t question things when he ordered them back to base, leaving the Firebird and I alone on the edge of this cliff.

– – –

Phoenix waited as the team filed through the bridge back to base, Optimus giving her a lingering glance as he brushed past her. This was a conversation she had to have, and she was simply relieved he didn’t try and stop her.

She waited until it was just the two of them on the small, teetering cliff, having never taken her gaze off the seeker before her.

Starfire was braced a mere ped away from the edge, her expression guarded as the North Europe wind blew between them, louder in the silence that echoed when the bridge shut.

A maelstrom of emotions crashed through the assassin, watching the seeker across the way.

She wanted to hate her, wanted to follow through with her threats and make Starfire regret making an enemy out of her, but Phoenix knew that wasn’t fair.

Starfire didn’t betray them.

The two Cybertronians remained where they were for untold minutes, watching, waiting, evaluating, taking each other in with a scrutiny that would make lesser bots squirm.

Starfire didn’t flinch.

Finally, the assassin broke the silence, crossing her arms. “I want to hate you, you know.” Her vocals mixed with the wind, and she had half a thought to wonder if Starfire even heard her, still watching her carefully with an expression that never wavered.

The assassin narrowed her optics. “I had the chance to end this war, femling, and you got in the way.” The fury at the reminder made her want to throw something, the flash of silver as Starfire got between her sword and Megatron seared in her memory banks forever. “You stopped me, you betrayed us, and even saying this I know it isn’t even true!” She threw her servos up, taking steps towards the seeker.

Starfire, the femme who lied, who betrayed, who went out of her way to save them and Phoenix was furious.

“You, who has been Neutral since the Fall of Crystal City.” Her vocals rose in pitch, the wind howling as the blizzard they stood in whipped around them. “You, who stands between Megatron and every human on this planet. You, who stands as a Lieutenant in the Decepticon ranks.”

Her spark was racing, her energon raging in tune with the wind, and she stalked to the seeker, frustration in the form of tears stinging the back of her optics.

She desperately wished to hate her, but she couldn’t. Starfire protected them, protected her. “I can see it in your stance, femling. You’re exhausted,” she accused as she walked steadily closer. “You don’t owe us anything and yet you willingly joined the Decepticons to protect us. To protect Earth, to protect Jack, Miko and Rafael. To protect me.”

“Why?” She demanded, every last encounter they’ve had repeating themselves incessantly until there was less than a hair’s breadth remaining between them.

She had no reason to get involved. No reason to reveal herself to Megatron.

Starfire steadily gazed up at the assassin, towering over her as a tear slipped down her red cheekplate. The silence between them crackled with electricity, charged and ready to blow at the simplest of changes.

She protected humanity, and she was never going to regret it.

Phoenix scowled. “Your humans would rather you survive, Starfire,” she stated. They would prefer their protector lived to guide and shelter them, to be there to help. Starfire owed the Autobots nothing, claimed to want nothing, so why was she here, residing on a ship Phoenix loathed, taking upon a task that would get her killed if she was discovered?

She reached a servo and drew a digit across the new weld along Starfire’s throat, the seeker unmoving. “This is only the beginning, you know,” she breathed, and the rage that rose in her spark at the sight of the wound made her dizzy. After all this seeker has done for them, Primus had the nerve to leave her wounded. “Your people would want you to live.”

Starfire smiled wistfully, but her vocals were steady. “No, they wouldn’t,” she whispered, tilting her helm. “I have sworn to protect this planet, Phoenix. So I will.”

The assassin’s spark broke for the seeker before her, watching as the stubborn femme gave a simple, two-digit salute before jumping backwards off the cliff, the familiar sound of a transformation echoing up off the mountains. Almost instantly a fighter jet launched towards the heavens, dusting her in a cold layer of snow, and Phoenix could have sworn it gave a small spin in farewell.

– – –

Her confrontation with the seeker was something she needed to get out of her systems, something she had to do in order to come to terms with the way things had happened.

Optimus had been waiting for her when she called for a bridge, and from his expression she knew he was aware of everything that had transpired up on that small little cliff deep in the Alps.

He drew her against him the moment she left the bridge, one of his large servos coming to rest upon her helm, holding her close against the storm raging violently in her spark.

Ratchet didn’t say anything as he walked by, and she was beyond relieved.

Starfire had sacrificed her peace, and orchestrated the entire situation to suit humanity with little sign or care of what it would cost her, and Phoenix wasn’t sure what to make of it, even now.

She had never understood Neutrals, and likely never will if this was how one of their most reserved acted around those she cared about.

Phoenix remained where she was for a long time, pressing her audial against his spark chamber and did not care who was all around to see. She wasn’t sure what she was feeling, but she knew she needed her sparkmate. She needed Optimus, and for once she was going to be selfish and claim him for herself, if only for this moment.

The team was taking this time to analyze the conversation they just had, determine for themselves if they trusted Starfire or not. The children were busy explaining their lives to Jack’s mother, the woman nodding along and seemed to be relaxing the longer she adjusted to the situation, and still Optimus held her, keeping her close as they stood in the middle of the main room.

She didn’t care, his sparkbeat a soothing rhythm unlike anything she had ever known before.

She was unaware of how long they stood there, out in the middle of their base, before she felt sane enough to let go. Optimus immediately found her servo and held it tight, apparently unwilling to lose contact as he checked in with Ratchet and their team.

Overall, the seeker was doing a decent job, and Phoenix was going to be alright, just as soon as she figured out the rest of her scrambled emotions.

She didn’t hate Starfire, she knew that, and knew she didn’t blame her for the way she got up onto the Warship. For now, though, she wasn’t ready to acknowledge it, remaining with her mate until he led them to their room for the night, the guardians taking the children and June to their homes.

When they got to the privacy of their room Optimus guided her to the berth, sitting her down as he knelt in front of her, simple love shining within his bright blue optics.

Love for her.

He brushed away her tears, kissed them away one by one and softly began talking, his vocals grounding her in reality, an anchor she clung to desperately.

He spoke about everything, about his cycle and the children, about the newest project Ratchet was working on, about Bulkhead and Arcee and Bumblebee. Little things, simple things, precious things. Her tears flowed faster, and her sparkmate was there, on his knees before her running soothing strokes along her metal.

Their bond was wide open, a gentle stream of love and understanding flowing through, giving her exactly what she needed.

Eventually, when she no longer felt like shattering, Optimus rose to his peds and eased onto the berth beside her, cradling her neckcables in the crook of his arm and guided her helm against his spark chamber, drawing the mesh blankets over them both before murmuring for her to rest.

She closed her optics, venting deeply and slowly shut her systems down, one by one, and fell into a peaceful recharge in the arms of her mate.

– – –

Several weeks had passed since Starfire’s first report, and overall things had begun to fall into a routine.

Their link into the Decepticon ranks continued to pass on relevant information, updating the team periodically with her progress into the energon mines and the status of their leadership.

It was slow, but Phoenix hadn’t expected anything more. Megatron was suspicious by nature, coupled with her recent betrayal and she was both stunned and impressed at their spy’s accomplishments.

Ratchet had begun compiling a list of the mines, so if they ran low before Starfire could begin supplying them, then the team would be able to get some for themselves.

Was it wrong for her to somewhat want the latter to happen? She was itching to reengage with the war effort, and could do with some servo-to-servo action. Sure if there was a better option she would be relieved that the team wouldn’t have to put themselves in danger, but hoping for some fun couldn’t be that wrong of her, could it?

Nah.

Jack’s mother, June, had become a permanent fixture within the Autobot base, appearing whenever she got off early enough in the cycle. The woman was… interesting, and the more she learned about their combined history, the more she learned about the Decepticons, and the more glances Phoenix caught her sending her way.

The Autobots collectively decided it would do them no favors to hide the truth from her, but this was one of those instances where Phoenix wished she didn’t have to.

It didn’t take a bridge engineer to tell that June was having a difficult time trusting her, but there was nothing she could do about it right now.

When the base sensors read an incoming vehicle, she decided she was going out for a patrol. Nevermind that Optimus and Bee were already out, but she wasn’t about to subject herself to June’s scrutiny when she really didn’t feel like it.

She stepped to the bridge control panel, punching in a random set of coordinates located somewhere in the northern part of the country, turning when the portal began spinning away.

“And where do you think you’re off to?” She turned at Ratchet’s question, raising an optic ridge when a white sedan pulled into base between them.

“For a drive,” she said simply, and walked through the bridge without a second look back.

Chapter Text

Phoenix immediately transformed the moment she stepped through the bridge, grumbling to herself as she drove, and she greatly missed the cycles where she was able to deal with the not-so-subtle looks any way she wished.

She was driving through what appeared to be a dense forest, and she idly realized she should have probably ensured there would be an actual road to drive on before heading out here.

It didn’t really matter. Her vehicle mode could handle almost anything this planet could throw at her, and so long as she was away from human sight then she really had nothing to worry about.

Towering trees of pine and ash loomed above her as she drove, her scanners cross-referencing the coordinates and informed her that she was somewhere deep within the state of Montana, and thankfully far from humanity.

This was the third time in a row that she had bridged out the instant June had arrived, but she knew she couldn’t avoid her forever, as much as she wanted to. Sooner or later they would need to have a conversation, but Phoenix was in no mood to have it today.

It wasn’t like she had anything against the woman, but June was really beginning to get on her nerves, to the point where Phoenix had begun making herself scarce without even realizing she was doing it, and the assassin slumbering within her scowled at the fact.

She knew the human meant well, and was only looking out for her son as all Carriers should, but the suspicion she held for the former Decepticon was unwarranted and frankly, undeserved.

It wasn’t like Phoenix had personally affronted her or anything; the woman heard the term ‘Decepticon’ and assumed the worst out of them all. Which, honestly, was fair, considering her introduction to their species was anything but kind, but still!

Grumbling, Phoenix drove until her scanners detected a large body of water, giving a final sweep of the area before she transformed and stretched her aching limbs.

June would warm up to her, she just needed to give her time.

Humming quietly, she glanced around, taking in what she realized was a lake, the crystal blue waters frozen over and buried under a large sheet of ice. Tufts of snow fell off the pine branches when she passed underneath, dusting her in a fine layer.

It was peaceful out here, and she found herself relaxing as she strolled along the bank, allowing her worries to fade away.

She knew who she was, and soon enough June would either have to accept it or move on. Whatever she decided to do, though, Phoenix was staying right where she was, side by side with Optimus.

Her scanners flashed and a glance over her shoulderplate had her immediately transforming, leaving a shiny red Panamera GTS where she had been standing mere seconds ago.

– – –

It was chilly that morning, but a little snow and a brisk wind wasn’t about to stop her from taking Bridget out for her afternoon walk, the wolfhound prancing around like it was summer and didn’t have a single care in the world.

Besides, it got her out of the shabby cabin her parents insisted she fix up, and that fact alone made the endeavour worth it.

They were deep within the mountains in Montana, off the beaten path with little more than each other and the wildlife for company, and honestly Hazel couldn’t find much to complain about.

She had her dog, a small garden in the summer months, and enough frozen meat to last her until she was able to down another deer.

She checked again that her quiver was strapped to her back before jogging to catch up.

Normally Bridget was the one to set the pace, the hound sniffing up the small foot path she had made throughout the few months she had been living up there, pausing every few feet to look back and make sure Hazel was following.

This time, however, she saw Bridget’s ears perk up, and before she could stop her the hound booked it off the trail towards the lake.

Tightening her scarf, Hazel ran after her, notching an arrow and remained as quiet as possible.

She had never known Bridget to bark, and she hardly howled unless something was very wrong. She knew how to hunt, and was one of the best companions Hazel could have ever asked for.

Whistling sharply, she frowned when Bridget outright ignored her and kept running, ducking under a thistle bush without a care for the new snags in her coat.

Cursing, Hazel scooted around it, frowning at the rapidly dwindling form of her wolfhound.

She never ran off like this.

Sighing, and more than a bit alarmed she kept going, eventually breaking out through the treeline and gaped at the red vehicle before her, glinting off the afternoon sunlight peeking through the cloud cover.

Bridget was sniffing the tires and barking, her tail wagging wildly as her head swung over to peer at her.

Hazel blinked and cautiously approached, looking around for any sign or sound of the owner as she slung her bow over her shoulder.

No one came so far into the mountains; the only reason she was out this far was because her parents owned a decent chunk of the acreage out here. No one else was allowed to hunt on these lands, let alone drive what appeared to be a decently beat up Panamera out this way. There was hardly a spec of paint that wasn’t scratched up on this thing, which didn’t really surprise her since the undergrowth out here was far from kind.

What was odd, however, was the lack of broken underbrush. A vehicle such as this would have a difficult time making it out this far, since this lake was literally as far from human population as it gets. The only way in and out of this valley was via waterplane, and that wasn’t going to be happening until the thaw at the earliest.

She finally reached Bridget, kneeling beside the giddy hound and hooked an arm around her chest. “Come on, girl, let's get back to the cabin,” she murmured, peering over her shoulder warily.

This car wasn’t here three days ago.

Bridget whined, pulling from her grasp and shoved her nose up against the passenger door, her tail almost whacking Hazel in the face.

“Bridget, come!” She hissed, and not for the first time she wished she agreed with her mother to put a collar on her.

A collar would only serve as a disadvantage for Bridget if she ever got into a fight though, so despite this little hiccup she ultimately stood by her decision, up until Bridget decided to argue with her.

Besides, no one would be able to come out this far without some kind of warning, and no one would be able to yoink her dog to the pound because of it.

At least they weren’t supposed to.

Bridget whined and wiggled out of her hold again, darting around the Panamera as Hazel fell face-first into the snow with a muffled ‘oof’.

Grumbling, she pushed herself to her hands and knees, dusting herself off and shoved her curls out of her eyes and back under her toque.

Sometimes she wonders if the trainer her parents hired actually trained her.

Hauling herself to her feet she skirted the car and once again grabbed her dog, Bridget barking at the driver door.

Hazel glanced behind them at the frozen sheet of water, an uneasy sense of warning sinking in her gut.

Whoever owned this car couldn’t be good news, not if they managed to get it here so effortlessly and without disturbing the underbrush.

“Bridget, come on!” She begged, yanking on the hound.

She was going to need to use the satellite phone her father gave her as soon as they returned to the cabin. Something about all of this didn’t sit right with her.

Whining, Bridget gave in and begrudgingly flopped backwards, a trick she normally did whenever she disagreed with whatever Hazel was saying, normally resulting in the young woman being pinned until the dog decided to move.

This time, however, Hazel stumbled, losing her footing and sent both human and hound crashing back through the ice sheet and into the frigid lake below.

– – –

Phoenix watched as the movement her scanners had picked up revealed itself to be one of the largest beasts she had ever seen, the salt and pepper fur coated in tufts of snow and thistles as it ran over and began sniffing at her door.

See, this was a problem, because where a dog was, a human was most likely to follow, if her research into human behaviors was any indication, and if not a human, then another dog. Which would also be a problem, because rogue dogs rarely ventured away from society, living on the fringes off of scraps, so a wild pack would thus mean humans.

Just her fragging luck; she bridges to the one remote lake in the States with a wild dog problem.

“Shoo!” She hissed, the dog perking its head up before continuing to sniff her tire, its tail wagging wildly.

Phoenix groaned. “Oh, come on! Get out of here, shoo!” She whined, to no luck.

Primus why?

Still the dog ignored her, and it was around that time that an actual human broke from the treeline and simply gaped at them, the woman approaching cautiously as the dog turned to look at her.

Seriously?!

“Come on, girl, let's get back to the cabin.” The young woman tried to grab her dog, but the creature whined and went back to sniffing her door, ignoring both of them as Phoenix prayed that the dog would heed its master.

So there was a cabin too now, huh? Frag. All of this fragging sucked and as soon as the human got her dog Phoenix was bridging the frag out of there. She was not about to admit to her mate or the team that she got a new human.

“Bridget, come!” The dog wiggled free of her grip and bolted around her vehicle mode, barking at her driver door excitedly.

The giant beast made it almost to her windows.

The woman grumbled to herself, picking herself up off the snow and wrapped her arms around the dog again, hauling ‘Bridget’ away with no avail, her winter gloves offering no aid in the matter.

Phoenix watched with bated breath as the woman peered around them, no doubt looking for the holoform that Phoenix had yet to create, let alone activate.

What? She had never needed one before! Her windows were tinted, and it wasn’t like she spent a lot of time around humans. The only humans she had ever really been around already knew she existed, so what was the point in a holoform?

She tensed when Optimus approached the bond. ~Is everything alright?~ He asked, his concern wafting through to her, and in any other situation her spark would have melted for him.

Begrudgingly she sent the last several minutes of her memories through to him, and cursed soundly to herself when he laughed.

Damnit, mech! This was no laughing matter! She was being sniffed at by a dog! This was a crisis!

His amusement faded when a giant splash and a cut-off scream startled her, both human and beast having taken a tumble through the ice and into the frigid waters below.

Scrap-

She abandoned the bond and hesitated, watching the hole in the ice, and her spark sank when the dog shoved her head above the water, pawing at it as she clawed her way up onto the ice.

Phoenix waited a moment, two, but the human didn’t resurface.

Scrap.

She immediately transformed, the dog whining as it pawed at the hole, lifting its head only to blink at her.

Ignoring the beast, Phoenix knelt on the shore, peering down into the black, freezing water and was faintly able to make out the human sinking to the bottom.

“Primus, you have a very twisted sense of humor,” she muttered, reaching in and curled her digits around the human, hauling her up and out of the water. She winced, cursing when the leather strap got caught on the edge of the ice and snapped in half, sending the bag of sticks it was attached to back into the depths of the water below.

At least she had the human.

Phoenix frowned, examining the unconscious woman and laid her down on the snowbank, shooing the dog aside when the beast ran up and started licking the woman’s face.

She wasn’t a medic, and she definitely wasn’t an expert on humans, but she knew the cold was deadly if they couldn’t warm up.

Venting, she brought a digit to her com and called Ratchet, eyeing the dog and human warily.

She didn’t sign up for this, but she was not about to leave her to such a fate, not when Phoenix was mostly responsible for causing it to begin with.

“Ratchet, I’m going to need June out here,” she vented, shifting the woman and dog further towards the treeline and out of the biting wind. “Tell her it’s urgent.”

She left base to avoid the human, and now she needed her aid.

Figures.

“It will be a moment, I’m grabbing one for Miko,” the doctor replied, piquing her curiosity.

“Oh yeah? What did she do this time around?” She asked, shifting around and offered her frame as a sort of shield from the wind. The dog whined softly, nosing the human’s face again and curled next to her when she didn’t get a response.

“Bulkhead and Arcee are dealing with a polarity gauntlet. They’re sending her back,” he explained curtly, Phoenix raising an optic ridge.

Oh is that all?

Venting again she watched the human and waited, counting her breaths and was simply relieved that she was breathing.

She looked up when the bridge she called for opened up down the bank, June wobbling as she landed on the pebbly beach.

Yeah, turns out humans and bridges don't really mix.

June lifted her head when she recovered her bearings, peering around warily as the bridge closed behind her.

Phoenix sat up once she saw her, shifting out of the way when the nurse ran up next to the unconscious woman.

“What happened?” June demanded, gently moving the beast off the girl and began checking her vitals, running her fingers through her wildly curly hair to the back of her head. After checking her fingers for any form of liquid the nurse continued, moving on to the rest of her body as she looked for any bleeding or breaks.

Phoenix frowned, not liking the tone she had in the least. “She fell in the lake,” she huffed, scooting back and took a glance around.

The sun was slowly setting, casting beams of light dancing across the lake, and the longer they were out here the more danger this human was in. No sun meant colder temperatures, and colder temperatures could lead to death.

She might have to bring the girl back to base.

June sat back, shaking her head. “Well, she isn’t packing any hiking gear, so she has to live somewhere close by,” she said, frowning. “We really need to get her out of these clothes and into something dry.”

Phoenix peered into the trees. “I heard her mention a cabin. I’ll scan for it,” she said, hauling herself to her peds and did just that, coming up with a hit less than a click south-east.

Well, at least it wasn't far.

When she turned back to let June know, she found her eying the water, in particular the hole the younger human had fallen through. Wordlessly June looked up, holding her gaze for a moment before clearing her throat. “I take it you found it then?” She asked, ignoring the fact that she had just silently accused Phoenix of fowl play.

Ok, if the fragging Autobots and Optimus Prime could forgive her, then why did this human think she could judge her?

Gritting her denta she nodded, wordlessly picking up the unconscious human and began walking towards said cabin, leaving June and the beast scrambling to catch up.

After all she’s tried to become, being judged by someone who refuses to see just how fragging hard she’s worked to get this far actually hurt, and for the life of her Phoenix couldn’t figure out why.

If and when another Autobot lands on Earth, she is willing to take the distrust and outright hostility; it’s to be expected, and she wouldn’t blame them in the slightest. But for some fragging reason when June does it, it stings on another level entirely.

She looked to the human in her servo, and took note of the way her face seemed to be scrunched up in pain, turning her over and frowned.

She couldn’t see anything wrong, side-stepping a few large bushes and continued on her way, but that didn’t necessarily mean anything.

“Are you sure she’s alright?” Phoenix asked, glancing at the human walking at her peds.

The nurse glared, crossing her arms. “Are you questioning my judgement?” Yes. “She’s at risk of developing hypothermia, which if you didn’t know, can cause a human’s heart and respiratory systems to stop working. We don’t like the cold very much.” She could see that, the girl in her servo shivering, and Phoenix instinctively drew her closer to her spark chamber.

The heat of her spark and chassis might not do much, but it was better than nothing.

After a long and tense silence they made it to a small, shabby cabin, looking like it would fall if someone so much as looked at it wrong as it practically leaned against the nearby treeline.

Phoenix frowned, transforming just outside the front door and propped the human in her front driver seat, opening her door for June to see.

She wasn’t a monster anymore, ok?

The nurse stepped up to the cabin and tried the door, both of them relieved to find it unlocked. The dog trotted inside past Jack’s mother, June turning when Phoenix decided it was time to finally create a holoform.

It was weird and disorientating being human, though at a glance she had to say she was rather proud of how she looked, catching a glimpse of her reflection in her mirrors.

She had taken inspiration from Miko, half her hair shorn close to her head and dyed a vibrant, lovely pink, a black leather jacket topping high-rise jeans completing her look.

This was her, and she liked it.

However, she didn’t have time to ogle herself, turning to the human still passed out in her front seat and hoisted her into her arms, kicking her door shut and carried the girl past June and inside the dwelling the girl called a home.

The interior of the cabin was not much better than the exterior, though Phoenix supposed she only had their base to use as a reference point.

To the left of the door stood a small kitchen, composed of a scattering of shelves and cabinets with a metal basin posing as the sink. Jutting out from the wall and forming a sort of island was the table, sectioning the two rooms, if they could even be called them, apart.

Directly before them was a fireplace, desk and a couch, and before Phoenix could think about snooping June made it to the couch and motioned them over.

Sighing, she shoved her curious thoughts to the back of her head and walked to the far back of the small living space.

They got her settled on the lone couch, June getting to work changing her into dry clothes that Phoenix found in a small dresser on the other side of the fireplace, presumably so the clothing stored within could absorb the heat from the flames.

She had to admit, it was smart.

In her search for clothing, which composed of a thick woolen sweater and heavy sleep pants, Phoenix found a small ladder near the back of the room. Upon inspection, and ignoring June’s questioning looks, she discovered that it led to a loft where a single bed and nightstand rested, Phoenix hopping from the ladder and spun in place as she took in the small home.

She couldn’t find even a smidge of technology, though the bookcase against the right wall was filled to the brim with novels and books of all kinds, and she idly wondered just what kind of reader this human girl was.

Not that it was important, but she had once again learned a thing or two from the children, Jack introducing her to some of his science-fiction novels and she had to say, she was hooked.

There was nothing better for her to be doing during her confinement to the medbay.

Sitting on the bar/island/table whatever sat a simple phone-shaped device, hooked to a battery generator and latched to the log walls making up the cabin.

Ok fine, there was some technology, but that wasn’t the point. She didn’t see anywhere she could turn the heat up and there was a bite in the air that made her shiver.

And if she was shivering, then the humans would find it downright freezing.

“Phoenix, do you know how to start a fire?” She looked back at June’s question, offering little more than a nod before beginning to look for ways to go about doing it.

Thank you, Jackson Darby.

While she was hunting June gently nudged the dog aside and grabbed a blanket to bundle the girl in, removing the toque confining her dark brown hair and letting it tumble down across her eyes. The nurse frowned, once again taking a measure of her vitals.

Phoenix quickly found a small pile of logs beside the door, as well as a gathering of kindling and a set of matches. She hauled what she needed to the brick fireplace and got to work, and soon enough a vibrant and warm fire was crackling away.

She plopped down on the floor in front of it, mesmerized by the flickering flames and stared, unmoving, until June came to stand beside her.

The fire was beautiful, and for a split second she could imagine that she wasn’t a feared and renowned assassin but a simple person living a simple life.

If only.

Phoenix looked up from the flames, from her namesake and found herself unable to read the look on June’s face.

“How is she?” She whispered, the beast having nosed her way back under the girl’s arm and fell soundly asleep.

June sighed, taking a seat beside her and propped her arms on her bent knees. “She should be alright,” she replied quietly, giving a side-long glance that Phoenix for once looked away from.

She more than anyone knew her past, knew what she had done for the entire length of the war, so maybe she deserved the hostility. Maybe she deserved to be hated as soon as June was brought up to speed.

Five years of good did not outweigh the eons of pain she had caused, and enjoyed causing.

“I want to apologize to you, Phoenix,” June said, stirring her from her thoughts as she quietly looked at her. Jack’s mother smiled faintly. “I believe I was too quick to judge you, and I’m sorry.”

The former assassin blinked, the woman gazing into the fire. “My experience with Arachnid was… terrifying, and soured my perception of everything Decepticon related, which I guess included you.” She paused, and Phoenix nodded slowly. Arachnid was a pest, but for humans she was one of the most dangerous creatures on this planet. And being wary of Decepticons was sound life advice.

The light from the flames danced over the woman’s face. “I will admit, I was skeptical about your intentions and the thought of you around the children…” June frowned, and Phoenix knew she wasn't overreacting when she caught the look June had sent her after she had arrived, the unspoken accusation that Phoenix had thrown the woman into the lake.

June sighed. “But after today, after I saw how you took care of her and shielded her from the wind,” another glance to the girl sleeping on the couch, “and I know I was wrong to judge you.” Her voice trailed off, Phoenix finding herself unsure how to react and didn’t know what to say.

An apology was the last thing she was expecting out of this woman.

June shook her head. “What I’m trying to say is, you’re not bad, Phoenix. Thank you for helping protect my son.”

June looked at her, the two of them coming to an understanding. Phoenix nodded before turning back to the fire with a small smile.

They sat in silence for a long time, watching the flames dance and spin, and it was only when Phoenix stood to add another log to the fire that June spoke.

“How did you meet Optimus?”

She startled, very nearly dropping the wood in her shock. Out of all the questions June could have said, that was what she chose to go with?

Phoenix must have had the dumbified look of the century, Jack’s mother grinning slightly. “Oh, come on, I was married once myself, I know what two people in love look like,” she teased, and it was at this point that Phoenix felt herself changing from stunned to mortified.

They hadn’t told her they were sparkmates, it just wasn’t relevant, and the less who knew the safer all parties would be, so to have her blurt it out so suddenly was not something Phoenix was readily expecting.

Primus, what kind of games were you playing here?!

June smiled, elbowing her when she sat back down. “Well?” She prompted, and Phoenix finally managed to pick her jaw up off the ground.

How would she even start recapping her relationship with Optimus? Their history ran all the way back to Cybertron, but she suspected that June was looking for something more along the lines of how they fell in love.

Primus Almighty this woman was perceptive all of a sudden-

Deciding she would recall how they got to know each other on Earth, Phoenix got settled and began talking.

– – –

It had been weeks since my return to the Nemesis, weeks since Megatron commanded me to report any and all of my findings to him with no exceptions.

I had continued my training with the troopers, with Ironfoot ensuring he was kept up to date on my whereabouts at all times. If I so much as decided to do something without informing him the next cycle’s training shift would be that much harder.

My squadron’s Captain was making damn well sure Megatron’s wrath and fury didn’t backlash against his troopers, and if that meant micromanaging a superior officer then that was what he was going to do.

It wasn’t like I was doing anything in particular, and I normally explained where I was going anyway, but Ironfoot was taking no chances and I really couldn’t find it in my spark to blame him.

Besides, it was my three cycle stint that started all this.

Now though I was at one of the control consoles, rummaging through data in a rare sense of solitude and peace.

The squadron was out for a patrol, a patrol that I opted out of in favor of continuing my research.

One of the benefits of Megatron knowing about my hunt was that I now had some leeway into continuing it without getting myself into trouble, although that did mean I had to reveal what I was using to track them, and I prayed to Primus every single cycle that I didn't just doom the entirety of the Autobot faction by telling Soundwave that I knew how to track spark-signatures around their affiliation codes.

If they ever learned just how much I knew in regards to tech and information, then we would all be fragged.

I couldn't just ignore them either, though, so I had begrudgingly admitted to how I was tracking them. Shockburner had disappeared and Arachnid was around here somewhere, so if I wanted to protect humanity from either of them then I needed to step up my game.

Earlier in the afternoon Soundwave had detected the energy profile of a polarity gauntlet, Knockout informing me that Breakdown had gone to retrieve the relic during our scheduled checkup.

The doctor didn’t look pleased when he was checking on my wound, ensuring that the weld hadn’t become infected, and I was wise enough to bite my glossa and swallow my questions and comments.

Something told me Megatron didn’t take kindly to Breakdown volunteering to retrieve the gauntlet, and probably dismissed him in light of his run in with M.E.C.H and Silas. The doctor was curt and sharp, and from what I could gather, was clearly quite protective over his assistant.

I had left the medical wing and returned to my research, simply hoping the Autobots would be made aware of the situation before the Decepticons could get their servos on such a devastating weapon, a weapon that I didn’t have means of warning them about. Soundwave was monitoring me, and my squadron was keeping a close optic on my whereabouts. I couldn’t afford to even think about accessing the Network or any of my frequencies Bulkhead and I shared.

Well, if the polarity gauntlet ended up in the storage vaults then I guess I would just have to make sure it disappeared.

Unfortunately, though, my search for Arachnid and Shockburner’s energy signatures continued to come up empty, the brief lock I got a month ago eradicating itself off of my systems, taunting me with the fact that I had only found them because they wanted me to.

Gritting my denta, I glanced the time and inwardly groaned when I realized my squadron would be returning from their patrol soon. Meaning I had to pack my search up and rejoin them, meaning I wouldn’t be finding either of them today.

Damnit.

Venting, I was about to shut down the console I was working at when a flickering light caught my attention, quickly highlighting it and brought it into view.

A ground bridge energy profile.

A profile that I was only able to detect thanks to a few codes I imprinted into my search parameters.

With a quick diagnostic run I was able to determine where it originated, picking up two more in close proximity to the first while I was looking.

I swiftly erased it, checking that Soundwave wasn’t actively hovering over my work at that very second and shut everything down, glaring at the screen tiredly.

Guys, you better know what the frag you’re doing.

They’re just lucky that the Decepticons haven’t figured out how to trace the minute signatures of the bridges yet. Knowledge like that in the servos of either of the factions was not something I was comfortable with, so I was quite content with keeping it to myself.

I vented and turned from the console, walking back to the flight deck where my squadron had just landed.

One of these cycles I would find them, and then I would make them regret ever making an enemy out of Earth and my family.

– – –

Opening her eyes to the roof of her cabin was a surreal experience, considering the last thing she remembered was falling into a very cold lake. The same lake that had claimed a number of lives throughout its history, the same lake that should have claimed hers since she recalled hitting her head against the ice with the full weight of her hound against her.

She didn’t remember breaking the surface.

“You’re kidding! Who made the first move?”

Dread, sharp and consuming squeezed her chest, freezing her in place as she quickly screwed her eyes back shut and listened.

Please don’t let them realize she was awake, whoever they were-

“Well, I would love to take credit, but if I’m being honest, Optimus initiated our first date. I’m just not going to admit that it took three more for me to realize that’s what they were.” A second, feminine voice answered the first, laughter and teasing clear in both of them.

She peeked a glance and found two women sat before the fire roaring in her fireplace, casually chatting while the flames cast shadows over them both.

The older one, the woman who spoke first, was smiling, her thick black hair tied back in a green scrunchie. She was worn, and was wearing what appeared to be a set of nurse scrubs, which may explain why Hazel was still alive.

The second lady was someone she would normally avoid if their paths crossed, her bright pink hair half shaved against her scalp with the rest reaching just past her ears, but the way she held herself screamed former military.

Not that she had anything against the military, but this woman was in her house, and she still didn’t know what the hell had happened.

Stay calm. Just stay calm and remember what dad taught you.

She never had any siblings, and her father had drilled in her from the time she could walk different ways she could defend herself. She knew several kinds of martial arts, and was very familiar with an array of weaponry that she just so happened to have stashed under the couch.

But the first, and most important rule her father taught her, was to always try a peaceful approach. If she could talk these people out of her home, or at the very least intimidate them away, then she would.

Her gaze drifted, taking in everything she could about the two women, and felt immensely relieved to find no noticeable weapons on either of them. That didn’t mean much, but it put her mind at ease somewhat.

Just when she was about to reveal that she was awake, her attention snagged on the hound curled up next to the fireplace, sleeping soundly without a care in the world.

Bridget was sleeping with two strangers in their home. Her fur was brushed and dried, a blanket tossed over her to help warm her.

Bridget had defended their house back in the suburbs from anyone or thing she didn’t trust, and the innate sense of intention in that hound was something Hazel trusted with her life. So if she was sleeping, out cold and rolled onto her back, she was far more inclined to hear these two women out.

She was alive, after all.

No time like the present.

Sitting up, she held the blanket she was wrapped in tighter around her shoulders, drawing the combined attention of the two women.

The second lady had the darkest eyes she had ever seen, piercing through her effortlessly and without mercy.

Just what had she seen, what had she done to give her such an effortless expression that would send most people running?

“You’re awake,” the first woman breathed, shifting to her feet and smiled warmly, such a contrast to her companion.

Hazel nodded slowly, wary of the pain in the back of her skull and glanced out the kitchen window.

The same red Panamera from earlier was parked in the front yard.

How the hell did these two make it all the way out here, in that car of all things?

They followed her gaze and the second lady sighed, hauling herself up and crossed her arms. “You took quite a fall,” she said, narrowing her near-black eyes. “You’re lucky we were around to haul you out.”

She wouldn’t have fallen into the lake in the first place if Bridget didn’t catch their scent.

She bit her tongue, but she was fairly certain the lady could read the scowl in her eyes.

The older woman frowned, glancing at her companion before turning back around. “My name is June, I’m a nurse and we are just glad you’re alright.” The look she sent pink-hair almost made Hazel snicker.

Ex-Military scowled, rolling her eyes as June walked up to the couch, taking a seat with wordless permission when Hazel drew her legs out of the way. She brought her hands to her face, Hazel tensing but allowed it as she began checking her over.

“Phoenix is right,” she murmured, feeling the bump on the back of her head. “That was a nasty fall. I’m relieved she called me.” Called her how? There were no towers out here, no radio signals unless someone had a satellite phone.

Hazel frowned. “How did you get out here?” She asked quietly, June pausing for a heartbeat before continuing her examination.

Pink-Hair huffed, looking down when Bridget stretched with a whine and rolled onto her stomach.

Hazel knew the moment her companion saw her, the wolfhound on her faster than she could warn the others what was happening.

She laughed, pushing Bridget’s chest in an effort to fend off her wild kisses, her pup giving another yawn and flopped herself down onto her lap.

Well, it would seem she was now pinned. Again.

June and Pink-Hair were watching, the nurse fondly while her friend appeared confused. “And what is that supposed to be?” She asked slowly, Hazel swatting Bridget’s tail and tried to pin it down.

“She’s a wolfhound,” she replied, kissing between Bridget’s ears and laughed as she got another kiss in.

At least her companion was alright.

Pink-Hair tilted her head. “Allow me to reiterate, why is it in your dwelling? Why are you keeping a wild dog in your home?”

June got up at the question and moved back to her friend, speaking in a hushed whisper as Pink-Hair nodded along slowly, offering a question here and there but for the most part remained silent, giving glances to Hazel and her dog repetitively.

Finally June stepped back, giving Hazel an apologetic smile as she glanced between the nurse and Ex-Military.

They still hadn’t answered her question.

Bridget whined, peering at her with a pair of needy, adorable round eyes, silently demanding Hazel continue scratching her head.

Complying, she took a deep breath. “Not that I’m not grateful,” she began slowly, hugging Bridget closer. “But how did you get out here? And how did you pull me from that lake?”

It got really deep really quickly, and the current under the ice was violent and unforgiving. The moment she went under she figured she would never see the light of day again. So how the hell did they manage to get her out and back to the cabin?

Pink-Hair shrugged, turning and added another log onto the fire, sparks flying through the cast-iron bars. “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you, girl,” she said dryly, using the poker to stir the coals as June sighed.

What the hell was that supposed to mean?

“Hazel,” she said irritatedly, gently shoving Bridget off her lap and glared at Pink-Hair. “Try me.”

They were in her home, on her land, and the disrespect was uncalled for.

Pink-Hair turned and glared right back, shoving the poker back into the rack. “Fine, Hazel if you're sure you can handle it," she mocked, continuing before she could bite back a reply. "The only reason you’re alive is because I hauled you out of the lake and called June, who I was trying to avoid-”

June blinked. “Hey-”

Pink-Hair spared her an apologetic glance, “-because I don’t know the first thing about human biology or what kills.” Bridget lifted her head at the irked tone in her voice. “You’re alive because this nurse knew what to do to help you, so a bit of appreciation would be nice,” she huffed, leaning against the fireplace as she glared, leaving Hazel puzzling over the entire outpouring of information.

Pink-Hair doesn’t know what kills humans? Maybe Hazel was wrong and she wasn’t former military, but that still didn’t explain how she didn’t know what cold does to the body.

Hazel deadpanned. “You cannot tell me that you’ve never been cold before.”

June smiled faintly, turning and raised a brow at Pink-Hair. “She has you there, Phoenix.” The teasing in her voice was frustrating, but it was here that Hazel finally registered her name.

Who in their right mind names their kid Phoenix? Do they want her to be bullied? No wonder she had such a large stick up her ass.

‘Phoenix’ scowled at June, shaking her head as the shadows danced across her face. “I know what cold does to me, but Hazel isn’t me. There’s a difference,” she pouted.

The older woman chuckled softly. “Still, you said it yourself; we need to tell her the truth.”

Oh the truth, huh? Like they had considered lying to her?

Hazel was officially royally ticked. “Yeah, the truth would be nice,” she snipped, pushing Bridget to the side as she sat up.

Phoenix’s scowl hardened, if possible, her near-black eyes locking with Hazel’s.

This was her property, and she was not about to be intimidated in her own home.

She glared right back and challenged her to get on with it.

Phoenix groaned, rolling her eyes as she shoved off the fireplace.

“You want the truth do you?” She sneered, shoving past June and ignored the nurse’s sigh. “Fine. I’m an alien.” What. “I’ve been battling with my enemies since before humanity existed, and now our war has made it to Earth. Yay!” Phoenix cheered sarcastically, coming to stand over her.

June winced. “I think you might be slightly exaggerating the timeline there,” she mused, raising her hands when Phoenix scowled at her and immediately backed off.

Pink-Hair turned back to her. “You, Hazel, are one of the only people who have ever had either the misfortune or fortune of running into us, take your pick, and now that you’re involved your life has just been put into even greater danger which means I,” her eye twitched, “will probably need to bring you back to base. Happy?”

Oh-kay, so these people were clinically insane-

She was most definitely not happy, but now that she had a glimpse into what she was dealing with, she figured she had an idea on how to get them out of her house. If they truly believed what they were saying, then if she played along then they might buy it and go.

Hazel nodded slowly, eyeing the woman glaring at her.

Bridget had sat up and was staring intently at the pink-haired woman, her tail swishing slowly.

At least she had Bridget to rely on. That was something.

A long-suffering sigh came from the fireplace, June resting a hand on Phoenix’s shoulder and gently pried her away as she shook her head. “Well, that’s one way of saying it,” she hummed, chuckling when she glanced at Hazel’s expression again, “but I think you just made things worse. I had the same reaction when Jack tried to tell me about Arcee.”

Ok, so June thinks she’s a human. That’s good, isn’t it?

The nurse smiled. “Showing her is probably your best bet here, don’t you think?”

Phoenix huffed, nodding. “I didn’t sign up for this,” she muttered, the older woman laughing quietly and shrugged.

“Neither did I, but here we are.” June chirped.

Throughout all this Hazel was watching them both closely, trying to figure out what she should say. Outright calling them crazy would not be in her best interest, and with Bridget alert she should probably try and get them out of her cabin before the wolfhound got any ideas, with or without her commanding her to do something.

“So this is a lot,” she said slowly, trying not to flinch when they both looked over. “But I think I’ll be alright now. Thank you for helping me.” It was as clear of a dismissal as she could have made it without outright demanding them to leave, but unfortunately neither of the two women got the memo, June smiling and Phoenix appeared lost in thought before sighing.

“June, get her outside. She’s gonna need to see this,” she huffed, and before the nurse could either confirm or deny it Phoenix was just… gone.

Hazel jerked to her feet, Bridget at her side instantly as she spun around.

Nothing. The woman with the neon pink hair had simply… vanished without a trace, Hazel whirling on June and didn’t protest when Bridget stepped between them, sensing her distress.

The nurse moved away from Hazel and her hound, heading to the single door in the entire cabin and looked back, smiling warmly at the two of them. “I promise you, Hazel, we’re telling you the truth,” she murmured, stepping outside and let the door gently shut behind her.

She stared at the wooden door, gaping as she tried to wrap her head around what just happened. Phoenix disappeared and June had simply… walked outside? Was that all it took to get them out of her home?

Was she even still alive? Was any of this real?

Well, real or not she was going to act like it was, snapping from her stupor and grabbed the pistol she kept under the couch, double-checking that it was loaded before shoving it into her waistband, shedding the blanket and darted up to the door, latching the deadbolt and hauled the side-table across it.

Ok, that was going to buy her maybe a few seconds if they really wanted to get in here, Hazel stepping away from the slab of wood and threaded her fingers through her damp hair.

The door wasn’t the sturdiest to begin with, she was going to get her father to send some proper supplies once the thaw came, and now she was wishing she focused less on making the place functional and more on security. Those hinges sure didn’t look all that healthy.

Oh, Hazel, focus! Should she call her parents?

She eyed the satellite phone sitting harmlessly on the dining room table and immediately dismissed the thought, letting out a two-note whistle and made for the ladder near the back of the room. Bridget bounded at her heels, nosing against her leg and sat at the base while she climbed up into the loft.

She didn’t have time to make a phone call, if they were waiting for her outside then chances are they would be watching if she went for the device. She might very well have to leave it.

Not that she could take the entire generator with her, but if her parents called and she didn't answer then she worried what they might try and do.

Once she got within radio range she would call them, since her father kept his charged and at his desk at all times. She would just need to make sure she got within range before their next scheduled call.

Grunting, she hoisted herself to her hands and knees and shoved her hair out of her eyes, reaching under the bed for her backpack, already packed with rations and anything she would possibly need to survive outside for the foreseeable future.

The first thing she had noticed when she woke up, after the shock of being alive, was that her bow and quiver were no longer strapped to her back. She figured Phoenix had needed to cut it off her or something. That, or she kept it so Hazel wouldn’t be able to defend herself.

The young woman smiled wryly as she remembered the pistol in her waistband, jumping from the loft and glanced a look at herself.

June had done one thing right at least, bundling her in some of the warmest clothes Hazel possessed. The only thing she wished she had was her winter coat, but that was currently laying over the fireplace soaked all the way through. There was no way she was waiting for it to dry.

Well, guess I’ll just have to layer up.

She ran to the dresser and dug out a second scarf and a fresh pair of mitts, throwing another pair of socks into her pack before hauling two pairs on her feet.

If she layered up too much, the wind would freeze her sweat and then she would have a whole different problem on her hands.

Hazel glanced over her shoulder and risked a look through the window, her hand tightening on her pack when she saw June speaking to the dinged up red Panamera.

God, they were both insane.

Hauling said pack over her shoulders, she whistled again for Bridget and gazed around the cabin she had called home for the majority of the last year.

She had enough supplies in this bag to last her until she made it back to civilization. From there she could call her father and he could figure out how these two women made it out here on their private property to begin with.

Unfortunately, however, there was only one way in or out of the cabin, and that exit just so happened to be the one June was waiting for her from.

She had deliberately boarded up the windows since she didn’t want a lynx or bobcat crawling their way in, and dismantling the boards would cause too much noise and give away her intentions and the element of surprise.

No, she was going to have to face this head on.

“Bridget, heel,” she commanded, the hound flicking her tail and paced her as they walked to the door, pausing however when she saw her boots.

She was wearing her hiking boots when she decided to go for a swim this afternoon, leaving her with her second, more worn pair that she deliberately did her best to ignore.

They were beginning to wear at the seams and the leather was starting to dry out, but it was either that or nothing and she was not about to give herself frostbite just because they weren’t perfect. She would just have to be careful not to soak her socks while she was running.

Glancing outside as she laced up the boots revealed that June was now sitting on the porch, and she still appeared to be talking to the vehicle.

It was a miracle Hazel was even still alive.

Tightening her scarf she stood, giving her hound the go-ahead as she hauled the table away from the door and wrapped her gloved hand around the knob, unlatching the deadbolt and hesitated.

Well, it was now or never and Hazel didn’t believe in never.

Taking a deep breath she hauled it open, walking out and frowned when June twisted to peer up at her.

The sun had nearly disappeared over the horizon, trails of pink and orange wisps dancing across the sky, and for the first time Hazel began to second guess her decision to get the hell out of here.

Then June spoke, and her misgivings vanished entirely. “Phoenix, she’s outside,” she chirped, addressing the car and Hazel once again wondered if this was all a fever dream.

Aliens? Enemies? It all sounded like something out of one of her sci-fi novels, still sitting patiently on the bookcase in the cabin behind her.

Yeah, she had to go. There wasn’t a chance she was sticking around here, not when this so-called nurse was talking to a car that really wasn’t supposed to be able to be here.

Bridget bounded down the pair of steps before her, Hazel slowly following as she eyed the older woman warily. “So uh, I have a few things I need to finish up,” she said slowly, glancing at the beaten red Panamera. “Y’know, things I was prevented from doing thanks to the dip I took in the lake earlier.”

June nodded, a warm smile still plastered on her face. “You mean to leave, don’t you?” She guessed, and laughed when Hazel tensed, craning her neck to peer around her and her dog. “Phoenix, stop messing with the girl and show yourself already. Hazel likely thinks we’re insane,” she mused.

Oh shit. Shit, if they thought that then they might get violent. Her father warned her about situations like this, to play along with the delusions until she could get out of the situation. But if June already believed Hazel was a disbeliever-

“Nono, it’s not that! I believe you, but the sun is going down and I need to do some things before it gets dark,” she protested, cursing to herself when June merely smiled.

She didn’t believe her.

Shit-

Hazel’s denials died in her throat, however, when the ground beneath her feet shook, Bridget letting out a whine as she whirled around and simply gaped at the Panamera.

Or rather, gawked at what used to be the Panamera, June rising to her feet and stepped down the stairs to where Hazel was standing, placing a hand on her shoulder as they peered up at the titan grinning at them.

“Hazel, I would like you to meet Phoenix.”

– – –

Ok, this human was officially driving her insane, and she would give anything to redo the last several hours just so she wouldn’t have to admit to the others that she’s brought home a human of her own now.

She had just made plans to tease Arcee about collecting strays, so now how is she meant to bring it up if this Hazel girl joins the team?

Phoenix knew from the moment the girl woke up that she was going to regret this trip, and she was simply proven right when the human opened her mouth and continuously challenged her and June.

Yeah, they were in the girl’s dwelling and all that, but a little bit of gratitude would have been very well appreciated.

She had informed Optimus about the situation as it progressed, and he had decided that it would be safer for Hazel if she was introduced to the rest of the team, even though Phoenix hadn’t necessarily revealed herself to her, what with the human being unconscious and all that.

The truth was, Hazel had access to a phone, and they all knew just how insecure human communication lines were. If she mentioned Phoenix’s designation over the air and Soundwave picked up on it, then Megatron would be made aware that she was still online and the entire Decepticon army could be knocking on Hazel’s door within the hour.

No, the only way to ensure Hazel didn’t unintentionally put herself in danger, was to intentionally reveal themselves to her.

Meaning that Phoenix would now be responsible for bringing home a stray.

Damnit, she was never going to live this one down!

She said as much to June, Jack’s mother settling down on the rotted stairs and propped a hand on under her chin, smiling at her vehicle mode.

“Well, to be fair, I’m pretty sure she’s going to try and make a run for it,” the nurse mused, glancing over her shoulder towards the now-barricaded door. “She thinks we’re crazy.”

Crazy, huh? Well, if she was going to run, then maybe she wouldn’t say anything over the radio and they could-

~Don’t even think about it, Phoe,~ Optimus chided, overhearing her thoughts and she sent a mental image of her sticking out her glossa at him in retaliation. It didn’t hurt to try, mech!

Still, she knew he was right. There would be no getting out of this one, not as long as they cared about Hazel’s safety, and since she did care about the girl’s safety, then they really had no choice in the matter.

That was not going to stop her from complaining about it, though.

It was around this time that the door to the cabin was unblocked, her scanners detecting Hazel’s heat-signature hesitating behind the worn wooden slab that acted as a barrier from the elements.

Perhaps June was right. Hazel didn’t trust them.

Hazel only waited a few seconds before shoving the door open, the beast trotting out beside her as she paused beside the nurse.

June smiled at the girl. “Phoenix, she’s outside,” she chirped, and it took all her self-control not to roll her optics and dryly comment that she was well aware of that fact.

No, she wanted to see the look on the girl’s face when it was revealed that they were telling her the truth, so now could she show a bit of gratitude? Y’know, for saving her life and all that?

Her sparkmate vented, but she knew he wasn’t truly upset. He knew who he was mating when he made that decision, and she wasn’t about to apologize for it, not now, not ever!

Phoenix bit down a giggle when June called Hazel out, mentioning her plans to run if the large pack on her shoulders was any indication, the nurse turning to her vehicle mode and smiled. “Phoenix, stop messing with the girl and show yourself already. Hazel likely thinks we’re insane.”

The sheer panic that crossed Hazel’s face at June’s words was something that was going to fuel her for weeks, the assassin-turned-Autobot grinning and decided she had enough fun for this cycle, transforming before the two humans and peered down at both of them.

The beast started barking at her, running circles around her peds as she crossed her arms, raising an optic ridge as Hazel gaped, dropping her pack to the snow in her shock.

Ok, this was fun, so maybe she would lighten up on the girl.

“Wha- you- I don’t-” When Hazel began to speak all her thoughts and questions came out in a jumbled mess, the girl slowly shaking her head in clear denial.

Phoenix smiled, taking a knee before them and took care to avoid the beast now sniffing at her metal. “How about you take a second and figure out what you want to ask first,” she mused, June beginning to rub the girl’s back.

Hazel looked everywhere from the nurse to the Autobot to the hound sniffing the titan, reeling as she struggled to wrap her mind around the fact that these two weren’t insane, that she wasn’t hallucinating, and that nothing she thought she knew was true.

An alien had just told her to calm down, and despite the sheer absurdness of the situation ire rose to the forefront of her mind, scowling up at this alien.

Phoenix didn’t even flinch when Hazel’s expression shifted from dumbfounded disbelief to annoyance, grinning sharply in answer.

Oh, this human was going to be fun.

“Excuse you, I don’t need a titan telling me to breathe,” Hazel snapped, as clear of a defensive mechanism that she had ever seen. “What the hell are you?” She demanded, snapping her fingers once and didn’t even bother looking as the beast halted her barking and came to sit at her feet.

Phoenix spared June a glance, shrugging once. “I’m an Autobot, though I don’t really expect you to know what that is,” she teased, rising to her peds and brought a digit to her audial. “Ratchet, I’m going to need another ground bridge,” she said, turning from the pair of humans and began walking towards the treeline, towards the coordinates she had forwarded to the doctor.

Hazel’s eye twitched, a scowl plastered firmly on her face as she ran to catch up, June’s quiet laughter following behind. “Who the hell is Ratchet?” She demanded, the beast trotting along beside her while June kept pace behind. “And where are you going?”

Phoenix paused, glancing over and raised an optic ridge at the inquisitive human.

She had seen many creatures and beings flinch or freak out when she revealed herself, humans and military personnel included, but Hazel only seemed rightfully annoyed, and she noted with slight concern that she was starting to shiver, a sign that June told her meant that a human was too cold.

They could continue this conversation back at base, where she wasn’t at risk of developing a sickness from the weather.

Besides, Optimus and Bee would be returning to base soon if they hadn’t already, and who better to explain than the Autobot leader himself?

“Hello, Earth to Phoenix! I asked you a question!” She rolled her optics and continued to ignore her, Hazel stubbornly demanding answers that could honestly wait until her health was no longer in danger. “Several, actually!”

Phoenix ducked around a branch, heading further into the forest and away from the cabin.

If the Decepticons picked up on the bridge energy profiles, then hopefully it would be far enough away that the cabin could be spared.

It was highly unlikely that they would find it to begin with, but it was worth a shot, especially since Starfire was now among their ranks. Primus knew what kind of knowledge or skills she had hidden away inside that helm of hers, and Phoenix knew all too well what lines she would cross to maintain her cover.

The ever-prominent limp made sure of that.

“Why am I even still alive?” Phoenix froze, her spark skipping a beat as she halted in her tracks.

Hazel nearly bumped into her stabilizer, the beast letting out a soft whine at the delay, but Phoenix was no longer present.

That simple line wrenched her all the way back to Cybertron, back to Kalis in the twilight hours of the Golden Age, to the gladiator pits and everything that came from it, to the violent and frozen streets before she found out that she had- that she-

Grief, sharp and brittle reared its ugly helm, overwhelming her spark up to the point where she wrenched the bond shut, locking her sparkmate out so he wouldn’t need to feel this, whipping her helm at the tiny human now regarding her with a healthy dose of wariness.

Phoenix was done. “You’re alive because I said so,” she hissed, nodding to the pack that Hazel had at some point picked back up. “I am assuming that bag means you had no intention of returning to this dwelling, which means you should have no issue with leaving with us, for your own safety, now that you know the truth.”

Her spark ached, and she had already gotten far more than what she had bargained for this cycle. She was done, and turned around when Hazel blinked but didn’t speak, resuming the brisk pace towards the coordinates she had given Ratchet.

She heard June step to the girl’s side, murmuring quiet words with the girl before she detected both of them heading her way.

She was going to need to drop a few sensors in case the Decepticons located the cabin, and she had a feeling Optimus was going to insist on Hazel staying with the team now that she knew about their existence. How they would manage curbside duty when she lived all the way out in Montana was something she wasn’t even going to bother worrying about tonight, not as the brilliant green and purple bridge opened up before her, pausing as she waited for the humans and beast to catch up.

Phoenix hadn’t realized just how briskly she had been walking, only noticing that she was alone once she turned around. Taking the opportunity for some Primus damned peace and quiet she vented, turning her optics heavenward and glimpsed the first specs of starlight twinkling above the treeline.

She was realizing now that she had never truly processed that grief, and the reminder of the very question she had once asked herself, asked her Carrier when she found her sobbing, very nearly ripped away what little self-control she had begun rebuilding.

Perhaps June was right about her. She was unpredictable in the worst ways.

Megatron never cared if his assassins were healed. So long as they were ruthless and efficient that was all that mattered to him.

Not even she was something he cared about, and that was one of the many, many realizations she had come to have since she landed on Earth and learned what true respect and love actually felt like.

She hadn’t intended on snapping at Hazel, and she honestly felt she should have expected the girl to ask a question like that after the cycle she had had, but being blindsided like that was… horrifying.

Slowly, tentatively she eased the bond back open, and almost immediately her sparkmate’s essence was waiting for her on the other side.

Optimus waited, giving her the time and space to collect herself, and it was only when she completely lowered her walls did he speak, his vocals quiet. ~Are you alright?~ He asked gently, and didn’t push when she both physically and mentally shook her helm.

No, but what else could be done? It was literally eons ago, what more could any of them do about this?

Maybe one of these cycles she would delve into it, open herself fully and completely to her sparkmate, but right now she picked up on the sound of two humans and a giant beast shoving their way through the brush, abandoning the bond in favour of addressing them.

She was calmer, now, having used the brief respite to regather her thoughts. Hazel still appeared wary when they pushed through the trees, but at least she was asking June her questions rather than Phoenix.

Needless to say, she found herself surprised when Hazel shouldered her pack and stepped up to her, craning her neck enough to peer up at her. “I don’t know what I said to trigger you, Phoenix, but I’m sorry,” she began, and she blinked. “Everything that’s happened today has been really, really intense, and a lot to wrap my head around.”

Honestly, she couldn’t blame her, but the younger human wasn’t finished.

Hazel frowned. “I did not expect that I would not only be leaving my cabin, for what I am assuming is permanently, but that it would be all thanks to an alien.” Phoenix followed her gaze to the portal, spinning steadily away behind her.

A quick flash of unease graced the human’s expression, but it was gone within a blink, Hazel turning back to continue what she was saying. “June tells me that these ‘Decepticons’ are really bad news, and now that I’m involved they’re going to try and go after me now. Is that correct?” She asked, absently petting the beast’s head.

Slowly, gingerly and ever cautious about her bad stabilizer Phoenix lowered herself to the ground, bringing herself optic-level with the girl. “Yes, Hazel,” she admitted, and caught the flicker of pain that danced across her expression. “I’m not sure what the plan is going to be regarding your situation,” she continued, glancing at June, “but I know that your safety is our number one concern. I’m sorry that things progressed the way they did today, but now all we can do is try and make the best of it,” she murmured.

Hazel closed her eyes, breathing in slowly before letting it out in a rush. When she opened them again there was a resolve there that wasn’t there before, squaring her shoulders and nodded curtly. “Well then, let's get this show on the road, shall we?”

Fortunately for her, Phoenix had spent enough time around Miko to understand the reference, grinning at the girl as she climbed back to her peds and led the way to the Autobot base.

– – –

It was something she had said that caused the giant to snap, June going on to explain that their war had been raging for longer than humans had existed (so that much was true, then), and Phoenix herself was one of their best warriors. It stood to reason that Hazel’s questioning triggered some long-form sense of PTSD, considering absolutely no one got in and out of war without some lasting trauma, especially not a war that had lasted for eons.

The first thing she had done, with June’s prompting, was apologize to the Autobot for her callous questioning, and fortunately Phoenix appeared to have calmed a great deal to the point where she was answering and offering information before Hazel had to ask.

She had returned to the cabin briefly after Phoenix had stormed off and grabbed a few more sentimental items now that she no longer had to worry about packing it all, staring wistfully at her violin for a moment before she ran back out to meet up with June.

Now, after much confliction, Hazel had agreed to return to their base, likely the safest point on Earth now that she thought about it, but getting there required her to step foot through a spinning, dizzying portal of blue, green and purple.

How the hell did this thing even work?

Wordlessly Phoenix dropped a pair of small, ball-like devices on the ground before walking through the bridge, June eyeing the gadgets cautiously when they both popped up but ignored them in favor of addressing Hazel’s hesitation.

The nurse smiled. “It’s going to feel like your stomach is now on the outside of your body, but I assure you when you come out everything is going to be where it’s supposed to be,” she promised.

Hazel was not looking forward to this, but figured she didn’t really have a choice in the matter anymore, not when the two devices Phoenix left began to hover and zipped off into the treeline and back towards her cabin.

Sighing, she gave another whistle for Bridget and followed nurse and alien through the portal and into their base.

– – –

It had been a long cycle, filled with failed research and a squadron intent on bringing my capabilities up to par, so when everyone had finally been dismissed for their downtime and the recharge cycle I was utterly relieved, deciding to rebuild my medical kits now that I remembered what had happened the last time I had needed one.

Yeah, now that I had access to the Decepticons’ supply list, there was nothing stopping me from acquiring the utter best they had to offer.

Naturally, I found myself walking to the medical wing, and word among the troopers said that Breakdown had returned from his mission not that long ago. Although, no one seemed to be able to figure out if it had been a success or not, since a few reported nothing being added to the vaults, but Megatron didn’t appear outright furious at him, either.

Whatever the case, if Breakdown was back then that meant he would be reporting to the med bay for a routine diagnostic checkup.

Perhaps I could ask a couple questions before Knockout ushered me away to give his assistant some privacy, and perhaps I could snag a few medical gauzes on my way out.

I chuckled to myself at the thought, crossing the laboratory and entered Knockout’s medical bay, the one place where the doctor spent the vast majority of his time and energy when he wasn’t conspiring with Starscream to sabotage Megatron’s health.

There was something to be said, when not even your own doctor could be reliably trusted.

“Knockout, would I be able to bother you for-” I started, looking up from my datapad which housed the list of supplies I needed, but my words ground to a screeching halt when I saw who exactly stood before me, magnetized to Breakdown’s backstruts while Knockout attempted to go about dividing the two.

Her purple optics locked onto mine immediately, the doctor turning from his task, but I merely grinned, turning on my heel and left Arachnid to stew over the realization that she had now fallen into my territory.

Primus, perhaps there was such thing as karma.

– – –

Chapter Text

“What in the name of the Allspark is that?!”

Ratchet’s shocked exclamation stole Miko’s attention away from her sketchbook, ditching it and her colouring pencils on the couch and ran over to see what all the commotion was about.

She skirted around Jack, ignoring his yelp and clutched the railing to stop her from barreling over the edge, peering towards the bridge as Phoenix and June stepped through the vibrant vortex.

At first she couldn’t figure out why Ratchet had reacted so strongly, but that wasn’t until she looked down and found a giant, floofer of a dog sniffing at the doc’s foot.

Gasping, she launched herself over the railing and landed on the stairs, skipping down them as she ran up to the dog, throwing her arms out wide and beamed.

“Here doggy!” She squealed, skidding to a stop on her knees paces away from the animal. Miko laughed when the animal lifted its head, deciding to ignore Ratchet for the moment and gleefully bounded over, and she wasted no time in smothering it in pets and kisses.

“Oh, who’s a good girl? You are! Yes you are!” She cooed, ignoring the bots and people in favor of dishing out some well-deserved lovings.

The salt coloured dog leaned into her ministrations, wiggling happily and layered kiss after sloppy kiss wherever she could reach.

“Such a good girl!” She laughed, yelping when the giant dog whined and wiggled, sloppily licking her without remorse as they sprawled out on the floor.

Snickering, Miko glanced a look at her neck, humming curiously when she didn’t find a collar or a tag to indicate just what she was supposed to call her.

Humming, she pushed the dog back and sat up, grinning at the animal. “What’s your name, hm?” She whispered, blissfully unaware that two of the Autobots were currently having a very heated discussion and truly would not have cared if she noticed.

The dog whined in reply, peering up at her with big round eyes that honest to god made Miko’s heart melt.

It did not matter what Ratchet had to say, this dog was staying and that was final!

“Her name is Bridget.” Miko looked up and blinked at the young woman standing over her, pushing ‘Bridget’ off her lap so she could sit up. The woman’s brown eyes narrowed at the utter elation that crossed the 15 year old’s face, shuffling back a step warily.

There was a new human in the Autobot base.

There was a new human in the Autobot base, and her name wasn’t June!

“Hi!” Miko leapt to her feet and grabbed the woman’s hands, grinning and dragged her back to the stairs and over to where Jack and Raf were standing, the boys watching Ratchet and Phoenix’s conversation.

“I’m not asking, Ratchet. The hound goes where she does, and until Optimus and Bee get back she is staying right here,” Phoenix was saying, glancing up and behind the doctor when Miko popped into view, dragging a downright stunned Hazel behind her.

The exuberant girl paid the Autobots no mind. “I’m Miko, and those two are Jack Rabbit and Raf the tech nerd. He’s only twelve and he hacked the government and everything, can you believe it? Oh and just wait until you meet Bulkhead! He’s a huge truck, he’s gonna love you, and we should definitely go dune bashing when he gets back from putting the smack down on Breakdown! They’re going to love having a new human around!” Miko appeared to have forgotten how to breathe, beaming and shoved the new girl in front of the boys, hands on her shoulders with her signature grin plastered on her face.

Phoenix hid a smile, deciding that Hazel was now in good hands.

The new girl blinked, Jack and Rafael both mirroring stunned expressions, and after pausing for a split second Miko gasped, spinning her back around and failed to catch the stunned look on her face. “I never got your name, how silly of me!” She chirped, and only then did she pause and give both herself and the three other humans a chance to breathe.

Bridget had followed them up the metal staircase, weaving herself around the girl and tilted her fluffy head curiously.

The new girl swallowed, hesitating and took a quick look around at her surroundings.

The Autobot base had been converted to be more human friendly, a pair of couches and a television set up behind Jack and Rafael. Moreover, though, Miko watched as she tuned into the conversation between the two Autobots present, the girl’s face contorting in a scowl at what she was hearing.

“Absolutely not! I do not care the circumstances regarding how it got here, but that thing cannot remain here, it’s out of the question!” So it would appear that Ratchet did not like Bridget, and Miko was going to make damn well sure he would eat his words, finally tuning back into the outside world now that she paused to think.

The new girl clearly had the same idea, brushing past Miko and approaching the rail directly beside where Ratchet was standing. She glared at the doctor. “Excuse you!” She snapped, Phoenix trying and failing to keep her grin off her face. “But neither of us asked to be here. If you would be so kind, I would appreciate it if you stopped threatening my dog,” she growled, Ratchet raising an optic ridge as Jack and Raf stepped over, the animal in question sitting at the girl’s feet and almost appeared to be smiling, blissfully unaware just how much Ratchet despised the thought of her staying.

Phoenix chuckled, giving June a lift up to the boardwalk. “Well, it seems like Hazel says no, Ratchet. Too bad,” she cooed, the doctor quickly glancing between the lot of them before grumbling something under his breath and walking away, June trying to smother a smile.

She wasn’t really winning.

Miko bounded up to the new girl, stringing an arm over her shoulders. “So, Hazel,” she chirped, the girl peering at her. “What do you say we get you settled in the sitting area?” She proposed, catching the small nod from Phoenix and led Hazel back to the boys, the two of them happily petting Bridget as the girls walked over.

“Bulkhead and Arcee are out hunting down a relic, but they should be back soon. Also Optimus and Bumblebee went out for a patrol a while back, so they should be heading back to base soon too,” she continued, sitting Hazel on the couch and nudged her sketchbook aside so there would be room.

Hazel nodded slowly and set her pack at her feet, a small smile crossing her expression when Bridget trotted on up, the dog happy as a clam when she nuzzled her large head into the woman’s lap.

The newcomer was still taking in the base, cautiously relaxing against the couch but still appeared quite tense.

Miko propped her chin in her hand, tilting her head at the older girl. “How did you meet Phoenix?” She asked, Hazel looking up before glancing at said Autobot.

Phoenix had stepped away from the monitors and moved over to Ratchet’s workbench, in the process of digging out her daggers from her subspace. Both girls watched as the former assassin got out a couple of tools and began polishing them.

Hazel looked back and shrugged, Bridget nuzzling her head in her lap. “I fell in a frozen lake and she got me out,” she murmured, Miko’s eyes widening and finally appeared to take note of what she was wearing.

A dark green sweater and woolen pants, as well as some worn winter boots and mitts.

Well scrap, even her curls had small ice bits that were only just beginning to melt.

Humming, she leaned over and giggled when Jack startled. “Hey Jack Rabbit! Do you think your mom would have something for Hazel to wear that won’t give her heatstroke?” She asked, the older boy growing contemplative before Hazel could react.

Jack nodded after a moment, smiling. “Yeah, we can ask her in a little bit,” he promised, Miko brightening as Arcee and Bulkhead chose that moment to call for a bridge, gleefully hopping off the couch and ran to the railing to greet them.

There was a new human in the Autobot base! And she wasn’t Jack’s mom!

Hell yeah, this was going to be fun!

– – –

So this girl, Miko, was as crazy as they come, but Hazel found she didn’t really care at this point.

There’s only so much crazy someone can go through in a day before the regular crazy becomes mundane.

The children of the Autobots, Earth’s apparent protectors, were a trio of sass and kindness, and for the first time in months Hazel was now required to socialize.

Yippie.

Bridget had forgone getting pets from the boys and had taken up smothering her into the couch, laying all 120 lbs. of solid muscle across her lap as Rafael got up to go join Miko.

Officially, her hound was a menace, and the only reason she fell into the lake to begin with, but unofficially Hazel didn’t know who or what she would be without Bridget by her side. She needed her, relied on her, and would do whatever she could to keep her.

The grouchy doctor could fight her if he wanted, Hazel was not letting her dog go.

She sank further into the worn sofa, curling around Bridget and buried her face in her fur. She was still cold, and tired, and sleep was beginning to sound very good right about now.

It was only then did she care to notice the commotion Miko and Rafael were engaging in, warily lifting her head in time to watch the same vortex from earlier reactivate.

Yeah, if she never had to go through that thing again it would be too soon.

She watched as two more aliens stepped through and started talking with Miko, Rafael and Ratchet, handing a device of some sort over to the doctor and wryly mention not to activate it indoors.

Swell-

It was then that the smaller of the two seemed to notice her watching from the couch, and though Hazel wasn’t normally one to shy from confrontations she was not in the mood to be examined, not again, not today.

“Ok, who brought the human?” She called, and a long-suffering sigh from the workstation behind the sitting area told Hazel wonders about how this conversation was about to go.

Could the couch just swallow her whole? Please? She was tired and her body was beginning to protest the fact that she was still awake. She fell through ice for crying out loud. She was hurting and tired and wanted to sleep for the next month.

“That would be Hazel, Arcee,” Ratchet supplied, looking less than pleased when their gazes met. Love that- “A human that Phoenix brought back with her when it became clear that she couldn’t leave her to fend for herself,” he grumbled, and in any other situation she would have snapped back at the tone, and that she knew damn well how to take care of herself since she was, y’know, living in the middle of freaking nowhere, by herself, but after the events of this evening Hazel wisely bit her tongue.

The blue Autobot, Arcee, raised a brow, peering over to where Phoenix was still deliberately ignoring the conversation. “Is that so?” She grinned, and it was around this time that June found her way over to the human area, coming to sit on the couch next to where she was curled up.

Another sigh from Phoenix and the Autobot cackled, turning to the larger of the trio when he merely grinned.

Hazel tuned them out, hugging Bridget tighter and hid her face in the fluffy fur.

A gentle hand brushed against her arm, Hazel risking a glance and found June watching her, a kind expression on her face as she soothingly rubbed her arm.

“It’s still a lot for me, too,” she whispered, lifting her head up and over when the Autobots began recounting their most recent mission. June smiled, sending an assuring glance her way before the older woman stood, walking to the railing to listen in.

Taking a breath, Hazel slowly sat up, nudging Bridget and motioned for her hound to quit squishing her for the time being.

Ok, so she needs to evaluate what she knows and go from there, and then she can perhaps mentally check out.

It was unlikely she would be returning to her cabin anytime soon, which means she should probably get used to hanging out around aliens despite literally all her school teachings claiming that they could not be further from reality.

That still left her parents, and if they called before she figured out a way to explain to them what happened then who knows what her father would try to do. It wasn’t like she could just claim there was interference, her parents had access to the best satellite weather reports and would know in an instant if there was to be a breach in communication. They wouldn’t buy her excuse for a second.

Ok, so if she couldn’t lie to them, and couldn’t answer the phone, then what exactly was she meant to do??

“Hey, is everything ok?” She looked up when the eldest kid, Jack she believed his name was, walked over, probably noticing the frustration she was beginning to feel.

Hazel nodded, thought about it for a bit longer, and promptly shrugged and shook her head. “Honestly, I have no freaking clue,” she grumbled, plopping her head in her hand and blew her hair out of her eyes.

The boy snickered, sitting on the couch beside her and Bridget and smiled. The Autobots and June were talking, and Miko and Rafael were listening in, so for the moment it was simply the two of them.

And Phoenix, who was still working on her daggers and appeared intent on ignoring the world for who knows how long.

“Tell me about it,” he laughed, leaning back against the cushions. “When I first found out about all this I wanted absolutely nothing to do with it,” he admitted, grinning at her when she raised a brow skeptically. “It’s true! I walked out and everything. It took Arcee going all sentimental on me to get me to come back, and I’ve been hanging out here ever since,” he said.

The blue Autobot glanced over at the sound of her name, narrowing her eyes briefly. “Jack, you better not be embellishing the story,” she called, and the boy sheepishly waved and grinned at her.

She rolled her eyes but returned to the conversation she was having with the others, Hazel humming quietly as she took it all in.

“Is she normally not sentimental?” She asked, Jack hesitating slightly but shrugged.

“She doesn’t like showing it,” he admitted after a long silence. “This war has taken a lot from her, and opening herself up to caring again is, well…” he trailed off, Hazel nodding slowly.

This war sounded like hell, and now she was thrown right smack in the middle of it.

But honestly, this war would rage on with or without her knowledge of it, so would she rather know and be prepared or be caught with her hand in the cookie jar, so to speak?

It wasn’t really a deliberation. There was not a single doubt in her mind that she would rather know what was going on in this small little world of hers, and if that means hanging out with giant robotic aliens, then so be it.

Jack opened his mouth, but whatever it was that he was about to say was halted when a loud creaking echoed through the main room, the boy whipping his head around and jumped to his feet.

Bridget lifted her head, tensing, and Hazel honestly didn’t know whether or not she should call her down.

Jack smiled, though, motioning for Hazel and her hound to relax. “It’s just Optimus and Bee returning from their patrol,” he explained, a glint to his eye that did the opposite of calming her. “Now we can actually get things figured out.”

This wasn't the first time she had heard those two names.

Hazel glanced over when Phoenix finally abandoned the workstation she was using, moving to stand in the middle of the room to greet the returning Autobots.

Hazel stood, motioning for her dog to sit and wait while she took in the two newcomers, a black and yellow muscle car and a red and blue Peterbilt semi.

She still flinched when both of them transformed, itching to curl back up on the sofa and pretend that she wasn’t here, but it was now or never and Hazel didn't believe in never.

The yellow Camaro was a shorter bot compared to the rest of them, though still much taller and bulkier than the blue bot, Arcee. Despite that, though, he deviated to the others for guidance, clearly nowhere near in charge.

She knew it was coming, but that did not mean she had to like it when the towering bot the Peterbilt turned into looked her way, doing her absolute best not to show even a smidge of fear or concern.

“Hazel, I’d like you to meet Optimus Prime, leader of the Autobots,” Jack introduced, coming to stand beside her at the railing.

Despite his towering size the Autobot leader smiled, and she knew absolutely everyone within whatever this place was were looking at them, at her. She knew it like she knew the sky was blue, but after the day she just had was that even true anymore?

Knowing they were waiting for her to say something she took a breath, exhaling slowly and warily scanned the gathered crowd of humans and aliens alike. Nothing like having reality shattered to soothe the soul.

Figuring she should start off light, she asked, “why are you here?” The more she learned about why and how they came to Earth the more she would know how to act and treat them.

For all she knew everything they could be telling her was a lie, but why would Phoenix go out of her way to rescue her if she was simply going to lie to her?

Oh, would her paranoid thoughts please shut up so she could focus?

Thankfully, though, the Autobot leader appeared unable to read her thoughts. “In short, because this planet has become a target of Decepticon conquest,” he explained. There was something about his voice that had her straightening.

A quick glance at June gave her all the confirmation that she needed. These were the very same ones that Phoenix was concerned about.

Let’s just hope she never has to meet said ‘Decepticons’.

Hazel nodded slowly. “So, these Decepticons, what do they want with Earth?”

She highly doubted they would simply up and leave, if they even had the means to do so, but it never hurt to ask, and her father would be disappointed in her if she didn’t do her best to gather as much information as she could.

“As of now, Megatron appears to be after the energon deposits located around your planet,” Optimus said, and she hadn’t the faintest idea what energon was, but nodded all the same. “And now that the war has resumed, it stands to reason that they will not leave until they conquer this world, or destroy it in the process.”

Well, she did not like the sounds of that-

Phoenix, who had been standing off to the side this whole time, moved closer, coming to stand beside her leader. “You know how I said that our war has been raging longer than humanity has existed?” She asked, crossing her arms at the slight nod from the girl. “The result of that was Cybertron, our home, becoming unable to support even a fraction of life. It is one of, if not the, darkest moment in our entire history,” she added quietly, and the gathered Autobots couldn’t meet her gaze.

Hazel shivered, holding Phoenix’s intense stare as long as she could before she tore her eyes away and turned back to Optimus, who was watching this all with a quiet contemplation. “What’s to stop the Decepticons from doing the same to Earth?” She asked. “It’s the same situation, just on a different planet.”

What guarantees could they offer her, offer Earth, that they wouldn’t face the same fate?

She glanced at her feet at a soft whine and gently pet the top of Bridget’s ears, refusing to allow herself to imagine a world without the hound at her side, or the Decepticons in power.

Her question drew the attention of the younger teens, Miko and Raf exchanging glances from across the boardwalk while she gazed steadily at the Autobot leader.

“A fair question, Hazel,” he conceded, and she idly wondered how he ended up learning her name. Phoenix didn't blink. “Truthfully, the fate of your planet is uncertain. We cannot guarantee we will be able to push the Decepticons back, or that Earth will not fall in the process.”

Not even the grouchy doctor bot had anything to say to that statement, muttering under his breath when their gazes locked and looked away.

Optimus turned his head slightly. “However, Megatron does not have the full force of his army behind him,” he continued, and she took a step closer to the railing, gripping the metal tightly in her hands. “As it stands, he cannot risk revealing himself or the Decepticons to your people; humanity has the technology and power necessary to pose a formidable threat to his cause, though at a severe disadvantage.”

“And if the Autobots came forward themselves, then that would prompt the Decepticons to begin their assault,” Rafael added, earning a nod from the elderly doctor bot.

“So, as long as you remain hidden, the Decepticons should theoretically do the same?” She asked slowly, blowing out a breath when she earned herself several nods.

Well that’s a freaking relief-

Jack piped up, brushing past his mother. “Yeah, and besides, Starfire will tell us if he’s planning anything in advance,” he chirped, and immediately Hazel caught a whirlwind of different emotions on the face of every other living creature present save June and her dog at the mention of that name.

“Who’s Starfire?” She asked cautiously, addressing the Autobots since they possessed the most amount of negative reactions, especially around Arcee and Phoenix.

Having been on the receiving end of Phoenix’s ire, she didn’t want to know what Starfire did to elicit such a devastating glare at the mere mention of her name.

She wasn’t answered right away, June murmuring something she couldn’t hear to her son, who merely rubbed the back of his neck in response.

“She’s our spy,” Ratchet said at last, and Hazel frowned.

“Isn’t that supposed to be a good thing…?” She asked slowly, and winced at Phoenix’s low growl. Oh-kay, moving on-

Optimus nodded. “Starfire has been on Earth far longer than any of us, and has since grown quite attached to your people,” he explained carefully, sending Phoenix a side-long glance. “She had chosen to remain Neutral in the conflict that destroyed our planet, though when Earth was threatened she stepped forward to take Phoenix’s place aboard the Decepticon Warship.”

Oh so that is why Phoenix currently looks like she wants to stab something.

Noted.

“We’re just not going to mention that she very nearly allowed Megatron to kill Phoenix in the process,” Arcee added dryly, and both Optimus and Bulkhead sent her a look at the comment, the blue Autobot shrugging her shoulders in an 'Am I wrong' sort of way.

Hazel blinked, but ultimately decided she would rather not piss off the brilliant orange and red Autobot and instead asked a different question, one that would hopefully result in her head not getting bitten off. “Do they know about my home?” She asked.

If their entire thing was remaining hidden and away from sight, then she was going to need to figure out a way to report to her parents that she was fine and to not worry about the fact that she was calling from an entirely different area code.

Phoenix huffed, shaking her head. “We don’t know,” she said tersely, no doubt still annoyed at the whole situation. “And it is unlikely we will find out anytime soon.” She muttered the last part so quietly that Hazel had to strain to hear her.

“We aren’t able to easily reach out to her without risking her cover,” the green Autobot, Bulkhead she believed, said, turning to address her directly. “The ‘cons have a wicked Surveillance Chief,” he explained. “If we attempt to make contact we risk Soundwave intercepting the message, and if he does while Star is still on the ship then that's another world of problems for us to deal with,” he added.

She nodded slowly, turning back to Optimus. “Bulkhead is correct, Hazel. We cannot risk allowing you to return to your dwelling until we are able to get a message out to Starfire and have her confirm whether it is safe,” he said, and she knew she was likely unable to return, but having it confirmed so concretely almost shattered what little self-composure she had managed to piece together for this conversation.

Bridget whined again, sensing the hot tears threatening the back of her eyes and nuzzled her fluffy head into her stomach.

“So where does Hazel go now?” Miko asked, a wide grin growing on her face as the Autobot team shared a look. “She could come stay with me, my host parents won’t be able to say no,” she offered, directing her questions to none other than the Autobot leader himself for consideration.

Before anyone else could really voice an opinion on the matter June stepped forward, placing a warm hand on her back in comfort and reassurance. “I have a spare room at my house,” she said. “Hazel is welcome to stay as long as she needs.”

The tears threatening very nearly won at that statement, Optimus agreeing to the arrangement.

And since Arcee was already guarding the house, Phoenix would be able to remain at base until she was properly healed.

Yeah, turns out she was still injured from the battle that brought her home, a battle that nearly claimed her life, as she so learned.

June spoke up then and reminded everyone that it was a school night and it was about time for the children to return home, motioning for them to begin packing up.

Yeah, Miko was not overly pleased about that, but Hazel was still reeling over the unexpected day that she didn’t complain and got settled in the passenger seat of the woman’s car, Jack offering to load her pack into the trunk of the white sedan for her.

Bridget gleefully jumped into the backseat, Jack making sure her tail was out of the way before closing the door behind her.

Finally alone and out of obvious line of sight Hazel slumped in her seat, fisting her hands in her lap in an attempt to get them to stop shaking.

Bridget braced her paws on the center console and snuck a lick to her cheek, nuzzling her affectionately as they watched June continue a conversation with, namely, the blue Autobot, who smiled at whatever it was that she was saying.

It had been a very long day, and Hazel had a feeling it really wasn’t going to get better from here.

– – –

“Lord Megatron, a word if I may?”

The looming Warlord of the Decepticons turned at my question, the doors to the bridge clicking shut behind me as I walked inside.

My words earned a few subtle glances from the Vehicons diligently working at their stations, and I caught Soundwave beside the Warlord, no doubt monitoring and recording the exchange.

I didn’t care.

I was, however, genuinely surprised that Starscream wasn’t present, and promptly decided that his whereabouts were none of my fragging concern, not this cycle.

Megatron’s silence was permission enough. “It has been brought to my attention that Arachnid has made her way aboard this ship,” I said, my words clipped and sharp. “What is to become of her?”

Breakdown had returned to the ship without the polarity gauntlet, which meant that it was either destroyed or in the possession of the Autobots, and in doing so meant he had no choice but to drag Arachnid all the way back to the Decepticon Faction if he wanted to get out of this unpunished.

Which meant I had even less of a chance to destroy her than I had before, now that they knew about her existence on this planet.

Megatron’s red optics narrowed, the tyrant taking in the stiffness of my frame, the faint quiver of my wings that I simply did not care enough to control. “Her arrival and state aboard my vessel is none of your concern, Lieutenant. Though rest assured that she will be monitored,” he said quietly, and I knew, I knew that he was able to read the loathing in my optics.

I was not at all surprised when he asked me about it.

The Warlord was regarding me carefully, Soundwave stepping a few paces closer. “What business do you have with her?” Megatron asked, and I inhaled sharply when I was reminded about just how much I hated him, too.

Wildspark would still be alive if he didn’t betray Orion and the Council, if he didn’t become so blinded by his rage and desire to change Cybertron, for better or for worse that he engulfed our entire planet in endless war.

My sister never would have crossed paths with Arachnid if he didn’t enable the monster, if he didn’t give her the perfect conditions to carry out her sadistic nature.

All of this was his fault, and if there was any other person in this galaxy that I hated more than Arachnid, it was Megatron.

But the Autobots needed me, my Networks needed me and if Earth wanted any hope of making it through this then I needed to get my helm on straight and stop dreaming about all the ways I wished I could kill him. Megatron could wait, for now.

I shrugged, shaking my helm. “You could say we have a history,” I said after a long pause, time in which I spent dragging myself up from the depths of my emotions, shoving my disgust and desire to wring their necks back into the box where they belonged, until the time came where I could enact my vengeance.

They will pay, but not yet.

Megatron raised an optic ridge, his caution changing to intrigue as he walked closer. “Is that so?” He drawled, stopping a pace or two before me. His optics sharpened. “If memory serves, the only possible way for you to have run into her would have been on Cybertron, and Arachnid did not take kindly to Neutrals.” Understatement of the era right there- “So how is it that you stand before me now, Lieutenant?” He asked.

How indeed, Megatron?

I lifted my helm. “All thanks to sheer and utter luck, my lord,” I lied. “Though during the encounter she managed to slaughter the companion I had been traveling with, and the only reason I am approaching you with this is due to the fact that we are both now under your command,” I replied, and it pained me to diminish my sister’s memory, but for her sake and mine it had to be done.

“Arachnid is an officer within the Decepticon Faction, and thus falls under your protection. It would be out of line for me to enact my revenge without your explicit permission,” I added, and I did not miss the gleam of approval that appeared in his red gaze.

I would not jeopardize my place among their ranks on a personal vendetta, and vocalizing this would do me wonders should my loyalties ever be brought into question.

Megatron grinned. “As of now, Arachnid is still useful to me, Starfire. But I can assure you, that the moment her usefulness expires she will be yours,” he promised, and I was satisfied with that.

For now.

I nodded and took that as my cue to leave, striding from the bridge with a war racing endlessly through my processor and did not care to wait for a dismissal.

I couldn’t go after either of them yet, and that was very nearly driving me insane.

– – –

Megatron watched the silver seeker as she left the bridge, the troopers under his command resuming their work without a word.

She was clearly furious, and he knew that she had lied to him. Her wings, normally so stoic and unreadable, gave away her every intention and desire.

Starfire wanted nothing more than to destroy Arachnid, and his refusal infuriated her to no end.

There was more to their shared history than what his Lieutenant had revealed, of that he had no doubt.

The Warlord turned to his Surveillance Chief, Soundwave monitoring the exchange impassively.

“Pull up Arachnid’s service records,” he ordered quietly, sparing a long look to where the femme had disappeared. “I want to know just how many Neutrals Arachnid has managed to terminate.”

Soundwave nodded and wordlessly walked from the bridge.

Megatron knew that Arachnid would never admit to having lost an encounter with a Neutral, no matter the circumstances, and Starfire standing here today only proved as much.

The bug had been under strict orders to report the designations of everyone she came into contact with, and should they end up being someone of importance they would be relieved of her custody. It was the reason he knew about the capture and destruction of Arcee’s former partner, and why he suspected the blue Autobot would likely go to great lengths to personally single her out.

If Starfire had survived an encounter with such a creature, then there was more to her story than a mere run in, and Megatron was going to find out what that was.

– – –

“I swear upon the Allspark, Arachnid, leave my sister alone!”

“Gladly, Starfire. Just as soon as you give me the coordinates for the Wrecker’s Headquarters.”

“Lieutenant, pay attention!”

I was startled out of my thoughts and barely managed to duck in time, avoiding Vegawarp’s punch by merely a sliver.

The seeker didn’t hesitate before continuing her offensive, and I shoved every single warring thought to the back of my helm in order to focus on the task before me.

It had been hardly a few hours since I had discovered Arachnid’s presence on this ship, and I had immediately sought out my squadron. Training had been suspended for the cycle, to resume tomorrow, but there was not a chance in the pits I would be resting right now, and if I wanted to prevent myself from doing something stupid then I seriously needed the distraction.

Naturally, I found Steelheart, and Ironfoot’s second in command was more than willing to give me an extra ounce of training the instant she heard I needed it. She immediately summoned Vegawarp, the two femmes drilling me in everything I had asked.

Now, several hours later and I still couldn’t get Arachnid out of my processor, repeating my sister’s death over and over and it was starting to actually drive me insane.

Steelheart didn’t call out a warning this time, Vegawarp landing a solid hit to my jaw that sent me spiraling to the deck and out of my processor.

Steelheart called the match, Vegawarp standing down as I gingerly got back to my peds and stepped off the mat.

Wincing, I rubbed my jaw and vented sharply, willing the pain to knock some sense into my systems while Steelheart and Vegawarp spoke quietly, every now and then sending a glance my way.

The only reason I left the med bay without killing her is because I really didn’t know how Megatron would react. No one save the Vehicons knew that she was on Earth, and absolutely no one knew just how badly I wanted her offline.

What I wouldn’t give to be able to offline Arachnid without having to worry so damned much about my planet. If I wasn’t ridiculously careful and cautious, then the Autobots would lose their only link into the Decepticon ranks, and my people would suffer as a result.

It was seriously frustrating.

I looked up when they walked over, frowning as I let my servo fall down to my side.

Despite everything, I was grateful these two took time out of their personal lives to help me, and even still I found my feelings at war when it came to my squadron.

I was a spy, but damnit if I didn’t care what happened to them.

Steelheart crossed her arms. “Care to tell me what’s got you so distracted?” She asked. I had merely stated that I was restless and wished to train and she got Vegawarp to help. But after my horrendous performance this evening I should have guessed that they would ask questions.

I raised an optic ridge. “Are you asking because you care, or because you want to know if I’m planning something that would put the squadron at risk?” I asked dryly.

The two seekers exchanged a glance, Steelheart hesitating a moment before venting. “Both,” she admitted.

Well at least she was honest-

I shrugged, shaking my helm and tried to shove my sister to the far reaches of my processor so I wouldn’t go and do something stupid, like Steelheart was so fearing I might.

Why the frag not? “Arachnid is on the Warship and Lord Megatron has welcomed her back into our ranks,” I admitted, the femmes sharing another quick glance.

Vegawarp tilted her helm slightly. “What’s your deal with her, anyways?” She asked.

Ironfoot and Steelheart may not have reported my exact movements to Megatron, but they most definitely did to their squadron. Vegawarp and the rest of them knew exactly what had transpired, down to my attempt to keep June and Jack out of harm's reach.

What could I possibly say to that question, though? If I told them the truth then it would astronomically narrow down who I was before the war due to the rarity of twins, but if I lied and they ended up addressing it with Arachnid then I would be in a whole different world of scrap.

Primus Almighty why did it have to be Arachnid?

Frag it, bits of the truth won’t hurt and so long as I don’t mention Wildspark around Arachnid then perhaps she will be afraid of me enough not to mention it to anyone of importance.

Recalling the several-cycle encounter with the glitch I felt my fury with her rise, biting it back again for the sake of the two femmes standing before me. They didn’t terminate my sister.

But they had a hand in hunting down my kind. The frustrating vocals in the back of my helm whispered, and I about had it with my warring thoughts about these troopers.

“I was her prisoner,” I said simply, and for once I was grateful for their visors keeping their emotions hidden, because I was unsure what I would possibly do if I caught even a whiff of sympathy from them. Not from them. Not tonight.

No, I couldn’t do this. I couldn’t just stand here and do nothing while Arachnid earned free reign of this blasted ship. But I couldn’t just go and destroy her either, not with Megatron welcoming her the way he did.

So what if what I told the Warlord didn't line up perfectly with what I told my squadron? If anyone actually cared they would just assume I was more willing to open up with my unit than to the infamous Warmonger.

Which was- actually the truth, now that I thought about it.

“And you lived to talk about it?” Vegawarp blurted, immediately being hushed by her superior officer, but I think the utter disbelief and shock in her vocals did something to snap me from my spiral, because I found myself breaking into a faint smile in response.

“Yeah, I guess I did,” I mused, inwardly checking how far into the recharge shift it had gotten before ultimately deciding to call it a cycle. “But I think I’m going to return to my quarters for the evening. Thank you both for helping me get my helm on straight tonight,” I said, nodding to the two femmes and left the training room without another word.

They just found out that their secretive Lieutenant was a prisoner, and her captor was now residing on the very same warship serving the same master.

By morning the entire squadron will be brought up to speed, and I sincerely hope that my codes surrounding any mention of my designation will hold upon deeper inspection.

I was far too tired to be dealing with this scrap, but what can you do when Primus decides to be funny?

– – –

The revelation that their Lieutenant had once been a prisoner was not something Steelheart had been expecting.

Neither was the femme at her side, Vegawarp eying her warily. “If I’m not mistaken, Arachnid kept extensive records during the war,” her trooper murmured, a fact that had not been lost on her.

She nodded, glancing at her. “Indeed, and yet no one has been able to find a record of our Lieutenant among the databases,” she agreed, and knew that Vegawarp shared her suspicions and misgivings.

Steelheart checked in on her conjunx, informing him of the new information and her decision to proceed with her idea.

Ironfoot couldn’t stop her even if he wanted to.

She dismissed Vegawarp and ordered her to return to their quarters, informing her that she would be retiring later, if at all.

Vegawarp wisely kept her glossa and did as she said, and Steelheart immediately proceeded to track down a control station.

She knew that Soundwave had been unable to locate any sort of information surrounding the Lieutenant, a feat practically unheard of, so she was not about to pass up the opportunity to attempt to learn more about her.

It wasn’t unusual for Decepticons to keep secrets, and she worried that Lieutenant Starfire was beginning to fit right in.

After several minutes walking the halls of the Decepticon Warship Steelheart found what she had been looking for, activating the console and logged into the mainframe.

Immediately she pulled up Arachnid’s files, before ultimately realizing two things: Arachnid would never have admitted to losing a prisoner of considerably low ranking, and from the way the Lieutenant had her quarters set up and the sheer number of files she had been running, Steelheart had her suspicions that any mention of her designation would have been swiftly erased the instant she boarded the Nemesis.

Tracking down any inkling of her would be just as difficult as before, despite this information greatly narrowing down the search parameters.

She scowled at the screen, shaking her helm in disappointment.

Arachnid had been ordered to list all her prisoners, a standard Megatron kept with all his officers, and Steelheart knew that the Decepticon in question, while unhappy, kept dutiful notes on anyone unlucky enough to end up under her care.

Perhaps Starfire had missed something, perhaps Arachnid, who tended to reveal a description of her prisoners, left something for Steelheart to find.

She knew it was far outside her jurisdiction, and the punishment for interfering with such matters would be severe if she was caught, but this was her squadron at stake; the more she learned the safer they would be.

Someone who managed to escape from Arachnid was unpredictable, and had no lines they would not cross. If the Lieutenant was a prisoner as she so claimed, and was dead set on punishing Arachnid for her unspoken crimes, then Primus knew how she would act around the squadron should the situation change. She was not about to sit idly by and wait for something to happen.

She hummed to herself and glanced at the time, ultimately resigning herself to a night without recharge. She's done it before, this would be nothing she couldn't bounce back from, especially now that there seemed to be a lull in the war.

The Lieutenant didn’t specify when she was Arachnid’s captive, so narrowing things down through the timeline of the war was simply out of the question. However, if they followed Arachnid’s activity log, then perhaps that would thin things out.

The Lieutenant said she lived in Crystal City, so that at least was a start.

She would need to look at more than just descriptions of the prisoners if she wanted a shot at finding anything remotely of value. How they acted and behaved while captive would help further move things along.

Figuring she had a plan on how to narrow things down she prepared to input her search parameters, freezing however when a single blinking light in the corner of her screen caught her attention.

Quickly realizing that Soundwave was present and likely already knew she was there, she grabbed a data port and downloaded the extensive file, content with doing her own research in the privacy and security of the squadron’s quarters.

Steelheart closed down the database and logged out, fixing the console with a wary glance.

Whatever the Lieutenant was hiding could not be good, that much she was certain of.

– – –

I made it not even halfway to my quarters before I needed to just… leave.

Leave the Decepticons, leave Earth and all the problems that came with it, go and never look back.

I was so, so beyond tired of this blasted, useless war.

Instead of going to my room I took a different hall, approaching the flight deck and ignored everyone and thing I passed. My thoughts spun in my helm as I walked, as I debated the merits of what the frag I was doing, who exactly I thought I was kidding by attempting to fool the Decepticon faction, the very ones who took my family from me.

I couldn't stop picturing my sister, her smile and cheer and enthusiasm, the voice of reason for everything we did. She was the one who kept me sane, who kept me online during the fall of our City and the loss of everyone we loved. She got me to the walls, to the miles of tunnels beneath. She dragged me along and would not allow me to give up, to give in to the grief of watching my conjunx and sparkling be destroyed.

I couldn't reconcile the brutality of the Decepticons with the squadron I had been assigned to, their individuality a stark contrast to their appearance.

I tried, I really, truly tried to make sense of it all, of their concern for me when I skipped training, of their willingness to take time out of their cycle to help me when I needed it this evening, to prevent me from doing something my cover would regret.

But then I remembered Arachnid, remembered that the Network warned against Decepticons for a damn good reason, and once again I found myself at war over my perception of these troopers.

Because they were cruel, they were vicious, and I fear I have grown complacent in response to their kindness.

It was the same misgivings my sister gave when we had no other choice but to approach the Autobots for aid, and eventually all but earn a place for ourselves within their ranks.

I scowled at the floor as I briskly made for the flight deck, as I could not get Wildspark off my mind.

I couldn't stop repeating the last cycle we were together, my sister's unease, her sudden warning-

I ignored the trooper guarding the entrance to the flight deck and briskly strode outside, prepared to go, to run, to fly and never look back.

I stepped out, and hesitated once the salty air hit my wings, pulling me from my stupor, and all at once reminding me what exactly I was doing on this ship to begin with.

I could give a frag about their war, but Earth...?

We had returned from orbit so Breakdown could bridge back from his mission, now somewhere over the Pacific ocean, and the salt and brine from the sea nearly brought tears to my optics.

I exhaled deeply, shaking my helm, trying and failing to clear it from the rampage of conflicting thoughts and emotions threatening to overwhelm me.

I walked to the edge of the deck, the black and white of the night sky stretching far above as I lowered myself down and turned my helm to the stars, the Nemesis floating just above the cloud cover.

My sister’s killer was somewhere aboard this vessel.

I flinched, blowing out a breath and watched it form a cloud in front of me within the brisk winter air.

Who would I be, if Wildspark was still online? Would I have even made it to Earth if she was?

Once again my spark ached, a dull pain in my chassis in the form of grief for the bond that had tethered me to my twin, desolate and nothing more than dust and glass.

I had tried to move on, to carry on without her, but living a life without Wildspark…

It wasn’t really living.

The cold wind bit at my metal, urging me to keep my wings in close, to keep them safe as the ship crawled steadily on as phantom pains licked down my metal, pains from a bond long since destroyed.

I thought I would never fly again. I feared what death would be like, feared Arachnid and what she meant for me.

Furiously I wiped at my optics, burying my helm in my kneeplates so the Nemesis cameras wouldn’t capture me crying.

I would take it all again, I would gladly give myself up, if it meant my sister was allowed to live.

I would have given the Network if it meant I could protect her, if it bought her her life, and even now, all these thousands of years later I still didn’t know how to feel about it.

Not that it mattered, Wildspark had faded to gun metal grey and nothing shy of joining the Allspark would allow me to see her again.

Sometimes, I wondered if she would hate me. If I gave into the urge to just… see her again.

I wanted to see her again.

The Nemesis’ engines were a steady thrum under my frame, the host of the Decepticon Army traveling forever on, and I finally wrenched my helm from my arms and tilted my faceplates to the skies.

Endlessly the stars danced above me, the moon beating down onto the warship in a rare moment of peace and quiet.

It would be a beautiful night for flying, if I trusted myself to return.

I wish my sister could see it.

My wings flicked as the doors to the flight deck opened and shut, steady ped steps gradually approaching the tail end of the ship where I was sitting.

I didn’t bother turning around to look, watching the pure black sky slowly drifting above us, and figured if it was something important they would announce it whether I acknowledged them or not.

“You do know how far into the recharge shift it’s gotten, don’t you?” Knockout asked dryly, crossing his arms at the long look I shot his way when I eventually dragged my gaze away from the stars over to him.

“Hello pot, I’m the kettle.”

The human reference was past my derma before I could think about it, turning back to the sky before I could read the confusion on his expression.

He didn’t say anything, and for that I was grateful. This cycle has fragging sucked, and the last thing I needed was to be getting grilled about my use of human memes.

“You have tears in your optics.” So I did. What did it even matter? “Want to talk?” The offer was tentative at best, both of us acutely aware that such matters were never touched on, not if you wished to survive within the Decepticon ranks.

I didn’t answer right away, weighing the fallout of telling Knockout literally anything. The mech filled the silence almost immediately. “I often come out here to think,” he admitted, rubbing his servos together as he stared out over the tail of the Warship, the waters of the Pacific black and endless from what glimpses we could get through the clouds. “There aren’t any surveillance feeds out this far either,” he added.

I slowly looked at him, raising an optic ridge tiredly. “Wanna bet?” I asked, the doctor blinking at the sheer sarcasm oozing from my vocals.

I didn’t give him time to answer, digging out my datapad from my subspace and drew up my link into Soundwave’s surveillance network, ignoring the fact that I seriously shouldn’t be able to have access to this information. I tilted the device to show him, zooming in on the live footage of the rear of the ship.

Knockout was silent as I wordlessly put my datapad away, locking it down and dropped my helm back on my arms. Nowhere on this vessel was unwatched, and he would do well to remember that.

Soundwave may not always listen, but he always hears.

It was almost funny, in a twisted sort of way: the amount of times I’ve had to advise literal Decepticon officers on different ways the faction operated was astounding, but I suppose as a Neutral picking up on such things was literally a matter of life or death. The shock on their expressions though was still something I was picking apart.

Starscream in particular. How that mech remained online continued to baffle me, and I had simply decided to keep an optic on him should he try to plan anything. Again.

“… nevermind, then,” Knockout said at last, and I figured that was the end of it. The doctor would leave and Megatron would come to learn that I broke my way back into the mainframe.

I've done it before and I will do it again.

Instead, Knockout vented and lowered himself to the deck beside me, leaning back on his servos and followed my gaze towards the heavens.

The silence that stretched between us wasn’t tense, an almost peaceful air growing while we both watched the stars.

“You ever wonder where Cybertron is?” He asked after a while, humming quietly when I nodded. I lifted an arm and pointed.

“The humans call that cluster of stars Ursa Major,” I explained softly, tracing it slowly. “If you look past it slightly, there should be another constellation, Leo.” One of the first things I did upon arriving on Earth was mapping out where our home planet was, much to Shockburner’s annoyance and vocal complaints. It took me weeks of travel and dedicated time, but within two months I had mapped out both the Southern and Northern Hemispheres, adding my findings to the Neutral databases.

“Between the two is a small cluster of stars, see?” I murmured, Knockout nodding as he followed my digit. “It’s nearly impossible for humans to find it, but there, in the center?” My vocals trailed off as I let my arm fall, the doctor fixated on the star I had shown him.

Cybertron’s home star.

I folded my arms back on my knees as we fell back into silence, gazing at the millions upon millions of stars twinkling above us.

“Exactly 397 million, 289 thousand light years from Earth,” I whispered. If he wanted I could have the exact measurement, the exact time frame down to the second if someone were to take the scenic way home. But he didn’t ask, and I didn’t offer.

I never wanted to do those calculations, I feared what I would find. Feared knowing.

“Sometimes, I find myself watching home,” I whispered softly, picturing the war-torn planet and just how long it would take before Cybertron’s light revealed a dead world. “I find myself fearing that if I look away, I’ll miss it,” I blinked, silently cursing and wiped away hot, unwelcome tears that I couldn't afford. But I was tired, I was so tired of this stupid war and all that it has taken from me that I couldn't stop the words from flowing. “I can’t help but fear I’ll miss the last shred of light that my sister saw. The last piece that she danced in, that she laughed in. I’m afraid that if I stop looking…” my vocals dried up, and I realized all over again that my tears had oh so kindly resumed their journey down my metal.

“What if she doesn’t exist anymore?” I breathed, my throatlines closing up as the fear and sparkbreak rose up and threatened to smother me. What if I had already missed it? How would I know? How could I possibly bring myself to calculate it?

A quiet part of me knew I had already missed Raze and Mindblade. I couldn't... I couldn't bring myself to check if I missed Wildspark, too.

I couldn’t keep it in anymore, tearing my gaze from the stars and buried my helm in my servos, unable to contain myself, unable to shield myself.

I had forgotten Knockout was here, so focused on wrestling back control of the storm raging within my spark that when he spoke I startled, wrenching my helm up and over at him.

The doctor was quiet. “It was Arachnid, wasn’t it?” I didn’t need to say anything, Knockout reading the devastation I was feeling with little more than a glance. His gaze hardened. “I had a feeling something happened between the two of you." He laughed quietly, looking back up towards home. It was a cold laughter. "She would not stop complaining about being dragged back to the faction, and demagnetizing two 'cons without a polarity gauntlet was not something I wanted to do today."

I didn't ask what happened during the mission, but from the sounds of things the gauntlet was either destroyed or in the possession of the Autobots.

I suppose, from a spy's standpoint, this was a good thing, but right now I was anything but a spy.

Knockout shook his helm. "I've always had a bad feeling when it came to her," he mused, not looking away from the sky. "And more than a few of my friends have been lost after working with her."

From a medical standpoint, Knockout would have more reason than most to count the dead.

He turned to me, my spark skipping a beat at the simmering anger in his optics. “When you plan on terminating her, tell me.”

I was unable to look away from the sheer malice in his expression, the normally frivolous doctor utterly and brutally serious.

“Why?” I whispered, curling my knees tighter to my chassis. “So you can stop me?”

Knockout’s vocals were ice, and reminded me then that he was, first and foremost, a Decepticon. “So I can watch.”

– – –

~Find anything good, yet?~ Steelheart rolled her optics at her conjunx’s dry comment, shaking her helm and went back to reading.

The squadron had, for once, gotten approval for some downtime, and she was seizing the chance to dive deeper into Arachnid’s prisoner record.

She and her sparkmate were perched on a lower bunk in the squadron’s quarters, Ironfoot idly watching their charges while she attempted to sift through the vast amount of information.

She found herself glossing over some of the more grisly descriptions, noticing with a great sense of unease that Arachnid appeared to take far too much delight in recounting her torture sessions, something that Steelheart would rather not read into too much.

The reason for her sparkmate’s sarcastic commentary had to do with the fact that she had spent practically every ounce of her free time since the cycle Arachnid arrived on the ship reading the blasted file, and had continuously come up empty. Part of her wondered if the Lieutenant had lied to her, and had a different reason entirely for her hatred of the Decepticon.

That thought didn’t sit well, and she ignored it for the moment and flipped to the next file in the rapidly-dwindling amount of prisoner records.

Her optics snagged on a string of text, scrolling back up and frowned.

Prisoner number: 3659
Type: Seeker
Affiliation: Neutral
Status: Offline
Cause: Execution

What struck her as odd, though, was the sheer lack of description that followed the prisoner details. Arachnid had ensured that most if not all of her other prisoner accounts left absolutely nothing to speculation, going so far as to describe how she tore out someone’s transformation cog and forced the prisoner to transform despite. She shuddered when she recalled how nauseating that log was.

To come across one so… bland, felt wrong.

She checked the date, warnings beginning to peal in her helm when she came to learn that this was one of the last few prisoners Arachnid had taken before seemingly disappearing from the war effort. Steelheart had never had the security clearance to dig deeper and learn more, but seeing this made her wonder if there was something leadership had tried to cover up.

Something that would explain how their Lieutenant had survived an encounter with the very Decepticon who took pride in dismantling anyone unfortunate enough to cross her path.

~Did you find something?~ She shifted closer to her sparkmate at his question, showing him the screen and felt his confusion through their bond. She explained how odd it was that Arachnid had seemingly left it blank, and made no mention of how she had terminated this prisoner.

~I have read some really nasty things in these files, Ironfoot. It is extremely out of the ordinary for Arachnid to forgo reporting something like this,~ she explained quietly, glancing over their squadron when the twins loudly declared a game of lob.

Her sparkmate scrolled through some of the previous accounts, his unease growing through their bond while the squadron pulled out the sphere and started their game.

Ironfoot scanned the document, and if his visor had been drawn she knew his frown would have matched hers. ~Did Arachnid say anything at all in previous statements that might give us a hint to how this one offlined? Any clue that would give us a hint to who they were?~ He asked, cursing softly under his venting when one of their squadron managed to lob the device right smack into the wall beside his helm, missing him by a hair.

“Sorry, Captain!” Frostlight snickered at Gigamine’s panicked shout, the young mech running over and exhaled when Ironfoot simply waved him off after he reclaimed the ball.

“It’s alright, Gigamine,” he vented, shaking his helm and watched as he ran back and immediately began getting hazed from the rest of their squadron for very nearly taking out their Captain.

Steelheart smiled and returned to the datapad, keeping one optic trained on the game from here on out. ~No, she didn’t. I haven’t seen this before, either. Arachnid took great pride in recounting the pain she inflicted on her prisoners, and she was required by Command to give as much personal intel about them as she could get. Something isn’t adding up here,~ she explained, and knew she didn’t need to watch her words with him or what she said about superior officers. They all knew what happened if someone managed to get noticed by the leadership, and simultaneously piss them off.

It’s no secret that Megatron does not deal out forgiveness.

Ironfoot took the datapad from her, continuing his examination of the previous few files to get a feel as to what she meant.

She had found no mention of their Lieutenant, through description or otherwise, and Arachnid had reported only several successful escapes. It shouldn’t be that hard to find her designation in the files, so why in Primus’ name was it so difficult to find a reference to her?

“Magnablade, come here.” She glanced at her sparkmate when he called for her second, the mech extracting himself from the game and stepped over.

Ironfoot didn’t look up from the datapad, and she only hoped that he was able to find something that she had missed. “I need you to grab your editing software, and run these files through it,” he said quietly, handing the datapad with the selected files over to their tech expert. "Whatever you find goes straight to us, no one else."

Magnablade hesitated, glancing over to where the rest of the squadron had forgone their game and were currently talking about what else they could do during their downtime, and Steelheart idly overheard them discussing the merits of a patrol.

Perhaps a patrol would do them some good, and get them out of the dorm, because from the emotions she was picking up from her conjunx she didn’t want to drag them into the middle of whatever this was.

The less they knew, the safer they would be.

“I need to know how many of these files have been edited, the sooner the better,” Ironfoot explained quietly, keeping his vocals low so as to not be overheard. Unease began to eat away at her spark. “Cross reference it with anything even remotely to do with the Lieutenant, and get it back to me as soon as you can,” he added.

Magnablade glanced at her, and Steelheart merely nodded, giving her consent to whatever it was that her sparkmate had deemed necessary.

Her second nodded, once, taking the device and walked to the other side of their quarters to his bunk, hauling out a crate and immediately began hooking her datapad into the equipment.

~They aren’t stupid, Ironfoot,~ she murmured, her sparkmate venting and subtly grabbed her servo, giving it a tight squeeze.

Their squadron was trying not to make it obvious, looking between their three senior officers warily.

All they could do now was wait.

– – –

Chapter Text

June’s home was what one would expect from a single mother and her child, small and comfortable with enough space for them to grow and live.

The nurse got her set up in the spare bedroom, a room that Hazel was given free reign to decorate and set up however she wished. It clearly hadn’t been used in quite some time, she figured June didn’t have very many guests staying over, but the sheets and quilt were fresh and clean, and Hazel spent that first night bundled under the blankets with her arms securely around her dog.

Now it was Friday, the day she was meant to be getting a call from her parents, and Hazel still had no idea what to do about it.

The three of them plus Bridget were eating breakfast in the kitchen, bowls of cereal in front of them with a can of wet dog food June grabbed from the convenience store last night for Bridget. It was quite early in the morning, and Hazel was still trying to get used to proper civilization again after months out in the middle of the Montana wilderness.

“So, Jack, Hazel. Any idea what you guys want to do after school today?” June asked, already dressed in her nurse scrubs, which Hazel was quickly learning comprised of most of her wardrobe.

His mother likely already knew the answer since the Autobots would be taking their charges to their base in the afternoon, but that didn’t mean they didn’t have something planned.

God knows what Miko would try and get up to, something that Hazel had already figured out through surprising experience.

Jack shrugged, looking at their guest expectantly. Since she was an adult and technically wasn’t supposed to be in Nevada she regularly bridged to base after Jack and his mother left for the day. Phoenix wasn’t overly inclined to spend the entire day parked outside their home, so for now this was her life until they could figure out something better.

“Well, Miko insisted on giving me a proper tour of the town after school lets out,” Hazel replied, shoveling a spoonful of cereal into her mouth. It was the weekend, which meant the next three days in direct proximity with the energetic, vibrant girl.

Jack raised a brow, polishing off his own bowl with such speed Hazel wondered if he even tasted it. “Is that so, huh? What, she's going to drag you over to the gravel pit?” He laughed, though paused at the raised brow his mother was giving him.

Hazel chuckled quietly, shrugging. It wouldn’t surprise her if Miko wanted to take her someplace most adults either ignored or simply didn’t know about.

“Perhaps,” she admitted. “Though she mentioned something about going to a rock concert tonight?” June’s eyes widened slightly and Jack laughed, nodding.

“She got tickets to see Slash Monkey. She hasn’t quit gushing about it for weeks.” He grinned, his mother shaking her head with a faint smile. “Your tour might have to be postponed, if it’s not commandeered to viewing all the rock stores Jasper has to offer,” he added.

She had never been much of a rock person, but perhaps spending an evening shopping for supplies with Miko wouldn’t be so bad. Maybe she could pick up a thing or two from the experience.

It fell silent around the kitchen table, each of them absorbed into their own thoughts and minds.

None of them touched on the unspoken question she was thinking: had Starfire reached out yet?

What good was a spy if they couldn’t get into contact with them?

Swallowing, she figured she may as well damn the consequences. The worst she could get was a no.

“Have we heard from Starfire?” She asked hopefully, lifting her head from her bowl. The sooner they knew if Hazel could return to her homestead the better.

Sadly, though unsurprisingly, Jack and June shook their heads, the boy casting a quick glance to the garage where Arcee was keeping watch.

Hazel frowned, shoving a strand of curly hair out of her eyes. “Why is it that we can’t reach out to her? I mean, wouldn’t it make things easier if something happened?” She asked, the irony hitting her right in the face. The deadline was fast approaching and she still didn’t know what to tell her parents.

Perhaps she could get a bridge out and tell them face to face, if her mother didn’t faint from the shock before she could get a word out. It would rule out the risk of the Decepticons tracking them, at least.

Jack frowned, shrugging. “I-”

June cut him off. “That’s something we can talk to Ratchet and Optimus about at base,” she promised, checking the clock nesting above the dining room table and promptly stood. “I need to head to work. You kids be safe,” she said, grabbing her purse and, after depositing her bowl in the sink, dropped a kiss to Jack’s head and headed for the door.

Bridget looked up when the woman passed, wagging her tail when June paused and gave her a pet before leaving the house out to her car.

They both waited until they heard the engine come to life, Jack watching his mother pull from the driveway and waved at her through the kitchen window when she drove off.

Sighing, Hazel grabbed the empty dishes and took them to the sink, running the tap to soak them.

Running water was something she had forgotten she had missed.

Turning the tap off she hesitated, bracing her hands along the lip of the sink and stared at the milky water.

She was going to need to lie to her parents, and she was not looking forward to it.

Jack grabbed his school bag, drawing her from her thoughts as she pushed from the sink. “I’ll see you at base?” He winced, rubbing the back of his neck when she nodded.

Wordlessly the boy turned and made for the garage, to where his guardian was no doubt listening to their conversation and where they would no doubt continue said conversation during their ride to school.

Sighing, she waited until they were gone, plopping down beside her wolfhound and leaned back into Bridget’s fur.

How was she going to explain this to her parents?

– – –

It had been several cycles since Arachnid boarded the ship, and it had taken all my self-control not to lash out at her.

Every time I saw her, every time we crossed paths these last few cycles all I could see was my sister, see her lifeless frame on the floor of the lair and the sheer fact I hadn’t gone for Arachnid’s throat yet was utterly remarkable.

I couldn’t ignore the hatred that rose in my spark each time I saw her, couldn’t ignore the vicious voice in the back of my helm demanding me to take retribution and repay her for all the harm and pain she has caused me, and so many others.

But no, I had been forbidden from laying a digit on her, and she knew it.

If I caught even a whiff of arrogance from her the gloves would be coming off and I would simply deal with the fallout and Megatron later.

For now, though, I was sifting through the Neutral Network, touching base with my people and overall doing what I could to keep the rest of the galaxy informed about the war effort.

The feed was bouncing off the satellite I had built for the United States and rebounding at minimum three solar systems away, taking advantage of the fact that I once again had full access to the Neutral Network and their information chains.

The Nemesis may be able to connect to the rest of the universe, but the satellite added an extra boost to the response times. It was nice, honestly, especially since General Bryce and the people at Lunarcrest were unable to stop me if they tried.

For the first cycle since I had been assigned to my squadron we had been given a reprieve, Ironfoot and the rest of them taking full advantage of the down time within their dormitories.

I, for one, was taking the time to examine my Networks, and keeping myself from blowing a hole through Arachnid’s helm in the process.

It had been some time since my initial report with the Autobots, from the task they had given me to find a way into the Decepticon’s energon mines; they had a month’s reserve left, give or take, and the sooner I could get a supply going for them the safer everyone would be.

“Winter is nowhere close to ending, but our supplies will last us long enough until trade is able to resume. All is well, Starfire.” The message from Chief Catori blinked on my screen, and even though she told me not to worry, I still found myself at odds about the whole situation.

For the first time in ages I wouldn’t be there if something went wrong. A fire had started in their feed silos 50 winters ago and if I hadn’t been able to immediately cross the mountain range to access the nearest metropolitan area the village would have starved.

Venting, I turned from the human Network to the Cybertronian when a message came in from Sunburst, the mech and I maintaining contact ever since I returned to the rest of the galaxy.

“Depthviper mentioned they got an outpost operational in the Eridani Asteroid Belt. How are things on Earth?” It was short and simple, and I found myself wondering just how someone would manage to get an outpost within an asteroid field.

Then again, if anyone could do it, it would be a Neutral.

I smiled. “Remember Arachnid? She’s found her way onto the Nemesis and the amount of restraint I’m showing for not going after her should earn me a reward of some kind,” I replied, shaking my helm and leaned back in the chair. I wanted the glitch to suffer for what she’s done.

As I waited for Sunburst to reply I took the time to idly scan my quarters, the Firebird’s touch still strikingly visible, from the walls to the decor that I haven’t had the time or care to alter.

Primus knows just how long she spent here, how many missions she returned to this room from, and it almost felt wrong somehow for me to change things.

My datapad chimed with an alert, turning my gaze back to the screen. “Well talk about unfortunate. Out of the entire galaxy she lands on Earth? Seriously? Let me guess: the Decepticons aren’t allowing you to go after her, are they?” I could hear the exasperation oozing in his message.

He knows exactly what Arachnid did to me.

Sunburst and Wildspark were friends, once.

I grinned, shaking my helm. At least someone gets it. “That would be correct. Though I think Megatron suspects there’s more to our history than a run-in since I have done a swell job of making my hatred for her evident. I didn’t tell them about Wildspark.” The Warlord would have to be blind to not realize just how deep our history ran, since Arachnid is literally avoiding me like the Cybonic Plague.

Venting, I crossed my arms, shoving my anger back as I reminded myself that Earth was far more important than my need to avenge my sister. That has waited millennia, it could wait a while more.

One way or another, Arachnid would be terminated by my servo, and we both knew it. The matter of when could be dealt with later.

Sunburst hadn’t replied yet, my gaze idly sweeping the room again. It wasn’t that bad, all things considered. Bland, with nothing on the walls, but Phoenix was an assassin, and not human. It wasn’t like there would be posters or trophies hanging around. Not the kind she would have kept.

“This is only the beginning, you know. Your people would want you to survive,” her vocals echoed within my thoughts, repeating themselves as I thought back to that conversation on the cliffside.

She was furious, of that I had no doubt, but the utter brokenness in her optics when she saw the slice on my throatlines was unmistakable. It killed her that I had taken her place aboard this ship, and there was simply nothing she or anyone else could do about it.

Earth needed me, and this was my adoptive planet’s best shot at survival.

As my gaze roamed to where the berth lay against the far wall my optics snagged on something beneath it, something I hadn’t taken the time or the care to examine before.

The last cycle I had to myself I was desperately hunting Shockburner down, and before that was when I was attempting to reconnect to the rest of the galaxy. Honestly, this was probably the first chance I’ve had to really take in the rest of my room, and find whatever it was that Phoenix had deemed unworthy to bring with her when she left.

Despite my best efforts I had been unable to break into his spark-signature. I was not about to sync that knowledge to the Decepticon databases, not when it would grant Megatron an unholy edge against the Autobots.

No, I'll keep that secret to myself, thanks.

It was bad enough that they knew that is what I was using to find Shockburner, I did not need them to learn how to do it too.

Knowing Soundwave, he would take my knowledge and exponentially compound it into something he could use, and I was not about to allow that to happen, not if I had anything to say about it.

Humming quietly, I shoved from the desk and rose to my peds, walking over and knelt next to the berth as curiosity got the best of me, shoving all thoughts of Decepticon leadership to the back of my processor, peering under the berth.

A decently sized metal crate met my gaze, reaching an arm in and gingerly hauled it out into the open.

It was heavy, and secured with an engraved red metal lid, though from the sounds of things I detected a lot of loose effects, almost like a box of legos.

Yeah, I spent far too much time playing with legos in the years since their release, but logic told me that Phoenix wouldn't have a giant crate of legos just chilling in her berthroom.

I glanced back to my datapad, and when I saw that Sunburst still hadn’t replied I shrugged and got to work prying the crate open, curious to see what exactly Phoenix had collected and left behind.

The red metal crate was more of a treasure chest, bedazzled with generous lines of gold and ivory and accented with decorative flames. It was locked, secured with a keypad, a keypad requiring a pin code that I- did not know.

Grinning to myself I gently pried open the mechanism, frowning at the cabling that was revealed to me.

A voice in the back of my helm whispered that I should probably leave well enough alone, since this was Phoenix’s personal property, but when have I ever been known to do the smart thing?

I got up and grabbed my datapad, checking on the Network.

There was a message waiting for me from Sunburst. "Just be careful, Starfire. The Network has survived without direct updates for eons, we can survive without them again," he warned. "Your life is more important than any information you could give us. Remember that."

I frowned, clutching the datapad tighter.

He was right, I know he was, but I was in a position to help. Earth, the Autobots, they were outnumbered and outgunned. Any aid I can send their way is a boon they will cherish.

"I know, Sunburst. I'll be careful," I promised, getting up and took my second datapad back to the crate I was fiddling with.

Kneeling back down in front of the box I flicked open my multi-purpose tool, hooking my datapad into the lock port once I found the attachment I was looking for. Almost immediately I began running a script to break in.

She couldn’t be too mad at me, right?

Right.

It only took a few seconds before my datapad chimed, a snap hiss echoing through my quarters as I detached my cabling and set my datapad aside.

Smiling, I twisted the lock and hauled it open, the lid falling from my grasp the instant my optics processed just what exactly I had found.

No wonder Phoenix had left this behind.

Turns out she did have trophies, of a kind that would be expected of a renowned assassin, but I could only stare inside as my spark broke all over for the femme just trying to reform her life.

– – –

It was quiet at base, a rare occurrence lately, and an occurrence that Phoenix was adamant on taking advantage of.

The guardians were still out with the children, watching over them while they went to school, and Optimus had opted to go on a patrol for the morning.

She didn’t push the matter, but she knew there was something on his processor lately.

She couldn’t help but worry about him.

The familiar sound of a ground bridge dragged her attention away from polishing her daggers, Ratchet closing said bridge the instant Hazel and Bridget stepped through.

Phoenix couldn’t help but smile at the subdued frown on the doctor’s faceplates, eyeing the giant beast warily when she instantly broke free from her human and ran up to greet him.

Bridget seemed unaware, or simply unbothered that Ratchet utterly resented her presence, her tail wagging happily as she sniffed his ped in greeting.

Chuckling quietly she subspaced her daggers, stepping away from her work station and around to the monitors, raising an optic ridge when Ratchet tried and failed to shoo Bridget away.

Hazel was idly watching the pair, and Phoenix was certain she detected a small grin when she caught her eye.

“Ratchet, she won’t bite!” Hazel said at last, finally calling Bridget back to give the doctor some peace.

The elderly mech grumbled when the dog leapt away, turning back to the monitors and muttered something Phoenix merely decided not to hear.

Humming, she turned to her human, Hazel laughing softly when Bridget returned to her side.

“It’s nice to see you in good spirits,” she commented, nodding to the girl when she looked up from petting her dog.

Despite her smile, Phoenix caught the exhaustion weighing in her eyes, and she wished she could do something to alleviate the pain.

It had been a long few cycles, and she knew that the girl was beginning to go stir crazy. It was all she could do not to damn the consequences and bring her back to the cabin anyway, just to take the weight off of Hazel’s shoulders.

She wanted to convince herself that 5 minutes couldn’t hurt, but she of all bots knew just how quickly the Decepticons moved.

They couldn’t do anything until Starfire decided to make a report.

Hazel shrugged, her expression wavering slightly before she shook her head. “I guess, if you could call this persistent anxiety ‘good spirits’,” she muttered dryly, scratching behind her dog’s ears.

Phoenix knew precisely what she was talking about, recalling her own worries back on the Warship hours before Megatron revived himself. Those few cycles sucked.

“We haven’t heard anything yet,” she said before Hazel could ask, the girl’s face falling.

She frowned, but Hazel sighed and promptly dusted her hands, fixing Phoenix with a look. “Would it be possible to spend the day in town?” She asked, Ratchet whipping his helm up at the thought. “I want to get a few things, and I worry that another day spent idle will start to drive me nuts,” she explained quietly.

A cycle out of base, without risk of Decepticon combat? Without risk of Ratchet blowing a fuse because she aggravated her stabilizer?

Phoenix grinned. “I thought Miko was the one who was going to give you the tour,” she teased, Hazel huffing and shrugged.

“Miko can show me all the fun places to go, I just want to be an adult for a few hours,” she muttered, but Phoenix really didn’t need any convincing, immediately transforming and held the door to the passenger seat open for her.

The grin that lit up the girl’s face was spectacular, Hazel jumping in and promptly turned to her dog. “You be good for Ratchet, Bridget,” she chirped, and before the doctor could realize what exactly Hazel just said Phoenix closed her door and zipped out of base, making a beeline for Jasper, Nevada.

– – –

“Remind me again why we’re here?” Phoenix asked dryly, raising a brow at the look her charge just gave her.

Hazel had just put her new phone down, the phone that Miko had gotten for her on her second day in Nevada, when Phoenix asked her question, giving her an odd look.

They hadn’t asked Miko where she had gotten it from, and from the cheeky grin on the child’s face she was almost afraid to know.

Nevertheless, Hazel had used it to locate the branch of the bank she was looking for, happily surprised and relieved to find out Jasper had the very one she needed.

Currently, they were sitting parked outside the front in the lot, Phoenix having formed her holoform back in once they got closer to town and was currently conflicted as to what they were actually doing here.

Hazel sighed, leaning back against the leather passenger seat as she waited for the bank to open. “I need to make a withdrawal,” she replied, watching the minutes tick by on the dash impatiently. Of course the Bank of America wouldn’t be open until 10 in the freaking morning, but at least it was better than sitting around base doing nothing.

Phoenix blinked once, a perplexed expression twisting her face. “What’s a withdrawal?”

Hazel paused, tilting her head as the pink-haired woman frowned at her.

Oh-kay, so this was unexpected.

She grinned, watching through the windshield as the bank manager unlocked the glass door. Without offering a response Hazel made sure she had her wallet and stepped out of the red Panamera, snickering softly at Phoenix’s quiet mutterings of protest.

She waited for her by the doors, lifting a hand against the early morning light when Phoenix finally dragged herself up to the sidewalk, crossing her arms as she frowned at her charge.

Well, it was now or never and Hazel didn’t believe in never.

Phoenix sighed, following her when Hazel hauled the doors open and honed in on the tellers near the back of the room.

It was a relatively small branch, with only a mere handful of booths and a set of glass conference rooms off to the right.

She approached the nearest till and offered a smile at the aging, silver-haired woman behind the booth, pulling out her bank card and ID and slid both across the counter. “I would like to withdraw $4’000, please,” she said, doing her best to ignore Phoenix hovering over her shoulder who no doubt looked ready to throw hands with someone.

She was beginning to realize that this was simply how the Autobot operated.

The lady took her card and ID and paused, glancing between the ID and the young woman standing before her. She cleared her throat, typing something into the computer and merely frowned at whatever it was that spat back out.

Finally, after a long and tense silence the teller turned, peering closely at Hazel’s face. “Miss Vanzandeek…” she began, eyeing the cards in her hands. “I’m afraid there is a lock on the trust.”

Without missing a beat Hazel smiled. “I am aware. There is a secondary fund for special events, accessible once I turn 21. I’m visiting family, which counts under the clauses as a special occasion,” she replied curtly, continuing to ignore Phoenix and the information she was currently revealing to the Autobot.

The bank teller filtered through the funds and investments her parents had put aside for her, and Hazel knew they would be alerted to this transaction whether or not she walked away with anything, and figured she would deal with the fallout and the explanations later.

As soon as she failed to show up to their call later this afternoon her parents would know something was wrong, so this really didn't change anything, and she was not about to leech off June’s kindness forever, not when the nurse worked so hard to support her and Jack.

Hazel had only been with the Autobots for a few days, but already she wanted to do what she could to help.

Hopefully she would be able to reach out to her parents and finally gain full control over her own money, but that would be another conversation for another day, especially since they had no idea she was among society to begin with.

Right now, the teller was still frowning at the computer screen, clearly hesitating when reading the details.

Hazel wasn’t supposed to be around the public, lodged up in the Montana wilderness until she could prove to her parents that she was mature and honest enough to deserve these funds.

Well, some things just need to change and Hazel was not leaving here without that small, insignificant draw from her funds.

The teller cleared her throat again, and Hazel idly watched as she subtly waved down her manager.

That got Phoenix’s attention, the Autobot narrowing her eyes as the second woman, the one who unlocked the doors, walked over, her once-over of the two of them telling Hazel wonders about what the next few minutes could hold.

“Is everything alright?” She asked the teller, the older woman silently showing the manager the screen. Immediately she took the ID card and account card from her, double and triple checking the name, dates and account numbers before handing them back.

“Miss Vanzandeek, are your parents aware of your business in Jasper?” The manager asked slowly, and Hazel merely raised a brow.

She was hoping they didn’t ask, since Jasper was utterly tiny compared to where her parents operated out of, but on the count that they did question it, she was ready.

“If I am not mistaken, the name on the account is mine,” she replied sharply, hoping Phoenix kept her mouth shut and watched. “I am of age, and qualify to make small withdrawals how I see fit. Or would you like me to call my father’s firm?” She asked quietly, utterly hoping that they stopped pressing it.

Her father was a highly-respected lawyer, a partner in his firm and held close ties to the management of the main branch of this bank. A call to the firm would be devastating for these people, and she really, really didn’t want to be forced to make that call.

Not only would it be wrong, but it would announce to her parents that she was not, in fact, in Montana, and she was not ready for the fallout of that ordeal standing here in this bank.

Hopefully her parents wouldn’t come to learn about this transaction for a few more days, however unlikely.

The manager quickly backtracked, typing a few things into the account before processing her card. “Apologies, Miss Vanzandeek. Please enjoy your visit,” she amended, handing Hazel the money she had requested and the cards proving Hazel was who she said she was.

“Thank you,” she said as she took the offered envelope, turning and motioned for Phoenix to follow her.

Once free from the stares of the bank and within the safety of the red Panamera Hazel pivoted in her seat and fixed her guardian with a mischievous grin.

“Now the fun can really begin!”

– – –

Phoenix hated not knowing what was going on.

Watching her ward talk with those humans was satisfying, though, and she took the hint and didn’t utter a word when the second woman approached them at the booth, watching in confused fascination as Hazel eloquently threatened them in order to get what she needed.

Throughout all that, however, she became strikingly aware about just how little she knew about humanity and their customs, a fact that she was adamant on remedying as soon as she possibly could.

Hazel spent the day dragging her around Jasper, despite never having spent more than a week in the town, and by the time the children would be getting off school she was marching them back to her vehicle mode with arms full of shopping.

Never before in her life had she felt so utterly bewildered, and fascinated, with the urge to do it all again.

Hazel had explained the concept of money to her, a currency that humans used to barter for goods and wares. She immediately compared it to shanix, realizing that the two species truly weren’t all that different, all things considered.

The thought of a shanix in the hands of a human made her snicker, the mental image one she immediately sent down the bond to her sparkmate. A human with a chunk of gold that big would be set for life.

Probably.

They were making their way down the main road to where Hazel insisted she park her alt mode when a familiar blue motorbike pulled up to the light next to them, the rider atop it doing a double take in his shock.

Phoenix raised a brow, nudging Hazel with her elbow. Her ward frowned, following her gaze before an elated grin spread across the woman’s face, shifting her bags and used her free hand to wave excitedly at the pair.

Smiling, Phoenix opened a comlink to Arcee, nodding to the parking lot down the block. “I guess we’ll see you there,” she mused, the light turning green as she spoke and watched Arcee drive off with a chuckle.

Hazel turned to her as she disconnected the call. “I don’t suppose you want to make it a race?” She proposed, Phoenix outright cackling as she shifted the bags in her hands.

She waited until Hazel was ready before calling the race as they both took off towards the parking lot.

– – –

10 minutes later and they were chilling in the lot, chatting with Jack while they waited for the others to join them.

The boy and his guardian had gotten there first, Jack in the process of talking Arcee into creating a holoform, though he wasn’t really getting anywhere with it.

They were in plain sight, it wasn’t like no one would notice if a new human suddenly fizzled in, especially not with the cameras from the surrounding shops no doubt capturing the entire encounter in their feeds.

Instead, Arcee held her ground and didn’t budge, Jack shaking his head before looking up when they entered the parking lot.

Phoenix shared a quick smile with her charge, the two of them forgoing the race and hauled their bags to the back of her vehicle mode.

Jack immediately offered to help, helping them fit their bags into the trunk of the red Panamera.

Once that was settled Hazel blew out a breath, dusting her hands as she spun around while Jack closed the trunk.

“Don’t worry, I’ll make sure we get everything out before you need to transform,” she chirped, leaning against the vehicle as Phoenix raised an eyebrow.

If Phoenix transformed and the violin she spent upwards of $700 on was crushed she would be devastated.

It was no Stradivari, like the one waiting for her at her parent’s home, but it was something, and that something was much better than nothing. She could hardly wait to begin tuning it.

The afternoon was fun, and she was pleased at how much she had left to budget with.

She would have more than enough to take care of Bridget and anything else June and Jack might need.

Now, leaning up against the red Panamera Hazel watched as a dark green truck pulled into the parking lot, immediately followed by a black and yellow muscle car, humming when Miko and Rafael jumped out of their respective vehicles the moment they parked.

Sharing a grin with Jack the two pushed to their feet, and Miko promptly propped her arms on her hips as she stalked up to them.

“What’s this I hear about you taking the tour without me?” The young girl demanded, Raf sidestepping her to stand next to Jack.

Hazel grinned, shrugging and glanced at the sealed trunk. Maybe they could stop by June’s place before they returned to base, prevent any unfortunate accidents from occurring.

That violin was surviving this damn trip-

“You get the evening with her, Miko. Not to mention all weekend,” Jack teased, elbowing the girl. “And I highly doubt she’s seen even a fraction of Jasper yet.”

The punk girl huffed, rolling her eyes and strung her arm through Hazel’s. “True. And I’m not taking no for an answer.” She directed that sentence at her this time, as clear a threat as she had ever seen.

It would seem they were going to see Slash Monkey this evening-

The children started chatting while the Autobots listened, Phoenix’s holoform watching the entire thing with thinly veiled amusement. Hazel stepped back beside to watch, resting against her guardian’s vehicle mode.

Miko was rambling about what she wanted to wear for the concert, going over options and getting the boys’ opinions, Hazel idly wondering just how often of an occurrence this was considering their reactions.

Jack was chilling on the curb expertly ricocheting her flurry of questions as Rafael watched, the older teen’s eyes dancing in amusement as Miko ranted.

The energy between the three of them was astounding, Rafael piping up with a technique for her hair, Miko pausing just long enough to consider it before carrying on.

“Who will chaperone?” Jack asked, the girl grinning and sent a look to her guardian.

“Bulkhead,” Miko said without skipping a beat. “Anyways, we’re going to need to make sure we bridge to an alley or something so we aren’t that far away from the stadium, because I am not going to miss the start of the show just because we didn’t get in line soon enough-”

It was fascinating to watch how they interacted, and while Miko carried the conversation Jack and Rafael seemed to expertly weave themselves in whenever they were needed.

They made a great team.

“And maybe I could lend Hazel some-”

“Arcee, where are you?” Miko’s sentence went unfinished as the Autobot’s comlink came to life, Ratchet’s voice rippling out around them.

The blue motorbike shifted, Phoenix crossing the two paces between them. “Still in Jasper, why?” The children got to their feet and crowded around, Hazel realizing with a start that they intended to hide the conversation in plain sight.

“Return to base, I’m picking up on a faint energon signal.” The doctor ordered.

Hazel glanced at her guardian. She was still remarkably new to all this terminology, but judging from the expressions on the trio’s faces she had a guess that energon could be good news? Possibly?

She made a mental note to pester Ratchet about what it meant later.

Phoenix nodded to herself, crossing her arms as she turned to the children. “Pack up.”

– – –

The drive from Jasper back to base was uneventful, and from the lack of urgency in Ratchet’s message Phoenix had no reason to suspect that it was anything more than a mere signal to investigate. Simple reconnaissance.

Hazel ultimately decided to unpack her bags at base, since a lot of it was for the human common area, and whatever she didn’t need she would haul through the bridge to June’s once everyone went home that night.

Her charge was propped in the front seat of her vehicle mode, flipping through an instructional manual for the dog set she bought.

Sensing that she was being watched Hazel looked up, raising a brow at the steering wheel.

“Yes?” She asked, folding the paper back into the bright blue purse she managed to thrift while they were out.

Phoenix would have smiled, having deactivated her holoform once they left town. “Do you think Ratchet is getting along with Bridget?” Hazel snorted, crossing her arms.

“Doubt it, but that’s a him problem,” she chuckled, shrugging. “Bridget goes where I go and, unfortunately for the doc, I’m staying here until further notice.” Phoenix caught the underlying tone to her words, her charge gazing wistfully out the passenger window, the desert passing by as she drove.

Silence fell between them, and it wasn’t until they had made it to the stop sign in front of the base did Hazel speak. “Do you think my parents will be mad?” She whispered, the tunnel opening as the line of Autobots and humans slowly rolled inside.

The mountain closed up around them, Phoenix not replying as she pulled into the main room.

She had no idea how the parental units were going to react to their daughter’s sudden appearance in Jasper, or what Hazel would tell them to keep them out of the war.

Whatever she did, Phoenix didn’t envy her human from figuring that out, though she would help her however she could.

Hazel sighed softly, unbuckling once she parked and stepped out into the main room.

The rest of the team pulled up beside the two of them, the children hopping out and began helping Hazel drag her shopping up into the human area.

She spotted her sparkmate standing at the monitors speaking with Ratchet, floating a greeting down their bond when he turned around.

Optimus smiled faintly, watching the children work while the three other Autobots transformed and waited to know who would be embarking on this little mission.

Ok, it wasn’t little, but hush.

Soon enough, with much help from Bridget herself (who Phoenix could have sworn came from Ratchet’s workbench) the children deemed an all-clear, moving out of the way when Phoenix transformed and stretched, rolling her joints as a few cables popped back into place along her spinal struts.

Ok, she wasn’t that worn, what the frag-

“What are we looking at?” Arcee asked, standing between Bee and Bulk, glancing at her as she stepped over and promptly rested an arm on Bulkhead’s shoulderplate.

The green wrecker raised an optic ridge but didn’t budge, half his attention focused on the children beginning to go through Hazel’s treasure haul.

“We believe it to be an abandoned energon mine,” Optimus explained, pinpointing the coordinates on the monitors for the team to read. “Though it is very faint. It is likely that the Decepticons abandoned it quite some time ago.”

She didn’t recognize those coordinates, and part of her wondered if they had begun their mining operation during the year she was in Autobot custody.

It wouldn’t surprise her if Starscream never bothered to bring her fully up to speed, though she couldn’t help but swallow her bitterness at the fact.

The children tuned in from unpacking Hazel’s dog bed, Bridget standing proudly at her human’s side.

Rafael pushed up his glasses. “Bumblebee said we could go driving after school today,” he said, the unspoken question evident in his voice.

“It’s only reconnaissance,” Ratchet replied, loading a scanner and turning to face the four of them. “I doubt you will need more than two.”

She risked a glance at her sparkmate, silently daring him to protest when she opened her intake to volunteer. It had been months and she was absolutely itching to get back into the field.

“Bulkhead and I can check it out.” Arcee spoke before she could, the blue two-wheeler propping a servo on her hip-plating when Miko jumped into line of sight.

“Can we come with?” She asked, tugging on Jack’s and Hazel’s arms. “Raf is going out with Bee, and this would be Hazel’s first time out of Jasper since she got here,” she pointed out, and the rest of the team shared a quick look.

Miko grinned. “Besides, this way we won’t need to wait between bridges before the concert.”

Bulkhead shrugged, Arcee not saying a word against it while the children cheered.

So uh- where the frag would she be going?

Bumblebee had already grabbed Raf, the young scout transforming and drove from the base while Jack and Miko hauled Hazel down the stairs to stand in front of the ground bridge.

Ratchet started. “What about that thing?” He demanded, gesturing blindly in the direction of Hazel’s dog.

Her charge shrugged, offering a cheeky smile at the doctor in response before Miko began chattering in her ear.

Grumbling, Ratchet stepped past her to the control panel, leaving her blinking and watching off to the side.

Uh-

She went to speak, or even to address the confused expression dawning on Hazel’s face, when a line of text filtered across her feed, freezing her words in her throatlines.

A single image was embedded after the line of text, an image of a large metal crate she had tried and clearly failed to make her peace with.

She felt her sparkmate come to stand behind her but she couldn’t bring herself to acknowledge him, or the team when they left through the bridge with Miko chatting to Hazel about how much fun they were going to have at the concert.

All she could focus on was the sudden, unforgiving tightness in her chassis, her spark aching as she gazed unseeingly at the image of the crate Starfire just sent her.

~Sweetspark, are you alright?~ She shook her helm, her mate resting a servo on her arm when Ratchet glanced their way after shutting down the bridge. She hardly noticed him.

No, she was not alright, because Starfire had just found her box of trophies that no longer brought pride to her designation.

The room swayed, finding a sudden lack of air as her systems seized and threatened a sudden stasis-lock.

Her audials were ringing, memories and images of the war flashing through her feed as life after life she had taken replayed themselves in her processor, hearing their pleas and their curses as she took and took and took-

“Phoenix.” Tears ran down her metal, grief and shame jackhammering through her spark and she knew, she knew she should have gotten rid of that chest, thrown it out and been done with it, but they deserved to be remembered, deserved to haunt her for everything she had done.

Mission after mission, and the worst part was that she enjoyed it. She looked forward to hunting them down, slaughtering them in Megatron’s name. She was feared, and she took pride in their recognition before she destroyed them, viciously and without mercy.

How dare she ask to be forgiven? How dare she assume she could start anew, on a planet who would hate her if she came forward? How dare she think for even a second that she could possibly, hopefully, turn over a new leaf?

She has taken… so many lives.

June was right. She was so, so right not to trust her, not to allow her near Jack or Rafael or Miko, to question her at the lake when Hazel fell through the ice. She was right.

~Phoenix.~ Innocents. She murdered innocents, all because she was hurt and broken and wanted them to feel her pain.

Megatron saw her pain and she allowed him to twist it, to mold her into a living copy of him. And now, all these years later she was here, suddenly an Autobot with rocky morals and an allegiance that no one with a processor would trust.

She was a fool to think she could escape her past, to think she could convince everyone and herself that she had changed, to think she would ever be able to forgive herself for what she has done.

“Phoenix.” The bond connecting her to her sparkmate lit with his command, her designation said aloud and telepathically in an effort to snap her from her rapid spiral.

Optimus had forgone the monitors and was now gripping her arms as he spun her to face him, his normally calm expression solidified into that of her leader, of the Prime who had led their people through the worst war Cybertron had ever seen, and who was now watching her with utter and complete focus.

“Breathe,” he ordered, echoing the command through their bond.

Her venting hitched, his servos rising to wipe away her tears as they rested on her faceplates.

“Focus on me. Do not think about anything else,” he murmured, his tone softening as he finally got a reaction out of her.

Her servos shook, tremors running through her frame but Optimus didn’t allow her to look away, their bond alight with his steady, calm presence.

Her vision blurred as the urge to cry consumed her all over again, her sparkmate brushing her tears away as they came, and never once let her go.

~I am here when you are ready,~ he murmured, sensing her coming down back into herself.

She didn’t know who she was anymore.

Her faceplates crumpled, taking the two paces over to him and threaded her arms around his waist, burying her helm in his chassis.

Immediately his arms came to rest around her, not an ounce of judgement or rebuttal evident, through the bond or otherwise.

She took a ragged inhale, clinging to her sparkmate and refused to let go. Not yet.

She was still picking up the pieces of herself, and a vicious, cynical part of her wondered when he would get tired of this. Tired of handling her, tired of guiding her through these forsaken spells.

~Never.~ His vocals were firm and unwavering, his grip on her metal tightening subtly. She lifted her helm, a heavy weight landing on her shoulderplates and threatened to drag her down.

His optics were stern, his sentiments echoing through their bond. “Never, do you hear me?” He whispered, aloud, his expression relaxing slightly when she nodded.

He tucked her helm back against his chassis, acting as a pillar of support as he always is, though this time… this time it was just for her.

This time it was for the broken assassin he took in, on the femme everyone else had given up on, and this time it was different.

This time it was for her.

She didn’t move when she heard Ratchet approach, nor react when the elderly medic cleared his throatlines.

“Are you alright, Phoenix?” He asked, a gentleness to his tone that threatened to make her cry again.

Crying wouldn’t solve anything, though, and so she reluctantly unwound her arms from her sparkmate, rubbing her optics and turned slightly to face the doctor.

“No,” she admitted softly, Optimus maintaining a steady servo on her backstruts, unwilling to fully part from her.

Ratchet frowned.

Venting deeply she shrugged, pulling herself properly away from her sparkmate, despite his clear confliction. “Starfire wants to meet,” she explained, silently begging her spark to slow down.

The seeker didn’t give more than a set of coordinates, leaving her with nothing to work with to gauge how the interaction would go.

The medic and Prime shared a look. “Why did that cause you such grief?” Optimus asked quietly, finally pulling his servo away.

After all, they were hoping for her to reach out so they could get an answer about Hazel.

But this...? This was not what she was expecting.

She smiled ruefully, and she knew she wouldn’t be able to escape her past, not here, not with them.

Primus be damned if she did not try, though.

Swallowing, it was an effort to get the words out, but she had already broken down once this cycle. She was adamant not to do so again. “She found the crate.”

She felt the realization dawn on her sparkmate, Ratchet hesitating before reading the grave look on his faceplates. She could feel his sparkbreak, the silence between them saying more than words ever could.

Inhaling deeply she turned to the bridge control panel, typing in the coordinates Starfire sent to her. “I don’t know when I will be back,” she said quietly, neither Optimus nor Ratchet protesting this mission.

This was something she needed to do, and they both understood that.

That didn’t mean she wasn’t absolutely terrified.

Phoenix wasn’t one to hesitate, though, so once the bridge activated she walked through without another look back.

– – –

Stepping from the ground bridge was just as horrible as the first time she had gone through, landing on the dirt beside Miko and Jack.

Her stomach twisted into several different knots, dropping to her hands and knees as the two Autobots and children approached a deep, dark cave. She couldn’t bring herself to care about where they were, not when her organs were attempting to rearrange themselves.

“Come on, Hazel!” She whined at Miko’s shout, begging the pounding in her head to cease. “We still gotta talk plans about tonight!”

Right, like she could forget the promise of even more loud and chaotic noise.

Would they care if she just sank into the earth and disappeared?

She just wanted to tune her violin and forget about her parents for an evening, was that too much to ask?

Begrudgingly she hauled herself back to her feet, trudging over to where the children had taken up positions on the rocks. They were standing just outside of the mouth of the cave the two Autobots were venturing inside.

“Does it ever get easier?” She groaned, plopping down on the stones next to Jack. “I’m not one to get nauseous but man I do not like bridges,” she added, leaning her head down between her knees.

The boy laughed, rubbing circles in her back. “You get used to it,” he promised, chuckling when she let out another drawn-out whine.

She lifted her head, glaring at the rock at her feet. Stupid ground bridge. “So, what exactly is going on?” She finally asked, Jack and Miko wearing matching smiles.

“Well, from what Ratchet said, they might have found an energon deposit,” Jack explained, Miko chiming in with the knowledge that energon was a life and fuel source for them. The boy smiled. “Starfire made sure the team was taken care of when she first joined the Decepticons. Thanks to her they are only just now beginning to worry about it.”

Hazel frowned, craning her neck and peered into the depths of the cave the two Autobots had disappeared into. “So… it’s like vampires and blood?” She asked, and the two children paused, sharing befuddled looks.

Her brows furrowed at their reactions. “You know,” she said slowly, shifting to face the duo, “Dracula drinks blood and is revitalized? Is that not what the Autobots do?” She asked.

Again, another long silence, and just when Hazel was about to go into it further Miko started giggling.

“I guess that sorta makes sense,” she mused, kicking a rock across the dirt. “Though don’t let the bots hear you comparing them to folklore.”

Hazel laughed, shrugging once and laid back against the rock, peering up at the late-afternoon sky.

Today was a good day.

“Well, I don’t know about the two of you,” Hazel said after a long moment, the sun beaming on her tan skin, “but I think I will take this time to have a little nap.” Her words were punctuated with a prominent yawn, Jack snickering as she leaned back and shut her eyes.

If Miko wanted her to have any sort of energy or will for the concert this evening, then a nap was precisely what was in order.

She had barely closed her eyes before she heard Miko start to pace, chatting with Jack as the time ticked closer and closer to when the concert was meant to start, and despite her best efforts she rather enjoyed eavesdropping on the duo.

“Relax, Miko. The show doesn’t start for two hours,” Jack teased, Hazel peeking an eye open in time to catch the utter seriousness on the girl’s face.

“Do you know how long I’ve waited to see Slash Monkey?” She demanded, speaking over Jack before he could offer a guess, “Forever! And it’s their only U.S date!”

Nevermind the fact they had a ground bridge at their disposal.

“There’s a shock. I mean who doesn’t love obscure Bulgarian shriek metal,” Jack drawled, the boy sitting up with a knowing grin.

Yeah, she wasn’t really a metal fan, but for Miko’s sake she would do her best to enjoy the outing.

Besides, it wasn’t like her parents were around to disapprove, anyways. Another win for the books.

Hazel sat up when loud steps sounded from the mine, lifting her head as Bulkhead and Arcee stepped back out into the daylight.

“By all appearances the mine’s been stripped.” She frowned at the slight confusion in Arcee’s tone, Bulkhead frowning at the scanner beeping in his hand.

“But I’m getting a signal,” he insisted. “It’s faint, but it’s definitely energon.”

Miko straightened, her eyes blowing wide for all of a second before she slid down the rocks and darted past the two Autobots and into the cave system.

Oh lovely-

“Doesn’t make sense,” Arcee murmured, clearly contemplating the situation, while Miko deemed it the perfect time to throw caution to the wind.

“This operation’s been abandoned four, maybe five years? And Decepticons never leave energon behind.” That may be true, but from the look on Jack’s face Hazel suspected they might have more pressing concerns than some leftover resources.

“Uh- guys?” The Autobots looked over, Jack merely extending an arm with a deadpan expression in the direction Miko had run off in.

Arcee blinked, the girl’s echoing yell of glee fading as she ran. “She went in. Unbelievable,” she huffed, Jack sliding down the rocks to stand at her feet.

“Really?” He blurted, Hazel scooting off next to them. “Have you met her?”

She had only been with them a week and already Hazel knew that telling Miko not to do something only made the 15 year old want to do it all that more.

Bulkhead groaned, running in after his charge, his voice fading the further he went in until both he and the child were far out of sight.

She caught the sheepish glance Jack gave his guardian. “It would be kinda interesting to see, y’know, if it were-”

Arcee raised a brow. “Safe?” She finished skeptically, propping a hand on her hip. “A stripped mine can be structurally unstable, Jack.” The exasperation in her voice almost made Hazel giggle.

The boy raised his hands in surrender. “I promise to step lightly.”

A look into a cave system that was created by aliens? Now that was something that she would love to experience.

Arcee contemplated it for all of three seconds, weighing her options before pinching the bridge of her nose. “Just- don’t, tell your mom,” she conceded, leading the way inside with the two of them following shortly behind.

They hadn’t gotten all that far from the entrance before Arcee’s comlink crackled to life, static flickering through as she attempted to get it to connect.

With very little luck Hazel watched her side-eye the ceiling, shrugging once. “The mineral composition down here is causing interference,” she explained, continuing their walk into the darkness.

Hazel realized something, then, running up beside the blue Autobot. “Do you have a flashlight?” She asked, faintly making out the outline of Arcee’s smile.

“Jack?” She prompted, the party taking a right down the first fork they came across, the light from the sun rapidly being left behind.

The teenager grinned, whipping something out of his pocket and immediately flicked it on, a flashlight highlighting their path forwards.

“Survival kit,” he said proudly, his grin brighter than the light emitting from the device.

Hazel laughed, sharing his enthusiasm as they continued down the large, expansive cavern.

It was silent for a time as they walked, the cavern going on with seemingly no end in sight.

“How many operations do the Decepticons have?” She asked after a while, making out Jack's shrug from the darkness.

“We don’t know,” Arcee admitted, an edge to her tone. “Definitely more than they need,” she added quietly.

Hazel frowned, glancing Jack’s way as he hit the base of the light a few times when it flickered. “They’ve got more resources and manpower than the Autobots do,” he explained as they walked. “And Megatron will do anything to inhibit this team.”

Well she didn’t like the sound of that-

“Would he really go out of his way to target my cabin?” She whispered, her voice smaller than she would have liked, but from the way everyone talked about this ‘Megatron’, and from the wounds Phoenix was still healing from, she didn’t want to know what he would do if they ever crossed paths.

Arcee paused, giving her a long glance that was next to impossible to read, and it wasn’t thanks to the shadows. “They went out of their way to target Jack and Raf,” she said at last, a cold chill sliding down her spine. “A word of advice?” Hazel nodded mutely. “Don’t underestimate just how ruthless and cruel the Decepticons can be. If they think they can hurt you, they will try.”

Arcee left the rest of her words unsaid: they had been fighting for millions of years; there are no lines they will not cross to get their way.

The rest of the walk continued on in silence, a lump forming in the back of her throat. If she couldn’t pretend everything was normal with her, and she couldn’t admit anything over the radio, then how exactly was she meant to get into contact with her parents and convince them to leave her be?

She knew her father better than anyone, and when he finds out what she’s done and the choices she’s made then she did not doubt that he will put a permanent freeze on her accounts, ignoring anything she had to say on the matter or her reasons for running away.

Part of her wished she withdrew more than the four grand when she had the chance, but even her small withdrawals had a limit to how much she could take at a time. Four thousand was seriously pushing the limits.

Taking care not to trip over her feet Hazel looked up when sunlight began streaming in from down the hall, Jack putting his flashlight away and offered her a hopeful smile.

There was no use in worrying about it; until they got a hold of this Starfire person she would just have to be content with making the most of her new life and situation, with or without her parent’s approval.

Sighing, she shook herself of her worries and elbowed Jack, nodding to the stream of light at the end of the hall. “Race you there?” She bet, the kid brightening instantly.

“Oh, you are so on!” He cheered, Arcee raising a brow but smiled when they took off.

“Don’t trip!” She called after them, laughter in her voice that Hazel grinned at, feeling the exhilaration fill her lungs, her chest, Jack inches away from her as they beelined for the sunlight.

She felt like a kid again, laughter bubbling up in her throat, even when Jack gained an extra burst of energy and pulled ahead, his laughter contagious as they got closer and closer to the finish line.

Jack made it first, skidding to a sudden stop in the sunlight.

Hazel recoiled, hardly managing to put on the brakes in time before she could run smack into the back of his sweater, about to ask what the problem was before she saw where he was looking.

They had run into the opening of a larger cavern, the stream of sunlight pouring in from a hole in the roof illuminating just what exactly Jack was fixated on.

Rows of alien machinery lined the wall to their left, but that wasn’t what made Jack freeze to the point Arcee picked up the pace to catch up.

It wasn’t the expanse of rock and twisting, maze-like tunnels behind them that put Jack on alert.

Rather, it was the sight of the two Cybertronians across the cavern that sent shock and fear racing through the boy, and through his guardian the instant she caught up to them.

Hazel stared at the scene before her, the race forgotten as the two beings locked onto the three of them, a tense, volatile silence stretching taught between them.

She didn’t need to be told they were Decepticons, and the weapon the larger of the two carried was enough for her to distinctly realize why exactly Phoenix had insisted she return to the Autobot base.

He towered above all of them, even from a distance, the sunlight from the hole in the ceiling casting him in shadow and darkness, his metal sharp and twisted.

Dread sank in her throat like bile, the silence ringing in her ears.

She didn’t have to know who he was to know that he… he would kill her if she let him.

Hazel watched in growing horror as rage swiftly consumed his expression and stood frozen when he ripped his cannon away from his minion, opening fire on them.

Holy shit-

Hazel didn’t process Arcee moving until she had dropped them on the other side of the gap behind a stalactite, yelling for her and Jack to stay down as she fielded off shots and fired off some of her own, a flurry of consecutive blasts hitting where they had been standing less than a second earlier.

She flinched as Arcee barely avoided one that would have taken her head clean from her shoulders, knots squeezing her stomach as Jack crouched beside her.

Holy shit-

She yelped and ducked as the cavern shook, small boulders and rocks falling from the ceiling around them.

She couldn’t see what was happening, not daring to risk a look and didn’t move when Jack covered her body with his.

“Starscream! You dare abandon me?!” Starscream. She remembered Phoenix talking about him, though she had less than kind things to say about him.

Well, maybe he wasn’t a threat to Phoenix, but holy hell was he ever a threat to her and Jack.

As Arcee continued returning fire, a resounding boom echoed around the cavern. Hazel lifted her head when Jack found his feet and peered around his guardian, the echoes of blaster fire cut off.

Dust and debris clouded her line of sight, faintly hearing Arcee curse as the cavern shook and the walls tilted.

No, not the walls. She was tilted.

She was falling.

– – –

The life of an assassin was, in short, unpredictable. You never knew who your target would be, and you never knew the results of your mission until your report added to the war plans leadership needed from you.

The life of an Autobot was even less predictable, because now they were outnumbered and outgunned and surviving to live another cycle was a mercy extended to few of them.

Phoenix, unfortunately, was both.

An assassin who could no longer kill, and an Autobot who should never have existed.

What poetic irony that her past should come back to haunt her the instant she tried to move on.

It wasn’t lost on her that Primus ensured Starfire found the chest less than a week after Hazel came into their lives. A fresh perspective, someone who would not be quick to judge even after learning about her history.

One of these cycles she was going to have words with their Creator, and she should earn a reward of some kind if she didn’t end up screaming profanities at him.

Stepping through the bridge she materialized at the coordinates Starfire had given her, a harsh wind whipping at her the instant the portal closed down and left her standing once again within the Alps of Europe.

Steep cliffs fell away at her peds, twisting and made out the sheer, snowy drop to the earth below.

She shuffled away from the edge, peering down and idly raised an optic ridge, and part of her wondered just what went through that Neutral’s helm. Yes, heights didn’t necessarily bother her, but damnit, femme, the cliff routine was beginning to grow dull. It was smaller than the one she had called from a month ago, the mountain dropping off steeper at her peds, and the wind was not helping her balance.

Couldn’t she have bridged to a nice meadow or something instead? Honestly.

“I didn’t think you would show.” She turned at Starfire’s dry comment, the seeker stepping out from the side of the mountain and folded her arms. “Especially since you didn’t reply to my message,” she added, a colour to her tone that erased any annoyance Phoenix could have been feeling.

She didn’t like the look in her optics, Starfire watching her with a carefulness that has cost many Decepticons their lives.

Phoenix couldn’t hide her wince, shoving her shame and grief to the far reaches of her spark before turning to the seeker, their spy. “It’s kinda hard to ignore something like this,” she replied quietly, acutely aware that she was cornered.

Normally, that was a bad thing, namely for the other bot. Now, though? Now it was taking all she had not to crack once again.

Her sparkbond lit with her sparkmate’s essence and reassurance, his presence grounding her racing thoughts.

She could face this.

Their seeker didn’t say anything, watching her closely for a long, tense moment, and Phoenix was about ready to snap.

Starfire exhaled, turning from the wild wind and pressed her palm against the rock face.

Phoenix frowned, her curiosity overriding her sense of self-preservation when the mountain lit up, a mechanical burr and shink rippling out around them as the mountain split open.

The seeker turned, her expression remarkably unreadable before turning and walked inside the tunnel, not waiting to see if she was followed.

Cursing softly under her venting Phoenix jogged to catch up, side-eying their rear as the mountain slid back shut, casting them into darkness. Not that it really mattered to her since she could see in the dark, but it was unnerving all the same.

She followed Starfire silently, keeping her questions and doubts to herself as the seeker calmly descended, the slight decline doing wonders of reminding her about her injured stabilizer.

Primus Almighty could it fragging not?

Grumbling to herself she ignored the pain and kept going, marching on in darkness for what felt like ages before the ground gradually leveled out beneath them, Starfire slowing as a secondary door blocked their way.

Starfire finally appeared to hesitate, seeming to shake herself before pressing her palm into the scanner.

A soft blue glow poured through when the doors cracked open, Phoenix stepping through and felt her words dry up in her throat.

Here, hidden under untold layers of earth and rock and minerals, where their signals would no doubt be distorted at best and unreadable at worst, was a cavern carved from the stone itself.

Gentle blue energon sconces lit the path forwards, the circular room brimming with Cybertronian technology. She watched as ripples periodically rolled down the walls, the technology humming with the force of it's power. To keep this room aglow, lit with never-dousing energon flames...

An unbidden chill slid down her spinal struts, hardly daring to speak above a whisper, “What is this place?”

It felt holy, somehow, a place of respect, of compassion.

A place like…

Starfire walked to the middle of the room, where two upraised metal slabs rested, the energon light illuminating the careful carvings embedded in the metal. They both bore the markings of the unofficial Neutral emblem. “It’s a tomb, Phoenix,” she murmured, the assassin’s venting catching in the back of her throatlines.

A tomb, of Cybertronian origin.

Starfire smiled sadly, brushing her servo across the engravings. “I know who you are,” she murmured, so quietly she almost didn't hear her.

Phoenix tensed. “And what am I, femling?” She dared ask, fearing the answer the Neutral seeker would give her.

The seeker exhaled softly, walking around the tomb and hoisted the gleaming red crate, walking it over and gently put it down between them.

Phoenix stared at the chest, at the proof that she couldn’t outrun her past. This chest was a reminder of who the universe knew her as, a reminder that for anyone else still out there she was, and likely always would be, a monster.

Starfire didn’t respond, motioning for Phoenix to open it.

For the first time since she became Megatron’s Assassin, she was well and truly afraid. Afraid of what this meant, what she was going forward. She didn’t know who or what she was anymore, and this crate…

She startled when a gentle servo grabbed hers, whipping her helm up and silently cursed herself for the tears gradually falling down her faceplates.

Starfire smiled, drawing her servo to the lid of the chest and covered it with hers. “We all have our demons, Phoenix,” she whispered, grief twisting her words. “But it is what we do in the face of them that makes us who we are.” The seeker slowly let her servo go, rising back to her peds as Phoenix stared at the chest.

She couldn’t look away from the intricate red and gold circuits, remembering the cycles she spent building it, the time she dedicated to earning a place among Megatron’s ranks, the pride she felt when she activated it for the first time and laid the first trophy to rest within its walls.

Phoenix watched as a tear slipped from her optic and landed on the red metal, watching it roll down the side and land on the floor of the tomb Starfire had built so long ago.

She couldn’t outrun this part of her, she owed it to every spark she claimed to remember them, to acknowledge her actions and her role in extinguishing their lives.

Movement around the tomb threatened to steal her attention away, only looking up when Starfire knelt back down next to her.

A third metal slab had risen near the back of the room, her spark in her throat as Starfire gently pulled her back to her peds. “It’s time, Phoenix,” she whispered, not a speck of judgement or ire evident as she held the assassin’s gaze.

“It’s time to put them to rest.”

– – –

Not long after they were exiting the mountain back out onto the cliff, her tears drying as Starfire locked the tomb back up behind them.

She felt lighter, somehow. She didn’t really understand, but…

Starfire looked at her, the seeker not saying anything as Phoenix stared out over the vast mountain range.

“You built it yourself?”

Starfire exhaled sharply at the question, shrugging as she came to stand beside the former assassin. “I had nothing better to do with my time.”

Phoenix sent her a side-long gaze. “What, were you an engineer or something before the war?” She asked dryly, the seeker shrugging again.

“Or something,” she evaded, and normally she would push for answers, but after the generosity and sheer kindness the seeker had just shown her, Phoenix decided to let it go.

She looked back out over the Alps, the snow-capped mountains shining against the peeking sunlight.

“You built it for your friends.”

The grief returned to Starfire’s gaze, her optics shining as she gazed wistfully out over the mountain range.

Phoenix marveled at the level of technological knowledge required to pull off such a feat, and genuinely wondered just how long a project like this took for a single seeker such as her, nevermind the fact that she no doubt had to utilize human technologies in the process.

Perhaps she should stop underestimating their spy.

She smiled slightly, turning from the view. “The Decepticons wouldn’t have happened to have picked up a set of bridges around a week ago, did they?” Phoenix asked casually, relieved that she would finally be able to get an answer to Hazel.

Starfire raised an optic ridge. “Up in Montana?” She asked, Phoenix’s spark sinking before the seeker shrugged. “I mean, my scanners picked them up, but I doubt the Decepticons did. Megatron hasn’t mentioned it,” she explained.

So Starfire had her own scanners in place. Good to know.

The Neutral gave her a long look. “Why do you ask?”

It was her turn to shrug. “I may have accidentally caused a human girl to fall through some ice,” she admitted, not missing the alarm that flashed in their spy's bright blue optics.

Phoenix held up her servos. “She’s ok, I swear. I had to get June and she helped. But we ended up needing to take the girl back to base and she’s been in Jasper ever since,” she added, deciding not to mention Ratchet’s utter distaste for the beast Hazel brought with her.

Starfire eyed her skeptically before cracking a grin, laughing quietly. “You acquired your own human,” she teased, and Phoenix whined at the reminder.

Yes, yes she knows she brought Hazel to base, sheesh!

Despite that though she found herself smiling, and she couldn’t wait to tell Hazel the good news.

Megatron didn’t know where she lived, and she would consider that a huge fragging win.

She glanced at the seeker after another round of content silence, watching the sun catch on her metal and turn the silver to liquid. “Thank you,” she murmured, the weight of the guilt that had haunted her these last few years finally, finally lifting somewhat.

She still had a long way to go before she would truly feel free and able to remember her part in this war without overwhelming guilt and shame smothering her, but this was as good a step in the right direction as anything.

Starfire simply smiled, watching the shimmering horizon with a hope that Phoenix at last let herself feel.

– – –

Chapter Text

“Arcee?”

Oi, Jack, would you mind keeping it down? She has the headache of the century right now and she does not need you yelling for your guardian at the top of your lungs.

“Bulkhead?”

Hazel whined, trying to lift her head so she could maybe, possibly get Jack to stop yelling so freaking loudly in her ear, but a weight atop her skull was preventing her from moving.

What in the-

“Miko?” Jack, could you please stop yelling?

She tried to open her eyes, to get a glimpse of the young man and practically beg him to lower his voice, but she was met with pitch black and more pain behind her eyes.

“Hazel?” Oh, so he was calling for her now, was he?

Grunting, she tried to lift her hands to wiggle free before inhaling sharply when whatever was over her started moving, immediately changing tactics and tried to cover her head instead.

Dull light pierced through the darkness, stabbing her eyes as she blearily blinked up.

Oh yeah, she was buried.

Which meant that the weight above her head was none other than a mountain of rocks.

Lovely.

Jack’s face appeared above her, dust and grime coating his skin as he continued hauling the boulders away.

Whining softly she gingerly shoved up, attempting to aid the teen and yelped when the rocks beneath her gave way and sent her tumbling into the cavern Jack was standing in, landing roughly at his feet.

“Are you ok?” He asked, bending down and offering her a hand.

She blindly reached up and took it, coughing and used her free hand to dust herself off. “Never better,” she muttered, taking count of the new situation.

Rocks, lots and lots of rocks were surrounding them, and she realized all over again that this cavern was built by titans. Towering, robotic aliens and she had never felt as small as she did right then, gazing up through the fog at the impossibly high ceilings.

“Didn’t Arcee say a stripped mine could be unstable?” She asked dryly, releasing his hand and ran it through her curls.

Well, she didn’t feel any blood, so that was something, but her ankle was beginning to ache something fierce. The one time she didn’t have a tensor bandage with her, or the rest of her first aid kit. No, she left it all in her new purse back at base.

Figures.

Jack frowned, her eyes clearing enough and adjusted to the surrounding darkness to catch the concern on his face.

Hey, it was better than being buried.

Hazel winced when she tried putting pressure on her ankle, hauling off her new cardigan (which was already ripped, yay) and gingerly sat back down on the stones. She felt Jack watching as she folded the fabric into a makeshift bandage, quickly wrapping her ankle before reaching a hand back up.

Jack took it and helped her back to her feet, keeping her steady as she gingerly tested her foot again.

Well, of course it still hurt, but at least this way the swelling could hopefully be kept under control until they could get her to June.

Sometimes it was nice having a nurse for a temporary guardian.

“Ok, so- now what?” She asked after a long, heavy silence, Jack shifting her so most of her weight was leaning across his shoulders. One of these days she was going to tell June that she raised him right, but for now that was not something she was going to concern herself with.

“We need to figure out a way out of here,” he replied, eyeing the cavern warily. It wasn’t lost on her woozy mind that they were likely gonna run out of oxygen before they could dig their way free if they couldn’t find Arcee.

Nevermind that they had no way of knowing what happened to Bulkhead or Miko. She just hoped they were alright.

As alright as one can be, buried under a mountain and all.

“Well, I can put a bit of pressure on my ankle, but I don’t know how much help I’m gonna be,” she sighed, proving her words by allowing more weight to rest on her injured foot. It must have twisted in the fall.

Jack nodded, but was interrupted from suggesting anything when several rocks fell behind them.

If it was another cave-in she was going to take a page out of Phoenix’s playbook and shoot something.

Jack immediately turned to look, peering over her shoulder and she watched as a smile formed over his expression.

“Huh. Well that could come in handy.”

She frowned, twisting her neck to see. “What? What is-” she cut herself off when she saw the giant Decepticon machinery he was referring to, and, figuring Jack would have more knowledge on how to deal with it than she would, allowed him to begin walking them across the uneven terrain over to it.

It was a massive, purple and black drill, clearly meant for Cybertronian use and nowhere near accessible to humans, but that was probably exactly what they needed.

If they wanted to get out of this alien-made mess, then they would need to use alien technology. It was only fair.

When she finally managed to limp over she stared at the towering machine, Jack unhooking her arm and hauled himself onto one of the treads.

If you could even call them that. She didn’t know how else to describe it.

“Here, give me your hand,” he called down, pressing his chest down on the metal in order to reach, holding his arm out for her.

She raised a brow skeptically but bit her tongue, shimming her way to the tread and, after ensuring she would not be falling again today, leaned her weight on her good ankle and reached her arm up for Jack.

Thankfully neither of them were short, Jack grabbing her wrist and hauled her up with minimal struggle.

She didn’t move from where he had deposited her, watching as he continued climbing the machine until he could reach the control panel.

“Do you know how to drive this thing?” She called up, the boy shrugging and typed a few things into the screen.

Within seconds he had the drill spinning and the engines running, and she merely laughed at his pleased grin.

Forget she ever doubted him.

“Hold on to something,” he called, and she, in all her wisdom, decided to heed his advice and tried to find something that wouldn’t result in a limb being cut off.

He waited until she was steady, pushing on the leaver and propelled the drill onwards.

“Roll out.”

– – –

They sat in silence for a time as Jack used the drill to begin tunneling his way through the cavern, Hazel’s mind circling around back to the cause of their mess in the first place.

“Hey Jack?” She called over the drill, frowning when he poked his head over the side. “Who were they?” She doubted she needed to specify, and judging from the mixture of emotions that spread across his face she knew he understood.

“Starscream and Megatron,” he said quietly, returning to the drill and resumed operating it.

She heard those names before, briefly, when the Autobots were telling her about the war. To run into both of them at once, during a trip that was meant to be reconnaissance only, was far from fortunate.

“What were they doing down here?” She called back, bracing as he led them over a bumpy patch. “Didn’t Arcee say that this mine had been stripped?”

She knows it was. They should have had no reason to come back here, least of all when the Autobots were investigating.

What wretched luck.

“I don’t know, Hazel,” Jack sighed. He pointed the drill at a random wall and eased the machine into it, rocks falling in their path. “But we need to find the others before they dig themselves free.”

Free. Megatron and Starscream were around here somewhere.

Her heart dropped, because if she had survived the cave in, then the two leaders of the Decepticons most likely did, too.

Love that for them.

She sat in silence as Jack worked, taking care to stay out of his way and that of falling rocks.

It was probably long after dark at this point, and she absently realized that Miko wouldn’t be cashing in on her concert tickets. A pang of sympathy hit her, before remembering that Miko was the one who ran into the mine to begin with.

Hazel chuckled softly, shaking her head and smiled. That girl really was something.

The more pressing thing on her mind, however, was that if it was after dark, and they were in the same time zone, then her parents already knew something was wrong. They would have tried calling her by now, if they didn’t as soon as the bank reported the transaction.

Her smile fell instantly, subduing a shudder and looked up. Jack was concentrating on operating the drill, a focused twist to his expression. She was lucky she woke up when she did, because going through all this alone…

There was a damn good reason Bridget never really left her side.

Hazel gingerly climbed to her feet, favouring her twisted ankle and slowly began climbing up to where the boy was standing. It was probably safer up there than on one of the treads, anyways.

Free from falling rocks, at least.

Jack glanced over when she hauled herself up to the control panel, furrowing his brows and halted the drill. He smiled, stepping over and helped her up the rest of the way.

“You ok?” He asked, threading her arm around his shoulders again.

Wordlessly she nodded, following him back to the controls and watched as he resumed drilling, keeping a steadying hand around her for support.

They didn’t have a direction to go in, their only strategy being to dig until they found someone, or someone found them.

Preferably an Autobot. That'd be nice.

They drilled in silence, the screech and shrill cries of the drill pounding on her ears, and not for the first time she wished her head would stop aching.

“I think I found something,” Jack said after a while, making sense out of the alien scanners as he pulled the drill back out from the hole he just dug.

Maybe it was another cavern, maybe if they were lucky one of the others would be somewhere on the other side of the wall.

She unhooked her arm from around him and gingerly eased herself down against the console, Jack stopping the drill and ran over to the side to call down. She really hoped it was Arcee, god knows they could use an ally right about now.

Her hopes were dashed when Jack froze, hauling herself to her feet and wobbled over to investigate.

“I suppose, helping those less fortunate would be completely out of the question.”

Oh you have got to be kidding.

She reached the edge of the control and found the leader of the Decepticons glaring up at them, wholly and utterly trapped in the rock.

Megatron didn’t seem to care, his glare sharp enough that one would assume they were the ones trapped, and weren’t the ones with a Decepticon drill at their disposal. “If that is the case, you might as well use your drill to finish me,” he taunted when neither of them spoke. “I guarantee you will never have a better opportunity, then right now.” His voice sent chills racing down her spine, the eerie red glow of his eyes bathing the rock trapping him in the same ruby light.

Hazel scowled, turning on Jack. “You missed?”

The boy tore his gaze away from Megatron, raising his hands defensively. “I thought it could have been one of the bots,” he protested, watching as she turned her glare from him back down to the cause of all their problems in the first place.

He was the reason she couldn’t go home.

He was why Phoenix took her from her cabin, why she was unable to contact her parents and explain where she was and what was going on. He was the reason Ratchet was stuck dealing with her and her dog, and he was the reason her ankle was currently protesting every step she dared take.

“I thought you were supposed to be smart,” she snapped, the titan blinking once, venom lacing her words as she met his glare with one of her own as anger bubbled up in her throat.

Hazel was more than simply mad. She was absolutely furious.

He had upturned her life, and the lives of an entire planet, and for what?!

If the Autobots were to be believed, then Megatron was responsible for the destruction of Cybertron, and the deaths of so many their team cared about. He was the one threatening Earth, and was single handedly why she wasn't able to go back to her cabin and promise her parents everything was alright.

She now understood why Phoenix took her from her home, and holy hell was she pissed about it.

She shoved past Jack and braced her hands along the rails, catching a faint twist of amusement in the way Megatron’s mouth tilted.

He had no right to be amused by this.

“If even I know that a stripped mine could be unstable, then you would think that a supposedly renowned Warlord would know the same," Hazel snapped. "What the hell were you thinking, opening fire on us?” She demanded.

Did he care so little for his own well-being that he would risk this situation all over again, on the off chance they were hurt in the process? What the actual hell had she gotten herself into?!

Jack flinched when Megatron started laughing, a quiet, dangerous sound that Hazel, at any other point in her life, would wisely put as much distance between as she possibly could. But right here, right now? Screw it.

“How dare you-”

She opened her mouth to continue spitting at him, but Jack’s sudden vise-like grip on her arm made her pause, whipping her head over but hesitated at the look on his face.

Oh. Oh, shit.

Standing down she reluctantly nodded, wordlessly telling Jack she understood and would not risk their spy, her cover or anything else she wanted to yell at him. She would allow Megatron to remain oblivious and stupid, if that was what was required.

Jack loosened his grip on her arm, sending Megatron one final glare before walking her out and away from the Warlord’s line of sight.

“Are you going to kill him?” She whispered when he sat her down next to the leavers, and Jack’s hesitation and the confliction on his face told her that no, no he would not.

“Well? What are you waiting for?” She watched as Jack shuddered at Megatron’s taunting yell, the boy turning his attention back to gaze at the Warlord. “Think of the glory! Seize the day! Optimus would.”

Resolve and determination came to rest upon Jack’s shoulders, then, and though she was unable to see his face she recognized the posture immediately. Her father adopted the same one whenever he had to face a losing case.

“No, he wouldn’t.” Jack’s voice was quiet, but carried strong in the echoing cavern walls. “Not like this.”

Hazel scooted out of the way as he shook his head and turned from the titan mocking them, Jack not meeting her eyes as he reactivated the drill and powered them away, as far from Megatron as they could get.

“I will be sure to share the details of our little conversation with Optimus, the day I rip out his spark!”

– – –

The silence that existed between the assassin and their spy was calm, both of them content to watch the sky above one of the oldest mountain ranges on this planet.

Phoenix let out a breath and watched it cloud in the air before her, a small smile tugging at her derma.

She spared a sideways glance at Starfire, the seeker watching the sun gleaming across the snowcaps with rapt attention.

She took in the seeker's lithe frame, the healed mares and scrapes speaking of her history and everything Starfire had survived up until this point, and not for the first time Phoenix felt respect begin to overpower her previous conflicted feelings about her.

“Well,” Phoenix said at last, dusting her servos and raised an unamused optic ridge at the cliff when a few rocks broke away. Yeah, try it- “I should be returning to base.”

Starfire turned, nodding wordlessly when Phoenix brought a digit to her audial to call Ratchet. She figured she would leave the bond alone and call home the old-fashioned way, if nothing more than to keep the doctor in the loop.

Starfire said nothing and watched as the portal opened next to the mountain face, steps away and simultaneously blocking the entrance to the tomb embedded into the cliff.

It was only when Phoenix took steps towards it did she frown, tilting her helm slightly. “Can I ask you something?”

The assassin paused, glancing over her shoulderplate expectantly.

The seeker appeared to be grappling internally, and Phoenix watched her mentally decide to frag it and blurted out her question, “what was her name?” She blinked, and Starfire clarified. “Your human, I mean. What is her name?” She repeated, though there was a slight edge to her tone that Phoenix immediately picked up on.

She frowned, ignoring the bridge for a moment. “Hazel, why?” She asked, but Starfire quickly schooled her expression and shrugged.

“Just curious,” she claimed, but Phoenix hadn’t gotten to be known as the Warlord’s Assassin for nothing. Starfire was hiding something, she could see it in the way her posture tensed.

Then again, Starfire had also just given her an enormous show of generosity by revealing this tomb to her, so prying into their spy’s further secrets was not something she was overly inclined to do right away.

Phoenix shrugged, deciding to drop the matter but kept a mental note about her odd reaction before she turned and proceeded through the portal, waving once over her shoulderplate before walking out of sight.

– – –

I watched the former assassin leave through her bridge, and cursed soundly the instant it closed behind her.

“Hazel, why?” Such a simple question and already I was coding a secure channel to the village. The Chief needed to be made aware of this development, this was too much of a coincidence to ignore.

The call very nearly went to voicemail, and I knew I couldn’t leave a message, it was a risk that I knew I couldn’t take, not if I wanted to keep Silas, Soundwave and Shockburner out and away from their borders.

“This is Chief Catori.” Utter relief threatened the stability of my kneeplates, her voice sending unreasonable amounts of comfort through my systems.

“Chief, it’s me. I have reason to suspect the Vanzandeeks have resurfaced.” I didn’t have time to waste with formalities, not with the information I carried. If I was right, if it was their daughter, then everything I had ever worked towards these past 300 years has just been thrown into massive jeopardy, and the Autobots didn’t even know it.

I think I had stunned her, the Chief taking a quick moment to gather herself. “What evidence do you have, Abigail?” She demanded, her voice cold, a calculation to her tone that no one ever wanted to hear.

I shook my helm, mentally debating the odds of Phoenix stumbling upon the one ticking time bomb humanity had at their disposal. This could not have come at a worse time.

“I will not say,” I replied, running another scan and working overtime to ensure this line remained secure. “Contact Dannie, I need to know what the Vanzandeeks know,” I added, and would call him myself if I didn’t have to worry about Bryce or his people eavesdropping on my conversation.

Daniel was the liaison and Ambassador for the village, it would not be unusual for him to receive a call or message from his people, but if I reached out it would open up an investigation into his files and I was not about to risk our clearest link into the government.

“It will be done. We will be in touch,” Catori said curtly, and I knew we were both praying that I was wrong.

The chances of that being the case were not looking too high, unfortunately.

The call disconnected and I raised a tired servo above my faceplates to glare up at the peeking sunlight.

Primus, if this was some sort of joke, then it was in very poor taste. Just want you to know.