Taylor

My body was aching terribly as my eyes fluttered open. I started open a moment later, sitting up from my sprawled out position. My vision darted to and fro, and my heart sunk when it saw that I was surrounded by darkness. I could barely make out anything, the only source of light a dim purple bulb at the top of the room, which was so high up I wouldn't have been able to reach it even while standing on Megatron himself. 

I jumped again as memories flashed in my head, the freshest being Ratchet screaming my name as I disappeared. I could nearly feel Starscream's cold, thin digits around my waist. They were nothing like my guardian's; where Ratchet's chassis held comforting warmth, the seeker's was as cold as his spark. My eyes darted over my body, making sure I wasn't severely injured, a force of habit, grown from everything that I had been through, and the fact that I was in love with a doctor. I almost breathed a sigh of relief when I saw that the worst of it was bruises, the source of my aches. It was probably from the Con's stern grip, since he in no way cared about how hard he held me as long as I wasn't squished. 

Then again, why on earth had Starscream taken me? I closed my eyes and slowed my breathing, trying to concentrate. Starscream had obviously been after the Omega keys when he originally started his plan. He had succeeded, too; I remembered seeing the keys in his grasp, and hearing Bulkhead shout that he had taken them before the coward had run. And I knew there was no way he was affiliated with MECH anymore; they had backstabbed him and now where no longer is business. So Starscream couldn't have taken me to be rewarded by them.

I not only felt my spark clench, but I felt a pain in my shoulder burn terribly as another thought filled my brain. Starscream, and he wasn't the only one, knew that I was more than human. I wasn't sure just how aware of how different I was, but I knew that my wretched father probably informed him of some details. Megatron was also a Decepticon that had seen me before, full scale attacking with blasters and blades. If anything, he was the only Con that knew I functioned on Energon. My spark clenched in fear, along with my human heart, as I realized Starscream had taken me to please his former and current master.

Do they know I have a spark?

Almost on instinct, my hand flew up to my upper arm and squeezed it. My spark was hurting, and I had to guess it was because I was stressed and terrified. Although, I had never imagined that those feelings would cause the biomechanism to feel pain. It didn't make sense, really; if this were always the case, Autobots and Decepticons alike would have felt it almost constantly because of the emotional pain war brought. I prayed that that wasn't the case. I didn't want my family, especially Ratchet, to feel like this all the time. 

At the same time, it was certainly reason for concern. If this wasn't normal, that meant something was probably wrong. 

Again, I felt my spark clench, but this time, the pain subsides as an abrupt emotion flooded my spark, and then my chest. Tears formed into my eyes and flowed out quickly, and as much as I normally cried, it felt like these tears almost weren't my own. Neither did the emotion feel like mine; the terror and sadness so strong, I could hardly count it as my own feelings. As my spark started to clench, I slowly realized that most of those emotions, the ones I could strongly feel in my biomechanism, were in fact not mine. They were those of my guardian, Ratchet. Coming to realize this sent another wave of questions into my head. How was it possible that I could feel how he was feeling? What kind of significance did it have? Why was I feeling it now? Why was I feeling it at all?

I wasn't allowed to dig deeper into my thoughts, however. A moment later, there was a loud sound, and light slammed into my eyes. This caused me to hiss in surprise and squint, my vision having been in darkness before. Fear convulsed into my body, quickly replacing those of Ratchet's emotions, as I tried to make out the figure standing in what I know knew was the doorway. I was thrust into terrorized shivers as I saw the thin seeker smirk at me confidently. I huddled my knees to my chest and scooted backwards, raising a hand protectively to cover my face.

Starscream did nothing more than roll his optics at this gesture. "You think squirming like a worm will do you much good?" he sneered, taking only a few long strides before reaching me. "I am very much your superior, human, and I do not see how the likes of you could escape me with such feeble attempts like that." He bent over, his faceplate beaming with dark glee, and reached out with his long digits. 

I writhed like a scared animal as he wrapped them around me harshly and picked me up. "D-Don't touch me!" I shouted, clasping my eyes shut and using my hands to try and push his digits away. 

He laughed at me, seeing my fear and enjoying it. "As amusing as it is to watch you fail to frighten me or escape, Lord Megatron wishes to see you. And now that I have gained my former status, I do not  wish to break it by refusing." He stood again, his red optics now looking away from me as he began to walk out of the large room. 

My body was shivering uncontrollably as horrible thoughts filled my head. Being taken to Megatron most undoubtedly meant nothing good. 

General

Megatron waited patiently at the indoor deck of the ship, where he almost always conducted his orders. His servos were clasped firmly behind his back, his blood red optics thinned as he watched the door, awaiting his once again second in command's return. He remembered this human well; in all honesty, he had been surprised with her. The little femme had not only shown him spitfire, unlike most beings lower than him, but she had been capable of things that normally only Cybertronians were capable of. She most definitely had Energon coursing through her, but how? He was intrigued to know more about her, and which Autobot she called her 'guardian'. Using her to gain advantage over one of them was not only smart, but very much enjoyable to the warlord. 

His chassis perked up only ever so slightly as Starscream came in through the door, holding the silver haired femme in his long servo. She was not what Megatron had expected; she seemed so much smaller now, and the fire he had seen in her before was long gone. She was shaking in terror like a frightened animal, her blue eyes wide and filled with terror. Tears were streaming from them as she huddled back the best she could at Megatron's gaze. The warlord looked at her for only a few moments more before he got almost entirely uninterested. 

"So this is the femme that faced me in battle a short time ago," he snorted, leaning down to her level. "You seemed so much different back then."

The little girl cowered back, clasping her hands over her mouth so that she wouldn't speak. 

Megatron, clearly getting a bit impatient and bored, stood back to his full height while all the while glaring at her. "What is your designation?" His optics narrowed when she didn't respond for a few moments. 

Starscream, growing a bit nervous at the tension, cleared his throat. "I believe she is called Taylor, master," he said with a nervous chuckle. 

Megatron gave him an unamused look before turning his attention back to Taylor. "I have come to understand that each of your human friends have a designated Autobot babysitter," he sneered, spitting out the last word with cruelty. "Which Autobot would that be in your case, little femme?"

Taylor opened her eyes and lowered her hands slowly. "W-Why would you want to know?" she asked quietly, her voice showing none of the fire he had seen in her before. 

Nevertheless, he did his best to enjoy scaring her. "Using you against them would be a good way to torture them, don't you think?" he sneered, his true, dark colors gleaming in his optics as he leaned over once more and drew closer to her face. 

Her gaze hardened ever so slightly and she frowned. "Don't touch him! Don't you dare touch Ratchet!" she shouted, instantly clasping a hand over her mouth.

Megatron once again stood, pondering for a moment. Yes, the human had just become a little more aggressive. Still, it was not the kind of thing he was looking for. He had more pressing matters to attend to than just force a human to speak. Nonetheless, killing her now would be wasteful if she did hold any vital information. His helm turned to Starscream as he made his final decision. 

"I do not have time to quarrel with a human femme that no longer interests me," he growled to the seeker. "Do whatever you like with her. If something does prove to be of interest, you will inform me right away."

Starscream nodded, his usual nervousness disappearing as he glared down at Taylor with a sinister grin. "Oh, what fun the two of us are going to have."

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Finally, here is the next chapter, guys!!! I am so glad I finally got to update. Camping was super fun, by the way. 

Also, this book is coming to a close in just a few more chapters!! I feel excited, and cant' wait for the next book, Family!

Speaking of the third book, I had an idea for the whole cover thing. If anyone wants to draw a cover for Family, please feel free to do so! You can send it to me however you would like. I will choose one to be the cover, but then I will also put all the artwork in the beginning so that none of them get left out. If you don't want to do this, it is absolutely fine! Just a fun idea I thought of. :)

Enjoy the rest of the book!

*waves*