"I've failed as a parent...."

"I've failed to keep our sparkling safe..."

"Because of my failure, Athena is now in the merciless claws of Megatron..."

"I have to find a way to get back to my love and save my sparkling, but both seem impossible. I have to do it, there is no failure now..."

Wheeljack snapped out of his thoughts, remembering where he was. He was chained to the stone cold wall in a tiny prison cell inside the Decepticon base.

He could feel the stickiness of the spilled energon that leaked down his side. His whole body ached and hurt, like he just got ran over. His only responsibility in life was trapped by that monster Megatron.

He felt broken, beaten down. He was a complete failure in his optics. His inventions always failed, his attempts to negotiate failed, and now he failed to protect his sparkling. He couldn't get anything right.

"Why do I deserve to even live? I'm a complete failure..." he muttered under his breath, staring at the floor.

He felt a pulse in his spark, tilting his head in confusion. It made him even sadder, so he hung his head low and sighed. Then he realized what it was. It was Athena trying to reach him through their bond. Since she was so young, she couldn't properly make the connection. Wheeljack could only feel certain parts through their bond before it disconnected.

-Athena, you are okay. I'm going to save you. Everything is alright.- he said through the bond, hoping she could hear him.

He felt her part of the bond calm down and he sighed in relief. Who knows what tortures Megatron was bringing to her.

-Athena's POV-

Athena whimpered as Megatron held her tightly in his lap. She was completely terrified of him and wanted to leave right now. But she couldn't, his hands were too large and strong.

"My, you are a beautiful femme. I have to give it to Wheeljack for giving such great genes." Megatron cooed, rubbing her forehead again with his finger. "But who is the sire? Surely it has to be someone amongst the Autobot ranks..." he thought about it deeply for a while, pondering on who it could be.

Meanwhile, Athena's tank was starting to rumble with hunger. She whined, turning around to face Megatron's terrifying form. "Hungwy!"

"What did you say, child? I couldn't hear you with that raspy voice of yours." Megatron chuckled.

"I said I'm hungwy!" Athena huffed, crossing her arms.

"Oh, right. You do need to eat. I suppose I shall feed you since your carrier isn't present at the moment." Megatron sneered, slowly standing up from his throne. He carried Athena in his arms to the energon storage room, digging around for some low grade.

Athena remembered Wheeljack and started to cry again.

"Would you stop crying? Your carrier is better off without you anyways. Here." Megatron growled, handing her a bottle of energon.

Athena sniffed and snatched the bottle, sucking the energon eagerly. She avoided optic contact with Megatron and continued drinking, filling her tank. Once she was full, she let go of the bottle and burped.

"All done?" Megatron rumbled, taking the bottle from her and tossing it away.

"Where Wheeldack?" Athena whimpered, looking up at Megatron.

"I told you, he's in a better place. Now shut up."

Athena sighed and pouted, leaning against Megatron's rough chest plate. It wasn't soft and warm like her parents' chest plates. It was cold and hard, like the floor. She hated every last bit of spending time with him. She wanted to leave and be with her parents again. She wanted everything to be normal again.

-Wheeljack's POV-

Wheeljack managed to slip into a recharge, but it wasn't a peaceful one. He had nightmares of Athena getting ripped away from him and killed right in front of his optics. His wounds didn't make it any better either.

They were extremely painful and uncomfortable, forcing him to shift every few minutes just to get comfortable. His confidence was shattered and he had no motivation.

Starscream's arrival didn't help either. The door to the cell swung open and he stepped through, fluttering his wings excitedly. "You're coming with me, Autobot..." he sneered, unlocking Wheeljack's chains and pulling him by the shoulder. "Shockwave is very curious about how a sparkling formed inside of you, so he wants to do some tests.."

"Tests? Oh great..." Wheeljack sighed, coughing up more energon as he stumbled down the corridor beside Starscream.

"Shut up, you!" Starscream snarled, smacking his head harshly with the back of his hand.

Wheeljack groaned upon the impact, lowering his head and sighing.

Starscream shoved him further, almost making him trip and fall. He snatched him by the neck and growled. "Walk normally, you piece of scrap!"

Wheeljack huffed, attempting to stand up straight and walk. He didn't know that there was a hole in his side that was slowly leaking energon. When he stood up, the pain was unbearable. He bent over, holding his side. He felt the energon slipping through his fingers and grit his denta.

Meanwhile, Starscream was furious. "Weakling!" He snarled, kicking him in the knee and causing him to fall.

Wheeljack shut his optics, taking Starscream's beating. He wanted this to end, but he knew he couldn't just give up.

Athena was counting on him coming to rescue her.

Ratchet was counting on him to bring her back home safely.