ELUDE ME

"Connect me to your, Sweet Center,
Baby-baby, take me with you."

⬵⤁

"You are perhaps the worst patient I have ever had, and that's to say I've had quite a few bad ones," June Darby huffed as Starscream mewled and whined again, the human femme cutting into his delicate protoform with a surgical scalpel. Starscream had been helpful in removing the few armor pieces covering that portion of his body, lamenting they would take ages to grow back since June could not weld them to their proper place. But, as he assured the pair of them, he only required the protoform to make sure nothing fell out of place or disrupted the transformation process.

    The T-cog was larger than June or Jack had anticipated, leaving the Seeker tasked with inserting it correctly once June had him properly cut open. That was proving to be difficult, as the Seeker was loud, annoying, and would move every time June told him not to. The woman decided to never agree to surgery for a Cybertronian ever again.

    "You keep cutting into the places where I haven't turned off my pain receptors!" He complained. "That of which I am at a complete loss for how you manage to do!"

    "Keep quiet," Jack hissed at him, eyes darting towards the door. "We don't want Soundwave getting wise to what's going on."

    "I wouldn't be surprised if he already knows," Starscream huffed. "And is merely watching for his own entertainment; surely I will bleed to death."

    June rolled her eyes, making another incision and pulling the protoform apart. Indeed, she was greeted with wires and energon lines, all of which wrapped around an organ that was no longer there. Because she was not used to Cybertronian anatomy, the absence of the T-cog did not look particularly abnormal to her; however, there were plenty of indications that the Seeker had something missing.

    "Alright, I've gotten to where it's missing," she said, very slowly poking around in the cavity. "And nothing seems particularly damaged. Energon lines are stable, wires intact."

    "Yes, yes, a full systems check could tell me that," Starscream pulled the device from his subspace, having kept it there just to ensure it remained sterile. His slender digits kept his protoform apart, energon leaking in tiny rivulets into the wound and onto the ground. June's hands were absolutely covered in the substance, and the rain jacket she had donned slicked off most of it. Still, she was somewhat concerned that the rubber gloves were just a measly protection from the potentially dangerous energon effects on humans.

    Gritting his denta Starscream inserted the T-cog into its proper place, Jack at first briefly confused as to why the Seeker would be in any pain. Then he realized it probably was not pain, but disgust. Despite being involved in a several-million-years long war, he was squeamish about gore.

    As soon as he was finished June assessed its placement, Starscream stopping her before she pulled away.

    "There is a main energon line," he said, looking almost ready to faint, "that must attach to the port of the T-cog. Our systems are designed for things to attach and detach without severe energon loss - it will appear as an energon vein with a dead end to it. The attachment process should be automatic."

    June searched for the line, not entirely sure what she was looking for. She poked and prodded a few places, the nurse eventually resorting to tugging on everything until something lose revealed itself. Naturally, Starscream complained every time she hit something particularly sensitive, which only grated on her nerves more. For a mech who talked about how important his wings were, he was awfully whiny about getting them back.

    Finally, after what seemed like far too long, her fingers wrapped around an energon line that slithered from its spot, the end of it sealed closed with what looked like protoform growth. Not dwelling on it too much June next searched for the port it was supposed to go into. Her first assumption was the bottom, as that was the only place that seemed like it could remotely fit an energon line; and her assumption was proven correct as she plugged it in and Starscream sighed in relief.

    "Ah, it feels good to be whole again," much to June's annoyance and relief the Seeker remained still as she patched up his gaping wound the best she could. Quite frankly, she used duct tape to seal the protoform, assured that the Cybertronian's natural repair systems would have it taken care of in about six Earth hours. Flying was not advisable during this stage, but the worst that could happen would be the wound tearing mid-transformation and some of his internal systems dangling out in the open.

    The Seeker was willing to go through that discomfort if it meant being free from this prison. And he would never admit it out loud, but the tape the nurse used was actually not that bad. She placed it in a pattern akin to stitching, and he was confident that it would hold long enough for their escape.

    "So, what now?" Jack asked once his mother finished taping up the traitorous Starscream. June quickly shucked off her energon-stained garments, relieved when she could not find any on her skin, or any visible marks from the energon just being near her. That was fine.

    Starscream gingerly sat up, testing his wound and standing to his full height.

"Now, we make our grand escape," he said, glancing towards the door. "However, this is a prison door - it is calibrated to only automatically open from the outside, and must be given a code from the inside; a code which we send via our comlink to the ship's communications hub."

"Let me guess," June said dryly. "You don't know the code."

"Well how could I?" Starscream replied, his sarcasm just as dry. "I am one of the prisoners after all. And opening the door with brute force won't work either; they're far more reinforced than what my rockets or energon blasts could damage."

"Okay, that means plan A is a no go. What's plan B?" Jack questioned.

"I think we can take a page out of Arcee's book," Starscream pointed a slender digit to the ceiling. "But my wingspan is far too wide to fit. One of you will need to slink out of the prison cell using the duct system and release me. From there, I can fly us out."

June and Jack shared a look, the mother immediately bristling.

"Jack -"

"We don't have much of a choice," he reasoned, looking up at the hole. He supposed that was the reason why chains existed to restrain Autobot prisoners. Though it left a pretty big question: Why did such a big design flaw exist? "I can get up there, I'll just need a boost. And instructions on how to get out."

"No, I'll go," June touched her son's shoulder. "I have two functioning arms. And I'm not recovering from an injury. You stay here."

"I can help you up, as well as provide navigation," Starscream extended a clawed servo. He was still a bit perturbed that he was becoming increasingly reliant on the humans for their help, however, he felt the woman had proved herself quite a bit with performing the surgery. Surely if she was competent enough for such a procedure, this would be simple for her.

"We better hurry," Jack urged his mother when she hesitated, wary of the titan's brutal digits, "if Soundwave is watching, we don't have a lot of time."

"Likely he is doing just that, yet merely observing for his own amusement," Starscream huffed. "We just need to succeed - he isn't counting on that."

"Perfect," June said sarcastically, stepping onto his palm. She flinched as she was lifted high into the air fairly quickly, Starscream tucking her close to his chest plates. With a rather impressive amount of grace he jumped up, claws seizing the edge of the ceiling's gap and dragging himself up. As expected the tips of his wings quickly slapped against the edges, the Seeker just too wide to fit. He deposited June on the lip of the circular gap.

"Your first task is to not fall," he instructed. "There are grates and other gaps in this duct system which will surely make you plummet to your doom."

"Sound advice," she was still rather sarcastic, standing on shaking knees. The duct work was dark, and cold, the nurse already finding it hard to breathe in the cramped environment. As Starscream gave her directions she began to run, weaving through the expansive maze that, honestly, looked like an empty hospital hallway. Her fingertips were growing numb as the cold air bit her, and it seemed like forever before she reached a grate right above the prison cell's exterior.

"I'm there!" She called, looking around. "I just don't know how to get down."

"Yes, yes, that's the first problem," the wheels in Starscream's helm were forever turning. "The top of the console should be close enough that you should swing down to it with ease."

June took a breath, looking down. Indeed, there was the top of the console, and she realized it was not that far off from her vantage point. The only problem was the horizontal aspect of it. She would have to swing and, optimistically, reach the edge. Maybe from there she could just drop.

"I'm going to go for it," she shouted, slowly shimmying through the gaps. Much to her horror her hands were slicking with sweat, making her grip all the more precarious. Her lungs were already burning with anxiety, and she tried to ignore the heartbeat in her ears.

I can do this.

Holding on to the edge she began her swing, trying to gain momentum and time it right. She focused on the console, but midway through her determined swing she realized she should have checked for a patrol before attempting this.

Scrap-

She let go, her fingers slipping off the edge and she realized she was too premature in her arc. A cry of realization escaped her, the wind whipping past her as she reached for the edge. Her fingertips barely gripped it, the numb edges having no traction, and she fell again.

Her back slammed into the keyboard mercilessly, the breath violently pushed out of her lungs. She rolled, nearly toppling over the edge again, but somehow she had the conscious thought to reach out and catch herself on part of the console.

An involuntary groan made her starved lungs ache, the nurse laying there in a long moment of assessment.

Did I break something? Can I move everything? God, it all hurts.

The moment of silence persisted for what felt like an eternity, until finally she groaned again and dragged herself to a sitting position. Her entire body ached, but there were no sharp pains to suggest she had acutely injured something; for that she was grateful, taking a deep breath as she dragged herself into a bigger sitting position.

"Starscream?" She called. "I made it."

"Thank the Allspark," his voice, muffled by the door, sounded almost slightly more tolerable. "We feared you had missed and perished."

"Yeah, well, I'm fine," she looked at the foreign symbols, wondering how she was ever going to possibly decipher them. "What's next?"

"You will need to open the door," she wondered if that was sarcasm from the Decepticon, "it is a simple button. Large, likely blue, with the 'release' symbol on it."

"I don't know what the release symbol looks like," she fired back, finding a couple of large blue buttons. In reality, they were all large and blue, but she had to remember that size was relative. These were just little keys to Starscream.

"It should be what you humans call an R."

"Okay, sure, but you don't have any R's," June was getting frustrated. "What do your R's look like??"

"It is the only letter in our alphabet with a horizontal line," Starscream was also becoming annoyed. "The line above it will look . . . squiggly."

She almost asked him to repeat what he said, because hearing the Decepticon say "squiggly" was bizarre enough to be comical, however she stayed serious. June found the button, taking a deep breath and pressing down on it as hard as she could.

Like a miracle from God the door slid open, Starscream walking through with Jack following behind. June smiled with relief, walking towards the edge in preparation to escape.

"A deal's a deal, Starscream," Jack reminded him, not leaving any room for argument, and well aware that with the taste of freedom in his mouth, the Seeker would probably not think twice about betraying them. "Let's get out of here."

"Naturally," Starscream drawled. He scooped up Jack first, his claws then closing around June. His grip was far from delicate, then he unexpectedly tossed them into the air. June could not help but scream when they became airborne, the pair slamming back into a seat as Starscream finished his transformation, the Seeker hovering in the air.

    "Let's get out of here, shall we?" Starscream croaked, blasting through the halls without another word. Jack felt himself thrown back from the force of the propulsion, Starscream twisting through the maze which was the Nemesis.

"We need to find Ratchet, and get him out of here," Jack argued.

"Not happening," Starscream snapped back, continuing before the human could argue. "He is clearly infected with Dark Energon, and if we attempted to take him with us he would most likely resist; even worse, Megatron has the ability to track him, giving away any hiding spot we attempt to take cover in. He is a liability we cannot afford."

"But we can't just leave him," he pressed. He had already left Ratchet once - albeit unwillingly due to dehydration - and he was reluctant to abandon him again.

"If he was not in the current state I found him in, I would consider it. However, your medic friend is under Megatron's influence. And I can guarantee you Megatron would not hesitate to kill us all if we took his pet."

Jack saw reason, and knew he could not argue with it, but he desperately wanted to. He and Ratchet had been through unspeakable torment together, and to be separated was beginning to give him immense distress. He wanted to help him, to stop being so useless.

I'm a human in a war with titans. All I am is useless.

Much to Starscream's surprise he did run into the Vehicons typically populating the halls, nor were there any alarms going off. There was something very much wrong with this scene. Normally by now Soundwave would be alerting the entire ship that they had made a break for it; it was almost like the third in command was not paying attention, which that in itself was extraordinarily out of character for him. Realizing something was amuck, and possibly sensing a trap, the Seeker transformed and skid to a stop.

    Catching the two humans in his servos rather casually, he looked around the halls. He did not like what he was apparently not seeing, and the humans did not like how they were gracefully ejected from his cockpit.

    "Why did you stop?! What's going on?" Jack demanded, rather annoyed by the sudden, jerky movements. He was worried the Decepticon had decided to try and sell their lives to Megatron for another chance, which would not only make their escape completely null and void, but also impossible for a second try.

    "Something isn't quite right, fleshling," Starscream glared down at him, not appreciating the demanding tone of the lower life form. "We are not being attacked, there are no alarms, and the Vehicons are vacant from the halls. Where are they?"

    "Does it matter?" June frowned. "All the better for us to get -"

    She yelped as the Seeker suddenly moved, ducking into a room just as a patrol of Vehicons rounded the corner. Jack flinched on instinct as cold claws curled around him, though Starscream remained mindful of his two charges.

    "Did you, uh, hear something?"

    Obviously, the two organics had no idea what was being said, however Starscream tensed as the conversation between the foot soldiers - a pair - continued.

    "I didn't hear anything," there was a bang, "you need to get your audio receptors checked, SH0-V37; you keep hearing things ever since you were buried under some rubble. Must have a few extra dents in your helm."

    "I know I heard something!" The aforementioned Vehicon argued in return, annoyed. "It sounded femme."

    "We don't have any of those on our ship, not after lord Megatron got rid of that spider . . ."

    They remained quiet as the 'cons continued arguing down the hall. Starscream's beady optics focused on the doorway, fully expecting them to barge through and try to shoot him down. His defensive protocols were already flared up and his shielding on maximum strength, however the extra energon he burned through proved useless. The patrol went on without a hitch, and he silently counted to ten once the voices faded completely before shifting to dart back through the door.

    "Wait," Jack, who had taken notice of their surroundings, stopped him. "The relics are here."

    That piqued Starscream's attention, and with almost comical movement he spun back around, gazing at the softly glowing room in front of him. Indeed, the secured store of Decepticon-acquired relics - minus the Omega Keys of course - were laid out in front of them.

    "Hmm," the gears in the weasel's helm slowly turned. "We could perhaps use a couple of these to our advantage."

    Jack was relieved to hear the word we, though Starscream could have very well been talking to himself. Immediately the mech was drawn to the Phase Shifter, the smallest of the bunch and perhaps the most practical. With them was also the Forge of Solus Prime and the Resonance Blaster, Starscream well aware the Autobots possessed the Apex Armor and Spark Extractor, the former of which he had lost to that intolerable rookie.

    "We shouldn't linger," he decided after gazing at the Forge for a moment of contemplation. "The Forge is far too large for me to carry, and I am all but utterly shocked Soundwave has not attempted to stop us yet. I will take these, however."

His slender digits grabbed the Phase Shifter, and the Resonance Blaster, placing the latter in his subspace while he placed the Shifter onto his wrist.

"So, let us continue with our escape, yes?"

    Before Jack or June could ask him what was going on in his helm, he turned the Phase Shifter on, the two humans able to feel the slight tingle against their skin as its effects washed over them. Once again the Seeker did not keep things quiet, throwing his two humans in the air without a warning. June screamed as Jack cried out in fear, Starscream gracefully transforming around them and slamming them back in his plush seats. Ironically, the Decepticon had chosen a human-centric alternate mode, perfect to hold one, though two was a bit crowded.

    With a blast of his engines Starscream shot straight through the walls of the Nemesis, going so fast that the Vehicons they passed thought that they had to be hallucinating. Surely the prisoners had not somehow managed to escape . . .

    "Now, where to?" Starscream asked as he burst through the last of the Nemesis walls and coasted across the clouds, not caring to look back as the Decepticon warship slowly disappeared from view.

    "We need to figure out where we are first," June thought she was going to be motion sick, keeping her eyes closed. Puking inside of the Decepticon's cabin was a certain death sentence. "And from there we can give directions."

    The jet scoffed. "All I need are coordinates. Or at the very least a general location, if that is within your meager capabilities. My internal GPS has us placed within your Mexico country."

    "We have to get back to Jasper," Jack told his mother, not entirely worried about Starscream at the moment. There were at least a hundred Jaspers in the United States, if not the world. The maligner was intelligent, but not able to magically pick out locations. "I know the Autobots aren't there, but if we can get to their base . . ."

    "Megatron would have certainly infiltrated and taken it over by now," Starscream pointed out. "Might I suggest the Harbinger?"

    "Not with you alive," Jack tossed back to him. "He'll know where to look once he realizes we've escaped."

    "We can go to the new Autobot base," June said, gazing at her son, silently exchanging what they both knew: the base was in Area 51, however they did not trust Starscream enough just yet.

    "Not with him, not yet," Jack pointed out. "We should have the 'bots pick us up, so we can explain everything - and escort Starscream to the base. Maybe we can get back to Jasper and call the Autobots for pick-up. He can hide out somewhere while we figure things out."

    June looked reluctant. "I don't know if that is a good idea," she said slowly. "Megatron knows where our house is. If he wants to find us, he will."

    "Then we go to Miko's, or Raf's," Jack reasoned. "Regardless, Jasper is our best bet. At the very least, the 'bots will know where to look for us if they realize we've escaped."

    There was a pause and only the sound of the wind whipping across Starscream's cockpit as June thought, still uneasy. She did not like the idea of Megatron returning to their home to exact his revenge, however, now that she thought about it, they had not been stopped or chased out of the Nemesis. Everyone was . . . gone. An odd occurrence, but she hoped that meant the Decepticons had yet to notice they had escaped. If they still had time, then they could use the house phone, or her cell. She could not remember if she placed it on the charger or not.

    "We can try the house," she said hesitantly. "But only if it looks safe."

    Jack nodded. "Alright," he said. "Let's get to Jasper, Nevada."

⬵⤁

    The Autobots drove through the Groundbridge, and immediately transformed upon entering the Decepticon Spacebridge's lair. Their shields were instantly hit with red energon bolts, the Vehicons surrounding the massive bridge to protect it at all costs.

    "The portal is still open!" Optimus Prime shouted, using his one cannon to dispatch multiple drones. "Bumblebee, Bulkhead, we must get through if we have any chance of stopping Megatron!"

    Bumblebee whirred his understanding, the scout pressing ahead with Bulkhead, their leader picking off Vehicons and charging straight into battle.

    The Prime had become far too used to the feeling of his blade cutting through armor and wires, energon quickly coating the weapon as he shoved himself through droves of Vehicons. Orion Pax would have balked at the idea of violence, but now . . . Megatron had left him no choice.

    He kicked another Vehicon away as Bumblebee took care of the rest which remained in front of the portal, still more swarming in to overtake them from behind. It appeared as if the entire warship was guarding the Space Bridge.

    Bulkhead brought up the rear, his cannons firing away. "You both go!" He shouted. "I'll keep these 'cons from getting any closer!"

    "Bulkhead, we need every available resource-" Optimus began to argue.

    "I'll meet back up with ya when Jackie gets here!" Bulkhead promised. "But we can't keep going if we're getting shot in the back. Go!"

    The Prime acquiesced, though it was with reluctance. They could not afford to lose another comrade, however desperation was urging him to continue on. They could not afford to lose more men, but they could also not afford to lose Cybertron to the Decepticons. It would spell the end of their race.

Turning to Bumblebee he shared a nod with the scout, and together they ran into the Spacebridge portal, determined to face down Megatron and his followers.

    Bulkhead fired shot after shot, ignoring the feeling of his slowly depleting energon. When it got to the point where he knew he had to be careful he brought out his wrecking balls, shouting a war cry before smashing the Vehicons to bits. Energy crackled through his veins as he fought for his planet, his comrades, for Miko. The Wrecker was not graceful by any means, yet he could use his brute force to decimate the Vehicons which got in his way.

    His wrecking balls smashed into faces and dented chest armor, energon spattering against his wrecking ball, small drops scattered down his arms. Even as his muscle cables burned he roared a war cry, determined to continue fighting.

    The foot soldiers kept going, however, an endless supply seeming to stream into the Spacebridge control center. Bulkhead realized with a start that the cavern was dimming, turning his helm to see the portal was slowly closing. It made sense, as the portal required immense amounts of energon, and likely Soundwave had initiated its closing so no more Autobots could leak through. But Bulkhead had to rejoin Optimus and Bumblebee, even if it meant Wheeljack was unable to make it.

    Turning around he began to run, but his back to the Vehicons put him at a great disadvantage. His spinal plates were hit with a barrage of shots, his shields quickly dropping from full to low power just to preserve his internal energon supply. With each step his armor took a hit, and the Spacebridge portal began shrinking exponentially. All he had to do was make it through the entrance, and he would be on the other side -

    The Wrecker cried out as a shot to his leg finally crippled him, his shielding failing altogether and leaving him vulnerable. He looked up to see the green swirling portal blink out of existence, his blue optics all that glowed against the dark cavern walls.

    Hundreds of servos seemed to grab him, tearing into his wires and brutalizing the Autobot as he was punished for his crimes. Bulkhead grunted and snarled, trying to fight them off even as he was overwhelmed. The multiple servos turned him around, and though he thrashed to throw them off, he could never seem to push through. He felt the heat of a cannon against his helm, preparing to fire and end his existence.

    "Alright, alright! That is quite enough."

    The slow drawl drew the attention of the Vehicons away from their frenzy, bright red filling Bulkhead's view as Knock Out sauntered onto the scene. The medic's smooth digits were wrapped around the immobilizer, and he leaned against it like a staff. The beautiful mech sneered at Bulkhead, slamming the butt end of the immobilizer into his chest with surprising strength, pinning him to the floor. He leaned in close, almost too close, his smooth voice wafting towards the Wrecker like a perfume.

    "I remember, in his greatest time of need, you rescued Breakdown from a fate worse than death," Knock Out recalled, "so, Autobot, my gift to you: run along, back to your little base."

    As he said those words a Groundbridge opened up, the squeal of tires announcing Wheeljack's presence. The rogue Wrecker gave a shout as he transformed, unsheathing his katanas as he landed in a fight position amongst the sea of Vehicons, prepared to slaughter them.

    "Step away from Bulkhead, you egocentric 'con," he snarled.

    "Now, now," Knock Out stood, releasing the pressure from Bulkhead's chest and allowing him to rise. The Vehicons just stood, confused as to why their superior would order them to leave the Autobots alone. "I was merely returning a favor. I suggest you use your thick helms for once and take it."

    "I'm not going anywhere," Bulkhead curled his digits into fists. "Except with Optimus!"

    Much to their surprise Knock Out laughed, gazing at his digit tips. "That won't do you any good," he said, his intense red optics boring straight into Bulkhead's blue. "Optimus Prime is already dead."