The look on Drift's face said it all. He seemed conflicted, almost scared even. He exchanged glances between Ratchet and Hina before stepping away from the femme, and moving away from her touch. From his body language, Hina could speculated that he was reluctant to do so. 

The samurai shut his optics, shaking his helm before facing the pair. "I like this. I like being out here doing this. This is my path, and I'm staying here until I clear this entire sector of every rogue Decepticon there is," 

A dark cackle erupted in the group's audio receptors as they looked over at the cage, one of the three Decepticons laughing while the other two sat in separate corners. He had a yellow helm and chest plating with a orange faceplate, red optics, purple arms and legs with the Decepticon logo embedded on his belly. "Yeah, good luck with that," 

Drift immediately turned his helm to face the Decepticon, glaring in his direction. "What are you talking about?" 

"Decepticons, way more than you can deal with, Knives," The Con smirked as the Samurai stalked towards the cage. 

"Where?" Drift demanded, pointing a metal digit at the mech. 

"Drop dead," He replied. 

Hina scoffed in frustration at the event unfolding. If this kept up, Drift was going to get nowhere fast. Ratchet seemed to be thinking the same thing, as the medic walked up beside Drift, signalling him to calm down before looking over at the Decepticon. 

"What if we take you back to Cybertron?" He bargained. 

"They're not going back!" Drift barked. 

"You want the information and they don't want to be here," Ratchet explained. "It's simple," 

A grin formed on Hina's lips as she crossed her arms, leaning back against a wall. Now she was starting to get it. The sooner we find the remaining Decepticons, the sooner we can help get Drift fixed up and take him back home. 

"Tell us what we want to know and we'll take you back, no G.C." Ratchet persuaded. 

"Ratchet. . ." Drift muttered with frustration, his dentas showing. 

"Drift," Hina rose her voice, placing a steady servo on his shoulder to hold him back. "Trust me, and trust him. Don't do something that you may regret," 

"So I tell you what you wanna know and you get us outta here? I have your word?" The Decepticon asked. 

"You do," Ratchet confirmed. 

"Well then, all three of you can drop dead," He spat. 

"Excuse you?!" Hina hissed, servos on her hips with a glare. 

"I'm a Decepticon. I am strong, and I am powerful. Torture me, lock me up. . . I don't care! You can make me stew in a Galactic Council prison for a million years and I ain't ever gonna rat!" The Decepticon roared, holding a tight grip on the bars of the cell. 

Before Hina could try to retaliate, loud bounding spooked her as the other two Decepticons suddenly came running up to the bars, shoving their partner out of the way. They appeared to be twins. Both had yellow plated armour with green servos, white faceplates with guards over their mouths, a green Mohawk like horn on their helms and red optics. 

"I'll rat! Can I rat?" The Decepticon to the left pleaded. 

"Me too! I'll rat as well, please!" The Decepticon to the right begged. 

"What?!" The middle Decepticon shrieked, feeling betrayed by this companions. 

"Do you know what he's talking about?" Ratchet questioned. 

"Yes--," The right Decepticon nodded. 

"No!" His partner shouted. 

"There's a hideout, a Decepticon hideout---" The right twin began. 

"Shut up!" his partner roared as he grabbed at his throat and began choking the mech to try and silence him. 

"You know where it is?" Ratchet asked. 

"Can you take us there?" Hina quickly added. 

Drift immediately seemed to take offense somehow as he jumped back, looking over at the femme in pure shock. "Hina?!" 

"What?" The femme gasped as she shrugged at the mech. "I think it's a win-win!"

"So, can you take us there?" Ratchet repeated the question, looking over at the pleading Decepticon who was now getting choked by his partner. 

"Y--y-y-y-es," he spat. 

"Ugh!" The leading Decepticon growled in frustration, releasing the beggar from the choke hold, storming to sit in a corner. 

The medic and femme watched the Decepticon let out his tantrum for a moment before returning their gaze back to Drift. Ratchet smirked, seeming proud of the outcome. "Problem solved,"

"Not problem solved," Drift quickly jumped in. 

"Look, you're the one that wants to hunt down Decepticons. They know something, maybe something big," Ratchet persuaded. "We go there, all three of us, and we scout it out. If it's too big for us we get help," 

"Well, Drift?" Hina questioned, servos on her hips as her voice sound hopeful. 

The samurai stepped off to the side, servos on his hips as well with his helm lowered deep in thought. 

"Let us help you," The femme went on. "You don't have to do this alone," 

"You want to make a difference right?" Ratchet added, raising an optic ridge at the mech. 

After a few moments longer, Drift exhaled as his shoulders relaxed with a slouch, rubbing his forehead with his servo. "Alright, fine. . ." 

"That settles it then," Ratchet smiled. "We'll take my shuttle and--"

"We'll take my shuttle," Drift corrected. 

"Your shuttle is--"

"I like my shuttle," Drift interrupted. 

Ratchet rose his servos in defense. "Okay, okay! Your shuttle it is then," 

"We scout around, take a look, and then you two leave," Drift ordered. 

"One thing at a time," Ratchet cautioned. 

Hina sighed, watching the pair conversation with one another as they mapped out a game plan. It was a start at least, but the femme could still sense that Drift wasn't exactly liking the situation that he was in. Something was bothering him, as if he was trying to hide something. 

One way or another, Hina was going to find out what it was. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but one day she will. 

*******

Drift's shuttle was definitely more spacious than Ratchet's shuttle. There was more space in the cockpit, and there was a ladder that led up to a secondary floor where the habitation suite was located. Hina hung out with Drift and Ratchet in the cockpit as the pair steered the shuttle before heading up half way through the trip to take a nap. 

It had been a while since Hina's last space adventure, but she didn't remember it being so mentally exhausting. 

Once her helm hit the berth, she was out like a light, slumbering away as she waited for the moment to arrive when the mechs would find the Decepticon hideout. It shouldn't be that long right? It was supposed to be somewhere in this sector of the galaxy. 

"Well, well, well,"

Hina's optics shot open as she sat up, finding herself sitting on the cold white floor. The area around her was surrounded by darkness.  A single spotlight shined on her frame. She was back in the dark void. The nightmare. 

"No. . ." she quietly whimpered. "Not now,"

A slow clap caught her attention as Lockdown stepped into the spotlight, a smug grin on his faceplate as his body was still broken and frail as ever.   

"So you finally found him," he spoke. "And it only took the good doctor to actually drag your aft off of that hospital of a planet to do so," 

"Hey!" She growled, standing up on her pedes as she glared at the spirit. "It's nothing like that!" 

"You just keep telling yourself that," Lockdown chuckled darkly as he once again began his rounds. 

"Optimus Prime and Elita offered to make me in and help me recover," Hina stated. "If anything, they helped me get better, not keeping me locked up like I was some sort of mental patient!" 

Lockdown scoffed at her words, rolling his optics. "And about Driftlock?"

"What about, Drift?" Hina emphasized with a growl. 

"You thought that once the two of you would be reunited, everything would be back to normal! But it wasn't! You saw the look on his face," he went on, steering closer towards the femme. "It was as if he didn't even want you there,"

Hina's optics widened as she recalled the memory. He had been acting strangely since they first regrouped. Hardly looking at her in the optics unless she gently forced his attention, trying to dismiss the idea of her tagging along on his Decepticon hunt. . . 

"Aaaah," Lockdown relished with a grin as his frail'd fingers cupped the femme's chin, forcing her to look up at him. "Now you're getting it. Admit it, he was unhappy to see you,"

Hina shoved the mech away with a hiss, turning her back on him. "No, it's not true!" She lifted her servo, placing it over her chest plate as she could feel the vibrations of her spark beating. "He was happy to see me, I could sense in my spark through our bond,"  

"You did hear him, didn't you? How he went on that he was happy where he was? Saving people?" Lockdown reminded as he stalked back towards her. "He'd rather be doing that now than be with you for the rest of his life! For a while he was finally enjoying himself until you showed up and put it to a halt!"

"No, you're lying," Hina snarled, trying to contain her boiling anger as her servos clutched into fists. She was so upset, she swore the tips of her digits were digging into her servos. 

"Admit it!" The bounty hunter yelled as he grabbed her shoulders and spun her around to face him. "He's moved on--!"

"SHUT UP!" Hina screamed. 

Enough was enough. Flexing her digits out, Hina materialized her metal bo-staff as she kicked the mech in the stomach to push him away from her. When he was valunerable, she charged straight for him and with a heavy thrust--! CLASH! Her bo-staff pierced a hole right through Lockdown's neck. 

She glared daggers into his optics, and if it weren't for the fact that this was Lockdown's spirit and if he were still alive in this moment, he'd already be dead at this point. 

"I've had enough of your lies! Nothing you say will make me change the way I feel about him!" she yelped. 

Energon seeped down along Lockdown's body from his wound and with his last few words, he let out a dark chuckle, "I welcome a challenge,"

The femme raised an optic ridge at the mech, but not before his optics rolled back into his helm and his entire head snapped off from his body, smashing to the floor. It startled Hina as she removed her weapon from the wound as Lockdown's body collapsed to the floor before her, a pool of energon leaking around it as if it were the ocean and his body were an island. 

His laugh filled the air once more as the light shrank around her, and as a scream escaped her lips, everything blacked out. 

*******

"STAY BACK!"

Hina's optics shot up as she sat up in the berth of the habitation suite. She was back aboard Drift's shuttle. There was no sign of Lockdown's spirit anywhere. She sighed in relief, glad that the nightmare was finally over. The femme felt a tiny pulse in her spark, a surge of warmth. 

Drift. . . 

Even if he may seem out of it about something, he still seems to push a side time to calm her. She smiled at the thought. Perhaps it's time she checked on him and the doctor. 

Hina was about to move when she felt something in her left servo. She looked down towards it and gasped at the sight, nearly jumping in place she was so startled. Her bo-staff had materialized in her sleep! 

"Okay, this is starting to really freak me out. . ." she mumbled to herself with worry. 

She couldn't focus on it anymore as the ship suddenly rocked, shaking her body. Once she regained her momentum, Hina retraced her weapon as she left the habitation suite, climbing down the latter and entered the cockpit. 

"What's happening?" She questioned as she neared the two pilots. 

"Not getting much of a readout from the planet," Drift explained who sat to her left. 

Hina glanced up, looking through the giant window to see the view of the planet that was before them. It kind of reminded her a bit of Mars from her solar system. 

"That's because half of your ships sensors aren't working," Ratchet quickly added with a huff. "Seriously, what happened to all of this?" 

"Adventures happened, okay?" Drift answered, seeming a tad annoyed. "Amazing adventures happened to it. . ."

Hina sulked at the mech. It still seemed as if he didn't want to talk about what's eating away at him. Drift reached over to a console that was placed in front of the femme, pressing a button as a holographic display of the planet materialized in front of them. 

"The light readings are coming from over here," he spoke, pointing at a certain sector of the planet. "Not much in the way of tech," 

"If there's something there, it's not big," Ratchet hypothesized. 

"Maybe it's underground?" Hina suggested. "This wouldn't be the first time Decepticons had a underground hideout," 

Drift nodded in agreement. "Let's get a little closer, and set down. We'll scout out for a visual,"

Drift turned his full attention to the ships steering controls as he hovered the ship closer towards the planet. However, either we could hit with something really huge, or entered the planets atmosphere and pulled in with its gravity, because we began plummeting down towards the planet's surface!! 

Lights flashed blaring red all around us as alarms blared in our audio receptors. Even one of the computer consoles exploded. 

"What's happening?!" Ratchet shouted. 

"Something big!" Drift hollered.  

Hina clutched to the back of Drift's chair for dear life, watching through the glass with a shaky perspective as the ship breezed through the planet sky's clouds and the surface could be seen getting closer and closer towards them. The ship was suddenly it on its side. A missile? Another gravitational pull? The femme didn't know, but the force was enough to thrust her down to the floor, hitting her helm upon impact. 

"OW!" she screamed.

"Hina--!" Drift reached out, just grabbing her wrist as he pulled with all of his might, moving aside slightly as he placed Hina in his seat before wrapping his arms around her and the chair tightly, using his body as her shield. 

"Brace for impact!" Ratchet shouted. 

Hina could feel the force of the crash, and upon impact, she screamed, her arms wrapping themselves around Drift's own body on impulse as she held on to him as tightly as she could. She could feel both of their sparks pulse through their bond. She was terrified. Drift was terrified. 

The ship finally came to a stop, and through the cracked glass and electrical sparks of destroyed and malfunctioning ship parts, Hina could see giant rocks and boulders surrounding them. "Is everyone alright?"

Drift relaxed his hold on her ever so slightly, checking firs to make sure Hina was unharmed before checking on Ratchet and scanning the ship. 

"We need to get out," he hissed, shaking his helm. 

"But the cell--" Ratchet protested. 

"Don't worry about that, get out!" Drift ordered with a shout. 

The trio climbed through the debris, making their way to the back of the ship as Ratchet kicked the door down. Hina glanced over to the side, seeing the arrested Decepticon behind them. It appeared that the cage door broke free upon the impact, however his two partners weren't as lucky as they were when it came to surviving a space shuttle crash. Everyone else made it off the ship in one piece, and just before Hina could vent a sigh of relief---

"Decepticons!" Ratchet barked, pointing up at the top of a cliff. 

Everyone looked up to see a entire squad of Decepticon soldiers. The leader of the group, a dark blue mech with red optics and black horns in his helm, fired a rocket launcher towards them. 

"Run!" Hina screamed. 

The four of them ran a couple steps forward before the missile struck the ship, exploding it on contact. The force of the blast pushed the group forward, sending them flying before toppling to the ground. Drift was the first to shake it off, as he looked over to see Hina and Ratchet struggling a little bit. He squired over towards them, grabbing each by the arm and lifting them up to their pedes. 

"Up, come on!" He yelled through the sounds of the explosion. 

He directed the pair of a small cliff, pulling them both up to a ledge to avoid the smoke clouds as he kept Hina closest, an arm around her shoulders as he hugged her close to his chest, the three of them watching the ship as it went up in flames. 

"You okay?" He asked, looking over at her. 

Hina met the mech's face and for the first time since they were reunited, Hina felt as if Drift were acting like his true self again. The femme nodded her head with a smile and as she spoke, Drift shifted his helm forehead, pressing his forehead against her own. "I'm okay, thanks to you," 

"I'm glad," he spoke with relief, sending her a comforting pulse through their bond before pulling away again. 

"Light readings?" Ratchet mocked. 

"You know, you shouldn't live in the past. There is only the true moment in which we're currently living," Drift lectured. 

"You talk like that to deliberately annoy me, don't you?" Ratchet pouted with a side glare. 

"Pretty much," Drift replied with a slight tease to his voice. 

Hina smiled at the pair, happy to see that the two of them seemed to finally be getting along with each other. Other than bickering with one another of course. After admiring the scene, the femme scanned the ledge and realized something. They were one Cybertronian short. 

"Uh, guys?" She spoke up, gaining the mechs attention. "Where's our captive Decepticon?"

The three of them looked around, and it wasn't until they heard a scream did they look down near the ship wreck to see their convict surrounded by the Decepticon squad that shot down the shuttle.