Starscream strode down one of the many long corridors of the Nemesis, his skinny heels leaving an faint "tip tap" echo. He held his wings up proudly, and smirked. The vehicon guards stared at him as he passed, not daring to say anything in front of the easily-tempered seeker. As soon as he was out of sight, however, they bunched together and started snickering. Starscream could hear the snickers, and growled. 

"The troops are going to need a little discipline training after this." He snarled, and turned into the main room, optics widening at the sight of an unknown femme standing next to the warlord. 

"Master, who is that!" He squealed, aiming his missile at the femme. She turned, and smirked at the seeker. 

"So, this is the pathetic 2nd in command. Pft, I expected him to be bigger." Starscream growled, and lunged at the femme. She dodged, naturally, and sent the mech flying to the ground. Starscream looked up, startled, as Megatron stared down at him, smiling darkly. 

"Ah, Starscream, just in time to meet out new recruit, Darkshade."

"Pleasure." She held her servo out to help the seeker up. He slapped it away, and got up on his own, Darkshade shrugged and turned back to the warlord. 

"Master, w-when did this happen." Starscream gestured towards the femme. 

"Darkshade here, joined our ranks to get revenge on a certain doctor."

"Knockout?"

"Yes, you insolent fool!" Megatron snapped, causing the seeker to step back in fear. "The traitor who you failed to terminate."

"W..wait! You're giving her my  job?"

"I am, because I know Darkshade will not fail me." He sneered, and the femme smirked. "Now, escort my new apprentice to her berthroom, she will need to get accustomed."

"A..apprentice?!" Starscream growled and stared into the femmes ruby optics. She snarled, and he whimpered. 

"Pft, pathetic." She rolled her optics. Starscream snarled, his wings perking straight up in anger. 

"Why you little..."

"STARSCREAM!" The seeker backed up at the roar, then growled in defeat, and stormed out of the room, with Darkshade following close behind. As soon as they were out of Megatron's earshot, Starscream whirled and glowered at the smirking femme. 

"I don't know what you did to get on Megatron's good side, but I don't like it."

"Aww, don't worry, Screamer, I'll make sure to go more gentle on you next time." Darkshade cooed, then walked off without another word. 

"You don't even know where your berthroom is, fool!" Starscream yelled in one last attempt to one up her. 

"Megatron already showed me!" She called. "He just wanted an excuse for me to beat you!" 

Starscream growled again, his helm shaking. The attitude of the femme got on his bad side, and he certainly didn't like it. 

~~~

1 day. 

It's been 1 day without any sign of Nightstreak. 

1 day since Knockout's happiness had been taken away, and it was tearing him apart. 

He didn't speak, didn't eat, didn't recharge. His spark refused any of it, revolting at the thought of any nourishment. His optics, now a dark depressing blue, wouldn't stop leaking tears of coolant. He didn't care for his finish; it meant nothing now. He refused to see anybody, even Optimus. Locking himself in his berthroom, not even Ratchet's temper could get him out, no matter how much he fussed about taking care of any injuries. The darkness of the room did him well; any light hurt him, physically and emotionally. His faceplate was drawn into a frown, not forced, a sparkbroken one. He couldn't stop thinking about way she had looked at him, her optics full of betrayal, sadness, sparkbreak, and his own spark clenched at the thought, but he couldn't get rid of it. A knock at the door echoed through the room. Knockout groaned, but didn't get up. Whoever it was could just go away. Another knock, harder this time, went ignored. 

BANG BANG BANG!!

Knockout grew angry. Why couldn't whoever it was go away and just let him mourn in peace. 

"Knockout, I know you're there. Open this fragging door, before I kick it down myself." Knockout tensed slightly at the voice; he knew they weren't kidding about kicking the door down. Forcing the tears back, he got up, and unlocked the door, walking back to the bed immediately. The room slowly filled with light at the door slid open, and a shadow stood in it. 

"You ok?" Knockout didn't say anything, and listened as soft ped steps entered the room, and a servo was placed on his shoulder. He shook it off. 

"I just want to talk." The voice, despite the differences, reminded him of Nightstreak, and her once soft nature. Tears started pooling out again. He slowly turned his helm to face the femme standing there. 

"Knockout...I'm so sorry." Arcee whispered upon seeing the tears. Knockout nodded, and whipped the tears away. Arcee stepped in, and sat down on the berth next to him. She knew exactly what he was going through, the loss of a loved one, even if they're not really gone. They sat there, in silence, before she spoke again. 

"I thought you should have this." She handed him a metal disk with a button in the middle. Knockout gave her a glance, before pressing the button. A small holographic photo popped up. It was a class photo, a cybotronian coming-of (A graduation). It was a small class, filled with little smiling mechs and femmes. Knockout spotted a certain blue and pink femme in the front, with a giant grin. Arcee noticed.

"I was nine earth years old in that picture." She laughed slightly. "Academy class of 27-d." Knockout was slightly perplexed at the gift; why did she want him to have her picture. 

"As he scanned the rows of mechs and femmes, one femme caught his eye, standing behind Arcee. Blue armor, with purple and gold highlights. Familiar features and glowing blue optics. His spark stopped. 

"Is..is that.." He asked, his voice wobbling. 

"Nightstreak, I believe so." Knockout stared at the little femme. She was smiling, her optics so happy. She was giving Arcee devil horns with her fingers. Knockout let out a stilted laugh, a small one. 

"I knew her when I was little. She was always so happy, so light. One of the kindest femmes I had ever met, her laugh lit up the room. We would hang out often, practicing battle maneuvers, or just playing bots and cons. She was too kind for her own good." Arcee looked down, remembering the happy memories. 

"Do you know?" Knockout asked, and she gave him a perplexed look. 

"Know what?"

"She was neglected at home." Arcee stared at him with wide optics. "Her sire abused her carrier, then left her. They didn't feed her, love her."

"What?! I had no idea! She never showed any signs of being upset." Arcee's spark clenched. She had no idea her old friend had gone through such a horrible life. "One day, Nightstreak didn't show up to class. I thought she was ill, but she never showed up again." 

"Her home was destroyed, burnt down by Megatron's troops."

"I know, I went looking for her one day, and found her home in a pile of rubble. I...I thought she was dead." A single tear fell from the femme's optics. "Once the war started, I was so busy, I forgot all about her." Arcee continued. "Then one day, I saw the wanted poster. Breaking into an autobot base. I assumed...she had gone 'con. I severed all ties with her, I hated her, felt betrayed." 

"She tried to kill herself by launching herself into space." Knockout choked out. 

Arcee gasped, then fell silent. They stayed silent for another moment. 

"How'd you meet her?" Arcee asked suddenly. Knockout closed his optics, tears flowing. "Sorry, I shouldn't've asked. I'll leave now." She got up, but Knockout grabbed her servo. 

"It's ironic, really." He began as Arcee sat down. "You know that cave, where the explosion was?" Arcee nodded. "Apparently, it went farther back than we thought, into a secret place. I found her unconscious and injured there." Knockout laughed a little. "She was so scared of me at first, refusing to listen to reason, so stubborn. But, after an...incident, she began to trust me." Knockout paused, thinking back to when they had fallen into the pond, and the warm smile she had given him when she introduced herself. 

"Then what?"

"She talked, I listened. She told me about her painful past." Knockout's mind went back to the point when she was sobbing in his arms, and cried "I'm so alone!"  His spark broke all over again, and more tears started to form. 

"What happened? She was so happy when she got here." 

"She somehow found out I used to be a Decepticon." Arcee froze again, and guilt started to wash around her. Nightstreak had heard her, and her rant. Her spark started beating quicker and quicker, realizing that this was her fault. Tears started sliding down her faceplate. She was the reason, the reason Nightstreak had turned bad, been captured, Knockout would be happy if it wasn't for her, and the sobs that now came out of him wouldn't exist. 

"Hey, hey, I promise, we'll get her back."Arcee comforted, before standing up and walking out, leaving the red mech to sob alone, again, thinking about the femme who had stolen his spark, then crushed it. As Arcee walked towards the berthroom, her spark throbbed. Anger filled her, and she started shaking. It was her fault, all her fault. She clenched her servo into a fist, and banged it against the wall. She had made things wrong, and she was going to make them right. The faint beeping of a relic signal echoed down the hall. Arcee walked into the main room, her optics widening to find Knockout there, clearly slightly recovered from the spark break. She could still see the pain in his face. Optimus, being carried by Bumblebee, Bulkhead and Smokescreen were gathered around the monitor. 

"Another relic?" Arcee asked. 

"Indeed." The monitor started beeping again, and a purple blimp appeared, moving closer to the relic. 

"Decepticons attempting to get the relic, no doubt." Ratchet muttered, and activated the ground bridge for the coordinates, not needing the prime's words to read his mind. 

"I'll go." Arcee volunteered, and Optimus nodded. Bumblebee beeped, offering to go. 

"I'll go too." Everybody turned to stare at Knockout. 

"Knockout, awe you sure?"Optimus asked. "You have been thwough a lot."

"A little sparkbreak wont keep me stuck inside forever." He muttered, and stepped through the portal without another word. Arcee shrugged, and went after him, followed by Bumblebee. They stepped into a grove of trees, light barely filtering through. Bumblebee checked the relic tracker, and pointed in the right direction. As they walked in complete awkward silence, Knockout couldn't help but feel a sense of Deja-vu. Like, he had been here recently. As he continued to think, he ran into Bumblebee, who had stopped. 

"Woah, what the..." Knockout felt sick when he realized where they were. The rock face, and the mossy cave. 

"The cave? Again?" Arcee remarked, then shrugged and stepped in through the moss, Bumblebee following. Knockout stood there, frozen. No, not this place, not again. 

"Knockout?" Arcee poked her head through the moss. "Are you sure you want to come. I mean, I know this the place where..."

"Yeah, yeah, less talking, more walking." He interrupted, and stepped into the cave, acting as if nothing had happened. 

"Here again?" Bumblebee chirped, clearly annoyed. "I feel like once is more than enough, I'm getting a serious sense of Deja-Vu. "

"Bumblebee, when did you come here a second time? " Arcee asked.

" When I came looking for...him. " Bumblebee hissed, jabbing his finger back at the cherry mech. Arcee glared at him, then flicked him. 

Hard. 

"Oww!" Bee exclaimed, a little too loud. Knockout snapped his head up, and gave Bee a confused look. Bee looked away quickly, not looking where he stepped, and tripped down on something. 

"Oof, ow!" Bumblebee looked around, and noticed what he had tripped on, and gagged. 

"Egh, Eww!" Arcee stared at the body-less 'Con head, sitting in a puddle of crystalized energon. Knockout stared at the head, emotionless with no reaction. He shrugged, then proceeded to walk across the room, avoiding the parts so effortlessly, as if he had been doing it for years. Arcee and Bumblebee followed, struggling more, wobbling around, trying their absolute best not to touch the crystalized energon or scarred body parts. Once across, Knockout didn't hesitate in squeezing through the rocky passageway. Arcee stared with widened optics as he disappeared through the shadows; she knew it was there, but she had never seen it, and it still surprised her. Bumblebee followed, squeezing through with ease. Arcee could hear metal scraping, and Bumblebee beeping in annoyance. Staring into the murky damp darkness, she felt a rare emotion she had hardly ever felt. 

Fear. 

"Well, you coming or what?" Knockout's voice echoed through the black, startling her. Taking a deep shaky breath, she turned on her side, and stepped in. Being mush smaller than the others, it was easy for her to go through, and she was able to walk easily. Near the end, however, she felt her foot slip into a hidden pot hole at the bottom, and made a mental note to watch out for it later. As she finally stepped into the light, she noticed Knockout and Bumblebee, frozen, staring at something. Knockout had tears streaming down his face. 

"What are you..." Arcee froze also, and fear was struck into her spark, as she spotted it. 

"Why, hello there! What a nice surprise seeing you here." Darkshade turned around, and smiled an evil smirk that mimicked that of Megatron's . And in her servos, she held...the relic. 

~~~

So sorry I haven't uploaded in a while. 

I've been busy, but I'm back!

And it's Friday!!!

Thank you for all the support!

I appreciate it a lot!

:-)

-Star-