Baylee was quiet as she walked back to the hospital and thought about what to do for her family and friends. She sighed as she looked around the busy street and waited for the crosswalk light. She glanced at something that fell on the ground by her feet and she furrowed her brow as she stared at the paper that was folded once. She saw a few names crossed out and one with a question mark. She looked to the man beside her but he didn't seem to notice, she then bent down and picked it up to give it to him. It wasn't her business anyway.

"Excuse me sir you dropped..." She froze as she caught a few more names on the list just as the walk light turned on. She recognized some of the names on it and she paled a little before realizing the man had looked at her.

"Ah thank you." He said and plucked it out of her hand as he smiled. "My you are a pretty girl." He purred and another man standing on his other side gripped his arm. This other man was blind and had a walking stick.

"Leave the child alone." He muttered before they headed down the walk way to cross the street. Baylee just stared as people walked passed her to get to the other side of the road. She paled more as she realized she knew who the blind man was. Kaon.

She knew him from when she was little and they were talking to her father. She looked around but didn't see anyone else from their group. She turned and quickly walked back to the police station as she memorized the names over and over in her head. She then broke into a run as she felt panic for these people. There were more names on the list but she didn't know who they were and she mentally kicked herself for not grabbing the list. She should have taken it and ran, but hopefully this would help them stop the cons from killing anyone else. She went back to the station and ran up to the desk but the receptionist was on the phone.

"I have to talk to Rodimus." Baylee said urgently and the woman gave her an annoyed look then held up a finger telling her to wait. "This is extremely important." The girl insisted and glance to the door, worried someone might have followed her. "Please! This is-" She looked over and saw Rodimus walking off with Chase as they spoke. She bolted to the cops and the receptionist yelled at her to come back. She quickly called security as they young woman ran towards the men.

"Rodi! Chase!" She called as some officers tried to stop her, thinking she was going to hurt the others. Rodimus whipped around as he heard the commotion and Chase stepped in front of him as he took in the situation.

"Stop!" The chief boomed and narrowed his eyes as the cops stopped and she did just a few feet in front of him as she panted.

"The... DJD... list..." She panted from running all over the place in a short amount for time. He furrowed his brow and gripped her shoulders. "I saw... Kaon... saw... the list... Steve... Soundwave... Cody..." she panted. "More... didn't see..." she gasped.

"Wait... you saw the victims? How did-" he shook his head and looked around before barking orders for someone to take note.

"Rodimus, we can use this to capture them. They don't know we know, yet." Chase said seriously as they started writing the names she already said.

"Only problem is who their next target actually is or how many are in between each name." The cop said as he looked at them. "We need to get teams formed and protect the targets, then ambush the DJD when they come." He ordered.

"Get Bee's team to protect Steve and Cody." Rodimus said seriously then looked at Chase. "Can the rescue team protect Soundwave?" he asked. The cop nodded slowly and they headed out as Rodimus tried to help Baylee remember who else was on the list. They had to hurry before anyone else was killed.

~

Megatron watched as Beta did her best to make Blitzwing comfortable, even though nothing seemed to help him. The ex-con walked over and gently brushed some hair out of his face as he grunted in pain. Beta hummed a little to sooth him as his father paced nervously. He wanted to take him home so he'd be safe, but knew he couldn't. He also didn't want to stay and risk him or Beta being identified then harmed. He sighed forcefully and leaned against the wall as he worried. He heard someone walk into the room and glanced at the doorway he was next to. He froze as he recognized Knockout.

Thankfully the doctor was reading something as he walked in, then over to the bed. Megatron slipped out and quickly went down the hallway as he listened to the doctor talk to Beta. The ex-mafia leader calmed down as he wandered the halls to get away from people that might recognize him. He looked behind him then grunted as he turned the corner and ran into someone.

"I apologize." Optimus said as he crouched down to pick up something he dropped. "I forget things and space out." he chuckled sadly. Megatron was tempted to just keep walking but decided to help his friend as he struggled to pick things up.

"Don't apologize." he muttered trying to disguise his voice as he crouched by him. "Did you raid the vending machine?" he asked as he looked at the goodies.

"Indeed I have." The man said as he smiled a little. "They are for my grandchildren and some other sad looking children I saw on my way." he furrowed his brow at the thought. He paused and fell still for a moment as he drifted off. He swayed and Megatron dropped what he picked up then quickly gripped his shoulders.

"Careful Optimus." he muttered then froze as he realized he said the man's name. He looked at his friend as he realized how thin he had become since the last time he saw him. The man stared at him and frowned a little. "Do you know where you are and why?" he asked seriously.

"Yes... I'm at the hospital visiting Ratchet and I went to get some things for the children...." he trailed off as he stared at him. "Do I know you?" He asked as his friend carefully helped him up then steadied him.

"Er, no I don't think so. I was just helping you after I ran into you." He said and handed him his items. The old cop narrowed his eyes and put the treats in his pocket then gripped the ex cons arm as he tried to walk passed. Despite being a little thinner, he was still surprisingly strong.

Optimus stared at him for a while as if looking into his soul. Megatron silently cursed himself for not being able to look away. He tried as hard as he could but his friend had a way of keeping eye contact with someone. The cops mind flashed back to when he was fighting the mafia leader, then to when he shot his son. He remembered the man's evil smile and the sinister glint of glee in his eye as his son fell. He focused again on the man in front of him, but realized those same eyes held sadness and regret. The man that killed his wife was still alive and standing in front of him.  Optimus' eyes widened suddenly and he felt as though he couldn't breath as he shook his head in shock.

"Megatron..." he rasped and the mafia leader looked away quickly as he felt the man's grip shake. He hadn't wanted him to ever find out.

"Optimus... forget you saw me... I'm dead..." he muttered as he glanced around a little. "I'm just a hallucination." He smiled sadly and his friend seemed confused for a moment as he shook his head. "You have episodes right?" he said as the man let go. "This isn't real... I don't exist." he whispered as tears filled his eyes.

Optimus shook his head and gripped it as he fought his emotions of rage and pain from the past. The ex-con took the opportunity to slip away, leaving the man confused and questioning himself. He felt bad about it, but knew he'd never be able to handle the news of him being alive. Megatron was truly alone.

He hung his head and kept walking around the hospital. He ignored everyone as he wandered but paused as he heard a familiar voice. He furrowed his brow and peeked into the room to see the nurse that took care of Optimus. He remembered seeing her on his visits and he was surprised to see Steve. The man looked horrible and was alone as he spoke to the sleeping woman. He could tell she was in a coma by the equipment around her.

"Steve?" he asked as he stood in the doorway. The young man frowned and looked at him as he stared blankly for a moment. He seemed confused as he swayed unsteadily. Megatron took pity on his former employee and walked over then sat by him. "Steve... what happened to you?" he asked remembering how the children liked to play with the man because he was always so cheerful. 'The Happy Decepticon' as his men called him. 

"I... I... know her... s-s-s-she's my... sister..." he said as he watched the strange man suspiciously, as if he'd hurt her. He glared a little and gripped her hand. Megatron gently set a hand on his shoulder but didn't say anything. Wanting him to know he was alright. Steve relaxed after a few minutes then let go as he looked around. He seemed to constantly be shaking as if his brain couldn't keep him steady.

"Steve... what... happened to you?" he asked again and the man looked at him as he thought about his question. He tapped the scar on his head and Megatron recognized it as a bullet wound. "Who shot you?" he asked. He only cared about the man because he had kept his children happy and safe from the other members of the mafia.

"A-a-a-a bad... man... hurt... A-A-Andi..." he stuttered and looked to his sister again. His expression became sad and he looked at his hands. He gripped his hands together and seemed frustrated with himself. "N-n-need to... be n-n-normal... for... w-w-when... s-s-she... w-w-wakes." he muttered as he tried to get his hands to stop. Megatron gently set his hand over his and looked at him.

"Let me help you, Steve... it's the least I can do..." he mumbled and looked at the young woman. He felt he had to do some good in this world, to make up for all the horrible things he did. He had to.

~

Knockout sighed as he wandered off to find Steve and go home for the day. He only brought the man because he insisted and wanted to help his sister wake. The doctor was tired of taking care of him to be honest. He had too many issues and needed to be elsewhere, where someone could properly help him. He shook his head and looked at his clipboard before someone grabbed his arm. He blinked in surprise and glanced at the person to see Piper as she grinned.

"Where have you been? I've missed you. Are you avoiding me?" She teased and kissed his cheek. He frowned and looked back at his paper. "Knocks? What's wrong? You've grown... distant." she said.

"I've been busy." he said seriously as he did his best to ignore her and tried to continue on his way. She frowned a little and turned him so he was looking at her again.

"You've been avoiding me ever since you found out who my dad is." She said as she gripped his face and looked at him. "Are you scared of my dad?" she teased making him frown again and he pulled her hands away. Her smile faded as she saw guilt in his eyes. "Knocks-"

"I'm seeing someone else." he admitted and looked off to the side as she just stared at him. Tears filled her eyes and she shook her head a little as he stared at his clipboard again to avoid looking at her.

"Oh... okay..." She whispered trying to be okay with it as her heart broke inside her. She looked down a little as she thought about his words. She should have know. She wasn't good enough for him despite how hard she tried to be and make him happy. Obviously she failed at that.

"Can... I ask... who?" she said just wanting to know. He tensed then glared at her making her look at the floor again. He sighed and turned to leave again then stopped as he thought about it for a moment.

"Airachnid..." He admitted and she looked at him in shock. "It's over between us Piper. I need someone... more mature." he muttered and glanced at her from over his shoulder. "I wasn't sure how to tell you. But now you know... if you excuse me I have some people to take care of." he mumbled then walked off.

Piper stared after him as tears fell down her face then she covered her mouth and quickly walked off in the other direction. She sobbed silently as she went to the waiting room to be alone. She hugged herself as she cried and wished her brother or father was there so she could hug them. She had just wanted some comfort after all this happened. Just wanted someone to help her as she tried to keep it together. The young girl didn't know why she wasn't good enough for Knockout or what she did wrong. All she knew, was Airachnid was better than her and she was nothing. Maybe if she was more like her, Knockout would love her again.

~

A week earlier.

Soundwave glanced at the boy who had fallen asleep on the couch and smiled a little before going back to cleaning the black kitten he had found. It was so small and frail as it meowed weakly. Laserbeak cawed angrily as she pecked at the cage she was in.

"No. You scared off the last cat I found." He glared at her as Jim walked in. "You got in a fight with it and somehow won, then it ran off and I haven't seen it since." He huffed angrily at the bird. "You're in a time out. Still." he muttered. The bird puffed out it's chest with pride and her master grumbled as it tended to the kitten he found that morning.

"Where did you find this one?" Jim sighed as he looked at the weak thing. He figured it was six months old considering it's size.

"I went for a walk in the woods today as I thought about a few things. I saw it on the bank at the bottom of a waterfall. It was still alive so I brought it home. I'm going to take it to a vet soon but I needed to make sure it was alright." He explained as he carefully washed the gunk off the kitten.

"Did you see it's mother anywhere?" Jim asked as he walked over with some milk. The young man shook his head as Jim found a feeding syringe they used for Laserbeak when she was sick. He cleaned it then filled it with milk for the kitten.

"I waited around out of sight but didn't see anything. I got worried and decided to bring it home." He smiled a little as Jim fed the small creature. Soundwave handed it off as it meowed a few times then went to call the vet. Jim spoke gently to the kitten as he fed it and worked on cleaning it afterwards. The kitten started calling for its mom and tried to swim in the shallow water, but it's back legs didn't seem to work that well.

"It's possibly because of his size and.... disability... that the mother rejected it." Jim sighed sadly as he finished cleaning the kitten.

"Yes... I was afraid that... he was left to die..." Soundwave muttered as he listened to the phone ring then spoke to the people. Jim paused as he cleaned the black kitten then furrowed his brow a little.

"Um... how old did you say this... 'kitten' was?" Jim asked as he stared at the small creature and frowned.

"I guessed it was nearing being... what's considered a teen cat, but still a baby." Soundwave said as he glanced at him. "Possibly, just under being winged. Why?" he asked as the vet put him on hold.

"I'm no expert but this doesn't look like any cat I know." Jim muttered and the young man walked over. He stared at the kitten then at it's black fur and dark spots.

"Jim... that's a... panther cub." Soundwave said slowly and looked at the muddy water that once hid the creature's identity. "That's a... panther..." he whispered as the cub meowed and tried to swim around.

"I'm not the one that brought it home." The older man pointed out and looked at him. "We have to notify the zoo." he said and let him take over as he went to make a call on his phone. Soundwave held the kitten and stroked it after he wrapped it up in a small towel to dry him off. He stared at its bright blue eyes as it purred and licked his hand while he comforted the small cub.

"Actually... I was thinking that maybe we... we should keep him." Soundwave said as he looked at Jim and smiled a little.

"What? No no no no. We aren't keeping a wild animal in the city." He said seriously and furrowed his brow.

"I'll take care of him." He promised as Frenzy started to wake. "I already take care of Laserbeak and have a license to do so. She's considered an 'exotic bird'." He pointed out and the said animal puffed her chest out with pride again. "So I can just do the same with this little guy." He smiled as he looked at it.

"Soundwave... he can't be in the city. Especially, when he gets bigger and harder to manage in an apartment." He said as the zoo answered. He paid attention to them and talked about what they needed to do. Then asked about caring for the cub, out of curiosity. The person on the phone was quiet for a few minutes then told them what they needed to do, but asked that they bring it in first to have it looked at. Jim thanked them then looked at Soundwave before telling him. He grinned and went back to petting the little cub.

"What are we keeping?" Frenzy asked as he walked over and rubbed his eyes. He saw the kitten and smiled brightly then ran over and looked at it. "Aw he's so adorable. I'll name him... Ravage." he grinned and Jim smiled a little before going to get some things before they had to leave.

"Once you name it, you get attached to it." The old man said as he walked back into the room and grabbed his keys. Soundwave chuckled and let the bird go before they headed out to the zoo.

Frenzy was thrilled and wandered around as he begged them to let him see the animals. Jim promised they could when they finished talking to the zoo keepers and getting the little cub checked out. They went to the building the person on the phone asked them to stop by, then went in and had the cub checked out. The little thing kept calling for his mother and would only calm when Soundwave was holding him. The zoo keeper gave him a full bill of health as she held the cub.

"We had a pregnant black panther escape a few months back, and unfortunately found her body a few days ago. Thankfully we found her cubs in time and brought them here. I'm guessing this little guy got separated from them during the chaos. We know you want to keep him, but we want to be able to give him a chance to grow up with his siblings." She said and they followed her to the other pen with the five other cubs.

"We were worried because he can't seem to walk and wanted to try and help him. I figured he got rejected because he's so small and he's disabled." Jim said as he watched the little cub. The zoo keeper insisted that they try and have him interact with his family before just giving him away. She then carefully went into the sanctuary and set him down before going back and waiting as the cubs stared.

Ravage looked around then started calling for his mom as he tried to walk. but his back legs didn't want to move. He kept falling on his face and crying for her to come back. The cubs watched him then walked over and sniffed at their little brother before a few hissed, remembering he had been rejected. He whined in response and licked their faces when they got close. Trying to let them know he was okay.

The zookeeper seemed pleased and left the room as the two men spoke with her. She told them the cub would be fine here and asked them to sign some things. Jim was a little sad they had to give him up and talked to Soundwave for a moment. Frenzy watched the cubs as they sniffed the smallest then hissed as the oldest walked over. It stared at the runt then hissed before scratching him. Ravage whimpered and tried to stand on his own before falling over. Frenzy looked at Soundwave then back as he heard the cats fighting. His eyes widened in horror as he went to the door then tried to get in.

"They're hurting Ravage!" He shouted as tears fell down his face. The zoo keeper rushed over and entered the code to open the door. Frenzy yanked it open when the light turned green then rushed in. "Leave him alone!" He yelled.

"Frenzy!" Jim cried and followed the zoo keeper into the room as Soundwave ran in after them. The boy kicked the cubs away but only made the oldest mad as it went to attack him.

Jim picked up the boy and moved out of the way in a quick motion so he didn't get hurt. Soundwave managed to get Ravage out of the chaos and they went to the door as the zookeeper calmed the cubs and made sure they were alright. Frenzy hugged Jim as the man quietly scolded him.

"They were hurting him... I didn't want them to hurt him..." he whispered quietly as he buried his face in his neck. "I'm sorry..." he mumbled and the man sighed as he carried him out of the room. Soundwave had the zookeeper look over the cub who wasn't moving. He watched for a moment then sighed when the cub seemed to be fine. He ignored her reasoning and told her to help him. Once she did he picked him up and headed home as she protested.

"You told me what it would take for him to come home, and I'm willing to do what I need to. I'll go and get another license or buy him from the zoo. But I'm taking him home." He growled lowly before leaving with the other two. Later that day he was a proud owner of the little black panther and had him legally.

~
Present day.

Soundwave stood at the kitchen counter as he stared at his iPad and furrowed his brow in thought. He had caught wind of the DJD killing and knew it was them right off the bat. The cops had kept Airachnids name from the public but he still found out. He knew it was them partially because she was the first victim and partially because the other victims had also worked with the mafia. He had made his own hypothetical list to get an idea of who might be their next target. He was also trying to figure out who was commanding them, who would they listen to. He sighed and rubbed his face tiredly then stared at it again as he looked at his oldest brothers name. If it was Shockwave in charge, then Heatwave and himself would make the list.

The silent man looked off to the side as he thought about his family and started to miss them. He wanted to see his mother again but didn't know where she was. The sound of giggling filled his ears. He looked to the living room at his little family he had acquired. Jim was sitting on the floor as he held Frenzy and spoke gently to the boy. The child was holding the cub while he meowed and tried to walk while the boy held him up, Laserbeak watched them with a critical eye. She hopped around and seemed to be concerned about the little cub. The silent man smiled a little as he stared at them and leaned against the wall. He was so happy to have them and wished he could have both his families together.

He heard a knock on the door and furrowed his brow as he looked to it. He walked over as he wondered who that could be. Not many people knew where they lived.