Arcee had never dreamed before. It wasn't uncommon for a Cybertronian to live their entire lives without having once dreamt. Some did every night during power down, while many did not. It was personal to every Cybertronian. Arcee prayed to Primus she never dreamt again. 

          "Arcee, what are you doing?"

          "Studying."

          "For what?"

          "The Academy."

          "No, really?" Bumblebee's voice was dripping with sarcasm. He rolled his optics. 

          "What, you have something more important that I should be doing?"

          "Literally anything but this."

          "You know, I've known for a long time that you're younger than me, but sometimes I wonder HOW MUCH younger. You behave like a sparkling sometimes."

          "Ha, Ha, Ha. You're really funny, you know that?"

          "I'll add it to my list of talents."

          "Do you ever  wonder if it's too long?"

          "Thanks for the compliment."

          "Don't mention it."

          "Are you going to stand here and bug me until I do something with you?"

          "I would deny it, but then I would be lying."

          "Fine. Let's go for a drive." Arcee and Bumblebee snuck out and took a drive around a more secluded and sheltered part of the city. Technically, they weren't supposed to be out and about this late. The city was under a strict curfew under the threat of the Decepticons, but Bumblebee and Arcee had never ran into any trouble. 

          "I'll take the left fork," Bumblebee said. "Take the right fork." I want to see if both of them get us to the edge of the Beta sector in the same amount of time."

          "Even if they are the same length, I'll still get their first," Arcee bragged. 

          "We'll see."  The two split according to plan at a fork in the road, each carrying citizens through separate adjacent neighborhoods. It wasn't long before Arcee hit a barricade. 

          "Scrap," she muttered, transforming just before it. Officials had been slowly setting up barricades on the outer edges of the city. For months they had been relocating citizens on the outer edges to homes at the core of the city in an attempt to keep them farther from the front lines of the battle. Roads were being blocked off, gradually creating a smaller area where civilians could travel. 

          Arcee figured Bumblebee must have hit a similar barricade on his end. She was going to miss races to the Beta sector. She felt silly for mourning the loss of such a simple thing. The war had destroyed so much more. Arcee prepared to head back. 

          "Soundwave, I'm reporting back. The autoboats have sealed off-" the infiltrator stopped dead in his tracks. "Scrap."

          Arcee just stood there. She just stared, unsure of what to do, as Knockout emerged from an alleyway, his touched up and glorified paintjob illuminated in the dim lamplight. He stared back, equally unsure of how to handle the situation. It was hard enough seeing him again, but what hurt Arcee more than anything was the pain in his eyes. It would have been so much easier to believe that he was a heartless monster, but to know that he felt bad how he had left her made her spark ache. She wished she could just hate him.

          "Arcee," he whispered formally. 

          "Knockout," she nearly choked. 

          "Listen-" In one fluid motion Arcee had raised her blaster and trained it on his chestplate.

          "I don't need an explanation from you," she declared.

          "Arcee, I'm sorry."

          "Don't say that," she pleaded. "Tell me you never loved me. Tell me it was all a lie."

          "I can't do that, and you know it."

          "Why not? Is this what you want? You want me to be shattered and broken?"

          "I never wanted that. You have to know that this wasn't an easy decision for me either."

          "It seems pretty simple to me."

          "Well, it's not!" he said angrily. His anger burned off fast, replaced by pain. Arcee cursed it. Why couldn't he just stay angry. The pain was harder to face. "I love you."

           "Stop!"

          "No! I love you! That will not change! Sometimes, I wish it could, but it can't and it won't. It took me months. Months. It took me that long to decide. It was anything but easy. It broke my spark to leave you, but it wouldn't be fair to myself or to you for me to stay."

          "And why is that?"

          "Because this is what I believe in. This is the cause I want to fight for! I can't back down from that! You taught me that."

          "No!" she cried. "Don't turn that scrap on me! This is not my fault!"

          "No, it isn't," he agreed.

          "It's a mess. This whole thing. It's a mess and I'm sorry. But this is the way it has to be. The war has drawn it's lines. The pieces have fallen, and we've landed on different sides. It doesn't change how I feel about you," he professed passionately. "But it means a lot of pain. For both of us. And for that I'm sorry." 

          They studied each other for what seemed like ages. She wished they could stay there forever. Just them, staring into each other's optics. She wished this wasn't how it was. She hated this war. She hated the Decepticons. She hated the situation. But she couldn't bring herself to hate Knockout. He was right. This was a mess. She lowered her blaster.

          "Get out of here!" she seethed. "If I ever see you here again, you know what I'll have to do!" he nodded, backing up towards the barricade slowly. 

          "I know." he seemed like he was going to say something else, but they both knew that it should be left there. There was nothing else to say. She watched him retreat. Her spark was all sorts of twisted. There was no distinctive way to feel. This war was awful. 

          "Arcee?" she whirled around. Bumblebee was approaching her. He seemed concerned. 

          "I turned back when I hit the barricade. I waited for you but you never-" he stopped. His voice faltered. His feet began sinking into the ground. Arcee panicked. What was happening? This wasn't part of the memory! 

          "Arcee?"

          "Bumblebee!" Arcee reached out to her friend, but all of a sudden he sank completely through the ground and was gone. Arcee threw herself at the spot on the road where he had just been. 

          "Bumblebee!" she cried. "Bumblebee? Bee, where are you? Bee!" She pounded the ground with her fists, crying out angrily. This wasn't how it had happened! It wasn't supposed to be this way!

          "BUMBLEBEE!" Arcee sat straight up, abruptly awoken from power-down. Bulkhead and Smokescreen were already in her room. Smokescreen sat on the berth next to her, silently supporting her. Bulkhead was at her side. Arcee swung her legs over the side of the berth and buried her helm in Bulkhead's chestplate. Bulkhead wrapped his arms around her, returning the embrace. She sobbed. Bulkhead and Smokescreen stayed with her until she eventually fell back into power down. 

A/N: Not going to lie, this took a lot out of me. I cried while writing it. Hope it was worth it! Make sure to leave a comment!