"Megatron, what have you done?" Optimus asked, gritting his dentas together. The kids already went through too much. This was the final straw.

"Optimus, you've already brought innocent beings into this once, let them go," Megatron added from his place next to Optimus, giving the warlord a death glare.

"Oh, but what fun is that?" Optimus replied. "I'm sure Ratchet would enjoy...seeing how they function. And I'm sure Bumblebee would enjoy using his counterpart as target practice."

Arcee looked at her charge in worry. The kids were frightened into silence, even Miko, and Jack was really just trying to gather his surroundings. He recognized what was going on and slowly moved Raf behind him in protection, keeping an arm in front of Miko as well. Megatron watched him in amusement. He knew Optimus valued the boy, and he understood why now. He was just like him.

"You're sick," Arcee spat. She didn't feel bad about saying it; the Optimus she knew would never become like this.

"Why are you doing this?" Megatron asked, to which his counterpart smiled.

"To let you realize you truly have no control over how this plays out. If you want the kids, we would be willing to trade them."

"Optimus."

"Megatron," Ratchet and Starscream said at the same time, turning to their respective leader and close friend. They knew what they were going to ask for, but that didn't stop them from expressing their feelings about it. Optimus set a servo on Ratchet's shoulder plate, and Megatron on Starscream's.

"What are your terms?" Optimus asked.

"You two are to surrender yourselves, or you can say goodbye to your pets, as well as your scout."

"Optimus, don't!" Jack cried. Megatron gave him a sideways glance and a smile that sent shivers down his spine.

"Quite a selfless one, isn't he?"

Optimus frowned, his optics narrowing slightly. He knew either outcome was less than ideal, but it had to be done. And he was not about to allow another innocent human life to end because of this war.

He looked over at Megatron and could tell he was thinking the same thing. Megatron met his optics, and nodded once.

"We accept your terms," Optimus declared.

"Wise choice," his counterpart replied, giving him a small smile that made his spark twist.

"Coordinates will be sent. We will initiate the trade in thirty earth minutes. Come alone. And if you think about double-crossing us," Megatron started, turning to Optimus, who smiled evilly at the kids. His servo transformed into a blaster and he aimed it at them. Jack shoved Miko behind him, and Optimus fired. Miko screamed, Raf was too petrified to. Jack remained still. He knew they wouldn't get rid of the few bargaining chips they had, but that didn't mean his heart wasn't in his throat.

The blast grazed the top of his head and hit the wall behind them.

The transmission cut, and the room was silent for a few seconds until Optimus vented out quietly.

"Optimus...you can't do this," Arcee whispered, setting a servo on his arm. She was worried for Jack, but she also knew the stakes and knew he was right, as much as she hated to admit it.

"We do not have a choice, Arcee," Optimus replied quietly.

"Then make a choice!" Bulkhead nearly shouted.

"There's always another way to do things!" Breakdown added.

"Optimus, Megatron, if you don't survive, neither will the planet in your dimension! Think!" Ratchet argued.

"Who knows, those two could take you and double-cross us anyway," Knockout pointed out.

The two locked optics and had a silent conversation, before Megatron nodded once.

"We will still go through with this."

The room was silent again until Starscream sighed.

"I see that we cannot change your mind," he started, his wings drooping a little. "So...if we cannot do that...then we will support you."

The others nodded in agreement.

"Thank you, old friend," Megatron replied, giving him a small sad smile. Starscream gave him one in return, and nodded once.

*

Jack breathed heavily and slowly turned to look at the wall behind him. It was scorched and smoking, and he shivered. That was almost him. His arms were still behind him, keeping Miko and Raf in place. The two were as white as a sheet, and he was sure he was, too.

"You guys okay?" he whispered, turning his body to look at them.

"Y-yeah," Miko whispered back. "Just...just shaken up."

He moved on to Raf, whose head was tucked in between his knees. He was shaking violently.

"Raf," Jack whispered, reaching out to the boy. He stopped when he noticed his own hands shaking. Goosebumps went down his arms.

"Raf, we're safe for now," he whispered, setting a hand on his shoulder and pulling the boy to him a little. Raf uncurled from his position to hug Jack tightly. The boy was still shaking, though he shook harder now with sobs that he desperately tried to keep silent.

Miko scooted closer to them and set a hand on Raf's back. Jack put his arm around her shoulders, Miko set her head on his shoulder, and the three were huddled like that for some time. The two younger ones felt safe that way. Jack felt like he had to protect them as best as he could.

"Jack?" Miko whispered after a few minutes. Raf was shaking less now, but was still silently crying, and still had his face buried in Jack's shirt.

"Yeah, Miko?" he whispered back.

"This is all my fault. If I hadn't run off...or if I hadn't gotten us captured by the evil Autobots the first time...we wouldn't be here. Things would be so much different. I'm sorry I got us into this mess," she whispered, and he could feel her tears landing on his shirt.

"I'm so sorry. We could die today, and it would be all my fault."

"Miko...we could easily pin the blame on me. I was the one who let go."

"Yeah...but you didn't let go of us. You protect us to the best of your ability...I just get us all in danger," she replied quietly. Jack didn't have a good answer to that, and just let his head rest on top of hers.

"You really are like Optimus, you know," she barely whispered. It was so quiet, Jack wondered if he just imagined it.

**

While the three were having their little huddle, Knockout had entered the room and Megatron and Optimus had been talking.

"Ah, Knockout. If you would be so kind, remove the scout from stasis. He has served his purpose," Megatron greeted. Knockout moved over to the control panel near Bumblebee's berth to do as told.

"We will take my transportation pod," Optimus suggested. "We can carry the four, as well as us."

Megatron felt inclined to say he would rather fly himself, but did not, and nodded.

"Is it in this universe?"

"Yes, I've had the Ark transported here by our SpaceBridge after I learned you had a functional one yourself."

Megatron nodded. "Then, I guess we will do that. Knockout, prepare the prisoners to be moved."

"Yes, Lord Megatron," Knockout replied as Bumblebee stirred. He cuffed the scout's servos together, which also prevented him from bringing out his weapons. He let him wake up as he brought out a large human-sized air-tight transportation pod, perfect to fit three humans in. Jack felt Miko stiffen when she saw it, and remembered the last time she was in a pod.

"Miko...hey..." he whispered, trying to get her to calm down. "We'll get through it, alright? You won't be alone this time."

She didn't respond as Knockout simply picked up the three at the same time (their huddling made it easy for him). He set them down inside, where they kept their same position. He rolled his optics and sealed the lid. They could hear muffled voices outside the container, but they couldn't make it out.

"Jack...I...want to tell you and Miko something," Raf whispered, finally looking up. His glasses were fogged, his eyes were red, and his cheeks had multiple tear stains. Jack gave him a small smile.

"Yeah?"

"Thank...thank you for being my friend," he whispered, looking from him to Miko. "When no one else would. I just realized I never told you guys how much I appreciated your friendship."

"Oh, Raf," Miko replied, finding a way to hug him and squeezing him tightly. Jack smiled and hugged the both of them.

"We appreciate your friendship too," Jack replied.

Their hug was interrupted when they were jostled around a little, and realized Megatron had picked them up, and a GroundBridge had been summoned. Optimus had thrown a restrained yet angry Bee over his shoulder plate. The kids held on to each other and exchanged nervous looks. On the other side of the bridge was a bay holding many pods. Optimus walked over to one, his less-orange optics narrowing slightly. He wondered if his enemy and counterpart would really go through with this, though, if he knew them both as well as he thought, they would.

***

Optimus and Megatron both waited anxiously as they waited for the ship to appear. They had come alone, as told, though knew Ratchet was monitoring their signals, and Laserbeak would be monitoring the exchange well enough away from the site to not be considered anything significant.

"Optimus...after this...what happens? Do we retaliate? Fight back? We most likely could be eliminated on the spot."

Optimus nodded, letting him know he understood this. The ship came into view above some mountains nearby, and made its way toward them.

"Hold your ground."

The ship was almost near them, before a blinding light forced them to look away and a loud boom sounded, and what remained of the ship was shrapnel. Megatron and Optimus' optics both widened.

"No!"

~~~

Hehehe.