[Wheeljack's POV]

After convincing Ironhide to simply fly the Jackhammer back to base and let Rachel travel a bit more, we arrive in Texas via ground bridge, Rachel's home state. Despite being able to go anywhere in the world, she insisted on returning to Texas. She claims it has the best food, something called 'barbecue'. Since I don't have tastebuds, I'll have to take her word for it. Currently, she was 'driving' my alt form, cruising down a highway she says she used to use all the time as a teen for high school. I know it wasn't necessarily safe to be this close to a place she would be recognized at, but I could tell she needed this.

"So, where to first?"

Bulkhead's voice echoes over the com, and Rachel shrugs. "Honestly, I wouldn't mind just driving for a bit. I've always loved a good drive, no matter the destination." She gives a side glance out the window to the green Lamborghini LM002 driving beside us. She suddenly perks up. "Oh! But if we keep going north for an hour, there's a Buck-ee's! They have the best fudge around!" I can't help but chuckle. This femme always has food on her mind, yet her metabolism uses it so fast that you'd never know she would beat anyone at the base in a food-eating competition. 

We drive for a while more, and I can feel Rachel trying to apply more pressure to the gas pedal.

"Rachel, what are you doin'?"

She smirks that devilish smirk of hers that spells only trouble. "Come on now, Jackie. You're barely doing over the speed limit! I'm safe in here, and I'm itching for a race!" I could already hear Bulkhead starting a protest, so I interject first. "Now Rachel, we are told to 'blend in'. I don't think us racing down the highway would do that very well." Rachel pouts, crossing her arms.  "Wheeljack is right, Rachel. You know that!" Bulkhead, who was coming up on our left, interjects his two sense. Rachel goes silent, and I take that moment to enact my plan.

Swiftly, I shuffle the seats and move her to the passenger side. "However, my alt mode is a racecar, so we aren't blending in at the moment, are we?" I turn on my holoform in the driver's seat. "Besides, can't have you getting in trouble on your day off. They might never let you have another." I slam my holoform's foot down on the gas, and we take off down the highway. Rachel is slammed against the seat, but the look on her face is pure joy. I can only smirk as I swerve between cars, pushing one-twenty down the road. "Woooooh!" Rachel yells, hands up in glee. She looks like a teenager on a roller coaster.

I race us through traffic with Bulkhead in tow. He was trying to talk us out of it, but Rachel couldn't bother to listen. Neither could I, in all honesty. "Let's go, Jackie!" She lets out another whoop, and I hear Bulkhead sigh. He disappears behind us for a while, and I slightly pout. "Seems like the old man couldn't keep up." Rachel laughs. "Can't expect him to keep up with you anyways!"

Suddenly, said green vehicle flies past us as if we were sitting still.

"As if I would let you two win a race!"

Rachel can't stop laughing now, and I can't help but join her. "Well, I can't argue with that, Bulk!"

With that, we take off down the highway, racing towards something called a 'Bucky's'. 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

[Rachel POV]

"See? All the best fudge you could ever eat!" I pause for a moment as we exit the Buck-ees, the two men with me stopping as well. "Well, I guess if you could eat, you'd agree." On my right is a tall, dark-skinned body-builder looking guy. He sports short black hair and slight scruff on his chin. He is wearing a dark green shirt and jeans, and simple sneakers. On my left is a shorter, thinner man with grey hair on top and black hair on the sides. He is wearing a white leather jacket that sported green and red stripes, cargo pants and combat boots. 

Holoforms, gotta love them.

"Well, Ratchet said he's been working on making these holoforms more human. Perhaps one day we could." Bulkhead says, slightly turning towards me. I can only laugh while adjusting the bags on my arms. I got enough fudge for everyone back at base, and a decent helping for myself. Never would have thought the pay at this place would be so good.

Wheeljack just shakes his head. "You're going to rot your teeth out with that much sugar, kid." He glaces down at the bag, his cyan blue eyes sparkling with mischief. I quickly yank my arm away. "You touch my stuff, I'll soder your servo to your aft in your sleep." Wheeljack raises his hands in defense and steps back.

"Alright, message received kiddo. I won't touch your stuff."

As we walk back to the cars, my phone starts going off in my back pocket. Confusion rolls through me, but I answer it anyways. "This is Rachel." William Lennox's voice replies:

"Rachel, I hate to do this, but we just picked up another cybertronian signal. Faction unknown, but the signal is weak. It's in the woods about five miles north of your location."

I turn to Wheeljack and Bulkhead. Their comms are linked with my phone, and both give a slight smirk. I smile as well, and we all rush to the cars. As I launch into Wheeljack's alt, he pops into the drivers seat and takes off as I lay my phone down. Lennox's voice suddenly swims through the whole cab as my phone connects to Wheeljack's radio system. "Heat sigs are detected everywhere, but not much movement. Suspected fire from impact and leaking energon. Hostiles are on the way, twenty miles out but closing fast. We have a team getting ready, but not in time if this happens to be a friendly."

I only chuckle. "We're on it, Lennox. You know I never miss an opportunity to meet a new recruit." I pull up the map to see where we are heading. Wheeljack was already racing down the road, waiting for me to tell him where to go next.

"Alright, this next exit will put us just left of where he is. Take it, go under the bridge heading west. We should start to see the smoke then."

"Aye, Captian."

While Wheeljack drives, I activate the suit from my watch again. The nanotech crawls over my arms and I quickly take off my outerwear. I really like that shirt and these jeans, and despite them surviving the fight in Greece earlier, I'm not taking a chance again. I slightly hit the door as Wheeljack drifts under the bridge, and I grunt. "Warn me next time, you big lug!"

"Sorry, Princess. But that fire is spreading, in case you haven't noticed."

I lift my head to see a fire blazing through the woods we were nearing. Just as I'm about to say something, Bulkhead pipes through. "Already have the firefighters on their way, ETA five minutes. Should be enough time to find our mech and get out." I nod my head. If everything goes right, we should be fine. 

Knock on wood, someone.

"Signal's on the move. Think they heard you coming."

Lennox speaks up again, and the map has an icon appear on it. It was moving north, further into the woods and away from the fire.

"That, or the fire is getting too close for comfort. What's the 'Con radar looking like?" I try to zoom out to spot them, but their indicators suddenly fizzle out. "Lennox, what's going on?" I hear angry grunts just as we careen sideways into the forest. "Rachel! Our signal has been compromised. We won't be able to get out there for another ten minutes until we secure the breech. Unknown hostiles may already be on sight."

"Use my algorithm! It should cut your time in half. It's been tested alread-"

"Raf is already on it. He's uploading it and fighting this, but I'll lose communication with you." Silence echoes for a moment, and I quickly reach around to the back seat to grab my backpack.

"Be safe, Rachel."

The comms go to static and Wheeljack shuts it off.

"Thirty seconds until we make contact. Better get ready."

I pull out the knives from before and the single rifle I had hiding in a back compartment. It resembles an M16, but the barrel is glowing with energon and the magazine held bright blue rounds. "I'm always ready. Slingshot."

"Yes ma'am."

Hitting his brakes, Wheeljack throws the wheel right and opens the passenger door. I rush out and quickly turn right into the tree line. My helmet activates, quickly protecting my head and turning the HUD on. The life signal appears, and I can see movement through the trees. Wheeljack and Bulkhead transform in front of me, and I quickly shout, "Drop!"

They both duck as blaster fire erupts from the trees. 

"Don't come any closer, 'Con scum!"

The voice was young, scared, and clearly injured. No wonder his first reaction was to fire on sight. But that also means...

"Jackie, three o'clock!"

I already have my rifle up and firing as the drone appears. I take out his single optic as he jumps, and Wheeljack quickly flips him over himself before finishing the drone of with a few shots to the spark. Another appears behind Bulkhead, but he was already turning with his wrecking ball activated on his right servo. He crashes it into the helm of the 'Con, and it collapses quickly.

"Rachel, find the mech. We've got more incoming."

I nod. "On it, Wheeljack. Don't have too much fun." I can see his smirk just as I rush past him. "Nebula." An image appears on my HUD, resembling a constellation shaped like a face. "At your service, Ms. Darby." I dash between trees, barely dodging the firefight behind me and in front of me. It seems like whoever this is already spotted me and deemed me a threat.

They're not wrong.

"Isolate any unknown frequencies that may be using an Autobot channel."

"One frequency located. Patching in."

The voice I heard before buffers into my helmet comms, panicked and loud. "Any Autobots on this planet, this is Smokescreen! Requesting medical... Back off, 'Cons!"

A blast nearly knocks me off my feet, but I roll to the side instead.

"Smokescreen! I am not your enemy!" 

The movement stops, as does the firing from in front of me. I can hear the fight behind me, but it was further back now. I hadn't realized how much we moved from the scene of the battle, but this was either great or very, very bad.

I have to be fast.

"Listen, I'm neither Autobot nor Decepticon. I'm a human, but I work with the Autobots. My name is Rachel Darby." I slowly move out from my spot behind the tree and finally get the full view of the mech. He was still holding a blaster towards me, but his other servo was over his gut. A massive gash was across his chassis and stopped near his hip. Another wound, more severe, was beneath his servo, running almost the full length of his midsection. It seems like he barely escaped getting sliced in two.

"How do I know you're telling the truth? You don't look human to me."

I strap my rifle to my side, raising my hands in defense. "Nebula, remove helmet."

"As you wish."

My helmet retracts into my armor, and I watch as this mech's optics grow wide. "Look, you're severely injured. Ratchet is back at base, prepping for you to arrive, but we need to move back towards Wheeljack and Bulkhead. Being this far could put us in danger with more 'Cons on the way."

"You... You know Ratchet? Wheeljack?" 

"Kid, I know Optimus Prime."

Smokescreen sputters in shock. "Op-Op-Optimus Pr-Prime?! He's here?!" This seems to have been the sweet spot. He drops his blaster and moves towards me a bit, his faceplates scrunching up in pain. I wavy my hands frantically. "Easy, Smokes! You're seriously injured. You need to move slower." His face hardens, and he nods. "Right, right. No freakouts." His optics meet my eyes, and I give a soft smile. "Let's get b-"

"Too late for that."

I hear an alarm almost a moment too late. My helmet reforms automatically, just as a missile blast crashes against the ground in front of me. I feel my body fly through the air before crashing against a tree. I tumble down the trunk to the ground, feeling pain flood my arms, legs, and back.

"Wheeljack! Backup!"

I struggle to get back on my feet, but the sight of a certain lanky-looking Decepticon makes it a lot easier to snatch my rifle off my hip. His red optics were on my form, but a clawed servo was holding Smokescreen up by his throat opposite of my position.

"Ah, so the human pest survived. I was hoping that would be the case." 

Starscream.

My sights train on his optics, but Smokescreen yells in pain as the grey Decepticon seems to tighten his grip. "Ah, ah, ah. Wouldn't want my digits to... dig into places they don't belong." My heart rate is sky-high at this point. I feel that familiar rage returning, but I push it down. I needed to focus-

Smokescreen was pointing at his captor's leg.

I drop my gaze slightly and see a small charge on his knee joint. I slightly smirk, feeling a compartment open on my back. "Missile ready, Ms. Darby." I train my eyes on the charge until the HUD pinpoints it and drops a red x over the charge. "Target locked."

"Drop him, Starscream. Or else."

This seems to amuse the Decepticon, as he lets out a good laugh. "Oh my! A human threatening me, a Decepticon? I'm quaking." His voice drops at the last part, and I growl. I couldn't do anything yet, not without backup coming. I try to send a signal out again, but get static in return.

"Oh, are you stalling for reinforcements to arrive?"

I try to stand strong and not show my shock. His grin makes my blood run cold, but his words even more so. "I'm sorry to say that you won't have any help, especially not from those Wreckers you were with any time soon. They are a bit preoccupied at the moment. As for the others... A ground bridge can't locate you without the proper signal, now can it?"

I try to steady my breathing, but fear was starting to sink in. I could hear the fighting behind us still, but it was clear a jammer was blocking communications even at this distance.

"What do you want?"

"Hm? What makes you think I want anything?"

I tighten my grip, making it known I was still aiming at his helm. "You would have killed him the moment I was knocked away, so it's obvious you want something. You still have a missile on your arm as well, indicating you could have finished me off." I growl out one last sentence. "So what. Do. You. Want?"

His smile reappears, and I feel my spine shiver. Of all the 'Cons it could have been, he was definitely not the one I wanted to deal with today. His optics narrow, and he raises his free servo. His fist is closed as if he's ready to fire that missile I mentioned.

Then he points at me.

"You."

My grip slackens.

"Me?"

My heart pounds.

"Yes, you. Are you deaf, human? My lord has taken an interest in you and your... biology."

I growl, regaining my focus and training my sights on his optics again. I see Smokescreen holding his servo as if he was ready to switch it back to a blaster. It was now or never. "You can tell Lord Buckethead he'll have to get me himself, then, 'Screamy'."

Just as Starscream's optics widen in anger, I release the small rocket from my back. It flies over my head and straight towards the charge still planted on Starscream's leg. I also fire my rifle to take out one of his optics. He shouts in pain and releases Smokescreen, who then transforms his servo back into a blaster and lands a few hits on Starscream just as my rocket crashes into the charge. The explosion rocks the whole forest, and I feel myself thrown back a bit.

Talk about a big punch in a small package. I quickly regain my footing and rush towards Smokescreen. He was on his back, leaning against one of the larger trees around us. His optics were barely open, but he was still awake. I climb up his arm to his chassis and analyze the wounds. I only have a moment to try and fix what I can to get him moving. "Alright, Smokes, this might hurt, but it will get you on your feet again."

"You know what you're doing, right?"

Slight fear is in his voice, and I shrug. 

"Only know what Ratchet has shown me for battleground basics."

With that, I activate a blowtorch on my arm and start removing pieces of shrapnel still in the wound. I feel Smokescreen move a bit and grunt in pain, but he steadies out after a while. I don't know how much longer I have, but this one piece was identified as the main cause of pain. I quickly cut it free and pull the massive piece of debris out. I throw it to the side, much to the mech's surprise, then seal up the wound. "There! That's all I can do for now. We need to move!" 

"Indeed you do, but I can't let you leave yet, girl."

Fear grips my heart, my sweat runs cold. The terror on Smokescreen's faceplates confirm what my mind was already telling me. I turn over, feeling the ground quake beneath Smokescreen. My eyes fall on the only Decepticon I had hoped to never see again.

Appearing from the tree line, with Starscream in tow, was the leader of the Decepticons himself.

"Megatron..."

His smirk is cold, calculating, and fear-inducing. His form was massive, with spikes on his shoulder plates and a monstrous cannon on his arm. Deep purple optics glare down at me, and I feel my body shake. I find myself slightly moving up Smokescreen's chassis until I'm over his rapidly beating spark. It was matching my own heartbeat, and the terror we felt was shared. I can barely steady my breathing. Another walks out to stand next to Megatron. This one was thinner, black and purple, and no face to be seen. 

Smokescream can only stutter out the name. "S-Soundwave."

My heart drops. All hope I had to escape this has vanished. Even if communications happen to break through the scrambler, Soundwave most likely has another one to keep this location off limits to any form of rescue.

"What do you want from me?" I yell, trying to seem strong. I keep my helmet up, hiding the tears that were now falling from my eyes in fear. I couldn't let them see me weak, or they will use it to their advantage.

"You don't know, do you? It's not something we want from you, it is you we want." His voice echoes in my head, and I feel it ringing in my ears. They want leverage against the Autobots, that has to be the reason behind it all. I try my best to stay calm, but that is beyond impossible in this situation. I feel Smokescreen move beneath me, and a servo suddenly wraps around me carefully.

"You're not getting her, Megatron."

I can only look up to see Smokescreen's faceplates stern and unwavering. I turn back, moving to hold onto one of his digits. I know this isn't the right move, but I had to keep stalling. 

"If I come with you, will you let Smokescreen go?"

I feel the mech beneath me gasp, but I hold a hand out to stop him from speaking. When I drop my hand, I hold out two fingers and point toward the direction I had come from. My hand was hidden, so only he could see it, and I could feel him relax a bit. Megatron, however, smiles a big, toothy smile.

"If you come willingly, my dear."

I know he is lying, but I needed to give Smokescreen a chance to get help. I suck in a deep breath, knowing if this goes sideways, I'm going to be worse off than I was after Mission City all those years ago. "Put me down, Smokes." I hold his digit with one hand as he starts to move me, but I swiftly drop a  small device onto his chassis where I was standing. It blends in with his paint and suddenly disappears to the naked eye, or optic.

As my feet touch the ground, I suck in a breath. I have to be quick, or this would be bad for everyone involved. I start moving towards the Decepticons, fear begging me to stop moving, but rage fueling each step. I could feel it seeping through my desperate attempts to crush it. If I lose control right now, there's no chance I'll make it out alive, let alone Smokescreen making it out alive.

Once I'm in the middle of the clearing between everyone, I stop. "Alright, let him leave and I'll come with you without a fight."

A smile makes my heart drop, and I feel the fear and rage mix in my chest.

"No... I don't think I will. Starscream?"

"My pleasure."

Before I can react, Starscream raises his arm and fires the missile toward Smokescreen. I shout, turning to run back in vain. The rocket slams against his chest, and I feel my world shatter. I get flipped backward and land on the ground on my chest. Pushing myself up, all I see through the smoke is Smokescreen's arm flop to the ground, unmoving.

"No... No, come on. Smokescreen!"

As I stand and rush forward, something wraps around my gut and pulls me back. I scream in pain as I'm squeezed tightly. The tentacle turns me to face my captors, and I try in vain to free my arms. I find myself helpless as I lock eye to optic with Megatron.

"So much for keeping your word, human. Don't worry, we will make sure you're kept... comfortable."

Something jabs me in the neck, and electricity floods my whole body. The pain becomes unbearable and I feel my head drop as my mind slips away from the waking world.