Heart of a Prime

Chapter 86

Saphira managed to reach the door leading to the back offices of the library. She jumped as she heard Starscream blasting some more bookshelves in the main part of the library, but she was relieved as he would probably keep blasting the bookshelves until he could not find her anywhere, and realize he has been duped. She hoped she would be out of the building by the time that happened. She ran down a hallway, making sure to avoid a few trolleys on the way, knowing they would give away where she was as they were all full with something heavy left on them.

She ran by multiple offices, and she soon spotted Exit signs pointing towards an escape exit that she could make use of. Saphira smiled a little as that was going to give her a little bit of grace. Especially as this building probably could collapse in on itself with how Starscream was blasting. She did want to stop and take a moment to catch her breath, but there was no time for it. She could do that when she gets out and finds somewhere else to hide in the city.

At least Starscream does not seem to be brightest...but his keen eyes really are uncanny and annoying.

Saphira did not know how big the back area of the library was, so she did not want to waste much time. Though it did quickly begin to feel like a maze as she ran through the hallways, following the Exit signs to try and find the emergency exit. She didn't even know if she was being smart, considering she was starting to notice damage to the walls in this part of the building. Maybe the decepticons had blasted another part of the library, but it didn't matter to her. She just wanted to get out, and get away from Starscream.

When she finally turned towards the exit, she gasped as there was massive, gaping hole with a pile of rubble in front of her. She sighed in irritation as she knew she would have to climb over the bricks just to get out of the building. She didn't waste much time in beginning to climb over the rubble anyway, knowing that she could not turn back now. She was careful as she climbed over the bricks. Some were still a little loose, and she made sure to not move too much, or push too hard on some of them so she would not slip.

As she made it to the top, she jumped as she heard the sound of a decepticon smashing through a wall, and turned her head, widening her eyes as she spotted Starscream. His body was covered in dust from the bricks as he grinned at her. "There you are! I found you! I could hear the pitter, patter of your tiny feet, even if you were trying to be super quiet!" Saphira gasped as she scurried down the rubble and jumped to the ground before she began to run again. "Heh, heh, I do very much love the sound of your little insect feet. It is so amusing watching you try to run away! Heh, heh! You really should stop and reconsider my proposal, Saphira."

Saphira was not about to respond to Starscream as she knew that responding could simply land her into his hands. She ran onto the next street, shrieking as she nearly ran into another decepticon. She looked up at him with wide eyes as the decepticon sneered and spat at her, but he does not fire at her, despite he had aimed at her. She could see he was glancing at Starscream, and he knew that Starscream would likely kill him if he hurt Saphira.

"Back away!" Starscream ordered aggressively, running towards the decepticon and pushing him away. "She is mine!" Saphira was already running up the street as fast as she could, and Starscream watched her. "All decepticons are not to hurt her! She is the prized possession of our Lord Megatron! Scratch her, and you will pay it with your life!"

The decepticon understood, but he simply stepped back as he watched Saphira run down the street. Saphira guessed now Megatron would be informed she was here. How could he not be informed? Another decepticon had seen her! But she continued to run, jumping over debris on the ground while making sure she did not stop, and looked around for any other place to take refuge in. Starscream began to run after her now that she had put some distance between herself and the decepticon.

"Your little legs are not going to get you very far," Starscream mocked as he gained distance. "But you are making this extremely enjoyable! We are still, after all, playing Hide and Seek. And once I catch you, I win!"

Saphira shook her head as she continued to run and ran around a corner quickly. She gasped when she noticed an alley to the right and she ran into it before Starscream ran around the corner, and made another left. She heard him stop with a growl. She hoped he would keep running, but he jumped and landed on top of the buildings, making her shriek as he looked into the alley and saw her running down the alley. The alley was too small for him to fit, so he jumped across the top of the buildings as he followed, not caring about the debris he was knocking down.

Saphira could not stop now that she could hear the debris falling loudly behind her. The thump of each footstep from the large decepticon was extremely frightening to her. She tried to ignore it as she continued running down the alley, and she was thanking her lucky stars she was not tripping on anything. However, she spotted an open door to the left, and ducked into it and found herself in the back of the American Writers Museum. She was a little surprised when she ran through the hallway and saw the museum around her.

But she did not stop as Starscream smashed through a wall to get inside. He growled angrily, looking around and ignoring the various items within this museum. He was in the main part of the museum at this point, and Saphira had to stop. He was in her way. She saw him, but he didn't see her, or at least, she hoped he did not see her when she backed away and ran back. She did not know where she was going to go. She didn't know if there was another way out.

She ran into a small room that appeared to be a locker room for employees. She glanced around for a moment before she opened one of the lockers, and gasped as she saw there was space inside. She stepped inside the locker and closed it, closing it carefully and making sure it would not lock one she was inside. She took the moment to finally care her breath. Her adrenaline was still pumping through her body, and she desperately needed a moment to calm down and think about what she was going to do next.

She grimaced as she heard the sound of Starscream blasting and smashing things in the museum itself, knowing he was looking for her or trying to scare her out. Luckily, she was able to have a moment to breath, and she needed it. Her body was drenched in sweat, and she wiped her forehead as she hoped not dirt was getting into her eyes. Her eyes did not feel irritated, but it was still a risk given how much sweat was dripping from her forehead.

She leaned back against the cool locker, placing her hand on her stomach as she knew that she was really pushing it. Her sparkling was still inside her, needing her to protect it. She rubbed her stomach as she knew she had already promised her sparkling that she would ensure it would have a safe future. She did not know if she would be able to keep that promise though. She worried that she would not.

I will do my best to protect, my sparkling. You are my world now...but I can't focus on your until Megatron and Sentinel are gone. One day, I will tell the story when you are old enough.

The blasting in the museum stopped after about ten minutes, and she guessed that Starscream realized she either was not in the building anymore, or she was hiding extremely well from him. She hoped he would not figure out she was still in the building. It would certainly make life easier. Although as much as she was hoping, she covered her ears as she heard him starting to destroy the walls of the offices. He clearly was now thinking she was hiding somewhere in the office part of the museum. Maybe if he had moved away enough, she could get out, but he was destroying the structural stability of the museum.

She kept her ears covered and bit her lip when part of the walls around the locker room was blasted away. She kept breathing heavily, but kept quiet, or she thought she was being quiet. Starscream paused after punching another wall and listened. She had not realized that her heavy breathing was echoing enough that he could hear her. Saphira waited before she peered through the gap of the locker, tensing as she saw Starscream eyeing off the locker. She covered her mouth with her hands as she now realized he could hear her breathing. But it was too late.

Saphira shrieked as he picked the locker up suddenly, causing the door to swing open. "Ah ha! I won!" Starscream cheered loudly, lifting the locker up, though she slipped out before it was too high. She lands on her feet, grimacing a little before she began to run. "Hey! No fair! I found you fair and square! Get back here, maggot!"

Saphira ran out of the half destroyed doorway and through the hallways. With a lot of the walls destroyed, there was a lot of debris in her way, and she had no choice by to avoid it as much as possible. Starscream wasn't chasing her as slowly as he had before. He was passed mocking her, and he was actually chasing her properly. She was just lucky to move out of the way from his hand each time as she weaved through the hallways.

She eventually ran into the main part of the museum, and the roof had been destroyed. She ran to try and get out of the building, but she did not get very far. She shrieked in surprise when she felt Starscream's hand swiping underneath her feet, and causing her to trip forward. She was lucky to catch herself against a large stone and rolled down onto the ground without landing on her stomach.

She rolled next to an unused, wet chemical extinguisher, and she looked up at Starscream as he grinned at her gleefully. "Your little marathon is finally over, little insect. I wonder what little name suits you. I still think moth suits you!" He chuckled loudly as Saphira scurried back a little and he leaned down to grab her. "Don't even think about running! I got you!"

Just before Starscream could grab her, Saphira grabbed the extinguisher, pulled the pin and aimed the nozzle at Starscream's face before spraying the wet chemical at his optics. Starscream shrieked in surprise and stumbled back as he was blinded by the wet chemical. He immediately began trying to wipe it away, and found it was sticking rather tightly against his optics. Saphira dropped the extinguisher and ran away from him.

"Arrrghhh!" Starscream began to blast in different directions in an attempt to shoot her. "You witless worm! I can still hear your feet! Ugh!" He scratched at the chemical on his optics and continued to shoot. "You're nothing but an annoying, little, insect!"

Saphira managed to avoid being blasted by the blinded Starscream. She had not been sure if the extinguisher would even do anything, but she was glad that the wet chemical was able to blind him just long enough for her to get away. And she took advantage of it. She climbed over some bricks and jumped out of the museum and ran onto the street, looking around. She ducked as several ships flew over her, and they seemed to ignore her for now.

She took a deep breath and looked around before she noticed she could see the bridge ahead. She realized she was getting closer, and it was likely thanks to Starscream. He was unintentionally, or intentionally, chasing her to the center of the city where Megatron and Sentinel were located. She smiled a little, silently thanking Starscream, and she was about to run towards the river. But she was stopped.

She gasped when she saw Soundwave. The AMG was driving towards her with the headlights on, and she widened her eyes fearfully before she began to glance around. She spotted a gutter dug into the road, leading down into the sewers. She wasn't thrilled by the idea of going into the sewers, but it was very unlikely the decepticons would follow her, unless it would be Laserbeak, of course.

She ran towards the gutter and Soundwave began to transform suddenly, chattering in their language for a moment and running towards her with his tendrils ready to grab her. Unlike Starscream, he was unlikely to toy with her. Saphira knew she could not let Soundwave get near her, though as she ran closer to the gutter, he was closing in on her fast.

She decided to avoid the gutter, and she dived away from Soundwave when he tried to reach and grab her. Soundwave growled angrily as she ran into another alleyway, and he was just too big. Though he transformed and began to speed through the alleyway as his vehicle mode could just fit through the alleyway. Saphira was shocked and she scrambled over to a ladder and jumped onto it, climbing up the ladder quickly.

"Bad choice!" Soundwave hissed as he transformed and launched himself at the wall the ladder was supported on and slammed into the wall, causing the ladder to shake violently. Saphira screamed as she almost lost her grip. Soundwave growled as he stood up in the alley with his body slightly turned due to the skinny alleyway. His shoulders and doors were barely just scraping the walls. Saphira continued to climb up to the catwalk, and Soundwave shot out several tendrils to grab her. "You have run out of lucky, Saphira!"

Saphira gasped and jumped through a window next to her, covering her face as the glass smashed and she landed in the kitchen of the apartment she had broken into. As she began to run for the door when one of the tendrils grabbed her right ankle and made her fall. She shrieked as she caught herself on the ground, almost landing right on top of the glass and began to try and pull away.

Her left ankle was grabbed and he began to pull her out, making her shriek and try to get away. She thought about shooting them with her gun, but he might not let go. She grunts as she knew the C4 might be her only shot of getting out of this. She hated that she was being forced to use it, but she grabbed out the C4 and her handgun before throwing the C4 just out the window and shooting it.

She shrieked and covered her head when the C4 exploded from being shot at. Soundwave let's go of Saphira's ankles in shock, crying out loudly as he stumbled back from the explosion, giving Saphira enough time to scramble to her feet and run from the burning window. She heard him punch the wall of the building angrily as he knew he had failed retrieving her because she had managed to escape from his grasp. Literally.

She ran into the hallway of the building and looked for the way out of the apartment building. She looked around desperately for the stairs to head down to the bottom floor. She knew that Soundwave would likely look for her. Though she did not hear him blasting through the building like Starscream would have done, so she guessed he was going to take a different approach, though she did not want to know what that would be.

She pushed the doors open forcefully as she ran out of the hallway after finally locating the stairs. She began to run down them as quickly and carefully as she could. She could not hear Soundwave or any decepticon trying to destroy the building, but she could hear their footsteps moving around. She could not tell where they were as there were now multiple footsteps walking around the building quickly. Saphira considered possibly going to the garage as there might be a car she could hotwire. Though she did not know if she should do that.